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Atlantic Notes: Hakanpaa, Sandin Pellikka, Beecher

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While committing to signing defenseman Jani Hakanpaa on the opening day of free agency, the Maple Leafs have yet to formally register a contract; GM Brad Treliving indicated earlier this week that they’re still working through things.  Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reported on his podcast (video link) that the blueliner believes that he can play with his current condition on his knee but that the viewpoint isn’t exactly unanimous when it comes to medical opinions.  The 32-year-old played in 64 regular season games with Dallas last season before undergoing knee surgery that kept him out for the rest of the year and playoffs.  With the uncertainty about his health becoming more widely known, this may be a situation where the two sides ultimately settle on a one-year deal after agreeing to terms on a two-year pact originally.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Despite recent speculation to the contrary, Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka will not attend training camp with Detroit next month, relays Norran’s Robin Lindgren. The 19-year-old was the 17th pick in the 2023 draft and is coming off a solid showing with SHL Skelleftea, notching ten goals and eight assists in 39 games, impressive numbers for a young blueliner.  Sandin-Pellikka noted that while he was invited to camp with Detroit, the decision has already been made that he’ll remain in Sweden for the season.  Accordingly, he has decided that it makes more sense for him to stay with Skelleftea instead of missing the first few games of the SHL season to participate in some exhibition games in North America.
  • Despite being drafted as a center and spending most of last season down the middle, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald suggests that John Beecher will line up primarily as a winger for the upcoming season. Boston picked up Mark Kastelic from Ottawa as part of the Linus Ullmark trade and the sense seems to be that he will anchor the fourth line with Beecher lining up on the wing with him.  The 23-year-old had 10 points in 52 games with the Bruins last season in his first taste of NHL action.  He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.

Poll: Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Option Next Summer?

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As things currently stand, the 2025 free agent class is set to be headlined by Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche, and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like most years and particularly at the top of the free agent market, all three players are expected to reach extensions with their current clubs in the coming weeks with other potential candidates taking the same approach.

However, even outside of the three-headed monster at the forward position, there will still be quality names available next summer. Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs has seen his name pop up numerous times in trade rumors this summer without anything coming to fruition. The Maple Leafs are expecting head coach Craig Berube to get the most out of Marner (particularly in the playoffs) and may look to extend him during next year’s campaign.

Toronto could also give in to the pressure and allow Marner to walk next offseason especially if the team fails to make waves in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Marner would quickly become one of the premier playmakers to have entered the open market and would certainly get a lucrative offer. Being nearly unstoppable during the regular season over the last six years, Marner has accrued 417 games for the Maple Leafs in that span while scoring 356 assists and 509 points. He is not limited to his offensive prowess either as Marner has earned Selke Trophy votes as the league’s best defensive forward every year since 2018-19.

Dissimilar to Marner, it is almost entirely out of the question that Nikolaj Ehlers will sign an extension with the Winnipeg Jets. Ehlers has been a part of the Jets organization since being drafted by the club with the ninth overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft and has put up 201 goals and 457 points in 605 games in Winnipeg’s uniform. There have been rather public reports out of Winnipeg that Ehlers won’t be re-upping with the organization and immediately became one of the top trade options available this offseason. The native of Aalborg, Denmark excels in passing the puck but also regularly puts up some of the best possession numbers in the game.

Lastly, Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks could be the top goal scorer to enter the free-agent market next summer. His market and projected contract will be more difficult to ascertain however as he averaged between 28-29 goals through the first seven years of his career before rifling off 40 markers this past season. Boeser’s shooting percentage was also up 7.1% last year compared to his career average which may be a sign of regression next year. If he can get anywhere near 40 goals again this season with the Canucks, he may cement himself as one of the top-five options next summer.

The proposed list is not constrained to these three players as the likes of Carter Verhaeghe, Brock Nelson, John Tavares, and Jamie Benn could all be available as well as the three players initially listed. The list will thin considerably over the next calendar year but who do you think will be the top option available once the season turns over to July 1st, 2025?

Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Option Next Summer?
Mitch Marner 55.98% (557 votes)
Nikolaj Ehlers 15.98% (159 votes)
Brock Boeser 14.97% (149 votes)
Other (comment below) 13.07% (130 votes)
Total Votes: 995

Summer Synopsis: Calgary Flames

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The Calgary Flames are in a season of transition for the first time in quite some time. The organization is only three years removed from knocking off the stingy Dallas Stars in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs before losing at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers in five games. Since that run in the playoffs, the Flames have traded away the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Jacob Markstrom, and Andrew Mangiapane while also seeing franchise icon Johnny Gaudreau leave the team via unrestricted free agency. Not many teams can sustain that level of talent walk out the door but Calgary is fortunate that they didn’t let many find greener pastures for nothing in return.

Draft

1-9: D Zayne Parekh, Saginaw (OHL)
1-28: F Matvei Gridin, Muskegon (USHL)
2-41: F Andrew Basha, Medicine Hat (WHL)
2-62: F Jacob Battaglia, Kingston (OHL)
3-74: D Henry Mews, Ottawa (OHL)
3-84: G Kirill Zarubin, Tula (MHL)
4-106: C Trevor Hoskin, Cobourg (OJHL)
5-150: C Luke Misa, Mississauga (OHL)
6-170: C Hunter Laing, Prince George (WHL)
6-177: D Eric Jamieson, Everett (WHL)

The Flames picked in the top 10 of the draft for the first time since the 2016 NHL Draft. They used the ninth overall selection on Parekh who was listed in the top five of North American skaters and the third-best North American defenseman. He’s a very talented offensive-minded defenseman coming off a season with the Spirit in which he scored 33 goals and 96 points from the blue line in 66 games. He doesn’t project to have the same defensive awareness as Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche — but his puckhandling skills and ability to create holes in the ice are eerily similar.

Calgary used their second first-round selection on Gridin who shares a similar ability in opening up space in the offensive zone. Playing for the USHL’s Lumberjacks the past two years after coming over from his native Russia, Gridin has scored 46 goals and 104 points in 100 appearances. He may take a bit longer to develop compared to Parekh as the Flames will see how he fares against stiffer competition but he projects to be a solid scoring option to place in the middle-six.

One of the better picks for the Flames after Day One was the selection of Battaglia from the Frontenacs. He’s an impressively quick player from his footspeed to his passing ability and could feature in Calgary’s top six if his development continues upward. He scored 31 goals and 65 points in 67 games for Kingston this past season but his goal-scoring ability may decrease as he climbs to the NHL.

Trade Acquisitions

D Kevin Bahl (New Jersey)

Bahl was the only player acquired by the Flames this summer but the team also added notable draft picks. In the trade that saw Bahl join the Flames organization, the team also acquired New Jersey’s 2025 first-round pick. Furthermore, Calgary traded Mangiapane to the Washington Capitals a few days before the start of free agency with Washington’s second-round pick in 2025 headed to Alberta.

Because of New Jersey’s depth on the blue line, it took Bahl several years to become a regular fixture in the lineup. Last season, he played in all 82 games for the Devils and scored one goal and 11 points while averaging 17:24 of ice time per night. Due to the departures Calgary saw on their blue line last season, it stands to reason that Bahl could crack the top four with the Flames and receive close to 20 minutes a night.

UFA Signings

D Jake Bean (two-year, $3.5MM)
G Devin Cooley (two-year, $1.55MM)*
F Martin Frk (one-year, $775K)*
F Justin Kirkland (one-year, $775K)*
F Ryan Lomberg (two-year, $4MM)
F Anthony Mantha (one-year, $3.5MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

As expected, the Flames were not very involved in the free agent market this summer and did not sign any deal longer than two years. Bean, Lomberg, and Mantha project as the biggest signings of the offseason with the former being an interesting bounceback candidate. Bean skated in 73 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season and scored four goals and 13 points overall but is not far removed from being a top-15 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

Lomberg spent much of the last four years serving as a depth piece for the Florida Panthers but should earn a regular bottom-six role with the Flames. Over the last three years in Florida, Lomberg skated in 212 games while scoring 26 goals and 45 points but the most notable aspect of his game became his physicality. Lomberg amassed  445 hits over those three years with the Panthers and should make Calgary’s bottom six much more annoying to play against.

Mantha is another potential rebound candidate for the Flames and should get regular minutes in the top six and the team’s powerplay. Before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights last year, Mantha scored 20 goals in 56 games for the Washington Capitals but floundered dramatically after being traded. The Golden Knights went as far as to make Mantha a healthy scratch for the playoffs but now has an opportunity to rebuild his value in Alberta.

RFA Re-Signings

D Jonathan Aspirot (one-year, $775K)*
F Adam Klapka (one-year, $775K)*
D Yan Kuznetsov (one-year, $775K)*
F Yegor Sharangovich (five-year, $28.75MM)
G Dustin Wolf (two-year, $1.7MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

As the main piece acquired in the trade that sent Toffoli to the Devils last offseason, Sharangovich greatly impressed with the Flames this year leading to a heavy commitment from the organization. With a bigger opportunity in Calgary, Sharanovich averaged nearly two more minutes of ice time per night as compared to his time in New Jersey and scored 31 goals and 59 points for the Flames in 82 games. The young forward finished second on the team in scoring as well as leading the team in goals. He will have his work cut out for him if he plans on being the leading scorer for Calgary but he is exactly the type of forward they need if they hope to keep their head above water.

The other notable re-signing for the Flames this summer is Wolf who’s contract may already be a bargain. Wolf has struggled in his brief time in the NHL up to this point but he is firmly the goaltender of the future after the team sent Markstrom packing for the East Coast earlier this offseason. His play in the AHL over the last several years has earned him quite the pedigree as a prospect as he’s accrued a record of 97-32-10 in 141 games played while averaging a .926 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average.

Departures

D Dennis Gilbert (Buffalo, one-year, $825K)
F A.J. Greer (Florida, two-year, $1.7MM)
F Ben Jones (Minnesota, two-year, $1.55MM)*
D Oliver Kylington (Colorado, one-year, $1.05MM)
F Andrew Mangiapane (traded to Washington)
G Jacob Markstrom (traded to New Jersey)
D Jordan Oesterle (Boston, two-year, $1.55MM)*
D Colton Poolman (Buffalo, one-year, $755K)*

* denotes a two-way contract

Thanks to their actions on the trade market throughout the 2023-24 NHL season, the Flames didn’t have much in the way of departures on the free-agent market. The most notable departure in free agency came in Kylington who the team had previously expressed a desire to keep around. The Swedish defenseman spent the entirety of his career in the Flames organization since being drafted in the 2015 NHL Draft and chose to leave for a more competitive opportunity in Colorado.

The deal sending Markstrom to the Devils had been in the making for several months as the two teams were close to a deal at last year’s trade deadline. The return for Markstrom seemed underwhelming as the Flames only acquired a first-round pick in 2025 and Bahl as previously mentioned. However, the team already had Wolf waiting in the wings and the team can get out from under Markstrom’s $6MM salary for the next two years.

The departure of Mangiapane was more surprising than the deal sending Markstrom to New Jersey as it fully committed the Flames to a rebuilding year. He has not lived up to his $5.8MM salary but has been a consistent secondary scoring option for Calgary over the last three years. Mangiapane struck as a player the Flames may look to keep through the long haul of the rebuild but the team is opting to give his minutes in the top six to one of their younger options.

Salary Cap Outlook

Now that Calgary has moved out a decent chunk of their salaries over the last two years, the team has the second-most cap space in the NHL with $19.2MM. That leaves the Flames nearly $4MM above the salary cap floor and this is something they should weaponize throughout the 2024-25 NHL season.

For teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, and Florida Panthers, the Flames could serve as a dumping ground for some of their bloated contracts so Calgary can effectively purchase draft and prospect capital. The team shouldn’t be near contention next season in an always difficult Pacific Division so the Flames would do well to utilize their cap space.

Key Questions

Is There More Selling Coming?

Circling back to their salary cap space for the 2024-25 season, the Flames will be limited in their ability to sell again. Depending on the team’s organizational window for getting back to contention, Calgary would do well at looking at the markets for Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, Jonathan Huberdeau, and MacKenzie Weegar. The Huberdeau contract in particular has already become one of the worst in the league so the Flames would have to add some sort of kicker going back the other way.

Because the team has such a narrow window of being above the salary cap floor, they will need to take on a bad contract in return if they want to stay cap-compliant. Since the team projects to be one of the worst in the NHL this season, the Flames should do everything they can to build up their prospect and draft capital while transitioning more veteran players out of the organization.

When Will The Prospects Come Up? 

Calgary has opened up several opportunities on the roster with the amount of trades they’ve made over the last calendar year. However, although training camp has yet to take place, Wolf and Connor Zary project as the only two top-level prospects on the roster heading into next year.

Because of the trades, the Flames have built up a notable farm system and they should see what they have sooner rather than later. Calgary would be doing a disservice to their prospects if they didn’t open up a full-time opportunity for Matthew Coronato at some point during next season and should create the flexibility to get notable 2024 draft picks Parekh and Basha into the lineup once their junior seasons end next year.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Carolina Hurricanes Make Front Office Changes

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General manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Tulsky, continues to organize his front office after former general manager Don Waddell resigned from the team in late May. The organization announced today they have hired Tyler Dellow as assistant general manager and promoted Darren Yorke to associate general manager and GM of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Dellow has been in the NHL for the better part of the last decade as he served as an analytic consultant for the Edmonton Oilers from 2014-16 and as the vice president of hockey analytics for the New Jersey Devils from 2019-24. In his shift over to the Hurricanes organization, Dellow’s analytical background is eerily similar to Tulsky’s with the latter serving as an analyst and director of analytics in Carolina from 2014-20.

Adding to his strong portfolio, Dellow earned a law degree from the University of Toronto and served as a civil litigation lawyer in Toronto before moving to hockey. The Hurricanes are making Dellow responsible for overseeing data analysis and compliance with the salary cap and the current collective bargaining agreement given his strong background.

Yorke has been a longtime fixture in Carolina’s front office with his first role coming in 2010-11 as a video scout. After seven years as a scout, Yorke briefly became the director of scouting in Carolina for one year before becoming the team’s director of player personnel in 2018-19. Tulsky and Yorke were named assistant general managers in 2020-21 and Yorke’s scouting and developmental background should make him an ideal candidate to oversee the AHL operations.

Snapshots: Team Canada, Pacioretty, Marushev

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True best-on-best men’s hockey is only about six months away from making its return at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The countries participating have already named their first six roster players for the event, with Canada already confirming they’ll be taking Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Brad Marchand.

But there are still many roster decisions still to be made, especially for the league’s most common nationality. To that end, Luke Fox of Sportsnet listed some dark-horse youngsters that could challenge for spots. Most of them would be repping the senior team for the first time, although a few have World Championship experience.

Look for Quinton Byfield, Alexis Lafrenière and Mason McTavish to get outside consideration for bottom-six roles, Fox opines, while Thomas Harley and Owen Power will push to find spots on the blue line. But the biggest question mark at any international event for the Canadians recently has been goaltending, and that won’t change for the February tournament.

As such, look for Blues backup Joel Hofer to push for a spot on the final roster, Fox says. The 24-year-old finished 11th in Calder Trophy voting last season after posting a 15-12-1 record, .913 SV% and 2.65 GAA in 27 starts and three relief appearances behind Jordan Binnington in St. Louis.

Other tidbits from around the league:

  • If the Sharks aren’t content with the veteran pickups they’ve made so far this offseason, they should approach free-agent winger Max Pacioretty about attending training camp on a PTO, opines Max Miller of The Hockey News. San Jose was busy insulating rookies Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith this summer, adding Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg in free agency and claiming Barclay Goodrow off waivers from the Rangers. But the club could still have a bit of a competition brewing for roster spots up front, especially if captain Logan Couture isn’t healthy enough to return to play after osteitis pubis cost him nearly all of 2023-24. Pacioretty has played just 91 games combined over the past three seasons due to multiple Achilles tendon tears, and the 35-year-old had just four goals in 47 games with the Capitals last year.
  • Former Golden Knights prospect Maxim Marushev is on the move in his native Russia, dropping down from the KHL to the VHL with Metallurg Novokuznetsk for 2024-25 (per a team announcement). Marushev, now 25, was a seventh-round pick of the Golden Knights in 2020. He played parts of three seasons for their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, recording 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 125 games. Upon the expiry of his entry-level contract in 2023, he wasn’t issued a qualifying offer and returned home. However, he managed just one point in 28 KHL games last year, split between Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk.

Avalanche Hire Andrew Wilson As Assistant General Manager

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The Avalanche have added NHL Central Registry Vice President Andrew Wilson to their front office as an assistant general manager, the team announced. The 41-year-old “will be working closely with general manager Chris MacFarland on all hockey-related matters.”

While Wilson may not be a household name in the public eye, he’s likely on speed dial for all 32 of the league’s GMs. That’s because his role with the Central Registry often made him the primary contact for inquiries regarding Collective Bargaining Agreement and salary cap compliance. He was also often on the other end of the line when GMs were holding trade calls or submitting contracts to the league.

Few people are more qualified to navigate the intricacies of league rules, and the Avs hope to gain a competitive advantage with the hire. Wilson joins a front office that already includes MacFarland, president of hockey operations Joe Sakic and assistant GM Kevin McDonald. McDonald’s primary area of focus will remain with the Avs’ AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

The Avalanche didn’t have a second AGM in 2023-24, so this move should take a considerable workload away from all of MacFarland, McDonald and Sakic. Colorado hasn’t had two AGMs since MacFarland and Craig Billington worked under Sakic in 2021-22.

Minor Transactions: 8/16/24

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As per usual, we’re keeping track of some of the notable moves from around the minors and European leagues today:

  • Diminutive winger Austin Ortega won’t be heading to Russia after all. The 30-year-old California native signed a one-year deal with Admiral Vladivostok of the Kontinental Hockey League back in May, but the league announced today that Admiral had terminated his contract. Ortega spent a brief period in the Ducks’ system after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2017, and while he was immensely productive with 45 points in 29 ECHL games and 21 points in 35 AHL games, he didn’t earn an NHL contract. He’s been overseas since 2018 and spent the last three seasons with EHC Munich in Germany, where he won a DEL championship in 2023.
  • As reported earlier in the week, former Hurricanes defense prospect Griffin Mendel is heading to the Czech Extraliga on a one-year deal with Rytiri Kladno, the team announced. Mendel, 25, split last year between the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals while on a two-way deal with Carolina, but the 6’6″ left-shot was limited to 14 points and a -6 rating in 52 games across the two leagues. He wasn’t given a qualifying offer back in June, becoming an unrestricted free agent.
  • 26-year-old defenseman Griffin Luce has settled for an ECHL deal with the Islanders’ affiliate, the Worcester Railers, after spending last season on a two-way deal with the Predators’ AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. Luce checks in at 6’3″ and 216 lbs and was demoted to Nashville’s ECHL affiliate in Atlanta for most of last year, where he had 12 points in 63 games with a -9 rating. The stay-at-home defender will look to work his way back up the organizational depth chart and perhaps earn an AHL deal with New York’s primary affiliate in Bridgeport later on.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Snapshots: Devils, Regenda, Dobson

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The Devils should be one of the early teams active on the PTO front, argues James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. The Capitals and Lightning were the first teams to ink tryouts for next month’s training camps when Jakub Vrana and Logan Brown agreed to them yesterday.

Cal Clutterbuck, Nick Cousins and Calen Addison were among the players that Nichols identified as speculative targets for the Devils, who could still stand to ink a couple of fringe NHLers to round out their depth chart at all positions. After their offseason spending spree on defense, though, landing some depth help on the wings would likely be a more attractive proposition to general manager Tom Fitzgerald, making Addison a bit of a long shot.

To that end, Cousins stands out as the most intriguing option of the three and the one with the clearest path to a contract should he end up inking a PTO in New Jersey. The 31-year-old is coming off a Stanley Cup win with the Panthers but remains unsigned, recently changing his representation. A versatile bottom-six energy player who can play all three forward positions, Cousins had seven goals and 15 points in 69 games with Florida last year and recorded a career-high 130 hits. He was a relative non-factor in the postseason, though, averaging fewer than nine minutes per contest and only contributing one assist in 12 games.

Other tidbits from around the league:

  • Ducks depth winger Pavol Regenda will represent his native Slovakia in this month’s qualifying tournament for the 2026 Winter Olympics, relays Derek Lee of The Hockey News. An RFA this summer, Anaheim brought back Regenda for his third season with the organization on a two-way deal last month. The 6’3″, 219-lb forward has appeared in 19 NHL games over the past two seasons, recording a goal and two assists. He’s been an impact player for the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, where he projects to start this season after posting 19 goals and 34 points in 54 games last year. Regenda has firmly cemented himself as a fixture on the Slovakian national team, appearing for them at the last three World Championships. He was also on their roster for the 2022 Olympics, where he helped them to a bronze medal with a goal and three assists in seven games.
  • The bevy of hefty extensions doled out to defensemen this offseason doesn’t bode well for the Islanders being able to squeeze a bargain out of Noah Dobson before he reaches restricted free agency next summer, Matthew Page and Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News write. Dobson, 24, exploded for 60 assists and 70 points in 79 games last year, finishing eighth in Norris Trophy voting. With less offensively-inclined comparables like Brock Faber landing eight-year deals in the $8MM AAV range, the Isles may need to shell out north of $9MM per season to keep Dobson on a long-term deal.

Morning Notes: Kadri, Grebyonkin, Pickering

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The Jets’ wish list at last season’s trade deadline had second-line center written atop it, likely in all caps. Looking at the state of their roster now, a 2C will likely be a deadline priority again after they failed to keep 2024’s stopgap solution, Sean Monahan, from reaching unrestricted free agency. In an early look at potential mid-season trade candidates to fill the void, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press profiles Flames pivot Nazem Kadri as a longer-term solution to provide stability down the middle behind Mark Scheifele.

Kadri, who turns 34 in October, is on the block to some degree. A report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period in June indicated Calgary general manager Craig Conroy was at least exploring the market for the center, who still has five years left on his contract at a $7MM cap hit.

It’s a hefty price tag, but it’s one Kadri lived up to last season after a mediocre first campaign in Alberta the year before. He took over as the Flames’ top center and arguably their top forward overall, leading them in assists (46), points (75) and shots on goal (277). It was one of the best seasons of his career, save for the 87-point season with the Avalanche in 2021-22 that landed him his payday from the Flames on the free agent market the following summer.

That price tag, even with some degree of salary retention by the Flames, likely limits the Jets from pouncing this offseason. They do have $5.78MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia, but a chunk of that is set aside for a new deal for RFA forward Cole Perfetti, who will be one of a few internal options at second-line center to start this season. A move would be easier to execute after they’ve had a few months during the season to accumulate cap space.

Wiebe writes that Winnipeg has had interest in Kadri before, dating back to when he was traded from the Maple Leafs to Colorado in 2019. Any move hinges on the interest being mutual, given he’s got a no-movement clause through 2025-26.

Other tidbits from around the league to close out the week:

  • Maple Leafs prospect Nikita Grebyonkin is still recovering from a lower-body injury as he prepares for his first training camp with the club, he tells Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambling. Grebyonkin, 21, spent last season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League and played through the injury during their playoff run, which took them to the summit of Russian hockey with the franchise’s third Gagarin Cup win. The 2022 fifth-round pick signed his entry-level contract following the conclusion of the KHL final and has been in the Toronto area since. The 6’2″, 192-lb winger will be a dark horse to crack the Maple Leafs’ opening night roster after finishing second on Magnitogorsk in scoring last year with 41 points in 67 games.
  • Penguins 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering is hoping to get a shot with the team out of camp ahead of his first full professional season, relays Wes Crosby of NHL.com. The towering 6’5″ 20-year-old, who says he’s put on weight this summer and is up to 200 lbs, faces an uphill battle to compete with depth players like Sebastian Aho, Ryan Shea, and Jack St. Ivany for roster spots. Pickering, a promising two-way threat, captained the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos last season and led their blue line with seven goals, 39 assists and 46 points in 59 games. He’s been named to the league’s Central Division First All-Star Team in back-to-back years.

Oilers Have Received Some Interest In Cody Ceci And Brett Kulak

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With the Blues tendering offer sheets to defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway, the Oilers now have to decide if they’re going to match those offers, even though it would put them more than $7MM over the salary cap.  While Evander Kane’s expected presence on LTIR would mitigate that in the short term, it’s fair to say that Edmonton will need to create some cap space at some point.  With several veterans on pricey long-term agreements who are unlikely to be moved, free agents who just signed, or players on low-cost contracts, there aren’t many viable candidates to make that happen.

Of the ones who potentially could be moved, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Oilers are trying to get the contracts of blueliners Cody Ceci and Brett Kulak off their books.  Combined, the two carry a $6MM cap charge which still wouldn’t be enough to get cap-compliant when Kane is able to play but moving those two would at least get them compliant to start the season in conjunction with Kane’s $5.25MM AAV landing on LTIR.

Ceci has one year left on his contract with a $3.25MM price tag.  The 30-year-old has spent the last three seasons in Edmonton, playing in their top four with an ATOI of more than 20 minutes each year.  Last season, Ceci had five goals and 20 assists in 79 games while chipping in with five points in 22 playoff contests as the Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup Final.  As an expiring deal and being a right-shot defender, he might be the easier of the two to move even with the slightly higher cap hit and he does not have any trade protection on his deal.

Kulak, meanwhile, checks in at a $2.75MM AAV for the next two seasons.  Acquired at the 2022 trade deadline from Montreal, the 30-year-old has settled in nicely on Edmonton’s third pairing.  Last season, Kulak had three goals and 13 assists in 82 games while averaging 15:23 per night.  His playing time went up a bit in the postseason to 16:30 per contest while adding eight points in 25 appearances.  However, that price point for a third-pairing defender is on the high side which isn’t ideal in terms of trying to get top value for his services.  Kulak also does not have any trade protection in his contract.

To that end, while Garrioch relays that teams have shown interest in both players, it comes at a cost.  Not to the potential acquiring team, however.  Instead, he notes that with teams knowing that the Oilers are in a bind as a result of these offer sheets, they’re going to want compensation to be sent with the player to incentivize them to bail Edmonton out.  Garrioch suggests that the price tag to take a player on in both scenarios could be a first-round pick or a second-round selection.  Worth noting is that the Oilers don’t have either of those for the 2025 draft but do for 2026 and if they match the offer sheets, they won’t be getting any compensation from St. Louis.

Edmonton has seven days to make a decision on matching the offers to Broberg ($4.58MM) and Holloway ($2.29MM).  There’s a good chance that their ability (or lack thereof) to find a satisfactory trade for one or both of Ceci or Kulak will play a big role in the decisions on their two youngsters.

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