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.
Penguins, Jets Swap Rutger McGroarty And Brayden Yager
1:45 PM: The Winnipeg Jets have confirmed the one-for-one swap.
11:00 AM: The Pittsburgh Penguins may have found their solution to who will play on a line with Sidney Crosby. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting the organization is close to acquiring forward prospect Rutger McGroarty from the Winnipeg Jets. A few moments later, Friedman additionally reported the Penguins would be sending prospect Brayden Yager back to Winnipeg.
McGroarty immediately becomes the best forward prospect in the Penguins organization with Yager’s exit and has a legitimate opportunity to crack the roster next season. Although nothing was purposefully made public, McGroarty reportedly sought a trade out of Winnipeg in late June for a more readily available opportunity at the NHL level.
Shortly after being acquired by the organization, the Penguins signed McGroarty to his entry-level contract meaning his time at the University of Michigan has concluded. The three-year deal will pay McGroarty a salary of $855K at the NHL level with a signing bonus of $50K and performance ‘A’ bonuses up to $500K each year of the deal.
It’s difficult to argue with McGroarty on being NHL-ready as he recently finished ninth in NCAA scoring during the 2023-24 season with 16 goals and 52 points in 36 games. He was also sensational during the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships for Team USA as he scored five goals and nine points in seven tournament contests while captaining his team to a gold medal finish for the first time since 2021.
If the Penguins graduate McGroarty to the NHL for the 2024-25 campaign, he fills an obvious need on Crosby’s wing. Playing primarily against Big Ten opponents during his time in the NCAA, McGroarty developed an innate skill to read opposing defenses and show off his elite playmaking abilities in the offensive zone. He’s not satisfied without the puck either, as he is a relentless forechecker with a combination of skill and physical play.
His forechecking abilities make him an ideal candidate to put on a line with Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, as both players thrive with the puck on their sticks. McGroarty’s style of play should open up plenty of space for the two Pittsburgh legends but he also has a good enough shot to finish the play himself.
Yager was selected exactly one year after McGroarty with the 14th overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft. He spent last season with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors collecting 35 goals and 95 points in 57 games as the team’s assistant captain. He further cemented his legacy with the Moose Jaw program with an incredible playoff performance with 11 goals and 27 points in 20 games en route to becoming champions of the WHL.
Yager also had the opportunity to represent Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships and scored five points in five games for the Canadians but unfortunately failed to medal. It appeared as if Yager may have an outside chance of making Pittsburgh’s roster for the 2024-25 campaign with the team signing him to his entry-level contract only a month ago. Now, Yager will attempt to crack Winnipeg’s roster in training camp.
The young Saskatoon native has inherent value as a right-handed shot center who also brings more defensive awareness to his game in comparison to McGroarty. If the organization is not content with giving Cole Perfetti minutes down the middle of the ice on the team’s second line, Yager provides a confident long-term answer at center behind Mark Scheifele.
AHL Notes: Burke, Mara, Jackson, Giroux
The AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, the Hartford Wolf Pack, rounded out their coaching staff today as they announced the hire of Brendan Burke as the team’s goaltending coach and Paul Mara as one of the team’s assistant coaches. Burke is replacing Jeff Malcolm as the team’s full-time goaltending coach who was promoted to the Rangers’ goaltending coach yesterday.
It will be Burke’s first professional opportunity to coach after spending the last two years with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. In Portland, Burke would teach goaltenders Jan Spunar and Dante Giannuzzi during his two-year tenure with Spunar collecting a .908 SV% and .913% each year, respectively. Hartford will have several young options to compete for the backup role with Louis Domingue set to take on the starting minutes next season.
The Wolf Pack also decided to remove the interim tag from Mara after being brought to the organization in early December last year. Mara has already collected significant hardware as a coach as he previously served as the head coach of the Boston Pride in the NWHL and PHF. He coached the Pride to back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022 while also collecting a gold medal as an assistant coach with Team USA’s Women’s team during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Other AHL notes:
- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have brought in an ECHL standout from last season as they announced an AHL contract for forward Kyle Jackson earlier today. After wrapping up his OHL career with the North Bay Battalion in 2022-23, Jackson spent all last year with the Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL which saw him collect 14 goals and 44 points in 53 games. Jackson’s final two years in the OHL were extremely productive as he scored 61 goals and 145 points in 112 games leading to him being selected by the Seattle Kraken in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Draft although he would not sign.
- The two-time defending Western Conference champion, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, have also entered the free agent market as the team has signed forward Damien Giroux to an AHL contract for the 2024-25 season. Giroux served in three seasons with the Iowa Wild as a playmaking option on the team’s bottom six before making his NHL debut with the Minnesota Wild on April 13, 2023. The young forward spent last year split between the AHL and ECHL with the Buffalo Sabres organization and will likely serve in a similar capacity with the Firebirds.
Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Nikolai Knyzhov To PTO
The Pittsburgh Penguins are allowing a former prospect of the San Jose Sharks to crack the roster as the team announced they have agreed to a professional tryout agreement with defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov. The news comes nearly two months after the Sharks placed Knyzhov on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract.
After a strong season in the Russian VHL with SKA-Neva St. Petersburg in 2018-19, the Sharks poached Knyzhov out of his home country as an undrafted free agent. Knyzhov transitioned nicely to North American hockey in the AHL the following season on the San Jose Barracuda scoring one goal and five points in 33 games while collecting a +4 rating and making his NHL debut. With the 2019-20 season marking the beginning of the downfall in San Jose, Knyzhov had the opportunity to become a full-time NHLer the following season.
He suited up in all 56 games for the Sharks in the COVID-shortened campaign. Knyzhov was not given a significant amount of responsibility out of the gate as he averaged 16:45 of ice time per game which allowed him to put up two goals and 10 points. He wasn’t a liability on the back end either as he earned a 48.5% CorsiFor% and a 90.6% on-ice save percentage which were good for fourth and third on the team, respectively.
Knyzhov’s strong rookie showcase was overshadowed by a groin injury that would keep him out of the 2021-22 season and a subsequent Achilles injury shelved his 2022-23 season until January. Although the Sharks committed to Knyzhov on the heels of a two-year, $2.5MM extension that season, he was never fully able to recover his value in the organization leading to a termination of his contract earlier this offseason.
The Russian defenseman has opted to continue his career in the NHL — this time on the other side of the United States. The Penguins’ top four is relatively set heading into the 2024-25 season (assuming no injuries), allowing Knyzhov to compete for a bottom-pairing or depth defenseman role. In training camp, Knyzhov will be battling it out with defenseman Ryan Shea and Sebastian Aho for one of these roles with one of the trio inevitably being sent down to start the year.
Oilers Considering Tyson Barrie On PTO
The Edmonton Oilers are looking for a puck-moving right-handed shot defenseman as they reimagine their defensive core after declining to match Philip Broberg‘s offer sheet from the St. Louis Blues a few days ago. TSN’s Dustin Neilson reports the team has considered inking Tyson Barrie to a professional tryout agreement to help fill the void on the back end.
As discussed in a previous article, the Oilers’ defensive core left a lot to be desired even before the departure of Broberg with Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm representing the only true top-four options on the blue line. Barrie is only two years removed from scoring 10 goals and 43 points in 61 games for the Oilers on the blue line and could bridge the gap between the top-pairing and Edmonton’s less desirable options.
It will be interesting to see if Barrie can bounce back after a disappointing season with the Nashville Predators during his age-33 season. Originally acquired from the Oilers in the trade package that brought Ekholm to Alberta, Barrie finished last season with one goal and 15 points in 41 games. The relationship fractured between Barrie and the Predators early last season with the team making him a healthy scratch in early December and permitting him to speak to other teams about a potential opportunity.
Assuming that Edmonton eventually signs Barrie to a PTO and he makes the team out of training camp, he would give the Oilers more flexibility on their back end. The team could then put Barrie next to Brett Kulak on the second defensive pairing and move Darnell Nurse to a more comfortable role on the bottom pairing. Barrie is not necessarily a defensive liability but he saw his E +/- dip to nearly -13 in only 65 games with the Predators.
Barrie is not the only option that could interest Edmonton as Justin Schultz and Kevin Shattenkirk still sit without homes for the 2024-25 NHL season. The former has experience with the Oilers organization from earlier in his career, but certainly not as recent as Barrie. Unless Edmonton is confident that their current group can hold down the fort in the Pacific Division until next year’s trade deadline, all signs indicate one of these players will join the Oilers for the upcoming season.
Poll: Which Team Will Trade For Yaroslav Askarov?
The top goaltending prospect of the Nashville Predators, Yaroslav Askarov, made waves around the NHL a few days ago as he publicly requested a trade out of the Predators’ organization. Askarov and his agent assert that if he is not moved by the end of training camp and is sent down to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, he will not report.
Askarov has seen his name come up in trade chatter a few times over the last two summers, primarily at the NHL draft, with the Predators attempting to acquire a top-five selection. No general manager was willing to meet the asking price of general manager Barry Trotz, so Askarov stayed with the organization at the AHL level, where he put up monster performances. Now that Nashville has committed to Juuse Saros on the heels of an eight-year, $61.92MM extension and also signed Scott Wedgewood to serve as the team’s backup for the 2024-25 campaign, Askarov is looking for an opportunity elsewhere.
The most immediate team that comes to mind is the San Jose Sharks, who are rebuilding their organization from the ground up but have very little in the way of goaltending prospects. By acquiring Askarov from the Predators, San Jose could cut bait with Mackenzie Blackwood or Vitek Vanecek at any point during the regular season, assuming Askarov develops into a starting goaltender. A little over a week ago the assistant general manager of the Sharks, Joe Will, detailed that San Jose is still looking for a third-string goaltender on the younger side.
Another team in a similar position to the Sharks lies 2,000 miles inland in Chicago. The Blackhawks are only a year removed from selecting with the first overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft and are also looking to bring their organization back to contention. As much as Chicago would want to complete their prospect pool with Askarov, the Predators won’t be quick to help out a divisional rival. The Blackhawks would likely have to pay a higher premium than most teams if they hoped to acquire Askarov and may look for their goaltender of the future down the road.
Unlike San Jose and Chicago, one surprise candidate for Askarov may come from Sin City. The Vegas Golden Knights have always had a fair for the dramatics and with both of their netminders headed for unrestricted free agency next offseason, the Golden Knights may look for a cheaper option. As one of the more cap-strapped teams in the NHL, the aggressive addition of Askarov would give the Golden Knights a cost-controlled netminder for the next several years, with the team able to invest in other areas of the roster. Unfortunately, without a first-round pick until the 2027 NHL Draft, Vegas may not have the resources to acquire the young netminder.
Although Askarov publicly requested a trade out of Nashville, the team is in no rush to trade him. Since the Predators could theoretically hold onto him for the next several years, the public nature of the trade request should not hamper his trade value on the market. There will be several teams looking to poach Askarov from the Predators, but if recent history has taught us anything, Trotz will get his money’s worth in any trade.
Which Team Will Trade For Yaroslav Askarov?
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Other (comment below) 46% (759)
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San Jose Sharks 24% (403)
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Chicago Blackhawks 20% (330)
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Vegas Golden Knights 10% (164)
Total votes: 1,656
Igor Shesterkin, Rangers In Extension Talks
The 2024-25 goalie free-agent class may take a major hit in the coming weeks as the New York Rangers continue engaging Igor Shesterkin in extension negotiations. Shesterkin was recently asked about the prospect of a new deal with the Rangers in an interview with RG.org where he said, “My agent, Maxim Moliver, is talking to the general manager. I can’t say anything else. For me, the most important thing now is preparing for the season and being 100% ready mentally and physically. An exciting season is ahead, and the agent will discuss the contract“.
Shesterkin is letting his agent do most of the heavy lifting like many players of his caliber. The 28-year-old Russian netminder is coming off a tremendous five years in New York with a 135-59-17 record in 208 starts with a .921 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average. Shesterkin is seeing his four-year, $22.67MM contract expire after the 2024-25 NHL season where he would become the best free-agent goaltender in some time.
According to HockeyReference, Shesterkin holds similar similarity scores to goaltending greats such as Roberto Luongo, Connor Hellebuyck, and Sergei Bobrovsky through the first five years of their career. All three netminders landed handsome contracts throughout their career and Shesterkin is set to match or exceed their salary markers on his next contract.
The Moscow native will surely be looking for north of $8.5MM season given that Helleybuyck landed an $8.5MM AAV over seven years last summer with the Winnipeg Jets. A few months ago, Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic speculated that Shesterkin could seek as high as $12MM a year to set a new yearly average for goaltenders. The Rangers could theoretically shell out that asking price but have several other contracts to work through next summer, as well.
Realistically, Shesterkin should land anywhere between $9MM-$11MM annually with Evolving-Hockey predicting a $9.455MM salary on an eight-year deal. With Shesterkin’s agent handling most of if not all the extension negotiations, these talks could drag on well into the 2024-25 NHL season. Nevertheless, the Vezina-trophy-winning goaltender has confidence it will get done before he can hit the open market next offseason.
Oilers Pathway Toward Cap Compliancy
If their cap struggles weren’t already bad enough this summer, the Edmonton Oilers were struck a significant blow last week when the St. Louis Blues signed defenseman Philip Broberg to a two-year, $9.16MM offer sheet and forward Dylan Holloway to a two-year, $4.58MM offer sheet. Oilers’ general manager Stan Bowman has until tomorrow to match both or either respective offer but could allow both to walk and receive draft compensation in return.
PuckPedia gave a solid breakdown of how Edmonton could find its way back to salary cap compliance after the separate trades that brought Vasily Podkolzin to Alberta and sent Cody Ceci to the San Jose Sharks. The salary cap website asserts that if the Oilers place Evander Kane on long-term injured reserve to start the year, send down Troy Stecher and Derek Ryan, and call up prospect Matt Savoie to the NHL, they will be compliant to start the 2024-25 NHL season if they choose to match both offer sheets.
All things considered — this is a decent scenario for Edmonton. Savoie gives the team a low-cost option to plug into the top six and allows the team some flexibility with newcomers Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson on the wing. By moving either Skinner or Arvidsson down to the third line, Holloway could play the wing on the team’s fourth line while moving Mattias Janmark to fourth-line center in this scenario.
The team would still have seven available defensemen to choose from to start the year and Stecher likely would have been light on playing time regardless. Josh Brown and Ty Emberson could split time based on matchups leaving Edmonton’s only glaring hole at the fourth-line center position.
Edmonton is not necessarily out of the woods just yet as it’s uncertain when Kane will ultimately return from his offseason surgery. It’s expected he will be placed on LTIR to begin the season which will keep him out of the lineup for the first 10 games and 24 days of the 2024-25 NHL season. Once the season begins, however, the Oilers will again be in a situation where tough decisions must be made. The Oilers could still allow both players to walk giving them just over $6MM to start the year after placing Kane on LTIR.
It will be interesting to see how aggressive GM Bowman is in bringing back two pieces that haven’t had much opportunity with the organization up to this point. All in all, even with clearing Ceci’s salary and having a clear pathway toward cap compliance to start the year — it will take some time for Edmonton to exit this precarious scenario.
New Jersey, Dawson Mercer Working Toward Extension
The New Jersey Devils kick-started a busy offseason by acquiring goaltender Jacob Markstrom earlier in the summer from the Calgary Flames. Once free agency opened on July 1st, the team brought Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Stefan Noesen, and Tomas Tatar around an already talented roster. The Devils only have one item left on their plate before training camp opens up in September — the looming extension for forward Dawson Mercer.
In an interview yesterday with RG.org, the general manager of the Devils, Tom Fitzgerald said, “We are working towards an agreement after exchanging proposals“. This quote is a good indication that the two sides will get a deal done before training camp starts as it confirms the two sides are far enough down the line where they have exchanged offers. Although the Devils may have gotten an offer sheet scare last week with the deals made between Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, and the St. Louis Blues, the relationship between New Jersey and Mercer may nix any idea of that happening.
Given the Devils’ current salary cap situation, the deal will likely be on the shorter term. New Jersey currently has just under $5MM in salary cap space according to PuckPedia. Unless Mercer is willing to take a sizeable discount to stay with the Devils organization, a long-term deal appears out of the question.
Fitzgerald may take a similar approach to Mercer’s teammate Jesper Bratt, who signed a pair of short-term deals before agreeing to an eight-year contract extension last summer. Mercer has scored 64 goals and 131 points in 246 regular season contests during his entry-level contract which makes for a similar point-per-game percentage as Bratt during his entry-level contract. Once Bratt’s first contract ended after the 2019-20 season, he and the Devils agreed to a two-year, $5.5MM deal.
If New Jersey hopes to sign Mercer to a similar contract, it will likely land in the $6MM range over a two-year deal. The salary cap has increased by $6.5MM since Bratt signed his deal and Mercer should look for a similar percentage of the available cap space. A $3MM AAV would give the Devils just under $2MM of cap space to work with during the regular season giving them plenty of flexibility to make in-season additions.
Mercer is a valuable asset to New Jersey as he slots in well on the team’s second line and second powerplay unit. He has also not missed a game since his rookie campaign in the 2021-22 season which is a bonus to a Devils’ team that has struggled with injuries in recent years.
Poll: Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Option Next Summer?
As things currently stand, the 2025 free agent class is set to be headlined by Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche, and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like most years and particularly at the top of the free agent market, all three players are expected to reach extensions with their current clubs in the coming weeks with other potential candidates taking the same approach.
However, even outside of the three-headed monster at the forward position, there will still be quality names available next summer. Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs has seen his name pop up numerous times in trade rumors this summer without anything coming to fruition. The Maple Leafs are expecting head coach Craig Berube to get the most out of Marner (particularly in the playoffs) and may look to extend him during next year’s campaign.
Toronto could also give in to the pressure and allow Marner to walk next offseason especially if the team fails to make waves in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Marner would quickly become one of the premier playmakers to have entered the open market and would certainly get a lucrative offer. Being nearly unstoppable during the regular season over the last six years, Marner has accrued 417 games for the Maple Leafs in that span while scoring 356 assists and 509 points. He is not limited to his offensive prowess either as Marner has earned Selke Trophy votes as the league’s best defensive forward every year since 2018-19.
Dissimilar to Marner, it is almost entirely out of the question that Nikolaj Ehlers will sign an extension with the Winnipeg Jets. Ehlers has been a part of the Jets organization since being drafted by the club with the ninth overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft and has put up 201 goals and 457 points in 605 games in Winnipeg’s uniform. There have been rather public reports out of Winnipeg that Ehlers won’t be re-upping with the organization and immediately became one of the top trade options available this offseason. The native of Aalborg, Denmark excels in passing the puck but also regularly puts up some of the best possession numbers in the game.
Lastly, Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks could be the top goal scorer to enter the free-agent market next summer. His market and projected contract will be more difficult to ascertain however as he averaged between 28-29 goals through the first seven years of his career before rifling off 40 markers this past season. Boeser’s shooting percentage was also up 7.1% last year compared to his career average which may be a sign of regression next year. If he can get anywhere near 40 goals again this season with the Canucks, he may cement himself as one of the top-five options next summer.
The proposed list is not constrained to these three players as the likes of Carter Verhaeghe, Brock Nelson, John Tavares, and Jamie Benn could all be available as well as the three players initially listed. The list will thin considerably over the next calendar year but who do you think will be the top option available once the season turns over to July 1st, 2025?
Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Option Next Summer?
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Mitch Marner 56% (557)
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Nikolaj Ehlers 16% (159)
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Brock Boeser 15% (149)
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Other (comment below) 13% (130)
Total votes: 995