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Atlantic Notes: Hakanpaa, Sandin Pellikka, Beecher

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While committing to signing defenseman Jani Hakanpaa on the opening day of free agency, the Maple Leafs have yet to formally register a contract; GM Brad Treliving indicated earlier this week that they’re still working through things.  Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reported on his podcast (video link) that the blueliner believes that he can play with his current condition on his knee but that the viewpoint isn’t exactly unanimous when it comes to medical opinions.  The 32-year-old played in 64 regular season games with Dallas last season before undergoing knee surgery that kept him out for the rest of the year and playoffs.  With the uncertainty about his health becoming more widely known, this may be a situation where the two sides ultimately settle on a one-year deal after agreeing to terms on a two-year pact originally.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Despite recent speculation to the contrary, Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka will not attend training camp with Detroit next month, relays Norran’s Robin Lindgren. The 19-year-old was the 17th pick in the 2023 draft and is coming off a solid showing with SHL Skelleftea, notching ten goals and eight assists in 39 games, impressive numbers for a young blueliner.  Sandin-Pellikka noted that while he was invited to camp with Detroit, the decision has already been made that he’ll remain in Sweden for the season.  Accordingly, he has decided that it makes more sense for him to stay with Skelleftea instead of missing the first few games of the SHL season to participate in some exhibition games in North America.
  • Despite being drafted as a center and spending most of last season down the middle, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald suggests that John Beecher will line up primarily as a winger for the upcoming season. Boston picked up Mark Kastelic from Ottawa as part of the Linus Ullmark trade and the sense seems to be that he will anchor the fourth line with Beecher lining up on the wing with him.  The 23-year-old had 10 points in 52 games with the Bruins last season in his first taste of NHL action.  He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.

Oilers Have Received Some Interest In Cody Ceci And Brett Kulak

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With the Blues tendering offer sheets to defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway, the Oilers now have to decide if they’re going to match those offers, even though it would put them more than $7MM over the salary cap.  While Evander Kane’s expected presence on LTIR would mitigate that in the short term, it’s fair to say that Edmonton will need to create some cap space at some point.  With several veterans on pricey long-term agreements who are unlikely to be moved, free agents who just signed, or players on low-cost contracts, there aren’t many viable candidates to make that happen.

Of the ones who potentially could be moved, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Oilers are trying to get the contracts of blueliners Cody Ceci and Brett Kulak off their books.  Combined, the two carry a $6MM cap charge which still wouldn’t be enough to get cap-compliant when Kane is able to play but moving those two would at least get them compliant to start the season in conjunction with Kane’s $5.25MM AAV landing on LTIR.

Ceci has one year left on his contract with a $3.25MM price tag.  The 30-year-old has spent the last three seasons in Edmonton, playing in their top four with an ATOI of more than 20 minutes each year.  Last season, Ceci had five goals and 20 assists in 79 games while chipping in with five points in 22 playoff contests as the Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup Final.  As an expiring deal and being a right-shot defender, he might be the easier of the two to move even with the slightly higher cap hit and he does not have any trade protection on his deal.

Kulak, meanwhile, checks in at a $2.75MM AAV for the next two seasons.  Acquired at the 2022 trade deadline from Montreal, the 30-year-old has settled in nicely on Edmonton’s third pairing.  Last season, Kulak had three goals and 13 assists in 82 games while averaging 15:23 per night.  His playing time went up a bit in the postseason to 16:30 per contest while adding eight points in 25 appearances.  However, that price point for a third-pairing defender is on the high side which isn’t ideal in terms of trying to get top value for his services.  Kulak also does not have any trade protection in his contract.

To that end, while Garrioch relays that teams have shown interest in both players, it comes at a cost.  Not to the potential acquiring team, however.  Instead, he notes that with teams knowing that the Oilers are in a bind as a result of these offer sheets, they’re going to want compensation to be sent with the player to incentivize them to bail Edmonton out.  Garrioch suggests that the price tag to take a player on in both scenarios could be a first-round pick or a second-round selection.  Worth noting is that the Oilers don’t have either of those for the 2025 draft but do for 2026 and if they match the offer sheets, they won’t be getting any compensation from St. Louis.

Edmonton has seven days to make a decision on matching the offers to Broberg ($4.58MM) and Holloway ($2.29MM).  There’s a good chance that their ability (or lack thereof) to find a satisfactory trade for one or both of Ceci or Kulak will play a big role in the decisions on their two youngsters.

Snapshots: Lindholm, Maple Leafs, Austria

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One of the free agents that the Canucks lost in free agency this summer is center Elias Lindholm.  Acquired early in the season from Calgary, the veteran ultimately inked a seven-year, $54.25MM contract with Boston.  In an interview with Hockeysverige’s Ronnie Ronnkvist, GM Patrik Allvin indicated that Vancouver tried to keep the 29-year-old but ultimately couldn’t afford to bring him back.  Lindholm is coming off a down season that saw him notch just 44 points in 75 games (after putting up 64 and 82 points in the prior two years) but given the high demand and low supply of centers, he was able to land another long-term agreement at a considerable raise.  Ultimately, Vancouver elected to fill Lindholm’s salary slot with a pair of former Boston wingers in Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen.

More from around the hockey world:

  • While the Maple Leafs shook up parts of their roster this summer – particularly on the back end – there was no big change among their core group. GM Brad Treliving defended that decision in an appearance on TSN 1050 (audio link), stating that “I know sometimes people fall in love with ’let’s make a big change just to make a big change. But at the end of the day, you can go out and make big changes, if they’re not making your team better, to me it doesn’t make any sense.”  While no major trade was made, Toronto did add Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the back end and with Mitch Marner and John Tavares now on expiring contracts, they’ll have the cap flexibility to make a big change if they want to next summer.
  • Austria’s roster for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament was announced There are no active NHL players on it with Marco Rossi taking a pass to focus on preparing for training camp next month.  However, a pair of top NHL prospects are on the roster, Canadiens blueliner David Reinbacher (fifth overall in 2023) and Red Wings forward Marco Kasper (eighth overall in 2022).

Minor Transactions: 8/15/24

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We saw a couple of NHL transactions today with a pair of PTOs being handed out.  In the meantime, some former NHL-contracted players recently landed contracts which are among the deals in our latest roundup of minor moves.

  • Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley officially announced the previously reported signing of goaltender Keith Petruzzelli to a one-year deal.  The 24-year-old was originally a prospect of Detroit but didn’t sign with them, instead inking a minor-league deal with Toronto, one that was eventually elevated to an entry-level pact.  Last season, Petruzzelli played in 17 games with the AHL’s Marlies, posting a 3.55 GAA and a .867 SV%, resulting in him being non-tendered in late June.  With there being some uncertainty surrounding Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov’s plans for the upcoming season, Petruzzelli will serve as some insurance between the pipes.
  • Forward Blake McLaughlin has inked a one-year deal with AHL Hartford (affiliate of the Rangers), per a team release. The 24-year-old split last season between the AHL and ECHL, notching two assists in 29 games with AHL San Diego but was much more productive with ECHL Tulsa, recording 25 points in 21 appearances but it wasn’t enough to earn a qualifying offer earlier this summer.
  • The Canucks’ AHL affiliate in Abbotsford announced the signings of forward Zach Okabe and defenceman Zach Berzolla to one-year deals. Okabe turned pro late last season after wrapping up his college career with a 24-point effort at St. Cloud State and got into nine games with AHL Cleveland, recording three points.  Berzolla, meanwhile, has spent the majority of his four professional campaigns in the ECHL but did get into 17 games with AHL Hartford last season.
  • Seattle’s farm team in Coachella Valley announced the re-signing of goaltender Jack LaFontaine to a one-year deal. The 26-year-old was originally drafted by Carolina and left college early to sign with them, getting into one NHL contest before spending the last two years exclusively in the minors.  LaFontaine primarily played with ECHL Kansas City (the Kraken’s affiliate at that level) last season, posting a 2.77 GAA with a .911 SV% in 23 regular season games.

Snapshots: Cousins, Soderstrom, Avalanche, Pellerin

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Winger Nick Cousins remains unsigned as we approach six weeks into the free agent market.  Accordingly, he has decided the time is right to change representation as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that he has changed his agent from Octagon’s Andy Scott to Newport’s Craig Oster.  The 31-year-old spent the last two seasons with Florida but saw his offensive output dip from 27 points in 79 games in 2022-23 to 15 in 69 contests in 2023-24, his lowest full-season point total.  Cousins also suited up in a dozen playoff contests along the way to the Panthers’ first Stanley Cup title.  The veteran has 180 points in 592 regular season appearances in his 10-year NHL career so far and should be able to land a PTO agreement at a minimum in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Rasmus Kagstrom of Hockey Sverige relays that goaltender Linus Soderstrom attracted some recent interest in North America before opting to sign a one-year extension with SHL Skelleftea back in March. The 27-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Islanders in 2014 and received his entry-level deal but played only four games in their system during that time.  Since then, Soderstrom has become one of the top-performing netminders in the SHL, putting up a 1.63 GAA with a .929 SV% in 30 appearances in 2022-23 and a 2.03 GAA with a .913 SV% in 36 games in 2023-24.  He bettered those numbers in the postseason, including a .944 SV% in 14 contests last season.  Another showing like that could have him on the NHL radar again next spring.
  • Colorado’s AHL affiliate announced the signing of three players to contracts for the upcoming season, forwards Tye Felhaber and Keaton Mastrodonato along with defenseman Bryan Yoon. Felhaber, 26, spent the last two seasons with AHL Milwaukee and recorded 23 points in 50 games with the Admirals last season.  Mastrodonato, meanwhile, spent most of last season, the 23-year-old’s first full professional campaign, with ECHL Idaho where he put up 24 goals and 18 assists in 48 games.  As for Yoon, the 26-year-old spent most of his first full pro season in the ECHL as well with Utah, recording 17 points in 35 appearances.
  • The Canadiens have invited undrafted forward Maxime Pellerin to their upcoming rookie camp, per a note from his junior team in Victoriaville (Twitter link). The 21-year-old spent his entire five-year QMJHL career with the Tigres and is coming off his second straight year of averaging more than a point per game, notching 73 points in 67 regular season games plus 21 more in 14 playoff contests.  Pellerin is ineligible to return to junior so he’ll be hoping to land a professional contract off this tryout.

West Notes: Georgiev, Vatrano, Maroon

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While Alexandar Georgiev is now extension-eligible as he’s entering the final year of his contract, Mile High Sports’ Aarif Dean suggests that it’s unlikely he gets an early deal.  With Mikko Rantanen also needing a new contract for 2025-26, his situation is likely the priority while the uncertainty surrounding Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin makes it less likely that Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland will want to commit a multi-year deal to Georgiev this early.  The 28-year-old is also coming off a tough year, one that saw him post a 3.02 GAA and a .897 SV% in 63 games; he led the NHL in goals allowed with 183 but also had the most wins (38) for the second straight season.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Ducks winger Frank Vatrano has been a strong performer in his first two years with Anaheim, putting up 41 points in 2021-22 before a breakout 37-goal, 60-point showing last season. He’s now eligible for a contract extension and has made it known his preference is to stay with Anaheim.  Derek Lee of The Hockey News assesses Vatrano’s situation, suggesting that the four-year, $22MM contract that Tyler Bertuzzi inked with Chicago this summer could serve as a comparable for Vatrano’s camp if he can put up another 20-goal performance.  Cap space isn’t an issue for the Ducks right now but assuming they’ll be out of the playoff mix again this coming season, they’ll have to decide between extending him or moving Vatrano as a rental for what would likely be a strong return.
  • Veteran forward Pat Maroon signed a one-year, $1.3MM contract with the Blackhawks early in free agency which will be the 14th season of his career. The 36-year-old told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’s not focusing beyond the coming season and isn’t sure if this will be his final year.  Maroon spent most of 2023-24 with Minnesota before being acquired by Boston at the trade deadline although his injury at the time limited him to just two regular season games.  He had four goals and 11 assists along with 60 penalty minutes in 51 appearances last season.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Murray, Berggren

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The Maple Leafs shook things up behind the bench with a coaching change, bringing in Craig Berube to replace Sheldon Keefe earlier this summer.  Now, it appears they’ll be changing their captain as well.  TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the team will announce that Auston Matthews will be named captain at a press conference on Wednesday morning.  Current captain John Tavares is believed to be fully supportive of the change.  Matthews is entering the first season of a four-year, $53MM contract he signed last season, one that makes him the highest-paid player in NHL history in terms of AAV while Tavares is entering the final year of his agreement.  Matthews has spent his entire eight-year NHL career with Toronto and is coming off a career year that saw him record 69 goals and 107 points.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Still with Toronto, goaltender Matt Murray indicated in a recent appearance on the Slangin’ the Bizkit Podcast (video link) that his hips feel much better than they have in a long time. The veteran missed almost all of last season due to bilateral hip surgery, only getting into three rehab contests late in the regular season with the Marlies.  The Maple Leafs gave him a one-year, $875K one-way deal early in free agency and it appears as if he’ll enter the upcoming season in the third-string role similar to the one Martin Jones held in 2023-24.
  • In an interview with Matthias Ek of Sweden’s Hockey News, Red Wings RFA winger Jonatan Berggren indicated that discussions on a new deal are ongoing and that he has not spoken with any other clubs about a possible offer sheet. The 24-year-old spent most of 2022-23 with Detroit, notching 15 goals and 13 assists in 67 games but they opted to put him with AHL Grand Rapids for most of last year.  Berggren was quite productive for the Griffins, tallying 56 points in 53 games while also adding six points in a dozen contests with Detroit.  That shouldn’t be the case this coming season, however, as he’s now waiver-eligible.

Five Key Stories: 8/5/24 – 8/11/24

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With training camps a little more than a month away, activity around the hockey world has slowed down considerably in recent weeks.  Nevertheless, there was some news of note over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Helenius To Play In North America: On draft day, Konsta Helenius slipped to the Sabres at 14th overall despite being ranked as a top-ten prospect by several publications.  Often, a European player picked in the middle of the first round will stay overseas for a couple of years but that’s not the case for Helenius as his club team in Tappara revealed that the youngster is expected to play in North America this coming season.  Since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, Helenius is eligible to play with AHL Rochester in 2024-25 but after an impressive season in the Finnish Liiga that saw him record 36 points in 51 games, it’s possible that he makes a case to spend at least a few games in Buffalo as well.

Klefbom Confirms Retirement: Any hope of a late-career comeback for Oscar Klefbom has come to an end as the blueliner confirmed that he has retired.  The 31-year-old was a key part of Edmonton’s back end for most of his career, averaging more than 21 minutes a night over his last six seasons.  However, a shoulder injury that he played through eventually proved to be too much as he last played in the 2019-20 campaign, spending the final three years of his contract on LTIR before becoming a free agent last summer.  Klefbom has indicated that he’d like to stay involved in some capacity but it remains to be seen if that will be with an NHL team or in his native Sweden.

Avs Add Another Blueliner: Colorado has been active in adding depth defenders this summer, bringing in Erik Brannstrom and Calvin de Haan early in free agency.  They added another rearguard this past week, signing Oliver Kylington to a one-year, $1.05MM deal.  The 27-year-old returned to Calgary in January after missing a year and a half for mental health reasons.  While his numbers in the second half weren’t overly impressive (eight points in 33 games), his last full season in 2021-22 was a breakout showing for Kylington when he put up 31 points in 73 appearances while logging over 18 minutes a night.  If he can come even close to those numbers with the Avalanche, they’ll get strong value on this contract.

Coaching Changes In Columbus: In an offseason that has seen the Blue Jackets take their time with off-ice moves, they rounded out their coaching staff under new bench boss Dean Evason.  The team parted ways with assistant coach Mark Recchi and development coach Derek Dorsett (who could eventually return in another capacity); assistant Josef Boumedienne had previously been let go as well.  Taking their place on the coaching staff will be new assistant coaches Scott Ford and Mike Haviland.  This will be Ford’s first coaching job at the AHL level after spending the last eight seasons with AHL Milwaukee.  Haviland, meanwhile, has four years of NHL experience as an assistant with Chicago and spent the last two years as an associate coach with their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.

Sillinger Nearing A Contract: Still with the Blue Jackets, they only have one remaining restricted free agent to re-sign, forward Cole Sillinger.  It appears he won’t be unsigned for much longer as the two sides are believed to be close to getting an agreement on a new deal in place.  It’s expected that the contract, when finalized, will be for two years.  The 21-year-old was the 12th overall pick by Columbus in 2021 and turned pro right after, spending the bulk of his entry-level deal at the NHL level where he has 74 points in 220 games.  With the limited production, a long-term agreement doesn’t make sense for either side so it appears he’ll get a couple of years to try to boost his value before gaining arbitration eligibility next time out.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

PHR Mailbag: Stars, Askarov, Swayman, Bruins, Blues, Pacioretty

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Topics in this edition of the mailbag include Jeremy Swayman’s situation in Boston, if Torey Krug’s injury will make St. Louis look for another defenseman, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next weekend’s column.

bottlesup: It looks like Dallas’s roster is set, do you see Jim making possibly another trade some point in the season or any other moves?

The answer to this question is going to depend on what happens with Thomas Harley, their lone remaining restricted free agent.  They have a little over $6.2MM in cap space at the moment, per PuckPedia, but that’s with a 20-player roster.  Assuming they want to carry an extra forward at least (Harley’s eventual contract would give them seven defenders), they’re closer to $5.4MM to play with.

How much of that will Harley take up?  If the two sides work out a long-term agreement that covers his remaining RFA years and buys some extra years of team control, it’s going to be at a number that’s actually higher than their current cap space.  In that scenario, instead of adding to their roster, they’d have to subtract from it to get back into compliance.  From there, they’d probably wind up tight to the cap, limiting their in-season flexibility.

But if it’s a bridge deal, things change.  Using K’Andre Miller and Evan Bouchard as some recent comparables, a two-year bridge for Harley should check in around the $4MM per season mark.  If they did that and carried a 13th forward, they’d be around $1.4MM or so (depending on the exact cost of Harley’s deal and the cost of the 13th forward), giving them some flexibility to hedge against injuries.  I could see them maybe using a bit of that to top up from a minimum-salaried extra forward to more of an impactful one around the $1MM mark which would then put them closer to $1MM in wiggle room.

At that point, the question of any in-season activity would be dependent on injuries and how aggressively they paper Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque to the minors on off days to bank extra cap space.  If there’s enough room left at the deadline, I could see them making a move to shore up their back end as they did with Chris Tanev back in March.

I’ll also mention the possibility of a three-year bridge, one that probably pushes the cost closer to $4.5MM.  At that point, they’d have to fill the 13th forward spot with a minimum-salary contract and hold on to their minimal flexibility after that.  In that case, they could look to a UFA or have a 13th forward come up from AHL Texas; after that, any movement would again be linked to their ability to bank cap space in-season depending on injuries.  Again, I think there’s a move to make on the back end but it’ll be closer to March than October.

FeeltheThunder: There have been some reports and chatter that Tampa should go after Nashville’s young goalie Yaroslav Askarov to backup Andrei Vasilevskiy. Many feel Vasy would be more open to not taking on so many games if he had a backup goalie that he felt comfortable sharing with.  Not that he doesn’t like Johansson or anything but the reality is Johansson is just an average goaltender at best. Furthermore, it wouldn’t hurt if that backup goaltender had the same cultural background either as Vasy.

What would Tampa have to give up to get Askarov from Nashville? One would assume the 2026 1st round pick would be the starting point. I’m sure a potential prospect would be added but I don’t think Tampa would give up Conor Geekie, Isaac Howard, or even Ethan Gauthier in the trade. Maybe they just bundle some draft picks.

First, while there has been chatter about Nashville dealing Askarov for more than a year now, I don’t recall seeing anything credible linking him to Tampa Bay specifically.  While he’d be an upgrade on Jonas Johansson, there’s not a path to prime playing time until Vasilevskiy’s deal ends in 2028.  If Askarov had a chance to pick his landing spot (he wouldn’t, I’m just making the point), I’d have to think the Lightning would be pretty low on his list.  Going and being a multi-year backup or platoon partner isn’t a path to a big-money contract.

As for what the cost would be, you’re really constraining them by taking Geekie, Howard, and Gauthier off the table.  If Nashville isn’t getting a high-end prospect in this trade, what’s their motivation to do it?  A future first-round pick (which might land in the 20s) isn’t exactly the ideal centerpiece of a swap; I have to think they turned down better than that at the last two drafts.  That pick with some lesser picks or lesser prospects is a package that I suspect quite a few teams would easily beat.

The hope is that Askarov is a future franchise goalie.  The cost has to be somewhat commensurate with that; a quantity over quality approach to a trade isn’t it.  I could see Nashville’s preference being a prospect-prospect swap where they’re getting an NHL-ready (or near-ready) impact player (top-six forward or a top-four defenseman) back for the netminder.  I don’t see Tampa Bay being the team to give that to them.

SkidRowe: Two Bruins topics:

1) What’s going on with Swayman? How far apart do you think they are? Could Swayman’s camp be asking for more than the Bruins have remaining under the cap ($8.6m)? What’s he gonna do, sit out?

2) Apparently, the Bruins are counting on middle-six minutes and secondary scoring from a couple of youngsters; Poitras (20 yo, former 2nd-round pick, 15 points in 33 NHL games) and Lysell (21yo, former 1st-round pick, zero NHL games). If either of those guys fail, they can turn to Merkulov (23yo, former college free agent, zero points in four NHL games) or elevate Brazeau (26yo, undrafted junior player, seven points in 19 NHL games) from the 4th line. Is this strategy going to pay off?

1) With no arbitration option this time around (both sides passed on filing), there is no real pressure point on either side for a while yet so this probably will drag out for a while longer.  It’s hard to guess how far they’re apart as part of the issue here I suspect is that they’re still working on deals of varying lengths, meaning the gap will be different for each one.  My guess is that they’re not overly close and until we get closer to training camp where one side might move a little, I don’t expect to see much news on that front.

I don’t see Swayman’s camp asking for more than $8.6MM per season.  His career high in games played in a single NHL season is 44 so as of today, he’s not even truly proven as an undisputed number one.  He’s heading in that direction but hasn’t played enough to get there yet.  I think the end result on a long-term deal starts with a seven, maybe eight times eight at most.  If they wind up on more of a medium-term agreement, the cost probably begins with a six.

2) At this point, what other option do the Bruins have?  They couldn’t afford to make a commitment to a more impactful forward earlier in free agency as they need to get Swayman signed first to see what they have left to spend.  If they went and added a top-six piece, then they’re forcing themselves into probably taking Swayman to arbitration, getting a one-year settlement in the $5MM range, and going through the same thing next year.  The patient approach will limit their options to add short-term depth but should allow them to get their franchise goalie signed.

At some point, the Bruins need to start getting some contributions from their prospect pool.  Matthew Poitras was starting to slow down before his injury but he’s earned a chance to break camp and see if he can hold down a spot.  Fabian Lysell is one of their top prospects and flirted with a point per game in the minors last year so yes, he’s probably worth a look.  Frankly, those two have more pure upside than what’s left in free agency and they don’t have a lot of trade chips to use.  Having said that, I do see Boston being active on the PTO front to see if they can get a decent veteran or two in as a hedge against the youngsters struggling or Swayman signing a shorter-term deal (opening up more cap flexibility).

vincent k. mcmahon: If Krug’s playing career is hypothetically over (although it’s still up in the air on if he can or can’t resume playing) does this put pressure on the Blues of adding another d-man outside of the additions of Suter and Joseph?

It depends on what their intentions are for this season.  If they think they’re a playoff team, then yes, they need to go add another blueliner (although there’s not much left on the open market).  But looking at the Central Division and St. Louis’ roster in general, I don’t see the Blues being a playoff team this season.

If that’s the case, my thought is that they’d be better off not filling that spot, instead using it to learn more about their younger options.  They have four rearguards either 24 or 25, Matthew Kessel, Scott Perunovich, Tyler Tucker, and the recently-signed Pierre-Olivier Joseph.  How many of those are future building blocks?  At some point, they need to figure that out.  Using this season to do just that might be the better play in the long run.

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Snapshots: Jarry, Gagner, PHPA

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The Penguins weren’t believed to be opposed to moving on from Tristan Jarry back at the draft, suggests Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Last season was a rough one for the 29-year-old as he posted a 2.91 GAA and a .903 SV% in 51 games, the worst full-season numbers of his career.  In the process, he lost the starting job down the stretch to Alex Nedeljkovic, who Pittsburgh wound up re-signing.  Jarry still has four years remaining on his contract with a $5.375MM cap charge, a price tag that is certainly on the high side for the type of performance he had last season.  While there was some speculation that we could see some underachieving starters trade places this summer, most of those moves didn’t materialize so Jarry will go into Pittsburgh’s camp next month looking to reclaim the starting job.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Unrestricted free agent forward Sam Gagner has yet to sign somewhere for the upcoming season but it isn’t from a lack of interest in continuing on. Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins relays that the 35-year-old is hoping to suit up somewhere in 2024-25.  Gagner had to go the PTO route last season with Edmonton, eventually landing a two-way deal that saw him spend 15 games with AHL Bakersfield and 28 more with the Oilers.  He did record ten points with the big club despite barely averaging ten minutes a night.  At this point, a guaranteed deal seems unlikely but another PTO could come his way in the coming weeks.
  • The PHPA recently announced the hiring of Brian Ramsey as its new Executive Director. He replaces Larry Landon who retired from the role last month.  Ramsey spent the previous nine years as the Executive Director of the Canadian Football League Players’ Association.  He will be busy in the coming months as the CBA for the ECHL expires on June 30th while the CBA for the AHL ends two months later on August 31st, 2025.

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