Brian La Rose

Five Key Stories: 6/9/25 – 6/15/25

June 15, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

With a maximum of just two games remaining in the playoffs, activity around the NHL is set to pick up considerably in the very near future. In the meantime, there was still some news of note over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Calling It A Career: After missing all of the 2024-25 season due to a lingering back injury, veteran winger T.J. Oshie has officially announced his retirement at the age of 38. A first-round pick by St. Louis back in 2005, he spent the first seven years of his career with the Blues before being traded to the Capitals back in 2015. From there, Oshie became a long-term fixture of Washington’s top six, spending a lot of time on their second line. Overall, he played in 1,010 career regular season NHL games between the two teams, scoring 302 goals and 393 assists. Oshie picked up 69 points in 106 playoff contests while winning a Stanley Cup with Washington back in 2018.

Stars Shopping A Star? One of the themes of the week was the potential availability of Stars winger Jason Robertson. With Dallas having less than $5MM in cap space per PuckPedia with several key players on expiring contracts, there were reports that they were at least exploring what Robertson’s market might look like although going this route is not their preference. Robertson has had at least 79 points in each of the last four seasons and has one year left on his contract with a $7.75MM price tag. At this point, GM Jim Nill’s preference is believed to be trying to move more intermediate contracts like Mason Marchment, Mathew Dumba, and Ilya Lyubushkin, incrementally opening up spending flexibility along the way.

Kreider To Anaheim: There was one trade of note in the NHL this week. The Rangers had been trying to move winger Chris Kreider dating back to early in the season but with their cap situation requiring more flexibility, time was more of the essence. They were able to find a move for him, sending the veteran along with the 104th pick in the draft to Anaheim for prospect forward Carey Terrance and pick 89. Kreider had been a key part of New York’s forward group for more than a decade and has reached the 20-goal mark in 10 of the last 11 seasons. However, with GM Chris Drury wanting to shake up his core group, Kreider’s $6.5MM cap charge (of which the Ducks are picking up in full), and his drop to just 30 points this season, the decision was made to move on from him.

Awards Week: The majority of the end-of-season awards were handed out this week. First, Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson took home the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie following a 66-point effort that broke multiple franchise records. Colorado’s Cale Makar won the Norris Trophy after being the first defenseman to reach 30 goals and 90 points in the same season since 1988-89. Los Angeles center picked up the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player in a particularly close race over several other contenders. Then, it was Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck winning a pair of awards, collecting the Vezina Trophy for being the top goaltender along with the Hart Trophy for the player deemed to be the most valuable player to his team.

Sabres Listening On Peterka: Sabres winger JJ Peterka has always had plenty of suitors but Buffalo had been rejecting those overtures. However, as his first foray into restricted free agent approaches, it appears the team is now more open to listening to offers for the 23-year-old amidst the belief that Peterka’s preference would be to move on. He had his second straight 18-point jump this season, tallying 27 goals and 41 assists in 77 games and has established himself as a capable top-six player. A long-term deal for Peterka this summer could push past the $8MM mark, a price tag that Buffalo can afford to give him but if they do opt to move him, they’ll command a significant price tag to part with his rights as well.

Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.

Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins

June 15, 2025 at 7:52 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments

Free agency is now barely two weeks away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Penguins.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Connor Dewar – Acquired at the trade deadline from Toronto, the change of scenery worked out rather well for Dewar as he had seven points in 17 games down the stretch while seeing his playing time jump up by more than four minutes a game. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he finished the year with just 10 points in 48 outings. The contract he was on was structured to allow for a lower qualifying offer ($819K) than his AAV ($1.18MM) but arbitration rights loom large as he has 238 career NHL appearances. If the two sides can agree on a deal before the tender deadline that’s around what he made this season, that would be ideal but if it gets to the point of requiring the qualifying offer, it would be surprising to see it issued, which would allow Pittsburgh to avoid arbitration.

D Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Non-tendered by the Penguins to avoid the risk of an arbitration hearing last summer, Joseph made his way to St. Louis where he struggled, resulting in Pittsburgh bringing him back midseason for extra depth. He got a few more minutes per game with the Pens but remained more of a depth piece than a full-time regular. The same issue exists now as it did a summer ago. He’s owed a $997.5K qualifying offer but with arbitration eligibility, he’s a non-tender candidate if something can’t be worked out before then.

D Conor Timmins – Also brought in from Toronto at the deadline, Timmins was more impactful down the stretch than he had been the rest of the year, also picking up seven points in 17 games while averaging a little under 19 minutes per night of ice time. Like Dewar and Joseph, Timmins is arbitration-eligible as well but this was the only NHL season where he played in at least 35 games; the track record isn’t as much. Accordingly, the risk of a qualifying offer isn’t as significant. A one-year deal could earn him a raise closer to the $1.75MM mark but walk him right to UFA eligibility. Accordingly, a two-year pact might be more desirable for GM Kyle Dubas in which case the offer could land closer to the $2MM range.

F Philip Tomasino – After playing time with Nashville was hard to come by, Pittsburgh acquired the 2019 first-round pick in late November and he largely played a regular role down the stretch. While he wasn’t able to replicate his rookie-season numbers, he still managed 11 goals and 12 assists in 50 games in a little over 13 minutes a night with no power play time. That’s worthy of a longer look. The 23-year-old is owed a qualifying offer of just over $866K and, like everyone else on this list so far, is arbitration-eligible. A one-year deal that allows both sides more time to evaluate could make sense here with a price tag landing around the $1.5MM mark, a two-year pact would push the AAV closer to the $2MM range.

Other RFAs: F Raivis Ansons, F Emil Bemstrom, G Taylor Gauthier, F Filip Lindberg (signed in Finland), F Vasiliy Ponomarev (signed in KHL)

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Matt Grzelcyk – The decision to take a one-year deal with Pittsburgh last summer in the hopes of rebuilding some value seems to have worked out quite well for Grzelcyk. After a slow start, he found his footing and set new career-highs in assists (39) and points (40), making him the top point-getter among pending UFA blueliners. Of course, it also needs to be noted that he’s one of the smaller defensemen in the NHL and that almost certainly will affect his market. Nonetheless, after settling for $2.75MM last summer, he has a good chance of beating that while getting the multi-year deal that eluded him a year ago. He had a cap hit of just under $3.7MM on his last deal with Boston and with the expectations of some higher prices on the open market this year, Grzelcyk should be able to set a new personal best on that front next month.

F Joona Koppanen – The term ‘key’ here might be a little misleading but Koppanen is just one of three of their pending UFAs to play at least 10 NHL games this season so that lands him a spot here. He averaged a little under four hits per game in his limited action in 2024-25 and at 6’5, he has the size that some teams may covet for a depth spot in the lineup. A one-way deal might be hard to come by but the 27-year-old should have several suitors for a two-way pact on the open market.

F Matthew Nieto – Once a valued bottom-six forward, injuries have really derailed Nieto over the past two seasons as he has played in just 54 games combined, managing just seven points. A veteran of over 700 career appearances at the top level, he may be in tough to add to that by any significant amount next season. At this point, he looks more like a training camp PTO candidate than someone likely to get a guaranteed deal over the next few months.

Other UFAs: D Nathan Clurman, D Mac Hollowell (signed in KHL), D Filip Kral (signed in Czechia), F Jimmy Huntington, F Marc Johnstone, F Mathias Laferriere, D Colton Poolman

Projected Cap Space

Pittsburgh has the type of salary cap flexibility that they simply haven’t had in quite some time with over $23MM in room heading into the summer. That number shouldn’t be reduced by too much from re-signing their pending RFAs either. Normally, this would seemingly position the Penguins to be active in free agency. But Dubas has stated that he won’t be too active on that front while the hiring of Dan Muse as their head coach suggests they’re heading into more of a rebuild. With that in mind, they might not be spending that money early this summer and it would be surprising to see them anywhere near the $95.5MM Upper Limit at the start of 2025-26.

Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images (both players). Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.

Offseason Checklist: Washington Capitals

June 15, 2025 at 6:44 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming weeks with free agency fast approaching. Next up is a look at Washington.

Last summer was an eventful one for the Capitals. After a quick playoff exit, GM Chris Patrick made several moves to add to his core group. They turned out to be some strong trades as Washington went from barely making the playoffs the year before to having the best record in the Eastern Conference before falling to Carolina in the second round. It’s expected that this offseason will be much quieter for the Caps with their checklist primarily looking at tweaks to their group over another overhaul.

Add High-Skill Player

This was one of the goals that Patrick identified last month in his end-of-season press conference. On the surface, that might seem a little strange for a team that finished second in the league in scoring but when you dig a little deeper, it does make sense.

Of their top six scorers from this season, five of them set new career highs in points: Dylan Strome (82), Aliaksei Protas (66), Pierre-Luc Dubois (66), Tom Wilson (65), and Connor McMichael (57). That’s a great spot to be in but it would also be unrealistic to expect that to happen again in 2025-26. Their team shooting percentage was also tops in the league at 12.6%, well above the league average of 10.7%. That number could very well come down as well after being just 9.9% in 2023-24.

There’s also the matter of Alex Ovechkin being in the final year of his contract. He had a big season to get the all-time NHL goal record but he’ll turn 40 in training camp; his best days are behind him. That’s going to be a big opening to try to fill next summer.

So, why not try to fill it now and get the best of both worlds next season? Washington has a little under $9.4MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia, with only a couple of spots to try to fill. With a bit of roster tinkering (more on that shortly), they could have enough to take aim at one of the better forwards in this year’s free agent class. Patrick wouldn’t rule out a “big hack” this summer and it’s more plausible than it might have initially seemed.

Clear A Contract

Let’s take a look at that roster tinkering as there are two players that stand out as superfluous when it comes to their roster composition. Moving out one or both of those would certainly allow Patrick more wiggle room to either take that big hack to add up front or make multiple secondary core additions this summer.

The first is defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. More of a depth defender earlier in his career, he has found a home with the Capitals on their third pairing and at $3MM, his price tag isn’t particularly onerous. However, he’s number three on the right side of the back end and was sixth in ATOI among Capitals defenders this season at 17:40. It’s a nice luxury to have but is $3MM too much for a sixth defender when you’re already spending nearly $34MM on the back end? (That number may yet go up with Alexander Alexeyev being a pending restricted free agent.) Would they be better off spending less on that position and reallocating some money up front? Plus, Ryan Chesley, one of their better prospects, is now signed and could very well play his way into the mix on the right side of the back end as well. Since it’s an expiring contract, Washington has a chance to get good value for van Riemdsyk if they were to move him.

The other contract is one that will be trickier to move, winger Sonny Milano. He was a frequent healthy scratch early on and then suffered an upper-body injury that kept him out for the rest of the season after suffering a setback in his recovery closer to the trade deadline. His availability to start 2025-26 remains uncertain. At a $1.9MM price tag, Washington could simply elevate Ethen Frank to a full-time role and use some of the savings on a more prominent player and the rest on a cheaper depth piece. If he’s out to start the season, he could be an LTIR candidate but that would only be a short-term solution while waiving him when he’s healthy would shave $1.15MM off the books but not the full amount. This isn’t overly pressing but getting Milano off the books altogether would help them.

Add Third-Line Help

This was the other item that Patrick mentioned at the end of the season about trying to find. In the final game of their playoff run, that trio consisted of McMichael, Ryan Leonard, and Andrew Mangiapane. McMichael and Leonard are both signed for next season already while Mangiapane is set to become an unrestricted free agent so it’s clear which spot he’s looking to fill.

There are a few different ways to fill the spot and it depends on what their plan is for McMichael. A natural center, he spent most of the year on the wing. What their plan is for him will dictate the position they try to fill, presumably on the open market. While Nic Dowd is capable of moving up and anchoring that trio with McMichael on the wing, it’s fair to suggest that Washington’s preference would be to keep him on the fourth line where he has had plenty of success in that role.

While the UFA market will have high demand for the top centers, there are enough middlemen available to play a bottom-six role that should keep the costs relatively reasonable. At that spot, players like Christian Dvorak, Luke Kunin, Sean Kuraly, and Trent Frederic would make sense. Meanwhile, wingers like Brandon Saad, Brandon Tanev, Eric Robinson, and Joel Armia could all fit. Anthony Beauvillier, their trade deadline acquisition, could also fit. The upper end of the price range for this group should be somewhere around $3MM while others might check in closer to $2MM. Depending on how much they want to spend on the top-six addition, Patrick should have plenty of options to fill this one if he wants to go that route to do so.

Get Younger

In recent years, the Capitals have been one of the older teams in the NHL. With a veteran core that included Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie up front with John Carlson on the back end, that’s not much of a surprise. They were the second-oldest team in the league in terms of average age in 2023-24 but that dropped to 11th this season. There’s room for that to go down a little more next season.

Leonard should be around for the full season after turning pro in April. Hendrix Lapierre, a pending restricted free agent, is waiver-eligible now and given his first-round draft pedigree and a point-per-game showing in 32 games with Hershey this year, it’s safe to say he won’t get through waivers so he’ll either make the team or be traded. The former is much more likely than the latter.

Meanwhile, Ivan Miroshnichenko has seen NHL action in each of his first two seasons in North America and probably isn’t too far away from being ready for a longer-term look. Andrew Cristall has lit up the WHL in scoring the last two years and made a real run at a roster spot back in training camp. And, as noted earlier, Chesley probably isn’t going to need much time in Hershey before he’s pushing for a spot on the back end.

Patrick noted a desire to try to get his team a little younger and he’ll have a chance to do so. If he keeps a couple of spots available for youngsters or even that opening on the third line (with McMichael moving back to center), it’s quite possible that the Caps could get themselves around the middle of the pack in average age. Considering where they were just a couple of years ago, that would be an impressive turnaround while still keeping the core of a division-winning group intact.

Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports.

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Jean-Gabriel Pageau

June 14, 2025 at 6:24 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 10 Comments

With a center trade market that might not be as busy as initially anticipated and one top option (Brock Nelson) off the UFA list already, teams will be starting to take a look at other options to try to upgrade down the middle. It appears one of the players is receiving some attention now as Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News relays (Twitter links) that at least three teams have called to inquire about Islanders middleman Jean-Gabriel Pageau over the last week. One of those teams is believed to be the Bruins.

The 32-year-old will be entering the final year of his contract next season on a deal that carries a $5MM cap charge but only a $3.5MM salary. Pageau will have some say in the matter as well as he has a 16-team no-trade clause.

Pageau has been a speculative trade candidate for a couple of years now with the Islanders often running close to having salary cap issues. At the time, the thought was that New York might have to incentivize a team to take on Pageau’s contract or potentially pay it down in order to get a positive-value return.

That shouldn’t be the case now, however. With an expiring contract and a thinning-out market, new GM Mathieu Darche should be in a good spot to elicit a good return for Pageau’s services.

It also certainly helps that Pageau is coming off one of his best offensive years. This season, he had 14 goals and 28 assists in 79 games. His assist total was a career-high while his point total came in one shy of his personal best set back in 2015-16 with Ottawa. Over his past four seasons, he has notched at least 33 points and has scored double-digit goals in 10 of the last 11 years.

Pageau has also long been an above-average player at the faceoff dot and took that to another level in 2024-25, winning a career-best 59.6% of his draws while leading all Islander forwards in shorthanded ice time. Basically, he continues to be a middle-six option as he has been for the last several seasons.

The Islanders have nearly $21MM in projected cap space this summer, per PuckPedia. However, with a long list of restricted free agents to contend with, that money is going to get spent up in a hurry and New York will be right back up against the cap ceiling. That makes Pageau a logical candidate to try to move over the coming weeks and it appears New York will have multiple suitors for his services if they go that route.

The fit in Boston would be intriguing. The Bruins already have Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, and Pavel Zacha under contract while youngsters Fraser Minten and Matthew Poitras are waiting in the wings. While Boston could use a center upgrade toward the top of their lineup, Pageau would fit more in the middle of their forward group where their depth already lies. That said, one of the veterans could be moved to the wing if need be or moved elsewhere if GM Don Sweeney wants to further shake up his group. In the meantime, we’ll see in the coming weeks if any other suitors emerge for Pageau’s services.

Hurricanes Expected To Sign Stanislav Yarovoi

June 14, 2025 at 5:07 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Hurricanes appear to be closing in on a contract with one of their 2023 draft picks. Championat’s Anton Nekrasov reports that Carolina is close to signing winger Stanislav Yarovoi to an entry-level deal.

The 21-year-old was a late fourth-round selection, going 126th overall. However, he’ll turn 22 before September 15th meaning that his contract should be a two-year agreement if and when he signs.

Yarovoi’s offensive numbers don’t exactly jump off the charts. In his draft year, he had nine goals and seven assists with Vityaz Moscow of the KHL and he hasn’t reached that plateau since then at the top level in Russia. He also had a dozen points in five junior-level games that year.

This season, he played in 49 games with Vityaz, tallying nine goals along with just three helpers. His playing time was down a bit from 2023-24 as he logged 13:16 per night of playing time.

Heading into the 2023 draft, Yarovoi was noted for bringing some above-average defensive elements to his game, traits that should endear him to Carolina’s coaches as the checking gets a little tighter in North America. Assuming a contract gets done, Yarovoi seems unlikely to crack the roster of the Hurricanes right away which would make him a candidate to start with AHL Chicago. However, we often see Russian prospects get European Assignment Clauses to allow them to play at home a little longer so that could potentially be on the table as well.

Jets Sign Alfons Freij

June 14, 2025 at 3:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Jets have signed one of their draft picks from last year, announcing that they’ve inked defenseman Alfons Freij to a three-year, entry-level deal. The agreement will carry an AAV of $975K at the NHL level.

The 19-year-old was the fifth selection in the second round last June, going 37th overall following a strong season in Sweden’s junior system. Freij predominantly played at the Under-20 level with Vaxjo and fared well offensively, notching 14 goals and 19 assists in 40 games. He also played in five playoff games with Vaxjo’s Under-20 and Under-18 levels.

This season, Freij moved up a level, going to Sweden’s second-tier professional league, the Allsvenskan, where he played with IF Bjorkloven. In 29 games with them, he had two goals and six assists while adding five points in five games with Bjorkloven’s Under-20 team as well.

Back in April, Freij signed a two-year deal with SHL Timra, positioning himself to be tested at a higher level once again next season. This contract shouldn’t change that, as it’s quite likely that he will be loaned back overseas for 2025-26. Assuming that happens, Freij’s contract is eligible to slide and, in that case, he’d still have three years left on his deal at this time next year.

Canadiens Sign Vinzenz Rohrer

June 14, 2025 at 2:43 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Canadiens have signed one of their prospects, announcing today that they’ve inked forward Vinzenz Rohrer to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 20-year-old was a third-round pick by Montreal back in 2022, going 75th overall. He remained with OHL Ottawa the following season, posting 19 goals and 30 assists in 54 games before deciding to change things up. Instead of staying for what likely would have been his final year of major junior, Rohrer instead decided to turn pro, inking a two-year deal with Zurich in Switzerland.

Rohrer put up 19 points in 49 games in 2023-24, decent numbers for a teenager playing in the pros. That was enough to earn a one-year extension with Zurich, putting him under contract through 2025-26. He followed that up with 15 goals and 10 assists in 52 games this season before adding seven points in 16 playoff contests. Instead of joining Montreal’s farm team in Laval after that for their playoff run, Rohrer went to the World Championship with Austria and fared well with them, collecting four goals and two assists in eight games as they made it to the quarterfinals.

In a release from Zurich (Twitter link), the Lions noted that while Rohrer will attend training camp with the Canadiens this fall, he will report back to Zurich if the team sends him down to the minors. This means that the contract has a European Assignment Clause for the upcoming season; if Rohrer ultimately is sent back, he will still count against Montreal’s contract limit of 50 while he’s too old to have the contract slide.

Offseason Checklist: Vegas Golden Knights

June 14, 2025 at 1:44 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

After being a Wild Card team last season, the Golden Knights won the Pacific Division this year and made it a round further in the playoffs before being ousted by Edmonton in the second round. While it’s a step in the right direction, GM Kelly McCrimmon will still have some work to do this summer to tweak his group and set them up for the future.

Open Up Cap Space

On the surface, $9.6MM in cap space (per PuckPedia) isn’t too bad. Frankly, it’s more than they’ve had in past years in late spring. But that also comes with several key veterans getting set to hit the open market next month, including wingers Reilly Smith, Victor Olofsson, and Brandon Saad, along with goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Suffice it to say, those four players alone will probably cost that much or more next month.

So, if McCrimmon wants to add anyone of consequence to his group, he will need to open up some flexibility, something that is going to be easier said than done. William Karlsson was a logical speculative candidate with two years left on his contract at a $5.9MM AAV but that has been ruled out already.

Speculatively, their top talents are probably not in play. Their lower-cost ones aren’t necessarily going to move the needle in terms of opening up enough space to do something. And there aren’t too many in the medium-term cost category, especially with Karlsson off the table. Basically, that leaves defenseman Brayden McNabb ($3.65MM) and Ivan Barbashev ($5MM) as the only pieces that could be moved that could open up enough meaningful space to contribute toward a signing.

At this point, it certainly sounds like they’d like to open up enough flexibility to do something. How they create enough space to do so will be interesting to follow.

Work On Eichel Extension

This is something that McCrimmon highlighted at the end of the season as a priority, getting center Jack Eichel signed to a contract extension. He’ll be entering the final year of his contract in July, making him eligible to put pen to paper on a new deal. The two sides have already held preliminary talks but getting something across the finish line will be the goal.

The 28-year-old has done quite well with Vegas since being acquired four seasons ago following a prolonged battle with his former team in Buffalo as to what type of neck surgery to pursue. Eichel eventually got his way with the artificial disc procedure being done upon being acquired and while he has battled injuries along the way, that particular injury hasn’t been an issue since. He is coming off a career year that saw him record personal bests in assists (66) and points (94) and is averaging more than a point per game since the trade. He has also become a reliable defensive player, seeing regular time on the penalty kill and landing in the top five in Selke Trophy voting. Basically, Eichel is an all-around number one center, the type of player that is very hard to come by.

Eichel is already at the $10MM per season mark and it’s unlikely that a small increase to that will be enough to get it done thanks to the projected significant jumps to the Upper Limit of the salary cap over the next few years. His current deal was worth 12.58% of the salary cap at the time it was signed. Early projections for the salary cap for 2026-27 when his next contract will kick in have the ceiling at $104MM. Simply using the same 12.58% figure against that number, that would run his price tag up to $13.083MM per season. For now, at least, that would make him the third-highest-paid player in the league behind Leon Draisaitl ($14MM) and Auston Matthews ($13.25MM), a pair of middlemen themselves.

That’s pretty high territory for a player who has only reached the 80-point mark twice in his career, this season and back in 2018-19. It’s not that Eichel doesn’t produce at a point-per-game level, but he does have a history of injuries; his rookie year (2015-16) was the only time he reached the 80-game mark in a season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see McCrimmon try to factor that into the negotiation to try to get that AAV at least a little lower but Eichel’s camp should know that unless there’s a serious injury next season, he’d hit the open market as arguably the top player available at a premium position which could very well drive the price tag closer to Draisaitl’s mark. Are the Golden Knights willing to go that high to get something done now? We’ll find out over the next few months.

Defensive Decisions

The UFAs listed earlier aren’t the only expiring contracts the Golden Knights will be contending with this summer as defenseman Nicolas Hague is going to be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. Owed a $2.7MM qualifying offer this summer, the expectation is that he’ll be looking to land more than that. Given their cap situation, there has been no shortage of speculation that he’ll move.

However, there have also been suggestions that Alex Pietrangelo’s availability to start the season could be in question. While he was in the lineup following the 4 Nations Face-Off, he was playing through an injury the rest of the way including the playoffs and at 35 with over 1,200 NHL games under his belt (regular season and playoffs), he might be nearing the point where he’s going to be playing through some lingering issues for the final two years of his contract. Only the Golden Knights know his true availability to start 2025-26 but even if he is good to go, would the uncertainty make them consider adding on the back end? Would that make them lean toward keeping Hague, even though he’s a left-hand shot?

It’s expected that Kaedan Korczak will get a look at more of a regular role next season but he and Zach Whitecloud are the only other two right-hand shots on the back end in Vegas. Both are more third-pairing types of players so if they’re worried about Pietrangelo’s full-season availability, they might want to sniff around the right-shot market. That would cut into their cap space, obviously, but that type of insurance would be valuable. It could come from moving Hague for a right-shot piece or moving him for futures and signing one in free agency. One option would be an older player eligible for bonuses on a one-year deal (someone like Brent Burns), allowing them to push some of the costs to 2026-27 and potentially allow them to keep their full back end intact. There are some options here.

Failing that, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them try to add a veteran or two on the open market that could start with AHL Henderson but come up if and when injuries arise. The Hague speculation is plentiful but that probably won’t be the only headline from their back end this summer.

Look For Backup Goalie

After a disappointing year with Toronto in 2023-24, Samsonov opted to sign a one-year deal with Vegas in the hopes that he’d rebuild some of his value and be in better shape to hit the open market this summer. While he shaved 31 points off his GAA (down to 2.83), his SV% only improved by one point to .891, still below league average. At this point, it would be surprising if he returned.

Vegas did add Akira Schmid in a trade on the second day of the draft last year, acquiring him as part of the return in the deal that sent Paul Cotter to New Jersey. With Adin Hill and Samsonov comprising the tandem with the Golden Knights, Schmid spent most of this season in the AHL with the Silver Knights where he struggled, posting a 3.58 GAA and a .886 SV% in 30 outings, numbers that don’t exactly scream promotion-ready.

Granted, Schmid did well in limited duty in five games (three starts) with Vegas and he did have a good run late in 2022-23 with the Devils but then lost the backup job the following season relatively quickly. With just 48 NHL games under his belt (just 36 starts), is he ready to play 30 or more games with the Golden Knights? That’s not a given.

Schmid’s contract makes him appealing (a $875K AAV) but would they be better trying to spend closer to twice as much and get a more proven option or find another Samsonov-type goalie looking to bounce back? This isn’t necessarily a top-priority need but with the goalie market typically moving quickly once free agency opens up, a decision to that question will need to be made fairly quickly.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

Bruins Sign Victor Soderstrom

June 14, 2025 at 12:06 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

Boston didn’t waste any time getting their newest blueliner under contract. After acquiring the rights to Victor Soderstrom on Friday, the Bruins announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract. The NHL portion of the deal will pay the minimum salary of $775K while the AHL salary was not disclosed.

The 24-year-old was a first-round pick back in 2019 when Arizona drafted him 11th overall. However, his development has not quite gone as well as the then-Coyotes would have hoped.

While Soderstrom saw NHL action in four straight seasons from 2020-21 through 2023-24, he only got into 53 games overall. Instead, he spent most of his time in North America in the minors, spanning 170 contests. His 2023-24 performance was arguably his best as he had 32 points in 62 games with AHL Springfield but that didn’t yield much in the way of a chance in Arizona as he played just three times with them that year, leading him to voice his frustration with his lack of opportunity.

As a result, Soderstrom didn’t want to re-sign with that organization (which moved to Utah last offseason) while, at the time at least, Utah didn’t want to trade him. At an impasse, the blueliner decided to go back home, signing a two-year deal with SHL Brynas. With one year left on that agreement, it’s clear that the agreement had an NHL out clause.

Soderstrom had a solid season in Sweden, posting nine goals and 28 assists in 49 regular season games with Brynas while logging over 22 minutes a night of playing time. While he didn’t post points at the same level in the playoffs, he chipped in with eight points in 17 outings in a little more than 23 minutes per game of ice time. Along the way, Chicago acquired his rights as part of the move that saw them add Shea Weber’s contract to their books and the thought was that the Blackhawks might try to sign Soderstrom themselves this summer.

Clearly, that didn’t happen and Chicago’s prospect depth on the back end might have had something to do with that, leading to Friday’s trade. Boston’s right-shot defensive depth isn’t as deep as Charlie McAvoy and Andrew Peeke are the only two regular blueliners who shoot from that side. As a result, there could be an opportunity for Soderstrom to push for a roster spot with the Bruins although a lot can change between now and the start of training camp that could affect that chance. Either way, Soderstrom will be getting a second opportunity to play in North America this season.

Metropolitan Notes: Jones, Soucy, Poulin

June 14, 2025 at 11:42 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

The Rangers have had contract discussions with pending RFA defenseman Zac Jones, reports Mollie Walker of the New York Post (subscription link). The 24-year-old expressed frustration with his usage earlier in the season; while he set a new career-high in games played, he still only suited up 46 times, recording 11 points in a little over 17 minutes per night of playing time. His camp had permission to explore trade options during the season but nothing materialized in terms of a move. He’s owed a qualifying offer of just over $866K but also has arbitration eligibility which is something New York would likely prefer to avoid. That might explain the early discussions as if the two sides can’t find a suitable deal, Jones could be a non-tender candidate at the end of the month to avoid the risk of a possible arbitration award that’s higher than they want to pay.

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