Max Comtois Signs With KHL’s Dynamo Moscow
Former Anaheim Ducks forward Max Comtois has reportedly signed with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL (as per Chris Johnston of Sportsnet). The 2017 second-round pick looked at one point like he could be a valuable depth scorer, posting 16 goals and 17 assists in the abbreviated 2020-21 season with Anaheim, However, the next two seasons saw him struggle offensively.
The 25-year-old went unsigned last summer and had to settle for an AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves in the fall before he eventually caught on with the Carolina Hurricanes signing a one-year, two-way deal this past March that was prorated for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Comtois appeared in one regular season game for Carolina, posting an assist in 13:04 of ice time. He also appeared in the playoffs but played just 6:19 of one game and was a -1.
Comtois never got his feet under him after that successful 2020-21 season and struggled with puck possession and giveaways in the following seasons. His inconstancy became an issue that was hard for teams to ignore as it became evident when he would take bad penalties or turn the puck over. The Longueuil, Quebec native is still relatively young and could return to the NHL if he can find his game overseas. He has always been a talented shooter and has no issues going to the net, both traits that NHL teams covet.
Comtois is one of many unrestricted free agents that have yet to sign in the NHL this offseason and it will be interesting to see who follows him across the globe in the next few months.
Rockford IceHogs Sign Austin Strand To AHL Contract
The Chicago Blackhawks AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, will have another familiar face on the roster next season as the team announced they have signed defenseman Austin Strand to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 AHL season. Strand is projected to spend the entire season with the IceHogs after the team acquired him via trade from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves last season.
Strand turned professional in 2018 after signing his entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings after an impressive season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. He spent his first full season with the Ontario Reign of the AHL, scoring seven goals and 18 points in 43 games. Strand spent the next three years with the Kings organization and collected three assists in 21 games at the NHL level with 12 goals and 27 points in 92 AHL contests.
Moving further south in California, Strand signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks heading into the 2022-23 season. He participated in five games with the Ducks that season collecting two goals and eight points in 46 games for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Anaheim traded Strand to the Buffalo Sabres organization in exchange for Chase Priskie at that year’s deadline, suiting up in nine games for the Rochester Americans down the stretch.
Outside of his offensive production — Strand carries plenty of value to the IceHogs as a veteran presence and stabilizing defenseman. The team’s president of hockey operations, Mark Bernard, said as much, “He brings experience and energy to the rink each day and is someone that can help carry the coaching staff’s message into the locker room. He will be a great asset this year as we will have a lot of young prospects that he can be a mentor to“.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Jack Drury To Two-Year Contract
The Carolina Hurricanes and forward Jack Drury have agreed to a two-year, $3.45MM contract. The deal, first announced by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, will pay Drury a salary of $1.775MM in 2024-25, and a salary of $1.675MM in 2025-26 with an AAV of $1.725MM.
In a follow-up report, PuckPedia shares that upon expiration of this contract for Drury, he will be RFA-eligible with arbitration rights and will be one year away from unrestricted free agency. The Hurricanes will only be on the hook for a $1.675MM qualifying offer to Drury due to the lower salary in the second year of the contract.
It is a reasonable price for Carolina and Drury as the latter projects to be a middle-six option with the organization next year. It took a few years for the Harvard University alum to make it to the NHL after being selected with the 42nd overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, but Drury has become a solid contributor.
This past season marked his first full NHL campaign with the young center scoring eight goals and 27 points in 74 games. Drury primarily played on a line with Martin Necas during the regular season with Michael Bunting or Stefan Noesen flanking him as the other wing. He deserves a lot of the credit for the possession metrics produced by his line as Drury achieved a 55.3% success rate in the faceoff dot with 63.6% of his starts coming in the offensive zone.
After averaging 11:51 of ice time per night with the Hurricanes over the past three years, the team could get aggressive with his deployment in the 2024-25 season. The team may end up keeping Necas after a summer full of trade rumors, and Drury could continue playing next to him on the team’s second line. Carolina could then use newcomer Jack Roslovic as the second-line left wing while moving Jesperi Kotkaniemi back to center on the team’s fourth line.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Kevin Mandolese
Only one day after acquiring his signing rights from the Ottawa Senators, the Colorado Avalanche made quick work signing their new goalie. The organization announced they have signed goaltender Kevin Mandolese to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 season. Although the deal’s financial terms were not disclosed in the press release, the expectation is that it will be a two-way contract for the league minimum salary at the NHL level.
The Avalanche acquired Mandolese’s signing rights and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2026. The soon-to-be 24-year-old goaltender should start next season with the team’s AHL affiliate in Loveland, CO, and could even feature with the organization’s ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies.
Mandolese has spent the last four years of his career in the Senators’ organization while primarily playing for the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Serving the majority of the time as the team’s backup goaltender, Mandolese recently put together a 10-9-2 record in 23 games during the 2023-24 AHL season while collecting a .901 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average in the process. He has not featured in an NHL contest since the 2022-23 season as he procured three games with Ottawa where he secured a 1-2-0 record in three contests in addition to a .916 SV% and a 3.29 GAA.
The young netminder could earn the role of starting goaltender for the first time with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles as the Avalanche are expected to graduate Justus Annunen to the full-time backup position in the NHL. The Eagles will deploy a combination of Mandolese and Trent Miner during the 2024-25 AHL season with the former likely receiving a plethora of the starts.
New York Islanders Re-Sign Simon Holmstrom
The New York Islanders announced they have re-signed forward Simon Holmstrom to a one-year deal. PuckPedia reports Holmstrom has signed a one-way, $850K with the Islanders instead of accepting his qualifying offer which would have been a one-year, two-way contract of $874K.
The Islanders originally drafted Holmstrom with the 23rd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and he made his debut with the organization the following season. Holmstrom suited up in 46 games for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the 2019-20 season and scored eight goals and 15 points in his rookie campaign. He played another 24 games with the Tigers the following year but also played in the HockeyAllsvenskan on loan and Team Sweden’s international junior team.
The 2021-22 campaign in the AHL was Holmstrom’s coming out party at the professional level as he scored 12 goals and 43 points in 68 games which was good for third on the team in scoring. Now labeled as the Bridgeport Islanders, the team made the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time during Holmstrom’s tenure and he would score three goals and four points in six postseason contests.
He made his NHL debut with the Islanders the following season but largely earned bottom-six minutes during his rookie season. Holmstrom scored six goals and nine points over 50 games while averaging 11:16 of ice time per game. The young Swede performed much better over his sophomore campaign as he entered into a middle-six role with the team’s forward core. Over 75 games played, Holmstrom scored 15 goals and 25 points while finishing sixth on the team in goals.
There is no question that New York is looking to add more offense into their lineup next season as they finished as one of only 11 teams not to average at least three goals per game during the 2023-24 regular season. While on a very reasonable contract for the next year, Holmstrom should again be used as a valuable secondary scorer for the Islanders next season.
Boston Bruins Re-Sign Marc McLaughlin
The Boston Bruins announced they have re-signed forward Marc McLaughlin to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2024-25 NHL season. McLaughlin will earn the league minimum of $775K at the NHL level on this deal but the Bruins did not disclose his salary in the American Hockey League.
McLaughlin has spent nearly his entire life in the greater Boston area aside from a two-year stint with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders in the USHL. The young forward went undrafted during his time in the USHL and committed to Boston College in the NCAA with his freshman beginning in 2018. The North Billerica, MA native spent his entire collegiate career during the last four years of long-time Eagles coach, Jerry York.
Suiting up in 130 games for Boston College during his four-year career, McLaughlin scored 40 goals and 76 points while spending his junior and senior seasons as the team’s captain. The team finished first in their conference during McLaughlin’s sophomore and junior seasons but failed to move beyond the Regional semifinal of the Frozen Four tournament.
Since his collegiate career came to an end following the 2021-22 NCAA season, McLaughlin has spent the last three years with the Bruins organization after signing as a collegiate free agent. McLaughlin suited up in 11 games for Boston down the stretch of the 2021-22 NHL season and scored three goals in total. Since then, McLaughlin hasn’t had much of a chance in the NHL with the Bruins and has primarily played for their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.
He’s produced modestly in the last three years with Providence as he’s scored 21 goals and 44 points in 135 games. However, McLaughlin’s leadership skills have translated well to professional hockey as the 24-year-old served as one of the assistant captains for the AHL Bruins last season. It is more than likely McLaughlin will start the season with Providence once again but could earn a bottom-six role with Boston out of training camp.
Devils Loan Jakub Málek To Liiga’s Ilves
Ilves of the top-level Finnish Liiga announced they’ll receive Devils goaltending prospect Jakub Málek on loan for the 2024-25 season. New Jersey signed Málek to his entry-level contract earlier this offseason, and the Rome Daily Sentinel’s Ben Birnell reported at the time that he’d be heading to Ilves this year.
Málek, 22, will return to the club he’s spent the last two seasons with. He was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2021, and the 6’4″ Czech netminder has done well in European professional leagues since. His post-draft year was electric, backstopping VHK Vsetín of the second-tier Czech league with a .932 SV% and 1.95 GAA in 31 games en route to being named the circuit’s best goaltender. Clearly ready for top-flight action, he headed to Finland, where he’s put up a strong .910 SV% and 2.24 GAA with four shutouts and a 25-11-9 record in 49 appearances over the past two years.
Needless to say, he’s trending upward and his chances of making the NHL at some point over the next few seasons seem high. But it won’t be next year, as a bit of a goalie logjam in Newark means he’ll be better served getting some guaranteed playing time with Ilves. The Devils already had prospects Tyler Brennan and Isaac Poulter under contract and slated for AHL Utica this year, as well as unsigned RFA Nico Daws.
Málek will likely arrive in North America in the fall of 2025, better positioned to command AHL starts and eventually become a call-up option.
Canucks Sign Arturs Silovs To Two-Year Deal
The Canucks have signed RFA goalie Arturs Silovs to a two-year contract, per a team announcement. Silovs will earn $850K per season, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Silovs, 23, has only limited regular-season experience, having made nine combined appearances for Vancouver over the past two seasons. He started all of them, posting a mediocre .898 SV% and 2.62 GAA but still managing a 6-2-1 record.
It’s in clutch time where the 2019 sixth-round pick has truly shined, though. He gained somewhat of a cult following representing his native Latvia at last year’s World Championship when he posted a .921 SV% in 10 games en route to winning a bronze medal, Latvia’s first in tournament history. For his efforts, Silovs was named the tournament’s best goaltender and most valuable player. He also had a strong preceding campaign for AHL Abbotsford in his first full season at the top minor-league level, compiling a 26-12-5 record with a .909 SV% in 44 appearances.
Silovs posted a similar stat line on the farm with Abbotsford last year and entered the playoffs as Vancouver’s third-string netminder behind Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. But by Game 4 of their first-round series against the Predators, both Demko and DeSmith had exited with injuries, forcing Silovs into action. He held the fort, eventually backstopping the Canucks to a series win and a date with the Oilers in the second round. All in all, Silovs logged a .898 SV%, 2.91 GAA and one shutout in 10 games as he helped draw Edmonton, the eventual conference champion, to a Game 7. He remained in control of the crease even after the far more experienced DeSmith returned to health.
There was talk of the Canucks adding a supplementary netminder to give Silovs some competition for the backup job in training camp, but it hasn’t happened yet. For now, he projects to enter the season as the No. 2 behind Demko, who finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season. As such, he’ll likely double or even triple his total number of NHL appearances to date. His role in Abbotsford will be replaced by former Golden Knight Jiří Patera, who they picked up as a UFA earlier this month.
Silovs will be 25 when his new deal expires in the summer of 2026, making him an RFA again.
Overseas Signings: LaDue, Brooks, Reinke
A few players with NHL games under their belt have headed overseas within the past 24 hours:
- After nearly breaking out as a roster regular with the Kings before the pandemic, Paul LaDue‘s days in the NHL appear to be over. MoDo of the Swedish Hockey League has signed the 31-year-old defenseman to a one-year deal. LaDue is coming off a two-year, two-way deal with the Islanders that was spent entirely on assignment to AHL Bridgeport. The North Dakota native was once a solid puck-mover at the AHL level during his days in the Los Angeles system, but his offense dried up with the Isles, going without a goal and registering only 16 assists combined over 93 games the past two years. LaDue last suited up in the NHL with the Islanders in 2021-22, his lone appearance in a New York sweater. The other 69 of his 70 career NHL games came in L.A., where he scored five times and added 13 assists for 18 points in parts of four seasons.
- Center/left winger Adam Brooks is heading to Germany on a one-year deal with EHC Munich of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Brooks, 28, heads to Europe for the first time after spending the first seven years of his professional career in North America, primarily in the AHL. Like Ladue, he hasn’t seen NHL ice since 2021-22, instead suiting up for the past two seasons with AHL Lehigh Valley while under contract with the Flyers. Brooks posted 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 43 NHL games for the Canadiens, Golden Knights, Jets and Maple Leafs from 2019-20 to 2021-22.
- Still in the DEL, Eisbären Berlin has inked right-shot defender Mitch Reinke to a one-year contract. Injuries limited Reinke to just 25 games with AHL Coachella Valley last season after he signed a two-way deal with the Kraken late in the offseason. The 28-year-old has just one NHL game to his name, coming with the Blues back in 2017-18 after they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan Tech. Since then, the entirety of his pro career has been spent in the AHL, although he did also make one playoff appearance for the Blues in 2021 after spending a good chunk of the COVID-shortened season on the taxi squad. Reinke is a good puck-mover and strong skater and, if healthy, should be able to rehab his value in Germany and potentially earn another NHL contract next summer.
Islanders Sign Jesse Pulkkinen To Entry-Level Contract
According to player agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, the New York Islanders have signed Jesse Pulkkinen to a three-year, entry-level contract. Like most signings from the Islanders organization, the deal’s financial terms were not disclosed and likely won’t be until the end of the summer.
Pulkkinen has spent the last five years coming up through the JYP system of the Finnish Liiga; culminating in being selected with the 54th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. He scored 11 goals and 28 points for JYP’s U20 team in 18 games while also collecting two goals and eight points in 29 games for JYP’s top team in the Liiga. He played in 12 contests for Team Finland’s U20 roster last year and scored four goals and eight points overall.
According to multiple scouting reports for Pulkkinen, the Finnish defenseman has above-average puckhandling skills and is also unafraid to use his body during the play. Pulkkinen regularly used his puckhandling ability to lead the forecheck while using his 6’6″ frame to his advantage against opponents.
There are some criticisms around Pulkkinen’s ability to read the ice and make a good first pass. As a second-year draft-eligible player during the 2024 NHL Draft, Pulkkinen may be several years away from impacting the Islanders’ organization. If his development continues and he can improve upon his weaknesses, there is no question Pulkkinen has the opportunity to crack New York’s top four in the future.