Vancouver Canucks Reassign Victor Mancini
The Vancouver Canucks have opened up a roster spot for the newly signed David Kämpf. Earlier today, Vancouver announced that they’ve reassigned defenseman Victor Mancini to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.
Mancini’s reassignment is expected to serve as a form of a conditioning loan. He had missed the Canucks last eight games due to an undisclosed injury and was only recently activated from the injured reserve a few days ago.
Since Vancouver already has seven healthy defensemen on its active roster, it stands to reason that it’ll allow Mancini as much time as he needs to ramp back up and eventually rejoin the lineup. He’s skated in five games for the Canucks this season and one with AHL Abbotsford, going scoreless on both teams with a -2 rating on each.
Assuming Mancini returns to form in the AHL, it’ll be interesting to see how the Canucks rework their defensive core to recall him. Tom Willander and Elias N. Pettersson are the only two defensemen on the roster outside of Mancini who wouldn’t require waivers to be reassigned. However, each has played more games than Mancini and has played better up to this point.
Additionally, the team could risk sending Pierre-Olivier Joseph on waivers to open up a roster spot for Mancini. Joseph has tallied one assist in nine games throughout his first season in Vancouver, though he doesn’t hold as much long-term value to the organization like Mancini does.
Rangers Recall Scott Morrow, Reassign Gabriel Perreault
The New York Rangers have swapped prospects on the NHL roster. Defenseman Scott Morrow has been recalled once again, while winger Gabriel Perreault will return to the minors in his spot. Perreault played in his first NHL games of the season over New York’s last three games. He recorded one assist, a plus-two, and four blocked shots.
Despite the meager scoreline, Perreault’s return to the NHL was largely encouraging. He played top-line minutes next to captain J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad in his first game, then worked well off of fellow rookie Noah Laba from New York’s third line for his next two games. The outings proved Perreault’s ability to meet multiple needs in the lineup. Now, he’ll return to a starring role for the Hartford Wolf Pack. Perreault currently leads the AHL club in scoring with 10 points in nine games. He’s the only Wolf Pack scoring above a point-per-game through the early season.
While Perreault continues to grow in the minor-leagues, Morrow will return to the NHL hoping to finally debut with the Rangers. The 23-year-old has been back-and-forth between the NHL and AHL all season long, but has so far only taken the ice for Hartford. He has two points in 11 games with the AHL club, far below the scoring pace that led him to 13 goals and 39 points in 52 games with the Chicago Wolves last season. New York acquired Morrow as part of the deal that sent top-four defender K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes this summer. Prior to the trade, Morrow recorded six points in 16 games with Carolina.
This move could mark the best of both worlds for the Rangers. Hartford is in the midst of a seven-game losing streak that could be snapped with the return of their top scorer. Meanwhile, Morrow stands a reasonable chance to step into New York’s roster after William Borgen sat out of the team’s Saturday matchup with an upper-body injury. Borgen is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Charlie McAvoy, Viktor Arvidsson Hurt In Bruins Win
The Boston Bruins left Montreal with a win on Saturday night, but could pay the price with two veteran injuries. Star defenseman Charlie McAvoy sustained an upper-body injury after being struck in the jaw by a shot from the blue-line. He was helped off the ice by a trainer and did not return tot he contest. Meanwhile, winger Viktor Arvidsson sustained a lower-body injury later in the contest. Arvidsson is expected to miss “some time” while McAvoy will undergo further testing, per head coach Marco Sturm (via WEEI radio).
McAvoy’s importance to the Bruins can’t go understated. He had averaged more than 25 minutes of ice time across his last six games entering Saturday night, and rewarded the heavy usage with six assists. The Bruins set a 5-1-0 record in that span. McAvoy has worked his way up to 14 points, all assists, in 19 games on the year. That mark leads all Bruins defenders in scoring, with Mason Lohrei (10 points) the only other with double-digit scoring. McAvoy also leads the Bruins’ blue-line in shots on goal (25), average ice time (23:46), and ice time on both the power-play and penalty-kill. He would leave massive shoes to be filled. The Bruins would need to lean on a committee approach in his absence, likely looking to Lohrei stepping up as a vital piece of the offense and Nikita Zadorov growing into an even bigger defensive role.
Arvidsson may not carry the same lineup role, but his role will be just as tough to replace. The 33-year-old has scored three points across his last four games, including the game-winning goal on Saturday prior to his injury. He now has 10 points in 20 games this season. Arvidsson also ranks second on the Bruins in shots on goal (52) behind star scorer David Pastrňák. He has provided shrewd depth scoring to a Bruins team that sorely lacked that last season. With his help, the Bruins have leaped from the fifth-fewest goals-for last season, to the second-most so far this season.
Boston is already facing a littany of injuries. Elias Lindholm was placed on injured reserve in early November, and both Casey Mittelstadt and John Beecher are nursing injuries from the press box. That will force the team to call someone up form the AHL to fill Arvidsson’s bottom-six role. Former first-round pick, and 6-foot-6 winger, Riley Tufte co-leads the Providence Bruins in scoring with 16 points, split evenly, in 13 games. He’s tied with 10-year pro Patrick Brown, who has six goals and 10 assists. Both players would be strong options to bring up, though Boston may want to reward top prospect Fabian Lysell, who has 12 points in 12 games while working through a shifting lineup role.
Hurricanes Recall Bradly Nadeau, Assign Gavin Bayreuther To AHL
10:00 p.m.: Shortly after their overtime loss to the Oilers, the Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned Nadeau back to AHL Chicago. He did not play in tonight’s contest.
2:33 p.m.: The Hurricanes have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Edmonton. The team announced that they have recalled winger Bradly Nadeau from AHL Chicago. To make room for him on the roster, defenseman Gavin Bayreuther has been returned to the Wolves.
It’s the second recall of the season for Nadeau. The 20-year-old got into six games in his first stint, picking up his first career goal while averaging 11:30 per game. It’s already the third straight year that Nadeau has received NHL action as he got into one game in 2023-24 after being drafted 30th overall and made two appearances with them last season.
Nadeau has been quite productive in his limited action with the Wolves this season, picking up three goals and four assists. That comes on the heels of an impressive rookie showing in 2024-25 where he had 32 goals and 26 assists in 64 games with Chicago. If he gets into the lineup again on this recall, it’s likely that his minutes will be managed in a bottom-six role as it was in his first stint.
As for Bayreuther, the 31-year-old didn’t see any game action with Carolina after being recalled last weekend. He has three goals and three assists in nine AHL contests with the Wolves and has 122 career NHL outings under his belt with a total of 28 points. He returned to North America this season after playing with Lausanne in Switzerland in 2024-25.
Minor Transactions: 11/15/25
While regular season play around the hockey world has been underway for a while now, there are still some free agents looking for places to suit up. A pair of former NHLers were able to find new deals recently; those are among the moves in our latest minor transactions roundup.
- Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski has signed a tryout deal with AHL Grand Rapids, per a team release. The 36-year-old has 86 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of ten seasons but has seen plenty of action in the minors with 444 outings in 16 years. Last season, Tokarski played in six games with Carolina (winning four), posting a 2.18 GAA and a .902 SV% while also getting into 21 outings with AHL Chicago where he had a 2.84 GAA and a .897 SV%.
- Former NHL winger Linus Omark has left his team in Switzerland to play for his home team in Sweden’s third division as Overtornea announced on their Facebook page that they’ve signed him. Omark had 32 points in 79 career NHL games between Edmonton and Buffalo but has been playing overseas since 2014, spending time in four different countries. Omark made quite the first impression for his new team, picking up six points in his debut.
- Veteran Luke Witkowski isn’t ready to call it a career as SHL Brynas announced that they’ve signed him for the remainder of the season. The 35-year-old, who has played both on the back end and the wing, is joining the team as a defenseman. Witkowski has 13 points, 162 penalty minutes, and 292 hits in 132 career NHL games over parts of seven seasons. In 2024-25, he suited up with SHL Skelleftea, notching three points in 25 games.
- The Oilers have reassigned defenseman Beau Akey from ECHL Fort Wayne to AHL Bakersfield, per the AHL’s transactions log. The first-year pro missed the first month of the season with an injury and was sent down to the Komets in what amounted to a four-game conditioning stint where he had his first professional goal.
Rasmus Dahlin Rejoins Sabres, Zac Jones Assigned To AHL
A little more than a week ago, Sabres blueliner Rasmus Dahlin took a leave of absence to return to Sweden to be with his fiancée who continues to recover from a heart transplant from the summer. He has now returned to the team as Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News relayed (Twitter link) that the captain has returned to the team and took part in today’s morning skate. The Sabres subsequently announced that blueliner Zac Jones has been sent back to AHL Rochester to make room for Dahlin on their active roster.
Dahlin had played in 14 games before briefly stepping away but had gotten off to a tough start by his high standards with the team scuffling early on. He had a goal and eight assists in those outings along with 17 blocks in a little over 24 minutes a night. However, like several of his teammates, some defensive miscues proved to be problematic.
But even with that, his return will certainly be a welcome one. He anchors Buffalo’s top pairing at even strength and runs their number one power play while also seeing some action shorthanded. Dahlin’s return will likely take Jacob Bryson out of the lineup after he got into the last three games.
As for Jones, he was brought up a little more than a week ago following a very strong start with the Americans (where he had 13 assists in 11 games) but didn’t see any action with Buffalo. Despite being up for more than a week, he still leads all AHL blueliners in points. Jones is in his first season with Buffalo after signing a one-year, $900K contract with them in free agency. He has 28 points in 115 career NHL outings, all with the Rangers.
Wild Recall Liam Ohgren And Tyler Pitlick, Assign David Spacek To AHL
With the Wild placing center Marco Rossi on injured reserve yesterday due to a lower-body injury, they had an open roster spot. They’ve made a trio of moves to ultimately fill that spot, announcing the recalls of wingers Liam Ohgren and Tyler Pitlick while assigning defenseman David Spacek to AHL Iowa.
The 21-year-old made Minnesota’s roster out of training camp but playing time was hard to come by. In five games, the 2022 first-round pick played more than ten minutes just once as he was a fixture on the fourth line. Ohgren didn’t have any points in those outings while picking up four shots on goal. Including last year’s action, he has three goals and four assists in 33 career NHL contests.
In an effort to get him more playing time, the Wild sent Ohgren down to Iowa in mid-October. He has suited in nine games with them, picking up three goals and two assists. While that’s decent production, it’s worth noting that he was much more productive in the minors last season, coming up just shy of a point per game with 19 goals and 18 assists in 41 appearances.
Pitlick is in his first season with Minnesota after signing a two-year, two-way deal with them in free agency over the summer. While he cleared waivers last month after not making the opening roster, he has spent the bulk of this season in the NHL following a recall two weeks into the season. He has played in nine games so far and hasn’t recorded a point but has 24 hits and 22 penalty minutes. Notably, if he plays in one more NHL contest, he will need to pass through waivers again before he can be assigned to Iowa.
The 34-year-old has three goals and an assist in five games so far in the minors. Over his career, Pitlick has played in 429 career NHL contests over parts of ten seasons for nine different franchises.
As for Spacek, he was recalled back on Monday with fellow blueliner Jake Middleton dealing with an illness but is still waiting to make his NHL debut. The 22-year-old is in his second professional campaign and has six assists in a dozen games so far with Iowa.
Sharks Place Jeff Skinner On Injured Reserve, Recall Zack Ostapchuk
Sharks winger Jeff Skinner left Thursday’s game against Calgary due to a lower-body injury and it will keep him out of the lineup for at least a week. He has been placed on injured reserve, according to the NHL’s media site. Taking his place on the roster will be center Zack Ostapchuk who has been recalled according to the AHL’s transactions log.
Skinner is in his first season with San Jose after signing a one-year, $3MM contract with them in free agency back in July. The 33-year-old has slowed down offensively over the last couple of seasons and that has continued early on in 2025-26 as he has been limited to four goals and three assists in 17 appearances while averaging a career-low 12:22 in ATOI.
As for Ostapchuk, this will be his second recall of the season after briefly being up with the Sharks last week although he didn’t see any game action. The 22-year-old has played in 11 games with the Barracuda this season, picking up three goals and an assist. He got into 56 NHL outings last season between Ottawa and San Jose, notching four points and 110 hits on their respective fourth lines.
The fourth line is likely where he will land as they only have 12 healthy forwards at the moment so the Sharks will either need to play Ostapchuk tonight against Seattle or dress seven defensemen which would give either Nick Leddy or Shakir Mukhamadullin a chance to get back into the lineup. Blueliner Vincent Iorio is also on the active roster but is with the Barracuda on a conditioning assignment, making him unavailable for tonight’s contest.
Penguins Activate And Assign Rutger McGroarty And Joel Blomqvist
The Penguins have had two of their better prospects return to full health. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Rutger McGroarty and goaltender Joel Blomqvist have been activated off season-opening injured reserve. They have been assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
McGroarty was acquired from Winnipeg last year in a swap of 14th overall picks but spent the bulk of his rookie year in the minors. He made Pittsburgh’s roster out of training camp but was sent down after just three games. He played in 60 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, picking up 14 goals and 25 assists. That earned McGroarty a recall in late March and he did well with it, putting up three points in five games down the stretch.
McGroarty had been dealing with an upper-body injury sustained before training camp as he didn’t take part in their rookie tournament or the preseason. Since he spent some time on Pittsburgh’s roster last season, he was carrying a reduced cap charge of just over $148K which will now come off their books.
As for Blomqvist, he came close to an even split between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. He got into 15 games at the top level and had some struggles, putting up a 3.81 GAA and a .885 SV% in his first taste of NHL action. Meanwhile, in the minors, he posted a 2.84 GAA and a .914 SV%. That’s certainly better than his time with Pittsburgh but it was also worse than his rookie-season performance that saw him compile a 2.16 GAA and a .921 SV% in 45 outings in 2024-25.
For a while, it looked like Blomqvist was going to be Tristan Jarry’s backup heading into the season but that changed when they acquired Arturs Silovs from Vancouver in the summer. While there could be a short-term recall option for him with Jarry currently injured and Sergei Murashov serving as the backup, the better play development-wise might simply be to get him as much game action as possible in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Like McGroarty, Blomqvist had a reduced cap charge while on SOIR (tied to how many days he was on Pittsburgh’s roster) so this move will take his revised $341K charge off their cap.
Snapshots: Zucker, Erne, Miromanov
What looked to be a short-term absence due to illness for Sabres winger Jason Zucker has now become a longer one. Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the veteran hasn’t been able to eat solid food in nine days while battling the illness and has lost considerable weight as a result. Accordingly, he’s going to need a bit of a build-up from a conditioning standpoint once he’s able to eat again before he can be cleared to return. Zucker had been off to a solid start to his season before being sidelined, picking up four goals and three assists in a dozen games, providing the type of secondary scoring that Buffalo has been lacking for a while now.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Stars winger Adam Erne will miss at least a couple of weeks due to a lower-body injury, relays Robert Tiffin of D Magazine (Twitter link). He will leave the team’s road trip to return home for treatment. One of the few players to earn a full-season contract off a training camp PTO, the 30-year-old has largely been a regular for Dallas, playing in 14 of 17 games so far. In those outings, Erne has two goals and an assist along with 44 hits in 9:37 per night of playing time.
- Daniil Miromanov’s second NHL stint of the season was short-lived. After recalling him on Sunday, the Flames announced (Twitter link) that they have returned him to AHL Calgary. The 28-year-old didn’t see any action while on recall and has just one NHL appearance on the season. Miromanov cleared waivers last month and has spent most of the season in the minors with the Wranglers where he has four points in seven games. Calgary now has one open roster spot with a second coming tomorrow once Justin Kirkland’s waiver period expires.