The Vegas Golden Knights have handed out contracts to restricted free agents Cole Schwindt, Raphael Lavoie and Jonas Rondbjerg.

The trio of forwards were all extended qualifying offers on Jun. 30 by the Golden Knights, and just a week later, they've agreed to one-year contracts. 

Schwindt completed his first season with the Golden Knights, playing 42 games before it was cut short due to an injury. The 24-year-old returned for one game before the conclusion of the season, but didn't play in any playoff games. In the regular season, Schwindt scored one goal and eight points. 

Although he had played just seven career NHL games before joining the Golden Knights, Schwindt quickly carved out a role on the fourth line and gained the trust of HC Bruce Cassidy. As it looks, Schwindt will likely serve as an extra forward to start the season, ready to step into the lineup if any Golden Knights forwards sustain injuries. 

Lavoie had an interesting pre-season, being placed and claimed off waivers by the Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers. When he finally settled in Vegas, Lavoie skated in nine NHL games, failing to record a point. With the Henderson Silver Knights, the 24-year-old scored 17 goals and 27 points in 42 games. 

Lavoie has a strong shot and a 6-foot-4 frame that allows him to once again move from the AHL to the NHL quite easily, utilizing his two-way contract. Lavoie will likely become a Group-6 UFA when the season ends. 

✍️ The Vegas Golden Knights have agreed to terms with Cole Schwindt, Jonas Rondbjerg and Raphael Lavoie on one-year contracts! #VegasBornhttps://t.co/BLm5AhLYB5

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) July 6, 2025

Rondbjerg, too, signed a two-way contract with the Golden Knights and will continue to serve as one of the first call-ups from the Silver Knights when the team runs into injury issues. The 26-year-old played in 13 games this season, failing to record any points. In the AHL, Rondbjerg recorded 11 goals and 26 points in 53 games. 

With the three contracts being signed, the remaining RFAs the Golden Knights have to conduct business with are Alexander Holtz and Lukas Cormier.

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Golden Knights Extend Qualifying Offers To Five PlayersThe Vegas Golden Knights have extended qualifying offers to five players, maintaining their restricted free-agent rights. The five players include Lukas Cormier, Alexander Holtz, Raphael Lavoie, Jonas Rondbjerg and Cole Schwindt. 

If you asked all 32 NHL general managers at the draft whether they prefer to select based on positional need or simply take the best player available, most would say, “If all things are equal, we'll select the best player.”

Steve Staios would probably tell you he tried to do that in his first two drafts as Ottawa Senators GM, but at the same time, he didn't exactly ignore his current wish list either.

In 2024, size mattered. The three defensemen the Sens selected averaged 6-foot-5, while the three forwards averaged 6-foot-3. This year, the key theme was more help for the blue line on the right side.

The Senators used the 23rd overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to select University of Wisconsin defenseman Logan Hensler, marking the second consecutive year Staios has used his first-rounder on a right-shot defenseman, after selecting Carter Yakemchuk seventh overall in 2024.

Hensler will probably head back to school, and Yakemchuk will likely start in Belleville, but both are considered key pieces for the future.

And just in case going back-to-back with another high-end right-shot D prospect wasn't enough to confirm the theme, Ottawa doubled down and acquired 24-year-old Jordan Spence from the Los Angeles Kings during the draft in exchange for third- and sixth-round picks.

The organization also re-signed 2019 first-rounder Lassi Thomson, who will return to North America after leading Malmö of the SHL in scoring last season. 

Even before all of that, the Senators still had the same three right-shot defensemen they went to war with in this spring's playoffs: Nick Jensen, Artem Zub, and Nik Matinpalo.

It's been well-chronicled that Jensen is a bit of a wild card for this fall. He’s recovering from reported hip surgery in May, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready to start the season. He’ll also be 35 years old.

Zub is a similar player to Jensen, but he’s also missed significant time over the past three seasons, playing only 54 games last year. As for Matinpalo, he's still establishing himself as an NHLer, but showed some encouraging signs of growth last year and didn't look out of place in the playoffs.

It’s often said that you can never have too many good right-shot defensemen, but Ottawa must be getting close.

The organizational depth chart on the right side now includes Jensen, Zub, Spence, Matinpalo, Yakemchuk, Thomson, and Maxence Guenette. Unless Hensler plays out of his mind in pre-season, he'll be headed back to school.

That’s a substantial group, the deepest Ottawa has had in some time.

I’d still rank Jensen at the top, assuming he’s healthy and hasn't lost a step. That's an optimistic assumption, I realize. He and Zub are similar players in many ways – neither is flashy, neither is overly offensive-minded, but both take care of business while letting Jake Sanderson or Thomas Chabot drive the offense from the back end.

Because of his age and recent surgery, there are questions about whether Jensen can still be a top-four next season, and whether he even wants to stay in Ottawa beyond that. If both answers are no, that changes the game. But until then, I still rank him as Ottawa’s best right-shot defender right now. 

Some believe Jordan Spence might push for a top-four role. The Senators obviously like him, but the new Kings GM, Ken Holland, did not. The Kings didn't see him playing in their top six every night next season and gave him up for only a third and a sixth-round pick. Typically, with everyone in the league looking for top-four right-shot defenseman, you'd think the cost would have been much higher. And then the Kings effectively replaced Spence on the roster with Cody Ceci.

For those reasons, and barring injuries, I’m not ready to slot Spence into Ottawa’s top four just yet.

Matinpalo is my seven right now, but since he's bigger and more physical, which the Sens generally prefer, he could easily push for the same job he held for most of last season.

Then there’s Yakemchuk and Hensler. Yakemchuk nearly made the team last season, so he'll get some NHL looks if injuries strike. But Ottawa would be wise to keep him in Belleville for a few months to see how he fares against grown men for the first time. It’s clear that the Senators have big plans for him, but there’s no harm in a bit of patience. Hensler is all but certain to return to Wisconsin for another year of development.

I do wonder which of the two first-rounders will be the better long-term player. I haven’t seen enough games from either to say definitively, but it’s notable that last winter Hensler made Team USA’s World Junior squad at 18 and won a gold medal. Meanwhile, the older Yakemchuk, whose numbers tumbled last season, wasn’t invited to the pre-tournament evaluation camp for a Canadian team that failed to make the semifinals.

Lassi Thomson might have the most to lose in all of this. After a fine year in Sweden, he probably saw the current depth chart and the injury concerns and thought he had a chance to compete for an NHL job. But now he finds himself behind the newly-acquired Spence. That can’t be a great feeling, but maybe he'll surprise people at camp. If nothing else, Thomson will make Belleville's back end a lot stronger, heading into group 6 unrestricted free agency next summer.

All of this raises the question: Do the Senators now have the right mix on the right side to make a deep playoff run? That remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: They've upgraded, and they finally have some solid depth. And that matters, because hockey is still a violent game where every team needs a "next man up" mentality.

This season, Staios can think about the next man up and not lose sleep over it.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News/Ottawa
Image Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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Senators Bid Farewell To Six UFAs: Where Did They End Up?
Senators Sign Lars Eller, Offseason NHL Additions Are Now 'Most Likely' Complete
Senators Clarify Their Goaltending Picture for Next Season
Senators Acquire Defenseman Jordan Spence From Los Angeles

Rickard Rakell is one of multiple Pittsburgh Penguins players who have been in the rumor mill this off-season. With the Penguins retooling their roster and Rakell coming off a career season, all eyes have been on the 32-year-old winger. 

However, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Rakell's preference is to stay put with the Penguins rather than being dealt. 

"I've heard Rakell would prefer to stay in Pittsburgh," Friedman said. "It's just that it's not his call. I've heard he is not averse to staying, but, ultimately, Dubas will make that decision."

With the success Rakell just had with the Penguins in 2024-25, it is understandable that he wants to stick around. In 81 games this past season with the Penguins, he set new career highs with 35 goals and 70 points. It was a big bounce-back year for the veteran, and he undoubtedly found his fit in the Penguins' top six. 

However, Rakell putting up a monster season also means that his trade value is higher now. With the Penguins retooling their group, it is fair to wonder if the Penguins could take advantage of this and move him this off-season.

Nevertheless, the Penguins have a big decision to make with Rakell. If the veteran forward has it his way, he will stay put in Pittsburgh. 

NHL Trade Rumors: Penguins Star Generating 'A Ton Of Interest'The Pittsburgh Penguins are certainly a team to keep an eye on this summer. It is no secret that they are open to making changes, and multiple players from their roster have been discussed as trade candidates. 

Photo Credit:  © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

New insider reports indicate Carolina's Jack Roslovic wanting to join former teammate Auston Matthews in Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made some major moves this offseason and according to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, the team isn't done yet. 

On Sunday's episode of his podcast "32 Thoughts" Friedman explained that the Buds are looking to potentially clear out more of their bottom six forwards like Pontus Holmberg, who left to join the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Friedman believes this is because the Maple Leafs are targeting unrestricted free agent Jack Roslovic from the Carolina Hurricanes. The connection makes sense as Roslovic played with Leafs captain Auston Matthews extensively during their time together at the U.S. National Development Program. 

Toronto will be looking to replace the production lost by star winger Mitch Marner heading to the Vegas Golden Knights and have made headway with some of their adds already. From Utah, the Maple Leafs picked up a solid 40-point player with Matias Maccelli, who could grow into a 50-60 point player when playing in Toronto's top six and is only 24 years old. 

Early projections of Toronto's lineup next season had Maccelli on the top line alongside Matthew Knies and centred by Auston Matthews but he could be moved down to play with John Tavares and William Nylander while Roslovic slides into the top right wing spot. This has been indicated as a possibility to Friedman in the case of free agent Andrew Mangiapane. 

The Bolton, Ontario native was reportedly interested in returning to his hometown team but Friedman had heard that the Maple Leafs told him that they are looking to move out forwards like David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok and restricted free agent Nick Robertson. Mangiapane ultimately decided not to wait on the Maple Leafs roster decisions and instead signed with the Edmonton Oilers. 

Roslovic is a notable player that teams are interested in yet he has not signed with any team yet and it could be that he is waiting to play with Matthews according to Friedman. The 28-year-old has found his way into being a regular 40-point player and has be unable to truly tap into his elite upside that many projected when he went 25th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft to the Winnipeg Jets. 

This would be a massive boost for the Maple Leafs next season as their top six would be more balanced and could contributed the same level of offence as last season and could make them a steal at +2500 to win the Stanley Cup next season.

Odds to certainly look at for the Maple Leafs would be to make the playoffs at -300 and to win the Atlantic division for the second straight season at +390 behind the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

  More NHL: 2026 Stanley Cup Odds: Oilers, Panthers Lead Early Contenders But One Unexpected Favourite Emerges

Not all that long ago, the Detroit Red Wings were the gold standard of NHL teams. For an incredible 25 years, the Red Wings were in the Stanley Cup playoffs – and on four occasions from 1997-2008, the Wings won the Cup. In the modern era, you couldn’t ask for more from a franchise.

And all that success makes it especially painful for Red Wings fans to struggle through what they’re currently struggling through – a whopping nine straight years without a post-season appearance. 

In those nine years, the Wings have finished in seventh or eighth place in their division five times. And this past year, they finished sixth in the Atlantic Division. For the most part, the Red Wings’ efforts have been nowhere close to good enough, and the increasing degree of fan frustration has never been more evident than it is right now. 

Of course, things would be different if Detroit GM Steve Yzerman came away from the NHL’s recent ffree-agent frenzy with at least a couple of veteran talents to carry them across the finish line and make the playoffs next year. 

Instead, Yzerman added a goalie in former Anaheim Ducks starter John Gibson – admittedly, an upgrade on what the Wings had in goal – and after that…well, he traded non-factor winger Vladimir Tarasenko to the Minnesota Wild, and signed third-line winger Mason Appleton, journeyman winger James van Riemsdyk, and third-pair defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. 

Are you impressed by those changes? If you are, you’re in the minority. And if you’re a Wings fan, you can’t help but be pessimistic about this Detroit team’s chances of getting back into the post-season next year. 

There are definitely some NHL GMs out there who are feeling the pressure to have their team produce positive results in 2025-26, but Yzerman is probably right at the top of the list of the GMs facing the most pressure. He’s been on the job running things in the Motor City since April of 2019, and he has nothing tangible to show for it. 

Yzerman’s incredible playing career has given him a long runway to try and stick the landing as Wings GM, but even hockey icons only get so much time to turn things around before they are added to the list of people who couldn’t get the job done as managers. And that’s where Yzerman is now in Detroit.

Yzerman can point to youngsters in the organization who he believes will step up and help the Red Wings make it to the playoffs next year, but here’s a better metric of sorts – which Detroit youngster is truly a generational talent? Defenseman Moritz Seider qualifies in the minds of some observers, so let’s be generous and say Seider makes the cut. After that, what current Wings talent is top-10 in the league in any regard? Detroit doesn’t have those truly elite, high-end players. And when you miss the playoffs for that many years, you should’ve been able to draft and develop a couple of top talents.

That may be Yzerman’s biggest sin as Wings GM – not tanking for top players, which is the most proven way to land the foundational talent needed to compete for Cups over the long haul. Yzerman might’ve drafted Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard if he’d done that. He may have wound up with San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini if he’d done that. He might’ve landed New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer if he’d done that. Instead, it’s been nothing but mediocrity for the Red Wings, 

From this writer’s perspective, if you’re not good enough to be a playoff team, you should be doing everything in your power to land a top draft spot. And it has never felt like Yzerman and Co. have been willing to do that. There have been excuses left and right, and as things have unfolded not in Detroit’s favor, Yzerman has grown testy with the media and unable to lay out a specific plan Wings fans can look to for comfort. And he also can’t point to season-after-season improvement in the win column.

And now, the Red Wings are entering a season in which no one will be projecting them to make the playoffs. The defending Cup champion Florida Panthers will be a playoff team next year. The regular-season Atlantic champion Toronto Maple Leafs will also be a playoff team, as will the Tampa Bay Lightning. And after that, the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins will be in a ferocious battle for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. You can lump the Wings into that latter group, but the reality remains – making the playoffs will be an extremely tall order for Detroit.

And if things pan out the way we think they’ll pan out and the Red Wings fail to make the playoffs once again, Yzerman will almost assuredly be out of a job, and the process of rebuilding will start over in earnest. That’s why this coming season already looks and feels like a wasted year. Detroit ownership has entrusted Yzerman with another season to try and accomplish something positive, but unless he pulls off a minor miracle, Yzerman is going to come away with his hands stuck out and nothing in them.

Maybe Yzerman will prove the doubters wrong, and the Wings will sneak into a playoff spot. Even then, does anyone feel like Detroit will be anything other than first-round roadkill? This Red Wings team simply doesn’t have the horses to run with the legitimate Cup frontrunners, and just getting into the playoffs can’t be the sole goal for Wings management. 

All in all, it feels like it’s going to be another long season for the Red Wings, and another year of excuses and frustration is in store for Detroit. And this could be Yzerman’s final kick at the can.

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ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild announced a few free agent signings. They signed goaltender Cal Petersen along with forward Tyler Pitlick. They have also signed forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel. 

The contract for Aube-Kubel is a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 in the NHL and $500,000 in the American Hockey League (AHL). 

Aube-Kubel, 29, recorded one goal, one assist, 40 hits and 19 penalty minutes in 22 games with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers last season. He has 32 goals, 48 assists, 80 points, 672 hits and 202 penalty minutes in 304 career NHL games across seven seasons. 

He won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. The 6-foot forward recorded 11 goals, 11 assists, 22 points, 123 hits and 41 penalty minutes in 67 games that year for the Avs. 

This provides the Wild with some AHL depth and someone who can play NHL games if needed. He has 56 goals, 61 assists and 117 points in 255 career AHL games as well. 

Other Wild News

Minnesota Wild Sign Forward Nico Sturm To A Two-Year DealST. PAUL, Minn - As previously written, Nico Sturm would be a perfect fit for the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have now announced they have signed the free agent to a two-year contract at $2 million AAV. Minnesota Wild Sign Goaltender Cal Petersen To A One-Year, One-Way ContractST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild announced the signing of goaltender Cal Petersen to a one-year, one-way contract worth $775,000.  Minnesota Wild Sign Forward Tyler Pitlick To A Two-Year, Two-Way ContractST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild will announce some American Hockey League (AHL) depth signings pretty soon. They started things off with the signing of forward Tyler Pitlick.