Buffalo Sabres Intend To Buy Out Jeff Skinner
Chad DeDominicis of Expected Buffalo is reporting that the Buffalo Sabres intend to buy out forward Jeff Skinner. Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported last week that the Sabres were considering a buyout of the final three years on Skinner’s deal, but with the buyout window opening today, all signs point to his time in Buffalo being finished.
Skinner is owed $22MM for the final three seasons of his eight-year $72MM contract and his buyout will be spread out over the next six seasons. The numbers broken down by year will look like this (as per CapFriendly):
- Year 1 – $1.44MM
- Year 2 – $4.44MM
- Year 3 – $6.44MM
- Year 4 – $2.44MM
- Year 5 – $2.44MM
- Year 6 – $2.44MM
Buffalo will save $7.555MM in the first year of the buyout which will give the Sabres $31MM in cap space to play with this summer as they look to get back to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
For Skinner, the buyout ends a run in Buffalo that was mired by inconsistent offensive production and poor defensive play. Skinner was acquired by the Sabres back in August 2018 for a package that included a 2019 second-round draft pick, a third-round draft pick in 2020, as well as a sixth-round draft pick in 2020 and Cliff Pu. The trade initially looked like a big win for Buffalo as Skinner posted 40 goals and 23 assists in 82 games. He then signed his massive extension in June 2019 and that’s when the relationship began to sour.
Skinner wasn’t able to maintain his 14.9% shooting percentage from the 2018-19 season and fell on hard times the next two seasons, posting just 21 goals and 16 assists in 112 games. He bounced back in 2022-23, tallying 35 goals and 47 assists for a career-high 82 points in 79 games, however this past season the 32-year-old’s numbers cratered once again as he fell to 24 goals and 22 assists.
Skinner will find work this summer, as there is no shortage of teams looking for scoring and not a ton of it to be found in free agency. Skinner’s defensive work remains an issue and he isn’t much of a puck carrier, but he should be able to latch on with a team on a short-term deal and possibly offer secondary scoring at a reduced price point.
2024 Hockey Hall Of Fame Inductees Announced
Another slate of hockey legends has received their call to the Hall. Forwards Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Roenick, and defenseman Shea Weber comprise the NHL players entering this year. On the women’s side, former Team USA fixture and PWHL Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz has been inducted along with Team USA teammate and current Penguins amateur scout Krissy Wendell-Pohl. Longtime NHL vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell has been inducted as a builder, as has longtime Capitals and Predators GM David Poile.
NHL all-time games played leader Patrick Marleau was eligible for induction for the first time this year but was not chosen. Meanwhile, Datsyuk and Weber gain entry on their first try, while Roenick gets in after a 12-year wait.
Datsyuk began his NHL career as a sixth-round pick of the Red Wings in 1998 out of the Russian top league. It took a while for him to come over, though, finally debuting with Detroit in his age-23 season in 2001-02. He put together a decent rookie season for the Dead Puck Era, logging 11 goals and 35 points in 70 games, finishing fourth in Calder Trophy voting before lifting the Stanley Cup as part of perhaps the best roster in NHL history. Datsyuk is the tenth player from that team to become a Hall of Famer, joining Chris Chelios, Sergei Fedorov, Dominik Hašek, Brett Hull, Igor Larionov, Nicklas Lidström, Luc Robitaille, Brendan Shanahan, and Steve Yzerman.
He went on to play 14 years in the show, all in a Red Wings uniform. Datsyuk lifted another Stanley Cup as part of the Red Wings’ championship team in 2008, a year that saw him post 97 points and a +41 rating in 82 games en route to his first of three straight Selke Trophies. He didn’t crack the 1,000-game mark, opting to return to his native Russia after the 2015-16 season, but still had 314 goals and 918 points in 953 career NHL games while arguably serving as the best defensive center of his time with some incredible breakaway/shootout moves to boot. He played five seasons in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League after leaving Detroit, including three with top-flight side SKA St. Petersburg and two with his hometown Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.
Datsyuk was also one of the most well-regarded and sportsmanlike players in the league, winning four Lady Byngs. He was named one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players of all time as part of the league’s centennial celebration in 2017-18.
Roenick may not have the awards résumé of a normal Hall-of-Famer, but he was still one of the league’s premier offensive talents over a career that spanned 20 seasons. The Boston native was the eighth overall pick of the Blackhawks in the 1988 draft and made his debut the following season, recording 18 points in 20 games without burning his rookie eligibility.
He arrived in full in 1989-90, posting 26 goals and 66 points in 78 games while earning himself a nomination for the Calder Trophy. That would be his last year without recording at least a point per game until 1997. Over 1,363 games with Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Jose, he tallied 513 goals and 703 assists for 1,216 points while playing through one of the league’s lowest-scoring eras. On the league’s all-time list, Roenick ranks 42nd in goals, 59th in assists, 47th in points, and 54th in games played.
Weber spent his entire career with just two teams, playing 11 seasons with the Predators before a 2016 blockbuster trade for P.K. Subban sent him to the Canadiens for the final five years of his career. The Habs were hoping he’d be with them longer—he’s still under contract for two more seasons, now with Utah—but various injuries ended his days as a player after he captained Montreal to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.
In his 1,038 career games, he tallied 589 points, including 224 goals and 365 assists. He never won the Norris Trophy but was a finalist for the award on three occasions with Nashville (2011, 2012, 2014). He made four year-end All-Star teams and took home the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2016. He consistently logged heavy minutes throughout his career, averaging 24:03 per game.
Darwitz and Wendell-Pohl also take their rightful places in the Hall as they continue to make headway in recognizing the greats of the women’s game. Darwitz, now 40, is one of the most decorated Americans of all time, winning eight World Championship medals (three gold, five silver), three Olympic medals (two silver, one bronze), and multiple other international honors. Her junior season with the University of Minnesota in 2004-05 was one of the best performances in college hockey ever, racking up 42 goals and 114 points in just 40 games. After her playing career wrapped up in 2010, she spent various years coaching before taking over as GM of PWHL Minnesota in their inaugural season, building this year’s Walter Cup-winning team.
Wendell-Pohl, a Minnesota native like Darwitz, was also a member of the 2002 and 2006 Olympic teams for the US and served as their captain at her final World Championship appearance in 2007. She was unstoppable in Worlds action, totaling 21 goals and 59 points in 29 games over six appearances at the tournament. She’s been with the Penguins as a scout for three years.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Sharks Acquire Jake Walman
The Sharks have acquired defenseman Jake Walman from the Red Wings and the Lightning’s second-round pick in this week’s draft (53rd overall). Detroit will receive nothing in return aside from future considerations, signaling this as a cap dump for a bigger move from general manager Steve Yzerman.
The Red Wings acquired the second-round pick they’re sending to San Jose in a trade with the Predators earlier today, in which they swapped defense prospect Andrew Gibson for the signing rights to winger Jesse Kiiskinen.
Unlike most deals involving future considerations, this swap doesn’t involve a decidedly overpriced contract. Walman, who’s broken out as a serviceable top-four defender since arriving in Detroit in 2022, costs $3.4MM against the cap through 2025-26. That’s about what his market value would be if he were to reach free agency this summer, if not under it.
That makes this arguably the best trade in general manager Mike Grier‘s tenure at the helm of the Sharks, purely from a value standpoint. Walman will immediately challenge Mario Ferraro for top-pairing minutes in the Bay Area, although he hasn’t been much of a special teams option in Detroit. He averaged just under 20 minutes per game the past two seasons despite spending most of his time on their first pairing alongside Moritz Seider.
Injuries limited Walman to 63 games this season, but they didn’t stop him from recording a career-high 12 goals and 21 points. He and Seider had some of the most difficult minutes in the league, though, which correspondingly tanked his possession numbers. After controlling 50.1% of shot attempts and 54.8% of expected goals when on the ice at even strength in 2022-23, Walman controlled only 45.3% of shot attempts and 41% of expected goals this year, per Hockey Reference.
The 28-year-old Walman adds some much-needed depth to a paper-thin San Jose blue line that got even thinner yesterday with the news that they won’t be qualifying power-play specialist Calen Addison. He’s the sixth Sharks defenseman signed to a one-way deal next season, joining Ferraro, Kyle Burroughs, Nikolai Knyzhov, Jan Rutta and Marc-Édouard Vlasic. Ty Emberson and Henry Thrun are pending RFAs but are expected back in the picture next season.
The Wings do increase their projected cap space next season to $32.77MM with the move, but they lose a quality minute-munching piece of their roster in the process. After remaining in the playoff race until the final days of the regular season, it’s clear Yzerman is moving money around to add impact pieces this summer to push them over the hump. He’s also gearing up to offer rich extensions to Seider and Lucas Raymond, both of whom are slated to become RFAs next week.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Canada Names Jon Cooper Head Coach For 4 Nations Face-Off, Winter Olympics
Hockey Canada has announced two-time Stanley Cup champion coach Jon Cooper as its bench boss for both the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Winter Olympics.
Cooper, 56, will enter his 13th season behind the Lightning bench in the fall. The longest-serving head coach in the league will return to the international stage for the first time since 2017 when he coached Canada at the World Championship. He also assisted for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
The future Hall-of-Fame coach has been one of many affected by the NHL’s lack of participation in international events for the last decade, leading to a surprising lack of accolades for Canada on the world stage. A British Columbia native, Cooper has also routinely led the Lightning deep into postseason play, including three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances from 2020 to 2022. That’s hampered his availability to serve on the Canadian bench for less star-studded tournaments like the World Championship.
In his lone showing for Canada internationally, Cooper led a Canadian roster led by Nathan MacKinnon, Mitch Marner and Ryan O’Reilly to a silver medal at the Worlds. It was their third straight year making the gold medal game after back-to-back wins in 2015 and 2016, but they lost to a Sweden contingent led by Henrik Lundqvist and William Nylander.
Canada hasn’t filled out the rest of their coaching staff for the upcoming tournaments, although those announcements should come before the end of the year. Their first six players for the inaugural 4 Nations tournament, which takes place in February 2025, will be announced this week. They do have their management group in place, though. Blues GM Doug Armstrong will be their principal hockey ops decision-maker for the upcoming best-on-best events, with the Bruins’ Don Sweeney and the Stars’ Jim Nill serving as his assistants.
Jets Sign Dylan DeMelo To Four-Year Extension
11:17 a.m.: DeMelo’s deal breaks down as follows, per PuckPedia. It carries a 10-team no-trade list throughout.
2024-25: $5.5MM base salary
2025-26: $5.0MM base salary
2026-27: $5.0MM base salary
2027-28: $4.1MM base salary
10:19 a.m.: The Winnipeg Jets have signed defenseman Dylan DeMelo to a four-year contract extension with an AAV of $4.9MM, per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link). DeMelo was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.
DeMelo, 31, will drive through the majority of his remaining career on this deal, cementing his spot as an evergreen piece of the Jets lineup. Winnipeg traded for DeMelo ahead of the 2020 Trade Deadline, sending a third-round draft pick back to the Ottawa Senators and extending the defender ahead of the 2020-21 season, signing him to a four-year, $12MM contract. He performed well on the deal, recording career-highs in scoring with 27 points last year and then 31 points this season. DeMelo has climbed his way into more and more of a role with strong play, working from an average of 17 minutes of ice time at the start of his deal to nearly 22 minutes this season.
The move to Winnipeg wasn’t the first of DeMelo’s career, having previously been one of the pieces returned to the Ottawa Senators in the legendary Erik Karlsson trade. DeMelo was joined by Joshua Norris, Chris Tierney, Rudolfs Balcers, and the picks used to select Tim Stutzle, Jamieson Rees, and Zack Ostapchuk. DeMelo went on to play a limited 126 games with the Senators, though he managed a productive 32 points from a second-pair role.
Through nine years in the league and three different teams, DeMelo has totaled 554 games and 144 points. He’s been a staunch defensive presence on second pairings since his debut in 2015 and is now clawing his way into top-line minutes. He’ll look to hang onto that role as he kicks off another long-term deal with the Jets – this time $1.9MM richer than his salary last season.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports
Matvei Michkov Released By SKA St. Petersburg
June 25, 11:07 a.m.: Michkov has had his contract with SKA St. Petersburg officially terminated and the Flyers have been informed of the development, Brière said in a statement Tuesday. “We are certainly excited to learn of this news and look forward to reconnecting with Matvei’s representatives in the coming days,” Brière said. He’s not under contract with the Flyers yet but he should be in the coming days.
June 23, 3:00 p.m.: Updated reports from Kevin Kurz and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have shared that there is a chance Michkov could be involved in the team’s development camp next week (Twitter link).
June 23, 11:00 a.m.: In a report from Hockey News Hub and later confirmed by Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period and Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, Philadelphia Flyers’ prospect Matvei Michkov is expected to terminate his contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL to join the Flyers for the 2024-25 NHL season. Di Marco later reported that Michkov will be represented by CAA in North America who also represents Cameron York, Nick Seeler, and Ivan Fedotov in the Flyers’ organization.
The news of Michkov’s arrival in Philadelphia ends a year-long story that began shortly before the 2023 NHL Draft. Viewed by many as one of the top talents not named Connor Bedard in last year’s draft, Michkov fell to seventh overall as many teams grew afraid he may take years to make it to North America due to his contractual obligations in the KHL. Being that hindsight is 20/20, the Flyers will have had to wait only one year to see Michkov join the organization as General Manager Daniel Briere‘s big gamble appears to have paid off.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the situation is still fluid regarding Michkov, but the expectation is that he will be with the Flyers organization when the 2024-25 season opens up. With plenty of doubts about his eventual arrival in Philadelphia, the team must first sign the young Russian prospect to his entry-level contract. Regardless of the logistical steps forward, the Flyers will be adding one of the best young prospects in the world to their organization.
In his season after the 2023 NHL Draft, Michkov played primarily on loan for HK Sochi of the KHL, becoming a complete offensive package for the organization. In 47 games played Michkov potted 19 goals while assisting on 22 more. Michkov finished 40th in the league in scoring but it was far and away the most by any player under 20.
Michkov’s creativity and play with the puck is reminiscent of Russian forward Pavel Datsyuk throughout his tenure with the Detroit Red Wings. Additionally, Michkov has a keen ability to find the back of the net and a very mature hockey IQ. It will be interesting to see if Michkov can keep up with the defensive expectations brought by head coach John Tortorella in Philadelphia, but he should be one of the team’s premier offensive players in due time.
Avalanche Sign Casey Mittelstadt To Three-Year Extension
The Avalanche have signed center Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year extension with a cap hit of $5.75MM, per a team announcement.
Mittelstadt had two years remaining under team control, so his new deal buys one UFA year. He’ll be 28 years old at the end of his deal, putting him in the middle of his prime when he’s able to cash in a long-term bet as a UFA.
The Minnesota native entered the season as a Sabre, beginning his sixth full NHL campaign. Buffalo’s eighth-overall pick in 2017 had been largely underwhelming through the first few years of his development, failing to crack the 30-point mark through his first four seasons. But 2022-23 signaled a breakout for Mittelstadt, who contributed 15 goals and 59 points while playing in all 82 games to help the Sabres’ offense rocket up to third in the league. Although they missed the playoffs by one point, it was an important step forward for the pivot, who now looked to be part of a long-term one-two-three punch down the middle in Buffalo with Dylan Cozens and Tage Thompson.
But the Sabres’ forwards failed to carry over their forward momentum into 2023-24. An injury-plagued campaign from Thompson and regression from key pieces like Cozens, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch canceled out their strongest goaltending performance in quite some time. Mittelstadt was one of the few immune to a step back in scoring, though. In fact, he was arguably Buffalo’s best center last season. He put up the best possession metrics of his career, controlling 51.9% of expected goals at even strength, and added 14 goals and 47 points through 62 games. He averaged 18:16 per game as well, a career-high.
That also meant Mittelstadt was setting himself up for a significant raise in the final season of a three-year, $2.5MM bridge deal signed with Buffalo in 2021. Cozens and Thompson had previously been signed to long-term deals by general manager Kevyn Adams, and the Sabres had plenty of prospects still to come down the middle. That made him expendable and thrust him into trade rumors ahead of this year’s deadline.
Colorado pounced, parting ways with promising but injury-plagued defenseman Bowen Byram to acquire Mittelstadt. The fit was clear. The Avs have had a gaping hole at the second-line center position since Nazem Kadri left for the Flames in free agency in 2022, one of the biggest factors preventing them from repeating as Stanley Cup champions. J.T. Compher tried admirably to shoulder those minutes after Kadri’s departure, but, like Kadri, he converted his breakout year into a richer deal in free agency elsewhere.
Ross Colton and Ryan Johansen also tried and failed to be effective as stopgap solutions behind Colorado’s primary option behind Nathan MacKinnon down the middle. The Avs were especially banking on Johansen, who they acquired from the Predators at a half-reduced $4MM cap hit over the summer, to be Compher’s replacement. But after the veteran struggled to produce with only 23 points in 63 games, Avs general manager Chris MacFarland had to make a move.
He found a willing partner in Adams, swapping Byram for Mittelstadt in an increasingly rare one-for-one deal. It immediately paid dividends. It took a little while for Mittelstadt to adjust to Denver, but he didn’t look out of place and added four goals and six assists for 10 points in 18 games to close out the season in an Avalanche uniform.
The playoffs saw Mittelstadt fully arrive, though. In his first-ever postseason showing, Mittelstadt flourished offensively with three goals and nine points in 11 games, getting 24 shots on goal and averaging 17:25 per game. The Avs had strong shot attempt numbers with Mitteltsadt on the ice at even strength in both the regular season and playoffs, signaling he has the two-way competency necessary for a top-six pivot on a contending roster.
Now, Mittelstadt will hold that second-line center role in Colorado through at least the 2026-27 season. It comes in just around market value, too. Evolving Hockey projected a three-year scenario as the most likely deal for Mittelstadt this summer at a cap hit of $5.8MM, $500K richer per season than what he’s ended up signing for.
With Mittelstadt locked up, the Avs have $10.5MM in projected cap space remaining with a roster size of 15, per CapFriendly. That figure includes the cap hit of injured captain Gabriel Landeskog, who’s expected to return next year after missing two seasons recovering from multiple knee surgeries. However, it doesn’t account for the $6.125MM cap hit of winger Valeri Nichushkin, who will begin the season on the non-roster list while he remains in Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. He’ll be unavailable for at least a month as he serves a six-month suspension assessed in May. Colorado still has a handful of notable pending UFAs in Jonathan Drouin, Yakov Trenin and Sean Walker.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Full 2024 NHL Draft Order
Updated 6/28/24. Originally published 6/7/24.
With the draft lottery behind us (spoiler alert: there were no changes) and all but the most important playoff series decided, the final order for the 2024 NHL Draft has come into clear view.
We’ll likely see some of these picks change hands on June 28 or 29 or in the days before the draft. We’ll be sure to update the list below if and when picks are traded.
Here’s the full 2024 NHL draft order:
First Round
1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Utah Hockey Club
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Calgary Flames
10. New Jersey Devils
11. San Jose Sharks (from BUF)
12. Philadelphia Flyers
13. Minnesota Wild
14. Buffalo Sabres (from PIT)
15. Detroit Red Wings
16. St. Louis Blues
17. Washington Capitals
18. Chicago Blackhawks (from NYI)
19. Vegas Golden Knights
20. New York Islanders (from TBL)
21. Montreal Canadiens (from LAK)
22. Nashville Predators
23. Toronto Maple Leafs
24. Colorado Avalanche
25. Boston Bruins
26. Los Angeles Kings (from WPG)
27. Carolina Hurricanes
28. Calgary Flames (from VAN)
29. Dallas Stars
30. New York Rangers
31. Anaheim Ducks (from EDM)
32. Philadelphia Flyers (from FLA)
Second Round
33. San Jose Sharks
34. Chicago Blackhawks
35. Anaheim Ducks
36. Philadelphia Flyers (from CBJ) (Note: CBJ has until after the first round to decide whether they’re sending their 2024 or 2025 second-round pick to PHI)
37. Winnipeg Jets (from MTL)
38. Utah Hockey Club
39. Ottawa Senators
40. Seattle Kraken
41. Calgary Flames
42. Buffalo Sabres (from NJD)
43. Buffalo Sabres
44. Pittsburgh Penguins (from PHI)
45. Minnesota Wild
46. Pittsburgh Penguins
47. Detroit Red Wings
48. St. Louis Blues
49. Utah Hockey Club (from WSH)
50. Chicago Blackhawks (from NYI)
51. Philadelphia Flyers (Note: compensatory pick for not signing 2018 first-round pick Jay O’Brien)
52. Washington Capitals (from VGK)
53. San Jose Sharks (from TBL)
54. New York Islanders (from LAK)
55. Nashville Predators
56. St. Louis Blues (from TOR)
57. Los Angeles Kings (from COL)
58. Anaheim Ducks (from BOS)
59. Nashville Predators (from WPG)
60. Carolina Hurricanes
61. New York Islanders (from VAN)
62. Calgary Flames (from DAL)
63. Seattle Kraken (from NYR)
64. Edmonton Oilers
65. Utah Hockey Club (from FLA)
Third Round
66. Anaheim Ducks (from SJS)
67. Chicago Blackhawks
68. Anaheim Ducks
69. Columbus Blue Jackets
70. Montreal Canadiens
71. Utah Hockey Club
72. Chicago Blackhawks (from OTT)
73. Seattle Kraken
74. Calgary Flames
75. New Jersey Devils
76. Buffalo Sabres
77. Philadelphia Flyers
78. Montreal Canadiens (from MIN)
79. Anaheim Ducks (from PIT)
80. Detroit Red Wings
81. St. Louis Blues
82. Washington Capitals
83. Washington Capitals (from NYI)
84. Calgary Flames (from VGK)
85. San Jose Sharks (from TBL)
86. Columbus Blue Jackets (from LAK)
87. Nashville Predators
88. Seattle Kraken (from TOR)
89. Utah Hockey Club (from COL)
90. Washington Capitals (from BOS)
91. New Jersey Devils (from WPG)
92. Carolina Hurricanes
93. Vancouver Canucks
94. Nashville Predators (from DAL)
95. St. Louis Blues (from NYR)
96. Utah Hockey Club (from EDM)
97. Florida Panthers
Fourth Round
98. Utah Hockey Club (from SJS)
99. Nashville Predators (from CHI)
100. Anaheim Ducks
101. Columbus Blue Jackets
102. Montreal Canadiens
103. Utah Hockey Club
104. Ottawa Senators
105. Seattle Kraken
106. Calgary Flames
107. Calgary Flames (from NJD)
108. Buffalo Sabres
109. Buffalo Sabres (from PHI)
110. Minnesota Wild
111. Pittsburgh Penguins
112. Ottawa Senators (from DET)
113. St. Louis Blues
114. Washington Capitals
115. New York Islanders
116. San Jose Sharks (from VGK)
117. Ottawa Senators (from TBL)
118. Los Angeles Kings
119. Nashville Predators
120. Toronto Maple Leafs
121. Colorado Avalanche
122. Boston Bruins
123. Winnipeg Jets
124. Carolina Hurricanes
125. Vancouver Canucks
126. Detroit Red Wings (from DAL)
127. New York Rangers
128. Tampa Bay Lightning (from EDM)
129. Florida Panthers
Fifth Round
130. Montreal Canadiens (from SJS)
131. San Jose Sharks (from CHI)
132. Colorado Avalanche (from ANA)
133. Columbus Blue Jackets
134. Montreal Canadiens
135. Utah Hockey Club
136. Ottawa Senators
137. Colorado Avalanche (from SEA)
138. Chicago Blackhawks (from CGY)
139. New Jersey Devils
140. Minnesota Wild (from BUF)
141. Florida Panthers (from PHI)
142. Minnesota Wild
143. San Jose Sharks (from PIT)
144. Detroit Red Wings
145. St. Louis Blues
146. Washington Capitals
147. New York Islanders
148. Philadelphia Flyers (from VGK)
149. Tampa Bay Lightning
150. Philadelphia Flyers (from LAK)
151. Toronto Maple Leafs (from NSH)
152. Toronto Maple Leafs
153. New Jersey Devils (from COL)
154. Boston Bruins
155. Winnipeg Jets
156. Carolina Hurricanes
157. Toronto Maple Leafs (from VAN)
158. Dallas Stars
159. New York Rangers
160. Edmonton Oilers
161. Buffalo Sabres (from FLA)
Sixth Round
162. Vancouver Canucks (from SJS)
163. Chicago Blackhawks
164. Anaheim Ducks
165. Columbus Blue Jackets
166. Montreal Canadiens
167. Utah Hockey Club
168. Carolina Hurricanes (from OTT)
169. Seattle Kraken
170. Calgary Flames
171. New Jersey Devils
172. Buffalo Sabres
173. Philadelphia Flyers
174. Minnesota Wild
175. Pittsburgh Penguins
176. Detroit Red Wings
177. Philadelphia Flyers (from STL)
178. Washington Capitals
179. New York Islanders
180. Vegas Golden Knights
181. Tampa Bay Lightning
182. Los Angeles Kings
183. Edmonton Oilers (from NSH)
184. Carolina Hurricanes (from TOR)
185. Colorado Avalanche
186. Boston Bruins
187. Winnipeg Jets
188. Carolina Hurricanes
189. Vancouver Canucks
190. Utah Hockey Club (from DAL)
191. New York Rangers
192. Edmonton Oilers
193. Florida Panthers
Seventh Round
194. San Jose Sharks
195. Tampa Bay Lightning (from CHI)
196. Edmonton Oilers (from ANA)
197. Vegas Golden Knights (from CBJ)
198. Los Angeles Kings (from MTL)
199. Utah Hockey Club
200. Toronto Maple Leafs (from OTT)
201. Seattle Kraken
202. Seattle Kraken (from CGY)
203. Detroit Red Wings (from NJD)
204. Buffalo Sabres
205. Philadelphia Flyers
206. Tampa Bay Lightning (from MIN)
207. Pittsburgh Penguins
208. Detroit Red Wings
209. St. Louis Blues
210. Montreal Canadiens (from WSH)
211. St. Louis Blues (from NYI)
212. Vegas Golden Knights
213. Nashville Predators (from TBL)
214. Los Angeles Kings
215. Colorado Avalanche (from NSH)
216. Toronto Maple Leafs
217. Colorado Avalanche
218. Edmonton Oilers (from BOS)
219. Winnipeg Jets
220. Carolina Hurricanes
221. Vancouver Canucks
222. Dallas Stars
223. Pittsburgh Penguins (from NYR)
224. Montreal Canadiens (from EDM)
225. Florida Panthers
Panthers Win Stanley Cup, Connor McDavid Wins Conn Smythe
The Florida Panthers are your 2024 Stanley Cup champions, recovering from blowing a 3-0 series lead by taking Game 7 at home by a score of 2-1. The Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP is going to a skater from the losing club for the second time in NHL history, though. Oilers superstar Connor McDavid receives the honor after recording a postseason-leading 34 assists and 42 points in just 24 games, the former of which is an all-time record.
Among the notables for Florida is captain Aleksander Barkov becoming the first Finn to lead his team to a Stanley Cup. Head coach Paul Maurice, who’s second all-time in games coached with 1,848, also wins for the first time.
The Cup-winning goal came off the stick of Sam Reinhart, who beat Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner for the go-ahead goal with 4:51 left in the second period. He has less than a week to negotiate a contract extension with the Panthers to avoid hitting the open market as the top right wing available next Monday.
Reinhart finishes the postseason second on Florida in goals with 10, one behind Carter Verhaeghe‘s 11. He netted the game-opening goal after going scoreless in Games 2 through 6.
While he lost out to McDavid for the Conn Smythe, Panthers star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky isn’t complaining about his first Cup win, either. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is up for the award again this year, and with a championship ring, he’s all but solidified his candidacy for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
With the Cup Final over, attention now turns toward an incredibly busy opening to the offseason. The first buyout window opens Wednesday, the NHL Awards are Thursday night, the 2024 NHL Draft is Friday and Saturday, and the qualifying offer deadline is Sunday. That’s a major calendar event for five days in a row before the opening of free agency and the technical start of the new league year on Monday, July 1.
Senators Acquire Linus Ullmark
With Jeremy Swayman set to land what’s expected to be a significant contract as a restricted free agent this summer, it has been widely expected that the Bruins would be moving out Linus Ullmark. That move has now happened as Ullmark has been moved to Ottawa in exchange for the 25th pick in this week’s draft, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, and forward Mark Kastelic. Both sides have announced the swap which also sees the Senators retaining 25% of Korpisalo’s contract.
Ullmark has spent the last three seasons with Boston after signing a four-year, $20MM contract with them in free agency back in 2021. It’s fair to say that the move worked out quite well for both sides.
After struggling with inconsistency throughout his time in Buffalo, the 30-year-old has become one of the top netminders in the NHL. In 2022-23, he played in a platoon with Swayman but was nothing short of dominant, winning 40 of 48 starts while posting a league-best 1.89 GAA and a .938 SV%. That helped him earn his first career Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s Goalie of the Year.
Not surprisingly, those numbers dropped this season although coming off the year he had, that was to be expected. Even so, Ullmark was still above average, putting up a 2.57 GAA with a .915 SV% in 39 starts. However, he was limited to just two postseason appearances (one start) with Swayman getting the bulk of the workload.
With Swayman set to command a long-term deal and having arbitration eligibility for the second year in a row, it wouldn’t have been feasible for Boston to keep both netminders in the fold. Doing so would have made them one of the highest-spending teams on goaltenders which would have cut into their flexibility to fill some other needs this summer.
Meanwhile, from Ottawa’s standpoint, a move to shore things up between the pipes has been an annual occurrence recently with middling results at best. Last summer, Korpisalo was brought in on a five-year, $20MM contract following a strong bounce-back year with Columbus and Los Angeles. However, instead of turning things around in goal, he struggled considerably, posting a 3.27 GAA and a career-worst .890 SV%. Boston will assume a $3MM cap charge on Korpisalo for the next four years while Ottawa will carry $1MM of dead cap charges for that time. They’ll be hoping that in a better-structured system, he could put up similar numbers to the ones he put up with the Kings down the stretch in 2023, another defensive-oriented team.
Unfortunately for Ottawa, Anton Forsberg didn’t fare much better; while his GAA was a little better at a still-below-average 3.21, his save percentage also checked in at .890. Meanwhile, their potential goalie of the future Mads Sogaard also struggled, coming up with a 4.05 GAA and a .859 SV% in his six NHL appearances. Knowing that, many expected that they would be making another attempt to upgrade in goal this summer; Ullmark certainly represents one. The Sens were believed to be interested in acquiring Ullmark during the season although that never came to fruition with Ottawa believed to be on Ullmark’s partial no-trade list. Evidently, he had a change of heart to help facilitate the move.
Once July 1st comes around, Ullmark will become extension-eligible as he’ll officially be in the final year of his contract. No informal agreement is in place yet although Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that the two sides are working on getting an extension in place. If that happens, he’d become their long-term starter with Sogaard likely getting the full-time promotion to the NHL to serve as his backup starting in 2025-26 after Forsberg’s contract comes to an end.
Meanwhile, Boston is also adding a rugged fourth liner in Kastelic. The 25-year-old played in 63 games with the Sens this season, collecting five goals, five assists, 63 penalty minutes, and 126 hits while averaging a little less than eight minutes a night. For his NHL career, Kastelic has 25 points and 331 hits in 144 games with Ottawa. He’s signed through the upcoming season at a $835K cap charge and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at that time so he could be in their plans for a couple of years at least. The Bruins have several pending unrestricted free agents up front so Kastelic will be taking the place of one of those players.
Boston will also get to do something they haven’t been able to do lately and that’s draft in the first round. Assuming they hold onto the pick, this will be the first time that they picked on the opening day of the draft since 2021 when they took Fabian Lysell 21st overall. Interestingly enough, that pick has been well-traveled. It’s Boston’s own selection but they originally moved it for Tyler Bertuzzi at the 2023 trade deadline. Detroit then sent it to Ottawa as part of the Alex DeBrincat trade last offseason and now it has returned to the Bruins.
The move winds up being relatively cap-neutral for both sides. In the end, Boston saves $1.165MM with the swap, bringing their cap space for this coming summer to just under $21.6MM, per CapFriendly. Meanwhile, the Sens are now down to $11.3MM in room, per CapFriendly. We’ll find out in the coming days how the teams plan to spend the bulk of those funds.
Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald was the first to report that Ullmark was heading to Ottawa.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.