Metropolitan Notes: Chytil, Andersen, Jarvis, Erne, Letang
Rangers center Filip Chytil will not accompany the team on its upcoming four-game road trip, relays Vince Z. Mercogliano of the Rockland/Westchester Journal News. The 25-year-old suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday versus San Jose with the team declining to provide further specifics. Chytil, who has missed considerable time with concussions in the past (including the final 72 games of last season), is off to a good start this year for New York, notching four goals and five assists in 15 appearances despite an ATOI of just 13:40, his lowest since his rookie season. It’s possible that Chytil could be cleared to join the Rangers partway through the trip if the injury winds up being a minor one.
More from the Metro:
- Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen’s injury is not related to the blood clots that kept him out for a significant chunk of last season, notes Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal (Twitter link). After initially being listed as out week-to-week, he’s now out for considerably longer than that. Lavalette adds that the team is weighing the possibility of Andersen having surgery although no decision has been made on that front yet.
- Still with the Hurricanes, the team announced that winger Seth Jarvis has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 10th. He has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and the team hopes he can return to practice next week. Because of the retroactive placement, he’s eligible to be reactivated as soon as Sunday. The move creates a roster spot for recently-recalled goaltender Yaniv Perets with the team also quietly recalling Ty Smith late Thursday.
- The Rangers’ farm team in Hartford has released winger Adam Erne from his PTO, per the AHL’s transactions log. The veteran was previously listed as out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Erne had just one assist in ten games with the Wolf Pack prior to getting hurt. A veteran of 379 career NHL games over parts of eight seasons (including 24 last year in Edmonton), Erne will now try to catch on elsewhere, presumably when he has recovered from the injury.
- Before tonight’s game between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, the latter announced Kris Letang would miss his second straight game due to illness. When healthy this year, Letang has gotten off to one of the worst scoring paces of his career since his early days in Pittsburgh with two goals and six points in 18 games.
Flyers Notes: Ristolainen, York, Drysdale
After a rough showing last season, Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been a much more impactful player in the early going this year, logging more than 20 minutes a night while chipping in with plenty of blocks and hits as usual. Accordingly, some have wondered if he could become a trade candidate at some point. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic relays (subscription link) that Philadelphia is fielding calls on the 30-year-old but they aren’t interested in just clearing out the remainder of his contract, one that carries a $5.1MM AAV through the 2026-27 campaign but haven’t formally set an asking price either. Philadelphia has only used one of its three retention slots and could up the return by paying down part of the contract but it wouldn’t be surprising if a Ristolainen move happens closer to the trade deadline, if one happens at all this season.
More from Philadelphia:
- Blueliner Cam York had a breakout season last year with 10 goals and 30 points and was off to a solid start this year before being sidelined with an upper-body injury. He’s in the final year of his bridge deal, one that carries a $1.6MM AAV. However, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco suggests the next contract will cost considerably more, noting that Devon Toews’ contract in Colorado could be a comparable for negotiations. Toews is on a seven-year deal with a $7.25MM AAV though it should be noted that each season is a UFA-eligible one, something that won’t be the case for York who isn’t UFA-eligible until 2028. Regardless, York is well on his way to a sizable raise next summer.
- Defenseman Jamie Drysdale took part in today’s morning skate with a non-contact jersey, notes Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury but the placement was made retroactive to November 9th so he’ll be eligible to return once fully cleared. Drysdale was off to a quiet start to his first full season with the Flyers as he had just three points in his first 15 games although his 20:35 ATOI is the highest of his career.
Kings Activate Alex Turcotte, Assign Andre Lee To AHL
The Kings have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game today against Detroit. The team announced that they’ve activated forward Alex Turcotte off injured reserve. To make room for him on the roster, winger Andre Lee was assigned to AHL Ontario.
Turcotte was placed on IR a week ago today after sustaining an upper-body injury early in the month. The 23-year-old is in his first full NHL season and has held his own in a limited role. Turcotte has played in 13 games so far this season, picking up a goal and four assists while averaging just under 12 minutes a night in their bottom six. For his career, he’s up to 45 appearances at the top level, tallying two goals and seven helpers.
As for Lee, he was an early-season recall and had been up with Los Angeles since then, spanning more than five weeks in total. Along the way, he played a regular role in the lineup, collecting two assists and 32 hits in 15 games in 9:26 of playing time per game. Those games were the 24-year-old’s first taste of NHL action. Lee had eight goals and five assists in 38 games with the Reign last season, resulting in a one-year, two-way contract worth the league minimum of $775K with the Kings and $100K in the minors.
Notably, Lee’s assignment means that Samuel Helenius will remain with Los Angeles for now, at least. He was brought up when Turcotte landed on injured reserve and it would have made sense for him to be the one who lost his spot with Turcotte returning. Helenius has an assist, nine hits, and a 60% faceoff success rate in his first three games, earning himself a longer look in the process.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Los Angeles Kings
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 that 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 2024-25 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 Pacific Division, next up is the Kings.
Los Angeles Kings
Current Cap Hit: $90,180,114 (above the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Brandt Clarke (two years, $863K)
F Alex Laferriere (one year, $875K)
Potential Bonuses
Clarke: $850K
Laferriere had a solid rookie season last year while spending a lot of time in the bottom six. This year, he’s playing a little higher in the lineup and has responded by being one of their leading point-getters. If that holds, his bridge deal (a long-term pact would be surprising) should run past $3MM per season at a minimum, potentially higher if he stays at his current pace.
After spending most of last season in the minors, Clarke is now a regular and an important part of the back end in Los Angeles. He’s already putting up solid offensive numbers and that should continue which will only push his next contract higher. A bridge agreement could be trending toward starting with a four if this holds while a longer-term pact could climb closer to $7MM. Bonus-wise, Clarke has four ‘A’ bonuses in his deal at $212.5K apiece and at his current pace, he could have a shot at all four of them (assists, points, ATOI, and blocks).
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
D Andreas Englund ($1MM, UFA)
D Vladislav Gavrikov ($5.875MM, UFA)
F Tanner Jeannot ($2.65MM, UFA)
D Caleb Jones ($775K, UFA)
F Arthur Kaliyev ($825K, RFA)
F Andre Lee ($775K, RFA)
F Trevor Lewis ($800K, UFA)
G David Rittich ($1MM, UFA)
Jeannot was acquired from Tampa Bay over the offseason with the hope a change of scenery could re-spark his offensive game. That hasn’t happened early on as he has spent some time on the fourth line. At this point, there’s a possibility that he’s heading for a pay cut; while his 24-goal, 41-point season was only a few years ago, that looks like the outlier and teams might not want to pay up for that. Kaliyev wanted a trade over the summer but one never materialized so he settled for a low-cost one-year deal and then was injured in training camp. If there isn’t a trade to be found once he returns, Kaliyev could be a non-tender candidate in the summer where he’d likely have to settle for another low-cost deal in this range.
Lewis has been on a one-year deal around this price tag for five straight years now and remains a capable fourth liner. If he wants to keep playing (he turns 38 in January), he should be able to continue that streak. Lee is holding his own on the fourth line in his first taste of NHL action. It’s likely that his next contract should be around the minimum but he could have a shot at a one-way agreement.
Gavrikov took an interesting approach in free agency two years ago, electing to sign an early extension to remain with Los Angeles but opting for a short-term agreement to allow him to hit the open market in a more favorable environment. His offensive production hasn’t returned to the peak level he had in Columbus which will limit his upside to a point. That said, he could make a case to land this much or slightly more on a long-term agreement, if not even a max-term one. With several blueliners from this class already off the market, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gavrikov wait this out a little longer to see if a dwindling market could help up his asking price.
Englund played a regular role on the third pairing last season but playing time has been harder to come by this time around. He’s someone who might best fit in a seventh role so while another one-way contract could come his way, it might have to come in slightly lower than this one. Jones spent time in the minors last season, leading to a two-way deal this time around. With very limited playing time so far, he doesn’t seem to be trending toward beating that by much next summer.
Rittich did rather well after being recalled early last season but opted to take this deal in May over testing the open market. He hasn’t fared as well early on this year, however. Even so, he’s likely still in the higher-end third-string option or lower-end backup tier which should get him another deal in this range.
Signed Through 2025-26
D Kyle Burroughs ($1.1MM, UFA)
F Adrian Kempe ($5.5MM, UFA)
F Anze Kopitar ($7MM, UFA)
D Jordan Spence ($1.5MM, RFA)
F Akil Thomas ($775K, RFA)
This is the first season of Kopitar’s cheaper deal after making $10MM per season on the last agreement. It’s supposed to reflect what should be a smaller role but that hasn’t been the case early in 2024-25 as he’s still an all-situations top-line center. Now 37, there’s some risk in terms of his age but the early returns on this contract demonstrate this could wind up as a team-friendly agreement. Another deal, if there is one, will likely reflect the expected lighter workload as well at that time.
Kempe turned the corner offensively in 2021-22 and hasn’t looked back since then, becoming a legitimate top-line threat. While his days of playing center are numbered which won’t help his case on the open market, he’s still positioning himself for a new deal that starts with a seven or possibly even an eight on a long-term pact. Thomas, meanwhile, is still getting his feet wet at the NHL level. He has some runway to develop and if all goes well, he should push past $1MM at least next time out.
Spence is playing on his bridge deal, one that’s slightly back-loaded and carries a $1.7MM qualifying offer. With Clarke taking on a bigger role offensively, that’s going to cut into Spence’s numbers potentially but as a right-shot player with some offensive upside, doubling the qualifying offer could still be possible. As for Burroughs, he’s in a similar situation as Englund, someone who may be best served in a reserve role. Accordingly, a small cut might be needed here as well.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Phillip Danault ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Drew Doughty ($11MM, UFA)
F Warren Foegele ($3.5MM, UFA)
G Darcy Kuemper ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Alex Turcotte ($775K, RFA)
Danault has shown a bit more offensively since coming to the Kings and has played with more consistency on that front, making him a quality second-line option for them thus far. If he can stay around the 50-point range, he could beat this price tag by a bit in 2027 but if his production slows, his next deal could look a fair bit like this one.
Foegele picked the right time for a career year last season as that helped him land this contract in free agency. If he can stay around 20 goals consistently, they’ll do alright with this one while he’d be in line for a small raise. That said, 20 goals is the outlier at this point of his career (though he’s off to a good start this season on that front). Turcotte took a rare three-year deal at the minimum, guaranteeing himself a one-way salary in the last two seasons. That gives him and the Kings plenty of time to see if he’s just a late-bloomer or a lottery selection likely to be viewed in the bust category. At the moment, when healthy, he’s primarily in a bottom-six role. If that kept up over the course of the deal, he could plausibly command a seven-figure salary next time out.
When healthy, Doughty is still a legitimate all-situations number one defenseman. Price-wise, the deal holds up a little better now compared to when it was first signed as a record-breaker. Having said that, this is still on the high side, especially for a player with a lot of hard minutes under his belt and now two significant injuries in recent years. That swings the valuation of this deal back into negative territory (although his current injury has given them short-term LTIR flexibility if nothing else). Doughty will be entering his age-38 year on his next contract. Like Kopitar, there’s a very good chance the price tag at that time will be lowered by a few million per season to reflect his age and the possibility for a sharper decline at that time.
Kuemper was brought in as their new starter while shedding the Pierre-Luc Dubois contract that didn’t go well in its first year. Factoring in what they paid to get Dubois, the sequence of trades isn’t the prettiest but he gives them some stability between the pipes they haven’t had lately. He’ll be 37 when his next contract starts so this price tag might be as high as it gets.
Kraken Recall Ben Meyers
With Jordan Eberle out for the weekend, the Kraken needed some extra forward depth up front. That will be forward Ben Meyers, as the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Coachella Valley.
Meyers is in his first season with Seattle after signing a one-year, one-way contract worth $775K on the opening day of free agency this past summer. The 26-year-old had a strong preseason showing, leading the Kraken in scoring with two goals and three assists in four games but it wasn’t good enough for him to break camp with the big club. After clearing waivers, Meyers has played exclusively with the Firebirds so far and is off to a good start to his season, collecting two goals and six assists in 11 games.
Meyers is a veteran of 67 career NHL appearances between Colorado and Anaheim and has seen action at the top level in each of the last three seasons. All told, he has six goals and two assists to his name while logging just shy of ten minutes per game.
While the Kraken got Meyers as an unrestricted free agent, they can actually gain his RFA rights if he plays in 13 games or more with them as that would take him off the Group Six UFA list back to Group Two RFA status. Seattle had two open roster spots before calling Meyers up so no corresponding moves needed to be made to add him to the active roster.
West Notes: Eberle, Ducks, Joseph
The Kraken will be without their captain for at least the next two games and possibly more as Tim Booth of The Seattle Times relays that Jordan Eberle won’t play this weekend due to a lower-body injury. The 34-year-old was injured in a collision on Thursday against Chicago. Head coach Dan Bylsma noted that while Eberle was feeling a little better on Friday, there still needs to be further testing and evaluation done; that will come early next week to determine how much longer he might be out for. Eberle is off to a decent start to the season, notching six goals and five assists in 17 games so far while playing a little under 16 minutes a night.
More from the Western Conference:
- The Ducks issued several injury updates late Friday. After originally being classified as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, defenseman Cam Fowler will now miss the next two to four weeks because of it. A speculative trade candidate, the 32-year-old has been limited to just 12 games so far this season where he has only two points in a little over 21 minutes a night. Meanwhile, forward Mason McTavish is day-to-day with an upper-body injury while defenseman Urho Vaakanainen’s upper-body issue is being evaluated; he’s also listed as day-to-day for now. McTavish has two goals and six assists in 13 games so far while Vaakanainen has suited up just five times and has one assist and seven blocked shots.
- Blues defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph left the road trip to have his injury better evaluated but the test results were good, relays Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Accordingly, the 25-year-old is listed as day-to-day. Joseph is in his first season in St. Louis after signing with them in free agency following his non-tender from Pittsburgh. He has played in 13 games so far this season, recording one assist while averaging a little under 14 minutes a night.
David Perron Returns To Senators
Senators winger David Perron had been away from the team for a better part of a month for a personal reason. Speaking with reporters today including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, the veteran revealed that his newborn daughter had to undergo surgery to remove a tumor. However, things have improved enough to allow the 36-year-old to return to the team.
Perron signed with Ottawa on the opening day of free agency back in July, inking a two-year, $8MM contract with a partial no-trade clause. The Sens reshaped part of their forward group over the offseason with Perron being the most notable addition alongside Michael Amadio, Noah Gregor, and Nick Cousins.
Perron got off to a slow start, certainly understandable given the circumstances. He was held off the scoresheet in his first five appearances while averaging just 13:26 per game, his lowest ATOI since his rookie campaign back in 2007-08. Nonetheless, his return will be a welcome one.
While Perron made the trip to Carolina, it’s not a guarantee that he will suit up as the Sens could elect to wait one more game, allowing him to get a couple more practices in before officially returning to the lineup. He remained on Ottawa’s active roster during his absence so the team doesn’t need to make a roster move when he is indeed ready to play.
Prospect Notes: Halttunen, Port, Pridham
Despite a solid start in the AHL, the Sharks have decided that prospect Kasper Halttunen is best served playing in junior. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve loaned the winger to OHL London. The 19-year-old was the 36th overall selection back in June following a strong first junior season with the Knights, one that saw him record 61 points in 57 regular season games plus 26 more in 18 playoff contests. Halttunen played in six games in the minors with the Barracuda, collecting two goals and two assists and will now go back to a top junior program.
Other prospect news around the NHL:
- Ducks prospect Vojtech Port is on the move as WHL Lethbridge has acquired him from Moose Jaw, per a team release. The 19-year-old blueliner was drafted by Anaheim in the sixth round in 2023. Port had 15 points in 42 games last season between Edmonton and Moose Jaw but is off to a quiet start this season with just three assists in 19 games so far. The Ducks only hold his rights until June 1st, 2025, so Port will need to be an impactful piece for his new team if he wants to earn an entry-level contract in the coming months.
- Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham is changing teams and leagues as OHL Kitchener announced that they’ve signed the forward for the remainder of the season. Chicago drafted the 18-year-old in the third round (92nd overall) back in June and he started the season with BCHL West Kelowna (collecting 10 points in 12 games) while waiting to go to Boston University next year. However, now that CHL players can play in the NCAA starting next season, Pridham will play the rest of the year with Kitchener and then likely make the jump to college hockey as planned for 2025-26.
Wild Recall Liam Ohgren On Emergency Basis
With winger Mats Zuccarello landing on injured reserve for the next few weeks and center Joel Eriksson Ek’s availability for tomorrow in question after exiting Thursday’s victory over Montreal, the Wild needed an extra forward. They’ve now made that move, announcing the recall of Liam Ohgren from AHL Iowa on an emergency basis.
The 20-year-old broke camp with Minnesota and has played in seven games with them so far this season. However, he was held off the scoresheet and his playing time dwindled quickly; he failed to reach eight minutes of playing time over his last three games. As a result, they elected to send him down to the minors at the end of October in the hopes of getting him more minutes.
Ohgren got into four games with Iowa while on assignment, scoring four goals, three of which came in his last game back on Saturday against Rockford. If he does get into Minnesota’s lineup, it’ll likely be a short-lived recall as they undoubtedly would prefer him playing in a top role in the minors over spot duty with the Wild so once Eriksson Ek is able to play, Ohgren will probably be sent back down soon after.
Hurricanes Recall Yaniv Perets
With Frederik Andersen now out long-term, Carolina’s net belongs to Pyotr Kochetkov for the foreseeable future with Spencer Martin as his backup. However, Kochetkov is day-to-day himself which meant the Hurricanes needed to call up another netminder. That move was made with the team announcing that Yaniv Perets has been recalled from AHL Chicago.
The 24-year-old signed with Carolina as an undrafted free agent in 2023 following a stellar college career at Quinnipiac, capped off by a 34-4-3 record with a 1.49 GAA, a .931 SV%, and 10 shutouts in 41 games that season.
Last year, with the Hurricanes not having their own AHL affiliate, Perets primarily played with ECHL Norfolk where he put up a 2.99 GAA with a .889 SV% in 34 games while also making one relief appearance with Carolina, making one save in nearly 13 minutes of work. This season, Perets has played in three games with the Wolves, putting up a 3.67 GAA with a .825 SV%.
The recall was made after 4:00 PM CT which means it won’t count against the salary cap until Saturday. Even with his addition to the roster, the Hurricanes still have an open spot and can easily create another by moving Andersen to injured reserve.