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Devils Sign Thomas Bordeleau To Two-Way Deal

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The Devils announced Thursday they’ve signed restricted free agent forward Thomas Bordeleau to a two-way deal, which carries a $775K NHL salary and a $100K AHL salary with a $125K guarantee.

New Jersey acquired the rights to the 23-year-old earlier this month from the Sharks, sending depth center Shane Bowers the other way. A 2020 second-round pick, Bordeleau was once one of San Jose’s more promising prospects with a strong body of work over his two seasons at the University of Michigan. However, his development in the minors never took off, while others in the Sharks’ deep pool of young players surpassed him.

Last season was especially trying for the Houston native. He still put up a 14-24–38 scoring line in 59 games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, but that 0.64 points per game pace was a step back from last year’s, and he only received a one-game NHL call-up after recording 11 points in 27 games for the Sharks in 2023-24.

There’s more of an opening for a young depth center in New Jersey than there was in San Jose, especially with Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar leaving the organization this offseason and no meaningful additions down the middle outside of overseas signing Juho Lammikko. If he can rediscover that previous NHL form he showed in short bursts with the Sharks, there’s an opening – albeit a slim one – for Bordeleau to make the team out of camp.

While undersized, his game has historically been more effective down the middle. If he doesn’t crack the roster, he’ll need to clear waivers to head to AHL Utica – something he’s never had to do before.

With Bordeleau signed, the Devils have 47 of their 50 contract slots filled for 2025-26. The only other unsigned RFA in the organization is star defenseman Luke Hughes, who remains without a deal as New Jersey has $6.9MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.

Maxime Lagace Signs In Austria

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Former NHL goaltender Maxime Lagace is joining the Graz 99ers of Austria’s ICEHL, according to a club announcement Wednesday.

Lagace, 32, last appeared in the NHL with the Lightning in the 2021-22 season. He remained in their organization the following season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch before making the move overseas for 2023-24.

The longtime No. 3/4 option has spent the last two years in Sweden with the SHL’s Farjestad BK. He was their starter last season ahead of Ducks prospect Damian Clara but had a tough regular-season performance, posting a .887 SV% and 2.64 GAA in 31 appearances. That was still good for a 17-10-2 record, though, and he was exceptional with a .927 SV% and 1.63 GAA in 11 Champions Hockey League games as Farjestad finished as the runner-up in the continental tournament.

Instead of returning to North America, Lagace will continue being content with playing a starring role in Europe. He’ll be one of the top goaltenders in the less competitive ICEHL, joining a 99ers roster that also contains former NHLers Korbinian Holzer, Kevin Roy, and Josh Currie.

Lagace first stepped into action with the Golden Knights in their inaugural season amid a rash of injuries in their crease, making 16 of his 20 career appearances in the 2017-18 campaign. He struggled with a .867 SV% and 3.92 GAA but still managed a 6-7-1 record with some exceptional goal support. He has a career 8-9-1 record with one shutout and an .870 SV%.

In parts of nine AHL seasons, Lagace also posted a 2.79 GAA, .905 SV%, 13 shutouts, and a 126-68-38 record in 244 appearances. He scored a goalie goal with the Chicago Wolves in the 2018-19 season (video link).

Lightning Sign Ethan Czata To Entry-Level Deal

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The Lightning have signed forward Ethan Czata to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team said in a press release Wednesday. He was a second-round pick, their earliest selection in this year’s draft.

Czata’s deal carries a cap hit of $932K and an average annual value of $975K, according to PuckPedia. The contract, which is slide-eligible twice, has the following breakdown:

Year 1: $775K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $102.5K games played bonus, $85K minors salary
Year 2: $850K NHL/$97.5K SB/$27.5K GP/$85K AHL
Year 3: $877.5K NHL/$97.5K SB/$0 GP/$85K AHL

Selected No. 56 overall, a pick Tampa acquired from the Kings for winger Tanner Jeannot, Czata has spent the last two seasons with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs. The physical center made 68 appearances last season, ranking fourth on the team with 21 goals and 55 points.

Czata has been a key force in helping the IceDogs, who have been among the OHL’s most hapless clubs in recent years due to ownership instability, return to relevance with their first playoff appearance since the pandemic. He also earned a spot on Canada’s roster at the 2025 U-18 World Juniors, posting a goal and four assists in seven games en route to a gold medal.

The 18-year-old  was a virtual second-round lock based on consensus rankings. He’s expected to return to Niagara after attending training camp with the Lightning, triggering an entry-level slide, but a breakout post-draft season could put him in the conversation for a roster spot in 2026-27.

If he’s loaned to the OHL as expected this season, Czata won’t count against the Bolts’ 50-contract limit. That’s crucial as they’re already at 47 deals signed, according to PuckPedia.

Nathan Beaulieu Announces Retirement

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Former first-round pick Nathan Beaulieu has announced his retirement from professional hockey, according to the NHLPA.

Beaulieu, 32, hangs up his skates after playing 471 NHL games for the Canadiens, Sabres, Jets, and Ducks. The longtime bottom-pairing defenseman last appeared with Anaheim in the 2022-23 season, spending the last two campaigns in Europe but playing sparingly due to injuries.

The Ontario native was the No. 17 overall pick of the 2011 draft by Montreal from the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs after helping guide the team to a Memorial Cup championship and being named to the tournament’s All-Star team. He was a tantalizing junior prospect, never outright dominating offensively but still putting up strong point production with dominant defensive impacts while playing a highly physical brand of hockey.

While his physicality translated to the professional level, the other parts of his game only did so in short bursts. Beaulieu only ever topped 20 points in a season once, making a career-high 74 appearances for Montreal in 2016-17 while receiving significant power-play deployment for the only time in his career. He averaged 19:29 per game for the Habs that year, putting together a 4-24–28 scoring line with 102 blocks.

Aside from that, he was still a serviceable bottom-pairing piece for the Habs for a few years after emerging as a full-time NHLer in 2014-15. He ended up recording 60 points and a +19 rating in 225 games for the team that drafted him before he was traded to the Sabres in the 2017 offseason.

After the trade, Beaulieu was firmly relegated to being a No. 7 option. He never made more than 60 appearances in a season after that relative breakout of a 2016-17 campaign, averaging 15:27 per game for Buffalo, Winnipeg, and Anaheim over his final six NHL seasons.

Beaulieu’s final NHL season saw him thrown to the wolves on a severely understaffed Ducks defense in 2022-23, recording four points and a -23 rating in 52 games with ghastly possession numbers. That tanked his value the following summer and led to his move overseas to Switzerland’s EHC Kloten, where he only had two points in 13 games before a hand injury ended his season.

The veteran lefty signed on with Barys Astana of the KHL for 2024-25, but was released after eight games with financial issues forcing the club to part ways with all of its import players. He quickly landed with HC Nove Zamky of the Slovak Extraliga but did not make an appearance for them due to injury.

Beaulieu finishes his career with 12 goals, 86 assists, 98 points, and a -14 rating in 471 regular-season games while averaging 16:18 per night. He also had five points in 21 playoff games with Montreal and Winnipeg. All of us at PHR wish him the best in retirement.

John Ludvig Signs In Czechia

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Free agent defenseman John Ludvig has signed with Czech Extraliga club HC Dynamo Pardubice, the team announced Wednesday. It’s a three-year deal, keeping him with the club through 2027-28. It’s the expected result after a report back in May linked Ludvig to the six-time Extraliga champions.

Ludvig, 24, spent last season with the Avalanche after they claimed him off waivers from the Penguins at the beginning of the season. A third-round pick of the Panthers in 2019, Ludvig signed a two-year, two-way deal to remain in the Florida organization in 2023 but never played a game for them under that contract, instead getting claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh during the following training camp.

While Ludvig was a consistent No. 6/7 option for the Pens in 2023-24 when healthy, he didn’t get the same usage in a deeper Colorado depth chart. He made only eight NHL appearances for the Avs after seeing 33 games of action for Pittsburgh the year before, serving as a frequent healthy scratch before landing back on waivers in January. That time, he cleared successfully and spent the remainder of the season with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.

He would have still been under Avalanche control, but they opted not to issue him a qualifying offer last month, making him an unrestricted free agent. He now heads overseas to the club where his father, former Devils and Sabres winger Jan Ludvig, works as a skills coach.

The 6’1″, 214-lb lefty was a strong two-way threat in juniors with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and carries a physical edge, but he’d likely reached his ceiling as an NHL extra – particularly since the pandemic rushed him into pro hockey a year early and robbed him of development time.

Ludvig is a Canadian citizen but was born in Czechia, therefore he doesn’t count as an import signing for Pardubice. He hits pause on his NHL career for now with three goals, four assists, seven points, a -16 rating, 53 PIMs, and a 49.7 CF% in 41 appearances, averaging 12:02 per game when dressed.

He joins a Pardubice roster that boasts over 1,100 games of NHL experience thanks to veteran names like Vladimir Sobotka, Lukas Sedlak, Libor Hajek, and Jakub Zboril. The club has played exclusively in the top Czech or Czechoslovak league since records began, dating back to the 1937-38 campaign, and has made the Extraliga final in back-to-back seasons, losing both times.

Charles Hudon Signs With Djurgardens IF

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July 23: Djurgarden officially announced Hudon’s signing this morning. It’s a two-year contract, keeping him with the club through the 2026-27 season.

July 22: Minor-league scoring winger Charles Hudon is heading overseas for the second time in his career. Expressen’s Johan Svensson relays that the veteran forward is expected to join Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League in the coming days.

Hudon, 31, hasn’t been on an NHL contract or played an NHL game since going pointless in nine appearances with the Avalanche in 2022-23. He’s spent the last two seasons with the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on a minor-league deal.

In Ontario, the 5’10” Hudon has continued to produce at an elite level, clicking at nearly a point per game with a 40-78–118 scoring line in 123 games. A fifth-round pick in 2012 by the Canadiens, Hudon has always been an electric scorer at the AHL level, posting 426 points in 503 games there in parts of nine seasons, but has rarely managed to stick around in an NHL lineup despite playing a physical game and logging average possession impacts when given the chance.

Hudon has 134 NHL games to his name, 125 of which came with Montreal. More than half of those were as a 23-year-old in the 2017-18 campaign, when he recorded a career-high 10 goals, 20 assists, and 30 points in 72 games for the Habs while averaging 14:02 per contest. He didn’t stick around in a top-nine role the following year, though, only scoring five points in 32 games before essentially falling off the NHL radar.

The Quebec native last played in Europe during the COVID-laced 2020-21 campaign, scoring 32 points in 33 games for Switzerland’s Lausanne HC. He’ll now join a Djurgarden team looking to make waves in the SHL after gaining promotion from the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.

AHL, ECHL Affiliations For 2025-26

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There haven’t been many affiliation changes between NHL clubs and their minor-league feeders from last season to the upcoming campaign. There are no affiliate swaps to report, but the ECHL’s continued expansion has shifted the picture slightly as the Double-A league looks to eventually match its NHL and AHL parents in size at 32 teams apiece. Incoming are the Greensboro Gargoyles for 2025-26, who will give the ECHL 30 member clubs and will become the Hurricanes’ full-time second-tier affiliate after they split the Bloomington Bison with the Rangers last season.

That leaves just the Blue Jackets and Senators without a dedicated ECHL team for their AHL club to work with. Here’s the full list of every club’s minor-league affiliates for the 2025-26 season:

Anaheim Ducks

AHL: San Diego Gulls
ECHL: Tulsa Oilers

Boston Bruins

AHL: Providence Bruins
ECHL: Maine Mariners

Buffalo Sabres

AHL: Rochester Americans
ECHL: Jacksonville Icemen

Calgary Flames

AHL: Calgary Wranglers
ECHL: Rapid City Rush

Carolina Hurricanes

AHL: Chicago Wolves
ECHL: Greensboro Gargoyles

Chicago Blackhawks

AHL: Rockford IceHogs
ECHL: Indy Fuel

Colorado Avalanche

AHL: Colorado Eagles
ECHL: Utah Grizzlies

Columbus Blue Jackets

AHL: Cleveland Monsters
ECHL: n/a

Dallas Stars

AHL: Texas Stars
ECHL: Idaho Steelheads

Detroit Red Wings

AHL: Grand Rapids Griffins
ECHL: Toledo Walleye

Edmonton Oilers

AHL: Bakersfield Condors
ECHL: Fort Wayne Komets

Florida Panthers

AHL: Charlotte Checkers
ECHL: Savannah Ghost Pirates

Los Angeles Kings

AHL: Ontario Reign
ECHL: Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Minnesota Wild

AHL: Iowa Wild
ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders

Montreal Canadiens

AHL: Laval Rocket
ECHL: Trois-Rivieres Lions

Nashville Predators

AHL: Milwaukee Admirals
ECHL: Atlanta Gladiators

New Jersey Devils

AHL: Utica Comets
ECHL: Adirondack Thunder

New York Islanders

AHL: Bridgeport Islanders
ECHL: Worcester Railers

New York Rangers

AHL: Hartford Wolf Pack
ECHL: Bloomington Bison

Ottawa Senators

AHL: Belleville Senators
ECHL: n/a

Philadelphia Flyers

AHL: Lehigh Valley Phantoms
ECHL: Reading Royals

Pittsburgh Penguins

AHL: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
ECHL: Wheeling Nailers

San Jose Sharks

AHL: San Jose Barracuda
ECHL: Wichita Thunder

Seattle Kraken

AHL: Coachella Valley Firebirds
ECHL: Kansas City Mavericks

St. Louis Blues

AHL: Springfield Thunderbirds
ECHL: Florida Everblades

Tampa Bay Lightning

AHL: Syracuse Crunch
ECHL: Orlando Solar Bears

Toronto Maple Leafs

AHL: Toronto Marlies
ECHL: Cincinnati Cyclones

Utah Mammoth

AHL: Tucson Roadrunners
ECHL: Allen Americans

Vancouver Canucks

AHL: Abbotsford Canucks
ECHL: Kalamazoo Wings

Vegas Golden Knights

AHL: Henderson Silver Knights
ECHL: Tahoe Knight Monsters

Washington Capitals

AHL: Hershey Bears
ECHL: South Carolina Stingrays

Winnipeg Jets

AHL: Manitoba Moose
ECHL: Norfolk Admirals

Kevin Labanc Linked To CSKA Moscow

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July 22: While Labanc may have CSKA’s interest, it doesn’t appear to be mutual. His agent, Mike Curran, tells Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now that his client isn’t considering KHL offers and is fully healthy after last season’s shoulder surgery.

July 21: Free agent winger Kevin Labanc is attracting the interest of KHL club CSKA Moscow, as relayed by BelarusHockey.com.

Labanc, 29, has had a truly tumultuous couple of seasons. He once looked like a potential long-term top-six piece with the Sharks, but offensive struggles led to him walking as an unrestricted free agent last summer.

His poor platform season with San Jose (2-7–9 in 46 GP) predictably meant Labanc yielded little interest on the open market, forcing him to settle for professional tryout offers. He landed one from the Devils that led to an NHL contract, just not with New Jersey.

Instead, Labanc signed a one-year, league-minimum contract with the Blue Jackets shortly before the last season began. Initially, it looked like things were going well for Labanc to rehab his image as an everyday NHLer. He did well as a depth forward for Columbus, averaging a career-low 10:30 per game but still managing 12 points in 34 outings, better than the low production floor he’d hit in the Bay Area in previous years.

Then, he required shoulder surgery in February, ending his campaign. That limited his ability to extend his sample and means over the last two NHL seasons, he’s still only scored four goals and 21 points in 80 games – all the while finishing at a quite low 4.2% rate.

For a player known for his scoring upside, those underwhelming numbers overshadow the largely positive possession impacts he had in more of a two-way role with the Jackets last season. Labanc had a plus rating for the first time since his rookie season nine years ago, and the 5’11” winger had the shot attempt and possession quality numbers at even strength to back it up.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it’ll be enough to land him anything more than a two-way contract or another NHL PTO offer as the offseason stretches into August or September. As such, overseas clubs, including CSKA, are beginning to add him to their list of targets.

CSKA already has nearly 800 games’ worth of NHL experience on its roster for 2025-26, mainly stemming from winger Denis Gurianov and defensemen Nikita Nesterov and Nikita Okhotyuk.

Slovakia Names Vladimir Orszagh Head Coach For 2026 Olympics

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Former NHLer Vladimir Orszagh will be behind the bench for Slovakia at next year’s Winter Olympics, according to an NHL.com release today.

For Orszagh, it’s essentially a removal of an interim tag. He took over midway through last year’s international cycle after Craig Ramsay, who had been at the head of the Slovak program since the 2017-18 season, contracted pneumonia.

Ramsay had coached Slovakia to a bronze medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics with no NHL involvement, so Orszagh has some significant shoes to fill. The 48-year-old was a fifth-round pick of the Islanders back in 1995 and ended up recording 54 goals and 119 points in 289 career NHL games with them, the Predators, and the Blues between 1997 and 2006.

He played sparingly after leaving St. Louis, but did log a few appearances for Slovak club HC Banska Bystrica. He finally hung up his skates in 2010, following his second comeback attempt. Orszagh immediately began building his coaching resume, serving as an assistant for Banska Bystrica for two years before taking over as their head coach for the 2012-13 season.

He departed in 2014-15 to serve as an assistant for the short-lived KHL club HC Slovan Bratislava but returned to Banska Bystrica after one year, leading them to back-to-back Slovak Extraliga titles in 2017 and 2018. He also won back-to-back Czech Extraliga titles as an assistant for HC Ocelari Trinec in 2023 and 2024 before returning to Banska Bystrica, where he’s now in his third stint as the club’s head coach.

Orszagh was not on Ramsay’s staff for the 2022 medal, but he did serve as an assistant coach on their 2014 and 2018 Olympic teams. At this year’s World Championship, Slovakia, under Orszagh, finished sixth in Group A with a 2-4-1 record and did not advance to the playoffs.

Slovakia named five NHLers – Erik Cernak, Martin Fehervary, Simon Nemec, Martin Pospisil, and Juraj Slafkovsky – to its preliminary roster in June, along with longtime NHLer Tomas Tatar, who will play this season in Switzerland’s National League. They’ll likely be accompanied by some high-profile youngsters like recent first-round picks Dalibor Dvorsky (Blues) and Samuel Honzek (Flames) when the final rosters are released.

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