Kraken Activate Jaden Schwartz, Move Chandler Stephenson To Non-Roster Status
The Kraken will get a key offensive contributor back in their lineup tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Jaden Schwartz off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, center Chandler Stephenson has been granted non-roster status.
Schwartz has been out since late November with a lower-body injury, one that derailed what had been a solid start to his season. The 33-year-old had eight goals and seven assists through his first 23 appearances before being sidelined while averaging over 17 minutes per night of ice time. That came on the heels of a 49-point effort last season, his highest point total since the 2019-20 campaign when he was still with St. Louis.
Schwartz is in the final season of a five-year, $27.5MM contract signed for Seattle’s inaugural campaign but he has dealt with injury issues in four of those give seasons. Still, he remains one of their more intriguing potential trade chips heading toward the deadline in March. That is, if the Kraken wind up being sellers. They’ve won eight of their last ten games to get into a playoff spot and getting Schwartz back should only bolster their attack, one that sits 27th in goals scored heading into today’s action. If they stay in the mix, he’s unlikely to move but if they fall out of the race, he’s a strong candidate to be dealt.
However, they won’t have their full lineup available just yet with Stephenson’s removal from the roster. The 31-year-old is tied for second on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 16 assists in 42 games while he’s averaging 19:58 per game of ice time, a career high. However, it appears his removal from the roster is for a good reason, as Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times relays (Twitter link) that his wife is expecting to give birth shortly. That suggests Stephenson’s absence should be a short-term one which is important given his role as their top middleman.
Stefan Noesen To Have Knee Surgery
It has been a tough year on the injury front for the Devils, to put it lightly. Their injured list will grow once again as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Stefan Noesen will undergo knee surgery next week and has been placed on injured reserve.
It hasn’t been a great season for the 32-year-old. Last year, his first campaign back with New Jersey after signing in free agency, he had a career-best 22 goals and 41 points along with 152 hits, also a new benchmark. All in all, a very strong start to a three-year deal that carries a $2.75MM cap charge. That had expectations higher coming into 2025-26.
Instead, Noesen missed the start of the campaign with a groin injury after recovering from surgery when offseason rehab wasn’t able to fix the issue. Upon returning, he hasn’t been anywhere near as effective. Through 38 games, Noesen has recorded just three goals and four assists while he has dropped to the fourth line, resulting in a drop of ice time by more than four minutes per night. While it’s fair to wonder if this knee issue could be a contributing factor to those struggles, it has still been a disappointing showing for Noesen nonetheless.
It’s not all bad news on the injury front, however. Team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link) that winger Evgenii Dadonov and defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic skated today and, barring setbacks, are on track to return tomorrow against Winnipeg. Dadonov will slide into Noesen’s spot in the forward group while Kovacevic appears to be displacing veteran Dougie Hamilton based on today’s practice lines.
With both players being on LTIR, New Jersey needs to get back to cap compliance before the team can activate them. Noesen’s injury will likely cause him to miss at least the next 10 games and 24 days, making him eligible to go on LTIR himself. That, coupled with the demotion of Dennis Cholowski after he cleared waivers earlier today, will clear up enough room for their activations.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Place Zach Bogosian On IR
With Joel Eriksson Ek dealing with an undisclosed injury sustained on Thursday, the Wild needed some depth up front. That will come from winger Ben Jones as the team announced that they’ve recalled him from AHL Iowa. To make room on the roster, defenseman Zach Bogosian has been placed on injured reserve according to Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jones has spent the bulk of this season in Minnesota. The 26-year-old has played in 20 games, predominantly on their fourth line. However, while he has brought plenty of physicality with 47 hits, he’s still looking for his first point. That extends to his previous NHL stints as Jones has zero points in 48 career NHL appearances, all but two coming with Minnesota over the past two seasons.
That hasn’t been the case in the minors, however. Jones has three goals and three assists in eight games with Iowa and is coming off a 13-goal, 36-point showing in 2024-25. Jones cleared waivers in mid-December and has only been up for two days and played in one game so his 10-game, 30-day exemption clock largely remains intact.
As for Bogosian, he has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. Assuming the placement is back-dated, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as Minnesota needs him as he’ll have already served the seven-day requirement. The 35-year-old has played in 23 games this season, picking up a goal and three assists while averaging 14:52 per night of ice time.
Devils To Healthy Scratch Dougie Hamilton
With the Devils expecting to activate defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic off LTIR in advance of tomorrow’s game against Winnipeg, New Jersey will need to pull a defenseman out of the lineup to make room for him. It appears that will be veteran Dougie Hamilton based on today’s practice lines.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reached out (Twitter link) to Hamilton’s agent, CAA Sports’ J.P. Barry, for comment. Barry made it clear that he and his client feel this is business-related, not performance-related. The full comment is below:
“Dougie was informed today that he will be not be playing now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup. In our view, this decision is all about business rather than his game right now. Singling him out seems very calculated at this stage.
Dougie has a 10-team trade list and there have been efforts to trade him going back to the draft last year. We have made it clear to the Devils that we will consider teams outside our list and other creative ways to get to a team that is mutually acceptable.”
The 32-year-old has been in trade speculation for a while despite that trade protection. With New Jersey having one of the most expensive defense corps in the NHL and Simon Nemec in line for a new contract next summer, some have expected the Devils to try to move one of their blueliners out. Hamilton has a strong track record offensively but a $9MM cap charge through the 2027-28 season has limited his viable suitors. It also has played a big role in the team having to operate in LTIR all season long, preventing them from banking in-season cap space that could be used to try to improve or shake up their roster.
Unfortunately for Hamilton and the Devils, there is a performance-related case to his being scratched. He has just five goals and five assists in 40 games this season despite logging nearly two minutes per game on the power play and a little under 22 minutes a night overall. This comes on the heels of putting up 40 points in 64 games just last season while he has reached or surpassed the 40-point mark seven other times in his career. There have been a lot of underperformers in New Jersey recently and he has certainly been one of them.
On top of the trade protection, it should be noted that Hamilton also has a no-move clause that effectively serves as a no-waivers clause. As a result, this isn’t a case where New Jersey could put him on waivers and assign him to the minors.
Regardless of the impetus for the decision, the Devils scratching their highest-paid player (tied with Luke Hughes) is certainly going to draw some attention, as will Barry’s statement. Whether this will be enough to kickstart trade discussions remains to be seen. New Jersey’s season has been falling off the rails lately with seven losses in their last nine games (including a 9-0 drubbing earlier this week) and this will only lead to further distractions with calls growing for GM Tom Fitzgerald to try to do something to jumpstart this roster.
Blackhawks Recall Stanislav Berezhnoy
The flu bug has hit the Blackhawks hard. A day after having to use third-stringer Drew Commesso while dressing EBUG Dave Nozzolillo, Chicago has now had to call on another AHL netminder as the team announced that they’ve recalled Stanislav Berezhnoy from Rockford.
Chicago signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in July. While there are international goalies who typically sign NHL contracts on an annual basis, Berezhnoy’s profile was a little different given that he was relatively untested at the top level in Russia. He has just one career KHL game under his belt but posted a .928 SV% in 27 VHL appearances last season which was enough to convince the Blackhawks of his upside.
Playing time with the IceHogs has been hard to come by with Commesso being the priority netminder plus veteran Laurent Brossoit getting playing time until his trade to San Jose earlier this week. As a result, Berezhnoy has been limited to just nine appearances in the AHL where he has a 3.23 GAA with a .889 SV%.
That puts head coach Jeff Blashill in a bit of a tough spot for their game tonight against Nashville. Commesso struggled last night against Washington and asking him to go back-to-back isn’t ideal. But starting Berezhnoy might even be less ideal with how inexperienced he is.
Commesso’s recall put Chicago at 24 players on its active roster and Berezhnoy brings it to 25. Teams are allowed two 48-hour goalie emergency recalls that allow them to exceed the roster limit and the Blackhawks are putting both of them to use to get through this back-to-back set.
Wild Place Matt Kiersted On Waivers
Earlier this week, the Wild ran veteran Tyler Pitlick through waivers without sending him down, simply to restart his 10-game, 30-day exemption period. It appears they’re doing that once again as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Matt Kiersted is on waivers.
The 27-year-old is in his first season with Minnesota after signing a two-year, two-way contract (carrying a $775K AAV) with them on the second day of free agency last summer. A veteran of 41 NHL appearances heading into the season, the expectation was that he’d be a key piece in Iowa and a serviceable performer in a depth role if needed with the big club.
So far, things have largely played out that way. Kiersted has played in 23 games with Iowa this season and while his offensive numbers aren’t anything to get excited about with just three assists, he played a big role, especially defensively. That earned him a recall in the second week of December and he has been with Minnesota since then.
Playing time has been hard to come by since joining Minnesota as Kiersted has only played in four games so far. He has an assist and five blocked shots in those outings while picking up five blocked shots in 13:42 per night of ice time. While he hasn’t reached the 10-game mark, he has been up for 30 days, meaning his waiver exemption has expired.
Assuming that Kiersted passes through unclaimed for the second time this season (the other was in training camp), Minnesota can either keep him up in the reserve role he has been filling lately or return him to Iowa and open up some additional salary cap and roster flexibility.
Panthers Recall Sandis Vilmanis, Place Seth Jones On IR
The Panthers have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight against Ottawa. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Sandis Vilmanis from AHL Charlotte. To make room on the roster, defenseman Seth Jones has been placed on injured reserve, according to the NHL’s Media Site.
This is Vilmanis’ first recall to the NHL. The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Florida back in 2022, going 157th overall. He made the move to play junior hockey in the OHL the following season, spending two years there where he averaged just under a point per game with 58 goals and 54 assists in 122 regular season contests while adding 34 points in 30 playoff appearances.
That was enough for the Panthers to sign Vilmanis to a three-year, entry-level deal, one that he’s basically at the midpoint of. He has played in 31 games for the Checkers so far this season, posting eight goals and 11 assists, putting him on pace to beat the 27 points he had last season in his rookie campaign. His first half also earned him a spot on Latvia’s roster for the Olympics next month.
As for Jones, the move to IR is largely procedural. Earlier this week, he was listed as out week-to-week after sustaining an upper-body injury during the Winter Classic. At this point, his availability for the Olympics remains uncertain.
Florida remains at the maximum roster size of 23 which is noteworthy with Matthew Tkachuk (LTIR) believed to be nearing a return. (That won’t be tonight though, as he has been ruled out against the Sens.) However, yesterday’s waiver placement of Noah Gregor on waivers will soon open up the spot for Tkachuk, meaning that Vilmanis’ recall shouldn’t be affected by Tkachuk’s pending return to the lineup.
Hurricanes Activate Jaccob Slavin Off Injured Reserve
The Hurricanes will be welcoming back a critical piece of their back end for tonight’s game against Seattle. The team announced that defenseman Jaccob Slavin has been activated off injured reserve.
They’ll be hoping that the second time is the charm when it comes to returning from injury. Last month, Slavin returned from a lower-body injury only to sustain an upper-body issue in his third game back. As a result, the 31-year-old has been limited to just five games so far this season.
Slavin has received down-ballot Norris votes in each of the last nine seasons and is widely regarded as one of the top shutdown defenders in the NHL. He’s sitting on 299 career points in 750 career regular season contests so he has certainly been more than just a traditional stay-at-home blueliner. His previous play was good enough to earn a spot on Team USA for the Olympics next month despite hardly playing in 2025-26.
The Hurricanes enter tonight’s action atop the Eastern Conference which is especially impressive given how infrequently Slavin has been available to them. He’s listed by the team as being likely to be on their top pairing tonight alongside Jalen Chatfield.
On Friday, Carolina sent blueliner Joel Nystrom back to AHL Chicago without calling anyone else up. As a result, they had an open roster spot to activate Slavin. Their roster now stands at the maximum of 23 players once again.
Rangers Assign Justin Dowling To AHL
With center Noah Laba expected to return to the lineup tonight, the Rangers have sent some forward depth back to the minors. The team announced (Twitter link) that center Justin Dowling has been assigned back to AHL Hartford. They now have one open roster spot.
The 35-year-old was brought up at the beginning of the month when Laba and others were injured and got into two games with New York during this stint. He was held off the scoresheet while recording one shot on goal in a total of just over 14 minutes of playing time.
It’s the third straight season in which Dowling has seen NHL action; he played in a career-best 52 with New Jersey last season. That was enough to land him a two-year deal with the Rangers this summer with 2025-26 seeing him earn a one-way salary before reverting to a two-way pact next season.
Dowling has spent the bulk of the campaign with the Wolf Pack where he has fared well offensively, notching five goals and 11 assists in 24 games. After being a limited role player with the Rangers, he’ll return to being a key top-six forward in Hartford with the hopes of playing his way into another recall in the coming months.
Canadiens To Activate Kaiden Guhle Off LTIR
The Canadiens will welcome back a key part of their back end tonight against Detroit. The team announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle will return to the lineup, meaning he will be activated off long-term injured reserve.
The 23-year-old has been limited to just five games so far this season before a mid-October groin injury sidelined him until now. In those five outings, Guhle had a goal and an assist along with 16 hits in a little over 19 minutes per night of playing time.
In the first season of a six-year, $33MM contract, Guhle has been a very important part of Montreal’s back end. At least, that is, when he has been in the lineup. He has logged more than 20 minutes per game in each of his first three NHL seasons while averaging just shy of 20 points in each. However, he’s now missed 116 of a possible 290 games since his rookie campaign, meaning he has been out 40% of the time.
With Guhle’s return, the Canadiens now have their full defense corps available to them. The same can’t be said up front, however, with the team still without Josh Anderson, Kirby Dach, Jake Evans, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook with recovery timelines ranging from day-to-day to multiple months away from returning.
Earlier this week, Montreal assigned defenseman Adam Engstrom to AHL Laval with no corresponding roster move made at the time. As a result, the Canadiens had an open slot to activate Guhle so no other roster moves are required.