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Wild Activate, Reassign Cameron Butler

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The Wild announced yesterday that they’ve activated forward Cameron Butler from season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to the AHL’s Iowa Wild. They did that in conjunction with demoting Michael Milne after he cleared waivers. Only defense prospect Stevie Leskovar remains on the non-roster list that Minnesota submitted at the beginning of the month.

Butler will now begin his first season in the Wild organization. They acquired the 6’4″, 209-lb winger from the Blue Jackets in June in exchange for depth forward Brendan Gaunce. The checking-oriented Butler signed with Columbus as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and is in the final season of his entry-level contract, so he may be one-and-done in Minnesota and Iowa if they opt not to issue him a qualifying offer at the end of the season.

Things haven’t gone well for Butler on the offensive side of the puck since turning pro. The 23-year-old has just four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 91 career AHL games, all of which came with the Blue Jackets’ affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. He wasn’t a regular in their lineup last season, limited to 37 appearances. He’s racked up plenty of hits and penalty minutes, but his lack of offensive acumen and contribution has led to a -18 rating for his career. In fact, Butler has never been a plus player in a single season on record in his junior or minor league career.

He was still a semi-capable scorer in juniors, though, and Minnesota hopes he can regain some of that confidence in a new environment this season. Butler does have one NHL game to his name, coming in March 2024 with Columbus. He skated just one shift in a shootout win over the Penguins before being returned to the AHL the next day.

It’s not clear what injury was keeping Butler out of the lineup, but he’s now been cleared to return. Whatever it was, it kept him out of entering a preseason game for the Wild as well.

Sabres To Activate Jordan Greenway

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The Sabres are activating forward Jordan Greenway from injured reserve as he makes his season debut tonight against the Bruins, head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed (via Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550). Center Noah Ostlund is being returned to AHL Rochester in the corresponding move.

It’s now been more than a seven-month absence for Greenway. His 2024-25 season ended a few weeks early due to a lower-body injury, and he then had follow-up surgery on a previous core muscle injury over the offseason. He underwent that procedure in mid-July, causing him to miss training camp and now nearly the first month of 2025-26.

The 28-year-old will be making his return to the lineup in an unfamiliar position. He’s expected to center a line between Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn, Ruff said yesterday. While Greenway played a bit of center in his junior/college days, it’s not a position he’s logged any significant time at in the NHL. He’s never taken more than 100 faceoffs in a season and hasn’t played a single game down the middle for Buffalo since the Sabres acquired him from the Wild at the 2023 trade deadline.

Greenway is kicking off his ninth season in the league, but has been hampered by injuries for much of his career. He only ever cracked the 70-game mark during his rookie season despite playing a key checking role as a top-nine forward for both Minnesota and Buffalo, essentially from the jump. Last year was one to forget expeditiously for the 6’6″ forward. Multiple injuries limited him to only 34 appearances and his two-way effectiveness was reduced, only notching eight points with a -4 rating. He still managed 100 hits, his fourth straight year at or above the mark, despite the limited time.

Those injury concerns also didn’t stop the Sabres from giving Greenway some security. He inked a two-year, $8MM deal with trade protection back in March to keep him around through the 2026-27 campaign.

With Greenway and defenseman Michael Kesselring coming off IR in the past few days, the Sabres are the healthiest they’ve been all season. They don’t have any defensemen on injured reserve and their total IR count is down to three with Joshua Norris, Justin Danforth, and Tyson Kozak still on the list.

Meanwhile, Ostlund’s first recall of the season ends after 11 days. The 2022 first-round pick slotted into the lineup four times during his summons, but his usage wasn’t tangibly different from the limited minutes he got in an eight-game recall last season. He’s still looking for his first NHL point, although he did show marked improvement defensively. He managed an even rating and 51.4 xGF% at even strength compared to his -6 rating and 37.1 xGF% last year. He was off to a hot start in Rochester with a goal and four assists through four games and will look to pick that back up in the coming days.

Wild Activate, Reassign Michael Milne

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Oct. 30: Milne cleared waivers and will be on his way to Iowa, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Oct. 29: The Wild have activated forward Michael Milne from season-opening injured reserve and subsequently placed him on waivers with intent to assign him to the AHL’s Iowa Wild, according to a team announcement.

Assuming he clears, the 23-year-old Milne will be kicked off his fourth professional season, all in the Minnesota organization. He was a third-round pick in 2022 as an overager out of WHL Winnipeg and immediately turned pro. Last year marked his NHL debut, although it was a brief one. The 5’11” winger only got into one game, an early-season loss to the Stars, and posted three hits in 6:34 of ice time before heading back to Iowa.

The British Columbia native has been out since the beginning of the month with an undisclosed injury, but today’s news indicates he’s been medically cleared to resume practicing and will do so in the minors. He may still have some upside down the line, but he’s yet to have an offensive breakthrough with Iowa. He made 60 appearances for the club last season, scoring 15 goals and 11 assists for a career-high 26 points.

Milne was a restricted free agent this past offseason but received a qualifying offer from the Wild, who promptly inked him to a two-way deal worth $775,000 in the NHL and $100,000 in the AHL in July. He’ll be arbitration-eligible next summer, which could dissuade Minnesota from giving him a qualifying offer this time around if they’re not sold on his future.

Flyers Recall Aleksei Kolosov, Place Samuel Ersson On IR

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12:30 p.m.: Kolosov’s recall is official, and they’ve moved Ersson to IR to facilitate it, per Bill Meltzer of NHL.com. With a tight schedule upcoming for the Flyers, that rules Ersson out for the next four games. He’ll be eligible to return on Nov. 6.

10:26 a.m.: The Flyers will recall goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from AHL Lehigh Valley prior to tonight’s game, according to Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. They don’t have an open roster spot, but Kolosov’s recall will likely come under emergency conditions.

Kolosov will be dressing as the backup to Daniel Vladař tonight against the Predators. Samuel Ersson has been ruled unavailable after sustaining a minor tweak in practice yesterday, O’Connor added. He’s listed as day-to-day and could be an option this weekend. But since they wouldn’t have the required two healthy goaltenders without Kolosov, he can be brought up under emergency conditions and not count against the active roster.

Kolosov likely won’t be up long enough to get a start. Nonetheless, the 23-year-old has taken strides in his development early on in 2025-26. A third-round pick in 2021, Kolosov has started five games for Lehigh Valley with a strong 2.60 GAA and .918 SV%, contributing to a 3-2-0 record. He’s posted a shutout in there as well for good measure.

It’s a remarkably stable performance from a player whose past couple of years have been anything but. Philadelphia initially brought Kolosov over from his native Belarus at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, and he joined Lehigh Valley for its final few games. He was unhappy with the adjustment to North America, though, and threatened to return to the KHL last season if he didn’t make the Flyers’ roster. He didn’t have much leverage without a European Assignment Clause, though. He ended up splitting last year between Philly and Lehigh Valley as part of a three-goalie mix with Ersson and Ivan Fedotov.

Kolosov wasn’t particularly impressive in either league. His NHL numbers were especially underwhelming, logging a .867 SV% and 3.59 GAA in 13 starts and four relief appearances. He mustered a 5-9-1 record but was among the worst goalies in the league by any metric. He allowed 0.599 goals above expected per 60 minutes, second-worst in the NHL among goalies with at least 15 games, per MoneyPuck. He also sputtered with a .884 SV%, 3.11 GAA, and a 5-6-1 record in 12 AHL contests.

That makes his step back in the right direction this season a big one. He’s still just 23 years old and has room to grow. If his relationship with the Flyers organization after the 2024 offseason drama is salvageable, there’s still a path toward him being something of a long-term backup/tandem option. That’s important with Vladař headed for unrestricted free agency in 2027 and the Flyers set to lose team control over Ersson that same year, but the team also has other high-end prospects in the pipeline like Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin.

Ersson’s injury comes after a slow start for the Swede, who’s all but officially lost the crease to the red-hot Vladař. The 26-year-old has started four of Philadelphia’s nine games, but with him posting a .876 SV% and allowing 0.9 goals above expected, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Flyers move away from a true Vladař/Ersson rotation moving forward.

Avalanche Sign Martin Necas To Eight-Year Extension

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Another big-ticket name is off next summer’s free agent board. The Avalanche have signed Martin Nečas to a max-term extension, the team announced. The deal is worth $92MM in total and carries an $11.5MM cap hit, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. $60MM of that $92MM is signing bonus money, and the deal carries a no-movement clause from 2026-27 through 2032-33, Friedman adds. The eight-year contract carries Necas through the 2033-34 season.

After potential 2026 UFAs Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, and Kyle Connor all signed extensions over the past several weeks, Nečas and Artemi Panarin were left alone at the top of the class for next summer. Instead of waiting to see what Nečas might have been able to land on the open market for the first time in his career, he’s making a long-term commitment to Colorado.

As for the Avs, they didn’t have much of a choice but to keep grinding away until they got a deal done. Nečas became a top-line cornerstone and their de facto No. 2 forward behind Nathan MacKinnon when they initiated a series of blockbuster trades midway through last season. Colorado was unable to make tangible progress on an extension with star pending UFA Mikko Rantanen, so they traded him to the Hurricanes and received Nečas back as the centerpiece. Rantanen was similarly unable to come to terms on a deal with Carolina and was flipped to the Stars at the trade deadline, where he did end up signing an eight-year deal.

Leaving Nečas in lame duck status for much longer risked the same situation developing that torpedoed their relationship with Rantanen less than 12 months ago. It’s hard not to see the terms of the contract as a net positive for the Avs, who get Nečas locked in for $500,000 per season under what Rantanen ended up receiving from Dallas. They also keep their internal salary structure intact by keeping his cap hit well below MacKinnon’s $12.6MM mark, giving them more added flexibility when starting up extension talks with potential 2027 UFA Cale Makar next summer.

Aside from that drama, the Avs are evidently pleased with what Nečas has brought to the table in the last nine months. The 2017 No. 12 overall pick had flashes of top-line play in Carolina throughout his development, but never put a pair of back-to-back star-level seasons together. That looks to be changing now. Nečas crossed the point-per-game threshold for the first time in 2024-25, racking up 27 goals, 56 assists, and 83 points in 79 appearances between the Canes and Avs. He had 28 of those points in 30 games with Colorado. He’s off to a similarly hot start this season with seven goals and 13 points in 11 contests while averaging a career-high 21:15 per game.

In signing his deal, Nečas becomes the seventh Avalanche player signed through 2030 or longer. He joins MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin, Devon Toews, and Mackenzie Blackwood as the team’s core pieces locked in for that long, while depth forwards Parker Kelly and Logan O’Connor are also signed to lower-cost, long-term deals.

Now, the Avs hope Nečas’ emergence since the beginning of 2024-25 is sustainable for the rest of his prime. Through his first five full seasons in Carolina, Nečas only averaged 23 goals and 58 points per 82 games. Now, he ranks 25th in the league in points per game since October 2024 among those with at least 25 appearances. Possession play, previously an intermittent concern in Raleigh, has also seen improvement since his arrival in Denver. He posted a dominant 60.6 CF% at even strength for the Avs down the stretch last year and has continued humming along with a 57.6% mark with a 62.2 xGF% this year.

Nečas was finishing up a two-year, $13MM contract he signed with the Canes as an RFA in July 2024. Now, he falls just outside the top 10 highest cap hits for the 2026-27 season. Six of the 10 players ahead of him have signed their contracts in the last calendar year.

The extension doesn’t cripple the Avs’ salary cap picture for 2026-27, but it’s still uncomfortably tight. They have $16.125MM in projected space, assuming a $104MM cap, but nine roster spots are unaccounted for, per PuckPedia. That’s an average of just $1.79MM per spot. The good news – none of their remaining pending free agents currently make more than that figure. Their eight highest-paid forwards, their four highest-paid defensemen, and their highest-paid goaltender are all signed through at least next season, meaning that $1.79MM average to fill out their depth could end up being a feasible number to work with.

Image courtesy of Winslow Townson-Imagn Images.

Flyers, Stars Swap Christian Kyrou For Samu Tuomaala

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The Flyers have acquired defenseman Christian Kyrou from the Stars in exchange for winger Samu Tuomaala, per announcements from both clubs. Both players were assigned to their respective teams’ AHL affiliates, so no corresponding moves are needed.

The puck-moving Kyrou will add some speed and upside to the Flyers’ pool of defense prospects. He’s still just 22 years old but has had an awkward last couple of years in the Stars’ system. The 5’11” righty was a second-round pick by Dallas in 2022 and clicked at over a point per game in his final season of junior hockey, but he hasn’t been able to find consistency since turning pro. Kyrou’s first year saw him record eight goals and 23 points in 57 games for AHL Texas, but his offense has slid from there. His output dropped to 15 points in 36 games last year, and he’s gone without a point through his first four games of the season for Texas. He’s also a -12 for his career in the minors.

Kyrou was still something of a notable name in a weak Dallas prospect pool. He was the No. 5-ranked player in the system by Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff and the top right-handed defenseman. With their minor-league affiliate winless through six games and struggling to produce offense, though, they opted to part ways with the plateauing Kyrou and swap him out for some forward help.

As for why the Flyers moved on from Tuomaala, it’s quite apparent. The 2021 second-rounder had put up good point totals for AHL Lehigh Valley over the past two seasons but has tumbled down the organizational depth chart to begin 2025-26. He was one of the club’s first cuts from training camp and has fallen into healthy scratch territory with the Phantoms, only playing in three of eight games so far this year and going without a point.

Tuomaala’s previous track record makes him an intriguing pickup for Dallas, though, and one still with NHL upside. The 22-year-old Finn has a 26-49–75 scoring line in 120 career appearances for Lehigh Valley and was an AHL All-Star in 2023-24. He was also the top player in Finland’s second-tier pro league, Mestis, the year prior, scoring 27 goals and 48 points in just 31 appearances for Peliitat and Ketterä in 2022-23.

Neither player has made their NHL debut, and they’re both in the final seasons of their entry-level contracts. They’re also both not eligible for arbitration when they reach restricted free agency next summer.

Capitals Place Ethen Frank On Injured Reserve

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The Capitals have placed winger Ethen Frank on injured reserve, according to Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network. The placement is retroactive to Tuesday, when he left their 1-0 loss to the Stars with an undisclosed injury. As a result, he’s been ruled out for Washington’s next two games and will be eligible for activation on Nov. 5 against the Blues.

Frank needed assistance from the team’s trainers down the tunnel with less than two minutes left in the game. He attempted a check on Dallas winger Mikko Rantanen but failed to move him off the puck and took the worst of the collision (video via B/R Open Ice).

That was Frank’s third appearance of the season. He’s been recalled twice since clearing waivers and heading to AHL Hershey at the beginning of the campaign. The 27-year-old has recorded an assist, three shots on goal, and a pair of hits while averaging 11:18 of ice time per game, slotting into fourth-line duties with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime. It’s his second taste of NHL action after making his debut for the Caps last year. The high-end AHL goal-scorer notched four tallies and seven points in 24 showings for Washington in 2024-25.

They haven’t yet filled Frank’s roster spot, but will likely do so before tomorrow’s game against the Islanders to give themselves an extra forward. Likely recall options include first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko and the newly signed Brett Leason. They’re rostering 13 right now, but Dylan Strome is unlikely to play due to the lower-body injury that kept him out of the Dallas game. He’s listed as day-to-day and skated in a non-contact jersey at today’s practice, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.

Canadiens Reassign Joshua Roy, Marc Del Gaizo

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The Canadiens announced that forward Joshua Roy and defenseman Marc Del Gaizo have been reassigned to AHL Laval. Their active roster count drops to 21 ahead of what’s a light stretch of games for the Habs, including a mostly home-game schedule through the beginning of November.

Roy, 22, is in the early stages of his third professional season. He was a fifth-round pick in 2021 and now finds himself in the final year of his entry-level contract, making him a restricted free agent next summer.

He and Del Gaizo were recalled together on Oct. 21 ahead of Montreal’s four-game Pacific Division road trip. The Habs were dealing with injuries to Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine at the time, although the former has since returned, intensifying the need for added roster depth on the swing. That trip concluded with an overtime win over the Kraken earlier this week, and the Habs have now decided they don’t need the extra roster depth for their upcoming homestand.

Roy played last week against the Flames but was then in the press box for three straight games. He saw just 7:58 of ice time in what was the 36th appearance of his NHL career and was held off the scoresheet aside from four hits. The 6’0″ winger now carries a 6-5–11 career scoring line with a -8 rating, on pace for 14 goals and 25 points in an 82-game season.

Before his recall, the Quebec native was off to a hot start in Laval with three tucks and an assist through four games. He’ll build on that now as he looks to build his resume in hopes of landing an opening-night job in 2026-27. He’s been a great scoring winger for the Habs’ top farm club, rattling off a 36-35–71 scoring line in 92 career AHL appearances.

Del Gaizo, 26, was signed by the Canadiens at the start of free agency after reaching Group VI UFA status. Since he’s been on the active roster for under 30 days since clearing waivers during the preseason, he doesn’t need waivers again for today’s demotion. He did not appear in any of the four games he was rostered for, so his career NHL games played total stays at 55. He had no points and a +2 rating in four outings for Laval so far this year.

Braden Schneider Generating Trade Interest

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Like most other Rangers, Braden Schneider hasn’t had the start to the 2025-26 season he was hoping for. The right-shot defenseman is averaging career-high ice time but has made a negligible impact offensively and has seen his possession metrics remain underwater. Nevertheless, teams are calling the Rangers to ask if he’s available for trade as their season-opening mire continues, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

A first-round pick in 2020, Schneider emerged as an NHL regular midway through the 2021-22 campaign and never looked back. In 297 career appearances, he’s logged 18 goals, 53 assists, 71 points, and a +17 rating. He seemed to generate significant forward momentum in his development last year, when the Rangers swapped out Jacob Trouba for William Borgen in separate trades, creating a small opening for him to move up the depth chart. While the Blueshirts missed the playoffs in 2024-25, that didn’t stop Schneider from recording a career-best 6-15–21 scoring line and a +9 rating in 80 games.

This season, Schneider has remained in third-pairing duties behind Borgen on the depth chart but is beginning to see some power-play reps, explaining the bump in ice time to above 18 minutes per game. Nonetheless, he’s been saddled with the underperforming Urho Vaakanainen at even strength, leading to some ugly outputs. His -5 rating is the worst on the team among defensemen, although his 50.5 CF% is higher than Borgen’s and Carson Soucy’s in a more taxing defensive workload. In fact, the Rangers are deploying the Vaakanainen-Schneider pairing almost exclusively as a shutdown unit, starting more than 70% of their shifts in the defensive zone.

That extreme deployment, particularly on a team averaging just 2.18 goals per game, virtually guarantees a low point total and negative rating for Schneider, who’s only logged two assists through 11 games. The Rangers have increasingly saddled the 6’3″ righty with more challenging defensive assignments over the course of his five-year career, but it’s clear they’re pushing him past the point of peak effectiveness, at least early on.

If other teams are catching onto that, Schneider could be a sneaky pickup if given more minutes in more favorable deployment. The Rangers have hesitated to move him in the past when he was still one of their top prospects, but with him now fully aged out of the pool and their championship contention window nearly closed, there could be a willingness to let him go as part of a larger sell-off.

There’s also the matter of Schneider’s contract status. He’s a pending restricted free agent due a qualifying offer of $2.64MM. The Blueshirts or any other team likely wouldn’t have many qualms about committing that cap space to him, but it’s a potential arbitration award that could scare the Rangers off if there’s a large enough gap in extension talks.

Avalanche Assign Trent Miner To AHL

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Oct. 29th: Colorado announced that they’ve reassigned Miner to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, indirectly confirming he made it through waivers unscathed.

Oct. 28th: The Avalanche placed goaltender Trent Miner on waivers today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll head to AHL Colorado if he clears.

While doing so will open a roster spot, that’s not of concern to the Avs, as they already have one. It instead ushers the formal return of starting netminder Mackenzie Blackwood, who will be backing up Scott Wedgewood tonight as he’s healthy enough to dress for the first time this season, per Bailey Curtis of DNVR Sports. He’s missed 10 games with a lower-body issue and has continued to sit out after being recalled from his conditioning loan to the AHL over a week ago.

Only recently has Miner played a factor in Blackwood’s absence. He played two of the last three, one in early relief and one as a start, for Colorado to give the overtaxed Wedgewood some rest. The veteran backup performed as well as could be hoped for in spot-starting duty, logging a 5-1-2 record and a .904 SV% with a 2.42 GAA in nine appearances. He’s faltered recently, though, logging a 0-1-1 record and .825 SV% in his last three outings. That explained Colorado’s decision to give Miner his first start of the season and second of his career in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Devils. In his two appearances this month, the 24-year-old managed a 0-0-2 record with a .909 SV% and 2.12 GAA. He saved one goal above expected, per MoneyPuck.

The Avs’ third-stringer now returns to the AHL – assuming he clears waivers – where he had great success last season. The 2019 seventh-round pick made a career-high 38 appearances for the Eagles and came away with a 22-10-9 record, .918 SV%, 2.12 GAA, and three shutouts. His solid showing in brief NHL action this year likely quiets any concerns that may have existed about Miner being a capable No. 3 option.

While Miner’s recent numbers may generate some interest on the wire, he’s still under contract through 2026-27. While he’s on a league-minimum, two-way deal, that could be enough to dissuade any potential claimers.

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