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Chris Driedger

Chris Driedger Signs With KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk

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Pending UFA goaltender Chris Driedger signed a one-year contract with Russia’s Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League on Tuesday, per a team release.

Driedger, 31, didn’t see NHL ice in 2024-25 for the second time in three seasons. The longtime No. 2/3 netminder was signed by the Panthers last offseason, his second tour of duty with the club, to serve as an insurance option behind backup Spencer Knight. He wasn’t needed due to the young netminder’s emergence, and even though Florida traded Knight to the Blackhawks in the Seth Jones deal, they acquired Vítek Vaněček from the Sharks to be their new backup shortly thereafter and didn’t need Driedger’s services. They then sent him to the Jets for Kaapo Kähkönen in a swap of experienced third-stringers at the trade deadline.

Between Florida’s and Winnipeg’s AHL affiliates, the Charlotte Checkers and Manitoba Moose, Driedger logged a highly underwhelming 3.03 GAA and .877 SV% with an 11-9-4 record in 25 appearances. It was the worst save percentage he’d put up over that large a sample of his entire career, both professional and junior. It’s unsurprising to see the 6’4″ netminder head overseas in search of career and financial stability as a result with an NHL offer far from guaranteed this summer.

For a brief period, Driedger was one of the better backups in the league. During his first stint with the Panthers, he had a 21-8-4 record, .931 SV%, 2.07 GAA, and four shutouts in 35 appearances in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. While he was set to be an unrestricted free agent the following summer, the Kraken selected his signing rights in their expansion draft and promptly signed him to a three-year, $10.5MM deal. He dealt with frequent injuries in his first year though, and after managing a .899 SV% in 27 games in Seattle’s first season, he had ACL surgery that robbed him of most of the 2022-23 campaign. Upon returning, he was played almost exclusively with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley.

The Winnipeg native’s NHL career is now likely behind him. If that’s the case, the 2012 third-rounder wraps it up with 67 games to his name, during which he posted a 31-24-5 record, five shutouts, a 2.45 GAA, .917 SV%, and saved 16.0 goals above average. He also has a .910 SV% in 217 AHL games across 10 seasons.

Driedger will likely form a platoon in Chelyabinsk with 25-year-old Sergei Mylnikov, who posted a .920 SV% in 21 games for Traktor last year. Driedger is the replacement in Chelyabinsk for former NHLer Zachary Fucale, who spent the last two seasons with the club and led the KHL with nine shutouts this year but signed a two-year contract with Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the Jets will look to add a different veteran depth option behind Connor Hellebuyck and Eric Comrie for 2025-26. They have youngsters Thomas Milic and Domenic DiVincentiis under NHL contract next year, but neither has the track record to confidently be penciled in as a No. 3 option/AHL starter.

Minor Transactions: 3/31/25

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It has been quite a busy day on the transaction front, with plenty of college players signing their entry-level contracts.  Meanwhile, there have been some other moves involving NHL players and prospects.  We’ll quickly run through those here.

  • The Jets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled center Jaret Anderson-Dolan and goaltender Chris Driedger from AHL Manitoba. Anderson-Dolan is up after Rasmus Kupari suffered a setback in his recovery from a concussion, while Driedger will cover for Eric Comrie, whose wife went into labor over the weekend.  This is Anderson-Dolan’s second recall of the season but he didn’t play in the first one.  He has 19 points in 51 games with the Moose this season.  Meanwhile, Driedger was acquired from Florida near the trade deadline, combining to make 25 appearances between their farm team and Manitoba, playing to a 3.03 GAA and a .877 SV%.
  • The Golden Knights have recalled goaltender Akira Schmid from AHL Henderson, relays Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). He’ll be covering for Ilya Samsonov for the time being who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Schmid is in his first season with Vegas after being acquired at the draft but has played almost exclusively with the Silver Knights, posting a 3.58 GAA and a .886 SV% in 30 outings.
  • The Predators announced that they’ve reassigned wingers Hiroki Gojsic and Kalan Lind to AHL Milwaukee. Gojsic was a late third-round pick in June and has already signed his entry-level deal.  The 18-year-old had 20 goals and 17 assists in 61 games this season with WHL Kelowna but with the Rockets missing the playoffs, he’s eligible to be sent to the minors.  As for Lind, he wrapped up his major junior career with WHL Red Deer, tallying 12 goals and 15 assists in 37 games with the Rebels.  A 2023 second-round selection, Lind has also already signed his entry-level deal and since he’s 20, he’ll be turning pro full-time next season, an option that won’t be available to Gojsic.

Panthers, Jets Swap Chris Driedger, Kaapo Kähkönen

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The Panthers and Jets have swapped third-string goaltenders. Both teams announced Chris Driedger is heading from Florida to Winnipeg after being assigned to the AHL earlier today, while Kaapo Kähkönen is heading south to the Cats. Neither player was on their team’s active roster.

It’s an act of goodwill on both teams’ behalf, trading underperforming veterans in hopes of fresh starts in more familiar environments. Driedger heads back to his hometown in the deal, while the Finnish Kähkönen gets to serve as the No. 3 for the league’s most Finn-heavy team.

Driedger was briefly a bona fide backup option with Florida around the turn of the decade, erupting for a .931 SV% and 2.07 GAA in 35 games during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. That got him claimed by the Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft and subsequently signed to a three-year, $10.5MM deal, although injuries and poor play derailed his tenure in Seattle from the start. He’s only logged two NHL appearances in the last three years, both coming last season in Seattle.

He hoped to get his career back on track last summer by returning to Florida on a cheap $795K contract, but he lost the training camp battle to be Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup to youngster Spencer Knight. While he’d been a strong minor-league option for the Kraken when healthy, the same can’t be said for his performance with the Panthers’ AHL affiliate in Charlotte this year. The 30-year-old has struggled to the tune of a .878 SV% and 2.97 GAA in 20 outings for the farm club. When Florida traded Knight to the Blackhawks last weekend in the Seth Jones deal, they moved to acquire Vítek Vaněček from the Sharks to serve as their backup down the stretch instead of giving Driedger a long-term promotion.

Driedger and Kähkönen will now replace each other as veteran options for Charlotte and Manitoba down the stretch. Kähkönen has been an NHL fixture for a few years but, like Driedger, lost a training camp battle for a backup spot after signing a one-year, $1MM deal in Winnipeg. After being passed over for Eric Comrie, he landed on waivers and was claimed by the Avalanche. He lasted about a month in Colorado before landing on the waiver wire again, upon which the Jets re-claimed him and sent him directly to the minors.

Despite posting a pedestrian but respectable .898 SV% in 140 career NHL games, Kähkönen’s underperformed that mark in Manitoba. He’s got just a .885 SV% and 3.29 GAA in 22 games with the AHL’s Moose, yielding a poor 6-14-1 record as a result. He may get a chance to backup Bobrovsky down the stretch if Vaněček underwhelms, but for now, he’ll bide his time in Charlotte.

Coincidentally, Vaněček and Kähkönen now end up in the same organization after being traded for each other at last year’s deadline in a deal between the Devils and Sharks.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was first to report the deal.

Panthers Reassign Chris Driedger, Place Matthew Tkachuk On LTIR

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March 6: Driedger is back down to the minors today, according to the AHL’s transactions log. He backed up Sergei Bobrovsky for just one game before Florida traded for Vítek Vaněček to serve as their new No. 2.

March 2: The Florida Panthers have recalled goaltender Chris Driedger from the minor leagues. He will fill the Panthers’ backup goalie role after the squad dealt Spencer Knight to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. To clear cap space for the move, Florida has also placed star Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury, per PuckPedia.

Tkachuk sustained his injury in the second game of Team USA’s 4-Nations Face-Off tournament. It is believed to be a groin injury, though specifics haven’t been revealed. Tkachuk sat out of Team USA’s final round-robin game then made an effort to appear in the championship game against Team Canada, but only played 6:47 of the overtime loss. He has missed four games since Florida returned from the break. He was getting second opinions on his injury as recent as last week, but will now need to miss at least a month – per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.

Florida has won three of their four games back from break – but Tkachuk’s absence still leaves a glaring hole on the top line. He has continued to dominate across the board for the Panthers, with 22 goals, 57 points, 54 penalty minutes, and 84 hits in 54 games. He ranks second on the team in goals and points, behind Sam Reinhart in both categories.

The Panthers have promoted Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues to hardier roles in Tkachuk’s absence. Rookie winger Samoskevich has found his stride as of late, with seven points in his last 11 games. That burst has brought him to 19 points in 52 games this season – a number that could soar with expanded minutes. Rodrigues had continued his consistent two-way impact on the other side, with 27 points in 61 games putting him on pace to just miss the 39 point mark he’s posted in each of the last two seasons.

The promotions continue through the offense and into the net. Driedger signed a one-year deal with Florida this summer and has spent the entire year in the minor leagues. He narrowly leads the Charlotte Checkers with 20 games played, one more than fellow pro veteran Ken Appleby. Driedger has posted the worst stat line of the two, with a .878 save percentage and 10-6-4 record.

Despite that, it was hard to imagine Florida would turn towards anyone else to fill their backup spot. Driedger has 67 games of NHL experience, with the bulk coming between 2020 and 2022 in tenures with Florida and Seattle. He has a stout .917 SV% and 31-24-5 record on his career. Florida will hope he can rediscover those numbers quickly after a down year in the minor leagues.

Panthers Recall Mackie Samoskevich, Re-Assign Chris Driedger To AHL

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12/6: According to a team announcement, Florida reversed the swap before tomorrow’s contests against the San Jose Sharks. The news also means netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has returned from his personal leave.

12/2: The Panthers have made a pair of roster moves heading into tomorrow’s game against Pittsburgh.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Chris Driedger has been recalled from AHL Charlotte while winger Mackie Samoskevich has been re-assigned to the Checkers.

This is expected to be a short-term move for both players.  Veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky did not accompany the team on the road with his wife expecting to give birth to their second child in the near future.  Because Florida doesn’t have enough cap space to recall Driedger outright, Samoskevich, their lone waiver-exempt player, is the roster casualty to allow the team to remain cap-compliant.

Driedger rejoined Florida back in the summer, inking a one-year, one-way deal worth $795K to serve as their third-string option behind Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight.  The 30-year-old has played in eight games with the Checkers so far this season, putting up a 3.22 GAA with a .885 SV%.  Driedger has 67 career NHL appearances under his belt (35 of which came in his first stint with the team), posting a 2.45 GAA with a .917 SV%.

As for Samoskevich, the 22-year-old is doing well in his first full NHL season.  He has played in 22 games with the Panthers so far, notching five goals and four assists while averaging 11:35 per game.  His nine points put him in the top ten in scoring among all NHL rookies.  Charlotte is off until Friday so there’s a good chance Samoskevich won’t even suit up in the minors while on assignment given that he’s likely to be brought back up by the weekend.

Panthers Recall Spencer Knight, Reassign Chris Driedger, MacKenzie Entwistle

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As expected, Spencer Knight will start the year with the Florida Panthers. The organization announced they recalled Knight from their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers while sending goaltender Chris Driedger and forward MacKenzie Entwistle back the other way.

The move was primarily made for salary cap implications thanks to Knight’s $4.5MM salary. The organization signed him to a three-year, $13.5MM extension in 2022 while Knight was in the midst of the best season of his young career. The deal would prove premature with Sergei Bobrovsky taking back the net and Knight exclusively seeing AHL action last season.

He still carries significant prospect pedigree as the 13th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. He holds a 32-17-6 record in 49 starts since the start of the 2020-21 NHL season with a .906 save percentage and 2.91 goals-against average. The numbers may look fairly solid for an NHL backup but according to HockeyReference, Knight has a .421 quality start percentage, a 100 GA%-, and a -0.7 goals saved above average showing him as fairly pedestrian at the NHL level.

Last season with the Checkers didn’t do much to inspire confidence either with a 25-14-5 record in 45 games with a .905 SV%. He’s still the best option for the Panthers behind Bobrovsky despite being fairly expensive.

Driedger will immediately become the starting netminder in Charlotte after an impressive season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He finished with a 24-7-7 record in 39 games with a .917 SV%. He backstopped the Firebirds to a second straight Calder Cup final on the heels of a .906 SV% in 18 postseason contests.

Florida signed Entwistle this past summer after being non-tendered by the Chicago Blackhawks. He’ll likely be a bubble player for most of the year in the Panthers organization with 15 goals and 35 points over 193 appearances in four years at the NHL level.

Panthers Place Chris Driedger, MacKenzie Entwistle On Waivers

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The Panthers have placed goaltender Chris Driedger and forward MacKenzie Entwistle on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Charlotte, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. They’ll have three open roster spots and an extra $1.57MM cap space after they pass through or are claimed tomorrow, allowing them the flexibility to recall netminder Spencer Knight from AHL Charlotte as expected.

Driedger, 30, returned to the Sunshine State for his second stint with the Panthers in free agency this offseason on a one-way deal worth $795K. He’s been a high-ceiling NHL option when healthy, logging a career .917 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 67 appearances, but injuries have truncated his ability to cement himself as a full-time tandem option on a year-to-year basis.

He spent most of the last two years of the three-year, $10.5MM pact he signed with the Kraken in 2021 in the minors, making back-to-back Calder Cup Final appearances with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Driedger was especially strong last season, logging a .917 SV% and 24-7-7 record in 39 games for the Kraken’s farm club, but he’ll still end up as the No. 3 option in Florida – at least after backing up Sergei Bobrovsky for tonight’s contest against the Bruins.

With most teams in need of short-term goalie help making claims over the past few days, Driedger stands a shot to pass through waivers unclaimed. Teams looking to stash him in the minors for insurance would need to waive him again to do so, just opening the door for Florida to bring him back.

Entwistle, 25, had served as a frequent fourth-line option for the Blackhawks over the past three seasons. He’s made 193 career appearances, scoring 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points with a -55 rating. Despite an eye-popping -29 mark last year despite averaging just 11:23 per game, Entwistle posted the strongest possession metrics of his career with a 43.8 CF%, slightly above Chicago’s horrid team average.

After going unqualified and signing a two-way deal with the Cats, Entwistle technically cracked the opening night roster but is projected to be a healthy scratch for tonight’s home opener. If he clears and heads to the AHL, he’ll earn a $450K salary.

Panthers Notes: Verhaeghe, Nosek, Knight

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Carter Verhaeghe immediately cemented himself as a core top-four piece for the Panthers after initially landing there as a free agent in 2020. Now in the prime of his career, the 29-year-old could be one of the top unrestricted free agents on the market next summer with a major chance to cash in.

But Verhaeghe has been working on an extension to stay in Florida ever since he became eligible to sign one on July 1, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported at the time. The forward recently told the Associated Press’ Colby Guy for Pucks and Palms that the goal remains to sign a new deal and that he’s not concerned about starting the regular season without a contract.

Verhaeghe hit the 30-goal and 70-point marks last season for the second year in a row and is entering the final year of a three-year, $12.5MM deal that’s proven to be one of the best values in the NHL over the past few campaigns. His 11 goals in 24 postseason games in 2024 led the Panthers en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

More from Florida:

  • The club could be without free agent addition Tomáš Nosek to start the season. Head coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday that the center will be out “weeks, not days,” with an upper-body injury he sustained during preseason action against the Predators on Sunday (via The Hockey News’ David Dwork). Maurice added it’s not a concussion-related injury. Nosek signed a one-year, league-minimum pact when free agency opened and was expected to start the season as their fourth-line center. He’s coming off an injury-plagued season with the Devils that limited him to six points in 36 appearances with a -11 rating.
  • All signs point to Spencer Knight returning to the NHL ranks this season and beating out veteran competition Chris Driedger for the backup job to Sergei Bobrovsky to open the season. Maurice told Dwork that the 23-year-old has looked strong in training camp and is “back on that curve” in regards to development. Knight hasn’t played an NHL game since entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in February 2023 and spent all of last season on assignment to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, where he had a .905 SV% and 2.41 GAA in 45 games. The 2019 13th overall pick has two years left on his contract at a $4.5MM cap hit.

Panthers Sign Jesper Boqvist, Chris Driedger

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The Panthers have dipped their toes into the unqualified RFA market, inking former Bruins center Jesper Boqvist to a one-year deal, per a team announcement. Financial details weren’t disclosed. They’re also bringing back netminder Chris Driedger to the organization on a one-year deal, providing some competition for the backup role with Spencer Knight.

Boqvist, 25, was let go by Boston after recording six goals and 14 points in 47 games last year with a +12 rating. It’s his second straight year not receiving a qualifying offer. He was non-tendered by the Devils in 2023 as well.

The 2017 second-round pick has proven to be somewhat of a solid tertiary scorer, even if he’s been consistently buried in the lineup and is likely a fourth-line piece at his peak. He’s not a good option at center – he really struggles to win draws (36.1 FOW%), but he is an effective winger with good possession numbers over the past two seasons. That makes him a decent replacement for some of the depth forwards Florida lost on the open market today, such as Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Stenlund.

Driedger, meanwhile, could land his first stable NHL role in a while if he outperforms Knight in training camp. He was the Kraken’s expansion draft selection from Florida in 2021, but the three-year, $10.5MM extension he immediately signed in Seattle didn’t work out. Limited significantly by injuries in his first season, he ended up spending the back half of the deal almost exclusively in the minors on assignment to AHL Coachella Valley, where he’s backstopped the Firebirds to back-to-back Calder Cup Finals. His last extended NHL action with Seattle in 2021-22 wasn’t great, posting a .899 SV% and 2.96 GAA with one shutout in 27 games played.

However, the year prior saw him serve as one of the better backups in the league with Florida, tossing up a .927 SV% in 23 appearances. That’s eerily similar to the type of elite pinch-hitting performance they got from Anthony Stolarz last year, who moved onto the Maple Leafs on a two-year deal today. The Panthers will take a low-risk bet that Driedger can recapture the magic he last had in South Florida.

Seattle Kraken Activate Philipp Grubauer, Reassign Chris Driedger

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After being out with injury for nearly two months, Philipp Grubauer will make his return to the ice for the Seattle Kraken, as the team announced they had activated the netminder off injured reserve. In a corresponding roster move, the team has reassigned goaltender Chris Driedger to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

For most teams across the league, seeing the return of a goaltender only three years removed from being a Vezina Trophy finalist would be a tremendous boon to the organization. However, in the case of the Kraken, Grubauer’s access to the starting netminder position has exponentially lowered in his absence, as the emergence of Joey Daccord has kept the team afloat in the Western Conference playoff race.

Before Grubauer went down with injury in early December, he had played in a total of 17 games for Seattle, securing a 5-9-1 record, while producing a dismal .884 SV%. Since then, Daccord has confidently taken over the starting job for the Kraken, producing a 10-4-2 record in Grubauer’s absence, posting a remarkable .942 SV%.

Unfortunately for Seattle, they will now be spending a touch over $7MM on goaltending alone, with 83% of that cap space going to their projected backup goaltender. With only four points separating the organization from the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the salary cap hit from Grubauer’s contract will limit the team’s buying capacity when the trade deadline rolls around in early March.

In the case of Driedger, he was extremely underutilized by Seattle in Grubauer’s absence, only appearing in two games for the team along that stretch. He will now return to a Firebird team where he has seen a solid level of success this season, posting a 9-5-1 record in 15 games played, coupled with a .916 SV% and a 2.20 GAA.

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