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The Bolts
As it was announced on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning seventh round pick in 2019 NHL Draft Mikhail Shalagin will spent next season in North America. No official information yet, but Russian hockey writer Igor Eronko reports that Shalagin joins the Syracuse Crunch.
2019 #gobolts 7th round draft pick Mikhail Shalagin will play overseas next year. Presumably in Crunch uniform https://t.co/weSnC3ZVXC
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) July 13, 2019
We’ve translated a short interview with Shalagin. [Raw Charge]
Artem Batrak: What is your impression from the development camp?
Mikhail Shalagin: I liked it a lot. The coaches told me what I need to improve. I’ve never been to North America and it was very interesting for me to come there and see everything with my own eyes.
A.B.: What’s next for you?
M.S.: I’m joining the Lightning conditioning coach in Montreal at the end of July and going to prepare for next season.
The Lightning and the Wheelchairs 4 Kids charity collaborated on a Try Sled Hockey for Free clinic event last month.
If you want to play hockey, we want to do anything to make that possible.@lightningmade teamed up with @wheelchairs4kid for an incredible Try Sled Hockey for Free clinic last month at @clearwaterIce! pic.twitter.com/5ICM5VxBr0
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) July 13, 2019
The Game
The Stanley Cup winner Jordan Binnington has signed a two-year extension with the St. Louis Blues.
BREAKING NEWS: Jordan Binnington has agreed to a two-year contract with an annual average value of $4.4 million. #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) July 14, 2019
DETAILS: https://t.co/hIDZIzONwz pic.twitter.com/0FPVZKu7sb
The Blues have also re-signed defenseman Mitch Reinke and acquired forward Dakota Johnson from the Toronto Maple Leafs for future considerations.
The St. Louis #Blues have re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Mitch Reinke to a one year contract.
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 13, 2019
NHL - $750,000
Minor - $100,000
Reinke will be an RFA again next summer when his new deal expires.https://t.co/mB8MFU4JDs
TRADE ALERT! #stlblues have acquired forward Dakota Joshua from the @MapleLeafs.
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) July 12, 2019
DETAILS: https://t.co/uoQfhQ9O3v pic.twitter.com/QkIqtbdGgA
The Washington Capitals have agreed to an extension for defenseman Colby Williams.
NEWS | Capitals have re-signed defenseman Colby Williams to a one-year, two-way contract. Williams' contract will carry an average annual salary of $700,000 ($90,000 AHL).#ALLCAPS https://t.co/GgAeruvR3y
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) July 13, 2019
The Ice Garden take a look at the NWHL preseason schedule.
NWHL preseason schedule coming together https://t.co/RS0SYBWndF
— Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) July 13, 2019
Great article about how the long interview period affected the free agency this offseason [Associated Press].
Free agency for years was a land rush at noon July 1 and perhaps the frenzied pace of negotiations contributed to some ill-fated contracts and bad fits. With more time, many contracts were agreed to before free agency began, similar to how things work in the NFL and NBA. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said each year the league sends a memo to its clubs reminding them that deals cannot be signed until July 1 but he was not concerned about how the process went this time.
The Vancouver Canucks will have to figure out what to do with Loui Eriksson’s contract [Vancouver Courier].
Instead, Eriksson has been a tremendous disappointment. Instead of 20-goal seasons, he’s given the Canucks 32 goals total across the first three seasons of his contract. He’s been given ample opportunities to find chemistry in a top-six role — he started the season on a line with Elias Pettersson and ended it on a line with Bo Horvat — but it never quite clicked and he was frequently shunted to the fourth line with the likes of Jay Beagle and Tyler Motte.
The Mile High Hockey blog is trying to predict how the Avalanches’s blueline will look like the next season [Mile High Hockey].
It’s not very often that you see an NHL team trade away their best defender but that’s exactly what the Colorado Avalanche did this summer. On July 1st when most teams were focused on signing free agents, Joe Sakic was busy finishing off a blockbuster trade that saw Tyson Barrie traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s rare when a team trades away a player the calibre of Barrie. What’s even more rare is when they have a prospect as good as Cale Makar to fill the hole. Makar is going to be asked to step into some big shoes and while there are going to be growing pains, he gave enough evidence in last year’s playoffs that he’s ready for the job.
The Toronto Maple Leafs new acquisition Tyson Barrie is already negotiating his new contract [Sportsnet].
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ shiny new toy, Tyson Barrie, is reportedly searching for $8 million annually on his next contract.
That ask is far from outrageous when you consider the 27-year-old ranks sixth among all defencemen in scoring over the past two seasons and, generally, you should begin all negotiations by coming in high.
Colorado was never going to pay that.