The NHL’s trade deadline season always features the highest volume of deals in the sport. But some of the trades with the biggest impact happen over the summer. Furthermore, a lot of those swaps occur leading into the NHL draft. With the 2023 edition of the draft set for June 28 and 29, it’s time

Associated Press Jun 20, 2023, 05:30 PM ET BUFFALO, N.Y. — Forward Zemgus Girgensons is returning to the Buffalo Sabres for a 10th season after signing a one-year, $2.5 million contract on Tuesday. Girgensons is the team’s longest-serving active player and was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next month. The 29-year-old’s decision to

Jun 20, 2023, 10:47 AM ET The Montreal Canadiens are retaining forward Sean Monahan on a one-year, $1.985 million contract. Monahan, 28, could have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Canadiens acquired Monahan and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft in an August 2022 trade with the Calgary Flames

Greg Wyshynski, ESPNJun 20, 2023, 07:00 AM ET Close Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. In the NHL, one thing always leads to another. Trades, signings and draft picks are never made in a vacuum. One move has reverberations leading to others, like a stone tossed in the water or dominoes tumbling into each

ESPN staffJun 19, 2023, 12:40 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print The 2023 NHL draft will be held on June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, home of the Predators. Round 1 will be broadcast on ESPN, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 28, while Rounds 2-7 will be

Jun 19, 2023, 11:05 AM ET Forward Connor Bedard, the projected top pick in the upcoming NHL draft, was named the inaugural winner of the IIHF Male Player of the Year Award Monday. “This is such a huge honour,” Bedard said, per the International Ice Hockey Federation. “I’m not sure how to compare it to

Associated Press Jun 18, 2023, 02:00 AM ET LAS VEGAS — Thousands of Golden Knights fans lined the Strip on Saturday for a Stanley Cup victory parade and rally in front of the team’s home arena to mark the city’s first NHL championship. For the team that played its first game as an expansion franchise

Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterJun 16, 2023, 05:46 PM ET Close Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN. The Vancouver Canucks have bought out the contract of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, making him an unrestricted free agent. Ekman-Larsson has four years remaining on an eight-year, $66 million deal he signed in 2018 while playing

Associated Press Jun 16, 2023, 07:04 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy played and coached in three established professional sports cities before arriving in Las Vegas. After the Golden Knights hoisted the Stanley Cup in the team’s sixth NHL season – and Cassidy’s first as their coach – Sin City

Multiple contributors Jun 16, 2023, 01:00 PM ET Owning a professional sports team has become a more exclusive group. That point is being hammered home once more during the sale of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Three groups bid on the Commanders, who are in agreement to