Logan Cooley Among Four Mammoth Facing Injury Updates
The Utah Mammoth issued a string of injury updates on Monday morning, after playing through their first preseason game against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. All injury updates come courtesy of Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Most notably, top center Logan Cooley was designated as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury sustained on a check from behind from Avalanche winger Zakhar Bardakov. Cooley left the ice after the hit, while teammate Lawson Crouse stepped in to fight Bardakov.
In addition to Cooley, forwards Jack McBain and Barrett Hayton have also been dubbed day-to-day with undisclosed injuries. Finally, defenseman Nate Schmidt is expected to be back in the lineup after being previously designated as day-to-day due to maintenance.
Much like the list of injuries, their ramification on Utah’s daily lineup will be a lot to take in. Cooley is set to return to the team’s top-line center role when the regular season kicks off – a spot he cemented with a fantastic 25 goals and 65 points in 75 games last season. He continued the all-star performance into the summer, netting 12 points in 10 games at the World Championship, tying him with Frank Nazar for the scoring lead on a USA squad that went on to win the tournament. Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny told the media, including Bagley, that he didn’t appreciate the blindside hit on Cooley in the preseason opener – and that he’s hoping Cooley’s absence is “really short”.
Those same hopes will be extended to McBain and Hayton, who seem well-set to fill the two center positions behind Cooley. Few details have emerged about either injury, though both players will be worth close attention from the Mammoth faithful. Both set career-highs in scoring while appearing in all 82 games of last season. For Hayton, that was marked by 20 goals and 46 points on the year, while McBain posted 13 goals and 27 points. With no indication otherwise, they should be set to return to camp activities within the week – though missing potentially all three of the lineup’s top centers will be a tough blow even in the short-term.
Utah will find their silver lining through the return of bulky defender Schmidt, who will make his debut with the Mammoth in his next game. He filled a bottom-pair role, and won the Stanley Cup, with the Florida Panthers last season. En route, Schmidt was able to rack up 19 points in 80 regular season games and 12 points in 23 playoff games. He’ll hope to bring his spark from the postseason straight to his new role with the Mammoth. If he can do that, Schmidt could find a way to usurp Ian Cole as the team’s second-pair left-defenseman. If not, he’ll face firm competition for a lineup role from rookie Dmitri Simashev, who scored six points in 56 KHL games last season.
Kings’ Angus Booth, Corey Perry To Miss Several Months With Injury
The Los Angeles Kings will be faced with a pair of long-term injuries out of the gates this season. Depth defenseman Angus Booth is expected to miss “several months” with a lower-body injury per John Hoven and Mayors Manor. Hoven specified that Booth’s timeline will be similar to winger Corey Perry, who underwent knee surgery earlier in the month to address an injury sustained in a late-summer practice.
Perry’s injury will have the most direct effect on the Kings’ lineup. The 40-year-old, soon-to-be Hall-Of-Fame hopeful signed a one-year, $2MM contract with the Kings this summer. He seemed well set to fill an important veteran role in the team’s middle-six, after posting a productive 19 goals and 30 points in 81 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season. Perry also scored 14 points while playing in all 22 games of Edmonton’s run to a Stanley Cup Finals loss. Now, it seems his durability has run slim. It will be a long while before Perry breaks into the Kings’ lineup. When he does, there’s no telling how the aged winger will adjust after another significant lower-body injury.
Booth won’t leave an NHL role in his absence, though his injury will dampen his chances to jump into Los Angeles’ seventh-defender role. He played through his first pro season last year, netting 13 points and 38 penalty minutes in 50 games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. It was a stout year where Booth’s defense-first style seemed to shine. He was a long-shot to break camp with the Kings this season, but could have rivaled players like Samuel Bolduc and Jacob Moverare for a depth role. Instead, he’ll have to wait until closer to the end of the calendar year to earn his chance. Booth should be expected to return to Ontario’s rotation when he’s back to full health.
Western Notes: Sharks, Celebrini, Landeskog
The Sharks were also without right-winger Patrick Giles and defenseman Lucas Carlsson due to injury. Giles (lower-body) is still recovering from an offseason surgery that is expected to hold him out week-to-week, while Carlsson (lower-body) is day-to-day, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. Both players are returning to the Sharks organization this season. Giles played eight games in both the NHL and AHL, before getting shut down by his injury. He scored four goals with the Barracuda and one goal with the Sharks. Carlsson stuck around a bit more – scoring 23 points in 45 games with the Barracuda, and four points in 13 games with the Sharks. It was the second-longest stint he’s had in the NHL, behind the 40 games he played with the Florida Panthers in the 2021-22 campaign. Both players will fight for top-end roles in the AHL when they’re back to full health.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- Star San Jose Sharks centerman Macklin Celebrini missed practice on Friday due to illness, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. It was Celebrini’s second absence, after his illness was initially revealed on Thursday. There seems to be no concerns over his ability to play through the preseason, which will keep the second-year pro on track to return to a major role in the Sharks offense. Celebrini scored 63 points in 70 games last season – setting San Jose’s franchise record for the highest-scoring rookie season.
- Colorado Avalanche fans shouldn’t expect to see captain Gabriel Landeskog on the practice sheet tomorrow. Head coach Jared Bednar told the media that Landeskog will have a scheduled day-off, per Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports. It’s a sensible plan as the 32-year-old continues to work his way back from a long-term, lower-body injury. He played his first games since 2022 back in April, racking up four points in five postseason appearances. The 2025-26 season will mark Landeskog’s first chance to make a return that will stick and, hopefully, rack up strong scoring to boot. In his three most recent regular season appearances, Landeskog scored 59 points in 51 games; 52 points in 54 games; and 44 points in 54 games respectively. That level of lofty playmaking could prove to be an X-factor for Colorado.
Sabres Cut Three Players From Training Camp
Moving quickly toward getting their team down the required 23-man roster, the Buffalo Sabres have returned three prospects to their respective junior programs after the first day of training camp. The Sabres announced that defensemen Simon-Pier Brunet and David Bedkowski, and netminder Samuel Meloche have been cut from the roster.
Brunet will return to the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres after spending the last three years with the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Buffalo selected the 19-year-old with the 123rd overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and he scored eight goals and 32 points in 60 games with a +10 rating last season with the Voltigeurs. The Sabres likely expect a slow-paced development, given that Brunet has already committed to the NCAA’s Merrimack College for the 2026-27 season.
Meanwhile, Bedkowski could take even longer to reach the NHL, if he does. The 6’5″, 220lbs, 18-year-old blue liner spent last year with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack, scoring three goals and seven points in 30 games with a whopping 73 PIMs. The former 71st overall selection of the 2025 NHL Draft makes his presence known by his high-level physical play and his ability to fight.
Like Brunet, Meloche is another QMJHL product, this time with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who has also committed to an NCAA program for the 2026-27 season. Last season, as the Huskies’ starter, Meloche recorded a 30-14-6 record in 51 games with a .900 SV% and 2.90 GAA, along with five shutouts. Meloche, 18, was drafted with the 116th overall pick by the Sabres in the 2025 NHL Draft and has committed to Northeastern University.
Sharks Sign Oliver Wahlstrom To PTO, AHL Deal
5:45 PM: The AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have announced Wahlstrom has signed a minor-league deal with the club. That will serve as his fallback, should he not earn an NHL deal out of camp.
4:15 PM: The San Jose Sharks will soon sign winger Oliver Wahlstrom to a professional try-out contract, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. The report was later confirmed by PuckPedia. Pagnotta points out that Wahlstrom will have an AHL deal to fall back on, should he not earn an NHL contract. He was previously an unrestricted free agent after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Boston Bruins at the start of the summer.
Wahlstrom played his first games outside of the New York Islanders organization midway through last season. After six years of failed attempts to earn an everyday role in the top-nine, the Islanders made the decision to place Wahlstrom on waivers in mid-December. He was claimed by the Bruins the next day, and stuck with Boston for the rest of year, even clearing waivers with the club in February. Wahlstrom split his time between the NHL and AHL Bruins, beginning with 16 games in Boston where he racked up two points and 28 penalty minutes in a bottom-six role. He looked much more electric in 26 games with the Providence Bruins to close the year, netting 19 points and 14 penalty minutes in total.
But even in a move away from New York, Wahlstrom struggled to earn routine NHL minutes. The former 11th-overall selection has fallen a long way since making his NHL debut in 2019. He quickly struggled to score at the NHL level, with 12 goals and 21 points in 44 games of his rookie season standing as the highest scoring pace of Wahlstrom’s pro career. He posted a career-high 13 goals and 24 points in 73 games of his second NHL season, but fell to menial scoring and routine healthy scratches soon after that.
The Islanders rotated Wahlstrom around the lineup, but couldn’t find the right match for his flashy puck-skills and hard shot. Those traits did come to life during his stint with Providence at the end of last season, though. That fact commanded the attention of AHL clubs looking for a boost in scoring. It’s also commanded the attention of one of the NHL’s true bottom-feeders. San Jose is looking to bring in as much veteran presence and leadership as they can, to help guide a roster that’s sure to be one of the youngest in the league. Wahlstrom will be in direct competition for minutes with young wingers like Collin Graf, Ty Dellandrea, Philipp Kurashev, and Quentin Musty. Each of those players face the test of proving they can stick in the NHL. The Sharks will be the beneficiaries of that competition, whether through awarding rookies strong minutes or finding the positives out of struggling veterans. They’ll hope Wahlstrom can be the one to emerge above the rest, and finally bank on his long-lauded potential.
Denton Mateychuk, Four Others Injured To Start Blue Jackets Training Camp
The Columbus Blue Jackets have plans to ease top defense prospect Denton Mateychuk up to speed at the start of training camp as he recovers from a groin injury, per general manager Don Waddell in a recent conversation with Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Portzline added that forwards Jordan Dumais (lower-body) and Max McCue (undisclosed) will both be day-to-day with injury, forward Owen Sillinger (knee) will be held out of contact all camp, and defenseman Luca Marrelli (shoulder) will be out until December. All five players are listed on Columbus’ training camp roster.
This news will make Mateychuk worth that much more attention at this year’s camp. He was generally injury-free during his first pro season, which spanned 27 AHL games and 45 NHL games last season. Mateychuk posted four goals and 13 points in a Blue Jackets jersey, along with 25 points in the minor-leagues. It was an incredibly productive year for the 2022 12th-overall selection, and one that sets him up well to break into the NHL full-time this season. Mateychuk will boast clear top-four upside when he lands with the Blue Jackets, after averaging 18 minutes of ice time last season. He should be a strong option to play behind top defender Zach Werenski, and next to shutdown defender Ivan Provorov.
Columbus’ remaining injuries will help shape the minor-league roster to start the year. Sillinger held a prominent role in the AHL and seems near the top of Columbus’ call-up sheet entering the new year, though he’ll need to fully recover from a late-season injury before he can prove his NHL worthiness. Marrelli and Dumais have each signed their entry-level contracts, though only Marrelli will be eligible to return to the CHL. That will be his likeliest outcome, while Dumais will look to fully stride into the pro ranks after netting 11 points in 21 AHL games last season. Dumais should sit atop the AHL lineup next season, while McCue – another first-year pro who recorded eight points and 122 penalty minutes in 46 AHL games last season – will sit near the bottom of the lineup.
Canadiens Discussing Extension For Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton
The Montreal Canadiens are working on contract extensions for general manager Kent Hughes and executive vice president Jeff Gorton, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Gorton’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, while Hughes is signed through the 2026-27 season, per reports from Sportsnet.
The duo has led Montreal down the course of a rapid rebuild, from the point of three last-place finishes in the Atlantic Division to a surprise playoff bid at the end of last season. That surge has been entirely driven by the additions Hughes has made to the Canadiens lineup. Emerging star defenseman Lane Hutson and 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky – both brought in by Hughes – ranked third and fourth on the team in scoring last season. Hutson even earned the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, after becoming just the second rookie defender to ever reach 60 assists. One of the two players to outscore the young stars was top winger Cole Caufield, who Hughes inked to a lucrative eight-year, $62.8MM contract extension in the summer of 2023.
Solidifying the core pieces of a lineup capable of a playoff push would be enough to earn any rookie GM a new deal. But it’s Hughes’ brazen confidence in making moves that’s truly stood apart from the rest. He continued to make notable additions throughout this summer, on the heels of a big year. Hughes acquired top defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in June, and acquired former first-round pick Zachary Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues on the heels of a 19-goal season. Both additions could have major ramifications on the Canadiens’ lineup next season. Dobson – who posted 70 points in the 2023-24 season – should find a comfortable role at the top of Montreal’s depth chart; while Bolduc will offer a reliable goal-scoring punch from the third-line.
Hughes’ sheer confidence is most readily apparent in the draft. He’s already landed a draft-day steal for the ages in the young Hutson, who fell to 62nd-overall in 2022 despite being lauded as a first-round talent to many public scouts. Hughes also drafted highly-acclaimed goalie prospect Jacob Fowler, NHL legacy centerman Aatos Koivu, and highly-skilled but undersized dynamo L.J. Mooney in the middle-rounds of the last three drafts. He also landed superstar Russian scorer Ivan Demidov with the fifth-overall pick in 2024. Many fans have already questioned how Demidov slipped to the end of the top-five, and he’ll be a front-runner for the Calder Trophy this season, after posting 49 points in 65 KHL games last summer.
No matter how the 2025-26 season goes, it seems hard to deny that Montreal is headed for a bright future. The Canadiens’ roster is expected to enter the season with the youngest average age in the league after having the second-youngest team last year. Despite that, they’ll be popular underdog candidates to break into the postseason once again next summer. A big year out of Hutson, Demidov, and even AHL starter Fowler could go far in showing Hughes what pieces he’ll be working with throughout the next decade. Then, a hardy extension from the Montreal ownership will ensure he stays connected to what he’s built. So long as they stay at the helm, Hughes and Gorton will face the difficult task of extending Hutson, Kirby Dach, and Patrik Laine among others next summer.
Evening Notes: Evangelista, Canadiens Rookies, Cootes
Negotiations between winger Luke Evangelista and the Nashville Predators have begun to stall per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, who reports that yearly salary is what’s created the wedge. Evangelista is one of the top unsigned restricted free agents after players like Connor Zary and Marco Rossi both found new deals. The 23-year-old Evangelista posted an impressive 10 goals and 32 points in 68 games last season. It was a suitable encore to the 16 goals and 39 points he posted in 80 games of the 2023-24 season.
A pair of successful scoring seasons would surely make the player’s camp confident in earning a hardy salary. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger recently signed a two-year, $4.5MM contract extension, while New Jersey Devils forward Dawson Mercer recently signed a three-year, $12MM contract. Those could be the boundaries for a short-term, bridge contract for Evangelista, who has certainly proved he can stick in Nashville’s top nine. Should contract talks continue to stall, the Predators could opt for a one-year, sub-$1MM contract and kick negotiations back to next summer.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Montreal Canadiens have assigned a group of rookies back to their respective leagues after rookie camp came to a close. In turn, Montreal assigned defensemen Carlos Handel to the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, Andrew MacNiel to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, and Bryce Pickford to the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Goaltenders Arseny Radkov and Mikus Vecvanags will return to Russia and Latvia, respectively. The team has also returned a handful of rookie camp invites. All of the moves come as expected, though it rings as exciting news for fans of Medicine Hat and Halifax, as their top defenders return for another season.
- Top Vancouver Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes was absent from the team’s final rookie camp scrimmage on Sunday, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. Drance later added that Cootes was held out for precautionary reasons and will still attend training camp next week. That will keep the reigning 15th overall pick on track to take his first crack at breaking into the NHL. Cootes had a strong season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds last year. He dominated the middle of the ice with quick plays all year long, working up to 63 points and 60 games in total. Cootes seems most likely set for a return to Seattle next season, though a strong training camp could earn him the chance at sticking in the pros for nine games.
Blue Jackets Will Re-Invite A Few Rookies To Training Camp
The good times will keep on rolling for a select few prospects invited to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ rookie camp. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic relays that the team is planning to invite three to five non-roster, rookie camp invitees back to their training camp when it begins this week. The team’s hockey operations department will make decisions on who those few players will be on the bus ride home from the Buffalo Sabres’ Prospects Challenge.
Columbus’ rookie camp roster contained 10 invitees who weren’t previously drafted by the team. The list is led by high-impact collegiate prospects, including Wisconsin Badgers forward Rylan Mosley and Denver Pioneers defenseman Boston Buckberger. Mosley scored at a point-per-game pace through 37 games last season, while offering the prerequisite two-way, physical play required in a Mike Hastings lineup. Buckberger was equally as impactful for his squad, netting 30 points in 41 games while serving as the downhill punch behind the Pioneers’ star defenders. Both players could reasonably carve out low-grade, pro roles as soon as next season. Columbus also invited Michigan forward Joshua Eernisse, Michigan Tech forward Isaac Gordon, and Union forward Tom Richter, who achieved varying levels of college success last season.
The Blue Jackets also invited former scout’s favorite Pano Fimis, who went unselected through eligibility in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 drafts. Fimis was a focal point of the Erie Otters’ offense over the last two seasons, and managed encouraging results – including 32 goals and 86 points in 68 games this season. But he could never prove dynamic enough away from the puck to wow NHL scouts. His rookie camp showings couldn’t be categorized as disappointing, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Columbus gauge the 21-year-old’s AHL-readiness after scoring 253 points in 245 games and five seasons in the OHL. Fimis was the second-overall pick in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection Draft and is currently committed to attend the University of Notre Dame next season.
Blackhawks At Comfortable Spot In Connor Bedard Extension Talks
Despite little mention of a new deal, it doesn’t seem Chicago Blackhawks fans have any reason to worry about not landing an agreement with their lineup star. Connor Bedard shared that he and the Blackhawks have mutual interest in getting a multi-year extension done with NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika during the NHL Media Tour. The young sniper said:
We’re both comfortable with where we’re at. They know I want to be there; I know they want me. So, it’s really not on my mind that much, and I just think when it happens, it’ll happen.
It’s fair to say that Bedard’s extension will have to be unique. The 2023 first-overall pick has filled a distinctly difficult role through two seasons in Chicago. He’s unequivocally the Blackhawks’ top forward, though adapting to a do-it-all role has proven lofty for the 5-foot-10 centerman – especially after two years on a sluggish Regina Pats team. But just like he did in the WHL, Bedard has found his scoring through the struggles. He’s surpassed 60 points in each of his first two seasons, a feat that only two other teenagers – Sidney Crosby and Patrik Laine – have accomplished since 2000.
Reaching further into the bag of superlatives, Bedard’s 128 points in his first 150 games is the third-most recorded by a teenager in the last 10 years, behind Laine and Connor McDavid. He ranks just ahead of Nathan MacKinnon (101 points) and Nico Hischier (99 points). That fact paints a sign of relief for Blackhawks fans worried that Bedard hasn’t broken into the top echelon of scoring just yet. He’s still many, many years away from his prime – and performed at a supreme level for a teenager in the NHL.
But how will that reflect in contract negotiations? Laine opted for a bridge deal after his entry-level deal came to a close, inking a two-year, $13.5MM contract that’d prove to be a proper amount of risk-avoidance. But Laine’s lineup standing, as a goal-dependent winger, can hardly be compared to the firm role that Bedard has already carved out. His standing is much more in-line with players like Hischier or MacKinnon, who each signed seven-year contract extensions after their entry-level deal that carried a cap hit equivalent to 8.9 percent of the salary cap. Using that same marker for Bedard, Chicago could be set to begin negotiations with their young center at a seven-year, $64.8MM contract – which would carry a yearly cap hit of $9.256MM.
On a long-term contract, that deal could be more than worth it. Bedard spent the 2025 summer working alongside many of the NHL’s top emerging youngsters, including Macklin Celebrini and Kent Johnson. While training video is often not an indicator of game performance, it was hard not to notice Bedard’s patented snappy wrist-shot looking a bit stronger, and more deceptive, as he played around some great peers. A summer of honing skills, and a few more years of strength-building, could easily place Bedard in the position of electric goal-scorer that many expect him to fill. He’s already posted two 20-goal seasons in his campaign, and will eye the next rung up the ladder – a 30-goal campaign – next year.
In the meantime, Chicago will sit patient on a deal. Bedard said that he could sign an extension before the season, but may not. If he doesn’t, he’ll have a great chance to a heftier payday on a Blackhawks roster ever so slightly better than their 2024-25 group. Whether it’s sparked by a hot start to the year or a warm reception at training camp, running Bedard’s stay in Chicago through the 2030’s seems to be a matter of when – not if.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports.