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Jets Re-Sign Morgan Barron To Two-Year Deal

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Winnipeg Jets have taken one of their restricted free agents off the board. Friedman reports that the Jets have re-signed Morgan Barron to a two-year, $3.7MM contract, with an AAV of $1.85MM.

As expected, Winnipeg and Barron came to an arrangement relatively quickly after the latter filed for salary arbitration on July 5th. The two parties were less than a week away from the start of arbitration hearings. Still, by filing for arbitration, Barron eliminated his opportunity to negotiate with other teams about an offer sheet, meaning both sides were in a comfortable spot.

The deal seems like a fair compromise for both sides. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press reported that Barron will earn a $1.7MM salary in the first year of the deal, and $2MM in the second. It’s only a moderate bump in pay from Barron’s previous $1.35MM salary, but the two-year structure will walk him into unrestricted free agency after the 2026-27 campaign.

It’s also a fair price for a center that is destined for a fourth-line role. After extending Vladislav Namestnikov and inking Jonathan Toews to a contract, the Jets effectively eliminated any chance for Barron to move up on the depth chart, assuming a healthy roster.

He’s a quality defensive center to have in a fourth-line role, despite having some noticeable flaws. He’s chipped in at times offensively, scoring 27 goals and 54 points in 224 games for Winnipeg over the last three years, averaging 11:19 of ice time per game. He’s averaged a strong 93.3% on-ice save percentage at even strength in Manitoba, but his 48.8% success rate in the faceoff dot leaves a lot to be desired, especially considering that he starts a majority of his shifts in the defensive zone.

Still, given his defensive prowess and the physicality he brings to the bottom of the lineup, the Jets have been willing to overlook a slightly subpar faceoff percentage from Barron. They’ll retain some continuity in their lineup, and Barron’s offensive contributions may increase next season, given the Jets’ additions of Gustav Nyquist, Tanner Pearson, and Cole Koepke this summer.

Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.

Montreal Canadiens Wish To Retain Mike Matheson

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After acquiring defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders shortly before the start of free agency, the Montreal Canadiens solidified the top four of their defensive core for the foreseeable future. Montreal has Dobson and Kaiden Guhle signed to long-term contracts, is one year away from having the option to do the same with phenom Lane Hutson, and has former fifth-overall pick David Reinbacher waiting in the wings.

With the need for ample salary cap space to sign Hutson next offseason, speculation has arisen that the Canadiens might consider trading blue liner Mike Matheson for center help or allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. However, it doesn’t appear that the organization believes they have to lose Matheson, nor do they want to.

In a new interview with James Murphy of RG Media, Montreal’s Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, Jeff Gorton, spoke highly of Matheson, saying, “If you look at Mike’s body of work since he came to Montreal, he’s been a really good player. So, sure, he takes criticism once in a while, but he might play upwards of 25 minutes a game sometimes, right? He’s been huge right now, and we all realize that. So, there are no decisions made on Mike right now. Obviously, he’s got a year left on his contract, but he’s been a very, very, solid player for us. He’s a very good penalty killer; he plays against the best players every night, and there’s not much he doesn’t do.”

There’s plenty of truth to Gorton’s vote of confidence. After scoring 138 points in 417 games through the first seven years of his career between the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins, Matheson has become a legitimate top-four defenseman in Montreal, scoring 25 goals and 127 points in 210 contests, averaging 25:07 of ice time per game.

Matheson leaves something to be desired in his underlying metrics as he’s averaged a 45.6% CorsiFor% at even strength and 89.6% on-ice save percentage at even strength since coming to Montreal. Still, it’s important to note that, like Gorton said, Matheson typically lines up against the opposing team’s top forwards, giving more context to those numbers.

The 10-year veteran will assuredly seek a healthy increase on his $4.875MM salary next offseason, especially with the upper limit of the salary cap continuing to rise. Thankfully, even with the pending contract for Hutson, the Canadiens should have the financial flexibility to extend him if they desire. Including Matheson’s expiring contract, Montreal has another $19.2MM coming off the books next summer from Patrik Laine’s and Carey Price’s contracts, although the latter has been stashed on LTIR for several years.

Still, if the Canadiens truly want to keep Matheson beyond the 2025-26 campaign, it serves as something they’ll want to get completed sooner rather than later. With more teams looking to become competitive and with more available dollars floating around, Matheson could get a premier payday on the open market next summer, and there are certainly other teams that may be willing to outspend Montreal for his services.

Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Henry Thrun

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In a late-night one-for-one swap, the Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired defenseman Henry Thrun from the San Jose Sharks for forward Ryan Reaves. Both teams have confirmed the trade.

The trade is a good bit of business for both teams. The Sharks were in a position to thin out their defensive core after adding Dmitry Orlov and Nick Leddy last week, and raise their salary cap situation above the upper limit. For Toronto, they were able to move out an overpriced and underused asset for a quality defensive addition.

Thrun has been a relatively consistent blue liner in San Jose for two years. Throughout that time, Thrun has scored five goals and 23 points in 111 games with a -45 rating, averaging 18:39 of ice time per game.

While Thrun’s output in San Jose may appear unsettling, he should find more success in Toronto based on improved teammates and less responsibility. However, there is more reason for concern.

Throughout his career, Thrun has averaged a 42.6% CorsiFor% at even strength and an 89.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength. According to MoneyPuck, for defensive units that played 150 or more minutes for the Sharks last season, Thrun was on both of the worst units in terms of xGoals% with 31.3% and 30.7% respectively.

Still, there’s a legitimate argument that he’s an improvement for the Maple Leafs, considering what they gave up. Even at the time of signing, Reaves’ three-year, $4.05MM contract seemed high, especially considering that Toronto had struggled with salary cap space for a few years.

As expected, Reaves added plenty of physicality to Toronto’s lineup, but not much else. Over his two years with the Maple Leafs, Reaves scored four goals and eight points in 84 games with 268 hits and 77 PIMs while averaging 7:59 of ice time per night. Things got so bad for Reaves in Toronto that the team waived him toward the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

He won’t be expected to show any sort of improvement in San Jose. The Sharks have a glut of prospects making their way to the NHL level, and Reaves will be tasked with protecting the youth movement as one of the last true enforcers in the game.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.

Evening Notes: AHL/CHL Agreement, NHL Draft, Signing Rights

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Earlier today, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic indicated that the newly ratified Collective Bargaining Agreement may include language that would amend the current minimum age stipulation in any transfers from the CHL to the AHL. Although Wheeler wasn’t entirely correct, he wasn’t far off.

Frank Seravalli later clarified the initial report, stating that every NHL team can place at least one 19-year-old on their AHL affiliate, while maintaining the minimum age of 20, generally speaking. Seravalli added that 18-year-olds will remain ineligible for the second-highest league in North America.

Unfortunately, this new rule won’t change anything for a few years. Since the new CBA doesn’t begin until the 2026-27 campaign, this means that none of the players selected in the 2025 NHL Draft will be eligible for AHL competition, at least for this season.

Additional evening notes:

  • According to Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the league isn’t expected to return to a centralized draft in 2026. Still, Friedman warns that votes are pending, but all signs point to agreement on holding a decentralized draft again next summer. Given that no public surveys have been performed, generic online canvassing indicated that the NHL has some changes to make for next year’s production in the fans’ view.
  • In another update from the new CBA, PuckPedia reports that there’s a change regarding a player’s signing rights once drafted. The team will own a player’s signing rights for four years if the player is 18 years old, and for three years if they’re 19 years old. It’s important to note that the changes won’t begin until after the 2027 NHL Draft, the first draft after the new CBA comes into effect.

Snapshots: Sorokin, Blue Jackets, Hunter, Lord

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Throughout the past few days, there have been several unconfirmed rumors that New York Islanders’ netminder Ilya Sorokin could be in play, particularly for the Edmonton Oilers. Those rumors were squashed earlier today when Sorokin’s agent, Dan Milstein, bluntly said that Sorokin hasn’t been involved in trade discussions and wouldn’t waive his no-movement clause.

Such is the way for this time of the NHL calendar when ideas for good fits sometimes become unsubstantiated rumors. There’s little argument against Sorokin being an objective improvement in the crease for most teams in the NHL, but it doesn’t appear that he’ll be moved this summer.

Still, he may be a goaltender to keep on the radar. He’s been one of the game’s best goalies over the last four years, managing a 112-83-33 record in 227 starts with a .916 SV% and 2.62 GAA, including 19 shutouts. Sorokin will have a full no-movement clause through the 2027-28 season before transitioning to a 16-team no-trade list ahead of the 2028-29 campaign.

More snapshots:

  • An impressive development camp may have led to a pair of entry-level contracts for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Although the team hasn’t confirmed the news, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers reported earlier that the Blue Jackets are working on an entry-level contract with defenseman Will Bishop and forward Nicholas Sima. Columbus drafted neither player, as they were invited to the team’s development camp from the OHL.
  • Team Canada’s World Junior team is expected to have a new look at the top of their coaching staff. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Hockey Canada will announce Dale Hunter as the head coach of Team Canada’s U20 team. The successful, longtime head coach of the OHL’s London Knights will replace Dave Cameron as the team’s head coach in Canada’s attempt to return to the gold medal game for the first time since 2023.
  • After Marco Sturm departed to become the new head coach of the Boston Bruins, the AHL’s Ontario Reign began seeking a new bench boss. According to a new report from Anthony Collazo of The Mayor’s Manor, the Reign are expected to name Andrew Lord as the team’s new head coach. If he’s eventually named Ontario’s new head coach, it would be Lord’s first coaching role in the AHL after serving as the head coach of the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits for four years and the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads’ head coach last season.

Avalanche Hire Dave Hakstol As Assistant Coach

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The Colorado Avalanche have added some additional experience to their coaching staff. According to a team announcement, the Avalanche have hired Dave Hakstol as an assistant coach for the 2025-26 NHL season.

It’s been almost two years since Hakstol has coached on an NHL bench. He was the first head coach in Seattle Kraken franchise history, leading them to their first postseason in his second year, where they defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in the first round.

Unfortunately, the team failed to live up to renewed expectations the following season, leading the Kraken and Hakstol to go in separate directions. He finished his tenure in Seattle with a 107-112-27 record in 246 games.

Before being hired by the Kraken, Hakstol had a two-year stint as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Before joining the Original Six franchise, Hakstol had been the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.

His time in Philadelphia was mostly a mixed bag. He finished with a winning record through the regular season and coached the Flyers to the playoffs in two seasons, but they failed to move beyond the opening round. Ultimately, Hakstol finished with a 134-101-42 record in Philadelphia over 277 games, but was fired partway through the 2018-19 season after a disappointing start to the season.

The former long-time head coach of the University of North Dakota now joins his fourth NHL franchise of his career and his second job as an assistant coach.

Canucks Re-Sign Jett Woo, Nikita Tolopilo

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According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have re-signed defenseman Jett Woo to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2025-26 season. In a separate announcement, the team shared that they’ve also re-signed netminder Nikita Tolopilo to a two-year, two-way contract.

PuckPedia shared the contractual details for Woo and Tolopilo. The former will earn $775K in the NHL and $290K in the AHL, while the latter will earn $775K in the NHL each year, with an AHL salary of $230K in 2025-26 and $380K in 2026-27.

Woo has been a mainstay on the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks blue line for several years. Vancouver drafted Woo with the 37th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, although he was projected to be a first-round talent a few years before.

Despite having optimism that Woo’s offensive capabilities could grow into a serviceable top-four option in a few years, he hasn’t panned out as such. Still, he’s been relatively productive at the AHL level, scoring 21 goals and 83 points in 267 games with a +32 rating.

Meanwhile, unlike Woo, Tolopilo earned a few games of NHL action last season. It wasn’t the greatest first impression as far as save percentage goes (.885), but Tolopilo earned his spot in the organization through his AHL performance.

In his last two years with Abbotsford, Tolopilo has achieved a record of 40 wins, 27 losses, and 3 overtime losses in 71 games, with a .903 SV% and a 2.74 GAA, including four shutouts. Thanks to the outstanding play of Arturs Silovs, Tolopilo only featured in one game for the AHL Canucks on their run to a Calder Cup championship a few weeks ago.

NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year CBA Extension

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July 8th: According to an announcement from the league, the NHL and NHLPA have officially ratified the four-year CBA extension. The agreed-upon governing document will last from the 2026-27 season to the 2029-30 season.

June 27th: In a pre-draft press conference, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman shared that the league has agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding with the NHLPA that, when ratified, would cement a new, four-year CBA, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. The new CBA would begin in the 2026-27 season.

June 26th: As expected, all signs indicate the NHL will avoid another lockout. According to multiple reports, the NHL and NHLPA are closing in on a four-year extension for the Collective Bargaining Agreement. In a comprehensive breakdown, which our readers are encouraged to visit, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported some of the more important items mentioned in the upcoming CBA.

Since the new CBA that was ratified in 1995, each NHL team has played an 82-game season, with 41 games at home and 41 away. That will no longer be the case. Due to player concerns about the extended pre-season schedule, the NHL will implement an 84-game schedule starting with the 2026-27 season, likely featuring 42 home games and 42 away games. The pre-season will be shortened to four games, and Seravalli notes that any player who’s accumulated 100 or more games at the NHL level will only be allowed to participate in two of those contests.

Additionally, this will be the last year that a team can re-sign or extend a player on an eight-year deal. Seravalli reports that players re-signing with their current team will be limited to a maximum of seven years, while contracts signed during unrestricted free agency or through offer sheets will be capped at six years. This could have bigger implications this summer, with more teams potentially scrambling to sign their current players while retaining the ability to add another year.

Meanwhile, to address arguably the most important and, objectively, the most-publicized issue, the NHL will create a ’comprehensive playoff salary cap mechanism’ to close the LTIR loophole. In recent years, some playoff-bound teams have placed injured players on LTIR during the regular season, providing them with additional salary cap space to acquire higher-priced talent at the trade deadline. Most of these cases have been investigated and subsequently cleared by the league. However, the NHL is continuing its investigation into the Edmonton Oilers’ use of LTIR with Evander Kane leading up to the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Lastly, of the large-scale updates, the league confirmed the projected salary cap upper limits for the upcoming three seasons. The cap will rise to $95.5MM in 2025-26, increase by approximately 9% to $104MM in 2026-27, and by another 9% to $113MM in 2027-28.

Seravalli added several other additions to the upcoming CBA. Drafted players’ signing rights will be uniform across the board until they’re 22 years old, the elimination of deferred salary, and the establishment of a permanent emergency backup goaltender who will travel with the teams.

Washington Capitals Sign Sheldon Rempal

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The Washington Capitals are bringing Sheldon Rempal back to North America. According to a team announcement, the Capitals have signed Rempal to a one-year, two-way contract, paying him $775K at the NHL level and $450K in the AHL.

Rempal is one year removed from playing in the NHL. Last season, he suited up for the KHL’s Salavat Yulaev Ufa, scoring 31 goals and 61 points in 68 games with a +7 rating, finishing fourth in league scoring. He was equally impressive in the 2025 Gagarin Cup playoffs, scoring eight goals and 21 points in 19 contests.

Unfortunately, Rempal’s offensive skills are not widely recognized in NHL circles due to his limited playing time. He’s associated as being a Vegas Golden Knight, but has suited up in a few contests for the Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes, and Vancouver Canucks.

Few people are aware of Rempal’s notable success in the AHL over six seasons, as he has not generated much attention at the top level of the game. Beginning in the 2018-19 season, he has been an impressive scorer in the AHL, tallying 108 goals and 252 points in 328 games before moving to Russia.

Given the two-way status on the contract, Rempal is likely expected to play for the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Having sky-high expectations after winning back-to-back Calder Cup championships, the Bears’ offense wasn’t necessarily bad this season, but it was largely by committee. Now that Rempal is in the mix, Hershey could have a high-scoring player leading the pack.

Jesse Puljujärvi Signs With NL’s Genève-Servette HC

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For the second time since being drafted fourth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, Jesse Puljujärvi is taking his professional career overseas. According to a team announcement from the NL’s Genève-Servette HC, Puljujärvi has signed a new two-year contract with the organization.

Puljujärvi’s career trajectory is well known at this point. After scoring 13 goals and 28 points in 50 games for the Finnish Liiga’s Kärpät in the 2015-16 campaign, the Edmonton Oilers drafted Puljujärvi, believing he’d be a premier power forward for years to come.

Despite a solid showing with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, he never gained much traction at the NHL level. Throughout his first three years playing for the Oilers, Puljujärvi scored 17 goals and 37 points in 139 games, averaging 12:28 of ice time with a -10 rating and 7.4% shooting percentage.

Knowing he needed a reset, Edmonton allowed Puljujärvi to return to his native Finland, again with Kärpät, to regain his confidence. After a few quality years with the only Liiga team he’s ever known, the Oilers quickly brought Puljujärvi back into the fold during the 2020-21 NHL season.

Although it still wasn’t up to his draft billing, there was reason for optimism in Puljujärvi’s game upon his return. In the two seasons following his return from Edmonton, Puljujärvi scored 29 goals and 61 points in 120 contests, averaging 15:44 of ice time with a +28 rating and 10.5% shooting percentage.

Unfortunately, Puljujärvi sank into his old ways during the 2022-23 campaign, and he was moved to the Carolina Hurricanes in a low-level trade. Since then, he’s had another two pit stops with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers.

Without knowing if he’ll make another return attempt, Puljujärvi will have last played professionally in North America for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. In the 2024-25 season, he scored five goals and 13 points in 22 games for the Checkers. Additionally, he contributed three goals and 11 points in 18 postseason contests, helping Charlotte reach the 2025 Calder Cup Final.

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