Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nashville Predators Buy Out Matt Duchene

at CDT | by 16 Comments

The Nashville Predators have made a massive decision, choosing to buy out forward Matt Duchene’s contract according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Duchene had three seasons remaining on the $8MM AAV free-agent contract he signed a few years ago. Now, they’ll save $5.44MM against the cap this season, $2.44MM next season, and $1.44MM the season after at a cost of $1.55MM from 2026-27 through 2028-29.

Here’s what Duchene’s cap hit will be, post-buyout, on Nashville’s books:

2023-24: $2.56MM
2024-25: $5.56MM
2025-26: $6.56MM
2026-27: $1.56MM
2027-28: $1.56MM
2028-29: $1.56MM

This move comes as a bit of a surprise seeing as Duchene was a 43-goal, 86-point scorer just one season ago. The 32-year-old’s production declined to 22 goals and 56 points in 71 games this past season, but while not exactly worth an $8MM cap hit those numbers are nothing to scoff at either.

That’s solid second-line production, but with the youth movement the Predators are hoping to have up front it’s understandable that they’d want to prioritize making room for younger players to be placed in premium offensive positions.

Duchene was signed to give Nashville the top-line center they’d been craving since the franchise’s inception, but shortly after signing it became clear that Duchene was most effective playing the wing.

The Predators’ dream of a deep center corps featuring Duchene, Ryan Johansen, and Kyle Turris lasted just one season, and now all three players are no longer Predators.

Two of those players were removed from Nashville’s roster via a buyout, and in 2024-25 Nashville will have $11.55MM of cap space tied up in dead money for the Turris and Duchene buyouts as well as the salary retention on Johansen’s deal. But for Barry Trotz’s new regime, cleaning house and providing room for their fresh faces on offense was clearly the priority over hoping Duchene would bounce back to his 2021-22 form.

For Duchene, he’ll now have the chance to re-enter the free agent market at the age of 32. While he might not in actuality be the 86-point superstar he has appeared to be in flashes over the course of his career, he’s still a well-regarded offensive player who is sure to have interest across the league from teams looking to add some skill to their lineup.

In a precariously thin free agent class for centers, the fact that Duchene was once regarded as an NHL first-line center will bode well for his earning power, even if it’s clear that’s not who he is anymore.

Teams will have to carefully examine the injury Duchene suffered late in the season with Nashville, a finger injury that Duchene underwent two surgeries to repair. Per The Hockey News’ Ann Kimmel, “no tendons were damaged,” so “doctors expect that Duchene can make a full recovery and may be able to resume full activity in June.”

That’s undoubtedly positive news, but the state of Duchene’s finger will be something for interested teams to monitor as they examine why he was bought out of his contract despite a decently productive season as well as whether Duchene is the right player for contenders to commit scarce cap dollars to sign.

Photos Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Detroit Red Wings To Buy Out Kailer Yamamoto

at CDT | by 10 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings are buying out the final year of recently-acquired winger Kailer Yamamoto’s contract, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.

Dreger adds that “Detroit strongly considered keeping him but couldn’t make moves to make it work.” The move will save Detroit $2.66MM of Yamamoto’s $3.1MM cap hit for this season, at a cost of $533k on their cap for next year.

It’s a somewhat curious move, as many initially viewed the Red Wings’ acquisition of Yamamoto as an earnest investment from Detroit in the possibility of a Yamamoto rebound.

He was a 20-goal, 41-point scorer just last year, but it appears the combination Yamamoto’s production decline as well as the somewhat crowded state of the Red Wings’ top-nine meant that it was in Detroit’s best interest to eat a relatively small cap penalty rather than roster the player at a $3.1MM cap hit.

This move means that Detroit took on the burden of buying out Yamamoto for the purpose of acquiring Klim Kostin’s RFA negotiation rights, rather than due to any interest in acquiring Yamamoto himself.

Kostin has been rumored to be considering a KHL exit (though that could obviously be no more than a negotiation tactic) and could be seeking a raise above his $750k cap hit from last season thanks to a quality campaign with the Edmonton Oilers.

For the any contract Detroit weighs giving Kostin, they’ll need to include the small amount of dead money afforded to Yamamoto in their value equation.

Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Jesper Fast

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Carolina Hurricanes are reportedly bringing back winger Jesper Fast, who was set to hit the free-agent market tomorrow, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston reports that the contract is expected to be a two-year deal in the $2.4MM AAV range.

Fast, 31, has been with the Hurricanes for the past three seasons, since the team signed him away from the New York Rangers with a $2MM AAV deal.

Fast has played 208 games as a Hurricane and scored 82 points. While Fast earned stray Selke Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy votes last season and scored 34 points, Fast didn’t get any down-ballot votes this year and saw his numbers decline slightly.

He still ended the season on a solid note, though, as he scored nine points in 15 playoff games as the Hurricanes made a run to the Eastern Conference Final.

A widely respected two-way winger, Fast has been a regular face on a Hurricanes penalty kill that ranks first in the NHL across the past three years. He’s consistently scored around the 30-point range and has long been a valuable bottom-six forward.

Beyond his on-ice value, Fast brings leadership to the table, as evidenced by the fact that he served as an alternate captain in his final three seasons as a Ranger. He might not have the longest highlight reel, but there are few coaches in the NHL who wouldn’t jump at the chance to add a reliable two-way contributor such as Fast.

Now, with this extension Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour gets to keep Fast for the foreseeable future. At around a $2.4MM cap hit with just a two-year term, that’s good value for the Hurricanes and an entirely reasonable contract extension for Carolina to sign.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Winnipeg Jets To Buy Out Blake Wheeler

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Winnipeg Jets have placed Blake Wheeler on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout, according to a team announcement.

Should he clear, Wheeler will become an unrestricted free agent as a result. TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the move, and he also named the Dallas Stars as a team with interest in signing Wheeler once he hits free agency.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff issued a statement thanking Wheeler, which included the following:

We would like to thank Blake for his dedication and service to the Jets, the city of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba. We are incredibly grateful for the contributions that he has made during his 12 seasons with the franchise. Most notably, the seven years when he served as the captain of the Jets and helped lead the team to the 2018 Western Conference Final.

As a result of this buyout, the Jets will save $5MM in cap space for this season, reducing Wheeler’s cap hit from $8.25MM to just $2.75MM.

That comes at a cost of a $2.75MM cap hit next season, though. This buyout is about more than just financials, though, it’s about giving the player a fresh start and also allowing the Jets to move on from someone who was once arguably the face of their franchise.

Now 36 years old, Wheeler captained the Jets for six seasons before having the captaincy stripped by incoming head coach Rick Bowness a year ago. A two-time NHL All-Star, Wheeler has been with the Jets since they relocated from Atlanta, and has totaled nearly 900 games for the franchise. He’s scored 255 goals and 795 points as a Jet, first among all players of the franchise’s newest era and third all-time including the Jets’ earlier era, behind just Dale Hawerchuk and Thomas Steen.

Wheeler oversaw the rise of the Jets under Paul Maurice, an era that culminated in a run to the Western Conference Final in 2017-8, where they fell to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Jets afterward failed to re-capture the magic of that year, though Wheeler himself continued his personal brilliance hovering at or near a point-per-game rate.

Late in his Jets tenure, Wheeler and other members of the team’s veteran core drew criticism for what looked from the outside to many fans to be a toxic culture and lack of accountability in the Jets locker room. While as outside observers we don’t truly know what the reality of the Jets’ locker room and culture actually was, it became clear after the “C” was removed from Wheeler’s jersey that a fresh start would eventually be necessary for both sides.

Now, that fresh start has been secured, and the Jets have opened up some significant cap space in a summer where financial flexibility is at a premium. As for Wheeler, he’ll hit free agency a year early and have the ability to select where he potentially spends the rest of his playing career.

Wheeler scored a combined 61 points in 77 regular season and playoff games, so while he might not be the dominant offensive force he once was it’s clear he still has something to contribute.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Chicago Blackhawks Acquire, Extend Corey Perry

at CDT | by 39 Comments

06/30/23, 9:30 AM: Chicago has now officially announced that they’ve signed Perry to a one-year, $4MM deal.

06/30/23, 7:30 AM: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Blackhawks have reached an agreement on a one-year contract extension with the Blackhawks. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun confirmed that the deal is a one-year, $4MM pact, an identical deal to what Nick Foligno received from Chicago just a few days ago.

While $4MM is likely quite a bit more than what most teams would bid on Perry’s services, the Blackhawks aren’t in a similar financial position to most teams. With Perry signed to this deal they’re still projected to have over $20MM in cap space by CapFriendly, meaning they’re in a perfect position to pay veteran players high sums of money in order to convince them to play for a team barely anyone expects to make the playoffs.

More than anything else, this type of cap space allows the Blackhawks to pay higher prices for free agents in order to secure them on one-year deals, thereby saving their financial flexibility in future years where the team might have plan on making a playoff run.

06/29/23: The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired the rights to pending UFA forward Corey Perry from the Tampa Bay Lightning, sending a 2024 seventh-round pick in return.

This deal seems to fit the Blackhawks’ recent strategy of targeting respected veterans to support their growing crop of impressive prospects. Perry, 38, is a veteran of nearly 1,300 NHL games and numerous long playoff runs. While his skating ability has largely evaporated, he still has soft hands and some offensive skill, along with the edge he plays with that has become his trademark. He can still provide some value as a net-front player on a power play, and just a year ago he scored 19 goals and 40 points.

Even if Chicago gets production more in line with what Perry did this past season (12 goals, 25 points) that’s still a decent player to have on any team. The Blackhawks still need to sign Perry, of course, and Perry could always prefer to sign with a contender.

But the Blackhawks have a stockpile of cap space and the ability to offer Perry a deal he can’t refuse, meaning he’s likely to end up in Chicago, one would assume. For Tampa Bay, getting a pick (even a very late one) for a player they were not planning on extending is impossible to argue with.

Minor Transactions: 06/30/23

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

We’re in the heart of the NHL offseason now, with free agency set to open tomorrow. As NHL clubs ready for the free agent frenzy tomorrow, numerous clubs in minor and foreign leagues are signing players and completing transactions. We’ll keep track of those here.

  • Four-time NHL 15-goal scorer Brett Connolly has signed with SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, leaving his former club HC Lugano after one season. The 31-year-old 2010 sixth-overall pick scored 12 goals and 38 points in 45 games for Lugano, and now joins former NHLer Victor Rask on a club set to play in the Champions Hockey League next season.
  • Zaccharya Wisdom, a prospect who was drafted by the Seattle Kraken 212th overall yesterday, has committed to Colorado College to play NCAA hockey. He’ll join NHL draft picks such as Noah Laba of the New York Rangers, and will hope to carry over the success of his final USHL season (28 goals, 48 points) to his collegiate career.
  • Washington Capitals 2021 fifth-round pick Haakon Hanelt has signed a contract with the German DEL’s Cologne Sharks. The Capitals have the exclusive rights to sign Hanelt until June 1st, 2025, and will now track his development in a men’s pro league. Hanelt spent the last two seasons with the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL, and this past year scored 18 points in 34 games.
  • Veteran Liiga defenseman Mikko Niemela has signed with the Lahti Pelicans, a club he played six games with in 2014-15. Niemela is a three-time Liiga champion who has played over 500 games in Finland’s top league, meaning he’ll bring a wealth of experience to the blueline of Liiga’s runner-ups. Niemela split last season between Karpat in Liiga and Brynas in the SHL, and although he played well he could not save Brynas from relegation to the HockeyAllsvenskan, and now he heads back to Liiga.
  • ECHL All-Star forward Mathew Santos has signed a deal to play in Slovakia next season, per a social media post from his new team HK Dukla Michalovce. Santos is a 28-year-old Canadian winger who has been an electric scorer in two seasons with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. He’s scored 103 points in 91 games for Maine, earning AHL call-ups for three teams, including 17 games with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. He only scored one point in that 17-game span, though, and now with his chances at climbing the North American pro hockey ladder potentially drying up, he’ll head to an overseas club for the first time.
  • Former Chicago Blackhawks prospect David Gilbert will not be returning to EIHL Champions Belfast Giants for next season, according to the team. The 32-year-old forward signed with Belfast a year ago after a high-scoring year with Rouen in France’s Ligue Magnus. Gilbert is a former high-scoring ECHLer who has 54 games of AHL action on his resume, and career highlights that include a championship in Belfast as well as a three-year stint in Czechia that included winning his club promotion to the country’s top league.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Metro Notes: Hanifin, Petry, Wilson

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins just spent the last two days re-stocking their relatively thin prospect pool at the 2023 NHL draft, and with that process over their new front office’s focus shifts to improving their roster for next season. One of the ways new hockey operations boss Kyle Dubas can improve the Penguins is by revamping their defense, which could mean adding a top blueliner on the trade market such as Noah Hanifin. The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that “the Penguins are on a short list of teams to which Hanifin would approve a trade,” and that “Hanifin would be willing to sign an extension with the Penguins if acquired.” (subscription link)

Adding a top-end left-shot defenseman to pair with Kris Letang is a priority for Pittsburgh, especially seeing as head coach Mike Sullivan “repeatedly pushed” for the team to acquire Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes last season. The issue the Penguins face in acquiring Hanifin is twofold: firstly, one wonders if Pittsburgh has enticing enough assets to be able to win a bidding war with other teams to secure a trade with Calgary, and secondly it could be a tight fit for the Penguins to be able to sign Hanifin to a pricey long-term extension given the current money on their books.

Some other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • As Pittsburgh contemplates acquiring and then ideally extending a top-end player like Hanifin, they’re looking to move money out in order to be able to do so. Defenseman Jeff Petry underwhelmed in his first season in Pittsburgh, and set to turn 36 years old he remains under contract for the next two seasons at a $6.25MM cap hit. Rossi reports that Dubas “has tried to trade” Petry, but “found few interested parties” and Petry’s modified no-trade clause to be a barrier to the possibility of a trade getting completed. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe confirmed his colleague’s report, writing in his own piece that Pittsburgh is “dangling” Petry “pretty heavily in trade offers” but that “there isn’t considerable interest in the veteran.” (subscription link) It would certainly help Pittsburgh more dramatically reshape its blueline if they were able to trade Petry, but given the league-wide lack of cap space among contending teams a Petry deal seems unlikely.
  • Another trade that seems extremely unlikely is one involving Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson, at least according to Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. MacLellan told the media, including The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, that the team “we haven’t had one discussion about” trading Wilson this summer. Some have speculated that Wilson, a 29-year-old winger with a $5.16MM AAV deal that expires in a year, could be a player Washington dangles in trade talks, but it appears in actuality the team has zero interest in dealing the three-time 20-goal scorer, despite an injury-plagued 2022-23 campaign.

New Jersey Devils Extend Shane Bowers

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New Jersey Devils have announced a one-year, two-way contract extension with recently acquired forward Shane Bowers. Per the announcement, he’ll have a league-minimum $775k cap hit at the NHL level, as well as a $125k salary at the AHL level.

Bowers, 23, was recently acquired by New Jersey in a one-for-one trade that sent defenseman Reilly Walsh to the Boston Bruins. That was the second time Bowers was traded this year, as he was actually dealt to Boston in a one-for-one mid-season trade that sent Keith Kinkaid to the Colorado Avalanche.

A 2017 first-round pick, Bowers has been traded one additional time in his career, when he was sent to Colorado as part of their return for parting with Matt Duchene. A six-foot-two forward with the versatility to play both center and the wing, Bowers had an underwhelming collegiate career as a Boston University Terrier and never quite found his footing in the AHL with Colorado. His best season game in 2019-20, when he scored 27 points in 48 games, but in the following two years he scored just 18 points combined.

Bowers wasn’t horrible with Boston, scoring seven points in 20 games for the AHL’s Providence Bruins, and he even earned his first NHL game this year with Colorado. But until he shows some more consistency and scoring touch at the AHL level, he won’t be a regular consideration for NHL call-ups, and this contract extension reflects that.

He will get a chance to prove himself with the Utica Comets, though, a team that made the AHL’s playoffs and could have some openings up front if players like Graeme Clarke and Alexander Holtz finally graduate to full-time NHL duty.

Jesse Puljujarvi Undergoes Double Hip Surgery

at CDT | by 11 Comments

NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston has an unfortunate injury update on 2016 fourth-overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi: he “recently underwent double hip surgery and is facing a lengthy recovery.” Johnston adds that Puljujarvi won’t be issued a qualifying offer by the Carolina Hurricanes and will hit unrestricted free agency in a few days.

This is the second significant medical setback hitting a young winger of the day, as it was recently announced that Buffalo Sabres winger Jack Quinn will miss quite some time with an Achilles injury. But while Quinn is firmly in an NHL team’s future plans, Puljujarvi is going to be looking for a new opportunity on the open market. The 25-year-old was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes last season but struggled to make an impact for head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s team. He scored just two points in 17 games and one point in seven playoff games.

Puljujarvi had his moments as an Edmonton Oiler, such as in 2021-22 when he scored 36 points in 65 games but struggled immensely early in the season with them and played his way out of a future with that organization. Since he was making $3MM against the cap his qualifying offer’s cost made it incredibly unlikely, and now we know he will indeed go unqualified.

The level of interest he garners on the open market is going to be a bit of a mystery due to this injury, which does not have a disclosed recovery timeline. Given the severity of the injury, though, it could be quite some time before we see Puljujarvi back on NHL ice.

2023 NHL Draft Pick Trade Tracker

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

On this page, we’ll keep track of all trades that take place between clubs at the 2023 NHL draft including draft picks exclusively.

  • Nashville acquired the 43rd pick from Detroit in exchange for picks 47 and 147.
  • Philadelphia acquired the 51st pick from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for pick 167 and a 2024 second-round pick (via the Los Angeles Kings)
  • The San Jose Sharks have acquired the 71st overall selection from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the 94th and 100th picks.
  • The Dallas Stars acquired pick 79 from the Nashville Predators in exchange for their 2024 third-round pick and 2024 sixth-round pick.
  • The New York Rangers acquired pick 90 from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for pick 91 and a 2024 seventh-round pick.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning re-acquired pick 115 from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Chicago’s fourth-round pick in 2024.
  • The Washington Capitals acquired the 206th pick from the San Jose Sharks for their 2025 seventh-rounder.
  • Nashville acquired the 218th pick from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for their 2024 seventh-rounder.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights traded the final pick in the draft, pick 224, in exchange for a 2024 seventh-rounder.

This page will be updated throughout the draft. 

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top