NHL Notebook: Panthers re-sign Ekblad and Marchand, Golden Knights acquire Marner, and more

Golden Knights acquire Marner in sign-and-trade

This summer’s top unrestricted free agent is off the market before July 1.

The Vegas Golden Knights acquired Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a sign-and-trade, with the forward inking an eight-year deal worth $12 million annually. The Toronto native was only eligible to sign a contract for eight years if his rights were traded by the Leafs.

Marner is coming off the most productive season of his career, scoring 27 goals and 75 assists for 102 points in 81 regular-season games along with 13 points in 13 playoff games. The fourth overall pick from the 2015 NHL Draft scored 741 points in 657 games for the Leafs, which ranks fifth on the team’s all-time scoring list.

Coming back to Toronto in the sign-and-trade is centre Nicolas Roy. Roy played in 71 games for the Golden Knights, where he had 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points. He also had two goals and two assists for four points in 11 playoff games. He has two years remaining on a five-year contract with a $3 million cap hit.

Other news and notes from around the NHL…

• The Columbus Blue Jackets got a pair of defencemen locked up to long-term contracts ahead of free agency. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported that the Blue Jackets and Ivan Provorov agreed to a seven-year deal worth $8.5 million annually, while the team announced that Dante Fabbro signed a four-year contract worth $4.125 million annually.
• The Los Angeles Kings re-signed forward Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year contract worth $4.3 million, the club announced Monday afternoon. The winger spent the 2024-25 season with the Calgary Flames, Philadelphia Flyers, and Kings, scoring 37 points in 66 games. Kuzmenko was one of the best players on the Kings in their first-round series loss to the Oilers, as he scored three goals and six points in six games.