Seattle Kraken News

Grubauer will start Friday vs. the Blues.

Grubauer gave up four goals on 32 shots in Colorado's 4-1 loss to the Blues on opening night. Despite the tough season debut, the Avalanche will go right back to Grubauer in the rematch on Friday. He was 9-6-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .914 SV% on home-ice last season and should be able to get back on track despite the difficult matchup.

Philipp Grubauer
Grubauer is expected to start Friday vs. the Blues.

Grubauer gave up four goals on 32 shots in Colorado's 4-1 loss to the Blues on opening night. Despite the tough season debut, the Avalanche will go right back to Grubauer in the rematch on Friday. He was 9-6-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .914 SV% on home-ice last season and should be able to get back on-track despite the difficult matchup.

Philipp Grubauer
Grubauer will start opening night vs. the Blues.

Grubauer went 18-12-4 with a 2.63 GAA and .916 SV% in 36 starts in 2020. Grubauer comes into 2021 as the No.1 netminder for one of the best teams' in the NHL but Pavel Francouz is one of the more capable backups in the league, so he will need to play well to earn himself a large share of the starts. Grubauer was 2-2-0 with a 3.26 GAA and .882 SV% in four starts vs. the Blues a season ago.

Philipp Grubauer
Grubauer is expected to start opening night vs. the Blues.

Grubauer went 18-12-4 with a 2.63 GAA and .916 SV% in 36 starts in 2020. Grubauer comes into 2021 as the No.1 netminder for one of the best teams' in the NHL but Pavel Francouz is one of the more capable backups in the league, so he will need to play well to earn himself a large share of the starts. Grubauer was 2-2-0 with a 3.26 GAA and .882 SV% in four starts vs. the Blues a season ago.

Philipp Grubauer
The Blues have signed Vince Dunn to a one-year contract worth $1.875M.

Dunn was the last of the Blues unsigned RFAs and gets a one-year contract for a very good number for a team tight up against the salary cap. Dunn's numbers dipped a bit in 2020 and he still has plenty of competition for playing time with Torey Krug coming over to replace Alex Pietrangelo. Still, he's scored 21 goals over the last two seasons and should continue to be a good source of goals with modest assist totals in 2021.

Vince Dunn
The Avalanche have re-signed Andre Burakovsky to a two-year extension worth $9.8 million ($4.9M AAV).

Burakovsky earns a nice raise (from $3.25M to $4.9M) after setting career-highs in goals (20), assists (25), points (45) and PPP (11). Burakovsky has found a home in Colorado's top-6, sometimes on a line with Nathan MacKinnon, so he could take his point totals to another level in 2021.

Andre Burakovsky
The Capitals have signed Justin Schultz to a two-year contract worth $8.0 million ($4.0M AAV).

Schultz had a breakout year in his first season with the Penguins, posting 51 points (12G / 39A) in 78 games. He struggled from that point on, he dealt with injuries, averaging just 46 games played from 2018-2020. During that stretch he had just 54 points (9G / 45A), barely matching his output from year-1 alone. Schultz fills a need as a right-handed defenseman but his health is a concern and $4.0M is a hefty cap-hit for a player that may only play half the games.

Justin Schultz
The Lightning have signed Chris Gibson to a one-year, two-way contract.

Gibson was steady in net for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) in 2020, going 10-8-5 with a 2.78 GAA and .914 SV%. Gibson has played very sparingly in the NHL throughout his seven-year pro career, going 3-4-3 with a 3.45 GAA and .904 SV% in 14 career games. Gibson will likely be the No.1 netminder in Syracuse (AHL) in 2021 and would come up if something were to happen to Andrei Vasilevskiy or Curtis McElhinney.

Chris Gibson
The Coyotes have signed John Hayden to a one-year contract worth $750K.

Hayden had just three goals and one assist in 43 games as a fringe player for the Devils last season. Hayden has just nine points (6G / 3A) in his last 97 NHL games, so he offers almost no offence but will be a big, physical presence on the Coyotes' fourth line.

John Hayden
The Golden Knights have re-signed Chandler Stephenson to a four-year contract extension worth $11.0 million ($2.75M AAV).

The RFA got a $2.0M raise after posting a career-high 22 points (8G / 14A) while appearing in just 41 games. The 26-year-old forward was a Swiss Army Knife for the Golden Knights in 2020, playing up and down the lineup, on the wing or at centre, depending on what Vegas needed. Stephenson is best suited in a bottom-6 role and if he's their fourth line centre, they're in great shape.

Chandler Stephenson
The Lightning have re-signed Mitchell Stephens to a two-year contract worth $1.471 million ($735.5M AAV).

Stephens was a second-round pick (No.33 overall) in 2015 and graduated to the NHL in 2020. The 23-year-old centre had 10 points (5G / 5A) in 24 AHL games before getting promoted and picking up six points (3G / 3A) in 38 games in Tampa. He appeared in seven playoff games, scoring one goal en route to getting his name on the Stanley Cup.

Mitchell Stephens