The Devils announced they’ve placed defenseman Dennis Cholowski on waivers with the intent to assign him to AHL Utica. New Jersey will be left with an open roster spot tomorrow after he is reassigned or claimed.
Cholowski’s waiver placement is likely the first in a complicated series of transactions to activate fellow rearguard Johnathan Kovacevic from long-term injured reserve. The Devils need to free up roughly $3MM in cap space to do so, and they’re running out of time after he began skating with the team at practice earlier this week, per Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News.
Removing the 27-year-old Cholowski from the roster gets them $775K closer to their goal. The Devils acquired him from the Islanders at last year’s trade deadline after he’d re-emerged as a press-box option in New York. He played six games for the Devils as an extra body down the stretch and re-signed with the club on a one-year, one-way deal for the league minimum in July.
Cholowski stuck around on New Jersey’s opening night roster, in large part due to Kovacevic’s knee surgery, but hasn’t been relied upon heavily. He’s been a frequent healthy scratch, particularly with Brett Pesce and Simon Nemec recently returning from injuries, and hasn’t suited up in nearly a month. He’s now been scratched in 11 straight and has only played in 15 of the Devils’ 44 games.
When dressed, the puck-mover has been overused in defensive situations, ranking last among Devils defenders with a 42.6 offensive zone start percentage at even strength. As a result, he only has one assist with a -5 rating while posting a 46.1 CF%, also the worst figure among New Jersey rearguards. Far from being known for his physicality, the 6’2″ lefty has only logged 15 blocks and three hits as well.
Now, he hits waivers for the first time in 2025-26 after clearing them multiple times with the Isles over the past few seasons. The 2016 first-round pick last suited up in the AHL in March of last year with Bridgeport. He has 18 goals and 123 points with a -46 rating in 241 career minor-league games.
C’mon phoney “Markstrom tweaks his back/knee at practice.”
Even if we send Markstrom down and brought Daws up that only saves us $337.500 still not enough to bring Kovacevic back
That’s not how LTIR works.
i wasnt suggesting sending him to LTIR or even IR, i was suggesting sending him to Utica and bringing Daws up
He has a no-movement clause, so he can’t be placed on waivers (without his approval).
Damn i keep forgetting he has one of those
This is probably a series of really dumb questions but I’ll ask anyway. What happens if there is a situation like this when someone is coming off IR and the team doesn’t have cap room and then can’t/won’t make room? I assume they are obligated to activate the healthy player and can’t hold him in IR as long as they want. And if they don’t have cap room before the next game, then what? What if they try and can’t make a deal? Are there any consequences from the league like fines? Do you have to play a player short? Or does the league say “You have to cut payroll and we don’t care how you do it.”? How is that enforced?
So I guess my main questions are: what happens when a team is over the cap? Are they not allowed to activate the now-healthy player? Do they forfeit the next game? Does the league force a transaction?
To clarify, this only applies to LTIR, not standard IR. Standard IR has no cap impact, so teams can actually keep a player there until they choose to re-insert them into the lineup, even if they’ve been medically cleared for days. The Sabres just did that with Jason Zucker.
The league can and will punish a team for cap circumvention if it keeps a healthy player on LTIR solely for the cap benefits. Forfeiture of a game is technically possible but has never happened. More common disciplines include fine and draft-pick forfeitures.
1. The “Can’t Activate” Relief a team has a player ready to return from Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) but lacks the salary cap space to fit them back on the roster, the NHL Central Registry simply will not allow the transaction.The Player Stays Put: The player cannot be activated. He remains on IR/LTIR until the team makes a corresponding move (a trade, waiving someone, or sending someone to the minors) to clear the necessary space.The “Obligation” to Activate: Legally and medically, a team cannot keep a healthy player on IR just to save cap space.1 The NHL has “audit and oversight” powers.
2 If the league suspects a team is stashing a healthy player, they can send independent doctors to evaluate them. However, teams often navigate this by citing “lingering symptoms” or “conditioning issues” to buy a few extra days.+12. Can the League Force a Transaction?No. The league will never say, “You must trade Player X to Team Y for a 5th-round pick.” Instead, they say: “Your roster is illegal. Figure it out.”If a team cannot find a trade partner, they are forced to use the Waiver Wire. They must place a player on waivers to send them to the AHL or clear their contract.3 The consequence here is that the team loses a player for nothing (another team can claim them for free), which is the ultimate “forced” transaction.
3. Playing “Short-Handed”If a team is right at the cap and suffers a minor injury (not long enough for LTIR relief) or can’t afford to call someone up, they are often forced to play short.Real-World Example: In the past, teams like the Vegas Golden Knights have dressed only 15 or 17 skaters (instead of the usual 18) because they literally did not have the $800k in cap space to call up a replacement from the minors.4The Limit: A team must dress at least 20 players (18 skaters, 2 goalies) if they have them.5 If they drop below the ability to field a legal lineup (usually 14 skaters and a goalie) due to cap mismanagement, the league can theoretically force a forfeit, though this has never actually happened in the modern era.
4. Penalties and Enforcement If a team were to somehow “cheat” and play a game while over the cap (which is nearly impossible because the league’s digital roster system would flag it before puck drop), the consequences are severe:Penalty TypeDetailsFinesUp to $5 million per violation.Draft PicksThe Commissioner can strip the team of 1st-round picks.Game ForfeitThe game is recorded as a loss, and the team earns 0 points.Cap ReductionsThe league can reduce the team’s cap space for the following year as a penalty.
Thanks Josh and Devils. This has always been a bit confusing to me. I did not know the Zucker example was possible. In these situations someone always ends up getting traded or waived to make room, but I always wondered what would happen if the team didn’t make a move in time. Humans being humans, I’m sure someone has tried to pull some nonsense at some point.
I’m still waiting on the GM or coach getting fired article today, Josh. Don’t let me down bud. Somethings gotta give here.