Brian La Rose

Offseason Checklist: Dallas Stars

June 21, 2025 at 4:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

The offseason has arrived with the draft and free agency fast approaching. Accordingly, it’s time to look at what each team needs to accomplish this summer. Next up is a look at Dallas.

The Stars went all-in this season, swinging a pair of significant trades near the trade deadline to add multiple key pieces in the hopes that doing so would help them take that next step and reach the Stanley Cup Final. Instead, despite the extra talent, they once again came up just short. Now, GM Jim Nill has some work in the coming weeks to do to keep as much of his core group together for next season.

Hire A New Coach

It’s not very often that a team that has the type of playoff success that Dallas has changes coaches. But a week after the Stars were eliminated, Nill elected to make a change, dismissing head coach Peter DeBoer after three seasons with the team, all of them ending with losses in the Western Conference Final. His handling of goaltender Jake Oettinger during and after the final game of the Edmonton series is believed to be a contributing factor in the decision, as was the fact that DeBoer was entering the final year of his contract with the team. Clearly, an extension wasn’t in the offing and rather than have a coach in his ‘lame duck’ year, they opted for a change.

The timing of the move was somewhat curious as, prior to the move, all the other vacancies around the league had been filled. Had Nill made the decision even a few days earlier, he could have had a chance to speak to some of the new bench bosses that were hired elsewhere.

Accordingly, the early thought was that Nill might just promote from within, meaning one of assistants Alain Nasreddine (who briefly ran the bench in New Jersey) or Misha Donskov, along with AHL head coach Neil Graham, would be the speculative favorites. In recent days, Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan (who Nill fired as Dallas’ head coach in 2013) has become a speculative candidate for the opening as well.

Beyond those options, the usual options that came up in other coaching searches include veterans Bruce Boudreau, John Tortorella, Jay Woodcroft, and Gerard Gallant with first time options like Mitch Love, Jay Leach, and Manny Malhotra (who is still coaching in the Calder Cup Finals) potentially garnering consideration as the process goes on. Additionally, they’ll also have a lead assistant role to fill after Boston hired Steve Spott as an assistant coach with them on Friday.

This isn’t something they necessarily have to have done by the draft but when free agency comes around, potential targets will want to know who they’re playing for. With that in mind, a decision will need to be made relatively soon.

Clear Out A Defender (Or Two)

Nill has been quite busy in recent days on the transactions front, re-signing Matt Duchene to a four-year contract and then dealing away Mason Marchment to Seattle to balance the money from that move. They’ve since re-signed defenseman Nils Lundkvist and winger Mavrik Bourque to low-cost one-year deals. In doing so, they’ve dropped their cap space to $2.75MM per PuckPedia which sounds okay until you consider that they probably need to sign four forwards and possibly a defenseman with that money. With a minimum salary of $775K, something has to give.

While there has been some speculation about moving out a core player (one in particular we’ll get to shortly), it feels like the Stars would prefer to chip away at creating that space with multiple moves, the Marchment one being the first. To do that, the chipping away will need to come from the back end.

Veteran blueliner Mathew Dumba is the most logical candidate to remove from the roster. The first season of his two-year, $7.5MM contract did not go well at all with the 30-year-old struggling to the point where he didn’t play at all in the playoffs. That’s $3.75MM that could be used to round out the roster, perhaps to try to re-sign captain Jamie Benn.

But how to clear that contract remains to be seen. A buyout would lower the cap hit to $1.417MM next season but add $1.167MM to the books for 2026-27. Meanwhile, waiving and assigning him to the minors would only clear $1.15MM, leaving $2.6MM counting against the cap. In a perfect world, trading him without retention would be Plan A but it’s likely they’ll have to incentivize a team to take him and down several draft picks, that’s not the most appealing option either. But they’ll have to pick the best bad option and move forward from there.

There has also been some speculation about Ilya Lyubushkin. He has two years left on his contract signed last summer with a $3.25MM cap charge. He played more regularly during the regular season but wasn’t an every-game player in the playoffs for them. In a perfect world, they’d keep him on the third pairing but if additional funds need to be freed up, he could be a candidate to move as well. If nothing else, given the lack of depth of the market, Dallas should be able to move him without attaching assets unlike Dumba.

Whether it’s Dumba, Lyubushkin, or both, some more quick activity on the roster front will be needed from Nill before too long.

Make A Decision On Robertson

Knowing that a significant amount of cap space needed to be opened up (and that was before re-signing Duchene), there was plenty of speculation surrounding winger Jason Robertson. With a $7.75MM price tag, clearing that much money would allow them to not move as many players out to keep cap-compliant. Of course, doing so would also open up a significant hole on their top line. There are three options the Stars have here as he enters the final year of his contract which we’ll go through here.

Trade: While this seemed to be more of an option earlier this month, it appears that Dallas has told teams that they don’t want to go this route. But depending on how successful they are at clearing out the defensemen, it can’t be ruled out either. At a price tag that will be cheaper than most of the top wingers on the open market (for one year, at least), there should be strong interest in a player who has reached at least 80 points in three straight years and has scored more than 40 goals in two of the last four seasons. To keep the cap charge down, the bulk of the return could be futures-based but there would be room for them to pick up an entry-level forward who is already established, similar to Carolina’s addition of Logan Stankoven from Dallas in the Rantanen trade.

Extend: There’s a case to make that if the Stars don’t move Robertson, they should focus in on trying to sign him to a long-term extension this summer, eliminating any speculation about a trade coming into play as the season goes on. His qualifying offer jumps to $9.3MM and he’ll be arbitration-eligible while being one year away from UFA eligibility so it’s going to take a big offer to get something done now. Knowing the $104MM projection, simply matching his current cap hit percentage would make the offer $9.766MM which still feels on the low side given how productive he has been in the first three years of the deal. At this point, the price tag feels likely to start at the $11MM mark, especially if it’s an early deal getting done.

Hold: This one is rather self-explanatory. If they want to keep their options open, they can enter the season without an extension and if they struggle or find themselves too far apart on contract talks, then the idea of a trade could be entertained closer to the trade deadline or they could kick the can on extension discussions to this time next summer. It’s probably not their preferred option but it could easily happen.

Harley Extension Talks

Robertson isn’t the only prominent player entering the final year of his contract that Dallas has, as defenseman Thomas Harley is also in that situation. It took a while for the Stars to get a bridge deal done with him last fall but with their cap situation, they didn’t have much of a choice since a long-term pact wasn’t in the cards. They’ll be able to at least start talks on a new deal this summer but it would be surprising to see something get done early.

While there’s an $8.5MM projected increase to the Upper Limit between 2025-26 and 2026-27, Robertson projects to take up around half of that. And frankly, a long-term deal for Harley coming off the year he just had (50 points in over 23 minutes a night of action) is going to cost more than $8.5MM (his current cost plus the leftover increase after Robertson’s possible raise). So at this point, a long-term extension to one of Harley or Robertson could preclude one going to the other in the near future.

However, there is one other option they could go with and that’s a second bridge deal. Harley has three RFA-eligible years after this one so another two-year pact would fit within the remaining projected increase assuming Robertson signed an extension. Having said that, that’s not the type of deal that typically gets signed one year out.

With all of that in mind, this could very well be a case where both sides ultimately exchange numbers and decide that more time is needed. But Nill will need to get a sense at least of what Harley’s next deal will cost to help shape their offseason planning and determine how much future money they may need to try to clear off the books.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports.

Strong Market Developing For K’Andre Miller

June 21, 2025 at 2:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 13 Comments

While the Rangers opened up over $6MM in cap space when they moved Chris Kreider to Anaheim, they’re still expected to continue shaking up their roster. One of the potential casualties has long been speculated to be defenseman K’Andre Miller. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that between 12 and 15 teams have inquired about the 25-year-old.

Miller is a pending restricted free agent and is coming off a bridge contract that saw him carry a cap charge of $3.872MM. However, the back-loaded structure of that agreement makes it that his required qualifying offer is $4.646MM while also giving him salary arbitration eligibility. The belief has been that the Rangers aren’t prepared to give him a long-term deal while a short-term agreement takes him that much closer to testing unrestricted free agency, something he’s eligible for in 2027.

Before the Kreider trade, Miller was a speculative offer sheet candidate, knowing that New York still needs to re-sign winger Will Cuylle while wanting to add via free agency or trades. The Kreider trade lessens that risk to an extent as the Rangers now have $13.1MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.

Two years ago, it appeared as if the 25-year-old had taken a big step toward becoming an all-around key piece on New York’s back end. That season, Miller notched a career-best 43 points (including 38 at even strength) while logging nearly 22 minutes per game. But their cap situation at the time necessitated the bridge deal, something that might ultimately have worked out for the best for the team given what has happened since then.

Miller’s play took a step back in 2023-24 with his production dropping to 30 points while there were more defensive miscues than desired. This season, it was more of the same. His output dropped to just 27 points in 74 games while the defensive slipups were more frequent as the Rangers went from a projected preseason contender to a team that ultimately missed the playoffs altogether.

Despite that, Miller has five NHL seasons under his belt as a top-four defender. He’s willing to throw the body around (with over 100 hits in four straight seasons) and block shots, and as his 2022-23 performance showed, he has some offensive skills. Between that, a 6’5 frame, and being a strong skater, there’s a lot to work with which is why close to half the league has apparently kicked the tires on his availability, believing that a change of scenery and a new coach could help him get back to his previous form.

That certainly bodes well for GM Chris Drury. With the UFA market for defensemen not being particularly deep and Miller heading toward his prime years, it appears that the Rangers should be able to get a strong trade return for the blueliner although they’ll have an additional key roster spot to try to fill if and when a move gets made. But with a goal of continuing to shake up the core group in New York, this appears to be an increasingly viable way to do just that.

UFA Notes: Marner, Tavares, Toninato, Del Gaizo

June 21, 2025 at 1:55 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

As the top pending unrestricted free agent, winger Mitch Marner will have a chance to choose between a bunch of contract options. According to Pierre LeBrun in his latest post for The Athletic (subscription link), a couple of teams believe that Marner is considering signing just a two-year deal this summer with the hopes of getting a long-term contract in place in 2027 when the Upper Limit of the salary cap is projected to be around $113MM at that time. The value of the two-year pact would still likely surpass that of Mikko Rantanen’s AAV ($12MM) with Dallas, the new benchmark for a contract given to a winger. The 28-year-old had 27 goals and 75 assists in 81 games this season for the Maple Leafs while adding 13 points in 13 playoff contests.

Other news regarding players set to hit the open market next month:

The Maple Leafs and center John Tavares are still not close on a new contract. Tavares has made it known that his desire is to remain with Toronto while the Leafs are hoping that he’ll leave some money on the table to do so. However, he’s the top middleman in a thinning UFA group at that position and is coming off a 38-goal, 74-point season. Realistically, he could push for $7.5MM or more on a multi-year deal if he gets to July 1st. Speculatively, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Toronto offering a long-term deal at a lower rate per season to maximize their cap flexibility this summer.
Pending UFA center Dominic Toninato has dropped his agent Neil Sheehy, relays Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription link). Instead of hiring a new one, he plans to represent himself in negotiations this summer. The 31-year-old has spent the last five seasons with the Jets although most of his playing time has come with AHL Manitoba. Toninato was held off the scoresheet in five games with Winnipeg this season while he had 18 goals and 18 assists with the Moose. He’s a strong candidate to sign another two-way pact with the team before much longer.
Defenseman Marc Del Gaizo won’t be returning to the Predators next season, reports Lower Broad Hockey’s Nick Kieser (Twitter link). The 25-year-old is eligible to become a Group Six free agent next month and it appears that he’ll test the market instead of re-signing. Del Gaizo played in 44 games with Nashville this season, picking up nine points, 53 blocks, and 71 hits while averaging 16:45 per game. He also suited up in 30 games with AHL Milwaukee, notching eight goals and four assists after putting up at least 30 points at that level the previous two years.

Central Notes: Wild, Loponen, Marques

June 21, 2025 at 11:47 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

The Wild are closing in on hiring Greg Cronin as the new head coach of their AHL affiliate in Iowa, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Cronin was the bench boss in Anaheim for the last two seasons before being let go after the season with Joel Quenneville taking over behind the bench for the Ducks. Cronin has been a coach for more than 35 years and has lots of experience running the show in the minors. Before joining Anaheim, Cronin used to coach Colorado’s affiliate, leading the Eagles to a 164-104-30 record over five years. Iowa hasn’t won a playoff round since 2019 and has only made the playoffs once in that span so a proven developmental coach like Cronin would be a nice pickup for Minnesota to help try and turn things around on the farm.

Ilya Samsonov Won’t Re-Sign With Vegas, Will Test Free Agency

June 21, 2025 at 10:26 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

It will be a one-and-done stay for Ilya Samsonov in Vegas. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox reports that the goaltender does not intend to re-sign with the Golden Knights and will instead test the open market when free agency opens up on July 1st.

Samsonov didn’t have a great tour through free agency last year. After making $3.55MM in his final year in Toronto, the 28-year-old took nearly a 50% pay cut, inking a one-year, $1.8MM pact in Vegas. Seeing his salary take a dip wasn’t surprising given that his 2023-24 performance was the worst of his career, one that saw him record a 3.13 GAA and a .890 SV% in 40 starts with the Maple Leafs while even clearing waivers at one point. Joining Vegas seemed like a good idea for a soft landing spot to allow him to rebuild some value.

Whether he accomplished that to a significant degree is up for some debate, however. While he shaved 31 points off his GAA (down to 2.82), his save percentage only went up by one point although his Goals Saved Above Expected went up by nearly nine, per MoneyPuck. Instead of making the case that he can still be a starter or at least a platoon player, Samsonov basically cemented his status as being more of a backup goalie heading into his now third foray on the open market.

Still, Samsonov should be able to generate some interest in free agency in a UFA class that isn’t particularly deep. Jake Allen is the headliner and in a tier of his own while Samsonov will be competing with the likes of Alexandar Georgiev, Daniel Vladar, and Anton Forsberg to try to secure a contract to be a second-string option for next season.

As for Vegas, it’s possible that they could be on the lookout for a new backup themselves. While Adin Hill is now entrenched as the starter as he begins a new six-year deal next season, Akira Schmid is currently penciled as the backup but is coming off a rocky year with AHL Henderson. If they want a more proven option behind Hill, they could look to free agency but if they want to keep as much cap space intact as possible, they might opt to give Schmid the first opportunity to secure the number two role.

Blackhawks Acquire Andre Burakovsky

June 21, 2025 at 9:12 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 19 Comments

The Kraken and Blackhawks have made a swap of underperforming forwards. Chicago has acquired winger Andre Burakovsky from Seattle in exchange for center Joe Veleno in a one-for-one move. Both teams have confirmed the trade.

Burakovsky became a key secondary scorer when he was acquired by Colorado back in 2019. Over three seasons with the team, he had two seasons of more than 40 points while his last one with them saw him record a career-best 61, allowing him to hit unrestricted free agency for the first time while being one of the better options available on the open market.

That helped him land a five-year, $27.5MM contract with the Kraken in 2022 and the deal has not gone particularly well thus far. The 30-year-old produced at a similar rate in 2022-23 from a points per game perspective but while he had 39 points in 49 games, missing 33 outings due to injury made for a disappointing year. 2023-24 was more of the same on the injury front as he once again missed 33 games, but to make things worse, his output fell considerably, down to just seven goals and nine assists.

This past season, Burakovsky was able to rebound a bit. For starters, he was able to play in 79 games, one shy of his career best in that regard. Meanwhile, while he didn’t get back to the type of production he had back in Colorado, he was able to chip in with 10 goals and 27 assists.

Last summer, Chicago added wingers Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen in free agency, giving themselves some upgrades up front and some veterans to work with their young forward core. This move appears to follow that same idea while they’ll be taking on the final two seasons of Burakovsky’s deal at a $5.5MM price tag to make that happen.

As for Veleno, he’s on the move for the second time in a matter of months. The 25-year-old spent parts of five seasons with Detroit after being a late first-round pick by the Red Wings back in 2018 but he was moved to the Blackhawks at the trade deadline in exchange for goaltender Petr Mrazek.

This past season, Veleno played in 74 games between the two teams, notching eight goals and nine assists in a little over 12 minutes per night of playing time. It was the first time in three years that he failed to reach the 20-point mark with his career high in that regard coming in 2023-24 when he had 28. While he was a productive scorer at the junior level, Veleno has been more of a checker at the professional ranks.

Veleno has one year left on his contract at a $2.275MM cap charge and joins a center group that is starting to become a bit crowded. They already have Matty Beniers, Chandler Stephenson, and Shane Wright down the middle while Jared McCann, a natural center, is already on the wing. Top prospect Berkly Catton is expected to push for a roster spot in training camp as well. While the Kraken solved one logjam by moving out Burakovsky following the recent acquisition of Mason Marchment, they’ve created another with this move.

Speculatively, Seattle has a relatively easy way to solve it. If they’re primarily looking for cap flexibility and can’t move Veleno in the coming days, he could become a buyout candidate. Since he’s still 25, the cost of buying out that final year would only be one-third, not the standard two-thirds. That would cost the Kraken a cap charge of $795.8K next season and $295.8K in 2026-27, allowing them to effectively remove the majority of Burakovsky’s $5.5MM cost from their books. Alternatively, they could give Veleno a chance to lock down the center spot on the fourth line as he has shown himself to be useful in that role for several years now and see what happens from there. Either way, their early offseason shakeup continues.

Photos courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz (Burakovsky) and David Banks (Veleno)-Imagn Images.

Free Agent Focus: Toronto Maple Leafs

June 20, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

Free agency is now less than 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 Maple Leafs.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Mitch Marner – It was a career year for the 28-year-old who reached the 100-point mark for the first time after coming up just short a couple of times recently. He was second on the Maple Leafs in points in the playoffs. And despite all that, it’s widely expected that he will reach the open market with both sides believed to be interested in a fresh start. Players of Marner’s caliber rarely get to unrestricted free agency and the timing couldn’t be better with the big jump in the salary cap meaning that more teams have more cap flexibility. As a result, while Mikko Rantanen recently set the NHL record for the highest AAV ($12MM) given to a winger, Marner is expected to eclipse that with speculation that multiple teams are ready to offer $14MM or more. If he goes to free agency, he’ll be capped at seven years but if he and Toronto are open to it, a sign-and-trade by the end of June could allow him to get an eighth year and net the Maple Leafs a small return.

F John Tavares – Tavares eschewed pricier offers seven years ago in free agency to sign with his hometown team. The seven-year, $77MM deal wound up aging pretty well as he had 493 points in 515 games with the Maple Leafs, being a high-end second option behind Auston Matthews. Notably, he is coming off a particularly strong season that saw him notch 38 goals and 36 assists in 75 games. His 74 points put him second among pending UFAs behind Marner. While he’ll turn 35 in training camp, Tavares is well-positioned to land a multi-year deal at a price tag around the $7.5MM per season that Brock Nelson received to stay in Colorado since he’s the top center in a market that’s getting thinner in a hurry. However, for the Maple Leafs to have enough cap room to truly shake up their roster, it’s reasonable to think they’ll be asking for him to leave some money on the table once again.

F Max Pacioretty – While it took until the eve of training camp to secure a deal last year, Pacioretty wound up being a serviceable depth piece for the Maple Leafs when healthy and then had a solid playoff showing with eight points in 11 games. However, his days of being an every-game regular are likely over which will keep the contract offers closer to the $1MM mark in terms of base salary. However, as long as he signs a one-year pact (which is the likeliest outcome at this stage of his career), he is eligible for performance incentives which is what he had in his deal this season which could push the total potential compensation more toward the $2MM range if a decent market for his services develops.

F Steven Lorentz – After playing a limited role with Florida in 2023-24, Lorentz became pretty much an every-game regular for Toronto this season, chipping in with 19 points in 80 games, matching those numbers from two years ago. In doing so, he went from someone whose salary ceiling was at or near the league minimum to someone who should be able to surpass the $1MM mark next month on potentially a multi-year deal.

Other UFAs: F Nick Abruzzese, D Jani Hakanpaa, D Nicolas Mattinen (signed in Germany), D Dakota Mermis, G Matt Murray, F Alex Nylander, F Alex Steeves

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Matthew Knies – After a solid rookie season in 2023-24, Knies found another gear this season, notching 29 goals and 29 assists in 78 games while cementing a spot for himself on Toronto’s top line. In doing so, he has become one of the top pending RFAs. He’s the type of player the Maple Leafs would undoubtedly like to lock up on a long-term deal that buys some extra seasons of club control. However, doing so could push the price tag around $8MM per season which would cut into their spending flexibility to reshape their roster. As a result, it’s possible that the two sides look at a shorter-term bridge agreement. The 22-year-old has five RFA-eligible years left so a bridge deal could be for two or three years with a price tag closer to the $4.5MM area, giving GM Brad Treliving more short-term flexibility while setting Knies up to cash in down the road when he’ll be closer to unrestricted free agency and have arbitration eligibility.

F Nick Robertson – A speculative trade candidate last year following his trade request, not a whole lot has changed since then. The 23-year-old did collect a career-best 15 goals this season but once again failed to secure a full-time spot in the lineup and played just three times in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s believed that he’d still prefer a change of scenery. Owed a qualifying offer of just under $919K, Robertson could get a bit more than that thanks to scoring 29 goals in 125 games over the last two seasons combined thanks to his arbitration eligibility. That makes him a potential non-tender candidate if a new deal – with Toronto or elsewhere – can’t be reached by the end of the month as it’s unlikely a team will want to give him a chance to go to a hearing.

F Pontus Holmberg – Holmberg has worked his way up from being a depth player in the minors to one who has played in 122 NHL games over the last two seasons while also suiting up in all but one playoff game this spring. His defensive game and positional versatility make him a useful depth player to have. He’s owed a qualifying offer of just over $866K but his arbitration eligibility could give him a shot at doubling that, putting him into the same sphere as Robertson where the price tag could get a bit too high for a player who projects to be near the bottom of the lineup.

Other RFAs: G Dennis Hildeby, F Roni Hirvonen (signed in Finland), D Mikko Kokkonen, F Reese Johnson, D Topi Niemela, F Cedric Pare, D William Villeneuve

Projected Cap Space

The Maple Leafs are set to enter the summer with around $25.7MM in cap room, one of the larger amounts around the NHL. It should be more than enough to dissuade an offer sheet for Knies, as well. Of course, a lot of that stems from two of their top-four-paid players getting set to hit the open market as the top players at their respective positions. The good news is that Treliving now has plenty of flexibility to work with but he also now has two significant holes to fill in his lineup and a pricey second contract for Knies to contend with. But for the first time in a while, Toronto could look considerably different come October.

Photos courtesy of Nick Turchiaro (Marner) and Kim Klement Neitzel (Knies)-Imagn Images. Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.

Flames Notes: Vladar, Andersson, Sutter

June 20, 2025 at 8:01 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

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.

Offseason Checklist: Carolina Hurricanes

June 20, 2025 at 7:27 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

The offseason has arrived with the draft and free agency fast approaching. Accordingly, it’s time to look at what each team needs to accomplish this summer. Next up is a look at Carolina.

For the fifth straight season, the Hurricanes advanced past the opening round of the playoffs. For the second time in three years, they made it to the Eastern Conference Final but this time, they were quickly eliminated by Florida. It’s not very often that a team that gets this far in the playoffs has the ability to take some big swings but GM Eric Tulsky is well-positioned to try to do just that to fill some big needs the roster has.

Add A Second-Line Center

With Sebastian Aho locked up through 2031-32, Carolina’s top center is in place for the long haul. Jordan Staal is nearing the end of his career but was a reliable third liner this season and continues to be sharp at the faceoff dot so he’s a safe bet to be in that role again in 2025-26. But in between those two, there’s an opening that needs to be filled.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi was supposed to be that piece for them after being brought over from Montreal via a successful offer sheet. But over his four seasons with the team, he has yet to reach 20 goals and has only reached 35-plus points once. If it weren’t for the fact that they enter the summer with a whopping $26.7MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, there might be a case to make for buying out the remainder of his contract since he still qualifies for a lower one-third cost instead of the standard two-thirds. But with the flexibility they have, they can keep him around and continue to hope that the 2018 third-overall pick will break through.

But hoping for improvement can’t be Plan A down the middle for the Hurricanes next season. Jack Roslovic was brought in as a low-cost piece to see if he could play his way into that role. He had some good moments and a quiet 22 goals but it seems unlikely that he returns after being scratched multiple times in the playoffs. With much more flexibility cap-wise, they can aim a lot higher this time around after being forced into looking at lower-cost pieces last summer.

The list of key center UFAs is well-known and pretty small. John Tavares, Sam Bennett, and Mikael Granlund are the remaining headliners. Landing one of them would solve the problem for a few years, at least. Otherwise, they’ll have to turn to the trade market to try to fill that spot, something that a lot of teams will likely be looking to do with options in relatively short supply. They haven’t had a reliable second option down the middle arguably since Vincent Trocheck, and that will need to change in the coming weeks.

Add A Top-Line Winger

When the Hurricanes surprised the hockey world by acquiring Mikko Rantanen midseason, they parted with a pretty strong winger as part of the return in Martin Necas. Of course, they weren’t able to agree on a long-term contract with Rantanen to keep him around so Tulsky opted to flip him at the trade deadline to recoup some value. All things considered, he did rather well, adding Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round selections. But with all due respect to Stankoven, a solid youngster, the move was a pretty big step back in terms of short-term talent.

Part of the reason for being open to accepting a futures-based return knowing there would be some short-term pain was the knowledge that they have that cap space available to them. When it comes to the open market, few can offer more than the Hurricanes. That’s definitely an enviable spot to be in.

Now, they need to take advantage of it. They were believed to have shown interest in Mitch Marner at the trade deadline but Marner wouldn’t waive his trade protection to go there. Was that because he didn’t want to go to Carolina or because he wanted to stay with the Maple Leafs for the playoffs? It stands to reason they’ll find out the answer to that very quickly as he’ll almost certainly be at the top of their wish list this summer. Failing that, Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers should be getting calls as well.

This season, the Hurricanes had two wingers record more than 50 points which is a pretty low baseline for a top-six player. One of those was Necas in the 49 games before the trade while the other was Seth Jarvis, who reached 67 for the second straight season. Andrei Svechnikov has gotten there a few times before but had a bit of a down year this season. He and Jarvis aren’t a bad duo to start from but they’re going to need a pickup of considerable significance if they want to have a shot at taking that next step.

Bring In A Top-Four Defenseman

This season, the Hurricanes had three blueliners average at least 20 minutes a game. One was Jaccob Slavin, whose new eight-year deal kicks in July 1st, one that already looks like a below-market contract. The others were Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov, both of whom are set to reach unrestricted free agency next month. Accordingly, they’re going to need to be replaced on the roster.

It’s likely that at least one of the two spots will be filled internally. Alexander Nikishin was long viewed as the top blueliner outside the NHL and held his own in four playoff games. It’s safe to say that they don’t intend to start him in the minors next season and the hope is that he’ll be able to play his way into a top-four spot relatively quickly. Prospect Scott Morrow could also be in the mix and could fill the vacancy on the right-hand side of the back end but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Carolina prefer to give him more time with AHL Chicago.

That leaves one spot to try to fill externally. Unfortunately, it’s not a particularly deep crop of rearguards. Offensively, only four players had more points than Burns and Orlov and one of them (Matt Grzelcyk) doesn’t fit with Shayne Gostisbehere already on the roster. Basically, that limits potential upgrades to Aaron Ekblad, Ivan Provorov, and Vladislav Gavrikov, while Dante Fabbro, Cody Ceci, and Ryan Lindgren have handled top-four minutes before. That’s not a lot of options. Speculatively, knowing Nikishin and Morrow are pegged as key pieces for the future, it wouldn’t be too shocking to see Tulsky try what worked with Orlov two years ago, offering a short-term deal at a well above-market rate. With the league projecting big jumps in the salary cap over the next two years, it’s possible one of the better blueliners would be open to the idea.

Failing that, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Hurricanes look to the trade market to try to fill this spot. They have a strong prospect pool and a pair of extra first-round picks in their pocket from the Rantanen deal that could help form the foundation of a swap. Even if they are able to land a top winger and a top-six center, there should be ample money left to fill this vacancy as well.

Examine Goalie Options

With the Hurricanes re-signing Frederik Andersen to a one-year deal last month worth $2.75MM (plus $750K in potential performance bonuses), it looks like they have their goalie situation settled for next season with Pyotr Kochetkov signed for two more years as well. With the youngster signed at $2MM per year, it seems like there isn’t anything left to do at that position.

But perhaps there should be. Andersen has only played in more than 35 games once in the last five years. Kochetkov hasn’t reached 50 yet and his play has been a bit more up-and-down than Carolina would like although that’s far from uncommon for young goalies. This tandem isn’t the best in the league but there’s a solid floor.

However, that floor can be improved upon. There probably isn’t an upgrade of significance in free agency but on the trade market, it’s possible some options become available. Speculatively, Anaheim’s John Gibson comes to mind and he’s a player who they’ve been linked to before. We know they can afford the short-term premium while they could afford to carry three goalies or send one the other as a salary offset. This isn’t a must but Tulsky would be wise to sniff around to see if a goaltending upgrade could become available that would make their roster just a little stronger heading into next season.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.

Kraken Sign Cale Fleury To Two-Year Extension

June 20, 2025 at 6:26 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

The Kraken will be keeping a depth defender in the fold for a little while longer. The team announced that they’ve signed Cale Fleury to a two-year contract extension. The one-way deal will carry a price tag of $890K per season, representing a small increase on the $800K on his current contract which will expire at the end of the month. GM Jason Botterill released the following statement:

Cale’s been an important player in our organization. He’s developed into a steady and reliable defenseman, and we’re happy to have him under contract for the next two years.

The 26-year-old has been with Seattle for the past four years after being selected from Montreal in their expansion draft. However, despite Botterill’s comments above, Fleury’s development hasn’t been enough to secure a foothold at the NHL level during that time; he played in more NHL games in one season with the Canadiens (41) than in the last four years with the Kraken combined (36).

This season, Fleury got into 14 games with Seattle, his highest single-season total with them. In those outings, he had an assist along with 28 blocks and 30 hits in a little under 13 minutes per night of playing time. However, he was much more impactful in the minors with AHL Coachella Valley, registering 26 points in just 39 games, earning himself an All-Star nod in the process.

It’s likely that Seattle will be relying on Fleury to play a similar role as he has in recent years, being a key piece for the Firebirds and a serviceable option when needed at the top level. While he will have to clear waivers to be sent down next season, he has done so multiple times now and the one-way guarantee for two years could help dissuade any potential claimers.

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