The State of Hockey is keeping a player in the fold for another year.
On Tuesday, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin announced the team has re-signed forward Adam Raska to a one-year contract.
Back for more
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) July 9, 2024
» https://t.co/Ml0ir0iICF #mnwild pic.twitter.com/O5KY0cOelL
Raska is on a two-way contract, with a $775,000 NHL cap hit, and a minor-league salary of $97,500. Raska started the 2023-24 campaign elsewhere, as he was with the San Jose Sharks organization, the team that took the Czechia winger in the seventh round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He was dealt to the Wild in the trade that saw the Sharks receive Calen Addison in early November.
Raska played just five games for Minnesota, appearing in 49 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. While in Iowa, he notched three goals and four assists. He has yet to register a point in 13 NHL games. He has played no more than five games in the NHL over the past three seasons.
In 159 AHL games with Iowa and the San Jose Barracuda, the former Rimouski Oceanic product has posted 12 goals and 20 assists.
Raska played parts of two seasons in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League with the Oceanic. In 57 games, he registered 25 goals and 21 assists, including six points in eight games during the 2021 playoffs.
He has also registered his country on a number of occasions. While he had the chance to play on the Under-16 and Under-17 Czech National Teams, Raska made his big-time international debut at the 2019 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship. He ended up appearing on the Czechia roster at the 2020 and 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships, posting an assist in nine games over the two tournaments.
More must-reads:
After a 13-season NHL career, veteran winger Cam Atkinson is hanging up his skates. The Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that they’ll be signing him to a one-day contract and will officially honor his retirement on Oct. 16 against the Avalanche. He’s expected to join Columbus in a front-office capacity at some point down the road, but that announcement won’t be coming now, he told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Atkinson is one of the better draft steals in Blue Jackets franchise history, coming to them in the sixth round in 2008. He signed with Columbus three years later after a great run at Boston College and made his NHL debut in 2011-12, although it took him another two years to fully establish himself on the active roster. After going up and down between Columbus and AHL Springfield, Atkinson broke out into a top-six role for the 2013-14 season. He finished third on the team with 21 goals and fourth with 40 points in 79 appearances, helping fuel the Jackets to a then-franchise record 43-win season that resulted in their second-ever playoff appearance. The undersized but skilled Atkinson remained a fixture in Columbus’s top six for the balance of the decade. He was a two-time All-Star, including his career-best 41-goal, 69-point effort in 2018-19 — leading the team in goals in the year they orchestrated one of the most drastic upsets in league history by sweeping the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Lightning in the first round for their first series win in franchise history. After the COVID-shortened 2021 season, Atkinson had totaled a 213-189-402 scoring line in 627 games for Columbus, still holding up as the second-leading goalscorer and point-getter in the Jackets’ record books behind Rick Nash. After Atkinson’s points per game production peaked at 0.86 in that career year, he only managed to produce at about a 0.60 pace over the next two years. That soft decline led Columbus to ship Atkinson to the Flyers in the 2021 offseason in a one-for-one swap for Jakub Voráček. In hindsight, it turned out to be a bit of a lose-lose endeavor. Atkinson seemed to pop back into form with a 23-27–50 effort in 73 games in 2021-22, but a neck injury sustained in the following training camp ended up costing him the entire 2022-23 season and accelerating his decline. He had just 28 points in 70 games for Philly upon returning to play in 2023-24, leading the club to buy out the final year of the seven-year, $41.13M extension he signed with Columbus back in 2017. Atkinson became an unrestricted free agent a year ahead of schedule and signed on with the Lightning on a one-year deal worth $900K. The bounceback he was looking for never came, though. He struggled to stick in the lineup and played sparingly when he did dress, averaging just nine minutes per game across 39 contests. After finishing the year with a 4-5-9 scoring line, the Lightning were quick to say Atkinson wouldn’t be brought back. Atkinson told Portzline that he received professional tryout offers this summer but declined them, saying he essentially made up his mind when he made his final regular-season appearance for Tampa. He ends his career with a 253-236-489 scoring line in 809 appearances, including a -11 rating while averaging north of 17 minutes per game. We at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Atkinson on a lengthy and successful pro career and wish him the best in whatever comes next.
The Cleveland Browns are 1-4 on the season and just underwent a big change after they traded veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, ahead of their Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they are facing some issues with their roster. On Wednesday, the Browns released their injury/participation report for their latest practice. One player (Shelby Harris) did not participate due to rest, while nine had limited participation due to various reasons. Among the players who were limited was Cleveland defensive star Myles Garrett, who is still nursing a nagging ankle injury. It's worth noting that Garrett missed a practice and was limited in two leading up to their Week 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings. With that said, there were concerns about his availability for the contest. The good news is that Garrett was able to play, recording three tackles in the 21-17 Cleveland loss. Sure enough, Garrett's condition will be worth monitoring heading into the showdown with Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. Garrett's defense remains a big weapon on a Browns team that is still figuring out its offense and quarterback of the future. The one-time Defensive Player of the Year already has 21 combined tackles, eight tackles for loss, eight QB hits and four sacks. Even Rodgers himself admitted that the Steelers are wary of Garrett, whom he described as "one of the few players in the league" that "you game plan for and you watch the film," per 93.7 The Fan. The Browns really need Garrett to be at 100% if they want to beat the Steelers in Week 6. If he continues to be bothered by his ankle injury, it could spell trouble for the team once again. Cleveland plays Pittsburgh on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
Six-time Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle’s 2025 season for the San Francisco 49ers got off to a problematic start. The former Iowa Hawkeyes star, who produced 78 receptions for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns last season, suffered a hamstring injury in the Niners’ season-opening win against the Seattle Seahawks and has since missed his team’s last four games. After undergoing an MRI on his hamstring, it was determined that it was going to be a multi-week injury for the two-time All-Pro TE. This forced the 49ers to place Kittle on injured reserve, meaning he would miss at least four weeks. Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan, however, revealed some good news on the Kittle front on Wednesday. Kittle has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but according to Shanahan, Kittle has a chance to return for San Francisco’s Week 7 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons (h/t Niners reporter David Lombardi of The San Francisco Standard). This is a crucial development for Kittle, who appears to be on track to make his comeback after five missed games. For the 49ers, Kittle’s imminent return boosts the team’s passing game as an added target, as well as providing elite in-line blocking against edge rushers. This news also comes at an ideal time for San Francisco as it continues to deal with multiple injuries to its star players. Quarterback Brock Purdy (toe), wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee), WR Jauan Jennings (ankle/rib) and WR Brandon Aiyuk (knee) are all still on the mend, while the Niners recently lost defensive end Nick Bosa to a season-ending ACL tear. Kittle’s return should serve as a psychological boost for the Niners as they try to continue building on their strong 4-1 start to the season.
The Miami Dolphins may, eventually, have a head coaching vacancy before the end of the year. And, should that development materialize, team owner Stephen Ross will be faced with what very well could be seen as the defining decision of his legacy as the team's owner. Ross has been through a slew of coaches since assuming majority control of the Dolphins organization in 2009. Tony Sparano, Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, Brian Flores, and currently Mike McDaniel have served as the head coaches of the Dolphins under Ross — plus interim terms from both Todd Bowles and Dan Campbell. During his tenure, Ross has had an eye towards big-name head coaching candidates on more than one occasion. He flirted with Jim Harbaugh out of Stanford while Sparano was still under contract as the coach of the team, which drew ire and strife within the organization. And who can forget the inappropriate contact with Sean Payton, in which the Dolphins were reportedly primed to offer a $100 million contract to coach in Miami after sending compensation to New Orleans? Brian Flores' suit against the Dolphins squashed that quickly — and Miami was subsequently stripped of first and third-round draft choices for tampering charges for both Payton and quarterback Tom Brady that summer after investigation. As a potential vacancy for Miami lingers, there may soon be another big-name coach available on the market — one that the Dolphins are very familiar with. His name is Bill Belichick. And if it comes to be reality, my only words for Stephen Ross would be this: "Please don't." New report indicates Bill Belichick's tenure at North Carolina could soon be over — and he'd be a disaster hire for the Dolphins despite his coaching legacy A report from Ollie Connelly this afternoon highlights the tenuous state of affairs for former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his current team, the North Carolina Tar Heels. In an effort to extend his coaching career, Belichick dipped to the college ranks this year after a "gap year" in 2024. It has been an unmitigated disaster, with the Tar Heels sitting at 2-3 with wins over Richmond and Charlotte. They've been uncompetitive in their three contests against TCU, UCF, and Clemson. Unmitigated disaster is a suitable adjective not only for Belichick's time at North Carolina, but essentially also his entire career from the moment that Tom Brady packed his bags and headed south for Tampa Bay. There's a 29-39 record in New England, the decision to make a former defensive coordinator (Matt Patricia) serve as his offensive play caller for a second-year quarterback, tabloid headlines, being bypassed in the 2024 hiring cycle, landing at North Carolina, petty pissing contests with Robert Kraft and the Patriots, and now this. It's been one goofy, unserious development after another that has many questioning the legacy of Belichick beyond his experiences with Brady as his quarterback. Bill Belichick's coaching record with and without Tom Brady Belichick's coaching record with Tom Brady: 249-75 (.769 win percentage) Belichick's coaching record without Tom Brady: 84-104 (.447 win percentage) Belichick's current coaching record at North Carolina: 2-3 (.400 win percentage) as of October 8th 2025 Make no mistake about it — there's a wealth of football knowledge here that is unrivaled. Bill's seen more football than most would ever dream of and he's forgotten more about football than I'll probably ever know. Belichick will be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee when he's eligible. But he's given no one any reason to believe that he's still an effective head coach in the past half of a decade. The incubated nature of his coaching tree in New England posed major problems down the stretch for his ability to assemble a quality assistant staff. And, as we've seen for a decade plus now, those in his coaching tree that have tried to spread their wings and fly on their own elsewhere in the NFL have failed spectacularly any time they've been given an opportunity. The Dolphins know a little something about that, too — although Brian Flores' failures with the Dolphins were not because of defensive acumen or scheme. It was instead because of a power struggle over personnel, a failed bid to acquire embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2021, the inability to assemble a quality coaching staff on offense, and the alleged scar tissue from the organization's misdeeds during a 2019 rebuild year in which Ross, as accused by Flores, offered him significant bonuses for every loss. And all of that is before we acknowledge that Bill Belichick will be 74-years old next spring and would be the second-oldest head coach in the league if he were to re-enter the ranks of NFL lead men in 2026. That's not a long-term solution to Ross' lingering legacy as the Dolphins team owner. It's a bandaid. And a used one, at that. So please, Mr. Ross. If you find yourself seeking a new head coach for the 2026 season and the name Bill Belichick crosses your mind, I beg you. Just...don't. This is one big fish not worth attempting to reel in — go find your prized catch elsewhere if you need a new coach this winter. window.addEventListener('message', function (event) {if (event.data.totalpoll event.data.totalpoll.action === 'resizeHeight') {document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-426').height = event.data.totalpoll.value;}}, false);document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-426').contentWindow.postMessage({totalpoll: {action: 'requestHeight'}}, '*');
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!