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Nathan Legare

New Jersey Devils To Recall Nathan Legare

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According to Ryan Novozinsky of NJdotcom, the New Jersey Devils are reportedly recalling forward Nathan Legare from the AHL’s Utica Comets. James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now confirmed the news.

Since the Devils already have 23 players on the active roster, another roster move is incoming. The likeliest outcome is that New Jersey will place defenseman Simon Nemec on the team’s injured reserve after suffering an injury at practice last week. Assuming the transaction is made retroactive to December 12th, Nemec can return when the Devils take on the Buffalo Sabres on December 21st.

Despite being a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2019 NHL Draft, Legare has spent most of his professional career in the Devils organization. After turning pro for the 2021-22 season, Legare spent the next two years with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 125 games.

He ended up with the Montreal Canadiens for a short time due to his inclusion in the 2023 trade that landed defenseman Erik Karlsson with the Penguins. He registered three goals and nine points in 39 games for the AHL’s Laval Rocket before being sent to the Comets in a minor league swap.

Legare, 24, made his NHL debut with New Jersey last season and has already skated in one game this year, though he’s still searching for his first point. Since joining the organization toward the end of the 2023-24 campaign, Legare has scored 22 goals and 33 points in 105 games with a -12 rating and 158 PIMs.

Devils Recall Nathan Legare, Place Zack MacEwen On IR

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According to a team announcement, the New Jersey Devils have recalled forward Nathan Legare from the AHL’s Utica Comets. Additionally, the team placed Zack MacEwen on injured reserve in a corresponding roster move.

It’s the first recall of the year for the former 74th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. Legare has spent his first 11 games of the 2025-26 season with the Comets, registering one goal and 21 PIMs with a -7 rating.

If Legare plays in the Devils’ next game against the Washington Capitals, it’ll be his first NHL contest in nearly a year. He earned a three-game stint with New Jersey in December of last year, going scoreless. The remainder of his season was spent in Utica, where he scored 17 goals and 25 points in 69 games with 102 PIMs.

Meanwhile, MacEwen lands on the IR for the second time this season, this time with a lower-body ailment. His recent trip on the IR kept him out of the lineup from October 11th to November 10th. Due to repeated injuries, the physical 29-year-old depth forward has only managed three contests with the Devils this season, going scoreless. MacEwen spent the last two years with the Ottawa Senators, where he scored four goals and six points in 51 games while also recording 104 hits.

Devils Re-Sign Nathan Legare To One-Year Deal

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The New Jersey Devils have re-signed forward Nathan Legare to a one-year, two-way, league-minimum contract. Legare spent the bulk of this season in the AHL, where his 102 penalty minutes confidently led the Utica Comets. Legare also played the first three games of his NHL career this season, with a minus-one standing as his only notable stat change.

Legare was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft, following a statement year where he posted 45 goals, 87 points, 52 penalty minutes, and a plus-37 in 68 QMJHL games. Legare also served as an assistant captain on Team Canada’s World U18 Championship roster, and added four goals in seven tournament games. He returned to the QMJHL for the following two seasons, and donned the captaincy for the Bai-Comeau Drakkar in both years. But his scoring took a noticeable dip – with Legare totaling 71 points in 61 games of his age-19 season and 38 points in 33 games of his age-20 season.

Pittsburgh signed Legare to his entry-level contract in 2019, and he played through the first two years of the deal in the AHL in 2021-22 and 2022-23. The pair of years were relatively uneventful – with Legare totaling 35 points, 106 penalty minutes, and a minus-25 in 125 total games. Those numbers weren’t enough to plant his feet, and Pittsburgh oped to trade Legare to the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the 2023-24 season. He was part of a package that also contained Casey DeSmith and Jeff Petry exchanged for Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick. Legare spent one season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket before being dealt to the Devils in a 2024 swap for Arnaud Durandeau.

The deal he receives today is the same one that Legare signed with New Jersey soon after that trade. This re-up will carry the bruising forward through the 2025-26 season in the AHL, and hopefully give him a platform to further develop his pot-stirring identity. Throughout his career, Legare has totaled 72 points and 269 penalty minutes in 248 AHL games.

Devils Recall Seven Black Aces

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Since the Devils’ AHL affiliate in Utica failed to make the Calder Cup Playoffs, New Jersey is beefing up its postseason roster with seven Black Aces. The team announced they’ve recalled forwards Brian Halonen, Mike Hardman, Nathan Legare, Marc McLaughlin, defensemen Topias Vilen, Colton White, and goaltender Isaac Poulter as practice players for the remainder of their playoff run.

While the group is technically available to play postseason games for the Devils if need be, that’s never the purpose behind Black Ace recalls during the postseason. Instead, they’ll skate with the team to extend their season since they’re not getting any AHL action.

The four forwards each got into NHL games for New Jersey in 2024-25. It marked Legare’s NHL debut and Hardman’s and McLaughlin’s Devils debuts. Halonen, an undrafted free agent signing out of Michigan Tech in 2022, made a couple of appearances in January amid a strong minor-league showing. Halonen led Utica in goals (27) and ranked second in points (40) in 62 showings. He signed a two-year, two-way extension last May, so he’ll be back with the club next season, barring a trade.

Hardman also logged a pair of appearances for New Jersey, one in December and one in April. They were his first in the NHL since March 2023 as a member of the Blackhawks. A depth free agent pickup last summer, he’s also under contract through 2025-26. The 26-year-old scored 18-17–35 in 57 AHL games and had a team-high +11 rating.

Legare, 24, made his NHL debut in December with a trio of appearances and recorded a minus-one rating. He’s already on his third NHL organization. A third-round pick of the Penguins in 2019, he was traded to the Canadiens in August 2023 as part of the Erik Karlsson three-team deal. He spent under a full season in Montreal’s system before they traded him to New Jersey in a minor-league swap ahead of last year’s AHL trade deadline. He’s a restricted free agent this summer and is eligible for arbitration.

McLaughlin arrived in Newark at the trade deadline, acquired from the Bruins for defenseman Daniil Misyul. He played in the Devils’ final two games of the regular season and recorded an assist and a minus-one rating. The 25-year-old center had six assists in 16 games for Utica after the trade and will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer, so this could be the end of his short stint as a Devil.

Vilen, 22, has yet to make his NHL debut. New Jersey drafted the rearguard in the fifth round of the 2021 draft and he’s coming off his second full season with Utica. The 6’1″, 194-lb lefty had 1-23–24 with a plus-two rating in 58 games this year and has one season remaining on his entry-level contract.

White was a Devils draft pick back in 2015 and returned to the organization last summer after a two-year stint with the Ducks. He hasn’t played in the NHL since logging a career-high 46 appearances for Anaheim in 2022-23. The 27-year-old depth piece rediscovered his game in Utica after a tough second year with Anaheim’s affiliate in San Diego, posting 4-17–21 in 61 games with a plus-one rating.

Poulter has been on the Devils’ roster more than a few times over the past two seasons as an emergency recall and, despite dressing as a backup for regular-season action, hasn’t touched the ice. He posted a .898 SV%, 2.86 GAA, one shutout, and a 16-13-7 record in 36 showings for Utica this year.

Devils Activate Nathan Bastian From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Devils announced Tuesday that they’ve activated right-winger Nathan Bastian from long-term injured reserve. After recalling goaltender Isaac Poulter earlier this morning, New Jersey had a full active roster, so they reassigned right-winger Nathan Legare to AHL Utica in a corresponding transaction.

Bastian, 27, has not played since sustaining a jaw injury in a fight with Flames left-winger Ryan Lomberg on Nov. 1. The Devils retroactively placed him on LTIR on Nov. 18, per the league’s media site, removing him from the active roster and giving themselves a little extra spending flexibility in the process with the physical winger expected to miss more than the 10-game, 24-day minimum required.

It ended up being a 16-game, 39-day absence for Bastian, who will reprise a fourth-line role alongside Justin Dowling and Tomáš Tatar in his return tonight against the Maple Leafs, per the team’s Catherine Bogart. Before getting hurt, the 6’4″, 205-lb forward had two goals and three assists for five points in 12 games, averaging 10:29 per night.

The Devils are nearly $1MM over the cap after the trio of transactions today, so they’ve presumably shifted center Curtis Lazar and his $1MM cap hit from standard IR to LTIR to re-open their pool and remain compliant. The 29-year-old hasn’t played since late October and is out indefinitely after undergoing a procedure on his knee.

Bastian, a second-round Devils pick back in 2016, has played all but 12 of his 217 career NHL games in a New Jersey uniform. He was exposed in the 2021 expansion draft and claimed by the Kraken but ended up on waivers less than two months into his tenure with Seattle and was re-claimed by the Devils.

The Kitchener, Ontario, native is in the second season of the two-year, $2.7MM deal he signed to remain a Devil after being non-tendered in 2023. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Legare, 23, returns to Utica after appearing in his first three NHL contests this month. The 6’0″, 205-lb Montreal native logged a -1 rating, three shots, one block, and 12 hits while averaging 10:41 per game, although he’s still looking for his first NHL point.

A third-round pick of the Penguins in 2019, Legare is already on his third NHL organization after being traded twice last season. He had three goals and 47 PIMs in 18 games with Utica before the call-up, and since his stay on the roster lasted less than 30 days and 10 games, he didn’t require waivers to head back to the minors.

Devils Recall Mike Hardman, Nathan Legare; Assign Shane Bowers

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The New Jersey Devils have recalled forwards Mike Hardman and Nathan Legare, and assigned forward Shane Bowers. Bowers will head back to the minors after a week on the NHL roster. He stepped into three games on this call-up, recording no socring, a -2, and two penalty minutes while averaging a little over eight minutes of ice time.

New Jersey will swap out the unproductive Bowers with veteran minor-leaguers Hardman and Legare. Only the former has played in the NHL, stepping into 37 games with the Chicago Blackhawks between 2020 and 2023. He scored three points in his first eight career games, but only added two assists in the proceeding 29. Hardman has also amassed 174 games across four seasons in the AHL. He started his career there with similar productivity – netting 32 points in his first 43 games – but he’s only added 63 points in 131 games since. Legare has been even less productive, with just three points, all goals, in 18 games this season. He’s managed just 50 points in four seasons and 197 career games in the AHL.

Hardman seems to be the more likely of the two to step into the lineup, receiving a well-timed call-up after winning the AHL’s ’Player of the Week’ award with seven points in a three-game span.

Hardman’s call-up comes at a good time, just days after he won the AHL’s ’Player of the Week’ award with seven points in a three-game span last week. His NHL precedent likely makes him New Jersey’s next-man-up, though both call-ups could line up with New Jersey bearing with injuries to Curtis Lazar, Nathan Bastian, and Tomas Tatar.

Waiver Wire: 10/4/24

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman all 17 players on waivers yesterday have cleared. There are again several players to hit the wire today as reported by Friedman:

Anaheim Ducks

F Jansen Harkins

Boston Bruins

G Michael DiPietro
F Vinni Lettieri
D Jordan Oesterle

Florida Panthers

F William Lockwood

Los Angeles Kings

F Taylor Ward

New Jersey Devils

F Justin Dowling
F Mike Hardman
F Samuel Laberge
F Nathan Légaré
F Maxwell Willman

Philadelphia Flyers

F Olle Lycksell
F Anthony Richard

Pittsburgh Penguins

F Emil Bemström
D Nate Clurman
F Jonathan Gruden
F Joona Koppanen
D Filip Král
D John Ludvig
F Samuel Poulin

Tampa Bay Lightning

G Matt Tomkins

Toronto Maple Leafs

F Alex Steeves

Washington Capitals

D Ethan Bear
F Luke Philp
F Michael Sgarbossa

Devils Re-Sign Maxwell Willman, Nathan Légaré

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The Devils announced Tuesday that they’ve re-signed forwards Maxwell Willman and Nathan Légaré to one-year, two-way deals with matching $775K cap hits and NHL salaries. Per the team, Willman will earn a $275K AHL salary with $300K guaranteed, while Légaré will earn an AHL salary of $85K.

Willman, 29, returns for his second season in New Jersey. He played in 18 games last season in fourth-line call-up duties, scoring three goals and adding an assist while averaging a minuscule 8:20 per game. It was his first extended NHL action since appearing in 41 games for the Flyers in 2021-22.

He spent a solid chunk of the season on assignment to AHL Utica, where he had arguably his best offensive season as a professional. The former Brown and Boston University forward had 12 goals and 22 points in 32 contests with Utica, reaching a career-high 0.67 points per game in the AHL. The Massachusetts native was only used as injury insurance this season, though, and likely isn’t in consideration for a spot in next season’s opening night lineup. It’s still a nice bit of financial insurance for the veteran, who lands his highest guaranteed salary to date.

Like Willman, Légaré is almost definitely headed for Utica next season. The 23-year-old was a third-round pick of the Penguins back in 2019 but is already on his third NHL organization, heading to the Canadiens in last summer’s Erik Karlsson three-way trade before landing with New Jersey in a minor-league swap in March. The Montreal native was wrapping up his entry-level contract and received just a $15K bump in his minors salary. In 57 games with AHL Laval and Utica this season, the right winger struggled to produce, limited to eight goals and 12 points with a -10 rating.

Willman will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025, while the Devils will retain control over Légaré as a restricted free agent. Both will need to clear waivers to head to Utica if cut from the roster during training camp.

Devils Acquire Nathan Légaré From Canadiens

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The Devils swapped out minor-league forwards on Monday, acquiring Nathan Légaré from the Canadiens in exchange for Arnaud Durandeau. In the one-for-one deal, Legare will report to AHL Utica, and Durandeau will report to AHL Laval.

This is the second time both wingers have been traded in the last year. Légaré, a 2019 third-round pick of the Penguins, was sent to Montreal to balance out contracts in last summer’s three-team swap revolving around Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. Durandeau, a 2017 sixth-round pick of the Islanders, was acquired by New Jersey in November for minor-league forward Tyce Thompson.

Neither player lived up to expectations with their previous organization. Légaré, 23, carries intrigue as a 6-foot, 205-lb power winger who scored over a point per game in three straight QMJHL seasons with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Val-d’Or Foreurs between 2019 and 2021. He hasn’t been able to elevate himself out of a bottom-six role in the minors, however, and is having the worst offensive season of his AHL tenure with six goals and nine points in 39 games with Laval, along with a -10 rating.

Durandeau is older at 25 but has shown much more offensive promise at the professional level. The Montreal native broke out for 24 goals and 55 points in 68 games with AHL Bridgeport last season but got off to a rough start in 2023-24, scoring once through his first 12 games. Things improved in Utica, but not by much, scoring three goals and 14 points in 26 games. He’ll look to give himself a fresh start closer to his hometown.

Since this trade was executed past the March 8 deadline, neither player is eligible to suit up for their new NHL club down the stretch. However, they’ll both be able to play for their new farm teams down the stretch and participate in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Both players are pending RFAs and will remain under team control if they receive qualifying offers. Légaré is nearing completion of his three-year, entry-level contract and currently earns $70K in the minors, while Durandeau is completing a two-year, two-way deal that pays him a minors salary of $100K with a $125K guarantee. As such, the Devils save a minor amount of actual cash in this transaction.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Montreal Canadiens

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Montreal Canadiens.

Who are the Canadiens thankful for?

Mike Matheson

Mike Matheson has had a tale of two careers.

He was good in his first few seasons in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, showcasing his terrific skating and his ability to carry the puck out of the defensive zone. But shortly after signing an eight-year extension the warts in his game began to show and he became a lightning rod for criticism in the Sunshine State.

It wasn’t long after that Matheson was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Colton Sceviour for Patric Hornqvist. Matheson was able to rehabilitate his game and looked like a good fit with the Penguins long-term. However, Penguins general manager Ron Hextall inexplicably wanted to change up the Penguins’ defense and in one day bulldozed his defense core by trading John Marino to New Jersey and Matheson to the Canadiens. Both trades have been a disaster for the Penguins, but the Matheson one stings for several reasons.

Since coming over to Montreal, the 29-year-old Matheson has dressed in 79 games, during that time he has 13 goals and 42 assists and has averaged almost 25 minutes a night in ice-time. He has been a catalyst for the Canadiens offense, and a mentor to many of Montreal’s young defensemen.

Although he has dealt with some injury issues, Matheson has been a driving force for the Canadiens and one that should continue to be an important piece for them in the coming seasons.

What are the Canadiens thankful for?

The Jeff Petry trades.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens made a trade back in July 2022 that sent defenseman Matheson to Pittsburgh in exchange for veteran defenseman Petry and Ryan Poehling. It was a questionable trade at the time for the Penguins as they were giving up a much younger defenseman for a 36-year-old defender with an inflated cap hit. A year after the deal, it’s safe to say that the trade was an absolute heist by the Canadiens. Jeff Petry has been traded twice since the original trade and Poehling was non-tendered and signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Petry was traded by the Penguins to the Canadiens this past August in a move that Pittsburgh had to make to facilitate the Erik Karlsson trade. The Penguins traded Petry, goalie Casey DeSmith, forward Nathan Legare and a 2025 second-round pick in exchange for Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick. Hoffman was then moved to the Sharks and Pitlick has toiled in the AHL.

The trade was a great move for Montreal to acquire two futures while unloading two bad contracts. But they weren’t done yet. The Canadiens then traded Petry to the Detroit Red Wings for little-used defenseman Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2025. Finally, Montreal was able to complete the trade tree by shipping DeSmith to the Vancouver Canucks for Tanner Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick.

When all was said and done, the Canadiens were able to turn Pitlick, Hoffman, and a retained salary on Petry into Legare, Pearson, Lindstrom, and three 2025 draft picks. It was a creative move by Montreal, that will help them continue to build up their farm system or allow them to acquire additional players should they be more of a contending team in 2025.

What would the Canadiens be even more thankful for?

A Josh Anderson resurgence.

Many critics panned the Canadiens’ trade for Anderson back in October 2020 and for good reason, the trade was followed by the announcement of a seven-year $38.5MM extension that seemed like a massive overpay. In hindsight, it probably was, given that Anderson is carrying a $5.5MM cap hit and hasn’t come close to the 47 points he put up during the 2018-19 season. Since joining Montreal, Anderson has topped out at 32 points (twice), but he did have 40 goals over the two seasons before the start of the 2023-24 season.

This year has seen Anderson struggle more than he has in previous seasons. Through 31 games, the 29-year-old has just four goals and five assists and has been a drag on almost everyone he has played with this season. It’s been a frustrating season for the Burlington, Ontario native, one that he has acknowledged publicly. Just two nights ago, Anderson had an incredible game against the New York Islanders in which he scored two goals and was named the first star of the game. Afterwards, during a post-game interview, Anderson was serenaded by the Canadiens faithful and seemed genuinely humbled by the applause. With any luck, Anderson can use the game to catapult himself back to the heights he experienced when he put up 27 goals with the Columbus Blue Jackets five years ago.

If he can get back to his game, it could go a long way to the Canadiens making an unlikely push for a playoff spot in the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference.

What should be on the Canadiens holiday wish list?

A goal-scoring forward.

The Canadiens forwards need to score more as they rank near the bottom of the NHL in goals and are currently on pace to not have a single 25-goal scorer. Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki both registered 26 goals last year but have just eight each thus far through 31 games, while Sean Monahan and Brendan Gallagher are far removed from the back-to-back 30-goal seasons, they each enjoyed from 2017-2019.

The Canadiens need a game-breaker, which is much easier said than done. Most teams are looking for this type of scorer and they are almost impossible to acquire in today’s NHL. The Canadiens do have a surplus of young defensemen they could choose to trade from, but they would need to find a trading partner that is interested in trading away one of the most coveted pieces in today’s NHL.

The Canadiens have been patient with their rebuild and have made some savvy moves to acquire good young prospects and defensive depth. At some point in the near future, they are going to have to take a risk on an offensively gifted forward. Whether that happens via trade or free agency remains to be seen but they will need to acquire a forward that can put the puck in the net.

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