Surgery For Merzlikins: It\u2019s a contract year for Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins<\/a> and it\u2019s off to a tough start.\u00a0 The team announced<\/a> that the veteran has undergone successful shoulder surgery and there\u2019s no timetable for his return.\u00a0 Naturally, that puts his availability for the start of the season into question.\u00a0 The 32-year-old posted a 3.40 GAA with an .883 SV% in 30 games in 2024-25 and could certainly benefit from a change of scenery, one that\u2019s less likely to come in the short term now.\u00a0 Columbus has a little over $12.6MM in cap space per PuckPedia<\/a>, however, most, if not all, of that will be earmarked for RFA center Adam Fantilli<\/a>.\u00a0 Depending on the severity of Merzlikins\u2019 injury, this news could push the Blue Jackets into a bit of a cap crunch.<\/p>\n Ducks Add Lucius: While the Ducks couldn\u2019t get Gauthier signed this week, they were able to add to their prospect pool.\u00a0 After Cruz Lucius<\/a> didn\u2019t file his paperwork to become a free agent last weekend, Pittsburgh dealt<\/a> the winger to Anaheim for future considerations; he quickly inked<\/a> a two-year, entry-level deal to begin his pro career.\u00a0 The 22-year-old had 124 points in 125 NCAA games, including a 46-point effort last season at Arizona State University.\u00a0 While the Penguins wanted to sign him, Lucius had made it clear months ago that he didn\u2019t want to sign with them.\u00a0 They were able to accommodate his request but unfortunately for Pittsburgh, they didn\u2019t acquire anything in return for his rights.<\/p>\n Engstrom Receiving Trade Interest: As the Canadiens look to add to their roster for the upcoming season, one of their prospects appears to be in high demand<\/a>, defenseman Adam Engstrom<\/a>.\u00a0 Several teams are believed to have shown interest in him this summer and he was their most sought-after asset at the trade deadline as well.\u00a0 The 22-year-old played in 15 games with Montreal last season in his first taste of NHL action while making the AHL\u2019s Top Prospects Team.\u00a0 A left-shot blueliner, he finds himself behind Lane Hutson<\/a>, Mike Matheson<\/a>, and Kaiden Guhle<\/a> on their current depth chart while he\u2019s also waiver-exempt.\u00a0 While he could push for a full-time spot in training camp if not traded, Engstrom could very well wind up back in the minors, biding his time for his next opportunity.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a relatively quiet week on the transactions front in the NHL with the most notable being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85,26176],"class_list":["post-866456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-week-in-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cutter-gauthier-ducks-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Gauthier Says No: One of the more prominent unsigned young players is Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier<\/a>, who technically hasn\u2019t qualified for full restricted free agency as he isn\u2019t offer sheet-eligible.\u00a0 However, after his teammate Leo Carlsson<\/a> received a five-year, $90MM offer from Philadelphia, he\u2019s seeking a big raise too.\u00a0 Reports surfaced this past week that Gauthier rejected<\/a> a four-year, $52MM offer from Anaheim. \u00a0The offer would have made him one of the top-paid forwards in the league but notably, he wouldn\u2019t reach unrestricted free agent eligibility after it expired.\u00a0 Gauthier had 41 goals and 28 assists in 76 games last season.\u00a0 As it stands, Anaheim is likely going to need to cut salary at some point to afford Gauthier\u2019s contract (Troy Terry<\/a> landing on LTIR is a short-term fix, not a long-term one) so the sooner they know his new number, the sooner they can work on freeing up that money.<\/p>\n