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Islanders’ Brock Nelson Still Undecided On Extension

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Islanders forward and top trade deadline candidate Brock Nelson remains interested in an extension with New York but was otherwise noncommittal when asked about the subject by Ethan Sears of the New York Post on Tuesday following practice with Team USA ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into [a contract decision],” Nelson said. “I know everybody kind of wants an answer right now. That’s not how the world works. You don’t always get what you want.”

Nelson said that the opportunity retire an Islander, which could result in him becoming the franchise’s all-time games played leader, will be a factor. “Only knowing Long Island, only being an Islander, knowing how much history the team has and the legends that have played there before and what they’ve done plays into it as well.”

Sears references a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on yesterday’s 32 Thoughts podcast that Nelson’s agent, Octagon’s Ben Hankinson, will continue talks with general manager Lou Lamoriello during this month’s downtime while Nelson represents his country. Sources told RG.org last week that the Isles and Nelson had “option for a three-year extension” with a raise over his current $6MM AAV, but a separate report in the same article that the Islanders were beginning to shop around Noah Dobson was scaled back by Friedman yesterday.

Nelson, 33, is undeniably the top center available on the rental market after the Stars snagged Mikael Granlund from the Sharks last month. He’d help the Islanders recoup at least a first-round pick, something they need (even in a weaker 2025 draft) to continue restocking a prospect pool that ranks near the bottom of the league. He’s got 17-18–35 through 55 games, though, down from his 70-point pace over the past couple of years. His 11.6% shooting rate is shy of his career average, but there’s legitimate concern about his aging curve making any multi-year commitment with a raise attached age poorly and inhibit any retooling efforts on Long Island.

The 2010 first-round pick has suited up in 895 regular-season games for the Isles, fifth in franchise history and 228 back of Bryan Trottier for the franchise record. A three-year deal, assuming he stays overwhelming healthy, would get him across the finish line.

But while Nelson has denied speculation recently that him signing with his hometown Wild this summer was all but a formality, the opportunity to join a team deeper into a championship contention window – and one with the superstar scoring talent the Islanders lack – may be too much to turn down. Nelson ranks 13th in Islanders franchise history with 50 points in 78 career postseason appearances, including back-to-back runs to the Eastern Conference Final in 2020 and 2021.

Luke Haymes Drawing NHL Interest

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Undrafted free agent center Luke Haymes will likely be one of the players to sign NHL contracts after their NCAA season is over, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.

“A few teams are starting to ask about when they can talk to him, and I think it’s some of the heavy hitters,” Friedman said. “I think Toronto’s one of them… I assume Ottawa’s around there, too.”

Haymes, 21, found his way onto our college free agent preview last year but returned to Dartmouth College for his junior season. Injuries have limited him to 12 of the Big Green’s 23 games, during which time he has seven goals and three assists for 10 points and a minus-one rating.

Most of his stock comes from last season’s breakout performance. As a sophomore, the Ottawa native led the team in scoring with 18-18–36 in 31 showings, earning himself a spot on the ECAC’s First All-Star Team and the All-Ivy League First Team in the process.

The 6’1″ pivot has 62 points in 73 collegiate games to date, making the jump to NCAA play relatively early in his development. He played just one season of high-level junior hockey with the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the British Columbia Hockey League in 2021-22, recording 49 points in 52 games there. A consistent offensive producer, he’s not close to seeing NHL minutes but has pro-ready size and, depending on how he finishes the season, will be a candidate for an NHL commitment as he transitions to AHL play.

Regarding his potential suitors, the Maple Leafs have a more robust recent history of dipping into the NCAA market for undrafted free agents. 23-year-old Jacob Quillan, of Quinnipiac championship-winning goal fame, signed his entry-level contract with Toronto coming from the Bobcats last April. He’s spent most of the season in the AHL but made his NHL debut against the Senators last month. Alex Steeves was also plucked out of Notre Dame in 2021 and has since become one of the most prolific scorers in Toronto Marlies history, posting 95-100–195 in 224 career AHL appearances.

Trade Deadline Primer: Edmonton Oilers

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With the 4 Nations Face-Off break upon us, the trade deadline looms large and is less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers were one of the busier teams over the offseason, adding as much veteran scoring depth as possible after falling painfully short of a Stanley Cup in a hard-fought Final against the Panthers. As usual for Edmonton, things were slow out of the gate, but they have heated up since then with a 24-8-2 record since Nov. 23. Unlike last season, they didn’t require a coaching change, and Kris Knoblauch has his club rolling with both a top-10 offense and defense entering the stretch run as they battle it out with the Golden Knights for the divisional crown.

Record

34-17-4, 1st in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Buyers

Deadline Cap Space

$948K on deadline day + $5.13MM LTIR pool, 0/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: STL 2nd, STL 3rd, EDM 6th, EDM 7th
2026: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd, EDM 3rd, EDM 4th, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th

Trade Chips

While the Oilers still have decent depth scoring, all the big names on the roster aside from Leon Draisaitl have taken a significant step back in their production from the 2023-24 campaign. Among their non-stars, it’s been a resurgent Connor Brown and a quiet late-offseason pickup in Vasily Podkolzin driving the bus. Their major UFA splashes, Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, have both disappointed. The latter won’t be on the move as he holds an NMC and is slated for the first postseason appearance of his 15-year career, but Arvidsson and his $4MM AAV through next season could be on the block if the Oilers need to clear a space for an upgrade in their top nine. He missed over a month with an undisclosed injury and hasn’t been himself when healthy, limited to 7-11–18 in 40 games with his lowest ATOI in nine years.

Edmonton’s roster has been relatively cost-effective outside of those pickups, and it’s hard to envision them moving anyone else. They’ll need to turn to the minors, where 21-year-old center Matthew Savoie stands as their top trade chip. Acquired from the Sabres in last summer’s Ryan McLeod trade, the ninth overall pick of the 2022 draft ranks second on AHL Bakersfield in scoring with 12-22–34 in 42 games in his first entire season at the professional level. The 5’9″ pivot also has a team-high +14 rating and would be most comprise most, if not all, of the trade value in return for a big fish. Whether any player is available who could command that value remains to be seen, though, and they’ll likely restrict themselves to the rental market with Evan Bouchard needing a new deal this summer and extensions required for Connor McDavid, Mattias Ekholm and Stuart Skinner in 2026.

In reality, the Oilers will likely be dealing from their 2026 draft pool to fill their short-term needs. There are some other intriguing prospects in their limited pool that teams might be interested in, though. They won’t be keen on moving 2024 first-rounder Sam O’Reilly, but 19-year-old defender Beau Akey, winger Roby Järventie, and netminder Olivier Rodrigue will hold some value. Akey, in particular, will be an intriguing pickup for rebuilders looking to add to their defense pool if he’s available. The 20-year-old already inked his entry-level contract, was a second-rounder in 2023, and has 4-22–26 in 38 games for the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts this season after missing most of his post-draft campaign with an injury.

Team Needs

1) Top-Four Option On Defense: The ever-steady Ekholm, continued dominant possession play from Bouchard, and a bounce-back year from Darnell Nurse largely have Edmonton’s defense in good shape. Ty Emberson, Brett Kulak and Troy Stecher have all been solid but upgradable depth pieces. Recent veteran pickup John Klingberg has fared okay at even strength so far in his five-game return to the league but has yet to receive any power-play deployment, which is where his principal value resides. There’s a clear need for at least another option for Knoblauch to deploy on the second pairing alongside Nurse, even if they’re not an established top-four player. Without many quality call-up options, more depth is needed, especially with Klingberg’s injury history a pressing concern.

2) Depth Center: The Oilers got a twofer down the middle at last year’s deadline when they picked up Sam Carrick and Adam Henrique from the Ducks. The latter is still in the fold and anchors their fourth line, as Knoblauch has recently opted for a more balanced lineup, deploying McDavid, Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on separate lines down the middle. He’d surely like to return one to the wing, but they need another player with top-nine utility. They’ll consider parting ways with one of their B-tier prospects or a decent pick from their 2026 crop to land a Henrique-esque talent this time.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Poll: Who Will Win The 4 Nations Face-Off?

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The first (and perhaps only) 4 Nations Face-Off is less than 48 hours away. Festivities will kick off in Montreal on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. CT, with Canada versus Sweden. As a refresher, the tournament will consist of seven matchups: six round-robin games and a championship match on Feb. 20 between the top two clubs in the standings (which will use a 3-2-1-0 points system!).

Canada’s roster, while still without a couple of glaring omissions, remains the favorite. Icing the duos of Connor McDavid–Mitch Marner and Sidney Crosby–Nathan MacKinnon on two different lines will do that for you – especially with two-way dynamos Sam Reinhart and Mark Stone on their respective left wings (at least to start, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic). Add in a dynamic “checking” line of Sam Bennett, Anthony Cirelli, and Brandon Hagel, plus a defensive corps quarterbacked by Cale Makar and anchored by top shutdown presence Colton Parayko, and there aren’t many question marks among the skaters despite names like Mark Scheifele and Nick Suzuki being left off the roster.

Goaltending, as discussed at length in the public zeitgeist, will be the make-or-break factor. All signs point to 2023 Stanley Cup winner Adin Hill as their Game 1 starter. While he’s already recorded a career-high 20 wins through 34 starts for the Golden Knights, his .900 SV% and 2.64 GAA are rather pedestrian, and his 8.8 goals saved above expected ranks 21st in the league (per MoneyPuck). He’s good but not great – making it an especially damning decision for Canada to leave Vezina Trophy contender Logan Thompson off the roster. He’d give them a much more legitimate contender to compete with the Americans’ Connor Hellebuyck and the Swedes’ Filip Gustavsson, both bonafide top-10 netminders in the league based on this season’s sample.

While Hellebuyck stands as the primary reason for the United States’ optimism for a championship, their left-wing depth has allowed them to ice Kyle Connor, Jake Guentzel, and Matt Boldy on different lines. A one-two punch of Jack Eichel and Auston Matthews down the middle puts them much closer in talent there to Canada than the two European participants, and while they’ve lost their top defenseman in Quinn Hughes due to injury, a top pairing of Jaccob Slavin and Adam Fox gives them a combination of arguably the league’s best defensive mind and a player who’s produced over 70 points for three seasons in a row.

Down seasons from most of Sweden’s center corps mean they look thin up front, with Elias Pettersson and Mika Zibanejad anchoring their top six. A largely veteran group, especially on their depth lines, also raises some questions about whether declining talents like Viktor Arvidsson and Gustav Nyquist will be able to keep up with the scoring depth of the Canadians, Americans, and even the Finns. But their top two goalies, Gustavsson and Linus Ullmark, give them a clear advantage at the position over everyone but the United States, and their defensive corps boasting two-way dynamos like Mattias Ekholm and Gustav Forsling, in addition to some of the league’s top offensive talents give them a fluid blue line that can compete for a title.

Finland’s championship candidacy looks incredibly bleak after injuries decimated their blue line, keeping star Miro Heiskanen out as well as solid depth pieces Jani Hakanpää and Rasmus Ristolainen. Their goaltending trio of Kevin Lankinen, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Juuse Saros grades out more similarly to Canada’s than it does to the U.S. or Sweden, so they’ll need to rely on their forward group for success. They have scoring depth in spades, with Aleksander Barkov, Sebastian Aho, Roope Hintz, and Anton Lundell all centering their own lines. An elite sniper and power-play piece in Patrik Laine helps things along in addition to having names like Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund in their top nine. But how effective will Finland be with the man advantage with Utah depth defender Juuso Välimäki projected as their top power play quarterback?

Who do you think will win the tournament? Have your say in the poll below!

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Examining Speculative Canucks Center Targets

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Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal of The Athletic took a look at potential trade targets for the Vancouver Canucks as they head into the NHL Trade Deadline. The Canucks have reportedly identified the center position as a spot to improve, which makes sense given that they just shipped out one of their top centers via trade. Vancouver entered the season with sky-high expectations but has had an uneven season, fueled mainly by internal issues between its top stars. However, with J.T. Miller now donning a New York Rangers jersey, the Canucks have heated up, collecting points in seven of their last eight games, despite missing star defenseman Quinn Hughes for an extended stretch.

Drance and Dayal identify Brayden Schenn of the St. Louis Blues as an ideal trade candidate for Vancouver. Darren Dreger of TSN relayed last week that the Blues are gauging the market for their captain. Schenn has significant term remaining on his contract (three years at $6.5MM), but with a rising cap, his contract is less of an issue than it would have been in years past. Schenn isn’t a high-end center but would would provide Vancouver with some offense and physical play. He’s posted 11 goals and 21 assists in 56 games this season and could be a good fit with a pass-first player like Conor Garland.

Another name that pops up is Sabres center Dylan Cozens. The 2019 seventh-overall pick has regressed this season and is on pace for just 41 points, marking a steep decline from the 68 points he posted two seasons ago. Cozens represents an interesting bounce-back candidate for Vancouver, but given that the Sabres will likely be looking for NHL-ready talent in return, Vancouver might not have the pieces to get a deal done.

One player who would carry a lower price tag is Nashville Predators center Tommy Novak. He’s spent most of his career playing sheltered minutes in a bottom-six role for Nashville. Novak could be a player who slides into the top six, but likely not for a team that considers itself a Stanley Cup contender. The 27-year-old has struggled to just 11 goals and eight assists in 45 games this season and probably doesn’t fit Vancouver’s needs.

Another intriguing player is Colorado center Casey Mittelstadt. Like Novak, Mittelstadt’s numbers are down considerably this season, and he does represent a buy-low candidate. Mittelstadt has plenty of skill, and his numbers have likely been affected by the rolling cast of characters that have been his wingers. However, he doesn’t offer much physicality or speed and may not be the best fit down the middle for the Canucks, given the style that their other centers play.

Last on the list is a skilled but injury-prone center, Josh Norris of the Ottawa Senators. Norris is not what you would call a two-way center, but he has been given challenging defensive assignments this season and has responded well while tallying 19 goals and 12 assists in 50 games. His $7.95MM cap hit could be problematic if injuries continue to take a toll on him. However, he is just 25 years old, and with a rising salary cap, it may be less of a deterrent than in previous years. The biggest issue with acquiring Norris might be his availability, as the Senators are still in the playoff picture and won’t be looking to throw in the towel as they try to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2017.

If the Canucks make a move, it will likely happen before the deadline as general manager Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford typically like to get their business done early. However, if they can’t find what they are looking for, they will be aggressive and could take this hunt right to the deadline.

Loui Eriksson Officially Announces Retirement

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Former NHL forward Loui Eriksson has officially announced his retirement after 16 NHL seasons (via his agency on Instagram).

Eriksson last played in the NHL during the 2021-22 season with the Arizona Coyotes, posting three goals and 16 assists in 73 games. His final professional season came in 2022-23 when he suited up for Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League.

At his best, Eriksson was a reliable 25+ goal and 70-point forward for the Dallas Stars. However, the Gothenburg, Sweden native fell on hard times after signing a massive free agent deal with the Vancouver Canucks in 2016 and was never able to get back to the numbers he posted in Dallas.

The 39-year-old was a staple of the Stars in the late 2000s and early 2010s before he was the central piece in the blockbuster trade that sent Tyler Seguin to Dallas and Eriksson to Boston. With the Bruins, Eriksson struggled in his first season but regained his form two years later when he posted 30 goals and 33 assists in 82 games and cashed in with the Canucks on a six-year $36MM deal.

In Vancouver, Eriksson became a beacon for criticism during the Jim Benning era, particularly in 2020 when the salary cap flattened out and the Canucks were forced to watch several talented players leave via free agency when they didn’t have cap space to sign them. Eriksson scored just 38 goals and 52 assists in 252 games with the Canucks before he was sent to Arizona as part of a package that was used to acquire Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland.

Eriksson finished his NHL career with 253 goals and 360 assists in 1,050 career NHL games. He was a six-time 20-goal scorer and had the best season of his career in 2010-11 with Dallas when he registered 27 goals and 46 assists in 79 games.

All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Loui as he enters the next chapter of his life.

Latest On Rickard Rakell

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Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes about Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell and what the team might do with the 31-year-old as they approach the NHL Trade Deadline. Yohe believes that the Penguins would be open to trading Rakell if a team offers up a first-round pick and a prospect who is close to being NHL-ready. That being said, Pittsburgh is also open to holding onto him if they aren’t blown away by the trade offers they receive.

Rakell is generating trade interest thanks to a terrific bounce-back season that has seen him tally 25 goals and 23 assists in 56 games. The Sundbyberg, Sweden native was an afterthought earlier in the year when it came to Sweden’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster but played his way onto the team late as injuries and a strong season opened the door for him to join his countrymen.

It’s quite the story, given that a year ago, many people in the hockey community were looking at Rakell’s contract as a problem for the Penguins. He was limited to 15-22–37 in 70 contests in 2023-24, his lowest production in a full season in nearly a decade. A year later, his $5MM cap hit looks pretty good, even if it does carry him for another three seasons until he is 34.

Rakell has played almost exclusively with Crosby this season and has developed excellent chemistry with him and Bryan Rust. The trio has skated over 400 minutes together at 5v5 and has controlled a sparkling 56.3% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. If the Penguins were to trade Rakell, it would mark the second consecutive season they have dealt Crosby’s preferred winger after the team traded Jake Guentzel last March.

While a Rakell trade is possible, Yohe believes that the Penguins will likely hold onto him and see if his value is higher in the summer when the salary cap increases. The Penguins have good reasons to keep the six-time 20-goal scorer, but with their eyes set on a quick roster retool, trading Rakell could go a long way to acquiring valuable assets to turn things around in a hurry.

Sidney Crosby, Mikko Rantanen Healthy For 4 Nations Face-Off

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Team Canada is celebrating after just one practice for the 4 Nations Face-Off, following news that international superstar Sidney Crosby will be good to go when Canada kicks off the tournament on Thursday, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. This news comes after Crosby missed the Pittsburgh Penguins’ last two games with an upper-body injury. He practiced in full at Canada’s Monday skate, serving on the team’s second line and filling the net-front role on the top power-play unit. Crosby also serves as Canada’s captain, as he has at the country’s last three international events with NHL talent.

Team Canada will be at relatively full strength with news of Crosby’s health. The team has no shortage of superstar talent – boasting Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar, arguably the three top players in the NHL. But the Canadian crest doesn’t shine the same without Crosby being part of the group. His international highlights are enough to satisfy an entire career. Crosby famously scored Canada’s “Golden Goal” at the 2010 Winter Olympics to pull the country ahead of Team USA in the Gold Medal game. He had seven points in seven games in that tournament and added three more in six games of the 2014 Olympics, where Canada repeated their Gold Medal win with a team led in scoring by Shea Weber and Drew Doughty. Crosby has only appeared in two international events since that second gold, netting 11 points in nine games of the 2014 World Championship and scoring 10 points in six games of the 2016 World Cup. His presence and international track record will make Canada the country to beat early in this year’s tournament.

The shorthanded Team Finland has received similarly bright news, with Finnish coach Antti Pennanen sharing that Mikko Rantanen will join the team for their first game against Team USA per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. That’s a key bit of news with defensemen Miro Heiskanen, Jani Hakanpää, and Rasmus Ristolainen ruled out for the event due to injuries, leaving them with names like Nikolas Matinpalo and Urho Vaakanainen on their blue line.

Rantanen has represented Finland at every step of his pro hockey career. He appeared in two World Juniors with Finland in 2015 and 2016, totaling nine points in 12 games and captaining the team in the latter tournament. Rantanen also represented Finland at the 2016 World Championship, marking the first of four appearances at the international tourney. He’s totaled 31 points in 31 World Championship games and stands as potentially Finland’s biggest scoring threat at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Rantanen’s role in the lineup isn’t yet clear, but he will likely support the team’s top line and top power-play unit next to Aleksander Barkov and one of Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, or Artturi Lehkonen.

Blackhawks Receiving Trade Interest In Pat Maroon

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Amid another season near the bottom of the standings, the Chicago Blackhawks seem to be on a clear path to selling off veteran talents at this year’s trade deadline. Recent reports suggest that productive center Ryan Donato, previously thought to be one of the team’s top trade candidates, could still sign an extension with the Blackhawks. That change has pushed 36-year-old winger Pat Maroon into the spotlight on Chicago’s trade block. Multiple teams are circling the waters on the tough veteran, per Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek, who adds that the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning could both be strong fits.

Maroon previously spent four seasons with the Lightning, starting in their Stanley Cup-winning season of 2019-20. He set his standard of play quickly in Tampa Bay, recording 23 points and 61 PIMs across 64 games in his first season. He continued the bruiser role into the shortened 2020-21 season, then ramped it up in 2021-22 by posting 27 points and 134 PIMs in 81 games. The Lightning returned to the Stanley Cup Final at the end of that year and, after losing to the Avalanche in six games, the burly Maroon decided to add yet another layer to his enforcer role in 2022-23. He scored just 14 points that season – a career-low up to that point – but managed a career-high and league-leading 150 PIMs in 80 games. The performance made Maroon one of just 44 players to eclipse 150 PIMs since 2010, and his 14 points tied for the 20th-highest among that bunch.

Maroon signed a two-year extension with Tampa Bay in February 2023, but the Lightning opted to send him to the Minnesota Wild for a sixth-round pick on the second day of free agency the following summer to clear cap space. Maroon found slightly more of a scoring touch in Minnesota with 16 points in 49 games, prompting the Wild to bank on his trade value at the 2024 Trade Deadline. They dealt him to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Luke Toporowski and a sixth-round pick. Maroon would go on to play just two regular season games and 13 playoff games in Boston before moving to Chicago on a one-year deal this summer.

Now, the league’s 12th-oldest forward could be headed for another move. He’s recorded 13 points and 71 PIMs in 49 games for the Blackhawks this season – an 82-game pace of 21 points and 119 PIMs. He may be in his golden years, but Maroon eclipsed 25 goals and 40 points at his career-best eight years ago. He’s amassed three Stanley Cup rings in his 14 years and 829 games in the NHL and eclipsed 1,000 career PIMs earlier this season. His tough, physical role and ability to control the net front haven’t diminished in his late 30s. Those traits could prove desirable for teams hoping for long playoff runs, though a trade likely won’t net Chicago a very lofty return.

Kraken’s Mitchell Stephens Clears Waivers, Victor Ostman Recalled

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2/10: Kraken forawrd Mitchell Stephens has cleared waivers, per a team report.

2/9: The Seattle Kraken announced a trio of roster moves on Sunday. Most notably, the team has placed forward Mitchell Stephens on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the minor leagues. Stephens has appeared in Seattle’s  last 16 games. He contributed two points, six penalty minutes, and a minus-four while averaging just north of nine minutes in ice time. Seattle also reassigned defenseman Cale Fleury and goaltender Ales Stezka to the AHL, and recalled goaltender Victor Ostman from the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks.

Seattle does not play again until February 22nd, likely indicating that the moves of Stephens, Fleury, and Stezka are headed for AHL playing time during the 4-Nations Face-Off break. Ostman has been recalled to keep the team roster-compliant, and could be in store for an impromptu vacation while the team takes the next two weeks off. Ostman is playing in his rookie professional season this year, after spending the last four seasons vying for the starting role at the University of Maine. He’s performed well in his first pro games, already winning out the Mavericks’ starting role with an impressive 18-7-4 record and .905 save percentage in 29 games played. Ostman is playing in front of seasoned pro Jack LaFontaine, who has a 10-4-1 record and .904 Sv% in 16 games.

While Ostman questions what warm destination he’ll spend the next two weeks in, the Kraken will hold their breath to see if Stephens stays with the club while passing through waivers. He’s been a career depth-forward, alternating between the NHL and AHL lineups over the last six seasons. That stretch started in the 2019-20 season when Stephens made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then had his name etched into the Stanley Cup just a few months later. He recorded six points, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-nine in 38 games as an NHL rookie – with all four stats still standing as career-highs. Stephens has played in 82 NHL games in parts of four seasons since then, but only managed 13 points. He’s been far more productive in the minors, totaling 92 points in 139 AHL games since the start of the 2020-21 season. Stephens will get a chance to return to his AHL productivity, should he pass through waivers unclaimed.

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