Cody Glass will don the New Jersey Devils jersey for the next two seasons. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Devils announced the center signed a two-year contract worth $5,000,000, with an annual average value of $2,500,000. The contract breakdown is as follows: 2025-26: $2,500,000 & 2026-27: $2,500,000. The announcement was made by President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.

Our Glass is full for two more years. pic.twitter.com/LgDPoEO3TW

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) July 2, 2025

"I wanted to stay (in New Jersey) the whole time," Glass told reporters. "I am glad it got done."

The Devils acquired the 26-year-old on March 7, 2025, from the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Jonathan Gruden for Chase Stillman, Max Graham, and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. 

Through 14 regular-season games, Glass collected seven points (two goals, five assists). He finished the 2024-25 season with a face-off win percentage of 47.4%, winning 64 of 135 draws. 

Entering the postseason, the Winnipeg native only had three games of playoff experience between the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators. During his media availability on Wednesday, The Hockey News asked Glass what his takeaway was from New Jersey's Round 1 series against the Carolina Hurricanes. 

"Only having three (games) and then going to a series in Carolina, which is a pretty tough building to play in, was a great experience," Glass said. "Obviously, I wish it could have gone a lot better. It is something that I think about all the time, but I think it is something that is going to drive me this summer. We want to get back to that point, but we want to do a lot better and advance. I think it was a good step in the right direction for me, and it is something I can learn from." 

In addition to Glass returning to New Jersey, Fitzgerald signed unrestricted free agents Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov and re-signed goaltender Jake Allen.

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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Photo credit: © Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The latest Montreal Canadiens’ UFAs weren't the only former Habs to change teams yesterday. A pair of long-gone Canadiens landed in intriguing new markets with interesting new contracts.

Since making the Stanley Cup Final with the Canadiens in 2021, offensive defenseman Jeff Petry has struggled to find his form. When the Habs traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022 offseason, he probably had hope that things would fall into place quickly on a team featuring the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, but that’s not what happened, far from it. The very next offseason, the Penguins traded him back to Montreal in a package that netted them Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick.

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Hughes then sent him to the Detroit Red Wings for Gustav Lindstrom and a fourth-round pick at the 2025 draft. A Michigan native, Petry was ecstatic to be going home, but his two-season stint with the Wings was great, too; he put up 32 points in 117 games and became a UFA on July 1.

Even though he’s now 37 years old, Petry wasn’t ready to retire, but given his recent performances, he didn’t have that many suitors. Ultimately, he signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers. The deal has a base salary of $775,000 but includes several performance bonuses. The veteran would like to win a Stanley Cup before retiring, and he has decided to bet on the repeat Champions achieving a three-peat next season.

As for Jonathan Drouin, after a disastrous stay in Montreal in which he struggled with mental health issues, he joined the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent on a one-year deal with an AAV of $825,000. After a convincing first season in which he scored 56 points in 79 games, Colorado signed him to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.

Due to injuries, the Quebecer was only able to play in 43 games this season, but he still managed to put up 37 points, averaging 0.86 points per game. Still, Drouin found himself a UFA on July 1st, and he was signed to a two-year pact with a $4 M cap hit by the New York Islanders.

In Long Island, Drouin will find QMJHL rival Anthony Duclair and coach Patrick Roy, whom he gave nightmares to in the juniors. We wish both Drouin and Petry the best of luck with their new team.

Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

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The Vegas Golden Knights have signed defenseman Kaedan Korczak to a four-year, $3.25-million extension and have also signed defenseman Jeremy Davies to a two-year contract.

Korczak set a career-high in games played and points this year, recording 10 assists in 40 games while averaging 15:04 of ice time. It's highly likely and almost a certainty that Korczak eclipses both those marks as he is set to become a full-time NHL player next season after the unfortunate news of Alex Pietrangelo's health. 

Throughout the 2024-25 season, Korczak was utilized exclusively to replace any injured defenseman, but the 2025-26 season will be different. Korczak is set to step into the lineup as a trusted defenseman night in and night out and will have the opportunity to compete with Zach Whitecloud for a spot in the top-four. 

Korczak has all the tools needed for a modern defenseman. He is a capable skater with a 6-foot-3 frame and a solid first pass. When in the lineup, the 24-year-old has won his minutes at 5-on-5, but with an increased role and an increase in ice time, it'll pose a new challenge for the former second-round pick (41st overall) in the 2019 NHL draft.

Korczak was set to become a Group-6 UFA next summer if he didn't reach the 80-game threshold. He signed a two-year $825,000 extension last season as an RFA but will become a UFA when his contract concludes in 2030. His new contract won't kick in until the 2026-27 season. 

The Vegas Golden Knights have re-signed Kaedan Korczak to a four-year extension with an AAV of $3.25M. Korczak is a 3rd pairing defenseman, who has been very good in sheltered minutes. pic.twitter.com/JnBB4ovwsG

— Rono (@RonoAnalyst) July 2, 2025

Davies is a 28-year-old left-handed defenseman who has accumulated 23 games of NHL experience in his career. Davies has been a solid AHL player overall, scoring 44 goals and 174 points in 329 games. 

The Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC native is a safe bet for organizational depth that will likely have to clear waivers at some point during training camp. 

Stay updated with the most interesting Golden Knights stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favourites on Google News to never miss a story.

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The Nashville Predators have lost another player in free agency as defenseman Marc Del Gaizo signed with the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. 

He agreed to a one-year, $775,000 contract, making as much as he did this past season in Nashville. 

Del Gaizo was drafted by the Predators 109th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft out of UMass Amherst.

This past season, he split time between Nashville and Milwaukee, scoring nine points in 46 games with the Predators and 12 points in 30 games with the Admirals. Del Gaizo also had five points in 10 playoff games with Milwaukee. 

Del Gaizo had two different contracts during his two years in Nashville. During the 2023-24 season, he had an annual hit of $850,833. He made about $75,000 less this year. 

General manager Barry Trotz said that the goal of free agency was to improve the defense, which likely included adding depth. Del Gaizo is on the rise, as last season was the most NHL games he had played in a single season. 

The Predators have about $10.1 million in salary cap space. 

During this free agency period, the Predators have signed two defensemen: Nicolas Hague from the Vegas Golden Knights and Nick Perbix from the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have also extended a qualifying offer to Luke Evangelista. 

Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and center Colton Sissons were traded to Vegas as part of the trade with Hague. 

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- When the Montreal Canadiens made a splash on the trade front and acquired defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders, Logan Mailloux felt like he was on borrowed time.

So when the defenseman was traded to the St. Louis Blues by the Canadiens for forward Zack Bolduc on Tuesday, there was perhaps a sense of relief, and one of appreciation that the 22-year-old will get the opportunity to be a full-time NHL player.

"After I’d seen the Dobson trade come in to Montreal, it was a little bit of a logjam there on the back end, to be honest," Mailloux admitted on Tuesday. "They’ve got some young guys there, some other guys as well. When that happened, I thought there might be a chance (of getting traded). I didn’t really know anything until today. I’m really excited to get to St. Louis and get the chance to play."

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said as much, when he announced that Mailloux, who has all of eight games' worth of experience at the NHL level, including seven last season (two goals, two assists), has a job here and it's up to him to keep it.

"We think he's NHL-ready now," Armstrong said. "I talked to him, I told him he'll have the opportunity to ... he has a job now. It's his job to come into camp and keep it."

This wasn't going to be the case in Montreal, which chose Mailloux with the 31st pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, 14 spots after the Blues selected Bolduc at No. 17, and the 6-foot-3, 213-pound right-handed shot is more than grateful.

"I’m really excited to come to St. Louis," Mailloux said. "I think they’ve got a great group of guys, and I’m really looking forward to continuing my journey, on and off the ice. Coming to St. Louis and being able to make a positive impact, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice, I think I want to come in there and be able to do some good.

"It’s pretty nice, to be honest. I think they’re giving me a chance here trading for me. I think they gave up a good prospect, a good player. I think I’m NHL ready as well. I think I’m ready to make that jump full-time. Hopefully, come in here and be able to contribute to some wins and some success next year."

Mailloux, who had 80 points (26 goals, 54 assists) in 135 games playing for Laval of the American Hockey League the past two seasons, attributes his success to playing well both offensively and defensively. He's known as an offensive defenseman but feels his positive play stemmed from both ends of the ice.

"I think it was my play on both sides of the puck this year," he said. "I think that’s one of the areas that I made a step compared to my first year. I think I was playing more of a complete game, being physical and trying to provide some offense when I can. Just being able to be out there and be a reliable player.

"I think when I came in my first year, I was a little more raw. I didn’t play too much hockey before that, to be honest. Had one full year of junior in the OHL (with the London Knights), but other than that, I had some injuries and some stuff going on before that. I think coming in and being able to play two full seasons in Laval, I didn’t really miss a game. Just being able to fully round out my game, I think, was definitely a big step I made this past year."

Even if the Blues parted with Bolduc, who came into his own with 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 72 regular-season games last season and flourished when Jim Montgomery took over as coach in late November, Mailloux falls into the mix of a lineup that's got a group of 10 players at 25 or younger.

"They’ve got a good team there," Mailloux said. "It’s pretty exciting to see what they have going on. Got a bunch of young talent, some guys who’ve put up some really good seasons and some young guys who are up and coming as well. I think, hopefully, I fit right in with that age group as well. I’m really excited to get going and hopefully win some games for a long time here."

It was another slower-than-usual July 1 for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. In contrast with previous years, they stayed away from the big-name free agents, instead opting to sign depth pieces to short-term contracts.

Some fans aren’t thrilled about the lack of splashy moves, but Penguins general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas was transparent about his intentions and followed through with them.

“I think it’s like we’ve discussed. They’re not going to be the long-range, big-money guys in their 30s. It just doesn't fit at all with what we’re going to do,” Dubas told the media over the weekend.

While the organization hasn’t officially declared a rebuild, its actions speak volumes. That process arguably began at the 2024 trade deadline, when the Penguins dealt star forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes. It continued last offseason with the free-agent signings of defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and forward Anthony Beauvillier.

They were paid in extra draft picks to take on forwards Cody Glass and Kevin Hayes, signaling a focus on asset accumulation. Over the next two years, the Penguins have been aggressively stockpiling draft capital.

This free agency mirrored last year’s approach. The team signed defensemen Alexander Alexeyev, Parker Wotherspoon, Caleb Jones, and Phil Kemp, along with forwards Justin Brazeau, Anthony Mantha, and Rafael Harvey-Pinard.

Mantha is expected to take on a role similar to Beauvillier’s from last season—contributing roughly 15 goals before potentially being flipped at the trade deadline. Beauvillier tallied 13 goals and 20 points in 63 games last season (in Pittsburgh) and netted the Penguins a second-round pick from the Washington Capitals. 

If Mantha, who is recovering from knee surgery due to an ACL injury he sustained in the 2024-25 season, can produce at a healthy rate, the Penguins might expect a better return than the second-round pick the Capitals paid for Beauvillier.

Mantha also brings much-needed size to the lineup, a point Dubas has emphasized repeatedly in media appearances. He wants the Penguins to be bigger and harder to play against.

Brazeau and Wotherspoon help in that department, too. Brazeau, a towering 6’6” forward, isn’t shy about playing a physical game. He chipped in 11 goals and 22 points across 76 games with the Bruins and Wild last season and plays a responsible two-way game. He’s exactly the kind of player playoff teams value at the deadline.

Wotherspoon addresses the left side of the defense—a major focus for Dubas this offseason. He's a strong skater, dependable in his own zone, and can handle third-pairing minutes with ease. While he won’t bring much offense, his reliability fills a pressing need.

There’s still more work to be done on the left side of the defense, but Wotherspoon is a step in the right direction after last year’s struggles at the position.

Jones, Harvey-Pinard, Alexeyev, and Kemp will compete for roster spots in training camp. If they don’t crack the NHL lineup, they’ll provide valuable depth in Wilkes-Barre, where the Penguins are looking to improve their AHL affiliate’s performance next season.

The Penguins might not be a playoff team in 2025–26, but this methodical approach is part of a larger plan to return to contention. There’s also time for more moves before the season starts. The team has a surplus of forwards and will be looking to their young talent—Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, and Tristan Broz—to push for full-time NHL roles.

McGroarty and Koivunen looked NHL-ready by the end of the 2024–25 season, but they’ll still need to earn their spots in camp and the preseason.

Forwards Connor Dewar and Philip Tomasino are also returning after signing one-year deals on Tuesday. Though they reached free agency when Dubas chose not to extend qualifying offers, both ultimately re-signed.

The last two free-agent periods may have looked different for Pittsburgh, but they’ve been necessary. The real heavy lifting still lies ahead, but this was undoubtedly another step in the right direction.

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Featured Image Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images