Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at San Jose.
While the Sharks extended their franchise-worst playoff drought to seven consecutive years, it’s fair to say that this season was a step in the right direction for their rebuild. The team saw their point total jump by 34, allowing them to hang around the playoff picture longer than a lot of people would have expected coming into the year. Even with that big jump, they still have a lot to try to accomplish this offseason.
Rebuild The Back End
Last summer, GM Mike Grier put his back end through a bit of an overhaul as he tried to raise the floor of his group. That resulted in the signings of Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg, while Nick Leddy was brought in via a rare summer waiver claim. There was some hit-and-miss within that group but on the whole, the back end was better so Grier gets a passing grade on that front.
Now, he needs to do it all over again, perhaps to an even bigger extent this summer. Among regulars on their roster this season, the only ones under contract are Orlov and Sam Dickenson. Meanwhile, Shakir Mukhamadullin is a pending restricted free agent. Everyone else – Klingberg, Leddy, Mario Ferraro, and Vincent Desharnais – will hit the open market this summer, potentially leaving four roster spots to try to fill.
Ferraro is the one that they’d undoubtedly like to keep and he has made it clear that he’d like to stay. But as one of the better players set to be available, he’ll have the leverage to command a long-term deal, something that the Sharks don’t appear inclined to offer just yet. Short-term reunions with Klingberg and Desharnais could be explored while Leddy almost certainly won’t be back.
It’s safe to say that Grier will need to make a move or two on the free agent market but given the thinned-out group, he’ll also need to do something on the trade front. With a deep cupboard of draft picks and prospects, they’ll be in a good position to add there. But after a summer of turnover last year, it could be an even bigger one with potentially four newcomers (perhaps including prospect Eric Pohlkamp) joining San Jose’s blueline.
Core Extension Talks
The Sharks were led offensively this season by a pair of sophomore players, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. Both players will be extension-eligible on July 1st, leaving a 10-week window to try to work out an eight-year deal before that option gets eliminated with the new CBA beginning in mid-September. It’s fair to say that both players are part of the long-term core group so getting them locked up should be high on the priority list.
Celebrini is coming off an absolutely dynamic season. He took his offensive game to an elite level, potting 45 goals and 70 assists to finish fourth in the league in scoring, a performance that likely will have him finishing within the top five in Hart Trophy balloting (although he’s not among the three finalists). It’s very rare for a second-year player to have that type of impact and he has already become the elite piece they hoped they were getting when they made him the first-overall pick in 2024. And while this won’t factor directly into his contract talks, he played quite well for Canada at the Olympics and is currently impressing at the Worlds as well.
The priciest post-entry-level contract in terms of AAV is Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who signed an eight-year pact worth $12.5MM per season. Given Celebrini’s performance this year and the considerable upward movement in the salary cap, there’s a good chance there will soon be a new record on that front. In terms of cap percentage, McDavid’s deal was 15.72% of the Upper Limit when it was signed, an amount that would equate to around $17.8MM in 2027-28 based on current cap projections. It’s fair to say Celebrini won’t command something in that territory but something in the $14MM range or even $15MM on an eight-year deal certainly feels palatable. And if that’s not a number San Jose is willing to go to just yet, they can wait out the year but would only be able to do a seven-year pact next summer.
Smith, meanwhile, had a solid second NHL season himself, recording 24 goals and 35 assists in 69 games to finish second on the team in scoring. While he was drafted as a center, he hasn’t played there much so far in the NHL but that could change down the road depending on how Michael Misa, another high draft pick, performs in that role. Whether it’s at center or the wing, the Sharks are hoping he’s a top-line fixture and Smith’s camp will be expecting an extension offer in that territory. Again, given the big bumps coming to the salary cap, there could be some sticker shock on the price, which plausibly could approach the $10MM mark on an eight-year agreement.
Given that there is some variance potential in where both sides think Smith will land, it’s entirely possible that an extension isn’t worked out this summer. In that case, they can simply let next season play out and use that performance to help shape contract talks. While it’s possible that they could look to do a bridge contract as they did with William Eklund last summer, that’s probably not the most advisable approach at this time; there’s no need to commit that soon to a short-term second pact.
Add PK Help
With a patchwork (albeit improved) back end and a goalie tandem that was a little shaky (Yaroslav Askarov’s rookie year was hot and cold and Alex Nedeljkovic is an okay backup), it’s unsurprising that the Sharks were once again a team that got scored on a lot. While they shaved 20 goals off last year’s number, they still allowed 290, more than 3.5 per game. Some of that can be attributed to what was just noted but the penalty kill also has to wear some of the blame.
San Jose allowed 58 power play goals this season, sixth-most in the NHL. Their success rate was 76.4%, 26th in the league. These are numbers that can definitely stand to be improved upon. And if they have genuine playoff aspirations next season, then these numbers have to be improved upon.
One way to do that is to get some help up front. San Jose’s four most-used forwards shorthanded in terms of ATOI per game were Ty Dellandrea, Collin Graf, Alexander Wennberg, and Barclay Goodrow. Dellandrea and Wennberg were second-wave players in 2024-25, Graf was a rookie, and Goodrow is widely expected to be a buyout waiting to happen. With due respect to these players, they can certainly be improved upon.
With a young team, it should come as little surprise that the Sharks struggle at the faceoff dot. Getting a checker who can win draws is a good place to start. A veteran who can fill a fourth-line checking specialist role would also help. This isn’t going to turn things around by any stretch but adding a few percent to the success rate is probably worth a few points in the standings as well. Those adds would also allow the young core a bit more time to develop before potentially being thrust into that role down the road as well.
It’s also worth noting here that San Jose’s four most-used blueliners shorthanded in terms of ATOI were Ferraro, Desharnais, Timothy Liljegren, and Vincent Iorio. In other words, two pending UFAs, someone who was traded at the deadline, and someone lost to a waiver claim. As Grier looks to reshape his back end, finding some reliable penalty killers will be a particular point of emphasis.
Add A Core Piece
Over the course of the rebuild, the Sharks have brought in several core pieces, headlined up front by Celebrini, Smith, Misa, and Eklund, with Dickinson representing the future on the back end. Their good fortune in the Draft Lottery will ensure they get another one as they now hold the second selection in next month’s draft. They should get a core piece from that pick.
In a nutshell, that alone would check the box in this section. They will get a future core player in the draft to add to their stockpile. But if they’re aiming on getting to the playoffs next season, Grier needs to be aiming for a current core addition as well.
In a perfect world, that player would be in the same age group as the current core. Having said that, the only way to get that is to probably trade the number two pick. For the right young player, that shouldn’t be off the table but it’s probably not Plan A either.
But this is a young enough group that they could stand to add a top-six forward up front as they did with Tyler Toffoli two summers ago. And, obviously, a core defender or two would go a long way. They were in on Dougie Hamilton last offseason but it’s believed he invoked his trade protection to stay in New Jersey. It’s possible they could try to circle back on that front but they might be better off looking elsewhere.
San Jose has more than ample cap space this summer, more than $41MM, per PuckPedia. They have plenty of trade chips. So, even with a thinned-out UFA market, Grier should be able to add at least one core player to help his current group while getting a long-term core addition via the draft. They’re already set up nicely for the future and should add to that upside this summer.
Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto-Imagn Images.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard To Join Norway At Worlds
Midway through the World Championship, Norway will get a significant boost to its roster. NHL.com’s Patrick Williams reports (Twitter link) that winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will fly to Switzerland to join the team for the rest of the tournament.
The 20-year-old got his first taste of NHL action this season, getting into 14 games for the Red Wings where he picked up his first point, an assist, while averaging 12:31 of ice time. Brandsegg-Nygard was much more productive in the minors, however, as he potted 20 goals and 24 assists in 60 games with AHL Grand Rapids in his first full season in North America.
Brandsegg-Nygard wasn’t expected to be available to suit up in this tournament with the Griffins being the top team in the Western Conference this season and the top seed left in the AHL playoffs after Providence was ousted early. However, Grand Rapids saw their playoff run come to an end last night, opening up the opportunity for the youngster to represent his country after putting up eight points in eight postseason contests.
Brandsegg-Nygard, the 15th overall pick back in 2024, becomes just the fifth NHL-affiliated player on the Norwegian roster. He’s the lone one of the five with NHL experience under his belt and is just one of two first-rounders, the other being Anaheim’s Stian Solberg (selected eight spots after Brandsegg-Nygard that year). Norway sits fifth in their pool standings at the moment and needs to get to fourth to qualify for the quarterfinals so they’ll be counting on Brandsegg-Nygard to come in and immediately be a key contributor.
Victor Soderstrom Signs With EHC Biel-Bienne
May 21st: According to a team announcement, Soderstrom has officially signed a two-year deal with the NL’s EHC Biel-Bienne. It is expected that the deal will include an NHL opt-out clause. However, it is unlikely that Soderstrom will return to North America, as this marks the second time in three years that he has sought a different opportunity overseas.
April 18th: When the Bruins acquired and signed Victor Soderstrom, the defenseman was hoping that he would get that elusive extended NHL opportunity. However, that hasn’t been the case as he has once again spent most of the season in the minors. As a result, he’s eyeing a return overseas as Expressen’s Johan Svensson and Mattias Persson report that the blueliner is expected to sign with EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland for next season.
The 25-year-old was a first-round pick by Arizona back in 2019 but after seeing limited opportunities with the Coyotes, he opted to head overseas at the end of his entry-level contract, returning to SHL Brynas. Arizona retained his NHL rights and ultimately flipped them to Chicago at the 2025 trade deadline with Boston acquiring those rights three months later and signing him to a two-way deal.
But Soderstrom went through waivers unclaimed in training camp and outside an eight-game stint in Boston in December (where he had an assist and averaged 13:41 per game), he has played exclusively with AHL Providence. Soderstrom has done well in the minors, tallying nine goals and 21 assists in 57 games and should be set for a long playoff run with Providence guaranteed to finish the season with the AHL’s top record, earning them the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy.
Soderstrom is set to become a Group Six unrestricted free agent this summer and could have entertained offers to see if a better opportunity was out there. But with how this year has gone, he’d likely be viewed as a recallable depth player elsewhere as well so instead of repeating this season, it appears he’ll try his hand in the Swiss league next season.
Five Key Stories: 5/11/26 – 5/17/26
With just five teams still alive in the playoffs, most of the NHL is in offseason mode. There was plenty of news away from the ice, including a unanimous Calder Trophy winner plus a pair of coach firings, which are featured in our key stories.
Canucks Set Front Office: With now-former GM Patrik Allvin gone and Jim Rutherford set to move into an advisory role for next season, the Canucks have now set their new-look front office. Well, new in the sense that they’ve promoted people into roles they haven’t had before. Ryan Johnson, who briefly played for Vancouver late in his career, has been promoted from his Assistant GM role to GM to replace Allvin. It will be his first opportunity running an NHL franchise. Meanwhile, with Rutherford’s role change opening the Team President role, the organization decided to split the role, naming long-time Canucks mainstays Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin as Co-Presidents. Their promotion is a little less gradual as they were only working as development coaches but will now turn their focus to the business side of operations.
Six For McAvoy: The Bruins will be without their top defenseman for the first couple of weeks of next season. This isn’t due to injury, but rather a suspension as he received a six-game ban for a slash on Buffalo’s Zach Benson late in the first round. The ruling indicated that McAvoy used his stick as a weapon, even winding up for the strike, which undoubtedly played a big role in the ruling. As the suspension is for longer than five games, McAvoy has the right to appeal the penalty if he so chooses. Barring that happening, he’s set to forfeit a little over $300K in salary as a result of this suspension.
Six For Coyle: The number six was notable for Blue Jackets center Charlie Coyle, albeit for a much happier reason. One of the few centers of note who was set to test the open market, that will no longer be the case as he signed a six-year deal to stay with Columbus, one that will carry a $6MM AAV. The 34-year-old bounced back quite nicely this season with 58 points, the second-highest total of his 14-year NHL career. While there is certainly some risk in giving someone his age a six-year contract, the dearth of impact middlemen available on the open market gave Coyle’s camp plenty of leverage. Had the Blue Jackets not offered a deal like this, someone else likely would have in July.
Expensive Silence: The Golden Knights won their second-round series against Anaheim in six games earlier this week but didn’t open up the dressing room to the media while John Tortorella didn’t speak either. After apparently warning them several times for their failure to adhere to playoff media regulations, the league issued a steep punishment. Tortorella has been hit with a $100K fine while the team has been stripped of its highest draft pick in next month’s draft, their second-rounder. The Golden Knights have the right to appeal and will undoubtedly do so in an effort to at least reduce the forfeited selection. But this sent a strong message across the league that the NHL expects its postseason media obligations to be met at all times with strong penalties for frequent non-compliers.
More Head Coach Openings: A pair of teams have decided to part ways with their head coaches. First, new Toronto GM John Chayka didn’t waste much time making a change, firing Craig Berube after just two seasons with the team. Toronto made the second round last year but struggled mightily this season, missing the playoffs altogether. Overall, he departs with an 84-62-18 record in the regular season. Meanwhile, Edmonton has relieved Kris Knoblauch of his duties, just weeks before his three-year extension was set to begin (he’ll still be paid the money owing on that deal). Knoblauch took over early in the 2024-25 season and ultimately led the Oilers to two straight Stanley Cup Finals, coming up short against Florida each time. This year, they were ousted by Anaheim in the first round. He leaves with a 135-77-21 regular season record (plus a 31-22 mark in the playoffs) and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get another opportunity to run a bench down the road.
Snapshots: Gauthier, Lee, Genborg
Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier sustained two fractured vertebrae late in the regular season and played through it in the playoffs, reports Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune (Twitter link). The 22-year-old had a great sophomore year, tallying 41 goals and 28 assists in 76 games to lead Anaheim in scoring. Even while playing through the injury in the postseason, Gauthier led the Ducks in scoring there as well, picking up four goals and eight helpers in 12 appearances, a strong end to his year before he reaches restricted free agency this summer.
On that front, Eric Stephens of The Athletic notes that talks on a new contract have yet to start. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has quickly earned a reputation for being a tough negotiator, with several prominent contracts dragging out into training camp in recent years, including this season with Mason McTavish. He also has Leo Carlsson as a prominent pending RFA. Gauthier is someone who Anaheim would likely want to sign to a long-term deal, with AFP Analytics suggesting that a seven-year pact could check in at around $8.5MM per season. We’ll see if this will be something that gets worked out quicker than their recent summer talks.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Predators prospect Ryker Lee won’t suit up for Team USA at the Worlds after all, relays FloHockey’s Chris Peters (Twitter link). Named to the original squad, he only played in pre-tournament action and was never formally added to the roster. That leaves an open spot for them to fill over the coming days, speculatively being someone who just has been or will soon be eliminated from the playoffs. Lee, the 26th overall pick last June, had 15 goals and 15 assists in 35 games in his freshman year at Michigan State.
- Red Wings prospect Eddie Genborg has been released from his ATO with AHL Grand Rapids, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 19-year-old spent this season with SHL Timra, picking up 25 points in 43 games and then joined the Griffins in March after signing his entry-level deal. A 2025 second-round pick, Genborg played in 13 games during the regular season for them, picking up a goal and two assists while suiting up a couple of weeks ago for one playoff contest. However, he sustained an injury and hadn’t played since. Now, his season has come to an end and he will likely return to Grand Rapids for the 2026-27 campaign.
Offseason Checklist: St. Louis Blues
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at St. Louis.
After a year that nearly saw St. Louis eliminate the Presidents’ Trophy winners in the opening round, the hope was that the Blues would be able to build off that. Instead, they took steps back across the board, resulting in some veterans being moved at the trade deadline and others being dangled in trade talks. Incoming GM Alex Steen will have a busy offseason ahead of him as a result. Here are some items on his summer checklist.
Choose A Direction
Considering that the Blues moved Justin Faulk and Brayden Schenn at the trade deadline while having a deal in place for Colton Parayko get nixed by the blueliner’s no-trade clause, this might seem a little obvious already. But St. Louis finished the season strong, winning 10 of their last 14 games to find themselves surprisingly in the playoff race until close to the end of the season. And with Steen taking over from Doug Armstrong, does he have a different opinion on the direction that needs to be taken? Aside from simply maintaining the status quo, he has three different routes to choose from.
The least likely is reversing course but with how they finished the year, it can’t be ruled out entirely. St. Louis picked up first-round picks for both Schenn and Faulk, giving them three in next month’s draft. One or more of those could plausibly be trade chips if they want to add. They also have nearly $16MM in cap room for next season, per PuckPedia, with only a few roster spots to fill. It’s rather unlikely and given the current state of the division, probably unwise, but they have the ability to flip the switch if they want to.
More likely, the decision will be to rebuild or retool. A few months ago, it looked like the former was the plan. By putting the bulk of their veterans in play (including Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou), they seemed to be signaling a willingness to do a longer-scale rebuild, one that would likely see them out of playoff contention for several more years. If that’s the case, basically anyone 26 and up (or thereabouts) would likely be in play at the right price. And with a lot of teams looking to buy, Steen could generate some strong returns for their services. They should have a good idea of each player’s trade value going back to talks from before the deadline.
Meanwhile, the retool option would likely see them pull players like Thomas and Kyrou off the block and look to move some of the older players like Parayko (who could still be moved to a team he’s willing to go to) or goaltender Jordan Binnington. That would still allow them to add to their prospect pool while allowing them to build around their current offense instead of overhauling it. This is the safer route and with a first-time GM, this might the path that the Blues are likeliest to take. With that in mind, the focus of this piece won’t be on possible win-now additions or roster upgrades.
Work On Neighbours Extension
The Blues already took care of one significant transaction this offseason when they re-signed pending RFA Dylan Holloway to a new five-year deal. With an RFA list that isn’t particularly large this summer, they can turn their focus toward trying to get an extension done with one of their other young core forwards.
That would be winger Jake Neighbours. The 2020 first-round pick quickly established himself as a top-six winger and surpassed the 20-goal mark in his first two full NHL seasons. There’s a good chance he’d have gotten there this year had he not missed 13 games due to injury. Between his steady secondary production is his physicality. Neighbours has posted between 138 and 172 hits over the last three seasons, making him a rare top-six power forward. Those players aren’t particularly easy to come by and it’s safe to say that he’s a building block that they’ll want to build around.
He’ll be owed a qualifying offer of $4MM next summer with salary arbitration rights. To get him to sign early, it’s fair to say that it would cost considerably more than that to get him signed a year early, especially with the big increases set to come to the Upper Limit of the salary cap. We can use the deal they just handed out to try to benchmark what an extension might look like.
Holloway signed for $7.75MM three years away from UFA eligibility. Neighbours’ next deal will only be two years away. Holloway has the better track record offensively so it’s fair to say that his new price tag should be the upper limit in a negotiation. Considering that there is typically a premium for power forwards though, the gap between Holloway’s new price tag and a potential Neighbours extension might not be as large as it might seem. Speculatively, a long-term deal (around six years) would carry a price tag of between $6.5MM and $6.75MM, even with the fact he’s coming off a lower year offensively. If they’re not willing to go that high, the winger is probably better off waiting. And if they are, locking up another piece of the long-term puzzle early would be a wise move.
Set The Starter
One of the storylines from the start of last season was if Joel Hofer would take over the starting role from Binnington. The two wound up with very similar start totals with Hofer having 43 and Binnington 39. But after the Olympic break, it was Hofer who received the bulk of the workload as St. Louis looked to make the improbable late-season push to a playoff spot.
Both goaltenders have one year left on their contracts. Technically, they could keep this tandem intact for one more season but that wouldn’t be the prudent approach. If the plan is for Hofer to be the starter moving forward, then the time is right to move Binnington.
In-season goalie moves aren’t too frequent so this offseason will probably be their best time to try to move him for value. And while the 32-year-old isn’t coming off a good season, there will be teams who look at his track record and think that with a change of scenery, they can get him back to form. Chances are that they’d have to take a goalie back as part of the swap but if not, a second netminder can be signed in free agency.
Then, the time might be right to look at trying to extend Hofer. There are some reasonable comparables in Karel Vejmelka and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen ($4.75MM each) and Joey Daccord ($5MM) to build the foundation of a contract off of. In a higher cap environment, Daccord’s equivalent cap percentage would be $5.45MM next season and $5.98MM in 2027-28 when the contract would begin. Basically, Hofer is probably heading for Binnington money if he signs an early extension this summer.
The Blues could wait and see how next season goes. But if they do and Hofer thrives as a full-time starter, the price tag will only go up from there. They don’t have to try to sign him now but at a minimum, given the direction they’re heading, it’s time to set Hofer as the starter and give Binnington a chance elsewhere, netting some value in return in the process.
Round Out The Coaching Staff
Shortly after the season ended, the Blues made a pair of changes behind the bench but didn’t change head coach Jim Montgomery. Instead, they parted with a pair of assistants, veteran Claude Julien and first-time NHL assistant Mike Weber. Armstrong noted at the time that the intent was to build a staff that best suits the team moving forward, making choosing a direction that much more important.
One decision that will need to be made is the fate of Steve Ott. He started the season as the associate coach in St. Louis but midseason, he became the interim head coach with AHL Springfield, whose playoffs are still going after they pulled off a big upset over Providence. Does he return to the bench for the Blues or do they keep him in the minors and allow him to continue to apprentice as a head coach? If they opt for the latter, they effectively have a third vacancy to try to fill.
If the Blues opt for more of a longer-scale rebuild, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team turn toward younger assistants with an eye on someone with a background in player development. But if it’s more of a retool, adding a veteran assistant behind the bench could be the path they choose with the hopes that the coach would still be there when the team is looking to get back into the playoff picture.
It’s a small item in the grand scheme of things but Steen will have a chance to make an early impact behind the bench with potentially resetting 75% of the coaching staff. Those hires could ultimately help signal just how long they think their roster revamping will take.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro-Imagn Images.
Hurricanes To Wait Until After Playoffs To Talk New Deal For Frederik Andersen
The Hurricanes find themselves on a long break between rounds. As a result of starting the second round early, sweeping Philadelphia, and seeing Montreal and Buffalo go to seven games, they now find themselves with the longest break between series in modern NHL history, according to The Athletic’s James Mirtle (Twitter link).
But while that leaves ample time for the team to work on some looming contracts for pending unrestricted free agent goaltender Frederik Andersen, that isn’t going to be the case. Speaking with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, GM Eric Tulsky indicated that their plan is to wait until after the playoffs before beginning those discussions. By contrast, Carolina re-upped Mark Jankowski, who was a pending UFA himself, to a new two-year deal earlier this week.
It has been an up-and-down year for the 36-year-old. Thanks to a long-term injury to Pyotr Kochetkov, Andersen made 35 starts during the regular season, his highest total since 2021-22, the year he finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting. But his overall numbers weren’t particularly impressive as he posted a 3.05 GAA with a .874 SV% on a team that finished first in the Eastern Conference. Kochetkov (in limited action) and Brandon Bussi both put up considerably better numbers than he did.
But with Bussi faltering a bit down the stretch and Kochetkov only getting into some brief AHL action on a conditioning stint before the regular season ended, Andersen got the nod to start the playoffs. It’s fair to say that decision has worked out tremendously for both Andersen and the Hurricanes. He has won all eight of Carolina’s postseason games thus far, allowing just 10 goals on 201 shots in the process.
If he can even come close to continuing that type of play in the next round (or two, should they advance to the Stanley Cup Final), that would certainly be a huge boost to his stock heading to free agency. But on the flip side, if the long layoff results in him reverting to his regular-season form, it could be one of the other two netminders getting a shot at some point in their next series.
Accordingly, it makes sense for Tulsky and the Hurricanes to wait to see how the rest of the postseason goes before starting talks on a new contract. After all, Bussi begins a new three-year contract next season while Kochetkov is signed through 2026-27 as well. Technically, they have their goalie tandem in place already, at a combined cost of just $3.9MM.
But Carolina has been one of the few teams that has been unafraid to carry three netminders on a regular basis which could create an opening for Andersen to return, albeit at a price tag likely below his current $2.75MM plus bonuses ($250K of which has been met with another $250K likely). Tulsky indicated that they “would love to have him back.” We’ll have to wait a little while yet to see if that will ultimately happen.
Danila Klimovich Expected To Sign In KHL
Canucks prospect winger Danila Klimovich is set to have his entry-level contract end next month. However, instead of re-signing with Vancouver, it appears he has other plans. Sport-Express’ Mikhail Zislis reports that Klimovich is set to sign a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow of the KHL.
The 23-year-old was a second-round pick by Vancouver back in 2021, going 41st overall. He was selected out of the Belarusian Vysshaya (their second-tier league) but somewhat surprisingly made the jump to North America right away, signing his entry-level deal a month after being selected.
While that allowed the Canucks to get immediate control of Klimovich’s development, it was a case of exposing him to quite a jump in difficulty right away. He responded relatively well as an 18-year-old with AHL Abbotsford in 2021-22, picking up 18 points in 62 games. He followed that up with a 27-point effort the following year before injuries derailed his 2023-24 campaign, limiting him to just 24 games.
Klimovich found a way to be a bit more productive over the last two years, however. In 2024-25, he notched 25 goals and 13 assists in 65 games but wasn’t able to secure a recall to the big club. This season, he had 18 goals and 16 helpers in 67 outings but again, a promotion to Vancouver never came, despite their struggles down the stretch.
While the Canucks probably would prefer Klimovich to remain in North America and keep working on his game in Abbotsford, it’s certainly understandable that the forward would prefer a different opportunity after five seasons at the AHL level. Assuming a deal is ultimately finalized, Vancouver will be able to retain Klimovich’s NHL rights by tendering him a qualifying offer next month, one that will ultimately be declined.
East Notes: Bruins, Korpisalo, Power, Charron
Jonathan Aspirot was certainly a feel-good story for the Bruins this season, going from a journeyman minor leaguer to a fixture on the top defense pairing alongside Charlie McAvoy. However, Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe argues that Boston’s top priority this summer should be upgrading McAvoy’s partner on the left side. Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and Mason Lohrei have all been attempted with varying degrees of success to the point where Aspirot was given a chance and made the most of it. But with the Bruins looking to build on their return to the playoffs, adding a player who could help McAvoy find another gear would certainly help their fortunes considerably.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Still with the Bruins, com’s Conor Ryan examined some potential cap casualties should the team decide to make some bigger swings that they can’t fit into their roughly $16MM of cap room this summer. Chief among those is goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, who has two years left on his deal with Boston responsible for $3MM of his cap hit. With Michael DiPietro winning AHL MVP this season, he could plausibly become Jeremy Swayman’s backup next season, allowing them to move Korpisalo to open up a bit of cap space. With several teams likely looking to shake things up between the pipes, there could be a market for his services.
- Facing elimination tonight, the Sabres should have one of their top blueliners available. Owen Power was banged up late on Thursday but head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters today including Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the defenseman should be good to go. In his first taste of playoff action at the NHL level, the 23-year-old has five assists through 11 games and is averaging 20:44 per game of ice time, down just a tad from his season ATOI of 21:39. Ruff wouldn’t comment on any potential lineup changes for Buffalo for tonight’s game.
- Earlier this week, Penguins prospect Jordan Charron announced that he was committing to UMass-Amherst. However, it appears he won’t be making the jump to the college ranks right away. His former GOJHL team, the Ayr Centennials, noted (Twitter link) that the commitment is for 2027-28, meaning that he’ll stay with OHL Soo for one more year. The winger was a fifth-round pick last year and moved to the OHL level this season. He had a solid first year with the Greyhounds, notching 25 goals and 22 assists in 66 games and finished up on a tryout in the minors with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. However, since he didn’t play a game on that agreement, he retains his NCAA eligibility.
Offseason Checklist: Florida Panthers
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Florida.
Coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup victories (and three straight Final appearances), expectations were high for the Panthers this season. Instead, an older roster with a lot of extra games over the past three years caught up with them and they wound up with an injury-riddled year where next to nothing went right. That resulted in them missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019. GM Bill Zito will have some work to do this summer to get his team back into the thick of things.
Another Bridge For Samoskevich
Last offseason, the top item on this list for Florida was a bridge deal for Mackie Samoskevich. With the winger not eligible for an offer sheet and the Panthers needing cap flexibility, it was a certainty that Samoskevich would be receiving a low-cost, short-term contract. Still, one year at the league minimum salary of $775K came as somewhat of a surprise.
Samoskevich opting to do so gave Florida extra cap room and in return, he gets to be in a much more favorable situation this summer. On top of taking one for the team on the contract front, Samoskevich is now eligible for both an offer sheet and salary arbitration. While the former seems rather unlikely to happen, the latter is particularly notable as it will set him up for a nice raise moving forward.
After putting up 31 points in 72 regular season games last season, the 23-year-old produced at a similar clip this year, recording 32 in 77 contests. That’s still not a particularly long track record but it’s enough for AFP Analytics to project a two-year contract worth over $3.1MM per season, effectively quadrupling his current agreement. He still has four seasons of team control remaining, so another bridge deal isn’t as risky.
Florida’s cap situation is better off this summer than the year before, which we’ll look at a bit closer shortly. That affords them the flexibility to work out a long-term contract but given that he hasn’t established himself as a full-time top-six player yet, doing so probably isn’t justifiable for either side. Accordingly, this year’s checklist starts the same as last year’s with the youngster needing a bridge deal.
Sign A Goalie Tandem
When the Panthers decided to move Spencer Knight as part of the Seth Jones trade last season, they moved out their future between the pipes as part of the process. With Jones playing an important role in their 2025 Cup title, they’re probably not too upset about it. But now, that decision is really going to be felt.
Sergei Bobrovsky has been entrenched between the pipes for Florida for the past seven years after signing the richest deal given to an unrestricted free agent goalie in NHL history. (Pricier deals were given as contract extensions, not open-market agreements.) But now, Bobrovsky is set to return to the open market while heading into his age-38 season in 2026-27 on the heels of his worst season of the seven.
Given his age, it would seem at first glance that a short-term deal would make sense. However, with Brad Marchand landing a six-year contract in the same situation last summer, there have been suggestions that Bobrovsky could be looking for something like that or close. On a short-term agreement, a price tag closer to half of his most recent cap hit makes sense and might even be high given the year he just had. But a four or five-year pact would almost certainly lower the AAV as it would be expected that he’d be transitioning to a backup or platoon role in the later seasons. That could push the price tag to a number starting with a four. That would give them some extra flexibility this summer but even a medium-term agreement for Bobrovsky wouldn’t be without its risks.
Meanwhile, it’s not as if Florida is in a position where their backup is ready to take on the starting workload. Daniil Tarasov didn’t have a great year himself and is only a year removed from being demoted to third-string status in Columbus. On top of that, he’s also a pending unrestricted free agent so there’s no guarantee he’ll be back either.
The UFA market is not particularly deep for teams looking for a starter. There aren’t likely to be too many starters available on the trade market, either, with question marks surrounding those who may be in play. Zito is going to have to find a way to navigate that to find a starter for next season, be it Bobrovsky or someone else, while adding a backup to the mix as well. They have around $15MM in cap room next season per PuckPedia and may need half of that or more to fill out their tandem.
Upgrade Defensive Depth
It’s reasonable to think that Florida’s offense, one that was near the middle of the pack this season, will bounce next year with a much healthier group. So while there might be a temptation to try to pursue an upgrade up front and really deepen the lineup, there’s a more compelling case to try to shore up their defensive depth.
By the time they sign two goalies and re-sign Samoskevich, they’re probably going to have around $5MM or so to play with. That’s not enough to sign a top-four defender but that’s okay as Florida’s top four is set. It’s the bottom end that could be upgraded on and fortunately for the Panthers, the UFA market has decent depth among depth defenders.
As things stand, Florida’s fifth through seventh options are Dmitry Kulikov, Uvis Balinskis, and Donovan Sebrango. Kulikov had an injury-riddled year that saw him miss 63 games due to injuries and he’ll turn 36 in late October. It’s likely they’ll want to manage his minutes on the last two years of his deal. Balinskis is a capable sixth option but could certainly be upgraded on, while Sebrango, a pending RFA, is a non-tender candidate thanks to his arbitration eligibility. He’s a capable depth piece but not someone who can’t be replaced.
Plausibly, one or even two additions would be beneficial. They could take a swing on a bonus-laden deal for Brent Burns, similar to the deal he’s currently on with Colorado if they want a possible top-four fit. Ian Cole, Connor Murphy, and Jamie Oleksiak are the gritty stay-at-home players to anchor a third pairing and penalty kill. If they want to add another right-shot player to the mix, a reunion with Radko Gudas could make sense while Timothy Liljegren or Andrew Peeke would be younger options compared to the others on this list who could still upgrade the third pairing. There are quite a few available this summer.
This would be a prudent, though quiet, way to improve this summer. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this be the route that Zito takes, unless he has something more drastic in mind, something like this:
Dangle Number Nine
No, this isn’t a section about dangling center Sam Bennett in trade talks, even though he’s coming off a career year and the Panthers could leverage a strong return for his services in a weak center market. They’d also still be well-set with Aleksander Barkov returning and Anton Lundell anchoring the second line.
Instead, this is about their draft pick, which is slotted ninth overall. While Florida could obviously benefit in the long run from adding an impactful prospect to the mix, one whose early cost control could really pay dividends in a few years when he’s ready to make the jump to the NHL. But the Panthers aren’t the typical team with a top-ten pick. They’re a perceived contender coming off a season where basically anything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Despite the poor finish this season, the expectation is that Florida will be back in the playoffs next season. The composition of their roster remains in win-now mode. With that in mind, the ninth pick next month may very well be their best trade chip to utilize to get a win-now piece to try to quickly vault them back to contention. And if there isn’t a viable trade over the next six weeks, they can always make the pick and use the player as a potential trade chip later in the season.
Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke-Imagn Images.