Afternoon Notes: Hischier, Gasseau, Daley Jr.
General Manager Sunny Mehta will have his hands full with the New Jersey Devils, primarily by finding a trade partner for defenseman Dougie Hamilton and making a decision on defenseman Simon Nemec‘s future. Still, there’s another negotiation that will help define the Devils’ offseason.
According to Todd Cordell of Infernal Access, Mehta and the rest of the front office have already begun prioritizing a Nico Hischier extension this summer. New Jersey’s captain is entering the final season of a seven-year, $50.75MM extension and has been the subject of some trade speculation as we approach the offseason.
That might be why the Devils are pushing for an extension sooner rather than later. If negotiations sour, New Jersey could make Hischier available on the trade market, and he could be of supreme value for teams that miss out on Dylan Larkin this summer. Hischier registered 28 goals and 66 points in 82 games for New Jersey this season, and he only has a 10-team no-trade list in his contract.
Additional afternoon notes:
- In an interview at the NHL Draft Combine, General Manager of the Boston Bruins, Don Sweeney, confirmed to Jim McBride of The Boston Globe that the team would likely trade forward Andre Gasseau this summer, or allow him to become an unrestricted free agent in August. Gasseau, 22, recently wrapped up his senior season with the NCAA’s Boston College Eagles, scoring six goals and 23 points in 23 games, but lost multiple games due to wrist surgery. The former seventh-round pick wants NHL ice time immediately, and the Bruins are unwilling to do that.
- According to Jeff Marek of The Sheet, Trevor Daley Jr., son of veteran Trevor Daley, is leaving the United States National Team Development Program for the OHL. Daley Jr. will join the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds for the 2026-27 season after registering one assist in four games for the NTDP this past season.
Kings Hire Peter Laviolette As Head Coach
June 9th: The Kings have formalized the hiring through a team announcement. Laviolette officially becomes the 32nd head coach in team history.
June 8th: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Los Angeles Kings have hired Peter Laviolette as their new head coach. Friedman mentioned that Laviolette was anticipated to be a finalist for the head coaching positions with both the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs had he not accepted the Kings’ offer. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun shared that Laviolette has agreed to a three-year deal with the Kings.
Los Angeles will be the seventh team that Laviolette has served as head coach with, and only his second in the Western Conference. The last time Laviolette coached a team in the West was with the Nashville Predators until he was relieved of duties partway through the 2019-20 season.
Throughout his 23-year coaching career, Laviolette has had tremendous success. His head coaching career began back in the 2001-02 season, when Laviolette spent two years with the New York Islanders. The franchise had struggled for years before Laviolette had arrived, and he managed to guide the team back to the postseason in both years.
Still, despite the return to relevance, the Islanders weren’t inspired by Laviolette coaching the team back into the postseason, and he was fired in the summer leading up to the 2003-04 season. It didn’t take long for him to find a new job as the Carolina Hurricanes hired him partway through the next season.
Although his first half-year with the team didn’t go well, nobody has any complaints about how the team did the following year. After returning from the 2005 lockout, Laviolette guided the Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2002, and the organization’s first and only championship, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.
Unfortunately, largely due to injuries, Carolina was unable to repeat their success under Laviolette, and the team parted ways with him after 25 games into the 2008-09 season. He spent the next year on the open market before landing with the Philadelphia Flyers early on in the 2009-10 season.
Similar to his start with the Hurricanes, Laviolette achieved quick success with his new organization. The recent Stanley Cup winner stewarded the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final that season, albeit losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Outside of reaching the Cup Final, Philadelphia also became the third team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit, overcoming the Boston Bruins in the semifinals.
The Flyers remained competitive during Laviolette’s tenure, but never achieved the same playoff success. Eventually, after getting off to a winless start in three games at the beginning of the 2013-14 campaign, Philadelphia let go of Laviolette.
Heading into the 2014-15 campaign, Laviolette was hired by the Nashville Predators to become the team’s second head coach in franchise history, replacing Barry Trotz, who had departed for the Washington Capitals. Like his time with Carolina and Philadelphia, Laviolette helped his team to the Stanley Cup Final relatively early into his tenure.
Under Laviolette, the Predators reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history in 2017, but would ultimately fall short of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He remained in Nashville for three more years before being fired during the 2019-20 season.
Since then, Laviolette has had a three-year run as head coach of the Washington Capitals and another two with the New York Rangers. Both teams played well in the regular season, but couldn’t get over the hump and back to the Stanley Cup Final. He has not coached since the Rangers fired him after the 2024-25 campaign.
Beginning in the 2001-02 season, Laviolette has compiled a head coaching record of 846-562-25-161 for a win percentage of .589. He has guided three teams to the Stanley Cup Final, winning once, and has two Presidents’ Trophies.
Laviolette’s head coaching tactics should be a stark transition for the Kings, who have been branded as a defensive-minded team for the past several years. Under Laviolette, who emphasizes quick transitions and aggressive gap control on defense, the team is expected to have greater success in scoring goals simply due to an improved system.
Additionally, it’s likely that Los Angeles forward Artemi Panarin had a hand in Laviolette’s hire. Panarin, who could very likely become the new face of the franchise for the Kings since Anže Kopitar retired. Panarin had the best season of his career under Laviolette, scoring 49 goals and 120 points in 82 games during the 2023-24 campaign.
Still, given his track record, it’s hard to say how this hiring will work out in the long run. Laviolette typically gets off to quick starts with new teams, but struggles to keep up the success long-term. However, the Kings may be trying to prevent this by limiting their offer to a three-year deal.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel of Imagn Images.
West Notes: Stars, Larkin, Babcock
A few days ago, the Dallas Stars submitted a non-binding letter of intent to the Plano City Council, proposing a new entertainment district and stadium nearly 20 miles north of downtown Dallas. According to a new article from the Sports Business Journal, the Stars faced no adversity in the vote, with the Plano City Council unanimously supporting the proposal while offering up to $700MM in public funding.
Given that the proposal is non-binding, the Stars aren’t necessarily locked into moving to Plano, but today’s vote demonstrates that the interest goes both ways. Dallas’ ownership indicated that the stadium itself would cost around $1B, while the mixed-use district would cost around $3B, all things considered.
The Stars are locked into their lease at American Airlines Center until the 2030-31 season, so a new stadium would still be at least five years away, regardless. The city of Dallas remains in contact with the Stars to extend their lease, or keep the team downtown at the very least, but all signs indicate the Stars may be following their fans to the suburbs.
Additional notes from the Western Conference:
- Despite being one of the three teams that Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin would accept a trade to, it’s not that simple for the Minnesota Wild. In a new article, Joe Smith of The Athletic opined that the Wild are a logical landing spot for Minnesota, but questioned if the Wild had the necessary assets to pull it off. Smith speculated that Minnesota would make Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel available, but they have exhausted many of their high-value trade assets from acquiring Quinn Hughes this past season.
- After yesterday’s report indicating that the Edmonton Oilers have zeroed in on Mike Babcock as their next head coach, many questioned how this would affect the team’s leadership, particularly the future of Connor McDavid. According to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, Babcock has already met with Edmonton’s player leadership, which would obviously include McDavid among others. Per Rishaug, the players gave the Oilers’ front office their full support to hire Babcock if possible.
Wild Sign Michael McCarron To Six-Year Extension
Last month, it was noted that the Wild and Michael McCarron had mutual interest on extending the forward’s stay in Minnesota. But one of the key sticking points in talks was McCarron’s understandable desire to get some term on his next deal, a luxury he has yet to have in the NHL; his longest contract was his entry-level deal back in 2013.
The centerman has now gotten his wish. McCarron has signed a six-year, $19.8MM extension with the Wild per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal will carry an annual average value of $3.3MM. Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic were the first to report (subscription link) that McCarron was closing in on signing a long-term deal to remain with the Wild.
The 31-year-old came over from Nashville a little before the trade deadline with Minnesota flipping a 2028 second-round pick to get him. Considering that he has largely been a bottom-six forward (at times playing on the fourth line with the Preds), the price tag seemed a little steep on the surface but reflected the shift towards a sellers’ market.
McCarron played in 20 games following the swap, picking up three goals and two assists along with 40 hits, while averaging 12:40 per night, nearly two minutes below his ATOI in Nashville. However, he was counted on more in the postseason, as his playing time jumped to just under 15 minutes per night while he chipped in with two goals and two helpers in 11 outings.
Offensively, McCarron managed 17 points during the regular season between the two teams, the second-highest total of his career. Overall, over parts of nine NHL seasons between Montreal, Nashville, and Minnesota, he has 36 goals and 43 assists in 381 games. Generally speaking, forwards with that type of offensive production aren’t the types of players that teams typically try to lock up on long-term agreements.
However, there are some intangibles that McCarron brings that makes him stand out, literally in a sense. His six-foot-six frame makes him one of the bigger players in the league while he plays with plenty of physicality. He can shift between both center and the wing, versatility that came in handy for the Wild down the stretch. He can also take a regular role on the penalty kill where, again, that positional versatility comes in handy. It appears GM Bill Guerin is valuing these intangibles if he ultimately winds up doling out a long-term agreement here.
McCarron made $900K this season and it’s safe to say it’s going to take considerably more than that to get him to forego testing the open market this summer. Speculatively, it wouldn’t be shocking if a deal pushed past the $3MM range, which would give him a per-season salary higher than the sum of money he made over the past three years combined. Russo and Smith noted that the Wild viewed McCarron as their top priority among their pending free agents and it looks like they’re about to check that off the to-do list.
Blackhawks To Make Roman Kantserov A Focal Piece
The Chicago Blackhawks landed an immediate lineup impact when top prospect Anton Frondell joined the club following the end of the SHL season. Frondell scored nine points in the first 12 games of his NHL career and operated at his best away from star Connor Bedard, helping to bolster the club’s top-six. While his ability to continue that performance will represent the highest potential for Chicago’s 2026-27 season, the club is also brimming with excitement over young KHL star Roman Kantserov, general manager Kyle Davidson told Scott Powers of The Athletic. Davidson said:
[Kantserov is] a major piece that we’re just really, really excited about. [We] have a lot of faith in what he’s going to do for us.
Kantserov has been a true terror for the KHL’s Magnitogorsk Metallurg since he debuted in the league at 18. Then the 2023-24 season, Kantserov’s rookie year was marked by quiet production – 15 points in 53 regular season games – until he broke out in the 2024 Gagarin Cup Playoffs. The teenager managed 13 points in 23 postseason games that year, fourth-most on the team and above NHL talents like Danila Yurov and Nikita Grebenkin, as Metallurg pushed for their first championship in eight years.
That breakout performance carried over into his age-19 season, when Kantserov finished second on the team with 38 points in 47 games. He also tied for third on the team in goals with 13. Even in a down year for Metallurg, Kantserov’s ability to bring confident and explosive offense to every shift stood out. As the club honed their offense for the 2025-26 season, so did Kantserov, who climbed to a team-leading 36 goals, and a second-ranked 64 points, in just 63 games. In total, his 117 points in 164 career games is the fourth-most ever achieved by a KHL player under the age of 22 – behind only Kirill Kaprizov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Kantserov ties Kaprizov for the highest points-per-game average (0.71) among the group.
That success won’t automatically make Kantserov a standout, though. He holds some disadvantage as a 5-foot-9 winger. So far, his leg speed and lightning-quick thinking with the puck has proven strong enough to keep him free from worry, but Kantserov knows the NHL will be a different challenge. He told Powers:
My teammates tell me, Roman, the NHL is a different league. Everyone’s faster, stronger. You need to think faster. I’m staying on practice for extra time and, yeah, I’m trying to shoot faster, quick shots and trying practice on this stuff… I understand it’s a different league… I understand that it’s going to be fast, so I tried to do everything quickly, even in my league.
The Blackhawks have already seen positive signs from the 21 year old. Head coach Jeff Blashill praised Kantserov’s understanding of the game and commitment to the process. He also said that Kantserov should get an early chance to fill the bumper role on Chicago’s power-play, a spot Blashill thinks the young Russian could be uniquely fit for – akin to the likes of Brayden Point and Ivan Barbashev. Blashill said that Kantserov has clearly studied what works for NHL forwards in that role and already stands out as someone capable of bringing movement, and changing angles, to the position.
Chicago’s power-play has posted the ninth-lowest success rate (19 percent) since the 2020-21 season – but 2026-27 could be the year to want a feature role on the top unit. Bedard, Frondell, and Frank Nazar will likely fill out the remaining forward positions – each boasting a clear ability to both create and finish scoring chances. Kantserov could be the final touch to Chicago’s high-powered top unit, taking some stress off of the team’s search for a defenseman who can quarterback the power-play. That company could also quickly elevate Kantserov to prominent scoring, if he manages to play quick enough to stick in the role.
Plenty of uncertainty still exists around Kantserov’s NHL future. Kapriov and Matvei Michkov (66 points in 91 career games) are the only players with Kantserov’s small frame to break into prominent NHL roles. One of them has reached the upper echelon of the league while the other – once a star prospect – is fighting to figure out exactly where he fits. The challenge of adjusting to NHL speed and physicality will be an uphill battle for Kantserov, who will face the fight while rostered on one of the team’s struggling clubs. But if he finds his stride, the young Kantserov could truly be one of the greatest X-factors of the 2026-27 season – a fact the Blackhawks seem well prepared for.
Offseason Checklist: Edmonton Oilers
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 Edmonton.
After a pair of appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, expectations were justifiably high in Edmonton. However, the season didn’t go according to plan and they wound up being ousted by Anaheim in the opening round. GM Stan Bowman made a few moves in-season to try to shore things up, now he’ll have to make several more to try to help get the team back into contention.
Hire A Head Coach
With the Kings being set to hire Peter Laviolette as their next head coach, there are just two vacancies remaining with the Oilers being one of them. How the opening came about was a little unusual, as word leaked that they were hoping to speak to former Vegas bench boss Bruce Cassidy while Kris Knoblauch was still employed. It was only a few days after that report that Bowman decided to make it official that he was looking for a new head coach.
As of yet, Edmonton hasn’t received permission to speak to Cassidy yet, resulting in them continuing their search without his name in the mix. They’ve spoken to several veteran candidates and it appears there is a bit of a surprising front-runner, with the team doing some extra due diligence on Mike Babcock. More specifically, they’re trying to work through any potential concerns about hiring him with the NHLPA, signaling that they’re quite serious about the idea.
With Connor McDavid beginning his new two-year extension, it’s fair to say that there is a sense of urgency for the Oilers. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that they’re looking for someone with a proven track record although Babcock’s recent history makes his consideration stand out that much more. At this point, the risks are well-known and if they’re still willing to hire him, they’re banking on his success back with Detroit and Anaheim carrying the day to try to get Edmonton back to contention.
With the draft now less than three weeks away and offseason planning well underway, a hire needs to be in place in the near future.
Land A Goalie Upgrade
Last offseason, the thought was that they could once again get away with a Stuart Skinner–Calvin Pickard tandem. After all, while the day-to-day was consistently inconsistent, overall, it was good enough to get them to the Stanley Cup Final in two straight years. It was a cheap tandem and that would allow them to spend on filling other holes. Bowman then took advantage of Utah’s desire to move Connor Ingram, adding him for future considerations to give them a third netminder with experience.
That move proved to be a shrewd one as he ultimately took over the backup role when Pickard struggled, then moved onto the starting job later in the season. But while that trade worked, the other one didn’t. Skinner was eventually moved with Brett Kulak and a second-round pick to get Tristan Jarry, thinking that Jarry would help stabilize things between the pipes. Instead, Jarry was worse, much worse, which eventually pressed Ingram into the starting role.
Jarry has two years left on his contract at a $5.375MM price tag. Between that and his performance, it’s safe to say that he’s not going to be traded. Meanwhile, Ingram is a pending unrestricted free agent. He can’t be brought back to be the starter as that’s a role he isn’t really suited for. But Jarry can’t be the starter either given how poorly he performed.
As a result, just months after trading for what he thought was a goalie upgrade, Bowman is going to have to make a move to upgrade on the upgrade. The free agent market has Sergei Bobrovsky who would be a short-term solution but he’s also coming off a rough year. Not many starters are available either so they may have to look at a bit of a short-term gamble, hoping that a netminder playing behind their defense could rebound. Buffalo has a surplus while Montreal will likely look to move Sam Montembeault but Bowman surely will be looking to see what other options are out there. But after how badly things went between the pipes this season, last summer’s history can’t repeat itself here.
Keep A Rental
The Oilers made a pair of moves with Chicago to shore up their roster before the trade deadline, adding center Jason Dickinson to strengthen the bottom six and Connor Murphy to add a stabilizing defensive presence on the back end. They’d undoubtedly like to keep both around. However, they only have around $14.5MM in cap space per PuckPedia and several roster spots to fill, including a goalie. While keeping both would be nice, they may be limited to just keeping one.
At this point, it’s evident that Edmonton’s preference is to have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the wing, allowing him to play higher up the depth chart. However, they’ve had some challenges filling the third-line center role, often resulting in their plans for Nugent-Hopkins being scrapped. While Dickinson is unlikely to repeat the 22-goal, 35-point effort from 2023-24, he’s a solid option to fill that spot if he stays. He’s reliable defensively, can kill penalties, and play with a bit of an edge. However, given the overall dearth of options available down the middle in free agency, his market may be strong enough to beat the $4.25MM he made the last two years while getting a considerably longer-term deal as well.
Murphy, meanwhile, logged big minutes after being acquired, logging over 20 minutes a night which was well above his average with the Blackhawks before the swap. He served as an anchor on the penalty kill while stabilizing the second pairing. A right-shot defender, he’ll certainly be in high demand if he makes it to the open market but at 33 years old, he won’t be in a position to command the type of longer-term deal that Dickinson should be able to. On the other hand, the Oilers already have more than $32MM in commitments on the back end; re-signing Murphy would give them the most expensive defense corps in the NHL, barring other moves made around the league, of course.
Keeping both players would be great, but would make accomplishing their other objectives much more difficult. Accordingly, re-signing one out of two might have to suffice.
Add A Top-Six Forward
Given the firepower this team possesses, this might seem a little strange. However, they only had four forwards reach the 40-point mark in 2025-26 and they did try to fill this spot last summer when they signed Andrew Mangiapane in a move that simply didn’t work out. Meanwhile, Jack Roslovic, who quietly put up 21 goals this season, seems likely to move on in free agency. Needless to say, there’s a spot to be filled here.
In an ideal world, Vasily Podkolzin and Matthew Savoie continue their development while Isaac Howard makes a legitimate push for a spot as well. If all of those things happened, they’d probably be fine. But this is a veteran-laden team with a win-now mentality; they’re probably not going to want to leave this to chance. While there aren’t many top-line forwards in free agency this summer, there are more second-liners available. A chance to line up alongside one of McDavid or Leon Draisaitl should be enough of a selling point to give Bowman some options, if they’re still able to afford this after addressing their other areas.
There’s a case to make that the defense needs to be shored up as well but it’s possible Murphy re-signs which would probably suffice. Failing that, it could also be rejigged depending on what Darnell Nurse wants to do, something that’s entirely in his hands now. While they’re waiting to see if he’s amenable to move, they should be setting their sights on lengthening their offense to take some of the pressure off their top players up front.
Photo courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.
Snapshots: Brodzinski, Blackhawks, Gallagher, Golden Knights
Over the past few years, forward Jonny Brodzinski has worked his way from being an AHL recall to a regular on the roster for the Rangers. However, it appears his time with the franchise is coming to an end. The 32-year-old is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer and The Athletic’s Peter Baugh relays (subscription link) that the expectation is that Brodzinski will sign elsewhere this summer. Brodzinski has spent the last six years in New York, moving from a productive minor leaguer to a capable bottom-six piece who has put up 54 points in 163 games over the past three seasons. But with the Rangers likely wanting to give some of their younger players a look in the lineup, it would make sense for Brodzinski’s roster spot to go to one of those.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The buyout window is a week away so teams are starting to make their plans on that front. It appears that the Blackhawks won’t be among the teams executing one as GM Kyle Davidson told reporters including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that he doesn’t plan to use one. Veteran winger Andre Burakovsky seemed like a potentially viable candidate with one year left at $5.5MM and only managed one goal and three assists in the final 37 games of the season. Instead, he’ll either be moved as salary ballast over the offseason or be back with Chicago in the fall.
- In an appearance on Donnie and Dhali (video link), Gerry Johansson, the agent for Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher, confirmed he had spoken with the Canucks about being a landing spot for his client. He acknowledged that Vancouver does have interest in the 34-year-old but also noted that there are a lot of moving parts. Gallagher, who indicated last week that he expects to be moved this offseason, has one year left on his contract with a $6.5MM AAV. Speculatively, the moving parts could be the team trying to move out some money either as part of the swap or in a separate move. While they have ample cap space for next season, their status as a rebuilding team will likely see them operating with a budget well below the Upper Limit of the salary cap, making Gallagher’s price tag a little harder to fit in.
- The Golden Knights were without a pair of defensemen at practice today. com’s Dan Rosen noted that Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb didn’t take part in today’s skate. McNabb’s absence is certainly understandable given that he’s only a few days removed from being taken to the hospital after taking a shot to the face but Hanifin’s absence is a little less certain, though likely for maintenance. At this point, there’s no reason to think that either player won’t be an option for Tuesday’s fourth game of the Stanley Cup Final.
Alexander Alexeyev Receiving KHL Interest
A fresh start for defenseman Alexander Alexeyev didn’t yield the NHL opportunity he was looking for this season. As a result, it appears as if he’s looking for a different type of fresh start this summer. Rustam Sharafutdinov of TASS reports that the blueliner is receiving KHL interest. His agent, Sergey Isakov, indicated that he has spoken with several KHL clubs about Alexeyev for next season, including Salavat Yulaev, the team he played for back in 2020-21.
The 26-year-old came up in Washington’s system after they drafted him 31st overall back in 2018. However, he was never able to establish himself in the NHL with the Capitals as he only suited up in 80 games over parts of four seasons, where he had a goal and seven assists in 15 minutes of playing time per game.
Washington decided to non-tender Alexeyev last summer, likely thanks in large part to his arbitration eligibility. The blueliner quickly signed a one-year, one-way deal worth $775K with the Penguins, hoping to be in the mix for a roster spot in training camp. Instead, he passed through waivers unclaimed in training camp and aside from a brief recall in mid-March, he was exclusively in the minors with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Alexeyev had a dozen points in 38 games in the minors during the regular season while adding five more in 11 postseason contests.
Alexeyev is technically still eligible for restricted free agency this summer, although he remains arbitration-eligible. With that in mind, he’s likely heading for a non-tender once move. But this time, instead of waiting to see what offers might be available in July, Alexeyev appears to be eyeing an opportunity to play back home instead.
Free Agent Focus: New Jersey Devils
Free agency is now less than 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 Devils.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Arseny Gritsyuk – Coming up on nearly six years since the Devils used their 129th overall pick to select Gritsyuk in the fifth round, the 25-year-old Russian finally played his first season of NHL hockey in the 2025-26 campaign after signing a one-year, $925K contract in the summer of 2025. The Krasnoyarsk native had seen several stints in the KHL before this year, scoring 44 points in 49 games with SKA St. Petersburg. 13 goals for 31 points in 66 games in year one, including a 53.7% expected goals share at 5-on-5 play, should definitely command more years for Gritsyuk to contribute in New Jersey.
D Simon Nemec — The former second-overall pick has demonstrated quite a trajectory in his entry-level years with New Jersey. Scoring 26 points in this past season’s 68 games played. The Slovakian defenseman has risen to the occasion in big moments for the Devils, most notably registering his first career playoff goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2025 playoffs. Nemec’s future could see his next deal go a few ways, either via a long-term extension or a bridge deal, based on the projected deals provided by AFP Analytics. Given there are already six players under contract on the blue line that are being paid $34.9MM combined, it’ll be interesting to see how GM Sunny Metha approaches Nemec within the offseason.
Other RFAs: F Paul Cotter, F Dylan Wendt, F Xavier Parent, D Calen Addison, D Topias Vilen, G Nico Daws, G Jakub Malek, G Tyler Brennan
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Evgenii Dadonov – The 37-year-old had a rough go in New Jersey. Former GM Tom Fitzgerald had the veteran Russian inked on a one-year, $1MM contract that saw Dadonov play just 24 games in 2025-26, after suffering two injuries, a hand maiming in the season opener on October 9th vs the Hurricanes, followed by a wrist injury just four games in his return from that initial injury. That later forced him onto the Devils’ injured reserve list. Before this season, Dadonov scored 20 goals for 40 points with the Dallas Stars.
Other UFAs: F Zack MacEwen, D Dennis Cholowski, F Jonathan Gruden, F Nathan Legare, F Ryan Schmelzer, F Mike Hardman, F Marc McLaughlin, F Brian Halonen, D Colin White
Projected Cap Space
The Devils have a little under $11MM of cap space to utilize, enough to re-sign Nemec and depth players to fill out the lineup for next season if they’re looking to be conservative in their moves. However, if they pull the trigger on a Nemec trade this offseason, the Devils could spend those available dollars elsewhere. Additionally, if they’re able to move off Dougie Hamilton‘s $9MM salary, they’ll have a ton of flexibility for other moves.
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Panthers Sign Cooper Black To Two-Year Contract
Given that Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov could depart the organization in free agency this summer, the Florida Panthers are doing everything they can to keep most of their goaltending depth intact. The Panthers announced that they’ve signed netminder Cooper Black to a two-year, two-way contract.
Black, 24, recently wrapped up his second professional season. He’s a relative success story, grinding it out with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers only five years before committing to Dartmouth College ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. His first season at Dartmouth didn’t go well, with Black finishing with a 5-23-1 record in 30 games with a .899 SV% and 3.07 GAA.
Despite the bad performance, Black remained with the program for what would be his last season in the NCAA. The next year went much better, managing a 13-8-8 record in 30 games with a .910 SV% and 2.58 GAA. Although the Big Green finished fourth in the ECAC Conference, they were eliminated in the conference semifinals by Cornell.
Still, that was enough for the Panthers to give him a shot, and they inked Black to his entry-level contract that same year. He played a few games with the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates, but primarily played for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers during the 2024-25 campaign. Black finished with an 11-4-2 record in 17 games with a .910 SV% and 1.98 GAA.
Finally, Black was given the reins for the 2025-26 season, and he turned it into a decent year. The Alpena, MI native managed a 25-13-4 record in 43 games with a .903 SV% and 2.47 GAA. Unfortunately, Black couldn’t keep that success going in the Calder Cup playoffs, and the Checkers were eliminated in three games.
Unless something goes horribly wrong this offseason, there’s little chance of Black beginning the 2026-27 season with the Panthers. Even with the likely exit of Bobrovsky and Tarasov, Black will remain Florida’s third-string option heading into next season.