Lightning Assign Curtis Douglas To AHL On Conditioning Loan
Earlier this evening the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that Curtis Douglas has been assigned to AHL Syracuse for conditioning purposes. The forward has been a healthy scratch for each of Tampa’s last six games. Even when dressed, he has played very sparingly this season, averaging 5:58 a night.
Claimed off waivers from Utah in October, the 25-year-old may not make his mark in the stat sheet, but his road to the show has been impressive. Selected in the fourth round back in 2018 by Dallas, Douglas spent each of his past five seasons in the AHL across three different organizations, never getting a look at the highest level, and regularly recording over 100 penalty minutes each season. The 6’9″ center then caught the attention of Tampa Bay, who inherited the final year of his contract worth $775k at the NHL level, ending in unrestricted free agent status this summer.
In 27 games, Douglas has two assists and 75 penalty minutes. 25 years ago or so, this may be business as usual, but such output in today’s game is a testament to the Ontario native’s work ethic. He has managed to make an impact, on one of the league’s top teams, no less.
Although Douglas is back to the AHL for now, he will retain his full NHL salary, and the loan can last no longer than two weeks. Syracuse, currently 10th in the AHL, will enjoy having the hulking forward in their lineup for the time being. Tampa Bay won their 10th straight game tonight, as they won’t exactly miss a beat without their enforcer, but Douglas will get some game action and be ready to return when needed.
Jets Recall Isaak Phillips From AHL, Place Colin Miller On IR
Back in action tomorrow, the Winnipeg Jets announced this afternoon that Isaak Phillips has been recalled from AHL Manitoba, while Colin Miller has landed on injured reserve.
Winnipeg, finally finding their game after an 11-game winless streak which possibly has sunk their season, has to reach deep into the organization’s defense stock for Phillips, especially with Haydn Fleury out, and Miller now banged up. If able to suit up this week, it would be Phillips’ first action as a Jet.
Miller, who has struggled considerably in what will likely be his third and final season with the team, left mid-game against New Jersey with a lower-body injury. At this point it is unclear when he will return, but with the 33-year-old a healthy scratch often, playing in just 15 games so far, it is not the biggest impact for the Jets as they desperately look to turn things around.
Phillips, 24, was acquired from Chicago just three days shy of exactly one year ago, as the team gave up prospect Dmitri Kuzmin last January to in exchange for a respectable NHL-capable depth defender. The Ontario native was a fifth round choice of Chicago in 2020, making 56 appearances for the team from 2021-2025, recording 12 points. After solid contributions for the rebuilders despite being a former fringe prospect, Phillips became expendable as he was passed up in favor of prospects with higher upside.
Since then, Phillips has yet to appear with the Jets, playing in 72 games for Manitoba over the last two seasons. A physical lefty standing at 6’3″, he earned a two year extension with Winnipeg last summer, which will keep him around through next year, followed by restricted free agent status. Interestingly, he gets the nod over other notable defenders in Manitoba. Prospect Elias Salomonsson, who last got a look in early December, will remain in the AHL, along with former standout prospects Ville Heinola and Kale Clague.
For now, Winnipeg will move forward with Phillips as a seventh defender, as Luke Schenn has re-entered the lineup, who is eager to prove himself to suitors as last week it was noted that the 36-year-old pending free agent would be open to a trade.
Naturally, Phillips figures to be the best option to come up as depth, without rocking the boat in Manitoba. The Jets will host the Islanders tomorrow, looking for their third straight win.
Oilers Sign Quinn Hutson To Two-Year Extension
The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Quinn Hutson to a two-year, $1.775MM contract extension. The deal will carry an annual average value of $875K. Hutson was signed to a two-year, $1.75MM entry-level contract in April 2025, following the end of his career at Boston University. That deal was set to expire this summer after the Oilers burned the first year of it to allow Hutson to make his NHL debut last season.
An early end to his entry-level contract will come at no expense to the Oilers. Hutson’s next deal will carry the same cap hit and he has only proven his might at the pro level in nearly a year since signing his first deal. The eldest Hutson brother – related to defensemen Lane and Cole Hutson – went undrafted through two years in the USHL even despite posting 73 points and 83 penalty minutes in 59 games of the 2021-22 season. That scoring was enough to earn a three-year tenure at Boston University, where Hutson’s knack for keeping play alive in the offensive zone showed up big during the Terriers’ run to the 2025 National Championship. BU would ultimately lose that game but Hutson did enough to catch the eye of NHL scouts.
Hutson signed with the Oilers immediately after the National Championship and finished the 2024-25 seaosn in the NHL. He didn’t rack up any scoring, and added one penalty, but his presence in the depth chart nonetheless drew attention. He’s earned it so far this year, leading the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in scoring with 23 goals and 38 points in 30 games and adding his first NHL goal in four more appearances with the Oilers.
Partway through the year, Hutson appears to be an ace up the Oilers’ sleeve. He has earned call-ups as an injury replacement and fared well in his NHL minutes, even despite the low-scoring. It appears only a matter of time before he receives an extended run in Edmonton’s bottom-six, which could be enough to spark his offense at the top level. That will be the upside Edmonton hopes for as they lock in Hutson for two more seasons, at a relatively cheap price.
Penguins Sign Blake Lizotte To Three-Year Extension
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed depth centerman Blake Lizotte to a three-year, $6.75MM contract extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.25MM. Lizotte was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, after spending the last two years on a deal that paid $1.85MM annually.
Lizotte has locked in his spot at the bottom of Pittsburgh’s lineup over the last two seasons. He has racked up 10 points in 35 games this season, to go with 19 shot blocks, 32 hits, and 36 shots on goal. He’s proven to be a chippy, defense-first center often tasked with pushing the Penguins out of their own zone. Lizotte ranks second on the team in defensive-zone shift starts, beginning 82.5 percent of all shifts in his own end. Despite that, Lizotte has posted a plus-six on the year – the third-highest plus-minus on the Penguins behind Ryan Shea and Anthony Mantha. Lizotte also has a 51.4 faceoff percentage, third-best among the team’s centers behind Sidney Crosby and Noel Acciari.
His knack on defense has pushed Lizotte into a prime penalty killing role. He leads the Penguins in shorthanded ice-time per-game. He has been on the ice for six power-play goals against, half as many as top penalty-killing defenseman Parker Wotherspoon. Tenacious defense has proven the marker of Lizotte’s eight-year career in the NHL. He has managed a positive plus-minus in half of those seasons, despite a routine presence on his team’s shorthanded units.
Lizotte was signed by the Los Angeles Kings asa a college free agent in 2019. He broke into the NHL right away and earned 23 points, 20 penalty minutes, and a minus-five in his first 65 career games. That was enough to keep Lizotte at the top level through the shortened 2020-21 season, where he added 10 points and a plus-two in 41 games. He continued to improve with the Kings – netting 24 points in 2021-22 and a career-high 34 points in 2022-23. Those numbers began to falter as Lizotte faced injury and healthy scratches in the 2022-23 season. He only scored 15 points in 62 games of the contract year, prompting L.A. to leave Lizotte unqualified for the 2024 summer. The Penguins signed the depth center out of the open market and have kept his NHL streak alive ever since. Through eight years in the pros, the undrafted Lizotte has only appeared in one AHL game.
It seems that streak will continue on as Pittsburgh dedicates more money to Lizotte’s role. Having his chippy, depth presence has helped the Penguins allow the 10th-fewest goals in the NHL this season, after they ranked in the bottom-three last year. He will continue on in a hard-nosed, aggressive role behind Pittsburgh’s young stars as they adjust into the NHL.
Maple Leafs Assign Dakota Mermis On Conditioning Loan
The Maple Leafs announced they’ve assigned defenseman Dakota Mermis to AHL Toronto on a conditioning loan. Since he is on long-term injured reserve, his conditioning stint is subject to added restrictions – he can only remain in the minors for up to three games or six days, whichever comes first, until they must activate him and/or place him on waivers.
Mermis has been rehabbing a lower-body injury for just over a month. The veteran depth option last played on Dec. 8 against the Lightning. While it was only ever publicly reported he was on standard IR, the team’s announcement implies they shifted him to LTIR at some point in the last few weeks for added breathing room under the salary cap.
Mermis, fresh off his 32nd birthday, is in his second season as a Leaf. He spent most of last year in the minors with the Marlies, aside from a few brief call-ups to Toronto and a short stint in Utah after getting claimed off waivers and subsequently being re-claimed by the Leafs. This season, though, he’s gotten into 11 contests for the Leafs amid their earlier rash of blue line injuries. It’s the second-most action the career minor-league option has seen aside from his career-high 47 games with the Wild two years ago.
The 6’0″ lefty has one goal with a -3 rating while averaging 13:02 per game. He’s generally been a net positive possession player in his short looks in the Leafs lineup, and with 554 games of NHL and AHL experience, there’s legitimate value in Mermis as a plug-and-play option.
While Chris Tanev remains on the shelf, Brandon Carlo‘s return from injury and Troy Stecher‘s inclusion in the lineup makes it likelier than not he’ll end up on waivers when his conditioning stint ends this weekend. He might also be kept around as an eighth defenseman while Matt Benning hits the wire, though.
Avalanche Recall Ivan Ivan
Jan. 12: The yo-yo continues for Ivan, who’s been added to the Avs’ roster once again ahead of tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs. He’s eligible for such a quick recall because he suited up for the Eagles on the 9th and 10th – playing three games in three nights across the NHL and AHL. Appearing tonight would make it four games in five days.
Jan. 9: The Avalanche announced they returned Ivan to the AHL following last night’s drubbing of the Senators. Ivan had a +1 rating in the win while skating 9:37 of ice time. A different name will likely be elevated tomorrow before their game against the Blue Jackets.
Jan. 8: The Avalanche announced they’ve recalled forward Ivan Ivan from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. They were operating with an open roster spot after sending Taylor Makar down yesterday, so no corresponding move is required.
Colorado has shown a tendency to frequently rotate depth forward options on the roster when needing to dip into its minor-league depth to address injuries. With Gabriel Landeskog and Joel Kiviranta now sidelined, that hasn’t changed.
Ivan, 23, gets his second recall of the season and will presumably draw into the lineup tonight against the Senators as the fourth-line left wing. Makar had skated in that role alongside Zakhar Bardakov and Parker Kelly in two of the last three games.
The 6’0″, 190-lb Ivan made three appearances for the Avs near the end of November, scoring one assist with a +1 rating while averaging 8:19 of ice time per game. Initially an undrafted free agent signing by the Eagles out of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles in 2023, he quickly worked his way up toward landing an NHL contract and being a frequently relied-upon call-up option. He made 40 appearances for the Avs as a rookie last year, notching five goals and eight points.
While the Czech native stood out as a rookie with the Eagles in 2023-24, he hasn’t been able to recapture that offensive success in the minors. He went from a 12-19–31 scoring line in 67 games as a first-year pro to churning out just four goals and 20 points in 64 AHL games since the beginning of last year.
Ivan’s always profiled as more of a penalty-killing forward with good playmaking skills, though, so the lack of goal-scoring isn’t entirely unexpected. Nonetheless, for a talent who twice hit a point per game in high-level junior hockey, he’ll be looking for more production as the season rolls on.
Senators Sign James Reimer
Jan. 12: Reimer’s pending agreement has been registered. Ottawa announced they’ve inked him to a one-year deal worth a prorated salary of $850K. That’s despite the veteran getting lit up in his debut for Belleville last night, allowing six goals on 28 shots for a .786 SV% in an overtime loss to Rochester.
Jan. 8: The Ottawa Senators will be taking a look at a veteran goaltender, as James Reimer has been signed to an AHL professional tryout agreement, per Darren Dreger of TSN. According to Dreger, Reimer is expected to report to Ottawa in the next few days with an NHL contract.
With #1 option Linus Ullmark taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, the team needs help for the time being. Mads Søgaard was recalled from AHL Belleville earlier today, but he, along with Leevi Merilainen, surrendered eight goals in a resounding defeat against Colorado tonight. Merilainen has backed up Ullmark so far this season and played 15 games, but the 23-year-old has a 6-8 record and an .868 goals-against-average. Such a result tonight was indicative that a move was needed. Even once Ullmark returns, Reimer figures to be a steady enough backup, allowing Merilainen to develop further.
Reimer, 37, was listed as an outside option available to Ottawa just five days ago, and sure enough, the veteran has earned an opportunity to extend his career. Unable to secure a contract from his tryout with Toronto in the fall, Reimer will technically join the AHL’s Belleville Senators for now. If he were to play in a “tune-up” of sorts, it would be his first AHL action since the 2010-11 season as a Toronto Marlie.
As long as he takes the crease for Ottawa at some point, they would become Reimer’s eighth NHL club. Belleville also offers Hunter Shepard between the pipes, a respectable AHLer, but the 30-year-old has not played at the same level as he did with the Hershey Bears over the past several seasons. Currently 23rd in the AHL despite having the league’s second-highest scorer in Arthur Kaliyev, Belleville has lacked stability in net, and the latest news in Ottawa only intensifies it.
At this point, the Sens have little to lose by bringing in a netminder with over 500 games of NHL experience. Reimer’s patience to keep playing has paid off, and the 2006 draftee could appear sooner rather than later, given the circumstances.
Penguins Assign Caleb Jones On Conditioning Loan
The Penguins announced they’ve assigned defenseman Caleb Jones to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan. Since he is on standard injured reserve and not long-term injured reserve, he can remain in the minors for up to 14 days without needing to be activated from IR or placed on waivers.
Jones, 28, hasn’t played since October. The 6’1″ lefty appeared in seven of Pittsburgh’s first eight games before sustaining a lower-body injury that’s now kept him on IR for well over two months, blowing past his initial eight-week return timeline.
Last Friday, Jones told Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he was targeting a return next weekend. That either means his conditioning stint in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will be brief, or he won’t get into game action with the Baby Pens until then. WBS has two games this week: Wednesday at Providence and Friday at home against Hartford, marking the first half of a back-to-back.
The AHL is a familiar environment for Jones. A lineup regular with the Oilers and Blackhawks a few years back, he’s split the last couple of seasons between leagues and played almost exclusively in the AHL last season while in the Kings organization. His fortunes appeared to change after making Pittsburgh’s opening night roster. However, with their defense group stabilizing and the acquisition of Brett Kulak taking away a spot on the left side, it remains to be seen whether Jones will remain on the active roster or land on waivers once he’s activated from IR in the coming days.
The Texas native played solid bottom-pairing hockey to open the season. In seven appearances, he registered an assist and a +1 rating while averaging 17:10 of ice time per game. He was credited with 15 blocks and 10 hits, but controlled only 41.4% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 in a taxing defensive deployment.
Jones signed a two-year, $1.8MM deal with Pittsburgh in the offseason and is due $1MM in actual salary next season. If he’s placed on waivers, a claim is unlikely.
Islanders’ Dmitry Gamzin Signs Two-Year Extension In Russia
The Islanders will have to wait at least two more seasons for goaltending prospect Dmitry Gamzin to arrive in North America. The Kontinental Hockey League announced he’s signed a two-year extension with CSKA Moscow, keeping him in Russia through the 2027-28 campaign.
Most high-profile Russian goaltending prospects wait until their mid-20s before coming to the NHL, opting to complete the entirety of their development at home rather than seeing any AHL time. It appears Gamzin will be no exception. The 22-year-old was initially draft-eligible back in 2021 but went unselected for several years until the Islanders took a flyer on him in the fourth round in 2024.
So far, it looks like a wise decision. The 6’3″, 174-lb netminder has since emerged as the starter for one of the country’s most successful organizations and put NHL veteran Spencer Martin out of a job earlier this season.
Now, he’s on track to win KHL Goalie of the Year honors, leading the league in save percentage (.933) and goals against average (1.71) in 26 appearances. He’s done so behind an unusually weak CSKA roster that just traded away its leading point-getter in Daniel Sprong and no longer has a skater producing above 0.67 points per game.
All signs point to him having a legit shot as a high-end backup to countryman Ilya Sorokin in the last few years of his deal. Sorokin, who also emerged from the CSKA organization, came over at age 25.
As a player drafted out of a Russian league, the Islanders hold Gamzin’s signing rights indefinitely.
Blackhawks Assign Drew Commesso, Kevin Korchinski, Stanislav Berezhnoy To AHL
The Chicago Blackhawks have sent goaltenders Drew Commesso and Stanislav Berezhnoy, along with defenseman Kevin Korchinski, back to AHL Rockford, per the team.
No corresponding transactions were made, the team jumping back into action tomorrow at home against Edmonton. However, today’s moves suggest that regular netminders Spencer Knight and Arvid Söderblom are likely to return, along with defender Louis Crevier, as suggested by Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.
It has been a busy week for goaltenders in the Blackhawks organization. Even outside of the injuries to their #1 and #2 options on the big club, the team dealt Laurent Brossoit to San Jose. Therefore, Chicago had to clear the shelves from Rockford, summoning Commesso and Berezhnoy to get them through their last two contests.
Commesso surrendered five goals on Friday in a loss to Washington, and it figured to be another potentially tough night on Saturday, as the usual AHLer had to step right back into action in a back-to-back against Nashville. Impressively, instead he put up a 36-save shutout, immediately inflating his save percentage to .917 on the season.
Naturally, his prompt reassignment after a career night is disappointing, but as Rockford’s #1 goalie, the plan was never for Commesso to stay longer than urgently needed. His efforts in Nashville will be remembered this summer in contract discussions, as the 23-year-old will be a restricted free agent. Drafted 46th overall in 2020, Commesso figures to be a possible NHL backup in the future.
Berezhnoy, an undrafted free agent in his first North American season, earned his first call-up just to serve as backup last night, but with Brossoit now moved out, he will have a larger role in Rockford going forward.
Finally, Korchinski got into his first two NHL games of the season, and much like Commesso, played better in Nashville than against Washington. The 21-year-old top prospect heads back down after averaging 13:59 of ice time, recording an assist. Jumping right into the Hawks roster out of the WHL in 2023-24, warranted as he was drafted seventh overall, Korchinski played in 76 games, notching 15 points, as a rookie. Since then, he has spent more time in the AHL, as Chicago takes their time with the smooth-skating puck-carrier, especially as they’ve worked through tough seasons in recent years. His production as a teenager out of the gate was impressive, but Korchinski did finish the campaign a -39, indicative that seasoning in Rockford was needed.
Now a .500 team in January, out of their darkest days, Korchinski has been unable to re-join the lineup fully just yet, as he has led IceHogs defensemen in scoring, but is still working to put it all together, especially in his own end. After what may have been throwing him into the fire too quickly to start his professional career, Chicago is now trying to be patient with the Saskatchewan native. He may not be the brightest defenseman prospect of the Hawks today, thanks to Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov, but Korchinski still should blossom into a true top four blueliner pending further development.
After each filled in admirably, Chicago will go into a four game home stand next week looking to build off their strong play of late and continue to show progress as a group. Even if they come short of the postseason, it seems to be a real step going into 2026-27.