PHR’s Josh Erickson hosted his weekly live chat today at 2:00pm Central. Use this link to view the transcript of today’s session.
Maple Leafs Place Dakota Mermis, Alexander Nylander On Waivers
The Maple Leafs placed defenseman Dakota Mermis and winger Alexander Nylander on waivers Wednesday for assignment to AHL Toronto, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Mermis’ waiver placement comes after being presumably activated from long-term injured reserve. The 30-year-old lefty has been on a conditioning loan to the AHL since Nov. 27 and has played three games, notching an assist and a +2 rating.
Those games were his first action since sustaining a broken jaw early in training camp with the Leafs. The longtime depth piece for the Coyotes, Devils, and Wild underwent surgery on Sep. 26 and has provided a small amount of cap relief for Toronto since landing on LTIR at the beginning of the regular season.
Mermis landing on waivers removes his $775K cap hit from the Maple Leafs’ LTIR pool, bringing down their current cap space to $765K. That can increase back to the $1MM range tomorrow after Nylander clears waivers or is claimed by another team.
Mermis, an Illinois native, played in a career-high 47 NHL contests with Minnesota last season, posting eight points and a -2 rating while averaging 14:05 per game. He parlayed that performance into the first one-way contract of his career, albeit a league-minimum one, with Toronto on the open market over the summer.
Save for additional injuries on Toronto’s back end, though, his jaw injury likely cost Mermis a chance at NHL ice in a Leafs organization that shored up their defensive depth in a big way over the offseason. Assuming he clears waivers, he’ll likely spend most of the season in the AHL, where he’s played 434 of his 513 professional games.
Meanwhile, Nylander hits the wire after having his AHL contract torn up and replaced by an NHL commitment on Nov. 22. The 26-year-old got the summons from the minors amid a rash of forward injuries for the Maple Leafs that’s largely cleared up with Auston Matthews, Max Domi, Matthew Knies, and Max Pacioretty all returning from injuries in the past week or so.
The younger brother of Toronto star William Nylander made five NHL appearances for Toronto but did not record a point. He also had a -1 rating and averaged just 9:53 per game. Before the call-up, he had eight goals and 12 points in 14 AHL games.
Despite the lack of production, there may be some interest in his services on the waiver wire after he ended last season with 11 goals in 23 games for the Blue Jackets. The 2016 eighth-overall pick by the Sabres has 25 goals and 49 points in 126 NHL appearances in parts of seven seasons, and claiming him would require no long-term commitment – he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Getting Nylander off the active roster one way or another tomorrow will allow the Leafs to activate one of their few IR-bound players, likely winger Bobby McMann or defenseman Jake McCabe.
Oilers Claim Alec Regula Off Waivers From Bruins
Dec. 11: It turns out Regula may get an NHL opportunity sooner than he thought. The Oilers announced that they’ve claimed him off waivers from Boston, opening the door for him to play his first NHL action in well over a year in the coming days. Edmonton had a pair of open roster spots, so no corresponding move is necessary. For now, he’ll slot in as the eighth defenseman on Edmonton’s roster and will compete for depth minutes with players like Ty Emberson, Travis Dermott and Troy Stecher.
Dec. 10: The Bruins activated depth defenseman Alec Regula from season-opening injured reserve on Tuesday and subsequently placed him on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Regula, 24, has yet to play this season after sustaining a knee injury over the offseason. It held him out of the entirety of Boston’s training camp and preseason schedule and earned him a non-roster designation when the regular season began.
It was an inauspicious start to the 2024-25 campaign for Regula, who spent all of last season in the minors after seeing NHL ice in his previous three professional seasons. Acquired from the Blackhawks in the 2023 Taylor Hall/Nick Foligno trade, Regula led the AHL last season with a +36 rating and added four goals and 26 points in 55 games for Providence, tying his previous career highs.
When Regula can expect to touch NHL ice next is anybody’s guess. The 6’4″, 211-lb righty made 22 NHL appearances while with Chicago, scoring one goal and logging a -5 rating while averaging 16:54 per game. Initially a 2018 third-round pick of the Red Wings, he’s firmly established himself as a top two-way threat at the AHL level, but has yet to demonstrate marginally positive possession impacts in his NHL minutes.
There are likely a few names ahead of Regula that are in line for a recall, namely Ian Mitchell, who leads Providence defenders in scoring with 13 points in 22 games. Whether or not he ends up seeing NHL action during the one-year, two-way deal he inked last summer remains to be seen, although a strong showing in his delayed start to the season should help him at least earn a qualifying offer at season’s end.
Kraken Co-Founder David Bonderman Passes Away
Kraken co-founder and ownership group member David Bonderman passed away on Wednesday at age 82, according to a club statement.
A Los Angeles native, Bonderman had an expansive career as a businessman before getting involved in the sports scene. He also graduated from Harvard Law School and had a brief career as a lawyer, including serving as a special assistant to the United States Attorney General in 1968 and 1969.
After accumulating most of his wealth as a founding partner of TPG Capital, Bonderman partnered with film/television producer Jerry Bruckheimer to file an expansion application for a Seattle franchise in 2018. The duo, along with Kraken president and CEO Tod Leiweke, established the Kraken’s ownership group as the Seattle Hockey Partners and acquired the franchise when they paid the final installment of their $650MM expansion fee in 2021.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman issued a statement on Bonderman’s passing:
David Bonderman lived a life that was astounding in its breadth of achievement, unflinching in its commitment to excellence and relentless in its passion for improving lives – particularly in his adopted home state of Washington. An accomplished litigator and businessman, Bonderman was determined that his personal success positively impact others through conservation, philanthropy, sports, and music.
A proud alumnus of the University of Washington, in 2018 he brought NHL hockey to the Pacific Northwest, gaining approval from the Board of Governors to establish an expansion franchise in Seattle that would be named the Kraken and begin play in 2021. Adding David to the Board and the Seattle franchise to the NHL made our League and our game stronger, setting new standards in environmental responsibility and diversity and inclusion.
By extension, Bonderman was also a co-owner of the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Kraken’s primary development affiliate since their second season in the league. His investment helped kick off an unprecedented run of success for minor-league hockey in the Palm Springs area – the Firebirds have made the Calder Cup Final in each of their first two seasons in the league.
PHR extends its deepest sympathies to the Bonderman family, his friends, and loved ones.
East Notes: DeSimone, Wilson, Jost, Drury
According to a team release, Devils defenseman Nick DeSimone was assigned to AHL Utica on Wednesday. Aside from a couple of paper transactions, the 30-year-old has been on New Jersey’s roster for the past month but has yet to play an NHL contest this season. He’s been a healthy scratch on 17 occasions, never ranking higher than seventh on the Devils’ defense depth chart despite early-season injuries to Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce.
DeSimone has, however, remained on the roster for a longer stretch as veteran insurance, while younger names like Seamus Casey and Simon Nemec have headed to Utica for additional development. With New Jersey back in action tomorrow against the Kings, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them reverse the transaction and reinstate DeSimone to the active roster. Demoting him today allows them to accrue a small amount of additional cap space and delay the expiry of his temporary waiver exemption after he last cleared in October.
The New York native appeared in a career-high 34 NHL contests split between the Devils and Flames last season, recording seven points and a +3 rating while averaging 13:29 per contest. He’s struggled in limited action with Utica this season, posting two assists and a -10 rating in nine appearances.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Capitals mainstay Tom Wilson sustained a minor bone fracture in the sinus cavity area after taking a puck to the face in Saturday’s win over the Canadiens, he told Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. The injury only caused him to leave the game momentarily, and he scored two goals after returning. He doesn’t expect to miss any additional time due to the injury, he confirmed, although he’ll be wearing a full face shield for the next four weeks at the instruction of team doctors. Wilson, 30, is on pace for a career-high 33 goals and 67 points this season – the first of a seven-year, $45.5MM extension.
- The Hurricanes announced today that they’ve recalled forward Tyson Jost from AHL Chicago. Jost’s inclusion on the roster indicates that center Jack Drury will miss at least Friday’s game against the Senators after leaving last night’s win over the Sharks in the first period with an upper-body injury after blocking a shot from San Jose winger Klim Kostin. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters postgame that he anticipated Drury would miss a significant chunk of time. However, he didn’t disclose further details on the injury (per Ryan Henkel of The Hockey News). Jost, 26, had one goal in seven games during a recall last month, averaging 9:20 per contest. He has four goals and five assists for nine points in 14 AHL appearances this season.
Sabres Activate Mattias Samuelsson From Injured Reserve
Dec. 11, 10:42 a.m.: Ruff confirmed to reporters that Samuelsson will be available tonight (including Heather Engel of NHL.com), indicating he’s been taken off injured reserve.
Dec. 10, 5:45 p.m.: Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will make his return to the lineup tomorrow against the Rangers, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. He’ll need to come off injured reserve first, but Buffalo has an open roster spot after reassigning Tyson Kozak to AHL Rochester this morning.
The 24-year-old lefty has missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury he sustained against the Canadiens on Nov. 11. It was his first appearance in over a week after a run of three straight healthy scratches, part of what’s been a frustrating campaign for the 2018 second-round pick.
Samuelsson’s return comes a bit earlier than most expected after he was initially ruled week-to-week. He’ll end up missing exactly a month, although the tea leaves displayed by head coach Lindy Ruff at the time of his injury suggested it could be longer.
That’s good news for the young defender, who’s already missed significant chunks of the last two seasons with varying injuries. Now in the second year of his seven-year, $30MM extension, Samuelsson is averaging a career-low 16:05 per game in 2024-25 and had one goal and a -2 rating through 13 appearances.
While the Pennsylvania native looked to have the upside of a stalwart top-pairing shutdown defender, that outlook is looking bleaker after the last couple of years. He was off to the worst start of his career possession-wise before the injury – the Sabres were controlling 55.4% of shot attempts at even strength without Samuelsson on the ice compared to only 49.2% with him.
There are still five seasons left after this one on that long-term commitment, one that could feasibly be headed toward a buyout if he can’t work his way back up the depth chart or at least avoid the injury bug. He’s expected to skate in a third-pairing role alongside Connor Clifton in his return, per PuckPedia.
Blue Jackets Place Yegor Chinakhov On IR, Recall Jet Greaves
The Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that they’ve placed winger Yegor Chinakhov on injured reserve and used his roster spot to recall goaltender Jet Greaves from AHL Cleveland.
Chinakhov, 23, has already been out with an upper-body injury since Nov. 27. Since he’s missed well over seven days, he can come off IR at any time.
Columbus head coach Dean Evason told reporters Tuesday that Chinakhov is “progressing” in his recovery but isn’t yet close to a return. It’s been an unwelcome absence for the Jackets and the 2020 first-round pick, who had seven goals and seven assists for 14 points through his first 21 games.
Chinakhov has been part of one of hockey’s most unexpectedly dominant lines so far this season. In over 120 minutes of skating as Columbus’ first-line left wing alongside Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko, the trio has controlled 64.9% of expected goals – third-best out of 46 units with at least 120 minutes together, per MoneyPuck.
The Russian winger is now in his fourth NHL season, averaging a career-high 17:01 per game in 2024-25. Evason has shuffled his lines frequently this season, but even more so in Chinakhov’s absence. In recent games, veteran pickup James van Riemsdyk has skated in a top-line role.
Using his roster spot to recall a goalie suggests an injury or illness looming that could sideline one of Elvis Merzļikins or Daniil Tarasov against the Capitals tomorrow. However, both were present alongside Greaves at today’s practice, the team’s Jeff Svoboda reports, so the motivation behind the latter’s recall remains unclear.
Greaves has already been recalled twice this season and has dressed for three games but hasn’t played in any of them. The 23-year-old’s only action in 2024-25 has come with Cleveland, where he has a career-worst 3.21 GAA, .902 SV%, one shutout, and an 8-4-2 record in 15 appearances.
An undrafted free agent signing by Cleveland out of the OHL’s Barrie Colts in 2021, Greaves has been solid in third-string action the past two seasons with a 3.44 GAA and .912 SV% in 10 NHL appearances. He has a 3-7-0 record and has a .784 SV% on high-danger scoring chances.
Greaves still has one season remaining before he becomes waivers-eligible, so there’s no risk of losing him on the wire at any point this season as they shuffle him between leagues. The 6’0″ netminder inked a two-year, partial two-way deal worth a total of $1.63MM over the summer after spending nearly two weeks as a restricted free agent.
Sharks Place Will Smith On IR, Activate Barclay Goodrow
The Sharks placed rookie forward William Smith on injured reserve Tuesday, per Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News. His roster spot goes to veteran Barclay Goodrow, who’s coming off IR and will play in tonight’s game against the Hurricanes after missing five games with an upper-body injury.
Smith, 19, already missed San Jose’s last game, a 3-1 loss to the Panthers on Saturday, with an upper-body issue. Pashelka said he sustained the issue during an undisclosed collision during their 8-1 loss to the Lightning last week. His IR placement is retroactive to Nov. 5, so he could be eligible to return for their Saturday game against Utah.
It’s been a tale of two seasons for Smith, who San Jose drafted fourth overall in 2023. After he went his first eight games without a point, he has 11 points (5 G, 6 A) in his last 16 outings while averaging 14:32 per game. He’s shifted between center and right wing all season long and has played a few games alongside fellow future core piece Macklin Celebrini.
While it hasn’t been a dominant rookie showing for the Boston College product, it’s certainly been a promising one. Consistency is still an area in which he can improve, but he’s averaging over three shot attempts per game and has had an overall positive impact on the Sharks’ possession numbers at even strength. San Jose controls 48.2% of shot attempts with Smith on the ice compared to 45.0% without him.
The Sharks will at least get a veteran presence back in the lineup against the 17-9-1 Hurricanes as they look to bounce back from a nightmarish trip to Florida in which they were outscored 11-2. The 31-year-old Goodrow has had a nightmarish start offensively to his second stint in San Jose after being claimed off waivers from the Rangers over the summer, limited to two goals and no assists in 25 appearances despite averaging nearly 15 minutes per game.
While his offensive totals have continued their downward spiral since his career-best 13 goals and 30 points with the Blueshirts in 2021-22, Goodrow has been a valuable piece defensively for the Sharks. He leads San Jose forwards with 16 takeaways, is ninth on the team with a 47.3 CF%, and is one-quarter of their usual top penalty-killing unit with Mikael Granlund, Cody Ceci and Mario Ferraro.
Goodrow will suit up as the Sharks’ third-line right wing in his return alongside Luke Kunin and Alexander Wennberg, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. Rookie winger Nikolai Kovalenko might also be in line to make his San Jose debut after being acquired from the Avalanche yesterday if Klim Kostin, who left today’s practice with a lower-body injury, can’t play, Max Miller of The Hockey News reports.
Kevin Shattenkirk Announces Retirement
Unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has announced his retirement after 14 NHL seasons and 952 regular-season games, per an NHLPA release. The 35-year-old wrote a lengthy message to his seven NHL teams, their staffs, and his family, and shouted out many other specific helpers and mentors, one you can read entirely on his X account.
The 6’0″, 212-lb Shattenkirk made his NHL debut four seasons after being drafted 14th overall by the Avalanche in 2007, but the Boston University product didn’t last long in a Colorado uniform. After recording seven goals and 26 points in his first 46 NHL games for the Avs, they dealt him to the Blues in a blockbuster trade before the 2011 deadline that saw former first-overall pick Erik Johnson head the other way.
By the time the 2011-12 season rolled around, he’d established himself as a fixture in the Blues’ top four, posting 43 points and a +20 rating in his sophomore season while placing 18th in Norris Trophy voting. “Shatty” went on to have the most productive years of his career in St. Louis, routinely averaging over 20 minutes per game, earning Norris votes three times, and totaling 59 goals and 258 points in 425 regular-season games as a Blue. He ranks seventh in Blues franchise history in goals, assists and points and sits 12th on the all-time franchise games played list among blue-liners.
St. Louis routinely made the postseason with Shattenkirk in tow but only advanced past the first round twice. But with Shattenkirk in the final season of his contract in the 2016-17 campaign and set to earn a considerable raise on his previous $4.25MM cap hit, St. Louis made him arguably the top rental acquisition available at the 2017 deadline and shipped him to the Capitals for a haul that included a first-round pick, later flipped to the Flyers to acquire future captain Brayden Schenn (Philadelphia used the selection to draft Morgan Frost). Shattenkirk managed 14 points in 19 regular-season contests for Washington but hit a rut in the postseason, limited to a goal and six assists in 13 games with a -4 rating as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Caps were upset by the Penguins in the Second Round.
Shattenkirk understandably wasn’t brought back and hit free agency that offseason, inking a rich four-year, $26.6MM commitment with the Rangers. However, his offensive production and possession play dipped significantly upon arriving in Manhattan. After posting a career-worst 0.38 points per game and a -15 rating in the 2018-19 campaign, New York bought out the final two seasons of his contract and made him a UFA again ahead of schedule.
He landed a one-year, $1.75MM pact with the Lightning, receiving reduced minutes on a stacked defense core that featured names like Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Mikhail Sergachev ahead of him on the depth chart. He responded with 34 points in 70 games, a much-improved 53.7 CF%, and added 13 points in 25 playoff games as he captured his first and only Stanley Cup.
Shattenkirk became a free agent again at season’s end. After rebuilding his market value in Tampa, he inked another multi-year deal, heading back to the Western Conference on a three-year, $11.7MM pact with the rebuilding Ducks. Anaheim had just a 71-114-35 record in Shattenkirk’s three seasons in Orange County. However, the New York native still averaged top-four minutes and posted 77 points in 212 appearances as a stable veteran presence along with Cam Fowler on an otherwise inexperienced Ducks back end.
After his tenure in Anaheim quietly ended in 2023, he joined the Bruins on a cheap one-year deal for the 2023-24 campaign. He played a supporting depth role more than anything else, serving as a semi-routine healthy scratch for the first time and averaging a career-low 15:47 per game. The right-shot defender still contributed 24 points in 61 games and received second-unit power-play duties, but that wasn’t enough to generate interest in a guaranteed deal for this season. Shattenkirk was connected to several teams on potential tryouts late in the offseason but opted not to sign any and didn’t participate in a training camp.
With Shattenkirk’s NHL career now officially in the rearview mirror, one of the few unsigned options on defense for teams still looking to add experienced depth is now off the market. He closes the book on a lengthy run in the pros that saw him record 103 goals, 381 assists and 484 points in 952 games. Along the way, he totaled 544 PIMs, 1,886 shots on goal, 928 hits, and averaged 20:17 per game for his career. His estimated career earnings total $60.725MM, per PuckPedia.
All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Kevin as he enters the post-playing phase of his hockey journey.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Maple Leafs Activate Max Domi From Injured Reserve
The Maple Leafs announced that center Max Domi has been taken off injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Devils. Rookie winger Nikita Grebenkin was returned to AHL Toronto in a corresponding transaction to open up a necessary roster spot.
Domi, 29, will likely return to action after missing the last eight games with a lower-body injury. He last suited up on Nov. 16 against the Oilers and landed on injured reserve a few days later.
Before hitting IR, the Winnipeg native had gone without a goal in 19 games this season, registering six assists and averaging 15:18 per game. The veteran of nearly 700 NHL contests inked a four-year, $15MM extension with the Leafs a day before he would have otherwise hit the unrestricted free-agent market last summer.
After spending most of the early going down the middle, the Leafs will shift Domi to the left wing alongside William Nylander and John Tavares tonight in an effort to kickstart his offensive production, David Alter of The Hockey News reports. That news bodes well for 20-year-old rookie pivot Fraser Minten, who has four points in eight games since being called up last month and will continue to center Toronto’s third line for the time being, now flanked by Max Pacioretty and Pontus Holmberg.
While the Leafs’ roster count remains at the maximum of 23, they gain space in their LTIR pool with the move. They now have roughly $1.5MM in flexibility after reassigning Grebenkin with David Kämpf, Calle Järnkrok and Dakota Mermis still on the long-term injured list.
Domi’s absence did yield the first seven NHL appearances of the 21-year-old Grebenkin’s career. The 6’2″ Russian winger, who the Leafs drafted 135th overall in 2022, was quite the effective physical presence in fourth-line minutes with 13 hits in seven games.
Other than that, though, there wasn’t a ton to write home about. Grebenkin didn’t get on the scoresheet and posted a -3 rating while averaging 8:45 per game, and Toronto controlled just 37.8% of shot attempts with the rookie on the ice at even strength. The 2022-23 Kontinental Hockey League Rookie of the Year will look to get back on track offensively in the minors, where he had four goals and 10 points in 13 games before the call-up.