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Poll: Who Will Be The NHL’s Next Captain?

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August is finally here, marking the time of year when teams reconvene at their home rink and begin hardy planning for the upcoming season. That step will come with extra work for the six teams around the league who don’t currently have a captain.

Many of these teams, including Seattle, Anaheim, and Utah, have gone years without a captain – instead opting to disseminate responsibilities among multiple assistant captains. All three teams are amidst staunch rebuilds – with Utah even mapping out relocation – and are likely waiting for their top prospects to take a few more steps before earning the role. The trio of Matthew Beniers, Leo Carlsson, and Logan Cooley seem prime for that ascension with their respective teams, though they each have multiple challengers lining up behind them. The Buffalo Sabres are in a similar grouping, as they transition from a veteran-laden lineup to one of the league’s youngest rosters.

The Chicago Blackhawks also fall into the aforementioned discussion – not carrying a captain since legendary centerman Jonathan Toews ended his career in 2022. Toews leaves massive shoes as Chicago’s leader, after co-heading three Stanley Cup wins alongside winger Patrick Kane. Naming a successor will formally carry Chicago into a new era – one without many of the faces that came to define Chicago hockey in the 2010s. Teenage phenom Connor Bedard seems like a great option to lead that transition, after netting 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games last season – the most of any rookie Blackhawk since Artemi Panarin in 2016, and Kane before him. But Bedard is still young and was limited to a partial season last year by a jaw injury. Those factors could hold him back from Chicago’s prestigious ’C’. If that is the case, it doesn’t seem any of the team’s veteran leaders, including Nick Foligno and Seth Jones, would inspire Chicago to name a captain too early.

And while Chicago’s next captain will lead the team through new scenery, it’s the Tampa Bay vacancy that headlines the off-season. The Lightning now sit without a captain for the first time since 2002, after franchise icon Steven Stamkos chose to sign with the Nashville Predators in his first trip to unrestricted free agency. Stamkos wore the ’C’ for the last 10 years and established himself as a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in that span, leading Tampa Bay to two Stanley Cups and setting the franchise’s all-time records in both goals and points scored. Like in Chicago, the Lightning will be entering a new era with their next captain – though they’re much more prepared for the vacancy than their counterparts. While forwards Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point could both serve as strong replacements, it’s defenseman Victor Hedman that offers the same rugged veteran leadership brought by Stamkos. Hedman recently signed a four-year extension in Tampa, taking him through his age-37 season and, potentially, the end of his career. He’s already appeared in 1,052 games with Tampa Bay – the most of any Lightning other than Stamkos – and holds the franchise records in all three scoring stats, among defenders. Transitioning from Stamkos to Hedman should prove more of a light handoff than a total change in power, which could be enough to sway a Lightning franchise that hasn’t gone longer than one year without a captain since naming Paul Ysebaert as their inaugural ’C’.

Mapping out when captain announcements will come is often a fool’s bet, but the candidates to earn the NHL’s next ’C’ seem to be becoming clearer. Who will it be? Will Tampa jump to another veteran, will Chicago move into their next step, or will an oft-captain-less team commit to their young guard? Let us know by voting in the poll below and discussing in the comments.

Who Will Be The NHL's Next Captain?
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay 70.38% (625 votes)
Connor Bedard, Chicago 20.95% (186 votes)
Matthew Beniers, Seattle 5.07% (45 votes)
Leo Carlsson, Anaheim 3.60% (32 votes)
Total Votes: 888

If the embedded poll isn’t showing up, use this link to vote!

Sabres Likely To Keep Konsta Helenius In North America This Season

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After going 14th overall in this summer’s draft and subsequently signing his entry-level contract, it appears Sabres prospect Konsta Helenius’ time in his native Finland is over for the foreseeable future. Liiga club Tappara, which owns his rights, said Monday that Helenius is “looking for a place to play in the Sabres organization” this season and is unlikely to return to the club (X link).

Helenius, 18, said shortly before the draft that he wanted to move to the NHL as quickly as possible. After Buffalo signed him to his ELC early last month, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported the Sabres’ preference was to have him spend 2024-25 with AHL Rochester.

There’s a clear desire from both sides to have him suit up in North America immediately, and he’s eligible for full-time AHL assignment at such a young age as a first-round pick coming out of a European league. Because he was a first-rounder, he doesn’t need to be offered back to his Liiga team first before being assigned to the minors.

Helenius is in the unique position of already having two full professional seasons under his belt on draft day. Tappara loaned Helenius out to another Liiga club, Jukurit, for most of 2022-23 and all of 2023-24. There, he had 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) in 84 games, including 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 51 games last season. Each year, he led Liiga under-18 players in scoring.

Even if he’s playing primarily in the AHL this season, Helenius’ entry-level contract could still slide to 2025-26 if he plays fewer than 10 NHL games. After consistently averaging top-six minutes in a top-flight European professional league last season, it’s hard to imagine him having too many adjustment pains, regardless of whether his opening night is spent in Buffalo or Rochester.

Peyton Krebs Contract Continues To Be Dragged Out

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It’s been nearly three years since the Buffalo Sabres acquired Peyton Krebs as the centerpiece prospect in a deal that sent franchise icon Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights. Unfortunately, as things would play out, Krebs has yet to become the player that Buffalo has needed him to be and he remains the only player on the team without a contract for the 2024-25 NHL season.

In an article from Michael Augello of The Hockey News, he asserts that Krebs may have lost a spot in Lindy Ruff’s lineup entirely after the Sabres acquired Ryan McLeod, Beck Malenstyn, and Sam Lafferty over the offseason. After a poor offensive showing last year, it is difficult to ascertain where exactly Krebs fits into the lineup. He spent much of last year on Buffalo’s fourth line with Eric Robinson and Zemgus Girgensons where he became akin to an irritating player who lacked offensive punch.

There hasn’t been much word surrounding negotiations between Krebs and the Sabres brass, but the silence from both sides is becoming noticeable. Krebs shouldn’t expect to earn more than his qualifying offer of $874K on a new deal with Buffalo so the lack of a contract may indicate a move is in the making. Augello opines that the Sabres could look to move Krebs in a deal to acquire Joel Farabee from the Philadelphia Flyers but his supposed value in that hypothetical feels off-base. If Buffalo does move on from Krebs before the start of next year, it will be to a team looking to round out their bottom six for a much milder return.

Sabres Waiting For Jiri Kulich To Dominate AHL Level

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  • The Buffalo Sabres offensive core has become a little too crowded for prospect Jiri Kulich. In an article today from Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, the Sabres organization is waiting for Kulich to ’tear up the league’ before giving him a full-time shot at the NHL level. The young forward has been a solid scorer for the Rochester Americans over the last two years as he’s scored 51 goals in 119 games and another seven goals in 17 postseason contests. Buffalo is looking for Kulich to expand upon his 0.76 PPG thus far and raise his level to one of the better point producers at the AHL level.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Eric Staal Announces Retirement

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It’s been all quiet on the Western Front for Eric Staal for over a year now. The free-agent center reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers in 2023 but didn’t sign or play anywhere last season.

On Tuesday, Staal confirmed he’d played his last NHL game, signing a one-day contract with Carolina to retire as a Hurricane. The Canes will also retire Staal’s No. 12 at a yet-to-be-announced game this season.

“I want to thank my family, former teammates, coaches and staff members who played a role in helping me live my dream, playing in the NHL,” Staal said in a statement released by the team. “I will forever treasure the memories and friendships made during my 18 years in the world’s best league.”

“There was no doubt in my mind that when it became time to hang up my skates, I would want to retire as a Carolina Hurricane,” he continued. “To now also know that the team is retiring my No. 12 is truly humbling and I am extremely grateful and honored.”

Staal, 39, is often overlooked as one of the NHL’s early salary-cap-era stars. But the Thunder Bay, Ontario native was always expected to make an indelible impact on the Canes after being drafted second overall in the famously stacked 2003 draft. While he hasn’t played there in over eight years – his tenure ended with a trade to the Rangers in 2016 – he’s still arguably the most impactful talent in Carolina history since the franchise relocated from Hartford in 1997.

His best came early, erupting as a sophomore in the 2005-06 season to lead the Canes in scoring with 45 goals and 100 points, both career-highs. 21 at the time, Staal was the centerpiece of the Canes’ best season in franchise history to that point, crossing the 50-win and 100-point thresholds for the first time. It ended in glory, adding nine goals and 28 points in 25 playoff games as he led the team in scoring en route to their first and only Stanley Cup.

Over parts of 12 seasons in Raleigh, Staal solidified himself as the Canes’ post-relocation leader in games played (909), goals (322), assists (453), points (775), power-play goals (105), power-play points (252) and hat tricks (13) – hat tip to the team’s Walt Ruff for those stats. He averaged over 20 minutes per game in a Carolina uniform and served as their captain from 2009 to 2016, succeeding franchise pillar Rod Brind’Amour.

Age-related decline came for Staal early, though, and his point totals were steadily decreasing by the time he was traded to the Rangers at age 31. His stay with the Blueshirts didn’t extend past the last few months of the season, and he landed in the State of Hockey with the Wild as a free agent in the summer of 2016. He had a bit of a resurgence in Minnesota, most remembered for a 42-goal, 76-point campaign in 2017-18 that placed him 17th in Hart Trophy voting. But his days of being a dominant top-line threat were behind him.

He played the final few seasons of his career with the Sabres, Canadiens and Panthers, serving as a good veteran depth piece on Montreal and Florida teams that each reached the championship series (2021 and 2023, respectively). But he couldn’t recapture the honor he had nearly two decades ago and was on the losing end of both series.

All in all, Staal wraps up his career with 455 goals, 608 assists and 1,063 points in 1,365 NHL games across 18 seasons. The eldest of the four Staal brothers with NHL experience, including Jared Staal, Jordan Staal and Marc Staal, retires at 76th on the league’s all-time scoring list. All of us at PHR congratulate Staal on a championship-caliber career and wish him the best as he enters the next phase of his hockey career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Hurricanes Attempted To Trade Necas Prior To Extension

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One of the biggest names on the trade market this offseason was taken off the board earlier today as the Carolina Hurricanes signed Martin Necas to a two-year, $13MM extension. However, the Hurricanes were also close to moving on from Necas earlier in the summer according to Frank Seravalli in Daily Faceoff’s podcast, the DFO Rundown (approximately 31-minute mark).

Seravalli asserts that Carolina had agreed to a Necas trade with the Buffalo Sabres. However, Seravalli did admit in the podcast that it may not have been the Sabres but he was fairly certain. The trade broke down relatively quickly as Necas purportedly would not agree to sign a new contract in Buffalo. Furthermore from Seravalli, the Hurricanes also had substantial trade talks with the Winnipeg Jets about Necas. He states the Jets had offered prospect Rutger McGroarty, forward Cole Perfetti, and an unspecified draft pick for Necas.

It is unknown when these trade conversations happened as Carolina may have taken Necas off the market entirely after losing Jake Guentzel to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Hurricanes expect to compete for a Stanley Cup next spring, and their competitive aspirations would have been greatly diminished by losing two top-six forwards in one summer.

All points made by Seravalli point to the idea that Necas had a lot of control over the negotiations and effectively blocked his inclusion in either trade due to his unwillingness not to sign an extension with either organization. Necas has committed himself to Carolina for two more seasons and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the contract.

Factoring in Buffalo’s other moves from the summer, adding Necas into the team’s top six would have allowed them to move Jason Zucker down to the third line. Even still, with Zach Benson prepping for a bigger season in 2024-25, and Jiri Kulich on the cusp of cracking the roster; Necas may have dramatically saturated Buffalo’s forward core. However, unlike Benson and Kulich, Necas is an established player at the NHL level.

Without knowing the return to Carolina in the rumored swap with Buffalo, he is coming off a season in which he scored 24 goals and 53 points in 77 games and is only two years removed from scoring 71 points over a full season. He would have helped the Sabres return to their 2022-23 team goal production after seeing a nearly 50-goal decrease this past year, but Buffalo may have been better served by letting the rest of their prospect develop over the next two or three seasons.

The reported deal from the Jets organization appears on paper as a massive overpay, as Perfetti has arguably already shown he can be a top-six threat in limited playing time. The former 10th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft averaged 13:35 minutes last year and still managed to score 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games. Including McGroarty in the deal (who is coming off a 52-point campaign at the University of Michigan) would have given Carolina two two-six talents in exchange for one.

Nevertheless, Necas was never dealt with this summer and will remain with the Hurricanes organization for the foreseeable future. He will look to rebound off a depressed campaign last season and look to build upon his production in 2022-23 before entering the free agent market when he is 27 years old.

2024 Salary Arbitration Tracker

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It has been a quieter year on the salary arbitration front across the NHL.  After 23 players filed last summer, just 14 did this time around.  As expected, most have settled so far with a few hearings still pending.  Here’s a rundown of who has settled and who still needs to sign.

Updated 7/30/24, 1:07 p.m.

Contracts Settled

D Jake Christiansen (Blue Jackets) – one year, $775K (two-way agreement)
F Connor Dewar (Maple Leafs) – one year, $1.18MM
F Jack Drury (Hurricanes) – two years, $3.45MM
D Ty Emberson (Sharks) – one year, $950K
G Jet Greaves (Blue Jackets) – two years, $1.625MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
F Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sabres) – five years, $23.75MM
F Beck Malenstyn (Sabres) – two years, $2.7MM
D J.J. Moser (Lightning) – two years, $6.75MM
F Joe Veleno (Red Wings) – two years, $4.55MM
F Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders) – one year, $1MM
F Kirill Marchenko (Blue Jackets) – three years, $11.55MM
F Martin Necas (Hurricanes) – two years, $13MM
D Ryan Lindgren (Rangers) – one year, $4.5MM

Contracts Awarded

D Spencer Stastney (Predators) – two years, $1.675MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)

Scheduled Hearings

none

A reminder of some of the arbitration rules for the upcoming potential hearings:

  • A player and team can settle on a deal at any point before the hearing starts.
  • Once the hearing has taken place, the arbitration decision must be issued by email within 48 hours.
  • Arbitration awards can only be one or two years in length. (Players who are in their final year of restricted free agency are only entitled to a one-year agreement from an arbitrator.)
  • The team decides on the awarded term as these were all player-elected filings.
  • The team can walk away from the arbitration decision if a contract with an average annual value of more than $4.74MM is awarded.

Worth noting is that teams who have someone file for arbitration will receive a second buyout window three days after their final contract is settled or awarded.  The window lasts for 48 hours and the only eligible players to be bought out in this timeframe are those who have an AAV of $4MM or more and were on that team’s reserve list at the trade deadline back in March.

Sabres Sign Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen To Five-Year Contract

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The Buffalo Sabres have solidified their goaltending situation for the next half decade as the team announced they signed Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a five-year, $23.75MM contract. The deal will pay Luukkonen an AAV of $4.75MM each year of the contract and keep the young netminder in Buffalo until the 2028-29 NHL season.

The deal comes just under the current contract of Vancouver Canucks’ netminder Thatcher Demko who secured a five-year, $25MM contract back in 2021. Luukkonen is arguably coming off a better season than when Demko signed his extension in 2021 which may indicate this deal is somewhat of a bargain for the Sabres.

If any positives came from Buffalo during the 2023-24 season, they largely centered around Luukkonen. The start of the year was disappointing as he produced a 6-8-2 record in his first 17 games with a .893 save percentage. At the turn of the calendar, however, Luukkonen went on an impressive stretch to end the season.

Since his first game at the start of the calendar year, Luukkonen concluded the season with a 20-14-2 record in 36 games while maintaining a .919 SV%. Luukkonen finished the season with a 27-22-4 record in 51 starts while earning a .910 SV% and 2.57 goals against average.

Aside from becoming the undisputed starter for the Sabres, the young Finnish netminder recorded five shutouts, 10.1 goals saved above average, and 2.65 adjusted goals against average according to HockeyReference. All of these served as career highs for Luukkonen after coming off a disappointing season the year prior.

This will be the major question surrounding this contract in Buffalo as Luukkonen has only produced one good season in the NHL. This is not to take away from his dominance last year but he has failed to produce back-to-back quality seasons in the best league in the sport.

Luckily, the Sabres do have a fallback option if this contract doesn’t pan out as expected with Devon Levi ready for full-time NHL responsibilities. The young netminder split time between Buffalo and the team’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans and he produced a 16-6-4 record in the AHL with a .927 SV% and 2.42 GAA.

General manager of the Sabres, Kevyn Adams, acknowledged this in the announcement when he said, “We really like the position we’re in with having UPL and Devon Levi as still young, developing goaltenders, guys we think are going to continue to grow and get better, that are extremely talented, hard-working, and character people“.

Sabres, Beck Malenstyn Avoid Arbitration

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9:37 a.m.: The Sabres have confirmed Malenstyn’s deal as reported.

7:58 a.m.: The Sabres and left winger Beck Malenstyn have avoided arbitration, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The winger lands a two-year, $2.7MM pact with a $1.35MM cap hit.

Malenstyn, 26, spent the last seven seasons in the Capitals’ organization after being picked in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. This wasn’t his first time being eligible for arbitration – he could have filed back in 2022 after completing a one-year, two-way deal but agreed to a two-year extension before reaching RFA status. The longtime minor league fixture broke into a full-time NHL role last season, playing a career-high 81 games and logging significant penalty kill time, but Washington decided not to retain him. The Sabres acquired his signing rights on Day 2 of the 2024 draft, with their second-round pick (No. 43 – D Cole Hutson) going the other way.

It’s unclear when Malenstyn’s arbitration hearing was slated for, although it was sometime in the next two weeks. Unlike past seasons, the NHLPA did not release a schedule of each player’s hearing date; instead, they only opted to confirm the range of dates for all hearings (July 20 – Aug. 4). Only one case out of the 14 players who filed, Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney, has made it to a hearing thus far. His was Monday, so a decision will be issued by tomorrow.

Malenstyn, who often struggled with injuries throughout his development and assumed a checking role on the farm with AHL Hershey in parts of four seasons, solidified himself as an effective bottom-of-the-lineup presence last season. Averaging 14:15 per game, Malenstyn contributed six goals and 15 assists for 21 points while leading the Caps in hits (241). He could conceivably be called the purest shutdown forward in the league – over 90% of his even-strength zone starts came in the defensive end last season, per Hockey Reference. He also led Washington forwards in shorthanded usage at 2:37 per game.

After trading away captain Kyle Okposo at the deadline and losing Zemgus Girgensons and Eric Robinson to free agency, the Sabres needed some depth wingers to anchor their bottom six as their young talent progresses. They paid a premium on the trade market to get the 6’3″, 200-lb Malenstyn, but he does fit the bill. In fact, Buffalo will likely ice two-thirds of the Caps’ fourth line from last season come opening night after landing Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, who played opposite Malenstyn at right wing for much of the season, in free agency. Malenstyn will also challenge for first-unit penalty killing duties as he did in Washington.

Malenstyn will be 28 years old when this deal expires, making him eligible for unrestricted free agency for the first time in 2026. The Sabres have $13.2MM in projected cap space remaining (PuckPedia) and still need new deals for RFAs Peyton Krebs and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the latter of whom filed for arbitration.

AHL Notes: Weissbach, Penguins, Wolf Pack

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Free agent forward Linus Weissbach has signed with Frölunda HC of the SHL. Weissbach was a Group-VI UFA with the Sabres, effectively moving to unrestricted free agency after not receiving a qualifying offer from the team before July 1st.

This move returns Weissbach to his hometown of Göteborg, Sweden, where Weissbach grew up through the Frölunda pipeline. He made his debut with the organization’s top club in 2016, though he only played in one game before moving to North America and pursuing a four-year career with the University of Wisconsin. He graduated college in 2021 and has since spent the last three seasons with the Rochester Americans, accumulating 117 points across 191 games in the minor leagues. But despite consistent production and a stout role in Rochester’s top-six, Weissbach was never the top option for a call-up, losing standing to more robust minor leaguers like Lukas Rousek and Brett Murray, and more recently bumped out by prospects like Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen.

With that logjam only increasing after Buffalo’s successful 2024 NHL Draft, Weissbach will change his focus to pursuing a career with his hometown club. Frölunda’s sporting director Fredrik Sjöström shared his excitement for the move, saying, “We have lost two offensively skilled players in [Malte Strömwall] and [Jere Innala]. We wanted to bring in offensive skill and “Weiss” is just that. He is a skilled forward with good speed and plays like a pattern breaker. He fits what we wanted. We’ve been on him for a while and knew we needed to wait for some other parameters before he could choose us (Linus has been a free agent in North America). But he did and we are happy about that, says Fredrik Sjöström, sports director.”

Other notes out of the minor leagues:

  • The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have added Nick Luukko as an assistant coach. Luukko, 32, has spent the last three seasons as the head coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, leading the team to the postseason in each year, though they never made it past the second round. He earned the role with Jacksonville just two seasons after ending his own playing career – which spanned 274 ECHL games – after just one season as an ECHL assistant coach. He’ll now fast-track to the next level, joining a Penguins organization in the midst of cycling out much of their org chart.
  • The Hartford Wolf Pack have hired Brendan Burke as a goaltending coach. Burke has spent the last two seasons as a goaltending coach for his former youth and junior hockey teams – the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes and Portland Winterhawks. He earned an NHL Draft selection with Portland in 2012-13, hearing his name called in the sixth round by his hometown Phoenix Coyotes. Burke is the son of legendary NHL goaltender Sean Burke, who is now serving as Vegas’ Director of Goaltending.

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