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Afternoon Notes: Formenton, Merkulov, Penguins

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The Ottawa Senators have until Monday to re-sign or trade former winger Alex Formenton. If they wait beyond then, Formenton will become an unrestricted free agent. A few days out, it appears that will be exactly what happens, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen. Formenton was one of five players accused in the high-profile sexual assault trial that reached a verdict earlier this year. Formenton briefly retired from professional hockey to work in construction full-time during 2024 and 2025, while awaiting his trial date.

He returned to hockey this season, re-signing with Ambri-Piotta of Switzerland’s National League, where he spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Formenton has nine points anda  minus-10 in 20 games this season. That mark is far below the 29 points he posted in 46 games in his prior to seasons in Switzerland.

Ottawa will lose Formenton’s rights in the coming days with this update. He will continue to find his footing in Switzerland’s top league, and seems far away from any hope of returning to an NHL contract.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Boston Bruins have reassigned Georgii Merkulov to the AHL’s Providence Bruins per Ty Anderson of Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub. He did not appear in the NHL lineup on his latest call-up, which only lasted a few days. Merkulov did play one NHL game earlier this season, posting no scoring and a minus-one. He has been a far larger presence in the minor leagues, where he’s scored 14 points in 17 games with Providence. The AHL Bruins are in the midst of a three-game win-streak, during which they’ve outscored opponents 17-8. Now, they’l lget a major piece of their offense back from the NHL club ahead of three games next week.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins could soon be forced to lean on their young rookies per Josh Yohe of The Athletic. Yohe points out the struggles of Pittsburgh’s bottom-six forwards, including Joona Koppanen, who has just one assist in 10 games this season. Pittsburgh could be much better off relying on prospects Rutger McGroarty and Tristan Broz, who have looked sharp for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. McGroarty leads the team in points-per-game with seven points in five games. Broz has 13 points in 18 games of his own, good for third on the team in total scoring. Now, they could be asked to bring their high-skill offense to a Penguins squad that’s struggled to score with their superstars off of the ice. McGroarty recorded three points in his first eight NHL games last season, while Broz went scoreless in his NHL debut last week.

Wild’s Tyler Pitlick, Flyers’ Adam Ginning On Waivers

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This afternoon, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared that Wild veteran Tyler Pitlick has been placed on waivers, along with Flyers defenseman Adam Ginning. 

Pitlick, 34, has been back-and-forth between the AHL and NHL so far this season, most recently being called back up two weeks ago. His status on waivers is mainly due to surpassing the 10 game threshold in the NHL, more than signifying a desire to move on. Signed to a two-year, two-way deal last summer, Pitlick provides depth since joining his hometown organization, as well as experience, as he was a regular NHLer from 2016-2022. Having cleared waivers already earlier in the season after not making the roster, it is most likely he will return to AHL Iowa, where he has scored three goals in five games, and vie for an NHL return again when needed, at a $775k cap hit. In 15 games with Minnesota so far, Pitlick has zero points, but has mixed it up with 22 penalty minutes. 

On the other hand, Ginning offers slightly more intrigue, soon to be 26, as a former second round selection of Philadelphia in 2018. However, at this point the 6’3” Swedish defenseman does not have much NHL upside, as he has been surpassed in the Flyers organization by Emil Andrae. This season is thought to likely be his last chance, especially under a new coach in Rick Tocchet, and with pending UFA status. Ginning has skated in five games for the Flyers so far, not recording any stats, and has one goal in 16 total NHL games.

While a team thin on the blueline could pick up Ginning for the short term, it is not likely he offers much more than their own internal options, and most likely, Ginning will rejoin AHL Lehigh Valley to continue his season.  At 11-6-1, the Phantoms would be eager to add such a player back to their lineup as a top defender. 

Canadiens’ Jayden Struble Out With Upper-Body Injury

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman Jayden Struble is out of Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche with an upper-body injury. This will be his fifth absence of the season. Montreal will have to lean on Arber Xhekaj for their physical presence on Saturday, though Xhekaj was on the ice for both of Colroado’s first period goals.

The Canadiens have seen a lot of rotation in their defense on the back of a long-term injury to Kaiden Guhle and up-and-down play from Xhekaj. Struble has been a pillar of the team’s bottom pair as a result. He is averaging just over 15 mintues of ice time through 19 games this season, and has four assists, a minus-three, and 32 penalty minutes to show for it.

Struble is now in his third NHL season, all spent with the Canadiens. He had a quaint rookie season, with 10 points and 57 penalty minutes in 56 games. Those numbers leveled out slightly in his sophomore year, with Struble posting 13 points and 52 penalty minutes in another 56 games. Now, he appears to be getting comfortable on Montreal’s third-pairing, currently on pace for 17 points and 138 penalty minutes. Struble also leads Montreal’s blue-line with 36 hits this season, after posting more than 100 hits in each of the last two seasons.

The missing physical presence that Struble brings makes Xhekaj a natural replacement. But the enforcer has struggled to stay on the positive side of the puck, with just one assist and a minus-four in 21 games entering Saturday’s matchup. He also leads the Canadiens with 42 penalty minutes.

Struble’s absence has also proven beneficial for rookie Adam Engstrom, who played in just his second NHL game in Struble’s place on Saturday. Engstrom only managed one shot on goal, and no other notable stats, in 10 minutes of ice time in his NHL debut. The Canadiens will likely shelter his minutes moving forward, but there’s no doubt that Engstrom can bring a spark to the lineup. He leads the Laval Rocket blue-line with 14 points in 18 games, including a five-point match last week that preceded his NHL debut. The 2022 third-round pick is on a gradual climb, but seems to be on the cusp of a breakout in the NHL. Extended absences from Struble could provide the path needed to earn Engstrom more minutes.

Hurricanes Reassign Justin Robidas Amid Injury Updates

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The Carolina Hurricanes saw a wave of roster updates come through during Saturday morning’s practice. Notably, winger Justin Robidas was not at practice, as he’s been reassigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Robidas won’t skate in Saturday’s match against the Manitoba Moose but should be back in time for Sunday’s rematch.

Forward William Carrier also missed practice. It is unclear if he has sustained a new injury after appearing in Friday’s win over the Winnipeg Jets. Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov did sustain a lower-body injury that forced him out of Friday’s game, and Saturday’s practice. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin also remained out, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff.

In better news, Ruff adds that forward Jordan Staal participated in practice despite being questionable with an illness, and center Jesperi Kotkaniemi continued to work in a non-contact jersey.

Carolina continues to face a heap of injuries despite getting Shayne Gostisbehere and K’Andre Miller back into the lineup recently. They have been forced to play hot potato with much of their lineup, routinely cycling through their lines. The Hurricanes have had six different forward lines, and 10 different defense pairings, play in at least 50 minutes of even-strength ice time this season. Their most-used forward line has been Jordan Martinook, Staal, and Carrier – a trio that could be broken up if Carrier sustained another injury. The most-used defense pairing has been Miller and Sean Walker, who reunited recently after Miller missed six games.

The Hurricanes have felt the brunt of that shuffle over November. They started the month with a 4-1-0 record, but have fallen into a back-and-forth over the last two weeks. Carolina is 4-3-2 in their last nine games, and haven’t won back-to-back games since Novmber 8th and 9th.

Injuries have forced Carolina’s healthy skaters to step up. Sophomore winger Jackson Blake ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 15 points in 24 games. Robidas was also contributing to the offense, netting one assist and a 50 percent faceoff percentage through two games in a bottom-six role.

Robidas now have three points in the first four games of his NHL career, including a pair of games he played in last season. He has been an electric scorer in the minor leagues and currently ranks third on the Wolves with 12 points in 16 games. Chicago is trying to break out of their own November slump, posting a 2-4-0 record over their last six games but winning last Wednesday’s game against the rival Rockford IceHogs by a lofty 8-4. Robidas should help the Wolves keep that offense rolling as they look for better outcomes in December.

Senators Looking To Add But Won’t Go “Big Game Hunting”

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The Ottawa Senators have been on a gradual climb since being taken over by owner Michael Andlauer and general manager Steve Staios. That ascension helped justify their acquisition of center Dylan Cozens and winger Fabian Zetterlund at the 2025 Trade Deadline. Those additions helped push the Senators to their first playoff appearance since 2017 – but the team’s rise isn’t over yet. Ottawa ranks second in the Atlantic Division through the early season and is now hoping to land a forward and defenseman on the trade market, per TSN’s Darren Dreger and Jamie Duthie in their intermission segment during Friday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues and captured by Julian McKenzie of The Athletic.

Dreger added that he doesn’t expect the Senators to be “big game hunters” and that top prospect Carter Yakemchuk would be off the table in trade negotiations. Yakemchuk is playing through his first professional season and currently has 14 points and a minus-11 in 20 games with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. He’s a hard-hitting, offensive-defenseman who seems well equipped to bring his flashy offense to Ottawa sooner rather than later.

If Yakemchuk is off the table, Ottawa is likely to exclude any of their top prospects in negotiations. That could include University of Wisconsin defender Logan Hensler who the team acquired after trading back in this year’s draft, and winger Stephen Halliday who scored his first NHL point last week. That could leave Ottawa in a bit of a bind. Their acquisition of Zetterlund revolved around a package of future assets, and the Senators sit in the top-half of oldest rosters in the NHL.

That could make draft capital their shiniest asset headed into the trade season. The Senators are without their first and second round picks in the 2026 draft, but have all of their top picks in the drafts beyond that. They also have Buffalo’s second-round pick in 2026, which could be valuable if the Sabres stay near the bottom of the league. A couple of high-value draft picks should be enough to land Ottawa a few difference-makers on the open market, especially if they’re willing to package them with a prospect like Blake Montgomery or Gabriel Eliasson.

Who Ottawa could go after will be a tough question. Calgary Flames assets Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson are both #1’s at their position, and likely represent that big game hunting Dreger mentioned. Instead, Ottawa could find a match pursuing St. Louis Blues veterans Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk. Or maybe they could benefit from the Nashville Predators continued struggles and acquire winger Jonathan Marchessault or Michael Bunting. Ottawa could even find a package deal from the San Jose Sharks, who are bound to be offering center Alexander Wennberg and defender Mario Ferraro on the open market.

The range of price could vary widely, and change significantly before the Trade Deadline in March. But there’s no doubt that Ottawa will be a welcome addition to a buyer’s market. There are plenty of former Stanley Cup champions and hopefuls available for trade, and landing one or two could go far in boosting Ottawa’s offense to Conference Final aspirations. The Senators are projected to have $13.68MM in cap space at the Trade Deadline and $22.57MM by next off-season, per PuckPedia. That should be more than enough room to squeeze one or two more players into the top of the Senators lineup. As proven last year, those mid-season additions could take Ottawa far.

Panthers Attempted To Offer Sheet Nikita Kucherov In 2016

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With the holiday season afoot, former Florida Panthers assistant general manager Steve Werier was looking back on what could have been. Namely, he reflected on the team’s attempt to sign Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov to an offer sheet in 2016 on The PuckPedia Hockey Show. Werier said that Florida was hoping to take advantage of Tampa Bay’s cap strains at the time, and would have had to give up a first, second, and third-round pick in the resulting deal.

Plans ultimately fell through, and Kucherov signed a three-year, $14.3MM bridge contract with Tampa Bay. The deal proved to offer the best of both worlds, providing a 23-year-old Kucherov a chance to jump into the top echelon of NHL scorers while Tampa Bay retained enough cap space to keep Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Alex Killorn in the fold. Kucherov certainly did take off, recording 85, 100, and 128 points over the three years of his bridge deal respectively. He has stayed special in five seasons since, routinely exceeding point-per-game scoring in the regular-and-post-seasons and reaching a career-high 144 points in the 2023-24 season.

It would be hard to picture Kucherov – a 12-year veteran in Tampa Bay – in any other jersey. But Florida could have offered him a similar platform to thrive. Werier emphasized that the team wanted to make sure they had Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad locked up to support Kucherov, if he came in. Florida was also carrying Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Marchessault, and Jaromir Jagr at the time. They’ve swapped those three out for Jonathan Huberdeau, then Matthew Tkachuk, and Sam Reinhart in the years since. That firepower has proven enough to earn Florida two Stanley Cup championships, the same number that Kucherov has won in Tampa Bay.

A deal never came together, and both Florida-based clubs found their way to stardom nonetheless. But how an in-state offer sheet could have impacted the two sides will be a fun thought for the rest of the holiday week. Kucherov is among the best forwards in the NHL, and one of the greatest Russians to ever play. Any effort to bring him into the fold is notable, even if it ultimately fell through.

Penguins Activate Tristan Jarry, Ville Koivunen; Reassign Sergei Murashov

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated starting goaltender Tristan Jarry and winger Ville Koivunen off of injured reserve. Both are expected to step back into the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. To make room for Jarry, Pittsburgh has reassigned rookie goalie Sergey Murashov to the AHL. The Penguins also plan to healthy scratch rookie Benjamin Kindel, for development purposes, and to make room for Koivunen’s return and Tristan Broz’s NHL debut.

Murashov played in the first four games, and made the first three starts, of his NHL career on his latest recall. He was sharp throughout, posting a 1-1-1 record, one shutout, a .913 save percentage, and a 1.90 goals-against-average. Murashov will return to the AHL as the league’s reigning ’Goalie of the Month’, after he began the season with a 5-1-0 record, .935 Sv%, and 1.68 GAA in seven games. He should step right back into Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s starting role, bringing a big boost to a club that’s 5-1-0 in their last six games.

Pittsburgh won’t lose much steam swapping back to Jarry. The 10-year-veteran was in the midst of a big resurgence to start the season, after posting the first sub-.900 Sv% of his career last season. He started this yaer with a 5-2-0 record, .911 Sv%, and 2.60 GAA – firmly locking in his spot as Pittsburgh’s starter less than one year after being placed on waivers. He will look to stay hot in his return to the lineup, after missing seven games due to injury. Jarry should resume starting duties, with Arturs Silovs serving as backup.

The Penguins make a similar swap in their forward group. Kindel has been among the most exciting rookies to start the year, but appears to finally be slowing down. He has recorded one point, 11 shots on goal, and five blocks in his last six games – a quiet spell after he scored six points in seven games as October turned over to November. The Penguins have already committed to holding Kindel past his nine-game trial, helping to remove the pressure to rush the 18-year-old into a starring role. He will get a chance to take a brief break, and recollect, but should get a chance to return to the lineup soon.

Koivunen could prove a barrier to that, if he can return from injury with a hot hand. He only scored two points in 11 games before going down, a disappointing result compared to the 11 points he has scored in six AHL games. He was a star scorer for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season as well, netting 56 points in 63 games, and recording seven assists in the first eight NHL games of his career. Koivunen seems to have an NHL breakout incoming, and will get a chance to continue fighting for it following these roster moves.

Mammoth To Activate Sean Durzi Off IR

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The Utah Mammoth will see the return of defenseman Sean Durzi in Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Andre Tourigny told Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Durzi sustained an upper-body injury in the second game of Utah’s season. He has sat out of 21 games since. The Mammoth will need to activate him off of injured reserve before Wednesday’s game, but already have a roster spot availabel for his return.

This is the second year that Durzi has started the year with a long-term absence due to an upper-body injury. He sustained a shoulder injury in October of last season that required him to undergo surgery. The injury held Durzi out of the lineup until February, and limited him to only 30 appearances on the year. He was a core part of the Mammoth lineup when he was healthy, netting 11 points and a plus-four while averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time every night. He also recorded 52 blocked shots, which ranked fifth on the blue-line and seventh on the team despite Durzi missing more than 50 games.

He seemed to be stepping right back into that role this season. Durzi played nearly 21 minutes in Utah’s season-opener, and recorded two blocks, one hit, and no scoring. He ramped up in their second game, recording one point, two blocks, and two hits in 17 minutes of ice time before getting injured.

Durzi has only been able to show Utah fans a glimpse of his impact through two seasons with the Mammoth. He had a standout year in his first year with the organization – the 2023-24 season, prior to the Arizona Coyotes’ move to Utah. Durzi scored a career-high 41 points in 76 games that year, while also posting career-highs with 63 penalty minutes and 160 blocked shots. He racked up 65 points, 105 penalty minutes, and 263 blocks in 136 games with the Los Angeles Kings prior to his move to Arizona.

Durzi is an established, top-four defender when he’s at full health. He’ll now get a chance to bring that impact to a Utah lineup in need. The Mammoth have won their last two games, but only have four wins through their last 13 games. They have allowed the 10th-most goals in the NHL (44) in that span, and the eighth-most on a per-game average (3.38).

Rangers Recall Connor Mackey, Reassign Juuso Pärssinen

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The New York Rangers have reassigned forward Juuso Pärssinen after he cleared waivers from Tuesday. With the available roster spot, the Rangers have recalled defenseman Connor Mackey, with two games left on their current road-trip. Mackey has recorded 11 shots on goal, his first point, and his first fight of the season in his last four games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.

New York has rotated extra defenders for much of the season. Mackey has already spent 10 days on the NHL roster, across two call-ups. He’s alternated with Scott Morrow, who played in his first four games of the NHL season last week. Mackey could get his first NHL game of the season in a road game against Carolina or Boston, should New York want an alternative to Matthew Robertson, who has one goal and a minus-seven through 15 games this season.

Mackey has played in three games with the Rangers over the last two seasons. He has no scoring and two fights with New York, but did rack up eight points and 50 penalty minutes in 33 NHL games split between the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes between 2021 and 2023. He joined the Hartford Wolf Pack after the 2022-23 season ended, and has since racked up 38 points and 193 penalty minutes in 125 AHL games.

Meanwhile, Pärssinen will head to the minors after a quiet stretch with the Rangers. He hasn’t made it onto the scoresheet – with a point or a penalty – in nine games. He only has three points and two penalty minutes in 14 games this season. New York acquired Pärssinen alongside Calvin de Haan and two draft picks in a deal that sent Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche at last year’s Trade Deadline. This move will set Pärssinen up to play his first AHL games since the 2023-24 season, when he racked up 34 points in 50 games with the Colorado Eagles between the regular-and-post-season.

Capitals Recall Bogdan Trineyev, Place Nic Dowd On IR

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The Washington Capitals have awarded one of their top AHL scorers with the first NHL call-up of his career. Winger Bogdan Trineyev has been recalled after recording six points and 15 shots on goal in the Hershey Bears’ last six games. Trineyev is up to 12 points in 15 games this season, second-most on the team.

Washington has placed Nic Dowd on injured reserve, retroactive to his last game on November 17th, to create the roster space for Trineyev’s recall. Dowd has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury. He appears to be headed for a fifth absence, after being dubbed a game-time decision for Wednesday’s match against the Winnipeg Jets, the same designation he carried for Monday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News in her newsletter, DCBackcheck.

Trineyev is expected to be listed as Washington’s extra forward on Wednesday. The Capitals will stick with Sonny Milano and Ethen Frank on their fourth-line wings. That duo has been red-hot as of late, with three points and five points over the last three games respectively.

A chance to be close with the NHL lineup will still be a nice reward for Trineyev, who seems to be amid his first true breakout in North America. He has held up near point-per-game scoring through the early season after posting seven points in eight games of last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs. Trineyev had previously only scored 42 points in 149 AHL games, riding a slow climb through Hershey’s lineup that was marked by incremental improvements. Trineyev played in 53 games in Russia’s KHL before moving over to the AHL full-time in 2023. He scored 13 points in his final 39 KHL games, his only scoring in the league.

Trineyev is a strong, skilled power-forward, standing at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He has a hard shot and soft hands – and has grown his ability to get involved in play significantly over his first two full AHL seasons. Washington will now recognize that growth by providing the 23-year-old a chance to learn from NHL veterans.

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