NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 1, 2025
Alex Pietrangelo to step away from hockey, an update on Evgeni Malkin, Brad Marchand re-signs with the Panthers, Ivan Provorov re-ups with the Blue Jackets, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The NHL’s annual free-agent period begins at noon ET on July 1.
PIETRANGELO STEPS AWAY FROM HOCKEY FOR HEALTH REASONS
VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: Alex Pietrangelo released a statement on Monday indicating he was stepping away from hockey for health reasons. In an additional statement, Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said the 35-year-old defenseman is dealing with hip injuries that would require bilateral femur reconstruction, with no guarantee of success.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (NHL Images).
Pietrangelo said doctors advised him to remove the intensity of hockey to see if his body improves so that he can enjoy a normal quality of life. He didn’t indicate that he was retiring, but admitted there was a low likelihood of resuming his playing career.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pietrangelo’s condition likely means he’s played his final game. He is signed through 2026-27 with an average annual value of $8.8 million. It’s expected the Golden Knights will place him on long-term injury reserve to free up salary-cap space to accommodate their recent acquisition of Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Pietrangelo’s absence leaves a big hole on the Golden Knights’ blueline. He was their best all-around defenseman, playing a key role in their march to the 2023 Stanley Cup.
EVGENI MALKIN TO REMAIN WITH THE PENGUINS
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Dan Kingerski reports sources close to Evgeni Malkin and within the Penguins organization confirm the 38-year-old center will play with the club for 2025-26. Beyond that, nothing has been decided positively or negatively.
Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said he told Malkin and his agent that they’ll see how the season goes and will meet again at the Olympic break next February. They’ll see where the veteran center is at that point, and then meet after the season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Malkin was the recent subject of speculation suggesting he could agree to be traded this summer. Barring the unforeseen, he’ll be back in a Penguins jersey to start this season.
LATEST NOTABLE NHL SIGNINGS
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Analysis of Mitch Marner being signed by the Maple Leafs and traded to the Golden Knights, and the new contracts for Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard, Florida’s Aaron Ekblad, the Islanders’ Alexander Romanov, and more can be found at this link.
THE SCORE: The Florida Panthers re-signed winger Brad Marchand to a six-year contract with an average annual value of $5.25 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Panthers GM Bill Zito is ensuring his roster core remains intact as he attempts to keep his club’s Stanley Cup window open for the foreseeable future. As with the new contracts for Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad, Marchand’s deal should help the Panthers remain competitive in the short term, but it won’t age well as the 37-year-old winger’s performance inevitably declines.
Those contracts will eventually become burdensome, even under a rising salary cap. Zito could shed them via trades, buyouts or LTIR, but there’s no certainty those moves will be easy to pull off.
Potential trade partners will insist on some salary retention or sweeteners like draft picks and prospects. Buyouts count against the cap as two-thirds of the remaining value over twice the remaining term (and in Marchand’s case, as a “plus-35” player, the full value would still count against the cap). LTIR means they cannot accrue cap space during the season.
TSN: The Columbus Blue Jackets are finalizing a new seven-year contract with defenseman Ivan Provorov. The deal would be worth an AAV of $8.5 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blue Jackets attempted to acquire Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders, but they lost out to the Montreal Canadiens. That left Provorov with considerable leverage to land this deal.
The 28-year-old is a good second-pairing blueliner, but this contract would pay him like a first-pairing rearguard. It would be a significant raise over the $6.75 million of his previous contract.
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: The Red Wings re-signed forward Patrick Kane to a one-year contract with a cap hit of $3 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No surprise here. Both sides wanted this done. The 36-year-old finished fifth among the Wings last season with 59 points in 72 games as a second-line right wing.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Los Angeles Kings signed winger Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year, $4.3 million contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The 29-year-old Kuzmenko struggled last season with the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers. However, he regained his scoring touch following a trade to the Kings, tallying 17 points in 22 regular-season games and six points in six postseason contests. A solid performance this season could earn him an extension with more term.
IN OTHER NEWS…
THE PROVINCE: Thatcher Demko is reportedly close to signing a contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks. The 29-year-old goaltender is in the final season of his five-year contract with an AAV of $5 million.
CALGARY SUN: The Flames hired Brent Seabrook as a player development coach.
RG.ORG: Evgeny Kuznetsov is hoping to return to the NHL this season. The 33-year-old center spent last season with KHL team SKA St. Petersburg. His agent claims that around 10 NHL clubs have expressed some interest in his client.
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: The Canadiens traded goaltender Cayden Primeau to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2026 seventh-round pick.
I think Florida has to make a major trade right now. Verhaege? Lundell?
They are sitting at $1.27M cap space after signing Marchand.
But that’s only 10 forwards (and doesn’t include Samoskevich) and 6 defense and 1 goalie under contract.
Gotta figure they still have to sign 2 forwards, 1 D, 1 G. At league minimum that is almost $4M.
I’m kind of surprised they signed Marchand. I thought the $ would have been better spent on Samoskevish and then a few fillers.
I saw one comment on another site noting that Tkachuck would start the year on LTIR, but that’s only a temporary solution if true.
Something’s gotta give.
Tkachuck gets op; LTIR until game 1 of playoffs (current CBA rules). LOL
Never fear with Champion Zito; he will get things done.
He can go over by 10% right now and doesn’t have to be Cap compliant until October
They already traded with cbj for the back up goalie. Would not be surprised if zito move Rod to free up 3 mil
Tarasov is still RFA – – – he’s not actually signed to an extension yet so isn’t in the $.
I’m upping my trade offer from yesterday
Yesterday ; $25 M
Today : $40 M
from FSG to Vinnie V to flip Zito/Dubas
Sad to hear about Petro stepping away. Hope he fully recovers.
McCrimmon once again gets his man. Who is next (for Knights) on the chopping block? Wild Bill?
This isn’t a fantasy league site
Yes it is “Fantasy” League
Zito is doing a FANTAStic job
Dubas is doing a FANTAStically bad job.
Let the trade proceed!!!
You can’t rule out the possibility that he has made offers with the $18.6 mil he has in the kitty, but that some have decided they want no part of Pittsburgh right now and so have accepted other offers.
Your right I can’t rule it out.
It’s much like a defense lawyer asks a cop on the stand a Yes or No question “is it possible”
By definition; if it’s NOT 100% that it can’t/didn’t happen; then it IS Possible
Highly highly improbable but not at 100% won’t/didn’t happen ; still means then ; that it is possible
So yes, it IS possible
I’m sure you can tell from my sarcasm how “possible” it really is
Every GM should want to deal with Dubas as he loses nigh 100% of his trades
He did finally make a smart move (not a trade, but a signing)
He signed nigh zero percent risk deal on Brazeau
Just turned 27. 6’5” , 225
Was on 82 G pace with Bruins for 15-15-30 playing only 11 minutes/night
Didn’t pan out with Wild
2 years at $1.5 M
Even if he absolutely stunk (and he’s already better than a couple on Pens) ; all but $350K can be buried (and that’s only if Pens spend to Cap, which they won’t)
After this year; if he absolutely sucks; buy him out
So absolute worst case is $2.25 M cash outlay for a press box guy
Best case is he finds his stride with the Pens and does better than the 15-15-30; that would make him an absolute steal at $1.5 M
Even if he only goes 10-10-20; $1.5 M is a good deal
Add that to his size 👍👍👍
Now sign some more like that AND retain 50% on Karllsson AND ONE of Rust/Rakell and get a total of
2 young NHLers under contract
AND
2 NHL ready prospects (under contract) that are expected to play in the NHL this year
that’s what needs to be done
I admit to not knowing all the rules of the LTIR but Florida and Vegas have manipulated it to a science. Panthers are going for a potential 3rd cup in a row. Repeating for championships in all the major sports championships hardly ever happens anymore.Strategy seems to be once you feel you are. In the playoffs,rest your stars until the cup begins.
It isn’t manipulation if it within the rules.
Bruins .. Top 3 Dman..Goal Scorer ..4th line Shawn Thornton type .. trade Korpisalo
Joe only 2 goal scorers as ufa Ehlers and Boeser Doubt bruins get either Sweeney will add a vet 6/7 th d most likely. He d is set with the signing of Joki yesterday Maybe he can get fancy and trade for Robertson from stars
Joe so far they only got a 4th line Thornton type. No top 3 d man,and a broken down 32 year old scorer!
it’s gonna be a very quiet FA day today. Ehlers said he may take a few days, and so many teams are interested in Boeser he may take some time to decide. Jake Allen is considering a deal to remain in NJ. So a lot of talking heads today but not much action, almost like the most recent trade deadlines
Provorov getting 8.5m AAV for 8 years underlines that the Habs got a good deal for Dobson at $9.5m. As Lyle says, Provorov is a 2nd pairing guy who’ll be paid like a top pairing guy.
I also think that Dobsons deal stands up pretty well against Bouchard, whose deal is for only 4 years. If it had been 8 he likely would have gotten at least $1m more per year. His next contract will likely come in at even more. I think Dobson will wind up looking like a bargain.
I’d say that overall, Bouchard is somewhat better than Dobson, especially offensively, with the caveat that he’s gotten to play with McDavid and Dreisaitl. But Dobsons contract puts the Habs in a better situation.
Might end up being more trades vs ufa signings. Ufa market pretty thin this year
Thinking out loud..
Could the Bruins sign Ryan Lindgren (D) then package Mason Lohrei & P Zacha for a goal scorer Jason Robertson
Why – and how – would Toronto do that, Joe?
Combined, Zacha, a C, and Lohrei, a LD, cost $7,950,000 off the cap while Toronto has $5,795,851 in cap space, not counting Robertson.
At LD the leafs have Rielly, McCabe and Ekman-Larsson and at C hey have Matthews, Tavares, Laughton and Roy. Sure, Zacha would be better than Laughton or Roy, but paying a 3rd/4th line C almost $5 mil per is a non-starter. And where would Lohrei fit in? He’s certainly nowhere near their starting 3.
George O you have the wrong Robertson brother!
George, you’re thinking of Nick Robertson. Joes talking about Jason Robertson, who plays with Dallas. Though I think it’ll take a lot more than that to shake him loose from Dallas.
Crap – I’m forever mixing those 2 up – thanks guys.
Disregard, Joe … my bad.
Agree probably take more than those two Bruins to get JRob and Stars have a lot of Dmen signed … but I do think Korpisalo and Zacha are on the move