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Predators Sign First-Round Pick Brady Martin

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The Predators announced Wednesday that they’ve signed first-round pick Brady Martin. The fifth-overall pick receives his preset three-year entry-level deal, although salary and bonus terms weren’t disclosed.

A center out of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, Martin was the fourth forward off the board in June after defenseman Matthew Schaefer went first overall to the Islanders. The Predators were picking in the top five for the first time in over a decade, making Martin their highest-drafted player since Seth Jones went fourth in 2013. The organization hadn’t selected a forward in the top five since selecting David Legwand, their first draft pick in franchise history, second overall in 1998.

Martin is coming off his second season of high-level junior hockey and one of the draft’s biggest risers throughout 2024-25. After recording a 10-18–28 scoring line for the Greyhounds in his pre-draft season, he entered the year as a top-32 honorable mention in Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s rankings but had risen to No. 26 on Wheeler’s board by the time November came around. He climbed up to No. 20 in February and No. 17 in March before a tear to end the season had him 10th on Wheeler’s board entering the draft.

His stock undoubtedly saw a boost on the back of Panthers center Sam Bennett’s playoff success – a solid long-term comparable for Martin’s heavy-hitting, two-way, physical game. While the 6’0″ pivot may not have the offensive ceiling of some forwards taken after him, he did hold his own with 33 goals and 72 points in 57 games for the Greyhounds last year to finish second on the team in scoring. He finished off the year with 11 points and a tournament-high +15 rating in seven games for Canada at the under-18 World Juniors, winning a gold medal and getting named to the tournament All-Star Team.

“He’s not just a worker type with secondary skill; there’s some play-driving and individual playmaking to his game as well,” Wheeler wrote in his final report. “He’s going to have a long career as a productive up-and-down-the-lineup center in the NHL and should be an excellent and unique middle-six C at minimum.”

Martin will likely be returning to Soo for 2025-26, but should be given an opportunity to earn at least a nine-game trial in training camp to avoid burning the first season of his contract. After that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Martin seriously throw his hat in the ring for a second or third-line center role in Nashville for the 2026-27 season. Six of the top 13 picks from the 2024 draft – Macklin Celebrini, Artyom Levshunov, Ivan Demidov, Zayne Parekh, Zeev Buium, and Jett Luchanko – made their debuts last year.

Adam Raška Signs With HC Sparta Praha

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After six years playing in North America, forward Adam Raška is returning to his native Czechia. According to a team announcement, the Extraliga’s HC Sparta Praha has signed Raška for the 2025-26 season.

Today’s signing marks the conclusion of Raška’s unimpressive professional career in North America. He was drafted 201st overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks. During his draft season, he had a quietly successful campaign with the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic, scoring 13 goals and 21 points in 35 games.

Aside from a brief loan to HC Oceláři Třinec in 2020-21, Raška spent another year with the Océanic, scoring 12 goals and 25 points in 22 games, including another three goals and six points in eight postseason contests. Still, that’s the last time he’s registered much offensive success in his career.

Raška transitioned to the professional ranks a year later, scoring five goals and 14 points in 49 games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Still, it didn’t take long for the Sharks to realize what they had in Raška, as they allowed him the opportunity to debut in the NHL that same year.

He quickly became a hard-nosed forward who was willing to play aggressively, with nearly zero offensive potential. There’s definitely a place for that at the NHL level, but Raška took too many penalties and never turned into a true shutdown forward. Two years ago, the Sharks traded Raška to the Minnesota Wild along with a 2026 fifth-round selection for defenseman Calen Addison.

Similar to his time in the Bay Area, Raška spent much of his time with the Wild’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, with limited NHL action. He played primarily for Iowa last season, scoring five goals and 14 points in 56 games with 83 PIMs. He’s planning on staying true to his roots in his transition back to Czechia, saying, “My biggest advantage is being such a jerk on the ice. Making the opponent’s game uncomfortable and making room for our guys to play better.“

Prospect Notes: Mania, Whitelaw, Poletin

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With NCAA rosters being finalized and CHL training camps starting up soon, there’s been a flurry of activity involving NHL prospects finding new homes to continue their development for 2025-26. One of those names is ex-Kings prospect Matthew Mania, whom Ryan Sikes of Puck Preps reports will play for the University of Michigan after he announced his commitment in June.

Mania, 20, had one year of OHL eligibility remaining as an overager, but taking advantage of it is rare for a prospect with NHL aspirations. He’ll make the jump to a more challenging environment in the Big 10 conference after seeing some stagnant development since L.A. selected him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft.

The 6’1″ right-shot defenseman spent his first three junior seasons with the Sudbury Wolves before getting dealt to the Flint Firebirds last offseason. As would be expected, Mania recorded a career-high 38 assists and 45 points with a +10 rating in 2024-25, but that wasn’t much of a significant pop from his draft-year production with the Wolves three years ago (10-28–38, +21, 67 GP).

Mania joins a Michigan blue line that also landed some younger, higher-profile freshmen for 2025-26, including fellow ex-OHLer and 2024 Flames third-rounder Henry Mews. He’ll look to stand out and eventually earn an NHL contract as a free agent. Since he was drafted out of the CHL, L.A.’s signing rights expired on June 1 of this year and will not be re-extended by virtue of his move to college.

More from the NCAA/CHL world:

  • Officially moving on from Michigan after entering the transfer portal months ago is Blue Jackets center prospect William Whitelaw. He’s not going very far, though – reigning national champions Western Michigan announced on Instagram they’ve brought him in for his junior campaign. It’ll be the third school in as many years for the 2023 fifth-rounder, who spent his freshman year at Wisconsin before transferring to Michigan last summer. The undersized (5’9″, 174 lbs) pivot has a 21-14–35 scoring line in 72 career collegiate games.
  • After selecting him first overall in this year’s CHL Import Draft, the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets officially announced they’ve signed Islanders prospect Tomas Poletin. The Isles selected Poletin, 18, in the fourth round back in June. The Czech winger spent his draft year in Finland, scoring 13 goals and 20 points in 25 games for Pelicans’ under-20 club while also appearing in 15 Liiga games without a point.

KHL’s Shanghai Dragons Sign Ivan Chekhovich, Three Others

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The KHL’s Shanghai Dragons continue to fill out their roster ahead of their first season under their new name. Today, they announced the signing of four forwards with considerable North American experience – Ivan Chekhovich, Max Ellis, Nate Sucese, and Riley Sutter.

Chekhovich is the only one with NHL experience. The 5’10” winger was a seventh-round pick by the Sharks in 2017 and, after some standout offensive showings with the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar, looked like a potential steal. Unfortunately, his offense dried up as soon as he reached the pros. He only ever got a four-game call-up to San Jose in 2020-21, recording an assist and a -3 rating in 10:29 of ice time per game.

The Russian native only managed 32 points in 70 games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in parts of four seasons. When his entry-level contract expired in 2022, the Sharks issued him a qualifying offer to retain his rights, but he ended up signing in the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. He’s remained in Russia ever since, and San Jose is set to lose his signing rights on July 1 next year.

The 26-year-old has been inconsistent since returning home, but could be one of the Dragons’ higher-ceiling scoring options. He scored a career-high 36 points in 47 games for Vityaz Moscow Region, which has paused operations due to financial instability, last season.

Joining him on the wing will be the undersized Ellis, a former Maple Leafs undrafted free agent signing out of Notre Dame. The 25-year-old had 34 points in 87 games for AHL Toronto in parts of three seasons before his signing rights were traded to the Stars in June 2024 for the rights to then-pending UFA Chris Tanev. Ellis did not sign with Dallas and instead landed in Finland with Liiga’s Jukurit, where he had 18 points in 25 games last season before going point-per-game in five relegation contests to help them stay in the top flight next season.

Sucese, also a 5’9″ former undrafted free agent signing, has a longer pro track record. The 29-year-old has spent the last five seasons in the AHL in the Coyotes, Wild, Hurricanes, and Rangers organizations on two-way NHL deals and minor-league contracts. He heads overseas for the first time after posting a 52-57–109 scoring line in 276 career AHL contests, including 28 points in 56 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack last year.

Shanghai will be just the second pro team in Sutter’s pro career. The bulky 25-year-old center was a third-round pick by the Capitals in 2018, and while he’s remained under NHL contract with the team up until this summer, he never took the ice for the big club and played exclusively for AHL Hershey. The son of former Flyers captain Ron Sutter is a two-time Calder Cup champion with the Bears and had 65 points in 279 games for them before becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent this year.

Blues Sign Milan Lucic To Professional Tryout

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The Blues have signed left winger Milan Lucic to a professional tryout, the team announced.

Lucic, 37, last played in the NHL with the Bruins in October 2023. While on injured reserve for an ankle injury, he was arrested in November and charged with assault and battery for a domestic incident. Those charges were later dropped in February 2024, but he remained in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program throughout the season and did not return to Boston for the balance of the season and became an unrestricted free agent.

Late last offseason, Lucic expressed interest in making an NHL return but said he was still in the assistance program, making him ineligible to play until he was cleared by league medical staff. He was never suspended or disciplined by the league as a direct result of his charges. The Blues confirmed in their press release today that he has been cleared from the program and thus reinstated by the league.

While once one of the league’s top power forwards in his early days with Boston, Lucic took on bottom-six journeyman status as soon as he entered his 30s. The 6’3″, 240-lb lefty hasn’t had 30 points in a season since the 2017-18 campaign. In his last three seasons plus his four-game stint with the Bruins in 2023, he averaged 10 goals, 24 points, a -12 rating, and 198 hits per 82 games while averaging 12:16 of ice time per night. For his career, he’s got a 233-353–586 scoring line in 1,177 games.

The Blues haven’t had any major roster turnover at forward this offseason, and with Lucic not playing in nearly two years, he’s at best battling for a press-box role or a two-way deal out of the gate in camp. It’s unclear if he’d be willing to accept an AHL assignment if it helped facilitate an NHL return. The Vancouver native has never played in the minors – he jumped straight from juniors to Boston when he began his NHL career back in 2007.

Even then, it’s hard to see where he fits in if not in a minor-league role. St. Louis already has its bottom-six forward group filled out, plus two extras with Nick Bjugstad, Mathieu Joseph, Jake Neighbours, Oskar Sundqvist, Pius Suter, Alexandre Texier, Alexey Toropchenko, and Nathan Walker all relatively safe locks for spots. That doesn’t include much room for top prospect Dalibor Dvorsky to land a job, let alone a veteran reclamation project like Lucic.

Josh Leivo Signs With KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk

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The reigning MVP of the KHL has found a new home. In an announcement from the league, forward Josh Leivo has signed a one-year contract with the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk, the most recent Eastern Conference champions.

It’s quite the addition for Traktor as they look to capture the Gagarin Cup for the first time in franchise history. Leivo is coming off an impressive year with the KHL’s Salavat Yulaev Ufa, scoring 49 goals and 80 points in 62 games with a +26 rating. This MVP season came one year after he scored 15 goals and 38 points in 40 games throughout his first season in Russia.

Leivo’s postseason record the past two years should also benefit Traktor in its pursuit of the Gagarin Cup. The former 86th overall pick of the 2011 NHL Draft has scored six goals and 24 points in 20 games throughout the KHL postseason. It’s also the second time that Leivo has been honored with a league award for his performance throughout his professional career, winning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy during the 2022 Calder Cup playoffs after scoring 15 goals and 29 points in 18 games en route to a Calder Cup ring with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

It’s important to note that his journey to Traktor has been quite unusual. Despite signing a multi-year agreement with Salavat Yulaev Ufa after becoming the first Canadian to win the KHL’s MVP award, his contract was mutually terminated a few days ago. Several theories have emerged regarding this situation, including Leivo’s late arrival to training camp, visa complications, and financial difficulties faced by his former team.

All three theories may contain some truth, and we may never fully understand what happened. Still, the latter theory may have the most credibility as several reports from Russia have indicated that his former team requested he restructure his contract with a reduced salary, something Leivo wasn’t willing to do.

Reilly Walsh Signs With KHL’s Barys Astana

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Free agent defenseman Reilly Walsh has a one-year deal with Kazakhstan’s Barys Astana of the KHL, the team announced.

Walsh, 26, heads overseas for the first time in his career after spending the past several seasons as a productive minor-leaguer. He was drafted out of prep school by the Devils in the third round of the 2017 draft before going for three years at Harvard, signing his entry-level deal with New Jersey in 2020.

While the right-shot Massachusetts native has shown good offensive instincts wherever he goes, it has never translated into much NHL time. He only has one appearance to his name, posting an assist and two blocks in 14:23 of ice time for the Devils in a late-season game against the Senators in 2022.

Walsh remained in the New Jersey organization until the summer of 2023, when the Devils traded his signing rights to the Bruins in exchange for Shane Bowers. He signed a two-way contract with Boston a few weeks later, but spent the entirety of the following season on loan to AHL Providence. That gave him the trifecta needed – age 25, less than 80 games of NHL experience, and at least three years of pro experience – to reach the open market early via Group VI unrestricted free agency.

He landed a slightly richer two-way deal with the Kings last summer but met the same fate. He scored six goals and 32 points in 70 games for the AHL’s Ontario Reign and again became a Group VI UFA on July 1. He presumably landed a richer offer from Barys – although the club has had some recent financial struggles – than any two-way guarantees an NHL team was offering him, if there even were any.

Walsh pauses his career stateside for now with a 38-121–159 scoring line in 304 career AHL contests for Binghamton/Utica, Providence, and Ontario. He joins an Astana club that also has former NHLers Ian McCoshen, Olivier Rodrigue, and Mike Vecchione rostered for 2025-26.

Avalanche Sign Alex Gagne To Entry-Level Deal

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The Avalanche announced that they have signed defenseman Alex Gagne to a two-year, entry-level deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Gagne, fresh off his 23rd birthday, is the first of the group of players who saw their draft rights expire on Friday to land an NHL contract. The Lightning initially selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, but the two sides didn’t end up finalizing an entry-level contract after his four-year run with the University of New Hampshire came to an end last season. It’s unclear whether Tampa declined to offer him a deal or if Gagne declined to sign one, but the former would make sense as Tampa only has three contract slots available for 2025-26.

The 6’5″, 225-lb lefty isn’t a big point producer but was among the Wildcats’ most important players, particularly later in his career. He’d served as their captain since 2023-24 and finished his college career with a 7-41–48 scoring line in 139 games, totaling a +4 rating. He was named to Hockey East’s Third All-Star Team each of the last two years.

The New Hampshire native wasn’t a particularly high-profile prospect in Tampa’s system and won’t be one in Colorado’s either. Nonetheless, he’ll get a two-year runway, presumably with either AHL Colorado or ECHL Utah, to show enough development to earn a qualifying offer when his ELC expires in 2027.

Colorado had much more flexibility to make late-offseason depth additions than the Bolts. Gagne’s signing brings them to 43 standard contracts on the books for 2025-26, seven short of the limit.

Blue Jackets Sign Hudson Fasching To Two-Way Deal

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The Blue Jackets have brought in winger Hudson Fasching to the organization on a two-way contract, the team announced. It pays him $775K in the NHL and $250K in the minors with a $350K guarantee, per PuckPedia.

Fasching, 30, was a fourth-round pick out of the University of Minnesota by the Kings back in 2013 but never signed with the organization. L.A. traded his signing rights to the Sabres as part of a larger deal for defenseman Brayden McNabb less than a year after drafting him, and he saw brief action for them and the Coyotes over the years before landing with the Islanders, where he’s logged the bulk of his NHL action.

Fasching spent most of his three seasons with the Isles on the NHL roster, logging a combined 137 games played with a 16-21–37 scoring line and a -1 rating in that time. He also saw time with AHL Bridgeport in each of those years, though, successfully clearing waivers at the beginning of the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons. He logged nine goals and 14 points in 28 minor-league games, although the vast majority of his time there was spent on conditioning stints. He’ll now land with the Jackets, technically his fifth NHL organization, after seeing his already menial role with the Isles decrease last season.

While the 6’3″, 205-lb righty was a high-end scorer in college, earning some Big 10 All-Rookie and All-Star nods during his time with the Golden Gophers, that production never carried over to the pros. Even across his lengthy minor-league career, his production has been apt for a solid top-nine piece but never groundbreaking. He’s averaged 0.53 points per game in parts of nine AHL seasons, never hitting the 40-point mark in a single campaign. He does have some offensive upside at the NHL level, but no matter where he plays, he grades out best as a bang-and-crash checking line piece with decent skill.

Columbus still has some promising forward prospects on the way who will continue to compete for NHL jobs and top-end AHL roles, but they’re light on experienced, high-end NHL/AHL “tweeners” like Fasching. They began to address that problem earlier this summer by re-acquiring 31-year-old Brendan Gaunce for his second stint in the organization, but they’ll add some more muscular depth here with Fasching.

If a name like Luca Del Bel Belluz doesn’t command an opening-night job, there will be a bit of competition for press-box roles. Fasching will have an opportunity to compete with Zach Aston-Reese, Gaunce, and Mikael Pyyhtia.

Rangers Re-Sign Dylan Garand, Talyn Boyko

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The New York Rangers have re-signed goaltender Dylan Garand to a one-year, two-way contract extension, per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. The deal will carry a league-minimum, $775K salary at the NHL level. New York also announced the signing of goaltender Talyn Boyko to a one-year deal. Both netminders were restricted-free agents. With their deals out of the way, New York’s only remaining RFAs will be defensemen Lauri Pajuniemi and Karl Henriksson.

Garand began his career as the backup to Louis Domingue, but has gained the edge in starts over the veteran through the last two seasons. Garand has improved his stat line in every season along the way. He posted a 13-14-3 record and .894 save percentage in 32 games of his rookie season in 2022-23. Those numbers improved just enough to win the starter’s crease in 2023-24, rising to a 16-17-5 record and .898 Sv% in 39 games. With a year of trust behind him, Garand finally broke out this year, posting a 20-10-8 record and .913 Sv% in another 39 games.

On the heels of Garand’s rise, Domingue made the decision to sign with Sibir Novosibirsk of Russia’s KHL this summer. He’ll move out of the Rangers organization after three years, leaving the role of AHL backup to a mix of Callum Tung, Hugo Ollas, and Boyko. The inexperience of those three should give Garand a perfect chance to take on a star’s workload this season. New York is clearly expecting as much, now giving the 23-year-old a chance to set his own bar for renegotiations next summer. If he continues to succeed in upwards of 40 or 50 starts, Garand could find himself pushing to backup Igor Shesterkin in the NHL. If he falters, he’ll continue forward as the new veteran presence in a young Wolf Pack goalie room. Either way, Garand’s 2025-26 campaign will be one to watch closely.

Meanwhile, Boyko could be a strong bet to cede the bulk of Domingue’s minutes. He split starts on the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers last season, ultimately working to a stout 20-8-5 record and .913 Sv% in 33 games. He also posted a 2-2-0 record and .917 Sv% in five AHL games. The stat line was a hardy improvement over Boyko’s first pro season last year, when he managed a 13-9-1 record and .888 Sv% in 26 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones. He’s an athletic, 6-foot-8 goaltender with more pro experience than Tung or Ollas. That standing should give him the first chance to prove he can stick in the AHL. Boyko’s potential, and the confidence of a new deal, should give Rangers fans even more reason to watch Hartford’s goalie room closely.

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