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Atlantic Notes: Evans, Chabot, Mermis

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The Montreal Canadiens will be without center Jake Evans for their contest tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadiens shared that Evans is away from the team for personal reasons and that he would rejoin the team this weekend in New York.

There were no additional announcements from the team or subsequent reports indicating why Evans is missing, so it would be unfair to speculate. Still, given that he’s rejoining the team in New York, Evans is expected to re-enter the lineup when the Canadiens take on the Rangers on Saturday.

It also explains, in part, the trio of recalls made earlier today by Montreal. The Canadiens already have several players on the team’s injured reserve, so there was no need for a corresponding roster move. Owen Beck, who was included in today’s recall, will likely slot into Montreal’s third line in place of Evans and appear in his third NHL contest of the season.

Other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Ottawa Senators will have to wait a little bit longer for the return of defenseman Thomas Chabot. According to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, Chabot won’t travel with the team for their upcoming road trip, indicating that he’s still a week out at best. Chabot, who has two goals and 10 points over 18 games this season, has been nursing an upper-body injury since November 22nd.
  • Staying in Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t expecting depth defenseman Dakota Mermis to return anytime soon. Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun reported that Mermis, who was placed on injured reserve earlier today, is expected to miss a month with a lower-body injury. The nine-year veteran left Toronto’s game in the third period on Wednesday due to the injury.

Hurricanes, Capitals Linked To Quinn Hughes

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It appears that more teams are smelling blood in the water when it comes to Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes. After already being linked to the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals have now made their interest known.

In the article, Pagnotta said, “We know the usual suspects. We’ll continue to hear more teams, I’m sure, as this progresses, but the latest two that I have are the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals.”

Neither team’s interest comes as a surprise. The Hurricanes have been one of the most consistently good teams in the Eastern Conference over the past few years, making three Eastern Conference Final appearances since the 2019 postseason. Additionally, the Capitals were the top team in the Eastern Conference last season and have again vaulted themselves to the top of the table in recent weeks, winning 10 of their previous 12 games.

Objectively, for all 31 other teams, Hughes improves the roster wholesale. In the case of Carolina and Washington, he fits a long-term hole as well. The two years remaining on Hughes’ contract coincide with Shayne Gostisbehere’s with the Hurricanes, who is the offensive leader of their defensive core. Additionally, although they have Jakob Chychrun signed through the 2023-33 season, acquiring Hughes would make for a far easier transition out of the John Carlson era in Washington.

Regardless, if the Canucks were not only to entertain the idea of trading a player of Hughes’ caliber but actively seek one, the acquiring team would have to provide the goods. It’s well known that Vancouver is looking for a longer-term solution down the middle, and they would likely want several additional futures as well.

In Carolina, although the Canucks would expectably target Logan Stankoven, the Hurricanes would likely be unwilling to move him since they signed him to an eight-year, $48MM extension this past offseason. Still, Carolina could counter with quantity over quality, much like they did when they acquired Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023-24.

None of the prospects are bona fide top-six forwards (yet), but the Hurricanes could offer a package of Bradly Nadeau, Ivan Ryabkin, and Felix Unger Sörum, along with one or multiple of their four first-round selections over the next three years.

Meanwhile, the Capitals have all three of their first-round picks through the 2028 NHL Draft and have a movable center that could easily shift into the Canucks’ top-six, unlike the trio of hypothetical options from Carolina. Forward Connor McMichael, who is headed for restricted free agency next summer (UFA after 2028-29), could be a headliner in a potential Hughes trade.

After scoring 26 goals for Washington last season, McMichael has only four in 30 games this season. Still, after averaging a 14.1% shooting percentage from 2023 to 2025, there’s reason to believe his current 6.3% rate won’t last. Additionally, since he’s under team control for the next three seasons after this one, the Canucks would have plenty of time to sign him to a long-term extension.

Kings Sign Vojtech Cihar To Entry-Level Contract

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1:02 p.m.: Actually, Cihar will be sticking in North America past the World Juniors. Czech Prospects on X reports he’s left Karlovy Vary and will join the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets for the remainder of the season to get some junior reps in.

12:31 p.m.: The Kings announced they’ve signed left wing prospect Vojtech Cihar to a three-year, entry-level deal. It carries a cap hit of $975K and runs through the 2027-28 season, although both of those terms will change as he’s eligible for an entry-level slide this year and next.

Cihar, 18, was the 59th overall pick in last year’s draft. The Kings will get a good look at him in North America soon enough. He’s on the Czechs’ roster for the 2026 World Juniors, which kicks off in a couple of weeks in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

It’s unusual for a player coming out of Europe who doesn’t profile as a first-round talent to spend their entire draft year without seeing time in the junior circuit. That’s what happened to Cihar, though. The 6’0″ forward has played exclusively in Czechia’s top-level Extraliga since the beginning of last season for HC Energie Karlovy Vary.

Generally, the lack of development time in juniors for a player to hone their skills offensively – especially when ice time in top-level European pro leagues for young players is hard to find – doesn’t bode well for their NHL chances. Los Angeles hopes Cihar is an exception to the rule. He’s got a good chance of doing so, particularly since he never profiled as a top-six forward. Most scouts profile him as a high-floor, bottom-six energy forward with good defensive instincts.

This season has looked good for his development path. He’s been pushing for more ice time as of late and has eight points (four goals and four assists) in 27 appearances for Karlovy Vary. That’s one point shy of his season total from last year in 43 games. He entered the season ranked as the Kings’ No. 8 prospect by Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff and No. 11 by Elite Prospects.

Cihar will be loaned back to Karlovy Vary for the remainder of the season and perhaps next year as well, before L.A. brings him over to AHL Ontario, or even the NHL roster if he makes an unexpected leap in his development. For now, he doesn’t count against their 50-contract limit.

Derick Brassard Comes Out Of Retirement, Signs In Switzerland

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Longtime NHL center Derick Brassard is coming out of retirement and has signed with Genève-Servette of Switzerland’s National League for the remainder of the season, as first reported by Nicolas St-Pierre of the “Dans le Vestiaire” podcast.

Brassard, 38, hasn’t played since suiting up for the Senators in the 2022-23 season. He tore a ligament in his ankle late in the season and, after trying to push his recovery as a free agent during 2023-24, announced his retirement after he sat out the year.

The sixth overall pick in the 2006 draft by the Blue Jackets, Brassard did manage to eke out crossing the 1,000-game mark before ending his NHL career. In his heyday, he was a high-end second-line center and fringe first-line piece for the Rangers, who acquired him from Columbus in 2013 in a deal that sent Marián Gáborík the other way. Three years later, he was involved in another high-profile trade, being sent to the Senators for Mika Zibanejad.

That deal marked a turning point for the worse in Brassard’s career. He’d flirted with the 60-point mark in his last two years with the Blueshirts and had averaged 50 points per 82 games. After the deal, he’d only top 40 points once and 30 points three times. He didn’t last a full two seasons in Ottawa either, and was shipped to the Penguins at the 2018 trade deadline. That kicked off an all-time journeyman run for Brassard, who ended up playing for eight teams in the span of five seasons. Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, he logged stints for the Panthers, Avalanche, Islanders, Coyotes, Flyers, and Oilers in addition to his time in Ottawa and Pittsburgh. He then returned to the Sens as a free agent before wrapping up his career.

Now, the Quebec native will play international hockey for only the second time in his career. He saw six games of action for Austria’s EC Salzburg during the 2012 lockout, recording four goals and an assist.

He’ll link up with a Genève-Servette roster that includes plenty of familiar faces. They boast over 2,200 games of NHL experience, including Jimmy Vesey, Jan Rutta, Jesse Puljujärvi, and Markus Granlund.

Blues Sign Robby Fabbri To Two-Way Deal

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The Blues are bringing back forward Robby Fabbri on a two-way deal, according to a team announcement. He’ll earn prorated salaries of $775K in the NHL and $300K in the AHL for the remainder of the season. He will remain on the NHL roster for now. Winger Jordan Kyrou, who’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury, has landed on injured reserve in the corresponding move – although David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports he’s been downgraded to week-to-week.

Fabbri, 29, has gone unsigned since the Ducks elected to let him walk to unrestricted free agency last summer. He landed with the Penguins for training camp on a professional tryout but was released without landing a major or minor-league deal. He kept skating through the first two months of the season until finally landing a tryout with the Panthers’ AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, at the beginning of December. He’s now been released from that deal to get the next NHL opportunity he desired.

It’s a storybook return for Fabbri, who began his career as a first-round pick by the Blues in 2014. One year later, he had already established himself as a full-time NHLer with an 18-goal, 37-point rookie season. Unfortunately, a rash of injuries conspired to make sure those totals would stand as his career highs. The first real trouble came in his sophomore season. In February 2017, he tore his left ACL, ending his season. He showed up to training camp the following fall ready to go but blew up the same knee early in the preseason, robbing him of the entire 2017-18 season. A groin issue further delayed his return until he finally got back on the ice in November 2018, ending a year-and-a-half absence.

Those injuries pushed Fabbri down the depth chart and kept him out of a regular role for the Blues in the 2019 postseason, but he did still score once in 10 games on St. Louis’ run to the Stanley Cup. Early the following season, his first stint with the Blues came to an end when they dealt him to the Red Wings for Jacob de La Rose. His tenure in Detroit was troubled by more injuries – including another ACL surgery – but he played like a bona fide top-nine winger when healthy. He scored 66 goals and 127 points in 234 games as a Wing, good for 0.54 points per game, before they sent the final year of his contract at a $4MM cap hit to the Ducks in the 2024 offseason.

More knee problems and a hand fracture limited Fabbri to 44 games with Anaheim. The fit wasn’t as productive as it was in Detroit, and his usually high finishing rate dropped down to 12.3% – his lowest since 2018-19 – resulting in a conservative 8-8–16 scoring line in 44 games.

Fabbri did look ready to go in his brief stint with Charlotte, posting a goal and an assist in three games. He’ll now get an opportunity to get back in an NHL lineup for the first time since February as the Blues say he’ll join the team ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Predators.

Kyrou’s IR placement was an inevitability with all the injury problems the Blues are facing up front. He joins fellow forwards Jimmy Snuggerud, Alexey Toropchenko, and Nathan Walker on the injured list, while Nick Bjugstad’s status for tomorrow is uncertain after leaving yesterday’s 5-2 loss to the Bruins with an upper-body injury.

Kraken Recall Ben Meyers

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The Kraken announced last night that they’ve called up forward Ben Meyers from the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. They moved rookie center Berkly Catton to injured reserve in a corresponding move. Catton had already been given a week-to-week designation due to an upper-body injury, so he is still expected to miss more than just the next few days.

The 27-year-old Meyers rejoins the Kraken roster after spending nearly a month with Seattle earlier this season. He made nine appearances on a recall that stretched between October and November, totaling three assists with a -1 rating. Those were his first points in a Kraken uniform after he went without one in eight games last year. It’s year two for the former University of Minnesota standout in the organization after he initially landed with them as a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2024, signing a league-minimum extension back in June to extend his stay.

No longer a prospect by any stretch of the word, Meyers is in his fourth professional season and has established himself as a replacement-level role player. The 5’11” pivot is a standout AHL producer and has taken that reputation to new heights this season, racking up nine goals and 13 points in 11 appearances to lead the club in points per game. He’s now up to a 49-64–113 scoring line in 130 career AHL games over the last four years.

Meyers also has 11 points to his name in 84 NHL contests. He first landed with the Avalanche as a free agent following his senior year with the Golden Gophers. He was one of the most sought-after college UFAs of the cycle, having represented the United States at the 2022 Olympics and World Championships. He was limited to four goals and no assists in 39 games with Colorado as a rookie, though, and he’s since bounced around as a first-line minor-leaguer without a clear role on an NHL roster. Between his time in Colorado and Seattle, he had a brief stint with the Ducks down the stretch in 2023-24 after the trade deadline.

With Catton set to miss the next several games and winger Jaden Schwartz already on IR, Meyers gives the Kraken an extra forward if they need one until either of them is ready to return. If he plays one more game or stays on the roster or stays up for four days – both of which are likely – he’ll need waivers to return to Coachella Valley when his recall is over.

Maple Leafs Recall Henry Thrun

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The Maple Leafs announced they’ve recalled defenseman Henry Thrun from AHL Toronto. They placed defenseman Dakota Mermis on injured reserve in a corresponding move. He left Monday’s game against the Lightning after sustaining a lower-body injury on a hit from Gage Goncalves and is day-to-day.

Thrun, 24, will be making his Leafs debut if he gets into a game. The lefty was initially drafted by the Ducks in 2019 but opted not to sign with them when his collegiate career with Harvard ended in 2023, and saw his signing rights traded to the Sharks.

It was a smart pickup for a rebuilding San Jose club, as Thrun managed to work his way into the lineup for the majority of their games over the last two seasons. He was flexed between the NHL and AHL in 2023-24 but spent all of last season on the Sharks’ roster. A skilled skater and puck-mover who flirted with the point-per-game mark over his last two years in college, Thrun didn’t look entirely out of place. In 2023-24, he averaged 20 minutes of ice time per game, second to only Mario Ferraro among Sharks defenders. That usage dropped to 17:31 last year as they circulated some more depth in, losing out on some power-play time.

Through 119 games as a Shark, Thrun logged a 5-20–25 scoring line with a predictably gaudy -48 rating as a young player stepping into a defensive mess in San Jose. Still, his possession metrics left something to be desired. His 42.9% shot attempt share at 5-on-5 was still a couple of percentage points below how the Sharks were faring without him on the ice.

With San Jose having plenty of younger, higher-ceiling defenders in the pipeline, they dealt Thrun to Toronto over the summer for enforcer Ryan Reaves. Some had penciled Thrun into a bottom-pairing role alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson to begin the year, but both Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers emerged ahead of him on the depth chart by the end of training camp. He was placed on waivers and, somewhat surprisingly, cleared, perhaps as a result of his $1MM cap hit.

Thrun hasn’t broken the bank in the minors, although he’s still been serviceable with nine points and a -5 rating through 19 AHL games. The younger William Villeneuve has emerged as the Marlies’ No. 1 this season. However, it’s not particularly surprising to see the Leafs opt for someone with NHL experience who may still have untapped potential, rather than Villeneuve, who has no NHL games to his name.

It took all of Mermis, Brandon Carlo, and Chris Tanev being on IR or LTIR, but Thrun will finally get his first look as a Leaf. That could come as soon as tomorrow against his former team after the Leafs said Morgan Rielly couldn’t practice today due to an illness. If he’s deployed more as an offensive specialist than how he was used in San Jose, there could be some legitimate benefits to reap on a team that’s done a good job of generating offense from its blue line this season.

Rangers Place Adam Edstrom On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Rangers have placed forward Adam Edstrom on long-term injured reserve, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports. He’s missed the last four games with a lower-body injury but will now be sidelined at least through Christmas, becoming eligible for reinstatement against the Islanders on Dec. 27.

Edstrom was initially ruled out day-to-day, but his initial recovery hasn’t progressed as the team hoped, Walker said. He sustained his injury during practice on Dec. 1, and there hasn’t been much clarity on him since, including whether it’s related to the lower-body injury that ended his 2024-25 campaign in February and eventually required surgery.

The Rangers have had a relatively healthy forward group this season, save for Vincent Trocheck missing a few weeks early in the campaign, but their depth has taken a hit. They started the season with a fourth line of Edstrom, Sam Carrick, and Matt Rempe. Rempe hasn’t played since Oct. 23 due to an upper-body injury – Edstrom is joining him on LTIR – but he’s also traveled with the team on their road trip and could be an option to return as soon as tonight against the Blackhawks, head coach Mike Sullivan said yesterday (via Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic).

A sixth-round pick in 2019, the 6’7″, 232-lb Edstrom has provided the Rangers with quality, albeit limited, minutes. Through 24 appearances, he’d tallied two goals and four points with a +5 rating while averaging 9:34 of ice time per game. His 48 hits rank sixth on the team, and his possession impacts while being deployed as a defensive specialist at 5-on-5 are strong. His 31.6 offensive zone start percentage is the second-lowest among Rangers forwards with at least 200 minutes, yet he leads them in 5-on-5 goal share at 64.3%.

With Rempe and now Edstrom out, AHL call-ups Brett Berard and Jaroslav Chmelar have stepped into the lineup. They’ve combined to go pointless with a -1 rating through 11 games.

Blues Sign Dillon Dube To AHL Tryout

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Dec. 10: The Blues have confirmed they’re bringing Dubé into the organization. It’s a tryout with Springfield, though, not a full-fledged contract.

Dec. 9: The Blues have reached an agreement to bring free agent forward Dillon Dubé into the organization on a contract with AHL Springfield, per Frank Seravalli of Victory+.

Dubé, 27, was eligible to sign an NHL contract at the beginning of this month after serving a suspension related to the allegations that spurned charges of sexual assault against him and four other players who were members of Canada’s national junior team in 2018. All five players were acquitted of those charges in July. Of those five, only Carter Hart has returned to the NHL after their suspensions were lifted on Dec. 1.

Dubé made his NHL debut with the Flames in 2018-19 after they made him a second-round pick in the 2016 draft. He spent a few seasons in a bottom-six/press box role before working his way into a top-nine job coming out of the pandemic. His development culminated with a breakout 2022-23 season. While the Flames fell out of the playoff picture that year, despite finishing with 111 points the season prior, Dubé suddenly became one of their most important secondary scorers. Averaging north of 15 minutes per game and routinely seeing top-line minutes with now ex-Flames Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli, he tied his career-high 18 goals and added 27 assists for 45 points.

When the Flames replaced Darryl Sutter with Ryan Huska behind the bench for the 2023-24 season, Dubé fell off the map. His ice time dropped to 11:10 per contest, and he was limited to just three goals and seven points in 43 games. His season ended in January when the charges against him were announced.

Dubé was non-tendered by Calgary at the end of the season, making him an unrestricted free agent. While awaiting trial, he spent the 2024-25 season overseas, signing with Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. The 5’11” winger struggled to make an impact, slipping to a fourth-line role by year’s end and notching just four goals and 11 points in 42 games. He ended the season without a point in his final 11 regular-season and playoff games.

Understandably, KHL and NHL interest was tempered after he was acquitted of his charges based on those numbers. He technically remains a UFA because he’s not signing an NHL agreement with the Blues. Whether it’s a guaranteed contract with Springfield or just a tryout remains to be seen. Regardless, it will be an incredibly long road for him to prove he can get his play back to an NHL level. Considering his offensive production was his greatest asset, he’s not a good fit down the lineup and will need to put up big numbers in order to move up the depth chart.

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