Central Notes: Robertson, Wild, Ott
With a big contract negotiation on the horizon this summer, Stars winger Jason Robertson has switched agents. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Robertson (and his brother Nicholas Robertson) are now being represented by Octagon’s Andy Scott; they had both been previously repped by CAA’s Pat Brisson. The winger has 56 points in 49 games with Dallas this season, putting him on track to hit the 80-point mark for the fourth straight season. He’s owed a qualifying offer of $9.3MM with arbitration rights in late June but will likely make a few million more per season than that. Notably, Scott also represents Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Thomas Harley, all of whom have signed long-term deals with the Stars within the last year.
More from the Central Division:
- After moving out a young center as part of the return for Quinn Hughes, it appears the Wild are keeping tabs on another young middleman. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that Minnesota is a team that’s believed to have some interest in Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, though he’s not viewed as their top choice to add down the middle. Kotkaniemi is believed to be getting shopped by the team, recognizing that he needs a change of scenery after recording just seven points in 29 games so far this season. However, the 25-year-old still has four years left on his deal after this one with a $4.82MM cap charge, a price tag the Wild can’t afford at the moment.
- The Blues have made a coaching change with their AHL affiliate in Springfield. The team announced that Steve Ott will take over as head coach with the Thunderbirds, replacing Steve Konowalchuk, who has been let go. This will be Ott’s first time as head coach after serving as an assistant or associate coach in St. Louis since 2017. He has been a speculative head coaching target over the past couple of offseasons and some experience running a bench might help give him a boost for future vacancies. Konowalchuk, meanwhile, departs with a 47-50-12 record over parts of two seasons with the Thunderbirds.
Capitals Have Started Extension Talks With John Carlson
Heading into the season, the Capitals weren’t planning on holding extension talks right away with their longest-tenured blueliner, John Carlson. The thought was that both sides would see how things go at the start and reassess from there.
It appears those assessments have been completed. Speaking at Friday’s press conference (video link), GM Chris Patrick indicated that he has had some discussions with Carlson and his agent about the possibility of sticking around beyond this season and that those talks will continue.
The 36-year-old has spent his entire 17-year NHL career with Washington, who drafted him 27th overall back in 2008. In his prime, he reached the 70-point mark three times, topped by a 75-point effort in 2019-20 that saw him finish as the runner-up in Norris Trophy voting. While his eight-year, $64MM contract looked expensive at the time, it’s fair to say that it has aged rather well for the Caps.
In recent years, his offensive numbers have dipped a bit but he still entered this season coming off back-to-back years of more than 50 points. Still, with Jakob Chychrun beginning the first season of his eight-year, $72MM pact, it felt like the torch was being passed and that Chychrun would take over from Carlson as the undisputed top defender.
That hasn’t entirely happened, however. While Chychrun already has 15 goals (second-most among NHL rearguards), Carlson is actually three points ahead of him with 36. Meanwhile, Carlson is still second on the team in playing time at just under 23 minutes a night and still plays a key role on both special teams units. He may not be the player he was in his prime but he’s showing that he’s still an impactful defender.
But given his age, it’s fair to wonder how much longer that will be the case. Carlson has a lot of mileage under his belt (1,269 NHL games between the regular season and playoffs with heavy usage) and it’s unlikely he will sustain playing at a top-pairing level well into his next deal. Accordingly, even with a rising cap and a rather thin list of pending unrestricted free agent defensemen, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Patrick trying to get Carlson to sign below his current price tag. This is one of those situations where adding years could get the AAV to a more reasonable amount but would also carry more risk toward the back end of the deal.
The Capitals have ample cap space heading into next summer with $36.5MM in projected room, per PuckPedia. A big chunk of that comes from Carlson and Alex Ovechkin’s expiring deals so there’s a path for Patrick to reshape his core or keep it together. While Ovechkin isn’t ready to decide on his future yet, it appears Patrick intends to keep his veteran group intact with these efforts to get Carlson extended.
Golden Knights Recall Jaycob Megna
The Golden Knights have added some extra defensive depth in advance of their game tonight against Philadelphia. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson. To make room on the roster, newly acquired defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been moved to non-roster status.
It’s the fourth recall of the season for the 33-year-old but the first few stints with the big club haven’t yielded much in the way of playing time. Megna has played in just three games so far with Vegas, averaging 10:29 per game while posting a minus-five plus-minus rating. For his career, he has suited up in 196 contests over parts of eight seasons at the top level, notching four goals and 23 assists.
Megna has spent the bulk of the campaign with Henderson, playing in 27 games where he has three goals and seven assists. That production is at a similar rate to last season when he was with Charlotte and had 16 points in 64 appearances with the Checkers.
As for Andersson, the non-roster designation shouldn’t be any cause for concern. He’s still working through the process of getting a work visa and there’s no word yet on when he’ll be cleared to make his Golden Knights debut, though this process is usually finalized well within a week. Moving him to non-roster status allows them to get Megna up to fill a spot on the third pairing in the short term.
Central Notes: Miller, Nazar, Heiskanen, Ivan
1/19: With another game looming, the Avalanche have once again recalled Ivan to the NHL roster. This is already Ivan’s fourth recall of 2026.
1/17: Jets defenseman Colin Miller recently underwent knee surgery, head coach Scott Arniel told reporters including Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link). The bench boss noted that the procedure was similar to the one that goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had, one that kept him out four weeks earlier this season. Officially, Miller remains listed as out week-to-week. The 33-year-old has had a limited role in 2025-26, playing in just 13 games. He’d have had an opportunity to play more regularly with Neal Pionk and Haydn Fleury also out week-to-week but now after having surgery, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards.
More from the Central:
- Blackhawks center Frank Nazar took part in the morning skate today and is expected to be a full participant in practice tomorrow as he works his way back from an upper-body injury, notes WGN Radio’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has impressed in his first full NHL season, picking up six goals and 15 assists in 33 games while seeing his playing time push past 18 minutes per night. Originally expected to miss four weeks due to the injury, Nazar appears to be pretty close to that recovery timeline although he’s still a few days away from returning.
- After missing Thursday’s game to tend to a personal matter, Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen was back with the team at practice today, relays Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is back in top form this season after a quieter 2024-25 campaign by his standards. Through 46 games, Heiskanen has 36 points and 87 blocks while averaging a career-high 26:04 per game of ice time, third-most in the NHL.
- The Avalanche announced last night (Twitter link) that they have once again assigned forward Ivan Ivan back to AHL Colorado. It’s the third time in barely a week that he has been recalled and subsequently reassigned. The 23-year-old did suit up against Nashville on Friday, his sixth NHL contest of the season. In those outings, Ivan has one assist while in 31 games with the Eagles, he has two goals and six helpers.
Five Key Stories: 1/12/26 – 1/18/26
With the Olympics only a few weeks away, an extra trade deadline of sorts will be coming into play. Accordingly, teams are starting to pick up the pace on the transactions front with a big trade and an extension among the key stories from the past seven days.
The Letter, Part Two: Nearly seven years ago, then-Ranger GM Jeff Gorton released a letter to the fans about the rebuild that was coming. This week, GM Chris Drury took a similar approach, writing that the team will begin a retooling process around its core players. However, it also means saying goodbye to some long-standing veterans. It appears one of those will be winger Artemi Panarin as the pending UFA has been informed that he won’t be offered a contract for next season and that the team will work with him to try to find a suitable trade. New York is at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, underwhelming for the second straight season. How far this retooling goes remains to be seen but the Rangers could be a team to keep an eye on leading into the March 6th trade deadline.
Two For Texier: It wasn’t even two months ago that Alexandre Texier found himself an in-season free agent after walking away from the rest of his contract with St. Louis to get a fresh start elsewhere. That brought him to Montreal on a one-year, $1MM prorated deal, where he has been productive with 16 points in 27 games, a total aided by a pair of back-to-back three-point games. Still, it was enough for the Canadiens to sign the 26-year-old to a two-year, $5MM extension. The deal checks in $400K above what his qualifying offer would have been had he remained with the Blues. As the Canadiens get healthier up front, it’s unlikely that Texier will stay on their top line but this extension shows that management believes he’ll be part of their plans moving forward.
Coaching Change: It’s rare to get this deep into the season without a coaching change but that was the case until Columbus decided to make a move. The Blue Jackets fired head coach Dean Evason along with assistant Steve McCarthy while hiring veteran Rick Bowness. Evason was in his second season with the team and they just missed the playoffs last season but they have been near or in the basement for a big chunk of this season, warranting a change in GM Don Waddell’s eyes. Bowness was a particularly interesting hire after he stepped away from Winnipeg in 2024 for health reasons so it wasn’t clear that he’d consider going back behind a bench. The 70-year-old has only signed for the rest of the season, however, with both sides to reassess things from there.
Olympic-Related Injuries: A pair of teams find themselves without key players that also puts their Olympic participation in jeopardy. Lightning center Brayden Point is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury that appeared to be a knee issue. It’s the second absence of the season for the veteran who has managed 30 points in 37 games when he’s in the lineup. His availability to suit up for Canada is now in question. The same can be said for Ducks middleman Leo Carlsson. He’s set to miss three to five weeks after undergoing a procedure to treat a Morel-Lavallée lesion in his left thigh. Carlsson is a point-per-game player for Anaheim this season, making him their leading scorer through the first half of the campaign. If his recovery is on the shorter end of the timeline, he should be fine to play at the Olympics but if it’s going to be closer to five weeks, Sweden will have a decision to make in terms of keeping or replacing him.
Off To Vegas: Going back to the offseason, the Golden Knights had interest in Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson but a trade never came to fruition. Now, it has. Vegas acquired the blueliner (with Calgary retaining half of his $4.55MM cap charge) in exchange for defenseman Zach Whitecloud, Vegas’ 2027 first-round pick, a conditional 2027 second-round pick (that becomes a 2028 first rounder if Vegas wins the Stanley Cup this season), and the signing rights to University of North Dakota defender Abram Wiebe. Andersson, a pending unrestricted free agent, has not agreed to an extension as part of the swap. He’ll help fill the role vacated by the injured Alex Pietrangelo while adding some firepower from the back end as he already has 10 goals and 30 points this season. Calgary’s return, as expected, is largely futures-based although they do add a capable third-pairing piece in Whitecloud, who, in theory, could potentially be flipped closer to the deadline to team looking for defensive depth.
Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.
Snapshots: Garland, Chytil, Blueger, Stamkos, Karlsson
Canucks winger Conor Garland has been generating several inquiries lately, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). While Vancouver has shifted into a rebuild of sorts, Pagnotta adds that Vancouver isn’t necessarily looking to move him but will listen to inquiries. The 29-year-old has seven goals and 15 assists in 37 games so far this season in the final season of his current deal that carries a $4.95MM cap charge. However, he has already signed a six-year, $36MM extension that will begin in 2026-27 so any interested teams would know they’ll need to take on that sizable commitment.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Still with the Canucks, they could be getting some good news soon on the injury front. Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma notes (Twitter link) that centers Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger were full participants at practice and are nearing returns. Chytil has only played in six games this season (where he has three goals) and has been sidelined with a concussion for the last three months. Blueger has been out just as long with a lower-body injury. After also being injured to start the year, he has only been able to play twice so far in 2025-26. A pending UFA, Blueger is a strong trade candidate if he’s able to stay healthy between now and the trade deadline in early March.
- The league announced that Predators forward Steven Stamkos has been fined $2.5K for unsportsmanlike conduct for an incident with Vegas defenseman Jeremy Lauzon during Saturday’s game. The fine money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
- Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson returned to practice today in a non-contact capacity, relays Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 35-year-old has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. While there is no change to his day-to-day status, Karlsson will accompany the team on their upcoming four-game road trip. Through 44 games this season, he has three goals and 30 assists and is averaging a little under 24 minutes of playing time.
Phil Goyette Passes Away
Long-time NHL forward Phil Goyette has passed away at the age of 92, per an announcement from the Canadiens, one of his former teams.
Goyette made his NHL debut for Montreal in 1957, playing 14 regular-season games before becoming a regular in the playoffs to help lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup. That turned out to be his first of four straight Cup victories through the 1959-60 season. Goyette spent three more years with Montreal after that before joining the Rangers for the 1963-64 campaign.
Goyette spent another seven seasons in New York, putting up three seasons of more than 60 points, his best production by far to that point in his career.
He found another level offensively upon joining St. Louis in 1969. In his first season with the Blues, Goyette finished fourth in league scoring, picking up 78 points in 72 games, his first of two straight seasons of recording more than a point per game. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy that season as the league’s Most Gentlemanly Player. However, that was his only season in St. Louis as Buffalo selected him in the 1970 Expansion Draft.
Goyette went on to play parts of two seasons with the Sabres before wrapping up his playing career back with the Rangers. Overall, he played in 940 career regular season games, recording 674 points while chipping in with 46 points in 94 playoff contests with those four Stanley Cup titles.
Upon retiring as a player, Goyette decided to give coaching a chance as he was named the inaugural head coach for the Islanders in 1972, spending a partial season with them.
Canucks Announce Multiple Roster Moves
The Canucks have made some shakeups to their roster heading into tomorrow’s game against the Islanders. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled goaltender Jiri Patera and defenseman Elias N. Pettersson from AHL Abbotsford. To make room on the roster, netminder Nikita Tolopilo and blueliner Victor Mancini were sent down.
Patera is up with Vancouver for the fourth time this season but playing time in his first three stints was limited to just one start, one that saw him allow seven goals on 40 shots. The 26-year-old has spent the bulk of the year in Abbotsford, posting a strong 2.49 GAA with a .915 SV% in 16 games. He’ll now serve as Kevin Lankinen’s backup for the time being while allowing Tolopilo to get some extra game action in.
As for Pettersson, he has spent the majority of the year in the NHL but was sent down to get into a couple of games with Abbotsford. He was held off the scoresheet in those outings while he has a goal and five assists in 38 games with Vancouver while averaging 13:40 per night of playing time.
Tolopilo was brought up when Thatcher Demko went down with his latest injury. He made two starts while on recall but didn’t fare particularly well in either of them, allowing six goals to both Montreal and Edmonton. He has fared a little better in the minors, putting up a 3.02 GAA and a .900 SV% in 11 outings in Abbotsford.
Mancini, meanwhile, got the call to rejoin Vancouver last week when Pettersson went down. He got into four games on this stint, bringing his season total to nine although he’s still looking for his first point. The 23-year-old has suited up in 20 games for Abbotsford, picking up a goal and five assists and will now get a chance to add to those totals.
Devils Recall Lenni Hameenaho, Assign Colton White To AHL
The Devils have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Carolina. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Lenni Hameenaho from AHL Utica. To make room on the roster, defenseman Colton White was assigned to AHL Utica.
Hameenaho was a second-round pick by New Jersey back in 2023, going 58th overall. He spent the last three seasons with Assat in Finland and had a breakout offensive showing last season, picking up 20 goals and 31 assists in 58 games, good for 15th in league scoring.
That showing was good enough for him to earn his entry-level deal with the Devils back in May. This is Hameenaho’s first NHL recall after spending the first three-plus months of the season in the minors with the Comets. Through 33 games, he has nine goals and 12 assists, good enough to lead the team in scoring. With Ondrej Palat uncertain for tonight due to illness, there could be a chance for Hameenaho to suit up and make his NHL debut.
As for White, he passed through waivers unclaimed earlier today. The 28-year-old has been up with New Jersey for the bulk of the season, getting into 23 games where he has four assists in 12:15 per night of playing time. This was his first NHL action since the 2022-23 campaign when he was with Anaheim. With the Devils back to full health on the back end, keeping him as an eighth defender made little sense to he’ll return to Utica where he’ll have a much more prominent role in their lineup.
Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan
Dylan Coghlan is no stranger to finding himself in transactions this season as he has been frequently shuffled between Vegas and AHL Henderson. That move is once again being made as the Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been brought up from the Silver Knights.
This is now the fourth time in the last six weeks that Vegas has recalled the 27-year-old. However, it hasn’t yielded much playing time for Coghlan as he has only suited up once for the Golden Knights this season, bringing his career NHL appearances to 113. It’s his second stint with the franchise after signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and returned to Vegas as an unrestricted free agent last July.
Coghlan has played in 29 games this season with Henderson. While his offensive numbers are down a bit from 2024-25 when he had 28 points in 36 games with Manitoba, he has still contributed five goals and 11 helpers for the Silver Knights.
Coghlan cleared waivers back in early October during training camp, making him exempt until he reaches 10 NHL games or 30 NHL days. Despite the frequent recalls, he has only been up for 13 days to this point so he won’t have to go through the waiver process for a little while yet. He’ll likely once again serve as the seventh defender for however long this particular stint lasts.