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Canucks Reassign Braeden Cootes, To Recall Max Sasson

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According to head coach Adam Foote (per Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor), the Vancouver Canucks will reassign forward Braeden Cootes to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Vancouver will recall forward Max Sasson from the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks in a corresponding roster move. The Canucks confirmed Cootes’s reassignment, but didn’t do the same with Sasson’s recall.

So ends Cootes’s improbable run to the Canucks roster to start the 2025-26 campaign. Vancouver selected Cootes with the 15th overall pick of this past summer’s draft, and he cracked the team’s opening night roster after an impressive training camp and preseason. On October 9th, Cootes became the first 18-year-old to play for the Canucks since fellow first-round selection, Petr Nedvěd in 1990. 

His debut will end after three games. The Sherwood Park, Alberta native went scoreless, earning a -2 rating while averaging 10:47 of ice time in a largely sheltered role. Further, his 28.1% CorsiFor% at even strength and -1.8 Expected +/- indicates that Cootes may not have been as ready for the show as previously believed. Ahead of an upcoming five-game road trip, it has become the right time to move Cootes into a more comfortable environment.

He won’t have to travel very far to rejoin his old team. Located approximately 140 miles south of Vancouver, Cootes will continue his season with the Thunderbirds, where he scored 26 goals and 63 points in 60 games as the team’s captain. He was even more impressive on Team Canada for the U18 World Junior Championships, scoring six goals and 12 points in seven games, and capturing the gold medal against Team Sweden.

Replacing Cootes in the lineup will be a familiar face from last season. Sasson played in 29 games for the Canucks last year, scoring three goals and seven points while averaging 10:20 of ice time per game. Although he didn’t offer much on offense, he was an exceptional defensive forward, managing a 92.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength. Still, he may have another offensive gear to his game, considering he finished last year with 13 goals and 32 points in 41 games with AHL Abbotsford.

Senators Place Donovan Sebrango On Waivers

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The Senators have placed defenseman Donovan Sebrango on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That opens a roster spot for winger Drake Batherson, who’s ticketed to come off IR before tomorrow’s game, meaning they don’t necessarily have to place Brady Tkachuk immediately on IR following today’s news that he’ll miss at least a month with an injury to his right wrist.

Sebrango, 23, is in his third season with the Sens organization. He was acquired from the Red Wings in 2023’s Alex DeBrincat trade. He split his first year between the AHL and ECHL before rocketing up Ottawa’s depth chart in 2024-25, serving as an alternate captain for AHL Belleville while even securing a handful of recalls and his NHL debut.

He had a strong enough training camp to work his way onto Ottawa’s opening roster submission and was even in their opening night lineup over offseason trade pickup Jordan Spence. The Sens have been carrying eight defensemen this year, and Sebrango, a lefty, earned a spot with most of his organizational depth competitors being righties. In his four NHL appearances over the last several months, though, he hasn’t shown much. He’s got no points, a -2 rating, no blocks, and one hit while averaging 12:46 per game. For someone who doesn’t provide much offense and has had poor relative possession impacts in his pair of outings this year, that lack of physicality is a sinker. The Sens ended up scratching Sebrango for yesterday’s loss, allowing Spence to make his season debut.

Sebrango was a fine point producer in juniors. The pandemic forced him to make an early jump to pro hockey in Detroit’s system, likely stunting his development. He seemed to get things on track in the minors last year after a few years of bouncing between leagues, managing a career-best 8-12–20 scoring line in 50 games.

He’ll now be available for anyone to claim over the next 24 hours. He sat as a restricted free agent for most of the offseason before signing a two-way deal in September. He costs $775K against the cap, makes $140K in the minors, and will be an RFA next summer with arbitration eligibility. That latter part could serve as a claim deterrent.

Islanders Activate, Reassign Daylan Kuefler

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The Islanders have activated winger Daylan Kuefler from season-opening injured reserve and subsequently loaned him to AHL Bridgeport, according to the AHL’s transactions log.

Kuefler, 23, returns to where he’s spent the bulk of the last two seasons since turning pro. He’s in his final season of waiver-exempt status and of his entry-level contract, which he signed in 2023 and makes him a restricted free agent next summer.

A 2022 sixth-round pick, injuries have been a commonality for Kuefler. He’s begun all three of his pro seasons on SOIR, this time due to an upper-body injury. This year’s absence was his shortest. An undisclosed injury delayed his debut with Bridgeport in 2023 until December, while another issue had him out of the lineup until March last season and limited him to 16 appearances with the AHL Isles. As such, the former WHL Kamloops standout hasn’t had much of a chance to develop. He’s seen no NHL ice time and has only made 38 AHL appearances over the last two seasons, recording a 3-6–9 scoring line with a -10 rating and 48 PIMs. He also skated in 17 games with ECHL Worcester in 2023-24, where he had five goals and eight points.

The 6’2″, 190-lb winger was once a high-end threat in juniors. He was passed over in his first draft-eligible year in 2020 and again in 2021, but earned his selection by the Isles on the heels of a 38-goal, 59-point effort for the Blazers in 65 appearances in 2021-22. He was briefly one of the league’s top two-way forwards and tallied over a point per game for Kamloops in 2022-23, but simply hasn’t been able to find that kind of production in the pros.

As a result, he’s likely headed for a non-tender next summer unless he manages a big breakout with Bridgeport this year. He’ll have more runway to do it than he’s used to. If he can stay healthy throughout the campaign, his increased availability will be something of a story to watch for the Isles.

Wild Recall Ben Jones, Reassign Hunter Haight

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The Wild announced that forward Ben Jones has been recalled from AHL Iowa. To open an active roster spot, center Hunter Haight was returned to Iowa.

Jones, 26, signed a two-year two-way deal with the Wild in the 2024 offseason. He cleared waivers at the end of last month before missing out on the opening night roster, the third time he’s passed through unscathed since signing in Minnesota. He’s presumably being recalled today to give them a more experienced option to stash in the press box. If they return him to Iowa before he plays 10 games or spends 30 days on the Wild’s roster, he won’t need waivers again.

He’s demonstrated offensive upside at the OHL and AHL levels but hasn’t converted that to NHL points. In fact, he’s yet to get on the scoresheet through 28 career appearances, 26 of them coming with the Wild in 2024-25 amid injuries to their forward group. He had a -3 rating and averaged just 8:23 per game in a fourth-line role, going 12-for-25 on draws (48.0%) and recording 11 blocks and 51 hits. While he made himself known physically, that didn’t translate into any tangible possession impacts – the Wild controlled just 39.7% of shot attempts and 46.3% of expected goals when he was on the ice at even strength.

Jones is on his third NHL organization, starting off as a seventh-round pick by the Golden Knights in their inaugural 2017 draft class. He was non-tendered in 2022 upon completing his entry-level contract and signed with the Flames, where he remained for another two years until reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency and signing with Minnesota. He’s been a legitimate top-six threat in the AHL for the past few years and is coming off one of his better offensive showings on a per-game basis, netting 13 goals and 36 points in 49 games with Iowa last season. He’s added on two assists in two AHL games to kick off 2025-26 as well.

The lack of an offensive track record in the NHL means he likely won’t see consistent deployment unless more injuries arise. Minnesota is only carrying 13 forwards, including Jones, with Nico Sturm and Mats Zuccarello on injured reserve. The Wild are understandably averse to sitting young talent in the press box for long stretches – hence Haight’s demotion – and their fourth line currently boasts two recent fourth-line picks, Liam Ohgren and Danila Yurov. That leaves right-winger Vinnie Hinostroza, who’s pointless with a -3 rating through three games, as the only spot for Jones to compete for.

As for Haight, it’s no surprise to see them move quickly to return him to Iowa after scratching him for yesterday’s win over the Kings. The 21-year-old was a late inclusion on their opening roster submission due to Sturm’s injury and drew in for Minnesota’s first two games of the year over Yurov, who was selected one round ahead of him in the 2022 draft. Haight averaged just 9:22 across his two appearances, went 7-for-16 (43.8%) on faceoffs, and recorded a -2 rating without getting on the scoresheet. He didn’t manage a single shot attempt but did record two hits. It was an unsuccessful debut for him on the whole as Minnesota was outchanced 12-4 with him on the ice at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.

Haight has three years or 158 games played remaining until he loses his waiver exemption, so he can be ferried to Iowa without risk for a while yet. The Ontario native had 20 goals and 34 points in 67 AHL games last year, his first professional season after four years in the OHL.

Brett Leason Signs AHL PTO With Charlotte

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Last season, unrestricted free agent winger Brett Leason saw some regular action with Anaheim, primarily slotting in on their fourth line.  However, no firm contract has come his way just yet so to get back on the ice and playing, he has signed a PTO contract with AHL Charlotte (affiliate of the Panthers), per a team release.

The 26-year-old played in 62 games with the Ducks last season where he notched five goals and 12 assists in just under 13 minutes a night of playing time.  That output was a little below his 2023-24 output when he had 11 goals and 11 helpers in 68 contests.  While Leason was non-tendered at that time to avoid arbitration, he quickly re-signed a one-year, $1.05MM contract.  This past summer, Anaheim simply non-tendered him and moved on.

Leason took part in training camp with Minnesota on a PTO agreement and got into four games with them where he was held off the scoresheet before being let go at the end of September, sending him back to the open market.

This will be Leason’s first taste of AHL action in a while.  The last time he saw time in the minors was back in 2021-22 with Hershey when he was still in Washington’s system.  He has 18 goals and 29 assists in 114 games over parts of three seasons at that level and will look to have a strong showing there to help lock down a guaranteed contract for the rest of the season.

Brendan Smith Agrees To PTO With AHL Cleveland

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Oct. 13th: Although his professional tryout with the Blue Jackets proved unsuccessful, Smith will remain in the organization for the time being. The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters announced they’ve signed Smith to a PTO. Smith will play in his first AHL contest since the 2017-18 season.

Aug. 19th: Defenseman Brendan Smith has signed a PTO with the Blue Jackets, according to a team release.

Smith, 36, was once a fringe top-four option but has slid into a definitive No. 7 role in recent years, even sometimes slotting in as a fourth-line winger. He spent 2024-25 with the Stars on a one-year, $1MM deal, spending most of the year in the press box and averaging a career-low 13:13 per game. He logged 32 appearances, recording six points with a -9 rating and 41 hits. The 6’2″, 200-lb lefty didn’t see any playoff action for Dallas, either.

After long stretches with the Red Wings and Rangers to begin his career, he’s now played for three teams, the Hurricanes, Devils, and Stars, in the last four seasons. Smith’s best years came in Detroit, where he topped out with 19 points in 71 games during his first full-time season in the NHL back in 2013-14. He also went his entire career with the Wings without having negative possession impacts at even strength, even once, proving there was some definite defensive upside there when they selected him in the first round in 2007.

When he moved to the Rangers, though, those possession metrics took a hit that they never really recovered from. He even ended up on waivers during the 2017-18 campaign and had a brief demotion to AHL Hartford, although he hasn’t played in the minors since then.

With Columbus, Smith now competes for a contract in a decently crowded mix of depth forwards and defensemen. His ability to jump up on the wing will certainly help his case when doing roster math. He’s not a threat to unseat a name like Erik Gudbranson or Damon Severson for a bottom-pairing role, so his best-case objective would be to unseat the more offensively gifted Jake Christiansen as an extra defender or beat out a name like the newly-signed Hudson Fasching for the 14th forward spot and be used as a flex.

Columbus already has 15 defensemen under contract, 14 of whom will staff the NHL and AHL rosters. That certainly makes it an uphill battle for Smith to land a two-way deal since his fit with AHL Cleveland would be murky.

Blue Jackets Activate, Reassign Jordan Dumais

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One of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ up-and-coming forward prospects is getting back to work in the AHL. According to a team announcement, the Blue Jackets have activated Jordan Dumais from the season-opening injured reserve and have assigned him to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

Dumais has dealt with injuries the past few years, and nothing has changed to start the 2025-26 campaign. Dumais suffered a hip strain during Columbus’s rookie showcase, preventing him from participating in the team’s training camp and preseason.

Still, he’s only a few years removed from an impressive performance in the QMJHL.

Despite being selected in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft, Dumais was coming off an electric sophomore campaign with the Halifax Mooseheads, scoring 39 goals and 109 points in 68 games with a +7 rating. The next year, he dwarfed his previous output, leading the QMJHL in scoring with 54 goals and 140 points in 64 games, earning the league’s MVP award. Further, he registered five goals and 21 points in 15 postseason appearances.

Due to injuries, Dumais played only 21 games in the 2023-24 season, finishing the campaign with 16 goals and 47 points. He additionally played for Team Canada at the IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, tallying one goal and one assist in five tournament contests.

Again, injuries limited Dumais to 21 games throughout his first year of professional hockey. Still, he made the most of his brief time with the Monsters, collecting four goals and 11 points in his rookie campaign. The Blue Jackets are hoping that with the hip injury behind him, Dumais can participate in most of the Monsters’ games this season to get his development back on the right track.

Sharks’ Jack Thompson, Lucas Carlsson Clear Waivers

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Oct. 13th: According to Friedman, both players have made it through waivers unscathed. The Sharks quickly shared that they’ve reassigned both defensemen.

Oct. 12th: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet mentioned today a pair of Sharks defenders who find themselves on waivers: Lucas Carlsson and Jack Thompson. 

As the organization goes through its hardcore rebuilding phase, there has been a revolving door on the back end for San Jose. However, GM Mike Grier was very busy last offseason adding veterans headlined by Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg, Nick Leddy, among others. Unlike a forward group which is full of high-end youngsters, San Jose offers just Sam Dickinson and Shakir Mukhamadullin as the only true young, high-upside defensemen on the roster at this point, as the rest are more established veterans, perhaps who could be flipped at the deadline come spring. 

With this in mind, it appears Carlsson and Thompson have become expendable as the Sharks have seemed to move on from the two who were both in the lineup at times last season. 

Carlsson, 28, was signed as a free agent in 2024. A once intriguing prospect of the Blackhawks and Panthers, the Swede has been extremely productive in the AHL, including a 20-goal effort in 2022-23 with the Charlotte Checkers. However, as many others have found themselves, Carlsson has not managed to carved out a role in the NHL since 2021-22, where he played 40 games as a Florida Panther. It is not highly likely Carlsson will be claimed, and perhaps the San Jose Barracuda will be relieved to have a big contributor back. 

Thompson, on the other hand, could bring some intrigue as a 23-year-old right-hander with two-way potential. Originally drafted 93rd overall in 2020 by Tampa Bay, the Ontario native was sent to the Sharks in the Anthony Duclair trade, after putting up strong numbers with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Thompson posted 10 points in 31 NHL games last season, albeit on a 50-loss team. Several teams could have their eyes on Thompson, including Tampa Bay, who could bring their prospect back in with open arms. It is interesting that the Sharks have opted to keep much older reclamation projects on their back end, than the young player who has legitimate untapped potential.  

Canadiens Sign Lane Hutson To Eight-Year Extension

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The Montreal Canadiens have gotten their young defensive star locked up for the foreseeable future. According to a team announcement, the Canadiens have signed Lane Hutson to an eight-year, $70.8MM ($8.85MM AAV) contract extension.

Shortly after the announcement, PuckPedia broke down the structure of Hutson’s new extension:

  • Year 1: $1MM salary, $11MM signing bonus
  • Year 2: $1MM salary, $11MM signing bonus
  • Year 3: $1MM salary, $9.5MM signing bonus
  • Year 4: $1MM salary, $6.5MM signing bonus
  • Year 5: $1.2MM salary, $6MM signing bonus
  • Year 6: $1.2MM salary, $6MM signing bonus, 10 team no-trade clause
  • Year 7: $2.2MM salary, $5MM signing bonus, 10-team no-trade clause
  • Year 8: $7.2MM salary, 10-team no-trade clause

The news is somewhat of a surprise, given last week’s update from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman noted that while both parties were close on terms and salary, there was a disagreement regarding “philosophy” concerning a Retirement Compensation Agreement (RCA). This agreement was the Canadiens’ attempt to maximize Hutson’s after-tax earnings while keeping his salary below $10MM.

In our update regarding Hutson, PHR’s Josh Erickson broke down an RCA, writing, “An RCA agreement allows a player to defer up to 49% of their salary – delaying earnings but retaining more of them. The deferred money isn’t taxed at its usual rate, which can exceed 50% in Canada for top NHL earners. Whatever is deferred is split in half, with one half going to a refundable deposit with Canada’s tax agency and the other half going into the trust. After an American player (i.e., Hutson) retires and returns to the United States, they receive the deposit back with no tax deducted. In contrast, withdrawals from the trust are taxed at American federal and state rates, which are often lower than the rates the player would pay in Canada.”

In their announcement, the Canadiens didn’t allude to the inclusion of an RCA in the new extension, and we’ll likely never know. Still, today’s agreement indicates that it wasn’t as much of a hangup as previously believed.

Objectively, Hutson’s most obvious comparable would be New Jersey Devils’ defenseman Luke Hughes, who signed a seven-year, $63MM deal shortly before the start of the 2025-26 season. Impressively, the Canadiens were able to keep Hutson’s salary lower than Hughes’ (albeit minimally), while gaining another year of him on the roster.

Still, this contract is more of a gamble than Hughes’ is. Despite winning the Calder Memorial Trophy last season as the league’s top rookie, Hutson only has 92 games of NHL experience (including playoffs) compared to Hughes’ 161.

Regardless, Hutson made the most of his only full season in the league. He tied Larry Murphy’s all-time assist record for rookie defensemen (60), and tied Phil Housley with 66 points, the fourth-most in NHL history for a freshman blueliner. Further, Hutson finished 9th in voting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, joining Rasmus Dahlin, Thomas Harley, and Jake Sanderson as the only under-25 defenseman to finish top-10 in voting.

Unfortunately, although his offensive prowess is palpable, Hutson brings a lot of question marks on the defensive side of the puck. He finished last year with an 88.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength, despite starting 66.7% of his shifts in the offensive zone.

Meanwhile, although he spent much of the year next to Jayden Struble, his primary defensive partner was Kaiden Guhle before he suffered a longer-term injury. According to MoneyPuck, when paired with Guhle, who is his defensive partner this season, the two combined for a 48.1% xGoals%, which was middle-of-the-pack production on a playoff-caliber Canadiens lineup.

Another cause for concern would be Hutson’s size. While height and weight have become less important for forwards, they remain significant qualities for most teams’ defensive cores in the league. Hutson stands at 5’9″, 162 lbs, which may make him more susceptible to injuries, especially if Montreal lines up against a heavy-hitting team such as the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Regardless, Montreal now has three of its top-four defensemen signed to long-term contracts. Even after Hutson’s contract takes effect, the Canadiens will have approximately $28MM in cap space, leaving them plenty of room to sign Mike Matheson and keep their defensive core intact for the foreseeable future.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

New York Islanders Reassign Calum Ritchie

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According to a team announcement, the New York Islanders have reassigned forward Calum Ritchie to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Ritchie had begun the year on the season-opening injured reserve, working his way back from a lower-body issue.

Ritchie was projected to return as late as October 17th. A report from a few days ago highlighted that he had been practicing with the Islanders, indicating that he was more likely to return early. He had scored one goal and two points in four preseason contests, averaging 15:24 of ice time, before suffering the lower-body ailment.

Despite beginning his season in the AHL, there is some hope that Ritchie could feature for the Islanders by the end of the 2025-26 campaign. Still, it’ll be his first long-term taste of professional hockey, spending most of last season with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals after skating in seven games with the Colorado Avalanche to begin the year. The Islanders acquired Ritchie at last season’s trade deadline in the deal that sent Brock Nelson to Denver.

He had an impressive year with the Generals, scoring 15 goals and 70 points in 47 regular-season games, and adding nine more goals and 25 points in 21 postseason contests. During the 2024-25 U20 World Junior Championships, playing for Team Canada, Ritchie registered one goal and one assist in five games.

Meanwhile, Ritchie could have more responsibility than most 20-year-olds in the AHL. Bridgeport finished the 2024-25 season as one of the worst offensive teams in the AHL, averaging 2.51 goals per game. Given his offensive prowess, Ritchie will likely find himself in a top-six role, giving him a larger opportunity to move up the depth chart should he find success.

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