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Mammoth Recall Maveric Lamoureux, Reassign Kevin Rooney

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According to a team announcement, the Utah Mammoth have recalled defenseman Maveric Lamoureux from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, and have reassigned forward Kevin Rooney in a corresponding roster move. The transaction indirectly confirms that Rooney cleared waivers and will remain ineligible for them until he spends another 30 days on the NHL roster or plays in 10 games.

It’s the first call-up of the year for the former 29th overall pick. Despite retaining his status as a rookie, Lamoureux skated in 15 games with Utah last season, scoring one goal and three points while averaging 16:07 of ice time.

Standing 6’6″, Lamoureux made his presence known in his brief time in the NHL last season. He racked up 18 hits and a whopping 42 PIMs, averaging out to 2.8 PIMs a game. Additionally, he showed a lot of promise on the defensive side of the puck, managing a 57.1% CorsiFor% at even strength and 92.0% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

He wasn’t drafted due to his offensive prowess, and that remains true today, although he’s shown signs of improvement. He finished last year with two goals and 13 points in 42 games at the AHL level, and has nearly matched that total this season, tallying nine assists through his first 19 contests.

Given that the Mammoth were willing to give him a roster spot, he’ll likely enter the lineup rather than become a seventh defenseman. It would make sense for Utah to replace Nick DeSimone with Lamoureux next to Ian Cole on the bottom pair.

Meanwhile, Rooney was a likely consequence of Lamoureux’s recall, given that most of his games this season have been played in the AHL. He’s scored one goal in one game with the Mammoth, and five goals and six points in eight games for the Roadrunners.

San Jose Sharks Assign Michael Misa On Conditioning Loan

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The San Jose Sharks are close to returning this past summer’s second-overall pick to the active roster. The Sharks announced they’ve placed Michael Misa on the team’s long-term injured reserve, and have assigned him to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda on a conditioning stint.

It’s not a foregone conclusion that Misa will return to the Sharks’ lineup by the end of the conditioning loan, though it is a workaround to the current rules regarding CHL-drafted 18-year-olds playing in the AHL. If the Sharks were to activate Misa and reassign him, he would have to play for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit instead of the Barracuda.

After scoring 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games for the Spirit last season, there’s little development available for Misa in the OHL. Still, considering how sheltered he was during his first few games in the NHL, and the subsequent lower-body injury that’s kept him sidelined since early November, sticking the rest of the year out in the NHL may not be the best avenue for his development, either.

Regardless, aside from Macklin Celebrini, it’s par for the course in how San Jose has treated their top prospects at the NHL level. Last season, in the first month of the season, Will Smith had registered only two goals through his first nine games, averaging 13:32 of ice time per night. That’s eerily similar to Misa, who’s scored one goal and three points in seven games, managing an ATOI of 11:44.

Smith’s usage had dramatically changed by the end of the season, as the former fourth-overall pick scored five goals and eight points in nine games, averaging 20:44 of action. There’s no guarantee that they’ll do the same with Misa, though it’s confirmation that the Sharks have been slowplaying their upper-level prospects throughout the course of a season.

Despite the open debate on whether Misa is better suited in the OHL or sheltered NHL minutes, it’s objectively better that he’s healthy and back to playing in some capacity. Given that he placed him on LTIR beforehand, the Sharks will now have six days or three games, whichever is longer, to make a longer-term decision on Misa’s immediate future. Additionally, they can request an extension on the conditioning stint that would allow them nine days or five games.

Canucks Reassign Nikita Tolopilo, Elias Pettersson

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According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have assigned netminder Nikita Tolopilo and defenseman Elias N. Pettersson to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks. The transaction indirectly confirms that the Canucks had previously activated Tolopilo from the non-roster designation.

It’s been nearly 10 days since Tolopilo was initially recalled by the Canucks. Dealing with an injury to Thatcher Demko and a brief leave of absence from Kevin Lankinen, Vancouver had to rely on Tolopilo and Jiří Patera for a short period.

He played relatively well in his first NHL action of the 2025-26 campaign, securing a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on 41 shots. Unfortunately, that success didn’t translate to his next start against the San Jose Sharks, where he managed a .875 SV% on 24 shots.

Following the loss to San Jose, Tolopilo took his own leave of absence for the birth of his child and hadn’t played since. He’ll return to Abbotsford, where he’s managed a 1-3-1 record in five games with a .901 SV% while Vancouver moves forward with a combination of Lankinen and Patera for the time being.

Meanwhile, Pettersson will suit up in his first AHL appearance of the season. Cracking the Canucks roster out of training camp, the 21-year-old blueliner has tallied two assists in 24 games with a -6 rating, averaging 13:29 of ice time per night. It’s essentially the same production he provided last season, when he scored one goal and three points in 28 games with a -4 rating while finishing with an ATOI of 12:49.

Simply put, the former 80th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft hasn’t earned a spot on the NHL blue line, even on a disappointing Vancouver team. He’ll look to build confidence and develop in the AHL for the foreseeable future. Unless the Canucks unexpectedly activate Derek Forbort from the LTIR or make a separate call-up, they’ll play their next few contests with six defenseman on the active roster.

Boston Bruins Reassign Riley Tufte

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The Boston Bruins announced today that forward Riley Tufte has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

Tufte, 27, was originally recalled on Nov. 17. He made an instant impact, scoring a late power play marker to break what would have been a shutout victory for the Carolina Hurricanes. That moment proved to be the high point of this recall for Tufte, as he was a healthy scratch for Boston’s game against Anaheim on Nov. 19. Tufte was in-and-out of the lineup for the next two weeks or so, skating in three additional games and serving as a scratch for four total contests.

The 2016 first-round pick earned this most recent recall on the back of a stellar start to his season with AHL Providence. Tufte scored eight goals and 18 points in just 13 games this season, and his record of solid production dates back to last year as well; Tufte scored 21 goals and 42 points in 58 games for the AHL Bruins in 2024-25.

While Tufte hasn’t been able to translate his scoring success at lower levels of the game to the NHL, the fact that he has been able to develop from low-scoring AHL bottom-sixer to a true top-six AHL scoring threat has at least helped him massively improve his odds of receiving NHL call-ups.

Standing 6’6″, 234 pounds, it’s fair to wonder whether Tufte has more value to give as an NHLer than he’s shown so far. Teams are always searching for players who blend overwhelming size with some scoring touch. But as mentioned, Tufte’s AHL scoring ability has yet to translate to NHL ice, and this most recent recall was no different.

Tufte is playing out a one-year, two-way contract that carries a league-minimum $775K NHL salary and a hefty $450K AHL salary, with a $500K total guarantee. Tufte’s progress as an AHL scorer has him on the cusp of earning a role as a full-time NHL bottom-sixer or spare forward, and his hefty AHL guarantee reflects that.

If he can continue his point-per-game AHL scoring pace and earn some more NHL call-ups, he could position himself to earn a one-way contract once again in his upcoming unrestricted free agency. Tufte played 2024-25 on a one-way $775K deal, and could be aiming to restore at least that level of compensation this summer.

Tyler Seguin Suffers ACL Injury, Out Long Term

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Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan told the media today, including radio analyst Bruce LeVine, that veteran forward Tyler Seguin has suffered an ACL injury and will “probably” be out for the rest of the 2025-26 season.

The news comes after Seguin had to be helped off the ice last night during the team’s overtime loss to the New York Rangers. This unfortunate development comes almost exactly one year after it was announced that Seguin would miss most of the rest of the 2024-25 season due to hip surgery. Seguin ended up returning in time for the Stars’ regular-season finale, and managed to play in 18 playoff games.

So far this season, Seguin had kept up his standard of solid offensive production. While he wasn’t scoring at the point-per-game clip Stars fans grew accustomed to in the late 2010s, his 17 points in 27 games still set an 82-game pace of 52. He currently ranks fifth among Stars forwards in 2025-26 scoring.

Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News reported that the Stars “are still awaiting more input from doctors to determine the exact timeline” of Seguin’s recovery, as well as whether he’ll be available to play in the playoffs, which the Stars will almost assuredly qualify for. Assimakopoulos added that “it doesn’t seem like” the Stars “are too optimistic” that Seguin will be available to play again this season.

Seguin had been playing on Dallas’ second line alongside Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz, and he was succeeding in that capacity. But now for a second straight year, a significant injury will cost him the chance to play in even 30 regular-season games.

Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports relayed word from Gulutzan that veteran forward Matt Duchene, who is dealing with his own injury, is currently “day-to-day” and is inching towards a return to the lineup. It appears likely that whenever Duchene is ready to return, he’ll slot into Seguin’s vacated spot as the team’s second-line right winger behind Mikko Rantanen.

Since Seguin is under contract for another season after this one at a $9.85MM AAV, this injury won’t cost him the chance to put together a healthy, productive platform season. But it will most likely cost Seguin the chance to compete for a second career Stanley Cup championship. The Stars will still chase their franchise’s second title without Seguin, and now that the extent of his injury is all but confirmed, expect focus on potential fits for Dallas on the trade market to increase.

The Stars have been the NHL’s second-best team so far in 2025-26, with their 39 points trailing only the Colorado Avalanche (who have one regulation loss all year) in the standings. The Stars have all the makings of a true Stanley Cup contender this season, and it would be a surprise if GM Jim Nill went the entire season without acquiring additional scoring help.

The Stars traded for both Rantanen and veteran Mikael Granlund to bolster its attack last season, and while a trade on the scale of the Rantanen deal will be almost impossible to complete, expect Dallas to be in the mix for the top rental scoring options. That may have been the case even before this development regarding Seguin, but Seguin’s ACL injury will only further heighten the team’s need to add scoring reinforcements for what it hopes will be a long playoff run.

Assuming Seguin is indeed out for the rest of the season, including the playoffs, the team does at least gain a significant amount of financial flexibility. Seguin could be placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), which would give the Stars quite a bit of room to make additions without running afoul of the league’s payroll limits.

Photos Courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Colorado Avalanche Recall Trent Miner

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The Colorado Avalanche announced today that goalie Trent Miner has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. This roster move comes in the aftermath of an injury suffered by netminder Scott Wedgewood. Wedgewood left the team’s Dec. 2 contest with an upper-body injury and did not return.

Head coach Jared Bednar said last night that he wasn’t sure whether the organization would need to recall a third goalie for its upcoming road trip, but today’s recall indicates that the organization is at least preparing for the possibility that Wedgewood could miss time. The Avalanche play tomorrow on Long Island and continue on the road until their Dec. 11 game against the Florida Panthers.

Miner, 24, returns to the Avalanche’s NHL roster for the second time this season. Miner was in the NHL in October, playing in two games and recording a .909 save percentage. Since being sent down to AHL Colorado, Miner has gone 4-1 with a .908 save percentage. He’s proven himself to be a capable AHL goalie over the last few years, posting an impressive career save percentage of .919 in more than 70 games played.

Miner is under contract through next season on a two-way basis with a $775K NHL AAV, and looks poised to serve as the Avalanche’s organizational No. 3 goalie through the end of this season at least. Looking forward to next year, the one-year, $2.5MM AAV contract extension Wedgewood signed on Nov. 13 does appear at this point to block Miner’s path to becoming part of Colorado’s NHL tandem.

But if he can keep putting together quality AHL performances, and find a way to show his talent in his limited NHL opportunities, he could get looks this summer as a potential candidate to become an NHL backup outside of Colorado.

Metro Notes: Ristolainen, Rangers, Horcoff

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Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was on the ice for the Flyers’ morning skate today wearing a no-contact jersey, reports NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall. Per Hall, this is Ristolainen’s first skate with the team in 2025-26. Ristolainen is still recovering from the right triceps surgery he underwent in March. While it’s unclear at this point how far Ristolainen is from fitness to play in games, today’s sight is an encouraging one for the Flyers, who stand to benefit greatly whenever Ristolainen is back to full health.

The 31-year-old had a strong 2024-25 season in Philadelphia. While he only managed 19 points, which is a far cry from the production he used to post consistently as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, he made his mark defensively. Standing 6’4″ and 208 pounds, Ristolainen provided valuable size to the Flyers’ defense, and managed to kill penalties at a decent clip. He was the Flyers’ No. 2 defenseman in terms of ice time last season, averaging 20:31 time on ice per game including time on both special teams units. The Flyers have relied more heavily on Cam York and Jamie Drysdale in Ristolainen’s absence, with each player currently at a significantly higher average time on ice per game in 2025-26 compared to last season. Getting Ristolainen back at some point should allow for more balance in terms of how the Flyers coaching staff is able to deploy their blueliners.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • In 2022, the New York Rangers made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, and their run was greatly aided by their “kid” line made up of a trio of top draft picks: Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil. While two of those three players have since been traded away, it appears the Rangers could be in the process of discovering another third line made up of its youngest players. The Athletic’s Peter Baugh wrote today that “The Rangers’ third line of Will Cuylle, Noah Laba and Brett Berard was buzzing” during the team’s win over the Dallas Stars, and brought up that the Rangers held a decisive lead in high-danger scoring chances whenever that line was on the ice. While it’s too early to tell if that line will stick long-term, those early results are promising. Cuylle is the most experienced player on the line (195 career NHL games played, 45 points last season) while Laba is in his rookie campaign and Berard has just 40 career NHL games. While the Rangers’ track record of developing its top forward draft picks has come under some recent scrutiny, each member of the aforementioned trio is a success story for the organization. Both Cuylle and Berard were second-day NHL draft picks who spent time in AHL Hartford before reaching the NHL, while Laba is a fourth-round pick who spent time in the NCAA.
  • When the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted center Will Horcoff at the No. 24 slot at the 2025 NHL Draft, their selection came earlier than where Horcoff had been ranked by most public-facing outlets. While he was ranked No. 27 by TSN’s Bob McKenzie and No. 28 by Corey Pronman of The Athletic, many other outlets, such as the team at Elite Prospects and TSN’s Craig Button, ranked him more as a second-rounder. So far, Horcoff’s performances have easily justified his first-round draft slot. He’s currently tied for the overall scoring lead in all of college hockey with 26 points in 18 games. He also leads the country in goal-scoring by a wide margin, his 18 markers quite a bit higher than the next-highest scorer. (DET’s Max Plante, who has 13) While it’s unclear whether Horcoff’s incredible start to 2025-26 has materially impacted how scouts view his long-term projection, it is clear that the early returns on Pittsburgh’s investment of a first-round draft choice have been wholly positive.

Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Maxim Groshev

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12/3/2025: Tampa announced today that they’ve reassigned Groshev back to AHL Syracuse, one day after they recalled him. Groshev was a healthy scratch for the team’s loss to the New York Islanders last night, meaning he heads back to Syracuse still waiting on the chance to make his NHL debut.

Due to the fact that Groshev is playing on a two-way entry level contract, his NHL salary ($775K) is significantly higher than his AHL salary ($80K). So while Groshev was only recalled to serve as a healthy scratch, he at least got to enjoy a brief pay bump to do so.

12/2/2025: The Tampa Bay Lightning have again recalled another depth defenseman as they deal with multiple injuries. Tampa Bay announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Maxim Groshev from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.

It’s the second time Groshev has been recalled over the last little while. Unfortunately, he didn’t make his NHL debut over that call-up, and that’s not expected to change this time around.

Groshev, 23, was drafted as a winger when he was selected with the 85th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. Having converted to the blue line, he has spent the last three years playing for the Crunch, scoring 17 goals and 51 points in 142 games with a +10 rating.

In between call-ups for Groshev, the Lightning had recalled Simon Lundmark to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. It doesn’t appear to be internal management to prolong waiver placement for Groshev, that is, who remains exempt from waivers on his current contract. Lundmark, on the other hand, is eligible for waivers but has some time before he’ll require it again.

Meanwhile, Groshev’s recall confirms that defenseman Erik Černák will not return to the Lightning lineup on their current road trip, which concludes tonight against the New York Islanders. Černák landed on Tampa Bay’s injured reserve shortly before American Thanksgiving, and there was some hope he would’ve returned by now. Still, the Lightning will return home for a two-game stretch on Thursday, so the team may wait until then to give official updates on their injured players.

Morning Notes: Tourigny, Dowd, Verhaeghe

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The Utah Mammoth have been one of the league’s more confounding teams so far in 2025-26, as at one point, they looked like one of the NHL’s top teams and seemed a likely candidate to reach the postseason. But Utah has won just two of its last 10 games and is currently on a four-game losing streak, a stretch that has brought their record back to .500 and left them one point adrift of a Western Conference Wild Card spot, which is occupied by the Seattle Kraken, who hold three games in hand on Utah.

Utah’s recent downturn could potentially have an impact on its head coach. Frank Seravalli said yesterday on Bleacher Report’s Insider Notebook that it’s “fair to suggest that Andre Tourigny’s hot seat is getting turned up a bit.” Seravalli did add that he doesn’t feel Tourigny is under any immense, immediate pressure just yet, but rather that his status could increasingly come into question given the fact that Utah feels it can, and should, be a legitimate playoff contender in the Western Conference this season. Tourigny has been the head coach of the Mammoth (who were previously the Utah Hockey Club and the Arizona Coyotes) since 2021-22, and has overseen both strong development outcomes for individual players and a gradual, steady improvement of the team’s fortunes. But that gradual improvement hasn’t yet materialized into an actual playoff appearance, which could be contributing to the level of pressure felt in Utah this season.

Other notes from around the NHL:

  • Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd missed his eighth consecutive game due to an upper-body injury last night, and The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber relayed word from head coach Spencer Carbery who said there is currently no timetable for when Dowd might return. Dowd, 35, has been a reliable fourth-line center in Washington for more than a half-decade, dating back to when Washington signed him in July of 2018. His loss as a defensive specialist is a significant one for the Capitals: he leads the team in shorthanded ice time per game by a wide margin and even got down-ballot Selke Trophy consideration in each of the last two seasons.
  • Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe didn’t play in the team’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, but it wasn’t an injury that kept the former 40-goal scorer out of the lineup. TSN’s Mark Masters reported yesterday that Verhaeghe instead missed the game due to personal reasons, or more specifically, due to the fact that his wife is expecting a child. That Verhaeghe’s absence appears to be an entirely temporary one is very important to the Panthers. The team has struggled immensely with injuries so far in 2025-26 and losing a player like Verhaeghe (who has 16 points in 24 games) to injury would only further deplete their lineup.

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