Waivers: 10/4/25
With a little over 48 hours remaining before season-opening rosters need to be submitted to the league, it’s expected to be a very busy weekend on the waiver wire. Not surprisingly, it’s another big list of players on waivers today as 17 players have been put there, per PuckPedia. Meanwhile, all 12 players on waivers yesterday passed through unclaimed, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Here’s today’s list of players on the wire:
Dallas Stars
F Cameron Hughes
D Vladislav Kolyachonok
Florida Panthers
D Tobias Bjornfot
G Brandon Bussi
New Jersey Devils
F Thomas Bordeleau
F Angus Crookshank
F Brian Halonen
F Zack MacEwen
D Colton White
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Alexander Alexeyev
D Ryan Graves
F Rafael Harvey-Pinard
F Bokondji Imama
F Samuel Poulin
San Jose Sharks
Utah Hockey Club
Graves is the headliner in today’s class, primarily due to his contract which has four years left on it. We covered his situation in more detail earlier today.
Among the rest of the players, Bjornfot is no stranger to being in this situation but he has been claimed twice before. He spent most of last season in the minors with Florida but did get into 14 games with the Panthers and has 134 games at the top level under his belt. Alexeyev played sparingly last season with Washington not wanting to risk losing him for nothing on waivers but it appears that Pittsburgh doesn’t have that same level of hesitance. Meanwhile, Kolyachonok was claimed off waivers by the Penguins back in February before being flipped to Dallas over the summer so it’s possible another team might have their eye on him as well. Gilbert signed with the Flyers this summer after splitting last season between Ottawa and Buffalo but while the thought was that he’d at least be able to land a seventh role, that isn’t the case.
As for the forwards, San Jose’s White is by far the most experienced with 323 NHL appearances. However, he has primarily been an AHL player in recent years and it’s likely that he will clear and be assigned to the Barracuda. Poulin was a 2019 first-round pick but hasn’t seen much time with the Penguins, including just seven games last season. But at 24, he’s young enough to potentially be of interest to a team that wants to take a longer look at him. Bordeleau held his own in 27 games with the Sharks in 2023-24 but only played once for them last season before being moved in July in a swap of AHL players. But like Poulin, he’s young enough (23) to potentially draw attention.
These players will be on waivers until 1:00 PM CT on Sunday.
Mammoth Sign Cameron Hebig To Two-Way Contract
July 17: The Mammoth confirmed Hebig’s deal along with his adjusted $812.5K cap hit.
July 16: The Mammoth have re-signed unrestricted free agent Cameron Hebig to a two-way contract, according to PuckPedia. It’s a two-year agreement that pays him $775K in the NHL each season, although the cap hit of the deal will be adjusted for 2026-27 as the league minimum salary rises to $850K. He’ll earn a $175K minors salary this season and a $200K minors salary with a $225K guarantee next season.
Hebig has spent most of the last five seasons in the Coyotes and Mammoth organizations with their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. All of that was on AHL-only contracts until Utah gave him an NHL contract last season in the days leading up to the trade deadline. It was his second NHL contract after the Oilers signed the undrafted free agent to an entry-level deal out of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades in 2017.
In 67 games for Tucson in 2024-25, the 5’10” Canadian forward scored a career-high 26 goals, 21 assists, and 47 points with a plus-six rating in 67 games. The 28-year-old has 169 points in 384 career AHL games dating back to his professional debut in 2018, but has yet to make his NHL debut.
Utah has filled 47 of its 50 contract slots for next season after re-upping Hebig. They have no remaining RFAs to re-sign, so aside from trades, their offseason business throughout the organization is pretty much wrapped up.
Waivers: 3/6/25
March 7: All five players cleared waivers today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
March 6: In addition to yesterday’s action on the waiver wire, five more players have been exposed, as reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
F Ryan Reaves (Maple Leafs) – In a clear move to cut cap space from the active roster, Toronto has placed Reaves and his $1.35MM salary on waivers. It could be time for a change of scenery from the longtime enforcer, but there’s little expectation a team will want him on their roster at that price point. Although he’s paid for having hard hands rather than soft ones, Reaves has tallied two assists in 35 games for the Maple Leafs this season, averaging 7:48 of ice time per night. It’s the least utilized he has been in his role since his brief 58-game run with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017-18.
D Riley Stillman (Hurricanes) – Today’s waiver placement marks the second time Stillman has been exposed on the wire this season. He didn’t start his 2024-25 campaign until mid-November thanks to a lower-body injury, and he was waived then upon his activation from Carolina’s injured non-roster list. Despite being limited to two games with the Hurricanes this season and frequent taxiing with their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, Stillman has reached the collective 30 days spent on Carolina’s roster requiring waivers for any future reassignment.
G Evan Cormier (Panthers) – Cormier’s inclusion on waivers presumably means the Panthers have signed the netminder to an NHL contract. Florida has had plenty of moving parts between the pipes recently, and Cormier gives them additional depth should they need it. The 27-year-old goaltender has yet to debut in the NHL, spending the last several years in the ECHL. Cormier has managed a 14-9-2 record in 27 games for the Savannah Ghost Pirates this season with a .881 SV% and 3.56 GAA.
F Cameron Hebig (Utah) – Hebig signed with the Utah Hockey Club this morning, requiring waivers for reassignment. [Article Link]
F Tyler Pitlick (Bruins) – Pitlick signed with the Boston Bruins this morning, requiring waivers for reassignment. [Article Link]
Utah To Sign Cameron Hebig To Two-Way Deal
Utah HC is signing depth forward Cameron Hebig to a two-way deal for the remainder of the campaign, PuckPedia reports. He’ll earn pro-rated salaries of $775K in the NHL and $125K in the minors. Hebig will likely land on waivers at 1 p.m. CT, allowing Utah to reassign him to AHL Tucson on deadline day to make him eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The 28-year-old Hebig is a seasoned pro, skating in parts of seven AHL seasons. He was initially an undrafted free agent signed by the Oilers in 2017, but he wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer upon expiry in 2020. He’s been solely on minor-league deals since then.
The vast majority of that time has been spent in Tucson, now Utah’s affiliate after serving as the Coyotes’ top developmental club for the rest of their history. The Saskatoon native first appeared for the Roadrunners during the 2020-21 campaign and has exclusively suited up there over the last four seasons. While usually a decent middle-six producer, Hebig’s broken out this season for 20-17–37 in 48 games. He’s tied for the team lead in goals, ranks third in overall scoring, and ranks third with a +10 rating. That’s enough for the 5’10” forward, who can line up at center or either wing, to earn his first NHL contract in five years.
Hebig will be returning to Tucson for now, but the NHL deal makes him a recall option down the stretch if injuries strike. He can also be added to Utah’s playoff roster as a black ace if they make the postseason. That’s certainly a possibility, sitting four points back of the Flames for the last wild card spot in the West. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer without an extension.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Olli Juolevi, Ten Others To PTOs
The Arizona Coyotes have announced a slate of new and previously reported PTOs ahead of training camps kicking off next week, totaling 11 players:
D Peter DiLiberatore
F Hunter Drew
F Ryan Dzingel
F Patrick Harper
F Cameron Hebig
D Olli Juolevi
F Micah Miller
F Austin Poganski
D Austin Strand
F Colin Theisen
F Reece Vitelli
Nine of these players are new information. CapFriendly had reported that Dzingel and DiLiberatore had secured PTOs with the Coyotes last week.
The headlining name here is absolutely Juolevi, who’s fallen far off track since the Vancouver Canucks took him fifth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. He spent last season entirely in the minors as a member of the Anaheim Ducks organization, recording 14 points and a -14 rating in 38 games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Once appearing as a solid prospect after recording 13 points in 18 AHL games during his rookie pro season, injuries completely derailed Juolevi’s development, and if he lands a contract, will find himself with his fifth NHL organization at 25 years old.
The scope of the Coyotes’ PTOs here is not surprising. The team needs to ice a team during their busy preseason schedule, including three games on one day (September 23rd) while the main group is in Australia playing Global Series matches against the Los Angeles Kings. All of these players will likely lace up the skates in one of their North American-based split-squad games against the St. Louis Blues on that day.
A handful of these players are already under AHL contract with Arizona’s affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, for next season: Drew, Hebig, Miller, and Vitelli. They’ve also temporarily contracted the services of Strand, who is under AHL contract with the independently-operating Chicago Wolves this season. Harper is signed to an ECHL deal with the South Carolina Stingrays, the second-tier affiliate of the Washington Capitals. Poganski and Theisen remain without contracts for 2023-24 – the latter did play last season in the Coyotes organization after graduating from Arizona State University.
Arizona is at 47 out of the maximum 50 contracts, meaning NHL contracts aren’t likely in the cards for anyone in this group. These transactions were purely made to get enough bodies around the team for their preseason schedule. However, this could lead to Poganski and Theisen landing AHL deals with Tucson for 2023-24.