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Mammoth Place Andrew Agozzino On Waivers

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The Mammoth announced Wednesday that they’ve placed forward Andrew Agozzino on waivers. If he clears on Thursday, he’ll head to AHL Tucson.

Utah will have an open roster spot either today or tomorrow, depending on whether they move Agozzino to the non-roster list while he’s on waivers. They have a few players on injured reserve, including forward Alexander Kerfoot, who was listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury at the beginning of training camp. If he’s nearing a return, that could be the impetus for Agozzino’s waiver placement.

Agozzino, 34, made an NHL opening night roster for the first time in his 15-year professional career this fall. He has 53 games of NHL experience, but before this year, he hadn’t touched NHL ice since March 2023 with the Sharks. The 5’10” winger signed a two-year, two-way deal with Utah in 2024 and played out last season with Tucson, recording 20 goals and 43 points in 55 games.

The Ontario native has long been a premier point producer in the minors. In a remarkable 791 career AHL games, second-most among active NHL/AHLers, he has a 265-358–623 scoring line. That’s quite the career for an undrafted player, who first landed a pro contract from the Avalanche’s minor-league affiliate back in 2012. Utah is his sixth NHL organization, following stops in Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Ottawa, and San Jose.

Agozzino appeared in the Mammoth’s first two games of the season but hasn’t played since, sitting as a scratch in five straight. He went 3-for-7 on faceoffs and averaged just 6:08 of ice time per game, staying off the scoresheet aside from a block and four hits. Utah was out-attempted 14-5 at even strength in his limited minutes.

Golden Knights Recall Carl Lindbom, Jaycob Megna

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The Golden Knights announced they’ve recalled goaltender Carl Lindbom and defenseman Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson. They only had one open roster spot, and they created another by moving defenseman Noah Hanifin to injured reserve, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. With insufficient cap space, there’s another corresponding transaction still to come.

That move will likely be an IR/LTIR shift or placement. Right now, Mark Stone is on standard injured reserve and is week-to-week with a wrist injury. If they expect him to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, they can transfer him to LTIR, retroactive to Oct. 18, and increase their LTIR pool by roughly $3.5MM, given their current cap space ($310,275, per PuckPedia).

Lindbom’s recall indicates they expect Adin Hill to miss some time after he departed Monday’s game against the Hurricanes in the first period. It’s an apparent lower-body injury for Hill, who reacted awkwardly after flashing his left leg to make a save (video via B/R Open Ice). It was the second time in under a week that he’d left a start early due to injury. A retroactive IR placement would rule him out of Vegas’ next two games and make him eligible for activation on Oct. 28.

In the meantime, Lindbom gets the call from Henderson to man the Knights’ crease with Akira Schmid. While Carter Hart is with the team on a tryout, he’s ineligible to play until Dec. 1 as a result of his suspension following a not-guilty verdict in connection with a sexual assault charge. Until he’s a factor, Lindbom is an intriguing call-up option. The 22-year-old was a seventh-round pick back in 2021 but has quickly seen his stock rise following some standout performances in Sweden’s top two pro leagues. He arrived in North America last season and spent the year exclusively with Henderson, recording a .912 SV% and 2.65 GAA in 36 appearances. This year, he’s off to a pristine start with a 1.00 GAA and .958 SV% in two showings for the Silver Knights.

Any playing time would mean his NHL debut. While Schmid is undefeated in his four appearances, he doesn’t have overly inspiring numbers with a .899 SV% and 2.57 GAA. He hasn’t been a significant drag by any stretch, but has still allowed 0.6 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. With him and Hill both posting tepid numbers out of the gate, it would make sense to give one of their top prospects a look, but amid a tough road trip through Florida and Carolina, they may be hesitant to do so.

Megna arrives to give the Knights an extra defenseman on hand for their road trip. They were only rostering six healthy ones without Hanifin, who hasn’t played since the season opener because of an undisclosed injury. Since he’s already missed more than a week, he’s eligible for activation at any time.

The 33-year-old Megna signed a two-year, $1.6MM deal with Vegas in the offseason and cleared waivers a few weeks back on his way to Henderson. The veteran of 193 NHL games has an assist, six penalty minutes, and a plus-two rating through his first four appearances with the minor-league club. With No. 7 Ben Hutton playing well since being inserted into the lineup for Hanifin, it’s unlikely Megna will see action unless another injury pops up. Hutton has two assists and a plus-three rating through six games while averaging 15:54 of ice time per night.

Islanders’ Pierre Engvall Unlikely To Play This Season

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Islanders winger Pierre Engvall is unlikely to play this season after undergoing ankle surgery on Tuesday, general manager Mathieu Darche told reporters today (via Andrew Gross of Newsday).

Engvall had already started the season on injured reserve after he had a hip procedure performed over the offseason. Still, he was expected to be able to return sometime around the season opener. That didn’t come to pass, and there hadn’t been an update on his status in several weeks.

Engvall will now be eligible for long-term injured reserve, meaning the Islanders can exceed the salary cap by up to his $3MM cap hit with an optimal capture. If injuries pile up, they’ll take advantage. As things stand, they don’t have enough cap space ($702,490) for a standard recall, per PuckPedia.

The lost season dots what’s been a rather disastrous run on Long Island for Engvall since he signed a seven-year, $21MM contract with the club in the 2023 offseason. He was picked up from the Maple Leafs at the previous season’s trade deadline and looked like a potential long-term top-nine piece. He averaged north of 15 minutes per game down the stretch and produced a 5-4–9 scoring line in 18 games – a 41-point clip – and comprised the second line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.

In his first season under the long-term deal, Engvall’s usage remained consistent, but his production didn’t. He only managed 10 goals and 28 points in 74 games, down from the 30-plus points he’d locked in over the prior two years spent mostly in Toronto. He can naturally be a frustrating player to watch at times, given his relative lack of physicality for his 6’6″ frame, so a dropoff in scoring made for a considerable dropoff in his perceived value.

Last year, his first full season under head coach Patrick Roy, Engvall failed to reverse the slide. He became a semi-regular healthy scratch, appearing in 62 games. When dressed, his ice time dipped to under 12 minutes per game. His scoring suffered in kind, churning out an 8-7–15 line with a career-worst minus-seven rating.

After the Islanders signed Jonathan Drouin and Max Shabanov in free agency this past offseason, it was clear they weren’t penciling Engvall into a spot in the opening night lineup, even if he was going to be healthy. Before his injury designation, he was a speculative waiver candidate after passing through unclaimed twice last season.

If his recovery from ankle surgery stretches past the end of the regular season, it could prevent the Islanders from pursuing a buyout of his contract. If he’s healthy enough to be on the receiving end of one, though, it might be something they consider at a flat cost of $1MM against the cap for the next eight years compared to $3MM for the next four, although that drops to under $2MM if he’s in the minors.

Sharks Reassign Luca Cagnoni

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Oct. 22: The Sharks announced Wednesday they’ve reassigned Cagnoni back to AHL San Jose. He did not play in the lone game he was rostered for, a 4-3 loss to the Islanders last night. His demotion indicates John Klingberg should be back in the lineup tomorrow against the Rangers after missing three games with a lower-body injury. While he didn’t play yesterday, he was a full participant in morning skate, Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest relays.

Oct. 19: The San Jose Sharks have recalled Luca Cagnoni, one of their top defensive prospects, from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. In a corresponding move, the team placed defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin on injured reserve. Mukhamadullin is dealing with an upper-body injury and is now set to miss the team’s upcoming four-game road trip.

Although the Sharks have one of the NHL’s more crowded bluelines at this point (this recall gives them eight healthy defensemen, per Puckpedia’s tracking) this move is nonetheless an opportunity for Cagnoni. The 20-year-old 2023 fourth-round pick had an exceptional debut campaign in pro hockey last year, amassing 52 points in 64 AHL games en route to AHL All-Rookie Team honors.

An undersized left-shot defenseman, Cagnoni’s calling card has always been his ability to generate offense from the blueline. While it’s still likely too early in the season to assess overall trends for teams, the Sharks currently rank 28th in goals scored per game and have scored just four goals in their last three games.

Should Cagnoni get into any NHL games due to this recall, the move could potentially help spark the Sharks’ offense due to the creativity Cagnoni offers from the blueline. Cagnoni has six NHL games on his résumé from last season, wherein he registered two points.

While Cagnoni appears unlikely to displace Dmitry Orlov or Mario Ferraro as one of the Sharks’ top-two left-side blueliners (at least at this point in his career), it’s possible the Sharks could give Sam Dickinson (who is still just 19 years old) a breather and dress Cagnoni for a game instead.

Such a move would not be without precedent: the Pittsburgh Penguins scratched rookie blueliner Harrison Brunicke as part of a larger development plan to keep their young blueliner “fresh” and capable of sustaining a high level of play.

Since Dickinson is occupying a second-unit power play role with John Klingberg injured, it’s also a possibility that Cagnoni gets a look there should they elect to give Dickinson a game off.

Regardless of whether Cagnoni ultimately gets into NHL games as a result of this recall or not, it’s nonetheless an encouraging sign for the young blueliner’s long-term future that he’s already being called upon as an option for the NHL roster.

Bruins Place Jordan Harris On IR, Recall Michael Callahan

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The Bruins announced they’ve placed defenseman Jordan Harris on injured reserve. His roster spot is going to Michael Callahan, who’s been called up from AHL Providence in the corresponding move.

Rarely does an IR announcement come before any sort of injury designation, but that’s the case with Harris. He played in last night’s loss to the Panthers and, with 15:20 of ice time, shouldered his usual workload. The 25-year-old is averaging 15:38 through five games in his first year in Boston. The Massachusetts native signed a one-year deal worth $825,000 over the offseason and won the job as the Bruins’ extra defender out of training camp, but has drawn into action frequently over the past couple of weeks while Hampus Lindholm has been in and out due to a lower-body injury.

So far, he’s been a pleasant surprise. He’s scored a goal, something that no other Boston defender other than Nikita Zadorov can say this season. He’s recorded three blocks and four hits with strong possession impacts at even strength, leading the Bruins’ rearguards with a 57.1 CF% at even strength. He’s routinely comprised the third pairing with Andrew Peeke, a duo that’s controlled 53.5% of expected goals but has been outscored 3-2, according to MoneyPuck.

Now, they’ll be without him for at least seven days. Boston has a tight schedule to close the month and will have played four games by the time Harris is eligible to come off IR next Wednesday. His earliest potential return date is Oct. 30 against the Sabres.

If the Bruins continue to sit Lindholm, Callahan will be in line for his season debut tomorrow versus the Ducks. The 26-year-old is entering his sophomore season after skating in 17 games with the B’s last year, scoring once with a minus-five rating. The 6’2″ lefty managed nine shots on goal and projects as a semi-reliable, unassuming No. 7/8 option long-term. Considering he started nearly three-quarters of his even-strength shifts last year in the defensive end, his subpar 43.8 CF% is understandable. In four games with Providence this season, he’s still searching for his first point but has a plus-one rating.

Predators Assign Brady Martin To OHL

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The Predators announced Wednesday that they’ve assigned center Brady Martin to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. They now have two open roster spots, although roster considerations aren’t playing a factor in this move.

Martin, 18, has seen his stock rise more than most prospects over the past year. Viewed as a late first-round selection early in 2024-25, he rocketed his way up draft boards enough to earn the call at fifth overall from Nashville. That was fueled by an offensive explosion in juniors from the physical pivot, who produced 33 goals and 72 points in 57 games for the Greyhounds after recording just 10 goals and 28 points in 52 games the year prior.

That carried over into the preseason, where Martin converted a two-goal, one-assist performance in four games into a spot on Nashville’s opening roster submission. Initially, it looked like he would get quite a long leash. Martin started the opener on the top line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly, but only factoring in at even strength meant he only averaged 12:42 of ice time through a pair of games, recording an assist and an even rating, before the Predators scratched him in what they referred to as a preset development plan. Martin ended up sitting in the press box for four straight before re-entering the lineup for last night’s loss to the Ducks. He only skated 10:51 but managed his first two career shots on goal, along with one block and going 2-for-6 on faceoffs.

Yet Martin, still a raw prospect, needs playing time more than anything else. He’ll get that now in spades in Sault Ste. Marie, where he’ll be their top skater and should aim to be among the OHL’s leading scorers at season’s end, at least in terms of points per game. The demotion to the Greyhounds is permanent for the remainder of 2025-26, save for an extremely rare emergency exception in a catastrophic injury situation or until the Soo’s season comes to an end.

Martin still checks in as the Preds’ No. 1 prospect and is the highest-ceiling middle-man they’ve developed in-house in years. After another close-to-full season of development in juniors, he’ll be given plenty of leeway to secure a more permanent slot in Nashville’s forward group to begin the 2026-27 campaign.

Since Martin played fewer than 10 games before being sent back to juniors, his entry-level contract will not take effect this season and will not count toward Nashville’s 50-contract limit. He is now on track to reach restricted free agency in 2029 with an additional four years of team control after that. He still earns his $97,500 signing bonus for 2025-26, bringing his cap hit down from $975,000 to $942,500 for next year.

A corresponding recall in the coming days should still be expected. With Martin no longer in the picture, the Predators aren’t carrying any extra forwards with them. As things stand, they’ll need to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Canucks tomorrow if Jonathan Marchessault, who’s missed the last two games with a lower-body issue, can’t play.

Blue Jackets Reassign Dysin Mayo

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Oct. 22: The Blue Jackets announced they’ve loaned Mayo back to Cleveland. He was rostered for last night’s 5-1 win over the Stars but did not play. The team is hoping for Gudbranson to be available for their game against the Penguins on Saturday, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports, so Mayo’s services as a healthy extra are no longer needed.

Oct. 19: The Blue Jackets announced they’ve recalled defenseman Dysin Mayo from AHL Cleveland. They’ve been operating with an open roster spot since their initial submission earlier this month, so no corresponding transaction is required.

The move is spurred by an injury to veteran righty Erik Gudbranson, who’s sat out the last three games with an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day. Two of those three games were at home. They’re now headed to Dallas on a mini road trip and would presumably like Mayo around as extra insurance in case another injury arises.

If Mayo plays, it will be his first NHL appearance since February 2023 with the Coyotes. The 29-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Blue Jackets in the offseason. The depth defender cleared waivers during the preseason and has recorded two assists, four PIMs, and an even rating through his first four appearances for Cleveland.

His NHL work is hard to gauge since it all came on a patchwork Arizona defense corps in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. He logged 82 appearances in those two years, including 67 as a rookie after spending five seasons with their AHL affiliate in Tucson. He’s been a decently stable two-way presence in the minors and even managed a 4-8–12 scoring line for the Yotes, but his defensive stats are understandably subpar. Overtaxed out of the gate (he played over 20 minutes per game in 2021-22), he has a career -30 rating with a CF% of just 40.1 and an xGF% of 37.8 at even strength.

Mayo, a 6’0″ righty, plays a similar physical brand to the injured Gudbranson. His 129 hits actually led Arizona’s defensemen in 2021-22. Summoning him ahead of higher-ceiling youngsters like Corson Ceulemans and Stanislav Svozil is no accident. Inserting him in the lineup would give Columbus an even lefty/righty balance again after dressing four lefties and two righties in Gudbranson’s absence. Jake Christiansen, who started the year as the Blue Jackets’ healthy extra but was forced into action with Gudbranson’s injury, has a -1 rating through three showings and has skated just 8:37 of ice time per game, absurdly low for a defender.

Mayo can remain on Columbus’ NHL roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games until he needs to clear waivers again to return to Cleveland.

Sabres Reassign Joshua Dunne

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The Sabres announced Wednesday that they’ve loaned forward Joshua Dunne to AHL Rochester. They now have two open roster spots, one of which will go to goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as he comes off injured reserve following yesterday’s news that he’s been assigned to Rochester on a conditioning stint. The other will go to winger Beck Malenstyn, who’s returned to the team after taking paternity leave and was on the non-roster list, per Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550.

Dunne’s first recall of the season lasted nearly two weeks. He was summoned from Rochester on Oct. 10 after Zach Benson took a puck to the face, resulting in a hospital visit, and after Joshua Norris sustained an oblique injury in the season’s first game. Benson has since returned and has six assists in three games, although Norris is on IR and will remain there until mid-December.

Recalled to serve as a depth piece rather than a lineup fixture, Dunne only appeared in two out of five games on his recall. The soon-to-be 27-year-old saw ice on Oct. 13 against the Avalanche and last Monday against the Canadiens, but only averaged 6:30 of ice time. The 6’4″, 208-lb pivot factored in on the wing and, aside from recording three hits, didn’t have a tangible impact. His ice time was down even further from the already-slim 7:06 per game he saw in a two-game look with Buffalo last year.

The Missouri native has 18 games of NHL experience but is still looking for his first point. Fourteen of them came with the Blue Jackets, where he first signed as an undrafted free agent out of Clarkson in 2021. He’s in the back half of a two-year, $1.55MM deal he signed with Buffalo in the 2024 offseason that carried a two-way structure last year but guarantees him the full NHL league minimum of $775,000 in 2025-26. In 202 career AHL appearances, 68 of which came with Rochester, he has a 46-48–94 scoring line with 194 PIMs and a minus-three rating.

Malenstyn could take Dunne’s place in the lineup when the Sabres host the Red Wings tonight. Since he was on the non-roster list and not on injured reserve, he doesn’t need to miss seven days since his last appearance. Through five games before exiting the lineup, he had no points with a minus-two rating and 13 hits while averaging 9:52 of ice time per game.

Islanders Name Sergei Naumov Goaltending Coach

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The Islanders have promoted AHL Bridgeport goaltending coach Sergei Naumov to the same role on their NHL bench, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Wednesday. Piero Greco, who had been the team’s goaltending coach since the 2018-19 season, has been relieved of his duties.

Naumov, 56, is a relatively new addition to the organization. He was brought in as Bridgeport’s goalie coach ahead of the 2024-25 season. The native of Latvia had spent the previous 15 years coaching goalies in the Kontinental Hockey League. He made stops with Dinamo Riga (2009-12), Donbass Donetsk (2012-14), Atlant Mytishchi (2014-15), Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (2015-18), and CSKA Moscow (2018-24).

In Moscow, Naumov worked with star starter Ilya Sorokin in the final two seasons of his international career before he made the jump to Long Island. The 2018-19 campaign, in particular, was some of Sorokin’s best work. In 40 appearances, he logged a 1.16 GAA, .940 SV%, 11 shutouts, and a 28-6-4 record. He led the league in shutouts before leading CSKA to a Gagarin Cup championship, recording a playoff-leading 1.19 GAA and earning MVP honors.

With Sorokin off to an unusually rough start in 2025-26, today’s change is clearly targeted at getting him back to top form with a coach that, theoretically, knows precisely what buttons to push. It took the 30-year-old until last night, his fifth start of the season, to record a save percentage above .900. On the year, he has a .873 SV% with a 3.90 GAA and a 2-3-0 record. He has conceded 1.7 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. That number is 53rd out of the 63 goalies to see action so far and marks the first time in his six-year NHL career that he’s flirted with below-average territory.

In a league where goaltending is increasingly volatile from year to year, few can say they boast the consistency that Sorokin has brought with him since making the jump from the KHL. After spending the 2020-21 campaign as countryman Semyon Varlamov’s backup, Sorokin assumed the No. 1 job from 2021-22 onward and has finished top 10 in Vezina Trophy voting on every occasion, including a sixth-place finish last year and runner-up honors in 2022-23.

Of course, it’s still only October. There’s plenty of runway left for Sorokin to turn on the jets and come up with another All-Star-caliber season. He showed signs of it last night, allowing a season-low three goals on a season-high 36 shots faced against the Sharks. But evidently, the Islanders had developed enough concern with what they’ve seen technically from Sorokin to open the season to feel a significant and prompt change was necessary.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Detroit Red Wings

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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 Atlantic Division, next up are the Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings

Current Cap Hit: $83,641,833 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (three years, $942.5K)
D Simon Edvinsson (one year, $894.1K)
F Emmitt Finnie (three years, $821.7K)
F Marco Kasper (two years, $886.7K)
D Axel Sandin Pellikka (three years, $918.3K)

Potential Bonuses
Brandsegg-Nygard: $500K
Edvinsson: $850K
Kasper: $1MM
Sandin Pellikka: $500K
Total: $2.85MM

Considering the season he had overseas, it was a bit surprising to see Brandsegg-Nygard break camp with Detroit but tying for the league lead in preseason goals and points earned him a spot.  Considering he’s just starting out, it’s too early to forecast another contract but if he wants a long-term second contract, he’ll need to be established as a regular top-six player by the time it expires.  Finnie was another training camp surprise where his preseason efforts earned him a spot.  He’s in the same boat as Brandsegg-Nygard when it comes to his next deal though.

That can’t quite be said for Kasper.  His first full NHL season was a strong one where he was in the top six more often than not.  If he stays on that trajectory, he’s someone who could plausibly bypass a bridge deal.  In this market of escalating salaries, a deal might push into the $7.5MM territory even if he remains more of a second liner at that time.  Meanwhile, a bridge pact would check in with a number likely starting with a four.

Sandin Pellikka is also in his first full year in North America and while many expected he’d at least start the season in AHL Grand Rapids, he also broke camp with the big club.  If he has the type of impact they hope he will (as an offensive top-four defender), he’s someone that they might look to sign to a long-term deal coming off his entry-level pact.  But again, it’s far too early to forecast, given that he’s only a handful of games into his NHL career.

Edvinsson is a different case.  A full-time top-four player in his rookie year, he’s someone who appears to be living up to his lofty draft billing.  GM Steve Yzerman doesn’t dole out a lot of long-term deals but this is a case where it wouldn’t be surprising to see him try to do so.  They did this with another young blueliner recently who we’ll get to later but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them use that price tag as an internal ceiling for an Edvinsson extension.

Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level

F Jonatan Berggren ($1.825MM, RFA)
D Jacob Bernard-Docker ($875K, RFA)
D Ben Chiarot ($4.75MM, UFA)
D Erik Gustafsson ($2MM, UFA)
D Travis Hamonic ($1MM, UFA)
D Justin Holl ($3.4MM, UFA)
F Patrick Kane ($3MM, UFA)
G Cam Talbot ($2.5MM, UFA)
F James van Riemsdyk ($1MM, UFA)

Potential Bonuses
Kane: $4MM
van Riemsdyk: $750K
Total: $4.75MM

Once again, it took until the eve of free agency for Kane and the Red Wings to work a deal out.  This one gave him a bit less in guaranteed money by $1MM but added $1.5MM in incentives, giving him a chance at beating his earnings from last season.  He’ll earn $2.5MM of those after just 10 games and another $500K by the time he reaches 50 games so as long as he stays healthy, he’s a $6MM player this season.  In this market, that’s not a bad price tag for a winger who is probably best served as a second-line winger at this point but can move up in a pinch.  While he turns 37 next month, he could plausibly keep playing for another couple of seasons with this type of contractual structure.

Berggren was largely a regular last season after spending most of his sophomore year in the minors but wasn’t able to match his rookie-season numbers, yielding this bridge deal this summer.  He’ll need to establish himself a little higher on the depth chart or he risks becoming a non-tender candidate when he gains arbitration eligibility next summer.  As for van Riemsdyk, he didn’t need a late-summer deal this time around after a decent showing in a depth role with Columbus.  Notably, $500K of his bonuses are playoff-dependent while the other $250K kicks in at 50 GP.  At this point in his career, he’s likely to remain around this price point on one-year deals.

Chiarot’s contract was a surprise three summers ago, both in terms of money and term.  He remains a top-four blueliner for Detroit but is someone who is trending more toward being a fourth or fifth defender given that he’ll be 35 when his next contract begins.  A two-year deal could still be doable but a drop down to a price tag starting with a three looks likely at this point.  Holl has cleared waivers for the second straight year and is in Grand Rapids where his cap charge has dropped to $2.25MM.  If he made half of what he makes now, there might have been a taker for him on waivers.  Accordingly, despite teams passing on him for free now, there still could be enough of a market for him to land around $1.5MM on a one-year prove-it type of contract next summer.

Gustafsson had a so-so first season in Detroit as an offense-first defender, picking up 18 points in 60 games but also struggling defensively.  He lost his roster spot and is now in the minors, carrying a reduced cap charge of $875K.  He’s likely to land closer to half of his current cap charge unless he’s able to come back and be productive.  Hamonic was a depth defender last season in Ottawa and has had a similar role this season.  At 35 and with some heavy lifting in minutes in his prime, he’s unlikely to land much more than this if he gets a contract for next season.  Bernard-Docker also spent most of last season in a depth role with the Senators and is merely looking to establish himself as a full-time player.  He’s arbitration-eligible but unless he’s a regular, he’ll be a non-tender candidate, even if they want to keep him around since he entered the season with 144 games of NHL experience already.

Talbot was brought in via free agency in 2024 to help shore up the goaltending position.  However, he was more of a platoon-level piece than a true starter, resulting in them attempting to shore up that spot this past summer.  Still, this price tag for a serviceable backup at a minimum is pretty reasonable in this market.  He’ll be heading into his age-39 year if he looks to play next season so his next contract, if there is one, should be a one-year pact around this price point.

Signed Through 2026-27

F Mason Appleton ($2.9MM, UFA)
F Andrew Copp ($5.625MM, UFA)
F Alex DeBrincat ($7.875MM, UFA)
G John Gibson ($6.4MM, UFA)
D Albert Johansson ($1.125MM, RFA)
F Elmer Soderblom ($1.125MM, RFA)

While the idea of signing a medium-term deal has grown in popularity around the league lately while looking for a more favorable cap environment next time, DeBrincat was one of the first to do so after being acquired in 2023.  It bought Detroit three extra years of control but allows DeBrincat to hit the open market at 29.  A max-term contract should be achievable for him at that time and given his offensive consistency as a legitimate top-six winger who typically collects between 65 and 70 points most years, he should be in a good position to push past the $10MM mark.  Detroit won’t be able to use an internal ceiling if they want to retain him.

Copp was brought in via free agency in 2022 on the heels of a career year offensively.  He hasn’t been able to match that in Detroit although he brings enough other elements to the table to give them at least a reasonable return.  Still, even in this inflated market, he’ll be hard-pressed to match this price tag if he remains in the 30-point range offensively.  However, another multi-year deal should be doable at least.

Appleton had a quiet contract year in Winnipeg which limited his market this summer.  However, if he can get back to the 30-point range where he was in 2023-24, he could push for something closer to the $4MM range on his next deal.  Soderblom split the last two seasons between Detroit and AHL Grand Rapids, making a low-cost bridge deal this summer a guarantee.  He’ll have arbitration rights two years from now and if he’s a regular in their bottom six, doubling this cost doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Johansson got his first taste of NHL action last season, seeing regular action on the third pairing.  Given the inexperience, a bridge deal was the only play here as well.  Like Soderblom, he’ll have arbitration rights next time out and assuming he remains a regular top-six piece, doubling this price tag (at a minimum) should be doable.

Gibson was much better in Anaheim last season after some tough years but with Lukas Dostal in place as the starter of the present and future, the Ducks opted to move him with Yzerman seeking another short-term upgrade.  If he can get back to being a starting-caliber netminder, the Red Wings will do quite well with what’s left of this contract.  However, if he remains more of a platoon piece, he’ll be a considerable overpayment, albeit one they can easily afford right now.  He might be more in the $5MM range on his next deal, if not a bit lower.

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