Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Gary Bettman Meets With Group Regarding Arizona Expansion Franchise

at CDT | by 33 Comments

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently met with a newly formed committee of Maricopa County “political and business leaders” interested in pursuing an expansion franchise to bring the league back to the Arizona market, former Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan reports.

The now-deactivated Coyotes franchise’s hopes of a revival, at least under former majority owner Alex Meruelo, ended in June when the Arizona State Land Department canceled an auction Meruelo intended to use to purchase a plot for a new arena and entertainment district because the organization failed to obtain the proper zoning permits. Shortly after, Meruelo informed Coyotes staff that he was relinquishing ownership of the franchise and officially returned the team’s branding and intellectual property to the league a few weeks later.

The situation ended a years-long saga in which multiple owners, Meruelo in particular, failed to stabilize the fledgling club on and off the ice. In the 2022 offseason, the team was effectively kicked out of its longtime, inconveniently located home in Glendale, forcing it to strike a deal with Arizona State University to share its new multipurpose Mullett Arena, which held fewer than 5,000 people for hockey. 

After two years in the temporary facility and no firm plan for a permanent home in sight, Meruelo struck a multi-part deal with the league to sell the franchise to Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group, birthing the Utah Hockey Club out of the Coyotes’ former hockey operations assets. Meruelo could reactivate the Coyotes franchise and trigger an expansion draft if specific timelines were met on a new arena. However, after the auction was canceled, that was no longer plausible.

So, while the potential of the Coyotes’ name and logo resurfacing in the coming years persists, it will be with a blank slate roster-wise and ownership-wise in a new arena. Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman Tom Galvin, who’s at the head of the advisory committee, told Morgan that he’s “had several meetings with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and he looks forward to working with us to identify an owner and the best location for a world-class building.”

There’s still much work to be done before Arizona can once again be seriously considered as an expansion destination, though. Not only does the advisory committee need to develop a pathway toward building a new NHL-caliber facility, but they also need to identify a stable ownership group willing to take on the project. That could come from NBA Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who told Barry M. Bloom of Sportico in July that he’s interested in acquiring an expansion franchise and has long-term plans to build a new arena in downtown Phoenix.

Senators Recall Jan Jeník, Nikolas Matinpalo

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Senators summoned forward Jan Jeník and defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville on Monday, per a team announcement. Ottawa only has one open roster spot, so a corresponding move must have been made – likely placing defenseman Travis Hamonic on injured reserve, per PuckPedia.

Jeník’s recall is his first of the season and his first as a Senator. Ottawa acquired his signing rights from the Utah Hockey Club on July 3 for depth winger Egor Sokolov.

Two days later, Jeník put pen to paper on a one-year, two-way contract that pays him $775K in the NHL and $190K in the AHL. He did not make the Senators’ roster out of training camp and cleared waivers on his way to Belleville, where he’s sat injured for most of the season.

The 24-year-old has been healthy for 13 games, posting four goals and three assists for seven points and a +4 rating while quickly racking up 38 PIMs. The 6’1″, 198-lb forward has always been a bit of a pot-stirrer, consistently recording PIM totals north of 50 across full junior and AHL seasons.

Jeník has 22 NHL games under his belt, all coming with the Coyotes in each of the last four seasons. The 2018 third-round pick has four goals and two assists for six points with a -4 rating, posting 27 shots on goal while averaging just south of 10 minutes per game.

The Czech winger/center has consistently been out-chanced at 5-on-5, only controlling 45.5% of shot attempts. That’s partly due to Arizona’s conservative defensive-zone deployment of Jeník during his time in the desert, though. He was a much more significant offensive factor in the minors, where he now has 127 points in 178 career AHL games.

Jeník gives Ottawa an extra forward option for tomorrow’s key matchup against the Red Wings. For now, it’s unclear if he’ll draw into the lineup.

However, Matinpalo almost certainly will. The oft-recalled defender projects to play a third-pairing role on his natural right side alongside Tyler Kleven with Hamonic out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Jacob Bernard-Docker also sustained an injury in Monday’s practice and looks to sit out tomorrow, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports.

Matinpalo, 26, has only managed one appearance for the Sens this season amid a few moves up and down the NHL-AHL wire. He took a minor penalty and skated 10:24 against the Wild on Dec. 29. Outside of that, the defensive-minded Finn has eight points and a -4 rating in 24 games for the B-Sens.

Panthers Recall Tobias Björnfot

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Panthers announced Monday that they’ve recalled defenseman Tobias Björnfot from AHL Charlotte. Florida had an open spot on the active roster, so no corresponding transaction is necessary.

It’s the first time Björnfot has been recalled since clearing waivers during training camp. The Panthers claimed the 23-year-old off waivers from the Golden Knights at last season’s trade deadline, but he has only logged one NHL game since then, skating 17:01 against the Rangers on March 23, 2024, and serving as a healthy scratch for the entirety of Florida’s run to the 2024 Stanley Cup.

A first-round pick of the Kings in 2019, Björnfot has spent much of his time as a fringe roster player and has never secured anything above a third-pairing role. The Swedish native has been passable in Charlotte this season but not overly impressive, recording a pair of goals and nine assists for 11 points in 27 games with a -1 rating.

Björnfot has one NHL goal across 120 appearances since debuting in the 2019-20 campaign, adding 14 assists for 15 points with a -20 rating. Only four of those appearances came last season, a tumultuous one where he was claimed off waivers by the Golden Knights from L.A. before landing on the wire again and heading to the Cats.

Drafted as a stay-at-home piece, Björnfot has 42 points with a +7 rating in 136 career AHL games, where he’s spent most of the last three seasons. His last campaign as a full-time NHLer came in L.A. in 2021-22, when he dressed in a career-high 70 games and posted eight assists with a -12 rating while averaging 16:46 per game.

Björnfot will likely sit in the press box but comes up as injury insurance with Niko Mikkola, who’s missed the last four games with an upper-body injury, still projected to be unavailable tonight against the Avalanche. He could make his season debut if Aaron Ekblad, who didn’t practice over the weekend, can’t go due to an undisclosed injury.

Björnfot can remain on Florida’s roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games until he needs waivers to return to Charlotte.

Canucks Place Dakota Joshua On IR

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Canucks will be without forward Dakota Joshua for at least another two games. General manager Patrik Allvin announced Monday that he’s been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 3 after he sustained an undisclosed injury in their last game against the Predators. Top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki comes up from AHL Abbotsford to take his place on the active roster on an emergency basis.

Joshua, 28, had Nashville captain Roman Josi and Vancouver teammate Teddy Blueger fall awkwardly on his left leg behind the net midway through the second period of a 3-0 loss. He went to the room but returned for the third period.

His being healthy enough to take a few shifts after the injury is a good sign for his recovery timeline, but he’ll still miss a few contests while recovering. The depth winger has just two goals and four points in 24 appearances this season, down sharply from the 18 goals and 32 points in 63 games last year that earned him a four-year, $13MM extension.

Regardless of his production, seeing him on the ice is good. Joshua was diagnosed with testicular cancer over the offseason and missed the first 14 games of the year while recovering from surgery.

A lack of individual chance generation has hurt Joshua’s game the most this season. He’s taken just 10 shots on goal and attempted 28. That’s just 0.42 shots on net and 1.17 attempts per game, down from 1.33 and 2.32 last season, respectively. That also works out to a career-low 35.7 shots through percentage.

Outside of the lack of offense, the 6’3″ Joshua has been his usual physical self. His 83 hits rank second on the team behind Kiefer Sherwood’s eye-popping 220, despite his extended absence early in the year.

The Canucks didn’t have an extra forward on hand with Elias Pettersson still on injured reserve, so Lekkerimaki comes up and will presumably play tonight in Montreal. The 2022 15th overall pick had one goal and a -4 rating in five NHL games during a November call-up, his first since arriving in North America last spring.

Lekkerimäki, 20, leads Abbotsford with 12 goals and 17 points in 21 games. However, his -10 rating is the worst on the club.

Five Key Stories: 12/30/24 – 1/5/25

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The turning of the calendar to 2025 created a long list of players who are now eligible for extensions, a couple of which already have already done so.  Those new deals aren’t in our key stories but some other recently-signed contracts are in our top stories from the last seven days.

Three For L’Heureux: Predators winger Zachary L’Heureux received a three-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety for his slew foot on Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon; the blueliner hasn’t played since then due to a leg injury.  It’s the first NHL suspension of his career with the 21-year-old in his first taste of NHL action.  However, L’Heureux has a long suspension history with two separate bans last season in the minors and nine more in the QMJHL.  He has nine points and 106 hits in 33 games so far this season and will be eligible to return to the lineup on Saturday.

Three For Kastelic: Bruins center Mark Kastelic wasn’t the most prominent piece going to Boston in last offseason’s Linus Ullmark trade but he has made a positive impact for them.  He was rewarded for his efforts with a three-year, $4.7MM contract extension.  The deal gives Boston two extra years of club control and buys out his final year of arbitration.  Kastelic has already equaled his career high in points with 11 and has set a new personal best in assists with seven in his first 40 games with the Bruins.  He also leads the team in hits with 154 and is winning nearly 55% of his faceoffs.

Toews Not Ruling Out A Comeback: While Jonathan Toews hasn’t played since the 2022-23 season as he continues to battle through Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, he never officially announced his retirement.  This past week, he indicated that he still has the desire to play in the NHL and is going to give it his best shot in terms of trying to make a comeback.  The 36-year-old has played in 1,067 career NHL games over parts of 16 seasons, all with Chicago, becoming a premier two-way pivot along the way.  If he decides to try to play this season, it stands to reason that it would be in a limited role given how long he has been off.  Alternatively, he could look to catch on somewhere for 2025-26, giving himself a longer window to train and potentially a larger pool of suitors for his services.

Three For Vatrano: Frank Vatrano won’t be leaving the Ducks for a while now.  The winger has signed a three-year, $18MM contract extension, one that further pushes the boundaries of deferred salary.  Vatrano will make $3MM in each of the three years of the contract, then receive $900K for ten years beginning in 2035.  In doing so, the cap charge of the deal drops to $4.67MM (based on the net present value) instead of the $6MM average.  It’s interesting that Anaheim, a team that isn’t remotely close to the Upper Limit of the salary cap, is taking this route but it clearly helped them get this contract done.  Vatrano is struggling a bit this season with nine goals and 20 points in 37 games but is only a year removed from 37 goals and 60 points which undoubtedly played a big role in securing this contract.

Canucks Listening On Top Forwards: Amidst speculation that top forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller have a rift and the fact both players are struggling, the Canucks appear to be open to listening to offers for both of them.  Pettersson is in the first season of his max-term deal that will see him make $11.6MM per year through the 2031-32 campaign but he hasn’t lived up to the contract early on.  After putting up 102 points in 2022-23, he dipped to 89 points last year and has 28 points in 34 games this year.  Miller, meanwhile, had a career year last season with 103 points but has just six goals in 28 contests this season and his only two goals since October have been empty-netters.  With them scuffling, Vancouver is narrowly holding onto the final Wild Card spot so it appears management is open to a bigger shakeup to get the team going.

Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.

Kraken Place Two On IR, Recall Cale Fleury And Gustav Olofsson On Emergency Basis

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Kraken have made several roster moves leading into Monday’s game against New Jersey.  The team announced (Twitter links) that goaltender Joey Daccord and center Yanni Gourde have been placed on injured reserve.  Taking their place on the active roster are defensemen Cale Fleury and Gustav Olofsson who have both been recalled from AHL Coachella Valley on an emergency basis.

Daccord has been dealing with an upper-body injury sustained just before the holiday break.  Fresh off a long-term extension signed before the season, he has lived up to the expectations of that new deal as he has a 2.51 GAA and a .912 SV% in his first 23 starts, numbers that were very close to his ones from last season (2.46 and .916, respectively).  Philipp Grubauer will continue to serve as the starter in Daccord’s absence.  His placement was retroactive to December 22nd so he has already served the minimum number of days on there, meaning he can be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.

As for Gourde, he missed last night’s game with a lower-body injury, his second one in recent weeks.  The 33-year-old has been relatively quiet offensively when he has played, tallying six goals and 10 assists in 35 games while his playing time is down to 15:34 per game, his lowest since 2019-20 when he was still with Tampa Bay.  It’s a contract year for Gourde so the decline in production certainly isn’t coming at an opportune time, nor is the continued injury trouble.  His placement is retroactive to Saturday so he’ll be out through the rest of the week at a minimum.

It’s the fourth recall of the year for Fleury but he didn’t see much action in his first three, playing just twice.  He has played in 19 games with the Firebirds, picking up 14 points.  Fleury has 65 career NHL appearances under his belt between Montreal and Seattle and is the likelier blueliner to draw in if needed.

As for Olofsson, it’s his third recall in the last two weeks but he didn’t play in the first two.  He has 11 points in 29 games with Coachella Valley, one point shy of matching his output from last year in 22 fewer games.  Olofsson has 63 career appearances at the top level with Minnesota, Montreal, and Seattle.  It’s unclear which defensemen’s availability for Monday’s game are in question at the time, necessitating the recalls with an emergency designation.

Snapshots: Predators, Haula, Hurricanes, McCabe

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Predators have recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from AHL Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log.  He’ll take the place of Jeremy Lauzon on the active roster who has been moved back to injured reserve.  Gravel has an assist in three games with Nashville so far this season but is likely to be in the seventh defender role for the time being.  He also has five points in 25 games with the Admirals.  Lauzon, meanwhile, just returned from injured reserve midway through last month, getting into six games before being sidelined with a lower-body injury once again.  He has one assist and 127 hits in 28 games thus far in just under 18 minutes a night of playing time.

Elsewhere from around the NHL:

  • The Devils announced (Twitter link) that center Erik Haula is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury and is set to undergo further testing. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now that the veteran is going to miss some time.  It has been a rough year for Haula thus far as he has just five goals and six assists in 42 games.  Even extrapolated for a full season, his projected output would be well below the 44, 41, and 35 points Haula had in the last three years.
  • Hurricanes winger William Carrier was a late scratch from their game against Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with a lower-body injury.  The 30-year-old is in his first season in Carolina after signing a six-year deal with them over the summer and has nine points along with a team-high 136 hits in 39 games.  In a corresponding move, winger Juha Jaaska was brought back up from AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log, after being sent down on Thursday.  He made his NHL debut on Wednesday, playing 8:21 against Florida.
  • The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Jake McCabe suffered an upper-body injury in tonight’s game against Philadelphia and won’t return. The injury occurred in a fight late in the opening period.  McCabe has been an important part of Toronto’s back end, logging over 21 minutes a night while chipping in with 11 points, 68 blocks, and 75 hits in his first 35 games this season.

PHR Mailbag: Lightning, Panthers, Chychrun, Hughes, Kings, Jets, Spengler Cup

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the cap crunch the Panthers will be facing as they look to re-sign two key unrestricted free agents this summer, options for the Jets to solve their roster needs, and much more.  With so many questions this time around, we’ll break them into three separate pieces instead of the usual two.

FeeltheThunder: As a Tampa fan, I’m wondering the type of combo Tampa will go for in the trade deadline. Tampa is a much-improved team from last year (night and day, really). I feel Tampa may go for one or two forwards to add more additional depth to their middle/bottom six group like they did a few years ago with Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul (that’s worked out quite well). They have a pretty good defensive group overall and have some depth so I don’t know if adding a defensive piece is necessary. What do you think of the combo they’ll go with and who may the targets be?

I feel one name for starters (if available) Jake Evans from Montreal has a number of qualities Tampa tends to aim for in a player and Tampa/Montreal have traded in the past.

In follow-up comments, you also mentioned Luke Kunin (who I’ve tossed out before as a possible fit for them) and Will Cuylle (who might be one of the more untouchable Rangers at the moment).  I still like Kunin as a fit for them.  If memory serves, I had Mikael Granlund on that list previously, assuming they can make the money work with the Sharks out of retention slots.  I think he’s still a good fit for them too.

Evans is a good one as well although the asking price on him is going to be fairly high with the start he’s off to this season.  At a $1.7MM cap charge, he’ll be affordable for a lot of contenders which will drive up the acquisition cost.  If Buffalo sells, Jordan Greenway could be viewed as trying to refill the Tanner Jeannot slot, probably at a much lesser price point than what was paid to Nashville to get Jeannot.  Another center that could interest them is Sean Kuraly, someone who can kill penalties and play with an edge.  If Utah sells, Nick Bjugstad could also fit the bill.

If they go for two forwards, it’ll be a center/winger combo (and if they wound up with someone like Kunin who plays all three positions), even better for them.  Aside from Granlund, all are cheap enough that Tampa Bay could afford them outright without necessarily needing retention at the trade deadline if they’re able to stay healthy between now and then.

Having said that, it wouldn’t shock me if one of their additions is on the back end, looking for a third-pairing upgrade.  Someone who can kill penalties, play with an edge, and give them a bit more depth in case injuries arise.  In essence, something like the David Savard move a few years ago (just not at the cost of a first-round pick).  Depending on what happens with Savard in Montreal and what they look to do up front, he could be a potentially plausible fit again.

Sunshine swede: Do you think Panthers can extend both Ekblad and Bennett? Guess Bennett will earn a raise, while Ekblad might have a cut. What do you think about their next deals?

Keeping one is definitely doable but both could be a challenge.  Per PuckPedia, they have $72.5MM in commitments on the books for next season already to 15 players.  If the salary cap lands around the $92MM range (some could see it going higher but for now, that’s the 5% allowable increase), that gives them a little less than $20MM to work with, a bit less than that if they want to leave themselves some in-season wiggle room.

Coming into the season, Sam Bennett was probably looking at a long-term deal in the $6.5MM range.  Given the dearth of impact centers set to become an unrestricted free agent and the fact he’s on pace for career highs offensively across the board, it stands to reason that he could push past $7MM on his next deal.  Frankly, something along the lines of Aaron Ekblad’s current price tag ($7.5MM) wouldn’t shock me given his playoff success.

As for Ekblad, he’s also set to benefit from a fairly weak UFA market; it’s basically between him and Neal Pionk for the top veteran right-shot option available.  While he’s not the big point producer he was earlier in his career, he still plays a big defensive role, logs heavy minutes, and is on pace for around 40 points again.  I could see a small cut in his pay but I could also see a long-term deal at that price tag again depending on how many teams are serious about bidding for him.

If the two of them cost, say, $14MM combined, now you’re down to only around $5MM to re-sign Mackie Samoskevich and sign a couple of depth forwards and depth defenders.  That’d make it tough to do anything to materially improve the roster.  Of course, losing one of those two would certainly hurt things as well.  I think the likeliest outcome is that they only keep one but if they really want to make their roster more top-heavy, there’s a way to keep both of them around and then restructure a bit once their $14.5MM goalie tandem sees their contract expire in 2026.

2012orioles: Is a Jakob Chychrun extension with the Capitals going to happen?

Last month, Chychrun indicated to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he could see himself re-signing with Washington.  And frankly, it’s easy to see why.  The Caps have been one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the season with their roster makeover during the summer paying dividends with Chychrun playing a big role in that.  He’s on pace for a career year offensively with 11 goals and 14 assists in just 33 games.  His shooting percentage (15.1%) is a lot higher than his career average so there might be a bit of regression coming on the goal front but even so, he should blow past his personal benchmark of 41 points as long as he stays healthy.  In a contract year, that’s great news for him.

That next contract is going to be quite pricey, however.  He was probably in the $7MM range heading into the season and with the year he’s having offensively and the talk of a salary cap increase of more than 5%, it wouldn’t be shocking to see his next AAV start with an eight.  That might seem high but he’ll be 27 when he hits the open market; whoever signs him will be getting several of his prime years.

Can the Capitals be the team that gives him that contract?  I think they can be.  Per PuckPedia, they have $63.7MM on the books for 2025-26 with 14 players signed.  Granted, they need to sign a goalie tandem that will cost a lot more than the sub-$2MM they’re paying this year but there’s room for another big-ticket deal on the books.  Having said that, a Chychrun extension would push them past $30MM (probably closer to $32MM) on their back end so they may want to trim a bit.  But they can afford it and he’s a very good fit.  I think they can get it done.

DevilShark: What do you see as Hughes III ceiling in Norris voting this year? Could he crack the top 10?

Let’s recap his first half of the season.  Luke Hughes has three goals and 15 assists in 33 games so far.  Decent offensive numbers, sure, but hardly worthy of award consideration.  It’s even a step back from his per-game production from last season.  On top of that, his playing time is down by nearly two minutes a night from last year.  He sits fifth among New Jersey defenders in ATOI as a result.

Is this realistically the profile of a player who should be in consideration for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman?  Logically, doesn’t Hughes need to be New Jersey’s top blueliner to be even considered for the award?  While it’s worth noting that the Devils run three very balanced pairings, I don’t see a case to be made for him to land on a ballot let alone finish in the top ten in voting.

It wouldn’t shock me for Hughes to one day land in there.  Once he takes on a bigger role and if he can become the type of highly productive blueliner many project him to be, he’ll get into that range.  But that’s not going to happen this season.

rpoabr: What’s the trade that puts the LA Kings into true Cup contention? Doughty coming back soon (hopefully) should already be a boost.

Drew Doughty’s eventual return will be the biggest boost they get.  Adding a legitimate number one blueliner to the roster puts the rest of the back end in a more optimal spot on the depth chart and gives them a bit more depth in general.  If they stay healthy the rest of the way, they probably don’t need to make a move to add defensive depth so we can scratch that off the list of trade options.

But here’s the problem.  When Doughty returns (probably later this month), that’s the end of their cap space.  The Kings are operating in LTIR which means they haven’t been banking cap space.  Right now, they have lots to spend with an LTIR pool of more than $10MM.  When he comes back, they have to start trimming players to get back into cap compliance.  That puts them in a spot where they’re going to have to match money or get double retention on a player.  That means there isn’t a trade available to them this season that’s going to vault them into true Cup contention.

What could help put them into at least semi-contender status would be adding a top-six winger to help get them out of the middle of the pack offensively.  Making the money work would require double retention but players like Jason Zucker and Kyle Palmieri come to mind, players that will boost their middle six and should be acquirable for a package starting with a second-round pick.  But even with that, when you’re in a division with Vegas and Edmonton, they’re going to be hard-pressed to get to true Stanley Cup contention no matter what move(s) they make.

Read more

Utah Hockey Club Reassign Kevin Connauton

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

After claiming defenseman Nick DeSimone off waivers from the New Jersey Devils earlier today, the Utah Hockey Club had one too many players on their active roster. According to Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune, the team has reassigned defenseman Kevin Connauton to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.

Despite being recalled by Utah on two separate occasions during the 2024-25 NHL season, Connauton has yet to debut with the team in the NHL. In his second stint with AHL Tucson for the first time since the 2016-17 season, Connauton has recorded five goals and nine points in 24 contests.

Connauton joined the new Utah organization this past summer for their inaugural season, signing a two-year, $1.55 million contract. Although the team clamored to add more defensive depth to the entire organization in the offseason, Connauton had a legitimate chance to play in his first NHL game since the 2021-22 season after injuries to Sean Durzi, John Marino, Maveric Lamoureux, and Robert Bortuzzo earlier in the year.

Instead, Connauton has been passed by other candidates and pushed further down the depth chart with the acquisition of DeSimone. The former 83rd overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft is in the twilight years of his career and has likely seen any future opportunity in the NHL pass him by.

Still, the veteran journeyman has put together a relatively lengthy NHL career with six different organizations. Connauton has scored 28 goals and 80 points in 360 NHL contests split between the Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, and Philadelphia Flyers beginning in the 2013-14 season.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Tye Felhaber

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Colorado Avalanche are recalling a newly-signed depth forward for the second time this year. The organization announced they’ve recalled forward Tye Felhaber from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, before their upcoming game against the Florida Panthers tomorrow night.

It’ll be the second time Felhaber’s been on an NHL roster this season after clearing waivers on December 19th. Felhaber debuted in the NHL one day after signing with the Avalanche on December 16th but failed to find the scoresheet after skating in 4:34 of the game against the Vancouver Canucks.

Colorado isn’t likely to insert Felhaber into the lineup tomorrow night unless another option becomes unavailable. Still, they may keep him on the active roster as insurance for the rest of the week considering their upcoming Central Division road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, and Winnipeg Jets.

After transitioning to professional hockey during the 2019-20 season, Felhaber is now a veteran of seven seasons in the AHL and three in the ECHL. He’s suited up for four teams in the AHL including stops with the Texas Stars, Syracuse Crunch, Milwaukee Admirals, and now Eagles. Felhaber’s been a relatively mild depth scorer with 35 goals and 72 points in 193 contests.

Still, considering he cleared waivers not long ago, Felhaber provides optimal flexibility to a team struggling to stay below the cap. The Avalanche have just over $2.97MM in cap space thanks to several long-term injured reserve placements but will have to get creative once Miles Wood and his $2.5MM salary come back on the books.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top