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Dallas Stars Sign Wyatt Johnston To Five-Year Extension

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Saturday: The Stars officially announced the signing.  GM Jim Nill released the following statement:

Wyatt has established himself as one of the best young forwards in the NHL. His skill, maturity, and dedication to the game has already made him a valuable contributor and we believe he will be a huge asset for us moving forward.

Friday: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Dallas Stars have agreed to a five-year, $42MM extension with forward Wyatt Johnston. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period provided Johnston’s extension details:

  • Year 1: $4.4MM base salary, $4MM signing bonus
  • Year 2: $5.4MM base salary, $3MM signing bonus
  • Year 3: $8.4MM base salary
  • Year 4: $8.4MM base salary
  • Year 5: $8.4MM base salary

It’s not the long-term eight-year deal Jeff Marek alluded to a few days ago, but it’s still a solid bit of work from general manager Jim Nill. The likely comparable to Johnston’s negotiations was Detroit Red Wings’ forward Lucas Raymond, who signed an eight-year, $64.6MM extension in mid-September. Johnston got a comparative salary bump with an $8.4MM AAV and can walk right into unrestricted free agency after the 2029-30 NHL season.

There’s no questioning he’s earned that salary. Since debuting with the Stars in 2022-23, Johnston has scored 79 goals and 165 points in 226 games, averaging 17:02 ice time per game. That point production is the highest of the 2021 NHL Draft class by a 29-point margin. Unlike many centers in his age group, Johnston has also demonstrated maturity in the faceoff dot with a career success rate of 48.5%.

Johnston has also been an important factor for the Stars come playoff time. He tied for the team lead in scoring during last year’s postseason run, scoring 10 goals and 16 points in 19 contests. His production has been indispensable for the Stars, and it should remain that way, considering he’s 21 years old.

Next summer, questions will likely be raised in Dallas regarding the Stars’ salary cap situation. The team has added $20.4 million to next year’s cap with the recent contract extension for  Mikko Rantanen. While this shouldn’t heavily impact the team in the upcoming season—aside from possibly losing their aging captain, Jamie Benn—the long-term implications for the 2026-27 season could be concerning. Jason Robertson, who will be a restricted free agent after the 2025-26 season, is just three years away from unrestricted free agency and has proven himself worthy of a raise from his current $7.75 million salary. This could pose a challenge for the Stars in fitting his new salary within the cap at that time.

Kings Sign Andre Lee To Two-Year Extension

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The Kings have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents up front early.  The team announced that they’ve signed winger Andre Lee to a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2026-27 season.  The deal will carry an AAV of $775K, the league minimum salary.

The 24-year-old was a seventh-round pick of the Kings back in 2019, going 188th overall.  He has seen his first taste of NHL action this season, getting into 19 games with Los Angeles in five different stints with the big club, making him the sixth Los Angeles pick from that draft class to reach the top level.  Over that stretch, he has a goal and two assists along with 36 hits in 9:10 per night of playing time.

Lee has spent the bulk of his professional career in the minors with Ontario, one that spans parts of four seasons.  In 29 games this season, the 6’5 winger has three goals and six assists, bringing his career totals to 17 and 16 respectively across 134 contests.

This is Lee’s final season of waiver exemption so he will have to either stick with the Kings in the fall after training camp or be placed on waivers to return to the Reign in 2025-26.  He’s playing on a one-year, two-way contract this year and while the team release doesn’t specify the terms, it wouldn’t be surprising if this extension carries a one-way salary, giving Los Angeles some capable back-of-roster depth at the lowest price possible.

Kings Recall Samuel Helenius

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March 8: Helenius’ stint back in the minors was short-lived as the Kings announced that they’ve once again recalled him from the Reign.

March 6: Helenius took a minor penalty, recorded a hit, and went 0-for-3 on draws in last night’s shootout loss to the Blues, logging just 6:46 of ice time. He’s been returned to Ontario today, the team announced, making him eligible for participation in the Calder Cup Playoffs if he remains there through tomorrow.

March 5: The Los Angeles Kings have added some forward depth ahead of tonight’s matchup against the St. Louis Blues. Los Angeles announced they’ve recalled Samuel Helenius from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

Today’s roster move marks the fifth time Helenius has been recalled this season. Despite the frequent taxiing between Los Angeles and Ontario, Helenius has formally registered his rookie season with 27 games played at the NHL level.

He’s been an effective defensive presence over that stretch. The towering 6’6″ dual-citizen of America and Finland has averaged approximately three hits a game when he’s played for the Kings and has maintained a solid 93.8% on-ice save percentage at even strength. That’s quality physicality and defensive-mindedness from a forward averaging less than nine minutes of ice time per game.

Unfortunately, there’s little expectation that his offensive game will improve further. Helenius has scored one goal and three assists for Los Angeles and a similar two goals and four assists with AHL Ontario.

Outside his time in the Finnish Liiga, Helenius’s best offense came last year when he scored eight goals and 11 assists in 69 games for the Reign. Still, the Kings are unlikely to balk at the physicality Helenius brings to the bottom of the lineup, making a solid bottom-six fixture for the foreseeable future.

Rangers Activate Chris Kreider Off Injured Reserve

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The Rangers were one of the more active teams around the trade deadline, moving out several veterans in recent days.  But they’re getting one back in the lineup this afternoon against Ottawa as Mollie Walker of the New York Post relays (Twitter link) that winger Chris Kreider has been activated off injured reserve.

Kreider had been dealing with an upper-body injury sustained in the first game back after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.  While his goal production has still been reasonably high, it has been a tough year for the 33-year-old overall.  Through 48 games this season, Kreider has 17 goals but just four assists, putting him on pace for the lowest full-season point total of his career.

His early-season struggles had him placed on the trade market back in late November with GM Chris Drury looking to shake up the veteran core on his roster.  The other veteran put on the block at that time (Jacob Trouba) ultimately was moved but a viable trade market never seemed to materialize for Kreider.

Kreider has two years left on his contract, one that carries a $6.5MM cap charge and a 15-team no-trade list.  A strong finish to his season could help bolster his market on the trade front and potentially help New York sneak into the postseason as despite their recent moves as a seller, they enter play today tied for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Josh Dunne, Isak Rosen

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According to a team announcement, the Buffalo Sabres have recalled forwards Joshua Dunne and Isak Rosen from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. Since there’s no longer a roster limit since the trade deadline has passed, the Sabres weren’t required to make a corresponding roster move.

Dunne is in his first season with the Sabres organization after spending the last four in the Columbus Blue Jackets’. The 26-year-old product of Clarkson University is a veteran of 14 games at the NHL level, all with the Blue Jackets, from 2021 to 2023.

In AHL Rochester and with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, Dunne has carved out a role as a solid middle-six forward with some physicality to his game. He won’t threaten to lead any team in scoring at the game’s highest minor league level, but he’s only two years removed from scoring 20 goals and 37 points in 65 games for the Monsters. He has eight goals and 16 assists in 54 contests for the Americans.

Meanwhile, Rosen is one of Buffalo’s top forward prospects, being four years removed from being the 14th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft. Unlike Dunne, Rosen has quickly become a capable top-six scorer at the AHL level since transitioning to North American professional hockey in 2022-23.

Since becoming a full-time player in Rochester three years ago, Rosen has scored 60 goals and 137 points in 184 games, with another six goals and four assists in 19 postseason contests. It wouldn’t be his first NHL game should he factor into the Sabres’ lineup tonight against the Florida Panthers, but a goal or assist would become his first NHL point.

Penguins Sign Ryan Shea To One-Year Extension

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After a fairly busy stretch on the trade front in recent days, the Penguins quickly turned their focus to one of their pending unrestricted free agents.  The team announced that they’ve signed defenseman Ryan Shea to a one-year, $900K contract extension.

The 28-year-old has been a full-timer on an NHL roster for the first time in his career this season, albeit being primarily in a reserve role.  Shea has suited up in 28 contests for Pittsburgh so far in 2024-25, notching two goals and three assists while averaging 16:30 per night.  His role has increased significantly since the 4 Nations Face-Off, however, as he has averaged nearly 21 minutes per game since then and he should be in line to keep playing that bigger role down the stretch.

Shea came to Pittsburgh through Group Six unrestricted free agency after spending three years in their system without getting an NHL opportunity.  He got into 31 games with the big club last season, earning a two-way deal for his efforts and now, he gets his highest guaranteed salary as he looks to cement a full-time spot in their lineup for 2025-26.

The Penguins now have five blueliners under contract for next season with Shea joining Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Ryan Graves, and Vladislav Kolyachonok.  Matt Grzelcyk wasn’t moved by today’s deadline and is UFA-eligible this summer while Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Conor Timmins, acquired earlier today from Toronto, will be restricted free agents with salary arbitration rights.

Maple Leafs Acquire Reese Johnson

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It turns out all of the trades of the day weren’t in after all.  The Maple Leafs have made a move to add a bit more forward depth, acquiring forward Reese Johnson from the Wild in exchange for future considerations.  Both teams have confirmed the swap.

The 26-year-old has spent the majority of the season in the minors with AHL Iowa, collecting four goals and nine assists in 49 games.  He also got into three games with Minnesota back in December but was held off the scoresheet in 9:32 of playing time per contest.

While Johnson hasn’t seen much action at the top level this season, he does have 144 career appearances under his belt.  He got into 141 games with Chicago over the last four seasons, primarily playing on their fourth line.  With them, he had seven goals, ten assists, and 450 hits while winning 51.7% of his faceoffs but the Blackhawks declined to tender him a qualifying offer last summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Johnson is playing on a one-year, two-way contract worth $775K in the NHL and $500K in the minors and will be RFA-eligible this summer with salary arbitration eligibility.  Given his NHL experience, it’s unlikely he’d be tendered that offer as that would play a role in his awarded salary which would likely push him past the $1MM mark despite spending most of this year in the AHL.

As a result of their moves today, the Maple Leafs placed winger Max Pacioretty on LTIR and even with that, they only have $195K in cap room, per PuckPedia.  Accordingly, Johnson will be ticketed to play with the AHL Marlies for the foreseeable future.

Blackhawks Activate Philipp Kurashev

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While Chicago won’t have newly acquired center Joe Veleno in the lineup tonight against Utah, they will get another forward back.  The team announced that Philipp Kurashev has been activated off injured reserve.  He had missed the last week and a half with a hand injury.

After a breakout showing last season, it looked as if Kurashev’s stock was on the rise and that he’d be a fixture in Chicago’s lineup for a while.  After all, a 54-point season from a then-24-year-old made it appear that he could be a key cog in their top six.

But things haven’t gone anywhere near as well this season.  Kurashev has just six goals and four assists through 42 games while his -29 plus/minus rating is tied for the fourth-lowest in the league.  Instead of being a top liner like he was a year ago, his playing time is down by nearly five minutes a game while he has been healthy scratched at times.

As a result, his long-term outlook with the organization has certainly changed.  Instead of looking like a fixture for the foreseeable future, Chicago was shopping him earlier in the season and couldn’t find a suitable trade.

A pending restricted free agent, Kurashev will be owed a $2.25MM qualifying offer this summer while he’ll also have salary arbitration rights.  Considering how things have gone this year, it seems unlikely he’ll be tendered that offer so he’ll need to use this final six-week stretch of the season as a showcase for what’s likely to be his first trip through unrestricted free agency in July.

Maple Leafs Acquire Brandon Carlo In Three-Team Trade With Bruins, Penguins

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7:15 PM: The Bruins announced their portion of the trade, confirming that they received Minten, a 2026 first-round pick (top-five protected), and a 2025 fourth-round selection for Carlo.

2:11 PM: The Maple Leafs have acquired defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Bruins, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. The Leafs are sending center prospect Fraser Minten to the Bruins, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff adds it’s a three-team deal with the Penguins, who are receiving defenseman Conor Timmins and forward Connor Dewar from Toronto. The Leafs are sending a first-round pick to Boston in the deal as well, per Seravalli. Pittsburgh is sending a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Leafs in exchange for Timmins and Dewar, per the Maple Leafs. Additionally, Boston has retained 15 percent of Carlo’s $4.1MM salary, shares Joshua Kloke of The Athletic.

Through the mix of a three-team deal and hurdles over the cap space, Toronto lands an impactful shutdown defenseman in Carlo. He’s six-foot-five, 220 pounds and offers an invaluable right-hand shot. Those traits helped Carlo stamp out a daily lineup role almost immediately upon entering the league in 2016-17. Boston drafted Carlo in the second-round of the 2015 NHL Draft and promoted him to the pros at the end of the following season. He recorded just one assist in his first seven AHL games, but performed well enough at Boston’s following training camp to ditch the minor leagues entirely.

Carlo made the Bruins roster out of camp in the 2016-17 season. The team attempted to ease him into a lineup role, but one assist and a plus-five in 17 minutes of his NHL debut quickly showed Carlo’s impact would translate to the top flight. He was playing upwards of 24 minutes a night in just his third NHL game – and hung on to a top-pair role next to Bruins legend Zdeno Chara for the rest of his rookie season. Carlo managed 16 points, 59 penalty minutes, and a plus-nine while playing in all 82 games of his rookie year.

The top-pair conditioning continued to pay off through the next three seasons. Carlo never posted much scoring – netting his career-high of 19 points in 2019-20 – but he continued to average at least 20 minutes of ice time, on the pack of an imposing defensive presence. His role has dwindled in the years since, but his impact remains impressively consistent. Even through this season, the 28-year-old Carlo has managed nine points, 24 PIMs, and a plus-two in 63 games.

Toronto could confidently turn towards Carlo for top-pair minutes for the remainder of the season. He’ll be a shining replacement for the injured Chris Tanev, who Toronto placed on injured reserve on March 2nd. When Tanev returns, Toronto will boast a pair of high-impact, low-scoring defensive-defenseman on the right side – complimenting the more offensively-geared Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the left.

Carlo is notably signed through the end of the 2026-27 season at a manageable $3.485MM cap hit after Boston’s retention.

While the Leafs sort of their sudden heap of defensive talent, Boston will relish in the addition of a clear top prospect in Fraser Minten. Minten made the Maple Leafs roster out of camp to start the season, and recorded four points – split evenly – across the first 15 games of his NHL career.

Minten was assigned to the AHL to start the season but quickly made Toronto second-guess their decision. He was called up to the NHL in mid-November after posting four points in five games to start the AHL season. Minten continued the hot scoring into his first taste of NHL action, netting four points across his first five NHL games of the season. His scoring dried up after that – with no scoring in his last 10 NHL games – but Minten has stayed productive in the minor leagues, where he has 13 points in 26 games.

This is Minten’s first season of professional hockey. He spent the last four seasons with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers and, briefly, Saskatoon Blades. Minten totaled 188 points in 187 career games in the WHL, including 55 points in 67 games of the 2021-22 campaign. That was enough to earn him a second-round selection in the 2022 NHL Draft – a divisive pick at the time. Minten also earned the honor of captaining Team Canada at the 2024 World Junior Championships, where he scored three points in five games. It was his first time representing Canada internationally.

Minten is still working on figuring out his pro footing but he’ll offer tantalizing upside once he’s level. He’s an impactful two-way centerman who is strong on the faceoff dot and smart with his positioning. Those traits could be tailor-made for a Bruins organization that’s already developed Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle into strong, top-six options.

The deal is rounded out by Toronto sending depth skaters Dewar and Timmins to the Penguins as a cap dump. That addition frees up $2.28MM in cap space for the Leafs, which will effectively be their only cap space for the remainder of the year. Both Dewar and Timmins could find a path to routine minutes for Pittsburgh, where they’ll play under former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas.

Dewar has served as Toronto’s fourth-line center for much of the year but has been fairly low-event. He has just three assists, five penalty minutes, and a minus-three through 31 appearances. That’s a far step down from the 19 points, 28 PIMs, and minus-eight he totaled in 74 games last season, split between time with the Minnesota Wild and Maple Leafs. He’s found a groove as a gritty, hard-nosed bottom-line option – which should fit right in with the makeup of Pittsburgh’s current fourth line. Dewar will challenge Blake Lizotte for routine ice time, but could be pushed to the flanks to challenge Bokondji Imama or Noel Acciari should Pittsburgh prefer to keep Lizotte in.

Timmins has landed in a similar rut. He’s been a bottom-pair option for the Leafs, with eight points, 24 PIMs, and a plus-two in 51 games this season. That is also a downtick in scoring form the 10 points Timmins managed in 25 games last year, and the 14 points he posted in 25 games of 2022-23. Pittsburgh has been searching for more defense depth after trading away Marcus Pettersson. Timmins could find a way into the vacant role, though he’ll first compete with Ryan Graves and newcomer Vladislav Kolyachonok for minutes.

Both Dewar and Timmins are set to enter restricted free agency this summer.

Avalanche Sign Wyatt Aamodt To Two-Year Extension

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The Colorado Avalanche have followed their Trade Deadline festivities by signing depth defenseman Wyatt Aamodt to a two-year, two-way contract extension. The deal will carry a league-minimum $775K salary at the NHL level.

Colorado signed Aamodt as an undrafted free agent following the end of his 2021-22 season with Minnesota State University-Mankato, where he totaled 29 points in 123 career games. Aamodt played through his rookie AHL season in 2022-23 and recorded 18 points, 39 penalty minutes, and a plus-five in 52 games. He’s seen a slight dip in scoring in both seasons since then, netting 14 points in 60 games last year and 13 points in 51 games this year. But he’s noticeably improved his ability to defend away from the puck, ramping up to a plus-32 and top-four role on the Colorado Eagles this season.

Aamodt is now 27 years old and projects as a career minor league option with a physical boost, thanks to his six-foot, 200-pound frame. His new contract extension will see to that status for the next two years, while guaranteeing him $275K in salary over the first year of the deal. He’ll continue to serve as the fourth man on a blue-line headlined by Jacob MacDonald, Jack Ahcan, and Calle Rosen.

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