Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Transactions

Jets Recall Elias Salomonsson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Jets announced they’ve recalled defense prospect Elias Salomonsson from AHL Manitoba. Connor Hellebuyck is headed to injured reserve in the corresponding move. The placement is retroactive to Nov. 19, his last appearance before undergoing an arthroscopic knee procedure that has him out for another month-plus.

Salomonsson, 21, is coming off an All-Star Game nod in his rookie season with the Moose last year. The smooth-skating righty may be in his second professional season stateside, but he racked up parts of four seasons in Sweden’s top league with Skellefteå before landing in Manitoba. He’s never put up particularly gaudy point totals. However, he’s never been in a position to, logging top-four minutes in a notoriously offense-suffocating SHL before playing top-pairing minutes on a Moose team that scored just 2.35 goals per game last season. Over the past two seasons, he’s posted a 5-28–33 scoring line with a -7 rating in 70 games for Manitoba.

It’s been more of the same from the 6’2″ Salomonsson to begin this year. He’s yet to score a goal through 17 AHL contests, but has six assists – a number that’s tied for the team lead amid another disastrous offensive campaign from the Moose. His even rating has him tied for fourth on the team among skaters with at least 10 appearances this season.

Salomonsson’s skating, stick skills, and vision are what made him the No. 12-ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting in the 2022 draft. He went to the Jets midway through the second round at No. 55 overall and signed his entry-level contract a few weeks later, although they loaned him to Skellefteå in back-to-back campaigns before the deal went into effect for 2024-25. In those two seasons, Salomonsson advanced with Skellefteå to the Swedish Hockey League championship series both times, winning the crown in 2024. He also earned a silver medal with the Swedes at that year’s World Junior Championship.

Salmonsson ranked inside the league’s top 100 prospects on offseason lists from Elite Prospects (No. 94) and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (No. 76). He’s universally lauded as Winnipeg’s top defense prospect and is a consensus top-three prospect in their pool.

His ceiling will likely be directly related to his point production at the NHL level. He has enough of a well-rounded skillset to virtually guarantee him a job as Winnipeg’s No. 3 right-shot defender with penalty kill deployment next season after Colin Miller becomes an unrestricted free agent. How his ability to read plays adjusts to the top level will determine whether he can challenge Dylan DeMelo or Neal Pionk for a top-four job and steal some power-play work, too.

In the short term, he’s ticketed to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Capitals in second-pairing duties alongside Dylan Samberg in place of Pionk, who left Sunday’s game against the Wild in the first period with a lower-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day and was back on the ice before today’s practice, Kelly Moore of 680 CJOB Winnipeg reports, so he isn’t expected to miss significant time.

With Samberg missing a good chunk of the campaign so far due to wrist surgery, Pionk has struggled. The 30-year-old righty scored 39 points and had a +21 rating in 69 appearances last season, practically a career year, that landed him a six-year, $42MM extension. This season, he’s been limited to a goal and four assists in 21 appearances despite an uptick in power-play deployment. His two-way play has taken a step back, too. After controlling 56.7% of expected goals with Samberg last season, he controlled just 42.5% when Logan Stanley was elevated to his left side in Samberg’s absence to begin this season. Since Samberg’s return, though, his and Pionk’s xGF% is back over 54.

Salmonsson likely won’t stick with the big club once Pionk is healthy, barring a particularly impressive performance alongside Samberg in his debut. He’s still got another year left on his entry-level deal and remains waiver-exempt through that time.

Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

Canucks Recall Nikita Tolopilo, Reassign MacKenzie MacEachern

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Canucks are swapping backup goaltenders ahead of a four-game road swing. The team announced they’ve recalled Nikita Tolopilo from AHL Abbotsford to replace Jiří Patera, who’s been returned to Abbotsford in a corresponding move. In a separate transaction, they also left themselves with an open roster spot by reassigning winger Mackenzie MacEachern to Abbotsford.

Tolopilo, 25, gets his first crack at handling NHL goaltending duties for any significant length of time, as Thatcher Demko is set to miss around another week with a groin injury. An undrafted free agent signed from Sweden’s Södertälje SK in 2023, the Belarusian national made his NHL debut late last season, starting Vancouver’s penultimate game of the campaign before entering in relief in Game 82. The 6’6″, 229-lb netminder faced 26 shots and saved 23 of them for a .885 SV% and -1.0 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.

While it wasn’t the most promising initial showing in a small sample, Tolopilo has been a quality AHL option ever since his arrival over two years ago. The two-time medalist with Belarus at the Division 1A World Juniors has a .903 SV%, 2.78 GAA, four shutouts, and a 41-30-4 record in 76 career appearances for Abbotsford. He’s been consistent year-to-year and has started five games for the struggling Baby Canucks this season, posting a respectable 3.35 GAA and .901 SV% despite the team’s dreadful 3-12-3 record and allowing more than four goals per game. With Vancouver having a back-to-back against the Sharks and Kings on Friday and Saturday, Tolopilo could start one of those games if Demko isn’t ready to return.

He’ll get a crack after Patera failed to impress in his first start as a Canuck one week ago in Florida. He was shelled by the Panthers for 40 shots against and conceded goals on seven of them for a .825 SV% and -3.4 goals saved above expected. The six-year pro is in his second season with Vancouver after being a longtime No. 3/4 option for the Golden Knights, who let him walk as a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2024. He signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Canucks that will see him become a UFA again next summer.

MacEachern, 31, concludes his first recall as a Canuck. He inked a two-year, two-way deal with Vancouver this summer and started the season in Abbotsford after clearing waivers. The decision to demote him is presumably to preserve his waiver-exempt status for a while longer. He’d played in eight of 12 games since being called up, including five in a row. He’d been delivering bang for his buck in a fourth-line role, notching his first regular-season NHL goal since February 2021 and adding three assists for four points while averaging 10:11 per game. That heater, plus his 131 games of NHL experience, could make him a claim target if he hits waivers. He can only play two more games for the Canucks or be rostered for four more days until he needs them again to return to Abbotsford, where he had two goals in seven games to begin the season.

Canadiens Reassign Joshua Roy

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Canadiens announced they’ve reassigned forward Joshua Roy to AHL Laval. With no IR activations expected soon, the Habs are set to operate with an open roster spot for the foreseeable future.

Roy, 22, appears to have hit something of a plateau in his development. The 2021 fifth-round pick showed out much better than expected in his first pro season, earning 13 goals and 32 points in 41 games with Laval back in 2023-24. That came on the heels of Roy posting back-to-back First All-Star Team campaigns in the QMJHL following his draft year, so his stock had been on the rise for some time.

Since then, though, Roy has been virtually the same player he was as a rookie. He still hasn’t gotten as long a leash as he did in his first pro season, when multiple call-ups resulted in him notching four goals and nine points in 23 games for the Habs. His usage and production slipped to two goals in 12 games last year, and he’s now only played in three of the nine games he’s been rostered for this season.

During that time, Roy’s AHL production has remained stagnant. After producing 0.78 points per game in 2023-24, that number dropped slightly to 0.74 last year and is at 0.70 through 10 games this season. With Roy failing to carve out consistent minutes at the NHL level despite Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook all dealing with long-term injuries, there’s an increasing risk of him topping out as something of a tweener.

Nonetheless, he’s still only four years out from his draft date and, as a late-round pick, a longer development track should have been expected. He’s still got a couple of years of runway before the Habs could decide to cut ties, although they’ll have their first opportunity to do so this summer as he’s in the final season of his entry-level contract. A non-tender is unlikely considering how he burst onto the scene, but the Quebec native needs to keep up his current scoring in the minors – hopefully inching closer to a point per game – in order to avoid one.

Sharks Recall Vincent Iorio From Conditioning Loan

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Defenseman Vincent Iorio is once again available to suit up for the Sharks after spending the last two weeks with AHL San Jose on a conditioning loan, the team announced. Since players on conditioning loans still count against the active roster, no corresponding move is required.

It hardly comes as a surprise. Yesterday marked two weeks since San Jose announced Iorio’s conditioning loan, the maximum length for the maneuver. Iorio is a new face to the organization after being claimed off waivers from the Capitals in October. He made Washington’s opening night roster out of concern that the club would lose him on waivers during the preseason rush if they decided to sneak him through then. After scratching him for their first four games, the Caps attempted to sneak Iorio through waivers, but their plan failed.

The intrigue from a team on the rise, lacking young right-shot defenders, was more than understandable. The 6’4″, 220-lb rearguard was a second-round pick in 2021 and had been knocking on the door of an everyday role with the Capitals until a disappointing campaign last year with AHL Hershey delayed his emergence. Still, he’s struggled to find a regular role with the Sharks. He suited up in six straight contests after being claimed, but didn’t put together a great body of work with a -3 rating and three shots in 16:20 of average time on ice. The Sharks were outscored 6-2 with Iorio on the ice at 5-on-5, although his 43.4 CF% at even strength was a respectable fourth among San Jose defenders behind Sam Dickinson, Dmitry Orlov, and Vincent Desharnais.

The conditioning stint looks to have done good things for Iorio’s confidence after the tumultuous start to the campaign. He rattled off seven assists and a +7 rating in six appearances with the Barracuda. He now looks to re-emerge on a crowded Sharks blue line that includes nine names on the active roster.

Devils To Activate Cody Glass From Injured Reserve

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Devils announced that center Cody Glass will be in the lineup against the Red Wings tonight. He’ll need to be activated from injured reserve before then. Since New Jersey has had an open roster spot since reassigning Ethan Edwards to AHL Utica on Friday, no corresponding transaction is required.

It’s been just nine days since the Devils gave Glass a week-to-week designation due to an upper-body injury. His return comes far earlier than expected. The 26-year-old last played on Nov. 12 and missed four games in the 12 days he was out. Once again, upper-body issues have significantly limited the former No. 6 overall pick’s availability this season. After skating in New Jersey’s first six games of 2025-26, he’s only played in four of their last 15 games.

When Glass has been healthy this season, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe has deployed him as their third-line center with a mix of Connor Brown, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Ondřej Palát on his wings. The seven-year veteran is still looking for his first assist of the campaign, but scored three times in 10 games, good for a career-high 15.8 shooting percentage on 19 shots on goal. No Devils player has been more efficient this season with his shot attempts, converting 73.1% of them into SOGs.

Glass’ two-way play has quietly been good as well. He continues to be below average in the faceoff dot (48.4%), but the Devils have controlled 54.8% of shot attempts when he’s on the ice at even strength. Only Gristyuk, Jesper Bratt, and Jack Hughes have fared better. The Devils have also outshot opponents 48-24 when the trio of Brown, Glass, and Gritsyuk is on the ice at 5-on-5.

Gritsyuk has been elevated into a top-six role with Hughes’ hand injury keeping him out of the lineup, so it stands to reason Glass won’t have him on his wing. Instead, he’s expected to be flanked by Brown and Evgenii Dadonov in his return to the lineup, according to the team’s line rushes at morning skate (via Amanda Stein of NHL.com).

Glass’ return leaves the Devils with just one regular forward, Hughes, on the injured list. That’s the healthiest the group has been since opening night, expertly navigating a tough stretch of injury luck to remain near the top of the Metropolitan Division with a 13-7-1 record.

Blue Jackets Sign Brendan Smith To Two-Way Deal

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Blue Jackets signed Brendan Smith to a two-way contract, according to a team announcement. Since he was not placed on waivers today, he will be rostered for tonight’s game against the Capitals. He had played the first several weeks of the season on a professional tryout with AHL Cleveland after being released from a camp tryout with Columbus.

While it’s a delayed resolution, Smith finally gets the NHL contract he’d hoped for ever since signing his PTO with the Jackets back in August. It was the first time in 14 NHL seasons that Smith had needed to settle for a tryout. Because he was already playing in the Jackets’ system, today’s news essentially amounts to a call-up. The past few weeks in Cleveland marked his first minor-league action since being waived by the Rangers in February 2018. In 11 games for the Monsters, the depth defenseman recorded one assist with eight penalty minutes.

Smith was never known for his offense at the NHL level, but he was nearly a point-per-game player in college and had good scoring lines in the AHL in the early stages of his career with the Red Wings organization. That makes his lack of production in Cleveland underwhelming, particularly with his -5 rating being tied for the second-worst on the team.

Nonetheless, the 36-year-old is getting another shot on an NHL roster. Columbus has been down a veteran option for most of the season, with Erik Gudbranson missing all but four games with upper-body and hip injuries. Dysin Mayo has been rostered as a seventh defenseman for a good chunk of the campaign as a result, but they’ve shown an extreme reluctance to play the righty. He’s only appeared once despite being rostered for 13 games.

The Blue Jackets presumably desired a more experienced option for the press box and to challenge the struggling Jake Christiansen for third-pairing minutes, and they’ll get that in Smith. A first-round pick by Detroit back in 2007, he’s gone on to appear in 726 NHL games with 39 goals, 105 assists, and 144 points with a -15 rating. If he gets into a game for the Blue Jackets, they’ll be his sixth NHL team and his third in the past three years following recent stints with the Devils and Stars.

Penguins Sign Peyton Kettles To Entry-Level Contract

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Penguins announced they’ve signed defense prospect Peyton Kettles to a three-year, entry-level deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Kettles is making good use of his spare time after undergoing shoulder surgery last week, which has him out indefinitely. The 6’6″ righty was an early second-rounder in this year’s draft, going to Pittsburgh with the No. 39 overall pick. Drafted with the hope of him peaking as a cornerstone shutdown piece in the Pens’ top four, he had already been the subject of a blockbuster trade that saw the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets surrender a package that included five draft picks to acquire him from the Swift Current Broncos.

Unfortunately, his shoulder injury – plus an ailment that inhibited him during Pittsburgh’s training camp – means he’s only made five appearances this season. He’s shown up and shown out with a goal and two assists with 15 PIMs and a +2 rating, but the missed time is a tough blow, particularly for a player archetype that usually requires a longer developmental path. He was ranked as the Pens’ No. 10 prospect in the preseason by Elite Prospects, third among defenders behind Harrison Brunicke and Owen Pickering.

Nonetheless, the Pens like what they’ve seen from Kettles enough to secure his signing rights until he becomes UFA-eligible at age 27 or after seven accrued seasons, whichever comes first. Kettles will receive the signing bonuses he’s awarded in his ELC, if any, but since he’s not expected to play in the NHL this year, the other aspects of the contract will slide to the 2026-27 season. He’ll be eligible for a second slide if he plays under 10 NHL games next year, meaning his contract could go into effect as late as 2027-28 and expire as late as 2030.

Since Kettles’ deal is slide-eligible, he does not count against Pittsburgh’s 50-contract limit if he’s not on the active roster.

Lightning’s Erik Cernak Out Week-To-Week

at CDT | by 5 Comments

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper announced to reporters, including the team’s Benjamin Pierce, that defenseman Erik Černák has sustained an undisclosed injury and is out week-to-week. It’s not related to the lower-body issue that kept Černák out of a pair of games last week. Cooper also said that center Brayden Point won’t play tonight against the Flyers after leaving Saturday’s game against the Capitals with an undisclosed injury, but he’s day-to-day and shouldn’t miss more than a couple of games.

With Černák’s injury, the Bolts recalled defender Maxim Groshev from AHL Syracuse. They’ve had an open roster spot for the last few games, so no corresponding move is necessary.

Černák’s landing back on the injured list leaves Tampa without three of its top four defenders once again. Victor Hedman has already missed six games with an undisclosed issue and won’t be back in the lineup until Dec. 2 at the earliest. Ryan McDonagh has missed the same amount of time but could be back sooner since, unlike Hedman, he hasn’t been transferred to long-term injured reserve.

Despite the pileup, the Lightning have managed to win four times in that six-game stretch. They sit second in the Atlantic Division with a 12-7-2 record, one point back of the Red Wings with one game in hand. There are plenty of reasons for optimism, considering they managed to rebound from the 1-4-2 hole they put themselves in to start the year and have largely carried that momentum through a stretch of brutal luck. Unfortunately, their top right-shot option on the blue line in Černák won’t be a part of that run for the foreseeable future.

Černák continues to be arguably Tampa’s best pure shutdown option. After recording a career-high 21 points and a +29 rating in 76 appearances last season, he’d rattled off four assists and an even rating through 19 appearances in 2025-26. While the Bolts have been outscored 16-12 with Černák on the ice at 5-on-5 this year, on pace for the worst goal share of his career, he’s been the victim of some poor goaltending. His pairing with McDonagh has controlled 57.6% of expected goals together, per MoneyPuck. With McDonagh sidelined, Černák also elevated rookie Charle-Edouard D’Astous to a 53.8 xGF%.

Groshev, who was drafted as a winger but has since converted to defense, won’t be making his NHL debut in Černák’s absence, it appears. They were already rostering six healthy defenders, so Groshev will serve as injury insurance on the blue line, who can also step in at forward if needed. A third-round pick in 2020 out of Russia, the 6’2″ rearguard is in his third season with Syracuse but has yet to make his NHL debut. He’s managed six assists through 17 games this season and has a team-high +8 rating, leaving the Bolts intrigued by the 23-year-old’s defensive upside.

As for the weekend’s news that both Point and superstar Nikita Kucherov departed the Washington game with injuries, they’ve clearly avoided a worst-case scenario. Kucherov wasn’t carrying any injury designation at today’s practice, while Point, who’s struggled this year with just three goals and 11 points in 21 games and could’ve used a reset anyway, won’t have an extended absence.

Flyers’ Jett Luchanko Traded In OHL

at CDT | by 3 Comments

For the second season in a row, Flyers center Jett Luchanko was returned to his junior team weeks after making Philadelphia’s opening night roster. Unlike last season, though, the 19-year-old pivot won’t be finishing the year with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. They’ve dealt their captain to the Brantford Bulldogs for draft-eligible center Layne Gallacher and four draft picks, the team announced.

The Storm moving Luchanko was a foregone conclusion. Whether the 2024 No. 13 overall pick will be a fixture on the Flyers next season remains to be seen, but it is known that this is his last year in junior hockey. It’s either the NHL or the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms for Luchanko in 2025-26. Guelph, which hasn’t advanced past the first round of the OHL playoffs since winning the championship in 2019 and missed them entirely last season, was recently awarded the 2027 Memorial Cup. Given they’ll need to put up a competitive performance at the end of next season against the OHL, QMJHL, and WHL champions, the immediate expectation was that Luchanko would be exchanged for a haul of assets that they could use to improve their outlook for 2026-27.

For his part, Luchanko took the demotion back to Guelph and his impending departure in stride. Despite playing in only 11 of their 24 games so far, the playmaking pivot had already rocketed up to third on the team in scoring with two goals and 15 assists for 17 points.

Luchanko has been one of the OHL’s best playmakers since his draft year despite toiling on an otherwise weak Guelph roster. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, Luchanko’s 104 assists in 125 games rank 13th in the league. Among players with at least 100 appearances during that time, his 1.18 points per game rank 18th.

The 5’11” center was viewed by most as a reach at 13th overall, but the Flyers have been impressed enough with his early development to give him a pair of four-game trials before sending him back to Guelph. His stat line was the same each time: no points with a -3 rating. He’s totaled four shots on goal and eight hits while going 48.3% in the faceoff dot and averaging 11:31 per game.

It’ll be particularly interesting to see how much Luchanko’s production takes off in Brantford. Now in his DY+2, a major explosion should be expected – particularly on a Bulldogs offense that already boasts the league’s two leading scorers in Kraken prospect Jake O’Brien (9-31–40 in 21 GP) and Wild draftee Adam Benák (13-25–38 in 21 GP). That’s not their only star power, either. Their roster now includes five first-round picks: O’Brien, Luchanko, Chicago’s Marek Vanacker, St. Louis’ Adam Jiříček, and Toronto’s Ben Danford.

As such, the Bulldogs have yet to lose a game in regulation. They’re 18-0-5 through 23 games and are the overwhelming favorite to take home both the OHL title and the Memorial Cup at season’s end. Since being established as the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2015-16, they’ve won the OHL title twice – 2018 and 2022 – but didn’t manage to convert either of those into a Memorial Cup victory.

New York Islanders Reassign Marshall Warren

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

According to a team announcement, the New York Islanders have assigned defenseman Marshall Warren to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Without a corresponding roster move, the Islanders are down to six defensemen on the active roster.

Warren, 24, was recalled for the injured blueliner Alexander Romanov. Due to a scary collision with Mikko Rantanen in New York’s recent game against the Dallas Stars, Romanov will miss the next five to six months after shoulder surgery.

The former sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild has quickly become the first man up for the Islanders on defense. It’s somewhat surprising given that Warren was relatively disappointing with AHL Bridgeport last season, scoring four goals and 17 points in 53 games with a -7 rating.

However, he’s performed much better this season. Despite only playing in 10 games due to the two NHL callups, Warren remains second on the team in scoring among defensemen with two goals and nine points.

Unfortunately, Warren didn’t get any playing time with New York during his most recent call-up. It’s fairly surprising given his play from earlier in the season, but the team opted for Adam Boqvist nonetheless. During his first recall in late October, Warren registered two assists in two games with a 91.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top