Blues Offer Sheet Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway
The Blues are tendering offer sheets to Oilers RFAs Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, the team announced (via Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch). In a separate transaction, they’ve reacquired their own 2025 second-round pick from the Penguins to have the appropriate compensation should Edmonton not match one or both of the offer sheets.
St. Louis’ offer sheet for Broberg is a two-year, $9.16MM deal, while Holloway’s is a two-year, $4.58MM deal, per DeFranks. The deals carry AAVs of $4.58MM and $2.29MM, respectively.
Both are at the maximum of their respective categories in the offer sheet compensation thresholds, which the league updated this offseason. Should Edmonton fail to match, the Blues would owe the Oilers their 2025 third-round pick for Holloway and the aforementioned 2025 second-round pick for Broberg.
The preceding pick swap with the Penguins saw the Blues acquire Pittsburgh’s 2026 fifth-round pick and next year’s second-rounder, sending their 2026 second-round pick and the Senators’ 2025 third-round pick in return. St. Louis had sent its 2025 second-rounder to the Penguins in June to get Kevin Hayes‘ $3.57MM cap hit off the books, while they acquired Ottawa’s pick as compensation for taking on the final two seasons of Mathieu Joseph‘s contract at a $2.95MM cap hit.
New Oilers general manager Stan Bowman now has seven days to decide whether to match the offer sheets or accept the draft-pick compensation. But given Edmonton’s financial situation, matching the bloated short-term deals will be a tough ask.
The second year attached to both deals may be the deciding factor. Not only are the Oilers already over the salary cap today, paying out nearly $7MM in cap hits in 2025-26 for Broberg and Holloway would significantly inhibit their ability to sign pending UFA Leon Draisaitl to what will likely be the richest deal in franchise history.
But if the Oilers decide to match one or both the offer sheets, they wouldn’t need to make any corresponding transactions immediately. Edmonton is only roughly $350K over the $88MM salary cap, per PuckPedia, and teams can exceed that upper limit by up to 10% during the offseason. That’s enough wiggle room to add $6.87MM worth of Broberg and Holloway to the books, but they would need to shed more salary than previously anticipated to become cap-compliant by the time opening-night rosters are due.
Edmonton’s short-term crunch could be helped out by Evander Kane, who’s expected to need surgery and will likely start the season on long-term injured reserve. But if Kane and his $5.125MM cap hit aren’t expected to miss the entire season, they’ll still need space to activate him at some point.
On St. Louis’ end, it’s now clear why GM Doug Armstrong was intent on keeping his options open financially this summer, shedding some bad deals for slightly more cost-effective ones. The Blues have $7.34MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia, ninth-most in the league. It’s enough to take on the AAVs for Broberg and Holloway without any corresponding moves, and they could end up with even more flexibility should defenseman Torey Krug require surgery to address pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle. That would cost him the entire 2024-25 season and make him eligible for LTIR, allowing them to use his $6.5MM cap hit for relief.
Failing to match either would be a tough proposition for the Oilers, who selected Broberg eighth overall in 2019 and Holloway at 14th overall in 2020. Both are on their way to becoming everyday NHL contributors, with Holloway appearing in all 25 playoff games for Edmonton and Broberg pushing for more NHL minutes after excelling with the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, last season.
Flames Sign Adam Klapka, Yan Kuznetsov To Two-Way Contracts
2:56 p.m.: Kuznetsov’s deal will pay him a $100K salary in the minors, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports.
2:08 p.m.: The Flames have signed RFA forward Adam Klapka and RFA defenseman Yan Kuznetsov to two-way deals for 2024-25, the team said in separate announcements Monday.
As the releases note, both deals will carry $775K cap hits if the players are on the NHL roster. Their minor league salaries weren’t disclosed.
Klapka, 23, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Flames out of Czechia’s Bili Tygri Liberec in 2022. He spent most of the last two seasons with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
The massive 6’7″, 238-lb winger made his NHL debut last season, recording his first NHL goal as part of a six-game call-up. He also posted a -1 rating, 19 PIMs, and 21 hits while averaging just 6:46 per game.
Across 125 games in two AHL seasons, Klapka has accumulated 34 goals, 37 assists, 71 points, 170 PIMs, and a +9 rating. His 46 points last season led the team in scoring, as did his seven points in six playoff games.
With the Flames’ forward depth thinner than in years past, there’s a decent chance Klapka lands on the NHL roster come opening night. He’ll be one of many players battling it out for three or four forward spots up for grabs alongside Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt, and Jakob Pelletier, the latter of whom remains an RFA.
The 22-year-old Kuznetsov faces longer but not impossible odds of making the team out of camp. Selected with the No. 50 pick of the 2020 draft out of UConn, he stuck in school for his sophomore season before opting to spend 2021-22 in juniors with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.
Kuznetsov turned pro in earnest the following campaign, although he did see spot duty with the Flames’ former AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Like Klapka, he made his NHL debut in 2023-24, posting a -1 rating and skating 11:58 in an appearance against the Senators on Jan. 9.
On the farm with the Wranglers/Heat, the Russian has 10 goals, 22 assists, 32 points, 74 PIMs, and a -5 rating in 144 games over the past four years. Those offensive numbers aren’t too concerning for a player who projects as a stay-at-home defender, and he has been able to use his 6’4″, 216-lb frame effectively since turning pro.
If the Flames opt to carry seven defenders and 14 forwards, their roster on the back end is likely set. But if they opt to drop a forward for an eighth defender, look for the extra spot to be a two-man battle in camp between Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov, who’s still an RFA in need of a deal.
Devils Re-Sign Nolan Foote To Two-Way Deal
The Devils have re-signed RFA left winger Nolan Foote to a two-way deal, according to a team release. He’ll cost $825K against the cap if on the NHL roster this season.
Foote, who checks in at 6’4″ and 200 lbs, was limited to eight games last season between the NHL and AHL due to a lower back injury. He scored once in his four games with New Jersey, posting a -1 rating and recording six shots on goal while averaging 10:06 per night. He added three goals and one assist in four games with the Utica Comets.
The 23-year-old was one of the Devils’ two remaining unsigned RFAs alongside Dawson Mercer. While he inked a two-way pact today, there’s a good chance the 2019 first-round pick starts the season on the NHL roster. That’s because he’s no longer exempt from waivers and would need to clear them to return to Utica to start the season. As such, his lengthy contract negotiations this summer likely revolved around lobbying for a higher-than-league-minimum NHL salary, which he landed.
After his rocky campaign, the son of former Avalanche captain Adam Foote affirmed to Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News that he wanted an NHL future in Newark. He’s logged NHL ice in the past four seasons but never more than seven games in a single campaign. In total, he has six goals and two assists for eight points in 23 career contests. Most of his time since turning pro in 2020 has been spent in the AHL with Utica and the Devils’ former affiliate in Binghamton, where he has 44 goals and 90 points in 138 career games.
In 2022-23, his last healthy campaign, Foote finished second on Utica in goals (20) and third in points (37) in 55 games. He was originally drafted by the Lightning but was traded to New Jersey in Feb. 2020 for Blake Coleman.
If he doesn’t make the Devils’ roster, clears waivers, and ends up in the AHL, Foote will earn a salary of $150K with a $200K guarantee, per the team. It’s a considerable pay bump from the $70K minors salary afforded to him by his entry-level contract.
Foote will be an RFA again next summer upon the expiry of this deal.
Nicolas Meloche Signs Two-Year KHL Deal
After not getting much traction on a contract in North America last season, defenseman Nicolas Meloche opted to try his hand overseas in the KHL. Things went well enough over there that he has elected to sign a two-year deal with Dinamo Minsk, per an announcement on their Telegram page.
The 27-year-old was somewhat of a late bloomer, not becoming an NHL regular until 24 with San Jose. He did well enough that year to land a one-way agreement with Calgary in the 2022 offseason but after a tough showing in training camp, he wound up spending the entire year in the minors before heading to Russia.
Last season, Meloche played in 40 games with Salavat Yulaev where he was relatively productive, collecting five goals and 13 assists before chipping in with two assists in six playoff contests. Salavat traded Meloche’s rights to Minsk last week, paving the way for this contract.
With 57 career NHL games and 257 AHL appearances under his belt, it’s certainly possible that Meloche could look to return to North America when this contract is up. After being more of a limited point producer before going overseas, a continued good showing on that front could certainly get him back on the radar in 2026.
Michael Vukojevic Signs In Finland
After being non-tendered by the Devils earlier this summer, defenseman Michael Vukojevic has landed a one-year deal in Finland with Pelicans, per a team announcement. The contract comes with a second-year option.
Vukojevic was a third-round pick of the Devils in 2019 and turned pro early, beginning his career with the Devils’ AHL affiliate (then in Binghamton) in 2020-21 with the Ontario Hockey League pausing operations due to COVID-19. His pro career began in earnest when he signed his entry-level contract in March 2021, and he’s spent most of the past three seasons suiting up with New Jersey’s new affiliate in Utica. He never got an NHL call-up and didn’t establish himself as an AHL mainstay either, posting 10 points, 32 PIMs, and a -10 rating in 49 games last season.
The 6’3″, 216-lb left-shot defenseman now heads overseas, but at 23 years old, there’s still enough runway left in his development to attempt an NHL return somewhere down the line. He’s the second defender that Pelicans have plucked out of the AHL in the last two days, joining former Blackhawk Wyatt Kalynuk.
In 166 with the Devils’ affiliates in Binghamton and Utica over the last four seasons, Vukojevic totaled nine goals, 32 assists, 41 points, 116 PIMs, and a -10 rating. He also appeared in four games for the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder, New Jersey’s low-level affiliate, in 2021-22.
Avalanche Sign Matthew Phillips To Two-Way Deal
The Avalanche have signed forward Matthew Phillips to a one-year contract, the team announced. PuckPedia reports it’s a two-way deal worth $775K in the NHL and $287.5K in the AHL.
Phillips, a diminutive 5’8″ winger who spent his junior days with the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals, was a sixth-round pick of the Flames in 2016. He signed his entry-level contract and turned pro with their AHL affiliate in Stockton two years later, quickly becoming one of the minor league’s top offensive players. In parts of five seasons with the Flames’ affiliates in Stockton and Calgary, Phillips totaled 237 points (103 G, 134 A) in 265 games. He was named to the league’s First All-Star Team in 2022-23, his final year in the organization, after leading the team in scoring with 76 points (36 G, 40 A) in 66 games.
But despite that strong production, Phillips never got much of an NHL chance in Calgary. He made only three big-league appearances spread over the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons, going without a point and averaging 10:48 per game. As such, he departed the organization in the summer of 2023 as a Group VI UFA, signing a one-year, one-way deal with the Capitals.
Phillips made Washington’s opening night roster and got an extended chance to produce, but he wasn’t up to the task. He was placed on waivers mid-season and was claimed by the Penguins, but only lasted a few weeks in Pittsburgh before being waived again and re-claimed by Washington. Overall, he managed just one goal in five points in 31 games between the Caps and Pens last year.
He also wasn’t the same player he was with Calgary in his brief time suiting up for the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Phillips did have six points in nine regular season games, but he went without a point and posted a -3 rating in six playoff games for this year’s Calder Cup champions. The 26-year-old became a Group VI UFA again this summer and wasn’t retained by Washington.
Phillips now looks to rediscover his offensive touch in Colorado, whether with the NHL club in Denver or the AHL club in Loveland. At worst, he’s a potential high-ceiling offensive option to stash in the minors with 34 games of NHL experience to use as a fourth-line call-up in a pinch.
West Notes: Morrison, Gulyayev, Georgiev
The Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, have reached the Calder Cup Final in each of their first two seasons of existence. They’re loading up for a third run to the championship series, signing left winger Cam Morrison to a one-year deal, per the league.
Morrison, 25, was a second-round pick of the Avalanche in 2016 but never signed, instead opting to land with the Blackhawks as a free agent in 2020 coming out of Notre Dame. He played out his entry-level contract without an NHL call-up and has spent the past few seasons bouncing between various AHL and ECHL clubs, although he’s beginning to solidify himself as a quality depth piece at the second-highest level of play in North America.
The 6’3″, 209-lb forward spent last season in the Panthers organization on an AHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers, where he had five goals and six assists for 11 points with 10 PIMs and a +5 rating in 45 games. He also appeared in eight ECHL games for the Kelly Cup champion Florida Everblades, where he had five goals and an assist.
Morrison will head out West to a Coachella Valley team set to have a solid veteran presence up front, including captain Max McCormick, Brandon Biro, and Mitchell Stephens, all of whom are under contract with the Kraken on two-way deals and have NHL experience.
More updates from the Western Conference:
- Don’t expect Avalanche prospect Mikhail Gulyayev to get his feet wet in the AHL before making his NHL debut. The defenseman told Sergey Demidov of Responsible Gambling that “my path to the NHL is to come and play right away.” Gulyayev, 19, was picked 31st overall in 2023 and remains under contract with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League through 2025-26. It’s likely he’ll play out the final two seasons of that deal before signing his entry-level contract with Colorado and making his NHL debut in the fall of 2026. An offensive powerhouse in the junior ranks, Gulyayev had four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 64 games for Avangard in his first full professional season last year.
- The Avalanche also have a bit of a question mark in the crease with Alexandar Georgiev entering the final season of his contract. It seems likely the pending UFA will test the market next summer, opines Aarif Deen of Mile High Sports. Georgiev currently costs $3.4MM against the cap for the strapped Avs, and Deen believes a solid season from the netminder would likely price him out of Colorado’s goaltending budget, while an underwhelming season from the Bulgaria-born goalie would likely influence the Avs to walk away. Thus, 24-year-old Justus Annunen‘s performance in his first season of full-time backup duties will be one of the bigger storylines in Denver in 2024-25.
Wyatt Kalynuk Signs With Liiga’s Pelicans
Pelicans of Liiga, Finland’s top-level professional league, have signed free agent defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk to a one-year deal, per a team press release.
Kalynuk, 27, spent last season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds while on a two-way contract with the Blues. He became a UFA at the end of the season after finishing fourth among Thunderbirds defenders in scoring with five goals, 13 assists and 18 points in 66 games with 65 PIMs and a -1 rating.
A seventh-round pick of the Flyers in 2017, Kalynuk spent three seasons at Wisconsin but opted not to sign with Philadelphia upon graduating. Instead, the Manitoba native inked an entry-level deal with the Blackhawks in 2020 after a junior year with the Badgers that saw him post 28 points in 36 games while serving as captain, earning Big 10 First All-Star Team honors.
Kalynuk made his NHL debut in his first professional season, suiting up in 21 games with Chicago during the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. The left-shot defender stayed on the NHL roster or taxi squad for most of the year, doing well in a bottom-pairing role with four goals, five assists, and 25 hits while averaging 16:16 per game with a -6 rating. In his short stint with AHL Rockford that year, he was elite offensively, with 10 points in only eight games.
But things went downhill from there for Kalynuk, who played only five NHL contests the following season. His effectiveness in the minors was also diminished, but he was still Rockford’s second-highest-scoring defender with 27 points in 52 games. Still, it wasn’t enough to convince Chicago to keep him around, and they opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his ELC expired in 2022.
Kalynuk has since played exclusively in the minors on two-way deals, suiting up for the Blues’, Canucks’ and Rangers’ primary affiliates. After failing to repeat his previous offensive success wherever he went, it’s not surprising to see the blue-liner opt for perhaps a bigger role in Finland. He leaves the AHL behind after 74 points in 187 games over the last four years.
He’ll be Pelicans’ second defenseman with NHL experience on this season’s roster, joining former Hurricane Michal Jordan. The Lahti-based club will suit up in the Champions Hockey League beginning next month after finishing as the runner-up to the Liiga championship last season.
International Notes: Beaudin, Schmiemann, Zahejsky
Some notable minor transactions from around the hockey world today as August moves along:
- Former Senators center J.C. Beaudin will remain overseas this season after signing a one-year deal with Finland’s TPS, per a team announcement. Beaudin, 27, was a third-round pick of the Avalanche back in 2015 but didn’t make his NHL debut until 2019-20 with Ottawa, posting an assist and a -4 rating in 22 games. He spent the following two seasons in the AHL with Belleville and Laval before heading overseas in 2022. He signed with Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the German DEL, where he racked up 22 goals and 48 points in 90 games over the last two seasons.
- Defenseman Quinn Schmiemann is making his first jump across the pond, as Slovakia’s HC Dukla Trencin announced on Facebook that they’ve signed the 23-year-old to a one-year contract. Schmiemann was a sixth-round pick of the Lightning in 2019 out of WHL Kamloops but never signed, instead beginning his professional career in the Canucks organization on an AHL deal with Abbotsford in 2022. Schmiemann rarely got into the lineup in Abbotsford and was sent back to the Lightning organization at last season’s AHL trade deadline, finishing the season with the Syracuse Crunch. The 6’2″, 201-lb left-shot defender had four goals and 10 assists for 14 points and a +10 rating in 67 AHL games the last two years and will now head to Europe after failing to land an NHL contract.
- A potential first-round pick in next year’s draft is coming to North America. Czech forward Vit Zahejsky has signed a scholarship and development agreement with WHL Kamloops after they selected him second overall in last month’s CHL Import Draft, the team announced today. Zahejsky is one of the younger players in the 2025 class and doesn’t turn 17 until this weekend. The 5’10”, 170-lb forward spent last season in his native Czechia with HC Karlovy Vary’s U20 club, managing 19 goals and 39 points in 42 games against much older competition. He’s currently representing Czechia at this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he has a goal and an assist in two games.
William Bitten Signs With Spartak Moscow
Free agent forward William Bitten has signed a one-year contract with Spartak Moscow of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, the team announced in a press release. He played last season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds in the back half of a two-year, two-way deal with the Blues before becoming a Group VI UFA in July.
The 26-year-old only got one NHL opportunity before heading overseas – a four-game call-up with St. Louis in 2022-23. The Ottawa native logged one assist and 10 hits with a +1 rating, but failed to record a shot attempt while averaging 6:39 per game.
A third-round pick of the Canadiens in 2016, Bitten never suited up for Montreal or their AHL affiliate in Laval. He did sign his entry-level contract with them shortly before his draft rights were set to expire in 2018 after completing a four-year stint in the Ontario Hockey League, but he was traded to the Wild for Gustav Olofsson before the 2018-19 campaign began. In the Minnesota system, Bitten struggled to build on his strong offensive production in juniors, limited to 77 points in 168 games with AHL Iowa before he was traded again to the Blues in 2021.
His offensive acumen seemed to improve somewhat after the move to the Blues’ affiliate in Springfield, posting 103 points in 178 games over the past three seasons. But the speedy 5’11” forward was still never able to put himself in consideration for full-time NHL duties and has already passed through waivers unclaimed multiple times. The 2018 OHL champion now heads to Moscow, where he joins a Spartak offense headlined by former Canucks and Sharks winger Nikolay Goldobin, 2012 Stanley Cup champion Andrei Loktionov and Golden Knights prospect Ivan Morozov.