Senators Sign Linus Ullmark To Four-Year Extension
The Senators have signed goaltender Linus Ullmark to a four-year, $33MM extension, the team announced today. TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the news. It will carry a cap hit of $8.25MM and keep him in Canada’s capital through the 2028-29 season.
Per PuckPedia, Ullmark’s contract contains a full no-move clause. It’s also paid out entirely in base salary with no signing bonuses. He’ll earn $7MM in 2025-26 and $8MM in 2026-27 before earning $9MM annually in the final two years of the deal.
The deal closes a brief period of uncertainty for the Sens, who parted ways with the No. 25 pick in this year’s draft, Joonas Korpisalo, and Mark Kastelic to bring the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner in from the Bruins over the offseason without any assurances the pending free agent would sign an extension. Instead, the 31-year-old will avoid becoming a UFA for the second time in his career and play out the remainder of his prime years in Ottawa.
However, Ullmark isn’t doing his new team any favors with a discount on his market value. His $8.25MM cap hit is identical to the eight-year deal his former tandem partner Jeremy Swayman signed to remain in Boston long-term. He’s much older, though, and while he’s been a decidedly above-average netminder for five years in a row now, he likely couldn’t have commanded a more prosperous deal on the open market. That does offer some explanation for why he’s opted to sign this agreement so soon into extension talks, which were nonexistent as recently as two weeks ago, per reports.
But it’s also quickly coming into view that Swayman has already accomplished his self-stated goal of resetting the goalie market with his contract. Before he signed, it would have been hard to imagine Ullmark landing a contract just $250K shy annually of the recent long-term extension that Connor Hellebuyck, a more established bona fide No. 1, signed in Winnipeg not too long ago. Now, however, Ullmark easily becomes the fourth-highest-paid goalie in the league next season, although he’ll drop to fifth at some point. He was the second-best goalie atop the 2025 UFA class, outmatched by Rangers star Igor Shesterkin. But after reportedly rejecting an eight-year, $88MM offer to keep him in New York, the latter remains without a deal.
After spending his entire career until the 2021 offseason in the Sabres organization, Ullmark cashed in with a four-year, $20MM deal with the Bruins. The Swede had posted solid numbers in limited action in Buffalo but emerged as an outright star in Boston, delivering a rock-solid .917 SV% and 11.0 GSAA in 41 appearances in his first season as the Bruins dealt with the retirement of franchise netminder Tuukka Rask. He split the net evenly with the rookie Swayman that year, a sign of things to come.
Not many goalies can win the Vezina in a full season with fewer than 50 appearances to show for it, but if there will ever be an exception to the rule, it was Ullmark’s 2022-23 campaign. His play was astounding and one of the biggest factors fueling the Bruins’ record 65-win regular season, posting a 40-6-1 record in 49 appearances with a league-leading .938 SV%, 1.89 GAA, and eye-popping 48.5 GSAA. He took home the Vezina, shared the Jennings Trophy with Swayman (who was solid in his own right with a .920 SV%), and finished 10th in Hart Trophy voting.
Even in a regression season, Ullmark was still among the league’s premier goalies in 2023-24. He finished sixth in Vezina voting after logging a .915 SV%, a 2.57 GAA, and two shutouts with a 22-10-7 record. But his level of play was just slightly bested by Swayman, who started a slim majority of Boston’s games for the first time and took over completely in postseason play. With Swayman reaching restricted free agency this offseason and Ullmark set to hit the open market the following year, the writing was on the wall for Boston to part ways with the veteran and his bargain $5MM cap hit to make room for the younger netminder and to upgrade other areas of their roster, which had relied too heavily on elite goaltending in recent years.
For the Senators, acquiring Ullmark already addressed their biggest weakness. Extending him only gives them further runway with this core to finally return to playoff contention amid a seven-year drought. In nearly every sense, last year’s Ottawa team should have taken a step forward, controlling the majority of scoring chances, shot attempts, and high-danger chances at even strength. Horrid showings between the pipes from Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg doomed them, though, as their combined -30.9 GSAA tanked the Sens’ record back below the .500 mark and far away from a wild card spot.
With Ullmark instead of Korpisalo last season, there’s a very real argument that Ottawa would have ended its playoff drought already. The only question mark will be whether Ullmark can handle an increased workload with diminished support in the form of Forsberg as his backup. He’s never made more than 50 appearances in a season and has made more than 40 starts just once, during his Vezina-winning campaign.
Looking at the 2025-26 season, Ottawa now has $75.4MM wrapped up in 13 players after Ullmark’s extension, per PuckPedia. Assuming the cap jumps to a reported $92.5MM ceiling, the Sens have just over $17MM to fill 10 roster spots, including an extension for pending RFA Ridly Greig.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Rangers Make Nine Roster Moves
After submitting a cap-compliant roster for Monday’s opening-night deadline, the Rangers have shuffled their group to get to their actual game roster for tonight’s season opener against the Penguins. As expected, William Cuylle, Adam Edstrom, Victor Mancini, and Matt Rempe were recalled from AHL Hartford yesterday, making the team in effect, reports Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. Five players – forwards Anton Blidh, Jake Leschyshyn, and Adam Sýkora, as well as defensemen Ben Harpur and Matthew Robertson, were sent down to create roster and cap space.
The Rangers opened up a roster spot with the moves, but that’s not why they made them. Having the extra salary on the technical opening night roster allowed them to maximize their capture when placing winger Jimmy Vesey and his $800K cap hit on long-term injured reserve. They now have $792K in their season-opening LTIR pool, per PuckPedia. After yesterday’s moves, they’re sitting with north of $600K in cap space.
All four of yesterday’s recalls are expected to slide into the lineup against Pittsburgh tonight. Veteran Jonny Brodzinski appears to be on the outside looking in as the 13th forward to start the year, while Mancini will slide in for Ryan Lindgren, who’s on IR with an upper-body injury. It’ll be his NHL debut.
It’s an impressive feat for Mancini, who appears to have usurped veteran No. 7 option Chad Ruhwedel in the pecking order, at least for now. He’s also pushed himself up on the Blueshirts’ depth chart past other veteran defensive depth options with NHL experience like the aforementioned Harpur. The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick just two years ago out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where the 6’4″, 220-lb stay-at-home defender had four goals and 23 points in 110 games with a +4 rating. He’s entering his first full season of pro hockey but did close out last year with six assists in 17 combined regular-season and playoff games for Hartford.
Edstrom, listed at 6’6″, and Rempe, listed at 6’9″, are back to reprise their roles on one of the tallest combined forward lines in league history. They got spot duty together last season when they were both on the roster, getting seven games of action flanking Barclay Goodrow. The line has lost a couple of inches with the 6’2″ Goodrow now replaced by a 6’0″ Sam Carrick, but an opening night look is still promising for the younger duo of Edstrom and Rempe.
Edstrom, 24 on Saturday, had two goals in his first 11 NHL appearances last year. Rempe, meanwhile, scored a goal and an assist in 17 games. Only the 22-year-old Rempe saw playoff action, though, drawing into 11 of New York’s 16 postseason games en route to the Eastern Conference Final.
Cuylle was always a near-lock to make the team, only being sent down briefly for cap purposes, as mentioned earlier. The 22-year-old left winger had a promising rookie season in 2023-24, scoring 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points in 81 games while averaging 11:08 per game. He played a frequent third-line role at even strength but received little to no special teams usage. The 6’3″, 212-lb former second-rounder also finished fourth on the team in PIMs (56), tied for sixth in even-strength goals (12), and led them in hits (249).
Edmonton Oilers Sign Travis Dermott
4:41 PM: Edmonton has officially announced the one-year, two-way contract for Dermott.
11:27 AM: The Oilers still have defenseman Travis Dermott with the organization on a professional tryout, and it’s expected to result in a two-way contract tomorrow, per PuckPedia. Edmonton still has some procedural moves to make, including maximizing their cap hit before placing winger Evander Kane on LTIR, so it’s not surprising Dermott’s deal has had to wait. While it’s a two-way deal, it would be a surprise to see Dermott land on waivers instead of starting the season on the NHL roster with the Oilers carrying only six defenders.
From 2018 to 2022, Dermott was a regular with the Maple Leafs, peaking as a serviceable third-pairing option who wasn’t afraid to involve himself physically. Over his first three seasons in Toronto, Dermott posted 41 points in 157 games with a +25 rating, averaging 17 minutes per contest. He was consistently among the team’s hit leaders, finishing third on the club with 100 in 64 appearances in 2018-19, and posted well above average possession metrics in his relatively easy minutes. While a left-shot defender, he’s logged some time playing on the right as well.
But over the past three seasons, his overall play has taken a step back. After being sent to the Canucks at the 2022 trade deadline, he missed most of the following season with a concussion and played just 11 games. He wasn’t given a qualifying offer and landed with the Coyotes shortly thereafter on a one-year, two-way deal for 2023-24. He avoided waivers and played 50 games last year for Arizona, posting seven points (2 G, 5 A) and a -14 rating while averaging 17:17 per game – the most ice time he’d logged since 2019-20.
Dermott’s showing last season certainly doesn’t jump off the page. However, he was given the toughest minutes of his career with the Yotes, starting nearly 60% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive end. His possession metrics responded in kind, posting a 45.0 xGF% and a 44.3 CF%, the worst possession numbers of any Arizona defender not named Josh Brown, who’s now also in the Oilers organization.
The Oilers’ defense is far from set after they lost Vincent Desharnais in free agency and cap constraints forced them to deal Cody Ceci to the Sharks. They’re looking for a partner for Darnell Nurse on the team’s second pairing, a competition Dermott may enter alongside Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher.
Jets Recall Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Place Him On Injured Reserve
The Jets have recalled forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan from AHL Manitoba and subsequently placed him on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 2, the team announced.
Anderson-Dolan, 25, returns to the NHL after clearing waivers yesterday but won’t count against the 23-player roster limit for now. He’s day-to-day with an undisclosed injury that he sustained while blocking a shot in exhibition play against the Flames. The retroactive placement means he’ll be eligible to return tomorrow for Winnipeg’s season opener against the Oilers if need be, but it’s unlikely.
A second-round pick of the Kings in 2017, Anderson-Dolan’s nearly seven-year run in the organization came to an end last March when the Predators claimed him off waivers. A fringe NHLer, Anderson-Dolan had recorded just four points in 30 games last season before landing on the wire. He barely played down the stretch in Nashville, either, logging just one regular-season appearance and none in the playoffs.
Accordingly, Nashville opted not to tender Anderson-Dolan a qualifying offer this offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent. He came to terms on a two-year, partial two-way deal with the Jets on the second day of free agency and was expected to battle for an extra forward spot.
Despite the recall, it’s unclear if he’ll stay on the active roster after he returns to health. The Jets have a full 23-player roster without him, although there will likely be a corresponding move coming in the crease. Connor Hellebuyck has been absent from practice for the past two days for personal reasons, forcing the Jets to carry three goalies on their season-opening roster. Once likely No. 3 option Eric Comrie hits the waiver wire in the coming days, Anderson-Dolan could stick around as the team’s second extra forward.
Anderson-Dolan has 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points in 127 career NHL appearances. He also has 79 points in 115 career AHL games.
Red Wings Sign, Waive Auston Watson
Oct. 8, 1:13 p.m.: Watson cleared waivers today, per Friedman. He was on yesterday’s roster submission but has now been assigned to AHL Grand Rapids, per Ansar Khan of MLive.com.
Oct. 7, 1:14 p.m.: Detroit placed Watson on waivers Monday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Since he’s been signed and waived on the same day, he can be designated non-roster and not count against the cap for the Red Wings’ opening-night submission.
Oct. 7, 10:02 a.m.: Winger Austin Watson has converted on his professional tryout and signed a two-way deal with the Red Wings, per a team announcement. It’s a league-minimum $775K cap hit and NHL salary with a $200K AHL salary and $275K guarantee, per PuckPedia. As pointed out by The Athletic’s Max Bultman on Sunday, he’ll likely start the season on the NHL roster.
The Wings opened up a roster spot by cutting center prospect Marco Kasper to AHL Grand Rapids yesterday. Watson will need to clear waivers if Detroit wants to send the veteran enforcer to the minors at any point this season, but for now, all signs point to him starting as their 13th forward.
Watson, 32, has 515 games of NHL experience across 10 seasons. He suited up for the Lightning last year after another successful PTO but recorded just two goals and four points in 33 games with 93 PIMs and a +2 rating. The right-shot winger has displayed some offensive upside in flashes, recording 14 goals once during his time with the Predators and hitting the 10-goal mark again with the Senators in 2021-22. But he’s a fourth-line option at most, averaging 10 goals and 19 points per 82 games over his career.
But the 6’4″, 204-lb winger is still an effective physical presence. His possession metrics don’t indicate his heavy style of play translates into any positive impacts defensively at even strength, but he consistently ranks among his team’s hit leaders and has topped 100 PIMs in a season twice (2017-18, 2022-23).
Golden Knights Place Raphael Lavoie On Waivers
The Golden Knights have placed forward Raphael Lavoie on waivers in an attempt to assign him to AHL Henderson, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Lavoie was claimed by Vegas just yesterday after being waived by the Oilers over the weekend.
Lavoie, 24, made his NHL debut just last year. The 6’4″ center/winger made seven appearances for Edmonton in November and December, posting a -2 rating with four shots on goal while averaging a paltry 7:17 per game. His 50 points in 66 games on assignment to AHL Bakersfield had him on the cusp of making the opening night roster, but he just missed the cut and landed on the waiver wire.
The Golden Knights also claimed Cole Schwindt off waivers from the Flames yesterday, but they don’t have the roster space to keep both long-term. Center William Karlsson will start the year on injured reserve to keep their roster at the maximum of 23 players, but he won’t be out for much if any time. Someone would have needed to hit waivers upon his return – likely one of the new guys so as to avoid exposing valuable defensive depth in the form of Ben Hutton or Kaedan Korczak to the wire. While a waiver placement today wasn’t necessary, the Knights hope that attempting to send Lavoie down now before more injuries pop up across the league gives them a chance to stash him in Henderson.
That likely won’t be the case, though. Derek Van Diest of NHL.com reports the Oilers have an interest in retaining Lavoie and will likely submit a claim before tomorrow’s deadline. If they’re the only team to do so, they can send him directly to Bakersfield without having to pass him through waivers again.
Panthers Place Chris Driedger, MacKenzie Entwistle On Waivers
The Panthers have placed goaltender Chris Driedger and forward MacKenzie Entwistle on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Charlotte, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. They’ll have three open roster spots and an extra $1.57MM cap space after they pass through or are claimed tomorrow, allowing them the flexibility to recall netminder Spencer Knight from AHL Charlotte as expected.
Driedger, 30, returned to the Sunshine State for his second stint with the Panthers in free agency this offseason on a one-way deal worth $795K. He’s been a high-ceiling NHL option when healthy, logging a career .917 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 67 appearances, but injuries have truncated his ability to cement himself as a full-time tandem option on a year-to-year basis.
He spent most of the last two years of the three-year, $10.5MM pact he signed with the Kraken in 2021 in the minors, making back-to-back Calder Cup Final appearances with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Driedger was especially strong last season, logging a .917 SV% and 24-7-7 record in 39 games for the Kraken’s farm club, but he’ll still end up as the No. 3 option in Florida – at least after backing up Sergei Bobrovsky for tonight’s contest against the Bruins.
With most teams in need of short-term goalie help making claims over the past few days, Driedger stands a shot to pass through waivers unclaimed. Teams looking to stash him in the minors for insurance would need to waive him again to do so, just opening the door for Florida to bring him back.
Entwistle, 25, had served as a frequent fourth-line option for the Blackhawks over the past three seasons. He’s made 193 career appearances, scoring 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points with a -55 rating. Despite an eye-popping -29 mark last year despite averaging just 11:23 per game, Entwistle posted the strongest possession metrics of his career with a 43.8 CF%, slightly above Chicago’s horrid team average.
After going unqualified and signing a two-way deal with the Cats, Entwistle technically cracked the opening night roster but is projected to be a healthy scratch for tonight’s home opener. If he clears and heads to the AHL, he’ll earn a $450K salary.
Sabres Notes: Aubé-Kubel, Peterka, Benson
Sabres winger Nicolas Aubé-Kubel will miss the next three to six weeks with a lower-body injury, head coach Lindy Ruff said in today’s injury report. He was already placed on injured reserve yesterday before opening night rosters were due, allowing the Sabres to retain Jiri Kulich on the active roster with other forwards battling short-term injuries.
Aubé-Kubel left Buffalo’s regular-season opener against the Devils in Prague on Friday in the third period and didn’t return. He took a minor penalty, recorded two shots on goal, and added three hits in 5:45 of ice time in his truncated Sabres debut.
It’s a tough break for the 28-year-old, who’s hoping to be a regular on the Sabres’ fourth line after inking a one-year, $1.5MM deal in the offseason. The bang-and-crash winger had been effective in preseason on a unit with Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty – the former of whom was also Aubé-Kubel’s linemate with the Capitals last year. The 2014 second-round pick of the Flyers has limited offensive upside, only once hitting 10 goals and 20 points, but he’s a feared checker with a lengthy history of good possession metrics in tough defensive usage. He had 16 points (6 G, 10 A) in 60 games for the Caps last year.
Other injury updates out of Buffalo:
- One of those aforementioned forwards battling short-term injuries is John-Jason Peterka, who left the second Global Series game against New Jersey with a concussion after being laid out by Devils defender Brenden Dillon. He was given an official day-to-day designation today, per Ruff, and skated on his own. The German winger is a big loss for the Sabres if he misses any length of time – he started the year in a top-line role alongside Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch after breaking out for 28 goals and 50 points last season. The 2020 second-round pick hasn’t been ruled out for their home opener against the Kings on Thursday, but it would be surprising to see him draw into the lineup less than a week after a concussion diagnosis.
- Also dealing with a day-to-day injury is sophomore winger Zach Benson, who Ruff said today has yet to resume skating with his lower-body injury. That’s a concerning sign for his availability against the Kings and could force the Sabres to make an IR placement in the next 48 hours to open up space for a recall from AHL Rochester. They have 13 forwards on the active roster but only 11 healthy ones with Benson and Peterka out. The 19-year-old sustained the injury in the first Global Series game but played through it, logging 17:23 of ice time.
Avalanche Prospect Sean Behrens Out For Season With Knee Injury
Avalanche defense prospect Sean Behrens sustained a knee injury on Saturday while practicing with the team’s AHL affiliate and will miss the entire 2024-25 season, the team announced today.
It’s a tough break for one of Colorado’s most intriguing prospects in an otherwise thin pool. The 21-year-old was a second-round pick of the Avs back in 2021 out of the U.S. National Development Team Program. He arrived in Denver the following season, but not with the Avalanche. Instead, he embarked on a three-year run with the University of Denver, one that proved to be the right choice for his development.
In addition to the numerous individual honors Behrens received, he was a core piece of the Denver blue line that helped the school to two national championships in three years. Behrens notched 81 points and a +45 rating in 112 appearances there and was named the NCHC’s Best Defensive Defenseman last season. After winning it all again with Denver, Behrens ended the season with an assist in one regular season and one playoff game for AHL Colorado.
The 5’10” left-shot defender was expected to log top-four minutes for the minor-league Eagles this season but will instead spend the campaign out of game action and in the practice rink recovering. While he didn’t make the opening night roster, he was a strong candidate to see an NHL recall at some point this season as well. He has two seasons left after this one on his entry-level deal at a $906K cap hit.
Blues Recall Zachary Bolduc, Likely To Move Torey Krug To LTIR
The Blues announced this morning that they’d recalled center Zachary Bolduc from AHL Springfield. He wasn’t on the team’s opening night roster submitted yesterday but will be on hand for their season opener today against the Kraken.
They have an open roster spot for Bolduc’s recall but only $468K in cap space, per PuckPedia. That’s not enough to add his $863K cap hit to the active roster. It’s likely that defenseman Torey Krug, who will miss the entire 2024-25 season after undergoing surgery to address pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle, has been moved from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve to create the cap space necessary for the transaction.
St. Louis drafted the 21-year-old Bolduc with the 17th overall pick in 2021. He’s coming off his first professional season, in which he spent significant time on both the Blues’ roster and with Springfield. He burned his Calder eligibility for this year by making 25 NHL appearances in 2023-24, recording five goals and four assists for nine points while averaging 12:01 per game. A natural center, the 6’0″, 187-lb forward was deployed exclusively on the wing in NHL action last year.
He didn’t look out of place, but after posting 110 points with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts in 2022-23, his offense didn’t pop as the Blues might have hoped in Springfield. The pivot was limited to eight goals in 50 games, adding 17 assists for 25 points.
St. Louis hopes his NHL showing last year is more reflective of his long-term ceiling. Bolduc was a legitimate factor offensively, recording a somewhat sustainable 13.2% shooting rate on 38 shots on goal. His possession numbers were underwhelming with a 43.1 CF% and 42.3 xGF% at even strength, but those should improve with time for a young forward.
While Bolduc signed his entry-level contract back in 2021, it slid twice due to his lack of NHL playing time. He’s still got another year left on his rookie deal after this and will be a restricted free agent in 2026. He remains waiver-exempt for two more seasons or until he plays 160 NHL games.