It’s a lighter night on the NHL calendar, with just three games to be played. Recent waiver claim Colten Ellis will receive his first NHL start tonight as the Buffalo Sabres take on the 5-1-0 Detroit Red Wings, in a game that will be nationally broadcast in the United States. In Newark, the Devils will host the Wild, while the Canadiens face the Calgary Flames in a rematch of the 1986 and 1989 Stanley Cup Finals.
While teams around the hockey world play out the early portion of their season, there is still quite a bit of activity in terms of player movement. Here is a rundown of the notable player transactions from around the world of professional hockey:
- Former NHL forward Jean-Sebastien Dea has signed a contract with Eisbären Berlin of the DEL, the top pro hockey league in Germany. It was announced yesterday that Dea’s contract with his former club Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk had been terminated amidst the forward’s poor start to the season. Dea had just three points through 16 games in Russia this season, after scoring 16 goals and 31 points last season, good for fourth on Nizhnekamsk in scoring. A former QMJHL star, Dea went undrafted and worked his way up from the ECHL to the NHL, eventually playing in 37 total games in the world’s top league. He left for the KHL in 2023-24 after scoring 50 points in the AHL the year prior, and after playing just over two years in the KHL, he’s now set to begin his tenure in Germany.
- Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, the Vegas Golden Knights’ top draft choice at the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, was loaned by his SHL side Luleå HF to IF Björklöven, a side in HockeyAllsvenskan, the Swedish second division. The 55th overall pick of last year’s draft, Ihs-Wozniak scored 57 points in just 40 games at the J20 Nationell level last season, but only managed two points in 13 games whilst playing for Luleå’s senior team. Ihs-Wozniak was once again struggling to get consistent opportunities in the SHL with Luleå, so they’ve elected to loan him to a lower division, likely so he can develop with more consistent ice time. Ihs-Wozniak made his debut for Björklöven earlier today and scored a goal in the team’s 5-2 win over Almtuna IS.
- Former AHL forward Erik Brown has signed a contract in Germany, landing with Düsseldorfer EG of the second-tier DEL2. Per the team’s release, Brown had been with the team since August, participating in training camp and preseason. Now, the former RIT captain has signed a full-time contract. Brown was an AHL regular from late in the 2018-19 season through 2022-23, ultimately scoring 11 goals and 26 points across 98 total regular-season games. He left the AHL to sign in the Finnish Liiga in 2023-24, scoring seven points in 12 games for Sport. He signed in Germany for 2024-25 and scored eight points in 32 games for the Frankfurt Lions. Düsseldorf have fallen rapidly over the last two years – they made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23, but missed the playoffs in 2023-24 and were relegated from the DEL last season. Now, this signing of Brown adds an experienced pro player to help them make their push for promotion back to Germany’s top division.
- The NCAA’s St. Cloud State University has obtained a commitment from 20-year-old defenseman Nolan Stevenson, who currently captains the Penticton Vees of the WHL. Stevenson is a 6’2 right-shot blueliner who was a 2020 fourth-round pick of the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL Prospects Draft, but elected to take the BCHL route in junior hockey, likely to preserve his NCAA eligibility. At the time, CHL players were ineligible to play in college hockey, but that restriction is no longer in place, which was also a factor in the Vees’ elevation from the BCHL to the WHL. Stevenson has skated in 11 WHL games for the Vees so far, scoring six points. He led the team’s blueliners in scoring last season with 39 points in 51 games.
- A trade was completed in the USHL today, with the Sioux City Musketeers sending forward George Lovell to the Omaha Lancers in exchange for forward Dakotah Bailey. It’s a swap between teams who have each endured (varying degrees of) sub-par starts to their respective USHL campaigns. The Musketeers are 3-5-1 and have acquired Bailey, 17, who has scored three points in eight games so far this season. Bailey is repped by Newport Sports Management and split last season between the USHL and NAHL. The Lancers are 2-9 through 11 games this season and have added Lovell, an ASU commit who had one goal in five games for Sioux City this season.
- On Monday, Italian international Giordano Finoro agreed to a mutual contract termination with IF Troja-Ljungby, the HockeyAllsvenskan club he began the season playing for. Today, the EIHL’s Fife Flyers announced that Finoro signed a contract with the club, confirming where Finoro would continue his 2025-26 campaign. The 27-year-old center was described by Fife as “a two-way centre and energy forward,” and brings to Scotland a solid track record for their league’s level of competition. Finoro was once a point-per-game player for Asiago in the ICEHL, a league made up of mostly top Austrian clubs and other teams in Central Europe. He wasn’t able to make his mark in Sweden, but was also an impact player in the late 2010’s in the QMJHL, and could very well make an impact for the Flyers. The Flyers could certainly use the reinforcement, as they currently sit last in the EIHL standings with an 0-5 record in league play.