Bruins Place Vladislav Kolyachonok On Waivers
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared earlier today that the Boston Bruins have waived Vladislav Kolyachonok. The defenseman finds himself back on the wire after being claimed by the Bruins from Dallas in mid-December.
A second-round selection of the Panthers in 2019, Kolyachonok was picked up due to an abundance of injuries to Boston defenders last month, not seeming to be in the long-term plans. The 24-year-old managed to get into two games in late December, deployed on the third pairing alongside Mason Lohrei. Kolyachonok, facing the challenge of playing in his off side on a new team, averaged just over 12 minutes between the two, and was a -1. Boston dropped both contests, and were outscored 10-3.
Since then, the team has reeled off a six game winning streak, and with Hampus Lindholm activated three days ago, Kolyachonok finds himself the odd man out again. The young Belarus native is no stranger to transactions, a part of trades involving notable names in Anton Strålman and Mathew Dumba in prior years, along with another waiver claim last February, taking him from Utah to Pittsburgh.
Kolyachonok offers a stay-at-home game, to this point hampered by a lack of offense to stick in the highest level consistently. In his 87 career NHL appearances across four organizations, he has 17 points. Kolyachonok had solid production in 11 games for Dallas to start the season, but was passed over in favor of veteran Kyle Capobianco, the team hoping he’d clear before Boston took a flyer.
If unclaimed, the 6’2″ lefty would be a welcome addition to the Providence Bruins, who are currently ranked third in the AHL. However, with limited opportunities in Boston moving forward, he could favor an opportunity elsewhere.
Lost by Dallas after they’d sought him out in the Dumba deal, Kolyachonok could find himself back where he’d started the campaign. If the Stars would be the only team to submit a claim, they could assign him to the AHL immediately, the 26th-ranked Texas Stars in need of help on the blueline. Besides other teams who could show interest ahead of them, the Stars have an intriguing chance to take him back, which would end a short stop in Boston.
Kolyachonok is a pending restricted free agent this season, and still offering untapped potential as a bottom pairing option, he figures to garner attention from other teams in the next 24 hours.
Avalanche, Penguins Swap Ilya Solovyov, Valtteri Puustinen
The Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins have rearranged some of their depth pieces. According to an announcement from the Penguins, the Avalanche have traded defenseman Ilya Solovyov to Pittsburgh for forward Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 seventh-round pick.
Solovyov, 26, will see his tenure in Colorado end after half a season. He was claimed off waivers before the regular season from the Calgary Flames to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. The Mogilev, Belarus native was coming off a promising season in the AHL, scoring six goals and 28 points in 59 games for the Calgary Wranglers.
As the team’s seventh defenseman, and without any significant injuries to Colorado’s defensive core, Solovyov didn’t earn much playing time through his first few months with the team. At the end of November, Solovyov had only appeared in nine games for the Avalanche, going scoreless with a -4 rating while averaging 12:33 of ice time.
The Avalanche briefly sent Solovyov back to the AHL on a conditioning loan, simply to allow him more ice time. Since the calendar flipped to 2026, and likely to showcase his playing style to interested teams, Solovyov played in seven games with Colorado, scoring one goal and three points, with a +3 rating.
Meanwhile, Puustinen will move to Colorado after nearly five years with the Penguins organization. He, like Solovyov, was drafted in the seventh round of the NHL Draft, albeit a year earlier. He’s been a remarkably consistent scorer at the AHL level, tallying 72 goals and 175 points in 252 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Unlike Solovyov, Puustinen has already had a fairly promising NHL campaign under his belt. During the 2023-24 season, Puustinen earned an extended look in the sport’s highest league, scoring five goals and 20 points in 52 games with the Penguins, averaging 11:45 of ice time per game. Additionally, his possession metrics were solid, finishing with a 52.3% CorsiFor% and 91.9% on-ice SV% at even strength.
Given his offensive talent, Pittsburgh’s treatment of Puustinen the last few years has been perplexing. The team has had a top-down mandate to get younger, but apparently were not willing to give Puustinen another opportunity at the NHL level. The Penguins went as far as to place Puustinen on waivers last season, though he went unclaimed at the time.
Nonetheless, the trade won’t significantly alter the complexity of either team for now. Solovyov will take Joona Koppanen‘s spot on the roster for the time being, who the Penguins reassigned earlier today. Meanwhile, the Avalanche are expected to make another recall on the blue line, given that they are down to five healthy defensemen.
Flames Recall Martin Pospisil, Reassign Dryden Hunt
The Calgary Flames announced that they’ve recalled forward Martin Pospisil from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers and reassigned Dryden Hunt in a corresponding roster move. Pospisil has been in the AHL on a conditioning loan for the last week.
Assuming he returns tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pospisil, 26, will participate in his first NHL contest in nine months. He suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury during preseason and has been on Calgary’s injured reserve for the entire 2025-26 campaign up to today.
He’ll likely return to a bottom-six role and gradually move into a middle-six role if he can remain healthy. Throughout his first two years in the NHL, Pospisil has been a hyperphysical winger with quality playmaking abilities.
Since debuting for the Flames during the 2023-24 season, Pospisil has scored 12 goals and 49 points in 144 games, averaging 13:20 of ice time. Additionally, regarding his physicality, Pospisil has amassed 539 hits over that duration. He went scoreless in two games with a -3 rating during his conditioning loan.
Outside of Calgary, Pospisil’s return is good news for Team Slovakia for the upcoming Winter Olympics next month. Pospisil has been one of Team Slovakia’s best international players throughout the last few years, scoring three goals and seven points in seven games during the 2024 IIHF World Championships.
Meanwhile, Hunt returns to the Wranglers, where he’s spent much of the 2025-26 season. He’s tied for second in scoring on Calgary’s AHL affiliate, registering 11 goals and 31 points in 26 games.
Nashville Predators Reassign Reid Schaefer
According to a team announcement, the Nashville Predators have reassigned forward Reid Schaefer to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The transaction opens a spot on the active roster for Ozzy Wiesblatt, who has been made a game-time decision for tonight’s contest.
Schaefer, 22, was initially recalled on November 28th for his NHL debut. Back in February of last season, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked Schaefer as the ninth-best prospect in the Predators’ organization. Despite losing most of last year due to an injury, Schaefer had spent the previous two seasons playing exclusively for AHL Milwaukee, scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 82 games with a +6 rating.
His strong start to the 2025-26 season made him a candidate for early recall by Nashville. Through the first 15 AHL games of the year, Schaefer scored four goals and 14 points with a +1 rating. Despite missing the last two months, Schaefer remains ninth on the team in scoring.
Unfortunately, his NHL debut didn’t get off to as good a start. Throughout 25 games with the Predators, Schaefer scored four goals and six points with a -9 rating, averaging 10:30 of ice time in a bottom-six role. Still, he amassed 63 hits over the duration of his recall, averaging out to approximately five hits every two games.
Meanwhile, Wiesblatt is expected to return soon after being sidelined for nearly seven weeks due to an upper-body injury. His return is ahead of schedule, as he was initially given a recovery timeline of eight to 10 weeks. Similar to Schaefer, Wiesblatt has been isolated to a bottom-six role when healthy, scoring one goal and four points in 24 games, averaging 10:38 of ice time.
Canadiens To Activate Kirby Dach From LTIR
Jan. 20th: As expected, Dach will make his much-awaited return tonight. According to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, Dach will draw into the lineup tonight against the Minnesota Wild. The Canadiens had an open spot on the active roster, so no corresponding roster move is necessary.
Jan. 18th: Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach is “very close to a return to the lineup,” and could be activated off long-term injured reserve in time for the team’s game Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, reports Arpon Basu of The Athletic.
Dach’s impending return was signaled when he skated without restriction at practice in Ottawa. Fellow injured forward Patrik Laine also skated without restriction, though it’s unclear what his full return timeline is at this stage.
The 24-year-old suffered a fractured foot in November. He most recently played Nov. 15 against the Boston Bruins. Dach has missed 30 consecutive games as a result, with this injury (as well as an earlier lower-body ailment) limiting him to 15 games played in 2025-26.
Unfortunately, injuries have become the dominant storyline in Dach’s career not only since he arrived in Montreal, but even stretching back to his days as a top prospect with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The No. 3 pick of the 2018 draft was limited to just 18 games in his sophomore season (2020-21) due to injury, something that clearly hampered his development and helped pave his way out of Chicago.
Dach impressed early after arriving in Montreal, scoring 38 points in his first campaign as a Canadien, flashing some chemistry on the team’s top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
Injuries limited Dach to 58 games in that campaign, though, and while he looked exceptional in the first game of the 2023-24 campaign, he suffered a season-ending injury in the Canadiens’ second game of the season.
Dach returned for 2024-25, but injuries again limited his effectiveness alongside his availability. Having lost his spot next to Caufield and Suzuki to 2022 No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky, Dach only managed 22 points and an injury limited him to just 57 games played.
Through 15 games of 2025-26, Dach had seven points. If he is indeed able to return to the lineup at some point soon, a significant opportunity could be in reach. While Slafkovsky had usurped Dach’s former place on the Canadiens’ top line and held it firmly, the Slovak forward has since been moved to the Canadiens’ second line, forming a deadly trio with rookies Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen.
As a result, the Canadiens have been forced to rotate several forwards in Slafkovsky’s former lineup spot alongside Suzuki and Caufield. Zachary Bolduc was tried at first, but his ineffectiveness prompted head coach Martin St. Louis to try midseason signing Alexandre Texier on that line.
Texier recently inked a two-year, $2.5MM AAV extension with the Canadiens, and has performed very well so far next to the Canadiens’ two star forwards, scoring 16 points in 27 games. That could indicate that Texier will remain next to Suzuki and Caufield for the foreseeable future. But if Texier falters at any point, Dach could be next in line to get a shot on Montreal’s top line.
If that can happen, it would be a massive opportunity for Dach to rebuild his confidence and his stock in the eyes of Canadiens decision-makers in advance of his upcoming restricted free agency.
Regardless of where he ends up playing in Montreal’s lineup, the key for Dach, arguably more than even finding a way to produce, is going to be finding a way to stay healthy. For as talented as he can be, his chronic lack of availability threatens to undercut his value proposition to NHL teams.
As a 6’4″ forward who can play center or the wing, and has the coveted combination of size and skill, he should be a player NHL teams trip over themselves to get their hands on. Injuries have, so far, kept him from achieving that status. More than anything else, Dach will need to show he can put those injuries behind him if he’s going to maximize his value as an NHL player.
Photos courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Senators Recall Hunter Shepard, Reassign Leevi Merilainen
There are more moving parts between the pipes for the Ottawa Senators. The Senators announced that they’ve recalled netminder Hunter Shepard from the AHL’s Belleville Senators and reassigned Leevi Merilainen in a corresponding roster move.
A year ago, few would have predicted the downfall of Merilainen this season. The 23-year-old finished the 2024-25 campaign with an 8-3-1 record in 12 games with a .925 SV% and 1.99 GAA, showing promise as a future backup behind Linus Ullmark. Unfortunately, Merilainen hasn’t gotten close to replicating that performance this year.
Through 20 games, Merilainen owns an 8-10-1 record with a .860 SV% and 3.51 GAA, including a -16.8 Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA). Additionally, according to MoneyPuck, among netminders that have played in 20 or more games this season, Merilainen is the worst in terms of Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) per 60 with a -0.948 mark. St. Louis Blues’ goalie Jordan Binnington is the next closest with a -0.777.
Simply put, that’s unsustainable for the Senators. Ottawa has already brought in James Reimer to shore up their play in the crease. The veteran stopped 30 out of 34 shots in the Senators’ recent overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Ottawa hopes that Merilainen can regain some of his confidence in the AHL. He has historically been solid with AHL Belleville, owning a career 33-22-8 record across six seasons with a .911 SV% and 2.59 GAA.
Meanwhile, Shepard returns to the Senators for the sixth time this season. The two-time Calder Cup champion has already appeared in one game with Ottawa this season, stopping 10 out of 12 shots against the Red Wings on January 5th. Throughout the duration of his first stint with AHL Belleville, Shepard owns a 6-6-1 record with a .895 SV% and 3.45 GAA.
Maple Leafs Assign Anthony Stolarz To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Toronto Maple Leafs are nearing the return of one of their netminders. The Maple Leafs announced that they’ve assigned Anthony Stolarz to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on a conditioning loan.
Assuming that Toronto will want Stolarz to participate in at least one AHL contest before activating him from the injured reserve, he’ll likely only miss two more games for the Maple Leafs. The Marlies don’t play again until Friday, whereas the Maple Leafs have two games through Friday evening.
If he’s activated and recalled after the Marlies’ game on Friday night, it’ll mark the end of a 34-game absence for Stolarz. The veteran netminder has missed over two months of action for the Maple Leafs after suffering an upper-body injury against the Boston Bruins on November 11th.
There’s reason to believe that Stolarz had been dealing with the injury prior to being placed on the injured reserve in November. He had a shaky start to the 2025-26 campaign, managing a 6-5-1 record in 13 games with a .884 SV% and 3.51 GAA. That’s a monumental drop-off from how he performed from 2023 to 2025, securing a 37-15-5 record in 61 games with a .926 SV% and 2.10 GAA split between the Florida Panthers and Maple Leafs.
Unfortunately, since it’s unlikely that Toronto carries three netminders on their active roster, Stolarz’s return is bad news for Dennis Hildeby. The second-year netminder has been a boon to the Maple Leafs this season, managing a 5-6-4 record in 19 games with a .910 SV% and 2.90 GAA. Additionally, according to Hockey Reference, he’s earned a 6.7 Goals Saved Above Average.
Still, Hildeby is exempt from waivers, meaning the Maple Leafs can easily reassign him to AHL Toronto once prompted. Given that Stolarz and fellow netminder Joseph Woll are signed through the next several years, Hildeby will remain in the unenviable position of again waiting for an injury to happen to receive another opportunity at the NHL level.
Avalanche Reassign Alex Barre-Boulet To AHL
8:28 PM: Today’s recalls were short-lived as following the game, the Avs announced that both Barre-Boulet and Ivan were sent back to the Eagles.
3:07 PM: The Colorado Avalanche made one more recall before Monday’s home contest against the Washington Capitals. Depth forward Alex Barre-Boulet was called up to the NHL roster after it was announced that winger Valeri Nichushkin would miss Monday’s game with an upper-body injury. Fellow recall Ivan Ivan will also appear in the lineup.
This will be Barre-Boulet’s first NHL contest since playing in the first two games of the Montreal Canadiens’ 2024-25 season. He posted no scoring, one penalty, and a minus-two in those contests – prompting the Canadiens to send Barre-Boulet to the AHL’s Laval Rocket for the season. The veteran forward proved a tremendous boost to Laval’s roster. He led the team in scoring with 63 points in 64 regular season games and 11 points in 13 playoff games.
That strong year prompted another change of scenery this summer. Barre-Boulet moved from Laval to the Colorado Eagles, where he has held onto his touch. He leads the Eagles in points in 37 in 36 games this season. Now, the Avalanche will reward that scoring in a time of need, and bring Barre-Boulet back into the NHL fold. He played in 68 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning between 2020 and 2024, scoring 12 goals and 18 points. Much of Barre-Boulet’s time in the NHL has come on the fourth-line, a trend that should continue in Colorado.
The depth addition won’t quite help the Avalanche make up for Nichushkin’s absence. The toolsy, Russian winger has 11 goals and 27 points in 38 games this season. He snapped a six-game scoring drought with a point on Friday – but racked up a lofty 14 points in as many games during December. Even after a recent dry spell, Nichushkin remains cemented in Colorado’s top-nine, and leaves multiple holes in the lineup. The Avalanche will lean on Barre-Boulet, Ross Colton, and Gavin Brindley to collectively make up for Nichushkin’s absence.
Golden Knights Recall Jaycob Megna
The Golden Knights have added some extra defensive depth in advance of their game tonight against Philadelphia. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson. To make room on the roster, newly acquired defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been moved to non-roster status.
It’s the fourth recall of the season for the 33-year-old but the first few stints with the big club haven’t yielded much in the way of playing time. Megna has played in just three games so far with Vegas, averaging 10:29 per game while posting a minus-five plus-minus rating. For his career, he has suited up in 196 contests over parts of eight seasons at the top level, notching four goals and 23 assists.
Megna has spent the bulk of the campaign with Henderson, playing in 27 games where he has three goals and seven assists. That production is at a similar rate to last season when he was with Charlotte and had 16 points in 64 appearances with the Checkers.
As for Andersson, the non-roster designation shouldn’t be any cause for concern. He’s still working through the process of getting a work visa and there’s no word yet on when he’ll be cleared to make his Golden Knights debut, though this process is usually finalized well within a week. Moving him to non-roster status allows them to get Megna up to fill a spot on the third pairing in the short term.
Afternoon Notes: Robinson, Gostisbehere, Rooney
A new injury hit the Carolina Hurricanes during Monday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Forward Eric Robinson left the game with roughly eight minutes left in the first period after being awkwardly knocked down by former teammate and Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin. Robinson appeared to be nursing his left shoulder as he left the ice and has been designated with an upper-body injury.
Robinson has continued to offer all-around utility in a bottom-six role this season. He has 10 goals, 15 points, and a plus-seven in 43 games this season. His performance has been a nice continuation on a strong debut with the Hurricanes last season. Robinson recorded 14 goals, 32 points, and a plus-14 while playing in all 82 games last season – all career-highs. He missed his first games as a Hurricane in late October, when an upper-body injury forced him out of six games.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Hurricanes were again without defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere on Monday per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. It was Gostisbehere’s fourth straight absence due to a lower-body injury and illness. The 32-year-old defenseman has now missed 14 games on the season. Despite that, he still leads the Hurricanes blue-line in scoring with six goals and 32 points in 35 games. He has 10 more points than K’Andre Miller, who ranks second. Gostisbehere will have a clear path into an important role when he returns from another absence.
- The Utah Mammoth have assigned center Kevin Rooney to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. He has served as an extra forward all year long and played his only NHL game in late November. Rooney has built a more prominent role in Tucson, where he has seven goals and 10 points in 20 games. He will slot back into a familiar role with the Roadrunners and could be a top call-up option when Utah needs another hand.