- Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil is looking to continue his impressive run with Team Slovakia — this time in the 2026 Winter Olympics (Article Link). Later this month, Slovakia will host a three-game round-robin tournament against Austria, Hungary, and Kazakhstan with the winner receiving an automatic bid for the Olympic Games in Milan. The Slovakian Olympic team will likely rely heavily on Pospisil as he is coming off an impressive international tournament earlier this summer. In the 2024 World Championships, Pospisil scored three goals and seven points in seven games and helped Slovakia reach the playoff round for the first time since 2022.
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Flames Rumors
Evening Notes: Flames, Getzlaf, Glass
Calgary Flames players have reportedly been told that the team is unlikely to add any other pieces between now and the beginning of the regular season (as per Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast). Friedman added that the Flames’ management wants to get a look at their group and see how they start the season, which makes sense given the turnover that has occurred in Calgary.
The Flames barely resemble the team that started the 2023-24 season, as most of the veteran players have been dealt to other teams in the past 12 months, including Jacob Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane, who were both traded to Eastern Conference teams this summer. Calgary has largely tried to avoid calling their roster construction a rebuild, and in their defense, they did add a few veterans this summer on short-term deals. However, the team is certainly in sell mode, and they will likely look to move out more names during the regular season as they get closer to the NHL trade deadline.
In other evening notes:
- Former Anaheim Ducks star Ryan Getzlaf has left the organization to join the NHL’s Department of Player Safety (as per NHL announcement). The two-time Olympic gold medalist will be reunited with his former Ducks teammate George Parros and will work in some capacity for the NHL. It is unclear what exactly Getzlaf will do, but as Parros noted today in a press release, Getzlaf’s experience on the ice should have a lot of value for the department. The former Stanley Cup champion retired after the 2021-22 season and re-joined Anaheim just over a year later in June 2023, serving as the player development coordinator for the team.
- Newly acquired Pittsburgh Penguins forward Cody Glass entered this summer to work on his speed during his offseason training (as per Nick Kieser of the Nashville Predators radio network). Glass knew that he wasn’t good enough last season for Nashville and was feeling the pressure heading into the summer as he will be a restricted free agent on July 1st, 2025. If Glass can improve his speed next season, it could be a good fit with the Penguins, as Pittsburgh hasn’t had much speed in their bottom six since they won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan loves to use speed and deploy an aggressive forecheck, and if Glass can work on that part of his game, he could find himself in the top nine next year.
Snapshots: Kuznetsov, Oilers, Rosen, Aman
Calgary Flames defenseman Yan Kuznetsov believes that he will take a big step in his development this upcoming season and is hoping a change to his training will allow him to do so (as per Flames writer Chris Wahl). The 22-year-old was re-signed to a one-year, two-way deal by the Flames yesterday after making his NHL debut last season, dressing in one game for Calgary. The former second-round pick believes that he is entering next season in the best shape of his career and is hoping that by being in tune with his body it will better allow him to use his size to his advantage as he pushes for an NHL roster spot with the Flames.
In other news from around the NHL:
- Edmonton Oilers announcer Bob Stauffer tweeted about the Oilers’ current offer sheet conundrum with defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway. The Oilers are currently on the clock after the St. Louis Blues issued a pair of offer sheets and have one week to match the offers or lose the players for draft pick compensation. Stauffer outlines in his tweet that if the Oilers elect to match the lucrative offer sheets, they will have to keep Broberg and Holloway for at least a year, which could be challenging given that they will need to issue lucrative extensions to Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard next summer.
- The MSG Network has announced that New York Rangers television play-by-play broadcaster Sam Rosen will retire after the upcoming NHL season. The 77-year-old is entering his 40th year calling Rangers games full-time after he began calling New York games on the radio for MSG, filling in for Marv Albert. He then pivoted to becoming MSG’s studio host before moving into his current role as the Rangers’ primary television broadcaster in 1984.
- Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrick Allvin spoke with Swedish network hockeysverige.se about Nils Åman and the contract extension he gave the center this past season. The 24-year-old signed a two-year deal worth $825K per season and proceeded to post three goals and four assists in 43 NHL games this past year. Allvin mentioned that he was impressed by Åman’s finish to the season and felt that he had become more assertive on the ice and played with more of an edge. Allvin added that he was hopeful that Åman would continue to develop this summer and build off the success he had in the second half.
Flames Sign Adam Klapka, Yan Kuznetsov To Two-Way Contracts
2:56 p.m.: Kuznetsov’s deal will pay him a $100K salary in the minors, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports.
2:08 p.m.: The Flames have signed RFA forward Adam Klapka and RFA defenseman Yan Kuznetsov to two-way deals for 2024-25, the team said in separate announcements Monday.
As the releases note, both deals will carry $775K cap hits if the players are on the NHL roster. Their minor league salaries weren’t disclosed.
Klapka, 23, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Flames out of Czechia’s Bili Tygri Liberec in 2022. He spent most of the last two seasons with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
The massive 6’7″, 238-lb winger made his NHL debut last season, recording his first NHL goal as part of a six-game call-up. He also posted a -1 rating, 19 PIMs, and 21 hits while averaging just 6:46 per game.
Across 125 games in two AHL seasons, Klapka has accumulated 34 goals, 37 assists, 71 points, 170 PIMs, and a +9 rating. His 46 points last season led the team in scoring, as did his seven points in six playoff games.
With the Flames’ forward depth thinner than in years past, there’s a decent chance Klapka lands on the NHL roster come opening night. He’ll be one of many players battling it out for three or four forward spots up for grabs alongside Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt, and Jakob Pelletier, the latter of whom remains an RFA.
The 22-year-old Kuznetsov faces longer but not impossible odds of making the team out of camp. Selected with the No. 50 pick of the 2020 draft out of UConn, he stuck in school for his sophomore season before opting to spend 2021-22 in juniors with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.
Kuznetsov turned pro in earnest the following campaign, although he did see spot duty with the Flames’ former AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Like Klapka, he made his NHL debut in 2023-24, posting a -1 rating and skating 11:58 in an appearance against the Senators on Jan. 9.
On the farm with the Wranglers/Heat, the Russian has 10 goals, 22 assists, 32 points, 74 PIMs, and a -5 rating in 144 games over the past four years. Those offensive numbers aren’t too concerning for a player who projects as a stay-at-home defender, and he has been able to use his 6’4″, 216-lb frame effectively since turning pro.
If the Flames opt to carry seven defenders and 14 forwards, their roster on the back end is likely set. But if they opt to drop a forward for an eighth defender, look for the extra spot to be a two-man battle in camp between Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov, who’s still an RFA in need of a deal.
Carl-Johan Lerby Signs With Kalmar In Sweden's Allsvenskan
- Flames RFA defenseman Carl-Johan Lerby is on the move in Sweden as Kalmar of the second-tier Allsvenskan announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year contract. The 27-year-old signed with Calgary as an undrafted free agent in 2019 but he spent limited time in North America, suiting up just 22 times with AHL Stockton before heading back overseas in 2021. The Flames retained his rights by tendering a qualifying offer at that time. Lerby split last season between the Finnish Liiga and the Allsvenskan, compiling 15 points in 45 regular season games between the two levels.
CSKA Moscow Signs Nikita Okhotyuk, Ivan Prosvetov, Dmitri Samorukov
Kontinental Hockey League club CSKA Moscow is hard at work today getting their 2024-25 roster set in stone. After making a trio of rumored signings official earlier in the day, they’ve made three more. Flames RFA defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk, as well as free-agent netminder Ivan Prosvetov and defender Dmitri Samorukov, are headed to the Russian capital per separate team announcements on Telegram. It’s a two-year deal for Okhotyuk and three-year deals for Prosvetov and Samorukov.
Okhotyuk’s signing was initially reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger all the way back in May. It’s part of a rush of deals that CSKA is trying to get under the wire before a 24-month international transfer ban, imposed by the IIHF as part of the sanctions levied toward them for violating the Flyers’ valid contract with netminder Ivan Fedotov last summer, goes into effect on Aug. 11. But whether that transfer ban will be enforceable remains to be seen after the KHL voted last month to make themselves independent from both the IIHF and the Russian Hockey Federation.
A second-round pick of the Devils in 2019, Okhotyuk played only 15 games for New Jersey before he was dealt to the Sharks in last year’s Timo Meier trade. The 6’1″ defender spent most of last season in the NHL, posting a goal and seven assists for eight points in 43 games for San Jose with a -22 rating, averaging 16:27 per contest. His brief tenure in California came to an end on deadline day, when he was traded to the Flames for a 2024 fifth-round pick. He played sparingly for Calgary down the stretch, posting an assist and a -2 rating in nine games.
Since Calgary issued him a qualifying offer, they’ll still hold Okhotyuk’s NHL signing rights when his deal with CSKA expires in 2026. If he opts to return to the NHL at that time, it’ll need to be with the Flames unless they trade his rights. Calgary will hold his rights until his 27th birthday, meaning Okhotyuk could become an unrestricted free agent on Dec. 4, 2027, if he waits to make an NHL comeback until after that date.
Prosvetov, 25, became a Group VI UFA this summer after spending last season with the Avalanche. A report out of Russia back in April indicated he’d be heading to CSKA. The former fourth-round pick of the Coyotes played a career-high 11 games last season, spending significant time as the No. 2 option in Colorado behind Alexandar Georgiev before Justus Annunen passed him on the depth chart. He was passable but still below-average with a 4-3-1 record, .895 SV% and 3.16 GAA.
The Moscow native hasn’t played in his home country since the 2015-16 campaign, when he suited up for a local U-17 club. He was excellent in AHL action with the Avs’ affiliate, posting a .921 SV% in 21 games, and likely would have had NHL offers if he decided to stay in North America. But it’s clear his mind has been set on returning home for the entirety of the offseason.
Samorukov, meanwhile, is the only member of the trio not to see NHL ice last season. The 2017 third-round pick of the Oilers began the season on an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 25-year-old eventually landed a two-way deal with Pittsburgh in November, but he never received a call-up and wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer at the end of the season. He last suited up for CSKA while on loan to them for the 2020-21 season, when he posted eight points and a +24 rating in 48 games. He had 15 points and a +7 rating in 64 games for the Baby Pens last year.
Calgary Wranglers Sign Two To AHL Contracts
The AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, the Calgary Wranglers, made a pair of signings today as Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey reports the organization has signed forward Connor Mylymok to an AHL contract and has also signed forward Deni Goure to an AHL contract. Both players will be making their AHL debuts next season.
Flames Re-Sign Dustin Wolf To Two-Year Deal
The parade of unsigned RFAs inking deals today continues. Joining the list is Flames top goaltending prospect Dustin Wolf, who PuckPedia reports has signed a two-year, $1.7MM deal. It’s a two-way pact in 2024-25 ($850K NHL/$275K AHL) before transitioning to a one-way structure in 2025-26 ($850K). He has a $375K salary guarantee this season. The team made Wolf’s deal official shortly after the initial report.
It looks to be a short-term bargain pact for one of the best young goalies in the world. Wolf, 23, was a seventh-round pick back in 2019 but has been dominant in the juniors and minors since. The California native won the Western Hockey League’s top goaltender award in his final two seasons with the Everett Silvertips and followed that up by winning the AHL’s top goalie award in each of his first two professional seasons. Over the last four seasons, Wolf has a 2.29 GAA, .926 SV%, 11 shutouts and a 97-32-10 record in 141 games with the Calgary Wranglers and Stockton Heat.
Things haven’t been quite as smooth at the NHL level for Wolf, though. The 6’0″ netminder has gotten spotty action the past two years but was relied upon more heavily as a third-string option last season, starting 15 games and making two relief appearances. He was below average in that run, posting a .893 SV% with a 3.16 GAA and a 7-7-1 record. Putting such a young goalie behind a non-playoff team is always a tough ask, though.
But with Jacob Markstrom traded to the Devils and no other notable moves in the Calgary crease, Wolf projects to start next season on the NHL roster, working in tandem with Daniel Vladar. It would be surprising to see the Flames take advantage of the two-way structure of his deal this fall, although it is worth noting he’s still waiver-exempt. That changes in 2025-26. Behind Wolf and Vladar, the Flames’ third-string option is 27-year-old Devin Cooley, who had a .870 SV% in six games for the Sharks to end last season. It was his first time seeing NHL action.
Wolf will be 25 years old upon expiry in 2026 and will still be an RFA. He’ll be eligible for salary arbitration at that time.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Flames Hoping To Contend When New Building Opens
- Wes Gilbertson of The Calgary Herald wonders if the Calgary Flames will be a contender when their new arena opens. The Flames are going through a dramatic roster overhaul that has seen them move Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, and Jacob Markstrom out for future assets. The Flames haven’t gone through a change like this since the early 2010s when they moved on from veterans Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester and they seem better equipped for this rebuild off the ice as they have a larger management team and development staff than they had a decade ago.
Evening Notes: Flames, Demidov, Strome
The Calgary Flames announced today that their new arena will be called Scotia Place. The downtown building and culture and entertainment district will replace the aging Scotiabank Saddledome which has been the Flames home since 1983. The Flames released a first look at the new building today, showing drawings of the building that is expected to house the team beginning in the 2026-27 season.
The Scotia Place arena deal is expected to keep the Flames in Calgary for the next 35 years and will include upgrades to the infrastructure in the surrounding areas. The design plans currently show a capacity limit between 18,000 and 18,400 fans which will mark a small downsize from the current capacity limit of 19,289 at the Saddledome.
In other evening notes:
- Stu Cowan of The Montreal Gazette believes that Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov will play out the final season of his contract with St. Petersburg but concedes that there is a slim chance he will make the jump to the NHL this season. The fifth overall pick in this year’s entry draft is contractually bound to the KHL for this season but if SKA opts not to hold onto him, his situation could mirror that of Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov. However, Szymon Szemberg the Managing Director of the Alliance of European Hockey Clubs doesn’t believe that is a possibility. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has been non-committal about where Demidov will play next season, saying simply that the KHL would be a good place for him to play for the upcoming season and that the team would keep their options open if he doesn’t play there.
- Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey is reporting that forward Matt Strome has re-signed with the Hershey Bears. Strome signed a two-year AHL contract with the Bears that will keep him with the reigning Calder Cup champions through the 2025-26 season. Strome scored the championship-clinching goal in the AHL finals to help Hershey secure their second consecutive AHL title. The 25-year-old is the brother of NHLers Ryan Strome and Dylan Strome and was a fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers back in 2017. The two-time AHL champion posted seven goals and 13 assists in 50 games last season and is expected to play a depth role again next year.