Jamie Langenbrunner Linked To Vacant Devils GM Role
The Devils are one of three teams currently on the lookout for a new general manager, joining Toronto and Nashville, whose search is nearing the two-month mark. New Jersey’s opening was newly created with this week’s departure of Tom Fitzgerald.
At this stage, the team is still putting together its list of candidates but one of them will be a familiar name for many fans. James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now and Anthony DiMarco of Daily Faceoff are among those reporting (Twitter links) that Jamie Langenbrunner is a potential target for the Devils.
Langenbrunner is certainly familiar with the organization, having spent parts of nine seasons there. He played in 564 games for the team, notching 142 goals and 243 assists, while having his best four individual seasons offensively. He also played an integral role in their 2004 Stanley Cup title alongside Martin Brodeur, who works in New Jersey’s front office as their Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations.
Since retiring, Langenbrunner has worked for the Bruins in a variety of off-ice roles. Starting off as a development coach in 2015, he then moved up to Director of Player Development for three years and has served as an Assistant GM for each of the last four seasons. The next logical stepping stone for him would be as a GM.
As things stand, Langenbrunner won’t be the only candidate with ties to the Devils. Former analytics staffer Sunny Mehta received permission from Florida to interview for the role earlier this week while long-time Toronto president Brendan Shanahan has been a speculative candidate for a role in the front office as well.
Kraken Recall Victor Ostman From AHL
Already without Philipp Grubauer who was recently injured and Matt Murray who has been out for most of the season, the Kraken now have starting goalie Joey Daccord sidelined with a lower-body injury as well. As a result, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled netminder Victor Ostman from AHL Coachella Valley.
The 25-year-old has made just one NHL appearance in his career, that coming last April when he made 12 saves on 12 shots in mop-up duty of a late-season game against Utah. Beyond that, his professional experience has come exclusively in the minors.
Last season, Ostman spent most of the year at the ECHL level, only getting into five AHL outings. This season, he has seen regular action with the Firebirds, getting into 37 games where he has posted a 2.77 GAA with a .907 SV%. This is his first recall to Seattle this season.
While Seattle finds itself in a bottom-five spot in the standings, they technically enter play today against Calgary with a slim chance at a playoff spot. For that to happen, they’ll have to win out and hope a whole lot else goes their way. But they’ll be turning to Niklas Kokko – Ostman’s platoon partner in Coachella Valley – to help get that victory; he’ll be making his first NHL start tonight.
With Daccord’s injury, Ostman’s recall qualifies for emergency circumstances. Accordingly, his promotion won’t count against their post-deadline recall limit.
Lightning Assign Jakob Pelletier To AHL
The AHL’s top scorer is on his way back to the minors. The Lightning announced today that they’ve reassigned winger Jakob Pelletier to AHL Syracuse.
The 25-year-old was brought up earlier this week with Tampa Bay fighting the injury bug up front. He got into two games during this promotion, bringing his season total to four. The 2019 first-rounder is still looking for his first NHL point of the season, however, while he’s averaging a little under nine minutes per night of playing time.
But things have gone much better for him in the minors. In his first season with AHL Syracuse since inking a three-year, one-way deal with the Lightning in free agency, Pelletier is in the middle of his best showing at that level by far, tallying 28 goals and 47 assists in 61 games. That gives him a seven-point lead in the points race despite missing seven games. He’ll now have a chance to add to those numbers as the Crunch continues to chase down the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Pelletier’s demotion signaled some good news on the injury front, at least, as Brandon Hagel returned to the lineup today against Boston. He had missed the last week and a half due to a lower-body injury. Hagel entered play today sitting third on the Lightning in scoring with 35 goals and 38 assists in 69 games.
Valtteri Puustinen Linked To SHL
Only two seasons ago, winger Valtteri Puustinen looked as if he might have locked down a regular NHL role. However, since then, his playing time at the top level has been quite limited. Accordingly, as he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, it appears he has turned his focus overseas. Expressen’s Mattias Persson and Johan Svensson report that Puustinen is expected to sign with SHL Lulea for next season.
The 26-year-old played in 52 games for Pittsburgh in 2023-24, recording 20 points despite averaging less than 12 minutes per night of playing time. But while that earned him a two-year, one-way deal, that didn’t give him a leg up on a spot for last season as he ultimately spent the majority of it in the minors. He had 16 goals and 19 assists in 48 outings with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while seeing just 13 games with the Penguins, notching just one goal and two assists.
Meanwhile, Puustinen has yet to see action at the top level this season. Waived by the Pens in training camp, he passed through unclaimed and hasn’t been recalled since then. Back in January, the Avalanche acquired him in a swap for defenseman Ilya Solovyov but while they’ve used several different recalls on the fourth line at times, they’ve not yet given him a chance to do so. Between their two AHL affiliates, Puustinen has 12 goals and 28 assists in 58 games.
Given how things have gone this season, it’s unlikely that Puustinen would be able to land an NHL spot heading into 2026-27 while another one-way deal probably isn’t in the cards either. Accordingly, rather than continue on as a minor leaguer, it appears he’s going to try his hand at playing in Europe for the first time since the 2020-21 season when he played for HPK in Finland.
West Notes: Avalanche, Dickinson, Daccord
The Avalanche clinched themselves a trophy on Thursday night, securing the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the best regular season record. They did so without a pair of key veterans in defenseman Cale Makar and center Nazem Kadri. Speaking with reporters postgame including Kyle Newman of The Denver Post, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that he’s hoping to see Makar get back into a game before the playoffs. Sidelined since the end of March due to an upper-body injury, he sits third on the Avs in scoring with 75 points in 73 games. As for Kadri, he’s listed as day-to-day with a finger issue. Acquired just before the buzzer at the trade deadline last month, he has fit in well in his second stint with the team, collecting nine points in 16 games, three of those being power play goals.
More from out West:
- The Oilers will be without center Jason Dickinson for their game on Saturday against Los Angeles. Team broadcaster Bob Stauffer notes (Twitter link) that the veteran is unavailable after suffering a leg injury on Wednesday against San Jose. Acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, the 30-year-old has a goal and three assists in 17 games with his new team while averaging a little over 15 minutes per game of ice time. He has been their most-used penalty killer since being acquired as well. There’s no word yet on a timeline for Dickinson’s return.
- Already missing Philipp Grubauer, the Kraken could be without their other netminder as they look to keep their very faint playoff hopes alive. Team radio host Mike Benton relays (Twitter link) that Joey Daccord was feeling sore after Thursday’s game and was undergoing evaluation today. If he’s unable to suit up Saturday against Calgary, the team will have to recall someone (likely Victor Ostman) from AHL Coachella Valley with Niklas Kokko probably in line to make his first NHL start in a must-win game if they want to avoid elimination from the playoffs. Daccord has a 3.03 GAA with a .896 SV% in 47 games this season.
Stars Provide Several Injury Updates
The Stars have been one of the top teams in the NHL all season and have done so despite missing several key players for extended stretches. They also happen to be without quite a few regulars in the stretch run of the season. In an appearance on 96.7 The Ticket earlier today (audio link), head coach Glen Gulutzan provided updates on several of his players.
Earlier today, the team revealed that defenseman Miro Heiskanen was undergoing imaging for a lower-body injury. He’s set to miss the remaining three games of the regular season while Gulutzan added that he is “certainly hoping” to have his top blueliner back when the playoffs start. If he isn’t able to return, it would be the second straight postseason in which Heiskanen would miss time as he was sidelined for 10 of their 18 contests in 2025.
The other high-end player that remains sidelined for Dallas is center Roope Hintz. He sustained a lower-body last month (in his first game back following an illness that kept him sidelined after the Olympic break) and while the original hope was that he wouldn’t miss much time, he hasn’t played since. Recently, the plan was for him to get back into action before the end of the regular season but that is no longer the case. Now, the hope is that Hintz, who is still listed as week-to-week, will be ready for the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Heiskanen isn’t the only Dallas defender who’s now banged up. Gulutzan indicated that Tyler Myers reaggravated an old injury on Thursday and could miss Saturday’s game against the Rangers as a result. Acquired just before the trade deadline from Vancouver, the veteran is averaging over 16 minutes per night in 13 games with his new team as he has helped stabilize the back of their back end.
It isn’t all bad news on the injury front though. Gulutzan added that center Radek Faksa and winger Michael Bunting are expected to play in multiple games before the season ends with Bunting potentially being ready on Saturday. Center Sam Steel is day-to-day with the team being hopeful that he’ll be able to return for the regular season finale on Wednesday versus Buffalo.
Max Plante Wins 2026 Hobey Baker Award
After the Frozen Four tournament was whittled down to two on Thursday with Denver and Wisconsin moving on to the final on Saturday, there was other business to attend to on Friday off the ice with the presentation of the Hobey Baker Award. Given to the top player in college hockey, this year’s winner is University of Minnesota-Duluth sophomore Max Plante, a prospect of the Red Wings.
The sophomore was a second-round pick by Detroit back in 2024, going 47th overall. Plante got to play on a line with his brother, Zam, and Jayson Shaugabay, comprising one of the higher-scoring trios in Division I. The 20-year-old followed up a solid rookie showing by nearly doubling his point totals this season, notching 25 goals and 27 assists in 40 games, finishing two points ahead of his brother to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. His 52 points put him in a tie for third overall in NCAA scoring.
Unsurprisingly, Plante received many accolades with how his season went. Among the other awards he won this season was the NCHC Forward of the Year, NCHC Player of the Year, First Team All-Conference, and the College Hockey News Player of the Year. He indicated to reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic (Twitter link) after the trophy presentation that he will return for his junior year and isn’t turning pro with Detroit just yet. In doing so, he becomes the first winner of the award to not turn pro since 2007 when Ryan Duncan did so, relays Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald (Twitter link).
The other two finalists for the award were Michigan senior T.J. Hughes and Denver junior Eric Pohlkamp. Hughes is expected to sign his first NHL contract in the very near future while Pohlkamp, the lone defenseman among the three finalists, is a fifth-round pick of the Sharks.
Other awards handed out this evening:
Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine took home the Mike Richter Award for the top NCAA goalie. The 21-year-old posted a 2.11 GAA with a .929 SV% in 34 games with Michigan State in his junior year and turned pro after their season came to an end. A Detroit second-rounder, he’s making his AHL debut tonight with Grand Rapids. Augustine was a Top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and won the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year for the second straight year.
Flames prospect Ethan Wyttenbach won the Tim Taylor Award for Rookie of the Year. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick (144th overall) last June and had quite the freshman year at Quinnipiac. He played in 40 games, tallying 25 goals and 34 assists. That was good enough to not only lead his team in scoring but all of Division I. Unsurprisingly, he was also a Top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
NHL Announces 2026 King Clancy Memorial Trophy Nominees
Earlier this week, the NHL revealed the 32 nominees for the Masterton Trophy. Today, they unveiled another set of award nominees with the 32 finalists for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award is presented “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”
Unlike the Masterton finalists which were voted on by each chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, each team picked one player to serve as their nominee. Also unlike most awards, there won’t be a media or player vote to determine the winner. Instead, the winner will be picked by a committee consisting of Commissioner Gary Bettman as well as former winners of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award.
The team nominees are as follows:
Anaheim Ducks: G Lukas Dostal
Boston Bruins: D Jordan Harris
Buffalo Sabres: F Alex Tuch
Calgary Flames: F Jonathan Huberdeau
Carolina Hurricanes: D Jaccob Slavin
Chicago Blackhawks: D Alex Vlasic
Colorado Avalanche: D Sam Malinski
Columbus Blue Jackets: F Boone Jenner
Dallas Stars: G Jake Oettinger
Detroit Red Wings: F Dylan Larkin
Edmonton Oilers: F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Florida Panthers: F Sam Bennett
Los Angeles Kings: F Kevin Fiala
Minnesota Wild: F Marcus Foligno
Montreal Canadiens: F Nick Suzuki
Nashville Predators: F Ryan O’Reilly
New Jersey Devils: F Jack Hughes
New York Islanders: F Kyle Palmieri
New York Rangers: D Adam Fox
Ottawa Senators: G Linus Ullmark
Philadelphia Flyers: F Garnet Hathaway
Pittsburgh Penguins: F Bryan Rust
San Jose Sharks: F Alexander Wennberg
Seattle Kraken: G Joey Daccord
St. Louis Blues: D Colton Parayko
Tampa Bay Lightning: D Ryan McDonagh
Toronto Maple Leafs: F John Tavares
Utah Mammoth: F Alexander Kerfoot
Vancouver Canucks: F Brock Boeser
Vegas Golden Knights: F Jack Eichel
Washington Capitals: F Alex Ovechkin
Winnipeg Jets: F Gabriel Vilardi
The award was first handed out in 1988. The winner will receive a $25K donation to benefit a charity or charities of his choice. The winner will also be eligible to elect that his team receives a grant from the NHL for up to $20K to help organize a special activation related to his humanitarian cause.
East Notes: Maple Leafs, Mehlenbacher, Berglund
Tonight’s game was a tough one for the Maple Leafs. The team announced (Twitter links) that goaltender Anthony Stolarz (lower body), defenseman Brandon Carlo (lower body), and forward Dakota Joshua (upper body) all exited their game against Washington due to injuries.
Stolarz went down just 2:34 into the game after extending to make a save and dropped to the ice in pain. He was helped off and couldn’t put any weight on his leg while Joseph Woll took over for the rest of the game. Carlo made it through two periods, playing into the final minute of the second but didn’t come out for the third while Joshua was injured on a hit from Rasmus Sandin in the back half of the middle frame. The Maple Leafs have a quick turnaround as they’re set to play against the Islanders on Thursday; it wouldn’t be surprising to see several recalls before that contest. One of those will be netminder Artur Akhtyamov as TSN’s Mark Masters relays (Twitter link) that the youngster will be brought up and make his NHL debut against New York.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Red Wings prospect Owen Mehlenbacher is entering the NCAA transfer portal, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 22-year-old center was a seventh-round pick by Detroit back in 2022 and has played three college seasons so far. The first two were spent at Wisconsin where he managed 10 points in 51 combined games. This season, Mehlenbacher played at UMass after going through the portal last offseason, tallying three goals and six assists in 32 appearances. At this point, it seems unlikely that Detroit would want to sign Mehlenbacher based on how things have gone so far so he’ll be banking on finding a landing spot where he can have a big senior season.
- The Flyers are attempting to bring prospect Jack Berglund to North America to get him some action with AHL Lehigh Valley, relays Anthony DiMarco of Daily Faceoff. The 19-year-old forward was a second-round pick back in 2024, going 51st overall. Berglund had seven goals and five assists in 40 games with SHL Farjestad this season and has another year under contract with them. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that Philadelphia would like to have Berglund in training camp with them next season which suggests they intend to sign him to an entry-level deal for next season.
Dmitry Kulikov Out For The Season; Panthers Recall Two From AHL
An already long injury list in Florida has gotten even longer. Speaking with reporters following Tuesday’s game against Montreal (video link), Panthers head coach Paul Maurice indicated that defenseman Dmitry Kulikov sustained a broken finger and will not return this season.
Kulikov, who was already playing with a broken nose, returned to the lineup at the beginning of March after missing nearly five months following an upper-body injury sustained in the second game of the season. As a result, Kulikov winds up with just 19 appearances on the 2025-26 campaign. He was held without a point in those outings along with an ATOI of 18:02. The 35-year-old has two years left on his contract with a $1.15MM AAV.
In corresponding moves, Florida has recalled defensemen Mikulas Hovorka and Ludvig Jansson from AHL Charlotte, per the AHL’s transactions log. As a result of these promotions, the Panthers are down to just two contracted blueliners who aren’t on their active roster: prospects Marek Alscher and Evan Nause.
It’s the third recall of the season for Hovorka and the second of the month. The 24-year-old has played in three games with Florida this season, his first taste of NHL action. Hovorka is still looking for his first point at the top level while he has averaged 13:30 per night in his three outings. Meanwhile, he has played in 53 games with the Checkers, recording four goals and 12 assists, besting his 10 points in 60 contests last season.
Jansson, meanwhile, is getting his first promotion. The 22-year-old is in his first season in North America after signing an entry-level deal with Florida last May. So far, Jansson has 10 points in 29 games which is more production than his final two years in Sweden combined. As the injuries continue to pile up, he may get a chance to make his NHL debut over the next few games.