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Florida Panthers’ Jonah Gadjovich To Undergo Surgery, Will Miss Three Months

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Florida Panthers forward Jonah Gadjovich will undergo surgery as part of his recovery from his upper-body injury suffered on Oct. 25 against the Vegas Golden Knights, relays Katie Engleson, the Panthers’ rinkside reporter.

It’s a tough break for Gadjovich, who had played in all 10 of the Panthers’ games leading up to his injury. Gadjovich skated in just 42 regular-season games in 2024-25, but the injuries the Panthers have already suffered up front looked to have paved the way for Gadjovich to play a more regular role in 2025-26. Now, due to this injury, he’ll miss that opportunity to get to play NHL games on a more regular basis than he has had in the past.

The 27-year-old has been part of the Panthers’ back-to-back Stanley Cup championship teams, originally arriving in the organization on an AHL contract before he was signed to a full NHL deal.

He subsequently earned a two-year, one-way league minimum extension, and signed an additional two-year, one-way $905K AAV contract extension on Oct. 12. That deal included a $10K signing bonus for its first year, the first signing bonus Gadjovich has received since the standard bonuses included in his entry-level contract.

A grinder by trade, the 6’3″ winger ranks last in time-on-ice per game among all Panthers forwards this season, averaging under eight minutes per contest with no special-teams usage. He does have three assists, though, and despite his limited ice time ranks fourth among Panthers forwards in hits with 30.

Gadjovich provides a relentless, physical element to the Panthers’ fourth line, one they’ll now have to be without for the next few months. In Gadjovich’s vacated fourth-line right-wing spot, the Panthers have played forward Noah Gregor. Gregor is playing just about the same amount of ice time, although the Panthers did utilize him on the penalty kill on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.

This unfortunate injury suffered by Gadjovich does have potentially significant implications for Gregor. The 27-year-old entered the season on a PTO, and parlayed that into a one-year, two-way deal carrying a $775K NHL value and $450K AHL salary. With Gadjovich, who is Gregor’s primary competitor for NHL ice time, now sidelined for a few months, Gregor has a clear chance to play regular NHL games for the Panthers.

With that opportunity, Gregor, who has not played in the AHL since 2021, could very well earn the right to remain an NHL player for another season. By putting forward solid performances in this fourth-line NHL role, he could even position himself to once again receive a one-way contract next season. Gregor played on one-way deals from 2022-23 through 2024-25.

The Panthers have struggled with significant injuries in 2025-26, and have not looked nearly as dominant so far as a result. The loss of Gadjovich is a far more manageable one for the team to absorb compared to the injuries suffered by Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, but this is nonetheless an unfortunate development for a team that is badly in need of some positive luck when it comes to injuries.

Photos courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Kings To Activate Warren Foegele

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The Los Angeles Kings will activate forward Warren Foegele off of injured reserve tomorrow, team reporter Zach Dooley revealed today. Dooley also shared that Foegele says he’s “feeling really good” after missing almost two weeks with an upper-body injury. The Kings have an open spot on their active roster, so the Kings are not under any pressure to make an immediate corresponding roster move.

The 29-year-old winger hasn’t played since he suffered his injury early in the Kings’ Oct. 26 road win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Although Foegele had been playing a solid third-line left wing role alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore, he had struggled to find the scoresheet through ten games of the season. He has just one point to his name in 2025-26, a notably slow start for a player who set career highs in goals (24) and points (46) last season.

With scorer Andrei Kuzmenko now occupying Foegele’s former lineup spot, Dooley reports that Foegele is “expected” to return to the lineup on the Kings’ fourth line alongside Corey Perry and Alex Turcotte. If that ends up being the case, undrafted veteran forward Jeff Malott appears set to become a healthy scratch.

The 6’5″ winger earned an NHL role after a strong 2024-25 with the AHL’s Ontario Reign (he had 23 goals, 51 points in 61 games) but has just two points through 13 NHL games this season and is averaging under eight minutes of ice time per game, with zero penalty-kill contributions.

Even if Foegele isn’t scoring, the penalty kill is where he can still make valuable contributions to the Kings’ overall efforts to win games. He ranked fourth among Kings forwards in short-handed ice time per game in 2024-25, helping the Kings to a No. 8 finish in the league’s overall penalty kill success rate standings.

With Los Angeles looking to claw its way to the top of a hotly-contested Pacific Division, Foegele’s return from injury is a helpful development, further fortifying the team’s bottom-six.

Seattle Kraken To Activate Ryker Evans

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The Seattle Kraken have activated defenseman Ryker Evans off injured reserve today, per an official announcement. They also placed netminder Joey Daccord on injured reserve in a corresponding move.

Daccord sustained an upper-body injury in the team’s loss on Nov. 5, and will now be out at least a week due to this IR placement. The Kraken have carried three goalies on their roster this season, so they are uniquely prepared to absorb Daccord’s absence. While he recovers from his injury, the Kraken will rely on a pair of veterans: Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray.

A one-time Vezina Trophy finalist, Grubauer has struggled immensely in Seattle, and has played in just two games so far this season. Murray, 31, is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has also played in just two games this year, posting a .889 save percentage. Murray is playing out a one-year, $1MM deal while Grubauer has an additional season remaining on the six-year, $5.9MM AAV deal he signed in 2021.

As for Evans, this activation lines him up to play his first game of the 2025-26 season. He’s been out since the preseason with an upper-body injury. The 23-year-old 2021 second-round pick broke into the NHL as a full-time player in 2024-25. He got a run of 36 games in 2023-24, scoring just nine points despite playing nearly two minutes of ice time on the power play per game.

The Kraken’s signing of Brandon Montour from the Florida Panthers knocked Evans off of the Kraken power play, but he nonetheless managed a solid first season in the NHL, scoring 25 points in 73 games.

With Montour and Vince Dunn set to man the Kraken’s top power play units for the foreseeable future, Evans will have to find a way to maximize his effectiveness at even strength. That’s especially true seeing as his impact on the penalty kill last season was limited.

As for where he could slot into the Kraken lineup, the clearest opening would be for Evans to unseat 27-year-old Josh Mahura on the team’s third pairing. Mahura, who is also a left-shot defenseman, has two points in 13 games this season and is averaging 15:10 time-on-ice per game.

West Notes: Patera, Blackwell, Kärki

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The Vancouver Canucks announced today that netminder Jiri Patera has been recalled on an emergency basis from their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Patera, 26, has played each of the last two seasons exclusively at the AHL level, though an injury did cost him a chance to earn NHL games last season, as he was limited to just seven games played. He’s already up to five games played so far this season, posting a .894 save percentage, 3.10 goals-against average, and 1-2-2 record.

CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported on this recall in some additional detail, noting that while netminder Kevin Lankinen is not currently injured, Thatcher Demko “may need a maintenance day.” And since the Canucks have back-to-back games to play on Saturday and Sunday, recalling Patera allows the team to be cautious and give head coach Adam Foote an additional goaltender to work with in case Demko is not able to play in one of the team’s two upcoming games. Dhaliwal did also note that Demko “is not hurt.” While he hasn’t yet played for the Canucks, Patera does have some NHL experience. The 26-year-old played in eight games across two seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, posting a .902 save percentage.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The Dallas Stars might have to deal with the loss of Colin Blackwell due to an injury, reports Stars Thoughts’ Robert Tiffin. Per Tiffin, Blackwell “took a heavy shot last night in the leg/foot” and did not practice today. While there has not been any official update from the Stars, it appears entirely possible that Blackwell will miss some time due to injury. The 32-year-old veteran of over 300 NHL games isn’t much of an offensive producer (he has one point through 14 games) but has been a key contributor on the penalty kill. He leads all Stars forwards in short-handed ice time per game so far this season, and ranked second in 2024-25, just behind Sam Steel.
  • Vegas Golden Knights prospect Arttu Kärki, who ranked No. 13 in the team’s system by Elite Prospects in August, has signed a contract to transfer to Jukurit in Finland’s Liiga. The deal runs through next season, and should give the 20-year-old blueliner a more consistent place to play moving forward. The 2023 third-round pick was drafted by Vegas out of Finland’s U20 circuit, but spent the following season in the OHL. He split last season between Tappara and Assat, and now will play for his fourth Liiga team in two years. Kärki has only played in one game so far this year, a Sept. 9 victory for HIFK Helsinki over Jukurit of all teams, and Kärki scored a goal and played in just under 18 minutes of ice time. The Golden Knights maintain the exclusive rights to sign Kärki to an entry-level deal until June 1, 2027, and Elite Prospects scout Lassi Alanen wrote in August that “if everything breaks right” Kärki could “end up as a No. 5 NHL defenceman.”

Metro Notes: Panarin, Gostisbehere, Hamilton

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The New York Rangers had a difficult first month of the 2025-26 season, and the primary reason has been the team’s inability to consistently put the puck in the net. They rank last in the NHL in goals scored per game with just 2.21, and a notable reason for their struggles has been the performance of star winger Artemi Panarin. Panarin is usually the Rangers’ offensive engine, but he has just seven points in 14 games this season, with four of them coming in a single game. The Athletic’s Vince Z. Mercogliano reported on Panarin’s struggles in more detail, with Panarin telling the reporter his struggles have “really kind of snowballed.” He said “I missed training camp, had a couple (injury) issues. I wasn’t feeling right from a conditioning standpoint in the first couple games. I started getting frustrated right away, and then it kind of goes into the contract and all that stuff in my head.”

As Panarin himself noted, his contract status as a pending unrestricted free agent looms large over his 2025-26 season. Mercogliano reported that “there have been brief negotiations” between Panarin’s camp, led by Paul Theofanous, and the Rangers, but that those talks have “stalled” lately. It’s been reported previously that the Rangers are “in no rush” to make a commitment to Panarin, who at 34 years old is staring down the possibility that this could be the last big contract of his NHL career. In order for him to maximize that deal, he’ll need to step up his production. Panarin ended the 2023-24 season with 120 points, so he’s shown recently that he can be among the top scorers in the NHL. For him to position himself best for his next contract, he’ll need to find a way to rediscover that form.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has been placed on injured reserve, and that the IR placement is retroactive to Oct. 28. Gostisbehere was injured in the team’s Oct. 28 game against the Vegas Golden Knights, and hasn’t played since. The veteran was off to a strong start to the season before his injury, scoring seven points in six games. There remains no firm timeline for Gostisbehere to return, and without Gostisbehere to run the team’s top power-play unit, the team has had to rely on veteran Sean Walker, who has five points through 13 games.
  • New Jersey Devils star blueliner Dougie Hamilton left last night’s victory over the Montreal Canadiens with an injury, and no further update on Hamilton’s status was provided. Today, Devils team reporter Amanda Stein relayed word from head coach Sheldon Keefe that Hamilton remains under evaluation today, and there is at this point no additional detail on the player’s status. Hamilton is a key contributor to what has been a strong Devils team so far this season. He ranks No. 2 among Devils defensemen in ice time, just behind Luke Hughes, and is tied with Hughes for second on the team in defensive scoring with seven points in 14 games. The 32-year-old is playing out a $9MM AAV contract that runs through the 2027-28 season.

Toronto Maple Leafs Place Cayden Primeau On Waivers

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed netminder Cayden Primeau on waivers, according to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. Primeau, 26, was originally claimed off of waivers by the Maple Leafs on Oct. 6, as expected tandem goalie Joseph Woll had stepped away from the team to take a leave of absence on Sept. 23. Now, Woll has returned to the team and is nearing a full return to the NHL, a development that will, as expected, push Primeau off of the Maple Leafs’ NHL roster.

TSN’s Mark Masters reported today that Woll is going to play an AHL conditioning stint this weekend, meaning that while Primeau has been waived today, he may remain on the Maple Leafs’ NHL roster for a few more days while Woll is on his conditioning stint, assuming Primeau clears, of course.

Complicating his chances of clearing waivers is the fact that he was originally acquired by the Maple Leafs via waivers – meaning if the Carolina Hurricanes are the only team to claim Primeau, they would be free to claim him and then assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

While Primeau does come with a relatively hefty AHL price tag attached (he’s playing on a one-way, $775k deal), the Hurricanes could use some veteran support in their crease in Chicago. Their two incumbent goalies, Nikita Quapp and Amir Miftakhov,each have very little North American pro experience, so the addition of Primeau could go a long way in stabilizing that team’s goaltending situation. The Hurricanes also traded a draft pick (a 2026 seventh-rounder) to the Montreal Canadiens to acquire Primeau, so the Hurricanes may be motivated by that cost to re-add Primeau now that he’s available on waivers once again.

That’s not to say there’s no chance Primeau gets claimed by another team. While he has struggled at the NHL level in limited ice time this season (.838 save percentage in 3 games), he did post a solid .910 save percentage in 23 games in 2023-24 and looked like he was on track to become a solid backup goaltender, especially considering his track record in the AHL and in the NCAA. Another team in need of an additional goaltender could look at today’s waiver placement as an opportunity to add a goalie with some experience to their NHL roster.

Rasmus Dahlin Taking Leave Of Absence

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Buffalo Sabres captain and star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is taking a leave of absence from the team, head coach Lindy Ruff announced today. There is currently no timetable on how long Dahlin will be away from the team. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn noted that the absence is for Dahlin to return to Sweden, his home country, to be with fiancée, Carolina Matovac.

In September, Dahlin and Matovac jointly announced that Matovac had undergone a heart transplant over the summer following a traumatic health scare while travelling in Europe. In the letter, Dahlin said “this has undoubtedly been the most challenging chapter of our lives” and expressed gratitude for those who supported them at the time.

Per The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ruff told the media that “things are going well” at the moment with Matovac, but also that it was important to let Dahlin step away at this time. He added that Dahlin has “got the support of everyone on this” and that “this is bigger than hockey.”

Dahlin is one of the Sabres’ most important players, and has been since he was made the number-one overall pick at the 2018 draft by the team. He’s their captain, their number-one defenseman, and leading defensive scorer. Taking a moment to consider the hockey implications of this announcement, it appears likely that both Bowen Byram and Owen Power will be leaned on more heavily by Ruff while Dahlin is away.

Avalanche Recall Jack Ahcan, Reassign Tristen Nielsen

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Nov. 5: Nielsen was returned to AHL Colorado after making his NHL debut last night, the team announced. He skated just 5:25 of ice time, recording four hits.

Nov. 3: Amidst numerous injuries to regular lineup players, the Colorado Avalanche announced today that they have recalled forward Tristen Nielsen and defenseman Jack Ahcan from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The moves come after several updates to injured Avalanche players were reported earlier today by Guerilla Sports’ Jesse Montano: forward Gavin Brindley has been managing a concussion, Logan O’Connor is “progressing” but will remain out, and Samuel Girard is a possibility to return to the ice this weekend.

In recalling Nielsen, the Avalanche have given themselves an additional forward option to work with while O’Connor and Brindley remain injured. The Avalanche have been running an extremely inexperienced fourth line: two of the three players (Zakhar Bardakov and Taylor Makar) have played in a combined nine total career NHL games, and combine for less than 30 games of experience playing professional hockey in North America.

By recalling Nielsen, 25, the Avalanche have given head coach Jared Bednar a more experienced option to potentially pencil into his fourth line. While Nielsen doesn’t have any NHL experience just yet, he does have nearly 250 games of AHL experience, and has won a Calder Cup championship.

Nielsen also positioned himself for an early-season recall with a tremendously successful preseason performance: he tied for the lead among Avalanche forwards in goal scoring with two in his three preseason contests, to go along with one assist.

There were those in Vancouver’s media sphere who believed Nielsen had done enough in the AHL to earn a call-up in Vancouver, but the opportunity to make his NHL debut never materialized for the tenacious winger. But through his strong preseason performance and solid start to his AHL season (he ranks third on AHL Colorado with nine points in 11 games) he has put himself in a position to finally get into an NHL game in Colorado.

On defense, Girard’s lingering injury means that the team, before this recall, only had six healthy defensemen on its roster. By recalling Ahcan, they’ve given themselves a spare blueliner to provide insurance in case any of their regular blueliners is unfit to play.

With the team set to host the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow and Girard reportedly not ready to return until this weekend, keeping a seventh defenseman is an important move to ensure the Avalanche don’t get into a tough spot in case an unexpected injury or other reason for unavailability on defense were to pop up.

Ahcan, 28, is a 5’8″ left-shot defenseman bringing 279 games of AHL experience and 13 games of NHL experience to the table. Ahcan has been a quality producer from the blueline at just about every level he’s played at on a full-time basis, and he has scored at a 40-point 72-game pace over the course of his AHL career.

The Avalanche’s current third-pairing left-shot blueliner is Ilya Solovyov, a big stay-at-home defenseman who the team plucked off of waivers on Oct. 3. This recall gives Bednar the option to swap Solovyov with Ahcan should he prefer to ice a third pairing with a little less size and a little more offensive ability than it would have with Solovyov in the lineup.

Photos courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-USA TODAY Sports

Minor Transactions: 11/03/2025

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It’s not a hugely packed day on the NHL schedule, with just four games on the docket. That’s also the case outside of the NHL, where most European pro leagues aren’t playing and the AHL has just one contest – a game between the Manitoba Moose, the affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, and the Texas Stars who are the affiliate of the Dallas Stars. What has been active today, though, even without many games to be played, has been player movement outside of the NHL. There are quite a few transactions to go over from the wider world of professional hockey, so we’ll recap all the notable moves here:

  • Veteran goalie Louis Domingue, a longtime NHL backup or organizational third goalie, left KHL side Sibir Novosibirsk after just 11 games played. Per a translated copy of the team’s official announcement, Novosibirsk cited “family reasons” as the reason for Domingue’s release. The 33-year-old goalie, who has played in 144 games over the course of his NHL career, signed in Russia in July, marking his first entry into the European pro hockey circuit. His adjustment to the KHL game did not go well, as he posted an 0-9-0 record with an .892 save percentage and 3.83 goals-against average. Domingue played last season on a one-year, one-way $775K contract, and will now look to continue his career elsewhere. He has performed well as an AHL goalie throughout his time in North America, so given his level of experience and track record, a return to North America, perhaps even on an AHL contract, cannot be ruled out. A team such as the Chicago Wolves could be a fit for his services, as they could benefit from some veteran reinforcement in the crease. Their two incumbent netminders, Amir Miftakhov and Nikita Quapp, are short on AHL experience and have posted respective save percentages of .878 and .852 so far this season.
  • 2019 Anaheim Ducks first-round pick Brayden Tracey has found a place to play out the 2025-26 season, signing a one-year contract with Mora IK of HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier league. Tracey originally signed his entry-level contract in November 2019, but was unable to secure a second NHL contract after three underwhelming pro campaigns with the San Diego Gulls. He was reasonably productive, scoring 31 points in 55 games as a rookie, for example, and even earned the right to make his NHL debut. But he wasn’t retained by the team and started 2024-25 on an AHL PTO with the Bakersfield Condors, one that did not materialize into a full-time AHL deal. Tracey then split the rest of the season between Jukurit of the Finnish Liiga (scoring six points in 13 games) and Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak Extraliga, scoring eight points in 11 combined regular season and playoff games. The 6’0″ forward, still just 24 years old, heads to a Mora team that has gotten off to a slow start to the season, and they will likely look for him to help boost an offense that currently ranks fourth-to-last in goals scored in the league.
  • Former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Felix Sandstrom has left Finnish Liiga side Karpat Oulu, as his fixed-term contract with the team expired Nov. 2. Sandstrom originally signed the deal in September as part of the club’s response to an injury suffered by incumbent starter Visa Vedenpaa, who is a 2023 draft pick of the Seattle Kraken. Sandstrom didn’t have a great stretch with Karpat, going 3-6-1 with a .872 save percentage. A 2015 third-round pick of the Flyers, Sandstrom ultimately became the organization’s No. 3 goalie, playing in a total of 30 NHL games across his six-year career in North American pro hockey. Sandstrom played well enough to earn a one-way contract year for 2023-24, but the Flyers ultimately moved on from him in 2024 and he signed a one-year, two-way deal with a $450K guarantee with the Buffalo Sabres for 2024-25. Sandstrom struggled to get into games for the Rochester Americans, getting into just 19 contests, in large part due to the success of top prospect goalie Devon Levi. Now that his short-term deal in Liiga has expired, the experienced goalie will need to find another spot to continue what has been a solid pro career.
  • Another goalie who was once playing on an NHL contract was involved in player transaction news today: Hugo Alnefelt. Liiga’s HIFK confirmed that the 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick would remain with the club for the duration of the 2025-26 season after passing through the trial period of his loan. Alnefelt is contracted to Swedish side HV71, but after he went 8-16-1 with a .899 save percentage in 28 SHL games last season, the club elected to move forward with other goalies for 2025-26. HV71 worked with Alnefelt to find a place for him to get playing time in 2025-26, and they elected to loan him to HIFK in Liiga. Alnefelt has played in six games so far in Finland, posting a .889 save percentage and 2.94 goals-against average. Alnefelt was a tandem goalie for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch for three seasons, from 2021-22 through 2023-24. He posted an .895 save percentage across 86 games, and was not signed to an NHL contract extension upon the expiry of his entry-level deal, prompting his move back to Europe.
  • 2017 Detroit Red Wings fifth-round pick Cole Fraser was traded in the ECHL today, as the Worcester Railers traded the defenseman to the Cincinnati Cyclones for future considerations. The big right-shot blueliner has been in the ECHL since he signed with the Kansas City Mavericks at the conclusion of his junior career with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. Across his 288-game career in North America’s third-tier pro league, Fraser has scored 62 points and has earned a call-up to play in the AHL once. That call-up came in 2021-22, when he skated in a Nov. 14 contest for the Belleville Senators against the Utica Comets, a 4-1 loss for the Senators. Fraser played a defensive role through six games this season with the Railers, ranking second on the team in shorthanded ice time per game.
  • The ECHL’s Maine Mariners acquired forward Owen Gallatin from the Fort Wayne Komets in exchange for cash considerations, according to a team announcement. The 23-year-old is in the first full season of his professional career, having dipped his toes into pro hockey late last season after the conclusion of his NCAA career. Gallatin signed with the Komets after playing four seasons with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, including a strong junior campaign where he scored 30 points in 37 games. Gallatin’s production dipped in his senior year, and he wasn’t able to earn consistent ice time at the start of 2025-26 with Fort Wayne, leading to this early-season trade to Maine.
  • Another first-year pro player was traded in the ECHL today, with the South Carolina Stingrays acquiring forward Tanner Edwards from the Toledo Walleye. The 25-year-old was the most penalized player in the USHL in 2019-20, his lone season of USHL hockey, racking up 206 penalty minutes in just 37 games. He then played four years of college hockey, his first three with Minnesota State (where he won two CCHA conference titles) before spending his senior year with his hometown program Alaska-Anchorage. Edwards has just one pro game to his name at this point, an Oct. 25 game against the Bloomington Bison in which he registered his first pro fight.
  • There was a trade in the Czech Extraliga today, with HC Energie Karlovy Vary acquiring Jan Bambula from HC Vitkovice Ridera in exchange for forward Jan Sir. Bambula, 24, was in the midst of his second season with Vitkovice. He scored 13 points in 35 games last season and began this year with five points in 19 games before today’s trade. A speedy, offensively-oriented undersized winger, Bambula’s acquisition could boost Karlovy Vary’s offensive attack. Sir, 25, joined Karlovy Vary for 2024-25 after a five-year pro career with Bili Tygri Liberec, which was also his junior team. The 6’2″ pivot doesn’t offer the speed or offensive ability that Bambula is credited with, but brings the ability to play down the middle, additional size, and defensive versatility. He’s gone scoreless through 20 games this season, though he has been the team’s leading penalty-killing forward so far this season. While Bambula isn’t a direct replacement in that role as a winger, his speed did allow him to carve out a role on Vitkovice’s penalty kill, meaning he could end up taking Sir’s vacated spot on Karlovy Vary’s penalty kill.
  • Liiga side Ilves Tampere announced today that forwards Julius Hermonen and Joel Kerkkanen would not continue with the club upon the recent conclusion of their fixed-term contracts. Hermonen, 28, has nearly 300 games of Liiga experience, though he only managed two assists across 14 games for Ilves. He did score a goal in Champions Hockey League play, as part of a 5-0 victory over HC Kometa Brno. Kerkkanen, 26, isn’t an established quantity in Finland’s top division the way Hermonen is, with just 41 Liiga games to his name. But he has been quite successful in Finland’s second-tier Mestis, even putting together a point-per-game season in 2022-23 with JoKP. That scoring ability hasn’t translated to the Liiga level, though, and he registered just one point in his four games in Tampere.
  • Veteran Swedish netminder Jonas Gunnarsson, who was once a member of the Nashville Predators organization, signed a deal with HockeyAllsvenskan club AIK today. The 33-year-old has experience in Sweden’s second division, helping teams to promotion to the SHL on two separate occasions: 2014-15 with the Malmo Redhawks, and 2021-22 with HV71. 2021-22 was Gunnarsson’s most recent season in the Allsvenskan, and he performed very well, registering the most shutouts in the league and posting a .907 save percentage. He served as Joni Ortio’s backup for HV71 in its first year back in the SHL in 2022-23, before earning a role as a starter in Liiga with Ilves in 2023-24. He was solid in Liiga, posting a .912 save percentage in 36 games, and then spent 2024-25 with Graz in the ICEHL. Now he’s back in the league where he’s been successful in the past, and will look to stabilize an AIK goaltending situation that has been an issue for the team so far in 2025-26.
  • The SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers signed veteran forward Erik Andersson to a one-year contract, according to a team announcement. The 31-year-old winger is a defensive specialist who brings a large amount of experience in Sweden’s top league. He has played in 471 games, and while he’s only registered 74 points, he should be able to contribute on Vaxjo’s penalty kill in short order. Vaxjo’s penalty kill currently ranks fifth in the league in success rate, but with the potential for injuries, the signing of Andersson provides the team with suitable cover to be able to sustain its shorthanded success in the event that natural attrition of a long hockey season leads to regular penalty killers becoming unavailable.

West Notes: Eklund, Giles, Fink, Stadium Series

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San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund missed the team’s loss yesterday to the Detroit Red Wings with a lower-body injury, but the team is reportedly “hopeful” that Eklund will be fit to play as soon as Wednesday, per Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller. Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky told the media that Eklund has been dealing with the injury for about a week, but the fact that it “got a little bit worse” is what necessitated his removal from the lineup.

The injury did not appear to slow Eklund down much, as he had an exceptional three-game stretch to finish the month of October, scoring three goals and five points. The 2021 seventh-overall pick ranks second on the Sharks in scoring so far this season, behind only second-year sensation and emerging franchise face Macklin Celebrini. He scored a career-high 17 goals and 58 points in 77 games last season, and assuming he can stay healthy, should cruise past those totals if he can manage to sustain his early-season form.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The San Jose Sharks made a roster move today, sending forward Patrick Giles back to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. Giles, 25, was elevated to the Sharks’ NHL roster on Oct. 28 when veteran blueliner Nick Leddy was placed on injured reserve. He ultimately played in three games for the Sharks, registering his second career NHL point (and first career assist) on top prospect Sam Dickinson’s game-tying goal late in the third period of yesterday’s game. The goal was also Dickinson’s first career NHL goal and first career point. Giles played in a fourth-line role across his three games, averaging under nine minutes of ice time per game.
  • Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Guy Gadowsky announced today, per Penn State CommRadio’s Matt Becker, that star forward Aiden Fink has suffered an upper-body injury and will be out “foreseeable future.” Fink, 20, is a Nashville Predators prospect, selected in the seventh round of the 2023 draft as Hall of Fame GM David Poile’s final draft pick in charge of the club. Fink was a finalist for the Hobey Baker award last season after he scored 53 points in just 40 games, leading Penn State to its most successful season in program history. He had scored nine points through nine games this season, but now sees his momentum stopped as he’ll need to recover from this upper-body injury before he can hit the ice again.
  • The NHL announced today that the Dallas Stars will play in the 2027 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at AT&T Stadium on February 20, 2027. AT&T Stadium, located in Arlington, Texas, is the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, and has a seating capacity of 80,000. The game marks the second outdoor game hosted by the Stars in their franchise history, the first being the 2020 Winter Classic, played against Nashville at the Cotton Bowl. Per the league’s announcement, the Stars’ opponent will be announced at a later date.

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