Welcome back, all! We continue with the summer of signings and trades with more moves that will for sure be impacting both the NHL and fantasy landscape for the upcoming season. Note that I haven't gotten to a specific signing yet rest assured, we're going to be covering as many of them as we can before we get into the thick of fantasy draft season.

The Nashville Predators acquire Mavrik Bourque and Ilya Lyubushkin from the Dallas Stars for a 2027 2nd round pick and a 2028 3rd round pick (VGK). Bourque (24 years, old C/RW) signs a six-year contract at a $5.5M AAV ($33M total).

I'm just going to be focusing on Bourque here in this transaction, sorry to all the Lyubushkin fantasy managers out there!

I do believe that Jason Robertson holding out prevented the Stars from re-signing Bourque but am surprised at the suitor in Nashville along with Nashville absorbing one-year of Lyubushkin's contract as well, as this deal could have potentially had a first-round pick attached to it.

So, on one hand this could be a real steal at that AAV of $5.5M, as Bourque at only 24 years old has the upside to be a 50- to 60-point player in the years to come that will take him throughout the length of this deal in the prime of his career. Last season for the Stars, he netted 20 goals, and I do believe that is repeatable in his new situation in Nashville.

For salary leagues, there's only upside for Bourque. He may very well be the club's 3C coming into the season but that could lead to a larger role where we may see him at even strength skate across from Filip Forsberg (who had a very excellent last quarter of the season), or Luke Evangelista who also was slept on by those who didn't follow the Predators closely last season.

Anthony Mantha (31 years old, LW/RW) signs a two-year contract with the Devils at a $4.75M AAV cap hit ($9.5M total)

Sometime early Wednesday morning in a groggy fog from lack of sleep with a newborn, I hopped into the Twitterverse and saw that Anthony Mantha and the Devils reached a contract agreement. I like this for the Devils, and I like this for fantasy.

I do wonder at that number if the Penguins couldn't have just as easily brought Mantha back but on the other hand that is a Penguins club that will soon have to make room for Rutger McGroarty, William Horcroff, and maybe Travis Hayes down the line…or a big trade that this club has been rumored to be involved in.

Let's talk fantasy for Mantha for a second, as he was a surprising contributor all last season with a total of 64 points, 47 of them coming at even strength. His scoring may be streaky, but I like the chances that he can come close to replicating that production with the Devils if his health doesn't hamper him…that said, we're banking on health and it's the Devils.

Ideally, the perfect line for production for him on this club would be across from Jesper Bratt on the Jack Hughes second line, Bratt helps bring the physicality on the left side that Mantha lacks and any winger can benefit from Jack Hughes's play driving ability.

The Rangers acquire Pavel Dorofeyev from the Golden Knights for a 2026 1^st round pick (DAL, #26), a 2026 3^rd round pick (BUF, #92) and a conditional 2028 1^st round pick. Dorofeyev (25 years, old LW/RW) signs a seven-year contract at a $11M AAV ($77M total).

Somewhere during the NHL draft broadcast, the Rangers traded for Pavel Dorofeyev. I can't remember now if this trade occurred during the weird living room interview with Gavin McKenna and Justin Bieber or somewhere in the US broadcast where Kevin Weekes kept telling us that he had dinner with prominent Swedish hockey figures. Mhmm. I had dinner with Sydney Sweeney.

Regardless, I remember when Dorofeyev was drafted in our live draft for my ESPN league, I looked across the table and told my buddy and then defending champion of our league that I loved the pick, and I wasn't blowing smoke – Dorofeyev is an excellent for fantasy.

Those rostering him last season had to have known that he was going to be a big-ticket free agent, but the destination might not have been what we all anticipated. I'm not sure if the AAV makes sense right now for fantasy and did think that this deal would be part of a more grandiose plan for the Rangers. I guess when you're in a…we'll call it some sort of window, you can't cheap out? All that said, let's take a step back and look at the market for a premier winger and when we do that I think we can agree that you'd rather Dorofeyev at his age than say Alex Tuch or if the Rangers decided to extended Artemi Panarin last season.

While fantasy managers might be disappointed that he's no longer across from Mark Stone or Mitch Marner, and rather Gabe Perreault, I think there's a solid chance for success in New York, particularly on the power play.

If we go back two seasons, this was a Rangers power play that led the NHL in goals for and while a large contributor to that (no pun intended) was Chris Kreider in front of the net, we could be close to seeing an improved first power play unit with Dorofeyev on it. What Dorofeyev offers is a quick shot from the right side – something the Rangers lacked with Panarin on the opposite side in prior seasons. I don't think Dorofeyev needs to be as puck dominant on this Rangers club to be effective in fantasy and can see 20-25 points from him on the man advantage.

Peyton Krebs (25 years old, C/LW) signs a four-year contract with the Sabres at a $4.5M AAV cap hit ($18M total)

Anyone else been offered a trade for Peyton Krebs in their league? There's a reason for that as $4.5M AAV could be the new going rate for a younger bottom-six winger.

So, now all the free agents for the Sabres have been signed but the term and AAV for Krebs is a bit puzzling to me. This was a player who looked lost before getting an extended look on the top line.

This is a higher number that I'd be comfortable with in fantasy and can see it being difficult to have on your books if your club has a few higher AAV players. Krebs is average/above average at 5v5 offense and defense, it's the lack of power play exposure that has me concerned with fantasy production as he had just one power play point last season and two the season prior. This is also a club with plenty of young winger talent that could make it difficult for Krebs to see any expanded role with the Sabres.

Egor Chinakov (25 years old, LW) signs a three-year contract with the Penguins at a $6.25M AAV cap hit ($18.8M total)

Let's take it back to the Penguins here for a second, as Egor Chinakov signed an extension and yet there was so much news going on in the NHL that I think this got overlooked. To me this was a situation where a long-term contract wasn't in the conversation but what this contract does provide is buying a year of free agency and could be a win for the Penguins if he has continued short-term success, and a win for Chinakov if he's able to cash in on his contract.

Admittedly, the Penguins are one blind spot for me as far as clubs I tend to watch, roster in fantasy, and have all but sworn off in DFS. Just been burned too many times. Still, tip cap to this club this past season and what little I did catch of this club I was thoroughly impressed with some of the younger talent and this Penguins second line that Chinakov skates on.

He'll likely be right across from Evgeni Malkin again this season and that's a plus in fantasy as the duo, with Tommy Novak at center, had a 55% xGoals on the season and an expected goal for at 3.66. For those keeping track at home – those are both team bests for the Penguins last season. Keep an eye on him in fantasy as he also finished the season strong with eight goals and 14 assists.