Canada Announces World Juniors Coaching Staff
Hockey Canada has announced their bench bosses for the 2027 World Junior Championships. The Canadian side will be led by head coach Misha Donskov, earning a promotion after serving as associate head coach and vice president of hockey operations at the 2026 World Juniors. Donskov also served as head coach at the 2026 World Championship and an assistant coach at the 2026 Winter Olympics, while also carrying his VP title through those tournaments. Alongside Donskov will be assistant coaches Drew Bannister, Jim Hulton, Brad Lauer, and Ryan Getzlaf. The staff will be rounded out by Dan De Palma serving as the goalie coach.
Per usual, Canada’s coaching staff will bring a wealth of experience from across the hockey world. Donskov served as Director of Hockey Operations for the Vegas Golden Knights beginning in their inaugural 2016-17 season. He continued in that role until the 2019-20 season, when he was moved to an assistant coach role that he held through Vegas’ Stanley Cup-winning season in 2022-23. After lifting the Cup, Donskov moved to the Dallas Stars bench for two seasons, before taking on an exclusive role with Hockey Canada. His trophy cabinet is filled to the brim. Donskov has won a Gold Medal at the Men’s (2016) and Women’s (2011) World Championship. He also won Gold at the 2012 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the 2015 World Juniors, the 2017 World Cup, and the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off. He also has an OHL Championship (2012), Spengler Cup championship (2020), World Juniors Bronze medal (2026), and Olympic Silver medal (2026) to his name.
Bannister will reappear across the hockey world after only coaching at the Spengler Cup and World U18 Championship in the 2025-26 season. The former St. Louis Blues head coach has taken over the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds for the 2026-27 season. He last coached for Soo from 2015 to 2018, a run marked by two quarterfinal losses and one loss in the OHL Championship. This will be Bannister’s first time coaching at the World Juniors, though he has supported the World U17 Hockey Challenge, Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and World U18 tournament previously. Bannister played with Team Canada at the 1994 World Junior Championship, where he chipped in four points and 10 penalty minutes in seven games en route to a Gold Medal. That championship predated a playing career that spanned 164 NHL games, 149 IHL games, and 204 AHL games.
Hulton represents the journeyman on Canada’s bench, having coached in the OHL, NHL, USHL, and QMJHL. He most recently manned the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs bench after 11 seasons overseeing the Charlottetown Islanders. Hulton has won league recognition as a general manager and head coach, taking home the USHL ‘GM of the Year’ award in 2014-15, both ‘GM of the Year’ and ‘Coach of the Year’ in the QMJHL’s 2020-21 season, and QMJHL and CHL ‘Coach of the Year’ honors in 2021-22. He has also won Silver and Gold at the World Juniors, in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
Perhaps the heaviest hitter on the bench – literally and figuratively – will be former Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf. The 17-year NHL veteran has climbed the ranks of Canada’s international presence over the last two seasons. He was a senior advisor at the 2025 World Championship and 2026 Olympic Games – and now takes another step forward overseeing Canada’s next crop of top prospects. Getzlaf is also well-decorated, having won Gold at nearly every level of international competition. That includes the World U18 Championship, World Junior Championship, World Cup, and twice at the Olympic Games. Those accolades were interwoven with an NHL career marked by 1,019 points in 1,157 games – and a Stanley Cup win in 2007.
Lauer marks another veteran of the coaching world. He served as assistant coach to the Anaheim Ducks from 2012 to 2015, then the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2015 to 2018. Lauer then stepped back to a head coach role with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings. He held that role until 2022, then returned to the NHL for a pair of seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, before stepping back into a head coach role with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs in the last two seasons. Lauer has a thin trophy cabinet despite 25 years of experience – currently filled by a 2022 WHL championship and 2026 World Junior Bronze medal.
The coaching staff closes with longtime goaltending coach De Palma, who has served on WHL benches since the 2006-07 season. He has taken the mantle with the Prince George Cougars and Kamloops Blazers, overseeing parts or all of the junior careers of Taylor Gauthier, Connor Ingram, Dylan Garand, Dylan Ferguson, and Kurtis Mucha. De Palma has served as the goalie coach for Canada’s U18 team since 2023, and also joined the national team at the 2025 and 2026 World Juniors.
Team Canada will be an early favorite under the guide of decades of NHL experience and two former Stanley Cup champions. They should pull together an incredibly strong roster – headlined by Boston University duo Caleb Malhotra and Tynan Lawrence and potentially bolstered by reigning first-overall pick Gavin McKenna. Canada will also bring 2027 first-overall favorite Landon DuPont and may even roster 2028 star prospects Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue. The litany of top-end talent will champion a roster that could feature NHL prospects at every position.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports.
Blackhawks Re-Sign Connor Bedard
There will be no long holdout into training camp for Chicago’s top player. The team announced that they’ve re-signed restricted free agent center Connor Bedard to a five-year deal that carries an AAV of $15MM.
GM Kyle Davidson released the following statement on the signing:
Connor has continuously defied our expectations since being drafted, and has quickly established himself as an elite player in the NHL. He utilizes all aspects of his game to not only be a constant threat, but to make the players around him better every time he steps on the ice. Connor’s strong work ethic and determination to always improve his game has set an extraordinary standard for our young core, and we’re excited for the incredible impact he’ll have in this next chapter of Blackhawks hockey.
A short while later, the team over at PuckPedia revealed the year-by-year breakdown of Bedard’s new contract:
| Year | NHL Salary | Signing Bonus | Trade Protection |
| 2026-27 | $7.2MM | $9.8MM | NA |
| 2027-28 | $6.2MM | $9.8MM | NA |
| 2028-29 | $5.2MM | $9.8MM | NA |
| 2029-30 | $4.2MM | $9.8MM | NA |
| 2030-31 | $3.2MM | $9.8MM | Full NMC |
Bedard was the first overall selection by the Blackhawks back in 2023 following a stellar junior career with WHL Regina. He put up 71 goals and 72 assists in 57 games in his draft-eligible year, leading to the belief that he could become a legitimate generational superstar at the NHL level.
Over his entry-level contract, Bedard has shown some flashes of high-end offensive skill although he doesn’t have the supporting cast around him for him to really take off just yet either. The 21-year-old had 61 points in 68 games in his rookie season, earning him the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. He followed that up with 68 points in his sophomore year while playing in all 82 games.
Last season, Bedard took another step forward. He set new career bests in goals (30), assists (45), and points (75) despite missing 13 games due to a shoulder injury and illness. That was enough for him to lead the Blackhawks in scoring for the third straight year. He also saw his playing time increase to just under 21 minutes per night as new head coach Jeff Blashill leaned on him heavily. As far as platform seasons go, it was a solid one.
Bedard may be hard-pressed to beat his point total by a significant amount this coming season. He suffered a shoulder injury earlier this month during offseason training, one that required surgery and a recovery period of four months. With the regular season now starting in September to accompany the expanded schedule, he’s likely to miss the first six weeks of the season. Depending on when he returns, he’s likely to miss 18 to 25 games as a result of the injury.
Clearly, the injury didn’t have much effect on contract discussions. The $15MM AAV makes him the third-highest-paid player in the league in that regard, behind only Minnesota winger Kirill Kaprizov and Anaheim center Leo Carlsson. Kaprizov wasn’t a direct comparable given that he was a pending unrestricted free agent but the contract handed out by Philadelphia via an offer sheet (one the Ducks matched) almost certainly played a role in discussions. Carlsson, of course, was the second overall pick in Bedard’s draft class and had a strong platform year himself. Without trying to provide enough of a poison pill to deter an offer-sheeting team from matching as the Flyers did with Carlsson, Chicago was able to get something done well below Carlsson’s $18MM price tag.
This contract covers Bedard’s four RFA-eligible seasons as well as one year of UFA eligibility. Accordingly, he will only be eligible for trade protection in the 2030-31 season.
More notably, this contract also seemingly sets the window for the Blackhawks to get themselves back into contention. Bedard is now set to become eligible to test the open market as a 26-year-old, where he should be in the prime of his career while setting himself up for a more lucrative payday at that time. If Chicago wants to keep its top player around at that time, they’ll probably need to be much further along in their competitive window than they were over Bedard’s first three professional campaigns. But that’s a concern for GM Kyle Davidson for another day. For today, he can be happy about having his franchise player locked up for the next half-decade.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Flyers Sign Jamie Drysdale To Four-Year Contract
The Philadelphia Flyers and RFA defenseman Jamie Drysdale have agreed on a four-year, $6.5MM AAV contract extension, per a team announcement. The deal allows both parties to avoid the arbitration process.
Philadelphia entered the week with its two key RFAs, forward Trevor Zegras and Drysdale, still unsigned. While it was reported that the team was confident agreements on extensions would be reached with each player before their respective arbitration dates, it was unclear whether that confidence would actually materialize in the form of new contracts.
Now, the Flyers have both players locked up through the end of the decade.
Drysdale, 24, becomes the Flyers’ highest-paid defenseman on an annualized basis as a result of this deal, surpassing Travis Sanheim‘s $6.25MM AAV. Although Drysdale is not the Flyers’ No. 1 defenseman (Sanheim is), the changing salary environment created by the rising upper limit has made Drysdale’s $6.5MM AAV more or less the market rate for what he’s been able to provide thus far in his career, with a reasonable amount of projection of future performance factored in as well.
The No. 7 overall pick of the 2020 draft, Drysdale arrived in Philadelphia as part of a stunning January 2024 trade that saw future star winger Cutter Gauthier shipped to Anaheim. The hope was Drysdale would fill a significant need in Philadelphia, namely as a lineup-topping puck-moving offensive defenseman. While Drysdale hasn’t filled that role perfectly in Philadelphia, he has developed steadily over the course of his Flyers tenure.
This past season, Drysdale set a career-high in terms of offensive production with 32 points in 78 games, a slight improvement over his 32-point 2021-22 campaign on a per-game basis. The 5’11”, 185-pound right-shot defenseman has been an imperfect fit as a No. 1 power play quarterback (he led all Flyers blueliners in power play time on ice per game last season) but has been able to capably transport the puck and produce offense at even strength.
Drysdale’s defensive game remains a work in progress, and he does not skate on the team’s penalty kill. But he has earned the trust of head coach Rick Tocchet, who utilized him as the team’s No. 3 defenseman last season. Drysdale averaged 21:33 time on ice per game, good for third on the team and the highest single-season time-on-ice per game mark of his career so far.
Even if Drysdale is unable to take a next step in his career and become a high-scoring power play quarterback, he’s still more than capable of having a long career as a top-four puck-moving defenseman. If he can further develop his offensive consistency even just slightly, he could stand a chance to provide the Flyers with real surplus value on his new $6.5MM cap hit.
From the Flyers’ perspective, this deal pays Drysdale at around the market rate for what he is now, and gives the team some real upside if he can develop. From Drysdale’s perspective, while this deal extends into his UFA years, it will expire when he’s 28 years old, meaning he could be very well positioned to cash in on the unrestricted free agent market in the summer of 2030 if he so chooses.
Photos courtesy of Hannah Foslien-Imagn Images
Wild Remain Confident That Quinn Hughes Will Sign Extension
The Minnesota Wild remain confident that star defenseman Quinn Hughes will sign an extension with the club, head coach John Hynes told Star Tribune Sports. Hughes has one year remaining on the six-year, $47.1MM deal he signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 2021. The looming expiration made him eligible to sign an extension on July 1st, something the Wild have yet to vindicate.
Hughes has said that he is open to an extension in Minnesota, though those statements have been clouded by the likelihood that his next contract is a three-year deal to align with brother Jack Hughes, whose contract with the New Jersey Devils expires in 2030. Debating the term could be the piece that keeps the eldest Hughes from finding a new deal in Minnesota before the 2026-27 season kicks off. The Wild could be on the hook for a major increase in pay if that’s the case, with Colorado Avalanche star Cale Makar likely to set the market with his looming contract extension. Hughes scored 68 points in 59 games with the Wild after joining the club partway through the season.
That is a 95-point pace across 82 games, a mark that would narrowly beat out the 92-point career-high that Hughes set in 2023-24. Behind a high-octane Wild offense, it’s not unlikely that Hughes can become the first member of his family to crest the 100-point mark. If that occurs, Minnesota could end up signing their top defender to a deal north of $17MM or $18MM, even if it’s only for a few seasons. After giving up top youngsters Marco Rossi and Zeev Buium, among other things, to acquire Hughes – netting five seasons of his support would go much further than only landing two.
The Wild will move through the rest of the summer with that anxiety in mind. Signing a deal sooner rather than later could come with a contingency on term, while waiting could give the former Norris Trophy-winner a chance to find another gear or follow behind the mark set by his superstar peers. Any situation will put the Wild in a tough spot, as they anticipate a 2027 summer marked by Ryan Hartman, Blake Coleman, Jared Spurgeon, and Jesper Wallstedt potentially reaching free agency – in addition to Hughes.
Blues Sign Connor McMichael To Six-Year Deal
The St. Louis Blues have signed forward Connor McMichael to a six-year, $40.5MM contract extension per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. This move will secure the long-term future of the main chip in St. Louis’ trade that sent Jordan Kyrou to the Washington Capitals. It will also avoid salary arbitration between the Blues and McMichael.
McMichael was coming off a two-year, $4.2MM contract signed with Washington in 2024. He earned that deal after a modest break into the Capitals lineup over the course of his entry-level contract. After being selected with the 25th-overall pick in 2019, McMichael turned pro with Washington in 2020 and debuted in the NHL in 2021. He played through 68 games of the 2021-22 season and scored 18 points. Looking for more of a spark from the rookie, Washington re-assigned McMichael to the minors for the 2022-23 season, where he pushed towards a Calder Cup championship with the Hershey Bears while scoring 49 points in 77 games.
That was the jolt the Capitals needed to see – and earned McMichael a nightly lineup role in the NHL lineup for the 2023-24 campaign. He settled in as an impactful third-liner, scoring 33 points and recording a 42 percent faceoff win-rate on 872 draws. It was on the heels of that performance that Washington offered McMichael a two-year extension – a prove-it deal that offered the young center a chance to earn more once he found his footing.
McMichael took the opportunity in stride as the 2024-25 season rolled around. He scored 12 goals in his first 16 games of the season, flaunting a breakaway speed and heads-up playmaking that connected well with Washington’s veterans. That hot scoring pace didn’t continue through the full season – but McMichael’s growing willingness to play feisty and fundamental hockey kept him in Washington’s top-nine. He finished the year with a career-high 26 goals and 57 points.
But while McMichael’s breakout was exciting, much of his 2024-25 campaign was spent on the wing – not the center position that Washington had been developing him into. The Capitals attempted to move McMichael back to center for the 2025-26 season, with mixed results. He again showed strong flashes – including a run of 10 points in eight games in November – but McMichael wasn’t the same speedster while filling the middle lane. He finished the year with just 14 goals and 46 points, while posting a 43.0 faceoff percentage – exactly in-line with his career average.
A change of scenery will offer McMichael the chance to prove his everyday value after adjusting to the NHL game. He is still a young pro – only 25 years old – and shouldn’t be tasked with playing center on a Blues club that also acquired Mason McTavish. Instead, McMichael will step up as the Blues’ direct replacement for Kyrou – who rotated throughout the lineup while struggling to fit under head coach Jim Montgomery last season. Kyrou also scored 46 points last year – a dismal stat line, despite his strong play away from the scoresheet, after four seasons of at least 65 points.
McMichael’s speed and playmaking ability could help him fit into Kyrou’s play-driving role. The Blues will look towards Dylan Holloway, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Jake Neighbours to drive their ship next season – while McMichael and McTavish take the space to carve out their new roles.
McMichael’s top competition for a second-line role will be Pavel Buchnevich, who has also seen his impact dwindle over the last two seasons. Buchnevich scored just 48 points in 81 games – and spent time on the fourth line late in the year. He could be in-line to lose his top-six standing to Holloway and McMichael, unless he can rediscover the scoring that drove him to 76 points in his first season with the Blues. That lineup competition could be exactly what St. Louis is looking for after a year where many of their forwards seemed too comfortable with their assignments. A six-year deal will offer McMichael the security he needs to focus on winning that competition – and could land St. Louis with a high-value contract through his prime years.
Flyers Sign Trevor Zegras To Four-Year Contract
The Philadelphia Flyers will not require arbitration to get a new deal done with star forward Trevor Zegras. Emily Kaplan with ESPN has reported that Zegras is signing a four-year $36.5MM contract ($9.125 AAV). Zegras will be an unrestricted free agent when his deal expires after the 2029-30 season.
Zegras arrived in Philadelphia a year ago as a bit of a reclamation project. The ninth overall pick in 2019 and the Calder Trophy runner-up as a rookie, he posted back-to-back 60-point seasons in Anaheim before injuries and a fractured relationship with the Ducks’ front office derailed the early part of his career. He managed just 15 points in 31 games in 2023-24 after a contract standoff cost him training camp, then 32 points in 57 games the following year amid persistent trade speculation. When Anaheim finally moved him on June 23, 2025, the return: Ryan Poehling, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick, reflected how far his stock had fallen.
The change of scenery certainly worked. The Bedford, New York, native set career highs across the board with 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games, then added six points in 10 playoff contests as the Flyers reached the postseason for the first time since 2020. The path there ran through Rick Tocchet, who came in with an offseason plan to round out Zegras’ game away from the puck. Zegras played primarily on the wing, with some looks at center, and helped drive Philadelphia’s push into the playoffs down the stretch. The Flyers eliminated the Penguins in six games in the first round before being swept by Carolina in the second.
The signing continues a deliberate offseason approach. Rather than chase the open market, Philadelphia’s headline swing, an offer sheet to Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson, was matched; general manager Daniel Briere has prioritized internal business, following the eight-year Tyson Foerster extension with this one. Even after locking up Zegras, the Flyers retain ample flexibility, with roughly $30MM in projected space before this deal. The forward group already carries longer-term money in Travis Konecny ($8.75MM through 2033), Owen Tippett ($6.2MM through 2032) and Christian Dvorak ($5.5MM through 2031), with Sean Couturier‘s $7.75MM cap hit running through 2030. Extensions for Matvei Michkov and 2025 first-rounder Porter Martone loom over the next two summers, making cost certainty on Zegras a meaningful piece of the longer roster puzzle.
The work isn’t finished. Jamie Drysdale, Zegras’ close friend and former Anaheim teammate, whose presence eased his transition to Philadelphia, remains unsigned and carries his own arbitration hearing scheduled for July 20. He is coming off career bests of eight goals and 32 points and a strong two-way season. With Zegras handled, Briere turns to the second of his two restricted free agents against a similar deadline.
Zegras reestablished himself as the kind of offensive threat the Flyers thought they were acquiring, setting career highs while playing mostly on the wing for a young roster that returned to the postseason a year ahead of most expectations. The organization is betting there’s more to come.
“We’re thrilled to have Trevor committed to our organization for the next four years,” Briere said via the team’s press release. “The growth he showed this past season, proving that he is the skilled player he entered the league as, reinforced our belief that he will be an impact player for the Flyers for the years to come.”
At 25, and coming off his first fully healthy season since 2022-23, Zegras signs at a cap hit closer to his projected open-market value than his restricted-year price. The Flyers aren’t just paying for what he did this past season; they’re paying for the player they expect him to become.
Jets Sign Cole Perfetti To Five-Year Contract
The Winnipeg Jets won’t need arbitration to find a new contract for their most important restricted free agent, after all. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Jets have signed forward Cole Perfetti to a five-year, $30MM ($6MM AAV) contract. Winnipeg has confirmed the contract.
Finally, Perfetti lands the long-term deal he was looking for from the Jets. Back in 2024, when his entry-level contract with Winnipeg expired, Perfetti held out on a new contract with the Jets until September 23, only a few days before the start of the 2024-25 campaign. Yielding to a bridge contract at the time, the Jets have seen what they’ve needed from Perfetti to warrant a longer-term deal.
At the time, Perfetti’s ask for a long-term deal was largely indefensible. Despite being the 10th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, Perfetti hadn’t broken out into a legitimate top-six candidate by that point. Throughout his entry-level contract, Perfetti scored 29 goals and 75 points in 140 games with a +24 rating, averaging 14:10 of ice time per game. His possession and defensive metrics were solid, but Perfetti looked more like a really good third-line player rather than a top-six candidate.
Similarly, Perfetti has given Winnipeg much of the same on his two-year bridge deal. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, Perfetti has registered 30 goals and 82 points in 150 games with a +5 rating, a marginal 0.011 points-per-game increase in scoring. Still, he has averaged an approximate 53.0% CorsiFor and 90.5% on-ice SV% at even strength, which isn’t typical for wingers, especially those near the top of the forward corps.
Additionally, Perfetti was injured for a decent chunk of the 2025-26 campaign. During preseason action against the Calgary Flames, Perfetti suffered a high-ankle sprain, causing him to miss the first 14 games of the regular season. Had he started the year on time, Perfetti may have gotten closer to the 50-point campaign he had in 2024-25.
Regardless, the Jets have inked Perfetti to a $6MM price tag while buying out two years of his UFA status. Assuming Winnipeg continued to qualify him, Perfetti would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency after the 2028-29 campaign. Now, he’ll remain with the Jets through the 2030-31 season.
It’s not the worst salary either, especially for a player who projects to be in the middle-six of the forward corps. A $6MM salary for the 2026-27 campaign will only represent 5.769% of the Jets’ overall cap space, and will only continue to decrease from there. For comparison, dating back to the flat salary cap in 2023-24, when the upper limit was $83.5MM, a similar contract percentage would have been a $4.8MM salary.
Lastly, Perfetti’s desire for a long-term deal with the Jets should be music to the organization’s ears. Winnipeg has made good on extending core players like Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey, and Connor Hellebuyck in years past, but has had a hard time acquiring external talent. Even though Perfetti doesn’t have a similar ceiling to the aforementioned group, it’s important for Winnipeg to retain the talent that wants to stay there.
Photo courtesy of Terrence Lee of Imagn Images.
Devils Sign Anthony Mantha To Two-Year Deal
One of the better remaining free agents is off the board. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the New Jersey Devils have signed Anthony Mantha to a two-year, $9.5MM ($4.75MM AAV) contract.
Clearly, Mantha’s market didn’t develop as he hoped. Despite coming off the best offensive output of his career, Mantha didn’t find the longer-term deal he was looking for as an unrestricted free agent. It was never expected that he would land a max-term deal, but it was widely reported that Manth was looking for a four-year deal.
Given his injury history, that was unlikely to happen. In his 11-year career, Mantha has only crossed the 70-game threshold three times. Two years ago, playing on the first of two consecutive one-year prove-it contracts, the former first-round pick finished with four goals and seven points, being limited to only 13 games due to undergoing ACL surgery.
Still, there’s no question his 2025-26 campaign was exceptional. Mantha finished the season with 33 goals and 64 points in 81 games with a +10 rating, averaging 15:11 of ice time per game. He played a crucial role in the resurgent Penguins team and led the team in goals, which is impressive considering that Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. However, both of them faced significant injury issues.
Even with his regular-season output, Mantha was again a ghost in the playoffs. Throughout his career, whether with the Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights, or the Penguins, teams have often opted to scratch Mantha instead of giving him meaningful postseason minutes. Throughout his career in the postseason, Mantha has tallied only seven assists in 20 games.
Without a doubt, his injury history and lack of postseason performance led to today’s outcome. A $4.75MM salary is nothing to shake your head about, but it must be somewhat disappointing considering that it’s not even the largest payday of Mantha’s career. In 2020, the Detroit Red Wings signed Mantha to a four-year, $22.8MM contract worth $5.7MM per season.
As for his landing spot, the Devils make sense. The team finished 27th in scoring last season, which is unacceptable with players like Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier in their top six. They, too, have had injury concerns, to say the least, but New Jersey should be more offensively inclined than they have been.
Assuming he remains healthy, which is a big assumption, Mantha should have a fairly consistent role in New Jersey’s top six. Acquiring Mantha will enable the Devils to shift Connor Brown or Dawson Mercer to the bottom six, enhancing scoring depth in New Jersey’s forward lineup.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire of Imagn Images.
Steve Yzerman To Transition Out Of Red Wings GM Position
After seven years in the position, Steve Yzerman is set to transition out of the Detroit Red Wings’ general manager role. He will move into a senior advisor role under Governor and CEO Chris Illitch while the Red Wings seek a new name to fill Yzerman’s previous Executive Vice President and GM roles. Yzerman will continue to facilitate the day-to-day functions of the hockey operations department while Detroit searches for his successor. This marks a changing of the guard after Detroit dragged their playoff drought into its 10th season with a miss in 2026.
The Red Wings will consider internal and external candidates in their search for a new GM. This will spark yet another GM search in an off-season that has already seen four notable GM hirings: Nashville Predators hiring of Chris MacFarland, Vancouver Canucks hiring of Ryan Johnson, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ hiring of John Chayka, and the New Jersey Devils’ hiring of Sunny Mehta.
Detroit’s playoff drought did not begin with Yzerman, though his roster construction was not able to stop it. Yzerman’s tenure as Detroit’s top decision-maker began with the shocking selection of Moritz Seider at sixth-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. That decision continues to pay dividends for the Red Wings, as the German-national rises into Norris Trophy conversation. The choice also underscores Yzerman’s tenure in Detroit – marked by effective draft picks and minimal market movement. Yzerman spent much of 2019 and 2020 building out Detroit’s forward depth. His next notable move came at the 2020 NHL Draft, when he selected Lucas Raymond with the fourth-overall pick. Yzerman also took bets on Bobby Ryan, Jakub Vrana, Nick Leddy, and Alex Nedeljkovic – to varying degrees of success.
As his tenure grew into its third year, many of Yzerman’s decisions began to fade. Ryan, Adam Erne, and Robby Fabbri each joined a wave of veterans moving away from the club. They were replaced by the likes of Pius Suter, a re-signed Tyler Bertuzzi, and an elevated Vrana. After landing another impactful pick in Simon Edvinsson, Yzerman also moved up in the 2021 NHL Draft to select goaltender Sebastian Cossa – who he traded away from the club in a 2026 deal with the Utah Mammoth, before Cossa had a chance at meaningful minutes in Detroit’s lineup.
Coupled with the selection of future NHL center Marco Kasper, the 2022 summer also brought a wave of true impact to the Red Wings lineup. Yzerman signed Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, and David Perron that year. He also extended restricted free agent Jake Walman, who blossomed following his move from the St. Louis Blues to Detroit. During the 2022-23 season, Yzerman also signed star center Dylan Larkin to an eight-year, $69.6MM contract extension.
Those changes finally marked a bit of action under Yzerman’s lead. The Red Wings began moving forward with Seider, Raymond, and Edvinsson now in firm lineup roles. That core pushed for a 35-37-10 record in 2022-23, then the best record under Yzerman. The GM encouraged the success by adding Shayne Gostisbehere, Alex DeBrincat, and Jeff Petry in the 2023 summer. With those additions, Detroit grew to a 41-32-9 record in 2023-24 – marking their first winning season since 2015-16.
The Red Wings have stalled around the 40-win mark since 2023. They dipped to 39 wins in 2024-25 but pulled back to 41 wins in 2025-26, likely a testament to the minimal roster changes made in that time. Detroit parted ways with Walman and Gostisbehere in 2024, to be replaced by Erik Gustafsson and emerging youngsters. But while they’ve created room to offer Yzerman’s many draft picks a spot at NHL minutes, few have found their breakout yet.
Detroit’s plateau was called out when Larkin – the club’s captain since 2021 – requested a trade earlier this summer. That decision has dealt Yzerman the impossible task of finding positive value for a 29-year-old, top center coming off an Olympic Gold win at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Making matters tougher is Larkin’s short trade list, which currently only contains four teams: the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, and Vegas Golden Knights. While each team may be able to scrounge up a respectable offer, none can return the level of NHL-impact that Detroit will lose by parting with their captain.
It is in the shock of that request that Detroit will now change hands. Yzerman’s shrewd drafting pulled the Red Wings above water for the first time in the 2020s – but his inability to add core lineup pieces through free agency and trades limited the team’s ability to compete. The Red Wings fell seven points short of the Eastern Conference Wild Card race in 2026, a gap their next GM will put concerted effort into overcoming. The Red Wings’ next manager will also have to negotiate a new contract for top RFA Edvinsson, who has become a popular target across the NHL. Yzerman’s final, notable moves will stand as the relinquishing of Cossa and the additions of Perron, Justin Faulk, and Keegan Kolesar.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports.
Bruins Add Kevyn Adams, Promote Two Amid Front Office Overhaul
The Boston Bruins have wrapped up their summer cleaning with a refresh of their hockey operations department. Former Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has been hired as a special advisor to GM Don Sweeney. He will be joined by Dennis Bonvie (player personnel) and Jeremy Rogalski (analytics and strategy), who have both been hired as assistant general managers. Boston also hired Alex Gimenez in a new Director of Hockey Operations role focused on the collective bargaining agreement.
As part of these changes, the Bruins have also parted ways with assistant GM Evan Gold, who will be leaving the club on August 1st to pursue other opportunities in the NHL. Gold oversaw the AHL’s Providence Bruins last season. His departure will leave the minor-league club without a GM or head coach. The turnover marks a total reset after losing in the second round of the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. Gold, a veteran of 10 seasons in Boston’s front office, has been rumored to be headed for a role with the Toronto Maple Leafs per Kevin Paul DuPont of The Boston Globe.
Adams marks the most notable addition to Boston’s front office. He brings rare experience to Boston, having lifted the Buffalo Sabres from the depths of the NHL over a six-year tenure running the team. Adams made significant changes to the Buffalo roster. He brought in Alex Tuch, Bowen Byram, Ryan McLeod, and Joshua Norris – then backed their veteran presence with the additions of high-upside youngsters like Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Konsta Helenius, and Owen Power. Many of the core players assembled during Adams’ tenure helped the Sabres break the longest playoff drought in major sports, although he was dismissed in December 2025 before seeing the club’s eventual breakthrough.
Buffalo is nonetheless celebrating a bright future on the back of the many changes made by Adams. Now, the former pro player will bring his creativity to the Bruins. Adams had minimal front office experience before taking over as Buffalo’s GM in 2020. Now, he can boast six years of experience in the big chair, to go with a playing career that spanned 10 years and 540 games in the NHL. He could be a shrewd addition as Boston looks to revitalize their franchise without tearing down.
While Adams brings outside experience, Boston also rewarded two longtime internal staff members. First is Bonvie, who has been promoted after four years as Boston’s Director of Professional Scouting. The 52 year old has worked as a pro scout in the NHL since 2008. His career has spanned one year with the Maple Leafs, six years with the Chicago Blackhawks, and 10 years in Boston. Bonvie enjoyed a lengthy AHL playing career before moving into scouting. He spent 15 years in the minors, generally split between the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – though he played for eight clubs, including 23 games in Providence. He was known for his physical, enforcer-style play throughout his AHL career. Bonvie is the most-penalized player in AHL history, racking up 4,493 PIMs over 871 games in the league – or an average of five penalty minutes each game. His 1996-97 season with the Hamilton Bulldogs still ranks second for most penalty minutes in a single AHL season – marked by 522 PIMs in 73 games. Bonvie’s nerves of steel have now helped him climb from a pro scout role to assistant GM in the Bruins organization.
Also earning a promotion is Rogalski, who spent the last nine seasons as Boston’s Director of Analytics. He spent four seasons as the club’s video coach before then. Rogalski will take over the analytics focus at the top of Boston’s front office after Gold’s departure from the club. The two worked closely to modernize the Bruins’ approach over his years as Director of Analytics, leading some to speculate that they would leave the club together per Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal. Instead, Gold’s vacancy will allow Rogalski the chance to take on an assistant GM title for the first time in his career, though it’s not yet clear how AHL duties will be split between him and Bonvie.
Gimenez rounds out the changes to Boston’s management. The Cornell-graduate has worked in analytical roles across the sports world, including 10 years with the Boston Red Sox in various scouting and baseball operations roles. Gimenez most recently served as the Manager of Hockey Analytics and Strategic Projects for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). After a decade in baseball and a quick stop in the top women’s league, Gimenez has now found his way into an NHL front office, where he could fill an invaluable role for a Bruins club with only $5.39MM in projected cap space per PuckPedia.
Photo courtesy of Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK.