Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Maple Leafs To Hire Mark Giordano

at CDT | by 4 Comments

After going unsigned for 2024-25, veteran defender Mark Giordano appears to be putting a bow on his playing career. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said today they’ll announce in the coming days that they’ve hired him in a yet-to-be-disclosed role with their AHL affiliate, according to David Alter of The Hockey News.

That would signal the retirement of one of the game’s premier defensemen of the 2010s. He was intent on playing last season and beyond, his agent said last offseason. The Oilers and Sabres had expressed interest in him into training camp in 2024, as well as potential reunions with the Flames and Leafs, but no contract ever panned out. He’ll now make the jump into the next phase of his hockey career.

Giordano is in the running for one of the most fruitful undrafted free agent signings of all time. He landed his first NHL contract during the 2004-05 lockout, signing with Calgary out of OHL Owen Sound and spending the canceled year in the AHL. He made his NHL debut when the league resumed play for 2005-06. He got his first taste of full-time action the following year, making 48 appearances in a depth role. Without a guarantee of expanded playing time from the Flames entering 2007-08, though, Giordano opted not to re-sign with the club when his entry-level contract expired. He instead spent the year in Russia with Dynamo Moscow while remaining a restricted free agent.

He returned to the Flames for the 2008-09 season, more earnestly kicking off his career as a top-four fixture. He was more of a defensive-oriented piece early on but as he entered his 30s, his offensive production began to soar as well. He hit the 40-point mark for the first time in 2010-11 and, beginning with the prior year, averaged north of 20 minutes per game for Calgary for 12 years in a row.

Widely regarded as a top-20 defenseman in the league for most of his prime, Giordano exploded in the 2018-19 campaign for a career year at age 35. He took home the Norris Trophy and finished ninth in MVP voting on a 50-win Flames squad that year, racking up 74 points and a league-leading +39 rating in 78 appearances.

The Flames’ record slipped over the next couple of seasons, though. With Giordano entering the final season of his contract in the 2021 offseason and the Flames wanting to protect younger names like Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin in that year’s expansion draft for the Kraken, the club left their captain exposed. Seattle picked him up, making him their first captain in franchise history, but his tenure in the Pacific Northwest was short-lived. The club was in the basement of the Pacific Division in their first year and, after Giordano scored 23 points in 55 games, traded the pending UFA to the Maple Leafs at the deadline for draft picks.

While the following summer meant the end of the six-year, $40.5MM contract he signed back in 2015, it didn’t mean the end of his time in Toronto. He signed a team-friendly two-year, $1.6MM deal that would see him finish his playing career with the Leafs as a serviceable bottom-pairing support piece. He made 144 regular-season appearances in a Toronto uniform in parts of three seasons, recording a 9-36–45 scoring line and a +49 rating.

Giordano’s 1,093 games in his second NHL stint rank seventh in the league among defensemen since 2008. His 561 points also rank 12th during that time. The Toronto native totaled a 158-419–577 scoring line in 1,148 career regular-season appearances with a +129 rating across 18 campaigns. All of us at PHR wish Giordano the best as he continues his career in the sport off-ice.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.

Panthers’ Tomas Nosek Undergoes Knee Surgery

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Panthers center Tomas Nosek will miss the first several months of the season with a knee injury sustained during offseason training, general manager Bill Zito told reporters Wednesday, including George Richards of Florida Hockey Now.

Florida has likely been sitting on this information for a while. It offers additional context for their recent spree of depth forward signings and PTO agreements. In the last month, the Cats have added Luke Kunin on a league-minimum deal and brought in Noah Gregor and Tyler Motte on tryout pacts.

Nosek, 33, was widely projected to start the year as the Panthers’ fourth-line center. That was essentially the only role he played last season when healthy, oftentimes slotting in between fellow returnees Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer. Injuries have become a commonality for the serviceable Czech pivot in the last few years. He spent the first month of last season on the injured list with an upper-body issue, and he also missed over half of the 2023-24 campaign with the Devils due to multiple ailments, including a knee injury.

The 6’3″ center is on the precipice of 500 career regular-season games and is entering his 11th NHL season and his second with the Panthers. He’s signed back-to-back league minimum contracts with the Cats, a decision that earned him his first Stanley Cup win last year after reaching the Final with the Golden Knights in their inaugural season. Nosek should also be remembered as the scorer of the first home goal in Vegas’ franchise history.

While a stable presence, Nosek’s offensive presence has deteriorated significantly in the last few years. He managed just 47 shots on goal in 59 appearances last year and only converted on one of them. He also averaged under 10 minutes per game for the first time. He’s still an effective checking presence, though, and has managed to keep his career-long streak of a 50% win rate or better on faceoffs alive.

In terms of his direct replacement to start the year, Jesper Boqvist might be the frontrunner. He was used as an extra forward in last year’s postseason and mainly slotted in on the wing when he was in the lineup, but he has more recent experience down the middle than any of Gregor, Kunin, or Motte. All of them can play center in a pinch, though, so Nosek’s absence likely won’t result in much of an on-ice hiccup for the Cats.

His newfound eligibility for long-term injured reserve also doesn’t change much for the Panthers, who still need to shed salary to be compliant for opening night. Since neither Nosek nor Matthew Tkachuk, who will also be on LTIR to begin the year after a recent adductor surgery, will miss the entire season, Florida is only eligible for $3.82MM in LTIR relief under the new rules taking effect this year. They currently have a projected exceedance of $4.5MM, per PuckPedia, so they’ll need to subtract a league-minimum salary to get under the ceiling to begin the year.

Jack Eichel Open To Continuing Extension Talks During Season

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Oftentimes, big-name pending unrestricted free agents aren’t open to continuing negotiations on an extension once the puck drops on the regular season to avoid the off-ice distraction. That won’t be the case for Golden Knights star Jack Eichel, who’s keeping the already cordial dialogue on contract talks open for however long he needs to, he said at last week’s Player Media Tour.

“I’m definitely not in the ‘no communication’ (camp),” Eichel told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. “I just try to focus on things that are in my control. If the contract happens organically, then it happens. Right now you’re just focused on getting yourself in as good a place as you can be to start the season and help the hockey team.”

Extension projections for Eichel have climbed to nearly $14MM per season on a max-term deal with next year’s salary cap set to rise to an estimated $104MM, according to AFP Analytics. That assumes he actually signs one of the last eight-year blockbusters before the maximum extension length drops to seven years next year, but there won’t be any hiccups there. TSN’s Chris Johnston said on his SDPN show last week that the player and club are in alignment on keeping him in Vegas for as long as possible.

Letting already drama-free talks continue to play out likely creates less distraction for the player than adding controversy to a set of negotiations that’s largely been out of the news since they began at the beginning of the summer. Yet Eichel’s use of the word “organically” to describe contract talks is a bit of a stretch. He’s just one of a potentially generational 2026 free agent class, flanking Kyle Connor, Kirill Kaprizov, and Connor McDavid atop the list. Seeing one of the first three sign a deal before McDavid sets the market with his expected short-term deal in Edmonton would be a surprise.

The other storyline is Vegas’ continued flirtation with the salary cap. Even under the new LTIR rules, the Knights will still be able to take full advantage of Alex Pietrangelo’s $8.8MM worth of LTIR relief if his injury status remains unchanged for 2026-27. That could leave them with around $29MM in spending money next summer when all is said and done. If that’s down to $15MM after getting an Eichel extension signed off, they still need to spread that around seven or eight other open roster spots. Only one of those spots is a free agent of true consequence for Vegas – that’s pending RFA Pavel Dorofeyev, who could conceivably swallow up half of that balance after scoring a team-leading 35 goals last season.

Snapshots: Ristolainen, McDavid, Malhotra, Sabres

at CDT | by 13 Comments

As expected when he underwent triceps surgery back in March after suffering an injury there for the second straight season, Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen won’t be available to start the season.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Daniel Briere indicated that the blueliner is progressing well but won’t join the team until a month or two into the season.  The 30-year-old had a bounce-back showing last season, picking up 19 points along with 94 blocks and 97 hits in 63 games while averaging over 20 minutes a night.  He was recently cleared to resume skating in a non-contact jersey.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • With Oilers superstar Connor McDavid entering the final year of his contract, some are surprised that a deal hasn’t been signed yet. In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Chris Johnston relays that the center isn’t believed to be seeking a specific number in terms of AAV.  The benchmark on that front has moved several times in recent years with his teammate Leon Draisaitl ($14MM) now the leader.  It’s widely expected that McDavid will surpass that number by a sizable margin but there isn’t a particular target in mind.
  • The Canucks announced that they have exercised the team option on Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra’s contract, keeping him signed through the 2026-27 season. Malhotra had quite the first season in Vancouver’s system, leading Abbotsford to a 44-24-2-2 record in the regular season, including a late-season 13-game winning streak that gave them plenty of momentum heading into the playoffs.  There, they went 16-8 overall on their way to the Calder Cup title, making the decision to extend his contract a very simple one.
  • While many teams are revealing their training camp rosters, the Sabres are trimming theirs. The team announced that forwards Matous Kucharcik, Melvin Novotny, Ryan Rucinski, and Ashton Schultz, along with defenseman Luke Dragusica, have all been returned to their respective junior teams.  The four forwards were all part of Buffalo’s draft class back in June.

Wild Not Entertaining Trade Offers For Kirill Kaprizov

at CDT | by 25 Comments

Earlier this offseason, the Wild made headlines when it was reported that they were willing to offer $16MM per season to pending unrestricted free agent winger Kirill Kaprizov.  Meanwhile, the winger himself made headlines when that offer (with an eight-year term) was rejected.  Understandably, there has been plenty of speculation about what Kaprizov’s future with the Wild might be.

However, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported in a TSN Early Trading segment that while teams are calling Minnesota GM Bill Guerin to try to assess if the 28-year-old might be available, they are being told that offers are not being entertained at this time.  To that end, Michael Russo of The Athletic reported today on the DFO Rundown (video link) that as of yet, Kaprizov’s camp hasn’t been approached for a list of teams he would accept a trade to; he has a full no-move clause and can veto any deal.

Despite the setback of having that record-breaking offer declined, the Wild are still operating with the internal belief that Kaprizov wants to remain in Minnesota.  It might be a case of his agent Paul Theofanous hoping to get a bit more money on the AAV, the year-to-year structure (salary and signing bonus money), or potentially a preference to take a shorter-term contract as some players are starting to want to do.  However, LeBrun also characterized the discussions between the two sides as “not cordial” so at first glance, an agreement shouldn’t be expected in the near future.

When healthy, Kaprizov is among the NHL’s elite talents and has 386 points in 319 career regular season games after coming to North America for his age-23 year.  He looked to be well on his way to setting new personal benchmarks last season but injuries ultimately limited him to just 41 games where he still managed 25 goals and 31 assists to finish third on the team in scoring.  Meanwhile, despite the injuries, Kaprizov was quite productive in the playoffs, notching five goals and four assists in their first-round loss to Vegas.

Considering the Wild have already gone higher than what some teams might be inclined to offer Kaprizov if he made it to free agency next summer, it will be interesting to see what their next move may wind up being.  Just don’t expect that move to be the initiation of trade discussions, an option that it appears they’re not ready to think about considering just yet.

Sharks Sign Oliver Wahlstrom To PTO, AHL Deal

at CDT | by 3 Comments

5:45 PM: The AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have announced Wahlstrom has signed a minor-league deal with the club. That will serve as his fallback, should he not earn an NHL deal out of camp.

4:15 PM: The San Jose Sharks will soon sign winger Oliver Wahlstrom to a professional try-out contract, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. The report was later confirmed by PuckPedia. Pagnotta points out that Wahlstrom will have an AHL deal to fall back on, should he not earn an NHL contract. He was previously an unrestricted free agent after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Boston Bruins at the start of the summer.

Wahlstrom played his first games outside of the New York Islanders organization midway through last season. After six years of failed attempts to earn an everyday role in the top-nine, the Islanders made the decision to place Wahlstrom on waivers in mid-December. He was claimed by the Bruins the next day, and stuck with Boston for the rest of year, even clearing waivers with the club in February. Wahlstrom split his time between the NHL and AHL Bruins, beginning with 16 games in Boston where he racked up two points and 28 penalty minutes in a bottom-six role. He looked much more electric in 26 games with the Providence Bruins to close the year, netting 19 points and 14 penalty minutes in total.

But even in a move away from New York, Wahlstrom struggled to earn routine NHL minutes. The former 11th-overall selection has fallen a long way since making his NHL debut in 2019. He quickly struggled to score at the NHL level, with 12 goals and 21 points in 44 games of his rookie season standing as the highest scoring pace of Wahlstrom’s pro career. He posted a career-high 13 goals and 24 points in 73 games of his second NHL season, but fell to menial scoring and routine healthy scratches soon after that.

The Islanders rotated Wahlstrom around the lineup, but couldn’t find the right match for his flashy puck-skills and hard shot. Those traits did come to life during his stint with Providence at the end of last season, though. That fact commanded the attention of AHL clubs looking for a boost in scoring. It’s also commanded the attention of one of the NHL’s true bottom-feeders. San Jose is looking to bring in as much veteran presence and leadership as they can, to help guide a roster that’s sure to be one of the youngest in the league. Wahlstrom will be in direct competition for minutes with young wingers like Collin Graf, Ty Dellandrea, Philipp Kurashev, and Quentin Musty. Each of those players face the test of proving they can stick in the NHL. The Sharks will be the beneficiaries of that competition, whether through awarding rookies strong minutes or finding the positives out of struggling veterans. They’ll hope Wahlstrom can be the one to emerge above the rest, and finally bank on his long-lauded potential.

What The Senators Can Learn From Past Champions’ Development Model

at CDT | by 13 Comments

The Senators qualified for the playoffs last season for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Their young core finally turned the corner and took their first significant step in a rebuild that previously felt like it was skidding off the tracks. They lost to the Maple Leafs in six games, but it has generated a sense of optimism in Canada’s capital. Ottawa has a promising young core led by captain Brady Tkachuk, most of the group is signed to reasonable long-term deals, the new ownership group is stable, and the team is inching closer to securing a new downtown arena. Everything looks promising for the Senators right now, but they are about to face the most challenging phase of their rebuild as they aim to make the next leap and become a Stanley Cup contender. The Senators have made several missteps along the way, and they would do well to learn from franchises that have already achieved what Ottawa is striving for.

There are many lessons the Senators can learn from the teams that achieved success, and the same applies to those that failed in their rebuilds. When it comes to success stories, look no further than the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and their intrastate rival Tampa Bay Lightning, who have accounted for four of the last six champions, as well as the Colorado Avalanche, who won the title in 2022, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the first team in the salary cap era to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. All of these teams had promising cores before winning titles, and they all faced heartbreaking moments on their way to glory. While their stories share similar elements, each franchise had a different blueprint for building Stanley Cup-caliber rosters, and these are frameworks Ottawa could consider as it aims to take the next step.

Regarding a comparison between Ottawa’s roster and those four mentioned clubs, there is one main difference. Ottawa has secured its young core of top picks long-term (Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot), just as Pittsburgh, Colorado, Tampa Bay, and Florida have. Some might dismiss this comparison, arguing that Ottawa doesn’t share the same reputation as those teams. However, it wasn’t that long ago that Florida was considered an afterthought, and both Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay faced challenges at the bottom of the standings before they built their teams around top picks.

What Ottawa can examine is how those four teams built their championship squads without relying solely on making top draft picks. Each team clearly demonstrates the importance of selecting the top picks correctly, but beyond that, they each employed a unique strategy to develop their rosters around those key players.

For Tampa Bay, its elite scouting allowed it to draft top players outside of the first round. The Lightning selected Brayden Point in the third round in 2014, Nikita Kucherov in the second round in 2011, and Anthony Cirelli in the third round in 2015. These players supported top picks Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman and helped propel Tampa Bay to three straight Stanley Cup Finals and two championships. Former Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman adopted a tactic from the 1990s Detroit Red Wings teams by delaying the development of their prospects, choosing to let them develop longer in the AHL rather than rushing them to the NHL.

Florida didn’t draft as well as the Lightning but chose instead to rely on trades to build around their top picks, bringing in Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and Sam Reinhart in major moves that strengthened Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov. The Tkachuk trade, in particular, was a significant gamble by general manager Bill Zito, and it was not well-received at the time it was made. However, it’s been a crucial move for Florida, and it ended up being the one that truly pushed them over the line. The Panthers also used free agency and waivers to bolster their team, signing Carter Verhaeghe and Sergei Bobrovsky as UFAs and acquiring Gustav Forsling off waivers. The Bobrovsky signing was widely criticized when it happened, but it has again panned out as a gamble worth taking.

The Penguins, much like the Panthers, used a variety of tools to build their championship rosters after years of poor drafting, bad trades, and signings for depth. By the time Jim Rutherford took over the Penguins in 2014, most people felt that Pittsburgh had wasted the primes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and in 2015, another first-round exit made many believe the critics were right. The Penguins only had one championship with their core, and calls from fans were to trade Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang. However, Rutherford chose a different path, bringing in star scoring winger Phil Kessel in a significant trade with the Maple Leafs that could have ended in disaster. However, it didn’t, and Rutherford continued to make moves, adding forwards Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin, as well as defensemen Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz. These moves, along with some strong late picks from former GM Ray Shero (Bryan Rust and Matt Murray), set the Penguins up for a two-year run of excellence.

All of these stories raise several questions for the Senators. When is the right time to be patient versus aggressive? When should they be ruthless or show loyalty? There is no single way to succeed, but all of Colorado, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, and Florida have identified a clear vision and are committed to it. Tampa Bay was patient and spent a decade building the foundation for an incredible run of success. Colorado was patient as well, choosing to wait for the right moment to make trades that would boost their stars (Devon Toews).

Pittsburgh and Florida, on the other hand, were proactive in their effort to win now. There were no half measures. Rutherford would quickly correct a mistake in roster assessment for the Penguins if he felt it wasn’t a fit. By the end of his tenure, that kind of behaviour became comical, but between 2015 and 2017, it was like lightning in a bottle.

For Florida, Zito and his team have been aggressive yet precise, acquiring players who have struggled elsewhere and fitting them into the Panthers’ lineup where they can succeed. Forsling and Verhague were both traded between several teams before ending up in Florida. Now, they are vital pieces of a potential dynasty.

Ottawa is at a crossroads and must decide on its next step. Should they be patient with their prospects in Belleville, or is that not the best approach given their weak farm system? This could mean trading young players and draft picks to secure immediate help. Does GM Steve Staios have the courage for a bold move? It’s possible, especially since he recently traded Josh Norris for Dylan Cozens at the NHL Trade Deadline, but he needs to be careful not to compromise too much of the team’s identity.

Ottawa also needs to improve the depth of its lineup. Their bottom six haven’t been strong for a while, and there’s a lesson to learn from the teams that win titles. Florida’s bottom six is built for speed and toughness. Tampa Bay would find depth that’s tailored for the playoffs, while the Penguins’ teams rolled four lines with speed that could dominate teams through an aggressive forecheck on every shift.

While the Senators need to improve their team depth, they must be careful with their spending in free agency, as many of their recent signings have not worked out. The David Perron signing last summer wasn’t successful (two years, $8MM), nor was the Joonas Korpisalo signing the previous summer. The Senators haven’t had much success with UFAs and need to be cautious with their secondary deals, as they will eventually need to sign Shane Pinto and avoid limiting their flexibility, which could quickly close their window to contend.

Ultimately, Ottawa doesn’t need to follow any single path listed above. The Senators can combine elements from each team’s approach and adapt them to their own journey. They can emulate Tampa Bay’s patience in development, while reflecting Pittsburgh’s commitment to their core identity and pursuing bold, fearless trades like the Panthers. There are many routes the Senators could take as they aim to progress, but the key will be committing to a clear strategy rather than just relying on talent to develop and improve naturally over time.

Photo by Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Mammoth Sign Seven Players To PTOs

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Mammoth will have some added depth in training camp by way of seven professional tryouts targeted toward their AHL club, the club announced today. Among the seven, only two – forward Austin Poganski and goaltender Dylan Wells – already have a contract in the organization with Tucson for 2025-26. There will be five names – Ryan McGregor, Dryden McKay, Lleyton Moore, Ty Tullio, and Samuel Walker – looking to land either a two-way deal with Utah or an AHL contract with Tucson.

The 26-year-old McGregor has spent all five of his professional seasons exclusively with Tucson. The 6’0″ forward was a sixth-round pick by the Maple Leafs in 2017 but went unsigned, instead landing an entry-level deal with the Coyotes upon turning pro in 2020. That preceded a solid run as a bottom-six piece in southern Arizona, totaling a 24-44–68 scoring line in 201 career games for the Roadrunners. He spent last year in Tucson on an AHL deal after reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency. His lengthy history with the Arizona/Utah organizations makes him a solid bet to return for another year in a minor-league support role.

McKay actually already has a landing spot for 2025-26. He signed on with the Avalanche’s ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies, back in July. He didn’t get an invite to Colorado’s NHL camp, though, so he’ll instead stay in his new team’s area and get some reps in an NHL camp with the Mammoth. He’ll serve as a camp piece for roster management purposes in the preseason before presumably getting released and returned to the Grizzlies. The 27-year-old former Hobey Baker Award winner has a career .904 SV% and 3.06 GAA in 99 ECHL games over the last three years.

Moore, 23, is a skilled but undersized (5’8″, 179-lb) rearguard still adjusting to the pro game. He has two pro seasons under his belt, both with Tucson, and will be looking to land another minor-league deal to make it three. He has 12 points in 46 career games for the Roadrunners with a +5 rating.

Poganski’s PTO is just a formality to get him into camp and add a veteran player for preseason purposes. The 29-year-old was Tucson’s captain last season and will reprise the role in 2025-26. He had 15 goals and 41 points in 71 appearances for them last year. He has 22 career NHL appearances with the Blues and Jets between 2019 and 2022, but no points.

Tullio is still looking for a contract after a tumultuous 2024-25 season. A fifth-round pick by the Oilers in 2020, he was traded to the Sabres in last summer’s Ryan McLeod deal. He only played sparingly for their AHL affiliate in Rochester, though, leading the Sabres to loan him to the Flames’ farm club to finish the season. He had eight points in 13 games down the stretch in Calgary, so there’s some promise that he could land a two-way offer from the Mammoth or at least be something of an impact contributor for Tucson.

Outside of Poganski, Walker is the only other player here with NHL experience. He has a goal and an assist to his name in 13 games with the Wild, all of which came in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He spent all of last year in the minors and was acquired by Utah midway through the season in a minor swap. He didn’t see an NHL recall after his acquisition, which saw him score 22 points in 31 games for Tucson, and subsequently became a Group VI UFA. The 5’10” pivot will now be angling for a two-way deal or a contract with Tucson.

Wells, 27, has been an AHL backup/ECHL starter for some time now, although not routinely under an NHL contract. He’s entering his third season in Tucson and had a solid .900 SV% and 2.89 GAA in 10 games for them last year.

Bruins Promote Adam McQuaid, Hire Ben Smith

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Former Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid is now carving out a successful career for himself in their front office. The club announced today that he’s been promoted to a director of player development role, among a few other minor hockey ops hirings and promotions.

It’s a new role in the organization, so McQuaid will presumably be taking some work off an assistant GM’s plate. Boston didn’t have a particularly large player development department – it consisted of McQuaid, their lone dedicated skater development coach and coordinator since his hiring in 2021, and longtime NHL netminder Mike Dunham as their goalie development coach.

While a reward for McQuaid’s work so far, the title change is also a signifier for Boston’s organizational repositioning from contender to retooler. The club was a big seller at last year’s trade deadline and added center James Hagens – their top prospect since selecting Charlie McAvoy nearly a decade ago – with the No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft.

The Bruins are also bringing up Nick Neary from their AHL staff to join the big club. The 30-year-old joined the Providence Bruins in 2020 as a video coordinator before being promoted to the club’s video coach and manager of hockey operations prior to last season. He’ll now serve on the NHL staff as an assistant video coordinator under Mathew Myers, who’s been Boston’s video coach since 2019. Replacing Neary in Providence is Cam Wolbach, who lands his first documented hockey staffing job. He played high school hockey in Massachusetts as well as ACHA Division II hockey with Bentley University.

Joining McQuaid in Boston’s player development department is former NHL forward Ben Smith, who’s been brought on under McQuaid as a player development coordinator. It doubles as a retirement announcement for the 37-year-old, who had been playing in Germany since heading overseas in 2018. He suited up for Boston College but never played for the Bruins. Smith won a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013 and recorded 54 points in 237 NHL games for them, the Maple Leafs, Sharks, and Avalanche.

Blackhawks Sign Matt Grzelcyk To PTO

at CDT | by 9 Comments

The leading point scorer among free agent defensemen this summer will have to settle for a camp tryout. Matt Grzelcyk is heading to the Blackhawks on a PTO, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Chicago later confirmed the signing by listing Grzelcyk on their training camp roster.

While the market for Grzelcyk wasn’t near what he or anyone else expected, it’s still jarring to see a rearguard with the platform season he had not land a guaranteed contract heading into camp. The 31-year-old lefty was also a UFA last summer but landed a one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Penguins on the first day of free agency. That contract led to expanded ice time in Pittsburgh, where he saw some power-play usage and averaged north of 20 minutes per game for the first time in his nine-year career. He played all 82 games – the first time he’s ever done that, too – and ranked third on the team with 39 assists. Only Sidney Crosby (58) and Erik Karlsson (42) had more.

Individual defensive acumen and a lack of physicality remain the 5’10” defender’s limiting factors. Still, he was at least able to prove once again that he can be a productive puck-mover in a top-four role as he was for many years in Boston, serving as a routine Charlie McAvoy partner for a good chunk of his early career. That led AFP Analytics to project a three-year contract for Grzelcyk in the $3.75MM range annually on the open market, while we projected a slightly cheaper deal and ranked him No. 22 among all unrestricted free agents this summer.

Grzelcyk now heads to training camp in Chicago, where the Blackhawks will welcome him as insurance for the league’s most inexperienced defense group. Connor Murphy is the only defender under contract in the Windy City over the age of 25. Alex Vlasic, at 24 years of age and 179 games of NHL experience, is the club’s top lefty by a wide margin.

Most expected the Hawks to completely hand the keys over to their younger blue-liners this season. Their lack of notable moves on offense signaled they weren’t anticipating jumping back into playoff contention just yet as their rebuild enters its later stages. Even then, there simply may be too many question marks behind Vlasic on Chicago’s left side on defense to make general manager Kyle Davidson comfortable entering camp without any other options. The right side is fairly set with Murphy, 2024 No. 2 overall pick Artyom Levshunov, and 2022 first-rounder Sam Rinzel expected to anchor their own pairings. However, behind Vlasic on the left, there’s no clear No. 2 or No. 3.

That’s not to say Chicago doesn’t have options, but they do lack clarity. Wyatt Kaiser, 23, could be the frontrunner for second-pairing minutes but is still a restricted free agent. 2022 No. 7 overall pick Kevin Korchinski played just 16 NHL games last season with two assists. Defensive-minded lefties Nolan Allan and Ethan Del Mastro both held their own in NHL minutes last season but are far from finished products. Grzelcyk offers a safe plug-and-play option as their second lefty behind Vlasic, buying them time to sort out everyone else’s readiness. Leaving him on a tryout gives the Blackhawks an easy out if they do decide to let names like Allan and Korchinski run with regular minutes out of the gate.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top