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Calgary Flames Reassign Dryden Hunt

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The Calgary Flames announced today that they have reassigned forward Dryden Hunt to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. The move ends Hunt’s most recent NHL stint, a period that began on Nov. 17.

It was a bit of a curious recall for Hunt, as despite being on the NHL roster for nearly a month, he only managed to dress for two NHL games. Hunt played in Calgary’s road games against the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, respectively, but other than that two-game stretch spent the rest of his time on the NHL roster as a healthy scratch.

While Hunt surely would rather have been in head coach Ryan Huska’s nightly lineup, he did nonetheless benefit from his most recent recall. Hunt’s two-year contract carries an $825K NHL salary compared to a $400K AHL salary. He carries a $500K guarantee this season, meaning the time spent on the NHL roster will go a long way in helping Hunt push past that guarantee in terms of total compensation by the end of the year. Hunt’s recall also carried additional, albeit marginal long-term financial benefits, as he is credited for the games in which he was a healthy scratch for the purposes of his post-career pension.

Now 30 years old, Hunt remains in the prime of what has been an admirable pro career. Hunt worked his way up from the AHL to the NHL, becoming a full-time player as the 2020s began. Hunt got into a career-high 76 NHL games for the New York Rangers in 2021-22, scoring a career-high 17 points. Hunt bounced around a bit after that season, returning to the AHL on a mostly full-time basis for 2024-25 in Calgary.

A strong year with the Wranglers (point-per-game in 49 games) helped Hunt climb the Flames’ call-up priority list, and he skated in a total of five NHL games last season, notching three assists. Now back in the AHL, Hunt will likely resume his status as one of the team’s most reliable scorers with the hope of earning another call-up as the season progresses.

Tampa Bay Lightning Place Victor Hedman On IR, Recall Declan Carlile

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that defenseman Victor Hedman has been placed on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, the club has recalled blueliner Declan Carlile from their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.

Hedman’s placement on IR comes as the latest in a long line of defensive injuries the club has had to contend with so far in 2025-26. Tampa has been forced to utilize a large portion of its defensive depth chart stretching down into Syracuse, and as a result, multiple Crunch blueliners, including Carlile, have received NHL games this season.

Carlile played in his first NHL game of the year on Nov. 18 and was with the Lightning playing games up until earlier this month. His most recent NHL game for the club came on Dec. 4.

Despite a defensive group that has been ravaged by injuries, the Lightning have been extremely successful this season. Relying on a patchwork group of defenders hasn’t slowed them down one bit and the team won seven of the nine NHL games Carlile has played in this season.

A 25-year-old undrafted blueliner, Carlile is a scouting and development success story for the Lightning organization. They plucked him out of the NCAA’s Merrimack College after his third season playing NCAA hockey, and he grew into a reliable top-four AHL defenseman during his time in Syracuse. Carlile got into his first NHL game in 2023-24 and has steadily climbed up the Lightning’s organizational ranks to become a higher-priority call-up option as the years have gone on.

Carlile’s development into a reliable call-up option is coming at a great time for the player. The two-year contract extension Carlile signed in June 2024 is set to expire at the end of this season, and the blueliner has set himself up to potentially receive a hefty AHL guarantee on his next deal. Carlile is currently owed a $350K guarantee for 2025-26, and if he can continue earning call-ups and NHL games, he could make a legitimate push to earn a one-way deal as a free agent this upcoming summer.

As for Hedman, he’s set to be sidelined once again in what has been an injury-plagued 2025-26 season. Hedman missed 12 games with an undisclosed injury, and it is unclear at this time whether Hedman’s IR placement today is related to the injury he was dealing with for most of November.

With that said, it’s hardly a good sign that Hedman, now 34 years old, is dealing with persistent injury issues given how healthy and crucial to the Lightning’s success he’s been throughout his Hall of Fame career.

East Injury Notes: Jenner, Drouin, Maple Leafs

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Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner will return to the ice tonight against the Ottawa Senators after an injury cost him a month of hockey. Team reporter Jeff Svoboda relayed word from Columbus Head Coach Dean Evason, who confirmed to the media today that Jenner would be returning. Jenner hasn’t played since Nov. 11 due to an upper-body injury.

Jenner’s return to the Blue Jackets’ lineup comes at an important time. Columbus has lost three straight games and needs to get back into the win column quickly if they’re going to keep pace in the Eastern Conference’s tight playoff race. Getting Jenner back while the team is set to play a key Eastern Conference opponent, who they could feasibly be in the running against for a Wild Card spot later in the season, makes today’s news all the more positive for the Blue Jackets. Jenner scored 10 points in 16 games before his injury and was averaging 16:06 time on ice per game, including usage on both sides of special teams.

Other injury notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Hockey News’ Stefen Rosner reported today that New York Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin was on the ice for the team’s morning skate. Per Rosner, this is Drouin’s first time skating back with the team since he took warmups before the team’s game against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 4. Drouin has been out with a back injury since that point, and has so far missed four games. The veteran forward has three goals and 15 points in 26 games so far this season and is playing out the first year of the two-year, $4MM AAV free agent pact that brought him to Long Island.
  • Two notable injury updates emerged from Toronto Maple Leafs morning skate today. First, TSN and The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that Joseph Woll hit the ice today for the first time since his injury last week. While it’s unclear how close he is to a return to the lineup, today’s news represents a positive development in his recovery from the lower-body injury that landed him on IR. In addition to Woll, defenseman Morgan Rielly was spotted at morning skate, per The Hockey News’ David Alter. Rielly missed Toronto’s last practice with an illness, but appears to be back to game readiness. Rielly is Toronto’s No. 1 defenseman, averaging 22 minutes per night with 22 points in 28 games this season.

Capitals Place Ryan Leonard And Charlie Lindgren On IR, Recall Two

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12/11/2025: The Capitals issued an official update to Leonard’s status today, writing that Leonard “sustained a shoulder injury” during the Dec. 5 game against the Ducks, and that “his projected recovery time is approximately 3-4 weeks.” The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber called it a “positive update” for the Capitals, due to the fact that it does not appear Leonard will need surgery.

12/7/2025: The Washington Capitals this morning announced a series of transactions: they have placed forward Ryan Leonard and netminder Charlie Lindgren on IR, and recalled forward Bogdan Trineyev and goalie Clay Stevenson from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

Both IR placements are retroactive to Friday, meaning the earliest they’ll be able to return is Dec. 12.

The biggest name in these transactions is that of Leonard, the No. 8 overall pick at the 2023 draft and one of the Capitals’ top young players. Leonard was on the wrong end of a hit from Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba in the team’s game Dec. 5, and appears to have suffered an upper-body injury as a result. Head coach Spencer Carbery said today that Leonard will miss “an extended period of time” with his injury.

Since the game, members of the Capitals, including Carbery and star forward Tom Wilson, have expressed frustration at Trouba’s hit on Leonard. Carbery said today of the hit: “it looks old school to me, like hunting a player that’s in a vulnerable spot.”

Wilson was critical of Trouba, saying the Ducks veteran “knows exactly what he was doing” and adding that Leonard was “in a vulnerable spot” when he was hit. Wilson has himself been suspended multiple times in the past for illegal checks, including a 20-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head delivered in a 2018 preseason contest.

Losing Leonard to IR as a result of Trouba’s hit is an unfortunate development for the Capitals. The rookie has impressed to start 2025-26, scoring 18 points in 29 games. His blend of competitiveness and skill is one many teams covet, and a combination of traits the Capitals have benefited from greatly whenever he’s been on the ice.

The forward the Capitals recalled to fill Leonard’s spot on the roster, Trineyev, isn’t likely going to be able to match what Leonard is able to contribute on a nightly basis. The 23-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut. He scored 22 points in 62 AHL games last season, but has seen his production tick upward so far this year. Trineyev has 12 points in 16 games for Hershey so far in 2025-26. Standing 6’3″, 206 pounds, Trineyev may at least be able to replace some of the physical edge Leonard provides, even if he is less likely to match Leonard’s offense.

Lindgren last played Dec. 3 and has been dealing with an upper-body injury. The 31-year-old is in his fourth season in Washington, and has established himself as a quality full-time NHLer in the American capital. He played a career-high 50 games in 2023-24, posting a .911 save percentage. His performance that season earned him a third-place Vezina Trophy vote and a fifth-place Hart Trophy vote, coming from The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber who covers the Capitals.

Lindgren hasn’t been quite as good since that point, ceding the No. 1 role in Washington to Logan Thompson. Lindgren has a .893 save percentage in 10 games this season and posted an .896 in 39 games last year. Lindgren’s replacement on the NHL roster while he’s on IR is Stevenson. Stevenson is part of a tandem with Garin Bjorklund in Hershey, and has impressed thus far in his AHL career.

He has a .910 save percentage in 11 games this season, and while he was not as good in 2024-25, he had a .922 in 36 starts as an AHL rookie in 2023-24. Stevenson has played in one career NHL game to this point, an April 17 contest last season where he made 33 saves in a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

New Jersey Devils Recall Xavier Parent

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The New Jersey Devils announced today that forward Xavier Parent has been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.

In a corresponding move, veteran forward Evgenii Dadonov, who has been out since Nov. 26 with an undisclosed injury, was placed on IR by the club. It was reported in late November that Dadonov was likely to miss an extended period of time with his injury.

The move to recall Parent gives the Devils an additional forward on its roster while Timo Meier is away from the club on a personal leave of absence. Meier’s absence leaves a hole in the Devils’ top six, specifically on the wing on the club’s first line alongside captain Nico Hischier.

On paper, it doesn’t appear Parent would be an ideal fit for such an important role, largely due to the fact that he remains a complete unknown quantity at the NHL level. The 24-year-old undrafted former QMJHL star has spent the entirety of his professional career to this point in the minor leagues, working his way up from the ECHL to, now, the NHL.

Parent began his pro career with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder in 2022, marking his entry into the wider Devils organization. (The Thunder are the Devils’ ECHL affiliate) While ECHL clubs generally act with a good degree of independence when it comes to the day-to-day hockey operations decision-making, Parent’s first pro contract was actually a two-year AHL deal with the Utica Comets.

Since the Comets’ hockey operations are run by executives who work for the Devils, (Devils AGM Dan MacKinnon serves as Comets GM) while Parent may not have occupied an NHL contract spot to begin his career, he has nonetheless spent his entire time as a pro under the watchful eye of Devils management.

Parent instantly impressed, turning a point-per-game ECHL rookie campaign into a full-time role in the AHL the following year. As an AHL rookie, Parent scored 15 goals and 45 points, earning himself an AHL contract extension for 2024-25. Parent continued his top-six production into 2024-25, earning himself an NHL entry-level deal for 2025-26.

It’s that entry-level signing, as well as Parent’s continued production, that’s earned him this recall, the first of his pro career. As a five-foot-eight undrafted winger, Parent has always battled steep odds en route to this call-up. But with the Devils in need of additional scoring, Parent placed himself in prime position to be recalled by leading Utica in scoring this season.

While it’s unclear whether Parent’s scoring ability (he has 12 points in 20 games for the Comets this season) will translate to the NHL level, his recall marks a genuine developmental success story for the Devils.

While much of the commentary regarding the Devils’ work in the AHL has been negative this season (the Comets are third-to-last in the AHL standings and are tied for the fewest goals scored), today’s recall of Parent does illustrate that there are still some positive storylines to follow in Utica.

Timo Meier Taking Personal Leave Of Absence

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The New Jersey Devils announced today that forward Timo Meier is taking a personal leave of absence to tend to a family health matter.

As is customary in situations such as these, no further detail was provided nor was a timeline on Meier’s absence noted. That’s to be expected in situations like these, where the hockey, to be frank, becomes completely secondary to whatever is going on in the player’s off-ice life.

The Devils said in their statement “The entire organization supports Timo and his family and appreciates everyone respecting their privacy at this time.”

While, as mentioned, the hockey implications are secondary in this sort of situation, it is important for us here at PHR to at least take a moment to break down the on-ice ripple effect of Meier’s absence.

The core takeaway is that the Devils’ leading scorer on a points-per-game basis, Jack Hughes, remains out with an injury, so Meier’s leave of absence only further emphasizes the importance of the other key offensive players on the Devils. The unfortunate side effect of this development is that players such as Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, and rookie Arseni Gritsyuk now have an even greater level of importance to New Jersey’s efforts in terms of scoring goals.

Meier is in the midst of a strong offensive campaign, ranking third on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 23 points in 30 games. He’s a key power forward for the Devils, with at least 50 points in each campaign since arriving in New Jersey.

Meier is slotted in on the Devils’ first line alongside Hischier at the moment, but this development will mean head coach Sheldon Keefe will need to adjust his lineup. It’s possible veteran Ondrej Palat sees a promotion into Meier’s role while Meier is away from the team, or that Keefe elects to more substantially alter his lines beyond just promoting one player.

Again, while the hockey implications of this news might appear important, for the entire Devils organization, the hockey side of things is secondary to supporting Meier as he deals with this family health matter.

Wild Reportedly Have “Significant Interest” In Kiefer Sherwood

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The Minnesota Wild have reportedly “shown significant interest” in Vancouver Canucks veteran forward Kiefer Sherwood, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith.

Sherwood, a pending unrestricted free agent, is widely expected to be dealt by the Canucks before the trade deadline next year. According to Russo and Smith, “The Canucks have shopped him around the league and originally wanted a good, young prospect.”

Smith and Russo now cite league sources who tell them the Canucks “have since changed gears” in their expectations, and “now want a good roster player and have also asked teams for a first-round pick.”

Whether the Wild remain interested in trading for Sherwood specifically at that price remains unclear. Earlier this month, we covered reporting indicating that Sherwood clearly fits the exact kind of mold of player Wild GM Bill Guerin would like to acquire.

The 30-year-old is notoriously difficult to play against, combining pest-like attributes with a real physical edge to his game.

The sandpaper in Sherwood’s game (he registered a whopping 462 hits last season) pairs with Sherwood’s more recent emergence as a goal scorer to create a really intriguing player for teams to target.

Sherwood has already scored 12 goals this season, and he had 19 goals and 40 points last year. While he’s rapidly increasing his expected asking price in free agency next summer, he’s also rapidly increasing his overall on-ice value.

As for his potential trade fit in Minnesota, it’s important to also note that there is some recent history of substantial trade talks between the Wild and Canucks. Russo and Smith in the same piece as earlier reported that “the Canucks turned down an offer from the Wild” that would have sent Wild center Marco Rossi to Vancouver at the 2025 draft. Per Russo and Smith, the offer included the No. 15 overall pick, center Aatu Raty, and netminder Arturs Silovs.

While Sherwood has gone cold in terms of scoring over the past two weeks, it’s unclear whether that will play a role in changing the leaguewide interest in his services. The trade market for established NHLers has been widely characterized as slower than usual, with few teams embracing the role as true sellers.

The fact that the Canucks appear clearly motivated to deal their unrestricted free agents, even established NHLers, makes them unique in the overall trade market landscape of the NHL right now. As a result, it’s likely that the high level of trade interest in Sherwood will likely be immune to the game-to-game fluctuations in his form.

As for where Sherwood might fit in Minnesota, the clear objective for the Wild in pursuing him would be to help address their need for more secondary scoring. Stars Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy are doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the Wild in terms of production, and they’re the only two Wild players with a double-digit goals total so far in 2025-26.

Sherwood would add a third such player to their team, and would give head coach John Hynes a player who could easily slot in on their third line, perhaps in the spot of veteran Yakov Trenin. While Trenin’s salary ($3.55MM AAV) merits more of a third-line role, Trenin has produced like a fourth-liner in Minnesota. He has eight points in 30 games this season and scored just 15 points in 76 games last year.

Whether the Wild are in enough of a need of immediate secondary scoring help to surrender what the Canucks are asking for in exchange for Sherwood is not clear at this time. For as many positive qualities Sherwood brings on the ice, trading a first-round pick as well as a “good roster player” for him is a steep price.

The Wild are already without second-round picks in each of the next two drafts thanks to prior transactions. Consequently, Guerin may need to think carefully before spending another premium draft asset on immediate help.

When it comes to acquiring Sherwood, or any other veteran player for that matter, Minnesota will need to carefully balance the value of immediate help versus the risks of depleting the resources the team’s amateur scouting department, led by Judd Brackett, will have at their disposal next year.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Buffalo Sabres Recall Isak Rosen, Place Jason Zucker On IR

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The Buffalo Sabres announced today that forward Isak Rosén has been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In a corresponding move, Buffalo placed veteran forward Jason Zucker on injured reserve.

With Zucker now out indefinitely due to an undisclosed injury, this recall presents Rosén with an extremely valuable opportunity to establish himself, finally, as a full-time NHL player.

Of the 30 skaters drafted in the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Rosén is tied for 25th in terms of career NHL games played. Despite the fact that Rosén has not developed quite as quickly as some of his peers from the 2021 draft class, most evaluators have remained optimistic about Rosén’s NHL future.

In January, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler reiterated his projection of Rosén as a potential 20-goal top-nine forward. Over the summer, Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff called Rosén “the best pure winger” in the Sabres’ system and ranked him No. 5 in the Sabres’ prospect pool.

With that said, some evaluators have been more pessimistic about Rosén’s NHL future. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman wrote in August that Rosén’s relatively slight “frame plus average compete level leaves questions on whether he can translate his skill to the NHL.”

With Zucker out indefinitely, Rosén is likely to get the chance to validate his believers and prove his doubters wrong at the NHL level. He has already begun to do so, to a limited extent, this season. Rosén spent most of November in Buffalo, skating in a total of 10 games for the Sabres. He started off well, scoring his first NHL goal in his first game of his recall. He finished his NHL stint in late November with seven points in just 10 games, a level of production that slots him in as the ninth-most productive Sabres forward so far in 2025-26.

While it’s unclear at this moment whether Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff will slot Rosén in directly to the lineup spot formerly occupied by Zucker, he’d likely be a superior offensive option to other Sabres depth forwards. Outside of his strong NHL scoring from his first recall, Rosén has also impressed at the AHL level, scoring 19 points in 13 games.

Beyond just the key on-ice implications of this recall for Rosén’s odds of becoming a full-time NHLer, this season also carries significant financial ramifications for the player. Rosen is set to turn 23 in March and is coming up on the expiry of his entry-level contract. Rosén’s entry-level deal didn’t carry any signing bonuses for 2025-26, meaning if Rosén fails to secure a lasting spot in the NHL, he’ll play most of the campaign on just his $80K AHL salary. For a player who has made at least $172.5K in each of the past two seasons of his ELC, that would represent a significant pay cut.

As a result, while Zucker’s injury was certainly unfortunate news for the Sabres as a whole, and most definitely not something Rosén is celebrating, Zucker’s absence does create a hole in the Sabres’ NHL lineup that Rosén could massively benefit from. This is potentially the opportunity for Rosén to get a long runway to prove himself at the NHL level that he’s been waiting for, and now all that’s left for him to do is to continue to produce and continue to make the most of the ice time he receives.

Photos Courtesy of Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Maple Leafs’ Bobby McMann Suspended One Game

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The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann has been suspended one game for high-sticking.

The infraction in question occurred during last night’s Maple Leafs game, when the club took on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Early in the third period, Toronto was defending a 1-0 lead, and Toronto’s Simon Benoit took down Tampa Bay’s Jack Finley with a hard, legal check. Tampa Bay forward Gage Goncalves appeared to respond to the hit by delivering his own check to Maple Leafs defenseman Dakota Mermis, who was collecting a puck in Toronto’s corner. Things escalated from that point, with a scrum breaking out near the center of the ice and Goncalves fighting Maple Leafs forward Dakota Joshua.

Goncalves was assessed a match penalty for his hit on Mermis, with the key point of controversy on the play being the apparent knee-on-knee contact of Goncalves’ hit. During the center-ice scrum that broke out as a result of Goncalves’ hit, McMann responded to a shove from Lightning forward Oliver Bjorkstrand by hitting Bjorkstrand on the top of the helmet, with some force, with his stick. McMann was assessed his own match penalty on the play.

In their video explaining their decision, the Department of Player Safety said that McMann struck Bjorkstrand’s head “with sufficient force to merit supplemental discipline.” The Department of Player Safety drew a clear distinction between the aggressive manner in which McMann lowered his stick and the conventional way a player would be expected to lower a raised stick. They also considered the intentionality of the act, stating that McMann was “in full control” of his stick and his body at all times of the incident in question. They added that McMann “simply must display more control” to ensure his stick does not strike an opposing player’s head in such a manner.

McMann has no prior history of supplemental discipline at the NHL level, which is a factor the Department takes into account. This suspension will cost McMann the chance to play in Toronto’s game on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. McMann has eight goals and 14 points across 29 games this season. He ranks seventh among Maple Leafs forwards in time on ice per game, averaging 14:19 per game with most of that being at even strength.

Colorado Avalanche Activate Gavin Brindley

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The Colorado Avalanche announced today that forward Gavin Brindley has been activated off of injured reserve.

On Dec. 3, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told the media that Brindley was ahead of schedule in his injury recovery process, and was likely to return before the conclusion of the club’s road trip. Tonight is the last game of the team’s road trip before they head home to play the Florida Panthers on Thursday, so Brindley’s activation today lines up directly with Bednar’s expectation.

Brindley last played in Colorado’s Nov. 20 contest against the New York Rangers. He sustained a lower-body injury and was designated week-to-week. Brindley’s injury ended up costing him nine games in total.

A 2023 high second-round pick, Brindley has made the most of his start to the 2025-26 season. He struggled to adjust to professional hockey last year (his first campaign as a pro since leaving the University of Michigan), scoring just six goals and 17 points in 52 AHL games. The Columbus Blue Jackets ended up trading Brindley over the summer as part of a package of assets that landed them Miles Wood and Charlie Coyle.

Still exempt from waivers, most likely expected Brindley to require some more time in the AHL before becoming a full-time NHLer. Brindley’s lackluster production in his rookie AHL campaign was seen as a sign that he might need some more time to grow his game before making an impact in the world’s top league.

Brindley beat those expectations by making the Avalanche’s NHL team out of training camp, and he has made the most of limited ice time this season. Despite averaging just 9:17 time on ice per game, including very little special teams usage, Brindley has managed a healthy eight points in 18 games. That’s a 32-point 82-game scoring pace, a decent output for a rookie, and especially a rookie in such a limited role.

Brindley has always been credited with an exemplary compete level and work ethic, and he’s effectively leveraged those traits into concrete production so far in Colorado. While his injury may have slowed his momentum, his re-addition to the Avalanche’s healthy roster strengthens what is already one of, if not the best lineups in the NHL.

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