Training Camp Cuts: 9/20/25
The preseason officially gets underway tonight and that will usually spur a round of training camp cuts around the league with players typically getting loaned back to their respective junior or international clubs. We’ll keep tabs on today’s cuts here. The remaining players can be found on our Training Camp Rosters page.
Anaheim Ducks (per team announcement)
F Emil Guite (to Chicoutimi, QMJHL)
F Maxim Masse (to Chicoutimi, QMJHL)
D Alexis Mathieu (to Baie-Comeau, QMJHL)
F Ethan Procyszyn (to North Bay, OHL)
F Noah Read (to London, OHL)
D Tarin Smith (to Everett, WHL)
F Brady Turko (to Brandon, WHL)
D Darels Uljanskis (to Flint, OHL)
Calgary Flames (per team announcement)
F Nathan Brisson (to Val-d’Or, QMJHL)
F Mael Lavigne (to Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL)
F Kadon McCann (to Medicine Hat, WHL)
Detroit Red Wings (per team release)
D Nicklas Andrews (released from PTO to Toledo, ECHL)
F Kevin Bicker (to Frankfurt, DEL)
F Vincent Collard (released from ATO to Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL)
D Maxim Dirracolo (released from ATO to Kitchener, OHL)
D Wyatt Kennedy (released from ATO to Windsor, OHL)
F Liam Kilfoil (released from ATO to Halifax, QMJHL)
D Carl-Otto Magnusson (released from ATO to Moncton, QMJHL)
G Landon Miller (to Soo, OHL)
D Will Murphy (to Cape Breton, QMJHL)
G Michal Pradel (to Tri-City, USHL)
F Grayden Robertson-Palmer (to Moncton, QMJHL)
New York Rangers (per team release)
F Raoul Boilard (to Shawinigan, QMJHL)
D Artyom Gonchar (to Sudbury, OHL)
F Gavin Hain (to Hartford, AHL)
F Kyle Jackson (to Hartford, AHL)
F Zakary Karpa (to Hartford, AHL)
D Tim Lovell (released from PTO)
F Sullivan Mack (to Hartford, AHL)
D Chris Merisier-Ortiz (to Hartford, AHL)
D Cooper Moore (to Hartford, AHL)
G Hugo Ollas (to Hartford, AHL)
D Evan Passmore (to Barrie, OHL)
G Callum Tung (to Hartford, AHL)
D Corbin Vaughan (released from ATO)
Toronto Maple Leafs (per team announcement)
D Rylan Fellinger (to Flint, OHL)
F Matthew Hlacar (to Kitchener, OHL)
F Tyler Hopkins (to Kingston, OHL)
D Nathan Mayes (to Spokane, WHL)
F Sam McCue (to Brantford, OHL)
F Harry Nansi (to Owen Sound, OHL)
Benoit And Roy Dealing With Injuries, Domi To Return Sunday
The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Simon Benoit is dealing with an upper-body injury while center Nicolas Roy has a lower-body injury. Neither player took part in practice today while goaltender Joseph Woll was also absent due to illness. Benoit was a regular on Toronto’s third pairing last season while Roy is likely to break camp as their third-line center after being acquired from Vegas just before free agency opened up.
Meanwhile, there is some good news on injury front for the Maple Leafs as well. Head coach Craig Berube told reporters including Nick Barden of The Hockey News that forward Max Domi is expected to rejoin the team for practice on Sunday. He has yet to take part in training camp due to a lower-body injury. This could be a big camp for Domi with a spot on Toronto’s top line up for grabs following Mitch Marner’s departure and as their roster stands, he’s one of the players who could have a shot at that spot.
Laughton Ready To Move Past Disappointing Season
- Last trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs sent a 2027 first-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for center Scott Laughton, only to see the veteran score two goals and four points in 20 games, with another two assists in 13 playoff contests. In a recent interview with David Alter of The Hockey News, Laughton recognized his poor play last season and is coming into the 2025-26 campaign more inspired to contribute, saying, “I need to be able to contribute offensively and create that way and help out some of those top guys.“
[SOURCE LINK]
Maple Leaf Notes: Stolarz, Top-Six Forward, Domi, Dubé
For the past two weeks, the Toronto Maple Leafs and netminder Anthony Stolarz have been negotiating a new contract extension. Unfortunately, nothing has materialized yet, although a few updates were revealed in today’s media availability.
According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Stolarz reiterated his hope and desire for a new deal, saying, “We’re hopeful to get to a good outcome… I’m confident, until proven otherwise, that we can find something that’ll work.” Still, despite the positive update, Stolarz wants to get a deal finished before the start of the regular season.
In an update from Chris Johnston of The Athletic, the 31-year-old netminder has made his intentions known that he’s unwilling to negotiate once the regular season has begun. Although the Maple Leafs want to maintain cap space for next offseason, it would be wise for them to strike a deal with Stolarz quickly.
Outside of some injury concerns, Stolarz has been remarkably consistent over the last two years with the Florida Panthers and Maple Leafs. Since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, Stolarz has recorded a 37-15-5 record in 61 games with a .926 SV% and 2.10 GAA.
Other notes from the Maple Leafs:
- Like many teams around the league, Toronto remains on the hunt for a top-six forward, according to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. Per Koshan, General Manager Brad Treliving spoke of his pursuit, saying, “It’s not from lack of trying … you’re always looking to improve. League-wide, it was a slower summer.” The Maple Leafs have seemingly lost their opportunity on the free agent market, but could pursue a meaningful trade as training camp progresses.
- In the same vein, David Alter of The Hockey News reports that Max Domi is being considered to fill a top-six role for the time being, specifically on the right side next to Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait some time to see Domi next to the pair, as Koshan reports he’s dealing with a lower-body injury.
- The last major news item regards an unrestricted free agent that the Maple Leafs won’t pursue. Despite being tied together from their time with the Calgary Flames, Treliving told Pagnotta that Toronto isn’t interested in signing Dillon Dubé, citing the recent Hockey Canada sexual assault trial as a primary factor.
Maple Leafs To Hire Mark Giordano
After going unsigned for 2024-25, veteran defender Mark Giordano appears to be putting a bow on his playing career. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said today they’ll announce in the coming days that they’ve hired him in a yet-to-be-disclosed role with their AHL affiliate, according to David Alter of The Hockey News.
That would signal the retirement of one of the game’s premier defensemen of the 2010s. He was intent on playing last season and beyond, his agent said last offseason. The Oilers and Sabres had expressed interest in him into training camp in 2024, as well as potential reunions with the Flames and Leafs, but no contract ever panned out. He’ll now make the jump into the next phase of his hockey career.
Giordano is in the running for one of the most fruitful undrafted free agent signings of all time. He landed his first NHL contract during the 2004-05 lockout, signing with Calgary out of OHL Owen Sound and spending the canceled year in the AHL. He made his NHL debut when the league resumed play for 2005-06. He got his first taste of full-time action the following year, making 48 appearances in a depth role. Without a guarantee of expanded playing time from the Flames entering 2007-08, though, Giordano opted not to re-sign with the club when his entry-level contract expired. He instead spent the year in Russia with Dynamo Moscow while remaining a restricted free agent.
He returned to the Flames for the 2008-09 season, more earnestly kicking off his career as a top-four fixture. He was more of a defensive-oriented piece early on but as he entered his 30s, his offensive production began to soar as well. He hit the 40-point mark for the first time in 2010-11 and, beginning with the prior year, averaged north of 20 minutes per game for Calgary for 12 years in a row.
Widely regarded as a top-20 defenseman in the league for most of his prime, Giordano exploded in the 2018-19 campaign for a career year at age 35. He took home the Norris Trophy and finished ninth in MVP voting on a 50-win Flames squad that year, racking up 74 points and a league-leading +39 rating in 78 appearances.
The Flames’ record slipped over the next couple of seasons, though. With Giordano entering the final season of his contract in the 2021 offseason and the Flames wanting to protect younger names like Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin in that year’s expansion draft for the Kraken, the club left their captain exposed. Seattle picked him up, making him their first captain in franchise history, but his tenure in the Pacific Northwest was short-lived. The club was in the basement of the Pacific Division in their first year and, after Giordano scored 23 points in 55 games, traded the pending UFA to the Maple Leafs at the deadline for draft picks.
While the following summer meant the end of the six-year, $40.5MM contract he signed back in 2015, it didn’t mean the end of his time in Toronto. He signed a team-friendly two-year, $1.6MM deal that would see him finish his playing career with the Leafs as a serviceable bottom-pairing support piece. He made 144 regular-season appearances in a Toronto uniform in parts of three seasons, recording a 9-36–45 scoring line and a +49 rating.
Giordano’s 1,093 games in his second NHL stint rank seventh in the league among defensemen since 2008. His 561 points also rank 12th during that time. The Toronto native totaled a 158-419–577 scoring line in 1,148 career regular-season appearances with a +129 rating across 18 campaigns. All of us at PHR wish Giordano the best as he continues his career in the sport off-ice.
Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
Latest On Matias Maccelli
- At the end of 2023-24, it looked as though Matias Maccelli was inching his way to star status as an NHL scorer. The Finnish winger had scored 57 points in his second full season in the NHL, but things went badly wrong in 2024-25. Maccelli’s offense cratered, and he found himself in-and-out of the Utah lineup en route to a final total of just 18 points. Now with the Toronto Maple Leafs thanks to an offseason trade, Maccelli is a candidate to have a real bounce-back year in 2025-26. He told The Hockey News’ Nick Barden today that his level of motivation is “probably the highest it has ever been,” and expressed some hope that he’ll get to play with and learn from some of the Leafs’ “top names.” Toronto has a major scoring void to fill after the departure of Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights, so Maccelli will have a massive opportunity to get his career back on the right track. If he can show chemistry with one of Toronto’s two star centers, he could quickly find himself back in the strong statistical company he once held.
Maple Leafs, Anthony Stolarz Holding Extension Talks
Sep. 12th: David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period offered an update today regarding the ongoing extension talks between Stolarz and the Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, Pagnotta indicated that no progress has been made to date, although both sides remain hopeful and are still committed to working something out.
Sep. 3rd: The Leafs have opened extension discussions with goaltender Anthony Stolarz, general manager Brad Treliving tells Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. He divulged that those talks have been ongoing “for some time” and that they’ve explored multiple options, presumably those with varying term.
Stolarz is a slam-dunk extension target, even with the younger and highly competent Joseph Woll as the other half of Toronto’s tandem. The 31-year-old has been one of the better backups in the league for some time before landing with the Leafs in free agency last year, finishing fifth in Vezina Trophy voting after posting a league-high .926 SV% in a career-high 33 starts and one relief appearance.
That strong play yielded a 21-8-3 record along with a 2.14 GAA and four shutouts. He was incredibly consistent over the course of the season, and by the numbers, no one in the league was more effective on a per-game basis. Among goalies with at least 15 appearances, no goalie saved more goals above expected per 60 minutes than Stolarz’s 0.779 mark, per MoneyPuck. That figure is a whole 0.144 clear of Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck‘s.
Still, that elite level of play combined with his outright lack of track record as a starter or even 1A option makes him something of a unicorn. Stolarz had never even started 25 games in a season entering last year, although his career numbers (.917 SV%, 2.55 GAA, 64-39-12 record in 142 GP) remain well above average since he made his NHL debut with the Flyers back in 2016.
His lack of ice time has been influenced by a variety of reasons, but none more pertinent than his injury history. He would have started the majority of his team’s games for the first time last year if not for midseason knee surgery – his second in the last three years – that kept him out for nearly two months. He began the postseason as Toronto’s starter and guided them to a six-game dispatching of the Senators in the first round, but sustained a concussion in Game 1 of their second-round loss against the Panthers, ending his season.
Yet that also paints a picture of Stolarz being an incredibly resilient goaltender, reaching his peak and establishing himself as an elite tandem option 13 years after Philadelphia took him in the second round of the 2012 draft. The 6’6″, 234-lb netminder has now posted a save percentage north of .920 in four of his last six NHL seasons, and his .926 combined SV% over the last two seasons leads everyone with at least 25 starts.
Treliving already made something of an insurance policy for himself by signing Woll to a three-year, $11MM extension as soon as he became eligible to ink one last year. That contract is only going into effect now, meaning Woll, who has a 39-25-2 record and .908 SV% over his first two seasons as a full-time NHL option, is locked in at a $3.67MM cap hit through 2027-28. It would make sense that Toronto opines for a three-year extension for Stolarz, keeping his injury history in mind, but staggering the expiry of his and Woll’s contracts.
His open-market value is hard to predict. Even after excelling in a backup role with the Panthers in 2023-24, he only landed a two-year deal with a $2.5MM cap hit with Toronto in free agency. AFP Analytics projects a two-year extension for Stolarz at just north of $4.25MM per season – that’s with the projected cap jump to $104MM – and the AAV likely wouldn’t differ much with an additional year of term.
That would still make Stolarz and Woll, the latter of whom is just entering his prime, one of the most cost-effective tandems in the league, especially when considering the market set by extensions for names like Logan Thompson ($5.85MM AAV) and Adin Hill ($6.25MM AAV) last season. Without a slam-dunk prospect in the system behind Woll and next summer’s premier UFA options (Sergei Bobrovsky, Filip Gustavsson, Jacob Markström) likely out of their price range, hedging their bets on Stolarz and Woll continuing to split the crease in a more cost-effective manner is likely their best path forward.
Berube's Comments Might Not Be Good Sign For Robertson
- In an interview with Jonas Siegel of The Athletic earlier this week (subscription link), Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube declined to speak about winger Nicholas Robertson’s situation, merely noting that there will be a lot of competition at training camp. In a follow-up column to that interview (subscription link), Siegel suggests that might not be an encouraging sign for the soon-to-be-24-year-old. Robertson notched 15 goals and seven assists in 69 games last season, earning him a $1.8MM contract to avoid salary arbitration but his fit in Toronto’s lineup remains uncertain at best. He remains a player to keep an eye on when it comes to a trade over the coming weeks, especially if it looks like he’ll be on the outside looking in at a lineup spot in early October.
Ken Dryden Passes Away At 78
Early Saturday morning, the Canadiens announced that their long-time goaltender and Hall of Famer Ken Dryden passed away Friday at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer. Team owner Geoff Molson released the following statement:
Ken Dryden was an exceptional athlete, but he was also an exceptional man. Behind the mask he was larger than life. We mourn today not only the loss of the cornerstone of one of hockey’s greatest dynasties but also a family man, a thoughtful citizen and a gentleman who deeply impacted our lives and communities across generations. He was one of the true legends that helped shape this Club into what it is today.
Drafted by Boston back in 1964, he was traded to the Canadiens that same offseason. He spent three seasons at Cornell, posting a sterling 76-4-1 record before turning pro and entering Montreal’s farm system, a place he didn’t spend much time in before getting the call to the NHL.
Dryden was a crucial member of Montreal’s dynasty in the 1970s. He played in eight seasons with the Canadiens during that stretch, compiling a 2.24 GAA and a .922 SV% in 397 games, winning the Calder Trophy in 1972 along with five Vezina Trophies for the NHL’s best goaltender. In the playoffs, he was similarly dominant, helping lead Montreal to six Stanley Cup victories in that span. Dryden was also a key contributor in Canada’s victory over the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
But hockey wasn’t Dryden’s only passion. He was in law school in the early part of his career and famously didn’t play in 1973-74 while articling at a Toronto law firm after the Canadiens wouldn’t rework his contract. Then, following the 1978-79 season, he decided to retire altogether at the age of 31.
Dryden got into broadcasting and wrote multiple books to stay involved in the game of hockey and then joined the Maple Leafs in 1997, serving as their team president through 2004. Toronto had a pair of Conference Final appearances during that stretch, a plateau they have not reached since.
Dryden then stepped away from hockey to serve in politics, becoming a Canadian Member of Parliament from 2004 through 2011. Soon after, he was awarded the Order of Canada for contributing to the sport of hockey and to public life.
We here at PHR join the hockey world in mourning Dryden’s passing and send our condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones.
Scott Laughton Hopeful For Extension With Maple Leafs
If forward Scott Laughton had his way, he wouldn’t become an unrestricted free agent next summer. In a recent interview with Nick Barden of The Hockey News, Laughton shared his hope that extension negotiations with the Toronto Maple Leafs would come.
During last deadline season, the Maple Leafs acquired Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2027 first-round pick and Nikita Grebenkin. Although he didn’t contribute offensively as much as he would have liked to (two goals and two assists in 20 games), Laughton was a stellar addition on the defensive side of the puck, securing a 54.7% success rate in the faceoff dot and a 92.2% on-ice save percentage at even strength.
This summer, the acquisition of Nicolas Roy from the Vegas Golden Knights as part of the Mitch Marner sign-and-trade might prevent Laughton from replicating his performance from the 2022-23 season with the Flyers. However, his defensive value should still be significant for the Maple Leafs moving forward.
Specifically, in the interview, Laughton was quoted, saying, “I think that’s something that I haven’t thought too much into, actually. I think I got to focus on helping this team, and hopefully those conversations come.” Although it was a soft acknowledgement of his desire to stay in Toronto, it’s an even larger acknowledgement that those conversations haven’t taken place yet.
Laughton’s next contract will depend on his performance in the 2025-26 season and his asking price. The Maple Leafs don’t have much money coming off the books next summer, but they only have a few players worth retaining. Netminder Anthony Stolarz, who has reportedly already begun extension talks, depth forward Bobby McMann, and Laughton serve as the only reasonable extension candidates, which Toronto should have no issue keeping should they find each player’s price amenable.
Still, given that Toronto is only paying half of Laughton’s salary for the 2025-26 season, a solid campaign from the veteran center could price himself out of Toronto. The Maple Leafs may not have a wealth of prospects, but young player Easton Cowan could compete for Laughton’s position in the upcoming year. This potential development might give the Maple Leafs greater leverage in any extension discussions.