Five Key Stories: 12/30/24 – 1/5/25

The turning of the calendar to 2025 created a long list of players who are now eligible for extensions, a couple of which already have already done so.  Those new deals aren’t in our key stories but some other recently-signed contracts are in our top stories from the last seven days.

Three For L’Heureux: Predators winger Zachary L’Heureux received a three-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety for his slew foot on Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon; the blueliner hasn’t played since then due to a leg injury.  It’s the first NHL suspension of his career with the 21-year-old in his first taste of NHL action.  However, L’Heureux has a long suspension history with two separate bans last season in the minors and nine more in the QMJHL.  He has nine points and 106 hits in 33 games so far this season and will be eligible to return to the lineup on Saturday.

Three For Kastelic: Bruins center Mark Kastelic wasn’t the most prominent piece going to Boston in last offseason’s Linus Ullmark trade but he has made a positive impact for them.  He was rewarded for his efforts with a three-year, $4.7MM contract extension.  The deal gives Boston two extra years of club control and buys out his final year of arbitration.  Kastelic has already equaled his career high in points with 11 and has set a new personal best in assists with seven in his first 40 games with the Bruins.  He also leads the team in hits with 154 and is winning nearly 55% of his faceoffs.

Toews Not Ruling Out A Comeback: While Jonathan Toews hasn’t played since the 2022-23 season as he continues to battle through Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, he never officially announced his retirement.  This past week, he indicated that he still has the desire to play in the NHL and is going to give it his best shot in terms of trying to make a comeback.  The 36-year-old has played in 1,067 career NHL games over parts of 16 seasons, all with Chicago, becoming a premier two-way pivot along the way.  If he decides to try to play this season, it stands to reason that it would be in a limited role given how long he has been off.  Alternatively, he could look to catch on somewhere for 2025-26, giving himself a longer window to train and potentially a larger pool of suitors for his services.

Three For Vatrano: Frank Vatrano won’t be leaving the Ducks for a while now.  The winger has signed a three-year, $18MM contract extension, one that further pushes the boundaries of deferred salary.  Vatrano will make $3MM in each of the three years of the contract, then receive $900K for ten years beginning in 2035.  In doing so, the cap charge of the deal drops to $4.67MM (based on the net present value) instead of the $6MM average.  It’s interesting that Anaheim, a team that isn’t remotely close to the Upper Limit of the salary cap, is taking this route but it clearly helped them get this contract done.  Vatrano is struggling a bit this season with nine goals and 20 points in 37 games but is only a year removed from 37 goals and 60 points which undoubtedly played a big role in securing this contract.

Canucks Listening On Top Forwards: Amidst speculation that top forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller have a rift and the fact both players are struggling, the Canucks appear to be open to listening to offers for both of them.  Pettersson is in the first season of his max-term deal that will see him make $11.6MM per year through the 2031-32 campaign but he hasn’t lived up to the contract early on.  After putting up 102 points in 2022-23, he dipped to 89 points last year and has 28 points in 34 games this year.  Miller, meanwhile, had a career year last season with 103 points but has just six goals in 28 contests this season and his only two goals since October have been empty-netters.  With them scuffling, Vancouver is narrowly holding onto the final Wild Card spot so it appears management is open to a bigger shakeup to get the team going.

Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.