Week In Review

The regular season is underway for two teams while the rest of the league gets started in the coming days.  Accordingly, activity has picked up over the coming days and the upcoming week will likely be a busy one.  Before that, let’s take a look back at the key stories from the week that was.

Under The Knife Again: The long-term injury to Marco Scandella was supposed to present an opportunity for Scott Perunovich to earn a regular spot in the lineup.  Unfortunately for him and the Blues, that’s not going to happen as he’ll miss at least the next six months and will need shoulder surgery.  It’s the second major shoulder injury of his career although it’s not the same issue as the torn labrum that cost him the 2020-21 campaign.  Perunovich was a productive defenseman in college and averaged more than a point per game in 17 contests with AHL Springfield last season but he’ll be waiting a while now to have a chance at making a consistent impact in St. Louis.

Extending In Calgary: MacKenzie Weegar’s camp was hoping to get an extension worked out before the season and they got their wish, inking a max-term eight-year deal that carries a $6.25MM AAV.  The defenseman was the other key roster player that came as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade this summer.  (The other roster piece, Jonathan Huberdeau, inked a max-term extension himself not long ago.)  Weegar has blossomed from being a late-round pick in his second year of eligibility to an all-around impact defender and will help anchor Calgary’s back end for years to come.  Meanwhile, the team will continue to be led behind the bench by Darryl Sutter, who agreed to a two-year extension of his own.  The reigning Jack Adams Award winner was entering the final year of his deal and at 64, a short-term agreement was expected.  He’ll be leading a new-look Flames squad that also lost Johnny Gaudreau this summer while they also picked up Nazem Kadri.

Staying With The Islanders: Recently, Mathew Barzal had indicated a desire to get a long-term deal done with the Islanders and they were able to do just that as the center signed a max-term eight-year, $73.2MM ($9.15MM AAV) contract extension that begins next season.  The pact will give him a 22-team no-trade clause when he becomes eligible for one in 2024-25.  Barzal burst onto the NHL scene in 2017-18, leading the team in points with 85 while winning the Calder Trophy.  However, he has failed to come close to that output since then, topping out at 62 over the last four years.  With that in mind, the price tag might seem a little steep but this deal ensures that New York will have their top center locked up for quite a while as they hope that the coaching change to Lane Lambert will help Barzal regain some of his lost production.

Creating Cap Room: There are some teams that need to free up cap space and not a lot of teams are willing to take on extra money.  Vancouver was a team wanting some flexibility while Chicago had made it known they’d be open to doing so at the right price.  That right price evidently was a 2024 second-round pick as the Blackhawks acquired one along with center Jason Dickinson from the Canucks in exchange for defenseman Riley Stillman.  Dickinson struggled mightily in his only season with Vancouver (after they moved a third-rounder to get him) with just 11 points in 62 games, hardly a good return on a $2.65MM investment that runs through 2023-24.  Stillman, meanwhile, makes $1.35MM in each of the next two seasons, giving Vancouver $1.3MM in cap room while filling a short-term void on the back end with both Tyler Myers and Travis Dermott out of the lineup right now.

Finding Middle Ground: The belief was that the Stars were going to work out either a short-term bridge deal or a long-term pact with RFA winger Jason Robertson.  In the end, they settled on something in between, agreeing to a four-year deal that carries a $7.75MM AAV.  Notably, this does not walk the 23-year-old to unrestricted free agency as he’ll still have one year of RFA eligibility remaining where he’ll have arbitration rights and be owed a $9.3MM qualifying offer.  Robertson is coming off a breakout year that saw him finish second on Dallas in scoring for the second straight year while posting 41 goals and 38 assists in 74 games, becoming an integral part of their forward group in the process.  This deal ensures he’ll be in the lineup on opening night while guaranteeing him an even bigger payday in 2026.

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The calendar has flipped to October and the regular season is now on the horizon.  This is the time when there is often a lot of activity on the signing front and this week was no exception as a few signings are featured in our key stories.

Staying In Montreal: The Canadiens are once again expected to be near the bottom of the league this season and accordingly, it’s expected that several veterans on expiring deals will be moved at some point.  That list no longer will include goaltender Jake Allen as the 32-year-old inked a two-year, $7.MM extension to stay with Montreal through the 2024-25 season.  The deal contains limited no-trade protection in each season.  With Carey Price’s playing future in doubt, Allen projects to be the starter for the foreseeable future and this deal, which represents a little more than a $1MM raise in terms of his AAV, cements that status.

Injury News: The Canucks will be without Brock Boeser when the season gets underway after the winger underwent hand surgery that will keep him out for three-to-four weeks.  The 25-year-old is coming off his second straight 23-goal season and is fresh off signing a three-year contract but he’ll have to wait a little bit before making his debut on that deal.  Meanwhile, Maple Leafs center John Tavares is also unlikely to be available for the start of the season due to an oblique strain.  Toronto’s captain has averaged just shy of a point per game in his time with the team and is coming off a season that saw him win over 60% of his faceoffs for the first time in his career.  It wasn’t all bad news on the injury front, however, as the Flyers learned that top center Sean Couturier won’t need surgery on his back after suffering a setback.  He missed most of last season with that issue and remains listed as week-to-week but they’ve avoided the worst-case scenario for now at least.

Bridge For Knight: Starting in 2023-24, Florida’s goalie tandem is going to be considerably more expensive after the team signed Spencer Knight to a three-year, $13.5MM extension that begins in 2023-24.  The 21-year-old has just 36 career regular season appearances under his belt but has been viewed as the Panthers’ goalie of the future from the moment he was drafted 13th overall in 2019.  In those three seasons, their netminding tandem will cost $14.5MM once you add in Sergei Bobrovsky’s contract which directly goes against the more recent trend of trying to shave costs between the pipes.  Notably, Knight’s deal is uniformly-distributed which means he’ll be owed a $4.5MM qualifying offer in the 2026 offseason.  They’ll certainly be counting on the expected cap increase in 2024-25 to help offset those costs.

And Then There Were Three: The list of remaining restricted free agents has dropped to three as the Maple Leafs and defenseman Rasmus Sandin reached an agreement on a two-year, $2.8MM contract.  The contract matches the one given to Timothy Liljegren which was what his camp was trying to beat in negotiations.  Instead, he’ll settle for a higher 2023-24 salary which means his qualifying offer will check in at $1.6MM.  Sandin should have an opportunity to earn a spot in Toronto’s opening night lineup with the team dealing with several injuries on the back end at the moment.

Three For Peake: Andrew Peeke had a strong first full NHL campaign last season with Columbus, becoming a key stay-at-home defender.  The Blue Jackets believe there’s more to come from him as they signed the 24-year-old to a three-year, $8.25MM contract extension that runs through 2025-26.  Peeke led them in blocks last season with 169 and led all Columbus defenders in hits with 191 while averaging over 21 minutes a game before putting forth a strong showing for Team USA at the World Championship.  This deal buys up one year of UFA eligibility while Peeke is poised to hit the open market at 28.

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With training camps quickly approaching, there is a push from teams to get some contracts in place.  Several of those highlight the key stories of the week.

Canadiens Re-Sign Two: Montreal was one of only three teams to still have multiple restricted free agents heading into September but they dealt with both of those soon after.  First, Kirby Dach received a rare four-year bridge contract that carries an AAV of $3.3625MM; he will still be a restricted free agent at its conclusion with a $4MM qualifying offer.  Acquired at the draft from Chicago, the 2019 third-overall pick will get a chance for a fresh start with Montreal.  The following day, Cayden Primeau inked a three-year, one-way deal with a cap hit of $890K.  With the team approaching the offseason cap ceiling (10% over the salary cap), Carey Price was moved to LTIR to allow the team to stay in compliance.  At this point, the veteran isn’t expected to play this coming season.

Bernier Unlikely To Start Season: Devils goaltender Jonathan Bernier was hoping to be ready for training camp after missing the second half of last season due to hip surgery but that will not be the case.  The 34-year-old has made just 34 appearances over the last two years due to injuries and now won’t be starting the final year of his contract on a high note.  New Jersey was more prepared for this scenario this time as they added Vitek Vanecek from Washington earlier this summer.  He and Mackenzie Blackwood will serve as their goalie tandem until Bernier comes back (if he’s able to).

Eight For Stutzle: Through his first two NHL seasons, Senators forward Tim Stutzle has shown some offensive promise while also transitioning to playing center.  The team clearly believes there is much more to come as they handed the 20-year-old an eight-year extension that has a cap hit of $8.35MM.  The deal will begin in the 2023-24 campaign.  The third-overall pick in 2020, he had 58 points in 79 games last season and with Ottawa adding some impact forwards this summer in Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat, Stutzle should be primed for a big jump this coming season.  The Senators have done quite well getting their young core to bypass bridge deals in favor of signing long-term contracts as Stutzle joins Brady Tkachuk, Joshua Norris, Drake Batherson, and Thomas Chabot as key players that have done so.

Talking Extension: Earlier this offseason, the Blues signed Robert Thomas to an eight-year extension.  Now, they’ve apparently shifted their focus towards another key youngster entering the final year of his contract as the team has started extension discussions with winger Jordan Kyrou.  The 24-year-old is coming off a career year that saw him put up 75 points in 74 games to finish fourth on the team in scoring, making his $2.8MM cap hit for 2022-23 quite a bargain.  When Thomas signed his extension, it carried a cap hit of $8.125MM and it’s likely that Kyrou’s will come in fairly close to that number if it winds up being a max-term agreement as well.

Tryout Time: In recent years, there has been an influx of veteran players that need to settle for a training camp tryout with the hopes of landing a contract from there.  This is shaping up to be no exception as six veterans all agreed to training camp PTOs.  On the back end, Danny DeKeyser joined Vancouver, Calvin de Haan is with Carolina for a second stint, Scott Harrington will try to crack the lineup in San Jose, while Nathan Beaulieu tries to do the same in Anaheim.  Meanwhile, forward Zach Aston-Reese will look to land a spot on Toronto’s fourth line while Calgary brought in Cody Eakin.  Expect several more veteran players to go this route over the coming week.

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As the calendar has flipped to September, activity has started to pick up around the league with training camps on the horizon as some notable signings headline our key stories.

Vegas Adds A Goalie: With Robin Lehner out for the year, Vegas was looking at entering the season with a tandem of Logan Thompson and Laurent Brossoit, who is coming back from hip trouble.  GM Kelly McCrimmon spent some of his increased flexibility to add Phil Kessel earlier and then used most of what was left this past week to add another option between the pipes, acquiring Adin Hill from San Jose in exchange for a fourth-round pick.  The 26-year-old had an okay first season with the Sharks, posting a 2.66 GAA with a .906 SV% in 25 games in an injury-riddled year.  He has one year left on his contract with a $2.175MM AAV and while he has just 74 career NHL games under his belt, he’ll give the Golden Knights another viable option as they look to get back to the playoffs without a true number one netminder.

Keeping Their Coach: Mike Sullivan had two more years left on his contract so there was no immediate need to work on a new deal.  However, that didn’t stop the Penguins from locking up their bench boss as they handed him a three-year extension to keep him under contract through the 2026-27 campaign.  Sullivan has been behind the bench since December 2015, making him the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper.  In that time, Pittsburgh has a 297-156-54 record (.639 points percentage) while winning a pair of Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.  The Penguins have had stability behind the bench for a while and with this move, that won’t be changing anytime soon.

Seven For Thompson: Tage Thompson was one of the biggest surprises in the NHL last season.  After recording just 18 goals and 17 assists in his first 145 games, he exploded offensively in 2021-22 with 38 goals and 30 assists in 68 contests to lead the Sabres in scoring.  While Buffalo could have waited to see if he could sustain those numbers this coming season, they’ve instead given him a significant vote of confidence, handing him a seven-year, $50MM extension that will begin in 2023-24 and buys out five seasons of UFA eligibility.  It’s a deal that certainly carries some risk if the 24-year-old takes a step back offensively, but if his performance is a sign of things to come, the Sabres will have their top a big piece of the puzzle locked up for the long haul.

Bridge For Oettinger: With Dallas not having a ton of cap space at their disposal and the fact that Jake Oettinger only had just 77 career NHL appearances, a bridge deal was the expected outcome for the restricted free agent.  In the end, that’s exactly what happened as the two sides agreed to a three-year, $12MM agreement that will keep the 23-year-old RFA eligible at its expiration with a $4.8MM qualifying offer.  Oettinger started last season in the minors but quickly ascended to the starting role after being recalled in November, posting a 2.53 GAA along with a .914 SV% before a stellar performance against Calgary in the playoffs which nearly allowed them to pull off the seven-game upset.  With this deal done, the Stars will now turn their focus to RFA winger Jason Robertson.

Sticking Around: For the better part of a year, Canucks center J.T. Miller had been the subject of trade speculation with the team believed to have gone fairly deep into discussions with other teams.  But the whole time, both parties said they wanted to find a way to get an extension in place and they were able to do just that as the veteran signed a seven-year, $56MM deal that will begin in 2023-24.  The 29-year-old is coming off a dominant season that saw him record 99 points, good for ninth in the league.  $8MM for a top center isn’t overly expensive from an AAV perspective if Miller is able to maintain close to that level of production although signing him through his age-37 season will carry some risk.  Even so, Vancouver has their top pivot locked up for the long haul as they look to get back to playoff contention.

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The final full week of August often marks the start of the final push to get contracts done with training camps now just a few weeks away.  That was indeed the case from the past seven days as the majority of the top stories were on the signing front although there was a notable one on the business side of things as well.

Bridge For Zadina: With Filip Zadina having another up and down season with Detroit last season, a bridge deal was expected.  In the end, that’s what he received as he inked a three-year deal that carries a $1.825MM AAV.  The sixth-overall pick in 2018, Zadina had 10 goals and 14 assists in 74 games with the Red Wings last season which isn’t where he was supposed to be after being a top scorer in junior.  This deal gives Detroit a chance to continue to bring him along slowly and evaluate him at a relatively low cost.  The 22-year-old will still have one year of RFA eligibility remaining at the end of this contract and will be owed a $2.19MM qualifying offer along with salary arbitration rights.

Texier Won’t Play With Columbus: After being granted a leave of absence for the final two months of 2021-22 following the deaths of two family members, it was expected that Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier would be back in the lineup with Columbus next season.  However, that won’t be the case as instead, the team announced that the 22-year-old won’t join the team at all next season.  Instead, an agreement has been worked out between Columbus, Texier, the NHL, and the NHLPA which will result in Texier being suspended for the season while allowing him to sign a one-year deal with Zurich of the Swiss NLA to play closer to home.  The Blue Jackets won’t incur any salary cap charges for Texier next season while the one year remaining on his contract is expected to roll over to 2023-24.

Stastny To Hurricanes: With Max Pacioretty heading for LTIR for most of the season, Carolina had the ability to use some of his cap hit to look for a replacement player.  They did just that as they signed veteran center Paul Stastny to a one-year, $1.5MM contract that also contains $500K in bonuses if the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup.  The 36-year-old is coming off a quality season in Winnipeg that saw him record 21 goals and 24 assists in 71 games and certainly left money on the table to join Carolina.  He will give them a quality backup plan if Jesperi Kotkaniemi isn’t ready to move into the center spot on the second line following the departure of Vincent Trocheck and with 103 career playoff games under his belt, he’ll be one of their most experienced postseason performers.

Islanders Sign Three: The Islanders took care of their NHL restricted free agents as they announced new deals for winger Kieffer Bellows plus defensemen Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson.  Bellows received a one-year, $1.2MM deal on the heels of a 19-point season, his first with regular NHL action.  Romanov, meanwhile, inked a three-year contract that carries a $2.5MM AAV.  He was New York’s big acquisition this summer after being acquired at the draft from Montreal along with a fourth-round selection in exchange for their first-round pick and will be tasked with locking down a spot in their top four.  As for Dobson, his contract was also for three years at a $4MM AAV.  He is coming off a breakout year that saw him put up 51 points in 80 games while logging over 21 minutes a night.  While the cap hit is certainly a bargain for that production, the term of the deal takes him a year away from UFA eligibility which does carry some risk.

Kessel To Vegas: Phil Kessel will take aim at the NHL ironman record in the opening month of the season as a member of the Golden Knights after Vegas signed him to a one-year, $1.5MM deal.  The 34-year-old had just eight goals with Arizona last season but still managed 44 assists.  The Golden Knights lost some offensive depth on the wing with the departures of Max Pacioretty, Evgenii Dadonov, and Mattias Janmark so Kessel will help to replace some of that lost offense.  In order to afford him, they are dipping into the cap space freed up following the loss of Robin Lehner and his $5MM AAV for all of next season following hip surgery.

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It took longer than many expected but the last big domino of the UFA market fell this past week, immediately resulting in a notable trade as well.  Those are among the top stories from the past seven days.

Veteran Signings: Jack Johnson will soon be participating in his 17th NHL season as the veteran signed a one-year, $950K contract with Chicago.  The 35-year-old had nine points in 74 games with Colorado in 2021-22 on their third pairing and should play a similar role with the Blackhawks, allowing them to keep a prospect in the minors for further development to start next season.  Meanwhile, a pair of NHL veterans opted to head overseas.  Winger Colton Sceviour opted to take a one-year deal with Bern in Switzerland after splitting last season between Edmonton and their AHL affiliate while Cedric Paquette is on his way to the KHL on a one-year pact with Dinamo Minsk.

Turris Retires: While those veterans found new homes on the ice, long-time NHL center Kyle Turris found a new home off the ice as he retired and was named a special advisor to the general manager and player development coach with Coquitlam of the BCHL.  He hangs up his skates at the age of 33 after a 14-year NHL career that saw him put up 425 points in 776 games with four different teams.  While he won’t be playing, Turris will still be collecting NHL money for a while yet as he will receive $2MM per season from Nashville through the 2027-28 season.

Kadri To Calgary: While there had been plenty of speculation (and seemingly even expectation) that Nazem Kadri would wind up with the Islanders, that wasn’t the case.  Instead, the 31-year-old center inked a seven-year, $49MM contract with the Flames, one that contains a no-move clause in the first four years and a 13-team no-trade clause in the final three seasons.  Kadri is coming off a career year with the Avalanche where he posted 87 points in 71 games while averaging over 19 minutes per game for the first time.  He also played a big role in Colorado’s run to the Stanley Cup as he collected 15 points in 16 games in the playoffs.  While it took a while for his deal to come around, Kadri has the long-term security he was seeking, and interestingly enough, it comes with the team that he actually invoked his no-trade clause to avoid joining just a few years ago.

Monahan To Montreal: For the Flames to be able to afford Kadri’s $7MM AAV, they needed to create some salary cap space.  They did just that, sending center Sean Monahan along with a first-round pick to Montreal for future considerations.  The 27-year-old has one year left on his deal with a $6.375MM AAV and is coming off hip surgery for the second straight season while he had just 23 points in 65 games.  The draft pick features plenty of various conditions that could make the pick convey anywhere between 2024 and 2026 and is certainly one of the more complex arrangements ever seen on a future draft choice.  Meanwhile, the news isn’t good for Canadiens goaltender Carey Price as he won’t be ready to start the season with GM Kent Hughes suggesting it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play in 2022-23 if he is ever able to return.  Montreal will place him on LTIR which creates the cap room for them to take on Monahan’s deal.

Talks Going Nowhere: At this point, most remaining restricted free agents are ones coming off their entry-level contracts that didn’t have any negotiation rights.  One of those is Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin and his agent, Lewis Gross, voiced his frustration with the lack of progress made in negotiations, stating that “negotiations are going nowhere”.  The 22-year-old has long been viewed as a future long-term piece of Toronto’s back end and he had 16 points in 51 games last season but was scratched in the playoffs.  With the depth that the Maple Leafs have on the left side of their defense corps, playing time will be difficult to come by which could also be playing a role.  Toronto is in a spot where they’ll be hard-pressed to re-sign Sandin and stay cap-compliant so a resolution that comes sooner than later would be ideal to give them more time to make the money work.

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While there were some big signings over the past seven days, there were also some notable injuries that are also featured in our key stories.

Signing Middlemen: In the span of a few hours, the Bruins shored up their center situation for next season.  They first signed Patrice Bergeron for what will be his 19th season with the team, giving him a one-year, $2.5MM deal with an additional $2.5MM in bonuses that will be earned once he plays in ten games.  Next up was a reunion with David Krejci after a season overseas as he received a one-year pact worth $1MM in base salary and $2MM in bonuses, three-quarters of which will be earned once he gets to 20 games.  Lastly, they inked Pavel Zacha to a one-year, $3.5MM deal to avoid salary arbitration.  Boston now has strong depth down the middle but while all three are on one-year pacts, they’ll likely be paying a good chunk of that money in 2023-24 through a bonus overage penalty.  That deferral will allow them to take one more run at contention with their veteran core.

Big Money For Crouse: The Coyotes have talked about winger Lawson Crouse being a big part of their future plans.  They demonstrated their faith in the 25-year-old as they signed him to a five-year deal that carries a $4.3MM AAV.  Crouse is coming off of his first 20-goal season while he has led the Coyotes in hits for four straight years.  Power forwards are hard to come by and often command pricey deals and that was the case here as Arizona bought out the final two years of Crouse’s RFA eligibility plus his first three UFA-eligible campaigns, ensuring they’ll have him for the prime of his career.

Lehner Out For The Year: The Golden Knights will be without their starting goalie for the entirety of the 2022-23 season after it was announced that Robin Lehner will need hip surgery.  This comes on the heels of the shoulder surgery he had back in May on an injury that ended his season prematurely.  Vegas will now add his $5MM to their LTIR pool which will also feature Shea Weber ($7.857MM) and perhaps Nolan Patrick ($1.2MM).  That gives Vegas some flexibility to try to add a replacement netminder and re-sign defenseman Nicolas Hague.  With the availability of backup Laurent Brossoit for the start of the season also in question after his hip surgery, youngster Logan Thompson is currently set to be their opening night starter.

Five For Roy: This past week wasn’t just bad news for Vegas as they agreed to a five-year, $15MM deal with center Nicolas Roy.  The 25-year-old established himself as a capable third-line center last season, notching 15 goals and 24 assists in 78 games while logging over 16 minutes a night.  For context, he had just 25 points in 85 games heading into the season.  It’s a bit of a risky agreement given Roy’s lack of a proven track record but there is also plenty of upside with this deal as if he’s able to play even at a similar level over the next few years, this should become a bargain contract for the Golden Knights.  On a veteran-laden team that doesn’t have many below-market value deals, Roy’s should be one of the exceptions before too long.

Achilles Injuries: A pair of players suffered torn Achilles tendons during offseason training and have undergone surgery.  The first was Hurricanes winger Max Pacioretty, one of their key summer acquisitions.  Instead of him helping to offset the losses of Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter, they’ll now have to wait until closer to the trade deadline for him to make his Carolina debut.  They won’t have any short-term cap issues with his $7MM AAV becoming eligible for LTIR but that’s not much consolation.  Meanwhile, after missing all of last season with a core muscle injury, Sharks blueliner Nikolai Knyzhov also sustained the injury and will be out for six months.  The 24-year-old was a regular for San Jose back in 2020-21 but it will be quite a while again before he’ll have a shot at reclaiming his spot on their back end.

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With the UFA market slowing to basically a halt, most of the news around the league from the past seven days has come from restricted free agency although there was a significant contract extension as well.

Four For Ferraro: It’s not very often that a player coming off an entry-level deal signs a medium-term contract but that’s exactly what the Sharks and defenseman Mario Ferraro did with the two sides agreeing to a four-year deal that carries a $3.25MM AAV.  The 23-year-old has become a key cog on their back end and averaged 23 minutes a game last season.  The most notable part about this contract might be that it walks Ferraro right to UFA eligibility while not buying any extra years of team control.  Cap space is limited in San Jose which likely took a long-term agreement off the table but it’s still a little surprising that new GM Mike Grier preferred this route.  At any rate, the Sharks have a key defender locked up for four years at an affordable rate.

Devils Settle: New Jersey had a pair of wingers that were set to make it to an arbitration hearing and while both cases got to the point of making their filings, both were settled soon after.  First, the Devils worked out a one-year, $5.45MM contract with winger Jesper Bratt.  It was a well-earned significant raise for the 24-year-old who nearly doubled the AAV of his bridge deal after leading the team in scoring with 73 points in 76 games.  He’ll once again be arbitration-eligible next summer.  Meanwhile, after opting for club-elected arbitration with winger Miles Wood, the two sides settled on a one-year, $3.2MM agreement.  The 26-year-old was limited to just three games last season after undergoing hip surgery but was valued enough by New Jersey to still be qualified last month.  Wood actually took a $300K pay cut compared to his salary from last season and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Huberdeau Extension: While Brady Tkachuk wasn’t willing to sign a long-term extension with Calgary, one of the players he was traded for was open to doing so.  Jonathan Huberdeau opted to not test free agency next summer, instead signing an eight-year, $84MM extension that will begin in 2023-24.  The 29-year-old is coming off a career season that saw him put up 115 points, 85 of which were assists to set an NHL record for assists by a left winger.  More than 73% of the money is paid out in the form of signing bonuses while Huberdeau receives a full no-move clause for all eight years with a 19-team no-trade clause in the final two seasons.  The contract could very well be an overpayment in the final few seasons but it ensures Calgary will have a premier playmaker in the fold for the long haul.

Flames Sign Two More: Huberdeau’s contract wasn’t the only contract the Flames finalized as they managed to avoid arbitration with a pair of players as well.  Defenseman Oliver Kylington received a two-year deal with a $2.5MM AAV.  He became a regular part of Calgary’s back end for the first time last season and he made the most of it, recording 31 points in 73 games.  Notably, this contract only buys out his final years of RFA eligibility.  Meanwhile, Andrew Mangiapane’s career year earned him quite a raise as well as he was given a three-year deal that carries a $5.8MM cap charge.  After previously having a career-high of 32 points, the 26-year-old notched 35 goals last season, becoming a core producer for the Flames in the process.  His deal covers this last RFA-eligible year plus two seasons of UFA eligibility.

Yamamoto Re-Signs: The Oilers were hoping to sign Kailer Yamamoto to a longer-term deal than the one-year contract they gave Jesse Puljujarvi.  They were able to do that although not by much as the team signed the winger to a two-year deal that carries a $3.1MM AAV.  The 23-year-old is coming off a nice 2021-22 campaign that saw him pick up 20 goals and 21 assists, both career highs which helped him more than double the $1.175MM price of his last deal and he’ll be owed a $3.2MM qualifying offer in 2024, his last summer of RFA eligibility.  With this signing, GM Ken Holland now has Edmonton’s last ten first-round picks under contract (including prospects).

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With arbitration hearings on the horizon, most of the top news from the NHL over the past week came on the RFA side although one prominent unrestricted free agent made some headlines to get into the key stories from the past seven days.

Puljujarvi Settles: The Oilers were able to avoid salary arbitration with winger Jesse Puljujarvi as they agreed to a one-year, $3MM contract.  The 24-year-old had a career year, notching 36 points in 65 games which allowed him to more than double the AAV of his previous contract.  Puljujarvi has been in trade speculation for a while now and this deal isn’t going to change that.  Instead, it might actually help move discussions along as now other teams will have certainty over how much he’s going to cost for 2022-23 and how much cap space (if any) will need to be created to make a move work.  Edmonton still has some work to do with their restricted free agents with Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod, and Tyler Benson all needing new deals.

Four For Joseph: After having a limited role in his first three seasons in Tampa Bay, Mathieu Joseph made the most of his extra ice time with the Lightning.  So much so, in fact, that he was the key element of the trade that brought Nick Paul from Ottawa to Tampa at the trade deadline, leading to a strong playoff run and a long-term extension.  To his credit, Joseph was even better with the Senators, picking up 12 points in 11 games to finish his season on a high note.  Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion had seen enough, opting to work out a four-year deal worth an AAV of $2.95MM.  For context, $2.95MM is more than he has made the rest of his career combined.  It’s a nice reward for the 25-year-old while the Sens pick up two extra years of team control in the process.

Klingberg To Anaheim: Clearly, John Klingberg didn’t get the contract he was looking for at the start of free agency.  That resulted in him leaving his long-time agent Peter Wallen to join Newport’s Craig Oster.  Oster clearly took a different approach to Klingberg’s free agency as not long after taking over, the veteran defenseman signed a one-year, $7MM contract with Anaheim.  It’s a soft landing for the 29-year-old who will have an opportunity to play a big role with the Ducks and then will be able to try his hand again in free agency next summer.  Worth noting is that his full no-trade clause is only in place until January so if Anaheim is out of playoff contention, it’s quite possible that he’s flipped at the trade deadline which could also help bolster his value on the open market next summer.

Bridge For Kakko: After another quiet season, one that was also mired by injuries, there was an expectation that the Rangers would be working out a bridge contract with RFA winger Kaapo Kakko.  They did exactly that as he inked a two-year deal that carries a $2.1MM AAV.  The second-overall pick in 2019 has 26 goals in 157 career regular season contests while he was a healthy scratch in their final playoff game.  The contract gives him more time to try to secure a full-time spot in the top six while also guaranteeing him a higher cap hit on his next deal as Kakko will be owed a $2.4MM qualifying offer in 2024 when he’ll also have salary arbitration eligibility.

Five Years For Siegenthaler: After playing a very limited role in his first few NHL seasons with Washington, Jonas Siegenthaler has become a legitimate top-four blueliner since joining New Jersey in 2021.  The Devils have seen enough to hand him a five-year contract that carries a $3.4MM AAV in a move that also buys out his first three seasons of UFA eligibility.  The 25-year-old had 14 points in 70 games last season while averaging over 20 minutes a game and will clearly now be a part of their long-term plans on the back end.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While the free agent frenzy has slowed down, there was still plenty of notable news around the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Sharks Zeroing In On Quinn: The Sharks appear to have found their next head coach with multiple reports suggesting that David Quinn will be their new bench boss with an official announcement expected sometime this week.  This will be Quinn’s second stint running an NHL bench after he was in charge with the Rangers for three seasons from 2018-19 through 2020-21 with the team posting a 96-87-25 record during that stretch.  Last season, Quinn coached Team USA internationally at the Olympics and World Championship with the team not medalling in either event.  He’ll now be tasked with helping to turn around a San Jose franchise that has fallen off in recent years and traded away their top defenseman in Brent Burns to Carolina earlier this month.  Toronto’s Spencer Carbury and Pittsburgh’s Mike Vellucci were believed to be the other finalists for the position.

Nino To Nashville: The free agent market for winger Nino Niederreiter didn’t exactly develop quickly but the 29-year-old has found a new home after signing a two-year, $8MM contract with Nashville.  The deal actually represents a pay cut after playing on a $5.25MM AAV the past five seasons, a sign of how stingy the market has become very quickly.  Niederreiter is coming off a solid showing that saw him put up 24 goals and 20 assists in 75 games despite averaging less than 15 minutes a night of ice time.  He has reached the 20-goal mark in six of the last eight seasons, consistent production that Nashville will certainly enjoy as they look to augment an offense that finished 12th in the league last season.

Tkachuk To Florida: After informing Calgary that he wouldn’t sign a long-term contract with them, Matthew Tkachuk has a new home as the Flames traded the winger along with a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick to Florida for winger Jonathan Huberdeau, center Cole Schwindt, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, and a top-ten protected 2025 first-round pick.  Right before the swap, Calgary inked Tkachuk to an eight-year, $76MM agreement, making it the first-ever true sign-and-trade in NHL history.  Tkachuk is one of the premier power forwards in the league and will be Aleksander Barkov’s new running mate for the foreseeable future but the Panthers gave up one of the top point-getters last season in Huberdeau and a quality defenseman in Barkov (plus the prospect and draft pick).  Calgary did well to recover plenty of talent for Tkachuk but it’s worth noting that both Huberdeau and Weegar are a year away from unrestricted free agency.  GM Brad Treliving will certainly be hoping to get both of his newcomers locked up on long-term deals by next summer.

Blue Jackets Make Moves: From the moment he was acquired, there have been questions about whether or not Patrik Laine would be willing to stay with Columbus past his RFA years.  The answer to that question was yes as the winger signed a four-year, $34.8MM contract, a deal that bought out three years of UFA eligibility.  That will ensure that the Blue Jackets have two high-end wingers for the foreseeable future after they added Johnny Gaudreau in free agency.  However, those two contracts put them well over the salary cap which resulted in them moving winger Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle for a 2023 third-round pick and a 2023 fourth-rounder.  Bjorkstrand finished second on the Blue Jackets in scoring last season with 28 goals and 29 assists and he’ll immediately step into a key role for the Kraken at a low acquisition cost.  The 27-year-old has four more years on his contract with a $5.4MM AAV which means that Columbus dealt with their cap issues with this one move and is now set to be cap-compliant for next season.

Three Years For Vanecek: After acquiring Vitek Vanecek to give them another option between the pipes, the Devils worked quickly to give the netminder a three-year contract worth $10.2MM.  The deal, which allowed the two sides to avoid salary arbitration, buys out two years of UFA eligibility.  Vanecek has just 79 career NHL appearances under his belt but had two quality seasons with Washington (playing for the league minimum) before the Capitals decided they wanted a more proven option between the pipes which led to the addition of Darcy Kuemper this summer.  New Jersey, meanwhile, will bring back Mackenzie Blackwood while Jonathan Bernier hopes he’ll be ready for training camp after missing the bulk of last season after undergoing hip surgery.  It’s rarely ideal for an NHL team to carry three goaltenders but after the injury trouble the Devils had between the pipes in 2021-22, it’s certainly understandable that they’re taking no chances this time around.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.