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Pacific Notes: Andersson, Granlund, Seabrook, Juulsen, Chovan

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A few days ago, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Vegas Golden Knights had attempted to acquire Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson last week. No deal came to fruition, and TSN’s Darren Dreger doesn’t believe that the Golden Knights were the only intra-divisional opponent to try to poach Andersson from Alberta.

Speaking on The Nielson Show, Dreger indicated that the Los Angeles Kings put together a formidable offer for Andersson at the 2025 NHL Draft. Dreger believes that the offer was compelling enough for the Flames that they brought it up to Andersson, but the nine-year veteran had no interest in playing for Los Angeles.

After being previously connected to Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram and now Andersson, it appears the Kings are under the impression that Vladislav Gavrikov won’t be back with the organization next summer. At any rate, General Manager Ken Holland is being aggressive in pursuing a replacement top-four defenseman in any way that he can.

Other notes from the Pacific Division:

  • Being one of several teams looking to add a second-line center from a thin pool tomorrow, the Vancouver Canucks have been connected to one of the top available options remaining in the free agent class. David Pagnotta from The Fourth Period reports that the Canucks are expected to aggressively pursue Mikael Granlund if he becomes available in free agency tomorrow. Pagnotta noted that Granlund is seeking a new contract with the Dallas Stars; however, it will be nearly impossible due to their limited salary cap space.
  • Back in Calgary, the Flames have added a three-time Stanley Cup champion to their player development staff. Earlier today, the Flames announced that they’ve hired Brent Seabrook as a player development coach. Despite having no prior affiliation with the Flames organization, he has been serving as a development coach for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants since retiring from his playing career.
  • Unsurprisingly, Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic reported that the Canucks aren’t expected to re-sign defenseman Noah Juulsen before he becomes an unrestricted free agent tomorrow afternoon. Coming off of arguably the worst season of his NHL career, Juulsen went completely scoreless in 35 games with Vancouver this past season, with a -12 rating before having his season cut short due to injury.
  • According to Ben Leeson of the Sudbury Star, Kings’ draft pick Jan Chovan has signed with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves to continue his development. The Bratislava, Slovakia native was selected 184th overall in last week’s draft. The Wolves selected Chovan in the first round of the 2024 OHL Import Draft, and he’s coming off a year with the U20 SM-sarja’s Tappara, scoring 11 goals and 23 points in 39 games with a +7 rating.

Red Wings Sign Patrick Kane To One-Year Contract

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According to a team announcement, the Detroit Red Wings have signed veteran forward Patrick Kane to a one-year contract for the 2025-26 season. Detroit shared that Kane will earn $3MM base salary, while PuckPedia reported his potential performance bonuses:

  • $2.5MM after 10 games played
  • $250K after 30 games played
  • $250K after 50 games played
  • $500K for reaching the postseason
  • $250K for Round One win
  • $250K for Round Two win

Although his base salary has decreased by $1MM, Kane has the opportunity to earn a slight raise on his new deal with Detroit. The Red Wings signed Kane to a one-year, $4MM contract a year ago to the day, with an additional $2.5MM available in performance bonuses. Unfortunately for Kane, he only earned $1.75MM of those bonuses. Still, by the time Kane reaches 30 games played in the upcoming season, he’ll have matched last year’s total.

Kane became an obvious re-sign candidate during the end-of-season press availability for the Red Wings. General Manager Steve Yzerman stated his intention to re-sign Kane, and the 18-year veteran felt the same way.

Since coming to Detroit early in the 2023-24 campaign, Kane has been a valuable secondary scorer for the Red Wings. Despite undergoing hip resurfacing surgery, Kane has scored 41 goals and 106 points in 122 games donning the ’Winged Wheel’, averaging 18:09 of ice time per night.

Kane’s recovery from hip resurfacing surgery has been fairly remarkable. He was in visible pain toward the end of his tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks, and he finally underwent surgery after concluding his time with the New York Rangers. The same surgery ended Nicklas Bäckström’s career prematurely, just before Kane had his. However, Kane has returned stronger, maintaining his production levels.

Furthermore, Kane’s speed hasn’t appeared affected by the surgery, either. To be fair, ’Father Time’ has zapped much of the speed from his Hart Memorial days, but it’s decreased only slightly since. According to NHL EDGE data, Kane finished in the 81st percentile of the league in 18-20 mph bursts pre-surgery, and 76th percentile post-surgery. He may not have the best edge work anymore, but Kane has been playing like he’s got much more left in the tank.

Max Bultman of The Athletic was the first to report that the Red Wings were finalizing a new deal with Kane. 

Central Notes: Boeser, Yamamoto, Grand Casino Arena

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The Winnipeg Jets have reportedly zeroed in on their desired replacement for winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who’s expected to become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow afternoon. According to TSN’s Chris Johnston on his aptly named Chris Johnston Show, the Jets are aggressively pursuing Brock Boeser.

There’s little surprise about the report, given that Boeser is Ehlers’ best comparable entering the free agent frenzy. Over the last three years, Boeser has scored 83 goals and 178 points in 230 games with the Vancouver Canucks, averaging 18:01 of ice time, and 61 of those points coming with a man advantage. During the same time frame, Ehlers scored 61 goals and 162 points in 196 games with Winnipeg, averaging 15:48 minutes per game, including 41 points on the power play.

It’ll be interesting to see how Boeser is deployed should he eventually sign with Winnipeg. The Jets have no reason to move Gabriel Vilardi from the team’s first line, so Boeser may join Cole Perfetti and either Jonathan Toews or Vladislav Namestnikov on the second line. If he’s unable to keep his average ice time consistent, it’ll be challenging to continue the same goal-scoring pace he enjoyed with Vancouver.

Other notes from the Central Division:

  • Earlier today, the Utah Mammoth announced that they had not issued a qualifying offer to winger Kailer Yamamoto. Still, that doesn’t mean they’re uninterested in retaining him, as Craig Morgan of The Sedona Conference reported that the Mammoth and Yamamoto are continuing to work toward a new contract. Despite scoring 20 goals and 56 points in 54 games with their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, Yamamoto only appeared in 12 games for Utah this past season, scoring one goal and three points. Having the skill set of a top-six forward, it’s unlikely he’ll find an avenue to that role with the Mammoth moving forward.
  • Although they’ll be playing in the same arena, the Minnesota Wild’s home will operate under a new name. Minnesota Sports & Entertainment announced a 14-year naming rights partnership with Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley. Starting in the 2025-26 season, the stadium formerly known as the Xcel Energy Center will become the Grand Casino Arena.

Oilers Sign Evan Bouchard To Four-Year Extension

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6:33 p.m.: The Oilers have announced Bouchard’s new extension.

3:32 p.m.: As first reported by Cam Robinson of EliteProspects and later confirmed by TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Edmonton Oilers are putting the finishing touches on an extension for pending restricted free agent defenseman Evan Bouchard. Once completed, the deal is reportedly a four-year, $42MM extension, with a $10.5MM AAV.

The deal will eat up nearly all of Edmonton’s remaining cap space. Still, it was their most important piece of business to complete this summer, and they’ll now have clarity on their salary cap situation heading into the start of free agency.

According to Frank Seravalli, there were conversations regarding an eight-year agreement, but the price was too high for the Oilers to stomach for the time being. It makes sense given that Edmonton was already fairly tight to the upper limit of the salary cap, and this deal will make Bouchard the fourth-highest defenseman in the league (in terms of AAV) behind Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and Rasmus Dahlin.

Aside from the generational talents playing in front of him, Bouchard has been a focal point of the Oilers reaching back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, largely due to his offensive capabilities. From 2021 to 2023, Bouchard was a quality top-four blue liner for Edmonton, scoring 20 goals and 83 points in 163 games with a +16 rating while averaging 19:09 of ice time per night. He was even better in the postseason, scoring seven goals and 26 points in 28 games while averaging over 20 minutes a game.

His output over the last two years has completely dwarfed those numbers. Since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Bouchard has scored an exceptional 32 goals and 149 points in 163 regular-season contests, with 61 of those points coming on Edmonton’s powerplay. Furthermore, in the postseason, he continues to improve, scoring 13 goals and 55 points in 47 games with a +20 rating.

Unfortunately, there are warranted concerns over Bouchard’s play in the defensive zone. Throughout his entire career with the Oilers, Bouchard has received extremely favorable deployment, starting 58.6% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Assuming he’s playing with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl the majority of the time, the expectation is that Edmonton can control the play enough where they won’t have to rely on Bouchard to be in a shutdown role.

For the most part, he’s never needed to play in that role, but his defensive metrics continue to suffer. This past season, his on-ice save percentage at even strength fell to a career-low of 88.8%, marking a continual decline since the 2021-22 season.

Still, Bouchard has consistently maintained a positive impact on the game, as he has never experienced a season where the Oilers have failed to outscore their opponents at even strength while he is on the ice. This trend continues despite his defensive weaknesses.

At any rate, it’s important to note that Bouchard has averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time over the past two years for the reigning Western Conference champions. Regardless of his shortcomings in the defensive zone, he’s been the top defenseman on a Stanley Cup-caliber team for some time.

Now, with a brand new four-year contract in place, Edmonton will have additional clarity as extension negotiations begin with McDavid in a few weeks. They’ll likely want to keep McDavid on a longer-term deal than they’ve got with Bouchard, but they know the available capital they’ll have in a few years. Unfortunately for Edmonton and potentially McDavid, Bouchard will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2028-29 NHL season.

Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Jonatan Berggren To One-Year Contract

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The Detroit Red Wings are making quick work of getting some of their depth players back for next season. According to a team announcement, the Red Wings have signed forward Jonatan Berggren to a one-year, $1.825MM contract for the 2025-26 NHL season.

Berggren has been an interesting depth scorer for the Red Wings over the last three years. By all available evidence, Detroit is still trying to determine what exactly they have in the young Swede.

He got off to a hot start in his professional career, scoring 21 goals and 64 points in 70 games for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 2021-22. In the early stages of their rebuild, Berggren was recalled to help the fledgling Red Wings in 2022-23. Typically in a third-line role, Berggren had a quality year as a tertiary scorer, putting up 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games. He had some prominent defensive shortcomings, but that’s to be expected of a young winger.

Interestingly enough, Berggren didn’t earn a spot on the roster out of training camp the following September. He put together another quality year with AHL Grand Rapids, scoring 24 goals and 56 points in 53 games. Despite his success in the AHL, Detroit used Berggren only 12 times during the 2023-24 season, and rumors about trade availability began to circulate.

The rumors persisted until last September, when the Red Wings signed Berggren to a one-year contract worth $825K. Nearly replicating his performance from two years ago, Berggren scored 12 goals and 24 points in 75 games, averaging 12:59 of ice time per game. Despite his -13 rating, the Uppsala, Sweden native showed serious improvements in his defense, achieving a 91.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Given the short-term, low-risk contract, Detroit likely wants Berggren to remain in a similar role next year. If he can replicate his defensive output and score 30 or more points next season, he’ll be a valuable bottom-six scorer for the Red Wings.

Washington Capitals Acquire, Extend Declan Chisholm

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Jun. 30th: It didn’t take long for the Capitals to extend their newest blueliner. According to PuckPedia, Washington has signed Chisholm to a two-year, $3.2MM contract, with a flat $1.6MM salary each year. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 campaign.

Jun. 28th: The Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals have gotten together on a defenseman trade. According to a team announcement, the Wild have traded Declan Chisholm and the 180th overall pick to the Capitals in exchange for Chase Priskie and the 123rd overall pick.

Thus ends a one-and-a-half-year run in Minnesota for Chisholm. The longtime depth defenseman was claimed off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets partway through he 2023-24 season and turned it into a consistent role with the Wild for some time. In large part due to injuries across Minnesota’s defensive core, Chisholm managed a career-high of 66 games played this past season.

Even further, Chisholm achieved career-highs across the board. He finished the season with two goals and 12 points, averaging nearly 17 minutes of ice time, with a -5 rating and 69 blocked shots. Additionally, his 50.4% CorsiFor% at even strength and 91.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength made him a quality depth piece for the Wild to have on hand.

Unfortunately, he’s unlikely to find a similar role in Washington. The Capitals already have seven defensemen signed through next season, without mentioning they’ll need a new contract for depth defenseman Alexander Alexeyev. If Chisholm isn’t content with moving back to the AHL, he’s an easy non-tender candidate heading into next week.

Meanwhile, Priskie has spent the last two years as a prominent blueliner for the AHL’s Hershey Bears and is expected to hold a similar role with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. He’s scored 20 goals and 69 points in 130 AHL contests over the past two years, with an additional four goals and 19 points in 28 postseason contests.

Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report that the Wild were trading Chisholm.

Wild’s Jonas Brodin Underwent Surgery, To Miss Start Of Season

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According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, General Manager Bill Guerin has confirmed that Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin underwent upper-body surgery a few weeks ago, and he’ll likely miss the beginning of the 2025-26 season.

It’s an interesting development considering Brodin played for Team Sweden at the 2025 IIHF World Championships a few weeks ago. After scoring three goals and seven points in 10 tournament contests, Russo indicated that despite being medically cleared to play in the international competition, Brodin’s upper-body injury flared up again.

If Guerin’s assessment is correct and Brodin misses several games at the start of the 2025-26 season, it will be the seventh consecutive year that he has not played 80 or more games. The 13-year veteran has been mired by injuries for much of his career, failing to register even 70 games in three straight years.

Being limited to only 50 regular-season games during the 2024-25 campaign, it was Brodin’s lowest games played total since his rookie campaign during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Still, he was able to avoid his worst offensive output, managing four goals and 20 points with a +10 rating when available.

Because he’s such a quality option for Minnesota when healthy, it would be inappropriate to call Brodin’s contract a sunk cost. Sure, the Wild would like more availability from their third-highest-paid defenseman, but his ability when healthy makes up for the lost time.

It’ll be interesting to see how Guerin fills the void left by Brodin. Depending on the duration of his absence, the team may shift Marco Rossi’s trade negotiations towards a readily available top-four option. Still, due to their urgent need for a second-line center, Minnesota is likely to wait for Brodin’s return and utilize internal candidates to fill the gap.

Canucks, Golden Knights, Kings Interested In Bowen Byram

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After sending high-end winger, JJ Peterka, out West a few days ago to the Utah Mammoth, the Buffalo Sabres are reportedly working the phones on another one of their younger roster players. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger on the Barn Burner podcast, the Sabres are receiving consistent interest in defenseman Bowen Byram from the Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, and Los Angeles Kings.

For the former two teams, it’s apparent that Byram is being viewed as an option on his off-hand. Operating on the assumption he’ll be in any acquiring team’s top-four, the Canucks already have Quinn Hughes and Marcus Pettersson on the left, while the Golden Knights have Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin.

Meanwhile, the Kings may view Byram as a sufficient replacement for Vladislav Gavrikov should the defensive blue liner depart in free agency. Byram isn’t nearly as good as Gavrikov in the defensive zone, but would bring far more offensive pressure and could create a quality pairing with fellow youngster, Brandt Clarke.

For context, there’s no trade close at the time of writing, but it’s become apparent that the Sabres are making a concerted effort to balance out the handedness of their defensive core. The team has already found one quality right-handed option in Michael Kesselring, and is likely seeking one more after moving Byram.

Unfortunately for Buffalo, it’s challenging to ascertain Byram’s value on the trade market. He has not made many significant strides since his time with the Colorado Avalanche, recording a 0.46 PPG average over the past three years, despite an increase in average ice time since arriving in New York.

Still, despite his billing as an offensive-minded defenseman, Byram can hold his own in the defensive zone, racking up 313 blocked shots in 246 career games, with a 90.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength. It’s also important to note that, unlike many of his peers in Buffalo, Byram has postseason experience and had his name put on the Cup in 2022 with Colorado.

Golden Knights, Maple Leafs Discussing Mitch Marner Trade

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs are in active negotiations for a sign-and-trade deal that would see Mitch Marner end up in Nevada. Friedman followed up on the initial report, stating that forward Nicolas Roy is expected to be part of the return to Toronto if a deal is finalized. A few moments later, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reported that the Maple Leafs requested defenseman Nicolas Hague in the return as well.

Although sign-and-trades of this caliber are exceptionally rare, the Golden Knights’ motivation to make the move now, instead of pursuing Marner for nothing in a few days, is likely twofold. Acquiring him with a new contract in place now eliminates all competition for his services, and would allow Vegas to add an eighth year to his contract via Toronto.

Besides the magnitude of the hypothetical trade, the news comes with little surprise. The Golden Knights are no stranger to making sizeable additions to the roster and have been linked to Marner by various outlets for several weeks.

Depending on the dollar amount for Marner’s next deal, Vegas should be able to get a deal done rather comfortably. Assuming Roy is in the trade, the Golden Knights would have approximately $8.6MM available in cap space, with an additional $8.8MM available if defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is headed for the long-term injured reserve.

Adding Marner to a forward core that already includes Jack Eichel and Mark Stone would be enough to create one of the most dynamic offenses in the league. Eichel was the team’s leader in points this past season, scoring 28 goals and 94 points in 77 games. Meanwhile, Marner recently concluded the best individual season of his career, scoring 27 goals and 102 points in 81 contests with a +18 rating.

Despite not having a 100-point scorer in their brief team history, Vegas was still able to finish with the league’s fifth-best offense this season, averaging 3.34 goals per game. Unfortunately, their defense may suffer as a result of the trade.

Assuming Pietrangelo is headed for the LTIR, and Hague is included in the trade, that leaves the Golden Knights in the unenviable position of giving consistent minutes to Ben Hutton and Kaedan Korczak throughout the 2025-26 campaign, with few dollars to improve. They may find better options on the trade market, but it’ll be challenging with Marner presumably anchoring their salary cap table.

According to Friedman, Vegas views their situation similarly when it comes to their defensive core. The insider for Sportsnet indicated earlier that the Golden Knights attempted to acquire defenseman Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames earlier this week, though nothing worthwhile came to fruition.

Meanwhile, while only knowing a few of the reported names hypothetically headed to Toronto, Roy would be a quality addition for the Maple Leafs. Although he’s best used as a third-line center, Roy would bring a ton of versatility to Toronto’s forward with the ability to play up and down a lineup.

He’s been a consistent secondary scorer for the Golden Knights over the past four years, scoring 57 goals and 141 points in 284 games with a +26 rating, averaging 15:48 of ice time per night while maintaining a 47.9% success rate in the faceoff dot. Additionally, he’s a capable presence in the playoffs, scoring three goals and 11 points in 22 postseason contests during Vegas’ run to a Stanley Cup title in 2023.

Moving to the blue line, Hague is a known commodity in the league and has generated plenty of interest this summer. Utilizing a similar playstyle to Jake McCabe, Hague is a quality top-four option who can eat meaningful minutes. Although he’s not much of a point producer, Hague is an incredibly physical defenseman and stalwart in the defensive zone, managing a 90.9% on-ice save percentage in 364 games as a Golden Knight.

St. Louis Blues Sign Joel Hofer To Two-Year Extension

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General Manager Doug Armstrong has followed through on his promise that netminder Joel Hofer wouldn’t be leaving the St. Louis Blues this offseason. According to a team announcement, the Blues have signed Hofer to a two-year, $6.8MM extension.

The new two-year agreement will take Hofer through the 2026-27 season in St. Louis, when he’ll become a restricted free agent for the last time in his career. Consequently, Hofer’s deal expires at the same time as his peer, Jordan Binnington, indicating that the Blues’ front office views Hofer as the heir apparent.

Since the Blues traded Ville Husso to the Detroit Red Wings ahead of the 2022-23 NHL season, Hofer has worked his way into the backup role in St. Louis. Hofer forced the Blues’ hand that season, managing a 27-15-5 record in 47 games with their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, with a .921 SV% and 2.50 GAA.

His first full season as Binnington’s backup couldn’t have gone much better. Hofer finished the year with a 15-12-1 record in 30 games with a .913 SV%, 2.65 GAA, and 8.2 goals saved above average (GSAA). Even in a backup role, Hofer finished 11th in Calder Trophy voting, the third-highest for a netminder behind Philadelphia Flyer Samuel Ersson and Carolina Hurricane Pyotr Kochetkov.

Despite the team in front of him improving, Hofer’s output remained stagnant during the 2024-25 campaign. He finished the season with a 16-8-3 record in 31 games with a .901 SV%, 2.64 GAA, and 2.8 GSAA. Fortunately, even though his SV% took a slight dip, it was largely only due to a few bad performances, as he finished with a .693 quality start percentage.

As Binnington enters the twilight years of his career, the Blues may find themselves starting Hofer between 35 and 40 games a year, rather than keep him in the low 30s. At any rate, St. Louis has guaranteed themselves a quality goaltending tandem for at least two more years.

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