NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 4, 2025
The Hurricanes land former Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers, the Sharks add defensemen Dmitry Orlov and Nick Leddy, the notable remaining UFAs, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NOTABLE UFA SIGNING NEWS
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Carolina Hurricanes landed the last remaining star in the NHL unrestricted free-agent market (UFA), signing winger Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $8.5 million.
The Carolina Hurricanes signed former Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: You can read my reaction to this among my live grades of this summer’s top UFA signings at Bleacher Report.
Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky was happy to add Ehlers among his top-six forwards. The cap hit is a little high, but the term isn’t bad, and it doesn’t bust their budget. With over $10.6 million in cap space, the Hurricanes will have plenty of room for other additions before the March 2026 trade deadline.
SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: The Sharks signed UFA defensemen Dmitry Orlov and claimed blueliner Nick Leddy off waivers from the St. Louis Blues. Orlov got a two-year deal with an AAV of $6.5 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Orlov replaced long-time defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, whom the Sharks bought out last month. He’ll be a short-term upgrade over Vlasic, whose performance declined in recent years.
Leddy became the odd man out on the Blues’ defense corps. The writing was on the wall following their acquisition of young blueliner Logan Mailloux earlier this week. Leddy is in the final season of his contract with an AAV of $4 million.
Both defensemen will provide significant experience to the rebuilding Sharks’ blueline. Their combined AAV of $10.5 million also helped the club reach the salary-cap minimum of $70.6 million.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Washington Capitals signed winger Anthony Beauvillier to a two-year contract with an AAV of $2.75 million.
DAILY FACEOFF: Center Jack Roslovic, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and winger Max Pacioretty and Jeff Skinner are among the notables remaining in this year’s UFA market.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: We’ve quickly reached the bargain bin level of this summer’s UFA market. Some decent depth talent remains, but it’ll take several weeks (or most of the offseason) before they end up signing cost-effective short-term deals.
IN OTHER NEWS…
NEW YORK POST: Islanders head coach Patrick Roy regrets the disparaging remarks he made about the performance of struggling winger Anthony Duclair in April. He intends to apologize to the 29-year-old winger directly. Duclair took a leave of absence from the Islanders over the incident.
RG.ORG: Speaking of the Islanders, former KHL star Maxim Shabanov revealed the reasons why he chose to sign with them over other clubs earlier this week. He prioritized his role, potential linemates, and power-play systems.
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: Canadiens forward Kirby Dach has resumed skating. The 24-year-old center played 57 games last season before undergoing surgery on his right knee in February for the second straight year. He is reportedly ahead of schedule in his recovery and is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season.
KSL SPORTS: The Utah Mammoth has opened contract extension talks with young star Logan Cooley. He’s in the final season of his entry-level contract. Meanwhile, contract talks continue with restricted free agent (RFA) Jack McBain.
SPORTSNET: Rogers Communications Inc. has become the majority owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
Happy Independence Day!!!!!!!!
🎆
Hear! Hear! Johnny Z. And here’s hoping that the big orange man that lives in the big, white house, honours our country’s independence as well! Enjoy all the celebrations that the 4th of July brings!
With the flurry of activity – both major and minor – over the past several days, here’s an updated “thumbnail” look at the cap situation for all 32 teams, listed from most in reserve to least, as shown this morning by Puckpedia, including the number of players committed to for next season and the names of RFAs still unsigned. This fluctuates almost daily as names move from the main roster to the minor league structure (where there are even more RFAs to be finalized – check at Puckpedia if interested in those).
Anaheim $28,988,812 – 19 – C Mason McTavish; RD Drew Helleson; G Lucas Dostal
San Jose $23,890,832 – 21 – RD Jack Thompson; W Danil Gushchin
Chicago $22,312,024 – 20 – LD Wyatt Kaiser; RD Louis Crevier; G Arvid Soderblom
Columbus $20,517,501 – 21 – LW Dmitri Voronkov; RW Mikael Pyyhtia
Winnipeg: $19,898,810 – 19 – C Gabriel Vilardi; LD Dylan Samberg; C Morgan Barron; C Rasmus Kupari
Pittsburgh $15,816,904 – 23 – No RFAs
Calgary $15,412,500 – 22 – C Connor Zary
Buffalo $13,640,319 – 21 – G Devon Levi; LD Bowen Byram; RD Connor Timmins
Seattle $12,782,621 – 19 – RW Kaapo Kakko; C/LW Tye Kartye; LD Ryker Evans
Detroit $12,086,628 – 23 – No RFAs
Utah – $10,907,143 – 22 – C Jack McBain
Carolina $10,644,291 – 23 – No RFAs
Minnesota $10,186,835 – 21 – C Marco Rossi
Nashville $10,116,039 – 21 – RW Luke Evangelista
New Jersey $6,906,667 – 22 – LD Luke Hughes; C/W Thomas Bordeleau
Los Angeles $6,768,333 – 22 – RW Alex Laferriere
Philadelphia $5,520,238 – 22 – LD Cameron York
Toronto $4,983,081 – 23 – LW/RW Nick Robertson
Washington $4,975,000 – 22 – C Hendrix Lapierre
Ottawa $4,294,286 – 22 – LD Donovan Sebrango
Colorado $4,123,333 – 21 – No RFAs
NY Islanders $3,936,667 – 23 – W Maxim Tsyplakov
Boston $2,081,667 – 23 – No RFAs
Tampa $1,180,001 – 23 – No RFAs
NY Rangers $777,976 – 23 – No RFAs
Vancouver $763,333 – 22 – No RFAs
St. Louis $625,150 – 23 – No RFAs
Edmonton $175,834 – 23 – No RFAs
These 4 are currently shown as over the cap by the amounts shown with only Montreal (Price – $10.5 mil)) and Vegas (Pietrangelo $8.8 mil) definitely ticketed for LTIR relief.
Dallas $1,794,916 – 22 – No RFAs
Florida $2,950,000 – 22 – RW/C Mackie Samoskevich
Montreal $4,454,167 – 22 – G Jakub Dobes; LD Jayden Struble
Vegas $6,813,571 – 23 – RW Alexander Holtz; C/RW Cole Schwind
Very happy Sharks picked up Orlov and Leddy. Both will be very helpful in adding stability and experience to the Sharks back end and in mentoring Dickinson, Thompson and Caglioni when they come up.
Those two will really help in steadying the younger D AND forwards, Rock, not to mention keep the front of the net a lot clearer for the goalies.
San Jose is going about the re-build in the right way – steady as she goes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGwSCPWwqGw