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Canadiens Re-Sign William Trudeau To Two-Way Deal

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After playing out the final season of his entry-level contract in 2024-25, RFA defenseman William Trudeau has re-upped with the Canadiens for another season, the team announced. His two-way deal is worth $775K in the NHL and $90K in the AHL with a $110K guarantee, per PuckPedia.

Trudeau, who was a fourth-round pick by Montreal in 2021, turned pro following his post-draft season with the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. The 6’1″, 205-lb lefty played out his three-year entry-level contract exclusively with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

He’s yet to make his NHL debut, and that’s unlikely to change over the course of his fresh two-way commitment. He has 20 goals, 50 assists, and 70 points with a +16 rating in 198 career games for the Rocket, but his 19 points last year were a career low. While a fine two-way threat at the minor-league level, it remains to be seen if he can excel in any given area well enough to make an impact worthy of an NHL call-up.

Like Sean Farrell before him, Trudeau takes a deal that carries a lower NHL salary but a higher guarantee than his qualifying offer would have provided. The 22-year-old will be a restricted free agent again next summer.

With Trudeau signed, only Jakub Dobes and Jayden Struble remain among the unsigned RFAs in Montreal. The club has 40 of the maximum 50 contracts on their books for 2025-26.

Spencer Martin Signs With CSKA Moscow

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Now-former NHL goaltender Spencer Martin has signed a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow, according to a release from the Kontinental Hockey League.

Martin, 30, heads overseas for the first time in his career after spending the last 10 seasons bouncing between the NHL, AHL, and ECHL. Instead of settling for the unenviable life of a third-string netminder in North America, he’ll be the undisputed starter for one of Russia’s premier clubs with Islanders 2024 fourth-rounder Dmitri Gamzin as his backup.

Martin split last season between the Hurricanes and AHL Chicago, his third NHL organization in the last three years. In 31 AHL games in 2024-25, Martin posted a 2.34 GAA, .909 SV%, three shutouts, and a 20-8-2 record. He struggled when called upon for NHL minutes, though, languishing with a .846 SV% and 3.89 GAA in seven starts and two relief appearances.

A third-round pick by the Avalanche in 2013, Martin has also made stops in the Lightning, Canucks, and Blue Jackets organizations in addition to his time in Colorado and Carolina. He has a 24-30-8 record in 66 career NHL appearances, logging a 3.56 GAA and .883 SV%.

Carolina anticipated Martin’s departure and replaced his spot on the depth chart by acquiring and signing netminder Cayden Primeau from the Canadiens. He’ll serve as the No. 3 behind Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov in 2025-26.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Tyson Jost, Noel Gunler To Two-Way Contracts

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The Hurricanes have re-signed center Tyson Jost to a two-way contract, according to a team announcement. PuckPedia also reported that RFA winger Noel Gunler has accepted his qualifying offer and will be back with the team on a two-way deal.

Jost was a UFA after spending the 2024-25 season with Carolina on a one-way contract, so there’s a potential for a pay cut if he ends up on waivers and in the minors. His deal pays him a $300K AHL salary with a $600K guarantee.

The 27-year-old spent most of last season as the Canes’ extra forward. He made 39 appearances, his lowest in a season since his six-game trial as a rookie with the Avalanche in 2016-17, and scored four goals and five assists for nine points while averaging 10:22 per game.

The 2016 No. 10 overall pick never reached his top-six potential but remains a valuable depth option with nearly 500 games of NHL experience. However, he’s cleared waivers multiple times successfully in the past few seasons, so it doesn’t look like there’s much risk for Carolina if they try to sneak him back to AHL Chicago at some point. He scored four goals and five assists in 14 games for the minor-league club last season.

Jost’s spot as the extra forward looks safe for now when looking at Carolina’s depth chart, but the team still has plenty of cap space to burn and is in on Nikolaj Ehlers, the top remaining UFA. They could pursue more depth forward signings as well – potentially a return to Raleigh for names like Jack Roslovic or Jeff Skinner, both of whom are still available. If the Canes make multiple forward additions ahead of Jost, he’ll likely be a waiver candidate if everyone is healthy in training camp.

As for Gunler, his QO will pay him a salary of $813,750 if he’s in the NHL next season and $80K in the AHL. The 23-year-old was a second-round pick in 2020 but has yet to make his NHL debut. The 6’2″ winger has spent parts of the last three seasons with AHL Chicago, where he scored 13 goals and 26 points in 58 games last season.

Canadiens Sign Sean Farrell, Marc Del Gaizo To Two-Way Contracts

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The Canadiens have re-signed RFA forward Sean Farrell to a two-way contract and also added Group VI free agent defenseman Marc Del Gaizo on a two-way deal, per a team announcement yesterday. Both are one-year agreements.

Farrell’s deal pays him an NHL salary of $775K and an AHL salary of $90K with a $110K guarantee, per PuckPedia. Del Gaizo’s contract is far richer; PuckPedia reflects he’s landed an AHL salary of $375K with a $450K guarantee.

Farrell, 23, was a fourth-round pick in 2020 out of the USHL’s Chicago Steel. A high-scoring pivot who can flex to the left wing, his size was the main reason he slipped in the draft, checking in at just 5’9″ and 174 lbs. He had an extremely productive two-year run at Harvard, including a spectacular 53-point sophomore season that earned him ECAC Player of the Year honors.

Although Farrell had already represented the United States at multiple senior national tournaments and was coming off a spectacular collegiate season, he hasn’t yet received an NHL opportunity since signing his entry-level contract with Montreal in 2023. In 114 games for AHL Laval over the past two seasons, he has 29 goals, 43 assists, and 72 points with a plus-eight rating.

Farrell could have accepted his qualifying offer, which included a $874,125 NHL salary for 2025-26. That QO only included an $80K minors salary, though, so he’ll take the higher guarantee in exchange for a lower salary if he ends up spending time on the NHL roster. He did break out for 20 goals in 67 games with Laval last year, so there is still a path for the undersized pivot to reach NHL minutes and see if he can convert his elite lower-level offensive production into big-league offense.

Del Gaizo, 25, makes the move to Montreal after spending his first four full professional seasons in the Predators organization. He was a fourth-round pick by Nashville out of UMass in 2019 and has spent most of his time with AHL Milwaukee since turning pro in 2021, although he did spend a slight majority of last season on the NHL roster.

After making his NHL debut in a nine-game call-up in 2023-24, Del Gaizo made 46 appearances for Nashville last year. He was serviceable in bottom-pairing minutes, recording nine points and a minus-three rating while averaging 16:45 per game. The 2021 NCAA championship winner also had an 8-4–12 scoring line with a +10 rating in 30 games with Milwaukee.

While he’s likely worth a shot as someone’s No. 7/8 option, Del Gaizo wasn’t going to get that in Nashville. The Preds were looking to get either bigger or younger on defense, and the 5’11” lefty doesn’t really fit either of those bills as he nears the precipice of his development.

He’ll fight for a spot on Montreal’s roster with names like unsigned RFA Jayden Struble, although if top prospect David Reinbacher earns a spot out of camp, that would presumably box Del Gaizo out of an NHL role with eight defenders ahead of him on the depth chart. Montreal still has 11 contract spots remaining and three unsigned RFAs in Struble, Jakub Dobes, and Willliam Trudeau.

Sharks Re-Sign Pavol Regenda To Two-Way Deal

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The Sharks have re-signed winger Pavol Regenda on a two-way contract, according to a team release.

San Jose acquired Regenda from the Ducks in January in a swap of minor-league forwards, sending Justin Bailey the other way. He didn’t see an NHL recall following the trade or at all this season, for that matter, after getting brief looks with Anaheim in 2022-23 and 2023-24. In 19 games over those two seasons, he scored a goal and two assists while averaging 10:49 per night.

The 25-year-old wasn’t an RFA this summer because he’d accrued enough professional experience for Group VI UFA status while playing less than 80 career NHL games. He could have signed anywhere else – including Europe – but instead returns to the Sharks organization on a deal that pays him $350K in the minors with a $400K guarantee, per PuckPedia.

The 6’4″, 212-lb winger from Slovakia signed with Anaheim as an undrafted free agent in 2022 on the backs of a strong showing at the Olympics and World Championship. Regenda now has three full AHL seasons under his belt and seems content in his minor-league role. He has 45 goals, 55 assists, 100 points, and 189 PIMs in 176 career AHL games, including a good 9-16–25 scoring line in 36 games with the Barracuda after the trade to San Jose.

With younger, higher-ceiling names likely taking priority for a call-up this upcoming season, Regenda should be on track to spend most, if not all, of 2025-26 down with the Barracuda if he clears waivers.

Capitals Sign Louie Belpedio, Calle Rosen, Graeme Clarke To Two-Way Deals

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The Capitals have added depth for their AHL affiliate with a trio of two-way signings, announcing deals for defensemen Louis Belpedio, Calle Rosen, and forward Graeme Clarke yesterday.

All three contracts carry NHL cap hits and salaries of $775K, the team said. Clarke and Rosen signed one-year deals, while Belpedio landed a two-year commitment. He also earns the priciest AHL salary of the trio at $575K, while Rosen will earn $525K and Clarke will earn $350K.

Belpedio, a third-round pick of the Wild in 2014, joins his fourth NHL organization. After spending time with Minnesota and Montreal, primarily in the minors, he landed with the Flyers in the 2022 offseason and has been in Philly on two-way deals ever since. He’s been an alternate captain for AHL Lehigh Valley for the last three years, and the 29-year-old righty recorded a 5-23–28 scoring line in 66 games last year with 88 PIMs and a +15 rating.

The Illinois native last saw NHL action in 2023-24, skating in a career-high 12 games with the Flyers. He notched two goals and two assists, his first points at the top level since he had two assists in his NHL debut for Minnesota in April 2018.

Rosen, 31, has 93 games of NHL experience compared to Belpedio’s 16. He’ll be the earlier call-up option if the Caps need a more offensive-minded defenseman on the roster. The 6’1″ lefty is three years removed from sniffing a full-time role with the Blues, recording 18 points and a +19 rating for them in 49 games in 2022-23 while averaging 15:36 per game.

The Swede played just six NHL games the following season, though, and didn’t see any NHL ice last year while on a two-way deal with the Avalanche. He’ll presumably take his talents to Hershey with no roster spots up for grabs on Washington’s blue line. The one-time AHL All-Star had 10 goals, 24 assists, 34 points, 24 PIMs, and a +22 rating in 62 games for the Colorado Eagles last season.

While the other two signings were outright UFAs, the 24-year-old Clarke joins the Caps organization after being non-tendered by the Wild. Minnesota picked the 2019 third-rounder up the prior offseason in a trade with the Devils as high-ceiling minor-league depth, but the 6’0″ winger ended up taking a step back offensively and didn’t land an NHL recall. He put together a 16-21–37 scoring line with a -13 rating in 64 games for AHL Iowa last season and has three games of NHL experience, all with New Jersey in 2023-24.

Penguins Sign Alexander Alexeyev To One-Year Contract

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Free agent defenseman Alexander Alexeyev is staying in the Metropolitan Division after being non-tendered by the Capitals. PuckPedia reports he’s landed a one-year, one-way, league-minimum commitment from the Penguins.

Alexeyev is the third defenseman Pittsburgh has signed to a one-way contract in free agency, joining Caleb Jones and Parker Wotherspoon. They also swapped righties with the Sabres in a draft-day trade, parting ways with Conor Timmins and acquiring Connor Clifton. He’ll compete with all of them for jobs on a Pittsburgh blue line that has perhaps the most roster spots up for grabs of any team in the league entering 2025-26.

Alexeyev spent his first four NHL seasons in Washington, which drafted him with their first-round pick after winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. The stay-at-home lefty has panned out as a big No. 7 option but not much more. He was also the most frequently-scratched player in the league last season, only making eight appearances despite never sustaining a long-term injury or receiving a full-time AHL assignment.

The 6’4″, 229-lb rearguard was a more frequent name in the Caps’ lineup in the prior two seasons. All in all, he’s recorded a goal and seven assists for eight points in 80 NHL games, posting a minus-eight rating while recording 121 blocks and 91 hits and averaging 15 minutes per game.

The Pens’ right side is essentially locked in with Clifton, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson, barring a trade for the latter. It’s the left side where virtually every spot is a battle amid a list of candidates that includes Alexeyev, Jones, Wotherspoon, Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea, and 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering. One or two of those names won’t be on the opening night roster in a few months.

Wild Sign Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, Matt Kiersted, Cal Petersen

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The Wild announced they’ve signed forward Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and goaltender Calvin Petersen to one-year deals and signed defenseman Matt Kiersted to a two-year deal. The club also confirmed yesterday’s reported signings of defenseman Ben Gleason and forward Tyler Pitlick to two-way deals.

Aubé-Kubel lands a two-way deal ($775K NHL/$500K AHL), as does Kiersted ($775K NHL/$450K AHL); Petersen’s is a one-way structure for the league minimum $775K. Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report Petersen’s signing.

Aubé-Kubel, a Stanley Cup champion with the 2022 Avalanche, continues a journeyman career that will now see him play with seven NHL organizations in the last five years. He split last season between the Sabres and Rangers after signing a $1.5MM contract in Buffalo in free agency that yielded disappointing results. The bottom-six grinder saw his lowest NHL workload since before the pandemic, recording two points and 40 hits in 22 games with a minus-five rating.

He could land a roster spot out of camp – he has 304 games of NHL experience, after all – but it’ll be a tight competition for an extra forward spot as names like Pitlick push for an NHL return while top prospect Danila Yurov is ticketed for a place. He could very well end up back on waivers and could play a big role with AHL Iowa if he clears.

Kiersted’s and Petersen’s signings are made more with Iowa in mind and less in terms of their ability to compete for an NHL roster spot. Kiersted, 27, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Panthers out of North Dakota in 2021 and has been with the organization ever since, finally reaching unrestricted free agency this summer.

He’s recorded seven points and a minus-five rating in 39 NHL games for Florida over the years, averaging 12:01 per game. He’s mostly been a depth piece logging minutes for AHL Charlotte, where he posted one goal and 28 assists with a league-leading +34 rating in 64 games. The Minnesota native will look to bring that strong two-way presence to his home state’s farm club, which has struggled to be competitive in recent years.

They’ve also inked Petersen, who’s expected to take over as Iowa’s starter with top prospect Jesper Wallstedt likely taking over for Marc-André Fleury as Filip Gustavsson’s backup this season. The 30-year-old is now freed from the three-year, $15MM deal he signed with the Kings that he never came close to living up to. While it gave him incredible guaranteed compensation for a goaltender who spent most of the deal in the minors, it also limited his maneuverability.

The Iowa native will almost certainly clear waivers in the fall and return home. He logged a 3.14 GAA, .885 SV%, and a 13-15-3 record in 31 appearances for AHL Lehigh Valley last season while with the Flyers organization.

Red Wings Re-Sign Elmer Soderblom To Two-Year Contract

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RFA winger Elmer Soderblom is returning to the Red Wings on a two-year contract, according to a team announcement. The deal is worth $2.25MM for a cap hit of $1.125MM.

Soderblom, who turns 24 on Saturday, appeared in 26 games for the Wings last season after not seeing any NHL action in 2023-24. He scored four goals and 11 points while averaging 13:22 per contest, finishing at a 10.5% clip and recording 43 hits.

The hulking 6’8″ winger, drafted back in 2019 in the sixth round, has been a middle-six fixture in the AHL for the Grand Rapids Griffins for the past three seasons, including a 5-12–17 scoring line in 38 games there this season. The Wings evidently liked what they saw from Soderblom down the stretch in the NHL last year enough to not only give him a one-way contract but a seven-figure commitment annually.

Soderblom will be expected to crack the opening night roster for the second time in his career after making the team unexpectedly in 2022-23. He should factor into a consistent bottom-six role for Detroit next year and is almost a certainty to set a new career high in games played. The Wings have a full 23-player roster but still boast over $14MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.

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