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Aaron Dell Announces Retirement

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Goaltender Aaron Dell announced his retirement late last night. The 36-year-old wrote on his Instagram page that he’s hanging up his skates after a lengthy professional career that included seven NHL seasons.

“After 13 seasons of professional hockey the time has come for me to hang up the skates and leave my playing days behind me,” Dell wrote. “I wanted to thank all of the people that believed in me and supported me throughout my career. Lots of ups and downs. An undrafted 6 foot tall goalie that was given a chance by the San Jose Sharks organization. When I look at some of the names I had the privilege of working with like Nabokov, Thornton, Pavelski, Marleau, Couture, Karlsson, Burns and so many great players that I will always consider friends, I feel very fortunate.”

The Alberta native began his pro career with the Central Hockey League’s Allen Americans in 2012 after a three-year stint at the University of North Dakota. He split the following season with ECHL Utah before formally joining the Sharks organization in 2014-15, landing a deal with their AHL affiliate at the time in Worcester. After he exploded for a .927 SV% in 26 games for the Woo Sharks down the stretch, Dell landed his first NHL contract and signed a two-way deal with San Jose.

He spent the following year back in the AHL, this time with the San Jose Barracuda, but won a spot on their opening night roster for 2016-17 as Martin Jones’ backup. That began a four-year run for Dell as the Sharks’ primary No. 2 option, including a standout rookie season. He only made 17 starts and three relief appearances behind the workhorse Jones but was excellent when relied upon, posting a .931 SV% and 2.00 GAA with an 11-6-1 record in his first taste of NHL action.

That would end up being the peak for Dell, who was already 27 when he burst onto the scene. He remained a serviceable backup for the coming years and even cracked 30 starts in 2019-20, but by the time he hit free agency that fall amid the pandemic, his averages over his four years in San Jose were a .908 SV% and 2.76 GAA – right around league average for that period.

Dell’s play dipped after that. He signed with the Maple Leafs in 2020 but was claimed by the Devils off waivers before ever playing a game for them. In seven games as New Jersey’s No. 3 option in the shortened 2021 season, he only managed a .857 SV% and 4.14 GAA. From that point forward, he spent most of his time back in the AHL, although he did have brief stints back in the NHL with the Sabres in 2021-22 and a second go-around with the Sharks in 2022-23 as a call-up option. He spent most of 2023-24 on an AHL contract with the Ontario Reign but got an NHL deal from the Kings at the trade deadline to serve as an emergency recall option in the postseason.

Last season, Dell returned to the Sharks organization for a third time on an AHL deal with the Barracuda. He had an .890 SV% and a 3-3-3 record in 10 games for them and a .914 SV% and a 6-6-1 record in 13 games for their ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder.

Dell put a pin in his playing career after recording a .905 SV%, 2.92 GAA, five shutouts, and a 50-50-13 record in 130 NHL appearances. He also had a .912 mark and 11 shutouts with a 70-57-20 record in 155 AHL games in parts of eight seasons.

We at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Dell on his career and wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Ducks, Rodwin Dionicio To Terminate Contract

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Sep. 3: Dionicio has cleared waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He will now have his contract terminated.

Sep. 2: The Ducks placed defense prospect Rodwin Dionicio on unconditional waivers Tuesday, per PuckPedia. It’s for the purpose of a mutual contract termination, which can occur tomorrow if he clears.

Dionicio, 21, only has one season of professional experience and still had two years left on his entry-level deal, which he signed with Anaheim in May 2024. The Swiss rearguard was a fifth-round pick in 2023 from the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and had a spectacular final junior season in 2023-24, erupting for 73 points (and 108 PIMs) in just 60 games split between Windsor and Saginaw en route to a Memorial Cup championship.

Things quickly turned sour for Dionicio upon beginning his professional career, though. He struggled to land a regular role for Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego and managed nine points in 24 games for the Gulls. By the time January rolled around, the Ducks and Dionicio agreed that a return to Europe was in his best interests, and they loaned him to EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss National League. He only got into nine regular-season games with the club, recording six assists and a +2 rating.

Given the offensive ceiling he displayed just one year ago, it’s surprising to see him now headed for unrestricted free agency. The Ducks only have 13 other defenders in the organization under contract, so it’s not like there was a huge logjam for him to work through again to win a roster spot in San Diego.

Usually, a mutual termination precipitates a move to Europe. In Dionicio’s case, though, there’s a higher likelihood than normal of someone making a claim and picking up the remainder of his entry-level deal, considering his offensive upside.

Joe Pavelski, Scott Gomez, Zach Parise Named To U.S. Hockey Hall Of Fame

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Longtime NHL forwards Joe Pavelski, Scott Gomez, and Zach Parise are the headliners of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame’s 2025 induction class, the organization announced Wednesday.

Pavelski and Parise are the most recently retired of the group and are both coming off their first seasons on the sidelines after announcing their retirements last year, although the latter has yet to actually file his retirement paperwork. Pavelski has already had quite the successful post-hockey career, leaning into golf and winning the celebrity American Century Championship in July.

Of course, it’s his league and international play that is earning him this honor. He’ll likely be a fringe Hockey Hall of Fame candidate when all is said and done, but the Wisconsin native was one of the league’s most consistent players since debuting with the Sharks during the 2006-07 season. A seventh-round pick in the famed 2003 draft, Pavelski leveraged a highly successful collegiate tenure in his home state into an 18-year NHL career with San Jose and Dallas, recording 1,068 points in 1,332 games to rank 74th on the league’s all-time scoring list.

’Captain America’s’ international resume is more limited than one would think, but he was part of the American squad that took home silver at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He also appeared for the top national team at the 2009 World Championships, the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey – a team he did actually serve as captain for. He had three goals and nine assists for 12 points in 20 top-level international games and advanced to two Stanley Cup Finals (2016, 2020).

Parise was the No. 17 overall pick of that same draft and debuted a season earlier than Pavelski, but injuries meant his total games played ended up lower at 1,254. He was more of an early peaker, namely his back-to-back 80-point seasons with the Devils in 2008-09 and 2009-10, but still managed 434 goals and 889 points for his career. That ranks 29th in scoring since the 2005 lockout.

However, Parise has a much more expansive international resume. He suited up for the U.S.’ top junior and senior national teams on nine different occasions, starting with the 2002 under-18 World Juniors and ending with the 2016 World Cup. He was the Americans’ leading scorer in their silver medal pursuit in 2010 with four goals and eight points in six games, earning a spot on the tournament All-Star Team. He also won gold at the U18 and U20 World Juniors, earning MVP honors at the latter tournament in 2004 with 11 points in six games.

Gomez, 45, has been retired for much longer. He last suited up for the Senators in 2016 but has remained active in staff roles, now serving as the head coach for the USHL’s Chicago Steel. He played for the U.S. at the 2004 World Cup and the 2006 Winter Olympics, early into an NHL career that saw him become the first Latino player and first Alaskan to win the Calder Trophy. He finished his NHL career with 756 points in 1,079 games for the Devils, Rangers, Canadiens, Sharks, Panthers, Blues, and Sens.

Rounding out this year’s class are two-time Olympic medalist Tara Mounsey (1998, 2002) for the women’s program and photographer Bruce Bennett, who was the Islanders’ team photographer from 1982 to 2004 and has shot over 7.5 million photos since beginning his career in the sport in 1974. He’s still active and will be working at the upcoming 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina.

Examining Likely Candidates For The New CHL/AHL Exception

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Yesterday, PuckPedia reported that certain aspects of this summer’s CBA extension will take effect for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign instead of the 2026-27 season as was initially expected. Among those items is a proposed exception to the current transfer agreement between the NHL and CHL, Canada’s top association of junior leagues, that would allow teams to loan one 19-year-old player drafted from that league to their AHL affiliate without permission from the player’s CHL club. Under current rules, teams must wait until a player’s age-20 season to send them to the AHL full-time – until then, it’s either the NHL or CHL.

It’s not yet clear whether that rule will actually be implemented this season. While the league will make an aggressive push for it to happen, PuckPedia added that the CHL hasn’t yet signed off on the change and that serious negotiations haven’t started yet.

If the league does manage to strike an agreement with the CHL to allow the exception to happen, though, it’s a good time to take a look at some potential candidates who could test the waters. This isn’t an exhaustive list of every player who’s eligible for the rule, rather, a deep dive into which names might actually make sense to receive the early start to their pro careers.

Anaheim Ducks: Beckett Sennecke

Sennecke might be as slam-dunk a pick as anyone on this list. While most opined he was a reach when the Ducks selected him third overall in the 2024 draft, the 6’4″ winger responded with a 36-goal, 86-point effort in 56 games for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals last season. That promising jump from his draft-year production (68 points in 63 GP) makes it easy to make the case for his development being better served by jumping to pro hockey for his DY+2 – that is, if he doesn’t make Anaheim’s NHL roster out of camp. He’s only 28 days short of the age cutoff for AHL eligibility under the current rules anyway.

Calgary Flames: Jacob Battaglia, Zayne Parekh

The Flames will almost certainly use the exception to stash Parekh with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers if he doesn’t make the NHL roster out of camp, but that stipulation is looking unlikely at this stage with Calgary’s right-side defense largely uninspiring and Rasmus Andersson’s impending departure making the picture even less rosy.

That could pave the way for Calgary to send Battaglia, one of the dark horses on this list, to begin his professional career earlier than expected. The stocky winger was one of the last picks of the second round in 2024 but exploded in his post-draft season, leading the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs in scoring with 40 goals and 90 points in 68 games. While the Flames might end up deciding his development would be better served by a fourth and final junior season for the Frontenacs, his name is one to watch out for if they have the option.

Chicago Blackhawks: Marek Vanacker

Moving Vanacker to the pros before he finishes out his junior eligibility might be a bit of a rush job for a winger who was drafted as a bit of a project. It might be something Chicago at least considers for the 2024 No. 27 overall pick anyway. The 6’1″ winger’s April 2006 birthday makes him one of the younger players on this list, and he’s coming off an underwhelming post-draft season with OHL Brantford that saw him dip back below the point-per-game mark. For that reason, a return to the Bulldogs is far more likely, but his first-round pedigree will at least generate some speculation about a loan to AHL Rockford.

Detroit Red Wings: Carter Bear

Bear is the only player from the 2025 draft class on this list, and that has to do with the difference between how the NHL defines draft eligibility and how the CHL defines a player’s age for a given season. The NHL’s draft cutoff is September 15, while the CHL’s age cutoff is January 1. Since Bear has a November 2005 birthday, he was a couple of months too young to be eligible for the 2024 NHL draft, but he has already been credited with his age-18 season in the CHL’s eyes. The winger was the No. 13 overall selection by Detroit and likely could have gone a few spots higher if not for some concern about a partial Achilles laceration that ended his season in March. He managed 82 points in only 56 games for the WHL’s Everett Silvertips before that happened, though, and his 6’0″, 180-lb frame should help an early AHL transition along.

Los Angeles Kings: Liam Greentree

Even if this rule doesn’t get approved for 2025-26, Greentree might find himself in the AHL anyway. He’s a January 1 birthday – if he were born a few hours earlier, he’d be eligible for a full-time loan to AHL Ontario and wouldn’t need to return for a fourth OHL season with the Windsor Spitfires. The 6’3″ winger is coming off an incredible post-draft season after going to the Kings 26th overall in 2024, erupting for 119 points in 64 games and earning a spot on the league’s First All-Star Team.

There’s a recent precedent for such an exception. The OHL granted one to the Kraken and Shane Wright, who has a January 5 birthday but was granted eligibility for a full-time AHL assignment in 2023-24, which would have technically been his age-19 season in the junior league’s eyes.

Philadelphia Flyers: Jett Luchanko

Luchanko surprised out of the gate last year, working his way onto the Flyers’ opening night roster despite being one of the youngest players selected in the 2024 draft. The 5’11” center went pointless in four games before Philly sent him back to juniors to finish the season, where he had 21 goals and 56 points in 46 games with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. He had six assists in seven playoff games with AHL Lehigh Valley to end the year, showing a jump to that level full-time wouldn’t be so far-fetched if he can’t land an NHL job out of the gate again.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Harrison Brunicke

The Penguins have projected a ton of external confidence in Brunicke, their second-round selection in 2024. The South African-born defenseman is a smooth-skating right-shot with good size already at 6’3″ and 203 lbs. He’s played major minutes for an understaffed squad in the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers the past three years, and if possible, the Pens would like to get him out of that environment and into a more competitive one in AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He’ll even be given a crack at making the NHL roster out of camp as a result, but current roster math makes that hard to foresee. He had 30 points in 41 games for the Blazers last year.

San Jose Sharks: Sam Dickinson

There’s a strong case for Dickinson ending up on San Jose’s opening night roster, but the Sharks’ decision could be influenced by whether the exception actually goes into effect. The left-shot defender has nothing left to prove at the junior level, scoring 91 points with an incredible +64 rating in 55 games with the OHL’s London Knights last season. The 2024 No. 11 overall pick is now a two-time OHL champion, a Memorial Cup champion, and was this season’s CHL Defenseman of the Year. If they have the option to send him to AHL San Jose, they might take advantage of it while they ship out their overstock of depth veterans, but if not, it’s unlikely they’d have many qualms about waiving one or two of them to make room for Dickinson in the NHL.

Seattle Kraken: Berkly Catton

The math isn’t kind for Catton to compete for an NHL job this season. But after leading the WHL in playoff scoring with 31 assists and 42 points in 20 games for the Spokane Chiefs – and that coming on the heels of back-to-back 100-point regular seasons – it’s hard to see what another season in juniors does for his development. The 5’10” center is only two weeks shy of the standard age cutoff, so the Kraken could argue for an exception if the new rule doesn’t go into effect, but the WHL has been less willing to dole those out in the past than their other CHL counterparts.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Sam O’Reilly

O’Reilly is the Bolts’ new top prospect after they brought him in from the Oilers in exchange for the signing rights to Isaac Howard. While he projects as more of a third-line utility man at the NHL level, the 6’1″ center has displayed good offensive instincts in juniors and had 71 points in 62 OHL games for the London Knights last year. It’s worth noting that those numbers came in an extremely offense-friendly environment, though. It might be worth it for Tampa to avoid shiny-new-toy syndrome and give him his final year of junior eligibility undisturbed to allow him to focus on boosting his offensive ceiling.

Utah Mammoth: Cole Beaudoin, Tij Iginla

The Mammoth will have a tough decision to make here if they are able to send a 19-year-old bound by the current CHL transfer agreement to AHL Tucson. Iginla would be the higher-profile choice. The winger was the No. 6 overall pick in 2024, but he’s missed significant time to injuries over the past couple of years and had 32 points in just 21 contests last year. That lack of playing time may mean a full year of juniors without the added stress of adjusting to pro hockey, which may do him some good for his long-term projection.

That could open a path for the ever-steady Beaudoin to vie for the honor and jump to Tucson. The 6’2″, 209-lb center was the No. 24 overall pick in that same 2024 draft and, like O’Reilly, is more of a projectable third-line piece long-term. They could take that same path and look to leave him in juniors for another year to see what other offensive development they could squeeze out of him, but on the other hand, getting him a head start on adjusting to pro life may be beneficial. He had 51 points in 52 games for the OHL’s Barrie Colts last year.

Maple Leafs, Anthony Stolarz Holding Extension Talks

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The Leafs have opened extension discussions with goaltender Anthony Stolarz, general manager Brad Treliving tells Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. He divulged that those talks have been ongoing “for some time” and that they’ve explored multiple options, presumably those with varying term.

Stolarz is a slam-dunk extension target, even with the younger and highly competent Joseph Woll as the other half of Toronto’s tandem. The 31-year-old has been one of the better backups in the league for some time before landing with the Leafs in free agency last year, finishing fifth in Vezina Trophy voting after posting a league-high .926 SV% in a career-high 33 starts and one relief appearance.

That strong play yielded a 21-8-3 record along with a 2.14 GAA and four shutouts. He was incredibly consistent over the course of the season, and by the numbers, no one in the league was more effective on a per-game basis. Among goalies with at least 15 appearances, no goalie saved more goals above expected per 60 minutes than Stolarz’s 0.779 mark, per MoneyPuck. That figure is a whole 0.144 clear of Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck’s.

Still, that elite level of play combined with his outright lack of track record as a starter or even 1A option makes him something of a unicorn. Stolarz had never even started 25 games in a season entering last year, although his career numbers (.917 SV%, 2.55 GAA, 64-39-12 record in 142 GP) remain well above average since he made his NHL debut with the Flyers back in 2016.

His lack of ice time has been influenced by a variety of reasons, but none more pertinent than his injury history. He would have started the majority of his team’s games for the first time last year if not for midseason knee surgery – his second in the last three years – that kept him out for nearly two months. He began the postseason as Toronto’s starter and guided them to a six-game dispatching of the Senators in the first round, but sustained a concussion in Game 1 of their second-round loss against the Panthers, ending his season.

Yet that also paints a picture of Stolarz being an incredibly resilient goaltender, reaching his peak and establishing himself as an elite tandem option 13 years after Philadelphia took him in the second round of the 2012 draft. The 6’6″, 234-lb netminder has now posted a save percentage north of .920 in four of his last six NHL seasons, and his .926 combined SV% over the last two seasons leads everyone with at least 25 starts.

Treliving already made something of an insurance policy for himself by signing Woll to a three-year, $11MM extension as soon as he became eligible to ink one last year. That contract is only going into effect now, meaning Woll, who has a 39-25-2 record and .908 SV% over his first two seasons as a full-time NHL option, is locked in at a $3.67MM cap hit through 2027-28. It would make sense that Toronto opines for a three-year extension for Stolarz, keeping his injury history in mind, but staggering the expiry of his and Woll’s contracts.

His open-market value is hard to predict. Even after excelling in a backup role with the Panthers in 2023-24, he only landed a two-year deal with a $2.5MM cap hit with Toronto in free agency. AFP Analytics projects a two-year extension for Stolarz at just north of $4.25MM per season – that’s with the projected cap jump to $104MM – and the AAV likely wouldn’t differ much with an additional year of term.

That would still make Stolarz and Woll, the latter of whom is just entering his prime, one of the most cost-effective tandems in the league, especially when considering the market set by extensions for names like Logan Thompson ($5.85MM AAV) and Adin Hill ($6.25MM AAV) last season. Without a slam-dunk prospect in the system behind Woll and next summer’s premier UFA options (Sergei Bobrovsky, Filip Gustavsson, Jacob Markström) likely out of their price range, hedging their bets on Stolarz and Woll continuing to split the crease in a more cost-effective manner is likely their best path forward.

Changes To LTIR Will Take Effect For 2025-26, Other CBA Changes Moved Up

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A handful of changes outlined in the CBA extension and new Memorandum of Understanding that were ratified over the summer will go into effect earlier than expected. While the full extent of the agreement won’t take effect until the current CBA expires on September 15, 2026, some of the new rules and regulations in the new agreement will have an effect on league operations for 2025-26.

Chief among them is the major overhaul to long-term injured reserve, PuckPedia and Frank Seravalli report. The new playoff salary accounting rules and in-season LTIR relief rules will cover the 2025-26 regular season, not 2026-27 as initially planned.

In the past, teams have routinely benefitted from having a high-priced player on LTIR for either the entire season or a significant portion of it late in the year, allowing them to replace their cap hit before getting the injured player back for the postseason. That allowed teams to ice playoff gameday rosters that had combined cap hits well over the regular-season upper limit.

Now, prior to each playoff game, teams will need to submit their roster of dressed players (not including scratches or injuries) to the league. The combined cap hit of that roster, plus any dead cap space like buyouts or retained salaries, must be at or under the preceding regular season’s upper limit. For players on 35+ contracts, entry-level deals, or other contracts eligible to include performance bonuses, those bonuses will not be incorporated into playoff cap-counting calculations, per PuckPedia.

The only mathematically complex portion of the new playoff cap situation will be regarding players involved in retained salary transactions. From PuckPedia directly:

For the team that retains cap hit, the retention is pro-rated based on the remaining regular-season days at the time of transaction (e.g. if a team retains 25% of a player’s salary in a transaction, the 25% charged to the retaining team is pro-rated. If that retention occurred halfway through the season, the retaining cap would have a playoff cap hit equal to 25%*50%= 12.5% of the full cap hit). Note that the team that receives the retained player does not have their cap hit pro-rated for the portion of the season the player was on their roster.

For in-season LTIR, the changes are simpler. Teams still have the ability to optimize their captures, but the total relief amount that an LTIR pool can hold will now be limited to the previous year’s average salary. For 2025-26, that means teams can only create up to $3,817,293 in flexibility via LTIR, regardless of the total amount of cap hit a team has on LTIR.

There’s one key exception to that rule – if an LTIR-bound player is expected to miss the entire season, the team can still take full advantage of their cap hit. The league needs to approve each scenario, and the LTIR-bound player in question would then be ineligible to play in the postseason regardless of their health.

That means teams like the Golden Knights and Blues, who are expected to use Alex Pietrangelo’s and Torey Krug’s long-term injuries to stay cap-compliant via LTIR placements, won’t be affected by this change since those players are not expected to resume their careers, at least not this season. Meanwhile, the Panthers will now only be able to unlock that $3.82MM in flexibility compared to the $4.5MM they’re currently projected to need with Matthew Tkachuk expected to begin the season on LTIR with a target return date in January.

Here are the other elements of the CBA extension that will now take effect this season, per PuckPedia and Seravalli:

  • Contracts with deferred compensation will be outlawed beginning Oct. 7 (the first day of the regular season)
  • No more “paper transactions.” When a team assigns a player to the AHL, they must play one game for their respective affiliate before becoming eligible for an NHL recall.
  • Double salary retention on a contract can no longer occur simultaneously. A contract can only be involved in a second retained salary transaction 75 regular-season days after the preceding one, eliminating the possibility for three-team trade deadline deals to effectively allow a team to acquire a player at 25% of their initial salary.
  • Teams can bypass the NHL-CHL transfer agreement and loan one 19-year-old player to their AHL affiliate who would otherwise be required to stay on the NHL roster or return to juniors.
  • The limit of four post-trade deadline standard recalls is expanded to five, although only four of those players can be on the roster simultaneously.
  • Teams can no longer implement a dress code for players.
  • Players may now endorse wine and spirits.

There will also be a slate of new rules that will take effect for the 2026-27 season but before the new MOU goes into effect on Sep. 16, per PuckPedia. Those are as follows:

  • Changes to drafted player rights retention will take effect for the 2026 class (uniform expiry at age 22, regardless of league). Russian players remain exempt and their rights are held indefinitely by the team that drafts them.
  • Increases to maximum minor league compensation on entry-level contracts.
  • Increases to NHL league minimum salary, which will jump from $775K in 2025-26 to $850K in 2026-27.
  • Mandatory neck protection rules begin July 1, 2026.
  • Removing additional entry-level restrictions for European players.

Flames, Connor Zary Making Progress On Three-Year Deal

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The Flames are “getting closer” to a resolution with restricted free agent Connor Zary, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports Tuesday. It’s likely to be a three-year deal when it finally gets across the finish line, in line with what Calgary’s front office was reportedly aiming for in talks last month.

The cap hit on said deal will likely be in the neighborhood of $3.5MM, as indicated by AFP Analytics’ projections from the beginning of the offseason. Cap space was no object in talks for the Flames, who still have over $15MM in flexibility for opening night with only Zary left to sign, according to PuckPedia.

Zary ended up as one of the longest RFA negotiations this summer after plateauing in his sophomore season. After scoring 34 points in 63 games in 2023-24 and finishing eighth in Calder Trophy voting, he churned out 27 points in 54 games last year – a decrease of 0.04 points per game. Matters weren’t helped by a pair of lower-body injuries, including a knee injury that ended his season a few weeks early.

There’s still some room to grow for Zary, though. He turns 24 later this month and was Calgary’s first-round pick (No. 24 overall) in 2020. So far, that billing seems appropriate – his 61 career points rank exactly 24th among 2020 draftees. He also took on consistent top-nine and more frequent top-six deployment last season, averaging north of 16 minutes per game.

As he continues to work on building up his offensive acumen, he should expect a similar role in 2025-26. The Flames will begin camp with no notable changes to their forward group over the offseason, meaning a spot on the wing alongside either Mikael Backlund or Nazem Kadri should be his for the taking. It’s not as if he hadn’t been making linear progress up until last year – he steadily increased his production in the minors before exploding with AHL Calgary to start 2023-24, scoring 10 points in six games before earning his first NHL recall and never looking back.

A three-year deal would keep Zary under team control in the summer of 2028, but that’s Calgary’s last chance to negotiate with him as an RFA. Any subsequent deal he signs will lead him to unrestricted free agency.

Atlantic Notes: Meloche, McTavish, Hildeby

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Sabres goaltending prospect Samuel Meloche has committed to Northeastern University, he announced on Instagram. It’s unclear if the 18-year-old will join the school for the upcoming 2025-26 season or return to the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, where he emerged as a starter in his draft year, before heading to the college ranks in 2026-27. He was a fourth-round selection in June and checked in as one of the more athletic goalies in this year’s class. The 6’2″, 190-lb netminder had a .900 SV%, 2.90 GAA, five shutouts, and a 30-14-6 record for the Huskies last year – now committing to a school with the same moniker.

Other updates from the Atlantic Division:

  • As the Bruins continue to overhaul their center pipeline, swinging a trade for Ducks restricted free agent Mason McTavish may be among the most realistic options they have to add a top-six piece, Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe opines. “If McTavish is actually available, the Bruins likely would need to relinquish a first-round pick or two, along with an intriguing prospect or young NHL player,” Ryan wrote. “There’s plenty of risk involved with moving first-round picks — especially for a retooling team that could land another top-10 pick next June. But a player such as McTavish also represents a high-upside addition with established production and room to grow — especially given his age.“
  • After signing a three-year deal this morning, Maple Leafs goalie Dennis Hildeby will have a $945K qualifying offer due upon expiry in 2028, PuckPedia reports. His one-way salary in the final year of the deal will be $900K after earning a $775K NHL/$350K AHL breakdown this season and an $850K/$450K split in 2026-27.

Maple Leafs Sign Dennis Hildeby To Three-Year Deal

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Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby had spent most of the summer as a restricted free agent, but he finally has a new contract in hand. The team announced Tuesday that they’ve signed their No. 3 option between the pipes to a three-year deal, keeping him in Toronto through 2027-28.

Hildeby’s deal carries a two-way structure through 2026-27 before converting to a one-way deal in its final season, the team said. He’ll carry a cap hit of $841,667 if he’s on the NHL roster.

The 24-year-old is coming off his first season of NHL action. The towering Swede didn’t fare all that well in his six starts, however, logging a .872 SV% and 3.33 GAA with a 3-3-0 record. Only two of those starts were quality ones, and he conceded 4.3 goals above expected in just over 360 minutes of ice time, per MoneyPuck.

Toronto is betting on there still being better days ahead in Hildeby’s development. He was initially draft-eligible in 2019 but was passed over three times before finally being selected by the Leafs in the fourth round in 2022 following a small but stellar first taste of professional action with Färjestad BK in Sweden’s SHL.

After Hildeby became the first player from the 2022 class to sign his entry-level deal, Toronto loaned him back to Färjestad before bringing him to North America at the end of the 2022-23 season. He’s largely remained on assignment to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies ever since, where he has a .909 SV%, 2.53 GAA, six shutouts, and a 37-21-14 record in 73 appearances for the club in the last three years.

Hildeby was an AHL All-Star in 2023-24 and, since he won’t require waivers for another season, is virtually guaranteed to begin this season as the Marlies’ starting option unless an injury strikes down one of Toronto’s NHL tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll in preseason. He’ll be the Leafs’ only real recall option unless they make another addition. Their other goalies under contract, Russians Artur Akhtyamov and Vyacheslav Peksa, are potentially high-ceiling options but are still too early in their development to warrant an NHL look.

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