Free Agent Frenzy on July 1 continues to draw closer and TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours as the NHL off-season heats up.
Could Maple Leafs, Gudas make peace?
The last time Radko Gudas was in Toronto, he ended star centre Auston Matthews’ season with an ugly knee-on-knee hit, earning himself a five-game suspension.
Perhaps time heals all wounds as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers are among the potential fits for Gudas, should the Anaheim Ducks captain reach unrestricted free agency on July 1.
Weekes adds that Gudas is likely to sign a two- or three-year contract this summer with an average annual value north of $4 million.
Gudas, 36, recorded two goals, 13 points, and 67 penalty minutes in 56 games with the Anaheim Ducks last season and captained the team the last two years.
He only appeared in one playoff game due to injury as the Ducks were eliminated in the second round.
Gudas’ hit on Matthews in March had a major impact on the Maple Leafs as none of the other four players on the ice took action in the immediate aftermath.
“It’s on me for not responding earlier to Gudas,” Morgan Rielly, Toronto’s longest-tenured player, said after the game. “It’s a dirty hit. I didn’t understand how bad he got him in the moment, but I take full responsibility for not being the first one in there or being in there quicker to respond. Myself and the other people on the ice have to take responsibility for not being in there earlier and I certainly do, but we came out in the third and played hard.”
Star winger William Nylander said he didn’t see the hit, but agreed he should have “jumped in.”
Max Domi fought Gudas off the opening faceoff when the two teams met in Anaheim a few weeks later.
Rielly’s future in Toronto is murky at best, with TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reporting earlier this week that more likely than not, the veteran will be traded this summer. Domi’s status is also unknown as he remains sidelined indefinitely following complications from an off-season surgery.
New Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka is hard at work in making changes to the team’s blueline, making trades to acquire Emil Andrae from the Philadelphia Flyers and Darren Raddysh from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Raddysh, who is coming over in a sign-and-trade deal, will become the Maple Leafs highest-paid defenceman as his new contract will carry an average annual value north of $8 million.
Gudas is coming off a three-year, $12 million contract that carried a cap hit of $4 million.
Drafted 66th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010, Gudas has 42 goals and 211 points in 885 career games split between the Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, and Ducks.
The Prague, Czechia native represented his country at Milano Cortina 2026, appearing in five games in an eighth-place finish. He also represented his country at The Winter Olympics in 2014 in a sixth-place finish.
Montembeault, Dach returning to Habs?
While Sam Montembeault largely lost his role with the Montreal Canadiens this season, it appears his time with the club may not be at an end.
Arpon Basu of The Athletic reports that there is “a willingness” within the organization to bring back Montembeault and have him play out the final year of his contract.
Basu notes that doing so would allow Jacob Fowler more time to develop in the AHL and keep the team’s depth in place behind Jakub Dobes.
Montembeault, 29, had a 10-8-4 record last season with an .872 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average. He did not appear in the Canadiens’ playoff run to the Eastern Conference Final.
The 6-foot-3 netminder is entering the final season of a three-year, $9.45 million contract that carries an annual cap hit of $3.15 million.
The Canadiens also face a roster decision on pending restricted free agent Kirby Dach, whose qualifying offer is set at $4 million. Basu reports that no contract talks have taken place and the Canadiens are not opposed to giving the qualifying offer, with the one-year term mitigating any risk for the team.
Dach, 25, recorded eight goals and 15 points in 37 games with the Montreal Canadiens last season, missing 31 games with a fractured foot.
He added four goals and five points in 19 playoff games before the Canadiens were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Final.
Dach was originally acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in July of 2022 in exchange for two draft picks and has struggled to stay in the Canadiens’ lineup during his four-season tenure, never appearing in more than 58 games.
The 6-foot-4 centre is coming off a four-year, $13.45 million contract that carried a cap hit of $3.36 million.
Drafted third overall by the Blackhawks in 2019, Dach has 51 goals and 136 points in 306 career games split between the Blackhawks and Canadiens.
Is a Panthers-Hellebuyck blockbuster possible?
The Florida Panthers missed the playoffs this spring after three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final, which earned the team two rings.
It appears the team could be in store for a major upgrade this summer, but where in the lineup it comes is unclear. The Panthers were listed on Dylan Larkin’s initial three-team approved trade list to the Detroit Red Wings and are believed to have interest.
Now, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wonders in The Athletic if the team could go after Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
His musing comes as he reports that there is no update on the contract talks between the Panther and pending unrestricted free agent Sergei Bobrovsky.
LeBrun admits “the price might be too rich” for the Panthers to make a deal for Hellebuyck, but the team has limited options in net if Bobrovsky walks away on the open market.
The Panthers own the ninth overall pick in this month’s draft and then are without a pick in the first round of both the 2027 and 2028 drafts, leaving the team short on potential trade fodder.
Daniil Tarasov, who served as Bobrovsky’s backup this season, is also a pending UFA and the options on the free-agent market aren’t overly promising for the Panthers, who are looking to leap back into the playoffs next season.
Bobrovsky was the top-ranked netminder on the initial TSN Top 30 pending free agents list, coming in at No. 4 overall. Stuart Skinner was next as No. 15 overall, with Frederik Andersen being the only other goaltender listed at No. 25.
In terms of making a play for Hellebuyck, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported earlier this week that the Jets are willing to listen on the netminder, though the price will be steep.
“Yes, teams are calling. And it’s likely based on what Connor Hellebuyck said as he shared his disappointment for the finish in the Winnipeg Jets season," Dreger explained. “So (the Jets are) listening, and then you look at the needs that Winnipeg has. They very much want a No. 2 centre. They’d like to add a depth centre, like a (fourth-line) centre. They’d like to look at their blueline. And if they trade Connor Hellebuyck, then they’re going to have to pay some attention to their goaltending as well.
“The unrestricted free agent market is so thin right now, and history tells us that Winnipeg struggles in making big trades because it’s hard to lure players with trade protection to Winnipeg. But when you’ve got a Vezina Trophy-winning goalie, who granted has a no-move clause, potentially in play, and teams are calling, if the Winnipeg Jets can improve their lineup by adding a number two centre plus, plus, then I think Cheveldayoff is at least willing at this point to consider that."
