Flyers Sign Oscar Eklind To Entry-Level Deal
The Flyers have signed undrafted free agent winger Oskar Eklind to a one-year, entry-level contract for next season, GM Daniel Brière announced today. The deal carries an AAV and cap hit of $950K, the maximum allowable.
Eklind, 25, was under contract for next season with Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League, where he spent his 2023-24 campaign. However, the contract can be terminated for a fee as the NHL and SHL have a transfer agreement.
The 6’4″, 220-lb winger has spent his entire career in his home country. His rights have never been held by an NHL team, but career highs across the board this year, plus his appealing size, led to some recent interest.
A power forward, Eklind had 17 goals and 11 assists for 28 points in 48 games with Luleå last season, along with a +5 rating and 64 PIMs. His season ended late last month after they were swept in the quarterfinals of the SHL playoffs by Växjö Lakers HC.
He’s coming off his sixth full season playing in the professional ranks and his eighth overall with SHL or HockeyAllsvenskan (the Swedish second-tier pro league) experience. Luleå was his fifth organization in the Swedish tier system in the last seven years, also spending time with the Malmö Redhawks, IK Pantern, Mora IK, and Brynäs IF before landing with Luleå on a transfer last offseason.
Eklind pauses his SHL career for now with 30 goals, 28 assists and 58 points in 160 games, along with 125 PIMs. He didn’t fare much better in the HockeyAllsvenskan, posting 31 goals and 66 points in 183 games with 115 PIMs.
He’s a long shot to make the Flyers’ roster out of camp, and if he does ever crack an NHL roster, it’ll likely be exclusively in a fourth-line role. He has the shot necessary to stay afloat in the league, as he does physicality, but his overall play-driving ability and sluggish acceleration up the ice limit him from having much upward mobility.
Eklind will be 26 this summer, but since his birthday isn’t until after July 1, he should maintain RFA eligibility when his contract expires in 2025. He’ll have his NHL rights controlled by the Flyers indefinitely if the Flyers issue him a qualifying offer at the end of next season, even if he opts not to stick around and return to Sweden.
Landon DuPont Granted Exceptional Status By WHL
14-year-old defenseman Landon DuPont has been granted exceptional status by the WHL and will enter major junior hockey a year early, the league confirmed today. He’s the first defenseman to be granted exceptional status in WHL history and only the second player ever, joining Blackhawks rookie and current Calder Trophy favorite Connor Bedard.
DuPont, the son of Calgary native and former Flame Micki DuPont, is the (very) early consensus first-overall pick for the 2027 NHL Draft. Granting him exceptional status allows him to have three full seasons of major junior play under his belt before having his rights picked up by an NHL club.
Playing on the U-18 squad for the Edge School, a Calgary-based prep academy in the CSSHL, DuPont had a record-breaking season, leading the team with 19 goals, 43 assists and 62 points in only 30 games. He’s the only 14-year-old defenseman ever to play a full season at the top level of the Canadian prep circuit, and his point production has only ever been surpassed by Bedard, projected 2026 first-overall pick Gavin McKenna, and Sabres first-round pick Matthew Savoie among U-15 players at the U-18 level.
DuPont, already at 5’11” and 170 lbs, has been praised by WHL GMs for his play-driving ability, skating, and shot power – essentially a complete package for a top-pairing, first-power-play defender. His Edge School coach called out Avalanche star Cale Makar as a comparable.
His rights currently aren’t held by a WHL club, but today’s announcement makes him eligible for selection in this year’s bantam draft. He’ll be the first-overall pick and will be headed to the Everett Silvertips. Everett finished second in the U.S. Division this season but won the draft lottery with a selection originally owned by the Kamloops Blazers, who parted with the pick to add top Ducks defense prospect Olen Zellweger last season.
Capitals Recall Lucas Johansen
The Capitals have recalled defenseman Lucas Johansen from AHL Hershey, GM Brian MacLellan announced today. His recall comes after Rasmus Sandin sustained an upper-body injury yesterday against the Senators – he’s now been ruled out for their upcoming two-game road trip, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com). Carbery added that Sandin isn’t guaranteed to return by the end of the regular season.
Johansen, 26, remains in the Caps organization eight years after they selected him in the first round of the 2016 draft. He’s spent nearly all that time in the minors, only skating in nine NHL games.
A career-high six of them came earlier this season when he recorded an assist and a +1 rating while blocking seven shots and averaging 14:16 per game. The younger brother of injured Flyers center Ryan Johansen is still looking for his first NHL goal, a chance he could get if he draws into the lineup down the stretch and plays for the first time since November.
Johansen’s possession metrics when given NHL minutes have been quite poor, however, and have prevented him from having any chance of sticking in the lineup. He’s logged a 35.4 CF% and a 32.3 xGF%, the worst of any Caps skater to suit up this season. Injuries have taken him out of a solid chunk of action with Hershey this year, too, but he’s managed 12 points and a sky-high +18 rating in just 22 games when healthy.
He could draw into the lineup tomorrow in an essentially do-or-die game against the Red Wings. Without Johansen, the Caps would only have two left-shot defenders in the lineup, so he could dress if Carbery doesn’t want to play Trevor van Riemsdyk or rookie Vincent Iorio on their off-side. Washington’s playoff odds would drop to just 10% with a regulation loss to Detroit tomorrow after sitting third in the Metropolitan Division not too long ago, per MoneyPuck.
Losing Sandin at such a crucial point in the season is a tough break for Washington, losers of seven of their last 10 games. He’s the only other Caps defender to average over 20 minutes per game outside of John Carlson this season and has 23 points in 68 games with a -13 rating.
Islanders Linked To Andrea Glauser
The Islanders have been heavily scouting Swiss free agent defenseman Andrea Glauser and are expected to pursue him aggressively this offseason, reports Emmanuel Favre Montreal of LeMatin.ch. Albeit via translation, Montreal reports both GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Patrick Roy have personally scouted Glauser this season, and a source told him the Isles could offer a contract as rich as $1.5MM on a one-year deal, unusually high for an undrafted free agent that hasn’t had much other documented NHL interest.
Glauser, who turned 28 last week, is a transition-minded defender with a rather physical game. He’s spent the entirety of his professional career in the Swiss National League, playing for HC Fribourg-Gottéron and SCL Tigers before landing with Lausanne HC in 2021. He’s served as an alternate captain there for all three years of his tenure, and his 2023-24 campaign is still ongoing as they’re alive in the semifinals of the NL playoffs.
His point totals have never jumped off the page. He posted four goals and 16 points in 47 regular-season games this season, in line with his 0.31 career point-per-game average in the NL. He’s become somewhat of a mainstay on the Swiss national team in his prime, though, appearing for the country in back-to-back World Championships. The 6’0″ right-shot blue-liner has never taken home any major pieces of hardware at home or internationally.
Glauser is too old for an entry-level contract, so the Isles would need to offer him a standard deal, eliminating the potential for performance bonuses and meaning all his money is guaranteed. The willingness to offer him $1.5MM on a contract suggests it would be a one-way agreement, too, offering them no cash discount if he’s assigned to the minors. That cap hit is above the buried threshold of $1.15MM, too, meaning he’d still cost the Islanders $350K against the cap if sent to the AHL.
The Isles’ transition game from their defensemen has suffered with the slight declines of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, although Noah Dobson‘s emergence as a top-15 defender has quieted some of those worries. Glauser would likely replace veteran Robert Bortuzzo, a pending UFA, as the fourth right-shot defenseman on their depth chart behind Dobson, Pulock and Scott Mayfield.
Red Wings Assign Ville Husso On Conditioning Loan
The Red Wings have assigned goaltender Ville Husso to AHL Grand Rapids on a conditioning loan, the team announced Monday. He’s been out for most of the second half of the season and hasn’t played since Feb. 13 with a lower-body injury. He logged under nine minutes of ice time in that game, exiting with a re-aggravation of the lower-body ailment that had previously kept him out since mid-December.
Even before the injury, it was a season to forget for Husso. The 29-year-old has been underwhelming for the Wings in two campaigns since they acquired him from the Blues and promptly extended him in the summer of 2022.
Across those two seasons, he has a respectable 35-27-9 record in 74 starts and one relief appearance but has done so on the back of a lot of goal support, posting a .895 SV% and 3.22 GAA. That works out to -19.6 goals saved above average since inking the three-year, $14.25MM extension.
Detroit has given the starter’s net to journeyman Alex Lyon since Husso’s injury, and he’ll undoubtedly be their Game 1 starter should they crack the playoff picture for the first time in eight years. The 31-year-old Lyon has smashed his previous career-high of 15 appearances, set last year with the Panthers, making 40 starts for the Wings while compiling a 20-17-4 record and .908 SV%.
Husso can spend up to 14 days in Grand Rapids on a conditioning loan, which would keep him there through the end of the regular season. His $4.75MM cap hit continues to count against Detroit’s books in full. If the Red Wings make the playoffs, he can be recalled and would likely sit in the press box while veteran James Reimer, who’s been better and is fresher than Husso, serves as Lyon’s backup.
Atlantic Notes: Edmundson, Pinto, Rasmussen
Maple Leafs defenseman Joel Edmundson won’t be available for their next two games, head coach Sheldon Keefe said (via David Alter of The Hockey News). However, Keefe didn’t rule out the possibility of Edmundson returning later this week, potentially Thursday at home against the Devils. The 30-year-old hasn’t played since sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Hurricanes on March 24, knocking him out for now at least eight games. He’d been solid otherwise for Toronto, controlling possession quality well with a 50.5 xGF% in tough shutdown minutes at even strength through seven games. The Manitoba native is still looking for his first point as a Leaf after they picked him up from the Capitals before the trade deadline.
Other updates out of the Atlantic Division:
- Senators center Shane Pinto will suit up for the United States at the 2024 World Championship if invited, he confirmed to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia and TSN. While it’s unlikely he’ll crack the roster for the U.S. national team at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off or the 2026 Winter Olympics, Garrioch relays Pinto would like to extend his season regardless and gain experience playing meaningful games after the regular season ends. Pinto has been excellent for Ottawa since serving a 41-game suspension for violating the NHL’s sports wagering rules, racking up eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points in 36 games. He’s averaging 17:41 per game, a career-high by a long shot, and has some of the best possession numbers on the team with a 53.3 CF% and a 60.1 xGF%. The United States last medal at the 2021 tournament, winning bronze, and has lost the bronze medal game in back-to-back years.
- Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen won’t be in the lineup tomorrow for a crucial game against the Capitals in a crucial game in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, head coach Derek Lalonde confirmed. The two-way winger will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old has done well before his four-year, $12.8MM extension kicks in next season, posting a career-high 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 75 games. He’s logging over 15 minutes per game for the second consecutive campaign, and while his possession numbers have dipped from last season, he’s receiving much more frequent deployment in the defensive zone.
Flames Recall Ilya Solovyov
The Flames have recalled defenseman Ilya Solovyov from AHL Calgary, per a team announcement. He comes up from the Wranglers after Oliver Kylington left Saturday’s loss to the Oilers late after colliding with teammate Nazem Kadri. Calgary has yet to give Kylington an official injury designation.
This is the 23-year-old Belarusian’s third career recall. The Flames brought him up for a four-day stint in late October and again for over two weeks in December. Both of those recalls were standard ones, while today’s comes under emergency conditions, according to CapFriendly.
The 2020 seventh-round pick has made six appearances across his two previous recalls. In that time, Solovyov captured his first two NHL points, both assists, and recorded a -3 rating with four PIMs, nine blocks, and eight hits. He did so in bottom-pairing minutes, averaging 14:59 per game.
Calgary has eight defensemen on the NHL roster, six of them healthy. Other than Kylington, Joel Hanley is day to day with an undisclosed injury. If Solovyov remains on the roster longer than necessary for the Flames to ice a minimum of six defenders, they’ll need to place him on their roster from his emergency loan.
Solovyov has put together a solid body of work since joining the Flames’ system in 2021, displaying his strengths as a confident outlet passer with a physical edge. He isn’t much of a factor in the offensive zone, but the 6’3″, 207-lb blue-liner has proven valuable in transition. He has 40 points and a +25 rating in 169 games with AHL Calgary and Stockton over the past three seasons, including 14 points and a +2 rating in 50 contests this season.
He’s in the final season of his three-year entry-level contract. He has arbitration rights if he reaches restricted free agency this summer, and he’s due a qualifying offer of $814K.
2024 Unrestricted Free Agency Preview: Goaltenders
Less than two weeks remain in the regular season, meaning a significant number of teams have already turned their main focus toward the draft and free agency. In the run-up to the playoffs for the other half of the league, PHR will join those front offices in identifying the top targets expected to be available on the open market in July.
Kicking off this year’s free agency preview is the goalie market, which looks to be quite underwhelming yet again. There are no bonafide starters available for teams looking for a major shakeup between the pipes – they’ll have to accomplish that by examining the trade block for players like the Flames’ Jacob Markström, the Predators’ Juuse Saros and the Bruins’ Linus Ullmark. It’s a considerably weaker class than even last year’s, whose major targets (Tristan Jarry, Frederik Andersen, Adin Hill) all ended up re-signing with their previous clubs.
This series will only cover players who have spent time on NHL rosters in 2023-24, not accounting for college, junior, overseas, or otherwise undrafted free agents. Players’ ages are as of July 1, reflecting their true signing age. With that in mind, let’s delve into the options that could be available for teams to add depth:
Fringe Starter/Tandem Options
Cam Talbot, 36
2023-24 team: Los Angeles Kings
No slight to Talbot, but his name appearing first in this article should indicate how weak this UFA goalie class is. He’ll be viewed as the top option available based on 2023-24 play as the only one to play in over half of his team’s games. The journeyman veteran has largely washed away the stink of a forgettable 2022-23 campaign with the Senators, rebounding for a 25-18-6 record with a .915 SV%, 2.48 GAA, and three shutouts in 48 starts and two relief appearances. He’s arguably having his best season since his electric 2016-17 campaign with the Oilers when he led the league with 73 games played and 42 wins as he finished just short of a Vezina nomination and helped them end an 11-year streak of missing the playoffs. His career numbers are decently above average, too, logging a .914 SV%, 2.63 GAA, and 31 shutouts in 461 starts and 21 relief appearances since breaking into the league with the Rangers in 2013.
The aging curve will be a very real concern, however, and will certainly dampen Talbot’s market. He’ll be 37 just a few days into July and has only started more than 40 games twice since his last full season with the Oilers in 2018. As a result, the University of Alabama-Huntsville product will likely settle for a second straight one-year deal, a more palatable option for player and team as he remains eligible for a bonus-laden 35+ contract. This year’s gamble paid out well for Talbot, who perhaps bet on himself too little – his $1MM cap-hit deal with L.A. pays him $2MM in actual salary thanks to a $1MM performance bonus that kicked in once he played 10 games. After a decent workload, likely playoff starts, and top-ten numbers, even with a strong defense in front of him (13.3 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, his highest since 2016-17), he could earn as much as double that on a one-year deal this summer.
Anthony Stolarz, 30
2023-24 team: Florida Panthers
Stolarz has put up the best numbers of any pending UFA, but a smaller sample size than Talbot will limit his market value. His .922 SV% and 2.12 GAA lead all qualified netminders this year, albeit in only 22 starts and three relief appearances while backing up all-world Sergei Bobrovsky in South Florida. A recent sputter in play from Bobrovsky actually gives Stolarz the slight edge in goals saved above expected on the season – exactly 16, per MoneyPuck, remarkably placing him fifth in the league behind Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko, and the Bruins’ tandem of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. He’s no stranger to strong numbers – he logged a strong .917 SV% in 28 appearances (23 starts) while backing up John Gibson behind a bottom-10 Ducks team two years ago. The New Jersey native is undoubtedly ready for a slightly larger role, but he’s unproven even in tandem capacity, never cracking the 25-start mark.
Ilya Samsonov, 27
2023-24 team: Toronto Maple Leafs
It’s been a tale of two seasons for Samsonov, who had what can only be described as a horrid start after guiding the Maple Leafs to their first playoff series win in 19 years last April. He logged an unplayable .862 SV% through his first 15 starts. While the Leafs were able to sneak by with a 5-2-6 record in games where he was awarded the decision, solid play from veteran third-stringer Martin Jones (mentioned later on) allowed them to waive Samsonov and give him a mental reset.
After working with their minor league club’s development staff for the first week and a half of January, he ended up back in the NHL with much more positive results. He hasn’t been a world-beater, but he has put up starter-caliber numbers, recording a 17-4-1 record, .912 SV%, and two shutouts in 22 showings since the calendar flipped to 2024.
Consistency has plagued Samsonov throughout his five-year NHL career, never putting together back-to-back above-average seasons. He is still one of the youngest and highest-ceiling options on the market, though. A contender shouldn’t feel comfortable putting all their eggs in Samsonov’s basket to take them to the promised land, but he’s valuable as a 1A netminder with solid support – just like he’s had in Toronto with Jones and young backup Joseph Woll, both putting together solid campaigns.
David Rittich, 31
2023-24 team: Los Angeles Kings
Rittich actually started the season in the minors, but an early season-ending injury to Kings backup Pheonix Copley allowed him to get back to the top level. He hasn’t disappointed, putting an airtight seal on the number-two role behind Talbot and putting up the best numbers of his eight-year career. This year’s .919 SV% and 2.21 GAA are well above his career averages, and like Stolarz and Talbot, his 12.8 goals above expected (per MoneyPuck) are top 10 in the league. This is another case of small sample size limiting a player’s value, though, as 21 starts and two relief appearances aren’t enough for a team to bet on him suddenly being able to be a high-end 1A option after that experiment fizzling out a few years back with the Flames. However, he has restored his market value as a 1B option after a string of below-average seasons.
Laurent Brossoit, 31
2023-24 team: Winnipeg Jets
Brossoit returned to Winnipeg last summer for his second stint as Connor Hellebuyck‘s backup after capturing a Stanley Cup ring last year with the Golden Knights. His career numbers resemble that of a yo-yo, but he’s caught himself on the upswing for a second straight year and has excelled with a .925 SV%, 2.10 GAA, two shutouts, and 13-5-2 record in 20 starts and one relief appearance. His highs and lows have essentially made his numbers that of a garden-variety backup over his career, however, taking him out of consideration for any 1A roles. He could be in line for a slight increase in starts in a 1B slot if a team is willing to give him the chance.
Alex Nedeljkovic, 28
2023-24 team: Pittsburgh Penguins
Nedeljkovic has had a bounce-back campaign after being demoted to the AHL for an extended period last season, even wrangling away the starter’s crease from Tristan Jarry down the stretch as the Pens find themselves back in the playoff push. The two-year, $6MM deal he signed with Detroit in 2021 to be their starter after a breakout campaign as part of a three-goalie rotation with the Hurricanes didn’t pan out, but he’s back to putting up above-average numbers in a larger-than-expected role in Pittsburgh this season.
He has a .907 SV% and 2.82 GAA through 28 starts and five relief appearances, along with a 16-6-6 record, but his 1.8 goals saved above expected (MoneyPuck) are the lowest of anyone on this list so far outside of Samsonov. This year’s showing has confirmed that a 1B role with about 30-35 starts is likely what suits him best, and while he’s in line to earn a raise on his current $1.5MM cap hit, it likely won’t be much. He could be a solid value pickup for somebody, but like many others on this list, doesn’t appear to have a lot of upward mobility.
Kaapo Kähkönen, 27
2023-24 team: San Jose Sharks/New Jersey Devils
It’s hard to gauge any netminder who’s logged time behind the 2023-24 Sharks, one of the worst teams of the salary cap era. His numbers there weren’t all that catastrophic considering and even bordered on average, compiling a .895 SV% and 3.81 GAA despite winning only six of his 27 starts. In five starts with the Devils since a trade deadline swap for Vítek Vaněček, he’s been downright solid with a .918 SV% and 2.92 GAA, along with one shutout. The team in front of him hasn’t given him much help either way either, as that’s only translated into one win. There will likely be some teams interested in what he can do behind a more competent and healthy defense, and he could be one of the bigger wild cards on the market after spending the past few years toiling behind a rebuilding San Jose squad.
Backups/Depth
Kevin Lankinen, 29
2023-24 team: Nashville Predators
The 6’2″ Finn has only four years of NHL experience under his belt to differing results. An undrafted free agent pickup by the Blackhawks in 2018, he made his NHL debut three years later and earned himself some fringe Calder consideration after going 17-14-5 with a .909 SV% and 3.01 GAA in 37 starts in the starter’s net during the abbreviated 2020-21 season. His numbers nosedived the next season, however – his -28.6 goals saved above expected were the second-worst in the league behind Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer. That took him out of starter/tandem consideration upon reaching free agency in 2022, but he’s rebuilt his value with two above-average campaigns backing up Juuse Saros in Nashville. He has a .911 SV% and 2.84 GAA in that time but has started less than 20 games each season, likely dissuading teams from relying on him for a tandem workload.
Marc-André Fleury, 39
2023-24 team: Minnesota Wild
The second-winningest goalie of all-time is technically a pending UFA, but he won’t be on the open market. He’s already made it clear that retirement or re-upping with the Wild are his two options this summer. The three-time Stanley Cup winner has a 17-13-5 record, .899 SV% and 2.87 GAA in 34 starts and four relief appearances in Minnesota this year.
Martin Jones, 34
2023-24 team: Toronto Maple Leafs
Jones cleared waivers to begin the season and spent two months with AHL Toronto after losing the backup/1B job to Woll during training camp. He was recalled in early December after Woll sustained an ankle injury, though, and he’s remained in the majors since. It’s been an underwhelming past half-decade for the former All-Star starter with the Sharks, but he’s been quite solid this season with an 11-7-1 record, .908 SV%, 2.70 GAA, and two shutouts in 18 starts and three relief appearances. His 8.3 goals saved above expected are better than both Samsonov’s and Woll’s, putting up his first above-average season since 2018. That long track record of mediocrity will scare teams away from giving him a major role, but he has rebuilt his value as an NHL-caliber backup.
James Reimer, 36
2023-24 team: Detroit Red Wings
Reimer, who’s only started five of 15 games for the Wings since the trade deadline, has seen the least action of his 14-year career this season. The Manitoba native will be eligible for a bonus-laden 35+ contract but is solidly a veteran backup option at this stage of his NHL tenure. He’s put up a 9-8-2 record in Detroit this season, posting a .906 SV% and 3.03 GAA with two shutouts in 18 starts and five relief appearances. He’ll likely only be in line for one-year deals, similar to the $1.5MM agreement he inked in Hockeytown last offseason.
Casey DeSmith, 32
2023-24 team: Vancouver Canucks
DeSmith was part of the monster three-team Erik Karlsson trade last summer, heading from the Penguins to the Canadiens for cap management purposes. With Montreal having three other goalies ready for NHL time in the crease, they flipped him to the Canucks, who were happy to take his $1.8MM cap hit and deploy him as Demko’s backup. He’s put up passable but unimpressive results, which have nosedived lately, down to a .891 SV% and 2.96 GAA in 26 starts and two relief appearances. He’s received most of the workload over the past few weeks as Demko nears a return from a lower-body injury, but his late-season lack of success in pinch-starter duty keeps him firmly on the backup market this summer despite having started upwards of 30 games twice in his career.
Calvin Pickard, 32
2023-24 team: Edmonton Oilers
Pickard spent most of the past five seasons in the minors but got another NHL chance after Jack Campbell was demoted to AHL Bakersfield in November. He’s responded quite well, reaching 20 appearances for the first time since 2017 and recording a .913 SV% and 2.38 GAA with a 12-6-0 record. After spending the last three seasons on two-way deals, he’s likely in line for a one-way pact this summer and could be a cheap full-time backup for a cash-strapped team.
Scott Wedgewood, 31
2023-24 team: Dallas Stars
A minor-league option through most of his early-to-mid 20s, Wedgewood has since settled in as a solid backup/1B option for the Coyotes and Stars post-COVID. However, this season has disappointed after a three-year run of above-average play. He’s got a .899 SV% and 2.85 GAA in 28 starts and four relief appearances behind a strong defense, his worst numbers since his rookie campaign with Arizona in 2017-18. That’s quieted talks of relying on him for 30+ starts for now.
Antti Raanta, 35
2023-24 team: Carolina Hurricanes
Raanta has been with AHL Chicago since deadline day, actually posting worse numbers than his already disastrous NHL showing this season. A rock-steady tandem option who couldn’t stay healthy throughout his prime, Raanta hadn’t put up anything worse than a .905 SV% since his rookie season. He came crashing down in 2023-24, though, logging a .872 SV% and 2.99 GAA in 20 starts and four relief appearances before Carolina sent him to the minors for good to end the season. He’s failed to win a game in Chicago since this latest demotion, although he did log one win earlier in the campaign. He has only a .865 SV% in six games there, and while someone may give him a chance to see if he can recapture his previous form, the end appears near for Raanta’s NHL career.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Blackhawks Reassign Wyatt Kaiser
The Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to AHL Rockford, Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Sports reports Monday. This leaves the Blackhawks with only six healthy defenders, suggesting Connor Murphy may be ready to come off injured reserve before Wednesday’s game against the Blues.
Kaiser, 21, has looked promising when given NHL minutes this season. He’s goalless through 32 games but has seven assists, 46 blocks, and only slightly below-average possession metrics on a badly understaffed Chicago blue line. The Minnesota native has largely been limited to bottom-pairing minutes, averaging 17:19 on the season, but had seen over 20 minutes of ice time in three of his last five outings.
He made the team out of camp but was assigned to Rockford in early December, where he remained for most of the season aside from a brief emergency loan later that month. Chicago brought him back a few weeks ago, playing him in each of their last nine games. The left-shot defender has been decent on the farm, where he has three goals and 15 points in 31 games.
A strong skater and good outlet passer, he’s done enough to put himself in consideration for an opening-night job again this fall. He has one season left on his entry-level contract, which carries a $917K cap hit, and will be an RFA in 2025.
Murphy looks to return after missing the last two and a half months with osteitis pubis, the same inflammatory groin issue that sidelined Sharks captain Logan Couture for all but six games this season. The 31-year-old told NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis last week that being “a part of the solution” has pushed him to close out the season back in the lineup. The veteran shutdown man complemented his eight points in 43 games with some of the team’s better possession numbers prior to exiting the lineup in January, posting a 44.4 CF% and -7.4 expected rating.
Metropolitan Notes: Lazar, Marino, Kuraly
The Devils will likely be without forward Curtis Lazar for the rest of the season after he sustained an upper-body injury in yesterday’s 4-3 win over the Senators, head coach Travis Green said (via James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now). Green confirmed that Lazar’s injury will make way for Shane Bowers to enter the lineup tonight against the Predators after being recalled from Utica earlier today.
Lazar will end his season with seven goals, 18 assists and 25 points in 71 games while averaging 12:23 per game with a +10 rating. His assists and points figures are both career-highs, adding some highlight to what’s transpired to be a journeyman career for the 2013 first-round pick. The 29-year-old was picked up from the Canucks at last year’s deadline and is in the second season of a three-year, $3MM deal signed with Vancouver in free agency in 2022. He did quite well at controlling possession quality in a shutdown role, maintaining a solid 51.1 xG%.
Elsewhere in the Metro:
- New Jersey will also be without defenseman John Marino against Nashville, as the team’s Amanda Stein relays he remains out with an upper-body injury. He sustained the injury while fighting Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller in a game-opening line brawl last Wednesday and already missed yesterday’s contest against the Sens. Injuries have sidelined Marino, the Devils’ top right-shot defender with Dougie Hamilton out long-term, for five of their last 12 games. The shutdown blue-liner has been better offensively but worse defensively than last year, notching 25 points in 71 games but logging an xG% south of 50 for only the second time in his career. He has three seasons remaining on his contract at a $4.4MM cap hit, with an eight-team no-trade list that kicks in this summer.
- The Blue Jackets have center Sean Kuraly back in the lineup today against the Hurricanes, per the team’s Jeff Svoboda. The news ends a few days of will-he-won’t-he from head coach Pascal Vincent and marks his first appearance since sustaining a lower-body injury against the Canadiens on March 12. Now in his third season in his native Ohio, Kuraly has nine goals and 17 points in 57 games this year while averaging 13:33 per game, down from the 15-plus minutes he’d averaged since arriving in Columbus in 2021.