Capitals Re-Assign Vincent Iorio
After sustaining an injury in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Capitals rookie defenseman Vincent Iorio is ready to return. That’s good news for their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, who are still alive in the Calder Cup Playoffs and will add his services for the remainder of the season, per a team announcement.
Washington picked up Iorio from the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft, going 55th overall. He’s seen limited major-league action in each of the past two seasons, recording an assist and a +1 rating in nine games while playing an extremely minimal role, averaging 11:20 per game.
The 21-year-old was forced into playoff action for the Caps after Nick Jensen and Rasmus Sandin went down with injuries near the end of the regular season, but logged just two shifts in Game 1 of the first round against the Rangers. He sustained an upper-body injury that knocked him out of the remainder of the four-game sweep.
Iorio, a 6’3″ right-shot defender, has been a good two-way force for the most dominant team in the AHL over the past two years. Since turning pro, the British Columbia native has six goals, 36 points and a +43 rating in 123 games for the Bears. He had a goal and four assists in 15 games for Hershey in last year’s run to the Calder Cup.
A strong passer and breakout puck-mover, Iorio will be in contention to land a spot on the Caps’ blue line next season. He has two seasons remaining on his entry-level contract with a $814K cap hit.
Kings Sign Jim Hiller To Multi-Year Extension, Remove Interim Tag
1:07 p.m.: Hiller has officially been named the team’s 30th head coach in franchise history. They did not disclose the length of the extension.
8:57 a.m.: The Kings have removed the interim tag from head coach Jim Hiller and signed him to a multi-year contract extension, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports Wednesday. He was widely expected to land the vacancy after Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said Monday that he was the “overwhelming favorite” to take over behind the bench full-time.
Hiller assumed head coaching duties coming out of the All-Star break after Todd McLellan was fired following a January skid that put their playoff positioning in jeopardy. He was able to stabilize their slide, posting a 21-12-1 record behind the bench in the final few months of the season as they finished third in the Pacific Division.
While there was a fair amount of speculation the Kings would go for an external hire after a third straight first-round loss to the Oilers, it never turned into full-on rumor status. No notable candidates were ever linked to L.A.’s vacancy, and Hiller spoke with the rest of the Kings’ hockey operations department during their end-of-season press availability.
Hiller, 55, continues to assume the head coach title for the first time in a decade. His only professional coaching experience has been in assistant roles, although he was the bench boss of the Western Hockey League’s Chilliwack Bruins and Tri-City Americans from 2006 to 2014. He joined the Kings as an assistant on McLellan’s staff ahead of the 2022-23 season after being let go by the Islanders.
Today isn’t the end of the Kings’ coaching decisions this offseason, however. They still need to add an assistant to replace Trent Yawney, who they mutually parted ways with last week.
Lightning Notes: Stamkos, McDonagh, Sergachev
The Lightning are still confident they have enough cap space to re-sign pending UFA captain Steven Stamkos, even after adding Ryan McDonagh via trade from the Predators today, general manager Julien BriseBois said (via the team’s Chris Krenn).
With McDonagh’s $6.75MM cap hit now on the books, the Lightning are down to roughly $5MM in projected cap space for next season, per CapFriendly. There could always be a cap-clearing move coming, although BriseBois didn’t hint at one in his media availability today.
That implies Stamkos taking a serious discount to remain in Tampa. With a bare-minimum roster of 18 skaters, the Lightning still have two open forward spots next season – one for Stamkos, one for someone else. If they add a forward making the $775K league minimum against the cap to fill one open spot, the most they could offer Stamkos for an average annual value would be $4.25MM. Evolving Hockey’s contract projections indicate his market value could inch up toward the $8.5MM range if he hits the open market, so he would be taking a 50% discount to stay in Tampa for that number – albeit likely for more term on his contract as a trade-off.
Other notes from the Bolts today:
- Adding a top-four defenseman was BriseBois’ top priority this summer, he told Krenn, and McDonagh ended up being the most desirable because of his familiarity with the roster and his two-year term. He indicated that he was unwilling to dish out the contract length required to land one of the marquee defensemen on the free agent market, even if he was willing to spend the upward of $6MM annually it takes to get McDonagh back on the team. Back in Nashville, Predators GM Barry Trotz told reporters, including the Tennessean’s Alex Daugherty, that McDonagh asked the Nashville front office to explore a trade back to Tampa this summer. McDonagh has a full no-trade clause.
- With McDonagh back in the fold, don’t expect Lightning head coach Jon Cooper to bump Mikhail Sergachev back to a third-pairing role like he served during the team’s Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021. Instead, BriseBois indicated the team is likely to explore loading up their top two pairings with McDonagh, Sergachev, Erik Černák and Victor Hedman, with the lefty Sergachev moving to his off-side to accommodate (via Bally Sports Florida’s Gabby Shirley). That would leave a third pairing (for now) of Nick Perbix and Darren Raddysh, both right-shot defenders, although they could easily add a depth left-shot blue liner for league minimum to rotate in on the third pair.
Lightning Acquire Ryan McDonagh From Predators
The Lightning have re-acquired defenseman Ryan McDonagh from the Predators via trade, the team announced Tuesday. Tampa is picking up the Oilers’ 2024 fourth-round pick in the deal and sending their 2025 second-round pick and 2024 seventh-round pick to Nashville in return.
It’s incredibly unusual timing for a swap, especially one of this significance. Both the Bolts’ and Preds’ seasons ended a few weeks ago in first-round playoff exits.
There was no previous indication McDonagh was on the trade block, but he’ll now finish out the last two seasons of his seven-year, $6.75MM AAV contract back in Tampa, where he signed it in 2018. The Predators are not retaining salary in the deal – an important factor for the Lightning as they attempt to keep captain Steven Stamkos, a pending unrestricted free agent, from going to market.
McDonagh, who was part of the Lightning’s three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances from 2020 to 2022, spent the last two seasons in Nashville after the Lightning couldn’t afford to keep his contract on the books. They traded him to the Preds in July 2022 for minor-league pieces Grant Mismash and Philippe Myers. Mismash never suited up for Tampa and is now playing in Norway, while Myers has logged 16 appearances for the Bolts in the last two seasons.
It’s hard to argue with the asset management here from Predators general manager Barry Trotz. McDonagh gave them two seasons of solid top-four minutes, averaging 21:40 per game over 145 contests. He isn’t the player he once was offensively, but he still put up a respectable 52 points in a Nashville uniform and a combined +31 rating, which leads Nashville skaters since 2022-23. Trotz also nets a second-round pick for his troubles.
McDonagh’s contract has a full no-trade clause, which he waived to return to Tampa. The Lightning have struggled defensively without him the past two seasons, going from a consistent top-10 team in goals against to 14th in 2022-23 and 22nd this season. They also haven’t managed to win a playoff series since trading him away, losing to the Panthers in the first round this season and the Maple Leafs last year. While trading him away did allow GM Julien BriseBois to sign the younger Erik Černák, Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev to long-term extensions, it didn’t result in a continuation of their success from the beginning of the decade.
The veteran defenseman turns 35 next month and is entering his 15th NHL season. Formerly the captain of the Rangers, the Lightning initially acquired McDonagh, along with J.T. Miller, in a blockbuster trade at the 2018 deadline. McDonagh played parts of five seasons in Tampa before ending up in Nashville, putting up 99 points and a +74 rating in 267 games in a Lightning uniform while averaging 21:51 per game.
However, re-acquiring McDonagh doesn’t mean the Lightning are in a more advantageous cap situation than when they traded him away. They’re down to just over $5MM in projected cap space next season with a roster size of 18, per CapFriendly, likely not enough to re-sign Stamkos without a corresponding move.
Evolving Hockey projects Stamkos could earn close to $8.5MM annually on a short-term deal on the open market, and while he’s likely willing to take a hometown discount to stay in Tampa, a contract worth less than half his market value would be extreme. They also have a couple of other depth forward spots to fill to ice a full roster, and none of their minor-league forwards are particularly strong candidates to crack next fall’s opening night roster.
After trading away their 2025 second-rounder in this deal, the Lightning now don’t have a pick in the first two rounds until 2026. That’s a tough sell for an aging core, considering they have a bottom-five prospect pool in the league, as analyzed by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler.
Meanwhile, Trotz frees up some significant cap space to allow Nashville to be slightly more aggressive in free agency. The buyout penalty for Matt Duchene increases by $3MM on July 1 to a $5.55MM price tag next season, eating into their offseason flexibility. After moving McDonagh, CapFriendly now projects the Preds with $26MM in space next season with a roster size of 15. That’s more than enough to go big-game hunting for a younger, more cost-controlled replacement for McDonagh on the open market this summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Flyers Not Expected To Buy Out Cal Petersen
The Flyers had a pair of strong buyout candidates this summer, but it looks like they won’t execute one on either. They’re not expected to buy out the final season of goaltender Cal Petersen‘s contract, reports The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco. They’ll also likely be prevented from buying out the final season of center Ryan Johansen‘s $4MM cap hit as he continues to recover from a hip injury.
Petersen, 29, will likely remain in the organization for a second straight season after Philly took him on as a cap dump from the Kings in the Ivan Provorov three-team trade with the Blue Jackets last offseason. He spent most of the campaign on assignment to AHL Lehigh Valley, where he put up a respectable but unimpressive .902 SV% and 2.71 GAA with two shutouts in 28 games.
The Iowa native once looked like a goalie of the future for the Kings, who plucked him from Notre Dame after he didn’t sign with the Sabres, who selected him in the fifth round in 2013. By 2020-21, he was challenging to take over the starter’s crease from future Hall-of-Famer Jonathan Quick and had logged a career .916 SV% and 19-25-6 record in 50 starts and four relief appearances by the end of the season.
Entering the final season of a cheap three-year deal with a $858K cap hit, Los Angeles general manager Rob Blake opted to lock him into a three-year, $15MM extension to have him backstop the Kings through the mid-2020s. His play immediately regressed upon signing, though, and in the final season before the extension kicked in, he conceded nearly 12 goals above average and put up a .895 SV% in 37 games.
That remains a career-high in appearances for Petersen, who started the extension so poorly (.868 SV%, 3.75 GAA in 10 GP) that he was demoted to the AHL. After putting up average numbers in the minors with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, the Kings were able to get out of the final two seasons of the extension by dumping the contract on the retooling Flyers.
Petersen did make a few NHL appearances this season, backing up Samuel Ersson for small stretches after Carter Hart took personal leave to face sexual assault charges, but again struggled with a .864 SV% and 3.90 GAA in four starts and one relief appearance.
While buried in the minors, Petersen’s cap hit is reduced from $5MM to $3.85MM. Buying him out would have incurred a $1MM cap charge next season, saving them $2.85MM in space immediately, with a $2MM penalty in 2025-26. Overall, the Flyers will forego $2MM in actual cash savings and a higher cap charge this season in order to get him off the books sooner.
He also still has some value to the organization as a serviceable minor-league netminder, even if his days in the NHL are likely over. The Flyers have a lot of dead money on the books next season aside from Johansen and Petersen, though, including $3.57MM worth of retained salary on Blues center Kevin Hayes and a $1.67MM penalty for buying out defenseman Tony DeAngelo last summer. They also have three seasons remaining of injured/retired defenseman Ryan Ellis at a $6.25MM cap hit, although he can be placed on long-term injured reserve for some temporary spending flexibility.
The Flyers have most of their roster already signed for next season, but they do have a few open spots on defense and just $500K in projected cap space, per CapFriendly. Without the buyouts, they’ll need Ellis’ LTIR flexibility to round out their blue line and remain cap-compliant.
Avalanche Re-Sign Trent Miner To One-Year Deal
The Avalanche are bringing back depth netminder Trent Miner on a one-year contract, per a team announcement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Miner, 23, was a pending restricted free agent after completing his three-year, entry-level contract. The 2019 seventh-round pick has spent the majority of his time with the Avs in the ECHL, where he has a strong .911 SV%, 2.88 GAA, 10 shutouts and a 39-32-3 record in 76 appearances.
The Manitoba native got an extended look in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles for the first time this season and took advantage of the opportunity. He led all Eagles netminders with a .930 SV%, albeit in only 18 games, along with a 2.10 GAA and 9-6-1 record.
He becomes the third netminder under contract for the Avs next year behind their NHL duo of Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen. While they’ll add more depth to fill out their minor-league ranks and firm up their injury insurance, he likely did enough in his AHL stint to avoid assignment back to the ECHL next season, at least to start.
His development helps shoulder the loss of depth netminders Arvid Holm and Ivan Prosvetov, who are both pending Group Six unrestricted free agents and are heading overseas. Holm, 25, recently signed a three-year deal with Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League after struggling in limited AHL action this season, while Prosvetov is expected to return home to Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League after losing the NHL backup job to Annunen midseason.
Miner was not eligible for salary arbitration this offseason. He will remain waivers exempt for the entirety of 2024-25, so the Avalanche can give him his first NHL recall without fear of losing him when returning him to the minors. The one-year extension makes him an RFA again in 2025.
Senators Add Rob DiMaio To Hockey Operations Department
The Senators have hired Rob DiMaio as their director of player personnel and director of professional scouting, per a team announcement Tuesday.
DiMaio, 56, spent the last two seasons with the Ducks as an assistant general manager and GM of their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. He left the organization last week for personal reasons, now returning to his home north of the border.
Before his brief stint in Southern California, DiMaio served in various front-office roles with the Blues from 2008 to 2022. After beginning as a pro scout, he was promoted to St. Louis’ director of professional scouting in 2012 and later their director of player personnel in 2015.
In conjunction with GM Doug Armstrong, DiMaio’s decision-making and scouting helped the Blues assemble the roster that won them their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2019. That was also DiMaio’s first championship after going without a Cup during his 17-year, 894-game playing career with the Bruins, Flyers, Hurricanes, Lightning, Islanders, Rangers and Stars.
DiMaio will now report to Senators GM and president of hockey operations Steve Staios. Ottawa has not had a dedicated director of professional scouting since longtime executive Jim Clark, who remains with the team in a pro scouting role but stepped down from the directorship after the 2021-22 season.
2024 NHL Free Agents By Team
Pro Hockey Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2024 free agents by team is below. These are players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2023-24 season. Potential restricted free agents are marked with (RFA). Only players who logged significant NHL time this past season are listed.
This list will continue to be updated throughout the next few months and into free agency, so be sure to use it and our list of 2024 free agents by position/type [RESTRICTED] [UNRESTRICTED] as points of reference.
All lists can be found under the flame icon on our mobile menu. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.
Updated 6/28/24
Anaheim Ducks
- William Lagesson
- Ben Meyers
- Urho Vaakanainen (RFA)
- Isac Lundeström (RFA)
- Max Jones (RFA)
- Brett Leason (RFA)
- Jackson LaCombe (RFA)
- Gustav Lindström (RFA)
Boston Bruins
- Jake DeBrusk
- Danton Heinen
- Matt Grzelcyk
- Kevin Shattenkirk
- James van Riemsdyk
- Derek Forbort
- Pat Maroon
- Oskar Steen
- Jeremy Swayman (RFA)
- Jesper Boqvist (RFA)
Buffalo Sabres
- Victor Olofsson
- Zemgus Girgensons
- Eric Comrie
- Eric Robinson
- Tyson Jost
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (RFA)
- Henri Jokiharju (RFA)
- Peyton Krebs (RFA)
- Jacob Bryson (RFA)
Calgary Flames
Carolina Hurricanes
- Jake Guentzel
- Brady Skjei
- Teuvo Teräväinen
- Brett Pesce
- Stefan Noesen
- Jordan Martinook
- Tony DeAngelo
- Antti Raanta
- Martin Necas (RFA)
- Seth Jarvis (RFA)
- Jack Drury (RFA)
Chicago Blackhawks
- Tyler Johnson
- Nikita Zaitsev
- Jarred Tinordi
- Jaycob Megna
- Colin Blackwell
- Sam Lafferty
- Taylor Raddysh (RFA)
- Joey Anderson (RFA)
- Mackenzie Entwistle (RFA)
- Isaak Phillips (RFA)
- Louis Crevier (RFA)
- Reese Johnson (RFA)
Colorado Avalanche
- Sean Walker
- Jonathan Drouin
- Yakov Trenin
- Brandon Duhaime
- Jack Johnson
- Caleb Jones
- Fredrik Olofsson
- Joel Kiviranta
Columbus Blue Jackets
- Brendan Gaunce
- Carson Meyer
- Kirill Marchenko (RFA)
- Jake Bean (RFA)
- Alexandre Texier (RFA)
- Cole Sillinger (RFA)
- Kent Johnson (RFA)
- Alexander Nylander (RFA)
- Jake Christiansen (RFA)
Dallas Stars
- Joe Pavelski
- Matt Duchene
- Chris Tanev
- Scott Wedgewood
- Jani Hakanpää
- Craig Smith
- Thomas Harley (RFA)
- Sam Steel (RFA)
- Nils Lundkvist (RFA)
- Ty Dellandrea (RFA)
Detroit Red Wings
- Shayne Gostisbehere
- Daniel Sprong
- Patrick Kane
- David Perron
- Christian Fischer
- James Reimer
- Austin Czarnik
- Lucas Raymond (RFA)
- Moritz Seider (RFA)
- Joe Veleno (RFA)
- Jonatan Berggren (RFA)
Edmonton Oilers
- Adam Henrique
- Warren Foegele
- Sam Carrick
- Connor Brown
- Corey Perry
- Mattias Janmark
- Vincent Desharnais
- Sam Gagner
- Troy Stecher
- Adam Erne
- Dylan Holloway (RFA)
- Philip Broberg (RFA)
Florida Panthers
- Sam Reinhart
- Brandon Montour
- Vladimir Tarasenko
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
- Anthony Stolarz
- Dmitry Kulikov
- Kyle Okposo
- Nick Cousins
- Ryan Lomberg
- Kevin Stenlund
- Steven Lorentz
- Anton Lundell (RFA)
- Josh Mahura (RFA)
Los Angeles Kings
- Matt Roy
- Viktor Arvidsson
- Cam Talbot
- Pheonix Copley
- Trevor Lewis
- Quinton Byfield (RFA)
- Blake Lizotte (RFA)
- Arthur Kaliyev (RFA)
- Carl Grundström (RFA)
- Jordan Spence (RFA)
Minnesota Wild
- Alex Goligoski
- Dakota Mermis
- Jake Lucchini
- Adam Beckman (RFA)
- Mason Shaw (RFA)
- Declan Chisholm (RFA)
Montreal Canadiens
- Tanner Pearson
- Colin White
- Justin Barron (RFA)
- Arber Xhekaj (RFA)
- Jesse Ylönen (RFA)
Nashville Predators
- Alexandre Carrier
- Anthony Beauvillier
- Jason Zucker
- Tyson Barrie
- Kiefer Sherwood
- Kevin Lankinen
- Philip Tomasino (RFA)
- Juuso Pärssinen (RFA)
- Spencer Stastney (RFA)
- Jaret Anderson-Dolan (RFA)
New Jersey Devils
- Brendan Smith
- Kaapo Kähkönen
- Chris Tierney
- Tomáš Nosek
- Dawson Mercer (RFA)
- Nico Daws (RFA)
- Akira Schmid (RFA)
- Nolan Foote (RFA)
- Santeri Hatakka (RFA)
New York Islanders
- Mike Reilly
- Matt Martin
- Cal Clutterbuck
- Robert Bortuzzo
- Sebastian Aho
- Simon Holmström (RFA)
- Oliver Wahlstrom (RFA)
New York Rangers
- Jack Roslovic
- Erik Gustafsson
- Alexander Wennberg
- Blake Wheeler
- Chad Ruhwedel
- Tyler Pitlick
- Ryan Lindgren (RFA)
- Braden Schneider (RFA)
Ottawa Senators
- Dominik Kubalík
- Rourke Chartier
- Shane Pinto (RFA)
- Erik Brännström (RFA)
- Parker Kelly (RFA)
- Boris Katchouk (RFA)
- Mads Søgaard (RFA)
Philadelphia Flyers
- Erik Johnson
- Marc Staal
- Yegor Zamula (RFA)
- Bobby Brink (RFA)
Pittsburgh Penguins
- Vinnie Hinostroza
- Jansen Harkins
- Radim Zohorna
- Ryan Shea
- Pierre-Olivier Joseph (RFA)
- Emil Bemstrom (RFA)
San Jose Sharks
- Alexander Barabanov
- Mike Hoffman
- Kevin Labanc
- Jacob MacDonald
- Justin Bailey
- Luke Kunin (RFA)
- Filip Zadina (RFA)
- Calen Addison (RFA)
- Henry Thrun (RFA)
- Ty Emberson (RFA)
Seattle Kraken
- Justin Schultz
- Tomáš Tatar
- Pierre-Édouard Bellemare
- Matthew Beniers (RFA)
- Eeli Tolvanen (RFA)
- Kailer Yamamoto (RFA)
St. Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning
- Steven Stamkos
- Anthony Duclair
- Mathew Dumba
- Calvin de Haan
- Tyler Motte
- Austin Watson
- Alex Barré-Boulet
- Haydn Fleury
Toronto Maple Leafs
- T.J. Brodie
- Tyler Bertuzzi
- Max Domi
- Ilya Samsonov
- Mark Giordano
- John Klingberg
- Ilya Lyubushkin
- Joel Edmundson
- Martin Jones
- Timothy Liljegren (RFA)
- Noah Gregor (RFA)
- Nicholas Robertson (RFA)
- Connor Dewar (RFA)
Utah Hockey Club
- Travis Boyd
- Josh Brown
- Travis Dermott
- Sean Durzi (RFA)
- Juuso Välimäki (RFA)
- J.J. Moser (RFA)
- Barrett Hayton (RFA)
- Victor Söderström (RFA)
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
- Jonathan Marchessault
- Chandler Stephenson
- Anthony Mantha
- Michael Amadio
- Alec Martinez
- William Carrier
- Pavel Dorofeyev (RFA)
- Kaedan Korczak (RFA)
Washington Capitals
Winnipeg Jets
Ondrej Kase Drawing NHL Interest
A return to form overseas and a strong showing for Czechia at the World Championship has free-agent winger Ondřej Kaše drawing interest from NHL scouts once again, The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reports Monday.
Kaše, 28, last suited up in the NHL with the Hurricanes in 2022-23. He skated just 11:02 in their season-opening win against the Blue Jackets before sustaining a concussion that sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
Concussion-related symptoms have plagued Kaše throughout much of his professional career, especially in recent seasons. They limited him to just three showings with the Bruins in 2020-21 as well. His last remotely healthy season before departing for Europe was with the Maple Leafs in 2021-22, when he provided some solid secondary scoring with 14 goals and 27 points in 50 games on a one-year deal.
In desperate need of a reset after essentially a completely lost season with Carolina, Kaše signed a one-year contract with the Czech Extraliga’s HC Litvínov to play with his younger brother, former Flyers depth piece David Kaše. Without a flare-up of his previous symptoms, he exploded for over a point per game, finishing third in the league in scoring with 23 goals and 54 points in 48 appearances. He’s also rattled off five points in six games for Czechia thus far at the Worlds.
A seventh-round pick of the Ducks back in 2014, Kaše has been a good rate scorer when healthy. In 258 career games with Anaheim, Boston, Carolina and Toronto, he has 57 goals and 124 points while shouldering middle-six minutes comfortably.
Speaking to Johnston, Kaše said he hasn’t experienced any setbacks since his October 2022 injury with the Canes. One of the members of his treatment team, Michigan-based sports concussion specialist Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, told Johnston that Kaše isn’t dealing with a “permanent brain injury” and doesn’t struggle with concussion symptoms in the traditional sense; rather, he has a “complex set of neurological variables that needed to be treated comprehensively.”
For teams looking to add a third- or fourth-line scoring winger, Kaše presents an intriguing high-ceiling, low-risk option. He wouldn’t cost much and has scored 20 goals once in his career, back in 2017-18 with the Ducks, and was on pace for more than 20 on two other occasions, including his 2021-22 campaign with Toronto.
Hurricanes Notes: Offseason Priorities, Nikishin, DeAngelo
Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell was quite transparent while giving his end-of-season media availability today ahead of what will be a hectic offseason in Carolina. He’s already got one big-ticket item checked off after the team got head coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff locked into long-term extensions over the weekend, allowing him to focus on retooling a roster with multiple high-profile pending free agents.
One area he’d like to add from outside the organization is a right-shot center (via the Raleigh News & Observer’s Chip Alexander). All five of their routine faceoff-takers this season were left-handed, although their performance on draws wasn’t an area of concern (52.6 FOW%). It does give some insight into potential UFA targets the Hurricanes will speak to, with Elias Lindholm, Jack Roslovic and Tyler Johnson among the top right-shot centers available.
In terms of retaining his UFAs on expiring deals, Waddell said that keeping his group of defensemen intact is one of his top priorities. “We haven’t sat down to prioritize player by player, but we know we’d like to try to keep as much of our defense together. We think we have one of the best d-corps in the league,” he said (via the team’s Walt Ruff). Among their top six players at the position, Jalen Chatfield, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei are without contracts next season. Chatfield may be a solid bet to re-sign, but Skjei is arguably the highest-value defenseman on the market and reports last week indicated Pesce has likely priced himself out of Carolina.
When asked about his situation between the pipes, Waddell also wouldn’t rule out trading one of his three netminders under one-way contracts next season (Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov, Spencer Martin). He stopped short of saying they were actively seeking to make a move to upgrade after Andersen cooled off with a .895 SV% in 10 postseason games but did say they would explore a move if an opportunity to improve at the position arose. Moving the 24-year-old Kochetkov is likely out of the question – he made a career-high 42 appearances for the Canes in the regular season with a strong .911 SV% and is signed for three more seasons at a $2MM cap hit.
Elsewhere out of Carolina:
- Waddell also said the team remains interested in bringing over defenseman Alexander Nikishin from Russia for next season and would like to get him signed before the NHL Draft next month (via the North State Journal’s Cory Lavalette). Nikishin, still just 22, is already an Olympic medalist and has led Kontinental Hockey League defensemen in scoring in each of the past two seasons. He’s still under contract with SKA St. Petersburg through next season, though, and would need to buy himself out of the deal to join Carolina. He was named the team’s captain in 2023-24, responding with 17 goals and 56 points in 67 games with a +32 rating. The 6’4″ left-shot defender could comfortably step into a top-four role next season to ease the potential loss of Pesce and/or Skjei.
- Depth blue-liner Tony DeAngelo, also a UFA in July, needs hand surgery this summer, Waddell revealed (via Lavalette). After he was bought out by the Flyers last summer, the Hurricanes brought him back for his second stint with the club but used him sparingly during the regular season, playing him for a career-low 14:20 per game in 31 appearances. He stepped into the lineup during their postseason run after Pesce sustained an injury early in the first round against the Islanders, posting two assists and a -1 rating in nine games while averaging 17:03 per game. There’s no timeline for his recovery, but he’s low on Waddell’s list of pending UFAs to re-sign regardless.