Five Key Stories: 7/6/26 – 7/12/26
The free agent and trade rush is now over and as always, things have started to quiet down throughout the hockey world. However, there was some news of note from over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.
Staying Put: The drama heading into the week was what Anaheim and Utah would do with their respective players who signed offer sheets. In the end, nothing really changed as the Ducks matched Leo Carlsson’s five-year, $90MM contract while the Mammoth did the same with Barrett Hayton. Accordingly, neither player can be traded for the next calendar year. Carlsson now becomes the highest-paid player in NHL history while the Ducks are down to around $9MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, with Cutter Gauthier still needing a new contract and a back end in considerable need of improvement. As for Hayton, he’s only a year away from UFA eligibility so if an extension isn’t reached (he’s eligible to sign one as of January 1st), he’ll be able to hit the open market at 27 next summer.
Sens Keep A Veteran: While the Senators tried hard to re-sign Claude Giroux before free agency opened up, the veteran decided to test the open market. In the end, he decided to stay, signing a one-year deal that carries a $2MM base salary but also contains another $3MM in performance bonuses. Half of that will be reached at the 10-game mark with another $500K at Game 40; the other million is dependent on playoff success. Giroux has spent the last four seasons in Ottawa and is coming off a solid showing where he had 49 points in 82 games while winning over 63% of his faceoffs. He turns 39 in January and there has been speculation in recent weeks that this could be his final season.
Five For Nemec: The Flames paid a big price to acquire Simon Nemec, sending two first-round picks and more to the Devils to acquire him last month. They’ve now paid a big price to sign him, inking him to a five-year, $36.25MM contract. The deal puts him close to ones signed by Pavel Mintyukov and Brandt Clarke in recent weeks. Nemec was the second overall pick in 2022 and hasn’t quite lived up to that draft billing yet, bouncing up and down over his first couple of years before an improved showing last year that saw him notch 11 goals and 15 assists in 68 games in nearly 20 minutes per night of playing time. On a back end that’s not quite as deep as New Jersey’s, Calgary will be banking on Nemec taking on a more prominent role based on this contract.
Bedard Out For Four: The Blackhawks won’t have their top forward available for at least the first month of next season and it has nothing to do with contract talks for the restricted free agent. The shoulder injury center Connor Bedard sustained earlier this month required surgery with the team revealing that he will miss the next four months as a result. That means he’s likely not available until the early part of November or around five to six weeks into the season. Bedard was Chicago’s top scorer last season with 30 goals and 45 assists in 69 games and the team has won just eight of 27 games that Bedard didn’t play in over his entry-level contract.
Alfredsson To Toronto: A long-time participant in the Battle of Ontario is changing sides. Daniel Alfredsson spent 17 seasons as a player with Ottawa and had two separate off-ice stints with the club, one as an advisor and one as a coach for the last three seasons. However, his contract expired at the end of June and he has moved on to Toronto as the Maple Leafs hired him as their associate coach on Jim Hiller’s new staff. It’s a step up for Alfredsson with the associate title effectively being the lead assistant, moving him one step closer to a potential head coaching opportunity down the road.
Photo courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.