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Poll: Which Postseason Drought Is Likeliest To End In 2024-25?

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There has not been one team in the NHL unable to make the playoffs during the inception of the salary cap era in 2005-06. The league has experienced unprecedented competition under the new format but there are still several teams who haven’t been able to crack the Stanley Cup playoffs for the last several years. As of right now, the Buffalo Sabres (13), Detroit Red Wings (8), Ottawa Senators (7), and Anaheim Ducks (6) hold the longest current postseason droughts in the league. Which one of these teams has the best odds of ending their postseason drought and returning to the playoffs in 2025?

The odds looked good for Buffalo towards the end of the 2022-23 regular season but the team ultimately finished one point short of the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference to the Florida Panthers. The team boosted their defensive core over the summer and had their eyes on contention in 2023-24. Unfortunately, the season did not go as planned for the Sabres and the team finished seven points back of the last playoff spot in the East. The team still has a wealth of young talent either on the team or close to cracking the roster, but the offseason feels a bit misjudged at the outset. With a need to fill out their bottom six, Buffalo brought in Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel this summer and appear to be running back a similar roster next year with Lindy Ruff back as head coach.

Detroit tied the Washington Capitals for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference for the 2023-24 regular but ultimately lost the tiebreaker on the last day of the regular season. The team took a major step forward in their rebuild after acquiring talents such as Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, and Shayne Gostisbehere who dramatically improved the team’s competitiveness. The Red Wings’ major letdown of the 2023-24 regular season was the defense which gave up the seventh most shots against in the league. Ghostisbehere walked in free agency along with other veterans who were replaced by Cam Talbot, Erik Gustafsson, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Detroit should still be able to score in bunches next year but the team has inarguably failed up to this point this summer in improving their biggest weakness from last season.

It feels that Ottawa has experienced two separate rebuilds over the last seven years with the first coming under the helm of Pierre Dorion and the current iteration led by Steve Staios. The three biggest moves of the Senators’ offseason were acquiring former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins, shipping defenseman Jakob Chychrun to the Capitals for a lackluster return, and prying veteran David Perron from the Red Wings on a two-year deal. Ullmark should serve as a massive upgrade in between the pipes compared to their situation last year but moving on from Chychrun will certainly sting on the blue line. Ottawa finished 14 points out of a playoff spot last season but could be a surprising team with a wealth of talent up front and a consistent netminder.

Lastly, the Ducks register as the least likely of the group to crack their postseason drought as they finished nearly 40 points out of a playoff spot last season. Anaheim brought in forward Robby Fabbri and defenseman Brian Dumoulin via trade this offseason but neither strike as needle-movers to an offense-needy organization. The upcoming season should serve as a reasonable benchmarking year for the Ducks organization as the team looks to graduate several prospects to the NHL level. Anaheim could cause some noise in a weak Pacific Division but their odds of making the playoffs are still low.

Of the four longest current playoff droughts in the NHL — which of these four teams do you think has the best odds to end their drought next season?

East Notes: Dubas, Trouba, Lindstrom, Spicer

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In a new book by Craig Custance of The Athletic, an interview with the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Dubas, was able to reflect on his time at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun pulled a quote from the interview where Dubas said, “The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts. (William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions“.

The quote was made in context to the seven-year, $77MM contract given to John Tavares on July 1st, 2018. Dubas exclaims that by giving Tavares an AAV of $11MM without first working on long-term extensions for William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews, the price on the latter three was raised dramatically and caused both Nylander and Marner to hold out for a short time.

Aside from the externality on those three players from Tavares’ contract, Dubas informed Custance that he had no other regrets from his time in Toronto. Outside of playoff success, the Maple Leafs have achieved multiple 100-point seasons from the team Dubas built and still features some of the biggest stars in the game.

Other East notes:

  • In a report from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and later confirmed by Emily Kaplan of ESPN, there was a trade in place between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings that would have sent defenseman Jacob Trouba to his hometown team. However, with Trouba’s no-movement clause turning into a modified no-trade clause on July 1st, Trouba added Detroit to his list which entirely ended the deal. Trouba was hesitant to move his wife and family out of New York as his wife is finishing up her residency as a medical doctor as outlined in the report from Kaplan.
  • The fourth-overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Cayden Lindstrom, is now the highest-selected player from the recent draft who has not signed his entry-level contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports there is no cause for concern, as the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Don Waddell, is entirely focused on hiring a new head coach for the franchise. The Blue Jackets still have plenty of time to sign Lindstrom to an entry-level contract which theoretically doesn’t need to be done this offseason. The young power forward will likely return to the WHL next season to continue his development.
  • Matt Wellens of Duluth News Tribune reports that Boston Bruins’ prospect, Cole Spicer, is done playing hockey for the foreseeable future. Spicer was the 117th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft and recently wrapped up his sophomore campaign with the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he scored five goals and nine points in 17 games. According to the report from Wellens, Spicer is planning on taking some time to deal with ’personal and mental stuff’ before fully committing himself to a career in hockey.

West Notes: Richardson, Suter, Emberson

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The Chicago Blackhawks made several additions to the lineup this offseason while operating near the league’s basement for the past two years. The organization hopes to be much more competitive this season which may indirectly impact the future of the head coach, Luke Richardson. Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription article) wonders if Richardson may be on the hot seat this season if the Blackhawks are not more competitive.

There should be a grain of salt taken with any ideas of competition coming out of Chicago as the organization still does not project to be close to a Stanley Cup contender. However, with phenom Connor Bedard entering his sophomore season and the team adding $25.05MM to their salary cap structure for the 2024-25 NHL season, the Blackhawks could compete for a .500 record. After collecting a record of 49-102-13 over the last two years — is Richardson the coach to oversee this next step for Chicago?

The Blackhawks organization would have been hard-pressed to find a coach who would have earned a better record than Richardson over the past two years, and his calm demeanor appears to have helped many of the younger players transition to professional hockey. Richardson was an assistant coach for the Montreal Canadiens when they made their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 but has little to no experience beyond coaching a competitive team. Chicago will have a longer leash than most on his performance this year but it’s clear the front office is looking to take a step forward in the rebuild.

Other West notes:

  • One of the more surprising free-agent acquisitions over the past two weeks was the St. Louis Blues adding veteran defenseman Ryan Suter on a one-year, $775K deal including bonuses. The Blues organization now has six left-handed shot defensemen competing for three spots in the lineup next year while Jeremy Rutherford of the Athletic (Subscription Article) surmises that a trade is likely coming soon. Regarding the reasoning behind adding Suter specifically, Rutherford notes in his article that the Blues had a heavy interest in adding Suter when he was originally bought out by the Minnesota Wild three years ago. Suter’s camp was adamant on signing a four-year deal and general manager Doug Armstrong was only willing to go three which led to the delay in their partnership.
  • Defenseman Ty Emberson of the San Jose Sharks will be ready to go for training camp after needing surgery to repair a laceration suffered last season according to Max Miller of The Hockey News. Emberson recently avoided arbitration with the Sharks organization by signing a one-year, $950K deal for the 2024-25 NHL season. Emberson has quickly become one of the better defensive defensemen on San Jose’s roster and should compete for a consistent top-four spot next year.

AHL Signings: 7/12/24

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With the major dust settled in NHL free agency, teams’ AHL affiliates are looking to fill out their roster to complement the many two-way additions made around the league so far this summer. Expect many minor-league-only contracts signed as the month progresses. Here are today’s:

  • The Springfield Thunderbirds announced they’ve signed veteran defenseman Scott Harrington to a one-year contract. Harrington, 31, has 255 games of NHL experience and last suited up in 2022-23 for the Ducks and Sharks. He spent last season in Switzerland with the ZSC Lions of the National League, where injuries limited him to four assists, 2 PIMs and a +4 rating in 14 games. He’ll look to get back on track in North America and will take part in his eighth AHL season, now with the Blues’ affiliate. In addition to Anaheim and San Jose, Harrington has also spent time in the Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs and Penguins organizations.
  • The Milwaukee Admirals have signed forward Kale Howarth to a one-year deal and center Kyle Marino to a two-year pact, per a team announcement. Neither brings NHL experience to the club, which serves as the Predators’ primary affiliate. Howarth, 27, was a 2017 fifth-round pick of the Blue Jackets but wasn’t signed to an entry-level contract upon finishing up his collegiate career at UConn in 2021. He’s spent the last three seasons in the Blackhawks organization on AHL contracts, splitting his time between the Rockford IceHogs and their ECHL affiliate, the Indy Fuel. Injuries cost him a solid chunk of last season, limiting him to 20 total games. He had six points in 50 games with the IceHogs since turning pro. Marino, 29, will fill out an enforcer role and can play defense if necessary as well. The 6’3″, 220-lb aggressor spent last season with the Chicago Wolves, where he had four points and a career-high 114 PIMs in 65 games. Like Howarth, he’s entering his fourth AHL season.
  • The Kings organization has added some goalie depth in the form of Dryden McKay, who inked a one-year contract with the Ontario Reign today. The 26-year-old has spent most of the last two seasons with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, the second-tier affiliate of the Maple Leafs, which ceased operations shortly before the end of the 2023-24 campaign. McKay, who was an intriguing addition to the Toronto pipeline after winning the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey with Minnesota State in 2021-22, has been unimpressive. He posted a .899 SV% and 3.18 GAA with a 27-20-5 record for Newfoundland the past two years. He has two AHL games to his name, both in 2022-23, recording a .885 SV% and 3.38 GAA for the Toronto Marlies.
  • The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have signed defenseman Mats Lindgren to a one-year deal, the club announced. Lindgren, 20 in August, lands with the Pittsburgh organization after finishing his junior career with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. The smooth-skating left-shot defender was drafted 106th overall in 2022 by the Sabres but wasn’t offered an ELC before the June 1 deadline, thus becoming a UFA. He’ll try to work his way up toward earning an NHL deal with Pittsburgh after recording 41 points and a -4 rating in 63 games for Red Deer last season.

Rangers Re-Sign Chad Ruhwedel To Two-Way Deal

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The Rangers have signed defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to a one-year contract, the team announced Friday. The right-shot blue liner lands a two-way deal with a $775K cap hit, reports Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. He’ll earn $400K in the minors with a $450K guarantee, PuckPedia adds.

Ruhwedel, 34, had a challenging season in 2023-24. He made 47 appearances for the Penguins, where he’s suited up since signing as a free agent in 2016, scoring once and adding three assists for four points. While he’s never been relied upon for offense, he’s normally had serviceable possession metrics in a fringe bottom-pairing role. That wasn’t the case last season, though, as his 48.0 CF% and 46.9 xGF% were his worst as a Penguin. With Pittsburgh out of the playoff race, the Rangers picked Ruhwedel up at the trade deadline for some added blue-line insurance in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick. He played in just five regular season games down the stretch and didn’t see any playoff action for the Blueshirts, though.

But Ruhwedel does have a longer track record of serving as an above-average seventh defender, a form New York could be banking on him returning to. Since making his debut for the Sabres back in 2012-13, Ruhwedel has amassed 13 goals, 36 assists, 49 points and a -9 rating in 364 contests while averaging 15:08 per game. He’s historically managed average possession metrics and is a fine two-way talent to deploy in a third-pairing role, although he doesn’t have any upside on special teams.

The Rangers being able to bring Ruhwedel back on a two-way deal is a tad intriguing, considering he hasn’t seen AHL ice since a five-game stint in 2018-19. For now, he still projects to win a roster spot out of camp as an extra defenseman, although his path to regular minutes is disadvantageous with Adam Fox, Braden Schneider and Jacob Trouba ahead of him on their RD depth chart. He’d have a shot at competing with Zachary Jones for a steady third-pairing role if he were a lefty, but that isn’t the case. They have a vacancy there after Erik Gustafsson departed for the Red Wings in free agency.

With parts of 12 NHL seasons under his belt, Ruhwedel would be an attractive claim candidate if he hits waivers in the fall or during the season.

NL’s HC Lugano Signs Radim Zohorna

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HC Lugano of the Swiss National League has signed forward Radim Zohorna to a one-year deal, per a team announcement.

Zohorna, 28, has been a fringe NHLer for the past four years, mostly with the Penguins. He made a combined 25 appearances for them in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, 10 appearances split between the Flames and Maple Leafs in 2022-23, and returned to Pittsburgh for a career-high 33 games played in 2023-24. He accumulated 18 points in that total 68-game sample. He reached UFA status last week after wrapping up his one-year, two-way deal with the Pens.

A few years ago, Zohorna was a relative unknown, spending all of his professional career in his native Czechia until the Pens took a swing on the 6’6″, 230-lb forward as an undrafted free agent signing in 2020. In the preceding season with the Extraliga’s BK Mladá Boleslav, Zohorna hit career highs with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 46 games. After beginning his entry-level contract with Pittsburgh back on loan to Mladá Boleslav during COVID, he erupted for 22 points and a +19 rating in just 21 games before the 2020-21 NHL season began in January, at which point he joined AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The Pens briefly lost Zohorna for the 2022-23 season after Calgary claimed him on waivers and later traded him to Toronto at the deadline, but he was brought back as a free agent last summer. His AHL results since coming to North America have been strong, posting 32 goals and 92 points in 132 games. But he was never able to convert that appealing blend of size and scoring ability into consistent NHL minutes, serving primarily as a fourth-line fixture during his various call-ups. He only averaged more than 10 minutes per game in a single season once.

He’ll now look for more opportunity in Switzerland, joining a Lugano forward core rife with former NHLers (Mark Arcobello, Daniel Carr, Jiří Sekáč, Calvin Thurkauf). To open up a roster spot for Zohorna, Lugano released undersized forward Arttu Ruotsalainen, who was disappointing with 14 points in 43 games last year. Ruotsalainen’s NHL rights are still held by the Sabres, who signed him as a UDFA in 2019, but he won’t be coming back to Buffalo – he already found a new home on a one-year deal with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League today.

SHL’s Växjö Lakers Sign Otto Koivula To Two-Year Deal

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Finnish forward Otto Koivula is heading back to Scandinavia, inking a two-year deal with Växjö Lakers HC of the Swedish Hockey League last night, per a team release. The longtime Islanders farmhand was a Group VI UFA.

Koivula, 26 in September, didn’t see any NHL ice last season but did make 28 career appearances for the Isles across the 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. A 2016 fourth-round pick, Koivula carried a fair bit of intrigue with his 6’5″, 225-lb frame but never could eke out a full-time NHL role. He tallied four assists and a -1 rating during his time in the show, averaging 8:25 per game and struggling in the faceoff dot (42.8 FO%).

A power forward at heart, Koivula can play both center and wing and has spent most of his time under contract with New York on assignment to AHL Bridgeport. There, he’s been a valuable contributor to a club that’s struggled to have success, only making the playoffs twice in Koivula’s six-year tenure. He made 274 appearances for the Baby Isles, scoring 65 goals and adding 114 assists for 179 points. He tallied 194 PIMs, a -13 rating, and was often among their top scorers. His 30 points last season ranked fourth on the club despite being limited to 47 games.

Koivula last suited up in a European pro league while on loan to Liiga’s HIFK during the pandemic, racking up 11 points in 14 games there in 2020-21. His track record overseas is strong, winning the Liiga’s Rookie of the Year award back in 2016-17 with 10 goals and 30 points in 50 games for Ilves. He’ll be an impact piece for the Lakers, who have won four SHL championships in the past decade and have finished top-five in the league for four years in a row.

His role in Bridgeport will likely be replaced by Fredrik Karlström, who the Isles signed earlier this month after spending the last three years in the Stars organization. He tallied 21 goals and 44 points in 72 games for AHL Texas last season.

Free Agent Profile: James Van Riemsdyk

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The free agent market has moved at breakneck speed this offseason. Only two of PHR’s Top 50 UFAs have yet to sign, and only one, winger Daniel Sprong, is expected to play next season. Even beyond the big names, many non-tendered RFAs and cheap veteran names are beginning to find homes, namely Ryan Suter, as he continues his career-long tour of the Central Division. That indicates the market for low-cost names with loads of experience is increasing as teams circle back to make the finishing touches to their rosters in the second wave of free agency.

Offensively, one of those names to watch is James van Riemsdyk, a seven-time 20-goal scorer with an 11.8% shooting percentage across 15 NHL seasons and 1,011 games. He missed our Top 50 cutoff by a few spots, but aside from Joe Pavelski, who hasn’t officially retired yet but is expected to do so, he’s got the most established offensive track record of anyone still available.

For the first 12 years of his career, van Riemsdyk was a bonafide top-six winger and efficient scorer, averaging 0.66 points per game while routinely averaging north of 16 minutes per game. But age caught up to him three years into a five-year, $35MM contract with the Flyers, seeing his production drop to 36 goals, 67 points and a -36 rating in 143 games during his 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns in Philadelphia – less than a half a point per game. That was tough for the Flyers to stomach at his $7MM cap hit, especially considering they’d drafted him second overall in 2007 but missed out on his prime, most of which was spent with the Maple Leafs after they shipped him to Toronto for Luke Schenn in the 2012 offseason in what turned out to be one of the more lopsided deals of the decade.

Following his quiet end to his tenure in Philly, JVR landed on a cheap one-year, $1MM deal with the Bruins when free agency opened last summer. For the first time in a few seasons, he produced well over his contract value, serving as a valuable depth scorer for a Bruins offense that entered the campaign with many question marks after the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí. His numbers were roughly in line with what he’d done with the Flyers the last few years, scoring 11 goals and 38 points in 71 games, but he did so more efficiently, averaging reduced minutes (13:30 ATOI) compared to his middle-six usage with Philadelphia.

He also managed 142 shots on goal, 23 more than he’d lobbed on the net in 2022-23. Those 11 goals were tied for a career low, but he also shot at a career-low 7.7%, suggesting there’s some rebound potential this year. After turning 35 in May, he’ll also be eligible to sign a contract with performance bonuses, allowing a team close to the salary cap’s $88MM upper limit to keep his initial cap hit low in case he doesn’t pan out.

In line with his solid box stats, van Riemsdyk’s possession quality metrics last season were some of the best of his career. Boston controlled a whopping 60.7% of expected goals with JVR on the ice at even strength. While he wasn’t particularly adept at controlling shot attempts outright, posting a 49.6 CF%, he wasn’t on for very many high-danger chances against, and his two-way play thrived in a Bruins system that actually allowed fewer total expected goals last year than in their record-breaking 135-point 2022-23 season.

With that in mind, JVR presents himself as an attractive candidate who could still likely crush 15 to 20 goals next season in a bottom-six scoring role. He’s likely to be a solid fallback option for interested parties in Sprong that don’t end up landing him.

Stats

2023-24: 71 GP, 11 G, 27 A, 38 P, +7, 20 PIMs, 13:30 ATOI, 49.6 CF%
Career: 1,011 GP, 311 G, 318 A, 629 P, -66, 394 PIMs, 16:11 ATOI, 50.2 CF%

Potential Suitors

van Riemsdyk hasn’t been firmly connected to any teams so far this summer. Given the suddenly shallow market for depth scoring, expect that to change as the weeks progress.

But in terms of speculative fits, it would be unwise to rule out a return to the Bruins. They have $8.64MM in projected cap space for next season remaining, per PuckPedia. Most of that will go toward a new deal for RFA netminder Jeremy Swayman. But as we’ve seen in recent days with Suter, JVR could be amenable to returning on a performance-bonus-laden deal with a league minimum $775K cap hit. It’s a type of contract that Boston general manager Don Sweeney is no stranger to signing as well, executing similar deals with Bergeron and Krejčí in the twilight of their careers to help keep their short-term financial situation as manageable as possible.

There’s still a need for another scoring-oriented winger in the Bruins’ bottom six, especially as an insurance policy in case 2021 first-rounder Fabian Lysell doesn’t crack the roster out of camp. They’ve replenished some offensive depth by signing Max Jones and acquiring Mark Kastelic from the Senators in last month’s Linus Ullmark trade, but both are checking forwards first and foremost with limited upside on the scoresheet.

JVR could also find a place to play in 2023-24 by returning to a former club in free agency for the second time in his career. A reunion with the Leafs, who haven’t made any notable additions at forward this summer, could make sense. Their left-wing depth took a hit when Tyler Bertuzzi departed for the Blackhawks in free agency last summer, and much like he would in Boston, van Riemsdyk could provide veteran insurance in case top prospects Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten, both of whom are expected to challenge for opening night roster spots, don’t make the team. It would be a difficult squeeze with just $955K in cap space remaining and new deals needed for depth RFA forwards Connor Dewar and Nicholas Robertson, although the latter has reportedly requested a trade.

Both would be decent playoff contenders for van Riemsdyk to join as he chases a Stanley Cup. Without a ring to his name, it’s likely he’ll be willing to sacrifice some cash on his next deal rather than take an above-market-value paycheck to offer veteran leadership to a rebuilder.

Projected Contract

As mentioned earlier, JVR’s deal will likely come across the finish line with a $775K cap hit since he’s now eligible for a 35+ contract. But there is a good amount of uncertainty about how much his performance bonuses could total. After last year’s solid showing, he’s likely in line for an overall pay bump over his previous $1MM salary, even if only a portion is guaranteed. Evolving Hockey pegged JVR to land a one-year, $1.5MM deal as a UFA this summer, a figure that still makes sense when including potential performance bonuses.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Bruins Re-Sign Michael Callahan, Alec Regula To Two-Way Deals

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The Bruins announced today that they’ve re-signed defensemen Michael Callahan and Alec Regula to one-year, two-way contracts with $775K cap hits. Regula will earn $215K in the minors, PuckPedia reports. Both were RFAs after receiving qualifying offers last month.

Callahan, 24, has yet to make his NHL debut but solidified himself as a full-timer with AHL Providence in his second full professional season last year. He set career-highs across the board with three goals, 14 assists and 17 points in 70 appearances, posting a -14 rating while serving as an alternate captain.

He has good speed for his 6’2″, 201-lb frame and projected as a defensively sound two-way blue liner. However, it looks like he’ll be more of a stay-at-home type at the pro level, especially if he ever cracks the NHL. That’s far from a given and would be a solid return on the Bruins’ investment – they initially acquired Callahan’s signing rights from the Coyotes for a 2024 seventh-round pick (later traded to the Oilers, used to select D Bauer Berry) as he was wrapping up his collegiate career at Providence in 2022. He was initially a fifth-round pick of Arizona in 2018 out of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms.

Meanwhile, Regula returns to Boston still in search of his first NHL games since being acquired from the Blackhawks in last summer’s Taylor Hall trade. The 6’4″ right-shot defenseman turns 24 in August and was dominant on assignment to Providence last season after clearing waivers, leading the AHL with a +36 rating despite only playing in 55 games. He added four goals and 22 assists for 26 points, displaying solid puck-moving ability and reiterating that he likely has a future as an everyday NHLer somewhere down the line.

After such a performance, the Regula clearing waivers next fall isn’t a given. The Sharks took a flier on a similarly cast defender with little to no NHL experience off the waiver wire in Ty Emberson last season, turning him into a full-time NHLer as one of their top matchup options. Their situations aren’t exactly congruent, though. Emberson, who had been playing in the Rangers organization, had no NHL experience at the time of his claim, while Regula has 22 appearances under his belt across parts of three seasons with Chicago, recording a goal and a -5 rating.

Nonetheless, both could return as reinforcements on a Providence blue line that’s looking rather crowded. Boston added some veteran help for their affiliate in the form of UFAs Jordan Oesterle and Billy Sweezey last week.

Jets Sign Dylan Coghlan

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July 12: Winnipeg confirmed Coghlan’s deal Friday morning.

July 10: The Jets wasted little time getting their newest defenseman under contract.  After acquiring Dylan Coghlan last weekend, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Winnipeg has inked the blueliner to a one-year, two-way deal.  The contract will pay $775K in the NHL, $200K in the minors, and contains a guaranteed salary of $250K.  He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The 26-year-old was expected to be at least a depth option for Carolina last season but instead, he cleared waivers in training camp and spent most of the year with AHL Springfield.  With them, Coghlan had a productive year, leading all AHL blueliners with 16 goals while chipping in with 25 helpers, earning himself an All-Star appearance in the process.  While the Hurricanes tendered him a qualifying offer last month, they elected to move him for future considerations.

For his career, Coghlan has played in 106 career NHL appearances, most of which came with Vegas before they moved him to Carolina back in 2022.  He should have a chance to battle for a depth role on Winnipeg’s roster in training camp but with Ville Heinola now waiver-eligible, the re-signings of Colin Miller and Logan Stanley, and the addition of Haydn Fleury in free agency, there’s a good chance that Coghlan will have to start with AHL Manitoba and try to work his way up from there.

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