Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for June 2025

Sabres Sign Jack Quinn To Two-Year Extension

at CDT | by 1 Comment

5:50 p.m.: Quinn’s deal will pay him $3.25MM in 2025-26 and $3.5MM in 2026-27 – all in base salary, according to PuckPedia. That means he has a $3.5MM qualifying offer due in 2027.

4:01 p.m.: The Buffalo Sabres have announced that winger Jack Quinn signed a two-year, $6.75MM extension with the club. Quinn was set to become a restricted free agent this summer. His new deal will carry an annual average value of $3.375MM.

Quinn will opt for the short-term bridge deal in his first free agent contract negotiations. He is coming off of his entry-level contract – a three-year, $5.3MM deal signed in the delay prior to the shortened 2021 season. Quinn played through the first 15 AHL games of his career that season and posted a stout nine points. He returned for a full season in the minors in 2021-22 and scored an impressive 26 goals and 61 points in just 45 games. His 1.36 points-per-game that season ranked third among AHLers with more than 15 games played, and earned Quinn the AHL Red Garrett Memorial ’Rookie of the Year’ Award.

The Sabres granted Quinn his NHL rookie season on the heels of his AHL breakout, and his impactful presence quickly translated. He scored 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games of the 2022-23 season, seventh-most among rookies that season. It was a hardy rookie year that ended with Quinn earning routine looks in Buffalo’s top-six. But his encore performance in 2023-24 failed to continue his hot run. Instead, he didn’t make his season debut until January after suffering an Achilles tendon injury that required surgery during the off-season. He scored a promising 19 points in 27 games – a 57-point pace across 82 games – when he did return, but the injury still left fans questioning.

Quinn bounced back to form and good health this season, but didn’t find the breakout some fans expected. He scored 15 goals and 39 points in 74 games – good for a new career-high but well short of the 50-point upside he flashed during his injured year. The fluctuation will likely earn Quinn a short-term bet on his next contract. He’ll now have a chance to prove his goal-scoring upside at the NHL level and earn a hardy payday in 2027 because of it. If he can’t, the Sabres will have an opportunity to get out from under a player who’s already borne through multiple injuries in his hockey career. Quinn is among the highest upside bets on the Sabres roster and boasts an impressive 97 points in 178 career games at the age of 23. He’ll be a player to watch closely on his new deal.

Trade Notes: Dobson, Marner, Karlsson, McBain

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The opening day of the 2025 NHL Draft got off to a quick start earlier today when the New York Islanders traded defenseman Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens for Emil Heineman and a pair of first-round picks. If the Islanders’ old General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, had it his way, Dobson would have already been wearing a different Canadian team’s uniform.

According to Arthur Staple, formerly of The Athletic, Lamoriello attempted to package Dobson with other pieces at last season’s trade deadline to acquire forward Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ultimately, likely due to Toronto’s disapproval at the time, no trade materialized between the two teams.

It stands to reason that the Islanders may have known Dobson was out of their price range on a long-term extension for some time, and the new administration faced similar issues as the last. At any rate, the Islanders now have approximately $21MM in cap space entering the offseason without a big-ticket extension on their horizon.

Other trade notes:

  • It’s a well-known fact that the Vegas Golden Knights are looking to trim their salary cap table so they can put together a legitimate pursuit for Marner. Still, it doesn’t appear that long-time forward William Karlsson will be a part of that exodus, as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that there’s little activity on the Karlsson trade front. The 11-year veteran is coming off an injury-riddled season and has two years left until he reaches unrestricted free agency, making him a difficult sell to other organizations.
  • According to Josh Yohe of The Athletic, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to capitalize on the lack of progress in contract negotiations between the Utah Mammoth and forward Jack McBain. Yohe indicated that McBain would be an ideal fit for the Penguins’ hole at third-line center, and his physicality and tertiary scoring ability are of great intrigue to General Manager Kyle Dubas.

Austin Market Interested In NHL Expansion Franchise

at CDT | by 12 Comments

The Austin, Texas market is among those interested in joining the next round of National Hockey League expansion, reports Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

The NHL recently began cautiously expanding beyond the 30-team norm it had maintained for most of the 2020s, following a 17-year hiatus since the introduction of the Blue Jackets and Wild into the league. Most anticipated that the recent additions of the Golden Knights (2017) and the Kraken (2021) would be enough to satiate new markets for a while.

Skyrocketing franchise valuations have more than tripled prospective expansion fees, to the point where the league has informed interested parties that they’re commanding a $2B payment for a 33rd franchise, per Seravalli. That’s four times more than the $500K Vegas paid for entry and a much more aggressive increase than the Kraken faced at a $650K expansion fee.

The league has already had early success venturing into a new market with the cobbled-together relocation and sale of the Arizona Coyotes, which has become the franchise now known as the Utah Mammoth. There has also been considerable public interest from an Atlanta-based group to become the NHL’s 33rd team, with the group requesting a formal expansion process last year. A second Atlanta-based group, led by Vernon Krause, is further ahead in the effort to bring the league back to Georgia and recently cleared a significant hurdle in building a new arena in Forsyth County.

An expansion into the Eastern Conference in Atlanta would presumably be coupled in near succession with a Western Conference market. That’s where Austin could come in, particularly if the Phoenix/Arizona market continues to struggle with constructing an NHL-ready arena to entice the league to return there. The league has remained adamant that it won’t actively solicit expansion bids or open a formal expansion process and is under no pressure to add teams. Still, it will consider compelling applications sent its way.

According to Seravalli, the league informed the Board of Governors this week that it has received legitimate expressions of interest from five markets: Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Indianapolis, and New Orleans. For Canadian fans hoping for an eighth NHL team north of the border, it still doesn’t appear that’s in the cards anytime soon.

Panthers Sign Sam Bennett To Eight-Year Extension

at CDT | by 16 Comments

The Florida Panthers have signed reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett to an eight-year, $64MM contract extension, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. The move was later confirmed by the Panthers. It will carry an annual-average-value of $8MM and carry Bennett through his age-37 season. The contract will also carry a no-movement clause through the first five years, and a no-trade clause through the final three years, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

After a postseason full of speculation as to where he’d land next, Bennett will stand by his word and re-sign with the Panthers. The deal clocks in at a cheaper price than many speculated he could receive on the open market, especially after leading the playoffs with 15 goals in 23 games. No other player scored more than 11 goals. Bennett was ferocious through every single game in Florida’s run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup win. Serving as the team’s top-line left-wing, Bennett earned 22 points in summer hockey, with many coming on the back of relentless play around the opponent’s net.

The postseason performance was the culmination of what many knew Bennett was capable of. He’s long served as an imposing, aggressive presence in the offensive end – capable of racking up just as many penalty minutes as he does points. He scored 14 points in 19 games of Florida’s Stanley Cup win last season, after netting 41 points and 100 penalty minutes during the regular season. That marked Bennett’s third-straight season reaching at least 40 points – a streak he maintained this season by posting a career-high 51 points in 76 games. He added 90 penalty minutes and a minus-15 to that stat line.

Bennett has now scored 20 goals and 40 points in three of the last four seasons. His only miss – the 2022-23 campaign – saw him net 16 goals and 40 points in just 63 games. He’s proven incredibly reliable ever since joining the Panthers via trade in the 2020-21 season. Florida acquired him from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Emil Heineman and a second-round pick ultimately used by Seattle to select David Goyette. Heineman was traded earlier today in Montreal’s acquisition of Noah Dobson.

Bennett scored 15 points in his first 10 games with the Panthers following his trade. In the years since, he’s combined for 95 goals and 196 points in 289 games – the fifth most on the Panthers behind Aleksander Barkov (332), Sam Reinhart (324), Carter Verhaeghe (254), and Matthew Tkachuk (254). Bennett has also totaled 59 points in 77 playoff games in Florida, fourth on the team behind Verhaeghe (76), Barkov (74), and Tkachuk (69).

This deal will likely carry Bennett through the end of his career in a Florida Panthers jersey. The Holland Landing, Ontario native originally began his NHL career with the Calgary Flames, who selected him fourth-overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. Bennett played through his rookie NHL season in the 2015-16 campaign and earned a hardy 18 goals and 36 points in 77 games. His stout performance was drowned out by a loaded 2015-16 rookie class – headlined by Artemi Panarin, Jack Eichel, and Connor McDavid. But Bennett showed he could do more than just score with a lofty 75 penalty minutes in 81 games of his sophomore season. With that performance, he fell into the rut of bruising middle-six center in Calgary – a role he would stick in until moving to the Panthers.

Florida has brought out the best of the best in Bennett, and been rewarded two Stanley Cups for their efforts. The 2024-25 season was undoubtedly the best in the 29-year-old’s NHL career – and interestingly ended with him serving as a utility tool more than a set-in center. Florida could expand that role as Bennett enters his 30s, especially with a measly 46.4 faceoff percentage over the last five seasons. Having a Swiss-army-knife locked up for the foreseeable future will be an invaluable piece for the Panthers, as they look to maintain their top-of-the-league presence for as long as possible.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

What Do The Golden Knights Have Planned This Summer?

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Vegas Golden Knights quietly exited the playoffs this year in the second round and didn’t make many waves around the NHL off the ice either. The traditionally flashy franchise has made a habit of making big splashes during summers and trade deadlines, but has been quiet for the last 12 months.

Vegas spent most of the past year re-signing current players to long-term deals, bringing in veteran depth players, and making a few smaller trades. It’s been very un-Vegas-like for a team that routinely acquires the most desirable players available, contrasting sharply with how they built the 2023 Stanley Cup Championship roster.

The Knights also have significant needs; they need help on the wing, preferably a winger with some speed. They are also in desperate need of a right-shot defenseman, as well as a backup goaltender, although that is a lower priority. Given all of that, it certainly feels as though something significant is brewing in Vegas, and this could be another summer where they make some major headlines.

This assumption is based solely on gut instinct and recent history, and it does not account for the complex challenges that Vegas is likely to face if it wants to make significant moves this summer. The Golden Knights have a very weak prospect pipeline and were ranked 22nd in the NHL back in January of this year when Scott Wheeler of The Athletic conducted his rankings. It also does not reflect their salary cap situation, which has them with only $5.615MM in cap space and four players to sign (as per PuckPedia).

Nor does it consider their lack of desirable draft capital, as Vegas will go without their first-round draft pick in the subsequent two NHL Entry Drafts. Therefore, their room for improvement is severely limited, and they are heading towards some leaner years soon, which suggests they will need to go all in very soon. This situation resembles those that long-time contenders have faced before. Both Pittsburgh and Chicago have exhausted their resources in pursuit of multiple Stanley Cups, as has Tampa Bay, which is nearing the end of its window and has been aggressive every year for the past five years.

The Golden Knights have been linked to top free agent forward Mitch Marner in the past, but they would face significant obstacles trying to sign him this summer. Marner earned just under $11MM last season, and it is doubtful he will take a pay cut this summer, which would remove Vegas from the conversation as currently constructed. However, Vegas has always seemed to find a way to get their man, bringing in players like Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl, and Noah Hanifin through trades and acquiring Alex Pietrangelo in free agency.

At the time of those transactions, they had room or were able to create space through salary cap maneuvers. With Marner, though, it would be another level of difficulty to fit him under the cap, requiring Vegas to shed multiple contracts and then fill their roster with players making the league minimum. Vegas likes Marner; however, the numbers don’t lie, and signing him would be extremely difficult, not impossible, but very challenging. While they do need a top-six forward, the cost on Marner could prevent Vegas from getting involved.

Vegas could try trading salary cap space to make room for a Marner-type signing. Still, much of their depth is already on reasonable contracts, and they might be sacrificing value by overpaying in free agency. William Karlsson could be a candidate for a trade, as he has two more years remaining on his deal at $5.9MM per season. However, he is an original Golden Knight and has a modified no-trade clause (10-team no-trade list). Trading the 32-year-old would free up cap space but would also create a roster gap that would need to be filled with cheaper depth.

The same logic applies to trading forward Nicolas Roy. Sure, he earns $3MM annually, but his contract offers good value, and trading him would only create another hole that’s hard to fill. Roy has two years remaining on his deal and has scored over 30 points in each of the last four seasons, consistently providing Vegas with value that’s tough to replace.

All of this is to say that Marner is probably not in the cards for Vegas. I would never bet definitively against the Golden Knights, given their track record of pulling rabbits out of their hat, but this one would be their biggest trick yet. However, Vegas could still land a big name through free agency, and that player is Nikolaj Ehlers, who would be a perfect fit for what Vegas needs on the wing.

Ehlers still has good speed and high hockey IQ, which would fit in nicely with the Golden Knights’ forward group. Ehlers is likely gone from Winnipeg, but his market will be robust, which could take Vegas out of the running unless they can find a way to move out some salary.

So, how exactly could the Golden Knights move out some salary? Well, there is only one actual seller on the market right now, and that appears to be the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, you might ask, why would the Penguins take on salary from Vegas? The answer is simple: they’ve done it before on multiple occasions.

The issue for Vegas is that they don’t really have any terrible contracts on their roster, and certainly none that they would pay a team like Pittsburgh to take off their hands. Vegas could move any contract on their books if they wanted to, and might have to make that difficult decision if they’re going to make changes.

Now, looping back to Pittsburgh, the Penguins have been linked to Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague, who is an RFA and is projected to earn $2.6MM on a two-year deal this summer (per AFP Analytics). His salary isn’t included in Vegas’s salary cap projections at this point, so simply trading Hague doesn’t resolve the Golden Knights’ cap issue for next year.

However, Hague could be moved for an asset or two, which could then be used in a bigger deal. Alternatively, suppose Vegas is looking for a right-shot defenceman. In that case, they might consider Penguins veteran Erik Karlsson, who is definitely on the trade block this summer and could come relatively cheaply for the Golden Knights, with his salary retained by the Penguins.

Shayna Goldman of The Athletic recently wrote about Karlsson, loosely linking the defenseman to the Golden Knights and citing the situation surrounding Vegas defenseman Pietrangelo and his injury. It is not yet known whether the Golden Knights will place the 35-year-old on LTIR, which would significantly alter the direction of their summer spending.

All of these options are likely on the table for Vegas, which can’t be happy with its early playoff exit and needs a bit of a facelift as it nears the end of its contention window.

Photo by Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Blue Jackets Acquire Charlie Coyle, Miles Wood From Avalanche

at CDT | by 28 Comments

The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired forwards Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for top prospect Gavin Brindley, a 2027 second-round pick, and a 2025 third-round pick, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal was first reported by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The deal has now been confirmed by Columbus. Colorado will clear out $7.75MM in cap space with this move.

Columbus will land a much-needed second-line center through this move. Coyle started the 2024-25 season with the Boston Bruins, but posted a very quiet 15 goals and 22 points in the 64 games leading up to the Trade Deadline. With a lost season on hand, the Bruins opted to move Coyle to the forward-needy Colorado Avalanche in exchange for centerman Casey Mittelstadt, prospect William Zellers, and a 2025 second-round draft pick. It was a lofty return, but Coyle made it worthwhile with a surge back to scoring heights. He recorded 13 points in 19 games with Colorado – an 82-game pace of 56 points. But Coyle fell surprisingly snake-bitten in the postseason, and managed just one goal in Colorado’s seven playoff games.

Coyle’s surge back to productivity is one Columbus will hope can stick. He was a focal point of the Bruins’ offense during his six full seasons with the club. He had dipped to 28 points in 60 games with the Minnesota Wild prior to a mid-season move to the Bruins. But after a red-hot postseason in Boston – 16 points in 24 games – Coyle found his groove with 16 goals and 37 points in 70 games of his first full year with the Bruins. His scoring took a hit during the shortened 2020-21 campaign, but he climbed back to success with 44 and 45 points in the following two years. He then broke out in a big way during the 2023-24 season, netting a career-high 25 goals and 60 assists in 82 games.

That performance made Coyle’s ice cold start to the 2024-25 season all the more confusing. But even through peaks and valleys on the box score, Coyle has stayed a consistent two-way feature of anywhere he’s landed. He has a bulky 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame and controls movements through both directions of the neutral zone with confidence. That kind of reliable veteran could be invaluable as Columbus looks to build out behind a top line of Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, and Kirill Marchenko.

Just as valuable will be the gritty, veteran depth that Colorado adds in the form of Miles Wood. The 29-year-old winger was limited to just 37 games this year due to an upper-body injury. When he did play, he only tallied eight points. That scoring pace falls just short of the 27 and 26 points Wood totaled over the last two seasons, likely a result of an injury slowing him down. Wood’s career-year stands as his 2017-18 campaign with the New Jersey Devils. He scored 19 goals and 32 points in 76 games that year, though Wood’s true impact has always come away from the puck. He’s a bulky, physical forward who’s at his best when causing havoc along the boards or in the corners. He has recorded 182 points, split evenly, and 550 penalty minutes in 513 career games in the NHL. That imposing physical presence will back Columbus’ young top-six well.

But even with the clear-cut roles that Coyle and Wood are headed for, it’s a surprise to see the Blue Jackets move on from Brindley before giving him a consistent chance in the NHL. The team selected the 5-foot-8 winger with the 34th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, after a standout freshman year at the University of Michigan. Brindley performed even better in his sophomore season, scoring 25 goals and 53 points in only 40 games. His scoring led the Wolverines that season – above players like Rutger McGroarty, Dylan Duke, Seamus Casey, and Frank Nazar.

While he can be called undersized, Brindley is far from outworked. He’s a tireless forechecker, and creates a surprising amount of turnovers and chances deep in the offensive end for a player his size. But, as was to be expected, Brindley struggled to maintain that through his transition to pro leagues. He found his way into bottom-six minutes with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters this season, while playing through his first professional season. He ended the year with just 17 points, 24 penalty minutes, and a minus-10 through 52 games.

Those numbers – and especially his mere three points through the final 22 games of the season – will set Brindley on a course for the minor leagues again next year. But his upside will be sky-high – and in an Avalanche pool that can pad his size concerns, there could be the makings of a strong depth-winger here. This will be an upside bet for Colorado, and an err towards sure things for the Blue Jackets.

Photo courtesy of Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports.

Brandon Saad Re-Signs With Golden Knights

at CDT | by 2 Comments

June 27: It is indeed a one-year, $2MM pact for Saad, according to PuckPedia. It’s split 50/50 into base salary and signing bonus and carries a full no-trade clause.

June 26: After joining Vegas midseason, it appears that winger Brandon Saad will be extending his stay.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported late Wednesday (Twitter link) that Saad is expected to re-sign with the Golden Knights.  Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek adds (Twitter link) that it will be a one-year deal around the $2MM range.

The start of the season didn’t go well for the 32-year-old.  He had an underwhelming first half, eventually falling down the depth chart in St. Louis, resulting in the Blues ultimately placing him on waivers in late January.  Signed through 2025-26 at a $4.5MM cap charge, Saad ultimately passed through unclaimed with most teams unable or unwilling to take on that type of financial commitment.

However, after clearing waivers, Saad surprised many by requesting a contract termination.  In doing so, he walked away from the remainder of his guaranteed contract to become an unrestricted free agent.  The goal was to get back to the NHL, even if it required leaving some money on the table to do so.

Saad did just that, joining Vegas on a one-year, $1.5MM pro-rated deal just one day after passing through unconditional waivers.  The hope was that he’d be able to provide some affordable secondary scoring and he did just that, collecting six goals and eight assists in 29 regular season games after notching 16 points in 43 games with St. Louis.  In the playoffs, Saad was a little quieter, however, tallying just two assists in eight outings.

A veteran of 935 career NHL regular season games and more than 500 points to his name, Saad is likely to have strong interest in his second track at free agency in less than six months if he actually gets that far.  After re-signing Reilly Smith yesterday, Vegas has $7.6MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, with a few roster spots to fill and Nicolas Hague a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

However, Vegas has been speculatively linked to several prominent free agent or trade targets that could change the financial equation.  With that in mind, even if a deal has been agreed on in principle with Saad, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it not announced right away to retain short-term spending flexibility.

Canadiens Acquire, Extend Noah Dobson From Islanders

at CDT | by 33 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens are set to acquire high-scoring defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders, per NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes. The deal was later confirmed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who shares that the Islanders signed Dobson to a maximum-term, eight-year contract before moving him to Montreal. That extension will carry a total value of $76MM, or an annual average value of $9.5MM.

In return, the Islanders will receive both of Montreal’s draft picks in the 2025 first-round – picks 16 and 17 – as well as forward prospect Emil Heineman, per Friedman.

After multiple days of rumors, Montreal has landed the big fish in high-end scorer Dobson. The move will give Montreal more oomph to an already high-octane offensive group manning their blue-line. Dobson managed a career-year at the age of just 24 during the 2023-24 campaign, when he managed 10 goals and 70 points in 79 games. He became the first Islanders defenseman since Stanley Cup-winner Denis Potvin to reach the 60-assist mark.

That breakout performance was a gradual ramp-up after Dobson managed 13 goals and 51 points in 2021-22, and 13 goals and 49 points in 2022-23. He’s climbed the ranks of offensive output and reached double-digit goals in every full season of his NHL career. That includes reaching 10 goals again this year, though his point total took a surprising tumble to 39 points in 71 games played.

That sudden spike in scoring, and a fall to a minus-16 after posting a plus-12 last year, brought out many skeptics to Dobson’s overall upside. But it’s worth noting that New York scored the fifth-fewest goals in the NHL this season (222), 23 fewer than they managed in Dobson’s breakout campaign in 2024. A bulk of that decrease can be attributed to Islanders’ star forward Mathew Barzal missing all but 30 games of this season, after leading the Islanders in scoring in 2023-24.

Dobson’s scoring totals are near-second-to-none in the league. He ranks fifth among U25 defensemen in total goals scored over the last five seasons (49), behind Cale Makar (104), Rasmus Dahlin (70), Evan Bouchard (54), and Quinn Hughes (51). Dobson also ranks sixth in total points (223) behind Makar (378), Hughes (353), Dahlin (275), Adam Fox (266), and Bouchard (237).

But Dobson’s defensive prowess remains scrutinized. Among the same sample – U25 defenders over the last five years – only seven players have been on the ice for more goals-against than Dobson’s 346. He’s also been on the ice for the eighth-most expected goals-against (xGA; 385.53), per Evolving Hockey. Of the bunch, he boasts the fourth-best goal-differential (+82).

There’s a lot to like, and a lot to be nervous about in how Dobson has blazed his path through his first four full seasons in the NHL. But that argument aside, there seems no denying that he’s among the sheer best, young offensive-defensemen in the NHL. His growth into a star, top-pair role in New York far exceeded the 12th-overall draft spot he earned in the 2018 NHL Draft – and likely exceeds the paths any options at Montreal’s previous 16th and 17th overall slots this year would have yielded. He’s a premier scorer, and will join another emerging superstar on Montreal’s defense in Lane Hutson. Hutson reached the 60-assist mark as a 20-year-old rookie this season, and earned the Calder Trophy because of it.

Both Hutson and Dobson dominate possession on their line – and excel at gaining momentum through their drives in the neutral zone. They’ll be elusive and effective play-drivers, but man need to play off of each other’s pairings to give Montreal the best results. That will be where other young Montreal defenders have a chance to step up – with Kaiden Guhle and David Reinbacher likely the future glue pieces holding the offensive-stars down. How Montreal pursues that deployment, or even if they’ll maintain their current structure at all, will be headlines worth following through the rest of the summer.

Meanwhile Heineman will fall as the unheralded addition to a draft-day blockbuster. The 23-year-old winger played through his rookie NHL season in Montreal’s bottom-six this year. He managed 10 goals and 18 points through 62 games, though looked in need of a spark through multiple points in the year. This move marks the third time that Heineman has been moved by his NHL club – after previously being traded from the Florida Panthers to the Calgary Flames in a 2021 deal that landed Florida Sam Bennett; then from the Flames to the Canadiens in a 2022 trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to Calgary.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.

Red Wings Sign William Lagesson To Two-Year Extension

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings have signed defenseman William Lagesson to a two-year extension, per a team release. Lagesson spent the bulk of his season serving as the Red Wings’ seventh defenseman watching from the press box. He appeared in just 30 games on the full year: seven in the NHL and 23 in the AHL. He scored one assist in the NHL and nine points in the minor leagues.

Lagesson, 29, has fallen into the rut of a journeyman, depth defenseman over the last four seasons. He was originally a fourth-round draft pick to the Edmonton Oilers in 2014, and made his NHL debut with the club in the 2019-20 campaign. He filled a minimal NHL role through the 2021-22 campaign, ultimately totaling six assists, 22 penalty minutes, and a minus-three through his first 57 NHL games. After splitting much of the 2021-22 campaign split between major and minor leagues, the Oilers opted to send Lagesson and two draft picks – including the pick used to select Lane Hutson – to the Montreal Canadiens in a deal for defenseman Brett Kulak at the 2022 Trade Deadline.

Lagesson entered unrestricted free agency in the following summer, opening the door for him to sign a one-year, league-minimum contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. He spent his full time in the Hurricanes organization with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, where he managed a career-high 32 points and 46 penalty minutes in 65 games. He re-entered free agency in the following summer and landed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who returned him to a depth NHL role for the start of the 2023-24 season. He was placed on waivers in March of that season, and claimed by the Anaheim Ducks, who continued his NHL deployment. That pattern repeated itself this last season – with a league-minimum contract signed last summer, and a minimal role in Detroit this season.

A two year contract will be Lagesson’s longest since his three-year, entry-level contract signed in 2017. He may not have made too much of an impact through the 2024-25 season, and may still be looking for his first NHL goal after netting 12 points in 107 career games – but Detroit is clearly confident in his ability to continue serving as a depth defender worth keeping around.

Maple Leafs Sign John Tavares To Four-Year Extension

at CDT | by 26 Comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the final stages of signing John Tavares to an extension. The move was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger. It was later confirmed by the player on the Instagram page for the John Tavares Foundation — and then by the team themselves. Dreger adds that the deal with be a four-year, $17.52MM extension with an annual average value of $4.38MM.

Tavares’ extension will include $2MM in deferred salary – a practice soon to be outlawed in the NHL’s next collective bargaining agreement, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Johnston also shares that Tavares’ deal will carry a no-movement clause through the first two seasons, and a five-team no-trade list in the final two.

Toronto gets an important piece of business accomplished, for a price well under what many Leafs fans expected. The deal is a near-$4MM discount against Tavares’ player value, calculated by The Athletic’s statistician Dom Luszczyscyn. Tavares was coming off of a monstrous, seven-year, $77MM contract signed with Toronto on July 1st, 2018. The deal ate up 13.84 percent of Toronto’s cap-hit at the time, and often served to limit the team’s roster flexibility, alongside lofty deals for Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander.

Now age 34, Tavares will drop his cap hit by nearly two-thirds, and likely ride out the remainder of his career in a Maple Leafs jersey. He’s a Mississauga native, with deep roots in and around the Leafs organization. That includes serving as the team’s captain from 2019 to 2024. He was replaced this season by Matthews.

Tavares’ last contract was often scrutinized, but his performance on the deal should be remembered fondly. He filled a hardy role as the team’s second-line center for the duration of the contract, and totaled 222 goals and 493 points in 515 games. That mark ranks third on the Maple Leafs since the start of the 2018-19 season, behind Marner (611 points in 498 games) and Matthews (595 points in 485 games). Tavares also scored 31 points in 51 playoff games in that stretch – fifth on the Leafs behind Matthews, Nylander, Marner, and Morgan Rielly.

Tavares has been a staple of every lineup he’s played for. Prior to joining his hometown Maple Leafs, he was the quintessential top-line center for the New York Islanders spanning nine seasons. The Islanders originally drafted Tavares first-overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, following the end of his exceptional status career in the OHL. He joined the team immediately following his draft, and scored an impressing 54 points in 81 games as a rookie.

His hot-start in the NHL continued to grow-and-grow over his time with the Islanders. Tavares recorded 31 goals and 81 points in the 2011-12 season, and topped that again with 38 goals and 86 points in 2014-15. By that time, he had already served two full years as the Islanders’ captain, and earned the second all-star berth of his career. Tavares would remain New York’s captain, and a perennial all-star, until he left the squad after the 2017-18 campaign.

Tavares’ departure from Long Island, NY was one of the most scrutinized moves in recent NHL history. It was seen by many as a captain abandoning his post, with a preference for the glitz and glamour of a big market. The Islanders have appeared in four of a possible six postseasons since Tavares’ departure, while Toronto has made the playoffs in every year since their big addition.

In a summer where Toronto seems headed for a sure breakup with superstar winger Marner, they’ll opt to not shake the boat too much by also losing Tavares. Instead, Tavares will remain locked-in as Toronto’s second-line center through the foreseeable future. He scored a stout 38 goals and 74 points in 75 games this season – his highest scoring pace since netting 36 goals and 80 points in 80 games of the 2022-23 campaign. Those are electric scoring totals for a player well over the hill of his NHL career. At a cheap price for the next four seasons, even two-thirds of those scoring totals would make Tavares a contract worth hanging onto.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top