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Sharks, Avalanche Swap Daniil Gushchin, Oskar Olausson

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According to a team announcement from the San Jose Sharks, the Sharks have traded forward Daniil Gushchin to the Colorado Avalanche for forward Oskar Olausson. The former is still a restricted free agent while Olausson has one year remaining on his entry-level contract.

It’s a change-of-scenery trade for both forwards, with the beneficiaries being the two teams’ respective AHL affiliates. The only noticeable difference between the two is that Gushchin is considered more NHL-ready, but isn’t quite good enough to be an NHL regular.

The Yekaterinburg, Russia native was drafted by San Jose with the 76th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. He was coming off a relatively impressive season with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks, scoring 22 goals and 47 points in 42 games with a +21 rating. After another season in Muskegon and one with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, Gushchin became a full-time player for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda beginning in the 2022-23 campaign.

He has enjoyed plenty of offensive success throughout his time with the AHL’s San Jose, scoring 70 goals and 150 points in 182 games, with one goal in four postseason contests. Unfortunately, Gushchin has left much to be desired on the defensive side of the puck, owning a -48 career rating. Still, Gushchin’s ability to score will make the AHL’s Colorado Eagles that much harder to play against, given that they led the AHL in scoring last season with 250.

Unlike Gushchin, the Avalanche used a first-round selection to draft Olausson, who went 28th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. He was a top-level talent for HV71’s U20 team, scoring 14 goals and 27 points in 16 games. Olausson transitioned to North American hockey a year later, scoring 26 goals and 49 points in 55 games split between the OHL’s Barrie Colts and Oshawa Generals. Given his success in one of the top Canadian major junior leagues, the Avalanche hoped Olausson could be a key contributor in a few years.

Unfortunately, his play with AHL Colorado has zapped much of that hope. Since joining the Eagles ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, the same year Gushchin became a full-time AHL player, Olausson has scored 33 goals and 66 points in 163 contests, with one goal and eight points in 17 playoff games.

Both players have spent limited time in the NHL since making their professional debuts. Gushchin has the edge, featuring in 18 games compared to Olausson’s four. Still, neither player should be expected to drastically improve those totals in 2025-26, unless their NHL club sustains multiple injuries to their forward core.

Islanders Sign Maxim Tsyplakov To Two-Year Deal

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The Islanders have avoided an arbitration hearing with restricted free agent winger Maxim Tsyplakov and signed him to a two-year, $4.5MM contract, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

Tsyplakov’s hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, so the settlement comes with four days to spare. Of the seven players who made it to mid-July without having their arbitration cases settled, two of them have now agreed to new deals. The Kraken reached a three-year, $13.575MM deal with Kaapo Kakko, whose hearing was initially scheduled for today, last Tuesday.

The situation surrounding Tsyplakov was rare in that he was eligible for arbitration immediately after his rookie season. That’s rarely the case, but since he signed his first NHL contract last summer at the age of 25, he only needed one season’s worth of 10 games of professional experience to qualify.

In the end, they avoid a hearing and reach a resolution to reward Tsyplakov, who was viewed as the top international free agent on last summer’s market, following a rookie season that saw the Russian forward adjust well to North American ice. There were questions about his offensive ceiling, considering his previous KHL track record – he’d never scored more than 10 goals in a pro season before his 31-goal, 47-point breakout for Spartak Moscow in 2023-24 – but he mainly put those to bed in his first season on the Island.

Tsyplakov obviously didn’t reproduce his KHL numbers, but he settled in well as a valuable middle-six checking winger. His 10-25–35 scoring line in 77 games ranked eighth on the team in point production, and there’s likely room for improvement moving forward after he only shot 8.6% in 2024-25. Tsyplakov also ranked fifth on the team in hits with 140 while averaging 14:58 per game, 1:31 of which came on the power play. He didn’t see any penalty kill usage but provided good possession impacts at even strength with a 51.6 CF%, 2.8% better than how the team fared without him on the ice.

Since his underlying numbers suggest replicable offensive production, a $2.25MM cap hit seems like good value for Tsyplakov’s services, even if he sees his minutes reduced slightly with the free agent signings of Jonathan Drouin and Maxim Shabanov, another KHL pickup, likely pushing him down the depth chart somewhat. The Islanders now have $1.625MM in projected cap space this season with a full roster, according to PuckPedia.

The deal walks Tsyplakov, who turns 27 in September, to unrestricted free agency in 2027.

Image courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.

Hurricanes Sign Jackson Blake To Eight-Year Extension

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The Hurricanes announced Thursday night that they’ve signed winger Jackson Blake to an eight-year, $45MM extension that will kick in for the 2026-27. While that would normally mean an average annual value and cap hit of $5.625MM, the actual cap hit of the contract will fall in the $5.1MM range due to deferred compensation, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The contract buys out the extent of Blake’s RFA eligibility and will make him a UFA following the 2033-34 season.

Blake’s stock has been on the rise since immediately after Carolina selected him in the fourth round in 2021. He was a USHL All-Star in his post-draft season with the Chicago Steel before making the jump to NCAA hockey with North Dakota, where he totaled 102 points in 79 games in two seasons – earning a Hobey Baker finalist nod in his sophomore year. He signed his entry-level contract with the Hurricanes in April 2024 and joined them for the brief remainder of the regular season.

In his first full pro season, Blake hit the ground running. He made the Canes out of camp and had five points through his first nine games despite seeing less than 12 minutes of ice time per night. That offense didn’t quite hold up the rest of the way, though.

While he ended up seeing significant deployment alongside Sebastian Aho at even strength, he ended up finishing the year with a 17-17–34 scoring line in 80 games, finishing ninth on the team in scoring and ninth in Calder Trophy voting as the league’s Rookie of the Year. That’s fine production, especially considering he averaged under 14 minutes per game on the year. He’ll need to build on it to justify that cap hit, though, especially with so much risk attached to a max-term deal.

The good news is that Blake has another year left on his entry-level contract to continue his development before he’ll need to start justifying that cap hit. The son of former NHLer Jason Blake turns 22 next month, yet with this deal, he’s guaranteed to surpass his dad’s career earnings.

Carolina has historically opted to sign their young players for as long and as early as possible, a trend that continues here. Sometimes, it’s paid off – their eight-year, $59.4MM commitment to Seth Jarvis last offseason looks like a steal after he put up a repeat 67-point performance in 2024-25. There’s also the glaring example of where that strategy has failed regarding center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, whose $4.82MM cap hit looks more stomachable now with a rising ceiling but is still well above his market value four years into the deal. The jury is still out on newly-acquired Logan Stankoven, who they inked to an eight-year, $48MM extension at the beginning of the month.

Blake’s deal will be one of the last of its kind. It contains two elements – deferred compensation and an eight-year term – that will be outlawed when the new CBA Memorandum of Understanding takes effect on Sep. 15, 2026. If he waited until reaching RFA status next summer to sign, a lengthy negotiation could have lost him that eighth year if the two sides didn’t come to terms until the beginning of training camp.

With the salary cap’s Upper Limit projected to reach $104MM in 2026-27, the Hurricanes have around $16MM in projected space with Blake’s and Stankoven’s deals taken care of. While they’re projected to be Carolina’s 11th and 12th highest-paid forwards on their opening night roster this season, they’ll be their fifth and sixth-highest paid forwards in 2026-27.

Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.

Kraken Sign Kaapo Kakko To Three-Year Contract

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Earlier today, the dates for the seven remaining arbitration-eligible players were revealed.  However, one player who won’t need that hearing after all is Kraken winger Kaapo Kakko.  The team announced that they’ve reached an agreement on a three-year contract that will pay $4.525MM per season after being set to exchange arbitration figures on Wednesday.  GM Jason Botterill released the following statement:

Getting a contract done with Kaapo was a top priority this summer. We knew quickly he’d be a big part of our team moving forward. He’s got size, skill and tremendous playmaking ability, and isn’t afraid of going to the net. He fit in immediately with our group, and we’re thrilled to have him under contract.

The 24-year-old was the second overall selection back in 2019 by the Rangers and had seemingly been on thin ice in New York for a couple of years.  The two sides agreed on a one-year, $2.4MM contract last offseason, well before qualifying offers were due to be submitted, avoiding any risk of the Rangers non-tendering him to avoid arbitration rights.

The deal seemingly represented a last-chance opportunity for Kakko and it’s fair to say he didn’t make the most of it.  He managed just four goals and 10 assists in 30 games with New York and in December, the Rangers pulled the trigger on a trade, sending him to Seattle for defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2026 sixth-round selection.

The change of scenery seemed to give Kakko a boost.  He averaged just under a point per game over his first month with the Kraken and overall, he picked up 10 goals and 20 assists in 49 outings.  Combining his stats with New York, Kakko’s 44 points represented a career high, giving him some leverage heading into contract talks this summer.

Considering that Kakko’s career numbers of 71 goals and 90 assists in 379 games is rather pedestrian, Jason Botterill is clearly banking on Kakko’s second-half production being a sign of things to come.  He got the bigger role he was hoping for following the swap, logging a little over 17 minutes a night of playing time after averaging just over 13 minutes a night prior to the swap.  It’s clear that, based on this deal, Seattle feels that Kakko can be a legitimate top-six forward for them moving forward.

Beyond his entry-level contract, this is the longest agreement that Kakko has signed.  It’s a pact that buys out his first two UFA-eligible seasons, giving the Kraken a longer look at him.  It will also allow Kakko to potentially reach the open market at 27 in 2028, putting him in a position to possibly secure a long-term, big-money agreement if he’s able to maintain and build off his strong first half-season with Seattle.

With the signing, the Kraken now have a little under $6.5MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.  They still have one key restricted free agent to sign in defenseman Ryker Evans.  He’s not arbitration-eligible but Botterill should have enough flexibility to sign him to a long-term agreement if the sides can work one out.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the signing. 

Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.

Arbitration Schedule For Remaining Cases Finalized

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The arbitration hearing dates for the few remaining unsettled cases have been finalized, PuckPedia reports:

F Kaapo Kakko, Kraken: July 25

G Arvid Soderblom, Blackhawks: July 28

F Maxim Tsyplakov, Islanders: July 29

D Dylan Samberg, Jets: July 30

D Conor Timmins, Sabres: Aug. 2

F Nicholas Robertson, Maple Leafs: Aug. 3

D Jayden Struble, Canadiens: Aug. 3

There are only seven out of this year’s initial 11 player-elected arbitration cases still without a resolution as the hearings approach. Winnipeg had three of the players on that list and has settled with two of them, reaching a two-year, $3.7MM settlement with Morgan Barron and a substantial six-year, $45MM deal for Gabriel Vilardi.

The Ducks also had two arbitration cases on that list, but settled with both of them in the past few days. Depth defenseman Drew Helleson got a two-year, $2.2MM contract, while emerging star goaltender Lukas Dostal signed a five-year, $32.5MM deal.

There were two team-elected arbitration cases this year, the Sabres’ Bowen Byram and the Mammoth’s Jack McBain, but both have been settled.

As for the seven players above, they can continue talks with their clubs on a new deal until the hearing begins. After that, they’re bound to the arbitrator’s decision.

Players who reach an arbitration hearing are only eligible to sign a one or two-year contract. Since the player filed for arbitration in all seven cases above, the team gets to choose the contract length after receiving the arbitrator’s decision on the AAV. However, only Robertson, Soderblom, and Struble would be eligible for two-year contracts. Everyone else is one year away from being eligible for unrestricted free agency status, so they can’t receive a multi-year arbitration award.

If the arbitration award exceeds $4.85MM in any case, the team can decline it and allow the player to become an unrestricted free agent.

Flyers’ Porter Martone Commits To Michigan State University

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4:32 p.m.: According to a post on Martone’s Instagram, he’s indeed taking his talents to East Lansing, Michigan, for his collegiate career if he doesn’t make the Flyers’ roster.

7:08 a.m.: Winger Porter Martone, taken No. 6 overall in this year’s draft by the Flyers, could be making the jump from the CHL to the NCAA this season. He’s expected to announce his commitment to Michigan State later today, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

That’s assuming he doesn’t sign his entry-level contract and attend training camp with Philadelphia. A few weeks ago, that sounded like a more plausible outcome without a clear path for Martone to land a roster spot without an explosive preseason performance.

Now, however, there’s likely going to be an opportunity for one of the Flyers’ young wingers to capture a spot in their top-nine out of the gate. They’re still uncertain if Tyson Foerster will be ready to start the regular season after undergoing surgery to address an infection in his elbow.

There’s still no guarantee Martone would have won that battle ahead of some older names in Philadelphia’s prospect pool, namely internal favorite Alex Bump. Even if he did, it may not have been a full-season arrangement and could have resulted in Martone returning to his junior team, the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads, after playing nine games to avoid burning the first year of his entry-level contract.

If Martone, the Flyers, or both parties are convinced his development wouldn’t benefit from another season in the OHL, an NCAA commitment is the next best option. Since Martone was drafted from one of the CHL’s sub-leagues, he is ineligible to play for the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, in 2025-26 aside from a conditioning stint or after Brampton’s season ends.

Since he’s somewhat of an elder statesman of the 2025 draft class thanks to his October 2006 birthday, Martone could be in line to have a dominant freshman season with the Spartans. His 6’3″, 205-lb frame already made him one of the most physically domineering forwards in the class, and he plays a power forward game that lends itself to his size being used as an advantage.

That should help him in his transition to playing against older, more physically built-out opponents in the Big 10 and NCAA at large, but it’s not as though offensive skill isn’t still among the primary calling cards of his game. The Ontario native remains a high-end puckhandler and shooter and led Brampton in scoring last season, posting a 37-61–98 line in 57 regular-season games.

There was some speculation that Martone may link up with surefire 2026 first overall pick Gavin McKenna at Penn State after the latter’s recent commitment, but it doesn’t appear to be coming to fruition. Instead, the two left-wingers will be conference opponents, with the Spartans landing a high-end consolation prize after finishing as the runner-up in the recruitment chase for McKenna.

Hockey Canada Announces Coaching Staff For 2026 Winter Olympics

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Unsurprisingly, there will be no changes coming to Team Canada’s bench for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. According to a public announcement, Team Canada will have an identical coaching staff to that of the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February, sharing that Bruce Cassidy (Vegas Golden Knights), Peter DeBoer, Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers), and Misha Donskov will be assistant coaches for Team Canada behind head coach Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning).

The 4 Nations Face-Off proved to be a positive litmus test for Team Canada, as the United States has become a more potent competitor in recent years. Still, despite suffering a Round Robin loss to Team USA, Canada won the tournament, defeating their North American counterpart in overtime of the championship on a goal from Connor McDavid. There could be some mild changes coming to the roster for the upcoming Olympic tournament, but Canada will likely have the fewest tweaks.

Like their eventual roster, Canada has a star-studded coaching staff. Even without factoring in the playing careers of those who played in the NHL, Team Canada’s coaching staff has six Stanley Cups, three IIHF World Championship gold medals, and two Jack Adams awards.

All four assistant coaches have extensive international hockey experience, including their work in the NHL and the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, although none have previously coached in the Olympic Games. Cassidy and Tocchet are more recognized for their international ice hockey careers, while DeBoer and Donskov, former coaches of the Dallas Stars, have achieved significant success in the World Junior Championships.

Alex Ovechkin, Capitals Haven’t Had Extension Talks

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While not surprising news in the slightest, Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin confirmed to reporters in Russia today that he hasn’t had extension talks as he gears up for the final season of the five-year, $47.5MM contract he signed back in 2021 (via Andrey Senchenko of RIA Novosti).

Ovechkin, who turns 40 in September, also seemed to imply that any talks on a new deal would wait until after the 2025-26 season ended. “A year will pass and we will think about it,” Ovechkin said (translated from Russian).

That’s in line with the wait-and-see approach that Ovechkin had said he’ll take ever since last season ended. The Capitals aggressively walked back an erroneous email that got sent out in late May claiming that 2025-26 would be his final NHL season, and he told Russian media last week that reports of his retirement were “pure nonsense.”

It’s an extremely familiar situation to the last time that Ovechkin’s deal was set to expire. He didn’t sign that five-year extension until the last day before free agency opened in 2021, so the two sides are obviously comfortable taking things down to the wire. There’s been no indication that Ovechkin would consider playing for any other NHL team than Washington; it’s long been speculated that he’d head to the KHL for 2026-27 if he doesn’t sign another contract with the Caps.

Delaying extension talks also doesn’t have nearly as much bearing on Washington’s team-building process as it did five years ago. Any subsequent contract for Ovechkin would only be for one year, allowing them to load up his deal with performance bonuses to keep his cap hit low if they end up making other moves that take up most of their space. The Caps also need to consider the future of defense cornerstone John Carlson, also now a pending UFA, as well as a new deal for promising center Connor McMichael, who’s a restricted free agent next summer.

Even with those names in play, the Caps are still extremely well set up for the 2026 offseason with $36.5MM available to fill seven roster spots, according to PuckPedia. That’s right around the median in terms of projected cap space next summer, but only six teams have more roster spots already accounted for.

Likely influencing Ovechkin’s desire to return to Washington will be his desire to chase 1,000 NHL goals, and whether that’s even achievable based on what he produces this year. Injuries limited him to 65 games in 2024-25, but he still managed 44 goals, remarkably his highest goal-per-game pace in five years and enough to make him the league’s all-time leader. He’s now at 897 in 1,491 games over his 20-year career.

Blake Wheeler Reaffirms Retirement

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July 19, 2025: Wheeler again ruled out a comeback bid when speaking with Cam Poitras and Jim Toth on 680 CJOB’s Jets at Noon program earlier this week. “I just haven’t felt like a rush to like make a formal announcement or anything,” Wheeler said. “But yeah, after my injury and kinda the way things ended last year, I just didn’t have anything left in the tank for it. So yeah, I was at peace with it almost immediately after last year and yeah, I’m just enjoying being a dad and kinda slowing things down a little bit, and being around my family.”

Dec. 19, 2024: Winger Blake Wheeler has all but officially decided on retirement, as Paul Friesen of The Winnipeg Sun relays. Neither Wheeler nor the NHL Players’ Association has released a statement. Still, the former Jets captain told Dan Leffelaar of the Beyond High Performance podcast earlier this week that “there’s only so much gas in the tank” emotionally for an 82-game regular season.

In July, Wheeler, 38, hit unrestricted free agency after completing a one-year, $1.1MM contract with the Rangers. He joined the Blueshirts for the final season of his NHL career after having the captaincy stripped from him in Winnipeg in 2022 and seeing the final season of his five-year, $41.25MM contract with an $8.25MM cap hit bought out a year later. There wasn’t much buzz around his services on the UFA market aside from a report in August from Shawn Hutcheon of The Fourth Period that the Bruins were considering extending him a professional tryout. One way or another that never came to fruition, and Wheeler didn’t appear with any club during training camp.

A serious leg injury sustained in February ended his final regular season prematurely. However, he did return to the active roster near the end of New York’s second-round playoff win over the Hurricanes. He was a frequent healthy scratch upon returning to the lineup, though, with a lone postseason appearance against the Panthers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final likely standing as his final NHL appearance. In 54 regular-season appearances with the Rangers, he posted nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points with a +2 rating while averaging a career-low 12:43 per game.

Wheeler was a highly touted prospect. In the 2004 draft, the Coyotes selected him fifth overall, immediately after eventual longtime teammate Andrew Ladd was taken off the board by the Hurricanes. However, he opted not to sign in Phoenix. He took the long route through college at the University of Minnesota before becoming a free agent in 2008 and signing with the Bruins. 

The right-winger’s debut season was solid, posting 21 goals and 45 points with a +36 rating in 81 games as Boston won 53 games and finished atop the Eastern Conference. He was one of many future under-25 impact players on that Bruins squad, featuring Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Phil Kessel and David Krejčí in the infancies of their careers. However, after his goal-scoring dropped off slightly in his second and third years in the league, Boston traded him to the Thrashers before the 2011 deadline for Rich Peverley.

Wheeler racked up 17 points in 23 games down the stretch for Atlanta, giving Thrashers fans a bittersweet taste of things to come for his production before the team packed up and moved to Winnipeg in the offseason. Now entirely in the prime of his career at age 25, Wheeler kicked off a dominant nine-year stretch in Winnipeg that saw him record 569 points in 616 games, ranking eighth in the NHL scoring between the 2011-12 and 2018-19 campaigns. His 384 assists during that time were fourth, trailing only Nicklas Bäckström, Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux. He received All-Star consideration eight years in a row and finished as high as eighth in Hart Trophy voting in 2017-18 when he led the league with 68 assists in 81 outings.

After a 20-goal, 91-point showing in 2018-19, 2019-20 spelled out the beginning of Wheeler’s decline. He still managed a respectable 65 points in 71 games that year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. However, that was accompanied by an artificially high 12.2% shooting rate and a significant drop-off in his assist totals. He kept up reasonable offensive production in his final three seasons in Winnipeg, logging 161 points in 187 games. But the Minnesota native became a defensive liability as he aged and became a significant drag on the Jets’ possession quality control at even strength. Combined with just three playoff series wins during his time in Winnipeg, including a run to the 2018 Western Conference Final in which he had 21 points in 17 games, the Jets parted ways with their captain and bought him out.

While the end of Wheeler’s career may have been marred by declining all-around play and injuries, the former All-Star was a high-end top-line talent throughout the 2010s. The 6’5 “, 225-lb right-winger puts a bow on his career with 321 goals and 622 assists for 943 points in 1,172 regular-season games. He logged a +67 rating, posted 764 PIMs, and racked up nearly 3,000 career shots on goal, averaging 18:11 per game. He pairs that strong regular-season production with 10 goals and 45 points in 66 career postseason games. Pro Hockey Rumors congratulates Wheeler on a phenomenal career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Jets Sign Gabriel Vilardi To Six-Year Contract

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Gabriel Vilardi to a six-year, $45MM contract extension. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It will carry an annual cap hit of $7.5MM. As Friedman points out, Vilardi will avoid salary arbitration with the Jets with this contract. He had filed for arbitration earlier in the summer, after entering restricted-free agency with a $3.6MM qualifying offer a the start of the off-season.

PuckPedia reports that the deal carries a $3.5MM salary and a $3.5MM signing bonus for next season with a straight $7.6MM salary in each of the remaining five years.  There is no trade protection in the contract.

Winnipeg will check a big box off of their summer list with this move. Vilardi was Winnipeg’s second-highest scoring free agent this year. The other, Nikolaj Ehlers, signed a six-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 3rd. Winnipeg had more control over RFA Vilardi, who will commit to a long-term deal with the club after spending the last two seasons on a short-term, prove-it contract.

The Jets acquired Vilardi’s negotiating rights alongside Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2024 second-round pick in the trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 2023. It put the Jets in the awkward position of rewarding Vilardi for scoring 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games of Los Angeles’ 2022-23 season, after scoring 37 points in 69 career games in the prior three seasons. Winnipeg landed on a two-year, $6.88MM bridge contract.

With a new deal in place, the Jets honed in on adjusting Vilardi to the top-six, winger role that he began to take on in his latter years with the Kings, after entering the NHL as a center. Vilardi took on the role well, and scored 22 goals and 36 points in his first 47 games with the Jets. Unfortunately, those performances were spread around numerous injuries that forced Vilardi out of much of October, November, and March during the 2023-24 season.

An injury-shortened season to kick off a bridge contract swelled the pressure around Vilardi’s 2024-25 season. He entered the year not only playing for a contract, but looking to vindicate multiple seasons of promising scoring cut short by injuries. Vilardi jumped at the opportunity right out of the gates, scoring eight points in 10 games of October and 14 points in 14 games of November. His scoring carried through the extent of the season, and he finished the year with career-highs across the board – including 27 goals and 61 points in 61 games. He added four more points in nine playoff games.

Vilardi will be rewarded for a hot year with a contract in line with many high-scoring wingers entering their prime. The Utah Mammoth recently signed 23-year-old winger JJ Peterka to a five-year, $38.5MM contract; and the Toronto Maple Leafs signed 22-year-old Matthew Knies to a six-year, $46.5MM deal. Vilardi is older than both Peterka and Knies, but earns a richer annual salary than an older peer like Brock Boeser, who just inked a seven-year, $50.75MM contract in Vancouver.

A new, long-term deal will commit Vilardi to a major role in Winnipeg. Ehlers leaves behind a hardy, second-line role and routine power-play presence. Some of those minutes will be eaten up by summer signing Gustav Nyquist, and potentially prospects like Brad Lambert, but Vilardi could still see a boost from the 18 minutes of ice time he averaged this season. He has totaled 138 points in 181 games over the last three seasons — an 82-game pace of 33 goals and 63 points. With that scoring pace, and good health, on his side; Vilardi could be set to start his new deal with another breakout this season.

Photo courtesy of Terrence Lee-Imagn Images.

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