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Canada Cuts Jake O’Brien, Jackson Smith, Marek Vanacker From WJC

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Hockey Canada announced Thursday that they’ve cut center Jake O’Brien (Kraken), defenseman Jackson Smith (Blue Jackets), and winger Marek Vanacker (Blackhawks) from their preliminary roster for the 2026 World Junior Championship.

All three dressed in yesterday’s 2-1 pre-tournament exhibition win over Sweden, played in Kitchener, Ontario. That’s par for the course for the Canadian staff to get a look at their bubble players in friendly action before making their final roster submission, which is due before the preliminary round begins on Dec. 26.

Canada announced its preliminary roster back on Dec. 8, needing to cut two names before the tournament started. That number jumped to three when they added Vanacker to their training camp roster last weekend. Today’s cuts get them down to 14 forwards and eight defensemen, satisfying the IIHF’s 22-skater roster limit. They’ve also indicated they’ll only carry two goalies to the event, so one of Carter George (Kings), Jack Ivankovic (Predators), and Joshua Ravensbergen (Sharks) will likely be heading back to their club team in the next week as well.

O’Brien is the most surprising cut of the three. He won gold with the under-18 team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last season as a draft-eligible on his way toward becoming the eighth overall pick by Seattle.

This season, he’s been named captain of the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs and leads the league with 35 assists in 27 games, adding 11 goals for 46 points. His 1.70 points per game also lead the league, and his +20 rating is in the top 10.

Smith is a similarly eyebrow-raising omission, but Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff relays that he had a tough showing against Sweden that hurt his stock. Still, he won gold with the under-18s last year at both the Hlinka Gretzky and the U-18 World Juniors, scoring four goals in seven games from the blue line. He’s averaged well north of 20 minutes per game for Penn State this season and has a 3-6–9 scoring line in 14 games for the Nittany Lions.

Vanacker’s late inclusion was more of an insurance policy if the Sharks opted not to loan Michael Misa to them as expected. However, that doubt was erased when San Jose officially cleared Misa to participate yesterday. He’ll head back to Brantford alongside his linemate, O’Brien. Vanacker’s goal-per-game pace so far has him in the OHL lead with 26, one year removed from a late first-round selection by Chicago.

Latest On Jarmo Kekalainen’s Sabres Plans

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The Buffalo Sabres made a significant change at the top of their hockey operations department yesterday, swapping incumbent GM Kevyn Adams for experienced former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen. Kekäläinen spoke to the media today and outlined his vision for the Sabres, as well as how he plans on ending the franchise’s playoff drought, one that currently stands as the NHL’s longest.

Per Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff, Kekäläinen did not offer a firm commitment to incumbent head coach Lindy Ruff, instead stating that all aspects of the club’s hockey operations — including its head coach — would need to be evaluated.

Ruff, 65, is currently in his second season of his second tenure as Sabres head coach, and his 17th season as the Sabres’ head coach overall. Ruff is the Sabres’ all-time winningest coach by a wide margin, his 621 career wins dwarfing second-place Scotty Bowman, who had 210 wins coaching the team in the 1980s.

When looking at Ruff’s second tenure as head coach of the Sabres, it’s difficult to speculate as to which direction Kekäläinen might go.

On one hand, Ruff failed to end the club’s playoff drought in 2024-25 and has the team currently sitting in last place in the Atlantic Division. On the other hand, there were larger personnel issues out of Ruff’s control that contributed to the losing the Sabres have experienced, as indicated by the fact that Ruff has retained his position while Adams lost his.

In addition, Ruff’s Sabres are just six points behind the Boston Bruins for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and hold a game in hand. It’s not inconceivable that the Sabres could go on a run and find their way into the postseason as soon as this spring, especially given how wide open the Eastern Conference’s playoff picture appears right now. That’s a sentiment Kekäläinen appeared to echo in his media availability, stating his belief that the Sabres could be a playoff team this season.

Beyond just the decision Kekäläinen has to make behind the Sabres’ bench, there are even more changes the new GM might make to the club’s overall hockey operations infrastructure. While Kekäläinen was running the Blue Jackets, the club drew widespread praise for its work in amateur scouting. Kekäläinen has long brought a specialization in talent identification to the table, which raises questions as to what Kekäläinen might want to do with the Sabres’ scouting staff. While a GM often receives the lion’s share of public credit or blame for their team’s draft choices, the reality is that there are lesser-known figures in a team’s front office that play a massive role in informing those draft choices as well, the chief figure being a team’s director of amateur scouting.

Kekäläinen himself served in that role earlier in his career, during his days with the St. Louis Blues, and when he was in Columbus, he brought along one of his trusted scouts, Ville Sirén, to operate as director of amateur scouting in Columbus. It’s entirely possible that Kekäläinen might try to see if he can bring Sirén into the fold in Buffalo, restoring a partnership that has worked so well in the past. The Sabres’ amateur scouting operation is currently run by Jerry Forton, who took up the position of director of amateur scouting in 2020-21.

He was promoted to assistant GM by Adams in 2024-25. Sirén does, of course, still work for the Blue Jackets, so right now it’s entirely speculative as to whether Kekäläinen might want to bring his old lieutenant to Buffalo, but it’s nonetheless worth bringing up as it relates to Kekäläinen’s future plans.

Kekäläinen might also, as part of the evaluations he’s pledged of the team’s operations, decide to retain Forton and keep much of the team’s amateur scouting staff intact. For all of the issues the Sabres have had in recent years, getting talent out of the draft has not been one of them. And it’s also not a foregone conclusion that if Kekäläinen were to want to bring Sirén to Buffalo, that would have to mean an exit for Forton; there is some precedent in the NHL for an incoming GM to bring in “his people” while also retaining the existing leadership.

When the Montreal Canadiens hired former New York Rangers GM Jeff Gorton to run their hockey operations department in 2021, he brought Nick Bobrov with him, someone who had served in a key scouting role during Gorton’s days with the Rangers. But Gorton also retained Martin Lapointe, a key existing voice in the team’s scouting department from the reign of former GM Marc Bergevin, and he now serves alongside Bobrov as co-director of amateur scouting. So it’s also possible Kekäläinen explores trying to add Sirén while also retaining Forton.

Fundamentally, the Sabres’ GM change has opened up a wide range of possibilities for its hockey operations department. When senior leadership changes, a trickle-down effect of changes typically follows, so it will be interesting to track what further staffing moves Kekäläinen makes, and how those moves might also impact other clubs.

Photos courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images

Blue Jackets Activate Boone Jenner, Reassign Luca Del Bel Belluz

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The Blue Jackets announced they’ve activated captain Boone Jenner from injured reserve, paving the way for him to return to the lineup tonight against the Senators as expected. Center Luca Del Bel Belluz was returned to AHL Cleveland in the corresponding move.

Jenner, 32, hasn’t played in exactly a month. He’s missed 14 games with an upper-body injury he sustained Nov. 11 against the Kraken. That news was initially of particular concern after Jenner missed the first several months of last season following shoulder surgery, but this injury ended up being unrelated.

Without their captain, the Jackets have treaded water with a 5-4-5 record. Even with collecting so many overtime/shootout losses, that hasn’t been enough to help them keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race. With sluggish contenders like the Panthers and Maple Leafs turning around their poor starts, Columbus’ 13-11-6 record has them third-last in the conference – although still well within reach of a playoff spot. While they have several teams to leapfrog, they’re only three points back of the Flyers for a wild-card spot and still have a respectable 20.9% chance of returning to the dance for the first time since 2020, per MoneyPuck.

Jenner will need to be a big part of that the rest of the way. The lifelong Jacket has been in something of a shooting slump since returning from his shoulder injury last year, finishing at a 9.8% clip. With 29 points in 42 games since then, though, his overall point production has remained a good bit above his career average. He’s got a 3-7–10 scoring line in 16 games this season, placing him sixth on the team at 0.63 points per game.

A natural center, Columbus has shifted Jenner to the wing as multiple young pivots come down the pike. He’s spent most of his time in the lineup flanking Adam Fantilli, usually with Kent Johnson on the opposite flank. They didn’t have great chemistry. Their 42.1% share of expected goals and 2.58 xGF/60 are the lowest among the Jackets’ five forward lines with at least 50 minutes together. Nonetheless, that trio is staying together in his return to the lineup, per Jeff Svoboda of NHL.com.

Del Bel Belluz’s second recall of the season draws to an end after nine days. He was summoned from Cleveland on an emergency basis on Dec. 2 after Mathieu Olivier landed on IR. With his presence on the roster no longer required to give Columbus 12 healthy forwards, they either had to return him to the AHL or shift his recall into a standard one.

In the last four games, the 22-year-old was a virtual non-factor. He had no points and an even rating while averaging 8:10 of ice time per game, going 8-for-19 on draws (42.1%) with five blocks. Limited ice time isn’t the best use of the 2022 second-round pick’s development. He’s done well when placed higher up in Columbus’ lineup before, posting eight points in 15 games last season when elevated into top-nine duties, but with his all-around ceiling not yet realized, it’s best to keep him in the minors until he’s fully ready to step into major minutes for the Jackets.

He’s likely not too far off from doing so. He’s operating at a point-per-game pace through 11 AHL contests after leading Cleveland with 27 goals in 61 games last year. They’ll continue to give him periodic check-ins at the NHL level to evaluate his game before he seriously competes for an opening-night job next fall.

Boone Jenner To Return From Injury Tonight

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Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner will return to the ice tonight against the Ottawa Senators after an injury cost him a month of hockey. Team reporter Jeff Svoboda relayed word from Columbus Head Coach Dean Evason, who confirmed to the media today that Jenner would be returning. Jenner hasn’t played since Nov. 11 due to an upper-body injury.

Jenner’s return to the Blue Jackets’ lineup comes at an important time. Columbus has lost three straight games and needs to get back into the win column quickly if they’re going to keep pace in the Eastern Conference’s tight playoff race. Getting Jenner back while the team is set to play a key Eastern Conference opponent, who they could feasibly be in the running against for a Wild Card spot later in the season, makes today’s news all the more positive for the Blue Jackets. Jenner scored 10 points in 16 games before his injury and was averaging 16:06 time on ice per game, including usage on both sides of special teams.

Blue Jackets Reassign Luca Pinelli

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The Blue Jackets announced they’ve ended center Luca Pinelli’s emergency recall and reassigned him to AHL Cleveland. The team now has an open roster spot, which will likely go to captain Boone Jenner in the coming days. He’s on injured reserve with an upper-body issue and has been out since Nov. 11, but head coach Dean Evason said last weekend that Jenner is close to a return. That won’t come tonight against the Red Wings, per Jeff Svoboda of NHL.com, but could come before Saturday’s tilt against the Panthers.

Because of injuries to Jenner, Kirill Marchenko, and Mathieu Olivier, the 20-year-old Pinelli had suited up in Columbus’ last three games. With Marchenko returning to the lineup tonight after a four-game absence, though, Pinelli’s presence on the active roster was no longer required to ensure the Blue Jackets had 12 healthy forwards. Since he was recalled under emergency conditions, the Jackets either had to return him to Cleveland today or convert the recall to a standard one.

Pinelli, a 5’9″ sniper, is in his first professional season. Columbus drafted him in the fourth round in 2023. He’s the fourth player from that round to make his NHL debut, following the Sharks’ Luca Cagnoni, the Canucks’ Ty Mueller, and the Canadiens’ Florian Xhekaj. The Ontario native has had a rather seamless transition to the professional ranks. With five goals in 13 games for Cleveland, he’s tied for the team lead. He’s added five assists for 10 points to rank third on the club behind more experienced call-up options Mikael Pyyhtia and Luca Del Bel Belluz.

Through his first three NHL games, Pinelli got a longer leash than expected, averaging 13:48 of ice time per game. He got top-six deployment at even strength, skating on Sean Monahan’s right wing. That’s a clear indication of where the organization views his ceiling, and given his small frame and lack of physical habits, he’ll likely need to produce enough to warrant a top-six job if he’s going to carve out an NHL career. He didn’t record a point in those minutes but was active with the puck, recording 10 shot attempts – six of which got on goal. Columbus outshot opponents 20-18 and outchanced them 25-17 with Pinelli on the ice at 5-on-5.

Pinelli’s usage for the remainder of the season at the NHL level will likely be sparse, if it even exists at all. A full season of adapting to the pro game in the AHL is a virtual necessity for a mid-to-late-round pick. Nonetheless, he’s done enough in the early going in 2025-26 to put himself on the long list for a roster spot next season.

Blue Jackets Place Mathieu Olivier On IR, Recall Luca Del Bel Belluz

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that Mathieu Olivier has been placed on injured reserve, and forward Luca Del Bel Belluz has been recalled from AHL Cleveland on an emergency basis. Thankfully the team will have some time to settle, as they are not in action again until Thursday when they host Detroit. 

Olivier is thought to be week-to-week, absent since leaving mid-game against Washington on November 24th with an apparent upper-body injury. The 28-year-old epitomizes the modern-day grinder. Undrafted out of the QMJHL, he caught on with the Predators organization but never broke out. After the 2021-22 season, Olivier got a fresh start as Columbus gave up a fourth round pick for the winger, which at the time felt like a lot for a grinder with limited NHL upside. Instead, Olivier established himself as a Jacket in 2022-23, playing in 66 games and setting career highs across the board. He took a massive step last season with 18 goals and 32 points, earning a well deserved six-year extension worth $3MM per season. 

With three goals in 23 games so far, the scoring touch has fallen a bit, but once healthy, Olivier will return as a vital cog in the Jackets’ bottom six, a role he will likely hold for years to come. 

On the other hand, Del Bel Belluz, 22, is a top prospect for Columbus after being selected in the second round of the 2022 draft. The Ontario native’s path to the NHL has been a bit clouded with the additions of veterans such as Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood, along with their group of exciting young forwards, but he has certainly held his own in the AHL. Del Bel Belluz has 11 points in as many games with Cleveland this year, and had 53 in 61 games last season. The center got into seven games with the Jackets already this season, but in a limited fourth line deployment, it wasn’t the best scenario for the youngster. 

Now, with Olivier down for the time being, Del Bel Belluz has another crack to make his mark, with seven NHL points to his name at this point, and help the Blue Jackets close out 2025 on the right note. 

Werenski, Monahan Miss Practice

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  • Columbus Blue Jackets team reporter Jeff Svoboda reported today that veterans Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan did not participate in today’s practice, and that the two players “have been battling through some things of late.” Werenski has been managing an upper-body injury, but thus far it hasn’t impacted his ability to dress for games. Werenski is Columbus’ most important player, skating in 26:30 per game with 24 points in 25 contests. Monahan dealt with an upper-body injury earlier in November, but it’s unclear at this time if his current ailment is related to what he was managing earlier this month. The 31-year-old pivot has had a slower-than-expected start to 2025-26, scoring just 11 points in 25 games. He scored 57 points in 54 games last season and was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy for 2024-25.

Latest On Boone Jenner

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Last night, Ryan Novozinsky of njdotcom asked Devils Head Coach Sheldon Keefe for an update on defenseman Brett Pesce. As shared by Novozinsky, while the key defenseman is progressing, he is still not close to a return, and remains considered week-to-week. 

The blueliner has now been absent for over a month after blocking a shot against the Avalanche and leaving mid-game. The initial thought was at least one month, so the update is not great, but it appears the veteran is on the right track for a return by January. While Pesce never jumps out on the stat sheet, anyone remotely familiar with his game knows his importance as a top shutdown defender. Prior to going down, he and Luke Hughes were a formidable pair, complementing each other’s games perfectly.

Impressively, New Jersey has battled through the adversity of losing Pesce, along with Jack Hughes and others, remaining atop the Metropolitan, especially thanks to a 9-1-1 home record. 21-year-old Simon Nemec has stepped up of late, being trusted with high minutes from Keefe, and starting to break through from his second-overall selection billing. However, Pesce’s absence is a major hole, and if the Devils are to hold off the Hurricanes along with the many other formidable teams in the division, they will need their steady leader back, placing their elite young defenders Hughes and Nemec back into more favorable roles. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Blue Jackets Head Coach Dean Evason told Jeff Svoboda, Columbus’ team reporter, that Boone Jenner is “close” to returning, but likely not tomorrow against the Devils. The captain practiced today but is being phased back gradually. Jenner landed on IR two weeks ago with an upper-body-injury, and it was thought to be longer term, so a return by early December is favorable. The 32-year-old career long Jacket has 10 points in 16 games, and while a Monday return seems out of the cards, Jenner could return on Thursday as Columbus hosts Detroit. 
  • Insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff confirmed that Utah forward Logan Cooley appears to have “dodged a bullet”, with an initial finding of a quad contusion. Although further testing will be done, it seems to confirm last night’s sentiment that a serious injury was avoided. Cooley’s knee-on-knee collision with Alexei Toropchenko immediately caught the concern of the league, as he had to be helped off the ice, earning Toropchenko a match penalty. In an update from Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Toropchenko will not face supplemental discipline for the hit. Thankfully it appears the dynamic young star Cooley, with 23 points in 26 games, will not be sidelined for long. 

Blue Jackets Recall Luca Pinelli On Emergency Basis

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The Blue Jackets have recalled forward Luca Pinelli from AHL Cleveland under emergency conditions, the team announced. Since Pinelli isn’t waiver-eligible, there’s no extra privilege granted to Columbus by performing his recall on an emergency basis. They had an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is required.

Pinelli will be on hand for tomorrow’s game against the Maple Leafs and could make his NHL debut depending on the status of wingers Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier. Marchenko sat out yesterday’s loss to the Capitals with a muscle strain and is day-to-day, while Olivier left that contest with an upper-body injury after the first period. If neither is available, Pinelli would draw in if they’re to continue dressing 12 forwards and six defensemen. With the newly signed Brendan Smith also on the roster, he’s an option to play as well if they want to dress seven defensemen or deploy him as a forward, as Smith’s done in the past.

Pinelli, 20, lands his first NHL recall early in his first professional season. The 5’9″ center was a fourth-round pick in 2023 out of OHL Ottawa. He produced well over a point per game for the 67’s post-draft and found himself on Team Canada at this year’s World Juniors, posting a goal and an assist in five games on his first go-around for the national club.

While his size will be a concern for his long-term adjustment to the NHL, he hasn’t let it impede his adjustment from the juniors to the minors one bit. He hasn’t missed a beat since first reporting to Cleveland late last season after the 67’s’ campaign ended. In 22 regular-season and playoff games since making his pro debut, Pinelli’s put up a 7-9–16 scoring line with a +3 rating. That includes five goals and 10 points in 13 games to begin 2025-26.

That said, he’s something of an under-the-radar name in one of the league’s deeper systems. His lack of physicality, plus some discipline issues in juniors, limited his ranking to No. 14 in Columbus’ pool over the offseason by Elite Prospects. Still, it’s a good sign that he’s been able to hold his own out of the gate as he makes the first significant leap in his development.

Blue Jackets Reassign Dysin Mayo

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The Blue Jackets announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Dysin Mayo to AHL Cleveland. Since he’s been rostered for fewer than 30 days and played under 10 games since last clearing waivers, he didn’t need them today. They’re now left with an open spot on their active roster.

Mayo was up as a stopgap No. 7 option with Erik Gudbranson on injured reserve. However, he was made redundant yesterday when Columbus converted veteran Brendan Smith’s tryout with Cleveland into a two-way NHL deal and added him to the roster.

Mayo signed a two-way deal with the Jackets over the offseason. He was recalled for one game last month during a previous Gudbranson injury, but was then summoned again on Oct. 30. He’s remained on Columbus’ roster since, but has been scratched for 12 out of 13 games. He entered the lineup back on Nov. 5 against the Flames for his first NHL appearance since February 2023, logging three shots on goal and a -1 rating in 7:33 of ice time.

He’s a defensive specialist, even in the minors, but he’d been on something of a hot streak with four assists through his first five games for Cleveland. He’ll look to resume that momentum now that he’s returning to the minors for the foreseeable future. The 29-year-old is now in his 10th full professional season and is on his third organization after a lengthy stint with the Coyotes, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2014, and a couple of seasons in the Golden Knights’ system.

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