Utah Mammoth Recall Kevin Rooney, Place Alexander Kerfoot On IR
The Utah Mammoth announced today that they have placed forward Alexander Kerfoot on injured reserve. He’s out with an upper-body injury on a week-to-week basis.
In a corresponding move, the club recalled forward Kevin Rooney from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.
Kerfoot left Utah’s Friday game against the St. Louis Blues after suffering the injury. This isn’t Kerfoot’s first week-to-week absence of the season. He underwent core muscle surgery in October and it cost him the start of the season. He made his 2025-26 debut on Dec. 19.
Things weren’t quite right for Kerfoot even after his original activation off of IR. He only managed one goal for one point in nine games, and he only played 10:20 time on ice per game. Kerfoot averaged 15:15 time on ice per game in 2024-25.
A key penalty killer for the Mammoth, Kerfoot has typically been good for steady middle-six production over the course of his NHL career.
He scored 45 points in the final season of the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24, but that production didn’t carry over to Utah as he took on a more defensive role.
Now slated to miss at least a few weeks, the Mammoth will turn to Rooney to fill Kerfoot’s vacated fourth-line spot in head coach Andre Tourigny’s lineup.
The 32-year-old is a veteran of over 300 NHL games and skated in 70 games for the Calgary Flames last season. He’s scored 10 points in 20 games at the AHL level this season and has a goal in his lone NHL contest of 2025-26.
Rooney is playing out a one-year, league-minimum two-way contract, one that carries a $325K AHL salary. If Rooney gets an extended look on the NHL roster as a result of Kerfoot’s absence, that run of NHL games would hold significant financial benefits for the veteran forward.
For Kerfoot, while these injuries are undoubtedly frustrating from an on-ice perspective, the financial implications of the injury are also unfortunate. Kerfoot is a pending UFA, and this injury will now set back his efforts to put together the kind of production fans grew accustomed to seeing from him in Arizona and Toronto.
Now 31 years old, Kerfoot has a chance to be one of the better center-capable players on this summer’s open market. This injury is certainly a setback, but he should still have a chance to return to the ice and string together some quality games to end his platform season on as high a note as possible.
Photos courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images
New York Rangers Reassign Anton Blidh, Recall Brennan Othmann
4:15 p.m.: The Rangers have indeed recalled Othmann to their NHL roster, according to a team announcement.
The move returns the Rangers’ 2021 first-round pick back to their NHL roster for the first time in 2026. Othmann was a healthy scratch for his final two games on the NHL roster in December, but could draw back into head coach Mike Sullivan’s lineup at some point in the near future.
It’s an extremely important season for the 23-year-old’s future in the Rangers organization. He’s a pending restricted free agent and has thus far failed to make an impact at the NHL level.
Considered a top prospect coming out of the OHL thanks to the coveted combination of offensive skill and sandpaper in his game, Othmann has had an up-and-down time in the pro ranks. He’s been a strong contributor at the AHL level.
He was an All-Star in 2023-24, his rookie season as a pro, and 83 points in 117 games. But in his 31 games at the NHL level, he’s been unable to make quite the same impact. He’s managed just two assists as an NHLer, and is still waiting on his first NHL goal.
This recall gives Othmann another chance to prove himself at the NHL level, and prove he has what it takes to remain in New York’s long-term plans moving forward.
The Athletic’s Chris Johnston included Othmann in the No. 34 slot of his trade board last week, writing that while the Rangers are “not in a position at which they feel they have to move” Othmann, they’d nonetheless consider offers for him.
2:25 p.m.: The New York Rangers announced today that veteran forward Anton Blidh has been reassigned to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The move leaves the Rangers without a healthy extra forward on their roster, but Colin Stephenson of Newsday reported that Brennan Othmann could be recalled to the Rangers at some point in the near future.
Blidh was recalled at the start of the New Year as part of the Rangers’ response to several injuries up front, most notably one suffered by captain J.T. Miller. In his recall, which lasted a little over 10 days, Blidh was dressed twice and served as a healthy scratch for three contests, including yesterday’s deflating 10-2 loss to the Boston Bruins.
In his two NHL games, Blidh averaged 7:45 time on ice. He didn’t land on the scoresheet, but tallied four hits in each contest. The 30-year-old veteran hasn’t been at the top of the list of priority call-up options since arriving in the Rangers organization in 2023, but he’s nonetheless found a way to stick around and earn a small number of call-ups.
While this most recent call-up represents two of his three total games played as a Ranger, he’s been a healthy scratch on other occasions. His physicality and work rate, as well as over 80 games of NHL experience, make him someone who the Rangers trust to fill in as a fourth liner when injuries call for it. Last April, New York signed Blidh to a two-year contract extension, one that runs through 2026-27. The deal carries a two-way structure, league-minimum NHL salary, and $385K guarantee across both years.
Reassigned today, Blidh will return to Hartford where he’s struggled to score at the same rate he put up last season. Blidh managed 19 goals, 36 points in 71 games last year, but has just seven points in 28 games this season. The Wolf Pack have struggled, as a whole, to put pucks in the net, ranking near the bottom of the AHL in goals scored in 2025-26.
Bruins Sign Jonathan Aspirot To Two-Year Extension
The Boston Bruins have signed defenseman Jonathan Aspirot to a two-year, $1.775MM contract extension. Aspirot made his NHL debut at the start of the season. He has since played in 25 games, locking in the 2025-26 season as his rookie year in the NHL. Aspirot has three points, a plus-15, and 17 penalty minutse through those contests.
Aspirot took the long route to the NHL. He went undrafed after three years in the QMJHL but showed off enough shutdown defense to earn an AHL contract with the Belleville Senators in 2019. Aspirot stuck with the AHL Senators for the next four seasons, routinely rivaling 15-to-20 points and a positive plus-minus while rotating through Belleville’s lineup. He seemed to have his pro legs under him after the 2022-23 season, when he recorded 16 points, a plus-four, and 65 penalty minutes in 43 games.
That performance prompted a move to bigger shoes for the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. Aspirot stepped up as a top-four option for the Wranglers and set career-highs in points (33) and penalty minutes (80) through his first 66 games with the club. He continued to make a mark through last season, when he racked up 29 points and 54 penalty minutes in 65 games in Calgary. Once again, his strong showing pushed Aspirot into a bigger role with a new team, this time on a deal with the Providence Bruins signed last summer. Hopes were high for the 6-foot, 212-pound defenseman and he answered the bell, netting three points and four penalty minutes in his first five games with Providence.
That was enough to earn a call-up to the Bruins – only the second NHL call-up of his career, after a call-up to the Flames in 2024 that resulted in no games played. This time, Aspirot made sure the move would stick. He has appeared in 25 of Boston’s 35 games since being recalled and even earned time on a pairing with star defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Aspirot’s career is taking off at the age of 26. Boston will keep that momentum rolling for the undrafted free agent, locking him into a cost-effective deal through the 2027-28 season.
Red Wings Sign Dominik Shine To Two-Year Extension
The Detroit Red Wings signed depth forward Dominik Shine to a two-year, two-way contract extension on Saturday. Shine is playing through his 10th season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. He ranks second on the club in scoring with 14 goals and 27 points in 26 games. This contract will carry Shine through his age-34 season in 2027-28.
Shine has settled in as a core piece of Grand Rapids’ lineup over his professional career. He was a grinder-style in his junior hockey days, marked by nearly 500 total penalty minutes across four years in the USHL. His bruising game carried over to four years at Northern Michigan University, where Shine was able to develop a more robust offensive game too. He scored 60 points in 67 games across his final two years at NMU, enough to earn an AHL contract with the Griffins in 2017.
Since then, Shine has stepped into any role the Griffins need. He ranks fifth in club history with 577 penalty minutes, and fourth with 89 goals and 211 points. Shine has reached those totals in 509 games with Grand Rapids, the third-longest tenure of any player with the club. The Griffins’ team record for games played belongs to Travis Richards, who appeared in 655 between 1996 and 2006. Shine could have a chance to rival that mark if he can earn one more season after playing through this new extension. Despite the years of impact in the AHL, Shine didn’t make his NHL debut until last season, when he racked up one assist and 15 penalty minutes in nine games with the Red Wings.
Grand Rapids rewarded Shine’s longtime reliability with the captaincy this summer. Now, in the midst of a career-year, the Red Wings will award him with a carved out role in the Griffins lineup. That could be the motivation he needs to break his career-high of 46 points set last season and push his way back into the NHL.
Avalanche Reassign T.J. Tynan
7:30 p.m.: Tynan’s recall didn’t last long. Shortly after today’s win over the Blue Jackets, the Avalanche reassigned Tynan to AHL Colorado.
12:24 p.m.: The Avalanche have added some depth up front for this afternoon’s game against Columbus. The team announced (Twitter link) that forward T.J. Tynan has been recalled from AHL Colorado.
It’s the first recall of the season for the 33-year-old. Tynan has spent the full 2025-26 campaign with the Eagles and his output can be viewed a couple of ways. Through 30 games, Tynan has scored just once which is hardly ideal for one of a team’s top veterans. On the other hand, he sits third in the AHL in assists with 25, keeping him within striking distance of the point-per-game mark. He has just missed that threshold the last two years but reached or surpassed it in the previous five.
Despite the consistent production in the minors, it hasn’t yielded too many NHL opportunities for Tynan. He has played in just 30 NHL games over his career, nine of which came last season when the Avs churned through the majority of their farm team in an effort to find some pieces to stick on the fourth line. Although he has been a point producer in the AHL, that hasn’t been the case at the top level as he has been limited to just two assists in those 30 outings while averaging 8:21 per game of ice time.
With Tynan’s recall, Colorado’s roster is now at the maximum of 23 players.
Senators Recall Hunter Shepard, Assign Two To AHL
The Senators have made a trio of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Florida. The team announced that goaltender Hunter Shepard has been recalled from AHL Belleville while netminder Mads Sogaard and center Stephen Halliday have been sent down.
Shepard was up for a week recently, serving as Leevi Merilainen’s backup before being sent down on Tuesday to get some game action in Belleville. He has played in one game in relief with the big club, stopping 10 of 12 shots on Monday against Detroit. The 30-year-old has also suited up in a dozen games in the minors, posting a 3.41 GAA and a .897 SV%.
Sogaard was recalled on Tuesday to take Shepard’s place on the roster. He played in relief of Merilainen on Thursday in Colorado and struggled, allowing five goals on 16 shots in just 17:25 in action, resulting in Merilainen coming back into the game. The 25-year-old has played in 15 games with Belleville with numbers a little worse than Shepard’s, checking in with a 3.49 GAA and a .887 SV%.
As for Halliday, he received his first NHL recall earlier this season and has held his own so far. The 23-year-old has played in 18 games with Ottawa, picking up six assists despite averaging just 8:12 per game of playing time. He had been a strong playmaker with Belleville before the promotion, picking up a goal and 18 helpers in 17 contests in the minors. He’ll get a chance to go back and play a more prominent role for the time being but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get recalled at some point in the second half of the season.
As a result of these moves, Ottawa now has one open slot on its 23-man roster while opening up some extra salary cap space.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Place Zach Bogosian On IR
With Joel Eriksson Ek dealing with an undisclosed injury sustained on Thursday, the Wild needed some depth up front. That will come from winger Ben Jones as the team announced that they’ve recalled him from AHL Iowa. To make room on the roster, defenseman Zach Bogosian has been placed on injured reserve according to Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jones has spent the bulk of this season in Minnesota. The 26-year-old has played in 20 games, predominantly on their fourth line. However, while he has brought plenty of physicality with 47 hits, he’s still looking for his first point. That extends to his previous NHL stints as Jones has zero points in 48 career NHL appearances, all but two coming with Minnesota over the past two seasons.
That hasn’t been the case in the minors, however. Jones has three goals and three assists in eight games with Iowa and is coming off a 13-goal, 36-point showing in 2024-25. Jones cleared waivers in mid-December and has only been up for two days and played in one game so his 10-game, 30-day exemption clock largely remains intact.
As for Bogosian, he has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. Assuming the placement is back-dated, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as Minnesota needs him as he’ll have already served the seven-day requirement. The 35-year-old has played in 23 games this season, picking up a goal and three assists while averaging 14:52 per night of ice time.
Blackhawks Recall Stanislav Berezhnoy
The flu bug has hit the Blackhawks hard. A day after having to use third-stringer Drew Commesso while dressing EBUG Dave Nozzolillo, Chicago has now had to call on another AHL netminder as the team announced that they’ve recalled Stanislav Berezhnoy from Rockford.
Chicago signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in July. While there are international goalies who typically sign NHL contracts on an annual basis, Berezhnoy’s profile was a little different given that he was relatively untested at the top level in Russia. He has just one career KHL game under his belt but posted a .928 SV% in 27 VHL appearances last season which was enough to convince the Blackhawks of his upside.
Playing time with the IceHogs has been hard to come by with Commesso being the priority netminder plus veteran Laurent Brossoit getting playing time until his trade to San Jose earlier this week. As a result, Berezhnoy has been limited to just nine appearances in the AHL where he has a 3.23 GAA with a .889 SV%.
That puts head coach Jeff Blashill in a bit of a tough spot for their game tonight against Nashville. Commesso struggled last night against Washington and asking him to go back-to-back isn’t ideal. But starting Berezhnoy might even be less ideal with how inexperienced he is.
Commesso’s recall put Chicago at 24 players on its active roster and Berezhnoy brings it to 25. Teams are allowed two 48-hour goalie emergency recalls that allow them to exceed the roster limit and the Blackhawks are putting both of them to use to get through this back-to-back set.
Panthers Recall Sandis Vilmanis, Place Seth Jones On IR
The Panthers have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight against Ottawa. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Sandis Vilmanis from AHL Charlotte. To make room on the roster, defenseman Seth Jones has been placed on injured reserve, according to the NHL’s Media Site.
This is Vilmanis’ first recall to the NHL. The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Florida back in 2022, going 157th overall. He made the move to play junior hockey in the OHL the following season, spending two years there where he averaged just under a point per game with 58 goals and 54 assists in 122 regular season contests while adding 34 points in 30 playoff appearances.
That was enough for the Panthers to sign Vilmanis to a three-year, entry-level deal, one that he’s basically at the midpoint of. He has played in 31 games for the Checkers so far this season, posting eight goals and 11 assists, putting him on pace to beat the 27 points he had last season in his rookie campaign. His first half also earned him a spot on Latvia’s roster for the Olympics next month.
As for Jones, the move to IR is largely procedural. Earlier this week, he was listed as out week-to-week after sustaining an upper-body injury during the Winter Classic. At this point, his availability for the Olympics remains uncertain.
Florida remains at the maximum roster size of 23 which is noteworthy with Matthew Tkachuk (LTIR) believed to be nearing a return. (That won’t be tonight though, as he has been ruled out against the Sens.) However, yesterday’s waiver placement of Noah Gregor on waivers will soon open up the spot for Tkachuk, meaning that Vilmanis’ recall shouldn’t be affected by Tkachuk’s pending return to the lineup.
Rangers Assign Justin Dowling To AHL
With center Noah Laba expected to return to the lineup tonight, the Rangers have sent some forward depth back to the minors. The team announced (Twitter link) that center Justin Dowling has been assigned back to AHL Hartford. They now have one open roster spot.
The 35-year-old was brought up at the beginning of the month when Laba and others were injured and got into two games with New York during this stint. He was held off the scoresheet while recording one shot on goal in a total of just over 14 minutes of playing time.
It’s the third straight season in which Dowling has seen NHL action; he played in a career-best 52 with New Jersey last season. That was enough to land him a two-year deal with the Rangers this summer with 2025-26 seeing him earn a one-way salary before reverting to a two-way pact next season.
Dowling has spent the bulk of the campaign with the Wolf Pack where he has fared well offensively, notching five goals and 11 assists in 24 games. After being a limited role player with the Rangers, he’ll return to being a key top-six forward in Hartford with the hopes of playing his way into another recall in the coming months.