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Pacific Notes: Willander, Raty, Lekkerimaki, Eichel, Uljanskis, Thornton

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After the Canucks made another piece of offseason business in trading goaltender Arturs Silovs to the Penguins over the weekend, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance took a deep dive into the roster math that lies ahead and what other moves could be coming.

Among those could be something of a crunch on defense. After signing 2023 first-rounder Tom Willander to his entry-level contract in May, Drance reports the club has him penciled in on Vancouver’s opening night roster, not on assignment to AHL Abbotsford to begin his professional career. He expects that the defenseman named Elias Pettersson, not their highest-paid forward of the same name, has received a similar designation.

As such, Drance relays to expect Vancouver to carry 13 forwards and eight defensemen out of the gate instead of the slightly more commonplace 14/7 breakdown, with prospect Victor Mancini and recent depth signing Pierre-Olivier Joseph likely the only legitimate candidates for the eighth spot. Mancini is still waiver-exempt, so that could work in Joseph’s favor.

For the forwards, Aatu Raty has the best candidacy for a job out of all their young fringe NHLers coming off a Calder Cup championship with AHL Abbotsford because of “the club’s needs down the middle,” Drance writes. One name that likely won’t be in contention for a depth job is top wing prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki.

“It sounds like the club is open to slow-cooking Lekkerimäki in the AHL to begin next season,” Drance said. “The gifted scoring winger is waiver exempt, and the club wants to be cautious about managing his development and not rushing him.” Older but lower-ceiling names like Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson will be in contention for open fourth-line/press box slots instead.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • There isn’t anything new to report on extension talks between the Golden Knights and star center Jack Eichel, writes David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. An “open line of communication” remains after negotiations reportedly began over the past few months, but the needle hasn’t moved much since.
  • Ducks defense prospect Darels Uljanskis is making the jump from Europe to North America to finish out his junior career, via Derek Lee of The Hockey News. Anaheim selected the left-shot Latvian in the seventh round last year. He’ll play out 2025-26 for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds after recording 39 points and a +12 rating in 44 games for AIK’s under-20 squad in Sweden last season.
  • The Sharks announced on Tuesday that they’ve formalized a front-office title for Hall-of-Famer Joe Thornton, naming him as a player development coach and hockey operations advisor amid a slew of other minor staff changes. Thornton had remained in the San Jose area and worked frequently with the club in an unofficial capacity since retiring in 2022, but the franchise icon will now be firmly embedded in the process of building the team’s next window of championship contention.

Bruins Sign John Farinacci To Two-Way Deal

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The Bruins have signed restricted free agent forward John Farinacci to a two-way contract, according to a team press release.

Farinacci, 24, would have spent four seasons at Harvard if not for COVID after being drafted in the third round by the Coyotes in 2019. He did not sign an entry-level contract with Arizona and instead reached an agreement with the Bruins immediately upon becoming a free agent in August 2023 following his senior season. He’s spent most of the past two seasons playing in the AHL for the Bruins’ affiliate in Providence.

Farinacci made his NHL debut in Boston’s final game of the 2024-25 regular season, scoring a goal on his lone shot in 10:58 of ice time against the Devils. The 5’11” center also went an impressive 6-for-8 on draws in that game and recorded three hits.

In 58 regular-season games with the Providence Bruins last season, the New Jersey native scored 10 goals, 28 assists, and 38 points while taking just three minor penalties and recording a plus-nine rating. While he only had one goal in eight Calder Cup Playoff games, he did manage to finish seventh on the team in regular-season scoring and matched his 2023-24 point total in 13 fewer appearances.

If Farinacci appears on the NHL roster in the 2025-26 season, he’ll earn the prorated league minimum of $775K; the team didn’t disclose his minor-league salary. The cousin of Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato will likely be a Group VI unrestricted free agent next summer unless he manages to play in 79 NHL games in the upcoming season.

The Bruins have now filled 45 of their 50 standard contract slots for 2025-26.

Sabres, Bowen Byram Avoid Arbitration With Two-Year Deal

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The Sabres have settled with restricted free agent defenseman Bowen Byram before their arbitration hearing, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports. It’s a two-year contract worth $6.25MM per season, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet adds. The team has since confirmed the signing.

The contract, worth $12.5MM in total, could still be part of a sign-and-trade involving Byram, whose name more seriously popped up in trade speculation early in the offseason ahead of what he hoped would be a big payday for him. Instead, the young rearguard settles for another “show-me” bridge deal, one that notably walks him to his first UFA-eligible year in 2027, giving him better earning potential on a long-term deal than he has now, assuming he continues an upward trajectory.

Byram, selected No. 4 overall in the 2019 draft by the Avalanche, struggled with concussions early and often in his development but has enjoyed healthier campaigns in recent years. After getting his name on the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022, they signed him to a two-year, $7.7MM bridge deal the following summer. Before he completed the first season of the contract, Colorado, looking to upgrade its center group, dealt Byram to Buffalo in a surprise one-for-one trade for Casey Mittelstadt.

While few things have gone right for the Sabres in the last decade-plus, that trade was one of them. Colorado no longer has Mittelstadt or the veteran they ended up trading him for, Charlie Coyle, on their roster. Byram, meanwhile, could still be poised to play another couple of seasons in Buffalo – multiple reports have indicated he’s open to staying long-term as long as the money is of interest.

Byram’s best NHL season came last year in top-pairing deployment with Rasmus Dahlin. While a bit of an awkward fit at first glance with two lefties, Byram managed a career-high with 38 points and a +11 rating while averaging nearly 23 minutes per game and, perhaps more importantly, played in all 82 contests. He’s now missed just nine games over the last two years after missing more than half of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons combined.

Byram notably did not file for arbitration, leaving himself susceptible to an offer sheet. Still, the Sabres negated that threat the following day when they opted for team-elected arbitration. That move limited their ability to walk away if they didn’t like the award and allowed Byram to choose between a one-year or a two-year term. Even without a hearing, Byram likely gets his wish here with a chance to test unrestricted free agency as early in his career as possible.

Still just 24, Byram’s 116 blocks co-led the team last year, although his possession impacts, with a noticeable discrepancy between his and Dahlin’s even-strength Corsi shares, are cause for concern. Both Buffalo and Byram, for his market value’s sake, will count on his defensive play to improve as the Sabres aim to make the postseason for the first time since 2011, assuming he remains in Western New York come opening night.

Image courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.

Submit Your Questions For A CBA Q&A

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The NHL and NHLPA today released the full text of their new Collective Bargaining Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding, set to take effect ahead of the 2026-27 season. The two sides officially ratified the four-year extension on Tuesday, with many key details about the document already reported.

Still, some of the finer details may have gotten lost in translation or were not completely made public before today. As a result, we’re running a special-edition mailbag/Q&A about the new CBA and MOU. Submit your questions about the extension in the comment section below, and PHR’s Josh Erickson will comb through both documents to find the answer.

The mailbag will run on Tuesday, July 15.

Russia Notes: Babcock, Gallant, Tortorella, Kuznetsov, Obvintsev

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The KHL’s Kunlun Red Star is making an aggressive push to land a high-profile name as its next head coach. They’ve made attempts to land longtime NHL coaches Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant, and John Tortorella this summer, reports Dmitry Erykalov of Sport24.ru.

While legally based in Beijing, Kunlun hasn’t played in China since the pandemic. They’ve operated out of a Moscow suburb called Mystichi in recent years but will now play out of St. Petersburg’s SKA Arena, the largest area in the world built for hockey at a capacity of 22,500. Just a few years old, SKA St. Petersburg played part of last season there but will move back to its old venue for 2025-26 due to underwhelming attendance and “low transport accessibility.”

Erykalov writes that Kunlun has also appointed former Avangard Omsk chairman Alexander Krylov to a hockey operations role ahead of the 2025-26 campaign; he previously approached Babcock about Omsk’s vacancy in 2022. Of the three, Erykalov relays that Gallant would be the most realistic hire for the fledgling club as he’s told KHL clubs he “would not mind working” in Russia. That tracks after he wasn’t firmly connected to any NHL coaching vacancies this offseason.

Kunlun has long been irrelevant in the grand scheme of KHL play, especially with the goal of directly supporting professional hockey in China seemingly abandoned post-Olympics and pandemic. The club made the KHL playoffs in its first season back in 2016-17 but hasn’t since. Their 19-34-9-6 record last season was its best in five years, though.

Other notes from Russia:

  • Earlier today, we relayed word that the Canadiens wouldn’t be offering center Evgeny Kuznetsov a contract as he attempts an NHL return despite speculation otherwise. His agent also said to rule out a return to the Capitals, where he spent the vast majority of the first stint of his time in North America. “I don’t see how he could go back,” Shumi Babaev said, after Kuznetsov’s tenure in Washington ended on the waiver wire before being dealt to the Hurricanes for a mid-round pick at the 2023 trade deadline. Kuznetsov, whose 568 points in 723 games rank seventh in Caps franchise history, had 37 points in 39 KHL games last season for SKA in his first season at home in over a decade.
  • Maple Leafs goaltending prospect Timofei Obvintsev has signed a one-year deal with Gornyak-UGMK of the VHL, Russia’s second-tier pro league, the league announced. A 2024 fifth-round pick, Obvintsev saw just 11 games of action in Russia’s top junior league last season with CSKA Moscow’s affiliate club, posting a 2.78 GAA, .908 SV%, one shutout, and a 6-4-0 record. The 20-year-old could be in line for a move to North America next season if he impresses in the pro ranks.

DEL’s Straubing Tigers Sign Tyler Madden

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Once a promising prospect in the Kings’ pool, Tyler Madden is off to Germany on a one-year deal with the Straubing Tigers of the DEL, the team announced.

Madden, 25, heads to Germany’s top league on the heels of a few years of stagnation in the minors. The son of longtime NHL center John Madden was a third-round pick of the Canucks in 2018 and quickly made a name for himself in college at Northeastern, turning pro after a sophomore season in which he had 37 points in only 27 games.

A few weeks before leaving college, Madden’s signing rights were sent to Los Angeles in the trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to Vancouver. He quickly signed his entry-level contract, but the pandemic delayed his professional debut.

After playing just 14 games with AHL Ontario in 2020-21 as a result, Madden looked like he was well on his way to a full-time NHL role the following season when he put up 31 points in 48 games for the Reign. Unfortunately, that was the peak of the New York native’s production.

Madden’s AHL points per game totals went from 0.65 in 2021-22 to around 0.46 over the following two seasons, resulting in him never getting an NHL call-up. Midway through last season, the Kings traded him to the Wild in exchange for minor-league defenseman Joseph Cecconi.

He finished the season with two goals and 10 points in 20 games for AHL Iowa, not enough to convince Minnesota to give him a qualifying offer. He became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 as a result and presumably didn’t receive any NHL two-way offers that intrigued him.

The 2019 World Juniors silver medalist now heads to Straubing, where he’ll potentially look to fuel a return to North America with a strong performance. If not, it might be the start of a lengthy European career.

The Tigers have been in Germany’s top league since gaining promotion from the second division in 2006, but have largely been a middle-of-the-pack team over the last two decades. They’ll hope Madden offers them an offensive infusion after their top scorer last season, Josh Samanski, left to sign an entry-level contract with the Oilers.

Players With Trade Protection In 2025-26

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The following players have some form of trade protection for the duration of the 2025-26 league year, according to PuckPedia.

Trade protection comes in three forms: no-movement clauses (NMCs), no-trade clauses (NTCs), and modified no-trade clauses (M-NTCs). No-movement clauses are blanket protection save for buyouts, so the player is also protected against a waiver placement and subsequent AHL assignment unless they approve it.

No-trade clauses limit a team from trading a player to any other club without their approval, but if they’re trying to send a player somewhere where he won’t approve a deal, the team can still waive the player and have the team in question claim them.

Modified no-trade clauses do not prevent all trades. Players can submit a trade list with a preset number of teams, which is either in the form of a no-trade list or an approved trade list. The former is far more common. If a player has an approved trade list, the number of teams they can be traded to is asterisked. If there is no asterisk, the number of teams they can block a trade to is shown next to their name in parentheses.

NMCs and M-NTCs can be combined to provide guardrails for discussions when a team is approaching a player about waiving their NMCs. No-move and no-trade clauses can also differ over the life of a contract, or sometimes, mid-season. Only players who would otherwise be eligible for UFA status are eligible for trade protection.

Anaheim Ducks

NMCs: none

NTCs: Mikael Granlund

M-NTCs: Radko Gudas (10), Alex Killorn (15), Chris Kreider (15), Troy Terry (10), Jacob Trouba (12), Frank Vatrano (7)

Boston Bruins

NMCs: Viktor Arvidsson, Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak

NTCs: Tanner Jeannot, Nikita Zadorov

M-NTCs: Henri Jokiharju (8), Joonas Korpisalo (10), Pavel Zacha (8)

Buffalo Sabres

NMCs: Rasmus Dahlin

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Jordan Greenway (5), Tage Thompson (5), Alex Tuch (5), Jason Zucker (5)

Calgary Flames

NMCs: Mikael Backlund, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri

NTCs: MacKenzie Weegar

M-NTCs: Rasmus Andersson (6), Backlund (15, begins Jan. 1), Blake Coleman (10*), Yegor Sharangovich (10)

Carolina Hurricanes

NMCs: Sebastian Aho, Frederik Andersen, William Carrier, Jalen Chatfield, Nikolaj Ehlers, Taylor Hall, Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Staal

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Andersen (20), Shayne Gostisbehere (15), Jordan Martinook (10), Eric Robinson (8), Andrei Svechnikov (10*), Sean Walker (15)

Andersen’s M-NTC reduces to a five-team no-trade list on Feb. 23 if he does not play in at least 33% of the Hurricanes’ regular season games by Feb. 15.

Chicago Blackhawks

NMCs: none

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Tyler Bertuzzi (10), Andre Burakovsky (10), Ryan Donato (10), Ilya Mikheyev (12), Connor Murphy (10), Teuvo Teravainen (8)

Colorado Avalanche

NMCs: Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews

NTCs: Brock Nelson

M-NTCs: Mackenzie Blackwood (6), Ross Colton (12), Samuel Girard (9), Artturi Lehkonen (12), Landeskog (12), Josh Manson (12), Valeri Nichushkin (12), Logan O’Connor (6)

Columbus Blue Jackets

NMCs: Charlie Coyle, Sean Monahan, Ivan Provorov, Zach Werenski

NTCs: Damon Severson

M-NTCs: Coyle (3), Erik Gudbranson (10), Boone Jenner (8), Elvis Merzlikins (10), Mathieu Olivier (10), Miles Wood (6)

Dallas Stars

NMCs: Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen, Tyler Seguin

NTCs: Esa Lindell

M-NTCs: none

Detroit Red Wings

NMCs: none

NTCs: Patrick Kane, Dylan Larkin

M-NTCs: Ben Chiarot (10), J.T. Compher (10), Andrew Copp (10), Alex DeBrincat (16), John Gibson (10), Justin Holl (10)

Edmonton Oilers

NMCs: Leon Draisaitl, Trent Frederic, Adam Henrique, Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse

NTCs: Andrew Mangiapane

M-NTCs: Mattias Janmark (10)

Florida Panthers

NMCs: Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones, Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Sergei Bobrovsky (16), Reinhart (16)

Los Angeles Kings

NMCs: Kevin Fiala, Anze Kopitar

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Cody Ceci (10), Phillip Danault (10), Drew Doughty (7*), Brian Dumoulin (10), Joel Edmundson (10), Warren Foegele (5), Adrian Kempe (10), Darcy Kuemper (10)

Minnesota Wild

NMCs: Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Kirill Kaprizov, Jacob Middleton, Mats Zuccarello

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Eriksson Ek (10), Filip Gustavsson (5), Ryan Hartman (15), Jared Spurgeon (10), Vladimir Tarasenko (8*)

Montreal Canadiens

NMCs: Brendan Gallagher, Carey Price

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Josh Anderson (5), Gallagher (6), Patrik Laine (10), Mike Matheson (8)

Nashville Predators

NMCs: Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Jonathan Marchessault, Juuse Saros, Brady Skjei, Steven Stamkos

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Erik Haula (6), Skjei (15)

New Jersey Devils

NMCs: Jesper Bratt, Dougie Hamilton, Jacob Markstrom, Timo Meier, Ondrej Palat

NTCs: Jake Allen, Connor Brown, Evgenii Dadonov (through March 1), Brenden Dillon, Johnathan Kovacevic, Brett Pesce

M-NTCs: Dadonov (10 after March 1), Hamilton (10*), Nico Hischier (10), Stefan Noesen (10), Palat (10*), Jonas Siegenthaler (10)

New York Islanders

NMCs: Ilya Sorokin

NTCs: Anthony Duclair, Bo Horvat, Scott Mayfield, Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pulock

M-NTCs: Mathew Barzal (22), Jonathan Drouin (16), Pierre Engvall (16), Anders Lee (15), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (16), Adam Pelech (16), Semyon Varlamov (16)

New York Rangers

NMCs: Adam Fox, Vladislav Gavrikov, J.T. Miller, Artemi Panarin, Igor Shesterkin, Mika Zibanejad

NTCs: William Borgen

M-NTCs: Jonathan Quick (20), Carson Soucy (12), Vincent Trocheck (12)

Ottawa Senators

NMCs: Claude Giroux, Brady Tkachuk, Linus Ullmark

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Thomas Chabot (10), Lars Eller (14*), David Perron (15), Artem Zub (10)

Philadelphia Flyers

NMCs: Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny

NTCs: Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler

M-NTCs: Dan Vladar (8)

Pittsburgh Penguins

NMCs: Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Noel Acciari (8), Ryan Graves (12), Kevin Hayes (12), Danton Heinen (12), Tristan Jarry (12), Rickard Rakell (8)

San Jose Sharks

NMCs: none

NTCs: John Klingberg (through Jan. 30), Dmitry Orlov, Jeff Skinner (through Jan. 30), Tyler Toffoli

M-NTCs: Logan Couture (3*), Barclay Goodrow (15), Klingberg (14 after Jan. 30), Skinner (8* after Jan. 30), Alexander Wennberg (15*)

Seattle Kraken

NMCs: Chandler Stephenson

NTCs: Jordan Eberle, Adam Larsson, Brandon Montour

M-NTCs: Joey Daccord (12), Vince Dunn (16), Frederick Gaudreau (15), Philipp Grubauer (10), Ryan Lindgren (6), Mason Marchment (10), Jared McCann (10), Jamie Oleksiak (16), Jaden Schwartz (16)

St. Louis Blues

NMCs: none

NTCs: Pavel Buchnevich, Jordan Kyrou, Colton Parayko, Robert Thomas

M-NTCs: Jordan Binnington (14), Justin Faulk (15), Cam Fowler (4*), Torey Krug (15), Brayden Schenn (15)

Tampa Bay Lightning

NMCs: Jake Guentzel, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point

NTCs: Erik Cernak, Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, Nick Paul

M-NTCs: Oliver Bjorkstrand (10), Zemgus Girgensons (16*), Nikita Kucherov (10*), Ryan McDonagh (12), Andrei Vasilevskiy (10*)

Toronto Maple Leafs

NMCs: Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, John Tavares

NTCs: Jake McCabe

M-NTCs: Brandon Carlo (8), Max Domi (13), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (16), Calle Jarnkrok (10), David Kampf (10), Anthony Stolarz (8)

Utah Mammoth

NMCs: none

NTCs: Clayton Keller, Mikhail Sergachev

M-NTCs: John Marino (8), Olli Maatta (10), Nick Schmaltz (10), Nate Schmidt (10), Brandon Tanev (10), Karel Vejmelka (10)

Vancouver Canucks

NMCs: Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Filip Hronek, Kevin Lankinen, Tyler Myers, Elias Pettersson, Marcus Pettersson

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Teddy Blueger (12), Dakota Joshua (12), Evander Kane (16*), Drew O’Connor (12)

Vegas Golden Knights

NMCs: Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Stone

NTCs: Noah Hanifin, Brayden McNabb, Brandon Saad, Reilly Smith, Shea Theodore

M-NTCs: Ivan Barbashev (8), Tomas Hertl (3*), Adin Hill (10), William Karlsson (10)

Washington Capitals

NMCs: Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Ovechkin

NTCs: none

NMCs: John Carlson (10), Ovechkin (10), Matt Roy (15), Logan Thompson (15), Tom Wilson (14)

Winnipeg Jets

NMCs: Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, Jonathan Toews

NTCs: none

M-NTCs: Kyle Connor (10), Dylan DeMelo (10), Adam Lowry (6), Josh Morrissey (15), Neal Pionk (15)

Jeff Skinner Signs With Sharks

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Free agent winger Jeff Skinner has signed a one-year deal worth $3MM with the Sharks, according to a team press release. He was one of the few of our top 50 unrestricted free agents who remained unsigned heading into the second week of the new league year.

Skinner, 33, has averaged 0.65 points per game for his career and is a skilled shooter, finishing at an 11.2% clip in 1,078 career regular-season games. His lengthy career has been plagued by peaks and valleys that ultimately resulted in the Sabres buying out the final three seasons of his eight-year, $72MM extension last summer.

He quickly landed with the Oilers on an identical contract to this one when the market opened last year, but the fit wasn’t great. He spent most of his time in a bottom-six role, not particularly conducive to his offensive skillset, and turned out just 16 goals and 29 points in 72 games as a result. Those were his lowest offensive totals in three years, accompanied by the lowest deployment of his career at 13 minutes per game.

He’ll hope for better results with the Sharks, who needed another veteran forward for multiple reasons. Not only did they need another body in case they decide fringe youngsters like Collin Graf or Cameron Lund would be better served with AHL time out of the gate, but they needed to add salary to ensure they stay above the cap floor while debating what to do with their logjam of depth defensemen.

Skinner accomplishes both those objectives while hopefully adding an infusion to the league’s worst offense in 2024-25 in expanded minutes. The Sharks averaged 2.54 goals per game last season but now add a six-time 30-goal threat on a virtually zero-risk deal, even if he’s coming off a disappointing campaign in Edmonton.

San Jose hasn’t made many offseason moves at forward, although they did pick up enforcer Ryan Reaves in a trade last night and signed depth pieces Adam Gaudette and Philipp Kurashev in free agency. The bulk of their talent-adding has come on the back end, where they’ve added veterans John Klingberg, Nick Leddy, and Dmitry Orlov via signings and waiver claims.

After their recent moves, the Sharks are now $4.36MM above the $70.6MM lower limit with $20.54MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. While they’ll still lean primarily on youngsters like Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, and Will Smith for offense, they’ve done a better job this summer of insulating their next wave of players with added quality veteran talent.

Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

Jets Re-Sign Isaak Phillips To Two-Year Contract

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The Jets have re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Isaak Phillips to a two-year contract, according to a team announcement. It’s unclear if it’s a one-way or two-way deal.

While playing his junior hockey with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, Phillips was drafted in the fifth round in 2020 by the Blackhawks. He got an early taste of pro hockey the following season when the OHL suspended operations due to COVID, playing for AHL Rockford in his post-draft year, and was able to remain there the following season thanks to his late September birthday. He bounced between leagues for much of his time with Chicago and successfully cleared waivers for the first time at the beginning of 2024-25.

Phillips, 23, was again shuttled between leagues through the early going of the campaign but was sent to the minors permanently in November. With his spot in the organization uncertain, the Hawks traded him to Winnipeg in January. He didn’t receive a recall after the trade, finishing the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. He made just three NHL appearances in 2024-25, posting an assist and three hits while averaging a paltry 11:54 per game.

While a defensive defenseman first and foremost, Phillips had shown a degree of offensive competency in Rockford in the past that led some to believe he could have the all-around play necessary to become an everyday third-pairing piece. That wasn’t the case last season. He made 67 appearances between Rockford and Manitoba, only managing four goals and 16 points with a cumulative minus-three rating.

The 6’3″, 205-lb lefty may be valuable organizational depth for the Jets with his 238 games of AHL experience, but that lackluster showing in the minors doesn’t inspire confidence that he’ll realistically compete for a roster spot in the fall. Winnipeg has eight defensemen under contract who played at least 39 NHL games last season.

If Phillips doesn’t manage 24 NHL appearances over the next two seasons, he’ll be able to test unrestricted free agency early thanks to Group VI status. If he plays more than that, he’ll remain under Winnipeg’s control as an RFA upon expiry.

Hurricanes Sign Gavin Bayreuther To Two-Way Deal

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The Hurricanes have signed free agent defenseman Gavin Bayreuther to a two-way deal, per a team release. They also confirmed a previous report that winger Noel Gunler had accepted his qualifying offer.

A 6’1″ lefty, Bayreuther has worked out a lengthy professional career for himself after going undrafted. He spent seven seasons bouncing between the AHL and NHL in the Stars and Blue Jackets organizations after ending his collegiate career with St. Lawrence University in 2017.

The 31-year-old spent last season in Switzerland’s National League with Lausanne HC, his first and only overseas season. In 52 games, he posted a 5-18–23 scoring line with 47 PIMs and a plus-five rating, finishing second on the team in scoring among defensemen.

Bayreuther will make the league minimum $775K salary if he’s on the NHL roster or $140K in the AHL with a $150K guarantee, the team said. With Carolina having six defensemen on one-way deals plus top prospect Alexander Nikishin expected to be with the club out of the gate, Bayreuther will likely land on waivers in training camp and head to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, Carolina’s affiliate, if he clears.

In 122 career NHL games with Columbus and Dallas in parts of four seasons, Bayreuther has five goals and 28 points while averaging 15:14 per night with a -17 rating.

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