The Seattle Kraken will hire Dan Bylsma to be their next head coach, reports Elliotte Friedman.
Bylsma was last in the NHL as a head coach during the 2016-17 season with the Buffalo Sabres. He’s been the head coach of Seattle’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley for the past two seasons, putting up a 94-32-18 record and advancing to the Calder Cup Final in 2022-23.
Don Waddell is joining the Columbus Blue Jackets, reports Pierre Lebrun.
The Carolina Hurricanes announced yesterday that Waddell was re-signing from the position of their general manager, as his contract was expiring.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired Ryan McDonagh from the Nashville Predators.
McDonagh, 34, has two more seasons left on his contract at a cap-hit of $6.75 million.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Craig Berube to be their next coach.
Berube was fired by the Blues earlier this season.
The New Jersey Devils have re-signed forward Kurtis MacDermid to a 3-year deal with a $1.15 million cap hit.
The Devils acquired MacDermid from the Avalanche in March for a 7th round pick, and MacDermid was immediately brought into focus thanks to some chippy games with the New York Rangers and Matt Rempe.
In total, MacDermid had 4 fights in his 16 games with the Devils.
The New York Islanders have Maxim Tsyplakov to a 1-year contract.
Tsyplakov, 25, will be a RFA following the expiry of his 1-year, entry-level contract. He is eligible to hit unrestricted free agency after the 2025-26 season.
The Los Angeles Kings have re-signed David Rittich to a 1-year contract.
It’s expected the Kings will make a move to bolster their netminding this offseason. They reportedly had a deal for Linus Ullmark at the trade deadline, but the deal was nixed by Ullmark. Rittich figures to offer depth in net for the Kings, and might be challenged by Erik Portillo–who had a great rookie season in the AHL– for the backup job.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Sheldon Keefe.
Keefe had been the head coach of the Leafs since taking over for Mike Babcock mid-season in 2019-20. He led the Leafs to a 212-97-40 record over that period, but famously failed to reach the second round of the playoffs in all but one season.
Dave Pagnotta suggests that Craig Berube is high on the Leafs’ list for potential replacements.