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Harrison Brunicke, Ben Kindel To Make Penguins’ Opening Night Roster

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For the first time in a while, the Pittsburgh Penguins will have a pair of teenagers on their opening night roster. Earlier today, head coach Dan Muse confirmed to play-by-play commentator Josh Getzoff that defenseman Harrison Brunicke and forward Benjamin Kindel will make their NHL debuts tomorrow night.

Neither player making the roster is overly surprising, given that the Penguins have been actively looking to get younger under General Manager Kyle Dubas’ stewardship. Still in the early stages of their rebuild, Pittsburgh was the oldest team in the NHL last season with an average age of 30.9.

Although he wasn’t a first-round selection, Brunicke has risen quickly up the Penguins’ organizational depth chart. He was drafted with the 44th pick of the 2024 NHL Draft after scoring 10 goals and 21 points in 49 games for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.

After having a solid training camp last season, the Blazers appointed Brunicke one of the team’s assistant captains for the 2024-25 campaign. He had a mildly better season in terms of offensive production, scoring five goals and 30 points in 41 games. Moving to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the final stretch of their regular season, Brunicke tallied two assists in 10 games in his first few professional contests.

The only issue out of the gate for Brunicke is that the Penguins are already saturated on the right side of their blue line. Outside of him taking a step back in his development, Pittsburgh has nothing to lose by playing Brunicke over some of their options, and the team has already committed to limiting veteran Kris Letang’s ice time this season. Still, even outside of those two, the Penguins need to find ice time for Erik Karlsson, Matt Dumba, and Connor Clifton.

Meanwhile, Kindel had much more hype coming out of the draft, given that he was selected with the 11th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft. He’s coming off an impressive campaign with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, seeing Kindel score 35 goals and 99 points in 65 games with a +39 rating. In the postseason, Kindel maintained a high level of performance, scoring eight goals and 15 points in 11 games, with a +6 rating.

Despite being one of the younger players at the Penguins’ training camp, Kindel tied for fifth in preseason scoring, putting up one goal and three points in six games. Even though he was typically used as a right winger throughout his tenure in juniors, Pittsburgh had been using him as a center this September, and he could start the year down the middle of the third line. Regardless, if he doesn’t find success to start the year, the Penguins have plenty of flexibility to move him to the wing.

Tampa Bay Lightning Claim Curtis Douglas

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have claimed a towering forward off the waiver wire. According to an announcement from his now-former team, the Utah Mammoth, Curtis Douglas is headed to Florida.

It’s readily apparent that the Lightning had one thing in mind by claiming Douglas. The former 106th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft stands at 6’9″, 243lbs, being one of the biggest forwards in the AHL.

Despite being drafted by the Dallas Stars, Douglas’ professional career began with the Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, on an amateur tryout agreement to end the 2020-21 campaign. After scoring one goal and four points in 11 games, he signed a two-year, $1.675MM entry-level deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs the following offseason.

Since then, the only other time he’s been mentioned in the news before today is when the Maple Leafs traded him to the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes toward the beginning of the 2022-23 season for defenseman Conor Timmins.

Including his brief stint with the baby Senators, Douglas has played in parts of five AHL seasons with the Toronto Marlies and Tucson Roadrunners, scoring 37 goals and 97 points in 261 games. In an oddly impressive statistic, Douglas has accrued 508 PIMs over that stretch, averaging out to two minor penalties a game, or one major penalty every three games.

Buffalo Sabres Claim Colten Ellis

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The Buffalo Sabres have added one of the top netminders from the AHL last season off the waiver wire. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Sabres have claimed netminder Colten Ellis from the St. Louis Blues.

All of a sudden, the Sabres have accumulated a relatively solid crop of goaltending depth. The team is expected to be without regular starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen through the first couple of weeks of the regular season. Still, they’ll have three NHL-caliber netminders, all acquired this offseason, to hold down the fort. And that’s without factoring in Devon Levi.

Unfortunately, unlike Alex Lyon and Alexandar Georgiev, along with Levi, Ellis has no NHL experience to rely on. Should he appear for the Sabres over the next few weeks, it would become his NHL debut after spending the last four years within the Blues organization.

Ellis came to the Blues as the 93rd overall selection of the 2019 NHL Draft, coming from the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic. After one more year with the Océanic and another with the Charlottetown Islanders, he made his professional debut in the 2021-22 campaign.

His AHL tenure didn’t get off to a positive start, leading him to spend much of his first two years in the ECHL. Still, he came into his own last year, managing a 22-14-5 record in 42 games with a .922 SV% and 2.63 GAA, including three shutouts.

It’s difficult to argue that Ellis is better than Lyon or Georgiev at this stage. Though the latter’s shaky performance last season could open up an opportunity for Ellis should he falter out of the gates. Still, by adding Ellis today, Buffalo now has seven netminders signed to NHL contracts for the 2025-26 campaign, meaning their goaltending carousel could be far from over for this season.

Maple Leafs Claim Cayden Primeau, Sammy Blais Off Waivers

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have added a pair of depth options off the waiver wire. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs have claimed netminder Cayden Primeau from the Carolina Hurricanes and forward Sammy Blais from the Montreal Canadiens.

Primeau’s tenure with the Hurricanes will end after having never appeared in a regular-season contest. Carolina acquired Primeau from the Canadiens this summer for a 2026 seventh-round pick. Despite signing him to a one-year, $775K contract a few days later, he’ll now play out that contract with Toronto.

After a promising 2023-24 campaign in which Primeau managed an 8-9-4 record in 24 games with a .910 SV%, he took a nosedive last year. Despite holding a 2-3-1 record in 11 games, he produced a disastrous .836 SV% and lost his job as the Canadiens’ backup to Jakub Dobes. Fortunately, Primeau revived some of his value with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, earning a 21-2-3 record in 26 games with a .927 SV%.

The Maple Leafs’ desire to add Primeau is fairly straightforward. The team will use Anthony Stolarz as the primary starter to begin the year, but has a question mark behind him with Joseph Woll taking an indefinite leave of absence. Dennis Hildeby has likely earned the role given his impressive preseason performance, and Primeau may start the year as their third-string option behind him, unless the team converts James Reimer’s PTO to a contract.

Meanwhile, Blais rejoins head coach Craig Berube in Toronto after winning a Stanley Cup ring with him in the 2019 playoffs. He’s a high-intensity forward and is coming off an impressive year with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, scoring 14 goals and 40 points in 51 games, with another six goals and 19 points in 23 games in the Calder Cup playoffs en route to another championship run.

Logan Cooley’s Camp Reportedly Rejects Eight-Year, $77MM Offer

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The Utah Mammoth are struggling to extend their top center. According to insider Frank Seravalli, Logan Cooley and his representation turned down an eight-year, $77MM ($9.6MM AAV) contract extension offer from the Mammoth this offseason.

It’s an interesting development considering a $9.6MM AAV would make Cooley the highest-paid forward on the team by more than $2MM margin, and the highest-paid player on the team by over $1MM. Still, given his career trajectory up to this point, there’s no question why Cooley would want to wait for a larger offer.

As the third overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft, expectations were high for Cooley coming into his rookie campaign. Then, with the Arizona Coyotes, Cooley scored 20 goals and 44 points in 82 games, averaging 15:49 of ice time per night with a 38.0% success rate in the faceoff dot. He did finish with a slightly disappointing 47.9% CorsiFor% at even strength, but his defensive metrics were good with a 90.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Much of his defensive poise at such a young age can be attributed to his time at the University of Minnesota, which put together one of the best collegiate rosters of all time during the 2022-23 season. All in all, although he slipped to fifth in Calder Trophy voting, Cooley’s rookie season was largely considered a success.

Fortunately, Cooley completely avoided the dreaded ’sophomore slump’ in 2024-25. Showing off much more playmaking ability, he finished with 25 goals and 65 points in 75 games — good for second on the team in scoring. Much of that can be attributed to his bump in ice time, jumping to 17:52 on average while centering the first line.

His underlying metrics were more mixed, as his CorsiFor% took a step forward, while his on-ice save percentage took a step back. Still, even at 20 years old, Cooley proved he could shoulder first-line minutes at the center position on a relatively competitive team.

Unfortunately, even if Cooley takes another leap in his on-ice production, he doesn’t have much bargaining power if he waits until next summer. Given that he’ll become a 10.2(c) restricted free agent, he’s ineligible for an offer sheet from an opposing team. Still, given that New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes was in a similar boat and landed a $9MM salary for the next seven years, Cooley may have an opportunity to become the first $10MM player in franchise history for the Mammoth.

Utah has plenty of financial flexibility moving forward, largely due to the shrewd extension of JJ Peterka and Dylan Guenther. At any rate, although he has reportedly rejected their most recent offer, the news indicates that the Mammoth are more than willing to invest in Cooley and retain him for the foreseeable future.

Training Camp Cuts: 10/1/25

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There’s less than a week until the first game of the 2025-26 NHL season. Outside of a handful of teams, most clubs have around 35 players remaining on their training camp rosters, leaving plenty of work to do before opening night. As always, you can keep track of every team’s current iteration at our Training Camp Rosters tracker. Today’s cuts are as follows:

Boston Bruins (per PuckPedia)

D Billy Sweezey (to AHL Providence, pending waivers)

Colorado Avalanche (Per team announcement)

D Wyatt Aamodt (to AHL Colorado, pending waivers)
F Daniil Gushchin (to AHL Colorado, pending waivers)
F Maros Jedlicka (to AHL Colorado)
G Mathis Langevin (to QMJHL Rimouski)

Detroit Red Wings (per PuckPedia and team announcement)

F Carson Bantle (released from PTO to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Carter Bear (to WHL Everett)
F Alexandre Doucet (to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Sheldon Dries (to AHL Grand Rapids, pending waivers)
G Carter Gylander (to ECHL Toledo)
D Alex Kannok Leipert (released from PTO to AHL Grand Rapids)
D William Lagesson (to AHL Grand Rapids, pending waivers)
F John Leonard (to AHL Grand Rapids, pending waivers)
D Ian Mitchell (to AHL Grand Rapids, pending waivers)
F Jakub Rychlovský (to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Gabriel Seger (released from PTO to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Dominik Shine (to AHL Grand Rapids, pending waivers)
F Eduards Tralmaks (to AHL Grand Rapids)
D Jacob Truscott (released from PTO to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Austin Watson (to AHL Grand Rapids, pending waivers)

Florida Panthers (per PuckPedia)

F MacKenzie Entwistle (to AHL Charlotte, pending waivers)
F Nolan Foote (to AHL Charlotte, pending waivers)
F Wilmer Skoog (to AHL Charlotte, pending waivers)

Los Angeles Kings (per team announcement)

D Samuel Bolduc (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Logan Brown (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Martin Chromiak (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Kenny Connors (to AHL Ontario)
G Pheonix Copley (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
D Jakub Dvorak (to AHL Ontario)
F Glenn Gawdin (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Liam Greentree (to OHL Windsor)
F Cole Guttman (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
D Joe Hicketts (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
D Kirill Kirsanov (to AHL Ontario)
F Andre Lee (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
D Jack Millar (to AHL Ontario)
F Francesco Pinelli (to AHL Ontario)
G Erik Portillo (to AHL Ontario)
D Tim Rego (to AHL Ontario)
D Otto Salin (to AHL Ontario)
G Isaiah Saville (to AHL Ontario)
F Akil Thomas (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Taylor Ward (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Jared Wright (to AHL Ontario)

Nashville Predators (per PuckPedia and team announcement)

D Andreas Englund (to AHL Milwaukee, pending waivers)
F Reid Schaefer (to AHL Milwaukee)

Philadelphia Flyers (per team announcement and PuckPedia)

F Jacob Gaucher (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Lane Pederson (to AHL Lehigh Valley, pending waivers)

San Jose Sharks (per PuckPedia)

F Patrick Giles (to AHL San Jose, pending waivers)

Tampa Bay Lightning (per team announcement)

F Nicholas Abruzzese (to AHL Syracuse, pending waivers)
F Dylan Duke (to AHL Syracuse)
F Boris Katchouk (to AHL Syracuse, pending waivers)
F Jakob Pelletier (to AHL Syracuse, pending waivers)
F Scott Sabourin (to AHL Syracuse)
D Roman Schmidt (to AHL Syracuse)
F Wojciech Stachowiak (to AHL Syracuse)

Utah Mammoth (per team announcement)

G Jaxson Stauber (to AHL Tucson, pending waivers)

Washington Capitals (per team announcement and PuckPedia)

D Louis Belpedio (to AHL Hershey, pending waivers)
G Garin Bjorklund (to AHL Hershey)
F Graeme Clarke (to AHL Hershey, pending waivers)
F Henrik Rybinski (to AHL Hershey, pending waivers)
F Bogdan Trineyev (to AHL Hershey, pending waivers)

Winnipeg Jets (per PuckPedia and Murat Ates of The Athletic)

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan (to AHL Manitoba, pending waivers)
F Colby Barlow (to AHL Manitoba)
D Kale Clague (to AHL Manitoba, pending waivers)
F Samuel Fagemo (to AHL Manitoba, pending waivers)
G Thomas Milic (to AHL Manitoba)
D Elias Salomonsson (to AHL Manitoba)
F Brayden Yager (to AHL Manitoba)

Oliver Bonk Out Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

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Although reporting from a few days ago that Philadelphia Flyers prospect Oliver Bonk was dealing with a milder upper-body injury, it doesn’t appear he’ll return for the team’s preseason. The Flyers announced that Bonk remains approximately two weeks out from returning, which will take him past the opening night of the NHL and AHL seasons.

It’s an unfortunate circumstance for the Ottawa native who had an outside chance of making the Flyers’ opening night roster, albeit on a short leash. Still, he’s expected to begin the first professional season of his career with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

After being drafted with the 22nd overall pick by Philadelphia in the 2022 NHL Draft, Bonk has spent the last three years with the OHL’s London Knights. He has been exceptional with the renowned OHL program, scoring 45 goals and 147 points in 179 games with a +82 rating. He’s sustained that high level of play in the postseason, scoring nine goals and 41 points in 56 playoff contests over that span.

Despite not having yet registered a game at the professional level, Bonk had a legitimate opportunity to make Philadelphia’s opening night roster, largely due to the poor play of his peers on defense. Head coach Rick Tocchet has reportedly become disenfranchised with the available defense options, telling NHL contributor Bill Meltzer that nobody has stepped up enough to grab one of the team’s bubble spots on defense.

Should that disappointing play continue into the first few weeks of the regular season, the Flyers could conceivably use Bonk’s first few games with the Phantoms as a makeshift training camp. If he excels through the first few weeks, Philadelphia could recall him for an opportunity at the NHL level.

Ryker Evans Out Six To Eight Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

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While defenseman Vince Dunn is being evaluated for a mild injury, the Seattle Kraken are confirmed to be without at least one defenseman to begin the 2025-26 campaign. The Kraken announced that Ryker Evans will miss the next six to eight weeks with an upper-body injury.

It’s an unfortunate circumstance for Evans on the Kraken, as the defenseman was likely to start the year as the team’s next best option on the left side behind Dunn. Seattle signed Evans, who was a restricted free agent, to a two-year, $4.1MM contract in mid-August this past offseason.

He played well in his first full-time opportunity at the NHL level, scoring five goals and 25 points in 73 games for the Kraken last year, averaging 19:29 of ice time per night. Although his possession and defensive metrics left much to be desired throughout his first full campaign, Evans still finished with more than 100 blocked shots and 100 hits.

Although missing nearly two months to injury could hurt Evans’ development, the Kraken shouldn’t have much to worry about if his past AHL performances are any indication of his future ability. In one-and-a-half years with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, Evans became one of the most efficient scorers on defense, registering eight goals and 59 points in 96 games, including an additional nine goals and 36 points in 44 Calder Cup playoff contests.

Fortunately, despite the Kraken losing their fourth-best scorer from the blue line last season, they should have the depth to hold down the fort while Evans recovers. The team inked defenseman Ryan Lindgren to a four-year pact this summer, meaning they’ll have a suitable replacement for the time being behind Dunn.

Waivers: 10/1/25

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With less than a week to go until the regular season, waiver season is in full swing. According to PuckPedia, the largest waiver placement of the preseason has taken place:

Boston Bruins

D Billy Sweezey

Colorado Avalanche

D Wyatt Aamodt
F Daniil Gushchin

Detroit Red Wings

F Sheldon Dries
D William Lagesson
F John Leonard
D Ian Mitchell
F Dominik Shine
F Austin Watson

Florida Panthers

F MacKenzie Entwistle
F Nolan Foote
F Wilmer Skoog

Los Angeles Kings

D Samuel Bolduc
F Logan Brown
F Martin Chromiak
G Pheonix Copley
F Glenn Gawdin
F Cole Guttman
D Joe Hicketts
F Andre Lee
F Akil Thomas
F Taylor Ward

Nashville Predators

D Andreas Englund

Philadelphia Flyers

F Lane Pederson

San Jose Sharks

F Patrick Giles

Tampa Bay Lightning

F Nicholas Abruzzese
F Boris Katchouk
F Jakob Pelletier

Utah Mammoth

G Jaxson Stauber

Washington Capitals

D Louis Belpedio
F Graeme Clarke
F Henrik Rybinski
F Bogdan Trineyev

Winnipeg Jets

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan
D Kale Clague
F Samuel Fagemo

Nashville Predators Claim Tyson Jost Off Waivers

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Nashville Predators have added to their forward depth off the waiver wire. Friedman reports that the Predators have claimed forward Tyson Jost from the Carolina Hurricanes.

Heading to Nashville, Jost will join the fifth team of his career. Undoubtedly, the former 10th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft has fallen well short of expectations.

Throughout his first six years in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche, Jost was fairly productive, scoring 45 goals and 103 points in 321 games, averaging 13:29 of ice time in a third-line role. Still, he failed to break through in any meaningful fashion, and the Avalanche traded Jost to the Minnesota Wild for Nico Sturm, who became a key depth piece for the franchise’s third Stanley Cup banner.

After failing to find a consistent role in the lineup with Minnesota, Jost was placed on waivers in mid-November of the 2022-23 season. He was subsequently claimed by the Buffalo Sabres, finishing the year with seven goals and 22 points in 59 games. Buffalo rewarded Jost’s efforts with a one-year, $2MM contract the following offseason.

For the third time in a row, Jost quickly fell out of the team’s lineup due to poor performances. Buffalo sent Jost through waivers in late December, and he spent the rest of the season as an oft-taxied depth forward from the Sabres to the AHL’s Rochester Americans.

Last season, Jost joined the Hurricanes on a one-year, $775K prove-it contract, which he turned into four goals and nine points in 39 games. Still, he showed signs of life, finishing the year with the highest CorsiFor% at even strength of his career.

The Hurricanes quickly re-signed Jost to an identical contract this summer, though he won’t play it out in Carolina. Now, after today’s waiver claim, he’ll likely compete for the next week for a fourth-line role with the Predators.

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