Penguins’ Bryan Rust Suspended Three Games
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has imposed a three-game suspension on Penguins winger Bryan Rust for an illegal check to the head against Canucks winger Brock Boeser during the closing seconds of Sunday’s game in Vancouver. While suspended, he continues to count against Pittsburgh’s salary cap and active roster.
Rust was in the defensive zone while the Penguins were fending off a late challenge from the Canucks to tie the game. While Boeser was attempting to join a net-front battle, Rust dove down from the slot and attempted a hard hit, missing Boeser’s core entirely and striking his head with his right shoulder. Rust was given a two-minute minor on the play for a check to the head. As the game was over, there wasn’t any consequence.
In their explanation video today, DoPS deemed the head contact avoidable. “Rust takes a poor angle of approach, choosing an angle that causes him to cut across the front of Boeser’s body, missing his core,” the video states. “Rust then raises his arm and leans into contact, causing direct contact with Boeser’s head with requisite force for supplemental discipline.” It’s the first interaction Rust has had with DoPS over his 12-year career, though, making the penalty seem steep at first glance, although the fact that Boeser sustained a head injury on the play factored into the length.
Rust isn’t on pace to match the career-high 31 goals he tallied last season, but he’s still a crucial part of the Pens’ top six. The 33-year-old owns an 18-21–39 scoring line in 47 appearances while averaging a career-high 20:07 of ice time per game. For a streaking Pens team with a six-point cushion on a playoff spot, that’s a significant loss – especially with their offense clicking so well at 4.67 goals per game over their last six.
Avalanche Sign Sam Malinski To Four-Year Extension
The Avalanche announced they’ve signed defenseman Sam Malinski to a four-year contract extension. It carries an average annual value of $4.75MM for a total commitment of $19MM, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Malinski’s deal is paid almost entirely in base salary aside from a $1MM signing bonus in 2029-30, the last year of the deal, per PuckPedia. His salary breaks down as $5.5MM in 2026-27, $4.5MM in 2027-28 and 2028-29, and $3.5MM in 2028-29. He has a full no-trade clause from 2026-28 before downgrading to a 10-team no-trade list in 2028-29 and a six-team no-trade list in 2029-30.
It’s a big deal amid a big breakout for Malinski, who, at age 27, is in just his third professional season. Colorado signed the 5’11” righty as an undrafted free agent out of Cornell in 2023. He spent his first year in the organization bouncing between the NHL and AHL before obtaining a more stable role as a bottom-pairing threat last season.
This year, he’s still operating as the Avs’ third-pair righty behind Cale Makar and Brent Burns (Josh Manson has shifted to his offside on the second pairing), but his results have been those of a top-four piece. With 24 points in 50 games, he’s tied for 38th in the league in scoring among defenders, and his +26 rating is tied for sixth in the NHL. No one in the league has done more with less – among D-men at or above Malinski’s production, they’ve all averaged at least 19 minutes per game, while Malinski skates just 16:43 per contest.
Colorado’s multiple layers of starpower are impossible to ignore, but it’s the immense success of players near the bottom of the lineup like Malinski this season that have the Avs cruising toward their fourth Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history. Most frequently paired with Samuel Girard, they beat out both Makar’s and Burns’ pairings in expected goals against per 60 minutes at 2.24, per MoneyPuck. They’ve controlled 56.6% of them overall and have outscored 18-10 at 5-on-5.
It’s hard to overstate the uniqueness of Malinski’s path to this point. Initially draft-eligible way back in 2016, he spent the following season with his high school team in Minnesota. Only in his DY+2 did he jump to junior hockey, spending most of the next two seasons in the Tier II North American Hockey League with Bismarck before enrolling at Cornell as a 21-year-old freshman. Players with such a delayed development curve are usually long shots to even get an NHL call-up, let alone become a stable contributor on a Stanley Cup favorite.
Now, he cashes in throughout his prime while the Avs retain a potential succession policy to the 40-year-old Burns, who’s been spectacular after inking a one-year deal last summer. With Makar and Girard set to become UFAs in 2027 and Manson in 2028, Malinski is now the team’s second-longest signed defender behind Devon Toews, whose deal expires in 2031.
Image courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.
Islanders Reassign Isaiah George
The Islanders have reassigned defenseman Isaiah George to AHL Bridgeport, per Stefen Rosner of NHL.com. That opens an active roster spot for fellow rearguard Carson Soucy to join the team after being acquired from the Rangers last night.
The move is just a speed bump in what remains a promising development path for George. In 2024-25, he went from an overlooked prospect from legitimate call-up option after notching five points in 33 games. He controlled 45.9% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 with a -3 rating while averaging 15:39 of ice time per game, virtually all of which came at even strength. While he didn’t move the needle much defensively, his skating translated well to the game’s highest level and, for a 20-year-old mid-round pick, certainly didn’t look out of place.
Coming into 2025-26, Matthew Schaefer falling into their lap and shoring up the left side made it hard to envision George turning last year’s momentum into a roster spot. That’s how it played out. He returned to Bridgeport to begin the campaign, but has put together a better all-around showing than he did as a rookie last year, notching a 2-8–10 scoring line with a +5 rating in 24 games.
Alexander Romanov‘s shoulder injury meant the Isles were dipping into their AHL depth to take on third-pairing duties on the left side over the last several weeks, though. After Marshall Warren and Travis Mitchell got some looks, it was George’s turn last weekend. He skated alongside Adam Boqvist in each of the Isles’ last two games, recording an assist and a shot attempt despite the pairing largely getting shelled at 5-on-5. They were out-attempted 26-7 and only controlled 18.2% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.
Now, with Soucy expected to hold down the 3LD spot for the remainder of the season behind Schaefer and Adam Pelech, NHL opportunities for George will once again be limited unless more injuries strike. He’ll be 22 next month, ahead of the final season of his entry-level contract in 2026-27, when he’ll look to make a play for a roster spot with Soucy, Boqvist, and Tony DeAngelo on expiring contracts.
Wild Recall Matt Kiersted
The Wild announced today that they’ve recalled defenseman Matt Kiersted from AHL Iowa. With two open roster spots, there’s no need for a corresponding move.
Minnesota is back to having an extra defenseman on its roster ahead of tonight’s clash with the Blackhawks. They’d had David Spacek in the role for the last several days but sent him down to Iowa over the weekend with the hope that Zach Bogosian would be ready to come off injured reserve. While he was previously listed as day-to-day with a foot injury, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported yesterday that it never got back to 100% and that he’s now “seeking a different form of treatment.”
That opens the door for Kiersted to rejoin the team, especially since Spacek was ineligible to be recalled today because he hasn’t played for Iowa since being reassigned on Sunday. Kiersted was previously up with the Wild in a similar role for nearly a month across December and January, but was sent down over two weeks ago after clearing waivers.
A competent depth defenseman with some NHL utility, Kiersted is a Minnesota native who returned home last summer in free agency. He’d spent his professional career up to then with the Panthers, who plucked him out of North Dakota as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He has a strong outlet pass in his arsenal with some offensive utility at the AHL, but has panned out as a defensive threat in the pros first and foremost.
In 261 career AHL games across five seasons with Charlotte and Iowa, he’s put up a 16-73–89 scoring line with a +44 rating. In 43 NHL games, including four with the Wild this year, he’s posted eight points with a -8 rating while averaging 12:11 of ice time per game.
New York Islanders Acquire Carson Soucy
9:40 p.m.: The Islanders have now officially announced their acquisition of Soucy.
7:10 p.m.: While no deal has been officially completed to this point, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports that the Rangers will receive a 2026 third-round pick from the Islanders in exchange for the veteran defenseman. That’s identical to the price the Rangers paid the Canucks to acquire Soucy in March of last year.
Soucy was held out of the Rangers’ lineup for their game tonight against the Boston Bruins for “roster management reasons,” a source with knowledge of the situation told Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. Again, while no trade has been officially announced, it appears overwhelmingly likely that Soucy will end up an Islander at some point in the very near future.
The Rangers also made two roster moves today to prepare themselves for the loss of Soucy. New York sent spare forward Anton Blidh back down to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, and recalled veteran blueliner Connor Mackey. Mackey’s recall gives New York a seventh defenseman for its active roster once Soucy is officially transferred to the Islanders.
12:20 p.m.: The Rangers and Islanders are deep in talks on a deal that would send defenseman Carson Soucy across town to Elmont, Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic reports. If the trade doesn’t get materialized today, Soucy has still played his last game as a Blueshirt – he’ll be scratched for tonight’s game against the Bruins to protect him from an injury, Mercogliano said.
Soucy, 31, is purely a shutdown threat at this stage of his career. He was a fifth-round pick by the Wild back in 2013 and took a long development path through college and the minors before emerging as a full-time piece for the 2019-20 season. After two full years in Minnesota, he was plucked by the Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft.
Since then, Soucy hasn’t spent more than two full seasons with an organization. Upon becoming an unrestricted free agent for the first time in 2023, he inked a three-year, $9.75MM deal with the Canucks worth $3.25MM annually. He’s in the final year of that deal now, having waived his no-trade clause last season to facilitate a deal to the Rangers at the deadline. He now finds himself on the move once again, but won’t need to travel very far as the New York clubs complete their first trade with each other since 2010 and just the fourth all-time.
At best, his free-agent splash in Vancouver can be described as fair value. He missed more than half of his only full season in Vancouver with various injuries before posting a career-worst -11 rating in 75 appearances with the Canucks and Blueshirts last season. This year, while his eight points and a +4 rating in 46 games look acceptable enough for a second or third-pairing threat, his underlying numbers show an uglier picture. His two most frequent 5-on-5 pairings, on the left side with William Borgen and Braden Schneider, have both controlled a team-worst 42.4% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. His 43.8% Corsi share at even strength also ranks last among Rangers defenders despite him seeing easier deployment than Borgen, Schneider, and Urho Vaakanainen.
Soucy was a great two-way piece lower on Seattle’s depth chart during his two-year run there, though, including a career-best 10 goals and 21 points in 64 games during the 2021-22 season. The 6’4″, 211-lb lefty also averages 101 blocks and 129 hits per 82 games for his career, so he brings a physical edge to an Isles blue line that’s lost high-paid shutdown threat Alexander Romanov for virtually the entire season due to a shoulder injury. With righty Ryan Pulock now also dealing with an upper-body injury, Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche won’t play the waiting game as the Isles gun for a playoff berth in the first year of the Matthew Schaefer era.
While Soucy’s acquisition is clearly targeted at ending the third-pairing lefty rotation that’s fallen in the hands of AHL call-ups Isaiah George, Travis Mitchell, and Marshall Warren in Romanov’s absence, there’s value in his versatility – he’s played plenty on the right side in his career with no real adverse effects. There’s also a benefit for the Isles’ budgeters in his contract structure. While he counts for $3.25MM against the cap, he’s only owed $2.5MM in actual salary this season as a result of his frontloaded deal.
Kings Sign Taylor Ward To Two-Year Extension
The Kings announced they’ve signed winger Taylor Ward to a two-year extension worth $875K per season for a total value of $1.75MM. The team didn’t specify whether it’s a one-way or two-way deal. Ward was slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Including his entry-level contract, this is the fifth contract Ward has signed with the Kings and his first multi-year deal. Signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2022, he’s in his fourth full season in the organization and fourth overall after appearing in some games with AHL Ontario at the tail end of 2021-22. A well-rounded, depth offensive threat with some physicality, he slowly worked his way up the organizational depth chart before being rewarded with his NHL debut in the final game of the 2024-25 regular season.
That game, in which he tallied his first NHL goal, evidently gave the 27-year-old renewed confidence. He’s parlayed that into a career year here in 2025-26, already matching his career high in goals (12) in only 32 appearances with Ontario. That earned him a recall to the Kings’ roster earlier this month. He’s provided some much-needed depth scoring in a fourth-line role since coming up, posting a pair of goals and assists each for four points in nine games while pushing north of 11 minutes of ice time per night.
For an L.A. team near the bottom of the league in scoring at 2.60 goals per game, they’ll take all the help they can get from wherever in the lineup. Given his relatively conservative goal-scoring history at the minor-league level, asking him to keep up his 27.3% shooting rate through 10 career NHL contests is highly unrealistic, but he’s shown he can be a legitimate factor – averaging 3.33 shot attempts per game to rank 10th on the team despite his limited role.
The Buffalo native has also gotten some power-play reps since coming up, averaging north of a minute per game on the man advantage. With Anže Kopitar‘s absence, more is being asked of Los Angeles’ depth forwards, and Ward’s helped make sure the Kings’ 3-2-4 record in their last nine hasn’t been any worse.
Now, he gets rewarded with the most financially lucrative commitment of his professional career. If he wants to make a move elsewhere, he’ll have to wait until the end of the 2027-28 season to test unrestricted free agency.
Kings Recall Kenny Connors
The Kings announced this afternoon that they’ve recalled center Kenny Connors from AHL Ontario. With Anže Kopitar still on injured reserve, there’s no need for a corresponding move.
Connors, 22, will be making his NHL debut if he gets into a game. The 6’2″ pivot was a fourth-round pick in 2022 from the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. He went on to be a key player at UMass for the next three years, including an appearance for the United States at the 2023 World Junior Championship, recording 26 goals and 77 points in 109 career collegiate games. He was named to the Hockey East’s All-Rookie Team in 2022-23 following a 26-point effort as a freshman, but his offensive production remained relatively stagnant from there.
Nonetheless, the Kings liked what they saw from Connors enough in college to offer him an entry-level contract last summer. In his first year pro, he’s been among the better two-way forwards in Ontario with 24 points and a +13 rating in 41 games, which ranks second on the team.
Whether his offensive game will pop enough for him to be a long-term NHL fixture remains to be seen. He’s not considered a top-10 name in the system and was described as a “long [shot] to ever make the big club” by Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis just last offseason. Now, he gets his first chance to prove that descriptor wrong.
For now, he gives the Kings a needed option down the middle after Alex Turcotte sustained an upper-body injury in Saturday’s game against the Blues. He’s listed as day-to-day, per the team’s Zach Dooley, and isn’t looking likely to play tomorrow against the Red Wings. With no options on the wing who are natural fits at center, the tea leaves point toward Connors entering the lineup if Turcotte can’t go, especially since Joel Edmundson is also banged up, removing the possibility for head coach Jim Hiller to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Simon Edvinsson To Remain Out Through Olympic Break
The Red Wings have been without left-shot defender Simon Edvinsson for the past two games due to a lower-body injury, and it doesn’t sound as though he’ll be rejoining the team anytime soon. Head coach Todd McLellan told reporters today, including The Athletic’s Max Bultman, that Edvinsson will be out through the Olympic break.
For a Detroit team thin on defensive depth and in the thick of the race for the Atlantic Division title, it’s a brutal injury. The timing is the only saving grace – Detroit only has five games left before the schedule goes on pause for most of February, so even if Edvinsson is out for over a month of real time, he’ll only miss seven games. Whether he’s able to suit up when the Wings hit the ground running against the Senators on Feb. 26 remains to be seen, but considering he was only listed as day-to-day to start, it seems likely.
Edvinsson, who’ll turn 23 over the break, hasn’t upped his offensive stats from last season’s breakout showing but is taking on increased responsibility as the Wings’ top blue-line support piece to Norris candidate Moritz Seider. That was due in part to a slow start – just one goal and a -3 rating through his first eight games – but his play has stabilized now. Past the halfway point, the 6’6″ Swede has contributed six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 48 outings with a +6 rating. He’s averaging 22:35 of ice time per game, up more than a minute from last year and top-45 in the league overall.
Selected sixth overall in 2021, Edvinsson’s two-way play has been outstanding. Instead of having him slot in separately from Seider as the Wings did last year, the two have played together at even strength for most of this season with spectacular results. The duo controls 55.3% of expected goals at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck, and have outscored opponents 31-21. Only Seider has a better shot attempt share on the Wings at even strength beyond Edvinsson’s 51.7%.
Detroit’s gone 1-0-1 so far without Edvinsson, and they’ll hope to keep that record up in the interim. They don’t have many great options to elevate alongside Seider. For now, they’re back to relying on overtaxed veteran Ben Chiarot in those top-pairing duties. He has the worst possession numbers among any Detroit regular on the blue line this season, although his two-way results with Seider have been much improved on years past, with a 53.1 xGF%. If the Wings can keep getting that level of chemistry out of them in the short term, they should be able to navigate this stretch fairly well.
The Wings technically remain in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 32-16-5 record and 69 points, but they’ve trailed the Lightning in points percentage for the last several days by virtue of the Bolts having multiple games in hand. They’ve yet to pull away from them and, with the streaking Sabres hot on both their tails for a top-two spot in the division, an extended losing streak can still spell significant doom with only an eight-point cushion between them and the outside of the playoff picture.
Blue Jackets To Activate Denton Mateychuk From Injured Reserve
The Blue Jackets are expected to activate defenseman Denton Mateychuk from injured reserve in the coming days, per head coach Rick Bowness (via the team’s Jeff Svoboda). He was ticketed to enter the lineup for tonight’s game against the Kings, but that contest has been postponed to March 9 due to inclement weather in Columbus, the league announced. With no roster spots available, they’ll now have until their next game on Wednesday against the Flyers to make a move to activate Mateychuk.
Mateychuk, 21, is in his second NHL season. After being selected 12th overall in the 2022 draft, this year was the first time he made the team out of camp. However, he did record 13 points in 45 games for the Blue Jackets last year after a midseason recall from AHL Cleveland, earning 12th place in Calder Trophy voting.
This season, the 5’11” lefty has done a much more consistent job of flashing his ceiling as a high-end top-four piece. Averaging 20:20 of ice time per game, he’s split the year between playing alongside veteran righty Damon Severson and seeing top-pair duties on his off side with Zach Werenski. He’s third on the team with a +5 rating and has already trounced his offensive production from last season with an 8-13–21 scoring line in 44 games. He’s tied with Blackhawks rookie Artyom Levshunov for fifth in the league in scoring among defensemen 22 or younger.
He’s missed the last six games with an upper-body injury sustained early in a Jan. 11 matchup against the Mammoth. That was Dean Evason’s last game behind the Jackets’ bench before being swapped out for Bowness, so Wednesday will be Mateychuk’s first outing with Columbus’ new boss. With the Blue Jackets’ youngsters largely receiving a longer leash under the new regime, Mateychuk shouldn’t be concerned about his ice time dropping.
Jets Recall Isaak Phillips
The Jets announced they’ve recalled defenseman Isaak Phillips from AHL Manitoba. He was up with them for nine days earlier this month, but since he played twice for Manitoba over the weekend after being sent down Friday, he’s eligible to be recalled again today.
The Blackhawks took Phillips, now 24, in the fifth round of the 2020 draft. He immediately jumped to the pros thanks to the pandemic and remained in the organization until last season, at one point ranking among the team’s top 15 prospects according to the Chicago Sun-Times in 2022. His NHL debut had arrived the season prior, and after he put up five points in 16 games with a 0.4 relative CF% at even strength across multiple call-ups in 2022-23, there were plenty of reasons for optimism.
Unfortunately, Phillips faltered when given a longer leash the following season. He made 36 appearances for Chicago from 2023-25 but managed only seven points with a -26 rating and porous possession metrics, getting outscored 39-13 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. For a player whose profile was built around his defensive game, his negative net possession impacts during that time sank his momentum. After spending the vast majority of the first half of the 2024-25 campaign in the minors, the Jets acquired him in a prospect-for-prospect swap in January.
Things didn’t go well for Phillips in Manitoba down the stretch, limited to eight points and a -11 rating in 39 games. This season, though, he’s flipped the script. The 6’3″ lefty is amid a resurgent campaign with 15 points in 35 games for the Moose, among the best offensive production of his professional career, along with a +5 rating that ranks near the team lead. That performance got him his first call-up as a Jet earlier this month when Colin Miller hit injured reserve. He played in two of the six games he was rostered for, deployed as a bottom-pairing defensive specialist while averaging just 8:12 of ice time per game.
With Miller, Haydn Fleury, and Neal Pionk still on IR, Phillips will again get the chance to serve as Winnipeg’s extra defenseman and maybe get some playing time as the Jets head out on a four-game road trip that will nearly take them to the Olympic break. He signed a two-year, two-way, $1.625MM deal with a $812.5K AAV as a restricted free agent last summer, so he’s not in a contract year.