Jaccob Slavin Wins Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
The NHL has announced that Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin is the 2024 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner as the “Player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” The other two finalists for the award were Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews.
Slavin became only the fourth NHL defenseman in history to win the award back in 2021 and is just the second NHL defenseman to win the honor more than once. Red Kelly is the only defenseman other than Slavin to win the award more than once and was a four-time award Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner.
The 30-year-old Slavin had another solid regular season averaging nearly 21 minutes of ice time while dressing in 81 games for Carolina. Offensively, he was strong once again, tallying six goals and 31 assists while seeing minimal power play time. Slavin spent less than 25 minutes on Carolina’s man advantage this season and recorded 34 of his 37 points at even strength. The Denver, Colorado native remained a key cog in the Hurricanes’ penalty kill that was tops in the NHL with an 86.4% success rate. Slavin averaged 2:38 on the penalty kill per game and finished in the top 10 in takeaways.
Slavin is one of just two Hurricanes players ever to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy and the only one to be nominated for the award on more than one occasion. He is one year away from unrestricted free agency and will be eligible for a contract extension on July 1st.
West Notes: Tanev, Hakanpaa, Oilers, Kylington
The Dallas Stars didn’t have any positive updates today, with head coach Pete DeBoer sharing that Chris Tanev will see doctors and “go from there”, while Jani Hakanpaa likely won’t be available for Game 5, per NHL.com’s Mike Heika (Twitter link). Tanev left Game 4 midway through the second period, after suffering a lower-body injury while blocking a shot from Evander Kane. Tanev has played in all 17 of Dallas’ playoff games and totaled a league-leading 68 blocked shots. He also leads Dallas defensemen in hits, with 26. Meanwhile, Hakanpaa will miss a 31st-straight game should he miss Game 5.
Tanev would be a major absence for the Stars, who currently carry Nils Lundkvist, Derrick Pouliot, or prospect Lian Bichsel as their extra defenders. Lundkvist has appeared in 12 postseason games this Spring, recording one assist and averaging just 4:27 in ice time each game. Pouliot could offer a more stout veteran presence, though he’s only appeared in 22 NHL games over the last three seasons combined. Pouliot spent the majority of this season with the AHL’s Texas Stars, recording nine goals and 46 points across 67 games. Regardless of the fill-in, Tanev’s absence will likely mean more ice time for the team’s top pair of Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen. The pair are already averaging 25 and 28 minutes of ice time respectively. Heiskanen has managed six goals and 16 points in 17 postseason games, while Lindell has posted three goals and five points.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Edmonton Oilers have hired Kalle Larsson as their ‘Senior Director of Player Development’. He will be responsible for overseeing and managing the development of Oilers’ prospects. Larsson moves to the NHL after spending 11 years with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, where he served as both general manager and President of Hockey Operations at various points. Larson built Dubuque into one of the league’s most consistently successful lineups, including supporting them to a championship appearance this season – though Dubuque lost to the nearly flawless Fargo Force, who finished the regular season with just 10 regulation losses. Larsson will now move into the NHL, once again focused on developing young players into playoff-winning talents.
- The Calgary Flames are reportedly preparing an offer for defenseman Oliver Kylington, shares David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Kylington was a finalist for the Bill Masterton Trophy this season, after taking 18 months away from the team for personal reasons. That absence included missing the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign. Kylington totaled 33 games with Calgary this season, posting eight points, 12 penalty minutes, and a -6. He’s likely due for a cheap deal and will look to resolidify his spot on the team’s daily lineup next season.
Afternoon Notes: Lisowsky, Islanders, Carle
The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t expected to sign 2022 seventh-round pick Brandon Lisowsky to his entry-level contract, shares Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Lisowsky is one of 47 prospects with rights set to expire this Saturday unless their NHL club signs them to an entry-level deal.
Lisowsky recently ended his OHL career, after spending the last four seasons with the Saskatoon Blades. He recorded 226 points across his 227 games with the club, ranking him sixth in team scoring since 2000. That includes the career-high 42 goals and 80 points he managed in 68 games this season. He was helped along a tremendous Saskatoon offense that also led undrafted free agent Trevor Wong to a 101-point season and Anaheim Ducks prospect Yegor Sidorov to an 88-point year in as many games. Lisowsky was also joined by fellow Maple Leafs prospect Fraser Minten, who managed 38 points in 36 games of his own.
Lisowsky joined Wong as the ace up Saskatoon’s sleeve all season long. Both players have blazing speed and an ability to make slick puck moves at top seed. But they each struggled with physicality throughout their juniors career, each standing at a lean 5-foot-9. That kept many scouts skeptical, even despite their highly creative and productive offense. The pair will now enter free agency together, looking to market teams on their ability to outpace competition.
Other notes from around the league:
- The New York Islanders have hired Sergei Naumovs as the goalie coach for the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Previous Bridgeport goalie coach Chris Terreri has joined the NHL staff as ‘Director of Goaltending Development and Scouting’, while Piero Greco will remain the NHL goalie coach, shares Andrew Gross of The Athletic (Twitter link). This shakeup in the Islanders goaltending room follows Mitch Korn’s – the team’s previous ‘Director of Goaltending’ – departure for the Nashville Predators. Naumovs has served as the goalie coach of the KHL’s CSKA Moscow since 2018, coaching Ilya Sorokin before his move to the NHL. He most recently coached Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov, who posted a .914 save percentage in 44 KHL games last season. He’ll rejoin his previous star goalie in the Islanders organization – likely overseeing Henrik Tikkanen as Bridgeport’s starter next season.
- Acclaimed Denver University head coach David Carle shared with Meghan Angley of The DNVR that he did formally talk to one NHL team about a coaching role, though it wasn’t the New Jersey Devils (Twitter link). Carle took over Denver’s head coaching role in 2018 and has since crafted a collegiate legend, winning the league championship in two of the last three seasons, while posting a combined 94-28-4 record over that span. Carle most notably crafted a dominant defense, featuring Colorado Avalanche prospect Sean Behrens, Detroit Red Wings prospect Shai Buium, and top 2024 NHL Draft defender Zeev Buium. He’s been speculated for many NHL coaching roles, including interest from the Devils. But Carle is set on returning to Denver next season, where he’ll look to make another strong push, following multiple notable transfers this off-season.
Canadiens Won’t Re-Sign Tanner Pearson
Add Tanner Pearson‘s name to those all but confirmed to be heading to market in July. The Canadiens have opted not to re-sign the 2014 Stanley Cup champion, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.
The 31-year-old will reach unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career. While he’s switched teams three times in his 11-year career, all have been via trade.
Pearson’s had a rough go of the past two seasons, missing significant time due to injuries. With the Canucks in 2022-23, Pearson needed multiple hand surgeries and was limited to one goal in 14 games. His extended stay on long-term injured reserve spurred comments from then-teammate Quinn Hughes that his injury wasn’t being addressed properly by the team’s medical staff, prompting brief NHLPA scrutiny.
He was cleared to play entering training camp last September, but a cap crunch in Vancouver prompted the Canucks to trade him to the Canadiens along with a 2025 third-round pick for backup goaltender Casey DeSmith. Pearson, who cost $3.25MM against the cap this season, was limited to five goals, eight assists, 13 points and a -12 rating in 54 appearances with the Habs.
There was some interest in his services nearing the trade deadline, but reports at the time indicated none of the offers were strong enough to convince general manager Kent Hughes to execute a move. Now, Pearson walks for nothing after averaging 12:56 per game for Montreal, his lowest usage since his Cup-winning rookie season with the Kings.
A Los Angeles first-round pick in 2012, Pearson has 138 goals and 285 points in 644 career games for the Canadiens, Canucks, Kings and Penguins. Pagnotta dubbed him “a quality mid-six add for a contender” in his report, but he likely slots in as a fourth-line or extra forward to begin the season after struggling to produce on a rebuilding club. His 0.24 points per game this season ranked 316th among 368 forwards with more than 50 games played.
He won’t cost very much on his next deal after his rough recent showing, and he did have 14 goals and 34 points in 68 games for the Canucks two years ago before his hand injuries arose. Evolving Hockey projects him to land a one-year, $1MM deal.
Rangers Reach Affiliation Agreement With ECHL Bloomington
The Rangers have reached an affiliation agreement with the expansion Bloomington Bison of the ECHL, general manager Chris Drury announced today. It makes the second straight offseason in which the Rangers have changed ECHL affiliates.
New York has long had a steady top-level affiliation with AHL Hartford, maintaining a primary relationship with them since 1997. They’re the ones more affected by any changes in secondary affiliations. Previously, the Rangers held an ECHL affiliation agreement with the Jacksonville Icemen in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons but switched affiliates with the Sabres last July and entered into an agreement with the Cincinnati Cyclones. That relationship ended up lasting just one season. The Cyclones are now without an NHL affiliate for 2024-25, although they’ll likely reach an agreement with a new club in the coming months.
Two players under contract with the Rangers – both goaltenders – spent time in the ECHL this season with Cincinnati. Their primary tandem was 2021 fourth-round pick Talyn Boyko and 2018 second-round pick Olof Lindbom, both of whom were on entry-level contracts this year. ECHL teams often play an important role in developing goalies for the NHL parent clubs, especially compared to other positions.
Boyko will likely return to the ECHL next season, now with Bloomington, while Lindbom is less likely. The Swede struggled with a .884 SV% in 29 games and is a pending restricted free agent, but he’s a strong non-tender candidate after that poor minor-league showing. 6’8″ netminder Hugo Ollas, who the Rangers drafted in the seventh round in 2020 and recently signed out of Merrimack College, is also a likely candidate for assignment to the Bison.
With the Illinois-based franchise and the Tahoe Knight Monsters both set to begin play next season, the ECHL will be comprised of 29 teams. Tahoe is the only club without an NHL/AHL affiliation.
Kings Place Kim Nousiainen On Unconditional Waivers
May 30: Nousiainen passed through waivers unclaimed and can have his deal terminated by the Kings, per CapFriendly.
May 29: Thinning out their contractual commitments for the 2024-25 NHL season, the Los Angeles Kings have placed defenseman Kim Nousiainen on unconditional waivers for contract termination, according to a team announcement. In all likelihood, Nousiainen will test his luck next season overseas in his native Finland.
Originally drafted with the 119th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Kings, Nousiainen has only spent the last three years playing for the organization. Nousiainen made the jump to North America after signing his entry-level contract with Los Angeles on Marco 30, 2022.
A moderately capable two-way defenseman in the Finnish Liiga, Nousiainen saw his offense completely crater during his tenure with the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League. In 97 games spent with the Kings’ highest affiliate, Nousiainen only mustered two goals and 17 points in total, including two points in eight postseason contests.
Now that the remaining year on his entry-level contract is set to be terminated, Nousiainen will likely opt to rejoin KalPa of the Finnish Liiga — an organization he has spent nearly all of his professional career with. Across four years in Finland’s highest professional league, Nousiaien is already a veteran of 146 games, scoring 19 goals and 60 points overall.
Kings Hire Newell Brown As Assistant Coach
The Kings announced Thursday that they’ve named Newell Brown an assistant coach. He’d served in the same role for the Ducks for the past three seasons, but earlier this month, Anaheim announced they wouldn’t be renewing his contract.
Brown, 62, had a brief collegiate and minor-league playing career in the 1980s but immediately transitioned to coaching upon retiring. He’s been behind an NHL bench as an assistant in every season since 1996, working with the Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, Canucks, Coyotes and Ducks but has never gotten a shot as a head coach at the highest level.
The Ontario native has called Southern California home for most of his coaching career, serving on Anaheim’s staff on three different occasions (1998-2000, 2006-2010, 2021-2024). After winning a Stanley Cup with the Kings’ closest geographical rival in 2007, he’ll jump to the other side of the Freeway Face-Off. There was a decent bit of interest in his services around the league after the Ducks let him go, with the Senators also expressing interest in adding him to new head coach Travis Green‘s staff, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.
Brown will replace Trent Yawney on the Los Angeles bench, who mutually parted ways with the club two weeks ago today. The team confirmed that his areas of focus will be working with the club’s forward group and the power play. He completes head coach Jim Hiller‘s staff as he enters his first full season leading an NHL bench, joining associate coach D.J. Smith, assistant coach Derik Johnson, goalie coach Mike Buckley and video coach Samson Lee.
Sabres To Let Three Prospects Become Free Agents
The Sabres won’t be signing any of the three prospects they’ll lose the exclusive signing rights to at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports. 2022 fourth-round pick Mats Lindgren will be eligible to re-enter the 2024 draft, while 2020 seventh-round picks Jakub Konecny and Albert Lyckåsen will become true unrestricted free agents.
[RELATED: Full 2024 List Of Expiring Draft Rights]
Lindgren, 19, is the most surprising lapsed selection. The Swedish-Canadian blue liner was touted as a late second or third-round pick by most in his draft year but slipped to Buffalo at 106th overall. After putting up 44 points and a +25 rating in 68 games with the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels in 2021-22, he looked like he may have fringe top-four upside, but his point production and two-way play immediately hit a wall and hasn’t progressed by any degree.
He finished the 2023-24 campaign with 41 points and a -4 rating in 63 games for Red Deer and should be considered unlikely to be an overage selection in next month’s draft. If he turns pro this summer, it’ll likely be as an undrafted free agent signing with a minor-league club, although he could still land an entry-level deal with an NHL team after the draft passes.
Konecny and Lyckåsen are the elder statesmen of this group and will remain overseas next season. Jakub, who has no relation to Flyers star Travis Konecny, has spent the last three seasons in a bottom-six forward role for HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. The 21-year-old 5’10” pivot has 14 goals and 30 points in 121 career top-level games across the last four seasons. He’ll be on the move next season after signing a one-year pact to remain in the top Czech league with HC Kometa Brno last month.
Lyckåsen, 22, has spent most of his time since the 2020 draft suiting up in the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of Swedish hockey. The right-shot defenseman will suit up for his third team in three years next year after signing with Västerås IK. He does have 11 top-level Swedish Hockey League games to his name, all coming with Linköping HC from 2019 to 2022, but he failed to record a point. In 36 Allsvenskan games for BIK Karlskoga last season, Lyckåsen had three goals and 14 points with a -9 rating.
Jets’ Cole Perfetti Drawing Trade Interest
It’s been a tumultuous offseason in Winnipeg already after a disappointing first-round elimination, with Scott Arniel taking over behind the bench and deadline addition Tyler Toffoli reportedly not returning to the club. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period writes that the Jets are also receiving interest in forward Cole Perfetti, although there haven’t been any serious trade discussions surrounding the pending restricted free agent.
Winnipeg has done well for themselves in the draft in recent years, picking up a few quality forward prospects to help extend their playoff contention window in the Connor Hellebuyck/Mark Scheifele era. 2022 first-rounders Rutger McGroarty and Brad Lambert look like top-six fixtures, especially the former, and 2023 first-rounder Colby Barlow is coming off his second straight 40-goal season with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League.
But Perfetti, the 10th overall pick back in 2020, is the crown jewel of that group. Now 22, the Ontario native is coming off a decent sophomore campaign, totaling 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games with strong possession numbers. Yet his ice time dipped from his rookie season, averaging 13:35 per game in his second year under head coach Rick Bowness compared to 14:58 in 2022-23. He was used especially sparingly down the stretch and was inserted into the lineup just once in the first-round loss to the Avalanche, posting three shots on goal in under 11 minutes of ice time in their Game 5 season-ending loss.
His lack of usage late in the season naturally has teams inquiring about whether he’s on the trade block. But as an RFA without arbitration rights, there’s no urgency to move him aside from the threat of an offer sheet, which would provide them with appropriate compensation anyway.
Trading Perfetti also jumps out as an unforced error as the matching seven-year, $59.5MM extensions for Hellebuyck and Scheifele kick in next season. He was especially strong before the All-Star break, putting up 30 points and a +12 rating in 47 contests. However, he resumed play with an 11-game pointless streak and overall had five goals and eight points in his final 24 outings. Part of that was due to his ice time beginning to routinely dip under 10 minutes per game, though.
For a team facing a decent amount of free-agent turnover this summer, parting with a high-ceiling asset like Perfetti doesn’t make much sense, especially since he won’t command immense value on his next deal after his slow end to the campaign. Evolving Hockey projects a bridge deal for the youngster at $3MM per season for two years, and he could likely be had for closer to $2MM on a one-year pact if conserving cap space becomes a premium for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff. Perfetti won’t be eligible for unrestricted free agency until 2029, so the length of a short-term deal doesn’t matter much, although he will be eligible for arbitration the next time he’s up for a new contract.
Latest On The Golden Knights’ Pending UFAs
The Golden Knights won’t be able to re-sign most of their pending unrestricted free agents with a looming salary cap crunch, and they’ve already gone through the process of elimination on who to prioritize. The team has informed forwards Michael Amadio, William Carrier and Anthony Mantha that they won’t be offered extensions before July 1, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported yesterday. All three will hit the UFA market.
Amadio is a tough loss after being arguably their most cost-effective depth scorer over the past three seasons. After being claimed off waivers from the Maple Leafs early in the 2021-22 campaign, he enjoyed the best run of his career in Sin City. The 28-year-old has played nearly 200 regular-season games in a Vegas uniform, posting 41 goals and 72 points in less than 13 minutes of ice time per game. He’s also been quite the playoff performer, posting 10 points in 16 games en route to their Stanley Cup win in 2023 and logging a goal and an assist in their first-round elimination against the Stars this year. Amadio has made the league minimum salary each season, but he could likely land close to $3MM annually this summer.
Carrier, 29, is an original Golden Knight. Selected from the Sabres in the 2017 expansion draft, the Québec native has been a serviceable fourth-line winger, and his 372 appearances rank sixth in franchise history. He struggled with injuries this season, limited to eight points in 39 games, but had a career-high 16 goals in 56 games the year before. Carrier has shining career possession numbers at even strength – a 53.6 CF% and a 55.9 xGF% – making him one of the better two-way options in the entire league for his role.
He likely won’t land much of an increase, if any, on his expiring $1.4MM cap hit. Still, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon needs every inch of flexibility possible to keep Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson from heading to market.
Giving up a pair of draft picks for Mantha at the trade deadline may have been a rare ill-advised move from McCrimmon. The 29-year-old winger seemed to fit nicely into their top nine down the stretch in the regular season, posting three goals and 10 points in 18 games. However, he fell out of the lineup once Tomáš Hertl and Mark Stone were ready to return from their injuries and only played in three of their seven playoff games against Dallas without recording a point. He’d been making an average of $5.7MM annually for the past four years on a deal signed by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman in the 2020 offseason, and while he won’t earn that much again on his next deal, he might get close after his first 20-goal season since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Golden Knights are also unlikely to re-sign veteran defenseman Alec Martinez, who likely wouldn’t have been in their opening night lineup next season after Noah Hanifin‘s acquisition. But they haven’t informed him of anything like the others, Pagnotta said, and it’s unclear if he’ll test the market in July. After winning the Cup with Vegas last year and twice with the Kings in the early 2010s, the 36-year-old is “evaluating his options” as the end of his career draws closer.
And while Marchessault is the higher-priority extension target, McCrimmon hasn’t closed the door on a Stephenson re-signing. Pagnotta reports he’ll speak to Stephenson’s camp in the next two weeks to gauge his price. Still, if he heads to market, he’ll have plenty of suitors as the second-best center potentially available after Elias Lindholm. As such, his market value could very well eclipse a $6MM AAV – a prohibitively expensive figure for Vegas unless significant cap-cutting trades are made.