I will not keep repeating myself about the NHL offseason. It is nowhere near as busy as it was at the beginning of the month, but moves persist.
The fireworks from July 3 stopped. The Ducks matched Philadelphia’s offer sheet, and 21-year-old Leo Carlsson is the highest-paid player in the league. He was staying in orange regardless, and he will remain in Orange County for the next five seasons. It sounds like he wanted to stay, and the Ducks’ owner said it was an “easy decision.”
In Bruins news, Riley Duran signed a one-year deal, and Providence released its 72-game schedule. There’s also the first part of the Boston Hockey Now mailbag and an hour-long podcast to check out.
Elsewhere around the league, Dylan Larkin reportedly expanded his trade list, but it does not really benefit Detroit too much. The Maple Leafs made some front office changes, letting go of a couple of assistant GMs as well as their director of amateur scouting. Nico Hischier helped save a family in Switzerland, and the Islanders are running a sweet third jersey campaign.
Five trade destinations for Kraken center Shane Wright were also listed yesterday.
Happy Friday, catch up on Bruins and league news in today’s Daily Bean:
Boston Bruins
MAILBAG PT. 1: It’s time to answer your questions. Check out the first bunch from yesterday, including some thoughts on James Hagens, Pavel Zacha, an opening night lineup projection, and what name Ivan Ivan should wear on the back of his jersey.
Thank you for the questions. Part two will be out later today, and we will run this back closer to the start of training camp.
GARDEN LEVEL PODCAST (video via YouTube): Podcast time! I had the pleasure of joining good friends Cam Stuart and Dan Conlon on this week’s episode of the Garden Level Podcast. Check it out, and check them out on Twitter/𝕏 and TikTok.
We hit on development camp, touching on a few standout prospects as well as the 2026 draft class. We also talked about Zacha, Hagens, and the Bruins’ logjam on defense. Also, Tuukka Rask, and here is the almost goalie fight from 2018.
RILEY DURAN: The Woburn native is sticking around. The Bruins signed Riley Duran to a one-year, two-way deal with an NHL cap hit of $850,000. He had 19 points (7-12–19) with the P-Bruins last season.
PROV SCHEDULE: The Providence Bruins released their 2026-27 season schedule yesterday. The 72-game slate features 14 games against Springfield, 12 against Jay Leach and the Hartford Wolf Pack, and a March trip to Rockford, IL, Milwaukee, WI, and Rosemont, IL. Here is a printable PDF of the schedule.
NHL News & National Hockey Now
Philly Hockey Now: The Ducks matched the Flyers’ five-year, $90 million offer sheet for Leo Carlsson yesterday. Danny Briere took a big swing, showing how desperate teams can get for a solution down the middle, but he could not land his big fish. There is a $19.95 million signing bonus owed to Carlsson this summer.
Sportsnet: Ducks’ owner Henri Samueli called it an “easy decision,” and he credited Pat Verbeek for leaving the team enough cap space, and Carlsson said he “always wanted to be a Duck.” It is TBD whether or not Briere’s move will skew the value of younger players, but Verbeek thinks the increasing cap space will continue to change the market for young and talented RFAs.
Daily Faceoff: Mike Gould of DFO listed five landing spots for Shane Wright. Not among them? The Boston Bruins. Phew. According to Wright’s agent, the Kraken are working on a move, and plenty of teams could benefit from taking on the 22-year-old center.
Detroit Hockey Now: Dylan Larkin’s trade list reportedly expanded by one, but it’s not enough to help the Red Wings. In trade conversations with the Dallas Stars, Steve Yzerman wanted a package that started with Wyatt Johnston, but Dallas said no, and then the Stars offered Jason Robertson, but Detroit said no. Max Smith has more on the Red Wings’ captain.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Batman? Penguins forward Egor Chinakhov spoke to a Russian outlet and referenced The Dark Knight Rises (2012), which was filmed at then-Heinz Field, as a reason why he chose the Penguins over hometown Avangard Omsk. He did not speak much about his time in Columbus, instead opting to speak about his time with the Penguins. Dan Kingerski has more on the Russian forward who just inked a 3x$6.25M extension.
New Jersey Hockey Now: Good guy, Nico Hischier. Some might say great guy now. The Devils captain helped save a family of four who were stuck near a “dangerous” jetty in Switzerland. Daniel Amoia has more on the report from overseas.
Sportsnet: The Maple Leafs let go of a handful of front-office employees this week. Among those is assistant general manager Hayley Wickenheiser. She joined the Leafs in 2018 as an assistant director of player development. Her conversations with John Chayka seemed to tell her a different story.
The new Maple Leafs took the axe to 11 longtime employees on Wednesday. Among those let go: longtime scout, Dave Morrison; director of amateur scouting, Mark Leach; assistant GM Darryl Metcalf and many from the analytics department. @koshtorontosun with more on this …
— Steve Simmons (@simmonssteve) July 9, 2026
TSN: Xavier Bourgault, who filed for arbitration, signed a one-year, two-way deal with an NHL cap hit of $850,000. He is the first player who filed for arbitration to sign a deal this summer.
New York Islanders: This is sweet. The New York Islanders are letting fans design their third jersey. They included a website to build the jersey, featuring a template with pre-set options for striping, and the Fisherman logo from the 1990s is in play.
Bruins Offseason Schedule
Friday, September 11: Rookie Camp opens – Warrior Ice Arena, Brighton, MA
Wednesday, September 16: Training Camp opens – Warrior Ice Arena, Brighton, MA
Sunday, September 20: First preseason game – TD Garden, Boston, MA