Senators Recall Hunter Shepard, Assign Two To AHL
The Senators have made a trio of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Florida. The team announced that goaltender Hunter Shepard has been recalled from AHL Belleville while netminder Mads Sogaard and center Stephen Halliday have been sent down.
Shepard was up for a week recently, serving as Leevi Merilainen’s backup before being sent down on Tuesday to get some game action in Belleville. He has played in one game in relief with the big club, stopping 10 of 12 shots on Monday against Detroit. The 30-year-old has also suited up in a dozen games in the minors, posting a 3.41 GAA and a .897 SV%.
Sogaard was recalled on Tuesday to take Shepard’s place on the roster. He played in relief of Merilainen on Thursday in Colorado and struggled, allowing five goals on 16 shots in just 17:25 in action, resulting in Merilainen coming back into the game. The 25-year-old has played in 15 games with Belleville with numbers a little worse than Shepard’s, checking in with a 3.49 GAA and a .887 SV%.
As for Halliday, he received his first NHL recall earlier this season and has held his own so far. The 23-year-old has played in 18 games with Ottawa, picking up six assists despite averaging just 8:12 per game of playing time. He had been a strong playmaker with Belleville before the promotion, picking up a goal and 18 helpers in 17 contests in the minors. He’ll get a chance to go back and play a more prominent role for the time being but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get recalled at some point in the second half of the season.
As a result of these moves, Ottawa now has one open slot on its 23-man roster while opening up some extra salary cap space.
Kraken Activate Jaden Schwartz, Move Chandler Stephenson To Non-Roster Status
The Kraken will get a key offensive contributor back in their lineup tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Jaden Schwartz off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, center Chandler Stephenson has been granted non-roster status.
Schwartz has been out since late November with a lower-body injury, one that derailed what had been a solid start to his season. The 33-year-old had eight goals and seven assists through his first 23 appearances before being sidelined while averaging over 17 minutes per night of ice time. That came on the heels of a 49-point effort last season, his highest point total since the 2019-20 campaign when he was still with St. Louis.
Schwartz is in the final season of a five-year, $27.5MM contract signed for Seattle’s inaugural campaign but he has dealt with injury issues in four of those give seasons. Still, he remains one of their more intriguing potential trade chips heading toward the deadline in March. That is, if the Kraken wind up being sellers. They’ve won eight of their last ten games to get into a playoff spot and getting Schwartz back should only bolster their attack, one that sits 27th in goals scored heading into today’s action. If they stay in the mix, he’s unlikely to move but if they fall out of the race, he’s a strong candidate to be dealt.
However, they won’t have their full lineup available just yet with Stephenson’s removal from the roster. The 31-year-old is tied for second on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 16 assists in 42 games while he’s averaging 19:58 per game of ice time, a career high. However, it appears his removal from the roster is for a good reason, as Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times relays (Twitter link) that his wife is expecting to give birth shortly. That suggests Stephenson’s absence should be a short-term one which is important given his role as their top middleman.
Stefan Noesen To Have Knee Surgery
It has been a tough year on the injury front for the Devils, to put it lightly. Their injured list will grow once again as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Stefan Noesen will undergo knee surgery next week and has been placed on injured reserve.
It hasn’t been a great season for the 32-year-old. Last year, his first campaign back with New Jersey after signing in free agency, he had a career-best 22 goals and 41 points along with 152 hits, also a new benchmark. All in all, a very strong start to a three-year deal that carries a $2.75MM cap charge. That had expectations higher coming into 2025-26.
Instead, Noesen missed the start of the campaign with a groin injury after recovering from surgery when offseason rehab wasn’t able to fix the issue. Upon returning, he hasn’t been anywhere near as effective. Through 38 games, Noesen has recorded just three goals and four assists while he has dropped to the fourth line, resulting in a drop of ice time by more than four minutes per night. While it’s fair to wonder if this knee issue could be a contributing factor to those struggles, it has still been a disappointing showing for Noesen nonetheless.
It’s not all bad news on the injury front, however. Team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link) that winger Evgenii Dadonov and defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic skated today and, barring setbacks, are on track to return tomorrow against Winnipeg. Dadonov will slide into Noesen’s spot in the forward group while Kovacevic appears to be displacing veteran Dougie Hamilton based on today’s practice lines.
With both players being on LTIR, New Jersey needs to get back to cap compliance before the team can activate them. Noesen’s injury will likely cause him to miss at least the next 10 games and 24 days, making him eligible to go on LTIR himself. That, coupled with the demotion of Dennis Cholowski after he cleared waivers earlier today, will clear up enough room for their activations.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Place Zach Bogosian On IR
With Joel Eriksson Ek dealing with an undisclosed injury sustained on Thursday, the Wild needed some depth up front. That will come from winger Ben Jones as the team announced that they’ve recalled him from AHL Iowa. To make room on the roster, defenseman Zach Bogosian has been placed on injured reserve according to Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jones has spent the bulk of this season in Minnesota. The 26-year-old has played in 20 games, predominantly on their fourth line. However, while he has brought plenty of physicality with 47 hits, he’s still looking for his first point. That extends to his previous NHL stints as Jones has zero points in 48 career NHL appearances, all but two coming with Minnesota over the past two seasons.
That hasn’t been the case in the minors, however. Jones has three goals and three assists in eight games with Iowa and is coming off a 13-goal, 36-point showing in 2024-25. Jones cleared waivers in mid-December and has only been up for two days and played in one game so his 10-game, 30-day exemption clock largely remains intact.
As for Bogosian, he has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. Assuming the placement is back-dated, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as Minnesota needs him as he’ll have already served the seven-day requirement. The 35-year-old has played in 23 games this season, picking up a goal and three assists while averaging 14:52 per night of ice time.
Devils To Healthy Scratch Dougie Hamilton
With the Devils expecting to activate defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic off LTIR in advance of tomorrow’s game against Winnipeg, New Jersey will need to pull a defenseman out of the lineup to make room for him. It appears that will be veteran Dougie Hamilton based on today’s practice lines.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reached out (Twitter link) to Hamilton’s agent, CAA Sports’ J.P. Barry, for comment. Barry made it clear that he and his client feel this is business-related, not performance-related. The full comment is below:
“Dougie was informed today that he will be not be playing now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup. In our view, this decision is all about business rather than his game right now. Singling him out seems very calculated at this stage.
Dougie has a 10-team trade list and there have been efforts to trade him going back to the draft last year. We have made it clear to the Devils that we will consider teams outside our list and other creative ways to get to a team that is mutually acceptable.”
The 32-year-old has been in trade speculation for a while despite that trade protection. With New Jersey having one of the most expensive defense corps in the NHL and Simon Nemec in line for a new contract next summer, some have expected the Devils to try to move one of their blueliners out. Hamilton has a strong track record offensively but a $9MM cap charge through the 2027-28 season has limited his viable suitors. It also has played a big role in the team having to operate in LTIR all season long, preventing them from banking in-season cap space that could be used to try to improve or shake up their roster.
Unfortunately for Hamilton and the Devils, there is a performance-related case to his being scratched. He has just five goals and five assists in 40 games this season despite logging nearly two minutes per game on the power play and a little under 22 minutes a night overall. This comes on the heels of putting up 40 points in 64 games just last season while he has reached or surpassed the 40-point mark seven other times in his career. There have been a lot of underperformers in New Jersey recently and he has certainly been one of them.
On top of the trade protection, it should be noted that Hamilton also has a no-move clause that effectively serves as a no-waivers clause. As a result, this isn’t a case where New Jersey could put him on waivers and assign him to the minors.
Regardless of the impetus for the decision, the Devils scratching their highest-paid player (tied with Luke Hughes) is certainly going to draw some attention, as will Barry’s statement. Whether this will be enough to kickstart trade discussions remains to be seen. New Jersey’s season has been falling off the rails lately with seven losses in their last nine games (including a 9-0 drubbing earlier this week) and this will only lead to further distractions with calls growing for GM Tom Fitzgerald to try to do something to jumpstart this roster.
Blackhawks Recall Stanislav Berezhnoy
The flu bug has hit the Blackhawks hard. A day after having to use third-stringer Drew Commesso while dressing EBUG Dave Nozzolillo, Chicago has now had to call on another AHL netminder as the team announced that they’ve recalled Stanislav Berezhnoy from Rockford.
Chicago signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in July. While there are international goalies who typically sign NHL contracts on an annual basis, Berezhnoy’s profile was a little different given that he was relatively untested at the top level in Russia. He has just one career KHL game under his belt but posted a .928 SV% in 27 VHL appearances last season which was enough to convince the Blackhawks of his upside.
Playing time with the IceHogs has been hard to come by with Commesso being the priority netminder plus veteran Laurent Brossoit getting playing time until his trade to San Jose earlier this week. As a result, Berezhnoy has been limited to just nine appearances in the AHL where he has a 3.23 GAA with a .889 SV%.
That puts head coach Jeff Blashill in a bit of a tough spot for their game tonight against Nashville. Commesso struggled last night against Washington and asking him to go back-to-back isn’t ideal. But starting Berezhnoy might even be less ideal with how inexperienced he is.
Commesso’s recall put Chicago at 24 players on its active roster and Berezhnoy brings it to 25. Teams are allowed two 48-hour goalie emergency recalls that allow them to exceed the roster limit and the Blackhawks are putting both of them to use to get through this back-to-back set.
Wild Place Matt Kiersted On Waivers
Earlier this week, the Wild ran veteran Tyler Pitlick through waivers without sending him down, simply to restart his 10-game, 30-day exemption period. It appears they’re doing that once again as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Matt Kiersted is on waivers.
The 27-year-old is in his first season with Minnesota after signing a two-year, two-way contract (carrying a $775K AAV) with them on the second day of free agency last summer. A veteran of 41 NHL appearances heading into the season, the expectation was that he’d be a key piece in Iowa and a serviceable performer in a depth role if needed with the big club.
So far, things have largely played out that way. Kiersted has played in 23 games with Iowa this season and while his offensive numbers aren’t anything to get excited about with just three assists, he played a big role, especially defensively. That earned him a recall in the second week of December and he has been with Minnesota since then.
Playing time has been hard to come by since joining Minnesota as Kiersted has only played in four games so far. He has an assist and five blocked shots in those outings while picking up five blocked shots in 13:42 per night of ice time. While he hasn’t reached the 10-game mark, he has been up for 30 days, meaning his waiver exemption has expired.
Assuming that Kiersted passes through unclaimed for the second time this season (the other was in training camp), Minnesota can either keep him up in the reserve role he has been filling lately or return him to Iowa and open up some additional salary cap and roster flexibility.
Noah Gregor Clears Waivers
Saturday: Gregor was not claimed on waivers according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. He can now be sent down to AHL Charlotte whenever a roster spot is needed to activate Tkachuk.
Friday: The Panthers are shaking up their depth forward group after a tough-to-swallow blowout loss. PuckPedia reports that the club has placed winger Noah Gregor on waivers.
Gregor had appeared in back-to-back games for the Cats after sitting out five straight. Florida’s fourth line of him, Luke Kunin, and Jack Studnicka had a garish showing in the 6-2 loss to Montreal, failing to generate any expected goals at 5-on-5 while getting outscored 2-0 in less than five minutes of ice time.
His waiver placement should serve a dual purpose of opening a roster spot for Matthew Tkachuk, who’s been skating for a few days now and should be ready to come off long-term injured reserve and make his season debut in the near future. That’s must-hear news for a Florida squad that’s now 3-5-1 in its last nine, losing ground in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race. Injuries have taken an incredible toll on their record, which now stands at 22-18-3, leaving the two-time defending champs three points out of a playoff spot.
As for Gregor, the 27-year-old could bounce to his fifth NHL organization if he’s claimed off the wire. Non-tendered by the Sharks last year, he went unsigned before landing a professional tryout with the Cats in September and converting that into a two-way deal at the end of training camp. He’s been in and out of the lineup as a 12th/13th forward option with Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Tomas Nosek, and more missing all or most of the year.
In 24 appearances, the high-motor depth option has one goal and two assists with a -7 rating. He’s averaged just 8:05 per night while posting an ugly 45.8% shot attempt share despite receiving sheltered offensive zone starts. Especially seeing as he’s on a two-way deal, he was always going to be one of the first names to hit waivers if Florida needed a roster spot.
For a league-minimum price tag, there might be some interest in Gregor, who has 73 points in 317 career NHL games dating back to his debut in San Jose in 2019-20.
Dennis Cholowski Clears Waivers
Saturday: Cholowski has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. The team quickly announced that he was sent down to Utica.
Friday: The Devils announced they’ve placed defenseman Dennis Cholowski on waivers with the intent to assign him to AHL Utica. New Jersey will be left with an open roster spot tomorrow after he is reassigned or claimed.
Cholowski’s waiver placement is likely the first in a complicated series of transactions to activate fellow rearguard Johnathan Kovacevic from long-term injured reserve. The Devils need to free up roughly $3MM in cap space to do so, and they’re running out of time after he began skating with the team at practice earlier this week, per Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News.
Removing the 27-year-old Cholowski from the roster gets them $775K closer to their goal. The Devils acquired him from the Islanders at last year’s trade deadline after he’d re-emerged as a press-box option in New York. He played six games for the Devils as an extra body down the stretch and re-signed with the club on a one-year, one-way deal for the league minimum in July.
Cholowski stuck around on New Jersey’s opening night roster, in large part due to Kovacevic’s knee surgery, but hasn’t been relied upon heavily. He’s been a frequent healthy scratch, particularly with Brett Pesce and Simon Nemec recently returning from injuries, and hasn’t suited up in nearly a month. He’s now been scratched in 11 straight and has only played in 15 of the Devils’ 44 games.
When dressed, the puck-mover has been overused in defensive situations, ranking last among Devils defenders with a 42.6 offensive zone start percentage at even strength. As a result, he only has one assist with a -5 rating while posting a 46.1 CF%, also the worst figure among New Jersey rearguards. Far from being known for his physicality, the 6’2″ lefty has only logged 15 blocks and three hits as well.
Now, he hits waivers for the first time in 2025-26 after clearing them multiple times with the Isles over the past few seasons. The 2016 first-round pick last suited up in the AHL in March of last year with Bridgeport. He has 18 goals and 123 points with a -46 rating in 241 career minor-league games.
Panthers Recall Sandis Vilmanis, Place Seth Jones On IR
The Panthers have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight against Ottawa. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Sandis Vilmanis from AHL Charlotte. To make room on the roster, defenseman Seth Jones has been placed on injured reserve, according to the NHL’s Media Site.
This is Vilmanis’ first recall to the NHL. The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Florida back in 2022, going 157th overall. He made the move to play junior hockey in the OHL the following season, spending two years there where he averaged just under a point per game with 58 goals and 54 assists in 122 regular season contests while adding 34 points in 30 playoff appearances.
That was enough for the Panthers to sign Vilmanis to a three-year, entry-level deal, one that he’s basically at the midpoint of. He has played in 31 games for the Checkers so far this season, posting eight goals and 11 assists, putting him on pace to beat the 27 points he had last season in his rookie campaign. His first half also earned him a spot on Latvia’s roster for the Olympics next month.
As for Jones, the move to IR is largely procedural. Earlier this week, he was listed as out week-to-week after sustaining an upper-body injury during the Winter Classic. At this point, his availability for the Olympics remains uncertain.
Florida remains at the maximum roster size of 23 which is noteworthy with Matthew Tkachuk (LTIR) believed to be nearing a return. (That won’t be tonight though, as he has been ruled out against the Sens.) However, yesterday’s waiver placement of Noah Gregor on waivers will soon open up the spot for Tkachuk, meaning that Vilmanis’ recall shouldn’t be affected by Tkachuk’s pending return to the lineup.