Welcome back to the rebranded Around the League, now the NHL Notebook — the column here at CanucksArmy where we deliver news and notes from around the National Hockey League, oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens!
Man, is it October yet? While soaking up the sun on the beach or by the pool is nice, there’s just a void of enjoyment, having no hockey to watch. The Olympics kicking off tomorrow should help our sports needs (sorry, baseball); it’s September 19th – the start of Canucks training camp – that is circled on my calendar.
So, what else is there to talk about in late July? I don’t know about you, but July 25th doesn’t typically scream out “NHL news” day to me. But we’ve got some impactful signings, hirings and arrivings around the league to discuss.

Edmonton Oilers sign new GM

The Edmonton Oilers made headlines yesterday when they named Stan Bowman as their next General Manager and Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. Bowman will be the 11th GM in Oilers history and brings quite the laundry list of accolades with him.
In 2009, Bowman replaced Dale Tallon as GM of the Chicago Blackhawks and stayed in that role until 2021. In 2020, he even added President of Hockey Operations to his resume. During his 12-year tenure with the Blackhawks, the team had a 493-280-106 record, three division titles (2010, 2013, 2017), two Western Conference titles (2013, 2017), one President’s trophy (2013) and three Stanley Cups (2010, 2013 and 2015).
On October 26th, 2021, Bowman resigned after news was made public of his involvement in the Kyle Beach sexual assault case that had multiple members of the team aware of the incident without reporting the acts.
Many Oilers fans and hockey fans alike expressed their displeasure with the hiring, but Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson said he’s confident that Bowman has done the work to change and educated himself further:
“What happened to Kyle Beach in 2010 was wrong. It wasn’t handled properly. Stan has acknowledged and taken full responsibility for the inadequate response. But I also know he’s spent a great deal of time in the two and a half years since then to educate himself, to try and learn. He’s done a lot of work,” Jackson said.
“Part of my process was talking to Sheldon [Kennedy] – one of the four most experts in the field of abuse – because I knew he had done a lot of work with Stan over the years. And when I talked to Sheldon, he gave a full endorsement of Stan’s work, his commitment, the fact that he’s sure that he’s learned from his mistakes. We wouldn’t have made this hire without knowing that Stan had done all that work.”

Matvei Michkov Lands in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Flyers took a risk in the 2023 NHL draft when they signed Russian phenom Matvei Michkov at seventh overall. Talent-wise, he was up there with Connor Bedard in that draft class and was widely projected to be the second-overall pick for the majority of the season. However, he fell because of contract complications with his KHL team. Michkov was signed through the 2026-2027 season with SKA St. Petersburg, meaning teams would need to wait at least three seasons until he became he could make the move to North America.
However, reason reports started to blossom that Michkov may be able to get out of his KHL contract sooner than expected. It was confirmed on June 25th that Michkov was having his KHL contract terminated and will join the Flyers as soon as next season.
Michkov made this all official on Tuesday when he arrived in Philadelphia. A new era of Flyers hockey is here.
Michkov, 19, never really got into the St. Peterburgh lineup last season. However, the talented forward found success while on loan with HK Sochi. He scored 19 goals and 41 points in 46 games last season.
Don’t know much about Michkov? Here is how the experts over at Elite Prospects described the Russian winger:
“The rare triple-threat winger, Michkov is a constant threat to find the back of the net. His puck skills are near the top of the draft, owing to immense creativity, hip pocket handling, dextrous hands, and a never-say-die attitude. You may think that you have him, but most of the time, you really don’t. His ability to problem-solve his way out of defensive pressure is at a level all its own. Michkov creates plays on the ice that we can’t even fathom with the benefit of a bird’s eye view.”

Signings, Signings and More Signings

Travis Konecny
It’s been a big week for the Philadelphia Flyers. First, Michkov comes to town, and then the club signs their top forward Travis Konecny to an eight-year, $70 million contract that pays him $8.75 million annually.
Funny enough, teammate Travis Sanheim tried to steal the Elliotte Friedman and Frank Seravalli’s job as he broke the news.
Konecny, 27, is coming off a career year where he scored 33 goals and 68 points in 76 games. The 24th overall pick in the stacked 2015 NHL draft has spent all eight seasons with the Flyers and has 400 points in 564 games. Konecny has one year remaining on his current contract that paid him $5.5 million over the past five seasons. It’s safe to say that former Canucks captain Bo Horvat’s cousin is excited about the direction of the Flyers.
“I couldn’t be happier to sign again with the Flyers,” said Konecny. “There’s such a bright and exciting future with this team and I can’t wait to be a part of it for the next nine years and see what we will accomplish.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
The Buffalo Sabres have longed search for their franchise goalie ever since Ryan Miller left the team in 2014. Well, it looks like they’ve found their guy, homegrown to boot! The club announced on Wednesday that they’ve signed Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a five-year, $23.75 million extension that pays him $4.75 million per season.
Luukkonen, 25, became an NHL main stay goaltender in the 2022-2023 season. He had a decent record (17-11-4) compared to his personal stats of 3.61 goals against average (GAA) and a .891 save percentage (S%). But this past year was when the Finnish goaltender found his game. Luukkonen took the starts crease full time, playing in 54 games with a 27-22-4 record, a 2.57 GAA and a .910 S%.
Once the calendar flipped to 2024 up until the end of the season, Luukkonen finished with the fifth best GAA and S%. This level of play certainly earned his significant raise off his $838k contract. Here is what Luukkonen said as he reflected on his career year.
“I think that was really good for me and it’s good learning for me,” he said after the season. “I want to be a starting goalie in this league. I feel like I can be a good starting goalie in this league. Kind of going through that this year, it helped me a lot. It helped my confidence. I feel like physically and mentally, I was really as fresh as I can be and kind of went through it without any difficulty, so I think that gives me confidence for next year too.”
Oliver Wahlstrom
The New York Islanders avoid arbitration with one of their RFA’s as the club announces on Thursday that they’ve signed forward Oliver Wahlstrom to a one-year, $1 million extension.
Wahlstrom, 24, had a tough 2023-2024 season. He struggled to stay healthy, only playing 32 games, scoring just two goals and six points while averaging 11:04 minutes of ice time. The 11th overall pick in the 2018 NHL draft, was drafted to hopefully be the next sniper on the Island. However, with 34 goals in nearly 200 NHL games, that hasn’t come to fruition. And it’s not because he hasn’t been given the opportunity, Wahlstrom has spent time in the top-six, sometimes on Mathew Barzal’s wing.
This is very much a prove-it contract for Wahlstrom as he looks to make a name for himself around the league.
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