Brannstrom, Yamamoto, Ylonen, McDonough, Shaw

The Senators will have to make a decision on the upcoming RFA defenseman soon Erik Brannstrom who is due Sunday for a $2 million qualifying bid, a bid that carries arbitration rights. However, they’re hoping they won’t ultimately be the ones to make that decision, as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that Ottawa is continuing its efforts to try to trade the 24-year-old. Being a strong offensive threat in Sweden helped Brannstrom become the 15th overall selection in 2017, but he has failed to become a consistent threat in that regard in the NHL. This season, Brannstrom scored 20 points in 76 games, a handful of which came as a winger.

Other news on upcoming restricted free agents:

• The Kraken have given a winger Kailer Yamamoto permission to speak with other teams, GM Ron Francis told team broadcaster Alison Lukan (Twitter link). Yamamoto signed with them as an unrestricted free agent after going non-tendered by Detroit last summer, just after his rights were acquired from Edmonton. The 25-year-old had a quiet season, scoring eight goals and eight assists in 59 games and averaging less than 12 minutes a night after scoring at least 16 in each of the past four years. Yamamoto’s eligibility comes to $1.5 million, but he has arbitration rights where his past production could push the price tag past $2 million. It appears that’s a price they’re unwilling to pay, as he’s expected to go non-tender again on Sunday.
• Canadian winger Jesse Ylonen will not be signed this weekend, according to TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 24-year-old played his first full NHL campaign this season, but scored just four goals and added four assists in 59 games after posting 17 points in 36 appearances with Montreal in 2022-23. His qualifying offer would have cost just over $813,000, but the team has decided they’re better off giving someone else a shot at that spot.
• The Canucks are parting ways with the winger Aidan McDonoughreports Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link). This decision comes as somewhat of a surprise considering how hard they worked to sign him in 2023, immediately burning the first year of the deal when he played six games with Vancouver. However, the 24-year-old had a quiet rookie year at AHL Abbotsford, with 11 goals and eight assists in 58 games, a performance they do not consider good enough to give him a two-way qualifying offer.
• De Wild has informed Mason Shaw that he will not receive a contract for the second year in a row, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Shaw battled back from a torn ACL to earn a new contract with Minnesota in February and played 20 games with the big club, recording three points and 29 hits while averaging just over eight minutes per night .