Training Camp Cuts: 9/20/25
The preseason officially gets underway tonight and that will usually spur a round of training camp cuts around the league with players typically getting loaned back to their respective junior or international clubs. We’ll keep tabs on today’s cuts here. The remaining players can be found on our Training Camp Rosters page.
Anaheim Ducks (per team announcement)
F Emil Guite (to Chicoutimi, QMJHL)
F Maxim Masse (to Chicoutimi, QMJHL)
D Alexis Mathieu (to Baie-Comeau, QMJHL)
F Ethan Procyszyn (to North Bay, OHL)
F Noah Read (to London, OHL)
D Tarin Smith (to Everett, WHL)
F Brady Turko (to Brandon, WHL)
D Darels Uljanskis (to Flint, OHL)
Calgary Flames (per team announcement)
F Nathan Brisson (to Val-d’Or, QMJHL)
F Mael Lavigne (to Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL)
F Kadon McCann (to Medicine Hat, WHL)
Detroit Red Wings (per team release)
D Nicklas Andrews (released from PTO to Toledo, ECHL)
F Kevin Bicker (to Frankfurt, DEL)
F Vincent Collard (released from ATO to Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL)
D Maxim Dirracolo (released from ATO to Kitchener, OHL)
D Wyatt Kennedy (released from ATO to Windsor, OHL)
F Liam Kilfoil (released from ATO to Halifax, QMJHL)
D Carl-Otto Magnusson (released from ATO to Moncton, QMJHL)
G Landon Miller (to Soo, OHL)
D Will Murphy (to Cape Breton, QMJHL)
G Michal Pradel (to Tri-City, USHL)
F Grayden Robertson-Palmer (to Moncton, QMJHL)
New York Rangers (per team release)
F Raoul Boilard (to Shawinigan, QMJHL)
D Artyom Gonchar (to Sudbury, OHL)
F Gavin Hain (to Hartford, AHL)
F Kyle Jackson (to Hartford, AHL)
F Zakary Karpa (to Hartford, AHL)
D Tim Lovell (released from PTO)
F Sullivan Mack (to Hartford, AHL)
D Chris Merisier-Ortiz (to Hartford, AHL)
D Cooper Moore (to Hartford, AHL)
G Hugo Ollas (to Hartford, AHL)
D Evan Passmore (to Barrie, OHL)
G Callum Tung (to Hartford, AHL)
D Corbin Vaughan (released from ATO)
Toronto Maple Leafs (per team announcement)
D Rylan Fellinger (to Flint, OHL)
F Matthew Hlacar (to Kitchener, OHL)
F Tyler Hopkins (to Kingston, OHL)
D Nathan Mayes (to Spokane, WHL)
F Sam McCue (to Brantford, OHL)
F Harry Nansi (to Owen Sound, OHL)
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Utah Mammoth
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Central Division, next up are the Mammoth.
Utah Mammoth
Current Cap Hit: $88,817,857 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Logan Cooley (one year, $950K)
Potential Bonuses
Cooley: $3.5MM
As expected, Cooley took a big step forward in his sophomore season while clearing all four of his ‘A’ bonuses ($1MM in total). GM Bill Armstrong hasn’t hesitated in trying to sign some of his young core pieces to long-term deals and it makes sense he’ll try to do so here. But with the cap projections that are available, the cost of that pact should break past the $8MM ceiling of many of his comparables and even jump ahead of the $9MM mark.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
F Michael Carcone ($775K, UFA)
D Ian Cole ($2.8MM, UFA)
G Connor Ingram ($1.95MM, UFA)
F Barrett Hayton ($2.65MM, RFA)
F Alexander Kerfoot ($3MM, UFA)
F Nick Schmaltz ($5.85MM, UFA)
F Kevin Stenlund ($2MM, UFA)
D Juuso Valimaki ($2MM, UFA)
G Vitek Vanecek ($1.5MM, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Cole: $200K
The backloaded nature of Schmaltz’s contract made him a speculative trade candidate before the team was sold and moved to Utah which took that idea off the table. He has been quite consistent offensively in recent years, ranging between 58 and 63 points in each of the last four seasons, solid second-line production. He hasn’t played center too frequently over that stretch but has spent enough time down the middle that teams on the open market will be willing to pay the premium to get a top-six center. He’ll make $8.5MM this season between his salary and signing bonus and while matching that on his next contract could be difficult, landing in the $7.5MM area seems doable.
Kerfoot’s offensive production has been a little volatile over the past few years but he still has a floor of a third-line center who can play up and down the lineup when needed. That profile should appeal to a lot of teams and another multi-year deal (three or four years) should be doable with a price tag pushing past the $4MM per season mark. The second bridge deal given to Hayton has gone better than the first and this will be a big year. If he can have another 40-plus-point campaign, that will be three years out of four, giving him a much better case in his final arbitration-eligible year. If they work out a long-term deal, it could land past $6MM per season while if they opt for another shorter-term pact that buys just a couple of years of control, it might land more in the $5MM range.
Stenlund landed more than some expected last summer for a player who had only been a full-time player for one year but he wound up playing a bigger role than expected and won over 59% of his draws. Another season like that could have him closer to $3MM while a step back could keep him around where he is now. Carcone wasn’t planning on coming back to Utah after spending a lot of the year as a healthy scratch but after the market didn’t go his way, he accepted the minimum to return. At this point, he’s likely to stay around the minimum moving forward.
Cole, who will max out his bonuses at 65 games played, is now on his fifth straight one-year contract. He has logged a fourth or fifth role for the bulk of that time and at this point, barring a big drop in ice time or efficiency, it seems same to think he’ll stay around this price tag next summer, probably on another one-year pact when he’ll be 37. Valimaki is coming off a tough year, one that saw him scratched at times before suffering a torn ACL which will cost him the first couple of months of this season as well. At this point, he’ll be hard-pressed to match this price tag on his next deal and a one-year pact to try to rebuild some value might be the way to go.
Ingram took over the number one job in 2023-24 but wasn’t able to sustain that success last season and entered the Player Assistance Program in March but was cleared last month. However, he won’t be returning to Utah, putting his short-term situation into question. If he can stay in the NHL, another deal in this price range could be doable. But if he winds up in the minors for a big chunk of next season, he could find himself closer to number three money, around half of his current AAV. Vanecek was brought in as additional insurance this summer and is coming off a rough year, his second straight with numbers well below average. Unless he turns that around, he’s unlikely to command any sort of significant raise next year.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Lawson Crouse ($4.3MM, UFA)
D John Marino ($4.4MM, UFA)
F Liam O’Brien ($1MM, UFA)
After a couple of 40-point seasons, it looked like Crouse was turning the corner and becoming a legitimate top-six piece. But things went sideways last season as he only managed 18 points. If last year was an aberration, then Utah should still get decent value over these final two years while Crouse will be in line for a small raise. But if last season is the new sign of things to come, his value is going to take a big blow, putting his next deal closer to half of his current deal. O’Brien was the NHL’s leader in penalty minutes in 2023-24 while playing a regular role but he was scratched more often than not last season. Still, there remains enough of a market for enforcers that he could still best this contract two years from now.
Marino’s first season in Utah was injury-riddled as he only played in 35 games. Still, in those outings, he showed that he can hold down a top-four role and kill penalties. Add that to being a right-shot defender and you have the profile of a player who should be able to push past $5MM per season on his next contract on what’s likely to be another long-term deal.
Signed Through 2027-28
D Sean Durzi ($6MM, UFA)
F Clayton Keller ($7.15MM, UFA)
D Olli Maatta ($3.5MM, UFA)
D Nate Schmidt ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Brandon Tanev ($2.5MM, UFA)
Keller hasn’t always received a lot of fanfare but over the past four seasons, he has found that extra gear and has become a legitimate top-line producer, averaging just shy of 80 points per campaign over that stretch. As the market value for top-line wingers is set to go up over the next couple of years, Keller should be in a spot to surpass $10MM per season on a long-term pact in 2028. Tanev isn’t as impactful as he was a few years back but he can still add some grit and defensive acumen to the Mammoth. He’ll be 37 when this deal ends so he’ll likely be going year-to-year from there and if his role resembles that of his time in Winnipeg down the stretch, he will be hard-pressed to make this on that next contract.
Durzi is an interesting case. After showing some offensive promise in Los Angeles, his first year with this organization (back when it was in Arizona) saw him take another step forward, earning this contract and suggesting he can be a core piece for Utah. But injuries limited him last season to just 30 games and with some of the defensive additions they made following the change in cities, his role wasn’t as substantial, particularly his power play time. He’s likely to get similar usage moving forward. If he can get back to being a 40-point player, his value on the open market could push more towards the $8MM range on a long-term pact while if he remains in the role he had last season, the goal might be more along the lines of matching this price tag.
Maatta fit in nicely after being acquired in an early-season trade to give them some help with their injuries. Still, the decision to give him this contract as an early extension was a little odd, especially since his role when everyone is healthy is lower on the depth chart than where he played for a lot of last year. This is a little on the high side for someone who is best served as a third-pairing piece but they have the cap space to afford that premium. The same can be said for Schmidt who was more of a sixth option with Florida but still landed this contract back in July. He’ll also be entering his age-37 year on his next contract, one that should be a one-year pact closer to half of this amount.
East Injury Updates: Maple Leafs, Panarin, Jensen
The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Simon Benoit is dealing with an upper-body injury while center Nicolas Roy has a lower-body injury. Neither player took part in practice today while goaltender Joseph Woll was also absent due to illness. Benoit was a regular on Toronto’s third pairing last season while Roy is likely to break camp as their third-line center after being acquired from Vegas just before free agency opened up.
Meanwhile, there is some good news on injury front for the Maple Leafs as well. Head coach Craig Berube told reporters including Nick Barden of The Hockey News that forward Max Domi is expected to rejoin the team for practice on Sunday. He has yet to take part in training camp due to a lower-body injury. This could be a big camp for Domi with a spot on Toronto’s top line up for grabs following Mitch Marner’s departure and as their roster stands, he’s one of the players who could have a shot at that spot.
Other injury news from around the Eastern Conference:
- After exiting practice early on Friday, it appears the Rangers have dodged a significant injury to Artemi Panarin. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson notes (Twitter link) that while the winger didn’t take part in practice today, he’s listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. It’s a contract year for the 33-year-old so he’ll be looking for a big year to help boost his market value. Despite a 31-point drop in points to 89 last season, Panarin still led New York in scoring for the sixth straight year, comprising his entire tenure with the team.
- Senators defenseman Nick Jensen took part in practice today but not the scrimmage game, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). The veteran underwent hip surgery back in May with the belief that he is a little ahead of schedule although his availability for the start of the season next month remains in question. Jensen was a big contributor on Ottawa’s back end in 2024-25, notching 21 points in 71 games while logging over 20 minutes a night.
Ryan Suter Not Actively Pursuing A Contract
One of the more prominent unrestricted free agent defensemen still on the open market is veteran Ryan Suter. However, as Pierre LeBrun points out in his latest piece for The Athletic (subscription link), Suter doesn’t appear to be actively pursuing a contract. While he isn’t ready to say he has retired and would listen to an offer if it came in, he instructed his agent earlier this summer not to call teams to try to drum up a market for his services.
The 40-year-old has been an NHL regular for the past 20 years, suiting up in 1,526 regular season contests over that span, good for 19th all-time. Even a partial campaign this year could put him in the top 15. It’s also fair to say that he has logged some heavy minutes over that stretch with an average TOI at over 24 minutes per game, including two seasons with Minnesota where he averaged over 29 minutes a night.
In his prime, Suter was a steady offensive contributor from the back end as well. He had a stretch of 13 straight seasons with at least 30 points with seven of those seeing him record at least 40. The end result was 696 points, ranking him 33rd among all-time NHL rearguards.
Last season, Suter was a regular for the Blues after inking a one-year deal worth the league minimum of $775K plus $2.25MM in potential performance bonuses, many of which were simply tied to games played; the structure gave St. Louis some additional short-term cap flexibility. While he only managed 15 points in 82 games, he still logged over 19 minutes a night while often playing on their top penalty kill pairing. While he’s a year older now, his performance last season showed that he can still contribute at the NHL level.
At this point, Suter might be better served waiting into the season to sign to see if the right opportunity presents itself, either one with a contender or a chance to play close to home. Going through the full rigors of an 82-game season may not be the best option so a spot where he can be in more of a depth or reserve role would make sense in theory. But if that opportunity ultimately doesn’t present itself, it appears that Suter is content with calling it a career if it gets to that point.
Pacific Notes: McTavish, Doughty, Giles
While both the Ducks and unsigned center Mason McTavish are believed to want a long-term deal, it appears they have very different opinions as to what that deal would cost. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that McTavish’s camp is opening to signing a seven or eight-year deal in the $7MM to $8MM range, a contract that would make the 22-year-old their highest-paid forward. However, Anaheim’s preference appears to be a five-year pact around $5.5MM per year. Curiously, that would only buy the team one extra year of club control but the price tag would make it a team-friendly contract right away while allowing veteran Troy Terry to remain their top-paid attacker. Clearly, the two sides still have a long way to go to bridge the gap.
More from the Pacific Division:
- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty missed most of last season after undergoing ankle surgery but returned in late January and was a regular from there. However, Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider notes that the veteran underwent a second surgery on the ankle after the playoffs, one that kept him sidelined for eight weeks. Doughty feels the second procedure will allow him to feel more like he did a couple of years ago and given how much Los Angeles relies on him, a healthier version of himself would give their back end a nice boost to start the season.
- Sharks winger Patrick Giles recently underwent surgery on a lower-body injury and is at least a couple of weeks away from returning to the ice, relays Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller (Twitter link). The 25-year-old split last season between Florida and San Jose, getting into 17 NHL contests combined between the two teams where he had a goal and 11 shots in a little over nine minutes a night of playing time. If Giles isn’t healthy to start the season, the Sharks can place him on season-opening IR and have a reduced cap hit relative to the number of days he spent on an NHL roster in 2024-25.
Jack Roslovic Believed To Have Declined Offer From Oilers
One of the biggest free agent surprises this summer is that forward Jack Roslovic remains a free agent. Coming off matching his career high in goals last season with 22, the belief was that he’d land a multi-year deal with a raise from the $2.9MM he received last season; we had him ranked 20th in our annual Top 50 UFA list. Instead, as the preseason gets underway tonight, he’s still on the sidelines.
That isn’t to say that he hasn’t had offers, however. In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun reports that the Oilers are believed to have made a pitch at some point during the summer, one that was declined. Considering that they’re very tight to the Upper Limit of the salary cap, it stands to reason that the proposal may have come very early in free agency before their roster was filled out. Otherwise, the offer would have needed to be relatively close to the minimum salary for them to stay cap-compliant.
As much as Roslovic has bounced around recently (he has played for three different teams in the last year and a half), he has been able to provide some decent consistent secondary scoring. He had 39 points last season, extending his streak to five straight years of recording more than 30 points. Between that and his ability to play down the middle when needed, Roslovic seemed to be in better shape than he was last summer when he ultimately accepted a one-year deal from Carolina.
LeBrun notes that Roslovic’s desire remains to secure a multi-year contract and he has changed to being represented by ASM’s Justin Duberman (he was previously repped by 4Sports’ Claude Lemieux). Whether that will be enough to get the term and money he’s seeking remains to be seen but with most rosters set heading into the season, it won’t be easy.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
The wait for hockey to return is just about over. While the regular season is still a few weeks away, training camps are now underway and preseason play will soon follow. With that in mind, it’s a good time to once again open up the mailbag.
Our last call for questions yielded enough for three separate columns. The first discussed the significant movement from CHL players to the NCAA, the now rapidly increasing salary cap, and August 15th free agents. Topics in the second included the Robertson brothers and the state of the Bruins heading into the season. Meanwhile, the third included talk about Toronto’s top six, my annual prediction for a breakout player, and potential playoff newcomers.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run this weekend.
Sharks Notes: Ferraro, Eklund, Lund, Vlasic
Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro has been involved in trade speculation for a couple of years now and with him entering the final year of his contract and San Jose still rebuilding, that speculation should only intensify in the coming months. However, his preference appears to be to stick it out with the team that drafted him in the second round back in 2019. Speaking with reporters including Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest, the 27-year-old stated “I’d love to sign long-term here, I want to win here.” However, he also noted that no talks about an extension have started. Ferraro is set to carry a $3.25MM cap charge for the upcoming season and should be in line to land a long-term deal in the $5.5MM to $6MM range next summer if he makes it to the open market.
More from San Jose:
- Winger William Eklund suffered a wrist injury that required surgery in one of Sweden’s tune-up games for the Worlds last May, taking him out of the tournament. However, he told reporters including Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link) that he has fully recovered from the injury. Eklund inked a three-year, $16.8MM extension on the opening day of free agency, taking away any possible distraction of being in a contract year. He’ll look to build off the 17-goal, 58-point effort he had last season in his second full NHL campaign.
- Winger Cameron Lund suffered an upper-body injury at last week’s rookie tournament but it doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue. Head coach David Warsofsky told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that Lund is listed as day-to-day. The 21-year-old played in 11 games with San Jose down the stretch, picking up two goals and an assist in 11:30 per contest of playing time.
- Earlier this offseason, veteran defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic voiced his displeasure about his buyout from San Jose, suggesting he was misled by the team at his exit interview. Asked to respond to that today, GM Mike Grier told reporters including Pashelka that he doesn’t have any regrets about how the situation was handled. While declining to get into a who-said-what discussion, Grier noted that Vlasic was indeed given a bit of a heads-up before the buyout was completed while his interpretation of the end-of-season meeting with the blueliner was that the possibility of him being let go from the final year of his contract was discussed. Vlasic is hoping to play this season but has yet to catch on with a team.
Devils Discussing Extension With Jacob Markstrom
After being speculatively linked to New Jersey for a big portion of the 2023-24 season, goaltender Jacob Markstrom accepted a trade to the Devils last summer a little before the draft with a first-round pick and defenseman Kevin Bahl going the other way. The netminder is now entering the final year of his contract and speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Tom Fitzgerald indicated that there are talks about signing Markstrom to a contract extension.
The 35-year-old had a decent first season with the Devils in 2024-25. While he dealt with a knee injury late in the year, he still got into 49 games where he posted a 2.50 GAA and a .900 SV% along with four shutouts. While those aren’t elite numbers, they were still a fair bit better than the 3.12 GAA and a .896 SV% that New Jersey’s netminders played to the year before so it’s understandable that Fitzgerald would like to keep that stability in the fold a little longer. Markstrom also stated a willingness to sign a new deal back in the spring after the team was eliminated in the first round.
Markstrom is set to make $6MM this season although the Devils are only responsible for $4.125MM of that with Calgary picking up the rest as part of the trade. In order to keep him around, they’ll likely have to give him a raise on his current full salary, given the inflationary rate of salaries.
While he’s no longer in the tier of netminders that have pushed past the $8MM mark on their respective deals in recent seasons, there’s a case to make that Markstrom could split the difference and land somewhere in the $7MM territory. That, coupled with the $1.8MM that Jake Allen will take home for the next half-decade, would allow them to have their goaltending tandem locked up at a reasonable combined rate.
The future of Nico Daws is in question now with Allen signed for so long, while their other prospects (Jakub Malek, Tyler Brennan, and Mikhail Yegorov) aren’t close to being NHL-ready (or even signed, in Yegorov’s case). Accordingly, getting Markstrom signed for another two or three seasons would give them continued short-term competitiveness between the pipes while allowing them ample time to assess if any of their prospects have a viable NHL future. This isn’t necessarily a pressing case, especially compared to unsigned defenseman Luke Hughes but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides work something out in the coming weeks.
Injury Updates: Kraken, Holloway, Hayes, Woo
The Kraken announced (Twitter links) that defenseman Brandon Montour is set to miss the next two weeks after undergoing a procedure to remove a bursa on his ankle. The 31-year-old fit in rather well in his first season with Seattle, notching a career-best 18 goals while his 41 points were the second-most he’d had in a single season. The timeline suggests that he still should be available to start the season but he might not get into any preseason action.
Meanwhile, the team also provided injury updates on several other players. Veteran forward Max McCormick is out indefinitely and won’t participate in training camp. He wasn’t up with the Kraken last season so there won’t be a prorated cap charge while he sits on season-opening IR. Also, winger Lleyton Roed is expected to miss the next two months with an upper-body injury while forward Nathan Villeneuve is out with a lower-body injury that is still pending evaluation. Villeneuve isn’t able to play full-time in the minors this season so he will likely be returned to OHL Sudbury when he’s cleared to return.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- Blues winger Dylan Holloway underwent abdominal surgery after sustaining an early in early April that kept him out for the stretch run and playoffs. However, team reporter Chris Pinkert relays that the 23-year-old was a full participant at practice today while Holloway indicated that the injury wound up healing quicker than originally anticipated, allowing him to get a good summer of training in. It’s already a contract year for and after putting up 63 points in a breakout effort last season, Holloway appears to be in line for a significant raise on the $2.29MM he’ll be making this season.
- Penguins center Kevin Hayes left practice early today after taking a hit from Ryan Graves. Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review relays (Twitter link) that head coach Dan Muse didn’t have an immediate update after practice and that he’s still being evaluated. The 33-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off a relatively quiet year last season where he scored just 13 goals and 10 assists in 64 games, his first year with Pittsburgh.
- Canucks defenseman Jett Woo underwent surgery to repair an upper-body injury this summer and is listed as out month-to-month, relays Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province. He played through the injury to help AHL Abbotsford win the Calder Cup back in the spring. The 25-year-old had 18 points in 67 games in the minors last season but will be waiting a while to make his 2025-26 debut.