Predators Recall Kieffer Bellows, Jake Livingstone
The Predators have recalled forward Kieffer Bellows and defenseman Jake Livingstone from AHL Milwaukee, per an announcement from the club. Nashville’s active roster is now full ahead of their return to play against the Avalanche tomorrow.
Bellows, 27, skated in four NHL seasons with the Islanders and Flyers from 2019-20 to 2022-23. The 2016 19th overall pick was once one of the top prospects on Long Island but never elevated above a bottom-six role, posting a 14-14–28 scoring line in 95 career top-level appearances.
He’s since settled in as an AHL fixture, even spending last year on a minor-league contract in the Maple Leafs’ system. He broke out for 27-22–49 in 52 games with the AHL’s Marlies, landing some renewed NHL interest, and landed a two-way deal from Nashville last summer. He’s been recalled once this season, spending a couple of weeks on the roster in January, but was a healthy scratch in seven straight contests before being returned to Milwaukee.
Bellows’ offense has taken a step back from last season’s nearly point-per-game showing in Toronto. He ranks third on Milwaukee in scoring with 14-15–29 in 41 games but is tied with Jake Lucchini for the club lead in goals. The 6’1″ winger has also added 54 PIMs and an even rating. He’ll return to the NHL ranks for now to serve as an extra forward amid some injury concerns. Winger Zachary L’Heureux missed the final game before the break with an upper-body injury, while Luke Evangelista was absent for the last three with a lower-body issue. There’s been no update yet on their status for Saturday’s game. Mark Jankowski also remains on injured reserve with the upper-body issue that’s kept him out since Jan. 18, and he still carries a week-to-week designation.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Livingstone lands his first NHL recall in nearly two years to give Nashville eight defensemen on the roster while Adam Wilsby deals with an upper-body issue. He signed as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State near the end of the 2022-23 campaign but hasn’t seen NHL ice since skating in five games with the Preds to end that season. The 6’3″, 205-lb righty has 7-19–26 with a sparkling +27 rating in 108 appearances for Milwaukee over the past two years, failing to provide the offense they’d hoped for after a 35-in-39 junior year in Mankato but still serving as a good two-way option. He recorded an assist and a minus-two rating in his first NHL stint, taking three shots on goal and averaging 15:27 per game with 11 blocks and six hits.
Canucks Sign Kevin Lankinen To Five-Year Extension
The Canucks announced they’ve agreed to terms with pending UFA goalie Kevin Lankinen on a five-year, $22.5MM extension. It’ll keep him in Vancouver through the 2029-30 season with a cap hit of $4.5MM. $8.5MM of his total compensation will be paid via signing bonuses, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports. The full breakdown of the deal is as follows, per PuckPedia:
2025-26: $2.5MM base salary, $2.5MM signing bonus, no-move clause
2026-27: $4MM base salary, no-move clause
2027-28: $3MM base salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team no-trade clause
2028-29: $2.5MM base salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team no-trade clause
2029-30: $2MM base salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team no-trade clause
Lankinen, 30 in April, was set to be one of the top options on the open market among goaltenders this summer after the Capitals retained Logan Thompson on a six-year deal. He’s seen a massive jump in market value since his spin on the UFA market last summer when he had to wait until after training camp started to land a one-year, $875K deal in Vancouver.
It’s a testament to the success Lankinen has enjoyed this season with the Canucks, who likely aren’t in postseason position without him. The Finland native had been an above-average backup to Juuse Saros with the Predators for the past two seasons. He was an inconsistent 1B option with the Blackhawks before that, hovering right around league average for his career with a .905 SV% in 112 appearances for Chicago and Nashville from 2020-21 to 2023-24.
Lankinen hasn’t been world-beating in his third NHL stop in Vancouver, but he has shown the ability to keep up solid numbers in extended usage. He’s started 32 of the Canucks’ 55 games amid continued injury woes for 2024 Vezina runner-up Thatcher Demko, on pace to shatter his career-high of 37 set in his rookie season with Chicago. He’s logged a .905 SV% and 2.53 GAA, numbers that look more impressive than in years past, thanks to dwindling league averages, but they’ve also come behind decent team defense. Factoring in his playing environment amid netminders with similar workloads, his performance looks more pedestrian. His 2.58 expected goals against average is the sixth-lowest out of the 48 goalies to play at least 20 games this season, per MoneyPuck. Considering that comparatively easy workload, his 1.6 goals saved above expected only rank 28th out of that 48-player group.
That makes a $4.5MM annual commitment for the rest of the decade look like fair compensation at best and a risky bet at worst. Thanks to a quickly rising salary cap, it should age far better than similarly-priced deals over the past few seasons. Still, Lankinen’s age and broadly consistent play over the past few years means he is what he is – a decent, but not great, option between the pipes who can sniff 40 starts. Considering his AAV is only $500K less than what emerging Kraken starter Joey Daccord landed on his recent extension, there’s undoubtedly a bit of sticker shock when combined with the five-year commitment and extensive trade protection.
He is an acceptable insurance option if Demko’s health continues to pose long-term concerns as he enters the final year of his contract in 2025-26. The two-time All-Star missed the first 24 games of the season with the popliteus muscle injury he sustained in Game 1 of Vancouver’s 2024 postseason run, another two in January with a back injury, and is now listed as week-to-week with a lower-body issue coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Understandably, his numbers haven’t been great when healthy this season. He’s got a .891 SV% and 2.87 GAA with a 6-6-3 record in 17 appearances, but he’s faced far worse defense than Lankinen and has still managed to save a goal above expected, according to MoneyPuck. On a per-hour basis, Demko has fared slightly better with a 0.064 GSAx/60 compared to Lankinen’s 0.048. However, it’s still a far cry from last year’s elite .918 SV% and 22.0 GSAx.
While it’s a significant commitment to keep Lankinen in British Columbia, it’s a necessary one without many other options in the pipeline as a potential Demko successor. No. 3 option Arturs Silovs was expected to compete for the backup job this year after a strong playoff showing for the Canucks in 2024 but has been borderline unplayable when given the chance, logging a 4.11 GAA and .847 SV% in seven NHL appearances this season. They don’t have any blue-chip prospects in the system between the pipes either, so getting at least some long-term security at the position was understandably a top priority for general manager Patrik Allvin.
Lankinen will be 35 years old when his contract expires, so this will easily be the biggest payday of his career. He’ll be able to test unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2030.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Blue Jackets Recall Joseph LaBate
The Blue Jackets announced they’d recalled forward Joseph LaBate from AHL Cleveland. Considering they have no forwards at the 4 Nations Face-Off, his recall will likely last through their return to action against the Blackhawks on Saturday as compared to bringing him up for practice purposes.
LaBate, 31, inked a two-way deal with Columbus in late November after starting the campaign on a minor-league deal with Cleveland. He subsequently cleared waivers and returned to the AHL, where the hard-nosed center/left-winger has 6-7–13 with 49 PIMs and a minus-two rating through 33 games.
Standing at 6’5″ and 209 lbs, LaBate has 13 games of NHL experience to his name. Those all came in the 2016-17 campaign with the Canucks, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. He didn’t record a point in that trial and has bounced around leagues since, suiting up for AHL clubs in Belleville, Milwaukee, and Chicago before landing in Kazakhstan with Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League last season. It was his first and, for now, only campaign spent overseas, and his 8-10–18 scoring line with 53 PIMs in 49 games is close to his average per-season performance in the minors over his 11-year professional career.
It’s notable that the veteran LaBate gets the call over prospects like Luca Del Bel Belluz and Mikael Pyyhtia, both of whom were playing regular minutes for the CBJ leading into the 4 Nations break but were sent down to Cleveland when their scheduled pause to continue receiving playing time. Their playing time was going to be diminished amid looming returns to the lineup for captain Boone Jenner and emerging star winger Kirill Marchenko, though, so they’ll opt to keep them stashed in the AHL for now while presumably giving LaBate a shot in a fourth-line role if one of Jenner and Marchenko can’t go against Chicago.
List Of NHL-Affiliated Prospects In The Western Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League trade deadlines are in the rearview mirror. That makes it a good time to take stock of where NHL teams have their prospect pool skating ahead of the big league deadline. We’re taking a look at how many prospects each team has in the world’s top junior association, moving onto the Western Hockey League. You can find the list of Ontario Hockey League players and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League players here.
Anaheim Ducks
D Vojtech Port (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
D Tarin Smith (Everett Silvertips)
Buffalo Sabres
G Scott Ratzlaff (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Calgary Flames
F Andrew Basha (Medicine Hat Tigers)
D Axel Hurtig (Calgary Hitmen)
D Eric Jamieson (Everett Silvertips)
F Hunter Laing (Saskatoon Blades)
F Jaden Lipinski (Vancouver Giants)
Colorado Avalanche
F Maxmilian Curran (Tri-City Americans)
D Saige Weinstein (Spokane Chiefs)
Columbus Blue Jackets
D Charlie Elick (Tri-City Americans)
G Evan Gardner (Saskatoon Blades)
F Cayden Lindstrom (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Dallas Stars
D Niilopekka Muhonen (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Detroit Red Wings
F Emmett Finnie (Kamloops Blazers)
Florida Panthers
F Gracyn Sawchyn (Edmonton Oil Kings)
F Hunter St. Martin (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Los Angeles Kings
F Koehn Ziemmer (Prince George Cougars)
Minnesota Wild
F Riley Heidt (Prince George Cougars)
D Kalem Parker (Calgary Hitmen)
F Ryder Ritchie (Medicine Hat Tigers)
G Chase Wutzke (Red Deer Rebels)
Montreal Canadiens
F Tyler Thorpe (Vancouver Giants)
Nashville Predators
F Hiroki Gojsic (Kelowna Rockets)
F Kalan Lind (Red Deer Rebels)
F Miguel Marques (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
D Tanner Molendyk (Medicine Hat Tigers)
New Jersey Devils
F Max Graham (Kelowna Rockets)
Ottawa Senators
D Carter Yakemchuk (Calgary Hitmen)
Philadelphia Flyers
G Carson Bjarnason (Brandon Wheat Kings)
D Carter Sotheran (Portland Winterhawks)
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Harrison Brunicke (Kamloops Blazers)
F Tanner Howe (Calgary Hitmen)
San Jose Sharks
D Nate Misskey (Victoria Royals)
D Colton Roberts (Vancouver Giants)
F Carson Wetsch (Calgary Hitmen)
Seattle Kraken
F Clarke Caswell (Swift Current Broncos)
F Berkly Catton (Spokane Chiefs)
D Lukas Dragicevic (Prince Albert Raiders)
D Kaden Hammell (Everett Silvertips)
F Ollie Josephson (Red Deer Rebels)
D Tyson Jugnauth (Portland Winterhawks)
F Julius Miettinen (Everett Silvertips)
D Caden Price (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
St. Louis Blues
F Adam Jecho (Edmonton Oil Kings)
D William McIsaac (Spokane Chiefs)
F Tomas Mrsic (Prince Albert Raiders)
F Jakub Stancl (Kelowna Rockets)
Tampa Bay Lightning
G Harrison Meneghin (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Toronto Maple Leafs
D Noah Chadwick (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
F Miroslav Holinka (Edmonton Oil Kings)
D Nathan Mayes (Spokane Chiefs)
Utah Hockey Club
D Terrell Goldsmith (Tri-City Americans)
F Tij Iginla (Kelowna Rockets)
D Justin Kipkie (Victoria Royals)
D Veeti Väisänen (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Vancouver Canucks
D Parker Alcos (Edmonton Oil Kings)
D Sawyer Mynio (Calgary Hitmen)
Vegas Golden Knights
F Jordan Gustafson (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
D Viliam Kmec (Prince George Cougars)
Washington Capitals
F Andrew Cristall (Spokane Chiefs)
F Terik Parascak (Prince George Cougars)
Winnipeg Jets
F Connor Levis (Vancouver Giants)
F Markus Loponen (Victoria Royals)
F Brayden Yager (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Islanders Likely To Activate Ryan Pulock This Weekend
Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock skated in a regular jersey at Thursday’s practice, Denis Gorman of Newsday reports, indicating he may be ready to return when the Islanders return to action Sunday against the Stars.
Pulock, 30, has not played since sustaining an upper-body injury on his first shift in New York’s game against the Hurricanes on Jan. 25. He missed seven games leading into the 4 Nations break, which was conveniently timed to cover most of his recovery period.
The Isles are still nowhere close to fully healthy on their blue line. No. 1 defender Noah Dobson, who hasn’t skated since being designated week-to-week with a lower-body injury last month, remains on long-term injured reserve alongside Mike Reilly, whose availability down the stretch remains doubtful after undergoing heart surgery in November. Nonetheless, Pulock remains a heavy minute-muncher for the Isles, averaging 21:55 over 48 appearances this season. His return to a top-four role will allow for easier assignments for overseas signing Tony DeAngelo, trade acquisition Scott Perunovich, and waiver claim Adam Boqvist – all of whom were brought in over the weeks leading up to the break to give them much-needed depth in the wake of Dobson’s and Pulock’s absences.
Pulock isn’t the routine 30-point defender he was early in his career, but he remains a serviceable top-four option. He has 3-13–16 with a plus-seven rating and ranks second on the team with 105 blocks. The latter stat indicates Pulock’s continued struggles to control possession over the past few seasons. He’s logged a Corsi share of 47.2% and an expected rating of -5.8 at even strength this year, both of which rank in the bottom half of Islanders skaters. His usual pairing with Adam Pelech has remained stout defensively but struggles to generate scoring chances, leading to a subpar xGF% of 48.2, per MoneyPuck. They’ve been the lowest-event duo of the four Islanders pairings to log at least 150 minutes together in 2024-25.
His return comes as the Islanders look to continue the momentum generated by an 8-3-0 run leading into the 4 Nations break, which put them back within shouting distance of a playoff spot. They’re four points back of the Red Wings for the final wild-card position but don’t have any games in hand and need to leapfrog the Rangers, Bruins, and Blue Jackets as well. It won’t be easy, but getting him (and Scott Mayfield, who missed their last four games with a lower-body issue) back in the lineup gives them veteran stability as they look to gain ground down the stretch.
Minor Transactions: 2/20/25
Minor moves will continue across the league Thursday as teams dial in their rosters coming out of the 4 Nations break. We’ll keep track of those moves here as always:
- The Blues announced Thursday they’ve called up forward Zachary Bolduc from AHL Springfield. The move was widely expected after they assigned him to the minors for the first time this season at the beginning of the 4 Nations break to get playing time while St. Louis was off. The 2021 first-round pick rejoins the club after posting 6-12–18 with a +10 rating through 46 games to begin the year. Bolduc, 21, posted a pair of assists and a minus-three rating in four games with Springfield over the last two weeks.
- The Devils announced they’d recalled goaltender Nico Daws from AHL Utica and reassigned forward Chase Stillman to Utica and goalie Tyler Brennan to ECHL Adirondack in corresponding transactions. Brennan and Stillman were recalled Tuesday to practice with the Devils while some of their players were returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off and were expected to return to their respective minor-league clubs in the coming days. Daws comes back up to serve as Jake Allen‘s backup coming out of the break until starter Jacob Markström is ready to return from his MCL sprain, which is set to keep him out for another two weeks. The 24-year-old won his only start of the season against the Penguins on Feb. 4, stopping 25 of 27 shots for a .926 SV%. He also saved all seven shots he faced in relief of Allen against the Sabres on Feb. 2.
- The Lightning announced they’ve reassigned left-winger Gabriel Fortier to AHL Syracuse. Tampa recalled him Tuesday to serve as an extra practice player as their contingent of 4 Nations players works their way back to Florida, but it won’t result in any NHL playing time. The 2018 second-rounder hasn’t suited up for the Bolts since 2022-23 and has 10-7–17 in 37 AHL games this season with a plus-five rating.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 2/19/25
PHR’s Josh Erickson hosted his weekly live chat today at 2:00 pm Central. Use this link to view the transcript of the session.
Quinn Hughes Not Cleared For 4 Nations Championship
Feb. 19: Team USA has been informed that Hughes was not medically cleared to join the roster before Thursday, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun shares that USA is looking into adding another defender to the lineup as an insurance option, given the illness circulating the 4-Nations tournament. Team USA would need to have less than six healthy defenseman to ice a player not currently on the roster.
Feb. 18: The United States may have reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes available for Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship against Canada, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters Tuesday (including Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic). He’s traveling to meet the team in Boston in the wake of an upper-body injury to Charlie McAvoy, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic that Hughes won’t be able to practice or play unless the Americans sustain another injury on defense ahead of the championship.
After being named as one of the first six players on the team last offseason, Hughes was on the Americans’ roster for the tournament up until last week, when he was ruled out after missing the Canucks’ final four games before the break with an oblique injury. Initially replaced by Jake Sanderson, he’s evidently now healthy and will be available if needed as the United States goes for its first best-on-best title since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
Luckily for the United States, they’re unlikely to need any more injury replacements. Star sniper Auston Matthews is expected to play in the championship after serving as a late scratch in last night’s loss to Sweden because of upper-body soreness, Sullivan said (via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). He added both Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk will likely play after the former left Monday’s loss and the latter left Saturday’s win over Canada.
The Americans’ roster situation mirrors that of Canada’s after they lost defenseman Shea Theodore to an upper-body injury in their opening game against Sweden. Thomas Harley was allowed to fly out and meet the team but couldn’t practice or play unless they were unable to ice six defensemen. When Cale Makar was ruled out of their game against the U.S. due to illness, only then was Harley eligible to enter the lineup. He was not dressed when Makar returned to play yesterday against Finland.
At the very least, it’s a strong sign the Canucks will have their captain back when they return to play in Vegas on Saturday. The 25-year-old Hughes has improved further on last season’s elite two-way showing, bumping his points per game up to 1.26 from 1.12 and has posted career-highs in even-strength CF% (57.8) and relative CF% (+15.7).
There are three clear-cut Norris nominees in him, Makar, and Team USA teammate Zach Werenski. If Hughes takes home the hardware, he’d be the first back-to-back winner since the Red Wings’ Nicklas Lidström won three straight from 2006 to 2008.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Flames Recall Yan Kuznetsov, Ilya Solovyov
The Flames announced Wednesday they’ve recalled defensemen Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov from AHL Calgary. The pair gives the Flames 22 players – including nine defensemen – on their active roster, so further moves will be made before they return to action against the Sharks on Sunday.
Kuznetsov, 22, lands his first recall since being cut from the team’s training camp roster in October. The 2020 second-round pick made his NHL debut last season, posting a minus-one rating in 12 minutes of ice time against the Senators on Jan. 9, 2024, in his lone big-league showing.
A massive 6’5″, 220-lb lefty who specializes as a stay-at-home piece, Kuznetsov is enjoying a breakout campaign in the minors. He’s posted a respectable 3-11–14 scoring line through 49 games, and his pairing with Solovyov has been the best the club offers. Kuznetsov and Solovyov rank first and second on the team with +22 and +16 ratings, respectively, a +11 margin over third place among defenders.
Kuznetsov’s defensive awareness and physical game are intriguing, especially since he does so without taking a ton of penalties. He’s never topped 30 PIMs in an AHL season and has 22 this year. A rare USHL (2019 with the Sioux Falls Stampede) and Memorial Cup (2022 with the Saint John Sea Dogs) champion with a collegiate stint at UConn in between, he’s taken a winding road to NHL minutes and will now get another look on the roster with Kevin Bahl on injured reserve.
Solovyov’s recall is a paper move. Calgary recalled the 24-year-old Belarusian shortly before the 4 Nations break. He made his season debut against the Kraken on Feb. 8, skating over 19 minutes in his 11th career NHL appearance. The 2020 seventh-rounder has three assists with a minus-four rating in the NHL dating back to his debut last year, taking 12 shots on goal and averaging north of 16 minutes per game.
The latter plays the more offensively involved game of the two, relying more on his puckhandling ability and breakout passing to be effective. The lefty still has great size at 6’3″ and 209 lbs, though, and has posted a career-best 6-15–21 scoring line through 43 AHL appearances this season.
NHL Met With Group Interested In New Orleans Expansion
The NHL held a recent meeting with a group interested in acquiring an expansion team for the New Orleans market at the league’s offices in New York, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Kevin Weekes of ESPN on Wednesday.
In terms of expansion interest and likelihood, this is about as preliminary as it can get. League commissioner Gary Bettman has remained as noncommittal as possible about when the league will increase past 32 teams after incorporating Vegas and Seattle in the last decade. The league’s preference for team No. 33 will be a return to the Phoenix area after facilitating the Coyotes’ sale to Utah and, through a complicated process, retaining the club’s intellectual and branding rights. A local group comprised of government and business officials met with Bettman last month, but the area still needs a new arena to house an NHL franchise – which there’s been no tangible progress toward completing since the Coyotes’ departure.
New Orleans joins a long list of cities interested in an NHL club. Houston and Atlanta either already have or are in the process of constructing an NHL-ready arena and have had multiple groups express interest in acquiring a franchise within the last two years. Cincinnati, Hamilton, Kansas City, Omaha, Quebec City, and Saskatoon continue as speculative destinations for a further round of expansion – it’s difficult to imagine some combination of Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix comprising teams 33 and 34.
The only professional team to carry a New Orleans moniker was the ECHL’s New Orleans Brass, who were briefly affiliated with the Sharks and spent five years in the league from 1997-98 to 2001-02. They were the first tenant of what’s now called the Smoothie King Center, home to the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, but were forced to fold when the city demanded them to shoulder the costs of converting the arena to a basketball configuration. The building held a capacity of 16,900 when configured for hockey.
The Baton Rouge Zydeco of the FPHL, two levels of play below the ECHL, is the only professional hockey team currently operational in Louisiana. They’re in just their second season of play.