AHL’s Charlotte Checkers Sign Aidan McDonough
The AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ top affiliate, have picked up left winger Aidan McDonough on a one-year deal, a team release states. McDonough will now try and work his way back up the professional ladder after being non-tendered by the Canucks last week.
Just a couple of years ago, McDonough looked to be a seventh-round steal for Vancouver. After selecting him in 2019, McDonough had a spectacular collegiate career at Northeastern that saw him produce 66 goals and 124 points in 124 games across four seasons while assuming the captaincy in his final season. He signed his entry-level deal to close the 2022-23 season and immediately made his NHL debut with the Nucks, scoring a goal and posting a -2 rating in six games while averaging 9:19 per contest.
But this past season was a tough one for the 6’2″, 201-lb winger. He didn’t crack the Canucks’ roster out of camp and was assigned to AHL Abbotsford, where he remained the entire campaign. His offensive numbers on the farm weren’t up to expectations, limited to only 11 goals and 19 points in 58 games. It was enough of a letdown that Vancouver’s front office decided they’d seen enough of the prospect, deciding not to issue him a qualifying offer and let the 24-year-old reach the UFA market early.
Now, it’s up to McDonough to produce well on his minor-league deal. While he’s playing in the Panthers organization, Florida doesn’t acquire his signing rights with this move, and he can still sign with any NHL club.
Panthers Sign Nate Schmidt
July 3: The Panthers confirmed a one-year deal for Schmidt on Wednesday.
July 2: The Florida Panthers are reportedly nearing a contract with defenseman Nate Schmidt, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press (Twitter link). The deal was confirmed by Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, who added that it will be a one-year, $800K contract (Twitter link).
This signing notably comes after Schmidt was bought out of the final season of his contract with the Winnipeg Jets. He was slated to count as $5.95MM against the salary cap – and was due $4.85MM in salary. He’ll take a substantial cut from that to join the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
The 32-year-old struggled badly last season, registering just two goals and 12 assists in 63 games in what was his worst offensive season since a one-year stay in Vancouver during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. Schmidt spent three seasons with the Jets, with the last two being some of the most difficult seasons of his 11-year NHL career. While his stay in Winnipeg was largely unsuccessful, he will be reunited with former head coach Paul Maurice in Florida which factored heavily in his decision.
While Schmidt’s offensive numbers have fallen off in recent years, his underlying numbers remained strong last year. Schmidt continued to post strong possession numbers with a CF% of 52.9% at even strength and a FF% of 54.1% (as per Hockey Reference). As good as those underlying numbers were, Schmidt struggled badly in the playoffs posting a -5 in just three games.
Panthers Sign Anton Lundell To Six-Year Deal
The Panthers announced the signing of RFA center Anton Lundell to a six-year deal. It’s reportedly a $5MM cap hit for the 2024 Stanley Cup champion, per PuckPedia, who also has the full breakdown of the deal.
Lundell, 22, has been a rock-steady third-line center for the Cats for the past three seasons. He’s yet to recapture the rookie form that placed him sixth in Calder Trophy voting and even earned him Selke Trophy consideration in 2021-22, though. He needed a new contract this summer after giving the Panthers three years of high-end performance on his entry-level contract, carrying a dirt-cheap $925K cap hit.
He wasn’t a major factor offensively in Florida’s 110-point campaign last year, recording 13 goals and 35 points in 78 games. But he’s been a possession monster during his time in the pros, consistently averaging over 15 minutes per game. With Lundell on the ice this season, the Panthers controlled 56.4% of shot attempts and 53.2% of expected goals, the latter being a quite respectable career-low.
Lundell’s playmaking exploded in the playoffs this season, though, tying for second on the team with 14 assists in 24 games. He added three goals for 17 points and had a +8 rating, the highest among Florida forwards, as he played a key depth role in helping the Panthers win their first championship in franchise history.
$5MM annually is a decent chunk of change, though, especially for a player who projects to serve as their third-line center for quite a while. Captain Aleksander Barkov remains signed through 2030, and while Sam Bennett‘s deal is up next summer, they’re already making significant progress on an extension. Lundell becomes their fourth highest-paid forward next season, only behind Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk.
That center logjam will likely keep his minutes about where they are, limiting his potential for offensive growth. But he’s still among the best third-line pivots in the league and likely still has a bit more room to grow, making him a high-value bet in the 2C spot down the line if Bennett’s deal ends up being a short-term one.
Lundell will be a UFA upon expiry in 2030, along with Barkov and Tkachuk. His $30MM total value makes it the largest RFA contract GM Bill Zito has handed out while at the helm in Florida.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Panthers Announce Multi-Year TV Deal With Scripps Sports
- Add the Panthers to the list of teams departing the Bally Sports family of regional sports networks. Much like the Coyotes and Golden Knights last season, they’ll be partnering with Scripps Sports to facilitate the local broadcast of their games next season and beyond, per a team announcement yesterday.
Minor Free Agent Signings: Atlantic Division
With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Atlantic Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.
Boston Bruins
F Cole Koepke (one year)
D Jordan Oesterle (two years)
D Billy Sweezey (two years)
F Riley Tufte (one year)
F Jeffrey Viel (one year)
Buffalo Sabres
F Joshua Dunne (two years)
F Mason Jobst (one year)
F Brett Murray (one year)
D Jack Rathbone (one year)
G Felix Sandström (one year)
Detroit Red Wings
F Sheldon Dries (two years)
F Joe Snively (one year)
Florida Panthers
F Rasmus Asplund (one year)
Montreal Canadiens
none
Ottawa Senators
D Jeremy Davies (one year)
F Hayden Hodgson (one year)
F Garrett Pilon (two years)
D Filip Roos (one year)
Tampa Bay Lightning
D Derrick Pouliot (one year)
D Steven Santini (one year)
F Jesse Ylönen (one year)
Toronto Maple Leafs
none
Panthers Sign Jesper Boqvist, Chris Driedger
The Panthers have dipped their toes into the unqualified RFA market, inking former Bruins center Jesper Boqvist to a one-year deal, per a team announcement. Financial details weren’t disclosed. They’re also bringing back netminder Chris Driedger to the organization on a one-year deal, providing some competition for the backup role with Spencer Knight.
Boqvist, 25, was let go by Boston after recording six goals and 14 points in 47 games last year with a +12 rating. It’s his second straight year not receiving a qualifying offer. He was non-tendered by the Devils in 2023 as well.
The 2017 second-round pick has proven to be somewhat of a solid tertiary scorer, even if he’s been consistently buried in the lineup and is likely a fourth-line piece at his peak. He’s not a good option at center – he really struggles to win draws (36.1 FOW%), but he is an effective winger with good possession numbers over the past two seasons. That makes him a decent replacement for some of the depth forwards Florida lost on the open market today, such as Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Stenlund.
Driedger, meanwhile, could land his first stable NHL role in a while if he outperforms Knight in training camp. He was the Kraken’s expansion draft selection from Florida in 2021, but the three-year, $10.5MM extension he immediately signed in Seattle didn’t work out. Limited significantly by injuries in his first season, he ended up spending the back half of the deal almost exclusively in the minors on assignment to AHL Coachella Valley, where he’s backstopped the Firebirds to back-to-back Calder Cup Finals. His last extended NHL action with Seattle in 2021-22 wasn’t great, posting a .899 SV% and 2.96 GAA with one shutout in 27 games played.
However, the year prior saw him serve as one of the better backups in the league with Florida, tossing up a .927 SV% in 23 appearances. That’s eerily similar to the type of elite pinch-hitting performance they got from Anthony Stolarz last year, who moved onto the Maple Leafs on a two-year deal today. The Panthers will take a low-risk bet that Driedger can recapture the magic he last had in South Florida.
Panthers Sign Tomas Nosek, A.J. Greer
Addressing depth in their forward core, Darren Dreger of TSN reports the Florida Panthers have signed free agent forward Tomas Nosek to a one-year, $775K contract. They’ve also inked forward A.J. Greer to a two-year deal, David Dwork of The Hockey News reports. That one carries an $850K cap hit, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
Nosek came to New Jersey with the hopes that he’d become a key fourth-line center for them. Instead, he dealt with four separate injuries during the season, limiting him to just 36 games, his lowest total since the 2016-17 campaign. In those appearances, the 31-year-old managed just two goals and four assists in a little under 12 minutes per game.
When healthy, Nosek is a consistently above-average player at the faceoff dot who can kill penalties, elements that made him appealing to Florida. He’ll be asked to fill the void created by Kevin Stenlund who inked a two-year deal with Utah on Monday.
As for Greer, he comes over from Calgary to fill the fourth line energy role created by the departure of Ryan Lomberg who coincidentally signed a two-year deal with the Flames. Greer’s price tag is much more affordable for the Panthers, however, given their salary structure.
The 27-year-old played in 59 games last season, recording six goals and six assists along with 100 hits while averaging a little under nine minutes a night. For his career, Greer has 32 points and 205 penalty minutes in 167 NHL appearances between four different organizations.
Free Agent Rumors: Stamkos, Bennett, Verhaeghe, Stolarz, Ekman-Larsson, Grzelcyk, Martinez
The Devils are in the market for a top-six forward today, and they may end up as one of the finalists for Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, per ESPN’s Kevin Weekes.
They’ll be one of many teams making Stamkos’ agent’s phone ring off the hook today. TSN’s Bob McKenzie also expects the Ducks, Hurricanes, Predators and Red Wings to make aggressive pushes for the future Hall-of-Fame forward.
A return to Tampa Bay is extremely unlikely for Stamkos, whose 555 career goals and 1,082 games played have all come in a Lightning uniform. They weren’t close to an extension as of last weekend, and their signing of top UFA left winger Jake Guentzel to a seven-year, $63MM deal this morning has all but completely boxed him out.
More from around the Eastern Conference amid an already busy morning:
- The Panthers are working hard on extensions for forwards Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe as they become eligible to sign at 11 a.m. CT today, sources tell David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. They’ve already gotten one big piece of business done today by keeping Sam Reinhart away from the open market on an eight-year, $69MM deal, but Bennett and Verhaeghe are two crucial pieces of their top-six forward group that remain unsigned past next season. It’s unclear what these deals may look like, but Reinhart taking a considerable discount on market value to remain in South Florida is surely a good indicator that Panthers GM Bill Zito can get them locked into deals that won’t break the bank.
- TSN’s Darren Dreger adds the Panthers are also trying to re-sign UFA netminder Anthony Stolarz, but they have some competition. The Blackhawks and Maple Leafs are also in the mix for the veteran’s services. While a career backup, he’s one of the best options on the market in a UFA class devoid of starters. He was electric when used in Florida last year, posting a .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA in 27 appearances.
- After making Chris Tanev‘s six-year deal official, expect the Leafs to add another veteran blue liner in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dreger says. OEL is coming off a Stanley Cup win in Florida after putting up 32 points in 80 regular-season games, averaging 18:24 per night. He’d likely anchor a third pairing in Toronto on the left side behind Morgan Rielly and Jake McCabe.
- The Penguins are among the teams linked to defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reports. Grzelcyk is likely on his way out of Boston after spending the entirety of his eight-year, 445-game career there. He had 11 points and a +13 rating in 63 games last season while logging 17:36 per night.
- Alec Martinez could continue his NHL career with the Blackhawks on a one-year deal, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The three-time Cup winner fell down the Golden Knights’ depth chart last year, limited to 55 games due to injuries and healthy scratches. He still managed 17 points, though, his most offense in three years, but had a -2 rating while averaging 19:03 per game.
Panthers Re-Sign Dmitry Kulikov To Four-Year Extension
The Florida Panthers have re-signed defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to a four-year, $4.6MM contract extension, per Bob McKenzie of TSN (Twitter link). The deal carries an annual cap hit of $1.15MM.
Kulikov had a storybook return to the Panthers organization this season. He scored just one goal and 20 points in 76 games, adding 63 penalty minutes, and a +15. He didn’t add any scoring in the postseason, though he still appeared in 22 of the team’s 24 postseason games. And still, Kulikov concluded the year by lifting the Stanley Cup with the club that drafted him 15 years ago.
Florida was Kulikov’s home for the first seven years of his career, stepping into the NHL immediately after being drafted 14th overall in the 2009 NHL Draft. He was drafted following a QMJHL championship-winning season with the Drummondville Voltigeurs and carried his impactful lineup role into the pros, scoring 16 points in 68 games as a rookie. Kulikov found a stout role as a defensive defender early in his career that he hasn’t let go of since, even as he’s gone on to play 948 career games with eight different clubs.
That consistent impact is beginning to slow down as Kulikov approaches 34, with his role now much more centered around the bottom pairing. But it’s a role that he nonetheless serves well, and one that he’ll return to with Florida next season – especially following the departure of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has chosen to test free agency.
Panthers, Sam Reinhart Agree To Eight-Year Deal
8:33 a.m.: Florida has made Reinhart’s extension official.
6:56 a.m.: The Panthers managed to get top pending UFA right winger Sam Reinhart signed to a max-term, eight-year extension before last night’s midnight ET deadline, per multiple reports (including Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic). As such, last year’s 57-goal man is off the market and will stay with the defending Stanley Cup champions through the 2031-32 season. The deal will carry an annual cap hit of $8.625MM, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
They ran close to the deadline, but Florida has found a way to sign Reinhart to the maximum extension after a career-defining year on the team’s top line. Reinhart chased history, with his 57 goals the most scored by any Panther in the club’s history, save for Pavel Bure. Reinhart added 37 assists, bringing his scoring up to a career-high 94 points in 82 games. The totals trump his previous career-high of 82 points – set during his first year with the Panthers in 2021-22. But it wasn’t just all offense, as Reinhart also finished fourth in Selke Trophy voting – the first behind finalists Aleksander Barkov, Jordan Staal, and Auston Matthews.
Reinhart achieved his scoring on the back of fantastic shooting any time he came close to the slot. That made him all the more dangerous when he had extra space on the power play, with Reinhart scoring a league-leading 27 goals on the man advantage this year. He kept things hot in the postseason, too, with nine goals and 15 points in 22 games – one more goal and assist than he managed in 21 playoff games last year.
Florida acquired Reinhart’s rights in July of 2021, trading away the rights to goaltender Devon Levi and the first-round selection used on Jiri Kulich. The deal, most notably, freed Reinhart from a middling Sabres team. Reinhart had found success in Buffalo, scoring 20 goals in five of his six seasons with the Sabres and flirting with the 50-point mark. But with little support around him, Reinhart was tasked with the duties of play-driving and even taking faceoffs, pulling him away from the high-tempo offense he clearly prefers.
That role has changed with the Panthers, who have been much more content to let Reinhart play a shoot-first game from the wing. That’s certainly helped along by Florida’s much-improved center depth, headlined by the incredibly quick and always-responsible Barkov. The change has clearly inspired something within Reinhart, who’s posted 121 goals and 243 points across 242 games with the Panthers.
Reinhart now receives the contract of a lineup staple, though surprisingly avoiding the illustrious $9MM figure that many top players are seeking. Only 11 players have scored 50 or more goals in the last five seasons. Of them, Chris Kreider is the only other player not making at least $9MM. He instead carries a very team-friendly $6.5MM cap hit through the next three seasons. Florida couldn’t get so lucky to sign Reinhart to that kind of deal, but they’ll come close by keeping him under $8.75MM.
With a new deal in place, Reinhart is destined for a starring role in Florida for as long as he can hold onto it. Meanwhile, the team will now enter the open market with $10.892MM in cap space. They still need to re-sign restricted free agents Anton Lundell and Josh Mahura – and will still sit three forwards and one defender shy after those deals. That could set them up for a few meager additions on the open market, though strained cap space could have Florida instead looking to promote players like Mackie Samoskevich, Rasmus Asplund, or Michael Benning.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.