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Capitals Sign Zac Funk To Entry-Level Contract

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The Capitals have nabbed one of the top undrafted free agents hitting the market today, signing WHL leading goal-scorer Zac Funk to a three-year, entry-level deal. In a team release, the Capitals confirmed the contract will carry a cap hit of $810K, equivalent to his NHL salary, and $82.5K in the AHL.

Funk, 20, has exploded for 56 goals and 99 points in just 58 games with the Prince George Cougars, sitting third in the league in points behind Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus and Wild prospect and Prince George teammate Riley Heidt. The 6-foot, 209-lb Funk can play both wings and has NHL-ready size.

He’s unlikely to crack Washington’s NHL roster next season, but he will join one of the best minor-league franchises in the world in the AHL’s Hershey Bears. The defending Calder Cup champions are on a roll again in 2023-24, boasting a league-best 41-9-3 record.

Their success stems mainly from more veteran minor-leaguers. Still, they will likely continue to be staffed by top Capitals prospects Ivan Miroshnichenko and Vincent Iorio next season, giving Funk a solid core of young players to grow with.

Funk will be an RFA when his deal expires in 2027. He will require waivers after playing three professional seasons or skating in 80 NHL games, whichever comes first.

Rangers Agree To Terms With Connor Mackey On Extension

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The Rangers have agreed to terms with left-shot defenseman Connor Mackey on a two-year contract extension, per a team release. It’s a two-way deal with a cap hit of $775K, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.

Mackey, 27, has been the Rangers’ top recall option for most of the season. He’s been recalled from AHL Hartford eight times since clearing waivers during training camp, but most of them were one-day stints as injury insurance, with Zachary Jones remaining around the team as their seventh defenseman.

He’s been limited to one NHL appearance this season, a Jan. 27 contest against the Senators. He recorded a +1 rating, one hit, three blocks, and one shot on goal in a win, also fighting Senators captain Brady Tkachuk in the third period.

He’s played in 36 games on the farm with Hartford, recording 11 points, 63 PIMs, and a team-high +13 rating. A top-pairing-caliber shutdown defender at the AHL level, Mackey is well worth keeping around as a safe option to insert into the lineup if necessary.

Mackey joins veteran Ben Harpur and 24-year-old Brandon Scanlin as Rangers defensemen under contract who are likely destined for the Wolf Pack in 2024-25. Mac Hollowell and Matthew Robertson are both pending RFAs who will probably be reassigned to Hartford if re-signed by the Rangers.

The Tower Lakes, Illinois, native will be a UFA in 2026 when his new deal expires. An undrafted free agent signing by the Flames out of Minnesota State University-Mankato in 2020, Mackey has four goals, seven assists, 11 points, and a -1 rating in 40 career NHL games with the Coyotes, Flames, and Rangers. He appeared in a career-high 30 games with Arizona and Calgary last season, recording seven points with a -4 rating while averaging 14:03 per game.

Lightning Sign Milo Roelens To Entry-Level Contract

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4:12 p.m.: Roelens’ ELC carries a cap hit of $870K, per PuckPedia. In all three seasons, the deal carries a $775K salary, a $95K signing bonus, up to $80K in games played bonuses, and a minors salary of $82.5K.

12:01 p.m.: Free agent center prospect Milo Roelens signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Lightning on Friday, per a team release. The agreement, for which terms were not released, will begin next season and make Roelens an RFA in 2027.

Roelens, 21, is in his final season of junior hockey and has spent the last four seasons in the QMJHL. The massive 6-foot-6, 207-lb pivot was traded from the Sherbrooke Phoenix to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan last summer, a move that’s allowed him to break out for 25 goals, 37 assists, and 62 points with 90 PIMs in 56 games this year.

Crossing over the point-per-game threshold for the first time in his major junior career, Roelens now has his professional home secured for the next three seasons. The Canadian-Belgian dual national was born in Ste-Pétronille, Québec, and received some outside consideration for selection in last year’s NHL Entry Draft but was ultimately passed over.

A decent two-way pivot, Roelens can also play left wing. Like many young UFAs who will sign deals over the coming days, his NHL prospects are limited given his delayed offensive breakout at the junior level, but he’s done well enough in junior play this year to likely secure a spot with Tampa’s primary affiliate, the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, next season. If he doesn’t crack their roster out of camp, he’ll be demoted to the second-tier ECHL with the Orlando Solar Bears.

Roelens’ +17 rating leads Acadie-Bathurst this season, as do his 25 goals. His 62 points are second on the team behind former Hurricanes prospect Robert Orr, another potential free-agent pickup for teams in the coming days or over the summer.

Roelens is the second unsigned prospect to ink an entry-level deal today, joining former Sharks draft pick Max McCue. McCue inked a three-year contract with the Blue Jackets to open this year’s free-agent signing period for UFA prospects coming out of junior hockey.

Latest On Chris Tanev Trade Fallout, Defense Market

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On Wednesday, the Stars’ acquisition of Chris Tanev from the Flames marked the first major pre-deadline deal involving a defenseman. As such, the past 36 hours have allowed for reporting to uncover more information about the days preceding the trade and what impacts it could have on the defense market in the week leading up to the trade deadline.

Among the finalists for Tanev were the Avalanche, Canucks, Maple Leafs, and Oilers, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun said on Thursday’s episode of “Insider Trading.” Toronto was in conversations later than other teams, as LeBrun reports Leafs GM Brad Treliving had discussions with the Flames’ front office as late as hours before Tanev was dealt to Dallas.

LeBrun confirmed that Treliving’s lack of willingness to part with a first-round pick caused Calgary to ultimately decline their offer. However, the Flames’ interest in Stars defense prospect Artyom Grushnikov is quickly looking like what turned the tides in Dallas’ favor. That’s because the Flames had a first-round pick on the table in an offer from another team, but it was contingent on Calgary taking an NHL roster player with term back in the deal – something Calgary GM Craig Conroy wasn’t willing to do, LeBrun said.

Other reporting indicates Edmonton was most likely the team that packaged a first-round pick in their offer for Tanev. They’re continuing to shop this year’s first-rounder, along with a roster player, likely defensemen Cody Ceci or Brett Kulak, for an upgrade on defense, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

Calgary’s decision to forego a first-round pick may have a domino effect on other sellers, too, TSN’s Chris Johnston added on “Insider Trading.” The Flyers are looking for one in return for shutdown blue-liners Nick Seeler and Sean Walker, while the Coyotes are hoping for one in exchange for Matt Dumba. Johnston added that the Flyers may be inclined to hold onto Seeler and Walker past the deadline and continue holding extension talks if they don’t get an offer they like. Meanwhile, the Coyotes are more likely to ship out Dumba for the best available offer regardless of whether a first-rounder is included.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet also reported on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” episode that Conroy took one last pass at signing Tanev to an extension shortly before the trade to Dallas went through. However, Tanev felt too much time had passed and that the team was too deep in trade talks, and preferred a move to a contender before testing the market again next summer.

In response, Friedman wondered if the Flames may now add a cheap NHL-ready blue-liner to help mitigate the loss of Tanev down the stretch. The team is in no condition to spend significant assets in a trade after selling off Tanev, Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov earlier in the season. Still, a mid- or late-round pick may be in play to avoid overplaying depth defenders like Dennis Gilbert, Jordan Oesterle and Brayden Pachal.

They’re not out of the playoff picture yet, as a 7-3-0 run in their last 10 games has them in ninth place in the Western Conference. However, there’s a seven-point gap between them and the similarly streaking Predators for the second wild-card spot, a tricky measure to close with less than two months left in the year if Nashville keeps up their pace.

Blue Jackets Sign Max McCue To Entry-Level Deal

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2:01 p.m.: The contract carries a cap hit of $858K, per PuckPedia. The deal pays him $775K salary in all three years, a $82.5K signing bonus in 2024-25 and 2025-26 that jumps to $85K in 2026-27, and a minors salary of $82.5K in all three years.

10:37 a.m.: Today marks the first day teams can sign unaffiliated prospects in free agency, and the Blue Jackets are the first team to make a splash. They’ve inked 21-year-old center Max McCue to a three-year entry-level contract that begins in 2024-25, per a team release. Terms were not disclosed.

McCue was a fifth-round pick of the Sharks in 2021, but San Jose lost his exclusive rights after opting not to sign him to an entry-level contract by June 1, 2023. He’s suited up for the OHL’s London Knights since 2019 but lost out on the 2020-21 campaign entirely due to COVID-19, putting a pause on his development.

Still with London as an alternate captain, McCue has set or tied career highs with 24 goals, 26 assists, 50 points, and a +20 rating in 52 games. The 6-foot-1, 174-lb native of Sudbury, Ontario, relies on his speed to generate offense and projects as more of a playmaker than a goal-scorer at the professional level.

McCue has ideal size for the NHL level if he can add more muscle. However, his delayed offensive production in juniors doesn’t bode well for his chances of being a full-time major leaguer.

He’ll likely begin his pro career next season with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, although an assignment to the lower-level ECHL isn’t out of the question. Columbus is one of the handful of NHL teams without a dedicated ECHL affiliate.

Columbus now has 32 out of a maximum of 50 standard player contracts signed for next season, so they still have plenty of room to re-sign their pending RFAs and add a few more bodies to the organization in free agency.

Sabres Reassign Tyson Jost, Dustin Tokarski

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The Sabres returned center Tyson Jost and goaltender Dustin Tokarski to the AHL’s Rochester Americans on Friday, per a team statement. In doing so, Buffalo is back below the 23-player roster limit after bringing both players up on emergency loans.

Jost, 25, was recalled on Monday amidst fears of an injury to top-line winger Jeff Skinner, who departed practice with an undisclosed injury that required imaging. Skinner didn’t miss any time and played in both of the Sabres’ games this week against the Panthers and Lightning, so Jost did not play for the first time since being waived in late December.

Buffalo had Tokarski join the team in Tampa for precautionary measures while an illness was running through the group, allowing them to have a third goalie on hand in case Eric Comrie or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen became unavailable. He did not dress for last night’s overtime win, though; only veteran defenseman Erik Johnson could not dress due to illness.

Both players have struggled in the minors after previously holding full-time roles for Buffalo in recent years. Jost had just four points in 29 NHL games with a -7 rating after signing a one-year, $2MM deal to remain in Buffalo last summer, and has three goals and 13 points in 23 games for Rochester since his reassignment. While solid, it’s not the type of production the Sabres were hoping for from a player selected with the 10th overall pick in 2016.

Tokarski has settled firmly into an AHL role after making some noise as Buffalo’s backup goalie a few seasons ago. The 34-year-old Saskatchewan native has a 3.32 GAA, .892 SV%, and 7-7-3 record in 18 games for Rochester and has not seen NHL action this season.

Senators Recall Zack MacEwen, Move Josh Norris To LTIR

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10:03 a.m.: Norris has been placed on LTIR, per CapFriendly. The Senators are now cap-compliant.

9:21 a.m.: The Senators recalled right-winger Zack MacEwen from AHL Belleville on Friday, per a team statement. The 27-year-old enforcer had been on a minor-league assignment since clearing waivers over two weeks ago.

Ottawa doesn’t have cap space for any recalls, so a corresponding transaction must be made to accommodate MacEwen. That will likely be moving center Josh Norris, who’s expected to miss “extended time” with an upper-body injury, to long-term injured reserve.

Moving Norris to LTIR rules him out through most of March. If his pending placement is retroactive to the date of the injury, Feb. 27, the earliest he could return would be March 23 against the Devils, satisfying a minimum 24-day absence.

That would cause him to miss Ottawa’s next 11 games. Norris also missed four games in January with an upper-body injury, plus the first three games of the season while he was completing his recovery from shoulder surgery that limited him to eight games last season.

MacEwen returns from Belleville to serve in a fourth-line role for tonight’s game against the Coyotes. The lack of any recalls on defense indicates that Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub, who were questionable with undisclosed and lower-body injuries, respectively, will play.

The Prince Edward Island native has struggled to lock down an everyday role after signing a three-year, $2.325MM deal to join the Sens in free agency. He has two goals, one assist and 46 PIMs in 22 games but has been productive in limited AHL action with five goals and two assists in 10 games for Belleville.

That’s nothing new for MacEwen, who has been a solid point producer in the AHL despite his limited scoring and enforcer role at the major league level. He has 43 goals, 63 assists, and 106 points in 167 minor-league games since turning pro in 2017.

MacEwen’s recall puts the Senators at 21 players on the active roster. With Norris on LTIR, they would have cap space to fill their two vacant slots if they so choose.

Mark Stone Questionable To Return During Playoffs

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Golden Knights captain Mark Stone is expected to miss the balance of the regular season and is questionable to return during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, TSN’s Darren Dreger said on Thursday’s episode of “Insider Trading.” Stone has missed four games with an upper-body injury, which, per multiple reports, is a lacerated spleen.

Vegas placed the 31-year-old on standard injured reserve last week, meaning they aren’t receiving the potential long-term injured reserve relief provided by his $9.5MM cap hit. That will change before the March 8 trade deadline, though, and they’ll be able to use that space as they please to make deadline acquisitions for the second straight season.

Unlike Stone, first-line center Jack Eichel and his $10MM cap hit is on LTIR. However, as indicated by wearing a full-contact sweater in practice Thursday, Eichel will return to the lineup in the coming days.

The Golden Knights, who have also been using the LTIR relief provided by goaltender Robin Lehner’s $5MM cap hit to stay compliant throughout the season, will likely place Stone on LTIR along with activating Eichel in corresponding transactions when the latter is ready to return. The latter has missed 18 games after undergoing knee surgery in January.

Lost in the cap space shuffle is the significance of Stone’s absence. No player that GM Kelly McCrimmon could acquire over the next week will be an upgrade on their captain, who remains in a very elite class of two-way wingers. He finishes his season with 16 goals, 37 assists, 53 points, and a +1 rating in 56 games.

That works out to 0.95 points per game, his highest rate since his 61-in-55 campaign in 2020-21, which placed him ninth in Hart Trophy voting and third in Selke Trophy voting. Serious long-term and, frankly, random injuries continue to plague the Winnipeg-born star, who’s played more than 60 games in a season just once since arriving in Nevada.

Stone’s absence will mean an extended opportunity for many down the stretch, namely 2020 first-round pick Brendan Brisson. While his production with AHL Henderson this season has been disappointing, he has a goal and four assists in 11 showings with Vegas. He was promoted to the top line alongside original Knights William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault for last night’s 5-4 loss against the Bruins.

It also means that McCrimmon can be more aggressive in pursuing help at the deadline than his division rival and likely first-round playoff opponent, the Oilers. Dreger said McCrimmon “will utilize [Stone’s] cap space” to add another top-six forward, much like their pickup of Ivan Barbashev from the Blues at last year’s deadline.

Vegas and Edmonton will be in the hunt for many of the same targets, which Dreger says could include the Blues’ Pavel Buchnevich, the Kraken’s Jordan Eberle, and, if extension talks fall through, the Devils’ Tyler Toffoli. A third Pacific Division team, the Kings, has also been linked to Toffoli.

After swapping Eichel and Stone on LTIR (and activating defenseman Tobias Björnfot, currently on an LTI conditioning loan to Henderson), the Golden Knights will have approximately $5.6MM of cap space available. That’s nearly twice as much as the Oilers’ $2.4MM projected deadline availability, which is already artificially high given their slim 21-player roster.

For Vegas’ purposes, Buchnevich would be the closest stylistic replacement for Stone. He would also carry a higher acquisition cost and likely a minimal amount of salary retention by the Blues, as, unlike Eberle and Toffoli, he’s signed through next season at a cap hit of $5.8MM, slightly above the Golden Knights’ projected deadline availability.

Buchnevich, 28, leads the Blues in goals with 24 and is second on the team in scoring with 48 points in 57 games. He’s not producing at the point-per-game-plus pace we’ve seen from him over the past two years, but his possession impacts are the strongest of his eight-year career: an incredible 11% relative Corsi share at even strength to pair with a strong +6.9 expected rating. He wouldn’t replace the massive hole Stone’s leadership leaves in the chemistry of Vegas’ forward group, but his on-ice results go a long way toward softening the blow.

Adrian Kempe Expected To Return During Regular Season

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The Kings have avoided the worst with right-winger Adrian Kempe, who’s expected to return from his upper-body injury sometime later this month, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The 27-year-old is listed as week-to-week with the injury he sustained late in Monday’s game against the Oilers.

If Kempe were expected to miss the remainder of the regular season, the Kings could have placed his $5.5MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve and used that space before the March 8 trade deadline to acquire players. Per Dreger, that won’t be the case.

Kempe can still go on LTIR if he’s expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, retroactive to Feb. 26, to provide temporary relief. However, as they’ll need cap space to activate him before the end of the regular season, they won’t be able to dip into his relief for additional acquisitions.

Right-winger Viktor Arvidsson is already on LTIR with a lower-body injury, although he, too, is expected back before the end of the regular season. Seeing as the Kings will need space to have his $4.25MM cap hit count against the books, they’ll have nearly $0 in space to work with at the trade deadline. As such, any upgrade they make to their roster must be a money-in, money-out move.

Kempe has already missed two games with the injury, which he sustained late in the third period in an awkward collision with Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci as Los Angeles was trying to erase a 4-2 deficit with an empty net. Kempe skated to the bench while play was active, appearing to favor his left arm (video link).

The Kings have largely recovered from a disastrous stretch between Christmas and the All-Star break in which they went 4-8-6 with a -11 goal differential. After a 5-1 road win over the Pacific Division-leading Canucks last night, the Kings remain first in the Western Conference Wild Card race with a 30-19-10 record and 70 points.

They have a seven-point cushion on the ninth-place Flames, although they are in danger of falling to the second wild-card spot. The Predators are now tied with Los Angeles with 70 points, although they trail in the points-percentage tiebreaker as they’ve played two more games.

After signing a four-year, $22MM extension in the 2022 offseason, Kempe has provided spectacular value for the Kings. While he’s not on pace to sniff the career-high 41 goals he scored last season, he does have 51 points in 57 games, a career-best 0.89 per-game rate. He’s also averaging 18:47 per game, eclipsing last year’s career-high mark by two seconds.

However, he’s struggling in the possession department after being a net-positive player for the last two seasons. While his 54.5 Corsi-for percentage at even strength is substantial at first glance, it’s 1.2% worse than the team’s overall Corsi share without him on the ice.

His expected rating is also negative, with a -0.8 mark. He posted a combined +13.9 expected rating over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Regardless, he’s still a core piece for a mediocre Kings offense that relies on depth, not star power, to be effective. In Kempe’s absence, top-prospect-turned-breakout-star Quinton Byfield has returned to a top-line role flanking Anže Kopitar, while 2019 top-five pick Alex Turcotte is also seeing reps alongside the Kings’ captain.

The Kings only have 12 healthy forwards on the active roster and have recently scratched winger Arthur Kaliyev in favor of dressing seven defensemen, allowing both of their best up-and-coming right-shot defensemen, Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence, to get playing time. Given their current LTIR situation, they have enough cap space to make a corresponding recall in Kempe’s absence, although they would need to place him on IR or LTIR to open a roster spot.

Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Ilya Lyubushkin From Anaheim

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks. The deal formally sent Lyubushkin from Anaheim, who retained 50 percent of his cap hit, to the Carolina Hurricanes, who retained another 25 percent, and then to the Leafs. Lyubushkin carries a $2.75MM cap hit, meaning that Toronto is only due $687,500 against their cap – less than a league-minimum contract.

In return, Toronto sent Anaheim a 2025 third-round draft pick and Carolina a 2024 sixth-round pick. The trade broke after Lyubushkin was surprisingly absent from Anaheim’s Thursday night game against the San Jose Sharks.

This marks the second time that Toronto has traded for Lyubushkin, with the previous coming during the 2021-22 season when they sent Nick Ritchie and a 2025 second-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes for Ryan Dzingel and Lyubushkin.  Lyubushkin would go on to play in 31 games for the Leafs, recording six points and 25 penalty minutes. He signed with the Buffalo Sabres in the following summer and was traded to Anaheim from Buffalo last season. The formerly undrafted defenseman has totaled 334 games across his journeyman career, adding 43 points and 181 penalty minutes. He joined the league in the 2018-19 season, making his debut with the Arizona Coyotes after four seasons with the KHL’s Yaroslavl Lokomotiv.

Toronto has also received the rights to Kirill Slepets from Carolina, to facilitate their retention of Lyubushkin’s cap hit. Slepets has played in the KHL  since the 2018-19 season, growing up through Russia’s juniors league. He remains unsigned in the NHL. Carolina originally drafted him in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft.

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