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Nikolai Kovalenko Signs With CSKA Moscow

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A couple of years ago, it looked like winger Nikolai Kovalenko was going to have a chance to become an impactful NHL player.  Instead, he is effectively one-and-done in North America as CSKA Moscow of the KHL announced on its Telegram page that they’ve signed Kovalenko to a two-year contract.

The 25-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Colorado back in 2018, going 171st overall.  While it took some time, Kovalenko became a key scoring threat back home, putting up 87 points over his last two seasons with KHL Torpedo, earning himself an entry-level contract along the way.

Once Kovalenko’s KHL season ended in 2024, he was brought up by the Avs and even got into a pair of playoff contests that spring for his first taste of NHL action.  The hope was that he’d be well-positioned to upgrade Colorado’s bottom-six group heading into last season with potentially showing enough to move into the top six whenever injuries crept up.

Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as planned on that front.  Kovalenko was limited to just four goals and four assists in the first 28 games of the season while logging just 12 minutes a night of playing time.  Instead of being an upgrade on some of the question marks the Avalanche deployed at the back of their forward group, he simply became another one of them.

As a result, Colorado opted to trade Kovalenko to San Jose in early December as one of the key pieces of the return for Mackenzie Blackwood who was brought in to shore up their goaltending (and later signed a five-year extension).  With the Sharks firmly in rebuilding mode, it seemed like Kovalenko would get a longer leash and potentially develop into the type of player the Avs were hoping he’d become.

But that didn’t happen.  Kovalenko found himself primarily in the same role he had with Colorado and even found himself as a healthy scratch at times.  He got into 29 games with San Jose, notching just three goals and nine assists while his ice time ticked up only slightly to 12:40 per game.  With the Sharks looking to shake things up roster-wise this summer, they elected to non-tender Kovalenko last month, making him an unrestricted free agent.

While Kovalenko was believed to prefer to stay in the NHL, evidently the offers weren’t to his liking so he has decided to return home after just one full season across the pond.  Given his age, it’s quite possible that he’ll be able to get himself back on the radar if he immediately goes back to being a top performer at the KHL level so this might not be the last we see of him in North America.

Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto-Imagn Images.

West Notes: Sharks, Lord, Prosvetov

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The Sharks have been busy in recent days, adding Ryan Reaves and Jeff Skinner up front.  Those moves came after the back end was shaken up last week with the additions of John Klingberg, Dmitry Orlov, and Nick Leddy while other depth moves were made this summer as well.  Speaking to reporters today including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link), GM Mike Grier indicated that San Jose is probably finished with their offseason movement but that they’d definitely look into other trade scenarios that could pop up before the season starts.  With all of the moves they’ve made, more than one-third of their roster has been changed up this summer, a percentage that could go higher depending on if other prospects make a push for a roster spot in training camp.

More from out West:

  • As expected, the AHL’s Ontario Reign, affiliate of the Kings, announced today that Andrew Lord has been named as the fourth head coach in team history. He takes the place of Marco Sturm who held the post the last three seasons before being named as Boston’s head coach earlier this offseason.  Lord was the head coach with QMJHL Halifax last season after spending the previous four years as the coach and GM (for three seasons) of ECHL Greenville.
  • Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov signed a one-year, $950K contract with the Flames early in free agency. Speaking with reporters including Championat’s Nastya Vinnik, the 26-year-old acknowledged that he had an offer for more money on the table but picked Calgary instead since there was a pathway to a potential NHL spot.  Prosvetov had a 2.32 GAA and a .920 SV% in 38 games last season with CSKA Moscow in the KHL and will battle Devin Cooley to serve as the backup to Dustin Wolf next season.

Erik Karlsson Open To Being Traded To A Handful Of Teams

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With the Penguins known to be sellers this summer, there has been plenty of speculation about the future of some of their veterans.  While wingers Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell have been generating a lot of attention, one other veteran that seemingly could be in play is blueliner Erik Karlsson.

The 35-year-old has two years left on his contract with the Penguins responsible for $10MM of his $11.5MM cap charge and San Jose covering the remainder.  Notably, a $5MM signing bonus this summer has already been paid, meaning his total cash compensation remaining is $11.5MM over the final two years combined, $1.5MM of which again is covered by the Sharks.

While Karlsson has a no-move clause, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic recently reported in his latest podcast (audio link) that he is willing to be moved.  However, he adds that there are only a few teams the veteran is willing to move to; Johnston didn’t identify any of the potential landing spots Karlsson would be amenable to going to.

While Karlsson hasn’t been able to come close to the 101 points he put up just two seasons ago, he’s still an above-average offensive blueliner, notching 56 and 53 points over the last two years while logging over 23 minutes a night.  While he’s never been elite on the defensive side of things, he’s still a legitimate impact player.

To that end, Johnston notes that Pittsburgh isn’t viewing Karlsson as merely a cap dump.  If he is to be moved, GM Kyle Dubas will be expecting a positive-value return and in the current environment, he has a good chance to land that.  The UFA market for blueliners is largely dried up now while more than one-third of the league has the cap space to take on the remainder of his contract outright without salary retention.  Meanwhile, if Pittsburgh were to retain some money or take players back, several more teams could get into the mix as well.

Depending on which teams Karlsson is willing to move to, Pittsburgh actually might have more realistic options than San Jose did two summers ago when very few teams had the ability to add the bulk of his contract.  Despite the drop in production, that should have Dubas in decent shape in terms of trying to build some sort of market for his defender’s services, especially if there are suitors that value the cap hit being higher than the remaining cash outlay.

But, even in a salary cap environment that’s set to jump again considerably next summer, moving Karlsson for even close to full value will be a challenge.  That said, the Penguins didn’t pay close to full value for him two summers ago when he was coming off his third Norris Trophy win.  So, while Pittsburgh is in decent shape to get something of value for Karlsson, it’s unlikely they’ll get a key element to their rebuild in a package.  And with Karlsson holding the cards with a full veto if he doesn’t want to go to a specific team, the Penguins could yet lose some leverage in discussions.

While it might make sense to wait for an in-season move if injuries strike, the summer is generally considered an easier time to make bigger moves work on the salary cap side.  With that in mind, Karlsson is a player to keep an eye on in the coming weeks with teams still looking to add to their rosters in a market where demand greatly outweighs supply.

Minor Transactions: 7/11/25

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While the frequency of signings has certainly dried up as of late, there are still some free agents at the lower levels looking for new homes.  Some of those have inked recent contracts; we’ll run down those moves and other minor transactions here.

  • The Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate in Rockford announced that they’ve signed defenseman Andrew Perrott and forward Connor Mylymok to one-year AHL contracts. Perrott split last season between Washington’s AHL and ECHL affiliates, tallying 140 penalty minutes between the two levels.  Mylymok, meanwhile, was held off the scoresheet in eight games with AHL Calgary while posting 23 points in 40 outings with ECHL Rapid City.
  • Winger Robert Mastrosimone has signed with AHL Charlotte, an affiliate of the Hurricanes, per a team release. The 24-year-old was a second-round pick by Detroit back in 2019 but didn’t sign with them, ultimately becoming a free agent where he spent the last two seasons on a minor league deal with Toronto.  Mastrosimone played in 50 games for the Marlies in 2024-25, collecting 10 goals and four assists.
  • The Marlies announced that they’ve re-signed forwards Cedric Pare and Sam Stevens to one-year AHL deals. Pare was a capable secondary scorer last season for the Maple Leafs’ affiliate, notching 12 goals and 14 assists in 59 games.  Stevens, meanwhile, was limited to just 21 games with the Marlies in his first professional season, picking up two goals and two assists.
  • Earlier this week, Rangers prospect Artyom Gonchar has committed to play for OHL Sudbury next season, the junior team announced. The defenseman, who is the nephew of long-time NHLer Sergei Gonchar, was a third-round pick last month, going 89th overall.  Gonchar spent last season with MHL Magnitogorsk, tallying 25 points in 50 games.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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It has been a busy few weeks across the NHL.  We have a repeat Stanley Cup champion, the draft has come and gone, and many players find themselves on new teams following some big trades and plenty of free agent signings with the bulk of the heavy lifting now finished on the offseason.

With that in mind, it’s a good time to reopen the mailbag.  Our last call for questions yielded enough topics for three columns.  The first discussed Connor Hellebuyck’s playoff struggles, Florida’s playoff proficiency, and more.  Topics in the second included an assessment of the Avalanche, ideal second center options for Montreal, and some offseason predictions.  The third included some talk about the Blackhawks, a Noah Dobson prediction (that didn’t quite hold up), and what Detroit needed to do this summer to have a successful offseason.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run this weekend.

Five Key Stories: 6/30/25 – 7/6/25

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As expected, the past week was extremely busy around the NHL.  There were plenty of signings, re-signings, trades, and even a head coaching hire.  Rather than try to break down just a few important stories in a week that had plenty of them, we’ll break down the week that was in five key themes.

June 30th Activity: In the hours leading up to free agency, many of the top names found themselves off the market.  Mitch Marner agreed to terms on an eight-year, $96MM deal with Vegas, being acquired in a sign-and-trade with Toronto for Nicolas Roy.  The Panthers found a way to keep both Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand in the fold, signing Ekblad for eight years and $49MM and Marchand for six seasons and $31.5MM.  Ivan Provorov re-upped with Columbus for seven seasons and $59.5MM, making him the top-paid defenseman from the UFA-eligible players.  The Kings decided to stick with Andrei Kuzmenko, giving him a one-year, $4.3MM contract while Detroit once again signed Patrick Kane in the hours before the market opened up, giving him a one-year, $3MM contract that could jump to $7MM with bonuses.

Trades: There was plenty of activity on the trade front before 11 AM CT on July 1st as well.  Vegas dealt Nicolas Hague to Nashville for Jeremy Lauzon and Colton Sissons (with the Preds retaining half of his contract).  Detroit offloaded the final season and $4.75MM of Vladimir Tarasenko’s deal to Minnesota for future considerations.  Toronto tried to replace some of Marner’s playmaking with the acquisition of Matias Maccelli from Utah for a conditional third-round pick.  Boston opted to buy low on Viktor Arvidsson with Edmonton looking to free up cap space, getting the winger for a 2027 fifth-rounder.  Then, just before the market opened up, Montreal and St. Louis swapped youngsters with the Canadiens getting Zachary Bolduc in exchange for Logan Mailloux.

Extensions: While many contracts for next season were handed out in recent days, some big ones were also signed but won’t start until 2026-27.  Vancouver was particularly active, giving deals to two players.  Thatcher Demko signed a three-year, $25.5MM extension while Conor Garland officially inked his previously-reported six-year, $36MM agreement.  Carolina locked up Logan Stankoven to an eight-year, $48MM deal, ensuring they’ll have at least one long-term piece from the Mikko Rantanen series of trades.  Washington got another important part of their back end signed long-term, signing Martin Fehervary to a seven-year, $42MM deal.  Lastly, early extensions are rarely for bridge contracts but San Jose did just that with William Eklund, handing him a three-year, $16.8MM extension; he’ll still be RFA-eligible at its conclusion.

RFA Re-Signings: While this is the time of year when unrestricted free agents generally dominate the headlines, some of the biggest contracts handed out went to players who didn’t hit the open market or get to the point of having discussions about a potential offer sheet.  After moving Noah Dobson who received a rich deal from Montreal, the Islanders handed out a pricey pact of their own to Alexander Romanov who received an eight-year, $50MM contract.  Edmonton wasn’t able to get a long-term deal done with Evan Bouchard but the four-year, $42MM agreement bought them two extra seasons of club control.  Meanwhile, Toronto inked its top youngster Matthew Knies to a six-year, $46.5MM contract, ensuring that most of its top six group (beyond Marner) will be in place for several more years now.

UFA Period Activity: While some of the bigger moves were already made before free agency got underway, there have still been some notable contracts.  The Canucks ultimately wound up keeping Brock Boeser who received a seven-year, $50.75MM contract.  Vladislav Gavrikov’s linking to the Rangers proved to be true as he got a seven-year, $49MM pact; New York, in turn, dealt K’Andre Miller in a sign-and-trade (eight years, $56MM) to Carolina for Scott Morrow plus first and second-round picks.  Anaheim added a veteran center, inking Mikael Granlund to a three-year, $21MM pact after moving Trevor Zegras to Philadelphia last month.  The Sharks opted to shore up their back end, handing Dmitry Orlov a two-year, $13MM contract while also claiming Nick Leddy off waivers from St. Louis.  Meanwhile, the other top winger on the market (Nikolaj Ehlers) waited a couple of days to determine his future before signing a six-year, $51MM contract with Carolina, giving the Hurricanes a needed boost up front.

West Notes: Zellweger, Mintyukov, Suchanek, Canucks, Ritchie

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The Ducks received trade interest in young defensemen Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link).  The 21-year-olds are believed to be a big part of Anaheim’s future but were in and out of the lineup at times, something that Friedman notes resulted in both players going to management about their playing time.  Zellweger had 20 points in 62 games last season while Mintyukov had 19 in 68, a drop of nine points from his rookie-season performance.  Despite the trade interest, Friedman relays that Anaheim doesn’t have any interest in moving either youngster.

More from out West:

  • Still with the Ducks, prospect goaltender Tomas Suchanek has fully recovered from the torn ACL sustained last summer just after development camp, relays Derek Lee of The Hockey News. The 22-year-old impressed in his first professional season back in 2023-24 where he put up a 2.92 GAA and a .910 SV% in 29 games with AHL San Diego, earning him an entry-level contract along the way.  As things stand, Suchanek seems likely either to be the backup with the Gulls behind Ville Husso or starting at ECHL Tulsa to give him a shot at more playing time.
  • The Canucks showed strong interest in center Christian Dvorak earlier this week, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports (Twitter link). Dvorak ultimately signed a one-year, $5.4MM contract with Philadelphia while Vancouver is believed to have put a three-year pact on the table worth around $4MM per season.  The 29-year-old had 33 points in 82 games with Montreal last season while winning nearly 56% of his faceoffs.
  • Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie announced on his Instagram page that he has committed to play for Boston University for the upcoming season. The 18-year-old was a second-round pick by Minnesota last year, going 45th overall.  Ritchie spent last season with WHL Medicine Hat, collecting 61 points in 53 regular season games and averaging a point per game in 18 playoff outings.  He then capped off the campaign with four goals and an assist in four Memorial Cup appearances.

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.

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