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Jonathan Toews

Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Allen, Lemaire

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The Devils were among a myriad of teams interested in signing Jonathan Toews, and GM Tom Fitzgerald is still in the market for top-six forwards, per The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun. Lebrun notes that Fitzgerald may be monitoring situations like the one Jason Robertson is currently facing with the Dallas Stars, and added, “Fitzgerald has been active fleshing out the forward market.” While Toews recently agreed to a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets, Robertson has been rumored to be available via trade.

While the Devils are led by young stars like Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier, they were the only players on the team to record more than 55 points last season. The Devils finished 20th in the league last season with 240 goals in the regular season and managed just 11 goals over five playoff games before being eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes. If they hope to contend with the Eastern Conference’s top teams, they’ll need to boost their offensive production.

Elsewhere in the Metro:

  • Lebrun also notes that Devils’ pending unrestricted free agent goalie Jake Allen is in a strong position, given the limited depth available at the position in this year’s free agency market. As LeBrun notes, Allen led all soon-to-be free agent goalies with a .906 save percentage last season. While Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has expressed interest in re-signing last year’s backup, Allen is expected to draw substantial interest on the open market. Notably, the Flyers, Oilers, and Sharks have already been linked to Allen.
  • Jacques Lemaire, who has been serving as the New York Islanders’ special assignments coach since 2018, is no longer with the organization, per NHL.com reporter Stefen Rosner. His departure from the Isles makes sense considering he was brought to the team by former GM Lou Lamoriello. Lemaire, 79, enjoyed a Hall of Fame playing career, recording 835 points in 853 NHL games. In 2017, he was named to the league’s “100 Greatest Players” list. He later transitioned to coaching, serving as an NHL head coach for 17 seasons, most notably leading the Devils to a Stanley Cup title in the 1994-95 season.

Jonathan Toews In Agreement On One-Year Deal With Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets are approaching a one-year contract with three-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The team later confirmed Toews’ agreement to join the club when he becomes eligible to sign on July 1st.

The details of Toews’ contract with Winnipeg have been revealed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press. Toews will carry a base salary of $2MM, and receive a $550K bonus for every 20 regular season games that he plays. He will also receive a $500K bonus if the Jets make the playoffs and he appears in 50-or-more games. He’ll additionally receive a $250K bonus for each playoff round Winnipeg wins – assuming he plays in at least 50 percent of games – and a $1MM bonus if Winnipeg wins the Stanley Cup.

This news caps off a saga surrounding Toews’ professional career spanning the last four years. He hasn’t played in a pro game sine April 13, 2023 – though he only managed to play in 53 games of the 2022-23 season collectively. His absences were caused by a diagnosis with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), which can make workouts painful to get through even on a small scale. Toews spoke at lengths about his illness and rehabilitation process, which included a journey to India where he practiced Ayurveda – a traditional healing approach focused on centering spiritual wellness and purging unnecessary toxins.

It was on the heels of his five-week trip to India that Toews first spoke about making a return to the NHL level. Sparks around that fire grew stronger as the months went on, ultimately leading to Toews fully committing to a return in late May. With that commitment came plenty of NHL interest. The Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning were both listed as strong contenders to land Toews’ next contract alongside the Jets. But Toews will ultimately settle on continuing his career with his hometown club, and return to pastures of Winnipeg where he grew up.

The importance of Toews’ decision to move north can’t be understated. He is unequivocally one of the greatest Blackhawks in franchise history, having captained the team to three Cup wins starting at the clean-shaven age of 21. He was the yin to Patrick Kane’s yang for the entirety of the 2010s, serving as the responsible and impactful defensive backstop that facilitated Kane’s all-out offense. Toews reached unprecedented heights in that role. His 883 points in 1,067 games averages out to 29 goals, 39 assists, and 68 points per 82-game season. He tacked onto that Selke Trophy votes in every season between 2009 and 2020, including a Trophy win in 2013 and runner-up bids in 2011 and 2015.

Toews will go down in history as one of the league’s all-time great two-way forwards, in the vein of modern greats like Patrice Bergeron and Aleksander Barkov. But his return to the league stands out as an interesting move. He recorded 15 goals and 31 points in his shortened 2022-23 campaign – good for an 82-game pace of 23 goals and 48 points. Those are stout numbers for a then-34-year-old Toews – but it’s been two years since he’s competed at the same level, and it’s unclear if a 37-year-old Toews will bring the same punch.

Lucky for Winnipeg, they won’t need to rely on an all-star performance from Toews to get to the next level. The squad has appeared in three consecutive postseasons, and seven of the last eight. Many of those runs have come on the back of top-line center Mark Scheifele and partner-in-crime Kyle Connor, who are both already under contract for next season. That means that a rehabilitated Toews will only need to man second-line – or, thanks to Adam Lowry, even third-line – minutes in his return to the NHL scene. A one year deal and minimal role should give Toews the chance to really get his feet under him once again. Should he perform well, the polarizing return could stretch into a multi-year campaign with his childhood-favorite NHL squad.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports, Imagn-Images.

Avalanche, Jets, Lightning Interested In Jonathan Toews

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In today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave a brief update on Jonathan Toews’s market as he attempts to make a comeback to the NHL. Friedman listed the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Winnipeg Jets as likely suitors for the three-time Stanley Cup champion.

Perceived interest in Toews will likely revolve around his salary demands. Toews’ longtime counterpart with the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane, signed a one-year, $2.75MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings after undergoing a risky hip resurfacing surgery and missing nearly two months of the regular season. Fortunately for Kane, he was able to parlay his 2023-24 campaign into a $4MM base salary with the Red Wings, with another $2.5MM available in performance bonuses.

It’s difficult to make a direct comparison from Kane to Toews, as the latter has missed the last two seasons due to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and long COVID. After missing that much time, any team interested in Toews may only feel comfortable with a bonus-laden league minimum contract.

All three teams connected to Toews have a common denominator: they are all in their competitive window. Surprisingly, the first team listed, the Avalanche, has the lowest need for a bottom-six center at this time. Colorado finished the year with Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury centering their bottom two lines, and Toews doesn’t project as a notable improvement on either unless they’re willing to move Coyle to the wing.

The Winnipeg Jets, Toews’s hometown team, makes more sense at face value. Assuming that Winnipeg is uninterested in removing captain Adam Lowry from the third line, Toews makes more sense than Morgan Barron for the team’s fourth-line center, especially if they move Barron to the wing to replace Brandon Tanev. Barron has been an underrated defensive forward throughout his time in Manitoba, starting more than 65.0% of his shifts in the defensive zone during his Jets tenure and maintaining a positive rating. Barron would be equally capable on the wing, and Toews could comparatively provide more offense with a higher career faceoff percentage.

Arguably, Tampa Bay makes the most sense of the teams listed. The Lightning are expected to enter the offseason with less than $3.5MM in salary cap space and will have to find a replacement for Luke Glendening on the team’s fourth line. The team could conceivably move Zemgus Girgensons to that role, who’s signed through the 2026-27 season, since he spent much of his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres as a center. Still, the Lightning have highly prioritized faceoff success in that role recently, and Toews’ career 57.3% success rate far outweighs Girgensons’ 45.3%.

Aside from missing the last two years, it was apparent in 2022-23 that Toews had entered the twilight years of his career. Although he received Selke Trophy votes toward the end of his time with the Blackhawks, he was no longer considered one of the league’s top defensive forwards, and his offense cratered. However, it seems that competitive teams believe Toews has more left in the tank, and he’s seemingly prioritizing another Stanley Cup ring before he finally hangs up his skates.

Jonathan Toews Will Pursue NHL Contract In Free Agency

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Four-time All-Star center Jonathan Toews informed his agent yesterday he’s “100 percent committed to coming back to the NHL next season,” reports The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Toews, who hasn’t played since 2023 due to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and long COVID, opened up about his absence last December and said he remained hopeful about making an NHL return. He’s been working out in Arizona for the past few months as he determined whether he could handle a return.

Toews turned 37 last month. He’s only played two of the last five years, as his health issues also caused him to sit out the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign. Upon returning, he was understandably nowhere close to the elite two-way center he’d been for most of his career. He scored 68 points in 124 games with a -45 rating across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before stepping away from the game when his contract expired two summers ago.

The earlier stages of his career need no introduction. The third overall pick of the 2006 draft was named Chicago’s captain in just his second year in the league and led them to three Stanley Cups in six years, scoring 383 points in 419 games with a +148 rating across the Hawks’ six-year championship window from 2009-10 to 2014-15. He was one of the league’s top faceoff men, winning 57.3% of his draws over his 15-year career, and won the Conn Smythe trophy in Chicago’s first Cup win in 2010 after leading the playoffs with 22 assists in 22 games.

While Toews’ most recent seasons on a rebuilding Chicago roster were underwhelming, there are still reasons for optimism in a potential return to play. The extended time off and altered rehabilitation schedule likely have him in better physical shape than he was in his last comeback in 2021. Despite the gnarly plus/minus rating, his raw possession impacts were still positive in those 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns as well. He posted Corsi shares of 48.5% and 44.4% at even strength on clubs that posted Corsi shares of 46.0% and 43.9% on the whole, respectively. He remained elite on draws, too, including a career-best 63.1% win rate in his most recent season.

He’ll almost certainly receive one-way offers as a result. Since he’s not currently under contract, he doesn’t need to wait until July 1 to sign a contract for 2025-26 and can start talking with teams now. Given his age, he’s eligible for performance bonuses in his deal. That’s certainly an important consideration for a cap-strapped team, which could acquire him at a low cap hit initially and not take a big financial risk if he can’t be a full-time contributor.

Likely to be the most aggressive among his suitors are his hometown Jets, especially after they received news that captain Adam Lowry will miss the beginning of next season after undergoing hip surgery. Winnipeg was linked to Toews back in January when he alluded to making a comeback for 2025-26. While there’s no guarantee Toews will be able to handle anything above fourth-line deployment next year, he would at least give Winnipeg some added depth at a position of weakness down the middle, especially with Lowry unavailable for a stretch.

Jonathan Toews Pushing For NHL Comeback

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Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews remains serious about an NHL comeback at the age of 37 even though he hasn’t played a professional hockey game in almost two years (as per Mark Lazerus of The Athletic). The three-time Stanley Cup Champion has been plagued by health issues for several years now but says he is in a good place both mentally and physically and has even begun skating in Arizona as he begins an attempted comeback.  Toews never officially retired when he wrapped up his time in Chicago and refers to his time away from the game as a “hiatus.”

With Toews ready to give hockey one last shot, many people will wonder about potential suitors for his services. One team that he will not play for is the Blackhawks as they have made it clear in the past that they were ready to move on from Toews and hand the keys over to their new core. Toews holds no hard feelings over this and acknowledged that he understands their reasoning.

Toews had skated just once since last playing in the NHL back on April 13th, 2023, dressing in a charity exhibition game in Slovakia. He returned to the United States last month and had his hockey gear sent to him in Arizona. Since then, he’s been doing skill work and conditioning skates but admits he doesn’t have his legs under him yet, which is understandable given the length of his absence. Toews tells Lazerus that he is excited to skate with other NHLers when their seasons end and will have a better idea at that time whether or not an NHL comeback is feasible.

Toews returning to the NHL would make for an exciting story, given the challenges he has dealt with. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native has nothing left to prove at any level of hockey but does admit that the desire to play in the NHL again is still burning strong.

Jets Interested In Jonathan Toews

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The Jets will be among the teams pursuing unrestricted free agent center Jonathan Toews if he attempts to continue his NHL career, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic on Tuesday.

Toews, who turns 37 in April, told GQ last month he would give resuming his NHL career “his best shot,” and he hasn’t ultimately come to terms with his career being over. He hasn’t played in over a year and a half, missing the entirety of the 2020-21 season due to a severe flare-up of his Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) and a good chunk of 2022-23 while dealing with long COVID symptoms exacerbated by CIRS.

Unsigned since the 2023 offseason, the lifelong Blackhawk will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer with three Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy, a Selke Trophy, and four All-Star Game appearances on his résumé. He was also named one of the 100 greatest players in league history during its centennial season in 2017-18 and, for the Jets, would fill a growing hole down the middle.

Heading to his longtime Central Division rival would also mean suiting up for his hometown team. The first edition of the Jets were relocated to Phoenix when Toews was 8 years old, but he played youth hockey in Winnipeg until age 15, after which he headed south of the border to continue his development at American prep school Shattuck St. Mary’s before a two-year collegiate career at the University of North Dakota.

“It would be a real welcome conversation to see if there’s a fit both ways,” Cheveldayoff told LeBrun. “I think it would be a great story for his career, too. Not that he needs another story to [add to] his career. But I think he’s proud of his roots and would be an interesting fit.”

Whether Toews can factor into the Jets’ or any team’s picture for the 2024-25 campaign is still a gigantic question mark. LeBrun called it a “remote possibility” in an interview with TSN’s Jay Onrait on Wednesday, adding that Toews’ comments to GQ were more about “ramping up for next season.”

The Jets will still have some holes to fill at center for 2025-26. Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele remain under contract and aren’t going anywhere, but the other half of their center complement, Rasmus Kupari and Vladislav Namestnikov. Coming off an extended absence with significant health concerns, Toews would likely be a Kupari replacement as Winnipeg’s fourth-line center if the two sides have productive conversations about a contract and fit.

Toews posted a career-worst -31 rating in his final season in Chicago, an understandable metric given his health issues and a paper-thin roster that yielded the league’s worst offense and a bottom-five defense. He still operated at a 50-point pace when healthy and won a career-best 63.1% of his faceoffs in 53 appearances, though, so regardless of other concerns about his overall game, he still likely carries value as a fourth-line faceoff specialist with adept two-way wingers.

Any Toews contract, regardless of if and where he signs, is almost certainly a one-year deal with a league-minimum base salary. Any additional value in the contract would almost certainly be through performance bonuses, which he’s eligible for as a 35+ UFA.

Jonathan Toews Explains Absence, Doesn’t Rule Out NHL Return

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Jonathan Toews’ name has slowly begun slipping from hockey dialogue. He led a star-studded career with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2007 to 2023, serving as the team’s captain for 14 seasons and leading the team to three Stanley Cup wins. Toews remained a tremendous lineup piece long after Chicago started to lose their luster – but the 2020s brought a challenge with nagging injuries that the franchise centerman couldn’t overcome. He announced in December of 2020 that he’d miss the entirety of the upcoming, shortened 2020-21 season due to an undisclosed illness, later revealed to be Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).

Toews rehabbed and returned from the illness in 2021-22, and while he returned to a productive top-line role – the illness still forced him out of 38 games between 2021-22 and 2022-23. Toews announced at the end of the 2023 summer that he would be stepping away from hockey to focus on healing. That journey took him through rounds of alternative medicine, natural healing, and even a five-week trip to India to practice Ayurveda – a traditional healing approach. Toews recently returned from the cross-world trip and opened up to GQ Magazine about what he learned, how he’s feeling, and what future may lie ahead.

Toews opened the interview by explaining that his battles with illness ran deeper than previously foretold. He shared that a lifelong battle with digestive and immune system issues hit a flare in his second season in the league – the 2008-09 season, when a 20-year-old Toews was named Chicago’s captain. He struggled to eat or sleep, and ended up working with a team of doctors to craft a diet tailored to his needs.  That helped Toews get through the next 10 seasons – where he scored 624 points in 721 games, earned three All-Star bids, and won three Stanley Cups – but he says he never once felt like his illness was fully behind him.

Then, Toews caught COVID-19. He explains that the illness perpetuated all of his issues, worsening his energy sink and ability to recover game-to-game. The story of his struggles recovering from COVID have been well documented. Toews explains that he was too caught up in recovery to discuss a contract for the 2023-24 season, leading to him taking another season off. He heard about various approaches to healing over the year, including a recommendation to visit an Indian Sadhu to practice Ayurvedic medicine. One thing led to another, and Toews ultimately decided to take up the unique approach in September of 2023. He said all the while he was driven by a saying from his mother: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

Toews describes his day-to-day experience in India in-depth. Ultimately, the practices helped him regain control and confidence over his health – and Toews adds that he’s been able to continue to practice Ayurveda back in North America. That has him feeling better, and reconsidering the thought of playing in the NHL. Toews told GQ that his desire to play hasn’t left, and that there’s still a part of him that hasn’t come to terms with his career being over. He spoke optimistically, saying, “There’s never any guarantees in life, but I’m going to give it my best shot.”

Toews’ statement of hope is an encouraging sign, given his career seemed to be at its end. He faces an uphill battle working back into the NHL as a 36-year-old who hasn’t had hockey at front-of-mind since early-2023. But Toews is proudly an all-time-great, posting a career that has already gone down in the history books of an Original Six franchise. He scored 372 goals and 883 points in 1,067 career games; and managed an 81-point season as recently as 2018-19. Toews was significantly less impactful in his most recent two seasons – with just 68 points in 124 games between 2021 and 2023 – but his value as a well-rounded, middle-six centerman could still stand tall.

If Toews does near a return, his decision on where to suit up will be hotly followed. He spent the entirety of his 15-year career with the Blackhawks, who drafted him third-overall in the 2006 NHL Draft. But Toews is a native of Winnipeg, and faced plenty of trade rumors throughout the later years of his career. The Blackhawks could certainly use his help, as they’re currently sat with the fourth-fewest goals in the NHL and a menial 14-18-4 record. Toews could also be a fantastic support to young superstar Connor Bedard, who’s looking to take over Toews’ and Patrick Kane’s mantle as the team’s franchise leader. It’ll be that ability to lead teams and inspire young players that earns Toews a return, though it seems the answers to if and where he’ll return are yet to come – as the Chicago hockey legend works to reintroduce himself to the game.

Blackhawks Notes: Johnson, Bedard, Kurashev, Captaincy

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The Chicago Blackhawks can expect to lose Tyler Johnson this summer, reports Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link), with the veteran forward instead hoping to sign with a playoff contender. Johnson told Pope, “I’m obviously thankful for being here, I’ve met a lot of good people, but it wasn’t exactly like I envisioned or wanted.”

Johnson’s Blackhawks career certainly hasn’t gone as the team may have expected either. He joined the Hawks ahead of the 2021-22 season, after years of filling a solid role, and routinely challenging 50 points, with the Tampa Bay Lightning. But as forewarned by his last two years in Tampa Bay, injuries have heavily limited Johnson’s career in Chicago. He’s missed 97 games over the last three seasons, including playing in just 26 games in 2021-22 due to a neck injury. Those absences have kept him from finding a true groove with the Blackhawks, scoring just 70 points in 149 games and never averaging more than 16 minutes of ice time. Chicago iced one of the youngest lineups in the league this season and seems bound to do much of the same next year, as they attempt to build a franchise around Connor Bedard. After years of injury issues and low scoring, it’s easy to see why the 33-year-old Johnson may prefer a more productive end to his career. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Other notes out of Chicago:

  • Speaking of Bedard, he’s confirmed that he is headed to the World Championship with Team Canada, per The Athletic’s Scott Powers (Twitter link). This is hardly a surprise – Bedard has been a fixture of international hockey since he tied Connor McDavid’s record for U16 scoring (14 points) at the World U18 Championship in 2021. Bedard has officially totaled 21 points in 11 games with Canada’s U18 team and 31 points in 14 games with the U20 team. He’ll look to build on that phenomenal scoring this summer, now at the top level of international play.
  • Bedard’s linemate, Philipp Kurashev, will also be headed to the World Championship to play for Team Switzerland, shares Pope (Twitter link). Kurashev and Bedard quipped that their top goal will be to score on Petr Mrazek, who will suit up for Team Czechia. This will be Kurashev’s fourth consecutive season attending the World Championship, having totaled 13 points in 24 games over the last three tournaments.
  • Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson shared that the team isn’t yet sure if they’ll have a captain next season, per NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link), adding that it’ll be an off-season conversation with the coaches. The Hawks haven’t had a captain since Jonathan Toews’ career ended in the 2022-23 season, though they did have five different alternate captains last year. Whoever takes on the role will be setting history, becoming the first Blackhawks captain since a 20-year-old Toews took on the role in 2008. Toews’ 14-year tenure in the role makes him one of the longest-tenured captains in NHL history – a list led by Steve Yzerman’s 19 seasons leading the Detroit Red Wings.

Seth Jones Wants To Be Blackhawks Next Captain

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The Chicago Blackhawks don’t currently have a captain after long-time captain Jonathan Toews wasn’t re-signed this summer. Toews was Chicago’s captain from July of 2008 until April of this year when the season ended. During his time the Blackhawks had an unparalleled run of success on the ice winning three Stanley Cups.

Now with the captaincy vacant, defenseman Seth Jones has expressed an interest in the role telling Tracey Myers of NHL.com that he always wanted to be a captain after learning from great leaders such as Toews, Shea Weber, and Nick Foligno. Jones added that he understands his role in the room and will be a leader whether he has a letter on his jersey or not.

It’s an interesting statement from the 28-year-old rearguard as the Blackhawks are early in a big rebuild, but that process has certainly been accelerated with the team’s draft lottery win that allowed them to pick Connor Bedard first overall. It’s also unlikely to happen given that the Blackhawks will probably keep the captaincy vacant until Bedard is ready to take the reins in a few years.

Chicago’s captaincy may ultimately play out the same way it did with the Pittsburgh Penguins 18 years ago when Sidney Crosby began his career. At the time Mario Lemieux was the Penguins captain, but he didn’t make it through the 2005-06 season as he retired midseason. The Penguins then left the captaincy vacant until they gave it to Crosby in May 2007 after his second NHL season.

The other complications with Jones when it comes to the captaincy could be his contract status coupled with his play on the ice. Jones has long had the reputation as an elite, minute-eating defenseman, and while the latter is true, the former is much more complicated. Jones had a disastrous end to his time in Columbus and was dealt to Chicago. He quickly signed an eight-year $76MM contract with the Blackhawks that was panned by some and praised by others. There is no doubt that Jones provides a good amount of offensive punch, but his defensive play has been problematic as evidenced by his -75 the past two seasons.

Jones is entering the second year of his deal and it has already started to feel like he could become a buyout candidate before the end of the contract. It felt like an overpayment when it was signed and it really looks like one now. And with Jones pushing 30 his play is more likely to get worse before it gets better. Putting the captaincy on him now could become a PR nightmare in a few years if his play were to drop off and lead to a buyout.

Snapshots: Toews, Norway, Andrae

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A few days ago, speaking on NHL Tonight, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period spoke in great length about some of the options that the Boston Bruins had been looking at to start their offseason. He mentioned that the Bruins had kicked the tires in July on potentially landing Mark Scheifele from the Winnipeg Jets, and had also mildly looked into the price tag of both Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund from the Calgary Flames.

Pagnotta also noted the potential fit between the Bruins and NHL veteran Jonathan Toews. Even though Toews had primarily been working on getting healthy and recovering from the effects of Long Covid, the Bruins were on Toews’ radar dating back to last year as a potential destination. Only a day later from that interview, we would learn that Toews has decided he will forego the entirety of the 2023-24 NHL season, and look to make a comeback for the 2024-25 campaign.

If Boston starts the season with Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha as their top two centermen heading into the season, being unable to replace the void left by the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, it will not be from lack of trying. Without much in the way of draft capital for the next two seasons, and the lack of cap flexibility, the Bruins will largely have to look to trade from their NHL roster if they have any hope of acquiring a high-end talent to man the middle of the ice.

Other snapshots:

  • In an article from Matthis Karlsson of Sport Bladet, the Norwegian National Team has been shut down for the time being. After losing $9MM in 2022, all but the country’s J20 National Team will cease operations moving forward. Not only will the team be shut down, but Karlsson also mentions that five members of the team’s union have been let go in an effort to cut costs. It is more bad news for the National club, as the team has finished in 13th place in the last three consecutive World Championships, and was unable to qualify for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
  • Emil Andrae, a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2020 NHL Draft will reportedly be coming to North America for the 2023-24 season (X Link). Playing for HV71 of the SHL last season, Andrae put up an impressive six goals and 20 assists in 51 games as a 21-year-old. Rising through the ranks of the Flyers’ prospect pool, it is unlikely that Andrae will make the team out of training camp, and will likely spend the majority of next season playing for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

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