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Devils Recall Seamus Casey

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The Devils didn’t waste much time filling the roster spot created by their assigning of Nico Daws back to AHL Utica earlier today.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Seamus Casey from the Comets.

The 21-year-old broke camp with New Jersey last season and had three separate stints with them over the course of the year.  In those games, he was certainly productive offensively for a blueliner, tallying four goals and four assists in 14 appearances despite fairly light playing time at just 12:39 per night.  In between, he was similarly productive in the minors with the Comets, picking up 18 points in 30 appearances with them.

This season, Casey started on season-opening injured reserve due to a lower-body injury.  He was activated earlier this week and sent to Utica.  He played in one game down there, collecting an assist.

It appears that Casey will be taking the place of Brett Pesce in New Jersey’s lineup after it was revealed following their game today against Colorado that the veteran won’t be going on their four-game road trip.  Dennis Cholowski is also on the roster but he may remain the seventh defender as it seems unlikely that they’d recall Casey to merely keep him around as a healthy scratch.

Flames Looking To Add Scoring Help

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It has been a tough start to the season for the Flames.  They enter play today in 32nd place in the standings with just three points through their first nine games.  While Dustin Wolf’s play has been up-and-down in goal in his sophomore year, there is an even bigger reason for their struggles.  That would be their offense, or lack thereof.

Calgary sits last in the league in goals scored this season with 15, or just 1.67 per game.  Only three forwards have scored more than once so far while their power play is just five for 38, a success rate of 13.2%.  Not surprisingly, all of those are well below league average in the early going.  Unfortunately for them, they were near the bottom of the league in goals in 2024-25 as well, meaning that this isn’t just a slow start.

While it’s rare for trades of any sort of impact to take place this early in the season, it appears the Flames are trying.  In a recent TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun reported that GM Craig Conroy is already working the phones to explore what options might be available to add some extra firepower to his team.

Cap space won’t be an issue if Conroy can find the right fit.  Per PuckPedia, the Flames project to finish the season nearly $11MM under the Upper Limit based on their current roster.  They could easily add a player or two up front and comfortably remain in cap compliance.

That said, just because they can do that doesn’t necessarily mean they should.  With their early struggles and already being viewed as a team that’s iffy at best to make the playoffs, the more prudent approach might be to sell and kickstart at least a short-term rebuild.  Veterans like defenseman Rasmus Andersson (a pending UFA) and center Nazem Kadri could command significant returns, adding to their prospect pool and draft cupboard while bottoming out to try to secure a top spot in a strong 2026 draft class would be defensible.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently reported (video link) that Calgary wouldn’t entertain the thought of moving Kadri until he passes the 1,000-game threshold, something he should do next month.

However, Conroy has been hesitant to undertake a full-scale rebuild, even after moving out some veterans a couple of years ago.  Instead, he has hoped that his core group, coupled with strong goaltending from Wolf, could hang around the playoff mix.  They did just that last season, finishing with 96 points but still narrowly missed out on securing the final Wild Card spot in the West.

Believed to be a likely seller heading into last season, the Flames wound up being buyers, picking up Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost from Philadelphia in the hopes of upgrading their offense, something that didn’t exactly happen.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see Conroy targeting a similar type of move but if their struggles continue a little longer, they ultimately could wind up changing course and become sellers instead of buyers and put aside shoring up their offensive depth until the offseason.

Hurricanes Recall Domenick Fensore, Assign Charles-Alexis Legault To AHL

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The Hurricanes have elected to swap their depth defensemen.  The team announced that they’ve recalled Domenick Fensore from AHL Chicago and assigned Charles-Alexis Legault to the Wolves.

Fensore made his NHL debut in the final two regular season games last season, averaging over 19 minutes a night with Carolina resting many of their regulars.  The 24-year-old has gotten off to a strong start in the minors this season, picking up three goals and four assists in just four games; his seven points are second-best among all AHL defenders while he leads all Wolves players in that regard.

As for Legault, he received his first NHL recall a little more than two weeks ago.  The 22-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent with Carolina back in 2024 and got into three games while on recall, logging just under 12 minutes per game while picking up for blocks and a pair of minor penalties.  He had 14 points in 63 games with the Wolves last season.

Carolina’s back end has had more than its fair share of injuries in the early going this season, leading to some of these prospects getting opportunities.  Jaccob Slavin has missed a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury, Shayne Gostisbehere has been out for a week with a lower-body issue, and K’Andre Miller has missed two straight games with a lower-body injury of his own.  That has Carolina carrying nine blueliners on the salary cap right now but with the team comfortably below the Upper Limit, the extra players on the roster shouldn’t be impacting their plans much at this time.

Maple Leafs Reassign Dennis Hildeby

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10/26/2025: As was expected due to the nature of yesterday’s call-up, the Maple Leafs announced Sunday morning that they reassigned Hildeby back to the AHL. Hildeby  backed up Primeau for the team’s 4-3 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres yesterday, and now returns to the AHL, where he’s expected to spend most of the season.

In Hildeby’s absence, Artur Akhtyamov started the Marlies’ game yesterday, saving 19 of 23 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Belleville Senators.

10/25/2025: Heading into the back half of a back-to-back set against Buffalo, the Maple Leafs have added some extra goalie depth.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Dennis Hildeby has been recalled from AHL Toronto.

With Joseph Woll away from the team to start the season, it looked as if the 24-year-old would serve as the backup for Anthony Stolarz.  However, when they claimed Cayden Primeau off waivers at the end of training camp, that was the end of that idea as instead, Hildeby was sent down to the Marlies while Primeau served as the backup.

Hildeby hasn’t received much playing time with the Marlies either, getting into just two games where he has allowed just two goals on 53 shots.  Toronto has played just four AHL games in the early going with Hildeby splitting time with prospect Vyacheslav Peksa.

There isn’t a notable injury situation between the pipes for the Maple Leafs as instead, the plan is to simply give Stolarz a rest day after a heavy workload to start the season in Woll’s absence.  Toronto doesn’t have an open roster spot so it appears they’re using a CBA exception that allows them to bring up an extra goalie as a 24th player.  It’s something that can only be used twice in a season and for a maximum of 48 hours each time so Hildeby’s time with the big club will be short-lived as he’ll likely be sent back down following the game or sometime on Sunday.

Canucks Issue Several Injury Updates

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Following his acquisition of Lukas Reichel from Chicago on Friday, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin met with the media (video link).  While the trade itself was the focus of the scrum, Allvin also provided several updates on the status of some of their injured players.

Center Filip Chytil has been making progress as he works through his upper-body injury.  While the team won’t confirm it, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province relays that the belief is that the 26-year-old has indeed suffered another concussion which is believed to be his sixth.  Allvin noted that Chytil still has to go through protocol and hasn’t been cleared yet.  That said, the fact they’re not talking about a possible extended absence – something he has endured multiple times – has to be considered a promising sign.

Meanwhile, winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki is expected to miss another two to three weeks with what is believed to be a shoulder injury.  The 21-year-old made the team out of training camp after spending most of last season in the minors and had a goal in his first four games after putting up six points in his rookie year in 24 games.

Center Teddy Blueger was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Sunday to open up a roster spot for Reichel, who they hope to have available tonight against Montreal.  However, while he’s eligible to return to the lineup as soon as Monday, Allvin relayed that the veteran is going to miss at least a couple of weeks with his undisclosed injury.

Meanwhile, there is also some bad news on the back end.  Allvin indicated that defenseman Derek Forbort suffered a setback in his recovery from his undisclosed injury sustained in the second game of the season.  Now, he’s listed as out week-to-week.

At the moment, Vancouver has a little over $1MM left in their LTIR pool, per PuckPedia.  That doesn’t leave them much flexibility should they have anyone else get injured over the next couple of weeks before some of their injured players start to return to the lineup.  Teams can rarely afford injuries but in the case of the Canucks, it’s especially true with no immediate help on the horizon.

Capitals Activate Pierre-Luc Dubois Off IR, Assign Ethen Frank To AHL

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The Capitals have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Ottawa.  The team announced that they have activated center Pierre-Luc Dubois off injured reserve.  To make room for him on the roster, the team has returned winger Ethen Frank to AHL Hershey.

Dubois wound up missing a little more than two weeks with a lower-body injury that was originally hoped to be a day-to-day issue.  Instead, he wound up missing five games.  Dubois has been held off the scoresheet in his three appearances this season but is coming off a career season in his first campaign with Washington.  Last season, he had 20 goals and 46 assists in 82 games, showing flashes of being the impactful top-six center that made him the third-overall pick in 2016 and led to an eight-year, $68MM contract two years ago.

Dubois will presumably return to a role in Washington’s top six in his return.  Hendrix Lapierre skated on the second line last game and is the logical fit to cede his spot to Dubois with Lapierre then returning to the fourth line in place of Frank.

As for Frank, he got into a pair of games with Washington while on recall, picking up an assist in 12:34 per game of ice time.  That brings his NHL point total to eight in 26 outings after getting into 24 games with the Caps last season.  The 27-year-old also has a pair of goals in two appearances with the Bears in 2025-26 and is a strong candidate to be brought back up whenever the next injury arises up front for the Capitals.

Sabres Recall Josh Dunne, Place Tyson Kozak On IR

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Josh Dunne’s time in the minors was short-lived.  After being sent back down earlier this week, the Sabres announced that they’ve recalled the winger from AHL Rochester.

The move comes on the heels of center Tyson Kozak suffering a lower-body injury on Friday against Toronto.  While Kozak was still being evaluated after the game, it’s clear that he will be out for at least a week as Buffalo has placed him on injured reserve, per the NHL’s media site.

Dunne has played in two games with the Sabres this month, albeit in a very limited role as he’s averaging just 6:30 per outing while failing to register a shot on goal or a point.  The 26-year-old has 19 career contests at the top level, split between Buffalo and Columbus.  He was on Buffalo’s roster for nearly two weeks earlier this month and technically has spent more days with them than with Rochester since the season started.  Dunne played in last night’s game with the Americans, making him eligible to be recalled once again.

As for Kozak, the 22-year-old had locked down a regular spot on Buffalo’s fourth line in the early going this season, in part thanks to being waiver-eligible for the first time.  He had done relatively well, picking up a pair of goals while chipping in with 19 hits in just under 10 minutes a night of playing time and will likely return to that role whenever he’s cleared to return.

Kings Activate Anze Kopitar Off Injured Reserve

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It turns out that Anze Kopitar’s foot injury wasn’t as serious as they initially assumed.  Originally given a week-to-week diagnosis barely a week ago, he’s already ready to return as the team announced (Twitter link) that Kopitar has been activated off injured reserve.  It’s expected he’ll return to the lineup tonight against Nashville and play alongside Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe.

The 38-year-old wound up missing just four games due to the injury with Los Angeles faring relatively well without him, posting a 2-1-1 record in that stretch, finding themselves just a point out of a playoff spot.  Still, having their top center available to them, one who plays in all situations, will be a nice boost.

Kopitar was off to a strong start to his 20th and final NHL season before the injury, picking up four assists in as many games while logging 18:45 of ice time per game.  While his offensive output has dipped slightly in recent years, he’s still coming off a 67-point effort last season and given his usage in the early going this season, there’s no reason to think he can’t be similarly impactful in 2025-26.

Los Angeles had an open roster spot prior to the activation so no corresponding roster move needed to be made.  Meanwhile, at first glance, it’s likely to be one of Alex Turcotte or Jeff Malott who loses their spot in the lineup to make room for Kopitar’s return.

Canucks Recall Victor Mancini, Assign Tom Willander To AHL

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The Canucks have made a pair of roster moves on the back end heading into tonight’s game against Montreal.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled defenseman Victor Mancini from AHL Abbotsford while sending blueliner Tom Willander back to Abbotsford.

Mancini made Vancouver’s roster to start the season and had played in four games in the early going, although he was averaging just 11 minutes a night in those outings.  Still, the team was comfortable with him rotating in and out of the sixth role.

However, in order to maximize their LTIR pool when Nils Hoglander was transferred there, the Canucks had to send Mancini down to the minors, bringing up Jimmy Schuldt instead.  The team actually requested a one-time waiver of the CBA rule change that says a skater must play in the minors after being sent down but that was denied.  Now that he has played his mandated one game in Abbotsford, Mancini is being brought back to the NHL roster.

As for Willander, he was the beneficiary of the denial of the CBA rule waiver as he ultimately got to spend a few days up with Vancouver collecting his NHL salary instead of his AHL one although he didn’t see any game action.  The 20-year-old, viewed as one of Vancouver’s top prospects, is in his first professional season after turning pro back in the spring and has a goal in four games with Abbotsford.

Roman Josi Out Week-To-Week

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The Predators will be without their captain and top defenseman for a little while.  Team reporter Brooks Bratten relays (Twitter link) that Roman Josi is listed as out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.  He further clarified that this is not related to his diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome earlier this year.

The 35-year-old was off to a solid start to his season before the injury.  Josi has played in eight games so far, picking up a goal and four assists while averaging over 24 minutes a night.  As usual, he has played a big role on both special teams units while posting the best possession numbers of any regular Predators blueliner.  He was injured in their last game on Thursday and while he returned to the game after missing part of the second period, clearly, the injury was more significant than originally thought.

Nashville has gotten off to an okay start to their season, picking up eight points in as many games as they look to rebound from a disastrous showing in 2024-25 when expectations were high following a summer spending spree.  However, staying afloat in the tough Central Division will get a lot tougher without their top rearguard in the lineup.

However, it’s not all bad news on the back end for the Preds.  Team broadcaster Max Herz notes (Twitter link) that defenseman Nicolas Hague appears to be set to be activated off injured reserve and make his team debut.  Nashville acquired the blueliner from Vegas this summer, quickly signing him to a four-year, $22MM contract after that.  He’s projected to play alongside Adam Wilsby on Nashville’s top pairing, subbing in where Josi typically lines up.

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