Senators, Gabriel Eliasson Agree To Terms On Entry-Level Deal
The Senators announced Wednesday that they’ve agreed to terms with defense prospect Gabriel Eliasson on a three-year, entry-level contract that starts next season. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Eliasson, 19, was the 39th overall selection in the 2024 draft, going early in the second round. The pick warranted a fair amount of detractors at the time. He was a consensus third-to-fourth-round threat by most rankings and, although NHL teams favored him more than the public sphere, he was still taken several spots north of his #55 slot in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s polling of NHL scouts that year.
The left-shot Swede checks in at 6’7″ and 220 lbs. He has the skating ability to pair with that to create good defensive impacts, but is limited virtually everywhere else, keeping him squarely as a bottom-pairing and penalty-killing threat if he cracks the NHL.
As such, Eliasson didn’t even earn a mention on Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s ranking of Senators prospects this month, although he was listed at #10 by Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff last offseason. His standing in their pool likely didn’t improve this season. He’s spent the last two seasons in North American juniors after playing his draft year in his native Sweden, but has managed just a 5-10–15 scoring line with an even rating in 124 games for the OHL’s Barrie Colts. He was also the OHL’s most penalized player this season, with 122 penalty minutes, and earned the same honor twice in two different Swedish junior leagues during his development.
Eliasson had previously committed to the University of Michigan. That ship had likely already sailed, but he’s officially no longer eligible to jump to the NCAA as a freshman next year after inking his NHL deal. He’ll instead report to AHL Belleville to begin his pro career in the fall if his Colts remain in the postseason picture past the end of Belleville’s current season.
Avalanche’s Nicolas Roy To Miss Time
Avalanche forward Nicolas Roy will be held out of the lineup “for a little bit” with the upper-body injury that caused him to miss last night’s win over the Penguins, head coach Jared Bednar said on Altitude Sports Radio this morning (via Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette).
Bednar said that his proclamation has more to do with the fact that they won’t be rushing him back into the lineup rather than the immediate severity of his injury. It’s still unclear what happened to Roy, who missed some shifts against the Capitals last Sunday and played a season-low 8:40 but never left the game for good.
Acquired at the trade deadline from the Maple Leafs for a first and a fifth-round pick, Roy has been a natural fit defensively thus far in Colorado’s bottom six. He was relied upon as a shutdown presence in Toronto through the first chunk of the season, and with his offensive-zone usage increasing a little bit after the trade to a 42.1 oZS% at 5-on-5, his possession numbers have jumped to a 56.1 CF% and 54.0 xGF%.
He’s yet to notch an assist in the burgundy and blue, but he does have three goals in nine outings, 60% of his goal output in Toronto this season in nearly 60 games. He won’t continue finishing at a 17.6% clip, but the chance generation numbers are way up – 1.89 shots on goal per game for the Avs compared to only 0.93 per game for the Leafs.
Faceoffs have been a struggle, though. He’s normally below average but was quite stout with the Leafs at the start of the season, winning 52.9% of his draws. Post-trade, he’s gone 17-for-41 (41.5%) and has seen a good bit of time on the wing, bouncing around a bit but seeing a good bit of time as high as the second-line right wing slot with Nazem Kadri and Brock Nelson.
Colorado got a pair of key bottom-nine forwards back in Ross Colton and Logan O’Connor last night, so that helps offset Roy’s loss a bit. For now, there’s no indication they expect him to be unavailable for Game 1 of their playoff run next month. With him and Artturi Lehkonen sidelined, that’ll just mean more reps for depth names like Zakhar Bardakov and Joel Kiviranta last night.
Islanders Reassign Victor Eklund To AHL
The Islanders have recalled top right-wing prospect Victor Eklund from his loan to Djurgårdens IF of the SHL, the Swedish club announced this morning. He was subsequently loaned to AHL Bridgeport, where he will finish this season before competing for an opening night roster spot in 2026-27. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period was the first to relay the news yesterday.
Eklund, 19, was the second of three first-round draft choices the Isles made last summer, going 16th overall with the earlier of the two picks New York had acquired from the Canadiens in the Noah Dobson trade. It was a significant fall for someone who scouts unanimously labeled as a top-10 pick. Eklund was the second-ranked European skater in the class behind only Anton Frondell, according to NHL Central Scouting, while outlets like McKeen’s Hockey, Elite Prospects, and even TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s polling of NHL scouts had him going in the #8-10 range overall.
The Islanders were happy to be the beneficiaries of the 5’11”, 170-lb righty slipping through the cracks. A workhorse, all-around forward, Eklund played a key role in helping Djurgården gain promotion from the second-tier Allsvenskan to the SHL last year, posting a team-leading 19 goals in 42 games while adding 12 assists for 31 points and a +16 rating.
Eklund’s production took an understandable hit this year as the strength of competition increased significantly, but not too much. He finished sixth on the team in regular-season scoring with a 6-18–24 line in 43 games, tied for second with a +8 rating, and added three assists in three playoff games as Djurgården dropped its best-of-three play-in series against the Malmö Redhawks to end their season.
The younger brother of Sharks winger William Eklund now looks to follow in his footsteps as he looks to quickly become a dependable top-nine piece on Long Island. He was ranked as the #4 name in the Islanders’ prospect pool last summer by Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff, who projects Eklund to top out as a complementary top-line piece, but the top two names on that list, Matthew Schaefer and Calum Ritchie, have now graduated to full-time NHL roles. There’s an argument to be made that while he doesn’t have the goal-scoring acumen of #3-ranked Cole Eiserman, his all-around game – plus Eiserman’s semi-underwhelming sophomore season at Boston University in 2025-26 – should make Eklund the Islanders’ top prospect at this point.
It’s worth noting that because Eklund already signed his entry-level contract last summer and he was on the Isles’ reserve list at the trade deadline, he will be eligible to play for them in both the regular season and playoffs if they make it there. For now, though, he’ll make the adjustment to North American ice in the minors.
Red Wings Reassign Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Dylan Larkin To Return
The Red Wings announced that they’ve reassigned rookie winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard to AHL Grand Rapids. That means his emergency conditions have been removed, meaning that captain Dylan Larkin should be expected to return to the lineup tonight against the Senators. He’s officially labeled a game-time decision for now, per Ansar Khan of MLive.
Brandsegg-Nygard’s recall back on March 7, the day after the trade deadline, was linked directly to Larkin’s injury the night before. He also ended up falling victim to Detroit’s injury bug, sitting out the last four games with an undisclosed injury. At the very least, he’s now at least healthy and cleared to play and will do so for Grand Rapids in short order.
The 20-year-old Norwegian only got into three games on this recall before the injury. In them, he went without a point while averaging 12:28 of ice time per game. He added eight hits and six shot attempts.
The 2024 15th overall pick is in his first season in North America. While he hasn’t made much of an NHL impact – just one assist and a -5 rating across 12 games dating back to his opening-night roster inclusion – he has made a smooth adjustment to AHL play. With 16 goals and 37 points in 50 games for Grand Rapids, he’s tied for second on the team in scoring – along with a glowing +24 rating – and will get some postseason experience too with the Griffins cruising toward the best record in the AHL’s Western Conference.
As for Larkin, Detroit navigated his absence as well as can be expected. The star pivot has missed seven games with a non-contact leg injury, during which the Wings have tread water with a 3-3-1 record. In a playoff race as tight as it is in the East, that’s potentially a death blow to their postseason hopes. They’re now one point back of the Islanders for a spot with a game in hand and have a must-win contest tonight against the Senators, who only trail Detroit by a point.
Avalanche Activate Logan O’Connor From Long-Term Injured Reserve
Avalanche winger Logan O’Connor will make his season debut tonight, the team announced. He has been activated from long-term injured reserve, per the NHL’s media site. The club still has nearly $5MM in cap space after the move, per PuckPedia, so they’re not in a crunch there.
It’s months overdue, but a welcome sight nonetheless. O’Connor underwent hip surgery in early June last year after the Avs were dispatched by the Stars in the first round of the playoffs. It was his second hip surgery in as many years. The procedure came with a five-to-six-month recovery timeline, meaning he should have been back in the lineup a couple of weeks before Christmas at the latest – especially since reports late in the offseason indicated his recovery was ahead of schedule.
That may have been the case initially. O’Connor then had soft tissue issues pop up in November as he was ramping up toward a return. The pain and swelling that came along with it proved incredibly difficult to manage. O’Connor’s return timeline stretched for weeks without him even skating, but he did eventually return to the ice shortly before the Olympic break. Now, another six weeks later, he’ll finally be an option for Colorado over the last 13 games of the regular season.
Currently in the first season of a six-year, $15MM extension he signed back in 2024 during training camp, O’Connor has proven a valuable defensive checking presence in the Avs’ bottom six over the past several years. The 29-year-old first emerged as a full-time threat amid Colorado’s championship-winning season in 2021-22 and has stuck around as a regular ever since.
When healthy, he’s money in the bank for 20 points. He seemed to have taken another step forward in 2023-24, managing a career-high 13 goals and 25 points in only 57 outings, before his first hip surgery ended his season. His production took a step back to a 10-11–21 line in 80 games last year. His hit totals saw a significant drop-off, too, only logging 0.85 per game after clearing one per night easily through most of his career.
Still, O’Connor’s possession impacts have historically been outstanding. Over the past two seasons, he posted Corsi shares of 54.4% and 53.1% at 5-on-5 despite starting less than 35% of his shifts in the offensive zone. The Avs haven’t trusted any of their forwards to start fewer than 40% of their shifts in the defensive end this year, so having O’Connor back will be a luxury to allow even more offensive zone time for the team’s star-loaded scoring lines.
Rangers Recall Adam Sykora, Reassign Connor Mackey
The Rangers announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled left wing prospect Adam Sykora from AHL Hartford. They sent defender Connor Mackey back down to Hartford in the corresponding move. Sykora could make his NHL debut tomorrow in Toronto, but it’s not a guarantee.
Sykora, 21, was the 63rd overall pick in 2022. While relatively small at 5’11” and 192 lbs, he was viewed as one of the highest-energy forwards in the draft with the potential to end up as a versatile middle-six piece.
Offensively, his journey through the pro ranks with Hartford has been rocky. He’s never popped as they hoped but has managed to hit double-digit goals for the first time this season, accumulating a 12-17–29 line in 62 outings to date. Across parts of four seasons for the Wolf Pack, he’s notched 29 goals and 82 points in 201 games with a -25 rating.
It’s incredibly rare for a player as young as Sykora to arrive in the NHL with that much professional experience in North America. He was one of the youngest players in his class to begin with, born just over a week before the cutoff date for 2022 draftees, and came over from his native Slovakia at the end of his post-draft season. He’s still fairly early in his development curve, but the lack of offensive progression to date in Hartford shows his game may already be close to topping out in that regard. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked him as the #7 player in the Rangers’ pool in this year’s rankings, while Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff had him #10 on his list last summer.
With all that in mind, it would actually make a good bit of sense for the Blueshirts to give Sykora a trial in a bottom-six role. His lack of point production in Hartford indicates that’s where his long-term home in the NHL would be anyway if he can carve out a career, so they’d be helping both parties by trialing him there for a bit this year to help them see if he’ll be worth a qualifying offer in 2027 when his entry-level contract is up.
As for Mackey, he’d appeared in three straight for the Blueshirts in place of Urho Vaakanainen, who’s sidelined with an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old lefty was held without a point and posted a -3 rating while averaging 12:47 per contest. It marks his sixth straight season seeing NHL action, his third with the Rangers. He did post relatively strong possession numbers in his limited minutes despite the end result not being too positive, logging a 50.9 CF% and 51.3 xGF% at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.
His demotion implies that fellow lefty Drew Fortescue should be ready to step in and make his NHL debut tomorrow. New York signed the 20-year-old out of Boston College last weekend, but he was scratched for their Sunday-Monday back-to-back.
Devils Expect To Sign Anton Silayev
The Devils are expected to sign 2024 10th overall pick Anton Silayev to his entry-level contract this offseason, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.
Silayev, 20 next month, is in the final weeks of his contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. Torpedo is up 1-0 in their first-round playoff series against Severstal Cherepovets, but unlike with prospects in most other leagues, the timing of when Silayev’s postseason schedule ends is irrelevant to his ability to sign an entry-level contract this season.
KHL contracts run through May 31, and due to the lack of a transfer agreement with the NHL, it’s rare for Russian clubs to release players to sign with an NHL team before the legal expiry of their deals. With the Devils out of the playoff picture, they won’t be able to sign him until well after their season is over, but the hope is to get him to North America in time for their development camp following the draft, Pagnotta reports.
The monster 6’7″, 207-lb lefty was drafted with the hope he could be New Jersey’s top shutdown threat long-term. Getting him under wraps two years after his draft is better than the usual case for Russian prospects, so that’s a definite positive to take away from today’s news.
Silayev was viewed by some as a risky bet to take that high in the draft due to his evident lack of offensive upside, but he still grades out as the organization’s top prospect according to Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff and their #2 according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. Still, this season was tough for him.
He’s continued to demonstrate defensive development, but his already limited offensive utility was almost nonexistent this year, recording just three points in 61 regular-season games for Torpedo after hitting low double-digit totals each of the prior two seasons. His ice time was lessened as a result.
With that in mind, expecting him to emerge with a roster spot in the fall is hasty. A likely outcome is that Silayev anchors a top-four job with AHL Utica, with the expectation that a strong start will lead to a quick call-up. Players with similar archetypes over the last few seasons have adjusted well to minor-league duties but don’t routinely make the immediate jump to a full-time NHL role.
There were similar concerns in Dmitriy Simashev‘s game when the Coyotes, now Mammoth, selected him sixth overall in 2023, but he’s produced nearly a point per game upon his arrival in the AHL this season after a similar lack of offensive success in Russia. He has just one assist and a -9 rating in 25 NHL outings this year, though, so Utah has opted to keep him stashed in the minors amid their push for the franchise’s first playoff berth.
Islanders Sign Josh Kotai To Two-Year Contract
The Islanders announced they’ve signed college free agent goaltender Josh Kotai to a two-year, entry-level contract. Terms were not disclosed, although the deal presumably begins next season. If he wants to play pro hockey this year, he’ll have to sign a tryout with the Isles’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
Kotai, 23, turns pro after helping author one of the best stories in Division I hockey this year. The 23-year-old has been with Augustana University since its inception as a DI program in 2023, committing there after playing for the Battlefords North Stars of the junior ‘A’ league in Saskatchewan. He took over the starter’s crease as a sophomore last season and, this year as a junior, nearly helped backstop them to an at-large bid to the national tournament. Augustana did end up 15th in the year-end NPI rankings with an overall record of 22-11-4, but with lower-ranked Merrimack and Bentley both winning autobids as a result of their conference championships, Augustana fell just short of the cutoff.
The South Dakota university’s success over the past two years has fallen mostly on Kotai’s shoulders. The British Columbia native churned out a .931 SV%, 2.17 GAA, eight shutouts, and a 39-30-9 record in 79 career outings for the Vikings. That includes a sub-2.00 GAA in each of his two seasons as a starter. Only one goalie in college hockey (min. 10 games) had a better save percentage than Kotai’s .938 mark this season – Denver rookie backup Johnny Hicks, who’s posted a .958 mark in 17 outings entering tournament play.
At 6’1″ and 165 lbs, Kotai lacks size. It’s still hard to make the argument that he wasn’t the best undrafted goaltender available in this year’s NCAA free agent market, given what he’s done for the Vikings to date. He joins the Islanders’ pipeline, where he will challenge as the highest-ceiling option in the organization to support Ilya Sorokin long-term. None of their current AHL options are particularly inspiring, although 2024 fourth-round pick Dmitri Gamzin has now emerged as the starter for Russia’s CSKA Moscow with some great numbers. It’s unclear when, if at all, he plans to come stateside, but he’ll remain in Russia through at least the end of his current contract, which ends in 2027-28.
Senators Recall Jorian Donovan, Carter Yakemchuk
The Senators’ push for the playoffs got a lot murkier despite last night’s defensive standout win over the Rangers. The two points cost them both Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson on the blue line, who, head coach Travis Green said, would miss multiple games with apparent right wrist injuries and undisclosed injuries, respectively. Ottawa was already without Dennis Gilbert, Nick Jensen, and Jake Sanderson on defense, so they would need to recall a pair of rearguards from AHL Belleville before tonight’s game against the Red Wings to have six healthy ones. Those two beneficiaries are Jorian Donovan and Carter Yakemchuk, the team announced Tuesday morning.
Both will be making their NHL debuts tonight. It comes right on schedule for Yakemchuk, who, at seventh overall in 2024, Ottawa hopes will be the last high pick of their years-long rebuild. The 6’4″, 207-lb righty was a physically dominant offensive threat in his draft year for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, leading the league in goals by a defenseman that year with 30.
Since then, Yakemchuk’s development has hit some speed bumps. His post-draft year with the Hitmen immediately raised some red flags as his offensive production took a step back from 1.08 points per game in 2023-24 to 0.88 in 2024-25, particularly concerning considering he was already one of the oldest players in his class. Those concerns have only persisted as he made the adjustment to professional life in Belleville this season. He’s slotted in as their top offensive weapon on the blue line as expected, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with a 10-26–36 line in 50 games, but that’s been accompanied by a team-worst -30 rating and some glaring concerns regarding his defensive play.
He’ll need to work on that moving forward to ensure he doesn’t top out as a third-pairing threat at even strength to limit his minutes while serving as a power-play quarterback for the Sens. For now, while everyone involved hoped it would be under better circumstances, he’ll at least get his first taste of NHL play this year while getting a chance to boost his shot at a roster spot next October with a strong run of play in the absence of Ottawa’s two top two-way threats on defense in Chabot and Sanderson.
Donovan is a more unheralded prospect but an intriguing talent nonetheless. A fifth-round pick in 2022, the 6’2″ lefty is now 21 years old in his second season with the B-Sens. He’s coming along nicely as a well-rounded two-way piece who can wash out opponents with ease, recording a 4-17–21 line in 58 outings this season with a -12 rating and 70 penalty minutes.
His development at this stage significantly outpaces the normal curve of a fifth-rounder. Donovan now ranks #5 in Ottawa’s prospect pool and is their top left-shot option in the system, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic opined this month. The Calgary native “has the tools to become a No. 5-8 D and play NHL games” with “pro size and excellent skating,” Wheeler wrote.
Penguins Recall Ville Koivunen, Evgeni Malkin Day-To-Day
The Penguins announced that they’ve recalled winger Ville Koivunen from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. His elevation to the roster is connected with an upper-body injury to star Evgeni Malkin, whom the club said is day-to-day and has been ruled out for tonight’s game versus the Avalanche.
With Kevin Hayes not dressing for a contest since March 3, it appears Koivunen will slot right back into the lineup as Pittsburgh’s third-line left wing alongside Benjamin Kindel and Justin Brazeau. Anthony Mantha moves up to take Malkin’s place on the right flank on the second line with Egor Chinakhov and Thomas Novak, PuckPedia projects.
Koivunen had just been sent down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday before the Pens’ loss to the Hurricanes. He played for the Baby Pens that night, making him eligible to come back up to rejoin the NHL squad today.
The 22-year-old hasn’t had the season the Penguins hoped for, at least in the NHL. A second-round pick in 2021 by the Hurricanes, subsequently acquired in the Jake Guentzel deal a couple of years back, he’s been a downright elite producer in his native Finland and in the minors over the last few years. After notching seven assists through his first eight NHL contests last year as well, most had him penciled in for an opening night job.
Koivunen initially made the team but hasn’t stuck. He’s been recalled and sent down on a couple of occasions, most recently spending nearly two months in the minors before getting the call back to the NHL at the trade deadline. Across 33 games in Pittsburgh, he’s only averaging 12:38 of ice time per game with a 2-5–7 scoring line and a -5 rating. For a lanky 6’0″ winger with extremely limited physical involvement, if he’s not producing in a top-nine role, there’s little place for him in the lineup. Add in the immense success of Pittsburgh’s depth wingers this season, plus the Pens being outscored 14-10 with him on the ice at 5-on-5, and it’s no surprise that Koivunen hasn’t seen a ton of action lately.
He hasn’t let the lack of an NHL breakthrough this season affect his play in the minors one bit, though. After an All-Rookie Team worthy showing last season, he’s now clicking over a point per game in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with an 11-22–33 line in 29 games and a +7 rating. While his time on the roster is likely to last only as long as Malkin’s injury keeps him out, it’s still another chance for Koivunen to make a strong impression on Pittsburgh’s brass as a potential playoff option and to improve his standing entering next season’s training camp.
As for Malkin, it’s not clear what’s keeping him out. He wasn’t limited against the Canes, although he did struggle with a -2 rating in 16:05 of ice time. The lack of an apparent cause is more concerning than not – he missed nearly a month with an upper-body issue earlier in the season, so there’s a chance it’s a reaggravation or continuation of that issue.
The 39-year-old franchise icon remains invaluable, even as he’s been shifted off his natural center slot. His 52 points in 50 games this year are his best pace since before the pandemic and sit fifth on the team in scoring despite all the missed time. The Pens would surely prefer to rest him as much as possible to make sure he gets back to 100% before the playoffs, but with their chances at a favorable but still uncomfortable 77.3%, per MoneyPuck, they don’t have that luxury.