Minor Transactions: 10/6/25
The deadline for NHL clubs to ready their opening-night rosters has passed, and as a result there has been quite a bit of roster maneuvering around the NHL today. While some moves are more notable, such as the handful of waiver claims made today, there are a few moves that are more minor, such as expected reassignments or previously reported injuries being made official with IR placements. We’ll keep track of those moves here:
- In preparing their final opening-night roster that can be viewed here, the Utah Mammoth reassigned a pair of first-round picks. 2023 12th overall pick Daniil But was reassigned to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, which is where he will begin his North American professional career. Meanwhile 2024 sixth overall pick Tij Iginla was loaned back to his WHL team, the Kelowna Rockets. But is a big 6’5 winger whose KHL teammate (and fellow 2023 first-rounder) Dmitry Simashev made the Utah roster today, and it’s expected that But won’t be in the AHL for too long. As for Iginla, this season is an opportunity for him to get his development back on track after unfortunate injury luck derailed his 2024-25 campaign.
- The Ottawa Senators reassigned the players they placed on waivers Sunday to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Making up the group is Jan Jenik, Hayden Hodgson, Arthur Kaliyev, Mads Sogaard, and Lassi Thomson. 2024 seventh-overall pick Carter Yakemchuk was reassigned to Belleville, his Sept. 29 birthdate making him eligible to play in the AHL despite being a 2024 draft pick. In addition to those reassignments, the Senators placed Drake Batherson and Tyler Kleven on IR to further prepare their final roster. Batherson has been out since Sept. 24 with an upper-body injury on a projected two-week recovery timeline, while Kleven has been out since Sept. 21 with an undisclosed injury.
- The Minnesota Wild reassigned forward Tyler Pitlick and netminder Cal Petersen to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, today. Both players were placed on waivers yesterday and went unclaimed. Pitlick, 33, is a veteran of over 400 NHL games and scored 46 points in 59 AHL games last season for the Hartford Wolf Pack – he’ll likely be among the first players in line for a call-up in Iowa. Petersen, 30, was once a $5MM-a-year netminder for the Los Angeles Kings but did not play in the NHL in 2024-25. Signed to a one-year, $775K one-way deal, he’ll be the team’s organizational number-three netminder.
- The Calgary Flames placed forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil on injured reserve today as part of their roster preparations, and also called up 2023 first-rounder Samuel Honzek. Huberdeau left Calgary’s preseason game at the start of the month with an undisclosed injury, and will miss at least the team’s season opener. Pospisil also exited the Flames’ Oct. 1 preseason game with an undisclosed injury, and will also miss the team’s first game at minimum. As a result, Honzek, 20, gets a spot on the roster in their absence. The 6’5 Slovak forward played his first season of North American pro hockey in 2024-25, scoring 21 points in 52 AHL games and also skating in five NHL contests.
- The New York Rangers reassigned forward Brett Berard to AHL Hartford as part of their season-opening roster moves. Despite a solid training camp and preseason, the 23-year-old lost the battle for a middle-six role in New York to veteran Conor Sheary, a longtime favorite of first-year coach Mike Sullivan. The Rangers signed Sheary to a one-year deal earlier today. It’s a disappointing outcome for Berard, who looked to be making a real push for full-time NHL status last season. He skated in a career-high 35 NHL games, scoring 10 points to go alongside the 23 points he scored in 30 AHL contests.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs reassigned defenseman Ben Danford to the OHL’s Oshawa Generals as part of their season-opening roster preparations. Danford missed Maple Leafs training camp and preseason with a concussion, but has since been cleared for contact, paving the way for this reassignment. It’s the expected move for the 2024 31st overall pick, who is entering his fourth season of OHL duty. Danford scored 25 points in 61 games in Oshawa last season and will resume his post as one of the OHL’s top shutdown blueliners for 2025-26.
- The Colorado Avalanche announced several roster moves to go alongside their announcement of an initial roster: Keaton Middleton, who cleared waivers today, has been reassigned to AHL Colorado, alongside Matthew Stienburg. Meanwhile Ronnie Attard, Sean Behrens, Jacob MacDonald, Logan O’Connor, and Nikita Prishchepov have been designated injured non-roster. Ilya Solovyov, who the team claimed off of waivers from the Calgary Flames last week, was also designated non-roster but he is not injured. Solovyov’s placement is due to the fact that, per the Denver Post’s Corey Masisiak, his visa to allow him to play in the United States has not yet been finalized. It should be noted that this is not an abnormal scenario for a player involved in a cross-border transaction between NHL clubs.
- As part of their own season-opening roster moves, the Nashville Predators placed defenseman Nic Hague and forward Matthew Wood on injured reserve. Hague is out with an upper-body injury on a week-to-week timeline, while Wood is also considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Senators Sign Cameron Crotty, Jan Jenik To Two-Way Deals
The Senators announced this morning they’ve signed depth defenseman Cameron Crotty and Jan Jeník to two-way deals. Crotty’s is a two-year commitment, while Jeník’s is just for one. The pair will now vie for positioning on Ottawa’s depth chart during training camp.
Crotty, 26, only has a pair of NHL appearances to his name. Originally a third-round pick by the Coyotes in 2017, he made his NHL debut for them in 2023-24 before getting into a game with the Wild last year. The Boston University product is a 6’3″, 212-lb stay-at-home righty and captained Minnesota’s AHL affiliate in Iowa last season, recording 10 assists with 56 PIMs and a -7 rating in 64 appearances. He logged just 5:08 of ice time in his lone NHL appearance for the Wild, their penultimate game of the regular season against the Canucks.
With Crotty being at least 25 years old and having at least three seasons of professional experience with fewer than 80 NHL games played, he qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency for the second straight summer after completing his two-way deal with the Wild. The two sides did not agree on a reunion, and he’ll now take his talents north of the border to serve as a capable call-up option if the Sens need some defensive muscle.
While Ottawa has seen some turnover among its complement of depth defensemen this offseason, that’s unlikely to produce the opportunity for Crotty to capture a roster spot in camp. Even with fellow righty Nick Jensen potentially on the shelf to start the season after undergoing a lower-body surgery, the Sens would have Artem Zub, Jordan Spence, and Nikolas Matinpalo as their top three righties, with 2024 No. 7 overall pick Carter Yakemchuk also expected to compete for a job. Even among their depth options already in the system, like Max Guenette and 2019 first-rounder Lassi Thomson, would presumably receive priority over Crotty.
As for Jeník, the soon-to-be 25-year-old was under Ottawa’s control as a restricted free agent. He got into a pair of midseason games for the Sens in 2024-25, going pointless with two hits and a -1 rating. It was his first season in the organization after the club acquired his rights from Utah last offseason and promptly re-signed him.
The 6’2″, 200-lb winger was also an Arizona third-round pick, one year after Crotty in 2018. He has the leg up on his former Coyotes teammate in NHL experience, though, recording a 4-2–6 scoring line in 24 appearances dating back to the 2020-21 campaign. He had an underwhelming performance in the scoring department for AHL Belleville last year, with 29 points in 52 games and will now look to build on that as he looks for more NHL opportunities.
Jeník should qualify for Group VI status next summer as long as he stays under 80 career NHL games, which would require him to log 56 appearances in the upcoming season.
Senators Recall Twelve Players
With the Senators in the playoffs and their farm team in Belleville not making the playoffs, Ottawa has determined which players will be joining the team as their Black Aces. The team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Zack MacEwen, Angus Crookshank, Stephen Halliday, Cole Reinhardt, Jan Jenik, Tyler Boucher, Garrett Pilon, and Wyatt Bongiovanni, along with defenseman Donovan Sebrango and goaltender Mads Sogaard have all been recalled from Belleville.
In addition, the Sens have also recalled two players from the major junior ranks. Defenseman Carter Yakemchuk was brought up from WHL Calgary while blueliner Tomas Hamara was recalled from OHL Brantford.
Among the recalls, MacEwen saw the most game action with Ottawa this season, playing in 21 games where he had three points and 49 hits in a little under eight minutes a night of action. Reinhardt had two points in 17 outings while Crookshank had an assist in eight contests. Jenik, Sebrango, and Sogaard all got into a pair of games and were held off the scoresheet while Sogaard allowed eight goals on just 40 shots.
Looking at the AHL recalls who didn’t play with Ottawa this season, Halliday and Pilon were Belleville’s top scorers, checking in with 51 and 48 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Bongiovanni tied Crookshank for the team lead in goals with 22. Boucher, meanwhile, had just 10 points in 47 games this season, not a great showing for the tenth overall pick from 2021.
Yakemchuk very briefly made Ottawa’s roster out of training camp before being sent back without playing a game. He was the seventh pick in last year’s draft and had a solid year with the Hitmen, picking up 49 points in 56 games. As for Hamara, he also checked in just below the point-per-game mark with the Bulldogs, notching 55 in 58 appearances.
These recalls could be short-lived, however. Ottawa is down 3-0 in their opening round series against Toronto so the series could be over as soon as tonight. But regardless of how long their postseason push lasts, the Sens now have their extra skaters in place.
Ottawa Senators Reassign Angus Crookshank, Jan Jeník
Feb. 27: The Senators announced they’ve reassigned both forwards to AHL Belleville. The move indicates Ottawa will have Tkachuk and/or Pinto back by Saturday. Neither Crookshank nor Jeník scored in last night’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
Feb. 26: Despite a mild three-day break since their first game back from the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Ottawa Senators still required a few extra forwards for tonight’s game. Ottawa announced they’ve recalled Angus Crookshank and Jan Jeník from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.
The two will replace Brady Tkachuk and Shane Pinto in the lineup against the Winnipeg Jets. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like they’ll be needed for long, as multiple reports out of Ottawa indicate Tkachuk and Pinto fully participated in the Senators’ optional skate this morning.
Jeník is the only one of the duo who’s suited up for Ottawa this season. The former high-end prospect for the Arizona Coyotes is in his first year with the Senators organization after being acquired via trade this past offseason. Unfortunately, Jeník’s scoring production has noticeably declined this year. He’s scored seven goals and 13 points in 30 games with AHL Belleville after averaging 0.72 points per game over five years with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners.
Meanwhile, Crookshank has spent the entire 2024-25 campaign with AHL Belleville after making his NHL debut last season. The former 126th overall pick has scored 18 goals and 33 points in 48 AHL contests this year, ranking first on the team in goal-scoring. It will be his first NHL contest since April 2, 2024, should he suit up tonight against the Jets.
Ottawa Senators Reassign Jan Jeník
After playing in his first game since last April, and first with the Ottawa Senators, forward Jan Jeník is headed back to the American Hockey League. The Senators organization announced they’ve reassigned Jenik to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.
Jeník is best known for his time as a higher-end prospect in the Arizona Coyotes organization. The Coyotes drafted him with the 65th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft and he was quickly loaned to the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. He was a point-per-game player in his first year with the Bulldogs and wrapped up his OHL career with a 22-goal, 56-point performance in 27 games during the 2019-20 season.
He transitioned to professional hockey in 2020-21, when he first played for the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. Jeník became an above-average scorer at the AHL level for the next four years but never seemed to find his next level in the NHL. He collected 46 goals and 120 points in 165 games for the Roadrunners from 2020 to 2024 but only had four goals and six points in 22 games for the Coyotes over the same timeline.
Since his future in Arizona was seemingly closing shut, he was traded to the Senators organization this past summer for Egor Sokolov. Jeník quickly signed a one-year, $775K contract with his new team but failed to crack the NHL roster out of training camp.
Due to injuries, he’s been limited to only 13 games with the AHL Senators this season. Still, when healthy, Jeník has been a quietly productive forward scoring four goals and seven points good for 14th on the team in scoring.
Senators Recall Jan Jeník, Nikolas Matinpalo
The Senators summoned forward Jan Jeník and defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville on Monday, per a team announcement. Ottawa only has one open roster spot, so a corresponding move must have been made – likely placing defenseman Travis Hamonic on injured reserve, per PuckPedia.
Jeník’s recall is his first of the season and his first as a Senator. Ottawa acquired his signing rights from the Utah Hockey Club on July 3 for depth winger Egor Sokolov.
Two days later, Jeník put pen to paper on a one-year, two-way contract that pays him $775K in the NHL and $190K in the AHL. He did not make the Senators’ roster out of training camp and cleared waivers on his way to Belleville, where he’s sat injured for most of the season.
The 24-year-old has been healthy for 13 games, posting four goals and three assists for seven points and a +4 rating while quickly racking up 38 PIMs. The 6’1″, 198-lb forward has always been a bit of a pot-stirrer, consistently recording PIM totals north of 50 across full junior and AHL seasons.
Jeník has 22 NHL games under his belt, all coming with the Coyotes in each of the last four seasons. The 2018 third-round pick has four goals and two assists for six points with a -4 rating, posting 27 shots on goal while averaging just south of 10 minutes per game.
The Czech winger/center has consistently been out-chanced at 5-on-5, only controlling 45.5% of shot attempts. That’s partly due to Arizona’s conservative defensive-zone deployment of Jeník during his time in the desert, though. He was a much more significant offensive factor in the minors, where he now has 127 points in 178 career AHL games.
Jeník gives Ottawa an extra forward option for tomorrow’s key matchup against the Red Wings. For now, it’s unclear if he’ll draw into the lineup.
However, Matinpalo almost certainly will. The oft-recalled defender projects to play a third-pairing role on his natural right side alongside Tyler Kleven with Hamonic out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Jacob Bernard-Docker also sustained an injury in Monday’s practice and looks to sit out tomorrow, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports.
Matinpalo, 26, has only managed one appearance for the Sens this season amid a few moves up and down the NHL-AHL wire. He took a minor penalty and skated 10:24 against the Wild on Dec. 29. Outside of that, the defensive-minded Finn has eight points and a -4 rating in 24 games for the B-Sens.
Waiver Wire: 10/6/24
Today is the major day for the waiver wire as most teams in the NHL are preparing the 23-man rosters for the 2024-25 NHL season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed that all players on waivers from yesterday have cleared. The following list is each player placed on waivers this afternoon as reported by PuckPedia.
Boston Bruins
F Patrick Brown
G Brandon Bussi
G Jiri Patera
D Billy Sweezey
F Jeffrey Viel
Buffalo Sabres
D Kale Clague
G James Reimer
F Lukas Rousek
Calgary Flames
G Devin Cooley
F Jakob Pelletier
F Cole Schwindt
Carolina Hurricanes
F Josiah Slavin
D Ty Smith
F Ryan Suzuki
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
F Sheldon Dries
D Justin Holl
D William Lagesson
D Brogan Rafferty
F Joe Snively
Edmonton Oilers
D Josh Brown
F Drake Caggiula
F Raphael Lavoie
G Olivier Rodrigue
Los Angeles Kings
G Pheonix Copley
F Samuel Fagemo
F Jack Studnicka
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
F Shane Bowers
D Nick DeSimone
F Nolan Foote
D Colton White
New York Islanders
D Samuel Bolduc
F Pierre Engvall
F Hudson Fasching
F Liam Foudy
G Marcus Hogberg
D Grant Hutton
F Fredrik Karlstrom
G Jakub Skarek
New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Sebastian Aho
F Bokondji Imama
St. Louis Blues
D Corey Schueneman
D Tyler Tucker
Tampa Bay Lightning
F Gage Goncalves
D Steven Santini
F Jesse Ylonen
Toronto Maple Leafs
G Matt Murray
D Marshall Rifai
Utah Hockey Club
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
F Zach Aston-Reese
F Tanner Laczynski
F Jonas Rondbjerg
Washington Capitals
Winnipeg Jets
Senators Sign Jan Jeník To Two-Way Deal
The Senators have signed right winger Jan Jeník to a two-way deal, according to a team announcement. The deal carries a $775K cap hit and NHL salary with a $190K AHL salary. Ottawa acquired Jeník’s signing rights – he was an RFA – from Utah in a swap Wednesday that sent forward Egor Sokolov the other way.
Jeník, 24 in September, was selected by the Coyotes in the third round of the 2018 draft out of his native Czechia. After splitting the beginning of the 2018-19 season between the first and second leagues in the Czech pyramid, Jeník arrived stateside midseason to play junior hockey with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. It would be another season and a half before he made his NHL debut, receiving a brief two-game call-up during the shortened 2020-21 season. He got off to a hot start, scoring in back-to-back games against the Sharks while averaging 12:05 per game.
However, it wasn’t a sign of things to come. Jeník spent much of the next two seasons in the minors, where he produced well with 47 points in 51 games and 23 points in 30 games in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns with AHL Tucson. It didn’t result in much NHL opportunity, though, as he made only 15 appearances during that time in which he scored twice and added an assist with a -6 rating. That led Jeník to reportedly seek a trade the following summer before eventually relenting and signing a two-way deal to return to Arizona for 2023-24.
Last season again yielded little NHL opportunity for Jeník, limited to one assist and a -1 rating in five games while averaging a paltry 8:23 per contest. His point-per-game production with Tucson also took a hit, decreasing to 0.65 (36 points in 55 games) after putting up 0.92 and 0.77 the prior two years. Now, he officially joins a Senators squad that’s lost some scoring depth this summer, giving him a chance to compete with players like Angus Crookshank, Zack MacEwen and Zack Ostapchuk for a roster spot during training camp. He would require waivers to head to the minors if cut, but he cleared last fall without incident.
Senators Acquire Jan Jeník From Utah
Utah has traded RFA forward Jan Jeník to the Senators, per a team announcement. Another unsigned RFA, forward Egor Sokolov, is heading to Utah in exchange for Jeník.
Jeník, 24 in September, had been with the Coyotes organization since being drafted in the third round in 2018. He’s never broken into a full-time NHL role, although he does have 22 games of experience over the past four seasons. He’s notched four goals and two assists, and a -4 rating in that time, averaging just 9:51 per game.
The Czech forward has been solid on the farm with AHL Tucson, though, peaking with 47 points in 51 games two years ago. He’s put up top-six numbers since, finishing this season with 16 goals and 36 points in 55 games. The move had been a long time coming – he was seeking trade options as far back as last August – and now gets the fresh start he desires in Ottawa.
Utah acquires a player just a few months older in Sokolov, although he wasn’t drafted until 2020 as an over-age selection in the second round. Like Jeník, he’s posted strong AHL numbers without getting an extended NHL look. He trailed off somewhat this past season, though, scoring 21 goals and 46 points in 71 games. It was his lowest per-game average with AHL Belleville since turning pro four years ago.
Both players need new deals, but they’ll come in as cheap two-way agreements over the next little while. The chances of either making their new teams’ rosters are slim, although Jeník arguably has a better chance with Ottawa’s slimmer forward depth and their need for players on six-figure cap hits.
Coyotes Notes: Sale Vote, Raty, Jenik
In an article from Barry Bloom of Sportico, the NHL Executive Committee has approved the relocation of the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City. Although this reaffirms the momentum of relocation from the desert, the NHL Board of Governors, which comprises all 32 teams, still has to vote on the matter.
There is still plenty of work to be done on the rumored sale, as recent reporting from Saturday illustrated that the relocation would become much more complicated. Coming from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports, Arizona’s current owner, Alex Meruelo, will retain the intellectual property rights to the Coyotes franchise, and will be given a five-year window to build an arena and bring an NHL franchise back to the state.
Nevertheless, although the league has yet to make an official statement on the matter, the sale process will now go to the desk of the Board of Governors. With earlier reporting suggesting that the sale could become official as soon as April 18th, the finality of the Coyotes-saga is in sight.
Other Coyotes notes:
- After being recalled on an emergency basis on April 9th, the Coyotes have reassigned forward Jan Jenik to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Over his current stint at the NHL level, Jenik suited up in four games for Arizona, tallying one assist in total while averaging 8:23 of ice time per night. Headed back to Tucson, Jenik has scored 16 goals and 36 points in 54 games for the Roadrunners this season, as he will now assist them on their 2024 Calder Cup playoff run.
- Likely making his NHL debut tonight, the Coyotes have recalled forward Aku Raty from the AHL. In what appears to be a reward for the former 151st overall pick, Raty has become a solid performer in his first season in North America. Playing the entire year with the Roadrunners up to this point, Raty has scored 14 goals and 43 points in 54 games and is currently leading the team after Josh Doan was recalled to the NHL level.