Category: Sports News

Not every trade or roster move needs to be a franchise-altering move to also be considered a smart move.

Tuesday’s Kaedan Korczak for Parker Wotherspoon trade is a good example of that for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It is not something you are likely to look back on and say, “that is a major turning point for the franchise.” But it is something that makes a great deal of sense, and I’m a little surprised at the mass confusion (and even some criticism) that it has received.

Wotherspoon ended up being an excellent signing for the Penguins, and one that worked out significantly better than anybody could have hoped for a year ago when it was completed. Wotherspoon shockingly filled out the left-side role on the top-pairing next to Erik Karlsson, was a strong complement to him, and had by far the best season of his career.

And now the Penguins trade him?

Well.

Yeah.

And I completely get it.

For as strong as Wotherspoon played and worked out during the 2025-26 season in his role, there are a few important factors to keep in mind.

• He is entering the final year of his contract and, given the ballooning rate of mid-level and lower-level NHL player contracts under the rising salary cap, his number was about to rise. Dramatically.
• Would that have been a smart investment for the Penguins? He is going to be 30 years old when that next contract kicks in, and has really only excelled at the NHL level while playing alongside a future Hall of Famer in Karlsson for one season. If you want the Penguins to get younger, giving a 30-year-old defenseman that has a limited track record of NHL success a big-money deal is not going to accomplish that.
• Prior to joining the Penguins he had 16 points in 108 games and was mostly an organizational depth defenseman. His numbers and contributions away from Karlsson, even this past season, kind of matched that level of play.
• What Wotherspoon did have going for him initially was that despite the lack of production and games played, he had mostly posted strong underlying numbers in smaller roles that he typically won.

The latter point is key for Korczak, because he is basically in the same situation coming from Vegas. He is a younger version of what Wotherspoon initially was for the Penguins.

From an underlying numbers perspective, Korczak has been wildly effective in his smaller, depth roles.

• Over the past three seasons the Golden Knights outscored teams by a 102-68 margin when Korczak was on the ice during 5-on-5 play. That was the best 5-on-5 goal-differential among Vegas defensemen, and fourth-best among 295 defensemen that logged at least 500 minutes.

• His 54.51 expected goal share was fourth-best among Vegas defenders over that time and 19th among the aforementioned 295 defenders across the league.
• His 2.12 expected goals against (and 1.88 actual goals against) per 60 minutes were tops on Vegas. That expected goals against number was third-best in the NHL while the 1.88 actual goals against were ninth-best.

This isn’t to say that Korczak is one of the best defensemen in the league, or that he was even Vegas’ best defenseman. That’s not the point here. The point is he was given a specific role, even in sheltered minutes, and performed exceptionally well in that role. He’s probably earned a bigger opportunity and a bigger role to see what he does with it. Maybe he gets better and handles it well. Maybe he doesn’t and he remains as a highly effective depth defenseman. Either way, it’s a younger player onto the roster.

He is also four years younger than Wotherspoon and already signed long-term with some cost-certainty on what should be a favorable contract with a $3.25 million salary cap number. When you see what bottom-pairing defensemen are going to start going for, it’s going to look even better. Especially as the salary cap skyrockets in the coming seasons. A $3.25 million cap hit on a $104 million cap is the equivalent of a $2.95 million cap hit under the 2025-26 cap of $95.5 million. When the cap rises up to $113 million in 2027-28 it will be the equivalent of a $2.6 million cap number.

The Penguins needed to find a defense version of Egor Chinakhov. They needed to find some younger legs, especially on their back-end where most of their 2025-26 roster was either on the wrong side of 30, or rapidly approach it. This is a nice swing at that. And even if Korczak doesn’t blossom the same way here, it’s still a nice brick to have at the bottom of your lineup that you know can fill a specific role.

Kyle Dubas made mention after the draft of this potentially being a more methodical brick-by-brick process.

This is a brick.

It’s a smart brick with a little bit of upside at a fair cost.

I’m also not overly concerned about the left spot on the top-pairing on July 1, because a year ago at this time we also had no idea who the left spot on the top-pairing would be. If you had proposed it being Wotherspoon, even after he was signed, you probably would have been laughed at. There is a lot of time to fill that spot, and as long as Karlsson is on the roster I am confident the Hall of Famer will make it work. Just as he did with Wotherspoon.

First of all, happy Canada Day to our friends north of the border!

The trade and free agent rumors are hot and continue to be flying. Late last night it was revealed that Zach Werenski vetoed a trade to Dallas. Supposedly the Hurricanes are still trying to sign John Carlson.

Also, Alexander Nikishin’s name has been in everyone’s mouths.

Free agency officially starts at noon today.

The nice thing about all of this is that the Canes are not desperate and they don’t have to do anything if they choose not to. Worst case scenario might be to just keep the rights to Nikishin and let him think about taking a lesser salary than he wanted, or go back to Russia.

Although, I still would not be surprised to see Carolina do something big no one has talked about.

If you have thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments of our “open thread”

Have a great day!

NHL free agency opened at noon ET on Wednesday, July 1, and a lot more could go on than just unrestricted free agents changing teams.

The unrestricted free agent pool includes two-time Stanley Cup winner Sergei Bobrovsky and defensemen John Carlson and Rasmus Andersson.

Players whose contracts run out in 2027 are free to sign extensions. Key players in that group are reigning MVP Nikita Kucherov, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes and San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini.

Big-name restricted free agents such as Jason Robertson, Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier also need new contracts for next season.

Trades might be the best way for a team to improve, with Dylan Larkin, Zach Werenski, Connor Hellebuyck, Darnell Nurse and others reportedly in play.

Follow along for live updates and breaking news as NHL free agency opens:

More: Who are the top NHL unrestricted free agents as free agency opens July 1?

Flyers add former Penguins forward to their bottom-six picture originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers got an up-close look at Noel Acciari in the first round of the playoffs.

Now they have him on their roster.

The club agreed to terms with the bottom-six forward on a two-year, $5.6 million contract. The deal has an average annual value of $2.8 million.

Acciari had 13 goals, 12 assists and a plus-14 rating last season with the Penguins. The 34-year-old will replace some of the tough-to-play-against qualities that the Flyers lost in the Garnet Hathaway trade.

As a guy who can play center or winger, Acciari will provide head coach Rick Tocchet with different options. He won 61 percent of his faceoffs against the Flyers in the playoffs. He had an assist and a minus-1 mark during the series, which the Flyers won in six games.

Acciari and his new teammates will probably have a good laugh about a feisty ending to a game last October between the Flyers and Penguins.

(More coming…)

Flyers reportedly add former Penguins forward to their bottom-six picture originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers got an up-close look at Noel Acciari in the first round of the playoffs.

Now they have him on their roster.

The club is signing the bottom-six forward to a two-year, $5.6 million contract, according to a report Wednesday by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal has an average annual value of $2.8 million.

Acciari had 13 goals, 12 assists and a plus-14 rating last season with the Penguins. The 34-year-old will replace some of the tough-to-play-against qualities that the Flyers lost in the Garnet Hathaway trade.

As a guy who can play center or winger, Acciari will provide head coach Rick Tocchet with different options. He won 61 percent of his faceoffs against the Flyers in the playoffs. He had an assist and a minus-1 mark during the series, which the Flyers won in six games.

Acciari and his new teammates will probably have a good laugh about a feisty ending to a game last October between the Flyers and Penguins.

(More coming…)

Happy free agency to all who celebrate! NHL Free Agency 2026 opens at 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 1 — and what’s really marked this year’s group is far less about the players available to be signed as unrestricted free agents, and more related to the anarchy that could ensue with established talent.

If you’ve been following along, we already know that this 2026 class of UFAs is fairly weak. Teams worked to get ahead of the best players leaving, either locking them up to long-term deals or trading them around the draft to teams that subsequently got contracts done themselves. This also means that players who didn’t get dealt already are now causing major waves, operating as the dominoes people are waiting to fall before other signings take place. The players we’re really waiting on right now are:

• Jason Robertson, LW — Dallas Stars: Robertson is an RFA, but has already informed multiple teams that he won’t sign contracts with them, killing multiple trades. Where Robertson ends up will start the dominoes at forward
• Zach Werenski, D — Columbus Blue Jackets: Werenski is one of the best defensemen in the NHL, and wants to be on a contender. Stunningly he killed a potential trade to the Dallas Stars, so now teams are waiting to see whether or not CBJ can get a deal done.
• John Carlson, D — Carolina Hurricanes: One of the top free agents this year, Carlson was dealt to the Hurricanes during the late rounds of the NHL Draft solely to give the Canes three extra days to negotiate with him ahead of free agency. The league waits to see whether or not this move was successful, and it will have a huge impact on the rest of the class if Carlson doesn’t end up hitting the market at noon.

We’ll be following along with all the signings as they happen, and giving a full list of the moves.

Ah, that new league year smell.

Join us and follow along as we celebrate the official start of the 2026-27 NHL season and witness hundreds of millions of dollars spent on free agents hitting the open market. The festivities begin officially at 10 a.m. MT.

Who will the Avalanche sign to round put their roster? How many AHL level deals to help the Colorado Eagles are on tap? And as always, plenty of intrigue on who will get the largest contract in the NHL on the open market? Some big extensions are eligible starting today as well, will any get filed and announced quickly?

Is the flurry of trades largely concluded for the Avalanche and NHL as a whole or will there be more shocking moves on the horizon? Join us in the comments as it all unfolds.

Who do you want the Avalanche to sign? Other than Cale Makar, of course.

The Philadelphia Flyers are unlikely to make a big splash in NHL free agency this year, though it would be unwise to put it past them to chase a feel-good story while addressing a position of need at the same time.

In this year's free agent class, the center position is probably the weakest, unless you're looking for bottom-six depth.

The Flyers, who traded away Garnet Hathaway and Nick Deslauriers, and will probably let Rodrigo Abols walk, need to get some fourth-line grit back, as well as someone who can play center when they need it.

One player who already knows the organization and locker room intimately is Scott Laughton.

According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Laughton, 32, is part of a small crop of veteran centers drawing interest from teams, including the Flyers.

"Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver. These teams were all around Noel Acciari, Erik Haula, Boone Jenner, Scott Laughton, Colton Sissons (Nashville reunion?), Kevin Stenlund. I believe Utah still lusts after Vincent Trocheck, who prefers the east. Kings tried to get Haula before Laughton, but he was hurt at the time. They like him," Friedman reported for Sportsnet.

If the Kings really do like Erik Haula more than Laughton, it's more likely than not they simply bring in Haula and let Laughton go.

Flyers Having 'Challenge' Pulling Off Darnell Nurse TradeThe Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers are having tough negotiations trying to make a Darnell Nurse trade work.

That opens the door for Laughton to return to Philadelphia, with the Flyers in perpetual search of center depth.

The Flyers initially parted ways with Laughton in the 2025 trade that yielded the Toronto Maple Leafs' 2027 first-round pick, as well as prospect Nikita Grebenkin, who has already made a name for himself in the Flyers organization.

After just 10 goals, six assists, and 16 points in 63 games across two seasons with the Maple Leafs, Laughton was dealt to the Kings for a measly 2026 third-round pick as Toronto's playoff aspirations were more than dashed.

The longtime Flyers forward, now a veteran of 745 NHL regular season games, had his homecoming with the Maple Leafs, and it didn't work.

Laughton never necessarily wanted to leave the Flyers anyway, and he could find himself back in Philadelphia at the perfect time, now that the team just made the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

To that end, it wouldn't be like Laughton is sacrificing the playoffs to return to the Flyers; he can chase both now.

Whether or not he and the Flyers can make a reunion happen remains to be seen, but there appears to be at least tentative interest from the team's side of things.