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Avalanche Assign Trent Miner To AHL

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kraken Reassign John Hayden

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The Kraken have reassigned forward John Hayden to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, according to a team announcement on Wednesday. They now have an open roster spot, which could be filled by one of their four injured reserve-bound players. That would most likely be Kaapo Kakko, who has yet to play in the regular season due to a fractured hand but was upgraded to day-to-day last weekend, head coach Lane Lambert said (via Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times).

Hayden, 30, started the season with the Firebirds after clearing waivers but was recalled to Seattle on Oct. 17. The move came in the wake of an IR placement for center Frédérick Gaudreau, who’s still got a few weeks to go in his recovery from an upper-body issue. Hayden played in three straight games to begin his recall, but came out of the lineup last week and hasn’t played since, sitting in the press box for Seattle’s last three. He’s been succeeded as Seattle’s interim fourth-line center by Ben Meyers, who was brought up a few days after Hayden’s recall in the wake of an injury to Jared McCann.

In his three NHL games this season, Hayden had a minus-one rating and saw 10:05 of ice time per contest. The veteran of 272 career games went 6-for-15 on faceoffs (40%) and recorded two blocks and seven hits. The call-up marked the 10th consecutive season of big-league action for Hayden, arguably the epitome of an NHL/AHL tweener with over 180 games to his name at the minor-league level as well.

Hayden, an alternate captain with the Firebirds, only got into one game for them before being summoned to the Kraken. Now in his fourth year in the organization, he’ll look to get his season underway in earnest after posting an 11-16–27 scoring line in 44 games for Coachella Valley last year. He can remain on the roster for up to 18 days on future recalls before he needs waivers again to head back to the AHL.

Canucks Reassign Nils Åman, Recall Mackenzie MacEachern

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The Canucks have assigned center Nils Åman to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks and recalled winger Mackenzie MacEachern from Abbotsford in a corresponding transaction, according to a team announcement on Wednesday. The swap saves them $50,000 in cap space, although they’re not accruing anything at the moment by using long-term injured reserve to keep them compliant.

Åman cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and began the year in the minors. The 25-year-old center, now in his fourth season in the Canucks organization, had three assists and a minus-five rating in four games with Abbotsford. He was recalled early last week in the wake of Filip Chytil’s upper-body injury that’s still keeping him out of the lineup.

The Swedish pivot played in Vancouver’s first two games following his recall, making appearances on Oct. 21 against the Penguins and Oct. 23 against the Predators. He averaged just 8:40 of ice time per game and was held off the scoresheet, skating on the wing in a fourth-line role. He’s now been a healthy scratch in three straight following the team’s acquisition of Lukas Reichel from the Blackhawks.

The longer the Canucks keep Åman on the active roster, the more time burns off his temporary waiver exemption. As such, after swallowing up nine days of his 30-day allowance on the roster after clearing waivers at the beginning of the month, they’ll swap him out to stop the clock.

Up comes MacEachern, who, like Åman, has north of 100 games of NHL experience. He hasn’t appeared in a big-league game since December 2023 with the Blues, though. The 31-year-old signed a two-year, two-way contract with Vancouver this summer after spending the prior two years in St. Louis. It was his second stint with the Blues, who drafted him in the third round in 2012 and have been his home for eight of his 10 professional seasons.

While usually a productive minor-league force, MacEachern has struggled heavily in his first few weeks with Abbotsford. He’s been limited to two goals and no assists in seven games while carrying a team-worst minus-nine rating. It’s been a tough start on the whole for the reigning Calder Cup Champions, though. They’re 2-5-0 through seven games and have only scored 12 goals.

Blues Recall Dalibor Dvorsky

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The Blues announced they’ve recalled their top center prospect, Dalibor Dvorsky, from the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. St. Louis has an open roster spot after placing Jake Neighbours on injured reserve yesterday, so there’s no need for a corresponding transaction.

Dvorsky, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2023 draft, gets his first look of the season as the Blues deal with injuries to a pair of top-line forwards. Not only is Neighbours out for the next five weeks with a right leg injury, but their top center, Robert Thomas, has also missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day.

Amid those injuries, the Blues have lost four games in a row and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 outings. It’s their goaltending that has been lacking. The Blues’ 4.40 goals against per game is 31st in the league, yet they’re allowing the fifth-fewest shots per game (25.4) in the NHL. Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer are both among the six worst goaltenders in the league this season in terms of goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, combining for a -10.4 GSAx mark.

Dvorsky’s presence obviously won’t change the picture between the pipes, but they’re hoping his infusion into the roster can at least help them make strides toward outscoring their problems and get back in the win column. The Slovak pivot is off to a hot start with Springfield, scoring three goals and two assists for five points through six games. That’s tied for the team lead and marks a promising start to his second year in the North American pros. Last season, the 20-year-old churned out a 21-24–45 scoring line in 61 appearances for the Thunderbirds and was named to the AHL Top Prospects Team.

If Dvorsky plays, it will not mark his NHL debut. The 6’1″, 201-lb center suited up twice for the Blues late last season. He wasn’t given much runway, going without a point and averaging just 9:25 of ice time per game. With Neighbours’ and Thomas’ injuries stretching St. Louis’ forward depth thin, though, it stands to reason Dvorsky should not only enter the lineup for tomorrow’s game against the Canucks but play a semi-significant role while doing so. Being able to return Nick Bjugstad or Alexandre Texier to the fourth-line roles where they started the season would not only provide the Blues with better matchup options but also allow Dvorsky his first legitimate taste of top-nine minutes in the NHL, a role they anticipate him playing for years to come.

Stars Assign Emil Hemming To OHL

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The Stars announced yesterday that they’ve reassigned winger Emil Hemming to the OHL’s Barrie Colts. He had started the season on assignment to AHL Texas but will play out the remainder of the 2025-26 season back in junior hockey.

Hemming now figures in as the top forward prospect in a depleted Dallas pool. A late first-round pick in 2024 at No. 29 overall, he spent his draft year in his native Finland, recording seven goals in 11 points in 40 games for TPS in his country’s top pro league, Liiga. The Stars quickly got him signed to his entry-level contract. They could have loaned him back to TPS for the 2024-25 season, but Hemming instead opted to make the jump to North America and signed on with Barrie, which had selected him in that year’s CHL Import Draft.

The 6’2″ sniper didn’t have quite the impact he or the Stars hoped for. His output fell short of expectations for a first-round pick in his post-draft year, tallying 18 goals and 48 points in 60 regular-season games for the Colts. There was some apparent forward progress late in the year, though – he tallied nearly a point per game for Barrie in the playoffs with an 8-7–15 scoring line in 16 appearances.

On the whole, it’s still slightly underwhelming goal-scoring from a player drafted to do just that. Dallas was hopeful he could make an impact in the pros this season and sent him to their minor-league affiliate out of camp – something he was eligible for since he was drafted out of Finland, not the OHL – but he did not record a point through five games in the AHL. He’ll now look to get some confidence back in a lower-stakes, more familiar environment as he sets his sights toward making a smoother transition to pro hockey in 2026-27.

Mammoth Sign Logan Cooley To Eight-Year Extension

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The Mammoth announced they’ve signed center Logan Cooley to an eight-year contract extension. The deal is worth $80MM for an average annual value and cap hit of $10MM. Cooley, who was a pending restricted free agent in the final year of his entry-level contract, will now remain in Utah through the 2033-34 campaign. The deal does not include signing bonus money, per PuckPedia, but has a 16-team no-trade list from 2030-31 onward. His salary breakdown per year is as follows:

2026-27: $13MM / 2027-28: $11MM / 2028-29: $11MM / 2029-30: $10MM / 2030-31: $7.8MM / 2031-32: $8.2MM / 2032-33: $8.5MM / 2033-34: $10.5MM

In doing so, the Mammoth make Cooley their new highest-paid player, at least beginning next season, and the latest in a string of players signing eight-year deals before the maximum extension length drops to seven next season. It’s a conclusion to the very relaxed, amicable negotiations described throughout between Cooley’s camp and Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong over the past few months, aside from Cooley’s high-profile rejection of an eight-year, $77MM offer.

It turns out Armstrong didn’t need to raise the bar much higher to keep his franchise cornerstone center locked in for the vast majority of his prime. While he’s done quite a lot of work over the past year and a half since the Utah franchise was born from the Coyotes’ hockey operations assets, Cooley is still a holdover from Arizona’s final years. He was the third overall pick of the 2022 draft straight out of the U.S. National Team Development Program and spent his post-draft season at the University of Minnesota, exploding for 22 goals and 60 points in 39 games with a +38 rating. He was the top playmaker in college hockey as a freshman, which, understandably, led him to be one-and-done at school and to sign his entry-level deal with the Coyotes the following offseason.

Since debuting for Arizona in 2023-24, Cooley has been consistently on the rise. He didn’t look out of place at all from the jump, checking in with a 20-goal, 44-point effort in his rookie year while serving as a middle-six center. His defensive game needed some expected cleanup, but he finished fifth in Calder Trophy voting and earned the center spot on the league’s All-Rookie Team.

Still just 21 years old, Cooley is now fully coming into his own. He demonstrated massive improvement in Utah’s first go-around in Salt Lake City last year, upping his production to 25 goals, 40 assists, and 65 points in 75 games. That came with increased success in the faceoff dot, winning 44.7% of his draws compared to just 38% in his rookie season, a workload of nearly 18 minutes per game, and improved possession metrics that saw him control 51.2% of shot attempts and 52.2% of expected goals at even strength.

Getting Cooley’s extension done now, compared to later in the season, likely saved the Mammoth millions of dollars in the long run. Cooley’s off to a torrid start in 2025-26, tied for fifth in the league with eight goals through 11 games while adding four assists for 12 points. He’s now averaging closer to 19 minutes per game, boasts a plus-five rating, and ranks second on the Mammoth in scoring behind veteran Nick Schmaltz. His continued breakout is one of the most significant factors in a Utah offense that ranks eighth in the league at 3.64 goals per game and has the team first in the Central Division.

That production comes despite Cooley not receiving “true” first-line center deployment. He’s rarely been used as the top pivot on Utah’s depth chart between Schmaltz and Clayton Keller – that honor has been bestowed upon the more defense-oriented Barrett Hayton. Cooley has instead become the centerpiece of one of the league’s most potent second lines between Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka, but his position on the line chart does very little to alter his market value with the minutes and production he still manages.

A $10MM cap figure also checks in as a relative bargain for a player expected to consistently hover around a point per game for the life of the deal, particularly as the salary cap continues its aggressive rise. Armstrong has been quick to take advantage of increased funding from Utah ownership compared to his previous bosses in Arizona and now has the vast majority of the team’s core signed for the rest of the decade. Cooley joins Peterka ($7.7MM cap hit), Guenther ($7.14MM cap hit), Jack McBain ($4.25MM cap hit), Mikhail Sergachev ($8.5MM cap hit), and Karel Vejmelka ($4.75MM cap hit) as Mammoth players signed through 2030 or longer.

Armstrong’s work to lock in a championship-contending force in Salt Lake isn’t done yet. There’s the future of Schmaltz and Hayton, the former of whom is a pending UFA and might be well on his way to pricing himself out of an extension. Keller, the team’s captain, has three years left on his current deal. Hayton will be an arbitration-eligible RFA this summer and has no years of team control left after that.

Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.

Sharks Recall Patrick Giles, Place Nick Leddy On IR

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The Sharks announced Tuesday they’ve recalled center Patrick Giles from AHL San Jose. Defenseman Nick Leddy was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 23 to open up a roster spot.

Giles’ recall comes after fellow middleman Adam Gaudette left Sunday’s overtime win over the Wild due to an upper-body injury. Gaudette was not at today’s practice and could miss a longer stretch than just a few days, but the Sharks will know more tomorrow after his evaluation is complete, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now relays.

San Jose was rostering 13 forwards and eight defensemen as it has for much of the year, so Giles comes up to give them an extra forward if they need one for however long Gaudette is unavailable. Giles was the lone piece that came back from the Panthers for goaltender Vítek Vaněček at last season’s trade deadline. The 25-year-old pivot spent the rest of March on the NHL roster before being returned to the AHL for the last couple of weeks of the season. Giles, waiver-eligible for the first time in 2025-26, then landed on the wire during training camp to complete the process of him being cut and reassigned to the minors.

An undrafted free agent signing by Florida out of Boston College back in 2022, Giles made his NHL debut last season. He made 17 appearances split between the Panthers and Sharks, scoring his first NHL goal and posting a minus-three rating while averaging 9:14 of ice time per game. The Maryland native brought some size (6’4″, 205 lbs) and physicality to both clubs’ fourth line, but doesn’t offer much upside beyond that. He struggled in the faceoff dot, winning only 34% of his draws, and only controlled 41.4% of shot attempts at 5-on-5. He saw some fringe penalty-killing deployment with San Jose down the stretch, though.

If Giles’ services are needed in the next several days, they’ll likely insert him as a fourth-line center and bump Ty Dellandrea, who has four assists through nine games, up into a top-nine role if needed. He’s off to a promising enough start in the minors, registering a goal and an assist through four appearances for the Barracuda, but his lack of offensive utility in the pros so far limits the minutes he’ll get.

Leddy has already missed two games with the upper-body injury he sustained early in their game against the Rangers last Thursday. The IR placement rules him out for their next two games but his absence shouldn’t last much longer than that. Leddy returned to practice this morning, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. The 16-year vet was claimed off waivers from the Blues during the summer and has two assists with a minus-four rating through his first seven games as a Shark.

Ducks’ Mikael Granlund Out Week-To-Week

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Ducks center Mikael Granlund will be out for at least two to three weeks after leaving Saturday’s loss to the Lightning in the first period with a lower-body injury, head coach Joel Quenneville told NHL.com. They have not placed him on injured reserve, but made a corresponding transaction in effect over the weekend by activating Jansen Harkins from IR. He’ll make his season debut tonight against the Panthers with Granlund unavailable, Quenneville said.

The injury presses pause on what’s been a banner start to the year for Granlund, who was Anaheim’s big free agent pickup over the summer on a three-year, $21MM deal. The 33-year-old pivot was a point per game through eight appearances, including a two-goal, five-point performance against the Bruins last week. He’s also been the club’s best faceoff man with a 51.9% win rate. That’s despite his linemates not being all too consistent to start the year, seeing Alex Killorn, Nikita Nesterenko, Troy Terry, and Frank Vatrano all spend significant time on his flanks.

After facing some inconsistency in his late 20s, Granlund has made his living in recent years as a top offensive producer on an understaffed Sharks offense and was a rental pickup by the Stars last season before hitting the open market. He’s clicked at a rate of 0.84 points per game since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, just outside the top 60 among forwards with at least 100 games played. It’s a newfound luxury for Anaheim to have a veteran who produces at a top-line pace slot into their middle six. It’s working wonders for the Ducks, who are scoring 3.63 goals per game – good for seventh in the league – after managing just 2.54 per game over the previous three seasons.

They’ll now have to navigate their next eight to 10 games without him around. They’ll be looking for more out of veteran names like Killorn and Vatrano, who’ve combined for just one goal and two assists so far, to compensate. Unfortunately for them, seven of their next eight are against teams that made the playoffs last season.

Blues’ Jake Neighbours Out Five Weeks With Right Leg Injury

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The Blues announced Tuesday that they’ve placed winger Jake Neighbours on injured reserve with a right leg injury. He’ll be re-evaluated in five weeks, putting him out of the lineup through at least Dec. 2. They did not immediately announce a recall to fill his roster spot.

Neighbours was absent for Monday’s loss to the Penguins with what the team previously labeled a lower-body issue, and he carried only a day-to-day designation. It’s clear now that was a bit of smoke and mirrors as he underwent further evaluation. The team said he suffered the injury in Saturday’s loss to the Red Wings. He didn’t leave the contest, in which he had two of St. Louis’ four goals, but did appear to favor his right leg after losing an edge and sliding awkwardly into the boards later in the game.

Very little has gone right for the Blues this season. Losing Neighbours, who has a team-leading six goals and was finishing at a red-hot 50% clip, won’t change that slide of bad luck. The 23-year-old is beginning his fifth NHL season since being drafted in the first round in 2020 and has been stapled to the Blues’ top line with Robert Thomas to start the year. When deployed with Pavel Buchnevich on their right flank, they’ve controlled play well with a 51.9 xGF% and 50.6 CF%, per MoneyPuck. Poor goaltending has still led them to be outscored 5-4 and for Neighbours to post a minus-four rating despite his individual success, accounting for 22.2% of the goals the Blues have scored this season.

While that one-in-two finishing rate is unsustainable, the writing was on the wall for a breakout campaign from Neighbours in 2025-26. He’s put together back-to-back 20-goal campaigns and hit a career-best 46 points while playing all 82 games last season. Getting more pucks on net, once he returns in December, will be key to getting him back on that path. Neighbours’ 19.7 shooting percentage since the beginning of 2023-24 is ninth in the league among skaters with at least 100 shots on goal during that time, but he’s only averaged 1.55 shots on goal per game for his career.

The Blues were also without Thomas in last night’s loss due to an upper-body injury. He’s still only listed as day-to-day, but for the time being, the Blues are without the two most consistent members of their top line to open the campaign. Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter were elevated from third-line duties to skate with Buchnevich last night. It’s unclear if that will continue into tonight’s rematch against Detroit or if head coach Jim Montgomery will shuffle his lines further in the wake of three straight regulation losses.

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