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Ducks Not Entering Into Substantive Extension Talks With Leo Carlsson Yet

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The Ducks have been one of the pleasant surprises through the first month and a bit of the season.  After coming up well short of a playoff spot for the past several years, they enter play tonight sitting atop the Pacific Division.

A big reason for that has been the play of center Leo Carlsson.  The third-year player is among the NHL’s top scorers in the early going, recording 11 goals and 15 assists through Anaheim’s first 16 games; his 26 points are tied for the second-most in the league.

The timing for that offensive breakout is certainly ideal for Carlsson.  He’s slated to become a restricted free agent next summer and this type of production will only be sending the price tag upward.  But it doesn’t appear as if the Ducks or Carlsson are in any rush to start substantive discussions on a new deal, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.  Instead, both sides appear content to push things until at least the second half of the season.

The 20-year-old was the second overall pick in 2023 and made the jump right away to the NHL although his minutes were managed in his rookie year.  As a result, he played in just 55 games, picking up 12 goals and 17 assists.  Last season, he was more productive, tallying 20 goals and 25 helpers in 76 games.  Still, few could have expected this type of offensive jump in the early going.

It’s the size of that jump that makes waiting a prudent move for both sides.  While there’s a natural inclination to think that the eight-year, $80MM extension Utah recently gave Logan Cooley could stand as a reasonable comparison, the Mammoth’s middleman was a lot more productive in his first two seasons, notching 44 and 65 points respectively.  On the other hand, Carlsson’s breakout this season vastly surpasses Cooley’s strong start as he’s doubling him up in points in the early going.    How sustainable this hot start is will go a long way in determining if Carlsson comes in below this price tag or if he has a shot at surpassing it.

Ducks GM Pat Verbeek is typically hesitant to hand out long-term contracts to players coming off entry-level contracts and has taken several negotiations deep into the offseason.  Fellow center Mason McTavish is the most recent example of that as it took until late September for him to sign his six-year, $42MM deal.  If those trends continue, it might not matter all that much how significant talks get in the coming months between the Ducks and Carlsson; it could very well be another long-term discussion.

Fortunately for Anaheim, their cap situation won’t play any role in discussions as they have more than $40MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia, meaning all options in terms of the length of a deal should be on the table.  But for now, both sides are happy with waiting things out.

Snapshots: Zucker, Erne, Miromanov

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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.

Canucks Activate And Assign Jonathan Lekkerimaki To AHL

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The Canucks have been injury-riddled this season, to put things lightly, as they’ve had at times more than six players on injured reserve.  That number is coming down by one as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki has been activated.  However, instead of returning to Vancouver’s roster right away, he has been sent down to AHL Abbotsford.

The 21-year-old has been limited to just four games due to an upper-body injury sustained more than three weeks ago.  He was cleared to practice without contact last week and clearly, he has received the full green light with this assignment.

Lekkerimaki had just one point – a goal – over his first four outings to start the season after putting up three goals and three assists in 24 games with Vancouver in 2024-25 in his first taste of NHL action.  He was quite productive in Abbotsford last season, however, notching 19 goals and nine assists in 36 games.

Considering the extent of Vancouver’s injuries up front (Teddy Blueger, Filip Chytil, and Nils Hoglander), it seems unlikely that Lekkerimaki’s stint in the minors will be a long one but rather more of a short-term conditioning stint.  He only needs to play once before being eligible to be recalled and with Abbotsford in action later tonight, it’s plausible that Lekkerimaki is brought back up in time for Vancouver’s next game on Friday against Carolina.

At the moment, the Canucks still have a full 23-player roster so whenever they do decide to bring Lekkerimaki up, they will need to make a corresponding roster move to open up a spot first.  At first glance, moving goalie Thatcher Demko to injured reserve would be the easiest approach after it was revealed today that he’ll miss two to three weeks with a suspected groin injury.

Senators Notes: Chabot, Formenton, Guenette

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After sustaining an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s game against Dallas, it appears that Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot will miss at least one more contest.  Sportsnet’s Alex Adams relays (Twitter link) that it’s unlikely that the veteran will suit up on Thursday against Boston; head coach Travis Green indicated that Chabot is still being evaluated and the severity of the injury is not yet known.  While his playing time is down a bit this season, the 28-year-old has still played a big role on Ottawa’s back end in the early going, picking up 10 points in 17 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night of action.  Assuming that Chabot is ultimately scratched, Nicolas Matinpalo will likely take his place in the lineup.

More from Ottawa:

  • The Senators have received inquiries about RFA winger Alex Formenton but interest has been limited thus far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 26-year-old last played in the NHL in 2021-22 and is currently in his third season with Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland where he has three goals and two assists in 13 games.  Formenton will be eligible to return to the NHL as of December 1st following the expiration of his suspension which is also the same day that he will have to be signed to be eligible to play this season as he’s an RFA unlike the other players involved in the sexual assault trial that concluded back in July.  It’s possible that the Sens could renounce his rights before then to make him eligible to sign later in the season but they would require special permission from the league to do so.
  • Also from Garrioch’s piece, GM Steve Staios is hoping that there will be a resolution soon when it comes to RFA defenseman Max Guenette. The 24-year-old declined Ottawa’s efforts to re-sign him this summer, instead asking for a trade after Lassi Thomson was brought back.  However, no trade has materialized yet, meaning the December 1st deadline also applies to Guenette.  Garrioch suggests that the Senators are hoping for a draft pick in return but teams are also asking for Ottawa to take a contract back.  Even though the Sens have seven open contract slots per PuckPedia, that doesn’t appear to be something they’re willing to do at the moment.

Avalanche Reassign Daniil Gushchin

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Nov. 10th: Gushchin’s first recall of the 2025-26 campaign will end without an NHL appearance. Earlier today, the Avalanche announced that they’ve reassigned Gushchin to AHL Colorado. Per the new rules regarding paper transactions, Gushchin will have to play in one game for the Eagles before he’s eligible to return to the NHL.

Nov. 8th: The Avalanche have brought up some extra forward depth heading into their game tonight in Edmonton.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled winger Daniil Gushchin from AHL Colorado.  They had two open roster spots prior to the move.

The 23-year-old was acquired from San Jose back in late July in exchange for winger Oskar Olausson in a change-of-scenery swap for a pair of players who had slid down their former employer’s depth chart.  Gushchin then signed a one-year, two-way contract that same day that pays $775K in the NHL and $150K in the minors with a guaranteed payout of $200K.

It’s the second recall of the season for Gushchin although the first one only lasted two days and he didn’t see any NHL action during that time.  He has been quite productive with the Eagles in the early going this season, notching nine goals (tied for the league lead) and two assists in a dozen games.

Gushchin has 18 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of three seasons with the Sharks.  In those outings, he has a respectable two goals and three assists while averaging 13:14 of playing time.  We’ll see if he has a chance to add to those totals on this recall.

Five Key Stories: 11/3/25 – 11/9/25

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After a flurry of long-term deals were handed out last week, this week was much quieter on the transaction front.  However, there was still some news of note from the past seven days, recapped in our key stories.

Barnes Promoted: Even hockey fans who aren’t entirely familiar with advanced statistics have likely heard of the terms Corsi rating and Fenwick rating.  Those were created by Tim Barnes, under the pseudonym Vic Ferrari.  Barnes joined Washington’s front office more than a decade ago and he now has a new role with the team as he has been promoted to Assistant GM.  He becomes the third AM under Craig Patrick, joining Ross Mahoney and Don Fishman.  The Capitals are no stranger to getting creative with some of their front office moves; late in the spring of 2024, they purchased the former cap-tracking site CapFriendly, adding the staff from their site into the fold as well.

Back To Russia: Vitali Kravtsov’s return to North America didn’t go as well as he had planned.  A so-so preseason saw the 2018 ninth overall pick land on waivers and after passing through unclaimed, the Canucks sent him to AHL Abbotsford.  Things didn’t go better there as he managed just four points in ten games and with several others getting an NHL look before him, he requested and was granted a termination of his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.  He won’t be unsigned for long as it’s expected that he will sign a three-year deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, returning to the team he spent the last two seasons with, including putting together a 27-goal, 58-point performance in 2024-25.

Dubois Out Long Term: Pierre-Luc Dubois had a strong first season with Washington in 2024-25, posting a career-high 66 points while helping lead them to the Eastern Conference regular season title.  Year two didn’t start strong with no points in six games and it has gotten even worse.  He recently underwent surgery to address injuries to his abdominal and adductor muscles; the estimated timeline for a return is three to four months.  His absence will be a big one for a Washington team that has been slow out of the gate, sitting seventh in the Metropolitan Division heading into tonight’s action.  Dubois will be eligible for regular LTIR which would give them up to $3.82MM in additional spending flexibility.  However, since they have more than that in regular cap room per PuckPedia, it’s unlikely they’ll be dipping into LTIR.

Kampf Suspended By Maple Leafs: After deciding he wanted to step away from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies to ponder his playing future, the Maple Leafs suspended David Kampf without pay, further fueling speculation about a change being on the horizon.  Believed to be a key issue here is the $1.325MM signing bonus paid back in July.  If Kampf requests a contract termination, Toronto could be seeking repayment of that while the NHLPA would argue that it should remain with him.  Kampf has been away from the Marlies for more than a week now so it feels like this should be coming to a conclusion in the near future.

Kyrou Scratched: One of the bigger stories of the week came from St. Louis.  With the Blues struggling to start the season, head coach Jim Montgomery sent a message to his group by scratching Jordan Kyrou.  The winger has had an okay start to his year with nine points in 15 games but after being in trade speculation over the summer, this could get him back in the rumor mill.  Speaking of that rumor mill, reports are beginning to surface that the Blues could be looking to retool or at least shake up their roster so they could be a team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.  One of those retooling moves won’t involve veteran winger Milan Lucic, at least for now, as he was released from his PTO and signed a PTO with their AHL affiliate in Springfield where he’ll continue his NHL comeback efforts.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.

Malcolm Subban Signs In Czech League

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While it took a while, veteran UFA goaltender Malcolm Subban has found a place to play this season.  After no early-season opportunities came up in the AHL, he has decided to head overseas as HC Dynamo of the Czech Extraliga announced that they’ve signed him to a deal for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.

The 31-year-old was a first-round pick by Boston back in 2012, going 24th overall but only got into parts of two games with them.  He has also spent time at the top level with Vegas, Chicago, Buffalo, and Columbus, most recently in 2023-24.  However, despite seeing NHL action in parts of eight different seasons, Subban has only played in 87 games overall, posting a 3.10 GAA and a .898 SV% while recording three shutouts.

Subban has been a regular at the AHL level for the bulk of his playing career.  He split time last season between Grand Rapids on a PTO and Belleville, where he posted a 3.13 GAA and a .883 SV%.

Over his eight AHL seasons, Subban has posted a 100-84-37 record with a 2.70 GAA, a .909 SV%, and eight shutouts.  However, he wasn’t in training camp with an NHL team and an opportunity didn’t come around like it did with Belleville last season so it’s no surprise he looked overseas.  He’ll be aiming to perform well with Dynamo in the hopes of securing another North American opportunity next season.

Ducks Activate Ryan Strome, Place Radko Gudas On Injured Reserve

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The Ducks have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight against Winnipeg.  Patrick Present of The Hockey News relays that Anaheim has activated center Ryan Strome off injured reserve.  To make room for him on the active roster, defenseman Radko Gudas has been placed on IR.

Strome has yet to play this season due to an upper-body injury sustained in practice during the preseason.  In 2024-25, the 32-year-old put up 41 points for the third season in a row after tallying 10 goals and 31 assists in 82 games while averaging over 16 minutes a night of playing time as a middle-six center.

It would be surprising to see Strome have a similar role this season.  Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish are their main two pivots while Mikael Granlund – when healthy – will be anchoring a line as well.  That should push Strome to the wing, a role he might be better suited for given his struggles at the faceoff dot; he won just 41.7% of his draws last season.  Still, his return will be a welcome one to an attack that’s already among the NHL’s best in the early going; they enter play tonight with the second-most goals in the NHL.

As for Gudas, he has been out for a little more than two weeks with a lower-body injury.  Assuming that the placement is back-dated, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to play.  The 35-year-old has played in seven games this season, picking up two assists, 12 blocks, and 23 hits in 15:35 per night of playing time.

Sabres Looking To Move Alexandar Georgiev

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It has been a rough run over the last year and a bit for veteran goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.  After struggling mightily between Colorado and San Jose last season, his first trip through unrestricted free agency didn’t yield much interest.  Instead, he had to wait until just before the start of training camp to get a contract as he signed a one-year, $825K deal with the Sabres as an insurance policy with some uncertainty surrounding Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen heading into camp.

However, after a poor training camp, Buffalo elected to bring in a different insurance policy, claiming Colten Ellis off waivers from St. Louis.  As a result, Georgiev was placed on waivers and was sent to AHL Rochester after passing through unclaimed.  Meanwhile, Luukkonen has returned and the Sabres appear to be intent on carrying three goalies this season.

Meanwhile, Devon Levi is Buffalo’s preferred goaltender in Rochester.  While he hasn’t had the immediate NHL impact they were hoping when they signed him a few years ago, he’s still a decent prospect and needs to be getting the bulk of the playing time.  As a result, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier this week that Buffalo is now trying to find a new home for Georgiev.

The 29-year-old has respectable career numbers at the NHL level despite his recent struggles.  In 303 games over parts of eight seasons, he has a 151-108-26 record with 2.99 GAA, a .903 SV%, and 15 shutouts.  However, the last time he posted a save percentage over .900 was back in 2022-23 so it’s fair to suggest that anyone who might be looking to add him would be viewing him more as injury insurance than someone who could come up and play in the NHL right away.

With Levi getting the bulk of the workload, Georgiev has been limited to just two appearances in the minors through the first month of the season where he has allowed seven goals on 67 shots in a pair of losses.  That said, a chance to play more regularly might result in a better performance moving forward.

The fact that Georgiev’s contract is a one-way pact will also limit his value.  While more teams are now willing to pay NHL money to a third-string netminder, quite a few still try to avoid doing so while those who have an AHL netminder on a one-way deal likely won’t be looking to add another.  However, as goalie injuries pick up, Buffalo might have a chance to move him for a future considerations type of return over the coming weeks.  For someone who was a number one NHL goalie to start last season though, this is quite the fall from grace for Georgiev and his value.

Sharks Assign Zack Ostapchuk To AHL, Send Down Vincent Iorio On Conditioning Loan

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With the team off until Tuesday, the Sharks have made a pair of roster moves.  The team announced this afternoon (Twitter link) that forward Zack Ostapchuk has been assigned to AHL San Jose.  Meanwhile, blueliner Vincent Iorio has also been sent to the Barracuda on a conditioning stint.

Ostapchuk’s stint with the Sharks was short-lived as he had only been recalled on Thursday and didn’t see any action after his promotion.  Acquired from Ottawa at last year’s trade deadline as part of the Fabian Zetterlund deal, the 22-year-old played somewhat regularly down the stretch, getting into 13 games.  However, with the option of having limited playing time in the NHL or a bigger role in the minors, the Sharks have opted for the latter this season while he remains waiver-exempt.  In nine games with the Barracuda this season, Ostapchuk has two goals and an assist.

As for Iorio, he was claimed off waivers from Washington midway through last month when the Sharks were dealing with some injuries on the back end.  He played regularly for about a week and a half, getting into six games where he was held off the scoresheet while posting six blocks in 16:20 a night of playing time.  However, he has been a healthy scratch in seven straight games as some of their injured rearguards have started to return.  With this being a regular conditioning loan, it can last for up to two weeks.

While two players are coming off the roster, the Sharks are only gaining one roster spot with these moves.  Iorio will remain on San Jose’s roster while on assignment, meaning that they still have 22 players on their active roster.

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