Week In Review

Training camps are almost upon us but beyond an uptick in PTOs as expected, it was a relatively quiet week across the NHL aside from a record-breaking contract which is one of our key stories of the past seven days.

Off To Switzerland: Unable to secure a contract to their liking from an NHL team, a pair of wingers have opted to try their hand in Switzerland.  First, winger Filip Zadina inked a two-year contract with HC Davos.  The 2018 sixth-overall pick spent last season with San Jose after terminating his deal with Detroit in the hopes that a change of scenery would give him a better opportunity.  Instead, he put up just 23 points in 72 games along with a ghastly -44 rating.  Still just 24, a good showing in the NL could get him back on the NHL radar fairly quickly.  A few days later, veteran winger Dominik Kubalik signed a one-year deal with Ambri-Piotta.  The 29-year-old spent last season with Ottawa after being acquired in the Alex DeBrincat deal but struggled considerably, recording a career-low 15 points in 74 appearances.  His deal contains an NHL out clause should an opportunity present itself at the top level by December 15th.

Surgery For Krug: After the rehab period didn’t yield any improvement, Blues defenseman Torey Krug will undergo ankle surgery to address pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle, a procedure that will end his 2024-25 season before it even starts.  The 33-year-old had 39 points last season in 77 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night and will effectively be replaced by offer sheet pickup Philip Broberg.  Krug will be eligible to be placed on LTIR should St. Louis need to put him there.  Meanwhile, while the hope is that Krug will be able to return next season, GM Doug Armstrong acknowledged that this injury could wind up being a career-ender for the veteran.

Draisaitl Sets A Record: While it may have taken longer than some in Edmonton would have liked, the Oilers and center Leon Draisaitl reached an agreement on an eight-year, $112MM contract extension, one that comes into place for the 2025-26 campaign.  The $14MM AAV is the highest in NHL history while it’s the second-richest contract in league history.  (The highest was Alex Ovechkin’s 13-year, $124MM pact, one that is now illegal with the maximum length being eight seasons.)  The 28-year-old has been one of the top scorers in the league for several years now; only his teammate Connor McDavid has more points than he does over the last five seasons.  That made it quite likely that he’d eclipse Auston Matthews’ record-setting $13.25MM AAV.  Draisaitl won’t hold the record for long, however, with McDavid being extension-eligible next summer.

Three Surgeries For Marchand: It was a busy summer for Bruins captain Brad Marchand but perhaps not in the way you might think.  The winger indicated that he had three separate surgeries over the offseason.  One was to repair a torn tendon in his elbow that he played through for most of the year while later having abdominal and groin surgeries to address injuries sustained late in the season.  Marchand managed to play through those issues, playing in all 82 games in 2023-24, recording 67 points.  It appears he might be limited at the beginning of training camp but he is expected to be ready to suit up when the regular season begins next month.

Veteran Defensemen Retire: A pair of long-time NHL blueliners officially called it a career in recent days.  Marc Staal spent most of his playing career with the Rangers and will begin his post-playing days there as well as it was announced that he has been hired as a player development assistant.  The 37-year-old played 17 seasons in the NHL, the first 13 of which came with New York.  Staal retires with 234 points, 1,448 blocks, and 1,643 hits in 1,136 career games at the top level.  Meanwhile, veteran rearguard Alex Goligoski confirmed that his playing days have come to an end.  The 39-year-old spent the last three seasons with Minnesota, his hometown team and he had no desire to uproot his family to attempt to keep playing.  Goligoski had 475 points, 1,777 blocks, and 1,164 hits in 1,078 appearances over his 17-year NHL career.

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The calendar has turned to September and training camps are now just a couple of weeks away.  However, the enthusiasm for the season fast approaching was put on hold following a tragedy in the hockey world which is among the key stories of the week.

Tragedy Strikes: The hockey world is in mourning after Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew Gaudreau were killed after being struck by an accused drunk driver while biking near their New Jersey home.  They were 31 and 29 years old respectively.  Johnny was a key cog of Calgary’s offense for eight years, capped by a career-best 115-point performance in 2021-22 before inking a seven-year, $68.25MM contract with Columbus that summer.  He led the Blue Jackets in scoring in both seasons with them.  Matthew, meanwhile, turned pro in 2017 and spent several years in the Islanders system before entering the coaching ranks in the 2021-22 campaign.  Everyone at PHR sends our deepest condolences to the Gaudreau family.

Surgery For Brossoit: One of Chicago’s important free agent signings might not be ready to start the season as the team announced that he will be out five to seven weeks after undergoing meniscus surgery.  The 31-year-old inked a two-year, $6.6MM contract with the Blackhawks early in free agency, giving them a second veteran netminder to partner with Petr Mrazek.  Brossoit returned to Winnipeg last season in free agency and fared quite well, posting a 2.00 GAA and a .927 SV% in 23 games.  If he isn’t available to start the season, last year’s backup Arvid Soderblom will likely break camp with Chicago, an outcome that might not be the case for blueliner Kevin Korchinski despite spending all of last season with the big club.

Eight For Jarvis: It took a while but the Hurricanes and Seth Jarvis were able to work out a max-term eight-year, $63.2MM contract.  Generally, the cap charge for this deal would be the total value divided by eight but that isn’t the case for this one.  Per PuckPedia (Twitter link), $15.67MM of signing bonus money has been deferred to July 1, 2032, the day after the contract expires, making the present value of the deal just over $7.42MM; that amount represents the cap charge for Carolina.  Jarvis is coming off a career year that saw him put up 33 goals and 34 assists and the Hurricanes will be banking on the 22-year-old taking another step forward offensively.  The deal certainly tightens their salary cap situation but with Jesper Fast undergoing season-ending neck surgery, they’ll have some flexibility if they need to dip into LTIR.

Cousins To Ottawa: We’re at the point of the offseason where guaranteed contracts for veteran players are going to be hard to come by.  One of the exceptions is winger Nick Cousins who signed a one-year, $800K contract with the Senators.  The 31-year-old spent the last two seasons with Florida and is coming off a 15-point effort in 2023-24 where he picked up a career-high 130 hits and won his first Stanley Cup.  This will be the 11th season of his career and already his seventh different team.

Hakanpaa Expected To Remain Free Agent: While the Maple Leafs agreed to terms on a two-year, $3MM deal with Jani Hakanpaa on the opening day of free agency, the contract was never registered due to concerns over his lingering knee injury.  Now, it appears they don’t intend to make the contract official, keeping the 32-year-old on the open market.  Toronto will now likely redeploy that money up front with RFA winger Nick Robertson still in need of a new deal.  However, with the youngster still preferring to be traded, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Maple Leafs look at other options to add some depth on the left wing.

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With training camps a little more than a month away, activity around the hockey world has slowed down considerably in recent weeks.  Nevertheless, there was some news of note over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Helenius To Play In North America: On draft day, Konsta Helenius slipped to the Sabres at 14th overall despite being ranked as a top-ten prospect by several publications.  Often, a European player picked in the middle of the first round will stay overseas for a couple of years but that’s not the case for Helenius as his club team in Tappara revealed that the youngster is expected to play in North America this coming season.  Since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, Helenius is eligible to play with AHL Rochester in 2024-25 but after an impressive season in the Finnish Liiga that saw him record 36 points in 51 games, it’s possible that he makes a case to spend at least a few games in Buffalo as well.

Klefbom Confirms Retirement: Any hope of a late-career comeback for Oscar Klefbom has come to an end as the blueliner confirmed that he has retired.  The 31-year-old was a key part of Edmonton’s back end for most of his career, averaging more than 21 minutes a night over his last six seasons.  However, a shoulder injury that he played through eventually proved to be too much as he last played in the 2019-20 campaign, spending the final three years of his contract on LTIR before becoming a free agent last summer.  Klefbom has indicated that he’d like to stay involved in some capacity but it remains to be seen if that will be with an NHL team or in his native Sweden.

Avs Add Another Blueliner: Colorado has been active in adding depth defenders this summer, bringing in Erik Brannstrom and Calvin de Haan early in free agency.  They added another rearguard this past week, signing Oliver Kylington to a one-year, $1.05MM deal.  The 27-year-old returned to Calgary in January after missing a year and a half for mental health reasons.  While his numbers in the second half weren’t overly impressive (eight points in 33 games), his last full season in 2021-22 was a breakout showing for Kylington when he put up 31 points in 73 appearances while logging over 18 minutes a night.  If he can come even close to those numbers with the Avalanche, they’ll get strong value on this contract.

Coaching Changes In Columbus: In an offseason that has seen the Blue Jackets take their time with off-ice moves, they rounded out their coaching staff under new bench boss Dean Evason.  The team parted ways with assistant coach Mark Recchi and development coach Derek Dorsett (who could eventually return in another capacity); assistant Josef Boumedienne had previously been let go as well.  Taking their place on the coaching staff will be new assistant coaches Scott Ford and Mike Haviland.  This will be Ford’s first coaching job at the AHL level after spending the last eight seasons with AHL Milwaukee.  Haviland, meanwhile, has four years of NHL experience as an assistant with Chicago and spent the last two years as an associate coach with their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.

Sillinger Nearing A Contract: Still with the Blue Jackets, they only have one remaining restricted free agent to re-sign, forward Cole Sillinger.  It appears he won’t be unsigned for much longer as the two sides are believed to be close to getting an agreement on a new deal in place.  It’s expected that the contract, when finalized, will be for two years.  The 21-year-old was the 12th overall pick by Columbus in 2021 and turned pro right after, spending the bulk of his entry-level deal at the NHL level where he has 74 points in 220 games.  With the limited production, a long-term agreement doesn’t make sense for either side so it appears he’ll get a couple of years to try to boost his value before gaining arbitration eligibility next time out.

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With the final arbitration hearings approaching early in the week, we saw a couple of important settlements while a pair of key blueliners inked long-term contract extensions.  Those are among the headlines in our key stories.

Second Bridge For Necas: Unable to find a suitable trade (or at least a team he was willing to sign long-term with), Martin Necas and the Hurricanes ultimately settled on a two-year, $13MM contract to avoid salary arbitration.  The deal does not contain any trade protection (he’s too young to be eligible) and walks him right to UFA eligibility in 2026.  The 25-year-old wasn’t quite able to match his 2022-23 output when he had a career-best 71 points but he still turned in a solid showing last season with 24 goals and 29 assists in 77 games.  It’s believed that Necas is looking to play a more prominent role, we’ll find out next season if Carolina is willing to play him higher up the lineup or if he’ll remain a fixture on the second line.

Lindgren Avoids Arbitration: Rather than get to a hearing, the Rangers and defenseman Ryan Lindgren agreed on a one-year, $4.5MM contract.  The deal represents a fair-sized raise on his previous $3MM AAV and $3.6MM qualifying offer.  Lindgren played in 76 games last season, picking up three goals and 14 assists while surpassing 100 blocks and hits in 19:21 per night.  He will still have one year of arbitration eligibility remaining next summer but this time, he’ll be owed a $4.5MM qualifying offer.

Eight For Faber: Following a stellar rookie year, the Wild wasted little time locking up defenseman Brock Faber, signing him to an eight-year, $68MM contract extension that will run through the 2032-33 season.  The 21-year-old joined Minnesota for a handful of games in 2023 but last season was his first full professional campaign.  Faber quickly became their top blueliner, putting up 47 points while playing in all 82 games, averaging nearly 25 minutes a night in the process which helped earn him a spot on the All-Rookie team and a second-place finish in Calder Trophy voting.  While there is some risk in signing a player with less than 100 games of NHL experience (including playoffs) to that type of contract, Faber’s cost could have gone even higher next summer if he had a similar showing in 2024-25.

Calling It A Career: Veteran forward Eric Staal has decided to retire, signing a one-day contract with the Hurricanes before officially calling it a career.  The 39-year-old last played in the 2022-23 campaign as a regular fourth line center with Florida, capping an impressive 18-year career.  All told, Staal picked up 455 goals and 608 assists in 1,365 games with six different organizations with a dozen of those coming with Carolina where he holds the bulk of the team’s records post-relocation from Hartford.  The Hurricanes will retire Staal’s #12 at some point this coming season.

Canadiens Sign Three Blueliners: The Canadiens were busy dealing with several of their young rearguards.  First, they re-signed their two remaining restricted free agents to bridge contracts.  Arber Xhekaj received a two-year, $2.6MM deal while Justin Barron re-upped for two years and $2.3MM in total.  Both players will be restricted free agents again in 2026, this time with arbitration eligibility.  Then, Montreal inked Kaiden Guhle to a six-year, $33.3MM extension that begins in 2025-26.  The 22-year-old has logged big minutes in his first two seasons, establishing himself as a long-term piece of their blueline puzzle as they look to try to emerge from their rebuild in the coming seasons.

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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.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.