Andrew Cogliano Re-Signs With Avalanche
Andrew Cogliano‘s time in Colorado isn’t up just yet. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the Avalanche are bringing back the veteran on a one-year contract. In a follow-up tweet, he adds that the deal is worth $825K.
Cogliano will continue his NHL career after a tough end to the season, sustaining a neck injury on a hit from Seattle Kraken forward Jordan Eberle during the team’s first-round playoff loss. Once one of the NHL’s longest-tenured ironmen, Cogliano remains a reliable bottom-six defensive presence with some shooting acumen left in his game.
Likely slated again for a fourth-line role as a left winger, Cogliano notched 10 goals and 19 points in 79 games last season, his most in a season since scoring 35 with the Anaheim Ducks in 2018-19.
This likely won’t be Colorado’s last forward signing. With captain Gabriel Landeskog‘s $7MM cap hit slated for LTIR next season, the team still has around $7.5MM in cap space to play with – nearly all of which will go toward adding to their forward corps. Expect an additional acquisition for the team’s middle-six (or two) and potentially a bottom-pairing defenseman.
Avalanche Signs Five Players To Two-Way Deals
Earlier today, Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland indicated that there were “a few depth deals in the hopper”. Those deals are now in place as the team announced the signings of defensemen Jack Ahcan and Corey Schueneman, forward Riley Tufte and Chris Wagner, and goaltender Arvid Holm to two-way contracts. Ahcan’s deal is a two-year agreement while the other four are one-year pacts. Financial deals for most of the deals aren’t yet known but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Schueneman’s deal is for $775K in the NHL, $400K in the minors, and has a guarantee of $450K. CapFriendly later reported Tufte’s deal is worth $775K in the NHL and $375K in the minors, with $425K guaranteed.
Speaking of Schueneman, he comes over to Colorado after spending the past three seasons in Montreal’s system. Last season, the 27-year-old spent the bulk of the year with AHL Laval, picking up 23 points in 62 games. He also got into seven games with the Canadiens, tallying an assist. Schueneman did play in 24 games with Montreal in 2021-22 while logging over 16 minutes per game. As a result, he’s likely to position himself to be one of the top recalls from the Eagles next season and could push for the seventh spot on the back end in training camp.
As for Ahcan, the 26-year-old picked up 36 points in 68 games with AHL Providence last season, good for second on their team among blueliners. He has nine career NHL appearances under his belt with Boston between 2020-21 and 2021-22. He also could push to be in the mix to be an early recall from the Eagles in 2023-24.
Up front, Tufte spent most of last year with AHL Texas, recording 19 goals and 16 assists in 63 games. The 25-year-old also got into three games with Dallas, logging just under eight minutes per game. Tufte has a total of 13 NHL appearances under his belt with one goal to his name. The 6’6 winger figures to be a recall option for a fourth line spot at some point next season.
As for Wagner, the 32-year-old has spent the last five seasons in Boston’s organization with a good chunk of that time coming at the NHL level. However, over the past two seasons, Wagner has mostly been relegated to time in the minors. Last season, he had 19 goals and 12 assists in 62 games with Providence. For his career, the veteran has 63 points and over 1,000 hits in 360 career NHL appearances. While he has spent most of the last two years in the minors, at least part of that was for cap reasons as he carried a $1.35MM AAV on his last deal. Now being at or close to the minimum, Wagner could push for a spot on the fourth line in training camp.
Holm, meanwhile, has yet to see any NHL action and has spent the past two seasons with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in Manitoba. The 24-year-old had a successful season in 2022-23 with the Moose, recording a 2.67 GAA along with a .911 SV% in 35 games but was non-tendered yesterday by the Jets. He’ll likely serve as the backup to Justus Annunen with the Eagles next season.
Arizona Coyotes To Sign Alexander Kerfoot
The Arizona Coyotes are locking in former Toronto Maple Leafs center Alexander Kerfoot for the next two seasons at a $3.5MM cap hit, PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports.
It’s another significant free-agent loss for Toronto today, who will undoubtedly be looking to add some reinforcements to their top nine in the coming days. For Kerfoot, though, he’ll continue to make the salary he’s made for the past four seasons with fewer taxes in the desert.
Kerfoot’s been a controversial player during his time in Toronto, with very few overtly impressed with his play. He provided immense defensive value this season, though, and he does have 45-50 point upside if given the opportunity to produce.
He could very well glean that opportunity in Arizona, potentially even slotting in as a center between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. Even if not, he’ll get the opportunity to play with some other up-and-coming talents like Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther, receiving plenty of ice time in the process.
Kerfoot will be a UFA again in 2025 at the age of 30.
Red Wings Sign Christian Fischer
July 2nd: Detroit has officially announced the signing, as it will be a one-year, $1.125MM deal for Fischer.
July 1st: The Red Wings have been active in filling out their roster today and they’re set to make another addition up front. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports (Twitter link) that Detroit is set to sign winger Christian Fischer to a one-year contract. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
Fischer was among the many players non-tendered yesterday to avoid the risk of a higher-than-desired salary arbitration award. The 26-year-old is coming off a bounce-back season offensively, picking up 13 goals and 14 assists in 80 games with Arizona last season. For context, he had just 30 points in the previous three seasons combined, spanning 161 contests.
Assuming a deal is eventually finalized, Fischer should add some grit to Detroit’s bottom six as he’s averaging just under 1.9 hits per game over his seven-year career, spanning 398 games. Fischer’s qualifying offer with Arizona was for just over $1.125MM and considering the fact that he’s coming off the second-best offensive season of his career, it stands to reason that he’ll be landing a nice raise on that amount.
Nashville Predators Re-Sign Alexandre Carrier
Per PuckPedia, the Nashville Predators have re-signed RFA defenseman Alexandre Carrier to a one-year, $2.5MM contract for 2023-24. The deal walks him directly to unrestricted free agency next offseason.
Carrier has been a solid contributor on Nashville’s blue line, posting solid two-way numbers and succeeding as a puck-moving defender who has decent smarts. The right-shot defender did take a considerable step back on the scoresheet in 2022-23, though, posting just nine points in 43 games after a 30-point campaign the year prior. The upside he flashed, though, warranted a qualifying offer and an extension from Nashville.
The one-year contract provides an intriguing dynamic for both Carrier and the Predators. Nashville is allowing him to set himself up nicely for a payday as the cap skyrockets up next season if he has another strong campaign, although he may not get much upward mobility in the lineup to have point-producing opportunities, especially with Tyson Barrie in the fold as the team’s main secondary offensive defenseman behind Roman Josi.
Shayne Gostisbehere Signs With Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings have once again added to their back end as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that they’ve signed defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. It’s a one-year deal worth $4.125MM. PuckPedia adds the contract includes a 10-team no-trade clause.
The 30-year-old has seen his value change considerably over the last couple of years. It was only two summers ago that Philadelphia parted with a pair of draft picks (including a second-rounder) to simply offload Gostisbehere’s contract onto Arizona for no return. Considering his production had dropped to just 32 points over the previous two seasons combined, it was an understandable move given their cap situation.
That trade proved to be great for Gostisbehere who rediscovered his offensive touch in the desert. In 2021-22, he picked up 14 goals and 37 assists, putting him in a tie for 15th in NHL scoring by a blueliner. He followed that up with another impressive performance this past season, tallying 10 goals and 21 assists in 52 games with Arizona before being traded to Carolina at the trade deadline. Gostisbehere saw his playing time drop by 5:30 per game following the swap to just 17 minutes a night but he still managed to pick up 10 points in 23 games following the swap before adding three assists in 15 playoff contests.
With Detroit, Gostisbehere figures to be one of the key contributors from the back end, effectively filling the role that Filip Hronek held prior to him being moved to Vancouver at the deadline. While Moritz Seider is also in the mix offensively, they could opt to give Gostisbehere the top power play minutes to help manage Seider’s ice time. If that happens, Gostisbehere could be in line for another productive season, potentially helping to boost his value and land a multi-year deal next summer.
Even after the flurry of signings they’ve had today, Detroit still has more than $9MM in cap room at their disposal, per CapFriendly, with only Joe Veleno to re-sign as a restricted free agent. Accordingly, GM Steve Yzerman still has plenty of flexibility to work with if other opportunities to add to his roster present themselves.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to note the two sides were in discussions.
San Jose Sharks Acquire Anthony Duclair
6:32 pm: San Jose has made the trade official, sending Lorentz and their 2025 fifth-round pick to Florida for Duclair.
5:42 pm: The San Jose Sharks have traded for Florida Panthers winger Anthony Duclair, according to The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman. Goldman adds that forward Steven Lorentz is expected to be part of the trade heading back to the Panthers, though there could be more moving pieces involved.
Duclair brings a more dynamic asset to the Sharks after he landed on his feet in Florida as a top-line player. Last season, he recorded just two goals and nine points in 20 games with the Panthers, missing much of the season recovering an Achilles tear. Duclair’s skill set and ability to generate scoring chances make him a valuable asset for the Sharks, however, as they sorely need some high-end skill in their lineup (even though they’re rebuilding). He’ll never provide much value defensively, but it’s not much of a concern for a Sharks team that doesn’t anticipate being competitive next season.
In return, the Panthers acquire a fine bottom-of-the-lineup forward in Lorentz and nearly $2MM in cap space, helping them fortify their fourth line while opening up some more cap space to replace Duclair’s top-nine on the open market in the coming days. He could very well center their fourth line next season after recording 10 goals and 19 points in 80 games with the Sharks last season.
San Jose Sharks Sign Fabian Zetterlund
The San Jose Sharks have signed RFA forward Fabian Zetterlund to a two-year deal worth $1.45MM per season, the team announced. The contract comes just one day after the team non-tendered him to avoid giving him the ability to file for salary arbitration.
The 23-year-old came to San Jose just before the trade deadline as part of the Timo Meier trade. He was productive in a depth scoring role with the Devils, notching 20 points in 45 games despite averaging less than 13 minutes a night prior to the swap. Unfortunately for Zetterlund and the Sharks, he wasn’t able to produce at the same level, collecting just three assists in 22 games.
Still, despite the sluggish start to his time in San Jose, it wouldn’t have made much sense for the Sharks to part with a young forward with at least a brief track record of some NHL success at this stage of their rebuild. He’s likely to remain in a bottom-six role to start next season which might not yield too many scoring opportunities early on but he should have a chance to lock down a full-time spot for the first time in his career and if he can do that, he could be part of their plans for a while.
While San Jose technically signed Zetterlund as a UFA, he remains under team control through the 2026-27 campaign. The contract is slightly backloaded with a $1.4MM salary next season and a $1.5MM salary in 2024-25; the latter represents his qualifying offer in 2025 where he’ll once again be eligible for arbitration.
Colorado Avalanche Extend Bowen Byram
The Colorado Avalanche have locked in budding defenseman Bowen Byram on a very team-friendly bridge deal, signing him to a two-year deal worth $3.85MM per season, according to The Athletic’s Peter Baugh.
Byram, a highly touted prospect from the start, has shown tremendous potential since being drafted fourth overall by the Avalanche in 2019. He’s bucked the trend for defensemen taking longer to develop, already breaking out as a true top-four threat by age 22 after recording 24 points in 42 games last year, averaging nearly 22 minutes per game. Byram’s exceptional skating ability, hockey sense, and offensive instincts make him a dynamic presence behind the team’s top unit of Cale Makar and Devon Toews.
The bridge deal does provide Colorado some more space to add to its forward group but also provides some insurance against a real possibility of Byram continuing to encounter significant injury issues. Concussions and lower-body ailments have limited him to just 91 games over the past three seasons, and while he’s excelled during that time, whether he can continue a long career in a top-flight role is not a certainty.
Byram will be an RFA again upon expiry in 2025 and will be due a $3.85MM qualifying offer.
New York Rangers Sign Erik Gustafsson
The New York Rangers have signed defenseman Erik Gustafsson to a one-year contract, per a team announcement. The deal carries a $825k cap hit, according to the New York Post’s Mollie Walker.
The Rangers have been proactive in signing veteran players to affordable, sub-$1MM AAV contracts today, and Gustafsson is the latest one. They’re likely looking to clarify their financial picture before finalizing extensions for key RFA’s such as Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller, or deciding on the future of highly-priced bottom-six leader Barclay Goodrow.
Rangers GM Chris Drury is walking a salary-cap tightrope, and with that in mind, this Gustafsson signing appears to be an absolute coup for New York. Just one year ago Gustafsson’s NHL career seemed to be in a difficult spot, as his 2021-22 season with the Chicago Blackhawks was a far cry from his earlier times in Chicago, such as 2018-19 when he scored 60 points.
But after signing with the Washington Capitals, Gustafsson had a resurgent season under head coach Peter Laviolette.
He stepped up after a major injury caused John Carlson to miss extended time, and finished his time in Washington with 38 points in 61 games.
He was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs and scored five points in 11 combined regular-season and playoff games.
One might have assumed that a 42-point defenseman could get more than a one-year, $825k deal, but Gustafsson’s inconsistency as well as the leaguewide lack of cap space likely put a damper on his free-agent market. So instead of truly cashing in and signing a pricey free agent deal, Gustafsson returns to Laviolette and places himself in a high-upside playing situation.
He’ll be competing against Zac Jones, Ben Harpur, and Connor Mackey for one of the Rangers’ final two defensive roster spots, and likely has the inside track for the third-pairing LHD spot next to Brendan Schneider.
His high-octane puck-moving offensive game could mesh well with Schneider’s more traditional style, and perhaps more significantly Gustafsson could also occupy a quarterback-like role on the Rangers’ second-unit power play.
The Rangers’ first unit is the dominant one, of course, soaking up the vast majority of available minutes on the man advantage, but at the very least Gustafsson provides a greater degree of insurance in case of an Adam Fox injury than the team had before this signing.
There’s certainly a risk that Gustafsson regresses and plays the way he did in, say, Philadelphia, where he was less than well-received by Flyers fans. But at an $825k cap hit, that risk is very minimal.
At worst, Gustafsson provides excellent competition for Jones and Mackey and injury insurance in case the Rangers’ top power-play maestro goes down with an injury. At best, Gustafsson gives the Rangers a 40-point third-pairing defenseman who is able to be utilized effectively thanks to the Rangers’ existing defensive depth.
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