Kraken Reassign Philipp Grubauer
Jan. 30: Grubauer cleared waivers and will be assigned to the AHL, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The Kraken recalled Ales Stezka from Coachella Valley earlier today to serve as their new backup.
Jan. 29: The Kraken announced Wednesday that they’ve placed goaltender Philipp Grubauer on waivers. He will be reassigned to AHL Coachella Valley if he clears.
Grubauer is the second high-profile veteran in as many days to hit the waiver wire, joining the Blues’ Brandon Saad (who cleared them today). He’s also the second big-money netminder to land on waivers recently after the Penguins’ Tristan Jarry cleared them earlier this month.
Grubauer’s contract is strikingly similar to his counterpart in Pittsburgh’s, except he’s further along. Seattle signed the German to a six-year, $35.4MM commitment in free agency before their inaugural season, tabbing him to serve as their first starter coming off a Vezina Trophy nomination with the Avalanche. He’s now in the fourth year of that deal, which carries a $5.9MM cap hit, and has yet to even sniff an average campaign.
Not once in Grubauer’s nine NHL seasons before arriving in Seattle had he posted a save percentage under .900. But since arriving in the Pacific Northwest, he hasn’t touched .900 in a single season and has averaged a .890 mark with a 3.10 GAA in a Kraken jersey. He hasn’t started north of 40 games since his first season in Seattle and has a cumulative 54-76-12 record with four shutouts.
While Grubauer isn’t playing behind the elite Capitals and Avalanche teams he had support from earlier in his career, he’s actively been a drag on the Kraken’s record over the life of the deal. He’s allowed 57.7 goals above expected since 2021, per MoneyPuck. 17.5 of those conceded goals have come this season, on track to put him last in the league in the stat after doing so already in 2021-22.
His recent run of play makes it easy to see why now is the moment Seattle’s patience has run out. He’s 0-5-1 in his last six appearances and has allowed 22 goals on 127 shots during that timeframe, working out to a .827 SV%. When compared to now-undisputed starter Joey Daccord‘s numbers this season (17-12-2, .916 SV%, 2.45 GAA), there’s no questioning whether Grubauer’s struggles are individual or systemic.
There won’t be any takers on waivers as a result, and the likelihood of a trade is minimal – especially with his 10-team no-trade clause. All signs point to a buyout this summer, which would cost the Kraken $1.68MM against the cap for the next four seasons, per PuckPedia. For the rest of the season, Seattle can shave $1.15MM off Grubauer’s cap hit, so he’ll cost $4.75MM against the cap after being reassigned tomorrow.
Where Seattle goes for a new backup for Daccord in the interim remains to be seen. Next up on the depth chart is 28-year-old Ales Stezka, who’s been recalled a handful of times under emergency conditions since signing with the Kraken as an undrafted free agent in 2023 but has yet to make his NHL debut. The Czech goalie has a .902 SV% and 3.00 GAA with an 8-12-4 record in 24 appearances for Coachella Valley this season – not particularly inspiring numbers.
Instead, expect them to trade for a depth netminder from a team with more depth at the position to finish out the season. Third-stringers like the Islanders’ Marcus Högberg and Utah’s Jaxson Stauber have done well in limited action this season, although the former is still needed in New York with Semyon Varlamov on the shelf.
Long-term, Seattle’s set between the pipes with Daccord as the starter. The 28-year-old signed a five-year, $25MM extension in October to keep him off this summer’s free agent market.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Kraken Recall Cale Fleury, Ales Stezka
The Kraken announced Thursday that they’ve recalled defenseman Cale Fleury and netminder Ales Stezka from AHL Coachella Valley. Seattle didn’t have extra skaters on the active roster, so with three open spots, no corresponding moves are required.
They’ll also return to having two open roster spots later today after goaltender Philipp Grubauer assumedly clears waivers. Stezka’s recall is the corresponding move for that one, meaning the 28-year-old is set for his longest stint on an NHL roster yet as he gets the first crack at serving as starter Joey Daccord‘s new backup. He has yet to play in an NHL game but was recalled three times earlier this season under emergency conditions.
Until the Kraken makes an external addition or, in the unlikely event they decide to give Grubauer another shot in the NHL, Stezka is their new No. 2. They signed the Czech netminder as a free agent in 2023 out of the Extraliga’s HC Vítkovice, where he’d worked his way back onto NHL teams’ radars in 2022-23 with a sparkling 2.14 GAA and .924 SV% in 39 games that got him named the league’s best goaltender. The Plzen native was a fourth-round draft pick of the Wild in 2015 but never signed with the club.
Stezka had a good showing in Coachella Valley last year, posting a .914 SV% and 2.48 GAA with an 18-6-2 record in 27 games while backing up Seattle third-stringer Chris Driedger. He re-upped with the Kraken on a two-way deal in June to avoid hitting restricted free agency. He was promoted to No. 3 on the depth chart after Driedger left as a UFA to return to his old stomping grounds in the Panthers organization.
While Stezka has handled more of the workload in Coachella Valley this season than his backup, 2022 second-round pick Niklas Kokko, the latter has better numbers. Stezka’s .902 SV% and 3.00 GAA are acceptable but unimpressive, especially compared to last year’s numbers, and the Firebirds have struggled to an 8-12-4 record with him in net over 24 games. In 18 appearances, Kokko has a 2.46 GAA and .910 SV% with a 13-3-1 record.
Nonetheless, the Kraken will give the older, more professionally experienced option first dibs on a roster spot. Before moving to North America, Stezka posted a 2.45 GAA, .913 SV%, six shutouts, and a 49-42-0 record in 92 Czech Extraliga games.
Meanwhile, Fleury comes up to serve as an extra defenseman – a role the 26-year-old knows well. He was a healthy scratch for all but 12 NHL games in the 2022-23 campaign despite sticking on the roster for the entire season, and he’s since cleared waivers multiple times and been shuttled between Seattle and Coachella Valley frequently. Today marks his first recall since being sent to the Firebirds on Jan. 7. He skated in a pair of games for the Kraken early in the year but has otherwise spent all his time in 2024-25 in the minors, where he has 16 points (6 G, 10 A) and a team-high +14 rating in 28 games.
Jets Recall Parker Ford
9:38 a.m.: The Jets made Ford’s recall and Barron’s IR placement official with a team announcement.
9:05 a.m.: Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reports Thursday that the Jets are set to recall forward Parker Ford from AHL Manitoba. He takes up the Jets’ lone roster spot, which they opened by placing forward Morgan Barron on injured reserve yesterday, per PuckPedia.
Winnipeg signed Ford as an undrafted free agent out of Providence College near the end of the 2022-23 season. He was coming off a strong senior season for the Friars and has produced well in a top-nine role with the Moose in the AHL, posting 31 goals and 62 points in 116 games.
The 24-year-old Ford will make his NHL debut tonight if he plays against the Bruins, but today doesn’t mark his first recall. The Jets summoned him on an emergency recall for their final game of the 2023-24 regular season, also amid an injury to Barron, but he served as a scratch. He was returned to Manitoba the following day. This season, the undersized but feisty center/right-winger is the only double-digit goal scorer on an offensively anemic Moose squad, posting 11 goals and six assists for 17 points in 30 games with 30 PIMs and a minus-three rating.
Ford isn’t a lock to play against his hometown Bruins. The Jets still have 13 healthy forwards on the active roster without him, including fellow AHL call-up Brad Lambert, who’s likely due for a game after sitting out Tuesday’s 4-1 trouncing of the Canadiens. Ford, a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, does not require waivers this season.
There’s no word on what’s keeping Barron out of the lineup. The 26-year-old fourth-liner logged 12:10 of ice time against the Habs and didn’t appear to miss any action. The IR placement rules him out of the Jets’ next three games, though, and he won’t be eligible to return until Feb. 7 against the Islanders. He’s been limited to five goals and eight points in 52 games this season, although his usual unit with Rasmus Kupari and Alex Iafallo has been sterling defensively, allowing 1.91 expected goals against per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck.
Sharks Reassign Scott Sabourin, Vítek Vaněček
The Sharks reassigned winger Scott Sabourin to AHL San Jose on Wednesday, per a team announcement. They also sent goaltender Vítek Vaněček, who hasn’t played since mid-December due to a cheekbone fracture, to the minors on a conditioning loan, signaling he’s close to a return. Only Sabourin comes off the active roster with those moves – Vaněček remains on injured reserve – so San Jose is left with one open spot.
Sabourin received his first recall of the season last Friday when the Sharks made a flurry of roster moves, including promoting Colin White from his AHL deal. The 32-year-old enforcer got into game action the following day but struggled with a minus-two rating against the Panthers in 10:27 of ice time. Comprising a fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and recent waiver pickup Walker Duehr, the Sharks were out-attempted 14-3 with Sabourin on the ice.
It marked Sabourin’s fourth NHL game for the Sharks since signing a two-year, two-way deal in San Jose as a free agent in 2023. The veteran of 13 professional seasons posted career-highs with 18 goals and 192 PIMs in 59 AHL games last year, but he’s been limited to five goals and 14 points with 48 PIMs in 35 appearances in 2024-25.
The 6’4″, 207-lb cruiserweight made previous NHL stops with the Maple Leafs and Senators before arriving in the Bay Area. He’d also inked NHL contracts with the Ducks and Kings in the past but never got into NHL games for them.
Sabourin does not need waivers for today’s reassignment because he cleared them preseason and was only on the Sharks’ active roster for five days. His demotion could signal that one of the Sharks’ many other IR-bound players other than Vaněček could be close to returning, or it could indicate they plan on keeping three goalies on the active roster once Vaněček returns instead of sending top prospect Yaroslav Askarov back to the minors.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 1/29/25
Use this link to view the transcript for today’s PHR live chat, hosted by Josh Erickson.
Utah, Miloš Kelemen Mutually Terminate Contract
Jan. 29: Kelemen cleared waivers and will have his deal terminated, per Friedman.
Jan. 28: Utah Hockey Club depth winger Miloš Kelemen landed on unconditional waivers Tuesday, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. It’s the first step for a mutual contract termination, which will occur if he clears tomorrow.
Kelemen, 25, made the move from Arizona to Utah last summer after two seasons in the Coyotes organization. The Slovak forward was briefly a restricted free agent but quickly signed a two-way deal to play his third season in North America. He cleared waivers to begin the season, but after scoring once through 11 games with AHL Tucson, Utah granted him a loan to the Czech Extraliga with HC Dynamo Pardubice.
That’s where Kelemen has suited up since late November, posting six points (4 G, 2 A) in 12 games for the top-level Czech club. He was slated to be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer and was destined to remain in Europe once Utah lost his NHL rights, so the two sides are just terminating their relationship early to allow Kelemen to better plan for next season.
Standing at 6’2″ and 218 lbs, Kelemen was somewhat of an intriguing undrafted free agent signing by the Coyotes in 2022. He largely did well in Tucson aside from this year’s early-season struggles, totaling 68 points in 124 games for the AHL club. He also got into 24 NHL games with Arizona over his first two seasons stateside, scoring a goal and an assist with a minus-seven rating and 46 hits.
Utah will gain a contract slot after terminating Kelemen’s deal, giving them four open spaces.
Senators’ Cole Reinhardt Clears Waivers
Jan. 29: Reinhardt cleared waivers Wednesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Jan. 28: The Senators placed left-winger Cole Reinhardt on waivers Tuesday, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. If he clears, he’ll be reassigned to AHL Belleville.
Reinhardt, 24, signed a two-way extension with the Senators in the offseason to avoid restricted free agency. He cleared waivers during training camp and was sent to Belleville but has spent a good portion of the season on the NHL roster, playing in 12 games since his initial recall on Oct. 20. That brought his tally of NHL appearances to 13, as he also appeared in one game with the Senators three years ago. He has a goal and an assist with a minus-five rating, averaging 8:10 per game at the top level.
Reinhardt was last recalled on Dec. 27, after which he lost his temporary waiver exemption because he’d played more than 10 games. He last played on Jan. 11 against the Penguins and has missed nine games with an upper-body injury, so today’s placement indicates he’s been cleared to play.
He’s made 13 AHL appearances this year with a raucous 16 points (6 G, 10 A). His plus-eight rating also leads B-Sens forwards despite only spending a small portion of the season on the farm. Dating back to 2020-21, he has 115 points in 238 minor-league games with 239 PIMs and an even rating.
He’s destined for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer because he’s played more than three professional seasons with fewer than 80 career NHL appearances. His AHL breakout could convince some clubs to take a flyer on him off waivers tomorrow, potentially getting him more ice time somewhere with a thinner forward group.
Ottawa’s wingers are the healthiest they’ve been in quite some time with offseason pickups Michael Amadio and David Perron back in action. Their depth isn’t at 100%, though, as Nick Cousins is dealing with a lower-body injury after taking the worst of a knee-on-knee collision with Maple Leafs rookie Jacob Quillan on Saturday, and Noah Gregor remains on injured reserve with a lower-body issue.
Kings Activate Drew Doughty From LTIR
12:25 p.m.: Doughty is indeed off LTIR, per a team announced. As expected, Helenius was reassigned to AHL Ontario in a corresponding transaction.
10:15 a.m.: The Kings will have star defenseman Drew Doughty in the lineup for the first time this season when they face the Panthers on Wednesday, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports. He’ll come off long-term injured reserve after missing just over four months with an ankle fracture sustained in preseason action.
Los Angeles is short about $84K in cap space to remove Doughty from LTIR, but they also have a full active roster. Opening up a roster space by assigning a player to AHL Ontario will also open the necessary cap space for his activation.
Doughty remains the anchor of the Kings’ blue line, even as he kicks off his age-35 season. The four-time Norris Trophy finalist is coming off a resurgent 2023-24 campaign in which he scored 15 goals, the second-highest total of his 16-season career, and secured a second straight 50-point year for the first time. Doughty also remained the Kings’ average ice time leader by a wide margin last season with 25:48, and he ranked second on the club with 142 blocks and seventh with 109 hits.
That made many believe Doughty’s long-term absence would spell doom for L.A.’s season, especially after they lost No. 2 righty Matt Roy to the Capitals in free agency. Not only are the Kings squarely in the playoff picture, but they’re on pace for 101 points and rank second in the league in goals against despite poor goaltending from backup David Rittich, who’s started 20 of their 47 games.
As expected, no one single player has filled in for Doughty. His absence has been shouldered by committee. 2021 eighth-overall pick Brandt Clarke emerged as their top offensive option in the interim with 24 points in 47 games, while Vladislav Gavrikov shifted to his off-side to replace Doughty alongside Michael Anderson on the top pair. While he’s got just a fraction of Doughty’s offensive upside, the 6’3″ Gavrikov has averaged a career-high 23:56 per game with strong defensive numbers. His 96 blocks lead the team, and his pairing with Anderson has controlled 56.2% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.
The Kings are already carrying eight defensemen on their active roster, so one of them is likely destined for waivers. That won’t open up space quickly enough to activate Doughty for tonight’s game, though, so the waiver-exempt Clarke (or, more likely, depth center Samuel Helenius) will be sent down today to give the Kings time to do some roster shuffling.
Doughty returns with six games to go until the 4 Nations Face-Off, enough time to put himself in consideration to replace Alex Pietrangelo on Team Canada’s roster after the Golden Knight withdrew from the tournament over the weekend. He still has two years after this one left on his eight-year, $88MM mega-deal he signed with the Kings in 2018.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Nico Hischier Downgraded To Week-To-Week
Devils captain Nico Hischier‘s injury status has been downgraded to week-to-week, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters Wednesday (including Gabriel Trevino of NJ.com). He has not played since sustaining an upper-body injury on a crosscheck from Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki last Saturday.
Keefe initially called Hischier day-to-day following the injury, which held him out of Monday’s loss to the Flyers. However, he left the team’s road trip to return to New Jersey to visit with team doctors for further evaluation. Evidently, it wasn’t positive news for the Swiss centerman, who will now miss another three games at minimum.
Past the halfway point of the season, Hischier leads the team in goals with 24 and has added 19 assists for 43 points in 51 games. He’s putting up career-highs in shooting percentage (17%) and average ice time (20:21), as well as winning 55.5% of his draws and logging a career-high 55.5 CF% at even strength. It’s been a dominant two-way campaign from the 2023 Selke Trophy finalist, one that could put him back in that conversation, assuming his absence doesn’t stretch out for too much longer.
It’s a difficult blow for the Devils, who are 4-5-3 since New Year’s and are already without starting goaltender Jacob Markström until around the trade deadline due to a sprained MCL. They’ve called to 28-18-6, decidedly third in the Metropolitan Division behind the Capitals and Hurricanes, and are now being chased by the red-hot Blue Jackets who are seven points back with two games in hand.
23-year-old Dawson Mercer shifts to center in Hischier’s absence with Erik Haula also on the shelf. The 2020 first-rounder has 23 points in 52 games, up only slightly from last year’s offensive pace.
Wild Recall Ben Jones
Forward Ben Jones has been recalled by the Wild again Wednesday, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. He’d been with their AHL affiliate in Iowa for the past two weeks after clearing waivers. He’s now once again on the active roster, which still has one open spot, after spending nearly two months there earlier this season amid a rash of forward injuries.
Today’s recall is the corresponding transaction for yesterday’s roster moves that saw superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov land back on injured reserve and defenseman Jonas Brodin move from IR to LTIR. Kaprizov’s IR placement came following news that he will undergo lower-body surgery later this week to address a lingering muscular issue, keeping him out of the lineup for the next four to six weeks.
Jones, 25, has played 26 games with the big club this season without recording a point. He posted a minus-three rating in his most extended NHL action to date, averaging a minimal 8:23 per game and controlling just 39.7% of shot attempts at even strength. He’s been much more productive on the farm, where he has 14 points (5 G, 9 A) in 20 games for Iowa.
Jones entered the season with only two NHL games under his belt, both coming with the Golden Knights in the 2021-22 season. He was a seventh-round pick of Vegas’ inaugural 2017 draft class, scoring 64 points in 140 games for their AHL affiliates in Chicago and Henderson before being non-tendered and landing with the Flames in free agency. The Ontario native spent two seasons with AHL Calgary before landing in the Wild organization this summer, posting 97 points (38 G, 59 A) with a +34 rating in 143 games.
The Wild, who have not had a healthy lineup since Nov. 10, will likely have Jones sit as a healthy extra for Wednesday’s game against the Maple Leafs. They no longer have Kaprizov or Marcus Johansson available, but the recent activation of Jakub Lauko and the recall of winger prospect Liam Ohgren gives them 12 healthy options to dress at forward outside of Jones, at least for now. Jones signed a two-year, two-way deal over the summer, so he won’t be hitting free agency again until 2026.