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Rookie Notes: Parekh, Connelly, Henry, Spellacy

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As expected, given the reporting from a few days ago, Wes Gilberton of Postmedia confirmed that Calgary Flames’ top prospect, Zayne Parekh, will not participate in the team’s rookie camp for precautionary reasons. Parekh has reportedly been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury that has lasted for much of the summer.

The expectation is that Parekh will be ready for the start of the Flames’ training camp in a few days, suggesting he is in the latter half of his recovery. Still, it would significantly impact Calgary’s defensive core if Parekh’s injury continues to limit him during training camp, as he aims to make the Flames’ opening night roster.

Drafted with the 9th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Parekh has not only solidified his positioning as the Flames’ top prospect, but is considered one of, if not the best, defensive prospects not currently a full-time NHLer. Before making his debut with the Flames at the end of last season, Parekh put together a pair of rather ridiculous seasons with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, scoring 66 goals and 203 points in 127 games with a +81 rating, with another four goals and 20 points in 18 postseason contests.

Additional rookie notes:

  • In an unfortunate update for the Vegas Golden Knights, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that prospect Trevor Connelly is not with the team for the opening of rookie camp. Webster reminds that Connelly suffered a leg injury earlier this summer at the World Juniors showcase, likely leading to his absence from the team’s rookie camp. There haven’t been any updates regarding Connelly’s availability for the team’s training camp, though he was likely destined to start with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, regardless.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have already lost one defenseman from the team’s rookie camp. According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, defenseman Ty Henry went down with a supposed knee injury during today’s practice, leading to his departure from the ice. Chicago selected Henry with the 163rd overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and he spent last year with the OHL’s Erie Otters, scoring one goal and 17 points in 63 games with a -5 rating.
  • As it turns out, the Blackhawks almost lost another player from rookie camp. Pope originally reported that forward prospect A.J. Spellacy also left the team’s practice after being accidentally cut by Aidan Thompson’s skate. Fortunately, it appears that the cut only required minor repairs, as Tracey Myers of NHL.com updated that Spellacy had returned to practice.

Jets’ Adam Lowry Continues To Recover From Hip Surgery

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Sept. 11th: Pushing back somewhat on last month’s report, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press spoke with Lowry today and indicated that although his recovery is going very well, he’s still targeting a return in late October or early November. Still, given that a sixth-month recovery would have projected Lowry for a late November return, today’s update indicates he’s on the early end of the recovery timeline.

Aug. 26th: In somewhat of a surprising revelation, given the original recovery timeline, the Jets shared an update of Lowry taking part in an informal skate this morning, donning his full equipment. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Lowry will be ready to start the season on time, but it does indicate he could be available far earlier than expected. An earlier return should prove a boon for Winnipeg, as they’re set to open the 2025-26 season with Namestnikov and the question mark, Jonathan Toews, as their top two center options behind Scheifele.

May 28th: Jets captain Adam Lowry won’t be available at the start of the 2025-26 season after undergoing successful hip surgery on Tuesday, per a club announcement. The procedure carries a five-to-six-month rehabilitation timeline, meaning he’ll likely make his season debut sometime in November.

While it could be a tough start to Winnipeg’s season without their top matchup and penalty-killing center, a roughly month-long absence shouldn’t impact the Jets’ offseason planning too much outside of adding a depth piece down the middle to give them additional insurance through the first few weeks of the campaign. A potential late October return doesn’t guarantee Lowry will miss enough time to qualify for a long-term injured reserve placement at the beginning of the season. Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff must presume Lowry counts against the salary cap to start the year.

The Jets’ center core of Lowry, Mark Scheifele, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Morgan Barron are all signed or under team control for next season, so there likely weren’t going to be many moving parts down the middle for Winnipeg this summer anyway outside of finding a potential upgrade on Namestnikov for the second line. However, Lowry’s absence for the first few weeks will likely allow the Jets to evaluate the readiness of their potential internal long-term replacements for Namestnikov in a top-six role. There’s 2023 first-rounder Brayden Yager, who’s primed to land an opening-night roster spot after scoring 25 goals and 82 points in 54 games with WHL Moose Jaw and Lethbridge this year. 2022 first-round Brad Lambert has gotten a couple of NHL reps over the last two years and might be a candidate as well, although he’s coming off a highly disappointing season with AHL Manitoba (7-28–35, -30 rating in 61 GP).

For Lowry, the hip rehab will mark an inauspicious start to the final season of the five-year, $16.25MM extension he signed in 2021. With Kyle Connor and Cole Perfetti also eligible to sign extensions on July 1, it’s unclear how quickly Cheveldayoff intends to start those talks with his captain. However, it should be expected that they’ll do everything in their power to keep the 11-year veteran in the only NHL city he’s ever known.

If they do opt to engage in extension discussions this summer, AFP Analytics projects the 32-year-old to receive a two-year deal in the $4MM range per season. He’s coming off his third straight 30-point campaign and has averaged at least 15 minutes per game for five straight seasons.

Lowry’s injury also puts a small dent in his climb up the Jets franchise’s all-time leaderboard. His 775 games played are fourth in Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise history, and he needs 69 games to leapfrog Bryan Little for third – that’s still doable next year if he returns at the early end of his timeline and stays healthy the rest of the way. His 121 goals are 10th all-time for the Jets, his 152 assists and 273 points rank ninth, while his +50 rating ranks fourth.

Rookie Camp Notes: Tinordi, Luchanko, Molendyk

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Although he’s a year removed from playing with the team, there’s some speculation that defenseman Jarred Tinordi could return to the Chicago Blackhawks this fall on a professional tryout agreement. According to Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio, Tinordi was on the ice before the first day of Chicago’s rookie camp in full team equipment.

Tinordi played for the Blackhawks from 2022 to 2024, primarily as a spot defenseman during the team’s ongoing rebuild, which involved phasing in young talent. Throughout two years with Chicago, Tinordi scored two goals and 17 points in 96 games with a -44 rating, averaging 16:01 of ice time per night. He provided some value with his ability to block shots and his physicality, but his spot on the roster became void as the Blackhawks continued to graduate their prospects.

Failing to find another opportunity at the NHL level, the former first-round pick spent the season with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, affiliated with the Calgary Flames. In his first AHL action in two years, Tinordi recorded one goal and five points in 30 games with a +5 rating.

Other notes from rookie camp:

  • A few days ago, it was reported that Jett Luchanko, who’s been recovering from a groin injury throughout the summer, may miss a few days of the Philadelphia Flyers’ rookie camp as he continues to rehab. Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports reported earlier that Luchanko was not on the ice for the first day of Flyers’ rookie camp, but that isn’t expected to last much longer. Sharing an update from General Manager Daniel Brière, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported that Luchanko’s absence today was purely precautionary, and even if he can’t participate in rookie camp, he’ll be a full attendee at training camp.
  • In an unfortunate incident at the Nashville Predators’ rookie camp, prospect defenseman Tanner Molendyk left the ice and didn’t return partway through practice. Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean reported that Molendyk ran into the open stanchion after delivering a hit and left after spending some time on the bench. Daugherty cautioned that Molendyk’s departure from practice is likely precautionary, but it’s a situation worth monitoring since Molendyk is one of Nashville’s top prospects.

KHL’s Barys Astana Terminate Olivier Rodrigue’s Contract

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In a relatively vague announcement, the KHL’s Barys Astana announced that they’ve mutually agreed with netminder Olivier Rodrigue to terminate his contract. The club announced that Rodrigue sustained an unspecified injury during training, and a subsequent medical evaluation revealed that he required additional treatment.

There could be several reasons why Rodrigue and Barys Astana decided to terminate his contract altogether. Hesitating to speculate too much, it could be a season-ending injury, or an injury that Rodrigue prefers to have treated in Canada or the United States, negating any reason for him to remain in Kazakhstan.

Additionally, there’s credibility to an argument that Rodrigue has been dealing with an injury for some time, given how his performance collapsed last year with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. In the 2022-23 season, Rodrigue managed a 14-14-1 record in 29 games with a .912 SV% and 2.77 GAA. Earning more playing time the following season, Rodrigue put up a 19-12-5 record in 37 games with a .916 SV% and 2.73 GAA.

Given the uncertainty in net for the Edmonton Oilers for the past several years, Rodrigue appeared to be a safety net the Oilers could give an opportunity to should their goaltending completely collapse. Unfortunately, all hope for a future in Edmonton fell apart for Rodrigue this past season.

Playing primarily for the Condors, Rodrigue recorded an 18-16-8 record in 41 games with a .897 SV% and 3.12 GAA. In his two appearances with the Oilers, Rodrigue earned one loss with an .862 SV%, giving up three goals on 18 shots in an April 7th start against the Anaheim Ducks.

Edmonton decided not to issue Rodrigue a qualifying offer this summer, leaving to last month’s contract with the Barys Astana. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to play through that deal, and it’ll be interesting to see if he lands in a different AHL organization over the course of the season.

Metro Notes: Sillinger, Foerster, Flyers Rookies, Kolosov

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Columbus Blue Jackets center prospect Owen Sillinger is expected to return from a February knee surgery early into the 2025-26 season, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The Blue Jackets will hold him out of contact throughout the preseason to help ensure that target, general manager Don Waddell told Portzline.

Waddell’s wording suggests that Sillinger will begin ramping up his contact at practice beginning in the regular season. That timeline could make a return in the final week of October, or early November, a feasible target. He is almost certain to start the year on the AHL roster, after potting 11 goals and 29 points in a top-six role with the Cleveland Monsters last summer. That will be no slight to Sillinger though. He has served an important role on the Monsters throughout the last three seasons – and scored 11 goals in each year, despite fewer games every seasons. There will be a spot in the top-six held for Sillinger when he returns, and a hot return could quickly push him up Columbus’ call-up chart. If he gets moved to the NHL, he’ll regroup with younger brother Cole Sillinger, who has filled a role in the Blue Jackets’ top-nine for the last four seasons. Owen made his NHL debut last season, in a game that Cole sat out of due to injury.

Other notes from around the Metropolitan Division:

  • Philadelphia Flyers forward Tyson Foerster is still on pace to be ready for the start of the season, president of hockey operations Keith Jones shared with Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. Foerster sustained an elbow injury that got infected and required surgery while playing for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship. He was the second-highest goal-scorer on the Flyers last season, with his 25 goals in 81 games falling one short of Matvei Michkov’s team-leading total. Foerster seems set to return to a top-six role throughout Philadelphia’s 2025-26 season. With this news, the Flyers can rest assured that he’s tracking to begin making that impact right out of the gates.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers are confident that rookies Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, and Jett Luchanko will be ready for the start of training camp despite summer injuries, per Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Spiegel points out that Luchanko faced a groin injury, Barkey faced a high ankle sprain, and Bonk faced bumps and bruises after a long 2024-25 season. All three players could have shots at making the 2025-26 roster. Luchanko made the Flyers out of training camp last season before returning to the OHL, while Barkey and Bonk went on runs to a Memorial Cup championship with the London Knights last season.
  • During his press conference, “Jonesy” also shared that the Flyers are confident they’ll have goaltender Aleksei Kolosov at training camp this year, again captured by O’Connor. Kolosov spent the 2024-25 season split between the NHL and AHL rosters, after playing through his fourth and final season in the KHL in the year prior. Kolosov posted an .867 save percentage in 17 NHL games, and an .884 in 12 AHL games. He posted five wins in both leagues. It seems he’d be a reasonable bet to start the season as the AHL starter, though O’Connor points out that there’s no telling where his camp performance could land him. He’ll likely be competing with Samuel Ersson and Daniel Vladař for NHL minutes.

Kings’ Liam Greentree Fully Recovered From Wrist Surgery

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Although he’s not expected to crack the Los Angeles Kings’ roster out of training camp, prospect Liam Greentree has reportedly fully recovered from his offseason wrist surgery. In an update from David Hofreiter of the Mayor’s Manor, Greentree will participate in the Kings’ upcoming rookie camp.

After recording 36 goals and 90 points in 64 games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires during the 2023-24 season, the Kings selected Greentree with the 26th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. Suiting up for the Spitfires again last year, Greentree set new career-highs with 49 goals and 119 points in 64 games with an impressive +55 rating.

He added on to his exceptional 2024-25 performance with a solid postseason run, scoring 14 goals and 24 points in 11 games. Unfortunately, the Spitfires were eliminated in the second round of the OHL playoffs.

Regardless of the solid campaign, it’s been several months since Greentree has played at full speed, considering he missed the Kings’ development camp earlier in the summer. Meanwhile, he was held out of the Spitfires’ first preseason contest last night, although he’s expected to feature in at least one exhibition before heading to Los Angeles for rookie camp.

He’ll be an interesting player to watch in the upcoming season. He has very little left to prove in the OHL, but isn’t old enough to play for the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign (unless the current rules are unexpectedly amended before the start of the season). Instead of getting a nine-game tryout with the Kings to start the season, it may be best to wait toward the back of the season to get Greentree into Los Angeles’ nine remaining games before participating in the playoffs, if they qualify.

Avalanche’s Jacob MacDonald Undergoes Hip Surgery, Out 5-6 Months

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The Colorado Avalanche have already lost one of their defenseman for a decent chunk of the 2025-26 season. The team announced that Jacob MacDonald underwent hip surgery on Tuesday and isn’t expected back until February or March.

In his second stint with the Avalanche organization, MacDonald spent all of last season with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Achieving his best professional offensive season to date, the Eagles’ assistant captain scored 31 goals and 55 points in 63 games with a +24 rating. MacDonald’s 2024-25 performance was so impressive that he won the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s top defenseman, the President’s Award for displaying excellence in all areas of the ice, and a First All-Star Team nod.

Unfortunately, he will not be able to make such an impact this season. Before re-joining the Avalanche last summer, MacDonald spent a year and a half with the San Jose Sharks after the Avalanche included him in a 2022-23 trade alongside Martin Kaut. Throughout that stint, MacDonald scored eight goals and 15 points in 59 games for the Sharks, averaging 13:55 of ice time per night, and four assists in six games for their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.

With respect to MacDonald, it’s not a severe loss for the Avalanche, but it does have negative implications on their defensive depth throughout the regular season. MacDonald’s surgery leaves Ronald Attard and Jack Ahcan as the most experienced depth defensemen for Colorado to call upon, should injury concerns arise on the blue line.

Given this, it would be unsurprising for the Avalanche to tap into the remainder of the unrestricted free agent market for defenseman in the waning days of the summer months. Although they likely won’t pursue the top name available, Matt Grzelcyk, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Colorado offer T.J. Brodie or Jonathon Merrill a tryout opportunity at the very least.

Carey Price Trade Not A Necessity For Canadiens

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Trade attention has once again zoned in on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price as the league announces changes to the use of long-term injured reserve and salary cap in the postseason. The future Hall-of-Fame goaltender hasn’t played since 2021, after undergoing meniscus surgery to address a severe knee injury. Montreal has kept him on LTIR, and thus received full relief from his $10.5MM cap hit, in each of the three seasons since. That cap hit and LTIR relief could each be beneficial for teams across the league, but Canadiens’ general manager Kent Hughes told Sportsnet’s Eric Engels that he’s in no rush to find a deal. Hughes said:

We don’t have to trade Carey Price… If we can find a trade to move his contract that makes sense for us and makes sense for another team, we’ll pursue it. But we don’t have to.

The Canadiens are currently $5.93MM over the salary cap, per PuckPedia. Placing Price back on LTIR at the start of the season will bring them up to roughly $4.57MM in cap space, more than enough for next season. That cap relief underlines Hughes’ sentiment of not needing a deal, and would likely force Montreal to bring back another long-term injury in any Price trade. They could balance their budget by swapping Price for a player like Logan Couture from the San Jose Sharks, or even by acquiring Shea Weber’s contract from the Chicago Blackhawks. Both teams sit roughly $6MM over the salary cap floor as things stand, and could get a hardier budget by paying up for Price’s contract.

As for what Montreal could expect in return, the list of comparable IR moves has run a bit thin. Montreal used Weber’s contract to acquire NHL winger Evgenii Dadonov from the Vegas Golden Knights in 2022. He’s moved multiple times since – most recently in a trade to Chicago alongside minor-leaguer Aku Raty and the rights to Victor Soderstrom in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick.

In the year prior to Weber’s original move to Vegas, Chicago used Brent Seabrook’s contract to acquire NHL forward Tyler Johnson and a second-round pick. That could be a better structure to hope for – though it’s hard to gauge if the market remains the same four years later, and with the changes to LTIR. With no rush to make a deal, Montreal will have the luxury of sitting back until a strong offer comes through.

East Notes: Hutson, Milano, Spicer

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In a recent article on The Athletic, Corey Pronman ranked 173 players under the age of 23 who are currently on NHL teams’ reserve lists. This means that these players may not be playing for their respective teams just yet. In a major snub to the reigning Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Pronman ranked Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson 34th on that list, lower than eight other defensemen.

Hutson finished the 2024-25 campaign with six goals and 66 points in 82 games, tying Larry Murphy’s rookie assist record for defensemen from the 1980-81 campaign. Not only did Hutson receive 150 more first-place votes than the next closest (Dustin Wolf) in rookie of the year voting, but he also made some noise in the Norris Trophy voting, finishing ninth in voting with one third-place vote, five fourth-place votes, and 22 fifth-place votes.

Pronman acknowledged Hutson’s scoring prowess, but based much of his ranking on Hutson’s defensive quality. In the article, Pronman said, “He’s a small defenseman without high-end feet or physicality. He works hard, but he can get bullied in physical play, and without high-end athletic traits, he will have trouble defending the fastest, strongest forwards, especially in the playoffs.”

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • After being limited to just three games during the 2024-25 season due to an upper-body injury, Washington Capitals forward Sonny Milano is continuing to work his way back to the team’s lineup. The Capitals aren’t setting any hard guidelines for the quality of his play when he returns, only hoping that he eventually does return. Tom Gulitti of NHL.com shared a quote from head coach Spencer Carbery, saying, “The way I look at Sonny right now is I’m looking at it from a standpoint of him just getting back into practice and game action and going from there. There’s no unrealistic expectations of him. Not putting any pressure on him. We just want him to get into camp, feel good health-wise and just take it from there.“
  • The defending National Champions, the Western Michigan University Broncos, have earned a commitment from a Boston Bruins prospect. The Broncos announced that Cole Spicer, who last played for the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, will join the program for the 2025-26 NCAA season. Despite playing in the USHL last year, Spicer has prior NCAA experience, suiting up in 49 games for the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2022 to 2024.

Nick Jensen Ahead Of Schedule In Recovery From Hip Surgery

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When Senators defenseman Nick Jensen underwent hip surgery after Ottawa’s playoff appearance, it was unclear how long he’d be out for.  While a firm timeline remains unknown, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the blueliner’s recovery appears to be ahead of schedule.

Back in May when he had the procedure, GM Steve Staios stated his intent “to address the club’s defence after learning the extent of Jensen’s ailment.”  That was a clear suggestion that the initial assessment would be that he’d miss some time at the start of the upcoming season.  He indeed addressed the right side of their back end at the draft with the acquisition of right-shot blueliner Jordan Spence from Los Angeles, shoring up their depth on Jensen’s side of the ice.

Jensen’s first season with the Senators was solid despite the fact he played through the injury in the second half of the year as well as the playoffs.  Acquired as part of the return for Jakob Chychrun last July, he got into 71 games during the regular season, picking up 21 points while logging over 20 minutes per contest for only the second time in his nine-year career.  He was held off the scoresheet in their six playoff outings against Toronto while averaging a little less than 21 minutes per contest.

Suffice it to say, Jensen is a key part of Ottawa’s top four on the back end while the upcoming season is also notable for him as he’s in the final year of his contract that carries an AAV of $4.05MM.  He’ll be wanting to demonstrate that he’s fully recovered and worthy of a new agreement that could push past the $5MM mark but as Garrioch notes, hip surgeries generally carry a recovery time of four to six months.  If things went absolutely perfectly, he could be ready by the end of training camp but given Jensen’s importance to the team, erring on the side of caution and not rushing him back might make the most sense in the long run, even if he is ahead of schedule in his recovery.

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