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Jets Reassign Elias Salomonsson

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The Jets announced that defenseman Elias Salomonsson has been reassigned to AHL Manitoba. His first stint in the big leagues ends at the two-week mark.

It’s the expected and best resolution for Salmonsson’s development. The 21-year-old is widely viewed as Winnipeg’s top defense prospect after being drafted 55th overall in 2022. He started the year in Manitoba and was summoned near the end of November when Neal Pionk exited the lineup with a lower-body injury. Pionk’s been back for several days now, though, meaning Salomonsson has been scratched in three of the Jets’ last five games.

Saying Salomonsson looked overmatched in his first taste of the NHL would be a fair statement. He got top-four deployment with Dylan Samberg in his first two appearances and it didn’t go well, posting a -5 rating and controlling just 11.8% of expected goals together. When he re-entered the lineup for a pair of games earlier this month, his ice time was reduced and his two-way play improved against easier competition.

He still ends his first call-up without a point and with a -4 rating in four appearances, averaging 14:44 of ice time per game. When Salmonsson was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Jets were outshot 38-16 and outchanced 32-18.

That’s not exactly what Winnipeg wanted to see out of the smooth-skating 21-year-old, but it’s a small sample size – and still far earlier than anyone expected him to make a full-time jump to the NHL. He now heads back to the farm, where he has six assists and an even rating in 17 games this season.

Canucks Expected To Activate Thatcher Demko Thursday

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The Canucks are likely to have starting goaltender Thatcher Demko back in the crease when they host the Sabres on Thursday, head coach Adam Foote told reporters following last night’s game (including Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 950).

Demko’s return will come several days past his initial target date. The oft-injured starter sustained a lower-body injury against the Jets on Nov. 11, leaving the game after the first period. It’s believed to be a groin issue, unrelated to the knee issues that cost him a significant chunk of the 2024 calendar year. He was listed as week-to-week but was expected to be back in the lineup by the end of November.

While that didn’t happen, a late return is better than no return at all. Demko looked like his old self before landing on IR. His .903 SV% and 2.80 GAA in 10 starts don’t jump off the page, but they should when put in the context of Vancouver allowing a league-high 3.75 expected goals against per 60 minutes at all situations, per MoneyPuck. Demko has saved 6.3 goals above expected, and his save percentage is 25 points better than what high-workload backup option Kevin Lankinen has put on offer.

With an 11-16-3 record and seemingly unsolvable defensive warts, playoffs are all but out of the question in Vancouver this season. Getting Demko back should at least stop the bleeding, as the team now deals with offensive woes, scoring only 1.50 goals per game since Thanksgiving.

Demko’s early resurgence was significant in proving Vancouver didn’t significantly err by giving him a relatively rich three-year extension this summer. Kicking in next year, the deal carries a cap hit of $8.5MM and boasts a full no-movement clause. If Demko were to keep that level of play up and were open to a move if the Canucks engage in a complete teardown, that cap hit wouldn’t be prohibitive in trade talks.

Thomas Harley Returning To Stars Lineup

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Dec. 9: Harley will be back in the lineup tonight against the Jets, per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press. He never landed on injured reserve when he was out, so there’s no transaction involved.

Nov. 15: The Dallas Stars will be without one of their top defenseman for the next few weeks. Dallas announced that Thomas Harley is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Although Harley’s most recent game came in the Stars’ lopsided win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, there’s reason to believe that he’s been playing through the injury for some time. Given their salary cap space, it’s expected that Kyle Capobianco will fill in for Harley for the time being.

It’s safe to say that Harley will be a huge missing piece for Dallas moving forward. The former first-round pick has arguably been the Stars’ top defenseman for the last three years, scoring 32 goals and 107 points in his previous 175 games. Additionally, Harley was the highest-scoring defenseman for the Stars last postseason, adding four goals and 14 points in 18 games.

Fortunately, Dallas has built a solid lead in the standings that they can likely absorb Harley’s loss. At the time of writing, the Stars are four points up on the Utah Mammoth for second place in the Central Division standings and are five points up on the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Moving forward, it’s likely that young blueliner Lian Bichsel will get a larger look in the Stars’ top-two defensive pairings. Also drafted 18th overall like Harley, Bichsel is in his second year in the NHL. At this point, he’s scored four goals and 11 points in 56 games with 213 hits, averaging 14:46 of ice time per night.

Canucks Reassign Jett Woo

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Dec. 9: Woo cleared waivers and will be on his way to Abbotsford, per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK.

Dec. 8: According to Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Vancouver Canucks have placed defenseman Jett Woo on waivers. Assuming he clears, Vancouver will be able to reassign Woo to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks tomorrow.

Woo opened up the 2025-26 campaign on the Canucks’ season-opening injured reserve due to offseason surgery. The surgery was reportedly meant to address an upper-body injury that Woo played through on AHL Abbotsford’s run to a Calder Cup championship last spring.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Woo was considered an up-and-coming defensive prospect in Vancouver’s pipeline. The Canucks selected Woo with the 37th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, and he spent the next two years scoring 19 goals and 112 points in 126 games between the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and Calgary Hitmen.

Unfortunately, that production hasn’t translated into success in the professional circuit. Despite spending the last six years playing for Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, Woo has yet to make his NHL debut, and it’s unlikely he’ll ever become a consistent part of the team’s defensive core.

He’s shown some promise on the defensive side of the puck, but Woo has shown little on offense. In 267 AHL contests, the 25-year-old blueliner has scored 21 goals and 83 points.

Blues To Sign Dillon Dube To AHL Deal

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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.

Blackhawks Recall Dominic Toninato

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The Blackhawks announced they’ve elevated center Dominic Toninato from AHL Rockford. The move gives Chicago another option at forward – and signals a return to a traditional 12-forward, six-defenseman alignment – ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Rangers. No corresponding transaction is necessary after the Hawks sent Sam Rinzel and Landon Slaggert down to Rockford yesterday.

Over the summer, the 31-year-old journeyman landed with Chicago in free agency on a two-year, two-way contract for situations like this. Serving as a dependable but clearly replacement-level call-up option who’s not a huge risk to get claimed on waivers, he entered the year with 189 games of NHL experience before passing through the wire and heading to Rockford.

He’s seen NHL action in each of the last eight seasons, including a career-high 77 appearances as a fourth-line regular with the Jets in 2021-22. That was his second of five years in the Winnipeg organization, which he finally departed a few months ago to sign with the Hawks. He’s only made 25 combined appearances across three years since then, though. He’s scored 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points for his career, posting a +12 rating while averaging 0.19 points per game.

The adjustment to a new environment in Rockford has gone off without a hitch for the 6’2″ pivot. He’s third on the team in scoring with a 5-12–17 line in 24 games. That’s better than his career average rate in the minors and a nice rebound campaign after he posted a more conservative 36 points in 60 games with Manitoba last season while serving as captain.

Toninato will get a prorated bump from $450K to $850K as a result of his contract’s two-way structure. He’ll likely be on hand as an extra forward for the Hawks as they need it – Sam Lafferty was already available as the extra forward while his opportunities were limited due to Chicago only dressing 11 forwards for much of the year. He’ll likely get the fourth-line insert, but if Chicago wants a player who’s a more natural fit at center, Toninato could get the call.

Sabres’ Jason Zucker To Miss Significant Time

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Sabres winger Jason Zucker is going to miss significant time after sustaining an undisclosed injury in last night’s 7-4 loss to the Flames, head coach Lindy Ruff said on WGR 550 this morning. He was seen favoring his leg at points during the contest but finished the game – not before taking a slash from MacKenzie Weegar with seconds left in the game that presumably aggravated whatever he was dealing with (video via The Sabre Report).

“Something happened inside the game,” Ruff said. “He missed some time in the second period and came back and played, but the initial view by our crew last night after the game is he will miss some time.”

Zucker has already had one multi-game absence this season, although it wasn’t injury-related. The 12-year vet contracted a viral illness at the beginning of November that caused him to lose a significant amount of weight, and it took him weeks to get back into regular conditioning form. He ended up missing eight games.

However, the 33-year-old has arguably been Buffalo’s best forward since getting back in the lineup. He’s recorded a point in seven of his last nine games, including three multi-point efforts. His 11 points (five goals, six assists) in nine games since Nov. 11 lead the Sabres and are tied for 12th in the league during that time. The year, he’s now up to a 9-7–16 scoring line in 20 games. That’s got him fifth on the team in points, tied for second in goals, and third in points per game. That’s great production for a winger whose 15:32 average time on ice is tied for eighth among Buffalo forwards.

He’s a significant loss for a reeling Sabres team that’s now lost three games in a row, all by three goals. They’re still without a regulation win on the road this season and are four points deep into last place in the Eastern Conference with an 11-14-4 record. Per MoneyPuck, their chances of making the playoffs have dropped to 5.6%. Only the Predators (4.2%) have worse odds.

For a Sabres team whose depth forward contingent is already weakened by extended absences for Justin Danforth and Jiri Kulich, they’ll presumably place Zucker on injured reserve soon to add a forward from AHL Rochester. That will likely be 2022 first-rounder Noah Ostlund, who was working his way into a regular job in the lineup but was forced down to the minors over the weekend to allow the Sabres to carry seven defensemen on their road trip without placing anyone on waivers. Fellow first-rounder Isak Rosen, who had seven points in only 10 games during a prior call-up this year, is also a good option.

Senators Recall Olle Lycksell

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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.

Penguins Recall Danton Heinen, Sam Poulin; Evgeni Malkin Out Week-To-Week

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9:04 a.m.: Malkin and Lizotte are destined for longer absences than the minimum ones required by IR. The team later announced both have been downgraded to week-to-week with their upper-body injuries.

8:55 a.m.: The Penguins announced they’ve again added forwards Danton Heinen and Samuel Poulin to the NHL roster, marking each player’s second recall of the season from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. They placed forwards Evgeni Malkin and Blake Lizotte on injured reserve in corresponding moves.

Heinen was one of the most surprising training camp cuts across the league. The 30-year-old is in the back half of a two-year, $4.5MM deal he signed with the Canucks as a free agent in 2024. After scoring six goals and 18 points in 51 games for Vancouver, he was sent to Pittsburgh in the deal that saw the Nucks acquire Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. Heinen was a familiar pickup for the Pens, having scored a career-high 18 goals for them in the 2021-22 season.

For his $2.25MM cap hit, he was reasonably productive down the stretch. He totaled a 3-8–11 scoring line in 28 games and was viewed as likely trade bait entering this season as the Pens looked to clear out some veterans. After all, the 2014 fourth-round pick has been an NHL fixture for years now and hadn’t seen extended time out of the lineup since spending most of 2016-17, his first professional season, in the minors.

Pittsburgh hasn’t shown a propensity to keep veterans in the lineup for the sake of doing so this season, though. With Heinen not serving as much of a fit in their long-term plans – or short-term ones, for that matter – they opted to waive him at the beginning of this season with no desirable trade options on the table. The 6’2″, 187-lb forward has proved he still has NHL talent, lighting up the scoresheet in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a 6-12–18 scoring line in just 12 appearances.

Heinen spent most of November on the NHL roster as a result of injuries to Noel Acciari and Justin Brazeau, both of whom were recently activated from IR. He was returned to WBS on Nov. 30 after scoring one assist in nine games. He saw 12:15 of ice time per contest, getting some occasional reps on both special teams. While his production wasn’t impressive, his two-way impacts were spectacular. Among players with at least 50 5-on-5 minutes for the Pens this year, Heinen boasts the highest share of shot attempts (58.2%), expected goals (59.7%), scoring chances (60.0%), and high-danger chances (61.1%). He managed that with a 43.8 offensive zone start percentage, 17th out of 26 skaters.

Poulin has been similarly productive in the minors. He’s the only WBS skater with more points than Heinen this season, on track for a career year with nine goals and 20 points in 21 games. The 2019 first-round pick is now 24 years old and has aged out of being a top prospect, but he’s proving he can hold down a job as solid organizational depth and be a reliable call-up. He got into two games for the Pens last month on his call-up, recording a -2 rating and six shot attempts while averaging 13:49 of ice time.

Both will be on hand to add to their games-played totals this season tonight against the Ducks as the injury bug continues to bite Pittsburgh’s forward group. Malkin already missed Sunday’s game against the Stars with an upper-body injury and remains listed as day-to-day. Before landing on IR, the future Hall-of-Fame had rattled off two goals and three assists in his last two games. The IR placement technically only rules him out of tonight’s game. Since his last appearance was on Dec. 4, he’ll be eligible to be activated ahead of Thursday’s game against the Canadiens.

Lizotte’s IR placement comes as a surprise. He played nearly 14 minutes in Sunday’s shootout loss in Dallas, recording an assist in the process. He didn’t leave the game, and it’s unclear when he got banged up. The team hasn’t assigned any injury designation other than his IR placement. He’s not eligible for reinstatement until Dec. 14, so whatever’s going on with him will cause him to miss at least three games.

Lizotte, who turns 28 on Saturday, signed a two-year, $3.7MM pact with Pittsburgh in 2024 after being non-tendered by the Kings. He tied his career-high 11 goals last season despite being limited to 59 games and has continued to be quite valuable in a fourth-line role this season. He’s managed a +1 rating despite being used almost exclusively in the defensive zone at 5-on-5 and has contributed a 3-2–5 scoring line in 27 showings. He’s averaging 13:57 of ice time per game and is the Pens’ top penalty-killing forward, likely influencing their decision to add Heinen back into the fold. With Joona Koppanen in the minors and Filip Hallander and Rickard Rakell still on IR, Heinen is ticketed for a job on Pittsburgh’s top two shorthanded units.

These Summer Signings Already Look Like Trouble

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NHL free agency often results in some big misses, and this past summer was no exception. Even though we’re only two months into the regular season, it’s already clear that some of the contracts teams signed could turn out to be disasters, and for some, it was obvious from the start. Let’s take an early look at a few contracts that might not age well.

When Cody Ceci signed his four-year, $18MM contract on July 1, there was real sticker shock across the league. It was a significant overpay, destined to be a poor contract from day one.

Now, after 29 games, Ceci has one goal and five assists, averaging 17:39 of ice time per game while playing a third-pairing role at even strength. Ceci ranks 516th out of 554 players in the NHL in on-ice goal share for those who’ve played over 200 minutes at 5-on-5 at 34.5%.

The tricky part for Kings fans is that this was quite predictable from the moment the contract was signed, but there was a silver lining in the potential for Ceci to provide some physicality on the back end. However, that hasn’t been the case this year, as Ceci has managed just 15 hits in 29 games.

Ceci will turn 32 later this month, and there’s no upside to his game at this stage. With three years remaining on the deal after this season, the contract might even become a buyout candidate before it expires.

Trent Frederic signed one of the more surprising deals this past summer, agreeing to an eight-year extension worth $3.85MM per season after the Oilers picked him up from the Bruins at last year’s trade deadline. While the AAV is a bit high for what he offers, the length of the deal is also extraordinary.

Two months into the contract, it looks like a miss. Frederic has only two goals in 28 games this season and has been a burden to everyone he plays with.

The 27-year-old was never expected to live up to his contract fully, but in previous seasons, he showed some goal-scoring ability and contributed other intangible qualities. While he’s still tallying 68 hits this year, he’s doing so with virtually no other positive impact, making it hard to believe that he once produced 40 points in a season.

In 51 games as a member of the Oilers (29 regular-season games and 22 playoff games), Frederic has scored three goals and three assists. This, of course, dates back to last season, but it’s hard to understand that the Oilers saw what they saw at the end of last season and decided to sign him up for another eight years.

In fairness to the Oilers, Frederic was dealing with a high ankle sprain last season, which is notoriously tricky to play through and can have effects lasting a year – a silver lining if you’re Edmonton. Maybe Frederic is still battling a nagging injury and isn’t able to play as well as he did in some of his earlier seasons in Boston. Time will tell, but for the Oilers and their fans, Frederic’s recent play is concerning.

Next, there’s goaltender Ville Husso of the Ducks – or more often, their AHL affiliate in San Diego. Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek decided to keep Husso around last summer with a two-year, $4.4MM contract extension.

The deal didn’t make much sense at the time, as the Ducks already had Lukáš Dostál in the fold, and they signed Husso the day after trading John Gibson to the Red Wings for a package including Petr Mrázek. Some thought Husso might be the backup, and that Mrazek could be moved, but so far, he remains, and Husso has had limited NHL action.

Mrázek effectively moved into the backup spot ahead of Husso, which somewhat undermines the reason for re-signing the 30-year-old. Husso is a well-paid third-string goaltender for the Ducks, and there’s a reasonable case that he’s an average third-stringer at best.

In six NHL games this season, Husso has a 4-2-0 record with a 2.82 GAA and a .875 SV%. His numbers are noticeably better in the AHL with a 6-4-3 record, a 2.49 GAA, and a .908 SV%. However, he’s earning $2.2MM this season, a higher AAV than high-end veteran No. 2 options like Jake Allen, Jonathan Quick, and Scott Wedgewood.

Husso’s deal came shortly after a solid four-game audition in Anaheim at the end of last season, and it’s hard to imagine Verbeek was envisioning Husso as a tweener. The deal was likely made to provide Anaheim with a backup so they could trade Mrázek, but unfortunately, they couldn’t move him. Even if that was the case, Husso’s deal was a stretch, and while it isn’t overly restrictive to the salary cap, it’s a bad contract to hand out.

A couple of other deals that might not work out well are the Ryan Lindgren contract with the Kraken and Brian Dumoulin’s agreement with the Kings. Lindgren signed for four years and $18MM in the summer and has contributed nothing offensively (three assists in 25 games) for the Kraken and hasn’t been physical at all, with just 14 hits.

Lindgren was a massive drain on whoever he played with last season, giving Rangers defenseman Adam Fox all kinds of problems. However, it wasn’t that long ago that Lindgren was a top-pairing defenseman in New York, and if he ever got back to that level, he would be worth the money. But his play has been this way for over a year now, and it might just be the player he is now.

The Dumoulin deal in Los Angeles, like the Ceci one, was a head-scratcher. There was a time when Dumoulin was a legitimate top-pairing defenseman who had a great first pass, excellent gap control, and elite defensive awareness.

However, his body has slowed over time, and that terrific skating has become a liability, preventing him from getting space for his good breakout passes or closing gaps. Dumoulin has been fine this season for the Kings, but the deal has another two and a half years remaining and is unlikely to age well.

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