West Notes: Pridham, Celebrini, McKenzie
The clock is winding down on the Chicago Blackhawks’ ability to retain 2024 draftee, Jack Pridham. Pridham, 20, will have to commit to an NCAA program, sign his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks, or re-enter the draft this summer, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Unfortunately, although Chicago would prefer the former two options, Powers didn’t allude to any firm decision either way. Despite committing to Boston University last year, Pridham instead decommitted from the Terriers program to continue his development with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. Including today, Pridham only has three more days to make a decision.
If he doesn’t commit to a collegiate program and doesn’t sign with the Blackhawks, Pridham would likely go higher than his 2024 billing of 92nd overall. Given his age, Pridham may not be a first-round talent, though he’d surely be a lock to go in the second round, at the very least. He’s coming off an impressive year with the Rangers, scoring 46 goals and 90 points in 65 games with a +38 rating. Additionally, he has been integral in Kitchener’s postseason run, scoring two goals and 17 points in 18 games, and will help the Rangers in the Memorial Cup Final on May 31st.
Additional notes from the Western Conference:
- Coming as a shock to nobody, Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported that it’s highly likely Macklin Celebrini will be named captain of the San Jose Sharks ahead of next season. Specifically, Kaplan said, “Celebrini wearing a “C” as captain next season is all but guaranteed.” Eligible for an extension this summer, Celebrini would become the 14th captain in franchise history, and the first since Logan Couture in the 2023-24 campaign.
- Despite being the subject of retirement rumors throughout the past season, Texas Stars captain Curtis McKenzie isn’t ready to hang up his skates. According to a team announcement, Texas has signed McKenzie to a one-year extension through the 2026-27 season. McKenzie has been the Stars’ captain since the 2021-22 campaign and has registered 206 goals and 510 points in 725 games throughout his 13-year AHL career.
Islanders Hire Jay McKee As AHL Head Coach
The New York Islanders announced that they have hired Jay McKee to serve as head coach of their newly-relocated AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Hammers. The organization’s previous AHL head coach, Rocky Thompson, was promoted to the position of assistant coach on Peter DeBoer’s NHL staff, creating the vacancy filled by this hire.
McKee is no stranger to the city of Hamilton. The 48-year-old has been head coach of the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs since 2021-22, meaning the first two years of his coaching tenure came when the franchise was still located in Hamilton.
A former NHL defenseman who had an 802-game career playing for the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, and Pittsburgh Penguins, McKee’s coaching career began in 2010-11, the very next season after he chose to retire.
His first job as a coach came at Niagara University, where he spent 2010-11 as an assistant coach on the staff of Dave Burkholder. The following year, he was an assistant for the AHL’s Rochester Americans, where he would coach future NHLers such as Marcus Foligno, Brayden McNabb, Zack Kassian, Alex Biega, and Brian Flynn.
After one year in Rochester, he left professional hockey and resumed his coaching career in 2014-15 as an assistant for the OHL’s Erie Otters. On the staff of future NHL coach Kris Knoblauch, he coached numerous future NHLers such as Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat, Darren Raddysh, Travis Dermott, Taylor Raddysh, Mason Marchment, and Kurtis MacDermid. He left Erie after one season to become an associate coach on the staff of Mike Van Ryn with the Kitchener Rangers.
McKee got his first chance as a head coach in 2016-17 with Kitchener. In year two of his tenure, he took the team to the OHL’s Conference Finals. His Rangers reached the OHL playoffs in every one of his full seasons as head coach, though he was fired after 21 games in 2019-20 after a 7-10-4 start.
In 2021-22, McKee was hired as head coach of the then-Hamilton Bulldogs. He was an instant success. In his first season in Hamilton, the Bulldogs had a 51-12-5 regular season, and steamrolled their way to the OHL Finals, sweeping each of their first three series. In the OHL Finals, the Bulldogs won in seven games against the Windsor Spitfires.
While McKee hasn’t won a title with the Bulldogs since then, he’s kept the franchise consistently among the OHL’s strongest teams. In total, he has gone 213-91-36 as head coach of the Bulldogs, with that championship run and another run to the Conference Finals this past season.
Beyond just that extremely impressive record, his program has also shown it can consistently develop NHL talent. His 2022 championship roster featured future NHLers such as Mason McTavish, Arber Xhekaj, and Ryan Winterton, as well as players who are currently on the NHL/AHL bubble, such as Avery Hayes, Logan Morrison, Jorian Donovan, and Jan Mysak.
His more recent Bulldogs teams have been led by some quality NHL prospects including Marek Vanacker, Florian Xhekaj, Nick Lardis, Jake O’Brien, Adam Jiricek, Ben Danford, Adam Benak, Jett Luchanko, and top 2026 draft prospect Caleb Malhotra.
That record of developing players is especially relevant for this new role. While McKee will certainly be tasked with turning the Hammers into a winning team, (something that has been a very real challenge for Islanders AHL coaches over the last half-decade) he will also be mandated with delivering as many Islanders prospects as possible to the NHL.
That’s something McKee appears prepared to do after nearly a decade as head coach of the OHL. As New York prepares for a season where some of its top prospects, such as first-rounders Cole Eiserman, Victor Eklund, and Kashawn Aitcheson, may begin the year in the AHL, they’ve decided to pull from the OHL to add a promising head coach to oversee their development.
Sharks Sign Jimmy Huntington To One-Year Extension
The San Jose Sharks shared earlier today that forward Jimmy Huntington has been re-signed on a one-year, two-way contract. Financial terms have not yet been reported, but as a two-way pact it automatically carries at least a league minimum $850k at the NHL level.
A veteran of the AHL, the 27-year-old joined the San Jose Barracuda this past season and put together his best campaign yet, recording 48 points in 71 games. The center was third in team scoring, producing alongside several skilled youngsters such as Filip Bystedt and Quentin Musty.
Undrafted out of the QMJHL, Huntington feasted alongside Alexis Lafrenière with the Rimouski Oceanic in 2018-19. Catching on with the Lightning organization after a 92-point season, he went on to make a two-year stop with the Milwaukee Admirals. The Laval, Quebec native moved on to the Hershey Bears for 2023-24, helping lead the Capitals affiliates to a Calder Cup title, with 14 points in 20 games during the run.
Since finding himself out west, Huntington’s efforts this season in San Jose helped the Barracuda rank 13th in the AHL, although they were sent home by the Henderson Silver Knights in the opening round. Still seeking his NHL debut, the 6’0″ lefty will aim to build off a strong season, continuing to bring a well-rounded two-way game to the Sharks organization.
Minor Transactions: Stevens, Newkirk, Fontaine, Jandric
John Stevens, a veteran of nearly 400 career AHL games, will depart Liiga’s Kiekko-Espoo after one season there, according to a team announcement on social media. Stevens signed with the club last summer, a move that appeared to end – or at the very least suspend – an AHL career spanning back to the 2016-17 season. Stevens won the Calder Cup with the Abbotsford Canucks in 2024-25, but didn’t get to play in their playoff run.
A former captain at the NCAA level for the Northeastern Huskies, Stevens developed into an impactful AHL scorer in Abbotsford. He was more of a bottom-six piece during the early portion of his AHL career in the New York Islanders organization with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but a mid-season trade to the Canucks organization in 2020 helped spark a greater level of contributions. Stevens scored a career-high 19 goals and 43 points in 2021-22, and had a solid 35 points in 68 games as recently as 2023-24. For AHLers who have exceeded their status as “development players,” finding a way to stick in the league can be a challenge. Stevens’ 2024-25 season saw his production decline by 20 points, which appears to have spelled the end of his time in North America’s second-best league. His debut season overseas saw him score 10 goals and 23 points and wear an “A” for a Kiekko-Espoo side that reached the Liiga postseason.
Other minor transactions from across the hockey world:
- Another former Islanders prospect, Reece Newkirk, has elected to swap the North American minor leagues for Finland’s top division. Newkirk, 25, has signed a one-year contract with JYP Jyväskylä for the 2026-27 season. A 2019 fifth-rounder by the Islanders, Newkirk spent three seasons in their minor-league system serving as an AHL/ECHL bubble player. He developed into a point-per-game ECHL player for the Worcester Railers while serving in a depth capacity for Bridgeport. Newkirk exited the Islanders’ farm system in 2024 and has bounced around a bit, most recently settling with the Syracuse Crunch and their ECHL affiliate, the Orlando Solar Bears. Newkirk ranked No. 2 on the Solar Bears in scoring this past season with 51 points in 52 games, while also dressing in 15 games for the Crunch.
- Former New York Rangers prospect Gabriel Fontaine has signed a two-year contract with reigning German champions Eisbären Berlin, reports Jörg Lubrich of German outlet Bild. The 29-year-old was a 2016 sixth-round pick of the Rangers and spent a half-decade in the AHL (2017-2022) before heading overseas. Fontaine’s European career began in Liiga with Lukko Rauma, but he struggled in 2023-24 scoring just 13 points in 36 games. He transferred to Germany that summer, and ended up finding a home in Berlin, where he scored 19 goals and 40 points en route to a DEL title. He signed with Red Bull Munich last summer, but wasn’t able to repeat the success he had in Berlin, scoring just 21 points in 37 games. Now, Fontaine will return to Berlin and look to help their title defense.
- The Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the DEL announced the signing of ECHL champion Chris Jandric to a one-year contract. Jandric, 27, crossed the Atlantic and signed with the DEL’s ERC Ingolstadt last summer, and he ended up playing in just 28 games during the team’s regular season. Previously, Jandric had spent the entirety of his professional career split between the AHL and ECHL. A former top NCAA defenseman with North Dakota, Jandric developed into a legitimate No. 1 defenseman at the ECHL level, with his 50 points in 54 games helping lead Trois-Rivières Lions to a Kelly Cup title in 2025. He wasn’t able to bring that level of play over to the DEL with Ingolstadt, but he will hope that can change in Nürnberg.
Afternoon Notes: Makar, Pickering, Thompson
Ahead of tonight’s pivotal Game 3 in Vegas, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters, including Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette, that “you’ll have to wait and see” if star Cale Makar will be able to play. Bednar remained vague in not naming a starting goaltender either.
The Presidents’ Trophy winners, who lost just 16 regular season games all year and had plenty of breathing room atop the league, didn’t face much adversity all year. Now, somewhat quickly, they’re in a big hole staring at a potential 3-0 series deficit, at the hands of the Golden Knights. The sudden development is largely a result of Makar’s absence, dealing with an upper-body injury from the previous round.
A team built to handle just about any absence up front, obviously the loss of an all-world defenseman has huge implications. Yet Makar’s injury has left an especially evident shortcoming on their powerplay. Missing their quarterback without an adequate second option, they went one-for-five on the man advantage in the series’ first two games on home ice.
With their season on the line, there’s more than enough reason for Makar to suit up, but even if he does under 100%, there’s real questions on what type of workload the 27-year-old is able to bear, averaging one tick shy of 25 minutes a night in his nine playoff games so far.
Elsewhere:
- Penguins top prospect Owen Pickering is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, reported by Tony Androckitis in an article shared on Inside AHL Hockey. Missing a deciding Game 5 in the Atlantic Division Finals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came away with a resounding 8-1 win, vaulting them to the Conference Finals as they await their opponent, either the Cleveland Monsters or the Toronto Marlies. It was impressive work considering that the 2021 first rounder is the “Baby Penguins” top defenseman, skating in 68 games and leading all blueliners with 28 points. Pickering stepped right into the NHL in 2024-25 with 24 games, but since then Pittsburgh has been more focused on his long-term development, as he made just four NHL appearances in 2025-26. His WBS Penguins have the chance to return to the Calder Cup Finals for the first time since 2008, as a franchise who has never taken home the AHL title.
- Tyce Thompson, younger brother of Buffalo star Tage Thompson, has re-signed with Barys Astana of the KHL for another year, the team shared. A fourth round selection of the Devils in 2019, the 6’1” winger played in 11 games with the team, making his mark in the NHL stat book with an assist. Departing the Bridgeport Islanders to go abroad this year, he made a larger offensive impact in Russia with 25 points in 57 games, good for fourth on the club. Notable North American teammates of Thompson include the previous AHL standout Mike Vecchione and former Florida Panther Ian McCoshen.
Morning Notes: Holmstrom, Vitelli, Mosley
New York Islanders forward Simon Holmstrom could be poised to reach even greater heights next season if his usage under new head coach Peter DeBoer was any indication, writes Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters. In the few games DeBoer was able to coach before the end of the Islanders’ season, Holmstrom skated next to top center Bo Horvat, an opportunity he rarely received under former coach Patrick Roy. Horvat, 31, finished the season centering the top line alongside a pair of Swedish wingers: Holmstrom and 2025 first-rounder Victor Eklund.
While the Islanders could seek offseason upgrades along the wing that could box out Holmstrom from retaining such a big role, 2026-27 could nonetheless be a big year for Holmstrom. The 25-year-old, who was a 2019 first-round pick, steadily grew over the course of his time in the Islanders organization, to the point where he has now had back-to-back seasons with around 20 goals and at least 40 points. If Holmstrom can find a way to stick with either of the two Islanders’ top-six centers (Horvat, Mathew Barzal) rather than play where he spent much of last year (alongside third-line center J.G. Pageau) he could most likely make a push into the 50-plus point range. That would be a very positive development for the player, as he will be a pending RFA next season playing out the final year of a $3.625MM AAV deal.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- After four years of professional hockey split between the AHL and ECHL, Reece Vitelli has elected to continue his career overseas. The 24-year-old has signed a contract with Kalmar HC of HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of hockey in Sweden. A former alternate captain for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, Vitelli didn’t get the chance to play NCAA hockey the way CHLers can today, and as a result began his pro career in 2022-23. He played in 15 games for the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, but spent most of the year in the ECHL. He had 37 points in 49 ECHL games, and one point in 15 AHL contests. That would prove to be the trend for Vitelli. Over the last three seasons, Vitelli has been a solid AHL bubble forward, scoring at a decent clip in the ECHL while playing in as many as 15 AHL games per season, but scarce offense at that level. Now, he’ll leave the chance for further AHL call-ups behind as he begins his European pro career.
- Another player who spent last season on the AHL/ECHL bubble has elected to sign in Europe: longtime college hockey scorer Ryland Mosley. The 26-year-old forward spent a half-decade playing college hockey, skating for Michigan Tech from 2020-2024, and then the Wisconsin Badgers in 2024-25. He reached at least 30 points in his final three campaigns in the NCAA, and scored at a point-per-game rate in his lone season at Wisconsin. He signed an ATO and AHL deal with the Cleveland Monsters after his season as a Badger, but scored just one point across 12 total games in Cleveland. He scored seven points in 12 games at the ECHL level and was traded to the Rockford IceHogs in March, where he managed one point in seven games. Mosley has signed a one-year deal with Mora IK in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where he will look to help the club return to the SHL for the first time since 2018-19.
Ian Laperriere A Coaching Candidate For Islanders’ New AHL Affiliate
The New York Islanders will begin yet another head coach search after promoting AHL head coach Rocky Thompson into an NHL assistant coach role. Their best option to helm the newly-named Hamilton Hammers could already be within the organization. Former Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere moved into a pro scout role with the Islanders last season and could be a candidate to earn the AHL head coach gig per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner in his newsletter.
Laperriere is a veteran of 1,083 NHL games as a player – spanning 16 seasons, including nine with the Los Angeles Kings and four with the Colorado Avalanche. Formerly a seventh-round pick by the St. Louis Blues, he built a career as a bruiser, racking up 1,956 penalty minutes through his NHL career. Laperriere retired with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 and joined the club as an assistant coach in 2013. He spent eight years on the club’s NHL bench before moving into the AHL head coaching role. Laperriere led the Phantoms to three postseason appearances in four seasons – but wasn’t able to push the club into the second round.
Now, Laperriere could represent a chance for New York to replace one career-enforcer for another as they look to keep their AHL club above water. The Bridgeport Islanders have missed the last four Calder Cup Playoffs – and rotated through three head coaches in that span. The Islanders agreed to move their affiliate from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Hamilton, Ontario to occupy the renovated TD Coliseum, once home to the AHL’s Hamilton Canucks, then the Hamilton Bulldogs, for 22 years.
The Bulldogs were a successful affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens through 20 seasons in the AHL – though their history also ended with four consecutive, missed postseasons. The first head coach of the newly-minted Hamilton Hammers will be looking to break that four-year spell for both the city, and the Islanders’ AHL affiliate. Leaning on the expertise of a playoff veteran at every level, like Laperriere, could be a strong first step towards that goal.
Golden Knights Add Two More Black Aces
Last week, the Golden Knights recalled several players as their Black Ace recalls. Earlier this week, they decided to bring up two more to give them more depth up front. Per the AHL’s transactions log, Vegas recently promoted wingers Alexander Holtz and Trevor Connelly from AHL Henderson.
Holtz broke camp with Vegas this season and spent most of the year on the NHL roster. However, a lot of that time was spent as a healthy scratch. He got into 28 games with the Golden Knights overall, collecting three goals and six assists in 11:29 of playing time per night. It’s the second straight year that his usage and production have dropped, leading to him hitting waivers in early March.
After clearing, the 24-year-old was sent down to the Silver Knights and played a regular role down the stretch, notching nine points in 13 games. However, he wasn’t particularly productive in the postseason, being limited to one goal in six contests. Holtz has one year left on his contract with an AAV below the league minimum next season which could help his chances of staying on an NHL roster.
As for Connelly, he received a recall earlier in the postseason but didn’t wind up playing and is still looking to make his NHL debut. The 20-year-old is a rare first-round pick that Vegas has held onto and he had an impressive rookie year that saw him collect 49 points in 46 games during the season and six more in six playoff contests. He likely won’t be making his NHL debut in the playoffs but he and Holtz will get a chance to keep practicing for a little while longer.
Flames Sign Kirill Zarubin To Entry-Level Contract
The Calgary Flames have signed goaltender Kirill Zarubin to a three-year, entry-level contract per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960. The 2024 third-round draft pick spent last season in the MHL, Russia’s junior league. He was named an MHL All-Star and finished the season with 26 wins and a .930 save percentage in 48 games played. Those marks ranked fourth and 13th among 81 goalies with more than 10 games played.
Calgary acquired the draft pick used to select Zarubin in the 2024 trade that sent Noah Hanifin to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Flames used that pick to draft their fourth goaltender, and their third out of Russia, since 2020.
Zarubin brings long legs and a quickness in the crease. Those traits helped him stand out despite filling a split role through parts of the last three seasons with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Ilya Kanarsky. The duo backstopped an AKM Tula squad that made it to – but lost – the MHL semi-finals in all four seasons under their helm.
Zarubin will step onto a crowded Flames depth chart. Eight different goaltenders played games for Calgary’s AHL and ECHL affiliates last season. Zarubin will likely head to the latter to help ease his transition into the pro flight. His addition will provide more stability to Arsenii Sergeev as he moves into a full-time AHL role.
Snapshots: Foligno, Legault, KHL
Minnesota Wild winger Marcus Foligno told The Athletic’s Joe Smith that it would be a “no-brainer” for his brother Nick Foligno to accept a contract extension with the Wild, assuming he is offered one. Foligno said his brother “showed he’s a great role piece for this team” and “likes the makeup of the team” moving forward. With that said, the elder Foligno brother, Nick, said he needs to discuss all of the possibilities for his playing future with his family, and that he will need to be “100 percent committed” if he’s to continue his career with the Wild.
Foligno, 38, was a solid contributor in Minnesota after they acquired him in a mid-season trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. Though he didn’t produce much offense (just four points in 17 regular-season games) he did hold his own on the penalty kill and as a physical presence in the bottom-six. Smith also noted that Foligno, a former captain for two NHL teams, became a “respected voice in the room” for the Wild. If he’s to return in Minnesota, Foligno would likely need to take a steep pay cut from the $4.5MM he earned on his last deal. When Foligno signed that contract, he was in the midst of a season that he finished with 17 goals and 37 points in 74 games. It’s unlikely Foligno will reach that level of scoring again, but he still has something to offer NHL teams, and his brother hopes he’ll do so in Minnesota.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The AHL announced today that Chicago Wolves defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault has been suspended one playoff game “as a consequence of a boarding incident” in his team’s playoff game against the Grand Rapids Griffins on May 19. A video of the play in question can be found here. Legault appeared to drive Griffins forward Amadeus Lombardi into the boards, after Lombardi had already tripped and was sliding on the ice. Grand Rapids ended up winning the game in overtime thanks to a goal from first-round pick Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, but the Wolves retain a 2-1 series advantage. They can end Grand Rapids’ season tonight in game four, but will have to do so without Legault.
- Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL won their second consecutive Gagarin Cup title earlier today, defeating Ak Bars Kazan in six games. Lokomotiv’s roster is full of players who are either NHL prospects or who were formerly members of NHL organizations. Their leading scorer, Alexander Radulov, was a lethal scoring winger for the Dallas Stars from 2017 to 2022. Winger Richard Pánik is a former NHL 20-goal scorer. The team also has a few NHL prospects, including 2020 Edmonton Oilers draft pick Maxim Berezkin, and Nashville Predators 2024 first-rounder Yegor Surin. Per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean, Predators Assistant GM and Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty said Surin “would be an NHL player” right now if not for his contract with Lokomotiv, which runs through 2026-27.