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Golden Knights Sign Brayden McNabb To Three-Year Extension

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12:36 p.m.: McNabb’s extension will be in the three-year, $9MM range, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The team later confirmed a three-year term with a $3.65MM AAV, meaning it’s worth $10.95MM in total.

9:38 a.m.: The Golden Knights are closing in on a multi-year extension to keep defenseman Brayden McNabb off next year’s unrestricted free agent market, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports.

It’s the second time in as many months that Vegas will announce a fresh contract for a member of the franchise’s inaugural blue line back in the 2017-18 season. Shea Theodore inked a seven-year, $51.975MM deal just over three weeks ago.

McNabb’s extension won’t be nearly as rich or as long, but it’s still an important bit of business for a franchise looking to extend what’s been a nonstop championship contention window since they entered the league. His 518 games played for the Knights are a franchise record, passing Jonathan Marchessault earlier this month. His +104 rating is second in franchise history to William Karlsson and his 300 PIMs are the most, as are his 1,256 hits and 1,144 blocks.

McNabb and Theodore have been regular defense partners since the Knights traded away Nate Schmidt and signed Alex Pietrangelo in the 2020 offseason. The 33-year-old left-shot defender has averaged 19:42 per game since arriving in Sin City in 2017, compiling 22 goals and 89 assists for 111 points.

The 6’4″, 215-lb defender has continued to serve in a top-four capacity this season, especially with Nicolas Hague spending about half the season on the shelf with lower-body and undisclosed injuries. Through 16 games, he has two points and leads the club with a +11 rating despite a pedestrian 46.2% share of shot attempts at even strength. Per usual, his 36 blocked shots lead the team while his 28 hits lead Vegas defensemen.

This will be the third contract McNabb, represented by O2K Management’s Dean Grillo, signs with the Knights. He signed a four-year, $10MM extension early on in Vegas’ inaugural season after being plucked from the Kings in the expansion draft before inking a three-year, $8.55MM deal a few months before his previous extension was set to expire in 2022.

His previous deals with the Golden Knights have carried cap hits of $2.5MM and $2.85MM, respectively. It’s hard to imagine his new deal differing much from that figure, especially as he enters the twilight of his 13-year, 756-game NHL career.

It’s fair to wonder what McNabb’s extension means for Hague’s future in Nevada. The 25-year-old, who was a second-round pick in Vegas’ inaugural 2017 draft class, is a restricted free agent next summer with arbitration rights and is due a $2.7MM qualifying offer. That’s reasonable for his services, but with McNabb in tow, the Golden Knights now already have seven defensemen signed to one-way contracts for 2025-26, including depth options Ben Hutton and Kaedan Korczak. Hague is the only defenseman on the active roster without a contract past this season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Wild Place Mats Zuccarello On Injured Reserve, Out 3-4 Weeks

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The Wild placed winger Mats Zuccarello on injured reserve with a lower-body issue, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Friday. He left Thursday’s win over the Canadiens in the first period and did not return after taking a Brock Faber shot to the groin. As a result, Russo added, he’s expected to miss three to four weeks. The injury required minor surgery, which Zuccarello underwent successfully after the game last night.

Minnesota will also issue an update on center Joel Eriksson Ek’s status later today, Russo said. He also left last night’s win in the first period with an undisclosed injury just one shift after Zuccarello departed the game.

Now in his age-37 season, Zuccarello has once again been an extremely valuable secondary scoring piece for the Wild. Age hasn’t slowed the diminutive Norwegian down one bit, and he ranks third on the team in scoring with 14 points (6 G, 8 A) in 16 games while averaging 17:26 of ice time. His line with Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi has been one of the NHL’s best en route to an 11-2-3 start to the season for Minnesota, which is currently on pace for its best record in franchise history by a considerable margin.

Zuccarello’s IR placement leaves the Wild with 12 forwards on the active roster, a number that will drop to 11 healthy ones if Eriksson Ek misses any time. Expect a recall ahead of Saturday’s game against the Stars, which everything indicates will be Michael Milne’s NHL debut after the 22-year-old left-winger was initially recalled from AHL Iowa earlier this month. Options for another recall include Liam Ohgren, who has four goals in four games since being reassigned at the end of October, or veteran Travis Boyd, who leads Iowa in scoring with 11 points in 11 games.

Zuccarello is in the first season of the two-year, $8.25MM extension he inked in September 2023.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Hurricanes Notes: Andersen, Kochetkov, Jarvis

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It appears Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen will miss a significant chunk of the season for the second year in a row. After being previously listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, he’s been downgraded to a “way longer” return timeline, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of The Raleigh News & Observer on Friday.

Andersen, 35, has not played since Oct. 26 against the Kraken. He didn’t leave any of his four starts this year, so it’s still unclear when exactly he sustained the injury. Evidently, it’s one that now appears serious enough to keep him out for months, not weeks.

The veteran had been exceptional in the early going with a .941 SV% and 1.48 GAA. The Danish netminder is in the back half of the two-year, $6.8MM deal he signed in 2023 to return to Carolina after spending a couple of hours as an unrestricted free agent.

Last season, Andersen played just 16 games while being held out for most of the season due to a blood clotting issue. The two-time Jennings Trophy winner has a pristine 72-28-4 record, .919 SV% and 2.19 GAA since coming to Carolina in 2021 but averaged just 34 appearances per season over his first three years. He’s now extremely unlikely to improve on that average.

That means the net will be Pyotr Kochetkov’s for the foreseeable future. The 25-year-old has been good enough for Carolina to win games, as evidenced by his 8-2-0 record through 10 starts. However, his .897 SV% and -0.9 GSAA are certainly causes for concern. Each would be career-lows for the Russian, who’s playing in his fourth NHL campaign and is in the second season of a four-year, $8MM contract.

There’s more from Carolina:

  • Unfortunately, even Kochetkov may not be available for Saturday’s game against the Senators. He’s dealing with an undisclosed injury that leaves him doubtful for tomorrow’s game, Brind’Amour told Alexander, which would force an additional recall from AHL Chicago. The Hurricanes already summoned veteran Spencer Martin from the minors last month in the wake of Andersen’s injury. He’s struggled in one start and one relief appearance this year, surrendering six goals on 31 shots for a .806 SV% and 5.19 GAA. Kochetkov’s absence won’t be anything longer than day-to-day, though, Brind’Amour said.
  • Up front, Carolina is also dealing with an upper-body injury to winger Seth Jarvis that’s kept the top-six forward out of action for their last two games. Brind’Amour told the team’s Walt Ruff that the organization hopes he can return to practice next week, meaning he’s likely set to miss another three or four games at minimum. Jarvis, still just 22 years old, had 11 points through the season’s first 13 games after signing an eight-year, $59.36MM contract over the summer. Eric Robinson has filled in well in a fringe top-six role in the meantime with nine points in 15 games and will presumably continue to skate higher in the lineup until Jarvis returns.

Flyers’ Samuel Ersson Out 1-2 Weeks, Re-Aggravated Lower-Body Injury

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Flyers starting netminder Samuel Ersson reinjured his previous lower-body issue and will miss the next one to two weeks, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports Friday.

Ersson, 25, sustained the initial injury in the first period of Philadelphia’s game against the Bruins on Nov. 2 while stretching to stop a shot from Nikita Zadorov. He missed a few contests but returned to action last Saturday, stopping 58 of 62 shots in a pair of games before missing out on Thursday’s overtime win over the Senators.

It’s not clear when exactly he re-aggravated the ailment. However, Kurz reports Ersson had imaging done in the past few days that revealed a minor tweak to the previous injury, which appeared to be groin-related.

In his first full season as the Flyers’ No. 1 option between the pipes, Ersson has responded to the challenge. He’s greatly improved on last season’s numbers, posting a 5-2-2 record, .902 SV%, 2.70 GAA, one shutout, and 0.4 GSAA in 10 starts and one relief appearance.

Those numbers become quite valuable when compared to his backups’ performance. Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov have combined for a 2-6-0 record and ghastly .862 SV% while conceding 8.3 goals above average.

It will now be down to those two to improve their numbers, as Ersson could remain sidelined for anywhere from the Flyers’ next three to seven games. Since they were both on the active roster, and injuries have forced the Flyers to carry three goalies for quite a few days now, no corresponding transaction is needed.

Given Ersson’s return timeline, Philadelphia could place him on injured reserve to open up a roster spot if necessary.

Blues Recall Corey Schueneman, Reassign Leo Lööf

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Blues defense prospect Leo Lööf will have to wait until his next recall to make his NHL debut. He’s been sent back to AHL Springfield while veteran Corey Schueneman comes up, the team announced Friday.

Schueneman, 29, is in his first season with the St. Louis organization after signing a two-way deal in free agency on July 1. The Michigan native has 31 games of NHL experience to his name, all coming with the Canadiens in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. He recorded two goals and five assists for seven points with a -4 rating, 8 PIMs and 38 shots while averaging 16:10 per game and controlling 45.1% of shot attempts at even strength.

Once a captain for Western Michigan University, Schueneman has had a solid minor-league career since turning pro in 2019. In addition to his time with the Canadiens and Blues, he’s spent time in the Flames and Avalanche organizations on AHL and NHL contracts, respectively. His lone season in Colorado was last year, where he recorded 22 points and a +2 rating in 64 appearances for their AHL affiliate.

So far in 2024-25, Schueneman has a goal and four assists for five points in 13 AHL games with a +1 rating. He could make his Blues debut Saturday against the Bruins after Pierre-Olivier Joseph left Thursday’s overtime loss to the Sabres with a lower-body injury and did not return.

Schueneman cleared waivers on his way down to Springfield at the beginning of October. He can remain on the Blues’ roster for up to 30 non-consecutive days or play 10 NHL games before he needs them again to return to the minors.

With a new face likely needed to replace Joseph tomorrow, it’s possible the Blues wanted a more offensively-inclined option to replace Joseph on the back end. The hard-hitting shutdown Lööf was likely going to get his chance in a third-pairing role, not in top-four usage alongside Justin Faulk like the puck-moving Schueneman may receive. The 22-year-old had been recalled from Springfield on Wednesday after posting an assist, 21 PIMs, and a +1 rating in 11 games.

Penguins Recall Owen Pickering

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The Penguins announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Owen Pickering from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 2022 first-round pick could make his NHL debut Friday against the Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh doesn’t have an open roster spot after recalling Matthew Nieto and Vasiliy Ponomarev yesterday, so a corresponding transaction is coming.

Pickering, 20, has been the best defense prospect in the organization since they selected him 21st overall two years ago. He checked in at fourth overall in the Pens’ pool in McKeen’s Hockey’s 2024-25 preseason ranking behind forwards Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty and goaltender Joel Blomqvist.

The Manitoba native is in his first full season of professional hockey after four major junior seasons with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos. He was a First-Team All-Star in the Central Division each of the past two seasons while serving as the Broncos’ captain, capping off his WHL career with 46 points and a career-best +18 rating in 59 games last season.

Pickering receives his first NHL recall in arguably his most important season yet developmentally, as Josh Bell wrote for McKeen’s. “While Pickering’s potential as a future top-four defenceman remains, his development hinges on ironing out his inconsistencies and making smarter decisions with the puck,” he said. “This season will be crucial in determining if he can take that next step.”

Evidently, the Penguins’ front office has liked what they’ve seen from Pickering to begin the regular season. It’s not quite his first taste of AHL hockey – he played eight games for WBS at the end of the 2022-23 season after his campaign with Swift Current ended. Through 12 games, he has just one point, a goal, but is third on the team with a +5 rating.

The left-shot defender already has towering size at 6’5″ and 185 lbs, although he’ll likely look to grow the latter number as he gets more NHL action. It’s unclear who he may unseat from Pittsburgh’s current crop of lefties to enter the lineup, although Ryan Graves, who has no points through 18 games and is averaging squarely third-pairing minutes at 15:22 per game, may be an option to head to the press box.

Pickering is in the first season of his entry-level contract, which carries an $887K cap hit. He’ll be a restricted free agent for the first time in 2027 at age 23.

Injury Notes: Eriksson Ek, Zuccarello, Arvidsson, Chytil, Sturm

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The Minnesota Wild are losing a pair of top-six forwards in their game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The organization announced that Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello would not return after the first period due to lower-body injuries.

Zuccarello left tonight’s game with approximately seven minutes left in the first period. He was positioned in front of Montreal’s net when a deflected point shot from defenseman Brock Faber seemingly hit Zuccarello in the groin. He could skate off the ice under his power but was reasonably in plenty of pain.

Eriksson Ek’s injury is a bit more difficult to ascertain. Nothing notable was caught on video regarding the incident leading to the injury but he was seen skating off the ice in some duress. He will exit tonight’s contest after having only managed 3:43 of ice time while Zuccarello only skated in 3:15.

Other injury notes:

  • Jason Gregor of Sportsnet 1440 reported that the Edmonton Oilers would be without forward Viktor Arvidsson against the Nashville Predators tonight. Gregor didn’t allude to any injury concerns for Arvidsson but did say he’s expected to play this weekend. Arvidsson has scored two goals and five points through 16 games in his first season in Alberta.
  • K’Andre Miller and Filip Chytil accidentally collided in the second period of tonight’s matchup between the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately, the Rangers announced that Chytil wouldn’t return to the game due to an upper-body injury. Chytil was slow to get to his feet and it’s uncertain whether it’s a precautionary move given Chytil’s recent battle with concussions.
  • Chytil wasn’t the only player in tonight’s game to leave the contest. Shortly before Chytil’s injury took place, the Sharks announced Nico Sturm wouldn’t return due to an upper-body injury. Sturm’s injury appears non-contact in nature which could lead to a larger concern from the Sharks. Now in his third year in San Jose, Sturm has already missed 27 games for the Sharks due to injury.

Mark Pysyk Signs In Finland

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Long-time NHL defenseman Mark Pysyk is heading overseas for the first time. According to a team announcement, Pysyk has signed a one-year contract with Saimaan Pallo, known as SaiPa, in the Finnish Liiga.

The Buffalo Sabres selected Pysyk with the 23rd overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft from the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings although he wouldn’t make his NHL debut for another few years. He spent two years serving as the Oil Kings’ captain collecting 25 goals and 125 points in 243 games over five years with the Major Junior program.

He wouldn’t become a consistent member of the Sabres until his sophomore campaign during the 2013-14 season scoring one goal and seven points in 44 contests. Throughout his four years in Buffalo, Pysyk primarily served as a bottom-pairing defenseman averaging 17:24 of ice time over 125 games.

Pysyk proved to be a legitimate talent in a defensive role during his last season with the Sabres managing a 91.7% on-ice save percentage in all situations and a 51.8% CorsiFor%. Believing they could utilize Pysyk’s talents, the Florida Panthers traded Dmitry Kulikov and a 2016 second-round draft pick (Rasmus Asplund) to Buffalo on the second day of that year’s draft.

His time in Sunrise would prove to be the best years of his career. In four seasons Pysyk scored 17 goals and 62 points in 292 games while averaging an impressive 90.6% on-ice save percentage in all situations despite starting in the defensive zone 62.3% of the time.

Because of the depth of Florida’s blue line at the time, Pysyk saw his role slowly diminish. By the time he got to his fourth season with the Panthers organization Pysyk had seen his average ice time drop from 18:34 to 12:45.

Then began a period of migration for Pysyk. He signed three consecutive one-year deals with the Dallas Stars, Sabres, and Detroit Red Wings although he would never play for the latter after tearing his Achilles tendon. He spent last year in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Calgary Wranglers collecting four assists in 37 games.

Coincidentally, this isn’t the first time SaiPa has poached an NHL veteran this week. The organization signed goaltender Michael Hutchinson only a few days ago to a similar one-year agreement. SaiPa has earned 11 wins through the first 21 games of the season and currently sits fourth overall in the league standings.

Sharks May Loan Will Smith To Team USA For World Junior Championships

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The United States could be getting a major boost in its quest to repeat as gold medalists for the first time in the tournament’s history. Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News shared earlier that the San Jose Sharks may loan rookie forward Will Smith to Team USA for this year’s tournament.

Team USA didn’t have any player with NHL experience on their roster last year although several had already been drafted. The potential move would be similar to Matthew Poitras’ situation from last season when the Boston Bruins loaned him to Team Canada after putting 27 NHL contests under his belt.

It wouldn’t be the worst idea for Smith’s long-term development, either. He’s gotten off to an unexpectedly slow start this season, with two goals and three points in 13 games while averaging 13:46 of ice time per game. Much of this concerns how head coach Ryan Warsofsky has deployed him to start the year.

Smith has primarily played on a line next to Barclay Goodrow and Luke Kunin, with the trio combining for a dismal 23.8% xGoals% according to Moneypuck. The only line that Smith has worked particularly well with has been with Goodrow and Ty Dellandrea who’ve combined for a team-best 70.0% xGoals%. Unfortunately, they have only managed a little over 16 minutes together.

Smith would quickly become an early favorite to lead the tournament in scoring should he join Team USA. He tied for ninth in scoring during last year’s tournament with four goals and nine points over seven games while finishing the NCAA season with Boston College scoring a whopping 25 goals and 71 points in 41 contests.

After struggling out of the gates to begin his NHL career, the former-fourth overall pick of the 2023 Draft could use a confidence boost. It’ll be difficult for the Sharks to manufacture anything better for Smith than having him help his home country pursue back-to-back gold medals in the highly regarded junior tournament.

Central Notes: Brodin, Martinez, Jets

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Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury and is being called day-to-day (as per Michael Russo of The Athletic).  The 31-year-old has become somewhat injury-prone in the last few seasons and appeared in just 62 games last year for the Wild. This season, Brodin has dressed in 15 contests and has registered one goal and five assists for six points.

Brodin’s injury doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue, but the frequency of his injuries is likely starting to concern him and the Wild. Especially given that the Karlstad, Sweden native has three years left on his current contract at a cap hit of $6MM annually.

In other Central Division Notes:

  • Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez will be a game-time decision this evening when the Blackhawks take on the Seattle Kraken (as per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times). Martinez was activated off injured reserve earlier today and while his move paves the way for him to return to action, the team will decide closer to puck drop. No word yet on who will come out of the lineup if Martinez does return. The 37-year-old is in his first year with the Blackhawks after signing a one-year $4MM deal as a free agent this past summer. The three-time Stanley Cup Champion has played just four games this year and is -1 with a single assist.
  • David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is reporting that the red-hot Winnipeg Jets could be looking to add to their already impressive lineup. Winnipeg is off to an incredible 15-1-0 start to the season and looks to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in the first month and a half of the season. Pagnotta notes that the Jets have a good chunk of cap space that could be utilized to add to the roster if they are so inclined. Pagnotta believes that Winnipeg would target a defenseman if they were to make a move in the season and mentions Penguins defender Marcus Pettersson as a possibility. Given that Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas just declared nearly the whole Penguins roster is available, it is highly likely that Pettersson is in play. If Winnipeg was to show interest in the 28-year-old they would likely be competing with much of the league for the services of the stable defender.

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