East Minor Transactions: 07/01/2026

Jul 02, 2026 374 views

As expected, the opening day of free agency brought plenty of action from around the league. Here are today’s minor signings from Eastern Conference teams:

The AHL’s Syracuse Crunch have signed former Wranglers captain Clark Bishop to a minor-league deal. Bishop scored 27 points in 72 games with the Wranglers last season, a step down from his 38 points in 66 games the year prior. He has also scored nine points in 53 career appearances in the NHL. Syracuse will also receive defenseman Michael Callahan and goaltenders Olivier Rodrigue and Mads Sogaard – all of whom signed one-year, two-way contracts with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Callahan scored 16 points and a plus-30 in 56 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins this year. Rodrigue recorded 22 wins and a .895 save percentage in 51 AHL games, split between 41 with the Bakersfield Condors and 10 with the Rockford IceHogs. Sogaard set seven wins and a .874 save percentage in 27 games with the Belleville Senators. Rodrigue and Sogaard could step up as Syracuse’s next goalie tandem.
The New Jersey Devils also pulled off a quartet of signings. Forward Riley Tufte, Marc McLaughlin, and Xavier Parent – as well as defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok – have all signed one-year contracts worth $850K in the NHL. Tufte and Kolyachonok have signed one-way deals, while McLaughlin and Parent signed two-way contracts. Kolyachonok spent the bulk of the 2025-26 season with the AHL’s Texas Stars, where he scored nine points in 34 games. Tufte spent his year with the Providence Bruins, where he finished second in scoring with 56 points and second among the team’s forwards with 71 penalty minutes. Both Parent and McLaughlin spent their season with the Devils’ AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Parent led the team with 39 points in 63 games, while McLaughlin scored 14 points in 23 games.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have signed Ryan Mast to a one-year, AHL contract as announced by his agent Dan Milstein. Mast has recorded 19 points, all assists, in three seasons and 90 games at the AHL level. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will also hang onto forward Atley Calvert, who signed to a two-year entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins per PuckPedia. The deal will carry a $930K cap hit and $55K signing bonus in year-one. Calvert scored 38 points in 70 AHL games last season, playing on a minor-league deal. A pro deal will make him eligible for a call-up after a strong performance in his second pro season.

The New York Islanders have signed depth forward Mitchell Chaffee to a one-year contract per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. Chaffee scored 57 points in 54 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season. He has scored just 26 points in 109 career NHL games but could find new life in the second organization chage of his pro career. Prior to his three-year tenure with Tampa Bay, Chaffee spent three years in the Minnesota Wild organization. A victim of the St. Louis Blues’ revamped blue line, defenseman Matthew Kessel has signed a one-year, $850K deal with the New York Islanders per PuckPedia. It is a one-way contract. The depth right-defenseman scored three points in 29 games in each of the last two NHL seasons, complemented by 17 points in 29 AHL games during the 2024-25 season. He could compete for New York’s seventh-defenseman role out of training camp.
Veteran two-way defenseman Marc Del Gaizo, who signed a two-year, two-way contract with the New York Rangers per PuckPedia. Del Gaizo notched 27 points in 63 games with the Laval Rocket this season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have added additional grit to the bottom of their forward corps. According to PuckPedia, the Maple Leafs have signed Zack MacEwen to a two-year, $1.75MM contract. Injured for much of last season with the New Jersey Devils, MacEwen is only two years removed from playing in 21 games for the Ottawa Senators, scoring two goals and three points with a net-zero rating, averaging one PIM per game.
The Columbus Blue Jackets had a busy day for minor signings. The Blue Jackets announced a two-way deal for forward Owen Sillinger, a two-way deal for netminder Pheonix Copley, and a two-way deal for forward Riley Bezeau. Copley, 34, likely has the most name value of the trio, having 78 games of NHL experience under his belt, most of which came with the Los Angeles Kings.
The Detroit Red Wings announced that they’ve signed forward Wilmer Skoog to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season. Skoog had spent the last three years with the Panthers organization, registering an 18-goal, 37-point season in 61 games for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers last year.
According to PuckPedia, the Florida Panthers have brought in veteran forward Sam Lafferty on a two-way deal for the 2026-27 campaign. Additionally, the team has re-signed Cole Schwindt to a two-year deal after claiming him off the waiver wire last season. He performed admirably for the Panthers, scoring five goals and seven points in 29 games while averaging 10:02 of ice time per game.
The Montreal Canadiens announced that they have re-signed forward Alex Belzile and netminder Kaapo Kahkonen for the 2026-27 season. The agreement with Kahkonen is notable since he was believed to be looking overseas for his next opportunity. He managed a 21-9-11 record for the AHL’s Laval Rocket last season in 38 games with a .895 SV% and 2.73 GAA.
According to Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal, the Boston Bruins have signed netminder Jiri Patera to a two-way contract. Interestingly enough, as Divver points out, Patera was already with the Bruins organization for five days early in the 2024-25 campaign after claiming him from the Vancouver Canucks. Unfortunately, the Canucks re-claimed him off waivers a few days later.
PuckPedia confirmed that the Washington Capitals have signed forward Joshua Dunne to a one-year, $850K contract. Dunne, 27, spent last year with the Buffalo Sabres, scoring one goal and four points in 34 games with a -7 rating.
According to his agent, Dan Milstein, the Philadelphia Flyers signed forward Danila Klimovich to a one-year, two-way contract earlier today. Once believed to be a major building block for the Canucks, Vancouver chose to non-tender him on Monday. Klimovich scored 18 goals and 34 points in 63 games for the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks last year.
According to a team announcement, the Montreal Canadiens have also signed forward Samuel Poulin and defenseman Ethan Samson to one-year deals. Poulin spent last year split between AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and AHL Bakersfield, scoring 21 goals and 49 points in 71 games.

Source: Brennan McClain · https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2026/07/east-minor-transactions-07-01-2026.html

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