Brian La Rose

Snapshots: Kochetkov, Juntorp, Jobst, Behm

August 5, 2025 at 7:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov is coming off a bit of a quieter year after his save percentage went down from .911 in 2023-24 to just .897 last season. It appears there might be a reason for that as the netminder recently told Sports.ru’s Dmitry Shevchenko that he started playing through some injuries in November with some lingering throughout the season; the only time he missed was due to a concussion. Kochetkov is set to partner up with Frederik Andersen as the tandem in Carolina once again next season and the Hurricanes will likely be counting on him to play at least 40 games for the third straight year. They’ll be hoping that a healthier Kochetkov will be a better one between the pipes.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Columbus Blue Jackets

August 4, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Metropolitan Division, next up are the Blue Jackets.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Current Cap Hit: $79,157,499 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Adam Fantilli (one year, $950K)
D Denton Mateychuk (two years, $886.7K)

Potential Bonuses
Fantilli: $3.2MM
Mateychuk: $750K
Total: $3.95MM

Fantilli was drafted with the hope that he could become a legitimate number one center. He appears to be on his way to getting there after being moved back down the middle full-time last season while building off his rookie season nicely. The $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses could very well be hit if he progresses as expected in 2025-26, putting him in a good spot to bypass a bridge contract if that’s a route GM Don Waddell wants to go. A long-term agreement could run past the $9MM per season mark.

Mateychuk was a midseason recall and quickly earned the confidence of head coach Dean Evason. He was a very productive blueliner in AHL Cleveland before the promotion but hasn’t had a big chance to showcase that part of his game yet. If he gets that chance this year, he could have a chance to earn some of his three ‘A’ bonuses but if he remains in more of a fourth or fifth role, that will be tricky. As things stand, Mateychuk appears likelier to land a bridge agreement on his next contract but if he locks down a more prominent spot on the depth chart by 2027, that could change.

Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level

F Zach Aston-Reese ($775K, UFA)
F Yegor Chinakhov ($2.1MM, RFA)
F Charlie Coyle ($5.25MM, UFA)
G Jet Greaves ($8.125K, RFA)
D Erik Gudbranson ($MM, UFA)
F Boone Jenner ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Cole Sillinger ($2.25MM, RFA)

Coyle was acquired from Colorado this offseason to give the Blue Jackets some extra depth down the middle. He’s coming off a quiet year that saw him record just 35 points but he’s only a year removed from a 60-point campaign. Assuming he’s able to get back to at least the 40-point range, Coyle should be able to hit the UFA market next summer with a shot at matching his current price tag on a three or four-year agreement. Jenner has been a very effective two-way center when healthy. However, he has missed significant time in five straight seasons which will affect his next contract. When he’s healthy and in form, he’s a big center who is above average on faceoffs and scores more than 20 goals a season. That player would normally get $6MM or more on the open market. But with the injuries, his market value might dip closer to $5MM or so.

Sillinger just turned 22 and already has four NHL seasons under his belt and has taken some gradual strides offensively but isn’t quite proven as a second-line middleman just yet. Notably, he’ll only be two years away from UFA eligibility next summer while also having arbitration rights. If the sides can’t agree on a long-term pact, a one-year second bridge contract could run the team around $3.5MM while a medium-term agreement might land closer to $5MM per season. On the other hand, if he takes a jump forward and Waddell is ready to lock him up long-term, the price tag could push past the $6MM mark. It’s not often someone this age is in this contractual spot since few 18-year-olds play in the NHL right away and with his development so far, there’s a wide range of outcomes.

Chinakhov has been in the media a lot lately with his trade request being made public in recent weeks. He’s only one year removed from putting up 16 goals in 53 games but injuries and a long stretch as a healthy scratch limited him to just seven in 30 outings last season. If he gets back to his 2023-24 form, he’d be in line for a short-term deal that pushes past $3MM per season but if he’s used as he was down the stretch, he could conceivably enter non-tender territory next summer as well. Aston-Reese was an training camp waiver claim from Vegas last fall and earned this one-year extension soon after. As a fourth liner who typically plays limited minutes, he’s likely to stay at or near the minimum salary moving forward.

Gudbranson’s contract came as somewhat of a surprise three years ago given that he was more of a fourth or fifth defenseman at the time. It actually has held up a bit better than expected although last season was largely a write-off due to injuries. In a perfect world, he should be more of a third-pairing player by the time his next contract begins so at least a small dip should be expected. That said, right-shot defenders often get paid more than expected so perhaps he surprises again.

Greaves needs to get into at least seven NHL games this season with at least 30 minutes played per game to actually remain a restricted free agent. If not, he’d become a Group VI UFA. Considering that he projects to be part of the goaltending tandem next season, it’s safe to say that he’ll easily get there, barring injury. He was a big part of their late-season push but still has just 21 NHL games under his belt right now. A solid showing this season could move him closer to the $2MM mark while if he takes over as the starter moving forward, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him more than double that on a deal that buys out a couple of UFA seasons.

Signed Through 2026-27

D Jake Christiansen ($975K, UFA)
F Kent Johnson ($1.8MM, RFA)
F Isac Lundestrom ($1.3MM, UFA)
F Kirill Marchenko ($3.85MM, RFA)
G Elvis Merzlikins ($5.2MM, UFA)
F Dmitri Voronkov ($4.175MM, RFA)

Voronkov received his bridge deal just last month on the heels of a solid second NHL season that saw him record 24 goals and 23 assists. The short-term contract made sense for both sides to better assess if he can become even more impactful offensively before locking in a long-term agreement. Assuming he stays on this trajectory, it wouldn’t be surprising to see his next contract surpass the $6MM threshold. Marchenko appears to be well on his way to an even bigger raise on his next deal. He very quietly put up 31 goals and 74 points last season, legitimate top-line numbers for a middle-six price tag. He has surpassed the 20-goal plateau in each of his three NHL seasons and at the rate salaries are set to increase, he could plausibly double his current price tag two on his next contract.

Johnson received a bridge deal last summer on the heels of a tough season. That contract already looks like a big bargain as he locked down a full-time spot in the top six and had more points than his previous two seasons combined. At this rate, he could get into the $6MM or $7MM range as well with arbitration rights when his deal is up. Lundestrom comes over from Anaheim after the Ducks elected to non-tender him. He has been more of a depth player in recent years, unable to live up to his first-round billing. The fact he can kill penalties gives him some utility but he’ll need to be a lot more impactful if he wants to get past the $2MM threshold on his next deal.

Christiansen was a full-timer on the NHL roster for just the first time last season which didn’t give him much leverage in contract talks. He also averaged just 12:32 per game in 2024-25 which was one of the lower marks for a regular. If he can work his way up to 15 or 16 minutes a night, he could push closer to $1.5MM on his next deal. It also wouldn’t be overly shocking if he was on waivers at some point on this deal if he’s pushed out of a roster spot.

While Merzlikins showed promise early in his career, he simply hasn’t been able to play at the level of an NHL starting goalie with much consistency. Frankly, his performance has been that of a backup at best more often than not. At this point, landing a deal paying half of what he’s getting now could be a challenge barring him turning things around over the next couple of seasons.

Signed Through 2027-28

D Zach Werenski ($9.583MM, UFA)

Werenski’s contract raised some eyebrows at the time it was signed but after they lost Seth Jones to Chicago, they weren’t in a spot where they could risk losing their top defender. After injuries wrecked the first year of the agreement, he has played at a true number one level, an all-situations player who logs heavy minutes and puts up plenty of offense. He led the Blue Jackets in scoring last season, averaging just over a point per game while finishing second in Norris Trophy voting. Given the inflationary trend of the market (particularly on the back end), Werenski appears to be on his way to landing another raise three years from now on another long-term agreement.

Signed Through 2028-29

D Dante Fabbro ($4.125MM, UFA)
F Sean Monahan ($5.5MM, UFA)
F Miles Wood ($2.5MM, UFA)

A few years ago, Calgary paid a first-round pick to clear the final year of Monahan’s contract. But he stayed healthy to earn this contract and while he missed significant time with injury, he still potted 57 points in 54 games, scoring at close to the best rate of his career. It’s likely Fantilli will take his top-line role in the near future but even if he holds down a second-line spot as a 50-point player, this contract should age well. Had he been on the market this summer, he’d have landed a fair bit more than this. Wood had a good first year in Colorado but last season was one to forget between injuries and general struggles. The Avs attached him in the Coyle trade to clear out these final four years which is a clear sign of his current value. However, if he can return to his usual form, the cap charge for a mid-20-point player is reasonable.

Fabbro will go down as one of the top waiver claims in recent memory. Cast aside by Nashville, Columbus claimed him in November and immediately became an impactful player, playing well defensively while logging over 21 minutes a game. There’s some risk with this contract given his play with the Predators but if he can maintain this level, this will become a team-friendly pact pretty quickly.

Signed Through 2029-30 Or Longer

F Mathieu Olivier ($3MM through 2030-31)
D Ivan Provorov ($8.5MM through 2031-32)
D Damon Severson ($6.25MM through 2030-31)

Olivier picked a great time for a career year, scoring more goals last season than the rest of his career combined. While his reputation is that of a fourth-line pugilist, he actually has played higher in the lineup over the last couple of years and as long as he can legitimately hold down a third-line role, this should age relatively well. But if he’s pushed down as other prospects join the lineup, this could become pretty pricey.

This contract for Provorov feels like the Werenski situation repeating itself. They couldn’t afford to lose him for nothing so they paid an above-market price to keep him. It worked out great with Werenski but this could be harder to get positive value on. Provorov is a top-four defender but he hasn’t been able to get his production back to his early Philadelphia days when it looked like he was on his way to being an impactful player on that side of the puck, not a secondary contributor. Had he made it to the open market, he probably would have landed something close to this price tag given the short supply but this looks like a fairly steep overpayment relative to his recent performance.

Something similar could be said for Severson, whose contract seemed high at the time of the sign-and-trade with New Jersey and that remains the case today. He’s a serviceable second-pairing player but was notably scratched down the stretch, hardly an ideal situation for a player signed for six more years. He turns 31 this week and those final couple of years could be an issue. They likely weren’t thinking the first few would be an overpayment as well.

Still To Sign

D Daemon Hunt
F Mikael Pyyhtia

Buyouts

D Adam Boqvist ($533.3K in 2025-26)
F Alexander Wennberg ($891.7K in 2025-26)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Carryover Bonus Overage Penalty

None

Best Value: (non-entry-level) Marchenko
Worst Value: Provorov

Looking Ahead

Last season, the Blue Jackets narrowly operated above the cap floor following the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau. While they’re further above the minimum now, they’re still closer to that than the cap ceiling so Waddell will be in position to try to leverage that extra flexibility at some point during the season barring any budgetary restrictions.

But this core group is going to get a lot more expensive in a hurry. New contracts for their younger players over the next two summers could add more than $20MM to the books, outpacing the projected increases to the Upper Limit. Even with that, however, there still should be ample room for Waddell to continue to try to add to the core. While there are some above-market contracts, they shouldn’t prove to be overly problematic anytime soon as Columbus has one of the cleaner sets of books moving forward.

Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Minor Transactions: 8/4/25

August 4, 2025 at 7:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

As we creep a little closer to training camps starting up, there have been a handful of minor moves around the hockey world recently. We’ll run through those here.

Veteran goaltender Anton Khudobin has announced his retirement at the age of 39, Shaiba.kz relays. Khudobin spent parts of 14 seasons in the NHL, compiling a 114-92-33 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .916 SV% with six different teams. After spending most of 2022-23 in the minors, he opted to play in Russia but didn’t play much at the VHL or KHL levels. Khudobin didn’t suit up at all last season but has now made his retirement official.
The Hurricanes’ affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, announced (Twitter link) the re-signing of center Nikita Pavlychev and the signing of defenseman Jacob Friend to one-year contracts. Pavlychev had his best AHL performance last season, picking up 25 points in 63 games after primarily playing in the ECHL for the previous four years. As for Friend, he split last season between playing in Austria and Germany but has three years of playing in the minor pros in North America.
After being moved in the KHL just a few days ago, Matvei Guskov has a new team once again as he has signed with HK Sochi. The Wild drafted Guskov in the fifth round back in 2019 but he has struggled since then, especially last season where he had just four goals in 38 games spread between three other KHL teams. Sochi’s rosters usually aren’t as deep so Guskov may have a pathway to a bigger role and more production now with this move. Minnesota continues to hold his NHL signing rights indefinitely.
AHL Rockford, affiliate of the Blackhawks, announced the signing of defenseman Tyson Feist to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old only played in six AHL games last season, spending most of the year with ECHL Orlando where he had 17 points in 57 appearances. However, Feist saw action in 32 AHL contests in 2023-24 and will be looking to see more regular action at that level in 2025-26.

Islanders Sign Matthew Schaefer

August 4, 2025 at 6:21 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

Back in June, the Islanders made Matthew Schaefer the first overall pick in the draft. Now, they have their newest top prospect under contract as the team announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that, as expected, Schaefer has received the maximum allowable. That means he carries a $975K cap charge including signing bonus money plus an additional $3.5MM in potential performance bonuses, $1MM in ’A’ bonuses and $2.5MM in harder to reach ’B’ bonuses.

The 17-year-old (who will turn 18 next month) didn’t enter last season as the presumptive top selection. However, a strong start with OHL Erie vaulted him into the discussion heading to the World Juniors. He only played in two games there for Canada before suffering a broken clavicle that ended his season. Prior to the injury, he had seven goals and 15 assists in just 17 contests for the Otters. That was a five-point improvement on the year before, despite playing in 39 fewer games.

That was enough for new GM Mathieu Darche to make him the new centerpiece of their future back end, especially since they dealt their previous top defender, Noah Dobson, to Montreal on draft day for two more first-round picks along with winger Emil Heineman. New York is all in on Schaefer being the type of all-situations number one defender that is extremely difficult to come by.

That said, while it’s customary for first overall selections to make the jump to the NHL right away, there’s a case to be made that he could benefit from not doing that. With how much time he missed, he could be better off with one more developmental year under his belt before making the jump. However, it’s worth noting that if the Islanders feel the same way, he will have to return to Erie as he is no longer eligible to play NCAA hockey having now signed his entry-level pact.

If he winds up playing fewer than ten NHL games next season, his contract will slide. Alternatively, they could look at the lesser-known threshold of 40 games on the NHL active roster. If Schaefer came in below that and then was sent back, he’d burn the first year of his contract but not accrue a season of service time toward UFA eligibility.

Speculatively, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Schaefer at least break camp with the Islanders with the team assessing how things are going from there. They didn’t bring anyone in to take Dobson’s spot on the back end while Mike Reilly also left via free agency, signing with Carolina. As a result, there’s a definite opening on their back end for Schaefer to fill next season and while he doesn’t have quite the experience that top picks usually have by now, he has the talent to come in and be a difference-maker quite quickly.

Five Key Stories: 7/28/25 – 8/3/25

August 3, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The arbitration period has come to an end with the final few players settling before the point of getting to a hearing. Those deals are included in the key stories from the past seven days.

Kings Re-Sign Last RFA: The Kings took care of their final remaining restricted free agent, signing winger Alex Laferriere to a three-year, $12.3MM contract. The 23-year-old has two full NHL seasons under his belt with his 2024-25 campaign being a solid one as he collected 19 goals and 23 assists in 77 games while working his way into being a regular in the top six. He also chipped in with a trio of helpers in their first-round playoff exit at the hands of Edmonton. Laferriere didn’t have salary arbitration eligibility this summer but he will when this deal expires in 2028. At that point, he’ll be a year away from unrestricted free agency.

Not Retiring Yet: While Nicklas Backstrom’s NHL contract quietly came to an end last month, his career isn’t over just yet as he has signed a one-year deal with SHL Brynas. The 37-year-old didn’t play at all last season and was limited to just eight games in 2023-24 after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery, a procedure that ended his NHL career, one that saw him eclipse 1,000 points in a little over 1,100 games with Washington. Backstrom now returns to the program that he grew up in as he looks to extend his playing career a little longer.

Three For Samberg: The first player to get to the point of filing arbitration briefs, Dylan Samberg and the Jets had quite a gap to bridge. However, they were able to reach an agreement, working out a three-year, $17.25MM contract. The deal buys Winnipeg two extra years of team control while those two years will also see Samberg have a six-team no-trade clause. After being more of a depth player for his first few seasons in the NHL, the 26-year-old had a breakout season, logging over 21 minutes a night on the back end while becoming their most trusted shutdown defender. Samberg also had his best offensive season, collecting 20 points in 60 games plus three more in the playoffs when his ice time went past 24 minutes per contest.

Flames Extend A Forward: One player who didn’t need a new contract right away was Flames forward Martin Pospisil, whose bridge deal runs through the upcoming season. However, he has a new pact in place as the two sides agreed on a three-year, $7.5MM extension that runs through the 2028-29 campaign. The 25-year-old is coming off his first full NHL campaign but was quieter than expected offensively, notching just four goals in 81 games although he did add 21 assists. Pospisil was also one of the hit leaders league-wide last season, picking up 301 while spending a bit of time down the middle. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent when this deal expires.

More Arbitration Avoidances: Two more players also got contracts done to avoid an arbitration hearing. Canadiens defenseman Jayden Struble reached a two-year, $2.825MM pact well before hearing submissions were due. He played in 56 games for the second straight season, collecting 13 points and 124 hits in a little under 15 minutes a night of playing time. Meanwhile, Toronto and winger Nicholas Robertson got to the point of exchanging pre-hearing numbers but settled the next day just above the midpoint on a one-year, $1.825MM contract. Robertson had a career-high 15 goals in 69 games last season but also spent time as a healthy scratch, especially during the playoffs when he only made three appearances. Both players will be arbitration-eligible RFAs at the end of their respective deals.

Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

Summer Synopsis: Winnipeg Jets

August 3, 2025 at 7:30 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

Now more than a month into the new league year, the bulk of the heavy lifting has been done from a roster perspective. Most unrestricted free agents have found new homes, the arbitration period has come and gone, and the trade market has cooled. Accordingly, it’s a good time to take a look at what each team has accomplished this offseason. We begin with a look at Winnipeg.

Expectations weren’t particularly high for the Jets heading into last season on the heels of a coaching change and the roster from an ugly first-round exit largely remaining intact. But Winnipeg was a big surprise, winning the Presidents’ Trophy for the team with the most points during the regular season while making it to the second round in the playoffs. There have been more changes roster-wise this time around but the core largely remains intact, meaning expectations will be higher than they were at this point a year ago despite being in a tough Central Division.

Draft

1-28 – D Sascha Boumedienne, Boston University (Hockey East)
3-92 – F Owen Martin, Spokane (WHL)
5-156 – F Viktor Klingsell, Skelleftea (Sweden U20)
6-188 – D Edison Engle, Dubuque (USHL)
7-220 – F Jacob Cloutier, Saginaw (OHL)

Boumedienne entered last season as one of the more intriguing blueliners in that he was already getting exposed to college hockey, playing at Boston University. While he held down a regular role, it wasn’t a particularly prominent one which caused him to slide down some rankings. While his output was rather low, he was behind some key offensive defenders so the hope is that over time, Boumedienne will be able to grow that part of his game, helping pave the way for him to become a second-pairing blueliner down the road. While the Jets have strong defensive depth today, their prospect cupboard at that position is a little thinner so he should fill that gap nicely.

Martin, a Manitoba native, dealt with a fractured foot that cost him a couple of months last season but he was still a productive player with Spokane with 34 points in 39 regular season games, giving his draft stock a boost in the process. More of a two-way player, Martin is probably four seasons away from being NHL-ready.

The other three players have similar timelines as well. Klingsell was productive in Skelleftea’s junior system but still has to work his way up to the pro ranks over there, a process that will take some time. Engle is expected to move to the OHL next season as a one-and-done player, beginning his college tenure in 2026-27, meaning Winnipeg could hold his rights for up to five seasons. As for Cloutier, he played his first full OHL campaign last season and fared pretty well with 47 points in 67 games. They’ll only have two years to sign him as things stand as the changes to draft rights only change in the next CBA.

Trade Acquisitions

While the Jets had a fair amount of roster turnover this offseason, none of it has come from the trade front so far.

UFA Signings

D Kale Clague (one year, $775K)*
F Walker Duehr (one year, $775K)*
F Phillip Di Giuseppe (one year, $775K)*
F Samuel Fagemo (one year, $775K)*
D Haydn Fleury (two years, $1.8MM)^
F Cole Koepke (one year, $1MM)
F Gustav Nyquist (one year, $3.2MM)
F Tanner Pearson (one year, $1MM)
G Isaac Poulter (one year, $775K)*
F Mason Shaw (one year, $775K)*^
F Jonathan Toews (one year, $2MM plus $5MM in performance incentives)

*-denotes two-way contract
^-denotes re-signing

Toews was the headliner from this group, agreeing to terms a week and a half before free agency started. He didn’t play at all last season as he recovered from Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome so there are some questions about his ability to last the season and if he can fill the second-line center vacancy that has been somewhat of a revolving door in recent years. The bonuses are tied to games played (and some playoff success) which isn’t a shock and hedges their bets in case he’s unable to make it through an 82-game campaign unscathed. Toews had 31 points in 53 games in 2022-23, his last NHL season. If he can produce around that point-per-game rate, he’ll be able to play a key role for them.

Nyquist is coming off a down year, notching just 28 points after putting up a career-high 75 in 2023-24. Still, he’s a middle-six winger who can help deepen the attack while also potentially slotting in on the penalty kill. For one year, it’s a reasonable move, especially if they think his offense will bounce back this season.

Pearson needed a training camp PTO to eventually land a deal with Vegas and became a valuable fourth liner while Koepke was a regular for the first time last year in Boston, adding some physicality to their fourth line. Both players are likely to play similar roles on a new-look fourth line for Winnipeg next season. The remainder of their signings are of the depth variety though a handful of their two-way forwards could plausibly see time with Winnipeg at some point in 2025-26.

RFA Re-Signings

F Morgan Barron (two years, $3.7MM)
D Tyrel Bauer (one year, $775K)*
F Parker Ford (two years, $1.6MM)*
D Isaak Phillips (two years, $1.6MM)*
D Dylan Samberg (three years, $17.25MM)
F Gabriel Vilardi (six years, $45MM)

*-denotes two-way contract

Vilardi was the big ticket for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to deal with this summer. The centerpiece of the return for Pierre-Luc Dubois last summer, Vilardi had his best season by a significant margin, tallying 27 goals and 34 assists in 71 games during the regular season, setting personal bests across the board including in games played. Two years away from UFA eligibility, the question was would both sides commit to a long-term deal and clearly, they were comfortable doing so. This deal ensures that a key cog of Winnipeg’s forward group is sticking around for the long haul; it’s particularly notable after another key cog departed on the open market last month.

There was quite a gap to bridge in the arbitration filings between Samberg and the team but they settled on this contract, a deal that buys Winnipeg an extra two years of club control. He’s coming off a breakout year, one that saw him move from being a depth defender to a key part of their top four and their top shutdown option. It’s not always easy to find the proper market value for that type of player but the Jets are banking on Samberg staying at this level moving forward.

Barron is likely to be the lone holdover from the fourth line, a role he has filled for the last couple of seasons after being deployed on the third line a bit more often in 2022-23. A natural center, he has primarily played on the wing since becoming a regular with Winnipeg but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him shift over since last year’s fourth line center isn’t with them for the upcoming season.

Departures

F Mason Appleton (Detroit, two years, $5.8MM)
D Dylan Coghlan (Vegas, one year, $775K)
G Chris Driedger (Chelyabinsk, KHL)
F Nikolaj Ehlers (Carolina, six years, $51MM)
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (Brynas, SHL)
F Rasmus Kupari (Lugano, NL)
F Simon Lundmark (Tampa Bay, two years, $1.55MM)*
F Brandon Tanev (Utah, three years, $7.5MM)
F Dominic Toninato (Chicago, two years, $1.7MM)*

*-denotes two-way contract

Ehlers is the obvious headliner from the group. He had suggested in the past that he felt that he should be getting more ice time given his success when healthy so it wasn’t a shock that he tested the open market although he may have a similar role with Carolina than he had in Winnipeg. When healthy, Ehlers has been a consistent 20-plus goal-scorer and while the Jets added some forward depth, none of their acquisitions are likely to reach that mark, creating a void that’s going to need to be filled by committee.

Appleton wasn’t able to replicate his breakout 36-point effort from 2023-24 despite being a middle-six regular for most of the year. While the two aren’t necessarily the same player stylistically, Nyquist is likely to take his spot on the roster. Tanev was a trade deadline acquisition with an eye on adding some grit to the fourth line. He was decent in that role down the stretch but moved on in free agency with Koepke effectively being his replacement.

Kupari opted to sign overseas in early June, a move that came as some surprise. But clearly, he was looking to play somewhere where he could have more of an offensive opportunity and he’ll get that in Switzerland. He received a two-year deal, one that walks him right to UFA eligibility although Winnipeg issued a qualifying offer to retain his rights in the short term. Jonsson-Fjallby and Toninato didn’t see much NHL action last season but have been among the regular recalls in recent years. Players like Duehr and Di Giuseppe figure to take those spots on the depth chart.

Salary Cap Outlook

By structuring Toews’ contract with $5MM of bonuses and not adding any big-ticket contracts in free agency, Winnipeg is in pretty good shape to start the season with a little over $3.8MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. A good chunk of that money could ultimately be used to pay for some of the bonuses that Toews reaches but if the Jets are in contention heading toward the trade deadline, they could instead spend their cap room on win-now help, pushing some of the bonuses onto their 2026-27 cap in the process. Cheveldayoff has left himself some decent wiggle room heading into the season.

Key Questions

Will Connor Be Extended? Two years ago, Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele signed long-term extensions entering the final year of their deals, keeping Winnipeg in a spot to be competitive at a minimum for the long haul. Last year, Ehlers clearly didn’t do the same. What will happen to this year’s core player on an expiring deal, Kyle Connor? He has notched at least 30 goals in four straight years and is coming off a season that saw him score 41 goals and 56 assists for a career-best 97 points. A legitimate top-line scorer, Connor appears to be well on his way toward landing a contract with at least a double-digit AAV. The Jets have the cap space to give him that type of deal but will they be able to get it done?

Will Winnipeg Move Some Defensive Surplus? With Fleury re-signing just before free agency, Winnipeg fits itself with nine defensemen on one-way contracts. Considering it’s unlikely they’ll carry just 12 forwards and nine defenders, something has to give. Ville Heinola, their former top prospect, hasn’t played much between injuries and being a waiver-blocked healthy scratch last season but they might get a bit of interest in his services. Logan Stanley once had a trade request in play and after five seasons with the Jets, he still hasn’t progressed past being a low-minute third-pairing piece when he’s in the lineup. But, at six-foot-seven, someone would take a flyer on him. If Fleury is eyed as the ideal seventh option, both Heinola and Stanley are on the outside looking in. Will they find a trade for one or try to sneak one through waivers?

Can Perfetti Take The Next Step? Winnipeg has taken the slow and steady route with Cole Perfetti. The 10th overall pick in 2020 has seen his playing time managed carefully to the point where he only nudged past the 15-minute mark for the first time last season, a year that saw him reach 50 points. With Ehlers gone and their newcomers being more secondary options, it feels like Perfetti should have a chance to secure a bit more playing time. If he has success in that role, he’d go a long way toward helping replace the offense Ehlers brought to the table while positioning himself nicely for a trip through restricted free agency next summer when he’ll have salary arbitration rights for the first time.

Photos courtesy of Jamie Sabau (Toews) and Terrence Lee (Vilardi and Connor)-Imagn Images.

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