NHL News

2:25 PM ET The NHL free agency signing period for 2022 is underway. For each key deal, ESPN NHL reporters Greg Wyshynski and Kristen Shilton will assess the player’s fit with his new team, weigh whether the terms of the deal make sense and hand out an overall grade for the team. We’ll continue to

8:30 AM ET NHL free agency officially begins on Wednesday at noon ET, but it’s already been an absolutely wild offseason in hockey. With the salary cap rising by only $1 million from last season, teams have been forced into difficult decisions, such as: Still, some potential free agents removed themselves from the market by

8:35 AM ET The four days between the end of the draft and the start of free agency occur at a frenetic pace behind the scenes. It’s crunch time for teams to sign their pending unrestricted free agents before they lose their coveted trump card: an eighth year on a contract. Front offices toggle between

12:20 AM ET The Pittsburgh Penguins signed veteran forward Rickard Rakell to a six-year contract extension, the team announced late Monday night. The contract runs through the 2027-28 season, and carries an average annual value of $5 million. Rakell, 29, among some of the trade-deadline departures from the Anaheim Ducks last season, found a fit

8:35 AM ET Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland has surveyed the NHL free-agent landscape every summer since 1997. What does he see as the 2022 market prepares to officially open Wednesday at noon? “Lots of teams are tight on the cap, so it’s going to be interesting,” Holland told ESPN. “And then other teams

5:44 PM ET The Colorado Avalanche have signed pending restricted free agent Alexandar Georgiev to a three-year extension, the club announced on Sunday. Financial details were not disclosed in the release, but sources confirmed to ESPN the deal comes with a $3.4 million AAV ($10.2 million total). Colorado acquired Georgiev’s negotiating rights from the New

11:55 PM ET The New Jersey Devils traded two picks for Washington Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek. The Devils are sent a second-round draft pick (No. 37 overall) and a third-rounder (No. 70) to the Capitals for the 26-year-old restricted free agent and the Capitals’ second-round selection (No. 46 overall, originally from Winnipeg). Here we go

11:15 AM ET The free-agent goalie market continues to thin after the St. Louis Blues traded the signing rights of pending unrestricted free agent Ville Husso to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday for the No. 73 pick in the 2022 NHL draft. Husso subsequently signed a three-year, $14.25 million contract with the Red Wings.

12:47 PM ET The trades continued to flow during the 2022 NHL draft’s second day, as the Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Tony DeAngelo from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a fourth-round pick (101st overall, used on Simon Forsmark) in 2022, third-round pick in 2023 (the lowest of Philadelphia’s three picks) and a second-round choice

5:23 PM ET MONTREAL — The 2022 NHL draft is in the books, as 225 players were selected over the course of seven rounds and two days. Before getting to the annual list of draft winners and draft losers, let’s focus on the event’s biggest leader: Holding the draft in person again, and in Montreal.

12:29 AM ET MONTREAL — Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong smiled when he was called an “NHL draft nerd” after the first round ended Thursday night. “It was extremely fun,” he said. “We were in town early. Maybe a couple days too early. But we were excited about the draft. Had some fun with

7:55 PM ET ESPN staff The 2022 NHL draft is finally here! From the first round (7 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN), all the way to pick No. 225, this page will be your home for tracking every selection, including notes on team fit for the 32 players taken in the first round from Kristen Shilton

7:00 AM ET The 2022 NHL draft, to be held at Montreal’s Bell Centre, is scheduled to begin Thursday night at 7 ET (ESPN), with plenty of intrigue from the very top down. While Shane Wright of the Ontario Hockey League has been considered the most likely player to be taken by the Canadiens at

7:34 PM ET MONTREAL — The NHL’s general managers met on the eve of the 2022 NHL draft. What their meeting lacked in rules changes or policy news, it made up for with post-meeting news and buzz on trades, free agents and other league matters. Here’s a glimpse at what was said, and heard, in

7:00 AM ET The NHL draft can be nice and tidy when there’s a franchise player at the top of the board like Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews, or when there’s a consensus choice like Owen Power was for the Buffalo Sabres last year. When there isn’t, like in the 2022 NHL draft scheduled for

4:40 PM ET The Colorado Avalanche re-signed veteran forward Andrew Cogliano to a one-year contract on Tuesday. One of the feel-good stories in the Avalanche’s march to the Stanley Cup, Cogliano, 35, an in-season acquisition from the Anaheim Ducks, didn’t make as much noise up front as many of the Colorado forwards did in the

7:00 AM ET Cale Makar requires no introduction. Frankly, he never has. Before Colorado‘s superstar defenseman entered household-name territory in June by earning a Norris Trophy, Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe honors in the span of a week, he was just another kid without a driver’s license whose pure talent happened to stop NHL veterans

11:40 PM ET ESPN News Services WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Rick Bowness doesn’t mind being the second choice. The Winnipeg Jets‘ new coach was introduced Monday, a little more than a week after the team’s first choice, Barry Trotz, declined an offer because he wanted to spend more time with his family. “If I’m in his