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Ryane Clowe Steps Down From Sharks’ Assistant GM Role

September 7, 2025 at 1:32 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley 4 Comments

In a surprising bit of news, former NHL forward Ryane Clowe has announced he has resigned from the San Jose Sharks’ assistant general manager role. Last season was Clowe’s first in a role with the Sharks front office. In a statement released through the Sharks social media, Clowe said:

I truly loved being back in San Jose and working with Mike Grier and his entire team, but at this point, this decision is in the best interest of my family. The franchise has an exciting future ahead and is set up to be successful for a long period of time…

Last summer, Clowe returned to the Sharks organization for the first time since 2013. His last tenure with the Sharks spanned 12 years, beginning with a sixth-round selection in the 2001 NHL Draft. Clowe moved to the Sharks’ pro ranks two seasons later, joining the AHL’s Cleveland Barons in the 2003-04 season. He was an instant force – netting 102 points and 198 penalty minutes over his first two seasons, and 146 games, in the minor-leagues. That earned him a full-time role in the NHL by 2006, and Clowe quickly became a core piece of the San Jose roster. He rivaled 50 points and 100 penalty minutes in every season between 2008 and 2012 – and served as the club’s assistant captain for the latter three years.

His time with San Jose came to a close when he was controversially traded to the New York Rangers for a heap of draft picks in 2013. Clowe didn’t find the same groove with the Rangers, and couldn’t rediscover it with a move to the New Jersey Devils later in his career. He played his final NHL game in 2015 and joined the Devils as an assistant coach in 2016.

Clowe worked backwards with his playing days behind him. He served two years on the Devils’ bench, before serving three in a team consultant and senior advisor position with the Rangers, and then moving to the Sharks last summer.

Now, Clowe steps away from important roles with San Jose’s NHL and AHL rosters. His duties will likely be distributed among fellow assistant GMs Joe Will and Tom Holy, unless the Sharks opt to hire a replacement. At the time, it’s not clear why Clowe chose to step away from the Sharks, though it’d be hard to imagine he stays away from the sport for too long. Clowe recorded 309 points and 618 penalty minutes in 491 games, and 13 seasons, in his NHL career. He’s pushed through six more NHL seasons in a staff position.

Can Kris Letang Rediscover His Game?

September 7, 2025 at 11:20 am CDT | by Josh Cybulski 7 Comments

Kris Letang has been a polarizing figure amongst Penguins fans since breaking into the NHL in October of 2006. Now, Letang wouldn’t become a full-time NHLer until the following season and didn’t become a number one defenseman until the 2010-11 season. But since that time, he has held on firmly to a spot on the right side of the Penguins’ top defensive pairing, and that role has never been in doubt until the 2023-24 season, when Erik Karlsson arrived via trade. Now, the questions surrounding Letang’s role on the top unit have less to do with Karlsson’s arrival and more to do with the fact that Letang’s game has slipped in recent seasons, and it is fair to ask if he should be on the Penguins’ first defensive unit.

Letang’s 2024-25 performance was below his career norms, as he scored just nine goals and 21 assists in 74 games. His -15 plus/minus was a significant drop from the previous year, along with the 100 turnovers he committed, marking the first time he reached triple digits in that category. The 100 turnovers are a glaring problem and highlight a significant issue for Letang, as his once-elite skating seemed to falter last season. He wasn’t able to create the space he was used to and often found himself carrying the puck under pressure more than in previous years. Throughout his career, Letang has been prone to defensive lapses, even at his peak. He also has a history of making questionable decisions with the puck, which has become even more evident now that his decision-making window has narrowed due to his difficulty in creating space for himself.

Now, that aging curve is undefeated, and it’s unfair to expect Letang to defy his age forever. However, his decline in play might not have been solely due to age, as the Montreal, Quebec native faced several health issues once again last season. Letang has battled a wild amount of injuries and health conditions throughout his NHL career, and he underwent heart surgery in mid-April to close a small hole in his heart that had previously caused strokes. Letang is expected to recover in time to start the upcoming season, and it is hoped that he will be fully healthy by then.

Letang has been prone to defensive lapses throughout his career, even at the peak of his abilities. In recent years, there has been a general decline in his defensive performance, partly due to aging and partly because the Penguins have overused and overextended him, especially since the arrival of Karlsson. Some might think that Karlsson’s addition would reduce some of the pressure on Letang. However, in reality, it changed his role, expecting him to be more of a defensive defenseman, which doesn’t suit his skill set, particularly given his age.

So, what can Penguins fans expect from Letang? Well, it’s fair to wonder how far north of 20 minutes per game he can play on a nightly basis. The 38-year-old has been a workhorse throughout his career, but given his age, health, and declining skills, he shouldn’t be playing as often as he currently does. He will undoubtedly try to condition himself to reach those minutes, but if the Penguins want to get the most out of Letang, they need to ease his workload. Letang probably wouldn’t love a reduced role, but if he wants to extend his career and make a greater impact, he might need to delegate some responsibilities to other members of the Penguins’ defense core.

The Penguins lack a strong defensive core; in fact, it might be the weakest in the entire league. However, they do have considerable depth on the right side, having acquired Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba this summer, and drafting Harrison Brunicke last year, who could be ready for the NHL. Now, none of those players can replace Letang when he is at his best, but Letang’s prime is behind him now, and it’s fair to wonder if any of those men can replace a worn-out Letang in part when exhaustion catches up to him.

There are some signs that Letang could bounce back. He still trains harder than perhaps anyone in the NHL and can skate well, logging significant minutes. How effective those minutes will be remains to be seen, but Letang can handle a decent amount of ice time. His speed should continue to help him be a major part of Pittsburgh’s transition game, especially if he spends a lot of time with the Penguins’ top line of Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell. Letang also remains an excellent passer and should continue to produce offense, even if other aspects of his game are more limited.

There will be challenges with Letang, and they are the same concerns the Penguins have faced in recent years. Letang has missed numerous games throughout his career due to illness and injury. There is always a risk that he could suffer another injury and miss significant time again. The Penguins have no direct replacement for Letang and need to have him in the lineup if they hope to be even average in the Eastern Conference.

Letang’s on-ice play has also become a concern as it has declined and he no longer shows the same consistency he demonstrated earlier in his career. This is expected, but since he has three years remaining on his contract, Pittsburgh is likely hoping he can improve his play again for at least another year or two. At the end of the day, Letang will be valuable to Pittsburgh. His hockey IQ should help mentor some of the younger players that the team will use this season, much like Sergei Gonchar mentored Letang early in his career. However, if Letang can adjust his game to his new reality and skill set, he could make the necessary changes to extend his career and remain in the Penguins’ top six for the next year or two. Letang has faced tough years before, battling major health hurdles, and he has always found a way to bounce back; however, this will be his biggest challenge yet.

Photo by Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Hurricanes Sign Kevin Labanc To Professional Tryout

September 7, 2025 at 9:51 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 3 Comments

The Hurricanes signed winger Kevin Labanc to a professional tryout ahead of training camp kicking off in the next several days, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Sunday.

Labanc will opt to try and stay stateside after being targeted by Russia’s CSKA Moscow earlier in the summer. His agent refuted at the time that Labanc had any interest in heading overseas, evidenced by his willingness to take a PTO instead of opting for more stability overseas.

It’s also the second straight season Labanc, who had a career-high 56 points back in the 2018-19 season with the Sharks, has had to settle for a camp tryout. He landed one with the Devils after the Sharks let him become an unrestricted free agent last summer. It didn’t end up working out in New Jersey, but his performance in their camp was strong enough for the Blue Jackets to pick him up on a one-year, league-minimum deal after he got released.

Labanc wasn’t much more than a fourth-line piece by the end of his tenure in San Jose. Nothing really changed on that front in Columbus, either. He was a serviceable depth forward for the Jackets, providing decent depth scoring – two goals and 12 points – in 34 games while averaging a career-low 10:30 per game. That was all before shoulder surgery ended his season in February.

The 29-year-old certainly isn’t the offensive presence he once was. He only has four goals and 21 points in 80 appearances over the last two seasons. Nonetheless, it’s clear to see why Carolina targeted him to fill a depth role for them.

Despite some eye-popping plus/minus figures on the Sharks over the years, Labanc has actually graded out as a high-end two-way piece lower in the lineup. He was arguably one of the Jackets’ best defensive forwards last season, posting a raw CF% of 52.6 at even strength despite only starting 42.9% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Columbus controlled nearly 4% more shot attempts with Labanc on the ice than without him, a stark contrast for anyone, let alone a player primarily deployed in defensive roles.

Ideally, Labanc can demonstrate enough utility in training camp to earn another cheap one-way deal with the Canes and start the season in a No. 13/14 role. There isn’t a ton of room for him to work his way into an opening-night job. Carolina’s rather full on the wings with their addition of Nikolaj Ehlers, pushing names like Jordan Martinook and Eric Robinson back down to fourth-line projections. There’s also William Carrier in the picture; he’s entering the second year of a six-year deal at a $2MM cap hit. It’s unlikely he ends up on waivers. That means Carolina has a tough competition for a second extra forward spot between Labanc, fellow PTO addition Givani Smith, Tyson Jost, and younger names like Ryan Suzuki.

Kings’ Liam Greentree Fully Recovered From Wrist Surgery

September 6, 2025 at 8:00 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 3 Comments

Although he’s not expected to crack the Los Angeles Kings’ roster out of training camp, prospect Liam Greentree has reportedly fully recovered from his offseason wrist surgery. In an update from David Hofreiter of the Mayor’s Manor, Greentree will participate in the Kings’ upcoming rookie camp.

After recording 36 goals and 90 points in 64 games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires during the 2023-24 season, the Kings selected Greentree with the 26th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. Suiting up for the Spitfires again last year, Greentree set new career-highs with 49 goals and 119 points in 64 games with an impressive +55 rating.

He added on to his exceptional 2024-25 performance with a solid postseason run, scoring 14 goals and 24 points in 11 games. Unfortunately, the Spitfires were eliminated in the second round of the OHL playoffs.

Regardless of the solid campaign, it’s been several months since Greentree has played at full speed, considering he missed the Kings’ development camp earlier in the summer. Meanwhile, he was held out of the Spitfires’ first preseason contest last night, although he’s expected to feature in at least one exhibition before heading to Los Angeles for rookie camp.

He’ll be an interesting player to watch in the upcoming season. He has very little left to prove in the OHL, but isn’t old enough to play for the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign (unless the current rules are unexpectedly amended before the start of the season). Instead of getting a nine-game tryout with the Kings to start the season, it may be best to wait toward the back of the season to get Greentree into Los Angeles’ nine remaining games before participating in the playoffs, if they qualify.

Summer Synopsis: San Jose Sharks

September 6, 2025 at 6:25 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

With training camps now just a couple of weeks away, 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. Next up is a look at San Jose.

Expectations weren’t particularly high for the Sharks heading into last season as their extended rebuild continued with their struggles to land another top draft pick. This summer saw GM Mike Grier be quite active overall, although expectations for the upcoming season will once again be low, as the bulk of their summer activity was adding short-term veterans who could potentially be flipped later in the season.

Draft

1-2 – F Michael Misa, Saginaw (OHL)
1-30 – G Joshua Ravensbergen, Prince George (WHL)
2-33 – D Haoxi Wang, Oshawa (OHL)
2-53 – F Cole McKinney, U.S. U18 (NTDP)
3-95 – F Teddy Mutryn, Chicago (USHL)
4-115 – D Ilyas Magomedsultanov, Yaroslavl (MHL)
4-124 – D Zack Sharp, Western Michigan (NCHC)
5-150 – F Max Heise, Penticton (BCHL)
7-210 – F Richard Gallant, U.S. U18 (NTDP)

Arguably the best forward, if not the best player, heading into the 2025 NHL Draft, Misa adds to an already elite group of Sharks forward prospects. In his third season with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, Misa recorded 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games with a +45 rating. Displaying a skating ability reminiscent of former MVP Nathan MacKinnon, San Jose could have one of the scariest forward cores in the league with Misa, Celebrini, and Smith headlining.

Despite having mixed results throughout the 2024-25 season, Ravensbergen is a prototypical goalie prospect, standing at 6’5″ and having the movement between the pipes as if he’s a foot shorter. Throughout his rookie campaign with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Ravensbergen managed a 26-4-1 record in 38 games with a .907 SV% and 2.46 GAA, along with six shutouts. Although it’s difficult to project him as a consistent threat for the Vezina Trophy, Ravensbergen has the size and ability to be an above-average netminder at the NHL level.

Outside of their top two selections, the Sharks’ next four picks are all projected to play NHL minutes throughout their careers. It’s a fool’s errand to accurately project the players beyond the first four rounds in any year of the draft, but most pundits consider San Jose’s 2025 draft to be an overwhelming success.

Trade Acquisitions

F Shane Bowers (from New Jersey)
G Alex Nedeljkovic (from Pittsburgh)
F Oskar Olausson (from Colorado)
G Carey Price (from Montreal)
F Ryan Reaves (from Toronto)

Acquiring some insurance for Askarov, the Sharks will become the fourth team of Nedeljkovic’s career. After failing to become an everyday goalie for the Detroit Red Wings, Nedeljkovic spent the last two years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, managing a 32-22-12 record in 76 games with a .898 SV% and 3.05 GAA. While that production doesn’t exhibit much stability, it’s worth noting that Nedeljkovic nearly led the Penguins to the postseason in the 2023-24 campaign, with an 8-2-2 performance to end the season.

Outside of Nedeljkovic, San Jose didn’t add too much on the trade market. Reaves holds nearly zero value as an everyday player, but will add some protection for the Sharks’ crop of young talent. Meanwhile, although each used to be an above-average prospect, Bowers and Olausson have a lot of work cut out for them should they become consistent NHL talents.

One of the Sharks’ biggest trades of the summer came only yesterday, when they acquired Price’s contract from the Montreal Canadiens. Although he’ll never play with San Jose, he affords them a $10.5MM salary cushion should they hope to trade any current veterans for prospects or draft capital. The best part is, despite having a $10.5MM cap hit, the Sharks only owe Price $2MM throughout the regular season since much of his salary was paid out via a signing bonus on September 1st.

UFA Signings

D Cole Clayton (one year, $775K)*
F Adam Gaudette (two years, $4MM)
F Jimmy Huntington (one year, $775K)*
D John Klingberg (one year, $4MM)
F Philipp Kurashev (one year, $1.2MM)
F Samuel Laberge (one year, $775K)*
D Dmitry Orlov (two years, $13MM)
F Pavol Regenda (one year, $775K)*^
G Jakub Skarek (one year, $775K)
F Jeff Skinner (one year, $3MM)
F Colin White (one year, $775K)*^

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

Heading into the summer months, the Sharks had the cap space to supplement their young roster. In doing so, the team added Klingberg and Orlov to expensive deals to bolster the blue line, while also adding depth forwards like Gaudette, Kurashev, and Skinner.

After scoring one goal and four points in 19 postseason games for the Oilers during the 2024-25 Stanley Cup playoffs, Klingberg doesn’t appear to be the health question mark he was heading into last season. Regardless of his limited availability over the past several years, Klingberg immediately becomes the Sharks’ top option on the right side.

Meanwhile, Orlov lands in the Bay Area after four solid seasons split between the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes. Throughout that stretch, Orlov scored 31 goals and 125 points in 300 games with a +57 rating, averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per night. Although he did have a shaky performance with the Hurricanes last postseason, he’s now one of the most accomplished defensemen on the Sharks.

Along with the youngsters who will undoubtedly compete for a roster spot during training camp, the trio of Gaudette, Kurashev, and Skinner should make up for the exodus of depth forwards the team sustained this offseason. Even if they don’t have career years, they’ll raise the Sharks’ floor at the very least, and keep some stability in the bottom six of the forward core.

RFA Re-Signings

F Egor Afanasyev (one year, $800K)
G Gabriel Carriere (one year, $795K)*
D Shakir Mukhamadullin (one year, $1MM)
D Jack Thompson (one year, $800K)*

*-denotes two-way contract

There wasn’t a lot of work to be done on this front this summer. With Mukhamadullin and Thompson still adjusting to the NHL, a short-term contract was the best option for both parties while the team evaluates their potential roles in the future. Meanwhile, the return of Afanasyev from the KHL was a little unexpected. He’ll have a chance to push for a roster spot in training camp and will be waiver-eligible for the first time this fall.

Key Extension

F William Eklund (three years, $16.8MM)

It’s not very often that a team will sign a player to a bridge contract a year before their contract actually expires, but that’s the route Eklund and the Sharks took this summer. The 22-year-old forward has shown lots of promise in his first two full NHL seasons, including putting up 58 points in 2024-25, good for second on San Jose in team scoring. Eklund, the seventh overall pick in 2021, remains a big part of their long-term plans and will be pencilled into a top-six spot once again this season. But he’ll have to wait a little while longer to secure the long-term contract that some thought might have been coming his way next year, while both sides will have more time to assess his long-term upside.

Waiver Claim

D Nick Leddy (from St. Louis)

For the second straight summer, the Sharks executed a rare waiver claim to add a veteran, this time on the back end after getting Barclay Goodrow last year. Leddy dealt with some injury issues last season and didn’t fare particularly well when he was in the lineup. Still, he adds some veteran depth on the back end, and if San Jose can get his game back on track, he could become a viable trade candidate late in the season.

Departures

F Carl Berglund (signed in Czechia)
F Thomas Bordeleau (trade with New Jersey)
F Nolan Burke (unsigned)
F Brandon Coe (unsigned)
F Walker Duehr (signed with Winnipeg, one year, $775K)*
G Alexandar Georgiev (unsigned)
F Noah Gregor (unsigned)
F Daniil Gushchin (trade with Colorado)
F Klim Kostin (unsigned)
F Nikolai Kovalenko (signed in KHL)
D Gannon Laroque (trade with Montreal)
F Andrew Poturalski (contract termination, signed in KHL)
G Georgi Romanov (PTO with New Jersey)
F Mitchell Russell (signed in ECHL)
D Jan Rutta (signed in Switzerland)
D Scott Sabourin (signed with Tampa Bay, one year, $775K)*
D Jimmy Schuldt (signed with Vancouver, two years, $1.55MM)*
D Henry Thrun (trade with Toronto)
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (bought out, unsigned)

*-denotes two-way contract

Although the Sharks weren’t in a position to lose any big names this offseason, they lost plenty of depth. Still, given the number of additions and influx of young talent, San Jose was in a comfortable position to sustain every departure.

The most notable, if any, will undoubtedly be Vlasic. Becoming a shell of himself since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, Vlasic had only scored 17 goals and 68 points in his last 358 games as a Shark with a -90 rating while averaging 17:09 of ice time per game. Still, giving 19 years of his life to the organization, Vlasic will always be remembered as one of the best defensemen to ever wear the teal.

Outside of Vlasic, the combination of Bordeleau, Duehr, Gregor, Gushchin, Kostin, Kovalenko, Poturalski, Rutta, Sabourin, Schuldt, and Thrun provided the Sharks with 11 goals and 45 points in 223 combined games last season. Arguably, San Jose should be able to replicate, if not improve upon, that production with their additions and promotions this summer.

Salary Cap Outlook

Even with taking on a $10.5MM cap charge with Price, the Sharks still have plenty of cap flexibility heading into the season, with more than $9MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. With them being widely expected to sell at some point, the addition of Price should help keep them comfortably above the $70.6MM salary floor. Meanwhile, with just over $41MM on the books beyond the upcoming season and only one player signed beyond 2027-28 (Eklund), San Jose has arguably the most cap flexibility of any team moving forward.

Key Questions

How Much Will Askarov Play In His First Full NHL Season? When Grier acquired Yaroslav Askarov from Nashville last offseason, he secured what he hopes will be their long-term solution between the pipes. However, he will enter the year with just 16 NHL appearances under his belt, and generally speaking, throwing a young netminder to the wolves on a team that’s not expected to be particularly competitive is risky from a development standpoint. The addition of Nedeljkovic gives them some insurance, but how they split the starts will be interesting to see. Do they try to push Askarov with more of a traditional starting workload, or will it be more of a split so that they don’t throw too much at the young player too quickly?

What Will Happen With Ferraro? For the last two years, defenseman Mario Ferraro has been a speculative trade candidate leading up to the trade deadline, but no move has come to fruition. Now, the 26-year-old is entering the final season of his contract, one that carries a respectable $3.25MM AAV. Grier will need to decide in the coming months leading up to the March 6th trade deadline if he views Ferraro as a longer-term building block, meaning that contract extension talks will be needed. Otherwise, perhaps the third time will be the charm on the trade front.

How Big Of A Next Step Will Celebrini Take? While he didn’t win the Calder Trophy last season (he finished third in voting), 2024 top pick Macklin Celebrini had an impressive rookie year, leading the Sharks in scoring with 63 points (25 goals and 38 assists) in 70 games. Widely viewed as an elite two-way center of the future, can Celebrini take a step forward offensively while also shoring up his defensive play? The sooner he becomes the all-around player he has been touted to become, the sooner one of the hardest positions to fill in a rebuild will be in place. A significant leap could prompt Grier to transition from rebuilding to acquiring long-term additions for the team.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire and David Gonzales-Imagn Images.

PHR’s Brennan McClain also continued to this post.

SHL’s Växjö Lakers HC Sign Brogan Rafferty

September 6, 2025 at 5:02 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain Leave a Comment

The SHL’s Växjö Lakers HC has strengthened its defensive lineup as it aims for postseason qualification for the 13th consecutive year. According to a team announcement, the Lakers have signed defenseman Brogan Rafferty to a two-year contract.

Before signing as an undrafted free agent and debuting with the Vancouver Canucks toward the end of the 2018-19 campaign, Rafferty enjoyed a strong three-year career with the NCAA’s Quinnipiac University. Although he departed four years before the program won its first national championship in 2023, Rafferty scored 10 goals and 65 points in 116 games for the Bobcats before becoming one of only 11 alumni to participate in an NHL contest.

The West Dundee, IL native appeared in two games for the Canucks to close out the 2018-19 campaign and spent the entire next season with their then-AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Earning All-Rookie First Team honors that year, Rafferty finished with seven goals and 45 points in 54 games with a +17 rating.

Unfortunately, despite his success as a rookie in the AHL, Rafferty spent the entire 2020-21 campaign on Vancouver’s taxi squad, participating in just one game for the Canucks, where he collected his first assist. Rather than continue his stay with Vancouver, Rafferty signed a one-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks the following offseason.

Since then, Rafferty has only played in the AHL, spending time with the San Diego Gulls (Anaheim), Coachella Valley Firebirds (Seattle Kraken), and Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings). Although he hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2020-21 season, he put together an exceptional performance with the Firebirds during the 2022-23 campaign, collecting nine goals and 51 points in 72 games with a +28 rating. Helping Coachella Valley reach the Calder Cup Final, Rafferty scored two goals and 11 points in 26 postseason contests.

West Notes: Golden Knights, Kravtsov, Murphy

September 6, 2025 at 4:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

With Alex Pietrangelo’s playing career likely over, the Golden Knights have a big hole to fill on their back end but beyond swapping Nicolas Hague for Jeremy Lauzon (and center Colton Sissons), Vegas hasn’t made any other moves on the blueline. It doesn’t appear that will change either. In an interview for The Athletic with Pierre LeBrun (subscription link), GM Kelly McCrimmon indicated that he thinks his roster is set for the upcoming season. He feels confident that Kaedan Korczak is now ready to step up and be a full-time regular after being more of a depth player through his first few NHL seasons. He also singled out veteran Ben Hutton, a frequent scratch last season, as someone who is capable of stepping up into a bigger role. More than $7.6MM over the cap already (before factoring in Pietrangelo’s eventual LTIR placement) per PuckPedia, there just isn’t much wiggle room for the Golden Knights to try to add to their back end even if McCrimmon was inclined to try to make another move.

Islanders Won’t Pursue Extension With Anders Lee Yet

September 6, 2025 at 2:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

Winger Anders Lee has been a fixture in the lineup for the Islanders for more than a decade now. He’s entering the final year of his contract which makes him eligible to sign a contract extension. However, in an interview for The Athletic with Pierre LeBrun (subscription link), GM Mathieu Darche indicated that their plan is not to pursue a new deal with the captain just yet:

I said to him, ‘Let’s start the year and see where it goes.’ No urgency on his side, on my side. He’s the captain of our team, and I really like the individual. But I’m new to the team, right? There’s no one that’s on an expiring deal, that has one year left, that I’ve re-signed. It’s not because I don’t want to, I had enough on my plate this summer. I’ve got a great relationship with Anders.

The 35-year-old is entering the final season of a seven-year, $49MM contract that has held up okay over the life of the agreement. He signed it not too far removed from a career-best 40-goal season, a mark that he hasn’t come close to reaching since then. However, Lee has scored at least 20 goals in five of the first six seasons of the agreement with the one year he didn’t get there being 2020-21 when he was limited to just 27 games.

After a tough showing in 2023-24, Lee rebounded quite nicely last season, collecting 29 goals and 25 assists in 82 games. Notably, his goal and point totals were the highest he has put up on this contract, suggesting that he still has plenty left in the tank and that he’s someone the Isles should want to keep around a little longer.

Earlier this summer, AFP Analytics projected that an extension for Lee could cost around $6.275MM per season on a two-year deal. That would represent a small cut from what he’s making now but within the context of a quickly changing salary cap environment, that would seemingly represent a reasonable deal for both sides.

But at the same time, it makes sense for Darche to hold off for now. He’s still getting to know his new team and if things don’t go well in the early going this season, he might have to pivot from his current approach of not rebuilding. In that scenario, Lee could potentially become one of their better trade chips so keeping their options open makes sense from an organizational standpoint. Meanwhile, if things are looking up a few months in, that would still leave plenty of time for Darche and Lee’s camp to start discussions to keep him in New York even longer.

Snapshots: Formenton, Kostin, NCAA

September 6, 2025 at 1:49 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

After being found not guilty of sexual assault earlier this summer, Alex Formenton has decided to resume his playing career. While he and the others who were on trial remain ineligible to play in the NHL at this time pending review and consideration of the judge’s findings in the case, Formenton is once again heading overseas as Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland announced that they’ve signed the winger to a three-month contract with a team option to convert it to a full-season deal. Formenton spent two seasons with them in 2022-23 and 2023-24, collecting 20 goals and nine assists in 46 games before leaving the team once charges were laid.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

Veteran winger Klim Kostin is still looking to secure a contract for the upcoming season. He told Alexey Shevchenko of Sport-Express that his desire is to return to Edmonton, where he spent the 2022-23 campaign. He notched 11 goals and 10 assists in 57 games that season, both career bests; he managed just 21 points in the last two years combined between Detroit and San Jose. With the Oilers having limited cap flexibility, he’d likely have to settle for a PTO deal and then try to force his way into a roster spot from there.
The change to allow CHL players to become NCAA-eligible has made waves across the hockey world this offseason. But there is another small wrinkle now in play, as Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike observes (Twitter link). In the past, NCAA-bound players were ineligible to take part in NHL rookie and training camps, even if they weren’t enrolled for the upcoming season. That is no longer the case. While players actively enrolled in college still won’t be eligible to participate, those committed to college hockey but only for next year will be able. Pike notes that Flames prospect Mace’o Phillips is poised to benefit from the change; he’ll play with USHL Green Bay this season but is committed to the University of Minnesota for 2026-27. Because of that, he’s eligible to take part in training camp with Calgary this month.

Two Teams Remain In The Running To Sign Evgeny Kuznetsov

September 6, 2025 at 12:39 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 14 Comments

After making his intention to return to North America known, it was expected that free agent center Evgeny Kuznetsov would be snapped up relatively quickly in a UFA market that wasn’t exactly deep this summer. But instead, his market has been slow-played as he remains unsigned.

However, it appears that he may not be without a contract for much longer. His agent Shumi Babaev told Sports Daily’s Mikhail Nyukhin that his client has now identified two NHL teams that he’ll sign with; he didn’t specify who they were, however. Both of those teams are now in the process of trying to open up salary cap space to sign Kuznetsov. When asked about him signing a minimum-salary contract worth $775K, Babaev indicated that there have been no talks about that.

Last summer, the 33-year-old signed a four-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL which strongly suggested that his days of playing in the NHL had come to an end. But after a solid season that saw him record 12 goals and 25 assists in 39 games, the final three seasons of the agreement were terminated back in April but instead of looking for another team in Russia to sign with, he set his sights on returning to North America.

Kuznetsov last played in the NHL in 2023-24, starting that year with Washington, the only NHL team he had known after they drafted him in the first round in 2010. However, he re-entered the Player Assistance Program in February of that season and upon being cleared to return, the Capitals subsequently waived him. After he cleared (an unsurprising outcome given his $7.8MM cap charge), he was dealt with 50% retention to Carolina for a third-round pick.

Kuznetsov went on to pick up seven points in 20 games with the Hurricanes before tallying six more in 10 playoff outings, looking as if he could be a useful secondary contributor for them. However, he requested and was granted the termination of the final year of that contract to allow him to return to Russia; one year later, the opposite has happened.

In his prime, Kuznetsov was a legitimate number one center, allowing him to amass 173 goals and 402 assists in 743 games at the top level. But toward the end of that time, his production was starting to slow down and it’s fair to question how much of an impact he’ll have on a lineup now. However, it appears that there was enough of a market for him to be at least a little selective on where he’ll play at a salary higher than the minimum. It looks as if we’ll know somewhat soon where Kuznetsov will be suiting up in 2025-26.

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