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Canucks, Penguins Reportedly Interested In David Kämpf

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It’s only been a few hours since David Kämpf had his contract terminated by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and interested teams are already coming to light. In his recent rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins were interested in signing the freshly minted unrestricted free agent.

Of all the teams that could be interested in Kämpf, the Canucks make the most sense. The team is dealing with longer-term injuries to Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger, which have further thinned an already depleted center core. Behind Elias Pettersson, the team is utilizing Max Sasson, Aatu Räty, and recently acquired Lukas Reichel as their next three options.

That’s not to suggest that Kämpf should be considered a cure-all to Vancouver’s woes, though he would be an improvement on their existing bottom-six options. The 30-year-old center has scored 31 goals and 85 points in 301 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs over the last four years, with a 51.7% success rate in the faceoff dot.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s interest may come from familiarity with Kämpf’s game. The Penguins General Manager and President of Hockey Operations, Kyle Dubas, brought Kämpf to the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2021-22 season on a two-year, $3MM contract. Brad Traveling was at the helm when Toronto signed Kämpf to the four-year, $9.6MM deal that was terminated this morning.

Still, the Penguins don’t have a true need for Kämpf outside of the front office’s familiarity. The team is already relatively deep at center with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kevin Hayes as their top-three options, and has put a premium on bringing in younger players — not additional ones that have already cleared the 30-year threshold.

There are a few additional teams, such as the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils, that could use more forward depth in their bottom six. Still, given that teams are already being named, Kämpf shouldn’t expect to remain a UFA for very long.

Cam Talbot Could Become A Valuable Trade Chip

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In a recent update on Daily Faceoff Live, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that Detroit Red Wings netminder Cam Talbot could become the most viable goaltending trade candidate by the deadline. Any trade for Talbot would depend on Detroit falling out of playoff contention by the trade deadline and the interested teams not having internal improvements in their goaltending situation.

Assuming the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes don’t peddle Sergei Bobrovsky or Frederik Andersen, respectively, Talbot could be considered one of the most movable netminders at the deadline should he be made available. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent on a more than affordable $2.5MM salary and has no trade protection to overcome.

Furthermore, he has been a consistent, albeit unimpressive, netminder for his entire career, which is more than most teams can count on each night. Even since the 2019-20 season, despite playing for five different teams, Talbot has compiled a 134-85-23 record in 254 games with a .909 SV% and 2.73 GAA.

He gets better the more he plays in the postseason, though it’s been five years since he spent any meaningful time in the Stanley Cup playoffs. This season, while sharing the crease with John Gibson, Talbot has earned a 6-2-0 record in nine games with a .892 SV% and 2.93 GAA.

Entertaining the idea that the Red Wings may make Talbot available for trade by the deadline, there are a few teams that should be interested. The Edmonton Oilers, Utah Mammoth, and even the Montreal Canadiens could all use some veteran depth in net. Still, there is plenty of time for each of the listed teams to improve their goaltending performance by March, rendering any reason to seek out Talbot via trade moot.

Devils Place Connor Brown On IR, Recall Shane Lachance

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With today’s news that the New Jersey Devils will be without Jack Hughes for at least one game due to a freak accident at a team dinner, the Devils needed another body for their upcoming game against the Washington Capitals. To that end, New Jersey announced they’ve placed Connor Brown on the injured reserve (retroactive to October 30th) and has recalled Shane Lachance from the AHL’s Utica Comets.

The move is status quo for Brown. He didn’t join the team for their five-game road trip due to an upper-body injury, so a placement on the IR won’t alter his recovery timeline at all.

New Jersey has not provided any updates on Brown’s return, but we should receive more clarity once the team returns home. Brown has already missed the Devils’ last six games, so he’ll miss a minimum of 10.

Brown signed for a relatively cheap four-year, $12MM this past summer in an attempt to add some goal-scoring punch to the team’s middle-six. He did just that to start the season, scoring five goals in 11 games before going down with the injury.

Meanwhile, Lachance will have the opportunity to play in his NHL debut during the recall. The 22-year-old forward was signed as a collegiate free agent last season out of Boston University, where he was the team’s captain. Lachance scored 12 goals and 30 points in 40 games throughout his last year with the Terriers. Still, he’s had a disappointing transition to professional hockey, tallying only one assist in 11 games for AHL Utica so far this campaign.

Canucks Place Thatcher Demko On IR, Activate Victor Mancini

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According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have placed Thatcher Demko on the injured reserve with a lower-body injury. In a corresponding roster move, the team has activated defenseman Victor Mancini.

Demko suffered the injury during Tuesday’s game in Vancouver against the Winnipeg Jets, which is why the Canucks made their transaction retroactive to November 11th. He left the game after the first period, stopping five of eight shots.

This is a familiar spot for Demko. He spent much of last season on the injured reserve due to knee and other lower-body issues. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 10-8-3 record in 23 games with a .889 SV% and 2.90 GAA. Still, despite the significant injury issues, the Canucks extended Demko to a three-year, $25.5MM contract extension this summer.

Vancouver will rely on Kevin Lankinen for the next few weeks while Demko recovers. Unfortunately, he’s struggled out of the gates this season with a 3-5-1 record in nine games with a .885 SV% and 3.57 GAA.

Meanwhile, Mancini returns to the lineup after missing the Canucks last eight games due to an undisclosed injury. He’s only skated in five games this season, going scoreless with a -2 rating. The 23-year-old blueliner was a supplementary piece of the J.T. Miller trade with the New York Rangers last year. Unfortunately, with seven other defensemen on the active roster, Mancini doesn’t have a spot in the lineup set in stone.

Wild Place Marco Rossi On IR With Lower-Body Injury

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4:30 p.m.: As expected, the Wild announced that Rossi has been placed on the injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Minnesota’s announcement indicated that Rossi would miss the next few weeks.

9:13 a.m.: Wild top-line pivot Marco Rossi will miss at least the team’s next few games – potentially longer – with a lower-body injury, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Friday. Minnesota will be down to the bare minimum of 12 forwards if he’s not available, and they don’t have an open roster spot. Hence, an injured reserve placement is likely to permit the recall of a forward from AHL Iowa.

It’s unexpected news after Rossi made his last appearance, an overtime loss to the Sharks on Tuesday, in full without incident. He missed one game in October due to a lower-body issue. Russo reports that he’s not fully healed from that injury and will need a more extended break to get back to 100 percent.

The 24-year-old has remained the centerpiece of Minnesota’s top line this season with Kirill Kaprizov after a tumultuous summer. He was involved in a drawn-out round of contract negotiations after reaching restricted free agency, and early in the summer, it seemed likelier than not that he’d be dealt away. No trade materialized, though, and he returned to the Wild on a three-year, $15MM bridge deal in late August to avoid being a training camp holdout.

While the Wild didn’t have the best October, Rossi was on a roll. He took the absence of his other routine wingman, Mats Zuccarello, in stride and rattled off 11 points (two goals, nine assists) through his first 11 games. However, he’s only managed two goals in six games since the calendar turned to November and has just one point in his last five. With Zuccarello now back in the fold and registering two assists through his first three games of the season, he and Kaprizov will be centered by Joel Eriksson Ek for the foreseeable future as Rossi exits the lineup.

There’s no timeline yet for Rossi’s return, but he’s expected to be out long enough to intensify the Wild’s documented pursuit of a middle-six forward. Picking up a depth center if one hits waivers might also be a stopgap possibility to keep veterans Ben Jones and Tyler Pitlick, neither of whom has recorded a point this season in a combined 15 appearances, out of a regular spot in Rossi’s absence.

As Russo writes, it’s 2022 first-rounder Danila Yurov who stands with the most to gain while Rossi rehabs. The 21-year-old rookie has just two goals with a -5 rating through his first 13 NHL games, but that’s to be expected given his fourth-line deployment and lack of special teams usage. Yurov has averaged 9:51 of ice time per game and is starting just 36.2% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone. He’s spent most of his time centering Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin, who’ve combined for no goals and four assists this season. A promotion to top-nine duties is a far more suitable assignment for Yurov’s capabilities and should result in a significant increase in productivity.

Devils’ Jack Hughes Out With Non-Hockey Hand Injury

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In an odd report, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that the New Jersey Devils will be without center Jack Hughes for at least one game after accidentally cutting his hand at a team dinner. The Devils confirmed the report and added that Hughes is still being evaluated.

Once again, Hughes was off to a sensational start to the season, only to have it paused due to injury. He began the 2025-26 campaign with 10 goals and 20 points in 17 games, leading New Jersey in scoring while tying for 22nd in the league with Brad Marchand, Sidney Crosby, Kyle Connor, Troy Terry, Nick Suzuki, Jason Robertson, and Leon Draisaitl.

Hopefully, for the Devils’ sake, Hughes will only miss a few games at most. Last season, around the trade deadline, New Jersey went 9-10-1 to finish the season and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Devils were 33-23-6 before Hughes was injured.

His injury history is becoming a little much to overlook. Since the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign, Hughes has played in 268 regular-season contests for the Devils, which is only 77.7% of potential contests. Still, he’s been one of, if not the team’s best player over that stretch, scoring 133 goals and 319 points while averaging 20:25 of ice time per game.

Luckily, the team has an in-house replacement for Hughes on the first line in captain Nico Hischier. In the same stretch that Hughes has suffered multiple injuries, Hischier has remained remarkably consistent, scoring 117 goals and 288 points in 314 games, with a +41 rating and a 54.5% faceoff rate, while averaging 19:41 of ice time per game.

Depending on how long Hughes is out for, it could jumpstart New Jersey’s aggressiveness in acquiring some forward depth. The team already had a hole down the middle behind Hughes and Hischer, and the injury news could prompt some movement from the Devils.

Flyers Activate, Reassign Ethan Samson

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The Flyers have activated defenseman Ethan Samson from season-opening injured reserve and subsequently assigned him to AHL Lehigh Valley, the Phantoms announced. The rearguard had been sidelined since sustaining an upper-body injury midway through training camp.

Samson was a sixth-round pick by the Flyers in 2021 and signed his entry-level contract midway through the 2022-23 season, his final junior campaign with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars. He’s now kicking off what will be his third professional season. The 6’1″ righty isn’t viewed as an impact prospect in their system – he wasn’t even discussed in Elite Prospects’ offseason ranking of their pool – but has been quietly establishing himself as an important puck-mover for Lehigh Valley over the past couple of years.

In 132 AHL games to date, Samson has 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points with a -19 rating. Some defensive weaknesses are apparent, but he has a strong toolkit of playmaking acumen and stick skills to work with that could potentially make the 6’1″, 181-lb righty a call-up option down the line if he’s able to develop further away from the puck. He’s still only 22 years old, but this year is something of a make-or-break one for him as he enters the final season of his entry-level contract. The Flyers have the option to cut him loose next summer by not issuing him a qualifying offer.

He’ll now get his feet wet on a Lehigh Valley team that’s rolled to an 8-3-1 start to the year, fueled by remarkable scoring depth – their top 15 scorers all have between five and nine points on the year.

Maple Leafs, David Kämpf Mutually Terminate Contract

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Nov. 14, 1:08 p.m.: Kämpf has cleared waivers and his contract has been terminated, according to Friedman.

Nov. 13, 12:58 p.m.: The Maple Leafs officially announced Kämpf’s waiver placement. They’ll clear $1.25MM in cap space tomorrow as a result of the move, not his full $2.4MM since he’s already carrying a reduced impact in the minors. Kämpf retains this year’s signing bonus as part of the termination, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

Nov. 13, 10:13 p.m.: The Maple Leafs will place center David Kämpf on unconditional waivers this afternoon for the purpose of a mutual contract termination, Darren Dreger of TSN reports. Assuming he clears tomorrow, he’ll be free to sign a new contract with an NHL club at any time.

The 30-year-old Kämpf is in the third season of a four-year, $9.6MM contract. It hasn’t panned out as Toronto general manager Brad Treliving had hoped when he signed it in June 2023. Kämpf has not played for Toronto’s NHL squad this season. His $2.4MM cap hit and the Leafs’ flurry of depth forward additions over the summer left him out of a roster spot when training camp ended, and he landed on standard waivers. After clearing, he was assigned to AHL Toronto for his first minor-league action since the 2017-18 season.

Initially, Kämpf reported to the Marlies. He suited up for their season-opening back-to-back games but didn’t play again until Oct. 26 and 29. After that, Kämpf took a brief leave to mull his options for an NHL return, which the Maple Leafs made clear wouldn’t be in Toronto. The Leafs initially looked to find a trade partner but were unsuccessful. Soon after, they suspended Kämpf without pay as his leave hit the one-week mark. A mutual contract termination became the clear goal, but there was uncertainty over whether Kämpf would need to return a prorated portion of the $1.325MM signing bonus he was given before the season as part of the transaction.

Today’s news indicates the NHL and NHLPA have come to a resolution on that front. Kämpf will now be walking away from the remainder of the $1.075MM base salary he was owed for this season, plus the $2.4MM total compensation he was due in 2026-27.

His four-year contract with the Leafs came on the heels of a career-best season for Kämpf, who’d initially joined the franchise on a two-year, $3MM pact in free agency in 2021. The faceoff and penalty-killing specialist had averaged north of 15 minutes per game in his first two seasons in Toronto, didn’t miss a game, and reached 26 and 27 points, respectively. He’d never hit the 20-point threshold before in his career and hasn’t hit it since.

While still effective on the dot and shorthanded, Kämpf’s offensive liabilities began to contribute to a decreased role. He saw his ice time slashed by nearly two minutes per game in the first year of his extension, and it was further reduced to 12:29 last year, in which injuries and healthy scratches limited him to 59 appearances. Toronto’s trade deadline pickup of Scott Laughton from the Flyers pushed him out of the lineup entirely, and he only played in one out of 13 playoff games for the Leafs, so the writing was on the wall long before this season began.

That said, Kämpf shouldn’t have much trouble finding a new deal. He has 48 goals and 143 points in 536 career NHL games. Considering he’s only started 31.6% of his shifts at even strength in the offensive zone, his relatively tame -16 rating is indicative of his legitimate defensive skill. He’s not overly physical, averaging under one hit per game for his career, but has a 51.4% lifetime average on draws. If he’s willing to take a deal close to league minimum, he should have a multitude of options. Teams plagued with injuries up front – the Canucks and Sabres, in particular – could be among the first to call.

Image courtesy of Alan Poizner-Imagn Images.

Oilers Place Troy Stecher On Waivers, Reassign Isaac Howard

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The Oilers announced they’ve placed defenseman Troy Stecher on waivers for the purposes of assignment to AHL Bakersfield. They also demoted rookie Isaac Howard, sending him directly to Bakersfield.

Stecher, 31, was acquired from the Coyotes back at the 2024 trade deadline before signing a two-year, $1.575MM extension to remain with Edmonton through this season. An undrafted free agent signing by the Canucks in 2016, Stecher immediately broke into a top-four role with Vancouver but peaked early on, never eclipsing the 24 points he put up in his rookie year.

The puck-moving blue liner ended up stabilizing as a more useful third-pairing piece, leading to him moving around quite a bit. He was picked up by a contender for added depth at three straight trade deadlines – going from the Red Wings to the Kings in 2022 and the Coyotes to the Flames in 2023 before returning to Arizona in free agency and being dealt to the Oilers in 2024. Over those three years plus last season in Edmonton, Stecher put together an 8-31–37 scoring line with a -6 rating in 230 appearances.

Those numbers were brought down by a difficult 2024-25 campaign for Stecher in Edmonton, in which he was limited to seven points and a -2 rating in 66 games and averaged just 13:52 of ice time per contest. He was a frequent healthy scratch in the postseason, although for his six-figure cap hit, he wasn’t being paid as much more than veteran insurance. Edmonton’s pickup of Jake Walman at last year’s deadline and the emergence of Alec Regula into a semi-regular role have pushed him further down the depth chart, though.

Stecher has now been a healthy scratch in seven straight and has only played in six of 19 games this season, going without a point. As a result, Edmonton has been looking to find a trade partner for him. With no success so far, they’re letting him hit the wire to see if another team wants his services at an affordable $787,500 cap hit for the remainder of the season.

Howard’s demotion is more related to Zach Hyman’s anticipated activation from long-term injured reserve tomorrow, but it won’t be the worst thing for his development, either. The 2022 first-round pick is in his first professional season after initially telling the Lightning he wouldn’t sign with them, which ultimately led to Edmonton acquiring his rights over the summer and subsequently inking him to his entry-level deal. Howard was left off Edmonton’s opening night roster for cap purposes, but was recalled before they played their first game.

As a result, Howard has played in all 17 contests for the Oilers but hasn’t been terribly effective. Part of that is because he hasn’t had a chance to play with premier linemates as he may have hoped. There was speculation the 21-year-old lefty might get a trial in top-six minutes alongside either Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, particularly with Hyman sidelined to start the season, but that never came to pass. He’s spent virtually the whole season in fourth-line duties, averaging 9:30 of ice time per game. His production has been limited to two goals and one assist with a -2 rating.

Howard should receive first-line minutes with Bakersfield. The Wisconsin native had a 2024-25 season for the ages before turning pro, taking home the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey, as well as a Big Ten championship with Michigan State, while recording a 26-26–52 scoring line in 37 games.

Canadiens’ Alex Newhook Out 4 Months, Kaiden Guhle Out 8-10 Weeks

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The Canadiens announced that Alex Newhook underwent surgery to repair the fractured ankle he sustained last night against the Stars. He’s expected to miss four months, putting him out through the trade deadline. In a corresponding move, the Canadiens announced they’ve recalled forward Jared Davidson from AHL Laval. They’ve been operating with a pair of open roster spots since sending Marc Del Gaizo down last week, so there’s no need to open space. Montreal also said defenseman Kaiden Guhle, who’s IR-bound and hasn’t played in nearly a month, underwent an additional procedure on a partially torn adductor muscle and will miss an additional eight to 10 weeks.

Newhook’s ankle fracture was sustained after getting tangled up with Dallas defender Ilya Lyubushkin and colliding with the end boards early in the second period. He needed help from teammates to get off the ice and he didn’t return to the game.

Montreal now gives Davidson the first recall of his career. The 23-year-old middleman was a fifth-round pick in 2022 after being passed over in the 2020 and 2021 drafts. He was selected out of the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, whom he guided to a championship in his post-draft season and was twice a First Team All-Star. The 6’0″ sniper tallied 80 goals in 124 games across his final two junior seasons before turning pro.

Initially, Davidson didn’t land an NHL contract. He spent the 2023-24 campaign on a minor-league deal with Laval while the Habs, who had two years after drafting him to decide whether to extend an entry-level contract before losing his rights, mulled whether or not to sign him. Injuries limited him to 38 appearances, but he was productive when healthy with 11 goals and 16 points. That was enough for Montreal to ink him to a two-year entry-level deal in May 2024.

The Edmonton native was healthy last year and delivered something of a breakout campaign. He finished the year third on Laval in scoring with 45 points (24 goals, 21 assists) in 69 games, adding a team-high +25 rating to boot. He’s kept the momentum rolling this year with a team-high nine goals in 13 games, including a six-game point streak that came to an end Wednesday night.

With no other healthy extra forwards available on the roster, Davidson will make his NHL debut on Saturday night – in primetime – against the Bruins. It’s quite the test for a name that was listed all the way down at No. 24 in this offseason’s prospect pool rankings by Elite Prospects, albeit in an exceedingly deep Montreal pool.

Where he slots in the lineup remains to be seen. What’s clear is that he’s not expectedly to directly replace what Newhook had been doing in the early stages of the season. A long-term injury couldn’t carry worse timing for the 2019 first-round pick, who was finally finding his footing in a top-six role in Montreal. Through 17 games, he’d rattled off six goals and 12 points and a +7 rating with nearly all of that production coming at even strength, averaging 14:38 of ice time per game on the Habs’ second line alongside Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov.

On paper, the Habs would need major breakthroughs from multiple players in their middle-six forward group to have success this year. Newhook was doing just that, already reaching nearly half of his total output in 82 games last year. He’s the team’s fifth-leading scorer as he exits the lineup – one that the Habs, now 1-2-2 in their last five and on the heels of being outscored 12-1 in their last two games, will struggle to replace. More is needed out of veteran Josh Anderson, who has just four points and a -9 rating in 17 outings despite averaging more ice time than Newhook.

As for Guhle, his initial four-to-six-week recovery timeline was assuming he would be able to rehab his adductor issues without surgery. He’d just gotten back skating but wasn’t adjusting well, leading the Canadiens’ medical staff to pivot, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports.

In the meantime, Jayden Struble will continue to skate in his place in the top four alongside Lane Hutson. The 24-year-old has made 13 appearances this season, posting three points with a -3 rating while averaging 15:29 of ice time per game. They’ve had the worst defensive results of any Habs pairing this year, controlling 43.2% of expected goals with a team-high 2.77 xGA/60, per MoneyPuck. Hutson and Guhle were allowing just 2.00 xGA/60 together and controlling 48.6% of expected goals overall, making Struble’s elevated minutes a challenge for the club to overcome defensively.

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