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Metropolitan Notes: Luchanko, Gostisbehere, Wood

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With his usage being limited thus far, the odds of Jett Luchanko spending the full season with the Flyers are dropping.  However, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco suggests that Philadelphia will at least look to drag the decision out a little longer by assigning him to AHL Lehigh Valley on a conditioning stint at some point.  While he’s ineligible to play for the Phantoms full-time, he is allowed to play on a conditioning stint for up to two weeks.  Luchanko won’t officially burn the first year of his entry-level deal until he plays in ten NHL games this season.  He’s at four so between his five games he can still play without starting the deal and a possible conditioning stint, he could remain with the Flyers for a while yet before returning to junior.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While the hope was that Shayne Gostisbehere’s lower-body injury wasn’t serious, it will hold him out for at least the next two games. The Hurricanes announced that they have sent him back to Raleigh for further evaluation, meaning he will miss the last two games of their road trip.  The 32-year-old got off to a hot start before the injury, picking up a goal and six assists in his first five games this season, notching at least one point in his first four outings.
  • There’s a chance that Blue Jackets winger Miles Wood could return by the end of the month, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link). The 30-year-old was injured a little more than a week ago after taking a high stick to the eye.  GM Don Waddell indicated that Wood is now able to see out of that eye but that further testing is required once all of the blood clears.  That testing will ultimately determine if he’s able to come back quickly or if he’ll be out longer term.

Five Key Stories: 10/13/25 – 10/19/25

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With the regular season now in full swing, injuries are starting to take their toll around the league.  Several significant injuries around the NHL are highlighted in our key stories.

Tkachuk Has Surgery: The Senators won’t have their captain available to them for a while as Brady Tkachuk underwent wrist surgery that will keep him out of the lineup for six to seven weeks.  The 26-year-old went for a second opinion in the hopes that surgery could be avoided which could have cut down the recovery timeline by a few weeks but that’s not the case.  One of the premier power forwards in the NHL, Tkachuk was off to a decent start before the injury with three assists in his first three games but Ottawa will now be looking to find someone to fill his spot on the top line until around December.

Rangers Fielding Calls On Othmann: When the Rangers drafted forward Brennan Othmann with the 16th pick in 2021, they were hoping to get a power forward who would be part of their core for the long term.  However, he has spent the bulk of his professional career in the minors and was an early cut in training camp, resulting in New York receiving some calls about his potential availability.  The 22-year-old has just two assists in 25 NHL games while notching 49 hits in a little under 10 minutes a night of playing time.  He’s been productive with AHL Hartford though, picking up 70 points in 97 games.  If the Rangers do decide to move him, it could be a trade that winds up being a swap of similar prospects in need of a change of scenery.

Canadiens Signings: While Lane Hutson didn’t get a contract extension in place before the season started, he didn’t have to wait too long to get one as he signed an eight-year, $70.8MM pact that begins next season.  The 21-year-old had a great rookie season, picking up 66 points in 82 regular season games, earning the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year.  He and Noah Dobson will now be Montreal’s top two defenders for the foreseeable future.  Notably, two elements of this deal will soon be illegal when the new CBA begins next September.  First, the eight-year term will be outlawed while Hutson received $55MM in signing bonus money, or 77.6% of the contract.  Signing bonus money will be capped at 60% of the contract next year.

Meanwhile, the other person who signed the contract also received a new deal as well as Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton inked five-year extensions.  Hughes, a former agent before being hired, has been GM in Montreal since January 2022 and has overseen a rebuilding process that saw Montreal turn over a significant chunk of its roster while becoming the youngest team in the league this season.  Meanwhile, Gorton, who was promoted to President of Hockey Operations as well with this signing, has been in place since November 2021.  While he didn’t get a chance to see his rebuilding efforts conclude with the Rangers, it looks like he’ll get that opportunity now.

More Injuries: There were more injuries of note across the NHL.  The Mammoth will be without blueliner Sean Durzi for the next four weeks due to an upper-body injury.  The 26-year-old had a breakout year two years ago in Arizona but he missed 52 games due to injuries last season and now this year is off to a tough start.  Meanwhile, the Panthers won’t have Dmitry Kulikov anytime soon as he’ll miss five months due to a torn labrum.  He’s a capable veteran depth piece for Florida as their infirmary continues to grow.  His $1.15MM AAV will become LTIR-eligible when needed.  Lastly, the Kings, who have struggled considerably out of the gate, will now be without one of their top players for a while as Anze Kopitar is listed as week-to-week with a foot injury.  The captain, who is in his final NHL season, is a key two-way center and was averaging a point per game in the early going before being injured.

Hart To Vegas: The Golden Knights will be adding some goaltending depth as unrestricted free agent Carter Hart has joined the Golden Knights on a PTO deal.  It’s expected he’ll spend some time with AHL Henderson and he could sign a two-year contract when he becomes eligible to play in December.  Hart was Philadelphia’s number one goalie for several years before being charged with sexual assault, a charge he was acquitted of this summer.  If he can get back to form, he could be an intriguing addition for the Golden Knights who currently have a relatively inexperienced backup goaltender in Akira Schmid playing behind Adin Hill.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

PHR Mailbag: Early Surprises, Karlsson, Sabres, Blackhawks, $20MM Player

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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include some early-season surprises, what’s next for the Sabres, and more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check for it in next weekend’s mailbag.

Schwa: What do you think the biggest surprises have been over the first week or two? Perhaps a positive and a negative.

On the positive side, it has to be Detroit.  Yes, they had a rough opener at the hands of Montreal but since then, they’ve beat Toronto twice plus Florida and Tampa Bay in their division plus Edmonton today.  That’s five wins against legitimate playoff teams which is particularly notable.  Along the way, Cam Talbot is off to a great start in goal, providing a level of goaltending that they added John Gibson to give them.  Meanwhile, they’re integrating three rookies into regular roles, including Emmett Finnie, a player taken in the seventh round two years ago.  Few would have expected him to be on the team a month ago let alone the top line.  There’s a lot to like so far for the Red Wings.

On the not-so-good side, I’m a bit concerned about how the Kings have started.  I wasn’t down on their summer as much as some were as while there were some veteran overpayments, their depth was still pretty good.  Now, they lost five of six to start and have had a hard time scoring and keeping pucks out of the net.  That’s not a good combination.  Now, they’re without Anze Kopitar for a while which isn’t going to help things.  They look more vulnerable than I thought they’d be.  Dustin Wolf’s start in Calgary isn’t particularly confidence-inspiring either.  He was a big reason they were more competitive than expected last season; if he can’t perform at a similar level this year, they’re in a lot of trouble.

random comment guy: I was reading on here that the Sharks would like to obtain younger D-men. The Hawks have a fair amount of younger D-men. Do you see any type of trade in the future and who would be involved?

Chicago feels like a good fit if San Jose decides it wants to add some other young defensemen to the mix in the hopes of seeing if one or two pan out.  The idea is basically to take a few dart throws and see what happens but when they’re not going to be going anywhere this season in the standings, I like the idea in principle.

As you correctly noted, the Blackhawks have a surplus of blueliners.  Of the six NHL-contracted blueliners they have in the minors, three have seen action at the top level and not just a token game; they’ve all played at least 27 NHL contests.  Kevin Korchinski is the most prominent of the trio but I don’t get the sense that Chicago is willing to sell low on him.  Instead, they’d rather have him play big minutes in Rockford and then have him full-time on the NHL roster next season when he’s waiver-eligible.  I don’t think they want to move Ethan Del Mastro just yet either.

The other one is Nolan Allan and I could see Chicago GM Kyle Davidson look to salvage something.  While he played 43 NHL games last season, he struggled in a limited role and has likely slipped behind those two on the prospect depth chart, not to mention Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser being ahead of him in Chicago as well.  In a best-case scenario then, he might be their eighth defender next season.  That’s a terrible spot for a prospect to be in and their value typically drops quickly after that.  If San Jose wants to get a look at him, it won’t be overly cheap (I could see the cost being a second-round pick or equivalent prospect value) but if they feel he has some upside and staying power, it’d be a move worth attempting.

gowings2008: Any rumors of Erik Karlsson to the Wings? Or are the summer rumors dead?

Speaking of those Red Wings…  There aren’t any credible rumors linking Karlsson to Detroit at the moment or anywhere really.  We’re still in the early goings of the season when teams are still trying to establish what they have, what they need, and what they could possibly get rid of.  While Pittsburgh is in a spot where they know that moving Karlsson is likely the desired long-term outcome, a $10MM cap charge is still something they’re going to have to navigate.

For Detroit, they still need to evaluate their young back end.  Can they rely on Axel Sandin Pellikka all season?  Can they count on more from Albert Johansson?  Could Jacob Bernard-Docker be a regular after bouncing in and out of the lineup in Ottawa?  The answers to those questions will help determine if they want to pursue him, as will their position in the standings.

If the Red Wings find themselves in the mix in the second half, I could see them taking a run at this, assuming Karlsson is amenable to going there.  Slotting him on the second pairing behind Moritz Seider could allow Sandin Pellikka to play on the third pair and get eased in a bit more, or even return to the minors if they want to maximize his playing time.  Notably, they also have the cap space to take on the full freight of the contract, something that can’t be said for a lot of teams.  But for now, they need to see what they have and see if this hot start can be sustained before looking into a big splash on the trade front.

Black Ace57: How many times will history be allowed to repeat itself with the Sabres with no real change? I mean more than trading the next Cozens. I know it’s early, but it feels different this year with the losing already becoming an issue.

It feels like there’s a little more urgency this season as at some point, the status quo can’t just keep happening.  At this point, a decision needs to be made about GM Kevyn Adams.  Considering the Dylan Cozens trade looks like a tough loss already, is he the one you’re going to trust to make the type of shakeup move(s) needed?  That could entail yet another coaching change, a big core trade, or starting over (I’ll look at each of those options shortly).  If Adams gets the vote of confidence, let him take the big swing or two.

But if not, they do have a ‘kick the can down the road’ card to play in Jarmo Kekalainen.  The former Columbus GM is now a senior advisor and if it’s decided a change needs to be made, put him in as a caretaker, assess, make some minor moves where needed, and then determine in the spring if he’s the guy to go with moving forward or conduct a more thorough search.  That’s the safe route to play.  Frankly, it’s the route I think they’ll take if they decide to let Adams go.  It’s probably not the best route to take but I think they’re going to be risk-averse at this point, for better or worse (and likely the latter).

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Pacific Notes: Chytil, Boeser, Stone, Kapanen

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While it was a good day for the Canucks on the scoreboard, it was a tough one on the injury front.  Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province relays that center Filip Chytil exited today’s game on a hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson and had to be helped off the ice.  A major penalty was initially assessed on the play but was rescinded after review.   The 26-year-old has a long documented history of concussion troubles with five already and while it’s unclear at this point if that’s something he may have or not, it’s something that will ensure the team errs on the side of caution.  Chytil had three goals in his first five games to tie him for the team lead heading into today’s action.  Meanwhile, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Department of Player Safety will review the hit but no supplemental discipline is expected.

More from the Pacific:

  • Still with the Canucks, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Brock Boeser missed today’s game for personal reasons; no further details were provided by the club. The 28-year-old had gotten off to a decent start to the season with three goals in five games while also seeing some playing time on the penalty kill, a role he hasn’t filled in a while.  Jonathan Lekkerimaki took his place in the lineup but he, too, left today’s game early with an undisclosed injury.
  • Golden Knights winger Mark Stone left last night’s game with what looked to be a wrist injury. Head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters postgame including Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that there was no immediate update and that they were hoping to know more information about the injury by Monday.  The captain has had a great start to the season, leading the league in assists with 11 through his first six games.
  • Oilers winger Kasperi Kapanen left today’s game against Detroit in the second period with an undisclosed injury, the team announced. The veteran has been a regular in Edmonton’s bottom six through the first six games of the season where he has two assists.  Notably, the team does not have enough accrued cap space to recall anyone from AHL Bakersfield (even with LTIR) as things stand which could be something to keep an eye on if he’s set to miss any more time.

Sharks Open To Moving Defenseman

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The Sharks entered the season with six blueliners playing on expiring contracts, all but one (Shakir Mukhamadullin) being pending unrestricted free agents.  With San Jose continuing their long-term rebuild, it’s a situation where many expect some of those players will be moving elsewhere.

It’s possible that one of those moves could come sooner than later.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (video link) that the Sharks are willing to look at moving one of their blueliners now.  While this isn’t the time of year when trades are typically made, there could be some demand for a depth defensive addition from teams that are either dealing with some injuries or are concerned about how their bottom defenders are faring right now.

At this point, it’s probably too early in the season for Nick Leddy ($4MM) to move after being an offseason waiver claim.  John Klingberg just signed with them and moving him just a handful of games into the season also seems unlikely.

That leaves three potential rentals in play.  Timothy Liljegren ($3MM) is no stranger to the rumor mill and seems likely to be dealt at some point but he also just landed on injured reserve.  Until he returns (or if his injury is deemed rather minor), he might not be in a position to be traded just yet.  Vincent Desharnais ($2MM) was added late last season from Pittsburgh but has played in just two of their five games so far.  He stands out as a viable candidate to go, especially being a right-shot defender, the side teams are typically coveting.

Mario Ferraro is the other pending unrestricted free agent on their blueline and has been in trade speculation for a couple of years now.  He has noted before that he’d like to stay beyond this season and it stands to reason that the Sharks will probably take a run at seeing what that would cost before entertaining potential trade opportunities.  Considering he’s one of their top potential trade chips should things go that route, moving him now doesn’t seem feasible.

It should be noted that San Jose only has one of three contract retention slots remaining with the other two being used on Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl.  This early in the season likely isn’t when GM Mike Grier would want to use that last slot, it’s more probable that he’ll want to use it closer to the trade deadline to help facilitate a bigger move at that time.  With that in mind, if they do move a blueliner, the acquiring team will need to take on the full freight of the contract or send a similar-priced contract to the Sharks to offset the cost.

While this wouldn’t likely yield a return of much significance at this point of the season, adding a draft pick to their stockpile isn’t a bad idea and would help clear some of the logjam they currently have.  Even with Mukhamadullin and Liljegren on IR, San Jose has eight blueliners on their active roster and are searching to add more young blueliners as well.  Opening up a spot to help facilitate that happening would be a good way to start what could be a busy trading season for the Sharks.

Blackhawks Reassign Joey Anderson

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Oct. 19: Anderson has cleared waivers and will be sent to Rockford, according to Friedman.

Oct. 18: It’s a relatively quiet day on waivers today with just one player hitting the wire.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Blackhawks have placed winger Joey Anderson on waivers.

The 27-year-old played in just one preseason game this fall before deciding to undergo surgery to repair which was termed as a nagging issue.  As a result, he wasn’t available to start the season and was designated as injured/non-roster status.  The winger returned to practice today, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link), meaning that he has been deemed healthy enough to go on waivers.

Anderson played in 18 games with Chicago last season after making the team out of training camp.  However, he was limited to just one assist in those outings despite logging over 12 minutes per game.  The Blackhawks waived him in early December but kept him up for a bit after he passed through unclaimed before sending him down to AHL Rockford in early January where he stayed the rest of the way.  Anderson was productive with the IceHogs, notching 17 goals and 10 assists in just 33 outings at that level.

Anderson has 169 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of seven seasons between New Jersey, Toronto, and Chicago and is on an affordable contract, one that pays $800K this season in a one-way salary.  He’ll become an unrestricted free agent next summer.  However, given his recent struggles at the top level, there’s a good chance that he’ll pass through unclaimed when the waiver period expires at 1 PM CT on Sunday.

Oliver Kylington Signs In Sweden

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A veteran blueliner has found a place to play this season.  Djurgarden of the SHL announced that they’ve signed defenseman Oliver Kylington to a one-year contract.

The 28-year-old was a second-round pick by Calgary back in 2015 and showed some flashes of upside over his six-year stint with the team.  It looked like he had turned a corner in 2021-22 when he collected nine goals and 22 assists in 73 games, putting him in a spot to be a potential top-four piece for them.  However, he was away from the team on a leave of absence for the next year and a half and played a limited role after that, resulting in the Flames going in a different direction last summer when he became a free agent.

Kylington wasn’t able to get the types of offers he was initially seeking in free agency, resulting in him waiting more than a month before he signed a one-year, $1.05MM contract with Colorado.  But playing time was hard to come by as he suited up in just 13 games with the Avs before being moved to the Islanders near the trade deadline; New York flipped him to Anaheim the next day.  Kylington played in just six games following the swap and then hit the open market this summer.

Kylington inked a PTO agreement with Carolina in late August with the hopes of landing a roster spot with them.  However, after three preseason games, he was cut fairly early, sending him back to free agency.  Clearly, no other NHL offers materialized so he has decided to head home where he’ll play a regular role in the hopes of boosting his stock next summer.

With 220 career NHL appearances under his belt, it’s quite possible that Kylington finds his way back to North America at some point, especially if he goes and plays an impactful role with Djurgarden.  But for now, his time at the top level has come to an end.

Metropolitan Notes: Carlson, Flyers, Borgen, Soucy

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Veteran defenseman John Carlson is in his 17th NHL season, all with the Capitals.  He’s in the final year of his contract, making him extension-eligible but the team informed him early that they didn’t want to engage in extension talks but rather want to see how the year plays out first.  Speaking with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti earlier this week, the 35-year-old acknowledged that he’d much rather prefer to have the security of a new contract in place but understands the business side of why they want to wait as well.  Carlson is making $8MM per season on this contract and with the likelihood of his role starting to decrease over the next few years, his next deal should come in at least a little below that price tag.  But if Washington decides not to bring him back, Carlson is already ruling out retiring and in that scenario, he’d be looking elsewhere in free agency next summer.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Long-time NHL rearguard Jay McKee wound up being a finalist for the Flyers coaching job, relays Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription link). He was linked as a speculative candidate if Philadelphia expanded its search but he wound up having a three-hour interview for the position.  McKee’s desire is not to be an NHL assistant first before moving to a head coaching role at the top level but he hasn’t ruled out going that route if an NHL head coaching job doesn’t materialize.
  • Rangers blueliner Will Borgen will play against Montreal tonight, notes Mollie Walker of the New York Post (Twitter link). He has been dealing with a lingering lower-body issue that has held him out of practice and resulted in a mid-week recall of Scott Morrow but it appears that Borgen will be good to go.  The 28-year-old has an assist, seven blocks, and eight hits in six games so far this season.
  • Still with the Rangers, defenseman Carson Soucy took part in practice today in a regular (contact) jersey, mentions Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic (Twitter link). The blueliner was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with an upper-body injury.  Soucy isn’t eligible to be activated until Monday but it appears that he won’t miss more time than the minimum seven days.

Wild Recall David Jiricek And Tyler Pitlick, Assign Liam Ohgren To AHL

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The Wild have made a trio of roster moves heading into their game tonight against the Flyers.  The team announced that they’ve recalled defenseman David Jiricek and winger Tyler Pitlick from AHL Iowa while assigning winger Liam Ohgren to Iowa.

Jiricek has been up for most of the season but has played just once, resulting in his assignment to the minors yesterday.  He suited up for Iowa last night, making him eligible to be recalled as he has fulfilled the one-game requirement, part of the new rules brought into play this season to try to cut down on paper transactions.

Jiricek hasn’t had a lot of success at the NHL level since Columbus drafted him sixth overall in 2022.  He has played in just 60 games at the top level since then, 43 of which came in 2023-24; since then, he has been more of an AHL player, even after Minnesota dealt four draft picks and Daemon Hunt to acquire him last season.

Pitlick, meanwhile, is in his first season with Minnesota after signing a two-year, two-way deal with them on the opening day of free agency back in July.  He’s off to a good start in Iowa with two goals through three games and has 420 career NHL appearances over parts of ten seasons with eight different franchises.  His best showing came back in 2017-18 with Dallas when he had 14 goals and 13 assists in 80 games.

As for Ohgren, while he has played in all five games so far, playing time has been rather limited as he’s averaging just 9:10 per game while failing to record a point.  Given that he’s still just 21 and waiver-exempt, it might be better for his development to play in a more prominent role with Iowa for a little while Pitlick, a 33-year-old veteran, is better suited to play a low-minute role on the fourth line.  Ohgren had 37 points in 41 games with Iowa last season.

Atlantic Notes: Kane, Bryson, Lindholm, McCue

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Red Wings winger Patrick Kane suffered an injury late in Friday’s victory over Tampa Bay when he crashed hard into the boards.  He’s now set to miss at least one game due to the injury as Max Bultman of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the veteran has been ruled out of playing tomorrow against Edmonton.  The 36-year-old is off to a strong start to his season with two goals and three assists in his first five outings, good for third on the team in scoring but he won’t be adding to those totals for at least a few days.  There’s no word yet on if he’ll miss any more time beyond Sunday’s outing.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • The Sabres announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Jacob Bryson suffered an upper-body injury this afternoon against Florida. The injury occurred on his first shift of the game after taking a hit from Jonah Gadjovich.  Bryson came into the games with an assist through his first four games of the season while averaging a career-low 11:31 per game, an ATOI number that’s certainly going to take a dip after today’s contest.  Zach Metsa is the only other healthy blueliner on Buffalo’s roster so if Bryson is set to miss any more time, Metsa should be in line for his NHL debut soon.
  • After missing the last three games with a lower-body injury, Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s game against Colorado, notes team reporter Belle Fraser (Twitter link). When healthy, Lindholm is a top-pairing impactful blueliner but staying in the lineup has been a challenge lately; he missed 65 games last season due to a knee injury.
  • Maple Leafs prospect Sam McCue announced on his Instagram account earlier this week that he has committed to Bowling Green State University. The 20-year-old was a seventh-round pick by Toronto back in 2024 and is off to a strong start in his final season of major junior, putting up four goals and two assists in eight games with OHL Brampton.

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