Headlines

  • Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Uncertain For Game 3
  • Maple Leafs Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach
  • Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor Out 5-6 Months Following Hip Surgery
  • Lightning Hire Dan Hinote As Assistant Coach
  • Stars Fire Pete DeBoer
  • Rangers Hire David Quinn, Joe Sacco As Assistant Coaches
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Kailer Yamamoto

Minor Transactions: 4/16/25

April 16, 2025 at 5:11 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley Leave a Comment

The NHL season has come to an end, or soon will, for teams around the league that missed out on this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. That fact has driven many to begin the process of assigning their waiver-exempt players to more successful teams in the minor leagues. We’ll cover the bulk of those assignments here:

  • In a rare move with playoff implications, the St. Louis Blues have assigned top forward prospect Dalibor Dvorsky to the minor leagues. Dvorsky hasn’t played since April 9th, when he made his second career appearance in the NHL. He has no points and an average of nine minutes in ice time over his first two games. This move will return him to a star role in the minor leagues, where his 20 goals and 44 points in 59 games rank third and fourth on the Springfield Thunderbirds respectively. Springfield have squeaked into the Calder Cup playoffs with 74 points in 70 games this season. Dvorsky will be a major boost to their postseason roster, unless the Blues opt to include him in their inevitable wave of Black Ace recalls.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned top defense prospects Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov to the AHL after the end of their season, per a release from the Rockford IceHogs. Both players have manned dominant roles in the IceHogs lineup this season – Korchinski looking to find his comfort after a hard NHL role last season, and Levshunov looking to vindicate his second-overall selection in last year’s draft. They lead the Rockford blue-line in scoring, with Korchinski netting 27 points in 54 games and Levshunov scoring 22 points in 50 games. Levshunov proved the more productive in all three zones at the NHL level. He recorded six assists, eight penalty minutes, and a minus-13 in his first 18 games in the NHL. Korchisnki only scored two points in 16 NHL games this season, though his minus-five was the fourth-best on the Chicago defense. The duo will offer a well-rounded impact to Rockford’s playoff push – Korchinski bringing strong offense and Levshunov showing strong two-way play.
  • The San Jose Sharks have assigned defenseman Luca Cagnoni back to the minor leagues after recalling him to play in their latest game, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. Cagnoni recorded an assist and two penalties in roughly 18 minutes of Monday’s overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The score was his second assist in six NHL games this season, on top of eight penalty minutes and a minus-four. Cagnoni was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team on Wednesday – high praise after he led all rookie defensemen in scoring with 14 goals and 49 points in 62 games this season. Cagnoni had a breakout season in his first professional campaign, and already seems to be outperforming his fourth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. He will look to keep a good year going as the San Jose Barracuda prepare for a playoff push.
  • Winger Kailer Yamamoto represents the first veteran on this list. He’s headed back to the Tucson Roadrunners alongside goaltender Matt Villalta, after the end of the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural season, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Yamamoto has been a force in the minor leagues. He leads Tucson in scoring this season with 53 points in 52 games. It’s been a valiant performance that earned the depth forward 12 appearances in the NHL. He scored three points in those games. Villalta has stood tall as Tucson’s starting goaltender as well, with a team-leading .906 save percentage in 41 games this season. He played in just the third NHL game of his career this season and recorded a win, with 28 saves on 31 shots. Yamamoto will return to Tucson’s top-line, while Villalta will likely return to the starter’s role ahead of Jaxson Stauber.
  • The Nashville Predators have assigned Ryan Ufko back to the minor leagues, per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. Ufko made his NHL debut on Monday. He didn’t manage any notable stat changes in 15:37 of ice time. Ufko has emerged as a top-four defender for the Milwaukee Admirals this season. His eight goals and 29 points in 71 games lead the Admirals blue-line in scoring. Ufko is still rounding out the physical and two-way aspects of his game, but his emergence as an AHL rookie has proven promising on a Preadtors team well capable of honing defenders into NHL talents.

AHL| Chicago Blackhawks| NHL| Nashville Predators| Players| Prospects| San Jose Sharks| St. Louis Blues| Transactions| Utah Mammoth Artyom Levshunov| Dalibor Dvorsky| Kailer Yamamoto| Kevin Korchinski| Luca Cagnoni| Matt Villalta| Ryan Ufko

0 comments

Central Notes: Blues, Yamamoto, Korchinski

April 7, 2025 at 9:57 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 4 Comments

The Blues are one of two teams eligible to clinch a playoff spot tonight. They and the Oilers can book their ticket to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs if the Flames lose to the Sharks in regulation. St. Louis will need to hold up their end of the bargain by defeating the Jets in regulation to wake up tomorrow morning with an “X” next to their name in the standings. Doing so would mark their 13th straight win, the longest winning streak since Edmonton won 16 straight last year between Dec. 21 and Jan. 27. The Blues haven’t lost since a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Penguins on March 13. They’re now 34-16-6 since replacing Drew Bannister with Jim Montgomery behind the bench in November and are two points ahead of the Wild for the first wild card in the Western Conference. Both St. Louis and Minnesota have four games remaining. The Blues have a 64% chance of holding onto the WC1 spot, a 33% chance of falling back behind the Wild and finishing in the WC2 slot, and a 1% chance of lapping the Avalanche for third place in the Central, per MoneyPuck. Their streak has been fueled by top-line center Robert Thomas, who leads the league in scoring since March 15 with 4-19–23 in 12 games.

More from the Central Division:

  • Utah has recalled winger Kailer Yamamoto from AHL Tucson after papering him down to the minors yesterday. The 26-year-old righty has a goal and an assist in five games since being recalled from Tucson on March 26, his first time on the NHL roster since clearing waivers early in the year. The 2017 first-round pick signed a rich two-way deal with Utah at the end of training camp following a successful professional tryout, although he’s spent most of the year in the minors for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign. While he only has those two points to show for eight NHL appearances this year, he’s Tucson’s leading scorer with 19-34–53 in 52 games with a +14 rating. He’s recently seen time in a second-line role with Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz and will presumably return there when Utah hosts the Kraken tomorrow.
  • Despite iffy boxcar stats this season, the Blackhawks are pleased with how 2022 No. 7 overall pick Kevin Korchinski has developed in 2024-25. “We forget how young he is,” Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sörensen told Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. “His development curve this year overall has been a positive one, and it’s going up.” Korchinski highlighted his own defensive improvement – a must this season, considering his lack of offensive production. The 20-year-old lefty is a passer first and foremost and was dominant offensively in juniors, but he has no points to speak of in 13 NHL games this season and has been underwhelming with AHL Rockford with 3-24–27 in 54 games.

Chicago Blackhawks| St. Louis Blues| Transactions| Utah Mammoth Kailer Yamamoto| Kevin Korchinski

4 comments

Utah Recalls Kailer Yamamoto

March 26, 2025 at 4:52 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley 1 Comment

The Utah Hockey Club has recalled depth winger Kailer Yamamoto. Yamamoto made the Utah roster out of training camp but was cleared through waivers and assigned to the minor leagues on October 26th. This is his first call-up since that transaction, giving him another chance to find NHL ice time on the one-year, two-way, league-minimum deal he signed in Utah this summer.

Yamamoto has been a driving force for the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners this season. He leads the team in scoring with 51 points in 51 games played – making him one of just 17 AHLers scoring at or above a point-per-game pace, among players with at least 20 games played. Yamamoto spent the last four seasons in an everyday NHL role, split across tenures with the Edmonton Oilers and Seattle Kraken. He had a career year in the 2021-22 campaign, when he potted 20 goals and 41 points in 81 games – a career-high in all scoring categories and games played.

But Yamamoto couldn’t find a way to make his scoring stick, and struggled to work out of a bottom-line rotation with his team’s extra forwards. He fell to 25 points in 58 games in the 2022-23 season, then managed just 16 points in 59 games with Seattle last year. A move to Utah was meant to serve as a spark, but after three pointless games to start the NHL season – Yamamoto was shipped back to the minors for his first AHL games since 2019-20.

Yamamoto’s call-up is purely for depth reasons, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports – meaning Utah isn’t facing any additional injuries or absences. That could make it tough for Yamamoto to work his way into the lineup. If he does, it will likely come over bottom-six winger Matias Maccelli, who has just one point in his last 10 games. Maccelli is the only Utah forward without multiple points in their latest 10 appearances.

AHL| NHL| Players| Transactions| Utah Mammoth Kailer Yamamoto

1 comment

Kailer Yamamoto Clears Waivers, Utah Expected To Activate Nick Bjugstad

October 26, 2024 at 1:02 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

Saturday: Yamamoto has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.  The team announced he has been sent to Tucson.

Friday: The Utah Hockey Club has winger Kailer Yamamoto on waivers today for the purposes of assignment to AHL Tucson, the team announced. After he clears or is claimed tomorrow, they’ll have an open roster spot to activate center Nick Bjugstad from injured reserve, per Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports.

It’s a tough break for Yamamoto, who hasn’t converted a strong training camp into a regular-season impact in Salt Lake. The 26-year-old was non-tendered by the Kraken at the end of last season and didn’t receive any guaranteed offers, instead landing a PTO with Utah for training camp. They signed him to a one-year, two-way deal the day before opening night rosters were due, and Bjugstad was slated to start the year on IR.

Even with Bjugstad out, though, there hasn’t been much opportunity for Yamamoto in the lineup. He was a healthy scratch for the first five games of the season before playing in each of Utah’s last three. He was held off the scoresheet, posting a -1 rating and taking just one shot on goal while averaging 10:40 per game.

On a two-way deal, there could be some interest in Yamamoto’s services on the waiver wire. The 2017 first-round pick is only one year removed from a 10-goal, 25-point campaign with the Oilers in 58 games, and he had a career-high 20 goals the year before that. That type of production from Yamamoto would require giving him consistent middle-six, if not top-six, minutes though, and he hasn’t done enough in the past couple of years to justify that ice time. Last year in Seattle, he averaged just under 12 minutes per game and saw his production suffer with 19 points (8 G, 8 A) in 59 games with a -9 rating.

Meanwhile, Bjugstad is set to make his season debut tomorrow against the Kings. It’s a little earlier than scheduled for his return, with a report from ALL City Network’s Craig Morgan at the beginning of the month stating he wouldn’t be back until Nov. 1.

He’ll be a boon to a Utah offense that has gone cold, scoring only twice in its last three games. The first-year club has dropped to a 4-3-1 record after a 3-0-0 start, dragged down by long-term injuries to defensemen Sean Durzi and John Marino. Bjugstad, 32, is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career, posting 22 goals and 45 points with a +11 rating in 76 appearances last season for the Coyotes.

Transactions| Utah Mammoth| Waivers Kailer Yamamoto| Nick Bjugstad

2 comments

Utah Hockey Club Signs Kailer Yamamoto

October 6, 2024 at 4:10 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain Leave a Comment

The Utah Hockey Club has its first successful professional tryout agreement in league history. The organization announced they have signed forward Kailer Yamamoto to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2024-25 NHL season.

Yamamoto is hopeful this contract will translate into a solid bounceback year for the former Edmonton Oilers prospect. He was drafted with the 22nd overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft as one of the smaller players in the class at 5’7″.

The NHL has changed quite a bit over the last few decades with smaller frame players becoming some of the game’s best but this has not been a reality for Yamamoto. He showed flashes of being a reliable top-six scorer as early as the 2019-20 season with 11 goals and 26 points in 27 games for the Oilers.

He fell into a middle-six role from 2020-22 scoring 28 goals and 62 points in Edmonton in 133 games. The team hoped Yamamoto would eventually blossom into a consistent top-six threat and opted for a two-year, $6.2MM bridge contract with their young forward in 2022.

Yamamoto only saw a year of this contract with the Oilers scoring 10 goals and 25 points in 58 games. Edmonton traded Yamamoto with Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations the next offseason before he was eventually bought out.

The Seattle Kraken, a 280-mile drive from his native Spokane, became his new landing spot on the back of a one-year, $1.5MM contract. The one-year gamble proved bad for both parties as the Kraken limited Yamamoto to an average of 11:59 of ice time per game and the player produced his lowest offensive output since 2018-19.

The depressed season paved the way for Yamamoto to sign a PTO with the new Utah team for training camp. He’s scored three goals over four preseason contests and will now compete for a spot in Utah’s middle six.

TSN’s Chris Johnston was the first to report Utah had signed Yamamoto. 

Newsstand| Transactions| Utah Mammoth Kailer Yamamoto

0 comments

Utah Signs Kailer Yamamoto To PTO

September 11, 2024 at 10:02 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

Kailer Yamamoto has found a home, at least for training camp. The unrestricted free-agent winger has inked a professional tryout with Utah, the team announced today.

Yamamoto, 26 later this month, was drafted 22nd overall by the Oilers in 2017. The 5’8″, 152-lb forward played spot duty in Edmonton in his first two post-draft seasons, mainly sticking in juniors with the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs and in the minors with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

He cemented himself as a full-time NHLer after a mid-season recall in 2019-20, closing the COVID-truncated season with 26 points (11 G, 15 A) in 27 games while fitting in on a line with star forwards Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. But during the rest of his time in Edmonton, he couldn’t sniff the near point-per-game rate he flashed in his first real NHL chance.

Yamamoto hit 20 goals once, adding 21 assists for 41 points in 81 games during a career-best showing in 2021-22, but otherwise was a perfectly average middle-six scoring presence with average possession numbers. That career-best year landed him a two-year, $6.2MM contract in restricted free agency the following summer, but he regressed to 25 points (10 G, 15 A) in 58 games the following season.

The Oilers had seen enough, trading him to the Red Wings the following summer. Detroit promptly bought out the last year of his $3.1MM cap hit deal, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Yamamoto took the opportunity to return to his native Washington, inking a one-year, $1.5MM pact with the Kraken for last season. Unfortunately for both sides, it was a failed reclamation project.

The Spokane-born winger slipped to a fourth-line role, posting just eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 59 contests with a -9 rating and averaging a career-low 11:59 per contest. A frequent healthy scratch, he was non-tendered in June and became a UFA for the second straight summer.

Without any guaranteed offers, he’ll look to land his next NHL contract in Utah. The club has plenty of cap space to sign him to a deal – $9.92MM, per PuckPedia.

But they have a full roster, especially on offense. With 14 forward spots accounted for, competition will be stiff for Yamamoto to land a one-way deal or a spot on the opening night roster. He’d need to unseat someone like Michael Carcone, who was one of the best depth shooters in the league last season with 21 goals in 74 games while averaging 11:16 per night, or 22-year-old winger Josh Doan, who finished last year with nine points in 11 games in his first NHL shot with the Coyotes.

That makes a two-way deal most likely for Yamamoto if he sticks within the Utah organization following his PTO. He’d need to clear waivers to be assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. In that case, it would be Yamamoto’s first minor-league action in five years.

Transactions| Utah Mammoth Kailer Yamamoto

2 comments

Snapshots: Emberson, Bruins, Bertucci, Loponen

August 19, 2024 at 7:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 8 Comments

While Ty Emberson’s acquisition was largely viewed as Edmonton merely adding some extra depth on the back end, they have an opportunity to keep him around beyond the upcoming season but will need to play him somewhat regularly to do so.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the Oilers will need to play the 24-year-old in at least 50 games in 2024-25 in order to retain his RFA rights (with arbitration eligibility at that time).  Otherwise, Emberson will be eligible to become a Group Six unrestricted free agent.  He was only able to play in 30 games with San Jose last season in his first taste of NHL action, missing 36 games due to injuries along the way.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Bruins are believed to be considering offering UFA wingers Kailer Yamamoto and Blake Wheeler tryouts for next month’s training camp, suggests Shawn Hutcheon of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). Yamamoto is coming off a down year that saw him record just 16 points in 55 games with Seattle while Wheeler had 21 points in 54 contests while also missing considerable time with a leg injury.  Boston could stand to add some depth on the wing but until they get Jeremy Swayman’s contract sorted out, they’re unlikely to do any guaranteed contracts.
  • Stars defense prospect Tristan Bertucci is on the move as OHL Flint announced they’ve moved him to Barrie as part of a three-team swap. The 19-year-old was a second-round pick by Dallas in 2023, going 61st overall; he has already signed his entry-level contract.  Bertucci played in 61 games with the Firebirds last season, notching 10 goals and 34 assists while adding four helpers in four playoff contests.  He also was able to make his professional debut, suiting up once for AHL Texas after Flint was eliminated from the postseason.
  • Jets prospect Markus Loponen requested and was granted a contract termination from his deal with Karpat, per a team release from the Finnish squad. The 18-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in June, going 155th overall.  Loponen had 25 goals and 29 assists in 45 games last season on Karpat’s under-20 team, earning him a first-round selection by Victoria in the CHL Import Draft this summer.  Loponen will now suit up for the Royals this season.

Boston Bruins| Dallas Stars| Edmonton Oilers| OHL| Snapshots| Winnipeg Jets Blake Wheeler| Jeremy Swayman| Kailer Yamamoto| Markus Loponen| Tristan Bertucci| Ty Emberson

8 comments

Free Agent Profile: Kailer Yamamoto

August 7, 2024 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

It has been a rather steep fall from grace in recent years for unrestricted free agent winger Kailer Yamamoto.  Thought of as a key piece of Edmonton’s core just a few years ago, he now finds himself looking for a new deal more than a month into free agency.

Yamamoto first made a big impact late in the 2019-20 season, turning a midseason recall into a permanent stay with 26 points in 27 games, suggesting that he could be an important top-six piece for the Oilers in the process.  After his output dropped the following season, Yamamoto rebounded well in 2021-22, notching 20 goals and 21 assists in 81 contests while adding seven points in 14 playoff contests.

Unable to afford a long-term agreement, the two sides worked out a two-year, $6.2MM deal, effectively a second bridge contract which was a reasonable move for both sides.  But it didn’t work out as planned.  His production dipped to 25 points in 58 games, resulting in Edmonton moving him to Detroit in a cap-dumping move before free agency last summer.

But as it turns out, the Red Wings didn’t want him; they took him on to get the negotiating rights to Klim Kostin as part of that swap.  They weren’t able to flip Yamamoto so they ultimately bought him out, paying only one-third of the deal to do so since he was only 24 at the time.

Yamamoto quickly caught on with Seattle, inking a one-year, $1.5MM deal, a fair price tag for a player looking to rebuild some value.  But that didn’t happen.  He struggled offensively with the Kraken, collecting just eight goals and eight assists in 59 games.  Rather than qualify him at $1.5MM and give him arbitration eligibility (where his prior production with Edmonton) would have positioned him for a fair-sized raise, Seattle elected to non-tender him and clearly, his second trip through unrestricted free agency hasn’t gone as well as he was hoping for.

Stats

2023-24: 59 GP, 8 G, 8 A, 16 PTS, -9, 18 PIMS, 11:59 ATOI, 53.3 CF%
Career: 303 GP, 58 G, 76 A, 134 PTS, +20, 124 PIMS, 15:33 ATOI, 51.5 CF%

Potential Suitors

There are a couple of types of potential fits for the 25-year-old.  Teams that are looking for offensive depth in their bottom six might have him on their list of options.  Meanwhile, rebuilding teams looking for someone who might be able to help for the medium term (he still is controllable through arbitration through 2025-26) could be inclined to give him a shot.

In the East, Montreal has at least a short-term opening up front with the recent injury to Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Yamamoto would give them a bit of offensive punch and speed in a bottom-six group that is veteran-heavy.  The fact that he had success playing with Leon Draisaitl could appeal to a team like Pittsburgh who has been looking for consistent wingers to play with Sidney Crosby.  They’ve tried several players in that role with varying degrees of success; perhaps Yamamoto could be worth a look there.  Ottawa, meanwhile, has lost some winger depth between trades dating back to last season and free agency and could benefit from another offensive option to shore up their depth.

Out West, Colorado had a lot of success on a low-cost one-year deal for Jonathan Drouin last summer.  Yamamoto fits that type of bounce-back profile that could be a mutual fit.  He’d have to take a fair-sized pay cut to make it work, however, with Valeri Nichushkin expected back early in the season, putting his cap hit back on their books.  If Yamamoto is willing to take a low-cost contract, Dallas would also be a fit as they’ve had success integrating offensive players in their bottom six.  With Evgenii Dadonov a year out from free agency, Yamamoto could plausibly slide into that spot in 2025-26, potentially making him a multi-year fit.  Winnipeg was a mid-pack team offensively last year and hasn’t added much on that front so he could be a fit there depending on how long (and expensive) Cole Perfetti’s next contract winds up being.

Projected Contract

Being a late non-tender, Yamamoto wasn’t eligible to land on our Top 50 UFA list but might have made it towards the back end had he been eligible.  But players who make it to this point unsigned generally don’t fare well in terms of their next contract.  Most of the best fits are teams that will be looking for a bargain so if he’s looking to go to a playoff-bound team, he’s likely going to have to come in at $1MM or lower.  If a lower-end team wants to take a flyer on him, the price tag could land a bit above that but at this point, it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to match the $1.5MM he made last season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2024 Free Agency Kailer Yamamoto

5 comments

RFA Notes: Brannstrom, Yamamoto, Ylonen, McDonough, Shaw

June 27, 2024 at 9:13 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

The Senators will soon have a decision to make on pending RFA defenseman Erik Brannstrom who is owed a $2MM qualifying offer on Sunday, one that carries arbitration rights.  However, they’re hoping to not be the ones to have to make that decision in the end as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter link) that Ottawa is continuing its efforts to try to trade the 24-year-old.  Being a strong offensive threat in Sweden helped make Brannstrom the 15th overall selection back in 2017 but he hasn’t been able to become a consistent threat at that end in the NHL.  This season, Brannstrom had 20 points in 76 games, a handful of which were spent as a winger.

Other news surrounding pending restricted free agents:

  • The Kraken have given winger Kailer Yamamoto permission to speak to other teams, GM Ron Francis told team broadcaster Alison Lukan (Twitter link). Yamamoto signed with them as an unrestricted free agent after he was non-tendered by Detroit last summer just after his rights were acquired from Edmonton.  The 25-year-old had a quiet season, notching eight goals and eight assists in 59 games while averaging less than 12 minutes a night after logging at least 16 in each of the last four years.  Yamamoto’s qualifier comes in at $1.5MM but carries arbitration rights where his past production could push the price tag past the $2MM mark.  It appears that’s a price they don’t want to pay as it looks like he’ll be non-tendered once again on Sunday.
  • Canadiens winger Jesse Ylonen will be non-tendered this weekend, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 24-year-old played his first full NHL campaign this season but recorded just four goals and four assists in 59 games after putting up 17 points in 36 appearances with Montreal in 2022-23.  His qualifying offer would have cost just over $813K but the team has determined they’re better off giving someone else a chance in that spot.
  • The Canucks will be parting ways with winger Aidan McDonough, reports Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link). This decision comes as somewhat of a surprise given how hard they worked to sign him in 2023, burning the first year of the deal right away when he got into six games with Vancouver.  However, the 24-year-old had a quiet rookie year with AHL Abbotsford, notching 11 goals and eight assists in 58 games, a performance they’ve deemed not good enough to give him a two-way qualifying offer.
  • The Wild have informed Mason Shaw that he’ll be non-tendered for the second straight year, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Shaw battled back from a torn ACL to earn a new deal with Minnesota back in February and he got into 20 games with the big club, recording three points and 29 hits while averaging just over eight minutes a night.

Minnesota Wild| Montreal Canadiens| Ottawa Senators| Seattle Kraken| Vancouver Canucks Aidan McDonough| Erik Brannstrom| Jesse Ylonen| Kailer Yamamoto| Mason Shaw

1 comment

West Notes: Kraken, Barron, Girard

April 22, 2024 at 8:36 pm CDT | by Josh Cybulski 1 Comment

Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis told reporters today (via Sound of Hockey) that he intends to start talking with restricted free agents Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen and fully expects that the sides will be able to come to agreements. Beniers is the reigning Calder Trophy winner but suffered a dramatic drop in his offensive production, posting just 15 goals and 22 assists in 77 games after posting 57 points in 81 games last season. While his play dropped off this season, he should still receive a sizeable raise on his $897,500 cap hit. Tolvanen was acquired off waivers by the Kraken back in December 2022 and developed into a solid depth scorer posting 16 goals and 25 assists in 81 games this season. He is also due a raise on his $1.45MM cap hit.

Francis added that the Kraken will have to decide whether or not to qualify forward Kailer Yamamoto, who suffered through another difficult offensive season posting just eight goals and eight assists in 59 games. While a $1.5MM qualifying offer seems steep for a player who tallied just 16 points this season, Yamamoto’s age and previous production could be enough to entice Francis to roll the dice one more time and qualify the 25-year-old.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Winnipeg Jets color analyst Mitchell Clinton is reporting that forward Morgan Barron has yet to begin skating as he deals with a lower-body injury and will be out of the lineup for at least another week. The 25-year-old reportedly suffered the injury in the Jets second-last game of the regular season back on April 16th and it will likely keep him out of the first four games of their series against the Colorado Avalanche. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native just completed his fourth NHL season and set career highs in games played with 80 and goals with 11. He posted 122 hits while averaging 10:30 of ice time per game.
  • Meghan Angley of DNVR Avalanche tweeted that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard was a full participant in practice today, but Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar would not confirm his availability for Game 2 tomorrow. The 25-year-old hasn’t played in over a week and skated for just 3:26 in a 7-0 loss to the Jets on April 13th. In his last 28 games, the native of Roberval, Quebec has just three assists.

Colorado Avalanche| Seattle Kraken| Winnipeg Jets Eeli Tolvanen| Kailer Yamamoto| Morgan Barron| Samuel Girard

1 comment
Load More Posts
    Top Stories

    Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Uncertain For Game 3

    Maple Leafs Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach

    Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor Out 5-6 Months Following Hip Surgery

    Lightning Hire Dan Hinote As Assistant Coach

    Stars Fire Pete DeBoer

    Rangers Hire David Quinn, Joe Sacco As Assistant Coaches

    Bruins Name Marco Sturm Head Coach

    Re-Signing Luke Hughes Top Priority For Devils Off-Season

    Penguins Name Dan Muse Head Coach

    Avalanche Sign Brock Nelson To Three-Year Extension

    Recent

    Five Key Stories: 6/2/25 – 6/8/25

    PHR Mailbag: Tkachuk, Blackhawks, Dobson, Red Wings, Jets, Kings

    Blue Jackets Notes: Provorov, Danforth, Keskinen

    Lightning Sign Jack Finley To Three-Year Contract

    Sabres Mulling Options As Draft Approaches

    Brad Marchand Discussed Future With Panthers

    2025 NHL Draft Combine Results

    Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Uncertain For Game 3

    Karson Kuhlman Signs With Sweden’s Rögle BK

    Egor Sokolov Linked To CSKA Moscow

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Brock Boeser Rumors
    • Scott Laughton Rumors
    • Brock Nelson Rumors
    • Rickard Rakell Rumors
    • Mikko Rantanen Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2024-25 Salary Cap Deep Dive Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Arbitration-Eligible Free Agents 2025
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Order 2025
    • Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

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

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version