Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nikolas Matinpalo

Senators Sign Nikolas Matinpalo To Two-Year Extension

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Senators announced they’ve signed defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo to a two-year extension worth $1.75MM. He was set to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He’ll carry a cap hit of $875K for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.

It’s an important depth signing for Ottawa. Matinpalo emerged as a regular in the lineup down the stretch, playing in 23 of 25 games coming out of the 4 Nations break. Largely replacing struggling veteran Travis Hamonic’s minutes, the 26-year-old Matinpalo was used up and down the lineup but mainly in third-pairing duties with Tyler Kleven. He finished the year with four points and a minus-two rating in 41 regular-season games after making just four NHL appearances the year prior, his first in North America after signing with Ottawa as an undrafted free agent the preceding offseason.

While Matinpalo’s regular-season possession impacts were pedestrian and he averaged a paltry 12:37 per game, his performance took off in the playoffs. He played all six games in Ottawa’s first-round loss to the Maple Leafs, and his unit with Kleven was Ottawa’s best defensively out of their three regular pairings at even strength. In fact, they were the Sens’ only pairing to outscore Toronto at even strength (3-2) and controlled 55.3% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.

Now on his way to represent Finland at the World Championship, the 6’3″, 212-lb righty will be penciled onto Ottawa’s opening night roster in the fall. Whether he’s in the lineup or the press box out of the gate remains to be seen, but he’s done enough to secure an NHL paycheck for the next couple of years. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry in 2027.

Image courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.

Nick Cousins Returns to Senators Lineup

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins has been activated from LTIR and is in the lineup for today’s afternoon tilt against the Flyers, per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. It represents his first game action since suffering a knee injury in late January. He is skating on a Sens’ third line alongside center Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio.

Originally expected to miss three months with the injury, GM Steve Staios recently stated the 31-year-old Cousins has been “attacking his rehab,” and he now returns ahead of his recovery timeline and in time to help make an impact in the playoffs. Cousins will provide the Sens with a reliable bottom-six option for their playoff lineup, as well as a trustworthy penalty killer. In his career, Cousins has appeared in 63 playoff contests and helped the Panthers capture the Stanley Cup just last season. In 47 games this season, Cousins has produced five goals, 13 points, 80 hits, and 24 blocked shots while averaging just under 12 minutes of ice time per game.

Coach Travis Green told reporters Saturday that he’s happy to see Cousins return to the lineup but added he will be rusty and that the team will have to get him up to speed.

Garrioch adds that forwards David Perron and Ridly Greig and defenders Nikolas Matinpalo and Nick Jensen are out of the lineup today, while Cousins, Angus Crookshank, Dennis Gilbert and Travis Hamonic are all playing. As Garrioch notes, Jensen has been playing with an unspecified lower-body injury for some time, and with the Sens already locked into a playoff spot, now serves as good time to give the veteran some recovery time. With Jensen and Matinpalo out, the door was opened for Hamonic and Gilbert to return to the lineup. Hamonic, who has played in 56 games this season and recorded six points and -17 rating, is skating on the team’s second pairing with Thomas Chabot, while Gilbert is skating with Tyler Kleven on the team’s third pairing. Gilbert has skated in 26 games this season and has recorded five points.

While the other absences from today’s game don’t appear to be serious in nature, Green noted the team is also not mailing in these final games of the season, per Garrioch. Green added that experienced teams understand that the intensity picks up in the playoffs, so he’ll look for his team to continue to showcase that energy in the final games of the season. It’s also one of the reasons the team recently recalled winger Hayden Hodgson to add some physicality to the lineup.

Senators Recall Jan Jeník, Nikolas Matinpalo

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

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.

Senators Reassign Nikolas Matinpalo

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Senators announced Friday that they’ve reassigned defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo to AHL Belleville. With no corresponding transaction, Ottawa’s active roster is now at 22 players.

Matinpalo, 26, had been on the Senators’ roster since last weekend. He’s been around as an extra option on and off over the past few weeks with Artem Zub sidelined with a foot fracture, but after the Russian veteran returned to action last night against the Stars, his services are no longer needed.

Now in his second season in North America, Matinpalo made his season debut on this latest recall, skating 10:24 and taking a minor penalty in a win over the Wild on Dec. 29. The stay-at-home defender has spent most of the campaign in Belleville, where he has two goals and five assists for seven points with 10 PIMs and a minus-four rating.

Checking in at 6’3″ and 212 lbs, Matinpalo arrived in Ottawa in the summer of 2023 as an undrafted free agent signing from Finland’s Ässät. He skated in four contests for the Sens last year in a depth role, logging a plus-one rating and a pair of shots on goal while averaging a paltry seven minutes per game. He was quite effective in a shutdown role in the minors, posting a team-high +15 rating in 67 games for the B-Sens along with 14 points.

Matinpalo became waiver-eligible this season. Since he’s been rostered for under 30 days and played fewer than 10 NHL games since clearing during the preseason, he doesn’t need them again for today’s transaction.

Ottawa Senators Recall Nikolas Matinpalo, Place Three On IR

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Ottawa Senators announced they’ve recalled depth defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. The roster move marks the second time in three weeks that Matinpalo has been recalled to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman.

Ottawa had to make additional roster moves given that Matinpalo is the fifth player recalled by the organization in the last 24 hours. TSN’s Steve Lloyd reported that the Senators have retroactively placed David Perron, Anton Forsberg, and Artem Zub on the team’s injured reserve opening up the necessary roster spots. Perron and Zub reportedly returned to practice yesterday meaning Matinpalo’s time on the active roster should be short-lived.

Matinpalo is in his second year with the Senators organization signing back-to-back one-year contracts out of the Finnish Liiga. He was a quality two-way defenseman for the AHL Senators last year scoring four goals and 14 points in 67 games with a +15 rating. He went scoreless through his first seven AHL postseason contests but still finished with a positive +1 rating.

The Espoo, Finland also debuted in the NHL last year skating in four games for Ottawa from late October through early November. He was rarely used during those contests shouldering seven minutes of ice time a night on average but still found the time to deliver four hits.

He’s had a small uptick in scoring this year in the AHL with two goals and seven points in 23 games but isn’t expected to greatly extrapolate on last season’s totals. He’ll continue to serve as Ottawa’s seventh defenseman for the time being with the team four games through a nine-game road trip.

East Notes: Matheson, Laine, Ovechkin, Matinpalo

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Montreal Canadiens tweeted that defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Patrik Laine will not take part in today’s team practice. The tweet wasn’t overly detailed and described their absences as a “Therapy day.”

The Canadiens have been cautious with Laine as he just returned from injury and has played just four games this season. The former second-overall pick suffered a knee injury in the preseason and there were concerns he could miss the entire season. However, the 26-year-old fortunately was able to recover without surgery and missed just two and a half months of action. Laine has been sensational since returning, posting three goals and an assist.

There are no further details on Matheson at this time, but the 30-year-old did miss two games at the end of November with a lower-body injury. Matheson has been terrific once again this season for Montreal, registering two goals and 13 assists in 26 games.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Washington Capitals injured superstar Alex Ovechkin skated this morning as he tries to work his way back into game action (as per Tom Gulitti from NHL.com). Ovechkin skated in a non-contact jersey and had former teammate Nicklas Backstrom join him on the ice in a track suit. The 39-year-old Ovechkin is trying to overcome a fractured fibula that has kept him out of action since November 18th. Ovechkin had seven goals in the five games prior to the injury as he closes in on the NHL’s all-time goals record.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced that they have loaned defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo to the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League. Matinpalo was recalled yesterday, but is being returned to Belleville as his shuttling back and forth continues. Matinpalo has yet to play an NHL game this season but did dress in four games last season. This year, the 26-year-old has dressed in 17 AHL games, picking up two goals and four assists.

Minor Transactions: 12/10/24

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As usual, there have been a handful of minor moves around the hockey world today.  Here’s a rundown of the ones that haven’t been previously mentioned.

  • The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve once again recalled Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. The 26-year-old has been shuffled back and forth in recent days but has yet to see any game action with Ottawa in 2024-25 but got into four games with the big club last season.  Matinpalo has played in 17 games with Belleville this season, collecting two goals and four assists, nearly halfway to his point production from 2023-24.
  • Hurricanes prospect Anttoni Honka will be staying overseas next season. HC Ajoie of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed him to a two-year contract that begins in 2025-26.  The 24-year-old is playing for Ajoie this season while on loan from Carolina, the second straight year he has played overseas despite being on an NHL agreement; he suited up for JYP in Finland last season.  This is the final year of Honka’s entry-level deal and considering he has already decided to stay in Switzerland, there’s a good chance he’ll be non-tendered this summer.  Honka was selected late in the third round in 2019.
  • Still with Carolina, the Hurricanes have re-assigned defenseman Ty Smith to AHL Chicago, per a team release. Smith has been shuffled back and forth throughout the season while spending time in a seventh defender role at times with Carolina but has yet to get into an NHL game this season.  The 24-year-old has three goals and four helpers in seven games with the Wolves so far.
  • Former NHL winger Brendan Perlini has found a place to play this season. Spartak of the KHL announced that they’ve inked the 28-year-old for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.  Perlini has 262 career NHL games under his belt over parts of five seasons with four different teams, collecting 50 goals and 31 assists over that span.  He spent the last two years exclusively at the AHL level, however, and picked up nine goals and 11 assists in 37 games with AHL Charlotte last season.
  • A day after being sent down, Max Sasson has been recalled by the Canucks, the team announced (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has two assists in seven games in his first taste of NHL action this season.  Sasson also has nine points in 16 games with AHL Abbotsford.  His demotion allowed Vancouver to bank a tiny bit more cap space as they look to avoid dipping into using LTIR.

East Notes: McCabe, Matinpalo, Deslauriers

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe will miss Wednesday’s tilt against the Predators with an upper-body injury, head coach Craig Berube told reporters including David Alter of The Hockey News.

It will be the second game in a row McCabe has missed with the injury, which he sustained after taking a puck to the head/neck area against the Lightning last Saturday. McCabe said yesterday that he’d be “good to go” against Nashville, but Berube said today the blue-liner still “isn’t feeling right.” It’s unknown whether he’s in concussion protocol.

Fresh off signing a five-year, $23.5MM extension in October, the 31-year-old McCabe has been one-half of the best shutdown defense pairing in hockey alongside free-agent pickup Chris Tanev. Together, the duo is allowing just 1.3 expected goals against per 60 minutes, the fewest in the league by a country mile among pairings with at least 180 minutes of ice time together this season.

Offensively, McCabe has only five assists in 23 games, but he leads the team with a +11 rating and is second in both blocks (46) and hits (52). The Wisconsin native is also averaging a career-high 21:20 per game. Frequent healthy scratch Philippe Myers is projected to remain in a fringe top-four role alongside Morgan Rielly tonight, per Mark Masters of TSN, while Oliver Ekman-Larsson shifts back to his natural left side to skate alongside Tanev in place of McCabe.

There’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Recent Senators call-up Nikolas Matinpalo is absent from practice today due to an illness, per Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. Ottawa elevated the 26-year-old from AHL Belleville yesterday to serve as an additional right-shot option with Artem Zub landing on long-term injured reserve, but it doesn’t appear he’ll be an option on Thursday against the Red Wings. The 6’2″ Finn likely would have sat in the press box anyway with Jacob Bernard-Docker, Travis Hamonic and Nick Jensen still all available on the right side.
  • Flyers enforcer Nicolas Deslauriers left today’s practice session early due to an undisclosed injury, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. Head coach John Tortorella told reporters that something “tightened up” and didn’t necessarily call his departure precautionary, so it’s fair to call him questionable for for tomorrow’s home game against the Panthers. It won’t make much of a difference – the 33-year-old has been a healthy scratch for 10 games in a row and hasn’t played since Nov. 9. He has one assist in seven appearances this season with one fight while averaging a career-low 6:05 per game.

Senators Recall Nikolas Matinpalo

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Senators announced they’ve recalled right-shot defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. He’ll serve as Ottawa’s extra defender for the time being while lefty Donovan Sebrango, whom they summoned last week before scratching him for three straight games, returned to the minors in a corresponding move.

Matinpalo has four career NHL games, all coming in an Ottawa uniform last season. The Sens signed the 26-year-old Finn as an undrafted free agent from Liiga’s Ässät in 2023, playing him mostly with Belleville since.

A defensive-minded blue liner with good size at 6’3″ and 212 lbs, Matinpalo averaged just seven minutes per game across last year’s early-season call-up. He recorded a +1 rating, two shots, two blocks, and four hits while controlling 53.6% of shot attempts at even strength, but he’s still looking for his first NHL point.

In 84 games for the B-Sens since the beginning of last season, Matinpalo has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points with a +13 rating. He signed a one-year, two-way extension in June, shortly before his one-year entry-level agreement was set to expire.

Meanwhile, Sebrango’s first NHL recall ends without incident. The 22-year-old, whom Ottawa acquired from the Red Wings in 2023’s Alex DeBrincat trade, is on pace for the best season of his five-year professional career with six points in 14 games for Belleville this year.

Sebrango, a third-round pick of Detroit in 2020, is set to be a restricted free agent next summer. The 6’1″, 220-lb lefty will likely stay out of NHL action until an injury affects one of the Sens’ other lefties – with their injury-related absence being righty Artem Zub, it made sense to swap Sebrango for Matinpalo on the active roster. Matinpalo will require waivers to return to Belleville if he remains on Ottawa’s roster for over 30 days or plays 10 or more games.

Senators Sign Nikolas Matinpalo To Two-Way Extension

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Senators have signed Nikolas Matinpalo to a one-year, two-way extension worth $775K in the NHL and $200K in the AHL, per a team release. The defenseman will return for his second Sens training camp in the fall.

Matinpalo, 26 in October, had a respectable first campaign in North America in 2023-24. An undrafted free agent signing out of Liiga’s Ässät last summer, he made only four appearances for Ottawa but had a great season with AHL Belleville. A 6’3″ right-shot defensive defenseman, Matinpalo led the B-Sens with a +15 rating and added four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 67 games.

It’s hard to take much of anything from Matinpalo’s minuscule NHL sample size, though. He played just 28 minutes total across his four contests but managed a +1 rating, two shots on goal, two blocked shots and four hits. With him on the ice at even strength, the Sens controlled 53.6% of shot attempts.

Matinpalo was slated for restricted free agency this summer and was eligible for salary arbitration. Instead, the defensively sound Finn gets a nice minor-league pay bump and should give them solid play as a stopgap third-pairing option if needed in the NHL. He’ll be an RFA again upon expiry next summer.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top