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Ottawa Senators Finalize Purchase Of LeBreton Flats Land

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The idea of a new stadium for the Ottawa Senators is finally coming to fruition. Earlier today, the National Capital Commission (NCC) and Capital Sports Development Inc. (CSDI) announced the agreement of purchase and sale of the LeBreton Flats (roughly 11 acres of land) to the Senators.

It’s a major step in the right direction for the Senators to move on from the Canadian Tire Centre, which broke ground in 1994 and opened in 1996. The Canadian Tire Centre has been the home of the Ottawa-based franchise since the team’s relocation from the Ottawa Civic Centre.

There are several issues regarding the Senators’ continued presence at the Canadian Tire Centre. For one, the stadium is located a fair distance southwest of downtown Ottawa, which makes it unnecessarily difficult to get to with common forms of transportation. In contrast, the LeBreton Flats land parcel is located in downtown Ottawa, adjacent to the Ottawa River, and is only a short walk from Parliament Hill.

Outside of the relatively long distance to the game, the Canadian Tire Centre has suffered the normal wear and tear that would be expected of any stadium that has stood for nearly 30 years. The typical life span of any sports stadium is roughly 30 to 50 years, with those that have existed for longer requiring fairly pricey renovations. Michael Andlauer, the relatively new principal owner of the Senators franchise, has chosen to build a new stadium altogether.

In a statement from the team, Senators’ President and CEO, Cyril Leeder, said, “We are pleased to reach an agreement of purchase and sale with the NCC to take the next step in this process. There are still many more hurdles to clear and we look forward to working with the NCC and other stakeholders to achieve our shared vision of creating an event centre at LeBreton Flats that can be enjoyed by our Ottawa-Gatineau community.“

Snapshots: Datsyuk, Voit, Simpson

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On a press run for his upcoming “Magic Game” in his hometown of Yekaterinburg, Russia, Detroit Red Wings legend Pavel Datsyuk made a surprisingly bold claim about his former team in a recent interview with Sergey Demidov of RG Media. Throughout his playing career, Datsyuk was a prototypical hockey player when it came to conversations with the media, making only plain statements if he chose to speak with them, which makes his recent comments seem somewhat out of character.

In the interview, Datsyuk claimed that Detroit’s rebuild is taking longer than normal, given the unprecedented run of success they had from the mid-1990s to the mid-2010s. Either knowingly or unknowingly took a shot at Detroit’s leadership on the ice, saying, “Perhaps what the team lacks is standout leaders – but that’s true not only for Detroit, it applies to hockey in general. Players are maturing more slowly these days, and some never mature at all, staying teenagers forever.”

The comment raises concerns about how effectively Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, and Patrick Kane are guiding the Red Wings in the right direction. This uncertainty may also extend to the next generation of Detroit’s stars, including Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider.

Datsyuk certainly has a leg to stand on when it comes to the leadership required for sustained success at the NHL level. His career began during the 2001-02 season on a Red Wings team that boasted 10 future Hall of Famers at the time, and he was a part of the most recent Detroit team to qualify for the postseason during the 2015-16 season.

Other snapshots:

  • According to a team announcement, the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, affiliate of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, have added to their forward depth with a new signing. The Grizzlies have signed former 2021 fifth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ty Voit, to a one-year contract for the 2025-26 season. Voit spent last season with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, scoring eight goals and 37 points in 63 games. He had an impressive final season with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting in 2022-23, scoring 24 goals and 105 points in 67 games with a +16 rating.
  • The Boston Bruins’ third-round pick from the 2025 NHL Draft is on the move in the USHL. The USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms announced they have acquired Cooper Simpson from the Tri-City Storm for a collection of players and draft picks earlier today. Simpson scored seven goals and eight points in nine games for the Storm last season and has committed to the University of North Dakota beginning in the 2026-27 NCAA season.

Mikko Kokkonen Signs With Linköping HC

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The AHL’s Toronto Marlies are losing a quality defenseman from the past few years. According to a team announcement, the SHL’s Linköping HC has signed Mikko Kokkonen to a one-year contract for the 2025-26 season.

Kokkonen was drafted with the 84th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs from the Finnish Liiga’s Jukurit program. During his draft season, he scored three goals and 19 points in 56 games with a -16 rating. While the scoring may not be impressive at face value, he tied for the team lead among defensemen, which is notable for one of the youngest players on the roster.

His offensive production declined in the subsequent two seasons, recording four goals and 20 points in 89 games, along with a -23 rating from the start of the 2019-20 season to the end of the 2020-21 campaign. Still, the AHL Marlies brought him over for a brief time, and he performed well, scoring one goal and seven points in his first 11 contests.

He returned overseas for the 2021-22 season, scoring one goal and 15 points in 58 games, this time with the Liiga’s Pelicans. The 2022-23 season marked his full-time transition to North American hockey, and the transition was less than pleasant. Finishing the season without a goal, he only managed six assists in 36 contests.

The following two years were much more successful, finishing with eight goals and 33 points in 115 games, and adding another assist in five Calder Cup playoff matches. Linköping will be Kokkonen’s first appearance in the SHL, and he’ll play a part in helping them keep their heads above water for a second straight season. Last season, Linköping finished six points ahead of MoDo Hockey, narrowly avoiding relegation.

Snapshots: Tkachuk, Cozens, Red Wings

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The Tkachuk family has dominated late-summer headlines, leading to plenty of opportunities for the three NHL players – retired pro Keith Tkachuk, Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk, and Ottawa Senators star Brady Tkachuk – to sit down with media from across the hockey world. The one throughline from each conversation has been Brady’s desire to stick with the Ottawa Senators. He told as much to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, sharing that the team’s push into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs went far towards proving what the young core is capable of.

The Senators entered the 2024-25 season with one of the youngest rosters in the league – eighth-youngest, to be exact. They blazed through an incredibly successful season despite that, finishing the year with the top Eastern Conference Wild Card and just one point behind the eventual Cup-winning Panthers. Ottawa’s surge was spearheaded by young studs like Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, and Jake Sanderson. Those three were the only ones to score more than Tkachuk’s 29 goals and 55 points in 72 regular season games. But Tkachuk showed his importance to the squad when he led the team with four goals and seven points in six postseason games. Ottawa will return a fairly similar squad next season, and with a bode of confidence from their captain, may be able to find their way out of Wild Card standing or beyond the first round.

Other notes from around the league:

  • A key focus of the Senators’ 2025-26 season will be the performance of second-line center Dylan Cozens, who the team acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in a swap for Joshua Norris last Spring. Julian McKenzie of The Athletic shares that Cozens only needs to reach 20 goals, and maintain his all-around impact, to earn find a successful season. Cozens has only crossed the 20-goal mark once in his career – when he pushed for 31 goals and 68 points in the 2022-23 season. But he’s come close at other points, with 18 goals in 2023-24 and 16 goals last year. In fact, Cozens’ five goals in 21 games with the Senators perfectly paces him for a 20-goal performance across 82 games. That should be an achievable step for the 24-year-old centerman, though his goal will certainly be to further prove he can return to the heights of his 2023 scoring. Doing so could give Ottawa an ace up their sleeves as they look to one-up their performance from last year.
  • Years of stocking the prospect pool should begin to pay off for the Detroit Red Wings next season. They can expect three key prospects to emerge in the NHL per Max Bultman of The Athletic, who names forwards Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur, and goaltender Sebastian Cossa, as the young guns likely to break into the Detroit lineup next season. That should be an easy feat for Mazur and Cossa, who have both continuously shown their might at the AHL level. Mazur finished an injury-shortened season with 15 points in 20 AHL games, to go along with 37 points in 60 games in 2023-24. His hard-nosed style caught the eyes of Detroit’s top brass, but a freak injury cut his season down before he could play through a full NHL game. While he returns to the lineup, Cossa will aim to finally make the full-time jump, after serving as a pillar of consistency in the minor-leagues. He posted a .911 save percentage in 41 games last season, well in-line with the .913 save percentage he posted in 40 AHL games in 2023-24, and again in 46 ECHL in 2022-23. Among the bunch, it will be frail playmaker Nate Danielson who will have to show he can pop. Danielson played his first pro season last year, and scored an encouraging 39 points in 71 games. But on a Red Wings roster pushing for all they can get, he’ll need to show he can hold up to increasingly-challenging roles.

Five Key Stories: 8/4/25 – 8/10/25

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With training camps now a little more than a month away, a lot of teams are in summer vacation mode while there’s still time.  Although that has resulted in much more limited activity around the hockey world, there was still some news of note which we’ll cover in our key stories.

Schaefer Signs: The top pick in this year’s draft is now under contract as the Islanders signed defenseman Matthew Schaefer to a three-year, entry-level deal.  The agreement pays him $975K per season in the NHL plus another $3.5MM in potential bonuses.  Schaefer was limited to just 17 games with OHL Erie last season and was sidelined for the final few months after suffering a fractured clavicle in the second game of the World Juniors.  That said, he was dominant enough in his two-plus months of action to move him up the draft rankings, making him the consensus number one selection in this year’s class.  By signing now, Schaefer is no longer NCAA-eligible should he not make New York’s roster.

Vesey Heads Overseas: Veteran winger Jimmy Vesey had strong interest in free agency, just not from NHL clubs.  Teams from several leagues tried to sign him and in the end, he decided to sign in Switzerland, inking a two-year deal with Geneve-Servette.  The 32-year-old had a limited role with both the Rangers and Avalanche last season, notching eight points in 43 games.  Originally drafted by Nashville back in 2012, he decided not to sign with them, kickstarting a rarely seen process that saw him reach August 15th free agency and meet with many teams before joining the Rangers.  Overall, Vesey has played in 626 career NHL games over parts of nine seasons, tallying 101 goals and 93 assists.

Panthers Unlikely To Move Rodrigues: With Florida sitting $3.725MM over the salary cap per PuckPedia, many have been waiting for the other shoe to drop; who would be moved to get them back into compliance?  The answer is, for now at least, no one, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Panthers are unlikely to move forward Evan Rodrigues, the one player they could part with to get close to being cap-compliant.  Instead, it appears their intention is to start the season using LTIR with winger Matthew Tkachuk acknowledging that surgery is likely needed to fully repair the adductor injury he dealt with in the playoffs.  If that happens, he’d be expected to miss multiple months, allowing Florida to keep the rest of the group intact for at least a little while longer though they’d have to get compliant whenever Tkachuk was cleared to return.

Winger Signings: While Vesey signed overseas, two other UFA wingers found NHL contracts.  First, the Avalanche agreed to a one-year, $1.25MM deal with Joel Kiviranta.  The 29-year-old had a surprising 16 goals with Colorado last season after his previous career high in points in a single season was 11.  The deal gives Kiviranta a well-deserved raise while still being a reasonable enough price tag should his production drop back to normal levels.  Meanwhile, the Stars dipped their toes into the market as well, signing Nathan Bastian to a one-year, $775K contract.  The 27-year-old had 10 points and 138 hits in 59 games with New Jersey last season.  He’ll battle for a spot on the fourth line in training camp.

Varlamov To Resume Skating: Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov didn’t play at all last season after November due to a lingering knee injury.  They felt it was necessary to add some insurance in free agency when they signed David Rittich to a one-year deal.  However, it appears that Varlamov could be ready for training camp as he’s expected to resume skating in the near future.  The 37-year-old still has two years left on his contract at a $2.75MM AAV and while he’s coming off a down (injury-riddled) year, he has been one of the better backups in recent years.  Getting him back to form would be a nice boost heading into the season.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol-Imagn Images.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: New York Rangers

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Metropolitan Division, next up are the Rangers.

New York Rangers

Current Cap Hit: $94,722,024 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Scott Morrow (one year, $916.7K)

Potential Bonuses
Morrow: $350K

Morrow was part of the return for K’Andre Miller earlier this summer and he will look to establish himself as a full-time NHL player with his new team after playing sparingly with the Hurricanes.  Unless he can become a regular inside the top four, it’s unlikely his bonuses will be reached.  A bridge deal is likely down the road with a good showing this season potentially pushing that price past the $2MM mark.

Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level

F Jonny Brodzinski ($787.5K, UFA)
F Artemi Panarin ($11.643MM, UFA)
G Jonathan Quick ($1.55MM, UFA)
D Braden Schneider ($2.2MM, RFA)
D Carson Soucy ($3.25MM, UFA)

Potential Bonuses
Quick: $300K

Panarin’s pending free agency is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing ones.  Signed to a record-setting deal the last time he hit the open market back in 2019, that won’t be the case next summer but he should still have strong value.  Panarin has produced more than a point per game in each of his six seasons with the Rangers, while he’s fourth among all NHL players in points over that stretch, behind Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Nathan MacKinnon.  Pretty good company to be in.  However, he’ll also be 34 and nearly 35 when his next contract starts so his best days will soon be behind him.  A more medium-term agreement (three or four years) makes sense here and it’s possible such an agreement could land around the $10MM mark per season.

Brodzinski has done well the last couple of years, establishing himself as a back-of-the-roster player with a bit of offensive skill as he’s coming off a double-digit goal season.  Capable of playing center and the wing, he’s the type of lower-cost role player that could get a bit more interest next summer, giving him a chance to push past the $1MM mark for the first time in his career.

Soucy was acquired near the trade deadline in a move GM Chris Drury might already be regretting as he played limited minutes down the stretch.  He’s pricey for a sixth defender, especially with the team being tight to the Upper Limit.  That said, Soucy might still land close to this amount on the open market next summer.  Schneider had a solid first season of his bridge contract while locking down a top-four role for the first time.  He’s someone they’d probably like to sign to a longer-term deal next time out but that might run them closer to $6MM.  If they can’t afford that, then a one-year pact closer to $4MM might be the short-term fix.

Quick is back for his third season with the Rangers on his third one-year deal, an agreement that keeps going up in price each year.  His base salary isn’t likely to go too much higher, at least with New York as they look to keep the second-string spot affordable.  His bonuses are games played and performance-based but none of them are freebies; he’ll have to play with some regularity and perform well to get some of them.

Signed Through 2026-27

F Sam Carrick ($1MM, UFA)
F William Cuylle ($3.9MM, RFA)
F Justin Dowling ($775K, UFA)
F Adam Edstrom ($975K, RFA)
F Juuso Parssinen ($1.25MM, RFA)
F Taylor Raddysh ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Matt Rempe ($975K, RFA)
D Urho Vaakanainen ($1.55MM, UFA)

With the Rangers concerned about a possible offer sheet for Cuylle, they were able to get this done quickly enough to avoid the chance of that happening.  It’s on the higher end for a player who only has 66 career points under his belt but power forwards get paid early and often and this deal should hold up fine.  A long-term pact with arbitration rights next time out could come close to doubling this cost.  Raddysh came over in free agency from Washington where he managed a respectable 27 points in largely a limited role.  He’s not that far removed from a 20-goal campaign back with Chicago either but he’s likely to fill a regular spot in the bottom six.  Unless he can get back to that offensive form he briefly showed with the Blackhawks, Raddysh is likely to remain in this price range.

Parssinen’s stock has dropped after a season that saw him slide down the depth chart in Nashville and Colorado before being moved to the Rangers at the trade deadline where he still didn’t reach 10 minutes a night of playing time.  On the other hand, he’s still just 24 and has some room to stabilize.  He’ll be owed a $1.3MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights so he’ll need to show he can lock down a full-time role over the next two years or become a potential non-tender candidate as New York will want to keep its back-of-roster spots cheap.  Carrick was a low-cost add in free agency last summer and fared pretty well in a depth role, picking up 20 points and winning over 54% of his faceoffs.  If he can do that for two more years, he could set himself up for a jump closer to the $1.75MM mark.

Edstrom and Rempe both had brief stints with Hartford last season in between seeing largely fourth-line minutes with the Rangers, making bridge deals the obvious way to go.  They received identical contracts that buy the team more time to assess how much upside there still is.  If they progress, something in the $1.5MM after arbitration rights could be doable.  Dowling comes over from New Jersey after playing in a career-high 52 NHL games last season.  He’s someone whose roster spot could be a little tenuous while history has shown that he’s likely to stay at the minimum salary moving forward.

Vaakanainen came over from Anaheim as part of the Jacob Trouba trade and got an opportunity to play largely a regular role upon returning from an injury.  The 2017 first-round pick has been more of a depth player throughout his career but had arbitration rights which was enough to land him a small raise to avoid the risk of going to a hearing.  He’ll need to show he can be more than a depth option if he wants to get more than this moving forward.

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East Notes: Rangers, Alexeyev, Magnusson

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With most of the roster spots already set, there isn’t a lot of battles heading into training camp for the Rangers next month.  With that in mind, Larry Brooks of the New York Post believes (subscription link) that their biggest decision in camp might by on the captaincy front.  Namely, should they name one and if so, who might be the best candidate for the job?  New York went without a captain for the bulk of the season after moving Jacob Trouba to Anaheim back in December.  The Rangers have moved their last three captains within four years of them being appointed so ideally, whoever they name (if they name one) should be someone who’s going to be around for a while.  Brooks suggests J.T. Miller as a viable candidate for the role; he was acquired as a culture-changer and has five years left on his contract.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Speaking with RG’s Daria Tuboltseva, Penguins defenseman Alexander Alexeyev noted that he wasn’t surprised at being non-tendered by Washington back in June. The 25-year-old was a frequent healthy scratch last season, getting into just eight games during the regular season although he suited up more frequently in the playoffs.  With Alexeyev having arbitration rights, the Capitals knew early they’d be letting him go, informing his camp of the decision several weeks ahead of time.  Alexeyev added that he gave no consideration to returning home and playing in the KHL and instead, he signed for the league minimum with the Penguins and will look to earn a roster spot with them.
  • The Red Wings will be inviting defenseman Carl-Otto Magnusson to rookie camp next month, relays Hockey Sverige’s Rasmus Kagstrom. The 19-year-old spent last season in Frolunda’s system, playing primarily at their junior level where he had eight points in 44 games and also got into three contests in the SHL.  However, the six-foot-seven defender will suit up in North America this season after being a second-round pick by QMJHL Moncton in the CHL Import Draft.

Snapshots: Blackhawks, Mittelstadt, Chelios

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New Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill spoke at length to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times about his philosophy to steer the team out of its rebuild in an interview published Sunday.

That will revolve around making Chicago’s young forward group more backcheck-oriented. “The reason for that is, one, it’s a work-ethic indicator,” Blashill said, “…it’s one of the best ways to create transition offensive opportunities — by being smothering in your effort to come back as forwards. That allows your [defensemen] to gap up, create turnovers and go the other way.”

As Blashill states, that style of play should better suit one of the league’s youngest defense groups that’s heavily stocked with offensive-minded players. Doing so should help accentuate the strengths of names like 2022 No. 7 overall pick Kevin Korchinski, looking to get back on his feet after spending most of his sophomore professional season with AHL Rockford.

Blashill also clarified the responsibilities of his assistants. Anders Sorensen, staying on as an assistant after ending last season as their interim head coach, will manage the team’s defensemen. Incoming assistants Michael Peca and Mike Vellucci will both work with the forward group, while Peca oversees the penalty kill and Vellucci oversees the power play.

More from around the league this Sunday evening:

  • A tumultuous run for Casey Mittelstadt might continue. While the Bruins acquired him from the Avalanche at last year’s trade deadline in exchange for Charlie Coyle, the organization isn’t deadset on keeping him long-term and would listen to trade interest, James Murphy of RG reports. Mittelstadt was the most widely known portion of their trade return, but Boston’s focal point in the return for sending Coyle to Colorado was picking up the signing rights to forward prospect Will Zellers, a league source told Murphy. The 2024 third-rounder had 71 points in 52 games for the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers last season and will kick off his freshman year with North Dakota in a few weeks.
  • As the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star rebrands to the Shanghai Dragons, defenseman Jake Chelios won’t be staying with the team, per Anton Panchenko of Championat. The former Red Wings rearguard and son of Hall-of-Famer Chris Chelios had played for Kunlun since the 2019-20 season, ranking as the franchise’s all-time leader in games played. That was long enough for him to obtain Chinese nationality, allowing him to suit up for the country at the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Division 2A World Championship, and the 2023 Division 1B World Championship. The 34-year-old had just five points and a -25 rating in 31 appearances last season, though.

Poll: Who Will Be The Next RFA To Sign?

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The summer is winding down across the NHL, but a rich group of remaining restricted-free agents are keeping multiple teams from closing their books just yet. There are still multiple top, young players awaiting contracts for the 2025-26 season – including top-line features like Luke Hughes, Marco Rossi, and Mason McTavish. Pending any holdouts, it seems hard to imagine any of the top names not finding a new deal before the start of the season. But who will get the assurance next?

Hughes seems like a confident bet. There’s no denying the warm relationship between his family and the New Jersey Devils organization, and both team and player have already expressed interest in locking up a long-term contract. But that desire has been the exact hang-up in contract negotiations, as the Devils sit with just over $6.1MM in available cap space, per PuckPedia. Hughes scored 44 points in 71 games last year, and 47 points in 82 games in the year prior. That scoring is the second-most from any U23 defender in the NHL over the last two seasons, just behind Jake Sanderson (95 points) and ahead of Brock Faber (76 points).

Both Sanderson and Faber have already found their contracts for the future – each signing eight-year deals with cap hits north of $8MM. That seems to set a clear market for what Hughes, but it’s a price tag that New Jersey is currently priced out of. Landing a new deal with Hughes will seemingly take a gentleman’s agreement, or a supplemental move like parting with the $1.15MM cap hit of Kurtis MacDermid.

New Jersey’s holdups could pave way for Anaheim Ducks center McTavish to land a deal first. McTavish is another undeniable talent, who worked his way to a lofty 22 goals and 52 points in 76 games last season – good for second on the Ducks in scoring. He seems well set up for another big step next season, on an improved Ducks lineup with a new head coach. But McTavish’s continued divide with a rich Ducks team – currently wielding $20.54MM in cap space – has many speculating about what the two sides could be disagreeing on. That dialogue has made McTavish a top option for any team considering a late-summer offer sheet, though Anaheim’s rich cap space would make it tough to successfully buy McTavish. Instead, it seems the two sides will be tasked only with deciding between a short-term bridge deal or a deal that carries McTavish through his prime.

The Minnesota Wild will be facing a similarly challenging question with top center Marco Rossi. Rossi is another player who managed a true breakout last year, with 24 goals and 60 points in 82 games. He stepped into a prime role with the Wild in the second-half of the year, taking on the top-line center role with Joel Eriksson Ek out with injury and routinely earning north of 20 minutes of ice time. Rossi looked up to the task, but then was surprisingly relegated to a fourth-line role for Minnesota’s six postseason games. The Wild are clearly at ends with the question of whether Rossi’s 5-foot-9 frame can stand up to a true #1 role. That hang-up has made Rossi’s situation perhaps the most likely to drag through the pre-season. And still, it’s hard to imagine Minnesota will give up easily on their most recent top-10 draft pick. Rossi could be a strong candidate for a short-term, prove-it contract – which would give Minnesota the time to figure out his lineup role. The Wild sit with just over $9.4MM in cap space.

There are plenty of strong candidates to sign next outside of the big three names. The gap between the Calgary Flames and impressive center Connor Zary has been revealed as narrow. Multiple players have already carved out lineup roles with their signing team, and now only need the deal to prove it – players like Seattle’s Ryker Evans and Nashville’s Luke Evangelista. And other teams are merely one contract away from a full book, like the Vegas Golden Knights with winger Alexander Holtz. Any of those situations could quickly cave, and land another promising young player with the ramp they need for next season.

Who do you think will sign next? Answer in the poll below and let us know why in the comments:

Mobile users click here to vote.

Big Hype Prospects: DuPont, Verhoeff, Vanhatalo, Rogowski

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The 2025-26 season will kickoff on Monday for hockey’s scouting world, as many of the top U18 prospects from around the world join in Brno, Czechia and Trenčín, Slovakia for the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The tournament is one of the top non-IIHF sanctioned events of the hockey season, and features talents from eight different countries — this year from USA, Canada, Czechia, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland. It’s often the first chance for top draft picks to show their strength among an increasingly competitive group of peers. That makes now the perfect time to again borrow from MLB Trade Rumors’ Big Hype Prospect series to break down some of the top names to watch when pucks drop this week.

Four Big Hype Prospects

Landon DuPont, RD, Team Canada (Everett Silvertips, WHL)
2024-25 Season: 64 GP, 17 G, 43 A, 60 TP, 26 PIM, +31

There is little question about who the top prospect at this year’s Hlinka tournament will be – and, ironically, it’s not a player eligible for the draft in 2026. Instead it’s 16-year-old Landon DuPont, a true star talent coming off the highest-scoring season from a U16 defender in CHL history — by more than 20 points. DuPont is cut from a different cloth in many ways. He’s fantastically smooth on the puck and uses clean, long, and quick strides to cut through all three zones and create layup scoring chances. His vision is sharp and he’s firm on every decision, creating a player truly capable of taking over games on his own. DuPont has a special drive to succeed that should be put on full display as he gets his first opportunity to represent his country overseas. It would be no surprise to see DuPont – the son of European hockey veteran Micki DuPont – race towards the top of the Hlinka leaderboards and soon the top of the 2027 NHL Draft class.

Keaton Verhoeff, RD, Team Canada (University of North Dakota, NCHC)
2024-25 Season (Victoria, WHL): 63 GP, 21 G, 24 A, 45 TP, 14 PIM, +23

It is a rare and lucky moment when a head coach gets to call Keaton Verhoeff their second defender. He brings every bit of the star-power that Canada has become known for at this tournament. Verhoeff is a towering, beefy defender standing at 6-foot-4 and 212-pounds — and yet, he’s another incredibly smooth puck-handler, with a special instinct for how and when to dip into the offensive zone. He plays a game that thrives on gut calls, but lives on fundamentals – and shows as much talent in defending the rush or blocking out the slot as he does in making flashy, high-speed cuts to the offensive net. Team Canada has already named Verhoeff their captain for this tournament – and among the top questions for the week ahead will be how they wield his physical upside next to DuPont’s snappy creativity. Verhoeff is entering the season as a top-two name in the 2026 draft class. He’ll get his first chance to fortify that standing at this tournament, before heading to the NCAA alongside Victoria teammate and Calgary Flames prospect Cole Reschny for the 2025-26 season.

Vilho Vanhatalo, RW, Team Finland (Tappara, Finland U20)
2024-25 Season (Tappara, Finland U18): 41 GP, 37 G, 21 A, 58 TP, 38 PIM

Prospect chatter surrounding Finland has quieted in recent years, but their 2008 birth year seems well equipped to pull the country back into the spotlight. They’re a heavy-hitting group that features players like Oscar Hemming, Eelis Uronen, adn Anttoni Uronen – all the younger brothers of NHL prospects (Emil Hemming, Dallas; Tomas Uronen, Vegas). But the group is headlined by beefy goal-scorer Vilho Vanhatalo, a ground-and-pound shooter with multiple ways to best his opponents. Vanhatalo is strong with a huge frame – 6-foot-4 and 200-pounds – and an athletic stance. He’s also quick to make decisions and jump to the next play – making him hard to contain in the offensive end. He squares up to passes quickly, and has a true heft behind his shot. That’s helped Vanhatalo reach fantastic goal-scoring heights already, including leading Finland’s top U18 in the stat last season. He also scored a team-leading three points in four games for Finland at the World U-17 Hockey Championship, and continued to lead the country’s U17 squad with 14 points in 17 games in other international tournaments. Where goals need scored, Vanhatalo finds his way – making him an interesting second-tier name for this tournament and the 2026 draft.

Brooks Rogowski, C/RW, Team USA (Oshawa Generals, OHL)
2024-25 Season: 66 GP, 11 G, 12 A, 23 TP, 9 PIM, -3

Brooks Rogowski may not be the true top name on Team USA’s lineup, but he’ll certainly be the hardest to miss. Literally. The 17-year-old stands at 6-foot-6 and 227-pounds, and seems well positioned to take on top-six minutes for an American squad looking for players to step up. Rogowski was relatively unrefined through much of his rookie OHL season last year, but has earned the close attention of scouts – and even a commitment to Michigan State University – since the season has come to a close. That’s largely thanks to a training regiment focused in on making him smoother and quicker driving down the ice, and consequentially strong performances at the USA U17-Selects tournament and Hlinka Gretzky Cup invite camp. Rogowski will play second-string to USA’s stars – like hard-nosed center and 2027 draft prospect Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and flashy speedster and 2026 prospect Jack Hextall. But when it comes to playing a physically-imposing game geared towards driving the net, head coach Bob Motzko will find all he needs in Rogowski. This tournament will mark the giant’s first chance to rocket up his draft stock.

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