Zach Hyman reportedly bolts Leafs for Oilers while Flames add Coleman, Zadorov | CBC Sports

The long-anticipated move comes after the Connor McDavid-led Oilers lacked secondary scoring as they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Winnipeg Jets. Hyman has topped 20 goals in two of his six NHL seasons. He has 15 goals and 33 points in 43 games last season.

Edmonton re-signed defenceman Tyson Barrie before he was eligible to become a free agent, and Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Alec Martinez is also staying put for $15.75 million over three years. 

A person with direct knowledge of Barrie’s deal said the 10th-year player signed a three-year, $13.5-million contract.

The Oilers also dealt defenceman Ethan Bear to the Carolina Hurricanes for left-winger Warren Foegele.

The 24-year-old Bear struggled with a concussion last season, tallying eight points in 43 regular-season contests. Foegele, 25, had 20 points for the ‘Canes in the regular season and added another goal and an assist in 10 playoff appearances.

WATCH | Rob Pizzo breaks down a busy week entering free agency:

Rob Pizzo catches you up on a week that saw two drafts, a flurry of trades, and controversy in Montreal. 4:30

Canadian teams enter the fray

• Back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Blake Coleman was among the other top free agents to sign in the opening minutes of free agency, inking a six-year, $29.4-million deal with Calgary. The Flames also made a deal, picking up defenceman Nikita Zadorov from Chicago for a third-round pick in the 2022 entry draft. The six-foot-six, 235-pound Russian blue-liner had one goal and seven assists in 55 games last season.
• The Ottawa Senators sent right-winger Evgenii Dadonov to the Golden Knights in exchange for defenceman Nick Holden and a third-round pick in the 2022 draft. Dadonov, 32, had 20 points for Ottawa last season, including 13 goals, while the 34-year-old Holden spent much of the campaign on Vegas’ taxi squad, registering just two assists in 17 regular season appearances.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired the rights to defenceman Brennan Mennell from the Minnesota Wild for a conditional seventh-round pick. Minnesota with get the selection if Mennell, who spent last year in the KHL, plays 30 games for the Leafs next season.

Stars secure Suter, Holtby

Ryan Suter will be joining the Dallas Stars on a four-year deal worth $14.6 million after signing with the organization Wednesday.

Suter will count $3.65 million against the salary cap. Dallas also signed 2016 Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Braden Holtby for $2 million for next season after he was bought out by Vancouver.

Suter, a 36-year-old U.S.-born defenceman, was recently bought out by the Minnesota Wild.

“Ryan is a true professional and will be a great fit in our top-four,” general manager Jim Nill said. “He has a huge influence on the game with his ability to diffuse plays which injects a sense of calmness into his teammates. He is able to play in every situation and as a veteran of 16 NHL seasons, his wealth of experience will be a great addition to our dressing room.”

Avalanche keep captain

General managers can scratch Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog off their list of available players after the Avalanche captain signed an eight-year, $56-million US contract late Tuesday night.

The 28-year-old Landeskog was re-signed shortly before midnight ET, when both sides faced an NHL deadline allowing players to sign eight-year contracts. Any deals struck afterward are capped at seven years.

Landeskog represents a key piece to a team coming off a President’s Trophy-winning season, before being eliminated in six games by Vegas in the West Division final. He finished second on the team with 20 goals — his eighth 20-goal season in nine years — and his 218 career goals rank sixth on the team list, and third since the Avalanche relocated to Colorado in 1995.

“We are thrilled to have our captain signed to a long-term deal,” said Avalanche GM Joe Sakic. “Gabe is the heart and soul of this team and an integral part of our organization both on the ice and in the community.”

The New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and expansion Seattle Kraken are among the teams that could be active with more than $20 million in salary cap space. And Vegas could go big-name shopping after clearing space by trading Marc-Andre Fleury to Chicago.

“We’ll use our resources to work to make the team as strong and competitive as possible,” Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon said. “There’s never any guarantees you’re going to be able to do the things you might like to do. There’s a lot of factors at play, obviously, when you get to free agency.”

A handful of free agents already have deals in place.

Parise among top names available 

• Veteran defenceman Keith Yandle was free to talk to other teams as soon as he was bought out by Florida and has an agreement in place with Philadelphia on a $900,000 contract for next season.
• Other players who were bought out, including forward Zach Parise whose stint in Minnesota is over, could find homes very quickly. Former New York Rangers defenceman Tony DeAngelo is also in that camp and has been linked to Carolina.

Players whose contracts expire Wednesday will be part of a talking and signing frenzy, since the league and NHLPA eliminated the negotiation period for free agents.

“You might have a bit of a feel of where you stood with respect to a certain player,” McCrimmon said. “Now it opens with a starter’s pistol on Wednesday, so it’s a little harder to predict.”

One prediction that’s easy to make is a flurry of goaltender movement. Beyond Grubauer, former starters Petr Mrazek and James Reimer from Carolina and Frederik Andersen from Toronto are expected to be available.

Sharks GM Doug Wilson is now looking for a replacement and should not have much trouble on that front.

“We need one more guy that I think is a quality veteran that is a stabilizer — you know what you’re going to get,” Wilson said. “There’s a few of them out there, and we’ll be exploring that.”