Red Wings Reassign Dominik Shine, Sheldon Dries
Feb. 19, 1:49 p.m.: Both Shine and Dries are headed back to Grand Rapids after today’s practice, the team announced.
Feb. 19, 8:56 a.m.: While Detroit quietly returned Watson and Dries to Grand Rapids after Tuesday’s practice, they’ve brought Dries back up today, along with Dominik Shine, per a team announcement. Shine, 32, has been in Detroit’s system since signing with Grand Rapids as a free agent out of Northern Michigan University in 2027 and finally made his NHL debut last season. In 2025-26, he’s assumed the captaincy for Grand Rapids and is having a career year, scoring 21 goals in only 35 games.
Feb. 17: The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled forwards Austin Watson and Sheldon Dries from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. They’ll help the team fill out its practices this week until their contingent of Olympians returns to the squad.
Watson is a veteran of 528 NHL games, although none of them have come this season. The 34-year-old joined Detroit on a two-way deal in 2024 after a lengthy run with the Predators, Senators, and Lightning as a fourth-line/press box option, but he’s spent most of his time in the organization in the minors. After playing just 13 NHL games last year, he re-upped on a two-way extension and has suited up exclusively for Grand Rapids this year since clearing waivers during training camp.
While the Michigan native wasn’t more than a standard 10-to-20-point enforcer at the NHL level, he does have a tangible offensive impact in the minors. He racked up 42 points and 112 penalty minutes in 60 contests for the Griffins last year and has clicked at a similar but reduced pace in 2025-26. Through 39 games, he’s 10th on the team in scoring with 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) with a team-high 123 PIMs.
Dries, also a hometown signing, recently inked a two-year, two-way extension that will keep him in the Motor City through 2027-28. He was recalled twice last month under emergency conditions but has still yet to suit up for an NHL team since 2022-23 with the Canucks. Now in his ninth professional season, he has 277 points in 378 career AHL games – including a 17-16–33 scoring line in 39 games with Grand Rapids this year as an alternate captain.
Kings Recall Kirill Kirsanov, Erik Portillo
The Kings announced they’ve recalled defenseman Kirill Kirsanov and goaltender Erik Portillo from AHL Ontario. Netminder Pheonix Copley was returned to Ontario after being recalled yesterday in the corresponding move.
Kirsanov gets a look in an NHL practice today while Drew Doughty is still in Italy representing Team Canada at the Olympics. The 23-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract, waiting four years after L.A. drafted him in the third round in 2021 to come over from his native Russia. While the 6’2″ lefty struggled to hold down a regular role in the KHL, he’s looked the part so far in Ontario. A stable two-way presence, he’s put up four goals and 11 points with a +8 rating in 47 games.
Portillo, who’s essentially usurped Copley as the No. 3 goalie on the Kings’ depth chart, will get his turn in practice today with Darcy Kuemper absent. After a tough showing last year, the 25-year-old has squarely outperformed Copley in the minors this season and has a .905 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 19 games. That’s been good for a 13-3-1 record and one shutout behind one of the AHL’s best offensive clubs.
Bruins Willing To Listen On Andrew Peeke
The Bruins won’t embark on the near full-scale teardown they did at last year’s deadline when they shipped out Brandon Carlo and Brad Marchand for futures. They’re in the thick of the playoff race this time around and come out of the break with a 61% chance of clinching a berth, per MoneyPuck.
That won’t completely preclude the B’s from listening to offers on roster players if it helps them replenish their long-uninspiring prospect pool, though. They’re willing to part ways with pending unrestricted free agent Andrew Peeke to help them add to their prospect and pick arsenal, Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic wrote this week.
The other notable pending UFA in Boston’s ranks is winger Viktor Arvidsson. He’s played a key role on their second line this season, though, and his 14 goals and 28 points in 45 games are valuable for a team light on scoring depth. They “would not be as quick to break up their second line if the return is for a mid- to late-round selection,” Shinzawa writes on Arvidsson.
Boston gave up a third-round pick, plus depth piece Jakub Zboril, to acquire Peeke from the Blue Jackets at the 2023 deadline. He wasn’t a rental at the time, having inked a three-year, $8.25MM extension with Columbus in the prior training camp. Since he doesn’t have any term left, Boston likely won’t be able to recoup as much value as they paid for him unless the trade market takes a big swing toward sellers.
That said, Peeke is having his best season as a Bruin. After slotting as their third-pairing right D behind Charlie McAvoy and Carlo last year, he’s assumed second-pairing shutdown duties with Hampus Lindholm with Carlo out of the picture. That pairing has been woeful offensively but has done its job in preventing chances against, allowing only 2.43 expected goals against per 60 minutes. That’s fourth out of Boston’s 13 pairings with at least 60 minutes of ice time together.
The bump in role has led to increased ice time, with Peeke averaging over 19 minutes per game for the first time since the 2022-23 season. He’s recorded a 4-8–12 scoring line in 56 games with a -7 rating. Peeke, who turns 28 next month, also leads the Bruins with 101 blocks and ranks seventh with 67 hits.
Capitals To Activate Connor McMichael From Injured Reserve
Capitals forward Connor McMichael told reporters today, including Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network, that he’ll come off injured reserve and return to Washington’s lineup when their schedule resumes next Wednesday against the Flyers. The Caps still have nearly a week to make the formal roster move, which will require a corresponding transaction.
McMichael has been out of commission since sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Red Wings three weeks ago. Thanks to the timing of the injury, he only missed the final four games before the Olympic break.
The 25-year-old has bounced around Washington’s top nine quite a bit this season, and he’ll face some increased competition for ice time coming out of the break after Pierre-Luc Dubois returned from abdominal surgery in the Caps’ last appearance. McMichael spent most of last season on the left wing on a line with Dubois and Tom Wilson. Aliaksei Protas has been in that slot when Dubois has been healthy this year, so it stands to reason McMichael could re-enter the picture on the right side of Washington’s top line with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. Those two have seen a rotating cast of wingers, including Anthony Beauvillier and Ethen Frank, while Dubois was out.
While McMichael’s ice time has increased to a career-high 17:03 per game this season, his production has cooled off after a breakout 2024-25 campaign. A lot of that has to do with his shooting percentage nearly halving, dropping from 14.7% last year to 7.6%. He’s only lit the lamp eight times through 55 games as a result, but has added 23 assists for 31 points, ranking seventh on the team in scoring.
After a wild 111-point regular season, the Capitals have received inverse puck luck in 2025-26. They’re shooting just around league average and, despite having above-average offense and defense with a +12 goal differential, entered the break with the 12th-best record in the Eastern Conference based on points percentage. They have a four-point gap to make up with negative games in hand to get back into the playoff picture, something MoneyPuck only gives them a 34.6% chance of being able to pull off.
Predators Recall Matt Murray
The Predators announced they’ve recalled goaltender Matt Murray from AHL Milwaukee. He’ll supplement Justus Annunen as a practice goaltender while Juuse Saros continues representing Finland at the Olympics as they advance to the semifinals.
Murray, 28, is in his second season serving as Nashville’s third-stringer and AHL starter. The 2021 NCAA national championship winner with UMass joined the Preds on a two-way deal in 2024 after being non-tendered by the Stars. After being named an AHL Second-Team All-Star last season while leading the league with a .932 SV% in 43 games, he re-upped with Nashville on a two-year, two-way deal that more than doubled his minors salary.
The Alberta native’s numbers have regressed significantly this season. He’s still a serviceable starting option for Milwaukee, but with a .904 SV% and 2.86 GAA in 29 showings with a 12-14-2 record, he doesn’t jump off the page. He still carries value as a veteran call-up option with at least a handful of NHL experience, making four starts for Dallas in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns. He owns a 2-2-0 record, one shutout, and a .885 SV% across his career at the top level.
Murray remains under contract through next season, presumably still as the top call-up option if Saros or Annunen become unavailable. He’s in his fifth professional season after debuting with AHL Texas down the stretch in 2021-22.
Flames Recall Matvei Gridin
The Flames announced they’ve recalled winger Matvei Gridin from AHL Calgary. With only 11 forwards on their active roster, including the injured Jonathan Huberdeau, it stands to reason he’ll be sticking with the team out of the break, not just for practice purposes this week.
Gridin, still just 19, was the Flames’ second first-round choice in 2024, going 28th overall after they selected defenseman Zayne Parekh ninth overall. Prospect evaluators were split on the pick. He entered the season as Calgary’s No. 10 prospect according to Corey Pronman of The Athletic, but was ranked as high as No. 4 – the second-best forward prospect in the system behind last year’s first-rounder Cole Reschny – by NHL.com.
The difference in projection lies in Gridin’s all-around game. The 6’1″, 190-lb winger’s skill is undeniable, but there were concerns that his offensive game relies too much on perimeter play and he lacks the physicality necessary to create quality scoring chances for himself at the NHL level. After playing in the USHL during his pre-draft season, he moved to a slightly more competitive junior league, the QMJHL, for his post-draft season. Gridin scored 36 goals and 79 points in 56 games for the Shawinigan Cataractes, ranking fifth in the league in points per game (1.41) while being named the league’s rookie of the year.
The Flames saw a more NHL-ready talent in Gridin than some scouts did. He turned a strong training camp into a spot on Calgary’s opening night roster, scoring in the season opener but otherwise going pointless with a -3 rating in four games before the Flames assigned him to the AHL. He was recalled again in mid-January, appearing in nine consecutive games before the break, before Calgary sent him back down to continue playing during the Olympics.
All told, it’s been a smooth transition to pro hockey for the Russian. He was productive on his second call-up and now has three goals and six points through his first 13 NHL appearances. Averaging 14:05 per game, his 0.46 points per game are already good for eighth place on an offensively woeful Flames team. With Huberdeau done for the year thanks to hip surgery, there will be even more opportunity for Gridin to tamp down a top-nine role heading into next season.
Things went similarly well for Gridin in the AHL. He’s scored 10 goals and 29 points in 36 games, including a +1 rating on an offensively dynamic but defensively porous Wranglers squad.
Blackhawks Recall Kevin Korchinski, Sam Rinzel
The Blackhawks announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled defense prospects Kevin Korchinski and Sam Rinzel from AHL Rockford. Defenseman Wyatt Kaiser was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 4 in the corresponding move.
Chicago doesn’t have any defensemen in Italy suiting up at the Olympics, so it’s likely these recalls will result in actual playing time for the two youngsters. Korchinski, the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft, especially stands to benefit as a lefty, more directly replacing Kaiser’s slot on the depth chart. Since recording 15 points in 76 games for the Hawks as a rookie in 2023-24, Chicago has been much more restrictive with his development, leaving him mostly in the AHL to work on developing his all-around game.
His minor-league stats indicate the Hawks are still working to undo any damage they may have done by rushing him into the NHL lineup as a 19-year-old two years ago. He’s posted a respectable 5-45–50 scoring line in 101 games for Rockford over the last two years but that’s come with a -39 rating, including a team-worst -22 mark this year. He nonetheless leads Rockford in scoring from the blue line with 23 points in 45 games. For a Chicago blue line that’s struggled to get offense from anyone not named Artyom Levshunov this year, he could be of benefit to their 26th-ranked offense until Kaiser is ready to get back into the fold.
Rinzel, taken several spots after Korchinski in the first round in 2022, broke camp with the Hawks after a strong finish last season that saw him record five assists in his first nine NHL games after wrapping up his sophomore year at the University of Minnesota. Ice time was harder to latch onto as a full-timer, though, averaging 17:09 per game through the first two months of this year after getting top-pairing deployment down the stretch in 2024-25.
After Rinzel had an even rating and nine points in 31 games, Chicago opted to send Rinzel to Rockford in early December for additional development. The well-rounded righty has looked solid there, rattling off 14 points in 23 games with a -8 rating on a team with an ugly -30 goal differential.
He’s now one of four righties on the Hawks’ active roster, so the path to playing time is murkier than what Korchinski has at the moment. Head coach Jeff Blashill has opted to dress seven defensemen frequently this season, though, so he should have a decent shot at getting in the lineup, even if his ice time isn’t extensive.
Kaiser sustained a lower-body injury in Chicago’s final game before the Olympic break. Head coach Jeff Blashill said yesterday that he’ll miss a couple of games on the other side but will be back at some point down the stretch.
Lightning’s Maxwell Crozier Out For Regular Season
Lightning defenseman Maxwell Crozier underwent surgery to repair a core muscle injury during the Olympic break, the team announced Wednesday. He’ll be out for approximately 10 weeks, putting his projected return date in late April – after the end of the regular season. He hasn’t yet been placed on injured reserve or long-term injured reserve, but will presumably land there closer to when the Bolts get back into game action on Feb. 25.
The 25-year-old Crozier has been out for a multi-game stretch several times this season. The 2019 fourth-round pick has worked his way into a full-time role with all the injuries on Tampa’s blue line this season, but he’s also lost 19 games to undisclosed injuries and illness. Whether or not his core muscle is what’s been plaguing him since first exiting the lineup in mid-October remains to be seen, but in any event, he won’t be an option for the Bolts again until late in a potential first-round playoff matchup.
Crozier has emerged as a valuable bottom-pairing piece, especially with how much the Bolts have had to rely on their defensive depth. In a career-high 34 appearances, he’s logged a goal and nine assists for 10 points with strong possession control numbers at even strength, including a 53.7 CF% and a 53.4 xGF%. It’s his third straight year seeing NHL ice, logging 13 appearances in 2023-24 and another five last year. The righty has good size at 6’3″ and 204 lbs and has averaged 16 minutes per night.
With the Bolts’ hot streak leading into the deadline giving them a 92% chance of taking home the Atlantic Division crown (per MoneyPuck), Crozier’s absence isn’t an insurmountable obstacle by any stretch. Still, with Charle-Edouard D’Astous and Emil Martinsen Lilleberg both questionable to be ready coming out of the break, they’ll be down another depth option if injury-prone veterans Victor Hedman or Ryan McDonagh end up needing another IR stint.
It’s worth noting the Bolts do have the fourth-most difficult remaining schedule, according to Tankathon. Missing Crozier for the stretch run could up the urgency for general manager Julien BriseBois to pursue a depth addition at the deadline to help fill Crozier’s role as a No. 6/7 option.
Paul Coffey Rejoining Oilers Coaching Staff
After transitioning from a bench role to an advisory position last summer, Paul Coffey is returning to his job as an assistant coach under Kris Knoblauch for the remainder of the season, the Oilers announced Wednesday.
Coffey hasn’t been particularly active in off-ice roles since ending his playing career in 2001, but he has been recently. He first rejoined the franchise where he won three Stanley Cups as a skills coach in January 2018. He remained in that post for just a season and a half before eventually becoming a senior advisor ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. When the Oilers replaced Woodcroft with Knoblauch as head coach early in the 2023-24 campaign, Coffey was added to the bench as an assistant overseeing Edmonton’s defense as part of the reconstruction.
The Hall-of-Famer ended up being a key part of revitalizing the effectiveness of the Oilers’ depth defense en route to back-to-back Cup Final appearances. Without him on the bench this season, their team structure has collapsed. Last season, the Oilers were ninth in the league in xGA/60 at 5-on-5 at 2.29, per MoneyPuck. This year, that number has jumped to 2.54 – all the way down to 24th.
As the Oilers look to hang on to a divisional berth in the Pacific down the stretch, they’re hoping to get a defensive boost from Coffey in the process. They never replaced his spot on the staff after he transitioned out, so they’ve only been operating with two assistants this year.
Devils Recall Four Players
Feb. 18: The Devils made Hameenaho’s and White’s recalls official today. They also summoned defenseman Dennis Cholowski and goaltender Jakub Malek from AHL Utica to serve as extra practice players while they await the return of their Olympians.
Feb. 13: The Devils will recall forward Lenni Hameenaho and defenseman Colton White back to the NHL roster after the Olympic break, per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. As things stand, they won’t need to make any corresponding moves.
Hameenaho, 21, appeared in the first nine games of his NHL career in the weeks leading up to the break. The early returns were strong for the 2023 second-round pick. He notched two goals and four points with a +1 rating. The right-winger played his natural position, usually on a line with Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass. That trio controlled a dominant 75% of expected goals at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck. It’s easy to see why New Jersey wants to squeeze as much momentum as they can out of that group when league play reconvenes later this month.
Hameenaho’s adjustment to the NHL game is a great sign that a rough campaign for the club’s AHL affiliate in Utica hasn’t steered him too far off his development path. The 6’1″ Finn has a 9-13–22 scoring line and a -13 rating through 34 minor-league games, a figure that improbably leads the team in scoring.
He made his offensive ceiling evident with a pair of spectacular post-draft campaigns in his home country for Ässät. In 2024-25, he erupted for 20 goals and 51 points in 58 Liiga games to lead under-20 players in scoring.
Now, as one of New Jersey’s brightest prospects, he appears set to finish out the season in a top-nine role. While playoffs are essentially out of the question, a strong finish should position him well to crack the opening night roster next fall.
White, 28, has spent most of his pro career in the minors but has been a pleasant surprise as a call-up option when needed this season. Injuries have forced the lefty in 23 appearances, in which he’s recorded four assists and a +2 rating. They’re his first games at the top level since suiting up a career-high 46 times for the Ducks in 2022-23.
A stay-at-home specialist, White is averaging just 12:15 of ice time per game but has been a no-fuss option in bottom-pairing minutes. He’s controlled 47.7% of shot attempts and 53.9% of expected goals at even strength, so he’s done a good job of helping the Devils control quality scoring chances against lesser competition.