Canucks Recall Victor Mancini
12:01 p.m.: Joseph’s landing on IR is indeed the corresponding transaction, the Canucks announced. The placement is backdated to Sep. 30, so he’s eligible to return at any time.
9:48 a.m.: The Canucks are set to recall defenseman Victor Mancini from AHL Abbotsford, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports. The team has since confirmed the move. While he wasn’t on the opening night roster the Canucks submitted yesterday, he will be eligible to play in Vancouver’s home opener on Thursday against the Flames.
Vancouver’s initial roster submission was at the 23-player limit, however. They’ll need to free up a roster spot before officially recalling Mancini. In all likelihood, that will be moving defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to injured reserve. He missed the Canucks’ preseason finale while dealing with what head coach Adam Foote called a minor issue, Jeff Paterson of CanucksArmy relayed at the time. He hasn’t practiced since, though, leaving his status for Vancouver’s first regular-season game in doubt. The Canucks can backdate Joseph’s IR placement to when he first sustained the injury, meaning he’ll have already missed the required seven days and could return as soon as this weekend.
Mancini, 23, was one of Vancouver’s final cuts from training camp. His waiver-exempt status meant he faced an uphill battle for a depth job over non-exempt veterans like Joseph. A 2022 fifth-round pick by the Rangers, he’s coming off his first professional season – one that saw him unexpectedly break camp with the Rangers last fall. He ended up making 31 NHL appearances as he bounced between the majors and the minors throughout the year, splitting them nearly evenly across New York and Vancouver after he was included in January’s blockbuster J.T. Miller trade.
The 6’3″ righty showed definite room for improvement in his two-way game. His 2-6–8 scoring line worked out to 0.26 points per game, more than passable for a rookie rearguard whose primary upside is as a defensive specialist. He failed to succeed at his calling card, though, posting some rather troublesome possession numbers despite being given a relatively advantageous deployment. Despite starting 53.9% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone, Mancini only controlled 40.3% of shot attempts – a nearly 12% relative downgrade compared to his teammates in both New York and Vancouver.
In 30 AHL appearances last year, Mancini netted four goals and nine assists for 13 points and a -4 rating. He added a 3-5–8 scoring line with a -6 rating in 24 playoff games as he helped Abbotsford to a Calder Cup championship.
Mancini carries an $870K cap hit and is kicking off the final season of his entry-level contract, making him a restricted free agent without arbitration rights next summer. The Canucks opened the year with $1.34MM in cap space, according to PuckPedia, leaving them enough room to call him up with Joseph (and Nils Höglander) still counting against the cap on IR.
Sharks Place Jack Thompson On Injured Reserve, Sam Dickinson Makes Team
The Sharks listed defenseman Jack Thompson on injured reserve when releasing the opening day roster they registered last night, per Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest. It’s not clear what he’s dealing with, but his placement does create an open roster spot that San Jose is giving to top defense prospect Sam Dickinson.
It’s an extremely late save for Dickinson’s spot on the active roster. The Sharks’ waiver activity over the weekend would have left them with no other option than to return Dickinson to OHL London yesterday to get down to 23 players had Thompson not sustained an injury. He did not dress for their preseason finale against the Mammoth on Saturday and appeared to leave their Friday win over the Golden Knights early, only registering 10:10 of ice time.
It’s understandable why the Sharks wouldn’t have wanted to expose Thompson to waivers. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Lightning in 2024’s Anthony Duclair trade, and he worked his way into 31 appearances for San Jose last year after only making three the season prior. The offensively skilled righty managed four goals and six assists for 10 points with a -9 rating, averaging 15:47 per game. He got some power-play looks and had solid possession impacts in his sheltered even-strength duties, logging a 45.4 CF% and 50.4 xGF%.
Thompson signed a one-year, two-way deal as a restricted free agent this summer, paying him $800K in the NHL. His pathway to regular playing time upon returning to health isn’t clear. Including Dickinson, the club has four new faces on its blue line after signing John Klingberg and Dmitry Orlov in free agency and claiming Nick Leddy off waivers. There’s also Vincent Desharnais and Shakir Mukhamadullin on the active roster in addition to San Jose’s projected top pair of Mario Ferraro and Timothy Liljegren. Thompson could see more looks in the lineup later on in the season if the still-rebuilding Sharks trade one of their veterans, namely Ferraro, but it might be tough sledding for the Ontario native early on.
One thing is for sure – the Sharks aren’t keeping Dickinson around to sit him in the press box. The 2024 No. 11 overall pick arrives in the NHL and is ticketed to make his debut when San Jose opens its season on Thursday against Vegas. The 6’3″ lefty will do so on the heels of a spectacular junior career with London, where he won back-to-back championships and was named the CHL’s Defenseman of the Year in 2024-25. He’s nearly a point-per-game for his junior career and exploded for a 29-62–91 scoring line in just 55 regular-season contests last year.
If Dickinson doesn’t stick around, the Sharks won’t be able to send him to their AHL affiliate unless it’s for conditioning. He’ll need to return to London if it’s a full-time demotion, something the Sharks weren’t keen on doing to risk overbaking him. Dickinson averaged nearly 20 minutes per game across five preseason appearances for the Sharks, notching a pair of primary assists.
Stars Sign Adam Erne To Two-Way Deal
The Stars have signed winger Adam Erne to a two-way deal for 2025-26, according to a team announcement. The contract includes an NHL salary of $775K, an AHL salary of $250K, and a guarantee of $300K, per PuckPedia.
Erne attended Dallas’ training camp on a professional tryout. The 30-year-old lands a contract after working his way into five of the Stars’ six preseason contests, scoring two assists and averaging a shade over 13 minutes per game. He had nine shots on goal and tied Nathan Bastian for the team lead in hits with 18.
While he has eight years and 379 games of NHL experience under his belt, Erne didn’t see any ice time last year and hasn’t skated in an NHL contest since April 2024. He attended the Rangers’ training camp on a PTO last year but wasn’t successful in landing a deal. He received a tryout with their AHL affiliate in Hartford, but he recorded just one assist and a -5 rating in 10 games before being released. He didn’t land anywhere else, so he hasn’t played a regular-season or playoff game at any level in nearly a calendar year.
At his peak, Erne was a fine third-line checking piece for the Lightning and Red Wings. He’s hit the 20-point mark in a single season twice and carries a career 41-50–91 scoring line with a -59 rating into his NHL return. His signing makes him one of 12 healthy forwards on Dallas’ roster for now, meaning he’s slated to make his Stars debut on Thursday against the Jets unless they opt to dress seven defensemen.
His pathway to a contract was made easier by preseason injuries to forwards Oskar Back and Jamie Benn, the latter of whom landed on long-term injured reserve this morning to create the cap space for Erne to join the active roster. Benn is expected to return late this month after sustaining a collapsed lung during a preseason game, while the team hasn’t issued any details on Back’s injury. Erne will likely get fourth-line reps until one or both of Back and Benn are ready to return, at which point he could land on waivers and back in the AHL if he clears.
The Stars should have roughly $1.1MM remaining in their LTIR pool. That leaves them enough flexibility to recall an extra forward from AHL Texas if they need one.
Blues’ Oskar Sundqvist Out Week-To-Week
Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist has been given a week-to-week designation with a lower-body injury ahead of their season opener on Thursday, general manager Doug Armstrong told reporters (including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic). The club doesn’t expect his absence to last much longer than the first check-in point, though, and has only ruled him out for their first three games, per Lou Korac of NHL.com.
Sundqvist didn’t land on injured reserve when the Blues submitted their opening night roster yesterday, so he’s technically eligible to return at any time. With just $625K in cap space to start the season, the Blues wouldn’t have enough space to make a corresponding recall if they moved Sundqvist to IR, so there wasn’t any point in doing so.
The 31-year-old sustained the injury during a practice session on Sunday, Korac wrote for The Hockey News. It appeared to be a right leg issue after falling during a battle drill along the boards, and he required help off the ice. Fortunately, his absence won’t be as extensive as initially feared. Injuries are a commonality for Sundqvist, who’s only cracked the 70-game mark twice in his 10-year NHL career. He has missed 18 games over the last two seasons, primarily due to an ACL injury he suffered late in the 2023-24 season that carried into the beginning of the 2024-25 season.
Sundqvist is in the third season of his second stint in St. Louis. He initially landed back with the Blues on a one-year, league minimum deal in free agency in 2023, but he signed a two-year, $3MM extension in March 2024. He’s entering the final year of that deal, which carries a cap hit of $1.5MM, and could be an unrestricted free agent again next summer.
A career-long bottom-six checking piece, Sundqvist usually produces in the 20-to-30-point range. That held true last year, managing a 6-14–20 scoring line with a -6 rating in 67 appearances. He’s versatile enough to bounce between the wing and center but spent a good amount of time down the middle in 2024-25, winning 45.5% of his 572 faceoffs. He’s expected to continue to see time at center upon his return, potentially in a fourth-line role after St. Louis’ offseason additions of Nick Bjugstad and Pius Suter bumped him down the depth chart.
Panthers Sign Noah Gregor To Two-Way Deal
The Panthers announced Tuesday that they’ve agreed to terms with forward Noah Gregor on a two-way contract. He had been in training camp on a professional tryout agreement. The deal carries an NHL salary of $775K and an AHL salary of $450K, according to PuckPedia. In a pair of corresponding moves, the team also reversed yesterday’s paper demotion of winger Mackie Samoskevich to AHL Charlotte and moved Aleksander Barkov from standard injured reserve to long-term injured reserve, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports. Gregor’s contract won’t be registered with the league until those two moves are formalized, as Florida doesn’t have the cap space to add him to the roster until after gaining relief from Barkov’s LTIR placement.
While Gregor wasn’t on the opening night roster that Florida formally registered with the league last night, he will be eligible to play in tonight’s season opener against the Blackhawks. The six-year NHL vet made four preseason appearances for the Cats, scoring a goal and an assist while adding seven hits and a blocked shot in over 17 minutes of ice time per game. He won’t get nearly that much deployment in the regular season. The 27-year-old center has only averaged 12:19 of ice time per game across 293 career contests, and that figure has been trending down over the past few years.
It wasn’t all that surprising to see Gregor need to settle for a tryout. He also required one to land a contract with the Maple Leafs in 2023, and he has now been non-tendered for three consecutive years. That streak will end next offseason as he’ll be eligible for outright unrestricted free agency. The Alberta native is coming off his worst showing since emerging as an NHL regular with the Sharks in 2020. Splitting the year between Ottawa and San Jose, he tied a career-worst -21 rating in 52 appearances while making minimal offensive contributions – just four goals and three assists. While his high-end skating has always generated intrigue, it has rarely translated into a legitimate offensive impact. He’s only hit the 10-goal and 20-point marks once in a single season.
Nonetheless, he showed out well enough in Florida’s camp to earn another deal. The Panthers are in desperate need of cheap forward depth, as they’re virtually capped out despite starting the year with all of Barkov, Tomáš Nosek, and Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve thanks to the new rule that teams are limited to the previous year’s average salary (~$3.82MM in this case) in LTIR relief per player if their injury isn’t season-ending. After Gregor averaged only 11:06 per game last season, he’ll presumably be in the Cats’ fourth-line rotation along with returnees Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer, late-offseason signing Luke Kunin, and preseason waiver claim Cole Schwindt. The two-way structure indicates he’s a candidate to end up on waivers when Nosek or Tkachuk is ready to return, depending on who comes back first.
As for Samoskevich, his quiet demotion yesterday was essential to Florida’s initial salary cap setup. The team submitted their opening night roster, which excluded the waiver-exempt Samoskevich and included Nosek and Tkachuk on LTIR, but listed Barkov on standard IR. That left the Panthers $4.55MM over the cap but with $4.6MM in relief from Nosek and Tkachuk. That set their initial LTIR capture within $50K of the maximum relief. Moving Barkov to LTIR then opens up an additional $3.82MM in space, which they used to recall Samoskevich (who also carries a $775K cap hit) and sign Gregor. After all those transactions are officially completed, the Panthers will have $2.27MM remaining in their LTIR pool, per PuckPedia.
Samoskevich, Florida’s 2021 first-round pick, will be in tonight’s lineup, presumably in a top-nine role. The 22-year-old finished 11th in Calder Trophy voting for the league’s top rookie last year with 15 goals and 31 points in 72 games.
Today’s moves also officially leave the door open for Barkov to suit up for Florida in the playoffs. He’s expected back sometime between late April and late June after he blew up his right ACL and MCL in his first practice of training camp, requiring surgery.
2025 NHL Opening Night Rosters
The deadline to submit cap-compliant opening night rosters, which must be at or below the 23-player limit, is Monday at 4:00 p.m. Central. As teams confirm their final moves, we’ll be listing each team’s initial roster for the 2025-26 campaign as announcements come in:
Last updated Oct. 7, 11:27 a.m.
Anaheim Ducks
Roster size: 23/23
Link to team announcement
Forwards (14): Leo Carlsson, Sam Colangelo, Cutter Gauthier, Mikael Granlund, Ross Johnston, Alex Killorn, Chris Kreider, Mason McTavish, Nikita Nesterenko, Ryan Poehling, Beckett Sennecke, Ryan Strome, Troy Terry, Frank Vatrano
Defenseman (6): Radko Gudas, Drew Helleson, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, Jacob Trouba, Olen Zellweger
Goaltenders (3): Lukáš Dostál, Ville Husso, Petr Mrázek
IR: F Jansen Harkins (upper body, proj. return Nov. 22)
SOIR: F Coulson Pitre (upper body, indefinite)
Boston Bruins
Roster size: 23/23
Link to team announcement
Forwards (14): Viktor Arvidsson, John Beecher, Michael Eyssimont, Morgan Geekie, Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic, Marat Khusnutdinov, Sean Kuraly, Elias Lindholm, Fraser Minten, Casey Mittelstadt, David Pastrňák, Jeffrey Viel, Pavel Zacha
Defensemen (7): Jordan Harris, Henri Jokiharju, Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Andrew Peeke, Nikita Zadorov
Goaltenders (2): Joonas Korpisalo, Jeremy Swayman
Buffalo Sabres
Roster size: 23/23
Link to team announcement
Forwards (14): Zach Benson, Justin Danforth, Josh Doan, Mason Geertsen, Tyson Kozak, Peyton Krebs, Jiri Kulich, Beck Malenstyn, Ryan McLeod, Joshua Norris, Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Jason Zucker
Defensemen (6): Jacob Bryson, Bowen Byram, Rasmus Dahlin, Ryan Johnson, Mattias Samuelsson, Conor Timmins
Goaltenders (3): Colten Ellis, Alexandar Georgiev, Alex Lyon
IR: F Jordan Greenway (lower body, week-to-week), D Michael Kesselring (undisclosed, week-to-week), G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body, week-to-week), D Owen Power (undisclosed, day-to-day)
SOIR: F Carson Meyer (undisclosed, indefinite)
Calgary Flames
Roster size: 23/23
Link to team announcement
Forwards (13): Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Matthew Coronato, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Matvei Gridin, Samuel Honzek, Nazem Kadri, Justin Kirkland, Adam Klapka, Ryan Lomberg, Yegor Sharangovich, Connor Zary
Defensemen (8): Rasmus Andersson, Kevin Bahl, Jake Bean, Joel Hanley, Daniil Miromanov, Brayden Pachal, Zayne Parekh, MacKenzie Weegar
Goaltenders (2): Devin Cooley, Dustin Wolf
IR: F Jonathan Huberdeau (undisclosed, day-to-day), F Martin Pospisil (undisclosed, day-to-day)
Carolina Hurricanes
Roster size: 23/23
Link to team announcement
Forwards (13): Sebastian Aho, Jackson Blake, William Carrier, Nikolaj Ehlers, Taylor Hall, Mark Jankowski, Seth Jarvis, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson, Jordan Staal, Logan Stankoven, Andrei Svechnikov
Defensemen (7): Jalen Chatfield, Shayne Gostisbehere, K’Andre Miller, Alexander Nikishin, Mike Reilly, Jaccob Slavin, Sean Walker
Goaltenders (3): Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov, Brandon Bussi
SOIR/non-roster: F Juha Jaaska (undisclosed, indefinite)
Oilers Extend Connor McDavid, Jake Walman
Edmonton’s biggest piece of offseason business is done on the eve of opening night. They’ve announced a two-year, $25MM extension to keep captain Connor McDavid off next year’s unrestricted free agent market. That’s a $12.5MM cap hit, the same as his current eight-year deal signed back in 2017 carries. It’s not just the Oilers’ generational talent inking a new deal, either. Defenseman Jake Walman has agreed to terms on a long-term extension, according to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. That deal will be a seven-year, $49MM contract with a $7MM cap hit, per Friedman.
According to PuckPedia, McDavid’s new deal will be largely paid out in signing bonuses as expected. In 2026-27, he’ll earn an $850K salary with a $13.4MM signing bonus, and in 2027-28, he’ll make a $900K salary with a $9.85MM signing bonus. He’ll have full no-movement protection in each year of the deal.
Meanwhile, a few hours later, PuckPedia shared that Walman’s contract breaks down as follows:
- Year 1: $1.24MM salary, $6MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
- Year 2: $2.5MM salary, $5MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
- Year 3: $4MM salary, $4MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
- Year 4: $2.565MM salary, $4MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
- Year 5: $5.565MM salary, $1MM signing bonus, 15-team no trade clause
- Year 6: $5.565MM salary, $1MM signing bonus, 15-team no trade clause
- Year 7: $5.565MM salary, $1MM signing bonus, 15-team no trade clause
In his first two years on the job, Edmonton general manager Stan Bowman has now been successful in renewing his two franchise cornerstones well before unrestricted free agency became a real threat. He went through a similar song and dance with Leon Draisaitl last year. However, unlike McDavid, Draisaitl’s commitment was long-term – an eight-year, $112MM extension in September 2024 that, at the time, carried the league’s highest cap hit at $14MM.
Draisaitl’s decision to extend came before the Oilers dropped a second straight Stanley Cup Final to the Panthers. Now 28 and entering his 11th NHL season, the context surrounding McDavid’s negotiations was markedly different as a result. The team has been knocking on the door for quite some time, but is now years deep into a contention window without a championship to show for it. With a bottom-five prospect pool and spending flexibility limited in recent seasons, there was an expectation that McDavid wanted the option to reach free agency in a few years, while still in his prime, if he hadn’t yet won a Cup with the Oilers.
But at least for the next few years, Edmonton’s contention window remains wide open with today’s news. McDavid is coming off an underwhelming regular season by his standards, one that saw him miss significant time with an injury for the first time since a fractured collarbone stole nearly half of his rookie season. He still managed to hit the 100-point mark in 67 appearances, but only 26 of them were goals, also his lowest output since his rookie year and one of the worst per-game efforts of his career.
That was all put to bed by another dominant postseason run that would have earned him MVP honors had Edmonton emerged victorious this time around – an honor he managed to win anyway in 2024 despite being on the losing end as well. In the Oilers’ back-to-back Final runs, McDavid has led the league in playoff scoring both times for a cumulative 15-60–75 line in 47 games. He’s established himself as one of the top playoff performers of all time in the process. He’s got 150 points in 96 games across seven trips to the postseason, making his 1.56 points per game third in league history behind Wayne Gretzky‘s 1.84 and Mario Lemieux‘s 1.61.
The regular-season numbers are similarly fantastic. Only twice in McDavid’s career has he managed not to hit the century mark – his rookie season and the 2019-20 campaign that COVID cut off with weeks left in the season. He enters Year 11 with 361 goals, 721 assists, and 1,082 points in 712 career games. That’s good for 1.52 points per game, also third all-time behind Gretzky (1.92) and Lemieux (1.88).
He and Draisaitl remain the co-headliners of a forward group that’s lost a bit of depth punch due to cap constraints, but still has Zach Hyman signed through 2028 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins through 2029. McDavid’s deal coincides with the expiry of Hyman’s contract. It also marks an immense discount on his market value, which was close to – if not the max salary ($20MM-ish per season) – in order to help facilitate a long-awaited championship. If that doesn’t happen, it’s hard to envision a world in which McDavid doesn’t head elsewhere in the offseason of 2028.
As for Walman, it’s hard to find a player whose fortunes have changed as dramatically since last offseason as his. The 29-year-old is entering the final season of a three-year, $10.2MM contract extension he signed with the Red Wings back in 2023. Despite Walman averaging nearly 20 minutes per game in the first year of that deal and managing a 12-9–21 scoring line in 63 appearances – fine value for the money – Detroit opted to clear his contract. They even paid a second-round pick to the Sharks to take him on.
On a thin San Jose blue line, Walman quickly emerged as their No. 1 option. He averaged north of 23 games for the Sharks and responded with an offensive breakout, notching a 6-26–32 line in 50 appearances with a highly respectable -1 rating on a club that ended up finishing the season with a -102 goal differential. San Jose parlayed the lefty’s breakout by trading him to the Oilers at the deadline, netting a 2026 first-round pick in return in addition to the second-rounder they received from the Wings for taking on his contract in what remains one of the more puzzling trades in recent memory.
Walman’s production barely even took a hit despite slotting in as Edmonton’s No. 4 behind Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Darnell Nurse. He spent most of his time last year anchoring a third pairing with John Klingberg, but is now getting a look in the top four to start 2025-26, moving to his offside to play with a fellow lefty in Nurse. In 37 combined regular-season and playoff games with the Oilers after the move, Walman had a 3-15–18 scoring line with a +14 rating while still averaging north of 20 minutes per game.
A seven-year extension keeps the pending UFA under contract through the 2032-33 season, so Walman now carries the longest remaining term of any Oiler alongside Draisaitl and Trent Frederic. He’s also due to be their fifth-highest-paid skater next season behind Draisaitl, McDavid, Bouchard ($10.5MM), and Nurse ($9.25MM). With McDavid and Walman in tow, the Oilers now have $81.3MM committed to 14 players for 2026-27, per PuckPedia. That still leaves at least $22.7MM in flexibility to fill nine roster spots, a number that could grow if the salary cap exceeds its $104MM projection. They do still have a few notable UFAs left unsigned past this season, a class headlined by Ekholm and starting netminder Stuart Skinner.
Frank Seravalli of Bleacher Report and Victory+ was first to report notable progress on McDavid talks today. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the deal had gotten signed. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug was first on the two-year term.
Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.
Jett Luchanko To Make Flyers’ Opening Night Roster
For the second straight season, 2024 No. 13 overall pick Jett Luchanko will break camp with the Flyers, general manager Daniel Brière told reporters, including Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports.
Last year, Luchanko’s stay was brief. The 5’11” center was freshly 18 and only made four appearances, going pointless with a -3 rating, before the club returned him to the OHL’s Guelph Storm by the end of October. The situation might be the same this time around, Brière cautioned. He said that Luchanko making the team “doesn’t mean he’ll stay all year” and that he “has to earn his ice time,” according to O’Connor.
While those kinds of comments would generally mean a loan to the minors for a prospect in need of ice time, that’s not something the Flyers can do. Luchanko is still 19 and, according to the terms of the NHL’s transfer agreement with the three CHL leagues, must be returned to Guelph if he’s not on the Flyers’ active roster, unless it’s for a conditioning stint. Brière told O’Connor that the club’s wanting to keep Luchanko with their own development staff for longer, rather than sending him to the Storm, was a factor.
Luchanko was a late riser in the 2024 class, but Philly is still happy with their selection one year on. A non-top-10 pick making the team out of camp in his post-draft year is a rarity and a testament to Luchanko’s pro readiness, at least in the eyes of the Flyers’ staff. After the Flyers returned him to Guelph last year, he assumed the captaincy and dominated offensively with a 21-35–56 scoring line in 41 games on one of the league’s worst squads.
Luchanko is technically still a rookie because he played under 25 games last season. He’ll be one of two rookie forwards to break camp with the club alongside winger Nikita Grebenkin, who Philadelphia acquired from the Maple Leafs in last year’s Scott Laughton trade. The latter could be the beneficiary of greater ice time out of the gate – he’s spent a good chunk of camp as a wingman for Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny and could get a long look in the top six to begin the season as a result.
Latest On Lane Hutson
While there isn’t a significant gap between the Canadiens and pending RFA defenseman Lane Hutson in extension talks, the two sides are expected to pause dialogue for a while after what Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet described as an “emotional” recent round of negotiations on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
The base-level framework of a deal isn’t a point of contention. Both sides are amenable to a max-term, eight-year deal. They aren’t far off on the cap hit, either – both are within the range of $9MM per season, although Friedman believes both player and team have a little more to give to get to that point.
The hangup is instead on the “philosophy” of how Montreal is trying to get Hutson the most after-tax dollars while keeping his cap hit below eight digits, Friedman reports. Late last week, Marco D’Amico of RG took a deep dive into what mechanisms the Habs have to limit his cap impact, aside from his relative lack of leverage as a pending 10.2(c) RFA who can’t sign an offer sheet and isn’t arbitration-eligible. In there, he mentions a Canada-specific tool to lower the amount of cash Hutson loses to taxes – a Retirement Compensation Agreement (RCA) trust. However, it appears Hutson’s camp isn’t sold entirely on those benefits being as major as Montreal is trying to sell in talks.
An RCA agreement allows a player to defer up to 49% of their salary – delaying earnings but retaining more of them. The deferred money isn’t taxed at its usual rate, which can exceed 50% in Canada for top NHL earners. Whatever is deferred is split in half, with one half going to a refundable deposit with Canada’s tax agency and the other half going into the trust. After an American player (i.e., Hutson) retires and returns to the United States, they receive the deposit back with no tax deducted. In contrast, withdrawals from the trust are taxed at American federal and state rates, which are often lower than the rates the player would pay in Canada.
In any event, it’s likely the Habs are on track to operate without an eight-figure AAV on their books for the foreseeable future, barring a UFA splash. The only deal they ever signed in franchise history with a cap hit north of $10MM was Carey Price‘s eight-year, $84MM extension in 2017. They just traded the final year of that contract to the Sharks to remove themselves from LTIR and to provide San Jose with added cap clearance over the floor. Price hasn’t played in over three years and will not play again due to a knee injury.
A $9MM cap hit is directly in line with what Ducks defender Jackson LaCombe just landed on his extension and is what Luke Hughes landed from the Devils as a 10.2(c) RFA this offseason. Hughes is the more direct comparable – while LaCombe’s stats are less impressive, he’s far older and the contract buys out six years of UFA eligibility. An eight-year extension for Hutson would only swallow up three of them.
Whether the Habs can continue to develop Hutson’s all-around game to make him a true cornerstone No. 1 remains to be seen. Still, the diminutive 21-year-old is coming off one of the more impressive rookie seasons in recent memory. The 5’9″ lefty took home last year’s Calder Trophy after recording a 6-60–66 scoring line in 82 games, tied for sixth in the league among defensemen and the most by a first-year rearguard since Brian Leetch‘s 71 points in 1988-89.
Islanders Reassign Isaiah George, Matthew Schaefer Will Make Team
The Islanders have reassigned defenseman Isaiah George to AHL Bridgeport, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. As a result, their active roster now stands at 23 players and is cap-compliant for opening night.
Since the club didn’t place anyone on waivers yesterday, their options to get down to the 23-player limit for their active roster by this evening’s deadline were limited. Only three waiver-exempt players remained on their roster: George and a pair of rookies in winger Maxim Shabanov and defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the first overall pick in this year’s draft. Shabanov, an international free agent signing out of Russia’s Traktor Chelyabinsk in July, has been a virtual opening-night lock since the beginning of camp, meaning today’s decision essentially came down to George and Schaefer.
Schaefer was the widely expected winner on the heels of a spectacular preseason showing for the mobile lefty, who’s only one month removed from his 18th birthday. He made four exhibition appearances and averaged north of 22 minutes per game, recording two assists, eight shots on goal, and four hits. While the Isles were outscored 3-1 with Schaefer on the ice at 5-on-5, his possession metrics were strong – controlling 59.1% of shot attempts, 60.5% of expected goals, and 56.3% of high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
George, a 2022 fourth-rounder, unexpectedly made his way into 33 NHL games for the Isles last season, his first taste of NHL action in his first professional campaign. The 21-year-old lefty only averaged 15:39 per game and had five points with a -3 rating, but the club liked what he brought to the table and was expected to give him a long look for an opening-night job this year.
He didn’t show out nearly as well as Schaefer did in training camp, though. His possession impacts were middle-of-the-pack; he only got into two games and was held off the scoresheet.
It’s rare that a No. 1 pick doesn’t break camp with his club, but when it does happen, it’s almost always a defenseman. It last happened with the Sabres’ Owen Power, who opted for another year of college in the 2021-22 campaign before turning pro. Schaefer was ineligible to go the NCAA route after signing his entry-level contract, but there was an argument to be made that he could have used additional conditioning in a more familiar junior environment. His preseason action was his first gameplay in nine months after sustaining a season-ending collarbone injury in December that limited him to 22 points in just 17 appearances with the OHL’s Erie Otters. After proving he’s back up to speed, though, the spot was his to lose.
Schaefer is expected to make his NHL debut in the Isles’ first game of the year against the Penguins on Oct. 9, likely in third-pairing duties with veteran Scott Mayfield. Those two have been partners for the vast majority of camp.