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Wild Recall Hunter Haight, Place Nico Sturm And Mats Zuccarello On IR

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The Minnesota Wild have shaken up their roster a bit ahead of Opening Night. Forwards Nico Sturm and Mats Zuccarello have officially been placed on injured reserve with a back injury and lower-body injury respectively. In their place, the Wild have recalled forward prospect Hunter Haight. It’s not yet clear if the Wild plan to award Haight with his NHL debut in their season-opener against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

What is clear is that both Zuccarello and Sturm could miss significant time. Zuccarello underwent surgery to address his injury in late-September. The team confirmed that he is expected to miss at least seven-to-eight weeks as he recovers from the procedure. Sturm’s timeline isn’t as clear after he reaggravated a back injury during training camp. Initial reactions to his injury suggest bad news on the horizon, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. That’s unfortunate news after the 32-year-old center signed a two-year, $4MM contract with Minnesota this summer.

The early beneficiary of the two injuries could be Haight. The 21-year-old centerman played his first full season in the minor-leagues last year. He posted a stout 20 goals and 34 points through 67 appearances, enough to rank him second on the Iowa Wild in goals and fifth in points. Before his move to the AHL, Haight was a standout utility-knife in the OHL – routinely rivaling point-per-game scoring with a presence that was felt all over the ice. He’s undersized, but still showed an ability to battle through traffic and win space in front of the net. Those attributes convinced Minnesota to draft Haight with the 47th-overall pick in 2022. Now, three years later, the young center could soon get a chance to show his might at the top level.

Haight was one of only five Wild players to score a goal in the preseason. He played in four games. His training camp showings suggested a lot more improvement was needed, though he never looked much out of place against NHL talent. Should he slot into the lineup, Haight would likely step into the team’s fourth-line center role – potentially next to fellow rookie Danila Yurov.

Oilers To Recall Isaac Howard, Will Make NHL Debut

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The Edmonton Oilers are expected to recall winger Isaac ’Ike’ Howard and award him with his NHL debut in Wednesday’s season opener, per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. Howard is the reigning Hobey Baker Award-winner as college hockey’s most valuable player. Howard was traded to the Oilers in exchange for center prospect Sam O’Reilly in July after not agreeing to terms on an end-of-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.

Howard earned his MVP-recognition while standing as the star on the Big Ten championship-winning Michigan State Spartans. He was a true workhorse in East Lansing, filling the presence of a heavy play-driver, hard-hitter, and leading scorer. Wherever there was play going on, Howard seemed to be involved, and he worked to an impressive 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games as a result. Those marks ranked Howard third in the country in goals, and fifth in points.

Diligent two-way play has been a core part of Howard’s game since his junior career with the U.S. National Team Development Program. He was the reliable backing behind high-offense teammates Logan Cooley, Frank Nazar, and Lane Hutson. That responsible role helped Howard lead the NTDP’s 2004-class in scoring during their U18 season with 82 points in 60 games. He ended up the sixth player from th3 team to be selected in the 2023 draft, though, landing 31st-overall.

With this move, Edmonton will give Howard a chance to show he can stay an impactful part of the lineup through another jump in competition. He scored one goal and three assists in six preseason games. That tied him with Noah Philp (five games played), Darnell Nurse (four games), and Connor McDavid (three games) for second on the team in preseason scoring. He will battle with Andrew Mangiapane and Vasily Podkolzin for ice time on the left-wing. Past NHL experience will make that duo easier to trust than the rookie Howard, though the true shape of Edmonton’s lineup will likely come down to performance through the first few games of the season.

Oilers Recall David Tomasek, Move Zach Hyman To LTIR

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Oct. 7: While Howard remains down for now, Tomasek has been recalled today after the club set their LTIR capture with Zach Hyman, the club announced. Hyman will remain out until early November while rehabbing the wrist injury that ended his 2025 postseason run prematurely.

Oct. 6: After doling out extensions to Connor McDavid and Jake Walman earlier today, the Edmonton Oilers are hustling to become cap-compliant when opening night rosters are due. In that effort, the team announced they have placed forward Mattias Janmark on the injured reserve, reassigned forwards Isaac Howard and David Tomasek, and recalled forward James Hamblin from their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.

Most of today’s cap crunch is because of Janmark. The nine-year veteran is reportedly dealing with an undisclosed injury, which will keep him sidelined for a week or so. Since he’s not expected to miss much time, the Oilers won’t get any cap relief from his $1.45MM salary. He scored two goals and 18 points in 80 games for Edmonton last season, with another three goals and four points in 22 postseason contests.

The biggest casualty of today’s cap crunch is undoubtedly Howard. The reigning Hobey Baker Award winner was acquired by the Oilers this offseason after failing to reach a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and was expected to fill an important need for Edmonton in their top six — inexpensive talent.

He made a strong case to make the roster this preseason, scoring one goal and four points in six games, which makes today’s move a much more difficult pill to swallow. Still, he’s likely to debut with the Oilers at some point this season. In his final season in the NCAA with the Michigan State University Spartans, Howard recorded 26 goals and 52 points in 34 games.

Meanwhile, Tomasek, 29, becomes another casualty of Edmonton’s cost-clearing moves. Although he is no longer considered a prospect, he joined the Oilers this summer by signing a one-year, $1.2 million contract as an international free agent.

Like Howard, he was another inexpensive addition by Edmonton this summer that the team could conceivably put in their top-six. As the reigning Guldhjälmen Award (MVP) winner in the SHL from a season ago, Tomasek recorded 24 goals and 57 points in 47 games for the Färjestad BK.

Of all the forwards the Oilers could have recalled, Hamblin gives them the most flexibility since he cleared waivers a few days ago. The former WHL standout will begin his sixth season with Edmonton. He spent all of last year in Bakersfield, scoring 19 goals and 45 points in 51 games as one of the team’s assistant captains.

According to PuckPedia, after today’s moves, the Oilers now sit a tight $834, yes, you read that correctly, under the upper limit of the salary cap to start the season.

Canucks Recall Victor Mancini

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12:01 p.m.: Joseph’s landing on IR is indeed the corresponding transaction, the Canucks announced. The placement is backdated to Sep. 30, so he’s eligible to return at any time.

9:48 a.m.: The Canucks are set to recall defenseman Victor Mancini from AHL Abbotsford, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports. The team has since confirmed the move. While he wasn’t on the opening night roster the Canucks submitted yesterday, he will be eligible to play in Vancouver’s home opener on Thursday against the Flames.

Vancouver’s initial roster submission was at the 23-player limit, however. They’ll need to free up a roster spot before officially recalling Mancini. In all likelihood, that will be moving defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to injured reserve. He missed the Canucks’ preseason finale while dealing with what head coach Adam Foote called a minor issue, Jeff Paterson of CanucksArmy relayed at the time. He hasn’t practiced since, though, leaving his status for Vancouver’s first regular-season game in doubt. The Canucks can backdate Joseph’s IR placement to when he first sustained the injury, meaning he’ll have already missed the required seven days and could return as soon as this weekend.

Mancini, 23, was one of Vancouver’s final cuts from training camp. His waiver-exempt status meant he faced an uphill battle for a depth job over non-exempt veterans like Joseph. A 2022 fifth-round pick by the Rangers, he’s coming off his first professional season – one that saw him unexpectedly break camp with the Rangers last fall. He ended up making 31 NHL appearances as he bounced between the majors and the minors throughout the year, splitting them nearly evenly across New York and Vancouver after he was included in January’s blockbuster J.T. Miller trade.

The 6’3″ righty showed definite room for improvement in his two-way game. His 2-6–8 scoring line worked out to 0.26 points per game, more than passable for a rookie rearguard whose primary upside is as a defensive specialist. He failed to succeed at his calling card, though, posting some rather troublesome possession numbers despite being given a relatively advantageous deployment. Despite starting 53.9% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone, Mancini only controlled 40.3% of shot attempts – a nearly 12% relative downgrade compared to his teammates in both New York and Vancouver.

In 30 AHL appearances last year, Mancini netted four goals and nine assists for 13 points and a -4 rating. He added a 3-5–8 scoring line with a -6 rating in 24 playoff games as he helped Abbotsford to a Calder Cup championship.

Mancini carries an $870K cap hit and is kicking off the final season of his entry-level contract, making him a restricted free agent without arbitration rights next summer. The Canucks opened the year with $1.34MM in cap space, according to PuckPedia, leaving them enough room to call him up with Joseph (and Nils Höglander) still counting against the cap on IR.

Sharks Place Jack Thompson On Injured Reserve, Sam Dickinson Makes Team

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The Sharks listed defenseman Jack Thompson on injured reserve when releasing the opening day roster they registered last night, per Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest. It’s not clear what he’s dealing with, but his placement does create an open roster spot that San Jose is giving to top defense prospect Sam Dickinson.

It’s an extremely late save for Dickinson’s spot on the active roster. The Sharks’ waiver activity over the weekend would have left them with no other option than to return Dickinson to OHL London yesterday to get down to 23 players had Thompson not sustained an injury. He did not dress for their preseason finale against the Mammoth on Saturday and appeared to leave their Friday win over the Golden Knights early, only registering 10:10 of ice time.

It’s understandable why the Sharks wouldn’t have wanted to expose Thompson to waivers. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Lightning in 2024’s Anthony Duclair trade, and he worked his way into 31 appearances for San Jose last year after only making three the season prior. The offensively skilled righty managed four goals and six assists for 10 points with a -9 rating, averaging 15:47 per game. He got some power-play looks and had solid possession impacts in his sheltered even-strength duties, logging a 45.4 CF% and 50.4 xGF%.

Thompson signed a one-year, two-way deal as a restricted free agent this summer, paying him $800K in the NHL. His pathway to regular playing time upon returning to health isn’t clear. Including Dickinson, the club has four new faces on its blue line after signing John Klingberg and Dmitry Orlov in free agency and claiming Nick Leddy off waivers. There’s also Vincent Desharnais and Shakir Mukhamadullin on the active roster in addition to San Jose’s projected top pair of Mario Ferraro and Timothy Liljegren. Thompson could see more looks in the lineup later on in the season if the still-rebuilding Sharks trade one of their veterans, namely Ferraro, but it might be tough sledding for the Ontario native early on.

One thing is for sure – the Sharks aren’t keeping Dickinson around to sit him in the press box. The 2024 No. 11 overall pick arrives in the NHL and is ticketed to make his debut when San Jose opens its season on Thursday against Vegas. The 6’3″ lefty will do so on the heels of a spectacular junior career with London, where he won back-to-back championships and was named the CHL’s Defenseman of the Year in 2024-25. He’s nearly a point-per-game for his junior career and exploded for a 29-62–91 scoring line in just 55 regular-season contests last year.

If Dickinson doesn’t stick around, the Sharks won’t be able to send him to their AHL affiliate unless it’s for conditioning. He’ll need to return to London if it’s a full-time demotion, something the Sharks weren’t keen on doing to risk overbaking him. Dickinson averaged nearly 20 minutes per game across five preseason appearances for the Sharks, notching a pair of primary assists.

Stars Sign Adam Erne To Two-Way Deal

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The Stars have signed winger Adam Erne to a two-way deal for 2025-26, according to a team announcement. The contract includes an NHL salary of $775K, an AHL salary of $250K, and a guarantee of $300K, per PuckPedia.

Erne attended Dallas’ training camp on a professional tryout. The 30-year-old lands a contract after working his way into five of the Stars’ six preseason contests, scoring two assists and averaging a shade over 13 minutes per game. He had nine shots on goal and tied Nathan Bastian for the team lead in hits with 18.

While he has eight years and 379 games of NHL experience under his belt, Erne didn’t see any ice time last year and hasn’t skated in an NHL contest since April 2024. He attended the Rangers’ training camp on a PTO last year but wasn’t successful in landing a deal. He received a tryout with their AHL affiliate in Hartford, but he recorded just one assist and a -5 rating in 10 games before being released. He didn’t land anywhere else, so he hasn’t played a regular-season or playoff game at any level in nearly a calendar year.

At his peak, Erne was a fine third-line checking piece for the Lightning and Red Wings. He’s hit the 20-point mark in a single season twice and carries a career 41-50–91 scoring line with a -59 rating into his NHL return. His signing makes him one of 12 healthy forwards on Dallas’ roster for now, meaning he’s slated to make his Stars debut on Thursday against the Jets unless they opt to dress seven defensemen.

His pathway to a contract was made easier by preseason injuries to forwards Oskar Back and Jamie Benn, the latter of whom landed on long-term injured reserve this morning to create the cap space for Erne to join the active roster. Benn is expected to return late this month after sustaining a collapsed lung during a preseason game, while the team hasn’t issued any details on Back’s injury. Erne will likely get fourth-line reps until one or both of Back and Benn are ready to return, at which point he could land on waivers and back in the AHL if he clears.

The Stars should have roughly $1.1MM remaining in their LTIR pool. That leaves them enough flexibility to recall an extra forward from AHL Texas if they need one.

Stars Recall Lian Bichsel, Place Jamie Benn On LTIR

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Oct. 7: Bichsel is back up from AHL Texas while Scott and Taylor have been reassigned, according to the NHL’s media site. While it reverses yesterday’s transactions, it’s not the end of the moves Dallas will make before they open their season against the Jets on Thursday. Demoting Scott leaves them with only 11 forwards on the active roster. They’ll need to move Benn to long-term injured reserve to open up the space to recall a 12th forward from Texas, which the club subsequently announced has happened. Dallas will have $1.88MM remaining in their LTIR pool – meaning they could actually recall two forwards, potentially Justin Hryckowian and Arttu Hyry, if they so choose.

Oct. 6: Like the Edmonton Oilers, the Dallas Stars have made several somewhat unexpected roster moves to make their opening night roster cap compliant. Earlier today, the team announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Lian Bichsel, while recalling forward Harrison Scott and defenseman Trey Taylor from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars.

The team also shared that captain Jamie Benn and forward Oskar Back have been placed on injured reserve at the start of the season. Additionally, Luke Krys, Kyle McDonald, and Chase Wheatcroft have been placed on the non-rostered injured reserve. All of these injury designations were anticipated.

According to PuckPedia, the Stars sit approximately $150K underneath the upper limit of the salary cap to start the season. Given this, Scott and Taylor’s inclusion on Dallas’ opening night roster is merely for cap compliance, and there’s no indication they’ll play a game for the Stars. On the flip side, Bichsel should be back on the roster after they place Benn on LTIR.

In fact, neither Scott nor Taylor appeared in a preseason game for Dallas, as both were cut relatively early from the team’s training camp roster. Scott, who was signed out of the University of Maine last season, went scoreless in six games for the AHL Stars to end the 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, Taylor was signed out of Clarkson University, tallying one assist in 10 games with Texas.

Panthers Sign Noah Gregor To Two-Way Deal

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The Panthers announced Tuesday that they’ve agreed to terms with forward Noah Gregor on a two-way contract. He had been in training camp on a professional tryout agreement. The deal carries an NHL salary of $775K and an AHL salary of $450K, according to PuckPedia. In a pair of corresponding moves, the team also reversed yesterday’s paper demotion of winger Mackie Samoskevich to AHL Charlotte and moved Aleksander Barkov from standard injured reserve to long-term injured reserve, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports. Gregor’s contract won’t be registered with the league until those two moves are formalized, as Florida doesn’t have the cap space to add him to the roster until after gaining relief from Barkov’s LTIR placement.

While Gregor wasn’t on the opening night roster that Florida formally registered with the league last night, he will be eligible to play in tonight’s season opener against the Blackhawks. The six-year NHL vet made four preseason appearances for the Cats, scoring a goal and an assist while adding seven hits and a blocked shot in over 17 minutes of ice time per game. He won’t get nearly that much deployment in the regular season. The 27-year-old center has only averaged 12:19 of ice time per game across 293 career contests, and that figure has been trending down over the past few years.

It wasn’t all that surprising to see Gregor need to settle for a tryout. He also required one to land a contract with the Maple Leafs in 2023, and he has now been non-tendered for three consecutive years. That streak will end next offseason as he’ll be eligible for outright unrestricted free agency. The Alberta native is coming off his worst showing since emerging as an NHL regular with the Sharks in 2020. Splitting the year between Ottawa and San Jose, he tied a career-worst -21 rating in 52 appearances while making minimal offensive contributions – just four goals and three assists. While his high-end skating has always generated intrigue, it has rarely translated into a legitimate offensive impact. He’s only hit the 10-goal and 20-point marks once in a single season.

Nonetheless, he showed out well enough in Florida’s camp to earn another deal. The Panthers are in desperate need of cheap forward depth, as they’re virtually capped out despite starting the year with all of Barkov, Tomáš Nosek, and Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve thanks to the new rule that teams are limited to the previous year’s average salary (~$3.82MM in this case) in LTIR relief per player if their injury isn’t season-ending. After Gregor averaged only 11:06 per game last season, he’ll presumably be in the Cats’ fourth-line rotation along with returnees Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer, late-offseason signing Luke Kunin, and preseason waiver claim Cole Schwindt. The two-way structure indicates he’s a candidate to end up on waivers when Nosek or Tkachuk is ready to return, depending on who comes back first.

As for Samoskevich, his quiet demotion yesterday was essential to Florida’s initial salary cap setup. The team submitted their opening night roster, which excluded the waiver-exempt Samoskevich and included Nosek and Tkachuk on LTIR, but listed Barkov on standard IR. That left the Panthers $4.55MM over the cap but with $4.6MM in relief from Nosek and Tkachuk. That set their initial LTIR capture within $50K of the maximum relief. Moving Barkov to LTIR then opens up an additional $3.82MM in space, which they used to recall Samoskevich (who also carries a $775K cap hit) and sign Gregor. After all those transactions are officially completed, the Panthers will have $2.27MM remaining in their LTIR pool, per PuckPedia.

Samoskevich, Florida’s 2021 first-round pick, will be in tonight’s lineup, presumably in a top-nine role. The 22-year-old finished 11th in Calder Trophy voting for the league’s top rookie last year with 15 goals and 31 points in 72 games.

Today’s moves also officially leave the door open for Barkov to suit up for Florida in the playoffs. He’s expected back sometime between late April and late June after he blew up his right ACL and MCL in his first practice of training camp, requiring surgery.

Mammoth Sign Kevin Rooney To One-Year Contract

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While Kevin Rooney’s tryout with the Devils didn’t lead to a contract with them, it helped lead to a contract elsewhere.  The Mammoth announced that they’ve signed the forward to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay $775K at the NHL while PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the AHL portion carries a $325K salary.

The 32-year-old has seen NHL action in each of the last nine seasons, the last three of which came with Calgary.  Last season, Rooney got into a career-best 70 games with the Flames, collecting five goals and five assists, while winning a little over 47% of his faceoffs and recording 109 hits on their fourth line.  For his career, he has 32 goals and 28 helpers in 330 career contests.

Rooney has also gotten into 242 career AHL contests over the years, spending time with both New Jersey’s and Calgary’s farm teams.  In those appearances, he has fared a lot better offensively, picking up 34 goals and 59 assists.  However, he hasn’t played regularly in the minors since 2022-23 when he got into 51 games with AHL Calgary.

Utah’s season-opening roster contained the maximum of 23 players.  Accordingly, they will either need to make a roster move to accommodate adding Rooney to their active roster where he’d likely serve as the 13th forward or Rooney will receive a non-roster designation and land on waivers on Tuesday to start the process of sending him to the minors.  Considering he went into camp with New Jersey without a guaranteed deal and accepted a two-way pact from the Mammoth, it would seem like there’s a good chance that Rooney would be claimed if Utah chooses to go the latter route with him.

Capitals Reassign Ivan Miroshnichenko, Place Dylan McIlrath On IR

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The Washington Capitals have their opening 23-man roster in place. Following the clearance of their waiver placements yesterday, the team announced that they have reassigned forward Ivan Miroshnichenko and placed defenseman Dylan McIlrath on injured reserve.

The former 20th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft is entering his third season without a full-time role carved out on the Capitals. Despite possessing raw talent in size, speed, and shooting ability, Miroshnichenko has yet to fully realize his potential at the NHL level.

Since transitioning to North America for the 2023-24 campaign, Miroshnichenko has scored three goals and 10 points in 39 games with Washington, averaging 10:51 of ice time per game. He leaves something to be desired in his possession quality, but has been an unexpectedly positive addition on the defensive side of the puck.

He’s been expectedly better in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, scoring 32 goals and 67 points in 100 games, with another 10 goals and 17 points in 28 postseason contests. Although the team failed to win their third consecutive Calder Cup last year, Miroshnichenko was on the roster when they won the second half of their back-to-back in 2024. He’ll likely feature with the Capitals at some point during the 2025-26 season.

Meanwhile, has been dealing with a lower-body injury since the Capitals’ preseason contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets. During that game, although he assisted on the breakout that led to a Pierre-Luc Dubois goal, McIlrath left the game after the play and did not appear at practice the following day.

Initial reports suggested McIlrath would be out for about a week, and today’s designation appears to support that notion. He spent much of last season as Washington’s seventh defenseman, tallying two assists in 17 games with 28 PIMs.

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