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Devils Re-Sign Nathan Legare To One-Year Deal

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The New Jersey Devils have re-signed forward Nathan Legare to a one-year, two-way, league-minimum contract. Legare spent the bulk of this season in the AHL, where his 102 penalty minutes confidently led the Utica Comets. Legare also played the first three games of his NHL career this season, with a minus-one standing as his only notable stat change.

Legare was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft, following a statement year where he posted 45 goals, 87 points, 52 penalty minutes, and a plus-37 in 68 QMJHL games. Legare also served as an assistant captain on Team Canada’s World U18 Championship roster, and added four goals in seven tournament games. He returned to the QMJHL for the following two seasons, and donned the captaincy for the Bai-Comeau Drakkar in both years. But his scoring took a noticeable dip – with Legare totaling 71 points in 61 games of his age-19 season and 38 points in 33 games of his age-20 season.

Pittsburgh signed Legare to his entry-level contract in 2019, and he played through the first two years of the deal in the AHL in 2021-22 and 2022-23. The pair of years were relatively uneventful – with Legare totaling 35 points, 106 penalty minutes, and a minus-25 in 125 total games. Those numbers weren’t enough to plant his feet, and Pittsburgh oped to trade Legare to the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the 2023-24 season. He was part of a package that also contained Casey DeSmith and Jeff Petry exchanged for Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick. Legare spent one season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket before being dealt to the Devils in a 2024 swap for Arnaud Durandeau.

The deal he receives today is the same one that Legare signed with New Jersey soon after that trade. This re-up will carry the bruising forward through the 2025-26 season in the AHL, and hopefully give him a platform to further develop his pot-stirring identity. Throughout his career, Legare has totaled 72 points and 269 penalty minutes in 248 AHL games.

Devils Sign Lenni Hameenaho To Entry-Level Contract

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1:30 PM: The Devils have made this signing official. Hameenaho has inked his entry-level deal and will join the Devils’ North American ranks next season.

11:30 AM: The New Jersey Devils could receive a boost from Finland next season, as general manager Tom Fitzgerald shares that centerman Lenni Hameenaho is expected to move to North America, per Devils’ team reporter Amanda Stein. Fitzgerald told reporters that the team will announce Hameenaho’s move soon. Many believe that announcement will be coupled with news that Hameenaho has signed his entry-level contract, shares James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now.

New Jersey drafted Hameenaho midway through the 2023 second-round, on the heels of his rookie season in Finland’s Liiga. He scored 21 points in 51 games as a Liiga rookie, and added four points in eight postseason games. It was a modest showing, in line with many other first or second round draft picks in their rookie seasons. But Hameenaho showed he simply needed to find his footing at a pro flight, and he broke out with 31 points in 46 games as a league sophomore. That scoring was coupled with six points in seven World Junior Championship games – where Hameenaho proved his distinct ability to drive downhill and create space in all three zones. He continued to build on those strong traits with a top-line role in the Liiga this season, and finished the year with a dazzling 20 goals and 51 points in 58 games – good for second on Assat in scoring.

Hameenaho seemed like a strong prospect just months after his draft selection. Two years later, his 2024-25 scoring is the second-most the Liiga has seen from a 20-year-old since 2000, behind top Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Ville Koivunen. Hameenaho is sturdy centerman who’s strong on the puck and diligently responsible in all three zones. He’ll be a strong addition to New Jersey’s minor league ranks, and could even find his way into the NHL lineup throughout next season.

Devils’ Jesper Bratt Undergoes Surgery To Address Multi-Season Injury

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The New Jersey Devils lineup is undergoing a wave of tune ups, check ups, and surgeries to get back to full health after the end of their postseason run. For star winger Jesper Bratt, the wave of medical attention has marked a chance to address a shoulder injury that’s plagued him for the last few seasons. General manager Tom Fitzgerald shared with reporters that Bratt has undergone successful shoulder surgery and is expected to return before training camp, per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. Fitzgerald adds that Bratt chose to get surgery now to help ensure he’s ready for next season and the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The extent of Bratt’s injury, or the pain it caused, isn’t quite clear – but his play on the ice hardly warranted the thought. Bratt has developed into a full superstar for the Devils organization and managed career-highs in scoring in each of the last three seasons. His breakout season came in the 2021-22 campaign, when the top left-winger totaled 26 goals, 47 assists, and 73 points in 76 games. That performance made him just the 30th Devils player to reach 40 assists since 2000 at the time.

Not to be outdone, Bratt matched his 73-point high in 2022-23 – but managed it with 32 goals and 41 assists while playing in all 82 games of the season. That year kicked off a string of unwavering appearances that carried through this season, and Bratt only grew with the nightly appearances. He tallied 27 goals, 56 assists, and 83 points last season; then lapped that total with 21 goals, 67 assists, and 88 points this year. His 67 assists this year mark a franchise record, taking the title from Scott Stevens who recorded 60 points in 1993-94.

It is on the heels of that record-breaking performance that Bratt will take the time to reach full health. He has four years remaining on an eight-year, $63MM contract signed after his repeat 73-point campaign in 2023. With the news that Bratt is expected to reach full health before the season starts, all focus will be on how he can continue to grow on top of a Devils lineup that’s dedicated to change this summer. Bratt’s involvement in the 2026 Olympics will be worth monitoring closely as well. He hasn’t yet joined Team Sweden at the Olympics, though he did appear with the Men’s Team at the 2019 World Championship and 2025 4-Nations Face-Off. Bratt scored four points in nine combined games between the two events.

Ducks Name Joel Quenneville Head Coach

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12:30 PM: The Ducks have made the hiring of Joel Quenneville official. He will man an NHL bench for the first time since 2021 next season.

10:00 AM: The Anaheim Ducks are expected to name veteran NHL head coach Joel Quenneville as the 12th head coach in franchise history, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. This will be Quenneville’s first coaching job since resigning form the Florida Panthers organization in 2021 due to his involvement in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2010 sexual abuse case. Quenneville was barred from returning to the NHL until being reinstated late last summer. Dreger points out that Anaheim did extensive background checks on the sexual abuse case, and what Quenneville has done to reform his actions in the years since. He was the first candidate they interviewed after firing Greg Cronin.

There was only one head coaching vacancy by the time Quenneville was reinstated, limiting his options to return quickly to the league. He’ll find a path back in before the next summer hits, though – and join the sixth organization of his 27-year coaching career. Quenneville has racked up three Stanley Cup wins and the second-most wins in NHL coaching history, behind only Scotty Bowman – who he had a chance to succeed in roles with the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. Quenneville is a whopping 275 wins behind Bowman’s record – and would need a healthy extension to his career, and a resurgence from the Ducks organization, to rival the mark.

Quenneville’s lengthy NHL career began as a player originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second-round of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. He joined the NHL in the following season, and quickly found a rut as a bottom-of-the-lineup utility player routinely posting meager scoring and lofty penalty totals. Quenneville played two years with the Leafs, three years with the Colorado Rockies, and one year with both the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals – all split around spending the heart of his career with seven years with the Hartford Whalers. His career as an NHL player spanned 12 years and ended with Quenneville totaling 190 points and 705 PIMs in 803 games.

Quenneville operated as a player and assistant coach hybrid with the AHL’s St John’s Maple Leafs in 1991-92 – the final year of his playing career. Two years later, he was promoted to an assistant coach role with the Quebec Nordiques that continued on when the club became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. After three seasons as a second-rank in Quebec and Colorado, Quenneville was awarded the head coaching role for the St. Louis Blues – where his prowess quickly became noticeable. Quenneville championed St. Louis to seven consecutive postseason appearances, though the club never made it beyond the Western Conference Finals. He was only fired when the team eyed a postseason absence in 2004. He took the lockout season of 2004-05 off of work, and returned as the Avalanche’s head coach in the 2005-06 season.

Colorado made the playoffs in one of two seasons with Quenneville at the helm. But after not gaining much ground, they opted to punt him to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2008-09 campaign. It was in Chicago that Quenneville became a legendary coaching figure, joining hands with a young Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to form one of the most formidable clubs in the NHL. The Blackhawks took a run to the Conference Finals in Quenneville’s first year, then won the Stanley Cup in year two. That pair of seasons would spark a nine-year streak of postseason appearances for Chicago, headlined by two more Cup wins in 2013 and 2015.

Quenneville left Chicago after a missed postseason in 2018 and a poor start to the 2018-19 campaign. He found work with the Florida Panthers from 2019 to 2021, though couldn’t push the club beyond the first round of the postseason.

Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek made one thing clear in the club’s exit interviews: the goal of next season is to make the postseason. That’s a lofty goal for a club that finished with 80 points and a sixth-place divisional rank this season – but they’re looking to find a spark by bringing on the man with the second-most playoff games coached in NHL history (again behind Bowman). Quenneville will inherit a roster that features burgeoning youngsters like Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish (pending contract), Olen Zellweger, Lukas Dostal (pending contract), Trevor Zegras, and more. The young core are flanked by strong veterans in Troy Terry, Alex Killorn, Jacob Trouba, and John Gibson. That’s a hardy makeup for a pro club, but the Ducks still haven’t found a postseason berth since 2018. Following a thorough background check and multiple interviews, Anaheim will stake their playoff hopes in Quenneville beginning next season.

Photo courtesy of Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images.

Devils’ Johnathan Kovacevic Undergoes Knee Surgery

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5/8: Kovacevic has undergone successful knee surgery, per Devils’ team reporter Amanda Stein. General manager Tom Fitzgerald confirmed to Stein that Kovacevic is not expected to be ready for the 2025-26 training camp.

5/1: In the wake of their elimination from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, many New Jersey Devils are beginning to reveal the injuries they were playing through. For defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, that’s a serious knee injury that will require surgery this summer. Kovacevic shared with media that he doesn’t expect to be ready for the start of next season’s training camp, per NHL.com’s Mike Morreale.

Kovacevic sustained his knee injury on the first shift of Game 3. He played through the remainder of the first period before being pulled by team doctors during intermission. With the season now over, Kovacevic shared he is still in the process of sorting things out and will likely remain in New Jersey through much of May. That should allow him to continue consulting with team doctors as he maps out this new injury.

Kovacevic was otherwise a pillar of good health this season. He appeared in all but one of New Jersey’s 82 games this season – with his only absence coming in New Jersey’s final game of the season. He recorded 17 points, 72 penalty minutes, and a plus-10 in the full season effort – career-highs in the former two stats, and one plus shy of tying his high in the latter. It was a statement year after Kovacevic was a healthy scratch in 20 games for the Montreal Canadiens last season. On a young Canadiens blue-line, the defensive-minded Kovacevic fell as the odd-man-out – prompting a trade to the Devils on June 30th. He moved to New Jersey seemingly set on the role of seventh-defenseman, behind either Simon Nemec or Seamus Casey. But his strong defensive play , and up-and-down play from the top prospects, quickly pushed the veteran Kovacevic into an everyday role.

The Devils affirmed Kovacevic’s role in the lineup by signing him to a five-year, $20MM contract extension on March 7th. It’s the longest deal of the 27-year-old’s pro career, after his first seven pro seasons were spent on a pair of three-year deals, and a standalone one-year contract. All three were two-way contracts. For the first time in his career, Kovacevic can stand tall knowing he has a spot in the NHL awaiting him next season. That assuredness, and a vague path forward after this injury, will likely keep Kovacevic from rushing back too quick – even if it means cutting into his pre-season availability next season.

Young Prospects Will Give Blues A New Look In 2025-26

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St. Louis Blues fans went through a true roller-coaster this season. The team was coming off a disappointing 2023-24 campaign – marked by disappointing scoring from much of the roster, a second consecutive playoff absence, and the handoff of coaching duties from Stanley Cup winner Craig Berube to rookie NHL coach Drew Bannister. That turnover made it clear that the Blues were in quick need of a retool and a productive offseason.

But general manager Doug Armstrong didn’t lead a flashy charge over the summer. The Blues were relatively quiet through June and July, save for the risqué first-round draft pick of injured defenseman Adam Jiříček and low-cost acquisitions of Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph. It was an uninspiring offseason, until Armstrong shocked the hockey world by signing top Edmonton Oilers youngsters Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to offer-sheets in August. The deals, shockingly, went through – making the Blues the first club to pull off a successful offer sheet since the Carolina Hurricanes landed Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2021. The last successful offer sheet before Carolina was in 2007.

Broberg and Holloway made an instant impact on the Blues lineup. Alongside a shock hire of Jim Montgomery, the Blues were able to use their new additions to will out a run to the postseason, against early-season odds. But a first round exit draws attention back to the roster make up. With little offseason cap space to work with – just over $7MM after Torey Krug goes on long-term injured reserve – and only two pending free agents, it seems the Blues are already set to roll out the same group that lost hold this year.

But that’s where their prospect pool begins to sneak in. The Blues have a rare lineup of top young players ready to carve out an everyday role. Winger Jimmy Snuggerud has seemed to already do such, after netting eight points in his first 14 career games this Spring. While he occupies a strong role in the middle-six, centerman Dalibor Dvorsky will enter a winnable competition against Brayden Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist for a role in the team’s center depth. Dvorsky ranked third on the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds with 45 points in 61 games this season, and showed the heft and grit needed to play at an NHL level in his first two career games, even despite recording no scoring.

It seems wise to bet that Dvorsky will find his way into routine NHL minutes next season. He could be supported by upcoming forwards like Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Otto Stenberg, who both flashed strong play in their first AHL season. Theo Lindstein could be a much-needed injection of youth on defense, after spending all season in a daily lineup role in Sweden’s SHL. He recorded just 14 points in 61 games on the year, but reminded the hockey world of his prowess with four points in seven games at the World Junior Championship. St. Louis even has a strong next-man-up in net, after goaltender Colten Ellis managed a dazzling 22-14-3 record and .922 save percentage in 42 AHL games. It was a continuation of Ellis’ strong play in the minors, after he posted a .924 in 16 games of the 2023-24 season.

All of those options will ensure that St. Louis’ deck stays full, even amid a summer with minimal roster flexibility. Getting a full year out of the productive Snuggerud – who already looks at home as a career-Blue – or adding the gut punch of Dvorsky down the lineup chart could go a long way towards making St. Louis a foe to fear in the Western Conference. The Blues finished fifth in the Central Division in each of the last two seasons, but managed a postseason berth by the skin of their teeth this year. With additions of more young and budding talent, their chances of more confidently locking up a summer bid should only continue to rise through the next few years.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Morning Notes: Pietrangelo, Jankowski, Robertson, Heiskanen

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The Vegas Golden Knights were without alternate captain Alex Pietrangelo is Game 1 of the Second Round on Tuesday due to illness. The Golden Knights fell to the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 4-2 without their top-pair defenseman. Pietrangelo played tough minutes for the Golden Knights through the first round, even recording 28:48 in ice time in their overtime win in Game 4. He’s totaled three points in six playoff appearances, while averaging roughly 22:30 in nightly ice time. That mark makes Pietrangelo the second-most utilized defenseman in Vegas’ postseason behind Noah Hanifin, who also has three points. Pietrangelo’s plus-two leads the club in playoff plus-minus, and makes him one of just two defenders with a positive mark, beside Nicolas Hague (plus-one).

The Golden Knights turned towards Kaedan Korczak is Pietrangelo’s absence. Korczak received a sheltered role and under 14 minutes of ice time in what was the first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance of his career. He played through his sophomore season in the NHL this year, netting 10 assists in 40 games after posting nine points in 26 games last season. Korczak is a young, lumbering defenseman who fits Vegas’ M.O. when it comes to shutting down the back-end. But it seems the Golden Knights will need more than that to get around Edmonton and superstar Connor McDavid, who had a point on all four of the Oilers’ goals in Game 1. With a pair of days to rest, Pietrangelo should at least be questionable for Game 2.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Carolina Hurricanes forward Mark Jankowski left the team’s Game 1 matchup early on Tuesday after sustaining an undisclosed injury. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour shared that Jankowski’s injury wasn’t serious and that he’ll be a gametime decision for Thursday’s Game 2, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. Jankowski was red-hot in the back-half of Carolina’s regular season after joining the team at the Trade Deadline. He scored eight goals in 19 games with the ’Canes, while shooting at an incredible 38.1 percent success rate. Those numbers have cooled down significantly in the postseason, though Jankowski does have one assist through three appearances so far. He’s been demoted to a seldomly-used, bottom-six role over the start of the postseason, and should be easy to replace if he’s forced to miss time.
  • Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer has shared that forward Jason Robertson will be a game-time decision for Wednesday night’s Game 1, while defenseman Miro Heiskanen will continue to sit out, per Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News. Getting Robertson back would be an incredible boost for the Stars roster. The winger led the team in goals (35) and ranked second in points (80) through 82 games this season. He continues to stand as a pillar of goal-scoring for the Stars, even as he falls short of reaching the 46 goals and 109 points he posted two seasons ago. Robertson has a pattern of producing in the postseason – with 38 points in 45 career games compiled between 2022 and 2024. Heiskanen will be much of the same upgrade when he’s back to full health. He again served as Dallas’ top defenseman this season and managed 25 points in 50 games before going down with injury. Heiskanen has 61 points in 85 career playoff games, including 16 points in 19 games last season.

Sabres Hire Eric Staal As Special Advisor

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The Buffalo Sabres have hired former NHL forward Eric Staal as a special advisor to general manager Kevyn Adams. Staal’s role will involve supporting multiple aspects of the hockey department, including scouting and direct involvement with players and prospects. That could mean supporting the team’s pre-season rookie or training camps, which would offer invaluable experience to a young Sabres playerbase.

Staal brings 18 years of NHL experience, and a 2006 Stanley Cup win and Finals appearances in 2021 and 2023, to the Sabres organization. He only played in 32 games with the Sabres over his extensive career – coming at the start of the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Staal recorded 10 points and a minus-20 with the Sabres, before being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens mid-season, where he finished the year with 11 points in 42 games, between the regular and postseason.

The bulk of Staal’s career was spent across the Eastern Conference with the Metropolitan Division’s Carolina Hurricanes. He was drafted second-overall in the 2003 NHL Draft and moved to the NHL right away. He was immediately impactful and scored 11 goals and 31 points in 81 games of his rookie season. But that was only a glimmer of Staal’s upside and, after spending the lockout 2004-05 season in the AHL, he posted a true breakout campaign in the 2005-06 season. Staal led the Hurricanes in scoring with an incredible 45 goals and 100 points in the regular season, then added 28 points in 25 postseason games to push Carolina to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Staal never topped his performance in 2005-06, but he did continue to rival 30 or 40 goals and/or 70 or 80 points throughout the next 10 years in Carolina. That scoring stuttered when he left Carolina for the New York Rangers partway through the 2015-16 season, but Staal rediscovered it by joining the Minnesota Wild from 2016 to 2020. He added two more seasons of 65-or-more points, and one 40-goal campaign in his age-33 season, during his time in Minnesota. Staal left for the Sabres in the 2020 off-season, and lost his grip on top scoring soon after that – though he had a pair of final hoorays as the 2021 Canadiens and 2023 Panthers carried him to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Both teams lost, but the experience gave Staal a hint of the Cup-winning heights he reached early in his career. He’ll now turn his attention towards the operational side of hockey, looking to bring a habit of Cup pursuits to a desolate Sabres squad. With the right momentum, this could be the move that sparks a long managerial career for Staal.

Lightning Sign Jonas Johansson To Two-Year Extension

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed depth goaltender Jonas Johansson to a two-year, $2.5MM contract extension. Johansson was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Instead, he’ll re-up with the team after spending the full season on the NHL roster.

This season marked Johansson’s second consecutive season serving as Tampa Bay’s full-time backup. He seemed to find a bit more comfort in the role this year, recording a 9-6-3 record and .895 save percentage through 19 games – slightly better than his 12-7-5 record and .890 Sv% in 26 games last year. The boost in ice time last season came largely as a result of superstar starter Andrei Vasilevskiy missing nearly two full months to start the season due to injury. Vasilevskiy returned with vigor this year, recording a .923 Sv% through 63 games on the season. Those numbers are certainly strong enough to keep his feet planted in the high-usage role, while Johansson should gain clear control of the backup role now on an NHL salary. Johansson has totaled a 21-13-8 record and .892 Sv% in 45 career games with Tampa Bay.

Prior to his time in Tampa Bay, Johansson went through stretches with in the Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers organizations. He struggled to earn NHL minutes at every stop, and often found himself rotating between the major and minor lineups, serving as a fill-in for injuries or absences. Johansson did have a hardy stretch as an ECHL and AHL starter from 2016 to 2020, and even posted a career-year in 2019-20 with a 14-4-3 record and .921 Sv% in 22 games with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Through his career, he’s totaled 32 wins and a .890 Sv% in 80 NHL games; and 39 wins and a .911 Sv% in 69 AHL games.

Utah Hockey Club Announces Mammoth As Team Name

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The Utah Hockey Club has finally revealed their long-anticipated team name. For the 2025-26 season and onwards, they will be known as the Utah Mammoth, with a logo depicting the Wasatch Mountain range in the head of the Mammoth and a tusk that will also be used in other branding and logos. The club’s search for a team name involved a 13-month process and 850K fan votes, per ESPN.

Utah owners Ryan and Ashley Smith shared their excitement for the new name in an NHL.com press release. They shared, “When it came to naming the team, we did something unprecedented – going through four rounds of community voting, including getting feedback not only on potential names but also on potential logos. We love the passion of the people of Utah and the way they showed up for the team during its inaugural season and the energy they brought to voting on its permanent identity.” The Smith family will stay dedicated to bolstering the presence of Utah hockey throughout the summer, with plans to both renovate the Mammoth’s home arena, Delta Center, as well as hopes of building new ice rinks across the state of Utah.

Utah will maintain the same colors they rolled out in their inaugural season – Rock Black, Salt White, and Mountain Blue. They will also maintain the same Away jerseys, with ’Utah’ depicted across the chest in bold font. The home jerseys will have the same striping and details as the inaugural set, though they’ll now depict the Mammoth logo, as well as new secondary logos for each shoulder patch. Apparel and accessories with the Mammoth logo will go live at Noon M.T., or 2 P.M. E.T., on Wednesday.

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