Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The Calder Cup Playoffs rage on but planning for the 2026-27 season is already well underway.
With next season’s start only a bit more than four months away, several NHL organizations and their AHL affiliates have started to make moves to build out their rosters and depth charts. Whether those players stick in the NHL this fall or go to the AHL remains to be seen. The NHL Draft, development camp, prospect tournaments, and training camp will all help determine those rosters. There are coaching vacancies to be filled as well.
Here is a look at the NHL’s Eastern Conference teams that have made moves involving players who competed in the AHL this season as well as potential newcomers who have signed two-way contracts for next season. A look at the Western Conference will follow later.
Boston Bruins (Providence Bruins)
Forward Lukas Reichel showed well after Boston acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks at March’s NHL trade deadline.
Reichel, who went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, will try to establish himself further with Boston on a new one-year contract extension. He split 27 games in the AHL between the Abbotsford Canucks and Providence and finished with 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists). He got into 10 regular-season games with Boston and had three points (one goal, two assists) and also appeared in one Stanley Cup Playoff game. Before the trade to Boston, he also played 19 games between Chicago and Vancouver. In all, he has played 198 NHL games as well as another 148 in the AHL.
Carolina Hurricanes (Chicago Wolves)
With teams still active in both the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup Playoffs, Carolina management has been at work as well. The Hurricanes have long shown an inclination to utilize the AHL heavily for development, and they continue to stock up on strong prospects.
Their latest addition is defenseman Noel Fransen from Färjestad of the Swedish Hockey League. Fransen, 20, played 13 games with Färjestad as well as 38 more games for HockeyAllsvenskan’s BIK Karlskoga, where he had 14 points (six goals, eight assists). He went to the Hurricanes in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Wolves forward Charlie Cerrato also has a three-year entry-level contract taking effect next season. Cerrato, 21, had 27 points (seven goals, 20 assists) in just 23 games for Penn State as a sophomore. He signed a tryout deal with the Wolves on March 31 and has appeared in one playoff game with them so far. Carolina took him in the second round of the second round of last year’s NHL Draft.
The Hurricanes organization won the Calder Cup in 2019 (with Charlotte) and 2022 (with Chicago).
New York Islanders (Hamilton Hammers)
Former AHL and NHL defenseman Jay McKee will lead the first-year Hammers in their inaugural season at TD Coliseum.
The 48-year-old McKee spent the past five years as a head coach in the Ontario Hockey League. He returns to Hamilton, where he coached the OHL Bulldogs to a league championship in 2021-22.
McKee’s professional playing career spanned 14 seasons, including 802 games in the NHL with Buffalo, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. He also played 24 games in the AHL with Rochester after being selected by the Sabres in the first round of the 1995 NHL Draft.
New York Rangers (Hartford Wolf Pack)
After the Wolf Pack finished last in the AHL with a 26-38-5-3 record, change swept across the team’s coaching staff. Rangers management elected to not bring back head coach Grant Potulny as well as assistant coaches Paul Mara and Jamie Tardif. In addition, Tanner Glass is taking over as New York’s director of player development, replacing Jed Ortmeyer.
Philadelphia Flyers (Lehigh Valley Phantoms)
Every organization needs a reliable option to join the NHL roster when needed or to compete for the AHL affiliate’s top goaltending job. The Flyers will have Aleksei Kolosov to help fill that role next season with a one-year contract extension.
Still only 24, Kolosov went 15-21-2 with a 2.98 GAA and an .895 save percentage in 38 games for the Phantoms. He split Lehigh Valley’s goaltending work with rookie prospect Carson Bjarnason, and those two will have another chance to compete for positioning on Philadelphia’s goaltending depth chart. Further goaltending depth will remain with Keith Petruzzelli signing a one-year AHL contract extension. Petruzzelli divided time between the Phantoms (six games) and their ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals.
Tampa Bay Lightning (Syracuse Crunch)
Tampa Bay is already well at work retaining players from a Syracuse team that produced a second-place North Division finish.
Hard-nosed forward Scott Sabourin will stay in the organization on a one-year, two-way contract. The 33-year-old split this season between Tampa Bay (26 games) and Syracuse (24 games). Tampa Bay also re-signed defenseman Maxim Groshev to a two-year, two-way contract while forward Nick Abruzzese got a one-year, two-way deal. Defensemen Tommy Miller (one-year) and Matteo Pietroniro (two-year) also have new AHL contracts with the Crunch.
Washington Capitals (Hershey Bears)
Washington prioritized a prospect-heavy roster with Hershey this season. Now forward Theodor Niederbach will compete with some of those prospects for a job in Washington this fall after the Capitals signed the 24-year-old to a one-year, two-way deal.
Niederbach comes to Washington from the SHL’s highly regarded Frölunda organization. He had 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 52 regular-season games and also helped Frölunda to win the Champions Hockey League.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.