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Capitals Walk Back Message Regarding Alex Ovechkin’s Retirement

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11:44 a.m.: Silber clarified for DC Backcheck that the team alleges no email was sent at all, not just that Ovechkin’s decision was unconfirmed. “An email was sent from an individual with the corporate sales department that mistakenly alluded to next year being Alex Ovechkin’s final year,” the team later said in a statement.

11:03 a.m.: The Capitals indicated in an email to season ticket holders that the upcoming 2025-26 season will be Alex Ovechkin’s last in the NHL, relays Tony Wolak of The Hockey Writers. The organization relayed to Sammi Silber of The Hockey News that no official decision has been made on his future, but Washington appears to at least be operating under a strong assumption that Ovechkin will announce his plans to retire from the NHL next offseason.

Next year is Ovechkin’s last one under the five-year, $47.5MM extension he signed in 2021. He told reporters during locker clean-out day earlier this month that he fully intended to honor the final year of his contract but was unsure of his future beyond that, saying he hadn’t given any thought to whether or not he’d be open to extension talks with the Caps as soon as he becomes eligible to sign one on July 1.

There’s not much left for the 39-year-old to accomplish in his career. He’ll walk away as the greatest left-winger of all time and one of the most impactful players in the league’s history, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record in the regular season’s final weeks. He now sits at 897 career tallies entering what should be his 21st and final NHL campaign, all spent with the Capitals.

Oilers’ Mattias Ekholm Expected To Return For Game 5

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Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm took line rushes in his usual top-pairing spot alongside Evan Bouchard at morning skate and is expected to make his 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs debut in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final tonight, Tony Brar of Oilers TV relays.

It’s huge news for the Oilers, who have a 3-1 series lead over the Stars and can lock in a Cup Final rematch against the Panthers with a win tonight. Ekholm has not played since reaggravating an undisclosed injury on April 11 against the Sharks. Due to that injury and an earlier illness, the 35-year-old blueline staple only played in five of Edmonton’s final 20 regular-season games.

After the re-injury against San Jose, the Oilers were quick to rule Ekholm out for the entirety of the first round. They made a similar announcement about his second-round status shortly after they dispatched the Kings in six games to advance. He resumed skating late in their series against the Golden Knights, though, indicating he’d likely be an option at some point during the West Final if they advanced. After they did, Ekholm was ruled out for Games 1 and 2, but his status for the remainder of the series was left open.

He’s been labeled as “close” by the team over the past few days, but never quite upgraded to game-time decision status. He may very well bypass that tonight and be declared as being in the lineup, depending on what head coach Kris Knoblauch has to say when practice concludes.

The veteran is a significant boost to an Edmonton blue line that’s overperformed expectations in his absence. While the trade deadline acquisition of Jake Walman from the Sharks has paid its expected dividends, it’s been an unheralded depth piece, Brett Kulak, getting the lion’s share of minutes alongside Bouchard at even strength in Ekholm’s absence. He’s stepped up to the task and then some. The Kulak-Bouchard pairing has controlled a staggering 65.1% of expected goals in 127 minutes of ice time together, per MoneyPuck, outscoring opponents 7-1. That plus-six goal differential is second among defense pairs at 5-on-5 this postseason behind the Panthers’ Niko Mikkola and Seth Jones, who are outscoring opponents 12-5 for a plus-seven differential.

After finishing 12th in Norris Trophy voting last season, Ekholm scored 33 points in 65 games this year with a +11 rating. He and Bouchard were similarly dominant together in last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Final, outscoring opponents 22-12 at 5-on-5 while controlling 61.3% of expected goals.

Kulak will get bumped down to second-pairing duties with Darnell Nurse while Troy Stecher heads to the press box, according to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. The Oilers’ third pairing of Walman and John Klingberg, also one of the best duos of the playoffs thus far, will remain unscathed.

Islanders Fire Assistant Coaches John MacLean, Tommy Albelin

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Speaking to reporters this morning, new Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche confirmed the club will retain head coach Patrick Roy (via the team). The bench on Long Island will look different next season, though. Darche said the team won’t be bringing back assistant coaches John MacLean or Tommy Albelin, per Arthur Staple of The Athletic. The club has also relieved AHL Bridgeport head coach Rick Kowalsky of his duties, Darche said (according to Ethan Sears of the New York Post). It sounds like the entire minor-league coaching staff will be overhauled as well, per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News.

Roy’s status for next season was briefly doubtful after the Isles parted ways with GM Lou Lamoriello last month. However, after Darche’s hire, it became clear that the appetite for a coaching change wasn’t strong, especially with three years remaining on Roy’s contract. The Islanders may have missed the playoffs in 2024-25, Roy’s first full season behind the bench, but the team’s possession metrics indicated he deserved another shot. Poor special teams and finishing luck were the primary limiting factors regarding New York’s record last season, not overall 5-on-5 possession play. Under Roy, the team controlled a slight majority of shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger chances at even strength.

It’s unsurprising to see new ancillary voices brought in as the franchise aims for a fresher identity under Darche. The Islanders’ combined special teams success rate of 84.8% was the worst in the league, ranking 31st out of 32 clubs in both power-play and penalty-kill conversion rate.

MacLean was in charge of that power play. He’s been with the club as an assistant since the 2022-23 season, and only the Ducks and Flyers have performed worse with the man advantage than the Isles’ 16.4% success rate over those three years. The 60-year-old oversaw the NHL debut of his son, Kyle MacLean, on Long Island during his tenure.

Albelin’s time in New York ends after just one season. The longtime NHL rearguard oversaw the Isles’ defense and penalty kill, the latter of which actually saw a 0.7% improvement from their league-worst finish in 2023-24. The team’s 5-on-5 defense also improved from year to year under Albelin, ranking 21st in the league in scoring chances allowed at 5-on-5 after placing 28th last year. Nonetheless, they’ll look to get a new name in there that both Darche and Roy agree upon.

The Bridgeport coaching staff overhaul comes across the wire as one of the least surprising news items of the offseason. The Baby Isles made history as the worst home team in AHL history in 2024-25 with just four wins in 36 games. Overall, Bridgeport finished last in the league by a huge margin with a 15-50-4-3 record. Kowalsky, who’s worked closely with the outgoing Lamoriello throughout his coaching career in the Isles and Devils organizations, also oversaw a last-place finish in their division in 2023-24.

As for the NHL staff, the only returning assistant will be Benoit Desrosiers, whom Roy worked closely with as head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. He joined the Isles’ staff shortly after Roy did, midway through the 2023-24 season.

Blue Jackets Prospect Nikolai Makarov Remaining Overseas

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May 29: While Makarov intended to sign, it doesn’t look like the Jackets were ready to give him a contract yet. He signed a one-year extension with CSKA today to remain in Russia next season, the club announced.

April 15: The Blue Jackets are set to sign defense prospect Nikolai Makarov to a two-year entry-level contract beginning next season, Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambler reports.

Makarov, 22, is a sleeper prospect in Columbus’ system. A fifth-round pick in 2021, the 6’1″, 194-lb lefty has remained in his native Russia since being drafted. Four years on, though, he’s yet to capture a full-time role in the high-tier Kontinental Hockey League. He remains with CSKA Moscow, the system he’s played in since 2019, but spent most of this season in the second-tier VHL with feeder club Zvezda Moscow.

A couple of years ago, it looked like Makarov was making strides in his development. While he spent the majority of the 2022-23 season in Russia’s top junior league, the MHL, he earned a late-season promotion to CSKA’s main roster and ended up suiting up in all 27 of the club’s playoff games as they won the Gagarin Cup. He also played in all five of their postseason games last year, but CSKA opted not to dress him in their first-round loss against Dinamo Minsk here in 2025.

Down with Zvezda, Makarov logged 4-8–12 with 14 PIMs and a plus-one rating in 41 appearances this season. He hits pause on his Russian professional career with 1-3–4 and a +12 rating in 64 career KHL games over the last five years, adding 4-17–21 in 69 VHL games over parts of five seasons.

A physically aggressive defensive defender, it’ll be interesting to see how Makarov leverages his NHL-average frame in the North American pros. He’ll presumably join AHL Cleveland next season for added development, although the Jackets could always reach an agreement to loan him back to CSKA while keeping his NHL contract active. There’s not much of a realistic path for him to see playing time on a Blue Jackets club with playoff aspirations in 2026, but he could be a name to watch for a call-up in the second season of his deal. He’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry.

Examining The Lowest-Value Contracts In The NHL

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In about a month, NHL teams will enter a free agency period with extra money to play with, thanks to an increased salary cap. While teams will welcome the additional financial wiggle room, general managers will make more mistakes on July 1st than on any other day of the year, and the likelihood of regrettable contracts getting dished out is high. Teams that feel close to Stanley Cup contention will happily roll the dice and hope that the contracts they sign work out, but that is often not the case, as the NHL is littered with low-value contracts for big money. These contracts can usually be moved out for a cost; still, for teams that accumulate poor-value agreements, it can lead to problems retaining effective players and even building depth, especially in a salary-cap league.

To examine the NHL’s worst contracts, some context is needed to lay out what makes a contract “bad.” For this exercise, we will consider the years remaining on the contract, the Average Annual Value (AAV), any trade protection, a decline in playing time, and the player’s age. Let’s look at some of the most burdensome contracts in today’s NHL.

Sharks defenseman Marc-Édouard Vlasic is an obvious candidate for the worst value contract in the NHL. He is entering the final year of a disastrous eight-year, $56MM extension he signed with San Jose in July 2017. The 38-year-old was once a decorated defensive defenseman a decade ago and was an absolute beast when the Sharks marched to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016, only to fall to the Pittsburgh Penguins. During the 2013-14 season, Vlasic had the three highest expected goals percentages in the league with three different defensive partners (as per MoneyPuck). He was elite.

But a decade later, the Montreal native has fallen on hard times and can barely crack one of the worst lineups in the NHL. It is a sad end for a player who has seen Father Time erode the skills that made him great. Vlasic could be bought out this summer, but if he isn’t, it’s hard to see him playing in the NHL beyond next season.

Sticking with the Western Conference, next up is forward Jonathan Huberdeau of the Calgary Flames, who many may argue has the most significant albatross contract in the NHL due to the sheer amount of runway left on the deal. Huberdeau signed his eight-year, $84MM extension back in August of 2022, and to call it a disaster would be an understatement. The Saint-Jerome, Quebec native finished the 2021-22 season in Florida with 30 goals and 85 assists in 80 games and was traded to Calgary by Florida as part of the ill-fated Matthew Tkachuk package. Since the trade to Alberta, the 31-year-old has tallied just 55 goals and 114 assists in 241 games.

It’s not all bad, though; this past year, Huberdeau was quite a bit better for the Flames, developing more of a defensive element to his game and finding more offensive success with 28 goals and 34 assists in 81 games. While it’s a far cry from 115 points, it is an improvement and could give some hope to Flames fans that there might be more to his game. It’s difficult to project as Huberdeau’s skating is likely going to continue to slide as he moves further along into his 30s, and it wasn’t perfect to begin with. Even with a better player, Calgary is still unlikely to extract value from the deal, and with six years left on the contract, it will likely become a complete disaster in the final years.

We will remain in Western Canada for the next contract, which is that of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. Now, Nurse deserves credit for his patience during his prior contract negotiations. He opted for two-year deals on two different occasions rather than jumping into a long-term contract. Nurse signed a two-year deal worth $6.4MM back in September 2018 and did so again in February 2020 during a time when the Oilers were hard-pressed for cap space. Now, whether or not this was up to Nurse’s own volition is irrelevant, but it sure has worked out great for the 30-year-old who is in the third year of an eight-year deal that pays him an average of $9.25MM per season. The contract hasn’t been a total disaster, as Nurse is still an effective player, but it is safe to say that Nurse is being dramatically overpaid for what he brings to the team.

Nurse draws a lot of criticism primarily due to the gap between his salary and his play, and would likely draw far less criticism if he were paid closer to the $6MM to $7MM per season. However, his contract is his contract, and he hasn’t played up to what he is being paid, and he probably never will. That being said, Nurse still puts up points and has a real snarl to his game, but his defensive presence, positioning and gap control off the rush leave a lot to be desired.

Another defenseman who cashed in at the right time was Florida defenseman Seth Jones. Jones signed his extension with the Chicago Blackhawks immediately following a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets, and it was met with a lukewarm reception almost immediately. The eight-year, $76MM contract became so problematic for the Blackhawks that they traded Jones to the Panthers this season and ate 26.32% of the remaining five years on the deal, which means that Chicago will carry a $2.5MM retained salary charge until 2030.

Jones’ contract pays him like one of the best defensemen in the league, but unfortunately, he has never been close to actually being a top defenseman. He signed the deal at 26 years of age at a time when he had never even sniffed a Norris Trophy nomination, and had finished in the top eight just once during the 2017-18 season, in which he benefited from having Artemi Panarin on the powerplay with him. Many of the contract projections had Jones getting a contract in the $7MM to $8MM range, but his actual deal blew those out of the water. The on-ice results weren’t horrible for Jones. Still, they certainly weren’t anything close to what you would expect out of a $9.5MM defenseman, and for that, Jones was moved and now finds himself in a much better situation on a far superior team with a much lower cap hit.

Finally, we have Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves. For those folks clamouring for an Elias Pettersson section, we will have honourable mentions at the end. Graves has been almost unplayable in Pittsburgh, serving as a healthy scratch on arguably the worst defensive unit in the NHL this past season. The 30-year-old signed his six-year contract two years ago in free agency, and with four years remaining at a $4.5MM cap hit, he might end up playing out the deal in the AHL.

Graves was better last season for the Penguins, but he still wasn’t good despite benefiting from sheltered minutes and much easier assignments. When the Penguins signed Graves, the thought was that he could replace the departing Brian Dumoulin on the Penguins’ top defensive pairing next to Kris Letang. Still, less than halfway into the contract, he might not even serve on the top pairing of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Pittsburgh will likely let Graves try to play out of his funk and won’t want to waste resources to rid themselves of the contract (at least not yet). But the likelihood of him figuring it out remains slim as he is on the wrong side of 30 and will be hard-pressed to rediscover his game.

As was mentioned earlier, several players could have been included in this list, including Pettersson. It’s hard to gauge Pettersson’s deal as he is just a year removed from an 89-point season and dealt with a personal issue with J.T. Miller this season, which no doubt impacted his play. He has plenty of time to turn things around, so it might be premature to call his contract one of the worst in the NHL.

A few other bad contracts worth mentioning are goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Philipp Grubauer, who were both sent to the AHL last season despite having cap hits north of $5MM. Grubauer’s contract and play have been very problematic for the Seattle Kraken, and he is likely to get bought out this summer. Speaking of potential buyouts, forward Chandler Stephenson won’t face a buyout anytime soon, but his seven-year, $43.75MM contract could become problematic in the next few years. The 31-year-old was perfectly fine last season, registering 13 goals and 38 assists in 78 games. Still, at $6.25MM annually, he isn’t going to provide more value than he did this past season, especially as he ages and has to make concessions to his game.

The teams that win the Stanley Cup often do so by extracting maximum value from their players while avoiding the dreaded bad contract. A team can overcome a bad deal, but it certainly makes it more difficult to retain talent. Some contracts are bad the day they are signed, while others don’t become problematic until later. It’s always difficult to project the direction a player’s career will go, but pro scouting departments are paid to do just that. The contracts listed above are all problematic for the teams that agreed to take them on, and while there are always options for moving on, teams will likely not like their choices.

Photo by Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

Injury Notes: Walker, Chatfield, Brown, Clutterbuck

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As the Carolina Hurricanes continue their quest to come back from a 3-0 series deficit, they’ll have to continue to do so without defenders Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker, as neither is available for Game 5, per a team release.

Both defenders remain out with undisclosed injuries. Chatfield has been out since the final game of last round’s matchup against the Capitals. While the 29-year-old has been a full participant at practice for some time, he hasn’t been able to return to the lineup. Walker, who was injured during the second period of Game 2, has also returned to practice but not to game action.

In their place, rookies Scott Morrow and Alexander Nikishin are back in the lineup for Game 5. While the two struggled mightily to start the series, they stepped up their performance in Game 4’s shutout victory. Nikishin, who began his NHL career during these playoffs, was particularly impressive in Game 4. He logged a career-high 18:53 of ice time, recorded his first career assist, and led the team with five hits.

In other injury news:

  • Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters today, including Joshua Clipperton of The Canadian Press, that forward Connor Brown will be unavailable for Game 5 against the Stars. Brown was injured during Game 3 and was unable to suit up in Game 4. Knoblauch added that Brown is getting better and should be able to return soon. Brown’s return will be key for the Oilers’ forward depth, especially after news that Zach Hyman will miss the remainder of the playoffs due to a wrist injury.
  • NHL all-time hit leader and recently retired Cal Clutterbuck appeared on the Cam and Strick Podcast to discuss a variety of topics, including a scary injury he sustained in 2019. Clutterbuck, known for his grit, confirmed that his left wrist’s median nerve was severed by a skate, requiring surgery and three months of physical therapy to regain motion in his hand. Clutterbuck said his left hand remains completely numb to this day. “It took me like three months of hand therapy so I could get to a point where I could grip a stick. And they told me the feeling would come back after a month or two. But it hasn’t. It’s been six years now.” Clutterbuck retired with 4,029 career hits, 292 points, and 698 penalty minutes.

Rangers Testing The Market For K’Andre Miller

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With new head coach Mike Sullivan at the helm, the New York Rangers are ready to begin the next chapter in their franchise’s story—one that may not include a key defender from recent seasons.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts Podcast that the Rangers are gauging trade interest in pending restricted free agent K’Andre Miller. Friedman compared Miller’s situation to that of the Sabres’ Bowen Byram, another young, high-pedigree defender who could benefit from a change of scenery. As Friedman notes, “It’s not a guarantee, but they are testing the market.”

The 25-year-old Miller is coming off a down year, mirroring the performance of many members of the Rangers’ core who disappointed this season. In 74 games, Miller scored seven goals, 27 points, and posted a zero plus/minus rating. While he tied his career high with 21:57 of ice time per game, Miller also set a career high with 97 giveaways. Moreover, his 107 hits and 110 blocked shots were his lowest totals since his rookie season.

GM Chris Drury will need to decide if trading Miller is the best move for the team, but if a trade doesn’t bring a defender back to New York, the Rangers will likely have to target the position in free agency. As the roster currently stands, the Rangers have five defensemen under contract for the 2025-26 season, which includes Adam Fox, William Borgen, Braden Schneider, Carson Soucy, and Urho Vaakanainen. And like Miller, Matthew Robertson and Zachary Jones are set for restricted free agency, while veteran Calvin de Haan is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

While Miller didn’t have the season he’d hoped for heading into restricted free agency, he could benefit from playing under Sullivan, especially if the coach brings his patented style that helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win two Stanley Cups. In Pittsburgh, Sullivan favored a fast-paced style of play that relied on mobile defenders—something Miller excels at.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins Coaching, Roest, Kuokkanen

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The Pittsburgh Penguins’ coaching search continues to headline news out of the Metropolitan Division, as the squad seeks out their first change at head coach in the last decade. Their final rounds of interviews have led to two candidates emerging above the rest – Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love, and former Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

Love has been behind the Capitals’ bench for the last two seasons, after spending the two years prior serving as the head coach of Calgary’s AHL squad. Love worked in the WHL and Canada’s U17 and U18 squads for the better half of the 2010’s. He supported Team Canada’s Gold Medal wins at the 2016 U17 World Hockey Championship, 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and 2020 World Junior Championship. He also won the AHL’s ’Coach of the Year’ award in both of his two years in the league – 2021-22 and 2022-23. The past two years in Washington have marked Love’s first in the NHL in any capacity, and a move to head coach would mark a quick reward after he supported Pittsburgh’s rival to a second-round exit this season.

Smith sits as an interesting option opposite of Love. He has spent the last season-and-a-half in an assistant or associate coach role with the Los Angeles Kings, who hired him on the same day that he was fired from the Senators’ head coaching role in 2023. Smith posted a combined 131-154-32 record in just over four years with the Senators. He also has six years of experience as an NHL assistant coach, spread between tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs and L.A. Kings. He’d be a hotly debated addition, though offers a much hardier pro coaching resume than Love.

Other notes from the Metro Division:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have parted ways with assistant general manager and AHL general manager Stacy Roest, per Ashley Wenskoski of CNY Central. Roest was a colleague of freshly-hired New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche during their shared time in Tampa Bay, and could be a candidate to join their front office. Roest has been with the Tampa Bay organization since the 2013-14 season, when he joined on as a Director of Player Development and AHL assistant coach. He was promoted to AHL GM in the 2019-20 season. Roest also played in 244 career games in the NHL, split between tenures with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild. He ended his career with nine years in Switzerland’s National League, which allowed him to support Team Canada at six separate Spengler Cups.
  • Former Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils centerman Janne Kuokkanen has extended his tenure overseas. He has signed a four-year contract with the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks. Kuokkanen played one season with Malmo in 2023-24 – scoring 44 points in 43 games – but opted to move to the National League for this season. He’ll reverse that decision one season later, after netting just 25 points in 35 games with Lausanne HC. Kuokkanen was a second-round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft and played in 119 NHL games split between the Hurricanes and Devils. He scored 14 goals and 42 points in those appearances.

Kraken Sign John Hayden To Two-Year Extension

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The Seattle Kraken have signed forward John Hayden to a two-year, one-way contract extension. The deal will carry a league-minimum, $775K salary. This is notably Hayden’s first one-way contract since the 2020-21 season, which he spent on a one-year, one-way deal with the Arizona Coyotes.

Hayden will re-up for a fourth season with the Kraken with this move. That will mark the longest Hayden has spent with one organization throughout his nine-year professional career. He’s spent time with five organizations over that tenure, kicked off with three years with the Chicago Blackhawks, who originally drafted Hayden in the 2013 third-round. He joined the Hawks lineup at the end of the 2016-17 season and managed one goal and four points in his first 12 NHL games. He then made the Blackhawks’ roster out of training camp in the 2017-18 season, but was assigned to the minor leagues in March after recording just 13 points and 54 penalty minutes in 47 NHL games. Hayden finished the AHL season strong, with 17 points in 24 regular season games and three goals in 13 playoff games. That boost earned him a return to the NHL in 2018-19, though his renewed opportunity came with an added focus on a bruising role.

Hayden traveled around the NHL from 2018 to 2022 – appearing in games with Chicago, New Jersey, Arizona, and Buffalo. He never once returned to the minor leagues, even despite averaging just over four points and 56 penalty minutes each season. It wasn’t until Hayden moved on to the Kraken organization that he was finally returned to the minor leagues, where his veteran presence was quickly felt. He scored a career-high 33 points in 47 games of his first season with Coachella Valley, but managed just two points in 10 playoff games as the team raced to the Calder Cup Finals. His scoring skid continued through the 2023-24 season – when he scored just 26 points in 65 games – but he made up for it with an electric nine goals and 13 points in 18 playoff games in the Firebirds’ second run to the AHL Finals. Hayden was brought back to the NHL for 20 games this season, and recorded two points and 31 penalty minutes. His appearances at the top flight were intercut with 27 points in 44 AHL games, and three points in six games of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

A one-way deal at this point in his career seems to be an acknowledgement of Hayden’s impact on the AHL roster, moreso than an indication that he could return to the NHL full-time next season. Either way, he’ll be playing in his 10th pro season in 2025-26, and will offer Seattle a hard-hitting forward to round out their depth chart.

Islanders, Jets Explored Brock Nelson Trade At Deadline

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The New York Islanders landed a Trade Deadline steal when they sent aging veteran Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche for top prospect Calum Ritchie, defenseman Oliver Kylington, and draft picks in the 2026 first-round and 2028 third-round. But new reports have shared that New York could’ve found a jackpot return even if their offer with Colorado fell through. Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gaming reports that the Winnipeg Jets were also aggressive in their pursuit of acquiring Nelson – and were ready to offer a package very similar to Colorado’s. D’Amico specifies that Winnipeg would have offered up one of Brad Lambert, Brayden Yager, or Colby Barlow in the return, in addition to future draft capital.

New York can rest happy with how things ended up, but acquiring one of Winnipeg’s top names would have been just as lucrative. All three prospects offer their own upside, led by 2023 14th-overall pick Brayden Yager, who scored 82 points in just 54 WHL games this season. He also chipped in 14 points in 16 playoff games – but fell short of the championship run he went on with the Moose Jaw Warriors last season. Yager is likely headed for the pros next season, and could rapidly rise up Winnipeg’s depth chart with a hot start to his career.

Lambert is another top prospect, though expectations around him have cooled slightly after he scored 35 points in 61 AHL games this season – 20 fewer than he managed in 64 games last year. Lambert’s a dynamic and skilled forward, but is still a bit small for pro competition. He offers plenty of upside, but will need to first rediscover the scoring he posted last year.

Barlow is perhaps the most unheralded of the bunch after wrapping up his age-20 season in the OHL. He scored 32 goals and 61 points in 62 games this year. That mark continued his quiet slide down the OHL leaderboard – after he posted 40 goals and 58 points in 50 games last year, and 46 goals and 79 points in 59 games of his draft year in 2022-23. But Barlow intercut that with three points in three AHL games at the end of last season, and could translate as a hard-nosed scorer with pro-level physicality.

But while all three prospects carry reason for upside and reason for question, D’Amico specified that a deal with the Jets fell through because Nelson was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to head to Canada. He instead waived it to land in Colorado, earning the Islanders the rights to Ritchie just a few months after he made the NHL roster directly out of training camp. Ritchie played in seven games and scored his first NHL goal before returning to the OHL for a dominant season. He posted 70 points in 47 regular season games, and 25 points in 21 playoff games, while serving as the clear-cut top center on an Oshawa Generals lineup that made it all the way to the OHL Championship.

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