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Blue Jackets Re-Sign Zach Sawchenko To One-Year Deal

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The Blue Jackets have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents before draft action picks back up.  The team announced that they’ve signed goaltender Zach Sawchenko to a one-year, two-way contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 27-year-old spent this past season with AHL Cleveland, getting into 27 games with the Monsters where he posted a 10-11-5 record with a 3.00 GAA and a .900 SV%.  Sawchenko has played in 106 contests at the AHL level over the past four seasons but NHL playing time has been hard to come by along the way as he has just seven appearances at the top level, all coming back in 2021-22 with San Jose where he had a 3.35 GAA and a .901 SV%.

Sawchenko was the backup to Jet Greaves in Cleveland in 2024-25.  However, with Greaves now in line to move up to Columbus full-time following this week’s trade of Daniil Tarasov to Florida, Sawchenko could become the starter for the Monsters next season with prospect Nolan Lalonde serving as the backup in his first professional year.  Alternatively, Columbus could look to add another netminder in free agency to push Sawchenko for the starting job with the Monsters and allow Lalonde to get more regular minutes in the ECHL.

Senators Expected To Show Interest In Tanner Jeannot

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With the Kings not expected to offer winger Tanner Jeannot a new contract, he’s expected to hit the open market on Tuesday with teams looking for extra grit being likely to show interest.  It appears that the Senators will be one of those as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Ottawa is expected to pursue Jeannot in free agency.

Jeannot was one of the bigger surprises in the NHL back in 2021-22.  In his first full NHL season, he wound up collecting 24 goals and 17 assists along with 130 penalty minutes and 318 hits in 81 games, earning the 28-year-old a seventh-place finish in Calder Trophy voting.  All of a sudden, it looked like Nashville had a key power forward of the future in the mix.

But things didn’t go anywhere near as well the following year as his output dropped to just 14 points in 56 games.  Nonetheless, Tampa Bay still believed in him, sending the Preds draft picks in the first five rounds (including the 23rd pick last night, one that was moved in a trade-up swap) to acquire Jeannot’s services.

The change of scenery didn’t boost his scoring prowess as Jeannot had just four points in 20 games down the stretch in 2023 and then followed that up with just seven goals and seven assists in 55 outings in 2023-24.  While the physicality was still there, the offensive touch certainly wasn’t.  Needing to clear cap space last summer, the Lightning moved Jeannot and his $2.665MM contract at the draft last year for second and fourth-round picks.

Once again, the change of scenery didn’t yield an increase in production as Jeannot posted seven goals and six assists along with 89 penalty minutes and 211 hits in 67 games while logging just 11:01 per night.  As a result, he’s going to be entering the open market with teams now viewing his breakout year as the outlier, not necessarily a sign of things to come.

After that 24-goal rookie year, Jeannot has managed just 20 in the three seasons since combined, making him more of a fourth liner than an impactful middle-six piece.  As a result, he didn’t earn a spot on our Top 50 UFA list.  After playing on a bridge deal the last two seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jeannot effectively get another one as it would be difficult to see a team making a longer-term commitment to someone whose production has been so limited lately.  But with a lot of teams looking for added grit, Jeannot should nonetheless have a solid group of suitors next week with the Sens appearing to be one of them.

Trade Interest In Lukas Reichel Increasing

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Last summer, Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel was a speculative trade candidate but he wound up signing a low-cost, two-year bridge deal to remain with Chicago.  But after the first year of that contract didn’t go well, the trade speculation is back.  Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that interest in Reichel has started to pick up in recent days with teams viewing him as more of a secondary target at this point.

The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Chicago back in 2020, going 17th overall after playing well with Eisbaren Berlin in the German men’s league when he had 24 points in 48 games.  That improved to 27 points in 38 outings the following season before Reichel came to play in North America.

Reichel spent the bulk of the first season of his entry-level deal with AHL Rockford and was quite productive, tallying 21 goals and 36 assists in 56 games while also getting into 11 games with the Blackhawks.  The following year in 2022-23, he was similarly productive with the IceHogs, notching 20 goals and 31 helpers in 55 contests, earning him a longer look with the big club where he got into 23 games, collecting 15 points.  It looked like he was ready for full-time NHL duty.

But the 2023-24 campaign was a tough one for Reichel.  He struggled with Chicago, scoring just five goals along with 11 assists in 65 games while his possession numbers took a tumble as well.  He was more productive with eight points in a ten-game stint in Rockford but at this point, there were questions about his longer-term fit in the organization with the Blackhawks having one of the deepest pipelines in the NHL.

Those questions still remain after this season, one that saw Reichel only slightly improve offensively with eight goals and 14 assists in 70 games while seeing his ice time drop to below 12 minutes a night, a career-low.  With several prospects in the pipeline that could benefit from an extra roster spot to try to compete for, it’s understandable to think that Chicago could make Reichel available this summer.

Of course, with how things have gone the last two seasons, trade offers aren’t going to be anywhere near the level of the first-rounder they used on Reichel in the past.  But with an affordable contract at $1.2MM, he’s the type of buy-low candidate that some rebuilding teams will want to take a chance on to see if a change of scenery can help get him going.  Whether that results in a trade later today in the draft or later on in the summer once the dust settles remains to be seen but it certainly seems like there’s a good chance that Reichel could be on the move this offseason.

Brandon Saad Re-Signs With Golden Knights

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June 27: It is indeed a one-year, $2MM pact for Saad, according to PuckPedia. It’s split 50/50 into base salary and signing bonus and carries a full no-trade clause.

June 26: After joining Vegas midseason, it appears that winger Brandon Saad will be extending his stay.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported late Wednesday (Twitter link) that Saad is expected to re-sign with the Golden Knights.  Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek adds (Twitter link) that it will be a one-year deal around the $2MM range.

The start of the season didn’t go well for the 32-year-old.  He had an underwhelming first half, eventually falling down the depth chart in St. Louis, resulting in the Blues ultimately placing him on waivers in late January.  Signed through 2025-26 at a $4.5MM cap charge, Saad ultimately passed through unclaimed with most teams unable or unwilling to take on that type of financial commitment.

However, after clearing waivers, Saad surprised many by requesting a contract termination.  In doing so, he walked away from the remainder of his guaranteed contract to become an unrestricted free agent.  The goal was to get back to the NHL, even if it required leaving some money on the table to do so.

Saad did just that, joining Vegas on a one-year, $1.5MM pro-rated deal just one day after passing through unconditional waivers.  The hope was that he’d be able to provide some affordable secondary scoring and he did just that, collecting six goals and eight assists in 29 regular season games after notching 16 points in 43 games with St. Louis.  In the playoffs, Saad was a little quieter, however, tallying just two assists in eight outings.

A veteran of 935 career NHL regular season games and more than 500 points to his name, Saad is likely to have strong interest in his second track at free agency in less than six months if he actually gets that far.  After re-signing Reilly Smith yesterday, Vegas has $7.6MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, with a few roster spots to fill and Nicolas Hague a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

However, Vegas has been speculatively linked to several prominent free agent or trade targets that could change the financial equation.  With that in mind, even if a deal has been agreed on in principle with Saad, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it not announced right away to retain short-term spending flexibility.

Evgeny Kuznetsov Eyeing NHL Comeback

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After signing a four-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL last summer, it looked like Evgeny Kuznetsov’s days of playing in North America were over.  However, that may not be the case anymore.  His agent, Shumi Babayev, announced (Telegram link) that his client will play in North America next season and that he has been in contact with several teams already.

The 33-year-old played in 39 KHL contests this past season, tallying 37 points.  However, despite the solid performance, the remaining three years of the contract were terminated back in April.  At the time, it seemed like he might simply land with another team in Russia but now, it appears that won’t be the case.

Kuznetsov last played in the NHL in the 2023-24 season.  He started the year with Washington but re-entered the Player Assistance Program in February 2024.  Upon being cleared to return, the Capitals placed him on waivers and after he cleared, he was dealt with 50% retention to Carolina for a third-round pick.  Kuznetsov went on to record seven points in 20 games with the Hurricanes before adding six more in 10 playoff outings.  However, he requested and was granted a termination of the final year of his contract last summer to allow him to go play in Russia which he has now evidently had a change of heart about.

Kuznetsov has 743 career NHL appearances, notching 173 goals and 402 assists over that span.  That immediately makes him one of the higher-scoring UFA centers available on the open market this summer.

But the question is which version of Kuznetsov that teams would be getting.  He’s only a few years removed from a 78-point campaign in Washington but his 2023-24 performance saw him notch just 24 points in 63 contests despite averaging over 17 minutes a night of ice time.  Was that just a down year or a sign that he can’t keep up with NHL-level competition as much as he used to?

That’s a question that teams will undoubtedly be weighing as July 1st approaches.  On the one hand, there could be some upside if he’s able to come in and play in the middle six somewhere.  On the other hand, if Kuznetsov was a step slow two seasons ago, that could be further exacerbated now.  Assuming a deal is reached, it seems reasonable to think that it might just be a one-year agreement, one that allows both sides a chance to walk away if things don’t go well.  But just a few days out from free agency, it appears a new middleman is in play.

Canucks Nearing Extension With Conor Garland

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Canucks winger Conor Garland isn’t eligible to sign a contract extension until next week when the 2025/26 league year officially begins.  However, it appears he won’t be waiting for long after that to put pen to paper on a new deal.  Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that significant progress has been made in discussions between the two sides, while Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that if a deal is finalized, it could be for six years and around $36MM.

The 29-year-old has spent the last four seasons with Vancouver after being acquired from Arizona as part of the Oliver Ekman-Larsson trade back at the draft in 2021.  A few days after the trade, he signed a five-year, $24.75MM deal that will begin its final season in July.

During his time with the Canucks, Garland’s contract has been viewed as fair at times and also above-market to the point where it was believed that there were off-and-on trade discussions when Vancouver was looking to free up salary cap space.  At one point in 2023, Garland changed agents and had permission to speak to other teams about a swap but obviously, nothing came to fruition there.

But even during those times, the team made it known that they valued Garland’s contributions and the suggestion that an extension could be wrapped up quickly suggests that’s still very much the case.

Over his first three years with the Canucks, Garland was certainly consistent.  His worst season offensively was a 17-goal, 46-point effort while his best goal total was (2023-24) and best point total was 52 (2021-22).  This season was more of the same as Garland tallied 19 goals and 31 assists in 81 games while seeing his playing time jump to a career-best 18:39 per game.

With Brock Boeser appearing likely to depart the organization in free agency next week, Vancouver certainly wouldn’t want to lose their next-best right winger the following year.  It appears that won’t be happening and that Garland could officially be signing an extension as soon as next week, ensuring he’ll be staying with the Canucks for the long haul.

Stars Nearing A Decision On Their Next Head Coach

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Earlier today, the Stars took care of keeping one of their team leaders in place when they signed Jamie Benn to a one-year, bonus-laden contract to keep him away from hitting the open market.  Meanwhile, it appears that they’re closing in on finding their next leader behind the bench, as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that Dallas is close to finalizing their coaching decision with Neil Graham and Glen Gulutzan the perceived favorites for the job.

Graham has not yet worked at the NHL level but has plenty of familiarity with the organization.  After retiring during the 2012-13 season while playing for their ECHL affiliate in Idaho, he immediately became an assistant coach, moving into the head coaching role a few years later while also serving as their Director of Hockey Operations.  Graham was moved up to AHL Texas in 2019 as an assistant but was promoted to the full-time head coaching role later that season, a role he has held since then.  Texas has made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons and made it to the Western Conference Finals this year before losing to Abbotsford who won the Calder Cup earlier this week.  That success understandably has him on the radar.

As for Gulutzan, he certainly has familiarity with the organization as well.  He spent two years as the head coach with Texas and in 2011, he was promoted to serve in that role with Dallas.  The team played to a 64-57-9 record with Gulutzan at the helm but missed the playoffs both times.  As a result, he was fired just two weeks after GM Jim Nill joined Dallas.  Gulutzan was also the bench boss with Calgary in 2016-17 and 2017-18 with one playoff appearance during that time.  He has been an assistant with Edmonton since the 2018-19 season.

Whoever takes over will have high expectations as they’ll be taking the place of Peter DeBoer who was let go despite the Stars making it to the Western Conference Final for three straight years.  Nill has been trying to keep as much of his veteran core in place as possible to try to keep them in contention for a while longer, meaning that expectations will be quite high right away.

Capitals Acquire Justin Sourdif

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The Capitals have added some forward depth, announcing that they’ve acquired Justin Sourdif from the Panthers.  In return, Florida receives Washington’s second-round pick in 2026 and Washington’s sixth-round selection in 2027.

The 23-year-old was a third-round pick by the Panthers back in 2020, going 87th overall.  He spent the following two seasons in the WHL, splitting time between Vancouver and Edmonton, including his final season that saw him notch 72 points in just 52 games.

However, despite the offensive prowess in junior, NHL playing time has been hard to come by so far for Sourdif.  He has just four appearances at the top level under his belt with only one of those coming this season in a game in late February when he scored his first career NHL goal.  The rest of his time has been spent at the AHL level with Charlotte.

After putting up 24 points in 48 games with the Checkers in his first professional season in 2022-23, Sourdif was able to improve on that the following year with 38 points in 58 appearances.  This year, his point total dipped slightly to 34 but he only got into 43 games after missing the first month of the season due to an injury sustained during training camp.  He played an important role in Charlotte’s run to the Calder Cup Finals, collecting 10 points and 32 penalty minutes in 18 postseason appearances.

Sourdif will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season and clearly, the Capitals feel that he’s ready for full-time duty at the NHL level despite the limited opportunity that he has received so far and were willing to give up a return of some significance to make sure they got him while Florida adds a pair of future selections to their pick cupboards which aren’t exactly well-stocked at the moment.

The first order of business for the Capitals with Sourdif will be signing him to a new contract as his entry-level deal is set to expire at the end of the month.  He’ll be a restricted free agent without arbitration eligibility and will be owed a two-way qualifying offer worth $874K in the NHL and $80K in the minors.  Given that they clearly view Sourdif as an NHL piece moving forward, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a one-way contract given to him that checks in a little below that amount, giving Washington a little extra cap flexibility heading into free agency.

Snapshots: Hofer, Boeser, Puljujarvi, Seney

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

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

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

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

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

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

Free Agent Focus: Washington Capitals

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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 Capitals.

Key Restricted Free Agents

D Alexander Alexeyev – The good news for Alexeyev is that he was a full-time NHL roster player this season.  The bad news is that he only played in eight games during the regular season plus three more with AHL Hershey on a conditioning stint.  Granted, he did play a regular role in the playoffs with Martin Fehervary out of the lineup but this is hardly the most compelling case heading into an arbitration-eligible summer.  The 25-year-old does have 80 career NHL regular season games under his belt and has been a serviceable third-pairing player in a lot of those.  His qualifying offer checks in just under $919K and it wouldn’t be shocking to see a one-year deal come in around that cost, giving him one last chance to make a case for more regular playing time.  Alternatively, they could non-tender him and give Alexeyev a chance to catch on elsewhere.

F Hendrix Lapierre – Lapierre was a regular for the first three months of the season but was limited to just eight assists in 27 games before being sent to the Bears in late December where he stayed the rest of the way.  He fared well in that stint, averaging a point per game in 32 outings.  That said, he did get into 51 games with the Capitals in 2023-24 so he’s not one of those players who’s likely to take less than his $874K qualifying offer to get a one-way salary; he should be able to land a small raise.  But given his usage last season, both sides will likely want a one-year pact which should come in around the $1MM mark.

Other RFAs: F Pierrick Dube, G Mitchell Gibson, D Tobias Geisser (signed in Switzerland), F Henrik Rybinski

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Anthony Beauvillier – Once viewed as a projected top-six winger, Beauvillier’s stock fell considerably in 2023-24 to the point where he accepted a one-year, $1.25MM deal with Pittsburgh in the hopes of rebuilding some value.  He fared well with the Penguins and was flipped to Washington at the trade deadline where he was quiet down the stretch.  However, the 28-year-old then put up six points in 10 playoff games which will help his cause heading to the open market this time out.  It’s unlikely that he gets back to the $4.15MM price tag that he had from 2021-22 through 2023-24 considering that he only had 25 points this season but doubling his contract from last summer should be doable for Beauvillier.

D Ethan Bear – The decision to sign a two-year deal with Washington worth just over $2MM per season worked well for Bear from a financial perspective but not so much from a playing perspective as he ultimately played just 24 games for the Capitals and spent all of this season in Hershey.  Still, Bear has 275 career NHL appearances under his belt and is a right-shot player, the side that’s always in demand.  He’s a safe bet to get an NHL deal somewhere but his market might be good enough to push his price point around the $1MM mark.

F Lars Eller – The 36-year-old managed to get to double-digit goals this season for the fourth straight year and the 11th time in the last 12 seasons.  However, he is starting to slow down and might be better deployed primarily as a fourth liner who can move up when injuries arise.  There’s still a market for that type of player but it’ll be at a lower cost than the $

F Andrew Mangiapane – Most of GM Chris Patrick’s moves from last summer panned out well but Mangiapane’s acquisition was an exception as it didn’t yield the bounce-back they were hoping for.  Instead of rebounding and surpassing the 40 points he had the year before, his production dropped to a career-low 28 points.  While he has a 35-goal season under his belt from back in 2021-22, it’s also the only time he has even reached 20 in a single year.  Given his recent struggles, a shorter-term deal is likely and after making $5.8MM per year on his most recent contract, he’s unlikely to come close to that amount.  Something in the $3MM range per season is where his next contract might land.

F Taylor Raddysh – After being non-tendered by Chicago last summer, Raddysh took a low-cost one-year, $1MM contract early in free agency.  He did pretty well despite a limited role, notching 27 points while averaging a little more than 12 minutes a night of playing time.  Given the playing time, it’s unlikely that he’s going to be able to command a substantial raise but he could get a multi-year deal closer to $2MM per season than $1MM per year.  That would be a solid outcome for someone who was released just one year ago.

Other UFAs: F Nicklas Backstrom (signed in Sweden), F Alex Limoges, F Luke Philp, D Chase Priskie, F Michael Sgarbossa (signed in Switzerland), G Hunter Shepard, F Riley Sutter

Projected Cap Space

The Capitals enter the summer with $9.375MM in cap space with only a pair of low-cost restricted free agents to sign so Patrick is in a spot where he can add to his roster.  Whether they do that with a significant addition up front or spread things out to fill a few spots and leave some in-season wiggle room remains to be seen but either way, they’re likely to be bringing in some pieces over the coming weeks.

Photos courtesy of Geoff Burke (Beauvillier) and Nick Turchiaro (Mangiapane)-Imagn Images.  Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.

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