July 1 may have passed, but there are still some interesting players who remain unrestricted free agents. Interestingly, a handful of the top remaining UFAs played are former Blackhawks.
This is because Patrick Kane, Matt Grzelcyk, Philipp Kurashev, and David Kampf all remain unsigned.
Out of these four former Blackhawks, Kane is, of course, the most notable player. The Blackhawks legend is still an impactful top-six winger at this stage of his career, posting 57 points in 67 games last season with the Detroit Red Wings. The idea of him returning to Chicago is a fun thought but also very unlikely. He will likely head to a contender if he does not re-sign with Detroit.
After posting 12 assists in 69 games last season with the Blackhawks, Grzelcyk is still unsigned. The 5-foot-10 defenseman had to earn a contract through a PTO from Chicago last year after posting 40 points in 82 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25. Will he get a contract from another NHL club more quickly this summer?
After not receiving a qualifying offer from the Blackhawks last summer, Kurashev signed with the San Jose Sharks and had a decent 2025-26 campaign. In 43 games, the 6-foot forward had seven goals and 20 points. Teams looking for more secondary offensive production could consider signing the 26-year-old.
As for Kampf, the 31-year-old center posted two goals and six points in 40 games last season split between the Vancouver Canucsks and Washington Capitals. He doesn't offer a lot of offense, but he works well in a bottom-six role because of his strong defensive play and thrives at the faceoff dot.
The Ducks have seven days to decide whether to match the offer. If they don't, they will receive four first-round draft picks from the Flyers.
Carlsson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, had 29 goals, 38 assists for 67 points in 70 regular season games last season with the Ducks. He added 11 points in 12 playoff games to help lead Anaheim to the second round.
According to puckpedia.com, the Ducks will have $17 million left in cap space if they match the offer sheet. They still have to re-sign restricted free agents Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov and beef up their defense after the departures of Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas. Plus, rookie of the year finalist Beckett Sennecke needs to be re-signed next summer.
The Flyers' offer sheet is the NHL's second since the July 1 signing period opened. The New Jersey Devils gave a one-year, $4.775 million offer sheet to the Utah Mammoth's Barrett Hayton.
Follow along for live updates on Day 3 of NHL free agency:
Rittiich gets a one-year, $1 million contract and join Jake Allen in the Devils' netminding tandem after spending last season as Ilya Samsonov's backup on the New York Islanders. The Devils traded goalie Jacob Markstrom to the Panthers on June 30.
The Stars are bringing Benn back for an 18th season. The captain gets a one-year contract for $850,000, plus an additional $1,150,000 in potential performance bonuses. He had 36 points last season and needs eight more to reach 1,000 career points.
The Philadelphia Flyers have just put the entire NHL notice, signing Leo Carlsson to the boldest offer sheet we have seen in a long time.
Carlsson, 21, signed the Flyers' offer sheet Friday, a five-year pact that carries a monstrous $18 million AAV, which would make him the highest-paid center in the NHL on a $90 million deal.
Within the rules of the NHL's compensation bracket, the Flyers would be required to give up their next four first-round picks to the Anaheim Ducks if they choose not to match.
The Ducks will have seven days to match.
Carlsson, the second overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, erupted for 29 goals, 38 assists, and 67 points in 70 games with the Ducks this season, then added another four goals and 11 assists in 12 playoff games.
This move is the Flyers calling the Ducks' bluff, as the Ducks have made it clear they intent to match any and every offer sheet Carlsson receives.
Now, general manager Danny Briere and the Flyers have asked the Ducks to prove it.
It is worth noting that, at the time of this writing, the Ducks have $35 million in cap space, but they still need to re-sign ex-Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier, who is also a restricted free agent, as well as defensemen Tyson Hinds and Pavel Mintyukov.
Additionally, the entirety of the right side of the Ducks' defense has departed in free agency, with Jacob Trouba (San Jose), Radko Gudas (Florida), and John Carlson (Tampa Bay) all moving on to new teams.
If the Flyers are successful in their offer sheet and the Ducks do not match, they will be left with $11 million in cap space, still needing to re-sign Trevor Zegras, Nikita Grebenkin, and Jamie Drysdale.
If Samuel Montembeault being cast aside during the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff run wasn’t a clear enough sign that he had become surplus to requirements, the three-year contract extension Kent Hughes signed with Jakub Dobes on Thursday certainly is. The netminder had a spectacular fall from grace last season after making Team Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off, leaving little doubt that the Habs would like to move him, but not at any cost.
A lot of masked men have changed allegiances over the last few days; Jacob Markstrom has been traded to the Florida Panthers, just like Akira Schmid, leading to Sergei Bobrovsky signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Detroit Red Wings traded Sebastian Cossa to the Utah Mammoth during the draft. The Edmonton Oilers’ never-ending search for a goaltender worthy of Connor McDavid continued with the signing of veteran Frederik Andersen. Samuel Errsson became a frequent flyer (no pun intended), going from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Leafs in a deal involving Joseph Woll before the Swede was flipped again to the Ottawa Senators. Eric Comrie signed with the San Jose Sharks, Daniil Tarasov signed with the Red Wings, Calvin Pickard signed with the Minnesota Wild, Pheonix Copley signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Vitek Vanecek signed with the New York Islanders, and Stuart Skinner signed with the Winnipeg Jets.
Speaking of the Jets, Connor Hellebuyck is reportedly on the market as well; he’s perhaps the biggest name, and once Winnipeg manages to move him, Montembeault may draw more interest from those who lost out on the Jets’ three-time Vezina Trophy winner, or even from the Jets themselves. Despite failing to perform in the playoffs, Hellebuyck is still generating a lot of interest, and it makes sense. Jordan Binnington is entering the last year of his contract with the St. Louis Blues, and his play in the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympic gold medal game makes him an intriguing option, even if his NHL stats haven’t been great of late. Furthermore, he did lead the Missouri outfit to a Stanley Cup in 2018-19.
When Hughes spoke to the media after inking Ivan Demidov to an 8-year contract extension, he was asked whether there was a market for Montembeault, and he replied: "Yes." It’s a fair assessment, but it feels like some more dominoes need to fall before Montembeault becomes another team's backup plan. He had a horrendous season last year, but he didn’t forget how to be a goalie out of the blue, and someone’s bound to want to take a chance on him. Unlike Brendan Gallagher, though, Hughes won’t trade him just to trade him; he’ll want something in return, and if all else fails, all three goalies could still be in Montreal at the start of camp. There’s a long way to go before it gets to that, and as the Canadiens’ GM has shown over the years, he doesn’t mind waiting for the right deal to come along.
For the first time in seven years, Sergei Bobrovsky will suit up for a team that is not the Florida Panthers.
On July 1, the 37-year-old netminder inked a three-year, $7 million contract with a division rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bobrovsky will be the No. 1 netminder in the hockey mecca, reuniting with Anthony Stolarz and looking to help deliver a Stanley Cup to Toronto for the first time since 1967.
Earlier today, Bobrovsky spoke to the media for the first time as a member of the Maple Leafs, expressing excitement about joining the organization. But what may have caught more attention were his comments about his exit from the Panthers.
Bobrovsky was very appreciative of his time and understands the business of hockey.
“Well, it’s a business. The organization decided to move a different direction, and that’s pretty much it,” Bobrovsky explained when asked why things fell through. “I respect that. I got nothing against it, so that’s hockey... In my position, again, as I said, I just want to keep only the appreciation and thank for everything what they have done for me.”
Bobrovsky also talked about when he knew he wouldn’t be returning to the Panthers organization.
“To be honest, I thought I’m gonna stay in Florida,” Bobrovsky admitted. “But things work out like how they work out and the Leafs put their trust in me, they put out their belief and they gave me good opportunity to join the historical legendary team and be part of this organization.”
“Oh, it’s pretty much when that last day, when the trade happened with Jacob Markstrom. So that was pretty much the year.”
There were plenty of reports circulating around Bobrovsky and the Panthers’ goaltending situation leading up to the Markstrom trade. Some reports indicated the Panthers were targeting Connor Hellebuyck, but those odds decreased significantly when the Panthers acquired Brady Tkachuk.
Regarding Bobrovsky, some insiders believed he was seeking a max-term contract, while others indicated he wanted a contract of similar value to his previous deal.
In the end, Bobrovsky was given a very reasonable three-year, $21-million contract, one of similar value to Markstrom’s two-year, $6 million AAV.
In the end, no animosity is apparent from either side. The Maple Leafs and Panthers should be back as playoff contenders and could very well meet at some point in the playoffs.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins have made multiple moves so far this off-season. Yet, when looking at their roster, it is fair to argue that they should not be done yet.
The Penguins could use another left-shot defenseman after trading Parker Wotherspoon to the Vegas Golden Knights. When looking at the remaining unrestricted free agents (UFAs), Logan Stanley stands out as a prime potential option for them to consider.
If the Penguins signed Stanley, he would provide them with a 6-foot-7 tough defenseman who could play on either their second or third pairing. He would also work well on their penalty kill because of his shutdown ability.
Stanley's age also adds to his appeal, as he is 28 years old and right in his prime. Because of this, the Penguins could comfortably sign him to a multi-year contract.
In 76 games last season split between the Winnipeg Jets and Buffalo Sabres, Stanley posted nine goals, 17 assists, 26 points, 110 hits, and 128 penalty minutes. With numbers like these, he would provide the Penguins' blueline with a bit more offense and plenty more grit. With this, he could be a player worth taking a chance on.
The Philadelphia Flyers have added to their forward depth by signing a former first-round pick.
According to PuckPedia, the Flyers have signed forward Nolan Foote to a one-year, two-way contract. At the NHL level, Foote will have an $850,000 cap hit.
Foote appeared in 12 games last season for the Florida Panthers, where he recorded one goal, six penalty minutes, and 27 hits. He spent the majority of the season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers, though, posting 14 goals, 18 assists, and 32 points in 54 games.
Foote was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, 27th overall. In 42 career NHL games over six seasons split between the New Jersey Devils and Panthers, the 6-foot-3 forward has recorded seven goals, three assists, 10 points, and 59 hits.
Foote will now likely serve as a veteran forward for the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. However, he also could be a call-up candidate for Philadelphia when injuries arise during the season.
Detroit Red Wings prospect goaltender Sebastian Cossa had reached a crossroads with the organization that selected him in the opening round (15th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
He was no longer waivers-except, and was in need of a new contract with restricted free agency looming on July 1. Rather than extend him, the Red Wings traded him to the Utah Mammoth in return for the 23rd overall pick in the 2026 Draft.
Since then, Cossa has signed a two-year contract with a $2 million salary cap hit, while the Mammoth traded backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek to the New York Islanders. Right now, it appears as though the road is paved for Cossa to begin his NHL career.
He only has one game of NHL experience under his belt, having come in to relieve Ville Husso against the Buffalo Sabres in December 2024; he helped the Red Wings earn a 6-5 shootout victory.
While speaking on the final day of Development Camp, Red Wings Director of Player Development Dan Cleary attested to Cossa's character.
"Sebastian is a good man," Cleary said. "I really liked working with Sebastian. He's on the goalie side, and I like to tell him, 'I don't really know a lot about goalies, but I certainly know a lot about character and trying to help you and move along.'"
Cossa finished what would be his last season with the Griffins going 26-8-4, recording a 2.33 goals-against average along with a .915 save percentage.
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The past week has only been Maksim Sokolovskii's first taste of action as a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, but if his performance against his peers says anything about his future, look out.
Sokolovskii, 17, was drafted 27th overall by the Flyers in the 2026 NHL Draft earlier this month, and while many bemoaned the choice because he fits the "big guy hits hard" mold, there is actually so much more depth to the 6-foot-7 defenseman's game than that.
At development camp, the London Knights product flashed everything he has to offer: effortless skating, strength, confidence, a good defensive stick, and... dangles with the puck on his stick!
No, really, Sokolovskii can do it all. This isn't to say that the new Flyers prospect is a world-beater or finished product--far from it--but it should reinforce the Flyers' belief that the defender has sky-high upside as a player.
Mechanically, Sokolovskii's skating needs some work, and he can still be loose and awkward when handling the puck. The good news is that the Flyers have five or six years to develop that, on top of his superhuman size and strength.
Sokolovskii's performance in the 3-on-3 tournament to finish out the Flyers' development camp was his most impressive of the week by far, giving a glimpse of what he can be if everything goes right in his development.
Maksim Sokolovskii is elite
Drew this penalty shot after going between his legs on a breakaway attempt right before pic.twitter.com/fwjUGhdlbR
Again, yes, it is a development camp against other prospects and camp invites.
The highlight of the 2026 first-round pick's morning was the penalty shot attempt he converted on draft classmate Martin Psohlavec, going backhand-forehand and scoring blocker side.
How did a defenseman like Sokolovskii get a penalty shot in a 3-on-3 game, you might ask?
The Kazakh defender was all over the ice, constantly getting north in open space to receive pucks and create offensive opportunities. Sokolovskii frequently demanded the puck from his teammates, and was astonishingly effective at creating offense from behind the opposing net--a long way from the point at the blue line.
It was easy to see Sokolovskii's daredevil personality coming out on the ice; to draw the penalty shot, he made an audacious attempt at a between-the-legs shot on Psohlavec, drawing a hook from a back-checking defender in the process.
With his absurdly long reach, Sokolovskii was also able to consistently create second- and third-chance opportunities, even after he and his teammates lost the puck or missed on a scoring chance.
The first of those resulted in a Jack Nesbitt goal from the high slot, with Sokolovskii supplying the assist from behind the net. Another came courtesy of Alex Bump a few shifts later.
"Sokolovskii, he likes to go, he actually likes to handle the puck. He has some things he's going to have to learn, but we want him to be trying things, especially in this environment," Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said after Friday's tournament.
Sokolovskii flipped a switch over the past 10-ish minutes of game time, and is now pulling off stuff like this pic.twitter.com/Ba2fouJJ73
"You want him to try to make plays and get up ice and take himself out of his comfort zone. I think all these players, whenever you get to junior or the American league, you play safe and try not to make mistakes and all this stuff. When you're a young player, especially junior and minor leagues, we want you to try things, just try to improve. Every player wants to be an offensive guy and score goals and make plays, and obviously they're going to be defense-first, but then we want guys to join the rush. Modern-day NHL, you need guys coming in a second wave to score."
This is less about making Sokolovskii out to be Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar, or even Zdeno Chara or Victor Hedman, and more about showing what his full potential could be like down the road.
Sokolovskii was one of the youngest players in the entire 2026 draft class, not turning 18 years old for another week, which leaves him plenty of developmental runway.
Naturally, Sokolovskii is the star of the show simply because of his anomalous size, but his development camp showing proved that he has quite the bag of tricks in his locker, too.
ENGLEWOOD, CO - JULY 09: Joe Sakic (C) is honored as he announces his retirement during a press conference at the Inverness Hotel on July 9, 2009 in Englewood, Colorado. (L-R) are Don Baizley, Debbie Sakic, Joe Sakic, Pierre Lacroix and Greg Sherman. Sakic played 20 years in the NHL with the same organization, the Quebec Nordiques from 1988-1995 and the Colorado Avalanche from 1995 to 2009. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The past thirty years of Avalanche hockey have featured incredible highs, and some very, very dismal lows.
As an avid fan of The Simpsons, I’ve witnessed plenty of “best of times” moments, but also been subjected to a smattering of unpleasant “blursts” of times. In this first of an ongoing off-season series, I take a look back through the past thirty years, highlighting one moment that stands among the best, and comparatively, the worst (or blurst, if you will) each season.
Here are the best and blurst moments from another five years of Colorado Avalanche history.
2005-2006
The Best: The Lockout Ends (July 22, 2005)
After lasting over ten months, the NHL and NHL Players Association came to terms on a brand new collective bargaining agreement, ensuring that all thirty clubs would return to action in the fall.
A hard $39 million dollar salary cap took effect as part of the agreement, and with it, a lot of uncomfortable decision had to be made by Avs GM Pierre Lacroix. With Lacroix’s hands bound by the new salary cap, longtime fixtures Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote were not offered new contracts, and instead signed long-term deals with the Philadelphia Flyers (the team that originally drafted Forsberg in 1991) and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively.
Lacroix mobilized to fill the void in the wake of the departure of Forsberg and Foote. He signed both center Pierre Turgeon (previously with the Dallas Stars) and defenseman Patrice Brisebois (previously with the Montréal Canadiens) to two-year contracts on August 3.
The Avalanche began the season in Edmonton on October 5, losing by a score of 4-3.
Three nights later, the late Marek Svatoš made his NHL debut against the Dallas Stars, scoring the go-ahead goal to secure the Avs’ first win of the season. The 2001 seventh-round pick (227th overall) would go on to have the best season of his short NHL career in his rookie campaign, scoring 32 goals and 18 assists for 50 points before a shoulder injury in March 2006 sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
The drama of losing both Forsberg and Foote to free agency, the subsequent signings of Turgeon and Brisebois, the rapid rise of Svatoš, and an eventual return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs would not have been possible if not for this moment.
Hard to find a better moment of the season than the League resuming play again.
The Blurst: Brad May Signed by Colorado (August 20, 2005)
They signed WHO?!
When news had broke that the Avs had signed Brad May, the excitement over the return of hockey turned the stomachs of Avs fans sour. How could this franchise sign the very person–a multi-year contract at that–who openly admitted that a bounty was placed on Steve Moore’s head?
“Brad May is a good skater who brings us additional grit, leadership and experience,” said Avs GM Pierre Lacroix.
A far too simple justification in the wake of a far too complex situation.
Avs fans got an early look at May in burgundy and blue on September 16 during the Avs’ Burgundy and White Game at the University of Denver, and they didn’t hold back. Boos showered the Magness Arena ice surface each time that May was in possession of the puck. Although he didn’t finish the game due to sustaining a groin injury during the contest, the message was clear: you are not welcome here.
This would have been an opportunity for May to try to make amends for his role in the attack on Moore, but that would have been far too easy. “I’m not even interested in talking about it, really,” he said to The Denver Post after the game. “It’s just what it is.”
So much for the olive branch.
Head coach Joel Quenneville defended his new winger in an equally tone-deaf manner. “I think this is a thing that’s going to be over with, and the fans are going to like his style of play,” he said. “He’s a tough guy who can play. There are some tough guys who can be more difficult to get in the games. The role of the tougher player has to be that you feel comfortable with him on the ice.”
What a way to double down.
May played 64 regular season games during his Avs tenure, scoring three goals and six assists for a total of nine points. He appeared in three postseason games, registering zero points. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on February 17, 2007, in exchange for goaltender Mike Wall.
Wall never played a game for the Avs. May would win the Stanley Cup with Anaheim that summer.
The most controversial signing in franchise history felt all too long of a blurst for being so brief.
2006-2007
The Best: Budaj Goes Beast Mode (February 27 – April 07, 2007)
By this time in Avalanche history, making the playoffs wasn’t just an expectation: it was pure assumption. The thought that this team that set such high standards from year to year could ever be outside the playoff picture was simply unfathomable.
After losing to Anaheim on February 25, the Avs were squarely on the outside looking in, and an eleventh consecutive playoff appearance since relocating from Quebec was in jeopardy.
Something had to change. On February 27, Peter Budaj, who had been backing up José Théodore in goal, stepped into the crease for the Avs, and proceeded to win ten of his next twleve starts in goal (losing once in overtime and once in a shootout).
The playoffs were once again within reach. Théodore was reinserted back into the lineup on March 27–his first start in a month–but a 3-0 loss to Vancouver that night all but ensured Budaj would get the chance to pull the Avs across the finish line and back for an eleventh straight playoff appearance.
Budaj won his next four starts, setting up a dramatic matchup on April 7 in Nashville. Unfortunately, the magic ran out for Budaj, as Peter Forsberg, who had been acquired by Nashville before the trade deadline, set up another former Avalanche winger in Paul Kariya for the go-ahead (and game-winning goal). The loss sealed the Avs’ fate, as they would miss the playoffs for the first time since leaving Quebec.
Budaj started all but three games during that run, pulling off an insane 14-2-2 run to pull the Avs within a hair of the playoffs, a goaltending streak that wouldn’t be duplicated for nearly twenty more years.
The Blurst: Alex Tanguay Traded to Calgary (June 24, 2006)
In October 2002, Avs general manager Pierre Lacroix traded Chris Drury and Stéphane Yelle to the Calgary Flames for forwards Dean McAmmond, Jeff Shantz, and defenseman Derek Morris. Morris was the centerpiece of that deal in the eyes of Lacroix, who cited Morris’ abilities that could be a fixture on the blue line into the future.
Lacroix was roundly criticized for dealing away two key pieces of the team that had just won the Stanley Cup less than four months earlier. Morris played just over two seasons with the Avs, registering 17 goals and 59 assists in 117 regular season games, while only recording three assists in seven postseason games. He was traded to the then-Phoenix Coyotes prior to the trade deadline in 2004.
François Giguère, who succeeded Lacroix as general manager, made a similar move with similar shortcomings. Alex Tanguay, who was on the verge of becoming a restricted free agent in July, was traded to Calgary in exchange for defenseman Jordan Leopold and two second round picks in 2006 (used to draft center Codey Burki) and 2007 (used to draft goaltender Trevor Cann).
Both Giguère and Leopold spoke after the trade. “Jordan is a solid defenseman and a very good skater,” he said in comments to the Associated Press. “He is only 25 years old and has a bright future ahead of him.”
“I have an offensive background and I like to show it,” said Leopold.
Leopold spent three seasons with the Avs, but injuries kept him out of the lineup throughout his tenure, limiting his offensive capabilities. He scored 13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points in 122 regular season games, and like Morris, managed to record only three assists in seven postseason games.
Tanguay set career highs in assists (59) and points (81) the following season with Calgary. He would play another year with the Flames prior to making stops in Montréal and Tampa, then returned to Calgary for three more seasons. He racked up another 90 goals and 191 assists for 281 points across 391 regular season games in that span.
Leopold would be sent back to Calgary on March 9, 2009, for defensemen Lawrence Nycholat and Ryan Wilson, along with a 2009 second round draft pick (later used to draft defenseman Stefan Elliot). He played for six more teams across five more seasons before retiring.
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Or blurst it. Or something.
2007-2008
The Best: Franchise Victory #1000 (December 09, 2007)
José Théodore’s time with the Avs was certainly an adventure.
On this night when the St. Louis Blues came into town, the adventure lived up to its billing in the best way.
Jay McClement broke open the scoring for St. Louis just past the halfway mark of the first period. His future teammate, Milan Hejduk, would tie the game just over five minutes later. Hejduk’s second goal of the game a little over five minutes into the second period gave the Avs their first lead of the night.
McClement was awarded a penalty shot seconds later, and he tied the game at two.
At the halfway point of regulation, Paul Stastny put the Avs ahead 3-2, scoring the first of four goals (Wojtek Wolksi, Brett Clark, and Ryan Smyth scored the other three) past St. Louis goaltender Hannu Toivonen in a span of 6:26. The comfortable lead felt less so after Doug Weight and David Perron scored a minute apart early in the third to make things more nervewracking interesting, but three straight goals by Stastny, Hejduk, and Wolski put the game out of reach.
A meaningless goal from Lee Stempniak with less than a minute to play wrapped up this affair, with the Avs emerging with a 9-5 victory, their 1000th as a franchise.
Hejduk took first star honors of the night, recording a career best six points in one game and scoring the fifth career hat trick of his career. Stastny was right behind him, with two goals and three assists, good enough for second star honors. Overall, ten skaters recorded points for the Avs in this contest.
Although Toivonen had a pretty rough night, Théodore’s wasn’t much better, having allowing five goals on twenty-eight shots, but a win is a win.
This game stood as the highest scoring game played on home ice in franchise history until the Avs’ 9-6 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game Two of their second round playoff series this past May.
For now, being the highest scoring regular season game on home ice–and recording the 1000th franchise victory–is a pretty impressive feat for second place on that list.
The Blurst: McLeod Mouths Off in Motown (April 26, 2008)
The rivalry between the Avs and Red Wings featured a lot of trash talking, but this was the first (and only) time that an inanimate object was the focal point of wrath between both clubs.
The Avs were at Joe Louis Arena for Game Two of the Stanley Cup semifinals. Having lost Game One two nights earlier, they were eager for a spark to build on to prevent from falling further behind in the series.
During the national anthem, a spectator threw an octopus onto the ice. Avs enforcer Cody McLeod scooped up the lifeless sea creature, shook it vigorously in the direction of Detroit’s Dallas Drake and Dan Cleary, then launched it past an arena attendant stationed near the back of the Avs bench.
McLeod’s actions certainly were motivational…for the Red Wings. Led by Johan Franzén, Detroit would score four unanswered goals (including an eventual hat trick for Franzén) en route to a 5-1 victory and a 2-0 series lead. Ian Laperrière scored the only goal in the contest.
The Avs would lose both games on home ice, falling in Game Three by a 4-3 decision, and Game Four by a lopsided 8-2 decision, reminiscent of the Game Seven defeat six years earlier in the Western Conference Final.
Losing, even decisively, to your most hated rival, is one thing. To get swept out the playoffs by your most hated rival?
That’s a blurst.
2008-2009
The Best: The 300 Club (January 18, 2009)
It’s fun when players reach a milestone moment in their careers, but when two players hit the same milestone in the same game, that a certain kind of special.
With the Avs leading the Calgary Flames 2-1 in the second period, Ryan Smyth scored a shorthanded goal to reach the 300 goal mark. Just under five minutes later, Milan Hejduk also scored his 300th career goal.
How often has something like this happened? Turns out, it’s pretty rare: the last time a pair of teammates reached the 300 goal mark in the same game was back on February 26, 1983, when Danny Gare and Ivan Boldirev of the Detroit Red Wings accomplished the feat against the New York Islanders.
Smyth and Hejduk are the last pair to most recently accomplish the feat. They both took first and second star honors in the Avs’ 6-2 victory over Calgary that night, but this achievement is in a class by itself, twice over.
The Blurst: Snowblower v. Sakic (December 09, 2008)
You had to know this was coming.
The 2008-2009 season saw Joe Sakic begin his twentieth NHL campaign at over a point per game pace into early November. A herniated disk put a pause in his season, causing him to miss three weeks of action. He returned in the Avs 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on November 26, but pulled himself after a brief shift two nights later against the Phoenix Coyotes.
Avs fans waited for news on his recovery and eventual return to the lineup. December 10, the team announced that Sakic would miss the next three months of action for an entirely different reason: surgery on his left hand to repair tendon damage and three broken fingers.
The culprit? Sakic’s own snowblower.
“He put his hand where he should not have put it. He’s, in a way, lucky. He’ll have a full recovery,” Team vice president Jean Martineau explained to The Denver Post.
Had Sakic’s recovery gone according to the projected timeline, he would have returned to the lineup in mid March, just in time to gear up for a potential playoff appearance. At the time of Sakic’s injury, the Avs were hovering just above the .500 mark with a 14-13-1 record, with plenty of time in the season to put themselves into postseason contention.
The exact opposite occurred, with the Avs going 18-32-4 for the remainder of the season and missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Sakic never suited up for the Avs again.
“He’s very, very mad at himself. I’ve never seen him like that, and I’ve known him for 21 years,” Martineau further elaborated. “He knows he made a mistake.”
Unfortunately, a mistake that literally cut Sakic final season short.
All thanks to an appliance designed to clear out snow and ice, the very foundations of…an avalanche.
2009-2010
The Best: Craig Anderson’s San Jose Shutout (April 18, 2010)
The 2009-2010 season saw the Avs take their first steps to forge a new identity. Joe Sakic had retired at the start of the year, and the newest class of Avs draft picks featuring Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly were now the foundations to build the next wave of success.
A shootout win in Vancouver in early April ensured that the Avs would return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They drew the powerhouse San Jose Sharks–the team they hosted for Sakic’s jersey retirement–as their first round opponent.
After splitting the first two games at the Shark Tank, both teams met for Game Three at Pepsi Center on April 18. San Jose threw everything they could towards Craig Anderson, who stopped a whopping fifty saves in regulation to keep the Sharks off the board. The upstart Avs, however, struggled to put pucks on Evgeni Nabokov throughout the game, mustering just sixteen shots through sixty minutes.
The brilliance of Anderson and the lack of offense by the Avs sent this game to overtime.
With less than a minute gone in the extra frame, San Jose’s Dan Boyle attempted to fling the puck around the end boards in the Sharks zone. O’Reilly reached out with his stick and grazed the puck with the very edge of his blade. The puck changed direction just enough to sneak between Nabokov and the near post, securing an improbable 1-0 victory for the Avs and a 2-1 series lead.
Having witnessed this game in person, the video above doesn’t do the crowd’s reaction justice. The Pepsi Center crowd’s chants of, “Andy! Andy! Andy!” in recognition of Anderson’s fifty-one save performance still stand out, even among recognizing other incredible goaltending performances in the pantheon of Avs netminders.
It was the season’s best moment, and signaled a future full of promise.
The Blurst: A Snowy Saturday Shellacking (November 14, 2009)
The new-look Avs were enjoying some early season success as the 2009-2010 season got underway. Through the first eighteen games of the year, they compiled a 11-4-3 record, a result that may have caught more than a few people by surprise.
With the Vancouver Canucks coming into town as part of Hockey Night in Canada’s late night presentation, the Avs would be front and center to take on one of the strongest teams in the League. Despite losing their last two games to Edmonton and Chicago, the young Avs had little reason to doubt they could compete with Vancouver.
It didn’t take long for Vancouver to assert their will. Henrik Sedin scored his first goal of the game just under two minutes into the period, and the Canucks didn’t look back. Head coach Joe Sacco pulled Craig Anderson was pulled after the first period in an attempt to inject some life into his squad, but Vancouver would increase their lead on a Mathieu Schneider goal as the game approached the halfway point of regulation.
Marek Svatoš and Matt Hendricks broke through in the third period to finally solve Roberto Luongo, but Vancouver rattled off four unanswered goals in response. The lopsided 8-2 defeat illustrated that, as promising as the nucleus of talent on the Avs roster was, they had a long way to go before they could compete with the likes of a true Stanley Cup contender.
Was there a best (or blurst) from these five years of Avalanche hockey that was overlooked? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The Anaheim Ducks entered the 2026 offseason with a projected $38.8 million in cap space, holes throughout their depth chart (most notably on the right side of their blueline), and six NHL RFAs (Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, Tyson Hinds, Ian Moore) in need of new contracts, with two of them projected to be sizable extensions: Leo Carlsson (21) and Cutter Gauthier (22).
After signing Moore to a two-year contract extension, trading Mason McTavish to the St. Louis Blues, and trading Olen Zellweger to the Buffalo Sabres, the Ducks entered the July 1 free agency period with a projected $44.6 million in cap space, and the number of NHL RFAs in need of contract extensions decreased to four (Carlsson, Gauthier, Mintyukov, Hinds).
Offer sheets are an intriguing aspect of every NHL offseason, but notoriously, they’re rarely extended and signed. NHL clubs may sign opposing RFAs to offer sheets between July 1 and Dec. 1, and once signed, the player’s original team has seven days to either match the offer or send the player to the team they signed with in exchange for predetermined compensation.
Of the Ducks’ four current RFAs, only Carlsson, Mintyukov, and Hinds are eligible to sign offer sheets with opposing teams, as Gauthier does not meet the experience criteria. Typically, offer sheets have only been successful when extended to second-tier RFAs. When offered to top-tier players, they’re immediately matched.
The Ducks were relatively quiet to open the NHL free agency period despite losing a trio of veteran RHDs, as well as some depth forwards from their 2025-26 roster. Their only NHL acquisitions to date have been forward AJ Greer, forward Jeff Malott, defenseman Nick Jensen, and goaltender Laurent Brossoit.
They currently have a projected $35.2 million in cap space, the most in the NHL by over $5 million.
A combination of a seeming lack of reverence for the 2026 NHL Draft, an ever-increasing salary cap, and a thin unrestricted free agent market has led to the most eventful NHL offseason in recent memory.
Which brings us back to offer sheets. The New Jersey Devils have already signed Utah Mammoth center Barrett Hayton to a one-year, $4.78 million offer sheet, of which Utah has until July 8 to match or lose the player for a second-round pick as compensation.
With high-profile RFAs such as Jason Robertson, Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli, Simon Edvinsson, etc., currently eligible for offer sheets, some have speculated whether this may be the offseason where these prolific players sign offer sheets.
Premier NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Twitter that if teams were to attempt to acquire Carlsson from the Ducks via offer sheet, it would be immediately matched, and the reason for their lack of activity to this point in the offseason is to maintain cap flexibility.
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
“Saw one offer sheet yesterday, Barrett Hayton (with) New Jersey, and are wondering about more,” Friedman wrote. “Heard over the past few hours Anaheim guaranteed it will match any attempt on Leo Carlsson, and the reason the Ducks haven’t made many moves is to make sure to be in a safe cap position.”
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek has established a reputation as one of the tougher GMs in the NHL to negotiate with, especially for RFAs, and especially more when they’re coming off their ELCs. Since he’s taken over in the Ducks’ front office, he’s taken negotiations with Troy Terry to the minutes before entering his scheduled arbitration hearing, and he’s taken negotiations with Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Mason McTavish well into training camp without a deal in place.
The two significant RFA contracts Verbeek “got ahead of” in terms of negotiations were Lukas Dostal in the summer of 2025, where a five-year contract extension was signed several days before arbitration hearings were set to commence, and Jackson LaCombe in Oct. 2025, where an eight-year deal was signed nine months before his current one was scheduled to expire.
Author’s opinion: By not having Carlsson under contract by July 1 and this report coming out a day after, it appears, from the outside, as though Carlsson and his representation have been given all leverage in negotiations with the Ducks.
It’s become more fashionable over the last 5-10 years in the NHL for GMs to sign their young star players well before their ELCs expire so as to have them committed to their teams for as long as possible, to as low an AAV as possible, before they truly break out and acquire more leverage.
“We reached a point, maybe late October/early November, that we decided to table talks with any of our young players and just focus on playing hockey,” Verbeek said when asked about contract negotiations with pending RFAs at the trade deadline. “And if they play hockey well, then all the contract stuff will take care of itself. I just wanted their mindset to be worried on playing good hockey and helping this team win and get into the playoffs.”
During Verbeek’s exit interview, Verbeek expressed his desire to get his high-profile RFAs (Carlsson and Gauthier) signed before training camp.
“In a perfect situation, I’d like to get them done in a week here,” Verbeek said on May 15. “I’m hoping for the best to try and make sure that everybody’s excited for training camp and all of us are happy. I don’t have a crystal ball to say how it’s going to go, but we’re going to do our best to make sure that we get everybody excited and there for camp.”
“I’d like to get it done as soon as possible, but we all have to cooperate with one another, right? That’s the goal,” Verbeek continued when asked about the motivation to get contracts signed before July 1.
Carlsson reiterated Verbeek’s sentiments at his own exit interview, on May 15, to get a contract agreed upon before training camp and relayed that negotiations hadn’t taken place to that point.
“No, not really. We’ll just take it into summer, see what happens,” Carlsson said when asked about any preliminary contract talks between him, his representation, and Verbeek.
When asked about a preferential timeline for a deal, Carlsson said, “I want to get it done before training camp so I can be here with the team as early as possible.”
At of the end of the first round of the recent NHL Draft, the last time the media spoke with Verbeek, when asked about the status of RFA contract negotiations, he said, “They’re ongoing. That’s all I can say. We’re talking, and we’ll see where it goes.”
This remains an important offseason in the growth of the Anaheim Ducks franchise, on the heels of their first playoff appearance since 2018 and with the goal to “keep pushing this football down the field,” as Verbeek stated at the Draft on June 26.
The landscape of the Ducks roster and depth chart, along with projections regarding the upcoming season, is still very much in question after recently losing McTavish, Zellweger, John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas, Ross Johnston, and Jeffrey Viel, and acquiring Greer, Mallot, Jensen, and Brossoit.
Author’s opinion: It seems as though by not having contracts agreed upon with Carlsson and Gauthier, the Ducks were and remain unable to significantly add to and improve their roster due to uncertainty regarding the amount of cap space they’d have to work with.
The Philadelphia Flyers have finally expanded on the ailment that has chronically been plaguing top center prospect Jett Luchanko for the last few years.
Luchanko, 19, was held off the ice for back-to-back development camps due to injury, though no procedures were ever officially announced... until now.
Despite playing each of the last two seasons mostly as normal, Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr revealed after the conclusion of development camp Friday that Luchanko had a procedure done on his core to address a "lingering" injury.
"He had a proceudre done on his core. It's been lingering for about a year and a half. I don't even know the timeline. He's been working out lots down there, should be skating over the week and be ready to go," Flahr said. "He doesn't like to make excuses, but at the same time, his speed, skillset, there's hopefully a full summer to train and train properly."
While there typically isn't a silver lining we can take from a prospect's injury, Luchanko hasn't produced a ton of offense in the two years since being drafted, and now there's a good chance that Luchanko just hasn't been fully healthy for much of that time.
The Flyers' 2024 first-round pick is expected to compete for an NHL roster spot out of training camp when healthy, and so long as Luchanko indeed remains healthy, there is a good chance he can do it.
Regardless of he makes the NHL or not, the 2026-27 season will be Luchanko's first as a full-time professional player.
The speedster has played nine NHL games with the Flyers, including one in the Stanley Cup playoffs this past postseason, as well as 16 AHL games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms between the regular season and Calder Cup playoffs.
Of note, Flyers general manager Danny Briere told The Hockey News in a recent Q&A that Luchanko would not make the Flyers' NHL roster as a reserve player, and would only be kept up if he was one of the top-12 regular forwards.
Considering how much hockey Luchanko has missed, and how much hockey he's played at less than 100%, this is the smartest and safest move by the Flyers.
Flyers rookie camp opens on Sept. 11, leaving Luchanko with two more months to rehab, recover, and train.
When Zakhar Bardakov's time with the Colorado Avalanche came to an end, it never felt like a permanent goodbye.
Just weeks after returning to Russia, the 25-year-old forward has officially signed a one-year contract with KHL powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg, taking the next step in a move that had been building since his arrival in North America. While the signing closes one chapter of his career, the Avalanche have quietly ensured another could still be written by extending Bardakov a qualifying offer, allowing the organization to retain his NHL rights.
Bardakov's departure from Colorado was never a surprise behind the scenes. When the Avalanche signed him from the KHL, his contract included a clause allowing him to return to Russia if he was assigned to the American Hockey League. It was a unique provision that reflected his status as an established professional rather than a traditional prospect expected to spend years developing in the minors.
Although Bardakov earned a roster spot out of training camp and steadily adjusted to the North American game, his opportunity remained limited throughout the season. He finished with one goal and nine assists in 60 games while averaging just 7:12 of ice time, spending much of the year on Colorado's fourth line. His lone assignment to the AHL with the Colorado Eagles, where he scored in his only appearance, ultimately reinforced the reality that a larger role wasn't likely to come in Colorado.
That reality became even clearer in the playoffs, when Bardakov was a healthy scratch for the entire postseason despite appearing in 60 regular-season games.
Rather than remain in limbo, Bardakov chose the more familiar path. His one-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg gives him an opportunity to play significant minutes for one of the KHL's premier organizations while continuing his development against high-level competition.
For the Avalanche, however, the story doesn't necessarily end there.
By issuing Bardakov a qualifying offer before his departure, Colorado retained his NHL rights, meaning any future return to North America would still go through the Avalanche. If Bardakov thrives with SKA and decides another NHL opportunity is worth pursuing, Colorado—not another club—would control that next chapter.
The Senators have had an extremely quiet start to free agency, at least in terms of adding impactful NHL players to their roster.
But GM Steve Staios was able to address another important area, and that's adding prospects and depth to a farm system that badly needs it.
Steve Staios says he's in a holding pattern in free agency as he waits on Claude Giroux.
On Wednesday, Staios signed five free agent players who are all expected to begin the year in Belleville. But some of them are also players capable of helping in Ottawa right now when the inevitable injuries strike.
The Sens signed forwards Sammy Blais, Philippe Daoust, Ryan Suzuki and Philip Tomasino, along with defenceman Christian Kyrou, to two-way contracts.
That followed the late June acquisition of winger Kasper Halttunen from the San Jose Sharks and the drafting of Jonas Lagerberg Hoen and Jaxon Cover in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft.
None of the Canada Day signings generated headlines around the NHL, but collectively, they tidily improved the Sens' organizational depth.
Among the new signees who might play in Ottawa this season, the headliner is undoubtedly Sammy Blais, who helped the St. Louis Blues win the Cup in 2019.
The 30-year-old has appeared in 278 NHL games and has some bite to his game, something the Senators suddenly have a little less of following Brady Tkachuk's departure.
Blais plays an abrasive style, finishes checks, and makes life uncomfortable around the opponent's crease. In many ways, his style resembles Nick Cousins, a player the Sens valued enough to bring back this summer on a two-year deal.
Blais gives the Senators another veteran capable of stepping into a fourth-line NHL role if injuries create an opening.
Philip Tomasino has the highest offensive ceiling of the new signings.
The season after Nashville made him a first-round pick in 2019, Tomasino returned to the OHL and had 100 points in 62 games. As an NHL rookie, he then had 32 points in 76 games for the Predators, but it's been a slow fade in productivity ever since.
He's played in 218 NHL games and is still just 24 years old.
Although he spent much of last season in the American Hockey League, he produced 41 points in 52 games while splitting time between the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia organizations. His last meaningful NHL season was two years ago with 23 points in 50 games for Pittsburgh.
If Tomasino rediscovers some of the offensive game that made him a first-round selection in 2019, he could force his way back into NHL consideration.
As a sidebar, we could have turned this article into a smooth piece of clickbait by announcing that the Sens had acquired Kyrou and Suzuki. They did do that, but the players are, in fact, the younger brothers of Jordan and Nick.
Christian Kyrou brings intriguing upside.
Kyrou is coming off his best pro season in pretty much all categories after recording 34 points in 59 games with Lehigh Valley in the American Hockey League. Ottawa's NHL blue line appears settled, but offensively skilled, right-shot defencemen are always valuable organizational assets.
Ryan Suzuki arrives after helping lead the Chicago Wolves to the Calder Cup Final, where he led the club in playoff scoring with 18 points in 21 games. Like Tomasino, Suzuki is a former first-round pick who gives Belleville another skilled offensive player.
The signing of Philippe Daoust is a Belleville success story. The Senators' 2020 Draft pick was on an AHL deal last season and went off with a 50-point season. It was his best pro season in all categories by a country mile, more than doubling his previous personal bests in goals, assists, and points.
The question he'll need to answer is how much of his production came from playing on a line with Arthur Kaliyev and Xavier Bourgault. Kaliyev is a UFA and won't be back, while Bourgault is an RFA, waiting on a new deal.
Beyond the signings, there's also Kasper Halttunen, who could be a beast in Belleville this year. He was acquired in the William Eklund trade, a spinoff of the Brady Tkachuk deal.
Halttunen provides organizational depth, but he's more than that. He's immediately become one of the Senators' best prospects.
In 2024 and 2025, the big Finnish winger (6-foot-3, 205 lbs) helped the London Knights win back-to-back OHL titles with an outrageous 32 goals in 35 playoff games.
His rookie AHL season with the San Jose Barracudas this year was a learning experience, but at age 20, he still managed 35 points in 69 games.
On their own, none of these additions is likely to change the current roster. But combined with Lagerberg-Hoen and Cover, they do provide important new depth and paint a clear picture of a GM keeping a better eye on the future.
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:
Now, two days removed from the beginning of free agency, the dust has settled, and the rapidness of the moves has slowed down.
The St. Louis Blues have added Ross Johnston, a physical fourth-line forward, while also re-signing Jonatan Berggren and Dillon Dube. The Blues have also made some other deals, most notably trading for Mason McTavish on draft night.
But while the team adds, players are always going to be leaving the organization.
That statement is true for four former Blues players: Matthew Kessel, Hunter Skinner, Akil Thomas and Justin Holl.
While none of these players were major factors in the Blues’ lineup, losing depth, especially three right-handed defensemen, is nothing to really scoff at. With that in mind, the Blues should be able to navigate these losses without any issues.
Hunter Skinner, D, Nashville Predators
Skinner was a player Blues fans wanted to see in the NHL, but it just never happened. Originally a fourth-round draft pick by the New York Rangers in 2019, Skinner played just one NHL game with the Blues in the 2025-26 season.
His Blues tenure was spent in the AHL with the Springfield Thunderbirds, where he was a solid two-way defender.
He’ll now join the Nashville Predators on a two-way contract for one season. The 25-year-old will become a Group-6 UFA if he doesn’t play 79 NHL games this season.
Matthew Kessel, D, New York Islanders
Kessel was given a better opportunity to shine in St. Louis, but he was never able to emerge as an everyday defenseman. During his Blues tenure, Kessel played 99 NHL games over five seasons, scoring three goals and totaling 13 points.
Most of his early career has been spent shuttling between the NHL and AHL.
Now with the New York Islanders, Kessel is on a standard one-way contract, which means that if the Islanders want to send him to the AHL, he’ll have to clear waivers. As with the Blues this past year, Kessel will likely be used as a seventh defenseman, entering the lineup when someone is injured.
Once a highly coveted prospect, Akil Thomas just hasn’t been able to take that next step and lock down a role in the NHL. In fact, he hasn’t played an NHL game since 2024-25.
Acquired in a mid-season trade, Thomas joined the Thunderbirds for 20 regular-season games, scoring five goals and nine points. In the post-season, he potted three goals and six points in 12 games.
Thomas now joins the Vancouver Canucks on a two-way contract. With the Canucks in a rebuilding state, there could be an avenue for Thomas to earn a call-up and impress in the NHL.
Justin Holl, D, Washington Capitals
Holl was once a trusted defensive defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but his career has turned sideways very quickly, and he is now fighting tooth and nail to keep a spot in the NHL.
Holl played just nine games with the Blues and joins a Washington Capitals team where he will likely serve as a seventh defenseman until Rasmus Sandin returns from his long-term injury.
In the 2025-26 season, Holl played his first game in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins since the 2017-18 season.
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