The chance to acquire a 20-30-goal scorer for a depth defenseman is the kind of deal a good GM is going to make seven days a week.
And it's exactly the trade Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes made on Canada Day when he acquired winger and Trois-Rivieres native Zach Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Logan Mailloux.
It's not that it was a bad trade for St. Louis – Mailloux has all the markings of a solid NHL defenseman – as it was a great trade for the Canadiens, acquiring a potential top-six forward for a guy who didn't really fit into their long-term plans because of the logjam on the Habs' blueline. And, if anyone recalls the circumstances under which Mailloux was taken 31st in 2021, you'll also know this closes a rather sordid chapter for them.
It's another sign that the rebuilding phase is over in Montreal and that this team has – and should have – designs on making noise in the Eastern Conference. Now that they've made the playoffs and meekly bowed out in the first round, next on the docket is being competitive in Round 1 and possibly even winning it. Then you continue the process until you're a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, meaning you're a threat to advance to the conference final every year.
So far, the Canadiens have made moves that suggest they're on that path. Watch today's video column for more.
On Tuesday - Day One of unrestricted free agency - the Penguins re-signed forward Connor Dewar to a one-year deal, first reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
The contract carries an average annual value of $1.1 million.
Dewar, 26, was acquired by the Penguins at last season's trade deadline - along with defenseman Conor Timmins, who was traded to Buffalo Friday during the 2025 NHL Draft - from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fifth-round pick. Despite registering only three points on the season prior to joining Pittsburgh, Dewar put up four goals and seven points in 17 games with the Penguins.
He figures to be part of Pittsburgh's bottom-six next season, as he proved effective in that role and on the penalty kill. Dewar is just two years off of putting together a 10-goal, 14-point campaign with the Minnesota Wild.
2024-25 AHL league leading goal scorer Matej Blumel has signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Boston Bruins, per TSN's Darren Dreger. The contract is worth $875,000.
Blumel captured the Willie Marshall Award as the league's goal leader after recording 39 goals and 72 points in 67 games with the Texas Stars.
The 25-year-old has 70 goals over the last two seasons, he was an AHL All-Star in 2024 and was named to the AHL First All-Star Team in 2025.
The Tabor, Cze., native has two goals in 13 career NHL games, all with the Dallas Stars. He has 89 goals and 178 points in 197 career regular season AHL games and 26 points in 27 career AHL playoff games.
The New York Islanders made three official signings on the first day of NHL free agency.
Defenseman Tony DeAngelo re-signed on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million annually after proving to be a strong player in Patrick Roy's system.
Mathieu Darche:"We wanted to get Tony DeAngelo done. Tony, you saw it last year, he played really well when he came here. He can run a power play, so we're excited to bring him back at a number that makes sense for us and the term that makes sense for us."
Goaltender David Rittich isn't coming in to serve as the backup to Ilya Sorokin -- that job still belongs to Semyon Varlamov -- but he provides a nice insurance policy at $1 million for one year.
Mathieu Darche:"We just wanted to get more depth at goalie [...] You saw last year, the goalies this team used. So you never have enough goalies. [Varlamov's] rehab is going well, but we still have to prepare in case something happens, right? So David is a veteran around the NHL. He is a is a very capable NHL goalie, so we're excited to have him and increase our depth in net."
The last official signing of the day was forward Jonathan Drouin, who will be playing a top-six role for the Islanders and helping out tremendously on the power play. He comes in on a two-year deal at $4 million annually.
Mathieu Darche: "We wanted to bring in a bit of talent up front, especially to help the power play. And that's what Jonathan Drouin is going to do. Like he's an elite power-play player. He can bring some offense. He'll play in our top six. And he's a veteran guy too, without committing to too much term. It's a two-year contract for Drouin. So he fits a need we had, and obviously, we want to improve the power play from last year. He's definitely a very good power-play player, and our new coach, Ray Bennett, had him in Colorado last year, so he actually knows his strength, also how to use him on the power play."
Darche also shared that he's confident he wil get his restricted free agents done, with one signing very close.
Defenseman Mike Reilly and forward Hudson Fasching, his remaing two unrestricted free agents, will not be back.
Darche also added that his goal was to bolster his depth without locking players to long-term deals. He'll also be signing some two-way deals -- that's Ethan Bear and Matthew Highmore.
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The Bruins were one of the league’s worst offensive teams last season. They ranked 21st in goals scored, 29th in power-play percentage, 31st in high-danger chances and 29th in shots on net at even strength. They had the fourth-worst power play. Only two players who finished the season on the roster — David Pastrnak and Geekie — scored more than 17 goals.
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And yet, despite a severe lack of scoring depth and high-end talent, the Bruins decided to acquire several bottom-six forwards Tuesday with little offensive upside. Depth is nice to have, but the Bruins need true difference-makers to get back to the playoffs. And even if the free agent class lacked difference-makers, that doesn’t mean you have to spend money on mediocre (or worse) players.
“At times last year, even when we had our (full) group, we were an easy out. I just can’t stand for that. So we are going to re-establish that,” Sweeney told reporters Tuesday at a press conference.
The Bruins don’t need a lot more toughness. They went into last season as the second-tallest and heaviest team in the league. It didn’t go well. They even ranked third in both fighting majors and hits last season.
Being hard to play against is great. The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are very difficult to play against. But the Panthers also can score a ton of goals — 4.09 goals per game in the 2025 playoffs, for example.
The Bruins’ problem last season — as noted in the table above — was that they couldn’t put the puck in the back of the net on a consistent basis.
Boston’s first move Tuesday was trading for Edmonton Oilers left wing Viktor Arvidsson. The 32-year-old veteran is coming off a down season with the Oilers in which he scored 15 goals in 67 games. But he does have five 20-goal seasons in his career, and his contract has only one more year remaining with a $4 million cap hit.
Arvidsson potentially could be a second-line player, but he’s really a third-liner. Overall, though, it’s not a horrible addition, and the cost to get him — a 2027 fifth-round draft pick — was minimal.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the rest of the day got progressively worse.
Jeannot scored 24 goals with the Predators in 2021-22. It’s the only time he has ever scored 10-plus goals in a season. He has scored only 20 goals over the last three seasons combined. His scoring total last season with the Kings was just 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 67 games. Jeannot doesn’t score many goals and he doesn’t create scoring chances for teammates.
Tanner Jeannot, signed 5x$3.4M by BOS, is a physical low-event depth winger who does practically nothing with the puck and punishes opposing players who try to do things with it. #NHLBruinspic.twitter.com/YWKsvs03Zs
Jeannot is a physical forward. He has the sixth-most hits of any player over the last four years. He fights, too. But giving a bottom-six player with limited offensive potential a five-year deal and a $3.4 million cap hit is just baffling. And he’s not likely to contribute to the power play or penalty kill, either.
If the Bruins valued tough, physical players in their bottom-six, why not just keep Trent Frederic or Justin Brazeau? Boston dealt both of them before the trade deadline in March. Brazeau signed a cheap two-year, $3 million deal with the Penguins on Tuesday.
The Bruins also added bottom-six forwards Sean Kuraly, Michael Eyssimont and Matej Blumel on Tuesday. Blumel scored 39 goals in 67 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars last season. He’s well worth a gamble on a one-year, $875,000 deal. Eyssimont is a pain to play against and shoots the puck a ton. Kuraly was a fan favorite in Boston before departing as a free agent in 2021.
These are solid depth players, but none of them should be expected to make much of an impact offensively.
They also aren’t likely to be major upgrades over the young players and prospects already in the Bruins organization. The real problem with signing a bunch of veteran bottom-six forwards is that they can block the development path of younger, more talented players. How many minutes is Matt Poitras going to get now? What about Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov? How does Fraser Minten fit into the team’s plans?
The Bruins have Marat Khusnutdinov, John Beecher, Mark Kastelic, Arvidsson, Poitras, Minten, Jeannot, Kuraly, Eyssimont, Blumel, Merkulov and Lysell vying for six spots between the third and fourth lines. Even if someone like Arvidsson plays in the top-six, that’s still way too many bottom-six players. Are the Bruins going to waive someone? Will we see a trade or two?
For many years, the Bruins have prioritized veteran, low-scoring, physical bottom-six forwards over giving younger players enough minutes to prove themselves. And based on Tuesday’s moves, it looks like we’ll see more of the same next season.
Acquiring elite offensive talent needed to be the Bruins’ top objective this offseason. You can’t win in the playoffs with only one high-end forward. Outside of Pastrnak, none of Boston’s forwards are going to strike fear into opposing defensemen. If you look at the four teams that reached the conference finals — Oilers, Panthers, Stars, Hurricanes — all of them had at least two elite offensive players. The Oilers, Panthers and Stars have three or four apiece.
Most of the players the Bruins signed Tuesday aren’t afraid to shoot the puck. And for a team that ranked in the bottom third of several shot metrics last season, it made sense to find players who will increase the team’s volume of shots.
That said, you also need players who can finish, and the Bruins have very few of those guys.
We’re still in the early stages of the offseason. Sweeney could make a few trades in the coming weeks and months to add a bonafide top-six forward.
But right now, it’s hard to figure out the Bruins’ plan up front. If no significant additions are made before Opening Night in October, the Bruins had better hope starting goalie Jeremy Swayman has a bounce-back season. Boston is not currently built to win high-scoring games.
“I do believe when you put the full group together, what they’re capable of doing, we’ll score enough if we play the right way, and we’ll defend a hell of a lot better, and I expect our goaltending to be significantly better,” Sweeney said.
Standout Philadelphia Flyers winger Tyson Foerster could miss the start of the new season with an offseason bicep injury, and that's ok.
Recent reports have indicated that Foerster, 23, suffered a potential long-term bicep injury while training last month, and even so, they're built to survive any potential extended absence from one of the cornerstones of the rebuild.
Update: Flyers GM Danny Briere has clarified that Foerster suffered an injury while playing at the summer World Championships, came down with an infection, and needed to have the infection surgically removed. No recovery timeline has been established at this time.
As has been discussed ad nauseam, the Flyers have an overabundance of right wings, which had pigeonholed Foerster into a left-wing role anyway.
The former first-round pick's growing presence on the Flyers' special teams and defensive impact will be sorely missed for however long he's out, but the injury, at worst, just creates more opportunities for other players.
For example, Owen Tippett ended the season on the Flyers' third line, and prospect Devin Kaplan made his NHL debut in Game 82. Bobby Brink, of course, played alongside Foerster for a prolonged period last season.
Right wing prospect Samu Tuomaala made a solid case for making the roster last training camp, only to suffer an injury towards the end, have an underwhelming season, and ultimately suffer a season-ending injury for the second year in a row.
Other prospects who could reasonably push for an NHL role to fill in the void of Foerster include NCAA champ Alex Bump, who the Flyers love, and the affable-but-menacing Nikita Grebenkin.
And, to his benefit, Grebenkin already has a handful of games of NHL experience, which endeared him to former Flyers coach Craig Berube during his short time with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.
There's also the unlikely but perfectly plausible scenario where top prospect Porter Martone wows Rick Tocchet in training camp and makes the Flyers outright.
Martone will turn 19 shortly after opening night, and you'll remember that the Flyers, albeit with a completely different coaching staff, gave Jett Luchanko a four-game tryout at the start of this past season. It's not out of the question for Martone, especially given his size and skillset that the Flyers don't have much of.
That all said, it's not like the Flyers are hurting for wingers or pieces to fill in the gaps without Foerster.
In the worst case, Foerster tore his bicep, and the recovery for this typically ranges between three and six months depending on severity and rehab. Assuming this injury happened a few weeks ago, an early outcome would see Foerster return towards the end of the NHL preseason.
A six-month recovery timeline takes Foerster and the Flyers into December, which could make for a 30-game absence, give or take. So, a little more than a quarter of the season, in other words.
The Flyers are in a rebuild, after all, and the "next man up" mentality will help carry them through Foerster's injury.
After trading Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues for Zack
Bolduc, Montreal Canadiens’ GM Kent Hughes wasn’t ready to call it a day and
went right back to work to add some free agents to the organization.
He signed forward Samuel Blais and goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen
to one-year, one-way deals. Both spent the last season in the AHL and made it
to the Calder Cup final. Blais won it with the Abbotsford Canucks while Kahkonen
beat the Laval Rocket in the Conference Final with the Carlotte Checkers but
lost in the final to Blais’ team.
In 51 regular-season games in the AHL, Blais put up 40 points
and picked up 44 penalty minutes. In the playoffs, he played a significant role
in the Canucks’ championship, scoring 19 points in 23 games and accumulating 77
penalty minutes. Blais has played 257 games in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues
and the New York Rangers, winning the Stanley Cup with the Blues in the 2018-19
season.
He was drafted in the sixth round by the Blues at the 2014
draft but was traded to New York along with a second-round pick for Pavel
Buchnevich after four seasons with the Missouri outfit. After parts of two
seasons, the Blues reacquired him with Hunter Skinner in return for Vladimir Tarasenko
and Niko Mikkola. Last offseason, he signed a professional tryout contract with
the Vancouver Canucks and eventually landed in Abbottsford.
As for Kahkonen, he bounced around the AHL in the regular
season, seeing action with the Colorado Eagles and the Manitoba Moose before
landing in Charlotte. He kept an 8-4-0 record with his new team in the regular
season with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. In the
playoffs, he was 12-6-0 with a 2.18 GAA and a .906 SV.
Both players fully intend to win a roster spot with the
Canadiens this upcoming season rather than spending the year with the Rocket,
so the table is set for some internal competition come training camp.
Hughes also signed a pair of one-year, two-way contracts
with Alex Belzile and Nate Clurman. For Belzile, it’s a homecoming of sorts
since he spent five seasons in the Canadiens organization from the 2018-19
campaign to the 2022-23 season. That offseason, he was able to sign a one-way
contract with the Rangers and left, but he ultimately spent the next two
seasons in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He played 127 games with the
Wolf Pack and gathered 106 points.
He will bring some much-needed veteran leadership to the Rocket,
who saw 27-year-old veteran Brandon Gignac head to Europe to play in the Swiss
league. As for Nate Clurman, he is a 27-year-old right-shot defenseman who will
fill the void left by Gustav Lindstrom, who departed the organization to sign a
five-year deal in the Swedish league.
Clurman was drafted in the sixth round by the Colorado
Avalanche at the 2016 draft and has only played one NHL game since then, this
season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He spent the season in the AHL with the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where he picked up 11 points in 31 games.
Those who expected the Canadiens to go out and make a splash
on the free agency market to find a second-line center will be disappointed.
Still, as Kent Hughes said, speaking to the media, that need was never going to
be addressed through free-agent signings. These might not have been spectacular
signings, but they were necessary signings for the Canadiens.
Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
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Nate Schmidt's time with the Florida Panthers has officially come to an end. The veteran defenseman has signed a three-year contract with the Utah Mammoth. Starting next season, he will have a $3.5 million average annual value.
Schmidt undoubtedly earned this nice deal from Utah. The 33-year-old defenseman completely bounced back with the Panthers after being bought out by the Winnipeg Jets during the off-season before. In 80 games this regular-season with Florida, he had five goals, 19 points, and a plus-4 rating. He also recorded three goals, 12 points, and a plus-9 rating in 23 playoff games for Florida.
With Utah looking to take that next step and get into the playoffs, it makes a lot of sense that they are bringing Schmidt in. He will give them another veteran to help mentor their young players, and it also does not hurt that he has plenty of playoff experience. Thus, he has the potential to be a good addition to Utah's roster.
In 741 career NHL games, Schmidt has recorded 52 goals, 187 assists, 239 points, and a plus-106 rating.
The Chicago Blackhawks are through two days of 2025 Development Camp. After their off-ice event was complete on Tuesday, members of the 2024 NHL Draft class spoke to the media.
That includes Jack Pridham, who was selected by Chicago in the third round (92nd overall). He spoke about a variety of topics, including his rumored plans for the 2025-26 NHL season.
Ryan Sikes of Puck Preps reported on Monday night that Pridham would no longer be going to college and that staying in the OHL would be his course of action.
Pridham confirmed this report. He is no longer going to attend Boston University. Instead, he will sign with the Chicago Blackhawks and go back to the Kitchener Rangers if he doesn't make it to the NHL right out of camp.
In 2024-25, Pridham had a strong rookie year in the OHL. In 48 games played, he scored 27 goals and had 27 assists for 54 points. He wants to go back to where he had success to develop his game further. Kitchener is a high-end program that has developed a lot of prospects throughout the years.
"I love the staff there. I love the players. We get treated phenomenally, and I think it's just a great spot for me," Knies told TSN's James Duthie on Tuesday. "I think we really have a winning culture and I think I really trust (Brad) Treliving and (Craig) Berube and the rest of the staff to create a great team and give us the best chance to win."
Year over year, Knies has grown into the powerhouse of a player that many predicted him to be. He first inserted himself into the conversation in 2023, helping the Maple Leafs get past the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs.
Following that year, the forward scored 15 goals and 20 assists in his rookie season. In the playoffs last year, Knies added two goals and one assist in seven games against the Boston Bruins.
This past season, though, is where Knies took the biggest step. He finished the regular season with a career-high 29 goals and 29 assists in 78 games, plus five goals and two assists in 13 playoff games against the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers.
"I just wanted to be here as long as possible, really," Knies said on Tuesday when asked if he preferred a long or short-term deal.
"I wanted longer term, and I think this deal just kind of fit best for me with my trajectory as a player, I think that this was kind of the sweet spot for both of us. I was just excited to get it done and get it done before free agency, and try to help them out as much as possible.
"I don't think the bridge deal was really in my head. I think I really wanted to go long term, and the six years felt the best."
Knies was on his way back from a Morgan Wallen concert in Madison, Wisconsin, when he found out he'd be with the Maple Leafs for six more years.
"I called my parents, and I'm going to see him here shortly. I think that they were really excited," he smiled. All my buddies were excited too, so it was a fun time for sure. I think going into holiday weekend, we can choose to celebrate a little bit more. But yeah, I'm excited that it all got all done and you know that both sides are happy."
Any big purchases after the massive extension?
"Honestly, I haven't thought about it too much. It's only been a few days, but hopefully, I think Morgan Rielly said he'll text me a few ideas and hopefully he'll bounce it back and forth and we'll see," Knies said.
"I think just enjoying my summer, and I think I have one weekend to celebrate it here on the Fourth of July and then it kind of gets back to the summer grind and getting ready for the season."
The young forward said he wants to work on all facets of his game, most importantly his skating.
"I think that there's still a lot of room in the skating aspect. I think I can become a much better skater, a faster skater," he added.
"I don't necessarily think I have to get any heavier than I am right now. I think staying where I am and just turning a little bit of that weight more into muscle and becoming quicker and faster on the ice, I think is going to be is going to be huge for me. So I think that's the main focus."
Knies was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft, and now he'll be with Toronto for eight more years until 2031.
"I think that everyone's so invested. The whole city's constantly wanting the best for us, wanting us to win," he said about his love for playing in Toronto.
"I think that's what every guy on our team wants to do, is just to deliver that to them. And yeah, it's a special place to play. I don't think anyone feels that it's too much or it's not the right spot. I think everyone loves it and enjoys it. Yeah, so I'm pretty fortunate to be playing for them."
(Top photo of Knies: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)
On Tuesday, the New York Islanders announced that they signed winger Johnathan Drouin to a two-year, $4M AAV contract.
Drouin, 30, tallied 11 goals with 26 assists for 37 points in 43 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season.
Drouin dealt with multiple injuries last year, which limited him to half a season. The left winger remade himself into a top-six piece with Colorado over the last two years after inconsistency with the Montreal Canadiens.
Drouin fills a hole within the Islanders’ left wing corps, as the team lacked consistent production from Anthony Duclair and Maxim Tsyplakov in the middle six. General manager Mathieu Darche targeted the positional need after signing depth options in goaltender David Rittich and defenseman Ethan Bear.
The move leaves the Islanders with around $7M in cap space, which will likely be used to sign restricted free agents Simon Holmstrom, Emil Heineman, Marc Gatcomb, and Tsyplakov. Barring other moves, the Islanders’ free agency additions look to be done.
The Winnipeg Jets have signed forwards Cole Koepke and Tanner Pearson to one-year, $1-million contracts.
Koepke spent the 2024-25 season with the Boston Bruins, scoring 10 goals and 17 points in 73 games. The 27-year-old has played just 99 career NHL games but will serve as a safe depth forward for the Jets.
Unlike Koepke, Pearson comes with a bundle of experience. The 32-year-old has played in 722 games, winning a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings. In the 2024-25 season, Pearson scored 12 goals and 27 points in 78 games playing on the Vegas Golden Knights' fourth line.
The signings of Pearson and Koepke are safe moves that will help them combat the loss of Brandon Tanev, Rasmus Kupari and likely Mason Appleton. The low cap hits also benefit the Jets, leaving them ample space to re-sign their restricted free agents and possibly chase unrestricted free agents.
The Jets now have just over $21-million to fill out their forward group and improve on their record-setting season, which resulted in a second-round loss in the playoffs.
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This past season, Perbix scored 19 points in 74 games and logged 20 penalty minutes. He has primarily played on the second and third pairings during his three seasons in Tampa.
Perbix will also join former Lightning teammate Steven Stamkos in Nashville.
Perbix was drafted 169th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Lightning. The past two seasons he played the entirety in Tampa.
Taking on Perbix, the Predators now have about $9.3 million in the salary cap to work with.
On Sunday, Nashville traded defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and center Colton Sissons to the Vegas Golden Knights and a conditional third-round pick in the 2027 draft. The Predators also maintain 50% of Sissons' salary.
Hauge signed a four-year, $22 million contract, with a annual hit of $5.5 million.
