The Largest NHL Cap Hits Signed In The 2026 Offseason
Every year, with the NHL Salary Cap rising, articles like these will constantly highlight the growth of hockey. Players are looking to make more money, and teams are avoiding sticker shock in the moment of inking the deal.
As major free agents have put pen to paper, and some remain in play to receive their payday. Most notably, UFA’s Patrick Kane, Anthony Mantha, and Vladimir Tarasenko remain open to veteran NHL contracts, and RFAs Jason Robertson and Adam Fantilli, all need new deals too and may even join this list.
So far, we’ve seen over 200 NHL contracts signed. Today, we will examine this offseason’s largest contracts signed by analyzing which players have the largest cap hit out of the signings made in the summer of 2026. Considering players can (and have) inked extensions ahead of their status for the 2027-28 season, we’ll include those deals in as well.
1. Leo Carlsson — 5 years, $18MM AAV ($90.00MM), Anaheim Ducks
I think a lot of us expected a large sum of money to head to Carlsson’s bank account; however, I don’t think any of us saw him ending up first on this list. The former No. 2 overall pick in 2023 received a lucrative offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers, which the Anaheim Ducks matched. With Verbeek retaining the young Swedish phenom, it’ll be interesting when we look back on the drama from this past week, and the gamble to use 17.3% of Anaheim’s cap hit on the 21-year-old, and how it impacted the Ducks and the NHL.
2. Connor Bedard — 5 years, $15MM AAV (75.00MM), Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago had to open its checkbooks this offseason but paid less money than Anaheim did for the player taken after his No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 NHL draft. One of the NHL’s brightest young superstars and the poster boy of the next generation of Blackhawks will make less money than Carlsson despite scoring around 60 more points than him. Nonetheless, Bedard is third in the NHL among the highest-paid players and will be a free agent again just before his prime at age 26. It should make the Hawks happy that situationally, their star man is committed to the Windy City.
3. Bowen Byram — 6 years, $12.5MM AAV (75.00MM), Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks found their No. 1 defenseman, but it cost them a hefty price to do so, which included trading away the 2026 fourth-overall pick. Byram wanted to be the go-to man on the blue line for an NHL club, and this fits for Chicago. The funny way to put this is that in 2027-28, when the contract kicks in, Byram will have the same income as Connor McDavid and a higher annual paycheck than his former Sabres teammate, Rasmus Dahlin. Last season was the former No. 4 overall pick’s best season offensively, but Chicago is hoping that he’ll elevate that production with the keys to the backend.
4. Nico Hischier — 5 years, $11.7MM AAV ($58.5MM), New Jersey Devils
The Devils wanted to extend their captain this offseason, and they checked that box. The 2017 first overall pick was entering the final season of a seven-year, $50.75MM deal signed with New Jersey back in 2019. Now, the Devils will keep their 27-year-old top-line center through the 2031-32 season while giving him around an 65% salary increase. Rightfully so for one of three Devils to score over 300 points up to today (1st. Jesper Bratt, 418 points and 2nd. Jack Hughes, 407 points), that’s an integral piece to retain towards the ultimate goal.
5. Pavel Dorofeyev — 7 years, $11.0MM AAV ($77.00MM), New York Rangers
The Rangers have lost some key pieces over the course of 2026. Their retool should see a bump from Dorofeyev, who is receiving a lucrative pay raise from his former contracts that paid below $2MM AAV. New York has made him the second-highest earning rostered player for 2026-27, behind fellow countryman Igor Shesterkin. They hope that the 25-year-old Russian can build on his two 30+ goal campaigns and seamlessly fit in a new scene. Ideally, considering his deep playoff experience and elite scoring touch, he’s a huge core piece that’ll have to shine on Broadway.
6. Alex Tuch — 8 years, $10.5MM AAV ($84.00MM), Washington Capitals
It was pretty obvious that Tuch was the biggest UFA name on the market. The consideration of whether to keep the veteran forward was one of the Sabres’ biggest decisions after making the playoffs for the first time in a while. Alas, letting go of a hometown player with the contract Washington is paying is the direction the Sabres went. Tuch will make a lot of money until his age 38 season, but for a tenacious forward who’s proven to perform in previous playoff stints, he’s a key forward Washington could use.
7. Ivan Demidov — 8 years, 9.15MM AAV ($73.2MM), Montreal Canadiens
The youngest player on this list will be a Hab for a long time. The 20-year-old Russian winger won’t need another contract until 2035, and at the cap hit he signed for, GM Kent Hughes was probably ecstatic knowing he inked Demidov to this deal after the Flyers went ahead and reset the market entirely. When this contract takes effect in 2027-28, as of this writing, the former fifth-overall pick will be around the 40th-highest-paid player in the NHL. Chances are, if his sophomore season saw above 60 points in production, who knows what Demidov will produce in his prime based on that trajectory.
8. Trevor Zegras — 4 years, 9.125MM AAV ($36.5MM), Philadelphia Flyers
The former No. 9 overall pick in 2019 just became the Flyers highest paid-player this offseason, beating Travis Konecny‘s $8.75MM AAV. After filing for arbitration, the 25-year-old extends his time in Philadelphia after being traded there by the Anaheim Ducks in the summer of 2025. His 26 goals for 67 points in 81 games elevated the Flyers into a playoff position, all of which were career-high tallies in his first year in a different shade of orange. The young American star is locked down until 2030 as part of Philadelphia’s build-up into what they hope to be an extension and growth of contending with a young group for the playoffs within the East.
9. John Carlson — 2 years, 8.5MM AAV ($17.00MM), Tampa Bay Lightning
The veteran is headed to a sure playoff contender, an environment he’s been in his whole career. Carlson wanted to remain out east after being dealt to the Ducks, and given the Lightning’s unwillingness to pay Raddysh on their right side for the long term, they opted for the more sure bet of an established former Stanley Cup winner. Having J.J. Moser and Erik Cernak on the right side as well will round out one of the league’s more formidable blue lines with Carlson in the fold. Don’t forget he’s one of three 35+ aged defensemen, along with Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh.
10. Rasmus Andersson — 7 years, $8.5MM AAV ($59.5MM), Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are probably very happy bringing Andersson back into the fold, especially after dealing away two top-64 draft picks and Zach Whitecloud to Calgary at the deadline. As the top right defenseman UFA available, with Darren Raddysh signed and traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Andersson cashed in. What the Golden Knights can hope for is a bounce back from what many considered a lackluster playoff performance, registering six assists en route to a Stanley Cup Runner-up finish. Right defensemen with an offensive touch are available on the market once in a blue moon, and for a player who has provided 10+ goals and 50 points, it’s a reasonable payment until 2033.
Previously listed in Top 10:
11. Darren Raddysh — 8 years, $8.5MM AAV ($68.00MM), Toronto Maple Leafs
12. Jacob Trouba — 4 years, $8.25MM AAV ($33.00MM), San Jose Sharks
Accurate as of July 20, 10:28 AM ET, (h/t Puckpedia.com Player Dashboard: signings filtered since June 10, 2026)
Photo Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports, Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
Sharks Sign Jacob Trouba To Four-Year Deal
According to a team announcement, the San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman Jacob Trouba to a four-year, $33MM ($8.25MM AAV) contract. PuckPedia reported that Trouba will have a full no-trade clause in the first two years of the deal, a 16-team no-trade clause in the third year, and a 12-team no-trade clause in the fourth.
The Sharks add a much-needed veteran, right-shot presence to their blue line. Trouba, 32, is coming off a bounce-back season in Anaheim, where he posted 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 81 games and led Ducks defensemen in blocked shots (149) and was second in hits (143). He opened the year hot, with 10 points and a plus-16 rating over his first 14 games, and added a goal in 12 playoff games as Anaheim reached the second round.
The former New York Rangers captain and the 2023-24 Mark Messier Leadership Award winner, Trouba brings size, physicality, and leadership to San Jose’s young core. The 6-foot-3 blueliner has appeared in 906 career games across Winnipeg, New York, and Anaheim, with a career-high 50 points in 2018-19, and he leads all defensemen in blocked shots (1,943) since his 2013-14 debut.
Trouba’s arrival is part of an aggressive and expensive reshaping of San Jose’s blue line. The Sharks also acquired veteran defenseman Darnell Nurse from the Edmonton Oilers, taking on the full four years and $9.25MM cap hit remaining on his contract with no salary retained. Additionally, they added right-shot defenseman Michael Kesselring in a trade with Buffalo early last week. The moves layer size, experience, and salary onto a group that will still lean heavily on younger pieces to take the next step.
With his right-handed shot, Trouba projects as a complement to the left-shot Nurse, and his leadership pedigree fits a franchise eager to show its young players how to win. Whether these additions push San Jose back into the postseason or simply steady the room, the Sharks have signaled they intend to compete sooner rather than later.
Free Agency Notes: Senators, Trouba, Gudas
The Ottawa Senators lost one of the franchise’s most important players yesterday, trading captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers after he made a request to be dealt. In the aftermath of the deal, the Senators appear focused on making sure they don’t face the exit of other core players; GM Steve Staios told the media today (via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch) that he is having preliminary discussions on potential contract extensions with winger Drake Batherson and defenseman Artem Zub. Batherson is repped by Paul Capizzano of Quartexx, while Zub is represented by Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Both players are one season away from reaching unrestricted free agency.
While it’s unclear what the asking price is for either player to remain in Ottawa, it is clear that extending either player won’t come cheap. Batherson, 28, is entering year six of a six-year, $4.975MM AAV extension he signed in September 2021. The deal has been quite the bargain for the Senators, as Batherson has developed into a legitimate first-line winger. He scored 33 goals and 71 points in 79 games last season, and is likely to seek a significant raise on his next deal, perhaps even around double his current cap hit. Zub, who will turn 31 in October, is Ottawa’s most important right-shot defenseman. He scored a career-high 30 points last season and averaged 20:47 time on ice per game, including deployment on the team’s top penalty-kill unit. Zub costs $4.6MM against the cap and is also likely to be seeking a significant raise, though perhaps not to the same magnitude as Batherson.
Other notes in advance of free agency:
- Anaheim Ducks veteran defenseman Jacob Trouba is likely to test the unrestricted free agent market, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast. The 32-year-old’s first complete campaign as a Duck was a massively successful bounce-back season. After he was unceremoniously traded from the New York Rangers last season, ending his tenure with the team he once captained, Trouba became a crucial veteran presence on the blueline of an ascendant Ducks team. Trouba managed 10 goals and 35 points, his most in a single season since 2021-22. He was Anaheim’s No. 3 defenseman in terms of ice time, playing 22:49 per game and leading all Ducks defensemen in short-handed time on ice per game. Trouba’s 3:04 per game on the penalty kill ranked No. 8 in the NHL. While he’s unlikely to match the $8MM cap hit he’s played on since the start of the decade, Trouba should still command substantial interest on the open market.
- Friedman also said on 32 Thoughts that it “looks like” Radko Gudas will also hit the UFA market like Trouba and trade deadline addition John Carlson. The 36-year-old is the Ducks’ captain and is coming up on the end of the three-year, $4MM AAV contract he signed as a free agent on July 1, 2023. Gudas took a real step back in terms of role this past season, skating in just 16:10 time on ice per game, and just 1:36 per game on the penalty kill. In 2024-25, Gudas averaged 19:51 per game and 2:28 on the penalty kill. Gudas was limited to just 56 games played last season as a result of lower-body injuries and a hefty five-game suspension, and but his reputation as one of the game’s most physical, ferocious defensemen is likely to garner him some real interest from around the league next week.
No Progress In Extension Talks Between Anaheim Ducks, Jacob Trouba
A little over a year ago, the Anaheim Ducks acquired defenseman Jacob Trouba from the New York Rangers in what appeared at the time as a salary dump for the latter. He was embroiled in the worst season of his NHL career, and looked more like a placeholder for the Ducks as their prospects made their way to the NHL ranks.
However, a year later, Trouba has become a fixture on Anaheim’s blue line, helping the Ducks to their first postseason appearance since the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. Unfortunately, as much as they would like to keep Trouba, the two sides haven’t gotten close to finalizing a contract extension.
Speaking on The Fan Hockey Show, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said, “They’ve been negotiating with [Jacob] Trouba on and off, and to this point they haven’t been able to close it.” The 13-year veteran will see his seven-year, $56MM contract expire on July 1st in a few weeks.
Much of that likely has to do with the price point. Trouba and his camp are likely trying to capitalize on a resurgent 2025-26 campaign, and the Ducks may view it as a flash in the pan, though they would still like to retain him at a digestible rate. Essentially, since the 2021-22 campaign, Trouba’s performance had been declining across the board.
This season, however, he made a big comeback. Throughout the 2025-26 season, Trouba scored 10 goals and 35 points in 81 games with a -1 rating, averaging nearly 23 minutes of ice time per game. Additionally, he led the team in blocked shots, finished third in hits, and had the sixth-most takeaways on the team.
Diving deeper, his 51.8% CorsiFor at even strength is the second-highest mark of his career, and better than any season he had with the Rangers. Still, heading into his age-32 season, especially with how he plays the game, it’s a fair question from the Ducks if he can keep this up for several more years.
In all seriousness, Anaheim is likely in the driver’s seat in the negotiations, despite Trouba’s impressive season. The team has a solid opportunity this summer to re-work its defensive core for the future, without having a stark drop-off in talent. Trouba is joined by captain Radko Gudas and trade deadline acquisition John Carlson as projected unrestricted free agents this summer. If the Ducks keep only one of the trio, they’ll have a balanced right side of the blue line with Drew Helleson and Tristan Luneau in tow.
According to AFP Analytics, Trouba is projected to land a three-year, $9.25MM contract should he hit the open market this summer. Although he will assuredly earn less than his current $8MM salary, an approximately $3.1MM salary feels remarkably low for the season he just had. If Trouba does make it to the open market, he’ll likely land a deal similar to the extension Adam Larsson signed with the Seattle Kraken last year, a four-year, $21MM ($5.25MM AAV) pact, if not a little bit more.
Examining Summer Buyout Candidates
The NHL salary cap is increasing dramatically this summer, but that won’t stop teams from looking to cut inflated cap hits from their salary ledgers. The buyout remains an option that NHL teams will regularly use to move out a player who has underperformed relative to their NHL salary. Teams often swap struggling players in a change-of-scenery trade, but they will use the buyout as a last resort if they can’t find a market. Let’s examine this summer’s buyout candidates, beginning with the forwards.
Andre Burakovsky cashed in on a Stanley Cup-winning year in Colorado, signing a five-year, $27.5MM deal with the Seattle Kraken in free agency, including a modified 10-team no-trade list. Since signing the agreement in July 2022, Burakovsky’s performance has declined, particularly last season, when he had just seven goals and nine assists in 49 games. The 30-year-old has bounced back this year, but still fell below the 40-point margin for the third consecutive season. He should be a trade or buyout candidate given his injury history and declining performance.
A modified no-trade clause will limit a small trade market and might force Seattle to relinquish an asset to move Burakovsky or take back another undesirable contract. A buyout would be spread over four seasons and save Seattle $5.83MM over the next two seasons total, but leave them with a $1.458MM cap hit the two seasons after (as per PuckPedia). Given the bounceback this season, it seems likely that Seattle either hangs on to Burakovsky or tries to trade him rather than eating the cost of a four-season buyout.
Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers is another forward who could be moved this summer. While a trade is likelier, it’s not an impossibility that the veteran winger could be bought out. The 33-year-old’s play has fallen off a cliff this season as he hasn’t been able to generate the same level of shot production as in previous seasons. Kreider averaged 42 goals between 2021 and 2024, but couldn’t top 25 goals this season and finished with just eight assists.
Kreider carries a 15-team no-trade clause and has two years remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $6.5MM, which will be prohibitive regarding potential trade talks. With the trade market cut in half, the Rangers might have to eat some of the remainder on Kreider’s deal. Still, given that general manager Chris Drury has gotten out from under more undesirable contracts (Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba), he may find a creative way to shed Kreider’s contract without a buyout.
Under normal circumstances, Detroit center Andrew Copp would be a buyout candidate, but given that the 30-year-old will be out well into the summer after pectoral surgery, it won’t happen. Copp posted just 10 goals and 13 assists in 56 games this season, but barring a trade, he will return to Detroit next season if he is healthy enough to play by the opening of training camp.
Shifting back to defense, Ryan Graves is a prime candidate to be bought out; however, a significant caveat exists regarding moving on from the 29-year-old. The structure of Graves’ contract makes a buyout nearly impossible (as per PuckPedia) because any buyout would only move on from Graves’ salary and not include the $8MM in signing bonuses that Graves is due in each of the last four years of his contract. If Pittsburgh wants to buy Graves out, he will remain on the books for eight more years and save them just $2.58MM total over those eight years. A Graves buyout isn’t worth it for the Penguins, and the only significant cap savings would happen in the first year of the deal, the season in which the Penguins are the least likely to contend. The Penguins will have to keep Graves, trade him, or play him in the minors for the foreseeable future.
Marc-Édouard Vlasic is another veteran whose contract has become an albatross. Vlasic was once one of the top defensive defensemen in the NHL, but has fallen on hard times as he plays on a poor San Jose Sharks team. Vlasic has one year left on his contract with a $7MM cap hit and is owed $5.5MM in actual salary. He played just 24 games last year, and while he wasn’t unplayable, he’s not a good NHL defenseman anymore. Much of Vlasic’s decision will depend on what the Sharks hope to do next season; if they intend to add around their young core, they may buy out Vlasic to give themselves as much cap space as possible. If they opt to have one more year of rebuilding before adding to their lineup, they will likely burn the final year on the deal and let Vlasic walk as a UFA next summer.
A Vlasic buyout doesn’t do much to help the Sharks, saving them $2.333MM next season while adding a cap charge of $1.167MM the following year. The Sharks seem likely to keep Vlasic in San Jose for the final year and perhaps assign him to the AHL or use him as a seventh defenseman in the NHL.
Another notable defenseman who could be bought out is Jacob Trouba of the Anaheim Ducks. Trouba became a lightning rod for criticism in New York while he was a member of the Rangers, and many people didn’t think it was possible to move him and his entire $8MM cap hit. Anaheim stepped in, taking Trouba and his whole contract, and appeared excited to do so, as Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek was happy to have Trouba as a leader for a young Ducks team. Since Anaheim placed such a high value on Trouba’s intangibles, it seems unlikely that they will buy out the last year of his contract, even though he will be vastly overpaid for his play on the ice.
The top buyout candidate in net is Philipp Grubauer of the Seattle Kraken. Grubauer has been a shell of the version he was with the Colorado Avalanche and hasn’t come close to being an average NHL goalie during his time in Seattle. At the time of his signing four years ago, Grubauer had a career save percentage over .920 in seven NHL seasons, but since then, he hasn’t produced a single season over .899, and it has fallen to .875 this year. With two years remaining at $5.9MM per season, Grubauer would be incredibly difficult to trade, even in a goaltender’s market that favors the seller. His -14.6 Goals Saved Above Expected was the third worst in the NHL among all goaltenders, and his numbers in the AHL, while better, don’t indicate that he is ready to recapture his game.
Buying out the 33-year-old would save Seattle almost $4MM in cap space next year and nearly $3MM in the 2026-27 season. They would then face a charge of $1,683,333 in each of the following seasons after that (as per Puck Pedia).
The next goalie on our list is Tristan Jarry of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and while he feels like the most obvious candidate for a buyout this summer, goalies are in short supply, and anything is possible. Jarry has been better as of late, and with no actual workhorse starters available in free agency, a team may take a flier on the two-time NHL All-Star. Teams watched Los Angeles goaltender Darcy Kuemper bounce back this season after struggling last year, and with Jarry being just 29 years old, he could do the same. Jarry has the skillset to be a starting NHL goaltender, but has struggled with mistakes and letting in bad goals at inopportune times. He has also typically struggled the deeper he gets into a season, which will scare off teams with playoff aspirations.
It’s hard to imagine Jarry back in Pittsburgh next season, but they are transitioning, and many of their prospects are still a year or two away from being NHL-ready. Someone has to play goal for the Penguins, and Josh Yohe of The Athletic believes it could be Jarry going into next season. It’s hard to get a sense of what Pittsburgh will do, but none of the potential outcomes will be shocking given how the situation has played out over the last few years with the Penguins’ starting goaltender.
Photo by Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
West Notes: Draisaitl, Heiskanen, Trouba, Stephenson, Sissons
A familiar face will return for the ‘Battle of Alberta’ tonight. According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, the Edmonton Oilers will welcome back superstar Leon Draisaitl after he missed he last four games with an undisclosed injury.
His presence in the Oilers’ lineup can’t be understated. Draisaitl is having an MVP-caliber season, leading Edmonton in scoring with 49 goals and 101 points in 68 games. Most notably, Draisaitl leads the entire NHL in goals, even strength goals (34), and game-winning goals (10).
The team has faced challenges without him and his teammate, Connor McDavid. The Oilers own a 1-2-1 record in the four games without the duo, averaging 3.00 GF/G while allowing a ghastly 4.50 GA/G to their opponents. Edmonton is battling with the Los Angeles Kings in the standings for the second spot in the Pacific Division, and they’ll want to avoid hobbling into the playoffs due to injuries.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- In a positive update for the Dallas Stars, independent writer Robert Tiffin reported earlier that defenseman Miro Heiskanen had officially resumed skating. Recent reporting indicated that Dallas wasn’t expecting Heiskanen back for their first-round matchup in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, with more than three weeks remaining in the regular season, Heiskanen’s return to skating may mean he’ll return earlier than expected from his knee surgery.
- According to Derek Lee of The Hockey News, the Anaheim Ducks avoided a worst-case scenario with defenseman Jacob Trouba. Trouba suffered a scary injury in last night’s contest against the New York Rangers when he ran into former teammate Igor Shesterkin‘s stick, causing Trouba to crash into the boards at a high velocity. Despite not joining the team for practice today, Trouba’s recovery timeline is only considered day-to-day, and he could feature for Anaheim in their upcoming contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Chandler Stephenson may return to the Seattle Kraken tonight after missing three games due to a lower-body injury. Earlier today, Seattle’s broadcast analyst Alison Lukan reported that Stephenson has been upgraded to a game-time decision. His return would be significant for the Kraken, as he is the team’s second-leading scorer with 11 goals and 48 points in 69 games.
- Lastly, the Nashville Predators lost a bottom-six forward partway through tonight’s loss against the Vegas Golden Knights. Nashville shared that forward Colton Sissons wouldn’t return to tonight’s action due to a lower-body injury. Further information should come out tomorrow regarding Sissons’ status moving forward. He’s only missed one of Nashville’s 73 games this season.
West Notes: Trouba, Foligno, Utah, Biakabutuka
Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba will not face any supplemental discipline from his hit on St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou on Sunday, notes Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). The hit occurred in the first period and no penalty was assessed on the play while Kyrou remained in the game. While it looked as if contact was made with Kyrou’s head, the league determined that the head was not the principal point of contact, and Trouba connected with Kyrou’s arm and shoulder as well.
More from the West:
- The Wild announced (Twitter link) that winger Marcus Foligno was scratched from tonight’s game against Los Angeles due to an upper-body injury. The 33-year-old leads Minnesota in hits with 219 through 67 games this season but his offensive production has been limited once again as he has just 11 goals and 11 assists while logging a little over 14 minutes a night. There’s no word yet on how long Foligno might be out for.
- It appears that Utah Hockey Club has settled on its team name moving forward, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd (Twitter link). However, there’s no timeline just yet for when that name will be revealed. The latest fan vote on the name came in late January with Mammoth, Outlaws (replacing Wasatch), and Hockey Club as the three options.
- The Ducks have reassigned defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka to ECHL Tulsa, per an announcement from their AHL affiliate in San Diego. He was promoted to the Gulls last month, getting into 11 games but with Stian Solberg recently being sent to the AHL, Anaheim decided that they were best off getting Biakabutuka more playing time at the lower level. The 23-year-old has 15 points in 21 outings with Tulsa and has one year left on this one on his entry-level contract.
Evening Notes: Maple Leafs, Johnson, Trouba
The Toronto Maple Leafs are believed to be searching for another center (as per The Fourth Period). General manager Brad Treliving has been hoping to upgrade the second-line center position for some time now and is looking at potential options to do so. With the holiday trade freeze set to start on Friday, it doesn’t appear likely that a deal will be made in 2024, but Toronto is searching the market for a potential fit. Any move that they make will require a lot of creativity as Toronto doesn’t have a first-round pick this year, although they do hold their second and third-rounders.
Toronto may just have to wait until closer to the NHL trade deadline to make a deal happen as they will have just under $2.3MM available to them at that time (as per PuckPedia). The Maple Leafs could potentially look at a player like Brock Nelson of the New York Islanders, who is in the final year of his deal and is making $6MM. Toronto would need New York to retain on a deal and take a salary back, but those are the types of transactions Treliving could target.
In other evening notes:
- Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson left today’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes with an upper-body injury and did not return (Twitter Link). The 37-year-old took a stick to the face from Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first period and did not return at the start of the second period. Kotkaniemi was assessed a four-minute double minor on the play. Johnson has dressed in 17 games this season, averaging just over 14 minutes of ice time per game and tallying one assist.
- Aaron Portzline of The Athletic spoke with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba about his recent trade and why he declined to facilitate a trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Trouba was dealt by the New York Rangers to Anaheim, but had other suitors, including Columbus. Trouba told Portzline that there were no issues with Columbus, but he felt Anaheim would be a better fit for him and his wife, as well as her career as a doctor.
East Notes: Canadiens, Guhle, Senators, Robertson
While the Canadiens sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division once again and are speculated to be likely to move out more veterans, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette argues that Montreal might be better off retaining two in particular, defenseman Mike Matheson and center Jake Evans. Matheson has one more year left on his contract at an affordable $4.875MM and had 15 points in 24 games so far this season after finishing in the top ten in scoring among NHL defenders in 2023-24. But with Lane Hutson impressing early on, some have wondered if he’d be available.
As for Evans, the 28-year-old is off to a career-best start with five goals and nine assists through 26 outings while logging 16 minutes a game while leading all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time. A pending unrestricted free agent, he could conceivably double his current $1.7MM price tag on the open market. With his low cost this season, Evans could be one of the Canadiens’ better trade chips but Cowan suggests that he and Matheson might be the right types of veterans to keep around as Montreal tries to emerge from its rebuild in the coming seasons.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Still with Montreal, Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle missed Thursday’s game against Nashville due to illness. However, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that indications are that the 22-year-old will return to the lineup tonight. Guhle has recorded six points, 48 blocks, and 26 hits in 20 games so far while averaging a career-best 21:34 per night.
- While the Senators may have had cursory discussions about acquiring Jacob Trouba, those talks wouldn’t have gone far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The veteran blueliner made it known that he had no interest in playing for a Canadian-based team which also took Montreal, a speculative landing spot with former Ranger GM Jeff Gorton in the front office, off the table. Trouba eventually accepted a deal to Anaheim on Friday.
- After being recalled yesterday, the Rangers announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Matthew Robertson has been re-assigned to AHL Hartford. The 23-year-old hasn’t made his NHL debut just yet but has started well with the Wolf Pack this season, notching eight points in 19 games so far. New York is now down to just six healthy blueliners on its roster so this could be a case of Robertson (or someone else) being brought up on game days to serve as a seventh option for the time being.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Yzerman, Nečas, Buffalo
Before the New York Rangers traded defenseman Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks, rumors began to swirl around the team’s reported interest in Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk. These rumors were quickly squashed when Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen immediately reported the Senators had no interest in moving on from their leader.
General manager Steve Staios was more than displeased to see Tkachuk’s name in the rumor mill. Garrioch hinted that any working relationship between the Senators and Rangers organization may have been tarnished. In his article regarding the speculation, Garrioch wrote, “Rangers GM Chris Drury may have some explaining to do to the Senators organization due to this talk. Staios won’t be the least bit pleased to hear Tkachuk’s name floating around out there. It’s believed Staios planned to have a conversation with Tkachuk to reiterate there is absolutely nothing to this“.
This update from Garrioch should quiet any future rumors regarding Ottawa and their captain. Tkachuk is in the fourth year of a seven-year contract signed with the Senators in 2021 and there’s been no indication from the player or the team that Tkachuk is close to leaving.
Other Atlantic notes:
- If Steve Yzerman had his way, Trouba would wear the ‘Winged Wheel’ instead of a duck-inspired goalie mask. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported the Detroit Red Wings were again interested in acquiring Trouba from the Rangers but the two sides couldn’t agree on a working trade. It likely wasn’t a question of assets given the eventual return package for Trouba. The Red Wings likely needed a third team’s involvement to retain salary as they don’t have the salary cap space to absorb Trouba’s $8MM salary for this year and next.
- In a long-lasting meeting with the press in Buffalo, Sabres’ general manager Kevyn Adams could be kicking himself for not capitalizing on an offseason trade. Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports reported it was all but confirmed that Buffalo had a deal on the table this past summer for Carolina Hurricanes’ forward Martin Nečas but never went through with it. To Adams’ credit, few analysts predicted Nečas would lead the league in points by early December. He’s scored 14 goals and 41 points in 26 games for the Hurricanes through the first quarter of the regular season.
- According to Heather Engel of NHL.com, Adams offered another interesting tidbit at today’s presser. Engel quoted Adams as saying, “We’re not a destination city right now where you’re going to be able to go out and UFAs that are key guys“. It’s typically uncommon for an active general manager to publicly assert that free agents don’t perceive his organization as a viable landing spot. Still, Adams’ omission is a sign that he agrees there is more work to be done to the Sabres roster.