Jakub Fibigr Commits To Ohio State University
- According to his Instagram account, defenseman prospect Jakub Fibigr has committed to Ohio State University for next season. The 19-year-old Czech was drafted by the Seattle Kraken in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s scored nine goals and 33 points in 44 games split between the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads and Windsor Spitfires this season.
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Two Prospects Receive 20-Game Suspensions In AHL
A pair of NHL prospects will be waiting quite a while before they can play their next game. Earlier this week, the AHL announced that Rockford goalie Stanislav Berezhnoy and Coachella Valley forward David Goyette have received 20-game suspensions for violating the terms of the AHL/PHPA Performance Enhancing Substance Program. The program essentially replicates the NHL’s penalties for violations, meaning that this is a first-time offence for both players. They will be ineligible for recall to the NHL while serving their bans.
Berezhnoy is in his first season in North America after the Blackhawks signed him to a two-year, entry-level contract last summer. The 22-year-old has played in 15 games so far this season for the IceHogs, largely serving as Drew Commesso’s backup. Berezhnoy has a 5-9-1 record with a 3.18 GAA and a .888 SV% in those outings. He received a brief NHL recall in January when Chicago’s starting tandem was unavailable but didn’t see any game action.
As for Goyette, he’s in the second season of his entry-level deal. Drafted in the second round (61st overall) by the Kraken back in 2022, the 21-year-old was a productive scorer in junior but that has yet to translate to the pros. Goyette had 282 points in three OHL seasons (spanning 197 games) but had 18 points in 54 outings with the Firebirds last season and has just 10 in 47 appearances in 2025-26. He hasn’t seen any NHL action so far in his career.
Both players will be able to return before the playoffs. Berezhnoy is eligible to return on April 11th while Goyette can play one day sooner. At that point, there will be just over a week left in the AHL season and if either team is still fighting for a playoff spot since then, it could be risky to put them in after being off for so long.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare To Retire
After 10 NHL seasons and parts of another 14 seasons in pro leagues in Europe, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare is retiring. The French national team captain, whose first Olympic appearance came to an end this morning with a quarterfinal loss to Germany, told reporters postgame that “this is it” for his international career, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Bellemare, 40, last played in the NHL with the Kraken in 2023-24. He’s spent the last two seasons with HC Ajoie in Switzerland, playing a pivotal role in helping them avoid relegation to the second-division Swiss League last year. His offensive production is greatly diminished this season, with just one goal and 10 points in 32 National League games, and he has a -15 rating. With only five regular-season games left on Ajoie’s schedule this year and locked into last place in the league, it’s unclear whether Bellemare plans to return to the team after his Olympic performance or make a clean break now.
Bellemare’s pro career began in 2002-03, as a 17-year-old with Rouen in France’s top league, then called the Super 16. He became one of the league’s top producers over the next few years, making his first appearance on the national senior team at the 2004 World Championship, but didn’t attract any NHL interest. He made the jump to a more competitive circuit with Sweden’s Leksands IF in 2006, playing in the second-division HockeyAllsvenskan. He spent three years there, leading the league in goals in 2008-09, before making another jump to Sweden’s top flight with Skellefteå.
Only after another five seasons with Skellefteå, where he won two SHL championships and was arguably the league’s top defensive forward, did Bellemare finally land an NHL contract. In 2014, he landed a two-way deal with the Flyers and, at age 29, immediately became a fourth-line, penalty-killing fixture in Philadelphia. He was never the offensive threat he was in Sweden, averaging just six goals and 12 points per 82 games, but rarely missed time and even garnered some outside Selke Trophy consideration by his third year in Philly.
Bellemare was ticketed to become an unrestricted free agent in 2017. The Flyers tried to avoid that by signing him to a two-year, $2.9MM extension in March, but they left him unprotected in that year’s expansion draft, and the Golden Knights picked him up. He wasn’t one of the many assets Vegas flipped following the draft, instead staying with the club through its storybook inaugural season in a familiar role as their fourth-line center. He hit double-digit assists in the regular season for the first of three times he’d do so in his career, before adding three points and a +6 rating in 20 playoff games in Vegas’ miracle run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
A free agent again in 2019, Bellemare would spend the rest of his career on short-term deals. He first signed a two-year pact with the Avalanche, where he hit a career-high 22 points in 69 games in his first year, before landing another two-year deal with the Lightning on the heels of their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. He made it back to the Final with the Bolts in 2022, only to lose to his old teammates in Colorado. After being limited to 13 points and a career-worst -9 rating in 73 games for Tampa in 2022-23, he hit the open market again and signed a league-minimum contract in Seattle.
Only in Bellemare’s last year in the league did he fall out of regular usage. He served as more of a 13th/14th forward for the Kraken than a fourth-line fixture, only suiting up 40 times while averaging 9:50 of ice time per game. After notching four goals and seven points for Seattle, he made it clear he wanted to extend his NHL career for at least one more season. With no guaranteed offers, he returned to the Avs on a professional tryout, but was released late in training camp. He then headed to Switzerland, where he had 10 goals and 28 points in 34 games for Ajoie last season before his age finally seemed to catch up with him in 2025-26.
While Bellemare’s offensive utility was limited, he’s arguably one of the most durable pros of his generation and is, by all accounts, an incredibly well-liked teammate. He also developed into a legitimate asset in the faceoff dot after a rough start to his career in that regard in Philly. From 2017 onward, Bellemare won 53.4% of his draws in over 4,500 attempts. His ability to stay in the lineup also provided incredible peace of mind for lineup cards. From 2014 to 2023, only 34 players logged more appearances than Bellemare’s 660.
Bellemare finishes his career with 138 points and a +22 rating in 700 games. He nearly broke even in shot attempts at even strength – an impressive feat for a defensive specialist – and also averaged 72 hits per 82 games. He garnered an estimated $11.3MM in career earnings, per PuckPedia. All of us at PHR congratulate Bellemare on an excellent career and wish him all the best in retirement.
Image courtesy of Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images.
Poll: Which Team Should Make The Biggest Push For Shane Wright?
A weak Western Conference has the hot-and-cold Kraken still squarely in contention for a playoff spot. Seattle had won six of eight entering the break, moving them into third in the Pacific Division and tied with the Ducks for the second wild-card slot (although the Kraken have three more regulation wins).
Despite teetering on the edge of a berth all season, general manager Jason Botterill’s overall deadline strategy appears to be as aggressive as possible. 2022 fourth overall pick Shane Wright is one name that could very well be on the move after reports last month indicated they were open to dangling him as the big fish to land a major upgrade for their top-six forward group.
While it would normally be surprising to see a team so uncertain of its short-term outlook being willing to dangle such a high-value young asset, Seattle has assembled a deep prospect pool over the last few years that can easily handle the loss of Wright. Even just considering centers, they’ve supplemented him with two more top-10 picks in Berkly Catton in 2024 and Jake O’Brien last year.
The desire to give Wright a fresh start elsewhere appears to come from both player and team. That makes sense considering Wright has had his ice time reduced from last season under first-year head coach Lane Lambert, despite coming off a strong 19-goal, 44-point effort in 79 games in his first extended look in NHL minutes in 2024-25.
As a result, this year his production has dipped to 11 goals and 22 points in 56 games. That’s a points-per-game decrease from 0.56 to 0.39, accompanied by a 10-second drop in ice time per game.
The Ontario native has also struggled in the two most important secondary areas for a center – faceoffs and possession control. He’s winning just 37.9% of his draws this year after hitting 44.4% last season while controlling 46.3% of shot attempts at even strength. The latter number is particularly disappointing considering he’s been given sheltered usage, starting over two-thirds of his shifts in the offensive zone.
Nonetheless, there are a few teams looking to move out a top-six piece that wouldn’t benefit from a 22-year-old center with the pedigree of being a top-five pick. Which sellers should be the most aggressive in trying to ensure they strike a deal with Kraken and recoup Wright?
Calgary Flames
Even among sellers, you’d be hard-pressed to find a team with two tangible top-six forwards – with term – to use as trade chips. If Seattle wants to make a push for either Blake Coleman or Nazem Kadri, the Flames are asking for Wright as the starting piece of the return, especially for the latter.
They’ve done well to build out their prospect pool on defense (particularly the right side) and on the wings, but they’re missing a clear-cut top-six piece down the middle long-term, especially with Samuel Honzek appearing to shift to the wing full-time and Cole Reschny‘s slighter frame likely making him a better fit at left wing than center at the NHL level. They’re not currently icing a center under the age of 25 in the NHL, either, at least not with John Beecher injured.
Adding Wright gives them more hope down the middle long-term with greater offensive upside than a name like Honzek has been able to show in the pros thus far.
New York Rangers
Seattle made a big contract offer to Artemi Panarin but struck out with the winger deciding it was L.A. or bust. With the two clubs already having engaged in trade talks on the star winger, the Kraken might opt to put themselves in the conversation for Rangers middleman Vincent Trocheck as well.
For a team still in the earlier stages of a retool like the Rangers, they wouldn’t be too concerned with position when getting as high-value an asset as Wright back in a deal. Nonetheless, recouping a young, higher-ceiling center by March 6 would be a dream scenario for Blueshirts GM Chris Drury.
The Rangers’ arsenal of U23 potential top-six contributors at forward – Gabriel Perreault, Liam Greentree, and Malcolm Spence – are all wingers. Their best center prospect, 22-year-old Noah Laba, has operated as their third-line center for most of the year and, while he’s clearly made the jump to full-time NHLer status, has never been touted as anything more than a long-term 3C option.
With such a pressing positional need down the middle, especially if they’re intent on flipping Trocheck with several years left on his deal, Wright is a perfect addition.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues aren’t actively shopping Robert Thomas, but they are listening to offers. It will still take a gargantuan price tag – reported to be four first-round picks or equivalent assets – to land a deal, but the Kraken are well-positioned to do so with Wright ready to fill one of those four slots and four first-round picks available in the next two drafts.
Unlike for Calgary and New York, though, adding Wright down the middle would more signal a completion of the long-term puzzle down the middle than a much-needed jumpstart. Dalibor Dvorsky, still just 20 years old, has arrived this season as he looks to be a high-end second-line piece for St. Louis throughout his prime. Another recent first-rounder, Otto Stenberg, hasn’t looked out of place in NHL action this year, either.
Wright’s sluggish development so far wouldn’t solve the need for finding a bona fide first-line piece to serve as a direct replacement for Thomas, but he would give the Blues ample top-nine depth for their next playoff contention window.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are headed straight toward the best odds at the first overall pick in this year’s draft, in large part due to a lack of production from the middle of the ice. Their middle-six pivots for much of the year, David Kämpf and Aatu Räty, have combined for all of five goals.
They already picked up Marco Rossi from the Wild in the Quinn Hughes deal, but he’s battled through a broken foot this season and only had a goal and an assist in eight appearances for Vancouver before the break. There’s also the matter of star first-liner Elias Pettersson, who’s still struggled to get anywhere close to the heights of his 102-point breakout three years ago. He’s scoring at a 57-point pace this season, the worst of his career.
If Seattle wants to buy low on the high-priced pivot, Wright won’t have more opportunity at premier minutes anywhere else than in Vancouver.
If the Kraken do leverage Wright into a top-six upgrade, which team would stand to reap the most rewards? Have your say in the poll below:
Which Team Would Benefit Most From Landing Shane Wright?
Kraken Believed To Have Offered Panarin More Than $14MM Per Season
- While Panarin ultimately took the offer from Los Angeles, it was far from the biggest one on the table. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in his latest 32 Thoughts column that the Kraken made an offer of more than $14MM per season in an effort to try to convince Panarin to accept a trade to them. That would have nearly been double the highest amount that the team has given a player so far in their brief tenure with Vince Dunn being their current top-paid player at $7.35MM.
Kraken Reassign Oscar Fisker Molgaard, Place Berkly Catton On IR
2/5: As expected, Fisker Molgaard was reassigned on Thursday morning. He played just under seven minutes of ice time in Seattle’s Wednesday night win over the Los Angeles Kings, and did not record any notable stat changes.
2/4: The Seattle Kraken have swapped around the rookies on their active roster. Winger Berkly Catton has been placed on injured reserve with an injury sustained in Seattle’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 29th. The rookie took a hit to the head from Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson but was able to get off the ice under his own power, after a moment. He has missed two games since.
Catton was knocked out of the lineup in the midst of a running cold-streak. He has fallen to a depth role with one goal, two points, and a minus-one over his last nine games. Through what is officially his NHL rookie season, Catton has totaled only 11 points in 40 games. It has been a quiet year after back-to-back 100-point seasons in the WHL. Catton hasn’t yet made his AHL debut – something that could come on the other side of his recovery from this long-term injury. He will have the next three week to heal up before Seattle returns of February 25th.
With the roster spot created by Catton’s designation, the Kraken have called up winger Oscar Fisker Molgaard. He will have a chance to step into the lineup in Seattle’s final game before the three-week break for the Winter Olympics. Fisker-Molgaard will likely be returned to the minors before NHL rosters freeze on Friday, allowing him to stay on the ice while Kraken teammates Kaapo Kakko, Eeli Tolvanen, and Philipp Grubauer represent their countries in Milan.
Fisker Molgaard played the first two games of his NHL career in November. He recorded one assist, one shot on goal, and one hit. He has spent the rest of the season in a prominent role with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, where his 22 points in 36 games rank fourth in scoring. Fisker Molgaard has served as the team’s second-line center in his rookie season in North American pros. He spent the last three speasons in Sweden’s SHL, where he racked up 47 points in 129 games. It isn’t clear if Fisker Molgaard will step into the NHL lineup before the break. He was briefly recalled, but didn’t play, in January.
Latest On Jaden Schwartz
As the Nashville Predators take first steps into their general manager search, following Barry Trotz’s sudden resignation announcement earlier this week, an interesting roadblock emerged. According to Insider Frank Seravalli, the NHL Players Association is reviewing Creative Artists Agency, who were hired by the franchise to conduct their search.
The agency also represents NHL players, and therefore may not be permitted for involvement in front office personnel processes, even if coming from a different arm of the agency. It is considered a potential conflict of interest. CAA’s website shows a long list of NHL players represented, headlined by Sidney Crosby, not to mention Predators cornerstone Filip Forsberg and numerous other stars of the game.
A somewhat similar situation occurred in 2023, also reported by Seravalli back then, when the NHLPA investigated former Maple Leafs and current Penguins GM Kyle Dubas’ relationship with an agency connected to Auston Matthews and other NHLers, which did not lead to violations. It’s unclear what will arise from the situation with CAA and the Predators, but worth monitoring nonetheless.
Until a candidate is selected, Trotz is set to maintain his role as long as needed, steering the franchise into the Trade Deadline season where Nashville must decide between selling or keeping the band together for a Wild Card push.
On today’s episode of the DFO Rundown podcast, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that Nashville had a few trades in the works this week that fell through, and may be revisited after the Olympic break. As Trotz works through his final chapter, he figures to be active with high trade demands to leave his franchise in a good place for the next regime.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Florida Panthers shared mid-game that Sandis Vilmanis wouldn’t return due to an upper-body injury. The forward delivered a controversial hit to Bruins star Charlie McAvoy, making the head a main point of contact, while McAvoy is wearing a full shield recovering from a broken jaw. Vilmanis was assessed only a minor penalty, not returning afterward, but the incident could receive further discipline. The 22-year-old with 12 NHL games under his belt is far from a household name, but Vilmanis was named to Latvia’s Olympic roster and his injury status could have implications for Milan. He is one of eight active NHL skaters on the nation’s squad.
- Ahead of tonight’s game in Los Angeles, the Seattle Kraken revealed forward Jaden Schwartz wouldn’t play due to a lower-body injury. The veteran already missed a chunk of the campaign for such an injury, and while it’s not clear if they are related naturally there’s cause for concern. When healthy, the 33-year-old remains effective, notching 19 points in 36 games, par for the course in his Kraken tenure over the past several years. Seattle has been sniffing around in the trade market as they gear up for a run at the postseason, and hopefully Schwartz will take the Olympic break to get healthy in time to play his part this spring.
Kraken Attempted To Acquire Artemi Panarin
It was noted yesterday by TSN’s Chris Johnston on Insider Trading that a team had offered as much as $40MM, and the mystery club may now be revealed. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the Seattle Kraken made a strong effort to acquire the superstar, offering him an extension in the 3-4 year range, worth what Pagnotta said is “north” of $12MM per year. The contract could have doubled term compared to what Panarin promptly signed with Los Angeles, a two-year extension worth $11MM each year.
Despite proving not enough to sway Panarin into waiving his no-trade clause to head up to Washington, the effort is commendable from Kraken GM Jason Botterill as his team is in Wild Card range, hungry to make a splash to earn their second playoff berth in their fifth season as a franchise. It’s curious to imagine if former fourth overall pick Shane Wright could have been off to New York. One week ago, it was reported the Kraken were open to dealing him for a “dynamic top-six scoring winger”, and the “Breadman” certainly fits the bill.
Berkly Catton Out Through Olympic Break
- The Seattle Kraken will be without one of their up-and-coming prospects through the upcoming Olympic break. Earlier today, the Kraken announced that Berkly Catton will miss Seattle’s next three games due to an upper-body injury. Catton, who missed several weeks in December due to a separate injury, has scored five goals and 11 points in 40 games throughout his rookie campaign.
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Kraken Open To Trading Shane Wright
1/29/2026: A little over a week after the initial reports emerged that the Kraken were considering trading Wright to acquire a dynamic top-six scoring winger, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta issued an update on Wright’s situation.
According to Pagnotta, not only are the Kraken seriously considering dealing Wright, but now “word has spread” that Wright himself may also be seeking a change of scenery, and that the relationship between the player and club in this case “may be on the ropes.”
As one would expect, Wright was unwilling to go into great detail when asked by the media about his name surfacing in trade rumors. He told the media, including local outlet Sound of Hockey, that he’s “not too worried” about the reporting and speculation surrounding his future.
As we covered last week, Wright has been unable to gain the trust of first-year head coach Lane Lambert, who has thus far been unwilling to grant Wright the greater lineup role most expected him to earn this season. It could be that the slowed pace of Wright’s development has frayed the player’s relationship with his team, potentially helping pave the way for a deal that allows him to continue his career elsewhere.
1/22/2026: The Seattle Kraken are reportedly open to trading 2022 No. 4 overall pick Shane Wright as they pursue adding an impactful top-six scorer, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Pagnotta wrote yesterday that the Kraken have “been searching for a top-six forward,” and believe including Wright in a deal could be the key to landing a caliber of player that makes a real impact on their team.
That Seattle is even considering trading Wright would have been a stunning development before the start of the 2025-26 season.
Entering the season, Wright looked well on the way to becoming a long-term core piece in Seattle.
His development path in years prior endured a few stops and starts, but 2024-25 was Wright’s first campaign as a full-time NHLer, and he blossomed.
He scored 19 goals and 44 points, the second-most points by a Kraken center and production that was just seven points behind 2022 No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky.
Wright’s encouraging NHL campaign ensured he was viewed as a key cog in the Kraken’s future plans. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked him as a top-25 U23 player in the entire NHL, writing that Wright “has no noticeable flaw in his toolkit” and “could be a second-line center on a top team or a fringe 1C on a lesser team.”
In a league where quality centers are always in high demand, he looked to be an asset for the Kraken that got as close to “untouchable” status as anyone on their roster. The belief was that Wright and 2023 Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers would form a formidable backbone of two-way centers through whom the Kraken could anchor their forward lineup.
Wright’s 2025-26 season has, unfortunately, appeared to change the team’s calculus looking into the future. While Wright saw real developmental gains under former head coach Dan Bylsma, that momentum appears to have largely stalled under new coach Lane Lambert, even as Lambert keeps the Kraken in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.
The hope for Wright was that after finishing the year as one of Seattle’s top scorers despite earning just 14:04 time on ice per game, he might be able to earn a greater role in his sophomore campaign, and something that could consequently power an even greater developmental leap.
That has not happened so far. In fact, it’s been the opposite. Wright has struggled to gain a foothold in Lambert’s lineup, averaging just 13:43 time on ice per game, with a second-unit role on the power play and no role on the penalty kill.
For a variety of reasons, including his role, Wright’s production has declined steeply. He’s scored 17 points in 49 games, which is just a 28-point 82-game scoring pace. His shooting percentage appears to be a major culprit, as he converted shots into goals at a nearly 21% rate last season, but is hovering at 9.3% this year.
Wright’s shooting ability was generally assessed by scouts to be his most high-end offensive tool, so the fact that he is struggling to find the back of the net this season only compounds concerns about the current state of his development.
With Wright’s current situation in mind, it can’t be a huge surprise to see his name surfacing in trade rumors. It may have come as a great surprise entering the season, but Wright’s development appears to have stalled to the point where a trade is only a natural thing to consider.
Whether that would be the best idea for the Kraken is, of course, a matter of debate.
On one hand, Wright remains an undeniably talented center on a team still short of high-end pivots. While his struggles this season may have shifted his projection in the eyes of some evaluators, the reality is he is still just 22 years old. There’s still reason to believe he can end up becoming the high-end second-line center scouts have long believed he’d develop into.
Impactful two-way top-six centers don’t grow on trees, and any deal involving one, even a potential future player for that role, becomes a difficult deal to win.
Trading Wright this season would also be, undeniably, “selling low” on a player who was a premium draft pick and high-end prospect. This season has been the low point of Wright’s career since being drafted, so it would be an inopportune time for Seattle to trade him, from a pure value standpoint.
On the other hand, the Kraken could badly use a dynamic offensive creator, and even the high end of Wright’s projection doesn’t include a realistic possibility of him becoming one. Centers are in demand across the NHL to a severe degree, and even with his struggles in 2025-26, Wright still figures to command a significant amount of value if dealt. There’s no doubt that if he were dangled in a trade, the Kraken would have the buying power to be able to land the kind of winger that fits their clear need for a dynamic offensive creator.
When considering what kind of player the Kraken could target if they indeed shop Wright, they could either leverage his age, pedigree, and positional value to land a more established scorer than Wright is at this moment (perhaps even adding other assets to swing a deal for as high-end of a target as possible), or they could target a winger in a similar developmental situation to Wright who happens to better fit the kind of talent profile they’re targeting.
If they elect to pursue the latter tactic, a name such as Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson checks a lot of boxes. He was the No. 5 pick of the draft before Wright’s, and like Wright, appeared to be nearing “untouchable” status in his market after 2024-25.
He scored 57 points in 68 games, looking every bit like the hyper-skilled, dynamic offensive creator he was drafted to be. Also like Wright, Johnson’s 2025-26 season has been virtually unrecognizable compared to the year prior.
A player such as Johnson, even with his struggles this season, would require a significant trade asset in order to pry loose — which is where Wright could come into the picture. The idea of a Wright/Johnson deal is entirely speculative, of course, as there have been no firm reports of who Seattle might be targeting specifically.
But when examining the league-wide landscape for players who could be a fit in a Wright deal, his name emerges as an intriguing possibility, as both players look like they could benefit from a change-of-scenery transaction.
Regardless of what player Seattle might target — or if they end up even trading Wright at all — Pagnotta’s report underscores how important Wright is to the Kraken’s future.
He’s either going to get his development back on track and become a valuable two-way pivot in Seattle, or the team will leverage his trade value to acquire an impactful roster addition. Either way, his progress is one of the key storylines to watch in Seattle moving forward.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images