NHL Hockey Player News

Boqvist was the No.8 overall pick in 2018 and enjoyed some success in his first full NHL season in 2021. The 20-year-old had two goals with 14 assists (16 points) in 35 games with the Blackhawks last year and will likely see a massive workload increase in 2021-22. Boqvist could replace Jones on the Blue Jackets' top-pairing with Zach Werenski.

Jones has one year left on his deal that carries a $5.4M cap-hit but was due for a raise and made it clear he wasn't interested in returning to Columbus. Jones had a modified no-trade clause so he was interested in joining the Blackhawks and received a massive eight-year extension immediately following the trade. Jones' offensive numbers have been trending towards in the last two seasons and he has many detractors, especially in the analytics community, so this will definitely be a deal worth monitoring for the future.

After reports of potentially career-ending knee and hip injuries, the Canadiens received some great news on Price's status this week. He will not need surgery on his hip but underwent surgery on his knee and is expected to be ready for training camp next year. After a tough regular season, Price turned in a stellar postseason, going 13-9 with a 2.28 GAA and .924 SV%.

Hall had a slow start with the Sabres in 2021 but found his stride after a midseason trade to the Bruins. Once in Boston, Hall was tied for 32nd with 14 points (8G / 6A) in 16 games. Hall was the perfect fit for the Bruins' second line and signs a very reasonable $6.0M AAV deal to stay with them for the next four years.

Roussel has one year left at $3.0M AAV and was one of three bad contracts moved to Arizona in this deal, however, they all only have one year left. Roussel had just four points (1G / 3A) in 35 games last year and will almost certainly play a minimal role for the Coyotes in 2021-22.

Eriksson had one assist while skating in just seven games with the Canucks in 2020-21. That's not the type of output you want from a player who is making $6.0M AAV for one more season. The Canucks dumped some bad contracts in this trade but it should also provide Eriksson to get on the ice more frequently in 2021-22. Since signing that six-year, $36.0M contract, Eriksson has scored just 38 goals with 52 assists (90 points) in 252 games.

This trade was all about dumping bad contracts for the Canucks, Beagle has one year left at $3.0M. Beagle was held to just five points (1G / 4A) in 30 games last season but led Canucks forwards in SH TOI/Gm (3:14) and ranked 17th in the NHL in Faceoff% (56.2). Beagle will likely centre the Coyotes' fourth-line and contribute on their penalty-kill.

Ekman-Larsson was one of the best goal-scoring defensemen in the NHL from 2014-to-2019 but his game has slipped a bit in recent years. Ekman-Larsson has a tough time in his own end but brings an offensive punch to the Canucks' blueline that already features Quinn Hughes. In a full 82-game season, you can almost certainly plug O.E.L in for double-digit goals and 30-plus assists.

Contract talks between the Coyotes and Garland broke down and it was widely expected that he would be traded. The deal ended up being much larger and more complex than anyone could have predicted, but Garland should be a great fit in the Canucks new top-6. Garland is tied for 99th with 78 points (34G / 44A) over the last two seasons. Garland will likely replace Tanner Pearson on a line with Bo Horvat and Nils Hoglander.

Blais has been a fixture of the Blues' bottom-6 over the last three seasons and likely won't be able to expand on that role with the Rangers. He doesn't offer a lot of offence, posting a career-high of just 15 points (8G / 7A) in 36 games a season ago. The Rangers have plenty of capable top-9 forwards, so expect Blais to be a fourth-liner to start 2021-22.

Buchnevich has taken his game to a new level over the last two seasons, averaging 24 goals and 39 assists (63 points) per 82 games in the two shortened seasons. Moving to St. Louis, Buchnevich becomes one of many unsigned RFA's who will be looking for a raise. Once signed, he'll likely replace Jaden Schwartz, who will be a UFA on July 28th.

Hagg's role with the Flyers has diminished in recent years but he remains a steady blueliner that should have no problem landing a top-4 spot with the Sabres. Hagg is a big, physical defenseman with solid puck-moving abilities, who could be a potential D-partner for Rasmus Dahlin.

Ristolainen's game appears to be heading in the wrong direction but the Flyers must not think so. They have given up a considerable amount of assets to have Ristolainen replace Shayne Gostisbehere in 2021-22. After four-straight seasons of 40-plus points from 2016-to-2019, Ristolainen has averaged seven goals and 29 assists (36 points) per 82 games over the last two years. He remains big and tough to play against and will undoubtedly be a part of the Flyers top-4 with either Ivan Provorov or Travis Sanheim.

Bergmann came over from Germany in 2020 and has picked up just one assist in 13 NHL games since. He spent most of his time in the AHL, scoring 10 goals with 14 assists (24 points) in 63 games. He'll have his contract terminated so he can head back to Germany to play with Adler Mannheim (DEL).

DeAngelo's future with the Rangers ended after a reported physical altercation with Alexandar Georgiev in January. He was officially bought out on Saturday and will save the Rangers $4.4M in 2021-22 but cost them $883K in 2022-23.

Stevens was a fifth-round pick in 2016 and has spent the last three years in the AHL. The 25-year-old forward had six goals and 12 assists (18 points) in 27 games with Utica last year. Look for Stevens to start the 2021-22 season in the AHL once again.

Smith only played in eight games between the AHL and NHL in 2021. The 27-year-old had three assists in five games with the Lightning but sat out as a healthy scratch most of the time. With some key bottom-6 players hitting the free agent market, Smith could have a spot on the roster to start the 2021-22 season.

Sherwood split his 2020-21 campaign between the AHL and NHL. Sherwood played as a point-per-game player with 16 points (10G / 6A) in 16 games with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) but struggled to find the same level of offence with the Avalanche. Depending on what the Avlanahce do with their $20.26M in cap-space, Sherwood could have a spot on the NHL roster to start 2021-22 season.

Blichfeld spent most of the 2020-21 season in the AHL, where he led the Barracuda with 12 goals and 10 assists (22 points) in 25 games. Blichfeld was a seventh-round pick in 2016 but is trending towards being an NHLer in 2021-22.

Balcers was claimed off of waivers from the Senators in January and went on to score eight goals and nine assists (17 points) in 41 games with San Jose. Balcers showed he was capable of playing in the Sharks' top-6 at times in 2021 but is probably best suited to play on their third-line.