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Snapshots: Hofer, Boeser, Puljujarvi, Seney

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Some have speculated that Blues goaltender Joel Hofer could be an offer sheet candidate this summer.  Speaking with reporters today including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link), GM Doug Armstrong tried his best to dissuade any potential suitors away:

We’ve taken the Boston-Detroit approach last year when they had RFAs. They made sure they left enough cap space that any offer could be matched. I’m very comfortable we can match any offer if we choose to match it. It won’t be we didn’t match it because we couldn’t afford it. It will be we didn’t match it because we thought the value we were getting back was better, and that value would have to start with a first-round pick or else we’ll just match it.

I’m not saying we wouldn’t match it with a first either, but I guess this is my shot across the bow. You can go after him. You’re not going to get him.

Hofer put up a 2.65 GAA and a .909 SV% in 65 games while playing on his two-year bridge contract, putting him in line for a significant raise on the league-minimum salary of $775K that he was making during that time.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see a short-term deal come in around $3MM, especially since he’s arbitration-eligible this summer.  Hofer could be a candidate for a second bridge contract as he’s still three years away from UFA eligibility while lining up the expiration of his deal at the same time that Blues starter Jordan Binnington’s contract will be up.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Senators are expected to show interest in pending UFA winger Brock Boeser if he gets to the open market, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Ottawa was 30th in the NHL in goals scored at five-on-five and Boeser, who has notched roughly 26 goals per year over the last five seasons, would certainly help in that regard.  However, affording him could be a challenge.  The Sens have around $10.75MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, but have made it known that they don’t plan to be a cap-spending team in 2025-26.  Considering that Boeser could command more than $8MM per season in free agency, he might be out of their price range unless they can open up money elsewhere first.
  • While Jesse Puljujarvi was one of only a few players still playing in the Calder Cup Finals (until recently when Abbotsford won the series in six), it appears he’s already looking ahead to his next deal. Blick, a Swiss newspaper, reports that the 27-year-old is likely to sign in the Swiss NL next season, likely with HC Lugano.  Puljujarvi started the year with Pittsburgh, getting into 26 games but asked for his contract to be terminated after he cleared waivers and was sent to the minors in February.  He quickly signed with Florida’s AHL team and was eventually converted to an NHL contract, getting into five games with the Panthers.  But while Puljujarvi has nearly 400 games at the top level under his belt, he has been more of an NHL-AHL ‘tweener’ lately so heading overseas where he can play a bigger role might make the most sense for him.
  • Pending Blackhawks UFA winger Brett Seney has decided not to test the open market after all and will remain with the organization. But after playing on an NHL deal in recent years, that won’t be the case anymore as their affiliate, AHL Rockford, announced that they’ve signed the 29-year-old to a two-year contract.  Seney has 66 career NHL appearances under his belt, including four in 2023-24, but spent all of this season in the minors where he notched 10 goals and 19 assists in 58 games.

Metropolitan Notes: Severson, Penguins, Snowden

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Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson has popped up in recent trade discussions, relays Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.  The 30-year-old still has six years left on his contract with a $6.25MM cap charge.  He logged over 19 minutes a game this season and posted 25 points in 70 appearances but notably, he was a healthy scratch down the stretch as Columbus made their late push for the playoffs.  Given that limited usage late, it’s not too surprising that the Blue Jackets appear to be exploring if there are any trade options with Severson even though they’re set to potentially lose two key blueliners in pending UFAs Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro.  Notably, Severson has a full no-trade clause so even if a trade gets agreed on, the veteran will have the final say on if it happens.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While the order for the draft has now been set, there is still one pick whose status is in flux. That would be the 12th overall selection, presently held by the Rangers, who have until Wednesday to decide if they’re conveying it to the Penguins or keeping it, allowing Pittsburgh to get New York’s 2026 unprotected pick.  Josh Yohe of The Athletic notes (subscription link) that at this moment, the belief inside the Penguins organization is that the Rangers will keep the selection and defer ceding the first rounder until next year.  Even if that happens, Pittsburgh will have a late-lottery pick as they already have the 11th selection.
  • It appears as if the Flyers could be promoting from within when it comes to their AHL head coaching vacancy. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the frontrunner is Phantoms assistant coach John Snowden.  He has spent the last two years in that role after spending the previous two as an assistant with AHL Toronto.  Snowden, if ultimately promoted, would take the place of Ian Laperriere who was reassigned in the organization back in the spring.

Wild Hire Greg Cronin To AHL Head Coach Role

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The Minnesota Wild have announced they’ve hired Greg Cronin to be the next head coach of the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Cronin will move to the role after spending the last two seasons as the coach of the Anaheim Ducks. The move was made official by Iowa general manager Matt Hendricks, who shared that the club is eager to add Cronin’s thorough hockey experience into their minor-league ranks.

Cronin is no stranger to minor-league roles. Prior to his time in Anaheim, all seven of Cronin’s years as a pro head coach came in the NHL – through a two-year stint with the Bridgeport Islanders from 2003 to 2005, and a five-year stint with the Colorado Eagles from 2018 to 2023. He intercut those tenures with prolonged roles as a college head coach or NHL assistant coach. In almost every year since 1995, Cronin has found coaching experience at one of those levels. His journey has taken him through time behind the bench at the University of Maine and Northeastern University, as well as with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs.

For all of his years at the helm, Cronin has yet to take a team to much postseason success. A second-round exit in the 2021 and 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs marked the furthest playoff runs of Cronin’s coaching career at either a collegiate or professional level. He has posted a cumulative record of 107-117-31 in the NCAA, 242-165-51 in the AHL, and 62-87-15 in the NHL.

Islanders Name Rocky Thompson AHL Head Coach

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The Islanders have begun the process of rebuilding their minor-league coaching staff, which was cleaned out entirely after general manager Mathieu Darche assumed his post last month. The organization announced they’ve tabbed Rocky Thompson as AHL Bridgeport’s head coach.

Thompson, 47, brings 18 years of coaching experience to the struggling Baby Isles’ bench. He’d spent the past three years with the Flyers as an assistant under John Tortorella, mainly as a power-play coach. After Tortorella was fired with weeks left in the regular season, Thompson was let go as Philadelphia overhauled its support staff after the campaign concluded. The Flyers’ power play clicked at a league-worst 14.1% under Thompson since 2022-23.

While his last job doesn’t inspire much intrigue, his earlier resume does. Thompson served as the head coach of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves from 2017-18 to 2019-20 while they were affiliated with the Blues and Golden Knights, leading them to a Calder Cup Final appearance in 2019. He also coached the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires to a Memorial Cup win in 2017 as the host club, overseeing a roster led by future NHLers Mikhail Sergachev and Gabriel Vilardi.

Thompson’s previous coaching stops included an assistant role with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings from 2007-08 to 2009-10 and a stint with AHL Oklahoma City (the Oilers’ former affiliate) from 2010-11 to 2013-14 before making his debut as an NHL coach as an assistant with the Oilers in 2014-15. He also worked with the Sharks as an associate coach in the 2020-21 campaign.

The Calgary native was a third-round pick by the Flames in 1995 and played 25 NHL games across four seasons with them and the Panthers. He never recorded a point but did rack up 117 PIMs – spending more time in the box than on the ice (94:41).

Bridgeport’s coaching change comes after Rick Kowalsky oversaw the club for the last two seasons. He compiled a rather dubious 40-88-16 record, including an AHL-record low four home wins in 2024-25. Expect the Isles to be active in signing high-end minor-league depth this summer as a result to help create a more competitive environment for their younger prospects.

Flames Notes: Vladar, Andersson, Sutter

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Goaltender Daniel Vladar is arguably the most prominent pending unrestricted free agent that the Flames have and while Vladar said after the season that he’d like to re-sign, no deal is in place two months later.  Speaking with Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson, GM Craig Conroy noted that the two sides are still in discussions and are “continuing to plug away” at his file.  The 27-year-old started the season platooning with Dustin Wolf before the latter took over as the undisputed starter in the second half.  Vladar bounced back from a tough 2023-24 season, posting a 2.80 GAA and a .898 SV% in 30 outings this season.  At this point, he’s likely hoping for a raise from the $2.2MM he made over the last two seasons, especially since he projects to be one of the better options in what is a relatively thin free agent market for goaltenders this summer.

More from Calgary:

  • It appears that there’s a big gap to bridge in extension discussions with defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that the two sides are not on the same page as things stand and while the team is content to have Andersson begin next season without an extension and potentially move him at the deadline, he could become movable now as well.  Andersson is entering the final year of a team-friendly deal that carries a $4.55MM AAV but he’s coming off a bit of a down year although he tied his career high in goals with 11 and averaged nearly 24 minutes a night of playing time.  It might make more sense for both sides to wait things out into the season to see if his early performance could shrink the gap with the potential to deal him increasing if they’re still not close at that time.
  • One of the AHL coaching vacancies has been filled as the Wranglers announced that Brett Sutter has been appointed as the third head coach in franchise history. The 38-year-old began his coaching career last season as an assistant with Calgary and will get his first chance to run a team in short order.  Sutter takes the place of Trent Cull who was promoted to a full-time assistant coaching role with the Flames earlier this offseason.

Avalanche Sign Jason Polin, Matthew Stienburg To One-Year Deals

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In separate announcements, the Colorado Avalanche shared that they’ve signed forwards Jason Polin and Matthew Stienburg to one-year deals through the 2025-26 season. According to contract data provided by Puck Pedia, Polin will earn an NHL salary of $775K and $130K in the AHL. No contract details for Stienburg have been disclosed, but his salary will likely fall within a similar range.

Polin’s new deal comes with some surprise. The former Hobey Baker Award finalist hasn’t come close to the scoring output that he demonstrated with the NCAA’s Western Michigan University Broncos. Throughout his tenure with Colorado, the Holt, MI native has scored 15 goals and 30 points in 88 AHL contests, and only one goal in nine NHL appearances. Still, given the improbable number of injuries sustained by the Avalanche throughout the 2024-25 season, it makes sense that the team would like to retain most of their depth pieces in the system.

Like Polin, Stienburg signed with the organization out of college, though he had been previously drafted by the Avalanche in 2019, from Cornell University. Unlike Polin, Stienburg didn’t come to the organization with as much hype, given his career high of 13 goals and 29 points in 28 games with Cornell during his junior campaign in 2021-22.

Similarly to many of his peers, Stienburg earned a call-up with Colorado this past season, due to injuries to players on the NHL roster. Going scoreless in eight games, Stienburg’s only notable play was earning a two-game suspension for elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Černák.

Link to the team’s announcement for Polin.

Link to the team’s announcement for Stienburg.

Dallas Stars Re-Sign Cameron Hughes To Two-Year Deal

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As announced by their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, the Dallas Stars have re-signed forward Cameron Hughes to a two-year, two-way contract. Although the team hasn’t confirmed his upcoming salary, the contract is likely to pay Hughes an AAV of $ 775K at the NHL level.

The former sixth-round pick of the Boston Bruins recently completed his first season with the Stars organization. The AHL Stars’ assistant captain finished third in scoring on the team, tallying 23 goals and 57 points in 69 games, with four additional goals and 19 points in 14 postseason contests, this time leading the team.

Still, as previously mentioned, Texas isn’t where Hughes began his professional playing career. As the 165th overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, it would take an additional three years for Hughes to debut with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. He was relatively successful with AHL Providence, primarily as a secondary scorer from 2018 to 2021. It wasn’t until the 2021-22 season that Hughes nearly doubled his previous career-high, scoring 14 goals and 45 points in 61 games.

Becoming a free agent after the 2021-22 campaign, Hughes settled on a two-year, $1.53MM agreement with the Seattle Kraken. His departure from the Bruins organization marked the final time he has played at the NHL level, appearing in one game during the 2019-20 season and another in the 2020-21 season.

Hughes’ two-year commitment with the Kraken proved wildly successful at the AHL level, this time with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Scoring 44 goals and 113 points in 130 regular-season games, with another four goals and 39 points in 44 postseason contests, Hughes helped the Firebirds reach back-to-back Calder Cup Finals.

Rangers Sign Matthew Robertson To Two-Year Extension

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The New York Rangers have signed defenseman Matthew Robertson to a two-year contract extension. The deal will carry two-way status in year one, and one-way status in year two. Both years will have a league-minimum, $775K cap hit at the NHL level.

This move is a tidy piece of business, and checks one of the 14 pending restricted-free agents off of New York’s to-do list. Robertson spent the majority of last season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. He graduated into a top-end role with the club as the year went on, and finished the season with a defense-leading 25 points in 60 games played. Interestingly, only one of those points was a goal – scored just four games into the season in a comeback win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Robertson went on to lean into a defense-first role, and earned the first two games of his NHL career in New York’s final two games of the regular season.

Robertson’s NHL debuts didn’t come with any scoring, but nonetheless stood as two promising performances. He posted a plus-three across the two matchups, and earned 20 minutes of icetime in the latter of the two: a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Robertson looked capable of handling NHL tempo and speed, using his full-size frame and lengthy reach to control opponents into the boards and knock the puck loose. Those will be the traits that headline his game, and potentially earn him NHL reps, as soon as the start of next season.

Gabriel Dumont Announces Retirement

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According to a team announcement, longtime captain for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, Gabriel Dumont, has announced his retirement from professional hockey. Dumont, 34, recently completed his 15th professional season.

Dumont’s entrance into professional hockey came in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL Draft, when the Montreal Canadiens selected him with the 139th overall pick. He subsequently had a promising year with the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, scoring 51 goals and 93 points in 62 games with an impressive +43 rating.

Unfortunately, that was the last of Dumont’s high-scoring days for quite some time. He spent the next six years buried in the AHL in the Canadiens organization, scoring 92 goals and 203 points in 389 AHL contests, while managing one goal and three points in 18 NHL games.

After the 2015-16 season, Dumont finally reached free agency and chose to sign a one-year agreement with the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was Dumont’s largest opportunity to play at the top level, scoring two goals and four points in 39 games for the Bolts, while averaging 9:40 of ice time per night. After a brief stint with the Ottawa Senators after being claimed off waivers, Dumont later returned to the Lightning organization, again via waivers, a few months later.

Despite posting a solid 15 goals and 43 points in 59 games for the Crunch in his first year as captain during the 2018-19 campaign, Dumont chose to leave the following summer, signing a two-year agreement with the Minnesota Wild. Dumont largely played in the AHL with Minnesota, scoring 20 goals and 46 points in 68 AHL contests, and going scoreless in three NHL appearances over two years.

The beginning of the 2021-22 season signified Dumont’s last move in his professional career and ended his NHL tenure. Syracuse’s former captain returned, again taking on the same leadership role, for the next four years. Unfortunately, Dumont couldn’t lead the Crunch very deep into the Calder Cup playoffs, but did have the best individual season of his career in 2021-22, scoring 30 goals and 62 points in 75 games.

The former fifth-round selection in the 2009 NHL Draft concluded his AHL career with a total of 202 goals and 459 points across 747 games, playing for the Crunch, Iowa Wild, Hamilton Bulldogs, and St. John’s IceCaps. In addition, he recorded four goals and nine points in 90 NHL appearances with the Canadiens, Lightning, Senators, and Wild. PHR congratulates Dumont on a quality professional career and wishes him the best in retirement.

Stars Sign Remi Poirier To Two-Year, Two-Way Contract

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The Dallas Stars have announced they’ve signed goaltender Remi Poirier to a two-year, two-way contract beginning next season. Poirier has spent the last three seasons with the AHL’s Texas Stars.

Dallas originally drafted Poirier in the sixth-round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He signed his entry-level contract two seasons later, after finishing a fourth year with the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. His pro career kicked off in the ECHL, but he earned a promotion to the AHL after posting three shutouts and nine one-goal games through his first 22 games. He finished his rookie pro season split between tier-two and tier-three, ultimately finishing the year with a .928 save percentage in 23 ECHL games and a .907 Sv% in 16 AHL games.

The momentum from year one was enough to propel Poirier to the top of a closely-contested Texas goalie room last season. He played in 38 of Texas’ 72 games on the season, and posted a team-best .904 save percentage and 17-16-4 record. He seemed set to continue on as Texas’ starter into this season, until the Stars signed Magnus Hellberg to a one-year, two-way contract last August. Hellberg assumed the lion’s share of minutes over Poirier, though Poirier’s .908 Sv% in 31 games still trumped Hellberg’s .904 Sv% in 41 games.

Hellberg recently signed with Djugardens IF of Swedens’ SHL for next season. That move should open the door for Poirier to once again step into the AHL spotlight. He boasts a career-long stat line of a 43-32-8 record, .906 Sv%, and 2.86 goals-against-average in 85 games and four seasons.

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