Poll: Which Team Is The Best Landing Spot For Cam Fowler?
Earlier today it came to light that the Anaheim Ducks and long-time cornerstone defenseman Cam Fowler were working on a trade to move Fowler to a new organization. Fowler has spent nearly 1000 games as a member of the Ducks. Still, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman explained that Anaheim wants to give their young blue-liners more opportunity moving forward.
Fowler owns a modified no-trade clause in his current deal which gives him a relative amount of control over where he ends up. Friedman reported that Fowler is willing to edit the list if prompted but there are only a handful of teams with the cap space and the need for a top-four defenseman. One could reasonably assume for various reasons that Fowler likely won’t end up on the Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, or San Jose Sharks which helps iron out a more concrete list of hypothetical landing spots.
The Winnipeg Jets immediately jump out as a team that could have interest in Fowler as one of Dylan Samberg, Ville Heinola, or Logan Stanley are currently pegged for top-four duties. That trio leaves much to be desired in a top-four role which could lead the Jets to pivot to Fowler. Winnipeg has just under $6MM in cap space with Cole Perfetti the only restricted free agent left to sign. Perfetti shouldn’t eat up too much of the available space which should allow the Jets to comfortably fit Fowler’s contract into the fold for the next two years especially if the Ducks retain some salary off the top.
Utah Hockey Club has already added heavily to their defensive group this summer swinging separate trades for Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino. The team is looking to contend in their first season in Salt Lake City and Fowler would give them a complete blue line. Most lineup predictions have Juuso Valimaki on the second defensive pairing but his inconsistency over the last two seasons may give general manager Bill Armstrong some pause. Utah still owns one of the better prospect pools in the league and would not need Anaheim to retain any salary in a hypothetical trade.
Another team looking to make it back to the playoffs after an eight-year drought is the Detroit Red Wings. The team nearly swung a trade for New York Rangers’ captain Jacob Trouba earlier this summer although he used his no-movement clause to block the deal. The nixed trade for Trouba indicated that the Red Wings are still looking to upgrade their blue line making them an enticing fit for Fowler. The team largely has no reliable options outside of youngster Moritz Seider and Fowler would represent a veteran defenseman who has maintained plenty of responsibility throughout his career as evidenced by his career average of 23:15 time on ice. There is a bit more uncertainty with the Red Wings salary cap picture as they still need to look down Seider, Lucas Raymond, and Jonatan Berggren on new deals.
Fowler and the Ducks organization will inevitably agree on a trade profitable for both sides. It’s uncertain at this time whether a trade will come together relatively quickly or if Fowler will start the 2024-25 season as a member of the Ducks. Will one of the abovementioned teams swing for Fowler or will another team off the board pull the trigger?
Which Team Is The Best Landing Spot For Cam Fowler?
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Detroit Red Wings 39% (462)
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Other (comment below) 25% (301)
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Utah Hockey Club 19% (224)
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Winnipeg Jets 17% (207)
Total votes: 1,194
Utah Signs Robert Bortuzzo
It has been a busy offseason for Utah as the former Coyotes get set for their first season in their new home. With training camp approaching, they’ve added some extra depth on the back end as the team announced (Twitter link) that they have signed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo to a one-year deal. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that it’s a two-way agreement that pays $775K in the NHL and $450K in the minors.
The 35-year-old is a veteran of 13 NHL seasons, spanning 560 games. Last season, Bortuzzo started the year in St. Louis but had a very limited role and spent considerable time as a healthy scratch. He was then acquired by the Islanders in December with New York dealing with considerable injuries at that time. Bortuzzo played a regular role after being acquired but then was injured himself, missing 28 games due to a lower-body issue. The veteran then returned to his third-pairing role for the stretch run and playoffs.
Between the two teams, Bortuzzo played in 27 regular season games last season. While he was held off the scoresheet entirely, he collected 51 blocked shots and 38 hits while averaging 13:44 per night. For his career, he has 74 points, 711 blocks, and 1,095 his to his credit while spending time with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and New York.
Bortuzzo is the latest addition to a Utah back end that has undergone significant changes this summer. The team added Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino on the second day of the draft in trades with Tampa Bay and New Jersey and then inked veteran Ian Cole to a one-year, $3.1MM deal in free agency. The four newcomers join holdovers Sean Durzi, Juuso Valimaki, and Michael Kesselring on a much-improved blueline as the franchise looks to take a step forward toward emerging from its long-term rebuild.
Former NHL winger Scottie Upshall was the first to report the signing.
Veeti Vaisanen Signs With Medicine Hat
While NHL training camps are still a few weeks away, CHL camps are already underway. That has brought about some early activity on the transaction front; here’s a rundown of some recent moves involving NHL prospects.
- WHL Medicine Hat announced that they’ve signed Stars defenseman Niilopekka Muhonen and Utah blueliner Veeti Vaisanen to contracts for the upcoming season. The Tigers selected the two players in the CHL Import Draft earlier this offseason. Muhonen was a fifth-round pick last month after spending most of last season in KalPa’s junior system in Finland. Vaisanen, meanwhile, was a late third-rounder and spent the majority of last season in Finland’s top level, getting into 50 games with KooKoo where he had two goals and eight assists.
- After spending last season in Switzerland, Basile Sansonnens is on the move. His club team in Lausanne announced that they have loaned him to QMJHL Rimouski for the upcoming season. The Canucks selected the defenseman late in the seventh round in June after he picked up three points in 40 games with Gotteron at the junior level. It’s a one-year loan for Sansonnens who will return to Lausanne for the 2025-26 season; he’s signed with them through the 2027-28 campaign which is also the deadline for Vancouver to sign him to an NHL contract or lose his rights.
- Kraken prospect Andrei Loshko is on the move as OHL Niagara announced that they’ve claimed the forward off waivers. The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2019 and is coming off a productive season with QMJHL Rouyn-Noranda, one which saw him record 28 goals and 37 assists in 64 games. However, the Huskies picked up two new players in the Import Draft, resulting in Loshko hitting the waiver wire. Seattle has until June 1, 2025 to sign Loshko to an entry-level deal.
Soderstrom Frustrated With Lack Of Recalls Last Season, Won't Rule Out Signing Overseas
The 2023-24 season was a breakout showing for Canucks winger Brock Boeser. He reached the 40-goal mark for the first time while his 73 points were also a personal best. Despite that, a contract extension doesn’t appear to be on the horizon as Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic report (subscription link) that there have yet to be any discussions about a new deal. The 27-year-old is entering the final year of his existing contract which makes him extension-eligible. He’s bound to be eyeing a raise from his current $6.65MM AAV with some potential comparables starting with a seven. For now, it appears that Vancouver’s management wants to see if Boeser can have a repeat showing in 2024-25 before committing to what will be another long-term, big-money agreement.
More from out West:
- In an interview with Mattias Ek of Hockey News SE, Utah RFA defenseman Victor Soderstrom expressed some frustration with how he was continually passed over for recalls with Arizona last season despite a solid performance that saw him put up 32 points in 62 games with AHL Tucson. The 23-year-old played in just three games for the Coyotes in 2023-24, giving him 53 career appearances at the top level. Soderstrom didn’t rule out the possibility of signing overseas but acknowledged that a return to Brynas (where he spent most of his time before coming to North America) was unlikely for the 2024-25 campaign.
- New Predators prospect David Edstrom spent last season on loan to SHL Frolunda after signing his entry-level deal with Vegas. However, it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case this time around. In an interview with 102.5 The Game (audio link), Nashville GM Barry Trotz indicated that he envisions his new center playing big minutes with AHL Milwaukee. Since Edstrom wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, he is AHL-eligible despite being just 19. He played in 44 games in Sweden last season, picking up 19 points and should be counted on to produce a bit more than that in his first taste of action in North America.
Stenlund Had Hoped To Remain With Florida Before Signing With Utah
With the Oilers needing to clear up some cap space to accommodate the offer sheets tendered to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway this week, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province wonders if the Canucks might be able to help in that regard. Vancouver blueliner Tucker Poolman has played just three games over the last two seasons combined due to concussion issues and was on LTIR for all of 2023-24. He has one year left on his contract but isn’t expected to play, meaning he’ll remain LTIR-eligible for the upcoming season.
The Canucks aren’t believed to want to incentivize a team to take that contract off their books but with his $2.5MM AAV coming close to Brett Kulak’s $2.75MM, perhaps there’s a basis for a swap. Vancouver would likely have to add in that package, allowing Edmonton to get an asset in return instead of potentially having to part with one to clear a blueliner. The Oilers would then be able to utilize Poolman and Evander Kane on LTIR, reducing the imminent need to free up any more cap room while Vancouver would get an NHL roster player in return for someone whose playing days are over. It’s an odd idea on the surface but perhaps it becomes a palatable one before Edmonton has to decide on matching the offer sheets by Tuesday’s deadline.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Earlier this month, UFA goaltender Ivan Prosvetov officially signed a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. He did, however, have some NHL interest as the netminder told Championat’s Pavel Panyshev that he had a one-way offer on the table that he declined in order to return home. The 25-year-old split last season between the NHL and AHL with Colorado, putting up a 3.16 GAA and a .895 SV% in 11 games with the Avs and a 2.33 GAA with a .921 SV% in 21 minor league appearances. A good showing back home could have Prosvetov on the NHL radar again when his contract is up in 2027.
- Kevin Stenlund’s decision to sign with Florida last summer was a wise one. He put up a career-best 11 goals in 2023-24 while winning the Stanley Cup. The middleman told Hockeysverige’s Ronnie Ronnkvist that he was hoping to remain with the Panthers in free agency but those talks didn’t progress very far. The 27-year-old wound up signing a two-year, $4MM deal with Utah, a price point that Florida simply wouldn’t have been able to afford to pay for someone in a depth role given their salary structure.
Poll: Who Will Be The NHL’s Next Captain?
August is finally here, marking the time of year when teams reconvene at their home rink and begin hardy planning for the upcoming season. That step will come with extra work for the six teams around the league who don’t currently have a captain.
Many of these teams, including Seattle, Anaheim, and Utah, have gone years without a captain – instead opting to disseminate responsibilities among multiple assistant captains. All three teams are amidst staunch rebuilds – with Utah even mapping out relocation – and are likely waiting for their top prospects to take a few more steps before earning the role. The trio of Matthew Beniers, Leo Carlsson, and Logan Cooley seem prime for that ascension with their respective teams, though they each have multiple challengers lining up behind them. The Buffalo Sabres are in a similar grouping, as they transition from a veteran-laden lineup to one of the league’s youngest rosters.
The Chicago Blackhawks also fall into the aforementioned discussion – not carrying a captain since legendary centerman Jonathan Toews ended his career in 2022. Toews leaves massive shoes as Chicago’s leader, after co-heading three Stanley Cup wins alongside winger Patrick Kane. Naming a successor will formally carry Chicago into a new era – one without many of the faces that came to define Chicago hockey in the 2010s. Teenage phenom Connor Bedard seems like a great option to lead that transition, after netting 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games last season – the most of any rookie Blackhawk since Artemi Panarin in 2016, and Kane before him. But Bedard is still young and was limited to a partial season last year by a jaw injury. Those factors could hold him back from Chicago’s prestigious ‘C’. If that is the case, it doesn’t seem any of the team’s veteran leaders, including Nick Foligno and Seth Jones, would inspire Chicago to name a captain too early.
And while Chicago’s next captain will lead the team through new scenery, it’s the Tampa Bay vacancy that headlines the off-season. The Lightning now sit without a captain for the first time since 2002, after franchise icon Steven Stamkos chose to sign with the Nashville Predators in his first trip to unrestricted free agency. Stamkos wore the ‘C’ for the last 10 years and established himself as a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in that span, leading Tampa Bay to two Stanley Cups and setting the franchise’s all-time records in both goals and points scored. Like in Chicago, the Lightning will be entering a new era with their next captain – though they’re much more prepared for the vacancy than their counterparts. While forwards Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point could both serve as strong replacements, it’s defenseman Victor Hedman that offers the same rugged veteran leadership brought by Stamkos. Hedman recently signed a four-year extension in Tampa, taking him through his age-37 season and, potentially, the end of his career. He’s already appeared in 1,052 games with Tampa Bay – the most of any Lightning other than Stamkos – and holds the franchise records in all three scoring stats, among defenders. Transitioning from Stamkos to Hedman should prove more of a light handoff than a total change in power, which could be enough to sway a Lightning franchise that hasn’t gone longer than one year without a captain since naming Paul Ysebaert as their inaugural ‘C’.
Mapping out when captain announcements will come is often a fool’s bet, but the candidates to earn the NHL’s next ‘C’ seem to be becoming clearer. Who will it be? Will Tampa jump to another veteran, will Chicago move into their next step, or will an oft-captain-less team commit to their young guard? Let us know by voting in the poll below and discussing in the comments.
Who Will Be The NHL's Next Captain?
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Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay 68% (625)
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Connor Bedard, Chicago 20% (186)
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Matthew Beniers, Seattle 5% (45)
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Leo Carlsson, Anaheim 3% (32)
Total votes: 918
If the embedded poll isn’t showing up, use this link to vote!
Utah Announces ECHL Affiliate
After losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals in last year’s playoffs, the Dallas Stars went through numerous changes this summer — especially on the blue line. However, general manager Jim Nill does not believe the team has taken a step backward as referenced in an interview with Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the NHL.
In the interview, Nill is quoted as saying, “I think our team might be a little bit better than we were last year at this time, and now let’s see. Let’s get the season started. Let’s see where we’re at“. The Stars will bring back one of the best offenses in the league next year even while losing veteran Joe Pavelski to retirement. The emergence of Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven should give Dallas some continuity in their offense and create one of the deeper lineups in the league.
It’s difficult to imagine Nill believes the defense has gotten better than last season as the team effectively swapped Chris Tanev, Jani Hakanpaa, and Ryan Suter for Mathew Dumba, Brendan Smith, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The organization will have a little financial wiggle room after getting Thomas Harley locked into a new deal but it may not be enough to round out the top four. If the Stars cannot make it to the Stanley Cup Final again next season, it would not be surprising if defense is the culprit.
Other Central notes:
- The Utah Hockey Club has shored up its ECHL affiliation as the organization announced a one-year agreement with the Allen Americans of Allen, TX. The short length of the affiliate agreement may indicate that Utah is hoping to eventually organize a deal with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL after their current deal with the Colorado Avalanche concludes. The Americans started play in the ECHL for the 2014-15 season and immediately won back-to-back Kelly Cup Finals. In the meantime, the Americans have qualified for the playoffs in every season but one.
- According to Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now, Colorado Avalanche prospect Ilya Nabokov has had his contract restructured in the KHL. After paying him three million rubles for the 2023-24 KHL season, Metallurg Magnitogorsk is now set to pay 22 million rubles to the young netminder. Nabokov is the de facto starter for Metallurg after earning a 23-13-3 record in 43 games last year while holding a .930 save percentage. The new pay will not influence the length of the contract; however, as Nabokov is still expected to make it to North America next year.
IOC Officially Awards 2034 Olympics To Salt Lake City
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.
Utah Signs First-Rounder Cole Beaudoin
11:12 a.m.: Utah has made Beaudoin’s signing official.
8:26 a.m.: The Utah Hockey Club has signed its second of two first-round picks from last month’s draft, inking center Cole Beaudoin to his three-year entry-level deal, per PuckPedia. The contract carries a $975K cap hit, broken down into an $877.5K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus and $85K minors salary each season. Utah has already inked top selection Tij Iginla.
Beaudoin, 18, was selected 24th overall out of the OHL’s Barrie Colts. Utah didn’t enter draft day with the pick, though – they acquired it in a pick swap with the Avalanche that sent the No. 38 and No. 71 overall selections, plus the Rangers’ 2025 second-rounder, to Colorado. The Ottawa-area native appeared in 67 games for the Colts last season, tying for second on the team in scoring with 62 points (28 goals, 34 assists) in 67 games.
Utah snagged Beaudoin in the early range of where most expected him to go, but still within expectations. NHL scouts polled by TSN’s Bob McKenzie had him at No. 23. He was also ranked by TSN’s Craig Button at No. 28 and Elite Prospects at No. 29. While his ceiling certainly isn’t among the highest in the draft, his projectable two-way game was universally praised and could lead to him playing a regular NHL role sooner rather than later. At 6’2″ and nearly 210 lbs, he already has NHL-ready size entering his post-draft season.
Elite Prospects says Beaudoin “eats up the boards, grinds them, spins off opponents, drags the puck out of traffic, and gets it to the middle of the ice” on a typical play. Beaudoin making his NHL debut as soon as this season seems far-fetched, but he could see professional ice in 2025-26. If he plays fewer than 10 NHL games this upcoming season, his ELC will slide to 2025-26, notably at a slightly reduced cap hit since his $97.5K signing bonus will be paid out regardless. Since he’s an April 2006 birthday, Utah could again slide his ELC to 2026-27 if he plays fewer than 10 games in 2025-26.
Utah RFA Victor Söderström Changes Representation, May Sign In Europe
Utah RFA defenseman Victor Söderström is switching representation as he tries to land a contract for next season. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports he’s dropped his agent, which PuckPedia shows was Darren Ferris at Quartexx Management. Morgan also reports that Söderström, whom the Coyotes drafted with the 11th overall pick in 2019, may opt to play in a top-level European pro league this season rather than re-sign with Utah.
Last week, Morgan reported that Utah was also examining trade options for Söderström’s signing rights. Like his other Coyotes teammates last season, Söderström’s contract was bought as part of the deal that saw the Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group officially acquire all of the Coyotes’ hockey operations assets last month.
It’s the second time Söderström has changed representation. The Swedish blueliner was originally represented by JP Barry at CAA when he signed his entry-level contract five years ago but switched to Ferris at Quartexx early last year.
Söderström, 23, failed to land a full-time NHL role with the Yotes despite having ample opportunity over the past few years. Arizona had one of the league’s thinner blue lines in its final years of existence, but Söderström actually saw his NHL time dwindle last season. He played a career-high 30 games in 2022-23, all coming in the back half of the campaign, leading most to believe he’d at least work his way up to steadier bottom-pairing duties in 2023-24. However, he was demoted to AHL Tucson to begin the season and was recalled just twice throughout the year, logging three appearances with a -1 rating while going without a point.
The 6’0″, 190-lb defender has been a stable offensive presence in Tucson since coming to North America. He had a career-high 32 points (nine goals, 23 assists) in 62 games with the Roadrunners last year, but it wasn’t a big breakout. His 0.52 points per game average was in line with what he’s put up since arriving in 2021.
Once projected to be a defensively sound, cerebral talent, Söderström’s unexpected one-dimensionality has largely been what’s kept him from landing more NHL minutes. He’s posted a career -47 rating in 170 games with Tucson, and while that differential has improved every season since joining the Roadrunners, it only culminated in a career-high -8 last season. It was still the worst rating among Tucson defenders and second-worst on the team behind right-winger Austin Poganski‘s -11.
But if he believes he’s ready for regular NHL action and will get buried by Utah next season, it makes sense why he’d look for more minutes in Europe or prefer a trade elsewhere (although an official trade request hasn’t been reported). After general manager Bill Armstrong traded for John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev and picked up Ian Cole in free agency, Söderström likely won’t have a spot in Utah’s opening night lineup. He’d have to leapfrog one of Michael Kesselring or Juuso Välimäki during training camp, which is an unlikely scenario.
Because they issued him a qualifying offer last month, Utah would retain Söderström’s NHL rights if he opted to head overseas. They’ll control his rights until his 27th birthday, which isn’t until February 2028. He could likely find a home with Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League, whose system he played in from 2015 to 2020.