Training Camp Cuts: 9/23/25
We’re nearly through the first week of training camps. Teams are still making initial cuts, trimming amateur invites and AHL-contracted players as they inch closer to their final 23-player opening night rosters. You can keep track of full training camp rosters here. We’re keeping track of all of today’s trimmings here:
Calgary Flames (via team announcement)
F Jacob Battaglia (to Kingston, OHL)
D Axel Hurtig (to Calgary, WHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (via team announcement)
G Evan Gardner (to WHL Saskatoon)
F Owen Griffin (to OHL Oshawa)
D Marcus Kearsey (released from ATO to QMJHL Charlottetown)
F Nicholas Sima (released from ATO to OHL Saginaw)
Dallas Stars (via team release)
F Jaxon Fuder (to WHL Red Deer)
Florida Panthers (via team release)
F Shea Busch (to WHL Everett)
D Carson Cameron (released from ATO to OHL Peterborough)
D Dennis Cesana (to AHL Charlotte)
F Riley Hughes (to AHL Charlotte)
D Cole Krygier (released from PTO)
F Josh Lopina (released from PTO to AHL Charlotte)
F Robert Mastrosimone (to AHL Charlotte)
F Shamar Moses (to OHL North Bay)
D Eamon Powell (to AHL Charlotte)
G Michael Simpson (to AHL Charlotte)
F Christophe Tellier (to AHL Charlotte)
D Mitchell Vande Sompel (to AHL Charlotte)
F Daniel Walcott (released from PTO to AHL Charlotte)
D Phip Waugh (released from PTO to AHL Charlotte)
D Andy Welinski (released from PTO to AHL Charlotte)
F Nicholas Zabaneh (to AHL Charlotte)
Pittsburgh Penguins (via team announcement)
F Travis Hayes (to OHL Soo)
Toronto Maple Leafs (via team announcement)
D Owen Conrad (to QMJHL Charlottetown)
Washington Capitals (via team announcement)
F Grant Cruikshank (to AHL Hershey)
G Seth Eisele (to AHL Hershey)
D Nick Leivermann (to AHL Hershey)
D Jon McDonald (to AHL Hershey)
F Justin Nachbaur (to AHL Hershey)
F Miroslav Satan (to OHL Saginaw)
F Maxim Schäfer (to QMJHL Chicoutimi)
F Dalton Smith (to AHL Hershey)
F Luke Toporowski (to AHL Hershey)
Oilers Sign Vasily Podkolzin To Three-Year Extension
The Oilers and Vasily Podkolzin will avoid restricted free agency next summer. The club announced it has signed him to a three-year extension carrying an AAV of $2.95MM for a total value of $8.85MM. The deal breaks down into a $1MM signing bonus and $1.95MM base salary each season, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports.
Back in April of 2024, Podkolzin had agreed to a two-year, $2MM deal with the Canucks that looked to keep the former top-10 pick in Vancouver for another couple of years. He never played a game for the club on that contract, though. After the Oilers lost winger Dylan Holloway to an offer sheet four months later, they moved to recoup some forward depth and acquire Podkolzin from the ‘Nucks in exchange for a fourth-round pick. That was a buy-low price for the 2019 draft choice, who had two years of term and four years of team control remaining. He was set to have arbitration rights next summer, but instead will walk to unrestricted free agency in 2029 with this extension.
In Edmonton, Podkolzin reestablished himself as an NHL regular after spending his final few seasons in Vancouver watching his playing time dwindle. He skated in all 82 games for the first time, supplying an 8-16–24 scoring line with a +1 rating while averaging a career-high 13:13 per game. He spent a good portion of the year up in the top six as a checking presence on Leon Draisaitl‘s line, although he more routinely moved to bottom-six duties when the postseason rolled around. The 6’1″, 190-lb Russian led the club with 211 hits in the regular season and finished second among Edmonton forwards with 53 blocks.
Podkolzin, now 24, no longer has the offensive ceiling Vancouver hoped for when they selected him 10th overall six years ago. He’s nonetheless solidified himself as a reasonably valuable middle-six checking presence, although his point production still leaves much to be desired given how much time he saw along Draisaitl at even strength last year. He did score 14 goals in 79 games in his rookie campaign with Vancouver back in 2021-22, though. If he can rediscover that shooting touch, his nearly $3MM cap hit over the next few years should be more palatable as the cap continues to rise. If not, that’s a bit of a gamble the Oilers are taking on a type of talent that could be easily replaceable for a lower salary on the free agent market.
The Oilers now have nearly $62MM in salary commitments to just 12 players for their 2026-27 active roster. That leaves them with over $42MM in space to fill up to 11 jobs – a relatively reasonable target, but a number that will also drop quickly if they manage to extend franchise center Connor McDavid in the near future.
Stars Sign Jaxon Fuder To Entry-Level Deal
The Stars have signed undrafted forward Jaxon Fuder to a three-year entry-level contract, the club announced. He had been in training camp as an amateur tryout invite. As part of the move, he’s also been formally cut from Dallas’ roster and loaned to WHL Red Deer.
Fuder, 19, was initially eligible for selection in the 2024 draft. At the time, he wasn’t on anyone’s radar. He spent his draft year in the junior ‘A’ BCHL, recording 16 points in 31 games for the Cranbrook Bucks and Powell River Kings. Only last season did he make the jump to high-level junior hockey, slotting in as a top-nine presence with Red Deer and notching an 11-15–26 scoring line in 46 games.
Dallas has had their eyes on Fuder all summer long. He was also invited to their development camp in July. His performance there and in the Stars’ rookie camp games earlier this month – he scored twice in two games against the Red Wings’ prospect group – has been enough to land him a deal.
Since Fuder will still be 19 on September 15 of this year, his entry-level contract is eligible for one slide. Since he won’t hit 10 NHL games played in 2025-26, he’ll earn his initial signing bonus but nothing else, and the deal will slide to 2026-27. He’ll be a restricted free agent following the 2028-29 season.
The Stars have three open contract slots. All of those will remain open because players subject to an entry-level slide do not count against the 50-contract limit.
Panthers Release Daniel Walcott, Josh Lopina From PTOs
Sep. 23: The Panthers released Walcott and Lopina from their NHL PTOs today (via our training camp roster tracker). The club said they’ve been reassigned to AHL Charlotte’s camp. They remain without guaranteed contracts there, so they’re still positioning themselves for minor-league deals.
Sep. 12: The Florida Panthers remain active in the PTO market. Earlier this week, the Panthers added veterans Tyler Motte, Noah Gregor, and Ben Harpur on PTOs, and now, according to insider Frank Seravalli, they’ve added two additional players to the mix in advance of their training camp: forwards Daniel Walcott and Josh Lopina.
Walcott, 31, is without question the more experienced player of the two. The 31-year-old Quebec native is beloved in Syracuse, New York, as the all-time franchise leader in games played for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Walcott played his first full professional season in 2015-16 with the Crunch, and remained with the club through the 2024-25 season. Walcott wore a letter for the Crunch for the majority of that period, and was a valuable, versatile presence who set a career-high in offensive production with 13 goals and 32 points in the 2022-23 season.
It was the year prior, 2020-21, that Walcott played in the only NHL game of his career thus far. Walcott’s 2024-25 season was definitely a disappointment, as he only managed to register four goals and 12 points across 61 games played. It is likely that the steep decline in offensive production played a role in ending his time with the Crunch, but now with this PTO, he returns to Florida, at least temporarily, to compete for a full-time playing role within the Panthers organization.
At this stage, it looks highly unlikely that Walcott will be a legitimate contender for an NHL role with the Panthers, who are the defending Stanley Cup champions and possess one of the league’s most talent-rich rosters. But with a strong training camp and preseason, it is not out of the question that he earns a role with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, albeit it could be via an AHL contract offer, rather than on a deal where he’d occupy one of a club’s 50 contract slots.
Complicating Walcott’s likelihood of remaining in the AHL is the fact that he does not qualify as a veteran player as per the AHL’s veteran rule, which does play a role in roster construction. AHL teams have a cap on the number of veteran skaters they are permitted to dress for any given regular-season game. The rule has been cited as a reason why some veteran players, who might be qualified to remain in North America’s second-best league, often have trouble finding a job with an AHL club.
The Panthers’ other PTO signing of the day, Lopina, does not face the same problem as Walcott. He has 203 career AHL games played to his name, meaning, for the time being, he remains a “development player” per league rules. The 24-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2021 and has played the last three seasons as a member of their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. The six-foot-two center had a career-high 14 goals in 2023-24, but could not build on that momentum in 2024-25, scoring just three times across 62 games.
Lopina was a stellar college hockey player at UMass Amherst, winning Hockey East Rookie of the Year honors in 2020-21 alongside an NCAA National Championship. But his near point-per-game offensive production has not translated in any real way from the NCAA to the pro ranks, and that is likely a large reason why the Ducks elected not to issue Lopina a qualifying offer a few months ago.
Now, Lopina gets a chance with another NHL organization, his first outside of the Ducks. Like Walcott, it’s unlikely Lopina will be able to win an NHL job, especially with Motte and Gregor also with the club on PTO’s. But it’s more realistic to imagine Lopina potentially seizing a role with the Checkers, especially, as mentioned, because he remains a “development player.” It will be up to him, though, to have as strong a camp and preseason as possible in order to put himself in a position to earn a spot in Charlotte.
Training Camp Cuts: 9/22/25
Several teams participated in their first or second preseason contest yesterday. The intense camp battles will persist throughout the week, but many teams will also begin making cuts to their rosters. This will involve players who were highly unlikely to make their respective NHL clubs’ opening night roster or those who are just getting a few days of experience in a professional environment. The remaining players can be found on our Training Camp Rosters page.
Calgary Flames (per team announcement)
D Mace’o Phillips (to Green Bay, USHL)
Colorado Avalanche (per team announcement)
F Max Curran (to Edmonton, WHL)
D Linus Funck (to London, OHL)
F Christian Humphreys (to Kitchener, OHL)
Dallas Stars (per team announcement)
D Anthony Cristoforo (released from ATO)
F Brandon Gorzynski (to Calgary, WHL)
D Niilopekka Muhonen (loaned to Medicine Hat, WHL)
F Charlie Paquette (to Guelph, OHL)
F Cameron Schmidt (to Vancouver, WHL)
F Dawson Sharkey (to Newfoundland, QMJHL)
Edmonton Oilers (per team announcement)
F Tommy Lafreniere (to Kamloops, WHL)
F David Lewandowski (to Saskatoon, WHL)
Los Angeles Kings (per team announcement)
F Jan Chovan (to Sudbury, OHL)
F Jimmy Lombardi (to Flint, OHL)
D Nate Corbet (to Kelowna, WHL)
G Carter George (to Owen Sound, OHL)
Minnesota Wild (per team announcement)
F Lirim Amidovski (to North Bay, OHL)
F Adam Benak (to Brantford, OHL)
F Carter Klippenstein (to Brandon, WHL)
F Ryan McGuire (released from PTO)
G William Rousseau (released from PTO)
F Matthew Sop (released from PTO)
D Rowan Topp (released from ATO)
D Jordan Tourigny (released from ATO)
G Chase Wutzke (to Red Deer, WHL)
Nashville Predators (per team announcement)
D Hayden Barch (released from ATO)
F Hiroki Gojsic (to Kelowna, WHL)
D Alex Huang (to Chicoutimi, QMJHL)
F Alex Kostov (released from ATO)
G Jakub Milota (to Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL)
F Viktor Nörringer (to Muskegon, USHL)
New York Islanders (per team announcement)
G Burke Hood (to Vancouver, WHL)
F Tomas Poletin (to Kelowna, WHL)
F Luca Romano (to Kitchener, OHL)
San Jose Sharks (per team announcement)
F Max Heise (to Prince Albert, WHL)
F Teddy Mutryn (to Moncton, QMJHL)
D Jack Bar (released from tryout)
D John Gormley (to San Jose, AHL)
D Artem Guryev (to San Jose, AHL)
G Joshua Ravensbergen (to Prince George, WHL)
G Christian Kirsch (to Kitchener, OHL)
Seattle Kraken (per team announcement)
D Alexis Bernier (to Baie-Comeau, QMJHL)
D Jakub Fibigr (to Brampton, OHL)
D Blake Fiddler (to Edmonton, WHL)
F Julius Miettinen (to Everett, WHL)
F Jake O’Brien (to Brantford, OHL)
D Will Reynolds (to Newfoundland, QMJHL)
St. Louis Blues (per team announcement)
F Antoine Dorion (to Quebec, QMJHL)
D Lukas Fischer (to Sarnia, OHL)
F Adam Jecho (to Edmonton, WHL)
G Matthew Koprowski (released from ATO)
D William McIsaac (to Spokane, WHL)
Vegas Golden Knights (per team announcement)
D Peteris Bulans (to Chicoutimi, QMJHL)
D Mazden Leslie (to Kelowna, WHL)
G Jordan Papirny (to Henderson, AHL)
F Mateo Nobert (to Blainville, QMJHL)
D Bronson Ride (to North Bay, OHL)
D Carter Sotheran (to Portland, WHL)
F Andreas Straka (to Quebec, QMJHL)
F Alex Weiermair (to Portland, WHL)
Winnipeg Jets (per NHL.com’s Mitchell Clinton)
F Jacob Cloutier (to Saginaw, OHL)
D Edison Engle (to Brantford, OHL)
D Ethan Frisch (released from PTO)
F Kevin He (to Niagara, OHL)
F Owen Martin (to Spokane, WHL)
G Alex Worthington (released from PTO)
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Canucks Sign Riley Patterson, Gabe Chiarot To Entry-Level Contracts
The Vancouver Canucks have signed wingers Riley Patterson and Gabe Chiarot to their entry-level contracts. Patterson was drafted in the fourth-round of the 2024 NHL Draft, while Chiarot was drafted in the sixth-round of the 2025 Draft. Both players were loaned back to the OHL as part of Vancouver’s round of training camp cuts on Sunday. Patterson will head to the Niagara IceDogs, while Chiarot joins the Brampton Steelheads.
Patterson’s contract will carry a $923K cap hit at the NHL level, and pay an $85K salary in the AHL. It also features $85K in signing bonuses awarded annually, per PuckPedia. Chiarot’s deal will carry a $917K cap hit in the NHL and a $85K salary in the minors. He received a $75K signing bonus each season, also per PuckPedia.
Patterson spent the last two seasons filling a top-six role for the Barrie Colts. His play hit a peak in the 2023-24 season, when he notched 29 goals and 62 points in 68 games with Barrie. That was both Patterson’s first year of draft eligibility, and his first year in the OHL, after playing his age-17 season in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). His scoring dipped last to 25 goals and 59 points in 64 games with Barrie last season. Despite that, Patterson’s snappy playmaking and ability to quickly jump into fast-moving plays both shined clear all year long. He made noticeable improvements to his two-way game, and will now offer stout veteran presence to a Niagara lineup that’s turned over much of their forward group. Patterson could struggle to earn a top-line role alongside centers Ryerson Edgar, Alexander Hage, and Ryan Roobroeck – though the Canucks draftee will be sure to find hot impact among that level of talent.
Chiarot should have a clearer path to minutes for the Steelheads. He’s gradually risen through their ranks over the last two seasons, netting 10 points in 48 games at age-16 and 35 points in 66 games of his draft season last year. To boot, Chiarot became known for his snappy shot and the heft he uses to drive deep into the offensive end. Those attributes, complimented by a summer of NHL guidance, should pave a path to top-six minutes as Chiarot returns to the junior flight. The cousin of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot, Gabe will look to prove he can play above his com petition enough to jump to the minor-league ranks next season. He notably finished last season with 10 points and 34 shots in his final 14 games, a spark he’ll look to keep up as he returns.
Wild Sign Chase Wutzke To Entry-Level Contract
According to a team announcement, the Minnesota Wild have signed netminder Chase Wutzke to a three-year entry-level contract beginning this season. Minnesota now has 44 players under contract for the 2025-26 campaign.
The Wild selected Wutzke with the 142nd overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft from the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. That season, the Saskatchewan native played in 36 games for the Rebels, securing a 19-10-2 record with a .904 SV% and 2.82 GAA with one shutout.
Surprisingly, Wutzke’s production took a nosedive last year, largely because of the lack of talent in front of him. He finished with a 17-25-5 record in 50 games with a disappointing .895 SV% and 3.38 GAA. The Rebels finished 13 points removed from playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.
Expected back in Red Deer this season, the team is already off to a winless start through their first two contests. Should Wutzke disappoint again after he’s returning from the Wild’s training camp, he may only project to serve as organizational depth in an AHL role moving forward.
Fortunately, Minnesota shouldn’t have too many expectations for Wutzke’s development. The future of Minnesota’s crease is guided by Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, meaning there’s little to no pressure on Wutzke to become an everyday NHL talent. The raw talent is there, largely from his quick work in the crease once he’s dropped down into the butterfly, but it remains to be seen if he can put it all together with the Rebels this season.
Training Camp Cuts: 9/21/25
The preseason is officially underway today, and teams are constinuing to make cuts to whittle down their training camp roster. In this early stage, the cuts are typically younger players who get reassigned to their various 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.
Ottawa Senators (per team announcement)
D Gabriel Eliasson
F Blake Vanek
D Eerik Wallenius
Vancouver Canucks (per team announcement)
F Josh Bloom (to Abbotsford, AHL)
F Jackson Kunz (to Abbotsford, AHL)
F Cooper Walker (to Abbotsford, AHL)
F Dino Kambeitz (to Abbotsford, AHL)
F Gabriel Chiarot (to Brampton, OHL)
F Riley Patterson (to Niagara, OHL)
G Alexei Medvedev (to London, OHL)
F Kieren Dervin (to Kingston, OHL)
D Zach Sandhu (released from ATO, to Oshawa, OHL)
Lightning Sign Dominic James To Entry-Level Deal
The Lightning have signed college free agent forward Dominic James to an entry-level contract, per a team press release. It’s a two-year deal for the 23-year-old, who was initially a Blackhawks draft pick but became an unrestricted free agent last month after failing to sign with them following his senior season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
PuckPedia reports that the deal will carry a $910K cap hit and an AAV of $975K, breaking down as follows:
2025-26: $775K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $102.5K games played bonus
2026-27: $850K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $27.5K games played bonus
James, a sixth-round selection in the 2022 draft, had a strong showing for the Bulldogs in 2024-25 after losing most of his junior year to injury. He appeared in 35 games, serving as an alternate captain and leading the team in scoring with a 14-16–30 line. Those numbers brought him to 30 goals, 47 assists, and 77 points in 111 games for his collegiate career.
The Michigan native went undrafted twice before being selected by Chicago. In the 2021-22 campaign that preceded his selection, he worked his way onto the United States’ roster for the World Juniors, scoring one assist in five games at the tournament amid his freshman season in Duluth.
James wasn’t a huge loss for an already deep Blackhawks prospect pool. He didn’t check in as one of the top 15 names in the system to watch when Scott Wheeler of The Athletic did his last round of rankings in February. He could challenge as a top-10 or top-15 piece in a markedly weaker Tampa pool, though. He’s a significant addition for the club in that regard, especially after they lost a college free agent to the Avalanche when 2021 sixth-rounder Alex Gagne signed in Colorado a few weeks ago.
He’ll be ticketed to spend the year with the Bolts’ AHL affiliate in Syracuse. A midseason call-up wouldn’t be out of the question, but expecting him to compete for an NHL job – particularly after not starting camp with the Bolts – isn’t realistic.
Flyers Cut Three Players From Training Camp
Similar to the Buffalo Sabres’ announcement this morning, the Philadelphia Flyers have trimmed their training camp roster by three players. According to a public release from the Flyers, the team has reassigned forward Nathan Quinn, defenseman Austin Moline, and netminder Joe Costanzo to their respective junior organizations.
Quinn, 18, was drafted with the 164th overall pick by the Flyers in this summer’s draft. He has spent the last two years with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts, scoring 24 goals and 55 points in 88 games with a -16 rating, highlighted by a 17-goal, 46-point output last year. Although he will play for Remparts again this season, he has already committed to Northeastern University for the 2026-27 campaign.
Moline was drafted a round lower than Quinn and a year earlier. The 19-year-old native of Las Vegas, NV, spent last season with the USHL’s Madison Capitals, scoring one goal and 21 points in 59 games with a +39 rating. Starting his development with the infamous Shattuck St. Mary’s program, the 6’5″ blue liner will again play for the Capitals this year, and has yet to commit to an NCAA program.
Meanwhile, Costanzo, 20, is the only one in the trio not to have been drafted by Philadelphia, and will leave camp without a professional contract. He has spent the last four years with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, producing a 75-49-6 record in 147 games with a .882 SV% and 3.76 GAA. Since he will age out of the OHL at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, Costanzo will likely have to settle on an ECHL or AHL contract or ATO should he wish to continue his playing career.