Bruins Place Vladislav Kolyachonok On Waivers
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared earlier today that the Boston Bruins have waived Vladislav Kolyachonok. The defenseman finds himself back on the wire after being claimed by the Bruins from Dallas in mid-December.
A second-round selection of the Panthers in 2019, Kolyachonok was picked up due to an abundance of injuries to Boston defenders last month, not seeming to be in the long-term plans. The 24-year-old managed to get into two games in late December, deployed on the third pairing alongside Mason Lohrei. Kolyachonok, facing the challenge of playing in his off side on a new team, averaged just over 12 minutes between the two, and was a -1. Boston dropped both contests, and were outscored 10-3.
Since then, the team has reeled off a six game winning streak, and with Hampus Lindholm activated three days ago, Kolyachonok finds himself the odd man out again. The young Belarus native is no stranger to transactions, a part of trades involving notable names in Anton Strålman and Mathew Dumba in prior years, along with another waiver claim last February, taking him from Utah to Pittsburgh.
Kolyachonok offers a stay-at-home game, to this point hampered by a lack of offense to stick in the highest level consistently. In his 87 career NHL appearances across four organizations, he has 17 points. Kolyachonok had solid production in 11 games for Dallas to start the season, but was passed over in favor of veteran Kyle Capobianco, the team hoping he’d clear before Boston took a flyer.
If unclaimed, the 6’2″ lefty would be a welcome addition to the Providence Bruins, who are currently ranked third in the AHL. However, with limited opportunities in Boston moving forward, he could favor an opportunity elsewhere.
Lost by Dallas after they’d sought him out in the Dumba deal, Kolyachonok could find himself back where he’d started the campaign. If the Stars would be the only team to submit a claim, they could assign him to the AHL immediately, the 26th-ranked Texas Stars in need of help on the blueline. Besides other teams who could show interest ahead of them, the Stars have an intriguing chance to take him back, which would end a short stop in Boston.
Kolyachonok is a pending restricted free agent this season, and still offering untapped potential as a bottom pairing option, he figures to garner attention from other teams in the next 24 hours.
Flames Prospect Cullen Potter Sustains Season-Ending Injury
The Calgary Flames have been dealt bad news for a 2025 first-round pick. Arizona State University centerman Cullen Potter, the 32nd-overall pick in last year’s draft, sustained a season-ending upper-body injury in a January 10th match against Miami University. The injury occured on a hard hit from 2026 draft prospect Kocha Delic. Potter will undergo surgery and face a three-to-four month recovery process, head coach Greg Powers told reporters including Gabriella Chernoff of the Sun Devil Source.
Potter was a feature piece of a strong Sun Devils offense this season. He leads the team with 12 goals and has 26 points in 24 games. His season has been an encore to the breakout freshman season Potter had at ASU last season. He bought out of his contract with the U.S. National Team Development Program before his U18 season, opting instead to go to college for his draft season. The move seemed like a tall bet for the undersized, skilled-scorer but Potter stood up to the test. He scored 13 goals and 22 points in 35 games, second-most of all draft eligibles in college behind James Hagens.
Potter is the son of Jenny Potter, a former star of Team USA’s women’s national team. The elder Potter won one Olympic Gold, four World Championship Golds, and nine other international medals through a 20-year career that began when she was named an Olympian at 19. She was a high-speed, high-finesse scorer with a knack for filling all roles on offense. The younger Potter plays a similar style to his mom, bringing explosive speed and high skill to the offense.
Those talents have made Potter one of Calgary’s top prospects, a status that’s sure to stick even through an early end to his sophomore season. He will return to a starring role with the Sun Devils next season, flanked by fellow NHL draft picks and incoming recruits Benjamin Kevan, Nathan Behm, Brandon Gorzynski.
Penguins’ Kris Letang Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without both of their star defensemen for the short-term. After facing an injury to Erik Karlsson, the Penguins have announced that Kris Letang is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Letang missed practice on Tuesday and will be questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Calgary Flames.
It is not clear when Letang’s injury occured. He played 22 minutes of ice time and recorded a plus-three in Monday’s win over the Seattle Kraken. The Penguins still have three games on their road trip through the Pacific Northwest before returning home to host the Chicago Blackhawks on January 29th.
Letang has filled a major role in the lineup since Karlsson’s injury, averaging more than 24 minutes of ice time in the last four games. He has recorded three assists in that stretch, bringing his season scoring up to 25 points in 48 games. Even in his age-38 season, Letang has continued to answer the bell as a top offensive-defenseman for the Penguins. His role will be impossible to replace, particularly so for a Penguins blue-line that hasn’t been known for depth in recent years.
Ryan Shea seems set to benefit most from the extra minutes. He recorded 20:14 in ice time on Monday, marking his 15th game this season with more than 20 minutes of ice time. In Letang’s absence, Shea – a left-handed defender who has played on the right-hand side – could assume top-pair duties next to Brett Kulak.
That shift will bring right-defenseman Jack St. Ivany down from the press box. St. Ivany has scored three assist in 14 games this season. His plus-three ranks third on the blue-line, behind Shea (plus-14) and Letang (plus-five). Pittsburgh also has left-defenseman Ilya Solovyov on the active roster.
Sweden’s Leo Carlsson, Jonas Brodin Expected To Miss Olympics
With 22 days left before the men’s hockey tournament kicks off at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Team Sweden has been hit with a double-whammy of bad injury news. Star forward Leo Carlsson and top-four defenseman Jonas Brodin are both expected to miss the tournament with injuries head coach Sam Hallam told Sweden’s Hockey Sverige. The team will hold out hope for something “extraordinary” but expect to have to replace both players on their official roster per Hallam.
Carlsson recently sustained a thigh injury that formed a lesion, requiring surgery and a three-to-five week recovery. Brodin has been out since January 12th, when he was finally forced out of the lineup by a nagging lower-body injury. Minnesota designated him as out week-to-week and placed him on injured reserve.
The impact that Carlsson and Brodin bring to the Olympic roster can not be understated. Both would have cemented roles near the top of the lineup and could have been X-factors that led the Tre Kronas to Olympic Gold.
Carlsson made his debut on Sweden’s men’s national team at the age of 18, in the 2023 World Championship. He scored three goals and five points in eight games, though the Swedes ultimately lost in the quarterfinals. Carlsson was left off of Sweden’s 2024 roster, during his NHL rookie season, but returned with a purpose in 2025. He scored 10 points in 10 games, third on the team in scoring as Sweden pushed for a Bronze medal finish.
Carlsson’s game has continued its exponential growth since he represented Sweden this summer. He leads the Anaheim Ducks in scoring with 44 points in 44 games, an incredible pace for the 21-year-old forward. He is taking on bigger roles and could have offered top-six upside for Sweden in the Olympics.
Brodin, 32, is on the other side of his career but still brings an impactful, two-way style to the lineup. He has averaged the lowest expected-goals-against per-60 (xGA/60; 2.75) on the Minnesota defense per HockeyStats.com. The Wild have, in total, outscored opponents 35-to-26 in Brodin’s even-strength ice time. That goal-differential (+9) is tied with Quinn Hughes for the best on the team.
Brodin has contributed 15 points in 42 games this season, bringing his NHL career up to 275 points in 895 games. He represented Sweden at the 2024 and 2025 World Championships, where his scoring jumped to a combined 11 points in 20 games. He has never represented Sweden at the Olympics, and may never get to on the back of this injury. Brodin is signed through the 2027-28 season by Minnesota. He could aim to land one more two-year deal on the other side of that contract, which would carry him through his age-36 season and provide one more chance to become a Swedish Olympian. For that to happen, Brodin will first need to work through the nagging injury that’s plaguing him.
Sweden will now face the tough task of how to replace two key pieces of the lineup. Their Olympic roster featured a long list of cuts, with the most surprising exclusions on defense. Sweden opted not to bring Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm, Boston’s Hampus Lindholm, or Detroit’s Simon Edvinsson. All three players – each left-handed shots, the same as Brodin – will now step back up to vie for the role of injury replacement.
The 21-year-old Edvinsson represented the country most recently, having played in all 10 games of the 2025 World Championship, while Ekholm and Lindholm were in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Edvinsson contributed one assist to the tournament in what was his debut with the men’s national team. It will be Ekholm who likely holds the strongest bid. The 35 year old served as an alternate captain on Sweden’s 4-Nations Face-Off roster in 2025, where he scored one point in three games. He, like Brodin, brings an interesting two-way upside. Meanwhile, Lindholm would offer a shutdown role, though he has faced his own challenges with injury this season.
While Sweden is separating hairs on defense, they will also have to find another forward. San Jose Sharks winger William Eklund appeared to be the biggest exclusion on offense, especially after posting his first 40-assist season in the NHL last year. He has never played for Sweden’s men’s team and only appeared in two notable junior tournaments – five games at the 2020 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and two games at the cancelled 2022 World Junior Championships. Eklund would bring a dose of speed and playmaking ability, though he may not supplant the top-six role Carlsson was vying for.
Sweden could get a bit more assuredness from Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund. The veteran center offers a chippy, two-way game but has added a nice bit of offense this season. He has scored 12 goals and 31 points in 49 games this season, putting him on pace for the second-highest scoring season of his 18-year carere behind his 56 points in 2022-23. Sweden could also turn towards plays like Emil Heineman or Marcus Johansson.
Keeping all of those names in mind could be a safe bet as Sweden looks forward to the near-future. The country is also facing injuries to William Nylander, Gabriel Landeskog, Erik Karlsson, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Philip Broberg. Those players haven’t been ruled out of the Winter Olympics just yet, but they represent the heavy load facing a potential medal-favorite with just under a month before puck drop.
Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.
Panthers’ Jack Studnicka Clears Waivers
Jan. 20th: As expected, Studnicka has made it through waivers unscathed per Friedman. The Panthers are expected to assign Studnicka to AHL Charlotte at some point today.
Jan. 19th: Now that Matthew Tkachuk is back in action for the Florida Panthers, the team was likely to clear a forward from their active roster. They have done just that, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that they’ve placed Jack Studnicka on waivers.
Studnicka, 26, has been on the Panthers roster since December 1st. He’s been in an extremely isolated role since, going scoreless in 18 games with a -6 rating, averaging 7:04 of ice time. Furthermore, given his 46.3% CorsiFor% and 85.2% on-ice SV% at even strength, Studnicka provided little to no value to Florida’s lineup even when he was playing.
Still, there wasn’t much indication that the Panthers needed much more from Studnicka, anyway. He signed a one-year, league minimum deal with the organization last summer, meaning it was always likely he would exclusively serve as an injury replacement. Given how many injuries the Panthers have dealt with this year, Studnicka got a longer stay on the NHL roster than he may have expected.
Despite offering little production at the NHL level, the same can’t be said for his play in the AHL. Last season, while playing for the AHL’s Ontario Reign, Studnicka scored 16 goals and totaled 45 points in 72 games, finishing with a +4 rating. Before being recalled by the Panthers this year, he scored one goal and six points in eight games for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
Avalanche, Penguins Swap Ilya Solovyov, Valtteri Puustinen
The Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins have rearranged some of their depth pieces. According to an announcement from the Penguins, the Avalanche have traded defenseman Ilya Solovyov to Pittsburgh for forward Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 seventh-round pick.
Solovyov, 26, will see his tenure in Colorado end after half a season. He was claimed off waivers before the regular season from the Calgary Flames to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. The Mogilev, Belarus native was coming off a promising season in the AHL, scoring six goals and 28 points in 59 games for the Calgary Wranglers.
As the team’s seventh defenseman, and without any significant injuries to Colorado’s defensive core, Solovyov didn’t earn much playing time through his first few months with the team. At the end of November, Solovyov had only appeared in nine games for the Avalanche, going scoreless with a -4 rating while averaging 12:33 of ice time.
The Avalanche briefly sent Solovyov back to the AHL on a conditioning loan, simply to allow him more ice time. Since the calendar flipped to 2026, and likely to showcase his playing style to interested teams, Solovyov played in seven games with Colorado, scoring one goal and three points, with a +3 rating.
Meanwhile, Puustinen will move to Colorado after nearly five years with the Penguins organization. He, like Solovyov, was drafted in the seventh round of the NHL Draft, albeit a year earlier. He’s been a remarkably consistent scorer at the AHL level, tallying 72 goals and 175 points in 252 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Unlike Solovyov, Puustinen has already had a fairly promising NHL campaign under his belt. During the 2023-24 season, Puustinen earned an extended look in the sport’s highest league, scoring five goals and 20 points in 52 games with the Penguins, averaging 11:45 of ice time per game. Additionally, his possession metrics were solid, finishing with a 52.3% CorsiFor% and 91.9% on-ice SV% at even strength.
Given his offensive talent, Pittsburgh’s treatment of Puustinen the last few years has been perplexing. The team has had a top-down mandate to get younger, but apparently were not willing to give Puustinen another opportunity at the NHL level. The Penguins went as far as to place Puustinen on waivers last season, though he went unclaimed at the time.
Nonetheless, the trade won’t significantly alter the complexity of either team for now. Solovyov will take Joona Koppanen‘s spot on the roster for the time being, who the Penguins reassigned earlier today. Meanwhile, the Avalanche are expected to make another recall on the blue line, given that they are down to five healthy defensemen.
Flames Recall Martin Pospisil, Reassign Dryden Hunt
The Calgary Flames announced that they’ve recalled forward Martin Pospisil from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers and reassigned Dryden Hunt in a corresponding roster move. Pospisil has been in the AHL on a conditioning loan for the last week.
Assuming he returns tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pospisil, 26, will participate in his first NHL contest in nine months. He suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury during preseason and has been on Calgary’s injured reserve for the entire 2025-26 campaign up to today.
He’ll likely return to a bottom-six role and gradually move into a middle-six role if he can remain healthy. Throughout his first two years in the NHL, Pospisil has been a hyperphysical winger with quality playmaking abilities.
Since debuting for the Flames during the 2023-24 season, Pospisil has scored 12 goals and 49 points in 144 games, averaging 13:20 of ice time. Additionally, regarding his physicality, Pospisil has amassed 539 hits over that duration. He went scoreless in two games with a -3 rating during his conditioning loan.
Outside of Calgary, Pospisil’s return is good news for Team Slovakia for the upcoming Winter Olympics next month. Pospisil has been one of Team Slovakia’s best international players throughout the last few years, scoring three goals and seven points in seven games during the 2024 IIHF World Championships.
Meanwhile, Hunt returns to the Wranglers, where he’s spent much of the 2025-26 season. He’s tied for second in scoring on Calgary’s AHL affiliate, registering 11 goals and 31 points in 26 games.
Nashville Predators Reassign Reid Schaefer
According to a team announcement, the Nashville Predators have reassigned forward Reid Schaefer to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The transaction opens a spot on the active roster for Ozzy Wiesblatt, who has been made a game-time decision for tonight’s contest.
Schaefer, 22, was initially recalled on November 28th for his NHL debut. Back in February of last season, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked Schaefer as the ninth-best prospect in the Predators’ organization. Despite losing most of last year due to an injury, Schaefer had spent the previous two seasons playing exclusively for AHL Milwaukee, scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 82 games with a +6 rating.
His strong start to the 2025-26 season made him a candidate for early recall by Nashville. Through the first 15 AHL games of the year, Schaefer scored four goals and 14 points with a +1 rating. Despite missing the last two months, Schaefer remains ninth on the team in scoring.
Unfortunately, his NHL debut didn’t get off to as good a start. Throughout 25 games with the Predators, Schaefer scored four goals and six points with a -9 rating, averaging 10:30 of ice time in a bottom-six role. Still, he amassed 63 hits over the duration of his recall, averaging out to approximately five hits every two games.
Meanwhile, Wiesblatt is expected to return soon after being sidelined for nearly seven weeks due to an upper-body injury. His return is ahead of schedule, as he was initially given a recovery timeline of eight to 10 weeks. Similar to Schaefer, Wiesblatt has been isolated to a bottom-six role when healthy, scoring one goal and four points in 24 games, averaging 10:38 of ice time.
Canadiens To Activate Kirby Dach From LTIR
Jan. 20th: As expected, Dach will make his much-awaited return tonight. According to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, Dach will draw into the lineup tonight against the Minnesota Wild. The Canadiens had an open spot on the active roster, so no corresponding roster move is necessary.
Jan. 18th: Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach is “very close to a return to the lineup,” and could be activated off long-term injured reserve in time for the team’s game Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, reports Arpon Basu of The Athletic.
Dach’s impending return was signaled when he skated without restriction at practice in Ottawa. Fellow injured forward Patrik Laine also skated without restriction, though it’s unclear what his full return timeline is at this stage.
The 24-year-old suffered a fractured foot in November. He most recently played Nov. 15 against the Boston Bruins. Dach has missed 30 consecutive games as a result, with this injury (as well as an earlier lower-body ailment) limiting him to 15 games played in 2025-26.
Unfortunately, injuries have become the dominant storyline in Dach’s career not only since he arrived in Montreal, but even stretching back to his days as a top prospect with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The No. 3 pick of the 2018 draft was limited to just 18 games in his sophomore season (2020-21) due to injury, something that clearly hampered his development and helped pave his way out of Chicago.
Dach impressed early after arriving in Montreal, scoring 38 points in his first campaign as a Canadien, flashing some chemistry on the team’s top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
Injuries limited Dach to 58 games in that campaign, though, and while he looked exceptional in the first game of the 2023-24 campaign, he suffered a season-ending injury in the Canadiens’ second game of the season.
Dach returned for 2024-25, but injuries again limited his effectiveness alongside his availability. Having lost his spot next to Caufield and Suzuki to 2022 No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky, Dach only managed 22 points and an injury limited him to just 57 games played.
Through 15 games of 2025-26, Dach had seven points. If he is indeed able to return to the lineup at some point soon, a significant opportunity could be in reach. While Slafkovsky had usurped Dach’s former place on the Canadiens’ top line and held it firmly, the Slovak forward has since been moved to the Canadiens’ second line, forming a deadly trio with rookies Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen.
As a result, the Canadiens have been forced to rotate several forwards in Slafkovsky’s former lineup spot alongside Suzuki and Caufield. Zachary Bolduc was tried at first, but his ineffectiveness prompted head coach Martin St. Louis to try midseason signing Alexandre Texier on that line.
Texier recently inked a two-year, $2.5MM AAV extension with the Canadiens, and has performed very well so far next to the Canadiens’ two star forwards, scoring 16 points in 27 games. That could indicate that Texier will remain next to Suzuki and Caufield for the foreseeable future. But if Texier falters at any point, Dach could be next in line to get a shot on Montreal’s top line.
If that can happen, it would be a massive opportunity for Dach to rebuild his confidence and his stock in the eyes of Canadiens decision-makers in advance of his upcoming restricted free agency.
Regardless of where he ends up playing in Montreal’s lineup, the key for Dach, arguably more than even finding a way to produce, is going to be finding a way to stay healthy. For as talented as he can be, his chronic lack of availability threatens to undercut his value proposition to NHL teams.
As a 6’4″ forward who can play center or the wing, and has the coveted combination of size and skill, he should be a player NHL teams trip over themselves to get their hands on. Injuries have, so far, kept him from achieving that status. More than anything else, Dach will need to show he can put those injuries behind him if he’s going to maximize his value as an NHL player.
Photos courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Senators Recall Hunter Shepard, Reassign Leevi Merilainen
There are more moving parts between the pipes for the Ottawa Senators. The Senators announced that they’ve recalled netminder Hunter Shepard from the AHL’s Belleville Senators and reassigned Leevi Merilainen in a corresponding roster move.
A year ago, few would have predicted the downfall of Merilainen this season. The 23-year-old finished the 2024-25 campaign with an 8-3-1 record in 12 games with a .925 SV% and 1.99 GAA, showing promise as a future backup behind Linus Ullmark. Unfortunately, Merilainen hasn’t gotten close to replicating that performance this year.
Through 20 games, Merilainen owns an 8-10-1 record with a .860 SV% and 3.51 GAA, including a -16.8 Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA). Additionally, according to MoneyPuck, among netminders that have played in 20 or more games this season, Merilainen is the worst in terms of Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) per 60 with a -0.948 mark. St. Louis Blues’ goalie Jordan Binnington is the next closest with a -0.777.
Simply put, that’s unsustainable for the Senators. Ottawa has already brought in James Reimer to shore up their play in the crease. The veteran stopped 30 out of 34 shots in the Senators’ recent overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Ottawa hopes that Merilainen can regain some of his confidence in the AHL. He has historically been solid with AHL Belleville, owning a career 33-22-8 record across six seasons with a .911 SV% and 2.59 GAA.
Meanwhile, Shepard returns to the Senators for the sixth time this season. The two-time Calder Cup champion has already appeared in one game with Ottawa this season, stopping 10 out of 12 shots against the Red Wings on January 5th. Throughout the duration of his first stint with AHL Belleville, Shepard owns a 6-6-1 record with a .895 SV% and 3.45 GAA.