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Ducks Sign Isac Lundestrom To One-Year Extension

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The Anaheim Ducks have signed winger Isac Lundestrom to a one-year, $1.5MM extension, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Anaheim drafted Lundestrom 23rd-overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, taking him as part of what’s become a first-round to remember. He briefly returned to the SHL following his draft, before stepping into 15 games with the Ducks and 12 in the AHL in the year’s second half. That kicked off Lundestrom’s career in North American pros, though he wouldn’t earn an everyday role until the 2020-21 season when he tallied just nine points in 41 games. But with the everyday role came a bout of confidence, and Lundestrom would go on to score 16 goals and 29 points in 80 games in 2021-22.

But Lundestrom couldn’t maintain the growing scoring, falling back to just four goals and 14 points in 61 games last season. To make matters worse, he suffered a torn Achilles that required surgery last August, holding him out until January of this year. Lundestrom tallied five goals and 11 points in 46 games during the year’s second half, though his struggles were evident. He’ll now get a chance to work out of those struggles with a fully healthy season in 2024-25, though he’ll have to fight for his role among a crowded Anaheim bottom-six. He’ll be competing for a role with rookies Cutter Gauthier and Sam Colangelo, stout depth pieces like Ross Colton, and any potential free agents the Ducks choose to add. That could be a tall order – and one that Anaheim will be ready to judge when Lundestrom is eligible for a new deal next summer.

Utah Signs Sean Durzi To Four-Year Extension

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed defenseman Sean Durzi to a four-year contract extension (Twitter link). The new deal will carry a $6MM cap hit, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link), who also mentions that this term buys two years of UFA eligibility.

This move continues a busy weekend for Utah general manager Bill Armstrong, who’s already made moves to trade into the first-round and acquire both Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino. Armstrong will now solidify the top of his blue line by signing Durzi with term, just over one year after he acquired Durzi for the 2024 second-round pick used on Alfons Freij.

Durzi proceeded to have a statement year with the Arizona Coyotes, tallying a career-high 41 points in 76 games as the team’s top defenseman. He averaged nearly 23 minutes of ice time every night, serving on both special teams. The performance continued Durzi’s rise to fame over the last three seasons. Durzi, a 2018 second-round pick, made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings in 2021 after three modest years in the AHL. But he showed up to southern California ready to play, ultimately recording 27 points in 64 games and pulling his way up to an average of 19 minutes a night as a rookie. He continued the growth as a sophomore, recording 38 points in 72 games while holding onto his strong role in the lineup.

Durzi’s growth didn’t slow down with a move to Arizona and the club is now betting it won’t slow in the move to Utah either. Durzi stands as Utah’s top right-defenseman and could be set for a prime role next to Sergachev, pending any summer additions. After this extension and their pair of trades, Utah is entering the summer with $22.265MM in cap space and five pending free agents, including Barrett Hayton. That should put them in a great spot to continue their run of strong additions when free agency opens up on Monday.

Maple Leafs Sign Timothy Liljegren To Two-Year Extension

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are continuing to chip away at their pending free agents, signing defenseman Timothy Liljegren to a two-year, $6MM extension, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). The deal will carry an annual average value of $3MM and carry Liljegren through his remaining years of RFA eligibility.

The Maple Leafs drafted Liljegren 17th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, taking him as part of what’s turned into a first-round to remember. Liljegren moved to North American pros immediately following the draft, making his NHL debut in 2019 and earning a daily role by 2021. He recorded 23 points in 61 games as a rookie, though his two years since have been limited by a hernia and high ankle sprain respectively. Liljegren still managed a strong year this season despite missing games, tying his rookie scoring of 23 points in just 55 games. He also played in a much more commanding role, averaging 19:40 in ice time after spending the last two seasons on Toronto’s third pairing.

More ice time helped Liljegren avoid the traffic jam that formed at the bottom of Toronto’s depth chart. The Leafs leaned on a long list of depth defenders in the year’s second half, including Simon Benoit, the reacquired Ilya Lyubushkin, William Lagesson, Conor Timmins, and more. Luckily things should clear up quickly, with both Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson set to enter free agency. But Liljegren will feel the pressure of whoever wins out the role behind him. Now on a deal that will carry him to his UFA years, Liljegren can focus solely on establishing as much of a lineup role as he can.

Lightning Acquire Lukas Svejkovsky From Penguins

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The Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins have swapped depth forwards, with Pittsburgh receiving Bennett MacArthur and Tampa receiving Lukas Svejovsky (Twitter link).

MacArthur, 23, spent the season in the ECHL, totaling 32 points through 55 games. It was his second year in the league, after playing through his first pro season to the tune of 28 points in 53 games last year. Tampa signed MacArthur as an undrafted free agent in 2022, following the end of his season with the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. MacArthur only played in parts of three seasons in the QMJHL, though he always found his way to strong scoring, recording 42 goals and 77 points in 54 games during his final year in the league. He’ll spend the final year of his entry-level contract pushing for a consistent role in the AHL, before setting his sights on the Penguins roster.

Meanwhile, Svejovsky, 22, was drafted by Pittsburgh in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, after a strong year in the WHL. He went on to play two more seasons in the WHL, potting 76 points in 57 games in his final year. Svejovsky totaled a stout 162 points in his 196 career WHL games – seeming like a potentially lucrative prospect for Pittsburgh when he signed his entry-level contract in 2022. But Svejovsky had a slow start in pros, with just 15 points in 47 AHL games last year followed by four points in 19 games this year. Those low totals contributed to Svejovsky’s move to the ECHL partway through this year. He was able to rediscover his spark in the third-tier pro league, scoring 37 points in 30 games. That should be enough to earn him a move back to the AHL, though he’ll have to keep up his scoring if he wants to push any higher.

Canucks Sign Jett Woo To One-Year Extension

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Jett Woo to a one-year, two-way extension. The deal will pay him a league minimum $775K at the NHL level and $150K at the AHL level, per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News (Twitter link).

Vancouver drafted Woo in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft – among company like Alexander Romanov, Martin Fehervary, and Sean Durzi. But Woo still sits as one of 12 players from that round to not yet make his NHL debut, instead spending the last four seasons with Vancouver’s AHL affiliate. Woo had a slow start to his pro career, scoring just 10 points through his first two seasons, and 70 games, in the AHL. He’s picked up that scoring in the two seasons since, netting 21 points in 68 games last year and 31 points in 62 games this year. Woo has also picked up his intensity, also totaling 189 penalty minutes in the last two years.

The climb towards more high-event hockey earned Woo the first NHL call-ups of his career in February, though he couldn’t slot into Vancouver’s lineup. Still, he’s begun to grab the Canucks’ attention. With the team expected to move on from Nikita Zadorov, Woo could have a chance on this new deal to fight for his NHL debut, and a more confident contract next summer.

Sharks Sign Justin Bailey To One-Year, Two-Way Extension

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The San Jose Sharks have signed forward Justin Bailey to a one-year, two-way extension. The deal will carry a salary of $800K at the NHL level and $375K at the AHL level, with $400K guaranteed, per PuckPedia (Twitter link).

Bailey, 28, willed his way into a full-time NHL role this year, after kicking off the AHL season with 11 points in 16 games. He was recalled in late November and potted five points across his first eight games with the Sharks, earning another promotion to the team’s third line, where he’d spent most of the remaining season. Finally ahold of an everyday role, Bailey posted five goals and 14 points in 59 games – NHL career-highs in all three stats.

And while Bailey could be a candidate to work his way back on to the Sharks roster with this deal, the two-way clause likely sets him up for yet another year in the minors. That’s where Bailey has spent much of his career so far, totaling 241 points in 370 AHL games, across tenures with the Rochester Americans, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and Utica Comets. He’s proven a capable minor-league scorer, with at least 30 points in each of his last three full years in the league. Re-signing to a one-year deal should give Bailey a chance to prove his worth in the Sharks organization, and earn his way into a confident NHL future.

Nikolai Knyzhov Clears Unconditional Waivers

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Sunday: Knyzhov has cleared waivers, PuckPedia reports.  However, he isn’t being bought out; instead, it’s a mutual termination, meaning that San Jose will have no lingering cap hit.

Saturday: The San Jose Sharks have placed defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a buyout, per Chris Johnston with The Athletic (Twitter link).

Knyzhov has spent parts of the last five seasons with the Sharks roster, joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He showed up strong with the San Jose Barracuda, recording just five points in 33 games but looking well-matched when defending the rush on North American ice. The strong adjustment earned Knyzhov a full-time role with the Sharks in 2020-21. He totaled 10 points and 39 penalty minutes in 56 games as a rookie – posting career-highs across the boards. But injuries derailed Knyzhov’s sophomore year, holding him out for all of the 2021-22 season and most of the 2022-23 season. This year was his first of good health since 2021, and he seemed to make a triumphant return, recording a career-high 14 points in 40 AHL games, though he struggled significantly in 10 NHL games.

But there’s upside to be had with Knyzhov, who will now enter the open market with 81 career games, and 12 career points, under his belt. He’ll offer a cheap defensive-defenseman style, so long as he opts to stay in North America, rather than returning to SKA St. Petersburg in Russia. Knyzhov previously spent three years in SKA’s system, after brief stints with the WHL’s Regina Pats and the NAHL’s Springfield Jr. Blues in the 2015-16 season.

Maple Leafs Sign Max Domi To Four-Year Extension

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly signed forward Max Domi to a four-year, $15MM contract extension, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic (Twitter link). Johnston mentions that the deal will carry an annual cap hit of $3.75MM. These reports come shortly after Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman alluded to a deal coming soon (Twitter link). The new deal will carry Domi through 2028, his age-32 season.

Domi, the son of former Leafs second-round pick and era-defining enforcer Tie Domi, found his groove late into the year, posting 16 points in the last 19 games of the regular season and adding four points in seven playoff games. The inspiration for the scoring came while Domi was filling a top-line role next to superstar Auston Matthews. The two were a great pair of grit and talent – a duo that Toronto is likely set on returning next year.

Domi made quick work of what was his first year brandishing his dad’s old logo, having joined Toronto on a one-year, $3MM contract nearly a year ago today. But Domi could still have untapped upside. He’s proven to be a perennial scorer at the top level, recording 20 goals and 56 points in 80 games between the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars in 2022-23; and boasting a career-high of 28 goals and 72 points scored in 2018-19. The roles that led to that scoring often placed Domi in much more of a spotlight role, giving him room to showcase strong puck skills and shooting. But he had to lean into a grittier style with the Leafs, supporting the stars rather than standing next to them. That could begin to change if Domi holds on to a top-line next season. A smash season would quickly earn Domi the price of his extension, and give Toronto the top-end, high-scoring utility winger that they’ve been needing.

Blue Jackets Expected To Buy Out Adam Boqvist

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to place young defender Adam Boqvist on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a buyout later today, shares Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Blue Jackets would only be on the hook for one-third of his contract value should he clear unconditional waivers, as he’s being bought out before the age of 26. That would burden Columbus with a $533K cap hit through the next two seasons, a full $2.7MM in savings from the $3.2MM salary that Boqvist was due next year, though also strapping them with empty cap in 2025-26.

Boqvist is a surprising name to a list of pre-July 1st buyouts that also features Jack Campbell and Nate Schmidt. Unlike those two, Boqvist is closer to the beginning of his career than the end of it, though he’s been no stranger to struggles. Boqvist has been in and out of Columbus’ lineups for much of the last three seasons since they acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks alongside the picks used for David Jiricek, Cole Sillinger, and Aleksi Heimosalmi. In return, Columbus gave up defender Seth Jones and the picks used on Nolan Allan and Dominic Jones.

Boqvist joined the Blue Jackets with 76 NHL games, and 29 points, under his belt. But despite moving to a Columbus team that was, at the time, less competitive than Chicago – Boqvist wasn’t able to work his way up the depth chart. He instead spent much of his first year on the team’s third pairing, posting 22 points, split evenly, in 55 games. That was enough offense to earn him a slight boost in power-play time last season, with Boqvist vindicating the boost with a career-high 24 points in 46 games.

But Boqvist hasn’t been able to avoid the injury bug in any of his five NHL seasons. That came to a point this season, when an upper-body injury ended Boqvist’s season in mid-March, after routinely holding him out of the lineup since December. He was held to just 35 games on the year, tied for the fewest games he’s played in one season, and Boqvist posted a career-low 10 points as a result. Despite clear skill in carrying and managing the puck, a lack of assuredness in making plays and air-headed defense has kept Boqvist from taking off. He was previously due a $2.6MM cap hit this season – a number that could be palatable for teams looking for a spark on waivers. Should he make it to the open market, the young Boqvist will surely have no shortage of suitors.

Jets Buy Out Nate Schmidt

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The Winnipeg Jets have bought out the final season of defenseman Nate Schmidt’s contract, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Schmidt will first have to pass through unconditional waivers before the buy out goes into effect. Should he clear, Schmidt’s contract will count towards $2.717MM of Winnipeg’s cap next season – a savings of $3.233MM – and an empty $1.617MM in 2025-26.

This move pushes Schmidt to the open market one year sooner than expected, while ridding Winnipeg of the $5.95MM cap hit he’s carried since 2019-20. Schmidt’s six-year, $35.7MM contract was originally signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, who traded Schmidt to the Vancouver Canucks in the offseason ahead of the 2020-21 season. Schmidt spent the shortened year with the Canucks, before being flipped to the Jets for the 2022 pick used to select Jordan Gustafson.

Schmidt kicked off his tenure in Winnipeg with a strong year, recording 32 points and averaging 20 minutes a night, while still offering the stout defense he’s become known for. But that impact has dwindled in the seasons since, with Schmidt managing just 19 points last year and 14 points this year. He’s fallen from a top pair role to a bottom pair role alongside the low scoring, though he still recorded the best xGA/60 (2.03) of any Jets defenders, per Evolving Hockey.

Schmidt’s decline over the last two seasons has made his hefty price tag hard to bear, especially for a Jets team in the midst of a cap crunch. But there should be no shortage of suitors for Schmidt on the open market – with his veteran presence and stout defense a great replacement for Chris Tanev, who is expected to be taken off of the market after a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Schmidt will be set for a significant pay cut, but at 32, he could still find his way into a deal with term.

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