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The Chicago Blackhawks will not have a captain this season.

General manager Kyle Davidson made the announcement Tuesday. Jonathan Toews captained the team for almost 15 years, but he played his last game with the team in April.

“The only plan right now is to sort of just let it breathe for a year,” Davidson said. “We came off such a successful tenure with Jonathan that, a little bit of it is just out of respect for Jonathan, to not fill that spot right away.

“And the other part is not to put that pressure on someone else when you’re coming out of a period of such — call it greatness, right? And you want the next person to be in a position to succeed. And there’s no requirement to have a captain, and so we just felt that it was best to leave that, push that decision a little bit.”

Davidson said Chicago will have a group of alternate captains. That group will be announced later in training camp, which begins this week.

The rebuilding Blackhawks are looking for progress after finishing last in the Central Division with a 26-49-7 record. Following the awful season, they won the NHL draft lottery and selected Connor Bedard with the No. 1 overall pick.

Veteran defensemen Seth Jones and Connor Murphy are back, and forwards Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno and Corey Perry were added to the roster in the offseason.

As far as the future of the team’s captaincy, Davidson said the Blackhawks will “let the chips fall where they may.”

“Over the next year, we’ll see who emerges, see what the best option is and decide next year if it’s appropriate to name someone,” he said. “We’ll take that as it comes.”

All eyes are on Bedard as the Blackhawks head into training camp, but the play of Lukas Reichel also is worth watching. Reichel, who was selected by Chicago with the No. 17 pick in the 2020 draft, had seven goals and eight assists in 23 games last season.

The 21-year-old Reichel has played mostly left wing in the NHL, but Davidson said he will begin camp as a center.

“I’m sure there’ll be some growth areas for him down the middle,” Davidson said. “But we wouldn’t try it out if we didn’t think he’d be a success.”

This is the first season for the Blackhawks without a captain since 2007-08.

Toews, currently an unrestricted free agent, had 31 points in 53 games last season with the Blackhawks. He announced in a social media post last month that while he’s “not fully retiring” from the NHL, he will be “taking some time away from the game again this season.”

The Blackhawks moved on from other veterans in a rebuild over the past two seasons. Longtime Toews sidekick Patrick Kane was traded to the New York Rangers last season.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Canucks, Boeser agree on new seven-year deal

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Canucks, Boeser agree on new seven-year deal

The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.

Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.

Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.

Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.

The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.

Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.

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Jake Allen agrees to 5-year deal with the Devils

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Jake Allen agrees to 5-year deal with the Devils

Jake Allen, one of the top goaltenders available entering free agency, is not heading to the market after agreeing to a five-year deal with the New Jersey Devils, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

Allen’s average annual value on the deal is $1.8 million, sources told ESPN. That AAV allows the Devils to run back the same goaltending tandem for next season.

Jacob Markstrom has one year remaining on his contract for $4.125 million. Nico Daws is also under contract for next season, before becoming a restricted free agent next summer.

Several teams were interested in the 34-year-old veteran, whom sources said could have made more money on the open market. However, the deal with the Devils gives Allen long-term security. Allen has played for the Blues, Canadiens and Devils over his 12-year-career. He has started in 436 career games.

Last season, Allen started 29 games for the Devils, going 13-16-1 with a .906 save percentage, 2.66 GAA and four shutouts.

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Capitals sign Fehervary to 7-year, $42M extension

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Capitals sign Fehervary to 7-year, M extension

Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary signed a seven-year extension through the 2032-33 season that is worth $6 million annually, the team announced Tuesday.

Fehervary, who had one year of team control remaining, will enter the final season of a three-year bridge deal that will see him make $2.675 million before his new contract begins at the start of the 2026-27 season.

He finished the season with five goals and a career-high 25 points while logging 19 minutes. Fehervary also played a crucial role in the Capitals’ penalty kill by finishing with 245 short-handed minutes for a penalty kill that was fifth in the NHL with an 82% success rate.

Securing the 25-year-old Fehervary to a long-term deal means the Capitals now have seven players who have more than three years remaining on their current contracts.

It also means the Capitals front office has one less decision to make ahead of what is expected to be an active offseason in 2026 that will see the club have what PuckPedia projects to be $39.25 million in cap space.

That’s also the same offseason in which captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin‘s contract will come off their books along with that of defenseman John Carlson.

But until then, the Capitals have their entire top-six defensive unit under contract as they seek to improve upon a 2024-25 season that saw them finish atop the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.

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