Roope Hintz To Miss Multiple Weeks
Last night, the Stars got a big boost up front when Roope Hintz returned to the lineup from an illness that had kept him out since the end of the Olympic break. Unfortunately for them, that will be his last game for a little while.
Hintz sustained a lower-body injury in the second period of their game against Colorado and ultimately had to be helped off the ice. Speaking with reporters today including D Magazine’s Robert Tiffin (Twitter link), Hintz is set to miss multiple weeks due to the injury. As he needs to be evaluated by another doctor, no firm timeline is available yet but the team is hopeful that Hintz will be able to return by the start of the playoffs next month.
Hintz has been productive as always this season, putting up 15 goals and 29 assists in 53 games while averaging over 17 minutes per night. The 29-year-old has been their number one center throughout the year while seeing time on both special teams units. On top of that, Hintz is their top full-time performer at the faceoff dot, winning over 59% of his draws. Suffice it to say, his loss will be significant, especially with the Stars in a tight battle for second place in the Central Division to try to secure home-ice advantage in the first round.
With 12 other healthy forwards on the roster, the Stars aren’t yet eligible for an emergency recall, one that wouldn’t count against their post-deadline regular recall limit of five. However, given that Hintz is going to be out for a while, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dallas utilize one of those five recalls from AHL Texas to ensure that they have at least one extra healthy forward available over the coming weeks.
Blackhawks Recall Nick Lardis And Drew Commesso
The Blackhawks have made a pair of roster moves before tomorrow’s game in Dallas. The team announced that winger Nick Lardis and goaltender Drew Commesso have been recalled from AHL Rockford.
It’s the second recall of the season for Lardis, whose first stint with Chicago lasted nearly six weeks. During that stretch, he got into 21 games, his first taste of NHL action. The 20-year-old certainly made a strong first impression, collecting five goals and two assists in those appearances while logging 12:39 per game of ice time. He has been considerably more productive with Rockford, however, tallying 18 goals and 14 assists in 35 games with the IceHogs in his first season with them.
As for Commesso, it’s also his second stint with Chicago of the season, although his first look was much shorter, lasting all of three days. However, he did make a pair of starts in that stretch, turning aside 55 of 60 shots while winning one of those two contests. The 23-year-old has played in 28 games with Rockford, putting up a 3.07 GAA with a .899 SV%. With Spencer Knight unavailable due to illness for a second straight game, Commesso will likely dress as the backup to Arvid Soderblom.
Because of Knight’s absence, Commesso’s recall will qualify as an emergency one and thus will not count against Chicago’s post-deadline regular recall limit which is up to five this season. Unless there is another injury or illness up front, however, the promotion of Lardis will count against their recall limit.
Flyers Recall Alex Bump, Assign Adam Ginning To AHL
After moving Bobby Brink to Minnesota on Friday, it was expected that the Flyers would be giving an NHL look to Alex Bump. That is indeed the case, as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley.
The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick of the Flyers back in 2022, going 133rd overall. At the time, he was playing in the USHL but a year later, he went to Western Michigan University where his offensive production started to take off. Over two seasons with the Broncos, Bump tallied 37 goals and 46 assists in 80 games which was enough to convince Philadelphia to turn him pro.
Bump got a pair of games in with Lehigh Valley late last season and had played exclusively with the Phantoms until now. Through 36 games this season, he has 11 goals and 15 assists, good for a tie for fourth in team scoring.
The Flyers enter play today six points out of the final Wild Card spot in the East, close enough to not entirely be out of the race just yet even after acting as a small seller on Friday. With that in mind, it’s unclear if Bump will get the chance to make his NHL debut this afternoon against Pittsburgh or if that opportunity will have to wait a little while longer.
The team also confirmed yesterday’s reported reassignment of defenseman Adam Ginning to the Phantoms. Instead of using one of their five non-emergency recalls to immediately bring him back up, they’ll keep him playing regularly in the minors for the time being.
Mammoth Making Progress In Extension Talks For Nick Schmaltz
With Logan Cooley set to begin a $10MM-per-season extension next season, some wondered if Utah would still be willing to give middleman Nick Schmaltz a pricey new deal as well. There was speculation over the offseason that extension talks were not going well and his future with the Mammoth looked murky.
However, it appears that there has been some positive progress on that front. Prior to the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that there has been positive movement in contract negotiations and that Schmaltz is unlikely to make it to unrestricted free agency this summer. Meanwhile, speaking with reporters yesterday following the trade deadline (video link), GM Bill Armstrong declared that he feels “comfortable and confident that Nick’s going to be a Mammoth.”
The 30-year-old is in his eighth season with the organization, dating back to its days in Arizona. Very quietly, he has been quite consistent in recent years, putting up five straight seasons of more than 20 goals and at least 58 points. He has already reached those marks in 2025-26, tallying a career-high 24 goals and 34 assists in 62 games; at this rate, he’ll set a new personal best in points within the next few weeks.
With that production, Schmaltz is the leading scorer league-wide among pending unrestricted free agents. Given that and the fact he plays a premium position, he’s in great shape to get a significant increase on his current $5.85MM AAV. That current contract was heavily backloaded and as a result, he’s making $8.5MM in actual salary this season.
That salary number should serve as a reasonable approximation of a starting point for his next deal. The next best scoring options down the middle are Evgeni Malkin, who seems likely to stay with Pittsburgh and Charlie Coyle, whose production in recent years has run hot and cold. With the type of consistency Schmaltz has been delivering, he would have no shortage of suitors if he actually made it to the open market.
Fortunately for Utah, they have more than ample flexibility to afford that type of contract, even with Cooley’s new deal and the recent acquisition of MacKenzie Weegar. Per PuckPedia, the Mammoth have a little under $25MM in payroll room for next season with seven or eight roster spots to fill. Schmaltz should take up nearly a third of that himself but that will still leave ample room to round out the roster and ensure that the top pending UFA center doesn’t actually test free agency.
Panthers Recall Luke Kunin
Luke Kunin’s time in the minors was short-lived. With the roster limit in the NHL now lifted, the Panthers have recalled the veteran, according to the AHL’s transactions log.
The 28-year-old has spent most of the season in Florida but passed through waivers unclaimed less than a week ago, resulting in an assignment to AHL Charlotte. That had him set to see his first action at that level since the 2018-19 campaign, when he was still a prospect in Minnesota’s system. However, that playing time will be capped at one game, as Kunin recorded two assists last night and is now back up with the big club.
Kunin has played in 44 games with Florida this season, his first year with the club. However, he has been fairly quiet offensively, notching just two goals and two assists, by far his lowest full-season output. Unsurprisingly, his playing time has been rather limited as well, as he’s logging just 8:36 per contest, well below his career average of 14:18 per game.
Despite being out of a playoff spot, Florida was a light buyer, so to speak, at the trade deadline. They picked up Vinnie Hinostroza from Minnesota and claimed Cole Reinhardt off waivers from Vegas. Now, with Kunin back up, the Panthers have some extra forward depth to hedge against injuries or if they decide to shut some players down to help get them ready for next season.
Golden Knights To Activate Brett Howden From LTIR
The Golden Knights will see forward Brett Howden return to the lineup tomorrow against the Oilers, general manager Kelly McCrimmon told the media last night (via Sin Bin Vegas). The team still has an ample LTIR pool without him, with Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson, and Carter Hart all on there, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move for cap purposes.
Howden, a natural center, has primarily shifted over to the left wing during his time in Vegas. That’s changed this year, with the 27-year-old seeing more significant deployment at center in the top nine – usually between either Mark Stone and Mitch Marner or Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith. He’s likely to return down the middle after injuries to him and Karlsson have forced the Knights to make some uncomfortable deployment decisions, including shifting Marner over to serve as their second-line pivot, although they addressed that depth deficiency somewhat by picking up Nic Dowd from the Capitals before the trade deadline.
The increased responsibility in the center slot has come with fairly good results. Few expected Howden to be able to replicate his 23-goal, 40-point breakout from last season. He’d been a career 20-point guy up to that stage. His offense has regressed, sure, but maybe not as much as expected. He still churned out a 9-6–15 scoring line in 39 games before landing on the shelf with a lower-body issue back in January. He’s still averaging nearly 15 minutes per game, winning 50.6% of his draws with a -4 rating, while still having one of the better offensive showings of his eight-year career.
Howden, at 1.69 hits per game, is also one of Vegas’ more physical checking forwards. He doesn’t see a ton of penalty kill time, and certainly won’t see any more after Vegas acquired shorthanded workhorse Cole Smith from Nashville this week, but is a welcomed two-way presence lower in the lineup who should allow Marner to shift back to his natural position and lighten the load on supplemental pieces like Saad, Smith, and Keegan Kolesar, who have had to slot into Vegas’ top nine with him, Karlsson, and now Stone sidelined.
Troy Murray Passes Away
Former NHL forward and longtime Blackhawks broadcaster Troy Murray passed away on Saturday at age 63, the team announced. Murray had battled cancer since first publicly sharing his diagnosis in 2021, still serving as the team’s radio color analyst for most of that time up until this season.
Murray had two separate stints in Chicago as a player, totaling nearly 700 games over 12 seasons. The first started when they drafted him in the third round in 1980, preceding a highly successful two-year stint at the University of North Dakota – including captaining Canada to a gold medal at the 1982 World Juniors – before turning pro in 1982 and immediately becoming a fixture in the Hawks’ lineup. He spent the remainder of the decade as one of the league’s top defensive centers, winning the Selke Trophy in 1985-86 while routinely putting up 50-plus points. He had five consecutive 20-goal seasons from 1984-89.
The second half of Murray’s career was as more of a journeyman, but a highly valuable one. He was traded to the Jets in the 1991 offseason for rugged defender Bryan Marchment and was immediately named Winnipeg’s captain. A year and a half later, they shipped him back to the Hawks at the 1993 deadline for a hopefully long playoff run after they reached the Cup Final the year before, but they were swept out in the first round in a significant upset by the Blues. Murray was traded twice in each of the next two seasons – first to the Senators in 1994 and then to the Penguins in 1995 – before signing on with the first-year Avalanche for 1995-96 after their relocation from Quebec. That was the last NHL season of his 15-year career, but he ended it with a Stanley Cup win, suiting up eight times in the Avs’ march to their first Cup.
Murray played one more pro season, captaining the Chicago Wolves (then of the now-defunct IHL) in 1996-97, before officially retiring. He immediately began his second act as a broadcaster and called Hawks games on WGN Radio for over two decades. While doing so, he was the president of the Blackhawks’ alumni association.
Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz’s statement was as follows:
The Chicago Blackhawks are deeply heartbroken today as we mourn the loss of Troy Murray, our beloved “Muzz,” and our love and support go out to his family.
Troy was the epitome of a Blackhawk, so far beyond his incredible playing career with a presence felt in every corner of our organization over the last 45 years. He was admired by his teammates and our players, and was so proud to connect generations of Blackhawks through his work with the Blackhawks Alumni Association. He jumped at every call to support our local community with our Foundation. He never missed a chance to say ‘hello’ in our press box and always knew the perfect time for a joke just when someone around the office needed it most. And he absolutely loved bringing Blackhawks hockey to you, our fans, night after night with a dedication to his craft that never wavered to the very end.
During his long and hard battle with cancer, it was often said that Troy didn’t have any ‘give up’ in him. While our front office simply won’t be the same without him, we will carry that spirit forward every day in his honor. We’ll miss you, Muzz.
Murray had 230 goals, 354 assists, and 584 points with a +53 rating in 915 career NHL games, including 488 points in 688 games as a Hawk. He’s 23rd in franchise history in appearances by a skater, 18th in assists, and 19th in points. PHR joins others around the game in sending condolences to his family, friends, loved ones, coworkers, and former teammates.
Red Wings Recall Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
The Red Wings announced today that they’ve recalled right winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. With no more roster limit in effect, no corresponding move is required, nor does he count toward one of Detroit’s five allotted post-deadline standard recalls.
Detroit left deadline day with only 12 forwards rostered. They acquired David Perron from the Senators this week, but he’s still got a couple of weeks left in his recovery from sports hernia surgery, so he remains on injured reserve.
Then, captain Dylan Larkin sustained an awkward-looking non-contact leg/groin injury in the third period of last night’s loss to the Panthers (video via Ryan Hana of the Winged Wheel Podcast). Head coach Todd McLellan introduced a collective sigh of relief when he said postgame that he doesn’t anticipate Larkin missing significant time, but he does need to be evaluated and will at least likely sit out tomorrow’s game against the Devils, per Max Bultman of The Athletic.
Without him, they don’t have 12 forwards. Up comes Brandsegg-Nygard, 20, to fill the hole. Drafted 15th overall in 2024, he’s in his first season in North America after playing professionally in Sweden for three years and entered the season as the Wings’ #5 prospect according to Elite Prospects and #63 in the league.
Brandsegg-Nygard even impressed in training camp and cracked Detroit’s opening night roster thanks to the team’s need for depth scoring on the wings. He only lasted a nine-game trial, though, heading down to Grand Rapids in late October after managing one assist and a -5 rating in 12:27 of average time on ice.
In the meantime, he’s excelled in the AHL. In 50 games for Grand Rapids, he’s put up a 16-21–37 scoring line with a sensational +24 rating. At 6’1″ and 204 lbs, he looks well on his way to delivering the size-and-scoring combination the Wings brought him into provide as a complementary top-six piece long-term.
Now the winger will get another chance, although ideally a brief one if his time on the roster is directly linked to Larkin’s status, to prove himself in the NHL. Detroit will need someone to shift from the wing to center from last night’s lineup to replace Larkin, likely Michael Rasmussen, while Brandsegg-Nygard slots in somewhere on the flank.
He could even do so in a high-leverage role as the Wings look to overcome the loss of their biggest source of offense down the middle. Last night’s loss to Florida dropped their playoff chances down to a still strong 76.4%, per MoneyPuck, but that’s more wiggle room than they’d like after trading away this year’s first-round pick to the Blues, unprotected, in yesterday’s Justin Faulk deal.
Kings To Wait Until Summer To Discuss Scott Laughton Extension
The Los Angeles Kings are in no rush to cement Scott Laughton into their lineup. The team will wait until the summer to talk about extending Laughton per Mayor’s Manor. Los Angeles acquired Laughton before the Trade Deadline in exchange for a conditional 2026 third-round pick that could become a second-round pick if the Kings make the playoffs.
Laughton fell to a fourth-line role with the Maple Leafs this season. He only racked up eight goals and 12 points in 43 games with Toronto, while averaging 13:40 in ice time. Laughton has made up for low scoring with a 56.7 faceoff percentage and 78 hits. Those marks ranked third and fourth on the offense respectively. But a quiet season hasn’t meant a bad season for Laughton. He was one of Toronto’s most impactful penalty-killers, only allowing eight goals-against, second-fewest among the Maple Leafs’ routine penalty-killing units behind Matthew Knies (six goals-against).
Laughton was once a locked-in piece of the Philadelphia Flyers’ middle-six. He was a reliable, two-way center and served as one of the club’s alternate captain from 2022 to 2025. Laughton brings a spark of reliable, depth impact that could benefit a Kings lineup recently gutted by injuries to Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko.
The Kings will get a chance to test out that impact with 21 games left in the regular season. Laughton should step into Los Angeles’ third-line center role – a boost over his deployment in Toronto – where he will likely anchor a rotation of wingers. The Kings currently have newcomer Mathieu Joseph and rookie Jared Wright in bottom-six roles, but Laughton could soon be flanked by Kenny Connors, Trevor Moore, Jeff Malott, or another AHL call-up. His ability to support a flux of partners could go far in proving Laughton’s ability to anchor the Kings’ bottom-six through the next few seasons.
Los Angeles carried $16.77MM in projected cap space through the Trade Deadline and will only become richer when Anze Kopitar‘s $7MM cap hit comes off of the books this summer. The Kings will have all of the funds that they need to re-sign Laughton to a reasonable deal after his current five-year, $15MM contract comes to a close. A new deal for the 31 year old could be in the realm of two or three seasons and between $2MM and $3MM. If the Kings opt not to keep Laughton around, he would become a popular bit of veteran depth on a thin center market this summer.
Blackhawks Sign Caydon Edwards To PTO, Spencer Knight Sick
The Chicago Blackhawks had to change their lineup plans just before Friday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks. Goaltender Spencer Knight was announced as unavailable due to an illness before the game, forcing the team to sign local goaltender Caydon Edwards to a professional try-out to serve as backup goaltender, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio. Edwards frequently serves as a practice goaltender for the Blackhawks and coaches the loacl Chicago Phantoms 16U AAA team.
Knight has settled back to Earth after a strong start to the year. He has a .905 save percentage in 15 games since the start of 2026. His new year began with a 5-2-0 streak but that has since been squashed with a 1-4-2 record in his last seven games. Knight has set 16 wins and a .908 save percentage in 42 games this season, all career-highs for the first-year starter.
The Blackhawks turned towards Arvid Soderblom for their starting role in light of Knight’s illness. Soderblom has six wins and a .879 save percentage in 18 games this season. The campaign has continued his streak of sub-.900 save percentages into its fifth season. He is a true backup who is coming off of his first NHL shutout, recorded against the Utah Mammoth on March 1st.
Edwards’ played five seconds of one game for the ECHL’s Indy Fuel in the 2023-24 season. He grew up through Canadian junior hockey and played a handful of semi-professional games from 2017 to 2022. He has served as a Chicago-based goaltending coach since 2023, supporting the Windy City Storm and Phantoms at multiple levels.