Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan
Dylan Coghlan is no stranger to finding himself in transactions this season as he has been frequently shuffled between Vegas and AHL Henderson. That move is once again being made as the Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been brought up from the Silver Knights.
This is now the fourth time in the last six weeks that Vegas has recalled the 27-year-old. However, it hasn’t yielded much playing time for Coghlan as he has only suited up once for the Golden Knights this season, bringing his career NHL appearances to 113. It’s his second stint with the franchise after signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and returned to Vegas as an unrestricted free agent last July.
Coghlan has played in 29 games this season with Henderson. While his offensive numbers are down a bit from 2024-25 when he had 28 points in 36 games with Manitoba, he has still contributed five goals and 11 helpers for the Silver Knights.
Coghlan cleared waivers back in early October during training camp, making him exempt until he reaches 10 NHL games or 30 NHL days. Despite the frequent recalls, he has only been up for 13 days to this point so he won’t have to go through the waiver process for a little while yet. He’ll likely once again serve as the seventh defender for however long this particular stint lasts.
Golden Knights Activate Shea Theodore, Reassign Dylan Coghlan
Although the team has yet to announce it, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that the Vegas Golden Knights have activated defenseman Shea Theodore from the injured reserve. The move was expected, considering the Golden Knights announced they had reassigned Dylan Coghlan to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights earlier today.
Theodore’s return to the lineup should serve as a major boost to the Golden Knights at even strength and on the power play. Despite missing the past few weeks with an upper-body injury, Theodore remains the highest-scoring defenseman on the team with four goals and 20 points in 31 games, averaging 24:01 of ice time per game.
It couldn’t come at a better time for them either. Even though they’ve won their last two contests, Vegas went 0-3-2 without Theodore in their lineup. The team saw a slight decrease in power-play effectiveness in his absence, averaging 25.89% with him and 23.53% without him.
Still, as much as the Golden Knights may want to unleash Theodore for the sake of winning games, it may be a shrewder move to slow-play his return as much as possible. Injuries for the last several years have seriously hampered Theodore. He has only appeared in 75 or more games twice in his 11-year career, with the most recent being the 2021-22 season.
Meanwhile, Coghlan has been assigned to AHL Henderson for the third time this season. Regardless, he’s only appeared in one game for the Golden Knights this season. He’s understandably been much better with AHL Henderson, scoring five goals and 16 points in 28 games. It’s his first year back with the Golden Knights organization since the 2021-22 season.
Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan, Assign Jaycob Megna
The Vegas Golden Knights have swapped defensemen in their cupboard, as Dylan Coghlan has been recalled from AHL Henderson, while Jaycob Megna has been assigned to the AHL in a corresponding transaction, per the team.
The exact move occurred on December 8th, and since then in the last several weeks, both players have cycled between the NHL and AHL.
Coghlan, in his second stint with Vegas, figures to take Megna’s spot in the lineup on the third pair tonight as the team hosts Columbus. A righty, he is a natural fit alongside Ben Hutton. The 27-year-old came to the Knights as an undrafted free agent prior to their first ever season, a high scorer out of the WHL, who immediately showed promise with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Coghlan debuted with Vegas during the 2020-21 season, and played in 59 games the following year, figuring to be a piece in the team’s future.
As the Knights missed the playoffs in 2022, Coghlan was dealt to Carolina in the Max Pacioretty deal as management shook things up. After short stints in the Hurricanes and Jets organizations, he caught back on with his original team on a one-year deal worth $775k at the NHL level last summer. As usual, Coghlan has been highly productive in the AHL so far this year with 16 points in 28 games as a top defender.
On the other hand, Megna was last recalled on New Year’s day, making three appearances in the last week, his first action as a Golden Knight. In those contests, the left hander was a -5, the team going 1-1-1. The 33-year-old, originally a seventh round pick back in 2012, has managed to carve out a 12-year career in North America mainly due to his size (6’6”). In 196 career NHL games, he has 27 points, spending most time in the AHL, besides 40+ game campaigns with the Sharks and Blackhawks from 2021-2024.
Megna is in the first year of his two year deal with the Knights organization. As captain of Henderson, the plan was not for him to spend much time away, but due to several injuries on the blueline, the Florida native got to make his mark with his sixth NHL team, now to return as the group’s leader.
Set for a homecoming moment in Vegas after three years away for his first NHL action of 2025-26, Coghlan will look to bring more mobility and consistency to the lineup against Columbus.
Pacific Notes: Kraken, Carlsson, Kuemper, Chytil, Coghlan
The Seattle Kraken, who have been bitten by the injury bug as of late, may be returning a few high-end players soon. Earlier today, team producer Scott Malone reported that forward Jared McCann and defenseman Vince Dunn had returned to practice in regular jerseys.
There’s no indication either will return to the Kraken’s game tomorrow against the Philadelphia Flyers, though it is encouraging. McCann has been limited to 11 games with Seattle this season, scoring five goals and three points, with his last contest coming on December 10th.
Still, Dunn only missed the Kraken’s game on Tuesday due to an upper-body injury, and he’s not on the team’s injured reserve, unlike McCann. If there’s any silver lining to what’s shaping up to be another disappointing season for the Kraken, is that Dunn has been healthy for much of the season. Over the last two years, he had played in less than 75% of Seattle’s games due to injury. He has scored five goals and 19 points in 34 games this season.
Other notes from the Pacific Division:
- In a positive update for the Anaheim Ducks, center Leo Carlsson‘s lower-body injury from earlier in the week will only cost him one game. In an article this morning, Derek Lee of The Hockey News confirmed that Carlsson would return to the lineup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings. Aside from an external addition, there truly couldn’t be better news for the Ducks, who are tied for the lead in the Pacific Division after several difficult seasons. Carlsson is leading that effort, scoring 17 goals and 41 points in 34 games as Anaheim’s leading scorer.
- On the flip side of tonight’s matchup, netminder Darcy Kuemper will miss a fifth consecutive game for the Kings due to an upper-body injury. Fortunately, that absence shouldn’t last too much longer. Team reporter Zach Dooley shared earlier that Kuemper had returned to practice for the Kings, joining the team for their morning skate.
- Moving to the Western portion of Canada, host of Rink Wide: Vancouver, Jeff Paterson, reported earlier that Filip Chytil had returned to practice for the Vancouver Canucks in a non-contact jersey. Chytil has not played since mid-October due to what is believed to be another concussion in his nine-year career. Unfortunately, despite the positive update that Chytil has returned to the ice, there’s no timeline for his return.
- On the transaction side, the Vegas Golden Knights quietly reassigned defenseman Dylan Coghlan to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. The Golden Knights exit the holiday break on a three-game homestand, so they likely have little need for a depth defenseman, unlike they would on a road trip. Coghlan didn’t feature in any games throughout the duration of his recall.
Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan, Place Shea Theodore On IR
A little over a week after reassigning him, the Vegas Golden Knights have brought one depth defender back to the active roster. According to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Golden Knights have recalled Dylan Coghlan from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.
In a follow-up report, SinBin shared that the Golden Knights have placed defenseman Shea Theodore on the team’s injured reserve. He’s expected to miss the next few weeks with an upper-body injury.
Coghlan, 27, is in his second stint with the Golden Knights organization. Vegas signed Coghlan as an undrafted free agent from the WHL’s Tri-City Americans in their inaugural season. He spent two seasons exclusively with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, scoring 26 goals and 64 points in 126 contests.
The following two years were spent entirely with the Golden Knights, scoring six goals and 19 points in 88 games, averaging 13:58 of ice time. Coghlan was included as a sweetener in the salary dump trade that sent Max Pacioretty to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2022.
Despite the new opportunity in Raleigh, Coghlan was hardly utilized at the NHL level, amassing 18 games in two years. Still, he had his best AHL season to date whilst in the Hurricanes organization, registering 16 goals and 41 points in 61 games during the 2023-24 season.
After a one-year stint in the Winnipeg Jets organization, Coghlan made his way back to Vegas last offseason after signing a one-year league minimum deal. He’s only played for AHL Henderson up to this point, managing five goals and 11 points in 23 contests.
Golden Knights Reassign Dylan Coghlan
The Golden Knights announced they’ve assigned defenseman Dylan Coghlan to AHL Henderson. Vegas now has an open roster spot, likely meaning they’ll operate without an extra defenseman for their brief return home against the Devils this week before heading back out on a two-game road trip.
Vegas has needed some additional defensive insurance ever since Jeremy Lauzon went down with an undisclosed injury in mid-November. He remains listed as day-to-day but is on injured reserve and has now missed nearly a month. In the interim, they’ve been shuffling veteran depth names like Coghlan and Jaycob Megna up from the AHL to serve as healthy extras.
They haven’t needed them to actually enter game action, though. Since Lauzon exited the lineup on Nov. 15, Vegas has dressed the same six defenders – Noah Hanifin, Ben Hutton, Kaedan Korczak, Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore, and Zach Whitecloud – in 14 straight games.
Coghlan thus returns to Henderson after not getting any playing time over the last week. The 27-year-old made his NHL debut with the Knights back in 2020-21, playing in two seasons with them before he was traded to the Hurricanes in 2022 in the Max Pacioretty deal. After spending the last three years in the Carolina and Winnipeg organizations bouncing between the NHL and AHL, he returned to Vegas on a league-minimum contract over the offseason in free agency.
In 20 games for Henderson this season, the 6’2″ righty has five goals and 10 points with a +4 rating. An AHL All-Star in 2023-24, he ranks third among Silver Knights defensemen in scoring.
Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan, Assign Jaycob Megna
The Vegas Golden Knights have swapped depth defenseman on the NHL roster. Dylan Coghlan has been recalled, while Jaycob Megna has been reassigned to the AHL. Neither player has appeared in an NHL game this season.
Megna, 32, was recalled to the Golden Knights roster on December 1st. He has been rotated between the NHL and AHL roster three times since clearing waivers on October 2nd. Through that movement, he’s managed to appear in 15 games with the Henderson Silver Knights. He’s recorded five points, 12 penalty minutes, and a plus-six in those appearances. That includes two points, four penalty minutes, and a plus-three in his last four games. Megna also has eight seasons of NHL experience. He has appeared in 193 games, and scored 27 points, through stints with the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Florida Panthers.
Coghlan, 27, has performed well in-line with Megna. He has 10 points, 10 penalty minutes, and a plus-four in 20 games with Henderson. This is his recall of the season. He appeared in six games with the Winnipeg Jets, with no scoring, last year and 18 games with the Carolina Hurricanes between 2022 and 2024. Coghlan has appeared in 112 games across six seasons, and three teams. He has 22 points and a minus-10 in those appearances.
This swap surely has more to do with roster technicalities than it does lineup implications. Megna will only be able to spend 15 more days on the NHL roster, before he will have to clear through waivers to be reassigned to the minors. The Golden Knights appear to be using those days sparingly, after recalling Megna for one week in October and the first week of December.
Waivers: 10/2/25
There are 22 new names on the waiver wire today, PuckPedia reports. Everyone on the wire yesterday passed through aside from goaltender Pheonix Copley, who’s heading to the Lightning from the Kings.
Calgary Flames
F Rory Kerins
G Ivan Prosvetov
D Ilya Solovyov
Columbus Blue Jackets
Edmonton Oilers
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Sebastian Aho
F Danton Heinen
D Philip Kemp
F Joona Koppanen
G Filip Larsson
F Valtteri Puustinen
Seattle Kraken
F Ben Meyers
F Mitchell Stephens
Utah Mammoth
F Ben McCartney
D Scott Perunovich
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
D Dylan Coghlan
F Tanner Laczynski
F Raphael Lavoie
D Jaycob Megna
F Cole Schwindt
Heinen, Kerins, and Kravtsov jump out as the most notable skaters from the group. Heinen is one of the first veteran surprises to reach the wire this fall. The pending UFA costs $2.25MM against the cap and was a speculative trade candidate as the rebuilding Penguins look to shed their veterans on expiring deals. If he clears, he’ll still count for $1.1MM against Pittsburgh’s cap. It’s not as if he’s coming off a catastrophic 2024-25 season. He made 79 appearances split between the Canucks and Penguins, recording a 9-20–29 scoring line while averaging 13:27 per game. Those are all a few ticks below his career averages, but still serviceable bottom-six production for a reasonable price. He may not fit into the Penguins’ plans, but it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him claimed despite his cap impact.
Kerins has been a high-ceiling name in the Flames’ system for the past couple of years with quite strong AHL showings. He got his first taste of NHL action last year in a five-game call-up, looking like he belonged with four assists and a +3 rating while averaging 12:14 per game. The 5’10” pivot isn’t a natural fit in a fourth-line role, though, and Calgary doesn’t have an open spot for him in its top nine. He’s a pending RFA without arbitration rights on a two-way deal with a league minimum cap hit – prime conditions for a claim – and had 33 goals and 61 points in 63 AHL games last year.
Kravtsov not making it to the final couple of days of camp is a surprise. Selected No. 9 overall in 2018, he was on the Canucks’ reserve list after he departed the NHL to return to Russia in 2023. He had a great showing for Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Kontinental Hockey League last year, leading the team with 27 goals in 66 games while adding 31 assists for 58 points. That was enough to generate mutual interest between the Canucks and Kravtsov to resume their relationship, and he signed a one-year, two-way deal in August. He’s due to be a Group VI unrestricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t hit 16 NHL games this year.
As for goalie-needy teams, Prosvetov might warrant some consideration after being passed over for Calgary’s backup job in favor of Devin Cooley. The 26-year-old has 24 NHL starts under his belt and was excellent in the KHL last year, managing a .920 SV% and 2.32 GAA in 38 games for CSKA Moscow.
Golden Knights Sign Dylan Coghlan, Jaycob Megna, Cole Reinhardt
4:22 p.m.: The Knights confirmed the below signings and also announced a two-year, one-way contract for winger Cole Reinhardt. The former Senators depth piece played a career-high 17 games for Ottawa last year, scoring his first NHL goal and assist.
3:45 p.m.: Vegas has also signed defenseman Jaycob Megna to a two-year, one-way deal worth $800K per season, his agency, Bartlett Hockey, announced. He spent last season in the Panthers organization and was a post-deadline call-up, but mostly played with AHL Charlotte, where he had 16 points and a +26 rating in 64 games. The 6’6″ 32-year-old lefty has a 4-23–27 scoring line in 193 career NHL games with the Ducks, Sharks, Blackhawks, Panthers, and Kraken.
1:09 p.m.: The Golden Knights are bringing in defenseman Dylan Coghlan for his second stint in Vegas on a one-year, one-way league minimum contract, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Irfaan Gaffar.
Coghlan played through four seasons in the WHL prior to his move to pros, and went undrafted through all three years of eligibility. He was extended an invite to the Detroit Red Wings’ training camp in 2016, but wouldn’t earn his first pro contract until the Vegas Golden Knights’ inaugural training camp in 2017. Vegas signed Coghlan to a three-year, $2.2MM entry-level contract in 2017, and assigned him back to the WHL for his fourth and final season of juniors eligibility. When he was ready to turn pro in 2018, Coghlan was moved to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, where he managed an impressive 15 goals, 40 points, and plus-four through 66 games of his AHL rookie season. Vegas made the right-shot defender show he could match that performance in the following year. He stumbled to just 11 goals, 24 points, and a minus-nine, but still showed enough strength to join the Golden Knights as an extra defender for the shortened 2020-21 campaign.
Getting his first taste of the NHL, Coghlan posted six points, one penalty, and a minus-three through 29 games. He returned to an NHL role in 2021-22, and managed a stouter 13 points, 18 penalty minutes, and minus-five through 59 games. That season stands as the most Coghlan has played in the NHL – after a 2022 move to the Carolina Hurricanes pushed him back into competition for a fringe lineup role. Since 2022, Coghlan has recorded three points in 23 NHL games and 72 points in 112 AHL games. That includes a career-best 16 goals, 41 points, and 40 penalty minutes in 61 games of the 2023-24 season, which he spent with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
Coghlan will offer the Golden Knights high scoring upside at the minor-league level, and a big-bodied extra defenseman at the NHL level. He could help fill the role of Nicolas Hague, who Vegas moved to the Nashville Predators in the days leading up to free agency.
PHR’s Gabriel Foley contributed significantly to this article.
Jets Recall Five Black Aces
With their AHL affiliate’s season over, the Jets announced they’ve recalled five players from the Manitoba Moose to serve as extras for the remainder of their playoff run. Forwards Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Mason Shaw, and defensemen Dylan Coghlan, Isaak Phillips, and Elias Salomonsson will travel with the Jets and practice with the club while technically being available for game action if necessary.
Jonsson-Fjallby did not appear for Winnipeg in the regular season, his first campaign without an NHL appearance since 2020-21. The 27-year-old Swede was on a one-way deal this year so he still received his league-minimum $775K salary, but the pending unrestricted free agent seems unlikely to remain with the Jets beyond this playoff run as a result. The fifth-round pick of the Capitals back in 2016 struggled to produce with Manitoba this year as well, limited to 12-15–27 in 65 games after posting 30 points in only 41 AHL contests last year. He last saw NHL ice for Winnipeg in the 2024 postseason and has 23 points in 99 career NHL games across three seasons.
Shaw also did not make an NHL appearance in 2024-25. It was his first professional season outside the Wild organization, which drafted him in the fourth round in 2017 but did not tender him a qualifying offer last summer after he recovered from his fourth ACL surgery (twice in each knee). After landing a two-way deal with Winnipeg a few days later, Shaw cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and reported to Manitoba. The 26-year-old posted a 17-20–37 scoring line with 114 PIMs and a -21 rating in his first non-injury plagued season since 2021-22. Winnipeg can retain the 26-year-old’s signing rights with a qualifying offer this summer, but he’s eligible for salary arbitration.
[RELATED: NHL Arbitration-Eligible Free Agents For 2025]
Coghlan is the only member of the group to appear in a regular-season game for the Jets this year. He skated in six games in December and January after spending the first two months of the season as a healthy scratch. After clearing waivers, he was assigned to Manitoba for the rest of the season in mid-January. While he went without a point in his six big-league games, the two-way righty lit up the minors with a 12-16–28 scoring line in just 36 appearances for the Moose. He’s one year removed from leading the AHL in goals by a defenseman but sits firmly in the No. 10 spot on Winnipeg’s defense depth chart behind names like Ville Heinola, Colin Miller, and Logan Stanley.
Phillips played early in the season with the Blackhawks but didn’t see a recall to the Jets’ roster after they acquired him via trade in January. The 2020 fifth-rounder has 2-10–12 with a -37 rating in 56 career appearances with Chicago over the past four years. A pending RFA with arbitration rights, the young shutdown blueliner had 3-5–8 with a -11 rating in 39 appearances for Manitoba after the trade.
Salomonsson has yet to make his NHL debut but is likely Winnipeg’s top prospect at this point. The 20-year-old rearguard adjusted well in his first season in North America in 2024-25, logging heavy minutes for Manitoba and finishing second among their defensemen in scoring behind Coghlan with 5-22–27 in 53 games. The smooth-skating 6’2″, 185-lb righty is a long shot to make next season’s opening night roster but is likely to at least make his big-league debut within the next 12 months.