Salary Cap Deep Dive: Buffalo Sabres
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up are the Sabres.
Buffalo Sabres
Current Cap Hit: $93,341,521 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Zach Benson (one year, $950K)
F Josh Doan (one year, $925K)
F Jiri Kulich (two years, $886.7K)
Potential Bonuses
Benson: $650K
After a strong rookie year in 2023-24, Benson’s sophomore campaign was largely the same. While he didn’t take a step back in his development, he didn’t really progress either. While he’s someone the Sabres clearly feel will still be a part of their long-term plans, finding a price point low enough for them to be comfortable with and high enough for Benson to be happy with will be tough. With that in mind, a short-term bridge deal around the $4MM territory might make the most sense for both sides. He has three ‘A’ bonuses in his deal and if he stays in their top six all year, he could hit some of those.
Doan was one of the pieces coming to Buffalo in the JJ Peterka trade this offseason. He held his own in a bottom-six role for the bulk of last season with Utah but that’s not the type of player that typically signs a long-term deal at this point. A short-term bridge pact makes sense here, potentially in the $3MM area if he has a similar showing this season. Kulich showed some promise last season despite a relatively limited role. They’re hoping he can be a top-six center of the future and if it looks like he’ll be there at the end of this deal, a long-term pact could be on the table. The rate for that could be in the $8MM territory, even if he’s on the second line given the inflation coming to the cap.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
D Jacob Bryson ($900K, UFA)
D Michael Kesselring ($1.4MM, RFA)
F Peyton Krebs ($1.45MM, RFA)
F Beck Malenstyn ($1.35MM, UFA)
F Alex Tuch ($4.75MM, UFA)
Tuch’s contract situation is one of the biggest discussion points in Buffalo right now. He’s a local player who has publicly stated that he wants to re-sign but no agreement has been reached just yet. Seeing the recent explosion of the winger market, it’s likely that Tuch’s camp is seeking to more than double his current price tag. He has only passed the point-per-game mark once in his career but with two 36-goal efforts over the last three seasons, he’s still producing enough that he could very well surpass the $10MM mark on his next deal. If Buffalo continues to struggle, his name will come up in trade speculation quickly so it wouldn’t be surprising to see both sides plug away at this in the coming weeks.
Krebs bounced back last season after a tough 2023-24 campaign but he still hasn’t progressed to being a consistently reliable producer; he has yet to reach 30 points in a single season. However, given that he plays a premium position and has arbitration rights, he should be able to double this price tag next summer. Malenstyn wasn’t anywhere near as impactful in his first year with Buffalo compared to his 2023-24 season with Washington. However, with his physicality, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him pass the $2MM mark next summer, even as a pure fourth liner.
Kesselring was the other part of the return for Peterka and is someone Buffalo likely views as an important building block on the back end. He hasn’t become a full-time top-four piece yet but as a coveted right-shot defender with arbitration rights, he should be in a position to push for $4MM on a shorter-term deal while a long-term pact would likely run past $5MM per season. Bryson has been a depth defender for the last few seasons and is likely to remain in that role moving forward. That should keep him close to the minimum salary for next season and beyond.
Signed Through 2026-27
D Bowen Byram ($6.25MM, UFA)
F Justin Danforth ($1.8MM, UFA)
G Colten Ellis ($775K, RFA)
F/D Mason Geertsen ($775K, UFA)
F Jordan Greenway ($4MM, UFA)
G Alex Lyon ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Jack Quinn ($3.375MM, RFA)
D Conor Timmins ($2.2MM, UFA)
F Jason Zucker ($4.75MM, UFA)
Zucker and Greenway found themselves in similar situations last season, players on expiring contracts who were likely to be moved if they didn’t sign extensions. Instead, both worked out short-term deals that gave them some stability and kept Buffalo’s long-term options open. Zucker’s trips through free agency haven’t always proven fruitful but if he stays in the 50-point range the next couple of years, he could land a small raise and a multi-year pact, even as a 35-plus contract. As for Greenway, he has been the beneficiary of the power forward premium. When healthy, he struggles to reach 30 points and even staying in the lineup has been a concern. But given his size, physicality, and defensive acumen, there’s a high enough floor that Buffalo was willing to pay a premium on. He’ll need to produce a bit more if he wants to beat this by any sort of significant amount.
Quinn wasn’t quite able to live up to offensive expectations last season, resulting in this bridge deal getting signed back in June. Both sides will be hoping that he will be able to take that step forward and become a legitimate top-six piece. If that happens, he could plausibly push past $6MM or more two years from now. Danforth came over from Columbus in free agency as a versatile piece who can move up and down the lineup. But he will have to find a way to produce more if he is going to have a shot at beating this in his next trip to the open market. Geertsen hadn’t played in the NHL since 2021-22 before surprisingly making Buffalo’s roster in training camp. Unless he can establish himself as an every-game player, he’s likely to remain at the minimum salary in the future.
To avoid any risk of an offer sheet, the Sabres filed for arbitration with Byram this summer, setting him up for a two-year deal that took him right to unrestricted free agency. While they settled before the hearing, they couldn’t get any additional team control, meaning he’ll hit the open market at 26, in the prime of his career. Given how much salaries have exploded, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he pushes for a deal in the $10MM range on a max-term agreement. Timmins, acquired in a swap of third-pairing defensemen this summer, also managed to avoid arbitration with this deal. He has shown flashes of offensive upside over the years but has been more of a fifth or sixth option for most of that time. There’s a fine line to navigate for players in his situation as if he remains a lower-producing piece, the offers two years from now might not get to this level. But a few more points could propel him past the $3MM mark.
Lyon became a full-time backup goaltender over his two years with Detroit, getting into 74 games overall. However, his save percentage dipped to .896 last season which hurt his chances of getting a bigger deal this summer. Still, he did enough to get his biggest guaranteed contract. At this point of his career, it’s hard to see him moving into that top echelon of backups so while another small raise could be doable, he’s probably not going much higher than that. Ellis was claimed off waivers and has yet to make his NHL debut. Buffalo feels he has some upside as evidenced by the claim but when everyone’s healthy, he’s no higher than third on the depth chart. This doesn’t feel like a situation where he’s going to get a chance to play into a big contract but if he does well in limited action, he could land where Lyon is now.
Signed Through 2027-28
D Ryan Johnson ($775K, RFA)
F Tyson Kozak ($775K, RFA)
Both Johnson and Kozak are on identical three-year deals. However, with the minimum salary moving to $850K next season and $900K in 2027-28, their cap hits beginning next season should jump to $841.7K.
Kozak made his NHL debut last season, getting into 21 games where he did okay with limited playing time. He wasn’t a big point producer with Rochester either but the security of a three-year pact with two one-way years was enough to get him to sign. He’ll need to establish himself as a regular and make a bit of an impact to help his cause for a new deal as if he winds up with minimal production, he’ll become a non-tender candidate to avoid arbitration eligibility.
Johnson, a 2019 first-round pick, has had a limited role so far when he has played, including a 41-game stint in his rookie year. He also opted for the security of two one-way years while he looks to establish himself as a full-time defender. Like Kozak, he’ll want to be more established by the end of this deal to avoid being a non-tender candidate to avoid arbitration eligibility. If he’s a regular third-pairing option by then, Johnson could move up into the $2MM range on a contract.
Snapshots: Cooley, Davidson, Dubois, Wood, Didier
While the Flames didn’t claim any goaltenders off waivers this fall, it appears they’re not completely sold on Devin Cooley being the backup. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Calgary has been talking to teams to see what other options might be out there. However, they plan to give Cooley a look between the pipes, potentially on Wednesday, in the hopes that he can play his way into securing this position. If the Flames were to trade for (or sign) another netminder, that would give them four on one-way contracts, typically not an ideal situation to be in. Friedman added that as Calgary searches for another goaltending option, teams are asking for an incentive to take on one of those extra one-way goalies, something they’re resisting. If Cooley does well and earns the trust to be the full-time backup, this will work out okay but if he struggles, expect to see them looking around the market some more in the coming days.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- It has been nearly four years since the Blackhawks promoted Kyle Davidson to GM with the team posting a 107-187-35 record with him at the helm. Despite their struggles, team owner Danny Wirtz gave Davidson a vote of confidence in an interview with Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, saying that “Everything Kyle set out to do, he continues to deliver on”. Chicago has been stockpiling draft picks and prospects for several years now in the hope that a contender can emerge from this group and it appears Davidson will have a long leash from ownership to see if that will happen down the road.
- Capitals forward Pierre-Luc Dubois left Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury, notes Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post (Twitter link). An update on his status is expected on Tuesday. The 27-year-old had a career year last season in his first year with Washington, notching 20 goals and 46 assists in 82 games during the regular season. He was off to a slower start before this injury though, being held off the scoresheet in his first three appearances in 2025-26.
- Blue Jackets winger Miles Wood left tonight’s game against New Jersey with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He took a high stick from Dougie Hamilton in the first period and did not return. Wood is in his first season with Columbus after being acquired from Colorado in the offseason and scored in his second game of the campaign.
- Veteran defenseman Josiah Didier has signed a PTO deal with AHL Laval, the team announced (Twitter link). The 32-year-old was drafted by Montreal (who is Laval’s parent team) back in 2011 but he didn’t sign with them. Didier has spent parts of 12 seasons in the AHL, totaling 496 games overall where he has 83 points and 530 penalty minutes. With his experience, he’ll count towards their veteran limit whenever he suits up.
Brett Leason Signs AHL PTO With Charlotte
Last season, unrestricted free agent winger Brett Leason saw some regular action with Anaheim, primarily slotting in on their fourth line. However, no firm contract has come his way just yet so to get back on the ice and playing, he has signed a PTO contract with AHL Charlotte (affiliate of the Panthers), per a team release.
The 26-year-old played in 62 games with the Ducks last season where he notched five goals and 12 assists in just under 13 minutes a night of playing time. That output was a little below his 2023-24 output when he had 11 goals and 11 helpers in 68 contests. While Leason was non-tendered at that time to avoid arbitration, he quickly re-signed a one-year, $1.05MM contract. This past summer, Anaheim simply non-tendered him and moved on.
Leason took part in training camp with Minnesota on a PTO agreement and got into four games with them where he was held off the scoresheet before being let go at the end of September, sending him back to the open market.
This will be Leason’s first taste of AHL action in a while. The last time he saw time in the minors was back in 2021-22 with Hershey when he was still in Washington’s system. He has 18 goals and 29 assists in 114 games over parts of three seasons at that level and will look to have a strong showing there to help lock down a guaranteed contract for the rest of the season.
Josh Norris To Miss A Significant Amount Of Time
Oct. 13th: According to Sabres correspondent Heather Engel, head coach Lindy Ruff suggests that Norris is expected to miss eight weeks of action. Still, he is receiving a second opinion on the injury. Should the second opinion agree on the recovery timeline, that would project Norris’ return in the first week of December, costing him over 25 games of the 2025-26 campaign.
Oct. 11th: On Friday, the Sabres were still evaluating Josh Norris‘ upper-body injury to determine how long he might be out for. The evaluation appears to be ongoing still but the outcome is not ideal as head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters, including Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News (Twitter link), that Norris will miss “a significant amount of time” due to the injury.
It is a tough but all-too-familiar blow for the 26-year-old as injuries have dogged him throughout his seven NHL seasons. The injury occurred late in Thursday’s season opener against the Rangers off a faceoff and while he was eventually able to get up and go to the bench under his own power, he didn’t take a shift after that.
Norris was acquired by Buffalo in one of the bigger trades near the trade deadline last season, coming over from Ottawa with Dylan Cozens being the most significant piece going the other way in a swap of centers that might benefit from the change of scenery. However, Norris wasn’t able to get a chance to prove that as he suffered a season-ending mid-body injury in just his third game with the team. Now, he’s suffered another serious setback in his fourth game more than six months later.
Norris was coming off a 21-goal season in 2024-25, the second-best output of his career only coming behind the 35 tallies he had in 2021-22 with Ottawa. The hope was that he’d be able to bring some extra firepower to their top six forward group and while that still could be the case, it clearly won’t be happening anytime soon. Fortunately, Ruff later clarified to reporters, including WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton (Twitter link), that the injury isn’t related to any injuries he has had in the past.
If it’s determined that Norris will miss at least 10 games and 24 days with this latest injury, he will become LTIR-eligible. However, with Buffalo having a little more than $2.2MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, they’re not necessarily in a spot where they should need to use that. In the meantime, it’s likely that the Sabres will place him on regular injured reserve in the near future, opening up a roster spot for a recall from AHL Rochester.
Five Key Stories: 10/6/25 – 10/12/25
The 2025-26 NHL season is officially underway and as expected, it was a busy week around the league. Here’s a rundown of the week’s key stories.
Cooley Says No: More and more often, teams are now trying to lock up their top young players to max-term deals as soon as possible, a reasonable approach with the salary cap expected to jump quicker. The Mammoth tried that approach with center Logan Cooley, however, the center reportedly turned down an eight-year, $77MM extension offer. The 21-year-old had a strong sophomore year last season, tallying 25 goals and 40 assists in 75 games, showing that he’s well on his way to being the number one center of the present and future. The offer would have made him Utah’s highest-paid forward by a significant margin but it looks like he’s either hoping for a bigger offer (or one that isn’t as long term-wise) or will wait to see how things go this season in the hopes of an improved offer coming next summer.
Big Money For Connor: With Kirill Kaprizov coming off the market last week in a record-setting deal, another top winger won’t be testing free agency in July either. The Jets will be keeping winger Kyle Connor around for the long haul, inking him to an eight-year, $96MM extension, matching the deals given to Mikko Rantanen and Mitch Marner in recent months. Notably, Winnipeg broke their long-standing policy on not putting signing bonus money or a no-move clause in contracts in order to get the deal done. Connor is coming off a career year that saw him surpass the 40-goal mark for the second time in four years while also putting up 97 points. He now joins Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele as long-term mainstays that won’t be leaving anytime soon.
Bigger Money For Eichel: While Connor’s contract was big (one of the biggest in NHL history), it wasn’t even the biggest deal signed this week. That particular distinction belongs to Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, who signed an eight-year, $108MM extension that begins next season. The $13.5MM AAV will be the third-highest in the league behind only Kaprizov ($17MM) and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl ($14MM). Eichel found another gear offensively last season, collecting 94 points in 77 games and is averaging more than a point per game since Vegas acquired him back in 2021. Once the deal kicks in, he’ll pass Marner ($12MM) as the highest-paid player on their books while Vegas now has their top middleman locked up for the long haul.
Oilers Sign Four: Throughout the offseason, progress (or lack thereof) on Connor McDavid’s contract talks dominated the discussion with some wondering if this was going to drag into the season. While it took until the eve of the campaign, the captain decided to stick around, inking a two-year, $25MM extension. As the face of the franchise and one of the elite players in the league, it’s fair to say that McDavid left a lot of money on the table relative to the deal that Kaprizov received just days earlier. But by sticking with his current cap hit, McDavid is hoping that the extra flexibility can be used to make his team as strong as possible as they look to win a Stanley Cup title.
How have they spent that money? By keeping some of the back end intact. At the same time they announced the McDavid deal, they also signed defenseman Jake Walman to a seven-year, $49MM extension. A cap dump by Detroit in the 2024 offseason, Walman turned around his fortunes last season in San Jose and became a key part of Edmonton’s back end at the trade deadline, a role he’ll have with them for the long haul now.
More of the savings from McDavid’s deal also went to blueliner Mattias Ekholm, who received a three-year, $12MM extension. It’s a big discount from his current $6.25MM price tag (between Edmonton and Nashville) but it also reflects the fact he’ll be 36 when the contract begins. A top-four fixture now, that might not be the case at the end of the deal. However, he should still be an impactful piece for another couple of years. Meanwhile, they also added to their current roster, signing UFA forward Jack Roslovic to a one-year, $1.5MM contract. Following a 22-goal season, expectations were high in the summer for a multi-year deal but one to his liking never materialized. Instead, he’ll settle for this deal and hope to boost his value heading into free agency next summer on the heels of a season in Edmonton’s middle six.
Norris Out Again: Injuries have been an issue for Josh Norris for several years now, a reality that is now impacting the Sabres once again. He’s now set to miss a significant amount of time due to an upper-body injury. Acquired at the trade deadline last year in a package deal that sent Dylan Cozens to Ottawa, Norris suffered a season-ending injury in just his third game with Buffalo. Now, his fourth regular season appearance will see him missing extended time once again. The Sabres were counting on Norris – who managed 21 goals last season in just 56 games – to be a key contributor but now, he’ll be watching from the sidelines for the foreseeable future.
Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.
Metropolitan Notes: Dadonov, Gudbranson, Slavin, Flyers
Earlier today, the Devils placed winger Evgenii Dadonov on injured reserve with his fractured hand. While a full timeline for recovery remains unknown, New Jersey clearly knows he’ll be out a while as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the winger has been moved to LTIR. In doing so, they’re certifying that he will miss at least 10 games and 24 days because of the injury. With the placement, the Devils have added $1MM in room to their LTIR pool, giving themselves a bit more recall flexibility. The 36-year-old also has $2.25MM in potential performance bonuses but those aren’t eligible to be added to an LTIR pool. He’ll need to play in at least 50 games during the regular season to max out on the regular season games played portion of those incentives.
More from the Metropolitan Division:
- Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson exited Saturday’s victory over Minnesota early due to an upper-body injury, notes Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. The injury occurred on a hit from Marcus Foligno late in the second period but while he came out briefly for the third period, he quickly returned to the dressing room. Gudbranson was limited to just 16 games last season due to a shoulder injury and an early absence this year certainly isn’t ideal, especially with this being the final year of his contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the team won’t be providing any updates on Gudbranson’s status today.
- Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin left Saturday’s game against Philadelphia in the third period with what looks to be a knee injury, relays Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal. It’s expected that the team will know more on his status on Monday. Slavin has been a critical piece of Carolina’s back end for several years now and was off to a solid start before the injury. If he’s unable to play in their next game on Tuesday against San Jose, veteran Mike Reilly would likely make his Carolina debut.
- While most teams know who their starting goalie is by now, the Flyers appear to be one of the exceptions. Samuel Ersson entered the season as the incumbent after being the starter for the last couple of years but they also added Daniel Vladar in free agency. Earlier this week, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the plan is to rotate the two for a while and see who takes the lead. It’s actually the same situation that Vladar had to start last season as he platooned with Dustin Wolf before Wolf took over as the full-fledged starter in the second half. He’ll have to wait a while to have a chance of coming out on the other side of that battle now in Philadelphia.
Oilers Have Held Extension Talks With Brett Kulak
It has been a busy week for the Oilers on the extension front as they’ve signed center Connor McDavid along with defensemen Jake Walman and Mattias Ekholm to contract extensions. If they have their way, there’s at least one more to come.
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug recently reported (Twitter link) that Edmonton has engaged in extension talks for pending UFA defenseman Brett Kulak. However, unlike those other players, nothing appears to be imminent at this time.
The 31-year-old is in the final season of a four-year, $11MM contract and he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July if a new deal can’t be reached by then. At times, Kulak’s contract has been high enough to lead to trade speculation when the Oilers needed to free up some cap space but each time, they’ve found a way to open up the cap room while keeping him around.
This is Kulak’s fifth season in Edmonton after being acquired from Montreal in 2022 for blueliner William Lagesson and a pair of draft picks (one of which was used to select Lane Hutson a few months later). Early in his tenure with the team, he was used in more of a third-pairing role which made the price point a bit of a premium for that role.
However, head coach Kris Knoblauch leaned on Kulak a lot more last season as his ATOI jumped by more than five minutes a night from 15:23 per game to 20:32. That jumped even higher in the playoffs to 23:25, second among all Edmonton defenders.
That usage will make locking down an early extension a little trickier. Edmonton’s preference would likely be to keep paying him in that number five range with a price tag that should slot in around the $3.5MM mark. On the other hand, Kulak’s camp will probably be seeking a deal more commensurate with a number four defender, something around a million or so more per season.
As things stand, the Oilers have around $17.7MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia, based on the original salary cap projection of $104.5MM for 2026-27. However, they still have half a dozen or so roster spots to fill with that money, including a goalie tandem. As the market for netminders continues to go up, it’s possible that they’ll need to spend half of their cap room or more on that position which would make it difficult to fit Kulak back onto their books if his next contract is around a quarter of that cap space.
Accordingly, it’s not too surprising that talks haven’t progressed quickly as it makes sense for both sides to see what type of role Kulak will have this season while also seeing if one of their goaltenders will be worth keeping for 2026-27 and beyond. But at this point, it’s clear that GM Stan Bowman wants to keep the veteran in the fold for a little while longer. It just might take a while for it to happen.
Panthers Recall Tobias Bjornfot
With Dmitry Kulikov being placed on injured reserve back on Friday, the Panthers had an open roster spot at their disposal. They’ve now filled that spot as they’ve recalled defenseman Tobias Bjornfot from AHL Charlotte, per the AHL’s transactions log.
The 24-year-old was an injury recall a couple of times last season, seeing stints with Florida back in January and March last season, getting into 14 games overall where he was held off the scoresheet while averaging just over 13 minutes per game. For his career, Bjornfot has a goal and 14 assists in 134 NHL appearances between Los Angeles, Vegas, and Florida.
Bjornfot played in three games with the Panthers in the preseason but cleared waivers last weekend, paving the way for him to return to the Checkers. This stint lasted all of one game and if Kulikov is indeed out longer term as expected, he may be up with Florida for a while this time. Bjornfot had 18 points in 50 games at the AHL level last season.
With Florida deep into using LTIR (with Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Tomas Nosek), they’re not banking any cap room right now, meaning that Bjornfot’s recall doesn’t do much beyond cutting into their current LTIR space. That sits at just over $1.49MM, per PuckPedia, meaning they have enough cap space for one more recall if more injuries arise.
Central Notes: Connor, Dickinson, Brodin
While the fact that Kyle Connor received a no-move clause and significant signing bonus money ($41MM) in his eight-year, $96MM extension with the Jets may not seem like a big deal, it was for Winnipeg. As Pierre LeBrun noted in his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), those were two elements that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff had never put in a contract before. However, Connor’s agent, Wasserman’s Rich Evans, told LeBrun that they were looking for a ‘free agent’ deal, one that typically carries those components and the Jets eventually agreed to those. Now that they’ve done it, it will be interesting to see if Cheveldayoff becomes more open to putting those in contracts or if they’ll be looking at this as a one-time situation.
More from the Central:
- Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson will miss tonight’s game against Montreal due to an upper-body injury, relays WGN’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link). Head coach Jeff Blashill noted that the veteran is listed as day-to-day but could miss a week. The injury occurred partway through Thursday’s loss to Boston. Dickinson had a tough year last season, notching just seven goals and nine assists in 59 games after setting new career highs in goals (22) and points (35) the year before. Now in a contract year, this minor setback isn’t a great way to start it.
- Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin is expected to return to the lineup tonight against Columbus, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 32-year-old underwent surgery to repair an upper-body injury in June and didn’t suit up at all in the preseason or the season opener while recovering from it. Brodin has long been a key shutdown defender and penalty killing anchor for Minnesota and is expected to jump right back into that role in his return.
Penguins Activate Bryan Rust, Assign Ville Koivunen To AHL
The Penguins have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s matchup against the Rangers. The team announced (Twitter link) that they have activated winger Bryan Rust off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, forward Ville Koivunen has been assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Rust had been dealing with a lower-body injury that held him out for most of the preseason as he only got into one exhibition contest. Since he had missed plenty of time by then, Pittsburgh was able to easily move him to injured reserve to start the season and spare another roster cut for the time being.
Last season, the 33-year-old had a career year, notching 31 goals and 34 assists in 71 games, setting personal bests across the board while averaging just under 20 minutes a night of ice time. Considering that he is making an affordable $5.25MM through the 2027-28 campaign and that Pittsburgh is looking to rebuild its roster, that resulted in him being involved in a lot of trade speculation although no move came to fruition.
Rust will likely rejoin Pittsburgh’s top line alongside Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell, a trio that had lots of success last season. Koivunen had been in that spot as a placeholder to start the year but was held off the scoresheet in his two outings. Given that he is waiver-exempt, he was a safe choice to send down for the time being.
Last season, Koivunen made quite the first impression down the stretch. He was brought up at the end of March and got into eight games with Pittsburgh. While he didn’t score, he picked up seven assists in those outings while playing over 18 minutes a night, making a strong push for a longer-term stint on the roster. That won’t be happening for the time being but it stands to reason that he’ll be one of their top recall candidates whenever injuries arise or a roster spot is opened up, such as a trade or if Benjamin Kindel is returned to junior if the team opts to not burn the first year of his entry-level contract. That decision will come once he reaches the nine-game mark which could come within the next few weeks.