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Panthers To Sign Tyler Motte, Ben Harpur To PTOs

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The Panthers are in agreement with forward Tyler Motte and defenseman Ben Harpur on professional tryouts, according to Frank Seravalli of Bleacher Report. They’ll get the chance to compete for NHL jobs or at least a minor-league safety net with AHL Charlotte.

Motte, 30, is entering the second decade of his professional career. A 2013 second-round pick of the Blackhawks, he debuted with them in his first full pro season in 2016-17 and has appeared in every NHL season since. He’s become a true journeyman in the process. Outside of spending parts of five seasons with the Canucks from 2018-22, he’s also logged time for the Blue Jackets, Rangers, Senators, Lightning, and Red Wings – never playing more than 70 total games for anyone other than Vancouver.

If signed, it could be Motte’s fourth straight one-year deal. He’s also no stranger to sitting on the open market for long periods, waiting until September to sign deals in 2022 and 2023. But he picked up a one-year, $800K commitment from Detroit early in free agency last summer, prefacing a campaign that saw him serve as a rather nondescript No. 13/14 forward. He averaged 11:19 per game over 55 appearances – his lowest total in a season since the shortened 2020-21 campaign – and scored four goals and five assists for nine points.

The Michigan native has never been a high-end offensive producer, only recording double-digit points three times in his nine-year career. He’s a pure energy winger with enough versatility to slot in down the middle, although his career 42.8% success rate on faceoffs isn’t terribly ideal.

He’ll join a Panthers training camp that will have stiff competition for depth forward roles. They’ve made Luke Kunin a late-summer signing while also extending a PTO to Noah Gregor just yesterday. Those names will compete alongside a group of returnees in Jesper Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich, A.J. Greer, and Tomas Nosek for fourth-line and press box spots.

As for Harpur, he doesn’t have much chance of landing an NHL roster spot. That’s likely not the intent of having him in camp, though. The 30-year-old would bring nearly 200 games of NHL experience and over a decade of pro time in general to Florida’s depth contingent on a two-way deal. That’s an archetype the Cats are missing on their depth chart. Of their six projected non-roster defenders, according to PuckPedia, none are over the age of 25. He’d be a veteran body for AHL Charlotte, should clear waivers without issue if signed, and would be a safer, more experienced recall option in case of an injury to the NHL group.

That would make him essentially a direct replacement for Jaycob Megna, who made eight appearances down the stretch for Florida last season but signed with the Golden Knights in free agency. Harpur hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2022-23 season, when he had six points in 42 appearances for the Rangers in a bottom-pairing role. He’s remained in the New York organization since then, but injuries have limited him to just 36 games over the last two seasons with AHL Hartford.

Ducks, Rodwin Dionicio To Terminate Contract

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Sep. 9: Unsurprisingly, Dionicio has returned home. He essentially resumed his previous contract with EHC Biel-Bienne, which runs through the 2026-27 campaign, the team announced.

Sep. 3: Dionicio has cleared waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He will now have his contract terminated.

Sep. 2: The Ducks placed defense prospect Rodwin Dionicio on unconditional waivers Tuesday, per PuckPedia. It’s for the purpose of a mutual contract termination, which can occur tomorrow if he clears.

Dionicio, 21, only has one season of professional experience and still had two years left on his entry-level deal, which he signed with Anaheim in May 2024. The Swiss rearguard was a fifth-round pick in 2023 from the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and had a spectacular final junior season in 2023-24, erupting for 73 points (and 108 PIMs) in just 60 games split between Windsor and Saginaw en route to a Memorial Cup championship.

Things quickly turned sour for Dionicio upon beginning his professional career, though. He struggled to land a regular role for Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego and managed nine points in 24 games for the Gulls. By the time January rolled around, the Ducks and Dionicio agreed that a return to Europe was in his best interests, and they loaned him to EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss National League. He only got into nine regular-season games with the club, recording six assists and a +2 rating.

Given the offensive ceiling he displayed just one year ago, it’s surprising to see him now headed for unrestricted free agency. The Ducks only have 13 other defenders in the organization under contract, so it’s not like there was a huge logjam for him to work through again to win a roster spot in San Diego.

Usually, a mutual termination precipitates a move to Europe. In Dionicio’s case, though, there’s a higher likelihood than normal of someone making a claim and picking up the remainder of his entry-level deal, considering his offensive upside.

Panthers To Sign Noah Gregor To PTO

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Free agent left-winger Noah Gregor will attend Panthers camp on a professional tryout, according to his dad, Jason Gregor of Edmonton’s Sports 1440.

The 27-year-old Gregor adds another name to the competition for bottom-six jobs in Florida, a group that will be stretched a tad thinner to start the season thanks to the domino effect of Matthew Tkachuk’s recovery from adductor surgery. They’ve been active in shoring up that depth after getting their trio of big-name extensions done for Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Brad Marchand in the days before free agency began. Center Tomas Nosek was also given a one-year extension hours before the market opened, while they picked up right-winger Luke Kunin on a league-minimum contract last month.

Gregor split the 2024-25 season between the Senators and Sharks, working primarily in a fourth-line role and making 52 appearances. He totaled a 4-3–7 scoring line with a -21 rating, the worst offensive production of his career on a per-game basis since entering the league with San Jose six years ago.

Gregor’s calling card has always been his speed, but that took a hit last year. NHL EDGE data shows Gregor averaged 2.0 speed bursts over 20 mph per game, down significantly from 2.75 the year before. He also had 0.52 fewer hits per game and took 0.6 fewer shots on goal per game than he did in 2023-24, when he turned a PTO with the Maple Leafs into a one-year contract and had 12 points in 63 showings. Possession metrics also weren’t kind to Gregor, who controlled only 43.6% of shot attempts at even strength, despite receiving a significantly more sheltered workload defensively compared to his deployment with Toronto.

For his career, Gregor has 70 points in 293 NHL games. He had semi-productive stretches in San Jose’s top nine earlier in his career, averaging nearly 15 minutes per game for them in 2021-22 while recording a career-high 23 points in 63 games, but has now produced 0.20 points per game or fewer in four of his six NHL campaigns.

Gregor faces an uphill battle to earn a roster spot ahead of a known commodity internally like Nosek or a higher-ceiling offensive option in Kunin, especially with a larger group including Jesper Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich, A.J. Greer, and Mackie Samoskevich also jockeying for position on Florida’s depth chart. There’s still no harm in seeing if he’s rediscovered his skating, an element that would fit well into the Cats’ heavy-checking system, where he’d be a speedier option than Kunin and Nosek.

If Gregor makes the club, it’ll likely be in a press-box role to start. He could also sign a deal and land on waivers, with the hope that he can either rebuild his stock with AHL Charlotte or be claimed by a team in need of experienced forward depth. After being non-tendered for three years in a row, he’s now old enough to be eligible for unrestricted free agency outright next summer.

Flames Sign Dustin Wolf To Seven-Year Extension

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The Calgary Flames have signed reigning Calder Trophy finalist Dustin Wolf to a seven-year, $52.5MM extension, per a team release. The deal will carry a yearly cap hit of $7.5MM. That price tag will pull Wolf into the upper echelon of goalie contracts, making him the eighth-highest-paid goalie in the NHL.

Calgary is clearly confident after Wolf’s unprecedented play on his entry-level contract. He was once an overlooked goaltender, falling to the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft largely thanks to his slight 6-foot, 160-pound frame. Wolf was playing with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips at the time of his draft. He returned for a fourth season in Everett in the following year, and wrapped up his  WHL career with a staggering .935 save percentage in 149 games – the highest save percentage ever recorded across multiple WHL seasons.

Wolf moved to the AHL’s Stockton Heat in 2021-22 and earned the starter’s crease within just a few months. He was flashy and energetic, even as a first-year pro, and worked his way to a phenomenal 33-9-4 record and .924 Sv% in 47 games. That mark was enough to earn Wolf the AHL’s Baz Bastien award, handed out annually to the league’s top goalie. Not to be outdone, Wolf managed an even better record (42-10-2) and better save percentage (.932) in more games (55) in his second pro year, again taking home the Baz Bastien Award. With that, he became just the third goalie to ever win the award twice, and just the second to win it in back-to-back years.

That gave Wolf an incredible amount of momentum headed into last season. He played 18 games in the NHL between 2022 and 2024 – and managed a stout 8-7-1 record and .923 save percentage. But fans knew more was to come when Wolf finally broke into the Flames’ roster full-time. New Flames general manager Craig Conroy cleared the path for that to happen when he traded Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils in 2024. The lights were shining bright and trained solely on Wolf, headed into last season.

Wolf wasted no time proving he belonged in an NHL role. He won his first three games of the season with a .936 save percentage and managed his first shutout in his ninth game of the year. By the end of December, Wolf was touting an impressive 12-5-2 record and a .914 save percentage. Those numbers slipped slightly as Wolf worked his way up to 53 starts on the season – the 17th-most in the league. He finished his rookie season with a 29-16-8 record and .910 Sv% – tying Stuart Skinner, Pekka Rinne, and Andrew Raycroft for the eighth-most wins by a first-year starter.

It was a truly electric performance. Calgary’s chances to win rose significantly when Wolf took the net, and his athleticism and confidence were both unwavering. Advanced stat site Evolving Hockey estimates that Calgary received five wins-above-replacement (WAR) from Wolf – the fifth-most in the NHL, just narrowly behind Vezina Trophy finalist Darcy Kuemper and above Ilya Sorokin. That’s an incredible mark, and one that Calgary will quickly reward with a long-term extension. Teams have been duped in the past by strong rookie seasons. Hockey fans will surely remember the short-lived peak of Steve Mason. But Wolf seems well set to earn the starting role in every season of his new deal. He boasts all of the skill, speed, and sharp thinking to play at the top level, and will look to vindicate a great rookie year and hefty extension with a growing performance this season.

Photo courtesy of Brett Holmes-Imagn Images.

Predators Sign Dylan Gambrell To PTO

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Several teams have added players on professional tryout (PTO) agreements in recent days and many more will do so before training camps open up.  It appears the Predators have joined the list as Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco reports (Twitter link) that forward Dylan Gambrell has inked a PTO agreement with Nashville.

The 29-year-old isn’t too far removed from playing a regular role in the NHL.  Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, Gambrell played in at least 49 games per season while splitting time between San Jose and Ottawa.  2020-21 saw him log more than 16 minutes a night of playing time but beyond that, he largely played on the fourth line.  In 233 NHL games between the two teams, he has 17 goals and 23 assists along with a 46.1% faceoff rate.

However, Gambrell has been limited to just AHL action over the past two seasons.  In 2023-24, he picked up 14 goals and 22 assists 66 games with Toronto’s farm team while playing on a one-way contract.  He wasn’t able to secure that last summer, instead inking a two-way deal with Columbus.  With the AHL’s Monsters, he picked up 13 goals and 12 assists in 54 appearances.

Gambrell has enough professional experience to qualify for veteran status at the AHL level; teams can only dress five skaters with 320 games of experience which has made it a challenge for some capable veterans to find a home at that level for the upcoming season.  At this point, it’s unlikely that Gambrell would be able to command a one-way deal from the Predators but a solid showing in training camp could be enough to earn him another two-way agreement and a spot with AHL Milwaukee for the upcoming season.

Hurricanes Sign Kevin Labanc To Professional Tryout

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SHL’s Växjö Lakers HC Sign Brogan Rafferty

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

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

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

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

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

Flames Sign Connor Zary To Three-Year Contract

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Saturday: The Flames officially announced the contract with the $3.775MM AAV as reported.  PuckPedia reports that the deal carries a $500K signing bonus with a $3.275MM salary for the upcoming season with the salaries in 2026-27 and 2027-28 being a flat $3.775MM.

Friday: The Flames are getting their final RFA under contract. They’re putting the finishing touches on a three-year contract with forward Connor Zary worth just under $3.775MM per season, per Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It will check off the last major item on Calgary’s off-season list.

After weeks of anticipation, Zary will put pen to paper on a bridge contract that will keep him in the Saddledome. The 2020 first-round pick has emerged as a top option in Calgary’s retooled offense, after two years of high-end play in the AHL. Zary made his pro debut in February, 2021 – taking advantage of the delayed start to the WHL season due to COVID-19. He looked pro-ready right out of the gates, netting seven points in his first nine AHL games before returning to captain the Kamloops Blazers through the end of the season. He scored 24 points in 15 games with the Blazers and turned pro full-time the following year, concluding his junior career at 206 points in 203 games.

After a hot start, Zary stuttered a bit in his first full AHL year. He scored just 13 goals and 25 points in 53 games, and struggled to maintain a role near the top of the Stockton Heat lineup. Those fortunes turned around when the Heat relocated to Calgary for the 2022-23 season. Zary blossomed with the heat of the NHL that much closer. He looked more engaged across the board, and worked to an impressive 21 goals and 58 points in 72 games as a result. That performance wasn’t enough to earn an NHL role outright, but Zary forced the Flames’ hand with 10 points in six AHL games – including one four-assist night – at the start of the 2023-24 season.

Calgary has provided Zary plenty of opportunity to plant his feet in the NHL lineup in the two seasons since. He debuted in the team’s top-six, and cemented his spot with six points through his first six NHL games. The scoring continued through the year – and he wrapped up his first season with 34 points in 63 games, the sixth-highest scoring pace of any rookie. He was comfortably fluctuating between the second and third line by the end of the year, and even capped off his rookie year with four points in his final five games.

This season started much the same. Zary scored five points in the first four games of the season – but quickly fell into the rut of scoring in bursts, with long scoring droughts in between. He struggled to maintain a top-line role as a result, and ultimately fell out of the lineup entirely when he suffered an injury to his left-knee in a January matchup against the Anaheim Ducks. The injury held Zary out of the lineup for a month and a half – and he struggled to find his footing after returning. He scored just two points in his first nine games back. Right as he was returning to form in late-March, Zary sustained another injury to his left-knee. This one ended his season early, limiting him to just 27 points in 54 games on the year.

The 23-year-old center faced the first free agent negotiations of his young career on the heels of those untimely injuries. He was undoubtedly impressive at his brightest moments, but was kept from showing full-season consistency by routine injury – making a bridge deal all but guaranteed. With short-term control, the Flames will be able to hedge their bets in the event that Zary continues to bounce in and out of the lineup, or face extended scoring lulls. On the same coin, the young centerman could soon earn much more than his $3.775MM cap hit – if he can show an ability to hold down a top-six role through an entire 82-game season. He has averaged 43 points per 82 games through his first two seasons in the NHL – but seems capable of achieving 50, or even 60, points at his peak based on talent alone. On this new deal, Calgary will test whether that talent can exist above, or through, the challenges that Zary faces as a young speedster in the NHL.

Photo courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.

Sharks Acquire Carey Price’s Contract From Canadiens

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The Montreal Canadiens have traded Carey Price’s contract and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for minor-league defenseman Gannon Laroque. Price has not played since 2021, after undergoing surgery to repair a serious meniscus injury. He carries a $10.5MM cap hit through the end of this season.

Price has received a $5.5MM signing bonus on September 1st of each year of his contract. The Canadiens paid that tab earlier this week, opening the door for his lofty cap hit to be moved out. With no bonuses to worry about, San Jose will only have to pay Price $2MM in base salary, while reaping the benefits of a $10.5MM cap hit. That mark brings San Jose’s cap utilization up to $86.23MM – still $9.24MM below the cap ceiling. Montreal, meanwhile, will move forward with roughly $4.57MM in cap space.

The trade makes sense financially for both sides. The Sharks now distance themselves from the cap floor, while Montreal will be able to enter the season without utilizing long-term injured reserve. That latter point will prove particularly beneficial for Montreal, as they’ll now have the flexibility to bring in almost $5MM in lineup talent – rather than being forced to enter the season at the cap ceiling, since they exceeded the ceiling with Price’s contract on the books.

Montreal is planning to take full advantage of that newfound flexibility, per Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gaming. D’Amico shares that – whether it’s before the season or closer to December – the Habs have expressed interest in building out their roster. The team is noticeably lacking depth at the center position, with little to offer behind clear-cut, top center Nick Suzuki. That could make the Canadiens a strong candidate for a player like Jack Roslovic, who surprisingly remains on the free agent market despite scoring 22 goals and 39 points in his ninth NHL season last year.

The Canadiens will also receive an interesting prospect in this swap. Laroque has fallen victim to substantial injuries throughout each of the last few seasons. He had to undergo surgery on both hips in 2022, forcing him to sit out of all but four games of his final WHL season. He scored five points in those games. Recovery from the hip surgery continued through the 2023-24 season, though Laroque was able to play nine games, and record two points and eight penalty minutes, in both the AHL and ECHL. He seemed well-set to formally begin his pro career, before being pulled out of the 2024-25 season entirely by an undisclosed injury. It wasn’t revealed if this new injury was related to his previous hip surgeries. He was a productive, right-shot defender when he appeared at the junior level. Spending the better parts of two seasons with the WHL’s Victoria Royals, Laroque was able to record 59 points in 84 games.

Meanwhile, San Jose will move forward with balanced books and a clearer outlook of their expenses this season. This move drops San Jose from having the second-most cap space in the league, to the ninth-most. They also now carry 49 contracts, out of a possible 50. Sharks fans will zero in on how the team chooses to move forward with superstar prospect Michael Misa – the second-overall selection in this year’s NHL Draft. Misa scored an incredible 62 goals and 134 points in 65 OHL games this season, but still remains unsigned despite seemingly accomplishing everything he could at the junior flight. He’ll be a name to watch closely, and could even find his way onto the Sharks’ opening night roster, now that the team has a bit more financial security.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports.

Aidan Hreschuk Signs With AHL Texas

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Defenseman Aidan Hreschuk was among the higher-drafted college players to become eligible for free agency last month. Reporting earlier in the offseason indicated the Blue Jackets, who had acquired his draft rights from the Hurricanes in 2022’s Max Domi trade, had already made up their minds on not offering him an entry-level contract before the Aug. 15 deadline. PuckPedia confirmed a couple of weeks ago that he’d filed the necessary paperwork to become an unrestricted free agent.

After four years at Boston College, the 5’11” lefty will instead need to settle for a minor-league pact. He’s signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Texas Stars to join the Dallas organization, the team announced Friday.

It’s not particularly surprising to see him go unsigned by Columbus and subsequently struggle to yield NHL offers. Despite his 2021 third-round billing, he never really popped offensively at BC. He only ever cracked the 10-point mark in a season once and finished his run with a 6-32–38 scoring line in 146 contests, a pace of 0.26 points per game.

While that’s not the end-all-be-all for a defender’s effectiveness, offensive production and high-end puck-moving skills are a must in today’s league for a sub-6′ defenseman. While he is relatively mobile and physical and did develop his defensive skills well at BC, particularly in his junior season, NHL teams will be extremely wary about his ability to overcome his lack of height to translate those skills to the game’s top level.

Instead, the 22-year-old will get a crack in the Stars’ pipeline and look to convert a strong AHL showing out of the gate into an NHL contract, whether that’s this year or next or further down the road. Dallas already has 15 defenders signed to NHL contracts, so it’s not surprising to see them not offer him an entry-level deal despite some obvious organizational interest.

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