KHL’s Barys Astana Terminate Olivier Rodrigue’s Contract
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Zach Hyman Unsure He’ll Be Ready To Start The Season
Back in late May, Oilers winger Zach Hyman suffered a dislocated wrist in the Western Conference Final, resulting in surgery that kept him out for the rest of their playoff run. The veteran told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that while his recovery is on track, he’s unsure if he’ll be cleared by the time the regular season gets underway in early October.
Unlike 2019, when he was working his way back from a knee issue, Hyman has been able to skate regularly but still needs a brace on his wrist. His ability to build up strength on that wrist will go a long way toward determining if he’ll be cleared for opening night. He has one more meeting scheduled with the surgeon as well.
In 2023-24, Hyman surprised many with a 54-goal season after reaching the 30-goal plateau for just the first time in his career the year before. That meant expectations for him were quite high heading into last season. However, he wasn’t able to produce anywhere near that level. In 73 games, he notched 27 goals (still tied for the third-best mark in his career) along with 17 assists and produced at a somewhat similar clip in the playoffs before the injury, tallying six goals and five helpers in 15 contests.
As things stand, Edmonton projects to have less than $226K of cap space heading into the season, per PuckPedia. That doesn’t give them much in the way of wiggle room for injury insurance if Hyman isn’t available to start the season; the minimum salary is $775K. Meanwhile, for Hyman to become LTIR-eligible (which would open up some short-term flexibility), he’d have to miss at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the season and at this point, there’s no guarantee he’d need to miss that much time if he’s not available on opening night. Accordingly, Hyman’s availability (or lack thereof) will be one of the key storylines heading into training camp next month for the Oilers.
Prospect Notes: Behrens, Wassilyn, Bourque
The Colorado Avalanche have received a bit of good news in the quietest days of summer. Defense prospect Sean Behrens shared that he’s been fully cleared to participate in the team’s rookie tournament with Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports. Behrens missed all but two games of last season after sustaining a knee injury in an October practice scrimmage. The first-year pro only suited up for the very first, and very final, game of the Colorado Eagles’ season.
Hopes were high for Behrens prior to his season-ending injury. He seemed well set for a strong push into pros after finishing a three-year stay at the University of Denver with 31 points in 44 games, and a National Championship win, in the 2023-24 season. Behrens was a core part of the title-winning Pioneers, where he often found himself playing alongside or directly behind top prospect Zeev Buium. He showed off all of the sharp stickhandling and quick skating needed to keep the Pioneers offense running with Buium off the ice, and earned the NCHC’s ‘Defenseman Of The Year’ award as a result. Behrens now faces an uphill battle adjusting his slight, 5-foot-10 frame to the pro level. He’s made strong impacts in both junior and college hockey, and could earn a top role with the Eagles with a quick return.. He’ll be a name for fans to watch – though likely one that the Avalanche take their time with – as he looks forward to a healthy season.
Other notes from around the prospect world:
- Top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Braidy Wassilyn will indeed return to the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs next season, then attend Boston University in the 2026-27 season, shares Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. Kennedy mentions that Wassilyn’s return to juniors wasn’t previously guaranteed. This news puts the cherry on top of a productive summer for Niagara. Wassilyn scored 39 points in 62 games of his rookie OHL season last year. He rivaled the team’s top-six by the end of the season, profiling as a sharp and mobile playmaker with a heavy, 200-pound frame. He’ll return to great company in Niagara – set to play alongside fellow top 2026 draft prospect Ryan Roobroeck, Winnipeg Jets prospect Kevin He, and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Ethan Czata.
- Dallas Stars forward Mavrik Bourque will now be represented by agent Olivier Fortier, Vice President of Wasserman Hockey, per PuckPedia. Borque just wrapped up his rookie season in the NHL with 11 goals and 25 points in 73 games. It was a relatively calm performance, after Bourque won the AHL’s MVP award with 77 points in 71 games of the 2023-24 season. He did maintain a positive plus-minus and consistent lineup role through his first NHL season, even playing second-line minutes through certain points in the year. He’ll face the task of now cementing a spot up the lineup, and discovering his scoring prowess, ahead of restricted-free agency next summer.
Matthew Tkachuk Underwent Surgery, Aiming For January Return
Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk‘s health entering the season has been a topic of conversation after he returned early from an adductor injury sustained at the 4 Nations Face-Off to suit up in Florida’s run to a second straight Stanley Cup. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period now relays that Tkachuk indeed opted for surgery to repair it, undergoing the procedure “a few weeks ago,” and could miss as much as the first four months of the campaign.
It’s still not clear what caused the right-winger’s injury during the 4 Nations tournament, but he missed the balance of the regular season and wasn’t cleared to return until Game 2 of the Cats’ first-round win over the Lightning. Opting for non-surgical rehab initially to accelerate his return timeline, he still managed to rattle off a point per game as he marched to his third straight Stanley Cup Final and second straight win, although his 17:24 average time on ice was a noticeable drop from his previous usage.
His projected return timeline makes him LTIR-eligible and offers the Panthers a pathway to cap compliance to begin the season, but it’s not that simple. They’re now $4.5MM over the cap and, on top of shuffling their roster to optimize his LTIR relief, they have to figure out a way to reinstate him on the active roster when he’s ready to return while staying below the $95.5MM upper limit. They likely won’t concern themselves with the first bit too much, as he’s not a season-long absence and their roster is full, but their roadmap to a compliant roster and a healthy Tkachuk is still murky.
Tkachuk, 27, has averaged 99 points per 82 games since arriving in Florida in 2022 via the blockbuster trade with the Flames that sent Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar the other way. He also has 25 goals and 69 points in 67 playoff games for the Panthers over the last three years, ranking fourth and third in franchise history, respectively.
In the interim, the Panthers can expect 2021 first-rounder Mackie Samoskevich to play a pivotal role in their early-season success. The 22-year-old winger filled in for Tkachuk down the stretch last year and finished his rookie campaign with a 15-16–31 scoring line in 72 games. He’ll now get more opportunity out of the gate after essentially being forced to sign a league-minimum contract this summer thanks to Florida’s cap crunch and his 10.2(c) status prohibiting him from signing an offer sheet.