The Flyers intend to terminate Ryan Johansen’s contract, the Kraken signed Matty Beniers to a seven-year contract, concerns are raised over Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko’s readiness for this season, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: The Flyers announced Tuesday they were placing center Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract due to a “material breach.”
Johansen, 32, was acquired by the Flyers from the Colorado Avalanche on March 6. He was placed on waivers to be sent to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley. However, he missed the remainder of the season with a hip injury despite playing his final game with the Avs two days before the trade.
Philadelphia Flyers forward Ryan Johansen (NHL Images).
Kurt Overhardt, Johansen’s agent, released a statement claiming his client has a severe hockey injury and is scheduled for surgery. He indicated his client has been working “in good faith” with the club, its medical staff, and authorized third-party physicians.
Calling the Flyers’ move “disappointing,”, Overhardt stated he’s been in contact with the NHL Players’ Association to defend his client and his rights.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Johansen camp intends to contest the contract termination by filing a grievance. This will drag out for several weeks before a decision is reached.
THE TENNESSEAN: The Flyers’ termination of Johansen’s contract could create additional salary cap space for the Nashville Predators. They retained half his $8 million contract when they traded him to the Colorado Avalanche last summer.
Johansen is in the final year of his eight-year contract. If a mediator rules in favor of the Flyers, it will clear $4 million from the Predators’ books for 2024-25.
THE SEATTLE TIMES: The Kraken signed Matty Beniers to a seven-year, $50 million contract. Beniers, 21, was a restricted free agent. The average annual value is $7.142 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Beniers won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2022-23 with 24 goals and 57 points in 80 games, helping the Kraken reach the playoffs in their NHL second season. However, he followed up with a disappointing sophomore performance, netting 37 points in 77 games.
The Kraken are betting that Beniers’ 20-point slide last season was merely a blip in his development.
THE PROVINCE: Patrick Johnston reports the lack of offseason news about Thatcher Demko has raised media speculation over the health of the Vancouver Canucks goaltender,
Demko, 28, played in Game 1 of the Canucks’ first-round series before being sidelined by a lower-body injury. He missed the remainder of that series and the entirety of their second-round matchup with the Edmonton Oilers but was reportedly close to returning to action before that series ended.
On July 1, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin claimed Demko would be ready for training camp. However, CHEK-TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported Tuesday that the netminder is progressing but there’s no timetable for when he’ll be 100 percent healthy.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Johnston suggested the Canucks could end this speculation by publishing a statement about Demko’s health. Meanwhile, Dhaliwal speculated they might “continue to poke around the goalie market again” seeking insurance between the pipes.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said limited salary cap space was why his club opted not to match the offer sheets signed last week by Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway with the St. Louis Blues.
Bowman said the decision wasn’t reflective of Broberg and Holloway but rather concerns over the club’s short and long-term salary cap flexibility. The Oilers must ensure they have sufficient cap space to re-sign Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard next summer and Connor McDavid in 2026.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Over the weekend, the Oilers acquired winger Vasily Podkolzin from the Canucks and shipped defenseman Cody Ceci to San Jose for blueliner Ty Emberson. Those moves were to address the imminent departures of Broberg and Holloway.
SPORTSNET: Blues GM Doug Armstrong dismissed the belief that he wouldn’t have signed Broberg and Holloway to offer sheets if his friend Ken Holland remained as Oilers general manager.
Armstrong claimed that was the furthest from the truth. “Honestly, I’d do it to my mother if she was managing the Oilers.”
He also laughed off the notion that there was an agreement among general managers not to target each other’s players with offer sheets. “I’ve read what people are writing – if there is a GM code not to do offer sheets, nobody emailed it to me.” He added that offer sheets are a tool everyone uses, “and should use.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: General managers rarely share their true intentions about trades or player signings with friendly pundits. Most trades and free-agent signings take place that media insiders never see coming.
Offer sheet signings are few and far between in the salary cap era. Most general managers prefer not to use that tool as Armstrong suggests. There could be more efforts to go that route but restricted free agents seem to favor negotiating with their clubs.
TSN: At the same time it was confirmed the Oilers wouldn’t match the offer sheets for Broberg and Holloway, the Blues traded prospect defenseman Paul Fischer and a 2028 third-round pick to the Oilers for future considerations.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: The Golden Knights signed free-agent forward Tanner Pearson to a professional tryout offer. An 11-season NHL veteran, the 32-year-old winger had 13 points in 54 games last season with the Montreal Canadiens.
CBC.CA: Allan Andrews, the founder of Andrews Hockey School in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, passed away on Monday at age 83.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon. Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand, and former NHL star (and PEI native) Brad Richards are among the graduates of Andrews Hockey School.
Following the news of Andrews’ death, Crosby and Richards praised the impact he and his hockey school had on their lives and careers.
Andrews was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017 and inducted into the PEI Hall of Fame in 2021.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My sincere condolences to Andrews’ family, friends, colleagues, and the staff and alumni of his hockey school.