East Notes: Demidov, Crosby, Mercer
One of Ivan Demidov‘s countrymen is optimistic the top-five pick will have a strong run of success in Montreal. Former Canadiens winger Alexander Radulov spoke to Sergey Demidov of Responsible Gambling about the 2024 fifth-overall pick and said Demidov will be “having a blast” when he likely begins his NHL career in the closing days of the 2024-25 season.
“Yes, he will be pressured, and he should understand that,” Radulov said. “But he should turn that pressure to his advantage. In Quebec, fans understand hockey. If you give it all, they see it and appreciate it. They even have hockey on their five-dollar bill.”
Radulov, who spent the 2016-17 season in Montreal, will be Demidov’s rival in the Kontinental Hockey League this season as the youngster takes on his first full season of professional hockey. Demidov, 19 in December, had one of the best seasons in Russian junior hockey history last year with SKA St. Petersburg’s U20 club, where he lit up the circuit for 60 points (27 G, 33 A) in just 30 games. He remains on SKA’s main roster two days ahead of their regular season opener, and all signs point to him starting his post-draft season with the main squad.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Each day that passes without a Sidney Crosby extension means more anxiety for Penguins fans. The face of the franchise is entering the last season of his 12-year, $104.4MM contract and has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1, but there hasn’t been any news despite the two sides being reportedly close for months. Trade speculation will keep heating up the closer we get to training camp, influencing TSN’s Travis Yost to at least break down the likelihood of Crosby being moved at the trade deadline. “Imagine for a moment that the Penguins struggle early,” Yost writes. “It is precisely Crosby’s loyalty to the franchise that would suggest a trade could be fruitful: the returns even for a rental of Crosby would be extraordinary, and under the same assumption that Crosby’s loyalty is unwavering, he would return back to Pittsburgh (with possibly more help rostered as soon as 2025-26) on his retirement deal.“
- Could more teams follow in the Hurricanes’ footsteps and use deferred payments to help get long-term deals across the finish line? It’s at least something to look out for in the case of the Devils and RFA forward Dawson Mercer, posits James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. New Jersey is down to $4.98MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia, a figure Mercer’s AAV on a longer-term deal would likely eclipse by a slim margin. Deferring a small percentage of the contract until the end of the agreement would help it get across the finish line, at least from the team’s perspective. Whether Mercer is willing to accept the structure remains to be seen.
Checking In On 2024 First-Round Picks
Most of the players selected in the first round of the 2024 draft have signed their entry-level contracts, but very few will actually suit up for their NHL clubs or AHL affiliates in the fall. Here’s a look at where all 32 of this year’s first-round talents project to spend their time in their post-draft season.
1. San Jose Sharks: Macklin Celebrini, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Sharks
Celebrini isn’t the only high-end pick to sign his entry-level contract coming out of college, but he is the only one who’s a sure bet to start the season on an NHL roster. The 18-year-old phenom will likely be given a shot to anchor the Sharks’ first line down the middle out of the gate. Seeing him on assignment to the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, this season would be a huge surprise.
2. Chicago Blackhawks: Artyom Levshunov, D
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Rockford IceHogs (AHL)
When the Blackhawks drafted Levshunov earlier this summer, there was some uncertainty about whether he would turn pro following his freshman season at Michigan State University. It didn’t last long, though, as he signed his ELC with Chicago less than two weeks after being drafted. However, their signings of veterans T.J. Brodie and Alec Martinez in free agency muddy his path to a roster spot. Early-season injuries or an exceptional training camp could land Levshunov a nine-game trial with the Blackhawks but expect to see most of his action this season come in the minors.
3. Anaheim Ducks: Beckett Sennecke, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Oshawa Generals (OHL)
Sennecke is the first player here who’s ineligible for an AHL assignment this season because he was drafted out of the Canadian Hockey League. It’s either Anaheim or Oshawa for the surprise third-overall pick. It’ll end up being the latter, as he likely needs at least another full year of development time in juniors before he’s ready to compete for a roster spot.
4. Columbus Blue Jackets: Cayden Lindstrom, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
Lindstrom isn’t signed yet, but he’s expected to do so next month. The pivot is still recovering from a herniated disc in his back that limited him to 32 games with the Tigers last season. Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell already confirmed that barring an unforeseen development, Lindstrom will be loaned back to Medicine Hat for 2024-25, although a nine-game trial isn’t out of the question.
5. Montreal Canadiens: Ivan Demidov, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)
There’s no real rush to sign Demidov. As a player drafted out of a Russian league, the Habs own his signing rights indefinitely. The dynamic winger spent the entirety of his draft year in his native country’s junior circuit, though, which would have been an unprecedented jump to NHL ice in 2024-25. As such, Demidov will play out the final season of his contract with SKA, which has already announced its season-opening roster with Demidov on it as compared to their junior or minor-league affiliate. All signs point to Demidov signing his ELC and arriving in Montreal at the end of the KHL season, potentially still with a few games left on the Habs’ 2024-25 schedule.
6. Utah Hockey Club: Tij Iginla, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
As one of the younger players in the class and a late riser, there’s little question about Utah returning its first-ever draft pick to juniors. Iginla will look to build on his 84-point season with Kelowna and will challenge more seriously for a roster spot with Utah in 2025-26.
7. Ottawa Senators: Carter Yakemchuk, D
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Yakemchuk will return to the Hitmen for 2024-25, but unlike most other CHL-drafted players in this class, he only has to wait one year until he’s eligible to play in the AHL full-time. That’s due to his late September birthday, which made him one of the oldest players eligible for selection for the first time in 2024. The 6’3″ right-shot likely won’t have a lot to prove in juniors after this season, either. After all, he led all WHL defenders in goals last year with 30.
8. Seattle Kraken: Berkly Catton, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Seattle selected Catton out of their own backyard. The skilled center still needs to improve his all-around game before looking for NHL ice with the Kraken. His raucous 116-point campaign with Spokane last year could earn him some outside consideration for a nine-game trial, but all signs point to him being loaned out to Eastern Washington for 2024-25.
9. Calgary Flames: Zayne Parekh, D
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
Parekh likely needs a bit more seasoning in Saginaw to round out his defensive game before he’s ready for the pros. But the dynamic right-shot defender has little left to prove after being named the CHL’s Defenseman of the Year last season, and he should be expected on the Flames’ opening-night roster in 2025-26.
10. New Jersey Devils: Anton Silayev, D
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)
All of what can be said about Demidov applies to Silayev, except his much larger defensive counterpart is much more of a project development-wise. Accordingly, the hulking defender is under contract for two more years with Torpedo, and he’s fully expected to play that out before signing his ELC with Jersey as soon as 2026. He’ll feature heavily on Nizhny Novgorod’s blue line again after spending all of his draft year’s regular season in the big leagues.
11. San Jose Sharks: Sam Dickinson, D
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: London Knights (OHL)
Dickinson is a decently well-rounded package already and likely isn’t too far away from NHL ice. But throwing him to the wolves on the Sharks’ paper-thin blue line would be a major mistake for his development, and it’s not an outcome that appears to be under consideration. He’ll return to the powerhouse Knights, where he had 70 points in 68 games last year.
12. Minnesota Wild: Zeev Buium, D
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: University of Denver (NCAA/NCHC)
Buium will be returning to Denver for his sophomore season, but it’s likely to be his final before arriving in Minnesota (or AHL Iowa) in 2025. The cerebral yet skilled two-way defender was a nominee for the Hobey Baker as a freshman and exploded for 50 points in 42 games from the blue line as Denver won the national championship.
13. Philadelphia Flyers: Jett Luchanko, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Guelph Storm (OHL)
Another late birthday from the class, expect Luchanko to take his full two years of runway left in the OHL. The Flyers don’t risk losing him after getting his ELC taken care of already this summer. He’ll play a starring role with the Storm in the coming weeks.
14. Buffalo Sabres: Konsta Helenius, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Rochester Americans (AHL)
Normally, players drafted out of European leagues must be offered back to their overseas clubs before their NHL team attempts to send them to the minors early on in their development. But that provision is lifted for first-round picks, and expect the Sabres to take advantage of it with Helenius. The versatile forward has one of the highest floors of any prospect in this draft class and excelled in a professional environment last season, posting 36 points in 51 games for Jukurit in Finland’s Liiga. He’ll look to lock down top-six minutes with the Sabres’ affiliate in Rochester early on, but NHL games this season aren’t out of the question.
15. Detroit Red Wings: Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Skellefteå AIK (SHL)
The highest-drafted Norwegian in league history has been playing in neighboring Sweden since 2021, and that’s where he’ll likely remain for 2024-25. Brandsegg-Nygård said after signing his entry-level contract last month that there hasn’t been a decision made on where he’ll play this season. While he’ll attend Red Wings training camp, he’s listed on Skellefteå’s roster in a few places and will likely head back to Scandinavia after being cut. He spent last season in Sweden’s second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, posting 18 points in 41 games with Mora IK.
16. St. Louis Blues: Adam Jiříček, D
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)
Jiříček and the Blues had myriad playing options for 2024-25. It appears they’ve settled on the easiest level of competition as he looks to get his feet back under him following an injury-plagued draft year. While he was eligible for assignment to their AHL affiliate in Springfield or back to his professional club in Czechia, HC Plzeň, he’s expected to slide down to junior hockey after being selected by the Bulldogs in the CHL Import Draft one year ago.
17. Washington Capitals: Terik Parascak, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Parascak was a quick riser on draft boards this year, and his 6’0″ frame, combined with his well-rounded offensive skill set, makes him an intriguing pickup by Washington. His defensive awareness isn’t ready for the pros yet, though, and he wouldn’t have been eligible for an AHL assignment anyway. Back to Prince George, he goes.
18. Chicago Blackhawks: Sacha Boisvert, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: University of North Dakota (NCAA/NCHC)
Boisvert looks to be a solid middle-six pivot for the Hawks down the line, but he’s a few years away. The Quebec native spent last year in juniors with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks and will begin his collegiate career at North Dakota this fall. He’ll likely stick with the Fighting Hawks for at least two or three years before turning pro with Chicago.
19. Vegas Golden Knights: Trevor Connelly, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Providence College (NCAA/Hockey East)
Rinse and repeat most of the last paragraph for Connelly, although the high-tempo winger is nearly the polar opposite of Boisvert’s play style. But like Boisvert, he’ll be making the jump from the USHL to the NCAA this fall and isn’t expected to be one-and-done in college.
20. New York Islanders: Cole Eiserman, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Boston University (NCAA/Hockey East)
Eiserman will enter his freshman year at BU after displaying his electric goal-scoring ability with the U.S. National Development Team Program. Criticisms of his game as one-dimensional are valid, though, and his adjustment to older and larger competition in the NCAA circuit will be something for Isles fans to keep tabs on. His superstar-level shooting accuracy makes it plausible that he’ll turn pro following his freshman year, though.
21. Montreal Canadiens: Michael Hage, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: University of Michigan (NCAA/Big 10)
Hage wraps up the string of USHL/NTDP-to-NCAA jumps here. The two-way, playmaking pivot will play an important role for the Wolverines in his freshman year, with last year’s three leading scorers all signing NHL contracts this summer. Like Boisvert and Connelly, though, Hage is likely looking at multiple seasons of NCAA play before signing his ELC.
22. Nashville Predators: Yegor Surin, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)
Surin is signed for two more seasons with Lokomotiv, so the earliest the Preds will likely be able to sign him is 2026. A true throwback power forward, the 6’1″ Russian will look to make the jump to consistent KHL minutes after spending most of last season with Yaroslavl’s junior team, where he had 52 points and 108 PIMs in 42 games.
23. Anaheim Ducks: Stian Solberg, D
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Färjestad BK (SHL)
Solberg would have been Norway’s new draft record-holder if not for Brandsegg-Nygård. Like his countryman, he’ll likely be loaned out to Sweden this season but to a rival club in Färjestad. It’s a bigger jump for the defender, though, who’s yet to play professionally outside of a weak Norwegian league.
24. Utah Hockey Club: Cole Beaudoin, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Barrie Colts (OHL)
Beaudoin is one of the more projectable picks in this first round, and Utah’s new fanbase can be reasonably confident he’ll pan out as a steady bottom-six fixture down the middle. But they’ll likely have to wait two seasons to see him, as a pair of season-opening loans back to Barrie likely await him this year and next.
25. Boston Bruins: Dean Letourneau, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Boston College (NCAA/Hockey East)
Figuratively and literally, Letourneau is the biggest project in this class. The center already checks in at 6’7″ and 214 lbs, but the sniper has only seen low-level competition in the Canadian high school system. However, that will change this fall as he looks to bring his pro-ready frame to the NCAA.
26. Los Angeles Kings: Liam Greentree, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
Greentree will return to the Spitfires in a few weeks, although he’ll get an extended look at the Kings’ camp, in all likelihood. His Jan. 1 birthday means he’s just hours short of being eligible to jump to the AHL for 2025-26, so he could be facing two more years in Windsor if he can’t crack the NHL roster in a year’s time. The physical, playmaking winger served as Windsor’s captain last season and led the fledgling club in scoring by a wide margin with 90 points in 64 games.
27. Chicago Blackhawks: Marek Vanacker, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)
Vanacker was the last of the Hawks’ three first-rounders this year and the second to sign his ELC after Levshunov. The high-IQ winger will return to Brantford to hone his skills for at least another season, likely two.
28. Calgary Flames: Matvei Gridin, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
Gridin has had an unconventional summer. Initially expected to make the jump from the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks to the University of Michigan, he instead opted to sign his ELC with the Flames and forego his collegiate eligibility. That doesn’t mean he’ll be turning pro, however. The QMJHL’s Val-d’Or Foreurs made him the first overall pick in this year’s CHL Import Draft, but the club is expected to trade him to Shawinigan before the season starts, reports Pierre-Olivier Poulin of Le Citoyen. Gridin, who posted 83 points in 60 games last season with Muskegon, will see his entry-level deal slide at least one year with his projected loan to the Cataractes.
29. Dallas Stars: Emil Hemming, F
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Barrie Colts (OHL)
Hemming will also arrive in the CHL for the first time in his post-draft season. The Finnish winger spent last season at home with Liiga’s TPS, where he recorded 11 points in 40 games. He’ll look to torch some easier competition in Barrie, who managed to snag him at 15th overall in this year’s CHL Import Draft amid doubts that he’d come to North America right away.
30. New York Rangers: EJ Emery, D
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: University of North Dakota (NCAA/NCHC)
Emery projects as a solid, smooth-skating stay-at-home defender who can log heavy minutes, especially on the penalty kill. But he’ll need a few years in college to hone his craft, so Rangers fans should expect to see him stick with North Dakota for a while – potentially a full four years – before he turns pro.
31. Toronto Maple Leafs: Ben Danford, D
Status: Signed
Expected 2024-25 team: Oshawa Generals (OHL)
Also a mobile stay-at-home defender, the Leafs will loan Danford back to juniors for the next two seasons, in all likelihood, before he can join the Leafs or AHL Marlies in 2026-27.
32. Edmonton Oilers: Sam O’Reilly, F
Status: Not signed
Expected 2024-25 team: London Knights (OHL)
O’Reilly is still waiting to put pen to paper on a deal with the Oilers, who traded back into the first round to select him. The 6’1″ pivot will remain with the Knights, where he had 56 points in 68 games last season en route to a league championship.
International Notes: Curran, Kirk, Studenič
Veteran defenseman Kodie Curran is continuing his lengthy career overseas. Swiss club HC Ambrì-Piotta announced Friday that they’ve signed him through the November international break with an option to extend the deal for the rest of the season.
Curran, 34, was never drafted and wound his way through various leagues, going from the Canadian university system to the AHL and ECHL, also making stops in Denmark and Norway before ending up in a starring role for Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League, one of the world’s best circuits. He landed his first NHL deal as a 30-year-old undrafted free agent signed by the Ducks in 2020.
However, that contract with Anaheim didn’t result in an NHL call-up. Curran spent his two-year, $2MM deal buried in the minors, recording 29 points (7 G, 22 A) in 61 games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls before going pointless in 11 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins after his NHL rights were dealt to Boston at the 2022 trade deadline.
Curran has spent the last two seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League with Russia’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk. He hasn’t been able to replicate his past offensive success, posting a more conservative 50 points (14 G, 36 A) in 122 games with a -5 rating. The 6’2″, 201-lb puck mover will look to impress in a depth role with Ambrì-Piotta and earn a spot on the team for the rest of the season. There, he joins former NHLers Tim Heed, Jakob Lilja, Philippe Maillet, and Gilles Senn.
More notes from the international stage:
- Former Coyotes prospect Liam Kirk already has a home for this season with Germany’s Eisbären Berlin, but he’s still looking to put himself back on the map in hopes of another NHL deal. The 24-year-old’s performance for Great Britain at the ongoing final qualification tournament for the 2026 Winter Olympics could go a long way toward doing that, and he already has a goal in the Brits’ lone outing – unfortunately, it was a 3-1 loss to Denmark yesterday. The 2018 seventh-rounder impressed in World Championship action earlier this year, posting four points in six games, but it wasn’t enough for GB to avoid relegation back to the Division 1A tournament for 2025. Kirk also had three goals and seven assists in three games at last year’s Olympic pre-qualifiers. Kirk, who’s aiming to be the first born-and-trained British NHLer, was strong in Czech league action last season with 30 points in 52 games for HC Litvínov.
- Ex-depth NHLer Marián Studenič was supposed to help his native Slovakia qualify for one of the three spots remaining for the Olympics, but the country’s federation announced the 25-year-old abruptly left the roster due to a disagreement over his role. The winger was a Group VI UFA this summer and opted to head overseas, signing a two-year deal with Sweden’s Färjestad BK after spending the last six years playing professionally in the Devils, Stars and Kraken organizations. He posted six points in 46 NHL games over the past four seasons and had 44 points in 64 games on assignment to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds while under contract with Seattle last year.
Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Gaudreau Pass Away
Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, passed away on Thursday, the team has confirmed in a statement. They were struck by an accused drunk driver while biking near their New Jersey home, police confirmed to Jeff Goldman of NJ Advance Media. They were 31 and 29 years old.
“The National Hockey League family is shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew,” said league commissioner Gary Bettman. “While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey,’ he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path. Gaudreau often told the story of how his father taught him to skate as a child in his home state of New Jersey, and he carried that same youthful passion throughout his 11 NHL seasons.”
Both Gaudreaus prefaced their professional careers with stints at Boston College, where Johnny immediately emerged as a star after being selected in the fourth round by the Flames in 2011. After recording a point per game as a freshman, he was the best player in college hockey by his junior year, leading the NCAA in scoring in 2013-14 with an incredible 80 points and 40 games. He won the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player in the country and signed his entry-level contract with Calgary to end the campaign, scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game against the Canucks on April 13, 2014.
Gaudreau was an immediate standout, locking down a top-six role and posting 64 points in 80 games during his rookie season to help the Flames to their first playoff berth in six years. He led the team with nine points in 11 postseason games as they upset the rival Canucks in the first round and stole a game from the heavily-favored Ducks in Round 2.
Over the next decade, Gaudreau would cement himself as the cornerstone of the Flames’ offense. He was their representative at the NHL All-Star Game for five years to begin his career and quickly made a name for himself as one of the league’s most agile wingers.
His first true breakout came in 2018-19 when he torched the league for 36 goals and 99 points en route to Calgary’s first division title since 2006. He averaged over 20 minutes per game and finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting.
Gaudreau continued to serve as Calgary’s top offensive option up until 2021-22. Entering the final season of a six-year, $40.5MM contract, Gaudreau, along with linemates Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk, put up one of the most dominant seasons from a single forward unit we’ve seen in quite some time. He recorded career-highs with 40 goals, 75 assists and 115 points and also led the league with a remarkable +68 rating. His expert playmaking also helped Lindholm and Tkachuk to breakout campaigns, and for a time, they were the most suffocating two-way line in the league at 5v5.
An unrestricted free agent for the first time the following summer, Gaudreau opted to head east to return closer to his New Jersey home. The top UFA on the market that summer, he landed a seven-year, $68.25MM deal with Columbus. Both he and the team hoped he would be the veteran offensive presence necessary to help guide the team out of a rebuild. Gaudreau led the Blue Jackets in scoring each of the past two seasons, posting 33 goals, 101 assists and 134 points in 161 games.
Matthew never made his way to the NHL, but he did have a strong career in the minor leagues. After playing spot duty as a freshman at Boston College in Johnny’s junior season, he later emerged as an important player for the program in his own right, tying for the team lead in scoring during his senior season with 35 points in 40 games.
The younger Gaudreau began his pro career in the Islanders organization in 2017, signing a two-way AHL contract with their affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He had five points in 17 games over his first two years there, spending most of his time down in the ECHL with the Worcester Railers. It was there he was able to shine offensively, posting 24 goals and 36 assists for 60 points in 88 games.
In 2019-20, Gaudreau opted to join Johnny in the Calgary hockey pyramid, inking a deal with the Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat. He made four appearances for them and had a breakout year on loan to the ECHL’s Reading Royals, where he erupted for 29 assists in 40 points in 38 games.
Gaudreau headed overseas when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, posting six points in 12 games for Sweden’s Tyringe SoSS. He returned to the Railers for 2021-22, making a lone appearance before announcing his retirement.
All of us at PHR send our deepest condolences to the Gaudreau family, their friends, their fans, and the many organizations where the brothers took their talents.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Senators Sign Nick Cousins
3:30 P.M.: Ottawa has made the one-year signing of Cousins official.
2:30 P.M.: The Senators are signing free agent forward Nick Cousins to a one-year deal worth $800K, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.
Cousins, 31, is a 10-year NHL veteran and reached UFA status this summer after completing a two-year, $2.2MM deal he signed with the Panthers in 2022. He played in 33 of Florida’s 45 playoff games over the last two years as they captured the Eastern Conference championship in 2023 before winning the Stanley Cup this year for the first time in franchise history. This was Cousins’ fifth go-around on the UFA market, going unqualified three times earlier in his career.
Overall, the forward has appeared in 592 regular-season games with Philadelphia, Arizona, Montreal, Vegas, Nashville, and Florida, averaging 10 goals, 16 assists, 26 points, and 127 shots on goal per 82 games while seeing 12:25 on the ice per contest. Cousins, who can play both center and left wing, fell out of the Panthers’ regular lineup last postseason and only appeared in 12 of 24 games, posting a lone assist and a -1 rating with 20 PIMs while averaging 8:42 per game.
Known mainly as a physical presence with some offensive upside, Cousins recorded 16 goals and 42 points in 148 regular-season games during his two years with the Panthers. His 130 hits in 69 games last season were a career-high, finishing sixth on the club. After over six weeks into free agency without landing a deal, Cousins changed his representation earlier this month. He’s now represented by Newport’s Craig Oster, who also landed Noah Gregor a one-year, $850K deal with the Sens earlier in free agency.
The Sens have $1.1MM in projected cap space with an open roster spot after the signing, per PuckPedia. With no notable RFAs needing new deals, they’re in an excellent place to add another depth piece on the open market before training camp.
With Ottawa’s top nine largely set after the signings of Michael Amadio and David Perron in July, Cousins will compete for fourth-line duties with Gregor, Angus Crookshank and Zack MacEwen as his principal competition. Other depth pieces like Matthew Highmore and Zack Ostapchuk are likely ticketed for AHL Belleville to begin the season but will likely be given a long look in camp.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Atlantic Notes: Swayman, Stützle, LeBreton Flats, Leenders
Speculation floating around that Bruins RFA netminder Jeremy Swayman wants a $10MM average annual value on his next deal is likely unfounded, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff said on SN960 The FAN’s Big Show on Wednesday.
Swayman’s camp is holding out for an AAV in the $8.5MM range on a long-term deal, while the Bruins are holding firm just north of $6MM per season, per Seravalli. He adds there hasn’t been much progress toward a resolution since those numbers were first exchanged earlier this summer.
“I think that’s a pretty sizeable gap that hasn’t been bridged yet and with the trade of Linus Ullmark, it’s obvious that Swayman is such a big part of what the Bruins’ future looks like and the stability of their core because the goaltending has been the backbone of that team,” Seravalli said. “But if you have a philosophical difference on what you think your goaltender should make, and if you thought that with the numbers he’s posted that he was going to be in that range, I can understand why there’s been a disconnect there.”
Swayman, 26 in November, posted a .916 SV%, 2.53 GAA, and three shutouts with a 25-10-8 record last season in 44 appearances (43 starts).
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- Senators star center Tim Stützle has changed agents, per PuckPedia. After signing his eight-year, $66.8MM extension in 2022 under Octagon’s Ben Hankinson, he’ll now be represented by longtime NHLer Claude Lemieux of 4sports Hockey. He becomes Lemieux’s second client on the Sens, joining goaltender Mads Søgaard. Lemieux’s notable body of work includes Timo Meier‘s eight-year, $70.4MM deal with the Devils, Hampus Lindholm‘s eight-year, $52MM deal in Boston, and Joel Eriksson Ek‘s eight-year, $42MM deal with the Wild.
- Still with Ottawa, the franchise is still in negotiations with the National Capital Commission on a memorandum of understanding regarding their plan to build a new arena in the LeBreton Flats neighborhood downtown, team president Cyril Leeder said (via Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet). They’ve got less than a month to complete them with their temporary agreement with the city expiring on Sep. 20. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun said in April that public parking was the largest concern with the current plan.
- Sabres goaltending prospect Ryerson Leenders will have a new home for junior hockey this season. The Ontario Hockey League’s Brantford Bulldogs acquired him from the Brampton Steelheads today for a whopping eight draft picks, per a team announcement. Buffalo selected Leenders, 18, with the 219th overall pick in this summer’s draft. He had a .909 SV% in 46 games for the Steelheads last season, the best in the league.
Maple Leafs Name Steve Sullivan AHL Assistant Coach
The Maple Leafs have hired NHL veteran Steve Sullivan as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, per a team announcement.
Sullivan, 50, already has a bit of a front-office track record. Soon after finishing his playing career in 2013, Sullivan joined the Coyotes as a development coach. By 2016, he’d been named their director of player development, and one year later, he was promoted to assistant general manager.
Sullivan remained in the role, making him GM of Arizona’s AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, through Feb. 2021, when his contract was terminated. He briefly served as the Coyotes’ interim GM in 2020 after John Chayka abruptly resigned.
Since then, Sullivan has stayed in the Phoenix area, serving in coaching roles with the U-16 and U-18 Jr. Coyotes programs for the past four years. But today’s news marks Sullivan’s first time behind a bench at the professional level.
Sullivan was a unicorn as a player, succeeding in the dead puck era as a high-end two-way winger despite being just 5’9″ and 165 lbs. He played 1,011 regular-season games over 16 NHL seasons for the Predators, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, Devils, Penguins, and Coyotes, scoring 290 goals and 457 assists for 747 points.
Toronto acquired Sullivan in a swap with New Jersey in 1997 – he was part of the return that sent franchise cornerstone Doug Gilmour south of the border. He was pretty effective in a middle-six role with the Leafs, posting 85 points in 154 games, but inexplicably ended up on waivers near the beginning of the 1999-00 campaign. He was claimed by the Blackhawks, where he emerged as a genuine first-line threat and set career-highs in goals (34) and points (75) the following year.
Sullivan joins a Marlies coaching staff headed by John Gruden, who’s entering his second year in the role. Behind the bench, they’re joined by assistant Michael Dyck, goalie coach Hannu Toivonen and video coach Troy Paquette. Gruden guided the Marlies to a 34-26-12 record last season, finishing fifth in the North Division and bowing out in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Maple Leafs Linked To Max Pacioretty
The Maple Leafs are among the teams in discussions to sign free-agent sniper Max Pacioretty, sources tell David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. The two sides are working on a standard contract, not a professional tryout, per Pagnotta.
A 2007 first-round pick and former captain of the rival Canadiens, the 35-year-old American has played just 91 games over the past three seasons due to a laundry list of injuries, but mainly due to two Achilles tendon tears sustained during the 2022-23 league year. Pacioretty has bounced around quite a bit since being traded to the Golden Knights by Montreal in 2018, playing four seasons in Nevada before being dealt to the Hurricanes for his ill-fated 2022-23 campaign. He became a free agent last summer and inked a one-year deal with the Capitals.
While Pacioretty didn’t debut with Washington until January, still recovering from his second Achilles injury, he managed to stay healthy upon his return. However, his previous 30-goal form had vanished, limited to four goals and 19 assists for 23 points in 47 games. It wasn’t awful production overall for middle-six minutes, though, and his atrocious 4.2% shooting percentage is due for positive regression this season.
Pacioretty was a money-in-the-bank scorer during his prime in Montreal, averaging 30 goals and 59 points over an 82-game season there while earning Selke Trophy votes on two occasions (2015, 2016). He was even better in Vegas, averaging 36 goals and 71 points per 82 games, but injuries and COVID limited him to 224 games over his four-season run with the Knights.
His decent rebound in Washington was enough to generate interest in his services at the trade deadline, but he had a no-trade clause in his pact with the Capitals that he opted not to waive. The Rangers were one of the teams linked to him at the time, but it’s unclear if they’re one of the teams competing with Toronto to land him now.
With Jani Hakanpää expected not to sign and RFA forward Nicholas Robertson still hoping to have his signing rights traded, the Leafs confidently have $1.275MM in projected cap space with a roster size of 21, per PuckPedia. That should be enough to land Pacioretty, who’s eligible to structure his contract with performance bonuses to keep his initial cap hit low as a UFA over 35 years old.
Pacioretty could be a direct replacement for Robertson, who mainly operated as Toronto’s third-line left winger when in the lineup last season alongside Max Domi and Calle Järnkrok.
Checking In On Notable Remaining Unrestricted Free Agents
It’s been pretty quiet on the UFA market for weeks now. All the names from our list of top 50 UFAs are signed and have been for quite some time. We’re starting to see names settle for professional tryout agreements, with Sammy Blais (Canucks), Tanner Pearson (Golden Knights) and Jakub Vrána (Capitals) some of the notable names to ink early PTOs. The last UFA signing was depth netminder Magnus Hellberg to the Stars over two weeks ago.
Winger Max Pacioretty is one of the top remaining names. He missed the cut for our top 50 after being limited to just four goals in 47 games with the Capitals last season, indicative of his largely forgettable stint in the nation’s capital. But before back-to-back Achilles tendon tears tarnished his career in 2022 and 2023, he was one of the league’s better snipers when healthy.
That pre-injury form is still helping out his market value a tad. He’ll likely be the next UFA domino to fall and won’t appear to need a PTO to land a deal for 2024-25, with Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reporting last week that Pacioretty was mulling offers from at least three teams. It’ll likely be a league-minimum salary with some potential performance bonuses for ‘Patches,’ eligible for a 35+ contract.
Veteran forward James van Riemsdyk was a narrower miss on our top 50 list and led remaining UFAs in points per game last season with 0.54. He could be due for even more production this year after shooting a career-low 7.7% with the Bruins in 2023-24, still managing 11 goals and 38 points in 71 games in third-line minutes. If he shot at his 11.8% career average, JVR would have lit the lamp six more times for 17 goals.
Van Riemsdyk had only 29 points in 61 games with the Flyers the year before and settled for a one-year, $1MM pact in Boston. After a bit of a rebound year in Beantown, he’s likely looking for a small raise, but his search may be in vain this late in the summer.
The most appealing unsigned defenseman is likely Kevin Shattenkirk, JVR’s teammate with the Bruins last season. He’s no longer the fringe Norris contender and offensive force he was with the Blues in the mid-2010s. Still, he’s remained a pretty capable puck-mover for the Bruins, Ducks and Lightning the past few years and kept his head above water defensively in third-pairing minutes in Boston.
Here are some other UFAs who’ll likely generate interest from NHL teams before the season begins:
Goalies
Kevin Lankinen has been an extremely serviceable backup for Nashville the last two seasons, recording a .912 SV% in 43 games for the Predators. Martin Jones and Antti Raanta are veteran netminders with loads of NHL experience (466 and 277 NHL GP, respectively). However, Raanta’s usually solid tandem play plummeted to a horrific .872 SV% in 24 games last year with the Hurricanes, ending up on waivers and going unclaimed.
At this stage, Aaron Dell, Michael Hutchinson, Keith Kinkaid, and Dustin Tokarski are all AHL depth options. However, they could still land a two-way NHL deal as a mentor for an organization’s up-and-coming netminders and provide an experienced call-up option in a pinch.
Defensemen
The list of solid two-way defenders left on the board is slim. Teams still looking for defense help on the UFA market are likely doing so for a power-play or penalty-kill specialist. Calen Addison fits the bill of the former and has the highest upside of any signing. He’s still just 24 but hit the open market after being unqualified by the Sharks. He struggled to produce last season, limited to a goal and 17 points in 72 games, but he was effective on the Wild’s second PP unit the year before with 29 points in 62 games.
A team interested in adding some puck-moving/offensive help on the blue line might also take a look at Shattenkirk, Justin Schultz (0.43 career P/GP), Tyson Barrie (0.62 career P/GP), Tony DeAngelo (0.57 career P/GP), or John Klingberg (0.65 career P/GP).
Veteran blueliners Robert Bortuzzo and Jarred Tinordi can provide some literal punch as No. 6/7 defenders but don’t provide any offensive upside. The former went pointless in 27 games with the Blues and Islanders last season.
Teams prioritizing a locker-room presence will consider Mark Giordano, who turns 41 in October. Giordano was the oldest active player in the league last season with the Maple Leafs, but the historical offensive force had only nine points in 46 games while averaging 16:37 per game. However, He boasts nearly 1,150 games of experience and has served as a team captain for nine of his 18 NHL seasons.
Forwards
Teams have the most UFA options up front. 2018 sixth-overall pick Filip Zadina has recently seen his name pop up in headlines, first as a rumored PTO signing by the Sabres, but that quickly fell through. There appears to be interest from at least a few other teams in signing him to a standard deal. He’s still just 24 years old and has that top-10 pick pedigree, but he’s never been able to eclipse the 25-point mark despite being given brief opportunities in a top-six role in Detroit before landing with the Sharks last season.
Wingers dominate the available names, but teams looking for a depth forward who can take reps at center have some veteran options in Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, Nick Cousins, Sam Gagner, Tyler Johnson, and Chris Tierney.
Outside of the names already mentioned, some other decent bottom-six depth scorers available on the wing include Mike Hoffman, Kyle Okposo, Blake Wheeler, and Kailer Yamamoto.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Highest-Paid NHL Players By Team
We listed the top 50 highest-paid NHL players on Wednesday for the 2024-25 season. That list is a good tool for pointing out what stars are actually getting paid and identifying some inefficient spending habits among the richer deals, but it didn’t include every team. Five clubs – the Ducks, Islanders, Flyers, Sharks, and Kraken – didn’t have anyone in that top 50, essentially a list of players making over $10MM in guaranteed salary this season.
Our list of the highest-paid players for 2024-25 is also limited in its long-term scope. Predators free-agent signing Brady Skjei, for example, cracked the top 50 and will earn eight figures this season. But he’s on a front-loaded contract and will fall off the list next year with a significant salary reduction coming in the second season of his fresh seven-year deal.
Today, we’re shifting our focus to the highest-paid players by team. This will allow us to check in on the clubs that weren’t represented on our initial list and identify some of the league’s most lucrative multiyear commitments – we’ve included each club’s highest-paid player for the current season (by 2024-25 total salary) and its highest-paid player in total (by total guaranteed base salary and signing bonuses still unpaid).
Anaheim Ducks
- 2024-25: Cam Fowler ($7.5MM)
- Total: Troy Terry (six years, $42MM)
Boston Bruins
- 2024-25: David Pastrňák ($13MM)
- Total: David Pastrňák (seven years, $77MM)
Buffalo Sabres
- 2024-25: Rasmus Dahlin ($13MM)
- Total: Rasmus Dahlin (eight years, $88MM)
Calgary Flames
- 2024-25: Jonathan Huberdeau ($10.5MM)
- Total: Jonathan Huberdeau (seven years, $73.5MM)
Carolina Hurricanes
- 2024-25: Sebastian Aho ($12MM)
- Total: Sebastian Aho (eight years, $78MM)
Chicago Blackhawks
- 2024-25: Seth Jones ($12.5MM)
- Total: Seth Jones (six years, $53.5MM)
Colorado Avalanche
- 2024-25: Nathan MacKinnon ($16.5MM)
- Total: Nathan MacKinnon (seven years, $84.3MM)
Columbus Blue Jackets
- 2024-25: Zach Werenski ($11.5MM)
- Total: Johnny Gaudreau (five years, $48.75MM)
Dallas Stars
- 2024-25: Roope Hintz ($11.25MM)
- Total: Roope Hintz (seven years, $56.1MM)
Detroit Red Wings
- 2024-25: Dylan Larkin ($11MM)
- Total: Dylan Larkin (seven years, $59.6MM)
Edmonton Oilers
- 2024-25: Darnell Nurse ($12MM)
- Total: Darnell Nurse (six years, $51.6MM)
Florida Panthers
- 2024-25: Aleksander Barkov ($12MM)
- Total: Sam Reinhart (eight years, $69MM)
Los Angeles Kings
- 2024-25: Drew Doughty ($11MM)
- Total: Kevin Fiala (five years, $40.5MM)
Minnesota Wild
- 2024-25: Kirill Kaprizov ($10MM)
- Total: Brock Faber (nine years, $68.925MM)
- Note: this figure includes the final season of Faber’s entry-level contract in 2024-25 before his eight-year, $68MM extension kicks in the following season. As part of the last year of his ELC, Faber can earn up to $250K in additional performance bonuses.
Montreal Canadiens
- 2024-25: Nick Suzuki ($10MM)
- Total: Juraj Slafkovsky (nine years, $61.75MM)
- Note: this figure includes the final season of Slafkovsky’s entry-level contract in 2024-25 before his eight-year, $60.8MM extension kicks in the following season. As part of the last year of his ELC, Slafkovsky can earn up to $3.5MM in additional performance bonuses.
Nashville Predators
- 2024-25: Filip Forsberg / Brady Skjei ($10MM)
- Total: Juuse Saros (nine years, $66.92MM)
- Note: Saros is still owed $5MM as part of his current contract in 2024-25 before his eight-year, $61.92MM extension kicks in the following season.
New Jersey Devils
- 2024-25: Dougie Hamilton ($12.6MM)
- Total: Timo Meier (seven years, $58.4MM)
New York Islanders
- 2024-25: Mathew Barzal ($9.15MM)
- Total: Ilya Sorokin (eight years, $66MM)
New York Rangers
- 2024-25: Adam Fox ($12MM)
- Total: Mika Zibanejad (six years, $50MM)
Ottawa Senators
- 2024-25: Brady Tkachuk ($10.5MM)
- Total: Jake Sanderson (eight years, $64.4MM)
Philadelphia Flyers
- 2024-25: Sean Couturier ($9MM)
- Total: Travis Konecny (nine years, $77MM)
- Note: Konecny is still owed $7MM as part of his current contract in 2024-25 before his eight-year, $70MM extension kicks in the following season.
Pittsburgh Penguins
- 2024-25: Erik Karlsson ($11MM)
- Note: the Penguins only owe Karlsson $9,565,215 (86.9565%) of his salary. The other 13.0435% was retained by the Sharks in an Aug. 2023 trade.
- Total: Erik Karlsson (three years, $27.5MM)
- Note: the Penguins will only pay Karlsson $23,913,038 (86.9565%) of his salary due to the aforementioned salary retention by the Sharks.
San Jose Sharks
- 2024-25: Logan Couture / Marc-Édouard Vlasic ($7MM)
- Total: Tyler Toffoli (four years, $24MM)
Seattle Kraken
- 2024-25: Vince Dunn / Brandon Montour ($8MM)
- Total: Matthew Beniers / Brandon Montour (seven years, $50MM)
St. Louis Blues
- 2024-25: Jordan Kyrou / Robert Thomas ($10.9MM)
- Total: Jordan Kyrou / Robert Thomas (seven years, $56MM)
Tampa Bay Lightning
- 2024-25: Jake Guentzel ($13,263,157)
- Total: Jake Guentzel (seven years, $63MM)
Toronto Maple Leafs
- 2024-25: Auston Matthews ($16.7MM)
- Total: William Nylander (eight years, $92MM)
Utah Hockey Club
- 2024-25: Mikhail Sergachev ($11.05MM)
- Total: Mikhail Sergachev (seven years, $56.95MM)
Vancouver Canucks
- 2024-25: Elias Pettersson ($14.5MM)
- Total: Elias Pettersson (eight years, $92.8MM)
Vegas Golden Knights
- 2024-25: Alex Pietrangelo ($12.5MM)
- Total: Noah Hanifin (eight years, $58.8MM)
Washington Capitals
- 2024-25: Pierre-Luc Dubois ($11.25MM)
- Total: Pierre-Luc Dubois (seven years, $59MM)
Winnipeg Jets
- 2024-25: Connor Hellebuyck / Mark Scheifele ($10MM)
- Total: Connor Hellebuyck / Mark Scheifele (seven years, $59.5MM)
Information from PuckPedia was used in the creation of this post.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.