The Devils had until 5 p.m. ET on Thursday to elect arbitration.
Meier was due a $10-million qualifying offer to retain his RFA rights by June 30. The minimum award he can receive in team-elected arbitration is 85% of his previous season's pay, which would be $8.5 million.
The two sides can still negotiate a long-term extension prior to the hearing. The arbitration period typically begins in late July. Meier remains eligible to sign an offer sheet prior to July 5 at 5 p.m.
A one-year contract would take him to unrestricted free agency in 2024.
New Jersey acquired Meier from the San Jose Sharks prior to the trade deadline in a blockbuster deal that involved eight players and four draft picks. The Swiss international tallied 40 goals and 66 points in 78 total games last season, though his scoring rate dipped upon joining the Devils.
Meier only recorded two goals and four points in 11 playoff contests. He went without a point in New Jersey's first-round series against the New York Rangers. Despite the lack of production, Meier led the team in high-danger chances in the postseason and was second to Jack Hughes in shots on goal, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Devils signed fellow restricted free agent Jesper Bratt to an eight-year, $63-million contract extension earlier Thursday.
The Vegas Golden Knights dominated the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Tuesday's Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to capture the franchise's first championship.
Vegas jumped out to a 2-0 advantage on first-period goals from Mark Stone and Nicolas Hague.
Aaron Ekblad's tally 2:15 into the second period gave the Panthers hope before the Golden Knights poured it on to put the game out of reach. Alec Martinez and Reilly Smith scored 1:45 apart, with Stone and Michael Amadio padding the lead to close out the middle frame.
Stone scored an empty-netter in the third period to complete the first hat trick in a Stanley Cup-winning game in over 100 years and the first in the Stanley Cup Final at all since Peter Forsberg in 1996.
Breakout sensation Adin Hill made 30 saves for Vegas in the victory.
"I thought we earned every step of the way," Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy told Sportsnet. "The series we won, I thought we played as the better team, so good for us."
"(Vegas) earned it," Panthers bench boss Paul Maurice said, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo. "They were outstanding, and we didn't have an answer for it."
Jonathan Marchessault - an original member of the Golden Knights - won the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP. He tallied 13 goals and 25 points in 22 playoff contests.
The Golden Knights' nine goals are the most ever in a Stanley Cup-clinching victory, surpassing the previous record of eight set by the 1985 Edmonton Oilers and 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins.
Superstar forward Matthew Tkachuk didn't suit up Tuesday for Florida due to an injury.
Vegas had four players reach the 10-goal mark in the postseason, a feat only previously done by the Oilers in 1985, 1988, and 1990.
Martinez, Phil Kessel, and Jonathan Quick became three-time Stanley Cup champions in the win. Martinez was the only player of the trio to play in this year's finals.
Vegas entered the NHL in 2017-18 as an expansion team. The inaugural edition of the Golden Knights went on a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Washington Capitals in five games.
The championship is the first for a major men's professional team based in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA title in 2022.
The Golden Knights are also the first franchise to win a Stanley Cup in a club's first six NHL seasons since the 1984 Oilers, though the team existed for seven years in the WHA before joining the league in 1979.
"Playoffs in three, Cup in six," team owner Bill Foley said in 2016. "No excuses. That's the standard. I consider that being very patient."
DeBrincat, 25, is a restricted free agent this summer and requires a $9-million qualifying offer. He's one season away from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
The Senators are described as considering all options, from salary arbitration to a potential trade, per Friedman. DeBrincat indicated that he wanted to wait until the completion of the team's ownership sale before considering a long-term commitment.
Ottawa's general manager Pierre Dorion said there was "no chance" the team would trade DeBrincat in February.
DeBrincat was acquired by the Senators on draft day last July. Ottawa sent the seventh overall pick, the 39th overall pick, and a 2024 third-round pick to Chicago in the transaction. The Blackhawks drafted defenseman Kevin Korchinski and forward Paul Ludwinski with the selections.
The Michigan native scored 27 goals and registered 66 points in his first season with Ottawa, ranking fourth on the team in both categories. DeBrincat has tallied 41 goals twice in his career, most recently doing so in 2021-22 with the Blackhawks.
The Quebec Remparts shut out the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 in Sunday's Memorial Cup final.
A QMJHL team has now won four straight Memorial Cups. It's the first time one of the CHL's three leagues has won that many in a row since the round-robin format was introduced in 1972.
The victory is the third in Remparts franchise history, with their previous triumphs coming in 1971 and 2006. General manager and head coach Patrick Roy also guided Quebec to its victory in 2006.
Buffalo Sabres prospect Vsevolod Komarov opened the scoring in the first period. James Malatesta - a Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick - extended Quebec's lead in the second frame.
The Remparts pulled away in the third on tallies from Kassim Gaudet, St. Louis Blues first-rounder Zachary Bolduc, and Charles Savoie.
William Rousseau made 31 saves in the shutout, the first in a Memorial Cup final since the Acadie-Bathurst Titan's triumph over the Regina Pats in 2018.
"I got drafted in Quebec City for the Remparts, told them I was gonna bring back one Cup. I got two Cups for them," Anaheim Ducks first-rounder Nathan Gaucher told TSN.
He added, "Winning the QMJHL was one of our big goals, winning the whole league is something special."
Malatesta was named Memorial Cup MVP with five goals in four games. He was also the QMJHL's playoff MVP, having scored 14 goals en route to the Memorial Cup.
He was joined on the tournament All-Star team by teammates Rousseau and Theo Rochette. Seattle's Kyle Crnkovic and Nolan Allan were also recognized, as was Kamloops Blazers defenseman Olen Zellweger. Allan is a Chicago Blackhawks prospect, and Zellweger was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks.
The 2024 Memorial Cup will be hosted by the Saginaw Spirit next May.
Matthew Tkachuk acknowledged the Florida Panthers' difficult path to the Stanley Cup Final ahead of Saturday's Game 1 clash against the Vegas Golden Knights.
"For us to knock off this juggernaut in Vegas, it would probably be the hardest road to the Stanley Cup in history," Tkachuk said, according to ESPN's Emily Kaplan. "So that's our goal, to knock off this team and see if we can make history."
The Panthers snuck into the playoffs as the second wild-card team in the Eastern Conference by one point. In the opening round, Florida stunned a Boston Bruins team that broke the NHL record for regular-season points. The Panthers then made quick work of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round before sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final.
Boston was the top seed in the Eastern Conference, Carolina was No. 2, and Toronto was No. 4, making the trio of teams the most difficult path possible for the Panthers. Up next: the No. 1 seed out of the Western Conference, the Vegas Golden Knights.
Should Florida knock off Vegas in the final, the Panthers would become the third team to beat four 100-point clubs on the road to a Stanley Cup victory, joining the 2007 Anaheim Ducks and 2015 Chicago Blackhawks. Florida would be the first to accomplish the feat without being a 100-point team itself.
"A lot of talk has been made about us, and our path, and the eight-seed, and limping in and all that, which is completely understandable," Tkachuk added. "It motivates us, I guess, to a certain extent."
Tkachuk has taken the postseason by storm. He's tallied three overtime winners - including two in the conference final, as well as the series-clinching goal in the dying seconds of Game 4 - and is second in playoff scoring with 21 points in 16 games.
The Stanley Cup Final begins Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in Las Vegas.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' search for a new general manager appears to be coming to a close.
"All signs now point" to the Maple Leafs naming former Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving as their new GM, TSN's Darren Dreger reported Tuesday.
Treliving has reportedly been "very high" on Toronto's list of candidates to replace Kyle Dubas as general manager.
The Maple Leafs announced on May 19 that Dubas would not return after five seasons at the helm, and team president Brendan Shanahan subsequently noted his interest in hiring an experienced candidate.
Former Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin met virtually with Shanahan on Friday, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported earlier Tuesday on "Insider Trading." LeBrun added that despite this meeting, Treliving remained the "front-runner" for the position.
Treliving spent nine years as Calgary's general manager before parting with the team in April. The Flames reportedly denied the Pittsburgh Penguins permission to speak with Treliving earlier in May, but they have since allowed him to speak with both Pittsburgh and Toronto provided he does not participate in discussions around the upcoming NHL draft, according to Sportsnet's Eric Francis.
The Flames made the playoffs in five of nine seasons during Treliving's tenure as general manager. Calgary reached the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice in that span, losing in five games each time.
Toronto has qualified for the postseason in seven consecutive seasons but has just one series win in that period. The Maple Leafs knocked off the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round in April before losing to the Florida Panthers in five games in Round 2.
The Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins are the two NHL teams currently without a general manager.
The Vegas Golden Knights dominated the Dallas Stars 6-0 in Monday's Game 6 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Vegas had dropped consecutive games after taking a commanding 3-0 series lead. It's the second time the Golden Knights will play for the Stanley Cup; they lost the 2018 finals against the Washington Capitals in their inaugural season.
The Florida Panthers await the Golden Knights in the finals. Florida completed its sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday. Neither franchise has won the Stanley Cup.
William Carrier's goal 3:41 into the opening frame proved to be the eventual winner. William Karlsson netted two goals to reach 10 in the playoffs, setting a new Golden Knights franchise mark in a single postseason.
Adin Hill made 23 saves for his second shutout of the series.
The Stanley Cup Final begins Saturday in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET.
The victory is Canada's 28th gold medal at the Worlds, breaking a tie with Russia to become the winningest nation in the tournament's history.
Tied 2-2 entering the third period, Canada pulled away with goals from Blais and Tyler Toffoli. Scott Laughton added an empty-netter to seal the victory.
Canada last won the World Championship in 2021.
Germany has never won gold at the Worlds. The silver medal is the nation's best result since 1953, when West Germany finished runner-up to Sweden. The Germans upset the United States in overtime in the semifinals to reach Sunday's gold-medal game.
Latvia shocked the U.S. in the bronze-medal contest earlier Sunday for the country's first-ever podium finish at an IIHF event.
Vancouver Canucks prospect Arturs Silovs won tournament MVP for his performance in the Latvian net. The 22-year-old posted a .921 save percentage and a 7-3-0 record in 10 games.
Buffalo Sabres forward J.J. Peterka and Calgary Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar were named the tournament's top players at their respective positions.
The former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman also tied the contest with 5:39 remaining in the third period.
After dropping its opening two contests of the tournament against Canada and Slovakia, Latvia won six consecutive games before losing to Canada in the semifinals.
Latvia got on the board first Sunday with a goal from Roberts Bukarts, only to be answered less than two minutes later by USA's Rocco Grimaldi. Janis Jaks put Latvia up 2-1 before Grimaldi scored his second goal with 57 seconds remaining in the first frame.
After a goalless second period, Matt Coronato gave the Americans their first lead of the clash just 6:19 into the third. Then came Rubins' heroics.
The 25-year-old blue-liner joined Latvia after being eliminated in the Calder Cup Playoffs with the Calgary Wranglers. He had just two goals at the Worlds in 21 career contests over four tournaments, and he scored only three goals in 51 AHL games this season.
Vancouver Canucks prospect Arturs Silovs made 26 saves in the victory.
Canada faces Germany in the gold-medal game at 1:20 p.m. ET.
The 2023 Memorial Cup begins Friday as the CHL's league champions converge in Kamloops, B.C., to battle it out for junior hockey supremacy.
From a numbers perspective, the Memorial Cup may be the hardest trophy to win in hockey. Sixty CHL teams are down to four: host Kamloops Blazers, QMJHL's Quebec Remparts, OHL's Peterborough Petes, and WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds.
Rosters are stacked across the board. Twelve members from Canada's gold-medal-winning team at January's world juniors and nine first-round picks from the past two drafts are on display.
The Saint John Sea Dogs, last year's hosts, were victorious as the tournament was held for the first time in three years. The QMJHL has captured three straight Memorial Cups dating back to 2018, with the OHL winning most recently in 2017 and the WHL back in 2014.
Here are 12 prospects to watch over the coming 11 days at the Memorial Cup.
Kamloops' dynamic duo
Andy Devlin / Getty Images Sport / Getty
There's a strong case to be made that Kamloops has the two best players at the Memorial Cup.
The hockey world was introduced to Olen Zellweger and Logan Stankoven at the past two World Junior Championships. Both were named among Canada's top three players at the 2022 tournament, with Stankoven also landing on Canada's list this January.
The duo's playoff performance is nothing short of remarkable. Despite losing in the conference finals to Seattle, Stankoven and Zellweger still finished first and second, respectively, in WHL postseason scoring.
Stankoven also led the WHL in playoff scoring last spring when Kamloops was again eliminated by Seattle in the conference finals. The Dallas Stars second-rounder has simply thrashed junior competition at every step and now has a chance to complete his U20 career with a championship on home ice.
Most were astonished when the Blazers traded a stunning 10 draft picks to land Zellweger at the WHL trade deadline, along with Washington Capitals selection Ryan Hofer. Even with that massive price tag, Zellweger has more than lived up to the hype.
Zellweger led the Blazers with 11 postseason goals, which also ranked third league-wide. Between the regular season and playoffs, Zellweger has tallied 43 goals in 69 WHL games this season. Reminder: He's a defenseman.
The Anaheim Ducks second-rounder is worth tuning in for by himself, let alone with his running mate Stankoven. Kamloops' two-headed monster will be among the top challenges for opposing coaches at the Memorial Cup.
Guenther's shot at redemption
Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Dylan Guenther won the WHL championship last season with the Edmonton Oil Kings - where he led the team in scoring during the regular season and playoffs - but an injury prevented him from playing in the Memorial Cup. A year later, he has a chance at redemption with the Thunderbirds.
It didn't appear that Guenther would get this opportunity when he made the Arizona Coyotes out of camp. Even when he was loaned to Team Canada for the world juniors - a tournament in which he scored seven goals, including the gold-medal winner - it looked like Guenther would complete the 2022-23 campaign in the NHL.
That's until Seattle made a splash at the WHL trade deadline to acquire his rights in a blockbuster move that featured significant conditional draft picks. Guenther played 11 more games with the Coyotes before ultimately being sent back to the WHL at the beginning of February.
Since then, Guenther and the Thunderbirds have dominated. Seattle won its first 12 games with Guenther in the lineup and has lost just six games total since his arrival.
Guenther's 16 goals in 19 games led the WHL playoffs, and his 28 points paced the Thunderbirds. He's looked every part of the dominant goal-scoring prospect that made him the ninth overall pick in 2021.
Over the past three seasons, Guenther has scored 99 goals against WHL competition. He'll be hoping to push past 100 en route to a Memorial Cup title in Kamloops.
Once considered a top-five prospect in the 2022 class, Lambert's abysmal season in Finland saw him plummet on draft day. The Winnipeg Jets ended his fall at 30th overall and decided a move to North America this season was best for his development.
Following a lackluster 14-game stint in the AHL and a fairly pedestrian world junior performance, the Jets demoted Lambert to the WHL. Having played against much older competition for the better part of four years, Lambert finally had the chance to regain his form playing against his peers. And he's thrived.
Lambert was immediately a dominant force upon arriving in Seattle. He tallied 17 goals and 38 points in 26 regular-season games and has remained an elite offensive threat in the postseason. His 26 playoff points are second on the Thunderbirds, only behind Guenther.
The flashy Finnish forward is joined by Kevin Korchinski in Seattle. The highest-drafted player at the 2023 Memorial Cup, having been selected seventh overall by the Chicago Blackhawks last summer, Korchinski's 1.35 points per game is the second-highest scoring rate by a WHL defenseman in their post-draft season since 1996.
Korchinski's scoring has dipped in the postseason, but he remains a pivotal presence on the Thunderbirds' blue line and among the highest potential players on display this week.
Brennan Othmann has won at every level; the New York Rangers prospect has two world junior gold medals, a U18 gold, an OHL Cup, and now an OHL Championship in his trophy case. After leading the Petes in playoff scoring with 25 points, he'll be looking to end his junior career in style out west.
Unlike the previous three first-rounders, Zachary Bolduc hasn't had the same international opportunities to become a recognizable name. On the heels of back-to-back 50-goal seasons, the St. Louis Blues prospect is finally primed to showcase his talents on a big stage with the Remparts.
Depth prospects turning heads
Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Thomas Milic made a name for himself at the 2023 world juniors, where he backstopped Canada to a gold medal. The undrafted netminder has only gained momentum since returning to the Thunderbirds.
His performance this year has surely done enough to put him on NHL draft boards this summer, despite his undersized 6-foot frame. He went 27-3-1 in the regular season, 5-0-0 at the world juniors, and 16-3-0 in the WHL playoffs. His combined record from 2022-23 heading into the Memorial Cup is an astounding 48-6-1.
Milic isn't the only depth prospect catching scouts' attention throughout the CHL postseason. Despite playing on a team with two first-round forwards, it's been a pair of fifth-rounders in James Malatesta and Justin Robidas racking up points in Quebec.
Robidas - a Carolina Hurricanes draft pick and the son of former NHLer Stephane - led the Remparts in playoff scoring with 27 points in 18 games, while Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Malatesta earned the nod for QMJHL playoff MVP thanks to his 14-goal postseason.
Seattle Kraken fourth-rounder Tucker Robertson was a major piece of Peterborough's underdog run through the OHL. After leading the Petes in scoring in the regular season, he tallied 22 points in the playoffs. Robertson has nine postseason goals, none bigger than his OHL Championship-winning deflection in Game 6 against the London Knights.
Out west, Stars sixth-rounder Matthew Seminoff feasted upon WHL netminders prior to Kamloops' exit in the conference finals. He tallied 10 goals and 19 points in just 14 games. He'll need to be a key scorer behind Stankoven and Zellweger if the Blazers are going to upset the league champions on home ice.
Kamloops and Quebec kick off the tournament Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
