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Re-Signing Adam Lowry Top Priority For Winnipeg Jets

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After signing star winger Kyle Connor to an eight-year contract extension, attention has shifted in Winnipeg to the status of team captain Adam Lowry. The 32-year-old veteran center is a pending unrestricted free agent and appears poised to receive a solid raise off of the $3.25MM AAV he has earned on his current contract.

On TSN’s Insider Trading segment, Darren Dreger reported that while contract talks between the Jets and Lowry’s agent (Craig Oster of Newport Sports Management) are currently at a “preliminary” stage, reaching an agreement on an extension “is now a top priority.”

With Connor now locked in, Lowry is without question the Jets’ most important remaining pending unrestricted free agent. Not only does he play a significant role as a leader and captain, Lowry’s on-ice role for the Jets is also significant. He’s consistently scored right around 35 points in each of the last three seasons, but his calling card isn’t his offense, it’s his all-around value.

Lowry was the Jets’ top penalty-killing forward last season in terms of usage, and also was an asset at the faceoff dot, winning nearly 52% of his draws. He’s been able to match up against his opponents’ top scorers and more than hold his own. When one considers the whole of what he offers the Jets, both on and off the ice, it’s easy to make the case that he’s in the upper echelon of third-line centers in the NHL.

Examining the construction of the Jets’ roster, the importance of re-signing Lowry only becomes more clear. The Jets’ other middle-six center candidates this season are Jonathan Toews, who is also a pending unrestricted free agent, and Vladislav Namestnikov, who is under contract for an additional year but is set to turn 33 in November. In other words, the Jets do not appear to have someone ready in the organizational pipeline to be able to fill the void losing Lowry would create in future seasons.

As for what Lowry could earn, the projected sharp increase of the salary cap combined with new record-setting contracts makes projecting his contract extension a more challenging exercise. Lowry is not the same caliber of player as the stars who have re-set the forward market, of course, but just as the price ranges for star players will rise, so will the price range for players expected to fill spots lower in the lineup.

AFP Analytics projects a two-year, $3.92MM AAV contract extension for Lowry, a value that, while a modest raise from his current AAV, may not be a reflection of Lowry’s current market value. He’s not in line to shatter the market, but established centers, especially ones who can make an all-around impact, are always in demand.

The Jets are expected to once again be one of the NHL’s top teams this season, and Lowry plays a key role in making their whole operation run smoothly. Based on Dreger’s report, it’s clear that the Jets understand Lowry’s importance, and have made re-signing him a top priority moving forward.

Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images

Jets Sign Kyle Connor To Eight-Year Extension

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Oct. 8: 8:37 a.m.: It will indeed be an eight-year, $96MM deal that pays Connor $41MM in signing bonuses over the life of the deal, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. The Jets have now announced the deal.

Oct. 8, 7:00 a.m.: Connor’s deal is expected to come in around the $12MM mark per season when done for a total value of $96MM, Friedman adds Wednesday. That would be the largest contract in franchise history. He’s also set to receive a full no-move clause and significant signing bonuses – something Winnipeg has never given out, not even in their landmark extensions for Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele two years ago.

Oct. 7: The Winnipeg Jets and star forward Kyle Connor have “made progress on a long-term extension,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Tuesday night. Friedman added that both Connor’s camp and the Jets are working to secure an extension before the team’s season opener on Thursday. TSN’s Darren Dreger seconded Friedman’s report, saying both sides “are getting closer to a contract extension.” At the same time, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun added that he expects the upcoming contract extension to carry an eight-year term.

While a complete agreement on a deal has thus far proved elusive, the widespread expectation has long been that Connor would re-sign with the Jets, the only NHL franchise he has ever played for. Last month, owner Mark Chipman expressed confidence that the club would be able to re-sign its star winger, even going so far as to say that he expected that a deal would be completed “sooner rather than later.”

With today’s reports from some of the game’s most connected insiders, it appears Chipman was right. While the full terms of this expected contract extension are still unknown, signing Connor to such a deal would be a significant win for the Jets organization. Despite the Jets’ consistent on-ice success, Winnipeg has long faced an uphill battle in convincing players to commit to playing there.

The Jets are owned by a committed ownership group and are managed by a hockey operations department with a consistent track record of success. They can offer players the opportunity to play in front of a die-hard fan base that is the envy of most of the league. However, despite this, the Jets have had to contend with a perception among players that Winnipeg is not a premier free agent destination, a perception that has proved frustratingly persistent.

Back in 2019, 42% of NHL players polled by ESPN listed Winnipeg as the “road city [they] dread the most.” The team has not been a significant player at the highest levels of unrestricted free agency and is reportedly listed as a standard on players’ trade protection lists.

All of that is to say that the Jets face a different player acquisition landscape compared to other NHL teams. Teams such as the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars have a favorable climate and tax situation, while others, like the New York Rangers or Los Angeles Kings, can market themselves as unique, destination cities to prospective players. Winnipeg has not been able to employ similar tactics to recruit players, instead building its Stanley Cup-contending team through a diligent draft-and-develop model combined with savvy work on the trade market.

Their model only works, though, if they are able to convince the players they draft and/or develop to remain in Winnipeg for the best years of their career, and in many recent cases, the Jets have had remarkable success doing so.

They’ve been able to re-sign franchise pillars such as Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, as well key contributors such as Neal Pionk.

With today’s reports, it seems Connor’s name will soon be added to that list of key Jets players to commit to a long-term extension with the franchise. In re-signing Connor, they’ll manage to keep their most lethal scorer, and arguably their most important forward, on their roster for eight years after this one.

Since the Jets returned to Winnipeg, just two forwards have scored more points than Connor, and just one has scored more goals. His 0.95 career points-per-game ranks first in modern Jets franchise history. Connor also owns the two highest-scoring seasons in the modern history of the Jets, including his fantastic 2024-25 when he scored a franchise-record 97 points in 82 games.

He’s one of the game’s elite play-driving wingers, and he’s a threat to score whenever he steps on the ice. He’s a consistent playoff performer as well, and is coming off of the best postseason run of his career – he scored 17 points in 13 games during the Jets’ most recent playoff run.

All of that means Connor is unlikely to come cheap. It’s difficult to project long-term contracts at the top of the market at this point, as two of the most recent big signings were impacted by unique circumstances that are not applicable to other players and situations. Minnesota Wild superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov is in some ways comparable to Connor (both are play-driving true number-one wingers) but Kaprizov was widely seen as far more of a threat to test unrestricted free agency – making the Wild all the more willing to pay whatever it took to get his signature on an extension. That resulted in a $17MM AAV, something Connor, or any other player, for that matter, appears likely to match anytime soon.

And then there is the recent re-signing of Connor McDavid with the Edmonton Oilers. McDavid is the game’s unquestioned best player, but his extension carries a two-year term and just a $12.5MM AAV. Under normal circumstances, it’d be hard for Connor to argue that he deserves to make as much – let alone more – than McDavid, but again, it was a unique circumstance. It was widely reported that McDavid opted to be paid a notable amount less than his market value in order to maximize the Oilers’ ability to field an elite team to support him.

For what it’s worth, AFP Analytics projected Connor’s next contract to be worth just north of $12MM annually, and that would seem to be an appropriate price for Connor given his abilities, the market environment, and the rising salary cap. But at this stage, the only reports are that there is serious momentum to complete a deal on both sides of the negotiation, not that there is a completed deal at this point. So until there is further reporting, all we can do is speculate on what the terms of Connor’s extension will ultimately be.

Photos courtesy of Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Snapshots: Devils Reassignments, Sharks Injuries, Lucic

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The New Jersey Devils reassigned forwards Lenni Hameenaho and Shane Lachance to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets today. The move corresponded with the team’s signing of veteran Luke Glendening earlier today. Both Hameenaho and Lachance are young forwards who appear relatively close to being NHL-ready, if they have not reached that status already. Lachance in particular had a strong preseason, but it would be surprising if both do not see NHL time at some point this season.

Lachance, 22, was traded to the Devils in March as part of the larger Trent Frederic trade, and signed with the team shortly after at the conclusion of his NCAA career with Boston University. The 22-year-old is a 6’4 winger who scored 30 points in his final 40 games in college and had two points in a two-game cameo late last season with the Comets. Lachance is the son of Scott Lachance, who has been a member of the Devils’ hockey operations department since his retirement as a player (2007-08) and currently serves as the team’s director of amateur scouting. Hameenaho, 20, was the Devils’ top pick at the 2023 draft and had 51 points in 58 games for Liiga’s Assat Pori last season.

Some more notes from around the league:

  • A slate of injury updates was reported in San Jose today, with San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng reporting that two veteran defenders, Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg, are dealing with upper-body injuries. Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka also reported that forward Egor Afanasyev and defenseman Jack Thompson are dealing with lower-body injuries and are both day-to-day. Peng added that both Orlov and Klingberg are expected to be ready to play in the team’s season-opening game on Thursday, but the same cannot be said about Afaneseyev and Thompson, as their availability for Thursday is unclear.
  • St. Louis Blues PTO signing Milan Lucic is currently dealing with a lower-body injury, and remains with the team as he works through his recovery, reports NHL.com’s Lou Korac. According to Korac, the Blues will extend Lucic’s PTO in 10-day increments as he works his way back into full health. While Lucic could still be a candidate to earn a full-time contract with the Blues, it is important to note that the 37-year-old winger has not only missed almost two full seasons of hockey, but also was not a particularly effective player even when he last played, nor did he have a notably strong preseason.

Central Notes: Hryckowian, Bäck, Toews

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The Dallas Stars announced a trio of roster moves this evening, recalling forward Justin Hryckowian from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, and sending down forward Harrison Scott and defenseman Trey Taylor. The moves aren’t a huge surprise, as Hryckowian had a very strong training camp and preseason. After such a successful rookie year in the AHL, in which Hryckowian won the AHL Rookie of the Year award with 60 points in 67 regular-season games and 18 points in 14 playoff games, it was expected that he’d find his way onto Dallas’ NHL roster in short order. He was originally reassigned to Texas two days ago, but that move was part of the Stars’ larger maneuvering to prepare a season-opening roster, and not an indication of where Hryckowian would begin his season.

In addition to Hryckowian’s recall, the Stars sent down Scott and Taylor. Both Scott and Taylor are relatively recent undrafted free agent signings the Stars made out of the NCAA, and both are entering their debut professional campaigns after late-season cameos in 2024-25. Scott, 25, is a 6’0 winger who scored 35 points in 38 games last season for the University of Maine, while Taylor, 23, is a 6’2 left-shot blueliner who had an impressive three-year run with Clarkson University. Taylor was twice named the ECAC’s top defensive defenseman and was a second-team All-American in 2025.

Other notes from the Central Division:

  • Part of the reason Hryckowian’s recall was necessary – other than Hryckowian’s own impressive training camp performance – is an injury suffered by incumbent Stars bottom-six forward Oskar Bäck. Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports relayed word from Stars coach Glen Gulutzan today, who said that Bäck would miss at least the club’s first two games and likely “another week or so.” Back scored 16 points in 73 games last season playing fourth-line minutes with second-unit penalty kill deployment. The Stars signed Adam Erne today which could help fill in for Bäck alongside the aforementioned recall of Hryckowian.
  • Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel told the media, including the Winnipeg News’ Mike McIntyre, that the team is hopeful center Jonathan Toews will be ready to play in the club’s first game of the season, which is on Thursday. The Jets placed Toews, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury, on IR with a retroactive placement date, meaning he is free to be activated at any point. It’s an important year for Toews and the Jets, as he’s currently pencilled in as the club’s second-line center after two seasons spent away from the game recovering from various health issues.

Metro Notes: Bouchard, Flyers Defense, Capitals Injuries

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The Edmonton Oilers signed Evan Bouchard just before the start of the new league year this past summer, locking their star defenseman up for the next four years on a $10.5MM AAV contract. It was a relatively expected outcome for the then-pending RFA, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that things were very close to getting a lot more interesting with Bouchard. Friedman wrote in his 32 Thoughts column today that “it’s believed the Hurricanes put together a one-year” offer sheet for Bouchard that would have come in “at a number higher than McDavid just signed for,” with the intent of the Hurricanes was to use that inflated one-year AAV to secure the player, and then “figure out an extension” afterwards.

Had the Oilers failed to re-sign Bouchard and that offer sheet proceeded, it would have been a repeat of sorts for both the Oilers and the Hurricanes. Carolina famously acquired center Jesperi Kotkaniemi using a similar tactic, signing the Finnish center from the Montreal Canadiens via an inflated-value one-year offer sheet. On the Oilers’ side, they have already lost players due to offer sheets in recent years, with Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway poached by the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 2024. But Bouchard, who is one of the league’s top offensive defensemen, would have been without a doubt the most notable offer sheet attempt since the Canadiens’ signing of Sebastian Aho in the summer of 2019, an offer Aho signed but was promptly matched by Carolina.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • In his 32 Thoughts column, Friedman also revealed that the Philadelphia Flyers are “definitely checking what’s out there on defence,” though Friedman did caution that he doesn’t believe we’ll see much early-season trade action. Flyers defenseman Cam York is currently dealing with a day-to-day injury, but it’s possible the Flyers’ attempts to add a blueliner are unrelated to that injury. The team’s third pairing at this point is set to be staffed by Adam Ginning and Noah Juulsen, two players who struggled in the preseason, so it’s possible the lackluster training camps of the two players has motivated the club to seek external reinforcements.
  • Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery told the media today, including The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber, that defensemen Matt Roy and Declan Chisholm have been cleared to play in the team’s season opener. The Capitals’ lineup from today’s practice indicates that Roy will resume his role playing next to Rasmus Sandin on the team’s third pairing, while Chisholm will remain a reserve alongside Vincent Iorio.

Alex Pietrangelo Will Not Play In 2025-26

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Oct. 7: The Golden Knights declared Pietrangelo out for the season when submitting their opening night roster, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. As such, they’ll be eligible for his full potential $8.8MM of LTIR relief, but he’s ineligible to return at any point – including the playoffs – under the league’s new LTIR rules. The out-for-season declaration, new for this season, requires approval from the league, player, and NHLPA.

Sep. 24: TSN’s Darren Dreger spoke on Pietrangelo’s comments on the network’s Insider Trading segment Tuesday and stated that the blueliner’s comments were met with “too much optimism.” Dreger said that those close to Pietrangelo noted how much effort it took for Pietrangelo to simply be able to play in games last season, a sentiment that echoes reporting surrounding fellow defenseman Shea Weber’s retirement from several years ago, which was also brought on by severe injury trouble.

Dreger said that Pietrangelo’s current recovery process is entirely focused on returning him to as much health as possible, “lifestyle-wise,” and that the defenseman “is not playing this year.” So, despite how things may have appeared based on Pietrangelo’s comments and the many reports that emerged yesterday, it does not seem at this stage that a return to the ice in 2025-26 is at all realistic.

Sep. 23: In June, the Vegas Golden Knights announced that star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was dealing with significant injury issues, to the point that Pietrangelo himself stated that the “likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play” hockey again. But today, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported that Pietrangelo elected not to undergo surgery to repair his lingering hip issue and is instead continuing a rehab program that has thus far “given him positive results.”

Wyshynski added that, despite his earlier statement, Pietrangelo would not rule out the possibility of potentially returning to play. Pietrangelo said, “Nothing is really concrete. I’m just going to continue to take it day-by-day and see where it goes,” which, while far from a confirmation that he’s looking to return to the ice, sounds considerably different from earlier this summer, when he appeared to rule out a return to play.

This past summer, it appeared Pietrangelo’s situation would be similar to that of recently-traded netminder Carey Price, whose knee issues forced a premature end to his playing career. Pietrangelo would not be the first NHL star to prioritize his long-term health over pushing for a return to the game, but today’s news indicates that he might be headed in a different direction than Price.

Should Pietrangelo ultimately recover enough to return to NHL action, it would be a significant boost to the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup hopes. Although there’s no telling at this stage to what extent the injury has sapped Pietrangelo’s playing abilities, his return would nonetheless add a blueliner with an elite résumé back into the Vegas lineup. The 35-year-old has been a number-one defenseman on two Stanley Cup-winning teams, and he has finished a season in the top five in Norris Trophy voting three times.

Pietrangelo has nearly 1,100 games of regular-season experience and has skated in 149 postseason contests. Even if his abilities are diminished compared to where they were when he was fully healthy, he’d still most likely be a highly valuable NHL contributor.

Financially, the picture becomes a little cloudier should Pietrangelo return. His $8.8MM cap hit would not, at this moment, fit into the team’s financial structure in a way that would allow them to remain cap-compliant. And with the NHL now enforcing the salary cap in the postseason, the pathway for making a potential Pietrangelo return work on the team’s balance sheet is now all the more complex.

Today’s news isn’t Pietrangelo announcing a return to play; of course, it’s just him changing his tune slightly to leave the door open for a potential return. Accordingly, since his hypothetical return is far from imminent, at the very least, Vegas’ hockey operations department will have ample time to figure out how to make it all fit.

But stepping away from the finer details of a potential Pietrangelo return, today’s news is undoubtedly a positive one for not just the Golden Knights, but hockey in general. Pietrangelo has been one of the most consistent, widely respected figures of the game’s current era. To see him hang up his skates prematurely due to injury would be an unfortunate way to end the career of one of this generation’s finest defensemen.

Photos courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez – Imagn Images

Snapshots: York, Chara, Warf

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The Philadelphia Flyers will be without Cam York to open their season, as the team announced he will begin the season on injured reserve. PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor reports York “has a lower-body issue” and while the Flyers see it as a day-to-day injury, York’s ailment has kept defenseman Dennis Gilbert on their season-opening roster. Gilbert was placed on waivers on Oct. 4 and cleared, but will now avoid reassignment back to the AHL while York recovers.

Remaining on the NHL roster despite clearing waivers has a negligible effect on Gilbert’s earnings. As he’s signed to a one-way contract, he’s owed his $850K salary regardless of which level he plays at. With that said, NHL players’ earnings are subject to escrow, while AHL players’ are not, meaning staying on the roster may actually (technically) cost Gilbert a marginal amount of money compared to what he would pocket if he was reassigned to the AHL. There are other factors to consider, such as pension credit received for every 20 games spent on an NHL roster and the additional practice time he’ll have to impress NHL coaches, that make this a valuable opportunity for Gilbert, even if it does come at the unfortunate cost of a day-to-day injury to York.

Some other notes from around the NHL:

  • The Boston Bruins announced today that former captain and Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Zdeno Chara will see his number retired and raised to the rafters of TD Garden this season. Chara ranks third all-time in scoring by a Bruins defenseman, behind only legendary blueliners Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque. “Big Z” won the Norris Trophy in 2008-09 and also played for the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, and Washington Capitals across his 1,680-game NHL career.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that team president Doug Warf has resigned after a little over one year in his position. Warf, who oversaw all business operations for the Hurricanes and their arena, Lenovo Center, was officially announced as the team’s president in July of last year. Warf re-joined the Hurricanes in that post after previously working for the team from 2000-2017, according to the team’s press release. Regarding the news, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that Warf’s resignation can be traced to “a difference in alignment” between himself and team owner Tom Dundon.

Lightning’s Scott Sabourin Suspended Four Games, J.J. Moser Suspended Two Games

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10/6/25 5:35 PM: The NHL has also issued punishments to the Lightning organization and Lightning head coach Jon Cooper “for their actions culminating in the events” of Saturday’s contest, according to an official announcement.

The Lightning have been fined $100K, while Cooper himself has been fined $25K. Both fines were levied by the NHL’s Hockey Operations department and will go to charitable causes.

10/6/25 5:15 PM: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Scott Sabourin has been suspended four games for roughing committed against Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced today.

The play in question happened early in the Lightning’s preseason game Saturday in Florida. Sabourin delivered a clean check on Ekblad behind the net, but then after the check he, as the Department of Player Safety termed it in their ruling video, “delivered an un-gloved sucker punch to the head” of Ekblad. They noted a few key aspects that prompted such a significant suspension, which has been levied on top of the game misconduct Sabourin was already assessed.

Firstly, the Department of Player Safety noted that Sabourin delivered “a forceful, ungloved punch directly to Ekblad’s face.” They also took into account the previous history between the two clubs and the situation of the game to come to the conclusion that Sabourin’s actions were “intentional” and done “for the purpose of retribution and message-sending.”

Sabourin’s suspension is notable because he is not a full-time NHL player. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Sabourin has played in just four NHL games and was originally reassigned to the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, on Oct. 1 before he was called up on Oct. 4 for the team’s preseason contest against the Panthers.

Since he is likely to be back in Syracuse to begin the season – and for an indefinite period moving forward – this suspension will likely not have a short-term impact on Sabourin’s ability to dress for games. This four-game suspension does not apply in the AHL, meaning Sabourin must be on an NHL roster for four games in order for the suspension to be considered served.

Seeing as Sabourin has just four NHL games played over the last two seasons, it’s entirely possible that the 33-year-old AHL bruiser could face a long wait until his NHL game.

This is not Sabourin’s first time receiving supplemental discipline in his professional career, though it is his first NHL suspension. In 2020, he was fined $1.9K for unsportsmanlike conduct when he squirted an opposing player with a water bottle from the bench. In the AHL, Sabourin also has some disciplinary history: he was assessed an automatic one-game suspension after receiving an instigator penalty in 2017, suspended one game in 2021, and three games in 2024.

Sabourin is not the only Lightning player who is set to miss time due to conduct stemming from the same game. Defenseman J.J. Moser also had a hearing today with the Department of Player Safety, and was levied a two-game suspension. In Moser’s case, he has earned this suspension for boarding Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist. He was, like Sabourin, also assessed a game misconduct for the play.

The play in question occurred late in the first period, when Boqvist went to retrieve a puck in the offensive zone. Moser closed in on the Panthers forward and delivered a hit that the Department of Player Safety said drove “a defenseless Boqvist dangerously into the wall.”

The Department noted that the play was not a result of a sudden movement by Boqvist that changed a would-be legal body check into an illegal one – instead they noted that there was a level of intentionality from Moser in the play. Moser has not been fined or suspended thusfar in his NHL career, which alongside the nature of the play itself may have contributed in his lighter suspension compared to Sabourin.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Minor Transactions: 10/6/25

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The deadline for NHL clubs to ready their opening-night rosters has passed, and as a result there has been quite a bit of roster maneuvering around the NHL today. While some moves are more notable, such as the handful of waiver claims made today, there are a few moves that are more minor, such as expected reassignments or previously reported injuries being made official with IR placements. We’ll keep track of those moves here:

  • In preparing their final opening-night roster that can be viewed here, the Utah Mammoth reassigned a pair of first-round picks. 2023 12th overall pick Daniil But was reassigned to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, which is where he will begin his North American professional career. Meanwhile 2024 sixth overall pick Tij Iginla was loaned back to his WHL team, the Kelowna Rockets. But is a big 6’5 winger whose KHL teammate (and fellow 2023 first-rounder) Dmitry Simashev made the Utah roster today, and it’s expected that But won’t be in the AHL for too long. As for Iginla, this season is an opportunity for him to get his development back on track after unfortunate injury luck derailed his 2024-25 campaign.
  • The Ottawa Senators reassigned the players they placed on waivers Sunday to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Making up the group is Jan Jenik, Hayden Hodgson, Arthur Kaliyev, Mads Sogaard, and Lassi Thomson. 2024 seventh-overall pick Carter Yakemchuk was reassigned to Belleville, his Sept. 29 birthdate making him eligible to play in the AHL despite being a 2024 draft pick. In addition to those reassignments, the Senators placed Drake Batherson and Tyler Kleven on IR to further prepare their final roster. Batherson has been out since Sept. 24 with an upper-body injury on a projected two-week recovery timeline, while Kleven has been out since Sept. 21 with an undisclosed injury.
  • The Minnesota Wild reassigned forward Tyler Pitlick and netminder Cal Petersen to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, today. Both players were placed on waivers yesterday and went unclaimed. Pitlick, 33, is a veteran of over 400 NHL games and scored 46 points in 59 AHL games last season for the Hartford Wolf Pack – he’ll likely be among the first players in line for a call-up in Iowa. Petersen, 30, was once a $5MM-a-year netminder for the Los Angeles Kings but did not play in the NHL in 2024-25. Signed to a one-year, $775K one-way deal, he’ll be the team’s organizational number-three netminder.
  • The Calgary Flames placed forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil on injured reserve today as part of their roster preparations, and also called up 2023 first-rounder Samuel Honzek. Huberdeau left Calgary’s preseason game at the start of the month with an undisclosed injury, and will miss at least the team’s season opener. Pospisil also exited the Flames’ Oct. 1 preseason game with an undisclosed injury, and will also miss the team’s first game at minimum. As a result, Honzek, 20, gets a spot on the roster in their absence. The 6’5 Slovak forward played his first season of North American pro hockey in 2024-25, scoring 21 points in 52 AHL games and also skating in five NHL contests.
  • The New York Rangers reassigned forward Brett Berard to AHL Hartford as part of their season-opening roster moves. Despite a solid training camp and preseason, the 23-year-old lost the battle for a middle-six role in New York to veteran Conor Sheary, a longtime favorite of first-year coach Mike Sullivan. The Rangers signed Sheary to a one-year deal earlier today. It’s a disappointing outcome for Berard, who looked to be making a real push for full-time NHL status last season. He skated in a career-high 35 NHL games, scoring 10 points to go alongside the 23 points he scored in 30 AHL contests.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs reassigned defenseman Ben Danford to the OHL’s Oshawa Generals as part of their season-opening roster preparations. Danford missed Maple Leafs training camp and preseason with a concussion, but has since been cleared for contact, paving the way for this reassignment. It’s the expected move for the 2024 31st overall pick, who is entering his fourth season of OHL duty. Danford scored 25 points in 61 games in Oshawa last season and will resume his post as one of the OHL’s top shutdown blueliners for 2025-26.
  • The Colorado Avalanche announced several roster moves to go alongside their announcement of an initial roster: Keaton Middleton, who cleared waivers today, has been reassigned to AHL Colorado, alongside Matthew Stienburg. Meanwhile Ronnie Attard, Sean Behrens, Jacob MacDonald, Logan O’Connor, and Nikita Prishchepov have been designated injured non-roster. Ilya Solovyov, who the team claimed off of waivers from the Calgary Flames last week, was also designated non-roster but he is not injured. Solovyov’s placement is due to the fact that, per the Denver Post’s Corey Masisiak, his visa to allow him to play in the United States has not yet been finalized. It should be noted that this is not an abnormal scenario for a player involved in a cross-border transaction between NHL clubs.
  • As part of their own season-opening roster moves, the Nashville Predators placed defenseman Nic Hague and forward Matthew Wood on injured reserve. Hague is out with an upper-body injury on a week-to-week timeline, while Wood is also considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Braeden Cootes Makes Canucks’ Opening Night Roster

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Oct. 6th: According to commentator John Shannon, Cootes has indeed cracked Vancouver’s opening night roster. In a somewhat wacky comparison, Cootes will become the first 18-year-old to play for the Canucks since Petr Nedvěd in 1990, who was also selected in the first round and played in the WHL for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Sep. 30th: 2025 15th-overall pick Braeden Cootes is “in the driver’s seat” to make the Vancouver Canucks’ season-opening roster, reports The Athletic’s Thomas Drance. Per Drance, Cootes’ performance this preseason and training camp has been so impressive that internally, the “conversation around him is beginning to shift materially” amongst Canucks decision-makers.

According to Drance, the team’s “internal discussion” around Cootes has shifted from whether Cootes should get early-season NHL games (a prospect Drance called “increasingly likely”) to whether he can sustain this high level all year or is best served returning to the WHL.

For those not paying close attention to Canucks training camp, this is likely to be a surprising development, as most 18-year-olds who make it onto NHL rosters are players who were one of the draft’s top handful of picks.

But keeping Cootes on their opening-night roster would not be a move without precedent. The Philadelphia Flyers played 2024 13th overall pick Jett Luchanko in four NHL games to start their 2024-25 season, and 2023 13th pick Zach Benson ended up making the Buffalo Sabres roster on a full-time basis.

There are actually quite a few parallels between Luchanko’s situation and Cootes’.

Similar to Cootes, Luchanko entered his first professional training camp as a long-shot possibility to make it onto the NHL roster, but his complete play and pro-ready qualities left the Philadelphia Flyers coaching staff extremely impressed. Rocky Thompson, then a member of the Flyers’ coaching staff, said at the time that Luchanko’s performance “opened [the] eyes” of the organization.

Cootes has generated similar sentiments in Vancouver. Although the Canucks have not been as public with their praise for Cootes as the Flyers were with Luchanko, Drance reports that the Canucks have been pleasantly surprised by just how “complete” and “mature” Cootes is – “down to his positioning and work in the faceoff circle.”

Beyond receiving similar-sounding praise at the same stage of camp one year apart, Luchanko is also a player who had a similar overall profile to Cootes. They both stand around six feet tall and 180 pounds, both registered just above point-per-game scoring rates in their draft-year CHL campaigns, and both are widely credited with having clear pro-ready qualities that are at the center of each player’s game.

As a result, it appears that Cootes is following Luchanko’s path and is likely to see NHL action despite being just 18 years old and not one of the draft’s top picks. The Canucks recently learned that forward Nils Hoglander will miss significant time due to injury, a development that only makes it likelier that the Canucks have room on their season-opening roster to keep Cootes.

Despite all of this, it remains the likeliest possibility that in a few months’ time, Cootes is back playing with his junior team. Playing in the NHL at 18 is such a difficult task, it’s only the best of the best who typically manage to hold onto a lineup spot for a full season.

While Cootes is undoubtedly an impressive, promising young player, his résumé is not at the level of the recent players who have been full-time NHL players at 18. Benson was one of the WHL’s most complete players with a lethal offensive arsenal, and Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Leo Carlsson, and Adam Fantilli were each top picks who had overwhelmingly proven themselves to be beyond their previous levels of competition. For as impressive as Cootes has been this preseason, most evaluators don’t place him at that level.

Even so, forcing his way into the roster conversation at 18 is a significant positive for both Cootes and Vancouver, and it reinforces projections of him developing into the kind of do-it-all middle-six center NHL teams routinely covet.

Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

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