Hurricanes’ Pyotr Kochetkov Placed On IR, Potentially Out For Season
The Carolina Hurricanes have placed goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov on injured reserve. Kochetkov has been battling a hip injury since the start of the season. He missed all of October and the last week of November due to the issue. Now, after being forced out of the lineup for a third time, Kochetkov has elected to undergo surgery to address the injury, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of The News and Observer.
Kochetkov has only played in nine games this season. He was successful in those appearances, posting a 6-3-0 record, .899 save percentage, and 2.33 goals-against-average. He also had one shutout on the year. Kochetkov’s stat line ranked second in Carolina’s goaltending room across the board, behind emerging starter Brandon Bussi.
Bussi will be who Carolina leans on in Kochetkov’s absence. The 27-year-old has posted 12 wins, a .910 Sv%, and a 2.10 GAA in the first 14 games of his NHL career this season. He has been a standout in the minor leagues since signing with the AHL’s Providence Bruins out of college in 2022. Bussi posted a first .922 Sv% in the first 37 games of his AHL career, spanning the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. That entrance into the league earned Bussi an AHL all-star recognition in 2023 – an accolade he followed with 23 wins and a .913 Sv% in 41 games with Providence in 2023-24.
In competition with Michael DiPietro, Bussi fell to a .907 Sv% in 33 AHL games last season. That slip prompted a move to the Hurricanes this summer, which has quickly paid off. Bussi has not appeared in the AHL yet this season and could have a clear path to a true starter’s role ahead of struggling veteran Frederik Andersen.
In a corresponding move to Andersen’s IR designation, the Hurricanes have also recalled defenseman Gavin Bayreuther. He will help the team back up a handful of game-time decisions on defense, Brind’Amour told NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. Bayreuther spent last season with Lausanne HC in Switzerland’s National League. He scored 23 points in 52 games, a small scoring spark that seems to be bleeding into this season. His 13 points in 24 games rank second on the Chicago Wolves’ blue line behind Domenick Fensore. Bayreuther hasn’t played in the NHL this season, his last game being back in 2023, though he has been recalled as a backup once by Carolina.
With their shifting lineup, the Hurricanes will hope surgery helps Kochetkov return to form. He has posted a sub-.900 save percentage across his last 56 NHL games, dating back to the start of 2024-25. The performances have been a steep drop from the 38 wins and .910 Sv% Kochetkov recorded in 69 games through his first three NHL seasons. He is a fringe starter when healthy and should still fill a need in Carolina’s lineup on the other side of his recovery. Kochetkov carries a $2MM cap hit through the end of next season.
Islanders’ Ethan Bear Clears Waivers
Dec. 29th: Insider Frank Seravalli reported that Bear has successfully cleared waivers and can be safely reassigned to AHL Bridgeport.
Dec. 28th: The New York Islanders have placed depth defenseman Ethan Bear on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Bear began the year on season-opening injured reserve with an upper-body injury. His waiver placement serves as a strong indication that Bear has fully recovered from that injury. Should he clear, he will likely be assigned to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders.
Bear spent the entirety of last season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. It was his first full AHL season since 2018-19 and he took full advantage of the lighter competition. Bear, who had struggled in the NHL for a few years in a row, led Hershey in scoring with 46 points in 62 games last season. The performance was the most a Hershey defenseman has scored since Aaron Ness scored 55 points in the 2018-19 season.
It is too late into Bear’s career to call his AHL season a breakout year – but it went far in solidifying the role he offered an NHL team. He’s stood out as a top-end offensive-defenseman in the minor-leagues, who can offer serviceable, bottom-pair impact with an NHL club. That standing lines up with Bear’s career stat line. He has recorded 67 points and 112 penalty minutes in 275 NHL games, to go with 95 points and 76 penalty minutes in 151 AHL games.
The Islanders will look to add that puck-moving ability to the top of Bridgeport’s lineup with this move. Bridgeport has struggled to win this season. They are currently ranked dead-last in the Atlantic Division and have been outscored by a combined 82-to-94. Bear won’t buoy the team’s defense, but his offensive talent should remove some responsibility from more well-rounded defenders Marshall Warren and Cole McWard.
Flyers’ Egor Zamula Changes Agents, Eyeing Move
The Philadelphia Flyers could soon be pushed to deal a depth defenseman. Egor Zamula has fired his previous agent and signed with Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. This move could prelude Zamula mutually terminating his contract with the Flyers and re-signing, for a cheaper price, with another team, per PuckPedia. If that does transpire, Philadelphia would be hoping to acquire a forward on an expiring contract in return for cutting Zamula.
This move would not be unsimilar to the St. Louis Blues’ recent termination of winger Alexandre Texier, another Milstein client. News of Texier’s availability spread quickly around the NHL and had teams lining up to sign him as a free agent. He ultimately signed with the Montreal Canadiens, who he’s scored six points in 15 games with, though St. Louis did not receive any assets in return for the swap.
If the Flyers could command much for Zamula is yet to be seen. He has served as a routine healthy scratch for much of the season, but Philadelphia long avoided assigning him to the minor-leagues for longer than a day or two. That changed after rookie Ty Murchison made his NHL debut on December 16th. Murchison has stuck with the NHL roster – and appeared in three games – since, while Zamula was sent to the AHL for good three days later.
It appears Zamula has been leapfrogged on the lineup by the younger Murchison. Philadelphia is also carrying longtime depth defender Noah Juulsen, who boasts more veteran experience than Zamula could offer. That leaves the 25-year-old Russian as the odd-man-out on the Flyers’ depth chart. Rather than continue on in the AHL, it seems Zamula will prefer to test his chances in another NHL lineup. He’s a 6-foot-3, 200-pound defender who has only scored 41 points in 168 NHL games. That includes one point in 13 games this season.
Zamula’s best attributes are his long reach and physical upside – two pieces that many teams need more of at the bottom of their defense. If that’s enough to impress a lacking defense like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, or Edmonton Oilers – the Flyers could end up with a nice lineup boost in the middle of the season.
Blackhawks Place Frank Nazar On IR, Activate Nick Foligno
The Chicago Blackhawks have activated captain Nick Foligno off of injured reserve. He is expected to return to the lineup on Sunday night for his first game since November 15th, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio. To make room for Foligno’s return, the Blackhawks have moved winger Frank Nazar to injured reserve. Nazar has already missed one week, and is expected to miss three more, with a face injury caused by a Claude Giroux slapshot in Chicago’s December 20th loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Getting Foligno back will be a wave of relief for the Blackhawks. The 38-year-old winger scored six points, all assists, in 15 games before going down with injury. He also added 11 shot blocks and 41 hits – high enough marks to rank Foligno fourth in hits-per-game, and first in blocks-per-game, on Chicago’s offense despite missing the last 19 games. It will be play away from the puck that Foligno impacts most in his return, which should clear up more space for Chicago’s skill players, like Teuvo Teravainen and Nick Lardis, to focus on offense.
The Blackhawks will have to hope that;s the case, at least. They have split results in two games since Nazar’s injury and were outscored four-to-six. Nazar has been a focal piece of the offense all season long – a role that only increased when star Connor Bedard went down with an injury of his own. The second-year pro has scored 21 points in 33 games in the elevated role, good for fourth on Chicago in scoring.
That comes despite the fact that Nazar rode a six-game point drought and 21-game goal drought through November and December. He has proven to be an offensive motor that Chicago can’t easily replace. Foligno’s return will bring in more helping hands but Chicago will still face a tough test with games against the New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals, and Vegas Golden Knights in their near future.
Sabres Reassign Isak Rosen, Ryan Johnson; Rasmus Dahlin To Return
The NHL’s holiday break roster freeze has lifted, allowing teams to shift players between the NHL and AHL once again. The Buffalo Sabres have taken advantage of the lift to reassign forward Isak Rosen and defenseman Ryan Johnson to the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
Johnson was, notably, called up to the lineup while Buffalo awaited the return of star defender Rasmus Dahlin, who spent the holiday break in Sweden with his fiance, who has faced medical concerns throughout the regular season. This move indicates that Dahlin will be back with the club when they face the St. Louis Blues on Monday, a plan that head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed to Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat.
Johnson has returned to his role of minor-league call-up this season. He has no scoring in three NHL games and 11 points in 25 AHL games this season. Those numbers are holding the mobile, two-way defender in that extra role – two seasons after he manageed just seven points, all assists, in 41 games of his rookie season in Buffalo. Johnson is still searching for his first NHL goal. That hunt will go on pause as he returns to a top-four role with the Americans.
Rosen has been a much bigger part of the Rochester lineup. He leads the team in goals and ranks third in points with 12 goals and 22 points in 15 games. That scoring puts Rosen on top of the AHL in points-per-game (1.47) among players with at least 15 games played. The hot scoring has begun to shine through to the NHL, with Rosen boasting seven points in 13 games this season. He will look to cement his spot in the lineup on his next call-up, which will likely come as soon as Buffalo needs a helping hand.
The Sabres leaned on Mattias Samuelsson with Dahlin out of the lineup on Saturday. Samuelsson put up a three-point night in return, the highest-scoring game of his six-year career. It was a standout performance when the Sabres needed one, and helped the club extend their win streak to a surprising eight games. Samuelsson’s performance could have Buffalo shifting around their blue-line, even after Dahlin returns.
Maple Leafs’ William Nylander Out Day-To-Day
The Toronto Maple Leafs will have to deal with yet another injury moving forward. Star winger William Nylander will miss Sunday night’s game and sit out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury head coach Craig Berube told David Alter of The Hockey News. Rookie Easton Cowan will step back into the lineup in Nylander’s place. It will be Cowan’s first game in over a week.
Few players will be tougher to lose than Nylander. He leads the Maple Leafs in scoring with 41 points in 33 games this season. That standing stood up through a relatively quiet start to the month of December. Nylander only scored four points, all assists, through the first 10 games of the month. He has more than made up for the lull, though, with five points in his last two games.
Nylander has recorded the third-highest average ice time on Toronto’s offense, behind only Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. He leaves a massive hole in Toronto’s lineup that will likely require a committee approach to fill. Cowan will be some help, boasting 11 points in 26 games of his rookie season and offering a nice bit of explosive offense. But the first-year pro won’t be able to keep the offense afloat on his own. Toronto will need a surge in impact from players like Matias Maccelli, Max Domi, and Bobby McMann in Nylander’s absence. They could also benefit from a bounce back for star Matthews, who snapped a four-game scoring drought with a three-point night on Saturday. A few more games like that should be enough to keep Toronto in the win column while Nylander works back to full health.
2026 NHL Draft Eligible Players At World Juniors
The World Junior Championships kicked off early on Friday. The tournament brings together the top U20 players from 10 countries around the world. Rosters typically contain a mix of NHL players, NHL prospects, undrafted players looking for a second chance, and future draftees hoping for a good first impression. Pro Hockey Rumors has compiled a list of all 75 players eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft competing in this year’s World Junior Championship tournament:
Team Canada
D Carson Carels
D Ethan MacKenzie
F Gavin McKenna
D Keaton Verhoeff
Team Czechia
D Vladimír Dravecký
F Adam Novotny
D Jakub Vanecek
Team Denmark
F Lasse Bærentsen
D Jesper Bank Olesen (re-entry candidate)
D Jeppe Bertram (re-entry candidate)
F Elias Borup Olsen (re-entry candidate)
F William Bundgaard (re-entry candidate)
F Lucas Cilan Hjorth Jensen
D Viggo Damgaard (re-entry candidate)
F Oliver Dejbjerg Larsen (re-entry candidate)
F Oliver Green
F Albert Grossmann (re-entry candidate)
D Emil Saaby Jakobsen
D Markus Jakobsen (re-entry candidate)
D Frederik Rundh (re-entry candidate)
F Martinus Uggerhøj Schioldan
Team Finland
F Onni Kalto (re-entry candidate)
F Jasper Kuhta (re-entry candidate)
D Juho Piiparinen
F Oliver Suvanto
D Arttu Välilä (re-entry candidate)
F Matias Vanhanen (re-entry candidate)
Team Germany
D Max Bleicher (re-entry candidate)
F Lenny Boos (re-entry candidate)
F Gustavs Griva (re-entry candidate)
D Fabio Kose (re-entry candidate)
F Timo Kose (re-entry candidate)
F Elias Schneider (re-entry candidate)
D Finn Serikow (re-entry candidate)
F Mateu Späth (re-entry candidate)
F Dustin Willhöft (re-entry candidate)
Team Latvia
F Rudolfs Berzkalns
F Dmitrijs Dilevka (re-entry candidate)
F Karlis Flugins
F Roberts Janis Polis
F Martins Klaucans
F Olivers Murnieks
D Rolands Naglis (re-entry candidate)
F Bruno Osmanis (re-entry candidate)
D Krisjanis Sarts (re-entry candidate)
F Daniels Serkins (re-entry candidate)
D Alberts Smits
F Kristians Utnans (re-entry candidate)
Team Sweden
F Viggo Björck
D William Håkansson
F Casper Juustovaara Karlsson
F Ivar Stenberg
Team Slovakia
D Michal Capos (re-entry candidate)
F Tomas Chrenko
F Jakub Dubravik (re-entry candidate)
D Adam Goljer
D Adam Kalman (re-entry candidate)
D Matus Lisy (re-entry candidate)
F Alex Misiak (re-entry candidate)
F Samuel Murin (re-entry candidate)
F Adam Nemec
F Tomas Pobezal (re-entry candidate)
D Luka Radivojevic (re-entry candidate)
F Andreas Straka (re-entry candidate)
F Tobias Tomik
F Lukas Tomka (re-entry candidate)
Team Switzerland
F Mike Aeschlimann (re-entry candidate)
F Lenny Giger (re-entry candidate)
F Cyrill Henry (re-entry candidate)
F Kimi Körbler (re-entry candidate)
D Nik Lehmann
F Paul Mottard (re-entry candidate)
F Lars Steiner
D Guus Van der Kaaij (re-entry candidate)
Team United States
D Chase Reid
D Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen (re-entry candidate)
Boston College Eagles Sign Oscar Hemming
2026 NHL Draft prospect Oscar Hemming has officially signed a commitment agreement with the NCAA’s Boston College Eagles. This news ends what has turned into a small saga for the projected first-round pick. Hemming has not yet played a league game this season – not due to injury, but instead due to a strange conflict between Finland’s Liiga, the OHL, and the BCHL. On the other side, Hemming won’t appear in any of those leagues and instead heads to a BC team in need of another difference-maker.
Hemming grew up through the Kiekko-Espoo youth hockey program in Finland. He stood out as a star at every level and broke into the U20 league as a 16 year old last season. He scored 10 points in 18 games with Kiekko-Espoo’s top youth club. It was a great breakthrough that set Hemming up to be a pillar of the U20 club, and maybe break through to the Liiga lineup, this season. More importantly, another strong season would lock the physically-mature Hemming into a high NHL draft pick, which could return the Finnish club a hardy development fee from the NHL.
Instead, Hemming announced after the conclusion of the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup his plans to sign with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. The move would have pushed Hemming into a starring, and potentially pretty easy, as the motor of Kitchener’s offense.
But Kiekko-Espoo disputed the decision, arguing that Hemming should stay in Finland for the season. The argument didn’t carry much impact at first – until the IIHF declared that Hemming would lose his eligibility if he joined Hockey Canada.
To get around that, Hemming instead signed with the Sherwood Park Crusaders in the BCHL, a league not overseen by Hockey Canada. That appeared to thwart any concerns, but ultimately wouldn’t come together as Hemming looked to ensure no conflict with the IIHF. Now, it seems no home in Canada will work out, leaving one of Finland’s top prospects to move to American college hockey.
Luckily, it seems Hemming will now indeed find a place to play, while getting an education on top of it. Hockey East will offer great competition, giving Hemming a chance to really hone the gritty and strong game that has earned him so much attention. He is a true puck hound, who seeks out possession and excels at bullying his way through opponents.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound forward fires hard shots from high in the offensive zone, and crashes the net hard in search of rebounds. He should be a welcome addition to BC’s top-six, where he’ll offer a power-forward compliment to the likes of Boston Bruins prospect James Hagens and Nashville Predators prospect Teddy Stiga. Hemming is a left-hand shot.
Hemming is the younger brother of Dallas Stars prospect Emil Hemming, who was selected 29th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. The younger Hemming carrries as much, if not a little bit more, favor than his older brother. A quick adjustment to the college flight could earn Hemming attention as a top-10 or top-15 pick. He will hope to beat his brother’s selection by a few picks otherwise. The news of Hemming’s NCAA commitment is the latest excitement in a run of news around the NCAA.
The story of Hemming’s saga was first reported by Josh Brown of the Waterloo Region Record.
Morning Notes: Carrier, Quinn, Johnston
The Carolina Hurricanes were without a depth winger on Tuesday night. William Carrier missed the game due to illness, pushing the team to ice 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with Joel Nystrom stepping back into the lineup. This marked Carrier’s seventh absence of the season, after facing a lower-body injury earlier in the season.
Carrier has continued to serve a depth role when healthy. He has three goals, seven points, and a plus-one in 29 games this season – putting him on pace for 18 points on the full year if he plays in the rest of Carolina’s outings. The 31 year old also leads the Hurricanes offense in hits-per-game with 58 hits giving him a per-game average of two hits. He will return to a fourth-line role when back to full health.
Other notes from around the league:
- New York Rangers assistant coach David Quinn also missed his team’s Tuesday night game due to an illness. Head coach Mike Sullivan said that Quinn has been facing a flu that is going around the team and needded a night off, despite trying to fight through the bug per New York Post’s Mollie Walker. He should be back on the bench once New York returns from the holiday break.
- Anaheim Ducks forward Ross Johnston was fined $2,864.58 by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday for roughing Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye. Johnston chased down and sucker punched Kartye during a scrum in front of the net during the two sides’ Monday matchup. Johnston received a two-minute minor penalty and a game misconduct. Kartye also received a misconduct. Despite the incident, Anaheim won’t have to readjust their lineup, though Johnston’s holiday budget may be shaped a bit differently.
Canadiens Sign Bryce Pickford To Entry-Level Contract
12/24: The Canadiens have made Pickford’s entry-level contract official. It will formally begin in 2026-27. He could move to the AHL as soon as next season, with his 20th birthday coming in April. For now, Pickford will try to use this Christmas Eve gift as motivation to win another championship in Medicine Hat.
12/23: The Montreal Canadiens are approaching an agreement on an entry-level contract with defense prospect Bryce Pickford per Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. This news comes on the heels of a serious hot streak for Pickford. He is in the midst of a six-game goal streak and eight-game point streak with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. That featured a run of five consecutive games where Pickford scored the game-winning goals. Now, with Medicine Hat on a 10-day break for the holidays, Pickford could land his first pro contract.
Pickford, the 81st-overall pick in the 2025 draft, is among the most unique prospects in hockey. The 6-foot-1, 181-pound defenseman has racked up 25 goals, 44 points, and 37 penalty minutes in 31 games this season, while serving as Medicine Hat’s captain. He generates break-ins, shots, and scoring chances at an unrivaled rate for a defenseman – especially one who still makes a physical impact in the defensive end. His one-on-one defense and positioning leave a bit to be desired, keeping Pickford from being a full 200-foot star consistently, but his explosivity has been hard to stop on a strong Tigers lineup.
Pickford’s offense, next to star prospect Gavin McKenna, helped propel Medicine Hat to the WHL Championship and a Memorial Cup Final loss last season. He scored 13 goals and 24 points in 18 playoff games. Pickford also went to Memorial Cup with the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2022-23, his first year in the WHL, but only scored three points in 17 playoff games. In total, he has racked up 153 points in 243 WHL games between the regular and post seasons.
Many debate Pickford’s upside. He has the frame, jump, and shooting to take over offense but concerns about his skating and defense kept him from being drafted in 2024, his first year of eligiblity. An entry-level contract will serve as a nice bode of confidence from Montreal’s brass in the midst of another strong season.