PITTSBURGH — The Penguins on Tuesday signed Sebastian Aho — no, not that Sebastian Aho, but the veteran NHL defenseman with the same name — to a two-year deal.

The contract carries an average annual value of $775,000 at the NHL level.

Aho, 28, is a lefty who has played 190 career games over five NHL seasons, all with the New York ...Read more

SEATTLE — On Tuesday, the Kraken freed up funds to pay their young talent and space for a homegrown defenseman waiting in the wings, dealing veteran Brian Dumoulin to the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth-round draft pick.

On Monday, the Kraken signed right-handed defenseman Brandon Montour to a seven-year, $50 million contract with an average ...Read more

Just moments ago, Aleksander Barkov arrived with hesitant English at 18, so young he couldn’t lease a car and had to borrow one from fellow Finn and former Florida Panther Olli Jokinen.

Just moments ago, Barkov went through six coaches in his first eight seasons, not winning so much as a playoff series with any of them, and suffered through ...Read more

DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon might be the MVP of the 2024 offseason, too.

The Colorado Avalanche made several signings Monday on the first day of free agency. None were more important to the club’s ability to compete for the Stanley Cup in 2025 than finding a way to bring Jonathan Drouin back — and there’s no way that happens without ...Read more

SEATTLE — Fresh off signing free agent defenseman Brandon Montour, the Kraken continued major additions to their team Monday by inking Vegas Golden Knights centerman Chandler Stephenson to a seven-year, $43.75 million deal.

“He brings a winning pedigree and offensive consistency to our team, and we are looking forward to him being a part of...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Reality set in at 9 a.m. Monday.

The Golden Knights and Jonathan Marchessault are going their separate ways.

The 33-year-old right wing, who is the Knights’ all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played, agreed to terms on a five-year, $27.5 million contract with Nashville the first day of NHL free agency, the ...Read more

BOSTON — When the Boston Bruins were bounced from the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, coach Jim Montgomery lamented the lack of scoring from his team in the series.

“You can’t win every game 2-1,” said the downcast Montgomery at the time.

Well, it looks like they may have to win some more 2-1 games in ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — For the past 16 years, Steven Stamkos has been seen all over Tampa Bay. From the side of Amalie Arena, on billboards and benches, he’s been the face of the Lightning franchise since he was anointed the savior of the organization as an 18-year-old No. 1 draft pick.

He has lifted the Stanley Cup twice, worn the C on his chest ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks made one of their biggest splashes since the current rebuild began, agreeing to terms Monday with Tyler Bertuzzi and bringing back Teuvo Teräväinen on the opening day of NHL free agency.

“Tyler is a fantastic competitor who brings energy every night,” Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said of Bertuzzi ...Read more

The Boston Bruins did most of what they wanted to do – if not everything they needed to do – on Monday, nabbing a top-six centerman and a physical defenseman.

The B’s signed two-way center Elias Lindholm and massive defenseman Nikita Zadorov. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that Lindholm’s deal is seven years at $7.75 million ...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — General manager Julien BriseBois wasted no time utilizing the Tampa Bay Lightning’s freshly acquired salary cap space. And in his shopping spree, he jumped the line Sunday in landing one of the top pending unrestricted free agents to make next season’s team a stronger Stanley Cup contender.

A day after they traded away ...Read more

Somewhere between his 10th half-spilled light beer and the end of the Florida Panthers’ championship parade route, Matthew Tkachuk was going to pass by his favorite Fort Lauderdale, Fla., landmark and just about every one of the tens of thousands of Panthers fans who flooded Florida State Road A1A on Sunday knew what was going to happen.

The ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Chicago Blackhawks had a busy two days of the NHL draft.

On Friday, they used the No. 2 pick on defenseman Artyom Levshunov and the No. 18 pick on center Sacha Boisvert. But they weren’t done, trading two second-round picks — Nos. 34 and 50 — to the Carolina Hurricanes to select winger Marek Vanacker at No. 27.

On ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Scott Fitzgerald and Chris Morehouse were hired nearly two years ago as part of the San Jose Sharks’ front office overhaul and as the leaders of the team’s scouting department, were given a clear mandate by new general manager Mike Grier.

“Let’s get some size in here, let’s get multiple picks, and let’s try to restock...Read more

LAS VEGAS — After sitting out the first round of the NHL draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins took a pair of prospects from the Canadian junior ranks in Saturday’s second round.

Their selection at 44th overall was Kamloops defenseman Harrison Brunicke, who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, then moved to Calgary at the age of 2.

Brunicke, ...Read more

The Florida Panthers did not have a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft, but that doesn’t mean the Stanley Cup champions didn’t find a way to bolster the organization’s depth.

Florida still made six selections on Day 2 of the draft on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Here’s a quick look at the half-dozen of players the Panthers selected.

2 (...Read more

MIAMI — The story, as it unfolded, was hard to process.

Two strangers in their late 20s, bonded by the Florida Panthers and travel plans that had gone awry, somehow found themselves on a last-ditch effort to salvage their travel from South Florida to Western Canada for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final and to potentially see hockey history ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights selected Tri-City left wing Trevor Connelly with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the NHL Draft at Sphere on Friday.

Connelly, a strong winger with playmaking ability, had 78 points in 52 games with the Storm last season.

“You draft in the first round you really want to walk away with some talent,�...Read more