Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames
Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We start our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Flames.
Key Restricted Free Agents
John Beecher – The Flames don’t have any key NHL players set to become restricted free agents, in part thanks to the $7.5MM AAV extension they signed with No. 1 goalie Dustin Wolf. That deal kicks in on July 1. As a result, Beecher is the Flames RFA with the most NHL experience, though it’d be difficult to call him a key player by any means.
The Flames claimed Beecher, 25, off of waivers from the Boston Bruins in the middle of November. The speedy forward looked to have established himself in the NHL in 2024-25, playing in a career-high 78 games. But the Bruins team Beecher played those games for that season was an uncharacteristically weak one, and this past campaign, he lost his role as a lineup regular under new head coach Marco Sturm.
Calgary was likely intrigued by the traits in Beecher’s game that made him a first-round pick by the Bruins: he possesses a coveted combination of size (6’3″ 220 pounds) and speed, while also being able to play the center position.
That speed has allowed Beecher to carve out a spot in both Boston and Calgary’s penalty-kill rotations, but he hasn’t been able to make a more well-rounded impact on either team he’s played for.
He was not a top scorer in the AHL for the Providence Bruins, nor in college for the Michigan Wolverines, and has produced just 28 points in 165 career NHL games.
Despite the pace in his game, it’s unlikely Beecher will ever be much of a point producer. The key question is whether he’ll be able to leverage his skating and size to carve out a lengthy career as a fourth-line player with valuable penalty-kill utility. He has shown some flashes of potential to become that kind of player, but hasn’t been able to do so with much consistency.
The Flames could bring Beecher back at a relatively affordable price. He cost $900K this past season, and would need to receive a one-way deal for next year. The main complicating factor at play here is Beecher’s right to pursue arbitration, which could give the Flames some pause if they’re not certain Beecher is a part of their plans for next season’s team.
Brennan Othmann – Like Beecher, Othmann is a first-round pick by an original six franchise who thus far hasn’t been able to carve out a meaningful long-term role in an NHL lineup. Othmann is a few years younger than Beecher and therefore doesn’t have as much NHL experience, though he is a considerably more advanced player at the AHL level. The 23-year-old scored 21 goals and 49 points as an AHL rookie with the 2023-24 Hartford Wolf Pack, and has maintained a solid scoring clip at the AHL level, even as he’s struggled in call-ups to the NHL.
A skilled winger who has some valuable pest-like elements to his game, Othmann hasn’t been able to translate any of his scoring from the AHL and OHL to the NHL level. He was traded to Calgary at the deadline for 2024 second-rounder Jacob Battaglia, but managed just seven points in 14 AHL games after the trade. He did score a goal and an assist in two games for the Flames after the deal, but that is just two games.
With his entry-level deal now concluded, it’ll be interesting to see how the Flames value Othmann. It’s not unreasonable by any stretch to believe he still has NHL potential, but his star as a prospect has faded. A one-year, two-way deal likely makes the most sense here, one with the kind of solid AHL salary merited by the level of production Othmann has put forward in his minor-league career so far.
Rory Kerins – Kerins, 24, has been a real developmental success story for the Flames as a 2020 sixth-round pick. The 5’10”, 175-pound center was one of the OHL’s best players in 2021-22, scoring 43 goals and 118 points in 67 games. That raised expectations for what he might be able to do as a professional, but he ended up spending his debut pro campaign in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush, scoring 37 points in 38 games.
In 2023-24, after that one year in the ECHL, Kerins quickly became an impactful AHLer. He scored 16 goals and 32 points that year, but the real breakout was to come a year later. In 2024-25, Kerins scored 33 goals and 61 points in 63 games, production that made him an AHL All-Star. This past season, Kerins showed that year wasn’t any fluke, scoring 22 goals and 57 points in 56 games.
The question for Kerins is whether he’ll top out as a high-end AHL scorer, or if he has something to give at the NHL level. His most recent contract was a one-year, two-way deal containing a guarantee of $125K. Without question, he’s earned a raise off that number for next season in the AHL.
Other RFAs: F Carter King, F Parker Bell, F Lucas Ciona, F Sam Morton, D Gavin White, D Artem Grushnikov, G Owen Say
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
Ryan Lomberg – After winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024, Lomberg cashed in on his status as a fan-favorite agitator playing on the league’s best team. He signed a two-year, $2MM AAV deal with the Flames, a solid contract for a player with a career-high of just 20 points. 
With the Flames, Lomberg has been as advertised: a low-scoring fourth-line winger who punches above his weight, plays with energy and physicality, and tries his best to get under the skin of opponents.
A player of Lomberg’s skillset is often held as most valuable in the playoffs, meaning Lomberg’s talents didn’t feel quite as meaningful playing on a rebuilding Flames team.
With that said, the experience Lomberg was able to provide to a young team full of developing prospects still held real value, even if he wasn’t able to produce nearly as much as the 12 goals and 20 points he put forward in 2022-23. He’d be an in-demand bottom-sixer on the open market.
Back in February, Lomberg made his desire to remain in Calgary very clear. He told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis:
This is where I want to be. I’ve been pretty vocal on how much I love the city, and the people, and the organization. I want to win here. My family and I love it here, and we’re extremely proud to be part of the organization and a big part of the community. I signed here with the intention of helping this team win, and being part of the solution. So that’s definitely how I would like it to stay.
The Flames certainly have the financial bandwidth to match any bid for Lomberg, but the question will be whether the team has interest in retaining the 31-year-old or if they’re eager to turn over the role he occupies to a younger player.
Victor Olofsson – Cast off by the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Nazem Kadri trade deadline deal, Olofsson has only played in 18 games for the Flames, and his time in Calgary could very well end there. Olofsson has always been something of an enigmatic player, a clearly talented sniper whose inconsistency has kept him from holding down a permanent role on any NHL team.
A two-time 20-goal scorer during his days with the Buffalo Sabres, Olofsson scored 13 goals and 31 points in 78 games across stints with Calgary and Colorado in 2025-26. The year before, he scored 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games for the Vegas Golden Knights.
While there is likely still a place for Olofsson in the NHL, it may not be in Calgary. Making the most of Olofsson on an NHL roster means giving him an offensive role with at least second-unit power play time. As the Flames look to develop as much long-term value as possible on their roster, there may be more to gain by giving a young player the opportunity to play that role, rather than reserving it for Olofsson.
Daniil Miromanov – In the immediate aftermath of when the Flames acquired Miromanov from the Golden Knights as part of the Noah Hanifin trade, there was some optimism that he could end up becoming a real steal for Calgary. He seemed to instantly elevate his game. He played in only four contests in Vegas, but got time in the NHL with the Flames down the stretch in 2024. In 20 games for the Flames, he averaged 21:15 time on ice per game, including 2:05 per game on the power play. He managed a solid seven points in 20 games, and signed a two-year, $1.25MM AAV extension.
That performance, and contract, earned Miromanov an NHL spot for the next season. But Miromanov wasn’t able to resume his role from late the season before, instead serving as a frequent healthy scratch. He only got into 44 games in 2024-25, and averaged 17:40 time on ice per game, almost entirely at even strength.
This past season, Miromanov’s decline in terms of role has only hastened. Despite Calgary’s decisions to trade away veteran talent from its defense, Miromanov wasn’t able to seize on the minutes vacated by MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson. Instead, he spent almost all of 2025-26 in the AHL, playing in just a single game at the NHL level. While nothing has been set in stone, there is every indication that Miromanov has already played his final game in Calgary.
Jake Bean – Bean, 27, has had a disappointing two-year stint with the Flames. In his first season in Calgary, he averaged just 15:05 time on ice per game, and scored just seven points in 64 contests. He wasn’t able to take a step forward in the NHL despite looking like a future top-four defenseman earlier in his career.
This past season, Bean was limited to just 16 games. He underwent surgery in December as the result of an undisclosed injury. A fresh start could be what is best for both Bean and the Flames.
Other UFAs: F Justin Kirkland, F Clark Bishop, D Nick Cicek, G Ivan Prosvetov
Projected Cap Space
The Flames enter next season with a little over $18MM in projected cap space. While that may seem surprisingly low for a team in the midst of a full-on rebuild, that’s simply because greater financial freedom is just on the horizon. The Flames project to have over $51.5MM in cap space for 2027-28, and $83.5MM for 2028-29. But even that $18MM figure should be more than enough for the team to be able to not only comfortably retain all of their pending free agents, but also have some spending money for free agency if that’s a route they want to take.
They’ll also have the flexibility to be able to take on sub-optimal contracts in exchange for draft picks, though the market for those kinds of deals is sure to be less robust than it was during the days of the flat salary cap. In any case, Calgary will have significant financial flexibility in the year to come, especially on their back-end. Calgary’s highest-paid defenseman is Kevin Bahl at $5.35MM, and no other Flames blueliner even reaches $4MM in cap hit.
Photos courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images, Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Free Agent Focus: Buffalo Sabres
Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Sabres.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Zach Benson – A feisty winger who already has 211 games under his belt having just turned 21, Benson’s imprints were all over Buffalo’s playoff run, tying for team lead with five goals in 13 games and nine points overall. The former 13th overall pick took another step ahead with 43 points in 65 games, getting real top line usage with the stakes at their highest this spring. Having other business to tend to, there’s a possibility of a bridge deal somewhere under $5MM, but if Buffalo is serious about locking things up now, Benson would command closer to $7MM on a contract which would shoot him right up among Tage Thompson and Joshua Norris as the club’s biggest ticket forwards. Such a commitment would have implications on their unrestricted free agent strategy, outlined below, but the sooner Benson is taken care of, the better. GM Jarmo Kekäläinen already referred to him as a “core piece” who they’re looking to reward with a long term deal.
F Peyton Krebs – Acquired as a prospect with higher end potential, Krebs is now 25, a valuable role player to the team but with questions on his long term future in Buffalo. The former Golden Knights first-round pick set a career high with 39 points, reaping the benefits of a top six role at times due to injuries, part of his campaign filling a variety of roles. Still, Krebs was scoreless in the Montreal series, not the only former Golden Knight to do that. Likely to command a contract at least doubling his current $1.45MM AAV, the Sabres will have to make some difficult decisions with cap constraints, and it makes one wonder if Krebs could emerge in trade talks. If Kekäläinen retains both him and Benson, they’d need to prepare for their second leading goal scorer to walk away, a name who comes up shortly.
D Michael Kesselring – Battling injuries throughout the campaign, the 6’5″ defender skated in just 34 games, a step down from all 82 with Utah last season. He also was unable to contribute offensively, posting just two helpers, versus 29 points put up in the Mammoth’s inaugural season. A key piece in the JJ Peterka trade, the 26-year-old struggled to find a role with the Sabres with ice time cut down over four minutes, despite being a righty, a natural fit into their lineup. While dealing Krebs would be an unfortunate result of the numbers game, Kesselring makes more sense to land on the block, both based on cap limitations and on-ice contribution. Plenty of teams would have interest in the South Carolina native, eyeing a return to his production with the Mammoth organization. Either way, a short-term agreement hovering around the $2.75MM range is realistic.
Other RFAs: D Zachary Jones, F Olivier Nadeau, D Isaac Belliveau, D Nikita Novikov
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Alex Tuch – Widely thought to be the best forward to hit the market, Tuch remains standing in a free agent class which has gotten thinner with each passing month. After five seasons with Buffalo, three of which he surpassed the 30-goal mark, the winger went cold in the Montreal series failing to record a point. Not the ending he wanted after helping lead the Sabres to new heights, it’s Buffalo who may be more hesitant to fork over a king’s ransom to keep him, as opposed to undeterred suitors who’d have no problem offering a long-term deal with an AAV around $10MM. Expected to circle back in the coming weeks before July rolls around, there’s reason for a resolution, as a Syracuse native who grew up a fan of the team. Yet needing to lock up Benson, the Sabres would have to shed a salary such as Jordan Greenway‘s $4MM. Even then, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tuch’s value in a deserted free agent class is just too much, leaving him with ample options for a huge payday.
D Logan Stanley – A lefty whose on-ice play is sometimes not so kind from the eye test, the Sabres surrendered meaningful assets to acquire Stanley due to his frame at 6’7″, 231 lbs, and mean streak, which are coveted in today’s game. As the 28-year-old former first-round selection enters free agency, that will continue to be the case. Starting 65% of his work in the defensive zone as a Sabre, far ahead from anything he saw in Winnipeg, Stanley came away with an impressive 51.3% corsi for at five-on-five. Having a glut of left-handers on the back end, naturally there’s questions on his fit, but that didn’t stop Buffalo from seeking him out at the trade deadline. Projected by AFP Analytics to fetch a two year contract worth just under $3MM per season, Buffalo could feasibly bring him back to fill a need physically, but Stanley’s steady play in the postseason would reward him on the open market, predictably more than the Sabres have to offer.
D Luke Schenn – The second piece coming back in the Winnipeg deal, Schenn’s on-ice contributions in Buffalo were minimal, making just four appearances closing out the regular season, and two more in the playoffs, where he averaged 7:33 of ice time against Montreal. At this point the 36-year-old is largely valued for leadership. As a veteran of 10 NHL clubs to this point, he’s no stranger to moving around in the off-season either. Any future for Schenn would be as a continued seventh defenseman on a one-year contract around $1MM. However, with Zach Metsa in the fold, along with Conor Timmins who especially makes him redundant, the Saskatchewan native will likely be searching for a new home to put the finishing touches on a career which has spanned over 1,100 games and two Stanley Cups.
F Beck Malenstyn – Acquired for a second round pick from Washington two years ago, the winger is the exact type of player whose work ethic has helped Buffalo turn the corner. A relentless forechecker and penalty killer, Malenstyn played in all but one regular season game, recording 14 points. He was a constant presence in the playoffs also, skating in all 13 games and scoring a goal to help give the Sabres a 3-1 series lead over Boston. During the Montreal series, the British Columbia native caught a skate to the hand on the penalty kill, but still cleared the zone and finished his shift while wounded. Many teams would love to staple the 28-year-old to their fourth line, so the Sabres should be prepared to offer at least a $1 million raise from his current $1.35MM cap hit. Assuming at least one of their acquisitions from Winnipeg above are not brought back, there should be no issue in affording such an offer.
Other UFAs: F Joshua Dunne, F Tanner Pearson, F Jake Leschyshyn, D Gavin Bayreuther, F Trevor Kuntar (Group 6)
Projected Cap Space
The Sabres enter this summer with just under $13MM in cap space. Taking care of Benson, along with their other restricted free agents, will quickly dissolve anything left to match what Tuch would be offered on July 1, not to mention addressing the hypothetical losses of Stanley and Schenn on the back end. A point Buffalo fans are already tired of hearing about, unfortunately Jeff Skinner‘s $6.44MM buyout charge is a huge factor this offseason. Finally having assembled the right pieces on their roster, now it’s about keeping together as much of the core as they can. If there’s any chance Tuch is back in blue and gold next year, they’ll have to find the space by trading another forward away. No doubt a difficult situation for Kekäläinen to navigate, the dilemma of keeping a playoff team together is one the Sabres only wished they had over the last decade.
Photo courtesy of Winslow Townson-Imagn Images (Benson). Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.
Offseason Checklist: New York Islanders
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Islanders.
It has been a busy first year for GM Mathieu Darche. He traded away his top defenseman at the time on draft day and added a new franchise defender that same night. He made some in-season trades to try to help his team make a second-half push for the playoffs. Then, he made a big late-season coaching change in a last-ditch effort to help them get in with Peter DeBoer taking over for Patrick Roy. The start to his second year shouldn’t be as busy but he has some work to do roster-wise over the offseason.
Add Goaltending Insurance
While the Islanders were hoping that Semyon Varlamov would be able to return at some point during the season after undergoing a pair of replacement knee surgeries, they knew they’d need some insurance. With that in mind, they brought in David Rittich who wound up as a full-timer on New York’s roster. Varlamov, meanwhile, was able to return after the season, getting into two games on an LTIR conditioning loan with AHL Bridgeport.
At this point, the hope is that Varlamov will be ready to be Ilya Sorokin’s backup next season. Now healthy, he should be able to get a full offseason of training in and, while he’ll certainly be rusty, he should be available at the start of training camp.
But hope alone isn’t a viable or prudent strategy. Varlamov has played a total of 12 games combined over the past two seasons and hasn’t played in an NHL game since November 2024. They can hope that Varlamov returns to form and gives them 25 or so starts but there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to do so. Meanwhile, they don’t have a trusted third goalie in their system at the moment. The only other goalie signed for next season is recent college free agent signing Josh Kotai, and he’s not NHL-ready by any stretch.
At a minimum, adding another Rittich-like goaltender who could be a third-string option in a perfect world but a capable backup if called upon. If they’re worried about waivers, they may have to carry three netminders for a while. Depending on what happens there, they may need a veteran starter for AHL Hamilton as well, one who could be called up in a pinch. Sorokin gives them a great foundation between the pipes but the supporting cast needs to be added to in the coming weeks.
Determine Lee’s Future
Back in 2019, captain Anders Lee was slated to hit the open market. It looked like he was ultimately going to go to free agency but former GM Lou Lamoriello signed him on the opening day of free agency to a seven-year, $49MM deal. While his role now is certainly different compared to back then, the winger now finds himself a little more than a month away from being eligible to test free agency once again.
The 35-year-old has never been a high-end point producer, with his personal best being 62, set back in the 2017-18 campaign. However, he has been a steady scorer, notching at least 20 goals in eight of the last ten seasons. This season was one of the exceptions but he still managed 19, suggesting the big falloff in production hasn’t happened yet.
Although Lee is more of a middle-six forward than a top liner at this stage of his career, he’s set to benefit from a thin UFA class. While he certainly won’t come close to another seven-year deal at this stage of his career, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking if his AAV came in fairly close to this now-expiring contract. For example, AFP Analytics projects that a three-year deal for Lee would check in at a little over $6.6MM per season. That would certainly carry some risk for a player coming off a 42-point campaign but there’s also a wide expectation of some sticker shock on UFA contracts this summer. Alternatively, Lee could sign a one-year deal that makes him eligible for performance bonuses, giving the signing team a bit more cap flexibility.
Will the Islanders be that signing team? Darche would likely prefer to keep his captain around but he also needs to make some changes to a group that missed the playoffs and also try to get a bit more speed up front. But if he can keep Lee in the fold and shake the team up elsewhere, that might be his Plan A. We’ll see in the next five weeks or so if that plan works out.
Open Up Cap Space
To try to give his team some boosts, Darche added a pair of pricey contracts up front. First, they brought in Ondrej Palat from the Devils to help try to backfill Kyle Palmieri’s season-ending injury. Then, at the trade deadline, they paid a high price to add Brayden Schenn from St. Louis. In doing so, they took on an extra $12.5MM in spending for next season. They also went deep into LTIR to do so, meaning that the $3.5MM in bonuses Matthew Schaefer earned will all count against the books in 2026-27.
As a result, the Isles enter the summer with around $12.5MM in cap room, per PuckPedia. If they want to re-sign Lee, bring in goalie insurance, and likely a depth defender or two with Carson Soucy and Adam Boqvist set to hit the open market, they’ll basically be out of money at that point. While Pierre Engvall could wind up staying on LTIR, that’s not enough to move the needle in terms of giving them flexibility. And if he is cleared to return, waiving and sending him to the minors would only create $1.225MM in room.
There are some potential change-of-scenery candidates, especially up front. Anthony Duclair simply hasn’t fit in over his first two seasons but now that there are only two years left on his deal (at a $3.5MM price tag), they might be able to offload that contract for cap flexibility. With Palat not faring particularly well following the swap, moving the final year of his deal would require paying down part (if not the maximum of 50%) of it, he’s a potentially viable candidate. Max Shabanov, a pending RFA, could potentially be flipped with an eye on replacing his back-end roster spot with someone making closer to the minimum salary.
Simply making one of these moves wouldn’t be enough to bring in anyone of consequence, assuming that Lee ultimately re-signs. But if they can move out a couple of their higher-paid surplus depth pieces, they might be able to try to make an addition of consequence.
Add More Scoring
That addition of consequence, if they’re able to afford one, needs to come up front. This is a team that has had trouble scoring for a while now. The last time they were above-average in the goals scored department was back in 2017-18, when they finished seventh overall. Five players from that team are still with the Isles, one of them being Lee (a pending UFA) and three more being defensemen. Since then, they have been outside the top 20 in the goals scored department.
They upped their 2024-25 total by seven goals this season, bringing them to 229, or 2.79 per game, good for 25th in the league. Another incremental gain would certainly help but if they want to become more than just a bubble Wild Card team, they’re going to need to aim higher.
New York had two forwards surpass the 50-point mark this season, Mathew Barzal (the other 2017-18 holdover) and Bo Horvat. Lee was next at 42 and he may or may not be back. It’s fair to say that there’s a definitive need for a top-six forward (or two, or three, potentially). Of course, they’re probably not going to be able to afford to add multiple top-six forwards but even one would be a big addition.
In terms of trying to shore up their depth scoring, they could look internally. Victor Eklund made his NHL debut at the end of the season and might not be too far away from being ready for an extended audition. If he could be even a secondary contributor while Darche finds a way to add another decent scoring threat, that could go a long way toward getting them back into the top 20 in the goals department, bolstering their playoff hopes in the process.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: New Jersey Devils
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at New Jersey.
It’s safe to say this season didn’t go as planned for the Devils. Believed to be a team primed for a bounce-back year, it ultimately didn’t happen. As a result, there’s a new GM in town as Sunny Mehta has taken over from Tom Fitzgerald. Mehta has elected to keep head coach Sheldon Keefe around, taking one big item off their checklist. Here are some other things they’ll likely be looking to go over the coming months.
Decide Nemec’s Future
Things have gone well for two of the top three picks from 2022. Juraj Slafkovsky, the top pick, has become a top-line winger in Montreal while third-overall selection Logan Cooley looks like a fixture in Utah’s lineup for the long haul. But things haven’t gone as well for the blueliner selected between those two, Simon Nemec.
After getting into 60 games as a rookie in 2023-24 while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night of playing time, it looked like Nemec had made it. But things went in the wrong direction the following year, resulting in him spending more time in the minors than in the NHL. He became a full-timer on the roster this season and returned to his rookie-season usage while chipping in with 26 points in 68 games. That’s a step in the right direction, no doubt, but is he on his way to being a core piece like the other two?
The answer to that is uncertain, which is also an apt way to describe his situation in New Jersey. Nemec is a pending restricted free agent and with the rapid escalation of salaries, it’s fair to say he’ll be eyeing a significant raise from the $855K base salary he had this season. Potentially anticipating a tough negotiation, Fitzgerald was listening to calls on the youngster at the trade deadline with no deal coming to fruition. Nemec, meanwhile, had expressed frustration about his role in the past with recent conflicting reports suggesting that he might still be unhappy with his situation.
With how things went up and down on his rookie deal, it’s hard to see both sides agreeing on a long-term contract at a cap hit that’s comfortable for everyone. A bridge deal makes sense; AFP Analytics pegs a two-year bridge deal checking in around $4.4MM per season which is still on the higher side for someone who wasn’t a regular not that long ago. But, in this cap environment, some of these future bridge contracts are going to be on the high side.
If Mehta isn’t sold on Nemec’s upside or they’re too far apart in contract talks, a trade could still be on the horizon. A 22-year-old high pick who’s a right-shot defenseman is bound to have considerable trade value and he’d undoubtedly yield a strong return. Is that more valuable to the Devils than what they believe Nemec will be able to provide? They need to decide the answer to that this offseason.
Work On Hischier Extension
When Nico Hischier signed a seven-year, $50.75MM extension after his sophomore year in 2018-19, the move seemed a little risky. The salary cap was much lower back then, bypassing bridge contracts wasn’t as widely common as it is now, and a 47-point showing in his sophomore year wasn’t necessarily screaming ‘big contract’. That deal has certainly worked out quite well for New Jersey and with the captain set to enter the final season of that deal starting in July, he will be eligible for a contract extension at that time.
Hischier has only surpassed the 70-point mark once in his career (when he reached 80 in 2022-23) but he has notched between 60 and 69 points four times in the last five seasons. That type of offensive consistency is quite coveted, especially for centers. Meanwhile, he has been a Selke Trophy finalist and finished fourth in voting over the past five years as well. That type of defensive consistency is also quite coveted. Between that and the projected salary cap spikes, the 27-year-old is heading for quite a sizable raise on his next contract.
What type of price tag could he plausibly fetch? Let’s start by looking at the cap percentage. When he signed his current deal, Hischier received 8.9% of the cap. Forecasting that against the projected 2027-28 Upper Limit of around $113.5MM, that would put him at $10.1MM per season. Considering his current contract had four RFA years on it (his next one won’t have any) and his status in the league as a strong two-way center, it’s fair to say $10.1MM feels like the absolute minimum. Adding a million or two more to that number is a very realistic possibility. If Mehta doesn’t want to pay that (which would be a surprise, given his importance to the team), someone else undoubtedly will.
With Hischier signed through next season, this isn’t something that necessarily has to be completed this summer. But with a mid-September cutoff for an eight-year extension (when the new CBA fully kicks in), that stands as a bit of a pressure point for negotiations. And if the two sides are so far apart that a trade becomes likely (not a likely scenario), it’s better to know that now than in-season. But even with it not necessarily being overly urgent, expect this to be a big item on their summer checklist.
Clear Defensive Logjam
In the NHL, from a roster-building perspective, there are good problems to have and bad problems to have. The state of their back end is a good one. When their defensive group got fully healthy midseason, Keefe found himself rotating a few quality blueliners in and out of the lineup. That wound up seeing Dougie Hamilton get scratched with some scathing comments coming from his agent soon after, fueling trade speculation although a move never got across the finish line.
In fact, for all of the viable trade speculation surrounding their blueliners in the second half of the season, no moves were ultimately made. The logjam ultimately resolved itself when Brett Pesce landed on injured reserve right before the deadline but there’s no denying that the logjam still exists. New Jersey has $34.9MM committed to six blueliners next season, per PuckPedia. That doesn’t include Nemec so if Mehta doesn’t make a move, there’s a very good chance that the Devils will have the most expensive back end in the league next season. With less than $12MM in cap room and several roster spots to fill, moving out a defenseman works on multiple fronts.
The state of the market should work in New Jersey’s favor. Yes, other teams will know that they probably need to shed a defenseman but with the UFA class not exactly yielding a bumper crop of quality options, demand is going to outweigh supply. That should put Mehta in the driver’s seat to elicit a strong return.
It could be Hamilton getting a fresh start while clearing at least part of his $9MM cap charge off the books. It could be Nemec moving somewhere where he has a chance to play a bigger role to try to grow into the player his draft slot warranted. It could be Johnathan Kovacevic, the type of quality depth defender that stabilizes things on the third pairing but is now paid (at $4MM per season) to play a bigger role than that. All three are right-shot pieces, the side in even higher demand. If new management wants to shake up the team a bit, this is a logical spot to try to do so.
Add Firepower
Offense has been hard to come by under Keefe’s watch. They had a drop-off of 24 goals in his first season behind the bench while dropping from 12th to 20th league-wide in that department. This season, there was a similar-sized dip in scoring as they went down another 14 tallies while finishing 27th in goals scored. In two years, they’ve gone from a slightly above-average team offensively to one of the weaker ones while shedding nearly half a goal per game in the process.
Suffice it to say, this is a problem that needs to be addressed. With Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Hischier, they have some quality pieces. Timo Meier has been more hit than miss since being acquired but he could still be part of the solution while Dawson Mercer, extension-eligible himself this summer, is a solid secondary piece. There’s a decent foundation to work off here.
Adding a top-six forward would certainly put them in the right direction toward trying to even get back to the middle of the pack. But beyond that, they need some more firepower in the bottom six. Evgenii Dadonov, a UFA pickup last summer, wound up being a flop, Nick Bjugstad had just two assists in 26 games after being acquired near the trade deadline, and Maxim Tsyplakov, added in the Ondrej Palat trade, had four points in 49 games between the two teams. Upgrading one or two of those lineup spots would also go a long way in helping their fortunes.
This is where clearing the defensive logjam should help. At a minimum, they’d shed enough cap space to afford an extra addition of some consequence up front. In a perfect world, it’d come in the same trade. That way, their remaining cap space could be deployed toward upgrading the back half of the forward group, allowing them to hit both parts here. That won’t turn them into a high-end offensive squad but even getting closer to the middle would be a big boost to their playoff odds next season.
Photo courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.
Free Agent Focus: Anaheim Ducks
Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We start our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Ducks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Leo Carlsson – Let’s start with a big one. The second overall pick in 2023 showed plenty of promise in his first two seasons but took a big jump forward in 2025-26. He finished second on the team in scoring with 29 goals and 38 assists in just 70 games. He saw some shorthanded ice time. He upped his faceoff success rate. Basically, he took steps toward being the two-way top-line center the Ducks thought they’d be getting when they picked him. Now, he’s about to be paid like he is that player. A long-term deal would probably run the Ducks past the $11MM per season mark which would set the new benchmark for Anaheim’s forwards. A bridge deal, meanwhile, would keep the cost lower in the short term but even that could land in the $8MM range per year. GM Pat Verbeek has held a firm line in talks with core youngsters before. This could very well be another of those negotiations.
F Cutter Gauthier – That last sentence may wind up applying here as well. Gauthier led the Ducks offensively this season, notching 41 goals along with 28 helpers to finish two points up on Carlsson for the team lead. He even averaged a point per game in the playoffs while playing through a back injury. Wingers don’t often get the type of premium money that centers do and it should be noted that, unlike Carlsson, he isn’t eligible for an offer sheet after only playing once in the first year of his contract. Still, a long-term deal could approach the $9MM territory while a bridge pact would likely check in around the $6.5MM range. Carlsson is the headliner but Gauthier’s next deal is going to be a significant one as well.
D Pavel Mintyukov – The young blueliner hasn’t had quite the impact Anaheim hoped when they made him a top-ten pick back in 2022. An offensive dynamo in junior, the production hasn’t quite materialized in the NHL yet as he put up 28 points in his rookie year in 2023-24 and hasn’t returned to that mark since, notching 22 this season. Meanwhile, a lack of playing time earlier in the year had him believed to be amenable to a trade. With that in mind, there’s a solid case to make that a short-term bridge contract would make more sense for both sides, allowing for more time for him to make his case for a higher spot on the depth chart and improve his production. The price tag for that type of deal should check in around the $3.5MM mark.
D Olen Zellweger – There are some parallels to Mintyukov here. While he wasn’t a lottery pick, he was still a prolific producer in junior who has yet to establish himself offensively in the NHL and even spent a lot of time in the playoffs as a healthy scratch. Zellweger had 22 points in 76 games this season but saw his ATOI drop by nearly two minutes a night. He could also find himself in trade speculation this summer if Verbeek wants to reshape the back end a bit. Accordingly, a bridge deal makes a lot of sense here too. With Zellweger not having as much of a track record as Mintyukov, a short-term agreement should check in a little lower compared to his counterpart.
Other RFAs: D Jeremie Biakabutuka, G Vyacheslav Buteyets, G Calle Clang, D Tyson Hinds, F/D Ian Moore, F Jan Mysak, F Sasha Pastujov, F Jaxsen Wiebe
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D John Carlson – The Ducks were the surprising winners of the Carlson sweepstakes, adding him at the trade deadline to aid their playoff run. He wound up averaging nearly a point per game down the stretch at over 24 minutes per night of playing time. The production dipped in the playoffs to six assists in a dozen contests but he again was over the 24-minute mark. While he’s 36, Carlson has shown that he can still be a top-pairing player, at least for now. How quickly the potential drop-off could be will always be a concern for players his age but with the UFA market not being particularly deep, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him land a price tag in the $7MM range while getting two or three years on the contract. With demand for right-shot impact blueliners set to be quite high, he’s in great shape heading to free agency.
D Radko Gudas – The three-year deal he received in 2023 ultimately worked out pretty well for both sides. Gudas got to play a more prominent role than he was accustomed to early although he slowed down a fair bit this year and was banged up at the end of the season. It’s certainly possible that Anaheim could look to bring back their captain but it would have to be with the understanding that he’d be more of a sixth defender moving forward. Turning 36 next month with his rugged style of play, he’ll be a little more hard-pressed to command a multi-year deal although he is eligible for incentives in a one-year pact. After making $4MM per season on this last contract, there’s a good chance that ticks down by at least a million this summer.
D Jacob Trouba – Acquired in a cap-clearing move from the Rangers last season, the change of scenery worked out nicely for the veteran, especially this year. Head coach Joel Quenneville elevated Trouba’s role and he made the most of it, putting up his best offensive numbers since the 2021-22 campaign while the last time he played more than his 22:30 ATOI was back when he was in Winnipeg. Now, was this a late-career resurgence or a one-time blip? That’s a key question heading into free agency but again, given the limited right-shot impact options available, teams are likely to be offering contracts that suggest they believe this year is repeatable. The 32-year-old probably won’t hit the $8MM mark again but something in the $6MM to $7MM range on a multi-year pact could very well happen.
F Jeffrey Viel – Score one for stick-to-itiveness. A regular in the minors until this season, Viel got a chance to play more regularly following an early-season trade from Boston. The 29-year-old got to play above the fourth line at times, a rarity for someone who was basically on the roster in case a fight was needed. He then impressed in the playoffs with four points in 12 games while still averaging more than four hits per game. It’s unlikely that he’s going to command a huge deal this summer but doubling his $775K current price tag isn’t unfathomable either. At a minimum, he should have much more financial stability after bouncing around on two-way pacts for a lot of his pro career.
Other UFAs: F Jansen Harkins, F Ross Johnston, G Petr Mrazek
Projected Cap Space
The Ducks enter the offseason with a little over $40MM in cap space. Their RFA class should easily take up more than half of that number, assuming that they can work out long-term agreements with Carlsson and Gauthier. Beyond that, they will have a fair bit of flexibility to work with although Verbeek will be dealing with re-signing or replacing the right side of his back end. When all is said and done spending-wise, they may not be too far off the Upper Limit.
Photos courtesy of John Jones (Carlsson) and Perry Nelson (Carlson)-Imagn Images. Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.
Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at San Jose.
While the Sharks extended their franchise-worst playoff drought to seven consecutive years, it’s fair to say that this season was a step in the right direction for their rebuild. The team saw their point total jump by 34, allowing them to hang around the playoff picture longer than a lot of people would have expected coming into the year. Even with that big jump, they still have a lot to try to accomplish this offseason.
Rebuild The Back End
Last summer, GM Mike Grier put his back end through a bit of an overhaul as he tried to raise the floor of his group. That resulted in the signings of Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg, while Nick Leddy was brought in via a rare summer waiver claim. There was some hit-and-miss within that group but on the whole, the back end was better so Grier gets a passing grade on that front.
Now, he needs to do it all over again, perhaps to an even bigger extent this summer. Among regulars on their roster this season, the only ones under contract are Orlov and Sam Dickenson. Meanwhile, Shakir Mukhamadullin is a pending restricted free agent. Everyone else – Klingberg, Leddy, Mario Ferraro, and Vincent Desharnais – will hit the open market this summer, potentially leaving four roster spots to try to fill.
Ferraro is the one that they’d undoubtedly like to keep and he has made it clear that he’d like to stay. But as one of the better players set to be available, he’ll have the leverage to command a long-term deal, something that the Sharks don’t appear inclined to offer just yet. Short-term reunions with Klingberg and Desharnais could be explored while Leddy almost certainly won’t be back.
It’s safe to say that Grier will need to make a move or two on the free agent market but given the thinned-out group, he’ll also need to do something on the trade front. With a deep cupboard of draft picks and prospects, they’ll be in a good position to add there. But after a summer of turnover last year, it could be an even bigger one with potentially four newcomers (perhaps including prospect Eric Pohlkamp) joining San Jose’s blueline.
Core Extension Talks
The Sharks were led offensively this season by a pair of sophomore players, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. Both players will be extension-eligible on July 1st, leaving a 10-week window to try to work out an eight-year deal before that option gets eliminated with the new CBA beginning in mid-September. It’s fair to say that both players are part of the long-term core group so getting them locked up should be high on the priority list.
Celebrini is coming off an absolutely dynamic season. He took his offensive game to an elite level, potting 45 goals and 70 assists to finish fourth in the league in scoring, a performance that likely will have him finishing within the top five in Hart Trophy balloting (although he’s not among the three finalists). It’s very rare for a second-year player to have that type of impact and he has already become the elite piece they hoped they were getting when they made him the first-overall pick in 2024. And while this won’t factor directly into his contract talks, he played quite well for Canada at the Olympics and is currently impressing at the Worlds as well.
The priciest post-entry-level contract in terms of AAV is Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who signed an eight-year pact worth $12.5MM per season. Given Celebrini’s performance this year and the considerable upward movement in the salary cap, there’s a good chance there will soon be a new record on that front. In terms of cap percentage, McDavid’s deal was 15.72% of the Upper Limit when it was signed, an amount that would equate to around $17.8MM in 2027-28 based on current cap projections. It’s fair to say Celebrini won’t command something in that territory but something in the $14MM range or even $15MM on an eight-year deal certainly feels palatable. And if that’s not a number San Jose is willing to go to just yet, they can wait out the year but would only be able to do a seven-year pact next summer.
Smith, meanwhile, had a solid second NHL season himself, recording 24 goals and 35 assists in 69 games to finish second on the team in scoring. While he was drafted as a center, he hasn’t played there much so far in the NHL but that could change down the road depending on how Michael Misa, another high draft pick, performs in that role. Whether it’s at center or the wing, the Sharks are hoping he’s a top-line fixture and Smith’s camp will be expecting an extension offer in that territory. Again, given the big bumps coming to the salary cap, there could be some sticker shock on the price, which plausibly could approach the $10MM mark on an eight-year agreement.
Given that there is some variance potential in where both sides think Smith will land, it’s entirely possible that an extension isn’t worked out this summer. In that case, they can simply let next season play out and use that performance to help shape contract talks. While it’s possible that they could look to do a bridge contract as they did with William Eklund last summer, that’s probably not the most advisable approach at this time; there’s no need to commit that soon to a short-term second pact.
Add PK Help
With a patchwork (albeit improved) back end and a goalie tandem that was a little shaky (Yaroslav Askarov’s rookie year was hot and cold and Alex Nedeljkovic is an okay backup), it’s unsurprising that the Sharks were once again a team that got scored on a lot. While they shaved 20 goals off last year’s number, they still allowed 290, more than 3.5 per game. Some of that can be attributed to what was just noted but the penalty kill also has to wear some of the blame.
San Jose allowed 58 power play goals this season, sixth-most in the NHL. Their success rate was 76.4%, 26th in the league. These are numbers that can definitely stand to be improved upon. And if they have genuine playoff aspirations next season, then these numbers have to be improved upon.
One way to do that is to get some help up front. San Jose’s four most-used forwards shorthanded in terms of ATOI per game were Ty Dellandrea, Collin Graf, Alexander Wennberg, and Barclay Goodrow. Dellandrea and Wennberg were second-wave players in 2024-25, Graf was a rookie, and Goodrow is widely expected to be a buyout waiting to happen. With due respect to these players, they can certainly be improved upon.
With a young team, it should come as little surprise that the Sharks struggle at the faceoff dot. Getting a checker who can win draws is a good place to start. A veteran who can fill a fourth-line checking specialist role would also help. This isn’t going to turn things around by any stretch but adding a few percent to the success rate is probably worth a few points in the standings as well. Those adds would also allow the young core a bit more time to develop before potentially being thrust into that role down the road as well.
It’s also worth noting here that San Jose’s four most-used blueliners shorthanded in terms of ATOI were Ferraro, Desharnais, Timothy Liljegren, and Vincent Iorio. In other words, two pending UFAs, someone who was traded at the deadline, and someone lost to a waiver claim. As Grier looks to reshape his back end, finding some reliable penalty killers will be a particular point of emphasis.
Add A Core Piece
Over the course of the rebuild, the Sharks have brought in several core pieces, headlined up front by Celebrini, Smith, Misa, and Eklund, with Dickinson representing the future on the back end. Their good fortune in the Draft Lottery will ensure they get another one as they now hold the second selection in next month’s draft. They should get a core piece from that pick.
In a nutshell, that alone would check the box in this section. They will get a future core player in the draft to add to their stockpile. But if they’re aiming on getting to the playoffs next season, Grier needs to be aiming for a current core addition as well.
In a perfect world, that player would be in the same age group as the current core. Having said that, the only way to get that is to probably trade the number two pick. For the right young player, that shouldn’t be off the table but it’s probably not Plan A either.
But this is a young enough group that they could stand to add a top-six forward up front as they did with Tyler Toffoli two summers ago. And, obviously, a core defender or two would go a long way. They were in on Dougie Hamilton last offseason but it’s believed he invoked his trade protection to stay in New Jersey. It’s possible they could try to circle back on that front but they might be better off looking elsewhere.
San Jose has more than ample cap space this summer, more than $41MM, per PuckPedia. They have plenty of trade chips. So, even with a thinned-out UFA market, Grier should be able to add at least one core player to help his current group while getting a long-term core addition via the draft. They’re already set up nicely for the future and should add to that upside this summer.
Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: St. Louis Blues
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at St. Louis.
After a year that nearly saw St. Louis eliminate the Presidents’ Trophy winners in the opening round, the hope was that the Blues would be able to build off that. Instead, they took steps back across the board, resulting in some veterans being moved at the trade deadline and others being dangled in trade talks. Incoming GM Alex Steen will have a busy offseason ahead of him as a result. Here are some items on his summer checklist.
Choose A Direction
Considering that the Blues moved Justin Faulk and Brayden Schenn at the trade deadline while having a deal in place for Colton Parayko get nixed by the blueliner’s no-trade clause, this might seem a little obvious already. But St. Louis finished the season strong, winning 10 of their last 14 games to find themselves surprisingly in the playoff race until close to the end of the season. And with Steen taking over from Doug Armstrong, does he have a different opinion on the direction that needs to be taken? Aside from simply maintaining the status quo, he has three different routes to choose from.
The least likely is reversing course but with how they finished the year, it can’t be ruled out entirely. St. Louis picked up first-round picks for both Schenn and Faulk, giving them three in next month’s draft. One or more of those could plausibly be trade chips if they want to add. They also have nearly $16MM in cap room for next season, per PuckPedia, with only a few roster spots to fill. It’s rather unlikely and given the current state of the division, probably unwise, but they have the ability to flip the switch if they want to.
More likely, the decision will be to rebuild or retool. A few months ago, it looked like the former was the plan. By putting the bulk of their veterans in play (including Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou), they seemed to be signaling a willingness to do a longer-scale rebuild, one that would likely see them out of playoff contention for several more years. If that’s the case, basically anyone 26 and up (or thereabouts) would likely be in play at the right price. And with a lot of teams looking to buy, Steen could generate some strong returns for their services. They should have a good idea of each player’s trade value going back to talks from before the deadline.
Meanwhile, the retool option would likely see them pull players like Thomas and Kyrou off the block and look to move some of the older players like Parayko (who could still be moved to a team he’s willing to go to) or goaltender Jordan Binnington. That would still allow them to add to their prospect pool while allowing them to build around their current offense instead of overhauling it. This is the safer route and with a first-time GM, this might the path that the Blues are likeliest to take. With that in mind, the focus of this piece won’t be on possible win-now additions or roster upgrades.
Work On Neighbours Extension
The Blues already took care of one significant transaction this offseason when they re-signed pending RFA Dylan Holloway to a new five-year deal. With an RFA list that isn’t particularly large this summer, they can turn their focus toward trying to get an extension done with one of their other young core forwards.
That would be winger Jake Neighbours. The 2020 first-round pick quickly established himself as a top-six winger and surpassed the 20-goal mark in his first two full NHL seasons. There’s a good chance he’d have gotten there this year had he not missed 13 games due to injury. Between his steady secondary production is his physicality. Neighbours has posted between 138 and 172 hits over the last three seasons, making him a rare top-six power forward. Those players aren’t particularly easy to come by and it’s safe to say that he’s a building block that they’ll want to build around.
He’ll be owed a qualifying offer of $4MM next summer with salary arbitration rights. To get him to sign early, it’s fair to say that it would cost considerably more than that to get him signed a year early, especially with the big increases set to come to the Upper Limit of the salary cap. We can use the deal they just handed out to try to benchmark what an extension might look like.
Holloway signed for $7.75MM three years away from UFA eligibility. Neighbours’ next deal will only be two years away. Holloway has the better track record offensively so it’s fair to say that his new price tag should be the upper limit in a negotiation. Considering that there is typically a premium for power forwards though, the gap between Holloway’s new price tag and a potential Neighbours extension might not be as large as it might seem. Speculatively, a long-term deal (around six years) would carry a price tag of between $6.5MM and $6.75MM, even with the fact he’s coming off a lower year offensively. If they’re not willing to go that high, the winger is probably better off waiting. And if they are, locking up another piece of the long-term puzzle early would be a wise move.
Set The Starter
One of the storylines from the start of last season was if Joel Hofer would take over the starting role from Binnington. The two wound up with very similar start totals with Hofer having 43 and Binnington 39. But after the Olympic break, it was Hofer who received the bulk of the workload as St. Louis looked to make the improbable late-season push to a playoff spot.
Both goaltenders have one year left on their contracts. Technically, they could keep this tandem intact for one more season but that wouldn’t be the prudent approach. If the plan is for Hofer to be the starter moving forward, then the time is right to move Binnington.
In-season goalie moves aren’t too frequent so this offseason will probably be their best time to try to move him for value. And while the 32-year-old isn’t coming off a good season, there will be teams who look at his track record and think that with a change of scenery, they can get him back to form. Chances are that they’d have to take a goalie back as part of the swap but if not, a second netminder can be signed in free agency.
Then, the time might be right to look at trying to extend Hofer. There are some reasonable comparables in Karel Vejmelka and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen ($4.75MM each) and Joey Daccord ($5MM) to build the foundation of a contract off of. In a higher cap environment, Daccord’s equivalent cap percentage would be $5.45MM next season and $5.98MM in 2027-28 when the contract would begin. Basically, Hofer is probably heading for Binnington money if he signs an early extension this summer.
The Blues could wait and see how next season goes. But if they do and Hofer thrives as a full-time starter, the price tag will only go up from there. They don’t have to try to sign him now but at a minimum, given the direction they’re heading, it’s time to set Hofer as the starter and give Binnington a chance elsewhere, netting some value in return in the process.
Round Out The Coaching Staff
Shortly after the season ended, the Blues made a pair of changes behind the bench but didn’t change head coach Jim Montgomery. Instead, they parted with a pair of assistants, veteran Claude Julien and first-time NHL assistant Mike Weber. Armstrong noted at the time that the intent was to build a staff that best suits the team moving forward, making choosing a direction that much more important.
One decision that will need to be made is the fate of Steve Ott. He started the season as the associate coach in St. Louis but midseason, he became the interim head coach with AHL Springfield, whose playoffs are still going after they pulled off a big upset over Providence. Does he return to the bench for the Blues or do they keep him in the minors and allow him to continue to apprentice as a head coach? If they opt for the latter, they effectively have a third vacancy to try to fill.
If the Blues opt for more of a longer-scale rebuild, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team turn toward younger assistants with an eye on someone with a background in player development. But if it’s more of a retool, adding a veteran assistant behind the bench could be the path they choose with the hopes that the coach would still be there when the team is looking to get back into the playoff picture.
It’s a small item in the grand scheme of things but Steen will have a chance to make an early impact behind the bench with potentially resetting 75% of the coaching staff. Those hires could ultimately help signal just how long they think their roster revamping will take.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro-Imagn Images.
Players Eligible For Salary Arbitration In 2026
Salary arbitration is a rare occurrence in hockey. The process is limited to restricted free agents, and even then, there are restrictions about which RFAs can utilize the tool to resolve contract disputes. Depending on the age at which a player signed their first NHL contract, they must have a certain number of years of professional experience before being able to elect for it (full table via PuckPedia).
Only 11 players filed for arbitration last season. None of those cases required a hearing. Nonetheless, countless more names are actually eligible to file for arbitration. That eligibility factor, in and of itself, can influence how teams handle earlier rounds of negotiations. Teams never want to be locked into an award they can’t opt out of (which is the case below the ~$5MM mark; this year’s number is yet to be decided), and the undesirable hearing process can fracture long-term relationships between team and player.
Most commonly, it will be the player electing for arbitration. Teams can also do so if the player is eligible, but there are added restrictions. They can only make two elections per year, and the player in question can still sign an offer sheet before July 5, even if the team has already filed for arbitration. A player can also only be subject to one team election in their entire career, and a salary of $2.43MM or greater in the previous season locks in the award at no less than 85% of their preceding salary. That restriction does not exist for player-elected arbitration.
Even in cases where arbitration is elected, the vast majority of them will result in a settlement before a hearing is reached. This can even happen after both sides submit their salary filings to the arbitrator, right up until the hearing begins.
There has been a consistent downward trend in the number of arbitration filings since 2022. It’s hard to imagine that number bottoming out more than last year’s, but it’s something to consider.
Here’s each team’s list of players they’ll have to be on the lookout for this summer for a potential filing:
Avalanche (6)
Blackhawks (2)
Blue Jackets (5)
Blues (6)
Bruins (4)
Offseason Checklist: Florida Panthers
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Florida.
Coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup victories (and three straight Final appearances), expectations were high for the Panthers this season. Instead, an older roster with a lot of extra games over the past three years caught up with them and they wound up with an injury-riddled year where next to nothing went right. That resulted in them missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019. GM Bill Zito will have some work to do this summer to get his team back into the thick of things.
Another Bridge For Samoskevich
Last offseason, the top item on this list for Florida was a bridge deal for Mackie Samoskevich. With the winger not eligible for an offer sheet and the Panthers needing cap flexibility, it was a certainty that Samoskevich would be receiving a low-cost, short-term contract. Still, one year at the league minimum salary of $775K came as somewhat of a surprise.
Samoskevich opting to do so gave Florida extra cap room and in return, he gets to be in a much more favorable situation this summer. On top of taking one for the team on the contract front, Samoskevich is now eligible for both an offer sheet and salary arbitration. While the former seems rather unlikely to happen, the latter is particularly notable as it will set him up for a nice raise moving forward.
After putting up 31 points in 72 regular season games last season, the 23-year-old produced at a similar clip this year, recording 32 in 77 contests. That’s still not a particularly long track record but it’s enough for AFP Analytics to project a two-year contract worth over $3.1MM per season, effectively quadrupling his current agreement. He still has four seasons of team control remaining, so another bridge deal isn’t as risky.
Florida’s cap situation is better off this summer than the year before, which we’ll look at a bit closer shortly. That affords them the flexibility to work out a long-term contract but given that he hasn’t established himself as a full-time top-six player yet, doing so probably isn’t justifiable for either side. Accordingly, this year’s checklist starts the same as last year’s with the youngster needing a bridge deal.
Sign A Goalie Tandem
When the Panthers decided to move Spencer Knight as part of the Seth Jones trade last season, they moved out their future between the pipes as part of the process. With Jones playing an important role in their 2025 Cup title, they’re probably not too upset about it. But now, that decision is really going to be felt.
Sergei Bobrovsky has been entrenched between the pipes for Florida for the past seven years after signing the richest deal given to an unrestricted free agent goalie in NHL history. (Pricier deals were given as contract extensions, not open-market agreements.) But now, Bobrovsky is set to return to the open market while heading into his age-38 season in 2026-27 on the heels of his worst season of the seven.
Given his age, it would seem at first glance that a short-term deal would make sense. However, with Brad Marchand landing a six-year contract in the same situation last summer, there have been suggestions that Bobrovsky could be looking for something like that or close. On a short-term agreement, a price tag closer to half of his most recent cap hit makes sense and might even be high given the year he just had. But a four or five-year pact would almost certainly lower the AAV as it would be expected that he’d be transitioning to a backup or platoon role in the later seasons. That could push the price tag to a number starting with a four. That would give them some extra flexibility this summer but even a medium-term agreement for Bobrovsky wouldn’t be without its risks.
Meanwhile, it’s not as if Florida is in a position where their backup is ready to take on the starting workload. Daniil Tarasov didn’t have a great year himself and is only a year removed from being demoted to third-string status in Columbus. On top of that, he’s also a pending unrestricted free agent so there’s no guarantee he’ll be back either.
The UFA market is not particularly deep for teams looking for a starter. There aren’t likely to be too many starters available on the trade market, either, with question marks surrounding those who may be in play. Zito is going to have to find a way to navigate that to find a starter for next season, be it Bobrovsky or someone else, while adding a backup to the mix as well. They have around $15MM in cap room next season per PuckPedia and may need half of that or more to fill out their tandem.
Upgrade Defensive Depth
It’s reasonable to think that Florida’s offense, one that was near the middle of the pack this season, will bounce next year with a much healthier group. So while there might be a temptation to try to pursue an upgrade up front and really deepen the lineup, there’s a more compelling case to try to shore up their defensive depth.
By the time they sign two goalies and re-sign Samoskevich, they’re probably going to have around $5MM or so to play with. That’s not enough to sign a top-four defender but that’s okay as Florida’s top four is set. It’s the bottom end that could be upgraded on and fortunately for the Panthers, the UFA market has decent depth among depth defenders.
As things stand, Florida’s fifth through seventh options are Dmitry Kulikov, Uvis Balinskis, and Donovan Sebrango. Kulikov had an injury-riddled year that saw him miss 63 games due to injuries and he’ll turn 36 in late October. It’s likely they’ll want to manage his minutes on the last two years of his deal. Balinskis is a capable sixth option but could certainly be upgraded on, while Sebrango, a pending RFA, is a non-tender candidate thanks to his arbitration eligibility. He’s a capable depth piece but not someone who can’t be replaced.
Plausibly, one or even two additions would be beneficial. They could take a swing on a bonus-laden deal for Brent Burns, similar to the deal he’s currently on with Colorado if they want a possible top-four fit. Ian Cole, Connor Murphy, and Jamie Oleksiak are the gritty stay-at-home players to anchor a third pairing and penalty kill. If they want to add another right-shot player to the mix, a reunion with Radko Gudas could make sense while Timothy Liljegren or Andrew Peeke would be younger options compared to the others on this list who could still upgrade the third pairing. There are quite a few available this summer.
This would be a prudent, though quiet, way to improve this summer. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this be the route that Zito takes, unless he has something more drastic in mind, something like this:
Dangle Number Nine
No, this isn’t a section about dangling center Sam Bennett in trade talks, even though he’s coming off a career year and the Panthers could leverage a strong return for his services in a weak center market. They’d also still be well-set with Aleksander Barkov returning and Anton Lundell anchoring the second line.
Instead, this is about their draft pick, which is slotted ninth overall. While Florida could obviously benefit in the long run from adding an impactful prospect to the mix, one whose early cost control could really pay dividends in a few years when he’s ready to make the jump to the NHL. But the Panthers aren’t the typical team with a top-ten pick. They’re a perceived contender coming off a season where basically anything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Despite the poor finish this season, the expectation is that Florida will be back in the playoffs next season. The composition of their roster remains in win-now mode. With that in mind, the ninth pick next month may very well be their best trade chip to utilize to get a win-now piece to try to quickly vault them back to contention. And if there isn’t a viable trade over the next six weeks, they can always make the pick and use the player as a potential trade chip later in the season.
Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke-Imagn Images.
The Penguins Face A Challenging Summer With Kris Letang
The Penguins had a feel-good year, even if it ended in playoff disappointment against Philadelphia. Many of their young players took big steps in their development, and the team defied expectations and age to reach the postseason. But it wasn’t all roses and rainbows, as one of the Penguins’ older stars continued to see his play decline.
Kris Letang has been a member of the Big Three in Pittsburgh since breaking into the NHL in 2006-07 and is likely a future Hall of Famer. However, the 39-year-old isn’t the player he once was, and the Penguins need to have a serious conversation with him this summer to establish a role for next year that allows him to maximize his current abilities.
Pittsburgh deployed Letang as a top-four defenseman this year, playing him nearly 22 minutes a night in heavy minutes, including time on the penalty kill and the second-unit power play. The competitor in Letang no doubt loved that, but the results were inconsistent at best and downright dreadful at times.
This isn’t a new development either, as Letang has seen his play decline in consecutive seasons, posting the worst numbers in takeaways and turnovers of his career. Offensively, his numbers have also slipped: he posted just three goals and 27 assists in 74 games last year, for 34 points.
Analytically, Letang’s numbers have also declined, with his Corsi and Fenwick shares both falling below 50% in consecutive seasons for the first time in his career. In fact, his decline has become so glaring that Penguins head coach Dan Muse has sheltered Letang in a way he hasn’t before.
But as poor as Letang’s season was, he is still clearly an NHL defenseman and has the skill set to age gracefully well into his 40s as an NHL regular. In the last few games of the playoffs, Letang was phenomenal. However, in the first three games of the playoffs, he was a trainwreck. Therein lies the challenge Pittsburgh has with Letang.
The Penguins need to have a very hard conversation with Letang about several issues, mainly his style of play and his role in the hierarchy. Letang still plays the game as though he’s a 28-year-old in the prime of his career, forcing offense when it’s not there, pinching at inopportune times, and making high-risk plays.
28-year-old Letang had the skating, strength and speed to recover from his mistakes a decade ago, but that is no longer the case, and there has been no adjustment from Letang.
The Penguins have had three aging veterans to contend with in Letang, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby. While Crosby has defied the aging curve, Letang and the Penguins need to confront a reality they’ve been avoiding.
The Penguins can add defensive depth, as they have in recent years, but Pittsburgh needs a top-four right-shot defenseman to allow Letang to drop down the lineup to the third pairing. This would help Letang better manage his workload and role and perhaps extend his career.
Letang obviously means a lot to the Penguins, but do the Penguins want to go hunting for a top-four right-shot defenseman at a time when they’ve made it clear they’re looking towards the future? It’s possible that GM Kyle Dubas could swing a trade for a young top-four defenseman who has perhaps underperformed on their current team, but historically, such players are among the most expensive assets to acquire.
Would the Penguins do it simply to shelter Letang? The answer is maybe, but there would certainly need to be a long-term benefit if Dubas holds to his wish to look to the future.
The other major question mark in Pittsburgh concerns Malkin, who is a UFA in under two months. If “Geno” goes unsigned, do the Penguins go to Letang and offer him the chance to play elsewhere?
There are no indications that either side is interested in that, but would a Malkin exit open the door for Letang and the Penguins? It’s not likely, but it is an interesting thought.
However, if the Penguins re-sign Malkin, keeping Letang makes the most sense. The team should have an honest conversation about his play and how best to use him. Letang is a warrior who has played through injuries, personal tragedy, and enormous pressure, and it’s not necessarily his fault that Pittsburgh leaned so heavily on him last season.
If Pittsburgh were to find another top-four defender, it would likely limit Letang’s responsibility in the transition game, which should reduce his turnovers and perhaps alleviate some of the defensive lapses as well, given that Letang’s recovery speed isn’t what it used to be. Also, as previously mentioned, the reduction in minutes and the level of competition would drop, adding additional benefit to both the player and the team.
It’s hard to say how a personal conversation like that would go with Letang, but it’s likely the Penguins’ best course of action to get him to buy into their plan (if reducing his usage is the plan). The Penguins owe Letang some degree of loyalty, but at the end of the day, it is a business, and Kyle Dubas is paid handsomely to ice the best team he possibly can.
And if the plan is to maximize Crosby’s remaining elite years, the Penguins can’t afford to allow an aging defender to hurt them defensively simply because “he used to be great.” Dubas wasn’t there for Letang’s elite years and isn’t going to make his decisions based on past accomplishments.
There is a fine line between respecting a veteran and hesitating to move on, a trap that teams often fall into. GMs who are unemotional about this tend to be the best at assembling a competitive roster year after year (the Vegas Golden Knights, for example). That’s not to say the Penguins need to dump Letang, but they need to honestly evaluate the entire situation.
If Letang is open to a smaller role, that’s the best-case scenario. If he still sees himself as a top defenseman and intends to play that way, the Penguins have to seriously consider whether employing him in their top four makes sense going forward.
Great teams and players know when to evolve, and in this circumstance, both Letang and the Penguins have to do their best if they want to return to a winning culture.