Florida Panthers To Recall Nolan Foote
The Florida Panthers have recalled forward Nolan Foote from their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, per Five Reasons Sports’ Alex Baumgartner. The move has not yet been officially confirmed by the team.
Foote’s recall comes as the Panthers manage numerous injuries to their forward corps. Star Sam Reinhart is out for at least the team’s upcoming four-game road trip, and Sam Bennett is out on a day-to-day basis. The team is also dealing with older injuries to stars such as Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand.
While those injuries are undoubtedly unfortunate for the Panthers, and have greatly contributed to the team’s year-over-year decline, the injuries also present an opportunity for Foote. This recall gives the 2019 first-round pick the chance to play in his first NHL games of the season, and the chance to make his Panthers debut.
A 6’3″ winger, Foote has scored at a steady rate in the AHL over the last few years. He’s reached at least 32 points in each of the last four seasons he’s been healthy for, and last season scored a career-high 39 points in 53 games with the Utica Comets. While his star as a prospect has dimmed since his days in the New Jersey Devils organization, he’s still just 25 years old, and a lengthy NHL career could still be ahead of him.
For him to be able to have that kind of NHL career, the first step will be to seize on the opportunities he’s presented with. AHL players don’t get to pick and choose when their NHL opportunities arrive, and Foote is no different. NHL games are NHL games, and for Foote, any he’s able to dress for with the Panthers will be high-stakes contests.
As a pending RFA, he’s playing not only to prove he belongs in Florida’s plans moving forward, but perhaps also to earn a raise on his next contract. Foote’s current deal is a two-way pact with a league-minimum NHL salary and a $250K total guarantee. If he can string together some quality NHL performances, and perhaps find a way to stick in Sunrise for the rest of the season, he could make a serious push to earn a one-way contract – or at least an even greater guarantee – for next season.
Morning Notes: Edstrom, Metsa, Bentley
While the New York Rangers have had a greatly disappointing season overall, this season has nonetheless been one where a few of the team’s younger players have taken real steps forward. While the rapid growth of star prospect Gabe Perreault, and the resurgence of 2020 No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere, have drawn the headlines, the Rangers are also benefiting from the development of the team’s younger role players. One player occupying that status who has taken a real step forward this season is big Swedish forward Adam Edstrom.
Edstrom, 25, has earned enough of the trust of head coach Mike Sullivan that he was kept in the team’s lineup as a fourth-line center over Juuso Parssinen, despite the fact that Edstrom has not played center since joining the North American professional ranks. Edstrom occupied the role for the Rangers’ victory over the Minnesota Wild yesterday, and it’s worth considering what that development might mean for Parssinen’s future in New York. If the 25-year-old, who has three points in 19 games this season, is being held out of the lineup in favor of a natural winger in Edstrom, it suggests he may not be in the Rangers’ future plans. Whether or not Edstrom is able to stick at the center position could seriously impact whether Parssinen will play out the next year on his contract (through 2026-27 at a $1.25MM) with the Rangers or elsewhere.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- When the Buffalo Sabres traded ascending winger J.J. Peterka to the Utah Mammoth last summer, one of the key pieces the team received in return was big defenseman Michael Kesselring. While Josh Doan has since emerged as the key part of the Sabres’ return in that deal, Kesselring was nonetheless seen as an important building block for the Sabres. That’s what makes the recent rise of former Quinnipiac University Bobcat Zach Metsa so surprising. Yesterday, Metsa played next to Rasmus Dahlin, while Kesselring spent his second straight game as a healthy scratch. Head coach Lindy Ruff’s increased level of trust in Metsa is worth monitoring moving forward. The Sabres’ blueline has become increasingly crowded, and once Mattias Samuelsson returns from injury, it’s fair to wonder what Kesselring’s path to playing time might look like. The 26-year-old has two points in 32 games this season and is a pending RFA with arbitration rights.
- The Laval Rocket, AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, signed NCAA free agent Dillan Bentley to a two-year, one-way AHL contract that runs through the 2027-28 season. Bentley will join Laval on a tryout for the rest of the 2025-26 campaign. Bentley, 24, joins the pro ranks after a four-year college career at UMass-Lowell. He was an alternate captain for the team this season, scoring 14 goals and 25 points in 33 games. He formerly served as the captain of his junior team in the NAHL. The signing returns the Canadiens to some familiar territory. This isn’t the first time the team’s management group, which has deep roots in the state of Massachusetts, has signed a top player out of Lowell; the Canadiens signed Lowell captain Lucas Condotta as an NCAA free agent in 2022. Condotta now serves as the Rocket’s captain.
Utah Mammoth Reassign Maksymilian Szuber
Saturday: The Mammoth announced that Szuber has been sent back to the Roadrunners. He did not see any game action while on recall.
Monday: The Utah Mammoth announced tonight that they have recalled defenseman Maksymilian Szuber from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.
The recall was made just before the club began its contest against the Chicago Blackhawks, and was likely made with an eye to the injury currently being managed by defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
Sergachev has been out since March 5 with a lower-body injury. With Sergachev unavailable for selection by head coach Andre Tourigny, the addition of Szuber gives the team an additional blueliner to work with in Sergachev’s absence.
This isn’t Szuber’s first recall in recent weeks for the 23-year-old defenseman, though he has not yet dressed for any games for the Mammoth. He has one NHL game to his name, coming in 2023-24 with the Arizona Coyotes. He’s been making a push for consideration for an NHL role in 2025-26, a development that has been underscored by his handful of recalls this year.
The 6’3″, 220-pound defenseman won a DEL Championship with Red Bull Munich in 2022-23 before crossing the Atlantic to cut his teeth in the North American pro game. He’s been a steady top-four defenseman at the AHL level over the past two years, and has had a strong season so far. In 50 games for the Roadrunners, he’s managed 10 goals and 25 points. He’s handling a solid diet of minutes for the Roadrunners, and is contributing on both sides of special teams.
While the Mammoth are looking to hold onto their current spot in the Western Conference playoff picture (their ceiling is likely the first Wild Card spot, given the substantial standings lead held by three Central Division juggernauts, the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, and Dallas Stars), they stand to benefit if they can find a way to test Szuber in some NHL games down the stretch.
He’s a pending restricted free agent who will have the right to file for arbitration if he so chooses. If the Mammoth can get Szuber into some NHL games, they would likely have a better sense of how close he is to being firmly NHL-ready, which would then give them a better sense of what level of investment to commit to him on his next contract.
Additionally, from Szuber’s perspective, getting the chance to play in some NHL games could enhance his case for a more substantial contract this summer. It would potentially allow him to position himself in negotiations more as a player on the NHL-AHL bubble, rather than a full-time AHL talent.
Senators Recall Lassi Thomson
With a second defenseman now injured, the Senators need some extra defensive depth heading into a back-to-back set this weekend. The team announced that Lassi Thomson has been recalled from AHL Belleville.
It’s the second recall of the season for the 25-year-old, who returned to North America this season after spending last season in Sweden. Thomson has been quite productive in Belleville, tallying 14 goals and 11 assists in 55 games; his goal total leads all AHL defenders. Unfortunately for him, it took until now to get an NHL opportunity.
A first-round pick by the Sens in 2019 (19th overall), Thomson has failed to get any sort of foothold at the NHL level. His time with Ottawa has been limited to just 18 games, 16 of which came back in the 2021-22 season; he last suited up with the big club back in November 2022 as he didn’t play on his first promotion of the season. Accordingly, it was reported back in January that Thomson was already eyeing overseas options for next season when he becomes a Group Six unrestricted free agent in the summer.
Thomson’s promotion comes on the heels of defenseman Nick Jensen being listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained against Montreal. However, TSN’s Claire Hanna relays (Twitter link) that the injury is unrelated to the hip that the veteran had surgery on over the summer. The 35-year-old logged just over 20 minutes a night last season in his first year in Ottawa but his second campaign hasn’t gone as well. Jensen is down more than three minutes per game in ice time while chipping in with four goals and 13 assists in 61 games.
Lightning To Activate Nick Paul, Assign Conor Geekie To AHL
The Lightning made a roster move early this morning, announcing that they’ve assigned center Conor Geekie back to AHL Syracuse. With the cap savings from that assignment, they now have enough money to activate forward Nick Paul off LTIR; head coach Jon Cooper confirmed to reporters, including team reporter Benjamin Pierce (Twitter link), that Paul will be activated before tonight’s game against Carolina.
Paul has missed the last 11 games with a lower-body injury sustained at the beginning of February against Boston. The 30-year-old has been a strong secondary scorer since joining Tampa Bay back in 22 but his playing time and numbers have taken a dip this season. Limited to just 34 games due to multiple injuries, Paul has notched just six goals and six assists so far in 2025-26 although he’s winning a career-high 54.4% of his faceoffs. He’ll likely slot in on either the third or fourth line; the latter if he simply slides into Geekie’s spot in the lineup.
As for Geekie, this stint with the big club ends at five games, bringing his season total to 11 after he broke camp with the Lightning back in the fall. He’s still looking for his first NHL goal of the campaign and has been limited to just two assists so far after notching 14 points in 52 games in Tampa Bay last season. The team has prioritized giving the 21-year-old big minutes in the minors with the Crunch over playing in a depth role which certainly makes sense from a development standpoint. Geekie has fared quite well in that situation, tallying 51 points in 47 games with Syracuse. He’ll return there and help the Crunch as they continue to battle for the top spot in the AHL’s North Division.
With Paul’s pending activation, Tampa Bay is down to two players on LTIR, rookie center Dominic James and freshman defenseman Maxwell Crozier.
Oilers Place Colton Dach On LTIR, Recall Max Jones
The Oilers added some grit to the bottom of their lineup earlier this month when they acquired Colton Dach from Chicago (along with Jason Dickinson for Andrew Mangiapane and a first-round pick). However, they’ll have to wait a while yet for him to really make his mark. The team announced today (Twitter link) that they’ve placed Dach on LTIR. In a corresponding move, winger Max Jones has been recalled from AHL Bakersfield.
Dach sustained the injury on Tuesday against Colorado, exiting after just two shifts. He played in three games after the swap, recording an assist in his second game with Edmonton. The 23-year-old played in 53 contests with Chicago before the move, notching three goals and six assists along with 189 hits in a little under 12 minutes per game.
It’s unclear how long Dach’s undisclosed injury will keep him out for but the LTIR placement means he’ll miss at least 10 games and 24 days, backdated from when the injury occurred. That means he’s out for the remainder of the month at an absolute minimum, hardly ideal as he’s set to become a restricted free agent this summer.
Dach’s LTIR placement gives Edmonton an extra $825K in its LTIR pool. That, coupled with the minimal space they already had, was enough to add Jones and his $1MM price tag to the roster. However, their LTIR pool is down to just $300K of full-season space, per PuckPedia.
This is the second recall of the season for Jones and his first of 2026, with his previous stint coming back in December. The 28-year-old had a goal and an assist in eight games on the fourth line over that first stint, meaning he’s only two appearances away from needing to clear waivers again to return to Bakersfield. Jones, a pending unrestricted free agent, has been reasonably productive with the Condors, potting ten goals and eight assists in 38 games so far this season.
Senators Acquire Riley Kidney From Canadiens
The Ottawa Senators completed a minor-league trade with the Montreal Canadiens, acquiring center Riley Kidney in exchange for center Jake Chiasson and goaltender Hunter Shepard per PuckPedia. The move will bolster the Laval Rocket with two AHL veterans ahead of a playoff run, while adding another young forward to the Belleville Senators with 14 games left in the regular season.
Kidney, 23, was a star scorer across four seasons in the QMJHL. He debuted with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the 2019-20 season after being drafted with the 11th-overall pick in that year’s QMJHL Entry Draft. Kindey quickly translated to the junior flight and scored five goals and 33 points in 59 games as a rookie. His passing ability stood out early, highlighted by an appearance at the 2019 World U17 Hockey Challenge, where Kidney’s five points in six games ranked above Team Canada teamamtes Mason McTavish and Dylan Guenther.
Kidney moved into his age-18 season with momenutm. He scored nine points in the first nine games of the season – before the QMJHL season was suspended from late-November to mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He scored four points in his second game back from the pause and finished the year with 38 points in 33 games. That was enough to earn convince Montreal to draft Kidney in the 2021 second-round pick. He rewarded that selection by notching 100 points in 66 games of the QMJHL’s return to a full schedule in 2021-22. Kidney repeated that feat in 2022-23, combining for 110 points in 60 games between the Titan and the Gaitneau Olympiques.
Despite high-scoring junior seasons, the nimble passer hasn’t found his scoring touch in the pros just yet. He racked up 37 points in 117 games with Laval between 2023 and 2025, slim enough to earn a demotion to the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions this season. Kidney has scored 11 goals and 33 points in 46 games with the Lions, one point shy of the team lead. Now, he could find space in the bottom-six of a Belleville squad that has promoted Arthur Kaliyev, Xavier Bourgault, and Stephen Halliday into NHL stints this season.
Laval will add Chiasson and Shepard to round out the lineup following Kidney’s move and Jacob Fowler‘s call-up to the NHL. Chiasson scored one point in 20 AHL games and eight points in 14 ECHL games. Shepard has notched six wins and a .885 save percentage in 15 AHL games, and made 12 saves on 14 shots in a mid-game appearance with Ottawa in January. Shepard should assume the backup role behind Kaapo Kahkonen, though his addition could indicate that Fowler is set for an extended stint at the top level. He stopped 32 of 34 shots in his return to NHL action on Wednesday.
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.
Snapshots: Benak, Cruikshank, Heartlanders
Minnesota Wild prospect Adam Benak announced on social media today that he has committed to play college hockey at Western Michigan University. Benak, a 2025 fourth-round pick of the Wild, has elected to join the reigning NCAA champions, presumably for the 2026-27 season. Benak is currently playing for the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL, where he has been one of the league’s most productive 18-year-old players. Of players his age, Benak’s 68 points in just 42 games ranks third in total points and second in scoring rate.
The move to college hockey will be the next test for a player who has found a way to be a productive force at the USHL level, OHL level, and on the international stage. Entering the season, Benak was ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the Wild’s system by the team at Elite Prospects, with scout Sebastian High writing that while he has middle-six upside, his “path to an NHL role is long and winding,” in large part due to his status as an undersized forward. Today’s announcement settles that the next step for Benak on his road to pro hockey will be the NCAA, and scouts will likely be curious to see if he’ll be able to translate his quality production from junior hockey to the college ranks.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- The AHL’s Hershey Bears announced that veteran forward Grant Cruikshank has signed a one-year AHL contract extension to remain with the organization for the 2026-27 season. The 27-year-old has had a solid 2025-26 campaign, setting a career-high for games played (52), goals (nine), and points (14) in a single AHL season. After a five-year college career, Cruikshank began his time as a professional in the ECHL, but after scoring 43 points in 35 games as a rookie, he quickly elevated himself to the AHL side of the AHL/ECHL bubble. Last season, he got into 31 games for the Bears, and this year, he’s been able to carve out a regular role in head coach Derek King’s lineup. He’s become a far more regular fixture on the Bears’ penalty kill, a unit that ranks No. 15 in the AHL, and it’s his development into a reliable defensive forward that has likely earned him this early extension. While he may not have a clear path to the NHL, he could look forward to a long AHL career as a penalty-killing defensive forward, perhaps in the mold of longtime Bridgeport forward Jeff Kubiak.
- The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders announced today that the league’s Board of Governors approved the team’s decision to voluntarily suspend operations for the 2026-27 season. In their announcement, Heartlanders owner Michael Devlin called the move “an incredibly difficult decision” but one that “is the most responsible course” as the team reviews options for the franchise’s long-term sustainability. The Heartlanders are the ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, and have players who are signed to, or have previously signed, NHL contracts on their roster, including Elliot Desnoyers, Cameron Butler, and Stevie Leskovar. Iowa went 36-25-11 last season but has fallen to 19-30-5 this year, No. 28 of 30 teams in league standings. According to HockeyDB, they rank last in the ECHL in average attendance per game.
Sharks Recall Nick Leddy, Assign Nolan Allan To AHL
The Sharks have shuffled up their depth defense. The team announced (Twitter link) that veteran Nick Leddy has been recalled from AHL San Jose while after being recalled just yesterday, blueliner Nolan Allan was sent down to the Barracuda.
Last offseason, the Sharks decided to claim Leddy off waivers from St. Louis, absorbing the final year and $4MM left on his contract. Coupled with some of their veteran additions on the back end (including Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg), they were hoping to raise the floor of their defensive group. Orlov and Klingberg were able to do so but things haven’t gone anywhere near as well for Leddy.
The 34-year-old has only played in 19 games for the Sharks this season, picking up four assists and 26 blocks while averaging 17:30 per night of ice time. In mid-January, San Jose decided to put him on waivers to open up a roster spot and sent him down to the Barracuda. However, with them, he has only suited up once. He may be a more logical option to serve as a reserve defender for the stretch run with him heading for unrestricted free agency in the offseason over having a younger player watching from the press box.
Allan’s recall didn’t yield any playing time so he’s still looking for his first NHL opportunity of the season after getting into 43 contests last season with Chicago. Acquired midseason as part of the Laurent Brossoit pickup, the 22-year-old has been fairly successful with the Barracuda, notching two goals and eight helpers in 20 outings since the swap.
The quick demotion is fairly curious, given that they burned one of their five post-deadline regular recalls when they brought Allan up. By sending him back down and bringing Leddy up, they’re now using another one in short order to fill a roster spot that’s unlikely to see much playing time.