Tony DeAngelo Signs With SKA St. Petersburg
Sep. 23: DeAngelo is indeed heading to SKA on a one-year contract, the team announced Monday on Instagram.
Aug. 14: Tony DeAngelo seems likely to head overseas with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League after a tough year with the Hurricanes, Anton Panchenko of Championat reported Monday. DeAngelo was the subject of more speculative rumors about a move to SKA earlier this month, which he refuted at the time and said he was focused on landing another NHL opportunity.
But in the days following DeAngelo’s statement, SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg confirmed that his club had contacted DeAngelo and maintained interest (via Championat’s Anton Nekrasov). Panchenko’s report from Monday, albeit translated from Russian, indicates that DeAngelo has now agreed to a contract with the KHL powerhouse.
DeAngelo, 28, became a UFA this summer after a second stint with the Hurricanes failed. The right-shot defenseman, whose play style is as one-dimensional as they come, enjoyed an offensive revival in Carolina in 2021-22, leading the club’s defense in scoring across the board with 10 goals, 41 assists, 51 points, and a career-high +30 rating in 64 games.
He gave Carolina that production on a dirt-cheap one-year, $1MM deal after he played just six games the year prior with the Rangers. That resulted from an early-season altercation with then-teammate Alexandar Georgiev, which resulted in DeAngelo being placed on waivers and assigned to the minors. He didn’t report to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and instead sat out most of the shortened 2021 season before the Rangers bought out the final season of his contract, making him free to sign with the Canes as a UFA.
The Hurricanes couldn’t afford to keep him around after he punched far above his weight financially, trading his signing rights to the Flyers during the 2022 offseason. Philadelphia promptly signed him to a two-year, $10MM contract, and he entered 2022-23 near the top of their defensive depth chart.
However, DeAngelo’s defensive struggles became much more apparent outside of a strong Carolina system. He posted a team-worst -27 rating and became a healthy scratch at times near the tail end of the campaign. He was still a respectable contributor offensively, leading Flyers blueliners with 11 goals, 31 assists and 42 points in 70 games, but his relationship with head coach John Tortorella was fractured as a result of the scratches.
Shortly after the season ended, the Flyers made DeAngelo the first player in NHL history to be bought out twice. He then returned to Carolina on a one-year, $1.675MM deal to try and rediscover past magic. But he wasn’t their only notable free agent signing on the back end, and he was relegated to the No. 7 spot on their defense depth chart for most of the season after Dmitry Orlov was brought into the mix. He was a healthy scratch for over half the season, limited to 11 points in 31 games while averaging a career-low 14:20 per contest.
It’s not just DeAngelo’s poor defensive play that’s limited his interest from NHL teams. His lack of discipline has rendered him wholly ineffective at times. Aside from the Georgiev incident in New York, he was suspended for physical abuse of an official while with the Coyotes in 2017 and again for spearing during the tail end of his time with the Flyers. During his junior hockey days with the Sarnia Sting, he was suspended twice for violating the Ontario Hockey League’s Abuse/Diversity policy.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Training Camp Cuts: 9/22/24
Six teams got their preseason schedules underway last night. Many more are set to do so today. That means we’re still a couple of days away from a long list of roster cuts from around the league, but teams are still doing a little bit of maintenance to send lower-end prospects back to their junior teams as those seasons get underway.
As always, we’re keeping track of all of today’s training camp cuts. This piece will be updated throughout the day as more transactions come in.
Anaheim Ducks (per team announcement)
F Alexandre Blais (to QMJHL Rimouski)
F Thomas Desruisseaux (released from ATO to QMJHL Chicoutimi)
F Simon Lovsin (released from ATO to WHL Seattle)
F Maxim Masse (to QMJHL Chicoutimi)
G Michael McIvor (released from ATO to OHL North Bay)
D Vojtech Port (to WHL Moose Jaw)
F Ethan Procyszyn (to OHL North Bay)
D Tarin Smith (to WHL Everett)
D Loic Usereau (released from ATO to QMJHL Chicoutimi)
F Jaxsin Vaughan (released from ATO to WHL Regina)
Columbus Blue Jackets (per team announcement)
F Pano Fimis (released from ATO to OHL Erie)
G Nolan Lolande (to OHL Kingston)
D Luca Marrelli (to OHL Oshawa)
G Jacob Oster (released from ATO to OHL Oshawa)
Dallas Stars (per team announcement)
F Gabriel Frasca (released from ATO to OHL Erie)
F Brad Gardiner (to OHL Barrie)
F Joseph Henneberry (released from ATO to QMJHL Victoriaville)
F Jake Karabela (released from ATO to OHL Guelph)
F Angus MacDonell (to OHL Brampton)
D Niilopekka Muhonen (to WHL Medicine Hat)
Detroit Red Wings (per team announcement)
D Bauer Dumanski (released from ATO to WHL Prince George)
F Brayden Edwards (released from ATO to WHL Lethbridge)
D Marcus Kearsey (released from ATO to QMJHL Charlottetown)
F Chase Lefebvre (released from ATO to OHL Peterborough)
G Landon Miller (to OHL Soo)
F Charlie Paquette (released from ATO to OHL Guelph)
D Zach Sandhu (released from ATO to OHL Oshawa)
D Blake Smith (released from ATO to OHL Flint)
F Borya Valis (released from ATO to WHL Prince George)
D Josh Van Mulligen (released from ATO to WHL Medicine Hat)
D Matthew Virgilio (released from ATO to OHL Niagara)
Minnesota Wild (per team announcement)
F Gavin Hain (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
G Kyle McClellan (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
D Kalem Parker (to WHL Moose Jaw)
F Ryder Ritchie (to WHL Medicine Hat)
F Matthew Sop (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
G Chase Wutzke (to WHL Red Deer)
D Will Zmolek (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
New York Rangers (per team announcement)
D Joe Arntsen (to WHL Lethbridge)
G Brad Arvanitis (released from PTO to ECHL Maine)
F Maxim Barbashev (assigned to AHL Hartford)
D Seth Barton (assigned to AHL Hartford)
D Zach Berzolla (assigned to AHL Hartford)
D Ryan McCleary (assigned to AHL Hartford)
F Bryce McConnell-Barker (to OHL Soo)
F Max McCue (to OHL London)
D James Petrovski (to OHL Owen Sound)
F Dylan Roobroeck (to OHL Oshawa)
F Sahil Panwar (assigned to AHL Hartford)
Vancouver Canucks (per team announcement)
D Layton Ahac (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
D Parker Alcos (to WHL Edmonton)
D Joseph Arntsen (released from ATO to AHL Abbotsford)
D Zach Berzolla (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Josh Bloom (to AHL Abbotsford)
G Dylan Ferguson (released from PTO)
F Ty Glover (to AHL Abbotsford)
F Ty Halaburda (released from ATO, to WHL Vancouver)
F Dino Kambeitz (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
G Jonathan Lemieux (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Deagan McMillan (released from ATO to WHL Victoria)
F Riley Patterson (to OHL Barrie)
F Anthony Romani (to OHL North Bay)
D Basile Sansonnens (to QMJHL Rimouski)
F John Stevens (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Carsen Twarynski (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Cooper Walker (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
Kings’ Arthur Kaliyev Out Indefinitely With Broken Clavicle
9/22: The manager of editorial content for the Kings, Zach Dooley, shares that Kaliyev suffered a broken clavicle on Friday and will be out indefinitely.
9/21: Kings winger Arthur Kaliyev is expected to miss “an extended period of time” after sustaining an upper-body injury during a scrimmage Friday, Mayor’s Manor reports. An official announcement from the team is expected later Saturday after Kaliyev went through further testing to diagnose the injury this morning.
Kaliyev, 23, left yesterday’s scrimmage after taking a hit in the corner from defenseman Kyle Burroughs. He’d started training camp in a fourth-line role alongside Trevor Lewis and Akil Thomas.
The 2019 second-round pick was a restricted free agent for most of the offseason, officially putting pen to paper on a one-year deal worth $825K on Wednesday. He’s had an active trade request since at least May, as reported by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Signing the cheap deal should have benefitted Kaliyev in one of two ways – either by giving him the runway to prove to head coach Jim Hiller that he can handle a full-time top-nine role or by making it easier for general manager Rob Blake to find a trade partner with cost certainty for this season in hand. A long-term injury puts a significant damper on either of those possibilities.
The Uzbekistan-born winger is coming off his worst season as a full-time NHLer, recording career lows across the board with 15 points (7 G, 8 A) in 51 games. Despite seeing fourth-line minutes at even strength and fringe second-unit power-play time throughout his four-year career, Kaliyev has still managed at least 100 shots on goal in his three full-time NHL seasons.
Kaliyev has also consistently managed strong shot-attempt and possession-quality numbers. He was also on pace for 41 points had he played all 82 games in the 2022-23 season despite playing just 11:41 per game.
That’s led many to question why he hasn’t received a longer look higher in the Los Angeles lineup. If his trade request wasn’t granted by the start of the season, there was ample opportunity for him to land a top-nine role at left wing, with his offensive upside trumping that of youngster Alex Laferriere and trade addition Tanner Jeannot.
Instead, it looks like he’ll start the season on the shelf for the second straight year. Kaliyev was unavailable for the first two games of the 2023-24 regular season while serving the final two games of a four-game suspension he received during preseason.
Kaliyev’s absence bodes well for fellow 2019 draftee Alex Turcotte‘s chances of cracking the opening night roster. That year’s fifth overall pick took his place alongside Lewis and Thomas in fourth-line duties today. He played a career-high 20 games last season after a late-season call-up from the AHL’s Ontario Reign, posting a goal and three assists for four points while averaging 9:17 per game.
Poll: Who Will Win The Metropolitan Division In 2024-25?
A three-headed monster for much of the past few years, the Metropolitan Division only had two serious contenders last season. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers and second-place Hurricanes ran away with things, creating a 17-point gap between them and the third-place Islanders.
There are question marks around whether the Metro will return to its former level of competitiveness in 2024-25. What does seem relatively certain, however, are the Rangers’ chances of staying at the top of the division.
Little has changed for the Blueshirts. Their top-six forward group sees only one new name, veteran Reilly Smith, who’ll likely be part of a revolving door of wingers alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, like how things transpired last year. Their forward depth returns are largely intact, too, with a full season of a healthy Filip Chytil as their third-line center, hopefully giving them some more punch. The defense remained as it was, aside from the loss of Erik Gustafsson. All in all, there’s little reason to suspect significant, if any, regression from the Rags.
Last year’s runner-up, Carolina, is where things start to get interesting. The Canes lost multiple key pieces to the free-agent market, including Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teräväinen, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, and Stefan Noesen. They replaced their back-end departures, signing Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker, but didn’t do nearly as well to replace their departing forwards. That leaves the Hurricanes, whose offense has been their biggest weakness since returning to championship contention a few years ago, with considerable question marks, especially after news that Jesper Fast will miss the entire season after undergoing neck surgery. They’ll be counting on UFA signings like William Carrier and Jack Roslovic to play larger roles than they’re accustomed to and could trot out 2023 first-rounder Bradly Nadeau in NHL minutes in his first professional season.
The Islanders return with plenty of familiar faces after squeaking into a divisional playoff spot with 94 points – a total that would have made them the second Wild Card in the Atlantic Division and kept them out of the playoffs entirely in the Western Conference. They’ll likely need an improvement to return to the dance for a third straight year, let alone capture a divisional title. Their X factor will be Anthony Duclair, set to take on top-line duties alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat after signing a four-year deal in free agency. The four-time 20-goal scorer will be relied upon heavily to help lift the Isles’ offense out of the league’s bottom half for the first time since 2018. A rebound from Ilya Sorokin, who regressed to a rather pedestrian .908 SV% after two years of .920+ play, should help too.
The Capitals’ season will be dominated by more Alex Ovechkin headlines. After all, the captain is just 41 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky‘s all-time record. But there’s a clear directive to remain competitive while he’s still around, as evidenced by their pickup of key names like Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, and Logan Thompson on the trade market and Matt Roy in free agency. All of a sudden, the Caps have one of the more well-rounded defense corps in the conference and are in a much better position to repeat last year’s 40-win, 91-point campaign without the concerningly low -37 goal differential.
The Penguins, fresh off signing Sidney Crosby to a two-year extension, also have dreams of just sneaking back into the playoffs rather than competing for a division title. They’re hoping some added speed on the back end in the form of Sebastian Aho and Matt Grzelcyk, as well as depth forward pickups like Anthony Beauvillier and Cody Glass, can help aid a still-skilled but aging core. Whether 2022 first-round pick Rutger McGroarty is ready to make an NHL impact after being acquired from the Jets this offseason is also a big question that will receive an answer over the next few weeks.
The Flyers seem set to remain in the mushy middle. It’s not a bad thing – they’re past the dark days of their rebuild with brighter days ahead – but no one is expecting them to be a top contender this season. A strong rookie season from 2023 seventh overall selection Matvei Michkov could go a long way toward firing up expectations for the future, though, and rightfully so. Early signs indicate it’ll be a two-horse race between him and Sharks first-overall selection Macklin Celebrini for this season’s Calder Trophy. He likely won’t be enough to lift an otherwise largely untouched roster from last season that finished with 87 points back into the playoff picture, though.
After an injury-plagued season plummeted the Devils to a seventh-place finish in the Metro, there’s no team with a better potential for a rebound campaign in the league. Whether New Jersey will reach the heights of their 112-point 2022-23 campaign remains to be seen, but it’s a safe bet that they’ll be knocking on the door of a playoff spot – if not working their way into the division title conversation. Their goaltending tandem is reworked with a duo of proven veterans in Jacob Markström and Jake Allen, their defense is again among the league’s elite with a healthy Dougie Hamilton and the additions of Brenden Dillon and Pesce, and the guts of the offense that finished fourth in the league two years ago are still intact.
Then there’s the Blue Jackets, who are set for another development season with new head coach Dean Evason at the helm. They’ll be looking for 2023 third-overall pick Adam Fantilli to stay healthy after a calf laceration truncated his rookie season, and they’ll also look for 2022 top-10 pick David Jiricek to take a step forward with increased responsibilities on the back end. They’re running back one of the league’s worst starters over the past two seasons in goal in Elvis Merzļikins, though, and while there are some breakout candidates elsewhere in the lineup, a third straight last-place finish in the division seems likely.
So, we ask you, PHR readers, who will finish atop the Metropolitan Division at the end of the 2024-25 season? Vote in the poll below:
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Evander Kane Expected To Miss At Least Four Months
Oilers winger Evander Kane had surgery Friday in New York City to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias, and two torn lower abdominal muscles, as indicated last week. There’s no firm timeline for his return, but he won’t be back in the lineup until January or February at the earliest, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
All those injuries stemmed from Kane playing through a sports hernia for much of last season, including the playoffs. They didn’t limit his availability too much, costing him just 10 games combined over the course of the regular season and postseason.
They did significantly hamper his effectiveness, though. Kane’s 0.31 goals per game and 0.57 points per game were his worst rates since the 2015-16 season. He was especially diminished in the playoffs, posting four goals and eight points in 20 games while averaging under 15 minutes per night. It was a far cry from his showing just two years ago in the 2022 playoffs, where he averaged nearly 20 minutes per game for the Oilers and led the league in postseason goals with 13 despite Edmonton being eliminated in the Western Conference Final by the Avalanche.
Now, as expected, the Oilers will have the opportunity to place Kane’s $5.125MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve. However, it’s unlikely they will. It was viewed as a potential necessity a few weeks ago, but after opting not to match the offer sheets the Blues tendered for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway and trading Cody Ceci and his $3.25MM cap hit to the Sharks, Edmonton projects to be fully cap-compliant with a 22-player roster that includes Kane, per PuckPedia.
The Oilers can place Kane on standard IR to free up a roster spot if they so choose. They enter the season with $945,833 in space, so the player they’re adding to the roster to replace Kane will need to have a cap hit equal to or lower than that amount. Potential candidates include recent PTO signee Mike Hoffman and minor-leaguers James Hamblin and Raphael Lavoie.
Evening Notes: Marchessault, Lambert, Peterka, Puljujarvi
Predators winger Jonathan Marchessault had his number retired by the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts today, becoming the ninth player in franchise history to receive the honor.
Marchessault, now 33, appeared in 254 games for the Remparts in parts of four seasons from 2007 to 2011. He’s top 10 in franchise history in games played, goals (98, t-ninth), assists (141, sixth), and points (239, eighth). He and Marc-Édouard Vlasic are the only active NHLers to have their numbers retired by the Remparts.
The honor comes just over a year after Marchessault hoisted the Conn Smythe Trophy, helping the Golden Knights to their first championship in franchise history with a league-leading 13 goals and a +17 rating in 22 playoff games. He landed a five-year, $27.5MM deal with Nashville in free agency this summer.
Elsewhere from around the league this evening:
- A strong showing early on in training camp has Brad Lambert primed to make a real run at starting the regular season as the Jets’ second-line center, writes Sportsnet’s Jacob Stoller. Lambert, 20, was a consensus top-five pick entering his draft year but fell to Winnipeg at 30th overall in 2022 after a disappointing showing. He got fully back on track in his first pro season last year, leading the AHL’s Manitoba Moose in scoring with 55 points (21 G, 34 A) in 64 games. “I think I’ve improved on my attention to detail,” he told Stoller. “Being able to play on the defensive side of the puck, being reliable and being able to react quicker. I’ve tried to evolve every aspect of my game.”
- Televised hockey is back with the first few preseason games taking place Saturday night. There’s a blowout going on in Buffalo with the Sabres’ mostly NHL roster dressed against some fringe Penguins talent, leading to some wide-open play. Buffalo’s John-Jason Peterka and Pittsburgh’s Jesse Puljujärvi have dueling hat-tricks, marking an especially important early showing for the latter. Puljujärvi, the fourth overall pick in 2016, had just four points in 22 games with Pittsburgh last season and needs a strong preseason showing to avoid landing on waivers.
Atlantic Notes: LeBreton Flats, Norris, Anderson
There’s no clear timeline for the Senators’ move to a more centrally-located arena in the LeBreton Flats neighborhood in Ottawa. Team ownership announced Friday they’d finally reached an agreement to purchase the land from the National Capital Commission, with the final sale expected to go ahead in 2025, but details past that were sparse.
That means a move out of Kanata’s Canadian Tire Centre is at least five years away. Majority owner Michael Andlauer said Saturday that the soonest he could see Senators hockey coming to the LeBreton Flats development would be for the 2029-30 season, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.
“I honestly, if I could, I would drop the puck tomorrow,” Andlauer said. “It’s a process. I’m going to be diligent and transparent when you ask me what the status and where our hurdles are. But, I think, the sooner, the better. I like to underpromise and overdeliver so once this process gets started, we’ll probably have a better idea as the year goes along.”
More out of the Atlantic Division:
- Josh Norris hasn’t quite been a full participant in Senators scrimmages after reports claimed he’d be fully cleared from yet another shoulder injury when camp started. But the team told Garrioch today that there are no lingering effects from the injury and that they’re just being cautious by easing him back into game-like action. A trio of shoulder procedures have limited him to just 58 appearances over the past two seasons.
- Canadiens winger Josh Anderson was busier than usual this summer, working closely with Canadiens staff over the past few months to try and bounce back from a horrific 2023-24 campaign, writes Arpon Basu of The Athletic. His nine goals and 20 points were his lowest totals in a fully healthy season since breaking out as a full-time fixture with the Blue Jackets back in 2016. “I think in a week, I watched 40 of my games, or something like that,” he told Basu. Just my shifts. It doesn’t take that long, just 12 or 15 minutes, and really pay attention to yourself when you don’t have the puck or have the puck, are you doing the right things?“
Pacific Notes: Oilers, Tocchet, Mantha
The Oilers announced multiple hockey operations promotions and additions today, chief among them confirming Zack Kassian‘s return to the organization as a pro scout, as previously reported. But that wasn’t the only notable hiring.
They’ve also promoted former NHLer Warren Rychel to their director of pro scouting. Edmonton didn’t have that role in the organization last year – it was included in assistant general manager Brad Holland’s responsibilities. But they needed to fill Holland’s duties by committee after mutually parting ways with him on Tuesday. Rychel had served as a pro scout with the Oilers since the 2022-23 season and will have his job filled by Kassian.
Edmonton also added Dominik Zrim, a co-founder of the now-defunct CapFriendly, as their director of hockey strategy. He’s held similar roles with the Blackhawks and Sharks over the past few years as well.
More from the Pacific Division:
- 2024 Jack Adams Trophy winner Rick Tocchet has no worries about his future in Vancouver despite not having a contract past this season. He said on a radio appearance today that his “strong relationship” with GM Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford leaves him “not at all concerned” (via Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor). The 60-year-old worked closely with the pair as an assistant coach with the Penguins from 2014 to 2017. He’s guided the Canucks to a 70-35-13 record (.648%) since taking over for Bruce Boudreau midway through the 2022-23 season.
- The Flames expect Anthony Mantha to be one of their top scoring chance generators this season after inking him to a one-year, $3.5MM contract in free agency. He said to reporters today that head coach Ryan Huska told him he’ll likely be among Calgary’s leaders in ice time among forwards and wants him to “shoot almost 300 pucks,” per Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. Mantha, 30, had 23 goals and 44 points in 74 games between the Capitals and Golden Knights last season and has started camp in Calgary on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil.
Utah Signs Dylan Guenther To Eight-Year Extension
According to a team announcement, the Utah Hockey Club has signed forward Dylan Guenther to an eight-year extension. The organization does not typically share financial details but Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports shares that it will be a $7.143MM cap hit for Guenther making the total value just north of $57.14MM.
It’s the richest deal the franchise has signed since being birthed from the ashes of the Arizona Coyotes. He’ll be the team’s second-highest-paid forward starting next season, trailing Clayton Keller‘s $7.15MM cap hit by a slim margin.
Guenther, 21, was projected as a future cornerstone piece for the Coyotes when they drafted him ninth overall in 2021. That hasn’t changed since the move to Utah this offseason, but it’s still a considerable chunk of change for a player who’s yet to remain on an NHL roster for an entire regular season.
After spending his post-draft campaign entirely in juniors with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings, Guenther cracked the Coyotes’ opening night roster for 2022-23. He churned out solid numbers for a 19-year-old winger on a rebuilding team, scoring six goals and adding nine assists for 15 points in 33 games.
But with Guenther averaging third-line minutes at best, seeing 13:07 per game, the Coyotes returned Guenther to juniors in February with the bigger picture in mind. That wasn’t surprising, but it was eye-raising to see him left off the opening night roster last season. The Edmonton native was assigned to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners as part of Arizona’s final cuts.
Quickly, the 6’2″ winger showed he’d outgrown the farm. He opened the campaign with 28 points in 29 games for the Roadrunners before being recalled in January.
Guenther spent the back half of 2023-24 in the NHL, where he quickly proved he was ready to shoulder top-six minutes. He scored 18 goals and 17 assists for 35 points in 45 games, posting above-average possession metrics while averaging 16:17 per game. Had he spent all 82 games in the majors, he would have scored 64 points, placing him second on the team behind Keller’s 76.
There’s no question about Guenther’s standing in the Utah organization entering this season. He’ll be on the opening night roster, likely slotting in behind Keller as the team’s second-line right wing. But a max-term commitment making him one of the team’s highest-paid players is risky for someone with less than a full season’s worth of experience, high as his ceiling may be.
It could certainly end up being a bargain deal for Utah if Guenther checks in as a perennial 70-point winger, especially as the salary cap rises. However, a looming extension places a great deal of immediate pressure on Guenther to live up to that cap hit starting this season.
An eight-year deal walks Guenther to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2033, when he’ll be 30 years old. If there’s any trade protection coming as part of the extension, it can’t go into effect until the 2030-31 season at the earliest, when he otherwise would have been eligible to first test the UFA market.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Poll: Who Will Win The Atlantic Division In 2024-25?
The NHL’s Atlantic Division had been a clear-cut case of the have-and-have-nots for the past few seasons. That’s begun to change, though, with the Sabres finishing one point out of a playoff spot in 2022-23 and the Red Wings losing out on a playoff spot thanks to a tiebreaker in 2023-24.
The basement is rising, and the ceiling is falling. The Panthers, Maple Leafs, Bruins and Lightning have all made the playoffs for multiple years in a row, but at least one of those streaks could end with most of the division’s other half expecting to challenge to end their postseason droughts.
In most eyes, the safest spot belongs to that of the defending Stanley Cup champion. Only two teams in the salary cap era, the 2006-07 Hurricanes and the 2014-15 Kings, missed the playoffs after winning it all the previous season.
There’s little reason to suggest the Panthers will join that list. They have lost key names on the back end in Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and haven’t landed surefire replacements. But Adam Boqvist and Nate Schmidt are now in the mix and will work with returnees Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola to help replace the losses by committee.
But up front and in goal, they’re still one of the league’s scariest teams. Little has changed from the top end of Florida’s championship-caliber forward core aside from the departure of trade deadline pickup Vladimir Tarasenko. Sergei Bobrovsky is back between the pipes with a high-ceiling option at backup in 2019 first-rounder Spencer Knight.
The Maple Leafs didn’t embark on a full retool after yet another first-round heartbreaker. But they’re arguably in a much better position to contend for the division title – and a Stanley Cup – after a free-agency shopping spree landed them Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev, and Jani Hakanpää on the back end. Their forward corps largely remains intact, although they will be counting on some depth names to step up and replace the loss of top-six winger Tyler Bertuzzi. Their goaltending is improved as well with Anthony Stolarz, the league’s best backup with the Panthers last year, in to replace the hot-and-cold Ilya Samsonov.
Over the past couple of seasons, the Bruins’ fate has hinged on the back of spectacular goaltending by Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. The latter is out the door to a division rival, and the former remains unsigned amid a contract stalemate that doesn’t appear to be ending soon. That could cause serious issues early on for Boston, which did well in replacing its departing UFAs with new faces but still has concerns about depth scoring. Their No. 1 option between the pipes for now is Joonas Korpisalo, who posted a .890 SV% in 55 games for the Sens last year and is a historically below-average netminder over his 276-game NHL career.
The Lightning may have lost Steven Stamkos but replaced him with the younger Jake Guentzel, who’s produced at the same level as the former captain over the past two seasons. Outside of Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov, and Brandon Hagel, their wing depth is concerningly thin. But they still have a solid one-two-three punch down the middle, have an all-world netminder in Andrei Vasilevskiy, and did well to rebalance their defense this summer by reacquiring Ryan McDonagh from the Predators.
After the Ullmark acquisition, the Senators may be the Atlantic rebuilder best positioned to reclaim a playoff spot in 2025. They addressed their biggest weakness, added some solid top-nine scoring depth in Michael Amadio and David Perron, and improved their depth at right defense by recouping solid stay-at-home presence Nick Jensen while parting ways with Jakob Chychrun.
The Red Wings will undoubtedly be in the conversation, too, after finishing tantalizingly close to a playoff spot in 2024. But they did little to address a porous defense that made them one of the league’s worst possession teams last season and paid to unload arguably their best shutdown defender, Jake Walman, on the Sharks. Their scoring depth is in good shape after signing Tarasenko, and their goaltending has some decent veteran tandem options, but whether a defense that took a step back on paper can be salvaged by top-10 picks Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson remains to be seen.
The Sabres are also chomping at the bit to return to playoff action for the first time in 13 years. Injuries decimated them last season, and they’re hoping an overhauled bottom-six forward group now oozing with two-way responsibility can give them the roster makeup they need. Familiar face Lindy Ruff is back behind the bench, too.
The Canadiens, while seemingly on track in their rebuild, are likely to be the only non-factor in the Atlantic in a welcome change of pace. Their next wave is still a year or two out, although a potential full season of 20-year-old Lane Hutson on the blue line will be a story to watch. Some added scoring after picking up Patrik Laine in a trade with Columbus should boost their record, too, but not much above their 76-point finish last season.
So, we ask you, PHR readers, who do you think will have locked down the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic at the end of the regular season? Let us know by voting in the poll below:
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