Minor Transactions: 8/4/25
As we creep a little closer to training camps starting up, there have been a handful of minor moves around the hockey world recently. We’ll run through those here.
- Veteran goaltender Anton Khudobin has announced his retirement at the age of 39, Shaiba.kz relays. Khudobin spent parts of 14 seasons in the NHL, compiling a 114-92-33 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .916 SV% with six different teams. After spending most of 2022-23 in the minors, he opted to play in Russia but didn’t play much at the VHL or KHL levels. Khudobin didn’t suit up at all last season but has now made his retirement official.
- The Hurricanes’ affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, announced (Twitter link) the re-signing of center Nikita Pavlychev and the signing of defenseman Jacob Friend to one-year contracts. Pavlychev had his best AHL performance last season, picking up 25 points in 63 games after primarily playing in the ECHL for the previous four years. As for Friend, he split last season between playing in Austria and Germany but has three years of playing in the minor pros in North America.
- After being moved in the KHL just a few days ago, Matvei Guskov has a new team once again as he has signed with HK Sochi. The Wild drafted Guskov in the fifth round back in 2019 but he has struggled since then, especially last season where he had just four goals in 38 games spread between three other KHL teams. Sochi’s rosters usually aren’t as deep so Guskov may have a pathway to a bigger role and more production now with this move. Minnesota continues to hold his NHL signing rights indefinitely.
- AHL Rockford, affiliate of the Blackhawks, announced the signing of defenseman Tyson Feist to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old only played in six AHL games last season, spending most of the year with ECHL Orlando where he had 17 points in 57 appearances. However, Feist saw action in 32 AHL contests in 2023-24 and will be looking to see more regular action at that level in 2025-26.
Central Notes: Girard, Milota, Guskov
While Colorado ultimately wasn’t able to re-sign defenseman Ryan Lindgren (who instead inked a four-year deal with Seattle), their efforts to do so called into question the future of Samuel Girard with the team. Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now speculates that the Avalanche could be open to moving the blueliner. While he was deployed as their third defender during the regular season, his usage dropped to third-pairing minutes in the postseason and if head coach Jared Bednar feels that’s the more optimal spot for him moving forward, he’d be a pricey third-pairing player at $5MM through the next two seasons.
Although the Avs are into cap compliance after some offseason shuffling, they could still use some more flexibility on that front, especially with Martin Necas eyeing a significant extension for 2026-27. On the other hand, Girard is one of just two left-shot blueliners in the Avalanche’s top six so if they were to move him, it might be more of a player-for-player swap that would see them get another blueliner in return rather than a true cap-clearing move.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Predators prospect Jakub Milota has been traded in the QMJHL as Cape Breton announced that they traded the netminder to Blainville-Boisbriand. The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2024, going 99th overall and is coming off a decent season with the Eagles that saw him post a 3.22 GAA and a .903 SV% while also earning a late-season ATO with AHL Milwaukee. The Preds have until June 1, 2026 to sign Milota so it’s safe to say 2025-26 will be a key season for him.
- Wild draft pick Matvei Guskov is on the move in the KHL as the league announced earlier this week that he has been traded from Traktor Chelyabinsk to Severstal Cherepovets. The 24-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2019 with Minnesota holding his rights indefinitely with no transfer agreement in place between the NHL and the Russian Hockey Federation. Guskov is coming off a tough year that saw him record just one goal and three assists in 38 games between three different KHL teams.
Minor Transactions: 6/10/23
Transaction activity around the hockey world is starting to pick up with free agency now just three weeks away. Among the activity are some minor moves; we’ll keep tabs on the NHL-related ones here.
- Rangers prospect Cooper Zech has signed a one-year with HC Kosice of the Slovak Extraliga, per a team announcement on Instagram. The 24-year-old defenseman split the season between AHL Rockford and two ECHL teams, getting into just 22 games in total. A pending restricted free agent, New York can retain his rights by issuing a qualifying offer later this month but given his limited success in North America thus far, they might just opt to relinquish his rights.
- Wild prospect Matvei Guskov is on the move in the KHL as Salavat Yulaev announced that they’ve acquired the center from CSKA Moscow. The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2019 (149th overall) and is coming off a year that saw him pick up seven goals in 16 games at the second-tier VHL level while recording nine points in 37 KHL contests. As Russia doesn’t have a signed Player Transfer Agreement with the NHL, Minnesota holds Guskov’s NHL rights indefinitely.
- There was a big trade at the QMJHL draft today as Sherbrooke announced (Twitter link) that Ethan Gauthier was moved to Drummondville for a package of draft picks, including three first-round selections. Gauthier, the son of long-time NHL defenseman Denis Gauthier, had 69 points in 66 games with the Phoenix this season, a performance that could give him a shot at being picked in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft later this month.
- 2017-18 AHL MVP Phil Varone has signed a one-year deal with Dusseldorf EG of the German DEL. The 32-year-old forward is entering his third season in the European pro hockey circuit and has played in Russia, Switzerland, and Kazakhstan. This past year Varone ranked third on KHL side Spartak Moscow in scoring (behind two players who also have NHL experience in Shane Prince and Alexander Khokhlachev) with 30 points in 57 games. Varone has 415 career points in 521 career AHL games and if he’s remotely as successful in Germany as he has been in North America’s minor leagues, he’ll be a major addition to Dusseldorf for the playoff run they’ll hope to go on next season.
- 26-year-old center Dante Salituro, an ECHL All-Star in 2017-18, has signed a contract with EC Hannover Indians, a club in Germany’s third tier of pro hockey. Salituro has scored 134 points in 169 career ECHL games and was among the league’s top scorers just a few years ago. It’s been quite an adventure for him since that point, though. After scoring 61 points in 66 games for the Allen Americans in 2018-19 Salituro, a former top OHL prospect, earned a one-year contract with SaiPa in the Finnish Liiga. That deal contained a tryout period, though, and Salituro played just three games in Finland before leaving the club. He was then traded twice in the 2019-20 ECHL campaign and played for three clubs, failing at each stop to regain his All-Star form. Salituro then spent 2020-21 playing in Norway’s second division with Narvik Hockey before splitting 2021-22 between France and Slovakia. After scoring 25 points in 34 games in his debut season in Slovakia Salituro earned a one-year extension, though this past January he transferred to HC Presov. Now, he’s off to Germany to play third-division hockey with the hope of helping his club advance up the highly competitive German hockey ladder.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Matvei Guskov Signs With London Knights
It’s never too early to start keeping tabs on the top prospects for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, and now teams around the league will be able to get a much closer look at one of the very best. Matvei Guskov, who could potentially go in the first handful of selections next June, has signed with the London Knights of the OHL for the 2018-19 season, according to agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Guskov fell to 42nd in the recent CHL import draft because of doubts he would come to North American this season, but is an incredibly skilled center prospect that should find success quickly in the junior ranks.
This comes after the Knights also convinced Chicago Blackhawks top prospect Adam Boqvist to sign for this season, giving them another elite weapon on the blue line. Evan Bouchard, the team’s captain will also be back after being selected 10th overall by the Edmonton Oilers, unless his training camp is good enough to earn him a spot in the NHL right away. The Knights are notorious for getting players to sign with them unexpectedly, and have developed countless NHL players throughout the years.