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Devils, Wild Swap Graeme Clarke For Adam Beckman

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The Devils have traded winger Graeme Clarke to the Wild for fellow winger Adam Beckman, the teams announced. Both are headed for restricted free agency next month.

Clarke, 23, was a third-round pick of the Devils in 2019. The older brother of Kings top defense prospect Brandt Clarke has knocked on the door of the NHL for the past two seasons but hasn’t gotten much of a shot in Jersey. He played just three big-league games, all coming this season. He was held without a point and had a -2 rating, 2 PIMs, and two shots on goal while averaging 11:23 per game. The Devils sparingly used him in offensive situations, and as such, they controlled less than 42% of shot attempts with Clarke on the ice at even strength.

Given his performance in the minors, he likely deserved more of a chance. Clarke has scored 25 goals in back-to-back campaigns with the AHL’s Utica Comets, leading them on both occasions. His 58 points in 68 games in 2022-23 led the team outright but weren’t enough to earn him his NHL debut. After completing his entry-level contract, he’s now on his way to Minnesota, where he has a feasible chance of cracking the Wild’s opening night roster in the fall. He’s no longer waiver-exempt and would need to be exposed to the remainder of the league for Minnesota to send him down to their AHL affiliate in Iowa.

The Devils land Beckman, a 23-year-old with slightly more NHL experience but less offensive upside. The Wild have given Beckman a brief look in each of the past three seasons, totaling 23 appearances, 11 of which came in 2023-24. However, the points never came for Beckman, who was selected five spots before Clarke in 2019. He’s still searching for his first NHL goal and logged three assists while averaging 10:02 per game.

Beckman has been solid in three full seasons with Iowa, though. Serving as an alternate captain this season, he finished fourth on the club in scoring with 19 goals and 33 points in 51 games. He still hasn’t quite had the impact Minnesota expected after he led the WHL in scoring with 48 goals and 107 points in his post-draft season, though.

Like Clarke, Beckman has lost his waiver-exempt status and will need to hit the wire if New Jersey attempts to assign him to Utica. The Devils owe Beckman a $874,125 qualifying offer to retain his rights before June 30, while the Wild must issue a $813,750 offer to Clarke.

Andrew Cogliano Announces Retirement

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2022 Stanley Cup champion Andrew Cogliano is retiring after a 17-year NHL career. The Avalanche announced the news regarding their pending free agent forward in an announcement Friday. He’ll stay in Denver in a wide-spanning player development and scouting role. Cogliano released the following statement through the team:

The game of hockey has given me and my family so much and I am grateful for every moment. I am blessed to have played for so long with some great organizations and amazing teammates. I will miss being with the guys in the dressing room and battling for each other on the ice every night but it’s time to move on. Thank you to everyone I ever played with, played for and all the great fans for all of their support. I am excited to start my new chapter in the front office.

An unlikely first-round pick of the Oilers back in 2005, Cogliano had a peculiar development path as one of the few first-round picks in recent memory to be drafted out of lower-level juniors. After racking up 102 points in 49 games with the OPJHL’s St. Michael’s Buzzers in his draft year, Cogliano walked away from Canadian juniors and embarked on a collegiate career with the University of Michigan, where he again dominated. He turned pro with Edmonton in 2007-08, playing in all 82 games during his rookie season – something that would quickly become a common theme.

That rookie season was a strong one for Cogliano, who finished ninth in Calder Trophy voting after racking up 45 points, a number that would end up standing as a career-high. Suiting up for Edmonton in the early days of their so-called ’Decade of Darkness,’ Cogliano quickly developed into a respected, versatile two-way skater who could play anywhere he was needed, skating on virtually every line and at every forward position. After four years, 146 points and 328 games of service for Edmonton, never missing a contest since making his NHL debut, he was dealt to the Ducks in the 2011 offseason in exchange for a second-round pick.

The offense never popped consistently for Cogliano in Anaheim, although he did notch his only 20-goal season in the 2013-14 campaign. Still, he remained an incredibly serviceable and adept two-way skater, routinely averaging between 14 and 16 minutes per game while contributing solid secondary scoring. Consistency remained perhaps his greatest asset – his career-opening ironman streak didn’t end until a suspension in the 2017-18 campaign, his 11th one in the NHL and his final full season with the Ducks.

Cogliano remained a strong utility forward with penalty-killing upside even as he aged, giving solid showings for the Stars, Sharks and finally Avalanche as he declined into a solely bottom-six role. Colorado acquired him for just a fifth-round pick from San Jose at the 2022 trade deadline, and he went on to contribute three goals and six points in 16 playoff games as he helped the Avs to their first Stanley Cup in nearly 20 years.

Now 37, Cogliano finishes his career with 1,294 games played, tied for 75th all-time. He tallied 190 goals, 274 assists, and 464 points with a +31 rating and 449 PIMs while averaging 14:06 per game. All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Cogliano as he begins his front-office career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Mark Giordano Intends To Play Next Season

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Mark Giordano could reach unrestricted free agency in less than two weeks. The veteran defenseman is coming off his second full season in a Maple Leafs sweater but fell out of the regular lineup early on in the season, battled injuries, and was a healthy scratch for the whole of Toronto’s first-round loss to the Bruins.

However, the 2019 Norris Trophy winner has no intentions of retiring and hopes to return to the NHL for what would be his age 41 season, his agent Rich Winter tells Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. A potential 19th NHL season may not be his final one, either.

“Mark has made the decision that he’s playing for a few more years,” Winter told McGran. “He feels very confident. He’s been talking to a lot of people who tell him: Don’t quit until they make you.”

How much interest Giordano receives coming off the worst season of his career when the market opens July 1 remains to be seen, though, nor is it clear whether there’s a path for him to return to the Leafs. Limited to 46 appearances, he had three goals and nine points with a +10 rating while averaging 16:37 per contest, his lowest usage since 2008-09. He had a significant finger injury that cost him nearly all of December and a concussion that held him out for most of March.

While his possession numbers were still strong, even relative to his teammates, he spent most of his time in the lineup alongside Timothy Liljegren, who routinely has strong advanced metrics despite some rather visible defensive gaffes. Giordano’s lack of offense and, correspondingly, lack of power play time make him a far different player than the one who had double-digit goals in six straight seasons for the Flames, including a 21-goal, 74-point monster performance that earned him his Norris.

To say Giordano is an offensive specialist is a mischaracterization, though. He’s always boasted strong possession numbers, even dating back to his early days as a fresh undrafted free agent signing in Calgary, and he’s continually deployed in penalty-killing situations. Even this season, Giordano averaged 2:16 per game shorthanded, fifth on the Leafs. There was still NHL value in his game this season, but teams will wonder how much longer it sticks around as he remains the league’s oldest active player.

Giordano is wrapping up a two-year, $800K AAV extension he signed in May 2022. He likely won’t cost any more than that and would even likely take a slight pay cut to earn the $775K league minimum.

West Notes: Goodrow, Mantha, Pettersen

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The San Jose Sharks were reportedly on Barclay Goodrow’s no-trade list (as per Elliotte Friedman on The Jeff Marek Show) with the New York Rangers. Goodrow was claimed off waivers yesterday by the Sharks and will be returning to the place where his NHL career started back in 2014-15.

Friedman hadn’t spoken to Goodrow directly but noted that the 31-year-old wasn’t happy with the situation as the Rangers hadn’t told Goodrow he would be placed on waivers until the last second. Goodrow had a 15-team no-trade clause and could have worked with the Rangers to find a suitable trade, but ultimately the Rangers elected to take the easier path with Goodrow and let him go for no return through waivers.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Catherine Savoie of RDS is reporting that the Vegas Golden Knights have told pending unrestricted free agent Anthony Mantha that they will not be re-signing him before July 1st. The trade deadline acquisition was acquired from the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick in this year’s draft and a 2026 fourth-rounder. The 29-year-old tallied 23 goals and 21 assists in 74 games with Washington and Vegas and is unlikely to match the four-year, $22.8MM contract he signed with the Detroit Red Wings back in 2020. Vegas has just $6.2MM in available cap space going into the summer and still needs to sign a couple of players.
  • The Dallas Stars have signed depth forward Emilio Pettersen to a one-year, two-way contract extension (as per PuckPedia) that will cover the 2024-25 season. The new deal will see the 24-year-old collect $775K at the NHL level, while he will pocket $120K in the AHL. Dallas acquired Pettersen back in March from the Calgary Flames in exchange for forward Riley Damiani. He then joined the Stars AHL affiliate and posted four goals and four assists in 12 games. The former sixth-round pick has yet to make his NHL debut and will likely provide AHL depth for the team this season.

Metro Notes: Shesterkin, Necas, Mercer

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Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic speculated about how much goaltender Igor Shesterkin will be paid on his next contract with the New York Rangers. The 28-year-old is eligible to sign an extension on July 1st and given his play the last few seasons and his importance to the Rangers, it will likely be a record-breaking deal for a goaltender.

Shesterkin is reportedly looking for an AAV of $12MM, while most of the models Luszczyszyn uses to show his value are in the range of $9MM – $12MM annually. Given the volatility of the goaltending position, it’s fair to believe that Shesterkin could live up to a $12MM salary in some seasons of the deal, however, as he enters his 30s, it’s possible his play could fall off as it often does with goaltenders on the back half of their career.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted that a few teams around the NHL are wondering if an offer sheet is a possibility for Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas. Carolina’s ask for the 25-year-old remains quite high, and the team has reportedly talked to almost every team around the league. Necas is a two-time 20-goal scorer who posted 24 goals and 29 assists in 77 games last season. The former first-round pick is a restricted free agent after making $3.5MM last season and will likely sign a lucrative long-term deal whether it’s an offer sheet or otherwise.
  • Dawson Mercer was reportedly never part of the New Jersey Devils trade for goaltender Jacob Markstrom (as per Elliotte Friedman on The Jeff Marek Show). There was speculation that the 22-year-old was offered at one point, but Friedman poured cold water on that rumor saying that he had multiple sources tell him that the former first-round pick was never in the trade. Mercer took a step back last season but is just a year removed from posting 27 goals and 29 assists in 82 games.

Sabres Unlikely To Move Goalie, Won’t Extend Young Players This Summer

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The Buffalo Sabres used a trio of netminders last season as they searched for stability in the crease. Now, it appears that two-thirds of that group will be back next season as the Sabres are planning to roll into the 2024-25 season with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi as their netminders (as per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News). The news isn’t all that surprising given where the Sabres are at, however, they were recently linked to a pair of netminders in Linus Ullmark and Filip Gustavsson(as per The Fourth Period).

The Sabres have good reason to be optimistic about Luukkonen’s development as the 25-year-old took a massive step forward last season, dressing in a career-high 54 games and posting a 27-22-4 record. The Espoo, Finland registered an above-average .910 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average to go along with 9.4 goals saved above expected (per Money Puck). Levi also had good underlying numbers with 10.7 goals saved above expected in just 23 games. He did spend significant time in the AHL but appears poised to spend all of next season in the NHL. Luukkonen is an RFA, while Levi has one more year left on his entry-level contract.

Lysowski also tweeted that Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has talked with the agents for Bowen Byram, JJ Peterka, and Jack Quinn to discuss getting new contracts done as they are eligible for extensions on July 1st. However, Adams doesn’t believe that those contract extensions will get done this summer, and there isn’t a lot of urgency as all three players will be restricted free agents on July 1st, 2025.

Peterka is the likeliest of the three to get a long-term extension done as the 22-year-old posted 28 goals and 22 assists in 82 games last season. The Sabres might look at a bridge deal for Quinn as he has dealt with injury issues and hasn’t been able to establish himself as a regular NHLer.

Byram could get a longer-term deal depending on how this upcoming season goes. The 23-year-old struggled before his trade to Buffalo but was very good offensively for the Sabres after his trade from Colorado. The Cranbrook, British Columbia native posted three goals and six assists in 18 games with Buffalo while he averaged almost 22 minutes of ice time per game.

Evening Notes: Maple Leafs Defense, Goligoski, Mikheyev

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be prioritizing size as they gauge potential additions to their defense, shares David Pagnotta and The Fourth Period.

That news comes as no surprise from a Toronto team that acquired 6’4” Joel Edmundson and 6’2” Ilya Lyubushkin at the Trade Deadline, sending a third-round pick for each defender. Neither seemed to make much of a splash in the year’s second half, with Lyubushkin potting just four assists in 19 regular-season games, while Edmundson went pointless through nine games while battling injury. The duo were two of many vying for ice time on Toronto’s bottom pairing, competing with the likes of Simon Benoit, William Lagesson, Conor Timmins, and Maxim Lajoie. Nobody on the list was able to push into routine top-four minutes, though the Leafs found reasons for optimism, with Pagnotta adding that the team is interested in re-signing Edmundson – at least ahead of other pending free agents Lyubushkin and Lajoie. That deal would return Edmundson to a crowded Toronto depth chart, though his stout defense on both sides of the ice could provide nice flexibility for a Leafs team that always seems to face nagging injuries.

In that way, Edmundson’s role would mirror former St. Louis Blues teammate Robert Bortuzzo, who’s stood strong in spot starts with the Blues and New York Islanders. In fact, Toronto may be drawing a lot of interest from the Blues defense, also showing renewed interest in trading for veteran big-man Colton Parayko, shares Pagnotta. Toronto has been tied to Parayko for many years, though he becomes a more palatable trade chip with the more time he spends on his pricey eight-year, $52MM contract. That deal is set to carry Parayko through the 2029-30 season – posing a major hurdle to any interested buyers. Parayko scored 10 goals and 26 points in 82 games this season – with strong goal-scoring lifting up an otherwise slowed season. Now 31 and on a very pricey deal, Parayko certainly isn’t an ideal trade target – though his veteran presence and Stanley Cup precedent could make him a strong acquisition with salary retention.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Minnesota Wild aren’t expecting aging defenseman Alex Goligoski to return next season, shares Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). Goligoski became a routine healthy scratch in the second half of the season, ceding ice time to Dakota Mermis and Declan Chisholm. The 38-year-old veteran ultimately appeared in just 36 games, recording 10 points, all assists. Now set for the free market, he’ll face the question of if now is the right time to retire, having accumulated 1,078 games, 475 points, and one Stanley Cup across 17 seasons in the NHL. Meanwhile, Di Marco adds that Minnesota could look externally for a new depth defenseman.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have granted player agent Dan Milstein permission to find a trade for client Ilya Mikheyev, shares Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News (Twitter link). Mikheyev has muddled through the last two seasons with the Canucks, with untimely injuries making it hard to find a comfortable role. He ultimately totaled 59 points in 124 games with the club, and will now look to find a spark with a change of scenery. Mikheyev has two seasons left on a contract carrying a $4.75MM cap hit.

Utah Signs Patrik Koch To One-Year Extension

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed defenseman Patrik Koch to a one-year, two-way contract extension (Twitter link). The details of the contract haven’t been released, following Utah club policy, though it’s expected to carry a league-minimum $775K cap hit, per CapFriendly.

Koch signed a one-year, $847.5K contract with the Arizona Coyotes last summer, making a move to North America after an eight-year career split between the Czechia and Slovakia Extraligas. Koch totaled 15 points and 97 penalty minutes in 63 games as an AHL rookie, continuing his trend of high-event stat lines – having surpassed 85 penalty minutes in four of his last five seasons in Europe. Koch also made his NHL debut on March 7th and, true to form, received a game misconduct for joining in on a small line brawl after just nine minutes of ice time. Koch added four hits and one block to his NHL stat line, flexing imposing physicality at the bottom of the lineup.

This extension makes Koch just the fourth defenseman signed by Utah, with the club still facing eight pending free agents at the position. That leaves a lot of uncertainty in Utah’s depth chart, though it’s unlikely that Koch will rival a daily NHL role as next season roles around. The European veteran will instead return to a young Tuscon blue-line, looking to bring the physicality needed to protect young and inexperienced players like Julian Lutz, Sam Lipkin, and Maveric Lamoureux.

Canucks Sign Linus Karlsson, Cole McWard To One-Year Extensions

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed forward Linus Karlsson and defenseman Cole McWard to matching one-year, two-way contracts. The details of the contracts, including cap hit and potential bonuses, haven’t yet been revealed.

Vancouver traded away the rights to Jonathan Dahlen to acquire Karlsson in 2019. He’s since spent two full seasons with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, totaling 24 goals and 49 points in 72 games last season and a team-leading 60 points in 60 games this season. The performances have cemented Karlsson as one of Vancouver’s top prospects, even if he’s yet to record a point in the four NHL games he’s played. He’ll be one of many top prospects vying for a spot on the opening night roster, competing with players like Aatu Raty, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and Arshdeep Bains. Karlsson’s new short-term, easily-movable deal suggests he could be on the backend of this group – though another strong season in the minors would certainly force Vancouver’s hand.

Meanwhile, McWard vindicates his first pro contract with this extension – after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and playing through his first year of pro hockey this season. The right-shot managed 17 points in 57 games while operating down Abbotsford’s lineup, looking well-adjusted to the professional scene. He’ll return to a rife competition for ice time on Abbotsford’s blue line, fighting for a spot above Jett Woo and Filip Johansson. McWard could warrant NHL ice time should he perform well, having already scored one goal in six NHL games over the last two seasons.

Penguins Sign Alex Nedeljkovic To Two-Year Extension

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have officially signed goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to a two-year, $5.0MM contract extension. The deal was first reported by Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). The deal carries an annual cap hit of $2.5MM, committing Pittsburgh to a total of $7.875MM between starter Tristan Jarry and backup Nedeljkovic.

Nedeljkovic was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, after playing through a one-year, $1.5MM contract signed last summer. He appeared in 38 NHL games this season – just the second-most he’s played in one season – and managed good results, posting 18 wins and a .902 save percentage. He stood as a reliable backup option for the Penguins, clawing his way back to an everyday role in the NHL after spending much of the 2022-23 season in the minor leagues. It was a hard fall for Nedeljkovic, who had a career year in 2021-22, serving as the Detroit Red Wings’ starter, managing 20 wins and a .901 save percentage across 59 appearances. That season remains the only year that Nedeljkovic has filled a starter role at the NHL level, though he’s made spot starts as far back as the 2016-17 season. Now 28, Nedeljkovic has totaled 141 games across seven years in the NHL, managing 60 wins and a .906 save percentage even amongst tough deployment.

The Penguins seem pleased with Nedeljkovic’s inaugural year with the club, and will now bring him back with a slight pay raise and a bit more term to once again fill the backup role behind Jarry, whose signed through the 2027-28 season. Strong performances could earn Nedeljkovic the role through the end of Jarry’s deal, though top goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist could soon pose tough competition.

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