Canadiens’ Michael Hage Expected To Return To College
The Montreal Canadiens will have to wait another season before they can entertain signing one of their top prospects. Center Michael Hage is expected to return to the University of Michigan for his junior season per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Hage and the Michigan Wolverines recently lost a double-overtime matchup against the Denver Pioneers in the Frozen Four. The Montreal prospect had one assist in the 3-4 loss.
Another season in college will give Hage a chance to push for Michigan’s first National Championship since 1998. More than that, the high-energy Hage will be a top candidate for Michigan’s captaincy after senior T.J. Hughes signed a deal with the Colorado Avalanche. Hage has been an integral part of the Wolverines’ offense since moving to school in 2024. He scored 13 goals and 34 points in 33 games with Michigan in his freshman season – becoming just the 10th Michigan freshman to score above a point-per-game since 2000.
The second-line flowed through Hage’s shooting ability in his freshman year. As a sophomore, he grew into a true starring role. Hage took over Michigan’s top-line center role and matched his 13 goals, en route to 52 points in 39 games – second-most on the Wolverines to Hughes’ 57 points. Hage proved to be a capable and confident playmaker, a mantra he carried through to his first international tournament. After being passed over at younger tournaments, while playing in America’s USHL, Hage finally made his Team Canada debut at the 2026 World Junior Championship. He stood out as the team’s star, leading the tournament with a staggering 13 assists and 15 points in seven games.
The World Juniors performance brought Hage’s stock to international acclaim – but the Michigan star is in no rush to turn that into pro hopes. The Canadiens are already stocked with young, emerging forwards – like Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen – while the Laval Rockets’ depth chart is crowded by Owen Beck, Sean Farrell, and Joshua Roy. Rather than fight through that crowd, Hage will return to one of the highest roles in college hockey. He will be a candidate for 20 minutes a night in his junior season and could set his sights on putting together a season worthy of the Hobey Baker Award. Those hopes will only be bolstered by Michigan’s additions, including the return of Henry Mews from injury and top 2026 NHL Draft prospect J.P. Hurlbert. The young Montreal roster has time on their side, a privilege Hage will use to chase another National Championship.
Avalanche Sign T.J. Hughes
With his college career complete, Michigan center T.J. Hughes was arguably the top player in this year’s free agent class. He has found his next team as the Avalanche announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year, entry-level contract. The deal will begin next season; Hughes has signed a PTO with AHL Colorado for the remainder of 2025-26. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the agreement will carry a $952.5K cap charge with a $1.025MM AAV. That consists of an NHL salary of $850K, a signing bonus of $102.5K, and a $72.5K games played bonus.
Hughes has been one of the top players in the NCAA in recent years. The 24-year-old came up just shy of a point per game in his freshman year at Michigan back in 2022-23, managing 36 points in 39 games. He surpassed that mark in his sophomore and junior seasons, putting up 48 and 38, respectively. That made him a popular speculative candidate to turn pro after each of those years but he opted to return to the Wolverines each time.
That proved to be a good move for Hughes as he saved his best for last. He played in 40 games this season, picking up 22 goals and 35 assists, good for second in Division I scoring. Those efforts made him a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award for the top player in college hockey although that ultimately went to Detroit prospect Max Plante.
Hughes is a nice pickup for the Avs who have seen their prospect and draft pick pools get depleted in recent years with their continued efforts to load up their NHL roster. Hughes was expected to have a strong enough market to really be selective about where he’d land and he’s chosen an organization that should be able to give him big minutes in the minors with the Eagles. While they’ve recently shored up their center situation with the reacquisition of Nazem Kadri and last year’s pickup (and extension) of Brock Nelson, there still could be room for Hughes to make the jump to the NHL as a winger. Either way, it’s a nice addition to Colorado’s prospect pool.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the signing.
Ducks Extend GM Pat Verbeek
The Ducks have agreed to terms with general manager Pat Verbeek on a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Friday. The team has also promoted assistant GM Mike Stapleton to associate GM, with the title of senior VP of hockey operations added.
It’s a welcome reward for Verbeek, who’s built a good chunk of the current Ducks roster that has the franchise on the verge of its first postseason appearance in eight years. He took over at the top of Anaheim’s hockey ops department in February 2022 after spending several years under Steve Yzerman as an assistant GM with both the Lightning and the Red Wings.
Since then, he’s been aggressive in his pursuit of finishing up the Ducks’ rebuild. He’s made six first-round selections during that time. With Nathan Gaucher making his NHL debut recently, four of them have already logged game action. Two of them, Leo Carlsson in 2023 and Beckett Sennecke in 2024, are already among the team’s top three scorers. The other name in that mix, Cutter Gauthier, was the fifth overall pick in 2022 by the Flyers, but Verbeek acquired his signing rights in exchange for Jamie Drysdale two years later.
Over the past couple of offseasons, he’s been busy trying to insulate his still-developing young core with experienced talent. He’s made free-agent splashes for Mikael Granlund, Alex Killorn and captain Radko Gudas while weaponizing his cap space to acquire beleaguered names like Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba. His open-market record has been something of a mixed bag, but his trade history, particularly over the past two seasons, is difficult to argue with. He capped all of that work off by acquiring a likely Hall-of-Fame defenseman in John Carlson, albeit as a potential rental, at this year’s trade deadline.
Of Anaheim’s top 10 scorers, Verbeek has signed, drafted, or acquired seven of them. It’s fully his team now, especially after making his mark behind the bench last summer with the hiring of Joel Quenneville. As such, Ducks ownership had no intention of letting him reach the end of his contract without a new deal. Owners Henry and Susan Samueli said Verbeek has “turned the Ducks into what we believe are perennial contenders for the next decade.”
As for Stapleton, his promotion secures his Anaheim tenure should extend meaningfully into its second decade. The veteran of 697 NHL games never suited up in Orange County during his playing career, but has only been with the Ducks in his front-office work.
After several years of coaching in the OHL and AHL, Anaheim picked Stapleton up as a pro scout back in 2014. He was promoted to the team’s director of player personnel in 2022 before Verbeek bumped him up to an AGM role two years later.
New York Islanders May Retain Patrick Roy
Even after firing him as the head coach a few days ago, the relationship between the New York Islanders and Patrick Roy may not be fully severed. According to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News (and first reported by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan), there is a growing likelihood that the Islanders will retain Roy in a scouting capacity.
Although General Manager Mathieu Darche was discontent with Roy leading the Islanders from the bench, he never grew discontent with Roy personally or professionally. In the report, Rosner said, “Darche & Roy became incredibly close over this season. Roy has great respect & admiration for the org, the players here, so it wouldn’t shock me if he stayed onboard in some capacity.”
If the Islanders do retain Roy as a scout, it would be the first time he’s been employed in the role in his post-playing career. Still, even as a “rookie” scout, Roy has as much professional experience as you could want.
Even without factoring in his illustrious 19-year playing career, Roy has been involved in the game at various levels since. After retiring following the 2002-03 season, Roy became the Vice President of Hockey Operations for the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts, where he also owned the franchise.
Until becoming the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Roy also served as the Remparts General Manager and head coach. Following his departure from the Avalanche in 2016, Roy returned to his role with the Remparts, where he stayed until taking the job with the Islanders.
Given his experience at various levels of the game, Roy should have no issues being a productive scout at the amateur or professional setting. Still, it takes two to tango, and no reports indicate that Roy would be interested in a scouting role. The NHL offseason is only a few months away, and Roy will likely make a firm decision over the summer.
Senators’ Thomas Chabot Returning To Lineup
Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot will dress tonight against the Panthers, just two weeks after having surgery to repair a fracture in his right forearm, he told reporters this morning (including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia). He practiced in a regular jersey today for the first time since the injury, so it’s obviously a rushed return, one that comes at least two weeks ahead of schedule.
Chabot last played on March 23 against the Rangers. He took a cross-check from New York captain J.T. Miller that knocked him out of the game late in the first period and, within a couple of days, was expected to end his regular season. At the time, the Senators were two points out of a playoff spot with a game in hand and had won three in a row. Without Chabot and multiple other defenders, they’ve gone 4-3-1 in their last eight.
That’s been enough to keep pace in the race as their competitors have largely cooled off as well. Entering play tonight, they sit two points clear of the ninth-place Blue Jackets for the second wild-card spot, and none of the teams chasing them have games in hand. They’ve also already clinched tiebreakers over the Jackets, Islanders, and Red Wings, so Ottawa is now in full control of its destiny.
There will be no bigger emotional boost over their final four games than a rather shocking return from Chabot, the team’s longest-tenured skater. The 29-year-old is now in his second decade in the organization, initially brought in with the 18th overall pick in 2015. He served as the team’s #1 for several seasons and, although he’s now dropped to the second pairing on the left side behind Jake Sanderson, is still playing at a high level despite a relative lack of power play time. Through 55 games this season, he’s tallied a 7-24–31 scoring line with a +6 rating while averaging 22:34 per night.
Ottawa’s defense, which boasted righties Jordan Spence and Artem Zub as its only two regulars for a brief stretch just last week, is now much closer to full health. After Sanderson returned from his upper-body injury last weekend, their top four is now essentially intact. They’re without Nick Jensen due to a meniscus tear for the rest of the regular season, but Spence had leapfrogged him on the depth chart anyway by the time Jensen went under the knife.
They’re also missing third-pairing lefty Tyler Kleven – a big depth loss, no doubt. However, their makeshift third pairing of Nikolas Matinpalo and Lassi Thomson has produced spectacular results in their small sample, controlling 70.4% of expected goals in 28 minutes together at 5-on-5. With three of Ottawa’s remaining four games against teams already eliminated from the playoffs, their postseason chances have climbed up to nearly 85%, per MoneyPuck.
Image courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images.
Devils Shut Luke Hughes Down For Season
The Devils have shut down defenseman Luke Hughes for their final four games so he can undergo an undisclosed surgery, the team announced Thursday.
Hughes has dealt with a variety of shoulder issues over the past two seasons. It wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest if the corresponding wear and tear required some clean-up work. The team didn’t issue a timeline for his recovery but said the reason for having the surgery now was to “get a head start on rehab for the off-season,” so it doesn’t appear his availability for next season’s training camp is in jeopardy.
Per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now, the procedure is related to the most recent of those shoulder injuries, a dislocation he suffered back on Jan. 19 against the Flames. He missed the next 10 games but was back in the lineup shortly after the Olympic break without undergoing surgery. Despite that, he played some solid hockey down the stretch. Across his last 19 games, the Devils have improved, going 12-6-1. That’s been accompanied by a 1-8–9 scoring line and a +4 rating from Hughes while averaging nearly 24 minutes per night, seeing clear-cut deployment now ahead of Dougie Hamilton as their #1.
Hughes, 22, concludes the first season of the seven-year, $63MM deal he signed with the Devils near the end of training camp after spending most of last summer as a restricted free agent. Considering the $9MM price tag he held out for, New Jersey likely hoped for more production out of their new top offensive weapon on the blue line this season. He finishes his campaign with six goals, 29 assists, 35 points, and a -4 rating in 68 outings. That was good enough to lead the Devils’ defensemen but was the worst point-per-game output (0.51) of his three full NHL seasons.
The fourth overall pick in 2021, the younger brother of teammate Jack Hughes and Wild star Quinn Hughes quietly had a good run in the possession department this season. He’s prone to some high-visibility turnovers but has otherwise been a consistent playdriver from the drop, notching a 53.8% shot attempt share and 49.7% expected goals share at 5-on-5 this season, per Natural Stat Trick. That’s indicative of the quantity-over-quality approach he takes defensively, but it’s worth noting Hamilton was the only Devils defender better at controlling shot share and expected goals across the board this season.
Hughes should be able to hit the ground running again in the fall as New Jersey’s #1 lefty. For now, it will be veteran tweener Dennis Cholowski stepping into the lineup as the Devils finish out their season. They’re mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, missing the postseason for the sixth time in eight years. Cholowski was recalled at the trade deadline after Brett Pesce sustained a lower-body injury, but has been a healthy scratch in 16 consecutive games. That streak tonight will end against the Penguins. He had one assist and a -5 rating in 15 outings for the Devils in the front half of the year.
Image courtesy of Thomas Salus-Imagn Images.
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Ron Francis Leaving Seattle Kraken
The front office changes will continue around the NHL. This time, it’s with the Seattle Kraken, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the President of Hockey Operations, Ron Francis, will be stepping down from his role. The Kraken organization later confirmed Friedman’s report, noting that Francis will step aside at the end of the regular season.
Technically, Francis has only been the Kraken’s President of Hockey Operations for one season. Before this year, he was the team’s General Manager for six seasons, even before they began playing in the league. Jason Botterill took over General Manager duties ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
Although Francis crafted the team that qualified for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs and subsequently knocked out the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, it’s been tough going in Seattle ever since. In their five seasons, the Kraken own a 174-187-44 record, without a clear pathway out.
There are several reasons for this. First, Francis invested a lot of money in questionable free agent signings. Philipp Grubauer, Andre Burakovsky, Alexander Wennberg, and Chandler Stephenson were all signed for relatively top dollar at the time, and the Kraken haven’t gotten a solid return on investment on any of those players.
Secondly, Francis built too safe a roster. As previously mentioned, while there could be some game-changing prospects on the way, Seattle’s forward corps is entirely built of middle-six pieces, save a few. The team attempted to acquire Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers before the Olympic break, but the star Russian player was not interested in moving to the Pacific Northwest.
The fact that Panarin didn’t want to come is evidence of another issue entirely. Despite reasonable complaints about teams in no-income tax states, the Kraken have not been able to take advantage of this benefit like other teams. That’s been an important factor in how this team has become so directionless so quickly.
Regardless, this move will enable Botterill to take full control of the front office’s decision-making process going forward, or it may help Seattle adopt a more aggressive strategy. There should be multiple options available to them, and they’ll have plenty of time to make a concrete decision.
As for Francis’ future, there’s a strong likelihood he’ll be linked to the open position with the Toronto Maple Leafs. At the end of his playing career, the Sault Ste. Marie, ON native, waived his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade to the Maple Leafs, where he finished his 23-year career.
Bruins Sign James Hagens To Entry-Level Contract
5:00 p.m.: The team over at PuckPedia revealed the details of Hagens’ three-year, entry-level contract:
| Year | NHL Salary | Signing bonus | Potential performance bonuses | Minors salary |
| 2025-26 | $877.5K | $97.5K | $12.5K | $85K |
| 2026-27 | $877.5K | $97.5K | $1MM | $85K |
| 2027-28 | $877.5K | $97.5K | $1MM | $85K |
3:00 p.m.: The Bruins signed top center prospect James Hagens to a three-year, entry-level contract on Wednesday, per a team press release. The contract begins immediately and carries a prorated cap hit of $975K.
Hagens, last year’s seventh overall pick out of Boston College, made the decision to turn pro weeks ago. The B’s didn’t want him to jump straight to the NHL roster, though, so they opted to sign him to an amateur tryout instead so he could report to AHL Providence. If he had signed his entry-level deal with immediate effect at that time, he wouldn’t have been eligible for an AHL assignment. Signing him to the ATO first allowed Boston to give him a run-up period in Providence before joining the NHL squad.
Now that he’s signed, Hagens will remain on the NHL roster for the rest of the season and will be a playoff option for the Bruins if they choose to use him. He didn’t look too out of place with Providence, recording a goal and three assists for four points with a -1 rating through his first six professional games.
Hagens, the Bruins’ consensus #1 prospect by a wide margin and the #8 prospect in the league entering the year according to Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff, wrapped up his second and final season at Boston College last month when the Eagles failed to make the national tournament. That wasn’t for a lack of trying on Hagens’ part. Once viewed as the likely first overall selection in the 2025 class, he slipped several slots because of concerns about his 5’11”, 193-lb frame and his point-per-game freshman season at BC that left a little to be desired offensively. Most of those concerns have been quieted now as Hagens led the Hockey East conference in scoring with a 23-24–47 scoring line in 37 games, also leading the conference with six game-winners and 133 shots on goal.
While Hagens didn’t finish as a top-three finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the best player in college hockey, he was one of the top 10 names in voting. He was also one of the offensive nexuses of the United States team that took home gold at the 2025 World Juniors back in his draft year, recording five goals and nine points in seven games there.
The Bruins have essentially locked themselves into the first wild-card spot in the East. They haven’t mathematically clinched a playoff berth yet, but only have a 20% chance of dropping to the second wild-card slot and only a 1.2% chance of falling out of the playoff picture entirely, per MoneyPuck. Boston hasn’t won a game this month and is 0-2-2 in its last four, though. They got an offensive burst last night, scoring five in an overtime loss to the Hurricanes, but had only scored one goal each in their prior three contests.
Many of the team’s top support pieces to the ever-reliable David Pastrňák have been on cold streaks. Morgan Geekie‘s hat trick last night was his first goals in 18 games and his first points of the month. Elias Lindholm only has nine points in 18 games dating back to the trade deadline. There was a clear need for a bit of a spark in Boston’s middle six, where Hagens will presumably get a few trials over the team’s final three games to determine whether they should use him in their playoff lineup.
Image courtesy of Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.
Alex Ovechkin Won’t Make Retirement Decision Until Offseason
Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin has continually kicked the can down the road on the concept of retirement over the past several months. The pending unrestricted free agent did so again today, telling John Walton of Monumental Sports Network that he won’t make a call on his future until this summer.
“Not yet,” Ovechkin said when prompted directly about retirement. “We’re going to make a decision in the summer. I have to talk to my family, with Ted [Leonsis, Capitals owner], with [GM Chris Patrick and POHO Brian MacLellan].”
When asked about the most important factor in his decision, Ovechkin said it would be his health. “I’m going to be 41 years old in September, so you just have to be smart about it.”
Of course, Ovechkin’s age-40 season has included his hallmark durability. He’s played in all 78 games for the Caps, albeit averaging a more conservative 17:29 per game, while maintaining his usual position as the team’s scoring leader with 31 goals and 61 points. While it’s the lowest points-per-game figure of his 21-year career, that’s perhaps more indicative of Washington’s offensive struggles as a whole: the team is only scoring 3.15 goals per game after reaching 3.49 last season.
Ovechkin’s decline has been remarkably slow, but it is still evident. He’s only averaging 2.91 shots on goal per game this season, a career low by a wide margin. His physicality isn’t there either, hovering at a career-low 1.64 hits per game.
That’s all to be expected. The fact that he’s still a clear-cut top-six contributor at this stage of his career is remarkable in its own right. He’s in the final year of the five-year, $47.5MM deal he inked in 2021 and will presumably only sign a one-year deal if he does opt to return, likely at a reduced cap hit from his current $9.5MM impact. Defensive warts notwithstanding, he’d still be an effective top-nine piece at worst next year if he stays on his current trajectory.
The question isn’t whether he can, it’s whether he believes it’s a good idea. Ovechkin has long maintained the wish to play at least one full season back home in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League before hanging up the skates for good. Doing so while he could still conceivably be an All-Star level threat there is no doubt of interest to him.
Image courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.