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Waiver Wire: 9/27/2024

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A growing list of players is hitting the waiver wire today as teams continue to trim their rosters heading into the 2024-25 NHL regular season. The Vancouver Canucks became the first team to test waivers by putting defensemen Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo through and both have cleared this afternoon. PuckPedia announced the list of players on the wire for the next 24 hours and the waiver priority will still be the reverse order of last year’s standings until November 1st.

Columbus Blue Jackets (confirmed in team announcement)

G Zachary Sawchenko (reassignment to AHL Cleveland)

New York Rangers

F Alex Belzile (reassignment to AHL Hartford)
D Ben Harpur (reassignment to AHL Hartford)
F Jake Leschyshyn (reassignment to AHL Hartford)

Ottawa Senators (confirmed in team announcement)

D Jeremy Davies (reassignment to AHL Belleville)
D Maxence Guenette (reassignment to AHL Belleville)
F Hayden Hodgson (reassignment to AHL Belleville)
D Nikolas Matinpalo (reassignment to AHL Belleville)
F Garrett Pilon (reassignment to AHL Belleville)
F Jamieson Rees (reassignment to AHL Belleville)
F Cole Reinhardt (reassignment to AHL Belleville)

Philadelphia Flyers (confirmed in team announcement)

D Ronald Attard (reassignment to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Louis Belpedio (reassignment to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Rhett Gardner (reassignment to AHL Lehigh Valley)

Seattle Kraken (confirmed in team announcement)

D Nikolas Brouillard (reassignment to AHL Coachella Valley)
F Luke Henman (reassignment to AHL Coachella Valley)

Flyers Sign Spencer Gill To Entry-Level Contract

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have signed defenseman Spencer Gill to a three-year entry-level contract. Gill played in the Flyers’ development, rookie, and main training camp this summer after being selected by the team with the 59th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft.

Gill only managed one preseason contest for the Flyers before being returned to his junior team, the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic a few days ago. He accrued the third-highest ice time for all Philadelphia defensemen in their game against the Washington Capitals and blocked two shots.

He’s a solid two-way defenseman combining physicality and puck mobility from the blue line. He finished last season with 12 goals and 46 points for the Océanic in 65 contests with another five assists in five playoff contests. The Flyers will be looking for Gill to expand his offensive output from the 2023-24 QMJHL season and become more mature after earning 62 PIMs.

There is a strong possibility Gill will join Canada’s U20 team for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships after playing for the country’s U18 team last year. He tallied two assists in seven tournament games, finishing with a -1 rating. Gill skated in nearly 19 minutes of the gold medal game despite staying off the score sheet as Canada defeated the United States to end the tournament.

Training Camp Cuts: 9/27/24

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As we finish out the first week of the preseason schedule, teams are beginning to get more aggressive with their training camp cuts. We’ll see more on Friday after seven teams trimmed their rosters on Thursday. With most junior-eligible players returned to their CHL clubs, we should see more AHL assignments and waiver placements in the coming days. As always, we’ll update this article with all of today’s cuts.

Last updated 4:49 p.m.

Anaheim Ducks (per team announcement)

F Carey Terrance (assigned to OHL Erie)

Calgary Flames (per team announcement)

F Alex Gallant (to AHL Calgary)
F Trevor Janicke (to AHL Calgary)
F Rory Kerins (to AHL Calgary)
G Connor Murphy (to AHL Calgary)
F Ilya Nikolayev (to AHL Calgary)
D Zayne Parekh (assigned to OHL Saginaw)
G Matt Radomsky (to AHL Calgary)
F David Silye (to AHL Calgary)

Columbus Blue Jackets (per team announcement)

F Jake Gaudet (to AHL Cleveland)
F Stefan Matteau (to AHL Cleveland)
F Justin Pearson (to AHL Cleveland)
D Stanislav Svozil (loaned to AHL Cleveland)

Florida Panthers (per team announcement)

G Kenneth Appleby (released from PTO to AHL Charlotte)
G Evan Cormier (released from PTO to AHL Charlotte)

New York Rangers (per team announcement)

G Talyn Boyko (to AHL Hartford)

Ottawa Senators (per team announcement)

F Wyatt Bongiovanni (to AHL Belleville)
F Tyler Boucher (to AHL Belleville)
F Xavier Bourgault (to AHL Belleville)
F Jake Chiasson (to AHL Belleville)
F Angus Crookshank (to AHL Belleville)
F Phillippe Daoust (to AHL Belleville)
D Jorian Donovan (to AHL Belleville)
F Stephen Halliday (to AHL Belleville)
D Tomas Hamara (to AHL Belleville)
F Oskar Pettersson (to AHL Belleville)
G Michael Simpson (to AHL Belleville)
D Djibril Toure (to AHL Belleville)
F Keean Washkurak (released from PTO to AHL Belleville)

Philadelphia Flyers (per team announcement)

F Jon-Randall Avon (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Elliot Desnoyers (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Brendan Furry (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Jacob Gaucher (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Massimo Rizzo (to AHL Lehigh Valley)

Pittsburgh Penguins (per team announcement)

D Nikolai Knyzhov (released from PTO)

San Jose Sharks (per a team announcement)

D Artem Guryev (to AHL San Jose)
D Braden Haché (to AHL San Jose)
D Valtteri Pulli (to AHL San Jose)
D Joey Keane (to AHL San Jose)
F Mitchell Russell (to AHL San Jose)
F Lucas Vanroboys (to AHL San Jose)
F Anthony Vincent (to AHL San Jose)

Seattle Kraken (per a team announcement)

F Jagger Firkus (to AHL Coachella Valley)
F David Goyette (to AHL Coachella Valley)
G Jack LaFontaine (to AHL Coachella Valley)
F Ian McKinnon (to AHL Coachella Valley)
F Logan Morrison (to AHL Coachella Valley)
D Ty Nelson (to AHL Coachella Valley)
G Victor Ostman (to AHL Coachella Valley)
F Tucker Robertson (to AHL Coachella Valley)

Utah Hockey Club (per a team announcement)

D Tomas Lavoie (assigned to QMJHL Cape Breton)
F Gabe Smith (assigned to QMJHL Moncton)
D Veeti Vaisanen (assigned to WHL Medicine Hat)

East Notes: Michkov, Marchand, Sillinger, Giles

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If preseason is any indication, there won’t be many growing pains for Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov as he adjusts to playing in North America. The 2023 seventh overall pick put his stamp all over the Flyers’ first home win of the exhibition schedule last night, recording a secondary assist and scoring an empty-net insurance marker in a 2-0 victory over the Islanders, quite literally making all the game’s offense go through him one way or another.

“He’s been working really hard,” assistant coach Rocky Thompson said Thursday (via The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz). “You can tell within our practices and with our skating, he’s made a diligent effort. So, that’s good. He’s backchecking hard, he’s doing all those things. But, you can see his ability to make plays. He generated opportunities for his teammates, he scores himself tonight with a goal and an assist. Played good.”

Many worries about how Michkov might adjust to the NHL centered around a potentially rocky relationship with bench boss John Tortorellaregarding his all-around play. But he’s been complimentary of Michkov’s effort and willingness to go into one-on-one puck battles, calling him “certainly willing to be in the areas to go get the puck.”

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • If Bruins captain Brad Marchand has his way, Morgan Geekie will open the season on his right flank in second-line duties. “I love playing with Geeks,” Marchand told Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic. “He’s so great in some of the different areas, the way he can hold onto pucks and makes plays. Shoots it. Great in the corners. I think he really complements our line as well. We haven’t had a ton of reps together, so we’ll continue to work on it. But I’ve always really liked his game.” His assessment about not having a ton of reps together is correct – Geekie logged just 25 minutes of ice time last season with Marchand and Charlie Coyle, per MoneyPuck. The 26-year-old is on the upswing after a career-high 17 goals and 39 points for Boston last year but faces competition from 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell, whose preseason showing Marchand called “encouraging” but added there’s room for improvement.
  • The Blue Jackets might have a second Sillinger on their opening-night roster. 27-year-old Owen Sillinger, Cole Sillinger’s older brother, is among the leading candidates to snag a spot with Justin Danforth potentially not ready to start the season while recovering from wrist surgery, writes The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. Sillinger spent the last two seasons with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on minor-league deals and finished third on the team in scoring last season with 40 points (11 G, 29 A) in 69 games. That showing earned him a promotion to a two-way deal with Columbus this summer. He could briefly factor into a bottom-six role before likely landing on waivers when Danforth is ready to return.
  • Panthers prospect Patrick Giles finds himself in a similarly unexpected situation. The 24-year-old has been getting reps on Florida’s fourth line over the past couple days with Tomáš Nosek set to miss a few weeks and has a shot to open the campaign in the NHL, David Dwork of The Hockey News relays. An undrafted free agent signing out of Boston College in 2022, Giles stands at 6’4″ and 203 lbs and posted a career-high 13 goals and 23 points in 63 games last season for AHL Charlotte.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Sign Mason Primeau

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  • Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey reports the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, are signing forward Mason Primeau on a one-year AHL contract. Primeau has spent the last four years split between the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights and the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates producing tepid results. He already has a strong connection to the Flyers organization with his uncle, Keith Primeau, who played in Philadelphia from 1999 to 2006.

    [SOURCE LINK]

NHLPA Files Grievance On Behalf Of Ryan Johansen

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The NHLPA has filed a grievance on behalf of free agent center Ryan Johansen after the Flyers terminated his contract in August, the organization announced Thursday.

Johansen and the NHLPA had 60 days to file a grievance after Philadelphia terminated his contract on Aug. 21. They’ve now done so with plenty of time to spare until the deadline.

The Flyers, Johansen, and the NHLPA will now work on coming to a financial settlement. The most recent similar cases to Johansen’s – the Sharks’ termination of Evander Kane’s deal and the Blackhawks’ termination of Corey Perry’s deal – have been settled before reaching an arbitrator. In Chicago’s and Perry’s case, they didn’t even reach the point of filing a grievance before coming to a settlement.

This case seems far more likely than those recent examples to reach an arbitrator’s desk, though. Johansen has never played a game for the Flyers, who placed him on unconditional waivers and terminated his contract for cause with one year and $8MM remaining on his deal, which was spread evenly between Philadelphia and Nashville at a $4MM cap hit for each club.

They acquired him from the Avalanche in last season’s Sean Walker trade shortly before the deadline, but Johansen quickly reported a nagging hip injury and subsequently failed a physical. That happened after the Flyers had already placed him on standard waivers and assigned him to AHL Lehigh Valley, which was reversed by the league after the injury was reported.

It was one of the more peculiar situations in the league in recent memory. Johansen hadn’t missed a game in 2023-24 prior to the trade, recording 23 points in 63 games for Colorado. But after his deal was terminated, Johansen’s agent, Kurt Overhardt of KO Sports, said that he “has a severe hockey injury that requires extensive surgery which has been scheduled.”

The Flyers and Predators each gained $4MM in cap space after the termination. They could both be hit with a salary cap penalty depending on the terms of a potential settlement or arbitrator’s decision.

East Notes: Luchanko, Panarin, Guhle

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Some thought the Flyers took too big a swing at this year’s draft when selecting center Jett Luchanko with the No. 13 overall pick. They’ve been impressed by the 18-year-old pivot so far in camp, though. Assistant coach Rocky Thompson told Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports on Thursday that Luchanko has “opened our eyes” as one of the biggest risers thus far.

Line rushes now still indicate it’s unlikely that Luchanko begins his post-draft season on the Flyers’ NHL roster. However, the well-rounded center prospect has perhaps accelerated his timeline to NHL minutes with a potential nine-game trial (or longer) in store for him in 2025-26. He’ll likely get one or two more games worth of preseason action before being returned to his junior team, the OHL’s Guelph Storm. He had a team-leading 74 points (20 G, 54 A) in 68 games last season with a -13 rating.

More notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • Rangers star Artemi Panarin still carries a day-to-day designation with a lower-body injury and won’t play in Thursday’s game against the Bruins, per The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. But the high-flying winger did skate today and doesn’t project to miss much more time. He was hurt in Tuesday’s 6-4 win over the Islanders, a game that also saw defenseman Ryan Lindgren sustain a longer-term upper-body injury that has his availability for the beginning of the regular season in doubt.
  • Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle skated Thursday morning for the first time since having his appendix removed on Sep. 18, the team said. He’s now listed as day-to-day and could see action over the course of Montreal’s four remaining preseason contests. There’s no indication he’ll still be hampered by the time their regular-season opener hits on Oct. 9 against the Maple Leafs.

Flyers’ Alexei Kolosov Will Report To Remainder Of Training Camp

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The Flyers and goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov have settled their months-long dispute, per multiple reports Thursday morning. The Belarusian netminder is on his way to Philadelphia, according to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, and will see action with the Flyers before their preseason schedule comes to an end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds.

Concern around the 2021 third-round pick first arose in May, when reports out of Belarus indicated he felt isolated during his brief stint with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms to end last season and wanted to be loaned back to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League for 2024-25. Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis then reported in late July that Kolosov had informed the Flyers he wouldn’t report to the Phantoms this season, which general manager Daniel Brière later refuted.

Kolosov, 22, then switched his representation to Gold Star Hockey’s Dan Milstein, who informed the Flyers in a late August meeting that the netminder wanted to return to Minsk on loan for the second year of his entry-level contract, something Brière was unwilling to do. With no change in either side’s position over the past few weeks, Kolosov remained in Belarus and was not listed on the Flyers’ initial training camp roster. He’d recently been made available in trade talks, Friedman said last week, although Philly could very well take his name off the block if his return to North America goes well.

The netminder will see preseason action and accept an initial assignment to AHL Lehigh Valley, Friedman reports Thursday. He adds they’ve reached an agreement for a “potential return” to the KHL if Kolosov doesn’t get an NHL chance with the Flyers during the season, though.

While he’s likely not ready for full-time NHL duties yet, there’s legitimate upside in Kolosov’s game. He’s already built up quite the professional resume at a young age, serving as Dinamo’s starter for the past three seasons. He’s been steady for a largely middling squad, posting a career-best 22-21-3 record in 47 games last year with a .907 SV% and 2.39 GAA. Kolosov had a .885 SV% and 3.03 GAA in two appearances for the Phantoms to end last season.

The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz was first to indicate that Kolosov would be reporting to camp.

Training Camp Cuts: 9/25/24

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Teams will begin to make more aggressive cuts from their training camp roster as we enter the second week of camp activities. Players continue to be released from amateur tryouts and returned to their junior clubs, while those already in the organization on AHL contracts are also being returned to teams’ minor-league affiliates. As always, we’ll update this article with all of Wednesday’s camp cuts.

Last updated: 6:42 p.m.

Edmonton Oilers (per team announcement)

G Brett Brochu (released from PTO to AHL Bakersfield)
D Connor Corcoran (released from PTO to AHL Bakersfield)
F Jayden Grubbe (to AHL Bakersfield)
D Alex Kannok-Leipert (released from PTO to AHL Bakersfield)
F Matvey Petrov (to AHL Bakersfield)
F James Stefan (to AHL Bakersfield)
G Connor Ungar (to AHL Bakersfield)
F Jasper Weatherby (released from PTO to AHL Bakersfield)
F Cameron Wright (released from PTO to AHL Bakersfield)

Philadelphia Flyers (per team announcement)

G Carson Bjarnason (to WHL Brandon)
F Sawyer Boulton (released from PTO to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Nick Capone (released from PTO to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Émile Chouinard (released from PTO to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Alexis Gendron (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Spencer Gill (to QMJHL Rimouski)
G Sam Hillebrandt (released from ATO to OHL Barrie)
D Matteo Mann (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Matthew Miller (released from PTO to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Ethan Samson (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Sam Sedley (released from PTO to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Carter Sotheran (to WHL Portland)
F Zayde Wisdom (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Josh Zakreski (released from ATO to WHL Portland)

Pittsburgh Penguins (per team announcement)

D Finn Harding (released to OHL Brampton)
F Tanner Howe (released to WHL Regina)

Tampa Bay Lightning (per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times)

D Jan Golicic (to QMJHL Gatineau)
F Ethan Hay (to OHL Saginaw)
G Harrison Meneghin (to WHL Lethbridge)
F Kaden Pitre (to OHL Flint)

Seattle Kraken (per team announcement)

F Berkly Catton (to WHL Spokane)
F Carson Rehkopf (to OHL Brampton)
F Nathan Villeneuve (to OHL Sudbury)

Utah Hockey Club (per Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune)

F Kyle Crnkovic (released from PTO)
F Reggie Newman (released from ATO to WHL Victoria)

Flyers Sign Eetu Mäkiniemi To One-Year Deal

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Sep. 25: The Flyers made Mäkiniemi’s signing official Wednesday.

Sep. 24: The Philadelphia Flyers have signed goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi to a one-year, two-way contract (as per PuckPedia).  The 25-year-old was attending Flyers training camp on a PTO and now has a guarantee heading into the 2024-25 season. The deal will see the former fourth-round pick earn $200K in the minors while making $775K if he sees NHL time.

Mäkiniemi will likely be a Group 6 UFA again next summer unless he happens to play 26 NHL games this upcoming season, in which case he would be an RFA (as per PuckPedia). The likelihood of him seeing 26 NHL games is pretty low given that the Flyers already have Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov ready to start the season in the NHL as well as veteran Cal Petersen who could start the year as the AHL starter.

Mäkiniemi has a little bit of NHL experience having spent the last two years with the San Jose Sharks where he dressed in two games back in 2022-23. He played almost all of last season with the Sharks affiliate the San Jose Barracuda going 8-8 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.14 goals-against average. Mäkiniemi also played in three ECHL games for the Wichita Thunder.

Mäkiniemi started the Flyers preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens last night and played just over 31 minutes stopping 13 out of the 14 shots that were fired his way. He looked relatively composed for an inexperienced goaltender fighting for a job and did enough in the small sample size to secure a contract with Philadelphia.

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