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Oilers Place Kasperi Kapanen On Injured Reserve

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Oct. 23: The Oilers announced that Kapanen has been placed on injured reserve. They’re now operating with an open roster spot, which could be used to activate Mattias Janmark or Alec Regula from IR in the coming days.

Oct. 21: After leaving the team’s most recent loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Edmonton Oilers aren’t expecting Kasperi Kapanen back for several weeks. Head coach Kris Knoblauch (via Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic) confirmed the severity of Kapanen’s undisclosed injury earlier today.

Specifically, Knoblauch said this morning, “Right now, it’s looking (like) up to six (weeks). He’ll be unavailable for a while.” That means that Kapanen could be out until the last week of November, which would likely position him for the injured reserve.

However, the Oilers likely won’t be able to replace Kapanen in the active roster anyway, which would negate any reason to place him on the IR. As PHR’s Brian La Rose pointed out, “Notably, the team does not have enough accrued cap space to recall anyone from AHL Bakersfield (even with LTIR) as things stand which could be something to keep an eye on if he’s set to miss any more time.”

Still, it’ll be a missing bottom-six piece for the next month or more. After being claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Blues last season, Kapanen scored five goals and 13 points in 57 games, averaging 12:01 of ice time per game. He had improved play in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, registering three goals and six points in 12 games, averaging 13:28 of action per night.

Despite some poor defensive play, which isn’t typical of most bottom-six forwards, the Oilers clearly liked what they saw from Kapanen last season, signing him to a one-year, $1.3MM contract one day before the start of free agency this past summer.

Regardless, it’ll mean more ice time for at least one on Edmonton’s roster. Noah Philp and Curtis Lazar have been the most oft-scratched forwards for the Oilers through their first six contests, though the former played in Sunday’s loss to Detroit. Edmonton appears set to keep Philp in for tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators, while also reintroducing David Tomasek back into the lineup after missing Sunday’s contests.

Senators Recall Leevi Merilainen, Reassign Mads Søgaard

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The Ottawa Senators are reversing course on a move made just four days ago. According to a team announcement, the Senators have recalled netminder Leevi Merilainen and have assigned Mads Søgaard to the AHL’s Belleville Senators in a corresponding transaction.

It was apparent that Merilainen’s recent demotion was to reinstate some confidence in the young netminder. After winning the backup job out of training camp, Merilainen’s first game this season couldn’t have gone much worse.

He allowed seven goals on 26 shots against the Buffalo Sabres in 58:06 of ice time, translating to a .731 SV% and 7.23 GAA. Furthermore, his Goals Saved Above Average is already -4.4, while his Adjusted Goals Against Average is 8.26.

His first start in the AHL against the Syracuse Crunch was better, but not by much. Merilainen stopped 35 of 40 shots against, earning a .875 SV% and 5.00 GAA. Fortunately, his most recent start was his best of the year, stopping 26 of 28 shots against the Laval Rocket. Ottawa is hopeful that Merilainen’s play against Laval will give him the needed confidence to add more stability in the crease.

Meanwhile, Søgaard didn’t feature in any games for the Senators over the brief recall. He’s appeared in two games for AHL Belleville this year, managing a 0-1-1 record with a .864 SV% and 2.94 GAA.

The performance of Ottawa’s potential backup netminders wouldn’t be as important a storyline if not for the disappointing play of Linus Ullmark to begin the 2025-26 season. Acquired before last season to give the Senators a legitimate starting option, Ullmark earned a 25-14-3 record in 44 games with a .909 SV% and 2.27 GAA, helping Ottawa reach the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Ottawa hasn’t even gotten average production from him this season. Ullmark has gotten off to a 2-3-1 record through his first six starts with an .854 SV% and 3.80 GAA, and a disastrous -7.3 GSAA. Hopefully, Ullmark can turn his season around relatively soon, so Ottawa can take more pressure off Merilainen.

Islanders Place Alexander Romanov On IR

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According to a team announcement, the New York Islanders have placed defenseman Alexander Romanov on injured reserve with an upper-body injury (retroactive to October 16th). Romanov has missed the Islanders’ past two contests and is eligible for activation tomorrow.

Moving Romanov to the IR gives New York an open roster spot to recall another defenseman. Further, once Marc Gatcomb clears waivers and is reassigned to AHL Bridgeport, or is claimed by another team, they’ll have the cap space to make a pair of recalls. According to PuckPedia, the Islanders currently have approximately $706K in cap space and would have around $1.6MM if Gatcomb clears.

Before suffering the upper-body injury, Romanov had been largely unnoticeable for New York this year. He went scoreless in the team’s first four games with a -3 rating, averaging 18:12 of ice time per game. He had a relatively solid 50.7% CorsiFor% at even strength, though his 85.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength left much to be desired.

Although Romanov is expected to return relatively soon, there has been much speculation on whom the Islanders will eventually recall to replace him. Blueliner Marshall Warren, who’s never debuted in the NHL, is one of the most popular choices, given that he’s scored two goals and five points in four games with AHL Bridgeport.

Meanwhile, Isaiah George’s familiar face has been floated as another potential recall, though he hasn’t gotten off to a particularly positive start in the AHL this season. Further, Cole McWard, who won a Calder Cup with the Abbotsford Canucks last season, has tallied two goals in four games and is another recall candidate.

Atlantic Injury Notes: Laughton, Zucker, Tanev

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There’s no question the Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled out of the gates to begin the 2025-26 campaign. Fortunately, they could get a boost to the bottom-six of their forward core relatively soon in the form of Scott Laughton.

Laughton has been recovering from a lower-body injury since the end of the preseason, and he hasn’t participated in any practice up to this point in the regular season. Earlier today, Nick Barden of The Hockey News reported that Laughton is expected to resume skating today, indicating he’ll return relatively soon.

However, Laughton’s return is unlikely to resolve the issues plaguing the Maple Leafs this season. The team’s power play is currently tied for 28th in the league with a 12.5% success rate, and the team is middle-of-the-pack in puck possession. Being that he’s a physical center who can win faceoffs and chip in for 30-40 points a year, it would be unrealistic to think Laughton is the only thing Toronto needs to get their season back on track.

More injury notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Despite getting back in the win column against the red-hot Detroit Red Wings last night, the Buffalo Sabres may have lost a valuable top-six winger for the foreseeable future. According to Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic, Jason Zucker left last night’s game with an upper-body injury and is still being evaluated by the team’s medical staff. Although he only skated in 8:28 of yesterday’s contest, Zucker finished with one goal on two shots.
  • Moving back to Toronto, the team could be without defenseman Chris Tanev for their upcoming matchup against the Sabres. After leaving their most recent game with an upper-body injury, TSN’s Mark Masters reported yesterday that Tanev remains questionable to return. Given that the Maple Leafs are financially limited in what they’re able to do, the expectation is that Philippe Myers will make his season debut if Tanev is unable to play on Friday.

New Jersey Devils Announce Multiple Roster Moves

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The New Jersey Devils are getting a major scoring boost to their middle-six forward group tonight. According to a team announcement, the team has activated and reassigned defenseman Seamus Casey, placed forward Juho Lammikko on the injured reserve, and activated forward Stefan Noesen from the injured reserve.

Noesen had been recovering from an offseason groin injury, one that required a small procedure. Although he didn’t play in the Devils’ win last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, there was growing optimism that Noesen would return relatively soon since he practiced with the team on Monday.

New Jersey may not trust him for second-line duties out of the gate, though his natural fit is on the right wing next to Nico Hischier. Last year, his first with the Devils since the 2018-19 campaign, Noesen had a career year, scoring 22 goals and 41 points in 78 games. Considering the team suffered multiple injuries last year, Noesen offered valuable secondary scoring for a relatively low cost.

The Devils will likely ease Noesen into the lineup, starting him on the fourth line instead of the recently recalled Brian Halonen. Assuming his transition back to the roster goes well, Noesen will be back on the second line, replacing Dawson Mercer, in no time.

The other two transactions are relatively inconsequential. Casey began the year on the Devils season-opening injured reserve due to a lower-body injury, but had no place on the roster upon his return, given New Jersey already has seven capable defensemen. He’ll start his season with the AHL’s Utica Comets, where he scored three goals and 18 points in 30 games last year.

Meanwhile, Lammikko lands on the IR without having played a game with the Devils this season. The Noormarkku, Finland native joined the Devils from the NL’s ZSC Lions this summer after scoring 48 goals and 112 points in 144 games over three years with the Lions.

Kings Place Pheonix Copley On Waivers

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A week after acquiring him from the Tampa Bay Lightning for future considerations, the Los Angeles Kings are attempting to pass netminder Pheonix Copley through waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

It’s the second time this month that the Kings are trying to send Copley through the waiver wire. Earlier in October, when it was clear that Copley wouldn’t make the team out of training camp, the Kings placed Copley on waivers when the Lightning ultimately claimed him.

Despite the multiple transactions, Copley has yet to play a game this year. Although starting netminder Darcy Kuemper briefly went down with an injury, Los Angeles opted to utilize Anton Forsberg in his stead, negating any reason to use Copley.

If he clears waivers and he’s subsequently reassigned, Copley will return to a familiar environment. He spent much of last season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, recording a 24-17-1 record in 42 games with a .904 SV% and 2.49 GAA.

Fortunately, there aren’t a lot of hypothetical landing spots for Copley on the waiver wire. The Vegas Golden Knights could be a possibility, given that Adin Hill isn’t expected to travel with the team on their current road trip. Furthermore, the Ottawa Senators, who have gotten disastrous play between the pipes in the early games of the 2025-26 season, may be looking for anything to gain some stability in the crease.

Islanders Place Marc Gatcomb On Waivers

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the New York Islanders have placed depth forward Marc Gatcomb on waivers. The team will reassign him to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders tomorrow if he clears waivers.

Today’s waiver placement isn’t as much of a condemnation of Gatcomb’s play as it is a recognition of his spot on the totem pole. The Islanders desperately need to recall a defenseman due to Alexander Romanov’s recent struggles with injuries. Other than Kyle MacLean, Gatcomb has one of the likeliest chances to pass through waivers unscathed.

Gatcomb had only skated in one game for the Islanders this year, skating in 8:33 of action. Although he didn’t register any points, he made himself known in the October 11th matchup against the Washington Capitals, laying seven hits on the opposition.

Regardless, it’s probably not the last time we’ll see him with New York this season. Gatcomb split the season last year, scoring eight goals and one assist in 39 NHL games, with another nine goals and 17 points in 35 AHL contests. A year before, he scored nine goals and 20 points in 61 games for the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.

Once Gatcomb is off the active roster tomorrow, either through reassignment or a waiver claim, it’s expected that the Islanders will recall Isaiah George or Marshall Warren to replace Romanov in the active lineup.

Update On Shane Pinto’s Extension Negotiations

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Before the start of the regular season, several reports indicated that the Ottawa Senators had had positive conversations with Shane Pinto regarding an extension, and that the price could reach as high as $7MM per year. Apparently, those conversations may not have been as positive as previously believed, according to a new update from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on The FAN Hockey Show.

Friedman suggested that the Senators’ offer was far too low for Pinto, and realized later in the summer that they had much more work to do. Now factoring in Pinto’s start to the 2025-26 campaign, Ottawa may have to move farther than they’re comfortable with.

There’s no questioning he’s off to a torrid pace. The former 32nd overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft has scored six goals and seven points through the Senators’ first seven games, averaging 18:31 of ice time per night. Especially with the team being without captain Brady Tkachuk for the next several weeks, Pinto has taken it upon himself to carry much of the offensive burden.

Still, on the flip side of the argument, Pinto doesn’t have the track record to legitimize making him one of Ottawa’s highest-paid forwards. There’s little expectation he’ll ask for more than Tkachuk or star Tim Stützle, but there’s a world now where Pinto is asking for more than Dylan Cozens’ $7.1MM salary.

Although he’s shown a knack for goal-scoring, Pinto has yet to reach the 40-point plateau in his three full years with the Senators. Outside of missing half of the 2023-24 campaign for violating the league’s gambling policies, Pinto has scored 50 goals and 99 points in 193 games from the 2022-23 to 2024-25 campaigns. That was good for an 82-game pace of 21 goals and 42 points.

In fact, from his age-22 to age-24 seasons, Pinto has been remarkably similar to Jack Roslovic’s output over the same age range, when the latter put up 86 points with three more games played, while averaging nearly three minutes less of ice time per game. Roslovic has hovered around the 40-point mark since then, while putting up a pair of 20+ goal campaigns, and he settled on a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Edmonton Oilers this summer.

That’s not to say that Pinto’s pathway through the NHL will completely copy Roslovic’s, though it’s an important detail to manage. Given that the Senators are only freshly coming out of their rebuild, they can’t afford to attach a $7MM or more price tag to a player that will only average approximately 40 points a year. Regardless, given how he’s capitalized on a contract year through the early stages of the regular season, the Senators and Pinto are unlikely to agree on an extension throughout the year.

Canucks Announce Multiple Roster Moves

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4:15 p.m.: The Canucks have announced additional roster moves, reassigning Schuldt to Abbotsford and recalling defenseman Tom Willander and forward Nils Aman. The move adds an experienced center to the Canucks’ roster to help fill in for the loss of Chytil. Aman isn’t the caliber of player Chytil is, and won’t be able to bring the same level of offense, but he nonetheless has 130 games of NHL experience and offers some size and defensive reliability to head coach Adam Foote.

Willander, 20, appears to be a replacement for Mancini, as he is also a young right-shot blueliner. Willander was the 11th overall pick at the 2023 NHL draft and made his pro debut earlier this month with Abbotsford. He has spent the last two seasons playing college hockey at Boston University (scoring 49 points across 77 games) and with this recall is now eliigible to be dressed for an NHL game and has a chance to make his NHL debut.

11:11 a.m.: The Vancouver Canucks announced multiple roster moves, largely to maximize their LTIR capture. This morning, the Canucks shared that they’ve placed forwards Filip Chytil and Jonathan Lekkerimaki on the injured reserve (retroactive to October 19th), and have moved Nils Höglander to the LTIR (retroactive to October 7th).

Additionally, Vancouver has reassigned defenseman Victor Mancini to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, while recalling Joseph LaBate and Jimmy Schuldt in a corresponding roster move.

Unfortunately, the injury designation for Chytil was expected. The Canucks second-line center was on the receiving end of a massive hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson during yesterday’s contest, causing Chytil to leave the game prematurely. Although a major penalty was initally assessed, it was rescinded upon review, and no supplemental discipline is expected from the league’s Department of Player Safety.

Outside of losing a top-six center, there’s larger cause for concern with Chytil specifically. Throughout his time with the New York Rangers, Chytil suffered multiple concussions, limiting him to only 66 games from 2023 to 2025. Already dealing with a thin pool down the middle, Vancouver would struggle to put together a serviceable defensive core if Chytil is out long-term.

Meanwhile, Lekkerimaki also left last night’s game prematurely. Unlike Chytil, it was not as apparent what caused Lekkerimaki’s injury. Still, he was filling in for Brock Boeser, who missed the game for personal matters.

Lastly, Höglander’s move to the LTIR, as well as the roster moves, were purely based on financial reasons. The Canucks are already operating close to the upper limit of the salary cap, and they’ll maximize their LTIR capture via the move.

Hoglander is eligible to return after Vancouver’s October 26th matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, though it’s not apparent he’ll be ready to return at that point. Additionally, although he should be expected back on the roster relatively soon, Mancini must play in at least one AHL game before being eligible for recall, per the league’s new rules regarding paper transactions.

Rangers Assign Scott Morrow To AHL

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According to a team announcement, the New York Rangers have reassigned Scott Morrow to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. The news indirectly confirms that defenseman Carson Soucy will be activated from the injured reserve this evening against the Minnesota Wild.

Despite being on the roster for the last five days, Morrow never drew into a game with the Rangers. Considering the strong play of Matthew Robertson who’s scored one goal in the last four games with a 93.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength while averaging 17:17 of ice time, there was no reason to get Morrow into the lineup.

New York acquired Morrow this past summer in the trade that sent K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes. Unfortunately, he didn’t crack the team’s lineup out of training camp, and has already skated in one game for the Wolf Pack this season.

Prior to his time in the Rangers organization, Morrow spent the last two years with the Hurricanes after his finishing his collegiate career at the University of Massachussetts. Througout his time with Carolina, he scored one goal and six points in 16 NHL contests, with another 13 goals and 39 points in 52 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Although he’s playing in all seven games for the Rangers up to this point in the season, Robertson’s strong play of late likely spells the end of Urho Vaakanainen’s tenure in the lineup for the time being. Per line rushes at this morning’s practice, Soucy is expected to play on the left side next to Braden Schneider on the team’s second defensive unit, while Robertson will retain his role next to William Borgen on the team’s bottom pairing.

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