No, hockey isn’t back just yet. While the draft and week one of free agency were entertaining, it’s definitely dropped off, and the summer has begun to drag. Today, more than others, given the rainy Vancouver weather outside. So, what better to do on a muggy Monday afternoon than open up our NHL notebook and cover what’s been going on around the league in the past few hours?

The Minnesota Wild and Bill Guerin handled their biggest piece of business as the club announced they’ve extended Brock Faber to an eight-year, $68 million extension that pays him $8.5 million annually.

Faber, 21, was acquired by the Minnesota Wild along with a 2022 first-round pick (Liam Öhgren at 19th overall) in a trade that sent Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings. Faber would spend the ensuing season with the University of Minnesota, where he captained the team with four goals and 27 points in 38 games. He would play two regular season and six playoff games at the end of his collegiate season, where he was held pointless.

The Wild defenceman’s impressive rookie season took the hockey world by surprise. He made an impact early and established himself as a serious contender for the Calder trophy. Faber played all 82 games last season, scoring eight goals and 47 points.

What was maybe most impressive was the amount Faber was playing. By the time the season wrapped up, Faber averaged just shy of 25 minutes per game. His efforts earned him 42 first-place and 146 second-place votes for the league’s best rookie last year.

Given the glimmer we saw last season, if Faber stays on this trajectory, his contract is going to age like fine wine. Based on average annual value (AAV), Faber now becomes the 13th highest-paid defenceman in the entire league, ahead of youngsters Miro Heiskanen, Owen Power, and the beloved Quinn Hughes.

The Minnesota native extends in his home state and gets to play for his childhood favourite team for the next eight seasons.

The Minnesota Wild weren’t the only ones to re-sign their player today. After many weeks of frustration and trade rumours during the summer, the Carolina Hurricanes finally reached an agreement with disgruntled forward Martin Necas.

Necas, 25, had the second-best season of his career, scoring 24 goals and 53 points with a minus-nine rating. The Czech forward became frustrated with his role on the team after the Hurricanes acquired Jake Guentzel. Necas lost his role on the top powerplay unit and was mainly used in a third-line role. After the team was eliminated from the playoffs, Necas requested a trade, and the rumours began to swirl.

The Columbus Blue Jackets were one of the teams reportedly interested in Necas. The talks got so deep that the Hurricanes offered Necas and other pieces for the fourth overall pick. However, the Blue Jackets declined and selected centre Cayden Lindstrom out of the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Heck, even the Vancouver Canucks were reportedly one of the teams heavily interested in Necas.

However, the trade rumours can be put to rest, as he’ll be with the Hurricanes for the next two seasons. Here’s what new Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky had to say about Necas:

“Martin is an immensely skilled player who provides a scoring threat whenever the puck is on his stick,” said Tulsky. “He will play a key role in the continued success of our franchise, and we’re excited to have a multi-year contract done.”

It was a challenging year for Laine and the Blue Jackets. After sustaining an upper-body injury, Laine’s season was cut short to just 18 games. He finished with six goals and nine points. During his rehab, Laine decided to enter the NHL’s player assistance program, ending his season. After nearly seven months, Laine has been fully cleared from the assistance program and is free to resume play.

We’re all hoping that Laine has found the help he needs and he’s ready for the next chapter in his hockey career. This next chapter will have to come in a different uniform, as Laine has since requested a trade from the Blue Jackets.

Here’s what new GM Don Waddell had to say about Laine and his trade request:

“Patrik’s made it clear that, even before all the changes this summer, he would like a fresh start someplace. We will look at it when the time comes – which hopefully is very soon – all the options. Now, I can’t rule out any options, even returning here because it takes two teams to make a trade and if there’s not a trade that makes any sense to us, then we have to just deal with what reality is. [Laine’s agent] Andy Scott told him multiple times that we will make sure we look at everything and know the situation, and we know Patrik’s feelings and we can find the right fit, certainly we will do that. But, if not, we’ll have to just deal with it.”

The 26-year-old is looking for a fresh start after not exactly living up to the hype he had when he was a member of the Winnipeg Jets. Laine’s lone bright spot has been the 2021-2022 season, where he finished as a point-per-game (56 points in 56 games). But since the trade, he has struggled to stay healthy. Laine has played a total of 174 games across his four-season Blue Jackets career. Any team that acquires him takes on his $8.7 million for the next two seasons.