It didn’t take long for the general managers around the league to start reshaping their rosters. The Carolina Hurricanes have yet to recover from their Las Vegas-sized hangovers and a couple of trades have been pushed through already. The first deal involved a divisional rival and the second contained a couple of familiar names.
Trade #1 –
Toronto sends goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers for goaltender Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae, and a 2026 third-round pick. It’s an interesting move for Toronto as they bring in two restricted free agents. There is a better than zero chance that they don’t tender Ersson as they have Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby under contract and Artur Akhtyamov waiting in the wings. If they don’t qualify either Ersson or Andrae they clear a little over $5 million in cap room for some other moves. Oh, and they get another pick to mess around with.
Philadelphia gets Woll, who is solid when healthy, and Benoit, a cost-effective depth defenseman.
Speaking of clearing out cap space, the Colorado Avalanche gave themselves a little more breathing room as they shipped off old friend Ross Colton and goaltender Isak Posch to Nashville for former Lightning draft pick Magnus Chrona, a 2026 third-round pick, and a 2027 third-round pick (which was originally Colorado’s).
It’s a quietly solid trade from Nashville, who picks up the bottom-six center they’ve been missing since trading away Michael McCarron at the deadline. Colton was getting squeezed for playing time in Colorado and should have a bigger role in Nashville. It looks like Predators are taking on his full $4 million cap hit giving the Avalanche almost $7 million in space prior to July spending season.
They also picked up Chrona, who is set to be a Group VI free agent in a couple of weeks, but has already signed to play in the SHL next season. It’s always worth noting when a team re-acquires their own pick. Could they be setting up an offer sheet? Honestly, probably not. After all getting their 2027 third-round pick only really allows them to make an offer between $1,575,970 and $2,387,832, a sum a team would probably be willing to match for one of their own.
It’s unlikely that this is the end of the wheeling and dealing over the next few weeks.
Hockey News
John Tortorella won’t return as Vegas head coach [ESPN]
The Golden Knights substitute teacher won’t take over as their full-time teacher next year. The club announced that his role was truly interim and thanked him for his service. His performance down the stretch and through the playoffs could intrigue some teams out there. [Oh my god, Torts in Toronto would be awesome!] While he might not land a job this summer, it wouldn’t be a surprise if another team brings him in mid-season.
Maple Leaf’s head coach search down to ‘final phases’ [Sportsnet]
Sadly, the next Toronto head coach likely won’t be Tortorella, but we should know who is saddled with that albatross in the next few days. Dade City’s Dallas Eakins, Peter Laviolette, Joe Pavelski, and Pat Ferschweiler all seem to be in the mix.
PWHL Round One Mock Draft [The Ice Garden]
The PWHL kicks off draft season on June 17 with Vancouver holding the first overall pick. Maya Smith, a defender from the University of Wisconsin, seems to be the overwhelming consensus for the number one pick. Las Vegas jumped up the third overall pick after trading Hilary Knight to Detroit for the selection.
Six realistic offer-sheet candidates [The Athletic]
Connor Bedard isn’t getting an offer from another team. Probably. Mavrik Bourque might. A confluence of factors (salary cap bump, lackluster unrestricted free agent class, younger GMs not as beholden to the good-old boys network) could lead some actual offer sheets.
