The calendar has turned to September and training camps are now just a couple of weeks away. However, the enthusiasm for the season fast approaching was put on hold following a tragedy in the hockey world which is among the key stories of the week.
Tragedy Strikes: The hockey world is in mourning after Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew Gaudreau were killed after being struck by an accused drunk driver while biking near their New Jersey home. They were 31 and 29 years old respectively. Johnny was a key cog of Calgary’s offense for eight years, capped by a career-best 115-point performance in 2021-22 before inking a seven-year, $68.25MM contract with Columbus that summer. He led the Blue Jackets in scoring in both seasons with them. Matthew, meanwhile, turned pro in 2017 and spent several years in the Islanders system before entering the coaching ranks in the 2021-22 campaign. Everyone at PHR sends our deepest condolences to the Gaudreau family.
Surgery For Brossoit: One of Chicago’s important free agent signings might not be ready to start the season as the team announced that he will be out five to seven weeks after undergoing meniscus surgery. The 31-year-old inked a two-year, $6.6MM contract with the Blackhawks early in free agency, giving them a second veteran netminder to partner with Petr Mrazek. Brossoit returned to Winnipeg last season in free agency and fared quite well, posting a 2.00 GAA and a .927 SV% in 23 games. If he isn’t available to start the season, last year’s backup Arvid Soderblom will likely break camp with Chicago, an outcome that might not be the case for blueliner Kevin Korchinski despite spending all of last season with the big club.
Eight For Jarvis: It took a while but the Hurricanes and Seth Jarvis were able to work out a max-term eight-year, $63.2MM contract. Generally, the cap charge for this deal would be the total value divided by eight but that isn’t the case for this one. Per PuckPedia (Twitter link), $15.67MM of signing bonus money has been deferred to July 1, 2032, the day after the contract expires, making the present value of the deal just over $7.42MM; that amount represents the cap charge for Carolina. Jarvis is coming off a career year that saw him put up 33 goals and 34 assists and the Hurricanes will be banking on the 22-year-old taking another step forward offensively. The deal certainly tightens their salary cap situation but with Jesper Fast undergoing season-ending neck surgery, they’ll have some flexibility if they need to dip into LTIR.
Cousins To Ottawa: We’re at the point of the offseason where guaranteed contracts for veteran players are going to be hard to come by. One of the exceptions is winger Nick Cousins who signed a one-year, $800K contract with the Senators. The 31-year-old spent the last two seasons with Florida and is coming off a 15-point effort in 2023-24 where he picked up a career-high 130 hits and won his first Stanley Cup. This will be the 11th season of his career and already his seventh different team.
Hakanpaa Expected To Remain Free Agent: While the Maple Leafs agreed to terms on a two-year, $3MM deal with Jani Hakanpaa on the opening day of free agency, the contract was never registered due to concerns over his lingering knee injury. Now, it appears they don’t intend to make the contract official, keeping the 32-year-old on the open market. Toronto will now likely redeploy that money up front with RFA winger Nick Robertson still in need of a new deal. However, with the youngster still preferring to be traded, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Maple Leafs look at other options to add some depth on the left wing.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.