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Author: Josh Erickson

Lightning’s Brandon Hagel Facing Suspension

By | at April 25, 2025 10:02 am

Lightning winger Brandon Hagel will have a player safety hearing today for his major interference penalty against Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in last night’s loss, the league announced.

Officials upheld the major for Hagel after reviewing the play, which occurred midway through the third period of Tampa’s eventual 2-0 loss in Game 2. While Hagel was forechecking on Barkov as the puck got dumped into the Tampa zone, he delivered a huge check as the two neared the corner. While there wasn’t a ton of head contact and the mechanics of the hit appeared rather clean, there was one problem – Barkov never had nor came close to having possession of the puck, resulting in a five-minute power play for the Cats (video via Sportsnet). Barkov didn’t return to the game after the collision, and the team has yet to issue an update on his status for Game 3 in Sunrise on Saturday.

Generally, supplemental discipline for interference doesn’t result in particularly long suspensions. That should hold true, especially considering the time of year, but Barkov leaving the game doesn’t bode well for Hagel’s case to walk away with just a fine. After scoring a career-high 35 goals in the regular season and setting the all-time record for goals in a season without a power-play marker, Hagel has no points and a minus-four rating through two games against Florida.

The 26-year-old isn’t the only one struggling to produce. Only Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point have scored for the Bolts thus far, and notable secondary names like Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul have yet to record a point. Still, potentially missing him for Game 3 as the series shifts to South Florida will certainly make life harder for the higher-seeded Lightning as they try to avoid going down 3-0 in the series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

61 comments Florida Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning

Ontario Notes: Warmups, Green, Matthews

By | at April 25, 2025 9:11 am

The Senators are facing potential league discipline for “pregame shenanigans” in warmups before last night’s Game 3 overtime loss, relays Darren Dreger of TSN. The NHL is investigating whether to assess fines or other penalties to the organization for shooting pucks at Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz at the opposing end of the rink. It’s hard to imagine that affecting Ottawa’s roster construction ability as they face a sweep in Game 4 on Saturday. Incidents of that nature usually only ever draw fines assessed to the organization at large, assuming any supplemental discipline is handed down at all. It’s still an unwelcome distraction for the Sens as they try to avoid going winless in their first postseason appearance in eight years.

Here’s more on the Battle of Ontario:

  • As discouraging as a second straight overtime loss was, Senators head coach Travis Green remains quite pleased with how his team has fared in the series, writes Julian McKenzie of The Athletic. “I liked a lot — we were ready to play. I liked our start. I thought Toronto pushed like a good team does. I thought we hung in there. It was a pretty even game,” Green said. Goaltender Linus Ullmark added, “We’ve said it from the start it’s going to be a long one. It’s going to be a tight one and we’re going to do everything in our power to make it to seven (games) now.” The Senators have outshot the Leafs 81-65 during the series, but a disastrous 44.4% showing on the penalty kill and Ullmark’s -3.9 goals saved above expected (per MoneyPuck) have been enough to swing the series in Toronto’s favor.
  • While Leafs captain Auston Matthews has continued an underwhelming season in the goal-scoring department with one snipe through three games against Ottawa, his all-around play has still made him one of the most dominant players in the postseason thus far, Michael Amato of Sportsnet opines. “He’s great at creating turnovers, and when you do that often enough, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to turn defense into offense on a quick counterattack,” Amato writes. “Matthews demonstrated that in Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators, breaking up a pass in the defensive zone and quickly threading a perfect feed to Marner for a breakaway, as the Leafs never looked back in claiming a dominant opening game victory.” Of course, Matthews is still tied for seventh in postseason scoring with an additional four assists.
3 comments Ottawa Senators Toronto Maple Leafs

Devils Recall Seven Black Aces

By | at April 24, 2025 2:54 pm

Since the Devils’ AHL affiliate in Utica failed to make the Calder Cup Playoffs, New Jersey is beefing up its postseason roster with seven Black Aces. The team announced they’ve recalled forwards Brian Halonen, Mike Hardman, Nathan Legare, Marc McLaughlin, defensemen Topias Vilen, Colton White, and goaltender Isaac Poulter as practice players for the remainder of their playoff run.

While the group is technically available to play postseason games for the Devils if need be, that’s never the purpose behind Black Ace recalls during the postseason. Instead, they’ll skate with the team to extend their season since they’re not getting any AHL action.

The four forwards each got into NHL games for New Jersey in 2024-25. It marked Legare’s NHL debut and Hardman’s and McLaughlin’s Devils debuts. Halonen, an undrafted free agent signing out of Michigan Tech in 2022, made a couple of appearances in January amid a strong minor-league showing. Halonen led Utica in goals (27) and ranked second in points (40) in 62 showings. He signed a two-year, two-way extension last May, so he’ll be back with the club next season, barring a trade.

Hardman also logged a pair of appearances for New Jersey, one in December and one in April. They were his first in the NHL since March 2023 as a member of the Blackhawks. A depth free agent pickup last summer, he’s also under contract through 2025-26. The 26-year-old scored 18-17–35 in 57 AHL games and had a team-high +11 rating.

Legare, 24, made his NHL debut in December with a trio of appearances and recorded a minus-one rating. He’s already on his third NHL organization. A third-round pick of the Penguins in 2019, he was traded to the Canadiens in August 2023 as part of the Erik Karlsson three-team deal. He spent under a full season in Montreal’s system before they traded him to New Jersey in a minor-league swap ahead of last year’s AHL trade deadline. He’s a restricted free agent this summer and is eligible for arbitration.

McLaughlin arrived in Newark at the trade deadline, acquired from the Bruins for defenseman Daniil Misyul. He played in the Devils’ final two games of the regular season and recorded an assist and a minus-one rating. The 25-year-old center had six assists in 16 games for Utica after the trade and will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer, so this could be the end of his short stint as a Devil.

Vilen, 22, has yet to make his NHL debut. New Jersey drafted the rearguard in the fifth round of the 2021 draft and he’s coming off his second full season with Utica. The 6’1″, 194-lb lefty had 1-23–24 with a plus-two rating in 58 games this year and has one season remaining on his entry-level contract.

White was a Devils draft pick back in 2015 and returned to the organization last summer after a two-year stint with the Ducks. He hasn’t played in the NHL since logging a career-high 46 appearances for Anaheim in 2022-23. The 27-year-old depth piece rediscovered his game in Utica after a tough second year with Anaheim’s affiliate in San Diego, posting 4-17–21 in 61 games with a plus-one rating.

Poulter has been on the Devils’ roster more than a few times over the past two seasons as an emergency recall and, despite dressing as a backup for regular-season action, hasn’t touched the ice. He posted a .898 SV%, 2.86 GAA, one shutout, and a 16-13-7 record in 36 showings for Utica this year.

3 comments New Jersey Devils Transactions

Injury Notes: Cirelli, Pacioretty, Siegenthaler, Thomas, Protas

By | at April 24, 2025 1:26 pm

Lightning center Anthony Cirelli is a game-time decision for Game 2 vs. Florida tonight after departing Game 1 early with an undisclosed injury, tweets Colby Guy of the Palm Beach Post. It’s not yet certain whether Cirelli will participate in warm-ups. He initially left the game early in the second period after awkwardly landing a hit and only came back for a couple of shifts before sitting out the third period. If he’s not able to go for Game 2, it doesn’t look like he’ll carry anything more serious than a day-to-day designation and shouldn’t be ruled out when the series shifts to Sunrise for Game 3. Cirelli was a minus-two with just one shot on goal in 6:21 of action Tuesday, a rare statline for one of the league’s best two-way centers. Now in his eighth year in Tampa, Cirelli had a career-best +30 rating, 27 goals, and 59 points in the regular season.

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NHL:

  • Maple Leafs winger Max Pacioretty will draw into the lineup for Game 3 on a line with Game 2 overtime hero Max Domi and Bobby McMann, according to line rushes at morning skate (via Chris Johnston of The Athletic and TSN). He’s been out since the 4 Nations break with an undisclosed injury, but was available if needed for Games 1 and 2. After sitting as a healthy scratch, he’ll come in for Nicholas Robertson, who has an assist in the series but just one shot attempt in over 20 minutes of ice time across the two games. The 36-year-old Pacioretty scored 5-8–13 in 37 regular-season games for the Leafs between injury-related absences.
  • Devils rearguard Jonas Siegenthaler practiced today for the first time since undergoing lower-body surgery in February, tweets the team’s Amanda Stein. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said they’re “getting more aggressive with [his timeline] now to see how we can push it just given the circumstances,” via NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. New Jersey went without defenders Brenden Dillon and Luke Hughes in Game 2 and isn’t expecting to get either back for Game 3 against Carolina tomorrow.
  • Blues star Robert Thomas, who missed practice yesterday for rest/maintenance, was at today’s morning skate and is good to go for tonight’s Game 3, per Tracey Myers of NHL.com. The 25-year-old center is dealing with a minor lower-body injury he sustained in the final game of the regular season. He scored the series’ opening goal but has otherwise gone without a point and has a minus-four rating as St. Louis trails Winnipeg 2-0.
  • Capitals winger Aliaksei Protas is inching closer to a return and will at least travel with Washington for Games 3 and 4 in Montreal, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network). The breakout Belarusian hasn’t played since sustaining a skate cut on his foot on April 4. Washington has overcome the loss of his 30 goals and 66 points so far with a 2-0 series lead, but a return would be big news nonetheless to help close the door for Montreal to gain momentum.
4 comments New Jersey Devils St. Louis Blues Tampa Bay Lightning Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals

NHL Arbitration-Eligible Free Agents For 2025

By | at April 24, 2025 12:12 pm

Having already created a space to track this offseason’s pool of notable free agents at large, we’re turning our attention today to the restricted free agent class – more specifically, those who have accrued enough professional experience to be eligible for salary arbitration if they don’t reach extensions before July 1.

A player’s age determines arbitration eligibility as of September 15 of the calendar year in which they sign their entry-level contract. For those who sign between the ages of 18 and 20, they must have completed at least four seasons with at least 10 NHL games played. For players signing their first deal at 21, it’s three seasons with at least 10 games in any professional league (including AHL, ECHL, Europe, etc.). The years of experience requirement drops to two for players who signed at 22 or 23, and it drops to one for anyone who signed their first NHL contract at age 24 or older.

When a player is arbitration-eligible, both the player and the team can elect to have a hearing if they enter the 2025-26 league year without a new agreement. The first step in this process is, of course, extending a qualifying offer to the player before the June 30 deadline. Assuming the player opts not to accept their qualifying offer or sign an offer sheet, they can elect for an arbitration hearing by July 5. Doing so makes them ineligible for an offer sheet for the remainder of the offseason.

There are two windows for team-elected arbitration, and a team can only file for a hearing with two players each year. The first window ends on the later of June 15 or 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final ends. Players who are bound to arbitration hearings by team elections in this window can still agree to offer sheets before July 5 and negate the team-elected arbitration hearing. Teams have a second window to elect arbitration for 24 hours after the player election window closes. Players can’t receive more than one team-elected arbitration hearing in their career, regardless of whether the case made it to a hearing.

There are plenty more nitty-gritty details to delve into regarding the specifics of arbitration rulings, but that information becomes more pertinent when we know which players will be subject to hearings this summer. It’s worth noting the number of players filing for arbitration has steadily declined over the past few seasons – only 14 opted to do so last summer after 20-plus did so in 2022 and 2023.

The list of arbitration-eligible RFAs for 2025 is listed below. This list, which can be found anytime under the “Pro Hockey Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site or under the Flame icon on our mobile menu, will be updated later this offseason to note whether the player will be subject to arbitration this summer or not.

Each player’s minimum arbitration award (the lowest a team can file for based on the terms of the player’s previous contract) is noted in parentheses, although the actual cap hit of their next deal will almost certainly be higher if a qualifying offer is tendered.

Anaheim Ducks

Boston Bruins

Buffalo Sabres

Calgary Flames

Carolina Hurricanes

Chicago Blackhawks

Colorado Avalanche

Columbus Blue Jackets

Dallas Stars

Detroit Red Wings

Edmonton Oilers

Florida Panthers

Los Angeles Kings

Minnesota Wild

Montreal Canadiens

Nashville Predators

New Jersey Devils

New York Islanders

New York Rangers

Ottawa Senators

Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

San Jose Sharks

Seattle Kraken

St. Louis Blues

Tampa Bay Lightning

Toronto Maple Leafs

Utah Hockey Club

Vancouver Canucks

Vegas Golden Knights

Washington Capitals

Winnipeg Jets

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images (Byram) and Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images (Dobson).

3 comments Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

Penguins Prospect Tanner Howe Undergoes ACL Reconstruction Surgery

By | at April 24, 2025 11:47 am

2024 second-rounder Tanner Howe‘s development will be on hold for quite a while. The Penguins forward prospect underwent ACL reconstruction surgery on his right knee yesterday and will need nine months of recovery time, the team announced.

It’s a terrible blow for Howe, whom Pittsburgh selected with the No. 46 overall pick in last year’s draft. A longtime linemate of Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard when the two were paired together with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, Howe naturally has a strong scoring track record in major junior play. He’s held his own without Bedard, though, finishing his post-draft season with 18-28–46 in 47 games with Regina and the Calgary Hitmen.

Howe missed a chunk of the Hitmen’s postseason run due to his knee injury but still managed to post 2-7–9 in six games to end the year. Since he turns 20 in November, he was looking to make the jump to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the fall and make his professional debut. That’ll need to get put on hold while Howe misses training camp and at least the first half of 2025-26 recuperating from a serious procedure.

The hope is that by missing precious development time now, Howe isn’t jeopardizing his career by exacerbating his injury. Nonetheless, the high-energy 5’11”, 183-lb winger makes speed a crucial part of his game, making such a significant knee injury this early in his career cause for concern.

Howe ranked as the No. 6 prospect in Pittsburgh’s system when Scott Wheeler of The Athletic did his midseason rankings, placing second among left-wingers behind No. 1 Rutger McGroarty. He’s got a foreseeable path toward being a middle-six fixture for the Pens down the road if he can properly heal from this surgery.

2 comments Pittsburgh Penguins

Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen Out Six Months Following Triceps Surgery

By | at April 24, 2025 10:22 am

Rasmus Ristolainen underwent successful surgery on his right triceps tendon last month, the team confirmed today, following a statement from GM Daniel Brière last weekend. The procedure carries a minimum six-month recovery time, so Ristolainen will miss at least the first few weeks of the 2025-26 season.

The 6’4″ right-shot defenseman missed the last two-plus months of the 2023-24 campaign with the same injury and had surgery to address it in early March, so he got more of a head start last summer. He was healthy out of the gate in 2024-25 and even churned out the best defensive results of his 12-year career, averaging north of 20 minutes per game for the first time in three years while recording a 4-15–19 scoring line in 63 games with a plus-three rating.

The Flyers attempted to move the 30-year-old Ristolainen at the trade deadline to capitalize on his strong season, but there weren’t any takers after setting a first-round pick as their asking price. They will now hope he can replicate his strong performance in a pairing with Egor Zamula next season, as Philly looks to inch closer toward playoff contention.

Undergoing the same surgery in back-to-back years is never a good sign, though, especially for a skater in the latter half of his career. The good news is he was able to rebound nicely from the procedure last year, so there’s plenty of optimism he can do so again.

Ristolainen still has two years left on his contract, carrying a $5.1MM cap hit, as part of the five-year, $25.5MM extension he signed in 2022.

0 comments Philadelphia Flyers

Kate Madigan To Interview For Islanders GM Vacancy

By | at April 24, 2025 9:46 am

The Islanders will interview Devils assistant general manager Kate Madigan as part of their search to replace Lou Lamoriello at the helm of the front office, Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports.

Madigan, the daughter of former Islanders scout Jim Madigan, has been in the Devils’ front office since the 2017-18 season. Initially hired as an analyst, New Jersey promoted Madigan to their director of professional scouting in 2019 and again to executive director of hockey operations in 2020. After two years in that role, they made her the sixth woman to serve as an assistant general manager in NHL history in the 2022 offseason.

She’s now spent three seasons in that role, working alongside Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, and could become the first woman to serve as GM of an NHL club on Long Island. She’s the first candidate to be firmly linked to the vacancy since the Isles announced Tuesday they wouldn’t be renewing Lamoriello’s contract. Since Lamoriello was also the team’s president of hockey operations, minority owner John Collins is the one overseeing the search for a new top hockey decision-maker.

Madigan is likely to face plenty of competition for the role. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet identified Kings senior advisor Marc Bergevin and former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen as potential candidates on Wednesday’s 32 Thoughts podcast, although it’s not yet clear if they will be involved in the interview process. If they also opt to hire a separate president of hockey operations – a likely outcome if they choose a first-time NHL GM like Madigan – Friedman speculated that Ken Holland and Eddie Olczyk could be options there.

6 comments New York Islanders Newsstand

Evander Kane, John Klingberg Will Play In Game 2

By | at April 23, 2025 1:46 pm

The Oilers suffered a dramatic loss in Game 1 to the Kings, with top-nine forward Evander Kane unavailable as he has been all season, having undergone multiple surgeries. He and defenseman John Klingberg, who’s been out since late March with a lower-body injury, have been cleared by Edmonton’s medical staff and will be in the lineup for Game 2 tonight as they try to even the series, head coach Kris Knoblauch said (via the team’s Tony Brar).

It’s not unexpected – Knoblauch said yesterday there was a strong possibility of both being cleared. Both ended the season on long-term injured reserve and will technically need to be activated. However, that’s an inconsequential move as roster limits and the salary cap are no longer in effect during the playoffs.

Tonight will be Kane’s first game since Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final on June 10, so that’s 317 days between games. The 33-year-old played through a sports hernia to end last season and paid the price. He underwent surgery in September and also required corrective action on two torn hip adductors and lower abdominal muscles. He was initially expected to return around January, but a knee issue arose during his recovery that required surgery in early January. That kept him on LTIR for the balance of the regular season, although he’s been skating now for a couple of weeks.

When Kane is healthy, he’s been an impact player for the Oilers in the postseason. He led the playoffs with 13 goals in just 15 games in Edmonton’s run to the Western Conference Final in 2022 and has 20-10–30 in 47 postseason games as an Oiler overall. Edmonton will bank on him being an important secondary scoring option after Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins combined to score 48.3% of the Oilers’ total goals in the regular season.

In a follow-up report from Brar, it appears Kane will join Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman on the team’s second line, while Klingberg will play next to Jake Walman on the second defensive pairing. Although there’s nothing to pull from the 2024-25 campaign, the offensive trio combined for a 60.6% xGoals% last season in 83.1 minutes of action according to MoneyPuck. Should the Oilers receive something similar this evening and for the remainder of the series, the Kings will have a hard time defending against Edmonton’s offense.

Meanwhile, the Oilers have intelligently placed Klingberg next to a capable, defensive-minded blue liner. Despite nearly doubling his career-high in points this season, Walman is best known for his defensive prowess, earning an E +/- of 3.9 in 15 games with Edmonton after the trade deadline and an on-ice save percentage of 92.1% at even strength. In contrast, Klingberg had a lower performance, recording an E +/- of -1.9 over 11 games.

4 comments Edmonton Oilers Transactions
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