Yesterday's Ramblings summarized and provided thoughts on some of the big moves on the opening day of free agency, including the extensions for Bowen Byram, Nico Hischier, and Ivan Demidov, the trades of Nick Robertson, Mavrik Bourque, and Devon Levi, as well as the signings of Mason Marchment, Mats Zuccarello, and Sergei Bobrovsky.

Today, we'll go over some of the other deals that went down. Contract information from PuckPedia. Other player/team data is from Evolving Hockey.

All the write-ups for the trades and signings can be ready in our 'Fantasy Take' section.

Alex Ovechkin Returns

The Washington Capitals' offseason, with the trade for Jordan Kyrou, the sign-and-trade for Alex Tuch, and the signing of Boone Jenner, indicated to me that Ovechkin would indeed be retiring. Well, my read was completely wrong as Ovechkin is returning for another season, signing a $1M contract that is heavy on bonuses. The Caps have clearly loaded up for a Stanley Cup run, and Ovechkin didn't want to miss out.

The Washington forward group is two things:

• Very deep
• A disaster for fantasy value

Not that guys won't be significant fantasy options, but good luck figuring out who goes where. Assuming that Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Boone Jenner or Ilya Protas are the top-3 centres, that leaves Kyrou, Tuch, Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, Aliaksei Protas, Ryan Leonard, and the odd-man-out between Jenner/Protas for top-9 winger spots. Someone very talented – Jenner and Leonard are the likely candidates – is going to end up on the fourth line.

Of course, that is when everyone is healthy, but it is going to lead to moderate ice time for a lot of their wingers. This is a case where it's great for the team, and good for depth fantasy options, but bad for the middle-of-the-road guys like Kyrou and Leonard.

Vincent Trocheck Traded to the Utah Mammoth

It was heavily rumoured that Trocheck was on his way out of New York, and the Rangers made it happen as he was traded for Sean Durzi, Cole Beaudoin, and a third-round pick in next year's draft. Ian had his thoughts on the deal here.

One thing that stands out was mentioned by Ian, and it's Trocheck's 56.9% face-off win rate last season. He has been over 56% in each of the last four seasons and he's averaged 57.9% in that span. Of the 75 forwards with at least 1500 face-offs won since 2022, that win rate is third in the league (per NHL.com). Last year, Kevin Stenlund led the Mammoth at 54.2%, but he's not a power-play guy. Barrett Hayton managed a 52.6% win rate but he just signed an offer sheet and may not return. Their two power-play centres – Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz – finished between 44-46%. This gives the Mammoth a centre who can win face-offs and has a lot of experience playing on the (typically successful) top PP unit for the Rangers. Putting two and two together here, it spells disaster for the fantasy value of either Schmaltz or Cooley.

My guess is Trocheck slides onto the second line with Dylan Guenther, but he may even move to the top line with Schmaltz and Clayton Keller, and Trocheck gets a crack at the top PP unit. Great for him, bad for Schmaltz or Cooley (my guess is Schmaltz gets relegated).

Anders Lee Signs with Utah

The Mammoth traded J.J. Peterka to Boston but never really replaced him. Well, here's the guy who will slide onto the left side of the third line, and he could not be a more different player than Peterka.

Last season, Lee's role with the Islanders was slashed down to 15:38 per game, but that didn't really reflect what happened with him on the ice. His expected goal play-driving was the best on the team, and his 5-on-5 goal differential was third-highest among their forwards. That he got less even-strength ice time per game than Emil Heineman and Jonathan Drouin is more a reflection of the Islanders' coaching staff (and they were fired) than Lee's play.

He won't get top PP time in Utah, especially with the Trocheck trade, so his fantasy upside is capped. The question is where he fits at even strength because Lawson Crouse got some run on the top line last season, Nick Schmaltz seems destined to move to the wing, and Kailer Yamamoto showed good chemistry with Cooley and Guenther. It isn't hard to see Lee with Barrett Hayton (if the team matches the offer sheet) or Kevin Stenlund (if they don't).

Lee probably gets moved around the lineup as he can fit in with any type of line, but it's doubtful he earns much more ice time than he did last year. He can be a 20-goal, 20-assist, 200-shot, 100-hit forward, but I wouldn't expect more than any of those marks, and fantasy managers should prepare for 10-20% less across the board.  

Matias Maccelli Signs with the New York Islanders

The Islanders let Lee go and brought in Maccelli as a replacement. Fun fact: in 2025-26, Maccelli had a higher 5-on-5 points rate than Matthew Knies, John Tavares, and Auston Matthews. He finished second among Toronto Maple Leafs forwards by that measure, trailing only William Nylander.

If we go by what the Islanders did late last season with Pete DeBoer behind the bench, Bo Horvat will be the centre on one line, and the duo of Brayden Schenn and Mathew Barzal will split centre duties on the next line. The obvious spot for Maccelli is on the top line with Horvat, as Maccelli can use his playmaking skills to help Horvat and Heineman (or Kyle Palmieri) score some goals. That could give him some fantasy value, but the value will be modest without top PP time.

When evaluating the playmaking tracking data from All Three Zones, the closest comparable wingers to Maccelli over the last two years are Jonathan Huberdeau and Clayton Keller:

Maccelli is one of the better playmakers in the league, and DeBoer will realize that. It is just a matter of whether he skates in the top-6 with one of Horvat or Barzal, or on the third line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau. He can help any line he's on, but that will be the difference to whether he has any fantasy value in most formats.

Jack Roslovic Signs with Toronto

Speaking of quiet productivity, across the last two seasons, Roslovic's 1.05 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 is tied with Leon Draisaitl, and higher than Jack Hughes and Jake Guentzel. He did that skating in Carolina and Edmonton, sure, but he's also going to a Toronto team that added some much-needed puck-moving defencemen and has a couple of wing spots open in the top-6. There will be competition from the likes of Max Domi and Easton Cowan, but Roslovic at least has a chance to play with Auston Matthews and/or William Nylander.

As with Maccelli, Roslovic is not likely to get top power-play time when the team's top forwards are healthy, but this isn't a bad landing spot for him. He can be a 20-goal, 40-point winger, he just won't have much upside beyond that, and he has meagre multi-cat value because of a lack of PIMs, hits, and blocks.

Jacob Trouba Signs with San Jose

This is where we need to separate real-life from fantasy hockey. Is this a great signing for the Sharks in real life? I am skeptical. Is this a good signing for Trouba's fantasy value? Well, maybe.

The Sharks have overhauled the blue line, trading for Michael Kesselring and Darnell Nurse, along with signing Trouba. The former Rangers captain finds himself on a San Jose roster that, with the signing of Mason Marchment, has a pretty good forward group, and isn't (or shouldn't be) entirely reliant on 'Macklin Celebrini go brr'. Trouba should get a lot of even-strength ice time and a healthy dose of PKTOI, keeping him around the 22-minute mark again.

For Trouba, he has a chance to push for 150 shots, hits, and blocks again and can crack 30 points on a good offensive roster. I am just skeptical that he'll raise the scoring floor of the forwards he skates with, though he can't be worse than the likes of Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro, and Nick Leddy (… or can he?).

Ville Heinola Signs with Vegas

Drafted 20^th overall back in 2019, Heinola just never could stick with the Winnipeg Jets. It is fair to wonder, though, how much role and injury played a part here.

Regardless of the coach, the Jets rarely had young defencemen in the lineup. Starting with the 2021-22 season, here is the list of Winnipeg blue liners who played at least 50 regular season games and were under the age of 24:

• Logan Stanley (23 years old, 2021-22)

That's it. One defenceman in five years to play at least 50 games and be under the age of 24, and it was a 6'7" rearguard – Heinola just turned 25 in March. Whether it's a function of the players they drafted or just philosophy, this team leaned heavily on veteran defencemen.

Then there are Heinola's injuries. He broke his ankle in January of 2024 and then, once recovered, had an ankle infection late in the same year. Across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, he played just 61 games between the AHL and NHL. As he was getting to a point in his development where the team might consider using him, his two ankle injuries undoubtedly hurt his cause.

Even if he cracks the Vegas lineup, Heinola won't be more than the 6^th defenceman, so the fantasy value here is modest at best. With that said, it's clear the Jets were not going to give him some run in the NHL, so at least he'll get a chance to show he can belong, and then become a more important piece a couple of years down the road. Then again, maybe he just never sticks in the NHL, and this is his last year before heading to Europe.

Frederik Andersen

The Oilers have Tristan Jarry signed for two more years, they traded for Devon Levi, and also added Andersen. All three goalies have NHL contracts, so none can be sent to the AHL without clearing waivers. Jarry might clear, as he did when Pittsburgh sent him down, but Levi probably won't given how cheap he is. That means the Oilers are likely running with a three-goalie setup, and that is a nightmare fantasy-wise. On the bright side, all three should be very cheap at the draft table, so drafting a Jarry/Andersen duo could get fantasy managers 65-70 starts, and that's a lot of wins on this Oilers team, even if they aren't what they were 2-3 years ago.

Daniil Tarasov

This is a nice pickup for the Detroit Red Wings. Tarasov was solid in net for the Panthers last year, especially considering all their injuries, and greatly outperformed Sergei Bobrovsky. Detroit might not be a playoff team, but they probably won't be (much) worse than the 2025-26 Florida Panthers, and Tarasov can spell off John Gibson who, despite the 57 starts last year, does have a lengthy injury history.

*

Getting injury news in the summer is rare, but this is very notable. Ryan McGregor reports that Connor Bedard left a development practice on Thursday with an apparent shoulder injury. There was video of him taking a spill in the corner and skating off holding his left shoulder:

I have video of Connor Bedard leaving practice today with a left shoulder injury, as first reported by @RyanmcgregorCHI. You can hear him in severe pain as he leaves the ice: pic.twitter.com/MySM1UwLht

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) July 2, 2026

Here, he is holding his left shoulder, and his injury back in December that cost him a month was his right shoulder, so that's notable. We also do not know anything further as to the nature of the injury or the severity, so anything else is just speculation. But this is something fantasy managers need to keep in mind this summer. Keep an eye out for updates.