Nick Robertson, who was acquired by the Penguins from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July. 1, was one of 15 players who filed for arbitration. Jason, his brother on the Dallas Stars, also filed for arbitration.
15 players have filed for arbitration:
Bourgault, Xavier (Ottawa Senators) Dach, Kirby (Montreal Canadiens) Drysdale, Jamie (Philadelphia Flyers) Greaves, Jet (Columbus Blue Jackets) Jefferies, Alex (New York Islanders) Krebs, Peyton (Buffalo Sabres) McMichael, Connor (St. Louis…
Robertson had his best NHL season in 2025-26, finishing with 16 goals and 32 points in 78 games. He has scored double-digit goals in back-to-back-to-back seasons and will try to make it four in a row when the 2026-27 season starts in September.
Robertson is very familiar with Penguins president/general manager Kyle Dubas since the latter drafted him when he was the GM in Toronto. Dubas selected Robertson in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft.
The Penguins will try to get a contract done with Robertson before his arbitration date.
Vintage Red - March 7, 2011 - Vol. 64, Issue 19 - Ken Campbell
It should come as no surprise that even Nicklas Lidstrom’s attempts at humor are understated. For 19 seasons now, he has probably never brought a single person out of his or her seat, save for the four times the Detroit Red Wings have won the Stanley Cup since he joined them in 1991. His greatness is not measured in flashy end-to-end rushes, bone crushing hits or spectacular plays. It is measured in a consistent excellence that no player in the history of the league has achieved. It is measured in durability, respect and an attention to detail that is mind-boggling. Almost nothing about his game has changed since he joined the Red Wings and it could be argued that no player, ever, has played as well as Lidstrom is playing right now this late in his life.
Lidstrom turns 41 in April. There are players who have played far longer than Lidstrom has and there are others who have been better. But no player has combined excellence and longevity, save perhaps Gordie Howe, who scored 103 points and was third in NHL scoring when he was Lidstrom’s age.
“There are two things I don’t remember Nick Lidstrom ever doing,” said Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, who guided the Wings for nine of Lidstrom’s 19 seasons. “I don’t remember him ever falling to the ice and I don’t remember him ever getting caught and leaving his partner with a 2-on-1.”
You’d have to think Bowman is gilding the lily just a wee bit, but you get the idea. Lidstrom isn’t the perfect NHL player, but he’s about as close as you’re going to get, on and off the ice.
Actually, Lidstrom is becoming a lot of things these days. First, he has locked down the role vacated by Joe Sakic as the most respected player in the NHL. Secondly, he has worked his way into Gordie Howe-Steve Yzerman territory when it comes to the all-time greatest Red Wings and, particularly if he wins his seventh Norris Trophy this season, has entered the debate, along with Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey, as the game’s greatest ever defenseman. Really.
A seventh Norris this season would tie him with Harvey and put him one behind Orr. It would also make him the only player in league history to win a major individual award in a season in which he was 40 years old for the entire campaign. (Jacques Plante shared the Vezina with Glenn Hall in 1969, but turned 40 mid-season.) If he finishes first or second in Norris voting this season, he’ll join Ray Bourque as the only player to accomplish that feat 10 times. Being what Red Wings coach Mike Babcock calls “a genetic freak,” has allowed Lidstrom to be far more durable than Orr ever was. And even though he plays much the same way Harvey did, he has never had the self-destructive tendencies that shortened Harvey’s NHL career and his life.
“How many years did Orr play?” Babcock said. “You know what I’m saying to you? There gets to be a point where Mario, his best season was almost as good as Wayne’s best season. But the difference is, Wayne did it forever. To me, there’s something to that.”
But perhaps the most impressive aspect of Lidstrom’s career is that he has been consistently among the top defensemen in the league regardless of the style of play.
He was great when the style was wide open during the early 1990s. He was even better during the dead-puck era and has won half of his Norris Trophies since the lockout, when restrictions on obstruction created the new NHL and made the game faster than it has ever been.
Lidstrom has played about 450 games in the “new” NHL and has probably handled the puck in his own end about 5,000 times. He has received two minor penalties in all that time for shooting the puck over the glass. He does hook a lot more now, averaging 7.5 hooking penalties per season now compared to 2.3 before the lockout. He averages 2.5 tripping penalties a season now, 2.2 holding penalties and 2.2 interference penalties a season, all of which are close to double what he did before the lockout.
Lidstrom used to play 30 minutes a game and now he’s down to about 23. But those 23 minutes he plays are often the most important of the game. When the Red Wings are faced with a 5-on-3 against, Lidstrom is out there. He runs the power play and the penalty kill, consistently goes up against the opponents’ top lines, is on the ice when the Red Wings are either protecting a one-goal lead or looking for the tying goal late in the game and logs more ice time than anyone on the roster.
“He’s an effortless skater,” said Detroit GM Ken Holland. “He’s always going to have that hockey sense and that patience with the puck. He’ll have that when he’s 65. But what he can do at age 40 that other people can’t do is skate. You have all these kids coming into the league and it’s probably faster than it has ever been and the pace of the game doesn’t affect him at all, not one bit.”
It has been said of Lidstrom that he’s usually thinking six or seven plays ahead of the rest of the players on the ice. Red Wing players sometimes make a game in practice of trying to get the puck over Lidstrom’s stick and he simply bats them down and smiles. Bowman remarked that in the new NHL, guys who play the point on the power play have more time and space with the puck than any other player on the ice because forwards now back off from the point and collapse down to block shots instead of applying pressure. That’s what Bowman thinks has made Lidstrom so successful, particularly on the power play, in the post-lockout NHL.
“When I started to coach, the wingers covered the points and when Bobby Orr was playing in Boston, we always tried to put a guy there,” Bowman said. “I’m not sure that wouldn’t be a good strategy the way Lidstrom handles the point. I’m not sure I wouldn’t take a guy and try to eliminate him. He’s that good.”
May 10, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov (98) during the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights in game four of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Corinne Votaw-Imagn Images
Corinne Votaw-Imagn Images
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Defenseman Pavel Mintyukov has agreed to five-year contract extension worth $36 million with the Anaheim Ducks, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the Ducks didn’t announce the financial terms of their deal through the 2030-31 season with the 22-year-old Mintyukov. The promising Russian blueliner was a restricted free agent this summer after recording 17 goals and 52 assists over 204 games in his first three NHL seasons.
The Ducks belatedly got this pricier-than-expected deal done with one of their most important young players only two days after they blundered into a precarious situation with their cornerstone center.
Leo Carlsson signed a five-year, $90 million offer sheet with Philadelphia last Friday, which means the 21-year-old Swede is likely to be the NHL’s highest-paid player next season for the Flyers or for the Ducks, who can match the offer or receive four first-round draft picks as compensation. Anaheim must decide by Friday.
Either way, the development is a public embarrassment for Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, whose antagonistic, foot-dragging attitude in negotiations with his young core finally cost him dearly.
Either he will lose one of the NHL’s top young centers, or Carlsson will eat up much more of his salary cap room than would have been necessary if Verbeek had done a deal at any point in the past year. Carlsson’s front-loaded, $18-million-per-year offer from the Flyers is much more than he was expected to receive, and more than Carlsson had already said he would accept.
Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale all held out in recent years when Verbeek’s hardline tactics dragged the negotiations into training camp — and while they all eventually signed, Verbeek has since traded all three young players.
Mintyukov’s deal was worth more than he was expected to get by most NHL observers, but the Ducks didn’t say whether another team had signed Mintyukov to an offer sheet. No NHL team immediately announced it had used the same tactic with Mintyukov that Flyers general manager Daniel Briere is using to attempt to sign Carlsson.
Verbeek also must still sign breakout star Cutter Gauthier, who scored 41 goals for the Ducks last season before reaching restricted free agency.
Anaheim still has enough cap room to do a deal with Gauthier, who isn’t eligible to receive an offer sheet from another team. But the combined size of these now-inflated deals for Mintyukov, Gauthier and likely Carlsson means Verbeek won’t have any room to make additional improvements to his roster, and will almost certainly have to offload salary.
Verbeek also has lost four key defensemen — captain Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, John Carlson and Olen Zellweger — in the past month while adding only journeyman Nick Jensen as a probable replacement.
Verbeek’s mistakes have dampened the good feelings coming off an impressive season by the Ducks, who ended their seven-year playoff drought and then eliminated the back-to-back Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round with an exciting young core under coach Joel Quenneville.
Mintyukov was the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft. While he has the potential to become an elite two-way defenseman, he hasn’t yet developed the consistency or the scoring acumen to match the size of his contract extension.
Gustafsson's cap hit for next season at the NHL level will be $850,000, while Blomqvist's NHL cap hit will be $875,000.
Silovs will have a $2.8 million cap hit for the 2026-27 season, and Chinakhov's average annual value for the next three seasons will be $6.25M.
Chinakhov was sensational for the Penguins after they acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets during last season. He compiled 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games with the Penguins and finished the season with 21 goals and 42 points in 72 games.
If he continue to improve on that production, there's a chance he could get a lot more money and a longer-term extension on his next contract.
Silovs had an up-and-down regular season before showing his big-game pedigree in the playoffs. The Penguins will hope for more consistency from him in the regular season before potentially giving him another contract next year.
Blomqvist spent the 2025-26 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, finishing with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
Gustafsson was with the Manitoba Moose during the 2025-26 season before the Penguins acquired him on June. 29. He recorded 10 goals and 32 points in 48 games.
Ville Koivunen and Nick Robertson are the final two restricted free agents that the Penguins have yet to sign.
After the latest signing from the Anaheim Ducks, the Philadelphia Flyers are as close to a successful Leo Carlsson offer sheet as they have ever been.
On Sunday, with the looming threat of an offer sheet to defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, the Ducks signed the Russian defenseman to a five-year, $36 million contract that carries an AAV of $7.2 million, clogging up the team's cap space even further.
As a result, the Flyers are now in pole position to actually end up landing Carlsson, 21, with their offer sheet.
According to PuckPedia, with Carlsson and his $18 million AAV on their books, the Ducks have a measly $9.973 million remaining to re-sign star sniper and ex-Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier--another restricted free agent--as well as defenseman Tyson Hinds.
The Ducks can give themselves a bit more money by moving Laurent Brossoit and his $1.1 million cap hit to the AHL, and by putting veteran forward Troy Terry (hip) on long-term injured reserve to create another $7 million in space until November or December, when he'll eventually return from his injury.
That isn't a permanent solution, though, as we can safely assume that Gauthier will get at least $10 million annually on his next contract, if not more due to Carlsson's situation.
Hinds won't cost the Ducks much money, but the problem there is that the Ducks would be rolling into the season with a group of defenseman that consists of Hinds, Ian Moore, Jackson LaCombe, Mintyukov, Nick Jensen, Drew Helleson, and Tristan Luneau.
That is far from inspiring, and they have no chance of contending for a Stanley Cup with Carlsson's $18 million cap hit prohibiting them from making any meaningful upgrades.
This is all to say that the Flyers have effectively forced the Ducks into making a big decision: it has to be Gauthier or Carlsson, but not both.
If it is both, then the team has no chance of succeeding.
The Flyers, on the other hand, have positioned themselves nicely in this situation.
Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale have filed for arbitration, erasing any chance of a potential retaliatory offer sheet from the Ducks or other NHL teams.
Forward Tyson Foerster just signed a big-time contract extension, and yet, the Flyers don't have any players with a cap hit greater than $9 million... only half of what Carlsson would be getting.
Other cap implications to note: Carlsson would be a free agent in 2031, which is the season after captain Sean Couturier's big $7.75 million cap hit contract expires. Christian Dvorak, too, will be a free agent in 2031, and Owen Tippett will be a free agent in 2032.
With Carlsson's five-year deal running until that timeframe, the Flyers are making a smart bet on the rising cap, and betting that they can contend with the core they've built now.
For all intents and purposes, this core is a lot better than the one Pat Verbeek built, then destroyed, in Anaheim.
Drysdale, Zegras, John Gibson, Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger, Ryan Strome, Cam Fowler, Radko Gudas, John Carlson, and Jacob Trouba have all left the Ducks in recent seasons, via trade or via free agency, and it will be a damning indictment against Anaheim if Carlsson is next out the door joining the Flyers.
Defenseman Christian Wolanin, a former fourth-round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators, has signed on as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche. The deal carries a salary of $850,000 at the NHL level with the Avs and $400,000 in the AHL with the Eagles.
Wolanin hopes to earn a job with the same NHL team his father, Craig, won a Stanley Cup with in 1995-96. The elder Wolanin was selected third overall in the 1985 NHL Draft and in 1990 was traded to Quebec straight up for Hall of Famer Peter Stastny.
Steve Staios describes the two prospects who arrived in Ottawa in the William Karlsson trade.
Of Craig's 695 career NHL games, 364 of them were with the Avalanche/Nordiques from 1990-96.
Christian joined the Senators at the end of his University of North Dakota days in 2018 and played 10 games with Ottawa right out of the gate. In 2018-19, he was primarily in Belleville for the first half of the season, then joined the Senators full time in the new year, putting up 12 points in the club's final 30 games.
New Sens head coach D.J. Smith said he had Wolanin pencilled in as an everyday player for 2019-20, but then Wolanin slipped and fell on the ice, tearing his labrum on day one of training camp. He was out for four months, and then he returned roughly in time for COVID to hit.
In 2020-21, he was in and out of the lineup, playing in only 15 games for Ottawa before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings for Michael Amadio. The Sens didn't know what they had in Amadio and allowed him to walk in free agency that summer.
In all, Wolanin has seen 86 regular-season games' worth of NHL action and posted 23 career points with the Vancouver Canucks (2022-23), Buffalo Sabres (2021-22), Los Angeles Kings (2020-22) and of course, the Senators (2017-21)
Now 31, Wolanin played 53 games for the AHL's Providence Bruins last season, scoring 7 goals and 31 points.
His best AHL season came in 2022-23 when he had 55 points and won the Eddie Shore Award for the AHL’s best defenseman. He led all AHL defensemen that year in assists and points with Abbotsford. Two years later, he helped them win a Calder Cup.
Wolanin represented Team USA at the World Hockey Championships twice (2019 & 2021), winning the bronze medal in 2021.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published on The Hockey News Ottawa Senators site. For full coverage of the Senators, check out one of the latest headlines below:
The Philadelphia Flyers may still have business to do with their two most important free agents, but their recent arbitration filings may prove beneficial in the end.
On Sunday, ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline, young Flyers stars Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale each filed for arbitration, which means a third party will determine the salary for the two players on their next contracts.
One each side makes its case, the arbitrator will make a binding ruling within two days.
However, the Flyers, Drysdale, and Zegras can always agree to new contracts before that takes place, and given Flyers general manager Danny Briere's confidence that new deals would get done heading into the offseason, this feels like the most likely scenario for both players.
And there's another catch that helps the Flyers.
Now that Drysdale and Zegras have elected arbitration, they are both ineligible for offer sheets, which completely neutralizes the threat of another NHL team using one against the Flyers.
The Flyers, of course, got that party started with their massive $90 million offer sheet of budding Anaheim Ducks star Leo Carlsson... who was once teammates with Zegras and Drysdale.
Funny how that worked out, right?
Earlier in the week, Daily Faceoff NHL insider Anthony Di Marco reported that Drysdale's next contract "seems" to be trending towards a medium-term three- or four-year deal worth $6.25 million annually, which is what Flyers teammate Travis Sanheim is currently costing against the salary cap annually on his deal.
It is less clear where things currently stand with Zegras, though the expectation throughout the year has been a long-term deal that would cost the Flyers somewhere between $8- and $9 million against the cap annually.
Additionally, it is worth noting that both Drysdale and Zegras are two seasons away from becoming unrestricted free agents, so the Flyers, at worst, will buy themselves some time to adjust to Carlsson's $18 million cap hit if their bid is ultimately successful.
On this day in 2013, Daniel Alfredsson signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings, ending 17 seasons as the face of the Ottawa Senators franchise and setting up what would become the final chapter of a Hall of Fame career.
The deal carried a $5.5 million cap hit, built around a $3.5 million base salary with performance bonuses, and it stunned a league that largely expected the longtime Ottawa captain to either re-sign with the Senators or retire outright.
Alfredsson was 40 years old at the time of the signing, and his decision to leave the only organization he had ever known came down to a chance to finally win the Stanley Cup.
He had spent 18 years in Ottawa without ever hoisting the trophy, including a run to the 2007 Final that ended in a loss to the Anaheim Ducks, and he made clear that the pursuit of a championship. Alfredsson served as the Red Wings' assistant captain in 2013-14 and put together a respectable final season, recording 18 goals and 31 assists for 49 points in 68 games.
At 41 years old, he was still productive enough to be one of Detroit's most important forwards in a season that saw the Red Wings finish fourth in the Atlantic Division before falling to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. Back issues kept him from training camp the following season, and rather than push through another year, Alfredsson announced his retirement in November 2014.
A month later, he signed a ceremonial one-day contract with Ottawa so he could officially retire as a Senator, taking part in warmups and the ceremonial faceoff in his final appearance at what was then Canadian Tire Centre.
The situation echoes, in some ways, what the Red Wings find themselves navigating now with Patrick Kane, another future Hall of Famer brought in during the twilight of his career to add scoring punch and leadership to a team trying to climb back into true contention.
Alfredsson won the Calder Trophy in 1996, was named Ottawa's captain in 1999 and held that role until his departure in 2013, won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, and took home the Mark Messier Leadership Award shortly before he left for Detroit.
By the time he left Ottawa, he held the franchise records for games played, goals, assists and points, finishing his time with the Senators having played 1,178 games and totaling 426 goals, 682 assists and 1,108 points, numbers that still stand as franchise benchmarks today.
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PITTSBURGH, PA - NOVEMBER 29: Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Nicholas Robertson (89) skates with the puck against Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) during the third period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 29, 2025, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The NHLPA announced that 15 players have filed for arbitration by the 5pm deadline today.
The National Hockey League Players’ Association announced that 15 players have elected salary arbitration:
Bourgault, Xavier (Ottawa Senators)
Dach, Kirby (Montreal Canadiens)
Drysdale, Jamie (Philadelphia Flyers)
Greaves, Jet (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Jefferies, Alex (New York Islanders)
Krebs, Peyton (Buffalo Sabres)
McMichael, Connor (St. Louis Blues)
Perfetti, Cole (Winnipeg Jets)
Robertson, Jason (Dallas Stars)
Robertson, Nick (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Schmid, Akira (Florida Panthers)
Schneider, Braden (New York Rangers)
Seeley, Ronan (Carolina Hurricanes)
Sillinger, Cole (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Zegras, Trevor (Philadelphia Flyers)
The deadline for the second club-elected salary arbitration notification is July 6 at 5 p.m. ET. Salary arbitration hearings will be held from July 20 to Aug. 1.
Nick Robertson was the only Penguin to elect to start the process. Egor Chinakhov, Arturs Silovs and David Gustafsson had the option but did no go that route and will negotiate their contracts outside of arbitration.
Robertson can still negotiate with the Pens and sign at any point up to his hearing. The overwhelming majority of cases in the past get settled before that process formally kicks in, this is a commonly a tool used to set a deadline to get the ball rolling for the next contract. Robertson, like his brother, is now ineligible to sign an offer sheet with another team. For what that may or may not mean, Chinakhov potentially still could.
The Chicago Blackhawks have brought in some new players this off-season as they look to take a step forward in 2026-27. However, they also had some departures from last season's roster.
The most notable player the Blackhawks lost through free agency this off-season is Ilya Mikheyev. The 31-year-old winger signed a four-year, $15.4 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and should now be a solid part of their forward group.
Seeing Mikheyev sign elsewhere was certainly one of the tough moments of the Blackhawks' off-season. The veteran forward was a key contributor on the Blackhawks' roster, and they will miss him now that he is in Tampa Bay.
Mikheyev made his biggest impact with the Blackhawks with his excellent penalty-killing and two-way play. He also provided Chicago with solid secondary scoring during each of his two seasons with the Original Six club. In 77 games last season was Chicago, he recorded 18 goals and a career-high 36 points. This was after he had 20 goals and 34 points in 80 games for the Blackhawks in 2024-25.
With this, there is no question that Mikheyev was a valuable part of the Blackhawks' roster during his two-year stay with the team. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact he can make with the Bolts from here.
The Buffalo Sabres could go a number of different ways as the NHL is in the midst of trade season following the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency on July 1. With the departure of winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram, GM Jarmo Kekalainen is expected to seek out offensive reinforcements to make up for the 44 goals lost by their departures.
Over the next few weeks, we will continue to look at potential options for the Sabres. Some of the possibilities are not going to match Tuch’s stats, but any additions could provide some relief to the pressure that youngsters Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, or Noah Ostlund will be under to make up the deficit.
Kekalainen ideally would like to replace the 60-to-70 point production that he lost with Tuch, and one possibility still unsigned is big winger Anthony Mantha. The 31-year-old enjoyed a renaissance last season, scoring a career-high 33 goals with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The former Detroit first rounder scored 20+ goals in consecutive seasons with the Red Wings, but has struggled with injuries throughout his 11-year NHL career.
After being dealt to Washington in 2021, the 6’5”, 240 lb. forward, was dealt to Vegas at the 2024 trade deadline as a rental, and played only 13 games for Calgary in 2025. Pittsburgh signed Mantha to an incentive-based one-year deal and were paid off with his best offensive year, but he now is looking for a deal with some security and a bump from his $4.5 million AAV.
Never known as a good defensive player, Mantha was +10 last season and was utilized on the Penguins power play. The Sabres are likely looking for someone who can replace Tuch on the man advantage and at this point less than one week into free agency, the only potential answers on the open market are Mantha, and Buffalo native Patrick Kane.
On most draft nights, top-10 picks are under the brightest lights in hockey, walking the stage, shaking hands, posing for photos, and stepping into the NHL spotlight in real time.
Carson Carels did it differently. He was back home on the family farm in Cypress River, Manitoba, where the noise wasn’t cameras and draft buzz, but cattle, chores, and the rhythm of calving season.
That contrast followed him straight into Calgary Flames development camp, where the 6-foot-2, 198-pound left-shot defenseman finally stepped onto the ice as a top-10 pick — still very much carrying that rural identity with him.
“I’m embracing it all,” Carels told NHL.com's Lawrence Heinen after the first day of development camp. “It’s kind of settling in more and I get to feel like I’m a part of the organization more, so it’s nice.”
For Carels, the path to becoming the No. 6 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft didn’t come with a trip to Buffalo’s KeyBank Center. It came with a family decision to stay put, to remain on the farm, and to let the moment unfold in a place that’s been part of his life far longer than hockey arenas.
That decision wasn’t a reaction to precedent, either. Nashville Predators prospect Brady Martin also stayed home on draft night a year earlier, but Carels said the choice wasn’t modeled after anyone else.
“It was more just a group decision to just do it, and I mean, I don't think if Brady wouldn't have done it last year, that we would have changed our minds,” Carels said. “We probably would have done the same thing. We’re a really tight-knit family. We're just calving cows still. Right now we're kind of in between, where we're getting a little off calving and getting into the haying.”
That same farm-first mindset didn’t disappear when he arrived at WinSport for development camp. Between skating sessions on adjacent rinks and quick turnarounds that barely left time to return to the locker room, Carels found himself pulled into a different kind of attention — this time from fans rather than livestock.
@CHGO_Blackhawks I’ve been saying the hawks need a Dwayne Robertson cowboy ala Mighty Ducks D2 for a while now and today’s pod vindicated that 😆 pic.twitter.com/HsQtCIUFyM
“Some of us guys didn't really get to go back to the locker room after the first skate,” Carels said. “We were just all fan interaction and everything like that. It's really special to see everyone come out like this. It's a really special fanbase here and it's been awesome so far.”
Flames general manager Craig Conroy wasn’t bothered in the slightest by how Carels chose to experience draft night.
“We ask everybody, are you going to the draft, when we were at the (NHL Scouting) Combine,” Conroy said. “He said, 'No, I'm going to do it from the farm.' Brady Martin did it last year. I thought it was great. When I talked to him, he was definitely having a party in the background. I could hear all the noise, so they were having fun. He seemed very excited, too, about being a Flame. It's an exciting time for the organization.”
The organization’s development staff sees something deeper than just a rural backdrop.
“The first thing that comes to mind for me is just you that that there's the character and the work ethic and the ability to fight through adversity and all those things are there,” said Flames director of player development Ray Edwards. “There's a special player there. Obviously, we don’t want to put a lot of pressure on him, but to get him where we got him ... he was our No. 1 defenseman all the time. He was our guy.
“To get him where we got him, we were ecstatic.”
That same identity carried into the end of camp as Carels skated with Team McDonald, helping them to a 10-8 win over Team Vernon to capture the Snowy Cup, named in honor of former Flames assistant general manager Chris Snow.
On the ice, though, the focus is already shifting toward what comes next.
Carels put up 73 points (20 goals, 53 assists) in 58 games with the Prince George Cougars, finishing tied for fourth among Western Hockey League defensemen, and will head to the University of North Dakota this fall.
“It’s going to be a good step for me to make a step instead of a leap to this next level,” Carels said. “I think UND is going to shape me to be a more complete player and continue my maturity as a player. It's going to be a good step and I'm really happy going there.”
There, he’ll be joining Flames forward prospect Cole Reschny — a familiar face from international tournaments and now the college ranks — as the next chapter begins, one that doesn’t feel like leaving the farm behind, but more like carrying it with him into every rink he steps on.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild have retained one of their young defensemen, re-signing restricted free agent Daemon Hunt ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The 24-year-old has spent the past several seasons splitting time between the NHL and AHL, showing flashes of the two-way game that made him a third-round pick by Minnesota in the 2020 NHL Draft.
In 32 games last season, Hunt recorded six assists and 43 blocked shots. He also played in five playoff games and recorded one assist, eight blocked shots and six hits.
With Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Olli Maatta and Zach Bogosian all expected to compete for NHL minutes, Hunt will likely continue battling for a roster spot while providing valuable depth if injuries arise.
The Wild have emphasized keeping their defensive depth intact this offseason, and bringing Hunt back ensures another young option remains in the organization.
Minnesota and Hunt's contract is one-year, $900,000.
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The Calgary Flames last played a Stanley Cup playoff game on May 26, 2022, against their provincial rival, the Edmonton Oilers, in a 5-4 overtime loss in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series. Barring a miracle run to the playoffs this year, that game may be the last postseason contest ever on Saddledome ice.
In the over 1,500 days since the Flames lost that overtime game, the roster has undergone a complete overhaul. Whether it was a superstar forward, a solid defenseman, or the best goalie the franchise has employed in almost a decade, every single one of them is gone, except one.
As the longest-tenured Calgary player in franchise history, approaching his 19th season, current captain Mikael Backlund is the only skater still in the 2026-27 lineup to have played in a Stanley Cup playoff game with the club.
Where did everyone go? Here's a quick look at what happened to the Flames' lineup from May 26, 2022.
July 2022
Johnny Gaudreau signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets for seven years and $68 million as a free agent on July 13.
Erik Gubranson, on the same day as Gaudreau, agrees to a deal with the Blue Jackets for four years and $16 million.
Calle Järnkok leaves the club two days after Gaudreau and Gubranson, agreeing to a four-year deal worth $8.4 million with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Matthew Tkachuk informs the Flames that he will not re-sign with the club and is traded to the Florida Panthers on July 22. Calgary receives Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a first-round draft pick in 2025.
July 2023
Trevor Lewis re-signed as a free agent in July 2022 and played one more season in Calgary before returning to the team he won two Stanley Cups with, the Los Angeles Kings, on a one-year deal.
Milan Lucic, one of the few players ever traded between Calgary and Edmonton, returns to the Boston Bruins on a one-year deal.
Michael Stone played out the 2022-23 season, retiring on July 5, 2023, and immediately moving into a role with the Flames' player development team.
Nikita Zadorov was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on November 30 for a fifth-round pick in 2024 and a third-round pick in 2026.
January 2024
Dillion Dubé requests an indefinite leave from the team. Eventually, Dubé was implicated in the 2018 World Juniors scandal and left the NHL to play in the KHL.
Elias Lindholm was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in January 2024 in a deal that saw the Flames acquire Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, and Andrei Kuzmenko, plus 2024 first- and fourth-round picks.
Tyler Toffoli finds a new home with the New Jersey Devils after the Flames deal him for Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round draft pick in 2023.
February 2024
Chris Tanev got dealt to the Dallas Stars in a three-team trade involving the Devils. The Flames received Artem Grushnikov and a second-round pick in 2024.
March 2024
Noah Hanifin leaves the Flames in a three-team deal that also involves the Philadelphia Flyers and ends up with the Vegas Golden Knights. In the exchange, Calgary received Daniil Miromanov, plus a first-round pick and a third-round pick in 2024.
August 2024
Oliver Kylington took a mental health break from the Flames at the onset of the 2022-23 season and wouldn't skate in the NHL again until January 2024. Following a brief return, he signed as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche in August.
June 2024
Andrew Magiapane is traded to the Washington Capitals for a second-round draft pick in 2025.
Jacon Markström is dealt to the Devils for Kevin Bahl and a first-round pick in the 2025 Draft.
January 2026
Rasmus Andersson is traded to the Golden Knights, reuniting with Hanifin for a first-round and second-round pick in 2027, plus Zach Whitecloud and Abram Wiebe.
July 2026
Blake Coleman, the second-to-last player from the 2021-22 team, is traded to the Minnesota Wild along with Olli Määttä for Jacob Middleton, plus three draft picks in 2027 (third round), 2028 (fourth), and 2029 (second).
Backlund is signed through the end of the 2027-28 season, which would give him a chance to become the only player in Flames history to play 20 seasons with the franchise.
However, the team is focused on rebuilding and loading up with young talent these days, meaning that no matter when the captain leaves, whether it's a trade before his deal is up, or he skates into retirement, there's a chance that he remains the last Calgary player to participate in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
For Colorado Eagles fans, the turnover in Loveland this offseason is starting to feel less like roster tweaks and more like a full reset — and now another familiar name is gone from the blue line.
The Washington Capitals have signed veteran defenseman Jacob MacDonald to a one-year, two-way contract, ending his second stint with the Eagles. The deal was announced by Capitals senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick.
For Colorado, it's the latest in a string of departures that has quietly stripped away much of the core that helped power a deep Calder Cup Playoff run just a season ago.
Head coach Mark Letestu, who guided the Eagles to the Western Conference Final in his first year behind the bench, was poached by the Vegas Golden Knights to join their staff as an assistant coach. On the back end, Jack Ahcan departed on a two-year, two-way deal with the Nashville Predators, taking one of Colorado’s most reliable puck-moving defensemen with him. Up front, veteran forward T.J. Tynan, a long-time fixture across multiple stints in the organization, also moved on, signing with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Now MacDonald joins that list — and in some ways, his exit hits differently.
At 33, he was one of the most productive offensive defensemen the AHL has seen in the modern era, and was still producing when healthy.
In an injury-shortened 2025-26 season with the Eagles, MacDonald still managed 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in just 17 regular-season games. He added two more points in 17 playoff appearances as Colorado pushed all the way to the Western Conference Final.
But it’s his body of work that sets him apart.
MacDonald ranks seventh all-time among AHL defensemen in goals with 103, a rare milestone for a blueliner. His peak came in 2024-25, when he put together one of the most dominant seasons by a defenseman in league history. He won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenseman after scoring a league-record 31 goals from the blue line and finishing with 55 points to lead all AHL defensemen.
He was just as dangerous on special teams. 13 of his goals came on the power play — the most among AHL defensemen — and he tied for the league lead with five game-winning goals from the back end. That season earned him First Team AHL All-Star honors and a selection to the All-Star Classic.
Across his AHL career, MacDonald has played 357 games and recorded 260 points (103 goals, 157 assists) with Springfield, Albany, Binghamton, San Jose, and Colorado. A significant portion of that production came on the power play, where he’s totaled 134 points.
His production has shown up everywhere he’s gone. In 2017-18 with Binghamton, he led all AHL defensemen with 55 points and earned First Team All-Star honors. In Colorado during the shortened 2019-20 season, he again led all defensemen in goals with 16 and was named a Second Team All-Star.
He also brings NHL experience, appearing in 135 games with the Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, and San Jose Sharks, recording 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists). In the AHL postseason, he’s appeared in 35 Calder Cup Playoff games with 11 points.
MacDonald’s path has been anything but linear. Undrafted out of Cornell, he began his pro career in the ECHL with the Elmira Jackals before carving out a long, productive career as one of the most consistent offensive defensemen in the league.
Now, as he moves on to the Capitals organization, the Eagles are left to piece things back together. Not just after losing a high-end scoring defenseman — but after watching another key part of a once-promising core walk out the door in what has become a defining offseason of change.
