Utah Signs Alexander Kerfoot To One-Year Extension
After signing Olli Maatta to an extension back on Monday, Utah HC has taken another pending UFA off the market for this summer. The team announced that they’ve signed center Alexander Kerfoot to a one-year contract extension. While the financial terms weren’t disclosed by the team, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the deal will pay Kerfoot $3MM. GM Bill Armstrong released the following statement about the signing:
We are very pleased for Alex to remain in Utah. Alex is an important leader for our group with his versatility on the ice and leadership off the ice, and we look forward to having his continued contribution as we fight down the stretch to make the playoffs.
The 30-year-old is in his second year with the organization going back to his time in Arizona. But those two seasons have had considerably different trajectories. Last year with the Coyotes, Kerfoot had the second-best offensive season of his career, tallying 13 goals and 32 assists in 82 games while logging a career-best 17:26 per night. It looked like he’d be well on his way toward a long-term deal on his next contract if he could even match that level of performance.
But instead of producing at a similar level in 2024-25, Kerfoot’s output has dipped to the lowest levels of his eight-year NHL career. Through 61 outings this season, he has just seven goals and nine assists while his playing time has dropped by more than two minutes a game. While he is winning more than 50% of his faceoffs for the first time since his sophomore season, it’s fair to say his stock around the league has taken a hit.
To that end, it shouldn’t come as much surprise that Kerfoot opted to take just a one-year deal now, giving himself a chance at rebuilding some value before potentially taking a run at the 2026 free agent market when another big jump in the salary cap is expected. He’s also taking a small cut in pay in the process to stick around; next season will be the first time since the 2018-19 campaign that he hasn’t carried a $3.5MM charge against the salary cap.
With the signing, Utah now has $73.5MM in commitments for next season to 18 players, per PuckPedia. Those numbers could go up soon enough if they’re able to get goaltender Karel Vejmelka locked down on an extension, an outcome he’s known to be seeking.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Oilers Recall Max Jones And Cam Dineen On Emergency Basis
The Oilers have added some extra depth to their roster in advance of Thursday’s game against Montreal. The team announced that they’ve recalled winger Max Jones and defenseman Cam Dineen from AHL Bakersfield on an emergency basis.
Jones was acquired earlier this week from Boston as part of the trade that also saw them land Trent Frederic. He signed a two-year, $2MM contract with the Bruins early in free agency last summer but didn’t spend much time with them. Instead, he played in just seven games with Boston before passing through waivers unclaimed.
Since then, the 27-year-old had been playing in the minors with Providence before the recent swap. In his first taste of extended action in the AHL since the 2018-19 campaign, Jones has 13 goals and eight assists through 38 outings. If he plays for Edmonton on recall, he’s likely to be in the fourth-line role he has largely held throughout his career, one that spans 265 NHL games over parts of seven seasons.
As for Dineen, this is his second recall of the week on an emergency basis with the first being a one-day promotion. The 26-year-old has spent the season with the Condors where he has 29 points in 45 games, six shy of his career high set back in 2022-23. His last taste of NHL action came in 2021-22 when he got into 34 games with Arizona.
To make room on the roster, Frederic was moved to injured reserve. Edmonton now has the maximum of 23 players on its active roster although that maximum will only be in place until Friday.
Predators Acquire Michael Bunting
The Predators and Penguins have made a multi-player swap. Nashville has acquired winger Michael Bunting along with a 2026 fourth-round pick from Pittsburgh in exchange for center Thomas Novak and defenseman Luke Schenn.
Pittsburgh acquired Bunting last season as the most prominent part of the package from the Jake Guentzel trade with Carolina. However, the 29-year-old has struggled in his first full season with the Pens. Through 58 games this season, Bunting has just 14 goals and 15 assists. By comparison, he had 19 points in 21 games down the stretch last year and hasn’t recorded fewer than 49 points over the last three seasons, a streak that seems likely to come to an end.
Nashville will undoubtedly be hoping that the change of scenery will get him back to the level of production he had. They’re taking on the final year and a bit of a contract that carries a $4.5MM cap charge. When Bunting is at his best, he’s worth that type of money as a top-six winger who plays with an edge but he’ll be joining a team that has had several veterans underachieve this season.
The move is an interesting one from their standpoint. While the expectation was that they’d be looking for younger pieces who are longer-term fits, they actually get a little older up front with the swap while losing some club control with Novak still having two years left on his contract after this one. It suggests that GM Barry Trotz feels his team isn’t that far away from being a playoff contender once again and that a tweak or two to the forward group could propel them back in the right direction next season. Bunting won’t be able to help in the short term, however, as he is currently on IR after undergoing an appendectomy.
As for Pittsburgh’s return, Novak is the headliner. He’s a bit of a reclamation project himself as he’s in the midst of a down year as well. The 27-year-old had two straight seasons of more than 40 points heading into this one, a performance that earned him a three-year, $10.5MM contract a little before the trade deadline last March.
But, like many of Nashville’s players this season, Novak hasn’t been able to produce to expectations. He has just 13 goals and nine assists in 52 games while his playing time has dipped to just over 13 minutes a night. Meanwhile, his struggles at the faceoff dot continue as he’s winning just 43% of his draws which has resulted in him spending more time on the wing this year.
Clearly, Pittsburgh feels that a fresh start will be beneficial for Novak. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him moved back down the middle with a center group that’s on the older side, featuring Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kevin Hayes. If they can get Novak back to even being a capable third-line option, that would be a solid outcome for a team that clearly isn’t looking to rebuild despite being on pace to miss the playoffs for the third straight year.
Schenn, meanwhile, has been a fixture on the third pairing of several teams in recent seasons. After faring well with Vancouver and Toronto in the 2022-23 campaign, he signed a three-year, $8.25MM contract with Nashville in the 2023 offseason. But his role has been more limited with the Predators as he has barely averaged 15 minutes a night since joining them. While he brings plenty of physicality to the table – he has notched more than 200 hits in four straight years – he hasn’t been able to elevate himself to being higher than sixth on the depth chart. Meanwhile, he has just five points in 61 outings this season although offense has never been his calling card.
It will be interesting to see if Pittsburgh intends to hold onto Schenn or if they intend to flip him, just like they did earlier tonight with Vincent Desharnais. Despite Schenn’s struggles, his success at being a late-season addition before coupled with his toughness will undoubtedly have playoff-bound teams kicking the tires on the potential of him being moved once again. If it doesn’t happen, he’s likely to have the same role on the depth chart with the Penguins on their third pairing.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the players involved while Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic was first with the pick inclusion.
Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.
Sharks Acquire Vincent Desharnais
The Sharks have added some depth on the back end, acquiring defenseman Vincent Desharnais from Pittsburgh in exchange for a 2028 fifth-round pick. Both teams have announced the trade.
The 28-year-old’s stay with the Penguins was short-lived as he only spent 10 games with them after being acquired from Vancouver last month as part of the Marcus Pettersson trade. It has been a tough season for Desharnais who has struggled in his first season away from Edmonton. He has played in 44 games between the two teams but has just three assists along with 68 blocks and 73 hits while averaging 15:37 per game.
Desharnais is in the first year of a two-year, $4MM contract signed back in July following a stint in Edmonton where he worked his way up from a minor league deal to eventually landing a regular spot on their third pairing. Now, he’ll try to reclaim a full-time spot in San Jose’s lineup.
While it might seem odd for San Jose to be adding to their roster, Desharnais is a low-cost pickup from an acquisition standpoint while the extra year on his contract isn’t an issue for a team projected to have plenty of cap space for next season. If he can get back to being a full-timer, it’s possible they’ll be better poised to flip him for a stronger return at this time next year. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh sheds a contract they had to take on to facilitate last month’s swap with the Canucks, opening up some extra cap space which it appears they’ll put to use quite quickly.
Predators Assign Kieffer Bellows To AHL
The Predators have opened up a roster spot in advance of their game against Seattle on Thursday. The team announced that winger Kieffer Bellows has been assigned back to AHL Milwaukee.
The 26-year-old got into five games with Nashville after being recalled last month, his first taste of NHL action since the 2022-23 campaign. Bellows was held off the scoresheet in each of those contests while averaging just under 11 minutes a night of playing time. For his career, he has 14 goals and 14 assists in 100 NHL outings.
Bellows has spent the bulk of this season in the minors with the Admirals. Through 41 games with them, he has 14 goals and 15 assists. Those numbers are below his minor league output from a year ago when he had 27 goals and 22 helpers in 52 outings with AHL Toronto, a performance that earned him a one-year, two-way deal this summer after being strictly on an AHL pact last season.
With the demotion, the Predators now have two open roster spots. It seems likely that one or both of those will be filled relatively quickly, perhaps as early as Thursday.
Seattle Kraken Recall Ben Meyers, Jacob Melanson
After trading Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier today, the Seattle Kraken opened up a pair of roster spots. Newly acquired Michael Eyssimont will take one of those spots, and the Kraken announced they’re recalling Ben Meyers and Jacob Melanson for additional depth.
Meyers has been an infrequent depth option for the Kraken this season. Despite longer-term injuries to Gourde and captain Jordan Eberle throughout the 2024-25 campaign, Seattle hasn’t called upon Meyers too much. He signed a one-year, $775K contract last summer and has gone scoreless in seven games for the Kraken, averaging 8:10 of ice time per game.
He’s a completely different player in the AHL. He’s second on the Firebirds in scoring with 19 goals and 40 points in 45 AHL contests and continues to show the offensive potential he flashed during his last year at the University of Minnesota in 2021-22. At the time of writing, his production this season brings his career totals to 36 goals and 89 points in 107 AHL games.
Meanwhile, today’s roster move is the first call-up of Melanson’s career. Unfortunately, a lower-body injury cost him approximately the first 30 games of the season. Still, he’s performed adequately upon his return, scoring seven goals and 10 points in 27 contests for AHL Coachella Valley.
Should Melanson draw into the Kraken’s lineup tomorrow night, the former 131st overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft will join James Malatesta (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Joshua Roy (Montreal Canadiens) as the only fifth-round picks from that draft to make their NHL debuts.
Sabres, Jordan Greenway Agree To Two-Year Extension
5:04 p.m.: Buffalo has confirmed the rumored extension, announcing a two-year, $8MM ($4MM AAV) extension for Greenway. According to PuckPedia, Greenway will have a five-team no-trade clause in both years of the deal.
12:07 p.m.: The Sabres are nearing an agreement on a two-year extension with winger Jordan Greenway, according to PuckPedia and confirmed by Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The total value is expected to fall in the $7-8MM range with a cap hit north of $3.5MM.
Greenway was likely going to be traded before Friday’s deadline without an agreement in hand. A pending UFA, the 28-year-old clocked in at No. 22 on The Athletic’s most recent trade board and No. 14 at TSN. There was a mutual desire to extend their relationship, though. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said over the weekend that talks were underway, and Greenway had publicly expressed interest in sticking in Buffalo.
The Sabres acquired Greenway from the Wild at the 2023 deadline, sending a second-round and fifth-round pick the other way. Buffalo was in playoff contention at the time, at least enough to be conservative buyers, but ended up missing out on a wild-card spot by one point. Greenway was in the first season of a three-year, $3MM AAV extension at the time, but Minnesota was looking to move him to free up cap space after his offensive production fell off a cliff.
The hard-nosed winger hasn’t matched his career-high of 32 points he set in 56 games with the Wild in the shortened 2020-21 season, but he has managed to boost his production from the disastrous 2022-23 campaign that saw him output just 6-5–11 in 62 games. He skated in 67 games for Buffalo last year, averaging a career-high 17:15 per game while scoring 10-18–28. His +11 rating was fourth on the team, while his 65 blocks ranked second among forwards and his 141 hits ranked first. His possession impacts were more mediocre with a 47.9 CF% and 50.3 xGF% at even strength, but they were still among the better showings of his career and he became a fixture on the penalty kill for the first time.
2024-25 hasn’t been as rosy of a campaign for the 6’6″ Greenway. He’s missed most of the season due to injuries, recently returning from a mid-body surgery that sidelined him for over two months. His 3-5–8 scoring line in 26 games has been a little south of his career-average pace, but his possession impacts have blossomed with a 52.4 CF% at even-strength despite seeing more difficult defensive minutes at even strength. Now established as a legitimate top-nine shutdown winger with shorthanded utility even when he’s not scoring, he’ll earn a slight raise to stick around on a Sabres team destined to extend their playoff drought to 14 seasons.
A two-year deal means Greenway will become a UFA upon expiry following the 2026-27 season. 14 of the 23 players on Buffalo’s active roster are now signed through 2025-26.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Devils’ Jack Hughes Done For The Season After Shoulder Surgery
The New Jersey Devils took a massive blow to their Stanley Cup aspirations. New Jersey announced that center Jack Hughes has successfully undergone shoulder surgery and will be placed on the team’s long-term injured reserve. The team noted he’s expected to fully recover and be ready for next year’s training camp, informally confirming he’s done for the 2024-25 season.
The news is nothing short of a disaster for the Devils. After missing the playoffs last season, the team has rebounded into postseason positioning this year, thanks to a healthier group.
Hughes is the leader of that resurgence, too. The former first overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft was tied for the team lead in scoring with 27 goals and 43 assists in 62 games. Interestingly enough, Hughes will finish the 2024-25 campaign with nearly identical production from last season, scoring 27 goals and 47 assists in 62 appearances.
It also extends Hughes’ recurring injury issues from the last several years. Since the NHL returned to a full 82-game schedule after the 2020-21 campaign, Hughes will have only played in 76% of New Jersey’s regular season contests. The team is objectively better when he’s in the lineup, making the situation all the more unbearable for their playoff hopes.
The loss of Hughes will inevitably shift New Jersey’s trade deadline strategy. The Devils had already been rumored to be scouting the market for an upgrade at their third-line center position. They’ll now need two middle-six centers, assuming captain Nico Hischier steps into the first-line role.
If anything, this should make New Jersey more committed to buying. Although they don’t have their first-round pick for the 2025 NHL Draft, the Devils still have a trio of second-round picks and a few tradeable prospects. Defenseman Simon Nemec comes to mind as an obvious headliner for any trade of magnitude. Since the team is placing Hughes on LTIR, that will open up $8MM in cap space for the team to work with.
Still, it’s difficult to think highly of New Jersey’s chances even if they go big-game hunting. It’s improbable the team will have the capacity to acquire a player of Hughes’ caliber in the next two days.
According to James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now, the Devils have reportedly contacted the Carolina Hurricanes regarding Mikko Rantanen‘s availability for this circumstance. The Hurricanes are unlikely to move one of their best players to a divisional-rival and likely postseason adversary. Still, Rantanen is exactly the kind of player New Jersey should be pursuing to get reasonably close to filling the void left by Hughes.
Edmonton Oilers Reassign Matthew Savoie
Matthew Savoie‘s first opportunity with the Edmonton Oilers will be short-lived. The Oilers announced they’ve reassigned Savoie to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
The former ninth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft was the key player Edmonton acquired in the trade that sent Ryan McLeod to the Buffalo Sabres last summer. Savoie was coming off a sensational final season in the WHL, scoring 30 goals and 71 points in 34 games split between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Wenatchee Wild. His playoff performance was arguably better, as he scored 10 goals and 24 points in 19 games for the Warriors, helping lead the team to a WHL championship and a berth in the 2024 Memorial Cup tournament.
Savoie also began his professional career last year. He showed promise in a brief stretch with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, scoring two goals and five points in six games. Those happened to be his only appearances in the Sabres organization.
The St. Alberta, Alberta native began the 2024-25 campaign with AHL Bakersfield. His transition to professional hockey couldn’t have gone better. Savoie is third on the Condors in scoring with 13 goals and 37 points in 45 games with a +16 rating. He won’t challenge the lead for rookie scoring, but it’s as good as the Oilers could have hoped for from their new prospect. Savoie registered one assist and a -4 rating in his four-game stint with Edmonton.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 3/5/25
View the transcript for today’s PHR Live Chat with Josh Erickson.