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Oilers Sign Ty Emberson To Two-Year Extension

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The Oilers will be keeping Ty Emberson in the fold a little while longer.  The team announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a two-year contract extension that will carry a cap hit of $1.3MM.  The deal represents a small raise from his current $950K salary.

The 24-year-old was acquired from San Jose last offseason as part of the cap-clearing move that saw Cody Ceci sent to the Sharks.  At the time, it looked like he was trending toward Group Six unrestricted free agency but as a result of reaching the 50-game mark (one he easily surpassed), he became eligible for restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility.  He’ll bypass that with this contract as it buys out his two remaining RFA-eligible campaigns.

Emberson played in 76 games this season, becoming a full-fledged regular for the first time after being in and out of the lineup with San Jose last season in his first NHL campaign.  He predominantly played on Edmonton’s third pairing, picking up 13 points, 97 blocked shots, and 125 hits while logging a little over 15 minutes a night of playing time.  He was third on the Oilers in shorthanded playing time per game behind blueliners Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman.  With the former out for the first round and potentially longer, they’ll be counting on Emberson to take on an even bigger role on the penalty kill in their opening-round series against Los Angeles.

With this signing, Edmonton now has five of their regular blueliners signed for next season with Evan Bouchard in line for a significant raise as an arbitration-eligible RFA this summer.  However, Emberson is just one of two regular defenders signed for the 2026-27 campaign, joining Darnell Nurse, meaning that the back end could be heading toward a shakeup a couple of years from noww.

Rangers Fire Peter Laviolette And Phil Housley

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The Rangers are making some changes behind the bench.  The team has dismissed head coach Peter Laviolette and associate head coach Phil Housley, per a team announcement.  GM Chris Drury released the following statement:

Today I informed Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley that we’re making a coaching change. I want to thank them both and wish them and their families all the best going forward. Peter is first class all the way, both professionally and personally, and I am truly grateful for his passion and dedication to the Rangers in his time as head coach.

After finishing with the best regular season record in the NHL a year ago and making a trip to the Eastern Conference Final, we came into this season with high expectations for ourselves. Quite simply, we failed to meet those expectations. We must all do better – myself included. As we head into next season and beyond, I felt that a change was necessary in order to give us the best chance to achieve our goals as an organization. Our search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

Laviolette departs the Rangers after just two seasons with the team, one that went quite well and one that was anything but.  In his first season behind the bench in New York, Laviolette helped guide the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy with the team putting up 114 points.  They had a solid postseason run to back that up before ultimately falling to Florida in the Eastern Conference Final.

That had expectations quite high heading into this season with the bulk of the core coming back.  However, it was a struggle right out of the gate for New York, leading to Drury trying to shake up his roster.  Jacob Trouba joined Barclay Goodrow as veteran leaders moved out while Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad were also in trade speculation at times during the season.  They never could get things on track, leading to them selling at the trade deadline and ultimately missing the playoffs.  The end result was a 29-point dropoff, leaving them six behind New Jersey and Montreal for the final spots in the Metropolitan Division and the Wild Card respectively.

Laviolette had one year left on his contract, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link).  He’s no stranger to being hired and fired as that has now happened six different times.  Over his 23-year coaching career, the 60-year-old has a 894-562-186 record, good for a .589 points percentage.  His 1,594 games as a head coach rank ninth in NHL history and it’s possible that he’ll have a chance to add to that total with Anaheim currently having a vacancy while several other organizations evaluate whether or not to make a change from the interim head coaches they finished with.

As for Housley, he departs the Rangers after two seasons as well having been added to the coaching staff when Laviolette was hired.  The long-time blueliner has served as an assistant coach with New York, Arizona, and Nashville while also having a brief stint with Buffalo as their head coach.  The 61-year-old should garner some consideration for other assistant positions around the league this summer.

Today’s announcement did not mention other assistants Dan Muse and Michael Peca.  Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that they will have an opportunity to remain on the staff of the new head coach so for now at least, they remain with the team.

The Rangers enter the summer with less than $10MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, and several players in need of new contracts including defenseman K’Andre Miller and winger Will Cuylle.  As a result, shaking up the roster could be a challenge for Drury which will make his next coaching hire that much more important as the new bench boss will be tasked with getting much more out of this veteran group than Laviolette was able to this season.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.

Ducks Fire Greg Cronin

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The Ducks announced today they’ve relieved head coach Greg Cronin of his duties. He had one season remaining on his contract, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

General manager Pat Verbeek released a statement on his decision:

I want to personally thank Greg for his tireless work and dedication to the team. He is responsible in many ways for the improvement we’ve seen from our young core. However, after several weeks of careful evaluation, I concluded we needed a change in direction and a new voice. This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make, but I felt it was necessary to continue our progress toward becoming a Stanley Cup contender that I know we can be.

Cronin spent the last two seasons behind the bench in Anaheim, his first stint as an NHL bench boss.  It was hardly his first time running a team, however, as the 61-year-old had head coaching experience at the NCAA level with Northeastern University and the AHL level with Colorado where he spent five seasons before the Ducks hired him in June 2023.  He also had previous experience on an NHL bench as an assistant with the Islanders and Maple Leafs.

His first season was particularly rough.  Anaheim managed a record of just 27-50-5 while being in the bottom three in goals scored while allowing the 30th-most goals in the NHL.  Beyond a career year from Frank Vatrano, many of their key players either underachieved or didn’t develop as planned, leading to some speculation that Anaheim might make a change after just one season.

That didn’t happen and things did go better for the Ducks this year.  They added 21 points compared to the previous season, putting them sixth in the Pacific Division.  Things improved on the goals allowed side as they were 22nd in that regard this year but once again, goal production was hard to come by as they once again ranked 30th overall although they did add 14 tallies compared to 2023-24.  Key young forwards like Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson took steps forward compared to their production a year ago while Cutter Gauthier finished strong.  Meanwhile, Jackson LaCombe became a top-pairing blueliner so there were certainly more positives from a development perspective but that wasn’t enough for Verbeek to retain Cronin.

While Verbeek references continuing progress toward being a Cup contender, there is a long way still to go for them to get there.  With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if he opts for another less experienced coach with an emphasis on player development or if he’ll look to more of a veteran option with an eye on trying to get back into the playoff picture quickly.  Anaheim becomes the first true head coach opening around the NHL although other teams will be conducting searches to see if there is a better fit behind the bench than the interim head coaches that finished the year in those roles.

Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

PHR’s Josh Erickson also contributed to this post.

Jason Robertson Out Week-To-Week With Lower-Body Injury

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Stars leading goal-scorer Jason Robertson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury and will miss at least Game 1 of their first-round series against the Avalanche tomorrow, head coach Pete DeBoer told reporters today (including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic).

Even just a one-game absence could be enough to tilt what’s set to be one of the most tightly matched series of the postseason. Dallas was already entering at a disadvantage without top defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who won’t be available until late in the first round at the earliest as he tries to recover from the knee surgery that’s kept him out since late January. The absence of their top winger against one of the league’s better scoring chance suppression teams could prove too much to overcome.

Robertson left Dallas’ final regular-season game on Wednesday after an awkward collision with Predators forward Michael McCarron in the second period. He was seen wearing a brace on his right knee following the game, Emma Lingan of The Hockey News reports. The Stars had a pair of healthy extra forwards on hand, Oskar Back and Colin Blackwell, but opted not to rest Robertson or any of their top forwards.

A slow start kept Robertson from hitting the point-per-game mark for the second season in a row. He’s been on a tear coming out of the 4 Nations break, though, posting 15 goals and 29 points in 27 games to end the campaign. His 35-45–80 scoring line was still good enough to finish second on Dallas behind Matt Duchene, although his 17:48 average time on ice was his lowest since his rookie season.

There hasn’t been a ton of injury luck for the Stars this year, but there is a consolation prize in the return of Tyler Seguin to the lineup. He returned for Game 82 after missing over four months after undergoing hip surgery and had an assist to lock in his first season above a point per game in nine years, albeit in only 20 appearances. That means it’s nearly a lateral move in the Stars’ top nine compared to how it looked for much of the stretch run, but Dallas would still love all of their scoring weapons at their disposal to overcome Heiskanen’s absence, which causes strain on their depth defenders.

Robertson’s also been a steady playoff threat for Dallas, even if he hasn’t flashed a postseason peak as high as his regular-season one. He has 14-24–38 in 45 playoff games for the Stars over the past three years as the team looks to make a third straight trip to the Western Conference Final.

His absence will cause the Stars to break up Robertson’s usual first-line mates, Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen. Hintz will center a line with Mikael Granlund and Evgenii Dadonov. Rantanen is expected to slot onto the wing with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston, according to today’s line rushes (via Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports).

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.

11 Teams To Carry Bonus Overage Cap Penalties In 2025-26

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The end of the regular season also means the end of daily salary cap calculations across the NHL. With no more cap-related transactions left in the year, 11 teams have officially finished over the salary cap because players on entry-level or 35+ contracts earned performance bonuses that put them above the upper limit. They’ll carry bonus overage penalties in 2025-26 as a result. Those teams break down as follows, per PuckPedia:

Carolina Hurricanes: $33K – $1.076MM

Carolina’s numbers vary wildly here because of the $1.0375MM bonus rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin will incur if he wins the Conn Smythe. Their guaranteed $33K penalty comes from Logan Stankoven’s post-acquisition games-played bonuses. There’s the potential for an additional $5K penalty if rookie Juha Jaaska plays at least two playoff games. Carolina ends the year in LTIR, so they can’t afford any bonuses. They don’t have any other cap charges next year.

Dallas Stars: $368K

The Stars ended the year in LTIR, so all of Wyatt Johnston’s $319K in Schedule A bonuses and Logan Stankoven’s $49.5K games-played bonus, which they paid out before he was traded to the Hurricanes, count as penalties next year. Their total dead cap charges will total $1.801MM with another year of Ryan Suter’s buyout on the books.

Detroit Red Wings: $871K

Detroit ended the year with a comfortable $2.02MM in cap space but had $2.888MM in performance bonuses to dole out, so they’ll get hit with a six-figure penalty next year. Patrick Kane hit $1.75MM in games played bonuses this year as part of his 35+ contract, while Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper each hit multiple Schedule A bonus categories for $638K and $500K in respective bonuses. They also have a $1.056MM cap charge next season for the final year of Justin Abdelkader’s buyout, bringing their total dead cap next season to $1.927MM.

Edmonton Oilers: $150K – $250K

All of the Oilers’ penalties stem from Corey Perry’s 35+ contract after ending the season in LTIR. He’s already earned $150K in games played bonuses and could earn up to $100K in playoff bonuses – $50K if the Oilers win two rounds and Perry plays in either half of the second-round games or half of the total first and second-round games, and another $50K if they win three rounds and Perry plays in either half of the Western Conference Final games or half the total games through the WCF. That’s on top of the $2.3MM cap charge Edmonton faces from buying out Jack Campbell.

Los Angeles Kings: $213K

It’s simple here – the Kings couldn’t fit the performance bonus earned by Brandt Clarke for hitting 25 assists. That gives them $813K in dead cap next year, combined with the Mike Richards buyout.

Minnesota Wild: $1.1MM – $1.15MM

The Wild ended the year with just $36K in cap space, so virtually all of the performance bonuses earned by Marco Rossi and Brock Faber hitting their full complement of Schedule A targets ($850K and $250K, respectively) will count as a penalty. The number could increase slightly if rookie defenseman Zeev Buium plays five playoff games or wins the Conn Smythe, each landing him a $25K bonus. Minnesota’s total dead cap charges will be at least $2.767MM with Zach Parise’s and Ryan Suter’s buyouts still on the books, albeit at a drastically reduced cost from the last few years.

Montreal Canadiens: $1.728MM – $2.308MM

All of the Canadiens’ performance bonuses awarded this season will count toward their overage because they ended the year with Carey Price on long-term injured reserve to remain cap-compliant. Star rookie Lane Hutson maxed out his Schedule A bonuses for $750K, Juraj Slafkovsky earned $500K in A bonuses for finishing top-six among Montreal forwards in average time on ice and top-three in plus-minus rating, defenseman Kaiden Guhle maxed out his $420K in A bonuses, and rearguard Jayden Struble earned his $57.5K games played bonus. Their penalty will increase based on the performance bonuses rookie Ivan Demidov incurs in the postseason. He’ll earn $25K for five playoff appearances, $30K for 10, and a whopping $525K bonus if he wins the Conn Smythe Trophy. The Habs don’t have any other dead cap charges next year, but still have to contend with the final year of Price’s deal.

New Jersey Devils: $1MM

The Devils ended the season in long-term injured reserve and thus can’t afford reigning Calder Trophy finalist Luke Hughes’ $1MM in Schedule A bonuses. At present, it’s the only dead cap charge New Jersey will have next year.

New York Islanders: $600K – $850K

Mathew Barzal’s and Semyon Varlamov’s LTIR placements kept the Isles cap-compliant at season’s end, so the entirety of Matt Martin’s $100K in games played bonuses and Maxim Tsyplakov’s $500K in Schedule A bonuses (plus-minus and ice time). If Tsyplakov makes the NHL’s All-Rookie Team, he’ll incur an additional $250K bonus. New York doesn’t have any other dead cap charges next year.

St. Louis Blues: $2.153MM

The Blues are currently set to incur the most significant bonus overage penalty of any team next year. Most of that comes from the $2.225MM in performance bonuses awarded to veteran Ryan Suter in his 35+ contract last summer. He earned all of them, while sophomore Zachary Bolduc earned a $212.5K bonus for finishing in the top three in plus-minus rating among St. Louis forwards. Those, less the Blues’ $284K in season-ending cap space, give them a bonus overage carryover penalty of $2.153MM. Barring any buyouts this summer, that will comprise their entire dead cap hit for 2025-26.

Toronto Maple Leafs: $626K

Since they ended the season in LTIR, the performance bonuses Max Pacioretty earned for playing 37 games on his 35+ contract will count against the Leafs’ cap next year. As things stand, they could begin the year with an additional $300K in dead cap if Ryan Reaves and Matt Benning are buried in the minors as they were to end 2024-25.

The Capitals could find themselves added to this list if rookie Ryan Leonard wins the Conn Smythe. He’s owed $275K if he does, which the Caps can’t accommodate after ending the year in LTIR.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

David Savard To Retire Following Season

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Canadiens defenseman David Savard will retire whenever Montreal’s time in the postseason ends, he confirmed to reporters today (including Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports).

Savard, 34, will close the book on an 870-game career spanning 14 seasons. It began at the 2009 draft, when the Blue Jackets selected him in the fourth round from the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. An elder statesman for his draft year, thanks to his October birthday, the defensive-minded defender had still managed 44 points in 68 games in his draft year with a +29 rating. Combined with his 6’1″, 234-lb frame as a right-shot defender, it’s surprising at first glance that he slipped that far in the draft.

In turn, his development path quickly outpaced that of the average fourth-round pick. Savard erupted for over a point per game the following year with Moncton, earning QMJHL Defensive Defenseman of the Year honors while also leading the league’s blue liners in scoring. That landed him his entry-level deal with Columbus, and he joined the team’s AHL affiliate, then the Springfield Falcons, for the 2010-11 campaign.

Savard spent most of his three-year rookie deal in the minors, although he did appear in 35 NHL games in limited minutes during that span. After posting 97 points in 176 minor-league games with a +12 rating, Savard entered Blue Jackets camp in 2013-14 looking to land a full-time role after inking his qualifying offer over the summer. He achieved his goal. While he wasn’t yet a top-four force, he avoided an AHL assignment that year and hasn’t touched minor-league ice since. Following a five-goal, 15-point performance in 70 regular-season games and an exceptional postseason showing in Columbus’ first-round loss to the Penguins, the Jackets signed Savard to a two-year, $2.6MM bridge deal.

That was quite the prudent decision from former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen. Savard had the best season of his career in 2014-15, serving as the team’s No. 2 defenseman behind Jack Johnson while posting an 11-25–36 scoring line in 82 games. He led the Jackets with 195 hits to boot and posted an even rating on a streaky Jackets team that finished with a -21 goal differential and missed the playoffs. That was also Savard’s first season averaging over 19 minutes per game, a mark he’d eclipse in every following season until this year.

Before leading Blue Jackets defensemen in scoring in 2015-16 with 25 points in 65 games, Savard agreed to the first long-term deal of his career: a five-year, $21.25MM commitment to keep him in Columbus through the 2020-21 season. He continued to serve as the Jackets’ premier shutdown defenseman for most of that contract, including a team-leading +33 rating when the Jackets recorded the only 50-win season in franchise history in the 2016-17 campaign.

Coming out of the pandemic, Savard’s game nosedived in the final year of his deal. He managed just six points and a -19 rating in 40 games for Columbus in the shortened 2021 season, and with the Jackets entering a rebuild, there wasn’t a path toward an extension. They retained some of his salary and traded him to the Lightning before the deadline, ending his time in Columbus after nearly 10 seasons with the club.

Savard’s time in Tampa was short but fruitful. He continued to struggle down the stretch in the regular season and had his minutes slashed in the playoffs, averaging just 14 minutes per game in third-pairing duties with Mikhail Sergachev. His play improved when he was lower in the lineup, posting five assists and an even rating in 20 games as he helped the Bolts win their second consecutive championship.

A free agent the following offseason, Savard inked a four-year, $14MM contract with the Canadiens – the team he defeated in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final – to help fill the void left by captain Shea Weber hanging up the skates due to multiple injuries. While Savard’s possession impacts lacked in Montreal on a team that’s failed to control possession well during his tenure, the Quebec native has been a vital leadership figure as the Habs continue to graduate younger rearguards into NHL minutes. With his regular-season career now behind him, he posted 13-63–76 and a -45 rating across 259 appearances for Montreal, averaging 19:50 per game.

Savard had averaged over 20 minutes per game in his first three seasons with the Canadiens but saw his minutes slashed to 16:35 per game in 2024-25, slipping down the depth chart behind Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, and Alexandre Carrier. That, plus the toll injuries have taken over the past few years, likely influenced his decision to step away from the game. Lavoie adds that Savard informed Montreal’s front office of his intent to retire a few weeks ago.

He ends his career with 54-188–242 and a -29 rating in 870 career regular-season games. Despite spending the last four-plus years of his career elsewhere, Savard’s 597 games played in a Blue Jackets uniform still rank fifth in franchise history and first among defensemen, although Zach Werenski will eclipse that record next season, barring injury. All of us at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Savard on his lengthy career and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports.

Jets, Neal Pionk Agree To Six-Year Extension

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The Jets and defenseman Neal Pionk have agreed to a long-term extension to keep him off this summer’s unrestricted free agent market, Murat Ates of The Athletic reports. The team later announced it’s a six-year, $42MM deal, making him $7MM per season. The deal breaks down as follows, per PuckPedia:

2025-26: $4MM salary, $4MM signing bonus
2026-27: $8MM salary
2027-28: $7.5MM salary
2028-29: $7.5MM salary
2029-30: $6MM salary
2030-31: $5MM salary

Pionk was ticketed to be the top UFA defenseman this summer after Jakob Chychrun opted to extend with the Capitals last month. He lands a raise and the richest total contract of his career as expected, but instead of doing so on the open market, he’ll take the deal to stay with this year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners.

Long viewed as somewhat of an underwhelming top-four piece in Winnipeg, the 29-year-old Pionk has flipped the script in 2024-25. While a late-season lower-body injury nixed his chance at setting a career-high in points, he still managed the second-most productive season of his career on a per-game basis, eclipsing his first year with Winnipeg in 2019-20. He finished the season seventh on the team in scoring with 10-29–39 in 69 games and posted a +21 rating, third on the Jets behind Dylan Samberg and Dylan DeMelo.

Advanced statistics paint a less rosy but still promising picture of Pionk’s improved two-way results. He logged a 50.5 CF% and 52.1 xGF% at even strength, the latter standing as a career-high and the first time he’s been above water in expected goals in his eight-year career. They weren’t close to being the best numbers on the Jets, who controlled possession quite well this season in front of Jennings Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, but are still a welcome step forward in Pionk’s defensive game and went a long way toward earning him a long-term commitment from Winnipeg.

In keeping Pionk off the open market, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff’s attention must turn toward a long-term deal to keep the pending RFA Samberg in Winnipeg. His defensive acumen alongside Pionk on the Jets’ second pairing was a major factor in the latter’s success in 2024-25. The fourth-year NHLer has a career-high 20 points while averaging 21:08 per game, up nearly six minutes from last year’s deployment. The Jets still have $25.7MM in cap space for next season after registering Pionk’s deal with five roster spots to burn, per PuckPedia. Another $4.8MM will likely go to Samberg on a mid-term deal, AFP Analytics projects.

As for Pionk, he gets a 15-team no-trade clause from 2025-26 through 2027-28 as part of the deal, PuckPedia reports. It drops to a 10-team no-trade clause for the final three seasons. He’ll have a chance to be one of the longest-tenured defensemen in Jets history when all is said and done. He’s spent the last six years in Manitoba after Winnipeg acquired him from the Rangers, along with a first-round draft pick that turned into Ville Heinola, in exchange for Jacob Trouba in the 2019 offseason. Since the trade, Pionk has 37-179–216 in 435 games with a +39 rating and ranks fourth in scoring all-time among Jets/Thrashers defensemen, trailing Dustin Byfuglien (416), Josh Morrissey (373), and Toby Enström (308).

For teams looking for a two-way presence on the open market this summer, they won’t find a comparable right-shot option to Pionk but could look at a left-shot like Ivan Provorov who’s comfortable playing on his off-side. As for the title of top pending UFA defender overall, that likely falls to Kings shutdown extraordinaire Vladislav Gavrikov.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Sharks Won’t Re-Sign Alexandar Georgiev

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Sharks general manager Mike Grier has informed goaltender Alexandar Georgiev he won’t be offered a contract extension before reaching unrestricted free agency in July, Georgiev told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News late last night.

It’s been a difficult two seasons for the 29-year-old. While he led the league in wins in back-to-back seasons behind a powerhouse Avalanche team in 2022-23 and 2023-24, he didn’t receive any Vezina Trophy consideration in the latter year due to poor individual stats. The Bulgarian native posted a .897 SV% and 3.02 GAA in 63 games for Colorado last year, below-average numbers at face value. The Avs bled quality chances against more than usual in 2023-24, though, so those stats still translated to 5.0 goals saved above expected on the year, per MoneyPuck.

But heading into 2024-25, Georgiev’s seat in Colorado was hot as he entered the final season of a three-year, $10.2MM deal. Young backup Justus Annunen had outperformed him down the stretch, and he was underwhelming in the Avs’ playoff action. Georgiev had a .894 SV% and 2.95 GAA in 11 games as Colorado was ousted in the second round by the Stars.

Both Georgiev and Annunen were borderline unplayable at the beginning of this year, and both were traded by mid-December. Annunen went to Nashville for veteran backup Scott Wedgewood, while Georgiev was sent to the Sharks in a deal for Mackenzie Blackwood after posting a porous .874 SV%, 3.38 GAA, and an 8-7-0 record through 17 starts and one relief appearance.

As expected, things only improved marginally for Georgiev behind one of the league’s worst defenses in San Jose. He was a workhorse for the team with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov and backup Vítek Vaněček missing significant time with injuries (and the latter ended up being traded to the Panthers at the deadline), starting 30 of 52 games after the trade. He logged a 7-19-4 record, a .875 SV%, and a 3.88 GAA. Across 49 showings on the year, his lowest workload since 2021-22, he allowed 17.9 goals above expected, according to MoneyPuck. Only the Flyers’ Samuel Ersson (19.9) conceded more.

With Askarov primed to take on a starter/1A role in the NHL next season and more stable backup options available on the free agent market, it makes sense that the Sharks wouldn’t be interested in bringing Georgiev back to the organization. Whether there will be NHL offers available for Georgiev remains to be seen. There might be a couple of teams banking on a rebound to at least league-average play amid a relatively thin goalie market this summer, but otherwise, a return to Europe may be in the cards. Before arriving in North America with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent in 2017, he was a star in Finland’s Liiga with TPS, posting a .920 SV% across 51 games there.

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images.

Stars Activate Tyler Seguin From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Stars have activated center Tyler Seguin from long-term injured reserve, Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News reports. He’s expected to play in tonight’s season finale against the Predators. Dallas assigned defensemen Lian Bichsel and Alexander Petrovic to AHL Texas to remain cap-compliant for their final regular-season contest.

Seguin returns after a four and a half month absence due to a pair of procedures on his left hip. Stars fans held their breath after the announcement – Seguin had similar surgeries done on his right hip in 2020, during which his recovery spiraled and nearly threatened his career. He was given a four-to-six-month recovery timeline, so while today’s news comes at the earlier end of that timeframe, it’s not entirely unexpected. He began practicing last month, and head coach Peter DeBoer said they were expecting him back for their first-round series.

The 33-year-old started the season on a tear before going under the knife, posting 9-11–20 through 19 contests while averaging 16:13 per game. Despite Dallas ranking fourth in the league in goals, Seguin remains the Stars’ only player to notch above a point per game this year. However, Matt Duchene has 81 in 81 and could join him with a multi-point effort tonight. Youngster Logan Stankoven initially stepped into Seguin’s spot on a line with Duchene and Mason Marchment after he exited the lineup. Still, they found a more experienced man for the job when they acquired Mikael Granlund from the Sharks in early February. Stankoven was later traded to the Hurricanes in the second Mikko Rantanen blockbuster of the year.

It’s not clear where Seguin slots into the lineup tonight. DeBoer told the team’s Mike Heika earlier today that there will be some game-time decisions at forward. But when the playoffs begin, it stands to reason Seguin will reclaim his top-six spot and push Granlund down the depth chart. Not only is Granlund’s points-per-game production a downgrade (7-14–21 in 30 GP since the trade), but his possession numbers with Duchene and Marchment are quite underwhelming compared to when Seguin was on the line. The trio has controlled just 37% of expected goals with Granlund compared to 58.9% with Seguin, according to MoneyPuck.

Seguin’s health gives the Stars an even deeper forward lineup, a necessity entering their first-round series against the Avalanche with star defenseman Miro Heiskanen remaining unavailable for the first few games at least. An on-time recovery is also a good sign for his career at large, with two years left on his contract at a $9.85MM cap hit.

As for Bichsel and Petrovic, they’ll presumably be back up with Dallas once the regular season ends and salary-cap restrictions are lifted. Bichsel should be penciled into their Game 1 lineup. The 2022 first-rounder hasn’t served as a healthy scratch since his most recent recall from Texas in February, only exiting the lineup a few times due to concussion protocols and illness. With 4-5–9 and a plus-two rating in 38 appearances this year, he’s been a far more stable depth presence than what Mathew Dumba and Brendan Smith have offered in similar deployment.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

Jets Sign Alex Iafallo To Three-Year Extension

at CDT | by 1 Comment

12:16 p.m.: Iafallo’s deal pays him $4MM in base salary in 2025-26 and 2026-27 before dropping to $3MM in 2027-28, PuckPedia reports. There are no signing bonuses or trade protection in his contract.

9:02 a.m.: Pending unrestricted free agent winger Alex Iafallo is staying with the Jets on a three-year, $11MM extension, the team announced Wednesday. The deal carries a $3.67MM cap hit and will keep him in Winnipeg through the 2027-28 campaign.

The Jets acquired Iafallo in one of the 2023 offseason’s biggest trades. He was part of the haul the Kings sent to Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois, joining first-rounders Rasmus Kupari and Gabriel Vilardi and a second-round pick that turned into defenseman Alfons Freij. L.A. mostly needed to give him up for salary-balancing purposes – he was on an affordable deal with a $4MM cap hit, was coming off a career-high 0.61 points per game, and had routinely spent time on the Kings’ top line alongside Anže Kopitar.

After averaging north of 17 minutes per game across his first six NHL seasons in Los Angeles, Iafallo’s ice time has been slashed since arriving with the Jets. He was immediately bumped to the bottom-six with the younger Vilardi grabbing a first-line role alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, and his production has suffered as a result. He’s posted 26-32–58 in 163 games since the trade, an average of 29 points per 82 games. That’s a good bit south of his career average of 37.

Iafallo has still been among the first players to get elevated into a top-six role when injuries strike. Vilardi has missed much of the last few weeks of the campaign with an upper-body injury, and Iafallo has slotted into his place on the top line. He carries a four-game point streak into the final game of the regular season and has 15-16–31 in 81 games on the year overall, up from last year’s 27 points in 82 games. As such, he’s not missed a game for Winnipeg since his acquisition.

The 31-year-old has also brought sterling possession impacts, particularly this season. He leads Jets forwards with a +21 rating and ranks fifth on the team with a 51.2 CF% at even strength, the highest mark among Winnipeg skaters who have seen the majority of their deployment in the defensive zone. While he doesn’t shoot particularly often, he’s been an effective shooter when he does. He’s scoring at a 14.2% clip and is one of Winnipeg’s best players at turning shot attempts into shots on goal with a 57.3% through rate.

While he hasn’t seen much ice at even strength this year, Iafallo is still averaging north of 13 minutes per game and routinely features on Winnipeg’s second power-play unit and comprises their top penalty-killing forward duo with captain Adam Lowry. That special teams versatility, along with his ability to slide up and down the lineup with good defensive play, makes him a more valuable skater than just his point totals indicate.

The Jets thus retain him for the next three years at a slight discount from what they’re paying him now. It’s a good bit of business that still leaves Winnipeg with $32.7MM in cap space this summer and six roster spots to fill.

Photo courtesy of Terrence Lee-Imagn Images.

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