{"id":374421,"date":"2025-12-26T03:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T03:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/374421\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T03:20:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T03:20:16","slug":"kraken-player-development-blackhawks-bad-contracts-flyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/374421\/","title":{"rendered":"Kraken, Player Development, Blackhawks, Bad Contracts, Flyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include which of Seattle\u2019s pending UFAs could be on the move, if some Chicago prospects could join the team this season, and more.\u00a0 If your question doesn\u2019t appear here, check back in our last two mailbag<\/a> columns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

yeasties: The Kraken appear to be positioned well to be a deadline seller. Assuming they sputter out and become sellers, which of their pending UFAs do you think will be dealt and who will be kept and extended?<\/p>\n

For those who aren\u2019t too familiar with Seattle\u2019s pending UFA list, it\u2019s quite a big one, even after they moved<\/a> Mason Marchment<\/a> to Columbus on Friday before the roster freeze.\u00a0 Up front, they have Jaden Schwartz<\/a>, Jordan Eberle<\/a>, and Eeli Tolvanen<\/a> all set to hit the market in July.\u00a0 They also have Jamie Oleksiak<\/a> on the back end and since goaltender Matt Murray<\/a> has been in the NHL all season, I\u2019ll give him a mention here as well although I wouldn\u2019t be shocked if he doesn\u2019t get re-signed or traded by the early-March trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Oleksiak is the one I\u2019m most confident in saying will be moved.\u00a0 His role on the depth chart has been reduced and it\u2019s hard to imagine they\u2019ll want to sign him to another multi-year deal around this price point.\u00a0 On the other hand, teams want big defensemen with some snarl at the deadline and Oleksiak provides that.\u00a0 Despite being in the midst of a down year, I expect they\u2019ll get a strong market for his services.<\/p>\n

Up front, I\u2019d put Schwartz as the most likely to be dealt.\u00a0 He has had some good moments when healthy (including this season) but he can\u2019t stay healthy.\u00a0 However, with salary retention, some contender will want him as a middle-six upgrade to bolster their offensive depth and maybe play on the power play.\u00a0 On the flip side, I think Eberle stays.\u00a0 Yes, he could go be a middle-six player somewhere but I think they\u2019ll want to keep him around, assuming a reasonable extension could be worked out.<\/p>\n

I could see Seattle taking a run at re-signing Tolvanen.\u00a0 He isn\u2019t having a great year so maybe they look to try to get him at a lower-market rate.\u00a0 Failing that, he still has enough of a track record that there should be some teams that like him as more of a depth addition.<\/p>\n

frozenaquatic: I hear a lot about prospect development with how bad the team I root for (the Rangers) is at it. I had heard that Tanner Glass and Jed Ortmeyer, two plugs, were in charge of \u201cplayer development,\u201d but saw some folks talking about how that just meant they were in charge of making sure prospects had proper housing and resources to financial management and things like that, and that they weren\u2019t really coaches. I always hear the refrain that the \u201cNHL isn\u2019t a development league\u201d in the sense that coaches aren\u2019t expected to coddle young players (unless they\u2019re in a full rebuild). <\/p>\n

My question is: if a team has \u201cbad player development,\u201d is that more on the Department of Player Development, the scouts, the AHL coaches? Maybe even the skills coach? Let\u2019s say, for instance, the Rangers wanted to get better at \u201cplayer development\u201d overall. Would that be an overhaul of the scouting department to look for different baseline skills in players? Or something else? I\u2019m thinking of how Laf, Kakko, Kravtsov, Andersson, etc all panned out\u2013is that just horrible scouting, terrible luck, or the mysterious player development?<\/p>\n

In recent years, it feels like a lot of teams are adding Player Development coaches.\u00a0 But most of the time, those are recently retired players.\u00a0 It feels like these positions are created to give them a chance to see if a coaching position is something they might be interested in.\u00a0 Meanwhile, they get to relay some pointers to the prospects and help them along.\u00a0 From a starting point, that\u2019s not a bad thing to have and it does allow those former players to slowly improve those coaching skills.\u00a0 Ideally, you might want to have someone (or more) who can work on more specialized training for each player to maximize those efforts but Glass and Ortmeyer can certainly be part of a quality department.<\/p>\n

As for where the blame might lie when it comes to a lack of proper player development, there\u2019s plenty to go around.\u00a0 The scouts may have misread the projectability of certain skills although I won\u2019t critique them for the first two on that list as they were largely consensus picks at where they were selected.\u00a0 Did the Player Development department work enough with the players?\u00a0 I\u2019d lump the skills coaches into that area in terms of coming up with the proper training regimens.\u00a0 Then you have the coaching staffs at both the AHL and NHL levels.\u00a0 Yes, the NHL is not a development league in theory but the reality is, a lot of development does happen at the top level.\u00a0 Some of it also has to fall on the players.\u00a0 Some train better than others over the offseason, some are more dedicated to the finer points of development.\u00a0 I\u2019m speaking generally here, not talking specifically about any of the players you listed.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no simple fix or overhaul here.\u00a0 Scouts can be evaluated based on their reports; did those players progress over time?\u00a0 Keep the best ones and if there are some who haven\u2019t been as strong, then you could look to make a change.\u00a0 The same goes in the development department (more teams seem to be drifting toward adding more people rather than changing some) and with the coaching staffs although they have to balance winning and development at the same time.\u00a0 In a perfect world, it\u2019s probably a slow build over making a bunch of changes all at once.<\/p>\n

Unclemike1526: Do you know when the KHL and SHL seasons end? Frondell will definitely be here after that and depending on whether the Hawks still have a shot at the Playoffs and could play more than 10 games and burn his 1st year of his ELC. Kantserov is not eligible for an ELC but hopefully comes over here and could help also. I doubt the Hawks will let Frondell play more than 10 games if they\u2019re out of it entirely. They could use his size either on the wing or even at C. What do you think?<\/p>\n

The KHL regular season ends on March 20th while the SHL ends on March 14th.\u00a0 Also worth noting, last year, the KHL playoffs ended on May 21st and the SHL ended on May 1st.<\/p>\n

Chicago has fallen off a bit since the callout for questions and are now hovering near the bottom of the league and don\u2019t have Connor Bedard<\/a>.\u00a0 As things stand, I don\u2019t think the playoffs are a realistic possibility.\u00a0 However, there\u2019s an outside shot that Anton Frondell<\/a> could get in a game or two depending on how Djurgardens fares in the playoffs.\u00a0 There probably won\u2019t be more than ten games left by then so they\u2019re not at risk of burning a year of his entry-level deal.<\/p>\n

Roman Kantersov<\/a> is actually eligible for an entry-level contract as he\u2019s only 21.\u00a0 It will just be a two-year pact instead of three.\u00a0 But it might not matter anyway as Magnitogorsk is the top team in the league and likely heading for a long playoff run.\u00a0 If they went out early enough, it\u2019s possible they\u2019d sign him and burn a year now.\u00a0 They wouldn\u2019t want to do that but that might be needed to convince him to sign, knowing he could exit the entry-level restrictions a year earlier.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t expect that to come into play but we\u2019ll see what happens in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

tucsontoro: Brian \u2013 we\u2019re already hearing lots of chatter on who might be on the move. What do you consider the worst contracts in the league right now?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think the players on the worst contracts in the league are probably going to be on the move but let\u2019s go over some of the bad ones.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Huberdeau<\/a>\u2019s contract with Calgary has to be here.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I didn\u2019t hate the trade for the Flames at the time it was made.\u00a0 Getting what we thought was still a top-line winger and a strong defenseman wasn\u2019t a bad return for Matthew Tkachuk<\/a>.\u00a0 Of course, Huberdeau is being paid like his best year with Florida while producing about half of the points, making it a well-above-market deal.\u00a0 There\u2019s a temptation to put Elias Pettersson<\/a> here on the first year of his new contract but let\u2019s let the season play out and see how he fares as the undisputed top player in Vancouver now.<\/p>\n

On the back end, Darnell Nurse<\/a> is being paid as an elite two-way defender.\u00a0 He hasn\u2019t been that.\u00a0 Offensively, he\u2019s more of a third option with them needing to pay to bring in Jake Walman<\/a> to pick up some of the secondary slack since Nurse wasn\u2019t producing.\u00a0 Defensively, elite is not the word I would use.\u00a0 He\u2019s a serviceable top-four defender, sure, but not a number one like he\u2019s being paid as.\u00a0 On the lower end of the scale, Ryan Graves<\/a> started the season in the minors after clearing waivers and is now a sixth or seventh option on most nights.\u00a0 He still has three years left at $4.5MM and even if the Penguins retained the maximum 50%, there still wouldn\u2019t be a trade market for him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Now, since you referenced this question after mentioning chatter about players who could be on the move, I wanted to think of some bad contracts that could be dealt.\u00a0 One that comes to mind is Barclay Goodrow<\/a>.\u00a0 He\u2019s on an expiring deal at $3.64MM and is a fourth liner.\u00a0 However, he\u2019s the type of gritty role player some teams will covet and if there\u2019s one with a lot of cap space, I could see him moving.\u00a0 I\u2019m also wondering about Patrik Laine<\/a> ($8.7MM, pending UFA) in Montreal.\u00a0 Since they\u2019ve gone and added Alexandre Texier<\/a> and Phillip Danault<\/a>, is there a spot for him when the team is fully healthy?\u00a0 If not, it wouldn\u2019t shock me to see them try to move him with half retention to give him a chance to play down the stretch and help his case in free agency.\u00a0 The return would be minimal but after blowing through their remaining room to add Danault, clearing half of Laine\u2019s deal would give them some extra flexibility.<\/p>\n

Emoney123: What\u2019s the next move for Danny Briere? Seems Martone, Nesbitt, Luchanko, Bump, Barkey, and Bjarnason are a few years away and with only their own #1 pick this year, how does Briere keep the Flyers in the playoff hunt? Seen this before with big crash and burn late in the second half of the season. Rick Tocchet for Coach of the Year if the Flyers make playoffs?<\/p>\n

Right now, the next move is likely patience.\u00a0 At the moment, Philadelphia is right in the thick of the playoff race, one that no one seems to be making a push to run away with.\u00a0 It\u2019s great that they\u2019re in it right now but will they still be in the hunt at the Olympic break?\u00a0 I think that\u2019s going to be the decision point for a lot of teams as to whether to buy, sell, or largely stand pat and the Flyers should be one of those.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m being honest, I\u2019m not sold on them being a viable playoff threat.\u00a0 A bunch of overtime games have kept them in the mix which is fine but not necessarily sustainable over the course of a full season.\u00a0 Accordingly, my inclination is that they largely hold or sell a bit, depending on if they can get Christian Dvorak<\/a> signed to a contract extension or not in the new year.<\/p>\n

That said, you asked me about a playoff scenario so there are two buying scenarios I can think of.\u00a0 One I\u2019ve written about in an older mailbag column and that\u2019s one that sees them buying low on someone who could be around beyond the season.\u00a0 In other words, another Trevor Zegras<\/a> type of move where you\u2019re hoping a change of scenery gets them going while knowing that a futures payment is justifiable given that the player isn\u2019t a rental.\u00a0 That\u2019s still on the table.<\/p>\n

The other one is where they\u2019re a soft buyer and basically tell teams that they\u2019ll take a contract off their hands.\u00a0 With double retention off the table now, other buyers will need to move some bodies out to make the money work for other trades.\u00a0 This is a good spot for GM Daniel Briere to tell teams that they can facilitate one of those moves by taking an expiring contract back.\u00a0 Ideally, the player is a forward with a bit of offensive upside.\u00a0 Frankly, the Laine scenario I mentioned above feels like something worthwhile doing in this instance, flipping a minor leaguer or futures in return.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that doesn\u2019t jeopardize the future and sends a message to the players that they\u2019re not giving up.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the route I\u2019d probably go but if they\u2019re buying, I think it\u2019s going to be low-cost acquisitions that don\u2019t jeopardize the future.<\/p>\n

Black Ace57: Five years from now, do you think the Flyers are going to regret not bottoming out this year and some of the previous years? I don\u2019t see how they thread the needle on the lack of a 1C or 1D on this team without top-five picks.<\/p>\n

While getting a top pick is the best pathway to getting one of those players, sometimes they do go a little later in the draft.\u00a0 And, of course, some of the teams that have bottomed out completely haven\u2019t been able to thread the needle in terms of getting back to contention.\u00a0 It\u2019s clear that there are some franchises that have taken notice of that and acted accordingly and the Flyers appear to be one of those.<\/p>\n

Briere has assembled a quality group of prospects over his tenure and they have some extra picks coming in 2027 as well to try to further bolster that core.\u00a0 If things pan out, they should at least be able to get back to being a legitimate playoff contender for a while with some years of being a bigger threat along the way.\u00a0 That may not sound overly appealing but to ownership, consistent playoff revenue is great.<\/p>\n

So, from that standpoint, I don\u2019t think they will.\u00a0 When the decision is made to not completely bottom out in the hope of being more competitive a little quicker, you\u2019re taking the trade off of perhaps not getting as much of the upper-echelon prospects in exchange for more short-term playoff revenue if all goes well.\u00a0 I think it will go well so no, I can\u2019t see ownership regretting it and since they set the standard, the hockey operations staff are simply following their marching orders.\u00a0 With that in mind, Briere and company probably wouldn\u2019t be regretting things as well.<\/p>\n

noname617: Too bad the NHL All-Star break won\u2019t feature the same format as last year. What a wild success, I can\u2019t imagine anything coming as unique and competitive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the 4 Nations Face-Off but the Olympic tournament is going to feature most of the same players from that event in a best-on-best format.\u00a0 Sure, there are some weaker countries participating in the event which will result in some games that aren\u2019t quite as competitive but the semifinals could very well feature those countries in extremely meaningful games.\u00a0 Those should be great.<\/p>\n

The really sad time will be next year when we go back to the usual All-Star festivities in an exhibition game that a lot of them would rather not be in to begin with.\u00a0 We\u2019re really going to miss the best-on-best format in 2027.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include which of Seattle\u2019s pending UFAs could be on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[5,4,860,697],"class_list":{"0":"post-374421","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-phr-mailbag","11":"tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115783718000458993","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}