Snapshots: Drouin, Hoefenmayer, CBA
Winger Jonathan Drouin elaborated on what led him to sign with the New York Islanders in a Thursday night appearance on NHL Tonight. He shared that it was the makeup of the team’s offense, the coaching staff, and the Islanders’ all-around culture that led him to a move across the country this summer.
Drouin spoke specifically to each point, sharing that his relationships with winger Anthony Duclair and recent assistant coach hire Ray Bennett, and head coach Patrick Roy, all heavily influenced his decision. Drouin played against both Duclair and Roy many times during his days in the QMJHL, from 2011 to 2014. He was also coached by Bennett in each of his last two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche.
Drouin also noted that seeing the Islanders’ honoring of Matthew Schaefer‘s mother at the NHL Draft was an additional nod to how well the club treats its players. With multiple positives laid out, New York will land a winger who managed 19 goals and 56 points in 79 games in 2023-24, and 37 points in 43 games of the 2024-25 season. He missed a significant portion of the mid-season with a lower-body injury, but worked back to full health before March. He will step into a hardy, top-nine role in New York’s increasingly crowded forward group.
More notes from around the hockey world:
- After being non-tendered by Montreal last month, unrestricted free agent defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer has signed a one-year deal with HK Sochi, per an announcement on the KHL team’s Telegram page. The 26-year-old spent time with AHL Bakersfield and Laval last season, notching 21 points in 43 regular season games while also suiting up for Canada at the Spengler Cup in December.
- PuckPedia highlights a couple of changes of some significance in the recently released CBA Memorandum of Understanding that comes into effect for the 2026-27 season. There is now a 10-day in-season PTO option with the signing team getting the right of first refusal if another team tries to sign that player. Meanwhile, the post-deadline regular recall limit of four has been expanded to five, giving teams a bit more flexibility roster-wise after the trade deadline. Our Josh Erickson will be doing a Q&A about the MOU next week; you can submit your questions for that here.
Canadiens, Oilers Complete Minor Swap
Two of the league’s storied Canadian franchises have gotten together on a minor-league deal. According to a press release from the Montreal Canadiens, the former is sending forward Jacob Perreault to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer.
Hoefenmayer is an older prospect being drafted with the 108th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He transitioned to professional hockey for the 2020-21 season but spent much of his first two years in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliates.
The last three years have given Hoefenmayer more consistent playing in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies and Bakersfield Condors. He scored 11 goals and 38 points in 65 games for the Marlies in 2022-23 while adding 114 PIMs. His move to Bakersfield has been far less productive scoring only eight goals and 25 points in 58 games with the Condors.
Perreault is the only player in the swap to make his NHL debut. He was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks organization and selected 27th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He fell out of favor rather quickly in Anaheim, largely due to his defensive inefficiencies, and was traded to the Canadiens this past March for fellow 2020 draftee, Jan Mysak.
The deal is between two teams heading in different directions in the AHL standings. The Laval Rocket are fourth overall in the league standings with a 14-6-1 record through 21 games while the Condors sit in 25th with a 7-8-2-1 record through 18.
Minor Free Agent Signings: Pacific Division
With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Pacific Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.
Anaheim Ducks
none
Calgary Flames
G Devin Cooley (two years)
F Martin Frk (one year)
Edmonton Oilers
D Connor Carrick (one year)
G Collin Delia (one year)
F James Hamblin (two years)
D Noel Hoefenmayer (one year)
F Noah Philp (one year)
Los Angeles Kings
F Glenn Gawdin (two years)
F Tyler Madden (one year)
F Jack Studnicka (one year)
D Reilly Walsh (one year)
San Jose Sharks
D Lucas Carlsson (two years, $800K cap hit)
D Jimmy Schuldt (one year)
Seattle Kraken
F Brandon Biro (one year)
D Nikolas Brouillard (one year)
D Maxime Lajoie (one year)
F Mitchell Stephens (two years)
Vancouver Canucks
G Jiří Patera (one year)
F Nathan Smith (one year)
Vegas Golden Knights
F Zach Aston-Reese (one year)
Oilers Re-Sign James Hamblin, Noah Philp, Noel Hoefenmayer
The Edmonton Oilers will bring back a bit of organizational depth as the team announced they have signed forward James Hamblin to a two-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay Hamblin the league minimum of $775K at the NHL over both years of the contract. Additionally, the team has also signed forward Noah Philp to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him $775K at the NHL level.
Hamblin split the 2023-24 season between the Oilers and the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. In 31 games at the top level, the former undrafted free agent scored two goals and three points in total while averaging just under eight minutes of ice time per game. As a much more productive AHL forward, Hamblin skated in 13 games for the Condors as he collected four goals and eight points in total.
Depending on how much depth the Oilers retain over the next 48 hours, Hamblin may be a good bet to rise up the depth chart and even crack a spot in Edmonton’s bottom six. Hamblin is no stranger to the Oilers’ defensive structure and is not afraid to use his body to block shots in the defensive zone. However, the most likely circumstance is that Hamblin starts next year in AHL Bakersfield to serve as a potential injury replacement for the Oilers throughout the regular season.
Philp, on the other hand, will be back with AHL Bakersfield after missing the entire season due to personal reasons. In his last full year during the 2022-23 AHL season, Philp scored 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games while being one of the team’s better power forward options.
Later in the day, PuckPedia reported the Oilers also brought back 25-year-old left-shot defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K NHL/$100K AHL. He was a restricted free agent and had 18 points in 47 games with Bakersfield last year.