NHL general managers continued to round out rosters as free agency ticked through its second day.
Slick winger Nikolaj Ehlers still sat unsigned and on the market as of late Wednesday night, while blueliner Dmitry Orlov is also still without a home for the 2025-26 season.
Ehlers spent a decade with the Winnipeg Jets, but appears set to move on. Orlov just completed his 13th NHL campaign, and second with the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Jets signed veteran winger Gustav Nyquist to a one-year deal worth $3.25 million. Nyquist, 35, split time between Nashville and Minnesota last season picking up 11 goals and 17 assists in 79 games.
It was a significant drop-off from the 75 points that he picked up with Nashville in 2023-24. Nyquist has 531 career points in 863 NHL games.
Winnipeg also added five players to identical one-year, two-way contracts worth $775,000 in the NHL, including former Canucks winger Phil Di Giuseppe. The Ottawa Senators inked six players, including forward Arthur Kaliyev, on a one-year, two-way contract.
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Mason Appleton — a now-former teammate of Ehlers in the Manitoba capital — signed with the Detroit Red Wings on a two-year deal worth $5.8 million.
Centre Pius Suter signed a two-year, US$8.25-million pact with the St. Louis Blues after putting up 46 points in 81 games with the Vancouver Canucks last season.
The Vegas Golden Knights extended defenceman Kaedan Korczak to a four-year, $13-million contract through the 2029-30 season. Blueliner Jeremy Davies also signed a two-year deal in Sin City.
The New Jersey Devils re-upped with centre Cody Glass on a two-year, $5-million contract after acquiring him from Pittsburgh in March. The Penguins inked winger Anthony Mantha for one season at $2.5 million.
The New York Islanders signed restricted free agent forward Emil Heineman, who was acquired in a recent trade with the Montreal Canadiens for defenceman Noah Dobson, to a two-year contract with a reported value of $2.2 million.
Sought-after Kontinental Hockey League free agent Maxim Shabanov, a 24-year-old Russian forward, also signed a one-year deal on Long Island.
Detroit and hulking six-foot-eight RFA winger Elmer Soderblom agreed on a two-year, $2.5-million contract.
GMs for Canadian teams added plenty of depth Wednesday.
The Canucks signed defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to a one-year contract for next season’s league minimum of $775,000. The Edmonton Oilers added journeyman forward Curtis Lazar for the same dollar amount and term.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who said goodbye to star winger Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, also agreed to a one-year contract worth $775,000 with forward Vinni Lettieri.
The last remaining big name is Ehlers.
The 29-year-old selected ninth overall at the 2014 draft put up 225 goals and 295 assists for 520 points in 674 regular-season games with the Jets. He added 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 45 playoff contests.
The six-foot, 172-pound Dane has topped 60 points four times in his career despite averaging just 16 minutes 26 seconds of ice time and often only seeing time on Winnipeg’s second power-play unit.
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