Senators Reassign Carter Yakemchuk
The Senators announced this morning that they’ve reassigned defense prospect Carter Yakemchuk to AHL Belleville. His demotion likely means Dennis Gilbert could be an option tomorrow against the Panthers after he returned to practice in a regular jersey earlier in the week.
Ottawa likely wasn’t planning on giving Yakemchuk, the seventh overall pick in 2024, an extended NHL look until next season. He’s had a rocky defensive performance in Belleville this year. Nonetheless, their rash of injuries on the blue line forced their hand. Yakemchuk stepped into four straight contests for the Sens after his late-March recall before landing on the injured list himself because he entered concussion protocol. After missing the last four, his demotion today implies he’d passed the necessary tests and is cleared to return.
Yakemchuk debuted with a bang, recording a goal, assist, and a +2 rating in just 12:46 of ice time in a key regulation win over the Red Wings back on March 24. In the three games following, his performances were considerably more measured. He was held off the scoresheet and logged a -3 rating, three shots on goal, two blocks, and five giveaways with zero takeaways.
The 20-year-old righty’s possession numbers were ghastly, as well. Despite receiving extremely sheltered usage – 81% of his 5-on-5 starts came in the offensive end – the Sens only controlled 43.4% of shot attempts with Yakemchuk on the ice.
It’s clear that, with a playoff berth on the line, the Sens would prefer not to have such an inexperienced, albeit high-ceiling name, in the lineup for their final four games. The club’s top blue line prospect has 10 goals and 36 points in 50 games with Belleville this season to lead the club in scoring among rearguards, but also owns a team-worst -30 rating. As such, they’ll likely look to get him at least one more full year of defensive development in the AHL before trying to work him into a full-time role in 2027-28.
Gilbert, 29, had been out for the last nine games with an upper-body injury. He was summoned from Belleville in early March after Jake Sanderson went down with his injury. While Sanderson’s returned, Thomas Chabot and Tyler Kleven are now sidelined, so the veteran lefty will stay up for now.
Gilbert’s return is of particular importance as the Sens haven’t been able to dress multiple left-shot defenders in a game since Chabot fractured his right forearm back on March 23. Kleven was their only healthy lefty after that, and Sanderson didn’t return until after Kleven went down with an upper-body injury.
Now in his seventh NHL season, Gilbert posted one assist and an even rating across six games last month while averaging 11:22 per night. The 6’2″, 216-lb shutdown threat owns a career 3-18–21 scoring line and a -18 rating in 117 career NHL appearances with the Blackhawks, Avalanche, Flames, Sabres, and Senators.
Alex Ovechkin Won’t Make Retirement Decision Until Offseason
Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin has continually kicked the can down the road on the concept of retirement over the past several months. The pending unrestricted free agent did so again today, telling John Walton of Monumental Sports Network that he won’t make a call on his future until this summer.
“Not yet,” Ovechkin said when prompted directly about retirement. “We’re going to make a decision in the summer. I have to talk to my family, with Ted [Leonsis, Capitals owner], with [GM Chris Patrick and POHO Brian MacLellan].”
When asked about the most important factor in his decision, Ovechkin said it would be his health. “I’m going to be 41 years old in September, so you just have to be smart about it.”
Of course, Ovechkin’s age-40 season has included his hallmark durability. He’s played in all 78 games for the Caps, albeit averaging a more conservative 17:29 per game, while maintaining his usual position as the team’s scoring leader with 31 goals and 61 points. While it’s the lowest points-per-game figure of his 21-year career, that’s perhaps more indicative of Washington’s offensive struggles as a whole: the team is only scoring 3.15 goals per game after reaching 3.49 last season.
Ovechkin’s decline has been remarkably slow, but it is still evident. He’s only averaging 2.91 shots on goal per game this season, a career low by a wide margin. His physicality isn’t there either, hovering at a career-low 1.64 hits per game.
That’s all to be expected. The fact that he’s still a clear-cut top-six contributor at this stage of his career is remarkable in its own right. He’s in the final year of the five-year, $47.5MM deal he inked in 2021 and will presumably only sign a one-year deal if he does opt to return, likely at a reduced cap hit from his current $9.5MM impact. Defensive warts notwithstanding, he’d still be an effective top-nine piece at worst next year if he stays on his current trajectory.
The question isn’t whether he can, it’s whether he believes it’s a good idea. Ovechkin has long maintained the wish to play at least one full season back home in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League before hanging up the skates for good. Doing so while he could still conceivably be an All-Star level threat there is no doubt of interest to him.
Image courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.
Maple Leafs Reassign Luke Haymes, William Villeneuve
The Maple Leafs assigned forward Luke Haymes and defenseman William Villeneuve to AHL Toronto on Wednesday morning, per a team announcement. There’s a good chance these moves will be reversed later today. The Marlies, still fighting to clinch a Calder Cup Playoffs berth, have a morning home game against the Utica Comets today, allowing the duo to get some game time in there before rejoining Toronto’s NHL roster for their home tilt against the Capitals later tonight.
Haymes was recalled just yesterday. An undrafted free agent signing out of Dartmouth last year, he’s broken out for 17 goals, 15 assists, and 32 points in 63 games for the Marlies in his first professional season. He got to take part in his first NHL practice yesterday but wasn’t a part of regular line rushes, per Mark Masters of TSN, so it’s unlikely he’ll get to make his NHL debut later tonight after suiting up for the Marlies earlier in the day. He’ll likely travel with the team to Long Island with the hope of making his NHL debut tomorrow in New York on the second half of a back-to-back with travel.
The same goes for Villeneuve, who skated on the Leafs’ extra defense pairing yesterday. He’s been on the roster since April 4 but was scratched for the Leafs’ only game since then, an overtime loss to the Kings last Saturday. A fourth-round pick in 2020, that was the first time Villeneuve had even been rostered for an NHL contest, as he closes out his fourth season in the Leafs organization.
Toronto would be remiss to not get the 6’2″ righty into at least one game down the stretch. The 24-year-old has been among the AHL club’s most consistent two-way threats since beginning his pro career in earnest in 2022. The product of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs has hovered right around half a point per game each season, aside from his 40-point breakout in 55 games last year. His production has regressed this season, but he still owns a 3-25–28 scoring line in 58 games to lead Marlies defensemen.
Capitals Recall Mitch Gibson
The Capitals recalled goaltender Mitch Gibson from AHL Hershey on Tuesday, the team announced. He is expected to dress as Logan Thompson‘s backup tonight against the Maple Leafs after Charlie Lindgren missed yesterday’s practice due to an undisclosed injury, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com).
Gibson started the season as Washington’s fifth-string netminder, sitting behind Thompson, Lindgren, and their initial AHL duo of Clay Stevenson and Garin Bjorklund. He wasn’t on an NHL contract, either. He was a fourth-round pick by the Caps in 2018 and has been playing pro in the organization since 2023, but he wasn’t issued a qualifying offer when his two-way deal expired last summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Nonetheless, he returned to Hershey on a minor-league deal and was assigned to ECHL South Carolina to start the season. The former ECAC champion with Harvard impressed with a .917 SV% and 2.32 GAA in 13 games before earning a recall to Hershey in December, as an injury to Lindgren caused an organizational domino effect. He’s essentially remained in the AHL ever since, leapfrogging Bjorklund and competing with Stevenson for positioning as Washington’s primary call-up option. In 22 outings with Hershey this season, Gibson has a .907 SV%, 2.79 GAA, and a 9-8-5 record with one shutout.
His numbers in Hershey prompted the Caps to sign him to a two-year, two-way deal in February, regaining his NHL rights and making him a call-up option. He was waived the same day and cleared. This will be the 26-year-old’s first time dressing for an NHL regular-season game; he’d previously only been rostered as a playoff emergency backup.
If Washington decides to shut Lindgren down for the final four games of the regular season, there’s a chance Gibson could make his NHL debut on either half of this weekend’s back-to-back against the Penguins. The Caps aren’t mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, trailing the Senators by five points for the second wild card spot with three other teams to leapfrog; time isn’t on their side. Their chances to make the playoffs are down to 3%, per MoneyPuck, and would only climb to 5% with a win over Toronto tonight.
Oilers Activate Colton Dach From Long-Term Injured Reserve
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters Tuesday that forward Colton Dach will be in the lineup tonight against the Mammoth, signaling he’s been activated from long-term injured reserve (via Jack Michaels of Sportsnet).
Dach, acquired from the Blackhawks before the trade deadline along with Jason Dickinson, hasn’t been an option for the last 12 games due to an undisclosed injury. The cap-strapped Oilers were able to quickly place him on LTIR once it was apparent he would miss at least 10 games and 24 days. That was, of course, before Leon Draisaitl‘s injury likely ended his regular season and gave Edmonton plenty of cap relief by virtue of his LTIR placement.
Ice time was limited for the 23-year-old Dach through his first few games in Alberta. The injury abbreviated his third performance, but he still didn’t see over 10 minutes in any of his three outings, averaging 5:24 per game with an assist and a -2 rating.
A 2021 second-round pick by the Blackhawks, he has some offensive upside but his impact for the Oilers, at least at present, will be most felt in his physicality. He’s totaled 10 points and 195 hits in 56 games on the year, a figure that would rank second on the Oilers behind Vasily Podkolzin had he spent the whole season in Edmonton.
Dach will be getting a look as Edmonton’s third-line left wing tonight alongside Dickinson and Trent Frederic. That line has combined for just 10 points in Oilers colors this season, with Frederic’s six points and -17 rating in 69 outings being especially woeful. The Oilers’ lack of production from their bottom six hasn’t stopped them from putting together a 7-3-0 run in their last 10, usurping the Ducks for first place in the Pacific if they can keep pace.
Kings Sign Jan Chovan To AHL Tryout
Kings draft pick Jan Chovan will get the chance to make his pro debut with AHL Ontario down the stretch after inking an amateur tryout with the club, per a team announcement Tuesday.
Los Angeles selected Chovan in the sixth round of last year’s draft. The 6’3″ native of Slovakia had spent all of his pre-draft development playing in Finland’s junior circuit but opted to come to North America after his selection, having previously gone 36th overall in the 2024 Canadian Hockey League import draft to the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League.
Chovan’s fall was striking. A versatile playmaker with good size, he had 23 points in 39 junior games last season with Tappara’s under-20 club and added a goal and an assist for the Slovaks in five games at the 2025 World Junior Championship. Most had him tabbed as a third-round pick, even as high as a late second-rounder, with TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s polling of NHL scouts placing him 79th overall at the end of the year. Instead, he fell all the way to 184th overall – more than twice as many picks it was expected to take for him to come off the board.
Early on, it looks like the Kings were wise not to let him fall any further. He wasn’t touted as much of a goal scorer, but had 28 of them in 60 games for Sudbury this season, adding on 27 assists to lead the team in scoring with 55 points. He was one of two Wolves players with multiple goals in the playoffs as Sudbury was swept out of the first round by the Brantford Bulldogs by a combined score of 18-10.
Since Chovan was drafted out of Finland, the Kings don’t have to sign him until June 2029 to avoid losing his signing rights. He also isn’t subject to the NHL’s transfer agreement with the CHL and the Kings could have him play in the AHL full-time next season if they choose, either by signing him to his entry-level contract this offseason and assigning him there during training camp or simply having him sign a minor-league deal while retaining his NHL rights.
Despite that impressive production in a non-conducive offensive environment in Sudbury, Chovan didn’t earn a mention as a top-14 prospect in L.A.’s pool by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic earlier this month. He’ll now be looking to prove he can play a sound two-way game in a brief pro stint.
Lightning Recall Conor Geekie, Jakob Pelletier, Dylan Duke
The Lightning have added forwards Conor Geekie, Jakob Pelletier, and Dylan Duke on recall from AHL Syracuse ahead of tonight’s game against the Senators, Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider reports. They’ve reassigned winger Mitchell Chaffee to Syracuse in a corresponding move, Erlendsson adds.
All the roster shuffling comes on the heels of the Bolts’ banged-up forward corps sustaining another injury last night against the Sabres. Pontus Holmberg was checked into the penalty box door as the attendant was opening it for Buffalo’s Zach Benson to return to play in the third period after his roughing penalty had expired. He sustained an apparent left shoulder/upper arm injury on the play and was seen in a sling postgame, per John Wawrow of the Associated Press.
There’s no timeline for his return yet, although it stands to reason Holmberg will be unavailable tonight. With Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel already sidelined with short-term issues, the trio of recalls plus Chaffee’s demotion leaves them with an extra healthy forward.
Geekie sees his second recall of the season as Tampa looks to remain narrowly ahead of the Sabres and Canadiens for the Atlantic Division crown. The 2022 11th overall pick was acquired from Utah in the Mikhail Sergachev trade in 2024 and remains the Bolts’ top prospect. He’s still scratching the surface at the NHL level, but has been a dominant two-way piece throughout his junior and now minor-league career. This year, he’s lighting it up with a 17-42–59 scoring line in 56 AHL games, along with a +13 rating that ranks sixth on the team.
Geekie’s only other recall this season, aside from his brief stint on the roster after making it on opening night, came in early March when Dominic James went down with a leg injury that required surgery. He headed back to Syracuse 11 days later once Nick Paul was ready to come off injured reserve. He managed one assist in five games, bringing his season total up to two and 11, respectively. Even with so many mounting injuries, don’t expect head coach Jon Cooper to use Geekie in high-leverage situations. He hasn’t shown a willingness to recently, averaging only 12:20 of ice time per game last year and just 9:51 this season.
As for Pelletier, the 25-year-old signed one of the more unusual contracts of the 2025 offseason. He agreed to a three-year, league-minimum deal with Tampa after being non-tendered by the Flyers, who had acquired him just months earlier from the Flames in the Morgan Frost/Joel Farabee deal. The 2019 first-round pick is technically on a two-way deal this year before converting to a one-way pact for 2026-27 and 2027-28, but he still has enough pro experience to require waivers.
Pelletier cleared without incident in the preseason, and a handful of teams are likely regretting not putting in a claim. With 28 goals and 75 points in 61 games for Syracuse, he’s well set up to take home the AHL’s scoring crown. It’ll be the second time he’s hit over a point per game in the AHL and has brought his career average there up to 1.03.
Perhaps the most quintessential example of a ‘AAAA’ player in hockey, he still hasn’t managed to latch onto a full-time NHL job. Over the past four seasons, he has a respectable 11 goals and 29 points in 88 games while averaging a shade under 12 minutes per night. His 5’10”, 172-lb frame doesn’t lend him toward being a bottom-six checking threat, though, and his 1.26 career shots on goal per game are low for a player who’s made such a living putting up points in the AHL.
He may get another look tonight as the Bolts face a decision on whether or not to expose him to waivers again in the fall. He could be a natural low-cost replacement for pending UFA Oliver Bjorkstrand, who has essentially transitioned into a power-play specialist for Tampa this season.
Not to be overlooked is Duke, the Bolts’ fourth-round pick in 2021. The former Michigan standout has now had a pair of productive seasons to begin his pro career in Syracuse, upping his production to 31 goals and 55 points in 67 outings this season. This is his first recall of the year, but he did score a goal across a pair of games in his NHL debut late last season.
Given his lack of experience, though, he’s the likeliest candidate to sit in the press box tonight if the Bolts end up having a healthy extra to spare. Their clash with the Senators has a 31-point swing on their chances of finishing first in the division, while it’s got a 29% swing on Ottawa’s playoff hopes. A win for Tampa would move their Atlantic title chances up to 73%, a win for the Senators boosts their playoff odds to 85%, per MoneyPuck.
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Canadiens’ Kirby Dach, Alexandre Texier Cleared To Play
The Canadiens will be able to get forwards Kirby Dach and Alexandre Texier back into the lineup down the stretch if they so choose, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports. Both were given final clearance Tuesday morning and could dress as soon as tonight against the Panthers.
Dach has been out since March 15, sustaining an upper-body injury on a hit from Ducks winger Jeffrey Viel that night. He was given a two- to four-week return timeline, so his reincorporation is right on schedule. Since there’s no roster limit after the trade deadline, there was never a need to place him on injured reserve.
Injury-plagued seasons are nothing new for Dach, who’s hit the 60-game mark just twice in his seven-year career. The 25-year-old has been limited again this season to 32 appearances, missing two months with a foot fracture earlier in the year. When dressed, he’s taken a step forward from last year’s woeful performance with an 8-6–14 scoring line and an even rating. He’s yet to reach the heights of his 14-goal, 38-point debut season with Montreal in 58 games in 2022-23, though. He tore his MCL and ACL in his right knee early in the following season and hasn’t been as effective ever since.
Now 25, the Habs will appreciate Dach’s versatility. The 6’4″, 221-lb center is comfortable on the wing as well and can play virtually anywhere in Montreal’s top nine. His defensive impacts this season are middling, logging a 48.7% Corsi share and a 49.7% expected goals share to rank around the team median in both.
Texier, 26, hasn’t played since March 24. He’s missed the last seven with a lower-body issue. Before that, he proved to be a valuable plug-and-play option. He’s been healthy scratched for stretches this season, but has eight goals and 19 points in 38 games for the Habs since signing with Montreal in November following his release from the Blues. His 0.50 points per game are tied with Mike Matheson for eighth on the team.
The Habs have already clinched a playoff berth but are still fighting to see if they can eke out home-ice advantage in the first round. The Sabres’ win over the Lightning last night put them back over Montreal for second place in the Atlantic. Montreal is two points back of both the Lightning and Sabres, who are tied for the division crown, but Tampa sits in first on points percentage with one game in hand on Buffalo. With five games left on the schedule, the Habs also have a game in hand on the Sabres that they’ll look to use to their advantage tonight against the lottery-bound Panthers.
Maple Leafs Recall Luke Haymes
The Maple Leafs announced that they’ve recalled forward Luke Haymes from AHL Toronto on an emergency basis. The 22-year-old could be an option to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Capitals.
Toronto signed Haymes as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth College this time last year. At the time, the Ottawa native was coming off a standout run over his sophomore and junior seasons that saw him accumulate 30 goals and 54 points in 53 games for the Big Green, taking home ECAC First Team All-Star honors in 2023-24.
Haymes joined the AHL club on an amateur tryout to end last season before his entry-level contract kicked in this year. He immediately made an impact with two goals and six points in nine games. That production has carried over in 2025-26, where he’s had a strong enough rookie campaign with a 17-15–32 line in 63 games with a -6 rating.
Haymes sits sixth on the club in scoring and remains under contract through next year at a cap hit of $875K. He’ll be waiver-exempt until 2028-29 unless he plays 70 NHL contests before then. An opening-night job in the fall is unlikely, but he’s tracking toward being a depth contributor with some real mid-season call-up potential. He’ll get an initial look now with five games left in the Leafs’ season, their first without playoff hockey since 2016.
The 6’1″, 203-lb Haymes can play both center and left wing and checks in as the #10 prospect in the Maple Leafs’ system according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. Wheeler touts him as a “solid, trustworthy player” who “makes good decisions around the ice, knows how to support play on both sides of the puck, has a pro build and average pro tools, and fits the play-the-right-way focus of the current Leafs brass and coaching staff.”