Stars Place Radek Faksa On Injured Reserve
Dallas Stars forward Radek Faksa was placed on injured reserve, as noted by Robert Tiffin of StarsThoughts.com. Representing Team Czechia at the Olympics, Faksa suffered an upper body injury which cut his time short.
The team has annouced the retroactive date as February 17, when the veteran was injured in Milan, meaning he could be activated as soon as Saturday. If such could be the case, he’d only miss one game, tomorrow against Seattle.
The ailment does not appear to be serious, but it’s another tough blow considering that top scorer Mikko Rantanen landed on the shelf from his own injury during the Olympic Games, and top center Roope Hintz is unlikely to play tomorrow as he is ill.
Chosen by the Stars back in 2012, Faksa returned to his long-term organization after a one year stint with St. Louis in 2024-25 to serve as a bottom six center. The 32-year-old has missed just one game, recording 17 points, already surpassing his output in the unusual Blues uniform last year. Faksa’s 43.3% corsi for in at five-on-five is a career worst, however he has started 72% of his shifts in the defensive zone, thanks to his trustworthy 56% face-off win rate. The fifth-ranked Stars hardly need offense from Faksa at this point in his career, as opposed to his usual shutdown play and penalty killing.
Dallas’ forward depth will be tested over the next few days as they return from the Olympic break, but in all likelihood, Faksa will return by next week in time for the team’s two-game Western Canada road trip which starts Monday in Vancouver.
Kraken Sign Ryan Winterton To Two-Year Extension
It has been an eventful evening for the Seattle Kraken, announcing that Ryan Winterton has been signed to a two-year contract extension worth $1.125MM per season. The forward would have become a restricted free agent after the season, now with a nice increase from his current $828k entry level deal. Winterton’s contract news came out tonight along with teammate Ben Meyers‘ extension.
A third round selection of Seattle in their inaugural 2021 draft class, Winterton has emerged as a nice find with a strong bottom six potential. Standing at 6’2″, the 22-year-old recorded at least 35 points in each of his two AHL seasons, now breaking through as a regular in the lineup. Across 54 games so far, the Ontario native has 15 points, missing just two contests to this point.
Back in August, Winterton was listed as the Kraken’s ninth-best prospect by Steven Ellis of The Fourth Period. A franchise whose efforts to build a contender immediately proved ineffective, with shuffling behind the bench, Seattle has finally started to assemble a formidable next wave of young players; Winterton helping round out the group with a high floor outlook.
Winterton’s development is still a work in progress, as his possession metrics at even strength remain below average, but he’s shown real improvement from last season’s -11 in just 12 games, now into the positives across his 54 games. Serving as a penalty killer in the team’s bottom six, he offers enough speed and puck skills to carve out a role under Head Coach Lane Lambert.
Now locked up until after the 2027-28 season, where he’ll still remain under team control, Winterton is expected to grow further over the next two seasons on his way to becoming a fixture of Seattle’s lineup.
Kraken Sign Ben Meyers To Two-Year Extension
The Seattle Kraken shared that Ben Meyers has been signed to a two-year extension worth $1MM per season. The forward’s one year deal worth $775k was set to expire this summer, where he would have become an unrestricted free agent.
Undrafted, the 27-year-old represented his home state as a Minnesota Golden Gopher from 2019-22, working his way up to becoming team captain and a Hobey Baker Award finalist. Notable considering recent events, Meyers was a proud member of Team USA at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. As NHL players were not allowed to participate, he landed into the global stage out of college, posting four points in as many games.
Upon the conclusion of his impressive collegiate career, Meyers caught the attention of Colorado, who signed him to a two-year contract, subsequently jumping right into the show and scoring in his NHL debut. Things came a bit harder for the forward after the blur of his first professional action, as in 2022-23 he scored four goals with no assists in 39 games with the Avs, leading to a split across the campaign with time in the AHL.
Meyers remained productive with the Colorado Eagles, posting 49 points in 62 contests across 2022-24, but opportunities proved limited with the elite Avalanche. In March of 2024, he was dealt to the Ducks for a 2024 fifth round draft selection. The trade gave him an opportunity to return to an NHL lineup, where Meyers played out his contract but after just two assists in 14 games, Anaheim chose not to keep him.
Undeterred, Meyers then signed a one-year deal with Seattle worth $755k for 2024-25, where he ended up spending the year with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Meyers lit it up with 51 points in 57 games, leading the team and earning another extension for this year with a shot to stay at the NHL level.
His patience has paid off, as Meyers is now a key depth player for the Kraken. Across 32 contests so far in 2025-26, he has recorded 11 points, a nice increase after just seven in his first 75 at the highest level. Important for any fourth line penalty killer, Meyers has spent just four minutes in the box all year. His 53.4% face-off win percentage is a career best.
Having addressed their depth forwards, GM Jason Botterill can turn his attention to key veterans such as Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Eeli Tolvanen who all expire after the season. Meyers’ Kraken are back in action tomorrow in Dallas, but as he’s currently on IR with a lower-body injury, it will be without the newly signed man, pending further announcement.
Image Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Sharks Reassign Nick Leddy, Filip Bystedt
2/24: Like Bystedt last Sunday, San Jose reassigned Leddy to the AHL today. The veteran was able to skate with the team over the last few days but now is headed back down, with the big club back in action Thursday against Calgary.
A Stanley Cup champion and member of the 1,000 game club, Leddy’s Shark tenure hasn’t gone to plan as he plays out the final year of his deal worth $4MM. The 34-year-old hasn’t debuted with the Barracuda yet, but if he does at some point, it would be his first AHL action since 2012-13 with the Rockford IceHogs.
2/22: As expected, the Sharks have returned Bystedt to the minors ahead of their return to game action. He will continue to heal up from an upper-body injury as the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda approach two games next weekend.
2/18: The San Jose Sharks announced that they’ve recalled forward Filip Bystedt and defenseman Nick Leddy from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Still, there’s no indication that either player will play for the Sharks next week.
Following the announcement, Sheng Peng from San Jose Hockey Now reported that Bystedt will not be playing for the Sharks next week; he has been recalled solely to serve as an additional participant in practice. Additionally, because Bystedt is nursing an upper-body injury, he wasn’t expected to play for the Barracuda either. There is no word on how long Leddy’s promotion will be.
Still, Bystedt likely isn’t far off from becoming a full-time player for the Sharks. He’s in his third season playing professionally in North America after being selected with the 27th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Sharks. He’s continued to get better every season.
He got off to a hot start, scoring four goals and seven points in eight games for the Barracuda in 2023-24, and followed that up with a 12-goal, 31-point performance in 50 games last season. This year, he’s leading the team in scoring, registering 13 goals and 36 points in 40 games.
Meanwhile, Leddy has yet to play for AHL San Jose after clearing waivers and being reassigned in mid-January. The 34-year-old veteran has struggled this season, registering four assists in 19 games, averaging 17:30 of ice time per game. In the last year of a four-year, $16MM contract signed with the St. Louis Blues, there’s a strong indication that this will be Leddy’s last season in the NHL.
Pro Hockey Rumors’ Bradley Keith also contributed to this article.
Red Wings Reassign Dominik Shine, Sheldon Dries
Feb. 24: Shine and Dries were returned to Grand Rapids today, per a team announcement. The Red Wings are likely expecting Larkin to be available Thursday against the Senators.
Feb. 23: The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled Shine and Dries again ahead of practice today while they await the return of Dylan Larkin from his gold-medal-winning effort with Team USA at the Olympics. With only 12 healthy forwards on the active roster, it stands to reason one of them might stick around as injury insurance after games get going later this week.
Feb. 19, 1:49 p.m.: Both Shine and Dries are headed back to Grand Rapids after today’s practice, the team announced.
Feb. 19, 8:56 a.m.: While Detroit quietly returned Watson and Dries to Grand Rapids after Tuesday’s practice, they’ve brought Dries back up today, along with Dominik Shine, per a team announcement. Shine, 32, has been in Detroit’s system since signing with Grand Rapids as a free agent out of Northern Michigan University in 2027 and finally made his NHL debut last season. In 2025-26, he’s assumed the captaincy for Grand Rapids and is having a career year, scoring 21 goals in only 35 games.
Feb. 17: The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled forwards Austin Watson and Sheldon Dries from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. They’ll help the team fill out its practices this week until their contingent of Olympians returns to the squad.
Watson is a veteran of 528 NHL games, although none of them have come this season. The 34-year-old joined Detroit on a two-way deal in 2024 after a lengthy run with the Predators, Senators, and Lightning as a fourth-line/press box option, but he’s spent most of his time in the organization in the minors. After playing just 13 NHL games last year, he re-upped on a two-way extension and has suited up exclusively for Grand Rapids this year since clearing waivers during training camp.
While the Michigan native wasn’t more than a standard 10-to-20-point enforcer at the NHL level, he does have a tangible offensive impact in the minors. He racked up 42 points and 112 penalty minutes in 60 contests for the Griffins last year and has clicked at a similar but reduced pace in 2025-26. Through 39 games, he’s 10th on the team in scoring with 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) with a team-high 123 PIMs.
Dries, also a hometown signing, recently inked a two-year, two-way extension that will keep him in the Motor City through 2027-28. He was recalled twice last month under emergency conditions but has still yet to suit up for an NHL team since 2022-23 with the Canucks. Now in his ninth professional season, he has 277 points in 378 career AHL games – including a 17-16–33 scoring line in 39 games with Grand Rapids this year as an alternate captain.
Kings Recall Kirill Kirsanov, Erik Portillo
Feb. 24: Kirsanov and Portillo were quietly returned to Ontario back on Friday, but the team announced they’ve been recalled again today. With Doughty and Kuemper taking home silver medals, they might be getting tomorrow off against the Golden Knights before returning to the lineup. As such, Kirsanov and Portillo would be needed as a healthy extra and a backup goalie, respectively.
Feb. 19: The Kings announced they’ve recalled defenseman Kirill Kirsanov and goaltender Erik Portillo from AHL Ontario. Netminder Pheonix Copley was returned to Ontario after being recalled yesterday in the corresponding move.
Kirsanov gets a look in an NHL practice today while Drew Doughty is still in Italy representing Team Canada at the Olympics. The 23-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract, waiting four years after L.A. drafted him in the third round in 2021 to come over from his native Russia. While the 6’2″ lefty struggled to hold down a regular role in the KHL, he’s looked the part so far in Ontario. A stable two-way presence, he’s put up four goals and 11 points with a +8 rating in 47 games.
Portillo, who’s essentially usurped Copley as the No. 3 goalie on the Kings’ depth chart, will get his turn in practice today with Darcy Kuemper absent. After a tough showing last year, the 25-year-old has squarely outperformed Copley in the minors this season and has a .905 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 19 games. That’s been good for a 13-3-1 record and one shutout behind one of the AHL’s best offensive clubs.
Ducks Recall Ian Moore, Tim Washe
Feb. 24: As expected, the Ducks announced today that Moore is back on the roster ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Oilers. He was recalled alongside forward Tim Washe, who was on the NHL roster prior to the break but was sent down to San Diego earlier than Moore. His return indicates the Ducks aren’t expecting either Leo Carlsson or Frank Vatrano to be able to come off injured reserve yet.
Feb. 18: According to a team announcement, the Anaheim Ducks have reassigned defenseman Ian Moore to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. It’ll be Moore’s first stint in the AHL since the beginning of the season.
It’s not expected to be a long-term demotion for Moore. Simply put, the move to AHL San Diego will allow the 24-year-old defenseman to play in as many as three games before the Ducks return to action against the Edmonton Oilers next Wednesday.
Regardless, it won’t be an unfamiliar environment for Moore. The former captain of Harvard University played nine games for the Gulls last year to close out the regular season, scoring one goal and five points. He has only registered one AHL contest this season.
Although he didn’t crack Anaheim’s roster out of training camp, he’s been with the Ducks for much of the 2025-26 campaign. He’s scored two goals and nine points in 41 games, averaging 14:10 of ice time per night. He’s shown quality possession metrics for a rookie, managing a 53.5% CorsiFor% at even strength.
Moore’s rise as a capable NHL defenseman has sparked mixed feelings in Orange County. His play at the beginning of the year led to a loss of ice time for defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, who even considered requesting a trade in late November.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Matt Kiersted
The Wild announced today that they’ve recalled forward Ben Jones and defenseman Matt Kiersted from AHL Iowa. They have two open roster spots and thus don’t need to make any corresponding moves.
Minnesota is expecting Matt Boldy to return to the team from his gold medal win with Team USA in time for tomorrow’s game against the Predators, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. However, they didn’t have an extra forward rostered in case he isn’t able to go. Jones, who’s already suited up 26 times for Minnesota this season, will do the honors.
With the Wild having a back-to-back road trip to kick off their post-break schedule, there’s a decent chance they’ll need him for at least one of the contests. He last appeared for the Wild on Jan. 20 before being reassigned to Iowa a few days later. Jones, who turns 27 on Thursday, was a high-scoring piece in juniors but hasn’t found much of any offense at the NHL level. He has a goal and an assist this season, the only two points of his career in 54 total games. He’s only averaged 8:36 per game of ice time but has been valuable as a depth faceoff-taker, winning 53.5% of his draws.
Outside of that, Jones’ game is uninspiring. His -10 rating is ahead of only Marcus Foligno‘s -11. He averages under a shot on goal per game. His 2.04 hits per game rank fourth on the team, but that’s more a measure of how little Minnesota has the puck when he’s on the ice. His 39.2 CF% at even strength is the lowest among active Wild forwards.
As for Kiersted, he gives the Wild two extra defenders – also in case fellow Olympians Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes aren’t available. He joins David Spacek, who was recalled from Iowa on Saturday. The 27-year-old was already jockeyed between the NHL and AHL over the break to give the Wild some extra practice players. The lefty has just seven points in 33 AHL games this season with a -5 rating, adding an assist and a -1 mark in four NHL contests in December and January.
Dallas Stars Place Mikko Rantanen On IR
Feb. 24: Rantanen will be out for at least two weeks and possibly longer, head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters today, although he doesn’t expect the injury to end his regular season (via Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News). That will nonetheless put him out through the trade deadline and keep him out of at least Dallas’ next seven games.
Feb. 23: The Dallas Stars announced today that they have placed star forward Mikko Rantanen on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 20, the date of Finland’s loss to Canada in the quarterfinals of the recent Winter Olympic tournament.
Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan told the media today, including Stars Thoughts’ Robert Tiffin, that Rantanen is doubtful to play in the Stars’ first game back from the break, and is questionable beyond that point. According to Tiffin, Gulutzan “didn’t want to speculate” on Rantanen’s status beyond this week.
The team’s roster move suggests Rantanen isn’t set for an extended absence. Since his IR placement was made retroactive to Feb. 20, he will be eligible for activation as early as Feb. 27. If the team held a firm expectation that Rantanen would miss well over a week, it is less likely that they would have directly clarified the retroactive nature of his IR placement in their announcement post.
Rantanen’s injury didn’t end up costing Finland, as they cruised past Slovakia to earn a bronze medal. His injury, while seemingly minor in the grand scheme of the Stars’ season, threatens to seriously impact their odds of winning the games he’s set to miss. Rantanen is arguably Dallas’ most talented forward, currently leading the team in scoring with 69 points in 54 games.
Rantanen leads all Stars forwards in time-on-ice per game and is widely considered one of the game’s top wingers. Missing him, even for a handful of games, will hurt the Stars. With that said, Gulutzan’s comments combined with how the Stars have announced Rantanen’s IR placement suggest the star winger won’t be sidelined for too long, which is certainly good news for Dallas.
Penguins Acquire Samuel Girard From Avalanche
The Penguins acquired left-shot blue-liner Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round pick from the Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak, both teams announced Tuesday.
Girard has been in the rumor mill for what seems like years. Colorado hoped to make him a future top-four anchor behind Cale Makar and Devon Toews – he actually predates both of them and was the Avs’ longest-tenured defenseman – when they acquired him from the Predators in 2017. After the puck-mover impressed and sniffed 20 minutes per game of ice time in his first full season in Colorado, the Avs inked him to a seven-year, $35MM extension.
Some warned the commitment was premature. Now, in the penultimate season of the contract, they’d be right, at least based on his recent play. Girard’s performance back in the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign made it look like he’d be the final piece of a true three-headed monster behind Makar and Toews, rattling off 32 points and a +15 rating in 58 games. His trajectory has been largely downhill from there. His minutes were steadily reduced from the 23-plus minutes he logged that year, his playoff performances were negligible, and he never churned out the same level of two-way play. He’s topped 30 points just once since then and has had negative relative Corsi impacts three times in the last five seasons at 5-on-5.
Still, Girard remained Colorado’s clear-cut No. 2 left-shot option behind Toews, especially after the Avs jettisoned Bowen Byram at the 2024 trade deadline. Then came this season. Girard sustained an upper-body injury in Colorado’s second game of the season that left him on the shelf for a month. During that time, veteran righty Brent Burns got the bump up to second-pairing minutes with Josh Manson moving to his offside in lieu of Girard. That duo, with over 2,200 combined games of NHL experience, has put up fantastic results – even posting better possession numbers than Makar and Toews have with a 56.8 xGF%, per MoneyPuck.
That pushed Girard down to a third-pairing role along with Sam Malinski, averaging only 17:41 of ice time per game. Even there, Malinski’s 25-point, +30 breakout through 55 games had rendered Girard as something of an expensive depth redundancy, especially with Malinski now extended through 2029-30 and Girard costing $5MM against the cap.
That cap impact, in a season where the Avs are the top Cup favorites by a significant margin, is why general manager Chris McFarland was willing to offload a second-round pick to get out of the last year and a half of his deal – especially if they’re receiving a much cheaper third-pairing option in Kulak in return, who’s having a strong season. Swapping out Girard for the pending UFA Kulak, who costs only $2.75MM, now leaves the Avs with a projected $10.82MM in cap space on deadline day, per PuckPedia. They’ve also given themselves $13MM even in cap space for next season, up from just $8MM to fill seven spots before the deal.
Kulak’s time in Pittsburgh ends after 25 games. It’s his second time being traded this season, having been acquired from the Oilers in December as part of the Tristan Jarry/Stuart Skinner swap. During that time, he’d gotten a bump in minutes alongside Kris Letang in top-four deployment and showed he was up to the task. He’s having a tough season offensively, even by his limited standards as a shutdown bottom-four piece, but managed seven points with a +2 rating while playing almost exclusively with Letang. That duo controlled 52.2% of expected goals as well, per MoneyPuck.
Given how both players grade out this season, it’s likely a lateral move at worst for both clubs. It’s a bit more of a long-term focused move for the Pens, though. They have little to no long-term security in their top four. Parker Wotherspoon has impressed this season, elevated as a top-pairing shutdown partner for Erik Karlsson, although he’s been a career third-pairing option and, at age 28, the prospects for regression next season are bright. Ryan Shea is, like Kulak, a pending UFA. Their veteran depth options are uninspiring, and it’s questionable if 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering will be ready to log NHL minutes next season.
They now have a year and change of a 27-year-old Girard, plus the ability to discuss an extension with him starting July 1. He immediately becomes their most offensively dynamic threat on the left side and becomes the youngest name in Pittsburgh’s aging top-four group. They’re banking on Girard, who has 12 points in 40 outings this season, to return to his 30-plus point form back in expanded minutes, but considering he’s averaged over 20 minutes per game for his career, it’ll be a familiar situation for him.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the trade.
Image courtesy of Steven Bisig-Imagn Images.