Detroit Red Wings Reassign John Leonard
The Detroit Red Wings announced today that they have reassigned winger John Leonard to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
This isn’t Leonard’s first transaction of the year, as he was recalled from the AHL on Jan. 4, ending a reassignment that began Dec. 31. Leonard had an impressive December, scoring two goals and four points in seven games for Detroit.
The 27-year-old’s quality performances in that handful of NHL games, as well as his affordable league-minimum cap hit, make him a candidate to be claimed off waivers if he’s exposed to the waiver wire again this year. Leonard already cleared waivers earlier this season, but NHL rules stipulate that his waiver exemption only lasts until he plays in 10 or more cumulative NHL games, or spends 30 or more cumulative days on fan NHL roster.
With nine total NHL games played to this point in 2025-26, Leonard is just one game from once again requiring waivers to be sent down. Rather than risk Leonard reaching that point tomorrow against the Montreal Canadiens, the Red Wings have elected to send Leonard back to Grand Rapids. He was exceptional in the AHL before his original recall, scoring 32 points in just 23 games.
While it’s entirely possible that Detroit may elect at some point to return Leonard to the roster and keep him there regardless of his waiver eligibility, it seems at this point that Leonard will return for a stretch to support the Griffins. Grand Rapids plays tonight against the Texas Stars, and a win would further extend the team’s massive lead at the top of the AHL standings. The Griffins have a 29-1-1 record so far in 2025-26.
Today’s transaction has potentially put an end to Leonard’s recent stretch in the NHL, and even if he remains in the AHL for some time, his strong performance in Detroit this season has come at an important time. He’s playing out a one-year, one-way $775K contract, and his play this season suggests he stands a strong chance at once again receiving a one-way deal for next season and potentially beyond.
Columbus Blue Jackets Activate, Reassign Luca Marrelli
The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated defenseman Luca Marrelli off of injured reserve, and reassigned him to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.
Marrelli, 20, underwent offseason shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reported in September that Marrelli’s recovery timeline had him slated to return at some point in December, so his ultimate return date has fallen just a bit later than the original projections.
This activation allows Marrelli to begin his professional career. The 2024 third-round pick spent the last four years manning the blueline for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. He steadily developed over the course of his junior hockey career, going from reserve blueliner to Oshawa’s key offensive generator from the back end. Marrelli helped Oshawa make deep playoff runs in each of his final two years in the OHL, with the Generals falling to the London Knights in the OHL finals in back-to-back years.
Marrelli’s final season in Oshawa was, as expected, his best. He managed 74 points in 67 regular-season games, and added on 36 points in 21 OHL playoff contests. That playoff performance set a Generals record for most points by a defenseman in a single playoff run, and he ended the year named a CHL Second-Team All-Star. That performance allowed Marrelli to enter the 2025-26 campaign as one of Columbus’ more highly-regarded prospects. Before the season, he was ranked as the club’s No. 7 prospect by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman, No. 8 by Elite Prospects, and No. 8 by Daily Faceoff.
Now with his pro career set to begin in Cleveland, it’s unclear at this moment where exactly on the Monsters’ defense Marrelli will slot in. With 2021 first-rounder Corson Ceulemans already in the lineup and veteran top-four stalwart Dysin Mayo recently reassigned, there does not appear to be a clear spot for Marrelli on the right side of the team’s top two pairings.
With that said, the club could shift left-shooting veteran Will Butcher back to the left side, which could keep open a spot for Marrelli on the team’s third pairing.
It will also be interesting to see if Marrelli, whose offensive ability defined his game in junior, will be able to unseat Butcher or Mayo on the Monsters power play. Butcher has 14 points in 28 games this season, while Mayo has seven in 19 games. Worth noting with the power play is that until 2025-26, Mayo has not consistently featured on an AHL power play, meaning he could be a clear candidate to surrender his role there to Marrelli.
Montreal Canadiens Reassign Adam Engstrom
The Montreal Canadiens announced today that defenseman Adam Engström has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.
Engström, 22, finishes what was his first-ever NHL recall with 11 games played. While he wasn’t able to collect his first NHL point, Engström showed some flashes playing in what was a sheltered third-pairing role. He averaged 12:32 time on ice per game, which ranks as the second-lowest average time on ice per game among Canadiens defensemen this season, ahead of only Arber Xhekaj.
Despite the limited usage and lack of any production, Engström doesn’t return to the Rocket empty-handed. He showed flashes of what made him the Canadiens’ No. 6 prospect, according to Elite Prospects. Engström’s game is built around his mobility and his poise, and in December The Athletic’s Arpon Basu wrote that the Canadiens “clearly have a promising talent in Engström.”
Now slated to return to Laval, it’s likely Engström will resume playing a key role for the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate. He scored 16 points in just 20 games before his recall, and could form a formidable top pair alongside 2023 No. 5 pick David Reinbacher. If the Canadiens face an injury to the left side of their defense, expect Engström to be first in line for a recall.
Engström’s reassignment also signals that top-four defenseman Kaiden Guhle could be nearing a return to the ice. Guhle has been out since Oct. 16 with a groin injury. He underwent adductor muscle surgery on Nov. 14 and was originally given an eight-to-ten week recovery timeline. Tomorrow will be eight weeks since that point, placing Guhle squarely within that originally projected return window.
If the Canadiens do end up getting Guhle back, his return would be a significant boost to the team’s defense. While it wouldn’t be without complications — star defenseman Lane Hutson would likely have to be shifted to the right side, where he has been less dominant than he’s been on his natural left side — the overall effect on the team’s blueline will almost certainly be positive.
Guhle is a key top-four defensive defenseman for the club and should help lighten the load placed on the shoulders of veteran Mike Matheson. Matheson leads all NHL defensemen in short-handed ice time per game with 4:18 per contest, and ranks No. 8 in the NHL in time-on-ice per game despite barely receiving any power play time. If Engström’s reassignment does indeed signal a Guhle return, the Canadiens defensive deployment is likely to soon change.
Pittsburgh Penguins Reassign Ville Koivunen
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that winger Ville Koivunen has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The move does not come as a major surprise as Koivunen has been a healthy scratch twice in the Penguins’ last three games. The 22-year-old winger, who was acquired by the Penguins as part of the 2024 Jake Guentzel trade, entered the season as a key player to watch in Pittsburgh. He scored 21 goals and 56 points for the AHL Penguins last season, and also managed seven assists in eight NHL games, the first NHL games of his career.
Koivunen entered the season ranked as the No. 2 prospect in Pittsburgh’s system according to Elite Prospects, who wrote that “he could ascend to a top-nine or even top-six role, becoming one of the keys to the Penguins’ rebuild.”
That ascension hasn’t happened so far in 2025-26. While he remained a lethal offensive weapon at the AHL level, scoring a whopping 11 points in just six games at that level, he’s struggled to make his mark at the NHL level the way he did in his short cameo last season.
One week ago, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe wrote that Koivunen “has been quite disappointing,” adding that “he isn’t ready for prime time just yet.” The 22-year-old has managed just five points in 27 games this season, averaging 12:41 time on ice per game.
Reassigning Koivunen back to the AHL gives the player an opportunity to receive a more significant level of playing time. He’ll play a leading role in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, rather than a minimal one in Pittsburgh.
In addition, getting the chance to once again play at the AHL level should help Koivunen rebuild some confidence in his scoring abilities, and that could allow him to hit the ground running the next time he’s called up to Pittsburgh.
New York Rangers To Place Adam Fox On LTIR, Igor Shesterkin On IR
The New York Rangers will place defenseman Adam Fox on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), and place netminder Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve, according to Mollie Walker of The New York Post.
While those injured reserve placements have yet to be officially announced, the Rangers did foreshadow the moves by recalling veteran netminder Spencer Martin and defenseman Scott Morrow from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Rangers also reassigned forward Brett Berard back to the AHL.
The Rangers lost in overtime to the Utah Mammoth yesterday, and Shesterkin left that game with a non-contact lower-body injury.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported today that Shesterkin “avoided” the “worst-case scenario” with his injury, but is still being evaluated.
Any potential extended absence of Shesterkin would deal a massive, potentially fatal blow to the Rangers’ hopes of returning to the playoffs in 2025-26.
The 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner has started 34 games for New York this season, posting a .913 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against-average.
He’s widely considered to be among the league’s finest netminders, a status reflected by the eight-year, $11.5MM AAV contract extension he signed in December of 2024.
While the Rangers have a veteran backup in Jonathan Quick who has been stellar this season (.919 save percentage in 11 games), he hasn’t had to handle a significant workload since he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings. The three-time Stanley Cup champion made just 20 starts last season and 26 the year before. For as long as Shesterkin is out with this injury, Quick will now be counted on as the Rangers’ No. 1 goalie.
Supporting Quick in the crease is Martin, a 30-year-old veteran with 66 games of NHL experience. Martin was the No. 3 goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes last season but couldn’t find an NHL role for 2025-26 last summer, so he signed with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. Martin left CSKA and signed with the Rangers in November. He went 5-6-2 with a .905 save percentage in the KHL, and has a .903 save percentage in six games played for the Wolf Pack this season.
The Rangers could have also opted to recall 23-year-old Dylan Garand to the NHL to fill Shesterkin’s vacated roster spot, as the former CHL Goalie of the Year has been quite good in Hartford over the last few years and could be NHL-ready at this point. But seeing as Quick is likely to start most of the games in Shesterkin’s absence, it’s understandable that the Rangers would rather recall Martin, the veteran, and let Garand continue to get a steady diet of starts and develop at the AHL level.
While we don’t know how long Shesterkin is set to be out for, we do have a slightly more clear timeline regarding Fox. The 2020-21 Norris Trophy winner missed most of December with an upper-body injury, one that landed him on LTIR. He’ll now return to LTIR, this time with a lower-body injury, after just three games played. LTIR rules stipulate that Fox must now miss at least 10 games or 24 days of action. According to Walker’s report, Fox will be re-evaluated when he is eligible to be activated.
Replacing Fox on the Rangers’ roster is Morrow, who the team acquired this past summer as part of the K’Andre Miller trade. Morrow was ranked as the NHL’s No. 33 skater prospect by the team at Elite Prospects this past August, a billing he earned after scoring 39 points in 52 AHL games in his first full season playing pro hockey. The 23-year-old hasn’t been able to translate that level of production from the Hurricanes organization to New York, scoring just five points in 14 games in Hartford and three points in 16 games for the Rangers.
The Rangers at times gave Morrow a look quarterbacking their power play while Fox was injured, but he was unable to seize that role. With Fox now set to miss around a month or more, Morrow could get another look in that role.
The final player involved in transactions today is Berard. The 23-year-old has split time between Hartford and New York this season, skating in 20 games for the Wolf Pack (nine points scored) and 12 games for the Rangers (zero points). He’s a pending restricted free agent who was recalled at the start of 2026 and was dressed for the team’s Jan. 2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
He was a healthy scratch for yesterday’s loss to Utah. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson noted today that Berard’s reassignment leaves the Rangers short of spare forwards, which could suggest that one, or both, of injured forwards J.T. Miller and Noah Laba may be close to returning.
Photos courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Buffalo Sabres Make Four Roster Moves
The Buffalo Sabres announced a series of roster moves today, as they activated veteran Jason Zucker off of injured reserve and recalled defenseman Zac Jones from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In two corresponding moves, the Sabres placed defenseman Michael Kesselring and goaltender Alex Lyon on injured reserve.
Zucker, 33, has been out since the Sabres’ Dec. 8 contest against the Calgary Flames. Despite losing Zucker, a veteran of nearly 800 games who had 18 points in 21 games before his injury, the Sabres went on a 10-game win streak starting in their first game without Zucker, a streak that only came to an end Jan. 3 at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Per NHL.com’s Heather Engel, Zucker will return to the lineup as the Sabres’ second-line right winger. When he last played, Zucker was the team’s third-line left wing, skating on a line with Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod. Zach Benson is now in that spot.
The return of Zucker should help the Sabres build more momentum in their push to end their playoff drought, which stands as the league’s longest. The 33-year-old is playing out the first year of a two-year contract extension he signed in March of last year, one that carries a $4.75MM cap hit.
Shifting focus to the Sabres’ defense, the team placed Kesselring on IR after he missed the team’s Saturday loss to the Blue Jackets. The 25-year-old missed nearly a month with a lower-body injury in November and December, and also began the season with a lower-body injury that cost him nine games. The 6’5″ blueliner was acquired by the Sabres over the summer as part of the JJ Peterka trade. The Sabres also received breakout winger Josh Doan from the Utah Mammoth in the deal.
His difficulty staying healthy has cost Kesselring the chance to play a significant role on head coach Lindy Ruff’s defense. Through 16 games played this season, Kesselring doesn’t have a point and is averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time per game, including just over a minute shorthanded.
Replacing Kesselring on the roster is Jones, a former minor league and NCAA standout. Once one of the better prospects in the New York Rangers’ system (he was ranked No. 2 in their pool by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler in 2022), Jones failed to earn a regular role on the Rangers, serving mainly as a reserve defenseman under former head coach Peter Laviolette.
Jones was not extended a qualifying offer by the Rangers last summer, and the Sabres signed him to a one-year, $900K deal with a hefty $550K AHL salary. While he has yet to make his Sabres debut after failing to earn a spot on the team out of training camp, he has been brilliant at the AHL level. Jones has 30 points in 27 games for the Americans, leading the team in scoring.
If Jones gets the chance to play during this recall, it would be a significant opportunity for him as he is a pending restricted free agent. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn wrote on Jan. 3 that the Sabres “don’t have a lot of internal options Ruff trusts.” If Jones can find a way to earn the trust of Ruff to a greater extent than his rival Sabres depth blueliners have been able to (namely Zach Metsa, Jacob Bryson, and Ryan Johnson), he could secure an extended runway to show off his skills at the NHL level.
To clear sufficient room for Jones’ recall and Zucker’s activation on their regular roster, the Sabres placed Lyon, a goalie, on IR. Lyon has been dealing with a lower-body injury and will now miss at least a week due to this IR placement. The 33-year-old has a 10-6-3 record this season with a .904 save percentage, and is under contract at a $1.5MM AAV through next season. Since the Sabres have been carrying three goalies on their active roster, they are able to place Lyon on IR without recalling another netminder.
With Lyon injured, Ruff and the Sabres will turn to veteran Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and rookie waiver claim Colten Ellis in the crease to help sustain the momentum they built with their win streak.
Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Stars Activate Casey DeSmith, Recall Nathan Bastian
Jan. 5: DeSmith has returned to the team and has been activated from the non-roster list, the team announced. Poirier was sent back to AHL Texas in the corresponding move after backing up Oettinger in Sunday’s loss to the Canadiens. Dallas also recalled Bastian from his conditioning loan; he had two goals and an assist in four games for the AHL Stars.
Jan. 3: The Stars have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game against Montreal on Sunday. The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Casey DeSmith has been granted non-roster status to tend to a personal family matter. Taking his place on the roster will be netminder Remi Poirier, who has been recalled from AHL Texas.
DeSmith is in his second season as the backup in Dallas and he is once again having a strong campaign. In 15 starts, he has posted a 2.44 GAA and a .912 SV%, numbers close to the ones he put up in 27 outings in 2024-25. His save percentage is actually five points higher than starter Jake Oettinger; it’s not often that a backup goalie has better numbers than an established number one option. He won’t be able to improve on those numbers for the time being; there is no timetable for his return.
As for Poirier, the 24-year-old is in his fourth season in the system for the Stars and this will be his first recall since his rookie campaign in 2022-23 where he didn’t see any game action. He has played in 22 games with Texas so far, compiling a 2.77 GAA along with a .903 SV%, his lowest mark at the AHL level so far. He’ll serve as Oettinger’s backup until DeSmith is able to return which should come fairly soon with Victory Plus’ Brian Rea suggesting (Twitter link) that DeSmith could be back with the team as soon as Tuesday.
From a salary cap perspective, Dallas has more than enough space in its LTIR pool with Tyler Seguin and Lian Bichsel both on there so nothing further has to be done on that front. Meanwhile, their active roster remains full as 23 players; even though Nathan Bastian is on a conditioning loan with Texas, he still is on the NHL roster.
Egor Zamula Suspended In AHL
It appears that some controversy has already started with one of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ recent acquisitions. According to the AHL transactions log, the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have suspended defenseman Egor Zamula.
There’s minimal reporting on Zamula’s status, and the AHL Penguins have yet to announce the decision. Still, regardless of the reasoning behind the suspension, it certainly throws a wrench in the Penguins’ plans after trading for Zamula only three days ago.
Zamula may be continuing to posture that he should be on an NHL roster and is refusing to report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Shortly before the trade to Pittsburgh, Zamula changed his representation to Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey and was considering mutually terminating his contract to explore other opportunities.
Still, refusing to report to the AHL doesn’t necessarily mean that Zamula is unhappy about his newfound home with the Penguins. There may be a potential handshake agreement between Zamula and Pittsburgh for a future recall, but the team is currently unable to implement it. If that’s the case, the AHL Penguins would have to suspend him for failing to report, regardless of any potential agreement.
Although that situation is plausible, it’s unclear how Zamula fits into the Penguins’ roster as currently constructed. The team has seven defensemen on the active roster, with Caleb Jones on the injured reserve. Given how they’ve been playing lately, it wouldn’t make much sense for Pittsburgh to make a change to their defensive core unless they trade a defenseman off the team.
For the sake of his continued development, Zamula and his representation will have to find a longer-term solution sooner rather than later. Despite being healthy this season, he’s only appeared in 13 games for the Flyers and three games for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Fortunately, even if Zamula is unhappy with a continued stay in the AHL, the Penguins don’t stand to lose much even if he ultimately leaves the organization. Initially, they traded Philip Tomasino for Zamula in the deal with Philadelphia. He has primarily been playing for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season, with limited chances to return to NHL games with the Penguins.
Golden Knights Recall Jaycob Megna
With Brayden McNabb sustaining an upper-body injury on Wednesday against Nashville, the Golden Knights have brought up an extra blueliner. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson.
The 33-year-old is in his first season in the organization after spending 2024-25 with Florida. Vegas saw fit to give Megna a two-year, one-way deal worth $800K per season for situations like this where he could be playable depth where needed or as injury insurance so as to not disrupt the development of their prospects with the Silver Knights.
This is Megna’s third recall of the season although the first two didn’t result in any playing time. He does, however, have 193 career NHL appearances under his belt between five different organizations where he has 27 points along with 313 blocks and 258 hits in 17:38 of playing time per game. Meanwhile, he has two goals and four assists in 23 games so far this season with Henderson.
With Megna’s recall, Vegas is up to a full 23-player roster.
Blue Jackets Recall Danton Heinen
When the Blue Jackets placed winger Miles Wood on injured reserve earlier today, they opened up a roster spot. They didn’t waste much time filling it as the team announced that they’ve recalled winger Danton Heinen from AHL Cleveland. They still have one open slot on their 23-player roster.
The 30-year-old hasn’t been in the organization for very long as he was only acquired by Columbus back on Monday as part of the Yegor Chinakhov deal. However, his inclusion was more for salary-matching purposes rather than being a specific target as Heinen has gone through waivers unclaimed twice already this season.
Heinen has split this season between the NHL and AHL, playing in 13 games at each level, including one with Cleveland following the trade. In the minors, he has been dominant, notching six goals and 12 assists in his first taste of minor league action since 2017-18. Meanwhile, in the NHL with Pittsburgh, he has a goal and an assist while averaging 11:40 per night of ice time.
When Heinen sees any game action with Columbus, it stands to reason that his playing time will be similarly limited. But he does have a strong track record of being productive in a bottom-six role as evidenced by his career numbers of 243 points in 579 games despite an ATOI below the 14-minute mark. Given their growing list of injuries, he should get a chance to add to those numbers before long.