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Canadiens Reassign Joshua Roy

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Pittsburgh Penguins Make Several Roster Moves

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they’ve recalled forward Tristan Broz from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and reassigned forward Philip Tomasino in a corresponding roster move. Additionally, the Penguins have assigned defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Jack St. Ivany to the AHL on conditioning loans.

Broz, 23, will have the opportunity to make his NHL debut. Pittsburgh selected the Bloomington, MN native with the 58th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, and he’s been playing with the AHL Penguins for the last two years.

He was relatively successful in his first full year with WBS, scoring 19 goals and 37 points in 59 games with a -7 rating. It wasn’t enough to land Broz on the AHL’s All-Rookie Team last year, but he finished eighth on the team in scoring.

This season, Broz is off to a terrific start, scoring eight goals and 13 points in 18 games with a +5 rating. Being that he was third on the team, the top four scorers for the AHL Penguins this season are now all rostered in the NHL.

Meanwhile, Tomasino is guaranteed to play in his first AHL contest since the 2023-24 campaign, assuming he reports. The former first-round pick of the Nashville Predators has struggled this season, registering one assist in nine games, averaging 12:10 of ice time per game. He cleared waivers five days ago, but had remained on the NHL roster until today.

Lastly, Brunicke and St. Ivany will head to the AHL for a short time. Brunicke has been on the roster for the entire 2025-26 campaign up to this point, though he hasn’t appeared in a contest since early November. In the games he has played, he’s scored one goal while averaging 15:43 of ice time. On his conditioning loan, he’ll have access to far more ice time.

St. Ivany, on the other hand, hasn’t appeared in a contest for the Penguins this season. The two-year veteran began the year on Pittsburgh’s season-opening injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. Today’s news confirms that St. Ivany has been activated from that list, nearly two weeks after his projected return date.

Canadiens Recall Adam Engström

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The Montreal Canadiens will reward a top prospect for a five-point night in the AHL. Defenseman Adam Engström has been recalled to the NHL lineup ahead of a three-game road-trip. The 23-year-old leads AHL defenseman with five goals, and leads the Laval Rockets defense with 14 points. Eight of those points have come in his last four games.

On the other side of his hot streak, Engström will now receive the first call-up of his professional career. He signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens, and joined Laval, last season. His rookie AHL year had its ups-and-downs and ended with 32 points and 50 penalty minutes in 79 total games. Engström was no stranger to pro hockey before his time in the AHL, having already scored 38 points in 95 SHL games between 2021 and 2024. But breaking into North America, and getting year-one out of the way, seems to have a new layer of confidence to his game that’s paying off this season.

Montreal drafted Engström in the third-round of the 2022 NHL Draft, following a year where he posted 35 points in 51 games in Sweden’s junior league. He was lauded as a reliable, two-way defender capable of moving the puck in his draft year. In three years since, he’s added a strong physical frame and better jump towards the puck, bringing his game to a much higher level.

Engstrom will compete with Arber Xhekaj for a spot on Montreal’s third-pair. Xhekaj could earn a slight bit of favor, with his brother Florian Xhekaj also in the lineup. But should Montreal want a responsible play-driver, over a pure enforcer, a swap to Engström could be timely.

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