Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Transactions

Kraken Place Jared McCann On IR; Brandon Montour Returns To Team

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Kraken appear to be set to welcome back a key blueliner to their lineup tonight against Edmonton.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Brandon Montour has returned to the team after stepping away last weekend on a leave of absence to attend to a family matter; Montour revealed soon after that his brother passed away following a battle with ALS.  To make room for him on the roster, forward Jared McCann has been placed on injured reserve.

Montour had gotten off to a strong start before his leave, notching four assists in his first four games of the season while logging nearly 23 minutes a night of playing time.  That usage was in line with how he was deployed in 2024-25 in his first season in Seattle, one that saw him record 18 goals and 23 assists in 81 appearances while averaging 22:59 per night.  That was a particularly strong showing in the first season of a seven-year, $50MM contract signed last summer.

The Kraken only had six blueliners on their active roster which is why it made sense for McCann to be the corresponding move instead of another defender.  With Montour returning, Cale Fleury will likely lose his spot in the lineup.

As for McCann, he has missed the last week with a lower-body injury.  Assuming that Seattle has back-dated that placement, he’ll be eligible to be activated at any time.  He had also gotten off to a strong start to the season before the injury, picking up three goals and an assist in his first outings, producing at largely the same rate he has offensively over the past several seasons.

Golden Knights Sign Carter Hart To Two-Year Deal

at CDT | by

Oct. 25: The Golden Knights have registered the contract, PuckPedia reports.  The deal carries a $1.45MM signing bonus this season with a league-minimum salary of $775K.  In 2026-27, Hart will make $1.775MM in salary with no signing bonus.

Oct. 24: Vegas will be converting Hart’s tryout into a two-year contract as expected. It’ll be worth $4MM with an average annual value of $2MM, Darren Dreger of TSN reports.

Oct. 16, 12:31 p.m.: The Golden Knights announced that Hart will be joining the organization, although there isn’t a guaranteed contract yet – he’ll begin his work on a tryout with AHL Henderson, Chris Johnston of The Athletic and TSN reports. Vegas’ full statement is as follows:

Following the reinstatement decision agreed on by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association, goaltender Carter Hart will be joining the Vegas Golden Knights organization. The Golden Knights are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision. We remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.

Oct. 16, 8:30 a.m.: The Vegas Golden Knights are nearing a deal with free agent netminder Carter Hart, insider Frank Seravalli reported on his Victory+ show yesterday. Seravalli said, “I’d expect Hart’s deal to be two years,” a bit north of the league-minimum salary.

Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson seconded Seravalli’s report and provided a little more detail, stating that Hart’s deal is expected to be a two-year, $1.8MM AAV pact. Hart, who Wasserman’s Judd Moldaver reps, became eligible to sign an NHL contract yesterday but is not eligible to play until December 1st.

That Hart isn’t eligible to play until December is notable given a recent injury to starter Adin Hill during the team’s road win against the Calgary Flames two days ago. There has been no further update on Hill’s status, but since Hart remains ineligible to play for the next month and a half, the Golden Knights will have to look elsewhere to reinforce their position in the crease should Hill miss any time.

While no deal with Hart has been officially announced to this point, Vegas’ interest in Hart has been widely reported, even going back to September, when The Athletic’s Chris Johnston called the team a front-runner to secure the netminder’s services.

It was reported earlier that month that Hart would receive interest from multiple NHL teams, which is notable as the other four Hockey Canada players acquitted of charges this summer in connection to an alleged sexual assault have been met with more muted NHL interest.

Center Michael McLeod was at one point expected to sign a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, but ultimately agreed on a three-year extension with Avangard Omsk of the KHL, the side he played for in 2024-25.

A month ago, Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios commented that both his organization and forward Alex Formenton agreed that “a fresh start” would be the best option for both sides. Still, thus far, Formenton hasn’t been able to secure another NHL team to play for. He is currently playing out a four-month contract (that contains an option to extend for the rest of the 2025-26 season) with Swiss National League side HC Ambri-Piotta.

The final two players involved in this past summer’s trial, defenseman Cal Foote and forward Dillon Dube, remain free agents. Foote spent 2024-25 with HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas of the Slovak Extraliga, while Dube played for Dinamo Minsk in the KHL. There has not yet been much reporting indicating serious NHL interest in either player. The only notable report that was issued regarding either player came from The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, who noted that the Toronto Maple Leafs would not be interested in signing Dube.

As a result, it appears Hart is, by far, the most likely candidate of this group of players to receive an NHL contract in the short-term future. Hart is also, among the group, arguably its most accomplished NHL player.

The 27-year-old was once one of the more promising goalies in the sport, playing to solid results (.906 career save percentage across 227 games) for the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Flyers mostly struggled during Hart’s tenure, especially later on, he did backstop them on one playoff run, posting a .926 save percentage in 14 games during the 2019-20 season. That Flyers team fell in seven games to the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

In Vegas, Hart would potentially have the opportunity to get a real chance to play games for one of the NHL’s leading Stanley Cup contenders. The Golden Knights, who currently sit first in the Pacific Division with a 2-0-2 record, are loaded with high-end veteran talent, including center Jack Eichel, defenseman Shea Theodore, and wingers Mitch Marner and Mark Stone.

Hill, the team’s starter, backstopped the team to its first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2023, but the 29-year-old doesn’t have an extensive resume as a number-one goalie. While he started to achieve real success on a Stanley Cup-winning team, he has also made 50 starts in a season just once in his career.

Whether Hart has a path to being Vegas’ long-term number-one goalie is unclear at this stage.

Hill was signed to a six-year, $6.25MM AAV contract extension in March, signaling the Golden Knights’ commitment to him as their top netminder moving forward. But the Golden Knights have shown a willingness to make aggressive moves to maximize their competitive chances in the past, especially in net, such as when they acquired and extended netminder Robin Lehner despite the presence of Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury on their roster.

As a result, assuming Hart does sign in Vegas, and assuming he can play well upon his return to the NHL, a potential long-term future in Vegas cannot be counted out, even though Hill has signed that hefty extension. If the Golden Knights feel, down the line, that Hart gives them the best chance to win long-term, everything they have done and accomplished as an organization thus far suggests they won’t hesitate to re-sign Hart, even with Hill signed. Worth noting here is that under the reported terms of Hart’s expected contract (two years, $1.8MM AAV), Hart would become eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1st.

Bringing that up may be getting a little bit ahead of things, though, as the reality is Hart has not played competitive hockey since he left the Flyers in January of 2024. While he was once seen as a promising young netminder, it’s difficult to project how a player will perform, especially a goalie, after missing so much time. The Golden Knights, though, based on all of the available reporting, clearly believe in Hart’s NHL future, and appear poised to sign a two-year contract with the player that reflects that belief.

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Avalanche Assign Ronnie Attard To AHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Colorado’s injury list has been pretty full in the early going this season with three players on injured reserve (one on LTIR) plus several others on season-opening injured reserve who are destined for the minors when they’re cleared to return.  The latter has been shrunk by one as the Avalanche have assigned defenseman Ronnie Attard to the minors, per the AHL’s transactions log.

The 26-year-old is in his first season with the Avs after signing with them as a Group Six unrestricted free agent this past summer, inking a one-year, two-way deal.  He cleared waivers early in training camp but was recalled for a game after that, sustaining a lower-body injury that ultimately kept him out for the better part of a month.

Last season, Attard split the season between the AHL affiliates of Philadelphia and Edmonton after the latter acquired him in an early-season swap of minor league defensemen.  Between the two squads, he put up seven goals and ten assists in 66 games.

Attard has 29 career NHL appearances under his belt, all with the Flyers, tallying six points altogether.  However, he didn’t see any time on an NHL roster last season, meaning there was no lingering cap charge associated with his SOIR placement.  He’ll now join the Eagles in the hopes of playing his way into a recall as the season goes on.

Hurricanes Recall Bradly Nadeau

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled forward Bradly Nadeau from the AHL. Nadeau has scored in three games straight to start the Chicago Wolves’ season, with four points total. Carolina will now reward that hot start with the second mid-season call-up of the young pro’s career. He should help supplement the lineup while wingers Eric Robinson and William Carrier are out with injury. Both veteran wingers are expected to miss an extended period, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told NHL.com’s Walt Ruff.

Nadeau has already played in three NHL games. He made his NHL debut at the tail end of the 2023-24 season, after signing with the club following the end of his freshman season at the University of Maine. Nadeau was assigned to the minor-leagues for the majority of the 2024-25 season, but made two appearances in the NHL in the final games of the season. He has recorded one assist, two blocked shots, and two hits in the Hurricanes lineup.

While he’s still searching for a spark in the NHL, Nadeau has looked unquestionably productive in the minor leagues. He has 62 points across 67 career games in the AHL. His stat line is slightly stained by a minus-19, but Nadeau’s ability to drive play and create scoring chances has nonetheless proved reliable. He’s taken on a top-line role in the Wolves’ lineup, and steadied his play with support from veteran linemate Ryan Suzuki.

Nadeau could now have his first extended chance at the NHL lineup as Carolina addresses their injuries. Carrier and Robinson have both averaged 10 minutes of ice time through seven games this season, with three and four points respectively. That depth scoring has been a core part of Carolina’s league-best start to the season, and gives Nadeau a mark to shoot for as he steps in. He should be expected to rotate through the team’s bottom-six, at least until he can play his way into a loftier role.

Canucks Acquire Lukas Reichel

at CDT | by 25 Comments

The Canucks announced Friday that they’ve acquired forward Lukas Reichel from the Blackhawks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick. They announced shortly before the move that center Teddy Blueger has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Sunday, as the corresponding transaction.

It is not at all the return on investment Chicago hoped for when they made Reichel the 17th overall pick of the 2020 draft. Now 23, Reichel made his NHL debut in 2022, amid a spectacular rookie season in the AHL that saw the German forward notch over a point per game with the Rockford IceHogs. Reichel got a more extended look in Chicago’s lineup the following season and looked like the future top-six fixture they hoped he’d be. He turned in seven goals and 15 points through 23 games, averaging 16:22 of ice time per night and leading the team in points per game among players who finished the season in the organization.

Once Reichel first broke camp with the Blackhawks in 2023-24, though, the regression was quick and steep. Reichel was initially slotted as the No. 2 center behind Connor Bedard, but that experiment ended quickly as he was getting caved in defensively and barely generating offense. He finished the season with just five goals and 16 points in 65 appearances and was sent back to Rockford later to boost his confidence, managing three goals and 12 points in 14 combined regular-season and playoff games.

Last year was a slight improvement, but not enough to truly boost his standing in the organization. He was still an occasional healthy scratch and saw his ice time slashed to under 12 minutes per game, although he did make a career-high 70 appearances. That came with a slight bump in offense in his reduced role, managing an 8-14–22 scoring line, but he still had negative defensive impacts and won just 39.9% of his faceoffs as he spent most of the year down the middle. That turned into Chicago making Reichel available for trade over the offseason and even mulling placing him on waivers late in training camp, but he stuck with the team on opening night.

Reichel was scratched for three of the Blackhawks’ first four games but played in four straight to end his tenure in Chicago. That streak included a two-goal, three-point effort against the Blues back on Oct. 15 in a season-high 13:11 of ice time. That gives him four points in five games on the year, all at even strength, despite averaging under 10 minutes per game.

That’s an intriguing taste of the upside Vancouver is now betting on. While a natural left-winger, Chicago tried Reichel at center multiple times. With the Canucks’ depth issues down the middle behind Elias Pettersson and the oft-injured Filip Chytil, it stands to reason they’d prefer to keep Reichel down the middle. Since Chytil is currently out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, there’s a prime opportunity for Reichel to have his leash removed and immediately jump into a second-line role on a trial basis, likely between veterans Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser.

It’s a no-risk pickup for Vancouver, who can walk away from Reichel next summer if he doesn’t pan out by not issuing him a qualifying offer. He’s in the back half of a two-year, $2.4MM deal he signed with Chicago in 2024 that carries a cap hit of $1.2MM.

Blueger has been placed on IR with an undisclosed injury in a corresponding move. That designation is retroactive to Ocotber 19th, which will force Blueger out of Vancouver’s Saturday matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. He could be activated ahead of Sunday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, though that would require the canucks to send another player to the minor-leagues. Blueger scored one goal in two games before falling to injury. He has been a core piece of Vancouver’s fourth-line for the last two seasons, and should slot back into the lineup as soon as he’s back to full health.

The Canucks are currently carrying Arshdeep Bains and Joseph LaBate as their extra forwards. Both players would require waivers to be sent to the AHL. Extra defenseman Tom Willander would not require waivers, though Vancouver could want to avoid reassigning one of their top prospects before awarding him with his NHL debut.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports.

Red Wings Activate, Reassign Nate Danielson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Red Wings announced they’ve activated center Nate Danielson from the non-roster list and assigned him to AHL Grand Rapids. He had begun the season there after sustaining an undisclosed injury in a preseason game. He’ll now get his season underway in the minors after missing nearly a month of action.

Danielson, 21, is beginning his second season in the pros. The No. 9 pick of the 2023 draft arrived in Grand Rapids last year to great expectations, particularly after he ended 2023-24 on a 12-goal, 41-point heater in 28 games with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. However, his transition didn’t go as the Red Wings had hoped. The playmaking pivot only contributed a 12-27–39 scoring line in 71 games – fine production for a first-year pro, but not necessarily the level expected from a top-10 pick.

As such, 2025-26 is a crucial season for Danielson to get his offensive development back on track and prove he can compete to be a long-term top-six piece in Detroit. While more comfortable down the middle, he can also play the right wing. That might be important for a team that looks comfortable riding Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper as their top two pivots for the foreseeable future, allowing Danielson to be one of their wingmen or center the third line.

But his lukewarm initial showing in the AHL means he’s no longer standing out among the organization’s premier prospects. NHL.com ranked him as the No. 5 prospect in the organization over the summer, behind fellow forwards and first-rounders Carter Bear and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, the latter of whom made the opening night roster but has struggled with one assist and a minus-four rating in eight games.

Capitals, Sheldon Rempal Mutually Terminate Contract

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Oct. 24: Rempal has cleared waivers and will have his deal terminated as he pursues an opportunity overseas, per Friedman.

Oct. 23: The Capitals have placed forward Sheldon Rempal on waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Thursday. Rempal was previously on assignment to AHL Hershey after clearing waivers earlier in the month, so it’s presumed he’s on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a mutual contract termination.

Rempal has only been in the Washington organization for a few months after the Caps signed him to a two-way deal early in free agency. The minor-league veteran was returning to North America after spending 2024-25 in Russia with Salavat Yulaev Ufa, lighting up the Kontinental Hockey League circuit with 31 goals and 61 points in 68 games. Through four games with Hershey, he had a goal and an assist with a minus-two rating.

He likely has a better-paying opportunity lined up overseas, and with the Caps having plenty of young talent in their system, it was unlikely Rempal had a more than marginal chance of a recall this season. He was due a $450K salary if he spent all year in the minors. In the likely event he’s not claimed by another team in the next 24 hours, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow.

Rempal, 30, has 21 career NHL appearances to his name with two goals and one assist. He hasn’t seen time at the top level since February 2024 and has suited up for four different teams – the Kings, Hurricanes, Canucks, and Golden Knights. Los Angeles was the one to sign him as an undrafted free agent out of Clarkson in 2018. The 5’10”, 165-lb winger has since overcome his smallish frame to have offensive success at the minor-league level, keeping up a 109-145–254 scoring line in 332 career AHL appearances. While he’s racked up plenty of penalty minutes in the minors, spotty defensive work – plus the fact he never recorded a single hit in his NHL looks – made him a one-dimensional threat in most teams’ eyes.

Rempal’s departure robs the Caps of an experienced call-up option but paves a longer runway for under-22 forwards Andrew Cristall, Eriks Mateiko, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Ilya Protas to climb up the depth chart throughout the season. It’ll also free up a contract slot for Washington, leaving them with seven open ones.

Avalanche Recall Jack Ahcan, Daniil Gushchin

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Avalanche announced Friday that they’ve recalled defenseman Jack Ahcan and winger Daniil Gushchin from AHL Colorado. The team has two open roster spots, so no corresponding transaction is required.

Today marks Ahcan’s second recall of the young season. He made the team out of camp after clearing waivers, but was sent down a couple of days in as Ilya Solovyov came off the non-roster list. He was summoned again the following week to give the Avs an extra defenseman in the wake of Samuel Girard’s injured reserve placement, but was scratched twice before being returned to the AHL last Saturday.

All that roster time hasn’t translated into playing time for Ahcan. In the seven days he’s spent up in the NHL this month, Colorado’s had three games, and he’s played in none of them. The 28-year-old is in his third year in the organization. He initially signed a two-year, two-way deal in the 2023 offseason and reupped with the club on another two-way deal over the summer. He’s spent all but 11 games of his pro career in the minors, where he’s torched AHL competition with a goal and four assists in four games so far this season. His most recent NHL appearances came in a back-to-back set in April last season, his first games as an Av and his first in the NHL since the 2021-22 campaign with the Bruins.

With Colorado still only carrying six defenders for their recent stretch of games, Ahcan will give them a seventh option for their two-game road swing through Boston and New Jersey in case another injury pops up. It essentially serves as a confirmation that Girard, who’s week-to-week with his upper-body issue, won’t come off IR in the next few days.

Gushchin’s recall serves a similar purpose, but for the team’s forward group. Acquired from the Sharks over the offseason, Guchshin cleared waivers during training camp after putting together a 2-3–5 scoring line in 18 appearances over the past three years with San Jose. The undersized but skilled 23-year-old has made a considerable impression in the Avs’ farm system so far, leading the AHL with six goals in five games. A 2020 third-round pick, that’s more than earned Gushchin his first call-up as an Av, and, with fellow sub-5’10” winger Gavin Brindley off to a slow start with one goal in eight games on Colorado’s fourth line, he might get a look in Brindley’s spot on the upcoming road trip if the Avs are looking to jumpstart their depth.

Rangers Recall Brennan Othmann

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Rangers announced they’ve recalled Brennan Othmann from AHL Hartford. The winger will get his first look of the season on the NHL roster amid reports he’s been made available for trade. They’ve had an open roster spot since sending defenseman Scott Morrow down to Hartford at the beginning of the week, so no corresponding move is required.

While the recall could serve as a showcase to help boost the struggling prospect’s trade value, that’s not its primary purpose. The Rangers are down a forward after Matt Rempe sustained an upper-body injury in his fight Thursday night with the Sharks’ Ryan Reaves. Othmann ensures they continue to have a healthy extra forward in Rempe’s absence, however long that may be.

It’s likely that nothing so far this season has changed the Rangers’ mind that a change of scenery is the best outcome for Othmann, who they selected No. 16 overall in the 2021 draft. In four games with Hartford, he’s been limited to one assist and an even rating. While he hasn’t demonstrated much upside in his NHL call-ups thus far, only managing two assists in 25 games, he’s at least had some productive runs with Hartford, including 12 goals and 20 points in 27 games last year. An AHL scoring slump certainly won’t do good things for his trade value.

Presumably, the Rangers feel Othmann and his 6’0″, 192-lb frame are a better fit for a bottom-six role than late camp cuts like top prospect Gabriel Perreault, who’s managed a goal and an assist in four games for Hartford. They’ve had no prior hesitancy in dropping him into third or fourth-line jobs. He’s only averaged 9:52 of ice time per game in his NHL career while recording a plus-seven rating and 49 hits. While he’s been a semi-effective physical presence, he’s failed to show he can convert the high-end finishing ability he displayed in juniors (and in Hartford, to some extent) into NHL minutes. He’s yet to score on 26 shots on goal.

He’ll now get one of his last chances to change that track record in New York. It could be an extended one depending on the severity of Rempe’s injury. The pending restricted free agent will join a battle for playing time with Jonny Brodzinski and Juuso Pärssinen. Every other active Rangers forward has appeared in all nine games so far this season.

Islanders Recall Marshall Warren

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Oct. 24: The Islanders announced they’ve returned Highmore on loan to Bridgeport. He did not play in last night’s 7-2 drubbing of the Red Wings, essentially confirming he was only brought up to help maximize their LTIR capture. There’s now an open roster spot if the Islanders wish to bring Gatcomb back up to the active roster.

Oct. 23: The Islanders announced they’ve recalled forward Matthew Highmore and defenseman Marshall Warren from AHL Bridgeport. The team already had one open roster spot and assigned forward Marc Gatcomb to Bridgeport to open the other one after he cleared waivers today. In a corresponding move, they shifted winger Pierre Engvall from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve. The moves left them with just $6,482 in cap space before Engvall’s LTIR placement, meaning they can unlock up to $2,993,518 of his $3MM cap hit in relief as they need it.

Highmore will serve as a direct replacement for Gatcomb as the club’s 14th forward, although with their LTIR pool now set, they have enough cap flexibility to swap them again if they choose. Highmore already cleared waivers before the start of the season, so as long as he stays less than 30 days on the Islanders’ active roster, he can be returned to Bridgeport without needing to clear them again.

There’s a chance Highmore sticks ahead of Gatcomb for a while, though. The 29-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Isles in free agency over the offseason and has a significant leg up on Gatcomb in terms of NHL experience. If Highmore plays, he’d be playing in his eighth NHL season, and he already has 187 games under his belt with 14 goals and 35 points. Gatcomb, while three years younger, only made his NHL debut last year and has a 40-game resume at the NHL level.

Highmore is also off to a strong start with Bridgeport. After appearing in 41 regular-season games and one playoff game for the Senators last year, he was hoping to remain on an NHL opening night roster in 2025-26. While that didn’t happen, he’s taken the demotion in stride and has four assists through his first four games for the Baby Isles. The Nova Scotia native has 170 points in 235 career AHL appearances dating back to his pro debut in 2017 and has been a legitimately valuable fourth-liner at the NHL level at times, even slotting in on occasional penalty kills.

As for Warren, it’s his first NHL recall. The Long Island native was a sixth-round pick by the Wild back in 2019 but never signed with them, instead becoming a free agent and landing a contract with the Isles out of Michigan in 2024. The 6’0″, 185-lb lefty had an impressive training camp and has carried that momentum straight through to Bridgeport, leading the club in scoring with two goals and three assists for five points in four games with a plus-three rating.

The club was in need of an extra defenseman for their next few games after placing Alexander Romanov on injured reserve earlier today. There’s no guarantee the lefty Warren makes his NHL debut on this call-up, but with the Isles’ balance of lefties and righties currently at two and four, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Warren get a look at least once in place of Adam Boqvist, who’s been a healthy scratch in four of six games to start New York’s season and only entered the lineup when Romanov exited it.

Engvall’s LTIR placement will stick for the remainder of the campaign. He’s done for the year after undergoing ankle surgery.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top