Afternoon Notes: Trenton, Bruins, Senators, Flames
The Utah Grizzlies will relocate to Trenton, New Jersey for the 2026-27 season, with an announcement set for tomorrow, per hockey insider Frank Seravalli. If true, the Grizzlies will be set to move right after celebrating their 20th season in Utah. In doing so, they will bring ECHL hockey back to Trenton for the first time since 2013. The city previously hosted the Trenton Titans – briefly the Trenton Devils – for 24 years beginning in 1999. The club was red-hot at the turn of the century, reaching the Kelly Cup Finals in 2001 and taking the Cup home in 2005. They featured some incredible hockey names in their history. Stanley Cup winner and Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy presided over Trenton’s inaugural season, and current Utah Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong coached the team from 2002 to 2004.
The Utah Grizzlies are currently affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Eagles, the latter an ironic twist given the Eagles’ rivalry with the Grizzlies when they were a part of the ECHL. This move would break that tension, and return pro hockey to an upgraded CURE Insurance Arena.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Sticking in the ECHL, the Boston Bruins have announced a three-year extension of their affiliation with the Maine Mariners. The affiliation began in 2021, and marked the first NHL partnership in Maine’s brief history. It was a continuation of a long history of work between the two teams. The Mariners served as Boston’s AHL affiliate from 1987 to 1992, before being relocated to form the Providence Bruins. The ECHL Mariners haven’t found their stride under Boston just yet – losing in the first round of the postseason three times, then missing the postseason last year. They’ll face a very interesting turnaround next season, after losing former player and head coach/general manager Terrence Wallin this summer. Maine hired Rick Kowalsky – aptly, a member of the Kelly Cup-winning Trenton Devils in 2005 – to fill the vacancy. Kowalsky has previously spent four years an ECHL head coach, 10 years as an AHL head coach, and six years as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils.
- Shifting to looming NHL training camps – the Ottawa Senators are expected to bring multiple professional try-outs to the start of their camp, general manager Steve Staios told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Ottawa could use a bit of padding to their depth at all three positions, setting them up nicely to bring in some of the top remaining free agents. The likeliest paths to the lineup will be on the fourth-line wing, where Michael Amadio and Nick Cousins currently reside on the depth chart. Some options for UFA candidates could include 36-year-old wing Max Pacioretty, 30-year-old centerman Tyler Motte, or 31-year-old defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.
- While Ottawa pursues the PTO market, the Calgary Flames are expected to stay away, per Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. While the Senators will look to vindicate a push to the playoffs last season, Calgary is likely much more geared towards keeping spots open for their emerging youngsters. Players like Rory Kerins, Dryden Hunt, William Stromgren, and Aydar Suniev could all make valiant pushes for bottom-six minutes next season.
Rangers Hire Ryane Clowe, Promote Jim Sullivan And Ryan Martin
The New York Rangers have hired former player Ryane Clowe to the role of assistant general manager. He will join the freshly-promoted Ryan Martin and Jim Sullivan in the role of advising and supporting Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury. Martin will continue serving as the general manager of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. This announcement comes on the heels of New York also hiring Blake Wheeler, Chris Pryor, Mark Flood, and Darryl Williams to various roles.
This news comes on the heels of Clowe’s sudden, and surprising, resignation from the San Jose Sharks’ assistant GM role. That was the first GM position of Clowe’s career, and one he moved into last summer after serving three years in a consulting and advising role with the Rangers. Now, with his feet wet, Clowe will return for a hardier role in the New York organization. He’s no stranger to the Rangers, having played 12 games with the club in 2012-13 and, more notably, played across from them in his 56 games with the New Jersey Devils from 2013 to 2015. Clowe has been around the NHL for the entirety of the 2000’s, and racked up a lofty resume in and around the league. His playing career ended in 2015 with 309 points in 491 games.
Sullivan also has deep roots with the Rangers. He began his career with the club as their director of hockey technology in 2009. That role evolved into the director of player development from 2014 to 2021. Then, Sulivan earned another promotion to the title of vice president of hockey strategy that he’s served in ever since. Now, he’ll climb one rung further up the ladder, and truly begin building a resume that could land him in a team’s GM chair one day. It’s an impressive climb, especially considering that Sullivan – an economics major – has no history playing professional sports. Still outside of his 50’s, Sullivan will stand as an emerging piece in New York’s front office.
Meanwhile, Martin has been promoted to associate general manager – one rung above both Clowe and Sullivan. Martin has served as Hartford’s general manager since the 2021-22 season. He has led the team to two playoff appearances in four seasons, and presided over the turnover of three head coaches. Martin’s biggest accomplishments came prior to his time in New York. He was once a core piece of the Detroit Red Wings’ front office, and served as GM of the Grand Rapids Griffins from 2012 to 2020. He won the AHL’s Calder Cup in 2013 and 2017 with Grand Rapids, and even joined Detroit on their run to the 2008 Stanley Cup as the team’s director of hockey administration. Martin’s trophy cabinet is rounded out by a Gold Medal at the 2021 World Junior Championships, when he supported Team USA as a scout. He’ll bring that lofty experience back to New York next year, looking to have even more say on a team in the midst of a big turnaround.
Rangers Hire Blake Wheeler, Three Others To Hockey Operations Roles
Freshly-retired pro Blake Wheeler wasn’t able to stay away from the NHL for very long. He has been hired to an advisory role in the New York Rangers’ front office, per Vince Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. Wheeler played in 54 games of New York’s 2023-24 season, but missed the entirety of last season due to a right-leg injury. Alongside this hire, Mercogliano shares that New York has also hired Chris Pryor, Mark Flood, and Darryl Williams to scouting roles. Pryor will preside over scouting, specifically, CHL players on NCAA tracks while Flood and Williams serve as pro scouts.
This news will mark the beginning of Wheeler’s career behind the bench, after playing through 16 seasons in the NHL. He was originally the fifth-overall selection in the 2004 NHL Draft, but didn’t make his NHL debut until 2008, after he had completed three years at the University of Minnesota. The wait proved worthwhile, as Wheeler jumped to 21 goals and 45 points in his rookie season – playing for the Boston Bruins, despite being drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes. Wheeler earned an entrenched role in the lineup, but didn’t find a true breakout until he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010-11.
Wheeler scored 17 points in his first 23 games with Atlanta, then jumped to 17 goals and 47 points in 80 games when the team relocated to Winnipeg for the 2010-11 season. That performance put Wheeler on the track that’d guide the rest of his career. He routinely rivaled 40 assists and north of 60 points throughout the rest of his career – though that streak was broken up by a pair of career-years, and 91-point seasons, in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Wheeler’s career spanned 13 years with the Jets organization, though he opted to move to the Rangers for his sunset years. He signed a one-year deal with New York that’d end sorely, with a freak injury in February 2024 ending Wheeler’s final season early. He returned to play nine minutes of one postseason game, to little effect.
Now, Wheeler will use his 1,172 games of NHL experience to help guide New York towards their next step. He headlines a true heap of experience in this hiring cohort. Pryor played parts of six seasons in the NHL between 1984 and 1990. He took to scouting just four years later, and has served in roles across the NHL ever since. That includes four years as the Islanders’ director of player development, 10 years as the Flyers’ director of scouting, and serving in assistant general manager roles for both the Flyers and Penguins. Pryor stepped away from front office roles in 2023, but now returns to take on a unique post in New York.
Flood and Williams carry similar stories, albeit with much less experience. Flood played in nine AHL seasons, on top of a career that led him to play in seven different countries. He retired in 2022 and immediately took on a pro scouting role with the Senators that he’s filled for the last three seasons. Williams played a fruitful minor-league career from 1989 to 1999, then rose the ranks of minor-league coaching before landing the Vancouver Canucks’ video coach role in 2008. He carried that role until 2014, when he joined the Rangers as an assistant coach for four seasons. Williams stepped away from New York for various roles in 2018, and has spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach on the Flyers’ bench.
These hires will give the Rangers one more push towards a revamped room. They were among the toughest teams to watch last season – falling to a 39-36-7 record and no playoff experience in the midst of locker room drama and poor relationships. Moves like hiring head coach Mike Sullivan and loading the front office with pro experience will each go far in helping New York bounce back to form next season.
Afternoon Notes: Thompson, Reichel, Ovechkin
It has been an up-and-down year for Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson. He was excluded from Team USA’s roster at the Four Nations Face-Off in February, prompting a monster run through the rest of his games last season. He scored 33 goals in 57 games following the mid-year break, then added nine points in 10 games at the summer’s World Championship, including the decisive goal to earn the United States their first Gold Medal in recent history. As part of an extended interview, Thompson told Michael Russo of The Athletic that he’s hoping that goal can advance his spot on the watchlist as the USA prepares for the Olympics. He said:
I would hope scoring that goal would make a difference, but it’s also one play. It doesn’t define me as a player or mean that I had a great tournament or anything by that means… I want to be an Olympian, but getting the Sabres back into the playoffs is always at the forefront.
Thompson is undoubtedly one of America’s biggest scoring threats. His 120 goals in 225 games is the second-most from any American in the NHL since 2022, behind only Auston Matthews (142 goals in 222 games). Thompson has managed that feat despite playing for the only team to score more than 800 goals, and still get outscored, in the same timeframe. He’s the standing pillar of a struggling team, a point made literal by Thompson’s 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame. The United States tied Canada for the most goals (10) during their three games at the 4-Nations Face-Off. Adding a player of Thompson’s caliber to the lineup could be enough to will the Americans over their rival on the biggest stage next February.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Chicago Blackhawks winger Lukas Reichel told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun Times that he hasn’t been able to dodge trade rumors – even hearing them on the streets of his native Germany. Despite that, Reichel emphasized that his focus is squarely on carving out a big role with the Blackhawks next season. He scored a career-high eight goals and 22 points in 70 games last season, but still seems well capable of achieving more. The Blackhawks will have plenty of new faces challenging Reichel for minutes next year, including newcomer Andre Burakovsky and rookies Oliver Moore and Landon Slaggert. That competition will push Reichel to a breaking point. If he can show his might in the NHL, he’ll earn a strong role in the middle-six. If not, he could soon find a path away from the Blackhawks organization.
- NHL legend Alex Ovechkin has departed from his native Russia to return to the United States for the 2025-26 season, shares Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. Ovechkin will kick off his 21st season in the NHL when he lands back in Washington D.C. That mark will make him one of just 42 NHL players to appear in at least 21 seasons. The future Hall-of-Famer broke the league’s record for all-time goals last season, en route to an incredibly 44 goals and 73 points in just 65 games. It will be hard to relieve those numbers as he inches as he prepares to play in his age-40 season. Even then, managing even half of that scoring pace would put Ovechkin on pace for the highest-scoring age-40 season since Teemu Selanne posted 80 points in 2010-11.
Extending Jack Eichel Will Be A Top Priority For Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights find their back to summer fireworks every single year. They pulled off a sign-and-trade deal for Mitch Marner this year, complete with an eight-year, $96MM contract for the superstar winger. Now, they face the looming task of signing top center Jack Eichel before he reaches free agency next July. Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said that Eichel’s deal will be a top priority for the club in a recent conversation with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun further added that, while the two sides still have a long way to go, he’d be surprised if a deal didn’t get done.
Extension conversations between Eichel and Vegas began back in May, and the team began to work out contract estimates following their July acquisition of Marner. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested that Vegas was ready to hand Eichel an even heftier deal than what Marner received – and with talks continuing at a strong cadence, it doesn’t seem that bar has created any barriers.
Targeting a deal richer than Marner’s will almost certainly land the value of Eichel’s next deal north of $100MM. That would put him among a limited, but growing, group of NHL stars to sign a nine-figure deal. Only seven players have signed such contracts – the most recent being Leon Draisaitl‘s record-breaking $112MM contract with the Edmonton Oilers. That deal – which carries a $14MM cap hit for eight seasons – could be where Vegas begins conversations with Eichel. The 28-year-old centerman hasn’t yet crossed the century mark in scoring, but he’s planted deep roots in Vegas’ top forward role and seems set for a big year with Marner’s support.
Aside from the importance of signing your lineup star, Vegas will need to cement Eichel’s deal before they even think of budgeting for the 2026-27 season. The salary cap is expected to rise to $104MM – nearly $9MM more than next season’s limit – which should give Vegas plenty of space to give Eichel a raise of $4MM or $5MM per year. The Golden Knights will be pushing up against the cap ceiling this next season, and will only manage any cap relief by placing top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo on long-term injured reserve.
No matter where his salary ends up, Eichel’s next deal seems all-but-certain to carry through the bulk of his 30’s. They could be the best years of the one-time Stanley Cup winner’s career as well, as Vegas continues to load up on blue-chip talent through free agency and the draft. The Golden Knights will be as competitive as ever next season – with Marner’s debut, Pavel Dorofeyev‘s follow-up, and Trevor Connelly‘s push up the minor-leagues each providing plenty of sparks.
Ryane Clowe Steps Down From Sharks’ Assistant GM Role
In a surprising bit of news, former NHL forward Ryane Clowe has announced he has resigned from the San Jose Sharks’ assistant general manager role. Last season was Clowe’s first in a role with the Sharks front office. In a statement released through the Sharks social media, Clowe said:
I truly loved being back in San Jose and working with Mike Grier and his entire team, but at this point, this decision is in the best interest of my family. The franchise has an exciting future ahead and is set up to be successful for a long period of time…
Last summer, Clowe returned to the Sharks organization for the first time since 2013. His last tenure with the Sharks spanned 12 years, beginning with a sixth-round selection in the 2001 NHL Draft. Clowe moved to the Sharks’ pro ranks two seasons later, joining the AHL’s Cleveland Barons in the 2003-04 season. He was an instant force – netting 102 points and 198 penalty minutes over his first two seasons, and 146 games, in the minor-leagues. That earned him a full-time role in the NHL by 2006, and Clowe quickly became a core piece of the San Jose roster. He rivaled 50 points and 100 penalty minutes in every season between 2008 and 2012 – and served as the club’s assistant captain for the latter three years.
His time with San Jose came to a close when he was controversially traded to the New York Rangers for a heap of draft picks in 2013. Clowe didn’t find the same groove with the Rangers, and couldn’t rediscover it with a move to the New Jersey Devils later in his career. He played his final NHL game in 2015 and joined the Devils as an assistant coach in 2016.
Clowe worked backwards with his playing days behind him. He served two years on the Devils’ bench, before serving three in a team consultant and senior advisor position with the Rangers, and then moving to the Sharks last summer.
Now, Clowe steps away from important roles with San Jose’s NHL and AHL rosters. His duties will likely be distributed among fellow assistant GMs Joe Will and Tom Holy, unless the Sharks opt to hire a replacement. At the time, it’s not clear why Clowe chose to step away from the Sharks, though it’d be hard to imagine he stays away from the sport for too long. Clowe recorded 309 points and 618 penalty minutes in 491 games, and 13 seasons, in his NHL career. He’s pushed through six more NHL seasons in a staff position.
Flames Sign Connor Zary To Three-Year Contract
Saturday: The Flames officially announced the contract with the $3.775MM AAV as reported. PuckPedia reports that the deal carries a $500K signing bonus with a $3.275MM salary for the upcoming season with the salaries in 2026-27 and 2027-28 being a flat $3.775MM.
Friday: The Flames are getting their final RFA under contract. They’re putting the finishing touches on a three-year contract with forward Connor Zary worth just under $3.775MM per season, per Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It will check off the last major item on Calgary’s off-season list.
After weeks of anticipation, Zary will put pen to paper on a bridge contract that will keep him in the Saddledome. The 2020 first-round pick has emerged as a top option in Calgary’s retooled offense, after two years of high-end play in the AHL. Zary made his pro debut in February, 2021 – taking advantage of the delayed start to the WHL season due to COVID-19. He looked pro-ready right out of the gates, netting seven points in his first nine AHL games before returning to captain the Kamloops Blazers through the end of the season. He scored 24 points in 15 games with the Blazers and turned pro full-time the following year, concluding his junior career at 206 points in 203 games.
After a hot start, Zary stuttered a bit in his first full AHL year. He scored just 13 goals and 25 points in 53 games, and struggled to maintain a role near the top of the Stockton Heat lineup. Those fortunes turned around when the Heat relocated to Calgary for the 2022-23 season. Zary blossomed with the heat of the NHL that much closer. He looked more engaged across the board, and worked to an impressive 21 goals and 58 points in 72 games as a result. That performance wasn’t enough to earn an NHL role outright, but Zary forced the Flames’ hand with 10 points in six AHL games – including one four-assist night – at the start of the 2023-24 season.
Calgary has provided Zary plenty of opportunity to plant his feet in the NHL lineup in the two seasons since. He debuted in the team’s top-six, and cemented his spot with six points through his first six NHL games. The scoring continued through the year – and he wrapped up his first season with 34 points in 63 games, the sixth-highest scoring pace of any rookie. He was comfortably fluctuating between the second and third line by the end of the year, and even capped off his rookie year with four points in his final five games.
This season started much the same. Zary scored five points in the first four games of the season – but quickly fell into the rut of scoring in bursts, with long scoring droughts in between. He struggled to maintain a top-line role as a result, and ultimately fell out of the lineup entirely when he suffered an injury to his left-knee in a January matchup against the Anaheim Ducks. The injury held Zary out of the lineup for a month and a half – and he struggled to find his footing after returning. He scored just two points in his first nine games back. Right as he was returning to form in late-March, Zary sustained another injury to his left-knee. This one ended his season early, limiting him to just 27 points in 54 games on the year.
The 23-year-old center faced the first free agent negotiations of his young career on the heels of those untimely injuries. He was undoubtedly impressive at his brightest moments, but was kept from showing full-season consistency by routine injury – making a bridge deal all but guaranteed. With short-term control, the Flames will be able to hedge their bets in the event that Zary continues to bounce in and out of the lineup, or face extended scoring lulls. On the same coin, the young centerman could soon earn much more than his $3.775MM cap hit – if he can show an ability to hold down a top-six role through an entire 82-game season. He has averaged 43 points per 82 games through his first two seasons in the NHL – but seems capable of achieving 50, or even 60, points at his peak based on talent alone. On this new deal, Calgary will test whether that talent can exist above, or through, the challenges that Zary faces as a young speedster in the NHL.
Photo courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.
Mattias Ekholm Wants To Stay With Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers’ next summer will be clouded by record-setting contract negotiations, but they’ll have a heap of top talent to re-sign behind Connor McDavid. Top of the list will be defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who expressed a strong desire to stick around in a recent conversation with Daily Faceoff’s Jason Gregor. The 35-year-old defenseman said:
Absolutely I want to stay in Edmonton, but I know you have to take care of the big boys first. Once [Connor McDavid] gets [signed] I’m sure we will talk.
Ekholm was narrowly Edmonton’s third defenseman last season. He averaged 22:12 in ice time each game while rotating in-and-out of a top pair role with Darnell Nurse, who averaged 22:22. His year ended with an impressive nine goals and 33 points in 65 games – the second-highest scoring season he’s had since 2020. He managed his highest last year, when he scored 11 goals and 45 points in 75 games.
Even in his sunset years, Ekholm has remained an active impact in all three zones. He shows no signs of wavering any time soon, and offers Edmonton’s blue-line unique veteran value. But he’ll be 36 by the time he’s playing out his next contract. That will cap his next deal in both price and term. He’s wrapping up a four-year, $25MM deal originally signed with the Nashville Predators in 2021. Halving that deal could be an interesting start for next summer’s negotiations, though Ekholm could surely earn a bit more after two proficient seasons in Edmonton.
Sharks Acquire Carey Price’s Contract From Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have traded Carey Price’s contract and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for minor-league defenseman Gannon Laroque. Price has not played since 2021, after undergoing surgery to repair a serious meniscus injury. He carries a $10.5MM cap hit through the end of this season.
Price has received a $5.5MM signing bonus on September 1st of each year of his contract. The Canadiens paid that tab earlier this week, opening the door for his lofty cap hit to be moved out. With no bonuses to worry about, San Jose will only have to pay Price $2MM in base salary, while reaping the benefits of a $10.5MM cap hit. That mark brings San Jose’s cap utilization up to $86.23MM – still $9.24MM below the cap ceiling. Montreal, meanwhile, will move forward with roughly $4.57MM in cap space.
The trade makes sense financially for both sides. The Sharks now distance themselves from the cap floor, while Montreal will be able to enter the season without utilizing long-term injured reserve. That latter point will prove particularly beneficial for Montreal, as they’ll now have the flexibility to bring in almost $5MM in lineup talent – rather than being forced to enter the season at the cap ceiling, since they exceeded the ceiling with Price’s contract on the books.
Montreal is planning to take full advantage of that newfound flexibility, per Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gaming. D’Amico shares that – whether it’s before the season or closer to December – the Habs have expressed interest in building out their roster. The team is noticeably lacking depth at the center position, with little to offer behind clear-cut, top center Nick Suzuki. That could make the Canadiens a strong candidate for a player like Jack Roslovic, who surprisingly remains on the free agent market despite scoring 22 goals and 39 points in his ninth NHL season last year.
The Canadiens will also receive an interesting prospect in this swap. Laroque has fallen victim to substantial injuries throughout each of the last few seasons. He had to undergo surgery on both hips in 2022, forcing him to sit out of all but four games of his final WHL season. He scored five points in those games. Recovery from the hip surgery continued through the 2023-24 season, though Laroque was able to play nine games, and record two points and eight penalty minutes, in both the AHL and ECHL. He seemed well-set to formally begin his pro career, before being pulled out of the 2024-25 season entirely by an undisclosed injury. It wasn’t revealed if this new injury was related to his previous hip surgeries. He was a productive, right-shot defender when he appeared at the junior level. Spending the better parts of two seasons with the WHL’s Victoria Royals, Laroque was able to record 59 points in 84 games.
Meanwhile, San Jose will move forward with balanced books and a clearer outlook of their expenses this season. This move drops San Jose from having the second-most cap space in the league, to the ninth-most. They also now carry 49 contracts, out of a possible 50. Sharks fans will zero in on how the team chooses to move forward with superstar prospect Michael Misa – the second-overall selection in this year’s NHL Draft. Misa scored an incredible 62 goals and 134 points in 65 OHL games this season, but still remains unsigned despite seemingly accomplishing everything he could at the junior flight. He’ll be a name to watch closely, and could even find his way onto the Sharks’ opening night roster, now that the team has a bit more financial security.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports.
Marco Scandella Confirms Retirement
September 2025: Nearly a year after telling reporters he was retired, Scandella has evidently filed his retirement paperwork. The Blues made an announcement today confirming his retirement.
October 2024: St. Louis Blues defenseman Marco Scandella has retired from his pro playing career, sharing as much with Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Scandella attended the Blues’ morning skate on Saturday, visiting old teammates and affirming to reporters that he’s taken to traveling with his newfound free time. He last played in the final game of St. Louis’ 2023-24 season, though his year as a whole would be limited by routine healthy scratches. Scandella totaled eight points in 65 games in what is now his final season.
St. Louis acquired Scandella from the Montreal Canadiens in 2020, sending a 2020 second and 2021 fourth-round pick the other way. Those picks turned into prospects Jack Finley and William Trudeau, respectively, while Scandella pursued a five-year career in St. Louis. He appeared in 215 games over that span, stepping in as a stout two-way option down St. Louis’ depth chart. However, Scandella was never a prolific scorer with the Blues, reaching a career high of 24 points in 49 games during the 2020-21 season.
The Blues were one of four teams to host Scandella during his 14-year NHL career, which began with the Minnesota Wild in the 2010-11 season. He played in 20 games and recorded just two assists in his first season, impressing enough with his abilities off-puck to earn 63 games in a routine top-pair role in the following year. Unfortunately, his rise to a prominent lineup role would be coupled with the first long-term injuries of his career.
He’d be limited by finger injuries, concussions, and groin injuries through his first three pro seasons. He kicked the injury bug in 2013 and became one of the most consistent parts of Minnesota’s lineup until a 2017 trade to the Buffalo Sabres. Scandella continued to serve as a low-scoring, high-responsibility defender in Buffalo, even serving as the team’s top defender in the 2017-18 season. That was a career year for Scandella, marking the only time he appeared in all 82 games of a season. He’d record 22 points, one shy of his career-high set in 2015, while averaging over 23 minutes of ice time.
Scandella’s role would decline every year after his peak with the Sabres, save for a 70-game season with the Blues in 2021-22. He played through his age-33 season, totaling 170 points in 784 games and 42 points in 96 AHL games. His career was marked by diligent and responsible defense, which could be enough to earn Scandella a coaching career down the road.