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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.

Wild Sign Brett Leason To Professional Tryout

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The Wild have signed right-winger Brett Leason to a professional tryout, according to a team release.

Leason, 26, was a second-round pick by the Capitals back in 2019 after being passed over twice in the draft. He made his NHL debut in Washington two years later. While his offensive production on the farm for the Caps wasn’t particularly impressive, it was clear his defensive acumen and checking ability were strong enough, coupled with his 6’5″, 220-lb frame, to create a niche for himself in a bottom-six role in the NHL.

Leason averaged just 8:57 per game across 36 appearances in that first taste of NHL hockey with Washington, recording six points, 14 blocks, and 16 hits. He wasn’t killing penalties, but he was used primarily in defensive situations at even strength, responding with strong possession numbers like a 52.2 CF% and a 55.1 xGF% for his role.

Washington rewarded Leason, a pending RFA at the time, with a two-year, one-way deal to indicate they expected him on the roster going forward. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite make the cut for their opening night roster in 2022-23. He ended up on waivers and was claimed by the Ducks.

Slowly but surely, Leason established himself as an NHL regular in Anaheim. He served as a fine depth option for them over the past three years, never getting more than 70 appearances in a season but never fewer than 50. The 2023-24 campaign was something of a breakout for him, recording 11 goals and 22 points in 68 showings while seeing frequent PK deployment for the first time and averaging north of 13 minutes per game. While the Ducks non-tendered him that June, they ended up bringing him back anyway on a one-year, $1.05MM deal in free agency.

Leason met that same non-tender fate this summer. While his usage stayed the same, averaging just around 13 minutes per night, his offensive production slipped to five goals and 17 points in 62 games. He was also a frequent healthy scratch down the stretch, only appearing in three of Anaheim’s final 12 games of the season as they looked to give NHL reps to some younger talent.

At first glance, Leason’s possession numbers in Anaheim weren’t great, but they need a little more context. The Ducks have been one of the worst two-way teams in the league during his tenure, and his defensive workload at even strength peaked this past season with a 70.5 dZS%. Despite that, Anaheim still controlled 41.0% of shot attempts with Leason on the ice – only a relative decrease of 4.6% from when he wasn’t out there – and his 42.5 xGF% was the best he’d posted in a Ducks jersey.

His lack of usage down the stretch was a clear indicator he wasn’t in the Ducks’ long-term plans anyway, but he did enough last season to prove some legitimate utility as a bottom-six checking winger with a bit of a scoring touch. In that sense, it’s a tad surprising there wasn’t more interest in his services on a guaranteed deal earlier in the offseason.

Nonetheless, he now heads to St. Paul to try to earn a contract and a roster spot. The Wild beefed up their forward depth by retaining Marcus Johansson and adding Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and Nico Sturm in free agency, while recent first-rounders Liam Ohgren and Danila Yurov are also well-positioned to land expanded roles (or simply an NHL debut, in Yurov’s case). There may not be a huge chance for him to skate in Minnesota’s opening night lineup unless an injury creates a hole, but there is a pathway for him to beat out a name like Aubé-Kubel, who was on waivers last season and cleared, for a spot on the 23-player active roster.

Cameron Wright Signs In Finland

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Cameron Wright’s stay in the Oilers organization will be a short one. After turning an AHL contract into an NHL one at the beginning of last season, he’s on his way overseas and has signed a one-year deal with HPK in Finland’s Liiga, the club announced.

Wright, 27, had a long path to landing an NHL deal. Undrafted, he spent five years in college and won a national championship with Denver in 2022 after spending the prior four years at Bowling Green. The 6’1″ winger actually tied for the team lead on that Pioneers squad in goals with 23 in 41 games, and while he had some NHL interest, he ended up landing an AHL contract with the Avalanche’s affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

Wright barely played for the Eagles, however. He spent most of the season down in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies, where he exploded for 63 points in 64 games (with 136 PIMs to boot) in his first pro season. He landed a much more consistent AHL role the following season, now in the Oilers organization with Bakersfield, and parlayed that into an NHL contract the following year.

The Ontario native was a solid depth scoring piece for the Condors in 2024-25, posting a 13-11–24 scoring line in 60 games while providing physicality to their depth contingent. Evidently, that wasn’t enough for Edmonton to keep him around. They declined to issue him a qualifying offer at the end of the season and he became an unrestricted free agent.

There may have been some AHL offers on the table, but he’ll opt for a likely richer contract overseas instead. This far down the road in his development, it’s not overly likely that he makes his way back toward contention for an NHL roster spot. He joins an HPK club whose lone NHL-experience player is Kristian Vesalainen, a first-round pick by the Jets in 2017.

Flyers, Kraken Swap Jon-Randall Avon, Tucker Robertson

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The Flyers acquired forward Tucker Robertson from the Kraken for forward Jon-Randall Avon, the teams announced. The pair of prospects will now report to their new teams’ training camp in a couple of weeks.

It amounts to a swap of lower-tier prospects who haven’t quite panned out as their clubs hoped. They’re both entering their age-22 seasons, born just a handful of days apart in the summer of 2003.

It’s particularly unsurprising to see the Kraken move on from Robertson. He was a fourth-round pick in 2022 after going undrafted in 2021, a season he missed entirely due to the pandemic. But despite producing over a point per game for the OHL’s Peterborough Petes in 2021-22 and 2022-23, he hasn’t been able to find any sustained offensive success in the pros.

Robertson never graded out as a top-10 or even top-15 prospect in Seattle’s system. He split his first pro season in 2023-24 between AHL Coachella Valley and ECHL Kansas City but found himself on the AHL roster full-time in 2024-25. Unfortunately, that didn’t come with much playing time. He only got into around half of Coachella Valley’s games, recording a 4-5–9 scoring line in 38 games. The 5’10”, 190-lb center now has 10 goals and 19 points in 77 career AHL games over the last two years.

Avon, whom the Flyers signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021, has seen moderately more offensive success. He was teammates with Robertson in junior hockey with Peterborough and made the jump to the pros at the same time. The stepson of former Blackhawks star Steve Larmer has stuck around as a depth piece with Philly’s AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley for the last two years, putting together a 16-19–35 scoring line with a -22 rating in 125 games. He’s taller but lankier than Robertson at 6’0″ and 174 lbs.

Since Avon’s ELC slid twice before going into effect, both he and Robertson are entering the final seasons of their contracts. They’ll be restricted free agents next summer with neither being eligible for arbitration.

Islanders Sign Daniil Prokhorov To Entry-Level Contract

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Sep. 4: Prokhorov is staying in Russia after all. Instead of spending the year in juniors with Sarnia, the Islanders have announced a loan back to Dynamo Moscow for 2025-26, per Newsday’s Andrew Gross. His entry-level deal will slide accordingly. Signing him now allows them the option to have him in North America next season or assign him to AHL Bridgeport once his campaign in Russia ends.

Sep. 2, 8:30 p.m.: A few hours after the signing was made official, PuckPedia shared Prokhorov’s contract details:

  • Year 1: $775K salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $102.5K GP bonus, $85K AHL salary
  • Year 2: $800K salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $77.5K GP bonus, $85K AHL salary
  • Year 3: $877.5K salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $85K AHL salary

Sep. 2, 10:21 a.m.: While recent Islanders draft pick Daniil Prokhorov signed a two-year contract in Russia just last week, it appears he’s already taking advantage of his baked-in NHL out clause. The Isles announced Tuesday they’ve signed their 2025 second-rounder to his three-year, entry-level contract. Stefen Rosner of NHL.com relays that the signing will precede a loan to the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, allowing him to play junior hockey stateside in his DY+1 after the Sting selected him in the second round of this year’s CHL Import Draft.

It’s more stability and a more competitive environment for the 18-year-old, who likely wasn’t ticketed for a full-time role in the KHL with Dynamo Moscow. He was instead expected to spend most of 2025-26 with their junior club, so he’ll instead be able to play in his age group in a higher-octane and more balanced league compared to Russia’s MHL.

Drafting Prokhorov was a bet on talent and ceiling. While not a well-rounded offensive threat by any means, he did tally 20 goals in 43 games for the MHL’s Dynamo St. Petersburg last year and plays a highly physical yet disciplined game. The 6’6″, 218-lb right winger only recorded 14 PIMs in 2024-25.

He’s a bit of a developmental project and presumably won’t be in the conversation for NHL ice time for a few years at least, especially not this season. Since he won’t hit the 10-game mark, his entry-level deal can slide to the 2026-27 season before taking effect and potentially again until 2027-28 if the same circumstances repeat themselves next year.

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