• Kevin Roy, who spent last season with the Laval Rocket of the AHL, is leaving Brynas IF. The Swedish club announced yesterday that their short-term agreement with Roy expired and that he would not be offered an extension. Roy, 29, has 28 NHL games on his resume (from 2017-18 and 2018-19) and scored one goal in his six-game run with Brynas in the SHL. 
• Former NHL defenseman Korbinian Holzer is remaining in the DEL. The German blueliner, 34, has extended his contract with DEL side Adler Mannheim for another season. Holzer, a veteran of over 200 NHL games, last played in the NHL in 2019-20. Since then, he’s played one season in the KHL, two with Mannheim, and represented Germany at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and two straight IIHF World Championships.
• Philadelphia Flyers prospect Zayde Wisdom was re-assigned to the Flyers’ ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals, today. Wisdom, 20, was a fourth-round pick of the team at the 2020 draft and impressed as a rookie in the AHL, scoring 18 points in 28 games at an age where playing in the AHL can be very challenging. Wisdom returned to the OHL last season and scored 38 points in 43 games. This season, his second as a professional, hasn’t gone to plan, as Wisdom has just seven points in 28 games playing in a bottom-six role.
• Former Olympian Janis Kalinins, who represented his native Latvia at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, has signed an extension to remain in the KHL. KHL side Amur Khabarovsk has announced contract extensions for both Kalinins and defenseman Cameron Lee, a former Penguins AHLer. Kalinins, 31, has a .923 save percentage in 19 games this season, while Lee scored 14 points in 35 games as a top-of-the-lineup blueliner for the team.
• Slovakian pro side HK Poprad have signed two players to their squad, Slovakian center Petr Kolouch, and American forward Nick Jermain. Kolouch, 31, is a veteran of the European professional circuit, having spent more than a decade playing in Czechia. So far this season, he’s played in Austria with EC Graz. Jermain, 26, was a four-year player at Quinnipiac University and made his professional debut last season in the ECHL. He has nine points in 24 ECHL games this season.
• Miles Gendron, a 2014 third-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, left his club yesterday. Storhamar, a team in the Norwegian Fjordkraft-Ligaen, announced that they had parted ways with Gendron yesterday. Gendron had played in 19 games in Norway after signing with Storhamar in the offseason and has scored eight points. A return to North America could be in the cards for Gendron, as he’s spent the past few years manning the bluelines of the ECHL. 
• The EIHL’s Glasgow Clan announced a pair of signings yesterday, bringing in former Arizona Coyotes prospect Niklas Tikkinen, as well as ECHL defenseman Jeff Solow. For Tikkinen, the signing moves him from Denmark, where he’s spent the last two seasons, to Scotland. For Solow, the deal will represent his first chance to test his mettle on a professional basis outside of North America. 
• 2007 Columbus Blue Jackets second-round pick Will Weber has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, the DEL’s Schwenninger Wild Wings. Weber, 34, is in his fifth season playing in Germany, having spent the last three with the Wild Wings. The big six-foot-three blueliner has registered one assist and 69 penalty minutes in 30 games this season.
• Another member of the 2007 draft class, Dallas Stars fifth-rounder Ondrej Roman, has ended his contract with France’s Rouen Dragons via a mutual agreement. Roman, a 33-year-old Czech winger, signed in France in the summer having spent the past two seasons in the Czech league. He found success in France, scoring 25 points in 27 games, and will now look to another destination to continue his professional career.
• Johan Ivarsson, a veteran of both the SHL and Liiga, has signed a two-year extension with his current club, Sodertalje SK. The 27-year-old is playing in Sweden’s second division, HockeyAllsvenskan, for the first time in a half-decade, attempting to get Sodertalje promoted. Ivarsson signed with his current club after a two-year stint with TPS Turku in Finland, and has scored 10 points in 31 games.
• Veteran minor league netminder Alex Sakellaropoulos has signed with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators, per a league announcement.  The 28-year-old has played for seven ECHL clubs in the past five years, bouncing around somewhat in order to fill in for teams in need of help in the crease. Last season, Sakellaropoulos got some consistency, playing in 30 games for the Adirondack Thunder. He wasn’t great, posting an .881 save percentage, but he’s solidified himself as an option in the ECHL, one the Gladiators will now turn to.
• Former ECHL star Darik Angeli has departed his club, the EIHL’s Belfast Giants. The 32-year-old scored 70 points in 63 ECHL games last season and signed with Belfast over the summer. The former Ohio State Buckeye will now leave Northern Ireland having scored twelve points in 24 games there.
• Longtime ECHL scorer Kyle Blaney has signed a contract with the Jacksonville Icemen. The 31-year-old spent last season with the Kalamazoo Wings, scoring 43 points in 65 games. He should be able to help Jacksonville’s offensive attack, a unit that currently ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of goals scored.
• Defenseman Dilan Peters was released by his club, the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, today. The six-foot-six blueliner was traded to Newfoundland on December 6th, heading there from the Wheeling Nailers, the team he signed with in the summer. Peters, who has made his professional debut this season, has yet to register on an ECHL scoresheet, and he had gotten into nine total games across both teams before yesterday’s release. 
• Swiss blueliner Samuel Kreis, a seasoned veteran who has spent over a decade playing in his home country’s top professional league, has signed a three-year deal with SC Bern, set to begin next fall. The 28-year-old signed with EV Zug in 2021 and helped the team win the 2021-22 NL Championship. Kreis last played for Bern in 2016-17 and won three league championships and a Swiss Cup in his time there.

This page will be updated throughout the day. 

• Nick Shore’s international travels continue as HV71 in Sweden announced they’ve signed the forward to a deal for the rest of the season. The 30-year-old was last a regular in the NHL back in 2019-20 but has since spent time in Slovakia, Switzerland, and Russia before today’s move.  With a quiet showing in Switzerland this season, it’s unlikely that the veteran of 299 career NHL contests will be on the radar in free agency next summer.
• Former Colorado blueliner Chris Bigras is also changing leagues as Iserlohn in Germany revealed that they’ve signed him to a deal for the rest of the season. The 27-year-old decided to try his hand overseas this season after spending the last four years exclusively in the AHL and signed in the KHL but was released last month after picking up just a single assist in 23 games with Barys Astana.
• Former Anaheim winger Kevin Roy has found a place to play this season as he has joined Brynas in Sweden, per a team release. Roy played in 28 games with the Ducks but had been a regular in the minors for the last few years.  He had 33 points in 62 games with AHL Laval last season but hadn’t signed anywhere until now.
• The Ducks have re-assigned prospect Maxim Golod to Tulsa of the ECHL, per the ECHL’s transactions log. Anaheim signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in 2020 but has seen only sparing time at the AHL level thus far.  Golod has 10 points in 13 games at the ECHL level this season.  Considering he’s in the final year of his entry-level deal, he will need to turn things around in the second half if he wants a chance at being tendered a qualifying offer next summer.
• The Senators have activated defenseman Jonathan Aspirot off season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to AHL Belleville, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 23-year-old is entering his fourth professional season, all with the Sens, and had 18 points and 52 penalty minutes in 47 games in 2021-22.  Aspirot is set to become a restricted free agent this summer as his entry-level contract comes to an end.

Key Restricted Free Agents

G Matt Murray – With the signing of Tristan Jarry on Saturday to a three-year deal, the Penguins are basically making it clear that they have chosen Jarry over Murray in net. While they could conceivably keep both as it is expected that the team will tender a qualifying offer, it still is more likely that Murray will be traded shortly. That’s a far fall for the “goalie of the future” three years back when they allowed Marc-Andre Fleury move on. Many teams are waiting for the huge free-agent goalie market to disseminate in the next week as Murray sounds like a cheaper option, but the 26-year-old’s lack of consistency likely worries plenty of teams. Murray finished the season with a 2.87 GAA and a .899 save percentage in 38 games, although the netminder did fare better in three postseason games as he had a 2.50 GAA and a .914 save percentage in three games.

F Dominik Simon – Hardly a top-six player, but the versatile Simon suddenly looks like he could be a cap casualty as The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that he could make as much as $1.25MM, a high price for a capped-strapped team. The 26-year-old played all over the lineup, but has never managed to post more than 30 points in his career. He tallied seven goals and 22 points last season in 64 games. The forward is also recovering from shoulder surgery in late April, which was expected to keep him out six to seven months.

Other RFAs: F Pontus Aberg, F Anthony Angello, F Graham Knott, F Sam Lafferty, F Sam Miletic, D John Nyberg.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D – Justin Schultz – The blueliner was singled out last month by general manger Jim Rutherford as one of the problems on the Pittsburgh blueline. That likely means that the team will allow Schultz to explore other offers around the league. The team did get an impressive year out of John Marino, suggesting the team can get along without him and $5.5MM cap hit that came with him. It’s highly unlikely he will get anything like that on the market anyway, but Schultz definitely struggled since signing that three-year, $16.5MM contract. Since posting a 51-point season with the Penguins and signing that deal, he has posted just 54 points combined in those three seasons and has dealt with a number of injuries that has affected his overall game.

F Conor Sheary – The Penguins re-acquired Sheary at the trade deadline from Buffalo after trading him there back in 2018. The 28-year-old winger scored 23 goals in his second year with the Penguins back in 2016-17. Those goals, however, have declined every year to 18 to 14 to 10 last season. The team has made it clear it doesn’t want to put Sidney Crosby next to lesser players like Sheary has, meaning if they held onto him, they would more likely move him down to the third line. The question is whether Sheary is affordable enough to bring back to the team.

F Patrick Marleau – The Penguins picked up the legendary winger from the Sharks for their playoff run, but he managed to scored just one goal and two points in eight games before the shutdown and was scoreless in four playoff games. It isn’t likely that the 41-year-old will return to Pittsburgh, although a return to the Sharks for one final season isn’t necessarily out of the question.

Other UFAs: F Riley Barber, F Thomas Di Pauli, F Adam Johnson, F Kevin Roy, F Phil Varone.

Projected Cap Space

Rutherford vowed to change up his roster this offseason in hopes of giving Crosby and Evgeni Malkin every opportunity to win another Stanley Cup before their time in the NHL is up. That will require some major decisions in both free agency and through trades, something that Rutherford is an expert on. The biggest problem remains the salary cap where the team has just $2.6MM in available cap space to make all these moves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

It’s not a major deal, though it is important to note that Roy not only has experience in the NHL, he’ll also be joining a former college teammate in the organization. The 26-year old played with Zach Aston-Reese at Northeastern University before turning pro, and has 28 games of NHL experience with the Anaheim Ducks. Roy has also found success in the minor leagues previously, though has just 14 points in 23 games this season with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Haggerty meanwhile is still waiting on his first NHL opportunity, but has been a consistent offensive weapon in the minor leagues the last several seasons. The 26-year old came into this year with 74 goals in 285 regular season AHL games, but has struggled to fill that role this season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The deal represents a chance for both players to get their seasons back on track before hitting unrestricted free agency in the summer. Each is on a two-way contract, though Haggerty’s guaranteed minimum is quite a bit lower than Roy’s so will cost a little less for the Panthers.

Dallas Stars

F Michael Mersch
D Reece Scarlett

Edmonton Oilers

F Josh Currie
F Joseph Gambardella
F Brad Malone
D Keegan Lowe

Florida Panthers

F Joel Lowry
F Paul Thompson
F Kevin Roy
D Tommy Cross

New York Rangers

F Matt Beleskey

St. Louis Blues

F Jordan Nolan
F Mike Vecchione
F Nick Lappin
D Joey Laleggia
D Jake Dotchin

Tampa Bay Lightning

G Louis Domingue
G Mike Condon

Vancouver Canucks

F Justin Bailey

Vegas Golden Knights

F Tyrell Goulbourne
D Brett Lernout
D Jaycob Megna

July 4: The Florida Panthers have signed free agent forward Kevin Roy to a one-year, two-way contract according to CapFriendly. Roy was a Group VI unrestricted free agent after receiving little NHL opportunity with the Anaheim Ducks. The deal will carry an $850K salary in the NHL, and a $350K guarantee.

Roy, 26, was originally a fourth-round pick of the Ducks in 2012 after absolutely dominating the USHL. His size—5’9″ 170-lbs—was the biggest question mark about Roy, because his 104-point season for the Lincoln Stars certainly spoke for itself. After four successful seasons at Northeastern University he signed with the Ducks but hasn’t been able to climb out of the minor leagues for any length of time. In 28 career NHL contests he has just seven points, though that has been in limited ice time.

In Florida he’ll compete for a spot out of camp, and will have something of a role model to look at on the roster. Frank Vatrano is a former USHL and NCAA player that was overlooked for years because of his size, but broke out last season with 24 goals in his first full NHL season. While that is obviously an unlikely path for Roy to take, it wouldn’t be the first time that a small forward broke out in Florida. More likely is that he’ll help the Springfield Thunderbirds next season and try to bounce back from an injury riddled 2018-19.

• Ken Wiebe of The Winnipeg Sun reports that goaltender Eric Comrie, currently on recall while starter Connor Hellebuyck was sidelined temporarily, will be reassigned to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose today. Hellebuyck was a full participant in morning skate and is in fact in line to get the start tonight for the Jets. Comrie got in some work with the team this morning as well, but is unlikely to stick around as a third active keeper. The 23-year-old has yet to see any NHL action this season, but has had a heavy workload in Manitoba with 40 appearances already on the year.
• Christoffer Ehn, who was recalled on an emergency loan by the Detroit Red Wings yesterday morning, did not suit up for the team last night and has now been returned to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Ehn was called up in case Anthony Mantha, who was battling sickness, was unable to play. When Mantha fought through, Ehn’s emergency conditions were terminated, forcing his demotion back to the minors. Ehn has played in 44 games with the Red Wings this season compared to just 13 games with the Griffins, but for now will have to stick it out in the AHL.
• Carolina Hurricanes’ project forward Steven Lorentz has again been sent to the ECHL, the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers announced. It’s the fourth demotion of the year for Lorentz, a 2015 seventh-round pick, who has been a victim of the depth in Charlotte. Among all forwards with more than 15 games played in the ECHL this season, Lorentz is twelfth in per-game scoring with 24 points in 20 games for the Florida Everblades. In the AHL, he has five points in 18 games with the Checkers but, despite fair production given his limited role, has been a frequent scratch and reassignment. Rather than being in the ECHL scoring race or a regular in Charlotte’s bottom-six, Lorentz’ season has been torn between the two leagues, making it appear as if he hasn’t made much of an impact at either level. Lorentz still has another year remaining on his entry-level contract, so Carolina has time for more evaluation. An extended stay and regular play time in the AHL in particular could reveal him to be a solid contributor at that level as well.
• The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Kevin Roy from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Roy, who had spent most of the year on season-opening injured reserve after undergoing offseason wrist surgery, was activated and sent to San Diego on Feb. 16. The 25-year-old had a goal and four points in five games with the Gulls and looks ready to return to action in Anaheim. He played 25 games with the Ducks last year, posting six goals and seven points.

• The Jets announced the recall of defenseman Sami Niku from AHL Manitoba. The 22-year-old has split the season between the NHL and AHL which has prevented him from really getting into a rhythm as of late.  He has a dozen points in 20 games with the Moose plus a pair of assists in 11 contests with Winnipeg so far this season.  With Joe Morrow suffering a lower-body injury that’s going to keep him out for two-to-three weeks, Niku, who has been part of trade speculation in recent weeks, may be in line for some more playing time.  In a separate move, the team has also promoted blueliner Tucker Poolman from Manitoba.  After playing 24 games with Winnipeg last year, he has yet to play with them this season while injuries have limited him to just 25 contests with the Moose.
• Dallas is giving a look to the top goal scorer in the AHL as center Joel L’Esperance has been brought up from Texas (AHL) per a team release. The 23-year-old is in his first full professional season and has already scored 27 goals in just 49 games.  He signed with the Stars as an undrafted free agent last summer, a move that is certainly paying dividends already.  This will be L’Esperance’s first look at the NHL level.
• The Islanders announced (Twitter link) that they have assigned winger Andrew Ladd and defenseman Thomas Hickey to Bridgeport of the AHL on conditioning stints. Ladd has been out for three months due to a leg injury while Hickey has been out of action with an upper-body issue for nearly two months.  GM Lou Lamoriello told reporters, including Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter links) that both players have been transferred to LTIR today and are pegged to play two games with the Sound Tigers before re-evaluating their progress.
• Defenseman Filip Hronek is back with the Red Wings after the team announced his promotion from AHL Grand Rapids.  The 21-year-old has been quite productive in limited action at the minor league level, collecting 23 points in 28 games.  He also has more than held his own with Detroit, logging over 18 minutes a night in 23 contests with the big club.
• Injuries on the back end for the Kings have provided an opportunity for Matt Roy to get a look with the big club as the team announced that he has been brought up from Ontario (AHL).  Roy leads the Reign in scoring by a defenseman with 29 points in 45 games so far this season.  His recall was required with Alec Martinez and Sean Walker are out with upper-body injuries.
• The Anaheim Ducks announced they have assigned winger Kevin Roy to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. The 25-year-old has been on season-opening injured reserve after undergoing offseason wrist surgery. Roy played 25 games for the Ducks last season, putting up six goals and seven points. He will attempt to find his game after a long layoff with the Gulls, where he scored 14 goals and 37 points last season.
• The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have assigned forward Mikhail Vorobyev to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The 22-year-old was recalled for a second stint with the team on Jan. 28, but has failed to produce offensively. He hasn’t register a point in eight games since that call-up. He has just one goal and two points in 15 games total this season, while receiving just 9:20 of ATOI.
• Ed Willies of The Province reports that injured winger Jake Virtanen has been moved to injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Virtanen took a big hit from Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf Wednesday, missed Thursday’s game and had an MRI this morning, prompting the team to place him on IR. The team will use that open roster spot to put newly acquired forward Ryan Spooner on the ice. Head coach Travis Green said the injury is not concussion-related. He is expected to miss at least a week.
• The St. Louis Blues announced they have placed defenseman Carl Gunnarsson on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The veteran defenseman has been out of the lineup since Feb. 5 and therefore can return whenever he is ready. The team has recalled forward Sammy Blais from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. Blais has played 24 games for the Blues, but has just two goals and three points in that time.

Up front, the Ducks have just ten forwards currently signed to one-way deals, not including Ben Street or Anton Rodin who have limited NHL experience and didn’t play in the league at all last season. Neither veteran minor league player should really be in contention for a roster spot with the Ducks, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be competition. Even once Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie are signed and given their spots, the team has a group of other forwards competing for the last few roles.

Brian Gibbons and Carter Rowney were both signed early in free agency and given $1MM+ salaries to provide some depth at the bottom of the lineup. Neither player has really proven himself at the NHL level though, with Gibbons playing 59 of his 125 career games last season for the New Jersey Devils and Rowney suiting up just 44 times last season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The idea of handing either of them a full-time role without competition seems foolish, though since Rowney was brought in on a three-year deal he will obviously have the upper hand.

Behind them are several players on two-way or entry-level contracts, like Troy Terry, Kalle Kossila, Kiefer Sherwood and Kevin Roy. The latter three all spent time in the minor leagues with the San Diego Gulls last season, while Terry played just three games for the Ducks after signing out of the University of Denver. Given the uncertainty around Ryan Kesler’s health and the limited upside of both Gibbons and Rowney, you could see Anaheim decide to give a real chance to one of these players in 2018-19. That is, if they can hold off the competition.

One of the questions most often asked in our PHR Live Chats is whether or not Sam Steel and Max Jones are ready for the NHL. The pair of first-round picks from 2016 are now both 20 years old and will be beginning their professional careers, but there’s no guarantee that either will see the NHL just yet. Jones in fact was listed pretty far down in Corey Pronman’s recent prospect rankings for The Athletic (subscription required), including him in the “Have A Chance” section. There will be a huge battle between all of the listed forwards (and probably several others) for playing time in Anaheim this season.

On defense it’s also not clear who will shake out at the end of camp. The team signed Andrej Sustr and Luke Schenn this summer to improve their depth on the right side, but both likely can’t play with Josh Manson and Montour already locked into positions there. Marcus Pettersson, Jacob Larsson, Josh Mahura, Jaycob Megna, Andy Welinski and Korbinian Holzer are also all still in the organization and could challenge for the 6-7-8 spots, with no clear choice on who would play where. The departure of Kevin Bieksa and Francois Beauchemin certainly opens up some playing time, but the team will likely wait for someone to step up and prove they deserve regular minutes before handing them out.

All of this just makes for an interesting next few months for the Ducks, who are trying to get back to Stanley Cup contention with much the same team as the last few seasons. With Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry now entering their mid-thirties, more responsibility will have to be heaped upon the next wave of talent if the team is to stay respectable. Battles like the ones that will take place in training camp will determine whether this Ducks team is just a very good one, or a real contender for the Stanley Cup.

• Kossila: $650K NHL/$125K AHL
• Welinski: $690K NHL/$125K AHL
• Roy: $874K NHL/$70K AHL

It’s fitting that these three were announced at the same time, given how similar each of their circumstances are. All three are now 25 years old—in fact were all born within a six week span in 1993—and split last season between the minor leagues and NHL, with only Kossila having made his debut in a previous year. Roy was up for the longest period, suiting up for 25 games and recording seven points including six goals. The trio though were the life blood of the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, registering a combined 125 points on the year.

While they may each play some in the NHL this year, there isn’t a guaranteed role for any of them. Kossila may have the best chance given his experience at center and the still cloudy situation regarding Ryan Kesler, but none should expect to play a full season with the Ducks. Instead, they all represent valuable depth for a club that is expecting to compete once again.

Each of the three failed to qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer given that they have just two professional seasons under their belts, but all three are headed for that status next offseason. If any of them fail to reach a total of 80 games played in the NHL by the end of the year, they’ll be able to choose their next destination from the free agent market.

Roy split last season between Anaheim and their AHL affiliate in San Diego.  In 25 games with the Ducks, the 25-year-old picked up six goals and an assist while averaging 13:37 per night in playing time.  He was much more productive at the minor league level, collecting 14 goals and 23 assists in 45 contests, ranking fourth on the team in scoring despite missing over 20 games while being on recall.

Roy will likely be given a chance to battle for an end-of-roster spot with Anaheim in training camp but if he doesn’t make it, he will have to pass through waivers to get back to the AHL.

With the signing, the Ducks now have five remaining restricted free agents – defensemen Brandon Montour and Andy Welinski plus center Kalle Kossila and wingers Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie.