The Nashville Predators have signed forward Calle Jarnkrok to a six-year, $12-million contract.
Jarnkrok, 24, recorded career highs in goals (16), assists (14), total points (30), and shots (95) this past season.
Drafted in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft (51st overall), Jarnkrok was traded to Nashville as part of a deal that sent David Legwand to the Detroit Red Wings back in 2014.
The contract will pay him $1.7 million in 2016-17, $1.8 million in 2017-18, $2.1 million in 2018-19, $2.2 million in 2019-20 and 2020-21, and $2 million in 2021-22.
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The Detroit Red Wings and netminder Petr Mrazek have avoided salary arbitration, reportedly signing a new two-year contract worth $8 million, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
Mrazek will earn $3.85 million this season and $4.15 million in 2017-18 for a tidy $4 million average annual value, or a shade under $1.3 million less than Jimmy Howard.
The 24-year-old had a brilliant start to his first season as the Red Wings' No. 1 netminder after wresting the starter's role from Howard two springs back. But he was derailed after the All-Star Break, sporting a sub-.900 save percentage over the final two months of the season, eventually losing his job.
He briefly regained his form in relief of Howard in the playoffs, stopping pucks at a .945 rate in three games versus the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Despite not maximizing his earning potential with a full season, Mrazek's bump in pay represents a considerable raise from his modest entry-level salary, and puts the Red Wings in a real financial bind.
Detroit's currently estimated to enter the season $4-plus million over the cap with more than $9 million allocated to netminders.
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The Ottawa Senators have signed forward Mike Hoffman to a four-year contract.
The deal is $3.8 million in 2016-17 and $5.65 million for each of the three seasons to follow. The annual salary cap hit would therefore amount to $5.1875 million, for a total valuation of $20.75 million.
A bit of a late bloomer, the 26-year-old has played only two full seasons at the NHL level, but has excelled in both. In his past 157 games since the beginning of 2014-15, Hoffman has scored 56 goals, leading the Senators in each of the past two regular seasons, while displaying a deadly combination of skill and speed that's desperately needed in Ottawa.
League-wide, only nine players have scored more than Hoffman in five-on-five play in that same time span.
Hoffman was scheduled for an arbitration hearing Aug. 4 after earning $2 million this past season.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning confirmed Wednesday morning that they have re-signed forward Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year contract extension worth $3.875 million in total.
Namestnikov was scheduled for arbitration Friday.
The middle-six forward, who will represent Russia at the upcoming World Cup, has the potential to exceed the $1.938-million average annual value on his deal. Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Nikita Kucherov were the only Lightning players with a better even-strength points rate last season.
Namestnikov's 14 goals and 35 points in 2015-16 represented career highs for the former 27th overall pick.
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For Jimmy Vesey and the Chicago Blackhawks, the interest is apparently mutual.
Vesey's agent, Peter Donatelli, stated Monday that the Harvard graduate will want to talk to the Blackhawks when he becomes a free agent next month, but quickly followed up that confirmed interest with this caveat.
"Chicago will be on the list," Donatelli said in an interview with Scott Powers of The Athletic, "but it shouldn't be read as they're ahead of anyone else."
Meanwhile, Stan Bowman's interest in the reigning Hobey Baker winner is seemingly without qualification. The Blackhawks' GM is believed to have scouted Vesey on multiple occasions this summer in his persisting search for cost-effective assets to filter talent into the gaps in his lineup.
Donatelli also told Powers the presentations given to Vesey will factor heavily into his decision.
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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed head coach Bill Peters to a contract extension through to the end of 2018-19.
"Bill is a talented, young coach in the National Hockey League," said general manager Ron Francis. "We are happy that he has made a commitment to the Hurricanes, and that he will be a major part of the team continuing to grow."
Peters has been behind the Hurricanes' bench since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, guiding the young, rebuilding club to a record of 65-72-27 in his two seasons behind the bench.
Carolina recorded 86 points this past season, a 15-point improvement over Peters' first season as head coach.
He also served as head coach for the gold-medal winning Team Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.
The extension keeps Peters under contract for at least three more seasons.
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First, it was Steven Stamkos spurning the Toronto Maple Leafs to stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now, another superstar forward says he isn't planning to play for his hometown team.
John Tavares put any lingering doubts about his future to rest and dashed the hopes of Maple Leafs fans in an interview Tuesday with Andrew Walker on Sportsnet 590 The FAN.
"I would not count on that," Tavares said after the host jokingly asked him what his favorite thing would be about playing in Toronto in 2018.
"I think I've always showed my commitment, my appreciation and my desire to play on Long Island," Tavares said. "I'd love for that to continue for the long haul. I think you look at some of the greatest players in the game, they have been able to spend their entire careers somewhere and I hope I'm in that same position."
Islanders co-owner John Ledecky said last week that Tavares is "not going to be a free agent" when his current contract expires. The captain has two seasons remaining on the six-year, $33-million extension he signed with New York in 2011.
"Obviously being from Toronto, people are going to make those connections," Tavares said." It is what it is. It's nothing I can control. I just want to go out there and be the best player and best person I can be for the Islanders, day in and day out, and I'm just going to focus on tomorrow and the upcoming season."
The 25-year-old has spent his entire seven-year career with the Islanders after being drafted first overall in 2009. Despite his age, Tavares already ranks 10th on the club's all-time list in goals (207) and eighth in power-play goals (64).
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