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Five Key Stories: 4/7/25 – 4/13/25

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The playoffs are almost upon us and we’re starting to see an uptick in activity around the hockey world, particularly on the signing front.  Several contracts are highlighted in our key stories.

Playoff Reinforcements? Several teams could be getting a boost to their late-season playoff push or for the postseason.  The Canadiens signed top prospect Ivan Demidov to an entry-level deal beginning this season.  The 19-year-old was the fifth pick back in June and had 49 points in 65 games with SKA St. Petersburg, who released him to accommodate the move.  SKA also released defenseman Alexander Nikishin, permitting him to join Carolina right away on an entry-level pact.  The 23-year-old has been viewed as the top defenseman outside the NHL for a few seasons now; he had his third straight year of at least 46 points this season.  Meanwhile, the Wild will add a top college defender to the mix, inking Zeev Buium to an entry-level deal that starts right away.  Buium, the 12th pick last June, collected 98 points in 83 games at the University of Denver in the last two years.  Lastly, the Avalanche could be getting some playoff help via a different route as captain Gabriel Landeskog has started a conditioning stint with AHL Colorado, getting into two games so far.  The Avs can’t activate him before the end of the season for cap reasons but this is a promising next step in Landeskog’s recovery; he hasn’t played since 2022.

Calling It A Career: A pair of players have announced their retirements but are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their career.  Veteran defenseman Alec Martinez revealed that Saturday was his final NHL game as he won’t suit up in Chicago’s final two contests.  The 37-year-old will hang up his skates with 862 career regular season appearances between Los Angeles, Vegas, and Chicago.  Martinez also won three Stanley Cup titles in 2012, 2014, and 2023.  On the opposite end is now-former Jets prospect Chaz Lucius.  He announced his retirement at the age of 21 following a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  Lucius was the 18th overall pick back in 2021 and his career ends with just 54 professional games, all at the AHL level.

Testing The Market: Canucks winger Brock Boeser is no stranger to the rumor mill.  After rejecting an extension offer believed to be worth five years and $40MM earlier in the season, he was in plenty of trade speculation but ultimately stayed at the trade deadline.  However, it doesn’t appear as if the extra time in Vancouver will help get a deal done as the 28-year-old indicated that it’s unlikely that he’ll return to the Canucks next season.  Boeser had a breakout effort last season, notching 40 goals and 33 assists, setting the stage for that extension offer from management.  But he hasn’t produced at a similar level this year, collecting 25 goals and 24 assists, numbers that are closer to his normal year-to-year output.  But even with the down performance this season, Boeser projects to be one of the top unrestricted free agents this summer which will have him well-positioned to benefit from the big jump coming to the salary cap.

Top Prospect Not Signing: For a while now, it was expected that the Lightning would sign prospect winger Isaac Howard knowing that it might have to wait until late in the year when they had the cap space to do so.  However, the two sides are not on the same page regarding Howard’s future so the 2022 first-round pick has decided to return to Michigan State next season.  The 21-year-old had a dominant year for the Spartans, notching 26 goals and 26 assists in 37 games, earning him the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s Player of the Year.  Now, Tampa Bay will have to decide if they want to try to sign him next season when he’ll be months away from being able to test unrestricted free agency or if they’d be better off trading his rights in the coming months.

Hockey World Loses Three: It was a tough week in the hockey world as two long-time NHL fixtures passed away.  First, Greg Millen died at the age of 67.  A 14-year NHL goaltender, Millen played in over 600 games across six different teams before beginning a broadcasting career that spanned more than three decades, spending time with Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary while being on Hockey Night in Canada for nearly 30 years.  Just two days later, long-time NHL executive Ray Shero passed at the age of 62.  Shero was the former GM of Pittsburgh and New Jersey and had been working for an NHL team for every year but one since 1993.  Shero had been with Minnesota as a senior advisor for the past four seasons.  Lastly, former Toronto GM Gerry McNamara passed away at the age of 90.  He served as the GM for them for eight seasons after spending six previous campaigns with them in a scouting capacity.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.

Latest On Edmonton Oilers Injuries

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Teams around the NHL received long lists of injury updates headed into the weekend. None were more important than for the Edmonton Oilers, who learned that Leon Draisaitl will return before the end of the regular season, head coach Kris Knoblauch told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic before Friday’s win over San Jose. Draisaitl has missed Edmonton’s last four games with an undisclosed injury. Knoblauch also shared that goaltender Stuart Skinner will return to start two of the team’s last four games, that defenseman Mattias Ekholm is back to full health, and forward Trent Frederic might not be ready for the first game of the postseason. Nugent-Bowman also shared that defenseman Jake Walman would continue to sit out on Friday, but is expected to return in one of the team’s back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday.

Both Ekholm and Skinner rejoined the lineup on Friday night after missing Edmonton’s last seven games. Ekholm’s injury wasn’t disclosed but Skinner had sustained a head injury on a collision with Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen in late March. Skinner served as the backup in his return, but Ekholm wasn’t as lucky. He stumbled a few times in his first few shifts and eventually left the game after just two minutes of total ice time. Winger Zach Hyman also left the game early, after just seven minutes of ice time. It wasn’t entirely clear where either Oilers skater was hurt. Knoblauch told Nugent-Bowman after the game that both Ekholm and Hyman will be questionable for game one of the playoffs.

No injury updates were provided about center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has missed the last two games with illness, or defenseman John Klingberg, who has missed the last seven games with a lower-body injury. Knoblauch did add that forward Evander Kane, who hasn’t played this season due to multiple surgeries, still does not have a clear timeline.

The wave of injury updates come at the right time for the Oilers. They have three games remaining in their season and a cushy role as the third-ranked Pacific Division squad all-but-locked up. The Oilers appear to be headed for a feud with the Los Angeles Kings in round one, and will need their offensive firepower to get over the defense that’s allowed the second-fewest goals in the Western Conference.

Draisaitl’s addition will go a long way towards achieving that goal. He’s among the top favorites for the Hart Trophy this season, after amassing 52 goals and 106 points in just 71 games. His scoring average puts him on pace for 122 points in 82 games – just shy of the career-high 128 points he recorded in the 2022-23 season. Draisaitl has performed at a superstar level once again this season, and getting a chance to return before the postseason kicks off should help him get back up to star speed before Edmonton’s must-win games.

Draisaitl will help pull the Oilers offense forward while Walman looks to assume a major role on defense. Ekholm leaves a top-pair role and over 22 minutes of ice time each game up for grabs, and Walman will be the primary beneficiary when he’s ready to return. The Trade Deadline acquisition has posted a fantastic eight points, six penalty minutes, and plus-five in 15 games with the Oilers, while averaging more than 21 minutes a game. He’s become an adequate support for top left-defender Darnell Nurse, and together the two will look to split Edmonton’s top role on the left-side. Ekholm will join the duo when he’s back to full health, giving the Oilers one of their deepest blue-lines headed into the postseason in recent memory.

That boost will help make up for blows to Edmonton’s complimentary cast. Hyman has continued to stand as a top scorer on the lineup with 27 goals – second-most on the team – and 44 points in 73 games this season. He’s once again dominating the net-front, a role that Edmonton has struggled to fill in his absence. That role could be managed by Trade Deadline buy Trent Frederic, though he’s only been healthy for one game since Edmonton sent a second-round and fourth-round draft pick to Boston for the centerman. His return will likely line up closely with Hyman’s, effectively defaulting Frederic to a role in Edmonton’s bottom-six – where he’ll look to carve out a role on the back of his size, 15 points in 58 games, and underperforming 10.3 shooting percentage this season.

Edmonton’s skaters will collectively look to bolster the product in front of starting goaltender Stuart Skinner, who has again struggled with consistency this season. Skinner has two shutouts on the year, but a .894 save percentage and 24-18-4 record through 48 starts. He’s been ever-so-slightly outperformed by backup Calvin Pickard in his absence, though Pickard’s 22-9-1 record and .902 save percentage don’t jump off the page either. Goaltending has been Edmonton’s achilles heel in past postseasons, and how Skinner is able to return from injury could go a long way towards shaping their playoff hopes. The Oilers will be looking to run all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals in due time, after they lost in game seven of the Finals to the Florida Panthers last season.

Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Senators Recall Hayden Hodgson

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled enforcer Hayden Hodgson from the minor leagues. It is his first call-up this season. Hodgson has amassed 156 penalty minutes in 43 AHL games this season, good for most on the Belleville Senators and second-most in the entire league. He will play in the eighth NHL game of his career, and his first with the Senators, on Friday night.

Hodgson is on the tail end of his first season in the Senators organization. He’s added three goals and 11 points to his lofty penalty minutes, putting him just shy of the scoring pace that earned him 16 points in 49 games last season. But Hodgson’s penalty minutes are a career-high, blowing out his previous high of 116 PIMs recorded in 49 games last season.

Hodgson has worked his way into a full-time role in the AHL over the last four seasons, but he’s made a full turn towards bruiser as of late. He earned an AHL deal in the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2021-22 season, after spending four seasons in the ECHL – and part of one in Slovakia’s Extraliga. Hodgson proceeded to have what appeared to be a breakout season. He scored 19 goals and 31 points in 46 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and stayed true to his style with 70 PIMs. That scoring earned him the first six games of his NHL career in the same year, and Hodgson recorded a modest three points and 11 PIMs. But his scoring saw a spike in 2022-23 – after he posted eight points and 83 PIMs in 44 games. He earned one more NHL appearance but didn’t manage any stat changes – before moving to the Ontario Reign last season and Belleville this year.

Friday’s game will mark Hodgson’s first chance at NHL minutes in two years. He’s a burly six-foot-two, 221-pounds and is often a safe bet to earn at least one penalty per game.

Kyle Dubas Named Team Canada GM For 2025 World Championship

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Hockey Canada has announced that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas will fill their role of general manager for the upcoming World Championship. The tournament is set to take place from May 9th to May 25th in Sweden and Denmark. Dubas will be supported by former Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf and Team Canada’s senior vice president of hockey operations Scott Salmond.

The management team will be joined in their evaluation of NHL talent by a selection committee featuring four NHL executives and former players. They are Dennis Bonvie (Boston Bruins Director of Professional Scouting), Gregory Campbell (Florida Panthers assistant general manager), Andrew Cogliano (Colorado Avalanche special assistant), and Jason Spezza (Penguins assistant general manager). The management team and selection committee were selected by Doug Armstrong, executive director of Canada’s National Men’s team.

Much of the management team was also part of Team Canada’s gold medal win at the recent 4-Nations Face-Off tournament, the first in-season international competition featuring NHL talent since 2014. The winning Canadian squad was dominated by talent headed for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Only Sidney Crosby, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim will be available to return to the World Championship lineup when the 2024-25 season ends. Additional players could become eligible as teams are eliminated from the postseason. Crosby notably hasn’t taken part in a World Championship since 2015, when he scored 11 points in nine games while captaining Canada.

Dubas and his team will begin making decisions on their coaching staff and roster immediately, with a full announcement expected in the coming weeks. Canada kicks off the tournament with an early morning game against Team Slovenia on May 10th.

Capitals Sign Patrick Thomas To Entry-Level Contract

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The Washington Capitals have signed forward Patrick Thomas to a three-year, entry-level contract, per a team release. The contract is slated to begin next season.

The team’s fourth round selection in the 2023 draft, Thomas, 20, spent the last four seasons in the OHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs. This past season he served as team captain and lit up the stat sheets to the tune of 27 goals and 104 points in 66 games. His 104 points placed him fifth in league scoring, while his 77 assists placed first overall. The six-foot, 178-pound forward finishes his OHL career averaging exactly a point-per-game (253/253). Thomas, a left-shooting center, added 28 points in 36-career playoff contests in the OHL, including seven points this season. He finishes his time with the Bulldogs with a plus-61 rating (including playoffs).

Thomas’ contract carries an average annual value of $878,333 at the NHL level and $82,500 in the AHL. It will be interesting to see where Thomas starts the 2025-26 season. If he builds upon his success from his last year in junior hockey and perform well during training camp, he could make a push for a spot in Washington. However, a start in the AHL seems like a logical landing spot to start his professional career.

Lauded for his high hockey IQ and passing abilities, Thomas joins former Boston College forward and fellow Caps prospect Ryan Leonard in recently signing with the team. Selected eighth overall by Washington in 2023, Leonard spent the last two seasons in the NCAA before agreeing to a three-year, entry-level deal with Washington on March 31. However, Leonard, also 20, has already started his career in the NHL, appearing in four games and registering his first career goal since signing his deal just nine days ago.

Ducks Sign Carey Terrance To Entry-Level Contract

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The Anaheim Ducks have signed 2023 second-round draft pick Carey Terrance to a three-year, entry-level contract set to begin in the 2025-26 season. Terrance has spent this season captaining the OHL’s Erie Otters, who are about to take on the London Knights in the OHL Playoffs. Terrance is expected to participate in that series at some point, though he’s working his way back from a scary upper-body injury sustained on February 14th. Terrance and star 2025 NHL Draft prospect Matthew Schaefer are currently participating in Erie’s practices in no-contact jerseys ahead of round two.

Terrance seemed to have a strong step on the season prior to his injury. He had scored 20 goals and 39 points in 45 games, just shy of the scoring pace that led him to 52 points in 56 games last year. But his step back in scoring lined up with a clear improvement in his defensive game. Terrance looked far more comfortable in commanding the center role this season, and provided the safety-net and defensive-zone control needed to let aggressive offensive pieces like Sam Alfano, Malcolm Spence, and Schaefer drive down the ice. Anaheim certainly wanted to lean into those traits when they selected Terrance with the 59th-overall pick in 2023. He scored an impressive 30 goals and 47 points in 67 OHL games – and nine points in eight games with the U.S. NTDP – that season, showing clear upside as a forechecker with a snappy wrist shot.

Two seasons later, Terrance has rounded out those attributes while maintaining his strong goal-scoring. He’ll look to return hot for the Otters in a win-or-go-home playoff series against the top team in the OHL. Should the series go downhill, Terrance would be eligible to make his AHL debut without burning a year of his entry-level contract.

Afternoon Notes: Seguin, Orlov, Hutson, Ostman

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The Dallas Stars may take inspiration from their Central Division rival, the Colorado Avalanche, when it comes to easing a star player back into the lineup. Head coach Pete DeBoer shared that the team is deciding whether or not to place winger Tyler Seguin on an AHL conditioning loan as he eases his way back from a hip injury, per Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports. Seguin has missed Dallas’ last 55 games with injury. He is expected to be back to full health in time for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but may not be up to full speed in time to contribute to must-win games. Colorado recently assigned team captain Gabriel Landeskog to an AHL conditioning loan. Neither Seguin nor Landeskog have played any AHL games in their careers.

Seguin was a major piece of the Stars lineup at the beginning of the season. He scored nine goals and 20 points in 19 games to start the year, good for third on the team in points and fourth in goals at the time of his injury. It was an offensive explosion for Seguin, who has struggled to cross the 50-point mark in each of his last four healthy seasons. Regardless of a minor-league conditioning stint, Seguin will soon return to a very different Stars lineup – with feisty youngster Logan Stankoven replaced by high-upside veterans Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund. Adding another flashy winger to that mix could make Dallas a sneaky favorite to win games this postseason.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov is set to hit unrestricted free agency this season, and seems unlikely to receive a confident extension from the cap-strapped Hurricanes. Speculation has connected Orlov to his native KHL for much of the season, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dispelled those rumors in his recent 32 Thoughts article. Orlov is instead expected to stick in the NHL, where he’ll no doubt get plenty of attention from needy teams this summer. Orlov fills a premium, well-rounded role in Carolina. He has scored six goals and 26 points in 71 games this season, averages 20 minutes of ice time each game, and leads the Hurricanes defense with 97 hits. Those marks fall closely in line with how Orlov has performed throughout his 13-year career in the NHL – maintaining the role of well-rounded bruiser through tenures with the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins. Orlov signed a two-year contract with Carolina in the summer of 2023 – his first time entering unrestricted free agency.
  • Friedman also reported that there’s plenty of Western Conference interest in Boston University forward Quinn Hutson, with the end of his collegiate career in sight. Hutson has been a major contributor to the Terriers offense over the last three seasons. His scoring has improved in every year – growing from 28 points, to 36, and to 50 this year. Those improvements have been coupled with clear growth in his game. He’s become a stronger skater and more confident in finding space in the middle of the ice. Those improvements – and his scoring track record – lend themselves to clear pro upside. Hutson, who had a late start to his juniors career, went undrafted through the 2020, 2021, and 2022 NHL drafts. With this news, a team could soon reverse their mistake in looking past him and award the third of four Hutson brothers with his pro hockey debut.
  • Finally, the Seattle Kraken have reassigned goaltender Victor Ostman to the minor leagues. Ostman made his NHL debut in relief of Joey Daccord on Tuesday, after the latter allowed seven goals on 22 shots through the first two periods. Ostman saved all 12 of the shots he faced in relief. The 24-year-old netminder is playing through his first season of professional hockey, after spending the last four years at the University of Maine. He’s spent the bulk of the year in the ECHL, where he’s recorded a 21-7-4 record and .903 save percentage in 32 games. Ostman has also contributed a stout 2-1-1 record and .927 save percentage in four AHL games this season. He will head back to the AHL with this move, and could get a chance at plenty more ice time with a clean sheet in the NHL under his belt.

Oilers Expecting Healthy Lineup For Playoffs

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A laundry list of injuries has pulled the end of the Edmonton Oilers season into disarray. The bunch of inactive Oilers is led by superstars Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who has missed the team’s last two and eight games respectively. They’re joined by a seemingly endless list of impactful Oilers on the sideline – including starting goaltender Stuart Skinner (six missed games), top-four defensemen John Klingberg (five games) and Mattias Ekholm (six games), and freshly-injured top-six centerman Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. On top of that, Edmonton has only received one game out of Trade Deadline acquisition Trent Frederic, and continues to grapple with uncertainty around Evander Kane.

But with so much to bear through, Edmonton isn’t expecting the injuries to carry into the postseason. Head coach Kris Knoblauch shared in a Wednesday press conference that he expects to get “everybody” back from injury before the end of the season. He further specified that McDavid and Draisaitl will remain out on a day-to-day basis, up to a week. That timeframe puts the pair of superstars on track to return just ahead of Edmonton’s final games of the regular season, which take place on Monday April 14th and Wednesday April 16th.

The Oilers haven’t technically clinched a playoff spot just yet – but with a six-point advantage over the rest of the Pacific Division, a locked-in spot is a matter of when not if. That will make their half-strength run through the end of the season a bit easier to withstand, though the Oilers will still be icing an unprecedented lineup on Wednesday night. They’ll be without eight routine NHL players including Kane. That equates to $42.2MM in cap space that will be left on the shelf, as shared by Jason Gregor of Sports 1440.

The decimated Oilers will move forward with rookies Noah Philp and Olivier Rodrigue respectively filling the role of fourth-line center and backup goaltender. Second-year defenseman Ty Emberson will also stick in the Oilers lineup with this news, giving him a chance to continue the search for his first goal of the season. Emberson has 10 assists in 71 games this season, while Philp has recorded two assists in the first 12 games of his NHL career this year. Rodrigue has also played in the first two games of his NHL career this season, and has 25 saves on 29 shots (0.862 save percentage) and a 0-1-0 record.

Together, the trio of young additions will look to push Edmonton past a hard-nosed St. Louis Blues team, fresh off the end of a 12-game win-streak, on Wednesday night. They’ll be rewarded with a lighter game against the San Jose Sharks on Friday, but then close the year with matchups against the top-ranked Winnipeg Jets, playoff competition Los Angeles Kings, and another match against San Jose.

Evgeny Kuznetsov’s KHL Contract Terminated

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Ex-NHL staple Evgeny Kuznetsov has mutually terminated his contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL today, per a team announcement. The player and team agreed to part ways despite Kuznetsov signing a four-year deal with the club last summer. He put up 12 goals and 37 points in 39 games and led the team in points-per-game.

His return to Russia came after 11 years in the NHL. As a staple for the Washington Capitals, Kuznetsov put up 568 points for the team in 723 games. He added 73 points in 97 playoff games for Washington, including an incredible 32 points on their way to securing the Stanley Cup in 2018. As recent as the 2021-22 season, “Kuzy” put up nearly a point-per-game (78 points in 79 games). It was a rapid decline from that point on, and last season Washington dumped the last year and a half of his $7.8MM cap-hit contract on the Hurricanes at 50% retention in a deadline deal.

Before being traded to Carolina, Kuznetsov spent time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and was placed on waivers, but no team claimed the full remainder of his contract. After appearing in just 20 games for the Canes, he had his contract terminated and became an unrestricted free agent, setting the stage for his return to his home country.

The news of Kuznetsov’s departure from his most recent contract comes on the same day that ex-teammate Ivan Demidov signed his three-year, entry-level deal with the Montreal Canadiens. Kuznetsov served as a De facto mentor for the young Demidov this season, and it will be interesting to see if he follows his fellow countryman back to North America for the return to the NHL.

At just 32, Kuznetsov may still have more left in the tank, especially after noting to Russian news outlet Sport-Express that he has learned how to better manage his rheumatoid arthritis that impacted his performance last season.

Kraken Sign Nathan Villeneuve To Entry-Level Contract

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The Seattle Kraken are formally bringing one of their higher-round selections from the 2024 NHL Draft to the organization. According to a team announcement, the Kraken have signed Nathan Villeneuve to a three-year entry-level contract.

Seattle selected Villeneuve with the 63rd overall pick of last summer’s draft. He had just concluded his sophomore campaign with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, scoring 23 goals and 27 assists in 50 games with a +10 rating.

This year has been a bit more of a mixed bag. He did improve his offensive output, scoring 34 goals and 70 points in 57 games, but he took far more penalties than at any point in his playing career. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with 120 PIMs, the third-highest of any player in the OHL.

Still, that primarily came from Villeneuve’s physicality and high pace of play. He’s an aggressive forechecker and was known as a pest by opponents during his major junior career. He’ll want to clean up many of those penalties should he have a future in the NHL, but he’s starting with an impressively high motor.

Villeneuve will likely finish the 2024-25 campaign playing on an amateur tryout agreement with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Firebirds have already clinched a position in the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs and will look to qualify for the Calder Cup Final for a third consecutive year.

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