Snapshots: Nylander, Blues, 2026 Draft
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced tonight that star forward William Nylander would miss their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a lower-body injury, and is considered day-to-day. That Nylander is managing a lower-body injury isn’t a new development; he was previously reported to be a game-time decision for the team’s game yesterday against the Calgary Flames, and the Swedish star ultimately played in that game. He wasn’t able to play tonight against Columbus, though, dealing a significant blow to the Maple Leafs’ hopes of winning the game.
Nylander has been the Maple Leafs’ best player so far this season, leading the club in scoring with 15 points in just nine games played. The offseason departure of Mitch Marner turned up the pressure on Nylander to keep the Maple Leafs’ high-powered offense running, and so far he’s done so, picking up the slack as captain Auston Matthews (eight points through 10 games) navigates a slower-than-usual start to the season. The injury that has kept him out of tonight’s game appears to be a relatively minor one, which is certainly good news for a Toronto team that will need Nylander on the ice if they’re going to build momentum in the Atlantic Division playoff race.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- The St. Louis Blues have suffered a slow start to their 2025-26 season, going 3-6-1 in their first 10 games. Things have been especially bad recently, as the club blew a four-goal lead to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 25, lost 6-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 27, and just yesterday wasted a strong start and surrendered four unanswered goals en route to a 5-2 loss to Detroit. With the Blues playing particularly poor hockey of late, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford wrote that the Blues “are broken” and “need a lot to change,” but noted that due to the contracts owed to key players, it’s unlikely any change will come to the team’s core. Head coach Jim Montgomery expressed optimism that the Blues will be able to turn things around, but if the current trends continue, they could be one of the more interesting teams to watch once we get closer to peak trade season.
- While the upcoming NHL Entry Draft feels quite far away, the work teams put into preparing for the all-important event is a year-round process. As a result, it’s not too early to begin contemplating which prospects might go at the top of the draft. Earlier this month, NHL Central Scouting released its preliminary watchlist, and today, one of the more prominent public-facing scouts, Corey Pronman of The Athletic, released an update to his 2026 draft rankings. Penn State star Gavin McKenna retained his spot at the top of the rankings, followed by USHL forward Tynan Lawrence and North Dakota defenseman Keaton Verhoeff to round out the top three. A notable faller in Pronman’s early-season rankings has been big OHL forward Ryan Roobroeck, who was ranked No. 3 in Pronman’s September list but fell to No. 14 in October. That fall appears to be related to his work rate, with Pronman writing that despite standing 6’4″, 215 pounds, Roobroeck “doesn’t play hard, and the consistency in his effort level is a question.”
Minor Transactions: 10/29/2025
Yesterday was a notably busy day for hockey, as all 32 NHL clubs took the ice as part of the league’s “Frozen Frenzy” programming. As a result, today’s calendar of games is light, with just one NHL game to be played: the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets. With that said, that doesn’t mean there aren’t games played in the wider world of pro hockey – the AHL has 12 games set to be played tonight, and numerous European pro leagues have also had games today.
Player movement outside the NHL has a similarly high level of activity, and here we’ll run down the notable moves of the past few days from around the world of professional hockey:
- 170-game NHL veteran Nic Petan terminated his contract with Swiss pro side HC Ambri-Piotta today, ending a 15-game stint with the club that has gone very poorly. The 30-year-old signed a two-year deal with Ambri-Piotta this past summer with the expectation that he’d be one of the team’s most relied-upon offensive generators. But through 15 games, Petan has registered only four points. It wasn’t an issue of ice time, as he’s averaged nearly 17 minutes of time per game and two minutes of power-play time per game, both he and Ambri-Piotta as a whole have struggled immensely to put the puck in the net. That hasn’t been a problem for Petan for most of his (non-NHL) pro career, as he’s a former AHL All-Star who once led the entire CHL in scoring. He has 289 points in 296 career AHL games and was one of the AHL’s highest-paid two-way players, with a $550K AHL salary when he last played, but that sterling track record wasn’t able to translate to Switzerland. He’ll now look for a new landing spot to continue his pro career.
- Lada Togliatti, one of the KHL’s worst teams so far this season, made a few player moves today. First, they placed 23-year-old Canadian forward Joshua Lawrence on waivers, placing in question the player’s KHL future. Lawrence, who is the brother of Tynan Lawrence, one of the top-ranked prospects for the 2026 draft, is an undrafted player who worked his way up the European pro hockey ladder to reach the KHL. After his time as a star scorer in the QMJHL ended, Lawrence played almost two highly-successful seasons in the Swiss second division before getting the chance to finish 2024-25 in Liiga with Lahti Pelicans. his 13 points in 22 games for the Pelicans earned him a shot in the KHL with Lada, but after scoring just two points in 14 games, he’s been waived.
- To reinforce their forward group in the absence of Lawrence, Lada signed two KHL veterans to one-year contracts: Nikita Setdikov and Anton Burdasov. Setdikov, 30, brings nearly 300 games of KHL experience to the table, and he most recently played for Barys Astana, scoring 18 points in 51 games. The year prior, he was one of the top scorers for Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik, scoring 30 points in 57 games. Burdasov, 34, has 663 games of KHL experience, and is a Gagarin Cup Champion as well as a former All-Star. He also played in Astana last season to limited success, but was a high-end, near point-per-game scorer as recently as 2022-23.
- Former Boston Bruins farmhand Zane McIntyre has returned to the North American pro game after spending a year overseas. The 33-year-old netminder has signed a contract with the ECHL’s Tahoe Knight Monsters, per the league’s official transactions report. McIntyre spent last season with the Straubing Tigers of the German DEL, playing in 28 games to an .889 save percentage and 2.67 goals-against average. Among the 23 DEL goalies with at least 15 games played last year, McIntyre’s .889 save percentage ranked 22nd. With this newly-signed contract, he’s returning to the North American minor leagues, where he’s had quite a bit more success. A former top NCAA netminder, McIntyre has played in 300 AHL games and is a former All-Star. Since expected starter Jordan Papirny was recalled to the Henderson Silver Knights yesterday, McIntyre could get the chance to hold down the fort for the Knight Monsters for as long as Papirny remains in the AHL.
- Former New York Rangers prospect Nico Gross signed a three-year contract extension with his current club, HC Davos of the Swiss NL. A 2018 fourth-rounder of the Rangers, Gross hasn’t played pro hockey in North America to this point in his career, but appears to have settled in nicely in the top pro league of his home country. Gross won two NL titles with EV Zug in 2021 and 2022 before transferring to Davos in advance of the 2024-25 season. This extension comes at a somewhat curious time for Gross. His ice time has declined sharply so far in 2025-26 – Gross is averaging 14:28 time-on-ice per game so far this season, per the NL’s stats page, but averaged 16:59 time-on-ice per game last season.
- Former Chicago Blackhawks prospect Milton Oscarson signed a three-year extension with Örebro HK of the SHL, according to a team announcement. The Blackhawks spent a sixth-round pick at the 2023 entry draft to acquire him, but after he wasn’t able to develop offensively at the SHL level, they elected to let their exclusive rights to sign him expire this past summer. Although he hasn’t scored much, Oscarson has been a regular player for Örebro for more than three years now, and is currently playing 14:10 per game for the team, good for seventh among Örebro forwards.
- After playing just six games for the team, the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs traded 2007-born defenseman Caden Campion to the WHL’s Wenatchee Wild in exchange for an eighth-round selection at the 2029 WHL Prospects Draft. The 6’1 right-shot blueliner spent last season in the BCHL, splitting his year between the Chilliwack Chiefs and Alberni Valley Bulldogs. Drafted 29th overall in the 2023 USHL Futures Draft, Campion’s WHL career hasn’t started off in ideal fashion, but this trade provides him with the chance to get a fresh start with a new team.
- Gavin Gould, a two-time WCHA Champion with the Michigan Tech Huskies, has retired from pro hockey, per a social media announcement. Gould, 29, won back-to-back conference titles in his first two years playing college hockey but wasn’t able to build on that momentum in his final two years in the NCAA. He began his pro career in 2021 in the ECHL, and bounced between five different ECHL clubs across his nearly 200-game career. Gould’s most productive stretch came in 2021-22, when he scored 26 points in 23 games for the Allen Americans after a mid-season move from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
Injury Notes: Gaudette, Greenway, Garland
San Jose Sharks winger Adam Gaudette suffered an upper-body injury in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, and today Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller reported that Gaudette is likely to miss at least a week of action. Since he was unable to play in the Sharks’ loss yesterday against the Los Angeles Kings, the timeline reported by Miller puts Gaudette in place to miss three or four games.
Gaudette, 29, is in his first season as a Shark after signing a two-year, $2MM AAV contract with the club this past summer. The 2017-18 Hobey Baker Award winner cashed in after a career year in 2024-25, one in which he scored 19 goals playing a full season of NHL action with the Ottawa Senators. Gaudette was a full-time AHLer for 2022-23 and 2023-24, but earned his way back to full-time NHL duty and appears to have a lineup spot solidly locked down in San Jose. Gaudette played third-line right wing on a line with rookie Michael Misa and 23-year-old Collin Graf on Sunday, and in Gaudette’s absence yesterday the Sharks put veteran Jeff Skinner in that role, one he’s likely to occupy for a handful more games at least.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Buffalo Sabres forward Jordan Greenway is expected to return from injury and make his season debut tomorrow in Boston, and today Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that his return from injury might come alongside a significant change in deployment. As relayed by The Buffalo News’ Rachel Lenzi, Ruff indicated that Greenway may get a look at the center position. Greenway has recently practiced in the team’s third-line center spot, one previously occupied by Noah Ostlund. While Greenway has largely played the wing throughout his NHL career, it appears the Sabres will try to see if he can build some momentum and hit the ground running as a pivot playing between Jack Quinn and Jason Zucker.
- The Vancouver Canucks appear to have avoided the worst with an injury to winger Conor Garland, as CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported today that Garland’s injury is “not serious.” He did add that Garland “is not going” on the team’s upcoming three-game Central Division road trip. A loss of Garland for any timeframe is a major blow to the Canucks’ game-to-game competitive hopes: the 29-year-old leads the team with 11 points in 11 games this season and has been a reliable middle-six scorer throughout his time in Vancouver.
Dallas Stars Recall Kyle Capobianco, Activate Oskar Bäck
The Dallas Stars announced today that defenseman Kyle Capobianco has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. In addition, the club also announced that forward Oskar Bäck has been activated off of injured reserve, putting him in position to potentially make his 2025-26 debut tonight in Nashville.
The Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos noted that the Stars have likely shifted injured blueliner Nils Lundkvist to LTIR to allow for the necessary financial flexibility to make the Capobianco recall possible.
With center Roope Hintz injured during last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Bäck’s return from injury comes at a useful time for the Stars. With Matt Duchene dealing with his own injury, the Stars are missing two key forwards, and the trickle-down effect of those injuries could mean Bäck receives more minutes than he might otherwise get if that pair of players was fully healthy.
The 6’4″, 207-pound 25-year-old center was a 2018 third-round pick of the Stars who developed in his native Sweden until 2021-22, when he crossed the Atlantic to join AHL Texas. After three full campaigns in Cedar Park, Bäck broke into the NHL as a full-timer last season, scoring four goals and 16 points in 73 games while playing 11:42 time-on-ice per game. Last season, Bäck was also the club’s No. 3 penalty-killing forward in terms of short-handed ice time per game.
The recall of Capobianco, is, unlike the move to activate Bäck, less about filling an immediate lineup need and more about providing head coach Glen Gulutzan with additional options. With Lundkvist’s injury, the Stars had just six defensemen on their active roster, so adding Capobianco gives Gulutzan an experienced No. 7 to work with.
The 28-year-old left-shot blueliner has 74 games of NHL experience, but just one game over the last two campaigns. He was one of the top blueliners in the AHL in his debut season with AHL Texas, though, scoring 50 points in 64 regular-season games and 13 points in 14 playoff games.
Since Texas doesn’t play until Nov. 2 in Winnipeg, the Stars have the flexibility to keep Capobianco on their NHL roster for most of the week without impacting his availability for his regular role with the AHL Stars.
The recall won’t have an immediate financial benefit for Capobianco, though, as the one-way nature of his contract means he receives the same salary as the NHL as in the AHL. The changes to escrow withholding for this season that were reported earlier this month by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, make it so that at the very least, this recall won’t cost Capobianco any money, whereas a similar move may have done so in past seasons.
Snapshots: Strome, Devils, Liiga
The Washington Capitals’ solid early-season momentum was placed at risk last night as first-line center Dylan Strome suffered a lower-body injury. After the game, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery called the injury “concerning,” and The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson noted that while Strome will be evaluated today, the fact that the Capitals have an off day means that we likely won’t receive an update on Strome’s status until Monday at the earliest.
Carbery is likely far from the only person concerned at the prospect of losing Strome for a period of time due to injury. While franchise face Alex Ovechkin set all-time records last season, it was Strome who quietly led the club in scoring with a career-best 82 points in 82 games. The 2015 third-overall pick ranks second in scoring on Washington this season, behind only rugged forward Tom Wilson. Should Strome miss time, the Capitals may elect to shift Connor McMichael back to the center position, where he has spent time previously. He dressed as the club’s second-line left winger yesterday on a line centered by Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe issued updates today on two injured players: Juho Lammikko and Cody Glass. As relayed by team reporter Amanda Stein, Lammikko will travel with the Devils on their current western road trip, while Glass will not travel. We previously covered how Lammikko had returned to practice and was nearing a return to the ice, as well as news that Glass would be out “multiple weeks.” Lammikko signed a one-year, one-way $800K deal with New Jersey to return to North America after spending three seasons with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League. He hasn’t yet made his Devils debut, but Lammikko could very well slide into Glass’ vacated bottom-six center role once he’s healthy. While Lammikko doesn’t have the pedigree as a scorer that Glass has, he does bring over 150 games of NHL experience to the table as well as a 51% faceoff win rate in his most recent NHL campaign.
- Some interesting news broke in Finland this morning, as journalist Timo Kunnari of Iltalehti reported that the country’s pro hockey circuit could undergo some significant changes in the short and medium-term future. According to Kunnari, some of the country’s biggest pro clubs, including Tappara, HIFK, and TPS (based out of the major metropolitan cities of Tampere, Helsinki, and Turku, respectively) are reportedly in advanced talks to form their own professional league and break away from the established Liiga at some point in the short-to-medium term future. While this news has not been officially announced by any team, and appears to be more of a credible rumor at this stage than confirmed fact, such a move would be a significant development with potentially far-reaching implications for the business of hockey in one of the world’s most passionate hockey nations.
Central Notes: Hintz, Lowry, Bertuzzi
While the Dallas Stars managed to secure a victory over one of the NHL’s best teams last night, their win wasn’t without cost: center Roope Hintz left the contest with an injury, and the club did not issue an update to his status other than the fact that he is still being evaluated, per Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports. The injury occurred when Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall delivered a heavy hit on Hintz – Hall was assessed a two-minute minor for charging on the play.
Should Hintz miss any time due to this injury, it would be a significant blow to the Stars, who are already dealing with injuries to other key veteran forwards. Last season’s leading scorer Matt Duchene has not played since Oct. 18 due to injury, while captain Jamie Benn hasn’t even made his season debut due to a collapsed lung. Depth forward Oskar Back, who was a full-time NHLer in Dallas last season, also hasn’t yet made his 2025-26 debut due to an undisclosed injury. Those injuries have contributed to the Stars’ somewhat underwhelming start to the season. Expected to be one of the NHL’s most dominant teams, they have a 4-3-1 record eight games into Glen Gulutzan’s tenure as head coach.
Other notes from the Central Division:
- The Winnipeg Jets have been without their captain Adam Lowry for the early part of the season due to an injury, but it appears that absence is drawing to a close. TSN’s Danielle Bain reported yesterday that Lowry was back at practice in a regular jersey, and seemed “to be inching closer to a return.” It’s an important year for Lowry in terms of his Jets future. The respected all-around center is playing out the final year of a five-year, $3.25MM AAV pact, and could end up receiving a notable pay raise. It was previously reported that the Jets, who have managed to re-sign several key contributors over the last few years (including Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Neal Pionk) have made re-signing Lowry a top priority.
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Bertuzzi is dealing with a day-to-day injury and is questionable to play in tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, reports Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. This development positions Bertuzzi to potentially miss a game this season for the first time, as he’s skated in all eight of the Blackhawks’ contests up to this point. The 30-year-old has played a notable role in helping Chicago get off to a fast start to the 2025-26 season, beating most industry projections en route to a solid 4-2-2 record. Bertuzzi has scored two goals and six points through eight games, and combined with the recent trade of Lukas Reichel to the Vancouver Canucks, this injury is only further testing the Blackhawks’ forward depth, although there is a chance Bertuzzi is able to play in tonight’s game.
Metro Notes: Hurricanes, Rempe, Trocheck
The Carolina Hurricanes issued several injury updates yesterday, via team reporter Walt Ruff. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated that injured defenseman K’Andre Miller is considered “more day-to-day” than out long-term, while injured forwards Eric Robinson and William Carrier “won’t be coming back anytime soon.” Miller and Carrier are managing lower-body injuries, while Robinson is dealing with an upper-body ailment. Miller last played Oct. 20 against the Vegas Golden Knights, while both Carrier and Robinson last played Oct. 23.
The Hurricanes have gotten off to an exceptional start to their 2025-26 campaign, but these injuries threaten their significant positive momentum. Carolina dropped yesterday’s contest against the Stars by a 3-2 score. The loss of the aforementioned trio of players, combined with other injuries to Shayne Gostisbehere, Jaccob Slavin, and Pyotr Kochetkov, has tested Carolina’s depth to an extreme degree very early into this season. As a result of these absences, the Hurricanes have been forced to rely on players with little NHL experience to fill roles in their lineup: call-ups Joel Nystrom, Bradly Nadeau, and Charles-Alexis Legault had just three games of NHL experience combined before the start of 2025-26.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- Injured New York Rangers pivot Vincent Trocheck isn’t a candidate to return any time soon, head coach Mike Sullivan told the media (including the New York Post’s Mollie Walker) yesterday. Trocheck remains on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with an upper-body injury, isn’t skating yet, and Sullivan directly said his return to play “isn’t imminent.” The Rangers have shifted veteran Mika Zibanejad back to his natural center position in response to Trocheck’s absence, and Zibanejad has started to heat up, scoring two goals and four points in his last three games. For the Rangers to make a serious push to gain ground in the Metropolitan Division early this season, Zibanejad, 32, will need to continue to produce and prove that he can handle some of the responsibilities left behind by Trocheck.
- Physical forward Matt Rempe will not travel to his hometown of Calgary for the Rangers’ upcoming game as he is still being evaluated for an upper-body injury, relays Newsday’s Colin Stephenson. Rempe appeared to suffer the injury in the process or aftermath of fighting Ryan Reaves during the Rangers’ Oct. 23 loss to the San Jose Sharks. The 6’9″, 261-pounder had played a steady fourth-line role in all of the Rangers’ nine games so far this season, and in response to his injury, the club called up 2021 first-rounder Brennan Othmann, who himself has been the subject of recent trade buzz.
Calgary Flames Assign Dryden Hunt To AHL
Saturday: Hunt’s stint on Calgary’s roster was short-lived as the team announced that they have sent Hunt back to the Wranglers. He didn’t wind up playing against Winnipeg. They’re now back to carrying an open roster spot.
Thursday: The Calgary Flames announced today that they recalled forward Dryden Hunt from their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. The move brings the Flames to a full 23-man active roster, with the full slate of 14 forwards and seven defensemen.
Today’s recall puts Hunt in a position to potentially make his 2024-25 debut tomorrow when the Flames play the Winnipeg Jets. The Flames have gotten off to an extremely poor start to 2025-26, sitting 31st in the NHL with a 1-6-1 record through eight games. Should the San Jose Sharks defeat the New York Rangers tonight, the Flames will end the day in last place in the NHL.
The most significant reason behind their struggles has been a lack of offense – they’ve scored just 13 goals so far this season. They’re generating a fair number of shots (they took 37 in last night’s overtime loss to Montreal). Still, they simply have not been able to generate high-quality looks or reliably finish the high-end chances they do manage to generate.
Recalling Hunt, 29, won’t solve those problems on its own. Although Hunt has proven to be a quality AHL scorer (he has 251 points in 322 career games) he hasn’t translated that scoring ability to the NHL level. He has one season as a full-time NHL regular on his résumé, coming in 2021-22 with the New York Rangers. But even though he won’t solve the Flames’ offensive woes on his own, there are definitely worse players a team could call up to help fill a bottom-six role.
Hunt has gotten off to a fast start in the AHL this season (six points in just four games) and does bring 235 games of NHL experience. He can be a tenacious player and has worked his way from being an undrafted WHL star and someone who was playing in the ECHL as a rookie pro into a solid NHL/AHL bubble forward.
2023 first-round pick Samuel Honzek has not registered a point through six games this season, and after managing just 21 points in 52 AHL games last season, it’s possible he could be well-served getting a stint in the AHL to help build his confidence as a pro scorer. If the Flames take that view, Hunt could land on the team’s third line in Honzek’s spot, on a line with Morgan Frost and Connor Zary.
Although this recall has some financial implications for Hunt, the raise he’ll receive for his time spent on the NHL roster compared to his AHL salary will be relatively limited. Hunt’s two-way contract has one of the higher AHL salaries in the league, containing a $450K base salary and $500K total guarantee. Depending on how long he can manage to spend on the NHL roster, this recall could go a long way in helping Hunt surpass his $500K guarantee by the time the season concludes.
Golden Knights Sign Carter Hart To Two-Year Deal
Oct. 25: The Golden Knights have registered the contract, PuckPedia reports. The deal carries a $1.45MM signing bonus this season with a league-minimum salary of $775K. In 2026-27, Hart will make $1.775MM in salary with no signing bonus.
Oct. 24: Vegas will be converting Hart’s tryout into a two-year contract as expected. It’ll be worth $4MM with an average annual value of $2MM, Darren Dreger of TSN reports.
Oct. 16, 12:31 p.m.: The Golden Knights announced that Hart will be joining the organization, although there isn’t a guaranteed contract yet – he’ll begin his work on a tryout with AHL Henderson, Chris Johnston of The Athletic and TSN reports. Vegas’ full statement is as follows:
Following the reinstatement decision agreed on by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association, goaltender Carter Hart will be joining the Vegas Golden Knights organization. The Golden Knights are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision. We remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.
Oct. 16, 8:30 a.m.: The Vegas Golden Knights are nearing a deal with free agent netminder Carter Hart, insider Frank Seravalli reported on his Victory+ show yesterday. Seravalli said, “I’d expect Hart’s deal to be two years,” a bit north of the league-minimum salary.
Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson seconded Seravalli’s report and provided a little more detail, stating that Hart’s deal is expected to be a two-year, $1.8MM AAV pact. Hart, who Wasserman’s Judd Moldaver reps, became eligible to sign an NHL contract yesterday but is not eligible to play until December 1st.
That Hart isn’t eligible to play until December is notable given a recent injury to starter Adin Hill during the team’s road win against the Calgary Flames two days ago. There has been no further update on Hill’s status, but since Hart remains ineligible to play for the next month and a half, the Golden Knights will have to look elsewhere to reinforce their position in the crease should Hill miss any time.
While no deal with Hart has been officially announced to this point, Vegas’ interest in Hart has been widely reported, even going back to September, when The Athletic’s Chris Johnston called the team a front-runner to secure the netminder’s services.
It was reported earlier that month that Hart would receive interest from multiple NHL teams, which is notable as the other four Hockey Canada players acquitted of charges this summer in connection to an alleged sexual assault have been met with more muted NHL interest.
Center Michael McLeod was at one point expected to sign a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, but ultimately agreed on a three-year extension with Avangard Omsk of the KHL, the side he played for in 2024-25.
A month ago, Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios commented that both his organization and forward Alex Formenton agreed that “a fresh start” would be the best option for both sides. Still, thus far, Formenton hasn’t been able to secure another NHL team to play for. He is currently playing out a four-month contract (that contains an option to extend for the rest of the 2025-26 season) with Swiss National League side HC Ambri-Piotta.
The final two players involved in this past summer’s trial, defenseman Cal Foote and forward Dillon Dube, remain free agents. Foote spent 2024-25 with HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas of the Slovak Extraliga, while Dube played for Dinamo Minsk in the KHL. There has not yet been much reporting indicating serious NHL interest in either player. The only notable report that was issued regarding either player came from The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, who noted that the Toronto Maple Leafs would not be interested in signing Dube.
As a result, it appears Hart is, by far, the most likely candidate of this group of players to receive an NHL contract in the short-term future. Hart is also, among the group, arguably its most accomplished NHL player.
The 27-year-old was once one of the more promising goalies in the sport, playing to solid results (.906 career save percentage across 227 games) for the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Flyers mostly struggled during Hart’s tenure, especially later on, he did backstop them on one playoff run, posting a .926 save percentage in 14 games during the 2019-20 season. That Flyers team fell in seven games to the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
In Vegas, Hart would potentially have the opportunity to get a real chance to play games for one of the NHL’s leading Stanley Cup contenders. The Golden Knights, who currently sit first in the Pacific Division with a 2-0-2 record, are loaded with high-end veteran talent, including center Jack Eichel, defenseman Shea Theodore, and wingers Mitch Marner and Mark Stone.
Hill, the team’s starter, backstopped the team to its first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2023, but the 29-year-old doesn’t have an extensive resume as a number-one goalie. While he started to achieve real success on a Stanley Cup-winning team, he has also made 50 starts in a season just once in his career.
Whether Hart has a path to being Vegas’ long-term number-one goalie is unclear at this stage.
Hill was signed to a six-year, $6.25MM AAV contract extension in March, signaling the Golden Knights’ commitment to him as their top netminder moving forward. But the Golden Knights have shown a willingness to make aggressive moves to maximize their competitive chances in the past, especially in net, such as when they acquired and extended netminder Robin Lehner despite the presence of Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury on their roster.
As a result, assuming Hart does sign in Vegas, and assuming he can play well upon his return to the NHL, a potential long-term future in Vegas cannot be counted out, even though Hill has signed that hefty extension. If the Golden Knights feel, down the line, that Hart gives them the best chance to win long-term, everything they have done and accomplished as an organization thus far suggests they won’t hesitate to re-sign Hart, even with Hill signed. Worth noting here is that under the reported terms of Hart’s expected contract (two years, $1.8MM AAV), Hart would become eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1st.
Bringing that up may be getting a little bit ahead of things, though, as the reality is Hart has not played competitive hockey since he left the Flyers in January of 2024. While he was once seen as a promising young netminder, it’s difficult to project how a player will perform, especially a goalie, after missing so much time. The Golden Knights, though, based on all of the available reporting, clearly believe in Hart’s NHL future, and appear poised to sign a two-year contract with the player that reflects that belief.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Injury Notes: Rempe, Gudas, Leddy
New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe left tonight’s game against the San Jose Sharks with an upper-body injury, according to a team announcement. Rempe left the game just after fighting veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves. This was not Rempe’s first bout with Reaves – the two fought during Rempe’s 2023-24 rookie season as well. The fight was Rempe’s tenth in the NHL, per Hockeyfights.com’s tracking, a total he’s reached in just 68 career games.
Interestingly, in Rempe’s media availability today, he noted that becoming an enforcer in the NHL isn’t something that came naturally for him – it’s not something that he viewed as a core part of his game at previous stops in his hockey career. He told the media “In junior, I was never a fighter or anything like that,” but added that he “did what he had to do” to carve out a path to the NHL in the pro ranks. The hope for Rempe will be that the upper-body injury that knocked him out of tonight’s game won’t be a significant one that costs him any additional time. Rempe has scored one goal in eight games for the Rangers this season, and is currently playing out the first year of a two-year, one-way $975K AAV contract.
Other injury updates from around the NHL:
- The Anaheim Ducks announced that defenseman Radko Gudas will not return to tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins. Based on the footage of the game, it appears Gudas suffered the injury crashing into the boards while attempting to protect and make a turn with the puck while being pressured by Bruins forward Jeffrey Viel. Gudas is a key veteran leader for the Ducks, serving as their captain and leading penalty-killer. For as long as his injury keeps him off the ice, expect veteran right-handed blueliner Jacob Trouba to take on an increased role and fill in for some of Gudas’ vacated minutes.
- Rempe wasn’t the only player to leave tonight’s Rangers vs. Sharks contest – the Sharks announced that veteran defenseman Nick Leddy will not return to the game after suffering an upper-body injury. Leddy looked visibly in pain after taking a hit from a forechecking Will Cuylle, and left the ice shortly afterward. Leddy, 34, has been the Sharks No. 4 defenseman so far this season in terms of ice time, playing a role on the penalty kill and registering two points in six games. The Sharks have seven healthy defensemen on their NHL roster beyond Leddy, so they should be well-positioned to absorb any absence this injury might cause. Leddy is playing out the final year of a four-year, $4MM contract he signed with the St. Louis Blues in 2022.