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Islanders Sign Liam Foudy, Re-Sign Tyce Thompson

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The Islanders have made a pair of moves up front as PuckPedia reports (Twitter links) that they’ve signed winger Liam Foudy to a one-year, two-way deal and re-signed winger Tyce Thompson to a one-year, two-way agreement.  Foudy will make $775K in the NHL and $225K in the minors while the agreement has a guaranteed salary of $275K.  Thompson, meanwhile, will receive $775K at the NHL level, $175K in the minors, with a total guarantee of $200K.

Foudy was a first-round pick back in 2018, going 18th overall to Columbus.  However, he has had a limited role at the top level so far.  After playing in 62 games with the Blue Jackets in 2022-23, the thought was that he’d turned the corner and had at least secured a full-time roster spot heading into last season.

However, that wasn’t the case as the 24-year-old was waived early in the season and was claimed by Nashville.  The Predators kept him around for a dozen games before waiving Foudy again in December.  He cleared that time and was sent to AHL Milwaukee where he remained for the rest of the season.  He was productive at that level with 10 goals and six assists in 28 games but was non-tendered by the Preds last month.  While New York adds Foudy via unrestricted free agency, he’s still under club control through the 2026-27 season.

As for Thompson, he started last season in New Jersey’s system before being flipped to the Isles in late November.  Between their two farm teams, the 24-year-old played in 66 games, notching three goals and 16 assists but still landed a qualifying offer.  Thompson has 11 career NHL appearances under his belt but will need to play in 69 games next season to avoid becoming a Group Six unrestricted free agent next summer.

 

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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As expected, the draft and free agency brought about plenty of activity across the NHL with over 200 prospects being drafted and nearly that many contracts handed out over the past two weeks.  With that in mind, it’s a good time to open up the mailbag.

Our last mailbag came before the draft and was broken into three segments.  The first looked at the likelihood of a Linus Ullmark trade (which came to fruition soon after), Jacob Trouba’s future with the Rangers, and a look back at the Matthew Tkachuk trade, among other topics.  Included in the second were several draft questions along with trying to find a possible landing spot for Trevor Zegras should the Ducks move him.  Meanwhile, the third included some discussion about Colorado’s potential offseason, Philadelphia’s prospect pool, and the NHL-CHL player transfer agreement.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below.  The mailbag will run on the weekend.

Blues Sign Ryan Suter

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Veteran Ryan Suter will play his 20th NHL season in the fall as the Blues announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a one-year contract.  The deal carries a base salary of $775K and contains an additional $2.225MM in performance bonuses.  The team did not reveal the breakdown of the bonus structure but Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports (Twitter link) that it’s as follows:

10 GP: $225K
30 GP: $400K
40 GP: $500K
60 GP: $600K
60 GP and qualifies for the playoffs: $500K

Suter spent the last three seasons in Dallas but saw his minutes drop in 2023-24, dipping to 18:56 per night, the lowest since his rookie year back in 2005-06 when he was with Nashville.  The 39-year-old’s point total also dropped to the lowest it had been since then as he managed just two goals and 15 assists although he played in all 82 games for the third straight year.  Suter added four points in 19 postseason contests but his ice time was a bit lower, checking in at 17:50 per contest.

As a result of the dip in performance and playing time, the Stars opted to buy out the final year and $3.65MM remaining on his contract.  Considering he’s also still being paid by Minnesota on his buyout with them back in 2021, he will be paid by three Central Division teams next season.  He’s the second player in NHL history to be bought out twice, joining fellow rearguard Tony DeAngelo.

A veteran of 1,444 career NHL appearances, Suter sits fifth all-time among U.S.-born players.  Assuming he stays healthy and plays a regular role for St. Louis, he could climb up to second on that list; he sits 72 games behind Matt Cullen for that slot.  He has 681 points in those appearances with an average TOI of more than 24 minutes a night.

Of course, those numbers don’t reflect where Suter is in his career.  At this point, he’s more of a depth player than one who will be expected to anchor a back end but with the Blues, he can be more of a depth piece as he’ll slot in behind Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Nick Leddy, and Torey Krug.  With them in place, Suter will be battling with Scott Perunovich, Tyler Tucker, and newcomer Pierre-Olivier Joseph for playing time on the third pairing.

The fact the contract is structured this way is interesting as St. Louis has more than ample cap space to cover the full amount should his bonuses be reached; they still have more than $7.3MM in room, per PuckPedia with RFA Nikita Alexandrov still in need of a new deal.  However, by making the base salary the league minimum, that will be a lower daily charge on the cap which could make him an intriguing option for buyers near the trade deadline if the Blues find themselves out of a playoff spot.  If he remains in St. Louis, they should be able to cover any of those bonuses on the 2024-25 cap instead of rolling those charges over to the following season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Tanner Howe To Entry-Level Contract

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A former linemate of Connor Bedard in the Western Hockey League has signed on with the team that drafted him almost two weeks ago. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have signed winger Tanner Howe to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Howe was selected with the 46th overall pick by the Penguins organization in the 2024 NHL Draft and was quickly signed to an entry-level deal after a noticeable development camp showing. The young forward made his presence known as he regularly became the instigator in net-front battles and had two goals to show for it.

During the 2022-23 WHL season, Howe found himself on a line with Bedard while playing for the Regina Pats. He came a perfect complimentary piece to Bedard as an annoying pest on the ice and scored 36 goals and 85 points in 67 games while putting up another two goals and four points in seven postseason contests. After Bedard left Regina to join the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2023-24 NHL season, Howe became the new captain of the organization.

He proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that he could perform without Bedard down the middle as Howe scored 28 goals and 77 points in 68 games. Unfortunately, the Pats were unable to qualify for the 2024 WHL playoffs meaning his season came to an end after the regular season concluded. Howe has been a bit quiet on the international stage for Team Canada as he’s played in a total of 11 games for Canada’s under-18 World Junior Championship squad the past two years but only has one assist to show for it.

It’s unlike that Howe will play for any team in the Penguins’ organization next season and may even spend another year in the WHL with the Regina Pats. However, there is a case to be made that Howe’s physical game is mature enough to play for the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Wherever Howe winds up for the 2024-25 season, Pittsburgh has a definite middle-six prospect in the making if his development continues on its current trajectory.

Alex Meruelo Officially Dissolves Remaining Coyotes Assets

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7/10: Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports that Meruelo has signed all necessary paperwork to relinquish his assets to the Arizona Coyotes. As of today, the National Hockey League owns all branding and intellectual property of the Coyotes’ franchise and can sell it to a prospective buyer.

6/25: Alex Meruelo, the owner of the inactive Coyotes franchise, informed staff yesterday that he’s walking away from the club, PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports. The news comes less than a week after the Arizona State Land Department canceled an auction for a parcel of land Meruelo intended to use for a new arena for the franchise, which was officially deactivated this month after its hockey operations were sold to the Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group.

Meruelo told Coyotes staff yesterday that the franchise has “no plans to pursue further arena options” after the canceled auction, per Morgan. The City of Phoenix attested that Meruelo’s group did not attain the zoning permits necessary to acquire the land in time for the auction.

The news brings a swift end to the initial plan NHL commissioner Gary Bettman laid out in April when he announced the initiation of the transfer of the Coyotes’ hockey ops to SEG, which would then establish a new franchise – the Utah Hockey Club. Meruelo received a reported $1B for Arizona’s players, reserve list, draft picks and front office staff, which he would then pay back to the league as an expansion fee if he was able to construct a new arena within five years. That plan hinged on a contingency of Meruelo having an arena at least halfway built by the end of 2027, which is now impossible without the already last-ditch effort for the parcel of land in question in North Phoenix.

Meruelo retained the branding rights to the Coyotes and ownership of the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners as part of the sale. It’s unclear if he’s able to transfer the Yotes name and logo to a new owner, who could then try again to establish an expansion franchise in the Phoenix area. As for the Roadrunners, which will remain the minor-league affiliate of the Utah Hockey Club next season, they’ll play all of their home games in Tucson next season. A plan announced last month would have seen the Roadrunners play six regular-season home games out of the 4,600-capacity Mullett Arena on Arizona State University’s campus in Tempe, where the Coyotes played for the past two seasons. However, in line with the cancellation of the auction, that’s no longer the case.

Notably, Morgan reports there are “at least two groups with interest in bringing an expansion team back to Arizona.” However, without a dedicated arena, the timeline for expansion back to the state is likely extended past the five-year window of exclusivity initially afforded to Meruelo.

Meruelo intends to resolve the remaining assets that comprise the Coyotes, Sportico’s Barry M. Bloom reports. That process will involve returning the Coyotes name and logo to the NHL, which will theoretically allow them to sell the branding rights to the next ownership group to apply for expansion in the Phoenix area. He is retaining ownership of AHL Tucson but intends to relocate them to Reno, Nevada, after completion of a new 10,600-capacity venue there, likely ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Anaheim Ducks Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Anaheim Ducks announced several promotions and hires to Greg Cronin’s staff for the 2024-25 NHL season. The team has promoted Sudarshan Maharaj to director of goaltending and Julien Tremblay to NHL player development while naming Tim Army as an assistant coach and Peter Budaj as the team’s new goaltending coach.

The promotion has been a long time coming for Maharaj as he’s been the Ducks’ goaltending coach since the start of the 2016-17 season. Before his time in Southern California, Maharaj worked in a similar role with the New York Islanders from 2003-04 to 2005-06 before becoming a goaltending consultant until 2011-12. For his entire tenure with the club, Maharaj has been working closely with Anaheim’s starting goaltender, John Gibson. Maharaj oversaw the three best years of Gibson’s career up to this point from 2017-19 as the goaltender produced an 82-56-24 record in 166 stars while posting an exceptional .922 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average.

Longtime NHL netminder Budaj will replace Maharaj as the team’s goaltending coach after having previously worked with Cronin during his time with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Budaj was a solid backup goaltender through much of his playing career which spanned 13 seasons from 2005-06 to 2018-19. Budaj posted a career record of 158-132-40 with a .904 SV% and 2.70 GAA and will now look to jolt Gibson into a career resurgence in Anaheim.

The last notable hire of the day for Anaheim is Army who was previously an assistant coach with the Ducks during their inaugural season in 1993-94. His last season with Anaheim came during their first entry into the postseason for the 1996-97 season before falling Ron Wilson to the Washington Capitals from 1997-98 to 2001-02. Army would then spend the next six seasons as the head coach of Providence College before returning to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche until 2017. His first professional experience as a head coach came during the 2018-19 season when he was named the head coach of the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Army now returns to the Ducks organization for the first time in nearly three decades and will serve as a veteran presence on Cronin’s staff.

Updates On Blue Jackets Head Coach Vacancy

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are still without a head coach for the 2024-25 NHL season and we now know two individuals who will not be taking on the role. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that one of the prospective finalists, Todd McLellan, will not become the new head coach due to complications from his former deal with the Los Angeles Kings, which prohibited a multi-year agreement with Columbus. Additionally, Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports Jeff Blashill is not under consideration for the role despite his connection to general manager Don Waddell and USA Hockey.

Due to the context of the report from Portzline, it appears the Blue Jackets circled McLellan as their primary candidate considering salary figures were exchanged between both parties. McLellan signed a one-year contract extension with the Kings organization which would have made him the team’s head coach for the 2024-25 campaign and he is still owed that total by Los Angeles. Because his previous contract is still being honored by the Kings organization, the Blue Jackets would have to negotiate with Los Angeles to make McLellan their next head coach.

As Portzline noted in his report, there is always a chance that Columbus circles back around on McLellan and comes to an agreement with the Kings. If they don’t, however; the Blue Jackets head coaching search may be down to Jay Woodcroft and Dean Evason. Much like McLellan, Woodcroft was let go during the season by the Edmonton Oilers, and Evason was let go during the season by the Minnesota Wild.

Neither prospective head coach even comes close to the pedigree of McLellan as he’s collected a career coaching record of 598-412-134 between the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings. McLellan has coached his team to the playoffs in nine out of his 16 years as head coach and made it as far as the Western Conference Finals during his time in San Jose.

Capitals Loan Ludwig Persson To Liiga’s Jukurit

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For the second season in a row, the Capitals have loaned 2022 third-round pick Ludwig Persson to Finland. The 20-year-old forward will suit up for Jukurit in the top-level Liiga this year, the team announced today.

Persson, 20, has yet to play a game in the Washington organization despite signing his entry-level contract nearly two years ago. The Gothenburg, Sweden native has taken a tour of European leagues instead. The Caps first loaned him to BIK Karlskoga of the Swedish second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, where he was a decent depth contributor in his first full year of professional hockey with 15 points in 45 games.

things changed for the better last year after the Capitals loaned Persson to IPK, which plays in Mestis, Finland’s second-tier pro league. Persson quickly became a star for the Iisalmi-based club, leading them in scoring with 55 points (10 goals, 45 assists) in 48 games. He added 19 points in 19 playoff games as IPK took home its first Mestis championship since being promoted from the third-tier Suomi-sarja in 2016.

Clearly ready for increased competition, Washington will have Persson try his luck in a top-level Euro league for the first time since a lone appearance with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League in 2022-23. He’ll join a Jukurit team that boasted a 30-20-3-7 record last season, its second-best since being promoted from Mestis in 2016.

It could be Persson’s last season in Europe before arriving in North America with AHL Hershey. While Persson’s entry-level contract had slid the past two seasons since he failed to play in at least 10 NHL games in each campaign, he’s no longer eligible for a slide. His deal will go into effect beginning with 2024-25 and will cost $814,999 against the cap if in the NHL through 2026-27, reduced from its initial $878.3K since he’s had $190K worth of signing bonuses paid out during the slide years.

Sharks Sign First-Rounder Sam Dickinson

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1:11 p.m.: Dickinson’s ELC carries the maximum $975K cap hit, PuckPedia reports. He’ll earn a base salary of $877.5K after the deal takes effect but will earn a $97.5K signing bonus for the next three seasons, starting with 2024-25. When the contract takes effect, he’ll be eligible for up to $550K in Schedule ’A’ performance bonuses in Year 1, up to $800K in Year 2 and up to $1MM in Year 3.

12:19 p.m.: The Sharks have signed defenseman Sam Dickinson, their second of two first-round picks in last month’s draft, per a team announcement. They didn’t disclose the financial terms of his three-year, entry-level contract, which could begin as late as the 2026-27 season if he plays fewer than 10 NHL games in each of the next two campaigns.

Dickinson, 18, is a left-shot blue liner who plays a rather well-rounded game. With the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League last season, the 6’3″ defender racked up 18 goals and 52 assists for 70 points and a sparkling +56 rating in 68 games. He added 13 points in 18 playoff games as the Knights took home the 2024 OHL championship, won a gold medal prior to the season with Canada’s U18 team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and was named to the OHL’s Second All-Star Team for his efforts.

He’s not as physically involved as you’d hope for from a defenseman checking in at over 200 lbs in his draft year, likely a reason why he fell out of the top 10. Dickinson was the consensus No. 6 prospect in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s final polling of NHL scouts and wasn’t ranked any later than 10 by any of the major public scouting websites, but he ended up slipping to San Jose at 11 to complement first-overall selection Macklin Celebrini. He has solid two-way instincts, though, and is a great skater for his size, even if he doesn’t lay the body or block shots with aplomb.

Dickinson isn’t likely to play in the NHL full-time next season or even receive a nine-game trial, although the latter doesn’t seem impossible. He could, however, challenge for minutes as soon as 2025-26. A full-time assignment to the AHL won’t be in the cards for him for at least two more years, though, as he’ll need to be loaned back to his junior team if not in the NHL before his age-20 season, per the NHL-CHL transfer agreement.

He’s now the top defense prospect in the Sharks’ system, checking in above the 22-year-old Shakir Mukhamadullin and 23-year-old Henry Thrun, the latter of whom averaged 20 minutes per night in 51 games of NHL action last season and should be a full-time fixture beginning this fall. Second-pairing duties are likely the most realistic expectation for Dickinson’s long-term potential, although he does have top-pairing upside.

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