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Scott Sabourin

Lightning Recall Scott Sabourin, Assign Mitchell Chaffee

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled forward Scott Sabourin and assigned forward Mitchell Chaffee to the AHL. Chaffee cleared waivers earlier on Tuesday. Sabourin will serve the final game of a four-game suspension picked up during the preseason, making him eligible to return to the NHL lineup as soon as Thursday.

Tampa Bay has been strategic with Sabourin’s call-ups. He’s served his suspension gradually, over the course of multiple call-ups, while also appearing in five games for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. He’s racked up two points, seven penalty minutes, and a plus-two in those appearances. It’s a relatively meager stat line for the usually-chippy Sabourin, who ranked second on the San Jose Barracuda with 111 penalty minutes in 65 games last season. He led the Barracuda with 192 PIMs in 2024, and led the Belleville Senators with 177 PIMs in 2023.

Sabourin has only stepped into 12 NHL games since his rookie season ended in 2020. He has two points and 25 PIMs in the limited appearances. He’s otherwise been a core piece of lineups across the AHL, offering imposing size and an old-school enforcer style. Tampa Bay could lean on that hard-nosed presence to turn around their 3-4-2 start to the season, though Sabourin would need to leapfrog Yanni Gourde or Dominic James to crack into the Lightning lineup.

Meanwhile, Chaffee will head to the minor-leagues after appearing in the first seven games of Tampa Bay’s season. He recorded no scoring and 19 hits in those appearances. This move will push Chaffee towards his first AHL games since the 2023-24 season, when he posted 26 points in 36 AHL games and seven points in 30 NHL games. That scoring was enough to earn the Michigan-native a full season with the Lightning last year. He marked it with 12 goals and 18 points in 66 games, though couldn’t keep that scoring up through this season. Chaffee has 25 points in 105 career NHL games, and 89 points in 123 career AHL appearances.

Evening Notes: Reichel, Sharangovich, Lightning

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Having been dealt today to Vancouver in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick, Pierre LeBrun of TSN had an interesting note on Lukas Reichel, that the former top prospect had asked for a trade out of Chicago. Lebrun added that according to Reichel’s agent, it had been a long-time discussion, but that things were amicable as both sides worked peacefully through the process. 

As has been discussed, a fourth-round pick may feel underwhelming for Chicago fans, but the German native has just not been able to establish himself, never surpassing the 22-point mark in a season. On the flip side though, Reichel, still just 23, seems like a very solid low-risk addition for Vancouver. Even if the change of scenery does not pan out into Reichel becoming a true top-six forward, his skating ability and effort level could be useful in any team’s bottom six. Many in his mold have evolved and simplified their games to stick in the NHL, and it will be interesting to see what comes of the former first-round pick. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Derek Wills, voice of the Calgary Flames, shared today that Yegor Sharangovich is expected to draw back into the lineup tonight in Winnipeg. The forward was scratched for the last two games, after putting up just one assist in 6 games. Given the brutal start for Calgary so far, currently last in the league, there is perhaps nothing to lose to try and get the skilled winger going, who broke out two years ago as a Flame, scoring 31 goals. Especially as Sharangovich seems set in Calgary for the foreseeable future, in year one of a five-year contract worth $5.75MM per year. 
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-assigned Scott Sabourin to AHL Syracuse, and in a corresponding move, they welcomed back Zemgus Girgensons, who has been activated, as Head Coach Jon Cooper told Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. Girgensons is expected to make his season debut tomorrow. Meanwhile Sabourin, 33, will bring a veteran presence and a physical edge to the Crunch. He did not appear in a game for the Bolts, but the undrafted grinder has 47 NHL games to his name. Off to a poor start, Tampa Bay will look to turn the corner and silence any early speculation that the club’s long sustained success may be on the downturn. 

Atlantic Notes: Sabourin, Woll, Shanahan

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The Tampa Bay Lightning recalled forward Scott Sabourin from their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, today. The move is the second recall for Sabourin in this early portion of the season, and has been made, presumably, with the intention of allowing the veteran to serve the four-game suspension he was levied in the preseason. Sabourin was recalled on Oct. 17 and was on the Lightning’s roster for two games. As he will be on the roster for tonight’s Lightning game against the Chicago Blackhawks, after tonight, Sabourin will have to serve one more game before he is eligible to dress for NHL games once again.

Sabourin’s suspension does not apply to the AHL, though, where he has played all of this season so far. The 33-year-old is off to a decent start in Syracuse, scoring one goal and an assist in four games. Sabourin spent almost all of 2024-25 in the AHL as well, scoring 25 points in 68 games for the San Jose Barracuda, racking up 111 penalty minutes in the process. A pending UFA this upcoming summer, Sabourin is playing out a one-year deal he signed in Tampa, one that contains a $775K NHL salary, $250K AHL salary, and a hefty $350K total guarantee.

Other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • PuckPedia noted today that the Toronto Maple Leafs shifted injured netminder Joseph Woll from standard injured reserve to long-term injured reserve (LTIR). Puckpedia also noted that after their recall of defenseman Dakota Mermis today, the club has $3.63MM in cap space remaining with 23 healthy players on its roster. Woll took a personal leave of absence in September, and no further update on his status has been provided, nor has there been any further reporting on the matter. Today’s roster move does suggest the Maple Leafs could be without Woll for some time, though. The 27-year-old was expected to share a tandem with Anthony Stolarz this season after putting together a solid 2024-25, a year where he posted a .909 save percentage in 42 games. Woll’s absence prompted the club to claim Cayden Primeau off of waivers before the season, and Primeau has won his only start as a Maple Leaf thus far – a 7-4 victory on Oct. 14 in which Primeau saved 26 of 30 shots.
  • Former Maple Leafs GM and Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee Brendan Shanahan has taken up a role with the NHL’s Hockey Operations department, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger. Dreger added that he “would expect Shanahan would be a leading candidate if a team makes a significant change and an opportunity presents to lead another NHL club.” There is a precedent for such a move – Ken Holland worked for the league office for a relatively brief period before his hire as GM of the Los Angeles Kings. This isn’t the first time Shanahan, who ran the Maple Leafs’ hockey operations department for 11 years, has worked for the league office: he previously served as head of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety from 2011-12 through 2013-14.

Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Steven Santini, Scott Sabourin

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have made a pair of roster moves, reassigning forward Scott Sabourin and defenseman Steven Santini to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Both Santini and Sabourin were elevated to the NHL roster on Friday, though Santini did not dress in the team’s two games that he was on their roster.

Sabourin was not eligible to play in either of the Lightning’s games since his recall as he has yet to fully serve the four-game suspension he was assessed in the preseason for roughing committed against Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. By recalling him, the Lightning have ensured Sabourin would get two games’ worth of credit towards the suspension.

Since Sabourin hasn’t played in four or more NHL games in a single season since 2021-22, recalls such as this, with the specific intent of allowing Sabourin to serve his suspension, will be essential to restoring the player’s ability to be eligible to play should he be recalled later in the season.

The 33-year-old grinder is a longtime AHL veteran, and scored 10 goals and 25 points alongside 111 penalty minutes in 68 games last season for the San Jose Barracuda.

Santini, unlike Sabourin, was eligible to play in the team’s two games over the course of his recall, but ultimately remained in the press box as the team’s spare blueliner. The recall was not without benefit for the 30-year-old defenseman, as he is playing on a two-way contract, so he will be paid the pro-rated portion of his NHL salary ($775K) rather than what he would have received in the AHL, where his salary is $250K. While he didn’t get into either game, the recall did increase the odds that after enough further recalls, Santini may be able to exceed the $350K annual guarantee on his contract.

As Santini’s recall was directly related to an injury suffered by defenseman Maxwell Crozier, this move could be seen as an indication that Crozier is ready to return to the ice after a two-game absence, though there have not yet been any reports or any official announcements as to whether that is the case.

Lightning Place Maxwell Crozier On IR, Recall Scott Sabourin

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have placed rookie defenseman Maxwell Crozier on injured reserve per Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider. The move is retroactive to Tuesday, which will force Crozier out of the lineup for at least two days. Tampa Bay then used the vacant roster spot to recall Scott Sabourin from the minor leagues.

Crozier is bearing through an undisclosed injury after leaving the team’s Tuesday matchup against the Washington Capitals in the first period. He only played 4:27 in total ice time. The injury was a hit of bad luck after the top Bolts rookie scored three points in his last two games. He was the productive motor of Tampa Bay’s bottom pair, next to third-year-pro Emil Martinsen Lilleberg.

Crozier broke camp with the Lightning after posting 34 points and 75 penalty minutes in 52 AHL games last season. He entered this season with 18 games of NHL experience under his belt, though only two assists to go with it. That production set a low bar that Crozier has well cleared to start the season, making his injury timeline worth following closely.

Tampa Bay will use Crozier’s IR placement to award Sabourin for a strong start in the AHL. He scored a point in each of the Syracuse Crunch’s two games to start the season. It’s a quick start, after Sabourin posted 25 points and 111 penalty minutes with the San Jose Barracuda last season. He has played in 25 NHL games over the course of his career – stretched across stints with the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and San Jose Sharks. He’s scored 15 points in those appearances. Now, Sabourin could suit up for a fourth club, and offer Tamp a hotter stick than rookie Curtis Douglas, who is without a point through three games so far.

Lightning’s Scott Sabourin Suspended Four Games, J.J. Moser Suspended Two Games

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10/6/25 5:35 PM: The NHL has also issued punishments to the Lightning organization and Lightning head coach Jon Cooper “for their actions culminating in the events” of Saturday’s contest, according to an official announcement.

The Lightning have been fined $100K, while Cooper himself has been fined $25K. Both fines were levied by the NHL’s Hockey Operations department and will go to charitable causes.

10/6/25 5:15 PM: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Scott Sabourin has been suspended four games for roughing committed against Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced today.

The play in question happened early in the Lightning’s preseason game Saturday in Florida. Sabourin delivered a clean check on Ekblad behind the net, but then after the check he, as the Department of Player Safety termed it in their ruling video, “delivered an un-gloved sucker punch to the head” of Ekblad. They noted a few key aspects that prompted such a significant suspension, which has been levied on top of the game misconduct Sabourin was already assessed.

Firstly, the Department of Player Safety noted that Sabourin delivered “a forceful, ungloved punch directly to Ekblad’s face.” They also took into account the previous history between the two clubs and the situation of the game to come to the conclusion that Sabourin’s actions were “intentional” and done “for the purpose of retribution and message-sending.”

Sabourin’s suspension is notable because he is not a full-time NHL player. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Sabourin has played in just four NHL games and was originally reassigned to the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, on Oct. 1 before he was called up on Oct. 4 for the team’s preseason contest against the Panthers.

Since he is likely to be back in Syracuse to begin the season – and for an indefinite period moving forward – this suspension will likely not have a short-term impact on Sabourin’s ability to dress for games. This four-game suspension does not apply in the AHL, meaning Sabourin must be on an NHL roster for four games in order for the suspension to be considered served.

Seeing as Sabourin has just four NHL games played over the last two seasons, it’s entirely possible that the 33-year-old AHL bruiser could face a long wait until his NHL game.

This is not Sabourin’s first time receiving supplemental discipline in his professional career, though it is his first NHL suspension. In 2020, he was fined $1.9K for unsportsmanlike conduct when he squirted an opposing player with a water bottle from the bench. In the AHL, Sabourin also has some disciplinary history: he was assessed an automatic one-game suspension after receiving an instigator penalty in 2017, suspended one game in 2021, and three games in 2024.

Sabourin is not the only Lightning player who is set to miss time due to conduct stemming from the same game. Defenseman J.J. Moser also had a hearing today with the Department of Player Safety, and was levied a two-game suspension. In Moser’s case, he has earned this suspension for boarding Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist. He was, like Sabourin, also assessed a game misconduct for the play.

The play in question occurred late in the first period, when Boqvist went to retrieve a puck in the offensive zone. Moser closed in on the Panthers forward and delivered a hit that the Department of Player Safety said drove “a defenseless Boqvist dangerously into the wall.”

The Department noted that the play was not a result of a sudden movement by Boqvist that changed a would-be legal body check into an illegal one – instead they noted that there was a level of intentionality from Moser in the play. Moser has not been fined or suspended thusfar in his NHL career, which alongside the nature of the play itself may have contributed in his lighter suspension compared to Sabourin.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Minor Transactions: 10/4/25

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With the preseason wrapping up today, some teams will be recalling players they’ve already cut to give them one more game or they will be returning players recently brought up for that purpose.  We’ll keep track of those moves here along with any other minor transactions.

Snapshots: Vlasic, Ostlund, Sabourin, McCormick

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Although he was cut in the leg in a collision on Sunday, it appears the Blackhawks got about the best-case scenario when it comes to defenseman Alex Vlasic.  Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes that while the blueliner won’t play in Chicago’s remaining three preseason games, he’s on track to be ready for the start of the regular season next week.  The 24-year-old was a top-pairing player for the Blackhawks last season, notching a career-high 30 points while playing in every game and logging over 23 minutes per contest for the first time in his career.  They’ll be counting on him to play a similar role this season.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Sabres center Noah Ostlund is listed as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The 21-year-old made his NHL debut last season, getting into eight games with Buffalo while notching 19 goals and 17 assists in 45 games with AHL Rochester.  Ostlund will likely be ticketed for a return to the Americans upon being cleared to return.  If that doesn’t happen before the start of the regular season, the Sabres will carry a small pro-rated cap charge relative to the number of days that Ostlund was on Buffalo’s roster last season.
  • The Lightning announced that they have recalled winger Scott Sabourin from AHL Syracuse. Cut earlier this month, he’ll now get a chance to skate in another preseason game or two and stake his case for a possible in-season recall.  Signed to a one-year, two-way deal this summer, the 33-year-old had 25 points and 111 penalty minutes while playing with San Jose’s AHL affiliate last season and has 47 career NHL appearances under his belt.  Any time spent on the roster for the rest of the preseason won’t affect his waiver exemption which is 10 games or 30 days during the regular season.
  • Veteran center Max McCormick’s season is over before it even began. AHL Coachella Valley, affiliate of the Kraken, announced that the 33-year-old will undergo hip surgery and that he is expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season as a result.  McCormick was limited to just 19 games with the Firebirds last season where he had 13 points.  He’s in the final season of a two-year pact with Seattle and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Lightning Sign Scott Sabourin

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The Lightning have added some grit up front for their system as the team announced that they’ve signed winger Scott Sabourin to a one-year, two-way contract.  Financial terms were not disclosed but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that it’s worth $775K in the NHL, $250K in the minors, and has a guaranteed payout of $350K.

The 32-year-old has seen NHL action in five of the last six seasons but it has been minimal, to say the least.  Sabourin played in just one game last season with the Sharks, an outing in late January.  Over his career, he has made 47 appearances at the top level, picking up two goals and six assists along with 103 hits and 58 penalty minutes.

Sabourin has been much more of a factor in the minors, however.  Last season, he notched 10 goals and 15 assists plus 111 penalty minutes in 68 games with San Jose’s AHL affiliate, the Barracuda.  That extended his streak of consecutive seasons with double-digit goals and at least 100 penalty minutes to three.  Overall, he has 88 goals, 93 assists, and 1,223 penalty minutes in 532 AHL contests over parts of 12 seasons.

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent back in 2013, Sabourin has now signed eight NHL contracts across six different organizations.  He’s likely to begin next season with AHL Syracuse while being a recall option if Tampa Bay decides that they want some extra physicality in the lineup for certain matchups.

San Jose Sharks Sign Colin White

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Jan. 25: According to a team announcement, the Sharks have officially signed White to a one-year, two-way contract.

Jan. 24: The Sharks are signing unrestricted free agent center Colin White to a contract for the remainder of the season, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports Friday. He’s been in the organization since August when he signed a one-year deal with AHL San Jose.

It’s unclear if the deal will be registered before tomorrow’s game against the Panthers, but Pashelka said White was on the ice at practice with his new NHL teammates today. His signing is part of a larger group of roster moves the Sharks made Friday, which also included reassigning rookie forward Collin Graf to the AHL, recalling veteran enforcer Scott Sabourin, and moving forward Ty Dellandrea to injured reserve. The Sharks will have a full active roster when all the moves are executed.

White, 27, has battled injuries with the Barracuda this season but has managed five goals and 10 points with a minus-three rating in 20 games when healthy. The 2015 first-rounder had to settle for a minor-league contract last summer after going pointless in 28 games, split between the Penguins and Canadiens.

The Boston native once looked to be a promising top-nine piece with the Senators. He posted 14 goals and 27 assists for 41 points in 74 games in his first entire NHL season back in 2018-19, but he never topped those numbers. Injuries began to pile up over the next few seasons before a dislocated shoulder cost him over half of the 2021-22 campaign. He was limited to 10 points in 24 games when healthy that year, leading the Sens to buy him out halfway through the six-year, $28.5MM deal they gave him as an RFA following his breakout year.

White landed with the Panthers after the buyout, posting 15 points in 68 games in a fourth-line role and playing in all 21 playoff games as they lost to the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. It wasn’t enough to convince Florida to retain him, though, and they did not tender him a qualifying offer at the end of the season. He needed to wait until September until the Penguins extended him a tryout offer, which yielded a two-way deal and his first extended AHL action in six years.

The 6’1″ pivot will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and he’ll need to clear waivers if the Sharks attempt to send him back to the AHL.

Returning to the minors to make room for the veteran recalls is Graf. San Jose signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent out of Quinnipiac last summer after he was named the ECAC’s Player of the Year and a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award thanks to his 22 goals and 49 points in 34 games.

Graf got off on the right foot in the pros, posting 26 points through 29 AHL games to start 2024-25 before earning an NHL recall on New Year’s Eve. He’s remained on the Sharks’ roster since then but was a healthy scratch in last night’s loss to the Predators after posting two assists with a minus-four rating in 10 appearances.

Graf averaged 14:17 per game during his recall, recording seven blocks and 10 hits. The 6’1″ winger looked overmatched at times, posting a team-worst 38.6 CF% at even strength among skaters with at least 10 games played.

Sabourin, 32, is in his second season with the Sharks organization. The 6’4″ heavyweight winger has 46 NHL games to his name, three of which came with San Jose last season during a January call-up.

Since signing a two-year, two-way deal with the Sharks as a free agent in 2023, Sabourin has 23 goals and 17 assists for 40 points with 240 PIMs in 94 AHL appearances. He hasn’t logged significant NHL ice time since appearing in a career-high 35 games as a 27-year-old rookie with the Senators in 2019-20.

Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Dellandrea left last night’s loss to the Preds with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. It’s unclear if this injury is related to the UBI that held him out for four games in October and November, but regardless, he’s now been ruled out of the team’s next three games. The 2018 first-rounder hasn’t been a good fit in the Bay Area after they acquired his signing rights from the Stars over the offseason, limited to one goal and four assists with a -15 rating in 41 appearances.

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