Why The Flames Should Root For A Golden Knights Stanley Cup Win
It may sting for Calgary Flames fans if you’re watching the Golden Knights succeed right now.
The young franchise that has taken the NHL by storm is en route to its third Stanley Cup final in its ninth season ever. Through its aggressive approach to making many ‘win-now’ moves to benefit this team’s contention window, it has been able to acquire many of the NHL’s top talents from other squads, and most have paid off in their time wearing gold and grey. A few of those acquisitions came from the blue line of the Canadian team north of Sin City.
The Flames are well set up in their current rebuild; they, in part, have Vegas to thank for that. Calgary currently has six total draft picks in the top-64 of the 2026 NHL draft. One of those 2026 selections in the top 32 came from dealing away Noah Hanifin to the Golden Knights for a 2025 first-round pick. That eventually resolved to Calgary’s second first-round selection coming up in this year’s draft because of a condition, as Vegas traded its 2025 first to San Jose in a package for Tomas Hertl. In 2025, the first was used by Nashville to select Ryker Lee via the Yaroslav Askarov trade.
So the conditions involved in Hanifin’s deal are resolved, and the Flames have a late first-round pick to utilize later in June. Along with that, a future selection in a later NHL Draft might go in favor of the Flames, depending on the outcome of this year’s Stanley Cup Final.
Back in the middle of January, the Flames traded defenseman Rasmus Andersson to the Golden Knights, retaining $2.275MM of his AAV for a package deal that highlighted a return of defensemen Zach Whitecloud, Abram Wiebe, and two draft selections added to the team’s cupboard. Both picks have conditions that could help the future of the Calgary Flames, but they’d have to witness their former players emerge victorious for a championship.
Both draft picks Vegas sent as of today reside as a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick, per Puckpedia. For the 2027 pick, it isn’t exactly locked in for Calgary yet. General Manager Kelly McCrimmon placed a top-10 protection on the 2027 selection. Although this outcome is unlikely, this means that if the Golden Knights end up finishing next season in the top-10 of the NHL Draft after the lottery, Calgary will instead receive a 2028 first-round pick. If Vegas ends up winning the Stanley Cup in 2026 and then they finish as one of the worst teams in 2027, Calgary would then receive a 2029 first from the Golden Knights.
The 2028 second also has a condition on it, but banks on the Golden Knights winning this year. If Vegas wins the 2026 Stanley Cup, the 2028 second-round pick will upgrade to a first-round pick for the Flames in that respective draft.
So if the Golden Knights are Stanley Cup Champions in 2026, all signs will point to the Flames receiving upgrades on their future capital. Barring a Vegas collapse in 2027, they’d own a Golden Knights first-round pick in each of the next three first rounds of the 2026, 2027, and 2028 NHL drafts, along with each of their own.
The Flames are set to begin their offseason with a selection at sixth overall in the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, followed by a 30th or 31st overall selection, depending on the result of the Cup Final. Calgary finished this past season seventh in the Pacific Division with a record of 34-39-9, reaching just 77 points.
They have not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2021-22 season, but with these draft developments, it can add to a youthful prospect pool that can help them get back there in time. Most notably, their prospect pool will see two major additions alongside 20-year-old defenseman Zayne Parekh, 19-year-old NCAA centers in Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter, 20-year-old winger Matvei Gridin, and the 2025-26 NCAA scoring leader, Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach.
Photo Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Multiple Players Have NHL Draft Rights Expire
According to PuckPedia, multiple prospects had their draft rights expire at the deadline today, meaning they’ll re-enter the 2026 NHL Draft or become unrestricted free agents.
Two distinct groups are impacted by this deadline. Prospects playing in the Canadian Major Junior leagues (OHL, QMJHL, or WHL) or those playing in Europe.
Of those players from the CHL who have played through their age-20 seasons, they’ll re-enter the 2026 NHL Draft, or become unrestricted free agents if they go undrafted. For the European players, they’ll become unrestricted free agents, though many typically stay in Europe to continue their professional careers.
The only other prospect whose draft rights expired, and didn’t meet either of the above requirements, was Toronto Maple Leafs 2025 draftee Matthew Hlacar. Hlacar was taken with the 217th overall pick of last year’s draft, and scored six goals and 12 points in 51 games for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers this season. Toronto didn’t issue him a bona fide offer, which is simply tendering the player a league-minimum, entry-level deal to extend their signing rights.
The remaining prospects who will re-enter the 2026 NHL Draft or become UFAs are as follows:
D Ales Cech (Mammoth, 5-153, 2024)
D Simon Forsmark (Hurricanes, 4-101, 2022)
F Max Graham (Penguins, 5-139*, 2024)
F Petr Hauser (Oilers, 5-141**, 2022)
F Nils Juntorp (Hurricanes, 6-188***, 2022)
F Gustav Karlsson (Sabres, 6-187, 2022)
F Maximilian Kilpinen (Red Wings, 4-129, 2022)
D Kasper Kulonummi (Predators, 3-84, 2022)
F Hunter Laing (Flames, 6-170, 2024)
G Ryerson Leenders (Sabres, 7-219, 2024)
D Nathan Mayes (Maple Leafs, 7-225, 2024)
G Landon Miller (Red Wings, 4-126, 2024)
F Kaden Pitre (Lightning, 6-181, 2024)
F Joel Ratkovic Berndtsson (Sabres, 7-202, 2022)
F Santeri Sulku (Flyers, 7-197, 2022)
D Albin Sundin (Oilers, 6-183, 2024)
F Riku Tohila (Blackhawks, 7-199, 2022)
G Jakub Vondras (Hurricanes, 6-171, 2022)
* Originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils; traded to the Penguins in March 2025.
** Originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils; traded to the Oilers in March 2025.
*** Originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks; traded to the Hurricanes in January 2025.
Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames
Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We start our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Flames.
Key Restricted Free Agents
John Beecher – The Flames don’t have any key NHL players set to become restricted free agents, in part thanks to the $7.5MM AAV extension they signed with No. 1 goalie Dustin Wolf. That deal kicks in on July 1. As a result, Beecher is the Flames RFA with the most NHL experience, though it’d be difficult to call him a key player by any means.
The Flames claimed Beecher, 25, off of waivers from the Boston Bruins in the middle of November. The speedy forward looked to have established himself in the NHL in 2024-25, playing in a career-high 78 games. But the Bruins team Beecher played those games for that season was an uncharacteristically weak one, and this past campaign, he lost his role as a lineup regular under new head coach Marco Sturm.
Calgary was likely intrigued by the traits in Beecher’s game that made him a first-round pick by the Bruins: he possesses a coveted combination of size (6’3″ 220 pounds) and speed, while also being able to play the center position.
That speed has allowed Beecher to carve out a spot in both Boston and Calgary’s penalty-kill rotations, but he hasn’t been able to make a more well-rounded impact on either team he’s played for.
He was not a top scorer in the AHL for the Providence Bruins, nor in college for the Michigan Wolverines, and has produced just 28 points in 165 career NHL games.
Despite the pace in his game, it’s unlikely Beecher will ever be much of a point producer. The key question is whether he’ll be able to leverage his skating and size to carve out a lengthy career as a fourth-line player with valuable penalty-kill utility. He has shown some flashes of potential to become that kind of player, but hasn’t been able to do so with much consistency.
The Flames could bring Beecher back at a relatively affordable price. He cost $900K this past season, and would need to receive a one-way deal for next year. The main complicating factor at play here is Beecher’s right to pursue arbitration, which could give the Flames some pause if they’re not certain Beecher is a part of their plans for next season’s team.
Brennan Othmann – Like Beecher, Othmann is a first-round pick by an original six franchise who thus far hasn’t been able to carve out a meaningful long-term role in an NHL lineup. Othmann is a few years younger than Beecher and therefore doesn’t have as much NHL experience, though he is a considerably more advanced player at the AHL level. The 23-year-old scored 21 goals and 49 points as an AHL rookie with the 2023-24 Hartford Wolf Pack, and has maintained a solid scoring clip at the AHL level, even as he’s struggled in call-ups to the NHL.
A skilled winger who has some valuable pest-like elements to his game, Othmann hasn’t been able to translate any of his scoring from the AHL and OHL to the NHL level. He was traded to Calgary at the deadline for 2024 second-rounder Jacob Battaglia, but managed just seven points in 14 AHL games after the trade. He did score a goal and an assist in two games for the Flames after the deal, but that is just two games.
With his entry-level deal now concluded, it’ll be interesting to see how the Flames value Othmann. It’s not unreasonable by any stretch to believe he still has NHL potential, but his star as a prospect has faded. A one-year, two-way deal likely makes the most sense here, one with the kind of solid AHL salary merited by the level of production Othmann has put forward in his minor-league career so far.
Rory Kerins – Kerins, 24, has been a real developmental success story for the Flames as a 2020 sixth-round pick. The 5’10”, 175-pound center was one of the OHL’s best players in 2021-22, scoring 43 goals and 118 points in 67 games. That raised expectations for what he might be able to do as a professional, but he ended up spending his debut pro campaign in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush, scoring 37 points in 38 games.
In 2023-24, after that one year in the ECHL, Kerins quickly became an impactful AHLer. He scored 16 goals and 32 points that year, but the real breakout was to come a year later. In 2024-25, Kerins scored 33 goals and 61 points in 63 games, production that made him an AHL All-Star. This past season, Kerins showed that year wasn’t any fluke, scoring 22 goals and 57 points in 56 games.
The question for Kerins is whether he’ll top out as a high-end AHL scorer, or if he has something to give at the NHL level. His most recent contract was a one-year, two-way deal containing a guarantee of $125K. Without question, he’s earned a raise off that number for next season in the AHL.
Other RFAs: F Carter King, F Parker Bell, F Lucas Ciona, F Sam Morton, D Gavin White, D Artem Grushnikov, G Owen Say
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
Ryan Lomberg – After winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024, Lomberg cashed in on his status as a fan-favorite agitator playing on the league’s best team. He signed a two-year, $2MM AAV deal with the Flames, a solid contract for a player with a career-high of just 20 points. 
With the Flames, Lomberg has been as advertised: a low-scoring fourth-line winger who punches above his weight, plays with energy and physicality, and tries his best to get under the skin of opponents.
A player of Lomberg’s skillset is often held as most valuable in the playoffs, meaning Lomberg’s talents didn’t feel quite as meaningful playing on a rebuilding Flames team.
With that said, the experience Lomberg was able to provide to a young team full of developing prospects still held real value, even if he wasn’t able to produce nearly as much as the 12 goals and 20 points he put forward in 2022-23. He’d be an in-demand bottom-sixer on the open market.
Back in February, Lomberg made his desire to remain in Calgary very clear. He told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis:
This is where I want to be. I’ve been pretty vocal on how much I love the city, and the people, and the organization. I want to win here. My family and I love it here, and we’re extremely proud to be part of the organization and a big part of the community. I signed here with the intention of helping this team win, and being part of the solution. So that’s definitely how I would like it to stay.
The Flames certainly have the financial bandwidth to match any bid for Lomberg, but the question will be whether the team has interest in retaining the 31-year-old or if they’re eager to turn over the role he occupies to a younger player.
Victor Olofsson – Cast off by the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Nazem Kadri trade deadline deal, Olofsson has only played in 18 games for the Flames, and his time in Calgary could very well end there. Olofsson has always been something of an enigmatic player, a clearly talented sniper whose inconsistency has kept him from holding down a permanent role on any NHL team.
A two-time 20-goal scorer during his days with the Buffalo Sabres, Olofsson scored 13 goals and 31 points in 78 games across stints with Calgary and Colorado in 2025-26. The year before, he scored 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games for the Vegas Golden Knights.
While there is likely still a place for Olofsson in the NHL, it may not be in Calgary. Making the most of Olofsson on an NHL roster means giving him an offensive role with at least second-unit power play time. As the Flames look to develop as much long-term value as possible on their roster, there may be more to gain by giving a young player the opportunity to play that role, rather than reserving it for Olofsson.
Daniil Miromanov – In the immediate aftermath of when the Flames acquired Miromanov from the Golden Knights as part of the Noah Hanifin trade, there was some optimism that he could end up becoming a real steal for Calgary. He seemed to instantly elevate his game. He played in only four contests in Vegas, but got time in the NHL with the Flames down the stretch in 2024. In 20 games for the Flames, he averaged 21:15 time on ice per game, including 2:05 per game on the power play. He managed a solid seven points in 20 games, and signed a two-year, $1.25MM AAV extension.
That performance, and contract, earned Miromanov an NHL spot for the next season. But Miromanov wasn’t able to resume his role from late the season before, instead serving as a frequent healthy scratch. He only got into 44 games in 2024-25, and averaged 17:40 time on ice per game, almost entirely at even strength.
This past season, Miromanov’s decline in terms of role has only hastened. Despite Calgary’s decisions to trade away veteran talent from its defense, Miromanov wasn’t able to seize on the minutes vacated by MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson. Instead, he spent almost all of 2025-26 in the AHL, playing in just a single game at the NHL level. While nothing has been set in stone, there is every indication that Miromanov has already played his final game in Calgary.
Jake Bean – Bean, 27, has had a disappointing two-year stint with the Flames. In his first season in Calgary, he averaged just 15:05 time on ice per game, and scored just seven points in 64 contests. He wasn’t able to take a step forward in the NHL despite looking like a future top-four defenseman earlier in his career.
This past season, Bean was limited to just 16 games. He underwent surgery in December as the result of an undisclosed injury. A fresh start could be what is best for both Bean and the Flames.
Other UFAs: F Justin Kirkland, F Clark Bishop, D Nick Cicek, G Ivan Prosvetov
Projected Cap Space
The Flames enter next season with a little over $18MM in projected cap space. While that may seem surprisingly low for a team in the midst of a full-on rebuild, that’s simply because greater financial freedom is just on the horizon. The Flames project to have over $51.5MM in cap space for 2027-28, and $83.5MM for 2028-29. But even that $18MM figure should be more than enough for the team to be able to not only comfortably retain all of their pending free agents, but also have some spending money for free agency if that’s a route they want to take.
They’ll also have the flexibility to be able to take on sub-optimal contracts in exchange for draft picks, though the market for those kinds of deals is sure to be less robust than it was during the days of the flat salary cap. In any case, Calgary will have significant financial flexibility in the year to come, especially on their back-end. Calgary’s highest-paid defenseman is Kevin Bahl at $5.35MM, and no other Flames blueliner even reaches $4MM in cap hit.
Photos courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images, Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Evening Notes: Byram, Calgary, Columbus
Bowen Byram‘s agent, Darren Ferris, is slated to meet with Buffalo Sabres GM Jarmo Kekäläinen at the Draft Combine in Buffalo next week to discuss a potential contract extension, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The 24-year-old defenseman is not set to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) until summer 2027, but LeBrun says he would not be surprised to see an extension come this summer before Byram would have the chance to hit the open market.
It is believed Byram really likes it in Buffalo, and his play this season certainly backs up that assessment. Byram tied his career high in goals with 11, and posted additional career highs in assists (31), points (42), and plus/minus (+15). Additionally, Byram was relied on heavily during the Sabres’ playoff run and rose to the occasion. He was only second to superstar defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in ice time per game with 22:24 a night, and posted seven points in 13 games.
On the flip side, it has been noted that Ferris often will advise the players he represents to fully take advantage of their UFA options, so it would not come as a shock to see him advise Byram to do the same, especially with the cap continuing to increase after next season. Only time will tell.
Additional Notes
- Game four of the Western Conference Final kicks off at 8 PM CST tonight, and the Vegas Golden Knights have the chance to pull off the improbable sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche. However, it is not just Vegas fans who may be rooting for the sweep. When the Golden Knights acquired defenseman Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames leading up to this year’s trade deadline, they sent Zach Whitecloud, a 2027 first-rounder, a 2028 second-rounder, and prospect Abram Wiebe over in the deal. If Vegas goes on to win the Stanley Cup, that 2028 second-round pick turns into a first-rounder, as reported by Eric Francis with Sportsnet. Calgary already holds six first-round picks from 2026-28, and adding a seventh would certainly help a team in the midst of a rebuild. It is worth noting that two of Calgary’s six first-round picks are already courtesy of the Golden Knights, so with a Vegas Cup win, that becomes three out of their potential seven. So, while this all still takes five more Vegas wins to come to fruition, it may sway the rooting interest of some of the Flames faithful.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, were eliminated on Sunday night at the hands of the Toronto Marlies in heartbreaking fashion. It was do-or-die for the Monsters in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference divisional round, as a late third-period lead quickly disappeared when Toronto scored with 4:30 and 0:11 remaining to advance to the Eastern Conference Final. Now that the Monsters’ season has come to an end, it is expected that there will be an announcement in the near future that head coach Trent Vogelhuber will be promoted to join Rick Bowness‘ staff as an assistant coach, as reported by Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. During Vogelhuber’s four seasons as head coach, Cleveland was 145-108-21-14 (.564).
Flames Want To Move Up From Sixth Overall In Draft
A hot market for top-five picks in the 2026 NHL Draft is beginning to form. On the heels of reports that the St. Louis Blues want to crack into the top 10, it appears the Calgary Flames could stand in their way. The Flames are hoping to move up from their current spot of sixth-overall, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period and Kyle Morton of Daily Faceoff. The San Jose Sharks’ second-overall pick could be Calgary’s target, with TSN’s Darren Dreger sharing that the Sharks could part ways with their pick. Pagnotta also said that the Chicago Blackhawks could shop around the fourth-overall pick.
It has been more than 20 years since the last time a team traded a top-three pick after it was declared. The last instance – Pittsburgh’s move to first-overall in 2003 to select Marc-Andre Fleury – saw the third-overall pick go the other way. Calgary would pull off an unprecedented move if they were able to swing their way into the top-five.
Moving up in the draft could be a strong way for Calgary to spark their rebuild. The draft class is led by premium forward talents Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, and Caleb Malhotra. Each of the three have the potential to one day lead an NHL lineup, as do top defense prospects Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff. Should those five names all slide off the board before Calgary’s pick, the Flames would be left with the tough job of guessing the next-best star. Left-defensemen Carson Carels and Alberts Smits have caught attention all season with their dominant two-way play and play-driving ability respectively; while centermen Viggo Bjorck, Tynan Lawrence, and Oliver Suvanto have each held high-end acclaim through points in the season.
Outside of the top-five, there seems to be no guarantee of who will hit. Calgary would be stuck in a guessing game as they look for the draft selection who could propel their young lineup forward. Acquiring either San Jose or Chicago’s pick would effectively subvert that issue, allowing Calgary the chance to land a player with a strong chance of becoming a difference-maker. Their roster could use impacts at seemingly every position – whether it’s a playmaking winger to support Matthew Coronato, a true top-center, or an all-around defenseman who can take pressure off of the offensive-minded Zayne Parekh.
The uncertainty of a lower, top pick would be less of a concern for the Sharks or Blackhawks, who have each landed multiple top-five picks over the last four seasons. The draft class still boasts upside through the teens and the pair of rebuilders could stock their cupboards by pushing Calgary to add more draft capital and a strong prospect like Andrew Basha, Henry Mews, or even breakout college star Ethan Wyttenbach.
The package needed to trade into the top-five will only richen as more teams eye a potential trade. It seems to be a great year to be an established-rebuilder like San Jose and Chicago, who could field a long list of offers as they consider whether to take another star prospect or prioritize quantity over quality. Meanwhile, Calgary’s focus appears set to shift towards finding the X-factor they need to pull together a lineup that – thanks to the emergence of players like Kevin Bahl, Yan Kuznetsov, and Connor Zary – seems to wield promising depth.
Flames Could Be Aiming To Sign Several College Players Late In 26-27 Season
- This season, the Flames signed multiple college prospects late in the year and that might be the plan next season as well. Flames Nation’s Ryan Pyke mentions (Twitter link) that forwards Cole Reschny, Cullen Potter, and Ethan Wyttenbach are all candidates to sign late in the season; accordingly, Calgary will need to leave ample room on the 50-contract limit and factor that into their offseason planning. Reschny and Potter were first-round picks last season while Wyttenbach, a fifth-round selection, was a Hobey Baker Award finalist in his first NCAA campaign.
Afternoon Notes: Stone, Devils, Korczak
The hole in the Vegas Golden Knights lineup will remain as they head into Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. Winger Mark Stone will miss his fifth-straight game with a lower-body injury sustained in Game 3 of the second round, per Jesse Granger of The Athletic. He had three goals and seven points in nine playoff games prior to his injury.
Stone continues to fill a top role with the Golden Knights when healthy. He finished the regular season with 28 goals and 73 points in 60 games – a full-season pace of 39 goals and 100 points. Vegas has bumped Pavel Dorofeyev up to the top-line, and added Brandon Saad to the lineup, in Stone’s absence. Dorofeyev has excelled, with six goals and seven points since Stone went down. Saad has two assists, including on the opening goal of the Western Conference Finals. Vegas will continue to bank on their production while Stone targets a Game 3 return.
Other notes around the hockey world:
- The New Jersey Devils have picked up their third-year option with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder per a team announcement. New Jersey began their affiliation with the Thunder in the 2017-18 season, two seasons after the club relocated to the city in place of the Stockton Flames. Adirondack has made the postseason in five of their seven seasons in partnership with the Devils, going as far as the Conference Finals twice. They were knocked out of the 2026 Kelly Cup Playoffs in a first round series that went to seven games and featured three overtimes. Their lineup was led by Devils’ defense prospect Jeremy Hanzel and goaltender Jeremy Brodeur, son of Devils legend Martin Brodeur.
- Former New York Rangers prospect Ryder Korczak will continue his career in Slovakia’s top league. He has signed a one-year contract with HC Slovan Bratislava of the Tipsport Liga per a team announcement. Korczak spent last season on a one-year deal with Vlci Zilina. He finished the year with a team-leading 21 goals, and 44 total points, in 52 games played. The 2021 third-round pick was unable to continue his scoring spark into the AHL. He racked up 35 points in 117 games across two seasons with the Hartford Wolf Pack – and 10 games with the Syracuse Crunch. Korczak was a premier junior scorer, racking up 246 points in 248 games across six seasons in the WHL. He seems to have found the same spark overseas and should move into a key role on a Bratislava squad that finished second in Slovakia this season.
Flames Sign Kirill Zarubin To Entry-Level Contract
The Calgary Flames have signed goaltender Kirill Zarubin to a three-year, entry-level contract per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960. The 2024 third-round draft pick spent last season in the MHL, Russia’s junior league. He was named an MHL All-Star and finished the season with 26 wins and a .930 save percentage in 48 games played. Those marks ranked fourth and 13th among 81 goalies with more than 10 games played.
Calgary acquired the draft pick used to select Zarubin in the 2024 trade that sent Noah Hanifin to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Flames used that pick to draft their fourth goaltender, and their third out of Russia, since 2020.
Zarubin brings long legs and a quickness in the crease. Those traits helped him stand out despite filling a split role through parts of the last three seasons with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Ilya Kanarsky. The duo backstopped an AKM Tula squad that made it to – but lost – the MHL semi-finals in all four seasons under their helm.
Zarubin will step onto a crowded Flames depth chart. Eight different goaltenders played games for Calgary’s AHL and ECHL affiliates last season. Zarubin will likely head to the latter to help ease his transition into the pro flight. His addition will provide more stability to Arsenii Sergeev as he moves into a full-time AHL role.
Byron Froese Expected To Retire
According to a report from Dmitry Storozhev of Championat, forward Byron Froese is expected to retire following Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s second consecutive Gagarin Cup championship. Froese has spent the past two years in the KHL after a successful 12-year career in North America.
Speaking to the outlet after Game 6, Froese said, “I don’t know, I need time. I’ll probably finish, but you can never say never. I just need some rest. I’ve only been home for about two months in the last two years. So I need time to think and discuss it with my family.”
Froese, 35, began his professional career in 2009 when he was selected with the 119th overall pick of that summer’s draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. After spending a few more years in the WHL with the Everett Silvertips and Red Deer Rebels, Froese made the jump to professional play for the 2011-12 season. For the first several years of his career, Froese split his time between the AHL and ECHL.
Failing to carve out a path in the Blackhawks organization, Froese signed as an AHL free agent with the Toronto Marlies and was signed to a standard NHL contract by the Toronto Maple Leafs a year later. Having his contract upgraded wasn’t a surprise, given Froese scored 18 goals and 42 points in 46 games with the Marlies with a +22 rating.
In Toronto, Froese enjoyed his longest stay in the NHL over a single season. During the 2014-15 campaign, Froese appeared in 56 games for the Maple Leafs, scoring two goals and five points with a -11 rating, averaging 12:38 of ice time per game. Next season, toward the trade deadline, Froese was included in the trade package to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the deal that sent Brian Boyle to Toronto.
That trade was the starting point of a nomadic portion of Froese’s career. From the 2017-18 campaign to the 2022-23 season, Froese played in the Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, and Vegas Golden Knights organizations. His last appearance in the NHL came during the 2023-24 season with the Golden Knights, when Froese registered one assist in 16 contests.
If this is the end, Froese will finish with seven goals and 20 points in 141 games with a -15 rating. Additionally, he’s credited with 142 goals and 312 points in 513 AHL contests, somehow finishing with a net-zero rating. Sadly, Froese never achieved champion status at any level in North America, but he can at least retire with two Gagarin Cup rings.
We at PHR congratulate Froese on carving out a career that spanned two continents over 15 seasons, and wish him the best on his next chapter if he does hang up his skates this summer.
Latest On Connor Zary
A welcome addition has returned to the Avalanche lineup, as Artturi Lehkonen is back tonight for Game 1 against Vegas as they’re missing superstar Cale Makar.
The last time the forward played, his Avalanche dropped Game 3 to Minnesota, at the time looking like a series which could have been much more interesting than it eventually became. While he was out Joel Kiviranta slotted in, a scratch tonight as he did not find the score sheet in limited usage.
Always a dependable role player who excels in every area, Lehkonen joins the second line, centered by Brock Nelson and opposite Nicolas Roy. Colorado handled business while he was away dealing with an upper-body injury, but with six points in seven playoff games, Lehkonen is a key factor who steps up consistently in the playoffs. This will be the third time the 30-year-old skates in the Conference Final, first doing so with Montreal, and in both times his team moved along to play for the Stanley Cup.
Elsewhere across the league:
- In an article where he looked into Calgary Flames trade candidates this summer, Anthony DiMarco of The Daily Faceoff wrote on forward Connor Zary’s unhappiness within his role, playing on the wing instead of down the middle. The 24-year-old, a first round selection back in 2020, on paper fits into the Flames plans as they move into what could be an aggressive rebuild over the next few years. However, posting just 25 points on the season, his development has stalled out in Alberta, raising the need for a fresh start elsewhere. There’s no shortage of similar players who offer a potential 1-1 swap, perhaps even a young defenseman for Calgary’s needs, but Zary’s $3.78MM AAV, carrying through the 2027-28 season, would be a factor in any discussion.
- The Vancouver Canucks reportedly rejected a team from interviewing their AHL head coach Manny Malhotra, according to TSN’s Mike Johnson on yesterday’s edition of OverDrive. After much speculation ended in an internal promotion for their general manager position (Ryan Johnson) it could be the same behind the bench, after Adam Foote was fired yesterday. Let go after just one year, of course it was a brutal season, but the decision suggests that the Canucks have somebody in mind who they’d not be willing to lose this summer. Assuming Johnson’s suspicions to be true, it very well might be the longtime NHLer who played as a Canuck from 2010-2013. An assistant at the NHL level with Vancouver as well as the Maple Leafs, Malhotra took over in AHL Abbotsford in 2024, leading them to their first Calder Cup title alongside Johnson. Connections not ending there, his son, Caleb Malhotra, is gathering noise as a possible selection of the team at third overall in the draft next month should they target a center.