Five Key Stories: 4/13/26 – 4/19/26
With the playoffs underway, half of the NHL’s teams have seen their seasons come to an end. That typically results in a lot of off-ice news and this past week was no exception with several teams making personnel moves that are part of the key stories from the past seven days.
Back To The Devils: The Devils didn’t waste much time finding its next GM as they hired Sunny Mehta away from the Panthers. He becomes the sixth GM in franchise history and takes over from Tom Fitzgerald. Mehta sent four years with New Jersey from 2014-15 through 2015-18 as their Director of Analytics. Two years later, he joined Florida and moved up the ranks, eventually becoming an assistant GM. Mehta will now get his first chance to be the final shot-caller on a roster and will look to make his mark on a Devils group that underachieved relative to expectations this season. Beyond Simon Nemec, the bulk of their core is already under contract so most of Mehta’s big work this offseason will come on the trade and free agent front.
Player Extensions: A pair of pending free agents got their next deals done ahead of time. First, the Stars signed defenseman Nils Lundkvist to a two-year, $3.5MM extension. The $1.75MM AAV represents a $500K raise on his current deal. Lundkvist played in 52 games with Dallas during the regular season, picking up 11 points while averaging a career-best 16:29 per game of playing time. He’ll stay in a third-pairing role moving forward. Meanwhile, Cole Koepke’s first season in Winnipeg was good enough to earn him two more as the Jets signed him to a two-year, $2.9MM extension, a $450K raise on his current deal. The 27-year-old matched his career high in points this season with 17 while his 186 hits were a team high.
Quick Calls It Quits: A veteran goaltender has decided to call it a career as Jonathan Quick announced before his final game that he’s retiring. The 40-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Rangers but the bulk of his 19-year career was spent in Los Angeles. Quick, a third-round pick by the Kings back in 2005, spent 16 years with the franchise that drafted him, helping lead them to a pair of Stanley Cups while he took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012 as Playoff MVP. Overall, Quick winds up his career with 410 wins in 809 regular season starts while posting a 2.51 GAA, a .910 SV%, and 65 shutouts. He added 49 victories in 92 playoff outings – all with the Kings – while putting up even better numbers in the form of a 2.31 GAA and a .921 SV%.
Off-Ice Extensions: It was a good week for some off-ice staff as well. The Blackhawks signed GM Kyle Davidson to a multi-year extension. Davidson has been in charge for a little more than four years and has overseen a full-scale rebuild that has seen the team add several promising players with another high draft pick coming in June. Meanwhile, Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness ended the season with some harsh words for his team and a vow to change the culture if he returned. He’ll get that opportunity now after signing a one-year extension. The 71-year-old took over three months ago and led the team to a 21-11-5 record. They went from near the bottom of the conference to a playoff spot for a while but a tough finish saw them narrowly on the outside looking in for the second straight year.
Canucks Make A Change: While one GM vacancy was filled with Mehta joining New Jersey, another was quickly created when the Canucks fired GM Patrik Allvin. Things were looking up early on his tenure, highlighted by a Pacific Division title back in 2023-24. However, the last two years have been a lot rockier. They’ve missed the playoffs each time, decided to move Quinn Hughes after he gave plenty of advance notice that he wouldn’t re-sign, and finished dead last in the league this season. Now, the team will turn to someone else – either internal candidate Ryan Johnson or an external option – to try to get them going back in the right direction.
Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.
Sharks Expected To Target Defensive Upgrades This Summer
Last offseason, Sharks GM Mike Grier spent a lot of time reshaping his back end. He brought in Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg in free agency while adding Nick Leddy off waivers in an effort to raise the floor of his group. While Leddy struggled, both Orlov and Klingberg were contributors and arguably accomplished that objective.
But now, expectations will be higher heading into next season. San Jose didn’t miss the postseason by much and next season, the objective will likely flip from trying to be more competitive to trying to make the playoffs. To that end, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported on a recent DFO Rundown appearance (video link) that the Sharks will once again be looking to shake up their back end this summer in the hopes of further bolstering the group.
It came out midseason that the Sharks had taken a run at acquiring New Jersey blueliner Dougie Hamilton last summer but the veteran wasn’t willing to waive his trade protection to facilitate a move. Although the trade chatter surrounding Hamilton eventually died down, new GM Sunny Mehta may still look to cut some money from their back end and if that happens, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Grier try again on that front.
Pagnotta suggested Toronto’s Morgan Rielly as a speculative addition but there is trade protection to contend with there, as well. But those two should serve as an idea of the type of veteran they’d like to add while they undoubtedly would want to add a defender that’s more in line with the age of their core group as well.
There will be room to reshape the back end. Last summer’s pickups Klingberg and Leddy are pending UFAs while Mario Ferraro and Vincent Desharnais are also set to hit the open market. Even if one or two were to return, that still leaves ample room for some newcomers. On top of that, the Sharks project to have more than $41MM in salary cap flexibility this summer, per PuckPedia. That means they can shop at the pricier end of the market without needing to worry about hurting their cap situation.
With the Sharks at the point where they’re looking to emerge from their multi-year rebuild and get back into the playoff battle, they’re not going to be in a spot where they’re picky about upgrades. Roster help is roster help and every improvement can make a difference. But with a back end that’s set to be headlined by Orlov and youngster Sam Dickinson next season as things stand, there is a definite need for upgrades and depth in San Jose so it could be another busy offseason when it comes to the back end.
Snapshots: D’Astous, Varlamov, Posch, Malinoski
Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous exited tonight’s game against Montreal and did not return, relays team reporter Benjamin Pierce (Twitter link). The 27-year-old took a hit from Josh Anderson and Jake Evans simultaneously; Anderson was called for a charging minor on the play. D’Astous has been a bright spot on Tampa Bay’s back end this season. Signed out of Sweden, he has played exclusively with Tampa aside from a brief stint in the minors to start the year. He had 29 points and 110 penalty minutes in 70 games during the regular season, a nice find for an undrafted free agent.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Islanders have recalled Semyon Varlamov from his LTIR conditioning stint, per the AHL’s transactions log. He got into two games with AHL Bridgeport, winning both while stopping 46 of 49 shots in his first game action since November 2024. While Varlamov would normally be eligible for a two-game extension, that’s not the case here as he is not eligible to play in the AHL playoffs. Varlamov has one year left on his contract and the team will now have to decide if they think he’s going to be good to go as their backup in 2026-27 or if they’ll want to add extra depth in case he’s not able to get through a full year.
- The Avalanche have recalled Isak Posch to serve as their emergency third goaltender, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old spent most of the year with AHL Colorado, posting a 2.78 GAA with a .891 SV% in 28 games in his first full professional season. Posch, who signed as an undrafted free agent last spring, was briefly called up in January but didn’t see any action.
- Maple Leafs prospect Hudson Malinoski will have a new team for his final NCAA season. Brad Elliott Schlossmann of the Grand Forks Herald reports that the center has transferred to the University of North Dakota for the upcoming season. A fifth-round pick by Toronto back in 2023 (153rd overall), the 21-year-old spent the last three years at Providence College. Malinoski’s output dropped this season, going from 23 points to 15 while he found himself in the bottom six as the year went on. He’ll look to play a bigger role for the Fighting Hawks in the hopes of landing an entry-level deal next spring.
Jonathan Toews Unsure Of Playing Future
After missing more than two years while dealing with long COVID and chronic immune response syndrome, Jonathan Toews made an NHL comeback this season with his hometown Winnipeg. Whether he’s ready to go through the grind of another year, however, remains to be seen. Speaking to reporters earlier this week (video link), Toews indicated that he’s not yet ready to commit to playing a 17th NHL season.
On the one hand, it was a disappointing year for the 37-year-old. Signed with the hope that he could be Winnipeg’s elusive second center, he wound up struggling mightily in that role, eventually being moved down the lineup. While that seemed to stabilize things, he still managed just 11 goals and 18 assists, the lowest output of his career.
On the other hand, Toews was one of just five Jets players to play in all 82 games. While that makes the lower output that much more striking, getting through the grind of a full season relatively unscathed after being off for so long is an impressive feat. It was also particularly noteworthy on the contract front as the bulk of his one-year deal was tied to games played; suiting up in every one allowed him to go from a $2MM base payout to a $7MM total salary.
In his prime, Toews was a point-per-game high-end two-way threat that was a foundational piece in Chicago on the way to three Stanley Cup titles. That earned him plenty of individual accolades and a spot on the NHL’s Top 100 list back in 2017. He’s well past those days though and coming off the year he had, he’s going to be in tough to command anything close to the deal he played on this season.
If he decides to play again, Toews will be eligible for a bonus-laden contract once more, as long as it’s a one-year deal. Given his uncertainty about 2026-27 as it stands, it’s fair to say that he wouldn’t then turn around and sign a multi-year pact. AFP Analytics pegs a one-year deal being worth a $1.45MM base salary which is reasonable (if not a little low) for his role he’d be likely to fill but with bonuses (games played and/or points-based) tacked on, a potential value could still land around the $4MM to $4.5MM mark realistically.
Toews noted that he will take the next few weeks to decide if he wants to continue playing and if he does, he would want to return to the Jets. With more than $20MM in cap space for 2026-27 as things stand per PuckPedia, Winnipeg would certainly be able to afford him and given how his deal was structured this season, it’s reasonable to think they’d be willing to do a similarly structured contract to keep him in the fold for next season. They’ll just have to wait a few more weeks to see if that will indeed be an option for them.
Atlantic Notes: Hedman, James, Lyon, Kleven
The Lightning have been without Victor Hedman for some extended stretches this season, including the past month when he was out due to illness and then away from the team for personal reasons. However, head coach Jon Cooper told reporters today including NHL.com’s Bill Price that the defenseman is back with the team and has been skating in recent days although he hasn’t taken part in practice as of yet. Cooper noted that Hedman is expected to accompany the team on the road for the third and fourth games of the series which suggests that the veteran may be able to return at some point in the round. Hedman had 17 points in 33 games this season but his playing time has been a bit more managed, checking in at just under 19 minutes a night, down more than four minutes from 2024-25.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Still with the Lightning, center Dominic James appears to be ready to return to the lineup. Cooper mentioned (via Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times) that he expects the rookie to be available to start the series on Sunday. James sustained a leg injury at the end of February and was initially expected to miss eight to ten weeks. Sunday would be a little before the seven-week mark so he’s clearly a little ahead of schedule. He had seven goals and eight assists in 43 games in his rookie season.
- Originally thought to be unavailable for the start of the playoffs, Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon was at practice today and indicated to reporters including WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton (Twitter link) that he’s ready to go. The veteran had missed the last week with a lower-body injury. Lyon had a 2.77 GAA with a .906 SV% in 36 games this season but has a SV% of just .881 since the Olympic break, resulting in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen picking up more playing time down the stretch.
- Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven wasn’t in the series opener today against Carolina but could be nearing a return. Pregame, head coach Travis Green told reporters including Julian McKenzie of The Athletic (Twitter link) that he’s hopeful the blueliner could return in this series. The 24-year-old has missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury and is one of two regular blueliners still sidelined, joining Nick Jensen. Kleven had a career-best 18 points in 70 games this season while leading all Ottawa defenders in hits with 126.
Offseason Checklist: Vancouver Canucks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. First up is a look at Vancouver.
After keeping some veterans around and signing others to extensions as soon as possible, there was a clear internal expectation of a rebound season from 2024-25, even with a first-time head coach in Adam Foote. However, those expectations didn’t last long as things went downhill in a hurry, resulting in their best player being moved early in the season. As a result, things are even murkier than before heading into their offseason. Here’s what’s on their to-do list this summer.
Hire A GM
Before they can work on too much this offseason, they need to have their next decision-maker in place. On Friday, GM Patrik Allvin was let go after a little more than four years on the job. The team had a points percentage of .531 over his tenure but the last two years weren’t overly pretty with some questionable decisions made along the way on the trade and contract front.
President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford (himself potentially not around for much longer given that he’s 77 and has been with the team longer than originally planned) indicated that whoever takes over will have full autonomy on the roster. That’s particularly noteworthy as more teams start to look at an operation where the POHO role has more authority on that front.
Assistant GM Ryan Johnson has been linked to other teams in their searches. However, there have been also been some suggestions that Vancouver may have him as the perceived frontrunner at this point and is unwilling to let him interview elsewhere although the organization should undoubtedly look at external options as well. There is lots of time to make a hire at this time of year but with other teams on the lookout for a new GM, the Canucks may have to move quickly on this front to ensure that they get the candidate they want as New Jersey did with the hiring of Sunny Mehta earlier this week.
Choose A Path
It seems like a long time ago but just two years ago, the Canucks won the Pacific Division. While some of the key pieces from that roster are gone (highlighted by the Quinn Hughes trade), several are still around. And with an owner that has been suggested to be resistant to an extended rebuild in the past, a decision to try to retool this roster to get back into Wild Card contention next season can’t be ruled out.
Of course, that path seems suboptimal in the long run. But it’s not implausible to think that several of the veterans who underachieved this season bounce back while if Thatcher Demko’s surgery ultimately is as successful as he thinks it was, the floor of this group is going to be a lot higher. With over $21MM in cap space this summer per PuckPedia and no free agents of consequence, they could try to add a few pieces, add that to the potential bounce backs, and try their luck that way.
Alternatively, with the crash landing that this season yielded, a retooling of sorts or a full-fledged rebuild may be the more logical course of action. Determining the extent of the remaining teardown (a retool being shorter term and a rebuild likely lasting several more seasons based on recent comparisons) will be at the top of the priority list. It’ll certainly be a discussion point in interviews for the position.
Once that determination is made, it might influence whether Foote returns behind the bench to get another shot or if the new GM wants to bring in their own handpicked choice. But after a season of spinning their wheels followed by one where things went off the rails relative to expectations almost immediately, identifying and executing a clear direction will be crucial this offseason.
When they decide the route they want to take, that will naturally go a long way toward dictating what comes next and what moves they should be looking to make. Are they trying to add pieces or will a bigger selloff begin? With that not yet certain, the remaining items on their checklist are ones they should be trying to do regardless of the direction the new GM elects to go in.
Explore Boeser Trade Options
A year ago, few thought Vancouver would be in this situation when it comes to long-time winger Brock Boeser. Not because of their struggles either, simply because a year ago, few thought Boeser would still be around. After Allvin publicly lamented a lack of interest in Boeser at the 2025 deadline, it was widely expected that he’d move on in free agency. Instead, he re-signed just as the market opened up, signing a seven-year, $50.25MM deal.
That contract came on the heels of a down year that saw his output go from 40 goals and 73 points in 2023-24 to just 25 and 50 in 2024-25. The contract suggested an expectation that Boeser would rebound. Not necessarily to his career-year levels but perhaps something in between. However, with 22 goals and 48 points this season, his output basically was the same.
As a result, there are certainly some questions about his fit moving forward, whichever direction the Canucks ultimately go. If they look to rebuild or retool, the 29-year-old becomes a logical trade candidate as by the time they emerge from it, his prime years will be over. And if they’re looking to try to compete for a playoff spot next season, his struggles make him a potential change-of-scenery candidate to try to shake up the veteran core.
A $7.25MM cap hit given the year he had is on the higher side but the UFA market has been thinned out considerably in recent months. Meanwhile, the higher salary cap environment should make the deal more palatable as it goes on. If Boeser were to be made available (and he’d be willing to waive his no-move protection), there should be a market for his services. And if the team opts for a rebuild, he becomes a very realistic candidate to move. Whoever takes over as GM should be investigating what the trade options would be with the veteran winger.
Look Into Buium Extension
One of the key pieces of the return for Hughes was defenseman Zeev Buium. A first rounder in 2024 (12th overall), the 20-year-old has shown signs of impressive offensive upside, especially in college when he had 98 points in two seasons at Denver University. He is expected to be a foundational piece for the Canucks before too long, no matter if they look to rebuild or try to get back to the playoffs next season.
Buium burned the first year of his entry-level deal last season when he joined Minnesota for their playoff run. Accordingly, even though this season was his rookie year, he’s already gone through two of his three contract years already. That makes him eligible for a contract extension as of July 1st. Allvin wasn’t believed to be too keen on the idea of an early extension but his replacement may be wise to give the possibility some thought.
Finding the right number for both sides will be a challenge, however. Buium had six goals and 20 assists in 76 games between Minnesota and Vancouver this season. Those are certainly respectable numbers for a first-year pro defenseman but Buium’s camp won’t be willing to sign an extension with 26 points being used as the basis of an offer. No, if a deal were to be done this summer, it would be based on a much higher projected output.
The market for promising young defensemen with offensive upside has certainly gone up lately and it’s reasonable to think that Buium’s camp would be looking at the seven-year, $63MM deal New Jersey gave Luke Hughes heading into this season and be hoping to get something similar. His performance doesn’t warrant that type of money yet but his next contract will start in 2027-28 when the projected salary cap will be $113.5MM which will only drag the AAV higher.
This is also the last stretch where eight-year contracts will be allowable. Once the full new CBA kicks in (September 16th), the maximum term will be seven years. Considering Buium has five years of club control remaining when his entry-level deal expires in 2027, a max-term extension would only add two years. Getting a deal done this summer where they could get an extra year of control may be worthwhile, even if it results in a higher AAV. If the team believes he’s the type of core piece to build around, they’d be wise to get a sense for what type of contract will be needed to make that a reality.
Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.
Kings Activate Andrei Kuzmenko Off Injured Reserve
As the Kings get set to kick off their opening round series against Colorado on Sunday, they’re getting an offensive boost. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Andrei Kuzmenko off injured reserve.
The 30-year-old played in the first game after the Olympics in late February and has been sidelined ever since due to a knee injury sustained in that game against Vegas. He soon underwent meniscus surgery with a week-to-week designation after that. He’ll wind up missing a little more than seven weeks overall with the injury.
Kuzmenko is in his first full season with the Kings, who acquired him from Philadelphia at the 2024 trade deadline and after a promising showing down the stretch, he inked a one-year, $4.3MM contract to avoid the open market last summer. He had an up-and-down showing during the regular season, chipping in with 13 goals and 12 assists which had to be considered a little underwhelming after putting up 17 points in 22 games to close out 2024-25.
However, Kuzmenko’s numbers were put up before Jim Hiller was replaced as head coach, so there is a chance that things could improve under interim bench boss D.J. Smith. With Los Angeles having the worst offense out of the 16 playoff teams, any potential upgrade should be a welcome one as they enter the postseason as a heavy underdog against the Avalanche.
Predators Have Interviewed Ryan Martin For GM Vacancy
There are currently three open GM positions around the NHL: Toronto, Vancouver, and Nashville. The first two have only been known briefly, while the other has been known since early February, when Barry Trotz announced that he’d be stepping down from the role.
While the Predators have had ample time to conduct the search so far, they’re still in the interview process as more potential candidates start to be made available with the regular season now over. One of those candidates is Rangers assistant GM Ryan Martin, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Martin has interviewed for Nashville’s opening.
Martin has been working in a front office for the last 20 years but has never had an opportunity to run an NHL organization yet. The bulk of his time has been with the Red Wings, who he joined in 2005 as a Director of Hockey Administration. He moved up to Assistant GM in 2010 while also taking on AHL GM duties in Grand Rapids, holding those roles for more than a decade while simultaneously serving as a scout for USA Hockey’s World Junior program for most of those years.
After a decade and a half in Detroit, Martin joined the Rangers with those same two roles while briefly continuing his work with USA Hockey as well. With them, he took on the GM role for the 2022 Worlds and was an assistant for the 2023 entry. Having held AGM and AHL GM titles for this long, it feels like it should only be a matter of time before Martin gets a chance to be an NHL GM, be it in Nashville or elsewhere.
Other candidates believed to have interviewed for the vacancy are Edmonton assistant GM Bill Scott, Florida assistant GM Brett Peterson, Carolina assistant GM Darren Yorke, and Preds assistant GM Jeff Kealty. Former New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald, who captained Nashville’s expansion franchise, just became available and Friedman noted that he expects Fitzgerald to receive an interview for the role as well.
Jets First Rounder Sascha Boumedienne Transfers To Ohio State
With the NCAA season now over, the transfer window is open and with a much shorter period this year, moves have been happening quickly. (Instead of 45 days, it’s now just 15, running through April 28th.) Quite a few NHL prospects have found new places already but those players have been later-round selections; there hadn’t been a top-round draft pick moving in the opening days.
However, that has now changed. Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports (Twitter link) that Jets prospect Sascha Boumedienne is transferring from Boston University to Ohio State University.
The 19-year-old defenseman was the 28th overall selection last June after Boumedienne’s first season at BU, one that saw him put up 13 points in 40 games. He was much more productive at the World Under-18s, however, tallying 14 points in just seven appearances to give his draft stock a boost after it has slid during the season.
Unfortunately, Boumedienne didn’t progress too much in his sophomore year. His output actually dipped slightly to two goals and eight assists in 35 appearances while playing a little lower on the depth chart at times as well. He had a decent showing at the World Juniors with Sweden though, notching four points in seven games while averaging 22:13 per game of ice time.
With this move, Boumedienne is banking on having an opportunity to have a more prominent role in the hopes of sparking a big year from a development perspective. If that happens, he’d be a strong candidate to turn pro and sign with the Jets next season, foregoing his final year of eligibility.
Victor Soderstrom Linked To Swiss League
When the Bruins acquired and signed Victor Soderstrom, the defenseman was hoping that he would get that elusive extended NHL opportunity. However, that hasn’t been the case as he has once again spent most of the season in the minors. As a result, he’s eyeing a return overseas as Expressen’s Johan Svensson and Mattias Persson report that the blueliner is expected to sign with EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland for next season.
The 25-year-old was a first-round pick by Arizona back in 2019 but after seeing limited opportunities with the Coyotes, he opted to head overseas at the end of his entry-level contract, returning to SHL Brynas. Arizona retained his NHL rights and ultimately flipped them to Chicago at the 2025 trade deadline with Boston acquiring those rights three months later and signing him to a two-way deal.
But Soderstrom went through waivers unclaimed in training camp and outside an eight-game stint in Boston in December (where he had an assist and averaged 13:41 per game), he has played exclusively with AHL Providence. Soderstrom has done well in the minors, tallying nine goals and 21 assists in 57 games and should be set for a long playoff run with Providence guaranteed to finish the season with the AHL’s top record, earning them the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy.
Soderstrom is set to become a Group Six unrestricted free agent this summer and could have entertained offers to see if a better opportunity was out there. But with how this year has gone, he’d likely be viewed as a recallable depth player elsewhere as well so instead of repeating this season, it appears he’ll try his hand in the Swiss league next season.