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Evening Notes: Evangelista, Canadiens Rookies, Cootes

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Negotiations between winger Luke Evangelista and the Nashville Predators have begun to stall per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, who reports that yearly salary is what’s created the wedge. Evangelista is one of the top unsigned restricted free agents after players like Connor Zary and Marco Rossi both found new deals. The 23-year-old Evangelista posted an impressive 10 goals and 32 points in 68 games last season. It was a suitable encore to the 16 goals and 39 points he posted in 80 games of the 2023-24 season.

A pair of successful scoring seasons would surely make the player’s camp confident in earning a hardy salary. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger recently signed a two-year, $4.5MM contract extension, while New Jersey Devils forward Dawson Mercer recently signed a three-year, $12MM contract. Those could be the boundaries for a short-term, bridge contract for Evangelista, who has certainly proved he can stick in Nashville’s top nine. Should contract talks continue to stall, the Predators could opt for a one-year, sub-$1MM contract and kick negotiations back to next summer.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Montreal Canadiens have assigned a group of rookies back to their respective leagues after rookie camp came to a close. In turn, Montreal assigned defensemen Carlos Handel to the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, Andrew MacNiel to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, and Bryce Pickford to the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Goaltenders Arseny Radkov and Mikus Vecvanags will return to Russia and Latvia, respectively. The team has also returned a handful of rookie camp invites. All of the moves come as expected, though it rings as exciting news for fans of Medicine Hat and Halifax, as their top defenders return for another season.
  • Top Vancouver Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes was absent from the team’s final rookie camp scrimmage on Sunday, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. Drance later added that Cootes was held out for precautionary reasons and will still attend training camp next week. That will keep the reigning 15th overall pick on track to take his first crack at breaking into the NHL. Cootes had a strong season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds last year. He dominated the middle of the ice with quick plays all year long, working up to 63 points and 60 games in total. Cootes seems most likely set for a return to Seattle next season, though a strong training camp could earn him the chance at sticking in the pros for nine games.

Allvin: Canucks Still Looking For Center Help

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Ever since they traded J.T. Miller midseason, the Canucks have been on the lookout for help down the middle.  However, they haven’t had any success doing so just yet.  Speaking with Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, GM Patrik Allvin acknowledged that he hasn’t given up looking for center help just yet and continues to keep an eye on the market:

As Allvin noted, there hasn’t been much in the way of available impact centers this offseason.  Several free agents ultimately re-signed with their teams while the trade market hasn’t materialized either, especially with so many teams joining the Canucks in their pursuit of a middleman.  As things stand, Filip Chytil projects to be Vancouver’s second center heading into training camp, a spot on the depth chart he hasn’t held too often in his career.

Kravtsov Won't Look To Return To Russia If Sent To Minors

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  • After a successful KHL season, winger Vitali Kravtsov surprised some with his decision to sign a two-way deal with the Canucks over the summer. Speaking with Alexey Shevchenko of Sport-Express, he discussed his departure from Traktor while also noting that he won’t be looking to return home should he make it through waivers unclaimed and be sent to the AHL.  Kravtsov had 27 goals and 31 assists in 66 KHL contests last season.

Kiefer Sherwood Changes Agents

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After a breakout showing last season, Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood is one of the more intriguing under-the-radar potential 2026 unrestricted free agents.  Whenever Vancouver talks about an extension with him, however, they’ll now be dealing with a new agent.  Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Sherwood has changed agencies and is now represented by Wasserman after RSG Hockey handled the deal that landed him with the Canucks last summer.

After being more of a role player in Nashville in the first few seasons of his career, the 30-year-old became a regular for the first time in 2023-24 with the Predators.  That season, he put up 10 goals, 17 assists, and 234 hits which made him an interesting target heading into free agency.  As a result, he was able to land a two-year, $3MM contract Vancouver despite his limited track record.

But it turns out that he had another gear to get to.  Last season, Sherwood beat those personal bests from the year before, tallying 19 goals, 21 assists, and a whopping 462 hits, the latter number representing an NHL record since the stat started officially being tracked in 2007-08.  Notably, his playing time jumped to a little under 15 minutes per night.  Instead of being the fourth liner he had been earlier, he was now regularly playing in Vancouver’s middle six.

That has Sherwood well-positioned to earn a fair-sized raise on his next contract.  AFP Analytics projected a three-year deal worth around $2.75MM earlier this summer if he were to sign an extension now while another performance like this next season could push the asking price closer to the $4MM mark next summer.

It’s unknown if discussions have already started between the Canucks and Sherwood with this agent change being a move to try to get discussions rekindled or if it’s just planning ahead for talks later on.  Either way, Sherwood is going to be heading for a nice raise between now and next summer with a new representative involved in those talks.

Prospect Riley Patterson Traded In OHL

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  • A day after his trade request was made public, Canucks prospect Riley Patterson is on the move in the OHL. Niagara announced that they’ve acquired the center from Barrie in exchange for five draft picks.  The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2024 and has averaged just under a point per game in the past two seasons with the Colts, including a 25-goal, 59-point effort last season.  Vancouver has until June 1st to sign Patterson to an entry-level deal or lose his rights so there will be a lot riding on the upcoming season for him.

Canucks Had Trade Interest In Kravtsov Before Signing Him

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  • There was a fair bit of interest in Canucks winger Vitali Kravtsov before Vancouver brought him back to North America, reports Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link). With that in mind, the team is thought to have an internal belief that the 25-year-old will be claimed off waivers if Vancouver tries to send him to the minors.  Kravtsov is coming off a strong KHL season and signed a one-year, two-way deal earlier this month.  He’ll need to get into 16 NHL games this coming season to remain RFA-eligible and based on this, he might have a shot at getting there even if he’s cut from the Canucks in training camp.

Canucks Make Multiple Changes To Hockey Ops Department

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  • Drawing nearer to the start of training camp and preseason, the Vancouver Canucks announced a few changes to their Hockey Operations department. In a public announcement, General Manager Patrik Allvin revealed three significant staff changes: Brian Hamilton has been promoted to Head Equipment Manager, Ian Beckenstein has been appointed as the Video Coach, and Taylor Phillips has taken on the role of Executive Assistant of Hockey Operations. In terms of outside hires, the team brought in Evan Mathias as the Assistant Video Coach.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Canucks, Kraken Re-Engaging In Marco Rossi Trade Talks With Wild

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While previous reports indicated the Canucks and Kraken both had interest in acquiring Wild restricted free agent center Marco Rossi at various points during the offseason, talks have been quiet for weeks now after Minnesota didn’t land the type of offers they wanted. However, with less than a month now until training camp, they’re now restating their interest in acquiring him if “contract talks between Rossi and the Wild reach a point of no return,” a league source told RG’s James Murphy. Neither club has had intensive talks with Minnesota since mid-July at the latest, the source added.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin spoke to Murphy last week and gave a rather cliché non-update on talks with both Rossi and pending UFA superstar Kirill Kaprizov, saying there were “no real updates” on either player. The two sides haven’t had serious contract discussions since June, leaving them with little time to work out a new deal if a trade doesn’t come to fruition in the next few weeks. The latter outcome is undoubtedly the preferred outcome for both sides at this point, given how the summer has transpired, but that’s been difficult too with Rossi’s desire for a lucrative long-term commitment and the Wild’s need for a top-six forward coming the other way to stay competitive.

For those reasons, the Kraken seem like a better match on paper. As Murphy’s piece pointed out, Seattle has a nearly perfect veteran to offer to satiate Minnesota’s particular desires in Jared McCann, who they were reportedly open to moving last month.

McCann has been a staple atop Seattle’s roll-four-lines attack over the last four years as one of the crown jewels of their expansion draft haul. While he’s spent more time on the wing for the Kraken as his career has progressed, he has plenty of experience down the middle and could feasibly be a direct replacement for Rossi on the depth chart to join Joel Eriksson Ek as the Wild’s top-six pivots. The 29-year-old rattled off 61 points in 82 games last season, but that was actually his lowest per-game output since his first year in Seattle. He’s also due to reach unrestricted free agency in 2027.

While Seattle has a multitude of other veteran forwards slated to hit the open market next summer, there’s likely still an appetite from general manager Jason Botterill to better align the age of their forwards on longer-term deals to match their timeline to emerge as perennial playoff contenders – still a year or two away. Rossi, who put up a nearly identical scoring line to McCann last season and is more comfortable down the middle, would be more expensive to sign than McCann’s current $5MM cap hit but is nearly six years younger. Now entering his age-24 season, he’d be giving Seattle his prime in the middle of a cost-certain deal as the cap rises if they reached a long-term commitment out of the gate.

It’s harder to see how the Canucks could put together a competitive offer for Rossi. He would be an offensive improvement over their current young second-line piece, Filip Chytil, but his concussion history means he’s not likely to move the needle for Guerin, especially if McCann is a realistic option.

It’s also worth noting that the Kraken and Wild have already connected on a trade this summer. Seattle picked up center Frédérick Gaudreau in exchange for the 102nd overall pick in this year’s draft, which Minnesota used on skilled but undersized pivot Adam Benák.

Canucks No Longer Pursuing Jack Roslovic

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Free agent Jack Roslovic’s waiting game may have cost him a potential contract offer from one team. The Canucks have “cooled off on pursuing” the top remaining UFA, writes The Athletic’s Thomas Drance.

There were talks between the Canucks and Roslovic’s camp last month, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic said at the time, leaving them as one of a small list of confirmed suitors. It wasn’t without precedent, either. Vancouver had approached Roslovic last summer as well, before he ended up taking a one-year, $2.8MM contract with the Hurricanes.

That deal saw him tie his career-high of 22 goals in 81 games while also seeing more time at center than he did in 2023-24, likely sparking some optimism that he could help fill out the Canucks’ underwhelming depth down the middle. Nonetheless, it appears Vancouver’s braintrust has now pivoted to only pursuing long-term solutions to supplement anchor Elias Pettersson and, ideally, injury-prone but high-ceiling Filip Chytil in a top-nine role.

“Vancouver is still in the market to land a centre, but the trade market is viewed as a more likely and realistic route of addressing the club’s greatest remaining need,” Drance said. “Vancouver would execute a trade today if the deal returned a credible middle-six centre — even if that centre had more of a defensive bent to their game.”

The Canucks still have $3.27MM in cap space left to facilitate a deal, per PuckPedia.

As for Roslovic, he’s getting into crunch time with only one-year deals and PTOs available for most everyone at this point of the offseason. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in early August that there were five teams with legitimate interest in him but that he was taking his time to make a decision.

Even with that intrigue and proven top-nine capability without much risk of regression – he’s still just 28 years old – a multi-year pact may simply be out of reach for him at this point. At the beginning of the summer, AFP Analytics projected him to receive a three-year deal worth north of $4MM per season. With the way the market has broken, though, he might need to settle for another one-year deal at a comparable value to last year’s $2.8MM cap hit.

Mark Kirton Passes Away

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Former NHL forward Mark Kirton, who spent six seasons in the league, passed away on Sunday, per a league announcement. He was 67.

Kirton played 266 games in the NHL from 1979 to 1985. This included stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs (who drafted Kirton in the third round of the 1978 NHL Draft), the Detroit Red Wings, and the Vancouver Canucks. His most productive season came in 1981–82, when he posted a career-high 42 points with the Red Wings. Interestingly, his career high in goals (17) came during his final season with the Canucks.

An advocate for ALS research, Kirton joined the board of ALS Action Canada after being diagnosed with the disease in 2018. Though his prognosis eventually left him confined to a wheelchair, it never diminished his unwavering efforts to advance research and raise awareness for ALS. This included his efforts to unify all seven Canadian-based NHL teams to raise funds for imperative research. Nine months later, Kirton’s long-time friend and ex-NHL Darryl Sittler announced on Parliament Hill in Ottawa that Kirton’s seven-team effort raised more than $1 million. That same day, Wayne Gretzky, who was in attendance for the announcement, called Kirton, “A hero of mine.”

The NHL Alumni Association also announced Kirton’s passing, highlighting his strength, compassion, and the lasting legacy he leaves behind—both in the hockey world and within the ALS community.

“Mark’s career in the NHL was defined by determination, teamwork, and heart. Off the ice, he brought those same qualities into his fight against ALS. Faced with one of life’s toughest challenges, he chose to become a voice and champion for others, raising awareness and inspiring hope. His courage was unshakable, his advocacy was selfless, and his spirit touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. Mark was not only a teammate but also a friend, mentor, and role model,” the release said.

Kirton is survived by his wife, Lisa, and their three children. Pro Hockey Rumors sends our condolences to Kirton’s family, friends, and loved ones.

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