Tag: NHL

NHL fans mourned the devastating closing of CapFriendly after sale to the Capitals

CapFriendly was a NHL staple for salary cap and contract information for nearly a decade.

For nearly a decade, NHL fans went to one website and one website only for salary cap information.

On Wednesday, however, the hockey world had to say goodbye to CapFriendly — the salary cap and contract information website — after it was bought by the Washington Capitals. The news of the acquisition broke a month ago and was much-maligned by hockey fans due to the upcoming shuttering of such an important website, but CapFriendly was allowed to keep operating until after the start of NHL free agency on July 1.

Once the site closed its doors, CapFriendly posted a lengthy thank you note on Twitter and their website to everyone who made their operation possible over the last nine years.

The loss of CapFriendly is devastating to hockey fans and teams alike, as salary cap and contract information isn’t made available publicly in one place by the NHL itself. It will take some time to get used to this void, but other places like PuckPedia have already started to fill the holes left by CapFriendly’s absence.

Still, thank you for all the memories, CapFriendly.

NHL fans mourned the loss of CapFriendly after its acquisition by the Capitals

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Several former Wisconsin men’s hockey players to participate in NHL development camps

Several former Wisconsin men’s hockey players to participate in NHL development camps

Over 20 current, future and former Wisconsin men’s hockey players will take part in several NHL development camps this summer.

Three undrafted current members of UW’s roster, along with seven drafted players or recruits will participate in the showcase events. Additionally, twelve Wisconsin alumni will represent the Badgers during drills both on and off the ice with multiple NHL franchises.

Minnesota, Detroit and Pittsburgh each welcome a pair of former Badgers to their camps: Kyle McClellan and Charlie Stramel will represent the Minnesota Wild, Sam Strange and Brady Cleveland will don Detroit Red Wings threads and Mathieu De St. Phalle and Cruz Lucius will sport Pittsburgh Penguins jerseys.

Current Wisconsin players Ben Dexheimer and Joe Palodichuk will skate for the Nashville Predators while Simon Tassy will participate for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Seven other recruits, including Tyson Duck and Blake Montgomery, will showcase their skills as current draftees and recruits.

Designed to provide fans a glimpse at top prospects and incoming professional talent, these development camps serve as an entertaining bridge between the conclusion of the NHL’s postseason and the beginning of its offseason.

After winning 26 games in 2023-24, Wisconsin will look to build off its output under second-year leader Mike Hastings. Last year’s Badgers’ win total was the program’s highest since 2009-10 and helped UW clinch an NCAA Tournament berth.

2024 NHL Free Agency live tracker: Catch up on all the major signings

Keep track of all the major NHL free agent signings this summer right here!

The 2023 NHL free agency period is here!

It’s officially past 12 p.m. ET on July 1, which means the gates to the NHL’s free agency period are now wide open. That means teams will be able to sign unrestricted free agents to contracts for the upcoming 2024-25 season and beyond, as it will be open season on the league’s biggest available stars.

MORE: Ranking the 20 best NHL free agents in the 2024 offseason.

With trades aplenty over the last few weeks and the 2024 NHL Draft in the rearview mirror, free agency now is the last major event before the league’s long summer break. As such, here are all the major free agent signings of the 2024 NHL free agency period listed for your convenience!

NHL free agent signings in July

F Jeff Skinner signs with the Edmonton Oilers
Contract: One year, $3 million

G James Reimer signs with the Buffalo Sabres
Contract: One year, $1 million

D Vincent Desharnais signs with the Vancouver Canucks
Contract: Two years, $4 million

D Sean Walker signs with the Carolina Hurricanes
Contract: Five years, $18 million

G Kaapo Kahkonen signs with the Winnipeg Jets
Contract: One year, $1 million

D Shayne Gostisbehere signs with the Carolina Hurricanes
Contract: Three years, $9.6 million

D Jani Hakanpaa signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: Two years, $3 million

F Alexander Wennberg signs with the San Jose Sharks
Contract: Two years, $10 million

F A.J. Greer signs with the Florida Panthers
Contract: Two years, $1.7 million

F Zach Aston-Reese signs with the Vegas Golden Knights
Contract: One year, $775,000

F Anthony Beauvillier signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins
Contract: One year, $1.25 million

F Tyson Jost signs with the Carolina Hurricanes
Contract: One year, $775,000

D Calvin de Haan signs with the Colorado Avalanche
Contract: One year, $800,000

F Sam Carrick signs with the New York Rangers
Contract: Three years, $3 million

G Jack Campbell signs with the Detroit Red Wings
Contract: One year, $775,000

F Anthony Duclair signs with the New York Islanders
Contract: Four years, $14 million

D Ilya Lyubushkin signs with the Dallas Stars
Contract: Two years, $6.5 million

D Erik Gustafsson signs with the Detroit Red Wings
Contract: Two years, $4 million

D Matt Dumba signs with the Dallas Stars
Contract: Two years, $7.5 million

D Josh Brown signs with the Edmonton Oilers
Contract: Three years, $3 million

F Tanner Laczynski signs with the Vegas Golden Knights
Contract: Two years, $1.55 million

D Joel Edmundson signs with the Los Angeles Kings
Contract: Four years, $15.4 million

F Ryan Lomberg signs with the Calgary Flames
Contract: Two years, $4 million

G Casey DeSmith signs with the Dallas Stars
Contract: One year, $3 million

F Chandler Stephenson signs with the Seattle Kraken
Contract: Seven years, $43.75 million

F Stefan Noesen signs with the New Jersey Devils
Contract: Three years, $8.25 million

D Matt Grzelcyk signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins
Contract: One year, $2.75 million

F Michael Amadio signs with the Ottawa Senators
Contract: Three years, $7.8 million

G Cam Talbot signs with the Detroit Red Wings
Contract: Two years, $5 million

F Danton Heinen signs with the Vancouver Canucks
Contract: Two years, $4.5 million

F William Carrier signs with the Carolina Hurricanes
Contract: Six years, $12 million

F Kiefer Sherwood signs with the Vancouver Canucks
Contract: Two years, $3 million

F Kevin Stenlund signs with the Utah Hockey Club
Contract: Two years, $4 million

F Jake DeBrusk signs with the Vancouver Canucks
Contract: Seven years, $38.5 million

F Sean Monahan signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets
Contract: Five years, $27.5 million

D Brenden Dillon signs with the New Jersey Devils
Contract: Three years, $12 million

D Nikita Zadorov signs with the Boston Bruins
Contract: Six years, $30 million

F Jason Zucker signs with the Buffalo Sabres
Contract: One year, $5 million

G Anthony Stolarz signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: Two years, $5 million

F Viktor Arvidsson signs with the Edmonton Oilers
Contract: Two years, $8 million

G Laurent Brossoit signs with the Chicago Blackhawks
Contract: Two years, $6.6 million

F David Perron signs with the Ottawa Senators
Contract: Two years, $8 million

D Brady Skjei signs with the Nashville Predators
Contract: Seven years, $49 million

F Steven Stamkos signs with the Nashville Predators
Contract: Four years, $32 million

F Elias Lindholm signs with the Boston Bruins
Contract: Seven years, $54.25 million

D Ian Cole signs with the Utah Hockey Club
Contract: One year, $3.1 million

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: Four years, $14 million

F Anthony Mantha signs with the Calgary Flames
Contract: One year, $3.5 million

D Brett Pesce signs with the New Jersey Devils
Contract: Six years, $33 million

F Pat Maroon signs with the Chicago Blackhawks
Contract: One year, $1.3 million

F Teuvo Teräväinen signs with the Chicago Blackhawks
Contract: Three years, $16.2 million

G Eric Comrie signs with the Winnipeg Jets
Contract: One year, $825,000

D Matt Roy signs with the Washington Capitals
Contract: Six years, $34.5 million

F Sam Lafferty signs with the Buffalo Sabres
Contract: Two years, $4 million

F Jonathan Marchessault signs with the Nashville Predators
Contract: Five years, $27.5 million

F Matt Duchene signs with the Dallas Stars
Contract: One year, $3 million

F Tyler Toffoli signs with the San Jose Sharks
Contract: Four years, $24 million

D Brandon Montour signs with the Seattle Kraken
Contract: Seven years, $50 million

D Chris Tanev signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: Six years, $27 million

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Former Notre Dame defenseman Dennis Gilbert signs with Buffalo Sabres

Who says you can’t go home?

They say you can’t go home again, but that no longer is the case for former Notre Dame defenseman [autotag]Dennis Gilbert[/autotag]. He grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now, he’ll get to play the game he loves there. Gilbert has signed a one-year contract with his hometown Sabres. He joins [autotag]Ian Cole[/autotag] among former Irish defensemen who found new homes via free agency on the same day.

The 2023-24 season was Gilbert’s most successful yet. In his first full NHL season, he scored seven points, six on assists, and had 16 penalty minutes with the Calgary Flames. He also recorded 23 shots on goal.

Over the 82 NHL games he has played with the Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks, he has gotten in 12 fights. At a time when fights in hockey are becoming more uncommon, it’s nice to see at least one player hold up that part of the game to some degree regardless of how one feels about it.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Former Notre Dame defenseman signs with ninth different NHL team

Another year, another new team.

If a player is good enough to stick around in the NHL for a while, teams will come calling. That’s the case for former Notre Dame defenseman [autotag]Ian Cole[/autotag], who will be playing his 15th season in the league in 2024-25. He also will be on his ninth different team after the Utah Hockey Club signed him to a one-year contract.

Ever since Cole was traded early in the 2020-21 season, he hasn’t spent more than one season with any team he’s played for. Last season, he was a veteran presence for a Vancouver Canucks team that made it to the Western Conference semifinals, which resulted in a loss to eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

For the Canucks, Cole scored 11 points, nine of them on assists, and recorded 61 penalty minutes. He added two assists and six penalty minutes during the playoffs. Let’s hope he’ll have an 11th straight playoff appearance with his new team.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

The Predators are taking an incredibly fun gamble after their Steven Stamkos-led free agency windfall

No matter what happens, the Predators are going to be fun this season.

If there’s a deeper strategy to Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz’s 2024 free agency plan than “just sign all the marquee players,” it’s “age be darned.”

A year after signing pricey veterans like Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Schenn, Trotz doubled down on the “old” guys on Monday by a historic haul of franchise talents like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei on multi-year contracts.

Stamkos is an all-time NHL talent, having won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Marchessault is coming off a career year in goals and won the Conn Smythe Trophy after his former Vegas Golden Knights took home the 2023 Stanley Cup. Skjei is finishing a five-season stint with a Carolina Hurricanes team that regularly contended for a Cup run.

2024 NHL free agency winners (Predators) and losers (Golden Knights) from Day 1

The youngest of those players is Skjei at 30. Stamkos is 34, and Marchessault is 33. The franchise faces for Nashville ahead of Monday’s windfall were O’Reilly, Roman Josi (34), Filip Forsberg (29) and Juuse Saros (29).

It’s hard to fathom the Predators would be in this position after an aggressive fire sale at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, one that jettisoned a franchise pillar in Mattias Ekholm and useful talents like Tanner Jeannot, Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin.

That talent purge was former general manager David Poile’s final chance to reshape the roster for a possible rebuild, one that would clear the path for young prospects to enter the system and take their lumps on a team that looked nowhere near Stanley Cup contention. Forsberg, Josi and Saros continued to play at a high level, but a youth movement felt destined for Smashville.

Well, Trotz must’ve felt that any youth influx was all for naught without reliable elder statesmen, and he’s taken colossal measures to entrench the Predators in a fiercely win-now position.

To be blunt, you don’t go out and sign great players on the back nines of their career like Stamkos and Marchessault in particular without clear aspirations to bring home Lord Stanley’s Cup. These are not moves you make lightly, neither is cutting a player like Matt Duchene outright last offseason that allowed him to sign with a division rival in the Dallas Stars.

Trotz, the former Predators coach-turned-general manager, clearly wants to construct a team in his image, one filled with quality veterans with extensive Stanley Cup experience to finally bring Nashville over the hump for a championship in short order. Rather than strip down the sheets and remake the bed, Trotz is banking on a bunch of new pillows making this a comfortable place to sleep.

It’s not that the Predators don’t have enticing young talent at their disposal. Luke Evangelista is a star in the making at forward, netting 16 goals and 23 assists in his first full-time NHL season. Tommy Novak provides roughly the same impact, as he’s coming off a nice 18-goal, 27-assist season for Nashville.

The team has turned Jeremy Lauzon from a so-so defensive prospect to one of the most reliable hitters in the league, and Alexandre Carrier has developed to be a very quality depth defenseman for the organization. Dante Fabbro is still working through his highs and lows on defense, but there’s untapped potential there, too. 

Also consider the promising young players in the Smashville pipeline, who include winger Philip Tomasino, defenseman Spencer Stastney, center Juuso Pärssinen, winger Zachary L’Heureux, winger Joakim Kemell, defenseman Ryan Ufko and winger Fedor Svechkov, just to name a few. These guys may all be at least somewhat close to full-time NHL reps, with Tomasino, Pärssinen and Stastney already earning some limited playing experience.

Trotz’s gamble is two-fold. He’s trying to maximize the older star power of his existing roster with even more older star power while laying the groundwork for a winning culture under coach Andrew Brunette for young players to enter once it’s their time in the NHL.

For establishing a consistent winner, that’s not a bad strategy at all for any professional sports team with a farm system. For immediate investment into winning the Stanley Cup right now, have the Predators done enough to contend with the best teams in the NHL?

Rather than banking everything on an Connor McDavid/Auston Matthews/Sam Reinhart/Nathan McKinnon-type generational talent, the team is hoping it can score in bunches with proven veterans and overwhelm their opponents with elite goaltending and gobs of stingy experience. That may well help Nashville make a deep playoff push in the seasons to come, but it’s not guaranteed to work out as well as hoped.

Also consider that elite goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov could be traded at any minute since the team has Saros in his prime (with a new deal), and that could net Nashville an equally talented prospect or a ready-now veteran.

No matter what, this approach is still a gamble for Nashville, as Trotz is depending on the veterans to push hard against Father Time while hoping the pipeline prospects can fill in the gaps in the next couple of seasons where need be.

Monday’s free agency windfall puts the Predators firmly in the conversation for the most interesting and fun teams in the NHL going into this coming season. Adding a generational talent like Stamkos will do that by itself.

Will the hodgepodge of older stars and tantalizing youth spark Smashville to its first Stanley Cup, or has Trotz overplayed his hand on adding so many older players on the downward slope to a team that really needed to start over and further embrace its younger players?

The only safe prediction is that this is going to be incredibly fun to watch play out.

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The NHL shamelessly reinstated disgraced ex-Blackhawks leaders right at the start of free agency

Reinstating Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman is disgusting enough, and the NHL made it worse.

After being banned for more than two years for their roles in the Chicago Blackhawks’ sexual assault scandal with former player Kyle Beach, the NHL made the puzzling decision to reinstate ex-Chicago general manager Stan Bowman and ex-head coach Joel Quenneville to full league service on Monday afternoon.

Both are eligible to work again starting on July 10 after the NHL published a milquetoast press release citing how they’ve “demonstrated sincere remorse.”

Letting Bowman and Quenneville work in hockey in any capacity again is disgusting enough. Given their respective roles in poorly addressing a sexual assault on their own team — to say the least — they are two people who should probably never step foot near any ice rink again.

The kicker is that the NHL dropped the official announcement of Bowman and Quenneville’s reinstatement on a late Monday afternoon of an exciting start to the 2024 free agency period. Why, it’s almost as if the league wanted as little attention as possible on letting two alleged monsters work in pro hockey once more:

Every time you think the NHL has turned a corner, it goes and willingly steps on a rake like this. It is not a stretch to imagine that the league knew people would rightfully frown upon Bowman and Quenneville’s reinstatement. Because in no way, shape, or form is a two-year ban sufficient for what these two men were reportedly responsible for. Most would likely agree that their NHL bans should have been permanent.

So, rather than have a zero-tolerance policy regarding even any partial enabling of sexual assault, the NHL seemingly tried to drop the news of Bowman and Quenneville’s reinstatement right as they thought everyone who follows their animated husk of a league would be drooling over player acquisition news.

It’s transparent and it’s awful. NHL leaders who green-lighted both the reinstatements and the timing of the Bowman and Quenneville news should be ashamed.

NHL fans ripped the league’s decision and timing of Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville’s reinstatement

Goalie Logan Thompson still powered through an autograph session right after being traded to the Capitals

Good for Logan Thompson for being a trooper in a very awkward situation.

New Washington Capitals goalie Logan Thompson didn’t abandon his Saturday 2024 NHL Draft autograph session, even after being traded.

The Vegas Golden Knights traded Thompson to Washington for two draft picks on the second day of this year’s draft, one where Thompson was slated to interact with fans and sign autographs as part of the weekend’s draft festivities at the Vegas Sphere.

Well, the former Golden Knight was traded to Washington right before his autograph availability, meaning he chose to solider on and sign photos of him in his Golden Knights jersey despite having just been sent to a new team.

Thompson reportedly learned of the trade from Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon roughly an hour before the session but didn’t want to bail on the opportunity to greet the fans, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Danny Webster.

Him keeping to his obligation is very admirable on what’s sure to be a whirlwind day for the NHL goalie.

At least he got to say hello to one of his new Capitals teammates, center Aliaksei Protas.

Good for Thompson for sticking to his autograph session. Even though he was saying farewell to the Golden Knights fans in attendance, we’re sure this offered a bit of unexpected closure for the goalie.

Vegas fans sure don’t sound thrilled that he’s gone, that’s for sure.

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Tij Iginla (Jarome’s son!) becomes the 1st ever draft pick of Utah HC

Utah’s first NHL draft pick is trying to follow in Hall of Fame footsteps.

The Utah Hockey Club may not have an official mascot or even a permanent color scheme, but now, it has its first draft pick.

Utah, formerly the Arizona Coyotes, made 17-year-old Kelowna, Canada, forward Tij Iginla — son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla — the sixth pick in the 2024 draft and the first selection in franchise history after it relocated from Tempe ahead of the upcoming season.

The elder Iginla played for 21 seasons, leading the NHL in points once (2002) and goals twice (2002, 2004). The younger Iginla, who comes from the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, was one of the draft’s top prospects and recently helped lead Canada to a gold medal at the 2024 IHHL U18 World Championships in Finland.

Many expected Iginla — who is believed to be the first second-generation Black player in NHL history — would land with the Calgary Flames, with whom his father played 17 seasons, almost the entirety of his career. However, the Flames chose not to trade up for Iginla despite having the opportunity to do so.

NHL fans were thrilled to see Tij follow in Jarome’s footsteps on Friday night.

How the fans reacted

 

 

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Celine Dion made a dramatic NHL Draft appearance to announce Canadiens selection

Celine Dion delivered the most dramatic NHL draft selection of all time.

NHL teams enlisted the help of celebrity guest pickers to announce first-round selections in Friday night’s 2024 NHL Draft, with former San Jose Sharks star Joe Thornton announcing the team’s first overall pick, Macklin Celebrini.

When it came to the Montreal Canadiens’ pick at No. 5 overall, however, they brought some real star power to the table.

In a stunner, world-famous singer and Quebec native Celine Dion took the stage, and she certainly brought some drama to the affair. After quite a bit of fanfare and extended pauses, she announced the selection of Russian winger Ivan Demidov of SKA Saint Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League.

Even the broadcasters described the pick as the most dramatic of all time.

After beginning his NHL career with a celebrity photo-op, Demidov will join one of the league’s most historically successful teams in Montreal, which has won 24 Stanley Cups, though it’s searching for its first since 1993.

The Habs got close in 2021, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals, but they’ve missed the postseason in each of the last three campaigns. With Demidov, they’ll hope their fortune changes.

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