Offseason Checklist 2025

Offseason Checklist: Los Angeles Kings

June 8, 2025 at 8:48 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 6 Comments

The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming weeks with free agency fast approaching. Next up is a look at Los Angeles.

Nothing much has changed in Hollywood in recent years. In 2023-24, a streaky regular season dotted by a coaching change ultimately led to a familiar fate – a first-round elimination at the hands of the Oilers. With a full season under head coach Jim Hiller and strong play from offseason and in-season pickups to bolster the forward group, most thought this would finally be the year L.A. escaped a first-round date with Edmonton after three failed tries. Instead, after their best regular-season record in 50 years, they blew a 2-0 series lead and headed for the exits early again. That triggered a big change with new GM Ken Holland succeeding Rob Blake, and he’s got some things to address in his first summer on the job.

Look Ahead To Kempe, Kopitar Expiries

Two years ago, franchise center Anže Kopitar put any retirement speculation to rest early when he signed a two-year, $14MM extension five days after becoming eligible to do so. After an age-37 season in which he saw the lowest average ice time of his career but was still a top-10 defensive forward in the league, he becomes extension-eligible again on July 1. Given his slow decline so far, it’s likely he has more than one season left in him.

While it may make sense for the Kings to wait to see how Kopitar starts next season to gauge where he’s at in his aging curve, it would also be smart to get what will likely be a short-term, team-friendly extension for Kopitar out of the way now. That’s primarily because winger Adrian Kempe’s contract expires following next season and, on the heels of a second straight 70-point season, will shatter his current $5.5MM cap hit on a new deal with Los Angeles.

Of course, the Kings could flip-flop their priorities and enter talks on a long-term deal with Kempe now while kicking Kopitar’s contract down the road until they have cost certainty on the former. Jumping the gun on an older player with less earning potential signing a short-term deal is a smarter financial move than over-committing to Kempe too early, though, especially with the rising cap, meaning extension projections for Kempe fall in the $9MM range (per AFP Analytics).

L.A. has enough cost-effective deals with term, particularly at forward, that they don’t have to stress too much about losing one of the two next summer outside of a surprise retirement decision from Kopitar. Still, knowing both top-liners have contractual business to attend to in the next 12 months will certainly impact how Holland doles out his cap space this summer.

Be Aggressive With Gavrikov

The Kings made an unlikely win-win trade with the Capitals involving Pierre-Luc Dubois and Darcy Kuemper last offseason, opening up around $3MM in cap space for them in the process. That increased flexibility will be pertinent for them this offseason as they try to land more of a game-breaking forward to help put them into the league’s upper echelon of offensive clubs. They have nearly $22MM in projected cap space this summer to do so, but while they can let all of their pending UFAs at forward walk with mostly no ill effect in pursuit of a higher-caliber addition, the same can’t be said on the blue line.

Vladislav Gavrikov was a rock on L.A.’s defense this season, particularly with Drew Doughty missing over half the campaign. Unlike the Kings’ top UFA forward, trade deadline Andrei Kuzmenko, there’s no backup plan involving a similar-caliber UFA pickup if the Kings can’t come to terms with Gavrikov on an extension. From now until July 1, working on numbers with him will presumably be priority No. 1 for Holland.

They simply don’t have another player with his skillset and ceiling in their system, and he provided legitimate top-pairing value this year with 30 points, a +26 rating, and 140 blocks while playing all 82 games and averaging over 23 minutes per night. But with most of the top UFA defensemen signing extensions and taking themselves off the market early, he’s the top left-shot option available. That could drive up his extension price, although the Kings have the benefit of being able to offer him an eighth year on his contract to award him the same (or higher) total compensation while keeping his cap hit down.

AFP Analytics’ open market projection for Gavrikov is a seven-year deal at $7.6MM per season for a total value of $53.25MM. The Kings could offer Gavrikov $55MM total on an eight-year deal while keeping his cap hit at a much lower $6.875MM per season, though. That’s a significant difference as they try to keep their options open for going big-game hunting at forward.

Decide Clarke’s Future

Gavrikov isn’t the only name potentially in flux on L.A.’s blue line. Righty Brandt Clarke, the 2021 eighth-overall pick, is slated to be a pending RFA coming off his first full-time NHL season, but still found himself as trade fodder at the deadline.

That’s despite the 21-year-old serving as the offensive cornerstone of the Kings’ defense in Doughty’s absence. He put together a 5-28–33 scoring line in 78 games and managed a +13 rating to boot, but never seemed to earn the organization (or Hiller’s) full trust. He averaged decidedly bottom-pairing minutes at just 16:17 per game.

With the Kings’ questionable usage of their top U-22 player, the feeling might be mutual if Clarke doesn’t feel Los Angeles is the right environment for him to maximize the rest of his development years. He would have immense trade value this summer, not just for his potential impact in a top-four role for a club next season, but because he’d be doing so on a six-figure cap hit in the final year of his ELC.

His trade value would be enhanced further by a weak UFA market, even more so among right-shot defenders than lefties. He would presumably be the No. 2 target at the position if he were on the open market this summer behind Aaron Ekblad, taking both his 2024-25 performance and his still-untapped ceiling into consideration.

If Holland strikes out on the upper echelon of UFA forward talents like Nikolaj Ehlers and Mitch Marner, expect him to leverage Clarke again as he pursues a higher-ceiling winger, potentially Buffalo’s JJ Peterka. In any event, it’s highly unlikely the Kings commit resources to a Clarke extension this summer, particularly with some aforementioned bigger fish to fry.

Sign Laferriere Quickly

Moving away from UFA talk, the Kings do have one notable RFA to deal with this summer. That would be winger Alex Laferriere, whose negotiations could become a headache if the Kings get a Gavrikov extension done and blow the rest of their cap space on a big forward pickup.

The 23-year-old is a highly intriguing top-six winger with a physical edge, finishing third on the team with 124 hits this season. He also logged a +22 rating, put together a 19-23–42 scoring line in 77 games, and averaged 16:32 per game – a legitimate needle-moving depth piece the Kings would likely prefer to retain given his age.

Getting cost certainty on Laferriere, even if it’s a bridge deal to keep his cap hit down, is important for Holland to know if he needs to make any cap-clearing moves to maintain flexibility for Gavrikov and their clearly desired forward pickup. Locking him in could make an older player with a similar price point and offensive ceiling, such as winger Trevor Moore, an expendable asset if L.A. needs to open up some roster space or spending money.

Image courtesy of Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images.

Offseason Checklist: Minnesota Wild

June 7, 2025 at 12:25 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

This season saw some ups and downs for Minnesota. They had some injuries to key players while some other core pieces took steps back. But in the end, they were able to lock down a playoff spot despite their offensive struggles and gave Vegas a good run in the first round before falling in six. GM Bill Guerin now has much more cap flexibility moving forward; putting that to good use is a big chunk of their checklist for this offseason.

Pick A Direction With Rossi

For a team that has had challenges developing centers, it feels like Marco Rossi has perpetually been on thin ice with the Wild. Yes, at 5’9, he’s undersized for the position but he was the ninth-overall pick back in 2020 and despite a health scare soon after, he has become a legitimate middleman at the top level.

Rossi became a full-time NHL player in 2023-24 and had a solid rookie campaign with 21 goals and 40 points, earning him some down-ballot Calder Trophy votes. He was even better this season, tallying 24 goals and 60 points, good for second in points on the team. However, part of the current question stems from his usage in the playoffs when he went down to just 12 minutes a night after averaging 18:15 per contest during the regular season.

On the contract side, various reports have suggested that Rossi’s camp is using teammate Matt Boldy as a desired comparable in negotiations at seven years and $7MM per season. Meanwhile, Guerin is believed to have offered five years at $5MM in-season, an offer that was rejected. Notably, that would have set Rossi up to hit the open market heading into his age-29 season. A bridge proposal is believed to have been pitched as well but with his playoff usage, finding a number that works for both sides will be tough.

There are two ways the Wild can go here. The first is that they can work out a long-term deal to the satisfaction of both sides. With a bridge agreement looking unlikely, the second is that they find a suitable trade. It’s not often that young centers with his pedigree become available and with many teams – rebuilders and contenders alike – needing help down the middle, Rossi should command a strong return if that’s the route they choose.

However, it would also open up another spot at center to try to fill in a summer that should already see Guerin looking to add an impact middleman even if Rossi stays. Landing one isn’t easy; landing two would be that much harder, even with nearly $16MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. While restricted free agents can drag out negotiations, this feels like a situation that needs to come to a head before July 1st comes around.

Work On Kaprizov Extension

For a couple of years now, extension discussions with Kirill Kaprizov have been a key point of speculation. When the time comes, will he be willing to commit to a long-term agreement or would he look to hit the open market and perhaps move to a bigger market? Those questions have come even with Kaprizov consistently saying he wants to stay; including after the playoffs last month when he stated that “I love everything here. It should be all good.” Well, come July, we’ll start to get a first sense of where things could go as that’s when he becomes eligible to sign a contract extension.

The 28-year-old has been one of the most productive players in the NHL on a per-game basis over the past four years (1.27 points per game in 264 outings) although he has only had one season with more than 80 games in that stretch. This season, he missed half the games but still managed an impressive 56 points in 41 outings. He’s a premier winger in the NHL, as long as he’s healthy enough to stay in the lineup. But while the track record of injuries is worth noting, it’s unlikely to materially affect any extension talks.

For one more year, Kaprizov will make $9MM but his next contract will almost certainly blow past that by a significant margin. With the projected growth of the salary cap and the potential for a record-setting contract coming to a winger this summer (Mitch Marner), finding comparables is a bit tricky. Marner’s next deal seems likely to check in somewhere between 14% and 15% of the Upper Limit, a number that checks in above Artemi Panarin (the current record-holder for richest winger deal). David Pastrnak and William Nylander are over $11MM apiece but in the old salary cap environment, they don’t hold up as well but their cap percentages start with a 13.

With the 2026-27 cap being projected to land around $104MM, we can start to come up with a framework for Kaprizov’s next contract. At 13%, a new deal would be $13.52MM per season. Speculatively, that feels low, especially with the expectation that Marner could beat that this summer. At 14%, the cost jumps to $14.56MM and at 15%, $15.6MM, a number that feels on the high side, especially for an early extension. $15MM (14.4% of the cap) has been speculated as a reasonable middle ground, an increase of $6MM per season. That would be the richest deal in NHL history but if Minnesota is hesitant to give it to him, his camp knows someone else will later on. Are both sides prepared to work something out around that price point? We’ll find out this summer.

Add Scoring Help

Scoring has been an issue for Minnesota in recent years. They haven’t been in the top 20 league-wide in goals scored for the last three seasons while they saw their goal output drop from 248 in 2023-24 to just 225 this season. Most of the time, that firepower isn’t good enough to get into the playoffs. While Kaprizov missing half the season contributed to some of that drop, they’re still a below-average team in that regard.

With Zeev Buium joining the Wild full-time next season, they probably don’t need to do much on the back end. They may try to re-sign RFA Declan Chisholm but that’s about it. That means the bulk of that cap space can be spent up front. If Rossi re-signs for something close to his asking price, that should still leave enough for an impactful top-six addition. Again, ideally that’s a center but they’re not in a spot where they can be too choosy. Even if it’s a winger, an improvement would be great. And if Rossi does wind up moving, they’d need a couple of top-six pickups.

This season, Minnesota had just four players reach the 40-point mark after having seven get there the year before. In a perfect world, there’s some internal improvement from some of their underachievers; deepening their forward group could help in that regard. Now that they have some long-desired flexibility cap-wise, they need to spend it on adding some offensive firepower.

Look Into Goaltending Insurance

When the Wild brought back Marc-Andre Fleury for one more season, the plan was clear. Jesper Wallstedt would get one more year in the minors and then move up. The two-year, $4.4MM contract they handed him soon after only cemented that. That contract was a head-scratcher then (following the one Yaroslav Askarov got from San Jose which was also a puzzling one) and it looks much worse now as Wallstedt struggled mightily with AHL Iowa this season, posting a 3.59 GAA and a .879 SV% in 27 games in the minors. Had they waited to sign him until now, the cost would have been a lot lower.

Is Guerin comfortable with promoting Wallstedt to the full-time backup spot behind Filip Gustavsson coming off the year he just had? Given his draft stock as a first-round pick back in 2021, it’s fair to say he’s still envisioned as someone in the long-term plans for Minnesota between the pipes. In that lens, it’d be reasonable to think they would want to give him the first crack at the spot. If that’s the case, then the goaltending depth they’d need would be a veteran AHL starter who could come up in a pinch with their other two signed netminders (Samuel Hlavaj and Riley Mercer) not quite NHL-ready.

But it’s worth noting that Wallstedt is still waiver-exempt for next season. In theory, they could send him down to Iowa again, lowering his cap charge in the process to $1.05MM. That would then allow them to try to pursue a more proven option. That would mean spending less on the forward position but would allow them to have a bit more piece of mind at the backup spot while giving Wallstedt a chance to bounce back from his tough year in Iowa. Either way, they’re likely to add another netminder in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.

Offseason Checklist: Ottawa Senators

June 5, 2025 at 2:48 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Ottawa.

This year was a much-needed breakthrough for the Senators. Major offseason trades saw Jakob Chychrun and Joonas Korpisalo shipped out the door for Nick Jensen and Linus Ullmark, while names like Michael Amadio and David Perron were picked up in free agency to complement their young forward corps. That, along with a coaching change, was enough to get Ottawa over the hump and into the postseason for the first time since 2017. After a first-round loss to the Maple Leafs, general manager Steve Staios now has his heights set even higher for 2025-26.

Land A Needle-Moving Winger

Most of Ottawa’s jump in the standings this year can be attributed to improved team defense and vastly upgraded goaltending. Their offensive output improved by a minimal amount and remains an area of concern as the Senators look to become a consistent postseason contender.

Matters in 2024-25 weren’t helped by a down season from captain Brady Tkachuk, whose 29 goals and 55 points were his lowest totals since the shortened 2021 season. Outside of him, though, the Senators simply weren’t a good offensive team. They weren’t bad – just slightly below average by most available metrics, and an area in which they’ll need to add an impact piece to have any legitimate championship aspirations with their current core group.

This season, Ottawa ranked 18th in the league in goals, 21st in 5-on-5 shot attempts, 22nd in 5-on-5 expected goals, and an eye-popping 31st in actual goals at 5-on-5. Their 139 goals at standard play were nine ahead of the last-place Predators. They were helped by being the league’s best team at drawing penalties, receiving 269 power-play opportunities with an 11th-place 23.8% conversion rate for 64 power-play goals tied for the league lead.

While they’ve built out enough scoring depth to have an effective group of middle-six forwards behind their anchors in Tkachuk and Tim Stützle, they don’t have another player on the club with a surefire shot at 75-80 points in a season. That’s why they’ve reportedly made the dependable Drake Batherson available in trade talks. They’re looking for a right-winger with a higher production ceiling to slot into his top-six minutes.

They don’t have enough cap space this summer, either. While the organization has reportedly made it a priority to add a right-shot defenseman (more on that later), they’re perhaps better off spending the bulk of it on pursuing one of the better UFA wingers out there in Nikolaj Ehlers or leveraging their current spending flexibility on the trade market.

Make A Call On Giroux

There’s only one uber-notable pending UFA for Staios to contend with this summer. That’s hometown vet Claude Giroux, who’s wrapping up the three-year, $19.5MM deal he signed to join Ottawa in free agency in 2022. There’s mutual interest in extending the relationship. How much of a discount he’ll be willing to take from his current $6.5MM cap hit, especially with his open market value still above the $5MM line (per AFP Analytics), remains to be seen.

If Giroux holds firm to an ask in the $5MM range, the Senators might do well to counter with a one-year offer that includes performance bonuses to get him to that number and lower the initial cap hit of the deal. He’s now 37 and has seen a steady production drop over his three years in the Canadian capital. His 15 goals and 50 points in 81 games this year worked out to his lowest per-game outputs since the 2009-10 season. His points-per-game rate has dropped linearly since his arrival, and if the trend continues, he’s tracking to score just 37 points in a full 82-game schedule next year.

Getting an early indication of Giroux’s salary floor in negotiations will help Staios decide whether to continue pursuing an extension or cut bait early and earmark that cap space for another task. Letting him walk could expand the case for keeping the younger Batherson, an established 60-point scorer at a team-friendly cap hit of $4.975MM through 2027. For a team with semi-limited maneuverability this summer, that’s not a deal they should be actively looking to shed.

Sign Cost-Effective Fourth-Liners

This checklist item could be accomplished by retaining some of the pieces Ottawa is currently willing to lose, but they might do better to look for six-figure bargains in free agency. The Sens struck gold last year with the pickup of Adam Gaudette on a two-way deal. He scored a career-high 19 goals while averaging just 10:25 per game, 16 of which came at even strength.

As such, he may have priced himself out of an extension with the Sens’ priorities set more on bigger moves on offense. The reality stands that Ottawa only has eight NHL forwards under contract for 2025-26, although pending RFA Fabian Zetterlund at least gives them nine under team control. They need bodies, especially without a surplus of high-end AHLers ready to jump to NHL minutes.

There should be many high-ceiling rebound options available for at or under $1MM on a one-year deal for the Sens to replace or even add upon Gaudette’s production level. One name that immediately jumps out is Michael Carcone, who’s already made it clear he doesn’t intend to sign a new deal with the Mammoth and will hit the open market. He previously spent the 2019-20 campaign in the Sens organization but played entirely in the minors. Between then and now, he had a 21-goal campaign for the Coyotes one year ago under eerily similar circumstances to Gaudette’s breakout this year. This year was a more trying campaign for Carcone, who lost a regular spot in the lineup and was limited to seven tallies in 53 appearances. Still, there’s certainly 15-20 goal potential without inserting him into extended minutes.

They’ll also need to re-sign or replace Nick Cousins and Matthew Highmore with low-cost checking options, although that should be a fairly easy task. They can spend an average of $2.14MM on their seven open roster spots with their current projected cap space, enough to fill out their roster with six-figure depth pieces after one or two more notable signings.

Strengthen Depth Defense

While parting ways with Chychrun limited Ottawa’s puck-moving arsenal on the blue line, bringing in the right-shot Jensen as a stay-at-home partner for Thomas Chabot worked wonders chemistry-wise. His +18 rating was the highest on the team. Unfortunately, his status to begin next season is uncertain following lower-body surgery, and they don’t have any legitimate NHL right-shot options behind him on the depth chart outside of Nikolas Matinpalo.

That’s led them to explore outside help, but they risk making too big of a move here with Jensen not expected to miss the entire campaign and young righty Carter Yakemchuk on the way as one of their top prospects. Adding a cheaper name with a history of reliably flexing into second-pairing minutes should still be a checklist item, but it doesn’t need to be a big splash.

Matinpalo isn’t a real internal answer outside of short-term promotions, and bringing back struggling veterans on expiring contracts like Travis Hamonic is a worst-case scenario option compared to finding more cost-efficient players on the open market. Someone like Henri Jokiharju or Jan Rutta can be had without breaking the bank and keeps Matinpalo in the mix as a good extra option when Jensen makes his return.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Offseason Checklist: Tampa Bay Lightning

June 2, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments

The Lightning have been consistently strong for more than a decade now and this season was no exception with a solid third-place finish in the Eastern Conference. However, they were ousted in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year. GM Julien BriseBois now has some work to do to reshape his roster but with very limited salary cap flexibility, their checklist is focused more on the back half of the roster.

Clear Sheary’s Contract

Finding cap space has long been an issue for the Lightning and today’s six-year, $14MM extension given to Yanni Gourde only further cements that although it also took the biggest to-do item off the original version of this list. Now, the team has less than $3.5MM in flexibility, per PuckPedia, the lowest amount of cap space of any team in the league. With multiple roster spots to fill and a likely desire to keep at least a little bit of flexibility for in-season roster movement or injury insurance, they don’t have a lot of wiggle room to work with.

One thing that BriseBois could try to do to create a bit of spending space revolves around Conor Sheary. Signed to a three-year, $6MM contract two years ago, that deal simply hasn’t worked out as planned. After scoring just four goals in 57 games in his first season with the Lightning, the 32-year-old cleared waivers and spent all but five games this year with AHL Syracuse. While he was better than a point per game player there, that’s not a great return on a $2MM AAV overall.

Sheary has one year left on his contract at that price tag and at this point, he feels like a speculative candidate to be sent back to the Crunch if he’s still on the roster come training camp. Doing that would clear $1.15MM off their books. When you consider that $775K of that (at a minimum) would need to be spent on a replacement player on the roster, that wouldn’t save them much. Meanwhile, a buyout would cost $1MM this season and $500K in 2026-27. Again, by the time you factor in a replacement player, the savings are minimal at best. Trading with retention doesn’t open up a lot of room either.

However, if they could find a way to clear the contract outright, that would free up much more money, even accounting for a minimum-salaried replacement player. Doing that would give the Lightning an extra $1.225MM in space. They’d still have the lowest cap space in the league but at least a little more flexibility. Of course, that would require parting with an asset on a team that’s not exactly flush with draft picks and prospects to get a team to take on that final year but with them being this limited cap-wise, it’s a move they’d be wise to make.

Find A Howard Trade

What a difference a few months can make sometimes. In the case of prospect Isaac Howard, the difference was quite substantial. A 2022 first-round pick, he didn’t get off to the best start to his college career but after transferring to Michigan State, things started looking up. And then he found an entirely new gear offensively this season, notching 26 goals and 26 assists in just 37 games, good for fifth overall in Division I scoring, earning him the Hobey Baker Award along the way. All season long, the expectation was that he’d wrap up his college career early and sign with the Lightning to play down the stretch and potentially in the playoffs.

However, as his college season came to an end, there was no contract in place for Howard. Part of that was Tampa Bay’s cap situation as their deadline activity left it to the point where they’d only be able to sign him with a couple of days left in the season. Before it got to that point, he indicated he’d be returning for his senior year, a move that few saw coming. By the end of the playoffs, BriseBois all but confirmed that they won’t be able to sign Howard.

As a result, he instantly becomes Tampa Bay’s most prominent trade chip this offseason. They don’t necessarily have to move him as in theory, he could have a change of heart over the next year although that doesn’t seem likely at this point. They could also opt not to move him and accept the compensatory pick for not signing him, which would be the 31st pick of the second round in 2027 (63rd overall). But that doesn’t seem like a fair return for one of the top players in the NCAA, making the possibility of a trade more likely.

Assuming that the acquiring team wants to get him to reverse his commitment to return for his senior year, that means that finding a trade this offseason makes the most sense. The Lightning could go in any direction with a move – look for a piece that helps them now, a prospect closer to being NHL-ready that has plenty of team control, or even draft picks and unsigned prospects to keep or use as trade chips down the road. Whichever one they pick, it feels like that move should be coming relatively soon.

Add Defensive Depth

Considering the dearth of right-shot defense options available in free agency this summer, it feels like close to a foregone conclusion that Nick Perbix is going to price himself out of what Tampa Bay can afford to pay him unless he takes less than market value or BriseBois is able to open up some flexibility somewhere. That means at least one spot on the roster is up for grabs.

Internally, there are a couple of options for the Lightning. Maxwell Crozier has seen a bit of NHL action the last couple of years and had a strong showing with Syracuse this season and could be in line for a more permanent promotion. Alternatively, offseason signing Charle-Edouard D’Astous has had two strong years offensively overseas so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 27-year-old get at least a look in training camp.

But that’s not a lot of depth to work with. At a minimum, they’ll want to bring in a couple of veterans for the Crunch with some NHL experience in case injuries arise. As things stand, both Derrick Pouliot and Steven Santini are set to become unrestricted free agents next month so they’ll need to be re-signed or replaced. But finding a blueliner or two willing to sign for the league minimum with a shot at battling for a seventh spot on the roster would be their best option.

Upgrade Bottom Six Depth

One thing the Lightning have had to do in recent years is sign several veteran forwards on minimum-salary contracts. It was borne out of necessity with their top-heavy spending and they did the best they could out of the players willing to take early deals at a $775K (or close) price tag. Zemgus Girgensons, Luke Glendening, and Cam Atkinson are recent examples of those. It’s likely they’ll try to get pending RFA Gage Goncalves signed in around that range as well.

While those players were all serviceable to varying degrees, there was a reason that Tampa Bay was often a two-line team with a third line that could chip in from time to time; the fourth line was largely there to try to play to a scoreless draw when they were on the ice. It’s an easier said than done idea but upgrading on that level of talent on the open market would certainly help the cause. In particular, finding some extra grit in one or two of those signings would probably be worthwhile.

BriseBois has tried to work early in free agency with these types of pickups. While it would be riskier, waiting until closer to training camp when the asking prices of some unsigned players might come down might be able to net them a better caliber of signing. It’s picking at the margins here but with most of the heavy lifting done already, working on the margins might be all that’s realistically left for Tampa Bay in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of Nick King/Lansing State Journal.

Offseason Checklist: Montreal Canadiens

June 1, 2025 at 7:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments

After three straight seasons of being near the basement in the standings, the expectation was that the Canadiens would take a step forward in 2024-25. Instead, they may have taken more of a jump than expected as they ultimately secured the final playoff spot in the East before losing in five to Washington in the first round. Now, GM Kent Hughes has some work to do this summer to help his young group take another step forward next season or at least to keep them in the middle of the pack once more.

Move Price’s Contract

While it might seem odd to start this piece with a discussion of a player who hasn’t played since 2022, Carey Price has been making an impact on this group since then and his contract hasn’t helped things. He has been on LTIR for the last three years with a knee injury that he won’t be able to return from. The Canadiens have had to dip into using LTIR every season since then.

When the team wasn’t too worried about wins and losses as they went through the tougher early stages of their rebuild, this wasn’t too big of a deal. They had enough flexibility to recall players when needed and although there were bonus overage penalties, it didn’t matter much. But now they enter next season with the second-highest carryover penalty in the league at over $1.75MM per PuckPedia and it’s a number that could go higher for 2025-26 depending on bonuses reached.

If Montreal can offload Price’s contract to a team looking to just get over the spending floor as has happened in the past with long-term LTIR players, the Canadiens could go back to banking in-season cap space and eliminate the potential for a carryover penalty. It would also increase their regular spending room from around $8MM to $18MM, giving Hughes the ability to try to add a piece or two without having to worry about triggering going into LTIR once more.

But this is one of those files that needs to be figured out early and dealt with later. Price has a $5.5MM signing bonus due that teams are going to want the Canadiens to pay. But unlike most bonuses which are paid on July 1st, his is owed on September 1st. After that, he has a $2MM base salary that insurance will cover the bulk of, making a trade much more palatable at that time.

That said, in order to add when most of the free agent signings and trades are made, Montreal would need to know by then if they have a deal in place to help shape their player movement. Basically, they’ll be looking to reach an agreement on a deal in principle and then shelve it for at least two months. If a move is agreed on, that would make it one of the first things they do this offseason and likely their last at the same time.

Work On Hutson Extension

Last summer, Montreal worked quickly to get contract extensions done with two of its core players, signing winger Juraj Slafkovsky (eight years, $7.6MM AAV) and defenseman Kaiden Guhle (six years, $5.55MM AAV). In doing so, they kept their internal cap intact with both players signing for less than team captain Nick Suzuki ($7.875MM AAV). Accomplishing that with their extension-eligible core piece this summer will be trickier with defenseman Lane Hutson eligible for a new contract as of July 1st.

Hutson’s first full NHL season was certainly a strong one. He played in all 82 games and recorded six goals and 60 assists while logging a little under 23 minutes a night of ice time. With 66 points, he finished tied with Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey for sixth in that category among blueliners league-wide. In assists, he was tied with Quinn Hughes for second, only behind Cale Makar. These are some of the top offensive blueliners in the league, players who received pretty substantial second contracts. Meanwhile, he also led all NHL rookies in points, three ahead of Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini.

There are some recent comparables to work with here. Brock Faber (eight years, $8.5MM) and Owen Power (seven years, $8.35MM) come to mind while the second contracts to Makar (six years, $9MM) and Hughes (seven years, $7.85MM), while older, are probably worth noting as well. The cap hit percentage of those deals ranges from 8.9% to 11%. Knowing that the projected Upper Limit of the Salary Cap for 2026-27 is $104MM, that would approximate Hutson’s price tag between $9.256MM and $11.44MM.

Is that a price Montreal is willing to pay right now? Would they be better waiting and seeing how things go next season? It’s worth noting he won’t be eligible for an offer sheet which at least mitigates a bit of the risk of waiting. Or, is Hughes able to find a lower-cost price tag that both sides are comfortable with now?

Add Second Center

Finding a reliable second-line center has been an issue for Montreal for several years now, dating back to before the current management regime. And while Hughes has made a few attempts to solve that issue, none have managed to stick just yet.

First, Kirby Dach was brought in from Chicago with the hopes that a change of scenery could help him live up to his high draft billing. Instead, he has dealt with significant injuries in all three years, missing more games than he has played in. Alex Newhook was also acquired but he hasn’t been able to lock down a full-time spot down the middle yet and hasn’t produced enough to be a full-timer in the top six. They also had Sean Monahan for a stretch but used him as a trade chip, acquiring a first-round pick to take him on and then dealt him for a first-round pick the following season. While that was a tidy piece of business, it means that second pivot is still needed.

Internally, Jake Evans is more of a checker while prospects Oliver Kapanen and Owen Beck aren’t going to be ready to play in a top-six role next season, at least at the NHL level. And while they have hopes that Dach can bounce back, depending on a healthy and productive season shouldn’t be their preferred option at this point; they’d be wise to try to address this externally.

The free agent market has several veterans that could fill a short-term stopgap type of role, including Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, John Tavares, and Claude Giroux if he doesn’t re-sign with Ottawa. They’d undoubtedly inquire on Sam Bennett if he makes it to free agency as well. Failing that, Hughes will have to turn to trying to fill that spot via the trade route once again.

Add Veteran Right-Shot Defenseman

David Savard wasted little time ending any speculation about his future plans when he announced before the playoffs that he’d be retiring. That opens up one spot on Montreal’s back end to fill. Notably, his departure means that midseason acquisition Alexandre Carrier is the only right-shot defender on their roster at the moment. While teams can get away with having two instead of three, only having one is a little more difficult to navigate.

It’s worth noting that Montreal’s top two defensive prospects, David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux, are both right-shot players. Mailloux saw a handful of NHL games this season while Reinbacher was injured for most of it but is playing a big role with AHL Laval in the playoffs. It’s possible that management envisions one of them filling in Savard’s role and leaving it at that.

However, that would mean going with just two defensemen above the age of 25 to start next season. That’s fine when you’re rebuilding but a lot riskier when you’re trying to push for a playoff spot. Accordingly, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find a short-term veteran who could fill a similar role to Savard while also hedging against Mailloux and Reinbacher needing more development time. Ideally, that player would be a strong penalty killer as Savard logged more than three minutes per game shorthanded this season.

It’s not a great UFA class for right-shot, low-term veterans so this is also something they may want to look at the trade market for if they think one of Mailloux or Reinbacher will be ready soon. Alternatively, they can go for someone on a two-year or a three-year deal and shuffle things around if and when the youngsters are ready. Regardless of what route they take, adding at least a short-term stopgap on the right side of the back end is something they should be looking to do.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

Offseason Checklist: New Jersey Devils

May 29, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those already eliminated through the first couple of rounds. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at New Jersey.

Over the first half of the season, the Devils looked like a potential contender before injuries to several key players dropped them in the standings. While they managed to hold onto a playoff spot, they were eliminated quickly by Carolina. While GM Tom Fitzgerald has suggested he’d like to take some big swings this summer, this checklist is if they opt to take a more measured approach if those bigger moves don’t pan out.

Look For Center Help

This was an area that the Devils were believed to be looking into during the season but once Jack Hughes went down with his shoulder injury that required surgery right before the trade deadline, those plans were understandably shelved. After all, when you’re missing multiple key pieces, pushing in some prominent trade chips for short-term help might not be the best way to go.

Between Hughes and Nico Hischier, New Jersey’s top two middlemen are in place for at least a couple more years until Hischier’s deal comes to an end; Hughes is signed through 2030 so he’s around for a while yet. After that, things get a bit murkier.

The hope was that Erik Haula would be the right fit for the third line but while he started off pretty well in his tenure with the Devils three seasons ago, this was a particularly rough year for him. His point-per-game average dropped to the lowest it has been (0.30) since his sophomore year back in 2013-14 when he spent a lot of time on Minnesota’s fourth line as he was getting acclimated to the NHL. He has one year left on his deal at a $3.15MM price tag and is the type of player who could plausibly be added to a trade to help match money. Alternatively, if they were to add another center and keep Haula, he’d fit in well on the left wing, a position he has plenty of experience at.

Another internal option that has run hot or cold is Dawson Mercer. After putting up 56 points in his sophomore year, he has managed just 33 and 36 the last two seasons. Meanwhile, he hasn’t fared particularly well when asked to play down the middle. He has two years left on his deal at a $4MM cap charge and he’ll still be RFA-eligible at its expiration. Not surprisingly, he could be someone that Fitzgerald is open to moving to shake up his roster. In terms of being a solution at the 3C spot, he’s probably only a stopgap one whenever injuries arise. If he and Haula aren’t deemed ideal for the role, they’ll have to look externally. They may not have much to spend on it, however, as we’ll get into over the next couple of sections.

Before moving on, it’s also worth noting that Curtis Lazar, who has often anchored the fourth line when healthy in recent years, is also an unrestricted free agent. So too is Justin Dowling who spent a lot of time with the Devils this season. Paul Cotter has played a few games down the middle over his career but is a better fit on the wing so this is another spot they’ll need to fill this offseason.

Re-Sign The Other Hughes

While one Hughes brother is signed for several more years, the other isn’t. Defenseman Luke Hughes will be a restricted free agent this summer after completing the first year of his entry-level contract. While he won’t be eligible for an offer sheet (he didn’t play enough to accrue a season in the first year of his deal), he’s still going to be in line for a significant raise after putting up 91 points in 153 games over the last two seasons, especially with the big jump coming to the salary cap.

Before getting into the bridge versus long-term debate, this is a good time to mention their cap situation. Per PuckPedia, the Devils have roughly $12MM in cap space at their disposal with a few forward spots to fill (including those center positions), a new deal for Hughes, and one other possible opening in the next section. On top of that, they likely want to leave themselves some in-season wiggle room so not all of that may be spendable.

While there’s enough of a track record to make a long-term deal feasible, New Jersey’s cap situation might dictate they go with a short-term pact, allowing for some extra flexibility, especially if Fitzgerald is able to make a big swing or two as he’s hoping for. Notably, Hughes has five years of club control remaining, giving them a few more options on a short-term agreement as a bridge deal could conceivably be four years long with him still being restricted at the end of it. A two-year agreement could land around the $5MM range while a four-year pact likely could push past $6MM per season.

On the flip side, Hughes could be viewed as the top priority of the offseason which could allow the two sides to work out a longer-term pact up to the maximum of eight years. There are recent comparables to work with in Owen Power (seven years, $8.35MM per season) and Brock Faber (eight years, $8.5MM per season) although those were obviously signed before the projection of a faster-escalating cap came into play. But New Jersey should know that if they want to go long-term with Hughes, the price tag likely starts with an eight.

With no arbitration or offer sheet rights, this is one of those cases that could linger toward training camp. But with the Devils needing to know what money they have available to fill their other holes on the roster, this is something that they’re going to want to get done sooner than later.

Look For Goalie Insurance

Starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom has just one year left on his contract before being eligible for unrestricted free agency. Jake Allen is set to hit the open market this summer and profiles as one of the top netminders available in a particularly thin class. This season, their goaltending position was one of strength but it’s already looking a little shallower.

Yes, Nico Daws is already under contract at a cap hit that’s less than $40K above the league minimum. While that’s ideal from a cap standpoint, he’s coming off a particularly rough year with AHL Utica that saw him put up a 3.16 GAA and a .893 SV% in 34 games. Meanwhile, while he fared much better in six NHL games, his career numbers in 54 outings aren’t the strongest. It’s possible that the plan is to give him a shot at being the full-time backup and if that’s the case, they’re going to want some insurance, either as someone who could battle with Daws for the number two spot or come up if he struggles.

Alternatively, they could look for a more proven second option with an eye on starting Daws in the minors again, pending waiver clearance. Markstrom’s former Calgary teammate Daniel Vladar could be an option, as could Ilya Samsonov if he leaves Vegas. Allen realistically shouldn’t be ruled out either after a relatively solid first full season with them. Of course, those options cost more and would cut into what they can spend for help down the middle or when working out a deal with Hughes. Some of those players might require more than one year which would at least give them one proven option under contract beyond 2025-26 as well.

Utilize Defensive Depth

New Jersey has put together a solid defensive group with two promising youngsters behind them in Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey. As things stand, they have more than $27MM committed to their blueliners, a cost that’s only going to go up considerably once Hughes signs. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that their back end will be the most expensive in the league, costing more than 35% of the salary cap in the process.

Once Hughes signs, their lowest-paid defenders will be Jonas Siegenthaler ($3.4MM) along with Johnathan Kovacevic and Brenden Dillon ($4MM apiece). Individually, these aren’t bad value contracts but with that much tied up in their top six and Nemec and Casey in the wings, there’s a case to be made that they might be better off dealing from their surplus of veterans, a move that would open up a spot for one of the youngsters and potentially some additional cap flexibility.

The challenge here revolves around handedness and it’s not necessarily the normal one. Both youngsters are right-shot players as are veterans Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, and Kovacevic. At a $9MM price tag for three more years, Hamilton will be difficult to move, at least without considerable retention. Pesce just signed last summer and has a full no-trade clause while Kovacevic only signed his extension less than three months ago so he’s probably safe as well.

Speculatively, Siegenthaler would be the likeliest to move if the Devils do deal from their depth. Being the cheapest player helps but he has primarily played top-four minutes over the last four years and with three years left on a reasonable contract, he would yield a solid return. That would put them in a rare spot of having more right-shot options than lefties but that would help open up some options for Fitzgerald to try to make a splash this summer.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Offseason Checklist: Calgary Flames

May 27, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 9 Comments

Heading into the season, expectations were quite low for the Flames, a team that some felt would be closer to the bottom five in the standings to a playoff spot but instead, they were in a battle for the final spot in the West until the dying days of the regular season. Even so, GM Craig Conroy likely recognizes that his team isn’t a piece or two away from contention. Accordingly, their checklist was designed with the thought that their offseason could be relatively quiet from a transactions perspective as they look to allow their young core continued time to develop before making a move or two to take the next step in a year or so.

Find A Backup Goalie

For the first half of the season, the Flames were effectively platooning their netminders. Daniel Vladar was healthy after returning from hip surgery and while hopes were high for Dustin Wolf, they understandably didn’t want to put too much on him too soon. In the second half, Wolf grabbed the top job and ran with it, playing a crucial role in Calgary’s late-season push for a postseason position.

While they know who their starter will be next season, the backup is in question. Vladar is eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer and is one of the more intriguing options available in a UFA class that isn’t particularly deep at that position. While he has expressed a willingness to return, it would likely be in a more limited role than he had this season which means Calgary’s offer might come in below the $2.2MM he made in each of the last two years. It’s possible that there is a better opportunity for him elsewhere.

Assuming Vladar moves on, the Flames have a couple of options they can go with. The first is turning to the UFA market to fill the spot. A veteran like Jake Allen could make sense as someone who could mentor Wolf while taking on a bigger workload if needed. Ilya Samsonov and Alexandar Georgiev are former starters who could view that post as a chance to try to rebuild some value while Anton Forsberg and Alex Lyon also make some sense as well. Adding one of those over giving up assets to trade for a second-string option would likely be a better move for them.

The other option would be to promote from within. Devin Cooley had a fantastic first half of the season with AHL Calgary and looked to be pushing for a recall but he struggled down the stretch. Signed on a one-way deal for 2025-26, they could give him a shot at earning the job in training camp while back-filling with a veteran third-string option who could hold his own if he needed to be the backup. In that case, adding someone like Kaapo Kahkonen or Ville Husso would be the move they’d likely look to make. No matter what, Conroy will need to sign a goalie over the next six weeks.

Wolf Extension Talks

Meanwhile, there could be a signing to come with their other goalie as well. Wolf is entering the final year of his two-year bridge deal, one that carries a very team-friendly cap hit of $850K. Once July 1st comes around, he’ll be eligible to sign a contract extension.

This case is a particularly interesting one. Wolf has just 71 career NHL appearances under his belt which isn’t much of a sample size. 53 of those came this season and he posted a 2.64 GAA with a .910 SV% while being a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him on some Vezina Trophy ballots as well although he didn’t finish in the top three in voting there. At this point, any doubts about Wolf being their goalie of the future (and present) have basically been erased so the Flames will undoubtedly want to get him locked up to a long-term deal.

Pricing out such a contract this summer could be tricky, however, given the limited track record. The prudent play would generally be a shorter-term contract in these situations but Wolf is only two years away from UFA status and will be arbitration-eligible if unsigned by next summer. Accordingly, the options may just be a medium-term pact that buys out two or three UFA years or a long-term (or max-term) agreement.

For the former, Wolf would likely point to the five-year $25MM contract Seattle gave to Joey Daccord last year as a starting point. Daccord had similar numbers and experience at the time, making that one of the cleaner comparables. While all of those years were UFA years and Wolf has two RFA years remaining, the projected higher salary caps moving forward would largely offset that, allowing Wolf to likely push for more than that.

As for the latter, we’ve seen the market for starters recently push past the $8MM mark with some consistency, including Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark, and Jake Oettinger who all recently joined Ilya Sorokin at $8.25MM per season. Wolf doesn’t have as much success as those four but in talks, both sides will probably be forecasting him having a similar performance next season. That could help him get into that range to the point where an eight-year deal could start with an eight. Conroy will need to decide if he’s comfortable going to that level now or if the team is better off waiting to see how next season goes and adjusting their offers from there.

Center Decisions

As is the case with many teams across the NHL, Conroy has made it known that he’d like to add down the middle. More specifically, he’d prefer to add someone around the same age as his core group which is something that’s especially much easier said than done. Given that the intent is to acquire a player who would be with the team long-term, striking to acquire that piece when it becomes available makes sense even if they’re not likely to be in contention for another couple of years.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Conroy managed to swing a move to add a middleman in that age group when he acquired Morgan Frost from the Flyers this season, taking on the full freight remaining on Joel Farabee’s contract to do so. The thought was that a change of scenery could reinvigorate him after a relatively quiet first half of the season in Philadelphia. However, that didn’t happen as he managed just three goals and nine assists in 32 games despite an increase in playing time after the swap.

Unfortunately for Calgary, they need to make a big decision on Frost’s future in the coming weeks. He’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer but more importantly, he’s a year away from UFA eligibility. Now, a short-term bridge deal would walk Frost right to the open market. Assuming they’d like to avoid that, they’ll have to find a common ground on at least a medium-term agreement, on that would come in around double his $2.4MM qualifying offer. Is that a price they’re willing to go to for a player who certainly struggled in his first few months with the team. With arbitration eligibility, this one will have to be handed over the next couple of months.

The other center they have to make a decision on is Connor Zary, who split time between playing down the middle and on the wing. Over his first two seasons, he has been a secondary scorer and is coming off a year that saw him put up 13 goals and 14 assists in 54 games. A pending restricted free agent with his entry-level deal coming to an end, Conroy will need to decide if he wants to do a long-term deal with the 23-year-old as he did with Matthew Coronato or if a bridge agreement makes the most sense. They can certainly afford the former given their cap situation (more than $28MM in room, per PuckPedia) but the latter seems more likely on a deal that could land around the $3MM mark per season.

Determine Andersson’s Future

Veteran defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been a fixture on Calgary’s back end for the past seven years (plus brief stints for his first two pro campaigns). Back in 2020, he signed a seven-year contract that carried a $4.55MM AAV, a deal that carried some risk at the time but has turned out to be quite the bargain. The Flames have one year left at that price before the 28-year-old becomes eligible to test the open market next summer.

Given that Calgary is a fair ways away from being a legitimate contender, Conroy fielded lots of calls about Andersson’s availability heading into the trade deadline but he opted to stand pat. Now that he’s entering the final year of his deal, those calls are going to pick back up.

While the Flames certainly wouldn’t want to move him, the question becomes how much they’re willing to pay him. As an all-situations right-shot defender and a rapidly rising salary cap, Andersson is likely poised to push for $8MM or more on his next contract as things stand even though he’s coming off bit of a down year. If they’re willing to go to that number and Andersson’s willing to sign, a long-term extension getting done early in the summer – he can sign as of July 1st – wouldn’t be a surprise at all.

If that doesn’t happen, then trade speculation will undoubtedly be cranked up. Calgary still wouldn’t have to deal him right away knowing that if need be, he’d yield a strong return in an in-season swap but that comes with a risk if injuries come into play. Still, Conroy has three options here – extend, trade, or hold, and all have positives and negatives tied to each approach. He’ll have to figure out the best one over the next couple of months.

Photo courtesy of Brett Holmes-Imagn Images.

Offseason Checklist: Vancouver Canucks

May 25, 2025 at 7:02 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 6 Comments

While there were some questions about the Canucks heading into the season despite a solid showing in 2023-24, this past season was a strange one. From struggles to injuries to in-fighting, the team never found its footing, missed the playoffs, and couldn’t come to terms with Rick Tocchet on a contract extension, leading to a coaching change with Adam Foote being promoted into the top job. Even with that item checked off, GM Patrik Allvin has some work to do in the coming months.

Add Impact Center

With the J.T. Miller situation coming to a head midseason, the Canucks were able to get a center back as part of the return in Filip Chytil. But with all due respect to Chytil, the two players are at considerably different levels. One has been a recent top liner, the other more of a middle-six piece with a concerning concussion history. If they were mapping out more of their ideal center situation, Chytil would probably head into next season as a third liner. They have Elias Pettersson locked up long-term (more on him shortly) but there’s still a need for a top-six middleman.

In terms of internal options, Aatu Raty should be a full-time NHL player soon but he’s more of a bottom-six option himself. Dakota Joshua and Teddy Blueger are capable bottom-six pieces but don’t produce enough to be a top-six piece. Pius Suter acquitted himself quite well this season and stepped into a bigger role, scoring 25 goals. However, he’s a pending unrestricted free agent and his market should be much stronger than it was two years ago when the Canucks got him on a low-cost deal that proved to be quite the bargain. Basically, there is no internal option beyond hoping Chytil can stay healthy and find a level he has yet to reach offensively.

Team president Jim Rutherford suggested earlier this month that the team might look to get the bulk of its spending done before free agency opens up. Accordingly, they may be intending on trying to acquire another middleman via a trade, a lofty goal considering few impact centers are typically made available. Unless the Canucks are looking to make another core-shaking swap, they may have some difficulty finding a fit in a trade.

The good news is that, at least for now, the UFA market down the middle is a bit deeper than usual. There are short-term options like John Tavares and Claude Giroux on expiring deals. Matt Duchene, Brock Nelson, Mikael Granlund, and Ryan Donato could plausibly command multi-year agreements though nothing overly long-term. Sam Bennett will land a lucrative long-term deal that probably won’t age the greatest but he’s out there too. It’s never easy to add a key center but the free agent route may make more sense for them to go here.

Examine Pettersson Options

Having just gone over how Vancouver already needs one top-six center, it feels a little counterintuitive to suggest they also need to look into their options with the one top-sixer they have in Pettersson. But after the way his season went, it feels like this is something they have to look into.

The 26-year-old signed an eight-year, $92.8MM contract in early March 2024, the first season of which is now in the books. At the time he signed the deal in 2024, he had 75 points in 62 games, a pace that would have given him a shot at a second straight 100-point season. After that point, he limped to the finish line with just 14 points in his final 20 outings.

Unfortunately for him and the Canucks, that proved to be a sign of things to come. This season was nothing short of disastrous. On the ice, Pettersson put up the lowest full-season point total of his career with only 15 goals and 30 assists in 64 games. Effectively, he was giving them second-line numbers while playing top-line minutes and making $11.6MM, making him one of the top-paid pivots in the NHL. And, of course, there was the off-ice issue of his feud with Miller that ultimately led to the veteran being moved away while the distraction seemed to linger all season long, even after the trade.

While Pettersson’s value is far from its peak (given the contract, it might be at its worst), Allvin will still likely look into what options might exist. As players who aren’t UFA-eligible aren’t eligible for trade protection, Pettersson still has another month and a bit without any sort of restrictions until July 1st at which point, a full no-move clause kicks in for the life of the contract. At that point, dealing Pettersson would become harder with his ability to veto deals, something that isn’t the case for the next five weeks and change. Getting them to retain significant salary is unlikely with seven years left on the contract but if there’s a big shakeup option out that would see them get an impact center back as part of the return, it would behoove them to look into it at the very least.

Replace Boeser

The last few months have been a little strange when it comes to winger Brock Boeser. He looked like a strong candidate to be moved before the trade deadline with Vancouver being out of the playoff picture and the two sides not close on an extension but a move never materialized. Allvin then took the rare step of admitting that the offers for the pending UFA were not particularly strong, a decision that some interpreted as trying to push back against a higher asking price from Boeser’s camp.

Then, at the end of the season when pending free agents generally at least say they’d like to return, Boeser stated that it was unlikely that would happen, suggesting he fully intends to hit the open market. While there’s still time for things to change on that front – Allvin suggested as much recently – that doesn’t seem likely to happen. Accordingly, this is an instance where the focus is likelier to shift to replacing the 28-year-old, not re-signing him.

Vancouver enters the offseason with around $16.7MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. With no impactful restricted free agents to deal with and a handful of roster spots to fill (including a spot or two on the back end), they have enough flexibility to make at least one addition of note. However, if their big add is down the middle, they might not be able to aim at a player in Boeser’s tier to replace him, one that’s likely to cost somewhere around the $8MM mark which might take Nikolaj Ehlers off the table.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Canucks are looking for someone more around the $5MM range, allowing them to spend a bit of money on those final spots on the back end. Options around that price point could include Kyle Palmieri, Jonathan Drouin, Patrick Kane, and former Canuck Andrei Kuzmenko. To be able to afford that top tier on the wing, they’d likely have to commit to re-signing Suter as their other center before getting to July 1st. Otherwise, who they bring in probably won’t be as good as the winger they’ll be losing.

Demko Extension Talks

This was a tough season for goaltender Thatcher Demko. His injury from the playoffs lingered, resulting in him missing the first two months of the season and getting a pretty light workload beyond that point as he made just 23 starts. The 29-year-old also posted a career-low .889 SV% while Kevin Lankinen, brought in early in training camp as insurance, wound up getting a five-year extension in-season, cementing him as part of the plans moving forward.

Demko is entering the final season of his contract next season and considering the year he just had, it would make sense for both sides to see how 2025-26 plays out or at least starts before entertaining the idea of an extension. However, Rutherford made a point of saying back in April (video link) that it’s something they intend to look into:

We would like to extend him. It’s going to be a matter of how much risk is the team willing to take and how much risk is he willing to take as to the term of that contract.

Going into this season, Demko’s contract looked like a team-friendly one. Signed at a $5MM price tag and coming off a year as a Vezina runner-up, it looked like he could be heading toward top-end territory. Based on recent comparables, that would push his AAV past the $8MM mark on a long-term deal. But with the uncertainty around his injury and the year he just had, Demko isn’t in a spot to command that.

While Rutherford expressed optimism that a different approach to training should help keep Demko healthy moving forward, this feels like a case where they’d likely prefer a shorter-term agreement. Speculatively, it wouldn’t be shocking if their target price point was around the current one, keeping their combined goalie spending around the $10MM mark. Unless Demko is worried about his struggles carrying over, it would be surprising to see something get done here but considering it’s a stated goal of the organization to work on this summer, it warrants the final spot on this list.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports.

Offseason Checklist: Utah Mammoth

May 24, 2025 at 8:27 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 11 Comments

A year ago today, the Utah franchise didn’t even have its initial Hockey Club moniker, nor was the sale officially giving Smith Entertainment Group ownership of the deactivated Coyotes franchise hockey operations assets formally complete. They gave their new fans in Salt Lake City an entertaining inaugural season in the Beehive State, but some notable injuries on defense early in the season put them in a hole they couldn’t get out of, and they finished seven points out of a playoff spot. However, with a young core and high-end possession numbers to build on, general manager Bill Armstrong will be looking to add once again to thrust the Mammoth franchise out of its years-long rebuild that started in Arizona. Here’s what he’ll look to do to make that happen.

Start Working On Extensions

While Utah has a mammoth amount of salary cap space to work with this summer (more on that later), it’s never too early to start looking ahead, especially when your No. 1 center is entering the final season of his entry-level contract. That’s the case with 21-year-old Logan Cooley, who took a demonstrable step forward for Utah in the second year of his NHL career this season. There’s no real rush – Cooley is a restricted free agent in the summer of 2026 and won’t be arbitration-eligible. Still, it may be advantageous for all parties involved for the two sides to come to terms on a long-term agreement shortly after he becomes eligible to sign an extension on July 1.

Cooley finished the year second on Utah with 65 points in 75 games and averaged nearly 18 minutes per game, up almost two minutes from his rookie deployment. After a corresponding 0.33 points per game improvement between his sophomore and freshman years, there’s reason to believe he can be a point-per-game threat alongside star winger Clayton Keller or sniper Dylan Guenther in 2025-26. It’s worth noting he did operate at a point-per-game pace over the final 18 games of the campaign with Utah in a playoff race.

Utah’s already shown a willingness to give max-term extensions to their foundational pieces early on. Armstrong did so with Guenther last offseason, awarding him an eight-year, $57.14MM extension after just 78 career appearances over two seasons. He rewarded the club with a 60-point effort in 70 games this season. With Cooley entering his first extension-eligible offseason with more than twice the career games played, it stands to reason Armstrong will have no hesitation in pushing for an eight-year contract.

With the salary cap projected to jump to $104MM for 2026-27, it will likely be pricey. AFP Analytics projects a long-term extension for Cooley at a $9.5MM price tag per season for seven years if signed this offseason. Waiting well into next year, if Cooley continues his upward trajectory, could very well mean he demands a price tag in the $10MM range. It’s likely better for the Mammoth to commit now and get a deal across the finish line to ensure any big free-agent spending this summer is amicable toward their long-term salary cap picture.

Stabilize The Goalie Tandem

2024-25 was a pivotal season for Karel Vejmelka. The 28-year-old netminder was inconsistent over his first three NHL seasons in Arizona but emerged as a legitimate No. 1 for Utah this season, starting 55 games with a .904 SV% and 2.58 GAA and ranking 18th in the league with 14.2 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. He earned a five-year extension in March for his work, which included a stretch of 23 straight starts at the tail end of the season with a playoff spot on the line.

The same can be said for Connor Ingram, but not in the same light. After tying for the league lead in shutouts last year, he started just 22 games and regressed to a .882 SV%, 3.27 GAA, and an -11.6 GSAx that ranked 98th out of 103 NHL goalies this season despite his limited workload. The fallback was understandable. He battled through injuries early in the campaign and also lost his mother. He entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in March, and he remains there today with his status for the beginning of 2025-26 uncertain until the program’s doctors clear him.

With Ingram under contract through next season at $1.95MM, it would make sense for the Mammoth to pursue another backup option in free agency to supplement Vejmelka. Ingram can’t be traded or waived while in the program, although he could be placed on long-term injured reserve to begin the season if he’s expected to miss at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the campaign.

If Ingram returns and plays closer to his 2023-24 form, the UFA pickup can be waived or traded. They already have three minor-league goaltenders signed through next year in Jaxson Stauber, Anson Thornton, and Matt Villalta, so there isn’t a need for another name in the mix with everyone healthy.

Consider Moving Underperforming Forwards

The Mammoth’s first season in Utah was marked by near across-the-board improvement. Wingers Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli were notable exceptions to the rule. Crouse, who’s been with the Arizona/Utah skater group for his entire NHL career and had established himself as a consistent 20-goal, 40-point force, dropped off the map entirely in 2024-25. The 6’4″, 214-lb power forward had just 12 goals and 18 points in 81 games and had his ice time slashed along the way. His 13:44 worth of deployment per game was his lowest in five years.

Maccelli’s regression was also quite disappointing. The 24-year-old Finn looked well on his way toward being a top-nine fixture for the franchise after scoring at a 60-point pace over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He scored just eight goals and 18 points in 55 games this year, though, spending most of the last few months of the campaign as a healthy scratch due to his limited effectiveness in a checking role compared to Crouse.

Both are making significant cash. Crouse is signed through 2026-27 at a $4.3MM cap hit, while Maccelli has one year left on his deal at $3.425MM. The latter is probably worth keeping around and hoping for a bounceback. Trading him now would mean parting ways at the lowest point of his market value, and his signing rights will still be under team control as an RFA in 2026 if they still want to recoup an asset for him. Crouse, who has a much lower offensive ceiling but boasts a more consistent track record, may draw more interest.

Even with the Mammoth expected to be aggressive in free agency this summer, there isn’t a substantial financial urge for them to move either player. It might be more prudent to hope for rebounds for both next year. They have $21.2MM in cap space to fill just three roster spots, per PuckPedia, enough for them to potentially land the top UFA available in Mitch Marner, re-sign their lone notable RFA in Jack McBain, and land another serviceable depth piece on the open market. Mulling a trade for either Crouse or Maccelli would purely stem from fit and roster construction as the motivating factor.

Land A Needle-Moving Forward

Even with Sean Durzi and John Marino missing significant time on defense and their goaltending outside of Vejmelka putting up poor performances, Utah was still league-average defensively in 2024-25. Some natural improvement will come, especially with underlying metrics painting a much rosier picture of their defensive showing at 5-on-5 than their actual goals against indicate.

But the Mammoth, despite boasting five 20-goal scorers, ranked 20th in the league in offense in 2024-25. They have goal-scoring help coming soon in the form of top prospects Daniil But and Tij Iginla, but for a club with cap space to burn and an eagerness to bring postseason hockey to a new market, they’ll be in on the top names on this year’s UFA market.

They’ll consider the top name available in Marner, but landing a center, particularly one with size, might be the priority to serve as a more veritable second-line option behind Cooley. Former top-five pick Barrett Hayton has finally established himself as a quality two-way piece. He hit 20 goals and 46 points this year and averaged north of 16 minutes per game, but he’s likely best served as a No. 3 option long-term on a contending team.

That’s not to say they won’t look at wingers as well. They have an excellent top-three group at present with Guenther, Keller, and Nick Schmaltz, and Iginla and But will likely fill the last second-line winger role in a few years, but their current options of Crouse, Maccelli, or Josh Doan in the 2RW slot leave a little bit of uncertainty. But whether it’s a name like Marner, Sam Bennett, Nikolaj Ehlers, Brock Nelson, or someone else, expect them to have a fresh face near the top end of next year’s lineup to give them an added layer of scoring depth.

Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.

Offseason Checklist: Columbus Blue Jackets

May 20, 2025 at 9:41 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

This past season for the Blue Jackets was a whirlwind, to put it lightly. After moving Patrik Laine to Montreal, they then lost Johnny Gaudreau who died after being struck by a car a little before training camp, resulting in them briefly being under the salary floor. Accordingly, expectations for on-ice success were quite low but instead, Columbus was in the mix for a Wild Card spot until the very end of the season. As a result, instead of escalating their rebuild, GM Don Waddell’s to-do list this summer will likely revolve around trying to upgrade his group.

Shore Up The D

Columbus cut down on their goals allowed by 31 this season, a nice improvement but one that still left them near the bottom in that department. Adding to that concern is that two of their better blueliners are eligible to hit the open market in July.

Heading into the season, it felt like a matter of when, not if, Ivan Provorov would be moved. Unable to come to terms on an extension at various times in the year, it seemed like the Blue Jackets would move him closer to the trade deadline. But with the team staying in the playoff mix, Waddell held onto him. Provorov is coming off a deal that paid $6.75MM per season (30% of which was being paid down by Los Angeles) and as one of the better blueliners available in this UFA class, it stands to reason that he’s going to be able to command more than that on the open market. Waddell is either going to have to find a way to bring him back or replace him with a similarly impactful defender and there aren’t going to be many of those available.

Dante Fabbro was an early-season waiver pickup and the fit couldn’t have been better. After struggling to crack Nashville’s lineup, he came in and logged over 21 minutes a night while setting new career highs in goals and points. Basically, he became the reliable top-four defender he was projected to be for years with the Predators. All of a sudden, instead of having his next deal come in close to the $2.5MM he was previously making, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him pass the $4MM mark, especially as a coveted right-shot player. Again, re-signing or replacing him will be necessary.

On top of those moves, Waddell would be wise to look for another upgrade at some spot on the roster. Jordan Harris appears likely to be non-tendered while it’s unlikely Jack Johnson returns. At least one of them could be replaced by an improvement, giving them better depth if nothing else.

There’s also the Damon Severson situation to potentially address. A big addition two years ago, he was a healthy scratch for the final nine games of the season. With six years left at $6.25MM, a buyout isn’t likely but is there a way to move him for another high-priced option to reshape the back end? That will need to be examined as well.

Early Extension Talks

In terms of this year’s restricted free agent class, Waddell only has one headliner to contend with, RFA Dmitri Voronkov. After a solid 23-goal, 47-point effort and having arbitration eligibility, he’s heading for a significant raise on his entry-level salary. But beyond that, there really isn’t much. As a result, the Blue Jackets can also turn their focus toward some extension-eligible players on July 1st.

The most prominent of those has to be Adam Fantilli. After an injury-plagued rookie year, his sophomore year was quite solid as he tied Kirill Marchenko for the team lead in goals without being highly used on the power play. The third-overall pick in 2023, Fantilli looks like he is going to become the legitimate high-end center that they envisioned. That means they’re going to be handing him a significant raise within the next year or so.

A lot of the comparables in recent years have ranged from the high $7MM range to the low $8MM range. However, with the salary cap going up by $7.5MM this summer and then a projected $8.5MM for 2026-27, those comparable price tags seem low. Similar players have a cap hit percentage in the 9% to 10% range which, in 2026-27, would put his possible price range on a long-term deal between $9.36MM and $10.4MM per year. If things are trending in that direction, it might make sense to try to do something now over running the risk of the price tag being even higher if Fantilli finds another gear offensively next season.

Another center of note will also be extension-eligible this summer, captain Boone Jenner. He has been playing at a team-friendly $3.75MM cap charge for the last eight years, one that he outperforms when he’s healthy. Of course, staying healthy has been a challenge for the 31-year-old who hasn’t played a full 82-game season since 2016-17. Still, if Jenner posted another season around the 0.6 points-per-game mark with his faceoff prowess, he’d be highly sought after on the open market in 2026. Given the injury history, his earnings ceiling might not be the highest but still could start with a five on a multi-year deal. If Jenner is willing to give Columbus a bit of a discount on that coming off a particularly injury-ravaged season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides work something out this summer.

Add Veteran Firepower

Columbus ranked seventh in the NHL in goals this season despite having a group on paper that largely went under the radar. All things considered, they still have a very young group up front and a lot went right from a development perspective, there’s far from a guarantee that they’re all going to stay on that same trajectory in 2025-26.

There’s one way Waddell can try to hedge against that concern and that’s by making a big splash to add some proven firepower on the wing. Beyond adding James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Labanc in training camp, they didn’t really replace Laine or Gaudreau. They got better than expected production out of van Riemsdyk with 16 goals while Mathieu Olivier moved up to the third line and scored 18 after having a previous personal best of five. Those were great outcomes but whether they’re repeatable remains to be seen.

The Blue Jackets have pretty much the cleanest books in the league from a cap perspective. The team enters the summer with over $41MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. A good chunk of that will go to the back end re-signings or replacements but there’s more than ample room to work with, even if they are working on a budget closer to the $70.6MM floor than the $95.5MM Upper Limit.

With their center situation in good shape, they can focus strictly on adding wingers. If they want to really aim big, Mitch Marner would certainly add to this roster. If they want more of a first or second-liner, Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers are out there.

If they want to go with a shorter-term option knowing that Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and Marchenko (possibly Cole Sillinger too) are heading for expensive raises in the next few years, then there are players like Patrick Kane, Reilly Smith, and Kyle Palmieri that could either fit on the second or third lines. They could also take a pricey player on in a trade, the inverse of what they did with Laine last summer.

There are lots of options for the Blue Jackets to take and while they could rest on their laurels with how things turned around offensively under Dean Evason, they can also help their chances of staying at that level by making a key addition on the wing in the coming weeks.

Search For Goalie Upgrades

To say it has been a rocky tenure for Elvis Merzlikins in goal would be an understatement. There have been impressive flashes where he has played like a legitimate starter. Unfortunately for Columbus, there have been plenty more struggles where he has played like an AHL starter at best. He hasn’t been able to put up a save percentage starting with a nine in the last three years; he actually lost five points off his .897 mark from 2023-24 this season which also was a contributing factor to the Blue Jackets being near the top of the league for most goals allowed once again.

With two years at $5.4MM, this is around the time when a buyout could start to look more feasible. Doing so this summer would save them $3.9MM next season and $2.6MM in 2026-27 before adding $1.65MM to the books for two years after that. Cap space isn’t an issue for Columbus but as a team that typically operates with budgetary restrictions, freeing up some money in the short term doesn’t hurt.

Of course, for a buyout (or a trade where he’s included to balance the money) to be feasible, they’d have to secure another starting goalie first in a marketplace that doesn’t feature many starters available either in free agency or in a trade. But if one of those options don’t materialize, there could still be a way to upgrade their situation between the pipes.

Daniil Tarasov was once viewed as the goalie of the future for Columbus but he struggled mightily this season. Owed a $1.26MM qualifying offer, it’s far from a given that he receives one. Meanwhile, Jet Greaves was quite impressive down the stretch but he has just 21 career NHL appearances under his belt. Still waiver-exempt for another year, would they be better giving him one more year with AHL Cleveland and opening a spot for a backup upgrade?

This isn’t something that the Blue Jackets necessarily have to do. If the back end winds up getting reshaped to a more structured unit, that could allow Merzlikins to bounce back somewhat. But this is an avenue Waddell would be wise to explore either way.