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Hurricanes Sign Ryan Suzuki, Ronan Seeley To Two-Way Deals

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The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that they have signed forward Ryan Suzuki and defenseman Ronan Seeley to one-year, two-way contracts. Suzuki will earn $775K at the NHL level and $130K in the AHL, while Seeley will be paid $813,750 in the NHL or $80,000 in the AHL.

Suzuki, 24, made his NHL debut last season, appearing in two games for the Canes and recording a plus-one rating while averaging 6:36 of ice time per night. The team’s first-round pick in the 2019 draft (28th overall), Suzuki had a slow start to his pro career but found his scoring touch last season, recording 59 points in 69 games for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. That marked a 27-point jump from his previous career high. In 230 career AHL games, he has totaled 145 points.

Before turning pro, the 6’2″, 195-pound center appeared in 173 games for the OHL’s Barrie Colts (three seasons) and Saginaw Spirit (one season), where he put up 57 goals and 177 points. While Suzuki is likely to start next season in the AHL, he provides the organization with a quality depth piece if called upon.

Seeley, 22, was drafted by the Canes in the seventh round of the 2020 draft (208th overall). The 6’1″, 192-pound left-handed defender spent four seasons with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, where he produced 102 points in 190 games. He then got off to a solid start in his pro career, posting four goals and 25 points in 70 games for the Wolves during the 2022–23 season. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate that level of production over the past two seasons, totaling just 24 points in 127 games during that span.

Free Agent Profile: Matt Grzelcyk

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After spending eight seasons with the Boston Bruins, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins last offseason. While he got off to a slow start in Pittsburgh, Grzelcyk eventually found his stride, posting several career highs along the way, including points (40), blocked shots (101), and games played (82). He also averaged a career-high 20:37 of ice time per game.

For teams looking to add offense this late in free agency, Grzelcyk’s 40 points last season actually leads all remaining unsigned players. However, teams will truly be targeting a reliable third-pairing defenseman who can slide up the lineup and log big minutes when needed.

After a few disappointing seasons to end his stint with the Bruins, the Boston-native signed a one-year, $2.75 MM contract with Pittsburgh in hopes of rejuvenating his career. While he may not have done enough to earn a lucrative multi-year deal, Grzelcyk showed well despite Pittsburgh’s difficult situation and should still warrant a role with an NHL team in need of a left-handed depth option on the blue line.

As the top remaining free agent defenseman, Grzelcyk should find a new home soon. Grzelcyk, 31, is the only defenseman left on the board among ProHockeyRumors’ top 50.

Stats

2024-25: 81 GP, 1 G, 39 A, 40 PTS, -4, 16 PIMS, 101 blocked shots, 43 hits, 20:37 ATOI
Career: 527 GP, 26 G, 149 A, 175 PTS, +131, 253 PIMS, 542 blocked shots, 353 hits, 18:27 ATOI

Potential Suitors

While a reunion with the Penguins once seemed possible, the team’s recent addition of fellow veteran Matt Dumba may have officially closed the door on that option. While Pittsburgh has the cap flexibility to add Grzelcyk, the team currently has eight defensemen signed to one-way deals, with prospects Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke waiting in the wings. A hometown reunion with the Bruins also seems out of play, as Boston is limited in both cap space (approximately $2MM per PuckPedia) and need for a left-handed defender. With that said, plenty of other suitors should be in play, as contending teams like the Maple Leafs and younger teams looking to add veteran presence and leadership, such as the Blackhawks, could all benefit from Grzelcyk’s services. The Sharks appeared to be a potential fit for Grzelcyk at the start of free agency but have made blue line deals elsewhere this offseason.

Projected Contract

Before free agency, ProHockeyRumors ranked Grzelcyk as the 22nd-best free agent on the market, and predicted a three-year, $3.67MM AAV deal. He was ranked just ahead of Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, who would both go on to sign multi-year deals with the Kings. However, this late in the process, Grzelcyk is probably more likely to land another one-year deal with a low salary. In fact, Grzelcyk may be looking at an identical contract to the one he signed in Pittsburgh last season, just south of $3MM.

Predators’ Jack Ivankovic Commits To University Of Michigan

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5:00 p.m.: According to an announcement from the program, Ivankovic has officially committed to the University of Michigan. The expectation is that he’ll join the team as a true freshman for the 2025-26 campaign.

1:01 p.m.: The fifth-highest netminder drafted in the 2025 NHL Draft is expected to bring his talents to the Big Ten Conference for the 2025-26 season. According to Jeff Marek of the Daily Faceoff, goaltender Jack Ivankovic is expected to commit to the University of Michigan.

Ivankovic will join the Wolverines’ roster after a few successful years with the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads. In two years with the team, Ivankovic managed a 39-17-9 record in 68 games with a .907 SV% and 2.93 GAA. Despite a strong performance in the OHL, Ivankovic’s draft stock declined slightly due to concerns about his size. He was selected by the Nashville Predators with the 58th overall pick.

The Mississauga, Ontario native has additionally had a brief international career with Team Canada. Last season, largely playing for Team Canada’s U18 team for the U18 IIHF World Junior Championships, collecting a 6-0-0 record in six games with an impressive .961 SV% and 1.05 GAA. In one tournament contest with the U20 team, Ivankovic suffered an overtime loss to Team Latvia.

It’ll be an entirely new goaltending tandem for the Wolverines during the 2025-26 campaign. The team’s starting netminder from last season, Logan Stein, has graduated, while the team’s backup, Cameron Korpi, has transferred to Union College for the 2025-26 season.

Interestingly enough, the only other netminder on Michigan’s roster is Julian Molinaro, also a Mississauga native, and a recent transfer from Northern Michigan University. There’s an expectation that Ivankovic’s commitment is for the 2026-27 season. Still, head coach Brandon Naurato may already be in contact with the Predators’ front office about Ivankovic beginning his college career sooner rather than later.

Flyers’ Porter Martone Commits To Michigan State University

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4:32 p.m.: According to a post on Martone’s Instagram, he’s indeed taking his talents to East Lansing, Michigan, for his collegiate career if he doesn’t make the Flyers’ roster.

7:08 a.m.: Winger Porter Martone, taken No. 6 overall in this year’s draft by the Flyers, could be making the jump from the CHL to the NCAA this season. He’s expected to announce his commitment to Michigan State later today, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

That’s assuming he doesn’t sign his entry-level contract and attend training camp with Philadelphia. A few weeks ago, that sounded like a more plausible outcome without a clear path for Martone to land a roster spot without an explosive preseason performance.

Now, however, there’s likely going to be an opportunity for one of the Flyers’ young wingers to capture a spot in their top-nine out of the gate. They’re still uncertain if Tyson Foerster will be ready to start the regular season after undergoing surgery to address an infection in his elbow.

There’s still no guarantee Martone would have won that battle ahead of some older names in Philadelphia’s prospect pool, namely internal favorite Alex Bump. Even if he did, it may not have been a full-season arrangement and could have resulted in Martone returning to his junior team, the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads, after playing nine games to avoid burning the first year of his entry-level contract.

If Martone, the Flyers, or both parties are convinced his development wouldn’t benefit from another season in the OHL, an NCAA commitment is the next best option. Since Martone was drafted from one of the CHL’s sub-leagues, he is ineligible to play for the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, in 2025-26 aside from a conditioning stint or after Brampton’s season ends.

Since he’s somewhat of an elder statesman of the 2025 draft class thanks to his October 2006 birthday, Martone could be in line to have a dominant freshman season with the Spartans. His 6’3″, 205-lb frame already made him one of the most physically domineering forwards in the class, and he plays a power forward game that lends itself to his size being used as an advantage.

That should help him in his transition to playing against older, more physically built-out opponents in the Big 10 and NCAA at large, but it’s not as though offensive skill isn’t still among the primary calling cards of his game. The Ontario native remains a high-end puckhandler and shooter and led Brampton in scoring last season, posting a 37-61–98 line in 57 regular-season games.

There was some speculation that Martone may link up with surefire 2026 first overall pick Gavin McKenna at Penn State after the latter’s recent commitment, but it doesn’t appear to be coming to fruition. Instead, the two left-wingers will be conference opponents, with the Spartans landing a high-end consolation prize after finishing as the runner-up in the recruitment chase for McKenna.

Mathias Emilio Pettersen Signs With SHL’s Djurgårdens IF

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After a few productive years in the American Hockey League, forward Mathias Emilio Pettersen is taking his career back to Europe. According to a team announcement, Pettersen has signed a two-year contract with the SHL’s Djurgårdens IF.

Despite being a native of Manglerud, Norway, most of Pettersen’s playing career has come in the United States. After a few decent years in the United States Hockey League, the Calgary Flames selected Pettersen with the 167th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft. Instead of joining a Canadian junior program or returning home to Norway, Pettersen committed to the NCAA’s University of Denver, beginning play in the 2018-19 season.

He was nearly a point-per-game player with the Pioneers, scoring 19 goals and 65 points in 76 career games, with a +9 rating. Unfortunately, the University of Denver was eliminated in the Frozen Four by the University of Massachusetts during Pettersen’s freshman campaign, and the tournament was cancelled the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, the Flames believed Pettersen was ready for the next step, and he began playing for their AHL affiliate at the time, the Stockton Heat, beginning in the 2020-21 campaign. Over the next four seasons, he became a quality secondary scorer for the Heat and eventually the Calgary Wranglers, scoring 45 goals and 114 points in 203 games. Calgary eventually traded Pettersen to the Dallas Stars at the 2023-24 trade deadline for Riley Damiani.

His scoring pace noticeably decreased after he joined the Stars, which likely contributed to his move to Europe. In 82 games, all with Dallas’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, Pettersen scored 13 goals and 37 points with a -11 rating.

Pettersen will join an exciting team in the SHL, at the very least. The 2025-26 season will be Djurgårdens IF’s first back in the SHL after earning a promotion at the end of last season. They’ll be led by a pair of first-round picks from the 2025 NHL Draft, Anton Frondell (Chicago Blackhawks) and Victor Eklund (New York Islanders).

Free Agent Profile: Jack Roslovic

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After a disappointing end to his brief tenure with the New York Rangers, Jack Roslovic had to settle for a one-year prove-it deal with the Carolina Hurricanes last summer. Despite a solid rebound campaign, Roslovic is in a similar position to the one he was in last summer.

Even though plenty of teams are seeking additional center depth, Roslovic’s sporadic career may be why no team has prioritized him this offseason. After serving in a bottom-six role with the Winnipeg Jets to start his career, Roslovic became a key secondary contributor after joining his hometown Columbus Blue Jackets ahead of the 2020-21 NHL season.

Before his trade to the Rangers, Roslovic scored 51 goals and 146 points in 246 games as a Blue Jacket, averaging 15:50 of ice time per game. After the Rangers acquired Roslovic at the 2023-24 trade deadline, he concluded the season with three goals and eight points in 19 games, along with another two goals and eight points in 16 playoff matches.

The Hurricanes signed Roslovic to a one-year, $2.8MM deal for the 2024-25 season, and he rewarded them well. He finished the campaign with 22 goals and 39 points in 81 games, averaging 13:49 of ice time and being a flexible option. Carolina is the first team where Roslovic averaged over a 50.0% faceoff rate, although he primarily played on the wing.

Stats

2024-25: 81 GP, 22 G, 17 A, 39 PTS, -10, 10 PIMS, 139 shots, 13:49 ATOI, 57.9 CF%
Career: 526 GP, 102 G, 158 A, 260 PTS, -37, 80 PIMS, 825 shots, 14:12 ATOI, 59.0 CF%

Potential Suitors

Assuming that most teams view Roslovic as a reliable scoring winger rather than a center at this point in his career, he should have quite a few options to pick from. The Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Blue Jackets, Seattle Kraken, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and Washington Capitals could all use additional depth on the right side of their forward core.

The Bruins and Maple Leafs don’t have a high amount of salary cap space left to work with. Still, it should be plenty to sign Roslovic at this point in the summer. Roslovic may have a desire to stay on the East Coast to remain close to Ohio, so the Avalanche and Kraken may be out of the question for the nine-year veteran.

Projected Contract

Before the start of free agency, ProHockeyRumors had Roslovic as the 20th-best option on the free agent market, with a projected three-year, $10.5MM contract ($3.5MM AAV). Unfortunately for our projections and more importantly, Roslovic’s earning power, he’s unlikely to receive a contract of that value this offseason.

Still, he’s not at a point where he has no leverage. As a recent 20-goal scorer, Roslovic is in a solid position to land a one-year deal in the $2MM to $3MM range. Assuming a one-year deal, he’ll enter next summer as a 29-year-old unrestricted free agent.

Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

Hockey Canada Announces Coaching Staff For 2026 Winter Olympics

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Unsurprisingly, there will be no changes coming to Team Canada’s bench for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. According to a public announcement, Team Canada will have an identical coaching staff to that of the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February, sharing that Bruce Cassidy (Vegas Golden Knights), Peter DeBoer, Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers), and Misha Donskov will be assistant coaches for Team Canada behind head coach Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning).

The 4 Nations Face-Off proved to be a positive litmus test for Team Canada, as the United States has become a more potent competitor in recent years. Still, despite suffering a Round Robin loss to Team USA, Canada won the tournament, defeating their North American counterpart in overtime of the championship on a goal from Connor McDavid. There could be some mild changes coming to the roster for the upcoming Olympic tournament, but Canada will likely have the fewest tweaks.

Like their eventual roster, Canada has a star-studded coaching staff. Even without factoring in the playing careers of those who played in the NHL, Team Canada’s coaching staff has six Stanley Cups, three IIHF World Championship gold medals, and two Jack Adams awards.

All four assistant coaches have extensive international hockey experience, including their work in the NHL and the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, although none have previously coached in the Olympic Games. Cassidy and Tocchet are more recognized for their international ice hockey careers, while DeBoer and Donskov, former coaches of the Dallas Stars, have achieved significant success in the World Junior Championships.

Kevin Labanc Linked To CSKA Moscow

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Free agent winger Kevin Labanc is attracting the interest of KHL club CSKA Moscow, as relayed by BelarusHockey.com.

Labanc, 29, has had a truly tumultuous couple of seasons. He once looked like a potential long-term top-six piece with the Sharks, but offensive struggles led to him walking as an unrestricted free agent last summer.

His poor platform season with San Jose (2-7–9 in 46 GP) predictably meant Labanc yielded little interest on the open market, forcing him to settle for professional tryout offers. He landed one from the Devils that led to an NHL contract, just not with New Jersey.

Instead, Labanc signed a one-year, league-minimum contract with the Blue Jackets shortly before the last season began. Initially, it looked like things were going well for Labanc to rehab his image as an everyday NHLer. He did well as a depth forward for Columbus, averaging a career-low 10:30 per game but still managing 12 points in 34 outings, better than the low production floor he’d hit in the Bay Area in previous years.

Then, he required shoulder surgery in February, ending his campaign. That limited his ability to extend his sample and means over the last two NHL seasons, he’s still only scored four goals and 21 points in 80 games – all the while finishing at a quite low 4.2% rate.

For a player known for his scoring upside, those underwhelming numbers overshadow the largely positive possession impacts he had in more of a two-way role with the Jackets last season. Labanc had a plus rating for the first time since his rookie season nine years ago, and the 5’11” winger had the shot attempt and possession quality numbers at even strength to back it up.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it’ll be enough to land him anything more than a two-way contract or another NHL PTO offer as the offseason stretches into August or September. As such, overseas clubs, including CSKA, are beginning to add him to their list of targets.

CSKA already has nearly 800 games’ worth of NHL experience on its roster for 2025-26, mainly stemming from winger Denis Gurianov and defensemen Nikita Nesterov and Nikita Okhotyuk.

The Predators Are Banking On Internal Improvement

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The Nashville Predators “won” last summer’s free agency period, signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei to lucrative long-term contracts. The summer victory was short-lived, however, as the Predators struggled to start the season and never regained their footing, ultimately falling to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

The regular season exposed Nashville, revealing that it was a flawed team that was far from contending for the playoffs. Now, a year later, the Predators have taken a very conservative approach to their summer spending, and alas, they are still a flawed team that might struggle to score this season.

One of the most significant issues for Nashville, if not the biggest, is that its center depth is lacking, particularly in the scoring department. Stamkos is slated to be their top-line pivot, followed by Ryan O’Reilly.

While Stamkos is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and O’Reilly could sneak in, they weren’t exactly driving offense last year. Beyond the two of them, the scoring dries up further as the Predators’ options are currently Fedor Svechkov, who had an okay rookie season, as well as Erik Haula and Michael McCarron. No disrespect to Haula or McCarron, who are both decent defensive forwards, but they aren’t going to drive a line and won’t contribute much to Nashville’s offense.

Now, Nashville has a lot of young center depth in the pipeline, including the recently drafted Brady Martin, but those prospects are all a few years away and won’t help this upcoming season. The prospects will need playing time at some point soon, which has led some to speculate that the Predators might consider trading O’Reilly. However, general manager Barry Trotz remains pretty committed to the players he signed last summer and can’t exactly spring for a rebuild, yet.

The Predators’ murky center situation is a microcosm for the whole roster. As it is currently constructed, many of the players in the lineup will be playing outside of their ideal slot. Sure, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Juuse Saros, O’Reilly, and Marchessault are all slotted fine. Still, Michael Bunting, for example, is currently in the top six and is probably best suited as a top-nine forward.

Speaking of Bunting, much of his season will hinge on how he starts. Last season in Pittsburgh, Bunting had an atrocious start to the season, with just a single assist in his first six games, before he was a healthy scratch. Bunting would play another 52 games in Pittsburgh, tallying 14 goals and 14 assists before he was traded to the Predators. Upon joining Nashville, Bunting played in 18 games to close out the season, registering five goals and four assists. The 29-year-old is a bit of a wild card in Nashville since he doesn’t do all that much away from the puck, but when he is on, he is a capable scorer who can post 20 goals and 50 points.

Much of Nashville’s hopes are like the hopes they have for Bunting. They are banking on internal improvement, perhaps better overall chemistry, and better luck. It’s not the worst strategy in the world, and probably a better course than blowing up the roster or trying to trade a pile of futures for short-term help.

The Predators had a pile of players experiencing down years. Stamkos, Marchessault, Bunting, Skjei, Josi and Saros all had off years, and if even half of them were to bounce back, we are looking at a very different Nashville team next season. However, there is no guarantee that they will bounce back; given the age of some of the players named, they may even regress further. However, Nashville is constrained by high-priced contracts and can only hope for some positive regression.

As far as team chemistry, the Predators would hardly be the first team to spend a significant amount of money in the summer only to have negative results. It’s happened in every major sport, including hockey, with perhaps the best example being the New York Rangers of the early 2000s, who repeatedly outspent every team in the league but couldn’t even get a sniff of the playoffs. The more the Rangers added at that time, the more the team’s chemistry became disjointed, which eventually led to a massive selloff towards the end of the 2004 season and ultimately a reset. The Predators have avoided adding much to their lineup this offseason; however, they have tinkered around the edges with the additions of defensemen Nicolas Hague and Nick Perbix.

Finally, as far as luck goes, Nashville didn’t have much of it last season, as evidenced by their PDO (shooting plus save percentages), which was dead last in the NHL at .970 (per MoneyPuck). Now, PDO alone doesn’t tell the whole story, but the top teams in the NHL typically have a PDO above 100, and the Predators were nowhere close to that. Much of that falls on the goaltender, Saros, who had the worst season of his career and will be looking to bounce back. If he can get back closer to his career average numbers, and the Predators’ offensive guys can get back to their career average shooting percentage, the Predators could make some moves in the Western Conference to try and climb back into the playoff conversation next season.

Photo by Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

International Notes: Brennan, Cerny, Dello

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Former NHL defenseman T.J. Brennan has played in Europe ever since the pandemic hit in 2020. While he’s spent most of that time in Switzerland, he’s now making the jump to HK Olimpija Ljubljana, the lone Slovenian club in Austria’s ICEHL, the team announced on Facebook.

Brennan, 36, was the first pick of the second round in the 2007 draft by the Sabres. While he’s long been a high-end point producer from the blue line at the minor league and European levels, his all-around game never translated into a full-time NHL career. He only made 53 big-league appearances with the Sabres, Panthers, and Maple Leafs between the 2011-12 and 2016-17 campaigns, scoring 13 points with a -22 rating.

The New Jersey native has spent the last three seasons with Switzerland’s HC Ajoie in the National League, the country’s top flight. The team isn’t very good, fighting to stay in the league in a relegation series in two of the last three years, but Brennan still managed 63 points in 109 games for the club.

He now returns to the ICEHL, still among Europe’s better leagues, where he spent the 2021-22 season with EC Salzburg. He was named a league All-Star and won a title with Salzburg, leading the league in scoring by a defenseman with 47 points in 48 games. While he’s now four years older, he’ll look to recapture some of that success with his new Slovenian side.

A few more recent international signings of note:

  • After going undrafted this year, 2007-born defenseman Stepan Cerny is continuing his development in North America after his European team, Czechia’s Mountfield HK, announced he’s departing the club to join the USHL’s Fargo Force. Cerny won a silver medal with Czechia’s under-18 squad at last year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup and put up great numbers with Mountfield’s under-20 club, putting up a 6-27–33 scoring line in 36 regular-season games. However, the lefty clocks in at just 5’9″ and 139 lbs, making it hard to imagine him as anything more than a late-round pick. He’ll look to grow both physically and in his on-ice progression with Fargo in hopes of being selected in 2026 as an overage pick. He was selected No. 13 overall in the 2024 CHL Import Draft by the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques, but he opted to remain at home for his draft year.
  • There’s more news out of Czechia: longtime AHL defenseman Tory Dello has joined Extraliga club HC Energie Karlovy Vary, the club announced over the weekend. Dello, 28, was a two-time Big 10 champion with Notre Dame and has recorded a 13-43–56 scoring line with 134 PIMs and a +37 rating in 229 AHL games since turning pro in 2020. He spent last season on a two-way deal with the Red Wings and was traded to the Devils in the league’s lone post-deadline trade, posting eight points in 39 games split between Detroit’s and New Jersey’s affiliates in Grand Rapids and Utica.

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