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Sabres Sign Topias Leinonen To Entry-Level Contract

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The Sabres announced they’ve signed goaltending prospect Topias Leinonen to his entry-level contract. It’s a three-year deal beginning in the 2025-26 season, but he’ll report to AHL Rochester for the remainder of this year on a tryout. Per PuckPedia, his contract carries a cap hit of $886,667 and breaks down as follows:

2025-26: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonuses, $80K performance bonuses, $82.5K minors salary
2026-27: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonuses, $80K performance bonuses, $82.5K minors salary
2027-28: $825K base salary, $95K signing bonuses, $30K performance bonuses, $82.5K minors salary

Leinonen jumps across the pond three years after Buffalo made him the 41st overall selection of the 2022 draft. The 6’5″ Finn has had an extremely tumultuous run in European professional leagues since being drafted but had a much-needed rebound season in 2024-25. The 21-year-old left the ranks of his home country to play for Mora IK in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league. He responded with a .910 SV%, 2.31 GAA, four shutouts, and a 13-10-0 record in 25 regular-season appearances. Those were his best numbers at any level by a significant margin since his draft year, which he spent primarily in the Finnish U20 circuit. Leinonen also ended the year with a .929 SV% in six postseason games for Mora, but the club failed to gain promotion to the Swedish Hockey League for the first time since 2019.

Leinonen spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons across three different leagues in Finland, suiting up for JYP in the top-level Liiga as well as seeing time for their U20 club and second-tier affiliate, KeuPa HT. He failed to record a .900 SV% at any level in both campaigns.

Despite that adversity, his development is back on track – earning him an ELC and likely a regular role with Rochester next season. He still ranks as the No. 12 prospect in Buffalo’s system, per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, second among goalies behind No. 3 Devon Levi. Levi, a pending restricted free agent, seems poised to re-join Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on the NHL roster next season after excelling with a .916 SV%, 2.27 GAA, and five shutouts in 34 games for Rochester. Leinonen becomes the fourth goalie signed or under team control for next year, joining Luukkonen, Levi, and 20-year-old Scott Ratzlaff, who’ll be turning pro after four junior seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.

Wild’s David Jiříček Done For Season With Lacerated Spleen

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The Wild announced defense prospect David Jiříček is done for the season after sustaining a lacerated spleen last weekend while playing for AHL Iowa. His season is over, and he won’t be an option for them, assuming they make the playoffs.

Minnesota acquired Jiříček from the Blue Jackets early in the season. The right-shot defender had averaged just 11:12 of ice time through six appearances with Columbus, who decided a fresh start was the best option for their 2022 sixth-overall pick. On a deeper Wild blue line, the 21-year-old hasn’t had much opportunity to play despite injuries to names like Jonas Brodin, Jacob Middleton, and Jared Spurgeon. He’s played just six NHL games for Minnesota since the trade, posting 1-1–2 with a plus-two rating while averaging a still-paltry 13:02 per game.

Instead, Jiříček has spent most of the season on assignment to Iowa. He’s struggled there, too, ending his season with seven assists and a minus-one rating in 27 games. It’s still a noteworthy loss – Minnesota isn’t particularly deep on the blue line outside of their group of seven regulars. Jiříček would have easily been the highest-upside and most NHL-experienced option to insert into the lineup if injuries boiled over again.

While that holds true, they’ve still got six of their seven available to dress right now (Declan Chisholm is day-to-day with a lower-body injury), so Jiříček’s absence doesn’t throw a huge wrench into their short-term plans to hold onto a playoff spot. They’re still overwhelmingly safe with 92% odds of clinching a berth, but they’ve got about a 20% chance of slipping behind the Blues and falling to the second wild-card spot in the West, per MoneyPuck.

Utah Recalls Matt Villalta

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The Utah Hockey Club has called up Matt Villalta to serve as their No. 2 goalie for the time being, per a team announcement. Fellow netminder Jaxson Stauber was sent to AHL Tucson in a corresponding move.

Utah has juggled depth netminders to serve behind Karel Vejmelka with usual tandem partner Connor Ingram unavailable for much of the season. After missing nearly two months from November to January with an upper-body injury and subsequent personal leave, he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program earlier this month. Rather than start Stauber or Vejmelka tonight after the two combined to allow eight goals on just 21 shots in last night’s blowout loss to the Lightning, Utah could opt to give Villalta his first NHL appearance of the season as they face the Panthers tonight on the second half of a back-to-back.

Villalta has not been recalled by Utah since clearing waivers late in training camp. He’s spent the majority of the season as the starter for AHL Tucson, where he has a 3.01 GAA, .906 SV%, and a 17-21-3 record with four shutouts. No AHL goalie has made more appearances this season than Villalta’s 41.

The 25-year-old Villalta has spent the last two seasons in the Utah/Arizona organization, signing with the Coyotes as a Group VI unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason. After an excellent showing in Tucson last season, posting a 2.11 GAA, .911 SV%, and a 31-17-3 record in 51 outings, he inked a two-year, two-way extension with Utah last June to continue serving as organizational depth. The 2017 third-round pick of the Kings made his NHL debut last year in Arizona, allowing five goals on 29 shots (.828 SV%, 4.17 GAA) in one start and one relief appearance.

Stauber has entered the crease six times for Utah this year, comprised of four starts and two relief appearances. He last started in December and made his two relief appearances this month, both in blowout losses. He has a .892 SV% on the season, including allowing four goals on 10 shots last night in relief of Vejmelka.

Brad Marchand To Debut For Panthers Friday

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March 28: Marchand will make his Panthers debut tonight, Maurice confirmed (via Olive).

March 26: One of the most notable trade deadline additions has yet to debut with his new team. When the Panthers made a last-second move to acquire Bruins star winger Brad Marchand on March 7, the Boston captain was nursing an upper-body injury sustained the weekend prior. He’s been occasionally practicing with his new team as he nears a return to play, which Florida head coach Paul Maurice said could be Friday’s game against Utah (via the team’s Jameson Olive).

It’s not a set deal, and there won’t be a transaction prefacing it as Marchand isn’t on injured reserve. He last played on March 1, when a hit from Penguins defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph sent him awkwardly into the boards and then to the locker room.

Before the injury and subsequent trade, Marchand had his worst offensive campaign in a decade. Of course, the ever-consistent winger was still on pace for a respectable 63 points, not a massive drop-off from last year’s 67 and almost to be expected given Boston’s general offensive struggles this season. He’s still a bona fide top-six forward, especially on a Florida team that’s had to deploy names like depth pivot Jesper Boqvist and rookie Mackie Samoskevich in second-line roles as of late with Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk on the shelf. Whether he gets a look on the top line with Aleksander Barkov remains to be seen, but at the very least, he should slot in as the Cats’ second-line left wing alongside Sam Bennett – a duo of pests that will likely land Tkachuk on the right side when he’s ready to return.

Some good news on the injury front is a welcome change of pace for the Panthers, who’ve also had their blue line decimated by a suspension to Aaron Ekblad and an injury to Dmitry Kulikov. They’ve gone 3-4-0 in their last seven as a result, dropping back into a tie with the Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division – a tiebreaker that Toronto currently holds with four more wins in regulation and overtime. They’re scoring 2.29 goals per game over that stretch, far below their season average of 3.23.

Penguins Reassign Harrison Brunicke To AHL

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The Penguins have reassigned top defense prospect Harrison Brunicke to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to finish the season, per a release from the minor-league club. His major junior season with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League is over after they failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Brunicke, 18, slipped to the second round of last year’s draft, where the Pens selected him 44th overall. However, more than a few public scouts tabbed him as a late first-rounder. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic tabbed him as the No. 2 overall prospect and top defenseman in Pittsburgh’s system – notably ahead of 2022 first-round selection Owen Pickering. Last month, Wheeler also listed Brunicke as the No. 63 prospect in the NHL.

The right-shot defender checks in with an already pro-ready frame at 6’3″ and 203 lbs. A Canadian citizen born in South Africa, he’s been lauded as one of the better skaters in the 2024 class and plays a sound two-way game. His boxcar stats haven’t jumped off the page much on a subpar Kamloops squad, though, and injuries have taken significant bites out of his last two seasons. Nonetheless, he managed a career-best 5-25–30 scoring line in 41 games with the Blazers this year, leading their rearguards in scoring while posting a -15 rating.

Despite his somewhat rocky development, Brunicke still projects as a future second-pairing fixture in Pittsburgh, Wheeler opines. He’ll turn 19 in May, so while he may get a long look to make the Pens’ roster in training camp, it’s far more likely he’ll return to the WHL at some point. That could come after a nine-game trial to avoid burning the first year of his ELC, which head coach Mike Sullivan said they were even considering last fall. He won’t be eligible for a full-time AHL assignment until 2026-27. Pittsburgh signed him to his entry-level contract, which will slide to next season and potentially 2026-27, last July.

Canucks Recall Max Sasson

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The Canucks announced that they have recalled forward Max Sasson from AHL Abbotsford under emergency conditions. He will give Vancouver a forward to insert into the lineup for tonight’s road game against the Blue Jackets if there’s an unexpected absence. If he doesn’t play, the Canucks must return him to the minors tomorrow. Vancouver’s active roster now stands at 26.

Sasson, 24, gets added to the NHL roster for the seventh time this season, his first recall in nearly two months. Undrafted, the Canucks signed him to an entry-level contract out of Western Michigan in 2023.

At the time, Sasson was coming off a breakout sophomore campaign with the Broncos that saw him post 15-27–42 with a +20 rating in 38 games. The center finished the year with three points in 13 combined regular-season and playoff games for Abbotsford on a tryout before his ELC with the Canucks went into effect for the 2023-24 campaign.

That minimal offensive production wasn’t a sign of things to come for Sasson. In his first professional season, the Michigan native seamlessly transitioned to top-six minutes for Abbotsford, finishing fifth on the team in scoring last year with 18-24–42 in 56 games with a +14 rating. His performance didn’t warrant an in-season call-up, but it did vault him up the depth chart heading into 2024-25.

Sasson’s minor-league offense has dipped slightly this season from 0.75 points per game to 0.70 (9-17–26 in 37 AHL GP). The good news is he’s been a serviceable fourth-line center when called upon by the big club. Through his first 24 NHL appearances, the Michigan native has 2-4–6 with a plus-three rating, averaging 10:06 per game. He’s recorded 13 blocks and 14 hits and averages just over a shot on goal per game. His possession numbers are average, posting a 47.4 CF% at even strength that mirrors the Canucks’ CF% without him on the ice. As expected for a rookie, one area of concern is faceoffs – he’s 26-for-62 on draws, a 41.9% win rate.

At 24 years old, he’s not considered a prospect. Still, he has done enough in his two years in Vancouver to prove himself a reliable call-up option – even giving himself a chance to make the opening night roster next fall as a cheap extra skater. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer. PuckPedia relays he’s owed a qualifying offer of $813,750 and will be eligible for salary arbitration.

Blue Jackets Activate Cole Sillinger

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March 28: The Blue Jackets activated Sillinger off injured reserve as expected, per the NHL’s media site. Head coach Dean Evason confirmed to reporters, including Jeff Svoboda of NHL.com, that Sillinger will be in the lineup. James van Riemsdyk will be a healthy scratch to make room for Sillinger’s return.

March 26: The Blue Jackets will have forward Cole Sillinger and defenseman Jake Christiansen available for Friday’s game against the Canucks, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. Both have been medically cleared to return from their respective injuries. The former was on injured reserve, so he’ll need to be activated, while Christiansen remained on the active roster during his absence.

Sillinger, 21, hasn’t played since the end of February. He sustained a shoulder injury on Feb. 27 against the Red Wings and missed their outdoor rematch a few days later. General manager Don Waddell immediately made clear he’d miss a few weeks, and he landed on IR a few days later to make room for winger Yegor Chinakhov’s activation. With no roster limit post-trade deadline, there won’t be a corresponding move this time.

Assuming he gets back into action against Vancouver, Sillinger will look to continue his four-year career’s most productive offensive campaign. The 2021 No. 12 overall pick hasn’t dominated, but he’s gotten his development back on track after a difficult sophomore season and has recorded a career-high 0.39 assists per game and 0.54 points per game in 2024-25. He ranks ninth on the team in scoring with 9-20–29 in 54 games, although he has a club-worst -15 rating. He’s won 46.4% of his draws, averaging 17:18 per game, sixth-most among Columbus forwards.

Shoulder injuries have been commonplace for CBJ forwards this year, ending Kevin Labanc’s campaign last month and taking huge chunks out of Erik Gudbranson’s and Boone Jenner’s seasons. The former only returned to action on Monday after sustaining a shoulder injury in October.

It’s unclear who might come out of the lineup for Sillinger. The Jackets are two points back of a wild-card spot but have the Islanders and Rangers standing in between them and Montreal. Their shootout win over the former earlier this week has their playoff chances at 13% entering tonight’s games, per MoneyPuck, and they could get some help with a Vancouver win over the Isles.

Christiansen has been out with an upper-body injury since March 13, missing five games with an upper-body injury. He’d played in Columbus’ first 65 games of the season, but with Gudbranson making his return, it stands to reason Christiansen could remain a healthy scratch despite being cleared to play. He’s averaged 12:43 per game to date, posting 1-7–8 with a plus-eight rating and 47 hits.

Rangers’ Matt Rempe Out Week-To-Week

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The Rangers announced that forward Matt Rempe is out week-to-week due to an upper-body injury (via Larry Brooks of the New York Post). A corresponding recall is unlikely because Sam Carrick has rejoined the team after a brief personal leave, Brooks adds, giving the Blueshirts 13 healthy forwards. With less than a month to go in the season, the injury could end his campaign if New York doesn’t make the playoffs.

Rempe, 22, now carries an injury designation for the first time in his brief NHL career. Most of his unavailability over the past two years has been due to suspensions – first, a four-gamer for elbowing Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler last year, then an eight-game ban earlier this season for boarding Stars defender Miro Heiskanen.

While the depth enforcer was ferried between New York and AHL Hartford many times in the early going of the season, he’s remained on the NHL roster since being activated from his suspension. He’s made 36 appearances in 2024-25, more than doubling his 2023-24 total, posting 2-3–5 with a plus-four rating and 63 PIMs. He’s averaging just under eight minutes of ice time per game and ranks sixth on the team with 103 hits.

The 6’9″, 255-lb forward entered the season with one goal – stay on the ice. Penalties and suspensions have overshadowed any upside he has as an effective bottom-six checking presence since he entered the league last season. He’s made some progress in that regard, averaging 1.75 PIMs per game compared to a ridiculous 4.18 last year.

Rempe put up 3-2–5 in 18 games with the Wolf Pack earlier this year. A pending restricted free agent, he should be in line for a sub-$1MM AAV on an extension as the Blueshirts navigate a cap crunch this summer.

Rookie Brett Berard will re-enter the lineup tomorrow against the Ducks in Rempe’s absence. He’d sat as a healthy scratch for the past two games. He’s been a more effective depth scorer than the latter in limited minutes, notching 4-4–8 in 28 games. New York selected Berard, 22, in the fifth round in 2020.

Flyers Assign Jett Luchanko To AHL

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The Flyers announced Thursday that they’ve assigned top center prospect Jett Luchanko to AHL Lehigh Valley to finish the season. His major junior campaign with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League is over after they failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Selected 13th overall in last year’s draft, Luchanko was a surprise inclusion on Philadelphia’s opening night roster after a strong training camp. He appeared in four of Philly’s first five games of the season, going without a point and posting a minus-three rating. The 18-year-old did well in the dot for such a young player, winning 17 of 37 draws (45.9 FO%), but didn’t have good possession impacts at even strength (39.5 CF%, 43.8 xGF%).

Clearly in need of more development time, the Flyers’ only option was to return Luchanko to juniors. He won’t be eligible for a full-time AHL assignment, at least while the OHL season is going on, until the 2026-27 season. The 5’11” righty put up a solid performance captaining a conference-worst Guelph squad, posting 21-35–56 in 46 games to lead the team in points per game. He posted a minus-three rating that stands out in a good way on a team with a -75 goal differential and also scored once in five games for Canada at the World Juniors.

Luchanko is the No. 2 prospect in the Flyers’ system and the 50th-ranked prospect in the NHL, according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. He’ll get his first taste of minor-league hockey over the coming weeks before looking to repeat a strong camp performance en route to cracking the Flyers’ opening night roster for a second time in 2025-26.

Liam McLinskey To Sign AHL Deal In Panthers Organization

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1:19 p.m.: The Checkers have confirmed the signing.

12:33 p.m.: The Panthers are bringing Hobey Baker Award finalist Liam McLinskey into the organization on a two-year contract with AHL Charlotte, PHR can report. The deal begins next season, but he’ll finish 2024-25 on an ATO with Charlotte following a standout senior season at Holy Cross.

One of the top 10 names in voting for the Hobey this year, it’s a tad surprising not to see the 24-year-old McLinskey land an NHL commitment. The 6’3″, 165-lb forward dominated AHA play with the Crusaders this year, ranking second in the entire NCAA in scoring with 24-30–54 in 40 appearances. However, Holy Cross won’t be in the national tournament starting today after losing the conference championship game to Bentley.

[RELATED: List Of NHL Prospects In The 2025 NCAA Championship Tournament]

The undrafted New York native’s breakout didn’t come out of nowhere. He transferred to Holy Cross after spending his freshman year as a reserve player for Quinnipiac, getting into just two games. Upon arrival in Worcester, he scored 21 goals in 40 games in 2022-23 but managed just four assists. McLinskey’s playmaking and point totals improved linearly over the following years, upping his production to 47 points in 39 games last year before this season’s 54-point effort. He was also a top-10 finalist for the Hobey in 2024.

While he’ll head to Charlotte to suit up with the Panthers’ farm-bound prospects, signing a minor-league contract means he remains an unrestricted free agent in the NHL’s eyes. He’s free to take an NHL offer if one comes up, although it stands to reason Florida will offer him a deal if they like what they see from him down the stretch in Charlotte. McLinskey’s birthday was in February, so he’s still eligible for an entry-level deal, albeit a one-year pact, if they sign him during the 2025 calendar year. If the Panthers or any other team waits until the beginning of 2026 to sign him to an NHL contract, he’ll no longer be eligible for an ELC and would need to sign a two-way deal without performance bonuses.

A right-winger with some utility at center, McLinskey could be a notable injection into a league-worst Panthers prospect pool, as graded by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. The only player to outproduce McLinskey this season, Denver forward Jack Devine, is the No. 2 prospect in Florida’s system.

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