The Florida Panthers have re-signed Mackie Samoskevich to a 1-year, $775,000 contract.
The forward will still have 4 RFA seasons after this contract is complete.
Samoskevich, 22, had 15 goals and 16 assists in 72 games with the Panthers last season. He will be competing for ice time in a very crowded forward group. If Evan Rodrigues is moved out for cap reasons, Samoskevich should have a path to top-9 minutes,
The Edmonton Oilers have acquired Isaac Howard from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Sam O’Reilly.
The Oilers also signed Howard to a 3-year entry level contract.
Howard, 21, was the Hobey Baker winner as the best player in college hockey in 2024-25. He made it known he wasn’t going to sign with the Lightning, and he was set to be a UFA on August 15, 2026.
O’Reilly, 19, isn’t the caliber of prospect that Howard is, but he was the 31st overall pick for the Oilers in 2024, and a solid return for the Lightning for a player they were prepared to lose anyways.
The Carolina Hurricanes have signed Nikolaj Ehlers to a 6-year contract with a cap hit of $8.5 million.
Ehlers was widely rumored to be strongly considering both the Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals in free agency.
The winger reportedly valued an opportunity to play big minutes including the 1st powerplay unit and a market that is out of the spotlight. He checks both those boxes with the Hurricanes.
Ehlers, 29, had 24 goals and 39 assists in 69 games with the Jets last season.
The San Jose Sharks have signed Dmitri Orlov to a 2-year contract with a cap hit of $6.5 million.
Even after this signing, the Sharks sit slightly below the salary floor of $70.6 million, so they will have another move or two to come.
Orlov joins Mario Ferraro and Vincent Desharnais on the left side of the Sharks defense, with Shakir Mukhamadullin, Henry Thrun and Sam Dickinson also competing for space.
Orlov, 33, had 6 goals and 22 assists in 76 games for the Hurricanes last season.
The Colorado Avalanche have signed Brent Burns to a 1-year contract.
The contract has a base of $1 million with another $3 million in potential performance bonuses.
Burns, 40, had 6 goals and 23 assists in 82 games for the Hurricanes last season. He played 20:57 per game playing on the top pair beside Jaccob Slavin.
The Winnipeg Jets have signed Gustav Nyquist to a 1-year, $3.25 million contract.
Nyquist was traded by the Predators to the Wild in March of last year.
Nyquist, 35, had 11 goals and 17 assists in 79 games between the Predators and Wild in 2024-25. The Jets are hoping he can find his form from the 2023-24 season, when he put up 23 goals and 52 assists for the Predators.
The winger figures to fill the roster spot vacated by Nikolaj Ehlers, who is still deciding on his next team.
The New York Islanders have signed Maxim Shabanov to a 1-year entry-level contract.
The contract has a base of $975,000 with Schedule A bonuses of $1 million and schedule B bonuses of $2.5 million. Schedule B bonuses are normally only attainable by the best players in the league.
Kevin Weekes reported previously that the Islanders, Rangers, Mammoth and Flyers had the best shot to sign the winger.
Shabanov, 24, had 23 goals and 44 assists in 65 games for Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL last season.
The St. Louis Blue have signed Pius Suter to a 2-year contract with a cap hit of $4.125 million.
The Blues had been in the market for a center and had reportedly explored the possibility of Mikael Granlund before he signed in Anaheim.
Suter, 29, had 25 goals and 21 assists in 81 games with the Canucks last season.