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Adam Fantilli’s Camp Wants To Wait On Extension Talks With Blue Jackets

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Last month, Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said he planned to initiate extension talks with center Adam Fantilli’s camp as he enters the final season of his entry-level contract. However, he wasn’t successful in doing so. Waddell told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic that Fantilli’s camp is unwilling to sign a long-term deal before a pivotal third NHL season that could dramatically increase his market value when he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.

“We’ve had no negotiations at all,” Waddell told Portzline. “I spoke with (Fantilli’s agent Pat) Brisson last week, and they’re in no hurry from their end. It won’t get done before the season.”

As Portzline emphasizes, the lack of talks shouldn’t be misconstrued as concern over Fantilli’s long-term future in Columbus. In fact, it’s a completely understandable perspective from an incredibly high-ceiling talent who lost some precious development time, missing nearly half his rookie season due to a calf laceration, wanting to make sure he’s paid fairly on a long-term deal.

Of course, it’s also a bet on himself to keep up the momentum he created last season. The 2023 third-overall pick played all 82 games and really began to shine in the back half of the season, clicking at nearly a point-per-game pace after a comparatively slower start to the campaign. All in all, he tallied 31 goals in what was his first fully healthy professional season, tying with Kirill Marchenko for the team lead. He added 23 assists for 54 points to rank fifth on the team in scoring. He didn’t look out of place when trialed in top-line minutes when No. 1 pivot Sean Monahan was out of the lineup for a lengthy stretch later in the year due to a wrist injury, either.

If he signed an extension this offseason, that likely would have commanded a cap hit around $9.5MM on a seven-year pact with the cap projected to jump to at least $104MM for 2026-27, AFP Analytics projects. But if Fantilli can build on his 70-point pace over Columbus’ latter 41 games last year, there’s a strong case for him to dip into the eight-figure range annually and surpass Zach Werenski’s $9.583MM cap hit as the Jackets’ highest-paid player.

It’s a high-risk, high-reward move from Fantilli’s camp. A long-term offer presumably won’t be on the table if he plateaus this year, resulting in negotiations shifting to a bridge deal and some lost earnings compared to whatever long-term offer is on the table now, at least in the short term.

Whenever extension talks do commence in earnest, cap space won’t be much of a limiting factor. The club has $46.155MM to spend under the projected $104MM limit for 2026-27 with 14 roster spots filled. Their most expensive expiring talent, veterans Charlie Coyle ($5.125MM) and defenseman Erik Gudbranson ($4MM), will almost certainly get pay cuts if they’re re-signed.

Prospect Notes: Luchanko, Yurov, Marrelli

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Flyers top center prospect Jett Luchanko spent most of the summer rehabbing a groin issue, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. It kept him out of development camp and, depending on where he’s at in his recovery, may cause him to miss a chunk of rookie camp as well before full training camp gets underway next week. The team remains hopeful he’ll be able to participate in rookie camp, Hall says, although it only kicks off in three days.

This training camp cycle is an important one for Luchanko, who surprised many by making Philly’s NHL roster out of camp last season – just one month after his 18th birthday. The 5’11” pivot was the 13th overall pick in the 2024 draft and, after going pointless in four games for the Flyers, returned to juniors. He had 56 points in 46 games for the OHL’s Guelph Storm before finishing the season with Philly’s AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley, where he had six assists in seven playoff games.

That strong finish could be a stepping stone to another opening-night job for Luchanko, who the Flyers likely prefer to have in a professional environment based on their generous usage of him thus far in his development. That would mean another NHL stint – the proposed exception to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement that bars him from reporting to Lehigh Valley on a full-time basis isn’t expected to be approved before the start of the season.

There’s more on some other notable NHL up-and-comers:

  • On the heels of signing his entry-level contract and his anticipated NHL debut this fall, Wild 2022 first-rounder Danila Yurov spoke to The Athletic’s Michael Russo about his offseason preparation. The 21-year-old forward arrived in North America from Russia in mid-July and has been living in New York with one of his U.S.-based agents, he said. He’s been making friends and training with several NY-based NHLers, including Ducks marquee trade pickup Chris Kreider and star Rangers defenseman Adam Fox. The lengthy acclimation period will hopefully boost his chances of making an impact in his rookie season after posting a 34-40–74 scoring line in 108 KHL games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk over the past two seasons.
  • Blue Jackets defense prospect Luca Marrelli will be out until at least mid-December after having offseason shoulder surgery to repair a labrum tear, general manager Don Waddell told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The 19-year-old righty signed his entry-level contract midway through last season and, thanks to his October birthday, will be making his pro debut with AHL Cleveland whenever he returns to health. A 2024 third-round pick, he had an offensive explosion with OHL Oshawa last season, posting 74 points in 67 games before leading his team in playoff scoring with a 6-30–36 line in just 21 appearances. He was named to the CHL’s Third All-Star Team, the OHL’s Second All-Star Team, and led the league in playoff assists.

Hurricanes Sign Kevin Labanc To Professional Tryout

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The Hurricanes signed winger Kevin Labanc to a professional tryout ahead of training camp kicking off in the next several days, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Sunday.

Labanc will opt to try and stay stateside after being targeted by Russia’s CSKA Moscow earlier in the summer. His agent refuted at the time that Labanc had any interest in heading overseas, evidenced by his willingness to take a PTO instead of opting for more stability overseas.

It’s also the second straight season Labanc, who had a career-high 56 points back in the 2018-19 season with the Sharks, has had to settle for a camp tryout. He landed one with the Devils after the Sharks let him become an unrestricted free agent last summer. It didn’t end up working out in New Jersey, but his performance in their camp was strong enough for the Blue Jackets to pick him up on a one-year, league-minimum deal after he got released.

Labanc wasn’t much more than a fourth-line piece by the end of his tenure in San Jose. Nothing really changed on that front in Columbus, either. He was a serviceable depth forward for the Jackets, providing decent depth scoring – two goals and 12 points – in 34 games while averaging a career-low 10:30 per game. That was all before shoulder surgery ended his season in February.

The 29-year-old certainly isn’t the offensive presence he once was. He only has four goals and 21 points in 80 appearances over the last two seasons. Nonetheless, it’s clear to see why Carolina targeted him to fill a depth role for them.

Despite some eye-popping plus/minus figures on the Sharks over the years, Labanc has actually graded out as a high-end two-way piece lower in the lineup. He was arguably one of the Jackets’ best defensive forwards last season, posting a raw CF% of 52.6 at even strength despite only starting 42.9% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Columbus controlled nearly 4% more shot attempts with Labanc on the ice than without him, a stark contrast for anyone, let alone a player primarily deployed in defensive roles.

Ideally, Labanc can demonstrate enough utility in training camp to earn another cheap one-way deal with the Canes and start the season in a No. 13/14 role. There isn’t a ton of room for him to work his way into an opening-night job. Carolina’s rather full on the wings with their addition of Nikolaj Ehlers, pushing names like Jordan Martinook and Eric Robinson back down to fourth-line projections. There’s also William Carrier in the picture; he’s entering the second year of a six-year deal at a $2MM cap hit. It’s unlikely he ends up on waivers. That means Carolina has a tough competition for a second extra forward spot between Labanc, fellow PTO addition Givani Smith, Tyson Jost, and younger names like Ryan Suzuki.

Derek Ryan Announces Retirement

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Center Derek Ryan has decided on retirement, he told Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now on 880 CHED yesterday.

“I’m retiring. We, my family, are back home in Spokane,” he told Stauffer. “The kids started at their new school here today. I didn’t actively look for a job this off-season. Europe could’ve been an option, maybe other NHL teams, but if it wasn’t going to be Edmonton, I didn’t want to move the family again. As the kids get older that gets harder. We had good roots in Edmonton, and, shoot, I’m almost 40. It’s nice to settle in here in Spokane. We have our house, friends, and family. It’s nice to be home.”

Not only is Ryan from Spokane, but it’s where he began his junior career with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs all the way back in 2004. His three-year run there preceded one of the most unique pathways to becoming an NHL fixture in recent memory.

Undrafted, Ryan opted to enter the Canadian university system when his junior eligibility ran out in 2007. That’s not uncommon in and of itself, but it’s not a pathway many future NHLers undertake. Those who do rarely spend a full four years there, but that’s exactly what Ryan did. He played for the University of Alberta from 2007 to 2011, leading the CIS West in scoring in his senior season with a 17-30–47 line in 28 games.

Ryan, already 25 years old at the time, then decided to make the jump overseas instead of pursuing a professional career stateside. It was in Europe that the 5’10”, 185-lb center unlocked offensive dominance. He spent three years in the EBEL (now ICEHL), Austria’s top league, playing with Villacher SV (2012-14) and Hungarian club Fehérvár AV19 (2011-12). He recorded 199 points in just 158 EBEL games over that span, including a spectacular 2013-14 campaign that saw him lead the league with 38 goals in 54 games to earn MVP honors.

He then made the jump to higher-level European pro hockey in Sweden, a decision that finally put him on the NHL’s radar. He spent one year with the SHL’s Örebro HK, where he erupted for a 15-45–60 line in 55 games to lead one of Europe’s top leagues in assists and points, being named the SHL’s MVP and Forward of the Year.

Ryan finally landed a two-way deal with the Hurricanes – inking his first NHL contract at age 28 – the following summer. He was immediately named the captain of the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, their minor-league affiliate at the time, and was an AHL All-Star with 55 points in 70 games. He also got his first taste of NHL hockey late in the season, scoring his first goal in his first game of a six-game call-up.

That trial run kicked off an NHL career spanning over 600 games, most of which were played after his 30th birthday. He quickly established himself as a defensively responsible third-line pivot in Carolina, scoring 69 points in 153 games for the club while averaging over 15 minutes per night. He reached unrestricted free agency in 2018 and got rewarded by the Flames, signing a three-year, $9.375MM contract to return to the province where he played college hockey.

Ryan’s first season in Calgary was arguably the best of his career. He recorded a 13-25–38 scoring line in 81 games and, while he saw a reduction in ice time, won a team-high 58.2% of his faceoffs and added a +21 rating. That earned him Selke Trophy consideration, landing a fifth-place vote for the only time in his career.

While Ryan’s productivity and usage declined steadily over the course of his tenure with the Flames, that didn’t mean he was in an unfettered downward spiral. He still landed a multi-year deal in free agency from the cross-provincial rival Oilers in 2021, signing a two-year, $2.5MM pact to round out their fourth line.

That kicked off a four-year run for Ryan in Edmonton, the longest of his three NHL stops and a run that concluded just a few months ago. He was a regular from 2021 to 2024, appearing in at least 70 games for his first three years there, but was relegated to the press box for a good chunk of last season and even landed on waivers. He totaled 29 goals and 60 points in 261 games for Edmonton, appearing in 19 games in their run to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final but no playing time last postseason. He scored one goal and six points in 36 NHL games last season and also had eight points in 13 games for AHL Bakersfield after clearing waivers, his first minor-league action in nearly a decade.

Ryan ends his rather remarkable pro career with 82 goals, 127 assists, and 209 points in 606 NHL regular-season games with a +14 rating. He was also one of the better faceoff-takers of the last decade, winning 55.3% of his draws.

PHR congratulates Ryan on his persevering career and wishes him the best in his post-playing future.

Image courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.

Aidan Hreschuk Signs With AHL Texas

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Defenseman Aidan Hreschuk was among the higher-drafted college players to become eligible for free agency last month. Reporting earlier in the offseason indicated the Blue Jackets, who had acquired his draft rights from the Hurricanes in 2022’s Max Domi trade, had already made up their minds on not offering him an entry-level contract before the Aug. 15 deadline. PuckPedia confirmed a couple of weeks ago that he’d filed the necessary paperwork to become an unrestricted free agent.

After four years at Boston College, the 5’11” lefty will instead need to settle for a minor-league pact. He’s signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Texas Stars to join the Dallas organization, the team announced Friday.

It’s not particularly surprising to see him go unsigned by Columbus and subsequently struggle to yield NHL offers. Despite his 2021 third-round billing, he never really popped offensively at BC. He only ever cracked the 10-point mark in a season once and finished his run with a 6-32–38 scoring line in 146 contests, a pace of 0.26 points per game.

While that’s not the end-all-be-all for a defender’s effectiveness, offensive production and high-end puck-moving skills are a must in today’s league for a sub-6′ defenseman. While he is relatively mobile and physical and did develop his defensive skills well at BC, particularly in his junior season, NHL teams will be extremely wary about his ability to overcome his lack of height to translate those skills to the game’s top level.

Instead, the 22-year-old will get a crack in the Stars’ pipeline and look to convert a strong AHL showing out of the gate into an NHL contract, whether that’s this year or next or further down the road. Dallas already has 15 defenders signed to NHL contracts, so it’s not surprising to see them not offer him an entry-level deal despite some obvious organizational interest.

Wild Sign Brett Leason To Professional Tryout

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The Wild have signed right-winger Brett Leason to a professional tryout, according to a team release.

Leason, 26, was a second-round pick by the Capitals back in 2019 after being passed over twice in the draft. He made his NHL debut in Washington two years later. While his offensive production on the farm for the Caps wasn’t particularly impressive, it was clear his defensive acumen and checking ability were strong enough, coupled with his 6’5″, 220-lb frame, to create a niche for himself in a bottom-six role in the NHL.

Leason averaged just 8:57 per game across 36 appearances in that first taste of NHL hockey with Washington, recording six points, 14 blocks, and 16 hits. He wasn’t killing penalties, but he was used primarily in defensive situations at even strength, responding with strong possession numbers like a 52.2 CF% and a 55.1 xGF% for his role.

Washington rewarded Leason, a pending RFA at the time, with a two-year, one-way deal to indicate they expected him on the roster going forward. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite make the cut for their opening night roster in 2022-23. He ended up on waivers and was claimed by the Ducks.

Slowly but surely, Leason established himself as an NHL regular in Anaheim. He served as a fine depth option for them over the past three years, never getting more than 70 appearances in a season but never fewer than 50. The 2023-24 campaign was something of a breakout for him, recording 11 goals and 22 points in 68 showings while seeing frequent PK deployment for the first time and averaging north of 13 minutes per game. While the Ducks non-tendered him that June, they ended up bringing him back anyway on a one-year, $1.05MM deal in free agency.

Leason met that same non-tender fate this summer. While his usage stayed the same, averaging just around 13 minutes per night, his offensive production slipped to five goals and 17 points in 62 games. He was also a frequent healthy scratch down the stretch, only appearing in three of Anaheim’s final 12 games of the season as they looked to give NHL reps to some younger talent.

At first glance, Leason’s possession numbers in Anaheim weren’t great, but they need a little more context. The Ducks have been one of the worst two-way teams in the league during his tenure, and his defensive workload at even strength peaked this past season with a 70.5 dZS%. Despite that, Anaheim still controlled 41.0% of shot attempts with Leason on the ice – only a relative decrease of 4.6% from when he wasn’t out there – and his 42.5 xGF% was the best he’d posted in a Ducks jersey.

His lack of usage down the stretch was a clear indicator he wasn’t in the Ducks’ long-term plans anyway, but he did enough last season to prove some legitimate utility as a bottom-six checking winger with a bit of a scoring touch. In that sense, it’s a tad surprising there wasn’t more interest in his services on a guaranteed deal earlier in the offseason.

Nonetheless, he now heads to St. Paul to try to earn a contract and a roster spot. The Wild beefed up their forward depth by retaining Marcus Johansson and adding Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and Nico Sturm in free agency, while recent first-rounders Liam Ohgren and Danila Yurov are also well-positioned to land expanded roles (or simply an NHL debut, in Yurov’s case). There may not be a huge chance for him to skate in Minnesota’s opening night lineup unless an injury creates a hole, but there is a pathway for him to beat out a name like Aubé-Kubel, who was on waivers last season and cleared, for a spot on the 23-player active roster.

Cameron Wright Signs In Finland

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Cameron Wright’s stay in the Oilers organization will be a short one. After turning an AHL contract into an NHL one at the beginning of last season, he’s on his way overseas and has signed a one-year deal with HPK in Finland’s Liiga, the club announced.

Wright, 27, had a long path to landing an NHL deal. Undrafted, he spent five years in college and won a national championship with Denver in 2022 after spending the prior four years at Bowling Green. The 6’1″ winger actually tied for the team lead on that Pioneers squad in goals with 23 in 41 games, and while he had some NHL interest, he ended up landing an AHL contract with the Avalanche’s affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

Wright barely played for the Eagles, however. He spent most of the season down in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies, where he exploded for 63 points in 64 games (with 136 PIMs to boot) in his first pro season. He landed a much more consistent AHL role the following season, now in the Oilers organization with Bakersfield, and parlayed that into an NHL contract the following year.

The Ontario native was a solid depth scoring piece for the Condors in 2024-25, posting a 13-11–24 scoring line in 60 games while providing physicality to their depth contingent. Evidently, that wasn’t enough for Edmonton to keep him around. They declined to issue him a qualifying offer at the end of the season and he became an unrestricted free agent.

There may have been some AHL offers on the table, but he’ll opt for a likely richer contract overseas instead. This far down the road in his development, it’s not overly likely that he makes his way back toward contention for an NHL roster spot. He joins an HPK club whose lone NHL-experience player is Kristian Vesalainen, a first-round pick by the Jets in 2017.

Jussi Ahokas Drew Interest For NHL Coaching Roles

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OHL Kitchener head coach Jussi Ahokas has now generated interest from NHL clubs for assistant roles in each of the past two summers, he told Josh Brown of the Waterloo Region Record.

The 44-year-old Ahokas has been on the radar for quite some time now, and there’s a fair chance he becomes only the third full-time European head coach in league history at some point in the coming years. He’s already cemented himself as the first European bench boss in OHL history and is coming off a spectacular second season with the Kitchener Rangers in 2024-25. He helped the team along to a 47-15-6 record and a conference final loss despite his roster not having any uber-notable NHL prospects outside of defenseman Cameron Reid, who was a first-round selection by the Predators this year.

That got him named OHL Coach of the Year, and he was also named the honorary coach of the league’s First All-Star Team. It was the second time this decade he’s taken home such honors in a high-profile league. In his native Finland, he was named Liiga’s Coach of the Year with KooKoo in 2019-20 – his first year behind the bench of a professional club in any capacity.

Ahokas has also coached Finland’s national junior team to gold at the U18 World Juniors in 2016 and the U20 World Juniors in 2019.

One thing working against Ahokas in interviews as he tries to land an assistant gig in the NHL is his lack of experience in assistant roles. He’s only ever been a head coach in league play and has limited experience in assistant roles at international tournaments. He was an assistant for Finland’s women’s team at the World Championship from 2007 to 2009 and was their video coach at the 2010 Olympics, though.

It’s likely he’ll make a bigger push for an NHL bench job in 2027. His deal with Kitchener still has two years left on it. “My goal is to be here for those two years and win a Memorial Cup here,” Ahokas said, a goal that might be made easier if the Rangers are successful in their bid to host the tournament in 2027. They’re one of the finalists alongside the Guelph Storm, the CHL announced today.

Flyers, Kraken Swap Jon-Randall Avon, Tucker Robertson

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The Flyers acquired forward Tucker Robertson from the Kraken for forward Jon-Randall Avon, the teams announced. The pair of prospects will now report to their new teams’ training camp in a couple of weeks.

It amounts to a swap of lower-tier prospects who haven’t quite panned out as their clubs hoped. They’re both entering their age-22 seasons, born just a handful of days apart in the summer of 2003.

It’s particularly unsurprising to see the Kraken move on from Robertson. He was a fourth-round pick in 2022 after going undrafted in 2021, a season he missed entirely due to the pandemic. But despite producing over a point per game for the OHL’s Peterborough Petes in 2021-22 and 2022-23, he hasn’t been able to find any sustained offensive success in the pros.

Robertson never graded out as a top-10 or even top-15 prospect in Seattle’s system. He split his first pro season in 2023-24 between AHL Coachella Valley and ECHL Kansas City but found himself on the AHL roster full-time in 2024-25. Unfortunately, that didn’t come with much playing time. He only got into around half of Coachella Valley’s games, recording a 4-5–9 scoring line in 38 games. The 5’10”, 190-lb center now has 10 goals and 19 points in 77 career AHL games over the last two years.

Avon, whom the Flyers signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021, has seen moderately more offensive success. He was teammates with Robertson in junior hockey with Peterborough and made the jump to the pros at the same time. The stepson of former Blackhawks star Steve Larmer has stuck around as a depth piece with Philly’s AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley for the last two years, putting together a 16-19–35 scoring line with a -22 rating in 125 games. He’s taller but lankier than Robertson at 6’0″ and 174 lbs.

Since Avon’s ELC slid twice before going into effect, both he and Robertson are entering the final seasons of their contracts. They’ll be restricted free agents next summer with neither being eligible for arbitration.

Islanders Sign Daniil Prokhorov To Entry-Level Contract

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Sep. 4: Prokhorov is staying in Russia after all. Instead of spending the year in juniors with Sarnia, the Islanders have announced a loan back to Dynamo Moscow for 2025-26, per Newsday’s Andrew Gross. His entry-level deal will slide accordingly. Signing him now allows them the option to have him in North America next season or assign him to AHL Bridgeport once his campaign in Russia ends.

Sep. 2, 8:30 p.m.: A few hours after the signing was made official, PuckPedia shared Prokhorov’s contract details:

  • Year 1: $775K salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $102.5K GP bonus, $85K AHL salary
  • Year 2: $800K salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $77.5K GP bonus, $85K AHL salary
  • Year 3: $877.5K salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $85K AHL salary

Sep. 2, 10:21 a.m.: While recent Islanders draft pick Daniil Prokhorov signed a two-year contract in Russia just last week, it appears he’s already taking advantage of his baked-in NHL out clause. The Isles announced Tuesday they’ve signed their 2025 second-rounder to his three-year, entry-level contract. Stefen Rosner of NHL.com relays that the signing will precede a loan to the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, allowing him to play junior hockey stateside in his DY+1 after the Sting selected him in the second round of this year’s CHL Import Draft.

It’s more stability and a more competitive environment for the 18-year-old, who likely wasn’t ticketed for a full-time role in the KHL with Dynamo Moscow. He was instead expected to spend most of 2025-26 with their junior club, so he’ll instead be able to play in his age group in a higher-octane and more balanced league compared to Russia’s MHL.

Drafting Prokhorov was a bet on talent and ceiling. While not a well-rounded offensive threat by any means, he did tally 20 goals in 43 games for the MHL’s Dynamo St. Petersburg last year and plays a highly physical yet disciplined game. The 6’6″, 218-lb right winger only recorded 14 PIMs in 2024-25.

He’s a bit of a developmental project and presumably won’t be in the conversation for NHL ice time for a few years at least, especially not this season. Since he won’t hit the 10-game mark, his entry-level deal can slide to the 2026-27 season before taking effect and potentially again until 2027-28 if the same circumstances repeat themselves next year.

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