Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche
Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Avalanche.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Jack Drury – Not only has Drury become a stabilizing force in Colorado’s bottom-six, but he has also become one of the best bottom-six forwards in the entire league. Tying his career-high, Drury finished 10 goals and 27 points in 82 games while averaging 14:29 of ice time per game. Additionally, his 58.1% faceoff rate is even more impressive considering Drury began 63.8% of his shifts in the defensive zone. Given that he’s only one year away from reaching unrestricted free agency, it’s unlikely that Drury and the Avalanche will get together on a long-term deal this summer.
F Zakhar Bardakov – Despite averaging less than eight minutes of ice time per game, Bardakov remained on the NHL roster for much of the 2025-26 campaign. He had his moments, but was generally unimpressive, finishing with one goal and 10 points in 60 games. He maintained relatively solid defensive metrics and added 50 hits on the year, but didn’t do enough to earn a consistent NHL role. Still, given his familiarity with the NHL now, Colorado will likely keep him around to serve as depth since he won’t be too expensive to retain.
Other RFAs: F Sampo Ranta, F Daniil Gushchin, F Chase Bradley, F Taylor Makar, F Ivan Ivan, D Sergei Boikov
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Brent Burns – Burns is the primary suspect in the murder investigation of ‘Father Time’. Not only is he playing into his 40’s, but he also hasn’t missed a game in over a decade. He wasn’t a liability out there either, as the former 2003 draftee registered 12 goals and 35 points in 82 games, averaging just under 19 minutes of ice time per game. The Avalanche could use all the defensive depth it can get its hands on, and if Burns intends to keep playing and is interested in signing another bonus-laden deal, it should be a no-brainer for Colorado to keep him around.
D Brett Kulak – Outside of those on Team Canada at the Olympics, Kulak is the only player who got to play with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon throughout the regular season. During his time with the Avalanche, Kulak did what he did best: blocking shots and stepping up in the playoffs. Throughout postseason play, the 32-year-old blueliner finished with one goal and five points in 13 games with 25 blocked shots, averaging 20:38 of ice time. Unfortunately, unless Colorado can open up significantly more cap space, he’s unlikely to return this summer.
Other UFAs: F Joel Kiviranta, D Jack Ahcan, D Nick Blankenburg, F T.J. Tynan, F Alex Barre-Boulet, F Tye Felhaber, F Matthew Stienburg, F Valtteri Puustinen, F Jason Polin, D Jacob MacDonald, D Ronald Attard
Projected Cap Space
Colorado’s salary cap picture is an ugly one. Yes, the team has done a good job of locking in MacKinnon and Martin Necas, and maneuvering around the cap to bring in additional talent, but it’s all coming to a head in a year. Heading into the summer, the Avalanche only have approximately $2.98MM in salary cap breathing room. This should be enough to retain Drury and Burns, albeit barely, but it will be wholly insufficient to fill out the team’s depth for anything other than league minimum salaries. Additionally, Colorado is only one year away from ponying up new deals for Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen, so they’ll have to be prudent with every dollar spent this summer, and likely won’t want to lock themselves into anything extending beyond next season.
Photos courtesy of Dennis Lee (Drury) and Jeff Curry (Burns) of Imagn Images. Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.
Dennis Hull Passes Away At 81
In an unfortunate announcement, the Chicago Blackhawks revealed that long-time player Dennis Hull has passed away at the age of 81. Dennis was the younger brother of Bobby Hull and the uncle of Brett Hull.
By the time Dennis reached the “Black Hawks” for the 1964-65 season, Bobby had already become a phenom and earned his iconic nickname, the “Golden Jet”. Still, being overshadowed by his larger-than-life brother, Dennis put together a quality career in the NHL.
It took him a few years to get everything figured out, but by the 1966-67 season, he had become a consistent scoring threat. Even after Bobby departed for the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets in 1972 for a whopping $1MM signing bonus ($13.94MM in today’s dollars), Dennis remained with the Black Hawks. In total, he spent 13 years in Chicago, scoring 298 goals and 640 points in 904 games while playing in five All-Star Games.
Although he never won a Stanley Cup during his tenure with the Black Hawks (though he played in three finals), the highlight of Dennis’ career was the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. Dennis initially intended to boycott the event because Bobby was excluded from the team due to his participation in the WHA. After receiving encouragement from his older brother, Dennis played on a line with Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert, scoring two goals and four points in four games, helping Canada to a series victory.
A few years later, Dennis would retire at the age of 33 after a one-year stint with the Detroit Red Wings. Despite appearing on a handful of broadcasts, Dennis lived a relatively private life after retirement. His most notable post after his playing career was as Athletic Director for the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
We at PHR offer our condolences to Dennis’s friends, family, and loved ones.
Prospect Notes: Meyer, MacKinnon, Second Overall
Top 2027 NHL Draft prospect Carter Meyer could be making a groundbreaking change of leagues. The U.S. star has requested release from the U.S. National Team Development Program per Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff. Meyer is undoubtedly the top player of the NTDP’s U17 squad and is currently projected to be drafted in the 2027 top-10. Should he be granted release, Meyer would likely move to the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, who picked up his rights with the 17th-overall pick in the 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft.
Meyer is a true, top playmaker who proved he had the top-end motor to support his top-end skill during his first year at the NTDP. He led the team in scoring with 15 goals and 37 points in 42 total games – four points more than Nolan Fitzhenry in second place. The Boston University-commit also led the U.S. roster in scoring with 10 points in four games of the World U17 Hockey Championship. That performance earned him a promotion to the roster for the U18 Men’s World Championship, where he notched five points in five games. Meyer is the son of 281-game veteran of the NHL Freddy Meyer, who currently serves as the head coach of The Rivers School in Massachussetts high school hockey.
Other notes from the prospect world:
- The Providence Bruins have signed defenseman Dylan MacKinnon to a one-year, two-way, AHL contract. MacKinnon wrapped up his fifth season in the QMJHL this year, finishing with just 12 points in 47 games between the Moncton Wildcats and Charlottetown Islanders. He signed with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners to finish the season and managed no scoring in three pro games. MacKinnon was the shutdown defender on strong, offense-first teams during his junior career. That style didn’t pop much, leading the Nashville Predators to forgo signing MacKinnon after drafting him in the 2023 third-round. He will look to fit in a bit better at the AHL flight.
- Speculation around the San Jose Sharks’ dangling of the second-overall pick continues to grow. The team could find potential trade partners across the top-15 per NBCS’ Sheng Peng. The St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames have already expressed interest in moving up on draft day – but Peng points out that the Chicago Blackhawks could also be an interesting candidate. Any deal would need to land San Jose a player close to the NHL – and with some upside worth looking forward to. A tinge of promise could help San Jose justify stepping back in a top-10, or top-15, filled with upside and interesting defense prospects.
Free Agent Focus: Chicago Blackhawks
Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Blackhawks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Connor Bedard – Over a decade ago, the Blackhawks had just won their second Stanley Cup championship since 2010, and were looking to keep the core pieces together for the foreseeable future. A few days into the offseason ahead of the 2014-15 season, Chicago signed star forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to identical eight-year, $84MM contracts. This summer, they will have a similar franchise-defining negotiation. It appears that discussions have begun, as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that both parties were looking into short- and long-term agreements. Bedard has led the team in scoring in each season of his career and is coming off a year in which he scored 30 goals and 75 points in 69 games. If the Blackhawks and Bedard reach a long-term contract, it will certainly exceed the eight-year, $80MM benchmark set by Logan Cooley last October.
D Kevin Korchinski – Drafted a year before Bedard, Korchinski hasn’t panned out as well despite being a top-10 selection. After spending his entire rookie campaign in Chicago, Korchinski has largely been in the AHL since. He has performed relatively well with the Rockford IceHogs, although not with as much offensive flair as he showed throughout his time with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Over the last two years, Korchinski has scored five goals and 53 points in 109 AHL contests, with another one goal and four points in 29 NHL games. Assuming the Blackhawks still believe in his ability to become a consistent top-four defenseman, Korchinski is likely poised for a one- to two-year contract this summer with a relatively low cap hit.
D Ethan Del Mastro – Similar to Korchinski, Del Mastro hasn’t spent much of his time with Chicago the past two years. Since the start of the 2024-25 campaign, Del Mastro has registered two goals and seven points in 42 NHL games, with an additional two goals and 27 points in 92 AHL contests. Still, although he may be a non-tender candidate for other organizations, there’s a decent chance the Blackhawks will retain Del Mastro to continue as organizational depth.
Other RFAs: D Dmitri Kuzmin, D Ryan Mast, G Drew Commesso
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Ilya Mikheyev – As much as Chicago would have liked to retain Mikheyev for the future, it doesn’t sound like the relationship is going to last any longer. A few weeks ago, reports indicated that contract talks between Mikheyev and the Blackhawks had broken down, and the organization was actively looking to trade his negotiating rights to an interested team. He has remained a consistent middle-six forward for Chicago, scoring 38 goals and 70 points in 157 games over the past two years with a +6 rating. Given his ability to perform well on the penalty kill and on the defensive side of the puck at large, and his tertiary scoring ability, Mikheyev shouldn’t have a hard time finding a greener pasture this summer.
D Matt Grzelcyk – What a difference a year can make. After registering 40 points in 80 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins on a one-year, $2.75MM contract during the 2024-25 campaign, Grzelcyk was poised to take advantage of a thin free agent class and cash in on the best season of his career. Unfortunately, no teams took the bait. He instead settled on a one-year, $1MM contract with the Blackhawks after skating with the team on a PTO in September. The 32-year-old blue liner shouldn’t have any expectations of breaking the bank this summer after registering 12 assists in 69 games with Chicago, averaging 16:58 of ice time.
Other UFAs: F Sam Lafferty, F Joey Anderson, G Olivier Rodrigue
Projected Cap Space
As has been the case for the past few years, the Blackhawks don’t need to worry about cap space this summer. Entering the offseason, the Blackhawks are projected to have the second-most cap space, just behind the San Jose Sharks, with $40.16MM in available room. As mentioned, Bedard’s next deal, whether on a long-term deal or not, should take more than a quarter out of that, but they’ll still have ample room left to make some big additions. Unfortunately, as is well known, that’s unlikely to come on the free agent market unless Chicago hands out some unadvised deals. Presumably, they’ll look to the trade market to address their defensive needs.
Photos courtesy of David Gonzales (Bedard) and Charles LeClaire (Mikheyev) of Imagn Images. Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.
Devils Expected To Sign Anton Silayev
The New Jersey Devils will have one more first-round pick in their system next season. Defenseman Anton Silayev is expected to sign his entry-level contract following his third season in Russia’s KHL per Artur Khairullin of Russian news site Sport-Express. The 6-foot-7 defender was selected 10th-overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. He will be the last of 2024’s top 15 to sign his entry-level contract when he puts pen to paper.
Silayev has had a sure role with the KHL’s Torpedo Novgorod since the 2022-23 season, when he led the team’s junior affiliate to a junior league championship. Even in his age-17 season, Silayev’s size, smooth skating, and stick checks proved tough for opponents to beat. Those advantages earned him a full-time role in the KHL during his draft season in 2023-24. Silayev had ups-and-downs as a KHL rookie. Never the scorer, he racked up only 11 points in 63 regular season games. More glaring were the amount of times that Silayev got turned around by top-tier competition – though his aggression in board battles and ability to move the puck still warranted a top pick come draft day.
Silayev has spent the last two seasons ironing out the gaps from his age-18 season. He climbed to 12 points in 63 games of the 2024-25 season, then joined the Torpedo’s minor-league club for the postseason en route to a league championship. He contributed two points to 17 games of the 2025 VHL playoffs. Surprisingly, Silayev’s routinely-low offense turned downwards this year. He finished the 2025-26 KHL season with just three points in 61 games. Much of that diminished scoring came from Silayev’s struggles to spark the breakout in the same way he had in prior years – casting a shadow over his clear improvements on either end of the ice. Following their elimination from the Gagarin Cup playoffs, Torpedo finished Silayev’s season with a brief assignment to Russia’s junior-league playoffs, where he scored two points in four games while standing as one of only 20 defensemen age-20 or older in the junior postseason.
A down year in Russia will be followed by a major opportunity for one of New Jersey’s top prospects. Silayev will likely step into a top role in the AHL, where his big frame and puck-moving abilities could quickly stand out. He could also be a candidate to break camp with the Devils to begin the 2026-27 season – if the club finds a way to use his unique style and size in a depth role while he finds his stride. Either way, an entry-level contract will give Devils fans another player to watch close once training camp kicks off.
John Carlson’s Next Contract Will Be Particularly Pricey
It’s not very often that 36-year-old players will get a raise on their next contract but that could very well be the case for defenseman John Carlson. In a column for The Athletic earlier this week, Pierre LeBrun reported that before Washington moved Carlson to Anaheim at the trade deadline, the two sides were in talks about a two-year extension worth $9MM per season.
That would represent a $1MM raise on the $8MM he made over each of the last eight years. But it would be a well-earned increase. Between the Capitals and Ducks this season, Carlson recorded 14 goals and 46 assists despite missing 11 games due to injury. His 60 points were his highest since the 2021-22 campaign. On top of that, he showed that he can still handle logging heavy minutes as he averaged more than 23 minutes per night during the regular season and over 24 minutes per contest in the postseason.
In essence, Carlson played like a legitimate top-pairing defenseman, so $9MM on the surface would seem reasonable. On the other hand, he’ll turn 37 in January and at some point, he’s going to slow down and his minutes will have to become more managed. If he drops to more of a second-pairing player, that price tag becomes particularly high, even in this market, one that is going to yield some inflated salaries this summer.
In recent years, we’ve seen teams try to sign players to above-market short-term contracts, knowing that they will have some short-term cap flexibility to absorb the extra cost. Carolina’s two-year, $15MM deal to Dmitry Orlov three summers ago is a good example of that. But it’s something that isn’t going to necessarily be appealing to most free agents which is why not many of those deals have been signed overall; most prefer the longer-term security. Given Carlson’s age, it becomes more palatable and it looks like he could very well be getting one of those now.
While the overall depth in this summer’s UFA class isn’t particularly deep overall, there is some depth among right-shot defenders. Carlson is joined by Darren Raddysh, Jacob Trouba, Rasmus Andersson, and even Brent Burns as players who should at least be able to handle top-four minutes. This potential price point for Carlson should be particularly appealing for most of the others on that list (aside from Burns, who is likely heading for another one-year deal).
Considering the extension didn’t get finalized with the Capitals, it stands to reason that Carlson’s camp believes he could do better on the open market. With that in mind, it seems likely that he’ll be viewing that two-year offer as the floor in negotiations for his next contract. We’ll see over the next month if that contract will be coming from the Ducks who would like to keep him around or if he’ll opt to test the UFA market where LeBrun believes several Eastern teams are likely to make an offer.
Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.
Pacific Notes: Canucks Coaching Search, Edler, Lauzon
While there has been plenty of speculation that Manny Malhotra will become Vancouver’s next head coach, that still hasn’t materialized yet. Speaking with Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province, Canucks GM Ryan Johnson indicated that there remains no timeline for when they will name a new bench boss. They’ll be doing so for the second straight offseason after Adam Foote’s tenure lasted just one season. Johnson was previously GM of AHL Abbotsford with Malhotra as the head coach there so there’s a logical connection. Johnston speculates that part of the holdup could be the team trying to work out its group of assistants, that the sides could still be discussing salary, or even how the team plans to handle things should Malhotra’s son Caleb, the top center in the draft, were to be picked third overall by the Canucks. At any rate, no agreement between the two sides is in place yet.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- Johnson also confirmed to Johnston that he is in talks with long-time Vancouver blueliner Alex Edler about a possible role with the team, confirming a report earlier in the week from HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Ek. Edler spent 15 seasons with the Canucks as a player from 2006 through 2021, spanning 925 games, the most by a defenseman in franchise history. Edler will serve as a coach during development camp and could be brought on in more of a full-time development role beyond that.
- Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon returned to practice on Friday with a non-contact jersey, relays Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 29-year-old suffered an upper-body injury in the final game of the first round against Utah four weeks ago and hasn’t suited up since then. Lauzon had 13 points and 251 hits in 68 games during the regular season for Vegas and had 14 more hits in six contests in the opening round. Assuming he’s cleared to return by Tuesday’s series opener in Carolina, the Golden Knights should have a fully healthy roster at their disposal.
NHL Issues Tampering Memo Amid Ilya Mikheyev Speculation
In recent years, teams have been more open about the idea of allowing players under contract to talk to other teams. Sometimes, it’s to facilitate trades while this season, it eventually yielded some mutual contract terminations as well, allowing players to move for a better opportunity while the former teams received cap relief.
It appears as if the Blackhawks were hoping that they could take a similar approach with pending UFA winger Ilya Mikheyev. Unable to come to terms on a new contract, it was reported earlier this month that his rights were available for trade. At the time, there was a belief that they would permit his camp to speak to other teams and if there wasn’t the type of contract out there that he was looking for, then perhaps he’d circle back and rekindle talks with Chicago.
However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the NHL sent all 32 teams a reminder about tampering rules at this time of year. It specifically indicated that no contact between pending free agents and teams is permitted without a rights trade first. Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to $5MM and/or the potential loss of draft picks.
There used to be a pre-July interview window, or a legal tampering period. It allowed potential free agents to speak to teams with the idea of giving players more time to assess their possible options. Some pending free agents even flew into other cities for a more formal discussion while getting a better sense of the area. But that was eventually taken out of the CBA and while it appears the league would like to have it back, the NHLPA isn’t as keen to do so.
At any rate, the Blackhawks aren’t going to be able to execute their desired plan with Mikheyev as clearly, they can’t allow Mikheyev to speak to other teams about a new deal first. Instead, they’ll have to swing a rights trade if another team thinks they can get a contract done and wants to jump the market. There aren’t as many of those deals now as there once were so unless Mikheyev has a change of heart about his perceived value, there’s a high chance he heads to the open market without Chicago getting any type of compensation.
Offseason Checklist: Washington Capitals
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Washington.
Having gone from reaching the second round last season to narrowly missing the playoffs this season, it would be fair to view 2025-26 as a disappointment. On the other hand, this group was the only team in the salary cap era to have a +23-goal differential or better and miss the playoffs with a point total (95) that is usually enough to get into the postseason. Most years, they’d have comfortably made the playoffs with a season like they had. With that in mind, GM Chris Patrick might opt for a safer summer than another drastic overhaul like 2024. Their checklist has been drafted with that assumption in mind.
Wait For Ovechkin’s Decision
Admittedly, it feels weird making the first item on here something that’s entirely out of their control. Long-time captain Alex Ovechkin’s contract is up and the NHL’s all-time goal leader hasn’t decided if he wants to return for a 22nd season. It’s safe to say that the Capitals want him back and they’ve indicated to Ovechkin’s camp that they’re willing to be patient although they prefer that he decides by next month’s draft.
What the decision is will ultimately influence a chunk of how the team plans to proceed this summer. If Ovechkin stays, he fills a top-six spot on the wing, though not the top-line one he had for most of his career. And if he opts to move on, then they have a big hole to fill on the wing. Notably, despite his age (40), only one pending UFA forward (Alex Tuch) had more points than Ovechkin’s 64. Accordingly, they’d likely have to turn to the trade market to try to fill that vacancy.
Considering his age, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if Ovechkin’s next contract is a one-year deal, should he decide to stay. If that’s the case, he’s eligible to sign one with performance bonuses in the deal, something that could be done to give Washington more cap flexibility. With over $31MM in room at the moment, per PuckPedia, they may not necessarily need that flexibility but if Patrick has big plans, maybe they will. Ovechkin’s now-expiring deal carried a $9.5MM AAV; it wouldn’t be entirely shocking if his next contract (including bonuses, if any) was in that price range as well.
Re-Sign McMichael
Two years ago, Washington opted to sign forward Connor McMichael to a bridge deal. That kept more money free for their shopping spree and considering he had just become a full-time player the year before, there was lots of logic to the decision. McMichael, meanwhile, went and had two pretty strong seasons on his two-year, $4.2MM pact. He notched 57 points in 2024-25 and followed that up with 46 in 78 outings this season while transitioning toward playing down the middle on more of a regular basis.
All things considered, that’s a pair of solid seasons to bolster his arbitration case as he reaches eligibility for that for the first time. McMichael is two years away from being able to test the open market so while they could kick the can down the road and try to do a one-year pact, the more probable outcome is a longer-term agreement. The Capitals could opt to take him to a hearing but that would allow his camp to ask for a two-year contract that walks him right to unrestricted free agency so it would be surprising to see the team go down that road. Conversely, if McMichael files, Washington gets to pick the term and would almost certainly choose a one-year agreement.
AFP Analytics pegs McMichael at a five-year pact worth a shade under $6.5MM per season while getting three extra years of club control. In this marketplace, that might even be a little light while adding more seasons to the agreement could push the price tag more toward the $8MM mark. By the time they re-sign him and re-sign or replace Ovechkin, more than half of that cap space will already be gone but getting McMichael locked up on a longer-term deal should be a big priority this summer.
Add Right-Shot Defender
With Jakob Chychrun, Martin Fehervary, Rasmus Sandin, Cole Hutson, and Declan Chisholm, the Capitals are more than well-set on that side of their back end. If anything, their depth there could allow Patrick to shop someone to try to fill another hole elsewhere.
However, things aren’t as great on the other side. Their right-shot options are Matt Roy, Timothy Liljegren, and Dylan McIlrath. Roy has been solid in his first two years in Washington but is ideally a second-pairing player. Liljegren, who just re-signed, hasn’t progressed beyond being a third-pairing option for most of his career, while McIlrath is more of a veteran journeyman who shouldn’t be counted on to play too much.
In other words, they need to try to replace John Carlson, who was moved to Anaheim a little before the trade deadline. Interestingly enough, one of the players they could plausibly look at is Carlson himself, as the sides explored extension talks before the trigger was pulled on a swap. Other impactful right-shot rearguards set to reach unrestricted free agency are Darren Raddysh, Rasmus Andersson, and Jacob Trouba, although it should be expected that at least one of those players will ultimately re-sign.
With Sandin being able to shift to his off-side, this isn’t a must-add for the Capitals this summer. Chychrun is a top-pairing piece and Hutson showed plenty of potential late in the year; those two anchoring the back end with above-average depth could work. But in a very tight Eastern Conference, augmenting the group with another impact right-shot option would even be better.
Work On Leonard Extension
When Ryan Leonard joined the Capitals for the stretch run last season, they were hoping that he’d be able to add some key secondary scoring. Instead, his entrance to the NHL was a little quieter as he managed just two points in 17 games (regular season and playoffs combined) with his role shrinking as the postseason went on.
But those struggles ultimately helped Leonard prepare for his first full NHL season which certainly was an improvement. He finished fifth in rookie scoring with 20 goals and 25 assists, doing so despite averaging a little over 14 minutes per game, or basically third-line ice time. That earned him an eighth-place finish in Calder Trophy voting for Rookie of the Year. Considering Washington drafted Leonard eighth overall in 2023, it’s safe to say that they envision him being able to take on a bigger role.
Because they burned the first season of his entry-level pact for the 2025 stretch run, Leonard will be entering the final year of that contract this summer, making him extension-eligible. And with this being the last offseason that a team can do an eight-year contract, it would make sense for Washington to explore what the parameters of an agreement like that would be.
There would be a lot of forecasting being done on both sides in terms of trying to determine what Leonard’s long-term offensive upside is to try to find a number that would work. AFP Analytics’ extension projections suggest a seven-year agreement would be worth a little under $8.5MM per year. To get that eighth season, the AAV might have to land closer to the $9MM mark. That might seem like a lot for a player with 46 career regular season points but if they want to get something done early, there’s going to be some shared risk on both sides.
This isn’t necessarily a must-accomplish item on the checklist this summer. It’s possible that one or both sides would prefer the extra year of data before committing. But having some certainty for what Leonard’s next deal will cost would help the Capitals in their long-term planning this offseason so expect Patrick to approach Leonard’s camp to see what this could cost.
Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports.
Maple Leafs Notes: Coaching Search, Nylander, Cowan
While it remains unclear which external head coaching candidates Maple Leafs GM John Chayka has spoken with so far, it appears there are a pair of internal options for the position as well. In a recent appearance on The FAN Hockey Show (video link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Derek Lalonde has been interviewed for the job while he believes that Mike Van Ryn has also been interviewed. Lalonde spent parts of three seasons running the bench in Detroit from 2022-23 through 2024-25, leading the team to an 89-86-23 record. On the other hand, Van Ryn’s head coaching experience is rather limited, just 2015-16 with OHL Kitchener and 2017-18 with AHL Tucson, making him a less likely candidate for the role. There remains no timeline in place for when Toronto might hire their next bench boss but they’d likely want the hire in place before next month’s draft.
More from the Maple Leafs:
- At a time when there has been plenty of speculation of how Toronto could shake up its roster, winger William Nylander made it clear in a video on his YouTube channel earlier this week that he has no desire to leave. The 30-year-old has spent 11 seasons with the Maple Leafs already and has six years left on his contract, one that carries an AAV of $11.5MM and has full trade protection. Nylander is coming off a career year in terms of points per game as his mark of 1.22 was a personal best, although he missed 17 games due to injury. Barring the team embarking on a longer-term rebuild, it’s hard to see a scenario where Nylander is asked to consider waiving his trade protection but the veteran has made his intentions clear preemptively.
- Winger Easton Cowan wasn’t in the lineup on Friday as the Marlies continue their playoff run in the minors. Speaking postgame, head coach Jon Gruden indicated to reporters including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun that the rookie is dealing with an upper-body injury. It’s more of a maintenance thing but his status for Monday’s game is uncertain. Cowan sits ninth in AHL playoff scoring with five goals and four assists in 14 contests.