Transaction Notes: Chrona, Makiniemi, Senyshyn
Nashville Predators AHL goalie Magnus Chrona will head overseas to the SHL next season, according to a report from Aftonbladet’s Simon Eld. Per the report, Chrona has signed a contract with Swedish club Brynäs, and will join the team starting in the 2026-27. The 25-year-old is currently playing out a one-year, two-way contract with Nashville, and is set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent unless he plays in 19 NHL games this season. Getting into that many NHL games at this point appears to be almost impossible for Chrona, as veteran Matt Murray appears to be clearly ahead of him in terms of who would receive a recall to Nashville in the event of an injury to Juuse Saros or Justus Annunen.
An NCAA national champion and former NCHC Goalie of the Year, Chrona has had an up-and-down pro career to this point. He was forced into some difficult on-ice situations in his rookie season as a member of the Sharks, and was dealt to Nashville in the summer of 2024 as part of the trade that sent Yaroslav Askarov to San Jose. He’s been the No. 2 goalie for the AHL Milwaukee Admirals since the deal, playing behind Murray. He posted a .903 save percentage in 30 games last season, and has duplicated that mark in 13 AHL games this season. Looking ahead to next season, one wonders if either goalie playing for the Predators’ ECHL affiliate, the Atlanta Gladiators, might get a shot to earn a regular role in Milwaukee. 2019 fifth-rounder Ethan Haider has a .926 save percentage in 16 ECHL games this season, and won his lone AHL start of the year. 23-year-old T.J. Semptimphelter, a former Hobey Baker nominee, has a .942 save percentage through the first 18 games of his ECHL career. Both players are playing out one-year contracts this season.
Other notable recent transactions from around the hockey world:
- Another former Sharks netminder signed a contract this week, with Finland’s Eetu Makiniemi signing a one-year contract extension with his current club, Liiga’s TPS Turku. Makiniemi played in two NHL games for the Sharks in 2022-23 before playing through the 2024-25 season at the AHL level. He elected to leave the AHL after playing just five games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season, and has been solid for TPS. Playing in a tandem with 20-year-old Noa Vali, Makiniemi has a .903 save percentage in 22 games. He’s been the more reliable netminder in the tandem for TPS this season, as Vali has an .887 save percentage through 20 games this year.
- 2015 Boston Bruins first-round pick Zachary Senyshyn has agreed to a contract termination with his DEL club, the Schwenninger Wild Wings. Senyshyn was in the middle of a third consecutive DEL campaign with the club, where he has been a reliable top-six goal scorer. Senyshyn, who has over 300 games of AHL experience, left North America at the end of 2022-23 to sign in the DEL, and he has helped the Wild Wings reach at least the playoff qualifiers in both of his prior seasons in Germany. He’ll now look to continue his career elsewhere, and there is no word at this point as to where he might end up signing. He had 10 goals and 15 points in 31 DEL games this season.
Eetu Mäkiniemi Signs One-Year Deal With Liiga’s TPS
Finnish goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi is headed home on a one-year deal with TPS of the first-tier Liiga, per a club announcement. The Flyers’ fifth-stringer this season was a pending Group VI unrestricted free agent.
Mäkiniemi, 26, once had legitimate NHL upside but has been derailed by injuries in the past few years. That continued in 2024-25. He reported to AHL Lehigh Valley after being cut from training camp and, after posting a 3.03 GAA, .899 SV%, and a 3-0-2 record in five games, sustained a sports hernia in mid-November and never returned after undergoing surgery.
A fourth-round pick by the Hurricanes in 2017, Mäkiniemi signed his entry-level deal with Carolina and came to North America for the 2021-22 campaign. He impressed in limited action with AHL Chicago, posting a .922 SV% and 2.06 GAA in 14 appearances along with an 11-2-1 record. Buried among a bevy of strong netminding prospects in the Canes’ system, though, he was deemed expendable and traded to the Sharks the following summer in the deal that sent Brent Burns from San Jose to Carolina.
Mäkiniemi made his NHL debut the following season, posting a 1-0-1 record with a .906 SV% and 2.13 GAA in one start and one relief appearance for the lowly Sharks in a pair of contests in December 2022. He never made it back to the top level, though. After being demoted to ECHL Wichita for a time the following year, he reached Group VI UFA status for the first time and opted instead to latch on with the Flyers on a two-way deal last summer in hopes of climbing up their depth chart. While he had a decent AHL start and strong training camp, his injury derailed any chance of that.
He’ll now return to Liiga to rediscover some consistency and hopefully stay healthy. The 6’2″, 183-lb netminder last played in the top flight with Ilves in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, recording a 2.43 GAA, .911 SV%, two shutouts, and a 15-14-11 record in 41 appearances. He’ll presumably be TPS’ starter ahead of 20-year-old World Juniors silver medalist Noa Vali, who struggled in his first full-time Liiga season in 2024-25 with a .887 SV% in 26 showings. A strong year for Mäkiniemi, particularly since he only signed a one-year deal, could land him another NHL contract in the summer of 2026.
Metropolitan Notes: Provorov, Nash, Hurricanes, Makiniemi
Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov is one of the more intriguing pending UFA blueliners from the 2025 free agent class. With Columbus still in their rebuild, it’s expected that he’ll be on the move at some point. However, in his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun reports that the team is telling interested parties that they’re not willing to move the 27-year-old just yet. The Blue Jackets are off to a respectable 8-9-2 start and aren’t ready to start subtracting from what’s already a fairly young group this early in the season. That’s expected to change as we get closer to the March 7 trade deadline and when that time comes, LeBrun suggests to expect a first-round pick to serve as the asking price for Provorov’s services.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Still with Columbus, when Don Waddell took over as President and GM for the Blue Jackets, one of the first moves he made was elevating Rick Nash to assistant GM. While that’s an important step for any aspiring manager, Nash told Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco that he’s “not in any rush” to ascend to a GM position just yet. He has worked in Columbus’ front office since 2019 and it wouldn’t be shocking if he were next in line for the top job with the Blue Jackets when Waddell either moves on or wants to have just the President title down the road.
- The Hurricanes have returned winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin to the minors, per the AHL’s transactions log, though these are almost certainly just paper moves to bank additional cap space. Blake has five goals in 19 games with Carolina in his first full professional season which is a solid start for the 21-year-old. Martin, meanwhile, has played in four NHL contests so far in 2024-25, putting up a 3.25 GAA with a .868 SV%. He has been much better in similarly limited action with AHL Chicago, however, compiling a 2.32 GAA and a .920 SV% in his first three outings.
- Flyers goaltender Eetu Makiniemi is set to undergo sports hernia surgery next week, relays team reporter Bill Meltzer (Twitter link). The procedure will keep him out for three to four months. The 25-year-old had a successful tryout in training camp, earning a one-year, two-way deal to play with AHL Lehigh Valley where he had a 3.03 GAA and a .899 SV% in five appearances. With the injury, the only recallable goaltender Philadelphia has left is veteran Cal Petersen.
Flyers Sign Eetu Makiniemi To PTO
The Flyers will have some extra goaltending depth on hand at training camp. The agency for Eetu Makiniemi, WD Sports and Entertainment, announced (Twitter link) that the netminder has accepted a PTO offer and will attend training camp with Philadelphia. Team reporter Bill Meltzer relayed last week that the Flyers were interested in bringing Makiniemi to camp.
[Related: 2024 Professional Tryout Tracker]
The 25-year-old was originally drafted in the fourth round by Carolina in 2017 but after spending one year in their farm system, he was dealt to San Jose in 2022 as part of the Brent Burns trade. Makiniemi spent the last two years in the Sharks’ system, primarily at the AHL level but he did make two appearances with the big club, putting up a 2.13 GAA and a .906 SV%.
Last season, Makiniemi played in 18 games with AHL San Jose, putting up a 3.14 GAA with a .900 SV%. He also suited up for three contests with ECHL Wichita, posting a 3.39 GAA and a .907 SV% in those outings. At the end of the contract, he became a Group Six unrestricted free agent.
There has been some uncertainty surrounding Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov who is believed to be seeking a return to the KHL for the upcoming season while the organization does not appear to be willing to loan him back. Veteran Cal Petersen is expected to be the starter with AHL Lehigh Valley (assuming he clears waivers once again in training camp) while the Phantoms have added Keith Petruzzelli and re-signed Parker Gahagen to give themselves some insurance between the pipes. Makiniemi will now try to play his way into that mix on what would likely ultimately be an AHL contract.
East Notes: Laine, Makiniemi, Sutter
Patrik Laine has no reservations about his ability to return to being an impact player following yesterday’s trade to the Canadiens. “I don’t want to come back as a 30-goal-scorer. I want to come back as a 40, 50- (goal-scorer). I’ve done that previously and it’s not by accident,” he told reporters (including NHL.com’s Tracey Myers).
“But it’s not just all about that,” Laine continued. “I want to come in and do whatever it takes to contribute to the team and help the team win, whether it’s me scoring 50 or scoring 20, as long as the team wins. I’m getting to that age, I’m not 19 years old anymore. I just want to win.”
Regardless of what exact number he produces, Laine’s career-average 14.7% shooting rate should be a boon to a Montreal offense that’s finished in the league’s basement the last few years. He’s only hit the 40-goal plateau once in his sophomore season with Winnipeg in 2017-18, but he’s hit or been on pace for 30 goals five other times, often limited by injuries.
Elsewhere from the Eastern Conference:
- Team official site contributor Bill Meltzer relays that the Flyers are interested in bringing in free-agent netminder Eetu Mäkiniemi for a professional tryout. Philadelphia already has a pair of netminders under contract slated for minor-league action this season in Alexei Kolosov and buried veteran Calvin Petersen. However, the former’s availability is uncertain amid his reported preference to return to Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk on loan. Mäkiniemi, 25, became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer after spending the last two seasons in the Sharks organization. He split last year between the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder, posting a .900 SV% in 18 AHL contests and a .907 SV% in three ECHL games. The Finn was a fourth-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2017 and found his way to San Jose in the 2022 Brent Burns trade.
- The Rangers have hired Shaun Sutter as an amateur scout, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports. His familiar last name isn’t a coincidence – he’s the son of former Blues captain Brian Sutter and the nephew of Stanley Cup-winning head coach Darryl Sutter. The 44-year-old has spent the last 13 years with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League, including the last 10 as an assistant/associate general manager. He’ll presumably stick to scouting the region he’s developed an innate familiarity with over the past decade-plus.
Minor Transactions: 11/20/23
Here’s a rundown of some of the latest minor moves from around the hockey world with an NHL connection:
- Free agent forward C.J. Smith has inked a tryout deal with JYP in Finland per a team release. The 28-year-old spent last season under contract with the Rangers but was limited to just 21 games at the AHL level with Hartford where he had four goals and two assists. Smith has 15 career NHL contests under his belt over parts of four seasons with Buffalo and Carolina.
- Simon Despres’ international journey will take him to Nottingham in England as the Panthers announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year deal. The 32-year-old played in 193 NHL games over parts of six seasons with Pittsburgh and Anaheim and since then, he has played in the AHL along with stints in Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, and Austria.
- With Jesper Wallstedt returning to AHL Iowa earlier today, the Wild have reassigned goalie prospect Hunter Jones to ECHL Iowa, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 23-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level deal but has struggled considerably in a short sample size this season, posting a 4.98 GAA with a .845 SV% in four games with the Heartlanders.
- The Sharks have promoted goalie Eetu Makiniemi back to the AHL level, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old was sent down last week to get some playing time as he has just one AHL appearance under his belt so far. However, he didn’t fare particularly well in his two games with ECHL Wichita, allowing nine goals on 72 shots. Makiniemi, who got into two games with the Sharks last season, is in the final season of his entry-level contract.
- The Devils have re-assigned goalie Tyler Brennan to ECHL Adirondack, per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 20-year-old is in his first professional campaign and playing time has been hard to come by as he has played just twice for the Thunder, allowing six goals on 33 shots.
- Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in Manitoba announced that they’ve returned netminder Thomas Milic to ECHL Norfolk. The 20-year-old was drafted in the fifth round by the Jets back in June following a stellar season with Seattle of the WHL and has split the season between the Moose (four games) and Admirals (six appearances).
West Notes: Couture, Mäkiniemi, Oilers Injuries
As reported by Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka, San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is out with a lower-body injury. He’s been assigned a week-to-week status, although Couture elaborated that there’s “no timetable” for when he’ll be returning to the ice. Any extended Couture absence would be a major blow to the Sharks’ ability to compete in the wake of this offseason’s Erik Karlsson trade. Couture scored 67 points last season and operates in a crucial role centering one of the Sharks’ top two lines, the other driven by Tomáš Hertl.
Sharks head coach David Quinn told the media that he’s giving offseason trade acquisition Mikael Granlund a look down the middle in Couture’s absence. While Granlund is certainly a player with a lot of NHL experience and scored 64 points in 2021-22, his play more recently (specifically as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins) drew some harsh criticism. Although some focus will be on the young talent that may emerge in the preseason, Couture’s health status could end up being the number-one storyline to watch for Sharks fans in the lead-up to opening night.
- San Jose netminder Eetu Mäkiniemi had his 2022-23 season cut short in March, when he underwent hip surgery. Mäkiniemi said today that he’s still not quite at 100 percent, though he does feel on track to begin playing games by the start of the season. The 24-year-old Finnish international played in a total of 24 games last season and posted a .906 save percentage in the NHL and a .900 mark in the AHL.
- The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman shared two injury updates from Edmonton Oilers training camp. 23-year-old center Ryan McLeod had a “soft-tissue tweak and was kept off the ice for precautionary reasons,” while minor-league netminder Ryan Fanti is out with a “hip issue” on a month-to-month basis. McLeod is expected to be a major part of the Oilers’ bottom-six plans, so the hope is that he’ll quickly resume full participation in training camp. Fanti, who is also 23, played in 34 games in the ECHL last season and is likely to return there once he is fully recovered.
San Jose Sharks Re-Sign Eetu Makiniemi
The San Jose Sharks have re-signed 24-year-old netminder Eetu Makiniemi to a one-year, two-way contract, per PuckPedia. The deal will carry a $775K NHL cap hit and includes $145K in guaranteed salary.
Makiniemi was a pending restricted free agent. The one-year extension comes in below his qualifying offer of $840K.
Choosing to keep Makiniemi in the organization is an expected decision after the Finnish goalie made his NHL debut this season, posting a .906 save percentage across two appearances. Acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in the Brent Burns trade last offseason, Makiniemi unfortunately didn’t get to finish out the season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda after sustaining a labrum tear. He’s expected to be healthy for training camp.
After San Jose acquired Mackenzie Blackwood, Makiniemi is slated for the starting role with the AHL Barracuda, assuming the team holds onto Kaapo Kahkonen at the NHL level too. In 22 appearances last season, Makiniemi led the team with a .900 save percentage and 2.96 goals against average, holding his own behind a squad that struggled defensively.
At 24, the 2017 fourth-round pick still has some room to grow and could viably be a long-term backup option for the Sharks someday, should he continue on his development path.
West Injury Notes: Nutivaara, Makiniemi, Klingberg, Eriksson Ek
Veteran defenseman Markus Nutivaara didn’t end up playing a single game with the San Jose Sharks this season, despite signing a one-year, $1.5MM deal to be a blueline regular. Injury trouble was the reason, and it’s issues staying healthy that cost Nutivaara the 2021-22 campaign as well, as he played just one game for the Florida Panthers that season. Today, Sharks general manager Mike Grier gave the media, including The Athletic’s Corey Masisiak, a clearer look at Nutivaara’s situation. According to Grier, it was a hip injury that kept Nutivaara out for the whole season, and Masisiak adds that it could be a career-ending injury for the 275-game veteran.
Should this injury indeed end the 28-year-old Finn’s career prematurely, Nutivaara will hang up his skates having proven himself in the world’s toughest league. Nutivaara’s career highlights include a memorable 2014-15 rookie season in Liiga with Karpat, where he established himself at Finland’s top level of hockey and played in 16 playoff games en route to a Liiga championship. Another highlight is the 2018-19 season, where Nutivaara set a career-high with 80 games played, scoring 21 points and helping the Blue Jackets create one of the biggest upsets in the history of hockey, sweeping the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning.
Some other injury notes from across the NHL:
- Grier also updated the media (via Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka) on the status of another player: Eetu Makiniemi. Makiniemi suffered a labrum tear, and was shut down for the season instead of making a comeback attempt in order to help him get ready for fall training camp. Makiniemi last played on February 11th, stopping 27 of 31 shots in a shootout loss to the Calgary Wranglers. The 2017 fourth-round pick was acquired by the Sharks in last summer’s Brent Burns trade and posted a .900 save percentage in 22 contests for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.
- Per Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minnesota Wild defenseman John Klingberg didn’t practice today after suffering a lower-body injury at practice yesterday. Wild head coach Dean Evason termed Klingberg’s status as “we’ll see” for this team’s first playoff game against the Dallas Stars, meaning it’s possible the Wild are without the skilled offensive defenseman to start their series. Klingberg has in the past been a prolific playoff performer (he scored nine points in 13 playoff games in 2018-19 and 21 points in the Stars’ 26-game run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019-20) so the Wild will hope he’ll be able to draw into their lineup relatively soon.
- McLellan also reported an update on Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek, who is one of Minnesota’s top pivots and a crucial two-way contributor. He skated again today, and will travel with the team to Dallas. Eriksson-Ek last played on April 6th, and was designated as week-to-week, so while it remains relatively unlikely that he’s going to be immediately ready to join the Wild for playoff games, the fact that he is consistently skating and now travelling with the team should be viewed as a good sign for his availability.
San Jose Sharks Reassign Eetu Makinemi
Feb 15: Makiniemi, along with Nick Cicek, has been returned to the AHL. Despite having players on long-term injured reserve, the club has a low enough payroll at the moment that they can still accrue some extra cap space. There may be more transactions to follow tomorrow, as they travel to play the Vegas Golden Knights.
Feb 14: The San Jose Sharks recalled goalie Eetu Makiniemi from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday, the team announced via Twitter. San Jose placed forward Jonah Gadjovich on injured reserve in a corresponding move.
The move leads to a bit of a logjam on the Sharks roster. The Sharks recalled Aaron Dell from the minors just a few days ago, as starter James Reimer is out of the lineup with an undisclosed illness and is day-to-day.
Now, backup Kaapo Kahkonen appears to be out of the lineup short-term, says head coach David Quinn, after he didn’t finish San Jose’s win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday. That makes four goalies on the Sharks’ active roster, with neither Reimer nor Kahkonen expected to miss enough time to qualify for injured reserve.
Gadjovich officially lands on injured reserve less than an hour after the Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka reported he is considered week-to-week with an injury.
Makiniemi, 23, arrived in the Sharks organization this summer when the Carolina Hurricanes included him in their trade package to acquire defenseman Brent Burns. He posted an impressive .922 save percentage in an injury-shortened 2021-22 campaign with their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Still, the organization’s logjam of young goalies incentivized Carolina to move on.
His AHL numbers have taken a dip this season, down to a .900 save percentage and an 8-10-3 record in 22 appearances with the Barracuda. He made his first NHL start earlier this season, stopping 23 of 24 shots in a 6-1 thrashing of the Anaheim Ducks on December 9, 2022.
Expect the Sharks to return Makinemi to the Barracuda as soon as one of Reimer or Kahkonen can play.