The Florida Panthers will wrap up their 2025 Development Camp on Thursday.

Over the past three days, 31 Panthers prospects have participated in on-ice work and off-ice training, getting a small taste of how the big club does it while being hosted at their practice facility in Fort Lauderdale.

On Thursday, the hard work put in all week will culminate with a scrimmage.

Every player at D-camp will be on the ice, showing off what they’ve learned and trying to make one last strong impression before heading back to their respective summer homes.

Some of these players will be invited back for the Panthers official training camp in September, which will present a good opportunity to show they absorbed what was taught and put it to good use.

One cool note about the scrimmage is that the goaltenders will be wearing some very special jerseys.

Each of the jerseys worn by Florida’s goalies during the scrimmage were specially decorated by patients at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Fort Lauderdale during a visit with the Panthers prospects on Wednesday afternoon.

For fans who would like to check out the scrimmage, the pucks drops at 11 a.m. and it will be open to the public and free to attend.

Seats are available at a first come, first served basis inside the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale.

A full camp roster can be found below:

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Photo caption: Florida Panthers prospects take part in a Development Camp practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex on July 2, 2025. (Florida Panthers)

As Day Two of unrestricted free agency draws to a close, there aren’t too many bigger names left on the market.

The biggest name - and only impact name left, really - is forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who registered 24 goals and 63 points in 69 games last season with the Winnipeg Jets. If the latest updates on Ehlers’s situation are to be believed, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals are the frontrunners to land him.

And - as discussed Tuesday with forward Bryan Rust’s situation - Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ phone lines will get a whole lot busier once Ehlers is signed.

Rust is one of Pittsburgh’s primary trade targets for other teams, as the 33-year-old veteran put together a career season with 31 goals and 65 points in 71 games in 2024-25. He is highly coveted, but Dubas said that the price to acquire Rust will be very high given his production, the term on his contract, and his tenure with and meaning to the organization.

But, there may be a very intriguing second option for teams if they can’t land Rust. And that is forward Rickard Rakell.

There has been interest in Rakell going back to the trade deadline, and - like Rust - he enjoyed the best year of his career last season. He put together a 35-goal, 70-point campaign - both career-high marks - and it is the third time in Rakell’s career that he hit the 30-goal mark. 

30-goal scorers don’t grow on trees in the NHL, and that’s especially true for guys who manage to do it on a pretty consistent basis. And it’s even rarer for 30-goal scorers - especially with the cap skyrocketing - to be locked in for three more years at just $5 million average annual value.

Suffice to say, whoever lands Rakell is getting their hands on a proven goal-scoring winger for term and for cheap. And - while that’s going to come at a cost - it’s a price worth paying for teams that are either in win-now mode or that are looking to take the next step. 

Here are four potential landing spots for the Penguins’ top goal-scoring winger.

Penguins Rumors: 4 Teams Linked To Rickard Rakell Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell has been creating plenty of chatter in the rumor mill again now that the off-season is here. With the Penguins retooling their group, questions have naturally come up about the 32-year-old winger's future in Pittsburgh.

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Carolina Hurricanes/Washington Capitals

We’re going to group them into one here, because - again, if the Ehlers rumors have merit - one of these teams is going to lose out on him.

And when that happens, either team should immediately be giving Dubas a call. 

For Carolina, they have been missing out on a lot of the big names on the market, even if they’ve come their way for a brief time. Jake Guentzel decided to walk after being dealt to Raleigh by Pittsburgh at the 2024 trade deadline. The Canes traded for star forward Mikko Rantanen well in advance of the deadline only to trade him again to the Dallas Stars leading up to this year’s trade deadline.

They desperately need a win, and they desperately need top-line scoring help. The Canes are a great team structurally, but they lack oomph on offense and don’t have the high-end talent to get them over the hump.

Carolina Hurricanes In On Top Free Agent Target Nikolaj EhlersThe Carolina Hurricanes made quite a splash on Tuesday, landing defenseman K'Andre Miller from the New York Rangers for a package of just picks and prospects.

While neither Rakell or Ehlers is cream-of-the-crop like Guentzel and Rantanen, they’re still very good players. Carolina was rumored to be in on Rakell at the deadline, and they will probably be again if they lose out on Ehlers.

As for Washington? The calculus is simple: They have a lot of supporting cast members and even foundational pieces to keep competing beyond the point of Alex Ovechkin’s retirement. But - even with Ovechkin still in the picture - their most glaring weakness is in their top-six.

There was a rotating cast of characters in the top-six for the Capitals in the playoffs that included the likes of Anthony Beauvillier - traded to the Caps by the Penguins at the deadline - as well as Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael. While all of those guys are perfectly serviceable, they could still use a more surefire trigger man in their top-six - especially with Ovechkin’s future uncertain beyond next season.

They need to start preparing for the post-Ovechkin era. And having another high-end goal-scorer for three more years will help them bridge that gap.

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Dallas Stars

In what could be considered cap hell, the Stars are in a bit of a bind because of the Rantanen contract that pays him $12 million annually. They are currently nearly $1.8 million over the cap right now, and they only have 12 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders signed on for next season.

They are going to have to shed salary somewhere, whether that’s by sending one of their defensemen in Matt Dumba or Ilya Lyubushkin packing somewhere else or by shipping out one of their biggest contracts - a la Jason Robertson - and trying to get cheaper talent for similar output.

Rakell matched Robertson’s goal total last season, and he makes $2.75 million less for three more years. Robertson is also a pending-RFA next season and will command a hefty raise. 

If Dallas decides to move out Robertson - and perhaps one of those defensemen - going after Rakell makes a lot of sense. This one will be very situation-dependent, but never say never.

With Robertson's Name Out There, Could Penguins Swing Blockbuster Trade?With both the NHL Draft and free agency on the horizon, trade speculation is running rampant in hockey circles at the moment.

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Los Angeles Kings

It seems like the Kings have been linked to Rakell since, well, forever. And that’s probably because they have been.

It’s no secret that Los Angeles seeks a goal-scorer, even after acquiring Andrei Kuzmenko - who, although is a good add, hasn't been able to replicate his 39-goal rookie campaign. They made some calls on Rakell at the deadline, and nothing came to fruition. The Kings also have some pieces that Pittsburgh may be interested in - defenseman Brandt Clarke, for example - that a package involving Rakell may be able to net. 

With a tick under $6 million left in cap space - and a key RFA in Alex Laferriere - the Kings have some decisions to make. If they want surefire goal-scoring help to bolster their top-six and their power play, Rakell can provide exactly what they need. But they’ll need to do a small bit of maneuvering to get that, but - realistically - that shouldn’t pose much of an issue.

If the Kings want Rakell, they’ll pay up for him. And they could definitely use him.

Kings Trade Target: Rickard RakellThe sun is setting on an incredible era of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. After making the playoffs for 16 straight seasons and winning Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017 on the backs of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Marc-Andre Fleury, they are now headed for their third consecutive playoff absence.  

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Chicago Blackhawks

The one thing that makes a move for Rakell a bit tricky is that he does possess an eight-team no trade list, hence, why the Buffalo Sabres were not included on this list. Sorry, Buffalo.

Another team that may or may not be on that list? The Blackhawks.

However, if the Hawks aren’t on Rakell’s no-trade list, they figure to be a favorite to land him. They have already been linked to Rakell, and they are one example of several teams that are looking to take the next step from rebuild mode to “go for it” mode.

Chicago already has a good young core of forwards such as Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, and Ilya Mikheyev. But they could use a surefire goal-scoring talent - as well as a seasoned veteran - to help get them to the next level.

Rakell is a fit in a lot of ways, and Chicago has a lot of the assets that Pittsburgh would covet. Keep an eye on them as a potential trade partner for Rakell, as it makes sense in a lot of ways - so long as Rakell is okay with playing there.

Blackhawks Are Wisely Headed For Another Development YearThe Chicago Blackhawks are not very active on the free agent front. They may add another piece or two when it comes to NHL or AHL depth, but they are not interested in acquiring bad contracts as the youngsters start to take over the lineup.

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Feature image credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

The Seattle Kraken used their second-round pick (36th overall) in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft to select defenseman Blake Fiddler, a right-handed shot with size and tools coaches dream of.

Listed at 6-foot-4, 209 pounds, Fiddler has the frame of a true shutdown defenseman, comparable to the likes of Adam Larsson, but the 17-year-old is much more than that. Fiddler knows how to use his body to defend, but he is not reliant on it. 

He's an excellent skater, described as having explosive backwards crossovers and the ability to take the puck from behind his goal line and start transition breakouts. EliteProspects describes him as a player who "skates through his hands." 

"Fiddler’s impact comes through his defensive impact and frequent advantage creation. With explosive backward crossovers, he wins the race to the middle before pivoting and surfing into the stop. Always thinking about body position, he skates through the hands, intercepts opponents with his back, and eliminates off-puck threats. On retrievals, he picks up the puck cleanly, waits for pressure to engage, and places it in a good spot for a teammate to carry it out." -EliteProspects 2025 NHL Draft Guide.

Fiddler flashed some of his offensive potential and creativity with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL this season, recording 10 goals and 33 points in 64 games. A player of Fiddler's size and position, it's rare to be deemed a two-way defenseman, but Fiddler is just that. 

Despite being considered a strong skater, the American defenseman believes there is more to add to that aspect of his game, and he thinks the Kraken development staff can help him do just that. 

"Everything can get better," said Fiddler when asked about what he can improve on. "I'm going to continue to work out everything. I'm a strong skater for my size, but I want to become elite at that, and that's something that definitely as I get older, I want to be able to do and continue to work at. I also want to use my physicality edge a little more and on a consistent basis. It's there, but I want to do it more consistently." 

"Something I didn't know is how great of a development staff they have, and they've all been super good to me and helping me on the ice and off the ice."

2025 NHL Draft - Kraken Select Blake Fiddler 36th Overall in 2025 NHL DraftBlake Fiddler Brings Size and Skill to Seattle Kraken.

After making four forward selections in the first round in four drafts, many people thought the Kraken would select a defenseman, but they elected to draft center Jake O'Brien. Fiddler was predicted by many to land in the first round, but when he slipped to the second, the Kraken wasted no time trading up, moving the 38th and 57th picks to take what could very well be a steal in Blake Fiddler. 

Stay updated with the most interesting Kraken stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favourites on Google News to never miss a story.

First Look - 2025 Draft Picks at Kraken Development CampSeattle - The Kraken of the future hit the ice today for the first skating day of Development Camp at the Kraken Community Iceplex. While some prospects have been here before in previous years, it was our first chance to see the freshly drafted players wearing the Kraken logo for the first time. Here is a first look at each of the Kraken's 2025 Draft Picks from the sessions today.

Brent Burns signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche as he gears up for a 22nd career NHL season.

The teamannounced the 40-year-old defenseman's signing on Wednesday evening but didn't reveal an average annual value. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports the contract has a $1-million base salary with the potential to earn another $3 million in games-played bonuses. Burns was a UFA after finishing an eight-year contract with an $8-million cap hit.

This past season with the Carolina Hurricanes, Burns recorded six goals and 23 assists for 29 points in 82 games. He can extend the fourth-longest ironman streak in NHL history, which stands at 925 straight games.

In 1,497 career regular-season NHL games, Burns has 261 goals and 649 assists for 910 points. He's  added another 24 goals and 80 points in 135 playoff games, making the Stanley Cup final with the San Jose Sharks in 2015-16.

Burns won the Norris Trophy as the defenseman of the year in 2016-17 after putting up 76 points, and he was the 2014-15 recipient of the NHL Foundation Player Award.

At 6-foot-5 and 228 pounds, Burns has continued to log many minutes of ice time per game, with 20:57 this past season and a career average of 22:22. He ranked second on the Hurricanes in blocked shots, with 98, and he ranks 19th in the NHL in total blocked shots since his first season in 2006-07, with 1,785.

The Avalanche are Burns' fourth NHL team. Before the Hurricanes and 11 seasons with the Sharks, Burns' first seven campaigns came with the Minnesota Wild, which drafted him 20th overall in 2003.

As a right-shot blueliner, Burns could slot behind Cale Makar and Josh Manson the Avalanche's depth chart. On the left side, Colorado has Devon Toews, Samuel Girard and Sam Malinski. They lost Ryan Lindgren in free agency to the Seattle Kraken, and Erik Johnson and Tucker Poolman became UFAs as well.

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Entering the current off-season, many hockey observers were intrigued to see the direction the Pittsburgh Penguins would take. 

After all, this team stubbornly refused to go through a full roster rebuild but has also begun making moves that address its long-term future.

Unfortunately for Penguins fans, Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas’ initial roster moves this summer have not inspired confidence. Instead, there’s a sense that, at best, the Penguins will once again be a “mushy middle” team – not good enough to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs and not bad enough to secure draft picks that will be the foundation for the organization in the years ahead.

The time is now for Dubas to move veterans who will command a sizeable return in a trade – high-impact players, such as star defenseman Erik Karlsson and right wingers Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell. Karlsson has a full no-movement clause, but there’s reportedly a possibility he’ll waive it to go to a Cup contender.Rakell and Rust, meanwhile, don’t have full no-move clauses.

However, Dubas has stubbornly held onto those players so far. He’s instead made low-impact trades, including acquiring third-pair defenseman Connor Clifton from Buffalo in return for depth blueliner Conor Timmins.

In free agency, Dubas has held onto the bulk of Pittsburgh’s cap space – now about $14.9 million – and spent on B-grade players, including wingers Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau. He dealt goalie Alex Nedeljkovic to the San Jose Sharks, further muddying the Penguins’ situation in net. Veteran Tristan Jarry was a candidate for a contract buyout but stayed, and youngster Joel Blomqvist will likely be thrown to the wolves behind a defense corps that is hardly a shutdown unit. 

Consequently, the Penguins lack quality depth in important positions and the type of players who can help them contend for a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.

It’s true Dubas still has time to effect major change. But if the status quo stays, the Pens will likely miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season – something that is truly hard to fathom for a team with Hockey Hall of Fame-bound icons in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. But with every day that passes without notable change, the Penguins appear destined to disappoint a fan base that not so long ago was accustomed to championship glory.

Dubas is also working with a first-year coach in Dan Muse, who has to be a teacher to Pittsburgh’s youngsters while also pushing to produce acceptable performances from the veterans. Muse’s balancing act carries with it a real danger that there could be more failure on the horizon, and the pressure felt by Dubas and Pens brass could easily trickle down into the roster, causing everyone to squeeze their sticks a little too hard.

It all adds up to a situation in Pittsburgh that’s far from ideal. The Penguins are being pulled in two different directions – toward playoff contention on one end and toward a bigger rebuild on the other end – and the mixed-message reality of the organization is likely to lead to further letdowns.

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The Buffalo Sabres' first day of the NHL's free-agent frenzy saw Sabres GM Kevyn Adams take some low-risk, decent-return gambles in signing mid-tier veterans like winger Justin Danforth and defenseman Zac Jones. But another Sabres signing could prove to be extremely important as the season goes on -- and that's the signing of experienced goalie Alex Lyon.

For the 32-year-old Lyon, his new contract was about stability, and the Sabres provided him with that, signing him to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.5 million. Lyon has spent the past two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, and in that time, he's posted a save percentage of sligly less than .900 -- a satisfactory-enough number at a time when NHL offenses can be overwhelming, and one that came playing behind the Wings' sub-par defense corps.

Now, before we go much further, let's be clear -- Lyon is obviously the third goaltender on the Sabres' depth chart. He's not going into camp being the ideal starter for this Buffalo team. 

That said, ostensible starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen didn't have a particularly great year in 2024-25, posting a bloated 3.20 goals-against average and an .887 SP in 55 games.  By the end of the season, Luukkonen had lost his starter's job in favor of greybeard journeyman James Reimer. Now, Luukkonen's contract status -- the 26-year-old is entering Year 2 of a five-year contract that pays him $4.75-million per season -- necessitates he be given a chance to win the No. 1 job back. But there's no assurance Luukkonen is going to return to the form he showed in 2023-24, when he posted a .910 SP in 54 games.

So, if Luukkonen can't get the job done, Lyon is still not Plan B.  That would be up-and-comer Devon Levi. The 23-year-old Levi did not have great success in limited NHL action last year, posting an .872 SP in nine games. However, Levi had much more positivity in the American League, putting up a .919 SP in 42 games. If Levi -- currently an RFA -- is intending on bumping up his pay grade, making the jump to the NHL on a permanent basis provides him all the motivation in the world.

After Sabres' Latest Trade, Don't Expect Much From New Buffalo DefensemanThe Buffalo Sabres made a trade Saturday, but it wasn't the trade many were expecting, as star defenseman Bowen Byram remained a Sabre, at least, for the time being. However, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams reshaped his defense corps by sending rugged blueliner Connor Clifton and the 39th-overall pick in this year's draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for D-man Conor Timmins and minor leaguer Isaac Beliveau. 

All of which is to say that, if Lyon is called into action on a regular basis, things for Buffalo probably haven't gone very well. Either or both of Luukkonen and Levi could be hurt or under-performing. But by the same token, if Lyon can come through in the clutch when called upon, he's going to look like a terrific financial bargain, and one of Adams' best signings in his history running the team.

Goaltending insurance is something every NHL team is investing in. At a time when it feels like the health of every player in the league is just one bad collision or bounce away from being compromised, you need as much talent as you can get. So while Lyon may not be occupying much of the spotlight when next season begins, there's a road ahead in which the Sabres turn to him as a last line of resort, with their season possibly hanging in the balance.

Sabres Deals Addressed Needs, But Were Budget-ConsciousThe Buffalo Sabres made a pair of trades before and during the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles which were as much about changing the makeup of the roster as they were about trimming the budget of the club in advance of the beginning of free agency on July 1. 

We still believe Adams should be on the hot seat for the roster decisions he's made. If all he does is what he's done thus far, we don't envision the Sabres as a playoff team. But if Adams makes more changes by the time next season begins, Buffalo could challenge for a wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

And if things go a particular way -- and if Lyon comes through in a pinch -- we might look back on the signing of a third goaltender as the move that saved the Sabres' year.

It's never too early to be thinking about the future. Right? 

Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz said he had two things in mind when thinking about the Predators' future: getting bigger and getting younger. 

"We've got some great prospects on the way, but I felt two things: we wanted to get bigger and we want to get younger," Trotz said. 

The Predators' current defensive corps averages 6 feet 2 inches and 200 pounds. The 2025 draft class averages 6 feet and 181 pounds. In addition, the Predators' defense had an average age of 28 years. 

Looking for size and youth, the Predators may have at least one pick lined up for the 2026 draft in 7-foot, 273-pound Moldovan defenseman Alexander Karmanov. 

The 17-year-old was selected by the Brantford Bulldogs, 172nd overall in the third round of the CHL's Import Draft, an entry draft held for CHL prospects that are not from Canada or the United States.

 

Karmanov is also committed to Penn State for the 2027-28 season. He spent the past year with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights 16U AAA team in Pennsylvania, competing between the Atlantic Youth Hockey League and 16U AAA tournaments. 

Between both, he played 35 games and scored 33 points and had 60 penalty minutes. According to Brantford's X/Twitter account, he is "the largest hockey player on the planet." 

If he were to break into the NHL, he'd be the tallest player to ever play, surpassing Zdeno Chara's record height by three inches. 

Depending on Karmanov's arrival at Penn State, he could be teammates with 2023 Nashville Predators draft pick Aiden Fink, who would be a senior by the start of the 2027-28 season.

Defenseman Mac Gadowsky, who is attending the Predators' development camp by invitation and stands 6 feet 3 inches tall, would also be his teammate, as Gadowsky recently transferred to Penn State.  

When drafting taller players, skating is usually the primary focus. That appears to be the most significant focus for Karmanov when watching his highlights. He's a big body, but doesn't move fast. 

Skating at an NHL pace can be a challenge for larger players, but Nashville has found ways to develop them and maintain a reputation as one of the largest teams in the NHL. 

Trotz wants size and Karmanov has the potential to be the biggest to ever play the game. 

In a shocking twist only 30 minutes into the 2025 NHL Free Agency period, Brock Boeser signed a seven-year, $7.25M AAV contract with the Vancouver Canucks. His signing came after a tumultuous season of uncertainty regarding his fate. Many thought he would be traded at the Trade Deadline, while signs leading up to free agency implied that he would be moving on from the team. With his signing, Boeser will extend his streak as the Canucks’ longest-tenured active skater.  

The Canucks came into the 2015 NHL Draft with the 23rd selection in the first round. While some players were obvious selections (Connor McDavid), realistically, the talent pool provided by this draft class meant that nearly any pick would be profitable. At the time, only three of twelve prospect draft rankings had Boeser going higher than 23rd overall. The general consensus seemed to be that he would not be picked higher than 25th. With that being said, it wasn’t shocking when former Canucks General Manager Jim Benning decided to select Boeser 23rd overall. 

Boeser’s addition to Vancouver’s prospect pool was a bright sign, as some of the only other names in the Canucks’ ranks were Jake Virtanen, Jared McCann, and Hunter Shinkaruk — with only one of these three still playing in the NHL. He was given the expectation of 30-goal scorer in the NHL early on and nearly broke this milestone in his first full season. 

On March 25, 2017, Boeser signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Canucks, making his NHL debut the same day against his hometown Minnesota Wild. In the same game, he scored his first NHL goal. By the end of his first nine games in 2017, he scored four goals on 25 shots and added one assist. For an early campaign, Boeser’s four goals left fans very optimistic about the upcoming season. 

Boeser’s first full season with the Canucks was one to remember. It seemed as though he was shot out of a cannon to start the season, as he scored two goals and three assists in his first four games. It only took him 10 games to get his first hat trick of the season, and the first of his NHL career, which he scored against Matt Murray and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Within the first 10 games of his rookie season, Boeser had five goals and eight assists. 

“The most natural goal scorer I’ve ever played with,” former Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said of Boeser back in 2017. 

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An array of goal-scoring streaks, impressive play, and a Rookie of the Month title in November earned Boeser a nod to the 2018 NHL All-Star Game. There, he won the accuracy shooting event, beating out players such as Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, and Steven Stamkos, and took home the award for MVP of the game. 

Despite playing at a near 40-goal pace in his rookie season, injuries sidelined Boeser for 20 of the team’s games. He finished the year with 29 goals and 26 assists in 62 games played, putting him fifth in points among all rookies that season. Boeser finished second in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy to Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders. 

The start of Boeser’s career in Vancouver was certainly memorable, and with his re-signing, he’ll add even more goals on top of the 204 he has already scored as a member of the Canucks. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

The Buffalo Sabres made a pair of trades during and after the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles that opened up more cap space in advance of the beginning of free agency on July 1, but the club did not make any kind of splash as the market opened on Tuesday, re-signing three players on multi-year extensions and signing free agent winger Justin Danforth and goalie Alex Lyon to two-year deals. 

Danforth had 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in 61 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season and signed for an AAV of $1.8 million, while Lyon, who went 14-9-1, with a 2.81 GAA and .896 save %  in Detroit last season signed for $1.5 million per season. 

“(Lyon is) a proven goaltender, ” Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said on Wednesday. “I think he's a really good veteran. A high character guy. He's proven in the league. He's played well in his time in the National Hockey League. He's going to challenge and push. We just think he helps us win hockey games.” 

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Danforth is expected to play a fourth line role, replacing Sam Lafferty, who was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. Lyon, 32, will be in the mix to challenge for playing time behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and with youngster Devon Levi. Luukkonen, who did not have much of a threat to his starting role after Levi was demoted to Rochester early last season, had a subpar campaign (24-24-5, 3.20 GAA, .887 save %) in the first year of a five-year deal. 

Levi, a restricted free agent this summer, still has an exemption to waivers that will allow him to be demoted to AHL Rochester next season. If Levi plays well in training camp and earns a roster spot, it is likely that the Sabres will carry three goalies on their NHL roster, as they did at the start of the 2023-24 season with Luukkonen, Levi, and Eric Comrie.  

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The Buffalo Sabres did not make much of a splash on the opening day of free agency on Tuesday, with the most impactful signing being the two-year contract for goaltender Alex Lyon and the re-signing of center Ryan McLeod to a long-term extension. The item that was the most newsworthy was a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger, that clubs interested in restricted free agent Bowen Byram are contemplating an offer sheet.

Sabres GM Kevyn Adams met with the media during Day 3 of the club’s Development Camp at LECOM Harborcenter on Wednesday and indicated that he is open to bringing back the 23-year-old blueliner, who is two years away from unrestricted free agency on a short- or long-term deal, and is open to a hockey deal bringing back NHL players, but that he would match an offer sheet if it were tabled by another club. 

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“The moves we've made and the position we've put ourselves in, from the cap perspective, has been strategic.” Adams said. “If you leave just enough room in your cap, maybe where you see a projection on a one year deal and someone comes over the top, you're potentially putting your organization in a really tough spot. So the moves we’ve made and the decisions we've made for weeks now leading up to this point (have been) with that in mind. So we'll be matching and have the opportunity to have a player under contract who we think helps us win.”

Dreger indicated that trade conversations have taken place between the Sabres and the Calgary Flames, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, and St. Louis Blues for Byram, who scored 38 points last season. After the trade of defenseman K’Andre Miller to Carolina on Tuesday and unrestricted free agents Vladislav Gavrikov and Ivan Provorov signing seven-year contracts with the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets, the availability for a legitimate top-four defenseman has shrunk to Byram, and Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson, putting Adams in a position to exact the price he’s looking for or bringing back him back on a short-term deal.    

“We believe Bo is an excellent hockey player that can help our team win,” Adams said, “I've maintained the same position that if there's a deal out there that makes sense for us that we think is going to improve our roster we're open to it. If there's not, we're not in a situation where we're looking to move him out or looking to move him for futures and stuff like that, for me we want to help our team win hockey games and he helps us do that.”

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

The Philadelphia Flyers were the one team that won as much as it lost on Day 1 of NHL Free Agency.

Entering free agency with three needs - a goalie, a center, and a seventh defenseman - the Flyers got to work and took care of business in record time, but at what cost?

Forward Christian Dvorak, expected to take over as the fourth-line center for at least one year, agreed to a one-year deal worth an egregious $5.4 million, making him the fifth-highest-paid forward on the Flyers' roster behind only Trevor Zegras, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and Owen Tippett.

Now, term was a big part of the deal for the Flyers so as to avoid locking themselves into undesirable future roadblocks for younger players, which drove Dvorak's price upwards, as well as bids from other teams.

But other centers with NHL experience, such as Curtis Lazar, Philipp Kurashev, and Lars Eller, all signed one-year deals with new teams worth no more than $1.25 million.

Lazar, like Dvorak, has played for Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet before. Injuries and adapting to a new coach limited Lazar to just five points in 48 games with New Jersey this season, but last year, he had 25 points in 71 games.

For his efforts, the 30-year-old, a prime bounce-back candidate, signed with Edmonton for one-year and $775k.

Piggybacking off that, new Flyers goalie Dan Vladar was by far the most expensive netminder to come off the market Tuesday, signing a two-year, $6.7 million ($3.35 million AAV) with Philadelphia that included an eight-team no-trade list in both years.

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Veteran Anton Forsberg, who signed with Los Angeles for two years at $2.25 million a year, was 11-12-3 last season with a 2.72 GAA, a .901 save percentage, and three shutouts. He was also the only goalie, other than Vladar, to pull in a cap hit north of $1.5 million.

Vladar was comparatively similar but slightly worse, going 12-11-6 with a 2.80 GAA, a .898 save percentage, and two shutouts.

Vladar is 27 and younger than the 32-year-old Forsberg, but does that make up the $1 million difference in cap hit? And, if Vladar isn't a long-term option as a starter or backup, does the age matter at all?

Indeed, much of this is insignificant with the Flyers being a fringe playoff team at best next season, but what is significant is that they have $4.6 million to find a solution to re-sign Cam York, be it a long-term deal or short.

The Flyers insist on not using LTIR to create emergency cap space for themselves, but with Tyson Foerster's status up in the air for opening night, they are pushing the envelope to the fullest, especially in the event further injuries occur during the season.

Speaking of defensemen, journeymen Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert give the Flyers, including York and excluding Rasmus Ristolainen, eight defensemen on the active roster.

One of those eight won't make the roster, and this doesn't account for someone like Helge Grans or Oliver Bonk, who will both be pushing for spots to fill in for Ristolainen.

Looking ahead, the Flyers have one retention slot open to hold onto some salary, with Andrei Kuzmenko off their books and Kevin Hayes and Scott Laughton still on for one more year.

If they want to use that slot to its maximum potential, either in a three-team deal (i.e. Noah Hanifin trade) or retaining salary on one of their own players, they'll have to manage the salary cap extra carefully until Foerster and/or Ristolainen return.

And just imagine how complicated things would have been if they landed Maxim Shabanov.

These free agency signings all address the needs to the Flyers sought out to address, but the relatively poor value of these signings puts the Flyers at high risk of finding themselves in adverse positions for what they want to do later in the season.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues picked up middle of the lineup center they were hoping to get.

Multiple reports had the Blues signing Pius Suter to a two-year contract worth $8.25 million ($4.125 million average annual value). The team confirmed the signing.

The 29-year-old, who set career highs in goals (25) and points (46) with the Vancouver Canucks last season in 81 games, will fill a void the Blues obviously needed in the middle of the lineup as a 2C/3C with Brayden Schenn. He is an exceptional defensive center with excellent penalty kill skills who just so happened to create offense off his defense a season ago and parlayed them into scoring chances, thus setting career highs in goals and points:

Pius Suter, signed 2x$4M by STL, is an intelligent shut-down scoring centre who transcends his lack of size and especially speed to prevent chances against. Creates a lot of goals and scoring chances by getting to the slot and finding space. #STLBluespic.twitter.com/MNJpPix0AH

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 2, 2025

With the addition of Suter, the Blues now have Robert Thomas, Schenn, Suter, Oskar Sundqvist and Nick Bjugstad, who St. Louis signed to a two-year, $3.5 million ($1.75 million AAV) free agent contract on Tuesday from the Utah Mammoth, to utilize down the middle of the ice.

Remember last season, when Suter scored a third-period hat trick against the Blues? And look where he scored those goals: around the net and slot area. Blues coach Jim Montgomery is going to love this.

It was no secret that the Blues were in the market for a middle man, and when Sam Bennett came off the board and re-signed with the Florida Panthers and Mikael Granlund signed a three-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks for $7 million AAV, it was apparent the Blues were not going to get to those numbers.

But this is a low-risk, high-reward contract the Blues could fit into their salary cap, and they'll be fine when they place Torey Krug ($6.5 million AAV) on long-term injured-reserve and once Nick Leddy ($4 million AAV) either is picked up or clears waivers Thursday.

Cody Glass will don the New Jersey Devils jersey for the next two seasons. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Devils announced the center signed a two-year contract worth $5,000,000, with an annual average value of $2,500,000. The contract breakdown is as follows: 2025-26: $2,500,000 & 2026-27: $2,500,000. The announcement was made by President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.

Our Glass is full for two more years. pic.twitter.com/LgDPoEO3TW

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) July 2, 2025

"I wanted to stay (in New Jersey) the whole time," Glass told reporters. "I am glad it got done."

The Devils acquired the 26-year-old on March 7, 2025, from the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Jonathan Gruden for Chase Stillman, Max Graham, and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. 

Through 14 regular-season games, Glass collected seven points (two goals, five assists). He finished the 2024-25 season with a face-off win percentage of 47.4%, winning 64 of 135 draws. 

Entering the postseason, the Winnipeg native only had three games of playoff experience between the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators. During his media availability on Wednesday, The Hockey News asked Glass what his takeaway was from New Jersey's Round 1 series against the Carolina Hurricanes. 

"Only having three (games) and then going to a series in Carolina, which is a pretty tough building to play in, was a great experience," Glass said. "Obviously, I wish it could have gone a lot better. It is something that I think about all the time, but I think it is something that is going to drive me this summer. We want to get back to that point, but we want to do a lot better and advance. I think it was a good step in the right direction for me, and it is something I can learn from." 

In addition to Glass returning to New Jersey, Fitzgerald signed unrestricted free agents Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov and re-signed goaltender Jake Allen.

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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Photo credit: © Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The latest Montreal Canadiens’ UFAs weren't the only former Habs to change teams yesterday. A pair of long-gone Canadiens landed in intriguing new markets with interesting new contracts.

Since making the Stanley Cup Final with the Canadiens in 2021, offensive defenseman Jeff Petry has struggled to find his form. When the Habs traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022 offseason, he probably had hope that things would fall into place quickly on a team featuring the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, but that’s not what happened, far from it. The very next offseason, the Penguins traded him back to Montreal in a package that netted them Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick.

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Hughes then sent him to the Detroit Red Wings for Gustav Lindstrom and a fourth-round pick at the 2025 draft. A Michigan native, Petry was ecstatic to be going home, but his two-season stint with the Wings was great, too; he put up 32 points in 117 games and became a UFA on July 1.

Even though he’s now 37 years old, Petry wasn’t ready to retire, but given his recent performances, he didn’t have that many suitors. Ultimately, he signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers. The deal has a base salary of $775,000 but includes several performance bonuses. The veteran would like to win a Stanley Cup before retiring, and he has decided to bet on the repeat Champions achieving a three-peat next season.

As for Jonathan Drouin, after a disastrous stay in Montreal in which he struggled with mental health issues, he joined the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent on a one-year deal with an AAV of $825,000. After a convincing first season in which he scored 56 points in 79 games, Colorado signed him to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.

Due to injuries, the Quebecer was only able to play in 43 games this season, but he still managed to put up 37 points, averaging 0.86 points per game. Still, Drouin found himself a UFA on July 1st, and he was signed to a two-year pact with a $4 M cap hit by the New York Islanders.

In Long Island, Drouin will find QMJHL rival Anthony Duclair and coach Patrick Roy, whom he gave nightmares to in the juniors. We wish both Drouin and Petry the best of luck with their new team.

Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

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