West Notes: Isogai, Popovic, Nelson
Earlier today, the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, the Ontario Reign, announced a two-year AHL contract for an up-and-coming name from Canada’s Western Hockey League. The Reign shared that they’ve signed forward Kenta Isogai. No financial details were released.
The 20-year-old native of Nagano, Japan, recently completed his second season in the WHL. Though he started his WHL career with the Wenatchee Wild for the 2023-24 season, he was acquired by the Victoria Royals for the end of the season. He excelled at the WHL level, scoring 63 goals and 166 points in 123 games, achieving a +49 rating, along with 10 goals and 25 points in 16 postseason contests.
Given that he was also named to the WHL’s First All-Star Team last year, it’s a little surprising that Isogai has gone undrafted over the past few years. He’s a little undersized, but not to a serious degree, and should be given every opportunity to succeed in AHL Ontario.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- According to a team announcement, the Colorado Avalanche have hired Mark Popovic as their new skills coach. It’ll be Popovic’s first formal coaching position at the NHL level, although he’s been working as an informal consultant for the Avalanche for the past few years. He’s better known for his playing career at the AHL level, where he scored 36 goals and 134 points in 359 games from 2002 to 2007. He played under 100 games in the NHL with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Atlanta Thrashers.
- The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders, affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, announced today that they’ve signed forward Jaxon Nelson to an ECHL contract for the 2025-26 season. The former captain of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers had been playing for the AHL’s Providence Bruins the past few years, to disappointing results. Still, Nelson is only two years removed from scoring 19 goals and 31 points in 39 games for Minnesota.
East Notes: Keeper, Kowalsky, Terrance
Despite signing a one-year contract with the Elite Ice Hockey League’s (EIHL) Glasgow Clan in late June, defenseman Brady Keeper won’t be playing out that contract with the team. In an announcement from the team, Keeper has decided to step away from hockey and retire at the age of 29.
A product of the NCAA’s University of Maine, Keeper signed with the Florida Panthers toward the end of the 2018-19 season as a collegiate free agent. He debuted with the Panthers during the 2018-2019 season, skating for 12:40 in a game against the Ottawa Senators on March 28, 2019. He recorded one blocked shot and two hits.
He spent the next few years moving from the Panthers to the Vancouver Canucks, before finally landing in the Montreal Canadiens organization in the 2023-24 season. Outside of an additional game with Florida, he’s only played in the AHL, finishing his career with 10 goals and 31 points in 129 games with a -2 rating and 208 PIMs. Unless he changes his mind on retirement in the next few years, his last professional hockey contest will have come with the AHL’s Laval Rocket in 2024.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- The Maine Mariners of the ECHL, affiliated with the NHL’s Boston Bruins, have added a lot of experience in their new head coach and General Manager. According to a team announcement, the Mariners have hired Rick Kowalsky as their next bench boss and General Manager, who was recently the head coach of the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals in the 2005-06 season and has won one coach of the year award in the AHL and another in the ECHL.
- Carey Terrance, the main asset acquired by the New York Rangers from the Anaheim Ducks for Chris Kreider, is already making positive impressions in the organization. In a recent interview with Dan Rosen of NHL.com, the Rangers’ player development coach, Jed Ortmeyer, said of Terrance, “He was like, ‘Yes, let me know. I want to be coached. You’re never going to hurt my feelings. I want to know. That was great to hear. He wants to be coached. He wants to get better and he’s hungry. He’s eager to learn and he wants to be great.“
Islanders Sign Sean Day To AHL Deal
The AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders have signed left-shot defenseman Sean Day to a one-year AHL deal, according to a club announcement. He’ll presumably get a look in the Isles’ NHL camp on a PTO in hopes of turning that into an NHL contract before heading down to Bridgeport.
Day, 27, is long removed from his days as an “exceptional status” defender who gained entrance to high-level junior hockey in the OHL a year early. He was a third-round pick by the Rangers by the time he became draft-eligible in 2016 and never turned that into full-time NHL minutes. He only made his big-league debut a few years ago, skating in two games for the Lightning in the 2021-22 season.
The Belgium-born Canadian has spent most of his professional career in the Tampa organization, suiting up primarily for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch from 2020-21 through 2023-24. His performance was inconsistent during that time, peaking with 40 points in 69 games in 2021-22 before bottoming out with only 14 assists in 63 games the following year.
Day landed another two-way contract with the Bolts for 2023-24 but again went without NHL action, posting a 5-14–23 scoring line in 54 games for Syracuse with a -3 rating. That led him to explore a short-term exodus to Europe, signing with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League. He made 45 appearances for the top-flight club with diminished results. He had 11 points and a -18 rating in the regular season before adding an assist and a +4 rating in six relegation games to help them avoid demotion to the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan for 2025-26.
He’ll be one-and-done overseas as he returns to a more comfortable environment in North America, this time without the initial opportunity for an NHL call-up. He’ll provide 379 games of pro experience to a reshaped Bridgeport blue line that should have some younger, dynamic Isles prospects like Isaiah George and Jesse Pulkkinen playing significant roles.
Minor Transactions: 8/4/25
As we creep a little closer to training camps starting up, there have been a handful of minor moves around the hockey world recently. We’ll run through those here.
- Veteran goaltender Anton Khudobin has announced his retirement at the age of 39, Shaiba.kz relays. Khudobin spent parts of 14 seasons in the NHL, compiling a 114-92-33 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .916 SV% with six different teams. After spending most of 2022-23 in the minors, he opted to play in Russia but didn’t play much at the VHL or KHL levels. Khudobin didn’t suit up at all last season but has now made his retirement official.
- The Hurricanes’ affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, announced (Twitter link) the re-signing of center Nikita Pavlychev and the signing of defenseman Jacob Friend to one-year contracts. Pavlychev had his best AHL performance last season, picking up 25 points in 63 games after primarily playing in the ECHL for the previous four years. As for Friend, he split last season between playing in Austria and Germany but has three years of playing in the minor pros in North America.
- After being moved in the KHL just a few days ago, Matvei Guskov has a new team once again as he has signed with HK Sochi. The Wild drafted Guskov in the fifth round back in 2019 but he has struggled since then, especially last season where he had just four goals in 38 games spread between three other KHL teams. Sochi’s rosters usually aren’t as deep so Guskov may have a pathway to a bigger role and more production now with this move. Minnesota continues to hold his NHL signing rights indefinitely.
- AHL Rockford, affiliate of the Blackhawks, announced the signing of defenseman Tyson Feist to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old only played in six AHL games last season, spending most of the year with ECHL Orlando where he had 17 points in 57 appearances. However, Feist saw action in 32 AHL contests in 2023-24 and will be looking to see more regular action at that level in 2025-26.
Capitals Hire Derek King As AHL Head Coach
The Washington Capitals have appointed Derek King as the Hershey Bears head coach. He will become the 29th head coach in franchise history, taking over the role from Todd Nelson who was promoted to an assistant coach role with the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this summer. This will mark King’s first head coach role since the 2021-22 season.
King has deep roots in professional hockey. He was once a top prospect of his own, drafted 13th-overall in the 1985 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders after a junior career rife with high scoring and even higher penalty minutes. King turned pro two seasons later, and quickly shed the role of bruiser to step up as a high-end utility man. He scored 12 goals and 36 points in 55 games of his rookie season. He reached the 40-point mark in each of the next three seasons, building up to a true breakout campaign in 1991-92, when King scored a career-high 40 goals and 78 points in 80 games. It was his first time appearing in more than 70 games in a single season.
King surpassed 30 goals in each of the next two seasons, then began a gradual decline in scoring following a move to the Hartford Whalers at the age of 29. He was productive through his final years, including netting 52 points in 81 games of the 1998-99 season – his last full year in the NHL.
With NHL totals dwindling, King was assigned to the minor leagues in the 1999-2000 season, where he quickly returned to the heights of team-leading scoring. His proficiency, and veteran experience, were enough to earn a player-coach title for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
That role kicked off King’s coaching career, though he wouldn’t take on a full-time coaching role until he joined the Toronto Marlies as an assistant in 2009. He stayed in that role until a promotion to associate coach in 2014. He opted to move to the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack one year later, then returned to the AHL in an assistant role with the Rockford IceHogs in 2016. King was promoted to the role of interim head coach when Jeremy Colliton was promoted to Blackhawks head coach in the 2018-19 season. He then superseded Colliton for the NHL role in 2021, stepping up as Chicago’s interim head coach through 70 games and setting a 27-33-10 record.
The Blackhawks would hire Luke Richardson to fill the head coach role full-time in 2022, but kept King as an assistant coach through last season. He’ll now return to the minors once more to man the bench of a club that’s won the Calder Cup in two of the last three seasons. King previously joined the Marlies to a Calder Cup Finals loss in 2012, but didn’t manage much success in transformative years with Rockford and Chicago. His move to Hershey will bring the club a heap of veteran experience, and could solidify King’s claim for an NHL head coach role should he lead the club to their usual success.
Marlies Sign Alexander Nylander, Luke Grainger, Brandon Baddock
The Toronto Marlies have announced that they’ve signed forwards Alexander Nylander, Luke Grainger, and Brandon Baddock each to one-year, AHL contracts. The new deals will mark a return to Toronto for Nylander and Baddock, while Grainger will be making the first move of his career after spending his first pro season in the San Jose Sharks’ system last year.
The trio of signings will be undoubtedly headlined by Nylander – who re-ups with the Marlies after successfully playing through a one-year contract with the club last season. He ranked second on the team in scoring with 23 goals and 44 points across 64 games. That production was enough to earn Nylander five games at the NHL level, though he failed to record any scoring. Nylander was formerly the eighth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, but he’s spent the better part of the last eight seasons thriving in the minors but struggling to keep his footing in the majors.
Nylander has racked up an impressive 254 points across 394 games at the AHL level. That includes a career-yaer in the 2022-23 season, when he notched 50 points, split evenly, in 55 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. But despite rivaling point-per-game scoring in the minors, Nylander’s best NHL season stands as the 2019-20 campaign, when he scored just 26 points in 65 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. That was the only season of his career spent solely in the NHL, and an AHL contract suggests he still has ground to gain before earning a spot on top of Toronto’s call-up list.
Nylander will continue to be supported with the Marlies by bruising forward Baddock, who joined the team via a mid-March trade that sent future considerations back to the Rockford IceHogs. Baddock went on to rack up one point and 11 penalty minutes in seven games with the Marlies, bringing his year-long totals up to eight points and 97 PIMs in 45 games. That performance speaks well to Baddock’s M.O. – he’s a hefty winger who earns his keep with big hits and extended time in the penalty box. His best season came in 2018-19, when he recorded 154 PIMs in 67 games with the Binghamton Devils – over 20 more penalty minutes than his next-highest season.
Rounding out the move is depth forward Grainger, who spent the bulk of last season with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder. The small-but-mighty forward signed with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda at the end of the 2023-24 season, and played nine games for the club over the last two seasons. But after notching just one goal in those performances, he was deemed better suited for the third tier of pros. That proved a sensible bet, as Grainger posted 21 points in 36 games of Wichita’s season. A new deal in Toronto should come as a bode of confidence in the 25-year-old forward. He could get a chance to carve out a role in the Marlies’ bottom-six in training camp, but could be headed back to the ECHL if any more conditioning is needed.
Predators’ Spencer Stastney Considered Retirement Before 2024-25 Season
Nashville Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney joined Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on the 32 Thoughts podcast to speak out about the challenges he’s faced with continuing his hockey career. Stastney opened up about a long struggle with mental health challenges and defeated feelings towards his hockey career. He shared that those feelings peaked at the end of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, and pushed him as far as job-searching and pulling together the paperwork needed to file for retirement. He was just 24 at the time.
Stastney hit that low point amidst some of the brightest moments of his young career. He moved to professional hockey in 2022, following a productive four years at the University of Notre Dame. Stastney stood out in his rookie AHL season thanks to his shutdown defense, even despite scoring just 19 points in 72 games on the full season. His early showings were enough to earn the first eight NHL games of his career, where Stastney chipped in his first two assists.
A strong start at the AHL level earned Stastney great standing headed into the 2023-24 season. He took full advantage of the opportunity – netting 20 points in 44 AHL games, and four points in 20 NHL games before the end of the regular season. But through it all, he shares that his feelings of anxiety towards the sport were growing. Stastney took part of the 2023-24 season off to attend the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program. He returned in time for the postseason, and appeared in both the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup Playoffs. But Stastney shares that by the time Milwaukee was defeated, he was happy that the season was over.
It was that feeling – relief juxtaposed by his teammates’ anguish over an early exit – that pushed Stastney to consider calling his career to an early close. He shared that he didn’t feel his feelings were fair to his teammates, and that he quickly felt that stepping away from the sport to pursue other work would provide the reset he needed. He moved forward with those feelings, even as his agency filed for contract arbitration and successfully earned a two-year contract extension.
But a new deal wasn’t going to be what spurred Stastney back into the sport. Instead, he details extensive consultations with the Nashville Predators’ team therapist as the thing that helped him to realize and address the roots of his feelings. Stastney skipped Nashville’s training camp for the 2024-25 season, and didn’t return to the ice until early December. He quickly returned to a top-pair role in Milwaukke when he came back, and earned an NHL call-up after just 10 games in the minor leagues. Stastney would effectively split the 2024-25 season between the major and minor rosters, netting three points in 23 NHL games and 17 points in 26 AHL games.
Those performances, and a renewed sense to continue moving forward with hockey, is where Stastney sits now. He emphasized that he’s still figuring out his relationship with the sport, but intends to move forward as a continued member of the Predators organization. He’s a true shutdown defender, with a great reach and imposing physical presence, even in a lanky build. The Predators have shown clear trust in Stastney’s ability to handle a depth NHL role – and a full season of determination could be all it takes to earn a full-time spot on the NHL roster.
While Stastney figures out his path forward, the Predators will rest assured that their patrol over player’s mental health continues to effectively serve their organization. The 32 Thoughts Podcast harkened back to former Predators Brian McGrattan and Jordin Tootoo, who both worked with Nashville’s therapy team and the NHLPA Player Assistance Program during their own time in the organization. Both went on to have successful, decade-long careers in pro hockey. Their ability to overcome challenges, and a clear focus on prioritizing player health, is a hardy show of resilience for any players facing similar challenges.
Mathias Laferriere Signs In Slovakia
Free agent forward Mathias Laferriere has decided to take his talents overseas. He has signed with HK Spisska Nova Ves of Slovakia’s Tipsport Extraliga, the team announced on social media. Laferriere spent all of last season in the AHL. His year was split between the Springfield Thunderbirds and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins following a Spring trade that sent Corey Andonovski to Springfield.
Laferriere’s 2024-25 campaign was a muted one. He scored just 18 points across 55 games on the season – 10 in 33 games with Springfield, and eight in 22 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The performance marked a new low for the slight-framed winger, after he totaled 26 points in 50 games of the 2022-23 season, and 25 points in 68 games in 2023-24. Those performances were a healthy ramp up from Laferriere’s nine points in 56 games as an AHL rookie in 2021-22 – but it seems he couldn’t maintain the stout production through a change of teams.
Instead of lamenting in AHL bottom-sixes, Laferriere will test his talents overseas. This will mark the first European hockey of his career, after he grew up through Canadian youth hockey, played American pros, and never made a national team roster. Laferriere was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the sixth round of the 2018 Draft, on the heels of scoring 41 points in 67 games with the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
He’s a lanky winger who leans on finesse and athleticism to make good plays along the boards. Those attributes could prove a helpful boost to a HK Spisska Nova Ves roster that stood on top of Slovakia’s pro league at the end of last season. Laferriere will join former AHL and ECHL pro Damien Giroux in the move to Slovakia. Despite quaint AHL scoring, sources available to Pro Hockey Rumors suggest that Laferriere was recruited by pro clubs in multiple European countries, and should have the chance to earn a middle-six role with his new club.
East Notes: Barnhill, Guimond, Bohlsen, Mayer
One of the New York Rangers’ quality defensive prospects has changed his collegiate commitment. According to Mike McMahon of College Hockey Insider, instead of waiting until next season to join Northeastern University, defenseman Sean Barnhill will join Michigan State University for the upcoming campaign.
This summer’s 70th overall selection, the Scottsdale, AZ native recently completed his first and only season with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. It was a modest offensive output for Barnhill, scoring four goals and 12 points in 54 games with a +9 rating, adding another assist in seven postseason contests.
What he lacks in offensive talent, he makes up for on the defensive side of the puck. Standing at 6’5″ and 214 lbs, Barnhill uses his reach effectively and has the foot speed to keep up with smaller forwards. Despite transferring to the NCAA level a year early, opposing forwards will have difficulty finding their way to the net through Barnhill.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Despite being drafted 169th overall by the Detroit Red Wings back in the 2023 NHL Draft, netminder Rudy Guimond has finally committed to a collegiate program for the upcoming season. Guimond announced on his Instagram that he will be attending Harvard University this fall, after playing the last two years with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. He had an outstanding season in Moncton last year, finishing with a perfect 16-0-0 record in 16 games, a .940 SV%, a 1.73 GAA, and three shutouts.
- The Hershey Bears, AHL affiliate to the Washington Capitals, have made a pair of free agent signings, according to a team announcement. Forward Kaden Bohlsen and defenseman Connor Mayer will join the Bears for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign. Bohlsen is coming off a quality season with Minnesota State University (Mankato), while Mayer spent a few games last season with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
West Notes: Oilers, Parekh, Nielsen
While a significant chunk of extension speculation surrounding the Oilers involves Connor McDavid, there are other notables also entering the final year of their respective contracts, highlighted by defensemen Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman along with their goaltending tandem. Earlier this week in an appearance on Oilers Now (audio link), GM Stan Bowman indicated that there have been a couple of preliminary talks with the agents for some of their pending UFAs and that he feels those discussions will pick up over the next six weeks or so to see if there’s something that lines up for both sides heading into training camp. Edmonton has around $45MM in cap room for 2026-27 per PuckPedia, with a big chunk of that earmarked for McDavid’s next contract. However, there will still be ample space for them to re-up some of their other key expiring deals while still allowing for a bit of flexibility to reshape their roster next summer.
More from out West:
- Earlier this week, the Flames announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Zayne Parekh wouldn’t take part in the World Junior Summer Showcase due to a lower-body injury. However, the injury isn’t believed to be significant and he’s expected to be a full participant in training camp. The 19-year-old scored in his NHL debut back in April and has tallied 33 goals in each of the last two seasons at the OHL level while amassing 203 points between 2023-24 and 2024-25. He’s still ineligible to play in the AHL but his offensive production with OHL Saginaw should give him a real chance to make Calgary’s roster in the fall.
- The Avalanche’s AHL affiliate has announced the signing of forward Tristen Nielsen to a one-year deal. The 25-year-old became an unrestricted free agent after being non-tendered by Vancouver back in June. Nielsen spent last season with AHL Abbotsford and was a capable secondary scorer, notching 15 goals and 13 assists in 67 regular season games while chipping in with nine points in 24 playoff contests on the way to their Calder Cup title.