Offseason Checklist: Seattle Kraken
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Seattle.
After another coaching change last year, the Kraken were hoping that they’d turn things around this season. While they were technically in the race for a playoff spot in the final few games, they wound up on the outside looking in once again, resulting in the departure of Ron Francis and an organization-wide audit of their processes. While a rebuild or roster retooling might be the more prudent move for the team, it doesn’t appear they’ll be going in that direction. With that in mind, their checklist focuses on moves to help the team now.
Take Care Of Pending Free Agent Forwards
Since Seattle was still within striking distance of a playoff spot, they went from being likely sellers at the trade deadline to improbable buyers. As a result, instead of moving some core rental veterans for future help, they held onto those and added another one for good measure. Now, it’s time to figure out which ones they want to keep.
We’ll start with the newcomer Bobby McMann. The 29-year-old was in the middle of a breakout performance with Toronto before finding a new gear following his acquisition by the Kraken. McMann potted 10 goals in 18 games with his new team, bringing him to 29 on the season. That puts him fourth in tallies among all pending UFAs, putting him in a position to command a long-term deal at possibly four (or more) times his current AAV of $1.35MM. With the team carrying over $28MM in cap room for next season per PuckPedia, it certainly stands to reason that GM Jason Botterill will be trying to keep him around.
Meanwhile, decisions need to be made on two more wingers, Jaden Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen. Schwartz has been with Seattle for all of its five NHL seasons and sits fifth in franchise scoring despite a long list of injuries, including this season. He has shown flashes of top-six performance but his injury history makes him a little less likely to return, meaning he’ll need to be replaced. Tolvanen’s case is a little less certain. He has 35 goals and 71 points over the last two seasons but saw his role be reduced down the stretch. Still, for a team with minimal firepower, letting a decent scorer walk would be risky. Also up front, though Jared McCann isn’t a pending unrestricted free agent, he becomes extension-eligible in July and is someone the team should be looking to lock up to a long-term deal.
Make A Decision On Wright
When the Kraken selected Shane Wright with the fourth overall selection in 2022, they hoped that he could be their future top center or at least a core second liner. Four years later, that outcome doesn’t seem quite as certain. The team evidently felt the same way as back in January, they reportedly made the youngster available if they were going to land the impactful forward they were seeking.
Unfortunately for Seattle, that move didn’t materialize and Wright’s value has likely dipped since then. After putting up a very respectable 19 goals and 25 assists in 79 games in his first full season in 2024-25, his sophomore numbers took a turn in the wrong direction. Wright managed just 12 goals and 15 helpers in 74 appearances last season and struggled considerably after the Olympic break, notching just one goal and four assists in 18 outings.
On the one hand, it seems as if he’s trending in the wrong direction. On the other, he’s a young center who is signed for one more year on his entry-level deal at a cap charge not far above the minimum salary. He still has five seasons of team control remaining, too. Even if his value isn’t as high as it once was, there would still be plenty of suitors for his services.
On top of that, the Kraken are well-stocked down the middle. Matty Beniers is entrenched as one of their top two middlemen while Berkly Catton, an eighth-overall selection, is a natural center, as is prospect Jake O’Brien, a number pick himself. Meanwhile, veteran Chandler Stephenson is still signed long-term and bottom-sixer Frederick Gaudreau has a couple of years left as well. While there is no elite piece (at least at the moment), they’re not in bad shape depth-wise and could afford to part with Wright.
Botterill will need to decide if he’s better off giving Wright another look in the hopes of him rebounding or at least helping his trade value at the risk of a slow start further lowering his value. But if the team is still open to moving him, Wright is one of their better trade chips.
Add More Firepower
Over the years, the Kraken have tried more of a by-committee approach with their offense. Several of the players from that approach are still around but more often than not, that hasn’t worked out well. In three of their five seasons, they have been in the bottom five of the league in terms of goals scored, including 2025-26 when they were 28th. (They were fourth and 16th the other two seasons.)
This is why they were willing to pay a significant premium in terms of salary to try to land Artemi Panarin from the Rangers in the hopes of making him the centerpiece of their offense. They’re believed to have tried to make some big offers in the past to free agents as well but haven’t had a ton of success on that front and the market this year isn’t likely to bring significant improvements up front.
That’s where the idea of moving Wright makes some sense. With Brandon Montour in the fold, perhaps Vince Dunn could be a trade chip to add a core forward. They could also pull from their prospect pool (though that’s risky for a non-playoff team). But with three subpar offensive seasons from this core group, Botterill needs to find a way to add at least one if not two more threats up front.
Upgrade Defensive Depth
Seattle has one other unrestricted free agent of consequence this summer in veteran Jamie Oleksiak. However, with Dunn, Ryan Lindgren, and Ryker Evans in the fold, they should be able to fill his spot without too much difficulty so they don’t necessarily need to get into a bidding war to try to keep him.
However, they could stand to upgrade on their depth options. If they want to give their prospects a bit more time in the minors with Coachella Valley, their internal replacements for Oleksiak are Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury. Both players have been around the NHL for a few years now but are better seventh options than a full-time sixth.
Fortunately, there will be better options available on the open market. While there aren’t a ton of top-four players set to reach free agency, there are a lot of third-pairing pieces who have had more success than Mahura and Fleury. Ideally, the addition would be a right-shot option to balance out the pairings but an upgrade is an upgrade. They likely only need a short-term player with Ty Nelson, Tyson Jugnauth, Caden Price, and Ville Ottavainen having some success in the minors with the Firebirds and presumably, one of them could break through to full NHL readiness within a year.
But while that prospect depth is promising, a short-term veteran addition to replace Oleksiak and be an improvement on Mahura and Fleury would be worthwhile. More importantly, it’s one that should be realistic to achieve, unlike their forward needs which will be much harder to accomplish.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: Toronto Maple Leafs
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Maple Leafs.
To say this season didn’t go to plan for Toronto would be an understatement. Coming off just their second series win in the Auston Matthews era in 2025, there were going to be changes after bowing out to the Panthers – Mitch Marner‘s long-understood departure via a sign-and-trade to the Golden Knights was the biggest of them all – but the hope was that a bevy of depth free agent signings could help replace the star playmaker’s production by committee. Instead, the Leafs floundered, finishing with their worst record in 10 years and losing Matthews to a torn MCL in March, which eventually cost general manager Brad Treliving his job. Now, after installing John Chayka as his replacement earlier today, a list of daunting tasks awaits him without the guarantee of a first-round pick, which they’ll only retain if Tuesday’s lottery balls keep them within the top five.
Settle The Coaching Question
Chayka still has nearly two months until the opening of free agency in July, so he’ll have plenty of run-up to make player personnel decisions. The more pressing matter is the future of Craig Berube, who just wrapped up his second season behind Toronto’s bench with a 20-win regression. It would be surprising to see Chayka, who was aggressive with limited resources during his time atop the Coyotes’ front office, not move to bring in a new voice behind the bench. Doing so sooner rather than later is paramount, with a pair of high-profile, late-season fired candidates still available in Bruce Cassidy and Patrick Roy.
Seeing Berube remain behind the bench would be especially shocking, given how analytics-forward Chayka is. Even amid last season’s success, the Maple Leafs were middle of the pack in 5-on-5 expected goals share (49.8%) and were even worse in the playoffs, per MoneyPuck. This season, that number tumbled to a 30th-ranked 45.6% while their actual results followed suit, finishing 16th in goals for per game (3.07) but second-worst in goals against (3.60) and worst in shots against (32.4) by a significant margin.
Berube still has two years left on his contract, which he signed in 2024 to replace Sheldon Keefe. Given Toronto’s virtually unlimited financial resources, that’s not a concern for them, but it is indicative of just how quickly the franchise’s momentum has changed.
Solidify A Long-Term Plan
The Leafs’ two remaining “franchise” forwards after Marner’s departure, Matthews and William Nylander, have both expressed uncertainty about their futures if the team’s next GM opts for a full-scale rebuild rather than a short-term reload. Presenting them – particularly Matthews, who’s much closer to unrestricted free agency in 2028 – with a long-term vision needs to be higher on Chayka’s list so he can plan his offseason accordingly.
For a team whose draft pick and prospect cupboards are so bare, opting for a long-term route that Matthews and Nylander aren’t enthused about should immediately trigger trade conversations. Whether a deal of that magnitude could be cobbled together quickly enough to transpire by the draft is a different question entirely, but it’s a possibility all sides need to prepare themselves for (or definitively rule out) depending on Chayka’s vision.
They simply can’t afford a situation like Marner’s, where his signing rights as a pending UFA were sold for pennies on the dollar. They have plenty of cap space for next season, but a thin free agent market to spend it on. Matthews and Nylander could likely be appeased by a clear-cut plan of attack that gets them back to playoff/championship contention by the end of Matthews’ deal two years from now, but if that’s not something Chayka is confident in being able to achieve, he’ll be thrust into making one, if not multiple, of the most franchise-altering trades in recent memory.
Consider Goaltending Options
Toronto’s goals-against regression had more to do with team defense than goaltending, but it’s not as if their netminding was particularly inspiring. A year after serving as arguably the league’s most efficient goaltending tandem, Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll were both decidedly below average in 2025-26. Woll was “good” for -6.6 goals saved above expected in 39 outings while Stolarz had a -6.7 mark in 26 games amid another injury-plagued season, per MoneyPuck. This was, of course, after Treliving had locked Stolarz into a seemingly now ill-advised four-year, $15MM extension that begins next season.
That $3.75MM cap hit isn’t much of an eyesore on its own. Stolarz has long been one of the league’s better backups, and it stands he’ll rebound to some degree. But Toronto’s bright spot between the pipes this season was third-stringer Dennis Hildeby, who was excellent when stepping in during Stolarz and Woll’s various absences. Despite a 5-7-4 record, he managed a .912 SV% in 14 starts and six relief appearances to save a raucous 10.5 goals above expected.
Notably, Hildeby loses his waiver exemption next season. He won’t be able to head to the AHL without risking a claim. Still just 24 years old, that’s a fate the Leafs are surely looking to avoid. Chayka’s analytical bent means Hildeby likely won’t be the name on the way out if Chayka decides that carrying three goalies next season isn’t prudent.
However, there’s a strong argument to be made that staying the course is the best path forward. Stolarz’s ever-persistent injury concerns, despite his high ceiling, make a perfectly strong argument for carrying a third netminder, particularly with all three on affordable deals that would only total up to $8.25MM against the cap.
Toronto did briefly explore moving Stolarz prior to the trade deadline, but he stayed put. He’d almost surely be the name on the move if Chayka does move in that direction, but with a 16-team no-trade list, his options will be limited.
Refresh The Blue Line
Treliving leaves behind an overpaid, sluggish defense corps in Toronto. Obvious, easy-to-trade candidates are hard to come by. With seven names already signed to one-way deals for next season, pending UFAs Matt Benning and Troy Stecher are almost sure candidates to walk.
Outside of that, they have three 2027 UFAs in Brandon Carlo, Simon Benoit, and Philippe Myers. Only Carlo will fetch any significant value, and even then, it won’t be close to the potentially top-10 pick they’ll end up sending to the Bruins to acquire him at the 2025 deadline. Moving Morgan Rielly‘s $7.5MM cap hit should be of some intrigue, but with a no-movement clause, it could prove impossible – especially with Toronto no longer being in a severe cap crunch to force a move. There’s also something to be said for the fact that he’s still Toronto’s best goal-scoring D-man, despite his increasingly obvious skating and defensive deficiencies.
It’s here where Chayka’s hiring appears most targeted. He made a few shrewd blue-line acquisitions during his tenure in Arizona, often by taking on undesirable contracts that teams weren’t properly valuing or using. Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski were particularly effective pickups for short bursts. With such limited capital to trade from, though, he’ll need to pull out some “Moneyball”-style pickups to get the most out of Toronto’s defensive depth.
Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Rangers.
It’s fair to say that this season didn’t go to plan for the Rangers. Sure, they were coming off missing the playoffs but the hiring of Mike Sullivan indicated that the expectation was a return to the postseason. Instead, they finished last in the Eastern Conference and released another letter to the fans before moving away Artemi Panarin for future assets. GM Chris Drury’s checklist this summer involves continuing in that direction although there remains a chance that they look for a quicker fix.
Re-Sign Or Move Schneider
When Braden Schneider was the 19th overall pick back in 2020, the Rangers were hoping that they had a core defender on their hands. But after some stagnation early in his career and a tight cap situation, the two sides worked out a bridge deal two summers ago. Since then, with their struggles, Schneider’s name has come up in trade speculation although they didn’t pull the trigger on a move.
Now, the time for kicking the can down the road should be over. Schneider’s contract is up this summer and he’ll be owed a $2.64MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights. They’ll tender the offer but what comes next is the harder decision.
If Drury feels that Schneider should be part of the post-rebuild core, this is the time to sign him. It’d take a long-term deal worth more than double that qualifying offer but if he’s one of the long-term building blocks, then that price tag is justifiable. If not, then this is likely the right time to move him. The acquiring team then works on the long-term pact and sends the Rangers what would likely be another young player of some significance (potentially a winger with some club control to help replace Panarin). Doing a short-term deal would allow them to kick the can down the road a little longer but at the risk of hurting his trade value.
There are multiple veterans for whom a trade makes more sense than keeping; we’ll get to one of those next. But Schneider is one of the few toss-ups. They need to pick a direction with him, either commit to him for the long haul or move him out for another piece who will be around for a while.
Make The Trocheck Move
Beyond Panarin whose exit from the team was telegraphed long before it happened, the Ranger whose name was in the rumor mill the most was center Vincent Trocheck. By all accounts, there were some big offers made before the trade deadline but Drury opted to hold him for now, presumably thinking better ones could be coming this summer when more teams are looking to buy. Frankly, there’s some logic to the idea.
Now, it’s time to see if that bet was the right one. In theory, New York should be poised to capitalize here on the trade front. The list of top-six UFA centers is rather small this summer. It starts with Charlie and ends with Coyle. The list of teams looking for a top-six center? More than ten times as long. One team can ideally fill that spot by signing Charlie Coyle while the rest will have to try to do so on the trade front where supply is limited and demand is extremely high.
Trocheck could very well be the best center that gets made available this summer. (We’ll see what Alex Steen’s plans are for Robert Thomas, who could ultimately stick around.) Granted, there is a 12-team no-trade list that could affect things and Trocheck himself noted before the deadline that Western teams are on that list. However, there are still plenty of Eastern Conference teams who will be looking to upgrade down the middle, certainly enough to drum up a bidding war.
While the East Coast limitation increases the odds that Trocheck could be moved within the Metropolitan Division, this should be about getting the best return regardless of where it comes from. It’s a package that should include a first-round pick, a high-end prospect, and at least one other element, potentially a roster player to help offset some of the money (although Trocheck’s $5.625MM for three more years should be affordable for a lot of teams). It certainly feels like it’s time to cash in on that high demand.
Make Room For Youth
One thing that the Rangers did down the stretch was start to use their youngsters more. Gabe Perreault got a bigger role while young forwards Adam Sykora and Jaroslav Chmelar made strong first impressions. Drew Fortescue got his feet wet on the back end as well. And with that extra speed and hustle in the lineup, they were a lot more respectable down the stretch, winning six of ten games to close the season.
This isn’t a situation of reading too much into what amounts to garbage time performance. But it’s an acknowledgement that the Rangers need to see what some of their youngsters can do. With the belief that they’d like this to be more of a retool than a long-term rebuild, it’s critical that the team finds out which of these youngsters are going to be part of the core group at that time. The only way to do that is to give them a chance to play at the NHL level.
That means that this summer, the focus shouldn’t be on re-signing or replacing Jonny Brodzinski or Conor Sheary up front; those spots can be left for some of those youngsters. Is Matt Rempe (still just 23) or Adam Edstrom (now 25) still in the plans or are they movable? Would Taylor Raddysh’s or Urho Vaakanainen’s role be better served by more of a prospect?
This isn’t a case of bringing in half a dozen youngsters. That will cause a different set of challenges. But having a few spots available at the start of the year to use for evaluation would give the team a lot more information about the future. To do that, they may yet still need to move out a veteran or two.
Add Goaltending Insurance
There is one other roster spot that appears likely to be turned over to a youngster, that being between the pipes. With Jonathan Quick retiring, prospect Dylan Garand appears to be in line to get a shot at the full-time backup spot behind Igor Shesterkin. While it’s not ideal that a soon-to-be-24-year-old will be looking at limited minutes behind one of the NHL’s top netminders, Garand has to pass through waivers next season and it’s not a guarantee that he’d pass through unclaimed should they try to sneak him down.
But even if the plan ultimately is to re-sign Garand (a pending RFA) and have him in the number two role, they need a Plan B. If he struggles mightily in training camp, turning to midseason signing Spencer Martin isn’t exactly a viable option as he has struggled in his limited action at the top level.
Accordingly, this is the one position where a veteran addition could be useful. The ideal fit would be a veteran who could cover the backup role if Garand struggles or pass through waivers himself if Garand is ready for the job and serve as insurance with Hartford. Basically, the type of role they once envisioned for Louis Domingue but someone perhaps a little more proven. Buffalo signed James Reimer for that role for 2024-25 (though he never made it through waivers for their plan to work). Someone around that caliber of player would be a worthwhile addition, even if it goes against the rest of the goal of getting younger.
Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: Calgary Flames
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Calgary.
After a late-season push in 2024-25, there were some in Calgary who hoped that the Flames would be able to take another step forward and get back to the playoffs. Instead, the firm realities of a rebuild set in, with the team ultimately jettisoning their two top defensemen and number one center. There is a lot that GM Craig Conroy still has to do although with 2026-27 expected to be another tough year in the standings, the biggest work isn’t in the cards this summer.
Keep Stockpiling
Last summer, the Flames only had one extra draft pick but it was an important one in the form of a first-round selection, albeit at the end of the first round. It was the second straight year they had an extra pick in the opening round after nabbing Zayne Parekh and Matvei Gridin in 2024.
As things stand, that will extend to three years as Calgary has an extra first-round selection (Vegas), plus three extra second-rounders that in theory could be packaged to try to land another day one pick. They also have extra firsts in 2027 and 2028.
That’s a strong foundation of draft picks to work with although that’s only part of the battle. They also need to keep adding more drafted prospects that are closer to being NHL-ready to their pool. Those players would then represent the next wave as more veterans are cleared out over the next couple of years before the high volume of draft picks yield players that will eventually be ready to push for playing time. Calgary has done well there lately as well with the additions of Abram Wiebe, Jonathan Castagna, and Tyson Gross over the last few months.
Will there be a logjam down the road? That’s the ideal plan, giving the Flames extra depth to deal from at the time that they should be flipping the switch from their rebuild to trying to contend. So, for now, there should continue to be an emphasis on not just quality but also quantity, allowing a deep stockpile to get even deeper. Continuing to add center depth would be particularly wise.
Cash In On Coleman
Heading into the trade deadline, there were questions of how many more veterans would be heading out the door, joining Rasmus Andersson who had already been moved to Vegas. MacKenzie Weegar ultimately was moved to Utah while Nazem Kadri wound up back in Colorado. But there was one veteran of significance who was drawing significant interest who didn’t move, winger Blake Coleman.
While there’s something to be said for having some quality veterans to work with a young core group, there’s also something to be said for not cashing in one of their top trade chips. Yes, his contract is on the pricier side for a player who has only reached the 40-point plateau once, but with the salary cap set for a big increase and a fairly thin UFA market, $4.9MM for one season is a price tag that a lot of teams should be able to afford. (And if not, Calgary gets two salary retention slots back on July 1st which could be used to get something done.)
Down those retention slots back in March, it’s understandable that Conroy opted to pass on moving him as in theory, the return should be better with part of the contract paid down. It’s also understandable that a team would want some quality veterans working with an increasingly younger core group. But Coleman is also one of the few veterans remaining that could plausibly yield a return of significance. It’d be hard to pass that up for extra mentorship in the room. Yes, they could wait things out and see how things look at next year’s deadline, but if there’s a strong return out there this summer, that might be the right time to take it.
Add Serviceable Veteran Defender
If Conroy is concerned about a dearth of quality veteran leaders in the dressing room following the recent exodus of players (and the potential move of Coleman), there’s nothing stopping him from trying to add one via trade or free agency. And if he wants to do that, looking at the back end would be a good idea.
While Calgary did receive veterans back in the Weegar (Zach Whitecloud) and Weegar (Olli Maatta) deals, neither of those players are ideal top-half pieces in the lineup. Whitecloud, meanwhile, had a strong market at the trade deadline and is a plausible candidate himself to get dealt over the summer if the Flames want to cash in on his elevated trade value. Those two were basically top-pairing players down the stretch with Kevin Bahl getting nearly 22 minutes a night as well.
Meanwhile, their depth isn’t the greatest either. While they have high hopes for Zayne Parekh, and Yan Kuznetsov impressed this season, Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley are next on the depth chart. Those are more fringe/depth pieces than full-fledged regulars. They could be upgraded on with another serviceable veteran or two that raises the floor of the group to move it to more of a by-committee approach which probably better suits this roster.
Fortunately, depth defenders are a lot easier to find than top-four pieces, ones they’ll have to trade for at some point when they’re closer to ending their rebuild. But a good veteran or two on the third pairing can help fill some of the leadership gap and perhaps even give them some chips to move closer to next year’s deadline. While rebuilding teams often aren’t looking to get older, Calgary could buck that trend with the right veteran blueliner or two.
Work On Frost Extension
Last summer, the Flames elected not to work out a long-term contract with then-RFA center Morgan Frost. Having just acquired him from Philadelphia earlier in the season, they wanted to get a better sense of how he’d fit. Accordingly, he inked a second bridge contract, a two-year, $8.75MM agreement. On July 1st, he’ll be extension-eligible and now armed with more information about his fit on the roster, Conroy should be looking to get something worked out.
Frost only managed a dozen points in 32 games after being acquired last season. However, a full training camp and season in Calgary’s lineup seemed to get him going again. Frost played in all 82 games this season for the first time in his career, scoring a career-best 22 goals while adding 21 assists in 15:30 per night of playing time. He also won nearly 57% of his draws, also a new personal best.
While Frost doesn’t profile as a top-line pivot by any stretch, he should have plenty of years ahead of him in a middle-six role. While that’s not necessarily the type of player teams will generally want to commit a long-term contract to, Calgary’s dearth of center options could force their hand. Kadri is now gone while captain Mikael Backlund is 37 and is nearing the end of his career (though he begins a two-year deal next season). Ryan Strome is also in the fold but is more of a reclamation type of project.
Yes, the Flames have high hopes for prospects Cole Reschny, Cullen Potter, and newcomer Castagna. However, those players are a while away from making meaningful NHL contributions. Frost is a logical fit to try to keep around for a few extra years beyond 2027 to serve as a bridge to some of those prospects.
Given that he will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and the big projected increases to the salary cap, it’s fair to say that Frost will be in line for a bump up on his current deal. An increase into the $6MM-plus range feels doable and with their long-term cap situation looking quite strong at the moment, it’s a price tag they can afford. Rather than wait it out another year, it might make more sense for the Flames to get this done this summer.
Photo courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: Chicago Blackhawks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Chicago.
It wasn’t supposed to go quite like this again for the Blackhawks in 2025-26. With the team hiring Jeff Blashill as their new head coach last spring, the hope was that he’d be able to raise the floor of the group. Instead, they cratered in the second half of the season to finish 31st overall. GM Kyle Davidson received a vote of confidence in the form of a contract extension but his checklist this offseason looks a lot like last year’s. This time, expectations will be higher that some of these will be achieved.
Determine Consolidation Options
This is going to tie into two of the items later on in the column so let’s get it out of the way first. One thing Davidson has done well in his role is accumulate assets. They’ve gone from a team that had one of the weaker prospect pools in the league to one of the strongest young upcoming cores. For all the losing they’ve had to endure, at least there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. With two extra second-round picks this year and two extra first-round selections next year, they’re going to only further add to that stockpile.
But at some point, they’re heading for a ‘how much is too much’ situation. Let’s look at centers, for example. Connor Bedard is their number one of the present and future. They’re expecting Anton Frondell to be their second. They also have Frank Nazar who spent most of the year down the middle and is locked up on a team-friendly long-term deal. Then there are Oliver Moore, Ryan Greene, and Sacha Boisvert, all quality youngsters in their own right. It’s great to have that depth but would they be better off moving one of those three to fill a weak spot? With the demand for good centers, they’d probably get a significant return.
There are other potential logjams down the road at other positions as well, though those aren’t as pressing on the current roster. But as more of these prospects and future draft picks turn pro, there’s going to be a point when youngster supply vastly outweighs the few roster spots that will be open.
All things considered, this is a great ‘problem’ to have. But while Davidson could play it safe and wait for the logjams to become an issue, he could also be proactive and determine which of those pieces could be expendable. Combining a promising center, a good draft pick, and more would get them in the mix for some of the better players on the trade front this summer. And if they’re going to take that next step forward, they need to find a way to land one of those better players.
Re-Sign Bedard
Last summer, the Blackhawks were eligible to sign Bedard to a long-term extension but didn’t do so. Considering that he was coming off a quieter-than-expected sophomore year, that wasn’t too much of a surprise. Now, Bedard has played out the final season of his entry-level deal and will be a restricted free agent on July 1st.
The decision not to sign early proved to be the right one for the 20-year-old. After seeing his point-per-game output drop in his sophomore year (though his point total increased), he bounced back this season, leading the way in scoring with 30 goals and 45 assists despite missing 13 games due to injury. Over a full 82-game season, that’s an 89-point pace. Given the pedigree he had coming into the league, it’s reasonable to expect that Bedard will eventually hit and surpass that mark. That has to be factored into what this next deal is going to cost; it won’t just be about what he has done over his first three seasons.
To that end, AFP Analytics projects a $13.21MM AAV on an eight-year deal. Chicago can still sign Bedard to an eight-year contract through mid-September before the new CBA fully kicks in. That date will stand as a soft deadline for a lot of negotiations this summer as a result. That would be the richest post-entry-level contract handed out, beating Connor McDavid’s $12.5MM price tag for eight years and would make him the fifth-highest-paid player in the league. But with Bedard having extra leverage if Chicago wants to get the eighth year on there, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking to see a deal come in at that price tag.
While Bedard is eligible for an offer sheet, he’s not necessarily a viable candidate for one. The Blackhawks have more than $40MM in cap room for next season, per PuckPedia, so they’d be able to match any offer that were to come his way. Bedard has already spoken about hoping to get something done before too long so it wouldn’t be shocking to see both sides take a real run at this over the next couple of months before other offseason moves start to be made.
Add A Top-Line Winger
Speaking of those other offseason moves, finding Bedard an impactful winger to ride shotgun alongside him needs to be high on Davidson’s to-do list. While it’s possible that an internal option could one day emerge in that role, that hasn’t happened yet and probably won’t for another couple of years, at least. They likely don’t want to wait that long so looking external is the way to go.
This is a spot that Chicago has tried to fill with placeholders. Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen were brought in on the opening day of free agency in 2024, hoping to give Bedard a bit of a boost. Both have done reasonably well, though they aren’t top-line players. They tried Andre Burakovsky this year in the hopes that a change of scenery would give him a lift and maybe be an option for Bedard. That one didn’t work out so well.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, free agency isn’t likely to yield the solution. Alex Tuch is a legitimate top-line option but he’s really the only one out there. While it’s possible that he could pick Chicago, they shouldn’t be banking on that happening. The next-best scoring wingers are Anthony Mantha (who has bounced around but seems likely to stay in Pittsburgh where things worked out this year) and Alex Ovechkin (who may or may not play next season and would only play in Washington). Patrick Kane isn’t a viable long-term option at 37 but could be a short-term one and there would be a nostalgia element as well. But they should be aiming for a better fit than that.
This is where the consolidation trade could come into play. With so few options in free agency, the trade route is going to be the best way to try to fill that void. With the potential package outlined earlier, that should be good enough to get into the bidding war for some of those wingers and give them a good shot at getting one who could fit in at least a top-six role for the next several seasons.
Add Impactful Veteran Defenseman
In recent years, Chicago has drafted some young defensemen in the first round of the draft. Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Kevin Korchinski have all seen time with the big club already with varying degrees of success. All three figure to be part of the long-term plans at a minimum with a chance to be big parts of their core down the road.
Meanwhile, Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser are a little further along in their development with Vlasic, in particular, now established as a legitimate shutdown defender. They also have Ethan Del Mastro and Louis Crevier in the fold as younger players who have had a bit of success in the NHL already.
With what they have, there is the makings of a good future defense corps. But it’s especially hard to fast-forward the development of young defenders. It’s even harder to do with a largely inexperienced group. Teams can get away with that when they’re rebuilding but when the time comes to flip the switch, an all-young back end probably isn’t going to get the job done.
That makes getting an impactful veteran a necessity this summer if Davidson wants to move his group forward. Not someone like Connor Murphy (who filled a useful role for many years), someone who can play on the top pairing and in all situations. That will take some pressure off the younger players and give them a chance to develop in slots on the depth chart that are a little better suited to their skillsets at this time.
The problem for the Blackhawks here is, again, there aren’t a lot of options available. In terms of big-minute players, Jacob Trouba, John Carlson, and Rasmus Andersson are pending UFAs. Other than maybe Andersson, none of the players ideally fit on a top pairing. Yes, Darren Raddysh is out there but his track record isn’t as big and until this season, his minutes had been managed relatively carefully. That could mean turning to the trade market again where the type of package mentioned earlier – perhaps augmented by a young roster blueliner to make the package more appealing – might be enough to bring in that type of player.
Davidson has swung some big moves as GM but between this need and the one up front, his biggest ones will be needed over the next couple of months.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: Vancouver Canucks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. First up is a look at Vancouver.
After keeping some veterans around and signing others to extensions as soon as possible, there was a clear internal expectation of a rebound season from 2024-25, even with a first-time head coach in Adam Foote. However, those expectations didn’t last long as things went downhill in a hurry, resulting in their best player being moved early in the season. As a result, things are even murkier than before heading into their offseason. Here’s what’s on their to-do list this summer.
Hire A GM
Before they can work on too much this offseason, they need to have their next decision-maker in place. On Friday, GM Patrik Allvin was let go after a little more than four years on the job. The team had a points percentage of .531 over his tenure but the last two years weren’t overly pretty with some questionable decisions made along the way on the trade and contract front.
President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford (himself potentially not around for much longer given that he’s 77 and has been with the team longer than originally planned) indicated that whoever takes over will have full autonomy on the roster. That’s particularly noteworthy as more teams start to look at an operation where the POHO role has more authority on that front.
Assistant GM Ryan Johnson has been linked to other teams in their searches. However, there have been also been some suggestions that Vancouver may have him as the perceived frontrunner at this point and is unwilling to let him interview elsewhere although the organization should undoubtedly look at external options as well. There is lots of time to make a hire at this time of year but with other teams on the lookout for a new GM, the Canucks may have to move quickly on this front to ensure that they get the candidate they want as New Jersey did with the hiring of Sunny Mehta earlier this week.
Choose A Path
It seems like a long time ago but just two years ago, the Canucks won the Pacific Division. While some of the key pieces from that roster are gone (highlighted by the Quinn Hughes trade), several are still around. And with an owner that has been suggested to be resistant to an extended rebuild in the past, a decision to try to retool this roster to get back into Wild Card contention next season can’t be ruled out.
Of course, that path seems suboptimal in the long run. But it’s not implausible to think that several of the veterans who underachieved this season bounce back while if Thatcher Demko’s surgery ultimately is as successful as he thinks it was, the floor of this group is going to be a lot higher. With over $21MM in cap space this summer per PuckPedia and no free agents of consequence, they could try to add a few pieces, add that to the potential bounce backs, and try their luck that way.
Alternatively, with the crash landing that this season yielded, a retooling of sorts or a full-fledged rebuild may be the more logical course of action. Determining the extent of the remaining teardown (a retool being shorter term and a rebuild likely lasting several more seasons based on recent comparisons) will be at the top of the priority list. It’ll certainly be a discussion point in interviews for the position.
Once that determination is made, it might influence whether Foote returns behind the bench to get another shot or if the new GM wants to bring in their own handpicked choice. But after a season of spinning their wheels followed by one where things went off the rails relative to expectations almost immediately, identifying and executing a clear direction will be crucial this offseason.
When they decide the route they want to take, that will naturally go a long way toward dictating what comes next and what moves they should be looking to make. Are they trying to add pieces or will a bigger selloff begin? With that not yet certain, the remaining items on their checklist are ones they should be trying to do regardless of the direction the new GM elects to go in.
Explore Boeser Trade Options
A year ago, few thought Vancouver would be in this situation when it comes to long-time winger Brock Boeser. Not because of their struggles either, simply because a year ago, few thought Boeser would still be around. After Allvin publicly lamented a lack of interest in Boeser at the 2025 deadline, it was widely expected that he’d move on in free agency. Instead, he re-signed just as the market opened up, signing a seven-year, $50.25MM deal.
That contract came on the heels of a down year that saw his output go from 40 goals and 73 points in 2023-24 to just 25 and 50 in 2024-25. The contract suggested an expectation that Boeser would rebound. Not necessarily to his career-year levels but perhaps something in between. However, with 22 goals and 48 points this season, his output basically was the same.
As a result, there are certainly some questions about his fit moving forward, whichever direction the Canucks ultimately go. If they look to rebuild or retool, the 29-year-old becomes a logical trade candidate as by the time they emerge from it, his prime years will be over. And if they’re looking to try to compete for a playoff spot next season, his struggles make him a potential change-of-scenery candidate to try to shake up the veteran core.
A $7.25MM cap hit given the year he had is on the higher side but the UFA market has been thinned out considerably in recent months. Meanwhile, the higher salary cap environment should make the deal more palatable as it goes on. If Boeser were to be made available (and he’d be willing to waive his no-move protection), there should be a market for his services. And if the team opts for a rebuild, he becomes a very realistic candidate to move. Whoever takes over as GM should be investigating what the trade options would be with the veteran winger.
Look Into Buium Extension
One of the key pieces of the return for Hughes was defenseman Zeev Buium. A first rounder in 2024 (12th overall), the 20-year-old has shown signs of impressive offensive upside, especially in college when he had 98 points in two seasons at Denver University. He is expected to be a foundational piece for the Canucks before too long, no matter if they look to rebuild or try to get back to the playoffs next season.
Buium burned the first year of his entry-level deal last season when he joined Minnesota for their playoff run. Accordingly, even though this season was his rookie year, he’s already gone through two of his three contract years already. That makes him eligible for a contract extension as of July 1st. Allvin wasn’t believed to be too keen on the idea of an early extension but his replacement may be wise to give the possibility some thought.
Finding the right number for both sides will be a challenge, however. Buium had six goals and 20 assists in 76 games between Minnesota and Vancouver this season. Those are certainly respectable numbers for a first-year pro defenseman but Buium’s camp won’t be willing to sign an extension with 26 points being used as the basis of an offer. No, if a deal were to be done this summer, it would be based on a much higher projected output.
The market for promising young defensemen with offensive upside has certainly gone up lately and it’s reasonable to think that Buium’s camp would be looking at the seven-year, $63MM deal New Jersey gave Luke Hughes heading into this season and be hoping to get something similar. His performance doesn’t warrant that type of money yet but his next contract will start in 2027-28 when the projected salary cap will be $113.5MM which will only drag the AAV higher.
This is also the last stretch where eight-year contracts will be allowable. Once the full new CBA kicks in (September 16th), the maximum term will be seven years. Considering Buium has five years of club control remaining when his entry-level deal expires in 2027, a max-term extension would only add two years. Getting a deal done this summer where they could get an extra year of control may be worthwhile, even if it results in a higher AAV. If the team believes he’s the type of core piece to build around, they’d be wise to get a sense for what type of contract will be needed to make that a reality.
Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.