In a surprise move, the Bruins did not give qualifying offers to Nick Ritchie or Ondrej Kase, making them both unrestricted free agents when the bell sounds at noon Wednesday.

The move comes after General Manager Don Sweeney had said last Thursday that he would extend qualifying offers to those players, though that was before Taylor Hall officially signed his four-year, $6 million-per-season extension.

Ritchie’s rights-retaining qualifying offer would have been $2 million but he might have made more than that from arbitration after scoring 15 goals in 56 games. And with a logjam now at left wing with the return of Hall, it appears that Ritchie is now a former Bruin. He was a deadline acquisition from the Ducks for Danton Heinen two years ago. Heinen, coincidentally, was not tendered his $2.75 million qualifying offer from Anaheim.

Kase’s qualifying offer would have been for $2.6 million, a hefty price for a player who, talented though he may be, missed almost the entire 2020-21 season because of the latest of multiple concussions, this one coming in the second game of the season in New Jersey. Kase – obtained from the Ducks in a deal that cost the Bruins a first-round pick, prospect defenseman Axel Andersson and David Backes – tried to come back in the second-to-last game of the season but had to pull the plug in the second period.

Boston did not give a qualify offer to Providence winger Robert Lantosi as well. The Bruins did extend qualifying offers to forward Zach Senyshyn and minor league goalie Callum Booth. They also signed restricted free-agent defenseman Nick Wolff to a one-year, two-way contract that carries an NHL cap hit of $750,000.

According to reports, the Bruins agreed to a three-year deal with defenseman Mike Reilly that has an average annual value of $3 million.

The Bruins acquired Reilly from the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline for a third-round pick, and he helped fill a void as a puck-moving left-shot defenseman who played over 21 minutes per game.

CAPITALS: Alex Ovechkin re-signed with the Capitals on the eve of free agency, inking a five-year deal worth $47.5 million.

There was virtually no chance of Ovechkin signing elsewhere, but the deal done Tuesday keeps him under contract through the 2025-26 season at a salary-cap hit of $9.5 million. Washington’s longtime captain, who earned playoff MVP honors in leading the franchise to its first Stanley Cup title in 2018, turns 36 in September. Ovechkin ranks fifth on the career goals list with 730, 164 back of Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record.

CANADIENS: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was not happy with the decision by the Montreal Canadiens to draft an 18-year-old player who was fined in Sweden for sharing an explicit photo of a woman without her consent.

The Canadiens chose Logan Mailloux in the first round of the draft on Friday night. He was fined by Swedish authorities in December after admitting to two charges related to sharing a photo of a woman performing a sexual act. The photo was taken last year while he was playing in Sweden.

Mailloux was charged with defamation and offensive photography and was fined approximately $1,650.

“As a lifelong Habs fan, I have to say I am deeply disappointed by the decision. I think it was a lack of judgment by the Canadiens’ organization,” Trudeau said. “I think they have a lot of explaining to do, to Montrealers and to fans from right across the country.”

Mailloux, a defenseman with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, had asked that no NHL teams draft him this year and said sharing the photo with teammates was “stupid” and “irresponsible.” He said he didn’t believe he had demonstrated strong enough maturity or character to earn the privilege of being selected.

Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin told reporters that the gap between Mailloux and the next best player the team could have picked was too large to ignore and believes that Mailloux would have been drafted by another team if the Canadiens hadn’t picked him with the 31st selection of the first round.

Ovechkin would need to average more than 32 goals a season to catch Gretzky during this contract, which expires when he’s on the verge of his 41st birthday.

TRADES: Marc-Andre Fleury was traded from Vegas to Chicago on Tuesday, a stunning turn of events that has the NHL’s reigning Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender contemplating his future.

The Golden Knights traded Fleury to the Blackhawks for minor league forward Mikael Hakkarainen in a salary dump. Fleury is set to count $7 million against the cap next season, the final year of his contract.

And that’s if he reports at all. Agent Allan Walsh tweeted, “Marc-Andre will be taking time to discuss his situation with his family and seriously evaluate his hockey future at this time.”

Fleury, 36, did not have Chicago on his 10-team no-trade list but did not want to play for any team other than Vegas. Chicago is certainly hoping to add him as the organization shifts from a rebuild into win-now mode.

“The opportunity to acquire a Vezina-winning goaltender is rare and one you cannot pass up,” Blackhawks president of hockey operations and GM Stan Bowman said. “Marc-Andre improves our goaltending, strengthens our team defense and will have a huge impact on the overall development of the Blackhawks. Having a goaltender like this on our team will put the talent we currently have on our roster in a better position to achieve sustained success.”

Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon took issue with concerns raised over how Fleury found out about the trade on social media by saying he kept the goalie apprised of discussions in the month since Vegas’ season ended. He particularly made Fleury aware of the Blackhawks’ interest as early as July 12, with the two sides last speaking about trade possibilities on Saturday.

Ultimately, McCrimmon felt it was necessary to free up Fleury’s salary to provide room to improve the roster while having a starting goalie already in place with Robin Lehner, who has four years left on his contract.

“I know for a lot of people this is a day that definitely is filled with sadness and certainly I share all of those same emotions that you do,” McCrimmon said, noting how Fleury had been the face of the franchise since Vegas’ inaugural season in 2018, and the close ties the goalie had with team owner Bill Foley. “And yet I do feel I’m responsible to try to do everything I can to put the best team on the ice. … We work hard to make good decisions and give you a team that you’re gonna be proud of.”

It’s the first time in 20 years the reigning Vezina winner was traded before the next season. Buffalo traded Dominik Hasek to Detroit on the first day of free agency in 2001.

Fleury went 26-10-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and .928 save percentage last season. He started 16 of the Golden Knights’ 19 playoff games over Robin Lehner, who is signed for four more seasons.

Lehner finished the postseason as the starter after a gaffe by Fleury late in Game 3 of the semifinals altered the series against Montreal and led Coach Peter DeBoer to switch back and forth between his two goalies.

The Golden Knights tweeted: “This organization, this city and this fanbase will forever be grateful to Marc-Andre Fleury for the impact he’s made on and off the ice in just four years. We wish Marc-Andre and his family the best in this new chapter of their lives.”

• Florida cleared more cap space by trading veteran defenseman Anton Stralman, prospect Vladislav Kolyachonok and a 2024 second-round pick to Arizona for a 2023 seventh-rounder.

• New Jersey acquired defenseman Christian Jaros from San Jose for forward Nick Merkley.

• The Colorado Avalanche gave up a 2023 fourth-round draft pick to acquire Kurtis McDermid in a trade with Seattle a week after the Kraken selected the 27-year-old defenseman from Los Angeles in the expansion draft.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds, McDermid had two goals and four points in 28 games, and led Kings defensemen in averaging 7.38 hits per game last season. He has six goals and 17 points in 118 career games split over four seasons with the Kings.

• The Blackhawks completed another trade, acquiring forward Tyler Johnson and a 2023 second-round pick from the salary cap-strapped Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay acquired defenseman Brent Seabrook, who will spend the remaining three years of his contract on long-term injured reserve.

The 35-year-old Seabrook in March announced he is ending his 15-year career – but not retiring – because of a hip injury that led to him missing all of last season.

The Lightning freed up the three years left of Johnson’s salary – a $5 million annual salary-cap hit – and will be allowed to exceed the cap by $6.875 million each year with Seabrook on LTIR.

SIGNINGS: Philadelphia re-signed big defenseman Sam Morin, St. Louis re-upped Aussie Nathan Walker and Jake Virtanen cleared unconditional waivers, putting him one step closer to being bought out by Vancouver.

• Veteran defenseman Keith Yandle is signing a $900,000, one-year deal with the Flyers that includes a no-trade clause, according to a person with knowledge of the move who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.

• Detroit agreed to terms with defenseman Gustav Lindstrom, paying him $850,000 per season with a two-year contract. The 22-year old Swede has eight assists in 29 games over two seasons with the Red Wings.

• St. Louis Blues agreed to terms with winger Pavel Buchnevich.

The Blues were confident they’d be able to get a deal done with Buchnevich after acquiring him from the New York Rangers last week for forward Sammy Blais and a 2022 second-round pick. It’s a $23.4 million, four-year deal that carries an annual cap hit of $5.8 million.

• Columbus will have prolific winger Patrik Laine under contract for next season after he decided to accept his $7.5 million qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, according to a third person with knowledge of the move who spoke on condition of anonymity.

• Montreal kept Finnish forward Joel Armia from hitting unrestricted free agency by signing him to a $13.6 million, four-year deal.

WAIVERS: Vancouver put Braden Holtby and San Jose put Martin Jones on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out the remainder of the goalies’ contracts. Holtby struggled last season with the Canucks but is only three years removed from winning the Cup with Washington.

Jones backstopped the Sharks to the 2017 Cup Final but has had a sub-.900 save percentage each of the past three seasons and was signed for three more at a cap hit of $5.75 million.

“We knew change was needed,” GM Doug Wilson said. “This was not a decision we made lightly. It’s never enjoyable to part with someone that, to me, has been such a big part of our franchise for the past six years.”

SABRES: A person with direct knowledge of talks between the Sabres and goalie Linus Ullmark said negotiations are continuing with the hopes of reaching a deal by Wednesday.

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