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Hurricanes’ Jesper Fast Announces Retirement

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Former Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast has decided to call it a career. He’s announced his retirement at the age of 33, after 11 seasons and 703 games in the NHL. Fast spent seven seasons with the New York Rangers, and his last four seasons with the Hurricanes.

Fast faced an uphill battle to the pros from the start. He was originally drafted in the sixth-round of the 2010 NHL Draft, after making his professional debut in Sweden’s SHL. He continued on for three seasons in Sweden’s top league, before making the jump to North America at the end of the 2012-13 campaign. He spent the bulk of the 2013-14 season in the minors, but also earned the first 11 games of his NHL career on the back of 34 points in 48 games as an AHL rookie. Fast didn’t score in any of those NHL appearances, but did enough to flip the balance in his sophomore season – with 11 appearances in the AHL to 58 games in the NHL. He scored six goals and 14 points in those appearances, then added six points in 19 games of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Fast locked in his spot in New York’s bottom-six after providing strong, two-way support during their theatric 2015 run. He scored just 30 points in 79 games during his first full NHL season in 2015-16, but provided heaps of impact on both ends of the ice. That pattern came to define Fast over the next few years – consistently rivaling 30 points and making tough plays across the ice. He was a player that fans wanted to root for more than they wanted to root against, even if his scoring or lineup role never jumped off the page.

But Fast’s career was marred by injuries in nearly every year. He played in fewer than 70 games in six of his 11 NHL seasons, largely thanks to his gritty and aggressive role. The poor injury luck came to a peak in the 2023-24 season, when Fast suffered a broken neck in the final game of Carolina’s season. That injury held him out of the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign, and will now lead him into retirement. It’s an unfortunate cap to a tenacious career that continued on into Fast’s 30s. He was a playoff hero in Carolina’s 2023 postseason, netting nine points and two overtime game-winners in 15 games.

Even with an early end to his career, it’s hard to imagine Fast staying away from the hockey world for too long – whether he returns in a Swedish coaching role or supporting NHL development.

Atlantic Notes: Robertson, Hutson, Heponiemi

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While Nicholas Robertson got into a career-high 69 games with the Maple Leafs this season, his trade request from last year still stands, reports Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic (subscription link).  The 23-year-old had a career-best 15 goals this season and even chipped in with a pair of points in three postseason outings.  However, playing time remained hard to come by as he averaged just 12 minutes a night of ice time and it’s clear he’d like a shot at a bigger role elsewhere.  Robertson is a pending restricted free agent owed a qualifying offer of just under $919K.  However, he’s also arbitration-eligible which could push his price tag closer to the $1.5MM range.  If Toronto isn’t willing to pay that price, Robertson could get his wish for a change of scenery in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • While Lane Hutson will be eligible for a contract extension this summer, Arpon Basu of The Athletic posits (subscription link) that this file might not get done right away. The Canadiens have tried to keep their core players signing below captain Nick Suzuki’s $7.875MM but Hutson’s rookie year, his comparable players, plus the big increases coming in the salary cap will make that difficult.  It’s possible Montreal opts for a shorter-term pact to keep the AAV lower but it could also make sense to see what happens next year and decide from there.  Hutson, a Calder Trophy finalist, had six goals and 60 assists in 82 games this season.
  • After moving on from his team in Switzerland to become a free agent, it looked like there was a chance that Aleksi Heponiemi could be returning to the Panthers. However, that’s not the case as he recently inked a two-year deal with HV71 in the SHL, per a team release.  The 26-year-old has 25 career NHL games with Florida under his belt but after being primarily in the minors in North America, he headed overseas two years ago.  This past season with EHC Biel-Bienne, Heponiemi had 18 points in 37 games.  Florida will retain his rights as a restricted free agent through next summer.

Aleksi Heponiemi Signs In Sweden

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While Aleksi Heponiemi remains on the Panthers’ reserve list until next offseason, it doesn’t appear he’ll entertain an NHL return before then. The 26-year-old center signed a two-year deal with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League today, per a team announcement, essentially confirming Florida will lose his signing rights on July 1, 2026.

Heponiemi, a 2017 second-round pick, once checked out as one of the organization’s top prospects. The Finnish native was named the WHL’s Rookie of the Year in his draft year after posting 86 points in 72 games and took things to another level in 2017-18, leading the league with 90 assists in just 57 games while adding 28 goals for 118 points. But he didn’t immediately join the Panthers’ pro ranks after that, instead opting to return home with Kärpät in the top-division Liiga for 2018-19. He continued to impress there, logging 46 points in 50 games, finally receiving an entry-level contract from Florida at the end of the year.

Upon his arrival in the North American professional ranks, Heponiemi’s development and production cratered. He managed only 14 points in 49 AHL games in his first pro season stateside and managed only six points in 25 NHL games over the following three years. Upon becoming an RFA in 2023, the Panthers still issued Heponiemi a qualifying offer to retain his signing rights, but he was obviously unhappy with his trajectory in the organization and opted to return to Europe instead.

Heponiemi has spent the last two years with EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss National League. He’s been serviceable there but not as dominant as he would have hoped. The 5’10” pivot posted a 13-22–35 scoring line in 59 appearances since his arrival, and while Biel-Bienne signed him to a three-year extension last summer, they recently mutually terminated that contract.

He’ll now look to rediscover his game in Sweden, but with his production still yet to rebound to its ceiling, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him not add to his NHL resume down the line. A major resurgence with HV71 could put him on the international free agency radar in 2027, though.

Robert Hagg Signs In SHL

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May 29: Hagg is indeed heading to Brynas on a one-year deal, per a team announcement.

May 17: After seeing very limited NHL action this season, pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Robert Hagg is heading home.  The blueliner confirmed to Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom that he will be playing in the SHL next season; SportBladet’s Hans Abrahamsson adds that Hagg is expected to sign a one-year deal with Brynas.

The 30-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Golden Knights last summer but he once again spent the bulk of the season in the minors with AHL Henderson where he had six goals and 21 assists in 54 games, his best offensive showing at that level.  However, his improved play didn’t give Hagg much of an opportunity with Vegas as he suited up just twice with them in late November.

Having cleared waivers for two straight years now while then spending the bulk of those campaigns in the AHL, the writing is clearly on the wall for Hagg.  He’s now viewed as more of a depth defender than someone that can be counted on to be a regular contributor in the NHL.  Accordingly, at this stage of his career, heading back home makes a lot of sense.

If this winds up being the end of the road for Hagg in North America, he’ll finish up with 345 career NHL appearances over parts of nine seasons across six organizations although more than two-thirds of those outings were with the Flyers.  Overall, Hagg has 63 points, 532 blocks, and 1,017 hits at the top level while logging 16:28 per game on average.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins Coaching, Roest, Kuokkanen

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The Pittsburgh Penguins’ coaching search continues to headline news out of the Metropolitan Division, as the squad seeks out their first change at head coach in the last decade. Their final rounds of interviews have led to two candidates emerging above the rest – Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love, and former Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

Love has been behind the Capitals’ bench for the last two seasons, after spending the two years prior serving as the head coach of Calgary’s AHL squad. Love worked in the WHL and Canada’s U17 and U18 squads for the better half of the 2010’s. He supported Team Canada’s Gold Medal wins at the 2016 U17 World Hockey Championship, 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and 2020 World Junior Championship. He also won the AHL’s ’Coach of the Year’ award in both of his two years in the league – 2021-22 and 2022-23. The past two years in Washington have marked Love’s first in the NHL in any capacity, and a move to head coach would mark a quick reward after he supported Pittsburgh’s rival to a second-round exit this season.

Smith sits as an interesting option opposite of Love. He has spent the last season-and-a-half in an assistant or associate coach role with the Los Angeles Kings, who hired him on the same day that he was fired from the Senators’ head coaching role in 2023. Smith posted a combined 131-154-32 record in just over four years with the Senators. He also has six years of experience as an NHL assistant coach, spread between tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs and L.A. Kings. He’d be a hotly debated addition, though offers a much hardier pro coaching resume than Love.

Other notes from the Metro Division:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have parted ways with assistant general manager and AHL general manager Stacy Roest, per Ashley Wenskoski of CNY Central. Roest was a colleague of freshly-hired New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche during their shared time in Tampa Bay, and could be a candidate to join their front office. Roest has been with the Tampa Bay organization since the 2013-14 season, when he joined on as a Director of Player Development and AHL assistant coach. He was promoted to AHL GM in the 2019-20 season. Roest also played in 244 career games in the NHL, split between tenures with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild. He ended his career with nine years in Switzerland’s National League, which allowed him to support Team Canada at six separate Spengler Cups.
  • Former Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils centerman Janne Kuokkanen has extended his tenure overseas. He has signed a four-year contract with the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks. Kuokkanen played one season with Malmo in 2023-24 – scoring 44 points in 43 games – but opted to move to the National League for this season. He’ll reverse that decision one season later, after netting just 25 points in 35 games with Lausanne HC. Kuokkanen was a second-round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft and played in 119 NHL games split between the Hurricanes and Devils. He scored 14 goals and 42 points in those appearances.

Central Notes: Marchessault, Ylonen, Hintz, Blackhawks

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Jonathan Marchessault’s first season in Nashville didn’t exactly go as planned.  Like many Predators who underachieved, his offensive numbers dipped, with his goal total being cut in half from 42 to 21 while his 56 points were his lowest since the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign.  With things not going well this year, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the belief is that the 34-year-old is open to moving on.  He’d be an intriguing addition for teams looking to add some firepower up front but the fact he has four years left on his contract (even at a reasonable $5.5MM price tag) could scare some suitors off, while Marchessault can also partially control his fate with a 15-team no-trade clause.

More from the Central:

  • As expected, Predators pending RFA Jesse Ylonen has officially signed with SHL Djurgarden, per a team release. He was linked to landing a deal in Sweden last week.  The 25-year-old was on Montreal’s roster full-time last season but he played exclusively in the minors this year, splitting time between farm teams in Tampa Bay and Nashville.  Between the two squads, Ylonen put 12 goals and 23 assists in 66 games.  Ylonen has two years of team control remaining but with arbitration eligibility.  Considering the term of this agreement is two years, the likeliest outcome is that the Preds simply non-tender Ylonen next month.
  • After missing Sunday’s game with a leg injury, Stars center Roope Hintz was back in the lineup tonight against Edmonton. He took the place of Evgenii Dadonov who was a healthy scratch.  Hintz entered the night tied for second on Dallas in points with 11 through 15 games after putting up 67 in 76 games during the regular season.
  • The Blackhawks made it official today that Anders Sorensen and Michael Peca will serve as assistants on Jeff Blashill’s staff, moves that were reported last week. Meanwhile, it appears the third and final spot is close to being filled as well as Blashill told reporters today including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link) that they’re close to getting that vacancy filled.  Whoever is hired will be taking the place of Kevin Dean who is not returning next season and will likely be tasked with working with their young defensive group.

Lukas Rousek Signs Two-Year Deal With HV71

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May 27: HV71 finalized Rousek’s signing today, per a team release. It’s a two-year contract.

May 24: Sabres center Lukas Rousek’s season was extended by at least one more game following AHL Rochester’s victory on Friday in Laval but it appears his time in North America will soon be coming to an end.  Expressen’s Johan Svensson reports (subscription link) that Rousek will be joining HV71 of the SHL next season.

The 25-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Buffalo back in 2019, going 160th overall.  After spending the following two years in the Czech Extraliga, Rousek came to North America and has spent the last four seasons in Buffalo’s system, primarily at the AHL level.

This season, Rousek played in all 72 games with AHL Rochester, notching seven goals and 35 assists, seeing his per-game numbers dip for the second straight year.  He has been more productive in the playoffs though, collecting two goals and six helpers through six games thus far.

Rousek didn’t see any NHL action this season but does have 17 games at the top level with the Sabres during his time with them.  In those outings, he has a goal and three assists in 10:42 of ice time per game.  Between his age and lack of experience in the NHL, Rousek qualifies for Group Six unrestricted free agency this summer.

Instead of looking to try his hand in another organization to see if he could land a little higher on the depth chart to get another NHL chance, Rousek instead will try his hand with HV71 where he should have a chance to play a prominent role and a good showing with them could boost his stock in North America should he decide to give playing there another push.

Snapshots: Canucks, Bruins, Viro

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It could be a long summer for the Vancouver Canucks. After a disappointing 2024-25 campaign in which they fell short of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the team lost their head coach and could have a few key players leave via free agency. It seems they will struggle to find suitable replacements on the free agent market.

Earlier today, Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic passed along a note from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman articulating why top free agents don’t seem interested in joining the Canucks. Friedman points out that the internal rift between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller has steered players away in recent years, and captain Quinn Hughes’ pending unrestricted free agency in a few years is the other reason.

Any top free-agent signing in Vancouver would undoubtedly want Hughes to be part of the team for the long term. He has proven to be one of the best defensemen in the NHL and would significantly enhance the competitiveness of any team. Unfortunately, the Canucks are unable to provide a definitive answer this summer, as they cannot negotiate an extension with Hughes for another year. Additionally, there has been no indication of whether Hughes is interested in extending his contract with Vancouver.

Other snapshots:

  • As one of the few remaining teams still seeking a head coach, the Boston Bruins have reportedly made some headway in their search. According to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff, the Bruins have completed their first round of interviews and have significantly narrowed down their pool. At the time of writing, and of the remaining coaches on the market, the Bruins have only been connected to Jay Leach, Mitch Love, and Luke Richardson.
  • A report out of Sweden suggests that the Detroit Red Wings could lose one of their defensive prospects in a few days. The report indicates that defenseman Eemil Viro will join the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks for the 2025-26 campaign. Viro, the 70th overall selection of the 2020 NHL Draft, had spent the last three years with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, scoring three goals and 19 points in 142 games with a -17 rating.

Snapshots: Ylönen, Lipinski, Concussion Protocol

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Former Montreal Canadiens winger Jesse Ylönen is reportedly considering signing a deal in the SHL this summer, per Johan Svensson of Swedish news site Expressen (subscription required). Svensson didn’t specify what club the Finnish wing could be headed to. Nonetheless, the potential for a move seems high after Ylönen spent a full season in the AHL for the first time in his four-year career in North America. His minor-league stint was split between the Syracuse Crunch and Milwaukee Admirals, sparked by a late-February trade that swapped Ylönen and fellow minor-leaguer Anthony Angello.

Ylönen was slightly less productive in the Midwest – netting 14 points in 26 games for Milwaukee, including playoffs, after totaling 25 points in 47 games with Syracuse. The full-year total of 39 points in 73 games is far below the scoring pace Ylönen managed through his first two seasons in the AHL in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He spent both seasons with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, and scored 36 points in 52 games and 32 points in 39 games respectively. That latter hot streak earned Ylönen his NHL rookie year during the 2022-23 season – and he managed a modest 16 points in 37 games to show for it. Montreal responded to positive numbers by keeping Ylönen all the lineup for the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign – but the upside bet didn’t pan out. Ylönen managed just eight points in 59 NHL games last season, and landed in the Lightning organization after Montreal declined a qualifying offer at the start of last summer.

Ylönen could be a proper match in Sweden. He grew up in Finland’s youth hockey program and played pro games in each of the country’s top two leagues. That includes totaling a combined 56 points in 127 games across three seasons in the Liiga, before he came over to North America. The SHL has certainly risen above its peers this season, but Ylönen could be well equipped for the challenge after finding, and then losing, his scoring touch in the NHL and AHL.

Other quick notes from around the league:

  • Calgary Flames prospect Jaden Lipinski is headed to the University of Maine next season, per the club’s Instagram. Lipinski will be one of the very few NCAA players with pro hockey experience – after playing one game at the end of the 2023-24 season, and two games this season, in the AHL. He recorded no notable stat changes. Lipinski is still eligible to attend college because all three games were played on an amateur try-out with the Calgary Wranglers, which kept him from earning any compensation for the matchups. NCAA revokes collegiate eligibility once players accept payment, or promise of payment, from a pro sports league. Since he didn’t, Lipinski will enter the league as a junior player who played up one year, akin to Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander, who played two SHL games before joining Boston University last season. The Maine Black Bears will get a hardy addition with this news. Lipinski scored 58 points in 59 WHL games this season, and seemed to improve his ability to play physical and productive hockey. Those are the hallmarks of Maine’s style, and should create a golden stage for the Flames prospect to continue growing.
  • NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly shared that the league is satisfied with how the concussion protocol has performed this season in an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Daly shared that the league has embedded due diligence into the process, even when players don’t formally enter the protocol. He shared that, with an additional layer of consideration, he feels the league has been able to properly answer any open questions about the process. Rates of concussions have risen and fallen in the NHL over time, but concerns around long-term effects of head injuries continues to ring louder. News site NPR published an op-ed on the link between lengthy hockey careers and CTE in December, sparking newfound debate over the effectiveness of the NHL’s concussion spotting.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby Signs Three-Year Deal In Sweden

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Jets pending unrestricted free agent winger Axel Jonsson-Fjallby has signed a three-year contract with Brynas IF of the Swedish Hockey League, the club announced Friday.

Jonsson-Fjallby, 27, didn’t see any NHL time this season after clearing waivers and heading to AHL Manitoba during training camp. He’s wrapping up a two-year, partial two-way deal he signed in free agency with Winnipeg in 2023 and earned the full league-minimum $775K salary this year despite not receiving any callups.

It was the first season that Jonsson-Fjallby hadn’t touched NHL ice since making his debut with the Capitals in the 2021-22 campaign. A fifth-round pick by Washington back in 2016, he was claimed off waivers by the Jets at the beginning of the 2022-23 season and has remained in the Winnipeg organization since.

Not too long ago, it looked like the speedy 6’0″ winger had what it takes to be an everyday bottom-six forward. He appeared in a career-high 50 games with Winnipeg in 2022-23 following the waiver claim, averaging 10:27 per game but still managing to record six goals and eight assists for 14 points. AJF only got 26 NHL games the following year, though, as he passed through waivers unclaimed and bounced between the majors and minors.

His chances of making an NHL comeback likely ended with a poor showing in Manitoba this season. After hovering well north of a 0.7 points per game rate in the prior few years, Jonsson-Fjallby produced an underwhelming 12-15–27 scoring line in 65 showings for the Moose, just 0.42 points per game. As such, it would have made little sense for Jonsson-Fjallby to hold out hope for a two-way deal as a UFA this summer when there was a much more stable offer waiting for him back home in Sweden.

There aren’t many better places for a potential resurgence overseas for Jonsson-Fjallby than Brynas, which just took home the top spot in the SHL in the regular season. His previous top-flight experience in Sweden came with Djurgardens IF from 2016 to 2019, recording an 8-19–27 scoring line in 102 games there as a youngster.

Including his time in Washington, Jonsson-Fjallby has a 10-13–23 scoring line with a plus-five rating in 99 career NHL games.

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