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Blackhawks Sign Anton Frondell

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July 15: As was foretold, Frondell put pen to paper on his entry-level deal today, the team announced. The deal carries the maximum entry-level cap hit of $975K.

July 12: So far, only four of 32 first-round picks have signed their entry-level contracts.  That number should soon be increasing as Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom reports that the Blackhawks will be signing Anton Frondell to his first contract early next week.

The 18-year-old was the third overall pick last month, giving Chicago what they hope will be another future high-end center to have behind Connor Bedard down the road.

Frondell spent the majority of last season at the Allsvenskan level, a second-division professional league.  He played in 29 games with Djurgarden and fared quite well, notching 11 goals and 14 assists in 29 games.  Frondell also notched seven points in 16 playoff games, earning his team a promotion to the SHL for 2025-26.

Frondell has one year left on his contract back home and it’s expected he will remain there next season instead of making the jump to come to North America.  Nordstrom relays that the youngster isn’t expected to attend training camp with Chicago to focus on the start of the SHL regular season which begins on September 13th.

Once the season in Sweden comes to an end, Frondell would then be eligible to join Chicago, potentially suiting up for them for a handful of games down the stretch if Djurgarden doesn’t have a long playoff run.  As long as he plays in nine or fewer games for the Blackhawks next season, an outcome that seems likely, Frondell’s deal will slide and still have three years remaining on it heading into 2026-27.

Maple Leafs Sign Miroslav Holinka To Entry-Level Deal

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The Maple Leafs have signed 2024 fifth-round pick Miroslav Holinka to a three-year, entry-level contract, per a team press release. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Holinka, 19, made the jump to North America last season after playing his draft year in Czechia with HC Ocelari Trinec, split between their pro club and their under-20 squad. The offensive-minded center was spectacular in the Czech juniors in 2023-24, scoring 20 goals and 41 points in just 29 games.

That breakneck pace didn’t hold up as Holinka arrived in the much more competitive WHL with the Edmonton Oil Kings. However, he was still among their top producers on a per-game basis and had a 19-26–45 scoring line in 47 appearances.

The 6’1″, 185-lb center also cracked Czechia’s roster for the 2025 World Juniors, where he scored a goal and three assists in seven games en route to a bronze medal. While he could technically jump to the AHL this season – he turns 20 in November and wasn’t subjected to the AHL/CHL transfer agreement anyway since he was drafted out of Czechia – it wouldn’t be surprising to see him remain with the Oil Kings for another year of development. If he’s intent on turning pro, a lower-stakes environment like the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones may be a better fit for Holinka, who is still somewhat of a raw talent.

Since Holinka is signing at 19 and turns 20 before Jan. 1, 2026, he’s not eligible for an entry-level slide. His contract will take effect this season no matter if he sees NHL action or not, so he’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry in 2028.

Jets Sign Tyrel Bauer To Two-Way Deal

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The Jets announced they’ve re-signed depth defenseman Tyrel Bauer to a two-way contract. The restricted free agent will earn a $775K NHL/$100K AHL/$125K guaranteed salary breakdown, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press reports.

Bauer, 23, will return to the Jets organization for his fourth professional season. The 6’3″, 207-lb righty has spent his entire career with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose since turning pro in 2022, serving as a No. 6/7 option there with a willingness to drop the gloves.

A sixth-round pick in 2020, Bauer was never a point producer in junior hockey, and that’s carried over to his time with the Moose. The Alberta native has only four goals and 16 points in 162 career AHL games, logging 291 penalty minutes and a -39 rating.

It’s a tad surprising to see Winnipeg dole out an NHL contract to Bauer since the possibility of a call-up at any point in his career is slim to none, unless he makes a move to forward to make him a more palatable enforcer. Nonetheless, it appears they view him as a valuable depth piece for his intangibles and will keep him in the system for another season after his entry-level contract expired two weeks ago.

Bauer will remain under team control next summer upon expiry. He’s still two years away from being eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency, which he’ll almost certainly qualify for if he gets to that stage.

Winnipeg now has 43 contracts out of the maximum 50 on the books for this season and still has to sign RFAs Parker Ford, Dylan Samberg, and Gabriel Vilardi to new deals.

Flames’ Joni Jurmo, Maple Leafs’ Ty Voit Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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Flames defense prospect Joni Jurmo and Maple Leafs forward prospect Ty Voit are both on unconditional waivers Tuesday to terminate their entry-level contracts, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Both have one year left on their deals and would have been restricted free agents in 2026. Any other NHL club can claim them within the next 24 hours; if not, their contracts will be voided, their remaining money forfeited, and they’ll become unrestricted free agents.

Jurmo, 23, was a third-round pick by the Canucks in 2020. Calgary acquired his signing rights in last year’s Elias Lindholm trade and signed him after his season in his native Finland concluded, bringing him to North America for 2024-25.

While Jurmo had played exclusively in Finland’s top-flight Liiga since 2021-22, the adjustment to North America was rough. The 6’4″, 207-lb lefty failed to capture a full-time AHL role with the Calgary Wranglers, going pointless with an even rating in 17 games. He fared much better in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush, posting 10 points in 12 games, but his lack of success higher on the depth chart wasn’t a promising sign for his development so long after his draft year.

Jurmo likely wasn’t happy with the lack of overall playing time, either, and will presumably seek out a more stable role in Europe if he becomes a UFA tomorrow. In turn, Calgary will clear a contract slot and open up more playing time for their large pool of young defenders likely headed for the Wranglers this season.

Voit, 22, is a similar story. Toronto’s 2021 fifth-rounder was a star in the OHL after missing his draft year due to COVID, capping off his junior career with a 105-point showing in 67 games for the Sarnia Sting in 2022-23.

Injuries cost him nearly his entire 2023-24 season as he adjusted to the professional ranks, though. He still showed immense playmaking promise when healthy, recording eight points in only five games for the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers.

Despite that, Voit didn’t see a second of AHL action last season and instead spent the year back down in the ECHL, now with the Cincinnati Cyclones. His production entered a tailspin, posting a much more conservative 8-29–37 scoring line in 63 games.

The 5’9″ forward could still be in line for an AHL contract somewhere, even if NHL interest isn’t likely. There’s a potential fit with the Penguins – he’s a Pittsburgh native and was drafted by current Pens general manager Kyle Dubas when he was in Toronto.

Mammoth To Sign Michael Carcone To One-Year Contract

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The Mammoth are bringing back unrestricted free agent winger Michael Carcone on a one-year contract, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

The move is one of the more surprising of the offseason, considering Carcone was one of the first players in the league to declare he would be testing free agency after the regular season ended. Evidently, there wasn’t considerable interest in him on the open market, and the Mammoth still wanted him around as offensive insurance for their bottom-six forward group.

Carcone, 29, was a longtime AHL fixture but burst onto the scene with the Coyotes in 2023-24, scoring 21 goals in 74 games despite averaging just 11:16 of ice time per contest. The move to Utah wasn’t kind to him, though.

Utah made Carcone a healthy scratch for a larger portion of the campaign, only playing him in 53 games. When he dressed, his shooting percentage had dropped by half from the prior season. He scored only seven goals and 19 points, despite seeing a slight increase in average ice time of 10 seconds when he was in the lineup. Things came to a head late in the season, as Utah chased down a playoff spot, and Carcone only appeared in one of their final 10 games.

There’s no guarantee that Carcone will slot into the opening night lineup in the fall. The Mammoth have acquired and sent away an equal amount of impact forwards, leading to a refreshed but still full-looking group. The 5’9″ winger will be competing with names like the similarly undersized Kailer Yamamoto and enforcer Liam O’Brien for the 12th and final spot in the forward lineup, presumably as their fourth-line left wing, assuming there are no pressing injuries.

Utah will have 46 out of the maximum 50 contracts on the books for next season after registering Carcone’s deal.

Image courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.

Bruins Sign John Farinacci To Two-Way Deal

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The Bruins have signed restricted free agent forward John Farinacci to a two-way contract, according to a team press release.

Farinacci, 24, would have spent four seasons at Harvard if not for COVID after being drafted in the third round by the Coyotes in 2019. He did not sign an entry-level contract with Arizona and instead reached an agreement with the Bruins immediately upon becoming a free agent in August 2023 following his senior season. He’s spent most of the past two seasons playing in the AHL for the Bruins’ affiliate in Providence.

Farinacci made his NHL debut in Boston’s final game of the 2024-25 regular season, scoring a goal on his lone shot in 10:58 of ice time against the Devils. The 5’11” center also went an impressive 6-for-8 on draws in that game and recorded three hits.

In 58 regular-season games with the Providence Bruins last season, the New Jersey native scored 10 goals, 28 assists, and 38 points while taking just three minor penalties and recording a plus-nine rating. While he only had one goal in eight Calder Cup Playoff games, he did manage to finish seventh on the team in regular-season scoring and matched his 2023-24 point total in 13 fewer appearances.

If Farinacci appears on the NHL roster in the 2025-26 season, he’ll earn the prorated league minimum of $775K; the team didn’t disclose his minor-league salary. The cousin of Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato will likely be a Group VI unrestricted free agent next summer unless he manages to play in 79 NHL games in the upcoming season.

The Bruins have now filled 45 of their 50 standard contract slots for 2025-26.

Sabres Sign Radim Mrtka To Entry-Level Contract

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The Buffalo Sabres have signed towering defenseman Radim Mrtka to a three-year, entry-level contract. The team recently selected Mrtka with the ninth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. He hails from Czechia, but spent the better half of last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL.

Mrtka is, in a lot of ways, a truly rare defender. He was among the tallest in his draft class – third tallest at the NHL combine – but skates with a fluidity and confidence on the puck that’s simply second-to-none. Mrtka has no issue in transitioning from defense to offense, plus the awareness and stickhandling to drive play confidently through all three zones. He was often the flashy perimeter playmaker making passes to Vancouver Canucks first-round pick Braeden Cootes in the slot. That duo helped Mrtka reach 32 assists and 35 points in 43 WHL games this season, after beginning the year with four assists in 10 games of Czechia’s U20 league.

Mrtka was a perfectionist in Czechia’s junior leagues prior to moving to Canada. He scored 11 points in 19 U20 games last season, and earned the first three games of his pro hockey career in Czechia’s Extraliga. He also attended eight games of the World U-17 Hockey Challenge, scoring four points, and five games of the World U18 Championships, with no scoring. He returned to the latter tournament this season, and managed four points in five games.

With news of his entry-level contract, Mrtka will firmly set himself up for a return to the WHL’s Seattle, unless he can make the Sabres roster out of training camp. He’ll use a full year in juniors to continue honing his stocky, puck-moving talent into something that can jump to the NHL in the years to come. It’s rare for defenders with this mix of size and skill to not pan out – and Mrtka seems well on the way to walking in the path of 6-foot-8 defenseman Tyler Myers.

Like Mrtka, Myers returned to the WHL for one season after his draft selection, before breaking into the NHL with 11 goals and 48 points in the 2009-10 season – enough to win out the 2010 Calder Trophy for ’Rookie of the Year’. Myers has since scored 395 points in 1,066 career games. Mrtka even wore Myers’ #53 when he took the ice for Buffalo’s post-draft development camp, despite spending the season wearing #21 in Seattle.

Sabres, Bowen Byram Avoid Arbitration With Two-Year Deal

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The Sabres have settled with restricted free agent defenseman Bowen Byram before their arbitration hearing, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports. It’s a two-year contract worth $6.25MM per season, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet adds. The team has since confirmed the signing.

The contract, worth $12.5MM in total, could still be part of a sign-and-trade involving Byram, whose name more seriously popped up in trade speculation early in the offseason ahead of what he hoped would be a big payday for him. Instead, the young rearguard settles for another “show-me” bridge deal, one that notably walks him to his first UFA-eligible year in 2027, giving him better earning potential on a long-term deal than he has now, assuming he continues an upward trajectory.

Byram, selected No. 4 overall in the 2019 draft by the Avalanche, struggled with concussions early and often in his development but has enjoyed healthier campaigns in recent years. After getting his name on the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022, they signed him to a two-year, $7.7MM bridge deal the following summer. Before he completed the first season of the contract, Colorado, looking to upgrade its center group, dealt Byram to Buffalo in a surprise one-for-one trade for Casey Mittelstadt.

While few things have gone right for the Sabres in the last decade-plus, that trade was one of them. Colorado no longer has Mittelstadt or the veteran they ended up trading him for, Charlie Coyle, on their roster. Byram, meanwhile, could still be poised to play another couple of seasons in Buffalo – multiple reports have indicated he’s open to staying long-term as long as the money is of interest.

Byram’s best NHL season came last year in top-pairing deployment with Rasmus Dahlin. While a bit of an awkward fit at first glance with two lefties, Byram managed a career-high with 38 points and a +11 rating while averaging nearly 23 minutes per game and, perhaps more importantly, played in all 82 contests. He’s now missed just nine games over the last two years after missing more than half of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons combined.

Byram notably did not file for arbitration, leaving himself susceptible to an offer sheet. Still, the Sabres negated that threat the following day when they opted for team-elected arbitration. That move limited their ability to walk away if they didn’t like the award and allowed Byram to choose between a one-year or a two-year term. Even without a hearing, Byram likely gets his wish here with a chance to test unrestricted free agency as early in his career as possible.

Still just 24, Byram’s 116 blocks co-led the team last year, although his possession impacts, with a noticeable discrepancy between his and Dahlin’s even-strength Corsi shares, are cause for concern. Both Buffalo and Byram, for his market value’s sake, will count on his defensive play to improve as the Sabres aim to make the postseason for the first time since 2011, assuming he remains in Western New York come opening night.

Image courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.

Islanders Re-Sign Travis Mitchell

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The Islanders have now re-signed the last of their unsigned defensemen as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they have signed Travis Mitchell to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay Mitchell $775K in the NHL, $100K in the minors, and has a guaranteed salary of $125K.

The 25-year-old joined New York in 2023, signing an entry-level contract as an unrestricted free agent.  That came on the heels of a solid NCAA showing with Cornell, including a 19-point senior season in 2022-23.

Mitchell joined AHL Bridgeport soon after leaving, getting into a handful of games with them to start his professional career.  He also has spent the last two seasons in the minors with Bridgeport and is coming off a 2024-25 effort that saw him record 13 points and 101 penalty minutes in 65 games.

Mitchell will be waiver-eligible for the first time this coming season but it’s likely that he won’t be claimed, allowing him to continue his development with Bridgeport under new head coach Rocky Thompson, a former blueliner himself.  Mitchell will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.

With this agreement, the Islanders are down to one remaining RFA to re-sign, winger Maxim Tsyplakov.  He was among the list of 11 players to file for salary arbitration earlier this month with hearings set to run between July 20th and August 4th.  The hearing schedule is yet to be released so it’s unclear exactly how much time GM Mathieu Darche has to try to get the 26-year-old signed without needing to have the salary decided by an arbitrator.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Skyler Brind’Amour

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Carolina has taken care of one of its remaining restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the Hurricanes have re-signed forward Skyler Brind’Amour to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay him $775K in the NHL, $90K in the AHL, and has a guaranteed payout of $100K.

The 25-year-old was originally a sixth-round pick by Edmonton back in 2017, going 177th overall.  However, after playing his college action at Quinnipiac, he didn’t sign with the Oilers, instead joining AHL Charlotte on a one-year deal for 2022-23.  After putting up eight points in 54 games with them, Brind’Amour inked a one-year, two-way pact with the Hurricanes for last season.

Brind’Amour spent most of 2024-25 with AHL Chicago and was a bit more productive than his professional debut, notching 16 goals and eight assists in 68 games.  With Carolina sitting many players for the final two games to keep them healthy for the playoffs, Brind’Amour was among the players recalled from the Wolves and he picked up his first career NHL goal in the final game of the season.

Brind’Amour will require waivers now to return to the minors but it seems unlikely that he will be picked up off the waiver wire.  Assuming he passes through unclaimed, he will once again serve as recallable depth for Carolina in 2025-26 and will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.

With the signing, the Hurricanes are now down to three remaining restricted free agents, all of whom primarily played for the Wolves last season – forward Ryan Suzuki plus defensemen Domenick Fensore and Ronan Seeley.

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