Golden Knights Sign Lukas Cormier
The Vegas Golden Knights have signed defenseman Lukas Cormier to one-year contract. Financial terms of the deal haven’t yet been disclosed. Cormier’s last contract was a three-year, $2.38MM entry-level contract signed in December of 2020. That deal qualified for a two-year slide, allowing Cormier to remain under contract through the 2024-25 season.
Cormier joined the Vegas organization in the third-round of the 2020 NHL Draft, coming off a strong season with the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. He signed his first pro contract two months after the draft, but continued on with Charlottetown for the next two seasons. In total, Cormier racked up 207 points across 208 junior games, including 81 points in 62 games of the 2021-22 season. That same year, Cormier joined Team Canada for the 2022 World Junior Championship, where he scored five points in seven games.
Cormier joined the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights in the following season. He recorded 35 points, 44 penalty minutes, and a minus-12 through 62 games in his rookie year. That performance was enough to show that Cormier’s puck-moving ability could translate to the pro flight. He continued to perform with 20 points in 58 games of the 2023-24 season. He also received the first two games of his NHL career that year, and recorded one assist. Cormier seemed on track to continue carving away a path to the show, until news of an undisclosed off-season injury delayed the start of his 2024-25 season to March. He managed nine points in 19 games upon returning.
The Golden Knights will bet that Cormier hasn’t lost a step due to injury with a one-year extension. That will be his runway to earning a chance at NHL minutes, and another contract when he reenters restricted-free agency next summer.
Snapshots: Nugent-Hopkins, Malkin, Marner
Edmonton Oilers centerman Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is expected to stick in the lineup for Game 6 despite missing Monday’s practice, head coach Kris Knoblauch told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. His off-day will instead be chalked up to rest, after Nugent-Hopkins appeared in 20 minutes of action in Game 5.
Nugent-Hopkins appeared in 24 minutes of ice time and scored two points in Edmonton’s 5-4 win over Florida in Game 4. He ranks third on the Oilers’ offense in ice time (19:44) and postseason scoring (20 points in 21 games) behind only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. It’s the expected pecking order, but Nugent-Hopkins’ role has still been a crucial part of Edmonton’s postseason success. They’ll rest assured knowing he’s expected to appear in a must-win game on Tuesday.
Other notes from around the league:
- Retirement winds are beginning to blow around Pittsburgh Penguins legend Evgeni Malkin. It remains unclear exactly when the Russian forward is expecting to retire, though sources around the team say Pittsburgh is unlikely to offer him a new contract next summer, per Josh Yohe of The Athletic. Malkin will enter unrestricted free agency after the 2025-26 season after riding out a four-year, $24.4MM contract. He posted the lowest scoring pace of his career this season, with 50 points in 68 games equating to 0.74 points-per-game. That mark surpassed his previous career-low of 0.82 set last season, when he scored 27 goals and 67 points in 82 games. Those numbers are still mighty impressive, and could earn Malkin a few more years even as he slows down. He could also be a candidate to leave the NHL with a few good years left, and finish his playing career in Russia’s KHL. Mettalurg Magnitogorsk continue to hold Malkin’s KHL rights. He previously appeared in 169 games and scored 156 points with the club.
- Top free agent Mitch Marner may take his time deciding on a new landing spot when the market opens on July 1st, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared on his latest 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman adds that Marner could have plans to establish meetings throughout multiple cities before he signs his next deal. Negotiations for Marner’s last contract – a six-year, $65.41MM deal signed in 2019 – notoriously dragged on through September. He posted multiple career-years on the deal, including breaking the century mark for the first time this season with 102 points in 81 games. Marner is likely to rival records with a lengthy and expensive deal this season. Taking time to ensure it’s with the right fit will be a helpful bit of due diligence.
Aaron Ekblad Hoping To Stay With Panthers
While Aaron Ekblad and the Florida Panthers are in the midst of their second consecutive Stanley Cup run, the star defenseman isn’t shying away from thinking about his future with the franchise.
According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the pending unrestricted free agent has expressed strong interest in resigning with the Panthers.
“I live and breathe for the Florida Panthers. I bleed for the Florida Panthers. I’ve given my body and everything to this team, and I want to keep doing it… forever, for as long as they’ll let me come to the rink,” he said.
Ekblad has spent his entire 11-year career in Florida after being selected first overall by the team in the 2014 draft. As an 18-year-old, Ekblad burst onto the scene in his rookie season, posting 12 goals and 29 points on his way to the Calder Memorial Trophy. In the years since, he has established himself among the elite defenders in the league. Through 732 career games, Ekblad has posted 380 points, 793 blocked shots, and 839 hits.
He is second all-time in games played for the franchise (behind teammate Aleksander Barkov), 10th in goals, third in assists, fifth in points, third in plus/minus rating, third in shots on goal, and first in defensive point shares.
While Ekblad is coming off of an odd season that included injuries and a 20-game suspension for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance (that he said he unknowingly took while recovering from his injuries), Ekblad still posted 33 points in 56 games.
With a projected $19 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), the Panthers should have the flexibility to bring their alternate captain back into the fold. However, they must also address the futures of several other key pending free agents, including Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Tomas Nosek. Ekblad’s expiring eight-year contract carried a $7.5 million AAV.
Brock Nelson Could Explore Extension With Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche won a sweepstakes for veteran winger Brock Nelson at this year’s Trade Deadline. It took a massive trade package that included top prospect Calum Ritchie and a first-round draft pick, but Colorado was able to convince both Nelson and the New York Islanders’ brass to make the move – bringing an end to Nelson’s 12-year tenure with the Islanders. He flashed strong play as he rounded out the regular season, netting 13 points in 19 games with Colorado, but then recorded no goals and four assists in the club’s seven playoff games. The sour end to the season seemed to set Nelson up to enter unrestricted free agency this summer. But with June rolling around, mutual interest in signing an extension is beginning to grow, shares David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Re-signing Nelson would go far in supporting Colorado’s 2025-26 campaign. Not only would it give the team a chance to reaffirm their blockbuster swap at the deadline, but Nelson would also nicely meet the team’s need for depth at left-wing. The Avalanche have been void of a consistent, top-six left-winger as captain Gabriel Landeskog and vet Jonathan Drouin battled routine injuries over the last few seasons. Landeskog played in his first games since 2022 during this year’s postseason and managed an impressive four points in five games – but the extent of his availability for next season is still hard to gauge. The same can be said for Drouin, who posted another strong year – 37 points in 43 games – with Colorado but is currently set to enter unrestricted free agency this summer.
Nelson would be the perfect player to hedge Colorado’s bets on the open market. Combining his statlines from New York and Colorado, Nelson managed 26 goals and 56 points in 80 games this season – an impressive mark for a 33-year-old wing. Even more notable is the fact that 2024-25 marked a down year for Nelson – and the first since the shortened 2020-21 season that he didn’t challenge a 35-goal season. He found a new groove with New York over the last few years, and posted a career-high 75 points in 82 games as recently as 2022-23. Nelson also has ample playoff experience and – save for his performances this year – always seems to come through in the clutch. He’s scored 54 points, split evenly, in 85 playoff games over the course of his career.
The downside of a new deal will inevitably be Nelson’s price tag. He just wrapped up a six-year, $36MM contract originally signed in New York – and is almost certainly due for a pay raise after netting three seasons near or above 60 points in just the last four years. He’s projected to earn up to a three-year, $21MM extension on his next deal by CapWages. An annual cap hit of $7MM would take up nearly all of Colorado’s $8.7MM in available cap space this summer, and could limit the team’s ability to re-sign their six other pending-UFAs. That could require Colorado to get savvy in negotiations, and may potentially push Nelson closer to the door as he anticipates getting to choose a home away from New York for the first time in his career.
Kings Notes: Jeannot, Kopitar, Lewis, Bergevin
The Los Angeles Kings held exit interviews on Monday, providing a chance for many players to share their final thoughts on this year and first impressions of next season. For forward Tanner Jeannot, it was a chance to share more about the injury that held him out of the final 19 games of the season. Jeannot told with Kings insider Zach Dooley, that he sustained a groin injury and was doing all he could to make a return during the first round. It appeared to be a non-contact injury suffered when he went down to block a shot in the Kings’ March 25th win over the New York Rangers.
Jeannot is one of four Kings forwards set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer. He’ll be coming off a two-year, $5.33MM contract originally signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Los Angeles reeled him in last summer for a second-round and fourth-round draft pick. Jeannot delivered 13 points, 89 penalty minutes, and 11 minutes of average ice time through 67 games. That’s likely not strong enough to earn a raise over his $2.67MM cap hit this season. But L.A. seemed to miss his physical presence – and team-leading 211 hits in the regular season – in their first-round loss to the Edmonton Oilers. That could make him a candidate for a low-cost deal as the Kings look to build a team that can run deep into the playoffs.
Other notes out of Los Angeles:
- Kings captain Anze Kopitar affirmed his desire to play out the final year of his contract next season, per John Hoven of Mayors Manor. It will be Kopitar’s age-38 season. He still looked in prime form this year, netting 21 goals and 67 points. It was his third consecutive season of netting at least 20 goals and 65 points – though he did cross the 70-point mark in the other two. With confirmation of one more season, Kopitar will be on pace to play his 1,500th career game with the Los Angeles Kings – which will make him only the ninth player to play so long with one club, assuming Alex Ovechkin also reaches 1,500 with the Washington Capitals. Kopitar managed nine points and 21:30 in average ice time over the Kings’ six playoff games – and will now return as the Kings’ steady leader next year.
- Trevor Lewis also expressed his desire to continue his career for another year, per Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period. Lewis will have to find that year on the open market, after the conclusion of a one-year, $800K extension with the Kings. He recorded 12 points in 60 games while operating from a fourth-line role. It was a quiet season that could be hard to market in free agency, though Lewis would become just the sixth King to appear in 15 or more seasons with the club with one more year. It will likely only cost Los Angeles a league-minimum contract to honor that milestone, if they choose to do so.
- Bernstein also shared that he believes Marc Bergevin could be in the race for the Kings vacant general manager role. Los Angeles hired Bergevin as a special advisor soon after the Montreal Canadiens fired him from his general manager role in 2021. Bergevin served 10 years managing the Canadiens before then. He led the team to six playoff appearances and one Stanley Cup Final loss in 2022. Bergevin wasn’t a stranger to controversy over his time in Montreal, whether it be for his management decisions or personality clashes. But with four years of adjusting to the Kings’ innerworkings, and a decade of experience, his resume for the role could be pretty strong against what Los Angeles could find on the open market.
Ducks Linked To David Carle, Jay Woodcroft, Joel Quenneville
Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek is in the midst of his second search for a head coach after just his third full season in the club’s top role. After failed tenures with Dallas Eakins and Greg Cronin, Verbeek is pulling out all of the stops. Anaheim reportedly interviewed top coaching prospect David Carle and former Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft recently, and plan to also hold a second interview with record-holding head coach Joel Quenneville, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun added that the trio of heavy-hitters aren’t the only names on Anaheim’s list.
Whoever lands in the Ducks’ head coaching vacancy will have one clear goal for next season: making the postseason. Verbeek put heavy emphasis on that goal in Anaheim’s final press conference of the season, and said he would be aggressive in the coaching circuit and free agency to achieve that goal. The Ducks haven’t made the postseason since 2018, when they closed a six-year run of playoff berths by getting swept by the San Jose Sharks. That Ducks squad leaned on clearly aged veterans – including a 32-year-old Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and a 33-year-old Ryan Kesler. Kesler retired and Perry left after the subsequent season, while Getzlaf hung up the skates in 2022. Those departures thrust the Ducks into a rebuild that Verbeek hopes to end with a return to the playoffs in 2026.
Anaheim will have some dazzling coaching candidates to choose from. Leading the pack is the coach with the second-most wins in NHL history. Quenneville hasn’t been deemed as a clear front-runner for the vacancy, but a second interview is a mighty bode of confidence for a man who was barred from coaching from 2021 to 2024, due to his involvement in assault allegations from the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. There was only one coaching vacancy by the time Quenneville was reinstated late last summer, and he reportedly wasn’t considered for the role. That makes attention from Anaheim particularly notable, marking Quenneville’s first chance to prove himself after not coaching a full, 82-game season since 2019-20. He won three Stanley Cups with the dynasty-era Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
Two strong candidates will headline the competition for Quenneville’s bid. Carle has gained plenty of acclaim from the hockey world after leading the University of Denver to two national championships in 2022 and 2024. Those rings have been intercut by a conference final loss in 2023 and a frozen four loss this season. He also won back-to-back World Juniors gold medals in each of the last two seasons. Carle has staked his claim as one of the most accomplished coaches in college hockey – a remarkable feat considering he is still only 35-years-old, with just seven years of head coach experience under his belt. Carle did withdraw his name from consideration for the Chicago Blackhawks coaching vacancy, and is expected to return to the Denver Pioneers next season – but a strong pitch could convince the burgeoning coach to move to Southern California.
Woodcroft doesn’t have the multiple years of championship pedigree of Quenneville and Carle, though he did lead the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to a Calder Cup in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. He was promoted to the NHL partway through the following season and led the Oilers to a pair of playoff berths before being axed after a 3-9-1 start to the 2023-24 season. He is another young head coaching candidate with 20 years of experience behind pro benches. That could serve him well as Anaheim looks to strike a balance between winning now and building for their future.
Wild Recall David Jiricek, Reassign Two
The Minnesota Wild have recalled defenseman David Jiricek and reassigned forwards Marat Khusnutdinov and Liam Ohgren. The moves clear space for winger Gustav Nyquist, who Minnesota acquired from the Nashville Predators for a second-round pick on Saturday morning.
Jiricek’s recall comes after news that both Zach Bogosian and Jonas Brodin are banged up. Bogosian sat out of Minnesota’s Friday game with a lower-body injury, per NHL.com’s Joe Smith. Brodin played just 15:47 of the outing, and his availability remains up in the air per Michael Russo of The Athletic.
Jiricek will be the beneficiary of any open minutes, after he recorded his first point in seven AHL games on Friday. He’s struggled to find a consistent rut in the Wild organization, with two points in six NHL games and six points in 26 AHL games. The Wild acquired Jiricek from the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 30th, sending Daemon Hunt and three draft picks the other way. Jiricek is in his third season in North America, and his cold scoring has dragged through every year. He has 66 points in 114 career AHL games, and 13 points in 59 NHL games.
The Wild’s swap of forwards in this mix might not sway their scoring a ton. Ohgren and Khusnutdinov have combined for just four points across their last 10 games. Ohgren has often served as Minnesota’s extra forward, with just four points in 23 games this season. Khusnutdinov has served a hardier role as the fourth-line center, but has just seven points in 57 games. Nyquist has confidently outscored both youngster in his time with Nashville – netting 21 points in 57 games – but he’s managed just one assist in his last 10 NHL games.
Nyquist had a stint with the Wild during the 2022-23 season as well. He scored five points in three games on that stint, but an upper-body injury kept him from stepping into the lineup more before hitting unrestricted free agency. With these moves, Minnesota has carved out the lineup spot needed to give Nyquist a truer look this time around.
Wild Intend To Outbid Teams On Kirill Kaprizov
Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold spoke this week about the future of star forward Kirill Kaprizov saying that the Wild will offer more money and term than any other team may offer in free agency when the former Calder Trophy winner is eligible for an extension next summer (as per Michael Russo of The Athletic). Kaprizov has registered three straight 40-goal seasons and will certainly hit the jackpot whenever he does put pen to paper on his next deal. Whether that is with Minnesota or not remains to be seen, but according to Leipold, that is certainly the Wild’s intention.
Leipold is aware that Kaprizov’s focus is on winning, and while the Wild have been a perennial playoff contender for the past decade (last year aside), the team hasn’t had much playoff success to speak of. Minnesota hasn’t made it out of the first round of the playoffs since 2014-15 and will have their work cut out for them if they want to prove to their 27-year-old star that they are serious about winning.
The Wild do have an opening though, and it begins next summer when the pain of the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyout begins to dwindle. This season the Wild are dealing with $14.7MM in dead money on their salary cap, but next year that dead money drops to just $1.7MM from 2025-29. That reduction opens the door for Minnesota to have more than $20MM in cap space to make moves to improve their team, and given the list of potential free agents next summer the Wild could be positioned to make a splash. Whether or not that will entice Kaprizov to sign long-term remains to be seen, but the Wild appear set to make the best possible push that they can with Leipold acknowledging that the team might have to give out large signing bonuses, something they’ve been hesitant to do in recent years.
The other variable that will work in Minnesota’s favor is that they can offer an eighth year on a long-term contract and will be the only team positioned to do so as other teams will only have the option to offer seven-year contracts in unrestricted free agency.
Canucks Testing Goalie Market Amid Thatcher Demko’s Injury
The Canucks are on the hunt for some short-term goalie help on the trade and UFA market, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal said on Sportsnet 650 Tuesday. That’s because star starter Thatcher Demko is healing slower than expected from the knee injury he sustained early in their first-round series against the Predators and still isn’t 100%, per Dhaliwal.
Dhaliwal said it’s unclear if Demko has undergone surgery to address the knee injury, and Vancouver has been concerned about the pace of his rehab as far back as the draft in June.
This storyline comes after information about Demko’s return timeline varied wildly throughout the postseason. Multiple reports stated he’d only be out for one series, while others said he would be shut down for the season. The team never officially ruled him out, instead continuously listing him as week-to-week, but he never did return to the lineup after recording a win in Game 1 against the Predators.
The Canucks were also rumored to be sniffing around for a veteran name to supplement their crease and provide competition for emerging youngster Arturs Silovs around the draft and free agency, but that never came to fruition. Last year’s No. 2 option, Casey DeSmith, wasn’t brought back and signed a three-year deal with the Stars. Vancouver’s only notable offseason addition between the pipes was former Golden Knights prospect Jiri Patera, who’s meant as a No. 3/4 option behind Silovs.
Those rumblings will get louder now with Demko’s status uncertain. The most clear-cut addition for the Canucks would be Kevin Lankinen, the top goalie left on the UFA market. His time as a Predator ended at the hands of Vancouver last season, and he remains unsigned after Nashville opted to sign Scott Wedgewood to replace him as Juuse Saros‘ backup. The 29-year-old Finn was an above-average backup during his two years in Tennessee but was sparsely used, posting a 20-14-1 record and .912 SV% in 35 starts and eight relief appearances. Still, he’d be a cheap pickup, certainly not more than the $2MM he made last year after waiting for this late into August to sign.
Some other notable veteran UFA options include Martin Jones and Antti Raanta, but both are significantly older than Lankinen and have a much higher potential for age-related regression. Jones is coming off a resurgent year as the third-stringer for the Maple Leafs, but Raanta’s typically strong but injury-plagued play collapsed last season with a .872 SV% in 24 games for the Hurricanes.
On the trade market, funnily enough, Nashville might be one of their first calls. Top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov has reportedly submitted a trade request to the club, but it’s a situation that could potentially be resolved if they decided to flip Scott Wedgewood, who signed a two-year, $3MM contract with the club on July 1st. He’s spent the last three seasons in the Dallas Stars organization, though he sat out much of the 2021-22 campaign. Wedgewood has played in 53 games over the two seasons since, posting 15 wins and a collective .907 save percentage behind Jake Oettinger. He’s poised to fill the same role in Nashville – ceding a majority of starts to a proven starter and limiting Askarov’s chance at the NHL ice time he’s searching for. With Nashville facing a formal trade request from one of the league’s top goalie prospects, the Canucks could benefit from timing, and reel in another hardy backup to help fill time before Demko’s return – a situation akin to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s platooning while Andrei Vasilevskiy missed time last season.
The Canucks may be able to offer that upside in the short-term, but it’ll be hard to move too far from Demko, who’s risen to prominency as he’s taken over Vancouver’s top role. That growth peaked this season, with Demko ranking second in Vezina Trophy after posting a .918 through 51 appearances. He’s signed at a $5MM cap hit through the next two seasons and is likely to hang onto Vancouver’s starting crease through any new additions. That strings out a tight-rope the Canucks will need to walk, as they make the decision between a lofty goalie trade, a free agent signing, or leaning on unproven backups.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Intends To Play In 2024-25
Last season was a particularly quiet one for UFA center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare with his usage being by far the lowest of his ten-year NHL career. Despite that, the 39-year-old told Norran’s Mille Dybro that he intends to play in the NHL for at least one more year.
Bellemare took a long time to come to North America, not making his NHL debut until his age-29 season. Before that, he spent time in both France and Sweden with a strong showing at the 2014 World Championship helping to secure him a contract with Philadelphia.
Since then, Bellemare has played in 700 games at the top level between five organizations, almost exclusively being deployed in a fourth-line checking role. He has 64 goals and 74 assists to his name while winning 51.5% of his faceoffs over that time. Just seven of those points came in 2023-24, however, as he was limited to just 40 games, missing time with a leg injury while also being a somewhat frequent healthy scratch.
Accordingly, it’s not a big surprise that Bellemare remains unsigned at this point in free agency. A player in his situation is likelier to have to go the PTO route in September over landing a guaranteed contract in August. Fortunately for him, his type of profile is one that quite a few teams will often look at PTOs to potentially fill so he shouldn’t have much difficulty securing one.
Bellemare is expected to play in the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the end of the month so it wouldn’t be surprising for any sort of contractual agreement to come until after that point in time; if he signed early, his new team might prefer he not play.
Alternatively, if he isn’t able to get an NHL contract in the fall, Bellemare indicated that he wouldn’t rule out a return to SHL Skelleftea. He is currently training there and spent his last five international seasons with them before coming to the NHL. Returning to finish his playing career there would be somewhat of a full-circle moment for Bellemare but for now, landing another deal at the top level is the priority.