Red Wings Sign Ben Chiarot To Three-Year Extension
12:45 p.m.: Chiarot will earn a flat $3.85MM salary each season of the deal, PuckPedia reports. The contract includes a full no-trade clause from 2026-27 until 28 days prior to the 2028 trade deadline, when it converts to a 10-team no-trade list. That 10-team no-trade list remains through 2028-29, the final season of the deal.
8:06 a.m.: The Red Wings announced they’ve signed defenseman Ben Chiarot to a three-year extension worth $3.85MM per season. That’s a total value of $11.55MM for Chiarot, who was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Chiarot could have tested the market as one of the top left-shot defensemen available in what looks to be a paper-thin class. It would have been his third trip through unrestricted free agency, previously landing a three-year, $10.5MM commitment from the Canadiens in 2019 and then his current four-year, $19MM contract with Detroit in 2022. He’s one of the last few Thrashers draft picks sticking around the league, selected in the fourth round by Atlanta in 2009 before eventually breaking into the league with the Jets after they relocated to Winnipeg.
While the Thrashers didn’t reap the rewards, it’s safe to say they’ve gotten great value out of a mid-round pick. He’s been a lineup staple for Winnipeg, Montreal, Florida, and Detroit since first emerging as a full-time option in the 2014-15 season, often serving as the complementary defensive-minded piece on a pairing with Dustin Byfuglien.
It wasn’t until signing in Montreal that he began to be viewed as a bona fide top-pair piece, though. He quickly averaged over 23 minutes per night for the Habs as his all-around usage expanded, and he ended up playing a significant role in their underdog run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. His surface numbers that season were uninspiring – just nine points and a -22 rating in 63 combined regular-season and playoff games – but the fact that he averaged over 25 minutes per game in the postseason and his physical brand of play ended up boosting his stock significantly around the league. He was valued highly enough to net Montreal a first-round pick when they flipped him to the Panthers as a rental at the following season’s trade deadline.
Since signing in Detroit, though, the shine has largely worn off. What were once passable, if not downright promising, under-the-hood numbers have faded. Chiarot has long struggled to produce good two-way results in what’s been a difficult possession environment in Detroit, controlling under 45% of shot attempts at even strength through the first three seasons of the deal. He quickly lost out on a top-pairing job alongside Moritz Seider to Jake Walman and, now, Simon Edvinsson, although he’s temporarily back up in top-pairing deployment with Edvinsson hurt.
Chiarot’s game has recovered to some degree this year. With a +1 rating and 11 points in 54 games, his on-ice results are the best they’ve been since signing with the Wings. That’s with him averaging 21:07 per game, third on the team behind Seider and Edvinsson, and he ranks second on the Wings in both blocks (113) and hits (109).
His possession numbers still leave much to be desired, though, and they can’t be explained by aggressive defensive zone deployment at even strength. In fact, Chiarot’s 51.9 dZS% is the second-most favorable number among Detroit defensemen behind rookie Axel Sandin Pellikka. Those two have formed Detroit’s second pairing for much of the year, controlling 45.9% of expected goals but still managing to outscore opponents 24-22, per MoneyPuck.
All that suggests Chiarot’s brief resurgence could be more mirage than longer-term promise. With that in mind, a three-year commitment seems aggressive to retain the 34-year-old. The dearth of potential UFA replacements, though, didn’t leave the Wings with many other options. Most of their defensemen in the pipeline with legitimate promise have already graduated to NHL roles, and the ones that haven’t wouldn’t be ready to succeed Chiarot in top-four duties next season. Save for a trade pickup, retaining him at a reasonable cap hit – even if the multi-year term will raise some eyebrows – was the easy move to make.
The Wings are still in a great spot, cap-wise, for next season. They have $38.8MM in space with 15 roster spots already accounted for, per PuckPedia. A good chunk of that money will need to be earmarked for Edvinsson, a pending RFA, but that’s still plenty of spending money.
Image courtesy of Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn Images.
Flyers Activate Daniel Vladar
Flyers goaltender Daniel Vladař will start tonight against the Blue Jackets, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters (including Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer). He’ll need to come off injured reserve, and Philly will need to make a corresponding transaction, although the latter part will be as simple as returning waiver-exempt third-stringer Aleksei Kolosov to AHL Lehigh Valley.
Vladař will get his breakout campaign back underway tonight after a six-game absence. He left a Jan. 14 start against the Sabres late in the first period with an undisclosed injury and landed on IR a few days later. He returned to practice at the beginning of the week, so he’s had a few days of skating under him.
For a Flyers team that’s 2-6-2 in its last 10 and has now fallen four points back of the Islanders for a playoff spot, the importance of his return can’t be overstated. Signed to a two-year, $6.7MM contract in free agency last summer, he’s been one of the 2025 offseason’s shrewdest signings so far. The career backup has given the Flyers true starting-caliber netminding for the first time in a few years, logging a .905 SV% and 2.46 GAA through 28 starts with a 16-7-4 record.
The question would always be how the 28-year-old holds up down the stretch. He’s already just one game short of his career-high in starts. With 8.5 goals saved above expected, he’s been a legitimate top-20 goalie in the league this season, but he’d cooled off somewhat with 1.9 GSAx in his last 10, per MoneyPuck. Still, considering backup Samuel Ersson‘s .860 SV% and Kolosov’s .830 mark, it’s hard to call anyone other than Vladař this year’s MVP (or at least MIP) in Philadelphia.
Canadiens Fire Goalie Coach Eric Raymond
The Canadiens announced that they’ve relieved goaltending coach Eric Raymond of his duties. They’ve promoted AHL Laval goalie coach Marco Marciano to the big club for the remainder of the season in an interim capacity.
After receiving spectacular goaltending on their way to a surprise playoff berth last year, Montreal’s crease has been in disarray for much of the season. Sam Montembeault rode a breakout season in 2024-25 to a spot on Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and deservedly so. He was one of the most-used goalies in the league at 60 starts and two relief appearances, and he backed that up with a 31-24-7 record, .901 SV%, 2.82 GAA, and a spectacular 24.6 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. He finished eighth in Vezina Trophy voting and looked to be a surefire starting option heading into this year.
Instead, the 29-year-old has played poorly enough to surrender the lion’s share of starts to 24-year-old Jakub Dobes, who’s still been below-average in his own right. Montembeault has a porous .869 SV% in 20 starts while Dobes, who’s ridden some strong goal support to a 16-5-3 record in 24 outings, has a .890 mark with a 2.96 GAA. Together, they’ve combined to allow 9.2 goals above expected, with Montembeault accounting for 7.9 of them, per MoneyPuck.
Regardless of whether Raymond is the one taking the brunt of the blame for that regression, the Habs clearly feel a change is needed. Raymond, a Montreal native, had been with the club since the 2021-22 season and was in his fifth year in the role. It was his first stop as an NHL goalie coach, but he’d spent time in the Rangers organization as their AHL goalie coach and had extensive experience in the role in the QMJHL.
They’ll now turn to Marciano, who got his start in the organization way back in 2013 as the video coach for their AHL affiliate, then the Hamilton Bulldogs. When the team relocated to St. John’s in 2015, he was promoted to assistant goalie coach and again to goalie coach for Laval after another relocation in 2017. This year, he’s overseen an exceptional transition to pro hockey for top prospect Jacob Fowler, who’s posted a .912 SV% and 2.35 GAA in 19 showings with a 12-7-0 record and three shutouts. The 21-year-old also spent some time up with the Habs in December and January and outperformed both Montembeault and Dobes, logging a .902 SV% in 10 outings with 1.8 GSAx.
Mammoth Recall Dmitri Simashev
Before last night’s win over the Panthers, the Mammoth announced they’ve recalled defenseman Dmitriy Simashev from AHL Tucson. He takes the roster spot of center Cameron Hebig, who’s on his way back down to Tucson in the corresponding move.
Simashev, who turns 21 next week, will get his second crack at NHL ice time in his rookie season. The sixth overall pick in the 2023 draft cracked Utah’s opening night roster and spent the first couple of months in a rather expanded role, riding shotgun with countryman Mikhail Sergachev on the Mammoth’s top pairing while Sean Durzi dealt with an upper-body injury.
The experiment didn’t go all too well. Drafted as a smooth-skating shutdown piece, Simashev had one assist and a -9 rating in 24 outings while averaging 15:28 of ice time per game. Despite owning a 6’4″, 200-lb frame, the lefty didn’t leverage it often and only recorded eight hits.
Sergachev ended up faring much better with Durzi than he did in several weeks of play with Simashev. The Sergachev-Durzi pairing has controlled 54.0% of expected goals at 5-on-5, while the Sergachev-Simashev unit posted a 48.3 xGF%, per MoneyPuck.
As such, Simashev was sent down to Tucson in early December. Since going down, he’s been nothing short of dominant. Most expected his lack of offense in Russia’s top league to be a concern, but he’s rattled off a point per game in 20 appearances with a +3 rating. He’s more than earned a second look and will get one now, likely competing with Nick DeSimone and Olli Määttä to take on a third-pairing job with fellow lefty Ian Cole.
As for Hebig, he’d been up as an extra forward for the last week after Utah sent veteran Kevin Rooney down. The 29-year-old didn’t end up playing and is thus still awaiting his NHL debut. The 5’10” pivot has enjoyed a career-best campaign in Tucson, where he ranks second on the team in scoring with 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) in 35 games.
The NHL Is Ripe For A Big Change Of Scenery Trade
The classic change-of-scenery move was once standard in the NHL. Still, with the emergence of the salary cap, analytics, and entire departments dedicated to player projections, the number of big-name change-of-scenery trades has declined.
These deals were often made in hopes of inspiring two struggling players to return to their career averages or better. The most recent example of this kind of deal is the goalie trade between the Penguins and Oilers earlier this year, which involved Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner.
Another recent example came at last year’s trade deadline, when the Sabres sent Dylan Cozens and a draft pick to the Senators for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker. This season, there are multiple change-of-scenery trade candidates, with the biggest names being forward Elias Pettersson of the Canucks and Andrei Svechnikov of the Hurricanes.
Don’t get it wrong. There are still plenty of change-of-scenery trades in the NHL involving fringe and depth players, and some don’t work out, but some do in a big way. Egor Chinakhov of the Penguins is a glaring example of a change-of-scenery move that has worked out thus far, as he is playing with more confidence and fire than he has in years.
In addition to the Chinakhov and Skinner moves, the Penguins have made several low-end versions of these trades this season, most recently this week’s deal with the Avalanche, which sent forward Valtteri Puustinen to the Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Ilya Solovyov. The trade barely made waves around the NHL, but it does provide an example of two players who need fresh starts being swapped by teams in the hope of reigniting their play.
Outside of the aforementioned Pettersson and Svechnikov, who are some other big-name players who could use a change of scenery? The big name has to be defenseman Dougie Hamilton of the Devils, who was a healthy scratch last week and hasn’t produced nearly the way you would hope from a $9MM offensive defenseman.
Hamilton has dealt with a couple of injury-riddled seasons and has just five goals and 12 assists in 46 games this year. While Hamilton’s play hasn’t been great this season, that hasn’t stopped the Devils from upping his usage from 19:51 a game last year to 21:33 this season.
Hamilton is still a good player and would be a likely candidate to bounce back in a new environment. But would any team want to take a gamble like that on a 32-year-old making $9MM annually over the next two and a half years?
There is interest, and why wouldn’t there be? Hamilton is a talented player who could very well thrive on a new team, but the Devils aren’t going to just give him a way or retain half his salary in exchange for peanuts. The best course of action for New Jersey might be to try to find a hockey deal for another player in need of a change.
Pivoting to the Western Conference, the Blues look to be going nowhere fast and have a few players who could use a fresh start, including forward Jordan Kyrou and defenseman Colton Parayko. Kyrou is probably the most intriguing name on this list, a 27-year-old with a healthy track record of success.
His decline this season (11 goals and 13 assists in 42 games) isn’t overly complicated. His shooting percentage has dropped almost a full six points from last year, and with it, so has his goal-scoring production. Kyrou has another five years on his contract after this season at an AAV of $8.13MM, and he could be a bargain depending on how motivated St. Louis is to shake things up.
The Blues are in no rush, though, and might hold firm on their asking price if they don’t get reasonable offers. From Kyrou’s perspective, this year has been one to forget offensively. However, many of his underlying numbers remain strong, and he should still be productive for the majority of his contract. The Blues have been a bad team this year, and without much support, Kyrou hasn’t been as effective as he was in years past, when he was a consistent 70-point threat.
Another Blues player who could use a new look is Parayko, who has been a mess this season after a good year last year. Parayko has never been an analytics darling, but some of his underlying numbers are ugly this season. Now, in fairness to the 32-year-old, he is being asked to shoulder a very heavy defensive load on a bad team that is going nowhere. It can’t be easy for the veteran to go in night after night knowing he’ll spend most of the game working in his own zone, but that is his reality in St. Louis. A fresh start in a less stressful role could be precisely what Parayko needs at this stage of his career, but he won’t come cheap, as St. Louis likely still views him as a premium asset.
Moving back east, the Devils paid a premium three years ago to acquire Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks and hoped he would become a force in their top six as they entered their window of contention. Meier quickly signed a pricey extension with the Devils worth $8.8MM annually (on an eight-year deal), and it looked as though it was an excellent match for both sides.
Since joining New Jersey, Meier hasn’t been the same offensive contributor he was in San Jose, and some of his underlying numbers have taken a hit as well. Offensively, he is still a 50+ point player, but that likely isn’t what the Devils had hoped for when they made the moves to bring him in long-term. Meier just ended a six-game pointless drought the other night and has been dealing with personal matters on the side, taking a leave of absence last month to attend to a family health matter.
It’s hard to say whether he would welcome a move or not, but it probably wouldn’t be the worst thing for the 29-year-old or the team. Once again, the Devils aren’t going to give Meier away, as he remains an effective player, but given how rough the last 18 months have been for the team, it might not be the worst thing to shake up the roster by moving on from Meier, Hamilton, or perhaps both players.
Avalanche Recall Keaton Middleton
Earlier today the Colorado Avalanche shared that Keaton Middleton has been recalled from AHL Colorado. No corresponding transaction was made, as the team had an open roster spot, Middleton becoming the seventh defenseman on the roster.
The 27-year-old has been a member of the Colorado Eagles since the 2020-21 season, appearing in 270 games in that timeframe. Middleton earned his way into a real NHL showing last season, skating in half of the Avalanche’s 82 games, posting two points and 28 penalty minutes. Standing at 6’6”, the lefty is naturally a shot blocker, limited in mobility but imposing nonetheless.
Selected in the fourth round by Toronto in 2016, the Edmonton native and younger brother of the Minnesota Wild’s Jacob Middleton was not signed by the Leafs. Since then he has managed to stick around in North America, with a contract which runs through what will be his ninth pro season in 2026-27.
Colorado’s next matchup tells the story as to why the league’s top team is calling upon such a player at this time. The group will travel to Ottawa tomorrow night for a rematch from January 8, where the Avs defeated the Senators 8-2. The game featured 58 penalty minutes, 42 of which came from the Senators, as Nick Cousins and Ridly Greig received misconducts.
Although not yet confirmed, it seems likely the Avs will insert their hulking blueliner into the lineup on Wednesday in Ottawa, in what could be another chippy night.
Injury Notes: Luukkonen, Lindholm, Svechkov
The Buffalo Sabres announced mid-game that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would not return against Toronto due to a lower-body injury. The goaltender’s night ended after 12:14, surrendering two goals in five shots. He looked to be bothered after Auston Matthews found the back of the net, subsequently pulling himself, leaving Colten Ellis to take over. Buffalo ended up coming away with a 7-4 win.
Luukkonen missed the start of the season with a lower-body issue, but has been healthy since then. He has been catching up with Alex Lyon, now having backstopped the Sabres in 20 games, with a respectable .905 save percentage and 2.66 goals-against-average. The 26-year-old has formed an impressive duo with Lyon, not to mention Ellis, who has led Buffalo to keep three goaltenders on their active roster.
Naturally, the club is well stocked between the pipes for now, but given their strong play of late, the hope is that Luukkonen won’t need to miss an extended period.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Boston Bruins shared that Elias Lindholm would not return against Nashville due to an upper-body injury. The top line center appeared bothered after a face-off. Lindholm had a stint on IR in November, but no issues since. Prior to tonight, the 31-year-old had six points in his last five games, on pace to exceed his 47-point output in 2024-25 by a wide margin. Sitting third in team scoring, it has been a needed return to form this year. An update should come by Thursday, as the team hosts Philadelphia.
- Boston’s opponents also lost a center tonight, as the Nashville Predators announced Fedor Svechkov would not return due to an upper-body injury which came from a hard hit in the first period. One Nashville’s more noteworthy prospects, the 22-year-old has just nine points in 49 games, a noticeable drop off from his rookie campaign where he notched 17. Despite the lack of production, he’s been a consistent presence besides a scratch over the weekend. The Predators are back in action Thursday in New Jersey, and if Svechkov will miss any time, Tyson Jost figures to slot back into the lineup.
Lightning Reassign Simon Lundmark, Jakob Pelletier To AHL
This afternoon the Tampa Bay Lightning shared that defenseman Simon Lundmark and forward Jakob Pelletier have been reassigned to AHL Syracuse. The pair, both former notable prospects from the 2019 draft, each appeared in Saturday’s loss to Columbus.
No corresponding transaction was made, but today’s news suggests that Ryan McDonagh could be due to return this week. The 36-year-old has not played since late December due to a lower-body injury.
Pelletier was recalled three days ago, bringing a bit of intrigue as a former first-round pick (Calgary) who has lit up the AHL, leading the Crunch with 41 points in 35 games. Pelletier recorded no stats in 11:53 of ice time against the Blue Jackets. He was then scratched in last night’s win over Utah.
Once thought to be a safe choice due to his versatile two-way traits and enough skill for top-six upside, things have not materialized for Pelletier, who also made a stop in Philadelphia as part of the Andrei Kuzmenko trade. With 29 points across 88 total NHL games to this point, he was brought in by Tampa Bay with an opportunity to compete for a bottom six role. Still signed for two more seasons, the Quebec native will return to Syracuse as a top scorer and vie for another shot. Given the Lightning’s ability to get the most out of under-the-radar players, it’s not too late for the 24-year-old to carve out a role at some point.
Meanwhile, Lundmark, a second round selection of Winnipeg in 2019, notably made his NHL debut after spending the last 4 ½ seasons in the AHL. Unable to break through in the Jets organization, the Swede caught on with Tampa Bay on a two-year deal. With just five points in 27 games, the 6’2” righty has developed into a more stay-at-home blue liner after initial two-way upside.
The 25-year-old returns to the AHL after a memorable night in Columbus where he played 16:45, finishing a +1 despite the team surrendering eight goals.
Even with the two out of the fold, Tampa Bay still offers 13 forwards and six defensemen. An update on McDonagh could come as soon as Thursday, when the team hosts Winnipeg, the team continuing to roll in 2026, winning eight of their last ten contests.
Islanders Acquire Ondrej Palat
6:45 PM: As expected, Ondřej Palát has been traded, as the New York Islanders acquire the veteran along with draft picks. Maxim Tsyplakov is headed to New Jersey, while the Islanders also bring in a third-round pick in 2026, as well as a sixth-round pick in 2027, according to TSN’s Pierre Lebrun.
There is no salary retention involved, as the Islanders inherit Palát’s full $6MM cap hit, reported by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
After long-standing efforts from New Jersey to move on, Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche brings in a familiar face in Palát, having spent several years together in Tampa Bay. The veteran shows a willingness to join the nearby club, being dealt despite a no-movement clause, where he will now try to help New York secure a spot in the postseason this spring.
Meanwhile, the Devils can finally turn the page, coming away with just under $4MM off the books, in what could prove to be a first step in more moves to come. Along with surrendering the draft picks, the team brings in Tsyplakov’s $2.25MM cap hit, which runs through next season. The 27-year-old has just two points in 27 games this season, originally coming over in 2024 after a 31-goal campaign in the KHL.
Tsyplakov, 6’3″, was effective in his first North American season, notching 35 points in 77 games in 2024-25, serving as an energy winger with some skill. The Russian finished the season ranked second on the team in penalty minutes, with 39, but has shown considerable improvement this year in avoiding infractions. However, due to the additions of Maxim Shabanov and Jonathan Drouin, New York had limited opportunites for Tsyplakov to showcase his offensive ability, needing him to be a more physical power forward, a role which proved not to be a fit.
Along with his 155 games of playoff experience, leading the team by a considerable margin, the Islanders are bringing in a winger more capable of bottom six contributions. As is well known to this point, Palát is not the player he once was, with 10 points in 51 games, but the 34-year-old has remained healthy this season and remains a solid utility winger.
Criticizing poorly-aging free agent deals of the past with the benefit of hindsight is a tired point, however, from the beginning, questions were raised on how Palát would age into his five-year deal. At the time, the Stanley Cup winner was expected to help along Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, but the wear-and-tear of three straight deep postseason runs with the Bolts played a factor into his Devils tenure. Dealing with injuries, the former seventh-round pick has seen his role gradually diminish, and concludes his time in Newark with a season-best of just 31 points. Palát was unable to adequately compliment the likes of Hughes and Hischier, which was a must at such a price point.
Tsyplakov figures to be a useful bottom-sixer for the Devils moving forward, now seeking to turn the page under Head Coach Sheldon Keefe and return to his form from last year.
Darche and the Islanders have been busy over the past few days supplementing their group. Just yesterday, he swung another deal with his other nearby rival, acquiring defenseman Carson Soucy from the Rangers for a 2026 third-round pick. Now with today’s move, the club replinishes their lost selection, also bringing in a motivated veteran.
Palát joins the Islanders at an exciting time, as they’re slated to have a home-and-home with the Rangers tomorrow and Thursday. On the other hand, Tsyplakov could debut for New Jersey as soon as Thursday, as his new club hosts the Predators.
5:30 PM: It appears the Devils are close to finding a trade partner for winger Ondřej Palát. The team is holding him out of tonight’s game against the Jets for “roster-related reasons,” per the team’s Amanda Stein.
The Devils’ efforts to shed Palát and his $6MM cap hit have dated back to last summer. Those only intensified into the season as New Jersey was close to the cap and attempting to make a splash on the trade market – widely assumed to be Quinn Hughes – but ended up not being able to pull the deal off. Not only does finding a willing taker for the declining veteran’s contract prove difficult, but he can block most moves with his 10-team no-trade list and no-movement clause.
Evidently, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has now found a team that’s not on Palát’s no-trade list and is willing to take on all or most of his deal, which expires after next season. The 34-year-old inked a five-year, $30MM deal with N.J. in free agency back in 2022 on the heels of three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances with the Lightning. He was also coming off three straight 40-point seasons, but never managed to hit that mark in a Devils sweater.
From the start, his production simply wasn’t there. Injuries took away nearly half of his first season in Newark, and last year, he only averaged 13:45 of ice time per game with 15 goals and 28 points in 77 contests. He averaged 55 points per 82 games during his 10 years in Tampa, but that number is down to 30 in Jersey. This year, he’s mustered 10 points in 51 games for a career-worst pace.
With that in point, Palát’s contract comes across as squarely a negative-value one that the Devils will be offloading an asset to move, even if they’re retaining a little bit of cash. While his possession impacts were something of a saving grace over the first two years of the deal, those, too, have now declined. New Jersey has controlled under 50% of shot attempts with Palát on the ice at 5-on-5 dating back to last year.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to officially break the deal.
Image Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Pro Hockey Rumors’ Bradley Keith also contributed to this article.
Penguins’ Jack St. Ivany Undergoes Hand Surgery, Out Eight Weeks
Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany will be out through the trade deadline after undergoing left-hand surgery, the team announced. He’ll be out for up to eight weeks.
It’s the second long-term injury for St. Ivany this season. He started the year on injured reserve with a lower-body issue and remained out until late November, when he started in the AHL on a conditioning stint. He played well enough there to warrant sticking with the team after his stint ended.
His play since returning has been more than enough to keep him in the lineup. He’s had spectacular results on a depth pairing with Ryan Shea, notching seven assists and a +7 rating through 17 games. Both are already career highs for the 26-year-old, who’s in his third NHL season. That duo has controlled 52.6% of expected goals at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck, outscoring opponents 11-5.
An intriguing puck-mover at the minor-league level, the Penguins have long liked St. Ivany’s ceiling since signing him as a free agent out of Boston College in 2022. They were invested enough to ink him to a three-year, $2.325MM extension in 2024 that will convert from a two-way contract to a one-way after this season. He lit up the AHL for five points and a +3 rating in five games on this year’s conditioning stint, so a return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton likely isn’t in the cards anytime soon.
As the Pens remain in a thick Eastern Conference playoff race, St. Ivany’s season once again goes on pause after sustaining the unspecified left-hand issue early in Sunday’s win over the Canucks. They’ll now be turning to veteran Connor Clifton, who’s been a healthy scratch for much of the campaign with only 22 appearances in 51 games, to hold down duties as Shea’s right-shot partner at the bottom of the lineup.