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Islanders Recall Marshall Warren

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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.

Mammoth Recall Kevin Rooney

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The Mammoth announced that forward Kevin Rooney has been recalled from AHL Tucson. They’ve opened a roster spot for him by reassigning Andrew Agozzino to Tucson after he cleared waivers today.

Rooney was a late addition to the Utah organization this offseason. He went unsigned for much of the summer before landing a professional tryout with the Devils, with whom he suited up from 2016 to 2020. While that PTO didn’t result in a contract with New Jersey, he landed a two-way deal with the Mammoth after being released. He was waived the next day and cleared, beginning the season in Tucson after technically being included on Utah’s opening night roster.

The 32-year-old Rooney has 32 goals, 28 assists, 60 points, and a -12 rating in 330 career NHL appearances with the Devils, Rangers, and Flames. While he may have had to settle for a two-way deal, he’s actually coming off a career-high 70 games played in Calgary last season. He spent the year as a fourth-line center or winger as needed, averaging 9:25 per game while recording a 5-5–10 scoring line and 109 hits.

He provides a more stable, experienced option – and one more oriented for a bottom-six checking role – than the offense-minded Agozzino was. As such, there’s a good chance he could stick around for a while, at least until Alexander Kerfoot is ready to come off injured reserve and make his season debut. It’s also a reward for a strong start in Tucson for Rooney, who has three goale and an assist in four games in what was his first minor-league action in two years.

Golden Knights Place Mark Stone On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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Oct. 23: Stone’s IR placement has turned into an LTIR placement, per PuckPedia. They were short on cap space after recalling Carl Lindbom and Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson on Wednesday, so this was the expected outcome. With an additional $3.82MM in their LTIR pool, they now have just under $2.5MM in cap space following the recalls. Since the placement is retroactive to Oct. 18 and he needs to miss at least 10 games and 24 days before he’s eligible to return, the soonest he’ll be back is Nov. 13 against the Islanders.

Oct. 21: Stone landed on injured reserve last night, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It’s purely a formality; a week-to-week designation ensured he’d missed the seven days required for IR. Vegas now has an open roster spot, but there’s only $310,275 remaining in their LTIR pool, according to PuckPedia. That doesn’t leave them enough room to make a corresponding recall unless they play short a skater for a game, allowing them to use an emergency exception and temporarily exceed the cap by recalling a player with a cap hit of $875,000 or less.

Oct. 20: Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy announced that winger Mark Stone is out week-to-week with a wrist injury in a Monday press conference, per Jesse Granger of The Athletic.

Stone fell face-first into the boards and briefly returned to the locker room in Vegas’ Thursday win over the Boston Bruins. He remained in the lineup and scored four points in Saturday’s win over the Calgary Flames, but appeared to take another awkward fall midway through the third period, also captured by Granger.

It’s not clear if either fall is connected to Stone’s injury. He’ll be forced out of the short term, leaving Vegas with a big hole in their top six. Stone ranks second on the team and across the NHL, scoring 13 points in six games. He has found a comfortable role next to scoring leader Jack Eichel and winger Ivan Barbashev, forming a top line that’s outscored opponents five-to-three at even-strength.

Stone has long been among Vegas’ best players but struggles with routine injury. He has missed 170 games across six full seasons with the Golden Knights, or roughly 35 percent of a possible 492 games. He’s also averaged 26 goals and 80 points per 82 games played in that period. That productivity and a lofty impact on defense make Stone a standout whenever he’s in the lineup. Now, Vegas will have to push through at least a few games without that difference-maker.

In Stone’s absence, Vegas will likely turn towards Brandon Saad or Reilly Smith to fill a top-six winger role. Smith has one point, while Saad hasn’t scored through six games this season. More pressingly, Stone’s absence should give Shea Theodore a chance to return to the top power-play unit. Vegas has been operating with five forwards on their top unit, thanks to Pavel Dorofeyev’s five power-play points to start the year. That’s left Theodore with just five minutes of ice time and no scoring on the power-play. Vegas could also turn towards William Karlsson, who has one power-play point and three total points in six games.

Oilers Place Kasperi Kapanen On Injured Reserve

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Oct. 23: The Oilers announced that Kapanen has been placed on injured reserve. They’re now operating with an open roster spot, which could be used to activate Mattias Janmark or Alec Regula from IR in the coming days.

Oct. 21: After leaving the team’s most recent loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Edmonton Oilers aren’t expecting Kasperi Kapanen back for several weeks. Head coach Kris Knoblauch (via Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic) confirmed the severity of Kapanen’s undisclosed injury earlier today.

Specifically, Knoblauch said this morning, “Right now, it’s looking (like) up to six (weeks). He’ll be unavailable for a while.” That means that Kapanen could be out until the last week of November, which would likely position him for the injured reserve.

However, the Oilers likely won’t be able to replace Kapanen in the active roster anyway, which would negate any reason to place him on the IR. As PHR’s Brian La Rose pointed out, “Notably, the team does not have enough accrued cap space to recall anyone from AHL Bakersfield (even with LTIR) as things stand which could be something to keep an eye on if he’s set to miss any more time.”

Still, it’ll be a missing bottom-six piece for the next month or more. After being claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Blues last season, Kapanen scored five goals and 13 points in 57 games, averaging 12:01 of ice time per game. He had improved play in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, registering three goals and six points in 12 games, averaging 13:28 of action per night.

Despite some poor defensive play, which isn’t typical of most bottom-six forwards, the Oilers clearly liked what they saw from Kapanen last season, signing him to a one-year, $1.3MM contract one day before the start of free agency this past summer.

Regardless, it’ll mean more ice time for at least one on Edmonton’s roster. Noah Philp and Curtis Lazar have been the most oft-scratched forwards for the Oilers through their first six contests, though the former played in Sunday’s loss to Detroit. Edmonton appears set to keep Philp in for tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators, while also reintroducing David Tomasek back into the lineup after missing Sunday’s contests.

Sabres Activate Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen From Conditioning Stint

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Oct. 23: The Sabres announced they’ve recalled Luukkonen from his conditioning stint, putting him back on the active roster. He suited up for Rochester in a 4-2 win over Syracuse on Wednesday, making 21 saves on 23 shots for a .913 SV%.

Oct. 21: Sabres starting netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will head to AHL Rochester on a conditioning stint, the club announced. The team also reassigned defenseman Zachary Jones to Rochester after recalling him on Sunday. Luukkonen remains on IR while on his conditioning stint, so Buffalo is operating with an open roster spot with the Jones reassignment.

Luukkonen, 26, has yet to suit up in the regular season. He showed up to camp with a lower-body issue that sidelined him for a few days. He was eventually able to make a preseason start but sustained a second injury in the first period of that game that landed him on the shelf on a week-to-week basis before opening night. He’s now eligible to suit up for or practice with Rochester for up to two weeks before the Sabres have to leave him on IR or reinstate him.

In the meantime, veteran backup Alex Lyon has more than picked up the slack. He signed a two-year, $3MM deal in the offseason, and he’s started and finished all six of the Sabres’ games thus far. He’s carrying a 2-4-0 record after last night’s loss to Montreal, but has an eye-popping .924 SV% and 2.55 GAA in the process, even recording a 32-save shutout against the Panthers last weekend. His 4.5 goals saved above expected rank ninth in the NHL, per MoneyPuck.

It begs the question whether Luukkonen will even see the lion’s share of starts when he’s ready to return. Lyon is untested in this type of usage – the 32-year-old has only ever topped 30 starts in a season once – but it’s nearly impossible to justify taking the reins away from him given his early-season showing.

Giving Luukkonen a conditioning stint, aside from getting up to speed, also provides the Sabres more time to decide what to do with Colten Ellis. They claimed the 25-year-old off waivers from the Blues a few weeks ago for him to supplement Lyon with Luukkonen out. They sang his praises after the claim and would prefer to retain him, but must expose him to waivers again if they want him to go to Rochester. Doing so could result in a reclaim by the Blues, who could send him directly to their AHL affiliate if they’re the only team to submit a claim.

Luukkonen now looks to shake off the rust following a tough start to the year. After finishing 12th in All-Star Team voting in 2023-24 with a career year, the 2017 second-round pick regressed mightily in 2024-25. While he made a career-high 55 starts, it didn’t come with great numbers – a 24-24-5 record, .887 SV%, and 3.20 GAA with a pair of shutouts. That was “good” for -8.6 GSAx after posting a 9.4 the year before.

As for Jones, he was a healthy scratch for last night’s loss. Buffalo recalled him to ensure they had seven healthy defensemen on the active roster while Jacob Bryson sat in concussion protocol. He hasn’t been cleared yet, but if Buffalo needs another defenseman for tomorrow’s home game against the Red Wings, they can easily recall someone else from Rochester.

Rangers Sign Nathan Aspinall To Entry-Level Contract

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The Rangers announced they’ve signed winger Nathan Aspinall to an entry-level contract. It’s a three-year deal that begins this season, although it will slide to 2026-27 in the likely event he doesn’t play 10 NHL games this season. Financial terms were not disclosed.

New York selected Aspinall in the fifth round of the 2024 draft. The hulking 6’7″, 194-lb Ontario native is beginning his fourth and final season of junior hockey with the OHL’s Flint Firebirds. His first NHL contract is a reward for a scorching start – he has six goals and 10 points through his first six games with Flint.

That’s a significant breakout for Aspinall, who’d been a valuable but not overly impressive offensive presence over the prior two years. Aspinall had an 18-16–34 scoring line in 65 games in his draft year before upping his overall production to a 17-30–47 line in 62 showings last year. He scores the majority of his goals within a few feet of the net – not a surprising tidbit about a winger with his frame – but has some intriguing raw passing skills as well.

He isn’t viewed as a top-10 talent in the Rangers’ system, but that’s not to say he’s devoid of upside. He’ll play out the rest of the year with Flint before presumably getting his first extended taste of pro hockey with AHL Hartford next season. He’ll then have another two years to work his way up toward an NHL recall before he risks being cut loose by the Rangers.

Wild Place Zach Bogosian On Injured Reserve

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Oct. 23: The Wild announced that they’ve reassigned Haight back to Iowa. He did not play in the lone game of his call-up, yesterday’s 4-1 loss to the Devils. Rossi returned for that contest, so his services as a healthy extra are no longer needed.

Oct. 21: The Wild announced they’ve placed defenseman Zach Bogosian on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 17. His roster spot will go to forward Hunter Haight, who’s been recalled from AHL Iowa in the corresponding move.

It isn’t a meaningful update to Bogosian’s status. He remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury he sustained while blocking a shot against the Capitals last Friday. He’s already missed two games, and the IR placement means he’ll miss one more, tomorrow against the Devils, until he’s eligible for activation prior to Saturday’s game at home against the Mammoth. David Jiříček was brought up in his place over the weekend and directly replaced the fellow righty in third-pairing duties alongside Jacob Middleton. He hasn’t been particularly noticeable, recording a minus-one rating, one shot on goal, and no blocks or hits.

The 35-year-old Bogosian hopes his absence doesn’t stretch out much longer than one more game. He’s been surprisingly effective to begin the season, posting a plus-three rating in five appearances with nine blocks and six hits. The 18-year veteran has positive possession impacts at even strength, including a 56.4 xGF%, churning out a stable defensive presence in his limited minutes (13:53 per game). Jiříček, while more offensively gifted, hasn’t been able to deliver that physicality or defensive play. For a team struggling to produce offense at even strength, scoring just eight goals at 5-on-5 through seven games, getting a positive possession player like Bogosian back in the lineup will be a help, even if just a marginal one.

Haight comes up to give Minnesota some extra forward depth while fellow pivot Marco Rossi nurses a short-term injury. Rossi already missed yesterday’s win over the Rangers with an undisclosed injury, and Haight’s summons indicates he likely won’t be available tomorrow, either. Haight, 21, made the Wild’s opening roster submission and made his NHL debut in their first two games of the season, posting a minus-two rating and a 43.8 FO% while averaging 9:22 per game. The 2022 second-rounder understandably won’t get much development with that kind of usage and performance and was promptly sent to the minors. As such, his recall isn’t expected to be a lengthy one. He’s also struggled to begin the year in Iowa, going pointless with a minus-three rating through a pair of games.

Sharks Activate Timothy Liljegren From Injured Reserve

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The Sharks announced that defenseman Timothy Liljegren was activated from injured reserve. He’ll re-enter the lineup tonight against the Rangers in place of rookie Sam Dickinson, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now relayed. The club had an open roster spot after reassigning Luca Cagnoni to the AHL on Tuesday.

Liljegren’s absence ends after nine days and three games, just above the IR minimums. He was dealing with an upper-body injury that he sustained on Oct. 14 against the Hurricanes. He landed on IR last week as some other injuries forced San Jose to do some roster shuffling, but they’re back to having a full 23-player contingent with only Shakir Mukhamadullin on IR – at least, among players who aren’t effectively retired.

A first-round pick in the 2017 draft by the Maple Leafs, Liljegren was a two-time 20-point getter for Toronto but slipped down their depth chart to the point where he was a frequent healthy scratch to begin last season. He was traded to San Jose in late October and popped up as a top-four piece in the Bay Area, posting a 6-11–17 scoring line with a -25 rating in 67 appearances while averaging 19:16 of ice time per game. Those raw numbers overshadow what were generally positive under-the-hood numbers for Liljegren, whose 47.2 CF% at 5-on-5 was 2.4 points better than what the team managed to control without him on the ice.

In a three-game sample to begin 2025-26, Liljegren didn’t record a point and logged a minus-two rating but reached new ice-time heights at 20:14 per game. He’s not factoring in on San Jose’s power play like he was last year, but he saw hugely increased shorthanded deployment at three minutes per game. After starting the year alongside Mario Ferraro at even strength, he’ll have a new face to his left tonight in Dmitry Orlov, reports Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest.

Predators Recall Matthew Wood

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The Predators announced that winger Matthew Wood has been recalled from AHL Milwaukee. With two open roster spots, no corresponding transaction is required.

Wood, 20, lands an early-season call-up after an injury cost him his chance at making the opening night roster. Nashville’s fifth-ranked prospect and 2023 No. 15 overall pick dealt with a lower-body injury late in camp and was activated from season-opening injured reserve and reassigned to Milwaukee just under two weeks ago. The 6’4″ winger snagged one goal and a minus-one rating in the first two AHL appearances of his career in the meantime.

The Alberta native signed his entry-level deal at the tail end of last season after spending three years in the NCAA, transferring from UConn to Minnesota between his sophomore and junior seasons. He was a star on the Golden Gophers last year, tied for second on the team in scoring with a 17-22–39 line in 39 appearances, pairing well with a +19 rating. He helped guide the school to a Big 10 regular-season title and was part of the honorable mention conference All-Star Team.

After inking his ELC in late March, Wood reported to Nashville and debuted down the stretch. In six games for the Preds, he registered an assist and had eight shots on goal while averaging 11:35 of ice time per game. He’ll now get his second taste of NHL hockey as the Preds cycle their youth early in the year. Gone are other recent first-rounders, Joakim Kemell and Brady Martin, who started the season on the opening night roster. Kemell was sent down to Milwaukee last week while Martin, the reigning fifth overall pick, was returned to juniors yesterday.

The Preds are now back to rostering 13 forwards after spending most of the last 24 hours without carrying an extra one. Wood will draw into the lineup for tonight’s game against the Canucks, head coach Andrew Brunette said (via Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean). Jonathan Marchessault remains on the active roster but will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury, according to the club’s Brooks Bratten.

Maple Leafs Place Chris Tanev On Injured Reserve

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The Maple Leafs announced they’ve placed right-shot defender Chris Tanev on injured reserve, retroactive to the club’s 5-2 loss to the Devils on Tuesday. Tanev is dealing with an upper-body injury and will be ineligible for the next three games at a minimum. Lefty Dakota Mermis was called up from the AHL to take Tanev’s spot on the active roster.

Tanev is no stranger to injuries, although he’s had a healthy run in the past few years, playing 70-plus games in three of the last four seasons. Today’s news doesn’t necessarily put that mark in jeopardy. Head coach Craig Berube only called Tanev questionable for Friday’s game against the Sabres when he spoke yesterday and said he was feeling better. While he obviously won’t be playing now, it indicates he’s not expected to miss much time past the seven-day minimum.

Tanev, 36 in December, only logged 5:57 of ice time against New Jersey before leaving the contest. Early in the second period, he was on the receiving end of incidental head-to-head contact with Devils forward Dawson Mercer during a net-front scrum and immediately headed to the locker room (video via TSN). Removing that outlier from the figure, Tanev is averaging around 19:40 of ice time per game – right at the mark he saw last year, his first in Toronto. The 16-year vet landed with the Leafs in free agency in 2024 on a six-year, $27MM pact and has been a top-four fixture ever since. He’s spent most of that time on a pairing with Jake McCabe. The duo is controlling 45.9% of expected goals through seven games, per MoneyPuck, yet they’re still outscoring opponents 3-2 at 5-on-5. That’s down sharply from their 55.1% mark last year, which ranked 14th among 41 pairings to log at least 600 minutes together in 2024-25.

On the scoresheet, the Toronto native had one assist, a plus-three rating, and two hits through seven outings. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has been playing on his off side in third-pairing duties with Simon Benoit, will be the leading candidate to replace Tanev in top-four duties alongside McCabe for the next few games.

It’s unclear if Mermis will get a shot in the lineup. Toronto has been carrying righty Philippe Myers as a healthy extra since the start of the season, but he hasn’t played. Losing a righty to injury would seemingly give the edge to Myers to make his season debut in Buffalo tomorrow.

Mermis, 31, comes up after clearing waivers late in training camp. He re-upped with the Leafs this summer on a two-year, league minimum contract after initially signing a one-year deal with Toronto in 2024. He spent a brief chunk of last season in Utah after they claimed him off waivers, but Toronto grabbed him back when he was exposed on the wire again. He got into four NHL showings, three of which were with the Leafs, with one assist and a minus-two rating. He has 78 career games since debuting with the Coyotes back in 2017-18, carrying a 4-9–13 scoring line with a plus-three rating while averaging 14:30 per game.

Mermis can remain on Toronto’s active roster for up to 30 nonconsecutive days or play 10 games until he needs to clear waivers again to return to the AHL. He’s without a point in two minor-league games to begin the season but has a plus-two rating.

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