Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

East Notes: Luchanko, Benson, Slavin

at CDT | by 3 Comments

According to a new article from Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff, the Philadelphia Flyers aren’t expected to retain Jett Luchanko for the duration of the season if he doesn’t rise out of a fourth-line role. While Philadelphia’s front office believes Luchanko could “hold his own” in a bottom-six role, they will need to see a breakout from him if they’re to keep him beyond the nine-game threshold, which would burn the first year off of his entry-level contract.

The breakout the Flyers were expecting to see hasn’t come yet. The former 13th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft has gone scoreless through his first two games of the season, averaging 8:15 of ice time. Still, it’s difficult to see a pathway upward for Luchanko even if he does perform better, especially if they’re adamant on keeping him at the center position.

There’s little chance of the Flyers breaking up the line of Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink, which has become a solid identity line for the team. The Flyers could conceivably move Trevor Zegras back to the wing, though they were steadfast in their belief that he could be a center when they acquired him this past summer. Further, given his defensive value and play in the faceoff dot, they’re unlikely to isolate Sean Couturier to fourth-line minutes.

Given the situation in front of him and the minimal time to accomplish such a task, it’s more than likely that Philadelphia will reassign Luchanko back to the OHL’s Guelph Storm in the next week or two. Unfortunately, despite his unenviable situation, he wouldn’t be entering a better situation in Guelph. Although he’d command far more playing time, the Storm aren’t expected to be a competitive team this season.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • Although he wasn’t put on the team’s injured reserve to start the season, Zach Benson has yet to make his debut with the Buffalo Sabres this year. That’s expected to change tomorrow. According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, Benson is likely to enter the lineup tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators. Unfortunately, unless he has found another offensive level to his game, Benson shouldn’t be expected to help with the Sabres’ offensive woes to begin the campaign. Through his first two years, he’s scored 21 goals and 58 points in 146 games, averaging 14:40 of ice time.
  • Yesterday, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that defenseman Jaccob Slavin is suffering from a lower-body injury, but were relatively vague regarding the severity. Today, in a small update, head coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “He went for some more testing. I think we’re just going to keep him out for a while. I don’t think it’s super serious, but he doesn’t quite feel right. So, for right now, he’s not on this trip.“

Canucks Reassign Braeden Cootes, To Recall Max Sasson

at CDT | by 2 Comments

According to head coach Adam Foote (per Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor), the Vancouver Canucks will reassign forward Braeden Cootes to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Vancouver will recall forward Max Sasson from the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks in a corresponding roster move. The Canucks confirmed Cootes’s reassignment, but didn’t do the same with Sasson’s recall.

So ends Cootes’s improbable run to the Canucks roster to start the 2025-26 campaign. Vancouver selected Cootes with the 15th overall pick of this past summer’s draft, and he cracked the team’s opening night roster after an impressive training camp and preseason. On October 9th, Cootes became the first 18-year-old to play for the Canucks since fellow first-round selection, Petr Nedvěd in 1990. 

His debut will end after three games. The Sherwood Park, Alberta native went scoreless, earning a -2 rating while averaging 10:47 of ice time in a largely sheltered role. Further, his 28.1% CorsiFor% at even strength and -1.8 Expected +/- indicates that Cootes may not have been as ready for the show as previously believed. Ahead of an upcoming five-game road trip, it has become the right time to move Cootes into a more comfortable environment.

He won’t have to travel very far to rejoin his old team. Located approximately 140 miles south of Vancouver, Cootes will continue his season with the Thunderbirds, where he scored 26 goals and 63 points in 60 games as the team’s captain. He was even more impressive on Team Canada for the U18 World Junior Championships, scoring six goals and 12 points in seven games, and capturing the gold medal against Team Sweden.

Replacing Cootes in the lineup will be a familiar face from last season. Sasson played in 29 games for the Canucks last year, scoring three goals and seven points while averaging 10:20 of ice time per game. Although he didn’t offer much on offense, he was an exceptional defensive forward, managing a 92.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength. Still, he may have another offensive gear to his game, considering he finished last year with 13 goals and 32 points in 41 games with AHL Abbotsford.

Blue Jackets Activate, Reassign Jordan Dumais

at CDT | by 1 Comment

One of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ up-and-coming forward prospects is getting back to work in the AHL. According to a team announcement, the Blue Jackets have activated Jordan Dumais from the season-opening injured reserve and have assigned him to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

Dumais has dealt with injuries the past few years, and nothing has changed to start the 2025-26 campaign. Dumais suffered a hip strain during Columbus’s rookie showcase, preventing him from participating in the team’s training camp and preseason.

Still, he’s only a few years removed from an impressive performance in the QMJHL.

Despite being selected in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft, Dumais was coming off an electric sophomore campaign with the Halifax Mooseheads, scoring 39 goals and 109 points in 68 games with a +7 rating. The next year, he dwarfed his previous output, leading the QMJHL in scoring with 54 goals and 140 points in 64 games, earning the league’s MVP award. Further, he registered five goals and 21 points in 15 postseason appearances.

Due to injuries, Dumais played only 21 games in the 2023-24 season, finishing the campaign with 16 goals and 47 points. He additionally played for Team Canada at the IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, tallying one goal and one assist in five tournament contests.

Again, injuries limited Dumais to 21 games throughout his first year of professional hockey. Still, he made the most of his brief time with the Monsters, collecting four goals and 11 points in his rookie campaign. The Blue Jackets are hoping that with the hip injury behind him, Dumais can participate in most of the Monsters’ games this season to get his development back on the right track.

Sean Durzi Out Four Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Utah Mammoth have taken a big blow to their defensive core a handful of games into the 2025-26 season. According to a team announcement, defenseman Sean Durzi is expected to miss the next four weeks with an upper-body injury.

Injuries are slowly becoming a theme for Durzi in Salt Lake City. After playing in 76 games for the Arizona Coyotes in the 2023-24 campaign, Durzi only appeared in 30 games last season for Utah due to shoulder surgery. Unfortunately, his current injury is related to the same shoulder.

If the recovery timeline provided is exact, Durzi will miss the Mammoth’s next 11 games and would hypothetically return for their November 8th contest against the Montreal Canadiens. Fortunately, despite only having two additional right-handed defensemen, the Mammoth have eight blueliners on the active roster and should be able to fill in the void left by Durzi without any additional roster moves.

Still, without Durzi for the next several weeks, and having traded Michael Kesselring this past offseason, Utah doesn’t have much offensive talent on the point behind Mikhail Sergachev. By no means is it vital to have offensive prowess from the point, especially considering the team’s impressive crop of forwards, but it’ll certainly be a limitation over the next month.

Despite missing much of last season, Durzi provided quality two-day play for Utah. He provided four goals and 11 points in his 30 appearances, averaging 20:39 of ice time while blocking 52 shots. He again maintained above-average possession metrics, finishing with a 52.9% CorsiFor% at even strength.

Although the injury happened to the Mammoth’s defensive core, it may have a larger impact on the team’s forward group. Typically dressing seven defensemen for games, head coach André Tourigny may have to change his approach if depth defenseman Nick DeSimone doesn’t perform well in Durzi’s absence.

Canadiens Sign Lane Hutson To Eight-Year Extension

at CDT | by 21 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens have gotten their young defensive star locked up for the foreseeable future. According to a team announcement, the Canadiens have signed Lane Hutson to an eight-year, $70.8MM ($8.85MM AAV) contract extension.

Shortly after the announcement, PuckPedia broke down the structure of Hutson’s new extension:

  • Year 1: $1MM salary, $11MM signing bonus
  • Year 2: $1MM salary, $11MM signing bonus
  • Year 3: $1MM salary, $9.5MM signing bonus
  • Year 4: $1MM salary, $6.5MM signing bonus
  • Year 5: $1.2MM salary, $6MM signing bonus
  • Year 6: $1.2MM salary, $6MM signing bonus, 10 team no-trade clause
  • Year 7: $2.2MM salary, $5MM signing bonus, 10-team no-trade clause
  • Year 8: $7.2MM salary, 10-team no-trade clause

The news is somewhat of a surprise, given last week’s update from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman noted that while both parties were close on terms and salary, there was a disagreement regarding “philosophy” concerning a Retirement Compensation Agreement (RCA). This agreement was the Canadiens’ attempt to maximize Hutson’s after-tax earnings while keeping his salary below $10MM.

In our update regarding Hutson, PHR’s Josh Erickson broke down an RCA, writing, “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 their announcement, the Canadiens didn’t allude to the inclusion of an RCA in the new extension, and we’ll likely never know. Still, today’s agreement indicates that it wasn’t as much of a hangup as previously believed.

Objectively, Hutson’s most obvious comparable would be New Jersey Devils’ defenseman Luke Hughes, who signed a seven-year, $63MM deal shortly before the start of the 2025-26 season. Impressively, the Canadiens were able to keep Hutson’s salary lower than Hughes’ (albeit minimally), while gaining another year of him on the roster.

Still, this contract is more of a gamble than Hughes’ is. Despite winning the Calder Memorial Trophy last season as the league’s top rookie, Hutson only has 92 games of NHL experience (including playoffs) compared to Hughes’ 161.

Regardless, Hutson made the most of his only full season in the league. He tied Larry Murphy’s all-time assist record for rookie defensemen (60), and tied Phil Housley with 66 points, the fourth-most in NHL history for a freshman blueliner. Further, Hutson finished 9th in voting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, joining Rasmus Dahlin, Thomas Harley, and Jake Sanderson as the only under-25 defenseman to finish top-10 in voting.

Unfortunately, although his offensive prowess is palpable, Hutson brings a lot of question marks on the defensive side of the puck. He finished last year with an 88.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength, despite starting 66.7% of his shifts in the offensive zone.

Meanwhile, although he spent much of the year next to Jayden Struble, his primary defensive partner was Kaiden Guhle before he suffered a longer-term injury. According to MoneyPuck, when paired with Guhle, who is his defensive partner this season, the two combined for a 48.1% xGoals%, which was middle-of-the-pack production on a playoff-caliber Canadiens lineup.

Another cause for concern would be Hutson’s size. While height and weight have become less important for forwards, they remain significant qualities for most teams’ defensive cores in the league. Hutson stands at 5’9″, 162 lbs, which may make him more susceptible to injuries, especially if Montreal lines up against a heavy-hitting team such as the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Regardless, Montreal now has three of its top-four defensemen signed to long-term contracts. Even after Hutson’s contract takes effect, the Canadiens will have approximately $28MM in cap space, leaving them plenty of room to sign Mike Matheson and keep their defensive core intact for the foreseeable future.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

New York Islanders Reassign Calum Ritchie

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

According to a team announcement, the New York Islanders have reassigned forward Calum Ritchie to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Ritchie had begun the year on the season-opening injured reserve, working his way back from a lower-body issue.

Ritchie was projected to return as late as October 17th. A report from a few days ago highlighted that he had been practicing with the Islanders, indicating that he was more likely to return early. He had scored one goal and two points in four preseason contests, averaging 15:24 of ice time, before suffering the lower-body ailment.

Despite beginning his season in the AHL, there is some hope that Ritchie could feature for the Islanders by the end of the 2025-26 campaign. Still, it’ll be his first long-term taste of professional hockey, spending most of last season with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals after skating in seven games with the Colorado Avalanche to begin the year. The Islanders acquired Ritchie at last season’s trade deadline in the deal that sent Brock Nelson to Denver.

He had an impressive year with the Generals, scoring 15 goals and 70 points in 47 regular-season games, and adding nine more goals and 25 points in 21 postseason contests. During the 2024-25 U20 World Junior Championships, playing for Team Canada, Ritchie registered one goal and one assist in five games.

Meanwhile, Ritchie could have more responsibility than most 20-year-olds in the AHL. Bridgeport finished the 2024-25 season as one of the worst offensive teams in the AHL, averaging 2.51 goals per game. Given his offensive prowess, Ritchie will likely find himself in a top-six role, giving him a larger opportunity to move up the depth chart should he find success.

East Notes: Letang, Soucy, Lorentz, Livingstone

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Only having one shift in the third period of tonight’s contest against the New York Rangers, many began to wonder if Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was dealing with an injury. That is indeed the case. According to Seth Rorabaugh of The Tribune-Review, Letang is being evaluated for an undisclosed injury.

Despite missing a few games last year due to injuries, Letang hasn’t dealt with any serious issues since suffering a stroke early in the 2022-23 campaign. Since returning, he’s appeared in 95.2% of all potential contests for the Penguins.

In the offseason, the Penguins indicated that they’d like to limit Letang’s usage this season. However, before tonight’s game against the Rangers, in which he played 15:29, Letang has averaged nearly 25 minutes a game, leading the team by a significant margin.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • On the other side of tonight’s contest between the Penguins and Rangers, the winning team is dealing with a defenseman injury of its own. After only appearing in 6:35 of tonight’s game, the Rangers announced that blueliner Carson Soucy left the game due to an upper-body injury. There could be cause for concern given the nature of the injury. Attempting to hit Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, Soucy missed the body check completely, flying awkwardly into the boards.
  • In a separate Eastern Conference matchup, this time in the Atlantic Division, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost forward Steven Lorentz to an upper-body injury. Lorentz’s departure from tonight’s game came early in the first period after being hit by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot. He skated in 1:17 of tonight’s game, and the Maple Leafs added no further comments on the severity of his injury.
  • According to a team announcement, the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, the main affiliate of the Florida Panthers, have signed defenseman Jake Livingstone to a contract for the 2025-26 season. The Minnesota State University alumnus has spent the last two years with the Milwaukee Admirals after debuting with the Nashville Predators in the 2022-23 season. In that two-year stint with the Admirals, Livingstone scored nine goals and 33 points in 127 games.

West Notes: Sharks, Fleury, Toropchenko

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Earlier today, beat writer for the San Jose Sharks, Max Miller, shared a few injury updates from the team. According to head coach Ryan Warsofsky, defensemen Jack Thompson and Lucas Carlsson, as well as forward Egor Afanasyev, all skated with the rehab group today and are close to returning.

The former two won’t have any impact on the Sharks’ roster upon their return, as neither blueliner cracked San Jose’s opening night roster out of camp. Still, Thompson would likely be a top recall candidate if the Sharks run into any early injury trouble on the blue line, given he scored four goals and 10 points in 31 games for the team last season, averaging 15:47 of ice time per game.

Afanasyev is more of a question mark. He’s in his first year back in the North American professional circuit after spending one season with the KHL’s CSKA Moskva, scoring seven goals and 21 points in 53 games. Given that he’s on the regular injured reserve as opposed to the non-roster injured reserve, it stands to reason that Afanasyev will join the Sharks when healthy. Still, despite the rebuilding nature of the roster, San Jose doesn’t have a ton of places to put him unless he takes a fourth-line role.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

Metro Notes: Angello, Dadonov, Ritchie

at CDT | by 1 Comment

A few days ago, longtime AHL player and brief NHL player Anthony Angello announced his retirement from hockey via his Instagram. According to the announcement, Angello will return to Cornell University to complete his degree, having previously spent three years there from 2015 to 2018.

The Syracuse, NY native was drafted with the 145th overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. After his three years with the Big Red, Angello began playing in the Penguins organization with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins toward the end of the 2017-18 season. He remained with them for the next several years, primarily as an AHL talent, and made his NHL debut.

After the 2021-22 campaign, Angello suited up for three different teams: the Springfield Thunderbirds, Milwaukee Admirals, and his hometown Syracuse Crunch. Now that his career is officially over, Angello will finish with three goals and five points in 31 NHL contests, with 72 goals and 143 points in 339 AHL games, including another six points in 26 Calder Cup playoff appearances. We at PHR congratulate Angello on his professional career and wish him luck on his next chapter.

Other Metropolitan notes:

  • In some early-season adversity, the early prognosis on New Jersey Devils forward Evgenii Dadonov’s injury isn’t good. According to team reporter Amanda Stein, imaging on Dadonov’s hand has revealed a fracture. He’ll be out for New Jersey’s current road trip, which concludes against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. The team will know more about his recovery timeline once they return to New Jersey.
  • According to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, New York Islanders forward prospect Calum Ritchie resumed skating this morning, though there were no significant updates to his injury rehab. Ritchie, acquired from the Colorado Avalanche at last season’s trade deadline, is currently dealing with a mild lower-body injury. Regardless, despite him skating with the Islanders this morning, the bulk of Ritchie’s season is expected to take place with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders.

Atlantic Notes: Kulikov, Lindholm, Batherson, Ratzlaff

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Late last night, the Florida Panthers quietly moved defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to the injured reserve. Unfortunately, although the team hasn’t commented on his status, reporting from George Richards of Florida Hockey Now indicates that it could be a long-term absence for their bottom-pairing blueliner.

The injury occurred during the Panthers’ win over the Philadelphia Flyers, their second game of the season. After attempting to hit Flyers forward Bobby Brink partway through the second period, Kulikov left the game after appearing to hurt his right wrist.

Passing along a note from head coach Paul Maurice, Richards’ report suggests that surgery is on the table for Kulikov, and that the team would make a more concrete decision this evening. Since the IR placement is retroactive to Thursday night, Kulikov is eligible to return from the IR on October 16th. However, if he requires surgery to repair his wrist, he’ll be out significantly longer.

Other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Another defenseman in the Atlantic will be sidelined, though not as long as Kulikov. According to Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald, Boston Bruins blueliner Hampus Lindholm is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed ailment. Lindholm left the team’s overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks after having only skated in 4:26 of the action.
  • In more positive injury news, the Ottawa Senators could be getting a major boost to their forward core. Although he was ruled out for the team’s recent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, forward Drake Batherson alluded to a return tonight or Monday in an interview with Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Citizen. Remarkably, the Senators’ first game of the year was the first Batherson has missed since the 2021-22 campaign, playing in 246 consecutive regular-season contests for Ottawa.
  • In an update unrelated to injuries, the Buffalo Sabres have shifted around some of their organizational goaltending depth. According to a team announcement, the Sabres have reassigned netminder Scott Ratzlaff to the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen. Ratzlaff, 20, who was selected with the 141st overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, spent last season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, managing a 23-19-4 record in 49 games with a .910 SV%.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top