Sharks Acquire Nolan Allan, Laurent Brossoit
The Sharks have acquired defenseman Nolan Allan, goaltender Laurent Brossoit, and a 2028 seventh-round pick from the Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Jake Furlong, a 2028 fourth-round pick, and the contract of retired defenseman Ryan Ellis, both teams announced.
While Brossoit is the highest-priced piece of San Jose’s pickups, Allan’s name is of most intrigue. A first-round selection by Chicago out of WHL Prince Albert in 2021, he’s now in his third professional season. The 22-year-old has been in AHL Rockford for the entirety of 2025-26 but gained a fair bit of NHL experience last season, frequently forming a shutdown pairing with veteran T.J. Brodie and recording eight points and a -13 rating in 43 games.
Nonetheless, Allan’s development hasn’t panned out as the Blackhawks hoped. Drafted as a shutdown D-man, his game hasn’t shown much development since debuting in the AHL in 2023. He ends his time in Rockford with 29 points and an even rating in 109 games, including six points and a -2 rating in 29 appearances this year.
Although it’s peculiar to see Chicago leverage Allan’s name in a move that’s otherwise a swap of negative-value contracts, it’s not surprising to see them move on. He was no longer even considered a top-15 prospect in their pool by McKeen’s Hockey entering the season and had little to no pathway to an NHL role with Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski, and Ethan Del Mastro all on the Hawks’ roster or system as more certain long-term options on the left side of their defense.
With the blue line being a bit of a weaker spot in the Sharks’ similarly well-stocked prospect pool, it makes sense they’d take up an interest in a shutdown rearguard with first-round pedigree. While Sam Dickinson is ticketed as their long-term left-side anchor, they don’t have very much behind him in terms of younger pieces aside from 2023 fourth-rounder Luca Cagnoni, who profiles as a high-end power play quarterback but faces questions of how well his defensive game will develop at even strength. Allan will thus immediately take on a significant role with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda as he works to climb back to the NHL.
As for Brossoit, the 32-year-old gets the change of scenery he and the Blackhawks were looking for after he finally returned to play from a year-plus absence last month. One of the best pure backups in the league earlier in the decade, he signed a two-year, $6.6MM contract with Chicago in free agency in 2024 but sustained an offseason meniscus injury that effectively derailed his career.
After multiple knee surgeries and a hip procedure last summer, Brossoit finally returned to practice with the Hawks in November and started in Rockford on a conditioning stint in December. With no real spot available for him on the NHL or AHL depth chart after such a long absence, he cleared waivers without incident, and Chicago has been looking for a trade partner ever since.
Brossoit has done reasonably well in his return to play, logging a .901 SV% and 3.38 GAA and a 3-3-0 record in six games with Rockford. For a Sharks team that faced questions about its goaltending depth entering the season, he’s a legitimately impactful pickup. He won’t be supplanting Yaroslav Askarov or Alex Nedeljkovic on the NHL roster anytime soon, but he’s a significant upgrade as their third-stringer and AHL starter over Jakub Skarek, who owns a .894 SV% in 16 appearances for the Barracuda.
Chicago’s return centers around Ellis. The 35-year-old has now been traded twice since effectively hanging up his skates following a pelvic tear in 2021 that ended his career just four games into his tenure with the Flyers. The longtime Predators top-four piece remained on Philadelphia’s books until the beginning of this season, when the Sharks picked up his contract in the trade that sent Carl Grundström to Philadelphia in order to help them stay above the cap floor.
Ellis’ deal, which carries a cap hit of $6.25MM, runs through next season. Chicago pulled a similar move at last year’s trade deadline to help them stay above the cap floor, acquiring Shea Weber‘s deal from Utah. Weber’s contract expires next summer, though, so adding Ellis will give them floor protection heading into next season as they continue to hand the keys to their roster over to their next wave of young prospects on cheap entry-level deals.
As well as a three-round pick upgrade in the 2028 draft, the Hawks land some AHL depth in Furlong to help offset the loss of Allan and to keep the Sharks from exceeding the 50-contract limit, which they’re currently at. A fifth-rounder in 2022, Furlong was a dynamic two-way rearguard in juniors with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads but hasn’t yet found any success at the pro level. The 21-year-old is in his second AHL season and has been limited to one goal, 10 points, and a -20 rating in 78 games with the Barracuda, including just 12 appearances this year as a frequent healthy scratch.
Image courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.
Kings Recall Cole Guttman, Place Trevor Moore On IR
The Kings announced they’ve recalled forward Cole Guttman from AHL Ontario on an emergency basis. Winger Trevor Moore was moved to injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 29, in the corresponding move.
If Guttman plays, it would be his first NHL action in nearly two years. A sixth-round pick by the Lightning in 2017, he opted not to sign with them and instead inked an entry-level deal with the Blackhawks after captaining the University of Denver to a national championship in 2022.
Initially, it looked like the 5’9″ pivot would be able to carve out an NHL role. He spent most of his first year in the minors but impressed with 30 points in 39 games as a rookie. He also didn’t look out of place in his time on Chicago’s roster, scoring four goals and six points through his first 14 NHL games.
Guttman has remained a high-end AHL producer in the years since, but a lack of physicality and inconsistent two-way play have kept him from seeing much NHL time. He did get into another 27 games with the Blackhawks in 2023-24, but after recording eight points and a garish -17 rating, he was sent back to the minors, where he remained through last season until becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent.
The Kings pounced and signed him to a two-year, two-way deal this offseason. His AHL resume was impressive enough to warrant a rather high $475K guarantee – after all, he’d managed 127 points in 148 games with Rockford over the years.
The California native has largely kept up the pace after returning home. The 26-year-old ranks fourth on the Ontario Reign in scoring with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 31 games.
He joins a Kings forward group that was forced to dress only 11 forwards in yesterday’s overtime loss to the Sharks. Moore, Joel Armia, and Anže Kopitar were all unavailable and are listed as day-to-day entering tomorrow’s matchup with the Jets. Moore has been out the longest, sitting out four games with an illness and an upper-body injury, so he was the logical IR candidate. He can be activated at any time since he’s already missed more than seven days.
Pre-injury, Moore was having a tough year. He’s been money in the bank for at least a 40-point pace since being acquired from the Maple Leafs in 2020, but has just five goals and 13 points in 37 showings in 2025-26. That’s a points per game pace of 0.35, his worst in a full season in Los Angeles.
Wild Place Tyler Pitlick On Waivers
The Wild have placed forward Tyler Pitlick on waivers, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Whether he’ll be assigned to AHL Iowa if he clears remains to be seen. The Wild have already waived Pitlick once this season solely with the intention of resetting his waiver-exempt clock rather than removing him from the roster.
Pitlick, 34, now has more than a decade of experience in the NHL. Once a journeyman bottom-six staple, he’d faded into press box/call-up territory in recent years but has found a bit more stability in Minnesota this season. He didn’t see NHL ice at all in 2024-25, spending most of the year on an AHL contract in the Bruins organization, before landing a two-way deal from the Wild last offseason.
The Minneapolis native peaked as a bottom-six player with some penalty-killing ability in the late 2010s, once recording a career-high 14 goals and 27 points with the Stars in 2017-18. Overall, he’s averaged 11 goals and 20 points per 82 games in his NHL career, but has just one goal in 23 games for the Wild this year.
Averaging 7:49 of ice time per game, he’s the Wild’s least-used forward and ranks near the bottom of the team with a 41.2% Corsi share at even strength. He does rank fourth on the club with 58 hits, at least bringing a physical element to Minnesota’s fourth line.
He’ll now be available for 31 other teams to grab, but after already clearing waivers once in-season, he’s a safe bet to remain in the organization. With Minnesota’s forward group at full health, he’s been a healthy scratch in nine straight and appears set for a press-box role for the foreseeable future.
Blue Jackets Place Mason Marchment On IR, Dysin Mayo On Waivers
Jan. 8: Mayo cleared waivers and has been reassigned to Cleveland, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Jan. 7: The Blue Jackets announced they’ve placed winger Mason Marchment on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 4. He sustained an upper-body injury in that day’s game against the Penguins and is considered week-to-week, the team said. They’ve recalled forward Mikael Pyyhtia from AHL Cleveland in a corresponding move. Additionally, defenseman Dysin Mayo has been placed on waivers and will be assigned to Cleveland tomorrow if he clears.
Marchment, 30, was scratched for yesterday’s 5-2 loss to the Sharks due to the injury. He didn’t appear to miss any action against Pittsburgh, so a week-to-week designation without any obvious-to-sight injury comes across as worse than expected. He would be eligible to come off IR as soon as Sunday against the Mammoth, but will seemingly miss several more games than that.
Acquired from the Kraken on Dec. 19, the trade has breathed new life into Marchment’s game. The 6’5″ lefty is tied with Kirill Marchenko for the team lead in goals since the swap with five. That’s one more than he had in 29 games with Seattle to begin the season.
The top-nine spark plug is now up to 20 points in 36 games on the year. That works out to 0.56 per game, his worst pace since 2022-23 with the Stars. Despite that, he’s still shooting a bit above his career average, so he’ll need to focus on continuing to get more pucks on net with Columbus when he returns to avoid a bout of regression.
Marchment had been skating on the Jackets’ top line with Marchenko and Adam Fantilli. Dmitri Voronkov took over those duties against San Jose and was dominant at 5-on-5, with that line controlling shot attempts 13-2.
It’s not anticipated that Pyyhtia will enter the lineup against the Golden Knights tomorrow. Instead, he comes up as Marchment is flexed to IR to give Columbus a healthy extra for the press box. With Marchment, Isac Lundeström, and Miles Wood now off the active roster, the Jackets’ forward depth has been stretched thin.
There are far worse recall options than Pyyhtia, though. The 24-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2020 and has 66 games of NHL experience, including a career-high 47 appearances last season. After failing to crack the Jackets’ opening night roster this season, he’s put up nearly a point per game with Cleveland while leading the team in scoring (7-15–22 in 23 GP).
Mayo had become expendable after the club’s signing of Egor Zamula yesterday. He had been serving as a press-box defenseman with Erik Gudbranson and Brendan Smith on IR, but with Jake Christiansen set to be supplanted by Zamula in the lineup, Mayo was a redundancy. The 29-year-old righty has one assist in two outings for Columbus this year, as well as seven points and a -2 rating in 19 games for Cleveland.
Kraken Recall Oscar Fisker Molgaard
Fresh off being named to Denmark’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics, center Oscar Fisker Molgaard has been recalled by the Kraken, the team announced. They’ve been operating with an open roster spot for quite some time, so no corresponding move is required.
Molgaard, 21 next month, was a second-round pick in 2023. Just two years on from being drafted, he’s already got NHL games under his belt. Seattle recalled Molgaard for a pair of games in November, recording an assist and going 5-for-7 on faceoffs in the process, before being swiftly returned to AHL Coachella Valley when Jared McCann returned from a lower-body injury.
Now, with Jaden Schwartz on injured reserve and Eeli Tolvanen dealing with an illness, Fisker Molgaard will get another crack at entering the lineup. Even if he’s just around for a few games as an extra forward, it’s an indication of how pleased the organization has been with his development. The lanky 6’0″ pivot had a pair of strong seasons in Sweden’s top league with HV71 after being drafted, notching 40 points in 88 games before coming to North America.
In his first season of pro hockey stateside, Molgaard ranks fourth on Coachella Valley in scoring with a 6-12–18 line in 30 games. A good skater with a great shot, he’s been the centerpiece of Denmark’s national junior teams for several years and already has three World Championship appearances with the senior team under his belt, including a great showing in 2025 with seven points in 10 games. He figures to slot into the Danes’ top-six forward group at the Olympics alongside fellow NHLers Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nikolaj Ehlers, Lars Eller, and Jonas Rondbjerg.
Blue Jackets’ Brendan Smith Undergoes Meniscus Surgery
The Blue Jackets announced that defenseman Brendan Smith underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. He’s been given a three-to-four-month return timeline, potentially ending his season.
Columbus’ final game of the regular season is on April 14. They have five games between then and April 6, which would be the three-month mark since Smith’s surgery, so in the most optimistic scenario, he’d be available for the final few games. In the overwhelmingly likely event that the Jackets don’t make the playoffs, those will be his only opportunities to add to a limited games played total for 2025-26.
Smith, 36, went unsigned all summer after spending 2024-25 as an extra defenseman for the Stars. He landed a professional tryout from Columbus in August but didn’t land an NHL contract out of training camp, instead agreeing to a deal with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. In late November, with the Jackets needing to add a body from Cleveland amid Erik Gudbranson‘s injury troubles, they opted to sign Smith to a two-way deal instead of recalling someone already under contract.
The 15-year vet stuck on the Jackets’ bottom pairing from the very beginning of his recall before sustaining the meniscus tear against the Senators on Dec. 29. In 15 games, he scored two assists with a -1 rating while averaging just 11:05 of ice time per game.
He largely did his job as a low-event stopgap at 5-on-5. Columbus only allowed 28.0 shots against per 60 minutes with Smith on the ice, the best figure among their seven qualified D, but they also only generated 22.16, the worst figure by a significant margin. All told, they were outchanced 72-49 with Smith on the ice at even strength.
The news of Smith’s surgery won’t cause much of a domino effect. He had already been placed on IR, and they filled in his vacated spot on the depth chart by signing Egor Zamula to a one-year, $1MM deal on Tuesday.
Smith will head into unrestricted free agency next summer. With such a limited resume for 2025-26 and undergoing a significant surgery this late in his career, retirement is far from being out of the question.
Team Slovakia Announces 2026 Olympic Roster
Slovakia became the latest country to announce its roster for next month’s Olympics this morning. Now, only the host country, Italy, has yet to release its full roster for the event, which begins on Feb. 11.
Forwards:
- Peter Cehlarik (Leksand/SHL)
- Dalibor Dvorsky (Blues)
- Marek Hrivik (Vitkovice/ELH)
- Libor Hudacek (Ocelari Trinec/ELH)
- Milos Kelemen (Dynamo Pardubice/ELH)
- Adam Liska (Severstal Cherepovets/KHL)
- Oliver Okuliar (Skelleftea/SHL)
- Martin Pospisil (Flames)
- Pavol Regenda (Sharks)
- Adam Ruzicka (Spartak Moscow/KHL)
- Juraj Slafkovsky (Canadiens)
- Matus Sukel (Litvinov/ELH)
- Samuel Takac (Slovan Bratislava/Slovakia)
- Tomas Tatar (Zug/NL)
Defensemen:
- Peter Ceresnak (Dynamo Pardubice/ELH)
- Erik Cernak (Lightning)
- Martin Fehervary (Capitals)
- Martin Gernat (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl/KHL)
- Michal Ivan (Bili Tygri Liberec/ELH)
- Patrik Koch (Ocelari Trinec/ELH)
- Martin Marincin (Ocelari Trinec/ELH)
- Simon Nemec (Devils)
Goaltenders:
- Adam Gajan (Minnesota-Duluth/NCHC)
- Samuel Hlavaj (Wild)
- Stanislav Skorvanek (Mountfield/ELH)
While most secondary hockey powers that have released their Olympic rosters in recent days have had a clear weak spot on defense, the same can’t be said for the Slovaks. Five of their eight defenders have NHL experience. Three of them are currently playing impact roles in the bigs, with Cernak and Fehervary serving as top-four staples in Tampa and Washington, while Nemec is amid a breakout season in New Jersey. Koch only had a cup of coffee with the Coyotes in 2023-24, but Marincin, now 33, played in 227 games across eight seasons with the Oilers and Maple Leafs from 2013-20.
The men between the pipes are the biggest question marks as they attempt to upset one of Finland or Sweden for a top-two spot in Group B (the host Italians pose little threat to them for third place). None of them has NHL experience, although the two youngest names on the list are both NHL-affiliated.
Hlavaj, 24, was an undrafted free agent signing by Minnesota in 2024 out of Plzen in the Czech Extraliga. He started for them in the Olympic qualifiers last year and is the expected No. 1 heading into the tournament, but he’s having a tough year with a .876 SV% in 13 games for AHL Iowa. Gajan, an unsigned second-rounder by the Blackhawks in 2023, is having a breakout year in college and will compete with the European pro veteran Skorvanek for backup duties.
As for the forwards, the most experienced NHLer on the entire roster is Tatar, who’s no longer in the league after signing in Switzerland last summer. Tatar and Marincin are the only returning members from the 2014 Olympics, the last time NHLers were permitted to attend. The 35-year-old had 496 points in 927 career NHL games before heading off to Zug, where he’s tied for third on the National League club in scoring with 23 points in 26 games.
The rest of Slovakia’s high-profile offensive talent is on the younger side. Dvorsky and Slafkovsky were both top-10 picks in the last four years, with the former just beginning to lock down an NHL role with St. Louis. Pospisil, 26, has back-to-back 20-point seasons in Calgary but hasn’t played yet this year due to an undisclosed injury. Regenda has bounced between the NHL and AHL with the Ducks and Sharks over the past several years, but has been on a tear in San Jose this season, scoring six goals in six games.
Mammoth To Host Winter Classic In 2027
5:00 p.m.: According to Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports, the Mammoth will host the Colorado Avalanche in the 2027 Winter Classic, as predicted. As previously noted, it will be the Mammoth’s first outdoor game, whereas it’ll be Colorado’s fourth. Still, it’ll be the Avalanche’s first time playing in the Winter Classic, and their first as an ‘away’ team for an outdoor matchup.
10:05 a.m.: The NHL and Mammoth ownership are expected to announce an outdoor game awarded to the Utah franchise for next season, Frank Seravalli of Victory+ reports. With the Stars already announced as the host of a Stadium Series game in February 2027, it will likely be a Winter Classic game being hosted by the NHL’s newest franchise, although the league has opted for two Stadium Series events per year in the past.
Utah is one of five teams to never host an outdoor game, but they’re the only franchise to never have appeared in one, even if you opt to include the legally distinct Coyotes franchise in that definition. The Panthers were the last team with that designation, but can no longer lay claim to it after hosting the Winter Classic in Miami last week.
The league has historically shown a propensity to award special events to new franchises as soon as logistically possible. The Kraken hosted their closest expansion brethren, the Golden Knights, in the Winter Classic in just their third year of existence in 2023-24.
Just like Seattle, year three in Utah will mark the first time the Mammoth head outdoors. After next season, only the Canadiens, Ducks, and Golden Knights will be left without a hometown appearance – unless you prefer to count the 2021 Lake Tahoe games as a host contest for Vegas (they were technically the visiting team against the Avalanche). The Lightning haven’t hosted one yet either but have the Stadium Series on their home turf next month.
Jets Recall Danny Zhilkin, Place Haydn Fleury On IR
The Jets announced they’ve recalled forward Danny Zhilkin from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Defenseman Haydn Fleury was placed on injured reserve in the corresponding move. He’s been diagnosed with a broken nose and bruised back after needing to be stretchered off the ice in last night’s game, with the team’s Mitchell Clinton noting he was discharged from the hospital and back around the team today.
Zhilkin could figure to make his NHL debut against the Oilers, although that’s uncertain. The 22-year-old is in his third season of pro hockey, all with the Jets organization. He was a third-round pick out of the OHL’s Guelph Storm in 2022, but because of his December birthday, he only needed to spend one post-draft year in juniors before making the jump to the AHL.
The 6’1″ pivot has understandably struggled to make much of an impact offensively in Manitoba, one of the AHL’s worst clubs over the past few years. He’s slowly been working on finding more minutes and upping his production, already reaching a career-high 14 points in 30 appearances this season.
The Moscow-born Canadian was a raw-skill pickup. He’s not much of a physical factor, nor is he an above-average skater, but his hockey sense and puckhandling skills have long been touted as potentially being NHL-caliber. His limited AHL production dropped him out of being a top-10 or even top-15 prospect in Winnipeg’s system by most rankings, but it appears he’ll get a chance in the coming days to reward the Jets’ faith.
Fleury’s diagnosis, a potential concussion notwithstanding, is close to the best-case scenario after a hospital visit. The 29-year-old had returned from a concussion just last month, though, so they’ll be highly cautious in his return-to-play protocol. The seventh overall pick of the 2014 draft has gone without a point and has a -7 rating in 17 contests for Winnipeg this year.
Kings Recall Andre Lee, Taylor Ward
The Kings added forwards Andre Lee and Taylor Ward to the roster on recall from AHL Ontario, per a team announcement. Winger Corey Perry was placed on the non-roster list in a corresponding move as he deals with the illness of a family member, according to Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period.
Lee’s and Ward’s presence comes after Anže Kopitar and Joel Armia both left the Kings’ Monday game against the Wild with lower-body and upper-body injuries, respectively. They’re both day-to-day and won’t play tonight, per Bernstein, but the fact they haven’t been placed on injured reserve is a good sign for their availability on Friday against the Jets.
Lee, 25, comes up for the first time this season after getting a taste of NHL hockey last year. A seventh-round pick back in 2019, the 6’4″ winger is enjoying an offensive breakout in Ontario. After never recording more than 20 points in a season, he’s already hit 27 in just 32 games and leads the team with 15 goals.
The UMass-Lowell alum suited up 19 times for L.A. last season, recording a goal and three points with a -5 rating. He wasn’t used on special teams and was bound to fourth-line minutes at 5-on-5, averaging 9:10 per game. Despite that, he finished fourth on the team with 1.89 hits per game and averaged nearly a shot per night. However, despite receiving the most sheltered offensive zone usage of any Kings forward, his 51.2% share of shot attempts ranked near the bottom among L.A. skaters.
The Kings are hoping Lee’s possession game has improved as he steps back into the lineup tonight against the Sharks. He’ll also get a taste of shorthanded action as he’s expected to factor in on the team’s second penalty kill unit, per John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor.
Ward will also be entering the lineup for just his second NHL appearance. The 27-year-old debuted in the final game of the regular season last year, scoring the Kings’ lone goal in a 5-1 loss to the Flames. A 6’2″ winger, he’s also enjoying the best offensive season of his pro career with 12 goals and 21 points in 32 games for Ontario.
The son of one-time King Dixon Ward, he’s in his fourth professional season after signing with L.A. as a free agent out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2022. While in school, he averaged 0.88 points per game for the Mavericks.