Week In Review

We’re now in the arbitration period which resulted in several players inking deals to avoid going to a hearing.  Those contracts are included in our key stories from the past seven days.

Five For Luukkonen: Of the players who reached a contract before their arbitration hearings, all took a short-term deal except for one, Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.  Following a career year, the 25-year-old agreed to a five-year, $23.75MM contract with Buffalo.  The deal gives Buffalo an additional three seasons of club control and also contains a five-team no-trade list in those final three years, the only ones he was eligible for trade protection.  Luukkonen posted a 2.57 GAA with a .910 SV% in a career-best 54 games last season, showing the potential of a full-fledged starter.  If he can play at that level for this contract, it should be a team-friendly deal while allowing the Sabres to be patient in bringing Devon Levi along.

More Arbitration Moves: Several other players avoided arbitration this week.  First, Buffalo signed newly acquired winger Beck Malenstyn to a two-year, $2.7MM agreement.  The 26-year-old played his first full NHL campaign last season, notching 21 points and 241 hits in 81 games with Washington.  Toronto then reached an agreement on a one-year, $1.18MM deal with center Connor Dewar.  The Maple Leafs acquired the 25-year-old at the trade deadline from Minnesota; Dewar had a career-best 11 goals and 19 points last season.  The other player to settle before a hearing was Islanders winger Oliver Wahlstrom, who worked out a one-year, $1MM agreement although his future in New York remains in question following a tough year that saw him record just two goals and four assists in 32 games.  Meanwhile, one case went to a hearing with Nashville blueliner Spencer Stastney receiving a two-year, $1.675MM award; the agreement is two-way next season before converting to a one-way deal for 2025.  Stastney had four points in 20 games with the Predators last season.

Konecny Extension: The Flyers will have their leading scorer for the long haul as they worked out an eight-year, $70MM extension with winger Travis Konecny.  The deal begins in the 2025-26 season and runs through the 2032-33 campaign.  The 27-year-old averaged just over a point per game in 60 appearances in 2022-23 and then followed that up with new career highs in goals (33) and points (68) in 76 games last season, giving him some leverage entering negotiations.  While Philadelphia is still navigating its way through a rebuild, GM Daniel Briere determined that he wanted some core veterans to help lead them through it and Konecny will do just that with this contract as he comes off the 2025 UFA list.

Oilers Hire Bowman: After it was revealed following the playoffs that Ken Holland would not return as GM in Edmonton, CEO Jeff Jackson took the team through free agency but made it clear that he didn’t want the full-time GM job.  After a long search, the Oilers found Holland’s replacement, naming Stan Bowman as their new GM.  Bowman served as the GM in Chicago for a little more than a decade with the Blackhawks winning three Stanley Cup titles in his tenure.  He resigned in 2021 following an independent report that concluded Bowman had an “inadequate response upon being informed in 2010 of allegations that Blackhawks’ Player, Kyle Beach, had been assaulted by the Club’s video coach”.  At that time, he was ruled ineligible to work in the NHL but that eligibility was reinstated last month.

Busy Blue Jackets: It was a busy week in Columbus.  First, they hired Dean Evason as their new head coach, replacing Pascal Vincent who was let go last month.  It’s the second NHL head coaching stint for the 59-year-old who spent parts of five years in Minnesota with his teams playing to a .639 points percentage.  Next, they learned that winger Patrik Laine has been cleared to exit the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  Laine entered the program in February while recovering from clavicle/shoulder surgery back in December and has made it known that he’d like a change of scenery.  GM Don Waddell indicated that teams were interested in speaking with Laine but that couldn’t happen until he exited the program.  Now that he has, trade discussions surrounding the 26-year-old could soon pick up.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets were also busy on the contract front.  They re-signed Kent Johnson to a three-year, $5.4MM contract following a rough season that saw him limited to 16 points in 42 games while also spending time in the minors.  However, only one year removed from a 40-point campaign, this deal could become a team-friendly one fairly quickly.  One day later, they avoided arbitration with Kirill Marchenko, agreeing on a three-year, $11.85MM contract.  The 24-year-old has eclipsed the 20-goal mark in his first two NHL seasons, earning him a nice raise off his entry-level deal.  Both players will be restricted free agents with arbitration rights in 2027.

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While activity around the NHL has largely slowed down with the offseason in full swing, there was still some notable news across the league.  Here’s a rundown of the top stories from the past seven days.

Sprong To Vancouver: With Joe Pavelski making his previously-reported retirement official, Daniel Sprong was the highest-scoring free agent remaining after a whirlwind first few days of free agency.  It took a while but an agreement finally came together as he signed a one-year, $975K contract with the Canucks.  The 27-year-old recorded his second straight season of 40-plus points in 2023-24, picking up 18 goals and 25 assists in 43 games with Detroit but wound up having to settle for less than half of his previous $2MM contract.  Sprong will likely be used in a familiar role with Vancouver, one that sees him playing in their bottom six as he should slot in behind Brock Boeser and Conor Garland on the right side.

Done For The Year Already? The Blues could be without veteran defenseman Torey Krug for the entire 2024-25 season.  The team announced that they detected pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle stemming from a fractured ankle earlier in his career.  The 33-year-old will spend the next couple of months undergoing physical therapy that will focus on pain relief, strengthening, and range-of-motion exercises to see if the joints in his ankle can stabilize enough to return to the ice.  Krug had 39 points in 77 games for St. Louis last season and has three years remaining on his contract with a $6.5MM AAV.

Five For Byfield: Instead of working out a long-term agreement or a bridge contract, the Kings and forward Quinton Byfield split the difference; the two sides worked out a five-year, $31.25MM contract.  The deal contains a 10-team no-trade clause in 2028-29, the only year he was eligible for one.  The 21-year-old had a breakout effort last season, recording 20 goals and 35 assists in 80 games while becoming a full-time top-six forward.  With the signing, Los Angeles gains one extra year of club control on Byfield who will be UFA-eligible when the contract expires in 2029 and if he picks up from where he left off, this could be a team-friendly pact fairly quickly.

Kuznetsov Leaves Carolina: The Hurricanes now have one less forward on their roster after center Evgeny Kuznetsov requested to terminate the final year of his contract.  He subsequently cleared unconditional waivers and was released.  Kuznetsov was limited to just 24 points between Washington and Carolina last season while also spending time in the Player Assistance Program.  He walks away from what would have been a $6MM base salary and it’s widely expected he’ll sign in the KHL.  Carolina, meanwhile, did keep a different forward around as they reached a two-year, $3.45MM agreement with forward Jack Drury, avoiding salary arbitration.

Trouba Staying Put: After plenty of trade speculation around the draft, it appears that defenseman Jacob Trouba will be staying with the Rangers after all.  Following a report of a possible trade to Detroit, Arthur Staple of The Athletic relayed that the deal wasn’t as close as suggested and that GM Chris Drury has reached out to Trouba to do some fence-mending following the speculation.  Trouba has made it known that he does not want to leave New York but his no-movement clause shifted to a 15-team no-trade clause on July 1st.  He has two years left on his contract with an $8MM cap charge.

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The playoffs will last a little longer now with Edmonton staying alive on Saturday night.  Even so, offseason activity round the league is starting to pick up, including Arizona’s relocation to Utah being made official.  Here’s a rundown of the most notable news from the week that was.

Warsofsky Gets Promoted: After a long coaching search, the Sharks decided that the best option to take over behind the bench is someone who was already there.  The team announced that they’ve promoted assistant coach Ryan Warsofsky to the top role.  Warsofsky was considered for the top job a couple of years ago but was passed over for David Quinn.  San Jose struggled as expected over the past two seasons in the midst of a full-scale rebuild and they’ll be hoping to fare better under their rookie head coach.  While this is Warsofsky’s first time running an NHL team, he has previous experience running a bench having been a head coach at both the AHL and ECHL levels.

Steen To Become A GM: Long-time NHL forward Alex Steen hasn’t been retired for long but he is about to take on a big front office job.  The Blues have announced that Steen will become their new GM starting in the 2026-27 season.  Current GM Doug Armstrong, who was under contract for the next two years, inked a three-year extension through 2028-29 as their president of hockey operations, a title he has held since 2013.  Steen was a consultant for St. Louis this season and will now have the next two years to get ready to take over the top job.  Armstrong, meanwhile, has been the GM for the Blues for the past 14 seasons with St. Louis making ten playoff appearances including their first-ever Stanley Cup in 2019.

Laine In Play: While there will be several big-name wingers available in free agency in a couple of weeks, it appears as if one notable winger is in play on the trade front as the Blue Jackets and Patrik Laine are in agreement that a change of scenery would be beneficial.  The 26-year-old was limited to just 18 games this season between injuries and spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program where he has been since January.  When he’s at his best, Laine is one of the more dangerous scoring threats in the NHL but he has played in just 129 games over the past three seasons combined.  Laine has two years left on his contract with an $8.7MM AAV, a price tag that will be tricky for a lot of teams to fit in, even with the $4.5MM increase in the salary cap.

Kakko Signs Early: After a tough season, Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko was going to have a hard time making a case for a raise.  With that in mind, the two sides settled on a one-year, $2.4MM agreement, the exact amount of what his qualifying offer would have been.  The 23-year-old notched just 13 goals and six assists in 61 games in 2023-24, his point total dropping by a little more than half from the year before.  The early contract gives both sides some certainty moving forward while if there are teams interested in acquiring the 2019 second-overall selection, the fact they know what his next contract will likely help in those trade discussions.

Carolina Defensive Deals: The Hurricanes have several pending unrestricted free agents but they were able to cut down that list by one, reaching a three-year, $9MM extension with defenseman Jalen Chatfield.  The 28-year-old has become a full-time option on Carolina’s third pairing over the last couple of years and had a career-best eight goals and 14 assists in 72 games this season.  Chatfield had played on a league minimum contract the last two seasons so this is certainly a significant raise for him.  With four other rearguards set to hit the open market next month, Chatfield should be in line for a bigger role next season.

Meanwhile, while he’s not eligible to sign an extension until the calendar turns to July, it appears a tentative agreement is in place between Jaccob Slavin and the Hurricanes.  Terms of the reported deal have not been disclosed.  The 30-year-old has been one of the anchors on Carolina’s back end for the past nine years, logging over 20 minutes a night in all of those while being one of the top defensive defenders.  He has one year left on his current contract which carries a $5.3MM price tag and it’s fair to suggest he’ll be getting a considerable increase when he puts pen to paper on this deal next month.

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The Stanley Cup Final is now underway and although there typically isn’t a lot of activity around the NHL during the final series, there was still some notable news and notes from the past week which is recapped in our key stories.

Salary Cap Set: With the players’ share of the overage they received during the pandemic-shortened season now repaid, the salary cap is getting a nice boost heading into next season.  The league has set the Upper Limit of the cap at $88MM, an increase of $4.5MM from 2023-24’s number.  The cap had been going up by just $1MM per year while the escrow portion was paid off.  Meanwhile, the increase at the top end means that the minimum cap expenditure is also going up, from $61.7MM this season to $65MM in 2024-25.  Many teams have been cap-strapped in recent years and while this increase won’t solve all of that, it will provide at least a bit of flexibility moving forward.

Kekalainen Linked To Hurricanes: With Don Waddell leaving Carolina for Columbus, the Hurricanes now have a GM vacancy to fill.  It appears one of the contenders for the role is former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen.  While Columbus didn’t fare well over the last few years of his tenure, Kekalainen would add some experience to an organization that’s planning to go with a by-committee approach when it comes to decision-making, a process that will also involve owner Tom Dundon.  In the meantime, one of the decisions the Hurricanes have to make is what to do with pending UFA winger Jake Guentzel who appears intent on testing free agency.  For the time being, it appears Carolina has made his negotiating rights available for a draft pick.

Pavelski Expected To Retire: While he stressed that this was not an official retirement announcement, Stars forward Joe Pavelski said that he believes that he has played his final NHL season.  The 39-year-old spent the first 13 years of his career in San Jose before moving to Dallas in 2019-20 after not being able to secure a multi-year agreement with the Sharks.  The change of scenery worked out quite well for both sides as Pavelski had his two best seasons with Dallas and even managed 67 points this season.  If this is indeed it for him, Pavelski finishes up with 476 goals and 592 assists in 1,332 regular season games while chipping in with 143 points in 201 playoff contests.  He reached the top-25 in all-time playoff appearances last round against Edmonton.

Lottery Picks Available: Teams looking to move up in the draft order could have some options in the coming weeks as reports suggest that the Devils and Sabres are open to moving their first-round selections, slotted at 10th and 11th respectively.  Both teams are looking to rebound from disappointing seasons and aren’t believed to be looking for a pick swap but rather are dangling the selection to make an impact addition that can help them win now.  We’ll find out over the coming weeks if they get an offer to their liking to part with a lottery selection.

Ehlers Not Interested In Extension: Nikolaj Ehlers has been a key part of Winnipeg’s forward group for the past nine years but it appears he would like his time with them to end sooner than later.  He is believed to have indicated that he is not interested in signing an extension with the Jets and would welcome a trade.  Ehlers has one year left on his contract at $6MM and will be UFA-eligible in 2025.  Coming off a 25-goal, 61-point campaign, he’s likely in line for a raise on that price tag and if Winnipeg is open to allowing extension talks to occur prior to a trade, they could get a better return for Ehlers over dealing him strictly as a rental player.

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We’re now down to five teams still playing in the playoffs, a number that will drop to four on Monday.  Meanwhile, it was a busy week off the ice; the biggest news is recapped in our key stories.

Jets To Explore Ehlers Trade: Despite a promising regular season, the Jets were ousted quickly in the playoffs once again last month.  They’ll be making a coaching change for 2024-25 but it appears they’ll also look at shaking up their roster following a report that they’ll look into a possible Nikolaj Ehlers trade this summer.  The 28-year-old has spent his entire nine-year career with Winnipeg and is coming off one of his better offensive seasons, collecting 25 goals and a career-high 36 assists in 82 games.  However, he was quiet once again in the playoffs, notching only a pair of helpers in their five-game loss.  Ehlers has one year left on his contract with an affordable $6MM price tag so if the Jets opt to make a move, they should have considerable interest.  Speaking of veterans not returning, it appears that veteran blueliner Brenden Dillon will not be retained as well.

Islanders Land Tsyplakov: The top international free agent in this year’s class was winger Maxim Tsyplakov, a player who had interest from more than a dozen teams over the last few months.  Capped at signing a one-year, entry-level deal, it came down to who the 25-year-old felt would be the best fit.  That turned out to be the Islanders, who inked Tsyplakov.  He had a breakout showing in the KHL this season, notching 31 goals, fourth-best in the league.  For context, his previous benchmark for points was 25.  Standing 6’3, Tsyplakov can also play center and should push for a full-time roster spot with New York next season.

Nichushkin Re-Enters Player Assistance Program: Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin was off to a terrific start to his playoffs with nine goals in eight games but his postseason certainly ended abruptly.  The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced that the 29-year-old has been placed in Stage Three of the Player Assistance Program which carries a minimum of a six-month suspension without pay.  Once he is cleared, he will be eligible to apply for reinstatement.  Nichushkin was away from the team earlier in the season when he was in the second stage of the program; placement in Stage Three means that there was a violation of the treatment plan that was put in place for Nichushkin.  He has six years left on his contract heading into next season at a $6.125MM cap space; he will not count against the salary cap while in the program.

Berube To Toronto: Once the Maple Leafs decided to part ways with Sheldon Keefe, Craig Berube became the speculative favorite to replace him.  That was indeed what happened as the team hired him as the 41st coach in franchise history, signing him to a four-year contract.  This will be Berube’s third time running an NHL bench after spending two years in Philadelphia and parts of the last six with St. Louis before being let go early in the year.  He’ll now be tasked with figuring out how to get a team that has had plenty of regular season success over the proverbial playoff hump as while they’ve made the playoffs eight years in a row, they’ve only won a single series in that span.

Sticking Around: Things weren’t looking good at one point for Rod Brind’Amour to sign an extension in Carolina but the two sides were able to work something out after all as the team has agreed to terms on a multi-year deal (reported to be five seasons) to keep him behind the bench for the long haul.  Brind’Amour has spent the last six years coaching the Hurricanes with the team posting a .664 points percentage under his tutelage.  Carolina has also won a playoff round in each of those years but has played to a 38-36 postseason record.  Despite that, had he been made available, several teams almost certainly would have made a run at trying to sign him.  As part of the agreement, his assistants also received multi-year extensions.

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With the offseason underway for most teams, the annual coaching carousel is now in full swing.  Several teams made moves behind the bench which is among the news recapped in our key stories.

Coaching Positions Filled: A pair of coaches got good news in recent days.  The Blues decided they liked how they finished the season so they rewarded Drew Bannister by removing the interim tag and signing their bench boss to a two-year deal.  He helped lead St. Louis to a 30-19-5 record after taking over from Craig Berube back in December and will now get the chance to lead the team through what’s expected to be somewhat of a retooling process.

Meanwhile, Travis Green didn’t wait to see if he was going to have his interim tag removed by New Jersey.  Having been granted permission to talk to other teams despite being in consideration to stay with the Devils, Green found a new home as he was named as the new bench boss for the Senators, inking a four-year contract.  This will be the third team that Green will run having held down the top job having spent parts of five seasons with Vancouver while replacing Lindy Ruff for the stretch run this season.  The Sens made another decision of note off the ice as well, electing not to forfeit their first-round pick this year from the penalty assessed in the vetoed Evgenii Dadonov deal two years ago.  They’ll have to give up either their 2025 or 2026 first-rounder now.

Coaching Positions Opened: While two vacancies were filled behind the bench, two more opened up.  The Jets are now on the lookout for a new head coach after Rick Bowness announced his retirement.  The 69-year-old had contemplated retiring after being let go by Dallas in 2022 but decided to give it one more go with Winnipeg.  The Jets made the playoffs in both seasons that Bowness was at the helm but they were ousted in the first round each time.

The other opening is in Toronto after Sheldon Keefe was let go after five years with the franchise.  The Maple Leafs had plenty of regular season success with Keefe behind the bench; his .665 points percentage is third-best among all active coaches.  However, the team hasn’t had much playoff success during that time as they won just one series and were ousted in the opening round by Boston.

IIHF Issues Sanctions: Given that Ivan Fedotov and CSKA Moscow defied the IIHF’s ruling early in the season that Fedotov’s contract with Philadelphia was valid and not theirs, sanctions were expected.  Those sanctions were announced over the weekend.  Fedotov has been suspended from international play for the next three seasons while also receiving a six-month suspension if he was to leave the NHL to play for an international club.  (He does have a new two-year deal with the Flyers being next season so this one shouldn’t be a concern.)  Meanwhile, CSKA will be banned from making any international transfers for a two-year period beginning on August 11th while being assessed a fine of $1MM Swiss Francs.

Bridge For Reichel: After a tough season, it was a foregone conclusion that the Blackhawks wouldn’t work out a long-term deal with Lukas Reichel but rather a bridge pact.  They wasted little time getting that done as the two sides agreed to a two-year, $2.4MM contract.  The deal is slightly back loaded as he’ll be owed a $1.3MM qualifying offer in 2026.  A first-round pick in 2020 (17th overall), expectations were high for the winger after Reichel put up 15 points in 23 games with Chicago in 2022-23.  However, he struggled in his first taste of extended NHL action, notching just 16 points in 65 contests.  Despite that, they’ll still be counting on him to be an important part of their future plans.

Losing Leads To A Win: This season was an ugly one for the Sharks who allowed the most goals in the NHL by a considerable margin and scored the second-fewest, leading them to a 32nd-place finish and one of their worst seasons in franchise history.  However, they were rewarded for their ‘efforts’ as they were able to win the draft lottery, giving them the first-overall pick, one that’s expected to be used on Macklin Celebrini.  They also won the first two draws for the second pick but since they already had the top pick, they had to redraw until another team won that one.  The winner of the second draw was Chicago, the one team who had fewer goals than the Sharks this season.  Those two teams had the top odds going in and the draft order wound up being unchanged by the lottery for the first time since 2010.

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With the regular season ending and the playoffs beginning, there was no shortage of storylines across the NHL this past week including Arizona’s relocation being made official.  We recap the biggest ones in our key stories.

St. Louis Extended: The Canadiens haven’t had much on-ice success in recent years since their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.  However, that didn’t stop the team from exercising a two-year contract option on head coach Martin St. Louis.  The Hall of Fame winger has spent parts of three seasons behind the bench in Montreal, originally coming on as an interim coach during the 2021-22 campaign.  His teams have played to a 75-100-26 record, good for a points percentage of just .438 with the team in the middle of a full-scale rebuild.  However, quite a few key young players have shown improvement under his tutelage including 2022 first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky who put up 50 points in 82 games this season after notching just 10 in 39 appearances in his rookie year.  Montreal will be counting on St. Louis to continue to get those young core players to improve.

Granato Fired: The Sabres’ playoff drought reached 13 years after they failed to make the postseason.  That resulted in the team electing to make a coaching change as they fired Don Granato before his extension signed back in 2022 had even started.  Granato led Buffalo to a 122-125-27 record over parts of four seasons having taken over during the 2020-21 campaign.  Expectations were higher for the Sabres coming into this year after they narrowly missed making the playoffs the year before but instead, several of their key young players took steps back offensively, resulting in a drop-off of 50 goals, a gap that was too much to overcome.  Buffalo will now be searching for their eighth head coach since last reaching the postseason.

Sticking Around: It was expected that this season would be Marc-Andre Fleury’s last but that won’t be the case.  Instead, 2024-25 will be as the veteran goaltender signed a one-year, $2.5MM contract extension and indicated that he will retire at the end of that season which will be his 21st at the NHL level.  The deal does not contain any performance bonuses while Fleury receives a full no-move clause.  The 39-year-old struggled this season, posting a 2.98 GAA with a save percentage of just .895, a career-low.  With Filip Gustavsson still under contract for two more years and top prospect Jesper Wallstedt looking like he’s ready for a longer look, Minnesota will at least have strong depth at the goaltending position next season.

Not Sticking Around: Veteran center Jeff Carter has elected to not see what type of offers he could have received in free agency, instead announcing his retirement at the end of Pittsburgh’s final game, one he scored in.  The 39-year-old struggled this season, notching just 11 goals and four assists in 72 games while seeing his ice time dip to a career-low 12:34 a night.  However, that shouldn’t take away from what was a very strong career overall; in 19 seasons, Carter amassed 442 goals and 409 assists while also winning a pair of Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014 with Los Angeles.  Meanwhile, Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz confirmed he’s also retiring.  He missed all of this season and most of last season with groin and knee injuries.  When healthy, he was a very effective netminder, posting a .919 SV% in 73 career NHL appearances, all with Colorado.

Johansen Unlikely To Play Next Season: When Philadelphia took back Ryan Johansen as part of the Sean Walker trade last month, it was expected that he wouldn’t play for the Flyers and that they’d try to move him elsewhere.  However, it was revealed after the swap that he had a hip injury, one that kept him out for the stretch run and now, all of next season as well; GM Daniel Briere indicated that the veteran isn’t expected to play at all in 2024-25.  The 31-year-old struggled with Colorado this season, notching just 13 goals and 10 assists in 63 games, making him a possible buyout candidate this summer.  But due to the injury, that won’t be an option as injured players can’t be bought out.  Instead, the Flyers will be forced to carry him on the NHL roster next season although he will be eligible for LTIR if Philadelphia needs to use it.

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With the playoffs now just days away, there was plenty of news of note around the hockey world.  We recap the biggest news from the past seven days in our key stories.

Coyotes To Salt Lake City? Early in the week, it came out that an alternate schedule was being drafted that had the Coyotes playing out of Salt Lake City.  Soon after, momentum increased toward a full relocation and while it hasn’t officially been announced yet (that should come as soon as this week), things are trending in that direction with players reportedly being told that the move is happening.  With an uncertain arena situation in Arizona, this is an outcome that the league and NHLPA will both likely be pleased with.  However, this might not be the end of NHL hockey in Arizona.  Outgoing owner Alex Meruelo is believed to have a five-year window to trigger an expansion franchise, giving him ample time to secure a new arena, whether it’s by winning the current auction that will end in June or on another site altogether.

Golden Knights Get Stronger: Vegas got a big boost to their lineup early in the week when they activated center Tomas Hertl off LTIR.  One of their key deadline pickups, Hertl will give the Golden Knights another impact center and some more firepower.  When they acquired him, it was expected that Hertl would be available for the stretch run, allowing him to get some games in before the playoffs.  Meanwhile, captain Mark Stone has been cleared to return to practice as he works his way back from a lacerated spleen.  Vegas used Stone’s LTIR savings to make their trade deadline additions so they won’t be able to activate him now as they did for Hertl.  However, with a full week next week of practice, the winger might be available when the playoffs get underway.

Sticking Around: One of the other players Vegas added at the deadline using Stone’s LTIR placement is defenseman Noah Hanifin.  He won’t be a short-term rental after all, however, as he signed an eight-year, $58.8MM contract extension.  The $7.35MM AAV will make the 27-year-old the second-highest-paid blueliner on the Golden Knights behind Alex Pietrangelo ($8.8MM).  Hanifin has seen his offensive output increase in recent years while remaining a strong defensive blueliner, making him a relatively safe bet for this long of an extension.  Worth noting is that Vegas now has over $85MM in commitments for next season already, per CapFriendly.  While Robin Lehner’s $5MM will likely stay on LTIR giving them a bit more wiggle room, Jonathan Marchessault, Anthony Mantha, and Chandler Stephenson are among the players who need new deals and it will be near-impossible to keep all of them around.

Not Sticking Around: When the buzzer sounds at the end of the game on Thursday against Vegas, Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg’s NHL career will come to an end as he announced he plans to retire from the NHL.  The 33-year-old started his career with Ottawa but was moved to Anaheim the following season and has stayed there ever since, spanning 11 seasons.  In his prime, he was an impactful two-way player with a stretch of four 20-goal seasons in five years.  Since then, he has become more of a depth piece and rather than search for a new contract in free agency, Silfverberg will instead return to play back home in Sweden.

Injury News: The Devils have been without their star center for the last few games as Jack Hughes underwent season-ending shoulder surgery.  The 22-year-old ends his campaign with 74 points in just 62 games, his third straight year of averaging more than a point per game.  Hughes is expected to make a full recovery in time for training camp in the fall.  Meanwhile, their state rival got some good news on the injury front as center Filip Chytil was cleared to start skating with the Rangers.  He has missed the majority of the season after sustaining what’s believed to be two concussions with the team shutting him down for the year back in January.  Now, while he’ll undoubtedly be ramped up slowly, the 24-year-old could potentially return at some point in the playoffs which would certainly be a big boost to their lineup.

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The stretch run is upon as we get set to turn the calendar to April.  We’re still likely a few weeks away from some big headlines but there was still some notable news across the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Three For Benoit: Last summer, Simon Benoit was non-tendered by Anaheim, eventually settling for a one-year deal worth the NHL minimum salary with Toronto.  However, he has done well with the Maple Leafs and he was rewarded for his efforts with a three-year, $4.05MM contract extension.  The 25-year-old has played in 55 games this season and while he doesn’t put up many points (just five so far), he leads the team in hits with 210 while averaging nearly 17 minutes a night, giving the third pairing some stability.  That stability will now run through the 2026-27 season.

Injuries: If the Islanders are going to climb up the standings and into the playoffs, they’ll have to do so without defenseman Scott Mayfield as it was revealed that he underwent season-ending surgery.  The 31-year-old has been limited to just 41 games this season due to injuries, hardly the way he or the team wanted the first season of his seven-year contract to go.  Meanwhile, Blues center Oskar Sundqvist suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the rest of the season.  He returned for a second go-around with St. Louis in the summer and did well enough to earn a two-year, $3MM contract earlier this month just before the trade deadline.  With a six-month recovery timeline, Sundqvist won’t be ready for the start of training camp and could miss the start of next season.

Fleury Open To Playing Next Season: When Marc-Andre Fleury signed a two-year deal with Minnesota in 2022, it was widely expected that those two seasons would be the last ones of Fleury’s career.  However, that might not be the case as the veteran netminder indicated this week that he would be open to re-signing with the Wild for next season.  However, that option would only extend to Minnesota as he appears to be unwilling to move his family again.  Fleury is in his 20th NHL season and while his GAA is the same as a year ago at 2.85, he has lost nine points off his save percentage, going from .908 to .899, his lowest since 2005-06.  However, if the Wild feel that prospect Jesper Wallstedt would be better suited with another AHL season, they could decide to bring Fleury back for one more year.

Fedotov Joins Flyers: The Flyers have waited a long time to get Ivan Fedotov to North America, even when he had a contract going back to last season.  Fedotov played in the KHL this season despite sanctions from the IIHF but he was surprisingly released from that deal this week, paving the way for the netminder to finish up the year with Philadelphia.  It might not just be a short-term option for the 27-year-old as extension talks are already underway.  Fedotov had a quiet year by his standards with CSKA Moscow but still managed a 2.37 GAA and a .914 SV% in 44 games.  Long viewed as one of the top netminders outside North America, Fedotov represents an immediate upgrade at the backup goalie position and if a new deal is agreed on, he could help bolster Philadelphia’s crease position for a little while.

Bear Enters Assistance Program: The Capitals will be without defenseman Ethan Bear indefinitely as he has entered the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program.  Bear had to wait until late December to get a contract after being injured while playing for Canada at the Worlds back in May although he was able to get a back-loaded two-year, $4.125MM deal from the Capitals.  Through 24 games this season, Bear has a goal and three assists while averaging a little under 15 minutes a night.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While there won’t be much in the way of activity on the transactions front for a while beyond prospect signings, there was still some news of note in the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Proposed Rule Changes: Each year, a handful of tweaks to the rules are recommended by NHL general managers.  That continued this year, albeit with a few more proposed changes than usual.  Among the suggested amendments are that goalies can be assessed a minor penalty for intentionally knocking the net off, allowing a coaches’ challenge for delay of game and high-sticking (for friendly fire), and bringing back a warm-up for goalies coming into a game when the starter is taken out due to injury.  They won’t be enacted right away as they still need to be ratified by the Competition Committee and the NHL Board of Governors.

Bowness Away From Jets: For the second straight week, a head coach has taken a leave of absence.  After Martin St. Louis left Montreal for family reasons, Rick Bowness is away from Winnipeg for the second time this season, this time for a minor medical procedure.  He left the Jets on their road trip for treatments while Scott Arniel is serving as interim head coach for the second time this season.  Winnipeg struggled over the weekend but finds itself in a tight battle for the top spot in the Central Division.

Wilson Gets Six: Capitals winger Tom Wilson has a lengthy history with the Department of Player Safety.  Another entry was added this past week as he received a six-game suspension for his high stick on Maple Leafs winger Noah Gregor.  It’s the sixth suspension of his career, bringing his total to 36 games cumulative while he forfeits more than $161K in salary, bringing that running total to a little over $1.5MM.  More importantly for Washington, they lose a key top-six winger as they try to chase down Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.  Wilson will be eligible to return to the lineup on April 4th and ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports (Twitter link) that no appeal will be filed.

Coyotes Likely To Stay At Mullett Arena In 2024-25: The future of the Coyotes in Arizona is once again in question after their planned arena site fell through earlier this year.  There’s another option that involves a public auction that won’t happen until June.  While the team’s fate might be better known at that time, the possibility of relocation that late into the offseason would be difficult to pull off.  Accordingly, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the team is likely to stay at Mullett Arena at Arizona State University for the 2024-25 season regardless of the outcome of that auction.  That will be the final year of the original three-season agreement although there are two one-year options to extend it.

Two Former NHLers Pass Away: We end on a sad note as a pair of players passed away.  Former Penguins winger Konstantin Koltsov died at the age of 42.  A first-round pick back in 1999, Koltsov played in 144 NHL games over parts of three seasons with Pittsburgh before spending the next decade playing internationally, primarily in Russia.  Soon after, it was revealed that Chris Simon passed at the age of 52.  He had a 15-year NHL career with seven different franchises and picked up a Stanley Cup title with Colorado back in 1996.  He was with that franchise after being part of the Eric Lindros trade back in 1992.  Simon had 1,824 penalty minutes in his career, good for 67th in NHL history.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.