Red Wings Recall Sheldon Dries, John Leonard, Eduards Tralmaks
The Detroit Red Wings have utilized emergency recalls to call-up three forwards from the AHL. Sheldon Dries, John Leonard, and Eduards Tralmaks will all join the Red Wings with two games left on their current road trip. These moves come after Detroit center Andrew Copp sustained a lower-body injury in Tuesday night’s loss to the Florida Panthers. He has been downgraded to doubtful for Thursday’s match against the Tampa Bay Lightning, at least, per Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James.
Three more forwards will help Detroit balance lines at Wednesday’s practice without captain Dylan Larkin, in addition to Copp’s injury and a recent string of maintenance days for winger Lucas Raymond. Detroit also added winger David Perron to their injured reserve after acquiring him from the Ottawa Senators for a fourth-round pick at the Trade Deadline.
The Red Wings have split their two games since Larkin sustained a day-to-day, lower-body injury. Copp was promoted to the top line in Larkin’s spot and recorded two assists and six shots on net before going down with his own injury. That could force the Red Wings to lean on Marco Kasper as their top center, even if Copp is able to play. Kasper scored one goal on four shots in Tuesday’s loss, bringing him to 10 points in his last 17 games dating back to mid-January. A bump in minutes could be well-timed for Kasper, who has not recorded a game with more than 20 minutes of ice time this season. The former eighth-overall pick had three such games in his rookie season last year. He finished with 19 goals and 37 points in 77 games.
Both Dries and Leonard have played a handful of NHL games this season, with Leonard scoring four points in nine games and Dries scoring one goal in six games with Detroit. The two rank first and third on the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring with 41 and 37 points respectively. Sixth on the list is Tralmaks, who is receiving the first call-up of his NHL career with this move.
After a quiet three seasons in the Providence Bruins’ organization to begin his pro career, Tralmaks spent the last two seasons with the Kladno Knights in Czechia’s top pro league. He scored 21 goals and 32 points in 52 games of his first Czech season, then jumped to a league-leading 51 points in 48 games last season. He signed with the Red Wings on the heels of that season and has since found his confidence in the AHL. Tralmaks has 18 goals and 28 points in 49 games with Grand Rapids this season. This call-up could now give the six-foot-four, 225-pound Latvian a chance to make his NHL debut.
Detroit may not need to lean on any of their call-ups if Copp can play on Thursday. If not, it will be centerman Dries who gets tapped to fill-in, unless the Red Wings move a winger to the center spot to fit-in the hot-scoring Leonard, or rookie Tralmaks. Bottom-six winger Dominik Shine has filled both forward positions through his career but has only taken one faceoff in the NHL.
Assessing The Hurricanes’ Underwhelming Trade Deadline
There have been many unpredictable developments in the NHL this season, especially in the Metropolitan Division, where the Penguins and Islanders are unexpectedly holding playoff spots while the Devils and Capitals appear to be out of the race. Yet, one constant this year — as it has been nearly every year this decade — is that the Hurricanes are leading the division and poised for a strong playoff run.
Despite their impressive record and deep roster, it still seems like the Hurricanes missed an opportunity at this year’s trade deadline to elevate their team into the top tier of contenders by making just one or two small moves.
The Stars are in a similar position to Carolina, but Dallas made some moves by acquiring forward Michael Bunting and defenseman Tyler Myers. This isn’t to say those players were exactly what the Hurricanes needed, but Dallas only traded a second-, third-, and fourth-round draft pick for them.
Carolina didn’t need to be as bold as the Stars, given the depth on their roster, but they could have made a few small pickups to try and win their first Eastern Conference title in nearly 20 years.
There are reasons why Carolina might have been apprehensive. Sure, they got burned last season with the Mikko Rantanen deal, a short-lived acquisition that led to his quick trade to Dallas, and the year before, they traded for forward Jake Guentzel, only to see him leave and join Tampa Bay after their playoff elimination.
But again, Carolina didn’t need to add much, and what they did felt underwhelming as they only made one move to acquire physical forward Nicolas Deslauriers in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick.
Much has been said about the Hurricanes’ lack of success in the postseason after the second round, and for good reason. The Hurricanes have made a habit of reaching at least the second round and have regularly played in the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, they have had almost no success advancing past the third round in the last two decades, dating back to 2009 when they were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins. Carolina was also swept in 2019 by Boston and in 2023 by Florida. Last year, they were eliminated in the third round once again, but this time they managed to secure a single win against the Panthers.
While their regular-season success is well documented, it seems their window is beginning to close, as their prospect pool is only average at best, and depth will eventually run out. Now, folks might point to their big acquisitions last summer and say those were the major moves, suggesting they were going all in, which is fair enough.
Last summer, Carolina acquired K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers and also signed Nikolaj Ehlers as a UFA, giving him a six-year deal worth $51MM. Both moves indicated that the Hurricanes were willing to take risks and aim for a Stanley Cup.
Those moves, however, make the silence at this year’s trade deadline all the more puzzling. Why load up last summer only to hold back and not address shortcomings right before the playoffs?
You might look at Carolina’s lineup and think they have a flawless roster fill-out, but they do have some gaps in the lineup that could have been addressed.
The biggest issue for Carolina is on their fourth line, where journeyman center Mark Jankowski is anchoring the fourth-line center spot. No disrespect to Jankowski, who has kept his NHL career alive after several AHL stints, but he is not a center for a team with visions of winning a Stanley Cup this spring.
Jankowski is a suitable injury replacement or 13th forward, but regularly dressing him in every game of the playoffs probably isn’t ideal in a best-of-seven series. The 31-year-old Jankowski has six goals and nine assists in 51 games this season, which is acceptable for a fourth liner, but he has been used mostly in offensive zone situations, suggesting some sheltered usage.
The bigger issue for Carolina is what would happen to their center depth if someone like Sebastian Aho or Logan Stankoven were to get injured. Jordan Staal could step up to play in the top six, although it wouldn’t be ideal.
But suddenly, Jankowski becomes a top-nine center on a team with Stanley Cup ambitions. It’s a lot of hypotheticals, but injuries do happen, and an injury to a center could be disastrous for the Hurricanes.
Carolina didn’t need to make a big splash with a major acquisition; Teddy Blueger from Vancouver would have been enough, or even a Lars Eller from Ottawa (if he was available) would have worked too. Another option could have been a veteran like Erik Haula out of New Jersey. But Carolina chose to stand pat and hope they have the depth to make a run.
The same could apply to their defense, where Mike Reilly is currently getting regular shifts on their third pairing. Although Reilly has been a solid professional for quite some time, it’s not ideal to have him in the everyday lineup for the playoffs at this stage of his career.
It’s a bit less of a concern with Reilly because the Hurricanes have reinforcements on the way, including returning injured players like Shayne Gostisbehere and Charles-Alexis Legault. Reilly’s underlying stats have been quite good this season, but much like Jankowski, he’s been sheltered when he’s in the lineup.
Given the high costs at the trade deadline, it is understandable why Carolina would hesitate to add to their lineup. However, since they are firmly in their contention window, it was surprising to see them do so little to address their lineup deficiencies.
They might still make a deep run; however, if they fall short of their ultimate goal once again, they could end up regretting their inaction last week.
Flames Linked To Tyson Gross
Calgary native Tyson Gross is one of the top undrafted free agents available coming out of college this season. His hometown Flames are on the shortlist of teams the center is considering signing with, and he will make his decision in the next few days, Eric Francis of Sportsnet reports.
Gross, 23, just wrapped up his junior season with St. Cloud State. Serving as the team’s captain, he doubled his previous career high in goals en route to an 18-23–41 scoring line in 36 games. The 6’3″, 194-lb pivot saw his season end last week, getting swept 2-0 by Minnesota-Duluth in the quarterfinals of the NCHC tournament. They won’t be getting an at-large berth to the national tournament, so Gross ends his career in St. Cloud with 34 goals, 52 assists, and 86 points across 106 games over the last three years.
There’s little reason to believe Gross will replicate those offensive totals at the NHL level, but there’s a chance he can carve out a role as a depth checking center in Calgary or be a higher-end minor-league piece. He was initially draft-eligible back in 2021. He’d played just nine junior ‘A’ games that year due to COVID and was understandably passed over. Even against tougher competition in the USHL in his post-draft year, though, he only managed eight points in 23 games with the Fargo Force. It wasn’t until moving to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders for his DY+2 that he came out of his shell as a playmaker, and he was able to carry that momentum directly into a 20-point freshman season at St. Cloud.
The Flames are in need of some size down the middle in their prospect pool, so their interest in Gross makes sense. Their situation improved somewhat when they acquired the signing rights to 6’2″, 203-lb Jonathan Castagna from the Mammoth in the MacKenzie Weegar deal, and Francis reports the junior center is also open to turning pro with the Flames when his season at Cornell wraps up.
Blackhawks Reassign Drew Commesso
The Blackhawks are sending goaltender Drew Commesso back to AHL Rockford, per Tracey Myers of NHL.com. He had been recalled under emergency conditions over the weekend after Spencer Knight was sidelined with an illness, but he’s now cleared to return and will be available for tomorrow’s road outing against the Mammoth.
Now in his second season seeing NHL action, the 23-year-old has made three starts for the Hawks this year, posting a .918 SV%, 2.31 GAA, and a 2-1-0 record. That’s a significant step forward from what the 2020 second-rounder showed in his first NHL start last year, allowing four goals on 24 shots against the Devils in his lone appearance. After recording a win over Utah on Monday in his only showing on this call-up, he’s now saved 1.6 goals above expected and, in a small sample, has been Chicago’s analytically strongest goalie this year on a per-60 basis with a 0.528 GSAx/60, per MoneyPuck.
Nearly six years on from being drafted, Commesso remains Chicago’s top goalie prospect and is the #7-ranked player in their pool overall, writes Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. His promising NHL starts this season do run in contrast to what’s been a career-worst season for Commesso in Rockford, though. After coming up with a .906 and .911 SV% in his first two pro seasons, respectively, he’s logging a .899 SV% and 3.07 GAA in 28 games this year with a 9-16-3 record. Those numbers aren’t all on Commesso, though – Rockford has been a tough defensive environment this season, and those are still far superior numbers to backup Stanislav Berezhnoy‘s.
Several Teams Showing Interest In Vitali Pinchuk
March 11, 2026: Fast-forward to nearly the end of the KHL’s regular season, and Pinchuk’s output has only improved throughout the year. He’s now up to 30 goals and 62 points in 61 games for Minsk. Now, Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports that virtually every team in the league – 29 of them, to be exact – has reached out to Pinchuk’s camp to try to get him landed on an entry-level deal.
Nov. 6, 2025: There are still several months to go until the end of the regular season, when the international free agent market begins to pick up. Nonetheless, European leagues start their seasons earlier than the NHL, meaning sample sizes are large enough by the time November rolls around for teams to begin to identify breakout targets.
One of those names to keep an eye out for is Belarusian center Vitali Pinchuk, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. “Several teams” have made contact with his representation as he mulls a jump to North America following the conclusion of his season with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he’s spent the vast majority of his professional career.
Pinchuk, 23, isn’t a total stranger to North American hockey. He was initially draft eligible in 2020 and spent that season in the Ontario Hockey League in hopes of boosting his chances of being picked. The 6’3″, 203-lb pivot recorded 13 goals and 34 points in 54 games with a -12 rating, but wasn’t picked. When the OHL closed its doors for the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic, Pinchuk returned to Belarus, where he has remained ever since.
He made his KHL debut for Dinamo the following year. He was a fixture of Belarus’ teams at the World Juniors until the country was banned from international competition by the IIHF for its part in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – in fact, he was named the country’s top young player in 2021. His development has been a slow burn, but he had his first meaningful breakthrough in the 2023-24 season. After posting limited point totals in bottom-six jobs over the previous few years and struggling to stay in the lineup, he worked his way into a top-nine job with Dinamo with nine goals and 22 points in 43 games.
It was last season that Pinchuk began to take on star status in the KHL. Dinamo’s 39-21-8 record last season was its best in eight years, and Pinchuk finished second on the club with 25 goals and fifth with 43 points in 66 games. This season, the club is off to a torrid 13-5-3 start with Pinchuk clicking at a point per game, logging a 9-12–21 scoring line through 21 contests.
A point-per-game season in the more offensively conservative KHL is no small feat. Only three players hit the mark last season after seven achieved it in 2023-24. Keeping up that pace will be challenging for Pinchuk, but even still, he’s one of only 13 names with at least five games played at this point in the year to be at or above the mark.
Pinchuk turns 24 in January, so that will be his signing age if he inks an NHL contract next summer. That limits him to landing a one-year, entry-level contract that would make him a restricted free agent in 2027.
Mammoth Sign Nick Schmaltz To Eight-Year Extension
The Mammoth announced that they’ve signed forward Nick Schmaltz to an eight-year extension worth $8MM per season, a total value of $64MM. Set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, he’s now staying in Utah through the 2033-34 campaign. There are no signing bonuses in the deal, per PuckPedia. He’ll be paid entirely in base salary, earning $10MM from 2026-27 through 2028-29, $8MM from 2029-30 through 2030-31, and $6MM from 2031-32 through 2033-34. The deal also comes with a no-movement clause for the first two years. Starting in 2028-29, it downgrades to a full no-trade clause, then again to a 16-team no-trade list in 2030-31 and an eight-team no-trade list in 2032-33.
Amid what could now be a historically thin UFA class this summer, Schmaltz was going to be the leading target if he made it there. One could make the argument that he was just one of two forwards, along with Alex Tuch, available who could comfortably slot into a first-line role, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin notwithstanding.
Still, it’s no surprise to see Schmaltz commit for what could be the rest of his career to the team he’s been with for nearly seven seasons and 500 games, dating back to when the Mammoth’s predecessor, the Coyotes, acquired him from the Blackhawks for Dylan Strome in 2019. He already committed long-term to the organization once, quickly moving to sign a seven-year deal after his acquisition that saw him get paid $5.85MM per season. He now re-ups on a contract that only carries an extremely modest increase in cap hit percentage at the start of the deal from 7.2% to 7.7%. While it’s a significant raise in actual cash, it’s not a huge bump in market value.
Schmaltz has never hit 70 points in a single season, but he’ll lock in his third consecutive 60-point campaign with his next point and will end up at 75 points by the end of the regular season if he keeps up his current pace. He’d previously topped the 0.90 points per game mark twice in back-to-back years with Arizona in 2021-22 and 2022-23, although injuries limited him to about 75% of the schedule each time.
The 30-year-old’s resurgence comes after a couple of relatively down seasons. He’s had no trouble staying healthy now, but did see his points per game average drop to 0.77 across Arizona’s last season in 2023-24 and Utah’s first in 2024-25. That also came with -16 and -15 ratings, the worst two figures of his career.
The under-the-hood numbers never dipped too much, though. Quietly, Schmaltz has been one of the better play-driving forwards in the league over the past several seasons. He hasn’t had a net negative Corsi impact at 5-on-5 in a full season as a Coyote/Clubber/Mammoth and has taken things to new heights this season, controlling 55.0% of shot attempts, 55.2% of expected goals, and 55.2% of scoring chances at 5-on-5 this year. A natural center, he’s spent most of his career on the wing but has shifted back to the pivot position this year amid Barrett Hayton‘s struggles and subsequent demotion down the depth chart. He’s now Utah’s top-line pivot between lefty Clayton Keller and a rotation of Lawson Crouse, Dylan Guenther, and JJ Peterka on his right flank.
Schmaltz’s value comes from his reliable output and playmaking skills. He’s not particularly flashy, doesn’t have a “star-level” gear to unlock at this stage, and only lays a hit about once every five games. But he’s been a consistent top-six producer ever since first stepping into Arizona’s lineup seven years ago, and his versatility down the middle and on the wing is attractive to a Utah club that has a bevy of forward prospects still coming up the ranks.
After registering his extension, Utah still has $17.9MM in projected cap space available for next season, but that’s with eight open roster spots (an average of $2.24MM per player). Luckily, they don’t have anyone to sign who will cost significantly more than that.
Image courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
Flyers Sign Noah Powell To Entry-Level Contract
The Flyers have signed right-winger Noah Powell to his entry-level contract, the team announced. The deal runs for three years and doesn’t begin until next season, taking him from 2026-27 through 2028-29. However, he’ll be able to suit up with AHL Lehigh Valley down the stretch this season.
Powell, 21, was the Flyers’ fifth-round pick in 2024. The 6’2″ sniper was selected from Dubuque in the United States Hockey League as an overager, leading the league in goals with 43 in 61 contests after going undrafted in 2023.
Since then, his development has taken a couple of twists and turns in a short amount of time. He was an Ohio State commit and joined the Buckeyes’ roster for 2024-25 as a 20-year-old freshman. He didn’t make a great first impression on the college circuit, though. After recording two goals and five points and 17 games, he left the team midseason to return to junior hockey – this time north of the border with Oshawa in the OHL. He was more impactful with the Generals, posting a 9-13–22 scoring line in 28 games to close out the year, but that’s still a moderately underwhelming stat line for a player two seasons removed from his draft-eligible year.
Powell has returned to NCAA play for 2025-26, transferring to Arizona State. The sophomore’s season ended in February, with the Sun Devils failing to qualify for the national tournament or the NCHC playoffs. His seven goals in 34 games finished tied with five other players for fourth on the team, while his 12 points were tied for ninth.
It is jarring to see a forward whose main talent in junior play was goal-scoring opt to turn pro after just two collegiate seasons with a rather limited offensive track record to show for it. Perhaps the Flyers are more interested in developing the 201-lb winger as a bottom-six checking piece and feel his development is better served by making an earlier transition to pro hockey in Lehigh Valley rather than staying in college.
Candiens Recall Jacob Fowler
The Canadiens announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Jacob Fowler from AHL Laval. With no corresponding moves or injuries, arguably the top goalie prospect in the world returns to Montreal’s NHL roster to potentially form a three-goalie rotation down the stretch with Jakub Dobes and Sam Montembeault.
Fowler, 21, was a third-round pick in 2023. Five other goalies were taken before him in that class, including another top-five goalie prospect in Detroit’s Trey Augustine, but he’s the first one from the group to have made his NHL debut.
It remains to be seen whether Fowler’s recall is simply to get him a spot start tonight against the Senators or if it’ll lead to a heftier handful of NHL starts down the stretch. The Habs, who’ve gotten inconsistent play from Dobes and Montembeault all year long, first recalled Fowler in early December. After starting him in back-to-back games to open his NHL career, head coach Martin St. Louis committed quite strictly to a nightly three-goalie rotation.
Fowler made 10 starts before being returned to Laval in mid-January, posting a 4-4-2 record with a .902 SV% and 2.62 GAA with one shutout. He ended on a bit of a sour note, allowing four goals on 26 shots against the Sabres, and he only had a .900 mark once in his last five starts. Nonetheless, his 1.8 goals saved above expected over the sample still exceed what Dobes and Montembeault have produced over the entire season, per MoneyPuck, and his raw numbers are preferable as well.
Coming out of the Olympic break, Montreal has moved to essentially anoint Dobes as the starter and Montembeault as the backup, deviating from a rotation. Montembeault has only started two of six since the Olympic break, one coming in the first half of a back-to-back, and has recorded extra-time losses in both with sub-.850 save percentages. Dobes, on the other hand, has won three of four and has been exceptional in those wins, although the loss – allowing six goals on 27 shots (.778 SV%) against the Sharks last week – was a real stinker.
Meanwhile, Fowler has only consistently improved in the minors in his first pro season. The 6’2″ netminder has started seven out of Laval’s last 10 and has a .923 SV% in that span, moving his numbers on the year up to a .916, 2.23 GAA, three shutouts, and a 19-7-2 record in 27 appearances.
Fowler’s immediate transition to being a top-level AHL starter comes after two dominant seasons at Boston College. He compiled a .932 SV% and 1.90 GAA in 74 games as the Eagles’ starter, being named a Hockey East First Team All-Star on both occasions and winning the Mike Richter Award for the NCAA’s top collegiate goalie as a sophomore.
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.