 | Today we're getting you caught up on the major moves in NHL free agency. Plus, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's record-setting contract, an update on the Canadians at Wimbledon, and a big day in international soccer. | | | NHL free agency: Here's who went where
| | | With the busiest day of the NHL off-season behind us, let's take a look at the big free-agent signings and where things stand coming out of July 1:
Vegas landed the big fish.
The Golden Knights didn't wait for Mitch Marner to hit the open market, acquiring the top pending unrestricted free agent in a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto on Monday evening. The Maple Leafs, who had given up on the possibility of re-signing their points and assists leader, received depth centre Nicolas Roy, while Marner got an eight-year, $96-million US extension negotiated in conjunction with Vegas.
The 28-year-old Marner, who ranked fifth in the league last season with 102 points, would have been eligible to sign for a maximum of seven years with Vegas once free agency began. The Knights reportedly may have been motivated to do the sign-and-trade because of a potential tampering complaint by Toronto. Another factor may have been the news that top defenceman Alex Pietrangelo's career is likely over due to a hip injury.
Though the Leafs lost Marner, John Tavares agreed to stay last week for a hometown-discounted $4.38M per year for four years, while rising star Matthew Knies signed a six-year deal for a reasonable $7.75M per year before he could become a restricted free agent.
Florida kept the band together.
After re-signing Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett to an eight-year, $64M contract last weekend, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions kept another key player off the market on Monday by agreeing with top-pair defenceman Aaron Ekblad on a team-friendly eight-year deal worth $6.1M annually (down from $7.5M on his previous contract). The Panthers used the savings to help keep trade-deadline addition Brad Marchand in the fold, inking the 37-year-old forward to a six-year deal for $31.5M yesterday.
Florida couldn't keep everyone, though. Veteran defenceman Nate Schmidt signed with Utah for three years, $10.5M after winning his first Stanley Cup last month.
Vancouver brought back Brock Boeser.
It looked like the longest-tenured Canuck's nine-year run with the team was over when he hit unrestricted free agency at noon ET yesterday. But he surprisingly decided to re-sign for seven years and $50.75M. Boeser, 28, had 25 goals last season after scoring a career-high 40 in 2023-24.
The Canucks also re-signed goalie Thatcher Demko (three years, $25.5M) and forward Conor Garland (six years, $36M) to contract extensions that keep them from hitting unrestricted free agency next summer.
Edmonton paid up for Evan Bouchard.
The back-to-back Stanley Cup finalists signed their high-scoring defenceman to a four-year, $42M deal on Monday, preventing Bouchard from becoming a restricted free agent and making him one of the highest-paid blue-liners in the league. Bouchard had 67 points last season after racking up 82 in 2023-24.
The Oilers also signed free-agent forward Andrew Mangiapane to a two-year deal worth $7.2M. The former Calgary Flame spent last season with Washington, where he scored 14 goals.
However, the Oilers lost some depth as veteran forwards Corey Perry (Los Angeles) and Connor Brown (New Jersey) and defenceman John Klingberg (San Jose) signed elsewhere, while the team was unable to upgrade its goaltending.
Other big deals around the league:
* Carolina acquired restricted free agent defenceman K'Andre Miller in a trade with the Rangers and signed him to an eight-year, $60M contract.
* The Rangers signed former L.A. defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov for seven years, $49M.
* Columbus re-signed Ivan Provorov to a seven-year, $59.5M contract just before he hit unrestricted free agency.
* Anaheim added forward Mikael Granlund on a three-year, $21M deal after he split last season between San Jose and Dallas.
Nikolaj Ehlers is still out there.
The 29-year-old Winnipeg winger is the top player left on the market after notching 24 goals and 53 points in 69 games for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets. He was reportedly expected to make a decision today, with Carolina among the front-runners after losing out on the Marner sweepstakes.
Other unrestricted free agents still available include forward Pius Suter, who scored 25 goals for Vancouver last season; Carolina defencemen Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns; and forwards Max Pacioretty (Toronto) and Jeff Skinner (Edmonton).
In other NHL news:
* The NHL, NHLPA and Olympic officials signed off on the final details of their agreement for players to participate in next year's Winter Games in Italy.
* Alex Delvecchio, a Hockey Hall of famer who played all 24 of his NHL seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and won three Stanley Cups alongside Gordie Howe, died at the age of 93.
* After working one last free-agent frenzy, longtime hockey writer, broadcaster and newsbreaker Bob McKenzie announced his retirement. | | |  | Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon welcomed Mitch Marner to Vegas after striking a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto for the coveted free agent. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via Associated Press)
| | | Quickly…
| | | Some other things to know:
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cashed in.
The NBA's regular-season and Finals MVP had a better Canada Day than most, agreeing to a four-year, $285-million US contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder that will give him the largest average annual salary ($71.25M) in league history. As Sportsnet's Michael Grange points out, SGA will make more money in one season than what fellow Canadian Steve Nash earned in the entirety of the five-year, $65.6M deal he signed in 2004 with Phoenix, where he won back-to-back MVPs.
That's one example of the eye-watering sums of money sloshing around the NBA these days. Another is that SGA's cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a journeyman guard who averaged nine points for Minnesota last season, got a four-year, $62M deal from Atlanta. And the Toronto Raptors gave Jakob Poeltl, an unremarkable centre who averaged 14.5 points last season, $104M for four years.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks made a surprising pair of moves yesterday, agreeing to a four-year, $107M contract with former Pacers centre Myles Turner and waiving future Hall of Fame guard Damian Lillard, who is owed more than $110M over the final two years of his deal but is not expected to play this season due to a torn Achilles. By cutting Lillard, Milwaukee can stretch his cap hit out over five years, freeing up money for players who can immediately help superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who may or may not be considering asking for a trade.
In the WNBA, the Indiana Fever won the league's in-season tournament last night, defeating league-leading Minnesota 74-59 in the Commissioner's Cup final despite the absence of an injured Caitlin Clark.
In international women's basketball, Canada faces the Dominican Republic later today in its final group game at the AmeriCup in Chile. The Canadians, ranked seventh in the world, are 2-1 after losing to No. 10 Brazil on Monday but have already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals of the North, Central and South American championship.
2. Canada's Leylah Fernandez lost in the second round at Wimbledon.
The 29th seed in the women's draw fell in straight sets today to Germany's Laura Siegemund, ranked 104th in the world. It's Fernandez's third straight second-round exit at the grass-court major.
Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and her teammate Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, seeded No. 2 in women's doubles, won their opener today in straight sets. At our publish time, Wimbledon rookie Gabriel Diallo and 25th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime were playing their second-round matches in men's singles. Diallo was against fifth-seeded American Taylor Fritz. Here's the latest on today's matches.
Yesterday, Canada's Denis Shapovalov, seeded 27th, was eliminated in the first round by 91st-ranked Mariano Navone of Argentina, while 18-year-old Victoria Mboko upset 25th-seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland. Mboko, who reached the third round of the French Open in May but lost in the second round of qualifying for Wimbledon, was added to the tournament just three hours before the match after another player withdrew.
3. It's a big day for international soccer.
Three interesting matches are on tap for tonight, including the Canadian women's national team vs. the top-ranked United States in a friendly at 7:30 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C. Here's more on their matchup.
In the men's Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals, the United States faces Guatemala at 7 p.m. ET in St. Louis and Mexico plays Honduras at 10 p.m. ET in Santa Clara, Calif. Guatemala upset Canada on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.
The Women's Euro championship kicked off today with Finland defeating Iceland 1-0. Host Switzerland was facing Norway at our publish time. Women's World Cup champion Spain opens tomorrow against Portugal, while defending Euro champ England meets France on Saturday.
In club soccer news, Canadian star forward Jonathan David will reportedly sign with Italian giant Juventus after spending the past five seasons with France's Lille. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you later.
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