Minnesota Wild Recall David Spacek
The Minnesota Wild announced today that defenseman David Spacek has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
The move gives the Wild seven healthy defensemen on their active roster. Veteran Zach Bogosian, who is normally a regular fixture on their blueline, is on IR with an undisclosed injury.
This isn’t Spacek’s first recall to the Wild’s NHL roster this season. His last recall came in December, but lasted just a day. He was also recalled in November, but didn’t dress there either, serving as a healthy scratch for two games. In total, Spacek has served as a healthy scratch for three NHL games this season, and is still awaiting the chance to make his NHL debut.
Perhaps the chance for Spacek to debut for the Wild will come on this recall. 23-year-old Daemon Hunt is currently playing on the right side of Minnesota’s third pairing, but is averaging just 12:25 time on ice per game. It’s possible head coach John Hynes might give Spacek a look in that role, seeing as Spacek is a right-shot defenseman and has been a steady two-way top-four contributor at the AHL level. In 35 AHL games this season, Spacek ranks second in scoring in Iowa with 19 points. He led Iowa blueliners in scoring last season as well, managing 31 points in 72 games.
In any case, even if Spacek once again remains a healthy scratch for this recall, he won’t leave empty-handed whenever he is reassigned back to Iowa. His entry-level deal, which is set to expire this upcoming summer, carries a $775K base salary compared to a $80K AHL salary, meaning he receives a sizable pay bump for whatever time he can spend in the NHL with the Wild.
Calgary Flames Recall Dryden Hunt
The Calgary Flames announced today that forward Dryden Hunt has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers.
The move adds a healthy 13th forward to the Flames’ roster. Hunt’s served in that role before, both throughout his professional career and during his tenure in Calgary. He was last on the NHL roster in December, dressing most recently for the club’s Dec. 2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
A 30-year-old winger, Hunt has become a key depth piece in Calgary. He’s a top scorer for the Wranglers, notching with 11 goals, 31 points in 26 games this season. Last year, he managed 49 points in 49 games. Alongside being a point-per-game AHL player, Hunt is a dependable, steady fourth-line fill-in player. He brings 237 games of NHL experience to the table, including five games of playoff experience, most recently coming in 2021-22 with the New York Rangers.
While the Flames don’t appear poised to make the playoffs this season, the wealth of experience Hunt brings helps to stabilize the bottom portion of the Flames’ roster. With Calgary considering more significant trade moves to its forward corps (Blake Coleman‘s name specifically is surfacing in trade rumors), it appears likely that down the line this season, Hunt could earn an extended stay on the NHL roster.
Seeing as he’s currently playing on a two-way contract, any NHL recall comes with a very real financial benefit for Hunt. He earns a $825K NHL salary, $400K AHL salary, and a hefty $500K total guarantee in each year of his two-year deal. With each day spent on the Flames’ NHL roster, it becomes increasingly likely Hunt will be able to surpass that $500K guarantee in terms of total compensation by the end of the season. Today’s recall will certainly help him in that pursuit.
As for what role exactly Hunt might slot into within head coach Ryan Huska’s lineup, it’s likely to be a limited one. Hunt averaged 10:36 time on ice in his two prior NHL games of 2025-26, and averaged 11:39 time on ice per game in five contests in 2024-25. It’s unlikely his deployment moving forward will deviate much from that established trend.
Winnipeg Jets Place Neal Pionk On IR, Recall Elias Salomonsson
The Winnipeg Jets announced today that they have placed defenseman Neal Pionk on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, they recalled defenseman Elias Salomonsson from their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Pionk’s IR placement is retroactive to Jan. 13.
Pionk was labelled as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury today. Pionk missed the Jets’ game last Friday with a foot injury, but there is no word at this time if Pionk’s injury news today is related to that ailment.
Losing Pionk on a week-to-week basis is a significant blow to the Jets’ hopes of climbing out of the lower rungs of the NHL standings. He’s Winnipeg’s No. 2 defenseman in terms of ice time, averaging 22:47 per game. That includes 2:48 time on ice per game on the penalty kill, the highest among Jets blueliners. He also skates 1:35 per game on the power play, quarterbacking their second unit.
As the Jets as a whole have experienced a significant year-over-year downturn, Pionk’s production has suffered. He scored 10 goals, 39 points in 2024-25 but has just eight points in 40 games this season. But even as Pionk’s offense has declined to uncharacteristically low levels this season, the Jets are still likely to find it difficult to replace what he brings to the table.
The Jets’ recall of Salomonsson from Manitoba doesn’t signal the club’s intention to utilize the young blueliner as an exact one-to-one replacement for Pionk. Instead, he’s likely to see some of Pionk’s vacated minutes, while other Jets defensemen are also likely to see a bump in ice time.
Salomonsson , 21, was a second-round pick of the Jets at the 2022 draft, and made his North American pro debut in 2024-25 in Manitoba. He became a steady top-four force for the Moose, scoring 35 points in 78 career AHL games. Salomonsson earned his first NHL recall earlier this season, skating in a total of four games. He averaged 14:43 time-on-ice, including a little over a minute per game short-handed.
Utah Mammoth Recall Kevin Rooney, Place Alexander Kerfoot On IR
The Utah Mammoth announced today that they have placed forward Alexander Kerfoot on injured reserve. He’s out with an upper-body injury on a week-to-week basis.
In a corresponding move, the club recalled forward Kevin Rooney from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.
Kerfoot left Utah’s Friday game against the St. Louis Blues after suffering the injury. This isn’t Kerfoot’s first week-to-week absence of the season. He underwent core muscle surgery in October and it cost him the start of the season. He made his 2025-26 debut on Dec. 19.
Things weren’t quite right for Kerfoot even after his original activation off of IR. He only managed one goal for one point in nine games, and he only played 10:20 time on ice per game. Kerfoot averaged 15:15 time on ice per game in 2024-25.
A key penalty killer for the Mammoth, Kerfoot has typically been good for steady middle-six production over the course of his NHL career.
He scored 45 points in the final season of the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24, but that production didn’t carry over to Utah as he took on a more defensive role.
Now slated to miss at least a few weeks, the Mammoth will turn to Rooney to fill Kerfoot’s vacated fourth-line spot in head coach Andre Tourigny’s lineup.
The 32-year-old is a veteran of over 300 NHL games and skated in 70 games for the Calgary Flames last season. He’s scored 10 points in 20 games at the AHL level this season and has a goal in his lone NHL contest of 2025-26.
Rooney is playing out a one-year, league-minimum two-way contract, one that carries a $325K AHL salary. If Rooney gets an extended look on the NHL roster as a result of Kerfoot’s absence, that run of NHL games would hold significant financial benefits for the veteran forward.
For Kerfoot, while these injuries are undoubtedly frustrating from an on-ice perspective, the financial implications of the injury are also unfortunate. Kerfoot is a pending UFA, and this injury will now set back his efforts to put together the kind of production fans grew accustomed to seeing from him in Arizona and Toronto.
Now 31 years old, Kerfoot has a chance to be one of the better center-capable players on this summer’s open market. This injury is certainly a setback, but he should still have a chance to return to the ice and string together some quality games to end his platform season on as high a note as possible.
Photos courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images
San Jose Sharks Activate John Klingberg
The San Jose Sharks announced today that defenseman John Klingberg has been activated off of injured reserve.
Klingberg missed four consecutive games with a lower-body injury. The 33-year-old has been one of the Sharks’ most heavily-used defensemen this season, tied for first among blueliners in ice time with 21:37 per game. When healthy, he’s also quarterbacked the Sharks’ top power play unit, averaging 3:25 power play time on ice per game.
After two consecutive injury-riddled seasons, this year has been a bounce-back year for Klingberg from a production standpoint. He’s scored nine goals and 16 points in 31 games, which is a 24-goal, 42-point 82-game pace.
Klingberg had scored just 42 points in the three seasons following his 47-point 2021-22 campaign, which was his final year in Dallas.
Although returns in terms of Klingberg’s defensive value have been more mixed, that’s not entirely detached from what was expected of Klingberg even in the best years of his career.
Now back to full health, Klingberg will get the chance to continue to build on his momentum this season with an eye to the summer. His one-year, $4MM contract is set to expire this summer, making him a pending unrestricted free agent.
Central Notes: Eriksson Ek, Hartman, Miller
Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek suffered a lower-body injury against the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 8, and missed his team’s game Saturday against the New York Islanders. Per The Athletic’s Joe Smith, Eriksson Ek’s injury is “considered minor,” and the team will likely have an update on his status on Monday. He’s currently out on a day-to-day timeline, and it appears unlikely that will change.
From the Wild’s perspective, they are likely counting themselves lucky that Eriksson Ek is only facing a minor absence. The 28-year-old is the Wild’s best center, a status made all the more important due to the team’s trade of Marco Rossi to the Vancouver Canucks. The trade of Rossi, who scored 60 points last season, has left the Wild somewhat thin down the middle, though the continued growth of Danila Yurov has helped. Eriksson Ek has scored 32 points in 45 games this season and leads all Wild forwards in short-handed time on ice per game.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- Dodging a significant injury to Eriksson Ek isn’t the only good fortune the Wild have received in recent days. Veteran forward Ryan Hartman temporarily left yesterday’s game against the Islanders after blocking a shot on his left ankle, but he ultimately was able to return to the game, and Wild head coach John Hynes told the media, per Smith, that Hartman “seemed okay.” Hartman ranks No. 6 among Wild forwards in time on ice per game this season, and has 11 goals, 18 points this season. The 31-year-old is under contract at a $4MM AAV through 2026-27.
- The Winnipeg Jets announced that defenseman Colin Miller left the team’s comeback victory over the New Jersey Devils with a lower-body injury. While no further update on Miller’s status has been provided to this point, it appears the 33-year-old blueliner could be set to miss some time if his injury proves to be more than a minor setback. Miller has had a healthy 2025-26 to this point, but has been in and out of the lineup as a frequent healthy scratch. Through 14 games played in 2025-26, Miller has one assist and is averaging 14:26 time on ice per game. Miller’s two-year, $1.5MM AAV contract expires at the end of the season, making him a pending UFA.
New York Rangers Reassign Anton Blidh, Recall Brennan Othmann
4:15 p.m.: The Rangers have indeed recalled Othmann to their NHL roster, according to a team announcement.
The move returns the Rangers’ 2021 first-round pick back to their NHL roster for the first time in 2026. Othmann was a healthy scratch for his final two games on the NHL roster in December, but could draw back into head coach Mike Sullivan’s lineup at some point in the near future.
It’s an extremely important season for the 23-year-old’s future in the Rangers organization. He’s a pending restricted free agent and has thus far failed to make an impact at the NHL level.
Considered a top prospect coming out of the OHL thanks to the coveted combination of offensive skill and sandpaper in his game, Othmann has had an up-and-down time in the pro ranks. He’s been a strong contributor at the AHL level.
He was an All-Star in 2023-24, his rookie season as a pro, and 83 points in 117 games. But in his 31 games at the NHL level, he’s been unable to make quite the same impact. He’s managed just two assists as an NHLer, and is still waiting on his first NHL goal.
This recall gives Othmann another chance to prove himself at the NHL level, and prove he has what it takes to remain in New York’s long-term plans moving forward.
The Athletic’s Chris Johnston included Othmann in the No. 34 slot of his trade board last week, writing that while the Rangers are “not in a position at which they feel they have to move” Othmann, they’d nonetheless consider offers for him.
2:25 p.m.: The New York Rangers announced today that veteran forward Anton Blidh has been reassigned to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The move leaves the Rangers without a healthy extra forward on their roster, but Colin Stephenson of Newsday reported that Brennan Othmann could be recalled to the Rangers at some point in the near future.
Blidh was recalled at the start of the New Year as part of the Rangers’ response to several injuries up front, most notably one suffered by captain J.T. Miller. In his recall, which lasted a little over 10 days, Blidh was dressed twice and served as a healthy scratch for three contests, including yesterday’s deflating 10-2 loss to the Boston Bruins.
In his two NHL games, Blidh averaged 7:45 time on ice. He didn’t land on the scoresheet, but tallied four hits in each contest. The 30-year-old veteran hasn’t been at the top of the list of priority call-up options since arriving in the Rangers organization in 2023, but he’s nonetheless found a way to stick around and earn a small number of call-ups.
While this most recent call-up represents two of his three total games played as a Ranger, he’s been a healthy scratch on other occasions. His physicality and work rate, as well as over 80 games of NHL experience, make him someone who the Rangers trust to fill in as a fourth liner when injuries call for it. Last April, New York signed Blidh to a two-year contract extension, one that runs through 2026-27. The deal carries a two-way structure, league-minimum NHL salary, and $385K guarantee across both years.
Reassigned today, Blidh will return to Hartford where he’s struggled to score at the same rate he put up last season. Blidh managed 19 goals, 36 points in 71 games last year, but has just seven points in 28 games this season. The Wolf Pack have struggled, as a whole, to put pucks in the net, ranking near the bottom of the AHL in goals scored in 2025-26.
Metro Notes: Konecny, Grundstrom, Wilson
Philadelphia Flyers winger Travis Konecny missed the team’s game Saturday as the result of an upper-body injury he suffered Jan. 8 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Earlier today, he was on the ice for practice, a development that was, temporarily, a good sign for his availability moving forward. But the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jackie Spiegel reported shortly afterward that Konecny left practice with an injury, and added that he “seemed to have trouble walking to the room.”
While there’s no official update from the Flyers on Konecny’s status, this reporting from their practice does cast into doubt Konecny’s likelihood of being available for the team’s game tomorrow against the Lightning. Any significant injury to Konecny would deal a massive blow to the Flyers’ competitive hopes. The 28-year-old’s 38 points in 42 games ranks second on the team behind Trevor Zegras, and his efforts have helped the Flyers amass a 22-13-8 record a little over halfway through the season. The hope, obviously, will be that Konecny’s injury scare today ends up being only something minor.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- The Flyers told reporters today that winger Carl Grundstrom missed practice with an illness, and that his availability for tomorrow’s game is questionable. Grundstrom has had a hot start to his time in Philadelphia, scoring seven goals and eight points in 17 games. Acquired as part of the trade involving Ryan Ellis’ contract in early October, Grundstrom worked his way onto the Flyers’ NHL roster with strong AHL performances and looks to have a firm grip on an NHL lineup spot thanks to his goal-scoring streak. A pending UFA making $1.8MM this season, Grundstrom has likely aided his upcoming free agent fortunes considerably in his brief stint so far with the Flyers.
- Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson, who remains out with a lower-body injury, skated in the team’s practice today with a non-contact jersey, per Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post. Consequently, Wilson is not expected to be available for Washington’s game against the Predators tonight. Wilson hasn’t played since Jan. 5 due to his injury, missing three games. The 31-year-old has 42 points in 41 games this season.
Lightning, Darren Raddysh To Wait On Extension Talks
While Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh is in the midst of the best season of his hockey career, he’ll likely need to wait just a little bit longer before he can cash in on his success.
Lightning GM Julien BriseBois told the media yesterday, including the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina, that the club and Raddysh’s representatives would wait to engage in negotiations over a potential contract extension until the end of the season.
BriseBois stated his belief that Raddysh’s play has earned the blueliner a “game-changing contract,” but felt that waiting until the end of the season would allow the club to enter negotiations with a more complete sense of how to evaluate the defenseman’s appropriate contract value.
In a season where the Lightning have dealt with a rash of injuries to their blueline, Raddysh has emerged as a key difference-maker. The 29-year-old went undrafted out of the OHL’s Erie Otters but garnered significant league interest as a free agent at the end of his junior career. He originally signed with the Chicago Blackhawks and would go on to spend over a half-decade in the AHL before he earned his first NHL call-up.
Raddysh earned four NHL games for the Lightning in 2021-22, but his real breakout came in 2022-23, when he scored 51 points in 50 games for the Syracuse Crunch.
He got into 17 NHL games that year, which paved the way for him to earn a full-time role in Tampa the following year. Raddysh scored 33 points in 82 games in his first season as a full-time NHLer, 37 points in 73 games last season, and now has 12 goals and 36 points in 36 games this season.
For as much as he’s clearly developed in his late twenties, few likely expected Raddysh to sit top-five in league scoring by a defenseman halfway through an NHL season. He’s scoring at a higher clip this season than star names such as Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin, Moritz Seider, and Miro Heiskanen, to name just a few.
Playing defense is about more than just scoring, of course, and that’s why it’s important to note that Raddysh is also playing a key all-situations role for Tampa. He’s their No. 2 defenseman by average ice time per game (21:35) and beyond just getting top power play time, he also plays a role on the penalty kill.
He’s providing Tampa with an immense amount of surplus value on his current $975K cap hit, and as BriseBois said, has clearly lined himself up for a significant contract.
Of course, it’s fair to question whether a team interested in Raddysh will be able to expect Raddysh to put up the kind of point-per-game production he’s managed halfway through this season. But even if his true talent level isn’t quite as high as where he’s ranked right now, the fact is he’s still a right-shot blueliner who managed solid scoring rates in each of the last two seasons prior to this one.
Long gone is the flat cap environment where the vast majority of NHL clubs were tightening their purse strings and showing restraint on the free agent market. With each passing extension that gets signed, the upcoming free agent class thins even further, increasing Raddysh’s earnings potential as one of the top pending UFA blueliners.
For as much as the Bolts might want to see more games before committing significant funds to Raddysh, Raddysh may also want to wait as long as possible before committing to a contract extension in Tampa, as he very well could receive the most lucrative possible offer within the bidding wars of unrestricted free agency.
In any case, both Raddysh and the Lightning have more pressing objectives than the finances of next season; most importantly, it’s returning to the top of the game’s competitive pecking order and winning a third Stanley Cup under head coach Jon Cooper. If Raddysh can manage to string together a few more months of this kind of production, and find a way to translate his scoring to the high-intensity setting of the Stanley Cup playoffs, he could further heighten his chances of landing a life-altering contract this upcoming summer.
Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Detroit Red Wings Reassign John Leonard
The Detroit Red Wings announced today that they have reassigned winger John Leonard to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
This isn’t Leonard’s first transaction of the year, as he was recalled from the AHL on Jan. 4, ending a reassignment that began Dec. 31. Leonard had an impressive December, scoring two goals and four points in seven games for Detroit.
The 27-year-old’s quality performances in that handful of NHL games, as well as his affordable league-minimum cap hit, make him a candidate to be claimed off waivers if he’s exposed to the waiver wire again this year. Leonard already cleared waivers earlier this season, but NHL rules stipulate that his waiver exemption only lasts until he plays in 10 or more cumulative NHL games, or spends 30 or more cumulative days on fan NHL roster.
With nine total NHL games played to this point in 2025-26, Leonard is just one game from once again requiring waivers to be sent down. Rather than risk Leonard reaching that point tomorrow against the Montreal Canadiens, the Red Wings have elected to send Leonard back to Grand Rapids. He was exceptional in the AHL before his original recall, scoring 32 points in just 23 games.
While it’s entirely possible that Detroit may elect at some point to return Leonard to the roster and keep him there regardless of his waiver eligibility, it seems at this point that Leonard will return for a stretch to support the Griffins. Grand Rapids plays tonight against the Texas Stars, and a win would further extend the team’s massive lead at the top of the AHL standings. The Griffins have a 29-1-1 record so far in 2025-26.
Today’s transaction has potentially put an end to Leonard’s recent stretch in the NHL, and even if he remains in the AHL for some time, his strong performance in Detroit this season has come at an important time. He’s playing out a one-year, one-way $775K contract, and his play this season suggests he stands a strong chance at once again receiving a one-way deal for next season and potentially beyond.