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Latest On Travis Dermott

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28-year-old defenseman Travis Dermott is a veteran of nearly 350 NHL games, but doesn’t currently have a contract for the 2025-26 season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported today that Dermott underwent shoulder surgery in June and has now fully recovered, and is looking for a place to play this season to resume his career.

At one point, it looked as though Dermott was going to be a steady, long-term fixture on an NHL blueline – specifically that of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team that selected him 34th overall at the 2015 draft. The former Erie Otter was ranked No. 3 in the Maple Leafs’ prospect pool in February 2018 by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler. Dermott ended the season a Calder Cup champion, and Wheeler at the time projected him to become a No. 3 or No. 4 NHL defenseman, someone “who can positively impact possession and play on the penalty kill.”

Dermott’s offensive production never quite took a step forward at the NHL level, and he has a career-high of just 17 points. His overall play was inconsistent, and persistent injury issues cost him the chance to get into a rhythm at the NHL level.

If one specific point can be looked at as a turning point for Dermott in Toronto, it was overtime of game six of the team’s 2021 first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens. While the Maple Leafs dominated most of the extra frame, Dermott ended up fumbling the puck and had to watch as Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi rifled a game-winning goal past Jack Campbell, forcing a game seven that the Maple Leafs ultimately lost.

Dermott was never able to fully earn the trust of the Maple Leafs, and that moment underscored his inability to secure a firm grasp on a regular NHL role in Toronto. The following year after that playoff series, Dermott was traded to the Vancouver Canucks.

Injuries once again proved a major roadblock to Dermott’s progress, limiting him to just 28 NHL games across two seasons in Vancouver. The Canucks cut him loose after he played in just 12 games in 2022-23.

Dermott spent all of 2023-24 in the NHL with the since-relocated Arizona Coyotes, and sticking in the NHL for the full season helped him earn a one-year, $775K deal with the Edmonton Oilers for 2024-25, a deal that contained a hefty $500K AHL salary in the event Dermott got sent down.

Once again, Dermott wasn’t able to get on the ice consistently. He was limited to just 10 games in Edmonton in total, and nine games for the Minnesota Wild after he was claimed off of waivers in December. Injuries had limited him in the past, but in Minnesota, he was a regular healthy scratch.

At this point, the key for Dermott to re-establish himself as an NHL-relevant player will be to stay and find a way to get into an NHL lineup and play well enough to hold onto that spot. He offers more NHL experience than most players still without a contract at this point in the season, so it’s easy to see a team giving Dermott a shot. But given his form over the last few years, those hoping to get the version of Dermott that existed at times during his Maple Leafs tenure should probably temper their expectations.

At 28 years old, whatever playing opportunity Dermott receives will be an absolutely massive one for the future of his career. It’s easy to see Dermott’s next contract as a fork-in-the-road moment in his NHL career, so it’ll be extremely important for him to get off to a fast start wherever he lands in the next few weeks.

Photos courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

West Notes: Canucks Strategy, Hart, Hinostroza

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Earlier today, we covered reports coming out of Vancouver that the Canucks had made it known across the league that key veteran players, namely, their pending unrestricted free agents, were available to other teams in trade talks. The Athletic’s Thomas Drance provided some more detail on the situation in Vancouver, reporting that the club’s “hockey operations leadership spent much of the day in high-level meetings” and emerged with “a growing belief that the time has come to proactively chart a clear direction for the franchise.” While Drance clarified that the team is unlikely “to publicly brand their overall approach” as a “rebuild,” the Canucks have decided to realign their priorities “into a younger overall direction.”

Perhaps the most alarming element of Drance’s reporting, at least for the Canucks’ short-term future, was his revelation that Canucks management “has seen enough to be skeptical of this group’s urgency and will to win on a consistent basis.” That impacts the Canucks’ immediate planning, as the team had long been rumored to be highly interested in acquiring an NHL-ready second-line center. That has now changed, with Drance writing that “the notion of paying futures for a second-line center upgrade will be off the table for the time being.” The Canucks are in a difficult spot, to be sure, and the looming unrestricted free agency of franchise face Quinn Hughes doesn’t help matters. But at the very least it appears the team is engaging in an honest interrogation of its own competitive chances, one that appears to have led to them selecting a more sustainable path to contention.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights are “expected to recall” netminder Carter Hart to their NHL roster as early as next week, according to TSN’s Chris Johnston. Hart, the former starting netminder for the Philadelphia Flyers, hasn’t played in an NHL game since the 2023-24 season. He was acquitted of charges in this past summer’s high-profile trial, and signed with Vegas in October. They sent him to their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, in November, and he has played in two games, posting a 1-1-0 record and a .875 save percentage. He’s expected to make one more start on his conditioning stint before joining the Golden Knights’ NHL roster. The Golden Knights remain without Adin Hill due to an injury, and have relied upon Akira Schmid and Carl Lindbom in Hill’s absence.
  • Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes provided the media, including The Athletic’s Michael Russo, with clarification on the recovery timeline of injured forward Vinnie Hinostroza. Hynes said that Hinostroza is likely to miss four-to-six weeks with his injury, a lower-body ailment he suffered on Nov. 21. Hinostroza, 31, was acquired by the Wild off of waivers from the Nashville Predators last season and has scored 13 points across 46 games with the team.

Metro Notes: McGroarty, Harding, Svechnikov

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The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward prospect Rutger McGroarty from the Winnipeg Jets in the summer of 2024 with the hope that he’d quickly translate his success at the NCAA to the pro ranks, and become an NHL player in short order. While that hasn’t happened just yet, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reported today that “many in the Penguins organization have been blown away by how dominant McGroarty looked” in his two AHL games this season, noted that “it won’t be much longer until” McGroarty is elevated to Pittsburgh’s NHL roster.

It’s been a bit of a bumpy road for McGroarty at the pro level, as he not only struggled with some injuries, but also found his sub-par skating to be a larger barrier to his ability to impact a game than most likely expected. Yohe wrote that McGroarty “looked like a fish out of water at the NHL level” early last season, but also noted that “he looked like a decidedly different player in his second NHL stint” later in the season. McGroarty finished with 14 goals and 39 points in 60 AHL games last year, and has two goals through two AHL games this year. Whether the Penguins’ belief that McGroarty is a transformed and far more effective player actually materializes in tangible on-ice production remains to be seen, but it’s clear he’ll be a player to watch whenever his expected recall is made official.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Besides McGroarty, one player that Yohe reported is also impressing Penguins brass is 2024 seventh-rounder Finn Harding. The Penguins were able to add Harding with the third-to-last pick of that year’s draft, and per Yohe, “the Penguins believe he has a future as an NHL player,” with team sources comparing him to former Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy. Harding began his pro career last season with an eight-game cameo at the ECHL level. So far this season, Harding has five points through 14 AHL games. If Harding, who is a 6’2″ right-shot blueliner, can end up anything like Lovejoy, who had a 544-game NHL career and won a Stanley Cup in 2016, the Penguins are likely to be quite pleased with their seventh-round investment.
  • On Sunday, reports emerged that Carolina Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov was reportedly open to a trade earlier in the season as he struggled with lower-than-expected usage and a season-opening scoring drought. Today, Svechnikov denied those reports, according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. While it’s not without precedent for a player to publicly deny a private period of frustration that in reality very much existed, in Svechnikov’s case, his reported unhappiness was always unlikely to actually lead to a trade. The Hurricanes reportedly view Svechnikov as a cornerstone player, one that is central to their hopes of building a Stanley Cup championship team, and therefore it remains highly unlikely that they will reach an agreement with another team on a deal that sends Svechnikov out of Raleigh.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Justin Robidas, Move Jesperi Kotkaniemi To IR

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The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that forward Justin Robidas has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. In a corresponding move, they placed center Jesperi Kotkaniemi on injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 14.

Since Kotkaniemi’s IR placement is retroactive to more than a week ago, he is eligible to be activated whenever he is ready to return to the ice. He was originally injured blocking a shot during the team’s game Nov. 14, and head coach Rod Brind’Amour revealed he is dealing with an injury to his ankle.

The 2018 No. 3 overall pick, Kotkaniemi has five points in 15 games played this season, skating in just over 10 minutes of ice time per night. In terms of usage, Kotkaniemi has been Brind’Amour’s most sparingly-utilized forward in 2025-26, a notable decline from last season where he averaged over 14 minutes of ice time per game en route to a 33-point season.

In recalling Robidas, the organization has added one of its developmental success stories back to its NHL roster. The 22-year-old is the son of former NHLer and current Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Stephane Robidas, and was a fifth-round pick at the 2021 NHL Draft. While he was a QMJHL star and captain of his junior team, who drew rave reviews from scouts due to his skating ability and work ethic, his 5’8″ frame led to most assuming he was more of a long-shot to become an NHL player.

While he hasn’t established himself as a full-time NHLer just yet, his progress since joining the pro ranks has been nothing but positive. Complications relating to the Hurricanes’ minor-league affiliate agreements caused Robidas to play his first professional season in the third-tier ECHL, where he scored 27 points in 32 games before suffering a season-ending injury. The following year, Robidas showed no signs of slowing down, quickly adapting to the step-up in competition from the ECHL to AHL. In 72 games for the Wolves, Robidas scored 20 goals and 55 points.

That strong performance as an AHL rookie gave Robidas the chance to make his NHL debut, and in two NHL games last season, Robidas managed two points. So far this year, Robidas has kept up his scoring pace, as he has 12 points through 16 games. While his slight frame is likely to always work against him in terms of carving out a long-term place in the NHL, he’s done everything in his power thus far in his pro career to be an impactful all-around player. His swiftness on the ice and high work rate lends itself well to the specific style of play the Hurricanes like to employ, and with this call-up, Robidas will get a new chance to showcase his talents to the Hurricanes’ decision-makers.

While he’s not a full-time NHL player just yet, if he can get into some games during this call-up and play well, today’s transaction could go a long way in helping him achieve that status at some point down the line.

Blue Jackets Recall Luca Pinelli On Emergency Basis

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The Blue Jackets have recalled forward Luca Pinelli from AHL Cleveland under emergency conditions, the team announced. Since Pinelli isn’t waiver-eligible, there’s no extra privilege granted to Columbus by performing his recall on an emergency basis. They had an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is required.

Pinelli will be on hand for tomorrow’s game against the Maple Leafs and could make his NHL debut depending on the status of wingers Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier. Marchenko sat out yesterday’s loss to the Capitals with a muscle strain and is day-to-day, while Olivier left that contest with an upper-body injury after the first period. If neither is available, Pinelli would draw in if they’re to continue dressing 12 forwards and six defensemen. With the newly signed Brendan Smith also on the roster, he’s an option to play as well if they want to dress seven defensemen or deploy him as a forward, as Smith’s done in the past.

Pinelli, 20, lands his first NHL recall early in his first professional season. The 5’9″ center was a fourth-round pick in 2023 out of OHL Ottawa. He produced well over a point per game for the 67’s post-draft and found himself on Team Canada at this year’s World Juniors, posting a goal and an assist in five games on his first go-around for the national club.

While his size will be a concern for his long-term adjustment to the NHL, he hasn’t let it impede his adjustment from the juniors to the minors one bit. He hasn’t missed a beat since first reporting to Cleveland late last season after the 67’s’ campaign ended. In 22 regular-season and playoff games since making his pro debut, Pinelli’s put up a 7-9–16 scoring line with a +3 rating. That includes five goals and 10 points in 13 games to begin 2025-26.

That said, he’s something of an under-the-radar name in one of the league’s deeper systems. His lack of physicality, plus some discipline issues in juniors, limited his ranking to No. 14 in Columbus’ pool over the offseason by Elite Prospects. Still, it’s a good sign that he’s been able to hold his own out of the gate as he makes the first significant leap in his development.

Avalanche To Activate Joel Kiviranta From Injured Reserve

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The Avalanche have cleared left-winger Joel Kiviranta to play and expect to activate him from injured reserve before tomorrow’s game against the Sharks, head coach Jared Bednar told reporters (including Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now). The Avs had two open roster spots after reassigning Tristen Nielsen and Jason Polin to AHL Colorado yesterday, so no corresponding move is required.

Kiviranta has been out of commission since Oct. 16, having sustained a lower-body injury in the fifth game of the season. He’s back far earlier than anyone expected. Colorado only officially termed him out indefinitely, and multiple reports relayed the Avalanche initially weren’t expecting him back until after the New Year. Instead, he’ll be able to re-enter the lineup in under two months, an important feat for a team down three regular forwards in Gavin Brindley, Valeri Nichushkin, and Logan O’Connor.

The 29-year-old is now in his third season in Denver. He was initially brought in on a PTO in 2023 and was subsequently released to their AHL club, but they ended up signing him to an NHL contract in November. He’s signed two subsequent one-year deals to remain with the Avs. Last year was by far the best performance of the Finn’s seven-year NHL career. Usually cast as a dependable 13th forward, Kiviranta played all but three games for Colorado and scored a career-high 16 goals and 23 points, even working his way into top-nine minutes at times while finishing third on the team with 114 hits.

The return of captain Gabriel Landeskog to the lineup and the Avs’ offseason work meant Kiviranta was in for a reduced role this year, and his usage through five games reflected that. His ice time decreased from 12:31 per game last year to 10:47, and he was held without a point.

Even with Kiviranta back, the demotions of Nielsen and Polin mean they’re set to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen against San Jose unless they recall a forward tomorrow. He’ll be centered by Zakhar Bardakov while someone from the Avs’ top-nine double shifts on the opposite wing.

Flames Reassign Sam Morton

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The Flames announced today that center Sam Morton has been sent back to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. Since he’s only been rostered for eight days and played three games since clearing waivers during the preseason, he doesn’t need them today.

Morton, 26, is in his second pro season after inking with the Flames as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State in 2024. The Colorado native was the Mavericks’ captain in his final season – his sixth year of NCAA hockey, thanks to COVID – and broke out for 24 goals and 34 points in 37 games to be named the CCHA’s Player of the Year and make himself a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.

Morton’s age meant he had no trouble adjusting to the pro game. He rattled off five goals and seven points in 13 AHL games to end 2023-24 on a tryout with the Wranglers and then had 20 goals and 45 points in 70 games for them in his first full pro season in 2024-25. That led the Flames to call the 6’0″ pivot up to make his NHL debut in the final game of last year’s regular season, and he notched his first goal in the process.

This season, Morton went unclaimed on waivers on his way down to the Wranglers but took the training camp cut in stride. He had a 4-8–12 scoring line through 16 games, good for sixth on the team, before earning a call-up last week.

Calgary gave Morton a brief trial as the fourth-line center, but that job will now go to waiver claim John Beecher. In three games, he went an impressive 16-for-24 (66.7%) on faceoffs but didn’t record a point and had a -1 rating, averaging just 9:20 per game. The Flames were outshot 11-10 and outchanced 9-8 in Morton’s 5-on-5 minutes.

Blues Release Milan Lucic From AHL Tryout

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Nov. 25: Lucic has now been released from his AHL tryout as well, the Blues announced. He had just one assist and posted a -7 rating through five games, likely limiting his interest elsewhere.

Nov. 4: The Blues have released left-winger Milan Lucic from his professional tryout, according to a team announcement. He’ll nonetheless remain in the organization for now and will report to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, also in a tryout capacity.

Lucic, 37, landed a PTO with St. Louis all the way back in August and showed up for his first NHL training camp in two years. He skated in four preseason games for the Blues, recording a goal and an assist. He then sustained a lower-body injury that shut him down late in camp, removing any hope he had of converting his PTO into an opening night roster spot.

The Blues quietly kept extending Lucic’s PTO in 10-day increments – a new vehicle in the recent CBA extension – while he rehabbed his injury. Evidently, he’s now healthy. Even with the team’s 4-7-2 start to the season, though, they didn’t see enough out of him to warrant giving the 17-year veteran a look on the fourth line, at least not yet. Releasing him from his tryout does nothing to preclude the club from giving him a contract later if they like what they see during his return to action in Springfield.

If Lucic suits up for the Thunderbirds, it will be the first AHL action of his career. He made the transition straight from the WHL to the Bruins’ roster when he first broke into the NHL in 2007 as a 19-year-old. It will also be his first action of any kind in over two years. Lucic’s last appearance came for Boston on Oct. 21, 2023, his fourth of the young season. He then sustained an ankle injury and missed the rest of the season after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program following an alleged domestic incident, although those charges were dropped.

Penguins Reassign Samuel Poulin, Likely To Activate Tristan Jarry

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The Penguins returned winger Samuel Poulin to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after suiting up in their last two games, per the team. His roster spot will likely go to goaltender Tristan Jarry, whom head coach Dan Muse implied should be ready to come off injured reserve before tomorrow’s contest with the Sabres, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Poulin, 24, continues to be a fine call-up option but has seemingly plateaued far short of what the Pens hoped for him when they selected him No. 21 overall in the 2019 draft. His two-game call-up in place of winger Ville Koivunen, who Rorabaugh also said could be an option to come off IR tomorrow, raised his career total of NHL appearances to 15. He’s still looking for his first goal but has two assists with a -5 rating in 10:06 of average ice time. He got a bit of a longer leash on this call-up, averaging 13:49 per game, but posted a -2 rating and only managed one shot on goal. The Pens did out-attempt opponents 29-24 with Poulin on the ice at 5-on-5, though.

However, in the minors, the 6’2″ Quebec native is having his best season yet. After establishing himself as a top AHL contributor in the past two years, he’s now flirting with a point-per-game pace. In 16 appearances, he has seven goals and eight assists for 15 points to lead the team in scoring. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, Poulin now has a 42-47–89 scoring line in 114 games.

His demotion comes as Bryan Rust is expected not to miss any time with the illness that kept him out of yesterday’s practice, per Rorabaugh. That’s spectacular news for a Pens team that already has five forwards on IR, including top-six pieces Justin Brazeau and Rickard Rakell.

As for how they’ll use Poulin’s roster spot, there’s a bit of a question mark. If only Jarry is coming off IR tomorrow, that means the Pens will carry three netminders for the time being. Top prospect Sergey Murashov has looked the part through his first four NHL appearances in Jarry’s weeks-long absence, posting a 1-1-1 record with a .913 SV%, 1.90 GAA, and his first career shutout through four appearances. With only 0.1 goals saved above expected, though, he clearly grades out as the Pens’ third-best netminder behind Jarry and Arturs Silovs, at least based on the latter two’s early-season samples (per MoneyPuck). It does little for the 21-year-old’s development to keep him on the active roster if he’s not going to be used in an equal three-goalie rotation.

In all likelihood, they haven’t returned the waiver-exempt Murashov to WBS because they’re still waiting for absolute certainty on Jarry’s status for tomorrow. If he and Koivunen are both available, Murashov would presumably be reassigned in a corresponding transaction to keep them at the 23-player roster limit.

Rangers Place Juuso Pärssinen On Waivers

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The Rangers have placed forward Juuso Pärssinen on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. It’s unclear if he’ll be assigned to AHL Hartford if he clears. Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic implied today’s waiver placement is a substitute for a lack of suitable trade options, so it’s more about hopefully finding Pärssinen a change of scenery via a claim than a demotion to the minors.

Pärssinen has fallen out of a regular role for the Blueshirts, serving as a healthy scratch in six of the last eight games. He’d suited up in 11 straight before that, so that’s a notable reduction in usage. When dressed, the 24-year-old pivot has managed two goals and an assist in 14 appearances but has averaged just 8:56 of ice time per game.

The Rangers added Pärssinen via trade last season, picking him up from the Avalanche in the Ryan Lindgren deal in March. He played a modest role down the stretch, but after inking a two-year, $2.5MM extension in May, it looked like the 6’3″ Finn would get a crack at serving as New York’s third-line center from opening night onward. Instead, he wasn’t even in the lineup. A strong training camp from rookie Noah Laba bumped him from the slot, and instead, he’s been used as more of a 13th forward.

That’s not the role Pärssinen hoped for at this stage of his career. A seventh-round pick by the Predators in 2019, he burst onto the scene with six goals and 25 points in 45 games for Nashville in 2022-23 – a 46-point pace over 82 games. Since then, however, he’s produced at about half that rate and is now potentially on his way to his fourth team in as many seasons.

While most teams wouldn’t have many qualms about picking up someone with Pärssinen’s offensive ceiling at a $1.25MM cap hit, the fact that he’s signed through next season – and he’s paid more in salary ($1.3MM) than what he’ll count against the books in 2026-27 – likely limits his interest and was why they couldn’t find any takers on the trade market.

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