As expected, the past week was extremely busy around the NHL. There were plenty of signings, re-signings, trades, and even a head coaching hire. Rather than try to break down just a few important stories in a week that had plenty of them, we’ll break down the week that was in five key themes.
June 30th Activity: In the hours leading up to free agency, many of the top names found themselves off the market. Mitch Marner agreed to terms on an eight-year, $96MM deal with Vegas, being acquired in a sign-and-trade with Toronto for Nicolas Roy. The Panthers found a way to keep both Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand in the fold, signing Ekblad for eight years and $49MM and Marchand for six seasons and $31.5MM. Ivan Provorov re-upped with Columbus for seven seasons and $59.5MM, making him the top-paid defenseman from the UFA-eligible players. The Kings decided to stick with Andrei Kuzmenko, giving him a one-year, $4.3MM contract while Detroit once again signed Patrick Kane in the hours before the market opened up, giving him a one-year, $3MM contract that could jump to $7MM with bonuses.
Trades: There was plenty of activity on the trade front before 11 AM CT on July 1st as well. Vegas dealt Nicolas Hague to Nashville for Jeremy Lauzon and Colton Sissons (with the Preds retaining half of his contract). Detroit offloaded the final season and $4.75MM of Vladimir Tarasenko’s deal to Minnesota for future considerations. Toronto tried to replace some of Marner’s playmaking with the acquisition of Matias Maccelli from Utah for a conditional third-round pick. Boston opted to buy low on Viktor Arvidsson with Edmonton looking to free up cap space, getting the winger for a 2027 fifth-rounder. Then, just before the market opened up, Montreal and St. Louis swapped youngsters with the Canadiens getting Zachary Bolduc in exchange for Logan Mailloux.
Extensions: While many contracts for next season were handed out in recent days, some big ones were also signed but won’t start until 2026-27. Vancouver was particularly active, giving deals to two players. Thatcher Demko signed a three-year, $25.5MM extension while Conor Garland officially inked his previously-reported six-year, $36MM agreement. Carolina locked up Logan Stankoven to an eight-year, $48MM deal, ensuring they’ll have at least one long-term piece from the Mikko Rantanen series of trades. Washington got another important part of their back end signed long-term, signing Martin…
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