Maple Leafs Recall Michael Pezzetta
The Maple Leafs have added enforcer Michael Pezzetta back to the NHL roster ahead of tonight’s game against the Hurricanes, the team announced. He was sent down to the AHL on Tuesday to get some minor-league playing time after serving as a healthy scratch for Toronto the previous weekend, but now figures to get another look in the lineup.
The 28-year-old Pezzetta signed a two-year deal with the Leafs in the offseason, joining his hometown team. A sixth-round pick by the Canadiens way back in 2016, he’d spent his entire career in Montreal up to that point with a 15-23–38 scoring line, a -9 rating, 241 penalty minutes, and 710 hits in 200 games.
Pezzetta couldn’t find a way onto Toronto’s opening night roster amid a logjam of forwards, though, leading to his first AHL action in four years. He’s spent virtually the entire campaign in the minors after clearing waivers until getting recalled last week following the Leafs’ deadline sell-off. He suited up in games against the Ducks and Sabres on March 12 and 14, racking up nine PIMs while averaging just 5:06 per game.
Pezzetta primarily fills an enforcer/checking role in the AHL as well, but has demonstrated a tad more offensive utility than he has in the past. He’s notched four goals and 10 points in 38 games for the Marlies with 52 penalty minutes and a -7 rating.
It doesn’t appear the Leafs have any injury concerns among their 12 healthy forwards already rostered, so Pezzetta’s recall likely doesn’t qualify as an emergency. That means he counts as the third of five regular recalls that Toronto can make after the trade deadline.
Red Wings Reassign John Leonard
The Red Wings announced Friday that they’ve assigned left-winger John Leonard to AHL Grand Rapids. The move comes after center Andrew Copp returned to the lineup in last night’s win over the Canadiens, scoring a goal after sitting out just three games with a leg injury that was initially expected to keep him out for at least two weeks. Since Leonard was up on an emergency basis, Detroit needed to return him as soon as they had 12 other healthy forwards.
Detroit picked up Leonard on a one-way, league minimum deal in free agency last summer. They were in need of some high-powered depth for their press box and for the minors, where Leonard had spent all of last season on an AHL deal with Charlotte in the Panthers organization. It’s been a great run for Leonard in Grand Rapids this year, leading the AHL’s best team in scoring with a 27-14–41 line and a +11 rating in just 34 games – a ridiculous 57-goal pace over a full 72-game minor-league season.
Leonard’s NHL results have been more tempered in limited minutes. The 27-year-old lefty has suited up 11 times for Detroit this season across multiple call-ups, with his pair of appearances earlier this week against the Stars and Flames serving as his first since January. Overall, he’s recorded two goals and two assists for four points with a -3 rating while averaging 11:30 of ice time per game, but he’s now without a point in his last five NHL showings dating back to late December.
These spot duty call-ups have marked Leonard’s first NHL action since a six-game call-up in March 2024 with the Coyotes. He hasn’t been a full-time NHL piece since appearing in 44 games for the Sharks (3-10–13, -7 rating)as a rookie in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Those account for over half of his 81 career NHL appearances in parts of five seasons with San Jose, Nashville, Arizona, and Detroit. Given his electric AHL performance, though, he should be in line to land at least a two-way deal this summer, whether that’s on an extension in Hockeytown or somewhere else.
Even with Leonard dropped from the roster, the Wings are still dealing with their fair share of injuries. Captain Dylan Larkin‘s leg injury is expected to keep him out for at least another week. They’re also without Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Michael Rasmussen on a day-to-day basis, and lost Mason Appleton to an undisclosed injury in the second period last night. Brandsegg-Nygard was upgraded to questionable despite not dressing yesterday, though, so he should be in line to return tomorrow for another key matchup against the Bruins. With Leonard headed down, Brandsegg-Nygard will be the one stepping into Detroit’s top nine for Appleton if he can’t go.
Morning Notes: Sandin Pellikka, Hedman, Erixon
Red Wings rookie defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka was scratched for a sixth straight game in last night’s 3-1 win over the Canadiens. While the 2023 #17 overall pick hit the ground running this season as Detroit’s second-pairing righty behind Moritz Seider, his complete lack of usage after the team acquired Justin Faulk to fill that role at the deadline was weeks in the making. He has 19 points in 63 appearances but has seen his ice time slashed significantly dating back to New Year’s, averaging 13:27 per game in a 22-match stretch. He’ll no doubt make a push to leapfrog pending RFA Jacob Bernard-Docker on the depth chart next season to step back into a regular role, but his defensive results this year – a -21 rating, a 47.8% expected goals share, and a 45.2% scoring chance share at 5-on-5 – aren’t great.
Here’s more from around the NHL:
- Lightning captain Victor Hedman didn’t play the last two periods of the Bolts’ 6-2 drubbing of the Canucks last night, but there isn’t a huge cause for concern. Head coach Jon Cooper told reporters postgame that while he is a bit banged up, the decision to pull him was illness-related, per Benjamin Pierce of NHL.com. It’s long been known that the 35-year-old isn’t at 100% this season – he’s missed over 30 games due to elbow surgery and an undisclosed lower-body issue. It shows in his performance, averaging a career-low 18:52 per game while limited to a 1-16–17 scoring line and a -1 rating in 33 outings.
- Former NHL depth piece Tim Erixon has retired, he told Nathalie Vinroth of Swedish newspaper Sundsvalls Tidning this week. The 23rd overall pick by the Flames in the 2009 draft, he went on to play 93 games in parts of four years with the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and Maple Leafs. He last saw NHL ice in 2015 and last played in the minors in 2019 before returning home to bookend his career in the Swedish Hockey League. The 35-year-old won an SHL championship with the Växjö Lakers in 2021 and has been with Timrå IK ever since, although he’s played just six games since the beginning of 2024-25 due to ongoing back issues aggravated by a foot fracture.
Flyers’ Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, Luke Glendening Out
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without a forward for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. Sean Couturier has been announced as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, head coach Rick Tocchet told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. Tocchet did not have an official timeline for Couturier’s injury, though said he doesn’t believe it will be long-term. Philadelphia was also without winger Denver Barkey due to an upper-body injury, and Luke Glendening to a lower-body injury. Both share Couturier’s day-to-day designation.
Couturier was on the ice for the Flyers’ opening goal in their 3-2 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. He appeared in just over 15 minutes of ice time in that matchup, sticking to the bottom-six role that he has spent much of the year’s second half in. Couturier has seven goals and 29 points in 66 games this season, his lowest scoring pace since the 2012-13 season – his second year in the NHL. He is also averaging his lowest ice time, 17 minutes a game, since that season.
Couturier’s slide into a smaller lineup role has coincided with handful of injuries over the last five seasons. He missed much of the second half of 2021-22, and all of the 2022-23 season, due to a string of injuries including back surgery. He has missed 12 games since returning to a full-time role in 2023-24 season.
Glendening has split a center role with Couturier since joining the team via waivers just after the NHL Trade Deadline. He has two points in five games and a 57.9 faceoff percentage on 38 faceoffs so far. That reliability has helped form an all-three-zones bottom line next to Couturier and Garnet Hathaway.
Rookie winger Barkey has also spent the majority of his time in Philadelphia’s bottom-six. He has three goals and 11 points in 32 NHL games this season, to go with 16 points in 26 AHL games.
The Flyers will have to look towards their extra forwards to fill Couturier’s lineup role. They currently carry two extra forwards: Carl Grundstrom and Garrett Wilson. Grundstrom has been the de facto option this season, stepping into 37 games and scoring 12 points on the year. The hard-nosed winger could again slot into a fourth-line role, while the top of Philadelphia’s lineup remains unchanged.
Wilson played in 84 NHL games between 2013 and 2019, recording eight points and 42 penalty minutes. He has spent the last seven seasons in a full-time, AHL role where his grinder presence stands tall. Wilson leads the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with 101 penalty minutes in 54 games this season. He racked up 134 PIMs in 63 games last season and a career-high 216 PIMs in 59 games in the year prior. The grinder made his Flyers debut filling in for the trio of injuries on Thursday.
Predators Recall Matt Murray, Juuse Saros Out
The Nashville Predators had to change plans just before puck drop in Thursday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. The team recalled depth goaltender Matt Murray to backup Justus Annunen after it was revealed that Juuse Saros would miss the game with an upper-body injury. The injury was sustained at morning practice per Alex Daughterty of The Tennessean.
Murray is having to travel away from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, who are on their own road trip through Canada, to fill his recall to the NHL. He is traveling from Winnipeg to Nashville and is expected to arrive in the second half of the game per NHL.com’s Brooks Bratten. That news will likely necessitate an emergency backup goalie be in the stands for the first half of the game, though Nashville did not officially sign any temporary try-outs.
Saros is officially listed as out day-to-day. His absence will leave big shoes to fill after the veteran goaltender posted wins in four of his last five games, including back-to-back shootout wins. He has faced an average of 31 shots against since March 1st and posted a .910 save percentage in that stretch. That stretch has far outperformed Saros’ season-long performance, marked by 24 wins and a .894 save percentage in 51 games.
The Predators haven’t found much more relief in turning to backup Annunen, who has six wins and a .888 save percentage in 21 games this season. He has matched the save percentage he posted in 23 games with the Predators last season, after joining the team in a December 2024 trade that sent Scott Wedgewood to the Colorado Avalanche. Annunen will stand as the de facto starter if Saros is forced to miss additional time, as Murray hasn’t played in the NHL since the Dallas Stars’ 2023-24 season. He recorded a shutout in his last NHL contest.
Murray has spent this season in command of the Admirals’ starting crease. He has recorded 17 wins and a .908 save percentage in 37 games: team-highs in all three stats. His stat line was much stronger in his debut with the Admirals last season, when Murray posted 28 wins and a .932 save percentage in 43 games. He will offer extra hands if Nashville runs into another goalie injury – though the team should go back to their usual pairing of Saros and Annunen as soon as the former is back to health.
Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov Out Day-To-Day
The Minnesota Wild won’t have their superstar winger on Thursday night. Kirill Kaprizov is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained in the team’s last game against the Chicago Blackhawks per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Specifically, Kaprizov’s injury was sustained on a check from Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato, per Russo, and his absence from the lineup is a precaution after Kaprizov skated in full at Thursday morning’s practice. In-season trade acquisition Quinn Hughes will serve as an alternative captain in Kaprizov’s spot.
Minnesota will struggle to make up for Kaprizov’s absence. He brings a nightly impact, including recording one assist and a team-high six shots on goal in Tuesday’s overtime win over the Blackhawks despite getting injured. He leads the Wild with 38 goals and 80 points in 69 games this season. Kaprizov was also one of only four Wild skaters – alongside Brock Faber, Yakov Trenin, and Jared Spurgeon – to appear in every game this season. That streak will come to an end on Thursday, forcing Minnesota to find a replacement for their star winger on top of replacing injured center Joel Eriksson Ek.
Centerman Hunter Haight will step into the lineup for Kaprizov. This will be the rookie’s first NHL game since a three-game stint in the lineup in mid-January. He has no points and a minus-four in five NHL games, and 23 points in 43 AHL games, this season. Haight should assume a bottom-line role, while speedy winger Bobby Brink joins Matt Boldy and Danila Yurov on Minnesota’s top line. Brink scored one goal in three games with the Wild after being acquired at the Trade Deadline, and before going down with an injury that’s held him out of the last nine days. He’ll return to the lineup in a big way, with Minnesota seeking additional scoring in lieu of Kaprizov. Brink could be fighting to stick in the top-nine after Kaprizov returns with this spot start next to one of Minnesota’s top scorers.
Blue Jackets Will Wait Until Summer To Discuss Rick Bowness’ Future
The Columbus Blue Jackets became the first team to fire their coach this season when they parted ways with Dean Evason in early January. Columbus immediately hired veteran head coach Rick Bowness as an interim head coach and have posted a 16-2-4 record – second-best in the NHL – ever since. That hot streak has propelled the Blue Jackets into a strong spot in the Eatern Conference Wild Card race. They sit just one point outside of playoff contention, behind the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. With that race at the front of their minds, the Blue Jackets don’t plan to talk about Bowness’ future in the role until after the season, general manager Don Waddell told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
It has been six years since the Blue Jackets last made the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their last berth was brought to a first round end at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who they beat in the first round in the year prior. Even still, the Blue Jackets’ streak of four consecutive appearances from 2017 to 2020 hinged on Wild Card races and no more than 50 wins each season. That is the position that Columbus once again find themselves in, leaning on a top-three defense – by goals allowed – under Bowness to try and lock in a Wild Card spot while on pace for 42 wins.
The Blue Jackets’ boom under new coaching has been a pleasant surprise. That fact has many wondering if Bowness will stay in the fold, including some of the team’s players per Friedman. Waddell told Friedman that he and Bowness may be the only two people not worried about the long-term.
That relaxed stance could be a good sign for the Blue Jackets. Bowness announced his retirement from coaching in May 2024, after his then Winnipeg Jets were eliminated from the playoffs. That news brought an end to one of the longest active coaching careers in the sport. Bowness debuted behind an NHL bench in 1982 when he was hired as an assistant by Winnipeg, where he had spent the final years of his NHL playing career. He coached in 36 of the next 40 NHL seasons, including 24 consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2024. His retirement came as Bowness approached his 70th birthday. Now 71, he has returned from retirement to head the Blue Jackets bench, and became the last remaining head coach to coach in the 1980s in doing so.
Columbus is now led by plenty of veteran coaching experience. Waddell has also began his management career in the 1980s, with the IHL’s Flint Spirits. The two are seasoned hockey names who know the conversations that go into coaching contracts. Their lack of concern over Bowness’ future shows where their focus sits as Columbus approaches a month of must-win games. On the other side of the playoffs, Bowness will face the question of whether he wants to return to retirement or continue on as the oldest head coach in the league. The Blue Jackets will anxiously await that conversation, with their fortunes on the rise on the back of five difficult seasons.
Prospects Whose Signing Rights Expire This Year
Every year, there are two pivotal dates for draft picks who are still on teams’ reserve lists and haven’t signed their entry-level deals. If they’re not signed by then, their exclusive draft rights expire, and they become free agents or, in some rare cases, can re-enter the draft if they’re young enough.
The first date circled on the calendar is June 1. This is the decision date for players who were drafted out of the Canadian Hockey League and most European countries’ programs, Russia and Switzerland (players drafted from there have their signing rights held indefinitely). For CHLers, it’s two years from their draft date, and for Euro players, it’s four years from their draft-eligible date, with a minimum of two years if they were selected as overagers.
Aug. 15 is when NCAA-bound players who wrapped up their senior or final collegiate season in 2025-26 become UFAs if they’re not signed.
Just because a team loses its exclusive signing rights to a player doesn’t mean they can’t still join the organization. It’s commonplace to see a good chunk of names on this list opt to stay with the organization that drafted them on an AHL or ECHL contract.
Here’s who each club risks losing this year if they don’t get a deal done:
Anaheim Ducks
June 1 – F Ethan Procyszyn (2024, 3-68), D Tarin Smith (2024, 3-79)
Aug. 15 – F Kyle Kukkonen (2021, 6-162)
Boston Bruins
Aug. 15 – F Andre Gasseau (2021, 7-213), F Oskar Jellvik (2021, 5-149), D Mason Langenbrunner (2020, 5-151), G Philip Svedebäck (2021, 4-117)
Buffalo Sabres
June 1 – F Gustav Karlsson (2022, 6-187), G Ryerson Leenders (2024, 7-219), F Joel Ratkovic Berndtsson (2022, 7-202)
Aug. 15 – F Stiven Sardaryan (2021, 3-88)
Calgary Flames
June 1 – F Hunter Laing (2024, 6-170)
Carolina Hurricanes
June 1 – D Simon Forsmark (2022, 4-101), F Nils Juntorp (2022, 6-188), G Jakub Vondras (2022, 6-171)
Chicago Blackhawks
June 1 – F Riku Tohila (2022, 7-199)
Colorado Avalanche
none
Columbus Blue Jackets
none
Dallas Stars
none
Detroit Red Wings
June 1 – F Maximilian Kilpinen (2022, 4-129), G Landon Miller (2024, 4-126)
Aug. 15 – F Kienan Draper (2020, 7-187), F Dylan James (2022, 2-40)
Edmonton Oilers
June 1 – F Petr Hauser (2022, 5-141), F William Nicholl (2024, 7-196), D Albin Sundin (2024, 6-183)
Florida Panthers
Aug. 15 – G Tyler Muszelik (2022, 6-189)
Los Angeles Kings
none
Minnesota Wild
Aug. 15 – D Ryan Healey (2022, 4-121), F Rieger Lorenz (2022, 2-56), F Charlie Stramel (2023, 1-21)
Montreal Canadiens
June 1 – D Owen Protz (2024, 4-102)
Aug. 15 – F Jack Smith (2020, 4-102)
Nashville Predators
June 1 – D Kasper Kulonummi (2022, 3-84), G Jakub Milota (2024, 4-99)
Aug. 15 – F Adam Ingram (2022, 3-82), F Sutter Muzzatti (2023, 5-143), F Ben Strinden (2022, 7-210)
New Jersey Devils
Aug. 15 – D Charlie Leddy (2022, 4-126), F Samu Salminen (2021, 3-68)
New York Islanders
none
New York Rangers
none
Ottawa Senators
June 1 – D Filip Nordberg (2022, 2-64)
Aug. 15 – F Tyson Dyck (2022, 7-206)
Philadelphia Flyers
June 1 – F Santeri Sulku (2022, 7-197)
Aug. 15 – F Owen McLaughlin (2021, 7-206)
Pittsburgh Penguins
June 1 – F Max Graham (2024, 5-139)
Aug. 15 – F Cruz Lucius (2022, 4-124)
San Jose Sharks
June 1 – F Carson Wetsch (2024, 3-82)
Seattle Kraken
June 1 – D Alexis Bernier (2024, 3-73)
St. Louis Blues
June 1 – F Antoine Dorion (2024, 7-209), D William McIsaac (2024, 5-145)
Tampa Bay Lightning
June 1 – D Jan Golicic (2024, 4-118), F Kaden Pitre (2024, 6-181), F Noah Steen (2024, 7-199)
Toronto Maple Leafs
June 1 – D Nathan Mayes (2024, 7-225)
Aug. 15 – F Joe Miller (2020, 6-180)
Utah Mammoth
June 1 – D Ales Cech (2024, 5-153)
Aug. 15 – D Cal Thomas (2021, 6-171)
Vancouver Canucks
none
Vegas Golden Knights
Aug. 15 – D Noah Ellis (2020, 6-184)
Washington Capitals
Aug. 15 – G Chase Clark (2021, 6-183), D Joaquim Lemay (2021, 4-119)
Winnipeg Jets
none
Auston Matthews Undergoes MCL Surgery, Out For Season
March 19: Matthews underwent successful surgery to repair his MCL tear today in New York City, the team announced. The procedure carries a 12-week recovery timeline, meaning he shouldn’t have any issue hitting the ground running for training camp in the fall.
March 13: After sustaining a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim’s Radko Gudas on Thursday night, the Maple Leafs won’t have their captain down the stretch. The team announced (Twitter link) that center Auston Matthews will miss the remainder of the season due to a Grade Three MCL tear. He will be reevaluated in two weeks and a further update will be provided at that time.
The injury brings a premature end to what has been a tough season for the 28-year-old. After lingering injuries slowed Matthews down off and on at times last season, the hope was that he’d come into this year fully healthy and get back to the level that saw him win three Rocket Richard trophies for the most goals in four years. With Mitch Marner now in Vegas, they were counting on him to be able to shoulder more of the load offensively.
However, that hasn’t happened. In between dealing with a pair of short-term lower-body injuries, Matthews saw his production drop even further this season. After putting up 78 points in 63 games in 2024-25, he was limited to just 27 goals and 26 assists in 60 outings this season. His goal earlier in Friday’s game snapped a 12-game goalless drought, allowing him to avoid tying his career-long stretch in that regard, set back in his rookie season back in 2016-17. Instead of leading the way offensively, Matthews finds himself fourth in team scoring and will likely stay there with Oliver Ekman-Larsson (who’s fifth) being 18 points behind.
Matthews has two years remaining on his current contract, one that carries a $13.25MM AAV that was briefly the richest in NHL history. It’s fair to say that Toronto hasn’t received fair value on that agreement so far given his reduction in production over the past two years. They’ll have to hope that the extended time off before next season will help spur his offense forward in the second half of the agreement.
His absence could also have an impact in the draft lottery. Toronto will retain its first-round pick if they land in the top five of the draft after the lottery. (If they pick outside that range, the selection goes to Boston.) The Maple Leafs are tied for eighth-last in the league right now, five points ahead of St. Louis, which is currently 28th. However, without their number one center in the lineup down the stretch, they could be primed to fall a little further in the standings.
Meanwhile, Gudas had a phone hearing with the Department of Player Safety earlier today as part of the supplemental discipline process. That will cap a potential suspension at no more than five games. With Anaheim in action both Saturday and Sunday, a decision on that front should come before too long.
Ryan Johansen Announces Retirement
Ryan Johansen announced his retirement in an episode of the Predators’ official team podcast released Thursday afternoon. The 33-year-old center steps away after an NHL career that spanned 13 seasons and included an All-Star nod and a Western Conference championship with Nashville in 2017.
Johansen played his junior hockey with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, where he rode a 69-point rookie season to a fourth overall selection by the Blue Jackets in the 2010 draft. After a standout performance for Portland the following season, he arrived in Columbus as a full-time NHL talent beginning with 2011-12. He struggled to produce from the hop, posting 14 goals in 107 games across his first two seasons. He fully arrived as the centerpiece of the Jackets’ attack in 2013-14, though, erupting for 33 goals and 63 points while leading the franchise to just its second playoff appearance in team history at the time.
An RFA the following summer, it took Columbus until October to get Johansen signed. Even then, the two sides could only end up settling for a three-year, $12MM bridge deal. It immediately became one of the best contracts in the league as Johansen followed up his breakout with a career-high 71 points, leading the team with 45 assists while representing Columbus at the All-Star Game and winning MVP honors there.
While it looked from there like Johansen would be the Jackets’ second great offensive star after Rick Nash, his time in the organization was already near its close. With Columbus in need of defensemen, they cut bait quickly with Johansen the following season when he got off to a sluggish start. Halfway through the 2015-16 campaign, he was dealt to the Predators in what ended up being one of the most consequential one-for-one deals of the decade for Seth Jones.
Johansen immediately assumed duties as Nashville’s top center. While he never topped the 70-point mark again, he was a major part of the most successful stretch in franchise history that saw the Preds win playoff series in three consecutive years from 2016-18, making the Cup Final in 2017 and winning the Presidents’ Trophy the following season.
At age 24, Johansen had put up four straight 60-point seasons and played a pivotal role on a team that came just two wins short of a Stanley Cup, although he missed the Final after developing acute compartment syndrome in his left thigh. It seemed like a no-brainer for Nashville to commit long-term when he was an RFA again that summer, inking him to an eight-year, $64MM contract.
Johansen’s offensive consistency would fall off significantly after he put pen to paper on that deal. He only hit the 60-point mark twice more in his career and only averaged 18 goals and 54 points per 82 games for the Preds after signing the contract. His ice time steadily decreased throughout the deal, bottoming out with a 15:46 figure in 2022-23 that also saw him limited to 28 points in 55 outings with a -13 rating. At that point, the Predators had just missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years and hadn’t won a series in five.
Looking to clear money in a flat-cap environment and get out of what was becoming an increasingly undesirable contract, the Preds put him on the trade block. The Avalanche, looking for reclamation stopgap projects down the middle in their middle-six after losing Nazem Kadri the summer prior, took Johansen on for virtually nothing while Nashville retained half his cap hit to offload him.
The move only accelerated Johansen’s jagged but now aggressive decline. He was a non-factor in Colorado and had fallen out of a top-six role by the trade deadline, posting 13 goals and 23 points in 63 games for his worst offensive showing since his teenage years. The Avs were able to offload the last year and a half of his contract by trading him to the Flyers in that year’s Sean Walker deadline deal, but he never played a game for Philadelphia. The Flyers attempted to waive him and assign him to the AHL, but that was later nullified when he failed his physical due to a nagging hip injury.
The Flyers likely planned on buying him out that summer if he was healthy. Since he wasn’t cleared to play, that wasn’t an option. They then moved to place him on unconditional waivers later in the summer to terminate his contract for what the team called a “material breach,” likely due to his failure to report the issue to team doctors before the trade. Johansen appealed, and the process lasted through the entire 2024-25 campaign anyway before an independent arbitrator ultimately ruled in favor of the Flyers.
It was essentially a foregone conclusion at that point that Johansen’s hip issues would prevent him from playing again, but he now makes it official. He tallied just over 900 career games with a 202-376–578 scoring line. His 362 points in a Nashville uniform rank sixth in franchise history. PHR congratulates Johansen on his lengthy career and wishes him the best in retirement.
Image courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images.