Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Dennis Hildeby
The revolving door of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ backup goaltender continues, with Anthony Stolarz done for the season with a lower-body injury. The Maple Leafs announced that they’ve reassigned netminder Artur Akhtyamov to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and recalled Dennis Hildeby in his place.
Because of the numerous injuries to Stolarz this season, Hildeby, 24, has spent quite a bit of time with the Maple Leafs. Throughout his three years playing in the organization, the 2025-26 season has provided Hildeby with the most opportunities at the NHL level.
For the most part, he’s played particularly well in those appearances. Hildeby has managed a 5-6-4 record in 19 games this season with a .910 SV%, 2.90 GAA, and 7.3 Goals Saved Above Average (according to HockeyReference).
For one reason or another, that stability with the Maple Leafs hasn’t translated to his time with the Marlies. In 22 AHL games this year, Hildeby has a 9-8-8 record with a .896 SV% and 2.70 GAA.
Still, his performance this season makes Hildeby an obvious trade candidate this offseason. Yes, this year has proven that Toronto needs an experienced third-string option given Stolarz’s injury troubles. However, given that they signed Akhtyamov to a three-year extension last month, that leaves Hildeby in a difficult spot.
Meanwhile, Akhtyamov, 24, returns to the Marlies, where he has almost exclusively played this year. The Kazan, Russia native, has had a respectable 2025-26 campaign, managing a 20-12-6 record in 36 games with a .903 SV% and 2.90 GAA. Unfortunately, his start last night against the Dallas Stars didn’t go well, as Akhtyamov gave up six goals on 32 shots (.813 SV%).
Nashville Predators Sign Daniel Nieminen
The Nashville Predators have put pen to paper on one of their draft selections from last summer. The Predators have announced the signing of defenseman Daniel Nieminen to a three-year, entry-level contract that will begin next season.
Nieminen, 20, was selected with the 163rd overall (sixth round) pick of the 2025 NHL Draft by Nashville. He was coming off a season almost exclusively with the Finnish Liiga’s Pelicans, registering four goals and 11 points in 39 games with a -1 rating. Additionally, he played for Team Finland in the U20 IIHF World Junior Championships, scoring two assists in seven games with a +2 rating.
This season with the Pelicans went much better for Nieminen on both sides of the puck. The Lahti, Finland native finished the year with five goals and 17 points in 47 games with a +3 rating. Unfortunately, his production at the World Junior Championships slipped, as he went scoreless throughout the tournament.
Odds are, Nieminen will begin the 2026-27 campaign with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. Although he’s unlikely to challenge for any rookie-scoring leads, Nieminen already has the skating ability for professional hockey in North America. He’s managed terrific gap coverage in Finland and has the straight-line foot speed to close gaps on the rare occasion he finds himself out of position.
Still, unless the Predators trade multiple defensemen this summer, or have an unexpected number of injuries during preseason play, Nieminen doesn’t have a clear path to the NHL, at least for the time being. Nashville already has four left-handed defensemen signed through next season, and that’s without including top prospect Tanner Molendyk, who will undoubtedly challenge for an opening night roster spot.
Dallas Stars To Activate Radek Faksa
The Dallas Stars are inching toward full strength heading into the postseason. According to Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News, the Stars are expected to activate forward Radek Faksa from the injured reserve, and he’ll make his return to the lineup this evening. Additionally, forward Michael Bunting is expected to return to the lineup, too, though he was never placed on the injured reserve.
Faksa’s return has been a long time coming. He first suffered an upper-body injury during the Olympics playing for Team Czechia. The injury wasn’t believed to be serious at the time, and Faksa was only expected to miss a game or two.
Unfortunately, that mild prognosis has turned into a multi-week return. During his rehabilitation, Faksa suffered a lower-body injury, which kept him out until now. A few reports indicated that Faksa may be done for the season, but he has managed to make a fairly quick recovery.
Although he hasn’t been a reliable point-producer for the Stars for many years, he has been one of the most reliable fourth-line forwards in the league. After his one-year hiatus with the St. Louis Blues, Faksa has scored two goals and 17 points in 56 games with Dallas this season, averaging 11:41 of ice time per game.
That doesn’t paint the whole picture with Faksa. He’s a steady penalty killer, owns a career 52.4% success rate in the faceoff dot, and starts more than 70% of his shifts in the defensive zone. He’s the epitome of a shutdown forward, and Dallas feels comfortable playing him against opponents’ best players, which will be a boon for them in the upcoming playoffs.
Meanwhile, Bunting returns to the lineup after missing the first few weeks of April with a lower-body injury. Before the injury, he had struggled with the Stars after being acquired at the trade deadline, scoring one goal and two points in 11 games with a -7 rating.
Devils Reassign Lenni Hameenaho, Place Brian Halonen On Waivers
The New Jersey Devils are sending some reinforcements to their AHL affiliate for one final postseason push. The Devils announced that they’ve reassigned Lenni Hameenaho to the AHL’s Utica Comets and have placed Brian Halonen on waivers to do the same.
Hameenaho, 21, has had a quality first year of professional hockey in North America. New Jersey selected the Kajaani, Finland native with the 58th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, and he spent his two post-draft years with the Finnish Liiga’s Ässät.
He was more than successful over that stretch, scoring 34 goals and 82 points in 104 games with a +17 rating, proving to the Devils that he was ready for the jump to the AHL.
Although he has been unable to sustain the level of scoring he showed in Finland, Hameenaho has still registered nine goals and 22 points in 34 games for the Comets this season. He’s unlikely to finish as Utica’s top rookie, though he’s nearly there with nearly 30 fewer games played.
His NHL debut hasn’t been as promising, in contrast. Hameenaho has played in 33 games for the Devils this season, scoring two goals and eight points while averaging 12:11 of ice time in a third-line role. His 48.8% CorsiFor hasn’t provided much confidence, either, though he’s still young and has plenty of time for more development.
Meanwhile, Halonen is a much more experienced veteran and should head to Utica tomorrow. Although a team could technically claim him, he’s unable to play in the postseason and has never been considered a quality prospect. Still, he’s been a solid performer for the Comets, scoring 19 goals and 32 points in 48 games this season.
Dallas Stars Sign Christian Fitzgerald
The Dallas Stars have continued adding to their organizational depth through the college ranks. Dallas has announced the signing of forward Christian Fitzgerald to a one-year contract, beginning in the 2026-27 season. He’ll join the AHL’s Texas Stars for the remainder of the year on an amateur tryout agreement.
According to PuckPedia, Fitzgerald’s one-year, entry-level contract will come with an $850K NHL salary, $102.5K signing bonus, the possibility of a $72.5K games played bonus, and an $85K AHL salary.
Fitzgerald, 23, recently concluded his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin. Fitzgerald helped the Badgers reach the National Championship for the first time since 2010, ultimately losing to the University of Denver Pioneers.
He began his college tenure at Minnesota State University, scoring 16 goals and 29 points in 38 games, making for an extremely productive rookie campaign. However, when head coach Mike Hastings signed on with the Badgers, Fitzgerald followed him to Madison as a transfer.
Unfortunately, Fitzerald’s production dipped following the move, scoring 13 goals and 41 points in 74 contests, bottoming out with a six-goal, 17-point showing last season.
Still, Fitzgerald rebounded in a big way for his senior season, scoring 16 goals and 31 points in 39 games, finishing third on the team in scoring.
Although far from a top prospect, the Stars have had decent luck with collegiate free agents. Dallas signed Justin Hryckowian out of Northeastern University a few years ago, and he’s become a reliable tertiary scorer for the club in his second professional campaign. Fitzgerald has some maturing to do on the defensive side of the puck, but the Stars clearly trust in their developmental system enough to get as much as they can out of him.
Jonathan Quick To Retire Following Season
As speculated, tonight will be Jonathan Quick‘s last start of his NHL career. Getting the nod against the Florida Panthers, Quick told reporters (via Vince Z. Mercogliano) that he is retiring after the 2025-26 season.
Quick’s professional career began back in 2005, when he was selected 72nd overall by the Los Angeles Kings. After a pair of quality years at the University of Massachusetts, the Kings felt it was time to bring Quick to the professional level.
Unfortunately, his first season didn’t go as well as he had hoped. He was disappointing in a few games with Los Angeles and spent much of the year split between the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs and ECHL’s Reading Royals.
Still, despite again beginning the year in the AHL, Quick was called up when netminder Erik Ersberg went down with an injury, and never looked back.
Throughout the next decade, Quick became one of the most dominant goalies of his era. From his call-up during the 2008-09 season through the 2017-18 season, Quick won 292 out of 553 games (.528 W%) with a .917 SV% and 2.27 GAA. Although he never won the Vezina Trophy, he took home a pair of William M. Jennings trophies in 2014 and 2018.
Additionally, one cannot bring up Quick’s dominant run in Los Angeles without mentioning his playoff performances. In that same decade, Quick backstopped the Kings to two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014, winning 46 of 85 games (.541 W%) with a .922 SV% and 2.23 GAA. His performance was impressive during the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, and he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s MVP.
If they hadn’t already, Quick’s performance in 2012 certified that he was the Kings’ goaltender of the future, and they rewarded him with a 10-year, $58MM ($5.8MM AAV) extension.
As it does so often, injuries and age crept up on Quick, and his stability in the crease began to wane during the 2018-19 season. Finishing out his 10-year extension with Los Angeles, Quick found his way to the Vegas Golden Knights after the Kings traded him to Columbus, and the Blue Jackets shipped him to Vegas.
While he didn’t have an integral role with the team, nor did he get his name on the Stanley Cup, Quick won the trophy for the third time with the Golden Knights in 2023. Knowing that his career was coming to an end, Quick signed with the New York Rangers, a team he had grown up idolizing, ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Far removed from being a quality starter, Quick has still managed to be a productive backup for the Rangers. In three years with the club, Quick has managed a 35-29-6 record in 75 games, with a .900 SV% and 2.94 GAA.
Before tonight’s contest, Quick owns a 410-306-90 record throughout his 828-game NHL career. His 410 wins stand as the 12th-most all-time in the NHL, though he won’t have a chance to crack Tony Esposito‘s record with a win tonight. Additionally, his career .910 SV% ranks 59th all-time, just a few points shy of Patrick Roy.
We at PHR congratulate Quick on a Hall of Fame career and wish him the best of luck in his next chapter.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Lai of USA TODAY Sports.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Nicolas Aube-Kubel
After recalling a pair of depth players yesterday, the Minnesota Wild are again adding more reinforcements for their final two games of the regular season. The Wild announced that they’ve recalled forwards Ben Jones and Nicolas Aube-Kubel from the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Michael Russo of The Athletic indicated they would do so in a report earlier this morning.
As Russo alluded to, today’s transaction caps Minnesota at four post-trade deadline recalls, meaning they’ll have to wait until AHL Iowa finishes its season to recall any more Black Aces for the playoffs. Still, since AHL Iowa has already been eliminated from Calder Cup playoff contention, the Wild will have access to whomever they’d like.
Jones, 27, has been an oft-recalled player for the Wild this season. The Waterloo, ON native has been playing professionally for the past seven years with various organizations, although much of his NHL playing time has been spent with Minnesota.
Understandably, he’s performed much better at the AHL level. In 35 games for AHL Iowa this season, Jones has registered 12 goals and 30 points with a +2 rating. In Minnesota, he’s scored one goal and one assist in 26 contests with a -10 rating, averaging 8:36 of ice time per game.
Meanwhile, despite Aube-Kubel having more years of NHL experience than Jones, he has played almost exclusively for AHL Iowa this season. Throughout his first year with the organization, Aube-Kubel has scored 15 goals and 37 points in 60 AHL games, and one assist in four NHL contests.
Carolina Hurricanes Reassign Josiah Slavin
The AHL’s Chicago Wolves are getting their captain back. Yesterday evening, in a team announcement, the Carolina Hurricanes shared that they’ve returned forward Josiah Slavin to AHL Chicago.
Slavin, the brother of Hurricanes alternate captain Jaccob Slavin, was recalled a few days ago in a multi-player call-up. Carolina isn’t dealing with any injuries to their forward corps, but having already captured the top seed in the Metropolitan Division, they had the opportunity to rest some players leading up to the playoffs.
Overall, although he didn’t register any points, Slavin must consider his call-up a success. He skated in two games with Carolina, his first NHL action since the 2022-23 campaign, and earned a +1 rating while averaging approximately 15 minutes of ice time.
Now, Slavin will return to AHL Chicago as they prepare for their own playoff hopes. The Wolves are expected to secure the second seed in the AHL’s Central Division, giving them a first-round bye in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Although the six-year veteran typically doesn’t lead the Wolves on the stat sheet, he’s managed a productive season by all accounts. In 67 games, Slavin has registered six goals and 25 points with a +2 rating. Still, considering he’s only managed one assist in 10 postseason contests throughout his career, he’ll want to increase that production this year to give Chicago better odds at making it deeper into the playoffs.
Florida Panthers Recall Wilmer Skoog
Awaiting an official announcement, the AHL transactions log indicates that the Florida Panthers have recalled some additional forward depth. According to the log, the Panthers have recalled Wilmer Skoog from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
Skoog, 26, has the opportunity to make his NHL debut on this call-up. Florida signed Skoog from Boston University after he scored 16 goals and 31 points in 37 games for the Terriers in the 2022-23 NCAA season. Since then, it’s been mostly AHL duties.
Although his offense hasn’t taken off, the Stockholm, Sweden native has remained a solid secondary contributor to the Checkers. Through his first three years of professional hockey, Skoog has registered 49 goals and 92 points in 180 AHL contests, averaging just over a point every two games.
Given his developmental trajectory, he’s unlikely to become anything more than a bottom-six forward at the NHL level. Still, given the number of injuries that the Panthers have dealt with this year, they’ll spend the summer acquiring as much depth as they can afford.
Ultimately, that wouldn’t be a bad role for Skoog. Standing at 6’2″, 196lbs, he has the frame many teams would want in a bottom-six forward, and if he can chip in a goal or two along the way, the Panthers will have some value.
If he draws into the lineup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’ll likely be in a fourth-line role in place of Nolan Foote or Vinnie Hinostroza. Florida recognizes what it has in those two already, so it wouldn’t hurt to give Skoog an opportunity at the highest level of the game.
Poll: Who Will Capture The Final Wild-Card Spot In The West?
Now that every team is below five games remaining in the regular season, it’s scoreboard-watching time in the NHL. There are still a few things to sort out in the Eastern Conference, though the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference remains a wide-open race.
As it currently stands, the Los Angeles Kings own the spot with 85 points and four games left in their regular season. The Nashville Predators (84 points), Winnipeg Jets (82 points), and San Jose Sharks (81 points) are all within striking distance.
The Kings should be considered the favorites. Three out of their final four games are against teams well outside the postseason chase, although teams in their position love playing spoilers, especially against inter-divisional opponents. Still, Los Angeles will continue to ride the hot hand of Anton Forsberg, who has put up a .950 SV% over his last three appearances, winning them all.
However, the Predators aren’t going down without a fight. Playing much more competitively than last season, Nashville has three games left against the Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, and Anaheim Ducks. If they win all three and finish with 90 points, they would have a strong likelihood of getting in since the Kings don’t have a pathway to usurp them in the first tiebreaker (regulation wins).
Meanwhile, the Jets and Sharks, despite having four games remaining, have the hardest path. According to Moneypuck, Winnipeg has a 12.4% of reaching the playoffs, whereas San Jose has a 2.4% chance. The Jets have an ace in the hole in Connor Hellebuyck, who can win four games in a row mostly by himself. Still, even if they do win their last four, they would need some serious good luck.
Now, it’s your time to vote. Which team will win the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference and secure a date with the Colorado Avalanche in the opening round of the playoffs?
Who Will Capture The Final Wild-Card Spot In The West?
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Los Angeles Kings 52% (377)
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Nashville Predators 19% (134)
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Winnipeg Jets 17% (120)
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San Jose Sharks 12% (88)
Total votes: 719