With training camps on the horizon, PTO agreements were the theme of the week with many veterans taking one to get a landing spot for training camp. In the meantime, there was some other notable news across the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.
Columbus Adds A Veteran: On Saturday, Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell indicated that he would be looking to add a forward or two heading into training camp. He wasted little time getting one of them as the team signed veteran winger James van Riemsdyk to a one-year, $900K contract. The 35-year-old is coming off a decent season in Boston, one that saw him record 11 goals and 27 assists in 71 games despite averaging just 13:30 per night, his lowest ATOI since his rookie campaign in 2009-10. Columbus is certainly on the lookout for some scoring help following the trade of Patrik Laine and the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau while forward Justin Danforth is also now injured so it wouldn’t be surprising to see them do something else fairly quickly.
Surgery For Kane: For months now, it has been expected that Oilers winger Evander Kane was going to miss time with the injury that sidelined him late in the playoffs. We now know the nature of the injury as it was revealed that the veteran will undergo sports hernia surgery within the next week. Kane played through the injury for a good chunk of the regular season and most of the playoffs but was only able to dress in two games in the Stanley Cup Final. There’s no word on exactly how long the procedure will keep Kane out for but assuming it’s for more than 10 games and 24 days, Edmonton will be able to place him on LTIR if they need to in order to keep cap-compliant.
Four For Larsson: Veteran defenseman Adam Larsson was picked by Seattle in expansion despite being a pending unrestricted free agent although he was quickly signed to a four-year deal. The 31-year-old has been a solid defender in his first three seasons with them while even managing a career year offensively in 2022-23. He was rewarded for his efforts earlier in the week as the Kraken signed him to a four-year, $21MM contract extension which begins in the 2025-26 season. The deal represents a $1.1MM per season raise from his current deal and carries full trade protection for the first two years before it drops to a 15-team no-trade clause.
Shoulder Injury For Hughes: With this being a contract year for Devils defenseman Luke Hughes, it’s safe to say he was hoping to get off to a…
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