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Maple Leafs Reassign Dennis Hildeby

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10/26/2025: As was expected due to the nature of yesterday’s call-up, the Maple Leafs announced Sunday morning that they reassigned Hildeby back to the AHL. Hildeby  backed up Primeau for the team’s 4-3 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres yesterday, and now returns to the AHL, where he’s expected to spend most of the season.

In Hildeby’s absence, Artur Akhtyamov started the Marlies’ game yesterday, saving 19 of 23 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Belleville Senators.

10/25/2025: Heading into the back half of a back-to-back set against Buffalo, the Maple Leafs have added some extra goalie depth.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Dennis Hildeby has been recalled from AHL Toronto.

With Joseph Woll away from the team to start the season, it looked as if the 24-year-old would serve as the backup for Anthony Stolarz.  However, when they claimed Cayden Primeau off waivers at the end of training camp, that was the end of that idea as instead, Hildeby was sent down to the Marlies while Primeau served as the backup.

Hildeby hasn’t received much playing time with the Marlies either, getting into just two games where he has allowed just two goals on 53 shots.  Toronto has played just four AHL games in the early going with Hildeby splitting time with prospect Vyacheslav Peksa.

There isn’t a notable injury situation between the pipes for the Maple Leafs as instead, the plan is to simply give Stolarz a rest day after a heavy workload to start the season in Woll’s absence.  Toronto doesn’t have an open roster spot so it appears they’re using a CBA exception that allows them to bring up an extra goalie as a 24th player.  It’s something that can only be used twice in a season and for a maximum of 48 hours each time so Hildeby’s time with the big club will be short-lived as he’ll likely be sent back down following the game or sometime on Sunday.

Ducks Activate Jansen Harkins From IR

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The Anaheim Ducks have activated forward Jansen Harkins off of injured reserve. Harkins has missed the first seven games of Anaheim’s season due to an upper-body injury sustained in the preseason. Despite returning to the active roster, Harkins is expected to serve as a healthy scratch in Anaheim’s Saturday matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Harkins is a true fourth-line forward for Anaheim. He recorded six points and a minus-13 through 62 games with the Ducks last season, while averaging roughly 11 minutes of ice time. But it was his off-puck impact that stood out. Harkins posted the best faceoff percentage (53.4) and third-most hits (136) on the Ducks 2024-25 roster. He had a similar impact with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2023-24 season – recording four assists and 74 hits in 45 games. Before a one-year stay in Pittsburgh, Harkins sepnt four years with the Winnipeg Jets, where he racked up 27 points and 86 hits in 154 games.

Despite Harkins bringing a poised and physical style, the Ducks will have little motivation to change up their fourth-line. Ryan Poehling has managed well enough as the team’s fourth-line center. He has managed two assists, splitting the gap in scoring between his wingers Sam Colangelo (one point) and Ross Johnston (three points). With chemistry looking strong between that trio, Harkins’ season debut may need to wait until Anaheim needs a physical, shutdown presence that Poehling can’t provide.

Capitals Activate Pierre-Luc Dubois Off IR, Assign Ethen Frank To AHL

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The Capitals have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Ottawa.  The team announced that they have activated center Pierre-Luc Dubois off injured reserve.  To make room for him on the roster, the team has returned winger Ethen Frank to AHL Hershey.

Dubois wound up missing a little more than two weeks with a lower-body injury that was originally hoped to be a day-to-day issue.  Instead, he wound up missing five games.  Dubois has been held off the scoresheet in his three appearances this season but is coming off a career season in his first campaign with Washington.  Last season, he had 20 goals and 46 assists in 82 games, showing flashes of being the impactful top-six center that made him the third-overall pick in 2016 and led to an eight-year, $68MM contract two years ago.

Dubois will presumably return to a role in Washington’s top six in his return.  Hendrix Lapierre skated on the second line last game and is the logical fit to cede his spot to Dubois with Lapierre then returning to the fourth line in place of Frank.

As for Frank, he got into a pair of games with Washington while on recall, picking up an assist in 12:34 per game of ice time.  That brings his NHL point total to eight in 26 outings after getting into 24 games with the Caps last season.  The 27-year-old also has a pair of goals in two appearances with the Bears in 2025-26 and is a strong candidate to be brought back up whenever the next injury arises up front for the Capitals.

Sabres Recall Josh Dunne, Place Tyson Kozak On IR

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Josh Dunne’s time in the minors was short-lived.  After being sent back down earlier this week, the Sabres announced that they’ve recalled the winger from AHL Rochester.

The move comes on the heels of center Tyson Kozak suffering a lower-body injury on Friday against Toronto.  While Kozak was still being evaluated after the game, it’s clear that he will be out for at least a week as Buffalo has placed him on injured reserve, per the NHL’s media site.

Dunne has played in two games with the Sabres this month, albeit in a very limited role as he’s averaging just 6:30 per outing while failing to register a shot on goal or a point.  The 26-year-old has 19 career contests at the top level, split between Buffalo and Columbus.  He was on Buffalo’s roster for nearly two weeks earlier this month and technically has spent more days with them than with Rochester since the season started.  Dunne played in last night’s game with the Americans, making him eligible to be recalled once again.

As for Kozak, the 22-year-old had locked down a regular spot on Buffalo’s fourth line in the early going this season, in part thanks to being waiver-eligible for the first time.  He had done relatively well, picking up a pair of goals while chipping in with 19 hits in just under 10 minutes a night of playing time and will likely return to that role whenever he’s cleared to return.

Kings Activate Anze Kopitar Off Injured Reserve

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It turns out that Anze Kopitar’s foot injury wasn’t as serious as they initially assumed.  Originally given a week-to-week diagnosis barely a week ago, he’s already ready to return as the team announced (Twitter link) that Kopitar has been activated off injured reserve.  It’s expected he’ll return to the lineup tonight against Nashville and play alongside Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe.

The 38-year-old wound up missing just four games due to the injury with Los Angeles faring relatively well without him, posting a 2-1-1 record in that stretch, finding themselves just a point out of a playoff spot.  Still, having their top center available to them, one who plays in all situations, will be a nice boost.

Kopitar was off to a strong start to his 20th and final NHL season before the injury, picking up four assists in as many games while logging 18:45 of ice time per game.  While his offensive output has dipped slightly in recent years, he’s still coming off a 67-point effort last season and given his usage in the early going this season, there’s no reason to think he can’t be similarly impactful in 2025-26.

Los Angeles had an open roster spot prior to the activation so no corresponding roster move needed to be made.  Meanwhile, at first glance, it’s likely to be one of Alex Turcotte or Jeff Malott who loses their spot in the lineup to make room for Kopitar’s return.

Canucks Recall Victor Mancini, Assign Tom Willander To AHL

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The Canucks have made a pair of roster moves on the back end heading into tonight’s game against Montreal.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled defenseman Victor Mancini from AHL Abbotsford while sending blueliner Tom Willander back to Abbotsford.

Mancini made Vancouver’s roster to start the season and had played in four games in the early going, although he was averaging just 11 minutes a night in those outings.  Still, the team was comfortable with him rotating in and out of the sixth role.

However, in order to maximize their LTIR pool when Nils Hoglander was transferred there, the Canucks had to send Mancini down to the minors, bringing up Jimmy Schuldt instead.  The team actually requested a one-time waiver of the CBA rule change that says a skater must play in the minors after being sent down but that was denied.  Now that he has played his mandated one game in Abbotsford, Mancini is being brought back to the NHL roster.

As for Willander, he was the beneficiary of the denial of the CBA rule waiver as he ultimately got to spend a few days up with Vancouver collecting his NHL salary instead of his AHL one although he didn’t see any game action.  The 20-year-old, viewed as one of Vancouver’s top prospects, is in his first professional season after turning pro back in the spring and has a goal in four games with Abbotsford.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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