Golden Knights Activate William Karlsson, Move Victor Olofsson To IR
The Golden Knights activated center William Karlsson from injured reserve before last night’s win over the Sharks, per the NHL’s media portal, and as evidenced by his pair of points in his season debut. Right-winger Victor Olofsson was placed on injured reserve in a corresponding move.
It’s all good news for Vegas, as Olofsson was already listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. His IR placement is retroactive to Oct. 15, so he can come off IR anytime. The transaction doesn’t impact his timeline for a return in the slightest.
Karlsson’s return is a significant boon to a Golden Knights squad already leading the league with 4.67 goals per game. After yesterday’s 7-3 thrashing of San Jose, Vegas sits atop the Pacific Division with a 6-2-1 record and a +14 goal differential, third in the league behind the Rangers and Jets. Captain Mark Stone leads the league outright in scoring with 17 points (4 G, 13 A) in nine games, while Jack Eichel is tied for second with 15 points (3 G, 12 A). Vegas’ stars have been dominant enough early on to quiet any concerns about the significant hits to their depth scoring over the offseason. However, players like Brett Howden (five goals) and Pavel Dorofeyev (seven points) are also doing their part as they settle into consistent top-nine roles.
The 31-year-old Karlsson is one of two expansion draft selections remaining on Vegas’ roster, joining defenseman Brayden McNabb. Now in his eighth season with the team and his 11th NHL campaign overall, he’s coming off his best offensive showing since his unfathomable 43-goal, 78-point breakout during the Knights’ inaugural season. Last year marked the first time he’d hit the 30-goal and 60-point plateaus since then, and he also won a career-best 56.2% of his draws. Karlsson’s possession metrics remained strong, logging a 51.8 CF% and 57.1 xGF% with 46 blocked shots, placing 18th in Selke Trophy voting. It was the first time he’d received consideration for the award since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns.
With Karlsson back, Vegas has its full complement of centers – Eichel on line one, Tomáš Hertl on line two, Karlsson on line three, and Nicolas Roy on line four. That’s a rare sight for a team that’s been plagued by its big-name forwards missing significant time with injuries over the past few seasons. For now, though, they have no restrictions up front aside from Olofsson’s absence and remain out of LTIR.
Karlsson had been out of action since the Knights’ exhibition schedule with an undisclosed injury.
Calgary Flames Activate Yegor Sharangovich From IR
The red-hot Calgary Flames are getting a major offensive jolt off the injured reserve. The team announced they’ve activated Yegor Sharangovich from the injured reserve shortly before tonight’s matchup against the Winnipeg Jets.
Calgary didn’t need to make a corresponding roster move before the game tonight thanks to yesterday’s demotion of youngster Matthew Coronato. There are big expectations for Sharangovich in southern Alberta this year after a solid 31-goal, 59-point performance in the 2023-24 season.
Contractual expectations were added as well. The Flames signed Sharangovich to a five-year, $28.75MM extension this past offseason which begins at the end of his current deal marking a large commitment from an organization that was previously thought to be heavily retooling.
He hasn’t been able to build on any of those expectations yet this season. Sharangovich fell awkwardly into the boards of the Flames’ final preseason game, necessitating a move to the team’s injured reserve with a lower-body injury to start the year. Calgary’s offensive has been more than fine without Sharangovich up to this point. They’re off to a 5-1-1 record through seven games and sit ninth in the league in GF/G with 3.57.
He’s already reassumed his role on the team’s top line next to Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko. He’s been left off the scoresheet tonight so far after two periods against the Jets but has registered two hits on the night.
Flyers Recall Alexei Kolosov, Emil Andrae; Place Cameron York On IR
7:04 PM: The Flyers organization confirmed the transaction of Andrae and Kolosov’s recall. Additionally, the team announced they’ve placed York on injured reserve as he will miss the next few weeks with an upper-body injury.
6:49 PM: The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled defenseman Emil Andrae and goaltender Alexei Kolosov from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, per Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco. Di Marco adds that Kolosov is expected to start for the team on Sunday, though NHL.com’s Kevin Kurz wasn’t ready to ensure that role. Kolosov stands as one of many high-profile goalie prospects in Philadelphia’s system. He’s started all four of Lehigh Valley’s regular season games so far this season, allowing 13 goals on 104 shots – good for an .875 save percentage.
Kolosov, 22, moved to the AHL at the end of last season, playing in two games with the Phantoms and allowing six goals on 52 shots. The spot starts came after Kolosov spent the season starting for the KHL’s Dynamo Minsk, where he posted a .907 through 47 games. It was his second season of starting for Dynamo, having posted a .912 in 42 games the year prior – after growing through the team’s junior ranks. He’d ultimately total a .909 save percentage through 120 games, and four seasons, at Russia’s top-level – though he became popular with strong performances for Team Belarus internationally. He joined the team at the World U18 Championship in 2019, Division A of the World Junior Championships in 2020 and 2022, and the World Championship in 2021. Of all of the international trips, it was the 2022 Division-A World Juniors that saw Kolosov shine the brightest – posting a .932 save percentage and flawless record through five games.
While Kolosov joins the battle for starting minutes, Andrae will once again return to the fight for a blue-line role. The 22-year-old defender played in four scoreless games with Philadelphia last season, but ultimately spent the bulk of his season in the minors. His 32 points in 61 games led all Phantoms defenders in scoring and brought Andrae up to 38 points in 71 career AHL games. He recorded an assist in his sole AHL appearance this year, and will now back the Flyers D-corps as they prepare for weeks without Cameron York. Andrae will fight for games with Erik Johnson and Yegor Zamula.
Riley Tufte Clears Waivers
Saturday: Tufte has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.
Friday: The Bruins have placed winger Riley Tufte on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
It’s no surprise, given how sparsely the 26-year-old has played to start the season. Signed to a one-way, league-minimum deal in the offseason, Tufte made the opening night roster but has been scratched six times in eight games to start the year. When in the lineup, the 6’6″, 230-lb winger has made little impact, posting a -1 rating and three hits while averaging 8:08 per game. He’s yet even to record a shot attempt.
A first-round pick of the Stars back in 2016, Tufte has just 20 NHL appearances to his name with Dallas, Colorado, and Boston, scoring twice and adding an assist. He’s coming off a career-best 23 goals and 45 points in the minors with AHL Colorado last year, adding 91 PIMs in 67 appearances. The Bruins thought that production might translate into him being an effective fourth-line energy piece on a semi-everyday basis, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
As such, the Bruins will open up a roster spot one way or another tomorrow, whether Tufte clears and is sent to the minors or is claimed by another team. They could use that spot to sign Tyler Johnson, who was never released from his professional tryout and is still practicing with the team.
Kailer Yamamoto Clears Waivers, Utah Expected To Activate Nick Bjugstad
Saturday: Yamamoto has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. The team announced he has been sent to Tucson.
Friday: The Utah Hockey Club has winger Kailer Yamamoto on waivers today for the purposes of assignment to AHL Tucson, the team announced. After he clears or is claimed tomorrow, they’ll have an open roster spot to activate center Nick Bjugstad from injured reserve, per Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports.
It’s a tough break for Yamamoto, who hasn’t converted a strong training camp into a regular-season impact in Salt Lake. The 26-year-old was non-tendered by the Kraken at the end of last season and didn’t receive any guaranteed offers, instead landing a PTO with Utah for training camp. They signed him to a one-year, two-way deal the day before opening night rosters were due, and Bjugstad was slated to start the year on IR.
Even with Bjugstad out, though, there hasn’t been much opportunity for Yamamoto in the lineup. He was a healthy scratch for the first five games of the season before playing in each of Utah’s last three. He was held off the scoresheet, posting a -1 rating and taking just one shot on goal while averaging 10:40 per game.
On a two-way deal, there could be some interest in Yamamoto’s services on the waiver wire. The 2017 first-round pick is only one year removed from a 10-goal, 25-point campaign with the Oilers in 58 games, and he had a career-high 20 goals the year before that. That type of production from Yamamoto would require giving him consistent middle-six, if not top-six, minutes though, and he hasn’t done enough in the past couple of years to justify that ice time. Last year in Seattle, he averaged just under 12 minutes per game and saw his production suffer with 19 points (8 G, 8 A) in 59 games with a -9 rating.
Meanwhile, Bjugstad is set to make his season debut tomorrow against the Kings. It’s a little earlier than scheduled for his return, with a report from ALL City Network’s Craig Morgan at the beginning of the month stating he wouldn’t be back until Nov. 1.
He’ll be a boon to a Utah offense that has gone cold, scoring only twice in its last three games. The first-year club has dropped to a 4-3-1 record after a 3-0-0 start, dragged down by long-term injuries to defensemen Sean Durzi and John Marino. Bjugstad, 32, is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career, posting 22 goals and 45 points with a +11 rating in 76 appearances last season for the Coyotes.
Pavel Novák Clears Unconditional Waivers
Saturday: Novák has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. That will pave the way for his deal to be terminated.
Friday: The Wild have placed right-winger Pavel Novák on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, the team announced Friday. It’s likely a mutual termination.
Novák, 22, was on assignment to ECHL Iowa to begin the season, going without a point and posting a -1 rating in two games. He also spent most of last season down a level with the Heartlanders, tying for fifth on the team in scoring with 27 points (14 G, 13 A) in 44 games.
It wasn’t groundbreaking production by any stretch, especially at the ECHL level. But it was a statement campaign for Novák, who had missed all of the 2022-23 campaign while undergoing treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Minnesota 2020 fifth-round pick just lost too much development time when combined with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, and never got much of a chance to progress past the 58 points in 55 games that got him drafted out of WHL Kelowna five years ago.
The mutual termination will allow Novák to pursue professional opportunities in Europe, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. He also appeared in 13 AHL games for the Wild last season, recording two goals and an assist in 13 appearances.
Novák was in the final season of a three-year, entry-level contract worth $2.54MM that he signed back in 2022. He already earned an $80K signing bonus for this season and was earning a $75K salary while playing in the minors.
Islanders Sign Matt Martin, Make Several Other Roster Moves
The Islanders are back in action tonight against Florida and have made several roster moves in advance of that contest. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Anthony Duclair was placed on LTIR while Liam Foudy was assigned to AHL Bridgeport. With the cap savings from those two moves, the team has signed veteran winger Matt Martin to a one-year contract and recalled wingers Pierre Engvall and Hudson Fasching from the minors.
Martin has spent all but two of his 15 NHL seasons with the Isles, becoming a key member of their fourth line along the way. It looked like the two sides would part ways over the summer when he was told that he wouldn’t be offered a contract. However, when he hadn’t reached a deal heading into training camp, Martin signed a PTO with New York, allowing him to play and practice with them for the preseason. No contract came along then but he remained on a tryout deal into the season, suggesting that it was only a matter of time before he received a contract, the financial terms of which were not disclosed.
The 35-year-old has played in 955 career NHL games between New York and Toronto, recording 176 points, 1,158 penalty minutes, and 3,849 hits. With the series of roster moves the team made, he will be available to suit up against Florida tonight if head coach Patrick Roy wants to put him in the lineup.
Duclair’s placement on LTIR comes as no surprise. Earlier this week, it was revealed that he’ll miss four to six weeks due to the leg injury he sustained last weekend. With the Islanders operating very close to the salary cap, gaining even some short-term flexibility will certainly help. Duclair’s placement was backdated to October 19th and he must miss at least 10 games and 24 days from then although the expected timeline for recovery will run longer than that.
Foudy’s time with the big club was relatively short-lived. He was only brought up on Tuesday, taking Julien Gauthier‘s place on the active roster. The 24-year-old played in two games while on recall and was held off the scoresheet while averaging just 7:27 per game. Foudy has 104 career NHL appearances under his belt now between three separate organizations. He has four assists in five games so far with Bridgeport.
Engvall is in the second season of a seven-year, $21MM contract which made it both surprising and not surprising that he was on waivers at the end of training camp. Needing to open up cap room (his demotion saved them $1.15MM prorated), he was a safe bet to pass through unclaimed. That said, the fact he hit the wire just a year after being retained as a key secondary piece is an outcome few would have foreseen. The 28-year-old had 10 goals and 14 assists in 74 NHL games last season and has just one tally in six games so far with Bridgeport.
Fasching played in 45 games with the Isles last season where he had four goals and ten assists. However, that wasn’t enough to save him from going through waivers late in training camp where he passed through unclaimed. He has a goal and an assist in five games so far with Bridgeport.
As a result of these roster moves, the Islanders are now at the maximum of 23 players on the active roster.
Flyers Return Jett Luchanko To OHL
Few expected prospect center Jett Luchanko to make Philadelphia’s roster in training camp but his training camp performance allowed him to do exactly that. However, the team has decided that returning to junior is the best move for development; the team announced that they’ve assigned him to OHL Guelph. GM Daniel Briere released the following statement on the move:
The decision to send Jett back is something we strongly believe is the right path for him and his development. His work-ethic, preparedness and play during training camp and preseason was something we were extremely impressed with and felt he earned the right to make our roster and start the season with us. Ultimately, we feel it is more valuable for Jett to be put in the best possible position to prepare himself for an NHL career, and right now that is with his team in Guelph.
The 18-year-old had a strong showing with the Storm last season, notching 20 goals and 54 assists in 68 regular season games along with three assists in four playoff appearances. That had him rated by many outlets as a first-round pick outside of the lottery. But the Flyers felt differently about his upside, ultimately selecting him 13th overall, signing him to an entry-level contract less than two weeks later.
Luchanko got into four preseason games with Philadelphia, picking up two assists and playing his way onto the opening roster. He suited up in four regular season contests as well – making him the youngest player in the league – but was held off the scoresheet while playing just over 14 minutes per game on average. However, after being scratched for three of their seven games, it seemed likely that he’d eventually return to junior where he can play significant minutes in all situations and push for a spot at the World Juniors in December.
Since Luchanko won’t get into ten or more NHL contests this season, his contract won’t officially begin this season after all and he will still have three years remaining on it with a slightly lower cap hit heading into 2025-26. The Flyers now have one vacancy on their active roster and can either promote someone from AHL Lehigh Valley to fill it or operate with 22 players for the time being.
Penguins Assign Tristan Jarry To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Tristan Jarry situation in Pittsburgh has taken another turn. Just a couple of days after being sent back to Pittsburgh from their road trip to work on his game away from the team, the Penguins announced (Twitter link) that Jarry has been assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan.
The 29-year-old has certainly struggled out of the gate this season, allowing 12 goals on 73 shots in his first three appearances, ceding time to prospect Joel Blomqvist early on. With Alex Nedeljkovic returning earlier in the week, the Penguins have been carrying three goaltenders on their active roster since then.
Jarry’s assignment to the minors doesn’t change that as players on a conditioning loan count against the 23-player active roster. It also means that Pittsburgh does not receive any cap benefit from this roster move.
The maximum length of the assignment is 14 days. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton plays in five games over that stretch so if Pittsburgh intends to keep him down there as long as possible, Jarry should at least have a few starts to work on his game to see if he can at least start to turn his fortunes around.
With Jarry being signed through the 2027-28 season with a $5.375MM cap charge, it’s fair to suggest that there isn’t much of a viable trade market for him out there. Accordingly, if Jarry struggles in the minors or even if Pittsburgh wants to extend his assignment if Blomqvist and Nedeljkovic are playing well, the next move would likely come in a couple of weeks with a waiver placement as it’s highly unlikely he’d be claimed. This certainly isn’t a situation GM Kyle Dubas envisioned when he signed Jarry to this contract in the 2023 offseason but a loan to the minors probably is the best option for both sides at this time.
Metropolitan Notes: Johnson, Voronkov, Blake, Roy
Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson will not need surgery on his injured shoulder, GM Don Waddell confirmed to reporters including Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, that shouldn’t be construed that it won’t be a long-term injury as originally reported. Instead, the team simply feels that the injury can be treated with rehab. This is the second straight year that the 22-year-old has dealt with injury troubles and he was off to a good start before sustaining it as he had five points in his first four games. He still technically hasn’t been moved to injured reserve at this time but that’s something that should happen in the coming days whenever they have to open up a roster spot.
More from the Metropolitan Division:
- Still with Columbus, forward Dmitri Voronkov was a partial participant in practice today and appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a shoulder injury, reports Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch. The 24-year-old suffered the injury late in the preseason. Voronkov had a solid rookie season for the Blue Jackets in 2023-24, picking up 18 points and 16 assists and with the injuries they’re dealing with, getting him back a little earlier than expected would be some rare positive news on that front.
- The Hurricanes have once again sent winger Jackson Blake to AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. They’ve done this four times already this season in an effort to bank a bit more cap room. The 21-year-old has two goals in six games with Carolina so far so it’s safe to say he’ll be brought back up in time for puck drop against Seattle on Saturday.
- Capitals defenseman Matt Roy skated today before practice notes NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). The 29-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in Washington’s season opener and hasn’t played since. Roy was their most prominent free agent signing over the summer, inking a six-year, $34.5MM contract after putting up 25 points in nearly 21 minutes a night last season with Los Angeles. While he’s now back on the ice, he did not accompany the team on their road trip to Tampa Bay.