Joakim Nordstrom signs for league minimum in Calgary as free-agent market remains unforgiving for players

One of the regulars on Boston's checking line and penalty-kill unit over the last few seasons is heading north of the border, as Joakim Nordstrom signed a one-year contract with the Calgary Flames on Monday afternoon. The deal is for the league minimum of $700,000.

Nordstrom, who signed a two-year, $2 million contract with Boston back in July 2018, was a versatile piece in Boston’s bottom-six corps, even earning a few reps in the top six during the 2018-19 season. During Boston's run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, the 28-year-old forward recorded eight points (three goals, five assists) over 22 postseason outings.

Offseason surgeries, lingering ailments and other setbacks (an allergy-related condition kept him off the ice for a few games in February) limited some of Nordstrom's effectiveness in 2019-20, but the Swede was still regularly tasked with eating up PK minutes — leading all B's forwards last season with 1:46 of shorthanded TOI per game.

Monday's news doesn't come as much of a surprise, given that Don Sweeney noted ahead of the start of free agency that the Bruins would likely be moving in a different direction in 2021 and beyond.

“We’ve had a talk with Joakim Nordstrom that it may be challenging for us as well, have had good communication with (agent) J.P. (Barry) on that front," Sweeney said. "But I made sure that I spoke with him, that I wasn’t going to be aggressive in trying to sign him for the short term. It didn’t mean we wouldn’t consider it, but I wanted to make sure he had an early heads up.”

Moving forward, Boston has a number of options it can turn to when it comes to replacing Nordstrom — headlined by



current NHLers in Par Lindholm and Greg McKegg, who signed a one-year contract with Boston last week. Further down the pipeline, don't be surprised if AHL talent like Trent Frederic, Cameron Hughes and Anton Blidh also find themselves in the mix for reps on a north-south forward trio headlined by Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner.

Nordstrom signing elsewhere isn't going to steal many headlines, but the optics of yet another veteran signing for likely below their projected value (league minimum here) is another telling sign of the brutal reality of this free-agent market and the impact that this flat salary cap has had on teams hesitant to open up their wallets. Granted, yes, it wasn't looking like Nordstrom was going to break the bank this offseason had the salary cap limit increased as expected before COVID-19 hit, but he's been far from the only UFA forced to make some fiscal concessions this fall.

"I think the squeeze is there, regardless of whether or not you want to start at the top, bottom or middle," Sweeney said on Saturday. "I think every player and every team is being affected. I think when the flat cap is announced for this year and the subsequent years moving forward, we knew there was going to be a squeeze. Player movement at times indicate that teams just have to loosen things up and other teams are not able to loosen things up. ... As far as the players that remain, some very, very good hockey players that will help some teams.

"May have to look at some different situations where it’s a re-platform. I saw players signed the other day with Ottawa that got a longer-term deal. And every player has to analyze themselves and where they fit in the marketplace and where they’re comfortable and with the conversation they have with the teams."

Currently, there are still a number of intriguing free agents still out on the market, with Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund, Travis Hamonic, Anthony Duclair, Erik Haula, Sami Vatanen, Andreas Athanasiou Ilya Kovalchuk, Corey Perry, Derick Brassard and others still looking to land contracts.

But even among the big names that signed within the first week of free agency, there were very few UFAs that struck gold in terms of either payout or term — perhaps other than the crown jewel of the Class of 2020 in Alex Pietrangelo (seven years, $8.8 million AAV with Vegas).

Many others haven't been as lucky.

Taylor Hall — One year, $8 million AAV in Buffalo
Torey Krug — Seven years, $6.5 million AAV in St. Louis (Evolving Hockey projected his new contract with an AAV of $7.28 million)
Evgenii Dadonov — Three years, $5 million AAV in Ottawa (Projected AAV of $6.68 million)
Tyson Barrie — One year, $3.75 million AAV in Edmonton (Projected AAV of $7.16 million)
Kevin Shattenkirk — Three years, $3.9 million AAV in Anaheim (Projected AAV of $5.13 million)
Craig Smith — Three years, $3.1 million AAV in Boston (Projected AAV of $4.74 million)
Tyler Toffoli — Four years, $4.25 million AAV in Montreal (Projected AAV of $5.99 million)


Across the league, UFAs are continuing to cash in at far below their projected value — or taking shorter deals in hopes of a better pay day in 2021 or beyond (a risky move, considering there's a good chance revenues don't spike upwards next season and the cap remains flat.)

Add in the fact that there's not a lot of available capital left among teams looking to bring aboard talent, and this stagnant market could get considerably worse for players as we progress through the fall.

Currently, there are only nine teams with over $10 million in available cap space, with a number of those clubs still needing to re-up RFAs and commit to other in-house moves before adding talent from outside of their respective organizations.

For a team like Boston (currently with around $6.65 million in cap space — most of which will likely be committed to Jake DeBrusk), waiting things out might be the best course of action when it comes to parsing through what's left of the free-agent market, considering a number of targets could be available for bargain prices the longer they remain unsigned over the coming months.