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Blues Re-Sign Vadim Zherenko And Hunter Skinner

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July 7: The Blues confirmed Zherenko’s and Skinner’s contracts while also confirming a two-way deal for winger Matt Luff that was reported when the market opened last week.

July 6: After getting Joel Hofer signed to a new deal late last month, the Blues have re-signed their other restricted free agent netminder.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that St. Louis has re-signed Vadim Zherenko to a one-year, two-way contract.  PuckPedia is also reporting (Twitter link) that defenseman Hunter Skinner has inked a one-year, two-way agreement as well.  Both players will receive $775K in the NHL and $125K in the minors, meaning they took less than their qualifying offers to secure more guaranteed money.

Zherenko was a seventh-round pick by St. Louis back in 2019, going 208th overall and has had a bit of a journey thus far in professional hockey.  The 24-year-old was drafted out of Russia and spent one more year at home, splitting time between the VHL and the MHL before deciding to play in Finland in 2021-22 where he spent the bulk of the year with Ilves at the top Liiga level.  His performance there helped earn him an entry-level contract that spring.

Since then, Zherenko has spent his time with AHL Springfield, save for a brief stint in St. Louis on recall in his rookie year that didn’t yield any NHL playing time.  Last season, he posted a 12-17-5 record in 32 games with the Thunderbirds along with a 3.44 GAA and a .897 SV%.  He played behind starter Colten Ellis who is now waiver-eligible moving forward, leaving his future a little murkier as he’ll have to pass through unclaimed to return to Springfield.  Zherenko, meanwhile, remains waiver-exempt for one more year so it’s safe to say that he’ll be back with the Thunderbirds next season.

As for Skinner, he was a fourth-round pick of the Rangers back in 2019, going 112th overall.  He spent the following season with OHL London before turning pro in 2020-21.  He spent parts of three seasons in their farm system, primarily with AHL Hartford before being traded to St. Louis in 2023 as part of the deal that sent rental players Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola to New York to try to aid their playoff run.

Since then, Skinner has played with Springfield and is coming off his best season at the AHL level, one that saw him record eight goals and 14 assists in 69 games along with 98 penalty minutes.  That was enough to earn him a qualifying offer to get another opportunity but unless he becomes an NHL regular and plays in at least 80 games next season, Skinner will become eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency next summer.

With the signings, the Blues are down to just one remaining restricted free agent to re-sign, forward Nikita Alexandrov.

Rangers Re-Sign Brendan Brisson

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July 7: The Rangers confirmed Brisson’s contract Monday morning.

July 6: The Rangers have taken care of one of their remaining restricted free agents.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that New York has signed forward Brendan Brisson to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay $775K in the NHL, $100K in the minors, and contains a guaranteed salary of $125K, meaning he took less than his qualifying offer to secure more guaranteed money.

The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Vegas back in 2020, going 29th overall after a promising season with USHL Chicago.  Brisson continued to be a strong producer in college, averaging a point per game over two seasons at the University of Michigan before turning pro in 2022.

Unfortunately for Brisson and Vegas, his production slowed after that.  He picked up 37 points in 58 games in 2022-23 with AHL Henderson but wasn’t able to build off of that too much the following year with 38 in 52.  Brisson did, however, get into 15 games with the Golden Knights that season, notching two goals and six assists, providing some hope moving forward.

This season, things didn’t go as well.  Brisson was held off the scoresheet in seven games to open the season before being demoted back to the Silver Knights and didn’t notch a point in a two-game stint in January either.  In between, Brisson was limited to just five goals and 14 assists in 49 games in Henderson.  That was enough for Vegas to make him available at the trade deadline as they sent him and a third-round pick to the Rangers for Reilly Smith, a pending UFA at the time who ultimately re-signed last month.  Brisson didn’t get any looks with New York down the stretch but managed just two goals and four assists in 16 games with AHL Hartford.

Brisson is now waiver-eligible and while his 2024-25 performance wouldn’t be enough on its own to justify a potential claim, teams have been known to take flyers on fairly recent first-round picks in the hopes that a change of scenery could get them going.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rangers take a long look at Brisson in training camp to see if he can land a spot on the fourth line or at least break camp as a reserve forward.

The Rangers now have two remaining restricted free agents to deal with this summer, goaltenders Dylan Garand and Talyn Boyko.

Metropolitan Notes: Vladar, Barkey, Penguins, Ilyin

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With teams being warned about the potential for tampering, not as many contracts were announced in the opening minutes of free agency on Tuesday.  One exception was new Flyers goaltender Daniel Vladar.  In an interview with iSport’s Pavel Barta, the 27-year-old indicated that his two-year, $6.7MM agreement with Philadelphia was in place within three minutes of the market opening up.  Vladar was seeking an opportunity to be a starting goalie and he should get a chance to battle for that role with the Flyers who had incumbents Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov all struggle considerably last season.  While Vladar’s 2.80 GAA and .898 SV% last season in 30 games with Calgary aren’t elite numbers, they’re still an upgrade on what Philadelphia received in 2024-25.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Still with the Flyers, prospect Denver Barkey has nearly fully recovered from the ankle injury that hindered him in the playoffs, relays PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was a third-round pick two years ago and was a top producer with OHL London.  Last season, Barkey had 82 points in 50 games with the Knights while adding 20 points in 10 playoff contests.  Now pro-eligible, Barkey will likely start next season at AHL Lehigh Valley but a good start there could have him in the mix for a recall fairly quickly given his track record of production.
  • Winger Matej Blumel told Hokej.cz’s Dominik Dubovchi that the Penguins were the other finalist to sign him in free agency earlier this week. The 25-year-old was the top goal-getter in the AHL last season, notching 39 in 67 games with AHL Texas but that only earned him seven games with Dallas where he scored once.  Blumel was eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency and ultimately signed a one-year, one-way contract worth $875K with Boston.
  • Still with the Penguins, prospect Mikhail Ilyin will stay in the KHL for next season, assistant GM Jason Spezza told reporters including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). However, the hope is that the winger will come to North America for the 2026-27 campaign.  Ilyin, a fifth-round pick back in 2023, had 30 points in 64 games with Severstal Cherepovets last season, finishing third on the team in scoring.

Golden Knights Looking To Trade Ben Hutton

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While the Golden Knights will be without Alex Pietrangelo moving forward, it appears that another defender could be on the move as well.  David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that Vegas is trying to move defenseman Ben Hutton.

The 32-year-old has spent the last four seasons with Vegas after signing with them as a depth option early in the 2021-22 season.  After that first year, he has signed a pair of two-year contracts with his current deal having one year left at an affordable price tag of $975K.

Unfortunately for Hutton, his role last season saw him become a sparingly used depth piece.  While he did miss 16 games with an upper-body injury, he was a healthy scratch in 55 others as he played in just 11 games during the regular season.  He had a pair of assists in those outings along with 19 blocks in a little over 13 minutes of ice time per game.  Hutton also didn’t see any action in the playoffs.

For his career, Hutton has played in 520 career NHL games with five different teams, spanning over parts of ten seasons.  The bulk of that came with Vancouver when he was used in a top-four role for good chunks of the four years he spent with them.  He has 124 points and 670 blocks in those outings with an ATOI of over 18 minutes per game, largely skewed from his time with the Canucks.  Over his four seasons in Vegas, Hutton has averaged 15:38 per game, more reflective of the sixth defender role he has held when he has been in the lineup.

As things stand, Hutton figures to be the seventh defenseman once again for the Golden Knights heading into next season so it appears that Vegas is trying to find a new team that could give him a better opportunity.  But there are several blueliners still in free agency that could conceivably take away some potential landing spots for Hutton in the coming weeks so it wouldn’t be surprising if he ultimately makes it to training camp still with Vegas.

At the moment, the Golden Knights are about $6.8MM over the cap, per PuckPedia.  That amount includes Pietrangelo’s $8.8MM cap charge which will land on LTIR, meaning that they have around $2MM of flexibility to work with.  Moving Hutton and replacing him with a player at the league minimum would only add $200K of extra room but every bit of cap wiggle room would help.  Now, the only question is whether a team is willing to trade for Hutton or if he ultimately lands on waivers in the fall if they can’t find a trade for him and want to create that small increase in cap space.

Kraken Re-Sign Tye Kartye

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The Kraken have re-signed a key depth forward.  The team announced that they’ve inked winger Tye Kartye to a two-year contract worth $1.25MM per season.  He would have been eligible to file for arbitration by today’s 4:00 PM CT deadline.

The 24-year-old signed with Seattle as an undrafted free agent back in 2022, a move that has worked out well for both sides.  Kartye played his junior hockey with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds and a 45-goal, 79-point campaign in 2021-22 was enough for the Kraken to give him an entry-level deal.

In the first season of that contract, Kartye played exclusively with AHL Coachella Valley during the regular season where he notched an impressive 28 goals and 29 assists in 72 games.  That was enough to earn him a recall to the Kraken for the playoffs where Kartye was an important secondary contributor, picking up five points in ten outings with Seattle along with 44 hits in his first taste of NHL action.  He was then returned to the Firebirds for their postseason run, adding eight points in 18 appearances.

His playoff showing was enough to make Kartye an NHL regular since then.  In 2023-24, he got into 77 games with the Kraken, tallying 11 goals and nine assists while he threw a team-high 229 hits in just under 12 minutes per game of playing time.  However, offense was a little harder to come by last season as he managed just six goals and seven helpers in 63 outings while his ice time dropped below ten minutes per night.

With that drop in production and playing time, it’s not a surprise that both sides opted for a short-term bridge deal.  Kartye will still be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent when this contract expires although 2027 will be his final summer of RFA eligibility.

Seattle still has some work to do on the RFA front as winger Kaapo Kakko and defenseman Ryker Evans need new contracts.  Kakko is arbitration-eligible while Evans isn’t eligible to file this summer.

Blue Jackets Re-Sign Dmitri Voronkov

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The Blue Jackets have taken care of their top remaining restricted free agent, announcing that they’ve re-signed forward Dmitri Voronkov to a two-year contract.  The deal carries a $4.175MM cap charge.  He was eligible to file for salary arbitration by today’s 4:00 PM CT deadline.  GM Don Waddell had the following to say about the signing:

We are very pleased to reach this agreement with Dmitri as he is an important part of our young core. He has size, strength and excellent hands and has a chance to be a very special player. We look forward to his continued growth and development as a Blue Jacket.

The 24-year-old was a fourth-round pick by Columbus back in 2019, going 114th overall.  While Voronkov showed some promise with Ak Bars Kazan of the AHL, the Blue Jackets had to wait a while to get him as he spent four more years in their system after being drafted before making the jump to North America in 2023.

Voronkov had a slow start to his rookie season in 2023-24 but adapted well as the season went on.  He spent a good chunk of that year playing center and did relatively well offensively in a secondary role, tallying 18 goals along with 16 assists and 55 penalty minutes in 75 games despite averaging just 13:27 per night.

His performance gave the Blue Jackets enough confidence to move him into more of a regular top-six role last season.  However, with the addition of Sean Monahan and the decision to move Adam Fantilli back down the middle, Voronkov was predominantly on the wing in 2024-25.  He played in 73 games for Columbus in 2024-25, tallying 23 goals along with 24 assists while his playing time jumped up to nearly 17 minutes per game.

Voronkov found himself in trade speculation last month when the Blue Jackets were showing interest in defenseman Noah Dobson.  It’s believed that Voronkov was the forward that New York was coveting as part of the package for the blueliner, who ultimately went to Montreal.

With the signing, Voronkov becomes the third highest-paid forward on the Blue Jackets for the upcoming season, joining Monahan and center Charlie Coyle, who was acquired from Colorado last month.  The deal buys both sides more time to assess if Voronkov has another level to get to offensively, one that could push him toward a significantly higher pay day in 2027 when the salary cap could be closer to the $113MM mark.  When the contract expires, Voronkov will still have one RFA-eligible season left with arbitration eligibility.

With the signing, Columbus has two remaining restricted free agents to re-sign, defenseman Daemon Hunt and winger Mikael Pyyhtia.  Neither player is eligible for arbitration this summer.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.

Capitals Notes: Milano, Free Agency, McMichael, Goaltending

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After missing all but three games due to an upper-body injury sustained in November, it appears that Capitals winger Sonny Milano will be good to go for training camp.  Speaking with reporters today at the end of development camp (video link), GM Chris Patrick indicated that the veteran is now ready to start going through his normal offseason regimen and that he is expected to participate in training camp.  This comes six weeks after Patrick wasn’t sure if Milano would be available to start next season.  Milano had 15 goals in 49 games back in 2023-24 and could be a useful depth scorer heading into 2025-26.  He has one year left on his contract with a $1.9MM cap charge.

More notes from Patrick’s presser:

  • While declining to say who he went after, Patrick noted that he tried to do something big to add to their roster but that it didn’t come to fruition. It doesn’t appear to be related to a lower offer than the player was looking for either, as Patrick said that “It didn’t come down to the money or the offer or the term or any of that. It was a player picking what he thought was the best situation both on and off the ice.”  There was speculation that the Capitals were one of the finalists for winger Nikolaj Ehlers who ultimately accepted a six-year, $51MM contract with Carolina while Washington brought back Anthony Beauvillier on a two-year, $5.5MM pact soon after.  In the meantime, he wouldn’t rule out signing another free agent but noted that there are some prospects who could make a push for a roster spot as well.
  • After spending most of last season on the wing, Patrick suggested that Connor McMichael could get another opportunity to line up at center next season. The 24-year-old is a natural center but with Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois on the top two lines, the decision was made to put McMichael on the wing over playing him on the third line.  It’s unclear if Patrick’s suggestion means that they’ll try that this season or if one of the other two will start on the wing to see how McMichael fares down the middle in the top six.  Speculatively, it feels like something they’ll experiment with in training camp.  Entering the final year of his contract, McMichael’s value would be higher next summer if he’s able to stay at center for the full season.
  • While AHL Hershey starter Hunter Shepard departed in free agency (signing with Ottawa), Patrick indicated that they won’t be bringing in a replacement for him to take over as the starter. Instead, Clay Stevenson will get that role moving forward.  Stevenson posted a 2.94 GAA and a .888 SV% in 33 outings with the Bears in 2024-25.  At the moment, he would partner with Garin Bjorklund, Mitch Gibson, or prospect Antoine Keller, who is under contract with Hershey but has yet to sign with Washington.

Canucks Have Started Extension Talks With Kiefer Sherwood

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Last summer, Vancouver’s signing of winger Kiefer Sherwood drew little fanfare.  After all, he was a fourth-line signing on the opening day of free agency where over 100 contracts were handed out, so, like many, he was a bit of an afterthought.

But that all changed fairly quickly as the 30-year-old wound up playing his way higher up the depth chart while having a career year.  Entering the second and final season of the two-year, $3MM contract he signed last summer, Sherwood is now extension-eligible.  In a recent appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link), GM Patrik Allvin indicated that he has had preliminary discussions about a contract extension with Sherwood’s camp.

Sherwood has only been an NHL regular for the last two seasons.  In 2023-24, he secured a full-time spot on Nashville’s roster and put up 27 points while playing exclusively in their bottom six where he notched 234 hits.  That helped secure him a seven-figure contract last summer for the first time.

Last season, Sherwood certainly improved on those numbers.  In 78 games, he potted 19 goals and 21 assists while seeing his playing time jump up to nearly 15 minutes a night, all career highs.  Meanwhile, on the physicality side, not only did he shatter his personal best in that regard but he also set a new NHL record in the category with 462.  The previous record was set by Nashville’s Jeremy Lauzon in 2023-24 with 383; he was traded to Vegas late last month.

Given what is still a fairly limited track record, forecasting an extension becomes a little tricky.  At first glance, the four-year, $12MM contract given to Dakota Joshua last summer seems like a reasonable approximation.  While the salary cap is higher now, Joshua is a little younger and plays center, the more premium position which could arguably offset the cap increase to a degree.  His camp could plausibly argue that the five-year, $17MM pact Boston gave to Tanner Jeannot would be fair.  Meanwhile, AFP Analytics projects a three-year pact around $2.65M per season.  Regardless, Sherwood is well-positioned for a raise and a longer-term agreement than he’s ever had.

The Canucks have been active on the extension front already this week.  First, the team inked goaltender Thatcher Demko to a three-year, $25.MM deal before officially signing winger Conor Garland to a six-year, $36MM pact; both deals kick in for 2026-27.  It appears that if Allvin has his way, Sherwood could be the third player of that group at some point this summer.

Atlantic Notes: Korpisalo, Pradel, AHL Contracts

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After the season, Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo indicated that he wasn’t comfortable with his playing time which was limited to just 27 games.  However, his agent Markus Lehto confirmed to RG’s Jimmy Murphy that no trade request has been submitted.  The 31-year-old posted a 2.90 GAA and a .893 SV% in 27 games last season and with Boston re-signing Michael DiPietro to a two-year, one-way deal earlier this week, it’s possible that the Bruins will want to give him a look at playing behind Jeremy Swayman next season.  Korpisalo has three years left on a contract that pays him $4MM per season with the Bruins only responsible for paying $3MM per year of that total with Ottawa responsible for the rest.  With a free agent goalie market that’s not particularly strong, it wouldn’t be shocking if teams were kicking the tires to see if the Bruins might move Korpisalo but as of now, the veteran netminder wants to stay.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Red Wings prospect Michal Pradel is undecided about where he’ll play next season, notes Dennik Sport’s Matej Derak (Twitter link). The goaltender was the 75th pick in last month’s draft and can choose between returning to USHL Tri-City or moving on to WHL Regina.  Pradel had a 2.41 GAA and a .899 SV% in 14 games with Tri-City after joining them in January and at this point, college hockey is not an option as he still has a year of high school remaining.
  • Montreal’s farm team in Laval announced the signings of winger Xavier Simoneau, defensemen Joshua Jacobs and Darick Louis-Jean, and goaltender Hunter Jones to AHL contracts. Simoneau was a sixth-round pick by the Canadiens in 2021 but was non-tendered last month after notching 21 points in 58 games with the Rocket.  Jacobs had five points in 25 games with Laval in 2024-25 while Louis-Jean and Jones played exclusively in the ECHL last season.
  • After non-tendering him last month, the Senators are keeping forward Philippe Daoust in the organization as their farm team in Belleville announced that they’ve signed the forward to a one-year contract. The 23-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Ottawa in 2020 and spent four seasons in Belleville but never earned a chance at the NHL level.  In 52 games with Belleville last season, Daoust had six goals and 12 assists.

Capitals Sign Lynden Lakovic To Entry-Level Contract

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The Capitals have wasted little time getting their top pick under contract.  The team announced that they’ve signed winger Lynden Lakovic to a three-year, entry-level deal.  The agreement will pay Lakovic $975K in the NHL and $85K in the AHL per season.  PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the contract contains $250K in Class A bonuses in years two and three, pushing the AAV of the deal to $1.14MM.

The 18-year-old was the 27th pick in last month’s draft, slipping that far after being rated in the top 20 by many scouting agencies.

In his first full season at the WHL level in 2023-24, Lakovic didn’t light up the scoresheet but still managed a solid 18 goals and 21 assists in 68 games with Moose Jaw before adding eight points in 20 playoff contests in the Warriors’ run to the Memorial Cup.

Armed with a bigger role last season after several top players moved on, Lakovic led Moose Jaw in scoring despite missing 21 games due to injury.  However, the Warriors struggled mightily, finishing at the bottom of the league standings with just 15 wins.  Still, Lakovic, who took over as team captain late in the season, had 27 goals and 31 assists in 47 games along with just four penalty minutes despite his 6’4 stature.

In Washington’s team release, it noted that the expectation is that Lakovic will return to Moose Jaw for the upcoming season.  Assuming that happens, his contract will ultimately slide and still have three years left on it heading into the 2026-27 campaign.

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