Metropolitan Notes: Hamilton, Foerster, Keller
Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton left Thursday’s victory over Montreal with an undisclosed injury and he’ll be out for a few games at least. Team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link) that the veteran will be out for a minimum of a week, which suggests that he’s likely to land on injured reserve before long with New Jersey carrying the maximum of 23 players at the moment. The 32-year-old had been off to a solid start to the season before the injury, picking up four goals and three assists in 14 games while logging nearly 21 minutes a night of playing time. Colton White will take Hamilton’s spot in the lineup for the time being after being recalled earlier this week; he suited up this afternoon against Pittsburgh for his first NHL game since April 13, 2023.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Flyers winger Tyson Foerster skated before practice yesterday as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, notes Gabriela Carroll of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 23-year-old landed on IR earlier this week retroactive to November 1st, meaning he can be activated at any time since he has now served the minimum of one week. Foerster was off to a good start before the injury, collecting four goals and three assists in 11 games while logging over 18 minutes a night of playing time.
- Capitals goalie prospect Antoine Keller has terminated his minor league deal with Washington to head back overseas. HC Ajoie in Switzerland announced that they’ve signed the 21-year-old to a two-year contract. Keller was a seventh-round pick by Washington back in 2023 and spent last season in the NL, albeit in a backup role with Lausanne where he only played in 13 games. Keller was also on France’s roster at the most recent Worlds and could be part of their group for the upcoming Olympics as well. Washington has until June 1, 2027 to sign Keller to an entry-level deal or they will lose his rights.
Wild Assign Tyler Pitlick To AHL
The Wild have opened up a roster spot as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Tyler Pitlick has been sent down to AHL Iowa. They now have 22 players on their active roster.
The 34-year-old was recalled last month and got into nine games. That’s particularly noteworthy as had he suited up one more time, he would have needed to pass through waivers to return to Iowa. By sending Pitlick down now, they can hold onto his waiver exemption a little while longer.
In those nine outings, Pitlick was held off the scoresheet offensively but added 24 hits and 22 penalty minutes in 7:23 per game of ice time. 20 of those penalty minutes came on Thursday against Carolina after he was given a match penalty for a hit on Carolina’s Jalen Chatfield. It appears the league rescinded that penalty as no supplemental discipline came his way.
In his career, Pitlick has played in 429 NHL games over parts of 11 NHL seasons and has 56 goals and 53 assists in those appearances. He had two goals in three games with Iowa before being recalled last month.
Hurricanes Claim Cayden Primeau Off Waivers From Toronto
2:02 PM: The Hurricanes announced that Primeau has been assigned to AHL Chicago, meaning they were the only team to put in a claim. Meanwhile, the team also confirmed that wingers Eric Robinson and William Carrier were activated off injured reserve as previously reported earlier today.
1:04 PM: The Hurricanes have plenty of goaltending depth in their organization and they have just added a bit more. Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Carolina has claimed goaltender Cayden Primeau off waivers from Toronto.
It’s a return to the Hurricanes for the 26-year-old. Carolina acquired him from Montreal in late June for a seventh-round pick and quickly signed him to a one-year, one-way contract at the league minimum salary of $775K. The thought was that he’d serve as the third-string option for them this season. However, those plans changed late in training camp when they picked up Brandon Bussi off waivers from Florida to fill that role, meaning Primeau was waived soon after.
With the Maple Leafs not having Joseph Woll to start the season after he took a leave of absence, Toronto claimed Primeau and had him spend the first four weeks of the season as Anthony Stolarz‘s backup. He won two of his three starts but struggled, allowing 13 goals on just 80 shots in those outings. With Woll now on a conditioning stint in advance of his return, the Maple Leafs elected to waive Primeau.
Primeau has played in 58 NHL games over parts of seven NHL seasons with the other 55 outings before this season coming with Montreal. While he has shown some flashes of upside along the way, he has struggled overall, posting a 15-25-7 record with a 3.73 GAA and a .882 SV%.
It’s fair to say that Carolina isn’t claiming Primeau to take over Bussi’s spot as the third-string option or serve as a number four on the NHL roster. They’ll be hoping that no one else claimed him and if that’s the case, they will be eligible to send him to AHL Chicago as they originally intended to a month ago. While Primeau hasn’t fared well in the NHL, he has been a top goalie in the minors and is coming off a 21-2-3 showing last season with Laval where he had a 1.96 GAA and a .927 SV%. With Amir Miftakhov and Nikita Quapp playing to a combined 3.61 GAA and a .862 SV% in eight games so far this season, he’d be a huge addition for the Wolves if the Hurricanes can send him down. If another team put a claim in though, Carolina would have to either keep Primeau on the NHL roster or put him right back on waivers.
Maple Leafs Recall Dennis Hildeby
With Joseph Woll (conditioning stint) not yet ready to rejoin the Maple Leafs and Cayden Primeau’s performance as the backup landing him on waivers where he was claimed by Carolina, they need a new short-term second option. That will be netminder Dennis Hildeby as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Toronto.
Hildeby appeared to be set to be the backup heading into the season following Woll’s absence and James Reimer being released from his late-camp PTO but Primeau’s claim at the end of training camp ended those plans. Instead, the 24-year-old was sent down to the Marlies with an eye on seeing more playing time than he otherwise would have received as the backup to Anthony Stolarz.
That hasn’t gone quite to plan, however. Hildeby has only made five starts for the Marlies (Primeau made three for the Maple Leafs over that same stretch) so he didn’t wind up seeing much extra action. Over those outings, he has a 2.74 GAA and a .890 SV%, a step back on his career averages of 2.54 and .908 respectively over 78 AHL appearances. Hildeby has six career NHL outings under his belt, all coming last season when he posted a 3.33 GAA and a .872 SV%.
With Toronto kicking off a back-to-back set tonight, it stands to reason that Hildeby will likely get the nod on Sunday against Carolina. But that might be his only action while on this recall with Woll likely to rejoin the big club and come off LTIR within the next week or so.
Hurricanes To Activate Two Off IR, Recall Gavin Bayreuther From AHL
There are plenty of injury updates from Carolina heading into their game tonight against Buffalo. Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer relays (Twitter link) that wingers Eric Robinson and William Carrier will suit up tonight, meaning they will be activated off injured reserve. However, the news isn’t all good as defenseman Jalen Chatfield is now out indefinitely; head coach Rod Brind’Amour is uncertain if the blueliner is dealing with a concussion after taking a hit from Minnesota’s Tyler Pitlick on Thursday. That resulted in the team announcing that blueliner Gavin Bayreuther has been recalled from AHL Chicago with Chatfield landing on injured reserve as the corresponding move.
Robinson had a breakout year last season, his first in Carolina. He picked up 14 goals and 18 assists (both career bests) in 82 games, earning himself some much-desired job security as he signed a four-year, $6.8MM deal in advance of free agency back in June. The 30-year-old got off to a nice start to this season as well, collecting three goals and an assist in seven outings despite his playing time dipping below 10 minutes a night. He has missed a little more than two weeks with an upper-body injury, landing retroactively on IR ten days ago.
Carrier, meanwhile, was injured in the same game as Robinson last month, suffering a lower-body injury. His first season with Carolina in 2024-25 was injury-riddled as he only was able to suit up in 43 games where he had 11 points and 156 hits, not a great return in the first season of a six-year deal. This season, the 30-year-old has a goal and two assists through his seven outings in a little over 10 minutes a night of action. With Carolina having two open roster spots following yesterday’s demotion of Bradly Nadeau to the minors, no other moves need to be made to activate Carrier and Robinson.
As for Chatfield, he has been his usual steadying presence on the back end. In the second season of a three-year, $9MM deal, the 29-year-old has three assists and 14 blocks in his first 13 games while averaging just under 20 minutes a night. He has once again been a big part of Carolina’s penalty kill, carrying the second-highest ATOI among their blueliners in that situation while they sit well above the league average in shorthanded success rate. Chatfield will now miss at least a week as a result of the IR placement.
Bayreuther returned to North America for this season after spending the 2024-25 campaign in Switzerland, signing a one-year, two-way deal back in July. He cleared waivers at the end of September and has spent the full season so far with the Wolves, tallying three goals and three assists in nine games. Bayreuther has 122 career NHL games under his belt over parts of four seasons, the most recent of which came back in 2022-23 with Columbus.
Atlantic Notes: Norris, Kozak, Maple Leafs, Benoit
There’s some good news on the horizon for the Sabres on the injury front. Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters including Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that center Josh Norris has resumed skating as he continues to recover from an early-season upper-body injury sustained in Buffalo’s season opener. While the team never announced a formal timeline for his return beyond his absence being a long-term one, there was some hope that he’d only miss a couple of months. Since he’s back on the ice already, that could ultimately be the case, assuming there aren’t any setbacks.
Meanwhile, another center is about to return as Tyson Kozak was a full participant in practice and could suit up on Thursday against St. Louis. The 22-year-old has missed the last six games due to a lower-body injury and has a pair of goals in his seven appearances this season. The Sabres have a full 23-player roster so they will need to make a move to free up a roster spot before Kozak can be activated off injured reserve.
More from the Atlantic:
- With a cap and roster crunch looming in Toronto when Joseph Woll needs to be activated off LTIR, the Maple Leafs will need to make some moves sooner than later. Some have suspected that they will be waiving players or parting with an asset to get a team to take on a contract but David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that they’re not taking that approach just yet. Instead, they’re still focused on landing a positive-value return in the form of draft capital. With Woll not on a conditioning stint yet, they still have some time but sooner than later, their hand will be forced, barring further injuries.
- Still with Toronto, prior to tonight’s game against Utah, the Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Simon Benoit would be scratched due to illness. The 27-year-old has been a regular on the third pairing this season, picking up two assists, 21 blocks, and 33 hits in 13 games while averaging over 17 minutes a night. His absence may have played a role in Easton Cowan’s demotion as Dakota Mermis, who is also currently waiver-exempt, was needed in the lineup to cover for Benoit.
Jets And Adam Lowry Making Progress In Extension Talks
Earlier this season, the Jets took care of their top prominent pending unrestricted free agent when they signed Kyle Connor to an eight-year extension. Next on their priority list appears to be their captain Adam Lowry, who just made his season debut on Tuesday after missing the first four weeks of the season while recovering from hip surgery.
While an agreement in a new deal isn’t in place yet, it appears they’re making progress on that front. TSN’s Darren Dreger recently reported in a TSN Insider Trading segment that the Jets view getting the center signed to a long-term deal and it’s getting closer to being completed.
The 32-year-old is in the final season of his five-year, $16.25MM deal signed back in 2021. While Lowry isn’t a significant offensive producer (his career high in points in 36), he’s a strong defensive player who typically is a little above average on faceoffs and can play a shutdown role when needed or hold his own in the top six. As a result, it’s fair to say that Winnipeg has gotten a strong return on that contract.
Those types of versatile players tend to have a sizable list of suitors in free agency and the fact he’s a center will only make that list grow larger. It’s not implausible to think that Lowry will be in a good position to surpass $4MM per season on his next contract and receive a long-term deal. He presently has a six-team no-trade clause and should be in a position to improve upon that as well.
Even with Connor locked up to a team-record $96MM contract beginning next season, the Jets have more than ample cap flexibility. Per PuckPedia, they project to have around $27.5MM in cap room for 2026-27 and only around six players needed to sign with that money. That would leave plenty of room for a new deal for Lowry and a long-term agreement for RFA Cole Perfetti, while still having wiggle room to reshape the roster.
In past weeks, we’ve seen a flurry of potential unrestricted free agents eschew testing the open market next July and opt to re-sign with their current teams. It seems likely that Lowry, a veteran of a dozen seasons in Winnipeg, will be joining that list soon enough.
West Notes: Gaudette, Leskovar, Akey
The Sharks have activated forward Adam Gaudette off injured reserve, relays Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has missed a little more than a week due to an upper-body injury. Signed to a two-year, $4MM contract this past summer, Gaudette has been reasonably productive in limited playing time, picking up three goals and an assist in nine games despite playing less than 11 minutes a night. That usage is similar to last season when he averaged just 10:25 per game but still managed to notch 19 goals in 81 games with Ottawa. With Patrick Giles being sent back down on Monday, they had the open roster spot available to activate Gaudette so no further moves were needed.
Elsewhere out West:
- The Wild announced (Twitter link) that they have activated defenseman Stevie Leskovar off season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to ECHL Iowa. The 21-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract but he was dealing with a wrist injury that had kept him out of the lineup. Leskovar had six points in 35 games last season with OHL Brampton and also got into one professional game with AHL Iowa. But for now, he’ll go to the Heartlanders and look to get some playing time in at that level with the hopes of an AHL promotion later on.
- The Oilers have assigned defenseman Beau Akey to ECHL Fort Wayne, per an announcement from AHL Bakersfield (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was a second-round pick back in 2023 and is in his first professional season but hasn’t been able to play yet due to injury. Now cleared to return, he’ll get a chance to get in some game action with the Komets and will likely rejoin the Condors soon after with this assignment being more of a conditioning assignment than a long-term one. Akey had 32 points in 52 games with OHL Barrie last season.
Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Fensore, Berni
The Devils should soon be getting some help on the injury front. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters today including Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that winger Connor Brown is a possibility to return Thursday against Montreal. He has missed the last two games due to an undisclosed injury, putting on hold what has been a strong start to his season with five tallies in his first 11 outings. Meanwhile, center Cody Glass and winger Zack MacEwen are skating and while Keefe suggested they’re unlikely to play tomorrow, they’re likely to skate Friday and are also nearing returns. Glass, who has missed a couple of weeks with an upper-body injury has a pair of goals in six games so far while MacEwen has made one appearance thus far and has missed the last three weeks with an upper-body issue.
More from the Metropolitan:
- The Hurricanes have once again assigned defenseman Domenick Fensore to AHL Chicago, per a team release. Recalled on Sunday, he didn’t see any action this time out, keeping him at one NHL appearance on the season. The 24-year-old has three goals and four assists in five games with the Wolves this season and will have to suit up for them at least once before being eligible to once again be recalled as injury insurance. In the meantime, his roster spot could be earmarked for K’Andre Miller, who is believed to be nearing a return from a lower-body injury.
- It’s fair to say that Tim Berni won’t be returning to the NHL anytime soon. The Blue Jackets RFA defenseman will be staying in Switzerland as Zurich of the NL announced that they’ve signed the 25-year-old to a six-year contract beginning next season. This season, Berni has three points in 20 games with Geneve-Servette. He previously saw action in 59 games with Columbus back in 2022-23 but even with close to a regular role on the roster, he elected to return home after that season.
Five Key Stories: 10/27/25 – 11/2/25
The turning of the calendar to November wasn’t a deadline of any sorts when it comes to contract extensions. However, the end of October saw a flurry of notable extensions across the NHL which highlight our key stories.
Eight For Cooley: The big spending started in Utah as the Mammoth signed center Logan Cooley to an eight-year, $80MM extension, the richest post-entry-level deal in NHL history. It wasn’t too long ago that he reportedly turned down a deal that was worth $77MM which suggested talks would be put on hold. Instead, $3MM more pushed it across the finish line. Cooley was the third overall pick in 2022 and showed plenty of promise in his first two NHL seasons to suggest he can live up to that draft billing. He’s off to an even better start this season and now Utah has the player they feel is their top center of the future locked up through his prime years.
Eight For Harley: Next up on the long-term contract front was Stars defenseman Thomas Harley, who received an eight-year, $84.7MM extension. The 24-year-old has blossomed into a true top-pairing defenseman over the past two seasons and finished seventh in Norris Trophy voting last season. The deal will make him the fourth-highest-paid blueliner in the NHL in 2026-27 behind Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and Rasmus Dahlin but keeps him signed through his age-32 season and in this rising cap environment, the deal should hold up pretty well in the end. With Miro Heiskanen signed through 2028-29, the top of the back end for Dallas is now locked up for a while.
Eight For Necas: When Colorado moved Mikko Rantanen last season while receiving Martin Necas as the centerpiece of the return, they were kicking the contract talks down the road by one year. Now, with Necas entering the final year of his deal, the pressure was on to work something out. They were able to do just that, agreeing on an eight-year, $92MM contract that begins next season. Unlike the other two deals above, this one only covers UFA-eligible seasons. The 26-year-old had a career year in 2024-25 with 83 points in 79 games and he’s scoring at a higher point-per-game clip in the early going of this season alongside Nathan MacKinnon and now their top duo is locked up through 2031. Another big contract looms large with defenseman Cale Makar as he becomes extension-eligible in July.
Two For Goalies: Some goaltenders got in on the signing fun, though for much shorter contracts. The Devils signed Jacob Markstrom to a two-year, $6MM extension. The 35-year-old is in his second season as New Jersey’s starter and helped to stabilize their play between the pipes last season. The $6MM AAV matches his current contract and with Jake Allen signed at $1.8MM, the Devils have a veteran goalie tandem in place at a pretty affordable price tag for the next two years. Meanwhile, another netminder received a two-year contract, just not from an NHL team. Unrestricted free agent Ilya Samsonov wasn’t able to catch on with an NHL team so he has returned to the KHL, signing with HC Sochi. The 28-year-old was once viewed as a starter of the future but a .890 SV% over the past two seasons certainly didn’t help his market.
Trade Interest In Schneider: It hasn’t been a great start to the season for Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider while the Rangers find themselves in a 10-team group separated by just one point in the standings. With the youngster not quite living up to expectations so far, teams have reportedly started making inquiries about Schneider to see if he could be made available. The 24-year-old is in the final season of his bridge deal with a $2.2MM AAV while his qualifying offer checks in at $2.64MM with arbitration rights. At this point, it would be surprising to see the Rangers move Schneider but if they decide they need to further shake up their roster, he’s one player who should generate plenty of interest.
Photo courtesy of Winslow Townson-Imagn Images.