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Mammoth Sign Seven Players To PTOs

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The Mammoth will have some added depth in training camp by way of seven professional tryouts targeted toward their AHL club, the club announced today. Among the seven, only two – forward Austin Poganski and goaltender Dylan Wells – already have a contract in the organization with Tucson for 2025-26. There will be five names – Ryan McGregor, Dryden McKay, Lleyton Moore, Ty Tullio, and Samuel Walker – looking to land either a two-way deal with Utah or an AHL contract with Tucson.

The 26-year-old McGregor has spent all five of his professional seasons exclusively with Tucson. The 6’0″ forward was a sixth-round pick by the Maple Leafs in 2017 but went unsigned, instead landing an entry-level deal with the Coyotes upon turning pro in 2020. That preceded a solid run as a bottom-six piece in southern Arizona, totaling a 24-44–68 scoring line in 201 career games for the Roadrunners. He spent last year in Tucson on an AHL deal after reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency. His lengthy history with the Arizona/Utah organizations makes him a solid bet to return for another year in a minor-league support role.

McKay actually already has a landing spot for 2025-26. He signed on with the Avalanche’s ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies, back in July. He didn’t get an invite to Colorado’s NHL camp, though, so he’ll instead stay in his new team’s area and get some reps in an NHL camp with the Mammoth. He’ll serve as a camp piece for roster management purposes in the preseason before presumably getting released and returned to the Grizzlies. The 27-year-old former Hobey Baker Award winner has a career .904 SV% and 3.06 GAA in 99 ECHL games over the last three years.

Moore, 23, is a skilled but undersized (5’8″, 179-lb) rearguard still adjusting to the pro game. He has two pro seasons under his belt, both with Tucson, and will be looking to land another minor-league deal to make it three. He has 12 points in 46 career games for the Roadrunners with a +5 rating.

Poganski’s PTO is just a formality to get him into camp and add a veteran player for preseason purposes. The 29-year-old was Tucson’s captain last season and will reprise the role in 2025-26. He had 15 goals and 41 points in 71 appearances for them last year. He has 22 career NHL appearances with the Blues and Jets between 2019 and 2022, but no points.

Tullio is still looking for a contract after a tumultuous 2024-25 season. A fifth-round pick by the Oilers in 2020, he was traded to the Sabres in last summer’s Ryan McLeod deal. He only played sparingly for their AHL affiliate in Rochester, though, leading the Sabres to loan him to the Flames’ farm club to finish the season. He had eight points in 13 games down the stretch in Calgary, so there’s some promise that he could land a two-way offer from the Mammoth or at least be something of an impact contributor for Tucson.

Outside of Poganski, Walker is the only other player here with NHL experience. He has a goal and an assist to his name in 13 games with the Wild, all of which came in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He spent all of last year in the minors and was acquired by Utah midway through the season in a minor swap. He didn’t see an NHL recall after his acquisition, which saw him score 22 points in 31 games for Tucson, and subsequently became a Group VI UFA. The 5’10” pivot will now be angling for a two-way deal or a contract with Tucson.

Wells, 27, has been an AHL backup/ECHL starter for some time now, although not routinely under an NHL contract. He’s entering his third season in Tucson and had a solid .900 SV% and 2.89 GAA in 10 games for them last year.

Bruins Promote Adam McQuaid, Hire Ben Smith

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Former Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid is now carving out a successful career for himself in their front office. The club announced today that he’s been promoted to a director of player development role, among a few other minor hockey ops hirings and promotions.

It’s a new role in the organization, so McQuaid will presumably be taking some work off an assistant GM’s plate. Boston didn’t have a particularly large player development department – it consisted of McQuaid, their lone dedicated skater development coach and coordinator since his hiring in 2021, and longtime NHL netminder Mike Dunham as their goalie development coach.

While a reward for McQuaid’s work so far, the title change is also a signifier for Boston’s organizational repositioning from contender to retooler. The club was a big seller at last year’s trade deadline and added center James Hagens – their top prospect since selecting Charlie McAvoy nearly a decade ago – with the No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft.

The Bruins are also bringing up Nick Neary from their AHL staff to join the big club. The 30-year-old joined the Providence Bruins in 2020 as a video coordinator before being promoted to the club’s video coach and manager of hockey operations prior to last season. He’ll now serve on the NHL staff as an assistant video coordinator under Mathew Myers, who’s been Boston’s video coach since 2019. Replacing Neary in Providence is Cam Wolbach, who lands his first documented hockey staffing job. He played high school hockey in Massachusetts as well as ACHA Division II hockey with Bentley University.

Joining McQuaid in Boston’s player development department is former NHL forward Ben Smith, who’s been brought on under McQuaid as a player development coordinator. It doubles as a retirement announcement for the 37-year-old, who had been playing in Germany since heading overseas in 2018. He suited up for Boston College but never played for the Bruins. Smith won a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013 and recorded 54 points in 237 NHL games for them, the Maple Leafs, Sharks, and Avalanche.

Blackhawks’ Laurent Brossoit Still Injured Heading Into Camp

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Blackhawks goaltender Laurent Brossoit will not participate in training camp as he continues to deal with a right knee injury that already cost him the entire 2024-25 season, the team said when announcing their training camp roster today. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times relays that Brossoit’s absence will be “likely a lot longer than [camp].”

A second missed season would result in Brossoit never playing a game for the Hawks after landing a two-year, $6.6MM commitment from them in free agency last summer. He was initially brought in to challenge veteran Petr Mrázek for the starters’ crease or, at the very least, provide veteran insurance in case the younger Arvid Söderblom continued to falter after an underwhelming showing in 2023-24. While a career backup option, Brossoit was coming off an excellent showing behind Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg with a .927 SV% and 2.00 GAA in a career-high 22 starts and capitalized on a weak goaltending market as a UFA.

Then, the injury hit. Brossoit underwent meniscus surgery in late August 2024 and was only initially expected to miss five to seven weeks, eating into his training camp but putting him on track to be available for the beginning of the regular season. The team was still optimistic about his return timeline as the season opener came and went. The team then abruptly downgraded him from day-to-day to indefinite in November. He had a second surgery that was supposed to have him on track to make his season debut in January or February, but the team ended up shutting him down for the season at the trade deadline.

The team was noncommittal about Brossoit’s availability for camp even at the beginning of the offseason, expressing hopefulness but not going so far as to make any official declarations on his status. They kicked the can even further down the road today.

Even if he was healthy, Brossoit would be something of an afterthought in Chicago by now. Söderblom established himself as a legitimate NHL option last season, making 36 appearances and logging a respectable .898 SV% and 3.18 GAA to represent massive upgrades from his prior-year performance. The club then picked up 2019 first-rounder Spencer Knight from the Panthers before the trade deadline as the main piece of the return for defenseman Seth Jones. He enters camp as the undisputed starter and recently put pen to paper on a three-year, $17.5MM extension.

Cap space is of no concern for the Blackhawks, who are closer to the floor than the limit. They’ll have no issue leaving Brossoit’s $3.3MM cap hit on injured reserve for the balance of the 2025-26 campaign if he can’t stage a comeback.

Brossoit’s absence means that offseason free agent signing Stanislav Berezhnoy, a 22-year-old out of Russia, should be the other half of their tandem with Drew Commesso in AHL Rockford. If Brossoit was healthy and ended up heading to the minors, Berezhnoy might have been pushed to an ECHL role to get him playing time to start the year.

Blackhawks Sign Matt Grzelcyk To PTO

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The leading point scorer among free agent defensemen this summer will have to settle for a camp tryout. Matt Grzelcyk is heading to the Blackhawks on a PTO, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Chicago later confirmed the signing by listing Grzelcyk on their training camp roster.

While the market for Grzelcyk wasn’t near what he or anyone else expected, it’s still jarring to see a rearguard with the platform season he had not land a guaranteed contract heading into camp. The 31-year-old lefty was also a UFA last summer but landed a one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Penguins on the first day of free agency. That contract led to expanded ice time in Pittsburgh, where he saw some power-play usage and averaged north of 20 minutes per game for the first time in his nine-year career. He played all 82 games – the first time he’s ever done that, too – and ranked third on the team with 39 assists. Only Sidney Crosby (58) and Erik Karlsson (42) had more.

Individual defensive acumen and a lack of physicality remain the 5’10” defender’s limiting factors. Still, he was at least able to prove once again that he can be a productive puck-mover in a top-four role as he was for many years in Boston, serving as a routine Charlie McAvoy partner for a good chunk of his early career. That led AFP Analytics to project a three-year contract for Grzelcyk in the $3.75MM range annually on the open market, while we projected a slightly cheaper deal and ranked him No. 22 among all unrestricted free agents this summer.

Grzelcyk now heads to training camp in Chicago, where the Blackhawks will welcome him as insurance for the league’s most inexperienced defense group. Connor Murphy is the only defender under contract in the Windy City over the age of 25. Alex Vlasic, at 24 years of age and 179 games of NHL experience, is the club’s top lefty by a wide margin.

Most expected the Hawks to completely hand the keys over to their younger blue-liners this season. Their lack of notable moves on offense signaled they weren’t anticipating jumping back into playoff contention just yet as their rebuild enters its later stages. Even then, there simply may be too many question marks behind Vlasic on Chicago’s left side on defense to make general manager Kyle Davidson comfortable entering camp without any other options. The right side is fairly set with Murphy, 2024 No. 2 overall pick Artyom Levshunov, and 2022 first-rounder Sam Rinzel expected to anchor their own pairings. However, behind Vlasic on the left, there’s no clear No. 2 or No. 3.

That’s not to say Chicago doesn’t have options, but they do lack clarity. Wyatt Kaiser, 23, could be the frontrunner for second-pairing minutes but is still a restricted free agent. 2022 No. 7 overall pick Kevin Korchinski played just 16 NHL games last season with two assists. Defensive-minded lefties Nolan Allan and Ethan Del Mastro both held their own in NHL minutes last season but are far from finished products. Grzelcyk offers a safe plug-and-play option as their second lefty behind Vlasic, buying them time to sort out everyone else’s readiness. Leaving him on a tryout gives the Blackhawks an easy out if they do decide to let names like Allan and Korchinski run with regular minutes out of the gate.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Latest On Wyatt Kaiser

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With two days to get a deal done before missing some of training camp becomes a reality, there’s not much progress to report on contract talks between the Blackhawks and restricted free agent defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, Scott Powers of The Athletic reports.

Chicago is offering Kaiser a modest increase on his sub-$950K entry-level cap hit on a one-year deal, Powers reports. That hasn’t been enough for Kaiser to bite as his side was potentially eyeing a longer-term commitment. There isn’t a difference of opinion between the Blackhawks and Kaiser on what his ceiling is, but Powers relays that Chicago has been unwilling to extend a multi-year offer as they sort out where he sits in relation to their bevy of other young defenders.

The Blackhawks would be “happy to pay him what he’s worth come next season,” Powers writes, but they’re not quite sold enough yet on the 23-year-old to risk boxing out names like Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan, and Ethan Del Mastro from top-four minutes on the left side. Kaiser broke camp with the Hawks last year but ended up spending two months midseason with AHL Rockford. Upon being recalled back to Chicago ahead of the trade deadline, he was a fixture in the lineup and averaged 19:50 per game over 22 appearances. That came with a 3-2–5 scoring line and, notably, a +3 rating during a period in which Chicago had a -18 goal differential.

More of that could lead to a more lucrative multi-year deal for Kaiser next summer. His camp believes his strong end to last season means he’s earned that deal now.

There aren’t any methods to help bridge the gap aside from good old-fashioned negotiation. Kaiser is a restricted free agent in the truest sense of the word – he doesn’t have enough professional experience to qualify for arbitration, nor has he accumulated enough service time to be able to receive and sign offer sheets. He’s either playing for Chicago or not playing at all, barring a trade of his signing rights, meaning his leverage is about as minimal as it gets. That’s especially with the Blackhawks having multiple other young options to trial in top-four minutes along with veteran Matt Grzelcyk, who they’re set to ink to a professional tryout.

Rangers Name J.T. Miller Captain

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After parting ways with their previous captain via trade, the Rangers have found their new one the same way. J.T. Miller will wear the “C” for New York this season after last year’s midseason pickup, Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic relays.

Miller, 32, will be the 29th captain in franchise history as he begins his first full season in his second stint with the team. He’ll be just their second captain since 2018. The team went without one for over four years after trading away Ryan McDonagh at the deadline before anointing Jacob Trouba ahead of the 2022-23 season. They’d spent the last nine months with the position vacant after dealing Trouba to the Ducks in December.

“Since his arrival last season, J.T. immediately became a leader for our group and exemplifies how we want to conduct ourselves both on and off the ice,” general manager Chris Drury said. “Congratulations to J.T. and his entire family on an incredibly meaningful achievement and we’re confident he will continue to represent our organization with class, commitment, and integrity.”

Miller, a first-round pick by the Blueshirts back in 2011, looked rejuvenated after they re-acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the Canucks in January. After three straight seasons with Vancouver above a point per game, he dipped back below the mark to start the season amid a leave of absence and a reported feud with fellow star forward Elias Pettersson. But after being put in the middle of a unit with William Cuylle and Mika Zibanejad in Manhattan, Miller finished the year with a 13-22–35 line in 32 appearances while recording 76 hits and winning 57.6% of his faceoffs.

The high-energy pivot will now be entrusted as the emotional focal point of the club as they enter a pivotal campaign. The club has a new head coach in Mike Sullivan and is looking for a more stable long-term outlook following a 12-month window that saw them drop from regular-season champs to missing the playoffs entirely. They’re also facing the potential loss of star winger Artemi Panarin to unrestricted free agency at the end of the year.

He isn’t the team’s only leadership change. The club also said Vincent Trocheck has been added as an alternate captain, replacing Chris Kreider, who was dealt to Anaheim earlier in the offseason. Panarin, Adam Fox, and Mika Zibanejad will continue holding ’A’s alongside him.

Image courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

Canadiens Expect Kirby Dach To Be Ready For Start Of Season

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The Canadiens are banking on having center Kirby Dach available for their opening night lineup after he underwent surgery on his right knee in February, EVP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton told Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels adds he’s recovered enough to participate in training camp when it starts later this week, although it’s unclear if that’s in a contact capacity.

By all indications, the 24-year-old’s recovery from a second major surgery on his right knee in as many years has been as smooth as can be hoped. He was on the ice late last month for an informal skate in full gear, although that didn’t subject him to the pace and veracity of a formal camp session. Still, being back on the ice at around the five-month mark should be a good omen.

Montreal hopes a healthy Dach is also an improved one. He’s now entering his fourth season with the Habs after they acquired the 2019 third overall pick from the Blackhawks at the 2022 draft. He still hasn’t reached the heights and promise he offered during his first year north of the border, when he managed a 14-24–38 scoring line and averaged a hearty 18:30 per game despite injuries limiting him to 58 appearances.

In the last two years, his right knee issues have limited him to 59 games, scoring only 10 goals and 24 points with a -27 rating. He produced at a 54-point clip per 82 games back in 2022-23 but has only scored at a 33-point pace since. He also had some of the worst defensive impacts on the team last year before his season ended prematurely. Despite receiving the most sheltered even-strength minutes of his career by a wide margin, starting over 63% of his shifts in the offensive zone, Montreal controlled only 44.8% of shot attempts and 46.0% of expected goals with him on the ice. Posting below team-average possession numbers with that degree of sheltering is a rather significant red flag.

That’s not exactly the type of player a team with playoff aspirations wants centering their second line, particularly with a rookie Ivan Demidov likely to start the year on his flank. Nonetheless, their lack of offseason activity at forward hasn’t left them with many other options. It’ll be some combination of him, trade pickup Zachary Bolduc, and Alex Newhook – all promising young players with spotty or non-existent track records at center – competing for that 2C slot. Might bottom-six staple Jake Evans get a look at an expanded role coming off a career-high 36 points?

2025 Summer Synopsis Series

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PHR’s annual Summer Synopsis series breaks down what each of the NHL’s 32 teams accomplished – or didn’t accomplish – over the summer. This landing page will contain links to all 32 of our posts for easy reference and to track when your favorite team’s post is online. This can be found by navigating to the “Pro Hockey Rumors Features” sidebar on our desktop site or under the Flame menu on our mobile page.

Metropolitan Division

Atlantic Division

Central Division

Pacific Division

Transactions Notes: Poolman, Allison, Malmquist

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Unrestricted free agent defenseman Colton Poolman has signed with the Glasgow Clan of the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League, the team announced.

While Poolman doesn’t have an NHL game to his name, he’s spent the last five seasons on two-way deals. The 29-year-old was initially an undrafted free agent signing by the Flames out of the University of North Dakota in 2020. He switched teams in free agency last summer, signing with the Sabres. He was then traded to the Penguins in a minor-league swap in January.

Injuries significantly limited Poolman’s playing time last season. He made just five appearances for AHL Rochester while in Buffalo’s organization before the trade to the Penguins. He got slightly more playing time with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after the swap, recording four points and a +12 rating in 15 appearances.

The 6’0″, 201-lb lefty has long been a stable defensive presence at the minor-league level. While not a point producer by any stretch, he does have 44 of them with a career +45 rating in 233 AHL appearances since making his professional debut five years ago.

He joins the Clan as presumptuously one of the better shutdown defenders in the EIHL, which isn’t on par with Europe’s other top-division national leagues. The team’s two career games of NHL experience come from former Avalanche depth netminder Sami Aittokallio.

More minor moves from around the sport:

  • Former Flyers winger Wade Allison has signed a one-year deal with the Straubing Tigers of Germany’s DEL, according to a team release. Allison headed overseas last summer after being a Group VI unrestricted free agent and signed with Kazakhstan’s Barys Astana in the KHL, but he only had two goals in 12 games before being released in November. He hasn’t played since and will now stage a comeback with Straubing. The 27-year-old power forward had a 13-9–22 scoring line in 75 appearances for Philadelphia from 2020 to 2023.
  • While there was some speculation that University of St. Thomas product Liam Malmquist might be in line for an NHL deal coming out of college this offseason, that won’t be the case. The 24-year-old Minnesota native has signed in the Stars organization with ECHL Idaho, the club announced. Malmquist was the Tommies’ leading scorer in his senior season with 20 goals and 45 points in 38 outings. He scored his first two professional goals with AHL Manitoba in a five-game tryout to end last season.

Flyers Trade Ivan Fedotov To Blue Jackets

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The Blue Jackets announced they’ve acquired goaltender Ivan Fedotov from the Flyers in exchange for their sixth-round pick in the 2026 draft. No salary is retained in the deal, according to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz.

Columbus will acquire Fedotov after his first NHL season came in well below expectations. The 28-year-old had a long road to NHL minutes – including a years-long contract saga that involved mandatory military service in Russia and IIHF sanctions imposed on him over conflicting contracts with Philadelphia and CSKA Moscow – but finally arrived in North America in April 2024. He made his first three NHL appearances for the Flyers before signing a two-year extension with a $3.275MM cap hit. That theoretically locked in their goaltending tandem with Samuel Ersson also in the picture through at least this upcoming season.

Yet Fedotov, a former KHL Goalie of the Year who was viewed as potentially one of the next wave of high-end Russian netminders, barely held onto an NHL job. The military service that caused him to miss the 2022-23 season entirely was a significant statistical turning point for the 6’7″, 214-lb goalie. He made 26 relief appearances last year, logging a .880 SV% and 3.15 GAA with a 6-13-4 record. His 33.3% quality start rate was quite subpar, especially considering he posted a save percentage below .850 in 10 of his 24 starts. With an expected GAA of 2.58, Fedotov also received the most manageable defensive workload of the Flyers’ three goalies, according to MoneyPuck.

Columbus was looking for an insurance option if starter Elvis Merzlikins’ struggles continue and youngster Jet Greaves’ first chance at a full-time NHL role doesn’t pan out. Fedotov is far from a sure thing either, but they’re betting on his overseas track record as evidence of a potential bounce-back. He boasts a .921 SV% and 2.22 GAA with 10 shutouts in 133 career KHL games and had a 2021-22 season for the record books. He led CSKA to a Gagarin Cup championship with a staggering .937 SV% and 1.85 GAA in 22 postseason games. He was named the league’s best netminder and a First Team All-Star.

The Jackets, who PuckPedia projects to have over $15.5MM in cap space, will have no problem taking on Fedotov’s full salary for a year before he becomes eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer. If he doesn’t make the team over Greaves and Merzlikins, his cap hit is high enough that he should clear waivers without issue and serve as a third-string option in AHL Cleveland. It’s worth noting that Greaves is no longer waiver-exempt. It’ll be an uphill battle for Fedotov to convince the Jackets to risk losing Greaves on waivers, so if he makes the team, it’ll likely mean a three-goalie rotation in Columbus.

Meanwhile, the Flyers clear up a bit of a logjam. With Fedotov in the picture, they had four goalies in the mix for NHL minutes. Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov were still under contract, and they also inked Daniel Vladar to a two-year, $6.7MM deal in free agency to challenge Ersson for the No. 1 job. In trading Fedotov, they clear out the worst-value contract of the four and, with Kolosov remaining waiver-exempt, could now return to a traditional two-goalie setup with only Ersson and Vladar on the opening night roster.

Despite carrying a cap hit above $3MM, Fedotov will only cost the Blue Jackets $775K in actual dollars. His base salary in 2025-26 was only the league minimum. His other compensation came via a $2.5MM signing bonus, which the Flyers have already paid.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report that Columbus was acquiring Fedotov. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz was first to report the return.

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