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Maxime Lagace Signs In Austria

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Former NHL goaltender Maxime Lagace is joining the Graz 99ers of Austria’s ICEHL, according to a club announcement Wednesday.

Lagace, 32, last appeared in the NHL with the Lightning in the 2021-22 season. He remained in their organization the following season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch before making the move overseas for 2023-24.

The longtime No. 3/4 option has spent the last two years in Sweden with the SHL’s Farjestad BK. He was their starter last season ahead of Ducks prospect Damian Clara but had a tough regular-season performance, posting a .887 SV% and 2.64 GAA in 31 appearances. That was still good for a 17-10-2 record, though, and he was exceptional with a .927 SV% and 1.63 GAA in 11 Champions Hockey League games as Farjestad finished as the runner-up in the continental tournament.

Instead of returning to North America, Lagace will continue being content with playing a starring role in Europe. He’ll be one of the top goaltenders in the less competitive ICEHL, joining a 99ers roster that also contains former NHLers Korbinian Holzer, Kevin Roy, and Josh Currie.

Lagace first stepped into action with the Golden Knights in their inaugural season amid a rash of injuries in their crease, making 16 of his 20 career appearances in the 2017-18 campaign. He struggled with a .867 SV% and 3.92 GAA but still managed a 6-7-1 record with some exceptional goal support. He has a career 8-9-1 record with one shutout and an .870 SV%.

In parts of nine AHL seasons, Lagace also posted a 2.79 GAA, .905 SV%, 13 shutouts, and a 126-68-38 record in 244 appearances. He scored a goalie goal with the Chicago Wolves in the 2018-19 season (video link).

Lightning Sign Ethan Czata To Entry-Level Deal

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The Lightning have signed forward Ethan Czata to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team said in a press release Wednesday. He was a second-round pick, their earliest selection in this year’s draft.

Czata’s deal carries a cap hit of $932K and an average annual value of $975K, according to PuckPedia. The contract, which is slide-eligible twice, has the following breakdown:

Year 1: $775K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $102.5K games played bonus, $85K minors salary
Year 2: $850K NHL/$97.5K SB/$27.5K GP/$85K AHL
Year 3: $877.5K NHL/$97.5K SB/$0 GP/$85K AHL

Selected No. 56 overall, a pick Tampa acquired from the Kings for winger Tanner Jeannot, Czata has spent the last two seasons with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs. The physical center made 68 appearances last season, ranking fourth on the team with 21 goals and 55 points.

Czata has been a key force in helping the IceDogs, who have been among the OHL’s most hapless clubs in recent years due to ownership instability, return to relevance with their first playoff appearance since the pandemic. He also earned a spot on Canada’s roster at the 2025 U-18 World Juniors, posting a goal and four assists in seven games en route to a gold medal.

The 18-year-old  was a virtual second-round lock based on consensus rankings. He’s expected to return to Niagara after attending training camp with the Lightning, triggering an entry-level slide, but a breakout post-draft season could put him in the conversation for a roster spot in 2026-27.

If he’s loaned to the OHL as expected this season, Czata won’t count against the Bolts’ 50-contract limit. That’s crucial as they’re already at 47 deals signed, according to PuckPedia.

Nathan Beaulieu Announces Retirement

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Former first-round pick Nathan Beaulieu has announced his retirement from professional hockey, according to the NHLPA.

Beaulieu, 32, hangs up his skates after playing 471 NHL games for the Canadiens, Sabres, Jets, and Ducks. The longtime bottom-pairing defenseman last appeared with Anaheim in the 2022-23 season, spending the last two campaigns in Europe but playing sparingly due to injuries.

The Ontario native was the No. 17 overall pick of the 2011 draft by Montreal from the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs after helping guide the team to a Memorial Cup championship and being named to the tournament’s All-Star team. He was a tantalizing junior prospect, never outright dominating offensively but still putting up strong point production with dominant defensive impacts while playing a highly physical brand of hockey.

While his physicality translated to the professional level, the other parts of his game only did so in short bursts. Beaulieu only ever topped 20 points in a season once, making a career-high 74 appearances for Montreal in 2016-17 while receiving significant power-play deployment for the only time in his career. He averaged 19:29 per game for the Habs that year, putting together a 4-24–28 scoring line with 102 blocks.

Aside from that, he was still a serviceable bottom-pairing piece for the Habs for a few years after emerging as a full-time NHLer in 2014-15. He ended up recording 60 points and a +19 rating in 225 games for the team that drafted him before he was traded to the Sabres in the 2017 offseason.

After the trade, Beaulieu was firmly relegated to being a No. 7 option. He never made more than 60 appearances in a season after that relative breakout of a 2016-17 campaign, averaging 15:27 per game for Buffalo, Winnipeg, and Anaheim over his final six NHL seasons.

Beaulieu’s final NHL season saw him thrown to the wolves on a severely understaffed Ducks defense in 2022-23, recording four points and a -23 rating in 52 games with ghastly possession numbers. That tanked his value the following summer and led to his move overseas to Switzerland’s EHC Kloten, where he only had two points in 13 games before a hand injury ended his season.

The veteran lefty signed on with Barys Astana of the KHL for 2024-25, but was released after eight games with financial issues forcing the club to part ways with all of its import players. He quickly landed with HC Nove Zamky of the Slovak Extraliga but did not make an appearance for them due to injury.

Beaulieu finishes his career with 12 goals, 86 assists, 98 points, and a -14 rating in 471 regular-season games while averaging 16:18 per night. He also had five points in 21 playoff games with Montreal and Winnipeg. All of us at PHR wish him the best in retirement.

John Ludvig Signs In Czechia

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Free agent defenseman John Ludvig has signed with Czech Extraliga club HC Dynamo Pardubice, the team announced Wednesday. It’s a three-year deal, keeping him with the club through 2027-28. It’s the expected result after a report back in May linked Ludvig to the six-time Extraliga champions.

Ludvig, 24, spent last season with the Avalanche after they claimed him off waivers from the Penguins at the beginning of the season. A third-round pick of the Panthers in 2019, Ludvig signed a two-year, two-way deal to remain in the Florida organization in 2023 but never played a game for them under that contract, instead getting claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh during the following training camp.

While Ludvig was a consistent No. 6/7 option for the Pens in 2023-24 when healthy, he didn’t get the same usage in a deeper Colorado depth chart. He made only eight NHL appearances for the Avs after seeing 33 games of action for Pittsburgh the year before, serving as a frequent healthy scratch before landing back on waivers in January. That time, he cleared successfully and spent the remainder of the season with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.

He would have still been under Avalanche control, but they opted not to issue him a qualifying offer last month, making him an unrestricted free agent. He now heads overseas to the club where his father, former Devils and Sabres winger Jan Ludvig, works as a skills coach.

The 6’1″, 214-lb lefty was a strong two-way threat in juniors with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and carries a physical edge, but he’d likely reached his ceiling as an NHL extra – particularly since the pandemic rushed him into pro hockey a year early and robbed him of development time.

Ludvig is a Canadian citizen but was born in Czechia, therefore he doesn’t count as an import signing for Pardubice. He hits pause on his NHL career for now with three goals, four assists, seven points, a -16 rating, 53 PIMs, and a 49.7 CF% in 41 appearances, averaging 12:02 per game when dressed.

He joins a Pardubice roster that boasts over 1,100 games of NHL experience thanks to veteran names like Vladimir Sobotka, Lukas Sedlak, Libor Hajek, and Jakub Zboril. The club has played exclusively in the top Czech or Czechoslovak league since records began, dating back to the 1937-38 campaign, and has made the Extraliga final in back-to-back seasons, losing both times.

Charles Hudon Signs With Djurgardens IF

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July 23: Djurgarden officially announced Hudon’s signing this morning. It’s a two-year contract, keeping him with the club through the 2026-27 season.

July 22: Minor-league scoring winger Charles Hudon is heading overseas for the second time in his career. Expressen’s Johan Svensson relays that the veteran forward is expected to join Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League in the coming days.

Hudon, 31, hasn’t been on an NHL contract or played an NHL game since going pointless in nine appearances with the Avalanche in 2022-23. He’s spent the last two seasons with the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on a minor-league deal.

In Ontario, the 5’10” Hudon has continued to produce at an elite level, clicking at nearly a point per game with a 40-78–118 scoring line in 123 games. A fifth-round pick in 2012 by the Canadiens, Hudon has always been an electric scorer at the AHL level, posting 426 points in 503 games there in parts of nine seasons, but has rarely managed to stick around in an NHL lineup despite playing a physical game and logging average possession impacts when given the chance.

Hudon has 134 NHL games to his name, 125 of which came with Montreal. More than half of those were as a 23-year-old in the 2017-18 campaign, when he recorded a career-high 10 goals, 20 assists, and 30 points in 72 games for the Habs while averaging 14:02 per contest. He didn’t stick around in a top-nine role the following year, though, only scoring five points in 32 games before essentially falling off the NHL radar.

The Quebec native last played in Europe during the COVID-laced 2020-21 campaign, scoring 32 points in 33 games for Switzerland’s Lausanne HC. He’ll now join a Djurgarden team looking to make waves in the SHL after gaining promotion from the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.

West Notes: Rossi, Patera, Johansen

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Center Marco Rossi is one of the more prominent remaining restricted free agents around the league.  Michael Russo of The Athletic recently was on the DFO Rundown (video link) and reported that the two sides aren’t believed to have spoken in the last few weeks, effectively playing a game of chicken.  Rossi is believed to be seeking a long-term contract while the Wild’s preference is a bridge deal, something that Rossi is hesitant to sign after being dropped to the fourth line in the playoffs.  An offer sheet is still potentially an option if another team steps up and presents the offer that Rossi’s cap is looking for but this could be a case where he remains unsigned until closer to training camp with the waiting game in full effect on both sides.

Elsewhere out West:

  • The Canucks plan to have prospects Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young as the AHL tandem for next season, notes Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link). They also have prospect Aku Koskenvuo who is likely to start in the ECHL.  With Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen entrenched as the tandem in Vancouver, that has Jiri Patera as the odd man out.  Patera has NHL experience but was limited to just seven games last season.  Drance relays that the Canucks are still determining where they plan to assign the 26-year-old next season assuming he clears waivers which suggests that a loan (or trade) outside the organization could be coming.
  • Defenseman Lucas Johansen has signed a one-year deal with AHL Henderson, per a team release. The 27-year-old spent last season with the affiliate of the Golden Knights, but was limited to just 38 games where he had 11 assists and 28 penalty minutes.  Johansen was a first-round pick by Washington back in 2016, going 28th overall but has played in just nine career NHL games over parts of three seasons, collecting a pair of assists.

Brett Leason Receiving KHL Interest

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A later entrant to this year’s UFA market, Brett Leason hasn’t been able to secure a contract in the first three weeks of free agency.  But while the NHL interest might not be materializing, it appears he may have some options in Russia, as Sport-Express’s Artur Khairullin reports (Telegram link) that the winger is of interest to some KHL clubs.  It’s unclear if the interest is mutual or if Leason’s intention is to remain in North America next season.

The 25-year-old spent the last three seasons with Anaheim after they claimed him off waivers from Washington in 2022.  In 2023-24, Leason had a career year, notching 11 goals and 11 assists in 68 games.  The Ducks non-tendered him to avoid giving him arbitration rights but quickly re-signed him to a one-year, $1.05MM contract.

However, last season didn’t go anywhere near as well for Leason.  He was quieter offensively, putting up just five goals with a dozen assists in 62 games while still averaging around 13 minutes a night of action.  Meanwhile, he was a healthy scratch for the other 20.  Unsurprisingly, with Leason still being arbitration-eligible, he was non-tendered once again last month.

This time, there wasn’t a quick contract to be landed.  But Leason, a six-foot-five winger, has been primarily deployed in a defensive role over the last couple of years and has logged regular minutes on the penalty kill which could make him worthy of consideration for some teams heading into training camp.  Speculatively, Leason is the type of player that teams will likely look to bring in on a PTO.  But if he wants something guaranteed before then, it looks like he may have some KHL options on the table.

Metropolitan Notes: Mantha, Chinakhov, Martone

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While the Penguins are known to be selling, they did make an intriguing addition in free agency earlier this month as they signed winger Anthony Mantha to a one-year, $2.5MM contract with another $2MM in bonuses tied to games played.  Speaking with reporters yesterday including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the 30-year-old indicated that he has fully recovered from the torn ACL that ended his 2024-25 campaign after just 13 games.  Mantha also noted that Pittsburgh showed interest in him last summer but he ultimately signed a one-year, $3.5MM pact with Calgary.  With 303 points in 507 career NHL games, Mantha, if healthy, could be an intriguing piece for the Penguins next season, both as a player and a potential trade candidate.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • For the second straight summer, the Blue Jackets are dealing with a public trade request. While there wasn’t much of a market for Patrik Laine a year ago, Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch opines that this shouldn’t be the case this time around when it comes to winger Yegor Chinakhov, who made his request public last week.  With Chinakhov making a much more affordable $2.1MM (compared to Laine’s $8.7MM) and being on the final year of his contract, he should have a decent market, one that should allow Columbus to land an NHL-proven piece coming the other way.
  • After committing to play for Michigan State yesterday, Flyers prospect Porter Martone will not be attending training camp in the fall, GM Daniel Briere acknowledged to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription link). Martone was the sixth overall selection in the draft last month but decided the best thing for his development would be to go to college, a decision he kept Philadelphia informed about along the way.  Martone could theoretically still make his NHL debut next season as he’d be a potential candidate to sign once his season with the Spartans comes to an end.

Kraken Sign Kaapo Kakko To Three-Year Contract

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Earlier today, the dates for the seven remaining arbitration-eligible players were revealed.  However, one player who won’t need that hearing after all is Kraken winger Kaapo Kakko.  The team announced that they’ve reached an agreement on a three-year contract that will pay $4.525MM per season after being set to exchange arbitration figures on Wednesday.  GM Jason Botterill released the following statement:

Getting a contract done with Kaapo was a top priority this summer. We knew quickly he’d be a big part of our team moving forward. He’s got size, skill and tremendous playmaking ability, and isn’t afraid of going to the net. He fit in immediately with our group, and we’re thrilled to have him under contract.

The 24-year-old was the second overall selection back in 2019 by the Rangers and had seemingly been on thin ice in New York for a couple of years.  The two sides agreed on a one-year, $2.4MM contract last offseason, well before qualifying offers were due to be submitted, avoiding any risk of the Rangers non-tendering him to avoid arbitration rights.

The deal seemingly represented a last-chance opportunity for Kakko and it’s fair to say he didn’t make the most of it.  He managed just four goals and 10 assists in 30 games with New York and in December, the Rangers pulled the trigger on a trade, sending him to Seattle for defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2026 sixth-round selection.

The change of scenery seemed to give Kakko a boost.  He averaged just under a point per game over his first month with the Kraken and overall, he picked up 10 goals and 20 assists in 49 outings.  Combining his stats with New York, Kakko’s 44 points represented a career high, giving him some leverage heading into contract talks this summer.

Considering that Kakko’s career numbers of 71 goals and 90 assists in 379 games is rather pedestrian, Jason Botterill is clearly banking on Kakko’s second-half production being a sign of things to come.  He got the bigger role he was hoping for following the swap, logging a little over 17 minutes a night of playing time after averaging just over 13 minutes a night prior to the swap.  It’s clear that, based on this deal, Seattle feels that Kakko can be a legitimate top-six forward for them moving forward.

Beyond his entry-level contract, this is the longest agreement that Kakko has signed.  It’s a pact that buys out his first two UFA-eligible seasons, giving the Kraken a longer look at him.  It will also allow Kakko to potentially reach the open market at 27 in 2028, putting him in a position to possibly secure a long-term, big-money agreement if he’s able to maintain and build off his strong first half-season with Seattle.

With the signing, the Kraken now have a little under $6.5MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.  They still have one key restricted free agent to sign in defenseman Ryker Evans.  He’s not arbitration-eligible but Botterill should have enough flexibility to sign him to a long-term agreement if the sides can work one out.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the signing. 

Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.

AHL, ECHL Affiliations For 2025-26

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There haven’t been many affiliation changes between NHL clubs and their minor-league feeders from last season to the upcoming campaign. There are no affiliate swaps to report, but the ECHL’s continued expansion has shifted the picture slightly as the Double-A league looks to eventually match its NHL and AHL parents in size at 32 teams apiece. Incoming are the Greensboro Gargoyles for 2025-26, who will give the ECHL 30 member clubs and will become the Hurricanes’ full-time second-tier affiliate after they split the Bloomington Bison with the Rangers last season.

That leaves just the Blue Jackets and Senators without a dedicated ECHL team for their AHL club to work with. Here’s the full list of every club’s minor-league affiliates for the 2025-26 season:

Anaheim Ducks

AHL: San Diego Gulls
ECHL: Tulsa Oilers

Boston Bruins

AHL: Providence Bruins
ECHL: Maine Mariners

Buffalo Sabres

AHL: Rochester Americans
ECHL: Jacksonville Icemen

Calgary Flames

AHL: Calgary Wranglers
ECHL: Rapid City Rush

Carolina Hurricanes

AHL: Chicago Wolves
ECHL: Greensboro Gargoyles

Chicago Blackhawks

AHL: Rockford IceHogs
ECHL: Indy Fuel

Colorado Avalanche

AHL: Colorado Eagles
ECHL: Utah Grizzlies

Columbus Blue Jackets

AHL: Cleveland Monsters
ECHL: n/a

Dallas Stars

AHL: Texas Stars
ECHL: Idaho Steelheads

Detroit Red Wings

AHL: Grand Rapids Griffins
ECHL: Toledo Walleye

Edmonton Oilers

AHL: Bakersfield Condors
ECHL: Fort Wayne Komets

Florida Panthers

AHL: Charlotte Checkers
ECHL: Savannah Ghost Pirates

Los Angeles Kings

AHL: Ontario Reign
ECHL: Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Minnesota Wild

AHL: Iowa Wild
ECHL: Iowa Heartlanders

Montreal Canadiens

AHL: Laval Rocket
ECHL: Trois-Rivieres Lions

Nashville Predators

AHL: Milwaukee Admirals
ECHL: Atlanta Gladiators

New Jersey Devils

AHL: Utica Comets
ECHL: Adirondack Thunder

New York Islanders

AHL: Bridgeport Islanders
ECHL: Worcester Railers

New York Rangers

AHL: Hartford Wolf Pack
ECHL: Bloomington Bison

Ottawa Senators

AHL: Belleville Senators
ECHL: n/a

Philadelphia Flyers

AHL: Lehigh Valley Phantoms
ECHL: Reading Royals

Pittsburgh Penguins

AHL: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
ECHL: Wheeling Nailers

San Jose Sharks

AHL: San Jose Barracuda
ECHL: Wichita Thunder

Seattle Kraken

AHL: Coachella Valley Firebirds
ECHL: Kansas City Mavericks

St. Louis Blues

AHL: Springfield Thunderbirds
ECHL: Florida Everblades

Tampa Bay Lightning

AHL: Syracuse Crunch
ECHL: Orlando Solar Bears

Toronto Maple Leafs

AHL: Toronto Marlies
ECHL: Cincinnati Cyclones

Utah Mammoth

AHL: Tucson Roadrunners
ECHL: Allen Americans

Vancouver Canucks

AHL: Abbotsford Canucks
ECHL: Kalamazoo Wings

Vegas Golden Knights

AHL: Henderson Silver Knights
ECHL: Tahoe Knight Monsters

Washington Capitals

AHL: Hershey Bears
ECHL: South Carolina Stingrays

Winnipeg Jets

AHL: Manitoba Moose
ECHL: Norfolk Admirals

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