New York Rangers Sign Nick Bonino
The New York Rangers have added yet another experienced veteran forward, this time securing two-time Stanley Cup champion Nick Bonino on a one-year contract. The deal is worth $800K, according to TSN’s Chris Johnston.
Even in the latter stages of his career, the 35-year-old Bonino has posted great defensive results in a bottom-six checking role and looks to be a solid fit as a fourth-line center in New York, a position that saw some tumultuous times for the team last season. Bonino posted 10 goals and 19 points in 59 games with the Sharks before a deadline day deal to his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, but his second stint there lasted just three games before he sustained a lacerated kidney.
The Rangers will be his second Eastern Conference team after spending most of his career in the West. He’ll fill a role well at the bottom of their lineup, and it’s an acquisition made with the postseason in mind. Bonino’s done some of his best work there, putting up 48 points in 105 career playoff games.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Jason Zucker
The Arizona Coyotes have made some noise on the free agent market, inking winger Jason Zucker to a one-year $5.3MM deal per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Yesterday evening, Craig Morgan of PHNX put out an article detailing General Manager Bill Armstrong‘s approach to the opening up of free agency. Grabbing a quote, Armstrong said, “Our approach in free agency is to make our team better for tomorrow, but not worse in three to four years. We don’t want the deals that we do today to take away from deals that we could be doing when we’re really good so there’s some short-term deals to be had.”
Keeping that frame of reference in mind, this deal for Zucker entirely fits the mold of what the Coyotes are trying to accomplish. Not only does this deal make the team better in the short-term, but the ability to trade Zucker at the deadline for assets is important for the team as well in the midst of their rebuild.
In a career that will now span over 13 seasons, Zucker has only played for two teams, the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins. Acquired at the 2019-20 deadline by Pittsburgh, Zucker did not take off offensively until this past season. Reaching his highest scoring totals since the 2017-18 season, Zucker scored 27 goals and 21 assists in 78 games for the Penguins this year.
Zucker immediately becomes one of the team’s best forward options, able to play both sides of the wing. Primarily leaning heavily into goal-scoring, Zucker should benefit well from the high-level playmaking ability of Clayton Keller on the opposite wing. Zucker is also a physical player as well, throwing 197 hits last year in Pittsburgh, giving Arizona the opportunity to move him anywhere throughout the lineup.
Unless his plays completely fall off the rails, or the Coyotes take a major leap in the standings next year, it is unlikely that Zucker will finish the year in Arizona. In the meantime, the Coyotes improve in the short-term, while also adding to their trade arsenal come next trade deadline season.
New Jersey Devils Acquire Colin Miller
The New Jersey Devils have acquired defenseman Colin Miller from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick, according to a team announcement.
Having already traded defenseman Damon Severson to the Columbus Blue Jackets in an earlier trade this offseason, and the expected loss of Ryan Graves to the free agent market, the deal for Miller helps the Devils ease the loss from those two defensemen.
Luckily for New Jersey, uber-prospect Luke Hughes is ready for some big-time minutes next season, as well as the eventual callup of top prospect, Simon Nemec. In the meantime, Miller should serve as a decent filler until Nemec gets his chance at the professional level. Last season for the Stars, Miller played in 79 games, scoring six goals and 15 minutes of assists in just under 17 minutes of ice time a night.
Although this move does hurt the Stars’ defense, the $1.85MM generated in cap room allowed for the team to bring in their big-ticket free agent, later signing Matt Duchene to a one-year, $3MM contract for the 2023-24 NHL season. Having the benefit of one of the league’s top goaltenders between the pipes, Dallas had the opportunity to considerably improve their offensive unit.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Dmitry Orlov
The Carolina Hurricanes have signed arguably the top defenseman available on the free agent market, inking former Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals rearguard Dmitry Orlov to a two-year, $7.75MM AAV deal.
As a leading free agent defenseman, Orlov securing just a two-year term on his deal comes as a bit of a surprise. IF any defenseman was going to get a maximum-term seven-year deal, it would be Orlov.
But instead, he follows the lead of countryman and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who secured his own pricey two-year deal earlier this offseason.
Orlov is an all-situations minutes-eating top-four defenseman who averages over 20 minutes of ice time per night for his career, including this past season where he averaged over 22.
Not only is Orlov a capable defensive defenseman and a penalty-kill contributor, he’s also a valuable offensive defenseman as well.
After a mid-season trade to the Boston Bruins, Orlov scored 17 points in just 23 regular-season games as well as eight points in seven playoff games.
That put Orlov in his peak range which has been around 35 points, though his scorching hot run with the Bruins suggests there’s more offensive potential in Orlov’s game than he may have shown as a Capital.
Orlov will be turning 34 when this contract with the Hurricanes ends, meaning one has to wonder if he’ll truly be in line to cash in on a significant long-term deal. That being said, there are few better places for him to land than Carolina. Adding to incumbent left-handers Jaccob Slavin and Brady Skjei, Orlov gives the Hurricanes easily the NHL’s best left side of their defense.
He’ll be leaned upon heavily by head coach Rod Brind’Amour and be a major help to the Hurricanes’ hopes for a Stanley Cup championship, all without the long-term commitment that can bite teams in later years.
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Vegas Golden Knights Extend Adin Hill
June 30: Vegas has confirmed Hill’s extension at $4.9MM per season over two years. PuckPedia confirms the breakdown of his contract:
2023-24: $1.6MM base salary, $4MM signing bonus, eight-team no-trade list
2024-25: $4.2MM base salary, five-team no-trade list
June 25: The Vegas Golden Knights captured their franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup earlier this month, and while he didn’t end up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy the work of netminder Adin Hill played a significant role in getting Vegas over the line.
Now it appears Vegas is nearing a contract extension agreement with Hill, 27, who was set to hit the open market July 1st. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has reported that Hill is “looking at an extension in Vegas around the 2x$4.9M range,” and that nothing is official at this time.
PuckPedia made a point that will be central to the reception of this contract, which is that Hill’s reported $4.9MM cap hit “would put him just outside a top 16 starter in Cap Hit. Based on last season, at that cap hit he would be expected to play 50+ games.” That’s potentially going to be an issue for Hill, as the last time he was a true full-time goalie for a full season was with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks back in 2015-16.
In recent years Hill has consistently battled injuries, and even though he had injury troubles this season as well he actually set a career-high in NHL games played with 27.
The six-foot-four 27-year-old played quite well in those 27 games, posting a 16-7-1 record and a .915 save percentage, but those numbers won’t deliver enough return on Vegas’ $4.9MM AAV investment unless he can handle a higher workload.
Even with those concerns about availability, it’s abundantly clear why Vegas made the choice to extend Hill and reward him for his playoff heroics. Hill’s playoff performance stepping in after an injury to Laurent Brossoit was genuinely stunning, and his .932 save percentage in 16 games is a testament to that. Hill’s out-of-this-world save on Nick Cousins to set the tone for the Stanley Cup Final is going to be a moment long remembered in hockey history, and while NHL clubs probably shouldn’t let sentimentality influence major financial decisions, Vegas’ desire to keep their playoff hero around for longer than just one season is completely understandable.
There are going to be fans that snicker at Hill receiving a per-year cap hit nearly as high as what Darcy Kuemper, a tried-and-tested, durable NHL starter received on the open market after winning his own Stanley Cup. That’s an understandable point of view given just how spotty Hill’s track record has been in past years. He was let go by San Jose last summer for a mid-round draft pick, after all.
But in the end, this is a player who shouldered a significant amount of responsibility in high-leverage moments and led his team to a Stanley Cup. 26-year-old Logan Thompson, who impressed as a rookie this past season, will cost Vegas just $766k against the cap for the duration of this Hill contract extension. So assuming Vegas runs a Hill-Thompson tandem, they’ll be paying their netminders under $6MM combined, a totally affordable number.
The presence of Robin Lehner and his $5MM cap hit on Vegas’ books complicates things, especially if he plans on returning to the ice after missing the season due to hip surgeries. But with the start of free agency looming, locking up Hill and therefore a two-goalie tandem for the next two seasons is a solid bit of business, assuming Hill can stay healthy.
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Markus Nutivaara To Retire
According to Yle Urheilu’s Tommi Seppala, San Jose Sharks defenseman Markus Nutivaara is calling it a career due to a hip injury. That injury cost Nutivaara his 2022-23 season, meaning he only suited up for preseason games as a member of the San Jose Sharks.
Nutivaara signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Sharks after a 2021-22 season where injuries again limited him severely, this time to only one regular-season game with the Florida Panthers. Nutivaara isn’t even 30, meaning these accumulated injuries have caused him to retire likely far earlier than he otherwise would have.
Although it’s undoubtedly quite a disappointment to see his career end prematurely due to injuries, Nutivaara can definitely look back on his playing career with pride.
The Oulu, Finland native worked his way up the junior ranks in his home country before breaking into Liiga, Finland’s top league, in 2014-15. He won a Liiga title with Karpat that year and was drafted 189th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nutivaara spent one more year with Karpat before heading to North America, where he would make it as a full-time NHLer as a rookie. He got into 66 games for Columbus and played over 13 minutes a night as a 22-year-old blueliner.
He would go on two play two more seasons as a regular for Columbus, peaking in 2018-19 when he averaged nearly 18 minutes of time on ice per night and scored 21 points. He was on the Blue Jackets team that achieved a historic upset series sweep over the at-the-time record-setting Tampa Bay Lightning.
While the injuries dragged down Nutivaara’s career after that point, he concludes his time as a player having proven himself in the world’s toughest league and achieved championship glory in the top league in his home country.
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Nashville Predators Buy Out Matt Duchene
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.
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Detroit Red Wings To Buy Out Kailer Yamamoto
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
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.
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Winnipeg Jets To Buy Out Blake Wheeler
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.
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