Prospect Notes: Behrens, Wassilyn, Bourque
The Colorado Avalanche have received a bit of good news in the quietest days of summer. Defense prospect Sean Behrens shared that he’s been fully cleared to participate in the team’s rookie tournament with Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports. Behrens missed all but two games of last season after sustaining a knee injury in an October practice scrimmage. The first-year pro only suited up for the very first, and very final, game of the Colorado Eagles’ season.
Hopes were high for Behrens prior to his season-ending injury. He seemed well set for a strong push into pros after finishing a three-year stay at the University of Denver with 31 points in 44 games, and a National Championship win, in the 2023-24 season. Behrens was a core part of the title-winning Pioneers, where he often found himself playing alongside or directly behind top prospect Zeev Buium. He showed off all of the sharp stickhandling and quick skating needed to keep the Pioneers offense running with Buium off the ice, and earned the NCHC’s ‘Defenseman Of The Year’ award as a result. Behrens now faces an uphill battle adjusting his slight, 5-foot-10 frame to the pro level. He’s made strong impacts in both junior and college hockey, and could earn a top role with the Eagles with a quick return.. He’ll be a name for fans to watch – though likely one that the Avalanche take their time with – as he looks forward to a healthy season.
Other notes from around the prospect world:
- Top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Braidy Wassilyn will indeed return to the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs next season, then attend Boston University in the 2026-27 season, shares Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. Kennedy mentions that Wassilyn’s return to juniors wasn’t previously guaranteed. This news puts the cherry on top of a productive summer for Niagara. Wassilyn scored 39 points in 62 games of his rookie OHL season last year. He rivaled the team’s top-six by the end of the season, profiling as a sharp and mobile playmaker with a heavy, 200-pound frame. He’ll return to great company in Niagara – set to play alongside fellow top 2026 draft prospect Ryan Roobroeck, Winnipeg Jets prospect Kevin He, and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Ethan Czata.
- Dallas Stars forward Mavrik Bourque will now be represented by agent Olivier Fortier, Vice President of Wasserman Hockey, per PuckPedia. Borque just wrapped up his rookie season in the NHL with 11 goals and 25 points in 73 games. It was a relatively calm performance, after Bourque won the AHL’s MVP award with 77 points in 71 games of the 2023-24 season. He did maintain a positive plus-minus and consistent lineup role through his first NHL season, even playing second-line minutes through certain points in the year. He’ll face the task of now cementing a spot up the lineup, and discovering his scoring prowess, ahead of restricted-free agency next summer.
Maple Leafs’ Matthew Knies Could Be Beneficiary Of Marner Move
The conversation of which forward will step up for the Toronto Maple Leafs is beginning to grow as players reconvene for training camp. Toronto lost 100-point scorer Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights, and failed to find a suitable replacement on the open market. That will leave the task of filling Marner’s shoes to one of the Leafs’ current stars. Left-winger Matthew Knies dubbed William Nylander as the best bet in an interview with Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun. But following a true breakout performance last year, Knies could be the one best setup for another big step.
Knies found his way in the Maple Leafs lineup with a career-high 58 points, split evenly, in 78 games. He found his way onto Toronto’s top line at the age of just 22, becoming the heavy play-driver behind Auston Matthews and Marner. The star-studded company helped Knies reach a lofty 19.1 shooting percentage that will be tough to maintain, but his habits of driving hard into the slot will become a defining trait.
That style complements the similar heft and drive of Nylander, who has spearheaded one of the best second lines in the league next to passer John Tavares. Nylander reached a career-high 45 goals last season, after two seasons of scoring 40 goals. He’s undeniably a star on the rise, though on the back of stepping up as the #1 of his own line – rather than playing along Toronto’s other stars.
That independent ability could convince head coach Craig Berube to leave Nylander separate from the top line. The Swedish star wouldn’t commit to a role when asked, saying his only plans for next year are to dominate the minutes he does receive. If Nylander doesn’t elevate to the top line, Knies will confidently move into the line’s role of #2 behind Matthews. The responsibilities of that status will include teeing up Matthews, and burying the rebounds that his heavy shots generate.
Even on the back of a sky-high shooting percentage, Knies seems well-equipped to match that bill. He showed might in all three layers of the offensive zone, and is still incredibly early in his professional development. The help of a skilled passer, like Matias Maccelli, or the reserved grit of a player like Nicolas Roy could be enough support to let Knies dig in his feet as the star Toronto needs.
A ramp into more responsibility is exactly what Knies is due for after flashing as a 30-goal hopeful last season. He faces a tough task in maintaining his performance from last season, and an even tougher test in finding ways to improve. But in a lineup looking for a big performance, Knies could be the one holding the most potential. Growing to the heights of 65, or even 70, points would maintain Toronto’s mighty top-six, vindicate Knies’ recent contract extension, and undoubtedly cement him as the club’s biggest draft steal in years.
Ducks Want To Sign Mason McTavish Long-Term
With Marco Rossi off the board, the top remaining restricted-free agent at forward is almost certainly Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish. The 22-year-old remains unsigned as September nears, pushing him to the very top of late-summer trade rumors. But despite growing discussion of a potential move, Eric Stephens of The Athletic emphasized that McTavish isn’t going anywhere.
In a recent mailbag, Stephens pointed out that – while plenty of teams need high-upside forwards – the Ducks have far too much need for their own center with upside. He added that the holdup in re-signing McTavish is the team’s desire to avoid a bridge contract, and ink one of their top scorers to a long-term contract.
McTavish always seemed unlikely to part from the Anaheim organization. He plays a style that’s confidently in-line with the preference of general manager Pat Verbeek, and both former head coach Greg Cronin and future head coach Joel Quenneville. McTavish was also one of the Ducks’ top offensive pieces last season, leading the team with 22 goals and ranking second with 52 points through 76 games on the season. The only player to outscore the young center was veteran winger Troy Terry, who finished the year with 55 points.
That’s a glowing performance for a player so young. While many players his age are still working towards breaking into the NHL, McTavish has already firmly planted his feet. He’s totaled 58 goals and 137 points in 220 games over the last three seasons – an average of 22 goals and 51 points per every 82 games. The 2021 third-overall selection also worked his way up to an even plus-minus last season, after recording a minus-19 and minus-23 in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons respectively.
More than finding his way to the top of Anaheim’s scoring charts, McTavish’s seemed to find a new layer of confidence last season. He emerged as one of the club’s top play-drivers, and the perfect skillful complement to the brute of Leo Carlsson. That mental improvement, and lineup fit, should set McTavish up for a huge season next year. He’ll enter the season as perhaps the best bet for the top-line center role under Quenneville’s guidance.
With a 30-goal and 60-point season seemingly within reach for McTavish, it only makes sense that Anaheim want to solidify his salary for the future as soon as they can. But finding the right price will be a challenge. The Chicago Blackhawks recently signed 21-year-old Frank Nazar to a seven-year, $46.2MM contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks. That deal came after Nazar played in just 56 career games, and scored at a 40-point pace.
Those numbers are far flatter than the 60 goals and 140 points McTavish has totaled in 229 career games – likely earning the Ducks’ star a salary far above Nazar’s $6.6MM cap hit. Anaheim may need to be ready to spend $7MM or even $8MM on McTavish in order to buy a long-term extension. While that will require careful budgeting, it will put no stress on the Ducks’ 2025-26 season. They sit with more than $20.5MM in available cap space entering next season, with only McTavish left to sign.
A hardy extension for McTavish could be the Ducks’ first true stride towards a new era. He’s a high-impact centerman, with the skill to drive play and the heft to fit in a physical Ducks lineup. While rumors continue to swirl, Stephens assures that Anaheim will take that step forward sooner rather than later.
Filip Gustavsson Open To Extension With Wild
The Minnesota Wild can finally turn their attention towards the 2026 summer after locking up top restricted-free agent Marco Rossi to a three-year deal. One of their top tasks will be making a decision on the future of their crease. Veteran goaltender Filip Gustavsson will play through the final year of his three-year, $11.25MM contract next season and be due for a much richer salary next summer. Ahead of returning to Minnesota for training camp, Gustavsson told Michael Russo of The Athletic that he is open to inking a new deal. The netminder said:
I’ve had the conversations with my agent and all that stuff, and what we’re looking into and what we would like to do… {We} haven’t started actively talking to {Bill Guerin} or anything. When they want to talk, then we talk, and otherwise I have this year left and I’m just gonna play and win.
Early interest in an extension could benefit Gustavsson. He’s set to be backed up by top Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt for the first time next season, after hockey legend Marc-Andre Fleury announced his retirement last season. Wallstedt was a first-round pick – 20th overall – in the 2021 NHL Draft. He moved to the AHL’s Iowa Wild two seasons later, and has served as the team’s de facto starter in the three years since. That tenure started positive – with a .908 save percentage in 38 games of his AHL rookie season. He followed it with a .910 Sv% in 45 games of the 2023-24 season, but soured this year with a bleak .879 Sv% in 27 games, low enough to cede the starter’s chair to Samuel Hlavaj.
Despite the dip, Wallstedt still stands as one of the best goalie prospects in the world, and will finally get a chance to show his might at the NHL level next season. He won’t stand much of a chance to overcome Gustavsson, who spent the last three seasons firmly planting his feet in Minnesota’s starter’s crease. After years of fluctuating between NHL and AHL lineups, Gustavsson flourished with a move to Minnesota in 2022. He had a career-year in his debut season with the Wild, recording a .931 Sv% and lofty 22-9-7 record in 39 games.
With a path to the starting role carved out, Gustavsson quickly established himself as Minnesota’s surest bet to win games. He was a composed, big-moment goaltender, who stood as one of the squad’s bright spots in a slumping 2023-24 season. Gustavsson recorded a team-best .899 Sv% and 20-17-5 record in 45 games that year. It was a slight dip, on a Wild roster that was outscored by 12 goals on the full year, and Gustavsson continued to surge as Fleury entered his final season this year. The 27-year-old Swede managed a bright 31-19-6 record and .914 Sv% in 58 games. That performance not only marked the most Gustavsson played in a single season, but also gave Gustavsson the fourth-highest save percentage of any starter in the NHL.
It is on the heels of that performance that tremendous Gustavsson will now beginning entertaining a new contract. Even with the pressure of Wallstedt, there’s no question over who Minnesota’s top goaltender is. Gustavsson has shined as a consistent performer, through both extended runs in the regular season and spot performances in the playoffs. He’s also square in the middle of his prime years, and could stand up to a starter’s year through the next four, five, or six seasons.
Gustavsson’s rise to the starter role, and standout performance last year, are both very comparable to 28-year-old Mackenzie Blackwood. Blackwood was dealt around the NHL over the last two seasons, but planted his feet with the Colorado Avalanche last season, stamped by a five-year, $26.25MM contract extension. That price tag – a yearly cap-hit of $5.25MM – could be the mark that Gustavsson shoots for on a new deal. He could even ease his way closer to $6MM, with the benefit of a career-long .913 Sv% sitting higher than Blackwood’s .906.
The Wild could prefer waiting to see how Wallstedt performs in his first full NHL season before they commit to Gustavsson long-term. But with a lofty 73-46-17 record and .914 Sv% in 142 total games with the Wild, it will take a monumental performance to bump Gustavsson out of his seat. Should he stick in it through the full season, a rich payday seems all but certain next summer.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports.
NHL To Organize 2028 World Cup Without IIHF Involvement
The NHL appears set to move forward with their plan on organizing a World Cup of Hockey. They’re ready to reach out to international clubs directly, rather than work with the IIHF, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. This news doubles down comments that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made in February.
The tournament will be an eight-country event and take place during the 2027-28 season – the year of the next summer Olympics – shares David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Pagnotta adds that preliminary matches will be split between one North American, and one European, city – while semi-final and final rounds will be hosted in North America.
This news answers the question of what the NHL will do in the Olympics’ off-years. The World Cup will feature a wider cast than the 4-Nations Face-Off that took place this February, though the exact list of countries isn’t quite clear. In addition to the four countries that suited up this winter, both Czechia and Slovakia seem like locked-in options. The NHL could also bring in any one of Germany, Switzlerand, Austria, and Latvia – who have each reached varying levels of international success over the last few years.
But Russia will stand as the big uncertainty. Both Russia and Belarus have been barred from participation in IIHF events since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The IIHF upheld that decision for the 2025-26 season and 2026 Winter Olympics. The NHL deciding to go around IIHF involvement does open the door to Russia – one of the world’s top hockey countries – getting back into the swing of best-on-best competition. That would likely give aging stars like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Igor Shesterkin, Nikita Kucherov, and Artemi Panarin a chance to show their might in their prime years. Commissioner Gary Bettman declined comment when asked, back in March, about if the NHL would entertain playing against Russia in the near future.
The World Cup tournament itself will serve as an exciting shove into the future for the world’s top hockey talents. High-potential young players like Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky will be just entering their prime years in 2028, and certainly looking for a chance to prove their country’s might at the top stage. The event will be a great run-up to the 2032 Winter Olympics, where all four players seem ready to play big roles.
The NHL will intercut the World Cup with All-Star games. Bettman has shared that he knows the All-Star matchup will need to live up to high expectations, after the popularity garnered by the 4-Nations Face-Off earlier this year. In an interview with NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Bettman said that everything will be on the table for the next All-Star event. That will set a high bar for the mid-season breaks next season, though many fans will be looking ahead to an even bigger best-on-best tournament only three seasons away.
Mitch Marner Didn’t Think Of Leaving Maple Leafs Until Summer
Winger Mitch Marner was wrapped up in drama and rumors for the bulk of his final years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. A move at the end of the controversial six-year, $65.41MM contract he signed in 2019 seemed all but certain as the summer approached – but despite that, teammate William Nylander emphasized that Marner was focused on the Leafs until the very end. Nylander told NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger:
I actually asked him during the season and he said he was concentrating on Toronto. I didn’t want to press him on that and let him be because it was obviously on his mind, but his play was focused on helping us. Then I asked him after the season and he wasn’t sure.
Aside from wanting to avoid thinking of looming contract negotiations, it’s no surprise to hear Marner remained invested in Toronto. He was born in Markham and grew up playing for the Vaughan Kings and Don Mills Flyers AAA organizations. Marner moved right down the road for juniors hockey, joining the OHL’s London Knights for two superstar seasons, before being drafted by his hometown club with the fourth-overall pick in 2015. He stayed in London for one additional season, before diving into a career that would lead him through 657 games and 741 points in a Maple Leafs jersey.
Despite the fairytale matchup, Marner’s years in Toronto seemed to be clouded by stress. He was ridiculed for a lack of effort, poor results or attitude, and clashes with coaches or teammates. That includes one incident from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Marner and Nylander exchanged heated words on the bench. Fans analyzed the event as signs of mounting tensions, but Nylander told Zeisberger that it was nothing to read into. He said that things happen in the heat of big games, and that it’s still tough to see Marner leave the club after nine years.
Nylander emphasized that Toronto will miss Marner both on and off of the ice. He leaves a monumental hole on the top line, after scoring a career-high 102 points in 81 games last season. That peak came after Marner rivaled the century mark for three straight seasons, even coming as close as 99 points in 80 games of the 2022-23 season. His breakthrough should provide the perfect ramp to another dazzling season among the Vegas Golden Knights’ star-studded lineup. After years of playing alongside Auston Matthews, Marner will now suit up next to Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, and should almost certainly provide the boost to help the former reach the 100-point mark as well.
Meanwhile, Nylander didn’t commit to filling Marner’s role on the top line next season. He said that he’ll be open to playing all throughout the lineup, and is only focused on dominating next season. Nylander also posted a career year last season, reaching a career-high 45 goals to round out 84 points, after he posted 40 goals and 98 points in 2023-24. It was Nylander’s third-straight year of playing in all 82 games. He’ll undeniably be the top bet to fill Marner’s impact, though Toronto may need to dig deep to fill the spot Nylander will vacate to step up in the lineup.
Emil Bemstrom Signs In Swiss National League
Aug. 22: Bemstrom has officially made the jump to Bern, confirming a one-year deal today.
Aug. 12: Pittsburgh Penguins unrestricted free agent Emil Bemstrom will continue his career overseas. He has signed with SC Bern of Switzerland’s National League, per Henrik Sjöberg of Switzerland’s HockeyNews and Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey. This will mark a return to Europe for Bemstrom, who grew up through the Swedish junior hockey pipeline and has experience in Sweden’s SHL and Finland’s Liiga.
Bemstrom played through his first full season in the minor leagues last season, to great effect. He cemented a spot on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ top line, and worked his way to 23 goals and 48 points across 48 games. Despite that, he was only able to manage one assist in 14 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The performance continued a wave of star scoring in the AHL, followed by underwhelming play in the NHL, which Bemstrom has been riding for much of the last four seasons.
The nifty forward made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2019-20 season, after posting 35 points in 47 SHL games in the 2018-19 campaign. His career started off great, with 20 points, split evenly, in his first 56 NHL games. But Bemstrom opted to move to the Liiga for the first half of the shortened 2020-21 season, and while he scored 17 points in 16 games, his NHL scoring fell to a measly five points in 20 games following a return to Columbus. He’d continue on in a depth role for the Blue Jackets through the next two seasons – and even one-upped his rookie performance with 22 points in 55 games of the 2022-23 season. His NHL performances were coupled with tremendous efforts in the AHL, marked by 47 points in just 33 games between 2021 and 2024.
Hot scoring in the minor leagues and a clear ability to outplay his opponents continued to earn Bemstrom routine NHL minutes through the 2023-24 season. But he was never able to find a true groove and found himself relegated to the minor leagues for the majority of last season. He’ll now search for a bigger opportunity on the other side of the world. He brings a resume featuring 75 points in 242 NHL games, and 95 points in 81 AHL games, with him to Switzerland.
Bemstrom will join multiple NHL features on SC Bern’s lineup, including Swedish compatriots Hardy Häman Aktell and Anton Lindholm. Bern has lost in the quarterfinals of the NL’s postseason in each of their last four playoff appearances. They’ll hope the addition of a high-scoring veteran of North American pros will be enough to boost them over tough competition, like the ZSC Lions and HC Lausanne.
Afternoon Notes: Savage, Milano, ECHL
Center prospect Red Savage is set to sign a two-year deal with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, per hockey insider Ken Campbell. The Detroit Red Wings relinquished Savage’s player rights on August 15th, after choosing not to sign the 2021 fourth-round pick to his entry-level contract.
Savage’s decision to turn pro comes on the heels of a long-term shoulder injury, sustained from an awkward fall into the boards in a January matchup against the Michigan Wolverines. The injury ended what was Savage’s first season as captain of the Michigan State Spartans, and limited him to just 11 points in 20 games on the season. He concludes his collegiate career with a combined 68 points in 125 games – split 30 points coming with Miami University of Ohio and 38 with the Spartans. Savage was lauded as a responsible, two-way center for both clubs and should find some immediate impact with the Americans, assuming he returns well from injury.
A move to Rochester will mark a reunion with head coach Michael Leone, who served as an assistant coach over Savage’s two years at the U.S. NTDP. Leone led Rochester to a 42-22-8 record and Division Final loss in his first year of pro coaching last season.
Other notes from around the league:
- Washington Capitals forward Sonny Milano is back on the ice after an upper-body injury ended his season in November. He has been taking part in informal practices with his teammates recently, shares Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Silber adds that Milano hopes to make a push back onto the Capitals roster at training camp. Milano was in the midst of earning a daily lineup role when he suffered his injury. He scored an encouraging 40 goals and 90 points in 179 games in three seasons between 2021 and 2024 – though each year was limited by injury. Questions remained about Milano’s durability and defensive acumen. He didn’t have a chance to dissuade those concerns last year, but seems to be getting an early jump at proving he can stick in the NHL this season.
- The ECHL has announced the approval of an expansion team in Augusta, Georgia set to begin play in the 2027-28 season. This marks a return to The Garden City for the ECHL. Augusta previously served as home to the Augusta Lynx, who folded after 10 seasons in 2008. The new team will be owned by former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, in partnership with David Hodges and Hodges Management Group, LLC. No team name or logo has been announced. The ECHL is also set to expand to New Mexico in the 2026-27 season. The league will grow to 32 clubs once both teams break ground, putting them on level-playing field with the AHL and NHL. That should allow for full partnership between three leagues. The Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets were the only clubs without an ECHL affiliate in the 2024-25 season.
Gulutzan Focused On Making Stars More Physical
The Dallas Stars are in the midst of a frustrating streak. They’ve lost in the Western Conference Finals in each of the last three seasons, including back-to-back losses at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers. In an effort to curb their bad luck, Dallas went directly to the source to fill their head coaching vacancy earlier this summer. They hired Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan, who brings the sharp assessment of Dallas’ roster that only a Conference rival could have. In an interview with Sean Shapiro of the Dallas Magazine, Gulutzan shared that his key focus for the 2025-26 Stars will be playing more physical.
Gulutzan’s critique of Dallas’ style certainly lands at a good time. The Stars delivered the fewest hits in the league, at even-strength, last season (1,160 total hits). They were also on the receiving end of more hits than any other club (1,963 total hits received). It was the second-straight season that Dallas ranked dead-last in the NHL in terms of hits-given versus hits-received – but Gulutzan’s urge to address that weakness won’t take too much improvement. The Oilers have also been among the league’s most out-hit clubs, ranking second-to-last in the 2024-25 season and fifth-to-last in 2023-24.
Even with that standing, Gulutzan acknowledged how much a dash of physicality transformed the Oilers. He pointed directly to the growth of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl over the last two seasons. McDavid recorded a career-high 118 hits in the 2023-24 season, while Draisaitl reached 58 hits, the second-highest mark of his career. Both players took a major step back in hits this season – McDavid recording just 40, and Draisaitl recording 23 – but star talent leaning into the physical game clearly inspired the Oilers lineup. Gulutzan told Shapiro:
You had to ask the elite players to use their skills and smarts to check, not to deliver big body checks, but to check and add a little physicality each shift… And the reality is that’s the evolution of that group. It happened because [McDavid and Draisitl] wanted it to happen, and reinforced it for everyone. I look at our team [in Dallas]. I’m putting the energy in the same spot
To their credit, Dallas does have their fair share of bruisers at the top of the lineup. Rookie Lian Bichsel managed an incredible 155 hits in just 38 games last season, confidently leading all NHL defensemen in hits-per-60 minutes played. The Stars also continue to receive heavy physicality from captain Jamie Benn, who has recorded at least 100 hits in three of the last four seasons – and 97 hits in his sole off-year. But Gulutzan will ask for more out of the rest of the team’s stars – a group likely to include Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston who managed 60, 53, 48, and 45 hits last season respectively.
A new brand of physicality could be the piece that pushes Dallas past their Western Conference foes. The Florida Panthers just won back-to-back Stanley Cups on the heels of high-pressure forechecking opening ground for their star scorers. That will be the mantra Dallas looks to adopt under new head coach Gulutzan, as they look to pave their way past the Western Conference for the first time since 2020 next season.
Shanghai Dragons Sign Alexander Burmistrov, Adam Clendening, Borna Rendulic
The KHL’s newest club, the Shanghai Dragons, have continued their streak of signing former North American pros. They announced on Sunday that they’ve signed forwards Alexander Burmistrov and Borna Rendulic, as well as defenseman Adam Clendening. The three bring a combined 453 games of NHL experience to the Chinese squad.
The large bulk of those NHL appearances belong to Burmistrov. He was once a star prospect in the NHL, and was drafted eighth-overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. He turned pro in the very next season, and scored 20 points in 74 games as an NHL rookie. Unfortunately, Burmistrov never improved from that mark. He spent much of the 2010’s trying and failing to work out of a bottom-six role in the NHL. His effort to break out took him across tenures with the Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks. It also saw Burmistrov return to the KHL for two years between 2013 and 2015, where he scored a combined 63 points in 107 games.
Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Burmistrov made the decision to move to the KHL full-time at the end of the 2017-18 season. It proved to be an immediately fruitful decision, as he moved just in time to play in the final 27 games of Kazan Ak-Bars’ 2018 Gagarian Cup win. He has continued in Russia’s top league ever since, but again found himself in the position of frequent moves in search of a breakout year. He’s played for four different KHL clubs over the last eight seasons, but hasn’t once scored more than 20 points in a single regular season. His scoring in 2013-14 and 2014-15 stand as Burmistrov’s career-high – and he’ll now move to yet another team in search of those former marks.
Joining Burmistrov will be North American veteran Clendening, who will stick with the Kunlun/Shanghai organization through their summer rebrand. He appeared in 61 games with the Red Stars last season and finished the year with 22 points and 65 penalty minutes. It was just his second season overseas, after spending the 2023-24 campaign with Ilves Tampere of Finland’s Liiga. Before that, Clendening was a set-and-forget feature of the AHL, filling high-minute roles through seasons with seven different clubs. He was a hard-hitting, two-way defender capable of stepping into most roles. That ability earned Clendening 318 points in 512 games, and 10 seasons, in the AHL. He also scored 24 points in 90 NHL games, often serving as an injury fill-in. His only extended run in the NHL came in 2016-17, when he scored 11 points in 31 games with the New York Rangers.
Rounding out the additions is Rendulic, who played just 15 games in the NHL between 2014 and 2017. The bulk of those appearances – 14, to be exact – came with the Colorado Avalanche, who signed Rendulic as an undrafted free-agent in 2014. He had grown through the ranks of Finland’s Liiga, but struggled to maintain his snappy offense in North America. He posted an encouraging 61 points in 137 AHL games between 2015 and 2017, before opting to return to the Liiga in 2017-18. A return to Europe meant a return to scoring for Rendulic, kicking off what has become a journeyman career across the continent. He has played in Finland, Russia, Germany, and Sweden since 2017. He’s managed multiple impressive seasons along the way – including scoring 41 points in 56 DEL games in 2022-23, and 27 points in 51 games with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg in 2023-24. Now, Rendulic will add one more country to his list, and join China’s newly-minted KHL squad.