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Canucks Acquire Lukas Reichel

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The Canucks announced Friday that they’ve acquired forward Lukas Reichel from the Blackhawks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick. They announced shortly before the move that center Teddy Blueger has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Sunday, as the corresponding transaction.

It is not at all the return on investment Chicago hoped for when they made Reichel the 17th overall pick of the 2020 draft. Now 23, Reichel made his NHL debut in 2022, amid a spectacular rookie season in the AHL that saw the German forward notch over a point per game with the Rockford IceHogs. Reichel got a more extended look in Chicago’s lineup the following season and looked like the future top-six fixture they hoped he’d be. He turned in seven goals and 15 points through 23 games, averaging 16:22 of ice time per night and leading the team in points per game among players who finished the season in the organization.

Once Reichel first broke camp with the Blackhawks in 2023-24, though, the regression was quick and steep. Reichel was initially slotted as the No. 2 center behind Connor Bedard, but that experiment ended quickly as he was getting caved in defensively and barely generating offense. He finished the season with just five goals and 16 points in 65 appearances and was sent back to Rockford later to boost his confidence, managing three goals and 12 points in 14 combined regular-season and playoff games.

Last year was a slight improvement, but not enough to truly boost his standing in the organization. He was still an occasional healthy scratch and saw his ice time slashed to under 12 minutes per game, although he did make a career-high 70 appearances. That came with a slight bump in offense in his reduced role, managing an 8-14–22 scoring line, but he still had negative defensive impacts and won just 39.9% of his faceoffs as he spent most of the year down the middle. That turned into Chicago making Reichel available for trade over the offseason and even mulling placing him on waivers late in training camp, but he stuck with the team on opening night.

Reichel was scratched for three of the Blackhawks’ first four games but played in four straight to end his tenure in Chicago. That streak included a two-goal, three-point effort against the Blues back on Oct. 15 in a season-high 13:11 of ice time. That gives him four points in five games on the year, all at even strength, despite averaging under 10 minutes per game.

That’s an intriguing taste of the upside Vancouver is now betting on. While a natural left-winger, Chicago tried Reichel at center multiple times. With the Canucks’ depth issues down the middle behind Elias Pettersson and the oft-injured Filip Chytil, it stands to reason they’d prefer to keep Reichel down the middle. Since Chytil is currently out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, there’s a prime opportunity for Reichel to have his leash removed and immediately jump into a second-line role on a trial basis, likely between veterans Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser.

It’s a no-risk pickup for Vancouver, who can walk away from Reichel next summer if he doesn’t pan out by not issuing him a qualifying offer. He’s in the back half of a two-year, $2.4MM deal he signed with Chicago in 2024 that carries a cap hit of $1.2MM.

Blueger has been placed on IR with an undisclosed injury in a corresponding move. That designation is retroactive to Ocotber 19th, which will force Blueger out of Vancouver’s Saturday matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. He could be activated ahead of Sunday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, though that would require the canucks to send another player to the minor-leagues. Blueger scored one goal in two games before falling to injury. He has been a core piece of Vancouver’s fourth-line for the last two seasons, and should slot back into the lineup as soon as he’s back to full health.

The Canucks are currently carrying Arshdeep Bains and Joseph LaBate as their extra forwards. Both players would require waivers to be sent to the AHL. Extra defenseman Tom Willander would not require waivers, though Vancouver could want to avoid reassigning one of their top prospects before awarding him with his NHL debut.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports.

Joseph Woll Returning To Maple Leafs From Personal Leave

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The Maple Leafs announced Friday that goaltender Joseph Woll will begin the return-to-play process after missing more than a month while on personal leave. He was retroactively placed on long-term injured reserve yesterday and will remain there until the club’s doctors clear him to return to game action.

Woll took an indefinite leave of absence to deal with a family matter less than a week into training camp. He never entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program during his absence, so his return can be managed entirely at the team’s discretion. The team clarified at the time that Woll’s absence was not substance-abuse related but did not issue any further comment.

Having Woll’s return on the horizon is a welcome sight. The Maple Leafs haven’t gotten great performances out of starter Anthony Stolarz or waiver claim Cayden Primeau in his absence. Stolarz has seemingly struggled with a higher-than-normal workload, starting six of seven with a 2-3-1 record, .894 SV%, and 3.01 GAA. Those below-average numbers translate to a similarly unimpressive -1.6 goals saved above expected figure, per MoneyPuck. That’s still not as subpar as the -1.7 GSAx that Primeau put up in his lone appearance, a 7-4 win over the Predators on Oct. 14 that saw him allow four goals on 30 shots.

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Woll has yet to have a below-average showing in any of his four NHL seasons. He was especially excellent last year, starting a career-high 41 games with a 27-14-1 record, .909 SV%, 2.73 GAA, and 16.8 GSAx. He was 11th in the league in that latter stat, proving his three-year, $11MM extension he signed in 2024 to be one of the better-value deals among goaltenders.

Getting that type of play out of Woll in his return would help buoy a Maple Leafs club that’s struggled on both sides of the puck to begin 2025-26. The team ranks in the bottom half of the league in both shots for and shots against per game, although above-average finishing still has them scoring 3.43 goals per game for 10th in the NHL.

Red Wings Activate, Reassign Nate Danielson

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The Red Wings announced they’ve activated center Nate Danielson from the non-roster list and assigned him to AHL Grand Rapids. He had begun the season there after sustaining an undisclosed injury in a preseason game. He’ll now get his season underway in the minors after missing nearly a month of action.

Danielson, 21, is beginning his second season in the pros. The No. 9 pick of the 2023 draft arrived in Grand Rapids last year to great expectations, particularly after he ended 2023-24 on a 12-goal, 41-point heater in 28 games with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. However, his transition didn’t go as the Red Wings had hoped. The playmaking pivot only contributed a 12-27–39 scoring line in 71 games – fine production for a first-year pro, but not necessarily the level expected from a top-10 pick.

As such, 2025-26 is a crucial season for Danielson to get his offensive development back on track and prove he can compete to be a long-term top-six piece in Detroit. While more comfortable down the middle, he can also play the right wing. That might be important for a team that looks comfortable riding Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper as their top two pivots for the foreseeable future, allowing Danielson to be one of their wingmen or center the third line.

But his lukewarm initial showing in the AHL means he’s no longer standing out among the organization’s premier prospects. NHL.com ranked him as the No. 5 prospect in the organization over the summer, behind fellow forwards and first-rounders Carter Bear and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, the latter of whom made the opening night roster but has struggled with one assist and a minus-four rating in eight games.

Capitals, Sheldon Rempal Mutually Terminate Contract

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Oct. 24: Rempal has cleared waivers and will have his deal terminated as he pursues an opportunity overseas, per Friedman.

Oct. 23: The Capitals have placed forward Sheldon Rempal on waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Thursday. Rempal was previously on assignment to AHL Hershey after clearing waivers earlier in the month, so it’s presumed he’s on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a mutual contract termination.

Rempal has only been in the Washington organization for a few months after the Caps signed him to a two-way deal early in free agency. The minor-league veteran was returning to North America after spending 2024-25 in Russia with Salavat Yulaev Ufa, lighting up the Kontinental Hockey League circuit with 31 goals and 61 points in 68 games. Through four games with Hershey, he had a goal and an assist with a minus-two rating.

He likely has a better-paying opportunity lined up overseas, and with the Caps having plenty of young talent in their system, it was unlikely Rempal had a more than marginal chance of a recall this season. He was due a $450K salary if he spent all year in the minors. In the likely event he’s not claimed by another team in the next 24 hours, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow.

Rempal, 30, has 21 career NHL appearances to his name with two goals and one assist. He hasn’t seen time at the top level since February 2024 and has suited up for four different teams – the Kings, Hurricanes, Canucks, and Golden Knights. Los Angeles was the one to sign him as an undrafted free agent out of Clarkson in 2018. The 5’10”, 165-lb winger has since overcome his smallish frame to have offensive success at the minor-league level, keeping up a 109-145–254 scoring line in 332 career AHL appearances. While he’s racked up plenty of penalty minutes in the minors, spotty defensive work – plus the fact he never recorded a single hit in his NHL looks – made him a one-dimensional threat in most teams’ eyes.

Rempal’s departure robs the Caps of an experienced call-up option but paves a longer runway for under-22 forwards Andrew Cristall, Eriks Mateiko, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Ilya Protas to climb up the depth chart throughout the season. It’ll also free up a contract slot for Washington, leaving them with seven open ones.

Avalanche Recall Jack Ahcan, Daniil Gushchin

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The Avalanche announced Friday that they’ve recalled defenseman Jack Ahcan and winger Daniil Gushchin from AHL Colorado. The team has two open roster spots, so no corresponding transaction is required.

Today marks Ahcan’s second recall of the young season. He made the team out of camp after clearing waivers, but was sent down a couple of days in as Ilya Solovyov came off the non-roster list. He was summoned again the following week to give the Avs an extra defenseman in the wake of Samuel Girard’s injured reserve placement, but was scratched twice before being returned to the AHL last Saturday.

All that roster time hasn’t translated into playing time for Ahcan. In the seven days he’s spent up in the NHL this month, Colorado’s had three games, and he’s played in none of them. The 28-year-old is in his third year in the organization. He initially signed a two-year, two-way deal in the 2023 offseason and reupped with the club on another two-way deal over the summer. He’s spent all but 11 games of his pro career in the minors, where he’s torched AHL competition with a goal and four assists in four games so far this season. His most recent NHL appearances came in a back-to-back set in April last season, his first games as an Av and his first in the NHL since the 2021-22 campaign with the Bruins.

With Colorado still only carrying six defenders for their recent stretch of games, Ahcan will give them a seventh option for their two-game road swing through Boston and New Jersey in case another injury pops up. It essentially serves as a confirmation that Girard, who’s week-to-week with his upper-body issue, won’t come off IR in the next few days.

Gushchin’s recall serves a similar purpose, but for the team’s forward group. Acquired from the Sharks over the offseason, Guchshin cleared waivers during training camp after putting together a 2-3–5 scoring line in 18 appearances over the past three years with San Jose. The undersized but skilled 23-year-old has made a considerable impression in the Avs’ farm system so far, leading the AHL with six goals in five games. A 2020 third-round pick, that’s more than earned Gushchin his first call-up as an Av, and, with fellow sub-5’10” winger Gavin Brindley off to a slow start with one goal in eight games on Colorado’s fourth line, he might get a look in Brindley’s spot on the upcoming road trip if the Avs are looking to jumpstart their depth.

Devils’ Cody Glass Out Multiple Weeks

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Devils center Cody Glass will miss a significant chunk of time with the upper-body injury that held him out of Wednesday’s win over the Wild. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters today, including Amanda Stein of the team’s website, that it’s “not a day-to-day situation” and that he hopes his absence is “no more than a couple of weeks,” though it could be longer.

Glass sustained the injury at some point during his last appearance on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs, but played through it, Keefe said earlier in the week. It’s been an otherwise fine start to the season for the 26-year-old, who signed a two-year, $5MM contract with New Jersey this summer after rumors he might not receive a qualifying offer. He’s got a pair of goals in six games while logging a plus-one rating with good possession impacts, ranking eighth on the team with a 52.5 CF% at even strength. He’s averaging 12:34 per game, has factored in on the Devils’ second power play unit, and has won 40.3% of his faceoffs while factoring in as their third-line center, most often slotting in between Connor Brown and Arseny Gritsyuk.

Another long-term injury puts the Devils in a crunch. Even with Evgenii Dadonov, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Zack MacEwen on long-term injured reserve, they don’t have the cap space to make a corresponding recall if they place Glass on IR. As a result, the Devils might be forced to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen if there’s another injury to their forward group and, in an extreme situation, could play a skater short for a game before being granted an emergency exception by the league to recall a player with a cap hit of $875,000 or less.

In addition to those three, New Jersey also has depth center Juho Lammikko on injured reserve and goaltender Jacob Markström unavailable with a lower-body issue, although he remains on the active roster. They also just got Stefan Noesen back in the lineup after he missed the first six games while recovering from groin surgery. Despite all that adversity, the Devils are 6-1-0 – rattling off six wins in a row – and sit atop the Eastern Conference. Only the Golden Knights are scoring more than New Jersey’s four goals per game, and both their special teams are top-five in the league.

With Glass out, Dawson Mercer shifted over to center the third line against Minnesota and will presumably stay there for the foreseeable future. While he’s spent most of his time in the NHL on the wing, he’s a natural center and has done better in the faceoff dot (56.0%) this season than Glass. He’s also off to the best start of his five-year career with three goals and seven points in seven games.

Rangers Recall Brennan Othmann

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The Rangers announced they’ve recalled Brennan Othmann from AHL Hartford. The winger will get his first look of the season on the NHL roster amid reports he’s been made available for trade. They’ve had an open roster spot since sending defenseman Scott Morrow down to Hartford at the beginning of the week, so no corresponding move is required.

While the recall could serve as a showcase to help boost the struggling prospect’s trade value, that’s not its primary purpose. The Rangers are down a forward after Matt Rempe sustained an upper-body injury in his fight Thursday night with the Sharks’ Ryan Reaves. Othmann ensures they continue to have a healthy extra forward in Rempe’s absence, however long that may be.

It’s likely that nothing so far this season has changed the Rangers’ mind that a change of scenery is the best outcome for Othmann, who they selected No. 16 overall in the 2021 draft. In four games with Hartford, he’s been limited to one assist and an even rating. While he hasn’t demonstrated much upside in his NHL call-ups thus far, only managing two assists in 25 games, he’s at least had some productive runs with Hartford, including 12 goals and 20 points in 27 games last year. An AHL scoring slump certainly won’t do good things for his trade value.

Presumably, the Rangers feel Othmann and his 6’0″, 192-lb frame are a better fit for a bottom-six role than late camp cuts like top prospect Gabriel Perreault, who’s managed a goal and an assist in four games for Hartford. They’ve had no prior hesitancy in dropping him into third or fourth-line jobs. He’s only averaged 9:52 of ice time per game in his NHL career while recording a plus-seven rating and 49 hits. While he’s been a semi-effective physical presence, he’s failed to show he can convert the high-end finishing ability he displayed in juniors (and in Hartford, to some extent) into NHL minutes. He’s yet to score on 26 shots on goal.

He’ll now get one of his last chances to change that track record in New York. It could be an extended one depending on the severity of Rempe’s injury. The pending restricted free agent will join a battle for playing time with Jonny Brodzinski and Juuso Pärssinen. Every other active Rangers forward has appeared in all nine games so far this season.

Islanders Recall Marshall Warren

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Oct. 24: The Islanders announced they’ve returned Highmore on loan to Bridgeport. He did not play in last night’s 7-2 drubbing of the Red Wings, essentially confirming he was only brought up to help maximize their LTIR capture. There’s now an open roster spot if the Islanders wish to bring Gatcomb back up to the active roster.

Oct. 23: The Islanders announced they’ve recalled forward Matthew Highmore and defenseman Marshall Warren from AHL Bridgeport. The team already had one open roster spot and assigned forward Marc Gatcomb to Bridgeport to open the other one after he cleared waivers today. In a corresponding move, they shifted winger Pierre Engvall from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve. The moves left them with just $6,482 in cap space before Engvall’s LTIR placement, meaning they can unlock up to $2,993,518 of his $3MM cap hit in relief as they need it.

Highmore will serve as a direct replacement for Gatcomb as the club’s 14th forward, although with their LTIR pool now set, they have enough cap flexibility to swap them again if they choose. Highmore already cleared waivers before the start of the season, so as long as he stays less than 30 days on the Islanders’ active roster, he can be returned to Bridgeport without needing to clear them again.

There’s a chance Highmore sticks ahead of Gatcomb for a while, though. The 29-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Isles in free agency over the offseason and has a significant leg up on Gatcomb in terms of NHL experience. If Highmore plays, he’d be playing in his eighth NHL season, and he already has 187 games under his belt with 14 goals and 35 points. Gatcomb, while three years younger, only made his NHL debut last year and has a 40-game resume at the NHL level.

Highmore is also off to a strong start with Bridgeport. After appearing in 41 regular-season games and one playoff game for the Senators last year, he was hoping to remain on an NHL opening night roster in 2025-26. While that didn’t happen, he’s taken the demotion in stride and has four assists through his first four games for the Baby Isles. The Nova Scotia native has 170 points in 235 career AHL appearances dating back to his pro debut in 2017 and has been a legitimately valuable fourth-liner at the NHL level at times, even slotting in on occasional penalty kills.

As for Warren, it’s his first NHL recall. The Long Island native was a sixth-round pick by the Wild back in 2019 but never signed with them, instead becoming a free agent and landing a contract with the Isles out of Michigan in 2024. The 6’0″, 185-lb lefty had an impressive training camp and has carried that momentum straight through to Bridgeport, leading the club in scoring with two goals and three assists for five points in four games with a plus-three rating.

The club was in need of an extra defenseman for their next few games after placing Alexander Romanov on injured reserve earlier today. There’s no guarantee the lefty Warren makes his NHL debut on this call-up, but with the Isles’ balance of lefties and righties currently at two and four, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Warren get a look at least once in place of Adam Boqvist, who’s been a healthy scratch in four of six games to start New York’s season and only entered the lineup when Romanov exited it.

Engvall’s LTIR placement will stick for the remainder of the campaign. He’s done for the year after undergoing ankle surgery.

Panthers, Red Wings, Sabres Among Teams Interested In Yegor Chinakhov

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It has been over three months since Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov’s former agent said that his client had requested a trade out of Columbus. Much has happened since then, including an apparent reconciliation with head coach Dean Evason, but that was short-lived before he ended up back in a fourth-line/press box role in training camp. Following that move, Chinakhov switched his representation at the beginning of the month in hopes of accelerating his departure from the organization.

According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Chinkahov’s new representation at Maverick Sports Management now has permission to speak directly with other teams about facilitating a trade. Among the teams that “have recently kicked the tires” in trade talks with the Jackets are the Panthers, Red Wings, and Sabres, he adds.

All of those Atlantic Division clubs are looking to fill out their middle-six depth for various reasons, and it’s clear why Chinakhov specifically offers some intrigue there. While it’s been a tough go in Columbus for him, particularly over the last 12 months due to injuries and dwindling usage, he’s shown the ability to come up with productive scoring lines when given more considerable ice time. In his career-best 2023-24 season, the former first-round pick averaged 15:10 of ice time per game and managed 16 goals and 29 points in 53 appearances. That was on track for 45 points had he played a full 82-game schedule, and he also managed to record half a point per game last year with 15 in 30 appearances.

He’s by no means a top-six needle-mover for a contender with those numbers, but for teams needing to plug a third-line or fringe second-line hole, he could be of real benefit. The Panthers are without top-six forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk for months, and the ripple effect has been ugly. They’ve understandably gotten off to a sluggish 4-5-0 start and, more concerningly, are only scoring 2.44 goals per game – 29th in the league. Names like Sam Bennett (1-1–2 in nine games), Eetu Luostarinen (1-1–2 in nine games), and Jesper Boqvist (1-0–1 in nine games) have struggled to produce in elevated roles. Getting another body in the mix to ease everyone’s workload is a short-term priority for general manager Bill Zito.

Teams considering Chinakhov a short-term fix can non-tender him at the end of the season. He’s in the final year of a contract that carries a $2.1MM cap hit and an identical qualifying offer that he’s unlikely to warrant with his current trajectory. However, that can quickly change if he manages to return to his 2023-24 form with a new club.

As for the Red Wings, adding forward depth was always going to be a priority for them based on how they entered the season. Leaning into their youth has made them one of the league’s pleasant surprises early on. Still, they’ve struggled to find offensive consistency outside of their explosive first line of rookie Emmitt Finnie, Dylan Larkin, and Lucas Raymond. Only three other forwards have more than four points through eight games, and there’s been a bit of a mix-and-match through the first few weeks with Jonatan Berggren, Elmer Söderblom, and James van Riemsdyk all coming in and out of the lineup.

Detroit presumably hopes Chinakhov can be an upgrade on a similarly cast young winger in Berggren. The latter has never received the kind of leash Chinakhov did previously in Columbus, never averaging more than 13:28 of ice time per game. His career points-per-game pace, though, isn’t too far off from Chinakhov’s. Berggren averages 16 goals and 31 points per 82 games, while Chinakhov averages 16 and 33.

Like Florida, Buffalo’s interest is injury-fueled. Their already semi-questionable forward depth has been decimated in the season’s opening weeks by injuries to Jordan Greenway and Joshua Norris, among others. They’re looking for additional top-nine wing insurance, but with all of Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Jack Quinn, and Jason Zucker off to strong starts, their interest might be more tempered than what Detroit and Florida are bringing to the table.

Mammoth Recall Kevin Rooney

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The Mammoth announced that forward Kevin Rooney has been recalled from AHL Tucson. They’ve opened a roster spot for him by reassigning Andrew Agozzino to Tucson after he cleared waivers today.

Rooney was a late addition to the Utah organization this offseason. He went unsigned for much of the summer before landing a professional tryout with the Devils, with whom he suited up from 2016 to 2020. While that PTO didn’t result in a contract with New Jersey, he landed a two-way deal with the Mammoth after being released. He was waived the next day and cleared, beginning the season in Tucson after technically being included on Utah’s opening night roster.

The 32-year-old Rooney has 32 goals, 28 assists, 60 points, and a -12 rating in 330 career NHL appearances with the Devils, Rangers, and Flames. While he may have had to settle for a two-way deal, he’s actually coming off a career-high 70 games played in Calgary last season. He spent the year as a fourth-line center or winger as needed, averaging 9:25 per game while recording a 5-5–10 scoring line and 109 hits.

He provides a more stable, experienced option – and one more oriented for a bottom-six checking role – than the offense-minded Agozzino was. As such, there’s a good chance he could stick around for a while, at least until Alexander Kerfoot is ready to come off injured reserve and make his season debut. It’s also a reward for a strong start in Tucson for Rooney, who has three goale and an assist in four games in what was his first minor-league action in two years.

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