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Hurricanes Agree To Three-Year Deal With Shayne Gostisbehere

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The Hurricanes are close to a three-year deal worth around $10MM for UFA defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports. It would be his second stint with the club. The deal isn’t finalized, Pierre LeBrun of TSN says, but they’ve agreed to terms on a three-year deal worth $3.2MM per season. Carolina later officially announced the terms of the deal, confirming the $3.2MM AAV and $9.6MM total value.

Gostisbehere alone may singlehandedly replace the offense Carolina lost when Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei both found new homes on the open market today. The 31-year-old flourished in Detroit last season in sheltered even-strength minutes while seeing top power-play time, recording 10 goals and 56 points in 81 games – his most since his career-high 65 points set in 2017-18.

He last suited up in Carolina in 2022-23 after a deadline deal sent him from Phoenix to Raleigh. He fit right in to end the season, posting 10 points in 23 games in bottom-pairing minutes, but ended up finding a bigger role with the Wings.

With the increased stability that comes with a three-year deal, Gostisbehere is well-positioned to take on the third-pairing, first-unit power-play role that suited him so well in Detroit. While he can play both sides, he’s a natural lefty and will likely sit behind Jaccob Slavin and Dmitry Orlov on the depth chart.

Carolina’s defense is likely completely filled out for next season, with Gostisbehere and Sean Walker serving as much cheaper replacements for Pesce and Skjei. They still have upward of $10MM in projected cap space for next season to make adds on offense as the week goes on, although the market is quickly dwindling as most of the top-flight UFAs have already signed.

Sharks To Sign Alexander Wennberg

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The Sharks are signing UFA center Alexander Wennberg to a two-year deal worth $5MM annually, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.

It’s clearly above market value for Wennberg, likely signed with the intent to help San Jose stay above the $65MM cap floor. But that doesn’t mean the addition is devoid of value for the Sharks, who desperately need veteran talent to help avoid overworking rookies like Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, both of whom project to slot into the opening night lineup.

Wennberg is what he is at this stage of his career, recording between 30 and 40 points for three years in a row. The 29-year-old has logged heavy minutes over the past few years, averaging around 18 minutes per game since 2020-21, certainly more than he’s suited for. But he does manage decent possession numbers in defense-oriented usage at even strength, and he’s been a fixture on the Kraken’s penalty kill since they signed him in free agency three years ago. He’ll remain a top PKer as he makes the move to San Jose via a brief stop in New York thanks to a deadline deal to the Rangers in March.

He struggled to produce in postseason action for the Blueshirts, limited to one goal and one assist in 16 games. He’ll look for a fresh start in San Jose, where he’ll get a solid paycheck and is joined by veteran additions Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Toffoli up front to help add some much-needed secondary scoring.

Maple Leafs To Sign Jani Hakanpää

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The Maple Leafs are expected to land UFA defenseman Jani Hakanpää, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. It’s a two-year deal, Dreger adds. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports it’s a $1.5MM cap hit.

Hakanpää is the final item in a Toronto defense shopping list today that also includes Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Now 32, the defensively stout Finn heads to his fourth NHL team since arriving from Europe in 2019.

Last year was a tough ending for Hakanpää. His season ended around the trade deadline due to injury, and he wasn’t able to suit up in postseason action for the Stars as they advanced to the Western Conference Final. Much like he has the past few years in Dallas, he logged fringe top-four minutes in the regular season, also contributing 12 points and a +10 rating in 64 games. He was among the Stars’ most frequent hitters, using his 6’6″, 225-lb frame to lay the body 196 times.

Used almost exclusively in defensive situations, Hakanpää will be a steady and perhaps more competent replacement for depth players like Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin who signed elsewhere for much more money today. In that sense, it’s an extremely shrewd pickup by GM Brad Treliving for a player who could prove to be the right kind of third-pairing partner for the more offensively-inclined Ekman-Larsson.

With their signings today, the Leafs now have a chance to ice a reliable puck-mover on each pairing in Ekman-Larsson, Timothy Liljegren and Morgan Rielly, paired each with Hakanpää, Jake McCabe and Tanev on their flanks. That’s a much more balanced composition than the D-core that largely failed to hold its weight in their first-round loss to the Bruins, plagued by a lack of competent puck-moving defenders.

After today’s moves, the Leafs are fully capped out with a 23-man roster.

Canadiens Sign Juraj Slafkovsky To Eight-Year Extension

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The Canadiens have signed 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky to an eight-year extension, the team announced. The deal, which begins with the 2025-26 season, carries a $7.6MM cap hit.

This is an outcome that wouldn’t have seemed possible just a few months ago.  The 2022 first-overall pick struggled considerably in his rookie season, recording just ten points in 39 games before missing the rest of the season due to injury.  Then, he struggled even more out of the gate last season, picking up only one goal and one assist in his first 15 outings.

While many felt that a trip to AHL Laval would be the best course of action, Montreal basically took the exact opposite route.  Instead of sending him down to play a bigger role with the Rocket, they moved him up to the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.  It didn’t take long for Slafkovsky to find his footing and he wound up finishing the year with 20 goals and 30 assists in 82 games.

Clearly, his performance in the second half of the season was enough to convince management to commit to a max-term agreement, one that buys out Slafkovsky’s four remaining RFA years while adding four more seasons of club control.  The deal is likely to carry some form of trade protection in those final four seasons; he’s ineligible for trade protection in any of his RFA years.

Notably, this price tag comes in below Suzuki’s $7.875MM cost, keeping their internal cap in place for skaters as no one yet is set to make more than the captain (aside from Carey Price’s LTIR contract).  It also keeps Montreal’s top line under contract through at least the 2028-29 season with all three players making below $8MM.

As is often the case with these types of early extensions off an entry-level deal, the price is likely to be on the high side early on in the deal.  However, if Slafkovsky is able to progress and live up to his first-overall billing, the hope for the Canadiens is that this agreement will become a team-friendly one in the end.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Shane Pinto Has Not Requested Trade From Senators

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2:32 p.m.: Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff has counteracted Di Marco’s report, claiming that Pinto has not officially asked Ottawa for a trade.

10:13 a.m.: Earlier this morning, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported that forward Shane Pinto may be leaning towards requesting a trade from the Ottawa Senators. Following up on the initial report, Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period confirms Pinto has officially requested a trade from the organization.

This request continues what’s been a very eventful four years in Ottawa. Originally drafted 32nd-overall, then a second-round pick, in the 2019 NHL Draft – Pinto turned pro at the end of the 2020-21 season and managed seven points across his first 12 games. It was an electric start but Senators fans would have to wait for the encore, as a dislocated right shoulder would rob Pinto of all but five games in the 2021-22 season. He came back from the injury with purpose last season, posting 20 goals and 35 points through 82 games while serving as an everyday middle-six center.

Finally removed from injury and on the back of a 20-goal season, this year was meant to be Pinto’s breakout performance. Instead, it very quickly became a year to forget, as Pinto was dealt a 41-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy. The punishment was handed out while Pinto was in the middle of contract negotiations with Ottawa. The Senators instead signed Pinto through the second half of the 2023-24 season, set on finding him a longer-term deal in RFA negotiations this summer. Pinto vindicated the deal with a strong nine goals and 27 points – on pace for 54 points across 82 games, which would’ve sat 17 points above his career-high.

But even after so many ups-and-downs, it seems Ottawa won’t be the ones to benefit from Pinto’s slow burn. He’ll instead enter the trade market, where plenty of teams will surely be eager to sign a productive, 23-year-old centerman. Ottawa extended a qualifying offer to Pinto before the June 30th deadline, giving them control over his rights throughout the summer, though any new team will also have to sign him to his next contract.

Oilers Re-Sign Corey Perry; Sign Brown, Delia, Carrick

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2:25 p.m.: The Oilers have also re-signed right winger Corey Perry to a one-year, $1.4MM contract, per a team announcement. He returns to Edmonton for his 20th NHL season in 2024-25. It’ll carry a $1.15MM cap hit with up to $250K in performance bonuses, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports. His return fills out a lot of good work from acting GM Jeff Jackson today to fill out their depth scoring complement after he ended the season with eight goals and 13 points in 38 games in an Oilers uniform.

12:42 p.m.: The Oilers are bringing in depth defenseman Josh Brown on a three-year deal with a $1MM cap hit, per a team announcement. They’ve also signed depth netminder Collin Delia to a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K NHL/$400K AHL with $425K guaranteed, per PuckPedia. Lastly, the team announced a one-year, two-way contract for defenseman Connor Carrick which will pay him $775K at the NHL level.

Brown, 30, is a bit of a blemish on an otherwise solid day for the Oilers thus far. Strictly a shutdown and PK specialist, he’s posted some downright abysmal possession numbers over the past two seasons in a Coyotes uniform, only controlling 39.7% of expected goals when on the ice at even strength. He does carry some special teams value, but even with receiving considerable time shorthanded, his low average ice time (14:45 last season) evidences how sparingly he’s used at even strength.

What he does bring to the Edmonton blue line is six years and nearly 300 games of NHL experience coupled with his 6’5″, 220-lb frame. He’s laid over 100 hits in each of the past three seasons, a mark he could look to hit if he gets into about half of Edmonton’s games this season. For a seven-figure cap hit, that’s a likely possibility, although it can also be fully buried in the minors if the Oilers need to.

Brown is coming off a career-high 10 points in 51 games with Arizona last year. He’s also logged NHL time for the Bruins, Panthers and Senators.

Delia, 30, joins the organization as Jack Campbell’s replacement and projects to serve as the starter for AHL Bakersfield next season. He struggled in 32 appearances for the Jets’ minor league affiliate in 2023-24, the Manitoba Moose, posting a .872 SV% and an 11-9-1 record. His last NHL action came with the Canucks in 2022-23, when he had a .882 SV% and 3.28 GAA in 20 appearances.

Carrick also likely enters the fray as AHL depth, especially with Brown’s signing. While he was once a fringe NHL regular with the Maple Leafs in the late 2010s, he’s been solely a minor-league option for the past few years. The 30-year-old spent last year with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley, putting up 34 points and a +12 rating in 70 games. He’s appeared in 242 NHL games over eight different seasons with the Leafs, Devils, Capitals, Stars and Bruins, recording 13 goals and 50 points with a -19 rating.

Lightning Sign Jesse Ylönen, Two Others To Two-Way Deals

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The Lightning are picking up winger Jesse Ylönen on a two-way contract, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports. He was non-tendered by the Canadiens yesterday, making him a UFA. They also inked veteran depth defenders Derrick Pouliot and Steven Santini to one-year, two-way pacts with $775K cap hits, per CapFriendly.

Ylönen, 24, has the greatest chance to crack the Tampa roster out of camp. The 2018 second-round pick struggled to produce with Montreal last season, limited to four goals and eight points in 57 games. But his minor-league numbers (32 points in 39 AHL GP in 2022-23) suggest greater offensive upside, something he may get the chance to showcase with many depth spots up for grabs in Tampa. He’ll compete for time with recent adds like Zemgus Girgensons and internal options like Mitchell Chaffee and Gage Goncalves.

Pouliot and Santini, meanwhile, are solely depth signings for AHL Syracuse, with the Lightning’s top seven defensemen already locked in. Pouliot, 30, remains a quality power-play option in the minors, suiting up in the Stars organization with AHL Texas last year. There, he recorded nine goals and 46 points in 64 games and earned a brief cup of coffee in the NHL with Dallas, where he went without a point in five games. Once a top-ten pick by the Penguins in 2012, he hasn’t stuck around as an NHL full-timer since 2018-19 with the Canucks.

Santini, 29, is a 6’2″ right-shot defender who’s changing NHL organizations for the second summer in a row. After a few years in the Blues’ pipeline, he spent last season on a one-year deal with the Kings, where he had 10 points and a +9 rating in 64 games for AHL Ontario. A second-round pick of the Devils in 2013, he has 123 games of NHL experience, mostly with New Jersey. He last suited up in the NHL for St. Louis in 2022-23, recording an assist in a four-game call-up.

Penguins Sign Anthony Beauvillier, Blake Lizotte; Three Others

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The Penguins have signed winger Anthony Beauvillier to a one-year contract in a deal that will pay him $1.25MM next season per a team announcement. Additionally, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the team has also come to a contract agreement with Blake Lizotte on a two-year, $3.7MM contract.

Pittsburgh also announced they’ve signed forward Jimmy Huntington to a one-year deal. His pact carries the league minimum $775K cap hit. They’re also bringing in 26-year-old right-shot defenseman Nathan Clurman on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K NHL/$125K AHL, per PuckPedia. They also re-signed 25-year-old forward Emil Bemstrom to a one-year, one-way deal worth $775K after not issuing him a qualifying offer yesterday, PuckPedia reports.

Beauvillier finds a new home after a tough 2023-24 season that saw him bounce between three different clubs. In 60 games with the Canucks, Blackhawks and Predators, the 27-year-old had only five goals and 17 points with a -8 rating. That’s a far cry from the 15-goal form he consistently flashed with the Islanders from 2017 to 2023 until his involvement in the Bo Horvat trade sent him to Vancouver.

Pittsburgh will bank on a bit of a rebound from Beauvillier on a deal that’s almost fully buriable in the minors. After moving out Reilly Smith to the Rangers today, there could be an opening for him in the top nine and on the second power play to help him rediscover some offense. He’ll challenge players like Drew O’Connor and Rickard Rakell for a potential top-six spot but should be relatively guaranteed a third-line wing spot at worst unless more additions are coming.

Lizotte slots in nicely to the fourth-line center position, taking away some responsibility from Noel Acciari, who struggled in his first campaign with Pittsburgh last year. The former King has had good possession metrics throughout his six-year, 320-game career and is coming off a solid 15 points and +11 rating in 62 games last year. Interestingly, he’s only one year removed from a breakout campaign that saw him post 34 points in 81 games – if he can recapture that kind of offensive production, that would be a major jolt of energy into a Pittsburgh bottom six that was abysmal offensively in 2023-24.

Bemström should likely stick around on the NHL roster after inking a one-way deal, but whether he opens the season in the lineup or as an extra forward is a different question. The 25-year-old Swede has been a prolific offensive producer in the minors but hasn’t carried it over to the NHL on a consistent basis, finishing the year with a mediocre three goals and five points in 24 games with Pittsburgh after they acquired him from the Blue Jackets. There are certainly worse options to insert into the lineup in a pinch, though, and there’s always hope he can rediscover his rookie season form (10 goals, 20 points in 56 games with Columbus in 2019-20).

Huntington and Clurman will head to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and are highly unlikely to see NHL action next season. Neither has any major league experience to their name thus far in their professional careers. Huntington, 25, spent last season on a minor-league deal with the Hershey Bears, where he finished the season with 14 points in 20 playoff games en route to a Calder Cup win. Clurman, a stocky 6’2″, 205-lb defender, is 26 years old and played only 37 games for the Colorado Eagles last season, recording a goal and four assists with a +5 rating.

Flyers Sign Matvei Michkov To Entry-Level Contract

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The Flyers have signed top right wing prospect Matvei Michkov to his three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced. The seventh overall pick in last year’s draft had recently been released from his contract overseas with Russia’s SKA St. Petersburg ahead of schedule.

Michkov has faced a long string of rumors since his draft day, with many teams concerned that he may face challenges getting out of his contract with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg, which was set to run through the 2025-26 season. But SKA decided to terminate Michkov’s contract early, with SKA chariman Alexander Medvedev citing Michkov’s dream to play in the NHL and recent personal loss as primary reasons for the buyout. With his entry-level contract signed and an invite to Philadelphia’s development camp, it seems there are now no barriers to Michkov pursuing the NHL.

Michkov will move to North America as perhaps the top prospect in the NHL, after serving as the star power for the KHL’s HK Sochi over the last two seasons. Sochi is an affiliate of SKA and often used to loan out additional contracts, without pulling players out of the KHL. That gives them one of the league’s weaker teams year-over-year, but Michkov didn’t seem daunted by his company – totaling nine goals and 20 points in 27 games last year, and then 19 goals and 41 points in 47 games this year. That scoring comes out to 0.74 and 0.85 points per game respectively – ranked eigth and second among all U21 seasons in KHL history, despite Michkov not turning 20 until December. He’s a dynamic, highly aware player with the hands to stickhandle in a phone booth and the confidence to take on and beat any defenders head-on, regardless of whether they’re his own age or hardened KHL vets. His shot has also gained notoriety, with Michkov pulling off Connor Bedard-esque wrist shots – lightning quick and not needing much room – though Michkov doesn’t have nearly the same power or snap that will make Bedard’s shot legendary.

Regardless, Michkov is a star prospect, once considered the only player capable of beating out Bedard for 2023’s first overall spot. That hype changed as their draft seasons approached, with hotly debated rumors and a move to Sochi helping Philadelphia land Michkov at seventh-overall. He’ll quickly get to prove his doubters wrong, set up for what should be a smash year with the Flyers. The extent of Michkov’s talent won’t be clear until Philadelphia’s development and training camps, but all signs point towards him being capable of a top-line role, after averaging 17:12 in ice tie in the KHL this year. Should that be where Michkov lands, he’ll be in direct competition with Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, and Joel Farabee for minutes. Michkov is helped along by a natural ability to play either wing, though he’ll still have to proudly earn his ice time; juxtaposed by three 50-point scorers. If Michkov is the superstar he’s claimed to be – a thought that truly seems hard to doubt – he should have no challenge carving out a role, and should immediately join a Calder Trophy debate that’s also expected to feature Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Logan Stankoven, and Cutter Gauthier, among a long list of talented prospects getting their shot.

Red Wings Sign Jack Campbell, Re-Sign Fischer

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Jack Campbell didn’t have to wait long for a new home after getting bought out by the Oilers. The netminder has agreed to a one-year deal with the Red Wings worth $775K, per a team announcement. In addition to adding to their goaltending depth, the team has re-signed forward Christian Fischer to a one-year, $1.125MM contract according to a team announcement.

Unless another move is made in the upcoming days, the Red Wings appear to have a bloated goaltending situation. The team was already positioned to start the season with Ville Husso and Alex Lyon as the goaltending combo but brought in two more goaltenders on NHL contracts as the organization’s most significant moves of the afternoon. The moves appear in stark contrast to the words used by General Manager Steve Yzerman only a few days ago when he said, “I don’t see us really doing three goaltenders throughout the course of the season. That wasn’t really the plan last year either, but injury kind of dictated that. Having said that, I don’t anticipate using prime assets to acquire an older goaltender that might not be here two, three, four years from now“.

If Yzerman plans to use that as a framework for his goaltending position at the AHL level; Campbell, Husso, and prospect Sebastian Cossa will likely start the 2024-25 season as the team’s trio of netminders in AHL Grand Rapids. Even on a league minimum salary, Campbell’s .886 SV% and 3.53 GA over his last 40 starts in the regular season have not earned a spot on an NHL roster.

Outside of the additions in the net, the Red Wings bring back an energizer bunny in Fischer on a modest one-year pact. The former second-round pick suited up in 79 games for Detroit last season while scoring five goals and 19 points. Fischer also led all Red Wings’ forwards in hits with 138 body checks on the year.

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