Week In Review

As the calendar turned to November, there was plenty of news of note across the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Senators Out A First-Round Pick And A GM: Back at the 2022 trade deadline, a move that would have sent Evgenii Dadonov from Vegas to Anaheim was vetoed after the fact when it was revealed the Ducks were on his no-trade list.  The Golden Knights weren’t aware of that fact, resulting in them asking the league to look into it.  That investigation is now complete and they came down hard on Ottawa, who had dealt the winger to Vegas the previous offseason.  It was determined that they withheld the no-trade details during the trade call and as punishment, they will be required to forfeit a first-round pick in 2024, 2025, or 2026.  It’s their choice as to which year they opt to forfeit and it must be their own selection, not one they acquired from another team (such as the one they received from Detroit in the Alex DeBrincat trade).

New owner Michael Andlauer decided that this was the final straw for GM Pierre Dorion.  While initially termed as a firing, Dorion officially resigned his position.  He was at the helm in Ottawa since 2016 and helped bring in top young talents like Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, and Brady Tkachuk to the fold but more recently, he’ll be remembered for creating an unworkable cap situation that limited them from re-signing Shane Pinto before his gambling suspension.  Steve Staios, who just joined the organization a little over a month ago, will serve as interim GM.

Four For McAvoy: Boston’s back end took a big short-term hit as defenseman Charlie McAvoy received a four-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson that saw him receive a match penalty at the time.  The 25-year-old had gotten off to a strong start to his year with eight points in nine games but that’s on hold for now.  With Ekman-Larsson returning to Florida’s lineup quickly, McAvoy has appealed the ban, a move that doesn’t typically happen too often (although Rasmus Andersson went that route last month with no success).  Since it’s under six games, the appeal will be heard by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Backstrom Takes A Leave: Long-time Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom underwent hip resurfacing surgery back in June 2022 but returned to the lineup earlier than expected.  He made it through training camp and the first few weeks of this season but has decided to take an indefinite leave of absence from the team while he determines his next steps.  The 35-year-old has spent the entirety of his 17-year NHL career with Washington and sits second to Alex Ovechkin for the most points in franchise history; it remains to be seen if he’ll return to add to his 1,033 career points.  Backstrom is signed through next season with a $9.2MM AAV so retirement won’t be on the table but he has already been placed on injured reserve and will likely be shifted to LTIR at some point.

Talks On Hold: Not long ago, it looked like the Flames were making progress on extension talks with prominent pending unrestricted free agents Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.  However, with the team off to a rough start this season, sitting just 3-7-1, those discussions are now on hold.  If GM Craig Conroy determines that the team isn’t as close to winning as he originally hoped, it’s possible that he turns around and becomes a seller at which point locking up his two key UFAs could work against him.  For now, it appears it will be a wait-and-see approach to see if Calgary can turn things around but they’ll need to show some progress sooner than later.

Hanging Them Up: Veteran center Paul Stastny has decided to call it a career, announcing his retirement at the age of 37.  The 2005 second-round pick played in 17 seasons at the top level with five different teams including eight years with Colorado who originally drafted him.  In his prime, Stastny was a quality two-way middleman who was above average at the faceoff dot throughout his career.  He hangs up his skates with 293 goals and 529 assists in 1,145 career regular season games; his 822 points rank him in 20th place among U.S.-born players in NHL history.

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The week around the hockey world ended in tragedy, with former Penguins center Adam Johnson passing away.  Meanwhile, it was a busy week across the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Draft Changes: A majority of teams have told the league that they would like to decentralize the draft, meaning teams would no longer send large contingents to the draft city and that it would work more like the drafts of the other major league sports.  With that, the NHL’s intention is now to switch formats no later than 2025 with 2024 not being ruled out either.  In our current reader poll, it’s fair to say that this change is not exactly a popular one.

Lots Of Injuries: It has been a tough week on the injury front across the league.  Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall’s shoulder injury isn’t getting better so he’s now on IR and listed as week-to-week.  That’s the same designation for Coyotes winger Jason Zucker who is dealing with a lower-body issue.  At one point, it seemed like Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce was going to be out long-term.  While that’s not the case, he underwent surgery on a lower-body injury and will miss two to four weeks.  Meanwhile, Canadiens blueliner David Savard and Senators rearguard Thomas Chabot both sustained fractured hands that will likely keep them out of their respective lineups until sometime in December.

Pinto Suspension: The bad news in Ottawa didn’t stop with Chabot as the NHL announced that unsigned center Shane Pinto has received a 41-game suspension for activities relating to sports wagering, to quote its press release.  The exact nature of the violation was not revealed publicly with the league noting that Pinto did not bet on NHL games.  The Sens have since rescinded all of their previous contract offers to Pinto, who is now almost certain to sign a low-cost, one-year deal once he is cleared to return in mid-January.  While there is a December 1st deadline for unsigned restricted free agents to sign deals, that rule will be waived for Pinto and the Sens.  Instead of Ottawa potentially getting him back in a week or two, it’ll now be a few more months before that happens.

Retirements: A trio of long-time NHL forwards hung up their skates.  First, after failing to catch on with Anaheim in training camp, winger Zack Kassian retired at the age of 32.  The 13th pick in 2009 played in 661 games over parts of a dozen seasons, collecting 203 points, 913 penalty minutes, and 1,360 hits.  Long-time Montreal center Tomas Plekanec was next to retire; he had been playing for his hometown team in Czechia but suffered an early injury that ended his season prematurely.  The 40-year-old played in 1,001 NHL games, all but 17 of which came with the Canadiens.  Lastly, Joe Thornton officially called it a career at the age of 44.  The top pick back in 1997 last played in 2021-22 and he amassed over 1,500 points in 1,714 games over parts of 24 NHL seasons.  He currently sits 12th in league history in points and sixth in games played.

Bowness Steps Away: The Jets are currently without head coach Rick Bowness as he has taken a leave of absence to be with his wife who suffered a seizure and was hospitalized earlier in the week.  Bowness is in his second season behind the bench in Winnipeg and obviously, there is no timetable for his return.  Associate coach Scott Arniel, who has head coaching experience from his time with Columbus a little more than a decade ago, is currently serving as their interim bench boss.

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The beginning of the NHL season was full of big signings.  This past week didn’t have any of that as instead, it was headlined by plenty of injuries.

Out For The Year: After having a breakout season that was still limited by injuries, hopes were high for Canadiens center Kirby Dach this year.  However, his campaign came to an early end as he suffered a season-ending torn ACL and MCL last weekend against Chicago.  He will undergo surgery once the swelling subsides.  The 22-year-old had a career-best 38 points last season despite only playing in 58 games, a decent first impression after being acquired from the Blackhawks at the draft.  He’ll have to wait a while to make his second impression now.

Extension Progress: Noah Hanifin’s willingness to sign an extension in Calgary (or perceived lack thereof) has been a key discussion point for several months now.  At one point, it looked like he wasn’t interested, then he was, then he wasn’t again.  Now, a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that Hanifin is indeed willing to work on a new deal and that some progress has been made on that front.  The 26-year-old has been a reliable part of the back end for the Flames for the past five seasons (plus the first couple of weeks of this year) and is set to earn a considerable raise on his current $4.95MM AAV.

Four For Andersson: Still with Calgary, the first notable suspension of the 2023-24 campaign is in the books as Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson received a four-game ban for his elbow on Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine.  The hit occurred in the dying seconds of Friday’s game while Laine is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Andersson and the NHLPA have decided to appeal the ruling.  Unlike in some other leagues, players can’t play while they’re appealing so Andersson sat out the first game on Sunday against Detroit.  The appeal will be heard by Commissioner Gary Bettman and given how long it typically takes for a hearing with him, it’s possible the appeal might wind up primarily being to try to mitigate some of the forfeited salary of nearly $95K.  If the suspension stands, the last game he’ll have to sit out is the Heritage Classic (an outdoor game against Edmonton) next weekend.

More Injuries: Another player who will likely miss the Heritage Classic is Oilers center Connor McDavid.  He left Saturday’s game against Winnipeg late in the third period with an upper-body injury.  The good news for Edmonton is that he won’t be out for long (just one to two weeks) but with the Oilers struggling out of the gate this season with just a single win in their first five games, McDavid’s absence won’t help matters.  Meanwhile, Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi will miss the next four to six weeks with a sprained MCL.  The 24-year-old was a key part of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade this summer but was injured in just his third game of the season.

Seattle Injuries: It has been a tough start to the season for the Kraken as they have just one win in their first six games.  Things are going to get harder for them with a pair of longer-term injuries on the wings.  First, Brandon Tanev will miss four to six weeks with a lower-body injury.  The 31-year-old was coming off a career year with 35 points while chipping in with 190 hits and will be missed on their third line.  Meanwhile, Andre Burakovsky will miss six to eight weeks with an upper-body injury.  The 28-year-old was productive in limited action last season with 39 points in 49 games and was being counted on to be a big part of Seattle’s attack this year.  Those plans will be on hold for now.  Tanev has been placed on IR while Burakovsky will be heading there soon enough as well.

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The first week of the NHL season is in the books and as is often the case, it was a busy week on the transactions front with extensions highlighting the majority of the key stories.

Seven For Toews: Term was believed to be a sticking point in extension talks between the Avalanche and defenseman Devon Toews but the two sides were able to bridge that, agreeing to a seven-year, $50.75MM extension.  The 29-year-old has become a key cog on Colorado’s back end after being acquired from the Islanders for a pair of second-round picks, very quietly putting up back-to-back years of at least 50 points while logging at least 25 minutes a night in both of them.  While this deal starts at age 30 meaning that it could carry a bit of risk at the end, it’s fair to suggest that Toews took a bit less than he could have received on the open market to make sure he stays with the Avs for the long haul.

Ruff’s Sticking Around: A year ago in the early going, there were chants of “fire Lindy” from some of the crowd in New Jersey after the Devils got off to a slow start.  Of course, they rebounded, putting up their highest point total in franchise history while getting to the second round.  Not surprisingly, New Jersey has rewarded head coach Lindy Ruff for his efforts, inking him to a multi-year contract extension.  His original deal had expired but Ruff had exercised his option for this season, creating a ‘lame duck’ situation that teams often try to avoid with their bench bosses.  Ruff is now set to lead the Devils for the foreseeable future.

Sticking Around: Well, we can forget about the idea of Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele testing the market next summer.  Widely speculated to be unwilling to extend with Winnipeg to the point where trade options were explored, the two decided to stay with the Jets after all as both players signed identical seven-year, $59.5MM contract extensions.  Hellebuyck has been a workhorse between the pipes for most of his now nine-year career, leading the league in shots faced four times and games played four times.  This contract makes him fourth in AAV among all netminders.  As for Scheifele, the franchise’s first pick after they moved back to Winnipeg has been a dependable scorer for a long time now, having picked up at least 60 points in eight straight years.  Both players now have chances to play out their entire careers with the Jets, a scenario that didn’t seem plausible just a few weeks ago.

Sabres Lock Up Blueliners: There was an expectation that contract extensions would get done for Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power during the offseason.  They might have come later than expected but they did get done.  First, they made Rasmus Dahlin one of the highest-paid players in the league, giving him an eight-year, $88MM extension.  The 2018 top pick has blossomed under head coach Don Granato, becoming one of the top offensive rearguards in the league while being an all-situations player.  He will be the third-highest-paid defenseman in the league.

Meanwhile, Owen Power’s extension was completed a little later in the week as well; he received a seven-year, $58.45MM pact.  The 2021 top selection has less than 90 games of NHL experience under his belt so this comes with some risk but if he becomes a true number one option as well, Buffalo’s back end will be a strong spot for years to come.  Notably, the agreement only buys the Sabres two extra years of club control.

Garland On The Block: The Canucks freed up some payroll last month when they moved Tanner Pearson to Montreal but they have more work to do on that front.  To help accomplish that, they’ve given Conor Garland and his agent permission to try to work on a trade.  The 27-year-old is coming off a 46-point season which isn’t bad but with three years left at a $4.95MM cap charge, they haven’t gotten the best bang for their buck.  A handful of teams are believed to have shown interest so far while Vancouver is thought to be hoping to open up $1MM to $2MM in room in a trade while adding some help on the back end.

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With the start of the regular season now just days away, activity across the NHL picked up over the past few days.  Here’s a rundown of the biggest news of the past week.

Ducks Sign Two: There won’t be any in-season holdouts in Anaheim this year as the Ducks agreed to bridge deals with their two remaining restricted free agents.  First, they inked center Trevor Zegras to a three-year pact which carries a cap hit of $5.75MM.  He’s coming off a career-best year offensively with 65 points and is one of the young pillars up front for the Ducks.  Both sides get more time to evaluate with this deal to see if Zegras can become a top-end producer.  They took a similar approach with defenseman Jamie Drysdale, giving him a three-year deal with a $2.3MM AAV.  Drysdale missed most of last season after suffering a torn labrum but showed plenty of promise before that, making a part of their very strong young blueline corps.  Notably, the salary structure for both contracts is uniform, making it that their qualifying offers in 2026 will be the same as their cap hits.

Stepan Hangs Them Up: Veteran middleman Derek Stepan has decided to call it a career, announcing his retirement at the age of 33.  In his prime, he was a capable second center who also brought some defensive value to the table.  He had at least 44 points in each of his first eight NHL seasons, surpassing the 50-point mark in six of those.  That helped Stepan play in over NHL games between the regular season and the playoffs, the bulk of which came with the Rangers who drafted him in the second round back in 2008.

Three For Hartman: After inking Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Foligno to extensions last week, the Wild took care of their other prominent pending unrestricted free agent, signing forward Ryan Hartman to a three-year, $12MM extension.  The 29-year-old is entering his fifth season with Minnesota and has gone from more of a depth piece to a core part of their top six after putting up 65 points in 2021-22 and 37 more last year despite missing 23 games due to injuries.  Along the way, he has shown himself to be capable of playing down the middle, helping to fill a big need on the depth chart.  As long as he can produce at a second-line rate, this is a deal that should work out well for both sides.

Four For Kaliyev: Kings winger Arthur Kaliyev received a four-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety for his kneeing incident on Ducks forward Chase De Leo.  The ban covered the final two games of the preseason and the first two games of the regular season, meaning that the 22-year-old won’t be eligible to suit up for Los Angeles until October 17th.  Kaliyev was an effective secondary scorer last season, notching 28 points in 56 games.  Meanwhile, De Leo will miss roughly the next eight weeks with a knee injury and will begin the year on season-opening injured reserve.

One More Year: Still with Los Angeles, Kings head coach Todd McLellan was heading into the final year of his contract.  Teams don’t typically like to have their bench bosses in their ‘lame duck’ season so they worked out a one-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2024-25.  The veteran has been behind the bench for 290 games with Los Angeles with his team posting a 141-115-34 record.  However, the team hasn’t won a playoff series with him at the helm.  This extension allows for any possible distraction to go away but it stands to reason that with the summer they had, simply making the postseason is no longer the bare minimum so even with a new deal in hand, the pressure will be on McLellan this year.

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The preseason is underway so activity across the NHL should start to pick up in the near future.  There was some news of note before the puck dropped which is recapped in our key stories.

New Captains: Two of the eight teams that had been without a captain filled that vacancy over the past few days.  The Bruins promoted Brad Marchand to the role as expected, becoming the 27th captain in team history.  He’s set to enter his 15th season with the team and is the longest-tenured player in the organization following the retirement of Patrice Bergeron.  Meanwhile, Brayden Schenn was named the new captain in St. Louis, taking the place of Ryan O’Reilly who was traded before the deadline last season.  Schenn is heading into his seventh season with the Blues and is the 24th captain in club history.

Stamkos Not Happy: Speaking of captains, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible for an extension.  However, he noted that there have yet to be discussions on that front and that he’s not particularly happy about being in this situation knowing how often Tampa Bay has extended its players early.  GM Julien BriseBois indicated he wants to see how this season plays out before deciding on Stamkos’ future with the club.  The 33-year-old has spent his entire 15-year career with the Lightning after being the first-overall pick in 2008 and he has fared quite well, notching over 500 goals in 1,003 games and has surpassed the point-per-game mark in six of the last seven seasons.

Canucks/Canadiens Swap: With Tanner Pearson being cleared to come off LTIR, Vancouver needed to trim some payroll.  They did just that, sending Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick to Montreal in exchange for goaltender Casey DeSmith.  The deal saves Vancouver $1.45MM in cap space for the upcoming season (more if you factor in the savings from their original projected backup going to the minors) while upgrading Thatcher Demko’s backup option.  Meanwhile, Montreal continues to stockpile draft picks and now has an extra selection in each of the first four rounds in 2025.  They will likely look to try to build up Pearson’s value during the season if he can stay healthy in the hope of flipping him closer to the trade deadline.

Fleury Undecided About Playing Future: Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is set to play his 20th NHL season in 2023-24.  Will it be his last year?  He hasn’t decided just yet, stating that he will play out the year and then assess his future.  The 38-year-old made 45 starts last season but is likely heading for a lighter workload with Filip Gustavsson emerging as a strong performer last year.  Fleury enters this season just 15 games shy of 1,000 for his career, a mark that only three other netminders have hit.  He’s also seven wins shy of passing Patrick Roy for second all-time in victories.  Both of those marks are definitely achievable this season and if it winds up being his final campaign, it’d be a nice way to cap his career.

Talks Not Going Well: This is the time when unsigned restricted free agents start to become more notable as most have signed by training camps.  There are four remaining league-wide, two of them in Anaheim – center Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale.  It appears as if the sides are not close on new deals although it’s believed Zegras and Anaheim have settled on a three-year term, leaving just the money to haggle over.  Considering that Drysdale missed most of last season due to injury, he’s almost certainly heading for a bridge deal as well.  Cap space isn’t an issue for the Ducks as no team has more of it at the moment so that certainly isn’t a factor in talks.  There’s still time for both players to sign and be ready for the regular season which will be the next pressure point of discussions.

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With training camps now less than a week away, there was a bit of an uptick in activity around the NHL.  As always, we recap the biggest news in our key stories.

Third Time’s A Charm? Things didn’t go particularly well the first two times the NHL set up shop in Atlanta.  Despite that, the league appears to be open to the idea of giving that market another opportunity should they decide to expand beyond 32 teams.  Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly feels that the demographics in Atlanta have changed enough since the Thrashers left in 2011 and that a better-placed arena could give that market an opportunity to succeed the next time around.  Despite this, expansion isn’t believed to be at the top of the priority list for the league right now but when the time comes, it might be a familiar city that gets another chance.

Latest Round Of PTOs: As expected, there was another sizable batch of veteran players accepting training camp tryout offers in the hopes of eventually landing a guaranteed contract for the upcoming season.  Adam Erne will look to catch on with Edmonton while Zach Aston-Reese is one of many tryouts in Carolina.  The Ritchie brothers inked tryout agreements on the same day; Nick Ritchie is heading to St. Louis while Brett Ritchie will look to crack Florida’s roster.  Josh Bailey was linked to Ottawa earlier this summer and is indeed now taking part in their camp while defenseman Olli Juolevi is one of many players getting an opportunity with Arizona.  Dozens of PTOs have been signed around the league and there are still more to come.

Tatar To Colorado: It was a busy summer for Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland as he had already brought in five new forwards to his group.  Make that six now as Colorado signed winger Tomas Tatar to a one-year, $1.5MM deal.  It’s a considerable pay cut for the 32-year-old who made $4.5MM in each of the last two years and $5.3MM for the four before that.  Tatar is actually coming off a pretty good season in New Jersey, one that saw him record 20 goals and 28 assists although he struggled considerably in the playoffs, managing just a single point in 12 games.  Tatar adds to what should be an interesting battle on the left side in training camp with Gabriel Landeskog out for the regular season (but returning for the playoffs is a possibility).

Wright AHL-Eligible: It was looking like Kraken center Shane Wright was going to be facing another year of either playing in the NHL or returning to major junior.  However, that’s no longer the case as the NHL and OHL has granted Wright an exemption that allows him to suit up with AHL Coachella Valley this season if Seattle elects to send him down.  CHL players are typically ineligible to play in the minors unless they are 20 years old on or before December 31st and Wright doesn’t turn 20 until January 5th.  The other way to get out of that situation is to play four CHL seasons.  Wright wasn’t able to do so as the OHL didn’t play at all in the 2020-21 campaign.  However, they’ve basically decided that since he would have done so had the league taken to the ice, they’ll grant him the year of service time, enabling him to become AHL-eligible this season.  That’s an ideal outcome for one of Seattle’s top prospects.

Coaching Change In Columbus: Mike Babcock’s tenure as head coach in Columbus is already over before he stepped behind the bench for a single game.  Following a joint NHL/NHLPA investigation spurred by allegations that Babcock asked to view phones and/or photographs of several Blue Jackets players, it was mutually decided that Babcock would resign.  Babcock had been out of the league since 2019 and after what transpired here, it would be surprising to see him back behind an NHL bench.  Meanwhile, Columbus has looked to an internal candidate to take over, promoting associate coach Pascal Vincent to the top job while giving him a new two-year deal.  Vincent has seven years of NHL coaching experience between Columbus and Winnipeg but this will be his first time as the head coach at the top level.

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The first full week of September is in the books and with training camps fast approaching, there was some news of note around the hockey world which is recapped in our top stories.

More Tryouts: The month of September can be colloquially thought of as PTO season as unsigned players look to catch on before camps start.  Last week, several veterans inked tryout deals and several more did so over the past seven days.  Among those with recent NHL experience, Danton Heinen will look to have a second go-round with Boston while Ryan Dzingel will try to do the same with Arizona. Noah Gregor is hoping to catch on with Toronto, Saku Maenalanen is the latest to join Colorado’s camp, while Colin White will be heading to a very crowded forward battle in Pittsburgh.  Quite a few more tryouts are expected to be coming over the next week or two.

Late Moves For Tampa Bay: The Lightning thought they had filled a spot on their fourth line early in free agency when they signed winger Josh Archibald to a two-year deal.  However, after he informed the team that he no longer intends to play this season, Tampa Bay elected to terminate his contract.  They quickly found a replacement though, inking Tyler Motte to a one-year deal worth the same $800K that they were set to pay Archibald.  It could be argued that the moves work out to a net upgrade for the Lightning with Motte being a bit younger and having a slightly better track record of production.

Eight For Sanderson: The Senators haven’t shied away from extending their core players early.  They’ve elected to do so once more, signing defenseman Jake Sanderson to an eight-year, $64.4MM extension that will begin in the 2024-25 season.  The deal buys out Sanderson’s five remaining RFA years plus three seasons of UFA eligibility.  The 21-year-old had a strong rookie year last season, collecting 32 points in 77 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night.  This deal will make Sanderson, the fifth-overall pick in 2020, Ottawa’s highest-paid defenseman as it checks in just ahead of Thomas Chabot.  Ottawa’s young core consisting of Sanderson, Chabot, Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and Josh Norris, are all signed through at least the 2027-28 campaign.

Off-Ice Moves: After handing out extensions to Arizona’s coaching staff, it was GM Bill Armstrong’s turn to receive one as well as he inked an agreement that will keep him in charge of the Coyotes through the 2028-29 season.  Armstrong has been at the helm for four seasons now, embarking on a full-scale rebuild.  This deal means he’ll be the one to take them out of it down the road.  Meanwhile, Bruce Boudreau has a new job but not with an NHL team.  Instead, he has joined Niagara of the OHL as a Senior Advisor.  Boudreau ranks 21st all-time in NHL games coached and wins and it remains to be seen if he’ll one day get a chance to add to those numbers.  Lastly, after not being with a team last season, Doug Wilson is back in an NHL front office as he was hired by Pittsburgh as a Senior Advisor.  He spent over 25 years on San Jose’s management team and will now serve as a member of Kyle Dubas’ new-look front office.

Second Bridge For Frost: With Philadelphia’s cap situation, the only way they could afford to re-sign Morgan Frost was with another short-term bridge contract.  The two sides have now agreed on one as he signed a two-year, $4.2MM deal.  The 24-year-old had a career year last season, notching 19 goals and 27 assists in 81 games, providing quite a nice return on a one-year, $800K deal.  The move gives the Flyers a chance to evaluate if he’s indeed a long-term piece of the puzzle.  If he is, they’ll owe him a $2.4MM qualifying offer in 2025.

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The calendar has turned to September and training camps are now on the horizon.  While many teams are enjoying the last bit of their summers, there was some news of note around the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

PTO Season: At this point of the summer, there are generally more players landing tryout agreements compared to full contracts.  With that in mind, several veterans found PTOs to give them a chance to take part in training camps.  Sam Gagner will look to earn a third opportunity with Edmonton and extend his 16-year career.  Other forwards of some significance catching on with teams are Joel Kiviranta (Colorado), Zack Kassian (Anaheim), and Max Comtois (Vegas).  Meanwhile, on the back end, Jordie Benn is hoping to have a second stint with his brother in Dallas while Pittsburgh is bringing in a pair of blueliners in Libor Hajek and Mark Pysyk.  Expect the number of PTO agreements to continue to go up in the coming days.

Fedotov Plays In Russia: The Ivan Fedotov saga has taken another turn.  Last month, the IIHF ruled that the contract the Flyers have with the netminder is the valid one, a ruling that the KHL and CSKA Moscow clearly disagree with as in their season opener, Fedotov was between the pipes in direct violation of their ruling.  The IIHF has now referred Fedotov to the disciplinary board and fined the Russian Hockey Federation but neither of those actions are likely going to change the situation.  Clearly, there is more to come on this particular file.

Hanging Them Up: Veteran winger Carl Hagelin has called it a career at the age of 35 as he announced his retirement.  His contract with Washington expired this summer and he wound up missing the entire 2022-23 campaign due to an eye injury along with a hip issue.  Hagelin had hoped to come back this season but in his announcement, he indicated that the eye injury is too severe to keep playing.  His career spanned 713 regular season games over 11 seasons where his speed and defensive ability made him an effective two-way winger that also chipped in with 296 points.  Hagelin also took home a pair of Stanley Cup titles with Pittsburgh in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, his first two years with them.

Extension For Keefe: While Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving didn’t hire head coach Sheldon Keefe, he decided that he likes what he’s seen from him as Toronto handed their bench boss a two-year extension.  Keefe was set to enter the final year of his contract so this move takes any possibility of his contractual situation being a distraction.  The Leafs have had plenty of regular season success with Keefe behind the bench, posting a 166-71-30 regular-season record in 267 games.  However, they’ve only won one playoff series in that stretch, that coming this past postseason in a six-game victory over Tampa Bay.

Kessel Not Worried About Ironman Streak: When Keith Yandle was nearing the end of his career, there was some pressure from teammates to keep him in the lineup to continue his ironman streak, one that eventually came to an end.  Phil Kessel is in a similar situation; while he played all 82 games last season to bring the streak to 1,064, he was a frequent scratch in the playoffs.  At this point, his best spot might be as a part-timer.  To that end, Kessel indicated that he’s not concerned about extending the streak in the hopes that doing so will increase his chances of landing a guaranteed deal for the upcoming season.  The 35-year-old was still relatively productive last year, picking up 36 points despite logging less than 13 minutes a night and is one of the more notable veterans still unsigned.

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The final full week of August is in the books and with training camps now just a few weeks away, there was some important news around the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Bridge Deals: A pair of core young players signed short-term contracts, reducing the number of remaining restricted free agents to nine.  The Rangers inked Alexis Lafreniere to a two-year, $4.65MM deal which carries a $2.65MM qualifying offer in 2025.  The 2020 first-overall pick posted career bests in assists (23) and points (39) last season but three years into his career, it’s fair to say New York was expecting more.  This gives both sides more time to see if he can become the top liner they were hoping for.  Meanwhile, the Oilers agreed to a two-year, $7.8MM pact with blueliner Evan Bouchard which carries a $4.3MM qualifier in 2025.

Eight For Hagel: In a move that might be fair to call as a surprise, the Lightning signed winger Brandon Hagel to an eight-year, $52MM extension which will begin in the 2024-25 campaign.  The AAV of this contract ($6.5MM) is worth more than four times his current $1.5MM AAV.  The 25-year-old had a breakout year in 2021-22, prompting the Lightning to trade a pair of first-round picks to acquire him.  Last season, he took another big step forward, notching career highs in goals (30), assists (34), points (64), and ATOI (18:39).  Tampa Bay is certainly banking that this type of production will be the new norm for Hagel who now will be part of their long-term future.

Record-Setting Deal For Matthews: Auston Matthews made it clear that he wanted to sign a new contract with Toronto and did just that as the two sides worked out a four-year, $53MM extension that begins in 2024-25.  The $13.25MM AAV is the highest in NHL history, surpassing Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6MM mark.  Matthews is coming off a quiet year by his standards but still picked up 40 goals and 45 assists in 74 games last season, marking the fifth straight campaign that he has averaged more than a point per game.  The 25-year-old has a pair of Rocket Richard trophies as the NHL’s leading goal-getter and is a true franchise center for the Maple Leafs.  Notably, the contract is almost completely paid by performance bonuses so if the minimum salary across the NHL by the end of this agreement is higher than $900K, Matthews could wind up with a bit more money and a higher cap hit before all is said and done before getting another shot at a big-ticket contract at 31.

No Extension For Pettersson: While Hagel and Matthews signed early extensions, one player who won’t be doing so is Canucks center Elias Pettersson.  Instead, he revealed that he doesn’t want any stress around the idea of in-season negotiations while his agent Pat Brisson stated that the decision to hold off allows both sides to evaluate before restarting discussions next spring.  The 24-year-old is coming off a career season that saw him surpass the 100-point mark for the first time, the first time he has ever surpassed the point-per-game mark.  At this point, an extension for Pettersson was likely to land somewhere in the $10MM to $10.5MM range; that number would certainly be higher if he can put up another campaign like his 2022-23 performance.

Hanging Them Up: Veteran goaltender Jonathan Bernier has officially called it a career at the age of 35.  The 2006 first-round pick (11th overall) wasn’t quite able to become a true franchise netminder but still carved out a quality career for himself, playing in more than 404 games over 14 NHL seasons while posting a 2.78 GAA along with a .912 SV%.  Unfortunately, Bernier’s playing days ended back in the 2021-22 campaign as he missed the majority of that season and all of this past one due to a hip injury.  Meanwhile, free agent winger Joonas Donskoi also hung up his skates at the age of 31 after missing all of last season with a concussion.  He suited up in seven NHL seasons with three different organizations and was a capable secondary scorer, collecting 208 points in 474 career appearances.

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