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Snapshots: Beck, Krug, Robertson

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2021 Calgary Flames draft pick Jack Beck is headed to college hockey. SunDevilSuource’s Gabriella Chernoff reports that Beck has committed to play for Arizona State University this season. On the surface, Beck’s commitment might seem like a normal roster addition, but the reality is it’s anything but. Beck was a professional hockey player in 2024-25, playing most of the year with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers.

The NCAA had long held that athletes in almost all cases, at the moment they receive compensation in exchange for their services as players, sacrifice their eligibility to compete in NCAA competitions. But the college sports landscape has undergone massive shifts over the last several years, and Beck’s commitment is indicative of a major shift within hockey. CHL players, who were previously ineligible to play college hockey, have been committing to NCAA programs en masse for months – and now players who have signed professional contracts and played professional games, like Beck, are following them. In light of this development, is not immediately clear where the NCAA draws the line in terms of what pro experience is allowed for a player to retain his eligibility, but ESPN’s John Buccigross commented today that college coaches “aren’t happy” with the direction things are headed.

Other notes from the hockey world:

  • In a bit of unfortunate but also expected news, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reported that veteran defenseman Torey Krug failed his season-opening medical, and will, barring a hugely expected turn of events, not play in 2025-26. Rutherford added that the organization hopes to be able to place Krug on in-season long-term injured reserve to give them a “greater ability” to use the additional financial flexbility such a move would create over the course of the season.
  • The Dallas News’ Lia Assimakopoulos relayed word from Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill related to pending restricted free agent Jason Robertson: Nill said negotiations with Robertson, who is repped by Pat Brisson of CAA, are currently “at a standstill.” Nill added that both sides want to see where the market progresses before continuing further – but added that he remains confident they’ll reach an agreement on a new contract. Robertson, 26, is one of the Stars’ best players, scoring 80 points in 82 games in 2024-25.

Atlantic Notes: Lightning Free Agents, Paul, Dach

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have a slate of notable pending free agents, including veterans Ryan McDonagh and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Today, Lightning general manager Julien Brisebois told the media, including team reporter Benjamin Pierce, that contract negotiations with the representatives of its pending free agents will be tabled until after the season. Brisebois also added that despite doing so, the club still plans on retaining McDonagh beyond this season.

Brisebois said that when they re-acquired McDonagh, they informed him that “the plan was to not only have him finish his contract here, but sign another contract after that.” He added that his expectation is that McDonagh will do just that. Brisebois pointed to Yanni Gourde and his six-year contract extension as the model for what he’s “hoping and expecting will happen after the season” with McDonagh. Even at 36 years old, McDonagh remains an effective all-around defenseman. He scored 31 points in the regular season for Tampa, three points in five playoff games, and averaged 20:35 time-on-ice per game including the most short-handed ice time on the team.

Some other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Brisebois provided some additional detail on the status of injured center Nick Paul. Brisebois said, via team reporter Gabby Shirley, that Paul’s injury is one “he had been dealing with most of last season.” He added that “everything” the team tried to heal the injury “wasn’t working,” leading the player and team to address the matter via surgery. The original news of Paul’s injury was covered in more detail earlier today here.
  • Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis told the media today, including TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie, that he currently views Kirby Dach as the club’s second-line center behind captain Nick Suzuki. Dach had an impressive first season in Montreal, scoring 38 points in 58 games. But injuries have been a persistent issue for Dach, even including 2022-23, and as a result it would be fair to question whether Dach has the ability – and availability – to stick in such an important lineup spot. But Dach, the 2018 third-overall pick, certainly possesses the natural ability and potential to do it.

Avalanche Notes: Third-Line Center, Landeskog, Malinski, Injuries

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The Colorado Avalanche have a roster bursting at the seams with high-end talent, and as a result, many players enter this year’s training camp with their spot in the lineup relatively assured. But not all players have that luxury: Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told the media today, including outlet DNVR Avalanche, that the club considers its third-line center role to be among the few key spots in the lineup up for grabs in the preseason.

The Avalanche finished last season with veteran Charlie Coyle in that spot, but Coyle has since been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Today, Bednar highlighted Ross Colton and Jack Drury as the two main contenders for the third-line center role. Colton, 29, is Bednar’s more experienced option. He is playing on a $4MM AAV contract that runs through 2026-27 and had a career-high 17 goals and 40 points in 2023-24, his first with the Avalanche. Competing with Colton is Drury, who arrived in Colorado from the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the first Mikko Rantanen trade. Drury’s resume does not suggest he has as much offensive ability as Colton, though Drury brings a more advanced defensive element to the picture – he factored into Colorado’s penalty kill last season while Colton did not. (1:24 average short-handed time-on-ice compared to Colton’s 0:05) Regardless of who ultimately prevails in this preseason lineup competition, it’s clear Bednar has an abundance of quality options to choose from at the center position – an extremely valuable asset for any coach.

Some other notes from Denver:

  • The Denver Gazette’s Evan Rawal relayed word from Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog today that the veteran forward is a “full go” entering the 2025-26 campaign. That Landeskog will be able to play this season without restriction is notable due to the fact that he has missed a massive amount of time due to a complex knee issue. After captaining the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022, Landeskog missed the next three full regular seasons. He returned to play in five playoff games for Colorado, but given the length of his absence, there was some concern that Landeskog might be limited entering 2025-26. Based on today’s comments, it appears those worries can be dismissed.
  • Jared Bednar told the media today, including Guerilla Sports’ Meghan Angley, that they will try to play right-handed defenseman Sam Malinski on the left side this season as a response to the club’s abundance of NHL-caliber right-shot blueliners. Malinski, 27, finished last season paired with the since-departed Ryan Lindgren on his right side, meaning this change will require a new adjustment from Malinski. The former Cornell standout broke into the NHL last season, scoring 15 points in 76 games whilst averaging nearly 16 miutes of time-on-ice per game. The offseason addition of veteran blueliner Brent Burns, who is a right shot, appears to be what has prompted this adjustment for Malinski.
  • Colorado Hockey Now’s Aarif Deen reported updates on various injuries to Avalanche players today, including the club’s projected starting netminder. Per Deen, Mackenzie Blackwood is out week-to-week dealing with an offseason injury, but is hopeful to be ready within the first week or two of the regular season. Veteran Samuel Girard is dealing with a lower-body injury and will miss time in the preseason, but is hopeful to be ready for opening night. And finally veteran winger Logan O’Connor is dealing with a hip ailment, and is on track to miss the start of the season with a recovery timeline that places his return more in the range of early November.

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Wyatt Kaiser

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The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that defenseman Wyatt Kaiser has been signed to a two-year, $1.7MM AAV contract. Yesterday, we covered how the Blackhawks and Kaiser hadn’t made much progress on a new deal. The fact that he’s signed his new contract today is a testament to just how quickly things can change in the hockey world.

Kaiser, 23, will see his compensation rise sharply compared to last season, when he carried a $916K cap hit. Kaiser is a 2020 third-round pick who enjoyed his best professional season to date in 2024-25. Kaiser got into 57 NHL games last season, a large increase compared to 2023-24, when he played in 32 NHL contests. Kaiser averaged 18:07 time-on-ice per game, which ranked fifth among regular Blackhawks defensemen. That 18:07 mark includes a 1:33 per-game average in short-handed situations, which ranked fourth among the club’s blueliners.

The Blackhawks have a large number of talented young defensemen in their system as things currently stand, and despite his solid 2024-25, he’ll need to fend off challenges from those players in order to retain his roster spot. Sam Rinzel, who earned a nine-game cameo at the end of last season, is all but guaranteed a lineup spot, and 2024 second-overall pick Artyom Levshunov could pose a serious threat for a spot as well.

In addition to those two names, who are both right-shot blueliners, Kaiser will also have to compete with several talented left-shot blueliners for a lineup spot on his natural side. Nolan Allan, the club’s 2021 first-round pick, got into 43 NHL games last year and offers real defensive ability, while Kevin Korchinski is the 2022 seventh-overall pick who holds quite a bit of organizational investment.

But despite the presence of numerous quality defensive prospects to compete with for a lineup spot, the fact remains that Kaiser has more NHL experience than almost all of them. With this new contract in hand, Kaiser will now be able to focus entirely on training camp and securing his spot on Chicago’s opening-night roster.

Pacific Notes: Canucks Updates, Hyman, Walman

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After trading J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers last season, the Vancouver Canucks no longer have the luxury of two first-line caliber centers in their lineup. The departure of Miller via trade and the free agent departure of Pius Suter (the club’s highest-scoring pivot in 2024-25) has left the Canucks in a somewhat vulnerable position down the middle – but it’s one the club hopes to be able to trade its way out of. Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin told the media, including Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor, that the club is “not waiting” when it comes to adding center reinforcements from outside the organization, and is “open for business” regarding making trades to add players.

This past summer’s trade market has been described by figures across the NHL’s front office and media landscape as uncharacteristically slow, with far fewer teams interested in trading established NHL talent for future assets such as prospects or draft capital. Allvin specifically said he believes the Canucks “have enough assets in our organization” and enough “draft capital if that’s needed.” The main element of a trade they appear to be missing, at least at this point in time, is another club willing to part with a capable center in exchange for something Vancouver those assets Vancouver is seeking to offer up.

  • Allvin also updated the media on injuries to three Canucks players: Jett Woo, Ty Mueller, and Anri Ravinskis. Woo, 25, had surgery in August and is currently out on a month-to-month recovery timeline. It’s a tough blow for Woo, who was likely eyeing this upcoming preseason to make a push for an NHL roster spot after helping lead the AHL Abbotsford Canucks to a Calder Cup championship. Mueller, 22, is injured on an undisclosed timeline, while Ravinskis is recovering from summer hernia surgery.
  • The Nation Network’s Jason Gregor reported today that Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman won’t be on the ice with the rest of the Oilers for the first week of the club’s training camp. Hyman is still dealing with the wrist injury that knocked him out of last season’s playoffs, one that required offseason surgery. Hyman declined to establish a specific timeline related to his recovery. The 33-year-old is one of the Oilers’ most important forwards, scoring 54 goals and 77 points in 2023-24 and 27 goals last season.
  • Oilers defenseman Jake Walman will begin the season playing on his off-hand side alongside Darnell Nurse, per Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. Walman is a left-handed defenseman who ended last year playing on the left side alongside John Klingberg, but will now take up a role next to Nurse on what will presumably be the Oilers’ second pairing. Walman is entering a crucial contract year and if he can repeat his strong 2024-25 performance (he had seven goals, 40 points) he could line himself up to cash in nicely in free agency.

Mammoth Notes: Cooley, O’Brien, Injury Updates

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The Utah Mammoth didn’t make the playoffs in their first season in Salt Lake City, but they did take meaningful steps closer to contention, and perhaps their most important step forward was through the development of 2022 third overall pick Logan Cooley. Today, Utah general manager Bill Armstrong told the media, including The Deseret News’ Brogan Houston, that Cooley’s representation has been “very patient” regarding Cooley’s next contract. He added that there’s no rush to get an extension done.

Cooley, who is repped by Brian & Scott Bartlett of Bartlett Hockey, is in line for a major contract extension after a breakout 2024-25 campaign. The 21-year-old is a dynamic playmaker and ranked second among Utah players in scoring last season with 25 goals and 65 points. Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who was drafted two spots ahead of Cooley at the 2022 draft, received a $7.6MM AAV on his long-term second contract. Given Cooley will be signing his extension at a later stage than Slafkovsky, and will have more experience on his resume at the time of signing, it stands to reason that Cooley’s next deal will exceed Slafkovsky’s. Given his age and production, Cooley could very well see his next deal exceed Mikhail Sergachev’s $8.5MM AAV to become the highest-paid player in Utah.

Some other notes from the NHL’s newest franchise:

  • Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny told the media today that veteran forward Liam O’Brien is currently dealing with a lower-body injury, and is out on a week-to-week timeline. Injuries limited the 31-year-old bruiser to just 28 games played last season, and he also only managed two points. Although it’s not a contract year for O’Brien – his $1MM AAV deal runs through 2026-27 – he’ll look to get back on the ice in order to re-establish himself as one of the league’s more physically imposing bottom-six players.
  • Alongside O’Brien, Tourigny also established who the club’s other injured players are for the start of the team’s training camp. Tourigny named Anson Thornton, Juuso Valimaki, Caleb Desnoyers and Terrell Goldsmith as the remaining injured players. The most relevant name from that list from a roster-building perspective is Valimaki’s, as he is a veteran of 271 career NHL games. With that said, Mammoth fans are likely to pay close attention to the status of Desnoyers, the 2025 fourth-overall pick.

Metro Notes: Hughes, Panarin, Scheel

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By tomorrow, the negotiation stalemate between the New Jersey Devils and defenseman Luke Hughes will begin eating into the blueliner’s training camp availability. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, although both sides continue to discuss terms, no deal is anticipated before the Devils’ first practice tomorrow.

There haven’t been any meaningful updates regarding the extension this month. The last one came in late August, indicating that Hughes is prioritizing a five-year contract, while New Jersey wants a two-year or eight-year deal.

A five-year contract would walk Hughes into unrestricted free agency at the end of the deal, the same time his brother Jack becomes an unrestricted free agent. Much has been made of the Hughes brothers’ stated desire to play together someday, and the youngest one has become rigid in his contractual demands.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • The New York Rangers have one of the highest-profile pending unrestricted free agents for next summer in Artemi Panarin. Given that he’s eligible for an extension and the focal point of the Rangers’ offense, hypothetical extension negotiations were a hot-button topic at today’s media availability with General Manager Chris Drury. Unfortunately, to keep the negotiations out of the spotlight, Baugh reported that Drury refused to speak on negotiations in any meaningful way.
  • Moving back to New Jersey, the Devils will no longer have all four players recently signed to professional tryout contracts at training camp. Earlier today, Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News reported that netminder Adam Scheel won’t participate in New Jersey’s training camp, claiming that he’s taken a separate opportunity elsewhere. There have been no reports indicating where Scheel has signed.

2025 NHL Training Camp Rosters

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Originally published Sep. 4

We’re less than a week away from the NHL’s 32 clubs beginning their full training camps ahead of the 2025-26 regular season. In the coming days, teams will begin to announce their full camp rosters – a list that most will need to chop in half in order to get to the 23-player roster limit by the time opening night rolls around on Oct. 7.

Players who are attending via PTOs and those who aren’t participating due to injury are listed in the total counts. Eventually, this page will house all 32 camp rosters and will be updated as cuts are made – a new feature here at PHR for the 2025-26 season. This article will be continually updated as more announcements come in.

Anaheim Ducks

Roster size: 54/23
Last updated Sep. 16, 7:15 p.m.

Forwards (31): Justin Bailey, Leo Carlsson, Judd Caulfield, Sam Colangelo, Nathan Gaucher, Cutter Gauthier, Mikael Granlund, Emile Guite, Jansen Harkins, Ross Johnston, Alex Killorn, Chris Kreider, Maxim Masse, Mason McTavish, Nico Myatovic, Jan Mysak, Nikita Nesterenko, Sasha Pastujov, Matthew Phillips, Coulson Pitre, Ryan Poehling, Ethan Procyszyn, Noah Read, Beckett Sennecke, Yegor Sidorov, Ryan Strome, Troy Terry, Brady Turko, Frank Vatrano, Tim Washe, Jaxsen Wiebe

Defenseman (17): Jeremie Biakabutuka, Nikolas Brouillard, Radko Gudas, Drew Helleson, Tyson Hinds, Jackson LaCombe, Tristan Luneau, Alexis Mathieu, Pavel Mintyukov, Ian Moore, Konnor Smith, Tarin Smith, Stian Solberg, Jacob Trouba, Darels Uljanskis, Noah Warren, Olen Zellweger

Goaltenders (6): Vyacheslav Buteyets, Calle Clang, Lukas Dostal, Ville Husso, Petr Mrazek, Tomas Suchanek

Boston Bruins

Roster size: 50/23
Last updated Sep. 15, 9:08 a.m.

Forwards (28): Joey Abate, Viktor Arvidsson, Dalton Bancroft, John Beecher, Matej Blumel, Patrick Brown, Riley Duran, Michael Eyssimont, John Farinacci, Morgan Geekie, Brett Harrison, Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic, Marat Khusnutdinov, Sean Kuraly, Elias Lindholm, Dans Locmelis, Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov, Fraser Minten, Casey Mittelstadt, David Pastrnak, Matthew Poitras, Jake Schmaltz, Alex Steeves, Riley Tufte, Jeffrey Viel, Pavel Zacha

Defensemen (17): Jonathan Aspirot, Frederic Brunet, Michael Callahan, Jackson Edward, Colin Felix, Ty Gallagher, Jordan Harris, Loke Johansson, Henri Jokiharju, Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Andrew Peeke, Victor Soderstrom, Billy Sweezey, Max Wanner, Nikita Zadorov

Goaltenders (5): Luke Cavallin, Michael DiPietro, Joonas Korpisalo, Jeremy Swayman, Simon Zajicek

Buffalo Sabres

Roster size: 61/23
Last updated Sep. 16, 6:45 p.m.

Forwards (32): Zach Benson, Matteo Costantini, Justin Danforth, Josh Doan, Joshua Dunne, Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Mason Geertsen, Jordan Greenway, Konsta Helenius, Jagger Joshua, Tyler Kopff, Tyson Kozak, Peyton Krebs, Jiri Kulich, Trevor Kuntar, Jake Leschyshyn, Beck Malenstyn, Ryan McLeod, Carson Meyer, Olivier Nadeau, Viktor Neuchev, Joshua Norris, Noah Ostlund, Jack Quinn, Isak Rosen, Redmond Savage, Graham Slaggert, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Anton Wahlberg, Brendan Warren, Jason Zucker

Defensemen (21): David Bedkowski, Isaac Belliveau, Simon-Pier Brunet, Jacob Bryson, Bowen Byram, Rasmus Dahlin, Aidan Fulp, Ryan Johnson, Zachary Jones, Michael Kesselring, Vsevolod Komarov, Noah Laaouan, Noah Laberge, Zach Metsa, Radim Mrtka, Nikita Novikov, Owen Power, Jack Rathbone, Mattias Samuelsson, Conor Timmins, Peter Tischke

Goaltenders (8): Alexandar Georgiev, Ryerson Leenders, Topias Leinonen, Devon Levi, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon, Samuel Meloche, Scott Ratzlaff

Calgary Flames

Roster size: 58/23
Last updated: Sep. 17, 3:36 p.m.

Forwards (34): Mikael Backlund, Andrew Basha, Jacob Battaglia, Parker Bell, Clark Bishop, Nathan Brisson, Lucas Ciona, Blake Coleman, Matthew Coronato, Joel Farabee, Martin Frk, Morgan Frost, Alex Gallant, Matvei Gridin, Samuel Honzek, Jonathan Huberdeau, Dryden Hunt, Nazem Kadri, Rory Kerins, Carter King, Justin Kirkland, Adam Klapka, Hunter Laing, Mael Lavigne, Ryan Lomberg, Kadon McCann, Sam Morton, Martin Pospisil, Yegor Sharangovich, David Silye, William Stromgren, Aydar Suniev, Carter Wilkie, Connor Zary

Defensemen (18): Rasmus Andersson, Kevin Bahl, Jake Bean, Hunter Brzustewicz, Nick Cicek, Artem Grushnikov, Joel Hanley, Axel Hurtig, Yan Kuznetsov, Simon Mack, Daniil Miromanov, Etienne Morin, Brayden Pachal, Zayne Parekh, Mace’o Phillips, Jerome Poirier, Ilya Solovyov, MacKenzie Weegar

Goaltenders (6): Devin Cooley, Connor Murphy, Ivan Prosvetov, Owen Say, Arsenii Sergeev, Dustin Wolf

Carolina Hurricanes

Roster size: 48/23
Last update: Sep 17, 4:00 p.m.

Forwards (26): Sebastian Aho, Jackson Blake, Skyler Brind’Amour, William Carrier, Nikolaj Ehlers, Noel Gunler, Taylor Hall, Juha Jaaska, Mark Jankowski, Seth Jarvis, Tyson Jost, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Kevin Labanc (PTO), Jordan Martinook, Bradly Nadeau, Justin Robidas, Eric Robinson, Ivan Ryabkin, Josiah Slavin, Givani Smith (PTO), Jordan Staal, Logan Stankoven, Ryan Suzuki, Andrei Svechnikov, Gleb Trikozov, Felix Unger Sorum

Defensemen (16): Dominik Badinka, Gavin Bayreuther, Jalen Chatfield, Domenick Fensore,  Shayne Gostisbehere, Aleksi Heimosalmi, Oliver Kylington (PTO), Charles Alexis Legault, K’Andre Miller, Bryce Montgomery, Alexander Nikishin, Joel Nystrom, Mike Reilly, Ronan Seeley, Jaccob Slavin, Sean Walker,

Goaltenders (6): Frederik Andersen, Ruslan Khazheyev, Pyotr Kochetkov, Amir Miftakhov, Cayden Primeau, Nikita QuappRead more

Maple Leaf Notes: Stolarz, Top-Six Forward, Domi, Dubé

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For the past two weeks, the Toronto Maple Leafs and netminder Anthony Stolarz have been negotiating a new contract extension. Unfortunately, nothing has materialized yet, although a few updates were revealed in today’s media availability.

According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Stolarz reiterated his hope and desire for a new deal, saying, “We’re hopeful to get to a good outcome… I’m confident, until proven otherwise, that we can find something that’ll work.” Still, despite the positive update, Stolarz wants to get a deal finished before the start of the regular season.

In an update from Chris Johnston of The Athletic, the 31-year-old netminder has made his intentions known that he’s unwilling to negotiate once the regular season has begun. Although the Maple Leafs want to maintain cap space for next offseason, it would be wise for them to strike a deal with Stolarz quickly.

Outside of some injury concerns, Stolarz has been remarkably consistent over the last two years with the Florida Panthers and Maple Leafs. Since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Stolarz has recorded a 37-15-5 record in 61 games with a .926 SV% and 2.10 GAA.

Other notes from the Maple Leafs:

  • Like many teams around the league, Toronto remains on the hunt for a top-six forward, according to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. Per Koshan, General Manager Brad Treliving spoke of his pursuit, saying, “It’s not from lack of trying … you’re always looking to improve. League-wide, it was a slower summer.” The Maple Leafs have seemingly lost their opportunity on the free agent market, but could pursue a meaningful trade as training camp progresses.
  • In the same vein, David Alter of The Hockey News reports that Max Domi is being considered to fill a top-six role for the time being, specifically on the right side next to Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait some time to see Domi next to the pair, as Koshan reports he’s dealing with a lower-body injury.
  • The last major news item regards an unrestricted free agent that the Maple Leafs won’t pursue. Despite being tied together from their time with the Calgary Flames, Treliving told Pagnotta that Toronto isn’t interested in signing Dillon Dubé, citing the recent Hockey Canada sexual assault trial as a primary factor.

Senators Hoping To Move Alex Formenton

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After his inclusion in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial for the past two years, the Ottawa Senators are looking to move on from RFA forward Alex Formenton. During today’s media availability, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch offered a note from Senators General Manager Steve Staios, saying that “both sides agree that it would be best for a fresh start.”

As PuckPedia notes, since Formenton is a qualified RFA, Ottawa can only trade him or wait for him to become eligible for unrestricted free agency. There’s no mechanism for a team to release a qualified RFA, unless the NHL is willing to make an exception for this circumstance. The other four players involved in the trial were not qualified by their respective clubs, making them all UFAs.

Given the high-profile nature of the case, it’s difficult to say whether or not another team would have interest in acquiring Formenton via trade. Carter Hart, who was also involved in the trial, has reportedly garnered interest from several teams since the NHL announced that they’d be free to sign new contracts on October 15th.

Still, even outside of that variable, it’s been several years since Formenton has played professionally in North America. His last season with the Senators was 2021-22, during which he recorded 18 goals and 32 points in 79 games, finishing with a -13 rating.

Since then, he’s been playing with the NL’s HC Ambrì-Piotta, scoring 20 goals and nine assists in 48 games. Formenton appears to have kept his knack for putting pucks in the net, but Ottawa shouldn’t have any expectation of receiving a quality return for their former second-round pick.

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