Alexander Alexeyev Receiving KHL Interest
A fresh start for defenseman Alexander Alexeyev didn’t yield the NHL opportunity he was looking for this season. As a result, it appears as if he’s looking for a different type of fresh start this summer. Rustam Sharafutdinov of TASS reports that the blueliner is receiving KHL interest. His agent, Sergey Isakov, indicated that he has spoken with several KHL clubs about Alexeyev for next season, including Salavat Yulaev, the team he played for back in 2020-21.
The 26-year-old came up in Washington’s system after they drafted him 31st overall back in 2018. However, he was never able to establish himself in the NHL with the Capitals as he only suited up in 80 games over parts of four seasons, where he had a goal and seven assists in 15 minutes of playing time per game.
Washington decided to non-tender Alexeyev last summer, likely thanks in large part to his arbitration eligibility. The blueliner quickly signed a one-year, one-way deal worth $775K with the Penguins, hoping to be in the mix for a roster spot in training camp. Instead, he passed through waivers unclaimed in training camp and aside from a brief recall in mid-March, he was exclusively in the minors with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Alexeyev had a dozen points in 38 games in the minors during the regular season while adding five more in 11 postseason contests.
Alexeyev is technically still eligible for restricted free agency this summer, although he remains arbitration-eligible. With that in mind, he’s likely heading for a non-tender once move. But this time, instead of waiting to see what offers might be available in July, Alexeyev appears to be eyeing an opportunity to play back home instead.
Five Key Stories: 6/1/26 – 6/7/26
The beginning of June certainly brought some exciting games on the ice as Carolina and Vegas began the Stanley Cup Final. Meanwhile, it also brought some news of note off the ice, which is recapped in our key stories.
Trotz’s Replacement Found: After a nearly four-month search to find Nashville’s next top executive, the Predators have one in place. They lured away now-former Colorado GM Chris MacFarland and named him their President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, handing him a six-year contract in the process. MacFarland had spent the previous 11 years in Colorado, the last four as GM and also worked with Columbus for 15 seasons as well. He’ll now be tasked with trying to get the team out of the middle where they either just make or just miss the playoffs each season. Joining him to aid those efforts will be former Kings GM Rob Blake, who was quickly brought in as Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. He spent eight years running the show in Los Angeles before being replaced by Ken Holland last offseason.
One Less Coaching Vacancy: While it ultimately took a little longer than most expected, the Canucks indeed went the route many thought they would with their head coach. As they embark on a rebuilding phase, new GM Ryan Johnson is sticking with someone he knows as he promoted Manny Malhotra to take over behind the bench. The two had worked together previously with AHL Abbotsford. It’s Malhotra’s first NHL head coaching opportunity but he has seven years of NHL experience as an assistant to go along with a 16-year career at the top level. Now, he’ll be tasked with maximizing the development of some of Vancouver’s younger players as they begin what seems likely to be a multi-year rebuilding process.
Larkin Wants Out: It has been a rough go for Detroit as of late as they have missed the playoffs in 10 straight years. That has led to some frustration from captain Dylan Larkin being vocalized in the past and now it appears it has reached a boiling point after multiple reports indicate that he has asked to be traded. The 29-year-old has spent his entire 11-year career with the Red Wings and is their captain while locking down the top center spot for a significant chunk of that time. He has five years left on his contract with an $8.7MM AAV to go along with full trade protection. If Larkin gives GM Steve Yzerman a fair-sized list of teams to work with and Yzerman is willing to move him, he’d instantly become one of the top players available on the trade front in a market that has many more buyers than sellers.
Done For Good? After missing more than two full seasons due to Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, Jonathan Toews returned to the NHL in 2025-26, signing a one-year deal with his hometown Winnipeg Jets. However, it appears the comeback will be one-and-done as the veteran is expected to retire. Toews had 29 points in 82 games this season but struggled when deployed in the top-six role he was expected to fill. He wasn’t rusty at the faceoff dot, however, winning over 62% of his draws. Toews likely would have drawn interest in a bottom-six role if he decided to keep playing but it appears his 16-year career is now over.
Oilers Seeking Defensive Shakeup: As the Oilers look to pick up the pieces after a first-round elimination, it appears they’re looking to shake things up. One of the casualties could come on the back end following a report that says the team is ready and willing to move veteran Darnell Nurse as soon as they are able. That last bit matters as Nurse has full trade protection for next season so if he wants to stay, he’s going to stay for at least one more year. Nurse has four years left on his deal at a $9.25MM AAV, a price tag that’s on the high side for someone who is likely best utilized as a second-pairing option. But if Nurse is open to move, he could be a candidate to move for another veteran blueliner in need of a change of scenery in the hopes that the move yields a player who better fits their system.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images.
Free Agent Focus: Montreal Canadiens
Free agency is now less than a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans 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 Canadiens.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Zachary Bolduc – Montreal’s only move of significance on the opening day of free agency last summer came on the trade front when they acquired Bolduc for defenseman Logan Mailloux. He got off to a strong start but faltered after that, ultimately coming up short of his rookie-season production after recording 12 goals and 18 assists while being healthy scratched a handful of times as well. With that in mind, a bridge contract likely makes more sense for both sides. That price tag should wind up in the high-$2MM or low-$3MM range.
F Kirby Dach – The Canadiens acquired Dach four years ago in a three-way swap on draft night with the hopes that they had found the elusive second-line center they’ve needed. Today, they still have that need and there remain plenty of question marks with the 2019 third-overall selection. Over his time in Montreal, he has missed more games (174) than he has played (154) and the results have been inconsistent when he has played. Notably, he’s owed a $4MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights this summer. It’s hard to think that they’re ready to give him that but working something out before the June 29th tender deadline that’s a little cheaper could still be doable. Otherwise, it’s fair to wonder if his time with the team will be coming to an end. He is a wild card to keep an eye on.
D Arber Xhekaj – Xhekaj showed some potential four seasons ago in his rookie year but things have largely plateaued since then if not gone in the opposite direction. His playing time dropped to just 11:25 per night during the regular season and only 8:06 in the playoffs when he was in the lineup. With just four points in 65 outings as basically an even-strength-only player, he should be in line for only a nominal raise on his $1.3MM qualifying offer. However, with arbitration rights and 246 career NHL games (regular season and playoffs under his belt), he might be able to make a reasonable case to push past $2MM in a hearing if it gets to that point.
F Joe Veleno – Veleno came over last summer via unrestricted free agency after his contract was bought out by Seattle and played a limited role when he was in the lineup. He’s owed a $945K qualifying offer which is certainly reasonable for a fourth liner but it would come with arbitration eligibility. With 367 regular season games over his career, he’d have a fairly strong case in a hearing for a hefty raise, one that the Canadiens won’t want to give him. Either he signs a deal before June 29th or he’ll be non-tendered.
Other RFAs: F Jake Chiasson, F Jared Davidson, F Sean Farrell, D Gannon Laroque, F Joshua Roy, F Luke Tuch, D William Trudeau
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Samuel Blais – Blais was up in the NHL for around half the season after bouncing around on waivers, going to Toronto first and then back to Montreal. He was reasonably productive in limited minutes, notching eight points in 21 games along with 78 hits. He’ll likely be hoping to land somewhere with a shot to stick at the back of the roster. Failing that, his AHL production (38 points in 35 games) should be good enough to secure another one-way contract at a minimum.
F Patrik Laine – It’s safe to say that Laine’s addition didn’t work out how Montreal hoped when they added him in the 2024 offseason. After an injury-limited first season with the team (where he still managed 15 power play goals in 52 games), a core muscle injury limited him to just five games this season and plenty of questions. Laine suggested that he was ready to return but GM Kent Hughes indicated Laine had settled into a mindset that he wouldn’t. Either way, the injuries make him eligible to receive performance incentives on a one-year contract. That might be the best option for both sides. If Laine is healthy and productive, he could provide plenty of short-term value in the hopes of landing a richer deal next summer. There’s enough upside that several teams should be willing to make an offer like that with a lower base salary and a few million in incentives.
Other UFAs: F Alex Belzile, D Nathan Clurman, D Marc Del Gaizo, G Kaapo Kahkonen, G Hunter Shepard
Projected Cap Space
At the moment, the Canadiens project to have a little under $11MM of cap space to work with, enough to re-sign Bolduc and Dach if they want to but not do much else. If they’re able to move the final year and $6.5MM of Brendan Gallagher’s contract and deal Samuel Montembeault ($3.15MM), they could be able to become more aggressive on the trade and free agent front in the coming weeks.
Photos courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports (Dach) and Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images (Laine). Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.
Blackhawks Hoping To Add Veteran Defenseman
Down the stretch last season, the Blackhawks found themselves without a key veteran when Connor Murphy was moved to Edmonton before the trade deadline. That left them with just one veteran blueliner, Matt Grzelcyk, while the rest of the back end was 24 or younger.
Speaking with reporters at the NHL Draft Combine including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, GM Kyle Davidson acknowledged that they wanted to see how things would go without the veteran safety valve in Murphy. They didn’t get any sort of late-season boost and evidently, Davidson is hoping to not see that recent history repeat itself next season as he acknowledged that he wants to explore options to add a veteran this summer.
As things stand, Grzelcyk is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. As a result, if he leaves, the oldest blueliner on Chicago’s roster would be Louis Crevier, who just turned 25 last month and completed his first full NHL season in 2025-26.
The Blackhawks have been rebuilding for a while now with just one playoff appearance in the past nine years, that being the expanded 2020 postseason. That has allowed them to amass an impressive crop of youngsters, including on the back end. Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov are well on their way to becoming impact players. Alex Vlasic already is one. Crevier and Wyatt Kaiser both took steps forward this season while Kevin Korchinski showed some flashes in the past. That’s the makings of what could be a solid back end in the future.
But even rebuilding teams need veterans to help lead them through some rough times, something Davidson has recognized in recent years with some of the overpayments he made up front to get some into the system. Now, this certainly feels like one of those times where he may need to try the same thing, but this time on the back end.
Fortunately for Chicago, the side they need might be the easier one to get. Assuming Rinzel, Levshunov, and Crevier are the top three (in some order) on the right side, they should be set there. Vlasic and Kaiser are currently the top options on the left, with a now waiver-eligible Korchinski also in the mix. Someone who could hold down a second-pairing spot on the left side and log around 20 minutes per night would be a big addition, especially with the team hoping to take a step or two forward in the standings next season.
Cap space certainly shouldn’t be an issue in Davidson’s efforts to add a veteran defender. They presently have around $40MM in room, per PuckPedia, and while Connor Bedard’s next contract will be pricey, they’ll have more than enough space to get into (and try to win) the bidding for a blueliner.
Offseason Checklist: Dallas Stars
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Dallas.
Coming into the season, the Stars were viewed as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender with one of the more well-rounded groups, albeit with a new head coach in Glen Gulutzan, back for a second stint with the team. However, while they finished third overall in the standings, their reward was a first-round battle with Minnesota (the seventh-best team) thanks to the gauntlet that is the Central Division. After coming up short in that round, GM Jim Nill is in for a busy summer. Here’s what should be on his checklist.
Guard Against A Bourque Offer Sheet
While there is a prominent pending restricted free agent to re-sign (which we’ll get to shortly), there is another one whose timing is perhaps more urgent. That would be forward Mavrik Bourque. This had the potential to be a problem last year but Dallas got ahead of it, signing him early. But it came at a cost. In exchange for taking a below-market $950K contract, Bourque only received a one-year deal. That means he’s a pending RFA this summer and this time, he has salary arbitration eligibility.
Bourque’s sophomore season saw him improve from 25 points to 41, thanks to 20 goals and 21 assists while his playing time jumped up by nearly three minutes per contest. He went from being more of a depth player to a relied-on second liner along the way and top-six players tend to be rewarded handsomely should things get to a hearing.
That’s where things get difficult. Dallas doesn’t want to take Bourque to arbitration and run the risk of a higher award than they can afford with their current salary cap structure. On the other hand, if they wait to sign him and focus on Jason Robertson, he becomes a threat for an offer sheet given that Dallas only has $10MM in cap room, per PuckPedia.
Using this summer’s offer sheet thresholds, a team could plausibly try to sign Bourque to a short-term deal worth $4.77MM per season and only be required to surrender a second-round pick in return. That’s plausibly higher than he could receive in arbitration and much higher than the Stars could conceivably match with Robertson’s contract looming as well.
Accordingly, that sets an artificial deadline for Dallas to try to get something done. Basically, June 30th becomes the last date for ‘safe talks’. After that, an offer sheet could be in play, or salary arbitration if either side decides to file. That gives them about three weeks to figure something out and protect themselves from a potentially undesirable situation later on.
Re-Sign Robertson
Let’s move on to the big one now, that being Robertson’s contract. Back in 2022, Dallas didn’t have a ton of cap flexibility (it’s somewhat of an ongoing theme for them) and opted for a rare four-year bridge deal, one that gave Robertson a huge raise off his entry-level deal but kept his salary below market value for a little while longer. But it was structured in such a way to land him a pricier deal at its expiration with a $9.3MM qualifying offer that carries arbitration rights.
The 26-year-old provided fantastic value on the contract. Robertson hit the 80-point mark in all four seasons with the first and last years being his best. In the former, he finished sixth in NHL scoring with 109 points thanks to 46 goals and 63 assists. Then, after putting up two straight 80-point campaigns, he bounced back offensively this season, tallying 45 goals along with 51 helpers before adding eight points in their opening-round exit to Colorado. Over the last four years, only eight players have recorded more points. Only one of those, Nikita Kucherov, has an AAV below $11MM (and that might change before much longer). With only one RFA year left, this next contract will almost exclusively feature the full-priced UFA-eligible seasons, making an $11MM AAV look like an absolute minimum. AFP Analytics projects he could come close to the $12MM mark on a seven-year pact. As a reminder, they don’t have that much cap space to work with.
There’s also an arbitration risk here. Because he’s only a year away from being eligible to test the open market, he’s only eligible for a one-year award regardless of who files. Accordingly, if contract talks (which are almost certainly ongoing now) don’t go well, Robertson could opt to just go through the hearing, get what he gets, and then have even more leverage a year from now as a high-end pending UFA. That puts a bit of a pressure point on talks now, even though they don’t have enough cap space to re-sign Robertson at this point. But it’s a file they have to close with a long-term agreement, keeping a star winger in the fold for the long haul.
Clear Cap Space
Now that we’ve looked at who needs to be signed, let’s get the obvious out of the way. If Robertson is going to cost more than their current cap room, and Bourque needs to be signed, then something has to give. Someone (or more than just one) will need to move. Arttu Hyry also needs a new deal while it wouldn’t be shocking if they want to bring Jamie Benn back on what would probably have to be another bonus-laden agreement.
The problem is that there aren’t a lot of obvious candidates. Tyler Seguin is entering the final year of his deal at $9.85MM but he’s coming off ACL surgery which doesn’t help his value, nor does his full no-move clause. Even if he was open to being dealt, the list might not be too long, and the fact he hasn’t played since December will make the acquiring team more hesitant. The potential saving grace is that once his $5.75MM signing bonus paid, he’s only owed $1MM in salary. At that point, if the acquiring team is just eating the contract, any lingering concerns about his availability to start the season would go out the window. Dallas would likely have to incentivize a team to take him but if it keeps Robertson and Bourque in the fold (and allow them to re-sign Benn at the same time), they’d probably do it.
The problem is that this might be the end of the list. Their other top-paid players aren’t ones they’d want to move. Matt Duchene has a full no-move clause and probably isn’t going to want to move. Esa Lindell has a full no-trade clause and, frankly, is too valuable on the back end to consider moving. Basically, anyone else making more than $4MM isn’t a viable trade candidate. Considering they need more than that in cap space, that makes things tricky.
Moving Ilya Lyubushkin at $3.25MM for the limited role he fills would save some money although they’d need a replacement body so the net savings might be closer to $2MM. Radek Faksa’s $2MM AAV could be too expensive of a luxury but, again, with a replacement body needed, the actual savings might barely be half of that. Those two moves would help a bit but probably aren’t enough to accomplish everything that they need to.
Nill knows what needs to be done in terms of cutting down their cap charge. Despite few viable options, he needs to find a way to get it done.
Look For A Defensive Upgrade
Considering their financial circumstances, this one probably falls under the wishful thinking category. But defensive improvements have been on the wish list for a while now and while they took a swing at the deadline this past season when they added Tyler Myers from Vancouver, that didn’t quite go as planned. His playing dropped by more than three minutes a night following the swap while he was scratched at one point in the postseason.
A full training camp could help, sure, but if he’s not a fit, his contract is favorable enough to move. With the Canucks paying half of it, his cost to the Stars (or an acquiring team) is only $1.5MM. That’s an affordable price for a lot of teams for a potential upgrade on the third pairing if Nill decides he wants to try a different type of blueliner.
If Seguin ultimately moves to open up cap space, then Lyubushkin could be moved in a player-player swap to change up the defense corps as well.
In an ideal world, they’d find a way to upgrade in their top four but that’s rather unrealistic given the circumstances. But if there’s a way to make an affordable upgrade on the third pairing or shuffle up the personnel to fit Gulutzan’s system better, that would still be a useful approach to take. But until they deal with the two forwards, they won’t be able to do much on this end.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.
Flyers Notes: Vladar, Michkov, Tippett, Zavragin
It’s fair to say that Daniel Vladar’s first season with the Flyers was a success. He became their undisputed number one netminder by the end of the year and helped lead them to a playoff spot that not many would have been realistically expecting, then helped take them to the second round.
When he signed with Philadelphia last summer, he only signed a two-year deal, one that pays him $3.35MM per season. Last summer, the agreement looked like it might carry some risk and now, it’s a bargain. He’ll be in line for much more on his next contract and it appears that the Flyers are ready to give it to him. Speaking with NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman at the Combine, GM Daniel Briere called getting an extension done with the 28-year-old a priority.
Vladar posted a 2.42 GAA with a .906 SV% in a career-high 52 games this season, being called on to shoulder more of the workload than expected due to Samuel Ersson’s struggles. Now, with that performance under his belt, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco suggested last month that the organization might be comfortable extending him a five-year deal in the $6MM range. That’s still on the lower end for a starter and one more year like this one would push the price tag higher. On the other hand, after being a backup for most of his career, it would certainly be understandable if Vladar wanted to lock in a guaranteed role and raise now.
It appears another extension-eligible player won’t be receiving one this summer, however. Matvei Michkov will also be eligible to sign in July as he enters the final season of his entry-level contract. However, his sophomore campaign saw his point total dip from 63 to 51 while he was called out for not arriving at training camp with a proper fitness level. Meanwhile, he was scratched twice in the playoffs while only recording one assist in the eight games he played. Accordingly, Briere indicated that they will take a wait-and-see approach with the youngster while suggesting that Michkov seems to prefer the idea of waiting to sign instead of trying to work something out now.
The GM also shared some positive news on the injury front. Winger Owen Tippett missed the second-round series against Carolina due to an internal bleeding issue but Briere noted that everything has been cleared on that front now, setting Tippett up for a full offseason of training. The 27-year-old led the Flyers in goals this season with 28, hitting the 20-goal mark for the fourth straight year.
Meanwhile, there is some news on the prospect front. Goalie prospect Yegor Zavragin is on the move in the KHL as the league announced that the netminder has been traded from SKA St. Petersburg to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Zavragin split the season between the KHL and VHL and was particularly strong in the latter league, posting a 1.44 GAA and a .949 SV% in 18 appearances. Briere spoke of some of Philadelphia’s goalie prospects needing more development time and that likely applies to the 20-year-old, who could benefit from a full season in the KHL as a result of this swap.
Offseason Checklist: Los Angeles Kings
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Los Angeles.
The Kings have been in the mushy middle, so to speak, for the last few seasons and 2025-26 was no exception. While they were able to pick up enough points down the stretch after making a coaching change to squeak into the playoffs, they once again went out in the first round, although not to Edmonton this time, at least. Instead, they were swept by Colorado. Now with a full year under his belt with the team, GM Ken Holland has some work to do this summer if he wants the Kings to take a step forward.
Hire A Head Coach
When Jim Hiller was let go late in the season, D.J. Smith moved up to the top role but only on an interim basis. They were respectable down the stretch, picking up points in 17 of 23 games. On the flip side, they lost more games than they actually won with an 11-6-6 record. But while they were swept by the Avs, the series was more competitive than a lot of people likely expected.
Their season has been over for more than a month and a half now but no decision has been made on the head coach. Will Smith be the full-time bench boss next season? If not, will he even be on the staff, or will the new head coach want a clean slate when it comes to filling out the rest of the group? At some point, a decision will need to be made.
Clearly, the Kings would like to speak to Bruce Cassidy about the role; they’ve been linked as one of the two teams that were denied permission to talk to the former Vegas bench boss. The line has been that they don’t want any distractions during the playoffs and if that’s the case and Holland is willing to wait things out, it might be a couple more weeks before he’ll get that opportunity.
Failing that, it appears the rest of the shortlist is, well, pretty short. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Holland is believed to be down to two candidates, Smith and Jay Woodcroft. Holland has plenty of familiarity with Woodcroft from their days in Edmonton together and if he’s looking for more firepower from his group (more on that later), the former Oilers bench boss could get an edge.
Either way, with the draft only a few weeks away and free agency coming soon after, this search will need to wrap up before too much longer.
Re-Sign Clarke
One of the more intriguing players coming off their entry-level contract this summer is defenseman Brandt Clarke. His numbers, though certainly improved, don’t necessarily stand out. But that’s what makes his case a little more intriguing. Thus far, he has shown flashes of the offensive upside that made him a top-10 pick back in 2021. However, the playing time hasn’t been all that high for the most part. That makes trying to find the right price point a little tougher.
Clarke’s first two seasons saw him play sparingly. One yielded a return to the OHL, the other saw him in the minors for the bulk of the campaign. In 2024-25, he played a regular role, albeit on the third pairing but still managed a respectable 33 points in 78 games. This season, he was able to up his point total to 40 to lead all Los Angeles defenders. While his ice time jumped up by over three minutes per night, he was still under 20 minutes per game. Notably, his ice time on the power play was largely split with Drew Doughty despite Doughty managing just one power play point all season. Had Clarke played more like a true top-unit option, he likely would have had a few more points.
On the surface, this appears like one of those cases where the team would probably want to do a long-term deal while Clarke’s camp might prefer a short-term one. A long-term agreement would involve a lot of projecting as Clarke wouldn’t be signing a contract that views him as a 40-point player; he’d need more incentive than that to sign. Holland would need to be confident that Clarke has another level to get to, perhaps the 50-point plateau. That’s when the bigger money would start to come in, potentially in the $8MM to $9MM range.
On the other hand, going with a short-term deal would provide some more certainty in the long run (which is probably more appealing to Clarke if he things he has another gear offensively and can handle a bigger role) with a bit more cap flexibility in the short term as well. AFP Analytics projects a two-year pact to run somewhere in the $5MM range. Clarke would be giving up some short-term earnings with the hopes of a bigger payday a couple of years from now but the potential reward could outweigh the risk. Holland may be trying to convince him otherwise in the coming weeks.
Add A Top Center
For a while now, one of the bigger weaknesses the Kings have had is finding a high-end second center to play behind Anze Kopitar. Now, the need is intensified. Not only do they not have the second pivot still, but now they don’t have Kopitar either after the Slovenian announced his retirement after 20 seasons with the franchise. Now, instead of needing one impact center, they arguably need two in a market that doesn’t have a lot available.
I say arguably as Quinton Byfield has spent a lot of time down the middle in recent year. It stands to reason that they’ll be counting on him to take a step forward next season and be entrenched as one of those two while hoping that he can get better at the faceoff dot to become more reliable. That’s the easy one.
Replacing Kopitar, a legitimate two-way presence, isn’t going to be anywhere near as easy. The UFA market doesn’t have any middlemen of that caliber and there aren’t many top centers available for trade. Dylan Larkin is someone Holland is quite familiar with but while he may want out, there’s no guarantee Detroit will deal him. Robert Thomas was in play at the deadline but the asking price was too steep for anyone to meet. If he doesn’t sign an extension, perhaps Nico Hischier would be in play but again, the price tag (acquisition and extension) would be hefty.
One of the challenges Holland will face on that front is that they don’t have a ton of notable trade chips. They moved one of their top trade chips in Liam Greentree to the Rangers as part of the Artemi Panarin trade, weakening an already weaker prospect pool. They at least have all of their first-rounders available but there’s a very good chance that teams with deeper systems get into the bidding, ones that can probably put together better packages than the Kings can.
If they aren’t able to land an impact center, the next best option would probably be to try to re-sign Scott Laughton. Acquired at the trade deadline from Toronto, he impressed down the stretch in a bigger role, picking up eight points in 21 games while logging over 15 minutes per night. Laughton isn’t a big scoring threat but would give them a stable third-line pivot and essentially fill most of the role they brought in Phillip Danault to do several years ago before moving him earlier this season. AFP Analytics projects that Laughton could land a three-year pact worth around $4.1MM per season. If Holland thinks Laughton can be the solution on the third line, shoring up the depth isn’t a terrible backup plan if they can’t trade for a key center.
Bring In More Firepower
As much as their record was nothing to get overly excited about, the Kings allowed the seventh-fewest goals in the league this season. Their goaltending was quite sharp, to say the least. But while there is certainly a case to make that they need to upgrade on the back end, the biggest priority is to add more scoring. They didn’t score under Hiller and didn’t score much more under Smith. The end result was a 29th-place finish in goals scored with the lowest 82-game total they’ve had since 2018-19.
A full season with Panarin should certainly help things, no doubt. But among players to spend the full year with the Kings, they had just one player reach the 50-point mark, Adrian Kempe (who was rewarded with an eight-year, $85MM deal for his efforts). Needless to say, that’s not good enough for a team that views itself as one that should be able to do a bit of damage in the playoffs instead of being first-round fodder.
Andrei Kuzmenko was supposed to help in that regard but wound up underachieving, getting injured, and then being scratched in the playoffs. A third of their double-digit goal-scorers are now out of the organization. Basically, they need top-six scoring help and bottom-six offensive upgrades as well.
Getting into the playoffs on the back of 20 overtime or shootout losses probably isn’t going to be sustainable as a long-term strategy. But the fact they lost a lot of close games means that some extra firepower could swing some of those losses the other way. Perhaps a coaching change (or Smith changing their system somewhat) brings more offense around but some boosts up front will also be needed.
Photo courtesy of Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images.
Pacific Notes: McNabb, Heise, Guite
Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb appears to be questionable for tonight’s third game against Carolina. Speaking with reporters this morning including ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, head coach John Tortorella declined to provide an update on his availability. McNabb exited Thursday’s contest after taking a shot near his visor, resulting in a brief hospital trip to be evaluated. Kaedan Korczak briefly skated with the reserves before exiting early, suggesting that there’s a chance he’ll be called on if McNabb is unable to suit up. The veteran has seven points in 17 games so far this postseason while averaging 19:59 per night of ice time.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- Sharks prospect Max Heise will be one-and-done in the WHL. Earlier this week, he revealed on his Instagram account that he will suit up for the University of Denver next season. He was selected 150th overall in the draft last month and had been playing in the BCHL to keep his college eligibility intact under the old rules. But when major junior players became NCAA-eligible, Guite made the jump to Prince Albert and had a productive year, picking up 63 points in as many games to finish third on the Raiders in scoring.
- Ducks prospect Emile Guite has decided to leave the QMJHL to move to the NCAA next season. He announced earlier this week on his Instagram page that he will play at the University of New Hampshire next season. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick a year ago, going 159th overall and opting for the college route will extend his signing rights from two years to four. Guite spent the last three years with Chicoutimi and had his best showing this season, tallying 65 points in 59 games during the regular season while adding 14 more in 20 playoff contests, helping lead the Sagueneens to the Memorial Cup.
PHR Mailbag: Larkin, Trocheck, Salary Cap, Wild, Canadiens
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Dylan Larkin’s trade request from Detroit, a discussion about the implementation of the salary cap and how it could relate to MLB’s CBA talks, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back for it in one of our next two columns.
Johnny Z: Where does Larkin go and will his leaving spark a retool with more Detroit vets being traded. I don’t see Kane coming back either, now.
GBear: Simply, who makes the deal for Larkin?
Let’s jump right in with the big news of the week with the news of Dylan Larkin’s trade request getting leaked out. By all accounts, this wasn’t from his agency and we know it wasn’t the Red Wings who put this out there as that’s the last thing they’d have wanted. I note this as it’s quite possible that the request was made a little while ago and just got out now.
GM Steve Yzerman is known for his patience (sometimes to a fault) and also for not having his hand forced into doing things. He had Jonathan Drouin in Tampa Bay who wanted out. It took quite a while before that actually happened. The scenario that no one is talking about is that Yzerman doesn’t budge and keeps Larkin in the fold. This isn’t just a 1% chance thing; I think this is a legitimate option on the table here.
Look at how Detroit operated at the trade deadline, adding Justin Faulk and shoring up their veteran depth with an eye on making the playoffs. That’s not the doings of a manager who is thinking about a retool. He wants to win now and that’s much easier to do with Larkin on the roster than off of it. Would it be a difficult situation? Sure. Might they have to take away the captaincy? Perhaps. But I suspect Yzerman would much rather do that than have his hand forced into a trade.
Now, having said that, the demand for impact centers is so high that Yzerman should be able to generate a substantial trade return for Larkin’s services. The only way that doesn’t happen is if Larkin provides a very small list of teams that he’d waive his no-trade clause for. And if that happens, Yzerman will tell him to expand the list or be ready to report for training camp in Detroit in September.
The types of offers that Yzerman receives over the next three-plus weeks will ultimately dictate if they stay the course or take a short-term step back. I agree with the use of the word retool here and not rebuild as they’re not looking to start all over again. Is there another disgruntled high-impact top liner out there looking for a change of scenery that forms the basis of a swap? If so, they’re probably staying the course in terms of trying to make the playoffs. If there’s an offer that features a quality veteran and some ready (or close-to-ready) youngsters, they’re again probably staying the course with the hopes of nabbing a free agent or making another trade to bridge the gap. But if it’s more of a futures-based return, then the step back to try to take two steps forward later approach makes more sense.
As for where he goes, I’ll say Minnesota. There’s a connection with GM Bill Guerin and USA Hockey. Guerin, meanwhile, is under pressure to secure that elusive impact center to help his team try to take the next step forward in a crowded Central Division. He’d likely be hoping that securing Larkin would make a contract extension for Quinn Hughes look more palatable for the defender as well. There’s a lot of motivation to get things done. I suspect a deal would be in the second category of the three I mentioned (a quality veteran plus some near-ready or ready youngsters like Danila Yurov, for example) so Detroit’s offseason approach will be to try to add to the roster, not subtract more veterans.
lgr34561: Will Larkin requesting a trade affect the Rangers on trading Vincent Trocheck and trying to maximize on a deal in a negative way?
I’d say no but it certainly doesn’t help either. It’s a supply-and-demand thing and generally, more supply isn’t good. But with the supply of impact centers being limited to only a handful of players and the number of potential suitors representing more than half the league, the demand for Trocheck’s services is still going to be really high. Larkin being there isn’t going to make the quality of the offers drop.
But where it might hurt is that it takes GM Chris Drury out of the control seat on the market. Maybe Nico Hischier becomes available but until contract talks reach a breaking point, he’s not in play. Maybe Robert Thomas is still in play but that seems unlikely. Without them, Trocheck was the top center available until this got out. Now, if Yzerman is going to go ahead and make a trade, Larkin becomes the prized pickup, the one that teams will prioritize first.
Teams aren’t going to want to make their best offer for Trocheck in case those pieces are needed for a Larkin trade. Eventually, if a deal gets done, there will be one less suitor for Trocheck but one less player available, potentially upping the desperation level from other general managers. But they’re no longer necessarily in control of the timing. If Drury wanted this done by the draft, for example, that might not happen if Larkin’s situation drags out. And when you no longer control the timing, it has the potential to affect the rest of the offseason planning as one move typically leads to another. If that first move is delayed, it could mess up the rest of the planning.
To be clear, this sounds more doom-and-gloom than it probably should be. At the end of the day, the Rangers were poised to get a significant return for Trocheck before the Larkin news. I still think they’re going to get one after this news. From that standpoint, I wouldn’t worry. But the timing of such a move gets a little trickier now and that’s where this news could wreak some havoc.
highflyballintorightfield: For a mailbag or even a separate post…how did the NHL handle the transition to a hard salary cap in 2005 (compliance buyouts, etc.)? This will be a helpful reference for the baseball side as commenters there argue about the upcoming MLB CBA negotiations.
Spending in the NHL wasn’t anywhere as prolific then as it is in MLB now so it’s not necessarily a great comparison. A few teams had to trim some salaries but while there were compliance buyouts that were exempt from the cap, only 13 were utilized league-wide. Everyone else was able to trade their way back into compliance or were already under the then-$39MM cap. By comparison, when the 2012-13 lockout prevented the cap ceiling from reaching its projected amount, there was another round of compliance buyouts (over two seasons) where 28 were utilized.
Having said that, there are some other elements that came in with the NHL cap that I’d be intrigued to see if MLB puts in its offers as we settle in for what sure feels like a long battle.
One of those is the maximum salary. It’s set at 20% in the NHL and when the cap first came in, the $7.8MM maximum was hit a couple of times. Going off of MLB’s $245MM initial offer, 20% of that is $49MM which is well below what Juan Soto makes, for example. Obviously, their Upper Limit is going to go higher in subsequent offers and there’s no guarantee they try to put in a maximum salary (or tie it at 20%) but that’s something to keep an eye on. I’m also a little intrigued to see if anything happens with salary deferrals, something that was allowed when the cap came in but was actually outlawed this summer as part of the latest CBA agreement.
Another big element that could help the transition to a hard cap in MLB should one get done is the treatment of bonuses. One of the things that’s allowed for cap creativity is the bonus cushion. Only the base AAV of a contract is guaranteed to count against the books for any given season. If bonuses are achieved on a contract, they apply against the current-year books but if not, they roll over and are charged against the following season.
I’ll use Max Scherzer’s contract with the Blue Jays as an example. He gets a $3MM base salary with $10MM of incentives, plus $1MM at 65 innings pitched with $1MM extra every 10 innings after that until 155 innings. So, with the way the NHL structures their cap, only $3MM is guaranteed to count against the cap this season. If Toronto has additional cap space after the season, any reached bonuses count until they hit the ceiling, then the rest roll over to 2027. Let’s say Scherzer pitches 100 innings, giving him $4MM in earned bonuses. Toronto finishes $1.5MM under the hypothetical cap. $1.5MM of his bonuses would count against the 2026 cap and the other $2.5MM would come off their 2027 spending limit.
To get around teams abusing this, there are restrictions on who can have performance bonuses in their contracts. For the NHL, players on entry-level deals get them, as do players over 35 if they sign one-year agreements (multi-year pacts are ineligible). There is also a provision for 400-game players who spent 100 days or more on injured reserve who aren’t 35 to receive a one-year deal with incentives. For MLB players, I imagine it’d be a little more restrictive, something like 10-year veterans or 35-plus players (I know there’s not always a difference between the two) being eligible.
The NHL’s salary cap also brought on the concept of Long-Term Injured Reserve, or LTIR. For players out long-term, the general concept of LTIR allows teams to exceed the cap by up to the amount of the player’s salary less any existing cap room. For example, a player making $4MM lands on LTIR on a team that has $1MM in cap space. They can then exceed the cap by the difference of $3MM. If the injured player returns, the team then has to get back into cap compliance. This has long been a contentious subject with loopholes that an 18-wheeler could drive through, leading to some pretty significant controversies and rule changes. But the concept of that would likely appear, giving some teams near the cap ceiling some potential flexibility if injuries arise.
aka.nda: I wanted to ask about the Wild’s goaltending situation when it appeared Gustavsson and Wallstedt were both healthy because Hlavaj looked very good in the Olympics and the Wild were keen on a few costly moves. I was going to ask what you think Gustavsson would fetch, but I guess now I’m wondering if they’re going to “show their hand” more with Hlavaj by needing someone to pair with Wallstedt, and if you think they’ll get less of a return because other GMs will become more acutely aware that Guerin is trying to sell from a surplus rather than negotiate from a more “even” pool? Or am I just way overvaluing Hlavaj based on my Olympic viewing, or as some might suggest, under-estimating the stupidity of 50+% of the league’s GMs?
I’ll answer the last bit first. You’re overvaluing Samuel Hlavaj. He does well when he plays for Slovakia internationally but it has failed to translate to success in the pros. My understanding is that he wants a change of scenery and that Minnesota tried to give it to him at the trade deadline but trade interest was basically non-existent. A pending RFA, I suspect he’s hoping for a non-tender and that if Minnesota qualifies him, he’ll probably go back overseas. If he gets non-tendered, he’ll hope to land in another organization but still might not be valued more than as a fourth option.
Filip Gustavsson’s injury complicates things for the Wild as he or Jesper Wallstedt could have plausibly been trade candidates this summer. Now, it’d be hard to part with one unless Gustavsson’s post-surgery rehab is going really well. So, for this summer, I suspect their goalie plan will be to add a James Reimer-type of veteran, one who could start in the NHL if Gustavsson isn’t ready to start the year, could stay as a serviceable enough backup if one of the two incumbents are traded, or serve as a viable third-string option in the minors. But I’d be very surprised if Hlavaj is in their plans.
hasamadsnarl666: So Kent Hughes decides to attack the Leafs, hmm what has his teams ever won?? He hasn’t won anything; it’s been five years before his team made the ECF, but didn’t show up in ECF but he has something to say? Keep in mind that the East had a shift; NY was out, Islanders were out, Leafs out, Buffalo in. Not a year to attack other teams. Didn’t they “own” the Canes in the regular season??
For those who didn’t see this, during his end-of-playoffs presser, Montreal’s GM awkwardly referenced Toronto’s top players not necessarily being their top players in the playoffs in the past. It came as a random add-on to a comment about the marketability of the Montreal market, a high-pressure one like Toronto. Montreal’s top players weren’t their best in the playoffs either but the narrative around them feels different than it did when Toronto’s top players underperformed. That happens when one team is just starting out while the Maple Leafs kept stalling out early; they haven’t been to a Conference Final since 2002 in large part due to their top players underachieving. I think he was maybe going for something about the narrative being more forgiving and that patience is needed but yeah, it was a little odd.
Part of me wonders if he just saw an opportunity to take a shot at Toronto given the now-leaked details of the failed trade at the deadline that would have seen Matthew Knies in Montreal had then-GM Brad Treliving filed the paperwork on time. Or that president Keith Pelley randomly name-dropped (and butchered) Michael Hage’s name in one of his press conferences earlier. But yes, this was clumsy at best and probably unnecessary altogether.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Alexandar Georgiev Terminates KHL Contract, Seeking NHL Return
Earlier this season, Alexandar Georgiev found himself in the minors with Buffalo and decided to ask for his release to sign a two-year deal in the KHL. Now, he has requested and was granted his release from KHL Spartak, per a league announcement. His agent Stanislav Romanov told Hockey News Hub (Twitter link) that Georgiev’s intention is to return to the NHL next season.
There was a time early in his NHL career when Georgiev was viewed as a high-end backup with the potential of being a starter. He ultimately received that opportunity in Colorado and while the first year in 2022-23 went well, things went downhill after that. He was eventually sent to San Jose in the 2024-25 campaign and hit the open market last summer.
But even though he had been a starter in recent years, Georgiev’s struggles ultimately resulted in him having to settle for a one-year, $850K pact with the Sabres just days before training camp started. He ultimately wound up passing through waivers in training camp and then terminated his deal after just two appearances with AHL Rochester.
Georgiev put up respectable numbers with Spartak overall, posting a 2.37 GAA with a .918 SV% in 24 appearances, numbers that were around the middle of the pack for starters. With that in mind, it’d be surprising if his chances of securing an NHL backup job are any better than they were a year ago.
This year’s UFA crop of goaltenders is headlined by veteran Sergei Bobrovsky and Stuart Skinner with the rest of the options being backups in all likelihood. Georgiev will join them now but it wouldn’t be surprising if his market winds up being like last summer’s, one that sees him having to wait for a while before accepting what’s likely to be more of a third-string role.