Kraken Sign, Reassign Gustav Olofsson
March 3: Olofsson has cleared waivers, per Friedman. The team confirmed he’s been sent back to Coachella Valley
March 2: The Seattle Kraken have continued their run of new contracts by signing defenseman Gustav Olofsson to a one-year, $775K contract. Olofsson is currently playing in the first year of a two-year, AHL contract signed with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in July 2025. This deal will bump him back up to an NHL, two-way contract – mirroring the contract details of his last deal with the Kraken: a two-year, two-way, league-minimum contract signed in 2023. Olofsson’s last NHL contract paid him $350K in minor-league salary. He will earn a bump in pay – up to $460K – in minor-league salary on this deal per PuckPedia.
With his promotion from an AHL deal to an NHL deal, the 31-year-old Olofsson will have to clear NHL waivers. He has been placed on the waiver wire per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Olofsson has served as an alternate captain with Coachella Valley for the last four seasons. Unlike in previous years, he has found a new scoring touch this season, racking up 16 points in 29 games played – third-most on the Firebirds defense behind Tyson Jugnauth and Ty Nelson. A chunk of that scoring has come over Olofsson’s last eight games, where he’s racked up five points, 10 penalty minutes, and a plus-five.
Seattle has not recalled Olofsson since the 2023-24 season. Prior to his time in Seattle, Olofsson earned extended looks in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild, including 41 games in the 2017-18 season. In total, Olofsson has racked up no goals and 11 assists in 63 games and six seasons in the NHL. His role has often been focused on the defensive side of the puck, where his long reach and big frame help close off opponents breaking into the zone. The Kraken will ensure a bit more defensive depth with this move, though it’s not likely to change Olofsson’s role in the Coachella Valley lineup for the foreseeable future.
Blackhawks Recall Ethan Del Mastro
The Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro from AHL Rockford, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720. He fills the roster spot vacated by yesterday’s trade of Connor Murphy to the Oilers.
Del Mastro, 23, was a fourth-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2021. Since then, he’s been steadily climbing the depth chart, demonstrating some real shutdown upside as a fringe top-four option or bottom-pair staple. In 161 AHL games since his pro debut in 2023, he has a 9-55–64 scoring line and a +23 rating, a top-32 figure in the league during that timeframe (min. 100 GP). This year, he has a 2-16–18 line with a +8 rating in 45 outings.
He’s gotten some NHL looks before, including a 24-game run last year that seemed to put him in contention for a full-time role as soon as this season. That hasn’t happened, due in part to their late-summer signing of Matt Grzelcyk plugging up the left side, but he did get a call-up back in December that resulted in a pair of appearances.
In January, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times ranked Del Mastro as the #10 prospect in the Hawks’ system. He noted that Wyatt Kaiser‘s and Louis Crevier‘s breakthrough campaigns this year have slightly limited his pathway toward regular time among Chicago’s glut of defense prospects, but he’s had a strong enough season in the minors to continue putting him in the conversation.
As a result, Del Mastro’s stint on the roster is only likely to last until Kaiser can return from injured reserve, unless Chicago trims another defender from its ranks by Friday’s trade deadline. Kaiser sustained a lower-body injury shortly before the Olympic break and is on track to return sometime this month. For now, Del Mastro’s got a shot to challenge fellow youngster Kevin Korchinski for ice time on the Hawks’ bottom pairing behind Grzelcyk and Alex Vlasic, attempting to leapfrog him on the depth chart before Kaiser’s activation potentially forces Chicago into a decision over who to send back to Rockford.
Lightning Place Dominic James On IR, Recall Conor Geekie
The Lightning have recalled center prospect Conor Geekie from AHL Syracuse, Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider reports. Fellow pivot Dominic James was placed on injured reserve to open a roster spot.
With Gage Goncalves still dealing with an undisclosed injury, the roster math indicates Geekie could step into the lineup tonight against the Wild if head coach Jon Cooper opts for a traditional 12 forward/six defenseman alignment. It would be the 21-year-old’s first NHL game since being sent to Syracuse back in October after cracking the opening night roster.
It’s fair to say the Bolts aren’t rushing Geekie’s development. Drafted 11th overall by the Coyotes in 2022 before being sent to Tampa by Utah in the Mikhail Sergachev trade, he’s made 58 NHL appearances over the past two seasons but never got much of a leash in a top-six role. He’s scored eight goals and 15 points, with only one point coming in six games earlier this year. He averages 12:05 of ice time per game. While Tampa is surely looking for more offense out of him long-term, he has been a decent physical presence near the bottom of the lineup without disastrous possession impacts.
The 6’4″, 207-lb Geekie might now get a chance to showcase that increased offense after a spectacular bulk of the season in the minors. He was quite productive as a rookie for Syracuse last season but is now clicking at over a point per game, notching 14 goals and 51 points in 47 games on one of the AHL’s most potent offenses in Syracuse. He’s tied for fourth in the entire league in scoring and is second on his club behind league leader Jakob Pelletier.
As for James, he left the Bolts’ last game on Saturday – a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Sabres – with a leg injury late in the third after getting tangled up with Buffalo’s Michael Kesselring. Cooper told reporters yesterday (including Erlendsson) that “his injury does not appear to be short-term,” although he’s still undergoing evaluation. He had goals in back-to-back games, bringing his total to seven in 43 games on the season.
Golden Knights Recall Raphael Lavoie
The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forward Raphael Lavoie. He will help the team shore up their depth with top winger Mark Stone out with a day-to-day injury. Lavoie has been on fire in the minor-leagues as of late, with five points in his last three games and 11 points in his last 10 games.
On the heels of that hot streak, Lavoie will earn his first NHL call-up of the season. He made his Vegas debut last year, appearing in nine games and failing to record any scoring. That was the same outcome of Lavoie’s first stint in the NHL – seven games with the Edmonton Oilers in the 2023-24 season. Lavoie had managed strong, minor-league scoring in both years – reaching 50 points in 66 games in 2023-24 and 26 points in 42 games in 2024-25. His performance this season – in a focused, AHL role – have outperformed both of those campaigns. Lavoie is on pace for a career-high 63 points across a 60-game season, though an injury that stretched from late-October to mid-January kept him from reaching that mark.
Lavoie performed well around the injury, maintaining an 11-game scoring streak between October 24th and February 4th. He scored 13 points in that stretch. He has emerged as not only a man scorer, but also a man source of shots on net, for the Henderson Silver Knights. Now, Lavoie could earn a hardy, NHL look should Stone have to miss time. He will have to compete with Cole Reinhardt for Vegas’ fourth-line, right-wing role. Reinhardt has scored seven points in 42 games this season.
Edmonton Oilers Acquire Connor Murphy
5:00 p.m.: Both the Oilers and the Blackhawks have now officially announced the trade.
As mentioned previously, significant roster maneuvering was necessary to facilitate the deal. According to Puckpedia, after Janmark’s placement on LTIR earlier today, and the expected reassignment of Howard, the team was able to create enough cap space to fit in the $2.2MM cap hit brought by Murphy. With 21 active players and Janmark on LTIR, the Oilers will have approximately $200K in cap space remaining after this deal.
As for Janmark, he’s out with an undisclosed injury. As relayed by Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch characterized Janmark’s injury as “a chronic injury that needs some rest,” and said he’d be out “long term.” So far this season, Janmark has gotten into 43 games for the Oilers, scoring eight points. He’s averaged 11:51 time-on-ice per game, including 1:30 per game on the penalty kill. The Swedish forward is under contract for another season at a $1.45MM cap hit.
3:23 p.m.: The Edmonton Oilers are in the process of completing a trade for Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy, a league source tells Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Chicago will acquire a second-round pick in return and retain $2.2MM of Murphy’s $4.4MM cap hit per Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. The trade was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Edmonton won’t be able to acquire Murphy’s $2.2MM cap hit until they send a player to the minor leagues per PuckPedia. The Oilers recalled Josh Samanski and Isaac Howard earlier in the day, after placing Mattias Janmark on long-term injured reserve. Howard is expected to be the man reassigned per DailyFaceoff’s Jason Gregor. The deal is not expected to be completed until after 5 P.M. ET, the beginning of the 3/3 business day for cap purposes.
This move will mark a reunion between Murphy and Oilers general manager Stan Bowman. Bowman served as the Blackhawks’ GM in 2017, when Murphy was acquired from the Arizona Coyotes alongside Laurent Dauphin in exchange for Niklas Hjalmarsson near the end of his career. Murphy stepped into an immediate role in the Blackhawks’ lineup, taking on a third-pair role while Erik Gustafsson, Jordan Oesterle, and Gustav Forsling vied for a second-pair role.
Murphy notched 14 points, 34 penalty minutes, and a minus-three in 76 games of his first season with the Blackhawks. He proved to be an impactful rush defender who didn’t get in the way of Chicago’s star forwards as they drove up the ice. But Murphy began to run into routine injury beginning in the 2018-19 season. Via injury and healthy scratches, Murphy missed out on 85 games between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons. He racked up 57 points and a plus-one in 217 games across those four seasons.
More notably, he worked his way back to full health for the 2022-23 season. By then, Murphy had emerged as one of only a few veterans on a rebuilding Blackhawks defense. That standing pushed him up into tough, top-four minutes often in relief of Blackawks’ top defender Seth Jones. In the heavy role, Murphy racked up 13 points and 69 penalty minutes in 80 games of the 2022-23 campaign. Injuries and scratches came back to bite him over the last three seasons, pulling Murphy back into the swing of routine absences. He tied his career-high 19 points in 68 games last season but has so far only totaled 13 points in 60 games this season.
While luck hasn’t been on his side in Chicago, Murphy has shown an ability to once again stick in the lineup through much of this season. He has returned to a defensive-defenseman’s role, operating from the bottom pair but routinely tapped to play more than 20 minutes against strong offenses.
Murphy will bring a robust, defensive ability to a high-octane Edmonton blue-line. The Oilers found a cohesive top-pairing in Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard but haven’t yet found the right match for Darnell Nurse, who has spent significant time with six different D partners this season. Murphy could become the seventh man to stand by Nurse, bringing a bit more veteran certainty than previous partners like Spencer Stastney or Ty Emberson. That pairing could move Emberson back to a bottom-pair role and free up Jake Walman to rotate throughout the lineup.
That flexibility will be welcome as Edmonton eyes another long postseason run. Murphy has only appeared in the Stanley Cup Playoffs once in his 13-year career – when he played nine games and scored four assists in the 2020 postseason. He should be headed for his second playoff bid now with the Oilers, and could prove to be an X-factor addition should his defensive focus free up Nurse, or Walman, to drive the offense a bit more.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports.
Panthers’ Luke Kunin Clears Waivers
3/2: St. Louis has lost Fabbri to a waiver claim from the Minnesota Wild, while Kunin has cleared waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Kunin has now been assigned to the AHL.
3/1: Today has become a busy day on the wire, as the St. Louis Blues have waived forward Robby Fabbri, and the Florida Panthers placed Luke Kunin on waivers. Both were reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Fabbri and Kunin are both former first round picks with at least 450 games of NHL experience, although they’ve become journeymen at this stage in their careers.
For Fabbri, the news is not much of a surprise, as Robert Thomas was activated from injured reserve earlier today. A top prospect of the Blues a decade ago, Fabbri found himself back where he started, signing a one year deal worth $775k back in December. The agreement came after the 30-year-old’s unsuccessful PTO bid with the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with a brief tryout agreement with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Since then, Fabbri appeared in 15 games with St. Louis, finding the back of the net once to go with three assists.
The Ontario native netted 18 goals in 68 games just two years ago as a Red Wing, but his 18.6% shooting percentage was never thought to be sustainable. Fabbri continues to have lackluster possession metrics at even strength, currently at the 45.5% mark.
With such a low cap hit, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, but a claim seems unlikely. If that’s the case, Fabbri will head to AHL Springfield, a league which impressively, the veteran has played just nine games in his career, otherwise in the NHL. He still offers organizational depth, but the 31st ranked Blues are in a position where playing younger players is in their best interest. If this is the beginning of the end for Fabbri in the NHL, he’s had an impressive 457 game career with 220 points, and his name on the Stanley Cup.
Meanwhile, Kunin also brings a very reasonable $775k cap hit which expires this summer. Once a first rounder of the Minnesota Wild with top six upside, the Missouri native has become a fourth liner with gritty attributes, as he has just four points in 44 games. He caught on with the reigning champions last August to provide depth, which has been needed, considering the team’s glut of injuries this year.
After some solid play with Nashville from 2020-22, Kunin was sent to San Jose. Over the next three seasons wearing teal, Kunin got to enjoy a larger role and help lead on a rebuilding Sharks squad. However, he never recorded more than 18 points, and fully embraced a more physical brand of hockey.
Between Fabbri and Kunin, the latter seems to be more likely of a claim. Players in Kunin’s mold are often targeted by buyers at this time of year. At last year’s trade deadline, Kunin was dealt to Columbus for a fourth round pick. His stock hasn’t improved after unremarkable play as a Panther this year, but teams will have the chance to bring in the 28-year-old with a minimal cap hit for nothing in return, and he could benefit from a fresh start.
Image Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Oilers’ Andrew Mangiapane, Alec Regula Clear Waivers
3/2: Both Mangiapane and Regula have cleared waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. They can now be assigned to the minor leagues, opening up more cap space for Edmonton to leverage at the Trade Deadline.
3/1: This afternoon the Edmonton Oilers revealed that Andrew Mangiapane and Alec Regula have been placed on waivers. With the Trade Deadline just five days away, the moves give the team much needed cap space.
Efforts to trade Mangiapane throughout the season have not proven successful. His $3.6MM cap hit through 2026-27 and a no trade clause are stumbling blocks for the usually steady secondary scorer who hasn’t been a fit with the Oilers. Last July, the idea was that the former 35-goal man could revive his offensive game alongside Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Edmonton had moved on from Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson, so Mangiapane figured to be a worthy replacement.
Instead, to date, the soon to be 30-year-old has 14 points in 52 games and is a -19. It’s the first time he’s been in the negatives since a 10 game audition as a 21-year-old rookie with Calgary in 2017-18. Mangiapane’s 50.0% corsi for at even strength is indicative that he just doesn’t move the needle. Rather, Jack Roslovic has filled the role, making the most of his opportunity to play on Draisaitl’s wing. Mangiapane has been a healthy scratch at times, unable to find his footing in head coach Kris Knoblauch‘s system.
As recently as late February, it was noted that several teams have varying levels of interest in Mangiapane. Ottawa, Detroit, Anaheim, and Winnipeg have been linked, with the Senators known as having real trade talks for the forward. Now they’ll have the chance to bring him into the fold for nothing in return, although it would be doing a favor for their opponents in Edmonton, who are clearly handcuffed to the player for now.
In all likelihood, he will clear, still taking up at least $2.45MM against the Oilers’ salary cap, where they will have to add further incentives in a trade this week. At least for today, they’re dangling him on the wire, as one of the more notable players waived this year.
On the other hand, Regula was claimed off waivers by the team in December 2024, coming from the Bruins. He subsequently earned an extension through next season, at a more friendly $775k AAV, but now may find himself back on the move soon.
The former Red Wings draft pick is a coveted righty with size (6’4″) and is still just 25 years old. While GM Stan Bowman hopes to move on from Mangiapane, it’s not necessarily so much the case with Regula, whom Bowman himself acquired for his old franchise, Chicago, in 2019. Regula has simply been passed on the depth chart by Ty Emberson, as he hasn’t played since January 20. If any team is to consider a claim, they’ll have to look past Regula’s unfavorable possession metrics. Yet as far as seventh/eighth defensemen go, he is a viable option whether it will continue to be in Edmonton, or if claimed, which would become his fifth organization.
Currently third in the Pacific, Edmonton will be one of the most fascinating teams to watch this week. Their big acquisition of goaltender Tristan Jarry hasn’t evoked confidence yet, and Bowman will try to add more pieces to solidify the group’s spot in the postseason this spring.
Image Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Canucks’ Guillaume Brisebois Clears Waivers
3/2: Birsebois has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
3/1: In the midst of several notable NHLers waived earlier today, another name is set to run through the wire. Canucks defenseman Guillaume Brisebois has landed on waivers, per the team, although according to GM Patrik Allvin the transaction is with the intent to reassign him to AHL Abbotsford.
Brisebois, 28, was drafted in the third round by Vancouver back in 2015. Rarely seen in today’s league, the 6’2″ lefty has managed to stick with the organization for the long haul, mainly in the AHL but appearing in 30 games over the years with the Canucks, where he’s recorded three points. He got into three games back in January, not recording any stats and averaging 15:48 a night.
Brisebois debuted with Vancouver in February 2019, an entirely different era where Alexander Edler and Loui Eriksson were still wearing the blue and green, so it’s impressive for him to still be around. Summoned at times over the years when they’re thin on the back end, Brisebois has skated in more than eight contests in an NHL campaign just once, 2022-23, where he played in 17.
The Quebec native is a free agent at season’s end, but until then, a claim seems unlikely. Whatever comes next for the veteran, it has been a nice run in the Canucks organization, a 2025 Calder Cup champion, and still in the mix as part of a 2015 draft class headlined by stalwart Brock Boeser. With the Canucks at the bottom of the league, and Abbotsford hardly faring better, it would be nice to see Brisebois get some more action this spring considering his contributions to the organization over the past several years.
Devils Sign Matyas Melovsky To Two-Year, Entry-Level Contract
The New Jersey Devils have signed forward prospect Matyas Melovsky to a two-year, entry-level contract. Melovsky is playing through his first pro season with the AHL’s Utica Comets on a minor-league contract. He has three goals, 13 points, and a minus-eight in 35 games.
Melovsky, 21, was a sixth-round pick to the Devils in the 2024 NHL Draft. He earned his selection on the heels of a standout year with the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Czechia’s international U20 team. Melovsky recorded 42 assists and 60 points in 53 QMJHL games that season – but caught the most attention during the 2024 World Junior Championship. Playing on a line with Buffalo’s Jiri Kulich and Seattle’s Eduard Sale, Melovsky racked up 10 assists and 11 points in seven tournament games, good for second on the team in scoring behind Kulich’s 12 points. That mark helped push Czechia to a Bronze medal finish and earned Melovsky a must-buy status late into the draft.
The bump-and-grind forward followed his draft selection with 26 goals and 83 points in 57 games with Baie-Comeau last season. It was a stellar encore, even without a return to the World Juniors after Melovsky aged out of eligibility. With three point-per-game seasons in the QMJHL and a sizable, 6-foot-1 and 190-pound frame, Melovsky had stamped his right for a pro role. He has slotted into Utica’s top-nine this season. He has found his scoring touch recently, after a quiet start to the year, racking up seven points in his last 14 games. The Devils will acknowledge that hot streak by signing Melovsky to the first NHL contract of his career, set to begin in the 2026-27 season. That deal will give the bulky forward a chance to compete for NHL minutes as soon as his second pro season.
Flyers Recall Adam Ginning
The Philadelphia Flyers are recalling some defensive depth ahead of tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to a team announcement, the Flyers have recalled Adam Ginning from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Ginning, 26, is in his fourth season with the Flyers organization. He has primarily spent his time in the AHL, but has been recalled on multiple occasions to serve as defensive depth. He has appeared in only five games for Philadelphia this year, going scoreless while averaging 15:20 of ice time.
Still, he’s been a relatively solid two-day defenseman for the Phantoms. His scoring is down this season, with one goal and four points in 31 games, but he has typically reached the high-teens throughout his professional career in North America.
Depending on how the Flyers operate at this year’s trade deadline, Ginning could have access to more ice time down the stretch. Philadelphia is six points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and 10 points away from the final divisional spot in the Metropolitan.
Since the Olympics, there has been renewed interest in top-four defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen for the right price. Additionally, Philadelphia could look to move out the bottom-pair option Noah Juulsen, who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer after signing a one-year, $900K contract with the club last offseason.
If the Flyers move out one or both, there is a good chance they’ll keep Ginning on the NHL roster for the remainder of the season, unless they recoup an additional defensive option.