Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Flames Sign Kevin Bahl To Six-Year Contract

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The Flames have locked up one of their pending restricted free agents as they announced that they’ve signed defenseman Kevin Bahl to a six-year contract with an AAV of $5.35MM per season.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the breakdown of the agreement is as follows:

2025-26: $2.35MM salary, $3MM signing bonus
2026-27 – 2030-31: $5.35MM salary; no-trade list from 2027-28 to 2030-31

The 25-year-old was a piece of the trade last June that saw New Jersey acquire goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Flames.  Bahl was added along with a first-round pick that was used on center Cole Reschny last night with the 18th overall selection.

A move to Calgary meant a move to bigger role for Bahl. After four seasons of battling for minutes on New Jersey’s bottom pairing, he immediately took to a top-end role for the Flames. Bahl averaged over 21 minutes of ice time a night through 73 games this season, while serving as the go-to partner for top Flames’ defenseman Rasmus Andersson. That role earned Bahl a career-high 20 points, complemented by a minus-six and 35 penalty minutes. Bahl also ranked third on the Flames blue-line in hits (109), third in blocked shots (116), and fourth in takeaways (24).

Landing a strong spot across the stat categories is great momentum for the young Bahl, who had only appeared in 148 games with the Devils prior to joining the Flames. He totaled 25 points, a minus-one, and 127 penalty minutes in those appearances – marks that he’s already outpaced, or outright broken, with the Flames. He’s an imposing, 6-foot-6 defenseman who’s adjusted well to playing away from the puck and jumping up into play at an NHL level. Those were the traits that many scouts questioned in the 2018 NHL Draft – forcing the large-frame defender down to the Arizona Coyotes’ selection at 55th overall. The Coyotes traded him to the Devils in their 2019 acquisition of Taylor Hall and Blake Speers.

Now, two teams later, Bahl has cemented an NHL contract that will carry him through his age-30 season. Bahl is a lanky, defense-first defender who played opposite a strong puck-mover all year long. That fact, and his physical upside, could set up a long career in tandem with aggressive scoring-defenseman Zayne Parekh.

Free Agent Focus: Winnipeg Jets

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Jets.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Gabriel Vilardi – Winnipeg enters the off-season with a few big names at the top of their list – but re-signing Vilardi will have to be their first order of business. The 25-year-old centerman finally had his breakout season this year, after years of flashing high upside through battles with injuries. He scored a career-high 27 goals, 34 assists, and 61 points in 71 games this season – while confidently manning the second-line center role behind Mark Scheifele. The performance was a natural ramp-up after Vilardi potted 23 goals in 63 games of 2022-23, and 22 goals in 47 games last year. He averaged over 18 minutes of ice time this season, and also potted 25 points on the power-play – second-most on the club behind Kyle Connor. Vilardi’s breakout year was helped along by a 20.8 shooting-percentage, two percent higher than his career-average, and a heap of power-play scoring. But even then, it seems hard to deny that he’s the right man to command Winnipeg’s second-line moving forward. That sentiment could set Vilardi up for a major, long-term contract sometime this summer.

D Dylan Samberg – Another top-of-list item will be finding a new contract for hefty defender Dylan Samberg after he graduated into top-end minutes this season. He averaged north of 21 minutes a night as part of a Jets blue-line that leaned heavily on their top-four. His sheer compete and willingness to make plays on both sides of the ice made the heavy utilization look wise. Samberg led the Jets lineup in blocked shots (120) and takeaways (33), while also working his way to a career-high 20 points and plus-34 through 60 games. He’s still only four years into his career, but has so far found strong defensive metrics and a positive plus-minus in every season. That’s an impressive bit of reliability, especially in a Jets’ defensive group that’s often unwavering. Samberg’s offensive upside may never fully come along, but his ability to step up and make plays against top-end competition will be hotly coveted. He seems like a sure bet to sign a long-term and pricey deal this summer.

F Morgan Barron – Barron’s lineup role doesn’t shimmer the same as his RFA company – but he’s found a firm groove on Winnipeg’s fourth-line that would likely be hard to replace. The 26-year-old winger stands at 6-foot-4, 220-pounds and used that size to great effect this season. He ranked fourth on the team in hits (122) despite averaging just a little over 10 minutes of ice time a game. He was also strong when he needed to step up to the faceoff dot – winning 52 percent of his 163 attempts. Best of all, Barron was able to fill the physical and often defense-first role while only accruing 16 penalty minutes through 74 games on the season — a career low in terms of penalties-per-game. He did only score 15 points across the full year, which continued his fall in scoring after netting 23 points last year, and a career-high 31 points the season before. But Barron is a hardy fourth-liner who isn’t at risk of assignment to the minor-leagues. He should be a confident and cheap re-signing for the Jets.

F Rasmus Kupari – Playing alongside Barron was depth center Rasmus Kupari – another player who found his keep from making the responsible plays, rather than high scoring. Kupari totaled just eight goals, 16 penalty minutes, and a minus-one through 59 games this season – but he also recorded a 52.5 percent faceoff win-rate on 499 draws, the highest success rate of any of Winnipeg’s predominant centermen. He was an impactful depth forward capable of making plays in every direction – and standing up to physical play when the moment called for it. Winnipeg may be enticed to try and find a better scoring fit on the open market, but Kupari would still be worth a cheap contract to fill the role of extra forward and toolsy centerman, if nothing else.

Other RFAs: F Kristian Vesalainen, F Mason Shaw, F Parker Ford, D Simon Lundmark, D Isaak Phillips, D Tyrel Bauer

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Nikolaj Ehlers – The headliner of Winnipeg’s summer will be the decision that Ehlers makes in free agency. He is set to head to the open market, and potentially bring a close to his decade-long tenure with the Jets franchise. Only three Jets have scored more than Ehlers’ 520 points in 674 games since he joined the club in 2015-16: Scheifele (720), Connor (582), and Blake Wheeler (560). That’s impressive company. Even more impressive is Ehlers’ ability to stay consistent. He scored his career-high 64 points in 82 games of the 2016-17 season, his sophomore year. But he managed to notch a new career-high in scoring pace with 24 goals and 63 points in just 69 games this year. Ehlers looks well cemented into his prime years right now, and should only continue to serve as a persistent scorer and transition monster wherever he lands next. 10 years in Winnipeg will be hard to leave behind – and the door isn’t closed yet – but after back-to-back, 60-point seasons, Ehlers is making the wise choice to find a payday while he still can.

F Mason Appleton – Appleton has expressed his interest in remaining apart of the Jets’ core, but that could be a hard sell after his scoring returned to Earth a bit this season. He saw a late-stage breakout last season, netting 14 goals and 36 points while appearing in all 82 games of the 2023-24 campaign. But that mark teetered on an 11.5 shooting percentage, and Appleton fell to just 10 goals and 22 points in 71 games on the back of a 9.3 shooting percentage this year. His career average shooting percentage sits somewhere between those two marks, suggesting that Appleton could find consistency scoring in the high-20s over the next few seasons. That could be enough to warrant an inexpensive contract, especially as Appleton continued to provide impact away from the puck. He recorded a plus-seven, 76 hits, and 15 takeaways on the year – fine-enough numbers for a player split between lines two and three. But the Jets have prospects beginning to knock on the door to NHL minutes. If any veteran would be set to lose on a role, it’d reason to be middle-six winger Appleton. He’s played with the Jets in all eight of his NHL seasons, though did take a trip to the Seattle Kraken for 49 games of the 2021-22 campaign. That familiarity will make him a name to watch in Winnipeg.

F Brandon Tanev – The Jets acquired Tanev from the Seattle Kraken at the Trade Deadline for a 2027 second-round pick. He had 17 points in 60 games on the season up until then, but dwindled to just five points in 19 games of Winnipeg’s second-half. But even with low-scoring in mind, the Jets seem to have gotten what they paid for out of the burly Tanev. He recorded 46 hits in his short time on the team, enough to earn the highest hits-per-60 mark on the roster and bring his year-long total up to a daunting 168 hits in 79 games. He also stayed out of the penalty box, with just six penalty minutes in a Jets jersey. Tanev began his career in Winnipeg way back in the 2016-17 season. He played through three full seasons with the club, before kicking off on a journey that’s winded through two years in Pittsburgh and four years in Seattle. But now, Tanev has found his way back home – and while he certainly won’t offer flashy upside, the chance to lock up his imposing physical presence for a full season would be tough for the Jets to ignore.

D Haydn Fleury – Once a top-10 pick in the NHL Draft, it seems Fleury is now headed towards a split with the NHL. He’s appeared with five different clubs over the last eight seasons, and not yet found a true role with any of them. The Jets awarded Fleury with 39 games this season – the most he’s played since the 2020-21 campaign – and he returned just seven assists, a minus-12, and six penalty minutes. Even his intangible stats raise an eyebrow, with only 56 blocked shots and 48 hits on the year. Fleury stepped up to the chance to earn a role, but ultimately ended his season with little flash. He’ll be a depth defender moving forward, and will likely only command a league-minimum salary and an extra-defender role, if he’s re-signed into the NHL.

Other UFAs: F Dominic Toninato, F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, D Dylan Coghlan, G Chris Driedger

Projected Cap Space

Winnipeg is entering the off-season with plenty of money to pursue whoever they’d like. They sit with $24.463MM in projected cap space. That mark could dwindle to just under $12MM, or less, by the time that Vilardi and Samberg sign career-defining contracts — but that should still be more than enough for the Jets to re-sign depth skaters and land big fish on the open market. It would also be enough to give Ehlers a much-deserved pay-raise, should he decide to return. The Jets led the Western Conference with a 56-22-4 record this season, and now enter the summer with enough money to bring in some impactful additions. Their off-season will be one to follow.

Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia. Photo courtesy of Terrence Lee-Imagn Images and Connor Hamilton-Imagn Images.

Blue Jackets Re-Sign Zach Sawchenko To One-Year Deal

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Blue Jackets have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents before draft action picks back up.  The team announced that they’ve signed goaltender Zach Sawchenko to a one-year, two-way contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 27-year-old spent this past season with AHL Cleveland, getting into 27 games with the Monsters where he posted a 10-11-5 record with a 3.00 GAA and a .900 SV%.  Sawchenko has played in 106 contests at the AHL level over the past four seasons but NHL playing time has been hard to come by along the way as he has just seven appearances at the top level, all coming back in 2021-22 with San Jose where he had a 3.35 GAA and a .901 SV%.

Sawchenko was the backup to Jet Greaves in Cleveland in 2024-25.  However, with Greaves now in line to move up to Columbus full-time following this week’s trade of Daniil Tarasov to Florida, Sawchenko could become the starter for the Monsters next season with prospect Nolan Lalonde serving as the backup in his first professional year.  Alternatively, Columbus could look to add another netminder in free agency to push Sawchenko for the starting job with the Monsters and allow Lalonde to get more regular minutes in the ECHL.

Senators Expected To Show Interest In Tanner Jeannot

at CDT | by 4 Comments

With the Kings not expected to offer winger Tanner Jeannot a new contract, he’s expected to hit the open market on Tuesday with teams looking for extra grit being likely to show interest.  It appears that the Senators will be one of those as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Ottawa is expected to pursue Jeannot in free agency.

Jeannot was one of the bigger surprises in the NHL back in 2021-22.  In his first full NHL season, he wound up collecting 24 goals and 17 assists along with 130 penalty minutes and 318 hits in 81 games, earning the 28-year-old a seventh-place finish in Calder Trophy voting.  All of a sudden, it looked like Nashville had a key power forward of the future in the mix.

But things didn’t go anywhere near as well the following year as his output dropped to just 14 points in 56 games.  Nonetheless, Tampa Bay still believed in him, sending the Preds draft picks in the first five rounds (including the 23rd pick last night, one that was moved in a trade-up swap) to acquire Jeannot’s services.

The change of scenery didn’t boost his scoring prowess as Jeannot had just four points in 20 games down the stretch in 2023 and then followed that up with just seven goals and seven assists in 55 outings in 2023-24.  While the physicality was still there, the offensive touch certainly wasn’t.  Needing to clear cap space last summer, the Lightning moved Jeannot and his $2.665MM contract at the draft last year for second and fourth-round picks.

Once again, the change of scenery didn’t yield an increase in production as Jeannot posted seven goals and six assists along with 89 penalty minutes and 211 hits in 67 games while logging just 11:01 per night.  As a result, he’s going to be entering the open market with teams now viewing his breakout year as the outlier, not necessarily a sign of things to come.

After that 24-goal rookie year, Jeannot has managed just 20 in the three seasons since combined, making him more of a fourth liner than an impactful middle-six piece.  As a result, he didn’t earn a spot on our Top 50 UFA list.  After playing on a bridge deal the last two seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jeannot effectively get another one as it would be difficult to see a team making a longer-term commitment to someone whose production has been so limited lately.  But with a lot of teams looking for added grit, Jeannot should nonetheless have a solid group of suitors next week with the Sens appearing to be one of them.

Trade Interest In Lukas Reichel Increasing

at CDT | by 11 Comments

Last summer, Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel was a speculative trade candidate but he wound up signing a low-cost, two-year bridge deal to remain with Chicago.  But after the first year of that contract didn’t go well, the trade speculation is back.  Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that interest in Reichel has started to pick up in recent days with teams viewing him as more of a secondary target at this point.

The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Chicago back in 2020, going 17th overall after playing well with Eisbaren Berlin in the German men’s league when he had 24 points in 48 games.  That improved to 27 points in 38 outings the following season before Reichel came to play in North America.

Reichel spent the bulk of the first season of his entry-level deal with AHL Rockford and was quite productive, tallying 21 goals and 36 assists in 56 games while also getting into 11 games with the Blackhawks.  The following year in 2022-23, he was similarly productive with the IceHogs, notching 20 goals and 31 helpers in 55 contests, earning him a longer look with the big club where he got into 23 games, collecting 15 points.  It looked like he was ready for full-time NHL duty.

But the 2023-24 campaign was a tough one for Reichel.  He struggled with Chicago, scoring just five goals along with 11 assists in 65 games while his possession numbers took a tumble as well.  He was more productive with eight points in a ten-game stint in Rockford but at this point, there were questions about his longer-term fit in the organization with the Blackhawks having one of the deepest pipelines in the NHL.

Those questions still remain after this season, one that saw Reichel only slightly improve offensively with eight goals and 14 assists in 70 games while seeing his ice time drop to below 12 minutes a night, a career-low.  With several prospects in the pipeline that could benefit from an extra roster spot to try to compete for, it’s understandable to think that Chicago could make Reichel available this summer.

Of course, with how things have gone the last two seasons, trade offers aren’t going to be anywhere near the level of the first-rounder they used on Reichel in the past.  But with an affordable contract at $1.2MM, he’s the type of buy-low candidate that some rebuilding teams will want to take a chance on to see if a change of scenery can help get him going.  Whether that results in a trade later today in the draft or later on in the summer once the dust settles remains to be seen but it certainly seems like there’s a good chance that Reichel could be on the move this offseason.

Connor Brown Will Reportedly Test Free Agent Market

at CDT | by 7 Comments

As the Edmonton Oilers continue to create the necessary cap space to retain defenseman Evan Bouchard on a long-term deal this summer, more cap casualties will be had. According to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, one of those casualties will be winger Connor Brown, who’s expected to find a new home on the free agent market.

Brown joined the Oilers ahead of the 2023-24 season, reuniting with his linemate from the OHL’s Erie Otters, Connor McDavid. After being snakebitten for much of his first year, Brown will likely conclude his Oilers tenure with 17 goals and 42 points in 153 games, averaging 13:27 of ice time per game.

Although he wasn’t one of their top secondary scorers, Brown became a quality tertiary option for Edmonton, especially in the playoffs. Throughout the Oilers’ back-to-back run to the Stanley Cup Final, Brown chipped in with seven goals and 15 points in 39 games with a +5 rating, averaging 13:51 of ice time.

Interested teams will be hopeful that Brown’s yips and injury issues are behind him, and he can return to being a multi-digit goal-scorer in consecutive years. In his defense, it wasn’t all that long ago that Brown found a comfortable home in the Ottawa Senators’ top-six, scoring 47 goals and 117 points in 191 games over three years.

Unfortunately, even though he’ll command a comfortable deal on the open market, Brown shouldn’t expect to be paid like a typical 20-goal scorer this summer. He does have that upside, but many teams will likely view him as a bottom-six scorer rather than a middle-six option.

Chicago Blackhawks Acquire 29th Overall Pick, Select Mason West

at CDT | by 8 Comments

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Carolina Hurricanes have traded the 29th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 34th and 62nd overall picks, plus a fifth-round pick in 2027. With their third first-round pick of the evening, the Blackhawks have selected Mason West from the USHL’s Fargo Force.

West, who will be joining the NCAA’s Michigan State University Spartans in the fall of 2026-27, is an intriguing prospect for a few reasons. He’s a towering forward, considering his talent, standing at 6’6″, 218lbs. Although he finished the year with USHL Fargo, he spent much of the year with Edina High School in Minnesota, scoring 27 goals and 49 points in 31 games.

Once he transitioned to Fargo toward the end of the year, he scored one goal and nine points in 10 games. The most fascinating part about West is that he’s never been a full-time hockey player. Throughout his time with Edina, West doubled as a premier high school quarterback and could receive D1 scholarships if his senior season this autumn goes well.

Because of his non-zero chance of cracking an NFL roster someday, West was projected to fall into the second round, anywhere between the 45th and 55th overall picks. The Blackhawks see potential in West and believe he will continue his professional hockey career.

Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire 24th Overall Pick, Select Will Horcoff

at CDT | by 11 Comments

According to a team announcement, the Los Angeles Kings have traded the 24th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 31st and 59th overall selections. Using the pick, the Penguins selected Will Horcoff from the University of Michigan.

Horcoff, the son of longtime Edmonton Oiler Shawn Horcoff, had a split season during the 2024-25 campaign. He began the year with the United States National Team Development Program in Plymouth, MI, scoring eight goals and 14 points in 28 games with a +5 rating.

After making the short trip to Ann Arbor, MI, for the second half of the season, Horcoff finished his first year with the Wolverines with four goals and 10 points in 18 contests. He also performed well on the international stage, scoring two goals and four points in seven games for Team USA at the U18 World Junior Championship.

Unfortunately, few believed that Horcoff had the necessary offensive talent to warrant a first-round selection, with several mocks projecting him to fall to the second round. Still, at 6’4″, he’ll immediately add size and physicality to the Penguins system, and is arguably one of, if not the best, defensive forward available at this year’s draft. At any rate, it’ll be a few years before Pittsburgh sees the value in this pick, as Horcoff is expected to return to Michigan in the fall.

Stars’ Jim Nill Named General Manager Of The Year

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Dallas Stars’ GM Jim Nill has been named the 2024-25 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year, per a league announcement. Nill has now won the award three consecutive years, becoming the first GM to achieve the three-peat. He was named on 37 of the 42 ballots submitted for the award.

Nill received 139 points, which equates to 17 first-place votes, 17 second-place votes, and three third-place votes. Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito finished second with 102 points, while Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff finished a distant third with 52 points. In total, 13 general managers received votes.

Nill supported the Stars’ efforts during the 2024-25 season by acquiring Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks in February and then swung for the fences by trading for star winger Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes at the deadline. Granlund posted 21 points in 31 regular-season games for the Stars, while Rantanen went on a historic playoff run with the team, posting nine goals and 22 points in 18 games.

Nill spent nine seasons playing in the NHL, skating in 524 career games for five different teams. Following his playing career, he spent time scouting and eventually worked his way into a management role in the Red Wings organization. He was named the Stars’ general manager in 2013 and in his 12 seasons in Dallas has been a finalist for the Jim Gregory Award five times.

Voting for the award was conducted by NHL Club General Managers and a panel of league executives and media members at the conclusion of the second round in the playoffs.

 

Nashville Predators Acquire 21st Overall Pick, Select Cameron Reid

at CDT | by 1 Comment

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Ottawa Senators have traded the 21st overall selection of the 2025 NHL Draft to the Nashville Predators for the 23rd and 67th overall picks. The Predators have selected Cameron Reid from the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers as the franchise’s newest player at the time of writing.

Reid joins the Predators’ system as a very high-floor defensive prospect, being projected right around the time of selection if not a few spots higher. He recently completed his second season with the Rangers, scoring 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games with a +39 rating.

Unfortunately, Reid looked a bit weaker in the postseason, tallying five assists in 14 postseason contests with a -5 rating. It was an identical output to last year’s postseason in four additional games.

Although he’s mostly associated with the two-way archetype, Reid’s offensive capabilities are the best part of his game. He is an exceptional skater with advanced hockey IQ for his age, and his draft stock rose this season due to his effortless joining of the rush.

In all seriousness, shot selection may be his only true weakness, which is true of most younger defensemen, anyway. If he continues his developmental trajectory, Reid should have no issue being a top-four blueliner on Nashville’s roster and finding a role on both special teams units.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top