Ryan Lin Commits To University Of Denver
A projected top-15 selection in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft will continue his development in Colorado next season. According to Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects, defenseman Ryan Lin has committed to the University of Denver for his collegiate career.
Lin, 17, has spent the last two years playing for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. He has been dynamic offensively throughout his time there, scoring 19 goals and 110 points in 113 games, with a -8 rating. NHL Central Scouting has Lin ranked as the 13th-best prospect ahead of the draft, and the fifth-best defenseman.
Despite his -8 rating throughout his WHL career, Lin is better defensively than his numbers may indicate, especially as a smaller defenseman. Standing at 5’11”, 176lbs, Lin has the physical makeup of an offense-first power-play quarterback.
However, his skating and hockey IQ make him more of a two-way defenseman. Although he may have some issues muscling forwards off of the puck, he has the edge work and intelligence to put himself in the best position to defend, which is a talent in and of itself. While it isn’t a direct comparison, Tampa Bay Lightning veteran Ryan McDonagh has often been cited as one of the best-positioned defenders throughout his NHL career, and Lin has brought a lot of that to his amateur career.
Additionally, there are few programs better for development than the University of Denver. Even recently, Eric Pohlkamp, the 132nd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks, is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in his second season after scoring 18 goals and 39 points in 41 games with a +25 rating. Including Zeev Buium in that mix, it’s clear that head coach David Carle has a knack for turning defensemen into better versions of themselves.
Penguins Reassign Avery Hayes
As injured players return to the lineup, the Pittsburgh Penguins are better positioned to trim down their forward corps as they finish off the regular season. To that end, the Penguins announced that they’ve reassigned forward Avery Hayes to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Hayes, 23, has been an oft-called-upon forward for the Penguins for the last few months. Beginning with his first recall on February 5th, Hayes has been recalled an additional four times. The Penguins have been dealing with a few minor injuries to their forward corps, making Hayes a quick fill-in when needed.
He’s played relatively well in his opportunities. Throughout his five call-ups, Hayes has scored three goals in 13 games with a -4 rating, averaging 10:38 of ice time per game. Additionally, he’s landed 20 shots on goal and 16 hits, making him a solid plug-and-play player in the bottom-six.
Still, there are a few flaws in his game, which aren’t unexpected from a young winger, that will need to be worked out if he hopes to be on the roster more consistently next year. Granted, it’s a small sample size, but his work in the possession and defensive game has been lackluster throughout his handful of appearances.
Regardless, it should be considered a successful year for Hayes. The Penguins signed him as an undrafted free agent from the OHL’s Peterborough Petes a few years ago, and he’s played particularly well for the WBS Penguins. This season, he has nearly achieved a point-per-game scoring line, registering 22 goals and 35 points in 39 games with a +8 rating. He’s almost matched last year’s totals (23 goals and 42 points) in nearly 20 fewer games.
Injury Notes: Faulk, Kleven, Salomonsson
Despite picking up a crucial two points last night against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Detroit Red Wings are heading to New York with some injury concerns. Before the beginning of the third period, the Red Wings announced that recent deadline acquisition, defenseman Justin Faulk, left the game due to a lower-body injury.
Obviously, Detroit didn’t have too much information regarding Faulk’s injury immediately after the game. The team is expected to run Faulk through some tests today, and they should have further clarification ahead of tomorrow’s contest against the New York Rangers.
Before the injury, it seemed Faulk struggled to adapt to the Red Wings. In 12 games, the 34-year-old veteran had scored one goal and three points with a -5 rating, averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time. Additionally, his 43.3% CorsiFor at even strength indicates he has been a significant non-factor for Detroit when on the ice. Still, the Red Wings gave up a pretty penny to acquire his services at the deadline, and they’ll need all the help they can get to break their 10-year playoff drought over their next seven games.
Additional injury notes:
- Staying in the Atlantic Division, the Ottawa Senators are dealing with yet another injury to their defensive corps. The team is already without Thomas Chabot, Dennis Gilbert, Nick Jensen, Jake Sanderson, and Carter Yakemchuk. In last night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, after taking a puck to the face, the Senators shared that Tyler Kleven left the game with an injury, and the team isn’t expecting good news regarding his near-future availability. For their next contest, unless a call-up is made, the only left-handed player who can play defense for Ottawa is Kurtis MacDermid.
- Faulk and Kleven weren’t the only defensemen injured last night. The Winnipeg Jets announced that Elias Salomonsson left the game due to an upper-body injury after being on the receiving end of a reverse hit by Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson. It’s been confirmed that Salomonsson has entered concussion protocol, so there’s a strong likelihood that his season is over.
Devils’ Arseny Gritsyuk Done For Season
According to a team announcement, New Jersey Devils forward Arseny Gritsyuk will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season due to surgery. The Devils didn’t specify the type of surgery Gritsyuk underwent, but it’s believed it’s related to a recent upper-body injury.
Gritsyuk, 25, hasn’t played for New Jersey in several days. His last game with the team, and now confirmed to be his last game of the season, was on March 24th against the Dallas Stars, in which Gritsyuk tallied an assist on a Connor Brown goal.
All in all, it was a solid campaign for the first-year Russian. One year after scoring 17 goals and 44 points in 49 games for the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg, Gritsyuk wraps up his rookie season with 13 goals and 31 points in 66 games with a -3 rating.
Although the top-heavy Devils are led by the likes of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier, Gritsyuk became a solid secondary scorer for the club. Although he may be usurped in New Jersey’s seven remaining games (after tonight), Gritsyuk will likely finish seventh among Devils forwards in scoring.
Furthermore, he proved to be a valuable asset for New Jersey in terms of maintaining possession of the puck. At the time of writing, Gritsyuk is first on the Devils in CorsiFor at even strength with a 58.8%, almost a full percent higher than Bratt. Furthermore, among the 14 Devils that have played in more than 700 minutes for the team this season, Gritsyk ranked second with a 51.9% xGoals%, according to MoneyPuck.
Unfortunately, his solid introduction into the NHL has left New Jersey in a tricky spot with Gritsyuk for the offseason. He is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, as his one-year, $925K contract expires on July 1. Given that the Devils don’t have a lot of money coming off the books this summer, they’ll likely need to make a move to sign Gritsyuk to a multi-year deal.
The team had been attempting to move Dougie Hamilton for much of the regular season, and will likely revisit that this summer. If they manage to clear his entire $9MM cap hit off the books, the Devils should have no issues keeping Gritsyuk around. However, if they’re unable to, he may become an impromptu non-tender candidate, giving New Jersey additional breathing room moving forward.
Sabres’ Sam Carrick Out Week-To-Week
Buffalo Sabres forward Sam Carrick will miss several games after squaring off against the captain of the New York Islanders, Anders Lee, the other night. According to Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio, Carrick will miss the next few weeks due to the arm injury, but hasn’t been ruled out for the rest of the regular season.
Before exiting Tuesday’s contest against the Islanders, Carrick had an otherwise strong start to his tenure in Buffalo. The Sabres acquired the fourth-line forward at the trade deadline from the New York Rangers for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick.
In his 13 games with the Sabres, Carrick had registered five goals. Playing with the Rangers, Carrick had scored only four goals in 60 games. Additionally, his 51.0% CorsiFor at even strength, albeit in a small handful of games, shows that he’s mixed in quite well with Buffalo’s offensive strategies.
Unfortunately, there’s a very real chance he won’t manage to expand on those totals. In two weeks, the Sabres’ regular season will be over, and the team will be preparing for its first playoff run since the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. If he returns after next week, Buffalo will only have the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars left to play.
Still, with all respect to Carrick, it won’t be a difficult void for the Sabres to fill. Although they are dealing with a few additional injuries to their forward corps, the team has plenty of depth to fill out the fourth line. Tonight, Buffalo is using Joshua Dunne in Carrick’s place, who has scored one goal and four points in 31 contests this season.
Cruz Lucius Won’t Sign With Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t be signing one of their better collegiate prospects. According to a report from DK Pittsburgh Sports, forward Cruz Lucius has notified the Penguins that he won’t sign his entry-level contract with the team, and will become a collegiate free agent later this summer on August 15th.
Lucius, 21, recently finished his senior season at Arizona State University. He was originally drafted 124th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2022 NHL Draft, before having his signing rights traded to the Penguins in the Jake Guentzel trade.
The Lawrence, KS native burst onto the scene in his freshman season, scoring 11 goals and 34 points in 34 games, then at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his collegiate career with the Badgers the following season, scoring 13 goals and 34 points in 36 games in a nearly identical stat line.
Moving to the transfer portal, Lucius landed with the Sun Devils. His junior season was unfortunately affected by injuries, resulting in two goals and 10 points across 19 games. Back to full health this year, Lucius had his best personal campaign, scoring 15 goals and 46 points in 36 games, finishing 11th in the nation in scoring, just one point behind James Hagens of Boston College.
In the report from DK Pittsburgh, they included a quote from the Penguins’ President of Hockey Operations, Kyle Dubas, saying, “(Lucius and his agent) informed us that that he was not going to be signing in Pittsburgh for a few reasons that’s up to him to share. It’s a personal thing for him. We felt we had a great opportunity for him, and the proof is in the pudding on the development side, but players are entitled to make their decision, and I don’t think we’re at the position here anymore where we have to beg people to come.”
Now, Lucius will spend the next few months choosing where his next landing spot will be. He should get decent interest from around the league, as teams wouldn’t lose much outside of a roster spot by offering him an opportunity. Fortunately, Lucius is seeking a new organization after a successful conclusion to his collegiate career.
Kings Sign Hampton Slukynsky, Grant Slukynsky To Entry-Level Deals
April 2: The Kings announced both Hampton’s and Grant’s signings on Thursday. Financial terms were not disclosed. Hampton’s is a three-year deal while Grant’s is for one year, both beginning next season. They’ll go to AHL Ontario to suit up on amateur tryouts for the remainder of 2025-26.
March 30: The Los Angeles Kings are expected to sign one of their promising goaltending prospects. According to Alexander Legget of Mayor’s Manor, the Kings are expected to sign netminder Hampton Slukynsky to his entry-level contract.
Slukynsky, 20, has spent his collegiate career with the Western Michigan University Broncos. Los Angeles selected the Warroad, MN native out of high school in the 2023 NHL Draft with the 118th overall pick. Slukynsky spent his post-draft season with the USHL’s Fargo Force before officially joining the Broncos.
Even after winning the USHL’s Clark Cup and Goaltender of the Year award in 2023-24, few would have expected what Slukynsky would do in his freshman campaign. Slukynsky was integral to Western Michigan University capturing its first National Championship in program history. He finished the year with a 19-5-1 record in 25 games with a .922 SV% and 1.90 GAA.
Earlier that season, he added more championship wins to his resume. Although he wasn’t the team’s starter, Slukynsky helped Team USA capture gold in the U20 IIHF World Junior Championships, winning both of his starts with a .933 SV%.
This season, despite the Broncos not defending their title, Slukynsky continued to post elite numbers. He finished his sophomore season with a 27-11-1 record in 39 games with a .915 SV% and 2.30 GAA, including four shutouts.
Not only are the Kings expected to sign Hampton, but they’re also expected to sign his brother, Grant Slukynsky, who is an undrafted collegiate prospect. Like his brother, Grant, 24, spent the last two years with the Broncos, scoring 20 goals and 76 points in 81 games.
Combined, their resumes speak for themselves. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, the pair have combined for two separate Clark Cup championships, a National Championship, and a World Junior gold medal. The Kings will maintain hope that the brothers can continue their winning ways in the professional ranks.
San Jose Sharks Activate Ty Dellandrea
The San Jose Sharks announced that they’ve activated forward Ty Dellandrea from the injured reserve. Without a corresponding roster move, the Sharks will have 25 players on the active roster, 16 of whom are forwards.
Dellandrea, 25, has missed nearly two full months of action. On January 6th, in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dellandrea collided with a goal post and subsequently tore his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). Although he managed to avoid surgery, his extensive recovery process cost him 30 games of the regular season.
Before the injury, Dellandrea was having a relatively solid season. In 42 games this year, his second in San Jose, Dellandrea registered two goals and 11 points with a -15 rating, averaging 14:24 of ice time per game. Still, he remains looking to recapture his form from a few years ago, when he scored nine goals and 28 points in 82 games with the Dallas Stars while averaging a similar ATOI.
However, if he had remained healthy, Dellandrea would have gotten fairly close to those totals. Even as a third-line forward, the Sharks still view Dellandrea as a part of the near future, as they made him one of seven forwards on the team to be signed through the 2027-28 season.
It’ll be interesting to see how Dellandrea’s role on the Sharks changes throughout his upcoming contract. San Jose has a glut of young forwards knocking on the door, and cuts will have to be made to make room. Still, with many veteran forwards playing on one to two-year deals, Dellandrea’s spot on the roster should be safe for now.
Panthers Recall Tobias Bjornfot, Mikulas Hovorka
The Florida Panthers need more depth with two additional defensemen out with injury. According to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, the Panthers have recalled Tobias Björnfot and Mikulas Hovorka from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Florida later confirmed the transaction.
It’s expected that both defensemen will be in the lineup tomorrow against the Boston Bruins. In the same report, Richards shared that Aaron Ekblad, who is dealing with a hand injury after blocking a shot, and Dmitry Kulikov, who took a puck off the face, are both being held out.
That will leave Seth Jones and Gustav Forsling as the only two defensemen who played on opening night this season to be in Florida’s lineup tomorrow. That’s without factoring in the multiple injuries to the forward corps, as the Panthers are also expected to be without Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, Jonah Gadjovich, Evan Rodrigues, Sam Reinhart, and Anton Lundell.
It’s been the overarching theme of the 2025-26 season for Florida. Injuries have prevented the Panthers from achieving any success this year and will also prevent the team from defending their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
At any rate, it allows a pair of defensemen who haven’t played much for the team this season. Björnfot, 24, has scored two goals and one assist in 11 games for the Panthers this season, averaging 11:33 of ice time per night. Meanwhile, Hovorka, 24, has only one game of NHL experience under his belt, skating for 11:27 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 5th.
Edmonton Oilers Sign William Nicholl
According to a team announcement, the Edmonton Oilers have signed forward William Nicholl to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning in the 2026-27 season. Nicholl will presumably finish the rest of the 2025-26 campaign with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
The contract details for his entry-level contract are as follows, as provided by PuckPedia:
| Year | NHL Salary | Signing bonus | Potential performance bonuses | Minors salary |
| 2026-27 | $850K | $85K | NA | $85K |
| 2027-28 | $900K | $85K | NA | $85K |
| 2028-29 | $950K | $85K | NA | $85K |
Nicholl, 19, recently wrapped up his third season with the OHL’s London Knights. He did not start the season on time due to offseason surgery, which led him to finish with 15 goals and 26 points in 32 games, achieving a +10 rating.
Last season, in what would be his best performance in the OHL, Nicholl scored 21 goals and 57 points in 66 games with a +38 rating. He featured in the Knights’ postseason run last year, scoring one goal and totaling eight points in 17 games, which helped the team secure its third Memorial Cup championship in franchise history.
Still, there’s definitely an argument that Nicholl could use another year of seasoning at the OHL level. Edmonton selected Nicholl with the 196th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, so he’s not necessarily a top prospect that needs to be rushed to the professional ranks.
Factoring in his recent injury history, it’s somewhat surprising that the Oilers don’t give him a year to dominate the junior level before turning professional next season. Even if they had waited a year, Nicholl would only have been 20 years old, with plenty of time to develop further.
Regardless, the top brass at Edmonton feels he is ready, which means he’ll have the opportunity to test his mettle through the last few weeks of the AHL season. Even if his offensive prowess isn’t quite ready, his stature certainly is. Nicholl stands at 6’0″, 183 lbs, and has never been shy to engage in physicality while in London.