Red Wings Place Dominik Shine On Waivers
The Red Wings placed forward Dominik Shine on waivers ahead of tonight’s season finale against the Panthers, PuckPedia reports. Still technically eligible to dress tonight, he’ll be sent to AHL Grand Rapids tomorrow in the likely event he clears to join their playoff run.
Shine has been one of the best stories in hockey this season. This year’s Detroit nominee for the Masterton Trophy, the 32-year-old scored his first NHL goal – three of them, in fact – after several years as a farmhand in Grand Rapids, mostly on minor-league deals.
Saying Shine is a Michigan lifer feels like an understatement. The Pinckney native only left to play four seasons of junior hockey for the USHL’s Lincoln Stars but has since returned to his home state for every season, playing four years at Northern Michigan before joining Grand Rapids in 2017. He spent all of his time there on minor-league deals until finally earning his first NHL contract from the Wings midway through last season amid a career year offensively. He ended up playing in nine games for the Wings down the stretch, notching one assist.
This year, Shine upped things to a new level. Grand Rapids’ captain played a major role in an electric early-season surge, rattling off 21 goals and 37 points in 38 games en route to earning a two-year, two-way extension from the Wings in January. Now signed through 2028, he got another call-up in short order and ended the season with three goals in 18 NHL games for Detroit, remaining up on the roster since the Olympic break.
The 5’11”, 177-lb righty has been a 13th forward at best, averaging just 6:56 of ice time per game, but his dedication to the organization – and to the sport for waiting so long to get a big-league opportunity – has been deservedly lauded in Detroit. His poor possession play and propensity for some untimely penalties – the flip side of playing with the energy he does – will likely prevent him from ever jumping into a regular role, but he’ll now play out the next two years in similar spot duty call-up deployment before likely beginning to contemplate retirement at the end of his current deal.
Lightning Activate Maxwell Crozier From LTIR, Place Steven Santini On Waivers
Lightning defenseman Maxwell Crozier told reporters this morning that he’s stepping back into the lineup for tonight’s regular-season finale against the Rangers (including the team’s Benjamin Pierce). He had been on long-term injured reserve since mid-February after undergoing core muscle surgery. They’ve placed defender Steven Santini on waivers in a corresponding move with the intent to send him back to AHL Syracuse tomorrow, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. They’ve also recalled forwards Jakob Pelletier and Mitchell Chaffee from Syracuse to allow some forwards to get some extra rest tonight, according to Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider.
Crozier’s return gives the Bolts another option on defense for the first round that they weren’t expecting to have several weeks ago. When he underwent the procedure in February, the team gave him a 10-week timeline that appeared to rule him out for the regular season and at least a good chunk of the first round. Instead, he’ll come back in a little under two months’ time to essentially get a conditioning stint in a meaningless game tonight before potentially dressing for Game 1 against the Canadiens this weekend, likely contingent on the statuses of Victor Hedman (personal leave, indefinite) and Darren Raddysh (undisclosed, day-to-day).
Crozier, a 2019 fourth-round pick, also missed several games earlier in the year with an undisclosed issue. Between absences, he was well on his way to establishing himself as an everyday depth option. Turning 26 next weekend, Crozier put up a 1-9–10 scoring line in 34 games after making just 18 appearances over the previous two seasons combined. He averaged 16 minutes per night, and Tampa won his minutes handily, controlling 53.0% of shot attempts and 52.8% of expected goals at 5-on-5.
A smooth-skating option, he’ll be a natural fit as the #3 righty heading into training camp in the fall behind Raddysh and Erik Černák – if Tampa can work out an extension with the former. If not, given the dearth of high-impact options on this summer’s free agent market, Crozier might be tasked with a higher-leverage role than anticipated next season.
As for Santini, the 31-year-old has been called up as an injury replacement several times throughout the season. He hadn’t needed to clear waivers since training camp, but after playing his 10th game of the season on his most recent recall, he needs them now to head back down. In 11 appearances, his highest NHL workload since 2018-19, Santini has produced an assist and a +1 rating. He’d been a healthy scratch since March 28 and will now return to Syracuse, where he serves as team captain in his second season with the organization, to aid in their chase for a Calder Cup championship.
Pelletier and Chaffee have both been up with the Bolts relatively recently as they’ve opted to get their injury-plagued roster as much rest as possible before the postseason. Pelletier appeared in a pair of games last week before heading back to Syracuse over the weekend, while Chaffee skated in a trio of contests earlier this month. Neither recorded a point on their most recent recalls and have gone pointless across 14 combined NHL games this year.
For Pelletier, it’s one final reward for an electric minor-league performance before the former Flames first-rounder ideally snatches an NHL roster spot out of camp next fall. The 25-year-old leads the AHL with 77 points (28 goals, 49 assists) in 63 games, while Chaffee has also put up over a point per game with a 24-33–57 line in 54 outings. But while Pelletier is signed through 2027-28, Chaffee is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Islanders Sign Quinn Finley To Entry-Level Deal
The Islanders announced Wednesday that they’ve signed forward prospect Quinn Finley to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will kick in next season, making him a restricted free agent in 2028. Financial terms were not disclosed. It’s unclear if he’ll be joining AHL Bridgeport on a tryout for the balance of the regular season and playoffs.
Finley is the latest of his now-former Wisconsin teammates to make his exodus from the school after falling just short of a national title last weekend. Blake Montgomery inked his entry-level deal earlier today, while captain Ben Dexheimer is expected to sign with the Wild.
The 21-year-old is coming off his junior season, spending all of his three NCAA seasons with the Badgers. He’s been a star-level producer the past two years, capping things off with a 16-17–33 scoring line in 37 outings this year. That’s actually down from his big-time 20-goal, 40-point sophomore outburst but still enough for him to lead Wisconsin in goals and finish second in scoring.
Finley was a third-round selection in 2022 from the USHL’s Madison Capitols. He’s managed a couple of international opportunities, winning gold with the United States at the 2024 World Juniors and heading to Davos, Switzerland over this season’s holiday break to join a U.S. Collegiate Selects squad at the Spengler Cup invitational.
The 6’0″, 179-lb winger is a high-end finisher. As Scott Wheeler of The Athletic writes, his defensive game has started to come around in college as well and he checks in as the Islanders’ #8 prospect in a forward-heavy pool. He’ll presumably spend most, if not all, of that two-year ELC term in the minors (Bridgeport will be relocating to Hamilton, Ontario next season) before getting some NHL looks later in the decade.
Senators, Blake Montgomery Agree To Terms On Entry-Level Deal
The Senators announced Wednesday that they’ve agreed to terms with left wing prospect Blake Montgomery on a three-year, entry-level deal starting next season. He’ll join AHL Belleville on an amateur tryout contract to finish out this year. The deal will carry a cap hit of $1.075MM with a qualifying offer of $1.114MM upon expiry, per PuckPedia.
Montgomery, a fourth-round pick by Ottawa in 2024, will opt to be one-and-done in college. The 20-year-old two-way forward will end up playing in four different leagues in the span of two seasons if he manages to suit up for Belleville this year. Selected from the USHL’s Lincoln Stars, he stuck around for just 10 games in his post-draft season before jumping north of the border with the OHL’s London Knights. After rattling off nearly a point per game there, he took advantage of the new avenue for CHL players to make the jump to college hockey and committed to the University of Wisconsin.
Montgomery’s lone season with the Badgers will go down as a successful one. He helped them to their first national championship game appearance since 2010 and put up a 9-8–17 scoring line in 37 games along the way. He averaged two shots on goal per game but did end up with a team-worst -7 rating.
The younger brother of Hurricanes defense prospect Bryce Montgomery, it’ll be interesting to see how much – if any – of Blake’s scoring touch can translate to Belleville still relatively early in his development. He’ll turn 21 next month; he was initially draft-eligible in 2023 before being picked up by Ottawa a year later. He still grades out, improbably, as the Sens’ top forward prospect in a pool that’s been heavily decimated in recent years, sitting #4 overall according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. He becomes just the third forward age 22 or younger that Ottawa even has under contract.
Montgomery’s contract brings Ottawa up to 28 registered for next season. He’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry in 2029 with two years of team control remaining.
Wild Closing In On Signing Rieger Lorenz
The Wild have been busy locking up draft picks and free agents out of the college ranks over the past few days. That’s expected to continue as they’re closing in on an entry-level pact with 2022 second-rounder Rieger Lorenz, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. It will be a two-year deal beginning next season, although he’s expected to report to AHL Iowa on an amateur tryout to get some gameplay in now.
The 6’2″ Lorenz was an intriguing selection at the time. He went around the high end of where he was expected to go, but still within range at 56th overall. He was named the top prospect in Canada’s junior ‘A’ system in his draft year after logging 38 goals and 85 points in 60 games.
Fast forward four years, and a subsequent rocky freshman season for Lorenz at the University of Denver is a distant memory. The Calgary native has rattled off three straight 20-point seasons for the Pioneers, including a career-best 17 goals and 35 points in 43 games as a senior this year. He was the Pios’ highest-scoring forward this season en route to a second national championship in the last three years. Lorenz was named to the NCAA’s All-Tournament team on both occasions.
Lorenz ranked as the #10 prospect in Minnesota’s prospect system after removing most of the top end of their pool to acquire Quinn Hughes earlier this season, per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. In addition to his consistent production over the last few years in Denver, he’s been a penalty-killer for them and could end up being something of a bottom-six checking force for the Wild with a decently well-rounded offensive game. His skating and passing will likely limit his ceiling, Wheeler writes, and he’ll need some serious AHL seasoning before competing for an NHL role.
Nonetheless, the 22-year-old will get a two-year window (and some change here) to prove his trajectory is strong enough to carry him to an NHL job. He’s tracking to be the fourth college signing the Wild have made this cycle. They inked 2023 first-round pick Charlie Stramel out of Michigan State to a deal beginning next season and landed free agent defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg from UConn. They’re also in the process of signing Wisconsin captain Ben Dexheimer.
Capitals Reassign Ivan Miroshnichenko, Ilya Protas, Clay Stevenson
The Capitals announced that they’ve reassigned forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Ilya Protas, as well as goaltender Clay Stevenson, to AHL Hershey. Their season is over after last night’s win over the Blue Jackets, although their four-game win streak to end the season wasn’t enough to get them into playoff position.
Protas and Stevenson had been called up as injury replacements in recent days, while Miroshnichenko had been up with the NHL squad since the trade deadline. With Hershey yet to clinch a Calder Cup Playoff berth, they’ll head back down now to hopefully get them over the hump. They currently have a three-point cushion on a spot with three games remaining.
Of all the names here, it would be least surprising to see Miroshnichenko’s on Washington’s opening night roster in the fall. That’s due partly to the fact he’ll lose his waiver exemption following this season. Considering he’s cost-controlled at $925K through 2027-28 and was the 20th overall pick just four years ago, there’s a slim chance he’d clear if the Caps tried to pass him through.
The 22-year-old left-winger has also legitimately earned a longer look with his steadily improving AHL track record. Over parts of three seasons in Hershey, he’s amassed a 44-54–98 scoring line in 138 games with a +15 rating. A 6’1″, 194-lb power forward with an above-average scoring touch, he has 35 tucks in 91 AHL games over the past two seasons after a slow start to his North American pro career in the goal-scoring department.
He’s gotten double-digit NHL games in each of the past three seasons, too, but the production hasn’t clicked yet. He added 13 games to his resume down the stretch this year, tallying two goals and an assist with a +1 rating. He largely assumed a fourth-line role after Nic Dowd was shipped out of town to the Golden Knights, averaging just 9:38 per game.
Miroshnichenko’s physical brand lends itself toward making him an effective fourth-liner on his way toward being the top-nine fixture Washington drafted him to be. That lack of ice time is precisely why he hasn’t had the opportunity to contribute more. He’s only averaged 10:33 per game across 52 career appearances (five goals, 13 points) with little to no power play opportunities, particularly this season.
Nonetheless, his points-per-game output in Hershey has steadily improved from season to season. With Brandon Duhaime and David Kämpf ticketed for unrestricted free agency, there’s a clear path for him to assume a regular role in Washington next season if they aren’t brought back.
As for Protas, the 19-year-old kicked off his NHL career with a bang in the past few days. The younger brother of teammate Aliaksei had a three-point performance in just his second career outing and totaled a goal and three assists through a four-game call-up, coinciding with Washington’s brief tear to end the year.
A third-round pick in 2024, the 6’5″, 201-lb playmaker’s development has been nothing short of a dream. He made the jump from the USHL to the OHL for his post-draft season and absolutely exploded for 50 goals and 124 points in 61 games for the Windsor Spitfires, taking home OHL Second Team All-Star honors.
His transition to the pro game in Hershey has been especially smooth. He’s already an All-Star caliber player in the minors and leads the Bears with 28 goals and 62 points in 66 games. He, too, should be a clear favorite to win a spot in camp in the fall, but with a waiver exemption and two years left on his entry-level contract, he could be the victim of a numbers game if it comes to that.
Stevenson, the Caps’ third-stringer, had also dressed for the final four games of the year while backup Charlie Lindgren was nursing an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old started Game 82 last night, making 27 saves on 28 shots for his third win of the season and of his career. He made three straight starts for the Caps shortly before the Olympic break when both Lindgren and Thompson were hurt. Across his four starts this season, the Dartmouth product amassed a 3-1-0 record with a sparkling .921 SV% and 2.00 GAA. That was good for 3.2 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.
There was concern that Stevenson would be lost on waivers at the beginning of this season. He’s had some bursts in the AHL, where he’s got a Calder Cup ring and owns a .910 SV%, 2.64 GAA, and a 16-12-4 record in 34 games this year. He’s still got another year left on his deal, so if he manages to clear again in the fall, he’ll be resuming his role as the Caps’ #3.
Lightning Recall Brandon Halverson
The Lightning announced today that they’ve recalled goaltender Brandon Halverson from AHL Syracuse. It’s likely he’ll back up Andrei Vasilevskiy for tonight’s regular-season finale against the Rangers, per Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider.
Tampa Bay was forced to dress emergency backup Kyle Konin for Monday’s overtime win over the Red Wings. Jonas Johansson was a late scratch due to an undisclosed injury. He’s yet to practice since and isn’t on the ice this morning, so he’ll be missing a second straight game tonight. It’s not yet clear if his availability to back up Vasilevskiy for Game 1 of the first round against the Canadiens this weekend is in question.
Halverson has emerged as the Lightning’s clear-cut third-stringer over the past two seasons. The 30-year-old was once a fairly highly-touted prospect, going to the Rangers in the second round of the 2014 draft, but he only made one relief appearance for them in the 2017-18 campaign before being non-tendered a year later. After nearly retiring from hockey following the 2021 season and restarting his career the following season in Germany’s second division, he signed a series of minor-league deals in Tampa’s system that culminated in him receiving a two-year, two-way NHL contract midway through last season.
He hasn’t played a ton for the Bolts, though, and his numbers are poor when he has. He made one start last season, allowing five goals on 24 shots for a .792 SV%, and made one six-second relief appearance earlier this year while Johansson was dealing with an equipment issue against the Islanders back on Dec. 13.
For Syracuse, though, he’s been a good starting option. Since joining the organization in 2023-24, Halverson has amassed a .911 SV%, 2.29 GAA, 12 shutouts, and a 53-25-24 record in 99 games. That includes a .906 mark in 42 outings this season on the heels of an All-Star nod last year.
Halverson is a pending unrestricted free agent. His AHL backup, Ryan Fanti, is also under team control with the Bolts and has put up comparable numbers this season. 2024 seventh-round pick Harrison Meneghin is their other goalie under contract, a first-year pro who’s struggled in his ECHL minutes this year. There will still be a place for Halverson as a third-string option next season, so unless they’ve identified an open-market candidate they prefer, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bolts extend Halverson before July.
Stars Expect Miro Heiskanen Back For Game 1, Roope Hintz Questionable For First Round
The Stars have received a mixed bag of injury news over the last several hours. In an interview with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun published this morning, general manager Jim Nill said the results of star defenseman Miro Heiskanen‘s recent imaging indicate he should be available this weekend as the puck drops on Game 1 of their first-round series against the Wild. On the flip side, head coach Glen Gulutzan said yesterday that they’ve ruled out center Roope Hintz for Games 1 and 2 and still aren’t sure if he’ll be an option in the first round at all (via Robert Tiffin of D Magazine).
Heiskanen has missed Dallas’ last two games with a lower-body injury. He left their game against the Wild on April 9 in the first period after falling awkwardly on his leg following a check from Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman. Nill said last weekend that he needed an MRI to complete his evaluation, and he was quickly ruled out for the Stars’ remaining regular-season schedule, including tonight’s finale against the Sabres. That’s of zero consequence with Dallas locked into the second seed in the Central, though.
No further missed time results in a huge sigh of relief from the entire state of Texas. There’s a strong case to be made for Heiskanen as the Stars’ most valuable player this season. After they managed to eke out a first-round win without him last year, he’s had one of the better offensive performances of his career with a 9-54–63 scoring line in 77 games while averaging 25:28 of ice time per contest with a career-high 132 blocks. But behind him, he doesn’t have the depth of support he’s had in recent years. Esa Lindell remains a shutdown extraordinaire with his +30 rating, but Thomas Harley has taken a considerable step back in both zones from last year, while Tyler Myers has had universally negative possession impacts since his acquisition from the Canucks at the trade deadline.
In the league’s most taxing first-round matchup, the Stars’ missing Heiskanen against a fully healthy Minnesota offense could have been the difference. Hintz, while still a relative household name, is a more stomachable loss given Dallas’ scoring depth. He’s played just once since the Olympic break. He dealt with an illness upon his return from representing Team Finland and then sustained a lower-body injury in his first game back that’s kept him out since the trade deadline. Still listed as week-to-week, it stands to reason he should be a second-round option if Dallas makes it there.
Hintz missed some time earlier in the year, too, with an undisclosed issue, so his regular season ends with only 53 appearances – 65% of the Stars’ schedule. One of the league’s better two-way middlemen, his 15-29–44 scoring line gave him a 0.83 points per game rate that’s right around his career average. He’s no longer the goal-scoring threat he displayed when he rattled off three straight 30-goal campaigns from 2021-24, in part due to an unusually low (for him) 11.9% shooting rate this year. He’s had a career year in the faceoff department, though, winning 59.1% of his draws.
He’s now the Stars’ #2 center in terms of production and ice time behind Wyatt Johnston, though. They’re also 18-6-4 without Hintz in the lineup this year for a .714 points percentage, better than their .660 mark with him dressed. It’s worth noting there’s a significant drop-off in their goal-scoring without him, though. Dallas has averaged 3.43 goals per game with Hintz dressed and only 3.14 without him.
At least for their first set of home games, Matt Duchene will stay down the middle in Hintz’s usual second-line slot between Jason Robertson and Mavrik Bourque. With Hintz healthy, Gulutzan has usually opted to deploy Duchene as quite the high-powered third-line option with Jamie Benn and Sam Steel. Being able to elevate Duchene into that second-line slot with his 45 points in 56 games is a testament to their wealth of scoring depth, though.
Image courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.
Assessing This Summer’s Buyout Candidates
Every summer, several NHL teams issue buyouts to veteran players who have significantly underperformed on their often high-priced contracts. It is usually difficult for a team to admit this mistake and make such a move, as it often reflects poorly on management’s initial decision to acquire the player. As Kyle Dubas once said, “buyouts are a last resort.”
There will undoubtedly be some this year, though, and it’s probably not who you would expect to see be bought out. Most fans might expect Darnell Nurse, Jonathan Huberdeau, Tristan Jarry, Elias Pettersson, or even Ryan Graves among the buyout candidates. However, those five players all have contracts with large signing bonuses, making their buyout prospects slim. Still, several underperforming players on big contracts could find themselves in the buyout discussion.
The first player has become a lightning rod for criticism within the Toronto Maple Leafs. No, it isn’t Auston Matthews; it’s defenseman Morgan Rielly. The 32-year-old Rielly was once a top offensive defenseman, but he’s never been particularly strong defensively.
Now his offensive game has declined, exposing many of his defensive flaws even more. When Rielly led Toronto’s transition game, you could accept everything he sacrificed defensively as the cost of his offensive contributions, but without elite offense, he’s a middle-tier offensive defenseman who struggles in his own zone.
You could argue that Rielly’s defensive struggles are mainly due to being on a poor defensive team, but the truth is that he wasn’t strong defensively even when the Maple Leafs had a solid possession numbers. Still, is it worth buying him out? Probably not. Rielly currently earns $7.5MM a year and has four years left on his contract. Despite the cost, he might be worth keeping or trading.
A Rielly buyout would have Toronto paying him $3.5MM per season for the next four years, followed by $2MM annually for the subsequent four years. Sure, the cost savings over the next four years would be $4MM annually, but then the team needs to find a top four defender to replace Rielly, and the Maple Leafs likely won’t find one for less than the savings amount. A trade would be the best option for Toronto, but Rielly still has the leverage for the next two years with a full no-movement clause, which could complicate any potential trade.
Sliding east of Toronto, the Canadiens have a potential buyout candidate in veteran forward Brendan Gallagher. Including the 33-year-old on this list will upset some, but his decline since 2021 has been well-documented.
Prior to 2021, Gallagher was one of the most consistently effective 5-on-5 scorers in the NHL. However, Father Time is undefeated, and Gallagher is no longer a top-nine forward, even though he still earns like one. With just six goals and 16 assists in 76 games this season, he has been a healthy scratch for Montreal this week, which could be a sign of what’s to come. Montreal boasts a strong group of forwards, with more young prospects on the way, and it could become a numbers game that Gallagher loses.
The other side of the argument with Gallagher is that he has only one year left on his contract, with a cap hit of $6.5MM, but he is owed just $4MM in actual salary. It’s possible he could be traded to a team trying to reach the salary cap floor or swapped for another problematic contract. If Montreal considers a buyout, it would save them $2.67MM next season but add a $1.33MM cap charge in 2027-28.
Since Montreal has most of its core signed and over $12MM in cap space available this summer, it has no immediate need to part ways with Gallagher unless it plans a major move. There’s also a potential morale issue if the Canadiens decide to release a popular veteran who has given everything to the organization, the fans, and the city.
Staying in Canada shifted the focus westward. Oilers forward Trent Frederic and his contract sent shockwaves through the NHL just 12 months ago when it was signed. Many pundits were left scratching their heads when the Oilers inked Frederic to an eight-year, $30.8MM contract extension just days before free agency opened.
The $3.85MM cap hit was a bit high for many people’s tastes, but not outrageous, given that Frederic was a pending UFA. However, the length of the deal seemed excessive for a role player, especially one who wasn’t very effective last season.
This year, Frederic has four goals and three assists in 70 games. That’s poor offensive production for anyone, let alone a player earning nearly $4MM annually. Some of this can be attributed to an unusually low shooting percentage of 5.7%, about half of his typical success rate. If he regresses to the mean next season, he should score more goals, but it’s not just his offensive numbers this season that are concerning.
Aside from one season when he tallied 40 points, Frederic has never been a significant offensive contributor or a player who drives or controls the pace of play, making the eight-year contract a particularly poor decision.
There is just a lot wrong with Frederic’s game, and in an era where making mistakes on mid-tier contracts can be disastrous due to the parity in the NHL, this one is particularly bad. That said, Edmonton would have to absorb a 14-year cap hit if it bought out the 28-year-old, which means he’s probably staying beyond this season.
Finally, we come to the most obvious candidate: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who is somehow still just 25 years old. When the Hurricanes sent an offer sheet to Kotkaniemi back in August 2021, they were betting on his potential to become a top-six center.
After all, Kotkaniemi was a third overall pick in 2018 and had the skill set to elevate his game and move up the lineup. However, the offer sheet was very ill-advised, with the idea reportedly coming from Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon in response to the Montreal Canadiens’ offer sheeting Sebastian Aho two years prior.
Kotkaniemi never really developed an offensive side to his game, and at this stage of his career, he is what he is – a reasonably good defensive center (although his numbers there have dipped this season as well) who doesn’t score much. This year, Kotkaniemi has two goals and seven assists in 38 games. Although he put up 43 points a few years ago, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll become a consistent 40-point player. At $4.82MM a year for four more seasons, the Hurricanes have an opportunity to save some serious cash by buying him out.
Due to his age, Carolina could buy out Kotkaniemi this summer for just 33% of the remaining money on his deal, which is about $6.8MM. That would save Carolina almost $4MM next season, and $4.35MM in each of the three years after that.
Now, the Hurricanes are usually not a cap team, but they have only $14MM available this summer (as per PuckPedia) and four players to sign. If they want to add to the lineup and improve their chances in the quest for the Stanley Cup, this could be a way to create some much-needed breathing room under the salary cap.
Photo by Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Evening Notes: Mammoth, Suter, Carlson, Ellis
Even though it’ll take until the last game of the regular season to determine who they’ll face in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Utah Mammoth have a few unfortunate confirmations already. According to Cole Bagley of KSL Sports, forwards Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain are still a few weeks away from returning.
Hayton has been dealing with an upper-body injury since March 26th, whereas McBain has only been out a little over a week with a lower-body injury. Regardless, depending on how many weeks it takes, both Hayton and McBain may miss the opening round of the playoffs for the Mammoth.
Although each player is a respectable tertiary scorer for Utah, the team’s center depth, particularly on the bottom two lines, will be tested. Additionally, the Mammoth will significantly miss McBain’s physicality, especially in a postseason environment. The 6’4″, 219 lbs center leads Utah in hits this season with 271.
Additional evening notes:
- Eligible for an extension or potentially a trade this summer, St. Louis Blues forward Pius Suter is preparing early. According to PuckPedia, Suter has changed his representation to Judd Moldaver. Moldaver represents some of the sport’s top athletes, such as Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, and Zach Werenski.
- As mentioned in a previous article, conditional draft picks included in trades will finalize now that every potential team has qualified for a postseason spot. Now that the Anaheim Ducks have qualified for the playoffs, the Washington Capitals will acquire Anaheim’s 2026 first-round pick from the John Carlson trade, instead of Anaheim having an option for this year’s or next (via PuckPedia).
- Additionally, the San Jose Sharks will receive elevated draft compensation, too (via PuckPedia). In the Ryan Ellis contract dump earlier this year between the Sharks and the Philadelphia Flyers, the Flyers allowed the Sharks to receive the better of their 2026 sixth-round pick or Columbus’ 2026 sixth-round pick. Since the Flyers qualified for the playoffs, San Jose will receive Columbus’ sixth-round selection in the upcoming draft (via PuckPedia).