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Wild Sign Marcus Johansson To One-Year Contract

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The Minnesota Wild have signed veteran forward Marcus Johansson to a one-year, $800K contract for the 2025-26 season. The deal was first reported by Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johansson was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, after concluding a two-year, $4MM contract signed with Minnesota in 2023.

Johansson maintained his modest scoring through his last two years in Minnesota. He posted 11 goals, 34 points, and a minus-seven in 72 games this season – all a slight improvement over the 11 goals, 30 points, and minus-15 he posted in 78 games last year. Johansson also contributed two assists in five postseason games this year, marking his third-consecutive postseason appearance with two points – though he’s alternated appearances in and out of the playoffs.

Johansson will continue onto his 16th NHL season with this deal. He’ll also be set up to reach his 1,000th career game in Minnesota – currently sat just 17 games back from the milestone. Reaching that mark will put a pin on what’s been a tremendous career for the versatile Johansson. He was originally drafted 24th-overall in the 2009 NHL Draft, and has carried his slick skating and role-filling talents through tenures with six different clubs.

His career-year stands as the 2016-17 season, when Johansson posted 24 goals and 58 points while appearing in all 82 games of the Capitals’ season. It’s the only season he has played in every game. Johansson moved out of Washington in the following summer, and has stayed on a steady but manageable decline ever since. He’s routinely rivaled 10 goals and 30 points through each of the last eight seasons, fighting through injury and shifting lineup roles. His only return to scoring prowess came back in Washington in 2022-23. After joining the team partway through the prior season, Johansson was able to pot 28 points in 60 games before another mid-season move – but then rounded out his year with 18 points in 20 games with Minnesota, good for 46 combined points on the year.

Johansson isn’t likely to challenge those scoring heights in what could be his final season in the NHL. Instead, he’ll likely return to a middling role on the Wild’s third-line, where he’ll offer a veteran presence and shifty backup in the case of injuries.

Aleksander Barkov Wins Frank J. Selke Trophy, King Clancy Memorial Trophy

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The NHL has announced that Florida Panthers centerman Aleksander Barkov is the winner of the 2024-25 Frank J. Selke Trophy and King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The Selke Trophy is awarded annually to the forward who exhibits the best defensive acumen. The King Clancy Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off of the ice. This is the third time that Barkov has won the Selke, and the first time he has won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy.

Full voting results can be found here, courtesy of The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.

Barkov joins prestigious company with his third Selke win. He now sits alongside NHL stars Pavel Datsyuk, Guy Carbonneau, and Jere Lehtinen as the only players to have won the award three different times. Only two players rank above the quartet – legendary Bruins centerman Patrice Bergeron with six wins, and former Montreal Canadiens captain Bob Gainey with four wins..

Barkov’s place among greats is certainly fitting. He has built a strong reputation as a tireless worker – with the pace to win puck battles; the strength to win physical battles; and the tenacity to force opportune turnovers. Barkov posted the fourth-best xGA/60 (expected goals-against per 60-minutes) among all forwards with at least 850 minutes of ice time this season, per Evolving Hockey. Of note, no players ahead of him filled such a prominent top-end role for their club. In fact, Barkov’s 1.93 xGA/60 this season was far-and-away a career-best – trumping his previous best-mark of 1.97 set in the 2014-15 season.

It’s Barkov’s tenacity, drive, and ability to shutdown opponents that earned him both the Selke Trophy and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. He embodied a lead-by-example style and has carried Florida to new heights as a result. The team has developed into a true modern-day dynasty, slated to appear in their third-consecutive Stanley Cup Final beginning this week. Florida lost in their first appearance, but managed to defeat the Edmonton Oilers to win the first Cup in franchise history last season. The Conn Smythe Trophy for 2024 playoff MVP controversially went to Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, though Barkov was the second-place vote on 15 of the 17 ballots.

Interestingly, the 2024-25 season will also mark the first time in Selke Trophy history that teammates will finish as the top two finalists, with winger Sam Reinhart ranking second behind Barkov. Reinhart was one of the only players to post a better xGA/60 than Barkov this season, though their marks are only separated by 0.01. Reinhart finished fourth in Selke voting last season. The pair of Panthers finish ahead of Florida compatriot and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli.

Senators Sign Tyler Kleven To Two-Year Extension

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The Ottawa Senators have signed defenseman Tyler Kleven to a two-year, $3.2MM contract extension per Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Kleven was set to become a restricted free agent this summer. The team has made the deal official.

Kleven played through his rookie season in the NHL this year. He operated from Ottawa’s third pair and managed 10 points, 27 penalty minutes, and a minus-11 through 79 games. It was a quiet year across the board, but Kleven stepped it up when the games mattered most. He recorded two assists and eight blocked shots – good for third on the team in blocks – through six playoff games. He played physical and instinctive throughout Ottawa’s First Round matchup against the Maple Leafs, and even earned a career-high 23 minutes of ice time in the Senators’ overtime win in Game 4.

The late-season flash seemed to reaffirm Kleven’s upside. Just one year into his career, he’s clearly still learning to keep up with the pace of NHL forwards. But at his best, Kleven is an effective shutdown defender who uses his stick and body to separate opponents from the puck. He’s a strong option to return to Ottawa’s third pairing next year, and could find his way up the depth chart with a hardier season. This new contract will carry Kleven through his age-25 season, and gives him a chance to earn a deal that could carry him through the bulk of his career on the other side.

Five Key Stories – 5/26/25 – 6/1/25

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The calendar has flipped to June with just two teams now having a shot at the Stanley Cup.  One of those saw a key player get injured this week which is one of the highlights in our key stories.

Islanders Re-Sign Two: Before the Islanders moved on from Lou Lamoriello as GM, he was working on signing a pair of players to extensions before their contracts were set to expire in July.  Those deals have now been finalized under new GM Mathieu Darche.  The team re-signed winger Kyle Palmieri to a two-year, $9.5MM deal and blueliner Adam Boqvist to a two-year, $1.7MM pact.  Palmieri has stayed healthy the last two seasons, chipping in with 54 goals along the way but still wound up taking a small cut in pay from the $5MM per year he had on his last deal.  As for Boqvist, he fit in well after being claimed off waivers from Florida.  Just 24, he would have been arbitration-eligible as a restricted free agent but a lock to be non-tendered with more than 240 NHL games under his belt so the two sides had to get something done in advance.

Going Under The Knife: While the Oilers are moving on to their second straight Stanley Cup Final, one key winger won’t be as Zach Hyman is out for the final round after undergoing wrist surgery.  After a breakout 54-goal effort last season, he managed just half of that total this year in 73 games but had a solid 11 points in 15 playoff outings as a key secondary scorer.  Meanwhile, the Jets won’t have their captain available to them when the 2025-26 season gets underway in October after Adam Lowry underwent hip surgery which carries a recovery period of five to six months.  Lowry had a career-high 16 goals this season before chipping in with four more in the first two rounds of the playoffs despite the injury.

New Coach In Seattle: After a long coaching search, the Kraken have found their new head coach, naming Lane Lambert to the position.  He will take the place of Dan Bylsma who only lasted one season in the role with a disappointing 76-point effort that saw them finish seventh in the Pacific Division.  This will be Lambert’s second stint running an NHL bench after coaching the Islanders for 127 games before being replaced by Patrick Roy in 2024 but he is highly experienced, working at the top level since 2011 in either an assistant or associate coaching role.  This season, he held the latter title with Toronto.  Lambert is the third coach in Seattle’s young franchise history after Dave Hakstol was in charge for the first three years.

Bridge For Foerster: The Flyers have mostly gone with bridge deals in recent years, the opposite of the general league-wide trend of signing young players to long-term pacts quickly.  They continued their strategy with their latest contract, a two-year, $7.5MM deal given to winger Tyson Foerster.  The 23-year-old has been a regular in Philadelphia for the last two seasons and had a solid sophomore year, scoring 25 goals along with 18 assists in 81 games while logging nearly 17 minutes a night of ice time.  His 43 points were good for a tie for fifth in team scoring.  While it’s clear that Foerster is viewed as a long-term puzzle piece in Philadelphia, he’ll have to wait a couple more years now before having a shot at a long-term contract.

Sabres Hire Kekalainen: It has been well known that the Sabres were looking to add some experience to their front office.  They’ve done just that after announcing the hiring of Jarmo Kekalainen as a senior advisor.  Kekalainen was the GM in Columbus for more than a decade before being let go a little more than 15 months ago.  He also has an extensive scouting background going back to his time with Ottawa and St. Louis.  The 58-year-old has held some sort of title with an NHL team for almost every year since 1995 and certainly will bring a lot of experience to a front office that doesn’t have a lot of it.

Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports.

Islanders’ Bo Horvat Out Four To Six Weeks With Ankle Injury

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New York Islanders assistant captain Bo Horvat sustained a lower-body injury in the sixth game of Team Canada’s run through the World Championship. The injury ended his tournament early and required Horvat to return immediately to New York for further evaluation. Now, just over a week after he sustained the injury on May 19th, it’s been revealed that Horvat’s recovery likely won’t take as long as previously thought. Freshly-hired Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche told the media that Horvat is expected to miss four-to-six weeks with injury and that the team has no concerns, per Ethan Sears of the New York Post.

This is great news for the Islanders, all things considered. Horvat was an integral piece of both the New York and Team Canada rosters this season. He chipped in 28 goals and led the team with 57 points in 81 games this season – operating as the clear top forward on an injury-riddled Islanders lineup. He continued to serve a pivotal role on Canada’s World Championship roster, and even ranked fifth on the team in scoring before his injury. Horvat earned that standing with four goals and eight points in just six games. The performance lapped his last international appearance in 2018, when he recorded seven points in 10 World Championship appearances.

This news sets Horvat up to be fully healthy by the start of the 2025-26 season. He’ll enter the year ready to resume his role as New York’s top center – hopefully this time bolstered by a wave of good health and improved prospects. Islanders’ star Mathew Barzal missed all but 30 games of last season due to battles with two separate injuries. Over the course of the year, New York also landed top center prospect Calum Ritchie, who made the Colorado Avalanche roster out of training camp last year, and the first-overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft. All three options could support Horvat’s reign over the Islanders’ offense, and give the 30-year-old vet a chance to resign into a more defense-first role.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins Coaching, Roest, Kuokkanen

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The Pittsburgh Penguins’ coaching search continues to headline news out of the Metropolitan Division, as the squad seeks out their first change at head coach in the last decade. Their final rounds of interviews have led to two candidates emerging above the rest – Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love, and former Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

Love has been behind the Capitals’ bench for the last two seasons, after spending the two years prior serving as the head coach of Calgary’s AHL squad. Love worked in the WHL and Canada’s U17 and U18 squads for the better half of the 2010’s. He supported Team Canada’s Gold Medal wins at the 2016 U17 World Hockey Championship, 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and 2020 World Junior Championship. He also won the AHL’s ’Coach of the Year’ award in both of his two years in the league – 2021-22 and 2022-23. The past two years in Washington have marked Love’s first in the NHL in any capacity, and a move to head coach would mark a quick reward after he supported Pittsburgh’s rival to a second-round exit this season.

Smith sits as an interesting option opposite of Love. He has spent the last season-and-a-half in an assistant or associate coach role with the Los Angeles Kings, who hired him on the same day that he was fired from the Senators’ head coaching role in 2023. Smith posted a combined 131-154-32 record in just over four years with the Senators. He also has six years of experience as an NHL assistant coach, spread between tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs and L.A. Kings. He’d be a hotly debated addition, though offers a much hardier pro coaching resume than Love.

Other notes from the Metro Division:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have parted ways with assistant general manager and AHL general manager Stacy Roest, per Ashley Wenskoski of CNY Central. Roest was a colleague of freshly-hired New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche during their shared time in Tampa Bay, and could be among the top candidates as New York looks to fill the vacancy left by AHL GM Chris Lamoriello. Roest has been with the Tampa Bay organization since the 2013-14 season, when he joined on as a Director of Player Development and AHL assistant coach. He was promoted to AHL GM in the 2019-20 season. Roest also played in 244 career games in the NHL, split between tenures with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild. He ended his career with nine years in Switzerland’s National League, which allowed him to support Team Canada at six separate Spengler Cups.
  • Former Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils centerman Janne Kuokkanen has extended his tenure overseas. He has signed a four-year contract with the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks. Kuokkanen played one season with Malmo in 2023-24 – scoring 44 points in 43 games – but opted to move to the National League for this season. He’ll reverse that decision one season later, after netting just 25 points in 35 games with Lausanne HC. Kuokkanen was a second-round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft and played in 119 NHL games split between the Hurricanes and Devils. He scored 14 goals and 42 points in those appearances.

Kraken Sign John Hayden To Two-Year Extension

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The Seattle Kraken have signed forward John Hayden to a two-year, one-way contract extension. The deal will carry a league-minimum, $775K salary. This is notably Hayden’s first one-way contract since the 2020-21 season, which he spent on a one-year, one-way deal with the Arizona Coyotes.

Hayden will re-up for a fourth season with the Kraken with this move. That will mark the longest Hayden has spent with one organization throughout his nine-year professional career. He’s spent time with five organizations over that tenure, kicked off with three years with the Chicago Blackhawks, who originally drafted Hayden in the 2013 third-round. He joined the Hawks lineup at the end of the 2016-17 season and managed one goal and four points in his first 12 NHL games. He then made the Blackhawks’ roster out of training camp in the 2017-18 season, but was assigned to the minor leagues in March after recording just 13 points and 54 penalty minutes in 47 NHL games. Hayden finished the AHL season strong, with 17 points in 24 regular season games and three goals in 13 playoff games. That boost earned him a return to the NHL in 2018-19, though his renewed opportunity came with an added focus on a bruising role.

Hayden traveled around the NHL from 2018 to 2022 – appearing in games with Chicago, New Jersey, Arizona, and Buffalo. He never once returned to the minor leagues, even despite averaging just over four points and 56 penalty minutes each season. It wasn’t until Hayden moved on to the Kraken organization that he was finally returned to the minor leagues, where his veteran presence was quickly felt. He scored a career-high 33 points in 47 games of his first season with Coachella Valley, but managed just two points in 10 playoff games as the team raced to the Calder Cup Finals. His scoring skid continued through the 2023-24 season – when he scored just 26 points in 65 games – but he made up for it with an electric nine goals and 13 points in 18 playoff games in the Firebirds’ second run to the AHL Finals. Hayden was brought back to the NHL for 20 games this season, and recorded two points and 31 penalty minutes. His appearances at the top flight were intercut with 27 points in 44 AHL games, and three points in six games of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

A one-way deal at this point in his career seems to be an acknowledgement of Hayden’s impact on the AHL roster, moreso than an indication that he could return to the NHL full-time next season. Either way, he’ll be playing in his 10th pro season in 2025-26, and will offer Seattle a hard-hitting forward to round out their depth chart.

Islanders, Jets Explored Brock Nelson Trade At Deadline

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The New York Islanders landed a Trade Deadline steal when they sent aging veteran Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche for top prospect Calum Ritchie, defenseman Oliver Kylington, and draft picks in the 2026 first-round and 2028 third-round. But new reports have shared that New York could’ve found a jackpot return even if their offer with Colorado fell through. Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gaming reports that the Winnipeg Jets were also aggressive in their pursuit of acquiring Nelson – and were ready to offer a package very similar to Colorado’s. D’Amico specifies that Winnipeg would have offered up one of Brad Lambert, Brayden Yager, or Colby Barlow in the return, in addition to future draft capital.

New York can rest happy with how things ended up, but acquiring one of Winnipeg’s top names would have been just as lucrative. All three prospects offer their own upside, led by 2023 14th-overall pick Brayden Yager, who scored 82 points in just 54 WHL games this season. He also chipped in 14 points in 16 playoff games – but fell short of the championship run he went on with the Moose Jaw Warriors last season. Yager is likely headed for the pros next season, and could rapidly rise up Winnipeg’s depth chart with a hot start to his career.

Lambert is another top prospect, though expectations around him have cooled slightly after he scored 35 points in 61 AHL games this season – 20 fewer than he managed in 64 games last year. Lambert’s a dynamic and skilled forward, but is still a bit small for pro competition. He offers plenty of upside, but will need to first rediscover the scoring he posted last year.

Barlow is perhaps the most unheralded of the bunch after wrapping up his age-20 season in the OHL. He scored 32 goals and 61 points in 62 games this year. That mark continued his quiet slide down the OHL leaderboard – after he posted 40 goals and 58 points in 50 games last year, and 46 goals and 79 points in 59 games of his draft year in 2022-23. But Barlow intercut that with three points in three AHL games at the end of last season, and could translate as a hard-nosed scorer with pro-level physicality.

But while all three prospects carry reason for upside and reason for question, D’Amico specified that a deal with the Jets fell through because Nelson was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to head to Canada. He instead waived it to land in Colorado, earning the Islanders the rights to Ritchie just a few months after he made the NHL roster directly out of training camp. Ritchie played in seven games and scored his first NHL goal before returning to the OHL for a dominant season. He posted 70 points in 47 regular season games, and 25 points in 21 playoff games, while serving as the clear-cut top center on an Oshawa Generals lineup that made it all the way to the OHL Championship.

Blackhawks Officially Hire Michael Peca, Retain Anders Sorensen And Jimmy Waite

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New Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill had his introductory press conference early on Tuesday. During interviews, he shared with media that the Blackhawks will retain Anders Sorensen as an assistant coach and Jimmy Waite as a goalie coach, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio. Blashill also shared that Chicago has hired former NHL forward Michael Peca as an assistant coach. The team later confirmed Sorensen and Peca’s roles in a press release.

This news most notably captures the next step in Peca’s growing coaching career. The 51-year-old spent nine of his 14 pro seasons in New York – captaining the Buffalo Sabres for four seasons and New York Islanders for two. He returned to the Empire State after retiring from the NHL, and took up the mantle as the general manager and head coach of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres in 2011-12. Peca stayed in that role for eight years before deciding to return to the pros in the 2020-21 season. His first step was a Development Coach role with the Washington Capitals, but Peca moved to an assistant role with the AHL’s Rochester Americans in 2021-22. He spent two years with Rochester, then stepped up to an assistant role with the New York Rangers over the last two seasons. Now, Peca will take his coaching talents away from the East coast for the first time in his career by joining a budding coaching staff in Chicago.

Peca will join like company in Anders Sorensen, who spent the better part of a decade coaching dominant rosters around Chicago youth hockey. Sorensen intercut those AAA-coaching roles with four years as an assistant coach in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league, and joined the Blackhawks’ staff as a Development Coach in the 2014-15 season. He stuck in the role for four seasons before stepping up to an assistant role with the Rockford IceHogs in 2018-19. Sorensen was promoted to the head coach role two seasons later, then earned another promotion to the NHL head coaching role last year. He led the Blackhawks to a 17-30-9 record – but showed enough strength to earn an assistant coach role with Team Sweden at this year’s World Championship, and retain an assistant role in Chicago.

Through the mix of two assistant coaching hires, fans shouldn’t forget about the continued impact of former Blackhawks goaltender Jimmy Waite – who will retain his role through a third coaching change. Waite just wrapped up his 10th season as Chicago’s goaltending coach. His tenure started off with star Corey Crawford, and will continue a decade later with budding star Spencer Knight. Waite was originally drafted eighth-overall in the 1987 NHL Draft. He played in 106 games and 11 seasons in the NHL, and recorded a career-long .871 save percentage and 28-41-12 record. He also spent 233 games and eight seasons in the IHL, where he set a .909 save percentage. Waite will be in welcome company serving under Blashill – a former NCAA Division-1 goaltender who started his career as a goalie coach.

Kraken Sign Tyson Jugnauth To Entry-Level Contract

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The Seattle Kraken have signed 2022 fourth-round pick Tyson Jugnauth to a three-year, entry-level contract. Jugnauth recently concluded his second season with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. He was expected to move to Michigan State University this summer, but will instead turn pro in the Kraken organization with this deal.

Jugnauth took home the BCHL’s ’Top Defender’ award in his draft year of 2021-22, after posting 41 assists and 50 points in 52 games with the West Kelowna Warriors. He showed plenty of talent as a 200-foot playmaker, and carried his talents to the University of Wisconsin following his #100th-overall selection in the draft. The Badgers awarded Jugnauth with third-pairing minutes as a freshman and the dwindle in role seemed to impact him. He recorded a measly 15 points and minus-20 through 32 games. Those underclass struggles continued through 13 games of his sophomore season, marked by just two points in his first 13 games. That decrease sparked Jugnauth to make a rare mid-season move from college to the WHL.

That decision paid off almost instantly – as Jugnauth quickly rediscovered his two-way impact and won out a premier lineup role in the return to juniors. He recorded 41 points and a plus-40 through 41 games of his first WHL season, while backing lineup stars like Nate Danielson and Luca Cagnoni. Jugnauth took on a heap of responsibility when both players opted to turn pro last summer – and he matched the bill well. He scored 13 goals and 89 points in 65 games this season, good for second on Portland in scoring and enough to earn Jugnauth the WHL’s ’Defenseman of the Year’ award.

Jugnauth will now try to use the momentum of an award-winning year to ramp his jump to the pro flight. He’s a nimble, speedy, and deceptive defender with the awareness to make smart plays on both sides of the puck. But a 5-foot-11, 170-pound frame could be a bit frail for the AHL – and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jugnauth take a bit before he’s fully adjusted to pros. Current NCAA bylaws would restrict his ability to continue on to college this summer – though his eligibility will be worth monitoring as the NHL continues to flesh out a budding relationship between the CHL and college hockey.

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