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CHL Notes: Ritchie, Mrsic, Gardiner, Ekberg

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A blockbuster trade in the Western Hockey League got across the finish line today involving a pair of prospects taken in this year’s draft. The Medicine Hat Tigers have picked up Wild second-rounder Ryder Ritchie from the Prince Albert Raiders, per a team announcement, sending Blues fourth-rounder Tomas Mrsic and draft picks the other way.

Ritchie, who just turned 18 earlier this month, was a consensus late first/early second-round prospect but fell to Minnesota at No. 45. The 6’1″, 176-lb right-winger was the WHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2022-23 and continued to perform well last season without much of a supporting cast in Prince Albert. Injuries limited him to 47 games on the season, but he still showed out with 19 goals, 25 assists, 44 points, and a -1 rating. He closed out the campaign on a high note, scoring four goals and four assists in seven games while winning gold with Canada at the U18 World Juniors. In Medicine Hat, the Calgary native will likely star on a first line centered by 2024 fourth-overall pick Cayden Lindstrom and projected 2026 first-overall selection Gavin McKenna at left wing.

Mrsic isn’t an afterthought in this deal, though. The 6’0″, 170-lb sniper can play all three forward positions and went within his expected range to the Blues at No. 113. He fell just short of a point per game on a strong Tigers team last season, posting 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points in 63 games – fourth on the team. Both players are likely due for another pair of seasons in juniors before turning pro with their respective NHL clubs in 2026-27.

Some other notable Canadian Hockey League moves today:

  • The Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts continue to be a popular destination for Stars prospects this summer, today acquiring center Brad Gardiner from the Ottawa 67’s for a quartet of draft picks. Gardiner, 19, was a Dallas third-rounder in 2023 and had 49 points in 67 games with the 67’s last season. Barrie selected 2024 Stars first-round pick Emil Hemming in this year’s CHL Import Draft and got him inked to an agreement last month, bringing him over to juniors from his native Finland. A strong season with the Colts will be crucial for Gardiner, who risks becoming a free agent if the Stars don’t sign him by June 1, 2025.
  • The 67’s will replace some of Gardiner’s roles with top 2025 draft-eligible prospect Filip Ekberg, who the team confirmed today has signed a Scholarship and Development Agreement. Ekberg, 17, is a likely late first-round selection in next year’s draft after posting 29 points in 33 games last year in his native Sweden with Almtuna IS’ U20 club. The left winger stands at 5’10” and 168 lbs and won a bronze medal with Sweden at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup earlier this month.

Wild Unlikely To Move Gustavsson; Wallstedt Could Be Shuffled To AHL At Times

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After re-signing Marc-Andre Fleury and indicating that they’d like Jesper Wallstedt to see more NHL action in 2024-25, it looked as if Filip Gustavsson was set to be on the move this summer.  That hasn’t happened as of yet and Joe Smith of The Athletic notes (subscription link) that it appears that Gustavsson will now be sticking around, meaning that Minnesota will be juggling three goalies at times when they want Wallstedt to get a look.  Gustavsson is coming off a tough year, one that saw him post a 3.06 GAA with a .899 SV% in 45 games after putting up 2.10 and .931 respectively in 2022-23.  The Wild’s cap situation will make it tricky to carry three goalies; GM Bill Guerin acknowledged that Wallstedt could be in a “hybrid” situation that sees him spend time with Minnesota and AHL Iowa as a result.

West Notes: Mercer, Rantanen, Oilers

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The Wild have invited undrafted free agent goalie Riley Mercer to next month’s rookie camp, reports Mike Morreale of NHL.com. Mercer, the younger brother of Devils RFA forward Dawson Mercer, was passed over in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 drafts but came into his own in his final season of junior hockey last year with the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs.

The 20-year-old Newfoundland native took over as the Voltigeurs’ starter for the first time in 2023-24, posting a 2.83 GAA and .905 SV% with two shutouts and a 31-13-4 record in 49 appearances. But he erupted in the playoffs, taking over with a shining 1.89 GAA and .934 SV% in 19 games as Drummondville won the QMJHL championship.

Mercer, who stands at 6’2″ and 205 lbs, hasn’t inked a professional contract for this season. He’s technically eligible to return to the Voltigeurs for an overage season, but CHL clubs are limited to three overagers on their roster at any given time and tend not to use those slots on goaltenders.

An entry-level contract with the Wild out of rookie camp is impossible but unlikely. However, a decent showing could earn him a deal with their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, or their ECHL affiliate, the Iowa Heartlanders. It would be a tough numbers game, though, as the organization has seven goalies under contract across the three leagues already (five NHL deals, one AHL deal, and one ECHL deal).

More out of the Western Conference today:

  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman chimed into the summer discourse today with a quick-hit edition of his “32 Thoughts” podcast, mentioning, among other topics, that there’s a strong sense around the league that the Avalanche and Mikko Rantanen won’t have any issues coming to terms on an extension. “You start to do your planning a year out,” Friedman said. “They’re starting to take Draisaitl off their boards because they think that’s going to get done in Edmonton, and I had some teams tell me they don’t have any reason to believe, right now, that Rantanen is going to be a hard one to get done either. We’ll see where that goes” (hat tip to Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now). As things stand, Rantanen would be the consensus No. 2 player on the 2025 UFA market behind Draisaitl. The 27-year-old winger remained over the 100-point threshold in 2023-24, posting 42 goals and 62 assists in 80 games. An eight-year extension would feasibly eclipse the $11MM mark per year, a decent raise on his current $9.25MM AAV.
  • The Oilers should match the Blues’ two-year, $4.58MM offer sheet for Dylan Holloway but let Philip Broberg walk for his two-year, $9.16MM offer, argues Shayna Goldman of The Athletic (subscription required). Among other reasons, the likelihood of Holloway being worth his $2.29MM cap hit this season is much higher than Broberg providing fair value for his $4.58MM price tag, especially for a pair of former first-rounders at similar spots in their development.

Snapshots: Bourque, Ohgren, Hurlbert

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It’s becoming abundantly clear that Mavrik Bourque will be on the Stars’ opening night roster after being crowned the AHL’s Most Valuable Player last season.

The 22-year-old center is “ready for the NHL,” and it’s his “turn to start grabbing it,” Dallas general manager Jim Nill told NHL.com’s Tracey Myers. Bourque, a late first-round pick by Dallas in 2020, exploded to lead the AHL with 77 points (26 G, 51 A) in 71 games last season with the Texas Stars. It was just his second professional campaign after completing his final season of junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes in 2022, where he won a league championship and was crowned playoff MVP.

Bourque has just one regular-season NHL game under his belt, going without a point in 10:56 of ice time against the Blackhawks on April 6 last season. But he’ll likely get a crack in a top-nine role come opening night as the team attempts to replace veteran Joe Pavelski, who confirmed his retirement last month, by committee. The Stars hope Bourque will be the latest in a string of prospects that become impact players immediately upon landing NHL minutes, following Wyatt Johnston and the recent graduation of Logan Stankoven to a full-time role.

More notes from around the league:

  • Sticking in the Central, the Wild find themselves in a similar spot with recent first-round pick Liam Ohgren, who feels he’s ready to land a spot on the roster out of training camp. “I’m here to take a spot,” he said to NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. “I want to play in the NHL next year. Not only that, I want to make an impact so we can go on and win a Stanley Cup. That’s my main goal.” Ohgren, the 19th overall selection of the 2022 draft, signed his entry-level contract a while back but only arrived from his native Sweden near the end of last season. He played four games for the Wild down the stretch, scoring a goal and an assist while averaging 14:31 per game. It’s important for the cap-strapped Wild to get value out of players on entry-level contracts, something they could do this season by sticking Ohgren in a top-nine role.
  • It’s already time to start looking at some top names for the 2026 NHL Draft. One of the early top targets is 16-year-old forward JP Hurlbert, who announced on his Instagram today that he’s committed to Michigan. Hurlbert will spend the next two seasons in the U.S. National Team Development Program before heading to the Wolverines as a freshman in 2026-27. The Allen, Texas native has lit up the youth ranks with the Stars’ youth club, recording 76 points (40 G, 36 A) in 45 games with their U-16 squad last season.

West Notes: Desharnais, Rossi, Rehkopf

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The Canucks may slot in UFA signing Vincent Desharnais on their top defense pairing alongside Quinn Hughes in spot duty next season, opines Thomas Drance of The Athletic.

Doing so would allow Filip Hronek, who spent all of last season stapled to Hughes and is fresh off signing an eight-year, $58MM deal, to drive his own pairing against easier competition. That’s something head coach Rick Tocchet said he’d consider doing, telling Drance that Hronek can “tend to defer too much” at times when playing with Hughes and that he’d “like to see him be more forceful with his decisions.”

It would be a big jump for Desharnais, though. The 28-year-old only established himself as a full-time NHLer last year with the Oilers. He was a bottom-pairing presence for Edmonton, averaging 15:44 per game through 78 contests. He did post 11 points and a +3 rating with average possession metrics, but playing alongside Hughes with any consistency would be a tough task for a player who’s seen most of his professional career unfold in the AHL to date. Desharnais inked a two-year, $4MM contract with Vancouver when free agency opened on July 1.

There’s more out of the Western Conference:

  • Austria will be without perhaps its best player in this summer’s qualifying tournament for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Wild forward Marco Rossi is skipping the event to begin training in Minnesota later this month, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic. Rossi, 22, is coming off a career-high 21 goals and 40 points last season while playing in all 82 games and could open the season as the Wild’s first-line center alongside Kirill Kaprizov. The 2020 ninth-overall pick had one assist in three games during the 2022 qualifiers with Austria failing to earn one of the three available spots. This year, they’ll be competing for one of the open spots in a round-robin tournament with Hungary, Kazakhstan and Slovakia.
  • Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf has been traded in the Ontario Hockey League, heading from the Kitchener Rangers to the Brampton Steelheads, sources tell Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. Rehkopf, 19, has spent the last three seasons in Kitchener, where the 6’2″ forward led the team in scoring last season with 95 points (52 goals, 43 assists) in 60 games. The 2023 second-round pick will be returned to Brampton out of training camp this fall, but a strong post-draft season puts him in line to compete for a roster spot in Seattle in next year’s training camp.

Does Patrik Laine Make Sense For The Minnesota Wild?

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Joe Smith and Michael Russo wrote in The Athletic (subscription article) earlier today that not only does disgruntled winger Patrik Laine make sense for the Minnesota Wild, but the team kicked the tires on him at the 2024 NHL Draft. Quite obviously, the major hurdle in bringing Laine to the ’State of Hockey’ is his $8.7MM salary for the next two years with the Wild organization owning approximately $750k in cap space according to PuckPedia.

To make a trade work with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the general manager of the Wild, Bill Guerin would have to convince Don Waddell to eat some of Laine’s salary. Waddell has been adamant up to this point that he knows he will have to eat some of Laine’s salary for the next two years to facilitate a deal but is not interested in eating the full 50%.

Assuming that Guerin can convince Columbus to eat 50% of Laine’s contract for the next two years, Smith and Russo assert that forward Frederick Gaudreau and his $2.1MM salary for the next four years will almost certainly head the other way. Gaudreau performed very well under Blue Jackets’ head coach Dean Evason during his time with Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and between 2021-23 with Minnesota. The Wild wouldn’t miss much in their lineup if Gaudreau were sent the other way especially with the team bringing in Yakov Trenin on a four-year pact earlier this summer.

This is when a potential deal gets tricky for the Wild. The team could deal out forward Marcus Johansson and defenseman Jon Merrill to make the money work but Minnesota’s depth may not be adequate to defend a three-for-one swap. Smith and Russo argue that the team could look to move goaltender Filip Gustavsson in the deal but his inclusion may cause too many problems for Columbus in the long run.

Minnesota may have too many internal complications to make a move for Laine with how their salary cap structure currently stands. There is no surefire bet that Laine would even be a significant upgrade for the team either. Between 2021-23, Laine scored 54 goals and 117 points in 129 games for the Blue Jackets but injuries and off-ice struggles limited him to only six goals and nine points in 18 games last year.

If Guerin can confirm that Laine is fully recovered and ready to participate, there may be more reason to get aggressive on a potential trade. However, unless Guerin can pull off one of the craftier trades in the last several years, it does not appear the Wild will be able to get the job done.

Eric Staal Announces Retirement

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It’s been all quiet on the Western Front for Eric Staal for over a year now. The free-agent center reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers in 2023 but didn’t sign or play anywhere last season.

On Tuesday, Staal confirmed he’d played his last NHL game, signing a one-day contract with Carolina to retire as a Hurricane. The Canes will also retire Staal’s No. 12 at a yet-to-be-announced game this season.

“I want to thank my family, former teammates, coaches and staff members who played a role in helping me live my dream, playing in the NHL,” Staal said in a statement released by the team. “I will forever treasure the memories and friendships made during my 18 years in the world’s best league.”

“There was no doubt in my mind that when it became time to hang up my skates, I would want to retire as a Carolina Hurricane,” he continued. “To now also know that the team is retiring my No. 12 is truly humbling and I am extremely grateful and honored.”

Staal, 39, is often overlooked as one of the NHL’s early salary-cap-era stars. But the Thunder Bay, Ontario native was always expected to make an indelible impact on the Canes after being drafted second overall in the famously stacked 2003 draft. While he hasn’t played there in over eight years – his tenure ended with a trade to the Rangers in 2016 – he’s still arguably the most impactful talent in Carolina history since the franchise relocated from Hartford in 1997.

His best came early, erupting as a sophomore in the 2005-06 season to lead the Canes in scoring with 45 goals and 100 points, both career-highs. 21 at the time, Staal was the centerpiece of the Canes’ best season in franchise history to that point, crossing the 50-win and 100-point thresholds for the first time. It ended in glory, adding nine goals and 28 points in 25 playoff games as he led the team in scoring en route to their first and only Stanley Cup.

Over parts of 12 seasons in Raleigh, Staal solidified himself as the Canes’ post-relocation leader in games played (909), goals (322), assists (453), points (775), power-play goals (105), power-play points (252) and hat tricks (13) – hat tip to the team’s Walt Ruff for those stats. He averaged over 20 minutes per game in a Carolina uniform and served as their captain from 2009 to 2016, succeeding franchise pillar Rod Brind’Amour.

Age-related decline came for Staal early, though, and his point totals were steadily decreasing by the time he was traded to the Rangers at age 31. His stay with the Blueshirts didn’t extend past the last few months of the season, and he landed in the State of Hockey with the Wild as a free agent in the summer of 2016. He had a bit of a resurgence in Minnesota, most remembered for a 42-goal, 76-point campaign in 2017-18 that placed him 17th in Hart Trophy voting. But his days of being a dominant top-line threat were behind him.

He played the final few seasons of his career with the Sabres, Canadiens and Panthers, serving as a good veteran depth piece on Montreal and Florida teams that each reached the championship series (2021 and 2023, respectively). But he couldn’t recapture the honor he had nearly two decades ago and was on the losing end of both series.

All in all, Staal wraps up his career with 455 goals, 608 assists and 1,063 points in 1,365 NHL games across 18 seasons. The eldest of the four Staal brothers with NHL experience, including Jared Staal, Jordan Staal and Marc Staal, retires at 76th on the league’s all-time scoring list. All of us at PHR congratulate Staal on a championship-caliber career and wish him the best as he enters the next phase of his hockey career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Central Notes: Faber, Wood, Hemming, Buchinger

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The Wild’s franchise-record extension for rising sophomore defenseman Brock Faber turned some heads yesterday, but general manager Bill Guerin believes the deal is “worth the risk,” he told Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscriber link).

Smith adds that Guerin has acknowledged the league-wide trend of banking on potential core pieces early in their careers, getting the cost certainty that comes with rich, long-term deals compared to bridging players through their prime and then overpaying for their twilight seasons.

“This is a different game now, a different generation, a different way of doing business,” Guerin said. “It’s really important you have to do a lot of work to make sure who you’re identifying as your foundation guys… I’d much rather have a guy Brock’s age on an eight-year deal than a 31-year-old guy. It makes sense. [Faber’s] shown he’s mature enough to handle it.”

More out of the Central Division:

  • As the Predators’ No. 1 forward prospect, winger Matthew Wood is looking to be more efficient at filling out his 6’4″ frame, he tells Robby Stanley of NHL.com. “I feel a lot stronger on my feet. I think I’m starting to use my body a bit better and starting to learn about that. Strength is definitely something I’m working on, and that’s going to take my game to the next level,” Wood said. The 19-year-old is transferring from UConn, where he had 27 goals and 62 points in 70 games over the first two seasons of his collegiate career, to Minnesota for his junior season in 2024-25.
  • The new-look Stars have been built on the back of expert player development, a pattern they’re hoping to repeat with 2024 first-round pick Emil Hemming. Dallas already has the Finnish winger signed to his entry-level contract, and he’ll be closer to the Stars this season by moving from his home country to the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. It’s part of an attempt to strike gold yet again and work more directly with the 6’1″, 205-lb forward on developing his all-around game, writes Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside on his personal blog (subscriber link).
  • In an interview with Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (subscriber link), Blues defense prospect Michael Buchinger says he’s ready to make the jump to the pros this fall after wrapping up his junior career with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm. “I just think making the first decision, not trying to overthink, not trying to make a fancy pass,” Buchinger said. “Obviously at the pro level, everyone’s in that right position. Just understanding the systems and where guys are going to be and making a really quick, smart decision. I think the rest will take care of itself.” The No. 88 pick in 2022 will have his entry-level contract go into effect this year, and he’s expected to start the campaign on assignment to AHL Springfield, where DeFranks notes he should have ample power-play opportunity thanks to roster turnover.

Wild Sign Brock Faber To Eight-Year Extension

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2:17 p.m.: Faber’s contract structure is as follows, per PuckPedia. It’s paid out entirely in base salary with no signing bonuses.

2025-26: $10MM
2026-27: $9.5MM
2027-28: $8.5MM
2028-29: $8.5MM
2029-30: $8.5MM
2030-31: $8.5MM
2031-32: $7.5MM
2032-33: $7MM

12:35 p.m.: Wild defenseman Brock Faber is getting paid after a strong rookie season. The blue liner has inked an eight-year, $68MM extension with an $8.5MM cap hit that will keep him in Minnesota through 2032-33, the team announced Monday.

The deal carries trade protection beginning in 2030-31, featuring a no-movement clause and a modified no-trade clause (15-team no-trade list), reports Michael Russo of The Athletic. That’s the soonest Faber is eligible to receive NMCs or NTCs thanks to his August birthday.

Faber, 22 in August, became eligible to sign an extension on July 1. He’s entering the third and final season of his entry-level contract and would have become an RFA next summer.

Barring any unforeseen additions, the deal will make Faber Minnesota’s highest-paid defenseman beginning in 2025-26. The stout defender, who finished second in Calder Trophy voting last season only to star Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, will surpass franchise pillars Jared Spurgeon ($7.5MM cap hit through 2027) and Jonas Brodin ($6MM cap hit through 2028) for the title. He’ll be the second-highest-paid player on the team behind former Calder winner Kirill Kaprizov, who has two seasons left at a $9MM cap hit. It’s the largest extension and the highest cap hit for a defenseman in franchise history, Russo adds.

The hometown kid entered last season with just two NHL games under his belt, both coming at the tail end of 2022-23 after losing in the NCAA national tournament with Minnesota and subsequently signing his ELC. He was forced into number-one duties for the Wild much of last season with injuries to Brodin and Spurgeon, averaging 24:58 a night while playing in all 82 games. It was the highest ATOI by a rookie since the league began tracking the stat in 1997-98 (min. 25 GP).

That meant Faber was tasked with being a first-unit option at even strength and on both special teams. Offensively, he fit the bill, leading Wild defenders and finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 47 points (8 G, 39 A). His 150 blocks also finished second on the club behind Jacob Middleton. While he fell just short of the Calder, he earned First All-Rookie Team honors for his contributions as the Wild fell short of the playoffs.

The deal buys out all five of Faber’s remaining RFA years and three UFA years. It takes him through his age-30 season, meaning he could still be in line to land a decently rich mid-term deal on the open market in 2033.

The deal took about a month to negotiate. Russo reported back on June 28 that negotiations between Faber and the Wild had begun. It comes in a good bit higher than the seven-year, $7MM AAV deal that Evolving-Hockey projected Faber to sign if he extended this month. It’s quite comparable to the extension that Sabres defender Owen Power signed last summer, which came in at seven years and $58.45MM ($8.35MM AAV). That deal was worth 9.5% of the salary cap at its start, while Faber’s is worth 9.6%.

Faber is the second player entering the final season of his entry-level contract to sign a max-term extension this summer, joining Canadiens 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky. There are plenty of notables who could still sign, including the Stars’ Wyatt Johnston, the Habs’ Kaiden Guhle, and the Devils’ Luke Hughes, whose negotiations will be impacted directly by Faber’s terms. Hughes posted identical point totals to Faber last season and finished one spot behind him in Calder Trophy voting, although he averaged more than three fewer minutes per game.

Even with Spurgeon expected to return to full health in 2024-25, Faber is still likely to begin the season in first-pairing, first power play and first penalty kill minutes, Daily Faceoff projects.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Wild Sign Graeme Clarke To Two-Way Deal

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The Wild have re-upped RFA forward Graeme Clarke on a one-year, two-way deal, per a team announcement. It’ll carry an $800K cap hit and NHL salary this season with a minors salary of $105K.

Clarke, 23, made his NHL debut with the Devils last season, going without a point in three games. He posted a -2 rating while averaging 11:23 per game and struggled to control possession in heavy defensive usage, posting below-average shot-attempt and expected goal shares of 41.4% and 28.6%.

But the New Jersey third-round pick in 2019 has done quite well in the AHL, even if he hasn’t demonstrated he can be effective yet at the game’s highest level. He led AHL Utica in goals last year with 25 in 67 games and led them in scoring outright by a wide margin the year prior, posting 25 goals and 58 points in 68 games in 2022-23. He’s totaled 68 goals, 81 assists and 149 points in 218 AHL games in parts of four seasons. He was tabbed the fifth-best prospect in the New Jersey system by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler back in February.

The Wild hope he can more aggressively challenge for NHL minutes next season, as hinted at by his higher-than-league minimum salary. They picked up his signing rights in a June trade, sending the rights to similarly buried prospect Adam Beckman to the Devils. If not, he’ll at least be an impact piece on an AHL Iowa club that was one of the worst in the league last season, limping to a 27-37-8 record while averaging 2.56 goals per game. He would have been their lone 20-goal scorer.

Clarke will remain an RFA upon expiry next summer.

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