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Kraken Notes: Francis, Mahura, Grubauer, Hayden

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While this season was certainly a disappointing one for the Kraken, there won’t be a big change coming in the front office.  Team CEO Tod Leiweke confirmed to reporters including Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times (Twitter link) that GM Ron Francis will return for his fifth season in 2025-26.  Seattle has missed the playoffs in three of its first four seasons which generally isn’t abnormal for an expansion franchise but the early success Vegas had increased expectations.  Their lone playoff year came in 2022-23 when they had 100 points but they managed just 76 this season despite handing out two of the bigger deals in free agency last summer to Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson.  The team projects to have more than $21MM in cap room this summer, per PuckPedia, so Francis could be a big spender once again.

More from Seattle:

  • Defenseman Josh Mahura is hoping to re-sign with the Kraken this summer, Shefte relays. The 26-year-old signed a one-year, $775K deal last year after being non-tendered by Florida back in June.  Mahura had a decent season in a limited role, playing in 64 games where he had nine assists while logging a little under 14 minutes a night.  It’s likely that his next contract should check in once again at or near the league minimum and it wouldn’t be surprising if Seattle looked to bring him back in a similar role for next season.
  • Goaltender Philipp Grubauer will play for Germany at the upcoming World Championship, Shefte notes in the same column. It was another rough year for 33-year-old, whose 3.49 GAA and .875 SV% were the worst marks of his career and saw him limited to just 26 games, plus seven more in the minors after clearing waivers.  He has two years left on his contract at a $5.9MM AAV, making him a speculative buyout candidate this summer.
  • The team announced (Twitter link) that center John Hayden was assigned to AHL Coachella Valley. He cleared waivers last week in advance of being returned to the Firebirds for their playoff run.  The 30-year-old had a goal and an assist in 20 games with Seattle and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Devils’ Paul Cotter Suspended Two Games

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April 14: It’s a two-game suspension for Cotter, DoPS announced. He’ll miss New Jersey’s remaining regular season schedule but will be eligible for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Hurricanes.

April 13: Devils center Paul Cotter received a match penalty today against the Islanders and the league has decided that they want to take a closer look at it.  The Department of Player Safety announced (Twitter link) that Cotter will have a hearing on Monday for his illegal check to the head on defenseman Adam Pelech.

The incident (video link) occurred near the six-minute mark of the second period with Cotter being ejected for it.  Meanwhile, Pelech sustained an upper-body injury on the play and did not return.  Following the game, head coach Patrick Roy didn’t have an immediate update on Pelech’s condition but with just two games left in their season, it wouldn’t be surprising if they shut him down.

Cotter has not been suspended in his 217-game NHL career but this is the second time he received a match penalty for an illegal check to the head; the other instance came back in 2023 when he was with Vegas but no supplementary discipline came his way.  New Jersey has two games remaining this season so any suspension longer than that would mean he’d miss the beginning of their opening-round playoff series against Carolina.

Five Key Stories: 4/7/25 – 4/13/25

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The playoffs are almost upon us and we’re starting to see an uptick in activity around the hockey world, particularly on the signing front.  Several contracts are highlighted in our key stories.

Playoff Reinforcements? Several teams could be getting a boost to their late-season playoff push or for the postseason.  The Canadiens signed top prospect Ivan Demidov to an entry-level deal beginning this season.  The 19-year-old was the fifth pick back in June and had 49 points in 65 games with SKA St. Petersburg, who released him to accommodate the move.  SKA also released defenseman Alexander Nikishin, permitting him to join Carolina right away on an entry-level pact.  The 23-year-old has been viewed as the top defenseman outside the NHL for a few seasons now; he had his third straight year of at least 46 points this season.  Meanwhile, the Wild will add a top college defender to the mix, inking Zeev Buium to an entry-level deal that starts right away.  Buium, the 12th pick last June, collected 98 points in 83 games at the University of Denver in the last two years.  Lastly, the Avalanche could be getting some playoff help via a different route as captain Gabriel Landeskog has started a conditioning stint with AHL Colorado, getting into two games so far.  The Avs can’t activate him before the end of the season for cap reasons but this is a promising next step in Landeskog’s recovery; he hasn’t played since 2022.

Calling It A Career: A pair of players have announced their retirements but are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their career.  Veteran defenseman Alec Martinez revealed that Saturday was his final NHL game as he won’t suit up in Chicago’s final two contests.  The 37-year-old will hang up his skates with 862 career regular season appearances between Los Angeles, Vegas, and Chicago.  Martinez also won three Stanley Cup titles in 2012, 2014, and 2023.  On the opposite end is now-former Jets prospect Chaz Lucius.  He announced his retirement at the age of 21 following a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  Lucius was the 18th overall pick back in 2021 and his career ends with just 54 professional games, all at the AHL level.

Testing The Market: Canucks winger Brock Boeser is no stranger to the rumor mill.  After rejecting an extension offer believed to be worth five years and $40MM earlier in the season, he was in plenty of trade speculation but ultimately stayed at the trade deadline.  However, it doesn’t appear as if the extra time in Vancouver will help get a deal done as the 28-year-old indicated that it’s unlikely that he’ll return to the Canucks next season.  Boeser had a breakout effort last season, notching 40 goals and 33 assists, setting the stage for that extension offer from management.  But he hasn’t produced at a similar level this year, collecting 25 goals and 24 assists, numbers that are closer to his normal year-to-year output.  But even with the down performance this season, Boeser projects to be one of the top unrestricted free agents this summer which will have him well-positioned to benefit from the big jump coming to the salary cap.

Top Prospect Not Signing: For a while now, it was expected that the Lightning would sign prospect winger Isaac Howard knowing that it might have to wait until late in the year when they had the cap space to do so.  However, the two sides are not on the same page regarding Howard’s future so the 2022 first-round pick has decided to return to Michigan State next season.  The 21-year-old had a dominant year for the Spartans, notching 26 goals and 26 assists in 37 games, earning him the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s Player of the Year.  Now, Tampa Bay will have to decide if they want to try to sign him next season when he’ll be months away from being able to test unrestricted free agency or if they’d be better off trading his rights in the coming months.

Hockey World Loses Three: It was a tough week in the hockey world as two long-time NHL fixtures passed away.  First, Greg Millen died at the age of 67.  A 14-year NHL goaltender, Millen played in over 600 games across six different teams before beginning a broadcasting career that spanned more than three decades, spending time with Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary while being on Hockey Night in Canada for nearly 30 years.  Just two days later, long-time NHL executive Ray Shero passed at the age of 62.  Shero was the former GM of Pittsburgh and New Jersey and had been working for an NHL team for every year but one since 1993.  Shero had been with Minnesota as a senior advisor for the past four seasons.  Lastly, former Toronto GM Gerry McNamara passed away at the age of 90.  He served as the GM for them for eight seasons after spending six previous campaigns with them in a scouting capacity.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.

Oilers Hoping To Sign Maxim Berezkin

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Over the past few days, we’ve seen a couple of KHL prospects sign with their respective NHL clubs with more potentially still to come.  It appears that the Oilers are hoping they’ll be able to join in as GM Stan Bowman indicated on an appearance on Oilers Now (audio link) that they’re hoping to sign winger Maxim Berezkin once his club team finishes up in the playoffs.

The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Edmonton back in 2020, going 138th overall.  At the time, Berezkin had just finished up a solid junior season in Russia in Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s system while also making his KHL debut.

Berezkin would bounce back and forth between the KHL and either the junior level or minor-league level for the next three seasons before finally becoming a full-time KHL piece last season.  That year, he notched eight goals and 22 assists in 62 games during the regular season before breaking out in the playoffs with 16 points in 20 appearances.

That set the expectations a little higher for Berezkin heading into this season and he delivered, tallying 15 goals and 27 assists in 62 games this season, good for second on the team in scoring.  He’s off to a solid start in the playoffs as well, collecting four points in five games so far to tie for the scoring lead.  With Lokomotiv the top seed in their conference, Bowman and the Oilers may have to wait a little longer before they can really kickstart negotiations about an entry-level contract for Berezkin.

Minor Transactions: 4/13/25

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As is often the case at this time of year, there has been an influx of minor roster moves.  Teams are shutting players down for the season or trying to give someone a game off with the playoffs approaching, leading to a busier shuffle between the NHL and AHL than usual.  Here’s a rundown of today’s moves:

  • The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Dakota Mermis from AHL Toronto on an emergency basis. On Saturday, the Maple Leafs played short one defenseman, qualifying them for a cap-free emergency recall.  It’s the second promotion for Mermis since he rejoined Toronto following his waiver claim from Utah back in February.  Mermis has played in 32 games for the Marlies this season, notching seven assists.
  • The Jets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled center Dominic Toninato from AHL Manitoba. He’s taking the place of Nikolaj Ehlers on the roster after he exited Saturday’s game following a collision with a linesman.  Toninato has been held off the scoresheet in four games with Winnipeg while adding 18 goals and 18 assists in 60 appearances with the Moose.
  • The Kraken have returned forward Ryan Winterton to AHL Coachella Valley, per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 21-year-old picked up an assist in a dozen games with Seattle and will now return to the Firebirds to get ready for their playoff run.  Winterton has 18 goals and 19 assists in 55 AHL contests this season.
  • After making his season debut yesterday, Wild defenseman Cameron Crotty is heading back to the minors, per a team announcement (Twitter link). He’ll be ceding his roster spot to Zeev Buium who inked his entry-level deal earlier today.  Crotty now has two career NHL appearances under his belt while he has chipped in with 10 assists in 62 outings with Iowa.
  • The Islanders have sent goaltender Tristan Lennox back to AHL Bridgeport, relays Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). The 22-year-old had a short-lived NHL debut back on Tuesday, allowing one goal on two shots in a little under five minutes of action.  Lennox has been limited to just four minor league appearances this season due to injury, posting a 4.44 GAA and a .832 SV% with Bridgeport.  He was no longer needed with the Isles with Ilya Sorokin returning today.
  • One player who won’t be on the NHL-AHL shuffle for a little while longer is Calgary prospect Henry Mews. The defenseman announced (Twitter link) that he’ll play for the University of Michigan next season.  Mews was a third-round pick by the Flames last June, going 74th overall.  He had a strong year offensively in the OHL, tallying 82 points in 68 games between Ottawa and Sudbury but instead of staying in junior, he’ll test himself at the college level next season.

Tomas Tatar On EV Zug’s Radar

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In his prime, veteran winger Tomas Tatar was a quality secondary scorer, notching seven seasons of at least 20 goals.  However, his production and role have dropped in recent years and it appears that has caught the eye of at least one international team.

Speaking with the Zuger Zeitung last weekend, EV Zug’s manager Reto Klay acknowledged that Tatar is on a shortlist of players the team intends to target this offseason, one that also includes former NHL winger Dominik Kubalik.  Zug has seven import players to sign for next season so they’ll be casting a wide net to do so; Klay acknowledged that his shortlist currently consists of somewhere between 20 and 30 players.

After his contract with Montreal ended in 2021, Tatar inked a two-year, $9MM contract with New Jersey.  However, his market wasn’t the strongest in 2023 despite a 20-goal, 48-point campaign, resulting in him settling for a one-year, $1.8MM pact.  Then this past summer, he opted to sign quickly, taking $1.5MM to return to the Devils.

Last season, Tatar had just nine goals and 15 assists in 70 games between Colorado and Seattle.  This year, he has just seven tallies and ten helpers in 71 contests while his playing time is down to just 11 minutes a night, a career low.  Given the sharp drop in production, there’s a strong possibility that Tatar could have a weak market this summer, potentially landing in PTO territory.  With that in mind, it’s understandable that Zug (and perhaps other international teams) have him on their radar for next season.

It remains to be seen if Tatar would be open to playing overseas at this point of his career.  Now 34 and with over 900 NHL regular season games under his belt, would he prefer a low-cost NHL contract or even a tryout opportunity to try to extend his career at the top level?  Or, would he be open to heading overseas where he’d take a pay cut but get to play in the top-six role that he’s best suited for?  He still has a few more months to make that determination.

Oilers Sign Atro Leppanen

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The Oilers will soon be announcing the addition of Quinn Hutson and they’ve made another addition to their prospect pool today.  The team announced that they’ve signed defenseman Atro Leppanen to a one-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal, which begins next season, were not disclosed by the team but PuckPedia reports that it will carry a $975K cap hit.

The 26-year-old is the definition of a late bloomer.  Just two seasons ago, Leppanen was playing in Finland’s second-tier Mestis but that year, he had a dominant showing with Kiekko-Espoo that saw him put up 23 goals and 35 assists in 51 games, finishing fourth in the league in scoring, tops among defensemen.  That earned him a tryout agreement with Sport at the Liiga level, one that he was able to convert to a full-season contract.

Last season, Leppanen did well in his first season with Sport, tallying 12 goals and 16 assists in 55 games, good numbers for a first-year defenseman.  But this year, he found an entire new gear.  Leppanen set a new league record for points by a blueliner (breaking a record shared by former NHLers Brian Rafalski and Pekka Rautakallio) while leading the entire league in scoring, collecting 21 goals and 42 assists in 60 games while averaging more than 23 minutes a night of playing time.

That performance had Leppanen on the radar heading into free agency.  It’s believed he had an SHL contract on the table but he was able to beat that with this deal.  It will be interesting to see if the Oilers envision Leppanen pushing for a spot at the end of the NHL roster to provide some secondary offense from the back end or if their intention is to start him with AHL Bakersfield.  As things stand, Edmonton has five of their regular blueliners under contract for 2025-26 with Evan Bouchard and Ty Emberson needing new deals as restricted free agents.

Oilers Sign Samuel Jonsson

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The Oilers have agreed to terms on a contract with one of their goaltending prospects.  The team announced that they’ve signed Samuel Jonsson to a three-year, entry-level deal. He’ll earn a base salary of $775K, a signing bonus of $80K, and a minors salary of $82.5K each season for a cap hit of $855K, per PuckPedia. While the release didn’t specify when the agreement begins, it’s likely that it won’t start until next season.

The 21-year-old was picked in the fifth round back in 2022, going 158th overall.  At that point, the highest level he had played at was Sweden’s Under-20 league and was coming off a rather pedestrian season.  However, Jonsson stands 6’5 and many teams around the league have taken late-round dart throws on taller goaltenders.

This particular throw could still pan out for the Oilers.  While Jonsson has yet to play at the SHL level, he had an impressive season with BIK Karlskoga of the second-tier Allsvenskan.  He played in 24 games this year, posting a 1.88 GAA and a .922 SV% along with six shutouts, earning himself Goalie of the Year honors.

It will be interesting to see what Edmonton’s plans for Jonsson are next season.  They have Connor Ungar and Nathaniel Day under contract already, while Olivier Rodrigue will be a restricted free agent and seems likely to be retained.  With that in mind, will the Oilers look to bring Jonsson over to North America and potentially play him in the ECHL or might they decide to leave him in Sweden and hope that he lands with an SHL team to continue his development closer to home?  They’ll at least have a few months to determine the best course of action on that front.

Sharks Recall Thomas Bordeleau

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This hasn’t been the type of season that Sharks forward Thomas Bordeleau had hoped for.  Instead of landing a full-time spot in San Jose, he has played exclusively with the AHL’s Barracuda thus far.  However, it appears as if he’ll gets at least one chance with the big club as the team announced (Twitter link) that Bordeleau has been recalled.

The 23-year-old played in 27 games with the Sharks last season, notching six goals and five assists in a little over 15 minutes a night, appearing to give himself a realistic shot at securing a regular role in the lineup.  He accepted his qualifying offer in late July but after spending the first two weeks of the season on injured reserve, Bordeleau was sent down and until today, hadn’t been recalled.

Bordeleau has had a decent season with the Barracuda.  Through 59 games, he has 14 goals and 24 assists, putting him three points shy of his personal best set back in 2021-22, his first full professional campaign.  However, his assist total is a new career-high.  He’ll once again be a restricted free agent this summer and should sign for close to his new qualifying offer of $917.8K.

Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News notes (Twitter link) that the Sharks have already used their four post-deadline regular recalls, meaning that this is an emergency recall.  It’s unclear which forward’s availability for Sunday’s game against Calgary is in question at this time but head coach David Warsofsky noted earlier this week that Alexander Wennberg has been playing through an injury for a while now.

Panthers Sign Jack Devine

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After an impressive college career, Jack Devine is turning pro.  The Panthers announced that they have signed the winger to a three-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  GM Bill Zito released the following statement:

Jack is an agile skater with high-end offensive talent who has excelled throughout his collegiate hockey career over the past four seasons with the University of Denver.  We are thrilled for Jack to join the Florida Panthers organization.

The 21-year-old was a seventh-round pick in 2022, going 221st overall after playing his freshman season at the University of Denver that saw him record 19 points in 31 games.  It’s fair to say that he has significantly outperformed that selection already.

After upping his point total to 31 in his sophomore year, Devine found another gear offensively last season.  In 44 games for the Pioneers, he notched 27 goals and 29 assists, leading Denver and all of Division I in scoring while helping lead Denver to the NCAA title.  This season, he showed that the uptick wasn’t a one-off as he collected 13 goals and 44 helpers in 44 games, once again leading all of Division I in points.  Overall, his four-year college career ends with him averaging just over a point per game with 163 points in 162 games.

While Devine won’t be able to play for Florida down the stretch, he will be able to make his professional debut.  While not announced by the team, he has signed with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The Checkers have already locked up a playoff spot so it might not take long for Devine to see game action with them.  A good showing with them could help Devine get on the NHL radar for next season with the Panthers likely needing some low-cost forwards to round out their roster, especially if they re-sign or replace pending UFAs Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad.

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