Rangers Reassign Brett Berard
9:30 PM: Berard’s time with the big club was brief, as he is headed back to AHL Hartford, according to a team announcement. New York shut out Calgary tonight, with the 23-year-old a healthy scratch. The club now has no extra forwards, so another domino is expected to fall before Thursday’s game at Winnipeg. J.T. Miller could be due to return from injured reserve.
12:40 PM: The Rangers swapped out Brendan Brisson for Brett Berard on their active roster, the team announced. Brisson heads back to AHL Hartford after being recalled twice in the last month, while Berard, a fellow left-winger, returns to the roster after being sent down from his last recall in late February.
Brisson, 24, had appeared in 24 games with the Golden Knights over the past two seasons before New York acquired him for Reilly Smith at last year’s deadline. He’s made just three NHL appearances since the deal, all coming in the last two weeks. He’s managed an assist, a -1 rating, and three shot attempts while averaging 10:35 of ice time per game.
The 29th overall pick in the first round by Vegas back in 2020, Brisson was a flat-out star at the University of Michigan and showed real potential in his first couple of AHL seasons, including eight points in a 15-game call-up to the Knights in 2023-24. His game has gone completely off the rails ever since. In 110 AHL games since the beginning of last year, he’s put up a more pedestrian 22-30–52 scoring line with a disastrous -48 rating.
Despite his team-worst -15 mark this year, Brisson is still Hartford’s fourth-leading scorer. He’s an extremely cerebral winger but no longer appears to have the speed or physical drive to make a long-term NHL impact. The Blueshirts could continue to give him chances until they lose team control over him in 2029, but he’s looking more like a higher-end minor-league piece than a depth NHL scorer.
Berard, 23, never had lofty expectations like Brisson, but has taken a similar step back in his development as of late. A fifth-rounder in 2020, he had 25 goals for Hartford as a first-year pro in 2023-24 and worked his way into fringe top-nine minutes for the Rangers the following year, notching six goals and 10 points through his first 35 NHL games.
He’s gone pointless in 13 big-league contests across a few call-ups this year, though, and his AHL production has been lacking as well. The 5’9″ lefty has only six goals and 22 points in 39 games for Hartford with a -14 mark.
Evening Notes: Ristolainen, Copp, Stanley
With the dust mostly settled from last Friday’s trade deadline, stories continue to emerge. Anthony DiMarco of The Daily Faceoff wrote on Philadelphia’s decision to retain Rasmus Ristolainen despite being a long way from playoff contention.
It is thought that the Flyers sought a Brandon Carlo-type package for the 31-year-old, with a first-round pick and a notable prospect. Unconventional is a word which could describe Philadelphia’s trade deadline, as their headlining move was dealing young forward Bobby Brink to Minnesota in exchange for David Jiříček.
Reasonable frustration from fans aside, GM Daniel Briere’s focus on the future actually ties into how they handled the Ristolainen situation. Mentioned by DiMarco, the club evaluated its internal right-handed defense pipeline, headlined by Oliver Bonk and the newly-acquired Jiříček. The former has played well with AHL Lehigh Valley, but still just 31 games into his professional career, the Flyers do not want to rush Bonk.
On the other hand, Jiříček is a reclamation project. He failed to record a single point in 25 games with the high flying Wild prior to the trade, with poor possession metrics and AHL output which is hardly anything to write home about either. The former sixth overall pick (2022) will have to find his game with AHL Lehigh Valley before any role with the Flyers becomes a possibility.
The Flyers determined that Ristolainen and his $5.1MM which runs through next year is worth keeping around for now. Even if Briere obtained draft capital for the 6’4” righty, likely below his asking price, it would cost more than their return for a replacement, not to mention the rushing of prospects. The Finn will go into 2026-27 as his sixth season as a Flyer, where he’ll turn 32 in October, and be a near-lock for a trade later on.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Detroit Red Wings shared mid-game that Andrew Copp won’t return due to a lower body injury. The center was shaken up after a draw with Florida’s Tomáš Nosek, who fell onto his leg. Already without Dylan Larkin, it’s another blow for the club, but thankfully their captain won’t be out for long. Regardless, the Wings passed on the opportunity to acquire a top center at the trade deadline, a decision which may age poorly if Copp will miss an extended period. As it’s a suspected knee injury, there’s reason for much concern. The 31-year-old Michigan native is on pace for his best season in Detroit with 36 points in 64 games, not yet missing a contest this year. He has been great on draws, snapping them back at a 54.6% success rate.
- One suitor forced to pivot from Ristolainen as discussed above, the red-hot Buffalo Sabres welcomed their acquisition Logan Stanley into the lineup tonight per Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio. The former Winnipeg Jet was dealing with visa issues, a common occurrence for players traded between Canada and the United States. Debuting on the third pairing alongside Michael Kesselring, Stanley wasted no time endearing himself to Buffalo fans as he fought San Jose’s Zack Ostapchuk. The 6’7” lefty will try to make noise as a Sabre as he heads into free agency this summer.
Snapshots: Schenn, Kerins, Gustafsson
Set for just his second game as a New York Islander, Brayden Schenn takes on his former squad tonight in St. Louis, where he’d served as captain as part of his nine years wearing the note. He offered some insight into the decision to waive his no-trade clause, despite New York being on his 16-team no-trade list.
Apparently it wasn’t the first time the Blues tried to move their captain. As shared by Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, Schenn said “Well, when (the Blues) ask you two times two years in a row, that’s when it makes sense.” “At some point, the organization doesn’t see you as part of the picture, and other teams want you, and it’s good to be wanted. They’re going in a different direction, and that’s the reality of it.”
While the respected Schenn has taken it personally to a degree, it’s hard to argue with St. Louis’ decision to move on, as it netted them a first-round pick and other assets for a declining 34-year-old signed for two more years at $6.5MM. Curiously however, it appears the club attempted to move him at some point last year, despite St. Louis making the playoffs and pushing the Presidents’ Trophy Winnipeg Jets to the brink in the first round.
Few would have predicted the Islanders to become his fourth organization, but the team has a strong shot to return to the postseason where they’ll hope to win a round for the first time since 2021.
Tonight will be emotional for Schenn who was a constant presence in St. Louis, appearing in all 82 games four times as a Blue. The veteran is surely energized in his second line center role with the opportunity to help the upstart Islanders continue to surpass expectations.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Flames prospect Rory Kerins was injured playing in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers, and he’ll be week to week with a lower-body ailment, as noted by Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. The forward was a steal in the sixth round of the 2020 draft, but he’s still working toward an NHL role at age 23. Kerins has been highly productive in the AHL, leading the Wranglers in scoring over the past two seasons, but only appearing in seven NHL games so far, where he’s notched four helpers. It’s tough news considering that Calgary is 31st in the league, and Kerins could have gotten another look this spring, last playing with the big club in November. The Wranglers are hardly faring better this season, so GM Craig Conroy will have little hesitation to call up young players in the dog days of the season. Kerins will hopefully get healthy in time to be one such candidate.
- Nashville Predators defense prospect Viggo Gustafsson, who signed his ELC with the club last week, will join the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals next year and leave Sweden, as reported in a HockeySverige article by Simon Eld. Nashville, typically known for their knack to develop defensemen, hasn’t had overly noticeable figures come down the pipeline in several years. They’ll hope Gustafsson, their third-round selection in 2024, will have a seamless transition to the North American game and potentially pan out as a third-pairing blueliner. In 40 games with AIK of HockeyAllsvenskan, the 19-year-old lefty has just eight points, but he brings a physical game at 6’2”.
Anders Lee Hopes To Retire With Islanders
The New York Islanders have undergone a lot of transformation in recent years. Many of the team’s cornerstone pieces have moved on – with Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson traded away and Josh Bailey, Cal Clutterbuck, and Matt Martin calling their playing careers to a close. Amid those major shifts, and the development of New York’s next generation, Islanders captain Anders Lee said there’s “no doubt” he wants to retire an Islander per RG’s DJ Siddiqi.
Lee has spent his entire NHL career in New York. The Islanders landed him in the sixth-round of the 2009 NHL Draft, amid questions about the high school dual-athlete’s future. He committed fully to hockey with a move to the USHL that turned into four seasons at the University of Notre Dame. Like he did in high school, Lee managed strong scoring in every season of his junior career, ramping him nicely into a debut with the Islanders in 2013.
Lee didn’t play through his rookie NHL season until the 2014-15 season. He was an immediate impact in New York, netting 25 goals and 41 points in 76 games. That season still stands as one of only six seasons where an Islanders rookie scored at least 20 goals, a list most recently added to by defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
With that performance, Lee took off. He became a consistent scorer near the top of New York’s lineup and reached 34 goals, then 40 goals, in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons respectively. The Islanders named Lee team captain on the heels of those performances, following the departure of John Tavares. The Islanders blazed their way to the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals in Lee’s second season wearing the ‘C’, their deepest playoff run since the 1993 playoffs. New York wasn’t able to pull above the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning and have only returned to the postseason in three of the six seasons since.
But the 2025-26 campaign seems different. The Islanders stand third in the Metropolitan Division, only one point and one game behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in second place. Much of their resurgence has been driven by Calder Trophy-favorite Schaefer, though the Islanders have also received strong performances from Ilya Sorokin, Mathew Barzal, and Bo Horvat. A 35-year-old Lee has also continued to stand tall, netting 15 goals and 35 points in 64 games, good for fourth on the team in total scoring.
With that mix of top-end firepower and performing depth, the Islanders are well-positioned for another strong run in the postseason. They will have to negotiate a new deal with their captain on the other side of the playoffs, following the end of his current seven-year, $7MM contract. Lee’s scoring and lineup role have both dwindled since he last signed a contract – but he still brings an impact worth hanging onto.
New York is projected to carry $15.21MM in cap space into the off-season, per PuckPedia, with the majority of their lineup locked into multi-season contracts. That will make re-signing Lee a top priority before free agency opens. Convincing him to take a slight discount from his current salary – perhaps down to $6MM per season – could leave the Islanders with plenty of space to add a difference-maker on the open market.
Kraken Activate Matt Murray From IR
Another goaltender is set to join the Seattle Kraken depth chart. Matt Murray has been activated off of injured reserve after recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in November. Murray was originally expected to miss six weeks with the injury but instead totaled nearly four months out.
Murray has been working over injury complications since 2023. He underwent bilateral hip surgery in October 2023 to address nagging injuries. That procedure forced him to miss the entire 2023-24 season and the bulk of 2024-25. He made a brief appearance with the Toronto Maple Leafs in December 2024 before being knocked out of the lineup again until May. Murray seemed well over the injury headed into the 2025 summer, prompting the Kraken to sign him to a one-year, $1MM contract for this season.
The two-time Stanley Cup-winning netminder began the season in a normal role with the Kraken – but only managed five appearances before going down with another injury. He allowed eight goals on 102 shots – good for a .922 save percentage – in his limited appearances. His injury pushed the Kraken back towards a tandem of Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer for the bulk of this season. Both are having strong years backing a Kraken team that has allowed the ninth-fewest goals-against (182) this season. Daccord has set 18 wins and a .902 save percentage in 37 games, while Grubauer has 11 wins and a .913 save percentage in 24 games.
The Kraken are likely to continue leaning on their de facto duo while allowing Murray a chance to ease back from injury. He has not played more than 30 games in a single season since the 2019-20 campaign. In total, Murray has recorded 147 wins and a .910 save percentage in 279 career games, and 10 seasons in the NHL. He could be a timely addition to Seattle’s depth chart as they fight to hang onto the Western Conference Wild Card. They sit one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings in the Wild Card race.
Penguins’ Justin Brazeau Out Week-To-Week
It appears the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup will stay shaken up by injury. Three players have been designated as out with upper-body injuries. Winger Justin Brazeau is out on a week-to-week basis, while center Kevin Hayes and defenseman Samuel Girard are out day-to-day. Brazeau and Hayes missed Sunday’s overtime win over the Boston Bruins while Girard played 18 minutes in the matchup. It is not clear when exactly the trio of injuries were sustained.
Brazeau was originally deemed as out day-to-day. His downgraded status will be bad news for a Penguins’ top-six already without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Brazeau has emerged as a hot hand in the Penguins lineup this season. He has 16 goals and 30 points in 48 games, fourth on the team in goals and seventh in total scoring. It is a breakout year after Brazeau stamped his NHL spot with 20 points in 57 games with the Boston Bruins last season. He finished his 2024-25 campaign with the Minnesota Wild but moved on after only scoring two points in 19 games with the club. Brazeau signed a two-year, $3MM contract with Pittsburgh on July 1st.
Another man down will force another promotion into the Penguins’ top-six. Wingers Egor Chinakhov and Ville Koivunen earned increased minutes in the wake of Pittsburgh’s superstar injuries, while Rickard Rakell moved to a center role. Chinakhov has earned his keep with five points in seven games since the return from the Winter Olympic break – but Pittsburgh’s offense overall has dwindled to a 3.00 goals-per-game average in that span, down from their 3.37 average across the full season.
While attempting to patch holes in the top-six, Pittsburgh will also need to make up for Hayes and Girard on their bottom lines. Rookies Avery Hayes and Benjamin Kindel have recently split center duties in the bottom-six, while Connor Clifton will draw back onto the blue-line. The Penguins success this season has largely been driven by their rookie forwards, making the boost in minutes timely. Clifton only has five points in 32 appearances this season – though he has stayed above bar with a plus-two, one of seven Penguins defensemen with a positive plus-minus.
The Penguins will likely lean on their top lines and veteran skaters as they take on the top team in the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh sits second in their division, eight points behind Carolina.
Joona Koppanen Expected To Sign With SHL’s Lulea HF
Penguins pending UFA center Joona Koppanen is expected to sign with Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League for next year, as noted by David Olsson Jiglund of Kuriren. He won’t technically be a UFA until July 1, but he can formalize an agreement with them when SHL free agency opens in May, after the NHL regular season is over.
Koppanen, 28, was a fifth-round pick by the Bruins in 2016. He didn’t make his NHL debut until six years later, which turned out to be his final season in the Boston organization. He became a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2023 and signed a two-year deal with Pittsburgh, where he’s remained ever since, primarily as a big AHL depth piece with some call-up utility.
The 6’5″, 216-lb Finn has appeared in 30 NHL games over the past four seasons, 27 of which have come in Pittsburgh. He has just one goal and two assists, though, along with a -4 rating while averaging 11:55 of ice time per game. He’s below-average on draws and, while he’s provided fine possession metrics in heavy defensive usage, hasn’t excelled there either. That makes his low point totals in double-digit minutes per game too much of a net negative to give him an extended look, even if he does provide an effective physical presence, averaging two hits per game.
In the AHL, Koppanen has been a consistent, two-way, middle-six forward. He almost always averages around a half a point per game, including a 6-10–16 scoring line with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
Koppanen will now play in a top-level European league for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign. He spent all of his post-draft campaign in Finland’s junior circuit before Boston signed him to an entry-level deal. For 2017-18, they loaned him to Ilves in Finland’s first division, Liiga, for most of the year before bringing him over to North America for the rest of his tenure in the organization. He then returned to Ilves on loan during the COVID-shortened 2021 season before AHL games got underway.
He’ll join a Luleå team that won its first SHL championship since 1996 last year. They’re relatively light on NHL experience for a big-name European club, though. Leading the way with 91 games from 2010-14 is 37-year-old defenseman Erik Gustafsson (not the current Red Wings depth name).
Oilers Explored Moving Darnell Nurse
The Oilers were quiet on deadline day, doing their bidding earlier in the week by acquiring Colton Dach, Jason Dickinson, and Connor Murphy in a pair of deals with the Blackhawks. That doesn’t mean they didn’t discuss other options. One of them was opening the door to trying to move struggling defender Darnell Nurse and his anchor contract, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.
While nothing got close, it doesn’t appear the Oilers are done toying with the idea. “I can’t pinpoint how deep trade talks actually went, but that’s a name to watch this summer, [no-movement clause] and all,” Pagnotta wrote.
Nurse’s contract has been a point of contention in Edmonton nearly from the moment it was signed. In August 2021, he landed an eight-year, $74MM commitment with a $9.25MM cap hit that didn’t kick in until the 2022-23 campaign. He was coming off a career performance, finishing seventh in Norris Trophy voting, but it came in a much smaller sample than usual during the shortened 2021 COVID year. In the years since, the 31-year-old has never come close to sniffing the 0.64 points per game rate he set that year and has seen his possession impacts consistently decline as well.
The deal also includes no-move protection for the life of the deal, as Pagnotta discusses. That means the Oilers can’t waive or trade him without his approval. That full protection runs through next season. On July 1, 2027, the NMC remains in effect, preventing them from waiving him, but the full trade restriction gets dropped. He’ll then have a modified no-trade clause with only a 10-team no-trade list for the final three seasons of the deal. That removes one obstacle toward moving him if it’s something they still want to explore in the 2027 offseason, but getting someone to take him on at his full cap hit without a significant sweetener will remain prohibitive, considering his continuous decline, even in a rising cap environment.
Edmonton could retain some money to make the rest of his contract more appealing. That’s far preferable to a buyout, which, while technically possible, is nonsensical. The structure of Nurse’s contract ensures he’s paid mostly in signing bonuses from 2026-27 onward, meaning a buyout won’t save them any more than $1MM on average over the next four years.
This season, Nurse has seen his workload drop to third-pairing duties at even-strength behind Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman among the Oilers’ contingent of lefties. In 64 games, he has a 7-13–20 scoring line with a -13 rating in 64 games. His 0.31 points per game are his lowest since his age-21 season, as is his 20:52 average time on ice. He’s seen a steep drop in deployment from both special teams units, no longer a factor at all on Edmonton’s power play, while averaging less than a minute and a half per game shorthanded. His 48.3% Corsi share at 5-on-5 also trails that of Ekholm’s, Walman’s, and Evan Bouchard‘s despite the most sheltered offensively favorable deployment of his career.
Kyle Dubas Deserves Praise For Retooling The Penguins
When the Pittsburgh Penguins dismissed GM Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke in April 2023, it created a vacancy that needed to be filled by an individual with a clear vision. The Penguins arguably had the least desirable job in the NHL, and there was no extensive list of candidates capable of stepping in and transforming a struggling franchise.
Pittsburgh had missed the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons, had an aging, costly roster, lacked prospects in the pipeline, had very few draft picks, and had minimal cap space. Despite all the negatives linked to the role, Pittsburgh leveraged its considerable resources at the time to attract Kyle Dubas to lead the organization, offering him a lengthy, substantial financial commitment and full autonomy to run the team as he deemed fit.
It was a significant gamble, and one that appears to be paying off nearly three years later.
Make no mistake: during the first two months Dubas was in charge, he did almost nothing right. The Ryan Graves contract remains a complete disaster; the Tristan Jarry deal was a major failure; and the other contracts he signed that summer did little to benefit the Penguins the following season.
The only positive from that summer was acquiring three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, who hasn’t been his usual offensive self but has become a more complete defender this season.
But during the 2023-24 season, when it became clear the Penguins were out of contention, they shifted to a retooling approach that resembled a rebuild. At the deadline, Dubas traded pending UFA Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Michael Bunting, a second-round pick that would become defenseman Harrison Brunicke, forward prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasiliy Ponomarev, and Cruz Lucius, along with a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick.
It was a significant haul for Dubas, although it lacked top-tier assets and was viewed as a move focused on quantity rather than quality. Nevertheless, the move sparked a run for Dubas that allowed him to avoid a full-scale rebuild, despite widespread belief that he was rebuilding the Penguins.
Dubas started dismantling the Penguins’ roster by trading away several veterans. At the same time, he added draft picks and young players who hadn’t panned out elsewhere, along with veterans on overpriced contracts that their former teams needed to shed for salary-cap reasons.
Dubas was happy to acquire these types of players in exchange for draft picks, as shown in his trades for Kevin Hayes and Cody Glass, in which he received second-, third-, and sixth-round picks for taking on their contracts. He also made short-term bets on players with potential upside, signing forward Anthony Beauvillier to a one-year deal and defenceman Matt Grzelcyk for just one year.
During the first part of the 2024-25 season, Dubas’ decisions seemed disastrous. The Penguins were out of playoff contention by January and began selling off pending UFAs, starting with Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor, whom they traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a first-round pick and several other veterans who were eventually moved out.
Dubas kept retooling, moving on from Glass to acquire more assets, including Bunting, who eventually helped the Penguins land Thomas Novak and additional draft picks. He also traded Beauvillier for a second-round draft pick at the deadline and acquired Connor Dewar and Conor Timmins for a fifth-rounder.
It all seemed like a video game. Dubas was wheeling and dealing as if he had a controller in his hand, but on-ice results were underwhelming at best.
The Penguins missed the playoffs for a third straight year, and fans and media alike began questioning whether Sidney Crosby should remain in Pittsburgh, since Dubas wasn’t building a strong team around him. Despite missing postseason hockey, the Penguins weren’t building for the here and now, as Dubas was adding draft picks and younger assets – something many believed was impossible without a full rebuild.
Aside from the asset acquisition, another big story was brewing. Dubas had pulled the Penguins out of an awful cap situation, and they had flexibility on the horizon.
Pittsburgh has over $47MM in cap space available this summer (per PuckPedia) and won’t have a ton of holes to fill, as they finally have a youth movement coming.
Then there was the mastery Dubas showed during the summer of 2025, first drafting Benjamin Kindel with the 11th overall pick, which most people thought was a reach. He then traded down with his second pick and ultimately left the first round of the entry draft with Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff.
Dubas then spent the rest of the summer acquiring castoffs and second-round picks, taking on Matt Dumba’s contract and the sweetener from the Stars, as well as Connor Clifton from Buffalo. By late summer, the Penguins had more draft capital for the next three NHL drafts than any other team, all without a full-scale rebuild.
Dubas also went bargain-hunting among free agents last summer and found great success, signing Anthony Mantha to a one-year deal that has been a significant bargain, as well as defensemen Parker Wotherspoon and Justin Brazeau, who fill top four and top six roles on the Penguins for just $2.5MM combined and are signed for another season.
But Dubas’s best work this season has been the Jarry for Stuart Skinner swap and the Egor Chinakhov trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Skinner has outperformed Jarry since the trade, playing exceptionally well and helping the Penguins re-enter playoff contention.
Pittsburgh also received a second-round pick and Brett Kulak from Edmonton, who was later traded for Samuel Girard and an additional second-round pick. The Chinakhov trade, on the other hand, has worked out splendidly, as he has fit seamlessly alongside Evgeni Malkin, and the Penguins have been red hot since the trade.
Pittsburgh is now firmly in a playoff race, even without Crosby and, more recently, Malkin. The team isn’t a Stanley Cup favourite, but Dubas has achieved the impossible with this roster in just a few short years.
He made the team younger and faster, overhauled the prospect system, accumulated draft picks, and gained cap flexibility. He managed all of this while keeping the team in playoff contention during the final years of Crosby, Malkin, and Kris Letang.
Dubas provided the Penguins with direction and made the tough decisions and bold moves that come with having a clear vision. Make no mistake, Dubas had the term and independence when he was hired; he could have torn down the roster and taken the easy route to rebuild.
But he chose the more challenging path of retooling on the fly, one of the toughest ways to build. Dubas took one of the league’s oldest rosters and revitalized it, and for that, he deserves a lot of credit.
Lightning Recall Steven Santini
The Lightning announced today that they’ve recalled right-shot defender Steven Santini from AHL Syracuse. He will step into the lineup tonight against the Blue Jackets after Erik Černák left Sunday’s wild 8-7 loss to the Sabres, falling awkwardly on his leg in a fight at the beginning of the second period, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. Head coach Jon Cooper called Černák day-to-day, per Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider, so he isn’t in for an extended absence.
Santini, 31, has been a frequent flyer between Tampa and Syracuse this season. Today marks his fifth recall of the year, but his first since December. A veteran of nine NHL seasons, he joined the Bolts on a two-way deal in free agency in 2024 and signed a two-year extension last June, so he’s still signed through next season. A veteran all-around defender at the AHL level, his nine NHL games this season are already the most he’s played since suiting up a career-high 39 times for the Devils in 2018-19.
The 6’3″ rearguard has been adequate in a short-term support role. He’s only averaging 11:34 of ice time per game, posting an assist and a +1 rating. A physical shutdown defender during his time as a semi-frequent NHL option in New Jersey, he’s not displaying that same penchant for hitting later in his career. His possession numbers at 5-on-5 are also underwater with a 48.1% Corsi share, but he’s riding a 103.6 PDO and has gotten favorable offensive zone usage en route.
Down in Syracuse, he’s the club’s captain and has six assists and a +10 rating in 32 games. Still a high-end defensive threat in the minors, his offense is definitely trailing off. He’s had double-digit points in four straight minor-league seasons, but that streak could come to a close this year.
He was deployed in the lineup earlier this season because there were multiple occassions were the Bolts were missing three or more defenders at a time. They find themselves in a similar pinch now with Černák exiting, Emil Martinsen Lilleberg dealing with a facial fracture, and Darren Raddysh unavailable on bereavement leave following his father’s passing.