Archives for August 2025

Eastern Notes: Konecny, Devils, Kuntar

August 17, 2025 at 5:15 pm CDT | by Paul Griser 7 Comments

Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny is coming off a career-high 76-point season, but the 28-year-old will need to clear one final hurdle to truly elevate his game to the next level, writes the Hockey News’ Jonathan Bailey.

Konecny is coming off of a bit of a two-part season. He started 2024-25 with a bang, which included 17 goals in his first 38 games. However, he struggled mightily down the stretch, posting just seven goals in his final 44 games. What’s more, he was only able to light the lamp twice over the final 25 games of the season. Despite those struggles during the second half, Konecny (who skated in all 82 games and participated in the 4 Nations Face-Off), still finished with a career-high 0.927 points per game.

However, as Bailey sees it, Konecny will need to surpass the point-per-game mark to truly enter the conversation among the league’s elite. By doing so, Konecny will likely maintain consistent play throughout the season. While the 4 Nations Face-Off may have slowed Konecny’s steam down the stretch, his hope to participate with Team Canada in the 2026 Olympics will force a similar situation next season.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

While the organization has taken several steps forward in recent seasons, the New Jersey Devils believe they are now ready to truly compete for the Stanley Cup. Per NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale, New Jersey assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon said, “To put it succinctly, it’s time to take another step.” MacKinnon acknowledged that injuries played a role down the stretch last season, which ended with a five-game, first-round loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Injuries last season included Jack Hughes missing the remainder of the year after undergoing shoulder surgery in March, as well as defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon going down in Game 1 of the playoffs. All three are expected to be ready to go to start next season, and the additions of veterans like Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov should only help the cause. “I think the one thing we were looking for is better 5-on-5 play, and you look at the goal totals of Brown and Dadonov, a majority come at 5-on-5,” said GM Tom Fitzgerald. “We feel we’ve definitely added to what we felt we needed in depth. But, again, you want players to level out and be consistent with their play from October to the end of the season.”
Forward Trevor Kuntar, 24, signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, seeking not only a fresh start but also the opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps and play for his hometown team, per team reporter Andrew Mossbrooks. Kuntar, a native of the Buffalo area, signed with Rochester after spending the last two seasons in the Boston Bruins organization. After three seasons at Boston College, Kuntar signed with the Boston and appeared in 124 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, posting 13 goals and 32 points. Kuntar is now set to wear the same jersey his father, Les Kuntar, wore for Rochester during the 1996-97 season.

Nazem Kadri Hopeful To Make Olympics

August 17, 2025 at 2:43 pm CDT | by Paul Griser 14 Comments

After a career-high 35-goal season, Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri remains hopeful to represent Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics, despite not receiving an invite to the team’s Olympic orientation camp. Speaking with Julian McKenzie of The Athletic, Kadri said he felt he “deserves a chance” to represent his country.

“I feel like I deserve a chance. I think over the last few seasons I’ve certainly proven that with my statistics and the winning pedigree. I think it speaks for itself,” he said.

To his credit, Kadri hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down despite entering his mid-30s. Over the past three seasons, he has recorded 88 goals and 198 points while appearing in every regular-season game. What’s more, Kadri has displayed postseason success, including winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22, where he secured 15 points and a plus-seven rating in 16 games. Still, his name was not among the 42 players invited to Hockey Canada’s Olympic orientation camp. In response, the 34-year-old shared a direct message on social media questioning why he was left off the list. Asked if he felt his social post would hurt or help his chances, Kadri noted that he wasn’t sure, but that the post shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

One of the main issues Kadri will face are the incredible names Canada has at the center position. Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon were already named to Canada’s preliminary roster. Then there is a host of additional center options for Canada to consider, with some known for their pure offensive skill and others offering a blend of scoring and defensive reliability. These names include Connor Bedard, Sam Bennett, Macklin Celebrini, Quinton Byfield, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Brayden Point, Mark Scheifele, Sam Reinhart, and John Tavares — all of whom will be looking to center their own line in Milan.

With that said, Kadri still likes his chances despite being a self-named “long shot.”

“Honestly man, it would be an absolute dream come true to show how crack that team,” he said. “I’ve been a long shot before. I’m looking forward to giving myself an opportunity. But I understand I’m going to have to play well,” he said.

Shanghai Dragons Sign Alexander Burmistrov, Adam Clendening, Borna Rendulic

August 17, 2025 at 12:04 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley Leave a Comment

The KHL’s newest club, the Shanghai Dragons, have continued their streak of signing former North American pros. They announced on Sunday that they’ve signed forwards Alexander Burmistrov and Borna Rendulic, as well as defenseman Adam Clendening. The three bring a combined 453 games of NHL experience to the Chinese squad.

The large bulk of those NHL appearances belong to Burmistrov. He was once a star prospect in the NHL, and was drafted eighth-overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. He turned pro in the very next season, and scored 20 points in 74 games as an NHL rookie. Unfortunately, Burmistrov never improved from that mark. He spent much of the 2010’s trying and failing to work out of a bottom-six role in the NHL. His effort to break out took him across tenures with the Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks. It also saw Burmistrov return to the KHL for two years between 2013 and 2015, where he scored a combined 63 points in 107 games.

Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Burmistrov made the decision to move to the KHL full-time at the end of the 2017-18 season. It proved to be an immediately fruitful decision, as he moved just in time to play in the final 27 games of Kazan Ak-Bars’ 2018 Gagarian Cup win. He has continued in Russia’s top league ever since, but again found himself in the position of frequent moves in search of a breakout year. He’s played for four different KHL clubs over the last eight seasons, but hasn’t once scored more than 20 points in a single regular season. His scoring in 2013-14 and 2014-15 stand as Burmistrov’s career-high – and he’ll now move to yet another team in search of those former marks.

Joining Burmistrov will be North American veteran Clendening, who will stick with the Kunlun/Shanghai organization through their summer rebrand. He appeared in 61 games with the Red Stars last season and finished the year with 22 points and 65 penalty minutes. It was just his second season overseas, after spending the 2023-24 campaign with Ilves Tampere of Finland’s Liiga. Before that, Clendening was a set-and-forget feature of the AHL, filling high-minute roles through seasons with seven different clubs. He was a hard-hitting, two-way defender capable of stepping into most roles. That ability earned Clendening 318 points in 512 games, and 10 seasons, in the AHL. He also scored 24 points in 90 NHL games, often serving as an injury fill-in. His only extended run in the NHL came in 2016-17, when he scored 11 points in 31 games with the New York Rangers.

Rounding out the additions is Rendulic, who played just 15 games in the NHL between 2014 and 2017. The bulk of those appearances – 14, to be exact – came with the Colorado Avalanche, who signed Rendulic as an undrafted free-agent in 2014. He had grown through the ranks of Finland’s Liiga, but struggled to maintain his snappy offense in North America. He posted an encouraging 61 points in 137 AHL games between 2015 and 2017, before opting to return to the Liiga in 2017-18. A return to Europe meant a return to scoring for Rendulic, kicking off what has become a journeyman career across the continent. He has played in Finland, Russia, Germany, and Sweden since 2017. He’s managed multiple impressive seasons along the way – including scoring 41 points in 56 DEL games in 2022-23, and 27 points in 51 games with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg in 2023-24. Now, Rendulic will add one more country to his list, and join China’s newly-minted KHL squad.

Rangers Re-Sign Dylan Garand, Talyn Boyko

August 17, 2025 at 10:32 am CDT | by Gabriel Foley Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers have re-signed goaltender Dylan Garand to a one-year, two-way contract extension, per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. The deal will carry a league-minimum, $775K salary at the NHL level. New York also announced the signing of goaltender Talyn Boyko to a one-year deal. Both netminders were restricted-free agents. With their deals out of the way, New York’s only remaining RFAs will be defensemen Lauri Pajuniemi and Karl Henriksson.

Garand began his career as the backup to Louis Domingue, but has gained the edge in starts over the veteran through the last two seasons. Garand has improved his stat line in every season along the way. He posted a 13-14-3 record and .894 save percentage in 32 games of his rookie season in 2022-23. Those numbers improved just enough to win the starter’s crease in 2023-24, rising to a 16-17-5 record and .898 Sv% in 39 games. With a year of trust behind him, Garand finally broke out this year, posting a 20-10-8 record and .913 Sv% in another 39 games.

On the heels of Garand’s rise, Domingue made the decision to sign with Sibir Novosibirsk of Russia’s KHL this summer. He’ll move out of the Rangers organization after three years, leaving the role of AHL backup to a mix of Callum Tung, Hugo Ollas, and Boyko. The inexperience of those three should give Garand a perfect chance to take on a star’s workload this season. New York is clearly expecting as much, now giving the 23-year-old a chance to set his own bar for renegotiations next summer. If he continues to succeed in upwards of 40 or 50 starts, Garand could find himself pushing to backup Igor Shesterkin in the NHL. If he falters, he’ll continue forward as the new veteran presence in a young Wolf Pack goalie room. Either way, Garand’s 2025-26 campaign will be one to watch closely.

Meanwhile, Boyko could be a strong bet to cede the bulk of Domingue’s minutes. He split starts on the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers last season, ultimately working to a stout 20-8-5 record and .913 Sv% in 33 games. He also posted a 2-2-0 record and .917 Sv% in five AHL games. The stat line was a hardy improvement over Boyko’s first pro season last year, when he managed a 13-9-1 record and .888 Sv% in 26 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones. He’s an athletic, 6-foot-8 goaltender with more pro experience than Tung or Ollas. That standing should give him the first chance to prove he can stick in the AHL. Boyko’s potential, and the confidence of a new deal, should give Rangers fans even more reason to watch Hartford’s goalie room closely.

Summer Synopsis: Vancouver Canucks

August 16, 2025 at 8:31 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley 7 Comments

Now more than a month into the new league year, the bulk of the heavy lifting has been done from a roster perspective. Most unrestricted free agents have found new homes, the arbitration period has come and gone, and the trade market has cooled. Accordingly, it’s a good time to take a look at what each team has accomplished this offseason. Next up is a look at Vancouver.

With the Canucks operating as both buyers and sellers last season despite not being a playoff team, it signaled which way they planned to approach the offseason. After failing to reach an agreement with Rick Tocchet on a contract extension, the team decided to make a coaching change, appointing assistant Adam Foote as the new head coach. A significant portion of their offseason focus has been on retaining as much of their core group as possible. GM Patrik Allvin feels that Vancouver’s underachieving in 2024-25 is not a sign of things to come.

Draft

1-15: F Braeden Cootes, Seattle (WHL)
2-47: G Alexei Medvedev, London (OHL)
3-65: F Kieren Dervin, St. Andrew’s College (Ontario High School)
5-143: F Wilson Bjorck, Djurgardens (Sweden U20)
6-175: F Gabriel Chiarot, Brampton (OHL)
7-207: F Matthew Lansing, Fargo/Waterloo (USHL)

Vancouver seemed to get all they could have wanted out of the 2025 NHL Draft. In a decisive move, the team addressed clear system weaknesses and shallow depth charts while balancing risky upside with projectable foundations. Cootes won’t have to travel far after spending the season dominating play in the middle lane of the ice for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. He brings a mix of high-pace playmaking, two-way reliability, and physical strength that Vancouver seems to be sorely missing. Those attributes led Cootes to a team-leading 71 points in 66 total games this season. He is expected to return to the Thunderbirds next season. That should provide the perfect setting for Cootes to become quicker, stronger, and more independent on the puck – all traits that should smoothly ramp him into Vancouver’s lineup in just a few years.

The Canucks backed a smart first pick with a line of upside bets. Medvedev proved to be one of the most consistent goalies in the OHL on a game-by-game and period-by-period basis in his rookie season. He recorded a fantastic 22-8-2 record and .912 save percentage in 34 games of backing a star-studded London Knights roster. He started the majority of London’s regular-season games, but was ultimately usurped in the postseason run to the OHL Championship and Memorial Cup by 21-year-old Austin Elliott. Elliott aged out of the CHL this summer, providing Medvedev a golden carpet to prove he can continue to perform at a top level.

Vancouver finds similar upside in Dervin, who only played in 10 OHL games this season, but looked confident and driven in every single one. He’s a high school star who led St. Andrew’s College with 79 points in 50 AAA games this season, but managed just three points with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. He’s a bet on athleticism, confidence, and instinct, but one that Vancouver balances with the diligent two-way play of Bjorck. Bjorck demonstrated a strong ability to make plays in both slots last season and will be heading to Colorado College, where he is likely to continue focusing on responsible, gritty hockey. The Canucks find a similar balance in the mix of goal-scorer Chiarot and high-skill passer Lansing to round out their class.

Trade Acquisitions

F Evander Kane (from Edmonton)
F Ilya Safonov (from Chicago)
F Chase Stillman (from Pittsburgh)

Amid a summer with minimal new additions, Vancouver found a way to land a potential top-six winger on the trade market. They acquired Kane from the Oilers for a fourth-round draft pick. The 34-year-old winger missed the entire 2024-25 regular season due to abdominal and knee surgery, but returned for 12 points in 21 postseason games. That scoring pace would have put Kane on track for 41 points across 82 games, well in line with his performance over the last few seasons. He’s routinely challenged the 20-goal and 40-point marks, even while missing extended time to injury and personal incidents. While age will be a concern, landing Kane’s routine scoring output could be a major boost to the middle of Vancouver’s lineup.

Vancouver also landed the rights to two intriguing prospects in Safonov and Stillman. The former has spent the last four seasons in a locked-in role with the KHL’s Kazan Ak-Bars, and scored an encouraging 22 points in 51 games this season. He’s a 6-foot-5 center who makes his mark by dominating space close to the net. In contrast, Stillman is a versatile center who operates well in all three zones. He can make important plays, but is still searching for his offensive spark in the minor leagues. He’ll likely head to the Abbotsford Canucks with hopes of winning Sammy Blais’ vacated role, while Safonov has yet to be convinced to move over from Russia.

UFA Signings

D Derek Forbort (one year, $2MM)^
D Guillaume Brisebois (one year, $775K)*^
F Brock Boeser (seven years, $50.75MM)^
D Jimmy Schuldt (two years, $1.55MM)*
F Joseph Labate (one year, $775K)*
F MacKenzie MacEachern (two years, $1.55MM)*
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph (one-year, $775K)

* denotes two-way contract
^-denotes re-signing

Given that Allvin publicly expressed disappointment over the low-quality trade offers for Boeser at the deadline and noted the absence of negotiations for a new contract between that time and the draft, it was widely anticipated that Boeser would enter the open market and likely move on to another team. This expectation was further heightened by the fact that he was one of the key players in a free-agent class that had significantly weakened in the days leading up to July 1st. However, not long before free agency officially opened, the two sides took one last run at getting something done and worked this deal out, one that might have been a bit under market value given what Nikolaj Ehlers went for. Boeser might not be the 70-plus-point player he was in 2023-24 regularly, but he’s a reliable secondary scorer, and he’d have been hard to replace had he gone elsewhere.

Their next-biggest signing was also a re-signing of Forbort. Although he missed some time due to injuries and an illness, he consistently delivered solid performances as a third-pairing defenseman when he was in the lineup. This reliability earned him a new contract at a slight increase from last season, likely allowing him to anchor the third pairing once again. Joseph comes over after splitting last season between St. Louis and Pittsburgh, where he failed to gain a foothold with either squad. But with a track record spanning nearly 200 games, he’ll likely have the leg up on the seventh defenseman spot ahead of Brisebois.

RFA Re-Signings

F Aatu Raty (two years, $1.55MM)
F Arshdeep Bains (two years, $1.55MM)
F Max Sasson (one year, $775K)
D Jett Woo (one year, $775K)*
G Nikita Tolopilo (two years, $1.55MM)*
F Vitali Kravtsov (one year, $775K)*

* denotes two-way contract

Vancouver’s RFA re-signings this summer revolved around potential role players. Raty did well in limited minutes in 33 games last season and is now waiver-eligible for the first time, giving him a leg up in the battle for the final few spots on the forward depth chart. Sasson made his NHL debut last season, playing 29 games where he fit well on the fourth line, which earned him a one-way contract. He’ll likely battle with Bains (who was recalled eight separate times last season) to try to land a spot on the opening roster.

The biggest wild card from this group is the one who most recently signed, that being Kravtsov. The 26-year-old last played in the NHL during the 2022-23 season with the Vancouver Canucks, where he underperformed after being traded from the New York Rangers. He then returned to his home country and played in the KHL for two years with Traktor Chelyabinsk. During his time there, he saw a resurgence in his offensive performance, finishing as one of the top scorers in the league last season with 58 points in 66 games. Will that be enough to earn him a spot or a flyer as a waiver claim in training camp? While it’s not a big story, it will be an intriguing subplot to follow. Kravtsov will need to play in 16 NHL games this season to remain RFA-eligible. Otherwise, he’ll be a Group Six unrestricted free agent.

Key Extensions

F Conor Garland (six years, $36MM)
G Thatcher Demko (three years, $25.5MM)

The Canucks wasted little time getting these two signed, as both deals were inked on the opening day of free agency. Garland’s had been leaked a few days prior, and it’s an agreement that should finally put an end to the on-and-off speculation about his future with the franchise, something that had gone back multiple seasons. Garland has ranged between 46 and 52 points over the last four seasons, becoming a reliable producer of secondary scoring. The deal is an indicator of where Vancouver expects the secondary winger market to go, and if he stays in this point range for the foreseeable future, they’ll have him locked in at a reasonable cost.

Demko’s deal is a much riskier bet. Several top starters have surpassed the $8MM mark on their most recent contracts, and when you look at Demko’s overall track record, he certainly belongs in that category. Last season was difficult for him as he recovered from a knee injury, then suffered a back injury, followed by a lower-body issue. In between, his numbers were slightly below league average. The Canucks believe that last year’s performance was an outlier and that he will soon return to form. Once this deal is finalized, they will have one of the most expensive goalie tandems in the league, featuring him and Kevin Lankinen.

Departures

F Lucas Forsell (unsigned)
D Christian Felton (unsigned)
D Cole McWard (signed with Islanders)
F Tristen Nielsen (signed with AHL Colorado)
F Ty Glover (unsigned)
F Akito Hirose (unsigned)
D Christian Wolanin (unsigned)
F Nate Smith (unsigned)
D Noah Juulsen (signed with Flyers)
F Phillip Di Giuseppe (signed with Jets)
F Pius Suter (signed with Blues)
G Arturs Silovs (trade with Penguins)
F Dakota Joshua (trade with Maple Leafs)

Although the Canucks didn’t stand to lose much this offseason in free agency, the departure of Suter could prove to be a crippling one. It was already well known that the Canucks were looking to address their depth at the center position, especially after moving J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers last season. Suter left for the Blues, signing a two-year, $8.25MM contract, which is something that Vancouver shouldn’t have had any issues matching. Given that assumption, it stands to reason that Suter was simply uninterested in continuing his career in British Columbia.

Assuming Chytil stays healthy and performs up to his standards, the Canucks will have a significant drop-off in center depth beyond him. Raty has earned the opportunity for more minutes at the NHL level, though it’s difficult to imagine him as a consistent third-line center on a playoff-caliber team. The same can be said about Blueger, despite him being an established NHL player at this point in his career.

Meanwhile, Silovs could become a significant subtraction, though he hasn’t shown much staying power in the NHL. Still, it’s difficult to overlook his AHL performance in last year’s Calder Cup playoffs, as Silovs managed a 16-7-0 record in 24 games with a .931 SV% and 2.01 GAA en route to a Calder Cup championship.

Salary Cap Outlook

The recent decision by Joshua accounts for all of the $3.27MM in cap space available, according to PuckPedia. That gives them flexibility to try to add another piece closer to training camp or a chance to bank some extra room early in the season. The Canucks often make moves earlier than other teams, and if they can stay injury-free, they are well-positioned to do so.

Key Questions

Will Pettersson Bounce Back? The Canucks’ competitiveness largely depends on Elias Pettersson returning to form. Yes, they have arguably the best defenseman in the league aside from Cale Makar (and sometimes better), but Vancouver won’t truly be considered a contender without a top-line forward. The drama between Pettersson and Miller has been well-discussed throughout the NHL world, and has seemingly passed with the former’s trade to the Rangers last season. Still, Pettersson didn’t significantly improve after Miller’s departure, and it remains to be seen if he can cross the 100-point plateau as he did two years ago. If he can, the Canucks will have a real opportunity to reach and even excel in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs. Unfortunately, if he doesn’t, it’s difficult to see them making any noise in the playoffs, let alone reaching.

Will Demko Rebound? Despite signing a multi-year extension with Vancouver, Demko has a lot to prove with the Canucks this season. Injuries limited him to 23 games during the 2024-25 campaign, and Lankinen proved he could handle starting minutes. Still, Demko is only a year removed from finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting, and Vancouver would be in a much better position in the standings had they gotten that kind of goaltending last year. If the Canucks can get a rebound season from Pettersson, a return to form for Demko, and a healthy year from Hughes, Vancouver could be a decent bet to return to the postseason.

PHR’s Brian La Rose also contributed to this post.

PHR’s Brennan McClain also contributed to this post.

Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images (Boeser)

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images (Pettersson)

Minor Transactions: Lockwood, Timashov, Pinard

August 16, 2025 at 7:02 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain Leave a Comment

Although it’s not entirely confirmed, a new report out of Russia indicates that the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg is closing in on a contract with William Lockwood. Assuming he signs a new contract with SKA, it will be Lockwood’s first playing experience outside of North America in his professional career.

The Bloomfield Hills, MI native was drafted in the third round of the 2016 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. After a solid four-year career with the NCAA’s University of Michigan Wolverines program, Lockwood debuted with the Canucks in the 2020-21 NHL season. He failed to gain much traction in Vancouver and spent much of his time with their AHL affiliates, the Utica Comets and Abbotsford Canucks.

Lockwood held a brief role with the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, after a mid-season trade during the 2022-23 campaign. Over the past two years, he has been with the Florida Panthers organization, where he played for their top affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. During that stretch, he scored 22 goals and recorded 46 points in 84 regular-season games, along with an additional six goals and nine points in 21 postseason contests.

Other minor transactions:

Former depth forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Islanders, Dmytro Timashov has found a new landing spot in the KHL. According to a team announcement, the Ukrainian-born and Swedish-raised forward has signed a two-year agreement with the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok. It’s impressive that Timashov landed a two-year contract, given that he’s coming off one of the worst seasons of his professional playing career. In 44 games split between the NL’s Genève-Servette HC and KHL’s HK Sochi, Timashov mustered only three goals and 13 points during the 2024-25 campaign.
The AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, the Hershey Bears, announced that they have signed forward Simon Pinard to a one-year AHL contract for the 2025-26 season. There’s no guarantee that Pinard spends the year in Hershey, but he’s coming off an exceptional season with the ECHL’s Tahoe Knight Monsters, scoring 33 goals and 64 points in 63 games with a +21 rating.

KHL’s Dragons Sign Ryan Spooner, Nick Merkley, Nikita Popugayev

August 16, 2025 at 4:53 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 2 Comments

A day after signing Jake Bischoff and Gage Quinney, the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons continue adding to their club via the free agent market. Today, the team announced they’ve signed former NHL talents Ryan Spooner and Nicholas Merkley, as well as New Jersey Devils’ prospect Nikita Popugayev.

Spooner is the most significant of today’s additions, having the most playing experience at the NHL level. He was drafted with the 45th overall selection of the 2010 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins, and spent the better part of seven years in the sport’s top league. Spooner’s best run in the NHL came between 2015 and 2018 with the Bruins and New York Rangers, playing as a solid secondary contributor for each team. During that run, Spooner scored 37 goals and 129 points in 217 games while averaging 14:48 of ice time per game.

Although a return to the NHL level can’t entirely be ruled out, Spooner will likely finish his NHL career with 48 goals and 167 points in 325 career contests with the Bruins, Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. Since the 2019-20 season, he has been playing in the KHL, with a brief stop in the NL, scoring 77 goals and 257 points in 307 games in Russia.

Unlike Spooner, Merkley was drafted 15 picks earlier in the 2015 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes and has far less experience at the NHL and KHL levels. Over the past three years playing with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk and Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, Merkley has scored 47 goals and 92 points in 191 games with another five goals and nine points in 18 postseason contests.

Meanwhile, Popugayev has spent much of the last decade in his native Russia. He was drafted 98th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, and while his rights remain with the Devils, he’s unlikely to return to North America to continue his playing career. He’s spent the last two years with the KHL’s Lada Togliatti, scoring 21 goals and 32 points in 61 games.

PHR Mailbag: CHL-NCAA Movement, Salary Cap, Goaltending, Bruins, August 15 Free Agents

August 16, 2025 at 3:55 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments

Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include a look at salary cap spending, several goaltending questions, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in one of our next two columns.

BlackAce57: I don’t know if it’s something that’s been happening for a while or a growing trend, but are more Canadian junior players going to US colleges when they turn 18 now that NIL is a factor? Do you think this will keep increasing?

This isn’t something that has been going on for very long now. It’s actually the first year where CHL players are no longer viewed as professionals by the NCAA, thereby making players from those leagues eligible to go to college. NIL money aside, simply changing the eligibility to allow major junior players to go play Division I hockey was going to create a big group of people wanting to make the change. The ability to potentially be paid much more than what the CHL-allowable stipend is (between $50 and $150 in Canadian dollars per week) only intensified that interest.

I don’t expect this to be something that keeps increasing to any sort of significant degree. In reality, there are only so many spots available each year as there are only so many Division I teams and there will still be USHL and USHS players vying for some of those. That means there has to be some sort of a limit on the movement in the grand scheme of things.

Having said that, I suspect we will see even more turnover in the NCAA than we’ve seen in recent years since the transfer portal came into play. There will still be activity there while more players than we normally see will graduate to the pros after a year or two of eligibility. Then, there will be efforts to try to get that top recruit which could result in some players getting cut.

I think what we’ve seen this year is the start but there shouldn’t be a huge jump next year. I expect we’ll see an incremental jump in transfer activity over the next couple of years, a good chunk of which will probably come from the CHL before the volume of annual movement starts to settle. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if the CHL is able to do anything to retain some of its top talent or if it will settle in as a league that skews a little younger age-wise compared to what it has been in the past.

yeasties: With the cap going up so much and many teams apparently choosing to maintain a working reserve this year, do you think GMs will maintain this discipline over the long term, or will teams eventually spend up to the cap again?

I’m not sure how much of the underspent cap is something that came from a choice or rather just from a lack of options. This wasn’t a great UFA class and it’s that market that has a tendency to drive prices upward. Not every team has had to contend with it yet either. If you had a team with a lot of core players on long-term deals already, the bulk of the heavy lifting cap-wise is already done, making it easier to have that cushion. We’re only a few months into this higher Upper Limit projection so a lot can and will change.

It’ll be interesting to see how many teams are able to keep those reserves. Per PuckPedia, there are 13 teams with $2.1MM or less of cap space already. For teams near the higher end of that, even one injury can derail a lot of those plans and odds being odds, there will be injuries. The ones with a million or two more (of which there are four) should have more wiggle room on the injury front while the rest should have ample cap room no matter what. That is a little abnormal compared to what we’ve seen.

I do think it’s a sign of things to come, however. The reality is that not every team is going to be willing to spend to the max as that’s a pretty significant year-over-year increase in player costs. Ideally, profits should be going up as well to offset that but some teams are much more profitable than others; not all will increase revenues at a rate that matches or exceeds the increase in costs. I can see a scenario a few years from now where we’re talking about budget room more often as fewer teams aim to spend to the ceiling and instead will work within a budget with potentially room to spend if they find themselves in contention.

I’m also curious to see what the impact of significantly restricting double-retention trades in the new CBA will be. As a refresher, right now, teams can trade a player with retention with that player getting immediately rerouted with further retention to another team. That type of trade has become quite common leading up to the trade deadline in recent years. But this season will be the last of those as starting in 2026-27, there will be a 75-day in-season requirement before a player whose contract has already been retained on once can be moved with retention again.

Knowing that the double-retention option is going to largely be off the table, teams will need to have considerably more cap space banked by the trade deadline. I expect that some squads will place a higher target on their cap room to start the season to account for that, meaning fewer will spend so tight to the cap. So, I don’t think this is an outlier but rather the beginning of a new shift in spending policy, one that will take a few years to really establish itself.

PyramidHeadcrab: Now that rosters have settled a bit, who has the…

– Worst goaltending roster?
– Best goaltending roster?
– Best goaltending prospects?
– Goaltender most likely to find an extra gear in 25-26?

1) I’m going to go with Columbus, especially as a team that feels it has playoff aspirations. Elvis Merzlikins has shown that he’s not a capable starter and hasn’t been for several years now. While they re-signed Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro, they haven’t actually improved the back end which could have been a way to improve the goaltending. Meanwhile, Jet Greaves had quite the finish to last season but before that, he had merely been okay in limited action while his AHL numbers are decent but not necessarily dominant. Is he the solution? I’m not certain about that yet and if you have questions about both goalies heading into the season, that’s not ideal. There are teams with similarly iffy goaltending (especially in that division) but playoff hopes breaks the tie here.

2) This might be a surprise on paper but I’m going to go with Toronto. Anthony Stolarz showed that his 2023-24 breakout wasn’t a fluke and he was quite impactful when healthy. Joseph Woll wasn’t quite as impactful but was above average as well. Both were in the top 11 league-wide in Goals Saved Above Expected, per MoneyPuck. The fact that they’re among the lowest-spending teams at the position makes things more impressive. There are teams with a better starter but also a much weaker backup. An injury to the top dog would be a huge issue but for the Maple Leafs, going to Woll as a near-term starter wouldn’t be a massive drop-off. Add to that a roster that looks more inclined to play a defensive game and it bodes well for them for the upcoming season.

3) For the single-best goalie prospect, I’ve seen no reason not to pick Yaroslav Askarov. He has been highly touted for quite some time now and while he’s in for a rough year in San Jose this season, I think he can still be a franchise netminder. But you said prospects, as in plural. The Sharks would still be up there with Joshua Ravensbergen getting added in the draft but I might lean ever so slightly to the Red Wings who are headlined by Trey Augustine and Sebastian Cossa. Cossa is coming along well in the minors while Augustine has been a strong NCAA goalie with a solid showing internationally as well. Michal Pradel was one of the better goalies in this draft class and he’s in the mix too. Goaltending has been an issue for Detroit for a while but the future looks bright there.

4) I’m going to pick Spencer Knight in Chicago. This is his first season as being an undisputed number one goalie and he’s still relatively unproven with fewer than 100 appearances in the NHL. It’s also a contract year in which he’ll be looking to cement the notion that he is their starter of the future. I don’t think the Blackhawks will be particularly good this year but I expect Knight to steal some games and make the team a lot more competitive night in and night out than they have been the last couple of years. I think that will qualify as finding that extra gear.

VonBrewski: Again with Boston….no direction by MGT.

They have the draft capital to go and get a McTavish or Rossi. They might need to move some salary (hello, Korpisalo) to get it done.

I think you’re making an incorrect assumption on this one. Boston’s draft capital is better than what it was but assuming you don’t want them moving their own first-round picks, having an extra Toronto and Florida first-rounder isn’t good enough to be the foundation of an offer for either player, at least one that Anaheim or Minnesota might be inclined to take. And with $2MM in cap space per PuckPedia, it would take much more than clearing Joonas Korpisalo’s $3MM to afford the players on the deals they’re looking for. They’re not willingly signing long-term deals around the $5MM mark.

Let’s look at each situation a little closer. Despite plenty of speculation, there remains no credible reporting that Anaheim has the slightest bit of interest in moving Mason McTavish or that McTavish is looking to be traded. The absence of a contract isn’t evidence of that but rather the reality that an offer sheet isn’t coming and with no arbitration rights, it becomes a staring contest. We see it every year with several players and they all wind up re-signing. The Ducks have been active this summer in terms of trying to upgrade their roster with the hopes of making the playoffs. They also have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL. Accordingly, moving McTavish for a futures-based return doesn’t make much sense on either front. If he’s moving, they’re getting a young core player back; they have no reason to accept less.

As for Marco Rossi, it has been reported that the Wild already declined a trade package that included a late-lottery first-round pick and that was before the few decent free agent center options had all re-signed or signed elsewhere. So, why would they go that route now with a package that’s probably going to have a lesser pick going the other way? (Again, assuming that you’re not suggesting the Bruins move their own first-round selections.) Minnesota has been consistent in feeling that if they were to move Rossi, they’d want an impact center coming the other way if they couldn’t land one in free agency. I don’t see a Boston middleman that fits. Elias Lindholm’s contract isn’t great, Pavel Zacha only has two years left, and the rest are either unproven or are more bottom-six pieces. For what they’re believed to be looking for in a possible trade for Rossi, I don’t think the Bruins are a match. Ultimately, it’s going to be a staring contest between Rossi and the Wild for a little while longer before Minnesota probably gets its way with a bridge deal.

Dale M: How many August 15th expiring rights were either signed, or set adrift by their drafted teams?

Did Boston sign anybody?

If we look at our list of August 15th free agents from early July, not a lot has changed. Chase McLane (Nashville) and Ryder Donovan (Vegas) remain with their respective organizations under technicalities but neither of them would qualify as notable prospects at this stage. The other 29 players all saw their NHL rights lapse yesterday.

At this point, no one has signed yet which isn’t much surprise. Players technically didn’t become free to sign until today and, well, it’s a Saturday in the middle of August; it’s not exactly a prime day for transactions. There isn’t going to be flood of signings. Honestly, I’m not sure there are going to be many signings period from this group, especially around half of them are on minor-league deals already.

There’s basically one headliner from this list that feels like a safe bet to land an NHL contract and that’s Dominic James. He spurned an offer from Chicago on the heels of a 14-goal, 30-point campaign with the University of Minnesota-Duluth and his doing so suggests he thinks he can find an entry-level pact from a team with possibly a better shot at getting to the NHL quicker. Beyond that, there are some possible AHL deal candidates (Red Savage and Aidan Hreschuk) but not much more. It’s not a great group of players to get too excited about.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Central Notes: Broberg, Holloway, Desnoyers, Mammoth

August 16, 2025 at 2:40 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

What a difference a year can make. Last summer, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway were looking at low-cost one-year offers from Edmonton, eventually leading them to sign two-year offer sheets with the Blues that ultimately weren’t matched. Both players went on to have breakout years, playing big roles in their run to the playoffs. They’re now extension-eligible and in line for much bigger deals this time around. In a recent mailbag column, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic posits (subscription link) that the players could plausibly eye a contract between $8MM and $9MM apiece. Broberg had 29 points in 68 games last season and logged 20:30 per night of ice time while Holloway finished third in team scoring with 63 points in 77 outings.

Flames Have Started Extension Talks With Dustin Wolf

August 16, 2025 at 1:32 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

Dustin Wolf’s first full NHL season was quite an impactful one. He became the full-fledged starter in the second half of the year and played an instrumental role in Calgary’s last-season playoff push, one that ultimately came up just short. He’s entering the final season of his bridge contract but the Flames have clearly seen enough to want to lock him up long term. Wolf told Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson that talks on that front are underway:

They’re working, that’s about all I can really tell you. There’s talks, but nothing really confirmed yet. I’d love to stay here and I think they want me to stay here, as well. So as soon as something comes to fruition where both of us like where we’re at, I’m sure it won’t be long after that point where pen will be to paper.

Wolf played in 53 games for Calgary last season, posting a 2.64 GAA and a .910 SV%. His performance was strong enough to earn him the runner-up position in Calder Trophy voting for Rookie of the Year while he also received a third-place vote in Vezina Trophy voting for the league’s top netminder. That’s quite the solid performance for a player making $850K, making him one of the top bargains in the league.

While undersized for the modern-day goaltender, Wolf has been a top performer coming up. In the WHL, he put up a .935 SV% over four seasons, winning Goalie of the Year twice and taking home the CHL Goalie of the Year title once. Then, with AHL Calgary, he had a .926 SV% in parts of four seasons with them, again twice winning the award for being the top goaltender along with being league MVP in 2022-23. Accordingly, while there’s not an overly long NHL track record to work with, Wolf’s overall track record shows that he’s someone who can be relied on to be a key goalie for the long run.

Finding the right price point on a new deal could be tricky, however, given that he has fewer than 100 career NHL appearances. Wolf still has two RFA-eligible years left after this one so a second bridge agreement probably isn’t on the table unless it was a one-year pact in the arbitration window which is a long way away. Assuming their mutual preference is a long-term contract, AFP Analytics suggests that a six-year deal worth a little over $8MM per season could make sense. While several starting netminders have landed in that range in recent years, most have had much longer track records of NHL success than Wolf currently has.

On the other hand, with at least two more big jumps in the salary cap coming over the next two years, the potential price tag could go even higher if Wolf builds on his performance in 2025-26. On the other hand, if he struggles a bit, the asking price would probably come in below that projected number. With negotiations like this with relatively untested players, it’s about finding a spot where both sides are comfortable with the risk of a possible overpayment or underpayment. We’ll see if they can find that point over the coming weeks.

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