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Spencer Martin Signs With CSKA Moscow

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Now-former NHL goaltender Spencer Martin has signed a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow, according to a release from the Kontinental Hockey League.

Martin, 30, heads overseas for the first time in his career after spending the last 10 seasons bouncing between the NHL, AHL, and ECHL. Instead of settling for the unenviable life of a third-string netminder in North America, he’ll be the undisputed starter for one of Russia’s premier clubs with Islanders 2024 fourth-rounder Dmitri Gamzin as his backup.

Martin split last season between the Hurricanes and AHL Chicago, his third NHL organization in the last three years. In 31 AHL games in 2024-25, Martin posted a 2.34 GAA, .909 SV%, three shutouts, and a 20-8-2 record. He struggled when called upon for NHL minutes, though, languishing with a .846 SV% and 3.89 GAA in seven starts and two relief appearances.

A third-round pick by the Avalanche in 2013, Martin has also made stops in the Lightning, Canucks, and Blue Jackets organizations in addition to his time in Colorado and Carolina. He has a 24-30-8 record in 66 career NHL appearances, logging a 3.56 GAA and .883 SV%.

Carolina anticipated Martin’s departure and replaced his spot on the depth chart by acquiring and signing netminder Cayden Primeau from the Canadiens. He’ll serve as the No. 3 behind Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov in 2025-26.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Tyson Jost, Noel Gunler To Two-Way Contracts

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The Hurricanes have re-signed center Tyson Jost to a two-way contract, according to a team announcement. PuckPedia also reported that RFA winger Noel Gunler has accepted his qualifying offer and will be back with the team on a two-way deal.

Jost was a UFA after spending the 2024-25 season with Carolina on a one-way contract, so there’s a potential for a pay cut if he ends up on waivers and in the minors. His deal pays him a $300K AHL salary with a $600K guarantee.

The 27-year-old spent most of last season as the Canes’ extra forward. He made 39 appearances, his lowest in a season since his six-game trial as a rookie with the Avalanche in 2016-17, and scored four goals and five assists for nine points while averaging 10:22 per game.

The 2016 No. 10 overall pick never reached his top-six potential but remains a valuable depth option with nearly 500 games of NHL experience. However, he’s cleared waivers multiple times successfully in the past few seasons, so it doesn’t look like there’s much risk for Carolina if they try to sneak him back to AHL Chicago at some point. He scored four goals and five assists in 14 games for the minor-league club last season.

Jost’s spot as the extra forward looks safe for now when looking at Carolina’s depth chart, but the team still has plenty of cap space to burn and is in on Nikolaj Ehlers, the top remaining UFA. They could pursue more depth forward signings as well – potentially a return to Raleigh for names like Jack Roslovic or Jeff Skinner, both of whom are still available. If the Canes make multiple forward additions ahead of Jost, he’ll likely be a waiver candidate if everyone is healthy in training camp.

As for Gunler, his QO will pay him a salary of $813,750 if he’s in the NHL next season and $80K in the AHL. The 23-year-old was a second-round pick in 2020 but has yet to make his NHL debut. The 6’2″ winger has spent parts of the last three seasons with AHL Chicago, where he scored 13 goals and 26 points in 58 games last season.

Canadiens Sign Sean Farrell, Marc Del Gaizo To Two-Way Contracts

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The Canadiens have re-signed RFA forward Sean Farrell to a two-way contract and also added Group VI free agent defenseman Marc Del Gaizo on a two-way deal, per a team announcement yesterday. Both are one-year agreements.

Farrell’s deal pays him an NHL salary of $775K and an AHL salary of $90K with a $110K guarantee, per PuckPedia. Del Gaizo’s contract is far richer; PuckPedia reflects he’s landed an AHL salary of $375K with a $450K guarantee.

Farrell, 23, was a fourth-round pick in 2020 out of the USHL’s Chicago Steel. A high-scoring pivot who can flex to the left wing, his size was the main reason he slipped in the draft, checking in at just 5’9″ and 174 lbs. He had an extremely productive two-year run at Harvard, including a spectacular 53-point sophomore season that earned him ECAC Player of the Year honors.

Although Farrell had already represented the United States at multiple senior national tournaments and was coming off a spectacular collegiate season, he hasn’t yet received an NHL opportunity since signing his entry-level contract with Montreal in 2023. In 114 games for AHL Laval over the past two seasons, he has 29 goals, 43 assists, and 72 points with a plus-eight rating.

Farrell could have accepted his qualifying offer, which included a $874,125 NHL salary for 2025-26. That QO only included an $80K minors salary, though, so he’ll take the higher guarantee in exchange for a lower salary if he ends up spending time on the NHL roster. He did break out for 20 goals in 67 games with Laval last year, so there is still a path for the undersized pivot to reach NHL minutes and see if he can convert his elite lower-level offensive production into big-league offense.

Del Gaizo, 25, makes the move to Montreal after spending his first four full professional seasons in the Predators organization. He was a fourth-round pick by Nashville out of UMass in 2019 and has spent most of his time with AHL Milwaukee since turning pro in 2021, although he did spend a slight majority of last season on the NHL roster.

After making his NHL debut in a nine-game call-up in 2023-24, Del Gaizo made 46 appearances for Nashville last year. He was serviceable in bottom-pairing minutes, recording nine points and a minus-three rating while averaging 16:45 per game. The 2021 NCAA championship winner also had an 8-4–12 scoring line with a +10 rating in 30 games with Milwaukee.

While he’s likely worth a shot as someone’s No. 7/8 option, Del Gaizo wasn’t going to get that in Nashville. The Preds were looking to get either bigger or younger on defense, and the 5’11” lefty doesn’t really fit either of those bills as he nears the precipice of his development.

He’ll fight for a spot on Montreal’s roster with names like unsigned RFA Jayden Struble, although if top prospect David Reinbacher earns a spot out of camp, that would presumably box Del Gaizo out of an NHL role with eight defenders ahead of him on the depth chart. Montreal still has 11 contract spots remaining and three unsigned RFAs in Struble, Jakub Dobes, and Willliam Trudeau.

Sharks Re-Sign Pavol Regenda To Two-Way Deal

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The Sharks have re-signed winger Pavol Regenda on a two-way contract, according to a team release.

San Jose acquired Regenda from the Ducks in January in a swap of minor-league forwards, sending Justin Bailey the other way. He didn’t see an NHL recall following the trade or at all this season, for that matter, after getting brief looks with Anaheim in 2022-23 and 2023-24. In 19 games over those two seasons, he scored a goal and two assists while averaging 10:49 per night.

The 25-year-old wasn’t an RFA this summer because he’d accrued enough professional experience for Group VI UFA status while playing less than 80 career NHL games. He could have signed anywhere else – including Europe – but instead returns to the Sharks organization on a deal that pays him $350K in the minors with a $400K guarantee, per PuckPedia.

The 6’4″, 212-lb winger from Slovakia signed with Anaheim as an undrafted free agent in 2022 on the backs of a strong showing at the Olympics and World Championship. Regenda now has three full AHL seasons under his belt and seems content in his minor-league role. He has 45 goals, 55 assists, 100 points, and 189 PIMs in 176 career AHL games, including a good 9-16–25 scoring line in 36 games with the Barracuda after the trade to San Jose.

With younger, higher-ceiling names likely taking priority for a call-up this upcoming season, Regenda should be on track to spend most, if not all, of 2025-26 down with the Barracuda if he clears waivers.

Capitals Sign Louie Belpedio, Calle Rosen, Graeme Clarke To Two-Way Deals

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The Capitals have added depth for their AHL affiliate with a trio of two-way signings, announcing deals for defensemen Louis Belpedio, Calle Rosen, and forward Graeme Clarke yesterday.

All three contracts carry NHL cap hits and salaries of $775K, the team said. Clarke and Rosen signed one-year deals, while Belpedio landed a two-year commitment. He also earns the priciest AHL salary of the trio at $575K, while Rosen will earn $525K and Clarke will earn $350K.

Belpedio, a third-round pick of the Wild in 2014, joins his fourth NHL organization. After spending time with Minnesota and Montreal, primarily in the minors, he landed with the Flyers in the 2022 offseason and has been in Philly on two-way deals ever since. He’s been an alternate captain for AHL Lehigh Valley for the last three years, and the 29-year-old righty recorded a 5-23–28 scoring line in 66 games last year with 88 PIMs and a +15 rating.

The Illinois native last saw NHL action in 2023-24, skating in a career-high 12 games with the Flyers. He notched two goals and two assists, his first points at the top level since he had two assists in his NHL debut for Minnesota in April 2018.

Rosen, 31, has 93 games of NHL experience compared to Belpedio’s 16. He’ll be the earlier call-up option if the Caps need a more offensive-minded defenseman on the roster. The 6’1″ lefty is three years removed from sniffing a full-time role with the Blues, recording 18 points and a +19 rating for them in 49 games in 2022-23 while averaging 15:36 per game.

The Swede played just six NHL games the following season, though, and didn’t see any NHL ice last year while on a two-way deal with the Avalanche. He’ll presumably take his talents to Hershey with no roster spots up for grabs on Washington’s blue line. The one-time AHL All-Star had 10 goals, 24 assists, 34 points, 24 PIMs, and a +22 rating in 62 games for the Colorado Eagles last season.

While the other two signings were outright UFAs, the 24-year-old Clarke joins the Caps organization after being non-tendered by the Wild. Minnesota picked the 2019 third-rounder up the prior offseason in a trade with the Devils as high-ceiling minor-league depth, but the 6’0″ winger ended up taking a step back offensively and didn’t land an NHL recall. He put together a 16-21–37 scoring line with a -13 rating in 64 games for AHL Iowa last season and has three games of NHL experience, all with New Jersey in 2023-24.

Jets Sign Gustav Nyquist

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The Winnipeg Jets have agreed to terms on a one-year, $3.25MM contract with winger Gustav Nyquist. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Nyquist, 35, spent last season split between the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild. His year began in a top-six role with the Predators where he managed nine goals and 21 points in 57 games. But, like many Predators veterans, Nyquist struggled to prevent the barrage on defense, and wound up being traded at the Trade Deadline in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick. He finished his year with seven points in 22 games with the Wild.

On the season, Nyquist combined for just 28 points and a minus-24 in 79 games played. That number is a sharp, sharp fall from the career-year he posted on the Predators last season. He formed a formidable pairing with playmaking center Ryan O’Reilly on the 2023-24 Predators, and reached a career-high 75 points in 81 games while operating from a second-line role. His 52 assists on the season fell 14 higher than his previous career-high. It was an electric performance, with Nyquist reaching new heights at an age where many players often consider retirement.

That flash of upside will earn Nyquist a 14th NHL season with Winnipeg next year. He’s a perennial scorer, and has reached the 50-point mark in three of his last six seasons. In the years he fell short of the mark, Nyquist still managed a serviceable 42, 27, and 28 points respectively. Across his full career in the NHL – which spans back to the 2011-12 season in Detroit – Nyquist has averaged 20 goals and 50 points per 82 games played. That average falls to 16 goals and 46 points when looking at 2021-22 and beyond.

Nyquist recorded a 10.7 shooting percentage last year, one percent lower than his career average and nearly five percent lower than the mark he reached in his career year. That could set him up for a boost in scoring next season. He’ll have every chance to reach new heights, likely set on filling the top-six role vacated by Nikolaj Ehlers — assuming Ehlers doesn’t re-sign. He may need to compete with Alex Iafallo, Nino Niederreiter, and Cole Koepke for minutes next to Jonathan Toews, who will make his return to the league in a middle-six center role with the Jets.

Flames Sign Morgan Frost To Two-Year Extension

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The Calgary Flames have signed centerman Morgan Frost to a two-year, $8.75MM contract extension per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal was first reported by Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. It will carry an annual cap hit of $4.38MM and an up-front signing bonus of $500,000 per PuckPedia.

The Flames acquired Frost alongside Joel Farabee partway through this season in a deal that sent Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a 2025 second-round pick (Shane Vansaghi), and a 2028 seventh-round pick back to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Frost quickly slotted into Calgary’s third-line center role, but struggled to maintain the heights that he had reached with the Flyers. After beginning the year with 11 goals and 25 points in 49 games with Philadelphia, Frost finished it off with just 12 points in 32 games with Calgary. Despite the dip in scoring, he remained an active presence in all other areas of the ice, recording a positive faceoff win-rate, 21 blocked shots, and 34 hits with the Flames.

Frost’s cumulative 37 points on the season fall just shy of the pair of strong seasons he posted in Philadelphia over the last two years. Playing through his first full year in the NHL in 2023-24, Frost managed an impressive 19 goals and 46 pionts in 81 games while splitting time between the second and third lines. He followed that performance up with 13 goals and 41 points in 71 games last season, this time in a much more clear-cut third-line role.

There seems to be heaps of untapped offensive upside in Frost’s game. He’s recorded 147 points in 310 games in the NHL, to go with 48 points in 65 career games in the AHL. He was even tracking for a 50-point season to kick off this year, before being knocked off course by a what seemed to be a sudden trade. That fact could make this short-term deal an interesting bet for the Flames. He will enter unrestricted free agency on the other side of this contract, providing Frost a chance to either earn a pay raise in Calgary or find new pastures should he flame out. He’ll head for the third-line center role on the Flames lineup next season, behind Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund.

Islanders Sign Maxim Shabanov

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The New York Islanders have announced they’ve signed KHL forward Maxim Shabanov to a one-year, entry-level contract. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, and confirmed by Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. Rosner adds that the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers were also among Shabanov’s finalists, before deciding on the Islanders. The contract will carry a $975,000 cap hit and maximum bonuses – valued at $3.5MM – per NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes.

Shabanov, 24, will follow in the footsteps of top Islanders’ rookie Maxim Tsyplakov, who posted 10 goals and 35 points in 77 games this season after seven seasons in the KHL. Shabanov has three full years of KHL experience to his name, though he’s found a way to emerge as one of his team’s top forwards in each year. He scored 23 goals and 67 points in 65 games with HC Traktor this season, good for the third-most points in the entire league. He then added an additional 20 points, split evenly, in 21 postseason appearances as Traktor charged towards a championship runner-up finish.

It was a red-hot performance for the young winger, after he broke out with 25 goals and 50 points in 64 games last season. That performance was itself a stark increase from the 18 goals and 31 points that Shabanov managed as a KHL rookie in 2022-23. Three years of production have made Shabanov one of the top young forwards. In fact, his 150 points in 207 career KHL games is the ninth-most a player has scored prior to their 25th birthday. He ranks just ahead of Vadim Shipachyov, and just behind New Jersey Devils forward Arseni Gritsyuk.

Shabanov is a flashy, high-speed forward with a knack for finding ways to get involved in the offense. He was among Traktor’s biggest drivers through the neutral zone this season, and consistently found ways to crash the net on or off of the puck. He’s got a strong shot, nifty hands, and a creative ability to set up plays that should all yield interesting offensive upside at the NHL level. He could be held back by a slight, 5-foot-8 frame — a knock that likely excluded him from much NHL draft consideration during his years of eligibility in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Shabanov should slot into the Islanders’ third-line left-wing role to start his NHL career. He could also be a candidate to man a right-wing role, should it better fit New York’s deployment of Anthony Duclair and newcomer Jonathan Drouin. He could even fit on the opposite wing to Tsyplakov. The two young Russians have never appeared in league play together.

Blues Sign Pius Suter To Two-Year Contract

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The St. Louis Blues have agreed to a two-year, $8.25MM contract with center Pius Suter per insider Frank Seravalli. The move was confirmed by Cam Robinson of EliteProspects, after reports that Suter had signed from Chris Johnston of The Athletic and Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News.

The contract was originally reported as carrying a $4MM cap hit through both seasons, though David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period shares that the second year will actually carry a $4.25MM cap hit. St. Louis confirmed the extra $250,000 in a team press release.

Suter is coming off a career year with the Vancouver Canucks. He reached new heights in nearly every stat category, including scoring 25 goals, 46 points, 43 blocked shots, 59 hits, and averaging north of 17 minutes a night. He made good work out of a promotion to Vancouver’s second-line following the departure of top forward J.T. Miller via a midseason trade. Suter even earned a vote for the Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the league’s best defensive-forward.

Suter has stood as a reliable middle-six center in every season since his NHL career began in 2020-21. He moved to the Chicago Blackhawks after six seasons, and one championship, with Zurich SC of Switzerland’s top league. Suter recorded 14 goals and 27 points in 55 games of his NHL rookie season – on pace for 40 points across 82 games. A Blackhawks organization in flux pushed Suter out of the door after his one-year deal ran up, prompting a two-year, $6.5MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings. Suter continued to stand up to a third-line role in Detroit, even scoring 15 goals and 36 points while appearing in all 82 games of the 2021-22 season.

His scoring fell to 24 points in 79 games in his final year with the Red Wings, sparking yet another summer move – this time on a discounted two-year, $3.2MM deal with the Canucks. A change of scenery brought a spark to Suter’s scoring, which grew to 29 points in 67 games last year and a breakout season this year.

Now, after completing another pair of seasons with his club, Suter will head for a move once more. He could find a lucrative lineup role with the Blues, who are yet to make a clear decision between who will handle center duties on their second and third lines. Suter will compete with captain Brayden Schenn and rookie Dalibor Dvorsky for minutes.

A dismal 42.7 faceoff percentage, compared to Schenn’s 52.3 percentage, could be enough to push Suter to the wings. Even then, his volume shooting and hefty presence will help the Blues make up for recently trading youngster Zachary Bolduc. Suter recorded an 18.1 shooting percentage last season – far above his career average of 13.1 percent. That could point towards his 46-point mark being a tough one to recreate, though he’ll still be a strong bet for modest production from a depth role.

Golden Knights Sign Kaedan Korczak To Four-Year Extension, Jeremy Davies To Two-Year Deal

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The Vegas Golden Knights have re-signed defenseman Kaedan Korczak to a four-year, $13MM contract extension, per Stephen Whyno of AP News. The deal will carry an annual cap hit of $3.25MM. Vegas later confirmed the deal in a team press release. In that release, the team also mentioned they’ve signed defenseman Jeremy Davies to a two-year contract.

Korczak will earn a hardy bode of confidence with this news. He has one more season left on a two-year, $1.65MM contract signed on July 1st, 2024. With that contract in place, Korczak was promoted to Vegas’ extra defender role – marking his first season spending the full year with the NHL roster. He was often a healthy scratch over the course of the season, but still managed to record 10 assists, one penalty, and a plus-15 across 40 games. He also recorded 59 hits in his appearances — giving him the fifth-most hits per-60 minutes of ice time.

Physical hockey and strong passing were the two features that Vegas aimed to buy in signing Korczak to a multi-year extension last season. They evidently saw enough to stand confident in his abilities, and will now keep Korczak controlled through his age-33 season in 2029-30.

A hefty contract extension could be a strong indication that Korczak is set for a nightly feature in Vegas’ lineup, likely in place of fellow giant Nicolas Hague, who was recently traded to the Nashville Predators. Korczak has appeared in 77 NHL games across the last four seasons, and managed one goal, 21 points, and a plus-25. He has also recorded 39 points and a minus-three in 134 AHL games since 2020.

Vegas will find an insurance defender in the gritty Davies, who has spent the last four seasons primarily in the minor-leagues. He recorded a staggering 11 goals and 48 points in 72 games with the Belleville Senators this season – marking a new career-high. The boost in scoring came alongside a dwindling in penalties, with Davies recording 44 PIMs this year after posting 90 PIMs just two seasons ago. He’s been a fixture of the minor-leagues through his six-year professional career, so far only stepping into 23 NHL games and recording three points. A standout year with Belleville could be enough to warrant NHL attention next year, though Davies will likely have to climb his way up from a feature role with the Henderson Silver Knights.

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