Sharks Activate Timothy Liljegren From Injured Reserve
The Sharks announced that defenseman Timothy Liljegren was activated from injured reserve. He’ll re-enter the lineup tonight against the Rangers in place of rookie Sam Dickinson, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now relayed. The club had an open roster spot after reassigning Luca Cagnoni to the AHL on Tuesday.
Liljegren’s absence ends after nine days and three games, just above the IR minimums. He was dealing with an upper-body injury that he sustained on Oct. 14 against the Hurricanes. He landed on IR last week as some other injuries forced San Jose to do some roster shuffling, but they’re back to having a full 23-player contingent with only Shakir Mukhamadullin on IR – at least, among players who aren’t effectively retired.
A first-round pick in the 2017 draft by the Maple Leafs, Liljegren was a two-time 20-point getter for Toronto but slipped down their depth chart to the point where he was a frequent healthy scratch to begin last season. He was traded to San Jose in late October and popped up as a top-four piece in the Bay Area, posting a 6-11–17 scoring line with a -25 rating in 67 appearances while averaging 19:16 of ice time per game. Those raw numbers overshadow what were generally positive under-the-hood numbers for Liljegren, whose 47.2 CF% at 5-on-5 was 2.4 points better than what the team managed to control without him on the ice.
In a three-game sample to begin 2025-26, Liljegren didn’t record a point and logged a minus-two rating but reached new ice-time heights at 20:14 per game. He’s not factoring in on San Jose’s power play like he was last year, but he saw hugely increased shorthanded deployment at three minutes per game. After starting the year alongside Mario Ferraro at even strength, he’ll have a new face to his left tonight in Dmitry Orlov, reports Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest.
Hurricanes Place Jaccob Slavin On Injured Reserve
Prior to today’s game against the Avalanche, the Hurricanes announced they placed star defenseman Jaccob Slavin on injured reserve earlier in the week – Tuesday, to be exact – due to a lower-body injury. They’re operating with an open roster spot, which they haven’t filled, but the team said his placement was for the purposes of “roster flexibility.”
Slavin hasn’t played since Oct. 11, so he is eligible to come off IR at any time. There’s been no update on his status since the beginning of Carolina’s lengthy Western Conference road trip, which started back on Oct. 14 against the Sharks, in which they said he wouldn’t join the team to start the haul, but weren’t too concerned about the severity of his injury.
Carolina has weathered the storm without their top defender, only suffering their first loss of the season on Monday against the Golden Knights. They’re 3-1-0 without Slavin in the lineup and are still only allowing 2.25 goals against per game while controlling 58.9% of shot attempts at even strength. In two games before exiting the lineup, Slavin had a minus-one rating with 10 shot attempts in 18:32 of ice time averaged across the pair of appearances. His possession numbers were pristine as always, logging a 66.1 CF% with just a 40.0 oZS% at even strength despite being outscored 2-1.
The 31-year-old has finished top-20 in Norris Trophy voting in every season since 2016-17, his second in the league. While his offensive production dipped to 27 points in 80 games last year with a +16 rating, his lowest in six years, he still finished top-10 in Norris voting for the third time in his career. He’s never been a huge minutes-muncher, especially not in the past few years as the Canes have stripped him of power-play minutes in favor of names like Shayne Gostisbehere and now K’Andre Miller, and justifiably so. He still remains one of the most feared shutdown threats in the league, but with the Hurricanes’ established possession-heavy system, they’re able to usher in a next-man-up mentality rather seamlessly.
Slavin’s absence has allowed for names like offseason pickup Mike Reilly and rookie Charles-Alexis Legault to make their Hurricanes debuts, but the greatest recipient of his vacated minutes has been Miller, who’s averaging a career-high 23:32 per game and has a 2-2–4 scoring line in six showings to begin his tenure in Raleigh. It’s looking even more like Slavin will miss the final two games of the Canes’ road trip, but could be targeting a comeback when Carolina returns home on Oct. 28 against Vegas.
Predators Recall Matthew Wood
The Predators announced that winger Matthew Wood has been recalled from AHL Milwaukee. With two open roster spots, no corresponding transaction is required.
Wood, 20, lands an early-season call-up after an injury cost him his chance at making the opening night roster. Nashville’s fifth-ranked prospect and 2023 No. 15 overall pick dealt with a lower-body injury late in camp and was activated from season-opening injured reserve and reassigned to Milwaukee just under two weeks ago. The 6’4″ winger snagged one goal and a minus-one rating in the first two AHL appearances of his career in the meantime.
The Alberta native signed his entry-level deal at the tail end of last season after spending three years in the NCAA, transferring from UConn to Minnesota between his sophomore and junior seasons. He was a star on the Golden Gophers last year, tied for second on the team in scoring with a 17-22–39 line in 39 appearances, pairing well with a +19 rating. He helped guide the school to a Big 10 regular-season title and was part of the honorable mention conference All-Star Team.
After inking his ELC in late March, Wood reported to Nashville and debuted down the stretch. In six games for the Preds, he registered an assist and had eight shots on goal while averaging 11:35 of ice time per game. He’ll now get his second taste of NHL hockey as the Preds cycle their youth early in the year. Gone are other recent first-rounders, Joakim Kemell and Brady Martin, who started the season on the opening night roster. Kemell was sent down to Milwaukee last week while Martin, the reigning fifth overall pick, was returned to juniors yesterday.
The Preds are now back to rostering 13 forwards after spending most of the last 24 hours without carrying an extra one. Wood will draw into the lineup for tonight’s game against the Canucks, head coach Andrew Brunette said (via Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean). Jonathan Marchessault remains on the active roster but will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury, according to the club’s Brooks Bratten.
Maple Leafs Place Chris Tanev On Injured Reserve
The Maple Leafs announced they’ve placed right-shot defender Chris Tanev on injured reserve, retroactive to the club’s 5-2 loss to the Devils on Tuesday. Tanev is dealing with an upper-body injury and will be ineligible for the next three games at a minimum. Lefty Dakota Mermis was called up from the AHL to take Tanev’s spot on the active roster.
Tanev is no stranger to injuries, although he’s had a healthy run in the past few years, playing 70-plus games in three of the last four seasons. Today’s news doesn’t necessarily put that mark in jeopardy. Head coach Craig Berube only called Tanev questionable for Friday’s game against the Sabres when he spoke yesterday and said he was feeling better. While he obviously won’t be playing now, it indicates he’s not expected to miss much time past the seven-day minimum.
Tanev, 36 in December, only logged 5:57 of ice time against New Jersey before leaving the contest. Early in the second period, he was on the receiving end of incidental head-to-head contact with Devils forward Dawson Mercer during a net-front scrum and immediately headed to the locker room (video via TSN). Removing that outlier from the figure, Tanev is averaging around 19:40 of ice time per game – right at the mark he saw last year, his first in Toronto. The 16-year vet landed with the Leafs in free agency in 2024 on a six-year, $27MM pact and has been a top-four fixture ever since. He’s spent most of that time on a pairing with Jake McCabe. The duo is controlling 45.9% of expected goals through seven games, per MoneyPuck, yet they’re still outscoring opponents 3-2 at 5-on-5. That’s down sharply from their 55.1% mark last year, which ranked 14th among 41 pairings to log at least 600 minutes together in 2024-25.
On the scoresheet, the Toronto native had one assist, a plus-three rating, and two hits through seven outings. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has been playing on his off side in third-pairing duties with Simon Benoit, will be the leading candidate to replace Tanev in top-four duties alongside McCabe for the next few games.
It’s unclear if Mermis will get a shot in the lineup. Toronto has been carrying righty Philippe Myers as a healthy extra since the start of the season, but he hasn’t played. Losing a righty to injury would seemingly give the edge to Myers to make his season debut in Buffalo tomorrow.
Mermis, 31, comes up after clearing waivers late in training camp. He re-upped with the Leafs this summer on a two-year, league minimum contract after initially signing a one-year deal with Toronto in 2024. He spent a brief chunk of last season in Utah after they claimed him off waivers, but Toronto grabbed him back when he was exposed on the wire again. He got into four NHL showings, three of which were with the Leafs, with one assist and a minus-two rating. He has 78 career games since debuting with the Coyotes back in 2017-18, carrying a 4-9–13 scoring line with a plus-three rating while averaging 14:30 per game.
Mermis can remain on Toronto’s active roster for up to 30 nonconsecutive days or play 10 games until he needs to clear waivers again to return to the AHL. He’s without a point in two minor-league games to begin the season but has a plus-two rating.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 10/22/25
You can view the transcript from today’s live chat with Josh Erickson using this link or via the embedded window below:
Mammoth Place Andrew Agozzino On Waivers
The Mammoth announced Wednesday that they’ve placed forward Andrew Agozzino on waivers. If he clears on Thursday, he’ll head to AHL Tucson.
Utah will have an open roster spot either today or tomorrow, depending on whether they move Agozzino to the non-roster list while he’s on waivers. They have a few players on injured reserve, including forward Alexander Kerfoot, who was listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury at the beginning of training camp. If he’s nearing a return, that could be the impetus for Agozzino’s waiver placement.
Agozzino, 34, made an NHL opening night roster for the first time in his 15-year professional career this fall. He has 53 games of NHL experience, but before this year, he hadn’t touched NHL ice since March 2023 with the Sharks. The 5’10” winger signed a two-year, two-way deal with Utah in 2024 and played out last season with Tucson, recording 20 goals and 43 points in 55 games.
The Ontario native has long been a premier point producer in the minors. In a remarkable 791 career AHL games, second-most among active NHL/AHLers, he has a 265-358–623 scoring line. That’s quite the career for an undrafted player, who first landed a pro contract from the Avalanche’s minor-league affiliate back in 2012. Utah is his sixth NHL organization, following stops in Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Ottawa, and San Jose.
Agozzino appeared in the Mammoth’s first two games of the season but hasn’t played since, sitting as a scratch in five straight. He went 3-for-7 on faceoffs and averaged just 6:08 of ice time per game, staying off the scoresheet aside from a block and four hits. Utah was out-attempted 14-5 at even strength in his limited minutes.
Golden Knights Recall Carl Lindbom, Jaycob Megna
The Golden Knights announced they’ve recalled goaltender Carl Lindbom and defenseman Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson. They only had one open roster spot, and they created another by moving defenseman Noah Hanifin to injured reserve, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. With insufficient cap space, there’s another corresponding transaction still to come.
That move will likely be an IR/LTIR shift or placement. Right now, Mark Stone is on standard injured reserve and is week-to-week with a wrist injury. If they expect him to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, they can transfer him to LTIR, retroactive to Oct. 18, and increase their LTIR pool by roughly $3.5MM, given their current cap space ($310,275, per PuckPedia).
Lindbom’s recall indicates they expect Adin Hill to miss some time after he departed Monday’s game against the Hurricanes in the first period. It’s an apparent lower-body injury for Hill, who reacted awkwardly after flashing his left leg to make a save (video via B/R Open Ice). It was the second time in under a week that he’d left a start early due to injury. A retroactive IR placement would rule him out of Vegas’ next two games and make him eligible for activation on Oct. 28.
In the meantime, Lindbom gets the call from Henderson to man the Knights’ crease with Akira Schmid. While Carter Hart is with the team on a tryout, he’s ineligible to play until Dec. 1 as a result of his suspension following a not-guilty verdict in connection with a sexual assault charge. Until he’s a factor, Lindbom is an intriguing call-up option. The 22-year-old was a seventh-round pick back in 2021 but has quickly seen his stock rise following some standout performances in Sweden’s top two pro leagues. He arrived in North America last season and spent the year exclusively with Henderson, recording a .912 SV% and 2.65 GAA in 36 appearances. This year, he’s off to a pristine start with a 1.00 GAA and .958 SV% in two showings for the Silver Knights.
Any playing time would mean his NHL debut. While Schmid is undefeated in his four appearances, he doesn’t have overly inspiring numbers with a .899 SV% and 2.57 GAA. He hasn’t been a significant drag by any stretch, but has still allowed 0.6 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. With him and Hill both posting tepid numbers out of the gate, it would make sense to give one of their top prospects a look, but amid a tough road trip through Florida and Carolina, they may be hesitant to do so.
Megna arrives to give the Knights an extra defenseman on hand for their road trip. They were only rostering six healthy ones without Hanifin, who hasn’t played since the season opener because of an undisclosed injury. Since he’s already missed more than a week, he’s eligible for activation at any time.
The 33-year-old Megna signed a two-year, $1.6MM deal with Vegas in the offseason and cleared waivers a few weeks back on his way to Henderson. The veteran of 193 NHL games has an assist, six penalty minutes, and a plus-two rating through his first four appearances with the minor-league club. With No. 7 Ben Hutton playing well since being inserted into the lineup for Hanifin, it’s unlikely Megna will see action unless another injury pops up. Hutton has two assists and a plus-three rating through six games while averaging 15:54 of ice time per night.
Islanders’ Pierre Engvall Unlikely To Play This Season
Islanders winger Pierre Engvall is unlikely to play this season after undergoing ankle surgery on Tuesday, general manager Mathieu Darche told reporters today (via Andrew Gross of Newsday).
Engvall had already started the season on injured reserve after he had a hip procedure performed over the offseason. Still, he was expected to be able to return sometime around the season opener. That didn’t come to pass, and there hadn’t been an update on his status in several weeks.
Engvall will now be eligible for long-term injured reserve, meaning the Islanders can exceed the salary cap by up to his $3MM cap hit with an optimal capture. If injuries pile up, they’ll take advantage. As things stand, they don’t have enough cap space ($702,490) for a standard recall, per PuckPedia.
The lost season dots what’s been a rather disastrous run on Long Island for Engvall since he signed a seven-year, $21MM contract with the club in the 2023 offseason. He was picked up from the Maple Leafs at the previous season’s trade deadline and looked like a potential long-term top-nine piece. He averaged north of 15 minutes per game down the stretch and produced a 5-4–9 scoring line in 18 games – a 41-point clip – and comprised the second line with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.
In his first season under the long-term deal, Engvall’s usage remained consistent, but his production didn’t. He only managed 10 goals and 28 points in 74 games, down from the 30-plus points he’d locked in over the prior two years spent mostly in Toronto. He can naturally be a frustrating player to watch at times, given his relative lack of physicality for his 6’6″ frame, so a dropoff in scoring made for a considerable dropoff in his perceived value.
Last year, his first full season under head coach Patrick Roy, Engvall failed to reverse the slide. He became a semi-regular healthy scratch, appearing in 62 games. When dressed, his ice time dipped to under 12 minutes per game. His scoring suffered in kind, churning out an 8-7–15 line with a career-worst minus-seven rating.
After the Islanders signed Jonathan Drouin and Max Shabanov in free agency this past offseason, it was clear they weren’t penciling Engvall into a spot in the opening night lineup, even if he was going to be healthy. Before his injury designation, he was a speculative waiver candidate after passing through unclaimed twice last season.
If his recovery from ankle surgery stretches past the end of the regular season, it could prevent the Islanders from pursuing a buyout of his contract. If he’s healthy enough to be on the receiving end of one, though, it might be something they consider at a flat cost of $1MM against the cap for the next eight years compared to $3MM for the next four, although that drops to under $2MM if he’s in the minors.
Bruins Place Jordan Harris On IR, Recall Michael Callahan
The Bruins announced they’ve placed defenseman Jordan Harris on injured reserve. His roster spot is going to Michael Callahan, who’s been called up from AHL Providence in the corresponding move.
Rarely does an IR announcement come before any sort of injury designation, but that’s the case with Harris. He played in last night’s loss to the Panthers and, with 15:20 of ice time, shouldered his usual workload. The 25-year-old is averaging 15:38 through five games in his first year in Boston. The Massachusetts native signed a one-year deal worth $825,000 over the offseason and won the job as the Bruins’ extra defender out of training camp, but has drawn into action frequently over the past couple of weeks while Hampus Lindholm has been in and out due to a lower-body injury.
So far, he’s been a pleasant surprise. He’s scored a goal, something that no other Boston defender other than Nikita Zadorov can say this season. He’s recorded three blocks and four hits with strong possession impacts at even strength, leading the Bruins’ rearguards with a 57.1 CF% at even strength. He’s routinely comprised the third pairing with Andrew Peeke, a duo that’s controlled 53.5% of expected goals but has been outscored 3-2, according to MoneyPuck.
Now, they’ll be without him for at least seven days. Boston has a tight schedule to close the month and will have played four games by the time Harris is eligible to come off IR next Wednesday. His earliest potential return date is Oct. 30 against the Sabres.
If the Bruins continue to sit Lindholm, Callahan will be in line for his season debut tomorrow versus the Ducks. The 26-year-old is entering his sophomore season after skating in 17 games with the B’s last year, scoring once with a minus-five rating. The 6’2″ lefty managed nine shots on goal and projects as a semi-reliable, unassuming No. 7/8 option long-term. Considering he started nearly three-quarters of his even-strength shifts last year in the defensive end, his subpar 43.8 CF% is understandable. In four games with Providence this season, he’s still searching for his first point but has a plus-one rating.
Predators Assign Brady Martin To OHL
The Predators announced Wednesday that they’ve assigned center Brady Martin to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. They now have two open roster spots, although roster considerations aren’t playing a factor in this move.
Martin, 18, has seen his stock rise more than most prospects over the past year. Viewed as a late first-round selection early in 2024-25, he rocketed his way up draft boards enough to earn the call at fifth overall from Nashville. That was fueled by an offensive explosion in juniors from the physical pivot, who produced 33 goals and 72 points in 57 games for the Greyhounds after recording just 10 goals and 28 points in 52 games the year prior.
That carried over into the preseason, where Martin converted a two-goal, one-assist performance in four games into a spot on Nashville’s opening roster submission. Initially, it looked like he would get quite a long leash. Martin started the opener on the top line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly, but only factoring in at even strength meant he only averaged 12:42 of ice time through a pair of games, recording an assist and an even rating, before the Predators scratched him in what they referred to as a preset development plan. Martin ended up sitting in the press box for four straight before re-entering the lineup for last night’s loss to the Ducks. He only skated 10:51 but managed his first two career shots on goal, along with one block and going 2-for-6 on faceoffs.
Yet Martin, still a raw prospect, needs playing time more than anything else. He’ll get that now in spades in Sault Ste. Marie, where he’ll be their top skater and should aim to be among the OHL’s leading scorers at season’s end, at least in terms of points per game. The demotion to the Greyhounds is permanent for the remainder of 2025-26, save for an extremely rare emergency exception in a catastrophic injury situation or until the Soo’s season comes to an end.
Martin still checks in as the Preds’ No. 1 prospect and is the highest-ceiling middle-man they’ve developed in-house in years. After another close-to-full season of development in juniors, he’ll be given plenty of leeway to secure a more permanent slot in Nashville’s forward group to begin the 2026-27 campaign.
Since Martin played fewer than 10 games before being sent back to juniors, his entry-level contract will not take effect this season and will not count toward Nashville’s 50-contract limit. He is now on track to reach restricted free agency in 2029 with an additional four years of team control after that. He still earns his $97,500 signing bonus for 2025-26, bringing his cap hit down from $975,000 to $942,500 for next year.
A corresponding recall in the coming days should still be expected. With Martin no longer in the picture, the Predators aren’t carrying any extra forwards with them. As things stand, they’ll need to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Canucks tomorrow if Jonathan Marchessault, who’s missed the last two games with a lower-body issue, can’t play.