The Philadelphia Flyers found their goalie reinforcements, signing free agent netminder Dan Vladar to a two-year deal to kick off the opening of NHL free agency.

Vladar, 27, has signed a two-year deal with the Flyers worth $6.7 million ($3.35 million AAV), making him the only goalie in the organization with pro experience signed beyond the upcoming 2025-26 season.

With Vladar now in the fold, it would appear Philadelphia will platoon him and incumbent Sam Ersson as the new goalie tandem.

It had previously been reported that Ivan Fedotov will start the season in the AHL as the Flyers’ No. 3 goalie.

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Vladar has spent the last four seasons with the Calgary Flames, primarily serving as the backup to Jacob Markstrom and, later, Dustin Wolf.

The 6-foot-5 Prague native appeared in 30 games for the Flames this season, posting a 12-11-6 record, a 2.80 GAA, a .898 save percentage, and two shutouts.

By extension, this was also Vladar’s best season as a Flame since his first, when he went 13-6-2 with a 2.75 GAA, a .906 save percentage, and two shutouts back in 2021-22.

Still on the younger side and relatively experienced, the Flyers hope the 27-year-old Vladar (soon to be 28) can establish himself as a reliable rotational piece between the pipes and, presumably, as their backup goalie of the future with a successful stint in Philly.

The Carolina Hurricanes have reportedly signed KHL netminder Amir Miftakhov to a one-year deal.

The deal is a two-way contract that will pay Miftakhov $775,000 at the NHL level and $100,000 at the AHL level, with a $240,000 guarantee.

The Russian goalie had a 13-11-3 record with Ak Bars Kazan last season with a 0.927 save percentage.

The 25-year-old was drafted in 2020 by the Tampa Bay Lightning and spent just one season in North America before returning to Russia.

Over the last three seasons, Miftakhov has had a 0.927 save percentage, 0.930 and a 0.917.

It provides the Canes with additional goaltending depth, a position that they were severely lacking in.

Congratulations to Amir Miftakhov on signing a 1-year NHL contract with the Carolina #Canes ! #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/s0KNaIBv74

— Dan Milstein (@HockeyAgent1) July 1, 2025

The Brock Boeser era is officially back on the table for the Vancouver Canucks, as the forward has signed a seven-year, $7.25M AAV contract with the team. This comes after a long season of speculation that Boeser would not be remaining with the team after 2024–25, including a trade deadline that nearly saw the decade-long Canuck depart from the team. 

Boeser was drafted 23rd overall by the Canucks during the 2015 NHL Draft, meaning his tenure with the organization just hit 10 years. The forward made his NHL debut for the Canucks on March 25, 2017, against his hometown Minnesota Wild. He also scored his first NHL goal this day — one of 204 total that he scored with Vancouver. In his first full NHL season, Boeser scored 29 goals and 26 assists in 62 games played, earning him a Calder Memorial Trophy finalist bid. He was also named to the 2018 NHL All-Star Game and earned the title of MVP. 

Initially, many saw Boeser as a 30-goal scorer in the NHL, though he didn’t hit the milestone for the first seven seasons of his career. In 2023–24, Boeser had a breakout year, tallying 40 goals and 33 assists in 81 games — the most he has played in a single season. He kicked that season off with a monster four-goal performance against the Edmonton Oilers. 

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Boeser's long-term return to the Canucks will keep him within the organization until 2032. 

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The Buffalo Sabres have appeared to have budgetary reasons on their mind with their trades leading into free agency on Monday. On the second day of the NHL Draft, they traded a second round pick and defenseman Connor Clifton to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Conor Timmins and minor leaguer Isaac Belliveau, shedding Clifton’s $3.33 million cap hit for next season. On Monday, the Sabres dealt forward Sam Lafferty to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2026 sixth-round pick. 

The 30-year-old was part of a flurry of bottom-six signings made by GM Kevyn Adams on free agent day one year ago, agreeing to a two-year, $4 million contract after a 13-goal season with the Vancouver Canucks, but as with many of those additions, Lafferty’s signing was a disappointment. He scored just seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) in 60 games.  

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The deal sends Lafferty back to the Hawks, where he played 97 games over two seasons before being dealt to Toronto along with former Sabre Jake McCabe in February, 2023. With the deal, the Sabres save $2 million on the salary cap for next season, giving them nearly $23 million in available cap space.

Buffalo has restricted free agents Ryan McLeod, Tyson Kozak, Conor Timmins, Bowen Byram, and Devon Levi to sign, but there is still an expectation that Adams will deal Byram if he can get a significant return for the 23-year-old. That is something that he may have to wait until the blueline market gets sorted out, as rearguards like Vladislav Gavrikov hit free agency, and veterans like Rasmus Andersson and RFA K’Andre Miller get signed or traded. 

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Former Vancouver Canucks defender Noah Juulsen has signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. Juulsen, who is from BC, will be joining his fourth NHL team throughout his seven-year career. Aside from Vancouver, he also played with the Montréal Canadiens and the Florida Panthers. 

Juulsen was drafted 26th overall by Montréal in the 2015 NHL Draft. He played in his first NHL game on February 22, 2018, and finished that season with a goal and two assists in 23 games played. He had eight points in the 44 games he played in with the Canadiens. He was put on waivers in January of 2021 and was claimed by the Panthers, where he only slotted into four regular and postseason games. 

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In October of 2021, the Canucks traded former 2016 first-round pick Olli Juolevi for Juulsen and Juho Lammikko. This was the first of four seasons that Juulsen spent with his hometown team, during which he put up a goal and eight assists in 109 games. He played in a career-high 54 during the 2023–24 season, also slotting into two of Vancouver’s playoff games during the same season. 

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MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Blues have acquired a young defenseman they hope will be a mainstay for them for years to come, but it came at a price.

The Blues are acquiring Logan Mailloux from the Montreal Canadiens for forward Zack Bolduc.

The 22-year-old Mailloux was the 31st pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and has played in just eight games in the NHL, including seven last season when he had two goals and two assists.

He's 6-foot-3, 213 pounds and is a right-handed d-man, which is something the team has coveted of late.

"He's an excellent skater, got an excellent shot," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "... We think he's NHL-ready now. 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."

But it came at a cost, as the 22-year-old Bolduc, the 17th pick in 2021, broke out last season, with 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 72 games, but all 19 of his goals were scored after the Blues hired Jim Montgomery, who seemed to untap Bolduc's potential.

However, the Blues felt like there was a surplus of wingers, and that Bolduc may not have been able to advance up in the lineup.

"With a trade like this, it's an old-fashioned hockey trade," Armstrong said. "It was very difficult to include Bolduc in any deal, including this one. When I look at our depth on the wing right now, if you go [Jimmy] Snuggerud and [Jordan] Kyrou, then you go on the other side with [Pavel] Buchnevich and [Dylan] Holloway, it seemed like an area of strength of ours. And then you look at our depth on the right side of the defense, our top four players are into their 30s. We used a No. 1 pick last year to get [Adam] Jiricek, but adding Mailloux fills a void for us today and tomorrow."

After Mailloux was drafted, he was immediately suspended indefinitely by the Ontario Hockey League after an incident while on loan to SK Lejon in Sweden in November 2020; he was fined by Swedish authorities after admitting to two charges related to sharing, without a woman's consent, a photo during sex.

It was reported that the 21-year-old at the time, said he "deeply regrets" taking and then sharing that photo with his teammates in order "to impress them."

Mailloux underwent therapy and counseling and participated in a personal development plan, and the league announced in a statement then that, "we have met with Logan Mailloux multiple times over the course of the last eight to 10 months. We are comfortable that he recognizes the gravity of his prior conduct and is committed to making better and more responsible decisions in the future."

"To be honest with you, I think it’s something that it’s not just in the rear view for me," Mailloux said. "I think it’s something that I’ve carried with me every day. It’s something that I want to be able to make a positive impact. I think when I dealt with all of that, in the past few years, I’ve felt I’ve grown a lot, as a person, off the ice. I’ve been around the community in Montreal and like I said, I look forward to getting to St. Louis and being able to make a positive impact around the community there. Just turning my whole situation, which was a negative situation, being able to turn that into a positive is something I’ve really tried to do."

The Blues were aware of the player in 2021 but understood the player requested he not get drafted.

"His draft year, he was dealing with things off the ice," Armstrong said. "There was a request by the player not to be drafted, so we didn't take him with our pick and Montreal did. It's a difficult situation. He's a young man and he made a mistake. Obviously we've done our research on that. We've followed his career since then. The league has obviously done their due diligence and allowed him into the league. We understand what he did. We also understand everyone makes mistakes and he's paid for it, and he'll continue to pay for it and we'll continue to work with him. But it's not something that we weren't aware of. Personally, it's a second opportunity that I think that the Canadiens gave him and us trading for him shows that there is the ability to change the narrative."

While playing for the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League last season and led the Rocket defense with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 63 regular-season games.

“I think it was my play on both sides of the puck this year," Mailloux 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.”