Wild Reassign David Jiříček, Jonas Brodin Likely To Return
The Wild announced they’ve reassigned top right-shot defense prospect David Jiříček to AHL Iowa. That bodes well for the likelihood of top shutdown rearguard Jonas Brodin returning to the lineup tomorrow against the Sabres, something head coach John Hynes called a “strong possibility” today (via Michael Russo of The Athletic).
Jiříček’s latest stint on the Minnesota roster was nothing to write home about. After being recalled on March 1 following Brodin’s injury, he sat as a healthy scratch for nine straight games while depth veteran Jonathon Merrill got an extended run in the lineup instead. Jiříček told Joe Smith of The Athletic this week that while he was disappointed with the lack of playing time, he preferred the development work with the NHL staff instead of spending time in Iowa amid a light schedule for the minor-league club over the past few weeks.
Since the Wild acquired the 2022 No. 6 overall pick from the Blue Jackets in November, he’s suited up just six times for them while posting a goal and an assist with a plus-two rating. That’s much better than what he’s shown in Iowa, where he’s failed to score and has just six assists with a minus-two rating in 26 appearances for the struggling affiliate. Before spending most of last year in the NHL with Columbus, Jiříček was an AHL All-Star in 2022-23 amid a 38-point showing in 55 games with Cleveland.
He’ll now return to the farm for the stretch run. Iowa likely won’t be making the Calder Cup Playoffs, sitting 10 points back of a spot with 14 games remaining, so he should be on Minnesota’s playoff roster. Despite their recent struggles, the team still has a 93.8% chance of clinching a playoff berth, per MoneyPuck.
Getting Brodin back is a tremendous defensive boost to a team needing to keep pucks out of their net, with Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov‘s absences limiting their offensive upside. He missed nine games with a lower-body issue, another in a string of ailments for the 31-year-old Swede this season. He’s only appeared in 38 of 69 contests for the Wild, clinching his third straight season without hitting the 70-game mark.
When healthy, he’s been his usual self – if not even better, tossing in a bit more offensively than normal – with 4-14–18 with a +10 rating while averaging 22:42 per game. He continues to have positive possession impacts in difficult shutdown deployment.
Hurricanes Making Lucas Mercuri Available For Trade
Hurricanes center prospect Lucas Mercuri has informed the club he won’t sign an entry-level contract with them when his collegiate season at the University of Massachusetts is over, reports Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff. He will become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15 if Carolina doesn’t trade his signing rights to another team before then. Ellis adds the Hurricanes are actively making Mercuri’s rights available in exchange for what’s likely a mid-to-late-round draft pick.
A sixth-round pick in 2020 (No. 159 overall), the 6’3″ pivot has steadily grown his game with the Minutemen. Now a 23-year-old senior, he has a career-high 10-21–31 scoring line in 38 games ahead of UMass’ trip to the national championship tournament, which begins next week. He captured a Hockey East championship with the school in his freshman campaign.
Mercuri’s motivation for looking for opportunities elsewhere is unclear. Usually, players will opt to test free agency or request a trade before signing if they don’t see a logical pathway to NHL minutes for themselves in the organization. For Mercuri, who doesn’t rank among the team’s top 15 prospects in any notable public ranking, that’s likely the case.
The Montreal native ranks third on UMass this season with a +15 rating, his first time finishing above a +10. He’s their fourth-leading point-getter behind Predators 2022 fourth-rounder Cole O’Hara, Flames 2023 third-rounder Aydar Suniev, and undrafted 21-year-old Jack Musa.
Sharks Recall Lucas Carlsson
The Sharks have recalled defenseman Lucas Carlsson from AHL San Jose, according to the team’s media relations department. Jimmy Schuldt was returned to the Barracuda in a corresponding move.
Carlsson, 27, joined the Sharks on a two-year, two-way deal last summer. He finished last season in the Panthers organization on the injured list after ACL surgery and subsequently began the 2024-25 campaign on the non-roster list. San Jose’s medical staff cleared his return in early November, after which he cleared waivers and headed down to the minors. Since returning, the offensive-minded lefty has 10-13–23 in 44 games with 26 PIMs and a minus-one rating for the Barracuda.
The 6’0″ Swede has 60 NHL games to his name with the Blackhawks and Panthers, although he hasn’t appeared in a contest since November 2022. A fourth-round pick by Chicago back in 2016, he’s posted 3-8–11 with a plus-six rating while averaging just 12:50 per game.
Usually a capable minor-league presence, Carlsson is two years removed from leading the AHL in goals by defensemen with 20 in 61 games with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte. He’ll now get the chance to slot into the San Jose lineup, likely on a pairing with Timothy Liljegren, as Jan Rutta (lower body, indefinite), Henry Thrun (upper body, week-to-week), and Marc-Édouard Vlasic (back, day-to-day) remain injured. Because they need Carlsson to ice six healthy defenders against Boston this weekend, he qualifies as an emergency recall.
Heading back down in Schuldt, who’s frequented the transaction wire this month. First recalled before the trade deadline on March 3, he was returned to the AHL on deadline day to maintain his eligibility for the Calder Cup Playoffs. He’s now been recalled and reassigned twice since then. The 29-year-old lefty has no points and a minus-one rating in five showings this year, averaging 14:28 per game while controlling 44.4% of shot attempts at even strength.
Wild Sign Stevie Leskovar To Entry-Level Contract
The Wild announced they’ve signed defenseman Stevie Leskovar to a three-year, entry-level contract starting next season. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Minnesota selected Leskovar, 20, in the sixth round (No. 174 overall) of last year’s draft. His upside comes solely from physicality and defensive play. He has just 1-4–5 in 33 games with the Brampton Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League this season, although his 70 PIMs rank fifth on the team.
That menial offensive production is slightly decreased from his 2023-24 pace when the 6’4″, 216-lb lefty posted 2-10–12, a +11 rating, and 96 shots in 61 games with a team-leading 113 PIMs. Leskovar, an Ontario native, has 20 points, 237 PIMs, and 203 shots on goal in 158 career OHL games since debuting at the major-junior level with the Peterborough Petes in 2022-23.
He doesn’t stand out much in the Wild’s prospect pool, which remains one of the league’s deepest. He didn’t earn a mention from Scott Wheeler of The Athletic when he put together his 2025 NHL prospect pool rankings, although that’s par for the course for a player selected in the sixth round after being passed over in both the 2022 and 2023 drafts. If he sniffs NHL minutes at some point during his professional career, it’ll presumably be in a bottom-pairing or press box role as a penalty-kill specialist. That’s not of much concern for Minnesota, who has names like 2024 No. 12 overall pick Zeev Buium and David Jiříček still in the pipeline.
Since Leskovar is already 20, he’s ineligible for an entry-level slide and can suit up in the pros with AHL Iowa next season. His ELC will run through the 2027-28 campaign, making him a restricted free agent upon expiry. The Wild now has 28 contracts on the books for 2025-26.
Red Wings Sign Eduards Tralmaks To Two-Way Deal
The Red Wings announced today they’ve signed forward Eduards Tralmaks to a two-way deal for the 2025-26 campaign. His deal includes a $775K NHL salary and a $225K minors salary, PuckPedia reports.
This won’t be Tralmaks’ first stint in North America, although it is the 28-year-old’s first NHL contract. The 6’4″, 209-lb forward, who can play both wings and center, spent a pair of seasons in the Bruins’ system with AHL Providence coming out of college in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Tralmaks, a former University of Maine standout, posted 22-19–41 with a +23 rating and 42 PIMs in 87 appearances for the P-Bruins from 2021 to 2023. After failing to land an NHL deal with the Bruins or any other club, the Latvian headed overseas. He signed with Jaromír Jágr‘s club, Czech Extraliga side Rytíři Kladno, where he’s been dominant. After leading the league in power-play goals in 2023-24, he led the Extraliga in points with 23-28–51 in 48 games. He also finished atop the league leaderboard in faceoff percentage with a 62.5% win rate.
He doesn’t have much of any growth left in his game in his late 20s, and he’s unlikely to make an impact in Detroit’s lineup next season. Nonetheless, he should be an important piece for their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids. If he impresses, he now has the option to be called up, unlike in years past.
Tralmaks will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Wings now have 30 standard contracts on the books for next season.
Ducks’ Will Francis Signs AHL Tryout
Ducks defense prospect Will Francis has signed an amateur tryout with AHL San Diego for the remainder of the season, the team announced. The 2019 sixth-round pick will get his first taste of professional hockey after four years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
It’s been an incredibly trying road for Francis, 24, to get to this point. After playing out his post-draft season with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He’s now entered remission three separate times in the last five years, keeping him sidelined for the entire 2020-21 campaign and the vast majority of the 2021-22, 2023-24, and 2024-25 campaigns. After beginning his third round of cancer treatments in October, he returned to play for the Bulldogs on March 8 and suited up in one of their NCHC quarterfinal losses to Arizona State.
A hard-nosed shutdown defenseman, the 6’5″, 216-lb Francis totaled one assist and 29 PIMs with a minus-six rating in 39 games for Duluth. Before his diagnosis, he posted 3-11–14 with a plus-nine rating across 69 major junior games with Cedar Rapids. While Francis’ NHL signing rights will lapse on Aug. 15, he’ll still get at least a few games within the Ducks organization.
Back in 2022, the Ducks’ website put together a profile on Francis during a development camp appearance with the club that’s more than worth the read. All of us at PHR wish him health as he takes the next step in his career.
Sabres Extend Jacob Bryson
2:47 p.m.: Buffalo confirmed the deal as reported.
1:29 p.m.: The Sabres are closing in on a one-year, one-way extension worth $900K for defenseman Jacob Bryson, PuckPedia reports. He was slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Bryson’s new deal mirrors what he signed to return to Buffalo last summer after they opted to non-tender him on the conclusion of his two-year, $3.7MM deal that carried a $1.9MM qualifying offer. That’s fair value for the limited role he continues to play as the No. 7 on the Sabres’ depth chart. He’s made 42 appearances this season, up from last year’s 36, although his average ice time has dropped slightly from 14:41 to 14:22.
The 27-year-old was a fourth-round pick by the Sabres back in 2017, so he’s now been affiliated with the organization for eight years and will extend his stay through a ninth. As far as replacement-level players go on the back end, he fits the bill. While not an overly physical rearguard (he has just nine hits this year), he blocks shots well and plays an overall sound defensive game. His 46.8 CF% and -5.7 expected rating at even strength this year are par for the course, considering he starts over 60% of his shifts in the defensive zone. Offensively, he’s posted 4-39–43 in 248 career games as a Sabre, including seven assists in 2024-25.
After making his NHL debut during the COVID-shortened 2021 campaign, he’ll return to Buffalo for his sixth big-league campaign. With the six defenders ahead of him on the depth chart either signed through next season or destined for restricted free agency this summer, he’ll likely start next year in a press-box role again, barring injuries or an unforeseen trade that doesn’t bring an in-kind replacement back to the Sabres. The 5’9″ lefty will now surpass $8MM in estimated career earnings with this deal, per PuckPedia.
Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl Out Day-To-Day, Evander Kane Returns To Practice
Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and is expected to miss tonight’s clash with the Jets, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). It’s not all bad news on the injury front for Edmonton, though. Winger Evander Kane skated at practice for the first time this season as he attempts a playoff return from abdominal and knee surgeries that have wiped out his 2024-25 campaign.
While Edmonton has a divisional playoff berth all but clinched, they’ve still got some important games to play to determine where they end up in the Pacific pecking order. A three-game winning streak after a 3-8-0 rut has them back on the right track, but they’re still at risk of being passed by the Kings for second in the division and losing home-ice advantage in what’s likely going to be a fourth consecutive first-round matchup between the two clubs.
That makes Draisaitl’s absence against a conference-leading Winnipeg club a tough one to swallow. The German superstar recently had his 18-game point streak draw to a close in Tuesday’s 7-1 drubbing of Utah, and he’s now the overwhelming favorite to take home the league’s goal-scoring crown with 49 in 68 games. He has an 11-tally gap on second-place William Nylander and trails the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon by three points for the overall scoring title.
It’s unclear what might be hampering Draisaitl with less than one month to go until the postseason. He’s yet to miss a game this year and didn’t miss any shifts against Utah earlier this week. In fact, he logged over 20 minutes for the fifth consecutive game.
The Oilers, who have juggled their lines with aplomb lately, will likely have Jeff Skinner up with Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid on the first line while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins shifts to center Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin in Draisaitl’s absence.
One of those top-six winger roles could be Kane’s come playoff time. While it’s clear he won’t be returning during the regular season – the Oilers are using his LTIR placement to remain cap-compliant down the stretch – getting back on the practice sheet now could indicate a first-round comeback.
Injuries aside, the 33-year-old is coming off a disappointing 2023-24 campaign. His 44 points in 77 regular-season appearances equated to his worst points-per-game rate since 2015-16, and he only managed eight points in 20 games in Edmonton’s run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. He led the 2022 postseason in goals with 13 in 15 games for the Oilers despite being swept in the Western Conference Final.
The Oilers even attempted to move Kane, who has a 16-team yes-trade list, before the deadline to open up financial flexibility. That ended up not coming to fruition, so he’s now a potential option to insert into the playoff lineup at some point for an Edmonton squad with just five players at or above 15 goals on the season.
Photo courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.
Injury Notes: Red Wings, Romanov, Jensen
The Red Wings lost both defenseman Erik Gustafsson and winger Elmer Söderblom to undisclosed injuries in Tuesday’s loss to the Capitals, and it doesn’t look like they’re getting either back this weekend against Vegas. Neither practiced during today’s session, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports. The former could be facing a longer-term absence, head coach Todd McLellan said. That’s not good news for a tumbling Red Wings team, whose playoff hopes are close to evaporating after a 2-8-0 run in their last 10 games. Gustafsson is third in points among defenders with 18, trailing Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider. Söderblom, who’s seen time on the top line with Dylan Larkin as of late and has 3-6–9 in 22 games since being recalled in January, is day-to-day. They could be getting veteran defenseman Jeff Petry back in the lineup soon – he’s traveling with the club on their road trip after returning to practice but won’t play this weekend. He’s been out since early January with an undisclosed injury but had just six points in 34 games to begin the year with a minus-seven rating.
More from around the league:
- Islanders head coach Patrick Roy told reporters he doesn’t expect defenseman Alexander Romanov to draw in against the Canadiens tonight in a game with major postseason implications, per Andrew Gross of Newsday. He’s still dealing with the illness that held him out of Tuesday’s come-from-behind win over the Penguins. The 25-year-old is enjoying a strong season in career-high minutes, posting 4-14–18 with a plus-nine rating while averaging 22:46 per game. New York’s playoff chances could jump to 35% with a regulation win but drop to just 16% with a regulation loss, per MoneyPuck.
- Senators defenseman Nick Jensen remains unavailable tonight against Colorado, but he practiced with the club anyway, per TSN 1200 Ottawa. The 34-year-old righty will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury. With the Sens having the first wild card spot in the East all but locked up, Travis Hamonic slides into top-four deployment alongside Thomas Chabot with Jensen out. Acquired from the Capitals in last summer’s Jakob Chychrun trade, Jensen is averaging 20:20 per game in Ottawa and leads the team with a +17 rating.
Morning Notes: Gritsyuk, Jiříček, Front Office App
Devils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk is on an expiring deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League. His contract remains in effect through May 31, however, and James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now reports the team’s efforts to get him over to North America before that date appear futile. SKA remains intent on keeping Gritsyuk through the end of his deal despite general manager Tom Fitzgerald‘s post-deadline statement that they wanted to get him over to New Jersey down the stretch to “show us what he can do.” The No. 3 prospect in the Devils’ system (per McKeen’s Hockey), the 24-year-old right winger has 17-26–43 in 48 games with SKA, on pace for a career-high if not for a knee injury that cost him a decent chunk of the campaign. A 2019 fifth-round pick, he has 68-83–151 in 215 career KHL games across five seasons.
Other items from around the NHL today:
- Wild prospect David Jiříček has now been scratched nine straight games since being recalled from AHL Iowa on March 1. The 21-year-old told The Athletic’s Joe Smith this week that while he’s eager to get back into game action, he’s enjoying having development time in NHL practices compared to skating for AHL Iowa, which has a sparse schedule this month. “I skated with [Jonas Brodin] and had some practices with [Marc-André Fleury]. For me, that’s always like a dream, you know? He’s a Hall of Famer. To shoot on him, it’s always a blessing. It’s actually a pretty good situation for me.” Selected sixth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2022 and acquired by the Wild in November, the righty has a goal and an assist while averaging 13:02 in six NHL appearances for Minnesota since the swap.
- The NHL has finally created an app comparable to sites like PuckPedia, CapWages, and the now-defunct CapFriendly – but they’re keeping it in-house. Stephen Whyno of the AP reports the league has launched an iPad app, developed by SAP, for use only by teams’ front offices that “modernizes the league’s roster, contract and salary cap information.” Instead of having to coalesce with the league’s Central Registry and keep track of official contract information on a team-by-team basis, NHL GMs will now have private access to every team’s active roster size, salary cap room, injured reserve statuses, and no-move and no-trade clauses in players’ contracts.