Senators Recall Mads Sogaard, Reassign Hunter Shepard
Jan. 25: After making it through last night’s game without a goalie injury, the Senators reassigned Shepard to Belleville today, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports. After Reimer allowed four goals on 19 shots for a .789 save percentage in last night’s loss to the Hurricanes, that means Søgaard is the likely starter this evening against the Golden Knights. They’re now back to having an open spot on the active roster.
Jan. 24: The Senators have recalled goaltender Mads Søgaard from AHL Belleville, per a team announcement. To open a roster spot, they placed winger David Perron on injured reserve, per PuckPedia. They announced on Thursday that Perron will miss five to seven weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Ottawa has spent much of the season swapping depth goaltending options to serve as backups to Linus Ullmark or, now, to recent free-agent signing James Reimer while Ullmark remains on leave. This isn’t that. The Senators have had Hunter Shepard backing up Reimer for the last two games, and he’s sticking around. Instead, Ottawa plans to carry three goalies amid the winter storm slated to hit the Eastern seaboard during their back-to-back home games tonight and tomorrow, to avoid a situation where weather prevents them from adding a Belleville netminder in case of injury.
It is the 25-year-old Dane’s third recall of the season. He backed up Ullmark in an overtime loss to the Oilers on Oct. 21 and also dressed for a pair of games earlier this month. He entered an 8-2 loss to the Avalanche on Jan. 8 in relief of Leevi Merilainen and allowed five goals on 16 shots for a harsh .688 SV% and 17.22 GAA.
Small sample size aside, it hasn’t been a kind season for Søgaard, nor has it been one for virtually any Sens netminder in the NHL or AHL. In 18 games with Belleville, he’s posted a .889 SV% and 4-8-4 record with a 3.30 GAA and one shutout.
While Søgaard was the third goalie taken in the 2019 draft behind Spencer Knight and Pyotr Kochetkov, it’s becoming abundantly clear that a stable NHL future isn’t in the cards for the 6’7″, 231-lb giant. In 30 appearances for the Sens since debuting five years ago, he’s logged an 11-11-3 record with a .875 SV% and 3.70 GAA.
Nonetheless, he will be heading to Italy next month to serve with teammate Lars Eller on Denmark’s Olympic team. It’s his second time on the men’s national team roster for a non-qualifying tournament, last suiting up as the backup at the 2021 World Championship.
The Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin Dilemma
If you’ve been checking the NHL’s Eastern Conference standings, you’ll notice a surprising team near the top of the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins, who entered the season as a first-overall pick favorite, have shocked everyone by remaining in the hunt to this point in the season.
Your eyes aren’t deceiving you; the Penguins have been that good this year, despite a disastrous stretch in December that saw them drop nine of 10 games and blow multiple three-goal third-period leads. But with every Penguins win, it becomes clearer that many of the veterans on the trading block will be sticking around for this year and perhaps beyond.
One of those veterans is 39-year-old Evgeni Malkin, who at the start of this year seemed like a potential trade candidate, or at the very least, a player who wouldn’t play in Pittsburgh beyond the 2025-26 season. With the Penguins in the hunt, young prospects turning to NHLers, the team holding onto other veterans, and Malkin turning back the clock, is it possible the Penguins offer Malkin an extension to stick around beyond this season?
The Blake Lizotte signing last week reveals a lot about where the Penguins’ general manager, Kyle Dubas, feels the team is right now. If he thought the team wasn’t a playoff team this year, he likely would’ve been working the phones to move the depth center for picks or prospects, as he has been collecting those types of pieces for the better part of two years.
But Lizotte’s extension signals a change in philosophy, sort of. Dubas has been a bargain shopper for the last two summers, and even though Lizotte received a raise in his new deal, it could turn out to be a bargain if he plays the way he has this season.
That leads us back to Malkin. When Dubas spoke about the future Hall of Famer before this season, he likely believed he would be selling off assets towards the trade deadline and overseeing the third and possibly final year of the Penguins’ retool.
But the team and Malkin have surprised everyone thus far, and as the Penguins play more hockey, it becomes increasingly clear that Malkin can still produce. Just look at the ten-game stretch in December when they couldn’t buy a win.
Who wasn’t in their lineup for that? Malkin.
Malkin returned to the Penguins lineup on Jan. 8 and made an immediate impact, scoring a power-play marker on a one-timer from Sidney Crosby. He missed over a month with a shoulder injury, and Pittsburgh badly missed him on their second line.
His return didn’t exactly spark the team, as they had won five in a row leading up to it, but he certainly didn’t hurt, and Pittsburgh has gone 4-2-2 since he’s come back.
Then there’s also the optics of signing Malkin. With Kris Letang and Crosby still in the fold, signing ‘Geno’ would mean the big three playing another season together in their record-setting run, which would surely be a feel-good story, especially if more young Penguins graduate to the NHL and make an impact.
Pittsburgh could see Rutger McGroarty, Harrison Brunicke, Sergey Murashov, and Tristan Broz all jump to the NHL next season, which would be a massive youth movement for the team.
With these young pieces mixed in with Pittsburgh’s big three, as well as Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, and Thomas Novak, there is the potential to make some noise in the Eastern Conference. Especially for a team that is armed with over $50MM in available cap space and an army surplus store full of draft picks in the subsequent three drafts.
The last time the Penguins had this level of youth in their pipeline was 2015, when Rust, Matt Murray, Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl, Scott Wilson, and eventually Jake Guentzel all jumped to the NHL, and Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups. That’s not to say Pittsburgh is on the verge of a mini-dynasty in the twilight years of Malkin’s career.
Still, if they are on the verge of being competitive at all, which it looks like they could be, Malkin deserves to stick around with his buddies, especially if he can contribute rather than just partake in a nostalgia tour.
So, what should the Penguins do with one of the most beloved Penguins ever? It feels like it’s time to sign him to an extension.
Pittsburgh has the cap space, Malkin isn’t going to ask for the moon, and there really isn’t a Malkin replacement available in free agency. He also doesn’t need to be a center at this stage of his career and is quite competent on the wing, as he showed last season playing alongside Crosby on the top line.
It was reported last summer by Penguins play-by-play voice Josh Getzoff that Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas planned to meet with Malkin during the Olympic break, and as of right now, that appears to be the plan. But what could a Malkin deal look like?
It could be pretty straightforward. Take the framework of the Jonathan Toews contract with the Winnipeg Jets this season and perhaps double the guarantee.
Would that get it done? Hard to say, but according to Josh Yohe of The Athletic, Malkin is willing to take a pay cut and a one-year deal.
Pittsburgh gets a top-six forward, Malkin adds to his legacy, and Pittsburgh avoids painting itself into a long-term predicament, remaining fluid for future moves. Everybody wins, especially the fans in Pittsburgh and, most importantly, Malkin’s teammates, including Crosby.
Morning Notes: Panarin, Hamilton, Faulk
New York Rangers leading scorer Artemi Panarin is arguably the best skater likely to be traded in advance of this season’s trade deadline, and as a result, it appears the Rangers are set to receive a significant package of assets in exchange for the pending UFA’s services. Yesterday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the Saturday Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada that the Rangers’ “starting point” in terms of their asking price on any Panarin trade is the package received by the New York Islanders when they traded away Brock Nelson last year.
The Islanders received a first-round pick, top prospect Calum Ritchie, and a third-round pick from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Nelson, who was also a pending UFA. That would indicate that the Rangers are, at least, looking for a first-rounder and a high-quality prospect in exchange for Panarin. Nelson was, and is, certainly not of the same caliber of talent as Panarin, but unlike Panarin, Nelson has the extremely valuable attribute of being a natural center, which upped his value considerably. Friedman named the Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals, and the Los Angeles Kings as teams that are considering making a pitch to acquire Panarin. The veteran, who has 56 points in 51 games this year, has the protection of a full no-move clause in his contract.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Friedman also issued an update on the status of New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who is widely considered to be one of the top blueliners available to be acquired via trade. Per Friedman, the recent injury to blueliner Luke Hughes has slowed trade talks surrounding Hamilton “to a crawl” as the Devils await further clarity on the status of their promising young defenseman. Hamilton has 17 points in 46 games played this season and is under contract at a $9MM AAV through 2027-2028.
- The St. Louis Blues are likely to be among the selling teams in this year’s trade market as they currently sit second-to-last in the Western Conference with 47 points. One of the players they are considering trading is veteran defenseman Justin Faulk, a 33-year-old with one more year under contract at $6.5MM AAV. Friedman reported yesterday that the Blues are looking for a trade package comparable to what the Calgary Flames received in exchange for Rasmus Andersson in any Faulk deal. (The Flames received a first-rounder and a conditional second-round pick for Andersson alongside veteran Zach Whitecloud.) Faulk has been St. Louis’ No. 3 defenseman in terms of ice time this season, and has 24 points in 52 games.
Rangers GM Chris Drury Should Be On The Hot Seat
The New York Rangers’ communications release last week showed the world a couple of things. The first was that the team was headed towards a retool, which was pretty evident to anyone who has watched them this season.
The second was that the team needs to move on from the current general manager, Chris Drury, but it’s doubtful they will. The current predicament the Rangers are in can’t be placed squarely at Drury’s feet, but many of the issues the team is going through were the result of his roster management, and the fans have let him and the team know it.
When Drury first took on the role of associate general manager in February 2021, it was clear he would eventually run an NHL team. It didn’t take long.
He was handed the job as president and general manager in May 2021 after the Rangers missed the playoffs and fired president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton. That was a banner day for Drury, but it came at a strange time for the franchise, which had been building a solid core of young players and was close to pivoting into a contender.
At the same time, they had missed the playoffs four years in a row and were just two days removed from the notorious Tom Wilson incident at Madison Square Garden. Drury took control and hit the ground running in the summer of 2021.
His summer was clearly shaped by what had happened to the Rangers during the Wilson incident on May 3, 2021. Drury single-handedly re-configured the team, and not in a good way, although they would enjoy some short-term success in 2022 and 2024.
Drury fired head coach David Quinn and replaced him with Gerard Gallant. There was nothing wrong with that move, but Drury then spent the rest of the summer setting fire to the Rangers roster and ultimately a lot of cap space and assets.
Drury started his summer by signing forward Barclay Goodrow to a six-year deal carrying a $3.64MM AAV, meant to bring toughness and grit to the Rangers lineup. It was a massive overpay, panned by many, who agreed that Drury gave too much term and money to a player who wasn’t productive enough.
A week later, Drury moved Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues for Sammy Blais and a 2022 second-round pick. The move, which might go down as one of the worst so far in the 2020s, effectively opened a massive hole in New York’s top six that they didn’t have a player to fill.
As if the Buchnevich deal wasn’t bad enough, Drury then signed Patrik Nemeth to an ill-advised three-year deal worth $7.5MM, which the Rangers had to burn two second-round picks to dump on the Arizona Coyotes a year later. At the time, some folks might have claimed it was a good move to move on from Nemeth and open up cap space for other moves (which it was). However, eventually burning through cap space and assets catches up to you, as the Rangers have found out over the last year and a half.
Right after signing Nemeth, Drury made another move to add toughness, trading for Ryan Reaves of the Vegas Golden Knights (for a third-round pick) and giving him a contract extension. Much like with Nemeth and Goodrow, Drury eventually realized he had made a mistake in acquiring the player and had to pivot. Reaves was shipped to Minnesota 16 months after he was acquired for a fifth-round pick.
The summer of 2021 began with Drury significantly misreading the Rangers’ roster. Still, his poor work during that time is often forgotten because he made some good moves the following season at the 2022 trade deadline, acquiring the likes of Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano and leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The summer of 2022 and beyond saw better work from Drury, as he traded Alexandar Georgiev for draft picks, moved on from Nemeth and Reaves, sent Nils Lundkvist to the Dallas Stars for a first-round pick, and signed Vincent Trocheck as a UFA. Trading Georgiev was necessary and was probably the best long-term move for the team, while sending Lundkvist to the Stars was a gamble for both sides, but given his poor performance to this point, it was probably a clever play for Drury.
There have been solid moves by Drury, but unfortunately for the Rangers, the wins have been far outweighed by the losses. The rest of 2022 saw the Rangers claim Jake Leschyshyn off waivers and sign defenseman Ben Harpur. They also locked up forward Filip Chytil to a four-year deal that seemed fine at the time but would eventually be moved in the 2025 J.T. Miller trade.
The Trocheck signing yielded immediate results, as the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native was a seamless fit with the Rangers, providing two-way play and offensive numbers above his career average. Trocheck has offered tremendous value to the Rangers as he crosses the halfway point of his seven-year deal, and he is in the midst of a solid season with New York despite the team’s poor play. Given the rising cap, Trocheck could be a valuable trade chip, although it’s likely the Rangers will want to hang onto him if they are, in fact, completing a retool.
The 2023 trade deadline was one to forget for Drury, as he went all in, trading for Vladimir Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola, Patrick Kane and Tyler Motte. The moves for Mikkola and Motte didn’t push many assets out the door, nor did the Tarasenko trade. But trading for Kane was a move that probably didn’t need to happen after the Tarasenko trade, and it relieved the Rangers of another three draft picks in exchange for a Kane who wasn’t playing at full capacity due to a hip injury.
The wheels came off for the Rangers in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, as they fell to the New Jersey Devils in seven games, in what could best be described as an uninspired performance that showed a lack of leadership.
Drury spent the summer of 2023 overcorrecting this issue, but it appeared to work as the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals once again in 2024. Drury signed aging veterans Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Jonathan Quick, Riley Nash and Erik Gustafsson to low-cost short-term contracts, which produced mixed results. Quick and Gustafsson played well for New York, while Bonino, Wheeler and Nash had minimal impact and didn’t finish the year on the playoff roster. Given the low cost of acquiring the players, they were worth the gamble and, once again, provided Drury with some small wins.
However, in 2024, the wheels really began to come off for the Rangers shortly after they signed goaltender Igor Shesterkin to a record-breaking, $92MM, eight-year extension.
The deal came on the heels of the team trading captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks to create cap space to sign Shesterkin. Trading Trouba made a lot of sense given his high cap hit and minimal production in New York. He’d become a lightning rod for criticism, and it became apparent that the team wanted to get rid of him the prior summer, which they eventually did.
For whatever reason, that series of events appears to have fractured the Rangers’ dressing room, and they’ve never been the same since that fateful weekend in December 2024.
The team has fallen off considerably, and Drury has shown little direction, at times appearing to rely solely on gut instinct. This is, of course, the perspective of an outsider, but the results are what they are. This is a flawed hockey team that has always been flawed, even when it reached the conference finals. Shesterkin’s play masked many of the team’s shortcomings, and Drury overvalued his own roster as a result. Perhaps Drury can lead the Rangers back to contention, but given his work over the past five years, it doesn’t seem likely.
It’s tough to evaluate the last 12 months in a vacuum. Still, Drury has made some franchise-altering moves, including trading for J.T. Miller, moving Chris Kreider to Anaheim, trading K’Andre Miller to Carolina, and signing Vladislav Gavrikov. It’s tough to gauge how everything will work out, but Kreider is flirting with a 30-goal season in Anaheim, while Miller could set a career high in points with the Hurricanes. Miller and Gavrikov have struggled this year, leading to a negative early return on some significant moves Drury made.
Also, the strange Calvin de Haan situation from last spring raises questions about morale within the Rangers organization right now. You either sell winning or you sell hope, and right now the Rangers don’t have either to sell. Drury is locked in under a contract he signed less than a year ago, but given how things have worked out, the Rangers probably need to look elsewhere for someone who can build a championship roster.
Hurricanes Working To Extend Brandon Bussi
Most of the smoke around first-year goalies this season has rightfully come against the youngest ones – Yaroslav Askarov, Arturs Silovs, and Jesper Wallstedt featuring at the top of the class. One of the brightest stories, though, has come in Carolina.
27-year-old Brandon Bussi started the season as the Hurricanes’ third-string option with no NHL experience. He was claimed off waivers from the Panthers, who had signed him to a two-way deal just this past offseason, to serve as insurance for a banged-up Pyotr Kochetkov.
Fast forward past the halfway mark, and the former AHL standout in the Bruins’ system would likely be Carolina’s Game 1 starter if the playoffs started tomorrow. He’s now wrestled away the lion’s share of playing time from the struggling Frederik Andersen and, with Kochetkov likely done for the season, there’s little in-house challenge for him as the No. 1 option.
His raw numbers are good but not great. Behind one of the league’s elite possession systems in Carolina, they don’t need to be. His .904 SV% and 2.20 GAA in 22 starts have been enough to propel the Canes to a raucous 18-3-1 record when he’s between the pipes. That’s worked out to 7.4 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, 18th in the league. Among goalies with at least 20 games played, his 0.332 GSAx/60 ranks 12th.
That promising breakout story, plus Andersen’s pending unrestricted free agency and unlikelihood of returning, has the Canes deep in talks to get a contract extension worked out for Bussi, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports. “Everything that I’ve been told is that things are positive and it looks like it will get there,” Pagnotta said. “I would imagine, in the foreseeable future, Brandon Bussi will be extended with the Hurricanes, so good news on that front.”
What that deal may look like is hard to pin down. Initially signed by Boston as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan in 2022, he’s only ever been on entry-level or two-way deals, with the latter all carrying league-minimum cap hits. A one-way deal worth at least seven figures is a given. Whether Carolina pushes for a multi-year deal remains to be seen, but with no young goalies in the system making a real push for NHL ice time, it’s likely they envision he and Kochetkov as their tandem for the foreseeable future, barring an external upgrade – although Kochetkov could be a UFA himself in 2027.
His age makes it hard to imagine his extension being a particularly rich one. The last real comparable is Alex Lyon landing a two-year, $1.8MM contract from the Red Wings in free agency in 2023, following his age-30 breakout as a legit NHL option with the Panthers. It’s a richer goalie market now, but seeing Bussi land more than $2MM annually on a two-year pact would be a sharp departure from usual trends.
Kings Activate Trevor Moore From Injured Reserve
The Kings announced they’ve activated forward Trevor Moore from injured reserve. They had two open roster spots, so no corresponding move is required.
Moore returns to the lineup Saturday against the Blues after missing nearly a month. He was initially removed from the lineup due to an illness, but then sustained an upper-body injury that resulted in him being placed on IR on Jan. 8.
Tonight thus marks Moore’s first appearance of the calendar year. It hasn’t been a season to remember so far for the 30-year-old.
After being a consistent 40-to-50-point presence through much of his time in L.A., Moore is shooting at just 7.5% in 2025-26 with only 1.81 shots on goal and 3.65 shot attempts per game, some of his lowest numbers since emerging as a true top-nine threat at the beginning of the decade. He has just five goals and 13 points in 37 appearances, a far cry from the career-best 31 goals and 57 points he had just two years ago.
The Kings, who score the third-fewest goals in the league at 2.57 per game, simply need more from him and others in the stretch run to ensure their postseason streak doesn’t end at four seasons. With a 20-16-13 record through 49 games for 53 points and a .541 points percentage, L.A. currently sits ninth in the Western Conference and out of the playoff picture. Their strong possession numbers likely give them a leg up on their chief competitors, the Sharks and Kraken, though.
Wild Activate Matt Boldy From Injured Reserve
The Wild are expected to activate winger Matt Boldy from injured reserve before tonight’s matchup against the Panthers, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports. They had a roster spot open after demoting Hunter Haight and Ben Jones to the minors yesterday.
Much was made about how the Wild would handle losing two pillars of its top-six forward group when Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek landed on IR last week. Luckily, they didn’t have to worry too much as their stints were brief. Eriksson Ek returned to the lineup for Thursday’s overtime thriller against the Red Wings, while Boldy’s absence due to his lower-body injury ends after only four games. He last played on Jan. 15 against the Jets.
Boldy will reunite with Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson on the second line, comprising what’s been head coach John Hynes’ most-used trio this season – and for good reason. In 256 minutes together at 5-on-5, they’ve controlled 55.0% of expected goals and have an incredible +14 goal differential, outscoring opponents 17-3, per MoneyPuck.
Minnesota now has a fully healthy forward group once again. They haven’t been able to say that very often this season, only having all options available up front in 10 out of 52 games. For an offense that’s ninth in the league since the beginning of January at 3.55 goals per game, Boldy’s return should help prop up that momentum.
He remains Minnesota’s clear-cut secondary offensive weapon behind Kirill Kaprizov, sitting tied with him for the team lead in goals with 27 and sitting second in points with 51 in 48 games. If he can keep up his career-best 17.2% shooting rate, he’ll likely eclipse the point per game mark for the first time in his five-year career.
Panthers Activate Brad Marchand Off IR
What started as a day-to-day injury turned into a considerably longer absence for Panthers winger Brad Marchand. However, it appears the counter will stop at two-and-a-half weeks as the team has activated him off injured reserve, according to the NHL’s Media Site.
The 37-year-old suffered an undisclosed injury early this month against Toronto. Initially deemed to be held out for precautionary reasons, Marchand wound up missing seven games due to the injury, taking one of Florida’s top offensive performers out of the lineup. Head coach Paul Maurice had phrased the injury as something that Marchand had been dealing with for a while and the hope was that some time off would stop it from becoming worse.
After playing a bit more of a limited role following his acquisition from Boston last season, injuries put Marchand into a top-line spot this year. He certainly has made the most of it, picking up 23 goals and 23 assists in just 41 games; he’s only one point behind Sam Reinhart for the team lead despite playing in eight fewer contests.
With his return and the recent return by winger Matthew Tkachuk, Florida’s offense is about the healthiest it has been all season long. They’re still without Aleksander Barkov and depth players Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich but they now have all of their available top-six pieces healthy. They’ll need them if they want to make up the five points needed to get themselves into at least a Wild Card position to try to defend their back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
The Panthers opened up a roster spot earlier this week when they sent center Jack Studnicka down after clearing waivers. With no recalls since then, they still had the open slot to activate Marchand without any other moves being needed.
Canucks Recall Nikita Tolopilo, Assign Jiri Patera To AHL
In Thatcher Demko’s absence, the Canucks appear intent on not having just one player serving as Kevin Lankinen’s backup. Instead, their goalie swapping continues as the team announced (Twitter link) that Nikita Tolopilo has been recalled from AHL Abbotsford while Jiri Patera has been sent back to Abbotsford.
Tolopilo struggled mightily during his latest recall earlier this month as he allowed six goals to both Montreal and Edmonton. That brought his NHL totals this season to a 3.98 GAA and a .881 SV% in six outings. He fared a little better in the minors after being sent down last weekend, allowing five goals on 54 shots in two starts since last weekend’s demotion. Over the year with them, Tolopilo has a 2.94 GAA and a .901 SV% in 13 games.
As for Patera, he didn’t see any NHL action over the past week while up with Vancouver and he has made just one appearance with them this season, allowing seven goals in a loss to Florida. The 26-year-old has been Abbotsford’s top performer in goal, posting a 2.49 GAA with a .915 SV% in 16 outings with them and will now get some game action in after last playing on January 16th.
With no proven player capable of stepping into that interim number two role, it wouldn’t be overly surprising if these two netminders get flipped once again before the Olympic break next month.
Sabres Acquire Gavin Bayreuther From Hurricanes
The Sabres and Hurricanes have made a small swap of AHL depth. Buffalo announced that it has acquired defenseman Gavin Bayreuther from Carolina in exchange for winger Viktor Neuchev. Bayreuther has subsequently been assigned to AHL Rochester while Neuchev will be sent to AHL Chicago.
Bayreuther returned to North America this season after playing for Lausanne in Switzerland in 2024-25. The 31-year-old inked a one-year, two-way deal with the Hurricanes that carried a guaranteed salary of $150K. He received a pair of recalls to Carolina, one in November and one in December, but hasn’t seen any NHL playing time this season. Instead, he has suited up in 33 games with the Wolves, notching four goals and nine assists.
Bayreuther does have a reasonable amount of NHL experience in his career, however. He has suited up in 122 games at the top level over parts of four seasons with the bulk of that playing time coming over three years with Columbus. In those appearances, Bayreuther has five goals and 23 assists along with 139 blocked shots while averaging a little more than 15 minutes per game of playing time. He’ll serve as some veteran recallable depth with both Conor Timmins and Jacob Bryson dealing with injuries. He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency once again this summer.
As for Neuchev, the 22-year-old was a third-round pick by Buffalo back in 2022, going 74th overall, following a strong offensive showing in the MHL where he finished eighth in league scoring with Avto Yekaterinburg, tallying 67 points in 61 games. He was promoted to Yekaterinburg’s KHL squad the following season and while he only collected a dozen points in 57 outings, it was still enough for Buffalo to sign him to an entry-level deal, one that he is in the final season of.
In 57 games in 2023-24 (his first season in North America), Neuchev had 11 goals and 17 assists. Injuries limited him to just 39 games last season although he was reasonably productive with seven goals and 15 helpers in those outings. This season, his output is down a bit as he has six goals and ten assists through 34 contests and will now look to make an impression in Carolina’s prospect pool. He will be a restricted free agent this summer with the Hurricanes needing to issue a two-way qualifying offer to retain his rights.