Atlantic Notes: Benson, Peterka, Tkachuk, Stützle, Poitras
The Sabres may get winger Zach Benson back in the lineup tonight against the Kings. He’s a game-time decision with the lower-body injury that kept him out of the second game of last week’s Global Series against the Devils, head coach Lindy Ruff said today. However, they won’t have John-Jason Peterka‘s services for the home opener – he’s been ruled out against L.A. with a concussion.
Buffalo only has 13 forwards on the active roster, including Benson and Peterka. They don’t have any open spots on the 23-man roster, so if Benson can’t go, the Sabres will run 11 forwards and seven defensemen tonight. That means Jacob Bryson or Dennis Gilbert could make their season debut after sitting in the press box for both Global Series games.
Injuries up front are the last thing the Sabres need after their offense sputtered against New Jersey, producing just one goal apiece in each contest en route to a pair of multi-goal losses. Peterka, who finished fourth on the team in scoring last season with 50 points (28 G, 22 A) in 82 games, is the far more notable loss in that regard, although the sophomore Benson is a valuable middle-six piece in his own right. Rookie Jiri Kulich, who the Sabres picked up with the No. 28 overall pick in 2022, will skate in Peterka’s place on the top line with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch in just his third career NHL game, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- If there was any doubt, Senators star forwards Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk will play in their season opener tonight after leaving a late preseason game against the Canadiens with upper body injuries, per the team. They’ll reprise their top-line roles with Claude Giroux, who also missed a bit of exhibition action while on personal leave, on their right wing. The Sens host the defending champion Panthers in their first game of the season, which also marks Linus Ullmark‘s first regular-season appearance for Ottawa after inking a four-year, $33MM extension yesterday.
- Bruins sophomore center Matthew Poitras remains on IR with an undisclosed injury but is closer to returning, head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters today, including Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe. He shed his no-contact jersey today, and since his IR placement was retroactive to Oct. 3, he’s now eligible to return at any time. The Bruins have an open roster spot for now, so there’s no corresponding transaction necessary to reinstate him. The 20-year-old had 15 points in 33 games for Boston last season before shoulder surgery truncated his campaign.
Mark Friedman Clears Waivers, Reassigned To AHL
10/9: Vancouver was able to pass Friedman through waivers unscathed. The organization announced they have reassigned Friedman to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.
10/8: The Canucks announced today they’ve placed defenseman Mark Friedman on waivers for the purpose of assignment, opening up a roster spot ahead of tomorrow’s home opener against the Flames.
Friedman, 29 in December, has emerged as a quality No. 7/8 option on the blue line in his prime. After spending most of his 20s as a true farmhand, he’s played in at least 20 games in each of the past three seasons.
He’s never avoided AHL action entirely, though, aside from the 2020-21 campaign he spent mostly on the Flyers’ and Penguins’ taxi squads. He started last season in Pittsburgh but was traded to the Canucks early on, posting an assist and a +4 rating in 23 games in Vancouver uniform while averaging 12:14 per night. He inked a one-year, one-way league minimum extension in June to keep him with the Canucks for 2024-25, but he’ll now land on waivers a year to the day after he was last on the wire with the Penguins. One way or another, he won’t be rostered for tomorrow night’s game – he’ll either be in Abbotsford or with a new team if one claims him.
Friedman has serviceable possession metrics and has demonstrated value as a cheap plug-and-play guy who won’t be a defensive liability, even if he lacks any legitimate long-term upside. That could convince a team dealing with injuries on the blue line to submit a claim.
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Oilers Re-Claim Raphael Lavoie Off Waivers
The Oilers have re-acquired Raphael Lavoie off waivers, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He was lost on the wire to the Golden Knights just two days ago. If Edmonton was the only team to submit a claim, they can now assign him directly to AHL Bakersfield.
Even if Edmonton wasn’t the only team to submit a claim, they can still get away with having him on the active roster for now. They had two open spots and were up to $1.06MM in cap space before the claim after moving Evander Kane to LTIR, per PuckPedia, enough to shoulder Lavoie’s league minimum cap hit.
It’s good tidings for the Oilers, who never wanted to lose Lavoie in the first place. A victim of roster math, he’s on the cusp of a full-time NHL role after posting 50 points in 66 games for their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield last season. The 2019 second-round pick has intriguing size at 6’4″ and 216 lbs and can play both center and wing – an appealing mix for a depth scorer.
He’s especially so on a contending and cap-strapped Oilers club, who would likely insert him into the lineup the first chance they get if an injury strikes. The Golden Knights were hoping to see what they had in him by giving him some runway with their AHL affiliate in Henderson, but it wasn’t in the cards.
Kings Recall Andre Lee, Place Drew Doughty On LTIR
The Kings have recalled forward Andre Lee from the AHL’s Ontario Reign, per a team release. Los Angeles had an open roster spot but didn’t have the cap space to execute the transaction, so they’ve moved Drew Doughty to long-term injured reserve in a corresponding move. He remains month-to-month after undergoing ankle surgery last month.
Lee, 24, had a strong camp by all accounts. He’s looking to make his NHL debut tomorrow in the Kings’ season-opener against the Sabres, potentially in a fourth-line role alongside youngsters Akil Thomas and Alex Turcotte while veteran Trevor Lewis sits in the press box.
A seventh-round pick back in 2019, Lee is entering his third professional season. The 6’4″ Swede signed his entry-level contract in 2022 after three years at UMass-Lowell, where he totaled 64 points (31 G, 33 A) in 87 games. The voracious checker can play both left wing and center. While he hasn’t put up big numbers on the scoresheet since turning pro, he’s shown he can be a strong enough complementary physical player to log NHL minutes (or at least earn a brief look). He posted a career-high eight goals and five assists for 13 points in 38 games with the Reign last year, adding 23 PIMs and a +2 rating.
Lee signed a two-way extension ($775K/$100K) to remain in the Kings organization in June. He’s set to be an arbitration-eligible RFA next summer.
Meanwhile, Doughty’s LTIR placement doesn’t affect his timeline for a return. He was already expected to miss the 10 games and 24 days required for an LTIR stint.
Maple Leafs Recall Dennis Hildeby On Emergency Basis
The Maple Leafs announced they’ve recalled goalie Dennis Hildeby from AHL Toronto on an emergency basis. He’ll back up Anthony Stolarz in tonight’s season opener against the Canadiens. Joseph Woll won’t dress after experiencing “lower-body tightness” and is also questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Devils, head coach Craig Berube told reporters (including David Alter of The Hockey News).
It’s another cup of coffee in the NHL for Hildeby, who’s yet to make his in-game debut but spent a few days on the roster last season under similar circumstances. The 23-year-old Swede was an overage draft pick out of the Färjestad BK organization in 2022, going to Toronto in the fourth round. He was one of the first players from the class to sign his entry-level contract but spent his post-draft season back on loan to Färjestad.
Hildeby arrived in North America full-time last season, emerging as a legitimate No. 3 option. The 6’7″, 223-lb netminder was excellent for the Marlies, recording a 2.41 GAA, .914 SV%, four shutouts, and a 21-11-7 record in 41 appearances. He was named to the AHL’s All-Star Game and tied for second in shutouts among rookie goaltenders.
He’s not yet breaking down the door to challenge Woll, one of the league’s better young goaltenders when healthy, or Stolarz, arguably the league’s best backup goaltender last season with the Panthers, for full-time NHL minutes, though. Nonetheless, he’ll look to at least make his NHL debut in spot duty at some point this season, the last one of his entry-level contract before becoming a restricted free agent for the first time.
That means Stolarz is landing the opening-night start in a pivotal campaign for both player and team. The 30-year-old landed a two-year, $5MM commitment from the Leafs on the open market this offseason after recording career highs across the board with Florida last year, posting a 16-7-2 record in 27 appearances with a league-leading .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA among qualified netminders. While he’s never taken on much of a significant workload, Stolarz has been an above-average netminder in his NHL minutes, recording a .915 SV% and 18.0 GSAA across 108 games.
Predators Recall Matt Murray, Juuse Saros Out Day-To-Day
11:09 a.m.: Saros has officially been listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per Daugherty. He hasn’t been officially ruled out for tomorrow’s game, however.
10:47 a.m.: The Predators have recalled netminder Matt Murray from AHL Milwaukee, per a team release. It’s a sign there may be an undisclosed injury bothering either Juuse Saros or Scott Wedgewood before tomorrow’s home opener against the Stars – perhaps the former after taking a maintenance day yesterday, as pointed out by Alex Daugherty of the Tennessean. Either way, the Preds have two open roster spots and ample cap space, so no corresponding transaction is required.
Murray, 26, enters the season as Nashville’s No. 3/4 option between the pipes after he inked a two-way deal with the Preds over the offseason. He’d spent the entirety of his NHL career up to that point in the Stars organization, where he landed as an undrafted free agent out of UMass in 2022. The Alberta native made four NHL starts for Dallas over the past two seasons, posting a 2-2-0 record with one shutout, a 2.53 GAA, and an .885 SV%.
Not to be confused with two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray, this Murray fared well in the AHL with the Texas Stars up until last year. His numbers fell off a cliff, limited to a .896 SV% and 3.02 GAA in 31 games after logging a .911 SV% in 34 appearances the year prior. He lost the starters’ crease to 23-year-old Rémi Poirier and, unsurprisingly, wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer by Dallas, allowing him to head to Nashville as a UFA.
Murray will battle for starts this season in Milwaukee alongside 24-year-old Magnus Chrona, who was acquired from the Sharks in this offseason’s Yaroslav Askarov trade. He passed through waivers unclaimed on Sep. 30 and can be on the NHL roster for up to 30 days (or play 10 games) until he needs them again to return to the minors.
Kraken Extend Joey Daccord
The Kraken announced they’ve put pen to paper with goaltender Joey Daccord on a contract extension. It’s a five-year deal worth $25MM, adds Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, keeping him in Seattle through the 2029-30 season. The 28-year-old will earn an average of $5MM per year.
Daccord was slated to hit unrestricted free agency next summer for the first time, but this deal will keep him off the open market until shortly before his 34th birthday. That means he’ll spend most, if not all, of his prime in Seattle, where he broke out as a legitimate tandem option last season after spending the overwhelming majority of his first four professional seasons in the minors.
Daccord entered the 2023-24 season as the Kraken’s backup option behind Philipp Grubauer, set to be promoted to full-time NHL duties for the first time after guiding AHL Coachella Valley to the Calder Cup Final in its first season. It’s hard to imagine a better first year for Daccord, who not only established himself as a legitimate NHL option but pushed himself ahead of Grubauer on the depth chart.
His .916 SV% tied Boston’s Jeremy Swayman for seventh in the league among goalies with at least 20 appearances, and he added three shutouts and stopped 16.8 goals above average while making 46 starts and four relief appearances. He had a .926 SV% at even strength, second in the league among starters behind Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. His strong showing didn’t result in any outside Vezina consideration, but he did earn a couple of third-team All-Star votes at the end of the year.
It’s been a lengthy road to NHL relevancy for Daccord, who was a seventh-round pick of the Senators all the way back in 2015 out of the Massachusetts prep school ranks. Two years later, he was in the NCAA, playing a key role in helping the formerly independent Arizona State to Division I relevancy. He was named to the West region’s Second All-American Team in his junior outing in 2018-19 when he backstopped the Sun Devils with a 21-13-1 record and .926 SV% in 35 appearances. That was enough for the Sens to sign him and bring him to the pros.
Daccord posted decent numbers in minor-league action for the Sens, but injuries and COVID limited his total playing time. After nine NHL appearances in Ottawa, logging a 1-4-1 record and a .894 SV%, he was left unprotected in the 2021 expansion draft and was claimed by Seattle. He was viewed as a high-ceiling option but cleared waivers at the beginning of 2022-23, even after posting a .925 SV% in his first year in the Kraken organization in 34 games with AHL Charlotte.
Now, Daccord’s AHL days are behind him after posting a .918 SV% in 98 appearances at the second-tier level. A $25MM deal is certainly a significant commitment from the Kraken to a netminder with fewer than 70 NHL games under his belt, but his robust workload last year gave them enough confidence to ink the contract.
Unfortunately, it also means Seattle will be carrying an expensive tandem of Daccord and Grubauer totaling $10.9MM against the cap for the next two seasons after this one. Grubauer, who’s struggled heavily with a .893 SV% and -39.0 GSAA in 131 appearances for the Kraken since their inaugural season, still has three years left on his deal at a $5.9MM cap hit. He has a 10-team no-trade list, but the cap-strapped Kraken might be able to unload him next summer with only two seasons left on his contract if they’re willing to attach a sweetener. That would allow them to land a more cost-effective option to partner with or back up Daccord.
The Kraken now have $79.15MM tied up in 15 players for next season, leaving them roughly $13.35MM in flexibility for eight players, assuming the cap rises as expected to $92.5MM. Notable pending UFAs include Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, William Borgen, and Josh Mahura, while notable RFAs include Ryker Evans and Tye Kartye.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report that Daccord and the Kraken were nearing an extension. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the terms of the contract.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Avalanche Reassign Chris Wagner
The Avalanche announced yesterday that forward Chris Wagner has been reassigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. He had previously cleared waivers on Sunday but wasn’t sent down, remaining with the club and appearing on their opening night roster. However, it looks like he won’t be with the team for tonight’s season opener in Vegas, leaving the Avs with an open spot on the 23-man roster.
Wagner, 33, signed a two-way deal to join Colorado last summer and remained in the organization after inking a two-way extension in April. A fifth-round pick of the Ducks back in 2010, he’s seen NHL ice in parts of 10 seasons with the Avs, Bruins, Ducks, and Islanders, albeit in more limited fashion over the past few years. He’s made just 15 appearances combined in the past three seasons after years of being a fourth-line regular, instead logging significant time in the AHL.
His offensive performance has never stood out, averaging eight goals and 14 points per 82 games over his career. His minor-league production has never jumped off the page, either, with his 97 goals and 81 assists in 384 AHL appearances working out to 0.46 points per game. But he has shown to be an effective physical presence, recording over 100 hits in a season four times and posting unimpressive but acceptable possession numbers in traditionally defensive usage at even strength. Last year, he posted two points and a +3 rating with 30 hits in 13 appearances for Colorado, averaging 7:27 per game.
Wagner has spent significant time at center and on both wings, and while he’s a natural right-winger, he has posted a 49.2 FOW% in nearly 1,500 draws at the NHL level. He was a candidate to open the season as Colorado’s fourth-line center after Pierre-Édouard Bellemare was released from his tryout, but it appears that job will now go to offseason pickup Parker Kelly.
The Avs have no extra forwards on the active roster after sending Wagner down, confirming that Ivan Ivan and Nikolai Kovalenko will make their regular-season debuts tonight after being recalled early yesterday.
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.