Latest on Free Agency: Ehlers decision incoming

Ehlers decision incoming

After waiting an extra day, TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston reports that the No. 1 free agent to hit the market, Nikolaj Ehlers, will make his decision at some point today. 

TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie pointed to the Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs as being among the teams interested on Tuesday. 

Ehlers, 29, is coming off of a 2024-25 campaign that saw him record 24 goals and 53 points in 69 games with the Winnipeg Jets, en route to winning the Presidents’ Trophy. He added five goals and seven points in eight playoff games before his team was eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the second round. 

Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky confirmed Tuesday that he's been in touch in Ehlers agent. The Hurricanes have a whopping $19 million in cap space with 22 players already under contract for next season. 

“We’ve had talks with his agent," Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. “He’s taking his time to field offers. He’s obviously a very popular person right now, and we’re waiting to see where that goes.”

The 6-foot winger is coming off a seven-year, $42 million contract that carried a cap hit of $6 million.

Drafted ninth overall by the Jets in 2014, Ehlers has 225 goals and 520 points in 674 career games. 

Depth signings continue

The Edmonton Oilers have brought in veteran Curtis Lazar on a one-year, $775,000 contract, while the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Vinni Lettieri to a deal of equal value.

Read more on Lazar here and more on Lettieri and the Mape Leafs here.

The Vancouver Canucks signed former Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to a one-year contract worth $775,000.

The Carolina Hurricanes brought back forward Tyson Jost on a one-year, two-way deal. 

The Los Angeles Kings signed forwards Logan Brown, Cole Guttman, Tyler Ward and defenceman Samuel Bolduc two-way deals. Guttman signed a two-year contract, while the other three signed one-year deals.

The Montreal Canadiens agreed to terms on one-year, two-way contracts with forward Sean Farrell and defenseman Marc Del Gaizo.

The Ottawa Senators signed five players to two-way contracts on Wednesday, including forward Arthur Kaliyev and goaltender Hunter Shepard.

Forwards Hayden Hodgson, Olle Lycksell and Wyatt Bongiovanni also signed two-way deals. 

Kaliyev, 23, finished the season with the New York Rangers after he was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 6. He went unqualified by Rangers on Monday, allowing him to hit the open the market. 

Drafted 33rd overall by the Kings in 2019, Kaliyev has 38 goals and 75 points in 202 career games. 
 

Sharks, Devils swing a deal

The San Jose Sharks have acquired forward Shane Bowers from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Thomas Bordeleau. 

Bowers, 25, went without a point in four games with the Devils last season, adding three goals and 17 points in 65 AHL games with the Utica Comets.

Bordeleau, 23, played in one game with the Sharks last season and posted 14 goals and 38 points in 59 games with the San Jose Barracuda.

Bordeleau was a second-round pick in the 2020 draft, while Bowers was selected 28th overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2017.
 

Jets add a whole lot of depth

The Winnipeg Jets signed five players to indentical one-year, two-way contracts with NHL values of $775,000 on Wednesday.

Goaltender Isaac Poulter, defenceman Kale Clague, and forwards Phil Di Giusseppe, Walker Duehr and Samuel Fagemo all joined the Jets roster and will look to compete for roster spots this fall.

See the latest NHL signings here. 

Byram watch continues

The Buffalo Sabres are holding trade talks on Bowen Byram, but TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported Tuesday that an offer sheet could also be used to pry the defenceman from their roster. 

Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters Wednesday that the team has been strategic in planning in case of a Byram offer sheet and are "absolutely" prepared to match one to retain his services.

Adams said he remains open to trading Byram in a deal that improves the Sabres current roster, but isn't interested in futures. 

Buffalo has $12.87 million in cap space left with 22 players under contract for next season after bringing in Justin Danforth, Alex Lyon and re-signing fellow restricted free agent Ryan McLeod on Tuesday.

"Feeling is the sweet spot on this falls at the $7,020,113 mark on the scale," TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston wrote on X regarding a possible offer sheet. "If deal comes in under that, the compensation would be a 1st- and 3rd-rounder. Danger in matching is that you'd be walking Byram straight to UFA next summer while losing the ability to trade him."

Dreger reports the Calgary Flames, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues are among the teams who have held trade talks with the Sabres on Byram.

Byram, 23, had seven goals and 31 points in 82 games with the Buffalo Sabres last season while averaging 22:42 of ice time. The 6-foot-1 left-shot defenceman is coming off of a two-year, $7.7 million deal with an annual cap hit of $3.85 million.  

Drafted fourth overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2019, Byram has 33 goals and 110 points in 246 career games split between the Avalanche and Sabres. 

Byram recorded nine assists while averaging 19:22 of ice time in 20 playoff games to help the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022. 

The Sabres traded restricted free agent JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth last month after contract talks struggled to progress between the two sides. 

Ehlers still available. Leafs looking at trades?

The NHL free-agent market opened on Tuesday with the vast majority of players who had not already re-signed reaching deals in the first few hours after Noon ET. 

Nikolaj Ehlers, who entered the day at No. 1 on TSN's Top Free Agents list, was not among those players and appears to have plenty suitors trying to land his services.

In his last Free Agent Frenzy broadcast before retirement, longtime TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie shared that while no deal has been reached, teams from around the league remain interested in the Danish winger.

“Nikolaj Ehlers, who is at his home in Denmark…[allowed] his agent, Andre Rufener, who’s in Switzerland, to field calls from a variety of teams that we’ve heard. The Colorado Avalanche are interested, the Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, the list goes on and on and on.

"But it became apparent very early in the day that there was a process that Nik Ehlers and his agent, Rufener, wanted to follow, and that included conversations with all of these teams, maybe even have talked to coaches about specific roles before they even get into the term and the money, which is important," he said. "This is a decision that has been pushed off to, at least, July 2 and we’ll see where it goes from there. With everything happening in the 24 hours, 36 hours before free agency struck, that thinned out the crowd. Ehlers deciding to wait a day to do things thinned it out even more."

While the Maple Leafs were mentioned by McKenzie, general manager Brad Treliving said Tuesday the team was likely to build out their roster via trade with the pool of players available in free agency getting "thinner and thinner." 

"That's probably the path right now that we're looking more closely at," he said of making trades.

While the team retained John Tavares, Toronto has been looking for a top-six centre who would push Tavares into a third-line role. 

"I know everybody wants to talk about second-line centres," Treliving said. "There's probably, by my count, 27 teams that are looking for them. And so the ones that have them aren't giving them out too quickly."

Suter still available

While Ehlers leads all players, Pius Suter is top centre remaining available after a breakout season with the Vancouver Cnaucks.

A return to the Canucks appears unlikely, with the team owning just $556,667 in cap space, per PuckPedia, after retaining Brock Boeser in their biggest deal of the day on Tuesday. 

Suter posted 25 goals and 46 points - both career-highs - in 81 games last season. The 29-year-old had previously scored 14 goals in three of his first four NHL seasons, hitting 15 goals with the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22.

The 5-foot-11 centre is coming off a two-year, $3.2 million deal that carried an annual cap hit of $1.6 million. 

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020 by the Chicago Blackhawks, Suter has 82 goals and 162 points in 364 career games split between the Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Canucks. 

Other forward options also remaining available include Jack Roslovic, Victor Olofsson, Jeff Skinner and Gustav Nyquist. 
 

Grzelcyk, Burns available on defence

For teams looking for blueline help, former Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Matt Grzelcyk and veteran Brent Burns also remain unsigned.

 Grzelcyk had one goal and a career-best 40 points in in 82 games with the Penguins last season. The 31-year-old spent the season playing out a one-year, $2.75 million contract signed as a free agent last year.

Burns, 40, recorded six goals and 29 points in 82 games with the Carolina Hurricanes last season while averaging 20:57 of ice time.  He added a goal and five points in 15 playoff games while averaging 22:55 of ice time before his team was eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final. 

The 6-foot-5 right-shot defenceman is coming off an eight-year, $64 million contract that carried an annual cap hit of $8 million. 

Drafted 20th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2003 draft, Burns has 261 goals and 910 points in 1,497 career games split between the Wild, San Jose Sharks, and Hurricanes. 

Burns won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenceman during the 2016-17 campaign after putting up 29 goals and 76 points in 82 games as a member of the Sharks while averaging 24:52 of ice time.