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Sports Pulse
NHL free agency doesn’t open until noon on Tuesday, July 1, but there will be plenty of action on Monday, June 30.
Teams will take another shot at re-signing their unrestricted free agents before they hit the open market. Restricted free agents could also land new deals.
The 30th is also the deadline for teams to buy out players’ contracts and also to decide whether to give a pending restricted free agent a qualifying offer. Players become unrestricted free agents if they are bought out or don’t get a qualifying offer.
There also could be trades, and the Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights announced one.
Here’s a look at the action on June 30 heading into the July 1 start of NHL free agency:
His one-year contract is worth $1.3 million. He scored the series-clinching goal against the Golden Knights in overtime and finished the playoffs with three goals and three assists in 12 games. The Oilers had claimed him off waivers in November.
The Nashville Predators acquire defenseman Nicolas Hague and a conditional third-round pick from the Golden Knights in exchange for forward Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. Nashville will retain 50 percent of Sissons’ salary. If Vegas wins two rounds in the 2026 playoffs, the Golden Knights will move a second-round pick instead.
Hague was a restricted free agent and Vegas needs to clear out cap space to prepare for free agency. He signed a four-year, $22 million contract with Nashville after the trade. He was the Golden Knights’ second round pick in 2017 and is a physical player with 572 hits. Sissons and Lauzon are entering the final years of their contracts.
The Boston Bruins re-signed defenseman Henri Jokiharju (three years, $3 million average), forward John Beecher (one year, $900,000) and goaltender Michael DiPietro (two years, $812,500 average). Jokiharju averaged more than 21 minutes a game and had four assists in 18 games after arriving in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres. Beecher had 11 points in 78 games and DiPietro was the American Hockey League goalie of the year.
June 29 signings
- Boston’s Morgan Geekie signed a six-year contract ($5.5 million average) after a breakout 33-goal season.
- Ottawa Senators forward Claude Giroux signed a bonus-laden one-year deal with a $2 million base salary. The contract can be worth another $2.75 million in bonuses.
- Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro will average $4.125 million in his four-year deal.
Top NHL free agents
Playoff MVP Sam Bennett and other pending free agents have already re-signed. Here’s a list of the top 20 available players.
