Devils Reassign Lenni Hameenaho, Place Brian Halonen On Waivers
The New Jersey Devils are sending some reinforcements to their AHL affiliate for one final postseason push. The Devils announced that they’ve reassigned Lenni Hameenaho to the AHL’s Utica Comets and have placed Brian Halonen on waivers to do the same.
Hameenaho, 21, has had a quality first year of professional hockey in North America. New Jersey selected the Kajaani, Finland native with the 58th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, and he spent his two post-draft years with the Finnish Liiga’s Ässät.
He was more than successful over that stretch, scoring 34 goals and 82 points in 104 games with a +17 rating, proving to the Devils that he was ready for the jump to the AHL.
Although he has been unable to sustain the level of scoring he showed in Finland, Hameenaho has still registered nine goals and 22 points in 34 games for the Comets this season. He’s unlikely to finish as Utica’s top rookie, though he’s nearly there with nearly 30 fewer games played.
His NHL debut hasn’t been as promising, in contrast. Hameenaho has played in 33 games for the Devils this season, scoring two goals and eight points while averaging 12:11 of ice time in a third-line role. His 48.8% CorsiFor hasn’t provided much confidence, either, though he’s still young and has plenty of time for more development.
Meanwhile, Halonen is a much more experienced veteran and should head to Utica tomorrow. Although a team could technically claim him, he’s unable to play in the postseason and has never been considered a quality prospect. Still, he’s been a solid performer for the Comets, scoring 19 goals and 32 points in 48 games this season.
Atlantic Notes: Stecher, Panthers, Reinbacher
It has been a rough stretch lately for the Maple Leafs, who have gone from a bubble team within striking distance of a Wild Card spot to one that is jockeying for seeding in the draft lottery. However, while some veterans may be hoping to move on after the season, blueliner Troy Stecher isn’t one of them. Speaking to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, the pending UFA made it clear that he’s hoping to re-sign with Toronto for next season. Claimed off waivers from Edmonton back in November, Stecher is averaging just shy of 20 minutes per game since then, providing the Maple Leafs with a nice return on a deal that sits just above the minimum salary. Given how he has played in Toronto, Stecher could be in line to double his current AAV of $787.5K on the open market this summer should he get there.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Panthers were without a pair of forwards as they continued their road trip in Calgary. Team reporter Jameson Olive relayed (Twitter link) that center Anton Lundell and winger Mackie Samoskevich were both banged up on Thursday in Edmonton and are listed as day-to-day. Lundell sits just one point shy of matching his career high in points (45) set last season so as long as Florida doesn’t hold him out too long, he should have a chance to set a new personal best. As for Samoskevich, his second full NHL season has been fairly quiet as he has just six goals and 17 assists in 66 contests, not an ideal platform season heading into restricted free agency this summer with arbitration eligibility for the first time.
- Earlier this week, Quartexx Hockey announced (Twitter link) that they have signed Canadiens prospect David Reinbacher as a client. The blueliner was the fifth overall pick back in 2023 and is still looking to make his NHL debut. Previously represented by Maloney & Thompson Sports Management, the 21-year-old has 23 points in 49 games with AHL Laval this season. The move isn’t in anticipation of contract talks as Reinbacher still has two years left on his entry-level contract after this one.
Hurricanes Acquire Nicolas Deslauriers, Flyers Claim Luke Glendening
4:36 p.m.: If Deslauriers plays in half of Carolina’s 2026 playoff games and they win two playoff rounds, then the Flyers receive Carolina’s 2027 seventh-rounder. If those conditions aren’t met, the pick doesn’t transfer, per PuckPedia.
12:56 p.m.: The Hurricanes are acquiring winger Nicolas Deslauriers from the Flyers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. A conditional seventh-round pick in 2027 is headed the other way, per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. The Flyers have filled Deslauriers’ roster spot by claiming center Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils, per Friedman.
Deslauriers, now in his 13th NHL season, moves on from the Flyers amid his fourth season in Philly. While he used to have a small bit of goal-scoring upside in his game, the 35-year-old is now a pure enforcer at this stage of his career. He’s only managed 13 shots on goal this season in 25 games, recording one assist and a -3 rating.
The left winger has been in the press box more than he’s been in the lineup this season, checking in no higher than 13th on the Flyers’ forward depth chart. He’s yet to appear in more than three consecutive games. He certainly won’t see any more frequent ice time than that in Carolina, but he’ll slot in as a press-box piece and can step in as an enforcer when needed. The Flyers, who had minimal use for the pending UFA, will happily have a chance at recouping a draft pick.
It doesn’t look like they’ll be giving Deslauriers’ spot to a prospect, though. The 36-year-old will end up giving the Flyers some short-term center depth that they’ve needed in the wake of a right ankle fracture to Rodrigo Abols that’s kept him out since January, forcing natural winger Carl Grundström to slide over to the middle.
Glendening, once viewed as one of the better defensive pivots in the league, is still hanging onto an NHL job in his 13th season. He was a PTO signing by New Jersey late last summer and landed a league-minimum contract. He’s ended up serving as their fourth-line center for most of the year but has averaged a career-low 9:54 of ice time per night through 52 appearances. He’s yet to score a goal this season and has four assists with a -11 rating. Once a top faceoff specialist, he’s down to a more pedestrian 51.7% win rate on the dot this year.
Vancouver Canucks Claim Curtis Douglas
The Vancouver Canucks have claimed forward Curtis Douglas off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
The Canucks have already shipped out a veteran forward and more, such as pending UFA Teddy Blueger, could follow. This claim of Douglas adds a player from outside the organization for the Canucks, who could even use him in the fourth-line center role most recently occupied by Blueger.
Douglas, 26, is one of the NHL’s biggest players. The Oakville, Ontario native stands 6’9″, 242 pounds, and that size is an essential component of the value proposition he presents as an NHL player. He’s not much of a scorer, with just two points through 29 career NHL games, and his offense hasn’t fared too much better at the AHL level, either. But his size and strength give him notable upside as a defensive player and a physical threat, two traits teams often covet on their fourth line.
In Vancouver, Douglas will likely receive a clear opportunity to get regular minutes on a team playing out the stretch of a likely last-place season. He averaged under six minutes of ice time per game in Tampa Bay, but is positioned to see that number increase in Vancouver. Set to become a restricted free agent this summer, he’s likely staring at an extremely important set of games for the future of his career as he looks to prove he has what it takes to stick as an NHL player with the Canucks.
Florida Panthers Claim Cole Reinhardt
The Vegas Golden Knights will lose one of their bottom-six forwards. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Florida Panthers have claimed Cole Reinhardt off waivers from Vegas.
Reinhardt, 26, will join the third organization of his career. The Calgary, AB native was selected 181st in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Ottawa Senators, and spent five years playing in the organization before joining the Golden Knights last summer.
Throughout his days in the Senators organization, Reinhardt was mostly an AHL talent. Across his five years with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, Reinhardt scored 54 goals and 131 points in 270 games with 275 PIMs.
Unfortunately, his role as a secondary scorer in the AHL hasn’t translated to the NHL level. He’s played 44 games for Vegas this season, scoring three goals and seven points in 44 games. Across his career, he has registered four goals and nine points in 62 games.
Still, he has remained a physical force. In his 62 career contests, Reinhardt has tallied 123 hits. Since he’s still on the younger side, and can immediately join the Panthers’ bottom-six. Florida is expected to move a few depth pieces ahead of today’s deadline, and Reinhardt will be a stopgap for the time being. He is signed through next season at a $813K cap hit, but will be owed $850K in actual salary.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign, Waive Garrett Wilson
The Philadelphia Flyers are rewarding the captain of the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms for his years of service. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that the Flyers have signed forward Garrett Wilson to an NHL contract. Wilson must clear waivers before his contract can officially be registered with the Flyers.
Wilson, 34, is in his 15th professional season. He was originally selected with the 107th overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers. Working his way up through the ECHL and AHL, Wilson made his NHL debut on March 18th, 2014, with the Panthers.
Unfortunately, during some productive years in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage and Portland Pirates, Wilson failed to produce in the NHL. After spending five years in the Panthers organization, Wilson finished his tenure with zero points in 34 games, averaging 9:26 of ice time.
Seeking a new opportunity, Wilson signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2016-17 season. It was with the Penguins that Wilson enjoyed the best season of his NHL career. Though he again primarily played in the AHL, Wilson scored two goals and eight points in 50 games with Pittsburgh in the 2018-19 season, and even chipped in one goal across four postseason contests during the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Since then, it’s been all AHL for Wilson. Aside from a one-year stint with the Toronto Marlies in 2020-21, Wilson has spent the last six years in Lehigh Valley, and the last three as the team’s captain. Over that stretch, he has scored 62 goals and 145 points in 338 games, with 857 PIMs.
Lightning Place Curtis Douglas On Waivers
The Lightning have placed forward Curtis Douglas on waivers, according to a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The move will allow him to report to AHL Syracuse temporarily tomorrow if he clears, making him eligible to suit up for them in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
He can be immediately recalled back to the Lightning’s roster after doing so without having first played an AHL game, thanks to a specific deadline day exemption in the new CBA’s rule that players must play at least one minor-league game after reassignment before being eligible for a recall.
Douglas, 26 tomorrow, was selected off waivers from the Mammoth at the end of training camp last fall. He’s served as a fringe fourth-line option for the Lightning’s forward group throughout the year, spending more time in the press box than in the lineup.
While a natural center, he’s played exclusively at left wing. He’s appeared in 29 games this season, recording two points and a +1 rating.
It’s not Douglas’ offense that the Bolts insert him into the lineup for, though. The gargantuan 6’9″, 242-lb enforcer has shown some offensive upside in the minors but has exclusively been a pot-stirrer for Tampa, recording a team-high 92 penalty minutes despite not providing a ton of straight-up physicality at 1.10 hits per game.
Douglas’ possession impacts have been quite strong, ranking near the middle of the Bolts’ forward pack with a 52.7% Corsi For rate but leading them with a 60.4% share of expected goals. A lot of that has to do with his deployment. Tampa doesn’t give its fourth line a ton of defensive zone assignments like most other teams, instead preferring to use them in sheltered O-zone forecheck usage. No Bolts forward has started a greater share of shifts in the offensive zone at 5-on-5 than Douglas at 75.5%.
Still, Douglas averaging just 5:58 of ice time per game signals he isn’t a piece that head coach Jon Cooper ideally wants in his playoff lineup. With today’s news that Dominic James will miss at least the first round of the playoffs and likely well into the second round as well, it won’t be surprising to see the Lightning use their limited deadline cap space on a bottom-six forward to keep Douglas primarily in a press-box role.
Golden Knights Place Alexander Holtz, Cole Reinhardt On Waivers
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Vegas Golden Knights have placed forwards Alexander Holtz and Cole Reinhardt on waivers. The other 31 teams in the league will have 24 hours to claim either forward ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.
The writing has been on the wall for Holtz for some time. Drafted seventh overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2020, Holtz was believed to become a long-term fixture in New Jersey’s top six. That didn’t come to fruition.
He showed flashes of quality play, especially during the 2023-24 season when he scored 16 goals and 28 points in 82 games for the Devils. Ultimately, New Jersey opted to move on from Holtz the following summer, sending him, along with netminder Akira Schmid, to the Golden Knights for Paul Cotter and a third-round pick.
Things haven’t gone much better in Sin City. Throughout the last two years, typically in a bottom-six role, Holtz has scored seven goals and 21 points in 81 games, averaging 11:33 of ice time. Holtz has grown accustomed to being a healthy scratch on multiple occasions and even being demoted to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights last season.
Still, he’s signed through next year on a $850K salary and is only six years removed from being a top-10 selection. He clearly hasn’t met his draft expectations, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a rebuilding team like the Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, or Vancouver Canucks to take a flyer on him for free.
Meanwhile, Reinhardt, 26, is a bottom-six forward in his first year with the Golden Knights. After spending several years with the Ottawa Senators organization, Reinhardt signed a two-year, $1.63MM ($813K AAV) contract with Vegas last summer. He’s gotten the most NHL playing time he’s ever received this year, scoring three goals and seven points in 44 games, averaging 9:47 of action.
If he were to be claimed, he could add physicality to a different team’s bottom-six. However, Reinhardt provides minimal assistance beyond his physicality, and there are likely better alternatives available at this time of year.
Regardless, like the NHL’s qualification rules, players must be on an AHL roster by 3:00 p.m. EST to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs. Given that Henderson is in the hunt in the AHL’s Pacific Division, and if the Golden Knights weren’t planning on utilizing them for their postseason run, Holtz and Reinhardt would become eligible to assist Henderson if needed.
New Jersey Devils Place Three On Waivers
According to a team announcement, the New Jersey Devils have placed Evgenii Dadonov, Luke Glendening, and Maxim Tsyplakov on waivers. If all three players clear, they would have added flexibility on the trade market by tomorrow afternoon, given they can be freely reassigned to the AHL by the acquiring club.
The placement of all three on waivers is the Devils’ way of trimming some fat off the roster ahead of the deadline. Dadonov and Glendening will become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, whereas Tsyplakov is signed through next year at a $2.25MM cap hit.
After some fruitful years with the Dallas Stars, Dadonov joined New Jersey on a one-year, $1MM contract last offseason. There are performance bonuses included in his contract that would bring the salary to $3.25MM, and he has a full no-trade clause through the end of the year. Despite being brought in to add additional firepower to the team’s bottom-six, Dadonov’s 2025-26 campaign has been completely derailed by injuries.
Scoring 35 goals and 78 points in 154 games with the Stars, Dadonov has yet to register his first point with the Devils. He’s had multiple stints on the injured reserve due to hand and wrist injuries, and he has registered only 17 appearances this year.
Meanwhile, Glendening likely has the least value of the trio. Earning a professional tryout agreement in September, Glendening officially joined New Jersey on a one-year, league minimum contract. Isolated to a fourth-line role, the 36-year-old center has tallied four assists in 52 games, averaging 9:54 of ice time. Still, he has immense value in the playoff dot, averaging a 55.6% success rate throughout his career while beginning 73.5% of his shifts in the defensive zone.
Lastly, Tsyplakov has only been a Devil for a little while. He was the only player acquired by New Jersey in last month’s trade, sending Ondřej Palát to the New York Islanders. During his brief tenure in New Jersey, Tsyplakov has yet to register a point in nine contests. Even if he does clear waivers, the Devils may be hard-pressed to find a landing spot for him, even at a lower cost.
Blues, Mathieu Joseph To Terminate Contract
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the St. Louis Blues are placing forward Mathieu Joseph on waivers to terminate his contract. As Friedman noted, if Joseph clears, he will have to sign by 3:00 p.m. EST tomorrow to be eligible for the postseason.
It’s the second time in as many weeks that the Blues have placed Joseph on waivers. Last week, St. Louis placed him on waivers and eventually reassigned him to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. Things can change quickly this time of year, but Joseph is unlikely to be claimed off of release waivers.
Still, a team may be interested in taking a shot on Joseph at a league minimum salary. He could benefit the bottom six of a playoff-bound team, or serve as a placeholder for a club that sells a few forwards before tomorrow’s deadline.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many teams that have much interest in him, and his nearly $3MM salary. The only saving grace for his cap hit, whether a team claims him or not, is that Joseph will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and be entirely off the books.
Regardless, it’s safe to say that Joseph’s tenure in St. Louis has gone poorly. After scoring 11 goals and 35 points in 72 games for the Ottawa Senators during the 2023-24 campaign, Joseph has yet to reach those totals despite playing in more games with the Blues. Throughout his last two years with the club, he has registered only six goals and 25 points in 99 games, averaging 12:13 of ice time.
Still, what Joseph lacks in scoring output, he makes up for in physicality. Dating back to his time in Ottawa, he has tallied 311 hits, which could benefit a playoff-bound team if they’re looking to get nastier to play against. Although the question remains unanswered, Joseph is anticipated to find a new club within the next 24 hours.