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Seattle Kraken Recall Ville Ottavainen

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The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Ville Ottavainen from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Amidst the recent news that Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour is taking a temporary leave of absence from the Kraken to tend to a family matter, this recall gives Seattle an additional right-handed defensive option to work with while Montour is gone.

Ottavainen, 23, will not be able to offer the Kraken the kind of dynamic, aggressive offensive ability that Montour brings, but that’s not to say that he doesn’t have a solid résumé as a player. The 2021 fourth-round pick played three seasons for JYP in the Finnish Liiga before joining the Firebirds late in 2022-23.

He scored 34 points in 70 games in his first full season with the club, helping the Firebirds get to game six of the 2024 Calder Cup Final. While Ottavainen’s AHL production took a step back in 2024-25, the blueliner doesn’t just bring points, he also offers rare size and strength at the position, standing 6’5″, 225 pounds.

While he has just one NHL game to his name, Ottavainen has, as mentioned, an extensive amount of pro experience for a blueliner still in his early twenties. It’s entirely possible that with this recall, the Kraken give Ottavainen a look on the team’s second pairing alongside Ryan Lindgren in a spot occupied by Cale Fleury during last night’s overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Steven Santini, Scott Sabourin

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have made a pair of roster moves, reassigning forward Scott Sabourin and defenseman Steven Santini to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Both Santini and Sabourin were elevated to the NHL roster on Friday, though Santini did not dress in the team’s two games that he was on their roster.

Sabourin was not eligible to play in either of the Lightning’s games since his recall as he has yet to fully serve the four-game suspension he was assessed in the preseason for roughing committed against Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. By recalling him, the Lightning have ensured Sabourin would get two games’ worth of credit towards the suspension.

Since Sabourin hasn’t played in four or more NHL games in a single season since 2021-22, recalls such as this, with the specific intent of allowing Sabourin to serve his suspension, will be essential to restoring the player’s ability to be eligible to play should he be recalled later in the season.

The 33-year-old grinder is a longtime AHL veteran, and scored 10 goals and 25 points alongside 111 penalty minutes in 68 games last season for the San Jose Barracuda.

Santini, unlike Sabourin, was eligible to play in the team’s two games over the course of his recall, but ultimately remained in the press box as the team’s spare blueliner. The recall was not without benefit for the 30-year-old defenseman, as he is playing on a two-way contract, so he will be paid the pro-rated portion of his NHL salary ($775K) rather than what he would have received in the AHL, where his salary is $250K. While he didn’t get into either game, the recall did increase the odds that after enough further recalls, Santini may be able to exceed the $350K annual guarantee on his contract.

As Santini’s recall was directly related to an injury suffered by defenseman Maxwell Crozier, this move could be seen as an indication that Crozier is ready to return to the ice after a two-game absence, though there have not yet been any reports or any official announcements as to whether that is the case.

East Notes: Michkov, Lyon, Marchand

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The Philadelphia Flyers completed a dramatic overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild yesterday, but not everything is going smoothly so far to start the season in Philadelphia. While the Flyers have compiled a decent 2-2-1 record to start the year, one of the more notable emerging storylines on the Flyers has been the usage of star second-year forward Matvei Michkov. According to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, the 2023 seventh-overall pick was once again benched by head coach Rick Tocchet late in last night’s game, with Kurz attributing the move to “too many ineffective shifts and careless plays with the puck.”

Michkov has struggled thus far under Tocchet, with just one goal and zero assists through five games. While he remains the Flyers’ top power play forward in terms of time-on-ice per game, his overall usage has declined from 16:41 per game last season to just 14:50 this year. While Tocchet’s usage of Michkov may ultimately help the young forward develop a more well-rounded all-around game, it’s also potentially fair to question whether taking this approach with Michkov, who is one of the Flyers’ most lethal offensive weapons, ultimately hurts the team’s chances to win more than it helps.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Buffalo Sabres have rebounded in a strong way since their 0-3-0 start, rattling off consecutive dominant victories against two of last year’s playoff teams: the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers. While Zach Benson’s return from injury has greatly helped matters, leading the charge for the Sabres has been netminder Alex Lyon, who was signed for $1.5MM AAV this past summer to be the backup to starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Lyon has a .929 save percentage through five games this season, a mark that ranks third in the NHL among goalies with four starts or more. While Luukkonen is likely to remain the team’s go-to starter whenever he recovers from his injury, Lyon is putting together a strong case to receive an increased workload as a backup.
  • Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand was fined $5K by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety today, for unsportsmanlike conduct committed in yesterday’s 3-0 loss to the Sabres. The unsportsmanlike conduct occurred midway through the second period when Marchand got into a scuffle with Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin had cross-checked Marchand, and Marchand went after Dahlin as a result, delivering a few punches. Marchand was ultimately taken to the penalty box, but he travelled there with Dahlin’s helmet in hand, and once in the penalty box, Marchand proceeded to rip several straps off of Dahlin’s helmet and toss it back onto the ice. This is not the first time Marchand has gotten into trouble for an unconventional kind of unsportsmanlike conduct: during the 2018 playoffs, Marchand was officially warned by the league after he licked the face of then-Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan.

Ottawa Senators Recall Mads Sogaard, Reassign Leevi Merilainen

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The Ottawa Senators have swapped which goalie will hold the backup’s role on their NHL roster. Per an official team announcement, netminder Leevi Merilainen has been reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, while Mads Sogaard has been recalled.

Merilainen won the Senators’ backup goalie job coming out of training camp, a development that was a continuation of the Senators’ goaltending depth chart order from 2024-25. Merilainen, 23, got into 12 NHL games last season, compared to just two for Sogaard.

Sogaard and Merilainen were polar opposites in terms of form last season, as Sogaard struggled mightily in limited AHL action and couldn’t gain momentum to play in the NHL when he was healthy, while Merilainen excelled in his second full season of pro hockey in North America.

Last year, Merilainen posted a .913 save percentage across 37 AHL games and a .925 mark across 12 NHL games. Sogaard, on the other hand, posted an .858 save percentage in just eight AHL games.

Injuries didn’t help matters for Sogaard last season, but the reality is that the towering netminder, a 2019 second-rounder, looked to have been passed by on the team’s goaltending depth chart by Merilainen, a 2020 third-rounder.

Today’s roster move flips things. Outside of the two netminders’ competition in preseason and training camp (one that Merilainen won, as Sogaard was placed on waivers and sent to Belleville earlier this month) neither goalie has had the chance to make an extended impact in the crease.

Sogaard has played in two AHL games for Belleville this year, going 0-1-1 with an .864 save percentage and 2.94 goals-against average.

Merilainen, on the other hand, has played in just one game, and was unfortunate enough to be on the wrong end of what has been, to this point, the worst game of this young Senators campaign. Merilainen was tagged for seven goals against in an 8-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, and saving 19 of 26 shots against a team that had, to that point in the season, struggled mightily to score goals, is not a performance that is going to inspire a lot of confidence.

It would be unfair, of course, to lay the blame for that loss entirely on Merilainen’s shoulders. But that performance, combined with today’s move, does throw into question the Senators’ goaltending plans behind entrenched starter Linus Ullmark.

The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie wrote that with neither Merilainen nor Sogaard inspiring much confidence, and Ullmark struggling, “a goalie may be needed” from outside the organization in order to stabilize the position.

While it’s too early to say that the Senators’ decision not to retain veteran backup Anton Forsberg over the summer (he signed a two-year, $2.25MM AAV deal with the Los Angeles Kings) was a mistake, things appear highly unsettled in net for the Senators so far this year. In what is a crucially important season in Ottawa, one where the Senators simply cannot afford to take a step back after finally returning to the playoffs in 2024-25, goaltending appears to be emerging as an early problem area for the team.

External help in the crease could become available at some point. The Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres are currently carrying an extra goalie they claimed on waivers due to injuries to their expected NHL goalies, and therefore it’s possible one or both of Colten Ellis and Brandon Bussi find their way back onto the waiver wire at some point.

That is also the case for Cayden Primeau in Toronto, though the fact that Joseph Woll has taken a leave of absence to deal with a family matter (which understandably does not have as concrete of a return timeline as an injury) does complicate things.

Photo courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

Morning Notes: Robertson, Pinto, Varone

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In this early stretch of the 2025-26 NHL season, one of the better storylines on the New York Rangers has been the emergence of rookie defenseman Matthew Robertson, who scored his first NHL goal last night in the team’s much-needed comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Robertson took on injured defenseman Carson Soucy’s role as the Rangers’ number-five defenseman, and while he hasn’t been perfect, he has generally impressed. This has led to questions as to what will happen when Soucy is ready to return to the lineup, and The Athletic’s Peter Baugh wrote yesterday that it “definitely feels like” Robertson will retain a spot in head coach Mike Sullivan’s regular lineup once Soucy returns.

Should Robertson end up retaining his regular lineup spot, that would likely mean veteran Urho Vaakanainen would become the team’s seventh defenseman, filling the role Robertson began the season in. Vaakanainen, 26, is averaging the fewest minutes per game of any Rangers blueliner (15:02) though he has played in all seven of the team’s games thus far this season. The stay-at-home defenseman has an additional year on his contract beyond this one at a $1.55MM AAV, and managed a healthy 15 points in 46 games for the Rangers last season. Vaakanainen’s play has drawn more criticism than Robertson’s this year, though, and being on the wrong end of a Trent Frederic game-winning goal on Tuesday didn’t help his case to stay in the lineup.

Other notes from around the hockey world:

  • Yesterday, we covered reports coming out of Ottawa that Senators center Shane Pinto and the team were set to re-engage in talks over a contract extension for the talented young center. Those reports indicated that there was a notable gap between the Senators’ expectations for a new contract and the expectations of Pinto’s representatives, led by Lewis Gross of Sports Professional Management. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added to the reporting around Pinto last night, revealing that the Senators had offered Pinto an eight-year contract extension. It’s unclear at this time whether Pinto and the Senators will be able to reach an agreement on such a long-term contract (Pinto’s goal-scoring success so far this season should certainly embolden his camp’s pursuit of a major pay raise) but as of right now, it’s abundantly clear the Senators are hoping to keep Pinto in the fold for as long as possible.
  • Former AHL MVP Phil Varone has found a place to play the 2025-26 season, signing a contract with Slovakia’s HK Dukla Trencin. The 34-year-old, who was once one of the top players in the AHL and has 97 career NHL games to his name, has landed in Slovakia after a two-year stint in Germany’s DEL. Since leaving North America at the end of a 2019-20 season that saw him post 19 points in 33 AHL games, Varone has struggled to find consistency in Europe. He’s bounced between six different clubs over the last five years across three different leagues and four different countries, with his best year coming in 2023-24, when he scored 27 points in 34 games for the DEL’s Düsseldorfer EG. He now joins a Trencin team in desperate need of scoring reinforcement: the team currently sit in the No. 8 spot in the Slovak Extraliga standings (out of 12 teams) and have scored the third-fewest goals as a team (27 through 12 games played).

Injury Updates: Gostisbehere, Stone, Lundkvist

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Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere left last night’s victory over the Los Angeles Kings with a lower-body injury, according to a team announcement. After the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the media, including team reporter Walt Ruff, that Gostisbehere “tweaked something,” and could add to the list of injured Hurricanes defensemen – one that already includes star blueliner Jaccob Slavin, who is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury of his own.

If Gostisbehere is to miss any games with this injury, beyond just the portion of the game he missed last night, it would be a serious blow to the Hurricanes defense. Despite playing in the fewest even-strength minutes per game of any Hurricanes blueliner so far this season, Gostisbehere quarterbacks Carolina’s top power play unit and is tied for the league lead in points by a defenseman with seven in five games. In Gostisbehere absence, offseason addition K’Andre Miller took over the team’s top power play unit, and in terms of who could draw into the lineup in the case that Gostisbehere misses game action moving forward, rookie Charles-Alexis Legault is in position as the team’s current spare blueliner.

Other injury notes from around the league:

  • Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone left last night’s victory over the Calgary Flames with an apparent wrist injury, reports Mark Anderson of the Associated Press. According to Anderson, Stone left the ice midway through the third period, clearly dealing with something. After the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have a further update on Stone’s status, but said they’d likely have more information to give on Monday. Stone, 33, ranks second in leaguewide scoring at the moment with 13 points in six games, and it’s worth noting that he has been injury prone for much of his NHL career. Stone hasn’t hit 70 games played in a season since 2018-19, and played in 66 games last season.
  • Dallas Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s Thursday contest against the Vancouver Canucks, an injury that limited him to a season-low 11:18 time-on-ice. Last night, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan provided an additional update on Lundkvist’s status, telling the media (including the Dallas News’ Lia Assimakopoulos) that Lundkvist would be out for “a little bit” with the injury. Lundkvist, 25, has scored three points through four games so far this season, and saw his spot on the team’s second pairing alongside Thomas Harley filled by veteran Ilya Lyubushkin.

West Notes: Chytil, Cooley, Mailloux

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The Vancouver Canucks are off to a somewhat slow start to 2025-26, going 1-2-0 in three games. After scoring five goals in their season-opening victory, the team scored just three across its next two games, and while sample sizes are still quite small, there are some notable trends emerging in terms of how first-year head coach Adam Foote is deploying his forwards. The Athletic’s Harman Dayal wrote today that through the first three games of the season, Foote “has been deploying” Filip Chytil “more like a No. 1 centre than” Elias Pettersson, the team’s star pivot. Dayal noted that Chytil currently ranks 14th in the NHL in five-on-five ice time per game, while Pettersson ranks 264th, and that Chytil is averaging nearly a full minute more of ice time per game than Pettersson at all situations.

Chytil has registered two goals this season playing alongside Evander Kane and Conor Garland, while Pettersson has posted one assist playing between Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk. What’s notable about this early-season deployment is that it’s somewhat surprising to see the pair of 2017 first-rounders deployed this way. Pettersson, who scored 102 points in 2022-23, has long been seen as the team’s star center, and is making $11.6MM against the cap through 2031-32, while Chytil has a career high of 45 points (also from 2022-23) and makes $4.437MM against the cap. Pettersson’s sub-par performance last season (just 45 points in 64 games) was one of the defining storylines of the team’s disappointing 2024-25 campaign, and through three games this season, signs are beginning to emerge that the talented but enigmatic 26-year-old may not have put those on-ice struggles entirely behind him.

More notes from the Western Conference:

  • We previously covered how Wednesday’s start was a crucial game in the pro career of netminder Devin Cooley, and now that the contest has come and gone, it’s clear Cooley made the most of his opportunity. It was reported that the Flames were monitoring potential outside acquisitions to replace Cooley as the team’s backup netminder, but not before giving the 28-year-old veteran his chance to earn the role. Although the Flames fell 3-1 to the Utah Mammoth in Cooley’s first start of the season, Cooley put forth an impressive performance, saving 29 of 31 shots. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis wrote that yesterday’s game “could easily have gotten out of hand” without Cooley’s heroics, and head coach Ryan Huska told the media that he felt Cooley’s first start “was excellent.” While one brilliant start doesn’t necessarily mean the Flames are now sold with Cooley as their go-to option behind starter Dustin Wolf, it certainly doesn’t hurt Cooley’s chances.
  • The offseason swap of 2021 first rounders, St. Louis Blues forward Zachary Bolduc for Montreal Canadiens defenseman Logan Mailloux, was one of this past offseason’s most intriguing trades. Trades of players who are each valuable, promising young talents in their own right are relatively rare. As a result, tracking how each player performs in their new environment is one of the more intriguing storylines to follow in 2025-26. Thus far, things are working out for Bolduc in Montreal but it’s a different story for Mailloux in St. Louis. The talented defenseman struggled quite a bit in the team’s Wednesday loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, has not registered a point through four games, and has a minus-seven rating. Of course, it’s still far too early in the process to even begin contemplating final judgments on the trade, and it’s important to note that young defensemen in many cases take longer to develop in the NHL than forwards. The Hockey News’ Lou Korac wrote that “the Blues believe in Mailloux” and “understand this is going to take time,” and teammate Colton Parayko said after the loss that Mailloux is “a great player” and has his “full faith.”

Injury Notes: Sharks, Tkachuk, Raymond, Koepke

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San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky told the media today that forward Will Smith is currently dealing with a lower-body issue, and while he should still be in line to play in tomorrow’s game, Warsofsky did note that this ailment is something Smith has been dealing with since even before Saturday’s game. In addition to providing detail on an injury to Smith, Warsofsky also revealed that 2025 second-overall pick Michael Misa will make his NHL debut tomorrow.

Misa, 18, will make his NHL debut in what is the Sharks’ third game of the season. Tomorrow’s contest will not just be Misa’s NHL debut, it will also be his first regular-season game of professional hockey, as he was drafted out of the OHL. According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Misa was slotted into the Sharks’ third-line center position in today’s practice, hinting at how he’s likely to be used in his NHL debut. Given that the Sharks put Misa in between two players who have experience playing center at the NHL level (Ty Dellandrea and Philipp Kurashev) it appears Warsofsky may be trying to ease Misa, as much as possible, into the level of responsibility that comes with playing center at the NHL level.

Other injury updates from around the league:

  • Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported today that Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was forced out of the team’s loss to the Nashville Predators today, stating that he is currently being evaluated for an injury after being on the other end of a Roman Josi cross-checking minor penalty. Tkachuk only managed to skate in 13:53 in today’s game, and although there is no further information other than Tkachuk being under evaluation, any injury he could suffer would be a serious blow to the Senators. He is among the team’s most important wingers and has started off the season with three assists in three games.
  • Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond was forced out of today’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs due to an upper-body injury, and head coach Todd McLellan did not issue an update on the forward’s status post-game. As Detroit’s leading scorer in each of the last two seasons, Raymond has emerged as one of the Red Wings’ most important players, and their undisputed most lethal offensive threat. While we await further information on Raymond’s injury, Red Wings fans will likely have their fingers crossed that his absence was more precautionary than anything else.
  • The Winnipeg Jets announced today that forward Cole Koepke did not return to today’s victory over the New York Islanders due to a lower-body injury. Koepke was playing on the Jets’ fourth line alongside Morgan Barron and Tanner Pearson, and had registered an assist on Barron’s goal early in today’s game on Long Island. At this point, there is no further update on Koepke’s status. The Jets have 25-year-old Providence College product Parker Ford on their roster ready to enter the lineup should Koepke miss any time.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Charles-Alexis Legault

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The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. In a corresponding move, the Hurricanes placed netminder Pyotr Kochetkov on injured reserve, and made the move retroactive to Oct. 5 to provide some more flexibility as to when Kochetkov is allowed to be recalled.

The move puts Legault, 22, in line to potentially make his NHL debut on the Hurricanes’ western road trip this month. Legault’s recall appears at first glance to be directly connected to the injury news announced by the team related to top blueliner Jaccob Slavin. As we covered earlier, Slavin is currently being evaluated for an injury and may not travel with the team on its upcoming road trip. By recalling Legault, the Hurricanes have given coach Rod Brind’Amour another defenseman to work with in case Slavin misses some time.

Legault is a 6’4 right-shot defenseman who made his pro debut last season. His 2024-25 campaign was spent entirely with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, and he scored 14 points in 63 games playing a defense-first role. Before his days in the pro ranks, Legault manned the blueline for Quinnipiac University, winning the men’s hockey national championship in 2022-23 and back-to-back regular-season titles in the ECAC conference.

The Hurricanes have thus far absorbed the loss of Slavin by slotting veteran Mike Reilly onto the left side of their defense, but this recall gives them a right-handed option with which to further augment their defensive pairings. Reilly has the experience advantage over Legault (he has played in over 400 NHL games) but Legault brings an element of size and a physical edge that Reilly cannot match.

Should he end up making his NHL debut, Legault will become the third member of the 2022-23 National Champion Bobcats to make his NHL debut with the Hurricanes, joining forward Skyler Brind’Amour and netminder Yaniv Perets.

East Notes: Hurricanes, Samuelsson, MacEwen

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Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour issued injury updates to two key players today: Jaccob Slavin and Pyotr Kochetkov. As relayed by team reporter Walt Ruff, Slavin is still “being evaluated” for a lower-body injury, and is currently questionable to travel with the team on its upcoming six-game road trip. Additionally, Kochetkov will not travel due to his own lower-body injury, though they did add the caveat that he may join the team on the road at some point. Finally, Brind’Amour said that waiver addition Brandon Bussi will get to start a game “at some point” on their road trip.

While the full extent of Slavin’s injury is not known at this point, any extended Slavin absence would be a massive loss for Carolina. Slavin is the team’s most important defenseman and is in the eyes of many the league’s premier shutdown defender. He was the team’s number-one defenseman last season and averaged nearly three minutes a night on its penalty kill. Meanwhile the loss of Kochetkov is also notable, though the Hurricanes are more well-equipped to handle his absence. They already have experienced veteran Frederik Andersen on their roster, and Bussi’s resume from the AHL suggests he very well could be able to handle a backup’s workload while Kochetkov recovers.

Other notes from the Eastern conference:

  • The Buffalo Sabres announced today that defenseman Mattias Samuelsson did not play in today’s game against the Colorado Avalanche due to an undisclosed injury. Head coach Lindy Ruff said that “the initial prognosis on the injury was positive,” and expressed optimism that Samuelsson would be ready to play in time for the team’s game Wednesday. Samuelsson played alongside Jacob Bryson in the team’s Saturday game against the Boston Bruins, and saw his spot filled by 2019 first-rounder Ryan Johnson for today’s contest.
  • New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe told the media today, including The Hockey Writers’ Mark Scheig, that forward Zack MacEwen will miss “an extended period” after leaving the team’s Saturday win over the Tampa Bay Lightning early. Keefe elaborated that MacEwen suffered an injury late in the team’s game, and will be out indefinitely. MacEwen played nine shifts in his lone game with the Devils, registering two shots, a hit, and a blocked shot. The 6’4″ grinder was slotted into the Devils’ fourth line and was recently acquired by the team from the Ottawa Senators.

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