NHL free agency spills into Day 2 with Patrick Kane still available; Ovechkin returns to Capitals

Cooper Williams followed Saskatoon teammate Zach Olson to the Leafs in Saturday's draft. "Just seeing your name up there, especially with Toronto, it was pretty unreal," the 18-year-old centre from Calgary said. "Just clapping and then some hugs and mom was crying." Williams models his play style on Nick Suzuki.

NHL free agency spilled into Thursday with some high-profile players still on the open market, including Stanley Cup champions Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. Alex Ovechkin is staying put in Washington.

With a social media post picturing Ovechkin and the words, “It’s so not O-ver,” the Capitals ended months of speculation Thursday regarding the 40-year-old’s future and whether he might head home to compete in Russia. The NHL’s all-time goal-scoring leader is returning for a 22nd season after signing a bonus-laden deal with a US$1 million salary that will make him US$9 million at age 41 as long as he plays in 10 games.

The Capitals made sure to keep enough salary cap space open to fit Ovechkin during an offseason in which they added Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch, Boone Jenner and Vincent Desharnais.

A day after landing prized free agent goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, the Toronto Maple Leafs continued their offseason transformation by signing former Capitals forward Brandon Duhaime to a three-year contract.

Meantime, Kane is still available after spending the past three years with Detroit. Kane is 37 now and a decade removed from winning the Hart Trophy as MVP when he led the league in scoring. Also unsigned are wingers Tarasenko and Anthony Mantha, who is coming off a career year, and forward Claude Giroux, who is still chasing a championship at 38.

The first 11-plus hours of free agency featured more than 55 players changing places across the league with more than US$360 million worth of contracts. And that’s not even counting Bowen Byram becoming the highest-paid defenseman at an average salary of US$12.5 million beginning in 2027 under his new deal with Chicago after he was acquired in a trade with Buffalo.

Byram’s time with that distinction may be short if Colorado gets a new contract done with two-time Norris Trophy-winner Cale Makar, which also would go into effect in 2027-28.

The salary cap getting another record increase to US$104 million led to some big-money deals but also reduced the depth of available talent because teams had room to re-sign their top players. New Jersey extended captain Nico Hischier, Florida re-signed center Eetu Luostarinen and Philadelphia rewarded goaltender Dan Vladar with a long-term contract.

Wild day of signings and a trade

The Minnesota Wild were busy in re-signing their own free agents and acquiring forward Blake Coleman and defenseman Olli Maatta in a trade with Calgary. The Flames acquired defenseman Jake Middleton and three draft picks, including a second-rounder in 2029. Calgary also agreed to retain 50% of the US$4.9 million Coleman is owed in the final year of his contract.

The 34-year-old Coleman has 10 seasons of NHL experience and posted his fourth 20-goal season last year, finishing with 20 goals and 35 points. Matta is a 13-year NHL player noted for his defensive play. The 30-year-old Middleton leaves Minnesota after four-plus seasons.

The Wild signed Maxim Shabanov for US$1.6 million for next season after the New York Islanders decided not to bring back the Russian winger.

Minnesota is also bringing back two players by re-signing defenseman Zach Bogosian (US$1.25 million) and right wing Nick Foligno (US$900,000) to one-year deals.

Isles GM Darche open to additions

New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche was expecting a break after a busy stretch with the draft and free agency happening less than a week apart. He is also keeping an eye out for the Isles, who have been generally quiet in adding forward Matias Maccelli and backup goalie Vitek Vanecek while losing forward Anders Lee (signed by Utah).

“We’ll have probably over US$40 million of cap space next summer,” Darche said. “I’m still going to be working the rest of the summer, especially the next couple weeks. A lot of GMs, I won’t lie to you, they go on vacation and it goes pretty silent on the GM chat. But if I have opportunities to improve the team, I will. Every single day, it’s a relentless pursuit of trying to get better.”

Stephen Whyno And John Wawrow, The Associated Press