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Canucks Sign Filip Hronek To Eight-Year Extension

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Filip Hronek to a maximum eight-year contract extension, shares the team (Twitter link). The deal will carry an annual cap hit of $7.25MM, for a total value of $58MM. This deal will carry Hronek, 26, through his age-34 season in 2031-32. The deal featured signing bonuses in all but one year, costing the Canucks as much as $4MM annually, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Seravalli also shares that Hronek will carry a full no-move clause from 2025 to 2028 – suggesting the first year of the deal will be clause-free – and a partial no-move clause from 2028 to 2032.

The Canucks take care of a major piece of business with this extension, locking up the first defenseman capable of keeping up with Quinn Hughes. The pair spent nearly every second of their even-strength ice time together – and to good effect, with Hronek posting 48 points in 81 games, both career-highs. It was an incredibly successful start to Hronek’s career in Vancouver, building nicely on his pair of 38-point seasons to end his time with the Detroit Red Wings.

Hronek’s strong scoring slowed down substantially in the postseason – the first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs of his six-year career. He totaled just two points across 13 games, though he did his best to curb the low-scoring with a lofty 25 hits and 15 blocks, respectively ranking second and fourth among Vancouver’s blue-line. The Canucks don’t seem bothered by Hronek’s meager postseason, now solidifying his spot next to Hughes for the foreseeable future.

With this extension, the Canucks are down to $16.83MM in projected cap space with 10 pending free agents. Headlining the list is now forward Elias Lindholm, who Vancouver acquired in exchange for top prospect Hunter Brzustewicz, depth forward Joni Jurmo, and two draft picks earlier this season. Lindholm posted just 12 points in 26 games with the Canucks, never finding a perfect fit in the team’s lineup. He’s been rumored to be asking for a hefty extension for quite some time – something that may be difficult for Vancouver to stomach with less than $17MM to spend.

Lindholm is joined atop Vancouver’s list of pending free agents by defenseman Nikita Zadorov – Vancouver’s other trade acquisition from the Flames this year. Zadorov came into his own with the Canucks, recording 14 points and 102 penalty minutes across 54 games with the team – matching his scoring pace from his 21-point season last year. Zadorov has expressed a very strong interest in returning to Vancouver, though limited cap space could make that a challenge. Of course, Vancouver will be helped along by the ceiling Hronek’s deal sets, giving them a better gauge of what price they could hand out to Zadorov.

Still, the Canucks will likely focus their spending much more on solidifying depth pieces, with late-season breakouts Dakota Joshua and Arturs Silovs both up for new deals as well. Joshua became a core piece of Vancouver’s lineup late into the year, totaling eight points and a team-leading 75 hits in 13 postseason games. His claim as Vancouver’s playoff workhorse is only challenged by Silovs, who recorded five wins and a .898 save percentage in 10 playoff appearances – filling in for Thatcher Demko following an untimely injury.

After weeks of speculation, the Canucks have now made their first big step of the off-season – placing their priority on rounding out their defense rather than their top-six forwards or goaltending duo. With a stake now planted, the Canucks can begin to turn their free agent attention towards the open market, where they’ve already been connected to star winger Jake Guentzel. Guentzel posted 77 points across 67 games this season, adding nine points in 11 postseason games. He could be a fantastic replacement for Lindholm should the Canucks get priced out of the latter’s negotiations.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Blues Sign Scott Perunovich To One-Year Extension

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The Blues have gotten defenseman Scott Perunovich under contract for the 2024-25 season, per a team announcement. His one-year extension carries a cap hit of $1.15MM.

Perunovich, 25, managed to stay mostly healthy this season for the first time in a while. He stayed on the NHL roster all season and made 54 appearances, his most since his junior days while recording 17 assists and a +1 rating. It was his second NHL season after logging 19 games of action in 2021-22 and spending all of his injury-plagued 2022-23 in the minors.

While the fact that Perunovich has no goals through 73 career NHL games may be eye-opening, he was once the top offensive defense prospect in the organization. And while 25 is a bit old to still bear the “prospect” title, that might still be the case. Perunovich has been electric during his assignments to the minors, putting up 42 points in only 39 games with AHL Springfield over the past three seasons.

Injuries have had just a catastrophic effect on his development. After winning the Hobey Baker Award during his final season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 2019-20, a left shoulder injury cost him all of 2020-21. He started 2021-22 off healthy, but left wrist surgery ended his season halfway through. Yet another shoulder injury sustained in training camp in 2022 delayed his debut last season to late February.

That said, a $1.15MM cap hit quite literally carries zero risk for the Blues if he can’t hold onto an NHL spot next season for whatever reason. It’s the richest allowable cap hit that can be buried in the minors without penalty. But the diminutive yet dynamic left-shot defender should be in line for an everyday spot in the lineup next season after putting up solid playmaking numbers in his limited minutes.

The Hibbing, Minnesota native was set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He’ll carry that same designation again in 2025 when his new deal expires.

Canucks Interested In Jake Guentzel

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Jake Guentzel’s pending free agency could lead him to the West Coast. The Hurricanes left winger has yielded strong interest from the Canucks, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports. They’re expected to make a “strong play” for his services amid likely interest from the Capitals, Panthers, Maple Leafs and Rangers, said Seravalli.

An extension in Carolina doesn’t appear to be in the cards for Guentzel, and his signing rights have been made available for trade for teams to get an inside track on a deal before July 1. He’ll have plenty of suitors after drawing a similar level of attention at the trade deadline a few months ago.

Guentzel is nearing the end of a five-year, $30MM extension he signed with the Penguins in December 2018, midway through a breakout campaign that saw him hit the 40-goal and 75-point marks for the first time. His $6MM cap hit since served as a bargain for Pittsburgh as he continued flourishing on Sidney Crosby’s wing, averaging just north of a point per game over the life of his extension. With the Penguins struggling to stay in the playoff race this season, though, they dealt him to Carolina at the deadline to avoid losing him for nothing this summer – a fate the Hurricanes are also trying to avoid by recouping at least some value for his signing rights.

An upper-body injury limited him to 67 games this season, but it didn’t stop him from having the best offensive campaign of his career on a per-game basis. He finished the season with a sparkling eight goals and 25 points in 17 games for the Canes, bringing his season average up to 1.15 points per game. Only 14 players in the league had more.

In all likelihood, he’ll land a max-term contract this summer, whether it’s a seven-year deal on the open market or an eight-year extension with a team that acquires his signing rights. At age 29, he likely won’t get the chance for another big payday. Seravalli believes his cap hit should come in around $9.5MM per season, close to what we’ll predict on our Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents list dropping next week.

That’s something the Canucks can stomach at first glance with $24.078MM in projected cap space next season, which jumps to $26.578MM if you account for defenseman Tucker Poolman’s likely long-term injured reserve placement, per CapFriendly. But like the team he’s parting ways with in Raleigh, Vancouver has a large slate of pending free agents to re-sign or part ways with. As Seravalli points out, signing Guentzel almost surely means letting Dakota Joshua and Elias Lindholm hit the open market, pawning off most or all of Ilya Mikheyev’s $4.75MM cap hit in a trade, and making other tough decisions with a defense group that includes Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers and Nikita Zadorov.

Guentzel does seem to fit like a glove in Vancouver’s lineup, though. Arguably their biggest weakness in their breakout 2023-24 campaign was a lack of support for budding superstar center Elias Pettersson, who spent most of the season with depth wingers Nils Höglander, Sam Lafferty and Mikheyev as his linemates. Getting a player with a lengthy history of meshing well with star centers could do wonders for the 25-year-old Swede as he kicks off his massive eight-year, $92.8MM extension.

It’s not as if there’s no history between Guentzel and Vancouver, either. Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford was the one who signed Guentzel’s current deal as GM of the Penguins, and the club was one of the finalists for his services at the deadline in March.

Sabres Considering Buying Out Jeff Skinner

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The Sabres are considering exercising a buyout on the final three seasons of Jeff Skinner’s contract, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Skinner has a full no-move clause and is signed through 2026-27 at a $9MM cap hit.

Skinner’s tenure in Buffalo has been inconsistent, to say the least, but the timing of a potential buyout is puzzling. Now 32, he’s just one year removed from a career-high 47 assists and 82 points that nearly helped propel the Sabres to their first playoff appearance in over a decade. His line with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch was one of the most productive in the league, with promising defensive results as well.

But that changed this year. Early-season injuries to Thompson seemed to derail everything for Buffalo, and Skinner was no exception. He didn’t have an awful season by any stretch of the imagination, but he did regress to 24 goals and 46 points in 74 games. He averaged 16 minutes per game, slipping into middle-six usage as the trio with Thompson and Tuch was routinely broken up, and his 0.62 points per game were his lowest in three years.

It’s still far and away an improvement from when most considered Skinner’s deal the worst contract in the league. In the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, Skinner had just 21 goals and 37 points in 112 games with a -33 rating, bumping him down to fourth-line minutes. His rebound in the later years of his deal has helped repair its value, but he’s still rarely been worth his $9MM cap hit over the life of the deal.

That said, the Sabres are still in a transitional phase between rebuilding and contention. They’re not in a cap crunch – yet – and while improving the roster is a necessary undertaking for general manager Kevyn Adams this summer, it doesn’t require dumping Skinner’s cap hit to do so.

A buyout would be a particularly expensive undertaking in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons, just as the Sabres are ideally handing out serious cash and spending to the cap. It would cost $1.44MM next season, $4.44MM in 2025-26 and $6.44MM in 2026-27 before a $2.44MM annual cap penalty through 2029-30, per CapFriendly.

Rangers Place Barclay Goodrow On Waivers

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7:00 PM: Barclay Goodrow may not have to spend very long on waivers, with Mollie Walker of the New York Post reporting that the San Jose Sharks – who carry top priority in waiver claims after finishing last in the league – could have an agreement in place to claim the Rangers winger. Goodrow spent the first six years of his NHL career with the Sharks, joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2014. The 31-year-old veteran could provide great leadership to a now much younger San Jose lineup, as the team looks to return to their days of routine playoff berths.

1:00 PM: The Rangers have placed forward Barclay Goodrow on waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

The move likely marks the beginning of the end for Goodrow’s time in New York, whether via a waiver claim over the next 24 hours or via buyout or trade. He has three seasons remaining at a $3.642MM cap hit with a 15-team no-trade list.

Goodrow, now 31, gave himself quite a reputation around the league with some clutch playoff performances for the Sharks and Lightning around the turn of the decade. After scoring the overtime winner for San Jose against the Golden Knights in Game 7 of their first-round win, a game they trailed 3-0 in the third period, he went on to play a key depth role in Tampa’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021.

That earned him his current deal – a six-year, $21.85MM pact signed with the Rangers after they acquired his signing rights from the Bolts shortly before free agency opened in 2021. At first, it seemed to pay off. His first season in the Big Apple saw him do well in a checking role, posting 13 goals, 33 points and a +13 rating in 79 games while averaging nearly 17 minutes per night. Behind the scenes, though, there were red flags. His strong possession numbers with Tampa had cratered in New York, and the Blueshirts only controlled 44.3% of shot attempts with Goodrow on the ice at even strength in his first year.

It’s been downhill from there. Goodrow’s ice time and point production have consistently slipped over the past two years, and his already underwhelming possession metrics have gotten worse. He was arguably the worst two-way player in the league this season, managing to control just 39.1% of shot attempts when on the ice at even strength. For context, the Rangers overall controlled 53.2% of shot attempts without Goodrow on the ice at even strength.

His box stats this season were unimpressive as well. He played in 80 games but mustered only four goals and 12 points while slipping to a fourth-line center role for most of the campaign. Of course, he showed up when it matters most yet again, exploding for six goals and two assists in 16 playoff games. While a good story, he shot at 40%, and his possession metrics were even worse than in the regular season. That level of offense was never going to be sustainable.

All 31 other teams can now have Goodrow for free, but with three years left on a deal that was a vast overpayment this season, it’s highly unlikely he’ll be claimed. The waiver process should allow Rangers general manager Chris Drury to gauge interest in his services in an attempt to work out a cap-clearing trade, though. Even if that doesn’t work, buying out the remainder of his contract is an option. Doing so would result in a cap credit of $247K this season before a $1.003MM penalty in 2025-26, a $3.503MM penalty in 2026-27, and a $1.111MM penalty from 2027-28 to 2029-30, per CapFriendly. It would save the Rangers an average of just $556K per season over the next six years.

East Notes: Steen, Blue Jackets Coaching Search, Holl

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The Bruins won’t re-sign pending Group VI unrestricted free agent Oskar Steen, his agent Joakim Persson told Värmlands Folkblad’s Johan Ekberg. Steen, 26, isn’t eligible for standard UFA status until 2025 but hits the open market early with less than 80 NHL games played and three or more professional seasons accumulated.

A sixth-round pick of the Bruins in 2016, Steen played in a career-high 34 games this season but managed just one goal on 24 shots. He averaged 9:04 per game and had poor possession metrics, although he was disproportionately deployed in defensive zone usage.

He ends his Bruins career with four goals and eight points in 60 games over the last four years. While he may not have turned into a regular contributor, getting even brief NHL action out of a late-round pick is good value.

The Karlstad, Sweden native, had 12 goals in 25 AHL games this year as well and will look to land a two-way contract with another club next month. Persson indicated that the Bruins have given him permission to seek other NHL fits for Steen, and it doesn’t appear he’ll be heading overseas.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • After middling results under first-time head coaches the past few seasons, expect the Blue Jackets to opt for someone with experience behind an NHL bench as they search for Pascal Vincent’s replacement. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic lists Jeff Blashill, Dean Evason, Todd McLellan and Jay Woodcroft to be a part of a long list of interview candidates.
  • In his latest mailbag piece, The Athletic’s Max Bultman covered what the Red Wings might do with defenseman Justin Holl moving forward. He was expected to play a key shutdown role for the club this season after inking a three-year, $10.2MM deal in free agency last summer, but he wasn’t even a regular in the lineup halfway through the year. Holl played in just 38 games, posting five assists and a +8 rating while averaging 15:05 per game. Bultman thinks it may be wise to pump the brakes on any buyout/trade speculation despite the tough season, though – after all, this is the same front office that gave him the three-year commitment less than a year ago. But he does point out the Red Wings offloading winger Klim Kostin, who carries a $2MM cap hit, on the Sharks midseason. He was in a similar situation to Holl, falling into frequent healthy scratch territory after being acquired by GM Steve Yzerman last summer.

Utah Names Chris Armstrong President Of Hockey Operations

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The Utah Hockey Club has officially hired Chris Armstrong as president of hockey operations, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter and Alex Silverman first reported on the move in May.

Armstrong is not related to Utah general manager Bill Armstrong, but he does have a pre-existing relationship with owners Ryan and Ashley Smith. The longtime agent with Wasserman advised the Smiths throughout their acquisition of an NHL franchise over the past few months and has now become their top hockey ops decision-maker.

While most of his work as an agent has been done in golf, Armstrong did appear in the NHL news cycle last summer. He formerly represented GM Kyle Dubas during his contract negotiations with the Maple Leafs, a relationship that ended up being the result of an NHLPA investigation. No consequences arose from the investigation, though, at least not publicly. Armstrong isn’t an NHLPA-certified agent and can’t represent active players.

Armstrong had been at his gig with Wasserman, one of the most prominent agencies in sports, for over 13 years. He first joined the agency in 2010 in a VP of Canadian talent management role and was later promoted to senior and executive VP roles. Before departing Wasserman for Utah, he’d served as their executive VP of talent and innovation.

Outside of the other Armstrong and head coach André Tourigny, the team hasn’t yet confirmed which of the hockey operations staff it acquired from the Arizona Coyotes will return next season.

Senators Sign Max Guenette To Two-Way Extension

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The Senators announced today that they’ve signed defenseman Max Guenette to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The deal carries a $775K cap hit and NHL salary while paying him $120K in the minors next season.

Guenette, 23, is coming off his third season of professional play in the Sens organization, spent almost entirely with AHL Belleville. The 2019 seventh-round pick is on a strong development track, forcing himself into definitive top-four usage over the past few years. He’s been their top offensive option at the minor-league level from the blue line since 2022-23 and led B-Sens defensemen in scoring this season with seven goals, 27 assists and 34 points in 58 games.

While Guenette struggled in AHL postseason action (one assist, -5 rating in seven games), he’s positioned himself as a top recall option and even a dark horse candidate to crack the Sens’ roster out of training camp in the fall if injuries affect a couple of veterans. The Ancienne Lorette, Quebec, native has seen NHL action sparingly the past two years, totaling a -2 rating in eight games while averaging 13:10 per contest. He’s still looking for his first NHL point.

Guenette was headed for restricted free agency this summer after completing his entry-level contract. While he’s no longer entitled to his $55K signing bonus, his new AHL salary is a step up from the $70K he was making last year.

The right-shot defender will be an RFA again when his extension expires in 2025. He becomes the 32nd player signed to a standard player contract with the Sens next season, still far short of the 50-contract limit.

Hurricanes Name Eric Tulsky General Manager

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The Hurricanes have removed the interim tag from Eric Tulsky and made him their next general manager, per a team announcement Tuesday.

“Eric is ready for this opportunity,” said Hurricanes owner and governor Tom Dundon. “He has a proven history of managing people and overseeing operations both outside of hockey and over the last decade with the Hurricanes. His dedication, work ethic and attention to detail make him the ideal candidate to become our next general manager. Everything we do here is collaborative, and Eric will work closely with Darren Yorke, Rod Brind’Amour and our leadership team to continue building a championship-caliber hockey club.”

Tulsky was named the club’s interim GM on May 24. He stepped into the role after Don Waddell, who was on an expiring contract, resigned from his post. Waddell has already found his next place of employment, signing on with the Blue Jackets to be their GM and president of hockey operations days after leaving Carolina.

Tulsky wasn’t the only candidate linked to the Hurricanes’ GM vacancy over the past few weeks, but a report from Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli last week indicated he was likely to take over the top hockey ops job. Earlier this month, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman called Jarmo Kekäläinen, whom Waddell replaced in Columbus, a “contender” for the role.

Along with his Kekäläinen report, Friedman added that the Hurricanes were making it clear to interested candidates that their next GM wouldn’t have as much autonomy as others do around the league. Dundon is a proponent of a more collaborative front office environment that elevates the importance of assistant GMs – namely Darren Yorke, whom he mentioned in his statement introducing Tulsky. He’s also involved in hockey operations decisions himself.

That should provide a good safety net for Tulsky, who becomes a top-level member of an NHL front office for the first time. First brought on as a data analyst in 2014, Tulsky later served as the Canes’ director of analytics and their VP of hockey management before being promoted to an AGM role under Waddell in 2020.

Per the team, his responsibilities under Waddell included “all player personnel decisions, [overseeing] pro scouting and the team’s hockey information department.” He also “assisted with player contract negotiations, salary cap compliance, and other hockey-related matters.”

It’s quite a rise for Tulsky, who likely didn’t imagine ever working in the league after graduating from the University of California-Berkeley with a PhD in chemistry in 2002. He first landed his consulting gig with the Hurricanes after publishing public statistical analysis work for a variety of NHL-related blogs in the early 2010s, namely Flyers blog Broad Street Hockey.

Tulsky now officially takes the helm as the Hurricanes enter a potentially transformative offseason with Jake Guentzel, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei among their big-name pending UFAs. He’s already signed one notable deal as interim GM – a three-year, $9MM extension for defenseman Jalen Chatfield.

Friedman was first to report Tulsky’s promotion.

Sharks Showing Trade Interest In Cam Atkinson

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As the Sharks look to add some depth to a league-worst roster, they’re interested in taking on Cam Atkinson from the Flyers for some depth scoring help, TSN’s Darren Dreger writes. A trade could be blocked if Atkinson has San Jose on his 10-team no-trade list, though. That’s likely the case, as sources tell Dreger the veteran winger “isn’t keen on a move to the Sharks.”

Atkinson’s name is popping up frequently in both trade and buyout rumors this summer after a highly disappointing 2023-24 campaign. The Flyers acquired the 5’8″ winger from the Blue Jackets in 2021, but injuries derailed his tenure in Philadelphia after one season. A herniated disc and left tricep surgery sidelined him for all of last season, and he wasn’t the consistent top-six force he’s been in the past upon returning.

He stayed mostly healthy last season – a good sign for the 35-year-old’s long-term quality of life, but his production fell off a cliff. Dressing in 70 games, Atkinson scored 13 goals and 28 points, the first time in his career he’d had under half a point per game. He averaged 15:57 per contest, his lowest usage in 10 years.

While his offense was a disappointment after registering 23 goals and 50 points in a Flyers uniform two years ago, he had good defensive results this season, much like the rest of his surprisingly competitive Flyers squad. Philadelphia controlled 53.7% of expected goals with Atkinson on the ice at even strength, and he was on the ice for roughly 13 fewer expected goals against than in the 2021-22 season in which he played a similar amount of games.

Atkinson is still an NHL-caliber talent, but not one worth his $5.875MM cap hit. As the Flyers look to take another step toward playoff contention next season, he’s a bit of an albatross.

In the seemingly unlikely event he doesn’t block a trade, it would likely take an asset or two to get Atkinson’s deal off the books entirely and over to California. A buyout would still save north of $3.5MM in cap space for the Flyers this season but would result in a $1.75MM cap penalty for 2025-26, per CapFriendly.

For Sharks general manager Mike Grier, taking on bad contracts outright is one of the few ways he can weaponize his rebuilding club’s cap space. He’s used up all three of his salary retention spots in trading away Brent Burns, Tomáš Hertl and Erik Karlsson, so brokering deals as a third party won’t be an option until Burns’ deal comes off the books in 2025.

In San Jose, Atkinson would be a slight upgrade on the declining veteran role played by pending UFA Mike Hoffman this year. Atkinson has a much more solid track record defensively than Hoffman, though, and could help them improve their league-worst goals-against figure. There are also open spots in their top six that could result in Atkinson seeing time with prospective 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini next season.

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