Afternoon Notes: Thompson, Reichel, Ovechkin
It has been an up-and-down year for Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson. He was excluded from Team USA’s roster at the Four Nations Face-Off in February, prompting a monster run through the rest of his games last season. He scored 33 goals in 57 games following the mid-year break, then added nine points in 10 games at the summer’s World Championship, including the decisive goal to earn the United States their first Gold Medal in recent history. As part of an extended interview, Thompson told Michael Russo of The Athletic that he’s hoping that goal can advance his spot on the watchlist as the USA prepares for the Olympics. He said:
I would hope scoring that goal would make a difference, but it’s also one play. It doesn’t define me as a player or mean that I had a great tournament or anything by that means… I want to be an Olympian, but getting the Sabres back into the playoffs is always at the forefront.
Thompson is undoubtedly one of America’s biggest scoring threats. His 120 goals in 225 games is the second-most from any American in the NHL since 2022, behind only Auston Matthews (142 goals in 222 games). Thompson has managed that feat despite playing for the only team to score more than 800 goals, and still get outscored, in the same timeframe. He’s the standing pillar of a struggling team, a point made literal by Thompson’s 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame. The United States tied Canada for the most goals (10) during their three games at the 4-Nations Face-Off. Adding a player of Thompson’s caliber to the lineup could be enough to will the Americans over their rival on the biggest stage next February.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Chicago Blackhawks winger Lukas Reichel told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun Times that he hasn’t been able to dodge trade rumors – even hearing them on the streets of his native Germany. Despite that, Reichel emphasized that his focus is squarely on carving out a big role with the Blackhawks next season. He scored a career-high eight goals and 22 points in 70 games last season, but still seems well capable of achieving more. The Blackhawks will have plenty of new faces challenging Reichel for minutes next year, including newcomer Andre Burakovsky and rookies Oliver Moore and Landon Slaggert. That competition will push Reichel to a breaking point. If he can show his might in the NHL, he’ll earn a strong role in the middle-six. If not, he could soon find a path away from the Blackhawks organization.
- NHL legend Alex Ovechkin has departed from his native Russia to return to the United States for the 2025-26 season, shares Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Ovechkin will kick off his 21st season in the NHL when he lands back in Washington D.C. That mark will make him one of just 42 NHL players to appear in at least 21 seasons. The future Hall-of-Famer broke the league’s record for all-time goals last season, en route to an incredibly 44 goals and 73 points in just 65 games. It will be hard to relieve those numbers as he inches as he prepares to play in his age-40 season. Even then, managing even half of that scoring pace would put Ovechkin on pace for the highest-scoring age-40 season since Teemu Selanne posted 80 points in 2010-11.
Extending Jack Eichel Will Be A Top Priority For Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights find their back to summer fireworks every single year. They pulled off a sign-and-trade deal for Mitch Marner this year, complete with an eight-year, $96MM contract for the superstar winger. Now, they face the looming task of signing top center Jack Eichel before he reaches free agency next July. Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said that Eichel’s deal will be a top priority for the club in a recent conversation with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun further added that, while the two sides still have a long way to go, he’d be surprised if a deal didn’t get done.
Extension conversations between Eichel and Vegas began back in May, and the team began to work out contract estimates following their July acquisition of Marner. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested that Vegas was ready to hand Eichel an even heftier deal than what Marner received – and with talks continuing at a strong cadence, it doesn’t seem that bar has created any barriers.
Targeting a deal richer than Marner’s will almost certainly land the value of Eichel’s next deal north of $100MM. That would put him among a limited, but growing, group of NHL stars to sign a nine-figure deal. Only seven players have signed such contracts – the most recent being Leon Draisaitl‘s record-breaking $112MM contract with the Edmonton Oilers. That deal – which carries a $14MM cap hit for eight seasons – could be where Vegas begins conversations with Eichel. The 28-year-old centerman hasn’t yet crossed the century mark in scoring, but he’s planted deep roots in Vegas’ top forward role and seems set for a big year with Marner’s support.
Aside from the importance of signing your lineup star, Vegas will need to cement Eichel’s deal before they even think of budgeting for the 2026-27 season. The salary cap is expected to rise to $104MM – nearly $9MM more than next season’s limit – which should give Vegas plenty of space to give Eichel a raise of $4MM or $5MM per year. The Golden Knights will be pushing up against the cap ceiling this next season, and will only manage any cap relief by placing top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo on long-term injured reserve.
No matter where his salary ends up, Eichel’s next deal seems all-but-certain to carry through the bulk of his 30’s. They could be the best years of the one-time Stanley Cup winner’s career as well, as Vegas continues to load up on blue-chip talent through free agency and the draft. The Golden Knights will be as competitive as ever next season – with Marner’s debut, Pavel Dorofeyev‘s follow-up, and Trevor Connelly‘s push up the minor-leagues each providing plenty of sparks.
Ryane Clowe Steps Down From Sharks’ Assistant GM Role
In a surprising bit of news, former NHL forward Ryane Clowe has announced he has resigned from the San Jose Sharks’ assistant general manager role. Last season was Clowe’s first in a role with the Sharks front office. In a statement released through the Sharks social media, Clowe said:
I truly loved being back in San Jose and working with Mike Grier and his entire team, but at this point, this decision is in the best interest of my family. The franchise has an exciting future ahead and is set up to be successful for a long period of time…
Last summer, Clowe returned to the Sharks organization for the first time since 2013. His last tenure with the Sharks spanned 12 years, beginning with a sixth-round selection in the 2001 NHL Draft. Clowe moved to the Sharks’ pro ranks two seasons later, joining the AHL’s Cleveland Barons in the 2003-04 season. He was an instant force – netting 102 points and 198 penalty minutes over his first two seasons, and 146 games, in the minor-leagues. That earned him a full-time role in the NHL by 2006, and Clowe quickly became a core piece of the San Jose roster. He rivaled 50 points and 100 penalty minutes in every season between 2008 and 2012 – and served as the club’s assistant captain for the latter three years.
His time with San Jose came to a close when he was controversially traded to the New York Rangers for a heap of draft picks in 2013. Clowe didn’t find the same groove with the Rangers, and couldn’t rediscover it with a move to the New Jersey Devils later in his career. He played his final NHL game in 2015 and joined the Devils as an assistant coach in 2016.
Clowe worked backwards with his playing days behind him. He served two years on the Devils’ bench, before serving three in a team consultant and senior advisor position with the Rangers, and then moving to the Sharks last summer.
Now, Clowe steps away from important roles with San Jose’s NHL and AHL rosters. His duties will likely be distributed among fellow assistant GMs Joe Will and Tom Holy, unless the Sharks opt to hire a replacement. At the time, it’s not clear why Clowe chose to step away from the Sharks, though it’d be hard to imagine he stays away from the sport for too long. Clowe recorded 309 points and 618 penalty minutes in 491 games, and 13 seasons, in his NHL career. He’s pushed through six more NHL seasons in a staff position.
Flames Sign Connor Zary To Three-Year Contract
Saturday: The Flames officially announced the contract with the $3.775MM AAV as reported. PuckPedia reports that the deal carries a $500K signing bonus with a $3.275MM salary for the upcoming season with the salaries in 2026-27 and 2027-28 being a flat $3.775MM.
Friday: The Flames are getting their final RFA under contract. They’re putting the finishing touches on a three-year contract with forward Connor Zary worth just under $3.775MM per season, per Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It will check off the last major item on Calgary’s off-season list.
After weeks of anticipation, Zary will put pen to paper on a bridge contract that will keep him in the Saddledome. The 2020 first-round pick has emerged as a top option in Calgary’s retooled offense, after two years of high-end play in the AHL. Zary made his pro debut in February, 2021 – taking advantage of the delayed start to the WHL season due to COVID-19. He looked pro-ready right out of the gates, netting seven points in his first nine AHL games before returning to captain the Kamloops Blazers through the end of the season. He scored 24 points in 15 games with the Blazers and turned pro full-time the following year, concluding his junior career at 206 points in 203 games.
After a hot start, Zary stuttered a bit in his first full AHL year. He scored just 13 goals and 25 points in 53 games, and struggled to maintain a role near the top of the Stockton Heat lineup. Those fortunes turned around when the Heat relocated to Calgary for the 2022-23 season. Zary blossomed with the heat of the NHL that much closer. He looked more engaged across the board, and worked to an impressive 21 goals and 58 points in 72 games as a result. That performance wasn’t enough to earn an NHL role outright, but Zary forced the Flames’ hand with 10 points in six AHL games – including one four-assist night – at the start of the 2023-24 season.
Calgary has provided Zary plenty of opportunity to plant his feet in the NHL lineup in the two seasons since. He debuted in the team’s top-six, and cemented his spot with six points through his first six NHL games. The scoring continued through the year – and he wrapped up his first season with 34 points in 63 games, the sixth-highest scoring pace of any rookie. He was comfortably fluctuating between the second and third line by the end of the year, and even capped off his rookie year with four points in his final five games.
This season started much the same. Zary scored five points in the first four games of the season – but quickly fell into the rut of scoring in bursts, with long scoring droughts in between. He struggled to maintain a top-line role as a result, and ultimately fell out of the lineup entirely when he suffered an injury to his left-knee in a January matchup against the Anaheim Ducks. The injury held Zary out of the lineup for a month and a half – and he struggled to find his footing after returning. He scored just two points in his first nine games back. Right as he was returning to form in late-March, Zary sustained another injury to his left-knee. This one ended his season early, limiting him to just 27 points in 54 games on the year.
The 23-year-old center faced the first free agent negotiations of his young career on the heels of those untimely injuries. He was undoubtedly impressive at his brightest moments, but was kept from showing full-season consistency by routine injury – making a bridge deal all but guaranteed. With short-term control, the Flames will be able to hedge their bets in the event that Zary continues to bounce in and out of the lineup, or face extended scoring lulls. On the same coin, the young centerman could soon earn much more than his $3.775MM cap hit – if he can show an ability to hold down a top-six role through an entire 82-game season. He has averaged 43 points per 82 games through his first two seasons in the NHL – but seems capable of achieving 50, or even 60, points at his peak based on talent alone. On this new deal, Calgary will test whether that talent can exist above, or through, the challenges that Zary faces as a young speedster in the NHL.
Photo courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.
Mattias Ekholm Wants To Stay With Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers’ next summer will be clouded by record-setting contract negotiations, but they’ll have a heap of top talent to re-sign behind Connor McDavid. Top of the list will be defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who expressed a strong desire to stick around in a recent conversation with Daily Faceoff’s Jason Gregor. The 35-year-old defenseman said:
Absolutely I want to stay in Edmonton, but I know you have to take care of the big boys first. Once [Connor McDavid] gets [signed] I’m sure we will talk.
Ekholm was narrowly Edmonton’s third defenseman last season. He averaged 22:12 in ice time each game while rotating in-and-out of a top pair role with Darnell Nurse, who averaged 22:22. His year ended with an impressive nine goals and 33 points in 65 games – the second-highest scoring season he’s had since 2020. He managed his highest last year, when he scored 11 goals and 45 points in 75 games.
Even in his sunset years, Ekholm has remained an active impact in all three zones. He shows no signs of wavering any time soon, and offers Edmonton’s blue-line unique veteran value. But he’ll be 36 by the time he’s playing out his next contract. That will cap his next deal in both price and term. He’s wrapping up a four-year, $25MM deal originally signed with the Nashville Predators in 2021. Halving that deal could be an interesting start for next summer’s negotiations, though Ekholm could surely earn a bit more after two proficient seasons in Edmonton.
Sharks Acquire Carey Price’s Contract From Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have traded Carey Price’s contract and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for minor-league defenseman Gannon Laroque. Price has not played since 2021, after undergoing surgery to repair a serious meniscus injury. He carries a $10.5MM cap hit through the end of this season.
Price has received a $5.5MM signing bonus on September 1st of each year of his contract. The Canadiens paid that tab earlier this week, opening the door for his lofty cap hit to be moved out. With no bonuses to worry about, San Jose will only have to pay Price $2MM in base salary, while reaping the benefits of a $10.5MM cap hit. That mark brings San Jose’s cap utilization up to $86.23MM – still $9.24MM below the cap ceiling. Montreal, meanwhile, will move forward with roughly $4.57MM in cap space.
The trade makes sense financially for both sides. The Sharks now distance themselves from the cap floor, while Montreal will be able to enter the season without utilizing long-term injured reserve. That latter point will prove particularly beneficial for Montreal, as they’ll now have the flexibility to bring in almost $5MM in lineup talent – rather than being forced to enter the season at the cap ceiling, since they exceeded the ceiling with Price’s contract on the books.
Montreal is planning to take full advantage of that newfound flexibility, per Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gaming. D’Amico shares that – whether it’s before the season or closer to December – the Habs have expressed interest in building out their roster. The team is noticeably lacking depth at the center position, with little to offer behind clear-cut, top center Nick Suzuki. That could make the Canadiens a strong candidate for a player like Jack Roslovic, who surprisingly remains on the free agent market despite scoring 22 goals and 39 points in his ninth NHL season last year.
The Canadiens will also receive an interesting prospect in this swap. Laroque has fallen victim to substantial injuries throughout each of the last few seasons. He had to undergo surgery on both hips in 2022, forcing him to sit out of all but four games of his final WHL season. He scored five points in those games. Recovery from the hip surgery continued through the 2023-24 season, though Laroque was able to play nine games, and record two points and eight penalty minutes, in both the AHL and ECHL. He seemed well-set to formally begin his pro career, before being pulled out of the 2024-25 season entirely by an undisclosed injury. It wasn’t revealed if this new injury was related to his previous hip surgeries. He was a productive, right-shot defender when he appeared at the junior level. Spending the better parts of two seasons with the WHL’s Victoria Royals, Laroque was able to record 59 points in 84 games.
Meanwhile, San Jose will move forward with balanced books and a clearer outlook of their expenses this season. This move drops San Jose from having the second-most cap space in the league, to the ninth-most. They also now carry 49 contracts, out of a possible 50. Sharks fans will zero in on how the team chooses to move forward with superstar prospect Michael Misa – the second-overall selection in this year’s NHL Draft. Misa scored an incredible 62 goals and 134 points in 65 OHL games this season, but still remains unsigned despite seemingly accomplishing everything he could at the junior flight. He’ll be a name to watch closely, and could even find his way onto the Sharks’ opening night roster, now that the team has a bit more financial security.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports.
Marco Scandella Confirms Retirement
September 2025: Nearly a year after telling reporters he was retired, Scandella has evidently filed his retirement paperwork. The Blues made an announcement today confirming his retirement.
October 2024: St. Louis Blues defenseman Marco Scandella has retired from his pro playing career, sharing as much with Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Scandella attended the Blues’ morning skate on Saturday, visiting old teammates and affirming to reporters that he’s taken to traveling with his newfound free time. He last played in the final game of St. Louis’ 2023-24 season, though his year as a whole would be limited by routine healthy scratches. Scandella totaled eight points in 65 games in what is now his final season.
St. Louis acquired Scandella from the Montreal Canadiens in 2020, sending a 2020 second and 2021 fourth-round pick the other way. Those picks turned into prospects Jack Finley and William Trudeau, respectively, while Scandella pursued a five-year career in St. Louis. He appeared in 215 games over that span, stepping in as a stout two-way option down St. Louis’ depth chart. However, Scandella was never a prolific scorer with the Blues, reaching a career high of 24 points in 49 games during the 2020-21 season.
The Blues were one of four teams to host Scandella during his 14-year NHL career, which began with the Minnesota Wild in the 2010-11 season. He played in 20 games and recorded just two assists in his first season, impressing enough with his abilities off-puck to earn 63 games in a routine top-pair role in the following year. Unfortunately, his rise to a prominent lineup role would be coupled with the first long-term injuries of his career.
He’d be limited by finger injuries, concussions, and groin injuries through his first three pro seasons. He kicked the injury bug in 2013 and became one of the most consistent parts of Minnesota’s lineup until a 2017 trade to the Buffalo Sabres. Scandella continued to serve as a low-scoring, high-responsibility defender in Buffalo, even serving as the team’s top defender in the 2017-18 season. That was a career year for Scandella, marking the only time he appeared in all 82 games of a season. He’d record 22 points, one shy of his career-high set in 2015, while averaging over 23 minutes of ice time.
Scandella’s role would decline every year after his peak with the Sabres, save for a 70-game season with the Blues in 2021-22. He played through his age-33 season, totaling 170 points in 784 games and 42 points in 96 AHL games. His career was marked by diligent and responsible defense, which could be enough to earn Scandella a coaching career down the road.
Senators Re-Sign Donovan Sebrango
The Ottawa Senators have signed defenseman Donovan Sebrango to a one-year, two-way contract extension, per PuckPedia. Sebrango was one of two remaining restricted-free agents in Ottawa’s system, alongside defender Max Guenette.
Sebrango played the first two NHL games of his career with Ottawa last season. He only managed 20:37 minutes of ice time between the two games, and didn’t record any notable stat changes – but the games were still an important step for the 23-year-old. He has otherwise spent the last five seasons in a full-time, AHL role – spread across games with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Belleville Senators.
Sebrango struggled to produce much on either side of the ice through his early career – netting just 18 points in 135 games with the Griffins. The low scoring seemed set to continue after Sebrango recorded just seven assists in 35 games of his first year with Belleville. But the young defender finally found his groove this season, climbing all the way to 20 points in 50 games with Belleville. That jump in offense, complimented by a gritty, two-way style, earned Sebrango quick attention from the Senators. A one-year extension could be exactly what the young blue-liner needs to build on his momentum from the breakout year. Another hot year could earn him even more NHL ice time, and a much more confident contract offer from the Senators next summer. Sebrango was originally a third-round pick to the Detroit Red Wings in 2020 – after managing an OHL career that spanned 56 points in 118 games.
Brandon Yip Announces Retirement
Former Colorado Avalanche forward Brandon Yip has announced his retirement from professional hockey via a social media post from his team, the KHL’s Shanghai Red Dragons. This news confirms recent speculation. Yip spent seven of his final eight seasons with the Kunlun Red Stars, who relocated to Shanghai this summer. His sole year away from Kunlun in that span came with the Liiga’s Mikkelin Jukurit during the pandemic season in 2020-21.
Yip became a beacon of Chinese hockey in the second-half of his career. He joined Kunlun in 2017, after three years in Germany’s DEL, and earned the captaincy for the top Chinese club after just one season. He would carry the Red Stars’ ‘C’ for six more seasons. Residency in China also helped Yip – a Chinese-Canadian – join Team China at the 2022 Winter Olympic Qualifiers. He posted one assist in four tournament games, and six points in four games at the Division-II-A World Championship, that season. His performance was a major part of China’s promotion to the Division-I-B World Championship in 2023, where he scored four points in five games. Yip served as China’s captain in all 13 games he played with the club.
Yip’s career took him across the hockey world before settling in China. He earned an eighth-round selection in the 2004 NHL Draft after scoring 131 points in 99 BCHL games, through two seasons in the league. He followed his draft selection with a four-year tenure at Boston University, where he scored 108 points in 138 games. Colorado promoted Yip to the NHL the year after his collegiate career ended, and he managed a hardy 11 goals and 19 points in 32 games.
That was enough to earn Yip a nightly lineup role for the 2010-11 season – but he wasn’t able to keep the high-tempo offense rolling. He scored just 22 points in 71 games that year, kicking off a slide of underwhelming play that’d carry through the next four seasons. Yip moved to the Nashville Predators in 2012, and Phoenix Coyotes in 2013, but ultimately found himself in a full-time AHL role by 2014. He chose to move away from North America two years later, ending his NHL career at 56 points in 174 games.
Now taking the first step beyond his playing career, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Yip take on a new role with Team China. He boasts the most NHL experience of any player in the country’s brief international hockey history. Currently, 74-year-old Perry Pearn – once a journeyman NHL assistant coach – serves as the head coach of China’s Men’s team and junior team.
Evening Notes: Laine, Salary Cap, 84-Game Schedule
Montreal Canadiens winger Patrik Laine has a path to more minutes this season, after averaging a career-low 14:18 in ice time last season. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes met with Laine to discuss areas he could focus growing in to earn a hardier role in the lineup, shares Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.
Laine finished the season with 20 goals in 52 games, but Montreal was also outscored 17-to-26 when Laine was on the ice at even-strength. Questions about Laine’s effort outside of the defensive zone have existed since his rookie season, but it’s hard not to imagine those are the attributes the Canadiens would like to see more. Finding an added step towards opponents in the defensive zone, and winning more battles in the dirty areas of the ice, would go a long way towards helping the 6-foot-4 Laine fit in with an otherwise undersized top-six. Laine reached the 30-goal mark in each of his first three seasons in the NHL, and could be a real X-factor in the Canadiens lineup should he take the necessary strides.
Other notes from around the league:
- NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly elaborated on upcoming changes to the league’s use of long-term injured reserve in an interview at the NHL’s pre-season coaches/GM meeting. He received many questions on the league’s new rule that playoff lineups must be cap-compliant. That includes one from Engels, who asked if there would be exceptions made for players working back from injury who are game-time decisions. Daly did not have an answer, other than to say that the league will answer that question in the future. The Stanley Cup playoffs are eight months away, allowing for plenty of time for the league to continue sorting out how they want to carry out changes to the CBA.
- More light has also been shed on the league’s upcoming shift to an 84-game schedule, set to begin in the 2026-27 season. With that expansion, the season will be slated to begin in late-September and end in mid-June, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The shift to an earlier start to the season will be welcomed by many hockey fans, though a heavier workload will keep the season’s end tight to the NHL Draft and start of free agency on July 1st. That will be bittersweet news for many, especially NHL front offices, who have recently urged for a longer break between the end of the season and start of free agency.