The Winnipeg Jets have agreed to identical deals with two major pieces of their team.
The Manitoba club says it has reached identical seven-year deals with forward Mark Scheifele and goalie Connor Hellebuyck, each with an average value of $8.5 million US per year.
The extensions are set to come into effect in the 2024-25 NHL season.
Scheifele set a career-high for goals last season with 42, and ranks first in franchise history with playoff goals (19) as well as game-winning goals (44) after being drafted by the Jets seventh overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
HERE TO STAY 😤<br><br>Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck have signed identical seven-year contract extensions with an average annual value of $8,500,000. <a href=”https://t.co/vINkMjXh9b”>pic.twitter.com/vINkMjXh9b</a>
—@NHLJets
Hellebuyck, 30, was drafted a year later in the fifth round and is beginning his ninth season with the team.
The American netminder leads the franchise’s goalies in games played (445), wins (238) and shutouts (32). He won the Vezina Trophy in 2020 and was a finalist in 2018 and 2023.
Maple Leafs’ Murray to miss 6-8 months after hip surgery
The Maple Leafs made a series of moves on the eve of the NHL regular season, announcing netminder Matt Murray had undergone hip surgery as well as a series of changes to their staff.
Murray will miss the next six to eight months after undergoing bilateral hip surgery.
General manager Brad Treliving said at the start of the Leafs training camp that Murray was slated for “significant surgery” but wouldn’t discuss the injury or procedure at the time.
Murray, 29, went 14-8-2 with .903 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average in 26 games in 2022-23 following last summer’s trade with the Ottawa Senators.
The Leafs also announced that Curtis McElhinney has been hired as the director of Goaltending Development and Scouting, Jake Muzzin has been named a pro scout and Chris Bourque will assume a new role as a College Free Agent Scout.
Muzzin had one year left on his contract with the Leafs but Treliving said ahead of training camp that the defenceman would miss the upcoming season.
Bourque joined the Maple Leafs’ scouting staff in the 2022-23 season after a 17-year playing career.
The oft-injured Murray put in some decent showings with the Leafs, but was unable to stay out of the trainers’ room because of groin and ankle problems before suffering a concussion in April.
Murray has one season remaining on a four-year, $25-million US contract he signed with Ottawa in October 2020 after being acquired from Pittsburgh in a trade. He was set to count close to $4.69 million against the salary cap next season after the Senators retained 25 per cent of his wages in the trade with Toronto.
Sabres ink defenceman Dahlin
The Buffalo Sabres signed star defenceman Rasmus Dahlin to an eight-year contract extension worth $88 million on Monday.
The extension kicks in ahead of the 2024-25 season. Dahlin, 23, will make $7.2 million this season.
Dahlin tied for fifth among NHL defencemen with 73 points (15 goals, 58 assists) last season, the third-highest mark by a blueliner in Sabres history. He led the Sabres in blocked shots and finished second on the team in hits.
Dahlin, 23, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has 233 points (46 goals, 187 assists) in five seasons with the Sabres.
In addition to Dahlin, the Sabres have also locked up forwards Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens and defenceman Mattias Samuelsson with long-term deals since the beginning of last season. The team is also eyeing a long-term deal for defenceman Owen Power, its No. 1 overall pick in 2021.