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Alex Pietrangelo Expected To Miss 2025-26 Season

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Monday: The Golden Knights have released statements from Pietrangelo and GM Kelly McCrimmon.  While stopping short of announcing it officially, it would appear as if Pietrangelo’s playing days may very well be over.

Pietrangelo:

The past few years have been very challenging on my physical well-being, and I am in a difficult position with my overall playing health. After exploring options with doctors as well as my family, it’s been advised to remove the intensity of hockey to see if my body can improve so that I can return to a normal quality of life. This decision has been difficult to come to terms with after the last 17 years of competition and the camaraderie with my teammates and coaches. The likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play, but I know this is the right decision for me and my family.

McCrimmon:

Alex has our organization’s full support in prioritizing his long-term health and quality of life. Alex is dealing with hips that would require bilateral femur reconstruction, with no guarantee of success. Throughout the season, the steps that Alex needed to take to be able to play and practice began to grow and take a significant toll on his body. Our hope in February during the NHL’s break for the 4 Nations Face-Off was to give Alex treatment and rest to help provide relief, but instead, what we found were diminished positive results and a process that is no longer sustainable moving forward. Alex has given everything to the game and to the Golden Knights and has played through significant challenges in the pursuit of trying to win another Stanley Cup in Vegas. He is one of the most respected players in the league, not only for his elite talent but for his character, leadership, competitiveness, and professionalism. Today’s decision is a difficult one for both Alex and the Golden Knights, but it is being made for the right reasons – so that Alex can be the family man we all know him to be.

Sunday: After weeks of speculation, it’s looking more like Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo won’t be available next season. He’s in line for “multiple major surgeries” this offseason that will go so far as to jeopardize his career, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

The news comes just days after general manager Kelly McCrimmon spoke after the draft on Pietrangelo’s future. When asked whether or not Pietrangelo would be healthy enough to play next season, McCrimmon said it was something that still needed to be sorted out.

“We’re going to know more on that in the coming days. Alex and I have had a number of discussions. There are a number of decisions that need to be made. When I spoke earlier about having a number of things that need clarity, that would be one of them,” he said.

As rumors continue to intensify linking pending free agent Mitch Marner with the Golden Knights, Vegas now seemingly also faces the challenge of replacing Pietrangelo’s leadership and production. But moving Pietrangelo to long-term injured reserve before the start of free agency may free up the space the team needs to sign Marner, as outlined by Danny Webster of Las Vegas Review-Journal. Pietrangelo has two years remaining on his $8.8MM AAV deal, and the Knights currently have just $5.615MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.

Pietrangelo, 35, appeared in 71 games for the Golden Knights last season, posting four goals, 33 points, and a plus-11 rating. While he missed 11 games on the year and opted out of the Four Nations Faceoff due to injury, Pietrangelo averaged over 22:24 of ice time per game on the year, showcasing his ability to log meaningful minutes when healthy. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has produced 637 points throughout his 17-year career.

PHR’s Paul Griser contributed significantly to this article.

Red Wings To Sign Patrick Kane To One-Year Contract

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As first reported by Max Bultman of The Athletic and later confirmed by TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Detroit Red Wings are finalizing a one-year contract with veteran forward Patrick Kane. A few moments later, Johnston shared that Kane’s next deal will have a $3MM base salary with an additional $2.5MM available in performance bonuses.

More to come…

Golden Knights Reportedly Acquire, Extend Mitch Marner

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6:45 p.m.: PuckPedia has shared the financial breakdown of Marner’s new deal with Vegas:

  • Year 1: $4MM salary, $11MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
  • Year 2: $4MM salary, $10MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
  • Year 3: $4MM salary, $9.75MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
  • Year 4: $4MM salary, $7.25MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
  • Year 5: $5MM salary, $6MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
  • Year 6: $5MM salary, $6MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
  • Year 7: $5MM salary, $5MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
  • Year 8: $5MM salary, $5MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause

4:07 p.m.: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Vegas Golden Knights have acquired forward Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Shortly thereafter, Friedman shared that Marner is expected to sign an eight-year, $96MM deal ($12MM AAV) with the Golden Knights. According to Bob McKenzie, Nicolas Roy is the only player headed to the Maple Leafs in the reported deal, making it a one-for-one swap.

Arguably the league’s top available free agent since Artemi Panarin in 2019, the Golden Knights have assured that Marner won’t even reach unrestricted free agency. Marner will join a star-studded roster in Nevada that already includes Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Shea Theodore.

Unlike his situation in Toronto, Marner also joins a team that’s entrenched in winning. Without question, the most successful expansion team in NHL history, the Golden Knights have qualified for the postseason in seven out of their eight seasons, reaching three Western Conference Finals, two Stanley Cup Finals, and winning one Stanley Cup.

After the money is squared away, the Golden Knights should have approximately $2MM remaining in salary cap space. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is set to miss the entire 2025-26 season, potentially longer, providing Vegas with an added $8.8 million in flexibility. Coupled with Roy’s $3MM salary, the Golden Knights had plenty of flexibility to bring in Marner on a long-term contract.

In Marner, Vegas will add one of the league’s premier playmakers to its already high-end offense. Since debuting for the Maple Leafs in the 2016-17 season, Marner has scored 221 goals and 741 points in 657 games, averaging 20:03 of ice time per night. Aside from his offensive capabilities, Marner is exceptional on the defensive puck, earning a +128 rating with a career 52.7% CorsiFor% at even strength and a 90.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

By re-signing Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith over the past two days, and adding Marner this afternoon, the Golden Knights have completely addressed their need for quality wingers before unrestricted free agency has even opened. Furthermore, with $2MM remaining in salary cap space, Vegas has some flexibility to add toward the bottom of their lineup, or to shore up their defensive core with cheaper deals.

Marner’s addition reaffirms the adage of the ’rich becoming richer’. The Golden Knights finished the 2024-25 campaign with the fifth-best goals scored average (3.34), third-best goals against average (2.61), second-best powerplay (28.34%), 13th-best shooting percentage (11.0%), ninth-best CorsiFor% (51.8%), and 11th-best in high-danger scoring chances (51.9%). Interestingly enough, despite being known for his offensive talents, Marner may help Vegas the most on the penalty kill, as they finished this past season ranked 26th with a 75.74% kill rate.

In terms of the salary cap, this deal is only likely to improve for the Golden Knights. Marner will earn 12.57% of Vegas’ available salary cap next year while watching that percentage drop to 10.57% in only two years. Considering that they’ll need a new contract for Eichel after next season, Vegas should be in good shape to retain both for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, Marner does carry some baggage when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Like the Maple Leafs, the Golden Knights are firmly within their competitive window and have been competing for the Stanley Cup since becoming a team less than a decade ago. Although he won’t deal with a similar media landscape in Vegas, Marner will have similar expectations regarding his postseason performances.

In fairness to Marner, he’s been a quality postseason player, just not to his standard. During his time in Toronto, Marner scored 13 goals and 63 points in 70 playoff games, achieving a +9 rating. Although this would be viewed as quality production for most players, it’s a 0.22 drop-off in point-per-game average compared to his regular-season output. Now cemented in Vegas for the prime years of his career, Marner will only have so many more chances to correct the version of himself as a player when hockey becomes as important as it ever can.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have done well by turning nothing into something. The likelihood of Marner staying in Toronto has been known for several weeks, and the Maple Leafs have made sure to get another asset in return rather than lose him for nothing. Unlike Marner, the player they’re acquiring from the Golden Knights has considerable postseason experience.

Over the last four years, Roy has become a valuable third-line center in Vegas. He can play all three forward positions and can move up and down the lineup, making him an extremely versatile forward.

Since becoming a full-time player for the Golden Knights in the 2021-22 season, Roy has scored 57 goals and 141 points in 284 games with a +26 rating, averaging 15:48 of ice time per game. His playoff scoring has declined, with five goals and 15 points in 40 games, but he contributed to the Golden Knights’  Stanley Cup victory in 2023. He should help create a stalwart third line in Toronto next to Max Domi and Scott Laughton.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Panthers Sign Aaron Ekblad To Max-Term Extension

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6:35 p.m.: Florida has announced Ekblad’s new eight-year contract.

2:15 p.m.: The Panthers and defenseman Aaron Ekblad have made significant progress on a long-term extension to keep him away from the free agent market tomorrow, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports. It will be an eight-year deal worth around $48.8MM for a cap hit of $6.1MM, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Florida’s commitment to Ekblad, who would have been the top defenseman on the market had he tested free agency, comes after months of hesitancy to dole out a long-term commitment. Now, GM Bill Zito has acquiesced and will give Ekblad the long-term stability he desired with a significant discount on the cap hit he could have landed as a UFA, which McKenzie says could have been as high as $9MM.

The lifelong Panther gets to stay in Florida, who made clear during their run to their second straight Stanley Cup championship that he never wanted to leave. Their 2014 first overall pick set the club’s franchise record for games played and points by a defenseman several years ago, scoring 380 points with a +96 rating in 732 games in a Florida uniform over the past 11 years.

He could very well only end up signing three NHL contracts – his entry-level deal, the eight-year, $60MM extension he signed in 2016, and this one. While no doubt a top-pairing threat now coming in at a significant discount on his previous cap hit of $7.5MM, his injury history was always the holdup in signing him to a long-term deal. The Panthers felt that was a steep enough discount to quell their concerns, while Ekblad was willing to take nearly a 33% cut on his market value to land as much stability as possible.

Although Ekblad hasn’t played a full 82-game schedule since 2018-19 and has only hit the 70-game mark once since then, he did have a mostly healthy 2024-25 campaign that was truncated by a late-season suspension for PEDs. He still finished the season with a 3-30–33 scoring line in 56 games, along with a +11 rating. His 23:31 average time on ice was his most in three years, bolstered by an increase in power-play time in the wake of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour’s departures in free agency last year, which also played a role in his offensive resurgence. His 0.59 points per game in 2024-25 were the fourth-highest mark of his career.

Ekblad was also spectacular in the postseason, posting 13 points and a +10 rating in 19 games. That was his highest point total in any of Florida’s three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final.

The 29-year-old will now reprise his role alongside Gustav Forsling for the foreseeable future as one of the best two-way pairs in the league. The duo logged 870 minutes together in the regular season and controlled 54.6% of expected goals while doing so, per MoneyPuck. He also forms one of the best one-two punches among right-shot D in the league with in-season acquisition Seth Jones. The trio of Florida’s top three defensemen is now under contract through 2029-30 (when Jones’ deal expires) at a combined cap hit of just $18.85MM – extremely good value that sets the Panthers up to continue having the flexibility to maintain a championship-contending roster.

Florida now has $4.9MM in cap space remaining with five roster spots to fill, per PuckPedia. That rules out an extension for their other highly notable UFA, winger Brad Marchand, at first glance, but they can get creative. They certainly won’t be able to match high-priced multi-year offers without offloading a salary or two, but could offer Marchand, who’s eligible for a bonus-laden one-year deal because of his age, a low base salary with easily achievable performance bonuses. That would allow them to initially be cap compliant with him, but if those bonuses are achieved and exceed the cap, Florida would be hit with a hefty penalty for 2026-27.

Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.

Oilers Sign Evan Bouchard To Four-Year Extension

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6:33 p.m.: The Oilers have announced Bouchard’s new extension.

3:32 p.m.: As first reported by Cam Robinson of EliteProspects and later confirmed by TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Edmonton Oilers are putting the finishing touches on an extension for pending restricted free agent defenseman Evan Bouchard. Once completed, the deal is reportedly a four-year, $42MM extension, with a $10.5MM AAV.

The deal will eat up nearly all of Edmonton’s remaining cap space. Still, it was their most important piece of business to complete this summer, and they’ll now have clarity on their salary cap situation heading into the start of free agency.

According to Frank Seravalli, there were conversations regarding an eight-year agreement, but the price was too high for the Oilers to stomach for the time being. It makes sense given that Edmonton was already fairly tight to the upper limit of the salary cap, and this deal will make Bouchard the fourth-highest defenseman in the league (in terms of AAV) behind Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and Rasmus Dahlin.

Aside from the generational talents playing in front of him, Bouchard has been a focal point of the Oilers reaching back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, largely due to his offensive capabilities. From 2021 to 2023, Bouchard was a quality top-four blue liner for Edmonton, scoring 20 goals and 83 points in 163 games with a +16 rating while averaging 19:09 of ice time per night. He was even better in the postseason, scoring seven goals and 26 points in 28 games while averaging over 20 minutes a game.

His output over the last two years has completely dwarfed those numbers. Since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Bouchard has scored an exceptional 32 goals and 149 points in 163 regular-season contests, with 61 of those points coming on Edmonton’s powerplay. Furthermore, in the postseason, he continues to improve, scoring 13 goals and 55 points in 47 games with a +20 rating.

Unfortunately, there are warranted concerns over Bouchard’s play in the defensive zone. Throughout his entire career with the Oilers, Bouchard has received extremely favorable deployment, starting 58.6% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Assuming he’s playing with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl the majority of the time, the expectation is that Edmonton can control the play enough where they won’t have to rely on Bouchard to be in a shutdown role.

For the most part, he’s never needed to play in that role, but his defensive metrics continue to suffer. This past season, his on-ice save percentage at even strength fell to a career-low of 88.8%, marking a continual decline since the 2021-22 season.

Still, Bouchard has consistently maintained a positive impact on the game, as he has never experienced a season where the Oilers have failed to outscore their opponents at even strength while he is on the ice. This trend continues despite his defensive weaknesses.

At any rate, it’s important to note that Bouchard has averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time over the past two years for the reigning Western Conference champions. Regardless of his shortcomings in the defensive zone, he’s been the top defenseman on a Stanley Cup-caliber team for some time.

Now, with a brand new four-year contract in place, Edmonton will have additional clarity as extension negotiations begin with McDavid in a few weeks. They’ll likely want to keep McDavid on a longer-term deal than they’ve got with Bouchard, but they know the available capital they’ll have in a few years. Unfortunately for Edmonton and potentially McDavid, Bouchard will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2028-29 NHL season.

Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

Panthers To Sign Brad Marchand To Six-Year Extension

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6:20 p.m.: Unsurprisingly, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Marchand’s new contract is heavily frontloaded. He’ll make just $1MM in base salary each year, and the rest will be paid out in signing bonuses. For trade protection, LeBrun indicated that he’ll get a full no-movement clause for the first four years before transitioning to a modified no-trade clause in the final two years.

4:13 p.m.: The Panthers are signing winger Brad Marchand to a six-year extension “just under” $32MM in total, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The cap hit will be roughly $5.3MM.

Shockingly, after reportedly agreeing to a new long-term contract with defenseman Aaron Ekblad earlier today, the Panthers were able to retain all three of their prominent pending unrestricted free agents. For Ekblad and Marchand, Florida re-signed both on extremely team-friendly deals, in terms of their salary.

Still, it’s difficult not to question the terms of Marchand’s new contract. The two-time Stanley Cup champion is entering his age-37 season, meaning he’ll be 43 upon expiration. It’s quite uncommon for a player of Marchand’s age to sign a deal of such length. Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins could be the only recent comparable, signing a six-year extension beginning in his age-35 season.

In Marchand’s defense, he hasn’t shown signs of slowing down. Since turning 30 years old ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, Marchand has scored 198 goals and 521 points in 498 games with a +104 rating, averaging 19:02 of ice time per game. He’s received multiple votes for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Frank J. Selke Trophy in that time.

His postseason performances have been equally impressive. In that same time frame, Marchand has scored 45 goals and 98 points in 96 postseason contests between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers with a +23 rating. His playoff excellence came to a head a few weeks ago, finishing second place in Conn Smythe Trophy voting behind teammate Sam Bennett after the Panthers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final.

Now, by keeping Marchand for the foreseeable future, the Panthers will not only have a formidable top-six to stagger opposing teams, but will continue to have a third line that few teams will be able to match up against.

It’ll be interesting to see how General Manager Bill Zito fits the rest of Florida’s group with nearly $20MM doled out to Bennett, Ekblad, and Marchand. There will be more clarity on the Panthers’ salary cap picture tomorrow. They’ll need to find space for new deals for forward Mackie Samoskevich and netminder Daniil Tarasov. Still, they can rest easy knowing all the key players from their most recent Stanley Cup championship team are returning next season.

List Of Players Not Receiving A 2025 Qualifying Offer

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The deadline to issue a qualifying offer to pending restricted free agents is today at 4:00 p.m. CT, making any player who has not received one eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. Below are the players who will not be issued a qualifying offer:

(this list will be updated as reports continue to come in)

[Related: 2025 Free Agents]

[Related: How Do Qualifying Offers Work?]

Anaheim Ducks 

F Brett Leason, F Josh Lopina, F Isac Lundeström

Boston Bruins 

F Trevor Kuntar, F Jakub Lauko, F Jaxon Nelson, F Oliver Wahlstrom, D Drew Bavaro, D Daniil Misyul, D Ian Mitchell

Buffalo Sabres 

F Alexander Kisakov, F Bennett MacArthur, F Tyler Tullio, D Jacob Bernard-Docker

Calgary Flames 

G Waltteri Ignatjew, G Connor Murphy

Carolina Hurricanes 

D Anttoni Honka, D Ty Smith, G Yaniv Perets

Chicago Blackhawks 

F Cole Guttman, F Philipp Kurashev, F Jalen Luypen, F Aku Raty, F Antti Saarela

Colorado Avalanche

TBA

Columbus Blue Jackets 

D Ole Julian Bjørgvik-Holm, D Cole Clayton, D Jordan Harris, D Samuel Knazko

Dallas Stars 

none

Detroit Red Wings

TBA

Edmonton Oilers

F Jacob Perreault, G Olivier Rodrigue, F Cameron Wright

Florida Panthers

TBA

Los Angeles Kings

TBA

Minnesota Wild 

F Graeme Clarke, F Adam Raska, F Luke Toporowski, D Ryan O’Rourke

Montreal Canadiens 

F Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, F Xavier Simoneau, D Gustav Lindström, D Noel Hoefenmayer

Nashville Predators 

F Jordan Frasca, F Ondrej Pavel, F Jesse Ylönen, D Luke Prokop

New Jersey Devils 

F Nolan Foote, D Santeri Hatakka, G Isaac Poulter

New York Islanders

D Samuel Bolduc, D Aidan Fulp, D Scott Perunovich

New York Rangers

F Lucas Edmonds, F Arthur Kaliyev, F Jake Leschyshyn, D Zachary Jones

Ottawa Senators 

F Philippe Daoust, F Jamieson Rees, F Tristen Robins

Philadelphia Flyers 

F Elliot Desnoyers, F Jakob Pelletier, F Zayde Wisdom

Pittsburgh Penguins 

F Raivis Ansons, F Emil Bemström, F Connor Dewar, F Philip Tomasino, D Pierre-Olivier Joseph, G Taylor Gauthier

San Jose Sharks

F Carl Berglund, F Nolan Burke, F Brandon Coe, F Noah Gregor, F Klim Kostin, F Nikolai Kovalenko, G Georgi Romanov, F Mitchell Russell

Seattle Kraken 

D Peetro Seppala

St. Louis Blues

F Tanner Dickinson, D Anton Malmstrom

Tampa Bay Lightning

TBA

Toronto Maple Leafs

F Pontus Holmberg, F Reese Johnson, F Cedric Pare, D Mikko Kokkonen

Utah Mammoth 

F Kailer Yamamoto

Vancouver Canucks 

F Ty Glover, F Tristen Nielsen, D Christian Felton, D Cole McWard

Vegas Golden Knights 

G Isaiah Saville

Washington Capitals

F Pierrick Dube, D Alexander Alexeyev, G Mitchell Gibson

Winnipeg Jets 

F Mason Shaw, D Simon Lundmark

Blue Jackets To Re-Sign Ivan Provorov To Seven-Year Deal

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The Blue Jackets are keeping defenseman Ivan Provorov away from unrestricted free agency, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. It’s a seven-year deal worth $8.5MM per season for a total value of $59.5MM, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic.

In what has immediately set the market for other top-four defenseman in this free agency period, the Blue Jackets have given their minute-eating Russian defenseman a $1.75MM raise. Without knowing the full scope of the trade protection, if there is any, Provorov immediately becomes the team’s second-highest-paid defenseman, and will become an unrestricted free agent for his age-36 season after the 2031-32 campaign.

There are good reasons to believe that this contract will prove beneficial for both the player and the team over time. Although he’s in no danger of receiving a majority of the Norris Trophy votes, Provorov has been a remarkably consistent defenseman upon entering the league, dating back to his time with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Since his debut in the 2016-17 season, Provorov has scored 77 goals and 282 points in 696 career games with a -28 rating while averaging 23:46 of ice time per night. His career output averages out to 9 goals and 33 points with a -3 rating over 82 games. This past season with the Blue Jackets, Provorov scored seven goals and accumulated 33 points, matching his career averages.

He has consistently maintained a similar level in his advanced metrics as well. Throughout his nine-year career, Provorov has managed a 48.7% CorsiFor% at even strength and a 90.2% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Unfortunately, this contract is bound to have ramifications in one of two ways. If the Blue Jackets are content with having Zach Werenski and Provorov as their top-two options on the left side of their blue line, that will push youngster Denton Mateychuk to a bottom-pairing role. Given his performances from this past season, Mateychuk has already earned an opportunity in Columbus’ top-four.

If they’d like to keep the combination of Werenski and freshly signed Dante Fabbro, while creating a second-pairing of Mateychuk and Provorov, the Blue Jackets will inevitably have to put Damon Severson and Erik Gudbranson, making one of the most expensive third-pairings in the league. Still, there’s time for Columbus to move one or both pricey blueliners. At any rate, by retaining Provorov and Fabbro on multi-year deals, the Blue Jackets have put themselves in a position to thin out their defensive core.

Photo courtesy of Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images.

Kings Sign Andrei Kuzmenko To One-Year Extension

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The Kings will be keeping their trade deadline acquisition away from the open market.  The team announced they’ve signed winger Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year extension worth $4.3MM.

The 29-year-old took the NHL by storm in his first season in 2022-23, notching 39 goals and 35 assists in 79 games with Vancouver.  However, there was a bit of a red flag considering that his shooting percentage came in at 27.3%, well above the NHL average and a rate that wasn’t going to be sustainable.  Unable to agree on a long-term commitment, the two sides eventually settled on a two-year, $10MM bridge deal to keep him in the fold with the Canucks.

Unfortunately for Kuzmenko and Vancouver, his second season didn’t go anywhere near as well as the first.  After a quiet first half, he was included as salary ballast in the trade that sent Elias Lindholm to the Canucks.  With a bigger opportunity in Calgary, Kuzmenko made the most of it, putting up 25 points in 29 games down the stretch with the Flames, providing some optimism that he could be a key contributor for them heading into 2024-25.

But things didn’t go that way this past season.  Instead of picking up where he left off, Kuzmenko languished, notching just four goals and 11 assists in 37 games to start the year, resulting in him once again being included as salary ballast in a swap, this time to Philadelphia as part of the move that saw Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee go to Calgary.  Kuzmenko did well in seven games with the Flyers before being flipped again, this time to Los Angeles at the trade deadline in a move aimed at giving the Kings some extra scoring.

Kuzmenko was indeed able to provide that, tallying five goals along with a dozen assists in 22 games down the stretch before averaging a point per game in six playoff outings.  That performance was enough to land him the 19th spot in our Top 50 UFA ranking but instead, he won’t test the open market and will stay in a spot where things went well over the last few months.  Perhaps with a full-season performance like he finished 2024-25 with, Kuzmenko will be in better shape to command a longer-term pact on the open market next summer.

With the signing, the Kings are down to a little under $20MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.  As things stand, GM Ken Holland will be set to try to make a splash either in free agency or the trade market although that number could still come down if he’s able to work out an agreement with pending UFA blueliner Vladislav Gavrikov in the coming hours.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images.

Islanders Sign Alexander Romanov To Eight-Year Extension

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The Islanders are signing RFA defenseman Alexander Romanov to an eight-year, $50MM extension, PuckPedia reports. The deal will carry a cap hit of $6.25MM. The team has since confirmed the deal. He receives no-move protection from 2026-27 through 2029-30 and a 16-team no-trade list from 2029-30 through 2032-33 as part of the deal, per PuckPedia.

Romanov, 25, lands his big payday after taking a three-year, $7.5MM bridge deal from the Isles in 2022. That decision worked out well for him, and he’ll now be one of the team’s most well-compensated defenders through the expiry of his deal following the 2032-33 season.

The 6’1″ lefty has panned out nicely since the Islanders paid a steep acquisition price to land him from the Canadiens at the 2022 draft, parting ways with a pick that was flipped to the Blackhawks for Frank Nazar. He’s coming off his best NHL season yet. While injuries limited him to 64 games, he still produced 20 points for a career-best 0.31 per-game rate and averaged a career-high 22:18 per game.

Romanov always projected as a stout defensive presence; whether he would avoid being too much of an offensive liability to deploy in a top-four role was always the question with his ceiling. He’s answered it now, fitting well in transition despite never being a big-time point producer in his own right. His possession metrics haven’t been particularly impactful one way or another, considering his slightly defensively-oriented deployment, but he’s shown legitimate minute-munching ability while also generating over 200 shot attempts in each of the last four years. He’s also one of the league’s most physically involved defenders, recording 100-plus hits and blocks every year since 2021-22.

There will be a bit of sticker shock on that $6.25MM price tag for a defenseman with an offensive skill set as simple as Romanov’s. Considering the recent comparables set by extensions in the $5MM range for Kevin Bahl and Nicolas Hague, though, it comes across as fair value.

He’ll be a long-term anchor for the Islanders’ left side that still includes Adam Pelech and gained Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick in last week’s draft. The team has $14.7MM in cap space left this summer with Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom, and Maxim Tsyplakov among its notable RFAs still to sign.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

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