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On Tuesday, the New York Islanders announced that they signed goaltender David Rittich and right-shot defenseman Ethan Bear to one-year deals.

The AAV on Rittich's deal is $1 million annually, per PuckPedia with Bear signing a two-way deal with an NHL AAV of $775,000, with a minor salary of $325,000. 

Rittich, 32, posted a 2.84 GAA and a .887 SV% in 34 games with the Los Angeles Kings last season. The Czech goaltender earned a record of 16-14-2 as backup to Darcy Kuemper.

The signing comes in the wake of Semyon Varlamov’s rehab, which has seen no setbacks since undergoing lower-body surgery.

Rittich will likely fight with goalie Marcus Hogberg, who struggled with consistency towards the end of last season. 

Rittich projects as a strong third string or decent backup option, seeing as the goaltender has experience with 230 NHL games over 10 seasons.

In 2024-25, Bear logged 10 goals with 36 assists for 46 points in 62 games with the Hershey Bears of the AHL.

The 28-year-old defenseman most recently played in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, scoring one goal with three assists for four points in 24 games in 2023-24.

Bear suffered a significant shoulder injury in 2023 and entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program a year later, cutting his 2023-24 season short. Washington then sent Bear down and did not give the defenseman a qualifying offer.

As a right-shot defenseman, Bear will serve as solid depth for the Islanders after losing Noah Dobson.

PHOTO:  Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Kai Russell contributed to this story. 

The Philadelphia Flyers are on a crusade to start NHL free agency, quickly signing multiple players, including Christian Dvorak, to address some big team needs.

The biggest - literally - and perhaps the most important piece of business from the Flyers Tuesday was signing 6-foot-5 goalie Dan Vladar, who is now the only non-prospect to be contracted beyond the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Vladar, 27, should provide some semblance of stability to a position that has had none for the Flyers in recent years, even if he's not quite good enough to elevate the Flyers as a whole.

On the more surprising side, the Flyers also went out and added versatile forward Christian Dvorak on a one-year deal worth $5.4 million.

This was, for all intents and purposes, and overpayment, even in this free agent market, but this was probably the cost the Flyers needed to pay to pry Dvorak away from Stanley Cup contenders.

The 29-year-old played for new Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet during their time together with the Arizona Coyotes and has six 30-point seasons to his name at the NHL level. Oh, and he's won more than 55% of his faceoffs in each of the last two seasons.

The Flyers needed a reliable replacement for the departed Scott Laughton and Ryan Poehling while they wait for Jett Luchanko and Jack Nesbitt to develop, and signing Dvorak buys them another year for that.

Additionally, with the salary retained in the Andrei Kuzmenko trade now off the books, the Flyers have one more salary retention available to use this season.

Ex-Flyers Defenseman Ivan Provorov Signs Absurd Contract Ahead of NHL Free AgencyThe Philadelphia Flyers have won the Ivan Provorov trade in more ways than one.

Assuming Dvorak has a good season in Philadelphia, the Flyers can retain half his salary and move him at the NHL trade deadline. Then, if Luchanko's season ends early, he can then replace Dvorak and join the Flyers at the end of the season.

Two moves that made less sense were the additions of journeymen defensemen Noah Juulsen (RHD) and Dennis Gilbert (LHD).

These players could very well be brought in simply to breed competition for NHL roster spots, but fans won't be happy about the possibility two ineffective veterans with limited skillsets block prospects like Emil Andrae and Helge Grans from playing time.

Including Cam York and excluding Grans, the Flyers now have nine defensemen on their NHL roster, so something is going to have to give a few months from now.

It's worth noting that Juulsen was a favorite of Tocchet's on the Vancouver Canucks and is highly regarded for his shot blocking and penalty kill work, but he also didn't record a point in 35 games last season and is coming off a season-ending injury.

If the Flyers really wanted veterans to push for ice time, why not try Adam Ginning, a 25-year-old prospect on an expiring contract running out of time to crack the NHL? Hunter McDonald, Grans, and Louie Belpedio are there, too.

The Flyers also added a depth forward in Lane Pedersen, who briefly played for Tocchet in the past, as well.

With Tuesday's proceedings seemingly coming to a halt with a decision from Maxim Shabanov looming, the Flyers have $5.49 million in cap space with, hopefully, enough room to re-sign York and add Shabanov.

The Seattle Kraken have signed defenseman Ryan Lindgren to a four-year, $4.5 million AAV contract. 

The 27-year-old is a defensive defenseman who's played 405 games in the NHL, scoring 14 goals and 188 points with the New York Rangers and the Colorado Avalanche. Lindgren was traded from the Rangers to the Avalanche at the trade deadline as a pending unrestricted free agent.

Prior to the trade to the Avalanche, Lindgren was paired with Adam Fox, providing him stability and allowing him to be one of the best defensemen in the NHL.

“Ryan’s a heart-and-soul player who competes every shift,” said general manager Jason Botterill. “He does whatever it takes to win and has been a key fixture on the penalty kill throughout his career. We’re excited to welcome him to the team.”

Lindgren, a left-handed joins a Kraken defence core that consists of Vince Dunn, Ryker Evans, Jamie Oleksiak and Josh Mahura as left-handed defenders. Brandon Montour and Adam Larsson remain the right-handed defensemen. With the addition of Lindgren, the Kraken will likely explore a trade for Oleskiak to free up space on what's becoming a crowded blue line.

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MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Blues dipped into the center pool on the first day of free agency by inking veteran Nick Bjugstad to a two-year contract for $3.5 million ($1.75 million average annual value).

The 32-year-old played in 66 regular-season games with the Utah Mammoth last season and had 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists).

Bjugstad is a big body (6-foot-5,, 205-pounds) and had 330 points (157 goals, 173 assists) in 760 NHL regular-season games that's including stints with the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers and Mammoth.

With Bjugstad's signing, it's a fair assumption that the Blues will not be bringing back Radek Faksa, who became an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday.

In addition to signing Bjugstad, the Blues made a very interesting trade in a swap of young players when they traded forward Zack Bolduc to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Logan Mailloux.

According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Pittsburgh Penguins are signing defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to a two-year, $2 million contract.

Wotherspoon spent this past season with the Boston Bruins. In 55 games with the Original Six club, the 6-foot-1 blueliner recorded one goal, seven points, 75 hits, and a minus-10 rating. This was after he had eight assists and a plus-6 rating in 41 games with Boston during the 2023-24 season.

2 x $1M https://t.co/bQU4UfwmrY

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 1, 2025

With the Penguins needing help on the left side of their blueline, it makes sense that they are taking a shot on Wotherspoon. When looking at their roster, he should compete for a spot on their bottom pairing. He also offers versatility, as he can play the right side if needed, too. 

Penguins Should Take Shot On Recently Bought Out ForwardEarlier this month, the Chicago Blackhawks traded forward Joe Veleno to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for Andre Burakovsky. However, Veleno's time with the Kraken quickly came to an end, as he was bought out by Seattle a few days after the trade. With this, he is now an unrestricted free agent (UFA).

Photo Credit: © Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers are reportedly working on trading K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes. 

This comes shortly after the Rangers signed Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million contract. 

The details of the trade have still not been revealed as of right now. 

Miller is a restricted free agent and this potential trade stems from the Rangers being unwilling to give the young defenseman a long-term contract extension. 

According to Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today, there may still be some ironing out to do regarding this deal.

Chris Johnston of TSN reports that the Hurricanes are working on a contract extension with Miller. 

This past season, the 25-year-old recorded seven goals, 20 assists, and 27 points in 74 games while averaging 21:57 minutes per game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly made their first free-agent signing.

According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Maple Leafs and forward Michael Pezzetta have agreed to a contract. TSN's Pierre LeBrun added to McKenzie's report, saying it's a two-year deal with an annual average value of $787,500.

The 27-year-old played just 25 games with the Montreal Canadiens last season, not registering a single point. In 61 games the year prior with Montreal, Pezzetta scored three goals and nine assists. He’s played 200 career NHL games over four seasons, tallying 15 goals, 23 assists, and 241 penalty minutes in that span.

Pezzetta, born in Toronto, Ontario, will likely join the Maple Leafs in a depth role, replacing Alex Steeves and Nick Abruzzese (both Group 6 UFAs), plus unrestricted free agent Alex Nylander, who signed a one-year, $775,000 deal with Toronto in mid-November.

'Leaving Isn't Easy': Mitch Marner Pens Goodbye Message To Maple Leafs Fans After Joining Golden KnightsMitch Marner has officially departed the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs have had a busy last 24 hours, moving a conditional third-round pick to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for Matias Maccelli. Toronto general manager Brad Treliving also locked up Matthew Knies and Steven Lorentz to long-term deals.

Knies' deal came in at six years with a $7.75 million AAV, and Lorentz's contract has a $1.35 million AAV. They also sent Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade and acquired Nicolas Roy, who has two more years at a $3 million AAV.

'I Would Love To Play My Whole Career Here': Inside Steven Lorentz's Three-Year Extension With The Maple LeafsToronto Maple Leafs forward Steven Lorentz is staying at home.

According to PuckPedia, the Maple Leafs have $5,008,081 in cap space after the two-year signing of Pezzetta.

More to come...

(Top photo of Pezzetta: David Kirouac / Imagn Images)