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Sabres Fire Kevyn Adams, Name Jarmo Kekalainen GM

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The Sabres announced they’ve relieved general manager Kevyn Adams of his duties. Former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen, who had been working with the team as a senior advisor to Adams this season, was named as his replacement. There’s no interim tag attached to Kekäläinen.

The change in leadership was widely expected after reports emerged Friday that the Sabres were seriously considering moving on from Adams following the conclusion of their road trip, which ended last night in Seattle with a three-game win streak. Matthew Fairburn and Tim Graham of The Athletic, who broke the story, indicated Kekäläinen was the likely name to take over but was in his native Finland on personal leave. He said on Instagram this morning that his father, Kari, passed away Sunday after a long-term illness.

Understandably, there likely won’t be a presser introducing Kekäläinen for a while as a result. The announcement likely couldn’t wait until after last week’s reporting, though. Owner Terry Pegula’s full statement on the matter is as follows:

I would like to thank Kevyn for his dedication and loyalty to the Buffalo Sabres. He has been a reliable presence, and we are appreciative of his enduring care and commitment. I personally wish him and his entire family all the best.

We are not where we need to be as an organization, and we are moving forward with new leadership within our hockey operations department. We are dedicated to building an organization that is competitive year after year, and we have fallen short of that expectation.

I have named Jarmo Kekäläinen as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres and he will be overseeing hockey operations, effective immediately. The hiring of Jarmo was the result of an extensive search process in which Jarmo stood out as our top choice for the senior advisor position. Jarmo has distinguished himself over the last eight months, and his experience, professionalism, and drive speaks for itself. I am looking forward to him leading our organization to the next level.

Adams, 51, had been Buffalo’s GM since his hiring during the 2020 offseason to replace the fired Jason Botterill. It was a surprising decision at the time, given his lack of managerial experience. The 2006 Stanley Cup champion, as a player with the Hurricanes, had never worked a high-level front office role. However, he was highly familiar to the organization and ownership – a decision likely made to help Pegula better put his finger on the pulse as their playoff drought neared a decade.

Five and a half years later, the Sabres still haven’t made it back to the postseason. Today’s news ends a lengthy run for Adams in the organization that began back in 2009-10, one season prior to their most recent playoff appearance. He served as a development coach from 2009-11 and an assistant coach from 2011-13 before moving away from a bench role. From 2013 to 2020, he worked mainly with the Sabres’ youth hockey program and took on a job as their senior VP of business administration in 2019-20 before getting the promotion to the GM’s chair.

From Buffalo’s last playoff appearance in 2011 to Adams’ hiring in 2020, the Sabres’ 260-343-88 (.440) record was last in the NHL. Adams has gotten them out of the cellar – they haven’t had a top-five pick since his first year on the job – but not back to playoff contention. Adams ends his tenure with a 178-196-42 (.478) record, only a marginal improvement that’s good for 26th in the league since the 2020-21 season. The closest they got to the postseason came in 2023, missing the cut by one point.

The Sabres’ 14-14-4 record out of the gate this season made moving on from Adams an inevitability. Another losing season risks core pieces Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson running out of patience and demanding moves – although with both signed through 2030 or longer, the Sabres have leverage on their side. There is a bevy of important pieces who aren’t locked up long-term, namely pending UFA Alex Tuch and pending RFAs Zach Benson and Josh Doan, who to some extent control their own destiny. That’s top of mind for a Sabres club that was essentially forced into trading RFA JJ Peterka to the Mammoth last summer because of an unwillingness to re-sign, although they made out rather well in that deal by recouping one of this year’s top breakout scorers in Doan.

Now, it’s Kekäläinen’s turn at the helm to instill a clear path toward playoff contention – whether that comes via long-term oriented moves or a potential in-season shake-up to vault Buffalo up a tight Eastern Conference. While they’re tied for last with 32 points, they’re only six points out of a playoff spot.

The appeal in Kekäläinen not only lies in his previous GM experience – he’s the first non-first-timer the club has hired since Scotty Bowman in 1979 – but in the type of market he worked for. Kekäläinen assumed control of a stagnant Columbus team that had yet to record a playoff win in franchise history midway through the 2012-13 season. Within a year, the Blue Jackets made it back to the postseason. Over his first seven full seasons in Columbus, the Jackets made the playoffs five times and recorded their first series victory in franchise history, an extremely memorable upset over the Lightning in 2019.

Kekäläinen was fired by the Jackets midway through the 2023-24 season after essentially being forced into rebuilding following the departures of Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency. Nonetheless, his proven track record of instituting a culture change in Columbus is of extremely understandable appeal.

Pegula didn’t announce any other front office or coaching changes. For now, Lindy Ruff and his staff remain intact behind the bench, as do assistant GMs Jerry Forton, Mark Jakubowski, Jason Karmanos, and special assistant Eric Staal.

Blackhawks Place Connor Bedard On Injured Reserve

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11:20 a.m.: Bedard will be out through the holiday break and will be re-evaluated in early January, head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters (including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times). They’re not currently considering surgery for his suspected shoulder ailment.

10:15 a.m.: According to a team announcement, the Chicago Blackhawks have placed star center Connor Bedard on the injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 12. In a corresponding roster move, the Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and have returned goaltender Laurent Brossoit from his conditioning stint.

Today’s update will likely only serve to fuel speculation regarding the length of Bedard’s absence. Chicago confirmed that Bedard is dealing with an upper-body injury, but did not comment on how long they expected him to miss.

His injury stems from the Blackhawks’ recent game against the St. Louis Blues. In the final moments of the contest, Bedard got tied up with Blues center Brayden Schenn during a faceoff and went down awkwardly. He was seen skating to the bench clutching his right shoulder, and no further updates have been given regarding the severity of his injury.

Losing Bedard for any amount of time is understandably a gut punch to a relatively competitive Chicago team. In the midst of a true breakout before the injury, Bedard had scored 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games, averaging 21:03 of ice time per contest. Nearly every facet of his game had taken meaningful steps forward, from his on-ice save percentage at even strength, CorsiFor% at even strength, to his faceoff percentage.

The Blackhawks already lost their first game without Bedard the following night at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, and will play the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens before he’s eligible to return. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a noticeable decrease in offensive output over those two games, as the team’s next leading scorer is Tyler Bertuzzi with 16 goals and 26 points in 29 games. Of Bertuzzi’s 16 goals, Bedard has assisted on 11 of them.

Del Mastro, 22, has already suited up in one game for the Blackhawks this season, earning a -1 rating in 17:35 of action. With that, he’s spent the rest of his time with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, scoring one goal and 11 points in 27 games with a +6 rating.

Although he will serve as the team’s seventh defenseman throughout their upcoming road trip, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Del Mastro won’t be in the lineup against the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. Throughout much of the 2025-26 campaign, head coach Jeff Blashill has opted to dress seven defensemen instead of the typical six, which may continue now that Chicago is down to 13 forwards on the active roster.

Meanwhile, Brossoit will have the opportunity to play in his first NHL contest since the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. He’s been recovering from both meniscus and hip surgeries over the last two years with the Blackhawks and is finally healthy enough to debut with the club. His numbers were fairly encouraging over his conditioning loan, managing a 2-1-0 record in three games with a .900 SV%.

Blues Place Dylan Holloway On IR With Right High Ankle Sprain

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The Blues announced forward Dylan Holloway will miss six weeks due to a right high ankle sprain and has been placed on injured reserve. Winger Alexey Toropchenko was activated from IR in the corresponding move.

Holloway sustained the injury in Sunday’s practice, not during game action. He was inadvertently tripped during a drill and wasn’t able to put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice.

The 24-year-old is now in for his second extended absence of the calendar year. Holloway sustained a season-ending oblique injury with just five games left in the 2024-25 regular season, holding him out of their first-round loss to the Jets.

A pending restricted free agent after signing his two-year, $4.58MM offer sheet with St. Louis in 2024, Holloway’s production has taken a hit from last season’s breakout. After putting together a 26-37–63 scoring line in 77 appearances in 2024-25, he’s come out of the gate with eight goals and 17 points in 33 games this year. Expressed in points per game, that’s a drop from 0.82 to 0.52 – a 37% decrease.

That’s due mainly to natural ebbs and flows in luck. His shot and chance generation numbers are nearly identical to last season. His shooting percentage has dipped by over four percent from 14.6% to 10.5%, though. Combined with the team’s general lack of finishing ability – their 10.0 shooting percentage is 25th in the league – and his production has suffered.

He’s still second on the team in scoring and a weapon the offense-starved Blues can’t afford to lose for any length of time, particularly with three other forwards – including top-nine names Jordan Kyrou and Jimmy Snuggerud – on IR. He’s averaged 17:52 of ice time per game, third among St. Louis forwards, and is among their most impactful drivers of possession. At 5-on-5, his 49.8 CF% and 53.3 xGF% are both top three among Blues forwards, even if his -11 rating doesn’t indicate a great run of two-way play from him at a glance.

Despite the rash of injuries, the Blues have somewhat recovered from their dreadful start. They’re 5-4-1 in their last 10 games and have climbed up to 31 points, four out of a playoff spot. However, a tight Western Conference picture and dwindling underlying numbers combine to give them just an 8.4% chance at postseason play, per MoneyPuck.

They’ll at least recoup some depth in Toropchenko. The 26-year-old fourth-line piece has been a double-digit goal scorer before, but isn’t on track to do so this year with one goal and two points in 17 outings. He’s been out since the beginning of the month after sustaining burns to his legs in an off-ice incident.

The Blues already had an open roster spot with Toropchenko on IR, so they’ll stick with one now as Holloway takes his place. A six-week timeline puts Holloway back in action on Jan. 26 at the earliest, meaning a 19-game absence at minimum.

Hurricanes Activate Jaccob Slavin, Reassign Joel Nystrom

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A major piece will be back in the Carolina Hurricanes lineup when the puck drops in Sunday’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin was activated from injured reserve just before the game, after being designated as a game-time decision before warmups. He will return from a lower-body injury sustained in the second game of the season. He’s missed the last 29 games. To make room for Slavin’s return, Carolina has reassigned defenseman Joel Nystrom to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Nystrom signed a four-year extension on Friday.

Slavin only played in 36 minutes of ice time before going down with injury. He managed no scoring, a minus-one, and three shot blocks in those minutes. But two games was hardly enough for Slavin to settle into his usual role on top of Carolina’s defense. He has averaged more than 22 minutes of ice time each game through 11 years with the Hurricanes. He brings a shutdown presence to hard matchups, giving Carolina the flexibility to deploy offensive defensemen like Shayne Gostisbehere.

The Hurricanes had to turn to a committee approach to round out their top-four in Slavin’s absence. Jalen Chatfield and Alexander Nikishin both rotated into the top-four, while Nystrom did well to carve out a role on an open bottom-pair. The 23-year-old rookie recorded five assists, a plus-three, and 14 shot blocks in the first 24 games of his NHL career. He played well enough to earn a multi-year, seven-figure extension just before this reassignment. That’s a tidy bit of confidence for Nystrom, who had only played in seven AHL games before his name was called to fill-in. He spent the last five seasons with the SHL’s Farjestads BK, where he won a league championship in 2022. Carolina drafted Nystrom in the seventh-round of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Slavin’s return will suddenly provide Carolina with a heap of defense depth, after going through a start to the season that saw most of the blue-line banged up. They will carry a confident three pairs, with Slavin watching over rookie Nikishin, into Sunday’s match against Philadelphia. That should only ramp up a Hurricanes squad that’s gone 6-2-0 in their last eight games, including back-to-back shootout wins in their last two.

Connor Bedard Not Expected To Travel With Blackhawks

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It’s been a tough weekend for the Chicago Blackhawks, as on Friday, franchise center Connor Bedard suffered an injury in the closing moments of the team’s loss, and then on Saturday the team, without Bedard, was shut out 4-0 by the Detroit Red Wings. The most recent reporting regarding Bedard’s injury indicates that things are unlikely to get easier for the Blackhawks in the immediate future.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on yesterday’s “Saturday Headlines” segment that the Blackhawks “are still collecting information” regarding Bedard’s injury and what a recovery timeline might look like. Friedman said he believes Bedard had an MRI on Saturday and that the Blackhawks are “still determining what the plan’s going to be” regarding his recovery.

The Blackhawks are set to travel on a three-game road trip this week, and per Friedman, Bedard is “not expected to travel” for at least the beginning of the road trip as the team continues to sort out his injury.

It goes without saying that any extended Bedard absence would deal a potentially fatal blow to the Blackhawks’ ability to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race. The Blackhawks, under new head coach Jeff Blashill, have surprised some this season, amassing a better-than-expected 13-13-6 record, which puts them three points behind the San Jose Sharks for the final Wild Card spot with a game in hand.

That better-than-expected start to 2025-26 has occurred in large part thanks to Bedard’s heroics. While he didn’t quite “pop” in his sophomore season the way some might have expected, Bedard has taken a major leap in 2025-26. He has 19 goals and 44 points in just 31 games, which is a 50-goal, 115-point full-season pace.

The Blackhawks have used Bedard heavily this season, and he’s just two seconds per game behind defenseman Alex Vlasic for the team lead in time-on-ice per game, something that in most cases belongs to a defenseman.

Put simply, in 2025-26, Bedard has been exactly the kind of franchise-altering talent he was billed to be by scouts and the media ahead of the 2023 draft. Losing Bedard for any period of time would put a significant amount of additional stress on the Blackhawks’ depth chart down the middle. 2022 first-rounder Frank Nazar has nearly matched his 2024-25 scoring total with 20 points in 30 games (he had 26 points in 53 games last year) but to expect him to fill Bedard’s shoes would be a mistake.

The Blackhawks rank No. 23 in the NHL averaging 2.84 goals per game, and that’s even with Bedard scoring at a top-five rate in the NHL. Without Bedard, the sources of offense dry up rapidly. Beyond Nazar, only veterans Tyler Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky have reached 20 points this season. The Blackhawks couldn’t find the back of the net without Bedard Saturday against Detroit, and they could continue to struggle to score with Bedard out.

Four-Time Cup Champion Bobby Rousseau Passes Away At Age 85

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Former Montreal Canadiens forward Bobby Rousseau has passed away at the age of 85, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Rousseau was a part of the Canadiens’ push to two rounds of back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, in 1965 and 1966, then 1968, and 1969. He also won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie in 1962, after posting 21 goals and 45 points in 70 games.

Rousseau, born Joseph Jean-Paul Robert Rousseau, began his career in the QMJHL. He led the league in scoring as a rookie, with 85 points in 44 games. Montreal acquired his rights soon after, and loaned him to the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens of the Eastern Professional Hockey League for the 1960-61 season. That same year, Rousseau was also loaned to the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, who represented Team Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. He would take home a Silver Medal from that tourney, in a year where USA won Gold and the Soviet Union won Bronze.

All of that came before Rousseau’s NHL career, which kicked off in-full in the 1961-62 season. He took home the Calder that year, en route to planting his feet as a routine 20-goal, 50-point challenger in the Canadiens’ lineup. He held that role through his age-24 season in 1964-65, but broke out in the 1965-66 season with 30 goals and 78 points in 70 games – all career-highs. Rousseau bounced between 60 and 70 points for the next three seasons, before dipping back to 58 points in the 1969-70 campaign.

That was enough to turnover his position in the Canadiens’ lineup. Rousseau was traded to the Minnesota North Stars, where he spent one season before again being traded to the New York Rangers. He was technically a later-named future considerations in the latter trade, a move that would prove foolish after Rousseau posted 157 points in 236 games, and four seasons, with the Rangers. His career came to a gradual close in the 1973-74 season, and officially in 1975 – the same year that his Montreal Canadiens would kick off another spree of Stanley Cup wins.

Rousseau is remembered for his fast skating and hard shot. More than that, he’s remembered for taking over games with bouts of skill, and the dynamic option that skill offered Jean Béliveau and Henri Richard in some of their best years. Rousseau was a key winger for Montreal, alongside the links of Gilles Tremblay and Claude Provost.

Rousseau’s older brother, Roland, also won the Memorial Cup. The family completed the Memorial Cup hat-trick when Rousseau’s grandson, William Rousseau, won the 2023 Cup with the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. William went on to win the QMJHL’s ’Goaltender of the Year’ award in 2024 and now plays professionally with the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders.

Bobby Rousseau will forever be rememebred as one of 119 players to have their name on the Stanley Cup four different times. He leaves behind his wife, Huguette, as well as eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. His name is among Montreal’s true greats. Pro Hockey Rumors sends our condolences to Rousseau’s family, friends, and the Montreal faithful. For more insights and quotes, visit NHL.com’s story remembering the Canadiens legend.

Jets Activate Connor Hellebuyck

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The Winnipeg Jets will get an MVP-boost to Saturday’s match against the Washington Capitals. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck was activated off of injured reserve just in time for Hellebuyck to take on the starting role. He underwent an arthtroscopic knee procedure on November 21st that was originally expected to hold him out for four-to-six weeks. He now returns just three weeks later.

This will be some great news for the Jets, who have posted a dismal 2-7-1 record since Hellebuyck’s exit. They’ve been among the NHL’s worst performers in that stretch, allowing the second-most goals against (38) and the third-worst goals-against per-game average (3.80) of any team. Their offense has struggled just as much, only scoring 24 goals, or 2.40 goals-per-game.

Winnipeg was rock solid before losing their superstar goaltender. They had a 12-7-0 record and 64-to-52 goal-differential prior to Hellebuyck’s absence. The three-time Vezina Trophy-winner himself had eight wins and a .913 save percentage in 14 games. That’s his lowest save percentage since the 2021-22 season, but still ranks as the sixth-highest in the league among goalies with 14-or-more starts.

Hellebuyck’s precedent often sits far above sixth-best. He led the NHL in wins (47), save percentage (.925), and goals-against-average (2.00) among goalies with at least 35 starts last season. It was enough to earn Hellebuyck MVP acknowledgement, making him the first goaltender to take home the Hart since Carey Price in 2015. Hellebuyck certainly sits in-line with that company – boasting a career-long .918 Sv% in 582 games, to Price’s career .917 Sv% in 712 games.

The Jets’ goalie room quickly dries up with their starter on the shelf. Eric Comrie took on the starting role over the last few weeks, but only managed to bring his stat line up to six wins and a .886 Sv% in 15 appearances. Thomas Milic also posted a .871 Sv% in three appearances. The 22-year-old is only one season removed from an extended run in the ECHL. With these shifts, Hellebuyck will return to an unrivaled role in Winnipeg’s starter’s crease, while Milic heads back to a competition for the AHL starting role.

Wild Acquire Quinn Hughes

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The Quinn Hughes trade rumor mill has come to an end.  The Wild have acquired the blueliner from the Canucks in exchange for center Marco Rossi, defenseman Zeev Buium, winger Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick.  Both teams have announced the swap.

Dating back to the offseason, there had been speculation that a trade involving Hughes could happen at some point.  The blueliner had talked about liking the idea of one day playing with his brothers, something Canucks president Jim Rutherford also referenced.  To that end, the Devils were believed to have had discussions about the idea of making a move for him with those discussions resurfacing this week amid talks with several other suitors.

Minnesota was not among those known suitors but they have won the sweepstakes for Hughes, making a significant addition to their back end.  The 26-year-old has been one of the top-scoring defensemen in the NHL in recent years and is only two seasons removed from winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top blueliner while finishing third in voting for the award last season.

This season, Hughes has played in 26 games with Vancouver, picking up two goals and 21 assists while logging a career-high 27:26 of ice time per night.  For his career, he checks in at just below the point-per-game mark with 61 goals and 371 helpers in 459 regular season games.  He has produced at a similar rate in the postseason, notching two goals and 24 assists in 30 playoff contests from the Canucks’ playoff appearances in 2020 and 2024.

It’s an understatement to say that adding Hughes will be a significant addition to Minnesota’s back end.  The team has leaned heavily on Brock Faber in the early going this season with veterans Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon also logging over 20 minutes a night.  That’s a solid foundation but a group that was lacking a legitimate number one defender.  That’s now no longer the case with Hughes sliding in as that missing piece with Jacob Middleton (when healthy) also serving as a top-four-caliber piece.

Hughes has two seasons remaining on his contract with a team-friendly $7.85MM AAV.  It’s plausible that he could double that when his contract expires and have a chance to be the highest-paid defenseman in the NHL.  Interestingly enough, he’s going to a team that employs the highest-paid player in NHL history as of next season in winger Kirill Kaprizov.

Clearly, GM Bill Guerin, who is also the GM for Team USA at the upcoming Olympics, feels he will be able to make a strong pitch for Hughes to stick around for the long haul, even if it requires another record-setting contract to do so.  Hughes will be eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st although Minnesota has received no assurances that he’ll do so, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo (Twitter link).  Notably, with new CBA restrictions on term and bonus structure kicking in next September, Minnesota will have about a 10-week window to try to lock Hughes up to an eight-year extension before the maximum length of a deal drops to seven seasons.

The Wild currently sit in third place in a hotly contested Central Division.  They’re behind Colorado and Dallas, the top two teams in the NHL by a considerable margin while Winnipeg, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last season, is also in their division as well, though languishing as of late.  With this move, an already difficult division gets a lot more difficult but the opportunity to add an elite defender to his group is an opportunity that Guerin clearly couldn’t pass up.

As for Vancouver, this is a situation they clearly didn’t want to be in on multiple fronts.  For starters, the recent trade speculation was hardly ideal and it was recently acknowledged that it was a discussion point in the dressing room.  Meanwhile, their preference certainly would have been to try to lock him up long-term but TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they’ve known for a while that he wouldn’t do so.  However, considering that the Canucks sit dead last in the NHL standings with just 25 points in 31 games and are coming off missing the playoffs last season, a retool of some sorts was going to be on the horizon.  Taking a step back would have lowered the chances of Hughes re-signing while moving him allowed for the potential to kick-start that roster restructuring.

There’s a strong case to make that Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin have accomplished that with this trade.  For starters, they bring in a highly-touted young defender in Buium who they hope can be an impact piece right away, particularly on the offensive front.

The 20-year-old was the 12th overall pick by Minnesota not even a year and a half ago.  He signed his entry-level contract at the end of his college season back in April and made his NHL debut in the playoffs, picking up an assist in four games.  Buium has been a regular on the back end for the Wild this year, playing in 31 games where he has put up three goals and 11 assists in 18:28 of playing time per game.  He should have a chance to play a little higher on the depth chart with the Canucks with a regular spot in the top four behind Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson, and Tyler Myers being a legitimate possibility.  With a longer-term lens, he could be a potential long-term partner with fellow rookie Tom Willander.

Buium is signed on his entry-level contract through the 2026-27 campaign with a cap hit of $967K plus an additional $1MM in potential ’A’ bonuses in each year.  If he progresses as expected, his second contract could wind up eclipsing what Hughes is making now while giving them a foundational blueliner, albeit not a franchise one like Hughes is.  Buium is under team control through the 2032-33 season.

As for Rossi, he helps fill a need that the Canucks have had for quite some time as a legitimate second-line center to play behind Elias Pettersson.  J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat were on the roster is past years but both were ultimately moved out and with due respect to Filip Chytil who can be a quality player when healthy, Vancouver lost a lot of impact depth down the middle with those swaps.  Rossi isn’t at the level of Miller or Horvat but he will be a substantial upgrade on their current depth options, a group headlined by recent UFA signing David Kampf.

The 24-year-old was the ninth pick back in the 2020 draft class.  Rossi battled myocarditis not long after being selected which stalled his development although he bounced back without any long-term concerns.  He had a solid showing in 2023-24 with 40 points in 82 games and then was considerably more productive last season, tallying 24 goals and 36 assists in 82 regular season games while playing over 18 minutes per night.  However, his ice time dropped in the playoffs to just 11 minutes per game and he remained a subject of consistent trade speculation throughout the summer with the two sides well apart on contract talks for a considerable amount of time.

Eventually, the parties worked out a three-year, $15MM bridge deal in late August.  He will remain under team control at its expiration for one more year but will be owed a $6MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights.  Meanwhile, Rossi has produced at a similar level this season, picking up four goals and nine assists in 17 games.  However, he has missed the last four weeks with a lower-body injury although he took part in Minnesota’s morning skate on Thursday which suggests he’s getting closer to returning.  With Pettersson out of the lineup himself, it’s possible that Rossi could jump right into a top-line role depending on when he returns.  He and Braeden Cootes – a 2025 first-round pick – now give Vancouver some much-needed longer-term stability behind Pettersson down the middle.

As for Ohgren, he’s an intriguing addition to this swap.  The 21-year-old was a first-round pick by the Wild in 2022, going 19th overall.  However, his development hasn’t gone quite as planned to this point.

Ohgren had his first full season in North America in 2024-25 and was quite productive with AHL Iowa, amassing 19 goals and 18 assists in 41 games, more than solid production for a rookie.  But while that yielded some opportunities with Minnesota, he wasn’t able to produce very much, being limited to just two goals and three assists in 24 games.  This season, he’s still looking for his first point after being held off the scoresheet in his first 18 outings while logging just 9:32 per night.  Ohgren briefly saw some action with Iowa as well, notching two goals and three helpers in nine games.

That made Ohgren a legitimate change-of-scenery candidate.  He should have an opportunity to play a little higher up the depth chart at some point with Vancouver and if he can turn into a productive secondary scorer, he’s someone who can be a useful piece for them for a while.  In the second season of his entry-level deal, Ohgren has a cap hit of $887K along with $500K in ’A’ bonuses per year.  He’s under club control through the 2030-31 campaign.

Between these players and a first-round pick, Vancouver has added what they hope will be several core players to help them down the road.  If all goes well, it will result in them taking a step back to take a couple of steps forward down the road.

From a salary cap perspective, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic mentions (Twitter link) that there is no salary cap retention on any players in the swap.  PuckPedia notes that the Wild are adding a net cap charge of just under $997K over a full season.  Using their numbers, that means that Minnesota is now projected to finish the year around $2.1MM below the cap ceiling, meaning that Guerin still has some financial flexibility to try to add to his roster later in the year.  Meanwhile, Vancouver is still operating in LTIR although they should be able to dip below that threshold before too long, allowing them to bank some cap space to put toward some of the bonuses for their entry-level players.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Hughes was being traded to the Wild.  Dreger was the first with the full trade return.

Photos courtesy of Sergei Belski and Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.

Sabres Considering Replacing GM Kevyn Adams

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The Sabres have opened the door on talks to remove Kevyn Adams from the general manager’s post, Matthew Fairburn and Tim Graham of The Athletic report. If they go in that direction, the announcement won’t be made until next week after Buffalo wraps up its Western Conference road trip.

If Buffalo does put a new face in the GM’s chair, it may not mean an outright firing for Adams. There has long been speculation that Buffalo would prefer to keep Adams in its front office in a different role. Whether that comes to pass remains to be seen, but his strong relationship with owner Terry Pegula was the main reason he was put into the role in the first place nearly six years ago, as Fairburn and Graham write. He was something of a shock promotion after the Sabres parted ways with Jason Botterill, previously serving as the team’s senior VP of business administration.

This time around, the Sabres have a much more experienced and logical promotion candidate in former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen. Buffalo brought the 59-year-old in as a senior advisor to Adams over the offseason. He’s done most of his work for the club remotely, though, and Fairburn and Graham report he’s currently in his native Finland dealing with a personal matter. If he’s to be Adams’ successor, they won’t be making a move until he’s back stateside.

The Sabres may have gained some goodwill with their fanbase with back-to-back wins, but it’s far too early to tell if that’s the beginning of something bigger in what’s been an incredibly streaky season. Through the ups and downs, they’re last in the Eastern Conference with a 13-14-4 record, on track to extend their all-time record postseason drought to a 15th season.

2025-26 is Adams’ sixth season as GM. Adams only has winning records on two of those campaigns, peaking with an excruciatingly close 42-33-7 record in 2022-23 that had them just one point out of a playoff berth. His career record now stands at 177-196-42 (.477), the eighth-worst points percentage in the league since he took over in the 2020 offseason. Using that as a catch-all for Adams’ skill as a front-office executive is overbearing, though, given Buffalo’s now long-standing losing culture and suspected underfunding and overstepping by ownership.

The Sabres’ step back since that bright spot in 2022-23 has no longer made complacency an option, though. After regressing to 84 points in 2023-24, they fired head coach Don Granato and replaced him with franchise all-time wins leader Lindy Ruff, whose final season in his first stint with the club was the first year of their playoff drought. It marked the seventh coaching change of the period, and with Ruff on an expiring deal and virtually untouchable due to his status in the club’s (and league’s) record books, another behind-the-bench move isn’t a realistic option at this time.

Buffalo gave Adams a multi-year extension back in 2022, but never released the terms. That deal remains active and runs through the 2026-27 season, per Fairburn and Graham.

Hurricanes Sign Joel Nystrom To Four-Year Extension

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Hurricanes announced they’ve signed rookie defenseman Joel Nystrom to a four-year, $4.9MM contract extension. The deal carries a cap hit of $1.225MM beginning next season and running through the 2029-30 campaign.

Nystrom was ticketed for restricted free agency next summer as he wraps up his entry-level contract. The right-shot Swede was a seventh-round pick in 2021 out of the SHL’s Färjestad BK and spent three seasons there before inking a two-year ELC with Carolina in 2024. The Canes loaned him back out to Färjestad for most of last season but brought him over to finish the year with AHL Chicago once his season ended.

Now, he’s an under-the-radar success story who lands multi-year security before most fans outside of Carolina – even hardcore ones – even know his name. The 5’11” puck-mover didn’t even make the Canes’ opening night roster but only lasted three games in the AHL, recording one assist, before getting called up to Carolina in late October in the wake of Jaccob Slavin’s injury.

The 23-year-old’s lengthy resume of professional play in his home country no doubt pushed him higher up on the depth chart for a recall despite his lack of North American professional experience. He won a league title with Färjestad as a sophomore in 2022 and ended his five-year tenure with the club last year after recording a 25-61–86 scoring line in 221 games with a +13 rating. In his final two seasons with the club, he led or co-led its blue line in scoring with 26 and 27 points, respectively, in 51 games each.

Nystrom’s game relies purely on his transition skills. He may have some long-term upside as a secondary power-play quarterback, but he has just four assists through 23 games, averaging a few ticks over 16 minutes per night. Physicality is almost entirely absent from his game, recording just 14 blocks and five hits. Nevertheless, he’s been active with the puck and has usurped veteran Mike Reilly for a regular job in the lineup while Slavin continues to rehab from his lower-body injury. His 59.0% share of expected goals at 5-on-5 ranks third among Carolina defenders behind Reilly and K’Andre Miller.

For this season, it’s hard to envision Nystrom sticking in the lineup when Slavin returns. His waiver-exempt status makes it likely he’ll be the one ferried to the minors to open up a roster spot rather than Carolina exposing a piece of valuable veteran depth in Reilly to the wire. Reilly is a pending unrestricted free agent, though, leaving the door wide open for Nystrom to open the season on the Canes’ roster in 2026-27. His new seven-figure salary makes him a safe bet to do so.

His cap hit will be beneath the buriable threshold by the time the deal wraps up if he doesn’t pan out as a long-term NHLer, so there’s little risk for the Canes in that sense. If he can stick around as an everyday second or third-pairing right-shot option with power-play upside, that’s a bargain play. Still, it’s jarring to see a player land nearly $5MM in guaranteed money – particularly as a late-round pick – before even scoring their first NHL goal. The only recent precedent for that is Sabres defender Mattias Samuelsson, who inked a much richer seven-year, $30MM extension in 2022 after going goalless with 12 assists through his first 52 NHL appearances.

Image courtesy of James Guillory-Imagn Images.

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