Flames Extend Craig Conroy, Other Front Office Members
Nov. 28: The Flames announced Conroy’s two-year extension through 2027-28 and revealed they’ve given deals of the same term to virtually their entire core front office: president of hockey operations Don Maloney, AGM Dave Nonis, and AGM Brad Pascall.
Nov. 26: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Calgary Flames are nearing an extension with General Manager Craig Conroy. Ryan Pike of Flames Nation relayed a note from Sportsnet’s Eric Francis indicating it’s a two-year agreement.
It’s a relatively expected outcome for the third-year front office leader. Outside of his nine-year career with the Flames on the ice in the early to mid-2000s, Conroy had spent the nine years preceding his appointment as the team’s General Manager as Calgary’s Assistant General Manager. Putting it all together — Conroy has spent the last quarter-century involved with the Flames in some capacity.
Embarked on a retool for his tenure up to this point, the Flames have yet to bear the fruits of Conroy’s labor. In the first few years as General Manager, Conroy shipped out several veterans, such as Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Jacob Markström, among others.
There’s consensus that Conroy has used the returned assets to good use. Although they haven’t returned to postseason contention under his stewardship yet, many rankings from before the 2025-26 season indicate that the Flames have a top-10 prospect pool in the league.
Additionally, Conroy had the task of finding a new bench boss for Calgary, ultimately landing upon Ryan Huska ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. Before this season, Huska had a 79-66-19 record as the Flames’ head coach, averaging 89 points a year.
Unfortunately, Calgary has seemingly taken a step backward this season. Finishing one regulation win outside of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Flames currently find themselves in 31st place with an 8-13-3 record. Much of that has to do with a lethargic offense, which has averaged 2.38 GF/G.
At any rate, Flames ownership appears happy with the work Conroy has done thus far and is giving him additional time to see the organization through the rebuild. Given their position in the standings, Conroy will have his work cut out for him leading up to this season’s trade deadline, as the Flames could once again offload several veteran players.
Senators Activate Brady Tkachuk
The Senators have activated Brady Tkachuk from injured reserve as expected, the team announced. He’ll suit up in this afternoon’s contest against the Blues. Ottawa needs to open a roster spot to activate him, which they’ve done by reassigning forward Stephen Halliday to AHL Belleville.
Tkachuk managed just three appearances this season before a check from Predators captain Roman Josi sent him into the boards. He sustained ligament damage in his right thumb in the collision that required surgery. He was initially expected to miss four weeks, but his return timeline was altered to six to seven weeks after the procedure was complete. That makes today’s return right on schedule.
The Senators’ captain is in year five of the seven-year, $57.56MM extension he signed in 2021 and recorded three assists and a +1 rating through his first three outings before going under the knife. His $8.205MM cap hit stands among the better value deals in the league. He’s coming off a down year offensively, limited to 29 goals and 55 points in 72 games, but he’s a consistent 30-goal threat and one of the league’s premier power forwards. He hasn’t recorded fewer than 200 hits in a season since his rookie year and is a consensus top-10 left-winger in the league, judging by his All-Star voting results over the past three seasons.
Tkachuk has also been remarkably durable since entering the league in 2018, particularly given his style of play. This 20-game absence was the lengthiest of his career by a wide margin and already stands as the most cumulative missed time he’s registered in a single season. To the Sens’ credit, they overcame his absence as well as anyone could have hoped for. Entering play Friday, they sit second in the Atlantic Division with a 12-7-4 record – that’s after starting the year in a 2-4-1 hole. They’ve been a middle-of-the-pack team offensively, but their team defense has come alive to overcompensate for the poor goaltending they’ve received from both Linus Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen. At 5-on-5, the Sens rank fourth in the league in shot attempts against per 60 (51.6), third in shots on goal against per 60 (23.5), and first in expected goals against per 60 (2.15).
While Ottawa sacrificing offense for defense will likely contribute to another underwhelming scoring line from Tkachuk the rest of the way, his return gives their top nine a much more complete look and allows names like Nick Cousins and David Perron, both of whom were overtaxed in top-line duties filling in for Tkachuk alongside Tim Stützle, to return to more comfortable bottom-six minutes.
As for Halliday, his first recall of the season ends after four games. The 23-year-old center was a fourth-round pick back in 2022 and made his NHL debut after a series of strong training camps and minor-league performances. He’d served as the Sens’ fourth-line pivot between Cousins and Hayden Hodgson during his call-up, recording an assist and a -1 rating in just 6:27 of ice time per game. He went 4-for-11 (36.4%) on faceoffs and recorded three hits.
Montreal Canadiens Claim Sammy Blais
Sammy Blais is headed back to Montreal, as insider Elliotte Friedman has shared that the Canadiens claimed the forward this afternoon.
The 29-year-old forward, signed to a one-year deal with the Habs last July, was lost on waivers to Toronto in October, before finding himself back on the wire yesterday. Given the current injuries affecting their forward corps, Blais provides needed depth, and perhaps the Quebec native will appear with Montreal at some point after all, although for now he will join AHL Laval.
GM Kent Hughes picks up Blais’ manageable one-year contract worth $775k at the NHL level. Marco D’Amico of Research Ground Media updated that the Canadiens were the only team to submit such a claim, meaning they can send Blais directly to the AHL without waiver clearance. Blais will likely finish 2025-26 with the Canadiens organization, one way or another.
Although becoming a bit of a journeyman, Blais has carved out a very respectable career for a former sixth-round pick (2014). After winning a Stanley Cup with St. Louis, the forward was eventually a key piece sent to New York in the Pavel Buchnevich trade. Blais suffered a torn ACL 14 games into his Rangers tenure, an injury which certainly changed the trajectory of his career. Although he returned in the 2022-23 season, Blais had just five assists and no goals in 40 games, landing in the AHL, and eventually returning to the Blues as a spare part in the Vladimir Tarasenko deal.
Clearly more comfortable back with his original team, Blais had a resurgence, with 20 points in 31 games to conclude 2022-23, which also earned an extension. However, he did not maintain such performance in 2023-24, and landed in the AHL last year. Blais helped lead the Abbotsford Canucks to a Calder Cup title, catching the attention of Montreal last summer who took a flyer on the 29-year-old. Unable to make the team, Blais rejoined his former coach Craig Berube in October as a depth option for Toronto. After posting three points in eight games, the Leafs are set to welcome back Auston Matthews and Nicholas Roy from IR. Blais became expendable, and now, finds himself back where he started the season.
With Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and Patrik Laine all missing time, Montreal has had to call upon the likes of Florian Xhekaj and Jared Davidson to fill in. Although both have been respectable players in the AHL, and the team has continued to win games, adding a familiar face with 265 games of NHL experience from their rivals appealed to the club.
Tristan Jarry Reportedly Generating Trade Interest
What a difference a year can make. According to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, Pittsburgh Penguins’ netminder Tristan Jarry is drawing trade interest from around the league. Unsurprisingly, Weekes lists the Edmonton Oilers as the primary suitor.
Last season, few would have believed that Jarry would become anything other than a likely salary dump. In the second year of his five-year, $26.88MM contract, Jarry managed a 16-12-6 record in 36 games with a .892 SV% and 3.12 GAA. Additionally, according to MoneyPuck, Jarry was ranked 35th (among goalies that played in 30 or more games) in Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAE) with a -4.7 mark.
Due to a combination of conditioning loans and waiver placements, all signs indicated that Pittsburgh’s relationship with Jarry was coming to an end. However, due to his poor performance, Jarry had little to no value on the trade market.
However, much like the Penguins as a whole, the 10-year veteran goaltender has appeared to turn a corner, albeit in a small sample size. Before missing the team’s last seven games due to an injury, Jarry had earned a 5-2-0 record in seven starts with a .911 SV% and 2.60 GAA. In terms of his GSAE, he has already overcome last year’s performance, producing a 4.8 according to MoneyPuck.
Unfortunately, as much as the Oilers may be interested in adding Jarry, there may be too many obstacles to overcome. For starters, Jarry’s $5.375MM cap hit is $1.775MM more than Edmonton is paying Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard combined. The Oilers will assuredly need to match salary, given that they’re currently $159K under the upper limit of the salary cap.
The one obstacle that could be easily overcome is Jarry’s 12-team no-trade clause. Although they haven’t gotten off to a positive start to the 2025-26 campaign, Edmonton has won back-to-back Western Conference Finals and is objectively far closer to contention than the Penguins. Additionally, although he’s a native of British Columbia, Jarry spent his Major Junior days with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings.
Regardless, given how he has performed up to this point of the season, it would be foolish for Pittsburgh to isolate Jarry’s market to just the Oilers. Teams such as the Montreal Canadiens, Utah Mammoth, and Carolina Hurricanes could all enhance their goaltending depth and have a far better financial outlook than the Oilers.
Penguins Activate Tristan Jarry, Ville Koivunen; Reassign Sergei Murashov
The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated starting goaltender Tristan Jarry and winger Ville Koivunen off of injured reserve. Both are expected to step back into the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. To make room for Jarry, Pittsburgh has reassigned rookie goalie Sergey Murashov to the AHL. The Penguins also plan to healthy scratch rookie Benjamin Kindel, for development purposes, and to make room for Koivunen’s return and Tristan Broz‘s NHL debut.
Murashov played in the first four games, and made the first three starts, of his NHL career on his latest recall. He was sharp throughout, posting a 1-1-1 record, one shutout, a .913 save percentage, and a 1.90 goals-against-average. Murashov will return to the AHL as the league’s reigning ‘Goalie of the Month’, after he began the season with a 5-1-0 record, .935 Sv%, and 1.68 GAA in seven games. He should step right back into Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s starting role, bringing a big boost to a club that’s 5-1-0 in their last six games.
Pittsburgh won’t lose much steam swapping back to Jarry. The 10-year-veteran was in the midst of a big resurgence to start the season, after posting the first sub-.900 Sv% of his career last season. He started this yaer with a 5-2-0 record, .911 Sv%, and 2.60 GAA – firmly locking in his spot as Pittsburgh’s starter less than one year after being placed on waivers. He will look to stay hot in his return to the lineup, after missing seven games due to injury. Jarry should resume starting duties, with Arturs Silovs serving as backup.
The Penguins make a similar swap in their forward group. Kindel has been among the most exciting rookies to start the year, but appears to finally be slowing down. He has recorded one point, 11 shots on goal, and five blocks in his last six games – a quiet spell after he scored six points in seven games as October turned over to November. The Penguins have already committed to holding Kindel past his nine-game trial, helping to remove the pressure to rush the 18-year-old into a starring role. He will get a chance to take a brief break, and recollect, but should get a chance to return to the lineup soon.
Koivunen could prove a barrier to that, if he can return from injury with a hot hand. He only scored two points in 11 games before going down, a disappointing result compared to the 11 points he has scored in six AHL games. He was a star scorer for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season as well, netting 56 points in 63 games, and recording seven assists in the first eight NHL games of his career. Koivunen seems to have an NHL breakout incoming, and will get a chance to continue fighting for it following these roster moves.
Mammoth To Activate Sean Durzi Off IR
The Utah Mammoth will see the return of defenseman Sean Durzi in Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Andre Tourigny told Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Durzi sustained an upper-body injury in the second game of Utah’s season. He has sat out of 21 games since. The Mammoth will need to activate him off of injured reserve before Wednesday’s game, but already have a roster spot availabel for his return.
This is the second year that Durzi has started the year with a long-term absence due to an upper-body injury. He sustained a shoulder injury in October of last season that required him to undergo surgery. The injury held Durzi out of the lineup until February, and limited him to only 30 appearances on the year. He was a core part of the Mammoth lineup when he was healthy, netting 11 points and a plus-four while averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time every night. He also recorded 52 blocked shots, which ranked fifth on the blue-line and seventh on the team despite Durzi missing more than 50 games.
He seemed to be stepping right back into that role this season. Durzi played nearly 21 minutes in Utah’s season-opener, and recorded two blocks, one hit, and no scoring. He ramped up in their second game, recording one point, two blocks, and two hits in 17 minutes of ice time before getting injured.
Durzi has only been able to show Utah fans a glimpse of his impact through two seasons with the Mammoth. He had a standout year in his first year with the organization – the 2023-24 season, prior to the Arizona Coyotes’ move to Utah. Durzi scored a career-high 41 points in 76 games that year, while also posting career-highs with 63 penalty minutes and 160 blocked shots. He racked up 65 points, 105 penalty minutes, and 263 blocks in 136 games with the Los Angeles Kings prior to his move to Arizona.
Durzi is an established, top-four defender when he’s at full health. He’ll now get a chance to bring that impact to a Utah lineup in need. The Mammoth have won their last two games, but only have four wins through their last 13 games. They have allowed the 10th-most goals in the NHL (44) in that span, and the eighth-most on a per-game average (3.38).
Maple Leafs To Activate Auston Matthews, Nicolas Roy From IR
Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Nicolas Roy will be activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Blue Jackets, per Mark Masters of TSN. Toronto needs to open up a pair of roster spots before it does so. One of them has been opened by reassigning center Jacob Quillan to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, David Alter of The Hockey News reports. Also returning to the lineup is top-line winger Matthew Knies, who’d missed the last three games with a lower-body issue but never landed on IR.
Matthews returns after a two-week absence. The Leafs captain sustained a lower-body injury when Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov leveled him on Nov. 11. He sat out the last five games, during which time the reeling Leafs went 1-2-2. Their lone win in that period, a 3-2 overtime victory over the Blues on Nov. 18, is their only victory in the last three weeks.
Without Matthews, the Leafs, who have relied heavily on their offense to outscore their defensive shortcomings this season, only managed 2.4 goals per game. While the two-time 60-goal scorer hasn’t performed to that level of dominance this season, his return remains a legitimate needle-mover as Toronto looks to string together some solid two-way efforts with five games left on its road trip. Through 17 appearances, Matthews was finishing at a 13.8% clip – the third-lowest of his 10-year career – for nine goals and five assists.
The most concerning aspect of Matthews’ performance pre-injury was his possession play. Over the past several seasons, he’d emerged as a Selke-level defensive threat in addition to his elite scoring ability, finishing as a finalist for the award in 2024. The Leafs are still outscoring opponents 16-8 at 5-on-5 with Matthews on the ice this year, but the under-the-hood numbers have taken a significant step back. Matthews had controlled 52% of shot attempts or better for seven consecutive seasons, but has just a 46.9 CF% in 2025-26.
Joining Matthews in the lineup down the middle will be Roy, who sustained an upper-body injury against the Blackhawks on Nov. 15 and had missed the last three games. Aside from his work in the faceoff dot (52.3% win rate), there hasn’t been much to like from the 28-year-old, whom the Leafs acquired from the Golden Knights in last summer’s Mitch Marner sign-and-trade. He’s been limited to just one goal and four points in 19 appearances, and his deployment as a defensive specialist at even strength has greatly limited his two-way effectiveness. He’s averaging fewer than two shot attempts per game for the first time since 2021, and the Leafs have been outscored 13-8 with him on the ice at 5-on-5.
Quillan had gotten the call-up in Roy’s absence but, as one of two waiver-exempt skaters on the Leafs’ roster, was the logical choice to be the first one sent down when Toronto needed a roster spot – especially considering he was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s loss in Montreal. The 23-year-old second-year pro earned the look after a scorching start to his season with the Marlies, rattling off two goals and 12 assists in 14 appearances for a point per game.
In two appearances, he was deployed as the Leafs’ fourth-line center between Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli. He didn’t record a point but did manage a +1 rating while averaging 8:39 of ice time per game. The undrafted free agent out of Quinnipiac laid six hits as well.
Jets Recall Elias Salomonsson
The Jets announced they’ve recalled defense prospect Elias Salomonsson from AHL Manitoba. Connor Hellebuyck is headed to injured reserve in the corresponding move. The placement is retroactive to Nov. 19, his last appearance before undergoing an arthroscopic knee procedure that has him out for another month-plus.
Salomonsson, 21, is coming off an All-Star Game nod in his rookie season with the Moose last year. The smooth-skating righty may be in his second professional season stateside, but he racked up parts of four seasons in Sweden’s top league with Skellefteå before landing in Manitoba. He’s never put up particularly gaudy point totals. However, he’s never been in a position to, logging top-four minutes in a notoriously offense-suffocating SHL before playing top-pairing minutes on a Moose team that scored just 2.35 goals per game last season. Over the past two seasons, he’s posted a 5-28–33 scoring line with a -7 rating in 70 games for Manitoba.
It’s been more of the same from the 6’2″ Salomonsson to begin this year. He’s yet to score a goal through 17 AHL contests, but has six assists – a number that’s tied for the team lead amid another disastrous offensive campaign from the Moose. His even rating has him tied for fourth on the team among skaters with at least 10 appearances this season.
Salomonsson’s skating, stick skills, and vision are what made him the No. 12-ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting in the 2022 draft. He went to the Jets midway through the second round at No. 55 overall and signed his entry-level contract a few weeks later, although they loaned him to Skellefteå in back-to-back campaigns before the deal went into effect for 2024-25. In those two seasons, Salomonsson advanced with Skellefteå to the Swedish Hockey League championship series both times, winning the crown in 2024. He also earned a silver medal with the Swedes at that year’s World Junior Championship.
Salmonsson ranked inside the league’s top 100 prospects on offseason lists from Elite Prospects (No. 94) and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (No. 76). He’s universally lauded as Winnipeg’s top defense prospect and is a consensus top-three prospect in their pool.
His ceiling will likely be directly related to his point production at the NHL level. He has enough of a well-rounded skillset to virtually guarantee him a job as Winnipeg’s No. 3 right-shot defender with penalty kill deployment next season after Colin Miller becomes an unrestricted free agent. How his ability to read plays adjusts to the top level will determine whether he can challenge Dylan DeMelo or Neal Pionk for a top-four job and steal some power-play work, too.
In the short term, he’s ticketed to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Capitals in second-pairing duties alongside Dylan Samberg in place of Pionk, who left Sunday’s game against the Wild in the first period with a lower-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day and was back on the ice before today’s practice, Kelly Moore of 680 CJOB Winnipeg reports, so he isn’t expected to miss significant time.
With Samberg missing a good chunk of the campaign so far due to wrist surgery, Pionk has struggled. The 30-year-old righty scored 39 points and had a +21 rating in 69 appearances last season, practically a career year, that landed him a six-year, $42MM extension. This season, he’s been limited to a goal and four assists in 21 appearances despite an uptick in power-play deployment. His two-way play has taken a step back, too. After controlling 56.7% of expected goals with Samberg last season, he controlled just 42.5% when Logan Stanley was elevated to his left side in Samberg’s absence to begin this season. Since Samberg’s return, though, his and Pionk’s xGF% is back over 54.
Salmonsson likely won’t stick with the big club once Pionk is healthy, barring a particularly impressive performance alongside Samberg in his debut. He’s still got another year left on his entry-level deal and remains waiver-exempt through that time.
Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.
Canucks Reportedly Listening To Offers On Veterans
In a new report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the insider shares that the Vancouver Canucks have begun listening to offers on ‘veteran players’. Friedman indicated that this includes players who are pending unrestricted free agents, as well as a handful with two or more years left on their contracts.
Friedman’s report states that the Canucks have zero interest in a full-scale rebuild, although they are considering a retooling effort to become a younger team. Instead of theorizing on a few names that could get moved, Friedman only noted the two that Vancouver has no interest in parting with: Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek.
If the Canucks enter the deadline season as sellers, they haven’t made it particularly easy on themselves. 10 out of the 23 players on the active roster have sizeable trade protection on their contracts, while two more (Conor Garland & Thatcher Demko) will be getting no-movement clauses next season as a part of their recent extensions.
Arguably, the most tradeable asset the team has is winger Kiefer Sherwood. Signed to a modest $1.5MM salary this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent, Sherwood has styled himself as an ideal playoff performer. Over the last two years with Vancouver, Sherwood has scored 31 goals and 56 points in 101 games, averaging 15:32 of ice time per game, while also delivering a whopping 560 hits.
Similar to Sherwood, Evander Kane, who’s in his first year with the club, could also have interest from contending teams. The former fourth-overall pick recently went to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals with the Edmonton Oilers, scoring 10 goals and 20 points in 41 games, delivering 159 hits. Unlike Sherwood, Kane is earning a higher salary of $5.125MM for the remainder of the season and can block trades to up to 16 different teams.
Assuming Vancouver doesn’t attempt to move anyone with a no-movement clause and hold to their desire to retain Hughes and Hronek, there aren’t many veterans with multiple years left on their contracts to move. In fact, bottom-six forward Drew O’Connor is one of the few to fit this criteria who the Canucks could conceivably receive positive value for on the trade market.
It’s the cost of doing business, but there’s no questioning that the duo of Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford have put themselves in a bind, at least for the 2025-26 campaign, with the amount of no-movement clauses they have handed out over the years. Vancouver has a few pieces they could trade away for younger talent, though it doesn’t seem like enough to move the needle in any meaningful fashion.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Alexandre Texier
After his contract was terminated by St. Louis earlier today, Alexandre Texier has moved quickly, as per NHL agent Dan Milstein, he is headed to Montreal on a one-year deal.
Per the team, the contract is worth $1MM, and runs to the end of the 2025-26 season.
The news does not come as much of a surprise, as Texier was long linked to Montreal throughout the process of working through his issues with the Blues. It had been thought that another Eastern Conference team was interested, perhaps Ottawa, but the Canadiens close in on Texier to slot in as a bottom-six upgrade.
Texier’s path to Montreal is not a very common one, as he did not report to AHL Springfield while still a member of the Blues and needed termination to find a fresh start. Both sides are surely happy to simply move on. Drafted by Columbus 45th overall in 2017, the French forward flashed serious skill in small sample sizes, including an 11-goal, 20-point effort in just 36 games in 2021-22. However, it became apparent Texier had a more bottom-six suited future in the NHL, still bringing valuable speed and versatility.
As the Blue Jackets turned the corner with a new wave of forwards, Texier became expendable at just 24. Given that he had set career highs in points and games played, St. Louis came calling, giving up just a fourth-round pick for Texier, and promptly signing him to a two-year deal w0rth $2.1MM per season in July 2024.
Unfortunately for both sides, it was not a fit. Texier battled through injuries at times and only played in 31 games last season. This year things have not gone any better, as he has been passed up, out of favor with Head Coach Jim Montgomery, and appearing scarcely as a pure fourth liner. While many in Texier’s situation become disgruntled from a lack of offensive opportunities, Texier lost his role as a penalty killer with the Blues which was surely frustrating, a role he’ll likely regain with Montreal with highly realistic changes of succeeding.
Whatever the case, the Blues are content to move on without anything in return, coming out respectably considering the little they paid for Texier in the first place. Meanwhile, Montreal adds a motivated speedy forward to their bottom six as their exciting young core looks to make a push for the postseason this spring. Texier will have time to become acquainted with his new team as they are out action until Wednesday, and he could look to debut at some point in the team’s upcoming three game road trip.