Bonus Laden Contracts Trending Upwards Before CBA Expiration
TSN’s Travis Yost analyzed the growing number of bonus-laden contracts in the NHL and directly correlated it to the upcoming expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA. There are several issues at hand once the CBA expires after the 2025-26 NHL season but many players are beginning to protect themselves with higher bonuses and lower salaries.
The protective nature of signing bonuses in a potential lockout is straightforward. Signing bonuses are due in the summer months leading up to the start of the season meaning a lockout wouldn’t prohibit a player from receiving it. Players’ salaries are typically frozen during a lockout which has been a misfortune used to strongarm the NHLPA during the 2004-05 and 2012-13 lockouts.
Yost shows in the article that the percentage of contracts containing signing bonuses has been climbing as approximately 80% of deals signed from January 2024 included signing bonuses for the 2026-27 NHL season. The players are putting themselves in a much better bargaining position once the current CBA ends as ownership groups won’t be able to hold their frozen salaries over their heads.
There are 38 players in the league with signing bonuses totaling $3MM or more for the 2026-27 season and another 22 players with $1MM or more. Rudimentary math works it out to around 8% of players carrying signing bonuses in their deals assuming that all 32 teams keep a 23-man roster for the 2026-27 season.
That number will surely expand over the next two summers as the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mikko Rantanen, and Artemi Panarin among others will see their current contracts conclude and will certainly be looking to protect themselves in case of a lockout. We are still about a year and a half away from action picking up on the new CBA between the NHL and NHLPA but the players are already taking the necessary steps to protect their financial security.
Canucks Hire Justin Pogge As AHL Goalie Coach
The Abbotsford Canucks will only have gone five days without a goaltending coach as the team has moved quickly to fill the void left by Marko Torenius‘ promotion to the Vancouver Canucks. Special assistant to the general manager with Vancouver and general manager of Abbotsford, Ryan Johnson, announced the team hired longtime veteran goaltender Justin Pogge as the organization’s next goaltending coach.
Pogge originally found his way to the American Hockey League in the 2006-07 season after a four-year career in the Western Hockey League split between the Prince George Cougars and Calgary Hitmen. He was drafted 90th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2004 NHL Draft before finishing his WHL tenure with a 79-49-12 record with a .919 save percentage. Pogge also helped Team Canada win the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championships on the heels of a .952 SV% and six wins which certainly elevated his prospect pedigree heading into his professional career.
His days as a decent goaltending prospect would summarily end there as Pogge only managed seven NHL appearances over the next six years before continuing his career overseas. He fared as a much better goaltender in the AHL albeit off a larger sample size. The Fort McMurray, Alberta native owned a record 120-94-24 record in the AHL and a career .902 SV% and 2.81 GAA with the Toronto, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Phoenix Coyotes organizations.
Pogge would bounce around Italy, Sweden, Russia, and Germany over the next several years before retiring as a member of the DEL’s Grizzlys Wolfsburg in 2022-23. The longtime netminder didn’t stay away from the game long after his retirement as he immediately began working as a goaltending consultant for the Columbus Blue Jackets in addition to Team Canada’s World Championship and Hlinka Gretzky Cup teams.
He will now have the opportunity to have quite the impact at the highest level of the Canucks’ minor league system as the return date of starting netminder Thatcher Demko remains up in the air. He will likely work closest with Nikita Tolopino this season as the only true goaltending prospect from Vancouver’s pipeline that has graduated to the AHL.
Andrew Poturalski Ready For Opportunity With Sharks
Forward Andrew Poturalski recently expressed his hunger to crack the roster of the San Jose Sharks in a recent interview with Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey. The longtime AHL veteran signed a two-year, two-way agreement with the Sharks organization this summer after spending the last two years as a part of the Seattle Kraken organization.
Poturalski, 30, is one of the best AHL players in recent memories to have not gotten a legitimate shot at the NHL level. Despite only managing two points in six career games from 2016-2023 the veteran forward still has the fire burning to make his dreams come true. The best opportunity of his career will likely come in San Jose as the team expects another rebuilding season despite graduating several top prospects to the league.
The Williamsville, NY had been a solid performer through the first six years of his career in the AHL as he put up 77 goals and 226 points through his first 299 regular season games split between the Charlotte Checkers and the San Diego Gulls. He excelled in the playoffs too highlighted by a 12-goal, 23-point performance for the Checkers in the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs en route to the organization winning their first Calder Cup in team history.
His AHL career took off in a big way during the 2021-22 season as he was led by now head coach of the San Jose Sharks, Ryan Warsofsky, with the Chicago Wolves. Poturalski won his second straight John B. Sollenberger Trophy that year on the heels of a 28-goal, 101-point effort in 71 games. He and the Wolves continued their success into the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs which saw him score eight goals and 23 points in 18 games and secure his second Calder Cup ring.
Warsofsky moved on to San Jose to become an assistant coach with the Sharks while Poturalski joined the Kraken to play for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHL primarily. He scored 26 goals and 93 points in 98 games with the Firebirds over his two-year tenure with another five goals and 22 points in 29 playoff contests. He could not add to his team trophy collection as Coachella Valley was eliminated in the Calder Cup Final back-to-back years at the hands of the Hershey Bears.
Poturalski has finally rejoined Warsofsky after a two-year hiatus away. His desire for consistent minutes at the NHL level still may be out of reach even on a rebuilding San Jose team. The Sharks are in a position to give meaningful minutes to high-end prospects in the team’s top-six this year pushing Poturalski to compete for a bottom-six role.
There still could be some openings on the Sharks roster out of training camp albeit in less-exciting roles. Barclay Goodrow and Luke Kunin are once again poised to average less than 15 minutes of ice time per night this season and Poturalski may have a legitimate chance to steal one of their spots on opening night if Warsofsky still has confidence in the soon-to-be 31-year-old forward. Poturalski won’t have any long-term value to San Jose but could put the team in a better position to win some nights in the upcoming season.
Summer Synopsis: Columbus Blue Jackets
It’s been a summer of change for the Columbus Blue Jackets as the team now has a new general manager for the first time in over a decade, with Don Waddell tasked to man the ship. It took longer than expected, but the team also has a new head coach, Dean Evason, as the team looks to turn the corner in their rebuild. The Blue Jackets have disappointed immensely since losing in the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as they’ve compiled a record of 107-155-40 in the meantime, which is good for a winning percentage of .354. As now one of the younger teams in the league, the Blue Jackets will be relying more on their younger players to take the next step and pull the organization back to contention.
Draft
1-4: C Cayden Lindstrom, Medicine Hat (WHL)
2-36: D Charlie Elick, Brandon (WHL)
2-60: G Evan Gardner, Saskatoon (WHL)
3-86: D Luca Marrelli, Oshawa (OHL)
4-101: D Tanner Henricks, Lincoln (USHL)
6-165: D Luke Ashton, Langley (BCHL)
It was going to be difficult for Columbus to miss out on a top prospect with the fourth overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and the team did not disappoint as they took the premier power forward available. Lindstrom combines size and speed and will be a valuable long-term option in Columbus’ top six. He recently wrapped up his sophomore campaign with Medicine Hat in a season that saw him score 27 goals and 46 points in 32 games. The only early concern with Lindstrom up to this point is a nagging back injury that limited him last season, but he still carries a development floor of being a second-line center.
Despite only having five picks in the remaining six rounds of the draft on day two, the Blue Jackets got a steal toward the top of the second round with Elick, who was predicted by many to be a late first-round talent. He’s already a legitimate shutdown defenseman in the WHL who can swiftly move the puck up the ice in certain scenarios. Despite being one of the more physical defenders in his age group, he is a menace with his stick in the lanes and has the acceleration to beat opposing forecheckers to the puck on defense.
Trade Acquisitions
D Jordan Harris (from Montreal)
Harris will take over responsibilities for Jake Bean on the Blue Jackets blue line, and he’s projected to suit up in a bottom-pairing role. Over the last two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, Harris played in 131 contests while scoring seven goals and 31 points. At 24 years old, he still holds some prospect pedigree but doesn’t project to log heavy minutes outside of five-on-five action.
If Columbus trades defenseman Ivan Provorov during this season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, Harris could slot into the second-pairing role with fellow youngster David Jiricek. The team could then test Harris on the second powerplay unit in hopes of a breakthrough but will likely opt for a more well-rounded option to fill that need.
UFA Signings
D Jack Johnson (one year, $775K)
F Dylan Gambrell (one year, $775K)*
C Sean Monahan (five years, $27.5MM)
G Zachary Sawchenko (one year, $775K)*
* denotes two-way contract
Columbus made a big splash on the opening day of free agency with a five-year deal to Monahan. He will be reunited with winger Johnny Gaudreau from their days with the Calgary Flames with the hopes of a resurgence from the latter. Since signing a seven-year, $68.25MM deal with the Blue Jackets in 2022, Gaudreau has failed to manage a point-per-game as he’s scored 33 goals and 134 points in 161 contests.
Monahan is coming off of a solid season split between the Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets as he achieved the highest point total of his career since the 2019-20 season. Not only was he a solid contributor offensively with 26 goals and 59 points in 83 games, but Monahan also performed much better in the faceoff dot than in seasons past, as he achieved a success rate of 54.9% last season compared to his 51.0% career average. Monahan should immediately step in as the team’s first-line center allowing Evason and the coaching staff to take some pressure off some of their younger options down the middle.
RFA Re-Signings
F Yegor Chinakhov (two years, $4.2MM)
D Jake Christiansen (one year, $775K)*
G Jet Greaves (two years, $1.625MM)
F Kent Johnson (three years, $5.4MM)
F Kirill Marchenko (three years, $11.5MM)
F Cole Sillinger (two years, $4.5MM)
* denotes two-way contract
Most of Columbus’ available cash went to their class of restricted free agents as the team committed heavily to some of their younger talent. Marchenko landed the largest deal of the group after nearly leading all Blue Jackets in goal-scoring in back-to-back campaigns. With Monahan centering his line, Marchenko could hit the 30-goal plateau as soon as this upcoming season.
Johnson, Sillinger, and Chinakhov all carry similar pedigrees as prospects, with the latter having the most impressive season last year with 13 goals and 29 points in 53 games. It’s imperative that all three improve on the defensive side of the puck to have longevity at the NHL level and Evason’s coaching style should help in that department. None of their contracts were signed this summer, which hamper any near or future spending for the Blue Jackets, and they will give both player and team a pathway towards a better deal in the future.
One of the sneakier contracts dolled out by Columbus this summer is the two-year, $1.625MM agreement with Greaves, who is playing his way toward regular backup minutes at the NHL level. The young netminder impressed greatly at the AHL level last season with a 30-12-4 record in 46 games with a .910 SV% and 2.93 GAA. Greaves carried his strong play into the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, where he helped push the eventual champion Hershey Bears to game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals on the backs of a .926% throughout the postseason.
Departures
D Jake Bean (Calgary, two years, $3.5MM)
D Nick Blankenburg (Nashville, two years, $1.55MM)*
D Adam Boqvist (Florida, one year, $775K)*
F Joshua Dunne (Buffalo, two years, $1.55MM)*
F Brendan Gaunce (Minnesota, two years, $1.55MM)*
F Patrik Laine (traded to Montreal)
F Carson Meyer (Anaheim, one year, $775K)*
F Alexander Nylander (signed with Toronto, AHL)
D Billy Sweezey (Boston, one years, $775K)*
F Alexandre Texier (traded to St. Louis)
* denotes two-way contract
Columbus was not positioned to lose a lot of talent this summer, with the most significant loss coming from purposeful moves. The team chose not to tender contracts to defensemen Boqvist or Bean, which allowed them to find greener pastures elsewhere and thin out their defensive core. Boqvist and Bean both had disappointing campaigns last year which prohibited them from having any future use to the Blue Jackets. The team can now give consistent minutes to top-prospect Jiricek after shuffling him back and forth from the AHL for much of last year.
The major loss comes up front with the team moving on from Laine and a second-round pick in 2026 in exchange for Harris. Laine was limited dramatically last season due to injuries and a lengthy stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, which caused him to only suit up in 18 games. However, the former second-overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft is only two years removed from being one of the better forwards on the roster, as he scored 48 goals and 108 points in 111 games between 2021 and 2023. No matter how much they would’ve liked to keep Laine after exiting the Player Assistance Program a few weeks ago, the Finnish sniper and his agent had already agreed with Columbus earlier in the summer that moving out of the organization was necessary to correct his career.
Salary Cap Outlook
By allowing the Canadiens to take on the full $8.7MM owed to Laine in each of the next two years, the Blue Jackets have one of the cleaner salary cap tables of any organization. The team is headed into the 2024-25 NHL season with $15.95MM available in cap space, according to PuckPedia. With the team unlikely to contend in a top-heavy Metropolitan Division this year, Waddell and the Blue Jackets could weaponize their cap space by taking on a bad contract or two or could become a third-team broker closer to the trade deadline. No matter the route they take, the salary cap won’t be an issue for Columbus heading into next season.
Key Questions
Who Will Be Left On The Roster At The End Of Next Year? The biggest trade chip for Columbus heading into next year is Provorov, who may be one of the better options available at next year’s deadline. The left-handed Russian is entering the final year of a six-year, $40.5MM contract originally signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and could reasonably take on top-four minutes with almost any team in the league. The Blue Jackets will also have the bonus of being able to retain 50% of Provorov’s salary, but it may not net them much more in return as it is becoming more and more common each season. A dark horse trade candidate would be captain Boone Jenner, given his solid play on both sides of the puck and his relatively low $3.75MM salary for the next two years. Depending on how the trade market develops over the regular season, Jenner could net Columbus a decent haul of draft capital and another roster opening for their prospects.
Which Player Will Take The Next Step? The Blue Jackets have not had a player score more than 80 points since Artemi Panarin scored 87 during the 2018-19 campaign. Gaudreau has not been that player up to this point, albeit getting close during the 2022-23 season. The team desperately needs a star player to take over and their best hope of that happening comes in the form of Adam Fantilli. The University of Michigan alum was the third overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft and wrapped up his rookie campaign with 12 goals and 27 points in 49 games. Although he was hampered by a calf laceration last year, Fantilli is still an elite-level prospect and could score 50 points as soon as next season. Not typically viewed as a top free-agent destination — the Blue Jackets will need to develop one of their younger prospects into the player they desperately need.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Poll: Which Trade Was The Most Impactful Since The Start Of Free Agency?
Heading into the offseason, the NHL trade market was expected to be full of activity. However, as things played out, the trade market took much longer to develop than anticipated, with many of the major trades taking place within the last few weeks. With most of the notable players on the trade market now having changed hands shortly before the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, we’ll look back at some of the bigger trades since the start of free agency.
The biggest trade from the start of free agency happened in the middle of the frenzy, with the Washington Capitals acquiring defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Nick Jensen and a third-round pick in 2026. Chychrun is coming off of one of the better statistical performances throughout his career on a middling Senators’ defense, with 13 goals and 41 points in 82 games. He finished the year with a -30 rating, but that had largely to do with his deployment with Ottawa, as Hockey Reference pegged his expected rating at +0.4 over the year. He will no longer be responsible for leading a defensive core with John Carlson holding that crown, but he should still receive big minutes in Washington.
Fast forward to mid-August, when the Montreal Canadiens acquired one of the better forwards available on the trade market. The Canadiens acquired Patrik Laine and a second-round pick in 2026 from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris. Laine carries a bloated salary of $8.7MM for the next two years and is coming off a disappointing due to injuries and a stint with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, limiting him to only 18 games with Columbus. However, he is only two years removed from being a point-per-game player with the Blue Jackets, as he scored 48 goals and 108 points in 111 games. Montreal recently finished 26th in the league in goals per game, as they arguably only had one line for opposing defenses to worry about. With Laine now in the fold, if he can rebound with his new team, the Canadiens will be able to spread the wealth and give more for opponents to worry about.
The last two sizeable trades from the offseason are centered around prospects, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets getting together on a swap of prospects Rutger McGroarty and Brayden Yager, and the San Jose Sharks acquired their goalie of the future in Yaroslav Askarov from the Nashville Predators.
McGroarty gives the Penguins a young, cost-effective, and hard-nosed NHL-caliber winger to place next to Sidney Crosby for the foreseeable future while the Jets acquired a right-handed centerman further down the road that should challenge for the second-line role longer-term. Similarly, Askarov represents one of the brighter goalie prospects in recent years after dominating the American Hockey League over the last two years. The Sharks rounded out an already solid prospect pool with Askarov and did not need to part with any of their top prospects in return.
There were several smaller trades throughout the summer that could be more impactful than the above-mentioned group. Now that the offseason is only a few weeks away from officially being in the rearview mirror — which trade from the summer do you think will be the most impactful moving forward?
For mobile users, click here to vote.
Kings Re-Sign Erik Portillo To Three-Year Deal
10:59 AM: PuckPedia reported the financial aspects of the three-year agreement between Portillo and the Kings organization. The team will pay their top goaltending prospect a salary of $775K in year one, with a minimum salary of $115K and a guaranteed salary of $175K for the two-way portion. He will once again earn $775K in year two as it transitions to a one-way pact before ultimately receiving $800K in the final year of the contract. Shortly thereafter, the signing was made official by a public announcement from the Kings.
10:00 AM: The Los Angeles Kings are expected to re-sign goaltending prospect Erik Portillo to a three-year deal today, as reported by John Hoven at Mayor’s Manor. Similar to other new contracts for restricted free-agent goaltenders this offseason, the first year of the deal is expected to be a two-way agreement before transitioning to a one-way deal in the second and third years of the contract.
After a dominant season with Frölunda HC J20 of the J20 SuperElit in Sweden, Portillo was drafted 67th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft. Portillo spent one year in the USHL with the Dubuque Fighting Saints before committing to the University of Michigan beginning in the 2020-21 NCAA season. The 2021-22 season was Portillo’s coming out party on the heels of high expectations for him and the Wolverines program.
He finished the season with a 31-10-1 record in 42 contests, a .926 save percentage, and a 2.14 goals-against average. By the end of the season, the Wolverines were the second-ranked team in the nation, headed into the Frozen Four tournament after sweeping the Big Ten tournament and Portillo being crowned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. The team was one of the favorites heading into the postseason but was eliminated by the eventual champions, the Pioneers from the University of Denver, in the semifinals.
Instead of signing with the Sabres after his sophomore campaign, Portillo returned to Ann Arbor for his junior year. His numbers dipped slightly from the prior year, but Portillo still finished with 25 wins by the end of the season. By this time, Buffalo’s net was becoming more crowded with the signing of Devon Levi and the promotion of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. This led to Portillo announcing he would not sign with the Sabres and instead become a collegiate free agent when he could.
The Sabres appeased Portillo at the 2023 trade deadline by dealing his signing rights to Los Angeles in exchange for a third-round pick in 2023. A little over a month later, Portillo signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Kings organization, officially ending his tenure at the University of Michigan.
Last season became the first for Portillo in professional hockey as he spent the entire campaign with the Kings AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. The young netminder elevated his status as a prospect with a 24-11-3 record in 39 games with a .918 SV% and 2.50 GAA. In the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, Portillo backstopped the Reign to a Western Conference Division Finals finish for the first time in team history on the backs of a .916 SV% in eight games.
With Portillo’s contract becoming a one-way agreement after the 2024-25 NHL season, it is a commitment by Los Angeles that he can serve as the team’s backup once David Rittich‘s one-year agreement runs its course. Portillo’s new contract will conclude simultaneously with the remaining years of Darcy Kuemper‘s contract meaning the Kings could then keep Portillo around long-term if he proves successful at the NHL level.
Edmonton Oilers Directly Linked To Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Schultz
The Edmonton Oilers are still dealing with the ramifications on their blue line of denying to match a two-year, $9.16MM offer sheet given to defenseman Philip Broberg by the St. Louis Blues. Having already been linked to Tyson Barrie for a professional tryout agreement, Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff reports the team has additional interest in Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Schultz.
The two main links between all three defensemen are their right-handedness and ability to move the puck. Given that Broberg is a left-handed shot with limited experience at the NHL level, it stands to reason this is a desire from the Oilers that predates the loss of Broberg and is not made in an attempt to replace him. Behind Evan Bouchard, the only internal options for Edmonton on the ride side of defense would be Josh Brown, Ty Emberson, or Troy Stecher. Given that none of the three can be relied upon to shoulder top four minutes, it makes sense that the Oilers continue to peruse the market.
Shattenkirk is recently coming off a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins in a season where he was limited to only 15:47 minutes of ice time on average. He still produced respectably, however, as he accrued a number of those minutes on the powerplay. In 61 games for Boston Shattenkirk put up six goals and 24 points which made for a better point-per-game average than two out of his three previous years with the Anaheim Ducks.
Schultz has been nearly identical to Shattenkirk over the last four years between the Washington Capitals and Seattle Kraken organization with 21 goals and 110 points in 263 games compared to Shattenkirk’s 20 goals and 101 points in 273 contests. Depending on what the Oilers are looking for exactly, Schultz has averaged a 6.2% shooting percentage throughout his career (with two years of 7% with the Kraken) compared to only 5.5% from Shattenkirk. If Schultz were to carry the same success rate from his shot totals on last year’s team in Edmonton, he would have finished second amongst defensemen.
The Oilers have a few different options to sort through and all three of the defensemen they have reportedly shown interest in could do a lot worse than sign on with the defending Western Conference champions. Edmonton now has enough cap flexibility to pluck any of the trio from the free-agent market with the ability to make further upgrades at next year’s trade deadline.
Max Pacioretty Expected To Sign Soon
One of the better free agent options left on the board should find a new home in the coming days as Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports forward Max Pacioretty has at least three offers from teams and should decide on his new home soon. Seravalli did not indicate whether Pacioretty was deciding between offers for a one-way contract or a professional tryout agreement with any of the speculated teams.
Pacioretty’s days as a lethal goal scorer are in the rearview mirror as a pair of Achilles tears briefly put his career on the brink. The veteran scorer’s last truly effective season came in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season in which he scored 24 goals and 51 points in 48 games for the Vegas Golden Knights. Pacioretty was once again a point-per-game player the following year with 19 goals and 37 points but only managed 39 games due to fractures in his foot and wrist.
That summer, Pacioretty suffered his first Achilles tear which had him poised to start the season on LTIR for the Golden Knights. With a need for salary cap relief during the offseason, Vegas traded Pacioretty and defenseman Dylan Coghlan to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for future considerations. The Hurricanes were hoping for a quality season from Pacioretty once he recovered from his Achilles tear.
In one of the more heartbreaking events of the 2022-23 NHL season, Pacioretty would only suit up in five games for Carolina before suffering another Achilles tear on January 19th in a game against the Minnesota Wild which ended his season. With the future of his career up in the air, Pacioretty committed to returning to the NHL and landed a bonus-laden contract with the Washington Capitals on the first day of free agency last year.
Pacioretty debuted with the Capitals in early January and managed 47 games for the organization to finish the season. He was relatively productive, scoring four goals and 23 points, as he received limited responsibility in Washington averaging the least amount of ice time over a season since his sophomore year with the Montreal Canadiens in 2009-10.
Depending on where he lands, Pacioretty should be a serviceable offensive option to plug into any team’s middle-six. The 2011-12 Bill Masterton Trophy recipient is still in pursuit of his first Stanley Cup ring over his 16-year career and may be content with a lesser-valued role to achieve that goal.
San Jose Sharks Acquire, Extend Yaroslav Askarov
The Nashville Predators’ number one goaltending prospect seems to have gotten his wish for a move outside of the Predators organization as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the San Jose Sharks are close to acquiring Yaroslav Askarov. According to a press release from Nashville, the Sharks will acquire Askarov, forward Nolan Burke, and Colorado’s third-round pick of the 2025 NHL Draft while sending away forward David Edstrom, goalie Magnus Chrona, and Vegas’ first-round pick in 2025.
It’s a major get for a rebuilding Sharks organization that was missing a true impact talent between the pipes. Over the past few years, San Jose has built up a nice young core of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Sam Dickinson, Filip Bystedt, and Shakir Mukhamadullin but has since failed to procure a long-term goaltender. With Askarov now in the fold, the Sharks have a 22-year-old goalie who has done nothing but dominate in the American Hockey League over the last two years.
With his entry-level contract set to expire at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, the Sharks moved quickly on an extension for Askarov with his agent Dan Milstein announcing a two-year deal for the young goaltender. Shortly thereafter PuckPedia relayed that Askarov will earn a $1.7MM salary with a $200K signing bonus in 2025-26 and a $2.1MM salary in 2026-27 with an AAV of $2M.
Askarov’s rise to stardom didn’t happen overnight. He was ranked as the highest available European goaltender in the 2020 NHL Draft leading to him being the first one taken off the board with the 11th overall pick by the Predators. In his draft year, Askarov suited up in 18 games for the VHL’s SKA-Neva St. Petersburg where he produced a 12-3-3 record along with a .920 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average.
The young Russian netminder spent a few more years playing in Russia’s junior league before signing his entry-level contract with Nashville in 2022 and joining the organization for the 2022-23 season. In his rookie season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, Askarov put up a 26-16-5 record in 48 contests coupled with a .911 SV% and 2.69 GAA which immediately put him on the map as a legitimate high-end goaltending prospect.
Askarov gave the Predators a decision to make. Over nearly the last two decades, Nashville has had the privilege of high-end goaltending with the organization seamlessly transferring from Pekka Rinne to Juuse Saros. The Predators quickly began receiving trade calls for both Askarov and Saros before signing Saros to an eight-year extension earlier this summer.
Despite the trade chatter, Askarov dominated in the AHL once again this past season with a 30-13-1 record in 44 games with a duplicated save percentage. Despite another year of solid play between the pipes, the Predators signed goalie Scott Wedgewood to serve as Saros’ backup next year, leading to Askarov requesting a trade from the organization.
He may not get the starting minutes right away with the Sharks as the team already deploys Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek as their current options. Given the current competitive status of the team, however, Askarov will have every opportunity to earn the starting minutes down the stretch and could even be the Sharks undisputed starter by season’s end.
Heading back to Nashville is a nearly identical package that the Sharks received for forward Tomas Hertl at this past year’s trade deadline. Edstrom was originally drafted with the 32nd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights and has been working his way through the SHL with Frölunda HC on loan. The young two-way center brings solid awareness to both sides of the puck and should be a decent middle-six option for the Predators down the road.
Chrona will likely be deployed as a serviceable third-string goaltender for Nashville with a majority of his starts coming with the team’s AHL affiliate in Milwaukee. The University of Denver alum helped the Pioneers to their ninth National Championship in program history during the 2022 Frozen Four tournament. He finished his senior year with a 22-9-0 record in 31 games. Chrona signed with the Sharks as a collegiate free agent and made his debut with the team last year toward the end of the season where he collected one win in nine games on the heels of a .859 SV%.
The first-round pick, also acquired by San Jose in the Hertl trade, will be top-10 protected according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. If the draft choice were to fall in the top 10 of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Sharks would have the option of sending their pick or Vegas’ to Nashville.
Although Edstrom has decent upside as a forward prospect, he may not necessarily have the prospect pedigree that Nashville was originally looking for in exchange for Askarov to start the summer. However, the team still got much better in free agency with the acquisitions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei and now have three first-round picks for the 2025 NHL Draft.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Samuel Blais To PTO
Forward Sammy Blais will look to play for the third NHL team of his career as the Vancouver Canucks announced he has signed a contract with their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, as well as a professional tryout agreement with Vancouver. The one-time Stanley Cup champion bottom-six forward will have a chance to crack the Canucks’ opening night roster in training camp or land a two-way deal to start the regular season.
The physical forward recently wrapped up his second stint with the St. Louis Blues after being re-acquired from the New York Rangers in a 2023 trade that sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the Big Apple. The Rangers acquired Blais for another Russian forward in the 2021 trade that landed Pavel Buchnevich with the Blues.
Blais cracked the Blues’ roster four years after being drafted by the team in the sixth round of the 2014 NHL Draft and he immediately became a force to be reckoned with in the team’s bottom six. He quickly became one of the more physical players on the team by collecting 366 hits in 119 games during his first run in St. Louis. Aside from scoring 17 goals and 35 points in total, Blais helped the Blues secure their first Stanley Cup championship during the 2019 playoffs by collecting one goal and three points in 15 postseason contests.
He never got much opportunity with the Rangers organization as injuries limited him to only 14 regular season contests. New York re-signed Blais to a one-year, $1.53MM deal for the 2022-23 NHL season but only gave him 9:38 of ice time during the regular season which made him expendable at the trade deadline. Heading back to St. Louis, Blais experienced his best stretch of hockey at the NHL level as he scored nine goals and 20 points in 31 games to end the season.
His play at the end of the 2022-23 campaign earned him a one-year, $1MM extension with the Blues organization but he was unable to score at the same rate. He finished last year with one goal and seven points in 53 games and will now look to force his way into a crowded Canucks forward core.