Donato is entering the final year of a two-year deal that pays him $1.9M AAV. With the addition of Nick Bjugstad and Kirill Kaprizov coming over from the KHL, Donato was going to be a fringe roster player in Minnesota. San Jose on the other hand, is in desperate need of some middle-6 wingers. Donato was solid in his 1.5 years in Minnesota, scoring 18 goals with 21 assists (39 points) in 84 games.
Sturm spent most of his first professional season in the AHL, where he was fifth on Iowa with 32 points (12G / 20A) in 55 games. With Eric Staal traded to Buffalo, Ryan Donato traded to San Jose and both Mikko Koivu and Alex Galchenyuk expected to hit free agency, the door is wide open for Sturm to play in the NHL full-time in 2021.
Spezza signed a one-year deal with the Maple Leafs prior to last season and registered 25 points (9G / 16A) in 58 games. That makes it three straight seasons where Spezza has failed to top 10 goals or 30 points. The 37-year-old will remain as a bottom-6 forward with limited usage in 2021.
Brown was acquired from the Panthers for a 2020 fourth-round pick last Friday and he will likely skate in the Senators' top-6 defensemen in 2021. The 26-year-old is a towering defenseman (6-foot-5, 217 lbs.) but offers very little in terms of offence--10 points (4G / 6A) in 93 career NHL games.
The Stars signed Sekera to a one-year deal last July and the veteran performed well enough to earn a two-year extension. The 34-year-old had two goals and six assists (eight points) in 57 games while ranking fourth among Stars defensemen in blocked shots (75) and sixth in hits (34).
The Blues selected Nolan Stevens in the fifth-round in 2016 and he has spent the first two years of his professional career in the AHL. In 2020, the 24-year-old had nine goals and 22 assists (31 points) in 50 games with San Antonio. Expect him to start 2021 with the Rampage.
Maatta has two-years left at $4.083 million but Chicago retained 18.37 percent of the deal, so he'll only cost the Kings $3.33M AAV. That makes him the Kings' second-highest paid defenseman for 2021. Maatta had four goals and 13 assists (17 points) in 65 games in 2020.
Morrison was originally a fourth-round pick of the Rangers in 2015 before turning pro in 2019 and signing with the Kings. In his first professional season, he had 20 points (10G / 10A) in 50 AHL games but spent all of 2020 in the ECHL, where he had six goals and 13 assists (19 points) in 17 games. This is more of a salary dump for Chicago--Maatta had two years left at $4.083M AAV but the Blackhawks will retain $750K per year.
Sherwood spent most of 2020 in the AHL, where he had 10 goals and three assists (13 points) in 43 games with Cleveland. He played in three games with Columbus but still has no points in five career NHL games. With so many players already under contract for 2021, Sherwood will likely start in the AHL.
Johansen was a first-round pick in 2016 and has spent the first three years of his professional career with Hershey (AHL). He missed almost all of 2020 with different injuries, picking up just two assists in nine games. Johansen has fallen behind Martin Fehérváry on the depth chart, so look for him to start 2021 in Hershey.
Grabner had one-year left on his three-year contract that carried a $3.35M AAV. The buyout will carry an $833K cap-hit in 2021 and $1.258M cap-hit in 2022. The 33-year-old, who had eight goals and three assists (11 points) in 46 games last year, is now an unrestricted free agent.
With Jarry getting re-signed that indicates that RFA Matt Murray may have played his last game with the Penguins. Jarry gets the three-year extension at a very reasonable cap-hit (24th among goalies for 2021) and will likely be backed up by Casey DeSmith next season. We could see a Murray trade on the draft floor on Tuesday or Wednesday. Jarry was 20-12-1 with a 2.43 GAA, .921 SV% and three shutouts in 2020.
Elliott was set to become an unrestricted free agent on October 9th but gets another one-year deal from the Flyers that retains him as Carter Hart's backup for at least another season. Elliott's cap-hit goes from $2.0M AAV to $1.5M AAV, leaving Philadelphia with roughly $4.8M in cap space (per PuckPedia). That's plenty to re-sign their only RFA Philippe Myers but doesn't leave them with much to spend to upgrade their roster in free agency.
Brossoit did not enjoy the same level of success in year two with the Jets but was solid enough to stay on as Connor Hellebuyck's backup for at least one more year. Brossoit went 6-7-1 with a 3.28 GAA and .895 SV% in 2020 and is now 19-13-3 with a 2.87 GAA and . 912 SV% in 40 career games (34 starts) with the Jets.
Malgin was a fourth-round pick of the Panthers in 2015 and was with the organization from 2017 to February of 2020 when he was dealt to Toronto. Upon his arrival in Ontario's Capital, Malgin had no points in eight games for the Maple Leafs. He still did enough to earn a one-year extension but given Toronto's depth, he could start 2021 in the AHL.
Brown was originally a sixth-round pick of the Panthers (2013) and worked his way into an NHL defenseman in 2020. Brown spent the whole season in Florida, where he played primarily as Keith Yandle's D-partner and scored three goals with five assists (eight points) in 56 games. At 6-foot-5, 217 lbs. Brown can be a physical force on the ice but had just 77 hits (to lead FLA defensemen) in 2020.
Oglevie was an undrafted free agent out of the University of Notre Dame, who has spent the last two season in the Sabres system with the Rochester Americans (AHL). This past season, the 25-year-old centre had 15 goals and 14 assists (29 points) in 55 games.
McNiven split 2020 between the ECHL and AHL and appears destined to start 2021 in the ECHL. He was 2-5-1 with a 4.16 GAA and .889 SV% in eight games with the Norfolk Admirals a season ago.
Jacobs was a second-round pick (No.41 overall) in 2014 and has played just three career NHL games since. The 24-year-old defenseman spent the majority of 2020 with the Binghamton Devils, where he was third on the team among defenseman with 15 points (5G / 10A) in 54 games.
One year after playing in 51 games with the Devils, Seney spent almost the entire 2020 campaign with Binghamton (AHL). The former sixth-round pick led the team in goals (19) and points (44) in 61 games. He has five goals and eight assists (13 points) in 53 career NHL games and will be a on the fringe of the Devils roster in 2021.
