Islanders Recall Victor Eklund, Liam Foudy
April 14: The Islanders announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled both Eklund and forward Liam Foudy from Bridgeport. If Foudy plays, it’ll be his first contest since making his Isles debut back in October 2024. The former Blue Jackets first-rounder is now 26 years old and is amid a career year in Bridgeport, where he’s amassed a 25-21–46 scoring line in 58 games for the playoff-bound Baby Isles.
He’s a pending restricted free agent, so today’s bump could indicate they intend to issue him a qualifying offer. They didn’t let him get to restricted free agency last summer, signing him to a two-way extension on June 29. He was initially signed in the 2024 offseason after a non-tender by the Predators, who had claimed him off waivers from Columbus the prior season.
April 13: The New York Islanders are expected to recall top prospect and 2025 draft pick Victor Eklund from the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. Eklund, the younger brother of San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund, made his AHL debut on March 27 following the end of Djugården’s season in Sweden’s SHL. He has been red-hot ever since, scoring seven assists and nine points in his first seven AHL games.
On the heels of that strong start, Eklund could make his NHL debut in the Islanders’ season finale on Tuesday. New head coach Peter DeBoer spoke about his hopes of incorporating future impact into the lineup for the Islanders’ final game, after the team was eliminated from playoff contention. Eklund will certainly be a part of that group after being drafted by the Islanders with the 16th overall pick last year.
Eklund has a long history of success at the pro level. He scored 19 goals and 31 points in 42 games in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league, as a rookie in 2024-25. He formed a formidable tandem with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell, enough to earn Djurgården a promotion to the SHL in 2025.
The duo stayed hot – Eklund by scoring 24 points in 43 SHL games – to help Djurgården avoid relegation this season. Now, the aggressive forechecker and strong shooter could test his talents in the Islanders’ lineup. His debut may come at the expense of one of the Islanders’ short-term forwards, like Ondrej Palat or Marc Gatcomb. Eklund enters the NHL already boasting a World Juniors gold medal and HockeyAllsvenskan championship.
Mammoth Reassign Matt Villalta
4/13/26: The Mammoth reassigned Villalta back to Tucson today. He backed up Vanecek yesterday during the Mammoth’s 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.
4/12/26: The Utah Mammoth recalled forward Kevin Rooney and goaltender Matt Villalta from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners before last night’s game against the Calgary Flames. Villalta stepped into Utah’s backup role behind Vitek Vanecek with the usual starter, Karel Vejmelka, out with an undisclosed injury. Vejmelka’s injury isn’t expected to be serious, and his absence could be for a night of rest, per Brogan Houston of Desert News Sports. He saved 26 of 30 shots faced in Saturday night’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Both Rooney and Villalta were held off the ice in Sunday night’s game. The duo has each carved out productive roles in the minor leagues. Rooney has scored 24 points, split evenly, in 44 games with Tucson to go with one goal in one game with Utah this season. That is the most scoring he has managed in a single campaign since the 2017-18 season, when he scored 34 points in 71 AHL games. Villalta has split starts with Jaxson Stauber for much of the year. He has 16 wins and a .895 save percentage in 33 games, narrowly more wins and a higher save percentage than Stauber (14 wins, .886 Sv%) despite playing two fewer games.
Rooney and Villalta could be options to stick on the NHL roster with two games left in the Mammoth season. Their presence could allow Utah to rest some routine lineup players before the club takes on the franchise’s first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vejmelka will have the starting role locked in when the postseason rolls around, after he notched 37 wins and a .898 Sv% in 62 games this season. Vejmelka has appeared in the most games of any Mammoth – or Arizona Coyotes – goaltender since 2015, when Mike Smith also played 62 games.
Blue Jackets Sign Boston Buckberger
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed two-time NCAA national champion defenseman Boston Buckberger to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will start next season. He attended development camp with the Blue Jackets in 2025.
In the official team announcement, president of hockey operations and GM Don Waddell said of Buckberger:
Boston Buckberger is a smart, skilled defenseman who can play in all situations and has a championship pedigree. He was among the top scoring defensemen in college hockey this year and a big part of Denver’s championship team. We are very excited that he is now part of the Blue Jackets organization.
As Waddell mentioned, Buckberger made a name for himself on a national stage at Denver. He was an instant-impact defenseman for head coach David Carle, scoring 27 points in 44 games. He was able to build on that strong freshman campaign the following year, potting nine goals and 30 points in 41 contests. This season, he scored 10 goals and 28 points in 42 games.
While Buckberger has never been the Pioneers’ top offensive option from the blueline (Zeev Buium held that honor the first two seasons, and Eric Pohlkamp this year) he has nonetheless been able to consistently deliver value in whatever role he played. We named him as a player to watch in this year’s NCAA free agency class earlier this month, noting that “there might not be big upside” in Buckberger “returning for his senior season.”
That’s something Buckberger appears to have agreed with, as he elected to sign his entry-level deal and forgo returning to the Pioneers.
Columbus does have a track record to point to when it comes to developing top NCAA blueliners. They signed then-University of Michigan captain Nick Blankenburg in 2022, and he quickly became an NHLer for the Blue Jackets. He also impressed with the Nashville Predators and was a trade deadline addition of the Colorado Avalanche.
While Buckberger isn’t an exact one-to-one stylistic comparable for Blankenburg (he’s a bit bigger, for example), he’ll nonetheless likely hope to have an early career that resembles how Blankenburg’s has gone.
Kraken’s Jared McCann To Miss Rest Of Season
The Seattle Kraken announced today that forward Jared McCann will miss the final three games in the team’s 2025-26 season due to a lower-body injury.
The 29-year-old has been limited to just 52 games played this season as the result of injury. He dealt with a lower-body injury early in the season, one that landed him on IR. He left a game in December with a lower-body injury, one that put him out of commission on a week-to-week basis. He also missed three games in March as the result of a lower-body injury.
It’s unclear at this time whether those lower-body injuries are connected, and since nothing has been confirmed, all one can do is speculate. But the persistence of McCann’s lower-body injuries this season lends credence to the idea that this may be something he has had to manage over the course of the 2025-26 campaign.
Despite the nagging injury trouble, McCann was his usual self when healthy. He was Seattle’s most productive scorer on a points-per-game basis, scoring 20 goals and 40 points in 52 contests.
That’s a 63-point 82-game scoring pace, a total that would have cleared the team’s current team scoring leader, captain Jordan Eberle, by eight points.
This is the first year in Kraken franchise history that McCann has not finished the season as the team’s leading scorer.
With Seattle eliminated from playoff contention, the move to shut him down for the rest of the season won’t have any major on-ice implications. Missing McCann will make it more difficult for the Kraken to collect points in the final three games of the season, a factor that could improve their draft lottery odds. The team sits at 79 points as of writing, good for 27th in league standings.
The Kraken could conceivably drop as low as 30th in the standings, giving them the third-best odds in the draft lottery, though that would take very favorable out-of-town results. A far more realistic possibility is Seattle drops below the Toronto Maple Leafs (78 points) for the No. 5 slot in the lottery. That would be particularly relevant for the Maple Leafs, as their first-round pick for 2026 is owned by the Boston Bruins unless it falls within the top five selections in the draft.
In any case, that’s unlikely to be McCann’s focus. What’s more important to him is next season for the Kraken, who will be under considerable pressure to return to the postseason after three straight playoff misses. McCann is also entering the final season of his $5MM AAV contract, and could line himself up for a big new contract with another consistent, productive campaign.
Photos courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Lightning To Use EBUG With Jonas Johansson Out
The Tampa Bay Lightning took the ice without backup goaltender Jonas Johansson in Monday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Johansson is out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. In his place, the Lightning will roster emergency backup goaltender Kyle Konin. This is Konin’s third time serving on an NHL bench as an EBUG. He filled in for the St. Louis Blues in 2021 and for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2024.
Konin has been the Tampa Bay-area EBUG since the 2020-21 season. He even wore a mask honoring Tampa Bay Lightning founder Phil Esposito in his 2024 game with the Flyers per Forbes’ Tom Layberger. Konin last took the ice with Grand Valley State University in Division III ACHA club hockey. He played one season in the NA3HL in 2017-18 and recorded a .897 save percentage in 34 games. Konin also played one game of high school hockey with Kimball Union Academy in 2016-17 with teammate and eventual Boston Bruins defenseman Jordan Harris.
While Konin will get to donn the Lightning jersey for the first time, Tampa Bay will hope he isn’t needed behind star starter Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning have two games left in their season, including Monday’s matchup. Johansson’s short-term designation should have him back in the lineup before the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has recorded 11 wins and a .884 save percentage in 25 games this season and should stick behind Vasilevskiy through the postseason.
Winnipeg Jets Activate Colin Miller
The Winnipeg Jets announced today that defenseman Colin Miller has been activated off of injured reserve. Miller has been sidelined since January, when he underwent surgery on his knee.
The 33-year-old’s activation will allow him to potentially skate in the three contests left in the Jets’ regular season schedule. His activation would also allow him to enter the team’s playoff lineup should Winnipeg go on a miracle run in these final few days of the regular season and snatch a playoff spot from either the Los Angeles Kings or Nashville Predators.
It’s been a difficult season for Miller, who has been limited to just 15 games due to his injury as well as some healthy scratches from early in the season. In those 15 games, he’s managed just one point, and is averaging just 13:45 time on ice per game. That’s a slight decline from how much he was playing last season (14:31 per game) and well below his career average of 17:10 per game.
While two or three games won’t be able to fully reverse the course of his season, it will be enough for him to build some positive momentum for himself and enter the summer with a greater level of confidence than he might have otherwise had if he wasn’t able to return after his January surgery. It’s an important offseason for Miller, who is slated to hit unrestricted free agency for the fourth time in his career.
Miller is currently making $1.5MM against the cap on what is the second year of a two-year deal he signed on July 1, 2024. The difficulty he’s had staying on the ice this season, combined with a less-than-stellar 2024-25, makes it somewhat unlikely he’ll be able to match that number this summer.
AFP Analytics currently projects his next deal at one year, $907K. While it’s unlikely he’ll be able to do too much to change his leaguewide stock in what remains of the regular season, a good performance or two in games where the Jets’ playoff hopes are still alive certainly can’t hurt.
Predators Sign Aiden Fink To Entry-Level Deal
The Nashville Predators have signed 2023 seventh-round pick Aiden Fink to a three-year, entry-level contract. Fink began his pro career earlier in the month, signing an AHL tryout contract after the end of his junior season at Pennsylvania State University. He has since scored three goals and 10 points in his first six AHL games. Fink’s entry-level deal will begin this season, offering him a chance to make his NHL debut in the coming days.
On the heels of a red-hot start, Fink could now get the call to the NHL. The Predators have two games left in their season, just enough opportunity to give the young winger his first shot at NHL ice time. While Fink’s pro start has been exciting, it is far from a surprise to see him scoring at a top rate. The 21 year old scored 10 goals and 38 points in 30 NCAA games this season, good for third on the Penn State Nittany Lions in scoring. He racked up 23 goals and 53 points in 40 games of the 2024-25 season, finishing the year with the fourth-most points in college hockey. Through three seasons at Penn State, Fink’s confidence while driving the puck and ability to make fast-moving plays spoke volumes. In a small sample, it seems that hot scoring has continued into the pro level.
A breakout collegiate career has raised the attention around the Predators’ right winger. He flew under radars during two years in the AJHL, even after posting an impressive 97 points in 54 games during his draft season. Entering the draft class with proven scoring, two AJHL championships, and one AJHL MVP title wasn’t enough for the undersized winger, who had to wait until one of the final picks of the 2023 NHL Draft to hear his name. Now, an entry-level contract will give him a chance to prove that Nashville found a diamond in the rough. Fink becomes Nashville’s sixth 2023 draftee to sign his first NHL contract.
Avalanche’s Cale Makar Returns To Full Practice
The Colorado Avalanche received an expected, but exciting, update at Monday morning’s practice. Star defenseman Cale Makar was back on the ice in a regular, practice jersey per Avalanche play-by-play announcer Connor McGahey. This marks the next step in Makar’s return from an upper-body injury sustained on March 30th. He has missed six games since.
Colorado has expected Makar to return before the start of the postseason, head coach Jared Bednar said the day after Makar was injured. He will have three more chances to meet that expectation before the end of Colorado’s regular season. The Avalanche have posted a 3-2-1 record and seen their goals-per-game average dip from a league-leading 3.70 to 3.00 since Makar was knocked out of the lineup.
There is no doubt about the impact that Makar brings. He is a perennial candidate for the Norris Trophy honoring the league’s best defenseman. Playing behind an Avalanche squad that led the league in goals-scored and goals-against should be enough to put Makar back in contention for the trophy this year. The 27 year old scored 20 goals and 75 points in 73 games this season. Those marks sit below the career-year Makar posted with 30 goals and 92 points in 80 games last season, which earned him the 2025 Norris Trophy, but are nonetheless impressive. Makar averaged nearly 25 minutes of ice time each game through this season, a mark only five other players outperformed. He will immediately step back into Colorado’s top defense role when he is back to full health, which could be soon after his return to full practice.
The Avalanche did not provide an update on fellow injured defenseman Josh Manson. The team recalled Jack Ahcan to serve as an extra defenseman with Manson out on Saturday. The return of either Makar or Manson should be enough to bump Ahcan back to the AHL and either Nick Blankenburg or Brett Kulak to the press box.
Brad Treliving, Jason Spezza To Manage Team Canada At 2026 World Championships
Hockey Canada has announced the management team for the 2026 World Championships. The group will be led by Brad Treliving and Jason Spezza. Treliving was recently ousted from his role as the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager while Spezza serves as an assistant GM for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The duo will be supported by Penguins GM Kyle Dubas and Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada’s senior vice-president of hockey operations. Dubas served as the GM of Canada’s 2025 World Championship squad, with support from Salmond.
This news will most notably represent another step up in Spezza’s managerial career. He is a veteran of 19 seasons and 1,248 games in the NHL. His career concluded with three seasons under Dubas’ management with the Toronto Maple Leafs, after Dubas signed Spezza to a one-year contract in 2019. Spezza retired in 2022 and joined Toronto as a special assistant to the GM on the same day. Dubas was let go from his role with Toronto one year later and brought Spezza with him through a move to Pittsburgh. Now, Dubas will hand off international, managerial duties to his protege after leading Canada to a quarterfinal loss at the 2025 World Championship.
Spezza will be supported by Treliving, who brings 11 years of NHL GM experience to the tournament. Treliving last supported the World Championships in 2016, when he served as a co-GM alongside George McPhee. Canada took home the Gold Medal that year, completing back-to-back championship wins thanks to a strong tournament from forward Derick Brassard. Treliving also supported the World Championships as an assistant GM in 2014, the summer before his first promotion to an NHL GM chair.
Together, the experienced Team Canada managerial group will be tasked with putting together a strong roster in a year where many World Championship stars will be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Canada will likely not be able to bring Sidney Crosby, Travis Konecny, Tyson Foerster, or Noah Dobson to the start of this year’s tournament. They will have access to budding stars Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, and Matthew Schaefer – though how ready the trio will be for even more games is yet to be seen. Canada could also bring John Tavares, Bo Horvat, Ryan O’Reilly, Brandon Montour, and Jordan Binnington back for another tournament. Horvat and Binnington joined Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, alongside Tom Wilson and Sam Reinhart – who also sit outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The roster could boast a lot of NHL talent, though without as much World Championship experience, under their new management this summer.
Dallas Stars To Activate Radek Faksa
The Dallas Stars are inching toward full strength heading into the postseason. According to Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News, the Stars are expected to activate forward Radek Faksa from the injured reserve, and he’ll make his return to the lineup this evening. Additionally, forward Michael Bunting is expected to return to the lineup, too, though he was never placed on the injured reserve.
Faksa’s return has been a long time coming. He first suffered an upper-body injury during the Olympics playing for Team Czechia. The injury wasn’t believed to be serious at the time, and Faksa was only expected to miss a game or two.
Unfortunately, that mild prognosis has turned into a multi-week return. During his rehabilitation, Faksa suffered a lower-body injury, which kept him out until now. A few reports indicated that Faksa may be done for the season, but he has managed to make a fairly quick recovery.
Although he hasn’t been a reliable point-producer for the Stars for many years, he has been one of the most reliable fourth-line forwards in the league. After his one-year hiatus with the St. Louis Blues, Faksa has scored two goals and 17 points in 56 games with Dallas this season, averaging 11:41 of ice time per game.
That doesn’t paint the whole picture with Faksa. He’s a steady penalty killer, owns a career 52.4% success rate in the faceoff dot, and starts more than 70% of his shifts in the defensive zone. He’s the epitome of a shutdown forward, and Dallas feels comfortable playing him against opponents’ best players, which will be a boon for them in the upcoming playoffs.
Meanwhile, Bunting returns to the lineup after missing the first few weeks of April with a lower-body injury. Before the injury, he had struggled with the Stars after being acquired at the trade deadline, scoring one goal and two points in 11 games with a -7 rating.