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Ottawa Senators Reassign Jan Jeník

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After playing in his first game since last April, and first with the Ottawa Senators, forward Jan Jeník is headed back to the American Hockey League. The Senators organization announced they’ve reassigned Jenik to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.

Jeník is best known for his time as a higher-end prospect in the Arizona Coyotes organization. The Coyotes drafted him with the 65th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft and he was quickly loaned to the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. He was a point-per-game player in his first year with the Bulldogs and wrapped up his OHL career with a 22-goal, 56-point performance in 27 games during the 2019-20 season.

He transitioned to professional hockey in 2020-21, when he first played for the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. Jeník became an above-average scorer at the AHL level for the next four years but never seemed to find his next level in the NHL. He collected 46 goals and 120 points in 165 games for the Roadrunners from 2020 to 2024 but only had four goals and six points in 22 games for the Coyotes over the same timeline.

Since his future in Arizona was seemingly closing shut, he was traded to the Senators organization this past summer for Egor Sokolov. Jeník quickly signed a one-year, $775K contract with his new team but failed to crack the NHL roster out of training camp.

Due to injuries, he’s been limited to only 13 games with the AHL Senators this season. Still, when healthy, Jeník has been a quietly productive forward scoring four goals and seven points good for 14th on the team in scoring.

Canucks Assign Filip Hronek To AHL On Conditioning Loan

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The Vancouver Canucks announced they’ve loaned defenseman Filip Hronek to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, on a conditioning loan. Should he suit up in Abbotsford’s next contest on January 10th, it’ll be Hronek’s first game since suffering a lower-body injury on November 27th.

Since Hronek has been on the long-term injured reserve the transaction won’t have the same requirements as the standard 14-day conditioning loan. Hronek’s loan will last for six days or three games, with an opportunity to extend the loan for another two games. His contract remains on LTIR until he’s activated and placed on the NHL roster.

Given that AHL Abbotsford has three games, with the final coming on January 14th, Hronek will trigger the eligibility requirements on the same day. Vancouver has the option of activating Hronek at any point during the conditioning loan meaning he could feature at any point during the Canucks’ upcoming road trip.

Ultimately, he’ll likely return to game action on January 16th against the Los Angeles Kings should he not suffer any setbacks during the loan. His return to the lineup will help alleviate many of Vancouver’s defensive woes over the last few weeks.

Although the Canucks have the luxury of deploying Quinn Hughes on most nights the team has looked completely different during Hronek’s absence. Vancouver has managed an 11-7-3 record with Hronek in the lineup this year but has struggled through a 7-5-6 run after he suffered the injury.

Hronek should reprise his role on the team’s top-pairing next to Hughes and look to build upon his one goal and nine points already scored this season. He’s coming off a career-year last season in which he scored five goals and 48 points in 81 games and will look to near that 0.60 point-per-game average upon his return.

Florida Panthers To Host Winter Classic, Tampa Bay Lightning To Host Stadium Series

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The Commissioner of the National Hockey League has followed through with his vague promise from the 2025 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. The Florida Panthers announced they would host the New York Rangers in the 2026 Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park, home of the MLB’s Miami Marlins. Their intra-state rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced they would host the Boston Bruins in the 2026 NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It’ll be the southernmost outdoor event the NHL has attempted since successfully pulling off the 2020 NHL Winter Classic in Dallas, Texas. Unlike the Cotton Bowl Stadium, LoanDepot Park has some flexibility with the weather thanks to a retractable roof. There’s a high chance the roof will be used for a hockey event given that the temperature in Miami on January 1st, 2025 reached a high of 81°F (27°C ).

The Panthers organization will take part in their first Winter Classic and outdoor event. This is quite different from their opponent, the Rangers, who have already participated in two Winter Classics and three Stadium Series games.

Traveling northwest to Tampa Bay, the Lightning will play in their second Stadium Series contest in franchise history after defeating the Nashville Predators in 2022 at Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. Like their in-state counterpart, it’ll be the first time the Lightning have hosted an outdoor event in franchise history.

Unfortunately, unlike the stadium amenities at LoanDepot Park, Raymond James Stadium does not have a roof and is exposed to the elements. Tampa is relatively milder than Miami in terms of heat, but still recorded a high of 64°F (18°C) in February of 2024 which could make the ice conditions more unpleasant.

Deferred Payments In Jeopardy In Upcoming CBA Discussions

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The NHL and NHLPA are expected to discuss removing the option for teams and players to structure contracts with deferred payments when they begin negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement next month, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported Tuesday.

Deferring part of a contract’s total value until after its expiry to earn a discount on a player’s cap hit has been legal since the 2004-05 lockout, which signaled the beginning of the salary cap era. However, it was used incredibly rarely until the past few months. Four players—the Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin and Seth Jarvis, the Maple Leafs’ Jake McCabe, and the Ducks’ Frank Vatrano—have accepted deferred compensation as part of new contracts or extensions since July 1.

Vatrano’s extension, a three-year, $18MM commitment that carries just a $4.57MM cap hit compared to $6MM without deferred compensation, has taken the most advantage of the rule. It’s the first of the four to defer base salary, not just signing bonus money, and he’ll only earn half of the money over the contract’s life. The other $9MM will be paid out in 10 yearly checks of $900K from 2035 onward. During that time, Vatrano anticipates retiring in Florida and will not pay California state income tax on the money.

However, as LeBrun relayed, most player agents aren’t suggesting this strategy for their clients. Octagon’s Allan Walsh put up a brief explainer of why it’s not always a tax-saving measure in the long run, although LeBrun countered with the supposition that Vatrano wouldn’t have earned as much total cash by not using deferred compensation.

The league determined that Vatrano’s deal was compliant with the deferred compensation rule as written, but “that shouldn’t be interpreted as the league being a big fan of it or deferred payments in general,” LeBrun said. He adds the NHLPA has historically opposed deferred payments – the value of money paid later is almost always lower than money earned in the present due to inflation – creating an environment for both parties to close the door on that contract structure when the next CBA goes into effect for the 2026-27 season.

Wild Sign, Waive Dylan Ferguson

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Jan. 8: Ferguson cleared waivers on Wednesday and will be assigned to Iowa, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

Jan. 7: The Wild signed goaltender Dylan Ferguson to a two-way contract for the remainder of the 2024-25 season on Tuesday, according to a team release. Minnesota subsequently placed him on waivers for assignment to AHL Iowa.

Ferguson, 26, signed a one-year deal with Iowa in September after a failed PTO with the Canucks. He’ll earn a prorated salary of $130K while in the minors on his new two-way deal, the team said, presumably a raise over what he was making on his minor-league-only contract.

Signing Ferguson makes him eligible for a recall to the NHL roster for the remainder of the season, assuming he clears waivers. He’ll be able to stick on the active roster if necessary for up to 30 days or play 10 games before he needs waivers again to return to Iowa.

The British Columbia native has made seven appearances for Iowa this season while backing up Wild prospects Jesper Wallstedt and Samuel Hlavaj, posting the best numbers out of the trio with a .900 SV% and a 3-4-0 record. He also had a shutout in his lone ECHL appearance for the Iowa Heartlanders earlier this season.

Ferguson has three NHL games under his belt, the first most memorably coming with the Golden Knights in relief during their inaugural season. Ferguson, 19 at the time and freshly acquired from the Stars in an offseason trade, was fifth on Vegas’ goaltending depth chart and on assignment to his major junior team in Kamloops but needed to enter a game against the Oilers in November with Marc-André Fleury, Malcolm Subban, Oscar Dansk and Maxime Lagace all injured.

He didn’t see NHL ice again until the 2022-23 campaign, starting two games for the Senators at the tail end of the season and allowing five goals on 83 shots. All told, Ferguson has a strong .929 SV% and 2.81 GAA in his very limited NHL track record, also posting a formidable .911 mark in 36 career AHL games in parts of five seasons.

After struggling with injuries and failing to land much playing time wherever he signed, the journeyman Ferguson headed to Belarus in 2023-24 and signed a one-year deal with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. He posted a .904 SV% in 23 games against some top-flight overseas competition, logging a 2.51 GAA and a 9-9-0 record.

His return to North America last summer has now gone well enough to land him an NHL deal. While his age would normally stipulate Ferguson becoming a restricted free agent upon expiry of this contract, he’ll be a Group VI unrestricted free agent instead because he’s played in fewer than 28 NHL games while accumulating at least three professional seasons.

Since the Wild signed and waived Ferguson within the same day, he won’t count against their active roster while on waivers.

Hurricanes Have “Checked In” On Flames’ Daniel Vladař

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The Hurricanes have inquired with the Flames about goaltender Daniel Vladař’s availability in a trade as they look to shore up their goaltending depth, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff wrote Tuesday.

Vladař was softly connected to Carolina by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic last month when he was detailing the Canes’ interest in the Ducks’ John Gibson. He was mentioned as a speculative trade candidate then but seems more firmly linked to Carolina now.

The Hurricanes remain in pursuit of a more established NHL option between the pipes with Frederik Andersen sidelined due to knee surgery and not expected back for a few more weeks. The veteran starter was at practice today for the first time since undergoing surgery, though, the team’s Walt Ruff relayed.

With Andersen set to hit the open market this summer and unlikely to return to Carolina given his injury history over the past couple of seasons, Gibson makes more sense for the Canes as a longer-term pickup to partner with Pyotr Kochetkov between the pipes. Vladař, a pending unrestricted free agent, would likely be a backup option if they can’t swing a deal with Anaheim.

But as Seravalli writes, it’s far from a given that the Flames will move Vladař. The netminder told Eric Francis of Sportsnet last week that he’s open to signing an extension in Calgary, and they won’t move him for anything less than a third-round pick. With few other teams than Carolina exploring the goalie market, there’s no guarantee that the Flames would be able to drive the price that high unless the Canes get desperate. That would be a heel-turn from a Carolina team that’s frequently held pat at the deadline in recent years if they don’t like what they see.

Vladař has started 19 games this season while playing in tandem with up-and-comer Dustin Wolf, four short of his career high set with Calgary in 2022-23. He has a subpar .888 SV% and 3.08 GAA, although he does have a pair of shutouts. He’s allowed 2.9 goals more than expected based on the shot quality he’s faced, per MoneyPuck. While an upgrade over Carolina’s current backup option, Dustin Tokarski, he’d be firmly entrenched at No. 3 on their depth chart once Andersen returns and would be unlikely to stick around unless the Canes can’t secure an upgrade on next summer’s free agent market.

Sabres Recall Tyson Kozak

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The Sabres recalled center Tyson Kozak from AHL Rochester on Wednesday, per a team announcement. He’s primed to replace forward Jiri Kulich, who left Monday’s shootout win over the Capitals with a lower-body injury, in tomorrow’s lineup against the Senators. Buffalo doesn’t have an open spot on the active roster, so Kulich is presumably headed to injured reserve to make Kozak’s recall happen.

Kozak has been recalled once this season, making his NHL debut in relief of the injured Sam Lafferty early last month. The 22-year-old pivot skated in three games, scoring his first NHL goal while averaging 9:55 per game and winning 53.3% of his faceoffs.

The Sabres were out-chanced 26-19 while Kozak was on the ice at 5-on-5, but he primarily played a defensive bottom-six role. A seventh-round pick in 2021, he’s producing at a career-best pace in Rochester this season with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 24 games with a plus-seven rating.

Kozak is in his third professional season after a junior tenure with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, whom he captained in the 2021-22 campaign. The pending restricted free agent is expected to center Lafferty and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel in Thursday’s tilt with Beck Malenstyn also expected to miss the contest with an illness.

That makes three forwards unavailable for Buffalo, at least for now. Jordan Greenway remains on injured reserve after undergoing mid-body surgery in December and doesn’t have a timeline for a return.

If Kulich was placed on IR to make room for Kozak, he’s been ruled out of their next two games. Head coach Lindy Ruff told Heather Engel of NHL.com that Kulich is week-to-week with his injury, so he likely won’t be back upon becoming eligible for a return next Wednesday against the Hurricanes, either. The 2022 first-rounder has nine points in 31 games this season, his first as a full-time NHLer.

Red Wings Have Shown Interest In Dylan Cozens

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The Sabres and Red Wings were linked as speculative trade partners earlier in the season, with Max Bultman of The Athletic suggesting at one point that Detroit may be interested in prying defenseman Bowen Byram away from Buffalo. It turns out there was some smoke to that fire, but center Dylan Cozens is the Sabres player that the Wings have expressed interest in acquiring, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote Tuesday.

While most reports indicate the Sabres’ desired path forward is to stay the course despite currently ranking last in the Eastern Conference with a 15-21-5 record, that hasn’t stopped Cozens’ name from appearing in a fair amount of trade speculation through the first half of the season. Things haven’t gone well for the soon-to-be 24-year-old, whose point totals have steadily regressed since a career-best 31 goals and 68 points in 2022-23 that earned him a seven-year, $49.7MM extension.

Cozens is posting just 0.49 points per game in 2024-25, down from last year’s 0.59 mark and even further from that breakout year’s 0.84. He’s shooting 8.6% for eight goals through 41 games, adding 12 assists for 20 points and a team-worst -14 rating.

As our Gabriel Foley wrote last month, Buffalo’s poor record this season extends far past Cozens’ woes. Moving on from him would also risk continuing a trend of the Sabres moving on from still-developing players too soon, parting ways before they break out again on a new team.

If he were to be on the move, the Wings make a lot of sense. They have an old center corps for a supposedly still-rebuilding team, with top three pivots Dylan Larkin, Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher all between the ages of 28 and 30. Marco Kasper, 20, is well on his way to capturing a top-nine spot down the middle, but inserting Cozens there gives them an extended window to return to playoff relevance.

Despite the poor rating, possession play hasn’t been a huge issue for Cozens this season. His 50.6 CF% ranks 10th on the team at even strength, and while his -3.3 expected rating is in the middle of the pack, it’s far from the worst. His 165 shot attempts are fifth on the team, and he’s been the best Sabre at actually getting pucks through on net, converting 56.4% of his attempts into shots on goal.

Trading Cozens carries a fair amount of risk for both teams. There’s the chance of Buffalo cutting bait too early, but there’s also a financial risk for an acquiring team with five years left on his contract if his numbers don’t rebound to the 60-point range at a minimum.

But even at his current low point, Cozens is a middle-six upgrade for Detroit over Compher and Copp. Both are producing at worse point-per-game rates than Cozens, with far worse possession metrics, both raw and relative.

The Wings’ biggest issue this season is generating offense, especially high-danger chances. They only have 233 high-danger chances at 5-on-5 compared to the league average of 297, and they’re also only converting on 6.8% of those. Cozens should help with that to some degree.

Hurricanes, Eric Robinson Discussing Extension

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An extension for winger Eric Robinson with the Hurricanes “sounds like it will happen,” Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote in his “32 Thoughts” blog Tuesday. The 29-year-old became eligible to sign one on Jan. 1 after inking a one-year, $950K pact with Carolina in free agency last summer.

Robinson’s decision to take a prove-it deal with the Canes has worked out quite well for both sides. Carolina gained some much-needed cost-effective forward depth after losing Jake Guentzel, Stefan Noesen and Teuvo Teräväinen to the open market. At the same time, Robinson thrived in a depth role and positioned himself to land a significant raise on his next contract.

The Hurricanes have some important UFAs-to-be again this season, namely Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov on the back end and another valuable depth scorer, Jack Roslovic, up front. It makes sense that general manager Eric Tulsky wants to get business done early with at least one of them.

Robinson is likely looking for stability after being traded from the Blue Jackets, where he started his career, to the Sabres last season and then landing with Carolina in free agency. He’s posted nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points through 41 games, on pace for a career-high 40 points while averaging 12 minutes per game.

Normally deployed as a checking winger with heavy defensive zone usage, Robinson’s offensive zone deployment under Rod Brind’Amour has skyrocketed. After starting over 60% of his 5-on-5 faceoffs in the defensive zone throughout his seven years in Columbus, he’s started 62.8% in the offensive end since arriving in Carolina. He’s also receiving semi-meaningful penalty kill minutes for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign.

His offensive pace likely puts his next contract in the $3MM neighborhood per season, with Dakota Joshua’s recent four-year, $3.25MM AAV extension with the Canucks likely serving as a blueprint. The New Jersey native has never earned an AAV of more than $1.6MM on any of his five NHL contracts.

Rangers Rumors: Zibanejad, Trocheck, Jones

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In the written edition of his “32 Thoughts” blog Tuesday night, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet expanded on a report yesterday from Josh Yohe of The Athletic that the Canucks turned down a one-for-one trade proposal from the Rangers that would have seen the clubs swap struggling top-six fixtures J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad.

Friedman “believe[s] he’s correct — with some semantics.” Those Miller-for-Zibanejad rumors, which started when the former took a brief leave of absence from Vancouver for personal reasons, were vehemently shut down by New York. At the same time, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford quickly said that his team wasn’t interested in trading Miller, at least not while he was still on leave.

Fast forward to today, and all indications point to Miller and star pivot Elias Pettersson at least entering trade conversations amid speculative reports of a locker-room clash between the pair. But, as Friedman wrote, the Rangers didn’t quite come as close to landing their desired swap as it may have seemed at first glance.

Friedman doesn’t believe that Zibanejad, who has a no-move clause, “was ever approached” by Rangers management about accepting a move to Vancouver. There were likely other moving parts in the framework of the deal being discussed, namely up-and-coming Blueshirts defender Braden Schneider, that New York wasn’t willing to move to make happen. Friedman adds this is the second time the Rangers have rejected an attempt from the Canucks to acquire Schneider, now in his fourth NHL season after being selected 19th overall in 2020.

There’s more from Friedman on the Rangers’ trade plans leading up to the deadline:

  • Should they enter an aggressive sell-off mode, New York’s highest-value trade asset would be center Vincent Trocheck. He’s having a more productive season offensively than Zibanejad, albeit slightly, with a still-disappointing 27 points in 40 games. Like Zibanejad, he carries a no-movement clause but costs a far more affordable $5.625MM against the cap through 2029 than Zibanejad’s $8.5MM cap hit through 2030. Nonetheless, Rangers general manager Chris Drury won’t entertain the idea of trading him, Friedman reports, going so far as to suggest he could be Jacob Trouba’s successor to the captaincy after the latter was traded to the Ducks last month.
  • One player definitely on the block for the Rangers is defenseman Zac Jones, who Friedman reports the Rangers have permitted to speak to other teams about a longer-term fit. The pending restricted free agent was expected to land a more prominent role this season with Erik Gustafsson out the door in free agency, but he’s still been a healthy scratch for a good portion of the campaign – suiting up in 26 of the Blueshirts’ 40 games. Jones, 24, has a goal and seven assists for eight points with a plus-two rating, ranking second among Rangers defenders behind Schneider’s plus-six. He’s averaging a career-high 16:42 per game when dressed, seeing expanded power-play usage but posting mediocre possession numbers.

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