Brian La Rose

Minor Transactions: 8/30/25

August 30, 2025 at 11:18 am CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

With international and junior leagues starting to get their preseasons underway, there have been a lot of minor moves in recent days. Here’s a rundown of those with some NHL ties.

Capitals prospect Miroslav Satan has changed teams as OHL Saginaw recently announced that they’ve signed him for the upcoming season. The 19-year-old forward was a seventh-round pick by Washington in 2024, going 204th overall but struggled considerably at the USHL level last season in his first taste of playing in North America. In 45 games combined between Sioux Falls and Omaha, Satan managed just three goals and one assist while he also suited up in three games for the Slovaks at the World Juniors. Washington has until June 1st, 2028, to sign him so there’s still lots of time for Satan to turn things around; he’ll hope a different league will help make that happen.
After spending the last decade in Tampa Bay’s organization (primarily in the minors), UFA winger/defenseman Daniel Walcott announced (Twitter link) that he will not be returning to Syracuse. The 31-year-old played in 494 games for the Crunch over 10 seasons while also getting into one game with the Lightning. The AHL has a restriction on how many veterans a team can dress and that is likely playing a role in Walcott not returning for an 11th year with the team.
While the Sabres non-tendered forward Bennett MacArthur in June, he’ll technically remain affiliated with the organization as their ECHL affiliate in Jacksonville announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old split last season between the ECHL affiliates of Pittsburgh and Buffalo, notching 10 goals and 20 assists in 64 games.
Meanwhile, another non-tendered Sabres UFA this summer has also secured a place to play for the upcoming year as Dynamo Moscow of the KHL announced that winger Alexander Kisakov’s tryout was successful and that he has been given a one-year deal. The 22-year-old was a second-round pick in 2021 but struggled in the AHL, notching just 25 points in 93 games over the course of his three-year, entry-level contract.

Zach Hyman Unsure He’ll Be Ready To Start The Season

August 30, 2025 at 9:29 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Back in late May, Oilers winger Zach Hyman suffered a dislocated wrist in the Western Conference Final, resulting in surgery that kept him out for the rest of their playoff run. The veteran told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that while his recovery is on track, he’s unsure if he’ll be cleared by the time the regular season gets underway in early October.

Unlike 2019, when he was working his way back from a knee issue, Hyman has been able to skate regularly but still needs a brace on his wrist. His ability to build up strength on that wrist will go a long way toward determining if he’ll be cleared for opening night. He has one more meeting scheduled with the surgeon as well.

In 2023-24, Hyman surprised many with a 54-goal season after reaching the 30-goal plateau for just the first time in his career the year before. That meant expectations for him were quite high heading into last season. However, he wasn’t able to produce anywhere near that level. In 73 games, he notched 27 goals (still tied for the third-best mark in his career) along with 17 assists and produced at a somewhat similar clip in the playoffs before the injury, tallying six goals and five helpers in 15 contests.

As things stand, Edmonton projects to have less than $226K of cap space heading into the season, per PuckPedia. That doesn’t give them much in the way of wiggle room for injury insurance if Hyman isn’t available to start the season; the minimum salary is $775K. Meanwhile, for Hyman to become LTIR-eligible (which would open up some short-term flexibility), he’d have to miss at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the season and at this point, there’s no guarantee he’d need to miss that much time if he’s not available on opening night. Accordingly, Hyman’s availability (or lack thereof) will be one of the key storylines heading into training camp next month for the Oilers.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Dallas Stars

August 29, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Central Division, next up are the Stars.

Dallas Stars

Current Cap Hit: $95,094,916 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Lian Bichsel (two years, $918K)

Potential Bonuses
Bichsel: $500K

Bichsel split time between Dallas and AHL Texas last season before being a regular for them in the playoffs, albeit with limited playing time. He should crack the roster on a full-time basis this year but still in a third-pairing role, which doesn’t bode well for reaching his bonuses. Given their longer-term cap situation which we’ll get into as we go along, it would be surprising if his next deal isn’t a short-term bridge contract, likely around the $2MM range.

Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level

F Nathan Bastian ($775K, UFA)
F Jamie Benn ($1MM, UFA)
F Mavrik Bourque ($950K, RFA)
D Thomas Harley ($4MM, RFA)
D Nils Lundkvist ($1.25MM, UFA)
D Alexander Petrovic ($775K, UFA)
F Jason Robertson ($7.75MM, RFA)

Potential Bonuses
Benn: $3MM

Robertson’s situation has garnered plenty of attention with his name coming up in trade speculation. He’s averaging over a point per game for his career and has notched at least 79 points in four straight seasons. That’s top-line numbers and he’ll be looking for top-line money next summer which should push his cap charge well past the $10MM mark. Notably, his qualifying offer is $9.3MM with salary arbitration rights. Benn re-signed this bonus-laden deal to allow Dallas to keep cap-compliant this season, one that is team-friendly even with the bonuses. $2MM of that is games-played based while the other $1MM is based on team playoff success. If he wants to remain with the Stars beyond this season, it’s probably going to be on a similarly structured agreement.

Bourque was a speculative offer sheet candidate this summer but agreed to this deal before the draft to take that off the table. Had he tested restricted free agency, he’d have landed more than this but the one-year term sets him up for arbitration eligibility and a shot to triple this or more next summer if all goes well. Bastian was a recent signing from the Devils and has been a physical fourth liner throughout his career but his offensive production has largely been limited. That should keep him around the minimum salary barring a big jump in output.

While Robertson’s case has garnered the majority of the attention for next year’s free agency, Harley’s is arguably just as significant. He showed last season that his 2023-24 breakout effort was no fluke, taking on an even bigger role and being just as productive. He is now a legitimate top-pairing player. As a result, this could be a situation where his pay increase next summer is higher than what Robertson’s is going to be. Noah Dobson’s eight-year, $9.5MM AAV contract signed this summer looms large as a viable comparable while ticking past $10MM per season is a real possibility as well. Notably, he’s not UFA-eligible until 2029 so one option that could be considered is another two-year bridge deal more in the $7MM range which could allow their reported desire to work within an internal cap to happen. That would buy them a bit of short-term flexibility at a time when cap space is going to be tight so GM while Jim Nill likely doesn’t prefer to go that way, he might have to.

Lundkvist looked to be heading toward a non-tender to duck arbitration rights for the second straight year before signing this contract for the same amount he made last season. Between some struggles and injuries, 2024-25 was largely a write-off so he’s getting near the point of either needing to take that step forward or understanding that he might not be more than the depth player he currently is. Petrovic spent most of last season in the minors before playing in most of the playoffs in Dallas which should give him a leg up for a full-time spot to start this year. Even so, his track record has only been that of a depth defender thus far and at 33, that’s unlikely to change. He should stay around the minimum salary moving forward although a full year in the NHL could flip his next deal to a one-way pact.

Signed Through 2026-27

F Oskar Back ($825K, UFA)
F Colin Blackwell ($775K, UFA)
G Casey DeSmith ($1MM, UFA)
D Ilya Lyubushkin ($3.25MM, UFA)
F Tyler Seguin ($9.85MM, UFA)
F Sam Steel ($2.1MM, UFA)

A hip issue sidelined Seguin for most of last season although he was a little over a point per game in his limited action. However, he has generally been more in the 50-point range in recent years and this price tag for that type of production isn’t great. He’ll be 35 when his next deal starts and while a multi-year pact should still be doable then, it’s going to come with a multi-million-dollar drop in AAV. Steel inked this deal back before the trade deadline in the midst of his fourth straight season with at least 20 points. Between that and his ability to kill penalties, he should be able to provide decent value on this contract but unless his point production starts to go up, he might not be able to go too much higher than this.

Back had a decent rookie year, getting into 73 games while holding his own in a bottom-six role to secure this deal at a rate that will be below the minimum salary next season. Assuming he remains a regular in this type of role for them, this should work out just fine while Back should be able to push more into the $1.25MM range on his next deal. Blackwell fit in nicely in a depth role last season, earning this new contract along the way. While he had a couple of years in the past with a seven-figure salary, he’s someone who should be staying around the minimum salary on any future contracts.

Lyubushkin was brought in to bring some physicality to the back and stabilize the bottom pairing. He was able to do that for the most part although this contract is on the higher side for that type of role which led to some speculation about his future when they needed to open up cap space. It would be surprising to see him beat this by any significant amount two years from now but another contract in this price range might be doable.

DeSmith is certainly at the lower end of the salary scale for backup goalies as he opted for stability and a winning environment over trying to get the highest price tag. He certainly had a solid first year with numbers that should have him toward the higher end of the backup scale (more in the $3.5MM territory). He’ll be 36 when this deal expires so it’s unlikely that he’ll find a contract in that range but value-wise, he should double this if he looks for top dollar next time out.

Signed Through 2027-28

F Radek Faksa ($2MM, UFA)

Faksa returns after a one-year stint in St. Louis after Dallas needed to clear his contract last summer. While he showed some offensive upside early in his career, he has settled into more of a pure checking role in recent seasons. Between his penalty killing utility and his faceoff skills, he should be able to provide a good return on this contract, even with the points remaining hard to come by. But unless his production improves, he likely won’t command much more than this moving forward.

Signed Through 2028-29

F Matt Duchene ($4.5MM, UFA)
D Miro Heiskanen ($8.45MM, UFA)

With Duchene making it known that he didn’t want to settle for another one-year contract this time around, it looked like his days could be numbered. And then he signed a below-market deal to stay. The trade-off is four years for a 34-year-old which isn’t ideal but he’s coming off an 82-point effort last season and could have plausibly surpassed $7MM on a multi-year contract (though not four years) on the open market.

Heiskanen is the potential internal cap on Harley’s contract and understandably so given his overall track record. (Whether a different salary cap environment makes that feasible remains to be seen.) He’s coming off an injury-riddled year but he’s an all-situations number one defenseman and the market for those has easily pushed past the $10MM mark. He’s heading for another big raise as things stand.

Signed Through 2029-30 Or Longer

F Roope Hintz ($8.45MM through 2030-31)
F Wyatt Johnston ($8.4MM through 2029-30)
D Esa Lindell ($5.25MM through 2029-30)
G Jake Oettinger ($8.25MM through 2032-33)
F Mikko Rantanen ($12MM through 2032-33)

It was quite an interesting year for Rantanen who couldn’t agree to terms with Colorado and didn’t want to agree to terms with Carolina, only to go to Dallas and sign a contract that was believed to be in the neighborhood of what the Avs were offering. That deal was a record-setting pact for a winger (since matched by Mitch Marner in Vegas). Rantanen has consistently been one of the top-scoring wingers in the NHL in recent years and while he didn’t go great in the regular season after the first trade, he showed his ability to carry a line in the playoffs. As is often the case with these types of contracts, surplus value will be hard to come by but as long as he remains the type of player he has been for a lot of his career, this will hold up well.

Hintz isn’t necessarily viewed as a true number one center but with a forward group that’s more driven from the wing, he fits the bill just fine while averaging 33 goals per season over the last four years. It would be surprising to see his output jump up to a true top level but a steady and reliable 70-point center like he is would probably have gotten more than this on the open market this summer. It feels like Hintz’s deal was the internal cap for Johnston, who signed a contract that only bought Dallas one additional year of club control. That will give them a better shot at keeping the core intact, of course, while setting Johnston up to reach unrestricted free agency at 27. That contract could be a whopper if he continues to progress; in a more inflated cap environment, Rantanen’s price tag could be within reach if he keeps improving.

Lindell has been a strong defensive defender throughout his NHL career while typically chipping in with a point total in the mid-20s. He’s capable of playing top-pairing minutes although in the long run, he might be best off in a number three role. As things stand, this is a deal that already holds up well and should continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Already 31, he’ll be 36 when his next contract starts so while a small raise might come his way, it shouldn’t be too much higher, especially on a multi-year pact.

After some high-end performances to start his career, Oettinger hasn’t been able to get quite back to that level over the last couple of years. That said, he’s still a well-above-average starter locked up at a rate we’ve seen a few starters of his caliber receive recently. As long as he performs at a top-10 level or so, this contract should hold up pretty well.

Still To Sign

None

Buyouts

D Ryan Suter ($1.433MM in 2025-26)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Carryover Bonus Overage Penalty

$368,250

Best Value: (non-entry-level) Harley
Worst Value: Seguin

Looking Ahead

As a result of having several players on contracts considerably below market value, the Stars will enter the season with one of the strongest rosters on paper once again. But they won’t be entering it with much cap space unless they’re willing to go one or two skaters below the maximum on the active roster. That still won’t be enough to bank enough in-season room to do much but that would at least buy them a little wiggle room for injuries.

The cap crunch isn’t going away next summer, either. Harley and Robertson will make navigating the 2026-27 Upper Limit rather difficult, even with an $8.5MM increase. However, the year after that, getting Seguin off the books coupled with a projected $9.5MM bump to the cap ceiling should give them some much-needed wiggle room. But if they wind up having to bridge Harley next summer, that flexibility could be short-lived. That all said, it’s still a good problem to have given that they should once again be a contender in the West; it’s better to have a good cap-crunched roster than a lot of cap space with a weaker group.

Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron and Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

Kiefer Sherwood Changes Agents

August 29, 2025 at 7:48 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

After a breakout showing last season, Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood is one of the more intriguing under-the-radar potential 2026 unrestricted free agents. Whenever Vancouver talks about an extension with him, however, they’ll now be dealing with a new agent. Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Sherwood has changed agencies and is now represented by Wasserman after RSG Hockey handled the deal that landed him with the Canucks last summer.

After being more of a role player in Nashville in the first few seasons of his career, the 30-year-old became a regular for the first time in 2023-24 with the Predators. That season, he put up 10 goals, 17 assists, and 234 hits which made him an interesting target heading into free agency. As a result, he was able to land a two-year, $3MM contract Vancouver despite his limited track record.

But it turns out that he had another gear to get to. Last season, Sherwood beat those personal bests from the year before, tallying 19 goals, 21 assists, and a whopping 462 hits, the latter number representing an NHL record since the stat started officially being tracked in 2007-08. Notably, his playing time jumped to a little under 15 minutes per night. Instead of being the fourth liner he had been earlier, he was now regularly playing in Vancouver’s middle six.

That has Sherwood well-positioned to earn a fair-sized raise on his next contract. AFP Analytics projected a three-year deal worth around $2.75MM earlier this summer if he were to sign an extension now while another performance like this next season could push the asking price closer to the $4MM mark next summer.

It’s unknown if discussions have already started between the Canucks and Sherwood with this agent change being a move to try to get discussions rekindled or if it’s just planning ahead for talks later on. Either way, Sherwood is going to be heading for a nice raise between now and next summer with a new representative involved in those talks.

Summer Synopsis: Tampa Bay Lightning

August 28, 2025 at 7:54 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

With training camps now less than a month away, the bulk of the heavy lifting has been done from a roster perspective. Most unrestricted free agents have found new homes, the arbitration period has come and gone, and the trade market has cooled. Accordingly, it’s a good time to take a look at what each team has accomplished this offseason. Next up is a look at Tampa Bay.

Last summer, the Lightning made a big splash, adding Jake Guentzel while parting ways with longtime franchise icon Steven Stamkos among their series of moves. This time around, GM Julien BriseBois has been much more tempered with his roster movement, opting to work on the fringes while keeping a key trade deadline acquisition in the fold.

Draft

2-56 – F Ethan Czata, Niagara (OHL)
4-108 – F Benjamin Rautiainen, Tappara (Liiga)
4-127 – F Aiden Foster, Prince George (WHL)
5-151 – D Everett Baldwin, St. George’s (USHS-RI)
7-193 – G Caleb Heil, Madison (USHL)
7-206 – F Roman Luttsev, Yaroslavl (MHL)
7-212 – D Grant Spada, Guelph (OHL)
7-215 – F Marco Mignosa, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

The Lightning managed a surprisingly stout draft class despite little in the way of pick value. Their class is full of interesting skill and projectable upside, housed within a shell of unrefined skills and clear areas for growth. Czata stands as the true playmaker of the bunch and earns the highest pick as a result. He’s a heads-up center who plays the low-zone well on both ends of the ice. He already has the frame and muscle to work his way to a pro build, but will need to compliment it with improved skating before he can boom at the pro level.

The Lightning reeled in a line of upside picks behind the projectable Czata. Rautiainen was in his final year of draft eligibility, but earned a selection after netting an impressive 37 points in 58 Liiga games last season. He’s an upside bet who could translate to North America soon. Foster is the bruiser of the bunch, having already racked up 260 penalty minutes in just two WHL seasons. Baldwin was seen as a true draft gem in NHL circles, with some New England scouts praising him as a second-round talent at his peak. He’s a nifty, fast-moving defender with the ability to drive play and throw big hits – though he hasn’t yet had a chance at the top level. He’ll get his first in a move to the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs this season.

The Bolts had to save their energy for a busy seventh-round. They landed a very well-rounded bunch for their effort. It features the flashy athleticism of goaltender Heil, downhill offense of center Luttsev, heavy hitting of defender Spada, incremental, all-around improvement of Mignosa. All four players show flashes of upside as true NHL hopefuls, even despite having to wait until the final picks to hear their name called.

Trade Acquisitions

F Sam O’Reilly (trade with Edmonton)

After Isaac Howard decided that he didn’t want to sign with the Lightning, he immediately because their top trade chip. They elected not to move him at the deadline but found a viable one-for-one prospect swap that saw him flipped for another late first-round selection. O’Reilly isn’t NHL-ready like Howard is but he plays the more premium position as a natural center and produced over a point-per-game in both the regular season and playoffs with OHL London. Already signed to his entry-level deal, he could be in the mix for NHL ice time as soon as 2026-27.

UFA Signings

F Nicholas Abruzzese (one year, $775K)*
F Tristan Allard (two years, $1.745MM)*
G Ryan Fanti (one year, $775K)*
F Gage Goncalves (two years, $2.4MM)^
F Yanni Gourde (six years, $14MM)^
F Pontus Holmberg (two years, $3.1MM)
F Boris Katchouk (one year, $775K)*
D Simon Lundmark (two years, $1.55MM)*
F Jakob Pelletier (three years, $2.325MM)
F Scott Sabourin (one year, $775K)*
D Steven Santini (two years, $1.55MM)*^

*-denotes two-way contract
^-denotes re-signing

BriseBois paid a high price to acquire Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand at the trade deadline so it made sense that he’d try to keep Gourde in the fold. Few expected him to sign a six-year deal at the age of 33, however. That’s a long contract for someone that age but the trade-off is a cap charge that is well below what he likely would have received in free agency in a market that had few centers of significance. Gourde is coming off a pretty quiet season by his standards but he was impactful after the trade, notching 14 points in 21 games. If he comes anywhere close to this, he’s going to be a nice bargain in the early going of this deal and really help bolster their bottom six, an area of need for a while now.

Speaking of bottom-six pickups, both Holmberg and Pelletier qualify. Holmberg had his first full NHL season last year with Toronto, playing somewhat regularly on their fourth line during the regular season and in the playoffs. He doesn’t bring a lot of offensive upside to the table but it’s still an improvement on what Tampa Bay’s fourth line provided last season while he could help a bit on the penalty kill as well. Pelletier cleared waivers to start last season but wound up getting into 49 NHL games between Calgary and Philadelphia. A 2019 first-round pick, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be able to live up to his draft billing but he should have a chance to secure a regular spot on that fourth line and, like Holmberg, give it perhaps a bit more offensive upside as well.

Goncalves was able to establish himself as a regular for the most part with the Lightning last season but Tampa Bay wanted nothing to do with arbitration, opting to non-tender him before re-signing him in early July at a price tag higher than what his qualifying offer was. Last season, he cleared waivers twice. That’s probably not going to be an option this time around. Abruzzeze has had some good offensive success in the minors with Toronto but hasn’t had much of an NHL opportunity, allowing him to reach Group Six free agency. He’ll be in tough to lock down a full-time spot with the Lightning but he could be a good candidate for a midseason recall.

RFA Re-Signings

D Maxwell Crozier (three years, $2.325MM)*
F Jack Finley (three years, $2.325MM)*

*-denotes two-way contract

Most of Tampa Bay’s contract work was done before the summer came along so there wasn’t much to do here. Crozier and Finley signed identical contracts, deals that will carry a two-way salary this season before converting to one-way pacts for the other two (at rates that will be increased due to the changes to the minimum salary in the CBA). Crozier could have a shot at earning a seventh defenseman role with the Lightning this season while Finley – who made his NHL debut last season – is ticketed for regular minutes with AHL Syracuse once again.

Departures

D Anthony Angello (unsigned)
F Cam Atkinson (unsigned)
D Derrick Pouliot (signed with Rangers, one year, $775K)*
F Gabriel Fortier (signed with Leksand, SHL)
F Logan Brown (signed with Los Angeles, one year, $775K)*
F Luke Glendening (unsigned)
F Isaac Howard (trade with Edmonton)
D Tobie Paquette-Bisson (signed with Laval, AHL)
D Nicklaus Perbix (signed with Nashville, two years, $5.5MM)
F Conor Sheary (contract termination, signed a PTO with Rangers)
F Simon Ryfors (RFA rights lost, signed with Davos, NL)
G Matt Tomkins (signed with Edmonton, two years, $1.55MM)*

*-denotes two-way contract

Despite a large list of names to leave the organization, the Lightning and GM Julien BriseBois did a good job of not losing anyone of significance. Perbix, 27, is coming off of a nice season to earn a solid two-year deal with the Predators. In 74 games, Perbix put up 19 points while averaging 14:41 of ice time per night. Perhap the biggest departure came in the form of Howard, who never actually suited up in Tampa Bay. Following the trade, the Oilers announced Howard has signed a three-year, entry-level contract beginning in 2025-26.

Salary Cap Outlook

The Lightning are projected to have a little under $1.2MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia, and that’s with a 23-player roster. That’s a luxury they haven’t been able to afford too often in recent years and if they elect not to operate with that to start the season, they could wind up opening up nearly $2MM below the cap ceiling. That’s a much cleaner spot to be in compared to where they’ve been at times over the last few seasons.

Key Questions

Can Geekie Lock Down A Key Role? One of the wild cards for Tampa Bay this season is forward Conor Geekie. A key piece of the return in the trade that saw defenseman Mikhail Sergachev go to Utah at the draft last year, the 2022 11th overall pick broke camp with the Lightning last year but played a relatively minor role overall, only playing more than 15 minutes in four of his 52 games while only collecting 14 points. In February, the decision was made to let him go to Syracuse and he was much more successful with the Crunch, notching 11 goals and 20 points in 24 games, earning a late-season recall and some playoff time. If Geekie can truly lock down a full-time spot on the third line, a step forward from him coupled with their bottom-six additions could really help shore up what was one of their biggest weaknesses last season.

Will The Lightning Do Any Early Extensions? Over the years, BriseBois has often elected to sign his pending free agents a year early and avoid any potential distractions of having a player in his walk year. (Stamkos, their former captain, was a rare notable exception.) There is a trio of veterans who could be candidates to sign new deals. Bjorkstrand has reached at least 20 goals in six of the last seven seasons, making him a reliably consistent secondary scoring option that should land more than his current $5.4MM price tag on the open market so working to sign him now makes some sense. Meanwhile, on the back end, veteran Ryan McDonagh and J.J. Moser are both extension-eligible as well. McDonagh is unlikely to command the $6.75MM cap cost that he currently has but there is likely mutual interest in seeing him stick around in a mentoring capacity for another year or two. As for Moser, his first season with the Lightning after coming over in the Sergachev trade was a little quieter than expected but he’s still expected to be a top-four piece for them for the foreseeable future. If they’re confident he can rebound, looking to sign him now when his value might be a little lower would be a wise move.

Can They Match Last Season’s Offensive Production? The Lightning led the NHL in regular season goals last season (292), good for a 3.56 goals per game. The team is returning its core offensive threats, so can it make another push toward the top of the offensive rankings? The answer likely hinges on whether it can replicate last season’s power play success, when it ranked fifth in the league with a 25.9 percent conversion rate. That efficiency was complemented by impressive even-strength production, as the team finished third in the league in even-strength goals, trailing only the Washington Capitals and, perhaps surprisingly, the Columbus Blue Jackets. If Nikita Kucherov can produce something close to last season’s 121 points, and players like Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, and Brayden Point continue to produce at a point-per-game rate, the Lightning should once again find themselves near the top of the league in goals per game and in a strong position to contend heading into the playoffs.

Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

PHR’s Gabriel Foley and Paul Griser also contributed to this post.

Snapshots: Backlund, Senators, Miftakhov

August 27, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

While Flames center Mikael Backlund recently commented on the future of one of his teammates with the organization, he also discussed his own. Speaking with The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription link), the 36-year-old indicated that he is hoping to sign a contract extension to continue with Calgary. The Flames have been the only NHL organization that Backlund has known after they drafted him in the first round back in 2007. Last season, Backlund played in 76 games, picking up 15 goals and 17 assists in a little under 19 minutes a night of playing time. He’s entering the final year of his contract that carries a $4.5MM cap charge and notably, his trade protection drops to a 15-team no-trade list in January.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

The Senators announced that they have reached an affiliation agreement with ECHL Allen for the upcoming season. They had previously been affiliated with the Americans in 2022-23 and 2023-24 before Utah stepped in and became their affiliate last season, leaving Ottawa without an ECHL squad. Now, the situations have been reversed with the Sens getting their affiliation back while the Mammoth look like they won’t have one in the 30-team league.
Carolina’s signing of goaltender Amir Miftakhov this summer came as a bit of a surprise since he’s only a few years removed from terminating his entry-level contract to return home to Russia. However, he noted to Evening Kazan’s Dmitry Yashkin that the Hurricanes actually attempted to bring him back to North America in 2023, only one full season after leaving Tampa Bay’s organization but he decided that staying in the KHL a little longer made sense. He also noted that there is no European Assignment Clause in his contract and that he won’t be looking to head home midseason again if he winds up in the minors as expected with AHL Chicago.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Colorado Avalanche

August 27, 2025 at 7:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment