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Derick Brassard Comes Out Of Retirement, Signs In Switzerland

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Longtime NHL center Derick Brassard is coming out of retirement and has signed with Genève-Servette of Switzerland’s National League for the remainder of the season, as first reported by Nicolas St-Pierre of the “Dans le Vestiaire” podcast.

Brassard, 38, hasn’t played since suiting up for the Senators in the 2022-23 season. He tore a ligament in his ankle late in the season and, after trying to push his recovery as a free agent during 2023-24, announced his retirement after he sat out the year.

The sixth overall pick in the 2006 draft by the Blue Jackets, Brassard did manage to eke out crossing the 1,000-game mark before ending his NHL career. In his heyday, he was a high-end second-line center and fringe first-line piece for the Rangers, who acquired him from Columbus in 2013 in a deal that sent Marián Gáborík the other way. Three years later, he was involved in another high-profile trade, being sent to the Senators for Mika Zibanejad.

That deal marked a turning point for the worse in Brassard’s career. He’d flirted with the 60-point mark in his last two years with the Blueshirts and had averaged 50 points per 82 games. After the deal, he’d only top 40 points once and 30 points three times. He didn’t last a full two seasons in Ottawa either, and was shipped to the Penguins at the 2018 trade deadline. That kicked off an all-time journeyman run for Brassard, who ended up playing for eight teams in the span of five seasons. Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, he logged stints for the Panthers, Avalanche, Islanders, Coyotes, Flyers, and Oilers in addition to his time in Ottawa and Pittsburgh. He then returned to the Sens as a free agent before wrapping up his career.

Now, the Quebec native will play international hockey for only the second time in his career. He saw six games of action for Austria’s EC Salzburg during the 2012 lockout, recording four goals and an assist.

He’ll link up with a Genève-Servette roster that includes plenty of familiar faces. They boast over 2,200 games of NHL experience, including Jimmy Vesey, Jan Rutta, Jesse Puljujärvi, and Markus Granlund.

Blues Sign Robby Fabbri To Two-Way Deal

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The Blues are bringing back forward Robby Fabbri on a two-way deal, according to a team announcement. He’ll earn prorated salaries of $775K in the NHL and $300K in the AHL for the remainder of the season. He will remain on the NHL roster for now. Winger Jordan Kyrou, who’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury, has landed on injured reserve in the corresponding move – although David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports he’s been downgraded to week-to-week.

Fabbri, 29, has gone unsigned since the Ducks elected to let him walk to unrestricted free agency last summer. He landed with the Penguins for training camp on a professional tryout but was released without landing a major or minor-league deal. He kept skating through the first two months of the season until finally landing a tryout with the Panthers’ AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, at the beginning of December. He’s now been released from that deal to get the next NHL opportunity he desired.

It’s a storybook return for Fabbri, who began his career as a first-round pick by the Blues in 2014. One year later, he had already established himself as a full-time NHLer with an 18-goal, 37-point rookie season. Unfortunately, a rash of injuries conspired to make sure those totals would stand as his career highs. The first real trouble came in his sophomore season. In February 2017, he tore his left ACL, ending his season. He showed up to training camp the following fall ready to go but blew up the same knee early in the preseason, robbing him of the entire 2017-18 season. A groin issue further delayed his return until he finally got back on the ice in November 2018, ending a year-and-a-half absence.

Those injuries pushed Fabbri down the depth chart and kept him out of a regular role for the Blues in the 2019 postseason, but he did still score once in 10 games on St. Louis’ run to the Stanley Cup. Early the following season, his first stint with the Blues came to an end when they dealt him to the Red Wings for Jacob de La Rose. His tenure in Detroit was troubled by more injuries – including another ACL surgery – but he played like a bona fide top-nine winger when healthy. He scored 66 goals and 127 points in 234 games as a Wing, good for 0.54 points per game, before they sent the final year of his contract at a $4MM cap hit to the Ducks in the 2024 offseason.

More knee problems and a hand fracture limited Fabbri to 44 games with Anaheim. The fit wasn’t as productive as it was in Detroit, and his usually high finishing rate dropped down to 12.3% – his lowest since 2018-19 – resulting in a conservative 8-8–16 scoring line in 44 games.

Fabbri did look ready to go in his brief stint with Charlotte, posting a goal and an assist in three games. He’ll now get an opportunity to get back in an NHL lineup for the first time since February as the Blues say he’ll join the team ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Predators.

Kyrou’s IR placement was an inevitability with all the injury problems the Blues are facing up front. He joins fellow forwards Jimmy Snuggerud, Alexey Toropchenko, and Nathan Walker on the injured list, while Nick Bjugstad’s status for tomorrow is uncertain after leaving yesterday’s 5-2 loss to the Bruins with an upper-body injury.

Kraken Recall Ben Meyers

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The Kraken announced last night that they’ve called up forward Ben Meyers from the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. They moved rookie center Berkly Catton to injured reserve in a corresponding move. Catton had already been given a week-to-week designation due to an upper-body injury, so he is still expected to miss more than just the next few days.

The 27-year-old Meyers rejoins the Kraken roster after spending nearly a month with Seattle earlier this season. He made nine appearances on a recall that stretched between October and November, totaling three assists with a -1 rating. Those were his first points in a Kraken uniform after he went without one in eight games last year. It’s year two for the former University of Minnesota standout in the organization after he initially landed with them as a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2024, signing a league-minimum extension back in June to extend his stay.

No longer a prospect by any stretch of the word, Meyers is in his fourth professional season and has established himself as a replacement-level role player. The 5’11” pivot is a standout AHL producer and has taken that reputation to new heights this season, racking up nine goals and 13 points in 11 appearances to lead the club in points per game. He’s now up to a 49-64–113 scoring line in 130 career AHL games over the last four years.

Meyers also has 11 points to his name in 84 NHL contests. He first landed with the Avalanche as a free agent following his senior year with the Golden Gophers. He was one of the most sought-after college UFAs of the cycle, having represented the United States at the 2022 Olympics and World Championships. He was limited to four goals and no assists in 39 games with Colorado as a rookie, though, and he’s since bounced around as a first-line minor-leaguer without a clear role on an NHL roster. Between his time in Colorado and Seattle, he had a brief stint with the Ducks down the stretch in 2023-24 after the trade deadline.

With Catton set to miss the next several games and winger Jaden Schwartz already on IR, Meyers gives the Kraken an extra forward if they need one until either of them is ready to return. If he plays one more game or stays on the roster or stays up for four days – both of which are likely – he’ll need waivers to return to Coachella Valley when his recall is over.

Maple Leafs Recall Henry Thrun

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The Maple Leafs announced they’ve recalled defenseman Henry Thrun from AHL Toronto. They placed defenseman Dakota Mermis on injured reserve in a corresponding move. He left Monday’s game against the Lightning after sustaining a lower-body injury on a hit from Gage Goncalves and is day-to-day.

Thrun, 24, will be making his Leafs debut if he gets into a game. The lefty was initially drafted by the Ducks in 2019 but opted not to sign with them when his collegiate career with Harvard ended in 2023, and saw his signing rights traded to the Sharks.

It was a smart pickup for a rebuilding San Jose club, as Thrun managed to work his way into the lineup for the majority of their games over the last two seasons. He was flexed between the NHL and AHL in 2023-24 but spent all of last season on the Sharks’ roster. A skilled skater and puck-mover who flirted with the point-per-game mark over his last two years in college, Thrun didn’t look entirely out of place. In 2023-24, he averaged 20 minutes of ice time per game, second to only Mario Ferraro among Sharks defenders. That usage dropped to 17:31 last year as they circulated some more depth in, losing out on some power-play time.

Through 119 games as a Shark, Thrun logged a 5-20–25 scoring line with a predictably gaudy -48 rating as a young player stepping into a defensive mess in San Jose. Still, his possession metrics left something to be desired. His 42.9% shot attempt share at 5-on-5 was still a couple of percentage points below how the Sharks were faring without him on the ice.

With San Jose having plenty of younger, higher-ceiling defenders in the pipeline, they dealt Thrun to Toronto over the summer for enforcer Ryan Reaves. Some had penciled Thrun into a bottom-pairing role alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson to begin the year, but both Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers emerged ahead of him on the depth chart by the end of training camp. He was placed on waivers and, somewhat surprisingly, cleared, perhaps as a result of his $1MM cap hit.

Thrun hasn’t broken the bank in the minors, although he’s still been serviceable with nine points and a -5 rating through 19 AHL games. The younger William Villeneuve has emerged as the Marlies’ No. 1 this season. However, it’s not particularly surprising to see the Leafs opt for someone with NHL experience who may still have untapped potential, rather than Villeneuve, who has no NHL games to his name.

It took all of Mermis, Brandon Carlo, and Chris Tanev being on IR or LTIR, but Thrun will finally get his first look as a Leaf. That could come as soon as tomorrow against his former team after the Leafs said Morgan Rielly couldn’t practice today due to an illness. If he’s deployed more as an offensive specialist than how he was used in San Jose, there could be some legitimate benefits to reap on a team that’s done a good job of generating offense from its blue line this season.

Rangers Place Adam Edstrom On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Rangers have placed forward Adam Edstrom on long-term injured reserve, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports. He’s missed the last four games with a lower-body injury but will now be sidelined at least through Christmas, becoming eligible for reinstatement against the Islanders on Dec. 27.

Edstrom was initially ruled out day-to-day, but his initial recovery hasn’t progressed as the team hoped, Walker said. He sustained his injury during practice on Dec. 1, and there hasn’t been much clarity on him since, including whether it’s related to the lower-body injury that ended his 2024-25 campaign in February and eventually required surgery.

The Rangers have had a relatively healthy forward group this season, save for Vincent Trocheck missing a few weeks early in the campaign, but their depth has taken a hit. They started the season with a fourth line of Edstrom, Sam Carrick, and Matt Rempe. Rempe hasn’t played since Oct. 23 due to an upper-body injury – Edstrom is joining him on LTIR – but he’s also traveled with the team on their road trip and could be an option to return as soon as tonight against the Blackhawks, head coach Mike Sullivan said yesterday (via Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic).

A sixth-round pick in 2019, the 6’7″, 232-lb Edstrom has provided the Rangers with quality, albeit limited, minutes. Through 24 appearances, he’d tallied two goals and four points with a +5 rating while averaging 9:34 of ice time per game. His 48 hits rank sixth on the team, and his possession impacts while being deployed as a defensive specialist at 5-on-5 are strong. His 31.6 offensive zone start percentage is the second-lowest among Rangers forwards with at least 200 minutes, yet he leads them in 5-on-5 goal share at 64.3%.

With Rempe and now Edstrom out, AHL call-ups Brett Berard and Jaroslav Chmelar have stepped into the lineup. They’ve combined to go pointless with a -1 rating through 11 games.

Blues Sign Dillon Dube To AHL Tryout

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Dec. 10: The Blues have confirmed they’re bringing Dubé into the organization. It’s a tryout with Springfield, though, not a full-fledged contract.

Dec. 9: The Blues have reached an agreement to bring free agent forward Dillon Dubé into the organization on a contract with AHL Springfield, per Frank Seravalli of Victory+.

Dubé, 27, was eligible to sign an NHL contract at the beginning of this month after serving a suspension related to the allegations that spurned charges of sexual assault against him and four other players who were members of Canada’s national junior team in 2018. All five players were acquitted of those charges in July. Of those five, only Carter Hart has returned to the NHL after their suspensions were lifted on Dec. 1.

Dubé made his NHL debut with the Flames in 2018-19 after they made him a second-round pick in the 2016 draft. He spent a few seasons in a bottom-six/press box role before working his way into a top-nine job coming out of the pandemic. His development culminated with a breakout 2022-23 season. While the Flames fell out of the playoff picture that year, despite finishing with 111 points the season prior, Dubé suddenly became one of their most important secondary scorers. Averaging north of 15 minutes per game and routinely seeing top-line minutes with now ex-Flames Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli, he tied his career-high 18 goals and added 27 assists for 45 points.

When the Flames replaced Darryl Sutter with Ryan Huska behind the bench for the 2023-24 season, Dubé fell off the map. His ice time dropped to 11:10 per contest, and he was limited to just three goals and seven points in 43 games. His season ended in January when the charges against him were announced.

Dubé was non-tendered by Calgary at the end of the season, making him an unrestricted free agent. While awaiting trial, he spent the 2024-25 season overseas, signing with Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. The 5’11” winger struggled to make an impact, slipping to a fourth-line role by year’s end and notching just four goals and 11 points in 42 games. He ended the season without a point in his final 11 regular-season and playoff games.

Understandably, KHL and NHL interest was tempered after he was acquitted of his charges based on those numbers. He technically remains a UFA because he’s not signing an NHL agreement with the Blues. Whether it’s a guaranteed contract with Springfield or just a tryout remains to be seen. Regardless, it will be an incredibly long road for him to prove he can get his play back to an NHL level. Considering his offensive production was his greatest asset, he’s not a good fit down the lineup and will need to put up big numbers in order to move up the depth chart.

Senators Reassign Olle Lycksell

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Dec. 10: The Senators announced they loaned Lycksell back to Belleville on Wednesday morning. As expected, he did not play last night and was only around as last-minute insurance in case of an injury.

Dec. 9: Winger Olle Lycksell has been recalled by the Senators from AHL Belleville, according to a team announcement. They had an open roster spot after reassigning Hayden Hodgson to Belleville on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Lycksell has made six appearances across two previous stints on the active roster this season for the Sens. He was waived to begin the season but ended up making the opening night roster anyway. That lasted for a couple of weeks before he was eventually demoted to Belleville for the first time. Ottawa recalled him just a few days later, and he was back on the active roster for nearly a month until sustaining a concussion, putting him on injured reserve. When he was cleared to return in the later stages of November, Ottawa waived him again and sent him back to the B-Sens after he cleared.

Ottawa signed the 5’11” Swede as a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. A sixth-round pick of the Flyers in 2017, he’d remained in the Philly organization up until that point. He only arrived in North America in 2022, but has been a highly successful minor-league producer, notching 55 goals and 133 points in 142 games across four seasons. That includes a 3-2–5 scoring line in eight appearances for Belleville this year.

That production hasn’t carried over to the NHL, though. He’s not particularly physical and has often been miscast in a fourth-line role – skilled enough to provide scoring depth as an injury replacement, but not intriguing enough of a prospect to push for a top-nine minutes. As a result, he’s scored just two goals in 51 career NHL games, one of them coming this season.

Lycksell isn’t expected to play in tonight’s game against the Devils and looks to be in for another stint as an extra forward, per Claire Hanna of TSN. The Sens haven’t been shy about making frequent roster moves to keep their forward depth fresh this season. Lately, it’s been a rotation of Hodgson, Lycksell, and Stephen Halliday heading up and down to ensure no one is sitting in the press box for too long – serving a dual purpose of extending the former two’s waiver-exempt periods.

Canadiens Promote Jacob Fowler, Owen Beck, Adam Engstrom

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The Canadiens have recalled goaltender Jacob Fowler, center Owen Beck, and defenseman Adam Engstrom from AHL Laval, according to a team announcement late last night. They’d been operating without any healthy extras on the active roster, so they had three open spots. With no new injuries other than the Habs’ longstanding IR designations for Kirby Dach, Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook, all three look to be performance-based recalls as Montreal continues to embrace the youth movement.

Fowler, 21, was Montreal’s third-round pick in the 2023 draft. He’s since become one of the top goalie prospects in hockey and a consensus top-five prospect in the Habs’ pool, ranking #4 according to NHL.com and #2 according to Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler also ranked Fowler as the No. 2 goalie prospect in the league over the offseason behind the Sharks’ Yaroslav Askarov. With the latter now being a full-fledged starter in San Jose, Fowler may be the brightest name outside of the NHL.

It’s his elite positioning and incredible side-to-side technique that scouts praise, leading him to post some ridiculous stat lines in college over the past few seasons. The Florida native spent two seasons at Boston College before turning pro with Laval at the end of last year. He backstopped the Eagles to back-to-back Hockey East regular-season championships, was a First Team All-Star both years, and won NCAA Goalie of the Year honors as a sophomore with a .940 SV%, 1.63 GAA, seven shutouts, and a 25-7-2 record in 35 games.

Now, as a first-year pro, he’s immediately stepped in as a top-five starter in the AHL. His three shutouts in 15 games are tied for the league lead, as are his 10 wins. Among 31 AHLers with 10-plus appearances, his .919 SV% and 2.09 GAA rank fifth. He’s well on track for an AHL All-Star nod, if not Rookie of the Year honors as well.

While some subpar scoring chance generation numbers at 5-on-5 are the biggest reason why the Habs have had trouble holding onto a playoff spot this year, subpar goaltending hasn’t helped. Last year’s breakout starter, Sam Montembeault, has now lost the crease to second-year NHLer Jakub Dobes and has an untenable .861 SV% in 14 appearances. Dobes has been better on the whole, but he’s also been incredibly streaky. The 24-year-old had a .940 SV% through his first five outings before posting a .827 mark in his next five. Since then, he’s averaged a .888 mark for a .891 SV% on the year, putting him squarely in ’meh’ territory with 0.1 goal saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.

One thing’s for sure – Fowler isn’t coming up to ride the bench when he could easily continue a starter’s workload in Laval. He should be ticketed for his first NHL start tomorrow against the Penguins. Montreal has the roster flexibility to carry three goalies for the time being while they sort out what’s best for the team now and what’s best for Fowler’s development.

Beck and Engstrom aren’t afterthoughts, either. The former was a second-round pick in 2022 and is still viewed as a top-five-to-10 prospect in the pipeline. The 21-year-old has gotten NHL reps before – including two appearances this year on an October recall. He has just one assist and a -4 rating in 15 career showings dating back to his post-draft season, though.

Things have been tough sledding in Laval this year for the 6’0″ pivot, though. Touted as one of the better two-way centers from his draft class, his -4 rating in 22 games is second-worst on the club – particularly jarring considering Laval has a +23 goal differential – and he’s been limited to three goals and eight assists for 11 points. That 0.50 points per game mark is a large step back from the 0.69 he managed last season as a rookie.

Nonetheless, things aren’t working on Montreal’s fourth line at present. Center Joe Veleno has just one point – a goal – in 24 games with a -10 rating. Beck’s career stats, even in a limited sample, are preferable to that. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him get a look over the former first-rounder in Veleno tomorrow in Pittsburgh as well.

Engstrom’s recall may be more oriented toward having an extra defender available for a road game, something the Habs have done many times already this season without shaking up their lineup. The 2022 third-rounder spent several days on the roster around Thanksgiving and made his first two career NHL appearances in the process, going without a point but managing an even rating and three shot attempts with two blocks and one hit. He was used squarely in bottom-pairing minutes, averaging 12:03 of ice time per game.

The 22-year-old lefty is viewed as a high-ceiling puck-mover, though, and has even been generating some trade interest as the Habs have very little maneuverability on defense long-term. Their top-four group of Guhle, Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, and Mike Matheson are all signed long-term, with top prospect David Reinbacher still to come. Now in his second season in Laval, Engstrom is in the early stages of a breakout with a 5-11–16 scoring line in 20 games, including a +8 rating. With Guhle unavailable, there’s an argument to be made that he should be getting a longer look in the NHL ahead of lower-ceiling options like Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj.

Image courtesy of Eric Canha-Imagn Images.

Injury Notes: Hellebuyck, Ellis, Perbix

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On today’s episode of Insider Trading, Darren Dreger of TSN discussed Connor Hellebuyck, saying that the Jets goaltender is nearing a return, as soon as next week. Dreger says the star wanted to return even sooner, but Winnipeg is making sure he is eased back in properly. Next Monday’s home game vs. Ottawa could be the focus. 

Hellebuyck underwent a minor arthroscophic knee procedure in November, which came with an estimated 4-6 week timetable, but thankfully the back-to-back Vezina winning netminder has recovered quickly and is set to come back by year’s end. He was 8-6-0 with a .913 save percentage and 2.51 GAA prior to going down. 

The defending President’s Trophy winners have faltered a bit so far this season, losing six out of their last 10 and currently three spots out of a wild card spot, but the team has had to lean heavily on Eric Comrie, a respectable backup who has never played in more than 20 games a season. Hellebuyck’s return will be instrumental for the group going into 2026 as they look to get back on track.

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Midway through tonight’s game the Buffalo Sabres announced that goaltender Colten Ellis will not return due to an upper-body injury, leaving Alex Lyon to take duty. He was shaken up after Oilers forward David Tomasek drove to the net, catching the goalie’s head with his shoulder, which earned a penalty, and ending Ellis’ night with a minute remaining in the first period. The 25-year-old has flashed potential as a backup this season, after being claimed off waivers from St. Louis in October. 
  • Nashville beat reporter Brooks Bratten shared that defenseman Nick Perbix would return to the lineup tonight against Colorado. The Minnesota native had missed the last three games with an upper-body ailment, and has been a dependable blueliner since signing from Tampa Bay last summer. Nashville opted for seven defensemen tonight, as forward Tyson Jost was healthy scratched against his former team. 

Lightning’s Victor Hedman Leaves Due To Injury

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced during the second intermission that star defenseman Victor Hedman will not return versus Montreal due to injury. The Swede left after 06:14 of ice time, which was all in the first period. Further details have not been provided at this time on possible severity. 

The hits keep coming for Tampa Bay, already having a defense corps ravaged by injury, to go with Andrei Vasilevskiy landing on IR yesterday. Hedman himself just came back after missing a large chunk of November with an undisclosed ailment, and naturally, it is unclear if today’s injury is related. Regardless, losing their captain when Ryan McDonagh and Erik Černák remain sidelined is a serious blow. Despite facing such adversity, the longtime contenders have mostly continued their winning ways, currently second in the Atlantic Division. J.J. Moser has stepped up and risen to the occasion in his second season as a Bolt, emerging as a highly reliable top four defender, a savvy pickup helping the team extend its contention window. 

Hedman himself, now 34, has been remarkably durable throughout his career. The towering defender is already well above 1,100 career games, not to mention another 170 playoff appearances, leading the team in heavy minutes throughout runs over the past decade. Despite all of it, when healthy, the 2009 draftee remains elite, having 12 points in 17 games this season.

As is symbolic of their season so far, Tampa Bay handled business over the Canadiens tonight even being short on the back-end. However, Hedman’s status will be a huge question, along with how long the team can sustain success with so many key players shaken up for the time being. Tonight’s win ended a four game skid, but things won’t get any easier without Vasilevskiy or Hedman.

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