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Senators Re-Sign Xavier Bourgault

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The Senators have reached an agreement with one of their remaining restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed forward Xavier Bourgault to a one-year, two-way deal.  The contract will pay Bourgault $775K in the NHL and $90K in the minors.

The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by Edmonton back in 2021, going 22nd overall after showing some offensive promise with QMJHL Shawinigan.  In his final three seasons with the Cataractes, Bourgault potted 89 goals and 97 assists in 135 games, providing some enthusiasm that he could be a cost-controlled contributor for an Oilers roster that certainly could use that.

However, Bourgault wasn’t able to produce anywhere near those numbers with AHL Bakersfield.  After a respectable rookie season in 2022-23 that saw him record 34 points in 62 games, his output dipped the following year to just eight goals and 12 assists in 55 outings.  That was enough for GM Stan Bowman to decide to make a change, dealing Bourgault to Ottawa that summer along with prospect Jake Chiasson for winger Roby Jarventie and a fourth-round pick.

Bourgault spent last season with AHL Belleville and was able to rebound a bit, notching 12 goals and 14 assists in 61 games.  While that wasn’t enough to match or surpass his rookie-season output, it was enough to earn him a qualifying offer last month.  Bourgault didn’t take it, instead foregoing a bit of a higher potential NHL salary in exchange for a slight raise in his AHL pay.

Bourgault will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season.  While a player with his type of numbers generally wouldn’t be a candidate to be claimed, his draft pedigree might be enough for a team or two to at least ponder giving him a look, assuming he doesn’t break camp with Ottawa in training camp which is the likeliest scenario.  Assuming he makes it back to Belleville, he’ll look to position himself to get his first regular season recall.

With Bourgault’s signing, Ottawa now has three remaining restricted free agents to re-sign this summer: forward Jan Jenik and defensemen Donovan Sebrango and Max Guenette.

Louis Domingue Signs With KHL’s Sibir Novosibirsk

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July 17: Domingue has officially signed a one-year deal with Novosibirsk, the club announced.

July 15: While the annual goalie carousel didn’t feature as much movement as usual, many netminders have found contracts in North America for the upcoming season.  One who hasn’t, however, is veteran Louis Domingue.  It appears he’s now exploring his overseas options as Sport-Express’ Artur Khairullin reports (Telegram link) that Domingue could be signing with Sibir Novosibirsk of the KHL.

The 33-year-old has been a bit of a journeyman in North America, spending time with seven different NHL teams and seven AHL organizations over his 12-year professional career.

Last season, Domingue was in the Rangers’ system, his third year with them.  He played in 28 games with AHL Hartford and had somewhat of a down season, putting up a 3.32 GAA with a .896 SV% in those outings.  He also got into one appearance with New York, a 25-save victory in early January.

Domingue has played in 144 NHL games over his career, the bulk of which came with the Coyotes who drafted him in the fifth round back in 2010.  All told, he has a 61-60-10 record at the top level with a 3.01 GAA, a .906 SV%, and two shutouts.  His longevity has earned him a little over $10MM in career earnings, per PuckPedia.

Meanwhile, Domingue has had a busier workload in the minors, spanning 226 outings.  He also has had a bit more success, amassing a 101-89-27 record to go with a 2.81 GAA, a .907 SV%, and 10 shutouts.

At this point, most teams have their AHL tandems intact for the upcoming season and while Domingue could be a candidate to land a PTO as injury insurance heading into training camp, it would also make sense to see if there are other opportunities out there.  It appears he at least has one in the KHL if he ultimately decides that the time is right to give playing overseas a try.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Skyler Brind’Amour, Domenick Fensore

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Jul. 16th: The Hurricanes confirmed Brind’Amour’s new contract via a team announcement. Carolina also announced that they’ve re-signed defenseman Domenick Fensore to a one-year, two-way contract. He’ll earn $775K at the NHL level and $70K at the AHL level, with $100K guaranteed.

Jul. 14th: Carolina has taken care of one of its remaining restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the Hurricanes have re-signed forward Skyler Brind’Amour to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay him $775K in the NHL, $90K in the AHL, and has a guaranteed payout of $100K.

The 25-year-old was originally a sixth-round pick by Edmonton back in 2017, going 177th overall.  However, after playing his college action at Quinnipiac, he didn’t sign with the Oilers, instead joining AHL Charlotte on a one-year deal for 2022-23.  After putting up eight points in 54 games with them, Brind’Amour inked a one-year, two-way pact with the Hurricanes for last season.

Brind’Amour spent most of 2024-25 with AHL Chicago and was a bit more productive than his professional debut, notching 16 goals and eight assists in 68 games.  With Carolina sitting many players for the final two games to keep them healthy for the playoffs, Brind’Amour was among the players recalled from the Wolves and he picked up his first career NHL goal in the final game of the season.

Brind’Amour will require waivers now to return to the minors but it seems unlikely that he will be picked up off the waiver wire.  Assuming he passes through unclaimed, he will once again serve as recallable depth for Carolina in 2025-26 and will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.

With the signing, the Hurricanes are now down to two remaining restricted free agents, both of whom primarily played for the Wolves last season – forward Ryan Suzuki, plus defensemen Ronan Seeley.

Canucks Actively Looking To Open Up Cap Space

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While the majority of unrestricted free agent activity has already happened, there are a handful of players of some significance still looking for new homes.  But at this point, some teams will need to free up cap space if they want to add anyone off the open market.  It appears the Canucks are one of those as Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver is monitoring a couple of players still on the open market and are actively working to open up cap space before they could sign one.

The Canucks have been busy in recent weeks but a lot of their moves have been to either re-sign pending free agents or signing players to early extensions that kick in starting in 2026-27.  In the former category, blueliner Derek Forbort was re-signed last month to a one-year, $2MM pact while winger Brock Boeser inked a seven-year, $50.75MM contract just as free agency opened up.  Meanwhile, winger Conor Garland (six years, $36MM) and goaltender Thatcher Demko (three years, $25.5MM) inked extensions on the first day they were eligible.

Meanwhile, there hasn’t been a lot of roster turnover from last season.  Vancouver picked up winger Evander Kane from Edmonton in a cap-clearing move from the Oilers while losing center Pius Suter to St. Louis and defenseman Noah Juulsen to Philadelphia in free agency.  They also recently moved goaltender Arturs Silovs to Pittsburgh, knowing they were going to lose him on waivers in the fall.

But for the most part, the bulk of the core group remains intact from last season, one that saw them lose 19 points in the standings, going from winning the Pacific Division in 2023-24 to finishing fifth last season, missing the playoffs altogether.

However, if GM Patrik Allvin wants to add to his roster, he will definitely need to open up some extra cap flexibility while their current roster flexibility is somewhat limited as well.  Per PuckPedia, the Canucks have just $795K in cap space which doesn’t leave much wiggle room for in-season injury recalls let alone other moves.

Who could be moved is a matter of some question, however.  Center Teddy Blueger is in the final year of his deal at an affordable $1.8MM cap hit but he outperformed his contract a year ago so he might not be someone they want to move.  Nils Hoglander begins a new three-year, $9MM deal this season and took a step back offensively last year which probably doesn’t help his value.  Meanwhile, Dakota Joshua had a tough year after returning from testicular cancer so the three years and $9.75MM left on his deal could be viewed as problematic.

While there’s a belief that the Canucks underachieved last season, they haven’t done much to change up the core that finished off the year.  But if they want to add any other pieces to their group to help their chances of getting back into the playoffs, they need to create some cap room beforehand, a process that already appears to be underway.

Snapshots: Kostin, Jets, Blue Jackets

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Unrestricted free agent winger Klim Kostin has changed agents, signing with Shumi Babaev, the agent announced (Twitter link).  The 26-year-old had a sparing role last season in San Jose, recording just one goal and six assists in 35 games with 111 hits but is only two years removed from a 10-goal, 21-point season which could get him a look on a one-year deal somewhere in the coming weeks or a PTO deal at worst.  If a guaranteed contract doesn’t materialize, Kostin could be a candidate to return home and play in the KHL; Babaev’s announcement notes that he will be representing the winger when it comes to contract discussions with both leagues.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Jets showed interest in winger Andrew Mangiapane in free agency, relays Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press. The 29-year-old wound up signing a two-year, $7.2MM contract with Edmonton with a chance to play in their top six; Wiebe adds that Mangiapane left a bit of money on the table to do so, suggesting that Winnipeg’s offer was for a bit more than $3.6MM per season.  Mangiapane is coming off a quiet year that saw him record just 14 goals and 14 assists in 82 games with Washington, his third straight season of a decline in points after a career-best 35-goal, 55-point campaign with Calgary in 2021-22.
  • The Blue Jackets’ only move goalie-wise this summer was moving out Daniil Tarasov who is now the backup in Florida, leaving incumbents Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves as the presumed tandem. However, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that Columbus is still looking to add a goalie.  Their desired target is someone with some AHL experience but who can hold his own in the NHL if need be.  Ideally, that would be a younger player but GM Don Waddell acknowledged that teams don’t want to give those ones up in a trade.  A waiver claim might wind up being the outcome and while that would mean carrying three goalies, the Blue Jackets are prepared to do so if need be next season.

Minor Transactions: 7/15/25

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It has been a busy 24 hours transactions-wise around the NHL with several restricted free agents signing before their qualifying offers expire later today.  Meanwhile, there have been some other minor signings involving free agents which we’ll run through here.

  • After spending the last four seasons in Seattle’s system on an NHL deal, defenseman Gustav Olofsson will be staying there on a different contract. The Kraken’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley announced that they’ve signed the blueliner to a two-year minor-league deal.  Olofsson is a veteran of 63 NHL games but saw just four games with Seattle.  Last season, the 30-year-old played in 51 games with the Firebirds, picking up three goals and 14 assists.
  • Lehigh Valley, affiliate of the Flyers, announced the signings of wingers Zayde Wisdom and Garrett Wilson to one-year deals. Wisdom was a fourth-round pick by Philadelphia back in 2020 and had 32 points in 68 games with the Phantoms last season but wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer last month.  Wilson, meanwhile, is a veteran of 84 NHL games but last played at the top level in 2019.  He had 14 goals and 14 assists in Lehigh Valley last season in 63 games.
  • After spending last season on a two-way deal with San Jose, unrestricted free agent defenseman Joey Keane is heading back to Russia as he has signed a two-year deal with Spartak Moskva, per a team release. The 26-year-old originally started in Carolina’s system but went to Spartak once his entry-level deal ended, spending two years there before coming back to North America last season.  In 2024-25, Keane had 11 points in 38 games, a stat line identical to his second season with Spartak.
  • Bruins prospect Cole Chandler has committed to Northeastern, reports the Northeastern Hockey Blog (Twitter link). The forward was a fifth-round pick last month after putting up 32 points in 64 games with QMJHL Shawinigan during the regular season while adding a dozen more in 16 playoff outings.  He’ll return to the Cataractes for the upcoming season and then move to the NCAA starting in 2026-27.

Blackhawks Sign Anton Frondell

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July 15: As was foretold, Frondell put pen to paper on his entry-level deal today, the team announced. The deal carries the maximum entry-level cap hit of $975K.

July 12: So far, only four of 32 first-round picks have signed their entry-level contracts.  That number should soon be increasing as Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom reports that the Blackhawks will be signing Anton Frondell to his first contract early next week.

The 18-year-old was the third overall pick last month, giving Chicago what they hope will be another future high-end center to have behind Connor Bedard down the road.

Frondell spent the majority of last season at the Allsvenskan level, a second-division professional league.  He played in 29 games with Djurgarden and fared quite well, notching 11 goals and 14 assists in 29 games.  Frondell also notched seven points in 16 playoff games, earning his team a promotion to the SHL for 2025-26.

Frondell has one year left on his contract back home and it’s expected he will remain there next season instead of making the jump to come to North America.  Nordstrom relays that the youngster isn’t expected to attend training camp with Chicago to focus on the start of the SHL regular season which begins on September 13th.

Once the season in Sweden comes to an end, Frondell would then be eligible to join Chicago, potentially suiting up for them for a handful of games down the stretch if Djurgarden doesn’t have a long playoff run.  As long as he plays in nine or fewer games for the Blackhawks next season, an outcome that seems likely, Frondell’s deal will slide and still have three years remaining on it heading into 2026-27.

Snapshots: Hartley, Penguins, Desnoyers, Army

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Long-time NHL head coach Bob Hartley has decided to return to coaching.  The KHL announced (Twitter link) that Hartley has been hired by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl as their new bench boss.  The 64-year-old will be making his second foray into coaching in Russia having spent four seasons coaching Avangard Omsk before leaving them in 2022; he hadn’t coached anywhere since then.  Hartley is also a veteran of 944 NHL games between Colorado, Atlanta, and Calgary with his teams playing to a .556 points percentage.  He won the Stanley Cup back in 2001 but only made the playoffs in three of ten seasons after that.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • While Fenway Sports Group has said that they’re only interested in selling a small portion of the Penguins, their old ownership group continues to look into the possibility of one day buying a controlling stake, reports Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription link). The group, led by long-time Penguin legend Mario Lemieux, sold the team back in 2021 with a franchise valuation of $900MM.  Since then, franchise values have gone up with Forbes recently pegging the team’s value at nearly double that amount so re-acquiring even a controlling interest in the team might be costlier than what they received for it not quite four years ago.
  • The Wild’s AHL team in Iowa announced that they’ve signed forward Elliot Desnoyers to a one-year, one-way contract. The 23-year-old has four career NHL games under his belt, coming with Philadelphia back in 2022-23.  Since then, Desnoyers has played exclusively in the AHL and had 19 points in 59 games which wasn’t enough to earn a qualifying offer last month.
  • The Avalanche’s AHL affiliate announced the hiring of Derek Army as an assistant coach. The 34-year-old spent parts of the last five seasons as head coach of ECHL Wheeling, becoming the winningest coach in franchise history with a 153-137-19 record over that stretch.  Army also spent the past four seasons as their Director of Hockey Operations but will now focus exclusively on coaching with the Eagles.

Islanders Re-Sign Travis Mitchell

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The Islanders have now re-signed the last of their unsigned defensemen as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they have signed Travis Mitchell to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay Mitchell $775K in the NHL, $100K in the minors, and has a guaranteed salary of $125K.

The 25-year-old joined New York in 2023, signing an entry-level contract as an unrestricted free agent.  That came on the heels of a solid NCAA showing with Cornell, including a 19-point senior season in 2022-23.

Mitchell joined AHL Bridgeport soon after leaving, getting into a handful of games with them to start his professional career.  He also has spent the last two seasons in the minors with Bridgeport and is coming off a 2024-25 effort that saw him record 13 points and 101 penalty minutes in 65 games.

Mitchell will be waiver-eligible for the first time this coming season but it’s likely that he won’t be claimed, allowing him to continue his development with Bridgeport under new head coach Rocky Thompson, a former blueliner himself.  Mitchell will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.

With this agreement, the Islanders are down to one remaining RFA to re-sign, winger Maxim Tsyplakov.  He was among the list of 11 players to file for salary arbitration earlier this month with hearings set to run between July 20th and August 4th.  The hearing schedule is yet to be released so it’s unclear exactly how much time GM Mathieu Darche has to try to get the 26-year-old signed without needing to have the salary decided by an arbitrator.

Justin Bailey Signs AHL Contract With San Diego

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An NHL veteran has found a place to play next season but he will have some work to do to get an NHL shot.  The AHL’s San Diego Gulls, affiliate of the Ducks, announced that they’ve signed winger Justin Bailey to a one-year, one-way contract.

The 30-year-old spent last season in the minors on a one-year, two-way deal but never got an NHL opportunity despite playing in 59 games with the Sharks the year before.  Starting off with the Barracuda, Bailey had 14 points in 33 games but he was more productive with the Gulls after being traded to Anaheim back in January.  With them, he notched 12 goals and 10 assists in 35 outings.

Over his career, Bailey has played in 141 career NHL contests, picking up 10 goals and 23 assists along the way.  He also has recorded 157 hits while averaging a little over ten minutes per game of playing time, primarily on the fourth line.  In the minors, however, Bailey has been a much more consistent contributor, picking up 155 goals and 122 assists in 438 games over parts of 10 seasons.

It’s likely that Bailey will officially sign a PTO agreement with Anaheim over the next couple of months, allowing him to suit up for the Ducks in training camp where he’ll count toward their veteran quota for exhibition action.

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