Mammoth Reassign Dmitri Simashev, Maveric Lamoureux
Feb. 25: Evidently, Simashev’s and Lamoureux’s recalls yesterday were to get them one last practice in before the Olympic break ended. The team announced today that both have been returned to Tucson, giving them the space to activate Cooley and Kerfoot before tonight’s game against the Avalanche.
Feb. 24: The Mammoth announced today that they’ve recalled defense prospects Dmitriy Simashev and Maveric Lamoureux from AHL Tucson. They opened up roster spots yesterday with a bevy of reassignments and thus don’t need corresponding moves today.
Simashev got out to something of a slow start to his NHL career. The 2023 sixth overall pick signed out of Russia last offseason and made Utah’s opening night roster, but was sent down to Tucson after being limited to one assist and a -9 rating through 24 outings. He was averaging 15:28 of ice time per game but was seeing some top-pair deployment alongside countryman Mikhail Sergachev, although the results weren’t great with a 48.3 xGF% and 33.3 GF% at 5-on-5.
The reassignment lit a fire under him. Touted as a low-offense shutdown D-man, he bucked those expectations with a gargantuan 7-18–25 scoring line in 27 games for Tucson. He already got a brief recall before the break that didn’t result in any playing time, but now that he’s in a groove, he’ll look to usurp Nick DeSimone for more consistent playing time down the stretch amid the Mammoth’s playoff push.
Meanwhile, Lamoureux still grades out as Utah’s clear-cut #2 defense prospect behind Simashev. Also a first-rounder, going 29th overall to the Coyotes in 2022, he was viewed as more of a puck-mover than Simashev was, but it hasn’t worked out that way yet. He’s still a towering physical defense-first threat that’s gotten a lot of ice time in the minors and hasn’t looked out of place in his previous NHL call-ups, either.
Lamoureux has 20 NHL games to his name since debuting in October 2024, including five this season. During that span, he has four points and a +7 rating with a highly promising 54.3 CF% at even strength, averaging 15:45 per game. He’s got 14 points and a +4 in 42 AHL games this season, but is already near hitting his floor as a stable third-pairing shutdown righty who can kill penalties.
It’s worth noting that while Utah has a full roster, it includes 12 forwards and nine defensemen. With Logan Cooley and Alexander Kerfoot expected to come off injured reserve in short order, more roster spots will be needed.
Canadiens To Activate Alex Newhook From Injured Reserve
The Canadiens will activate Alex Newhook from injured reserve before tomorrow’s game versus the Islanders, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports. The speedy forward is set for his first appearance in over three months after sustaining an ankle fracture on Nov. 13. They had an open roster spot after waiving and reassigning Sammy Blais to AHL Laval before the Olympic break, so no corresponding move is needed.
This was the second ankle injury for Newhook in three years. He also missed 27 games in 2023-24 after sustaining a high ankle sprain in December of that year before this season’s complete fracture, which ended up keeping him sidelined for nearly half the campaign. After plenty of warmup time over the break, he’ll now be an option for the Habs as they look to secure consecutive playoff berths for the first time since 2020 and 2021.
Before the break, Newhook was well on his way toward avenging a disastrous 2024-25 campaign. He had racked up six goals and 12 points through 17 games, giving him a career-high 0.71 points per game rate. He was doing so in 14:38 of ice time per game, down from his first two years in Montreal, but was seeing even-strength deployment as the Habs’ second-line left winger with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov.
While moving Newhook away from his natural center position has appeared to yield dividends for the Habs, whether he remains in a top-six role remains to be seen. Since Newhook’s injury, the Habs have opted to break up their usual top line and have bumped Juraj Slafkovsky down to the 2LW slot with Kapanen and Demidov, giving them an added element of secondary production. There’s an argument to be made that, if Montreal wants to keep that unit together, Newhook would be a higher-ceiling fit on the first line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield than either Zachary Bolduc and Alexandre Texier, both of whom have cycled into that slot since Slafkovsky moved down to the second line.
Of course, that debate may be moot after the trade deadline. Montreal has been testing the market for a top-six winger to play with Suzuki and Caufield. They could either leverage Newhook in that move – something they could comfortably do as they’re scoring 3.46 goals per game this season – or bump him down to a bottom-six job if they bring someone in above him.
Devils Reassign Dennis Cholowski
Feb. 24: Not surprisingly, New Jersey shared today that Cholowski has been re-assigned to AHL Utica. The former first round defenseman was able to practice with the team during the break, but will not add to his 15 game season total with New Jersey at this time. The Devils host Buffalo tomorrow in their first game post-Olympics.
Feb. 18: The Devils made Hameenaho’s and White’s recalls official today. They also summoned defenseman Dennis Cholowski and goaltender Jakub Malek from AHL Utica to serve as extra practice players while they await the return of their Olympians.
Feb. 13: The Devils will recall forward Lenni Hameenaho and defenseman Colton White back to the NHL roster after the Olympic break, per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. As things stand, they won’t need to make any corresponding moves.
Hameenaho, 21, appeared in the first nine games of his NHL career in the weeks leading up to the break. The early returns were strong for the 2023 second-round pick. He notched two goals and four points with a +1 rating. The right-winger played his natural position, usually on a line with Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass. That trio controlled a dominant 75% of expected goals at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck. It’s easy to see why New Jersey wants to squeeze as much momentum as they can out of that group when league play reconvenes later this month.
Hameenaho’s adjustment to the NHL game is a great sign that a rough campaign for the club’s AHL affiliate in Utica hasn’t steered him too far off his development path. The 6’1″ Finn has a 9-13–22 scoring line and a -13 rating through 34 minor-league games, a figure that improbably leads the team in scoring.
He made his offensive ceiling evident with a pair of spectacular post-draft campaigns in his home country for Ässät. In 2024-25, he erupted for 20 goals and 51 points in 58 Liiga games to lead under-20 players in scoring.
Now, as one of New Jersey’s brightest prospects, he appears set to finish out the season in a top-nine role. While playoffs are essentially out of the question, a strong finish should position him well to crack the opening night roster next fall.
White, 28, has spent most of his pro career in the minors but has been a pleasant surprise as a call-up option when needed this season. Injuries have forced the lefty in 23 appearances, in which he’s recorded four assists and a +2 rating. They’re his first games at the top level since suiting up a career-high 46 times for the Ducks in 2022-23.
A stay-at-home specialist, White is averaging just 12:15 of ice time per game but has been a no-fuss option in bottom-pairing minutes. He’s controlled 47.7% of shot attempts and 53.9% of expected goals at even strength, so he’s done a good job of helping the Devils control quality scoring chances against lesser competition.
Red Wings Reassign Dominik Shine, Sheldon Dries
Feb. 24: Shine and Dries were returned to Grand Rapids today, per a team announcement. The Red Wings are likely expecting Larkin to be available Thursday against the Senators.
Feb. 23: The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled Shine and Dries again ahead of practice today while they await the return of Dylan Larkin from his gold-medal-winning effort with Team USA at the Olympics. With only 12 healthy forwards on the active roster, it stands to reason one of them might stick around as injury insurance after games get going later this week.
Feb. 19, 1:49 p.m.: Both Shine and Dries are headed back to Grand Rapids after today’s practice, the team announced.
Feb. 19, 8:56 a.m.: While Detroit quietly returned Watson and Dries to Grand Rapids after Tuesday’s practice, they’ve brought Dries back up today, along with Dominik Shine, per a team announcement. Shine, 32, has been in Detroit’s system since signing with Grand Rapids as a free agent out of Northern Michigan University in 2027 and finally made his NHL debut last season. In 2025-26, he’s assumed the captaincy for Grand Rapids and is having a career year, scoring 21 goals in only 35 games.
Feb. 17: The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled forwards Austin Watson and Sheldon Dries from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. They’ll help the team fill out its practices this week until their contingent of Olympians returns to the squad.
Watson is a veteran of 528 NHL games, although none of them have come this season. The 34-year-old joined Detroit on a two-way deal in 2024 after a lengthy run with the Predators, Senators, and Lightning as a fourth-line/press box option, but he’s spent most of his time in the organization in the minors. After playing just 13 NHL games last year, he re-upped on a two-way extension and has suited up exclusively for Grand Rapids this year since clearing waivers during training camp.
While the Michigan native wasn’t more than a standard 10-to-20-point enforcer at the NHL level, he does have a tangible offensive impact in the minors. He racked up 42 points and 112 penalty minutes in 60 contests for the Griffins last year and has clicked at a similar but reduced pace in 2025-26. Through 39 games, he’s 10th on the team in scoring with 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) with a team-high 123 PIMs.
Dries, also a hometown signing, recently inked a two-year, two-way extension that will keep him in the Motor City through 2027-28. He was recalled twice last month under emergency conditions but has still yet to suit up for an NHL team since 2022-23 with the Canucks. Now in his ninth professional season, he has 277 points in 378 career AHL games – including a 17-16–33 scoring line in 39 games with Grand Rapids this year as an alternate captain.
Kings Recall Kirill Kirsanov, Erik Portillo
Feb. 24: Kirsanov and Portillo were quietly returned to Ontario back on Friday, but the team announced they’ve been recalled again today. With Doughty and Kuemper taking home silver medals, they might be getting tomorrow off against the Golden Knights before returning to the lineup. As such, Kirsanov and Portillo would be needed as a healthy extra and a backup goalie, respectively.
Feb. 19: The Kings announced they’ve recalled defenseman Kirill Kirsanov and goaltender Erik Portillo from AHL Ontario. Netminder Pheonix Copley was returned to Ontario after being recalled yesterday in the corresponding move.
Kirsanov gets a look in an NHL practice today while Drew Doughty is still in Italy representing Team Canada at the Olympics. The 23-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract, waiting four years after L.A. drafted him in the third round in 2021 to come over from his native Russia. While the 6’2″ lefty struggled to hold down a regular role in the KHL, he’s looked the part so far in Ontario. A stable two-way presence, he’s put up four goals and 11 points with a +8 rating in 47 games.
Portillo, who’s essentially usurped Copley as the No. 3 goalie on the Kings’ depth chart, will get his turn in practice today with Darcy Kuemper absent. After a tough showing last year, the 25-year-old has squarely outperformed Copley in the minors this season and has a .905 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 19 games. That’s been good for a 13-3-1 record and one shutout behind one of the AHL’s best offensive clubs.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Matt Kiersted
The Wild announced today that they’ve recalled forward Ben Jones and defenseman Matt Kiersted from AHL Iowa. They have two open roster spots and thus don’t need to make any corresponding moves.
Minnesota is expecting Matt Boldy to return to the team from his gold medal win with Team USA in time for tomorrow’s game against the Predators, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. However, they didn’t have an extra forward rostered in case he isn’t able to go. Jones, who’s already suited up 26 times for Minnesota this season, will do the honors.
With the Wild having a back-to-back road trip to kick off their post-break schedule, there’s a decent chance they’ll need him for at least one of the contests. He last appeared for the Wild on Jan. 20 before being reassigned to Iowa a few days later. Jones, who turns 27 on Thursday, was a high-scoring piece in juniors but hasn’t found much of any offense at the NHL level. He has a goal and an assist this season, the only two points of his career in 54 total games. He’s only averaged 8:36 per game of ice time but has been valuable as a depth faceoff-taker, winning 53.5% of his draws.
Outside of that, Jones’ game is uninspiring. His -10 rating is ahead of only Marcus Foligno‘s -11. He averages under a shot on goal per game. His 2.04 hits per game rank fourth on the team, but that’s more a measure of how little Minnesota has the puck when he’s on the ice. His 39.2 CF% at even strength is the lowest among active Wild forwards.
As for Kiersted, he gives the Wild two extra defenders – also in case fellow Olympians Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes aren’t available. He joins David Spacek, who was recalled from Iowa on Saturday. The 27-year-old was already jockeyed between the NHL and AHL over the break to give the Wild some extra practice players. The lefty has just seven points in 33 AHL games this season with a -5 rating, adding an assist and a -1 mark in four NHL contests in December and January.
Penguins Acquire Samuel Girard From Avalanche
The Penguins acquired left-shot blue-liner Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round pick from the Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak, both teams announced Tuesday.
Girard has been in the rumor mill for what seems like years. Colorado hoped to make him a future top-four anchor behind Cale Makar and Devon Toews – he actually predates both of them and was the Avs’ longest-tenured defenseman – when they acquired him from the Predators in 2017. After the puck-mover impressed and sniffed 20 minutes per game of ice time in his first full season in Colorado, the Avs inked him to a seven-year, $35MM extension.
Some warned the commitment was premature. Now, in the penultimate season of the contract, they’d be right, at least based on his recent play. Girard’s performance back in the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign made it look like he’d be the final piece of a true three-headed monster behind Makar and Toews, rattling off 32 points and a +15 rating in 58 games. His trajectory has been largely downhill from there. His minutes were steadily reduced from the 23-plus minutes he logged that year, his playoff performances were negligible, and he never churned out the same level of two-way play. He’s topped 30 points just once since then and has had negative relative Corsi impacts three times in the last five seasons at 5-on-5.
Still, Girard remained Colorado’s clear-cut No. 2 left-shot option behind Toews, especially after the Avs jettisoned Bowen Byram at the 2024 trade deadline. Then came this season. Girard sustained an upper-body injury in Colorado’s second game of the season that left him on the shelf for a month. During that time, veteran righty Brent Burns got the bump up to second-pairing minutes with Josh Manson moving to his offside in lieu of Girard. That duo, with over 2,200 combined games of NHL experience, has put up fantastic results – even posting better possession numbers than Makar and Toews have with a 56.8 xGF%, per MoneyPuck.
That pushed Girard down to a third-pairing role along with Sam Malinski, averaging only 17:41 of ice time per game. Even there, Malinski’s 25-point, +30 breakout through 55 games had rendered Girard as something of an expensive depth redundancy, especially with Malinski now extended through 2029-30 and Girard costing $5MM against the cap.
That cap impact, in a season where the Avs are the top Cup favorites by a significant margin, is why general manager Chris McFarland was willing to offload a second-round pick to get out of the last year and a half of his deal – especially if they’re receiving a much cheaper third-pairing option in Kulak in return, who’s having a strong season. Swapping out Girard for the pending UFA Kulak, who costs only $2.75MM, now leaves the Avs with a projected $10.82MM in cap space on deadline day, per PuckPedia. They’ve also given themselves $13MM even in cap space for next season, up from just $8MM to fill seven spots before the deal.
Kulak’s time in Pittsburgh ends after 25 games. It’s his second time being traded this season, having been acquired from the Oilers in December as part of the Tristan Jarry/Stuart Skinner swap. During that time, he’d gotten a bump in minutes alongside Kris Letang in top-four deployment and showed he was up to the task. He’s having a tough season offensively, even by his limited standards as a shutdown bottom-four piece, but managed seven points with a +2 rating while playing almost exclusively with Letang. That duo controlled 52.2% of expected goals as well, per MoneyPuck.
Given how both players grade out this season, it’s likely a lateral move at worst for both clubs. It’s a bit more of a long-term focused move for the Pens, though. They have little to no long-term security in their top four. Parker Wotherspoon has impressed this season, elevated as a top-pairing shutdown partner for Erik Karlsson, although he’s been a career third-pairing option and, at age 28, the prospects for regression next season are bright. Ryan Shea is, like Kulak, a pending UFA. Their veteran depth options are uninspiring, and it’s questionable if 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering will be ready to log NHL minutes next season.
They now have a year and change of a 27-year-old Girard, plus the ability to discuss an extension with him starting July 1. He immediately becomes their most offensively dynamic threat on the left side and becomes the youngest name in Pittsburgh’s aging top-four group. They’re banking on Girard, who has 12 points in 40 outings this season, to return to his 30-plus point form back in expanded minutes, but considering he’s averaged over 20 minutes per game for his career, it’ll be a familiar situation for him.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the trade.
Image courtesy of Steven Bisig-Imagn Images.
Bruins Recall Michael DiPietro
Feb. 24: DiPietro was recalled back to Boston today, per Ryan. It’s unclear if he’s up solely for practice purposes or if they’re expecting to need him to back up Korpisalo against the Blue Jackets if Swayman doesn’t return to the team by Thursday.
Feb. 20: Boston has assigned DiPietro back to Providence, Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe reports.
Feb. 18: The Bruins announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled goaltender Michael DiPietro from AHL Providence on an emergency basis. He’ll serve as Boston’s lone NHL-contracted practice netminder for the time being, as Jeremy Swayman (USA) and Joonas Korpisalo (Finland) are still representing their respective countries at the Olympics.
Back during training camp, there was concern DiPietro wouldn’t make it through waivers on his way to Providence. The 26-year-old had emerged as one of the AHL’s top netminders over the previous two seasons, including a .927 SV% in 40 games last year that earned him the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s best goaltender.
He’s well on his way to taking home that hardware for a second straight season. In 28 appearances for the P-Bruins, he’s put up a downright ridiculous .942 SV% and 1.64 GAA with a 21-5-0 record – but somehow only has one shutout to his name. Nonetheless, he has a 12-point lead in save percentage on the second-place netminder with at least 20 appearances.
He’s signed through next season at a $812,500 cap hit, giving the Bruins almost no choice but to work with Korpisalo’s 10-team no-trade list and find a new home for the veteran backup this summer. If they can’t, they’d essentially be forced into trading DiPietro to avoid the near certainty of losing him for nothing on waivers next October.
Sabres Recall Anton Wahlberg
The Sabres announced they’ve recalled center prospect Anton Wahlberg from AHL Rochester. He’s expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Devils with Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway both banged up. The team will need to make some sort of roster move before the game; while they have two open spots, those are expected to go to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Joshua Norris as they come off injured reserve.
Wahlberg, 20, was selected 39th overall in 2023 with a second-round pick the Sabres acquired from the Flyers in the Rasmus Ristolainen trade two years earlier. He quickly emerged as a top-nine piece in his native Sweden’s SHL in his post-draft year before arriving in Rochester in 2024. Since his arrival in March of that year, he’s played in 119 games. In that time, he’s put up 18 goals and 41 assists for 59 points with a +16 rating and just 24 penalty minutes.
That includes 47 games with Rochester this year. He hasn’t dominated offensively, although he’s still sixth on the team in scoring with six goals and 25 points. He’s been leveraged as a two-way piece down the middle, though, and has been up to the task with a team-best +12 rating.
Coming into 2025-26, Wahlberg was still a consensus top-10 prospect in an above-average Sabres pipeline. Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff gave Wahlberg the #6 spot, NHL.com put him at #5, and Elite Prospects had him at #10. “What the Sabres organization wants to see is more production in the dirty areas around the crease,” NHL.com wrote in their blurb, an understandable criticism given his 6’4″, 205-lb frame.
Wahlberg likely won’t remain up past when Greenway or Benson returns in the coming days. It’s nonetheless a good reward for a player who’s still got another season or two before he’s expected to make a significant NHL impact and should give Buffalo a better barometer of where his game is at.
Jets Place Josh Morrissey On IR, Recall Kale Clague
The Jets announced today they’ve recalled defenseman Kale Clague from AHL Manitoba. In the corresponding move, they moved star lefty rearguard Josh Morrissey to injured reserve with the upper-body injury he sustained in Canada’s group stage opener at the Olympics. Since it’s retroactive to Feb. 12, he’s eligible to come off at any time.
Yesterday, there were conflicting reports on how much time Morrissey would miss. TSN’s Darren Dreger said Morrissey would likely miss a significant chunk of time coming out of the break, while head coach Scott Arniel left the door open for him to join the team on their three-game road trip that wraps up in San Jose on March 1. They’ll have more clarity on his status later this week when he’s fully evaluated by their own doctors.
In any event, the Jets can’t afford any notable absences. A postseason push would be miraculous at this stage, sitting tied with the Flames for the third-worst record in the Western Conference while being 11 points out of a playoff spot. That’s especially considering Morrissey remains the team’s most impactful two-way player, posting a 10-32–42 scoring line in 56 games while sitting in the co-lead with even-strength partner Dylan DeMelo with a +10 rating.
With an already decimated defense group that has Neal Pionk, Colin Miller, and Haydn Fleury on IR to kick off the restart, Winnipeg needed another defenseman to ensure they could still ice six of them if a last-minute injury to anyone else presented itself on their road trip. Clague, who’s settled in as more of a minor-league option than NHL extra over the past few years, is in his first season in the organization after landing a two-way deal in free agency last summer. He has an 8-13–21 scoring line with a -12 rating in 44 games for Manitoba, tied with Ville Heinola, who was recalled over the break and remains up for the team scoring lead among defensemen.
The 27-year-old lefty has 94 NHL appearances to his name but hasn’t appeared at the top level since April 2024 with the Sabres. A second-round pick by the Kings in 2016, he had an intermediate stop with the Canadiens after being claimed off waivers in the 2021-22 season before heading to Buffalo and then Winnipeg. He owns a career 2-19–21 scoring line at the top level with a -22 rating, averaging just over 16 minutes per night.