Islanders, Oliver Wahlstrom Avoid Arbitration
The Islanders have avoided an arbitration hearing with winger Oliver Wahlstrom, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. They’ve settled on a one-year deal worth $1MM. The deal was made official shortly after Friedman’s report.
Wahlstrom, 24, is coming off a difficult pair of seasons in which injuries have cost him more than half of each campaign. The 2018 11th-overall pick played just 32 games in 2023-24 and was rendered completely ineffective offensively, managing just two goals and four assists for six points. His 11:04 average time on ice was his lowest since his first taste of NHL action back in 2019-20 when he received a nine-game trial.
As PuckPedia points out, the Islanders now have no room for error financially. They have exactly $0 in cap space with a roster size of 22. As things stand, they won’t have the flexibility to have top international free agent signing Maxim Tsyplakov start the season in the NHL without a cost-shedding move.
Wahlstrom now enters the ultimate prove-it season. Set to be an arbitration-eligible RFA again next summer, he risks being non-tendered and reaching UFA status early should he fail to establish himself as a player capable of shouldering top-nine NHL minutes.
It’s been a much more difficult development path than anyone anticipated for Wahlstrom, who was widely regarded as a top-10 talent in his draft year after erupting for 48 goals, 46 assists and 94 points in 62 games for the U.S. National U18 Team. The right-winger has size to go with his skill at 6’2″ and 205 lbs, but he’s never been able to put it all together since turning pro. His lone fully healthy season came in 2021-22 when he was still a bottom-six depth piece at best, with 13 goals and 24 points in 73 games.
Wahlstrom’s career possession impacts have been average, and he struggled to control play in more defensively-inclined usage this season. The Isles’ cap crunch does give him a golden opportunity to fight for top-six minutes coming out of training camp, though, potentially in a second-line role alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri if they can’t afford to roster Tsyplakov. A strong start will be key for Wahlstrom in securing his NHL future, whether it comes on Long Island or elsewhere.
His arbitration hearing was slated for August 1.
Kings Sign Carter George To Entry-Level Contract
The Kings have officially signed Carter George, announcing in a press release that the 18-year-old netminder has inked a three-year, entry-level contract with a cap hit of $875K.
The 57th overall pick of last month’s draft, George took the Ontario Hockey League by storm last season, taking home All-Rookie Team honors and winning the Bobby Smith Trophy for Scholastic Player of the Year. Suiting up as the starter for the Owen Sound Attack, George excelled in heavy workload, posting a .907 SV%, 3.30 GAA, four shutouts and a 23-21-6 record. His 56 appearances ranked third in the league and led all first-time draft-eligible OHL goalies.
George was the second-ranked North American goalie in the 2024 class by NHL Central Scouting, trailing Mikhail Yegorov of the United States Hockey League’s Omaha Lancers. Yegorov went to the Devils nine picks before George came off the board. Neither was the top goalie selected, though. That was overage Russia Ilya Nabokov, who went to the Avalanche at 38th overall after he guided the Kontinental Hockey League’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk to a league championship and won KHL Rookie of the Year honors.
George, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is still a few years away from being NHL-ready. He’ll likely return to Owen Sound on loan from the Kings next season, sliding the beginning of his ELC to 2025-26. Since he’s signing his rookie deal at age 18, the Kings can do this for two years in a row, meaning his deal could take effect as late as 2026-27 and expire as late as 2028-29.
For now, though, George is just the fourth goalie under contract for the Kings next season, joining veterans Pheonix Copley, Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich. The Kings still need to figure out their netminding situation for AHL Ontario, which will be resolved when they come to terms with RFA Erik Portillo. At 18, George must be returned to his junior team and can’t suit up in the AHL on a full-time basis this season.
International Notes: Butcher, Currie, Trivigno, Bednard
After spending the last two years buried in the minors, a veteran NHL free agent is heading overseas for the first time in his career. Defenseman Will Butcher, who made the NHL All-Rookie Team and finished ninth in Calder Trophy voting in 2017-18, has signed a one-year contract with Kazakhstan’s Barys Astana of the KHL, per a team announcement.
Butcher began 2023-24 on a two-way contract with the Penguins, posting seven points in 14 games for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before being traded to the Wild in January. He didn’t receive a call-up to Minnesota after the move, instead finishing the season with nine points in 24 games on the farm with AHL Iowa. The 29-year-old reached the UFA market on July 1.
The 2013 fifth-round pick of the Avalanche last suited up in the NHL for the Sabres in 2021-22, where he posted eight points and a -10 rating in 37 games in a bottom-pairing role. Despite attending the University of Denver, Butcher opted not to sign in Colorado after graduating in 2017 and instead landed with the Devils as a free agent.
Viewed as one of the top college FAs in quite some time after captaining the Pioneers to a national championship, Butcher was a power-play force in his rookie campaign in New Jersey with 44 points in 81 games, but he was never able to rediscover that kind of offense. He carried decent possession metrics at even strength even when his point totals dipped, but NHL teams quickly soured on his undersized 5’10”, 190-lb frame.
Other recent international signings of note:
- Former Oilers forward Josh Currie, who spent last season in the AHL with the Belleville Senators on a two-way deal with Ottawa, has signed with German club Kölner Haie, per a press release from the team. It’s the Canadian’s second stint overseas after suiting up with the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Currie last suited up in the NHL with the Penguins for one game in 2020-21 and had five points (two goals, three assists) in 21 games worth of call-up action with Edmonton in 2018-19. The 31-year-old has been productive in the AHL, racking up 240 points in 383 games in parts of seven seasons.
- Left winger Bobby Trivigno has found a home overseas after being non-tendered by the Rangers last month, landing a two-year deal with Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League. New York signed the 25-year-old as a free agent out of UMass in 2022, but he didn’t see an NHL call-up over the course of his entry-level contract. The diminutive but energetic winger produced 12 goals and 45 points in 117 games with AHL Hartford.
- Former Panthers goalie prospect Ryan Bednard is heading to England with the EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers, per a team announcement. Bednard, 27, was a fifth-round pick of the Cats in 2015 and signed his entry-level deal after a successful three-year stint at Bowling Green but never got a chance in the NHL. He was non-tendered in 2021 and has bounced around on AHL and ECHL contracts since. The Michigan native spent most of last season with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, with a .911 SV% and a 20-12-0 record in 33 games.
Morning Notes: Cowan, Simon, Fletcher
In an interview with NHL independent correspondent Dave McCarthy, Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan is confident he will make the opening night roster out of training camp. After an impressive season with the OHL’s London Knights, it is hard to argue against Cowan making the Maple Leafs’ lineup next season.
Cowan originally came to the Maple Leafs organization as the 28th overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft. The young forward was coming off a season in which he scored 20 goals and 53 points in 68 games, including another 21 points in 20 playoff contests, but was not projected to be a first-round talent in many 2023 mock drafts.
Nobody is denouncing the pick by Toronto any longer, as Cowan exploded for 34 goals and 96 points in 54 games this past season while collecting 10 goals and 34 points in 18 postseason contests, along with OHL Playoff MVP honors. The quick and highly intelligent forward would be a cheap top-six option for the Maple Leafs next season, who may benefit greatly from putting him alongside Auston Matthews.
Other snapshots:
- Former NHL depth forward Dominik Simon will stay in his native Czechia as HC Plzeň announced they will be bringing him in for next season. Simon is a veteran of 256 games at the NHL level, where he scored 22 goals and 77 points over seven years in the league. He spent most of his time with the Penguins organization and briefly played for the Flames and Ducks. Simon is coming off a season in which he scored five goals and 17 points in 39 games for Motor České Budějovice.
- Moving back to Toronto, Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun reports Cliff Fletcher will return to the Maple Leafs organization as a senior advisor. Fletcher may have the lengthiest résumé in the NHL at this point after beginning work as a scout for the Canadiens before the start of the 1956-57 season. The veteran front office member spent a decent chunk of time as general manager for the Atlanta/Calgary Flames in the 70’s and 80’s before serving in the same role for the Maple Leafs. Additionally, Fletcher served as general manager of the Phoenix Coyotes before returning to Toronto and has been serving as a senior advisor since the 2009-10 NHL season.
San Jose Sharks Sign Henry Thrun
The San Jose Sharks have shored up the left side of their defense as the team announced they have signed defenseman Henry Thrun to a two-year, $2MM contract. The deal will keep the young defenseman in San Jose for the next two years after the team acquired him towards the end of the 2022-23 NHL season.
General manager of the Sharks, Mike Grier, sang high praises for Thrun by saying, “Henry has been a reliable addition to our defense corps since he joined the organization. We are encouraged by his development since he came to San Jose and look forward to seeing him continue to grow his game with our club“.
San Jose acquired Thrun in February of 2023 from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a third-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft. Thrun was selected with the 101st overall pick by the Ducks organization in the 2019 NHL Draft but may have indicated he was unwilling to sign with Anaheim.
The Southborough, MA native spent three years with Harvard University in the NCAA and was named team captain ahead of the 2022-23 season. In his last two years with the Crimson, Thrun scored 14 goals and 63 points in 68 games before eventually signing his entry-level deal with the Sharks after his junior campaign.
In his first full season in San Jose, Thrun scored three goals and 11 points in 51 games while posting a -22 rating. He held an expected +/- of -16 according to HockeyReference which indicates he was disadvantaged by playing in a poor Sharks defense. The young defenseman finished tied for eighth on the team in blocked shots in limited action with 71.
Now that San Jose has decided to keep defenseman Mario Ferraro after some trade chatter and has added to the left side of their defense with the offseason acquisition of Jake Walman, Thrun should slot in on the team’s bottom pairing. Being one of the better puck movers on the team’s blue line, Thrun should also slot in one of the team’s two powerplay units.
Sabres Sign Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen To Five-Year Contract
The Buffalo Sabres have solidified their goaltending situation for the next half decade as the team announced they signed Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a five-year, $23.75MM contract. The deal will pay Luukkonen an AAV of $4.75MM each year of the contract and keep the young netminder in Buffalo until the 2028-29 NHL season.
The deal comes just under the current contract of Vancouver Canucks’ netminder Thatcher Demko who secured a five-year, $25MM contract back in 2021. Luukkonen is arguably coming off a better season than when Demko signed his extension in 2021 which may indicate this deal is somewhat of a bargain for the Sabres.
If any positives came from Buffalo during the 2023-24 season, they largely centered around Luukkonen. The start of the year was disappointing as he produced a 6-8-2 record in his first 17 games with a .893 save percentage. At the turn of the calendar, however, Luukkonen went on an impressive stretch to end the season.
Since his first game at the start of the calendar year, Luukkonen concluded the season with a 20-14-2 record in 36 games while maintaining a .919 SV%. Luukkonen finished the season with a 27-22-4 record in 51 starts while earning a .910 SV% and 2.57 goals against average.
Aside from becoming the undisputed starter for the Sabres, the young Finnish netminder recorded five shutouts, 10.1 goals saved above average, and 2.65 adjusted goals against average according to HockeyReference. All of these served as career highs for Luukkonen after coming off a disappointing season the year prior.
This will be the major question surrounding this contract in Buffalo as Luukkonen has only produced one good season in the NHL. This is not to take away from his dominance last year but he has failed to produce back-to-back quality seasons in the best league in the sport.
Luckily, the Sabres do have a fallback option if this contract doesn’t pan out as expected with Devon Levi ready for full-time NHL responsibilities. The young netminder split time between Buffalo and the team’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans and he produced a 16-6-4 record in the AHL with a .927 SV% and 2.42 GAA.
General manager of the Sabres, Kevyn Adams, acknowledged this in the announcement when he said, “We really like the position we’re in with having UPL and Devon Levi as still young, developing goaltenders, guys we think are going to continue to grow and get better, that are extremely talented, hard-working, and character people“.
Arbitrator Awards Predators’ Spencer Stastney Two-Year Deal
Predators RFA defenseman Spencer Stastney has a contract for the next two seasons after his arbitration case reached a hearing Monday, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It carries a cap hit in the $837.5K neighborhood and is a two-way deal in 2024-25 before converting to a one-way pact in 2025-26 at “$850K-ish.” The breakdown for this season is a $825K NHL salary and a $400K AHL salary.
Stastney, 24, is the first to have his arbitration case settled by a hearing this offseason. Out of the 14 players who initially filed for salary arbitration, only five are still awaiting contracts (Ryan Lindgren, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Kirill Marchenko, Martin Nečas, Oliver Wahlstrom).
A 2018 fifth-round pick of the Preds, Stastney worked his way up the depth chart last season after making his NHL debut in an eight-game stint in 2022-23. The Illinois native looked at home in a bottom-pairing role, posting four points (two goals, two assists) and a +9 rating in 20 appearances while averaging nearly 16 minutes per game. The 6’0″, 184-lb defender was rarely involved physically, registering just two hits, but he did control play well with a 51.9 CF% and 59.3 xGF% at even strength, per Hockey Reference.
Those advanced numbers, plus the trust of head coach Andrew Brunette to utilize him for three of Nashville’s six playoff games before exiting with injury, is likely why he filed for a one-year, one-way deal worth $950K. The Predators asked for a two-year, two-way deal with a league-minimum cap hit in the NHL and AHL salaries below the $200K line each season. The cap hit falls a bit closer to Nashville’s filing, but the overall guaranteed cash awarded to Stastney in this deal is much more in line with the player’s request.
Despite the two-way structure next season, there’s a strong chance Stastney is on Nashville’s opening night roster. They have less than $600K in cap space with a bare-minimum roster after their free agency spending spree, per PuckPedia, meaning they don’t have any flexibility to recall an extra skater from the AHL for last-minute absences. The Preds will likely move out one of their NHL-rostered depth defensemen, all of whom cost at least $2MM against the cap, for added flexibility. Stastney’s six-figure cap hit as a replacement would give Nashville the flexibility they need to effectively manage their roster in-season.
East Notes: Hurricanes, Demidov, Strome
The Hurricanes are continuing to rebuild their minor-league pipeline after spending 2023-24 without full-time AHL or ECHL affiliates. They inked a three-year agreement to re-affiliate with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves earlier this offseason, but they remain without a full-time third-tier affiliate.
That won’t change for 2024-25, but they have landed what the team calls a “working agreement” with the Bloomington Bison, an expansion franchise beginning play in the fall. Bloomington has already landed an outright affiliation agreement for next season with the Rangers, but they’ll also be the preferred destination for the handful of players under contract with Carolina who get demoted all the way down to the ECHL. The Hurricanes had the same setup with ECHL Norfolk last season, whose primary affiliate was the Jets. Six players who were under contract with Carolina – Domenick Fensore, Griffin Mendel, Blake Murray, Yaniv Perets, Justin Robidas and Ronan Seeley appeared in action for Norfolk under the agreement.
Elsewhere from the East:
- Following up on a report from The Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan earlier this week, it’s becoming more certain that 2024 fifth-overall pick Ivan Demidov will play out the final season of his contract with the Kontinental Hockey League’s SKA St. Petersburg next season. Speaking with matchtv.ru, SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg confirmed the plan is for Demidov to remain on the KHL roster instead of being loaned to a lower-level league (via Marc Antoine Godin of Radio-Canada). Demidov spent nearly all of last season on loan to SKA’s junior club in the MHL, where he had arguably the best draft-eligible season in league history with 60 points and a +47 rating in 30 games.
- Coming off back-to-back Calder Cup championships, the AHL’s Hershey Bears have retained a core part of their club. The Capitals’ primary affiliate has re-signed left winger Matthew Strome to a two-year deal, per a team announcement. The brother of Washington center Dylan Strome and Ducks forward Ryan Strome had a career-best 20 points in 50 games with the Bears last season and scored the overtime winner in the series-clinching Game 6 of the Calder Cup Final against Coachella Valley. He was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2017 but hasn’t been under an NHL contract since his entry-level deal expired in 2022 after not receiving a qualifying offer.
Morning Notes: Teplý, Swayman, Red Wings, Utah
Czech Extraliga side HC Oceláři Třinec announced the signing of a trio of players, one of which is former Blackhawks winger prospect Michal Teplý. The 23-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Hawks in 2019 and signed his entry-level contract the following summer, but became a UFA on July 1 this year after not receiving a qualifying offer.
Teplý was drafted out of his native Czechia but landed his rookie deal with Chicago after coming to North America for his post-draft season, spending 2019-20 in juniors with the Western Hockey League’s Winnipeg Ice, where he finished second in scoring with 63 points in 53 games. Aside from a brief loan back to Czechia during the pandemic, Teplý spent the following four seasons in the pros with AHL Rockford, where he accumulated 34 goals, 57 assists and 91 points with a -29 rating in 206 games. It was solid production but not enough to get the 6’3″, 187-lb winger an NHL call-up.
He heads to a Třinec club that’s one of the most successful in Europe, coming off five consecutive Extraliga championships (not including 2020, when their playoffs were canceled). It’s a three-year deal for Teplý in his home country, Elite Prospects reports. A strong stint with one of the best teams in Europe could land him NHL consideration on the international free-agent market if he wants to make a return to North America when his contract expires in 2027.
More notes from around the hockey world this morning:
- There are only four notable RFA goalies who remain without a contract for next season, the most consequential of which is newly-undisputed Bruins starter Jeremy Swayman. In a mailbag published early Wednesday, NHL.com’s Dan Rosen posits Swayman could land north of $9MM per season when a deal eventually comes across the finish line. Swayman, 25, notably didn’t elect for salary arbitration this summer despite being eligible to do so. He spent last season on a one-year, $3.475MM pact that was awarded via an arbitrator. He’s coming off a career-best 43 starts and 25 wins in 2023-24, supplementing it with a strong .916 SV% and 2.53 GAA.
- Red Wings fans are warranted in their concern between the pipes next season, writes Jesse Granger, Sean McIndoe and Scott Wheeler at The Athletic. Detroit’s current goaltending situation checks in as the worst in the league in their ranking of NHL goaltending outlooks, with Granger believing there’s strong regression potential for journeyman Cam Talbot, who’s projected to be their opening night starter after bouncing back with a .913 SV% and 27-20-6 record in 54 appearances for the Kings last season. An injury-plagued Ville Husso, average but inexperienced AHL veteran Alex Lyon and reclamation project Jack Campbell don’t do a ton to inspire confidence, either. But no team has as much dichotomy between the present and future as Wheeler labels Detroit as having the best goalie prospect pool in the league, led by a pair of projected future starters in Trey Augustine and Sebastian Cossa.
- If the NHL continues to send its players to the Winter Olympics, they’ll have it on home turf in 2034. As expected, the International Olympic Committee officially awarded the Games to Salt Lake City today. While the Utah Hockey Club will play at the existing Delta Center in its first season, shared with the NBA’s Utah Jazz, there is momentum for building a new arena district downtown in advance of the Olympics that would serve as a new home for both the NBA and NHL clubs while likely serving as a host venue for the hockey portion of the Games.
Blue Jackets’ Martin Rysavy Signs In Czech Extraliga
Blue Jackets left wing prospect Martin Rysavy has signed a two-year deal with Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga, per a team release. It’s a significant return home for the 2021 seventh-round pick, who will see his exclusive signing rights with Columbus expire next summer should he honor the second year of his deal.
Rysavy, 21, spent most of his development in the Czech system and was drafted out of HC Vítkovice, although he spent most of the 2020-21 season on loan to second-tier club HC Přerov. After his selection, Rysavy took his talents to North America, but not under contract with Columbus. He’s spent the last three seasons in junior hockey, suiting up for the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
In Moose Jaw, the 6’3″, 210-lb winger was a solid secondary scorer with good size but not a game-breaking talent. His best year offensively came in 2023-24, finishing seventh on the club in scoring with 44 points (25 goals, 19 assists) in 63 games. He added a more respectable 16 points in 20 playoff games as the Warriors took home their first WHL championship in franchise history, also sending them to the Memorial Cup for the first time.
Unless Rysavy has a major breakout in Liberec, his draft rights will likely expire on June 1 next year, and he will become unaffiliated with the Blue Jackets. He does have an intriguing blend of physicality and goal-scoring ability that could have him resurface on the international free-agent market eventually, though. It’s a small damper on an otherwise strong 2021 class for the Jackets, who’ve already had four players (Kent Johnson, James Malatesta, Cole Sillinger, Stanislav Svozil) log NHL minutes.