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Kailer Yamamoto Clears Waivers, Utah Expected To Activate Nick Bjugstad

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Saturday: Yamamoto has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.  The team announced he has been sent to Tucson.

Friday: The Utah Hockey Club has winger Kailer Yamamoto on waivers today for the purposes of assignment to AHL Tucson, the team announced. After he clears or is claimed tomorrow, they’ll have an open roster spot to activate center Nick Bjugstad from injured reserve, per Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports.

It’s a tough break for Yamamoto, who hasn’t converted a strong training camp into a regular-season impact in Salt Lake. The 26-year-old was non-tendered by the Kraken at the end of last season and didn’t receive any guaranteed offers, instead landing a PTO with Utah for training camp. They signed him to a one-year, two-way deal the day before opening night rosters were due, and Bjugstad was slated to start the year on IR.

Even with Bjugstad out, though, there hasn’t been much opportunity for Yamamoto in the lineup. He was a healthy scratch for the first five games of the season before playing in each of Utah’s last three. He was held off the scoresheet, posting a -1 rating and taking just one shot on goal while averaging 10:40 per game.

On a two-way deal, there could be some interest in Yamamoto’s services on the waiver wire. The 2017 first-round pick is only one year removed from a 10-goal, 25-point campaign with the Oilers in 58 games, and he had a career-high 20 goals the year before that. That type of production from Yamamoto would require giving him consistent middle-six, if not top-six, minutes though, and he hasn’t done enough in the past couple of years to justify that ice time. Last year in Seattle, he averaged just under 12 minutes per game and saw his production suffer with 19 points (8 G, 8 A) in 59 games with a -9 rating.

Meanwhile, Bjugstad is set to make his season debut tomorrow against the Kings. It’s a little earlier than scheduled for his return, with a report from ALL City Network’s Craig Morgan at the beginning of the month stating he wouldn’t be back until Nov. 1.

He’ll be a boon to a Utah offense that has gone cold, scoring only twice in its last three games. The first-year club has dropped to a 4-3-1 record after a 3-0-0 start, dragged down by long-term injuries to defensemen Sean Durzi and John Marino. Bjugstad, 32, is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career, posting 22 goals and 45 points with a +11 rating in 76 appearances last season for the Coyotes.

Pavel Novák Clears Unconditional Waivers

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Saturday: Novák has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.  That will pave the way for his deal to be terminated.

Friday: The Wild have placed right-winger Pavel Novák on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, the team announced Friday. It’s likely a mutual termination.

Novák, 22, was on assignment to ECHL Iowa to begin the season, going without a point and posting a -1 rating in two games. He also spent most of last season down a level with the Heartlanders, tying for fifth on the team in scoring with 27 points (14 G, 13 A) in 44 games.

It wasn’t groundbreaking production by any stretch, especially at the ECHL level. But it was a statement campaign for Novák, who had missed all of the 2022-23 campaign while undergoing treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Minnesota 2020 fifth-round pick just lost too much development time when combined with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, and never got much of a chance to progress past the 58 points in 55 games that got him drafted out of WHL Kelowna five years ago.

The mutual termination will allow Novák to pursue professional opportunities in Europe, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. He also appeared in 13 AHL games for the Wild last season, recording two goals and an assist in 13 appearances.

Novák was in the final season of a three-year, entry-level contract worth $2.54MM that he signed back in 2022. He already earned an $80K signing bonus for this season and was earning a $75K salary while playing in the minors.

Islanders Sign Matt Martin, Make Several Other Roster Moves

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The Islanders are back in action tonight against Florida and have made several roster moves in advance of that contest.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Anthony Duclair was placed on LTIR while Liam Foudy was assigned to AHL Bridgeport.  With the cap savings from those two moves, the team has signed veteran winger Matt Martin to a one-year contract and recalled wingers Pierre Engvall and Hudson Fasching from the minors.

Martin has spent all but two of his 15 NHL seasons with the Isles, becoming a key member of their fourth line along the way.  It looked like the two sides would part ways over the summer when he was told that he wouldn’t be offered a contract.  However, when he hadn’t reached a deal heading into training camp, Martin signed a PTO with New York, allowing him to play and practice with them for the preseason.  No contract came along then but he remained on a tryout deal into the season, suggesting that it was only a matter of time before he received a contract, the financial terms of which were not disclosed.

The 35-year-old has played in 955 career NHL games between New York and Toronto, recording 176 points, 1,158 penalty minutes, and 3,849 hits.  With the series of roster moves the team made, he will be available to suit up against Florida tonight if head coach Patrick Roy wants to put him in the lineup.

Duclair’s placement on LTIR comes as no surprise.  Earlier this week, it was revealed that he’ll miss four to six weeks due to the leg injury he sustained last weekend.  With the Islanders operating very close to the salary cap, gaining even some short-term flexibility will certainly help.  Duclair’s placement was backdated to October 19th and he must miss at least 10 games and 24 days from then although the expected timeline for recovery will run longer than that.

Foudy’s time with the big club was relatively short-lived.  He was only brought up on Tuesday, taking Julien Gauthier’s place on the active roster.  The 24-year-old played in two games while on recall and was held off the scoresheet while averaging just 7:27 per game.  Foudy has 104 career NHL appearances under his belt now between three separate organizations.  He has four assists in five games so far with Bridgeport.

Engvall is in the second season of a seven-year, $21MM contract which made it both surprising and not surprising that he was on waivers at the end of training camp.  Needing to open up cap room (his demotion saved them $1.15MM prorated), he was a safe bet to pass through unclaimed.  That said, the fact he hit the wire just a year after being retained as a key secondary piece is an outcome few would have foreseen.  The 28-year-old had 10 goals and 14 assists in 74 NHL games last season and has just one tally in six games so far with Bridgeport.

Fasching played in 45 games with the Isles last season where he had four goals and ten assists.  However, that wasn’t enough to save him from going through waivers late in training camp where he passed through unclaimed.  He has a goal and an assist in five games so far with Bridgeport.

As a result of these roster moves, the Islanders are now at the maximum of 23 players on the active roster.

Cam York To Miss At Least Two Weeks

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The Flyers will find themselves without a key defender for the next little while.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Cam York will miss at least the next two weeks due to an upper-body injury.

York sustained the injury late in Wednesday’s game against Washington on a hit from Nic Dowd.  The 23-year-old had a breakout showing last season with 30 points in 82 games while recording 174 blocked shots, all career highs.  His 22:37 ATOI was also his best by a considerable margin as he established himself as a top-pairing player alongside Travis Sanheim.

It has been more of the same for York in the early going this season.  He has two goals and an assist along with ten blocks in seven appearances so far.  Meanwhile, his playing time is up to 22:56 per night, good for the team lead in that regard (just ahead of Sanheim).  Accordingly, his absence is a big one for a team that has already struggled out of the gate, winning just once through their first seven games.

For the moment, York has not been placed on injured reserve and veteran Erik Johnson will take his place in the lineup today against Minnesota.  However, with the team now down to just six healthy rearguards, they’ll likely want to add a seventh in which case they may opt to put York on IR to create the roster spot to do so.

While York will be out of the lineup, the same can’t be said for winger Travis Konecny.  Listed as day-to-day yesterday with what head coach John Tortorella termed a ‘body injury’, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays (Twitter link) that Konecny will be in the lineup today.  He’s tied with Matvei Michkov for the team lead in goals with three and sits tied for second in points with four.

Flyers Return Jett Luchanko To OHL

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Few expected prospect center Jett Luchanko to make Philadelphia’s roster in training camp but his training camp performance allowed him to do exactly that.  However, the team has decided that returning to junior is the best move for development; the team announced that they’ve assigned him to OHL Guelph.  GM Daniel Briere released the following statement on the move:

The decision to send Jett back is something we strongly believe is the right path for him and his development. His work-ethic, preparedness and play during training camp and preseason was something we were extremely impressed with and felt he earned the right to make our roster and start the season with us. Ultimately, we feel it is more valuable for Jett to be put in the best possible position to prepare himself for an NHL career, and right now that is with his team in Guelph.

The 18-year-old had a strong showing with the Storm last season, notching 20 goals and 54 assists in 68 regular season games along with three assists in four playoff appearances.  That had him rated by many outlets as a first-round pick outside of the lottery.  But the Flyers felt differently about his upside, ultimately selecting him 13th overall, signing him to an entry-level contract less than two weeks later.

Luchanko got into four preseason games with Philadelphia, picking up two assists and playing his way onto the opening roster.  He suited up in four regular season contests as well – making him the youngest player in the league – but was held off the scoresheet while playing just over 14 minutes per game on average.  However, after being scratched for three of their seven games, it seemed likely that he’d eventually return to junior where he can play significant minutes in all situations and push for a spot at the World Juniors in December.

Since Luchanko won’t get into ten or more NHL contests this season, his contract won’t officially begin this season after all and he will still have three years remaining on it with a slightly lower cap hit heading into 2025-26.  The Flyers now have one vacancy on their active roster and can either promote someone from AHL Lehigh Valley to fill it or operate with 22 players for the time being.

West Notes: Spurgeon, Hartman, Brossoit, Hague

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Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice Friday for the first time since being sidelined after two games with a lower-body injury related to his surgeries last season, relays John Shipley of the Pioneer Press.  It’s unlikely that he’ll suit up today but the team is hoping that the captain could return on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.  Spurgeon has been a key cog on Minnesota’s back end for the better part of the last 15 years and will give them a boost when he’s able to return.

Meanwhile, Michael Russo of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Wild have sent forward Ryan Hartman back to Minnesota, meaning he will miss the final two games of the road trip.  The 30-year-old suffered an upper-body injury a week and a half ago and while he has been listed as day-to-day in that stretch, his recovery is seemingly taking a bit longer than anticipated.  He has two goals in four games so far this season.

Elsewhere out West:

  • While the Blackhawks were hoping Laurent Brossoit wouldn’t miss much time to start the season, that’s not going to be the case. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times relays (Twitter link) that the netminder won’t begin skating until next week and will need a couple of weeks from there to be game-ready.  Brossoit suffered a knee injury in late August during offseason training, delaying what’s expected to be a legitimate opportunity at Chicago’s number one job after putting up a 2.00 GAA and a .927 SV% in 23 games with Winnipeg last season.
  • Golden Knights defenseman Nic Hague left yesterday’s game with a lower-body injury but it doesn’t appear that it’s particularly serious. Speaking with reporters postgame including Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, head coach Bruce Cassidy wasn’t able to rule the blueliner in or out for their game tonight against San Jose.  Hague has one goal in eight games so far this season, that coming last night against Ottawa.

Penguins Assign Tristan Jarry To AHL On Conditioning Loan

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The Tristan Jarry situation in Pittsburgh has taken another turn.  Just a couple of days after being sent back to Pittsburgh from their road trip to work on his game away from the team, the Penguins announced (Twitter link) that Jarry has been assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan.

The 29-year-old has certainly struggled out of the gate this season, allowing 12 goals on 73 shots in his first three appearances, ceding time to prospect Joel Blomqvist early on.  With Alex Nedeljkovic returning earlier in the week, the Penguins have been carrying three goaltenders on their active roster since then.

Jarry’s assignment to the minors doesn’t change that as players on a conditioning loan count against the 23-player active roster.  It also means that Pittsburgh does not receive any cap benefit from this roster move.

The maximum length of the assignment is 14 days.  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton plays in five games over that stretch so if Pittsburgh intends to keep him down there as long as possible, Jarry should at least have a few starts to work on his game to see if he can at least start to turn his fortunes around.

With Jarry being signed through the 2027-28 season with a $5.375MM cap charge, it’s fair to suggest that there isn’t much of a viable trade market for him out there.  Accordingly, if Jarry struggles in the minors or even if Pittsburgh wants to extend his assignment if Blomqvist and Nedeljkovic are playing well, the next move would likely come in a couple of weeks with a waiver placement as it’s highly unlikely he’d be claimed.  This certainly isn’t a situation GM Kyle Dubas envisioned when he signed Jarry to this contract in the 2023 offseason but a loan to the minors probably is the best option for both sides at this time.

Metropolitan Notes: Johnson, Voronkov, Blake, Roy

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Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson will not need surgery on his injured shoulder, GM Don Waddell confirmed to reporters including Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link).  However, that shouldn’t be construed that it won’t be a long-term injury as originally reported.  Instead, the team simply feels that the injury can be treated with rehab.  This is the second straight year that the 22-year-old has dealt with injury troubles and he was off to a good start before sustaining it as he had five points in his first four games.  He still technically hasn’t been moved to injured reserve at this time but that’s something that should happen in the coming days whenever they have to open up a roster spot.

More from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Still with Columbus, forward Dmitri Voronkov was a partial participant in practice today and appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a shoulder injury, reports Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch. The 24-year-old suffered the injury late in the preseason.  Voronkov had a solid rookie season for the Blue Jackets in 2023-24, picking up 18 points and 16 assists and with the injuries they’re dealing with, getting him back a little earlier than expected would be some rare positive news on that front.
  • The Hurricanes have once again sent winger Jackson Blake to AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. They’ve done this four times already this season in an effort to bank a bit more cap room.  The 21-year-old has two goals in six games with Carolina so far so it’s safe to say he’ll be brought back up in time for puck drop against Seattle on Saturday.
  • Capitals defenseman Matt Roy skated today before practice notes NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The 29-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in Washington’s season opener and hasn’t played since.  Roy was their most prominent free agent signing over the summer, inking a six-year, $34.5MM contract after putting up 25 points in nearly 21 minutes a night last season with Los Angeles.  While he’s now back on the ice, he did not accompany the team on their road trip to Tampa Bay.

Pacific Notes: Karlsson, Danault, Musty

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The Golden Knights appear to be set to welcome back a key contributor up front.  Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal relays that Vegas is aiming to activate center William Karlsson to their active roster for Saturday’s contest against San Jose.  The 31-year-old has yet to play this season due to an undisclosed injury.  Karlsson is coming off one of his best seasons offensively as he notched 30 goals and 30 assists in 70 games while he also won 56.2% of his faceoffs, the best rate of his career.  Notably, the Golden Knights have a full 23-player roster so someone will need to come off in order for Karlsson to be activated; their only waiver-exempt players are forwards Brendan Brisson and Alexander Holtz.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • Kings center Phillip Danault has changed agents. Octagon’s Allan Walsh announced (Twitter link) that he is now representing the 31-year-old who was previously repped by Newport’s Don Meehan.  Walsh won’t be having to worry about contract talks for a while, however, as Danault is signed through the 2026-27 season at a $5.5MM AAV.  He’s off to a bit of a quiet start offensively this season with just three assists through his first eight games.  However, he has recorded at least 47 points in five of the last six seasons.
  • Late last month, the Sharks assigned prospect Quentin Musty back to OHL Sudbury but he has yet to play since then. It’s not because of an injury, however, but rather a trade request.  GM Mike Grier expressed some frustration about the situation to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (subscription link), indicating that he has been in contact with Musty’s agent to emphasize the need to find a suitable trade sooner rather than later.  San Jose selected Musty with the 26th pick in 2023 and he averaged nearly two points per game last season with the Wolves, notching 43 goals and 59 assists in 53 games.  Having him out this long certainly isn’t ideal from a development standpoint.

Oilers Activate Roby Jarventie Off SOIR, Assign Him To AHL

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One of Edmonton’s newest prospects is now cleared to start his 2024-25 season.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Roby Jarventie has recovered from his knee injury.  As a result, he has been taken off season-opening injured reserve and assigned to AHL Bakersfield.

The 22-year-old was the second pick of the second round by Ottawa back in 2020, going 33rd overall.  He spent the majority of his first three professional seasons at the AHL level and was quite productive in limited action with Belleville last season, recording 20 points in 22 games.  That earned Jarventie a look with the big club as he got into seven games with the Sens, picking up an assist while averaging 7:31 per game.

Despite that, Ottawa elected to trade him along with a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Oilers back in July in exchange for prospects Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson.  Notably, Bourgault was a first-round pick in 2021 and while his stock has slipped somewhat since then, it’s clear that Edmonton feels that Jarventie has some upside.

This move also helps them out a bit from a salary cap perspective.  Because Jarventie spent time on an NHL roster last season, he was counting against Edmonton’s cap at a prorated amount relative to the number of days he was up with Ottawa.  Based on his $894K cap hit, that prorated amount checked in around $107K.  That amount now comes off their books, giving them just under $1.15MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, putting them around the middle of the pack league-wide in that regard.

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