If you would have told me last April that pending UFA defenseman Kris Russell would still be unsigned on September 7, I would have told you to give your head a shake. Well, I was wrong. September is here and Russell is still unemployed. Why? I do not know. The 29 year old lefty has tremendous value inside the NHL. Russell is not great at one thing or another, however, he checks all of the boxes in the essential defense qualitative categories.
Russell is tough. He blocks shots. He can play top four minutes. He can run a power play.
On February 29, 2016, Russell was traded to Dallas from Calgary for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock and 2016 2nd round pick.
Dallas opted not to re-sign the Medicine Hat Tigers alumnus when he played lack luster games for the Stars. In his brief stint in Dallas, Russell scored zero goals and notched just 4 assists in 11 regular season games while averaging 24:01 TOI. In 12 playoff games he also collected four assists and no goals while averaging 19:56 TOI.
Though he failed to create offense in Dallas he delivered 9 hits and had 36 blocked shots in 11 regular season games played. In 12 playoff games, Russell dished out 14 hits and blocked 24 shots.
In 51 games played before the trade to Dallas, Russell delivered 31 hits and blocked an eye popping 174 shots while scoring 4 goals and 11 assists. Russell averaged 22:52 in his final 51 games in Calgary.
In 2014-15, Russell scored 4 goals and 30 assists while leveling 61 hits and blocking 283 shots.
In 2013-14, Russell scored 7 goals and 22 assists while cranking out 42 hits and blocking 201 hits.
Russell is a Swiss army knife. He can play multiple roles and can be relied upon to make plays in all three zones on the ice. Analytics nerds don't speak highly of Russell because has a tendency to sometimes miss the net when he shoots and he turns pucks over which kills puck possession for his team. Russell is a ham and egger. His contributions to his team and their success cannot be measured with stats alone. He's a warrior who sacrifices his body for the betterment of the team. I see value in Russell's game. I know that NHL GMs see what I see in Russell.
TSN's Darren Dreger reported earlier this week that there are eight teams interested in signing Russell. Dreger would not disclose the eight teams, however, Leafs fans speculated that Russell could be/should be Toronto bound. It's plausible but not likely that Russel could land in Toronto.
Pure radio fodder. However, Russell is in serious discussions with 8 teams and is expected to sign before camp. https://t.co/8of8y6uhtd
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) September 6, 2016
I'm hearing that Russell is also being considered by Colorado, Buffalo, Calgary, New Jersey, and Arizona.
If Russell is in such high demand, why is he still sitting on the dock of the bay at his cottage?
Some observers say that Russell and his agent are patiently waiting for contending teams to clear the $3.5 to $4 million AAV in salary cap that will be needed to sign Russell.
There is another school of thought that Russell is holding out for a long term contract of three or more seasons. Perhaps teams interested in Russell are only interested in signing him for one or two years max.
There are currently 14 NHL teams that have more than $4 million in available salary cap space for 2016-17. There are 19 with more than $3 million in cap space at the moment. Russell’s 2015-16 salary was $2.6 million.
I'm thinking that Kris Russell is this summer's Cody Franson.
Last summer, Franson was UFA and was seeking a multi-year contract with a $5M to $5.5M AAV. NHL GMs kicked Franson's tires but never signed him. On September 10, 2015, when it appeared that there were no takers for Franson, Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray ponied up a two year contract to Franson.
Franson signed a 2 year / $6,650,000 contract with the Buffalo Sabres, including a $1,650,000 signing bonus, $6,650,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $3,325,000.
In 2016-17, Franson will earn a base salary of $2,000,000 and a signing bonus of $650,000. Franson has a cap hit of $3,325,000
Perhaps Tim Murray will swoop in and sign Russell to a similar contract as Franson's. Murray is still searching for a left shot D who can play in all situations. The Sabres have veteran Josh Gorges, younster Jake McCabe and recently acquired Dmitry Kulikov who are also lefties. Murray is looking for left shot depth. Adding Russell would allow Dan Bylsma to play McCabe with Rasmus Ristolainen on the top pair and Kulikov with Bogosian on the second unit. Russel can play on the third pair with Franson.