The St. Louis Blues worked hard to try to re-sign forward Radek Faksa, but he is now heading elsewhere. 

According to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, the Dallas Stars have signed Faska to a three-year contract, where he will have a $2 million average annual value.

Sources say #TexasHockey are bringing back center Radek Faksa: 3 years x $2 million.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 1, 2025

Faksa is certainly a player who the Stars know well, as he was their first-round pick in 2012 and spent his first nine NHL seasons with them. His initial stint with the Stars ended during this past off-season when the Blues acquired him for future considerations. Now, after a year in St. Louis, he is returning to Dallas. 

The Blues will miss Faksa, as he was a solid bottom-six forward for them this past season. In 70 games, he recorded five goals, 15 points, and 115 hits. He was also very successful at the dot, winning 57% of his faceoffs. 

Overall, Faksa going back to Dallas ultimately makes sense. He was a nice part of their roster for several years, and he will be once again after signing this new three-year deal. 

Blues Sign Center Nick Bjugstad To Two-Year, $3.5 Million ContractMARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The

Photo Credit:  © James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images

A former Vancouver Canuck has made his way back to the organization in free agency. Center Joseph LaBate signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Canucks on July 1, returning to the organization after seven years away. 

LaBate was drafted by the Canucks in 2011, being picked 101st overall and in the fourth round. He spent four seasons at the University of Wisconsin and was named an assistant captain during his last year with the team (2014–25). LaBate scored 25 goals and 40 assists in 115 games played with Wisconsin before signing his entry-level contract with Vancouver and joining the Utica Comets for two games in 2015. 

The Canucks draft pick made his NHL debut on November 23, 2016 against the Arizona Coyotes and played in 13 of the team’s games in the 2016–17 season. He spent two more seasons with the Comets before joining the Belville Senators of the AHL for three seasons. After, he played in one season with the Milwaukee Admirals and one with the Chicago Wolves, before heading overseas and spending one year with Barys Astana of the KHL. 

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site: 

Vancouver Canucks Sign Forward Mackenzie MacEachern To A Two-Year Contract

Abbotsford Canucks Sammy Blais Signs With The Montréal Canadiens

BREAKING: Brock Boeser Re-Signs Long-Term With Vancouver Canucks

LaBate made his return to the NHL in the 2024–25 season, signing a one-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played in six of their games and tallied one assist. During the rest of the season, he played with their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, scoring eight goals and 13 assists in 51 games. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are adding more size and grit to their forward group. 

According to TSN's Darren Dreger, the Penguins have signed forward Justin Brazeau to a two-year, $3 million contract. Starting next season, the 6-foot-6 winger will have a $1.5 million cap hit. 

Justin Brazeau signs 2 years at $1.5 mil per with the Penguins.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2025

Brazeau has the potential to be a nice addition to the Penguins' bottom six. When playing at his best, he provides decent secondary offensive production and a good amount of grit. Furthermore, he also works on the power play because of his net front presence ability. 

Brazeau recorded 11 goals, 22 points, and 123 hits in 76 games this season split between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild. He also appeared in six playoff games for the Wild, posting two assists and a plus-1 rating. 

Overall, this is a solid depth move for the Penguins. Brazeau should give their bottom six a bit of a boost, and it will be intriguing to see what kind of campaign he has in 2025-26 from here. 

Penguins Trade Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic To San Jose For Third-Round PickAfter much anticipation about the

Photo Credit: © Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Compared to a year ago, the start of free agency was very quiet for the Nashville Predators. 

During the 2024 offseason, the Predators landed two of the hottest forwards in the market: Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. 

This year, its focus was "fixing the defense," and that's exactly what the Predators did, adding two defensemen: Nicolas Hague from the Vegas Golden Knights and Nick Perbix from the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

"We've got some great prospects on the way, but I felt two things: we wanted to get bigger and we want to get younger," Predators General Manager Barry Trotz said. "The deal we made with Vegas with that in mind. You're getting a 6-foot-6 defenseman [Hague] who we project is going to be in a top 4 and is going to play high minutes." 

Nashville definitely has height in its defense, averaging 6-foot-2-inches among its rostered defensemen. Perbix bumped that average as he is 6-foot-4-inches. 

This is going to be a heightened role for Hague, as he primarily played in Vegas' bottom pairing. This past season, he had 12 points in 68 games, 40 penalty minutes, and was a minus-2.

He has a hard shot, but Hague is below the league's 50th percentile when it comes to skating and speed bursts. 

Trotz believes that Hague is a good addition to the roster, giving the Predators needed depth on the backend and helping the team achieve it's overall goal of making the defense better. 

"If you can't defend, you can't win," Trotz said. 

One of the most significant talking points of the offseason has been the Predators' lack of depth at center. Nashville drafted one center, Brady Martin, fifth overall, and has not picked up one in free agency yet. 

While the Predators are still "shopping" the market, Trotz said improving center depth is going to rely on stronger play along the wings and more consistency at defense. 

 "On paper, it's not a deep center group. There's different ways to win," Trotz said. 

The Predators also extended a qualifying offer to forward Luke Evangelista, who reached the end of his three-year, entry-level contract. The Predators' 2020 second-round draft pick scored 32 points in 68 games last season. 

In need of more help from the wing and wanting a younger look, Trotz went so far as to call Evangelista "the future." 

"We're just trying to find a term that fits," Trotz said on Evangelista's qualifying offer. "I would like to go longer. The agents are hesitant to go longer on term."

After extending a crop of players within the organization, the Vancouver Canucks have signed some free agents to short-term deals. Around 2:00 pm PT today, the team announced that they have signed forward Mackenzie MacEachern to a two-way, two-year contract. MacEachern spent the past two seasons with the St. Louis Blues organization. 

MacEachern, a forward, was drafted 67th overall by the Blues in 2012. He played in three seasons with Michigan State University, scoring 33 goals and 35 assists in 108 games played with the team. From there, he spent two seasons with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, before making his NHL debut for the Blues on January 10, 2019. In his first NHL season, he tallied three goals and two assists in 29 games played, and was part of the St. Louis team that won the Stanley Cup against the Boston Bruins. 

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site: 

Abbotsford Canucks Sammy Blais Signs With The Montréal Canadiens

BREAKING: Brock Boeser Re-Signs Long-Term With Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks' Noah Juulsen Signs One-Year Contract With The Philadelphia Flyers

MacEachern proceeded to spend the next three seasons with St. Louis, playing 51 games in the 2019–20 season and slotting into the lineup for five of their postseason matches. He had eight goals and six assists in 86 games with the Blues before signing with the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency in 2023. While he didn’t play a regular season game for the Hurricanes, he did take part in eight of the team’s playoff games, scoring a goal and an assist. 

In another short stint with the Blues in the 2024-25 season, MacEachern had 12 goals and 20 assists in 40 games with their AHL affiliate, the Springfiled Thunderbirds. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed right winger Philip Tomasino on Tuesday.

Tomasino, acquired last season from the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick, has been a streaky scorer for the Penguins. At 23, the Penguins are hoping that Tomasino can develop into a more consistent forward who projects to fill out a middle-six role with the team.

Penguins general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas noted to the press on Monday that conversations were continuing with both Tomasino and Connor Dewar's respective camps; the signings of both were announced simultaneously Tuesday afternoon.

It is unclear if Tomasino attracted interest from other clubs before signing with the Penguins. He earned a slight raise on his one-year, $825,000 contract, while Dewar took a slight pay cut on his. 

The Penguins have signed Philip Tomasino and Connor Dewar to one-year contracts.

Both contracts run through the 2025.26 season, with Tomasino’s contract carrying an AAV of $1.75 million and Dewar’s contract carrying an AAV of $1.1 million.

Details: https://t.co/21gxsCEXwSpic.twitter.com/TnU5uwzlFy

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 1, 2025

The young forward has shown ample promise, playing alongside center Evgeni Malkin for stretches last year. He amassed 11 goals and 23 assists in 50 games for the Penguins after notching only one assist in 11 games with the Predators.

The Penguins are hoping that he fills a top-nine role and becomes a solid component in their efforts to return to contention.

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!

Feature image credit:  Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

After much anticipation about the Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltending situation heading into the 2025-26 season, the dam has finally broken. 

On Tuesday, the Penguins traded goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick. Nedeljkovic is signed through the end of the 2025-26 season with a cap hit of $2.5 million.

Nedeljkovic, 29, spent the last two seasons as one half of the tandem with Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh. There were mixed results in both campaigns, and last season, Nedeljkovic finished the season 14-15-5 with a 3.12 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage.

 With Nedeljkovic out of the picture for the Penguins, it opens the door for one of Pittsburgh's young goaltending prospects to share the workload with Jarry next season. The obvious candidate is Joel Blomqvist, who had two short NHL stints last season. 

The first stint went well for Blomqvist. The second? Not so much. Overall, the rookie finished 4-9-1 with a 3.81 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.

Pittsburgh also has goaltending prospects in Sergei Murashov and Filip Larsson, both of whom figure to be in the mix for NHL playing time next season.

After the trade, the Penguins now have 28 picks in the next two drafts, including six in the first three rounds in 2026.

Penguins Re-sign Forward Connor Dewar To One-Year ContractAfter non-qualifying

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab  to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!    

Feature image credit: Timothy T. Ludwig - Imagn Images

The San Jose Sharks have announced that they have signed John Klingberg, Adam Gaudette and Philipp Kurashev to contracts.

Kurashev, 25, signed a one-year $1.2 million deal. He had seven goals and seven assists for 24 points in 51 games last season with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was left unqualified by the Blackhawks and now joins a young Sharks team where he will be given an elevated role within their lineup.

As for Klingberg, he signed a one-year deal $4 million deal. He is a 32-year-old defenseman that can help lead the power play unit and mentor some of the younger players on the back end.

Lastly, Adam Gaudette has signed two-year deal $4 million deal that carries an AAV of $2 million per season. Last season with the Ottawa Senators he scored 19 goals and seven assists for 26 points in 81 games. 

The Sharks are not in the market to add a ton of big names. They want to surround the younger players with depth players that don’t take away from the ice time of the Macklin Celebrinis and Will Smiths.

The Sharks still need to spend upwards of $20 million to reach the cap floor. With the free agent market starting to thin out, there could be a chance that GM Mike Grier looks at the trade market to add players and salary cap.

Sharks Sign William Eklund To Three-Year Contract ExtensionThe San Jose Sharks have signed William Eklund to a three-year contract worth $16.8 million. The contract carries an average annual value of $5.6 million, which is a great cap hit for a bridge deal for a team on the back half of a rebuild like San Jose.

San Jose Sharks Issues 2025 Qualifying Offers The San Jose Sharks have announced their 2025 qualifying offers to their pending restricted free agents. In total, they had 11 RFAs. They only offered three players qualifying offers and are letting eight players walk to free agency without any return.

From The Archive: ALL HAIL MARLEAUThe Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.

Sharks Not Expected To Offer Long-Term Deals In Free AgencyAccording to San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier, they aren't expected to be handing out any long-term contracts this free agency.

Meet The New Sharks: 2025 Draft ClassThe 2025 NHL Entry Draft has come and gone, and after a weekend where fans questioned the format of the new decentralized draft, the San Jose Sharks came away with quite a few new prospects in their prospect pool. In this article, let’s take a look at all of their new players.