Oilers Expected To Recall Matthew Savoie, Derek Ryan
The Edmonton Oilers are expected to recall forwards Matthew Savoie and Derek Ryan after the pair joined Edmonton for their Tuesday practice, per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. Nugent-Bowman added that Savoie is also expected to join Edmonton on their upcoming five-game road trip to the East coast.
Savoie has yet to make his Oilers debut, but he’s been red hot in the AHL as of late. The Oilers top prospect has 10 points in his last 10 games and 37 points in 43 games on the year. His scoring ranks second on the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors and leads all U21 players in the AHL. The Oilers have to be excited about Savoie’s early showings, after acquiring him for Ryan McLeod last summer. It was a shocking trade, moving Savoie on from the Buffalo Sabres just over two years after they drafted him ninth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. Savoie played in seven pro games with the Sabres organization. He didn’t score in his sole NHL appearance, but did manage five points in six AHL games.
Savoie returned to the WHL after his short stint with the Buffalo organization, but his hot AHL scoring has carried into his formal rookie season this year. He’ll be a high upside bet for an Oilers offense with all of the firepower to lift him up – though there have been concerns about how his five-foot-nine, 180-pound frame will translate to the top flight.
Edmonton could get a chance to test those concerns this weekend. If Savoie struggles, they’ll turn quickly towards veteran depth forward Derek Ryan. Ryan played in 33 games with the Oilers earlier this year, recording one goal, five points, and 12 penalty minutes. He’s also scored two points in three AHL games – the first minor-league appearances Ryan has made since the 2016-17 campaign. He’s been a perennial fourth-line forward ever since, spanning tenures with the Carolina Hurricanes, Calgary Flames, and now Edmonton. Now 38, Ryan won’t rival the upside and energy that Savoie could bring to the lineup – but he will bring hardy veteran depth behind a shifting Oilers’ bottom-six.
Devils Place Jacob Markstrom, Jonas Siegenthaler On IR
The New Jersey Devils have made a flurry of move with the hockey world’s attention turning back towards NHL rosters. Most notably, the team has placed starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom (knee) and top-four defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (lower-body) on injured reserve. Markstrom has missed New Jersey’s last seven games after suffering an MCL sprain in New Jersey’s win over Boston on January 22nd. He was announced as out four-to-six weeks at the time of his injury. Markstrom has posted a dazzling 21-9-5 record and .912 save percentage in 36 appearances this year. His starting role has been filled by veteran Jake Allen, who also has a .912 save percentage but just a 9-11-1 record in 21 games.
Siegenthaler’s injury is less clear. He left New Jersey’s February 7th game against the Pittsburgh Penguins after taking an awkward hit from Anthony Beauvillier. Siegenthaler missed New Jersey’s last two games. He is expected to miss an additional two-to-three weeks after undergoing a procedure to address his injury during the 4-Nations break, per head coach Sheldon Keefe. Siegenthaler has been one of New Jersey’s top defenders this season. He has just nine points in 55 games, but formed a strong pairing with Johnathan Kovacevic.
In corresponding moves, New Jersey also recalled defensemen Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey, and goaltender Tyler Brennan, to join the team’s Tuesday practice. The pair of defenders stand as perhaps New Jersey’s top two prospects. Nemec and Casey lead the Utica Comets’ blue-line in scoring, with 23 points in 34 games and 15 points in 22 games respectively. Meanwhile, Brennan has spent his last two seasons with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder. He’s begun vying for the starting role this year, leading all Thunder netminders with 22 games played and posting a 6-14-2 record and .870 save percentage. Brennan likely won’t stick with the roster when games start back up, but one of Casey or Nemec could hold onto a spot depending on how long Siegenthaler misses.
New Jersey has utilized 22 of 23 roster slots with both defense prospects up. That final roster spot could soon be taken up by captain Nico Hischier‘s return. Keefe told NHL.com that Hischier didn’t seem to be dealing with any sort of discomfort in New Jersey’s first day back, though he’ll need to be approved by doctors before he can return. Hischier added that he felt like his break, and Tuesday’s practice, both went well. The top Swiss has missed New Jersey’s last six games with an oblique injury after taking a cross-check to the ribs in the Devils’ January 25th win over the Boston Bruins. He’s been one of New Jersey’s top forwards when healthy, with 24 goals and 43 points in 51 games. Hischier will immediately return to a top-line role, should he be healthy enough to play this weekend.
Senators Recall Cole Reinhardt
Feb. 18: Reinhardt is back up with the NHL club today, per a team announcement. He had a goal and two assists in four games for the B-Sens over the break with a plus-three rating and six shots on goal. He’ll likely suit up in Ottawa’s return to action against the Canadiens this weekend.
Feb. 9: The Ottawa Senators announced that they’ve loaned forward Cole Reinhardt to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. With the 4 Nations Face-Off set to get underway, the Senators don’t play again until February 22nd and have likely assigned Reinhardt to Belleville to get the 25-year-old some playing time.
Reinhardt has seen 16 games of NHL action this season; however, his usage has been very light, averaging just 7:58 of ice time per game. Reinhardt has used the limited minutes to make his presence known, throwing 30 hits, however, his name has rarely appeared on the scoresheet as he has just one goal and a single assist in the NHL. He hasn’t exactly been put in a spot to provide much offense, as he has started 61.9% of his shifts in the defensive zone.
In the AHL, the Calgary, Alberta native has had a bigger offensive impact but hasn’t been much more than a depth scorer for most of his professional career. However, this season, he has been a point-per-game player, tallying seven goals and ten assists in 16 games, which nearly matches the 23 points he had in 56 games last season.
Reinhardt could very well be recalled in less than two weeks when the NHL break ends, but in the meantime, he should see significant minutes with Belleville.
Five Key Stories: 2/10/25 – 2/16/25
The 4 Nations Face-Off has hit the halfway mark and with there being no NHL games on the slate, it was a relatively quiet week around the hockey world aside from the four tournament games. Nonetheless, there was still some news of note which is recapped in our key stories.
More International Hockey: We saw the return of best-on-best hockey (at least for four countries) with the 4 Nations tournament and there will be another event next year with the Olympics. Another tournament has been added to the calendar as the World Cup of Hockey will make its return in 2028. The last time this was played was back in 2016 with Canada taking the best-of-three series over Team Europe to win the title. As is the case with the 4 Nations Face-Off, this event will not fall under the IIHF’s umbrella while it remains to be seen if Russia, who has been excluded from international events in recent years, will be allowed to participate in this one.
Extension For Steel: While transaction activity has been extremely limited over the past week, the Stars took care of one of their pending unrestricted free agents, signing center Sam Steel to a two-year, $4.2MM extension. The 27-year-old is in his second season in Dallas, returning despite being non-tendered last summer. Steel hasn’t been able to come close to replicating the type of offensive success that he had at the junior level but he has turned into a reliable checker; he leads all Stars forwards in ATOI shorthanded. The deal represents a nice raise for the 27-year-old as he will go from making $1.2MM this season to an AAV of $2.1MM for next year.
Theodore Exits 4 Nations: Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore was pegged to play a significant role for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, his tournament lasted only a handful of shifts as he suffered an upper-body injury in the opener and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the event. Subsequently, Vegas announced that the blueliner is expected to be out on a week-to-week basis. The 29-year-old sits fourth among all NHL rearguards in scoring with 48 points in 55 games while averaging over 22 minutes. His exit comes on the heels of Vegas teammate Alex Pietrangelo withdrawing from the tournament to nurse a nagging injury as the Golden Knights will be dealing with a banged-up back end when the season resumes this coming weekend. Theodore’s absence resulted in Dallas defender Thomas Harley being put on standby to join the team, something that has since happened with Cale Makar battling an illness.
Calling It A Career: Long-time NHL winger Loui Eriksson has called it a career, announcing his retirement at the age of 39. Eriksson played in 16 seasons at the top level with four different organizations, spanning 1,050 games altogether. He picked up 253 goals and 360 assists over that time with his best years coming between 2009-10 and 2011-12 with Dallas where he notched at least 71 points in each of those three seasons. Eriksson also finished in the top five in Lady Byng Trophy voting three times. After his final NHL campaign in 2021-22, he wrapped up his playing career with Frolunda in the SHL, returning to the program he came up with in his junior days.
Dobson Changes Agents: Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson has been talked about a lot lately. There was recent trade speculation which was quickly refuted but not long after that, he changed agencies, moving to Wasserman. Speculatively, the change likely doesn’t relate to the trade speculation but rather to the fact he has a contract negotiation on the horizon. The 25-year-old had a breakout year last season, tallying 70 points in 79 games while logging 24:31 per night. He hasn’t been producing at quite the same pace this year though but either way, he’s in for a substantial raise from the $4MM he’s receiving this season. With arbitration rights, Dobson is in line to more than double that on his next deal, one that will have a new agent working on it.
Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.
NHL Announces 2028 World Cup Of Hockey
With the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off just hours away, it seems the NHL is already establishing plans to deepen its international footprint. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh have plans to announce the 2028 World Cup of Hockey tournament that’d split games between North America and Europe, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The World Cup will be a mid-season tournament scheduled over the usual All-Star Break, like the 4 Nations Face-Off. LeBrun adds that this news sets up international, best-on-best hockey every two years until 2036 – with hope for a timeline that includes the Winter Olympics in 2026, 2030, and 2034 and the World Cup in 2028, 2032, and 2036.
Perhaps more exciting is the return to the name ‘World Cup,’ suggesting that more countries will be involved than the four represented at the 4 Nations tournament. This would inevitably require the involvement of professional leagues around the world, as neither Czechia nor Slovakia have enough NHL players to staff an NHL-exclusive roster.
The naming of a worldwide tournament will also lead to the eventual question of Russia’s involvement. The country has been expelled from international play since the 2021 World Championship, where they fell to Team Canada in the quarterfinals. The IIHF recently reviewed Russia and Belarus’ eligibility for international competition but chose to maintain the expulsion through the 2025-26 season due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hall-of-Famer Pavel Bure was chosen to represent Russia in recent conversations with the IIHF and, citing concerns over player safety, shared that Russia would be willing to finance additional security if it meant allowing “fans across the planet to watch one of the world’s best teams in action again.”
The IIHF’s decision will only apply to events they sanction – that decision only applies to IIHF-sanctioned events, and both the NHL and International Olympic Committee will still need to make their own decisions on whether Russia should play in their events. The NHL moving towards potentially biannual meetings between national clubs sets up an inevitable, and potentially precarious decision on Russia’s eligibility.
Ryan Hartman To Have Appeal Heard On Friday
Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman will meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Friday in Montreal to have the appeal of his 10-game suspension heard (as per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun). Hartman was suspended for the fourth time since 2023 for an incident on February 1st when he was assessed a match penalty for intent to injure after he smashed Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stützle into the ice after taking a draw. The suspension was the fifth of Hartman’s career, which certainly played a role in the length of punishment. Hartman was deemed a repeat offender and assessed accordingly.
The NHLPA filed an appeal on behalf of Hartman last Wednesday, which gives the 30-year-old the first of two opportunities to get his penalty reduced. If Bettman keeps his suspension in place or it remains longer than six games, Hartman can then appeal to a neutral arbitrator.
The Wild’s president of hockey operations and general manager, Bill Guerin, has expressed concerns before regarding Hartman’s on-ice discipline, telling Joe Smith of The Athletic that Hartman would need to clean up his game to avoid more severe discipline going forward. It’s been a tough line for Hartman to walk, given that he is effective when he plays on the edge but has gone over the line on too many occasions.
The financial impact of the appeal will be huge for Hartman as he is losing approximately $48,780 per game in the first season of the largest contract of his career.
Loui Eriksson Officially Announces Retirement
Former NHL forward Loui Eriksson has officially announced his retirement after 16 NHL seasons (via his agency on Instagram).
Eriksson last played in the NHL during the 2021-22 season with the Arizona Coyotes, posting three goals and 16 assists in 73 games. His final professional season came in 2022-23 when he suited up for Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League.
At his best, Eriksson was a reliable 25+ goal and 70-point forward for the Dallas Stars. However, the Gothenburg, Sweden native fell on hard times after signing a massive free agent deal with the Vancouver Canucks in 2016 and was never able to get back to the numbers he posted in Dallas.
The 39-year-old was a staple of the Stars in the late 2000s and early 2010s before he was the central piece in the blockbuster trade that sent Tyler Seguin to Dallas and Eriksson to Boston. With the Bruins, Eriksson struggled in his first season but regained his form two years later when he posted 30 goals and 33 assists in 82 games and cashed in with the Canucks on a six-year $36MM deal.
In Vancouver, Eriksson became a beacon for criticism during the Jim Benning era, particularly in 2020 when the salary cap flattened out and the Canucks were forced to watch several talented players leave via free agency when they didn’t have cap space to sign them. Eriksson scored just 38 goals and 52 assists in 252 games with the Canucks before he was sent to Arizona as part of a package that was used to acquire Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland.
Eriksson finished his NHL career with 253 goals and 360 assists in 1,050 career NHL games. He was a six-time 20-goal scorer and had the best season of his career in 2010-11 with Dallas when he registered 27 goals and 46 assists in 79 games.
All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Loui as he enters the next chapter of his life.
Sidney Crosby, Mikko Rantanen Healthy For 4 Nations Face-Off
Team Canada is celebrating after just one practice for the 4 Nations Face-Off, following news that international superstar Sidney Crosby will be good to go when Canada kicks off the tournament on Thursday, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. This news comes after Crosby missed the Pittsburgh Penguins’ last two games with an upper-body injury. He practiced in full at Canada’s Monday skate, serving on the team’s second line and filling the net-front role on the top power-play unit. Crosby also serves as Canada’s captain, as he has at the country’s last three international events with NHL talent.
Team Canada will be at relatively full strength with news of Crosby’s health. The team has no shortage of superstar talent – boasting Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar, arguably the three top players in the NHL. But the Canadian crest doesn’t shine the same without Crosby being part of the group. His international highlights are enough to satisfy an entire career. Crosby famously scored Canada’s “Golden Goal” at the 2010 Winter Olympics to pull the country ahead of Team USA in the Gold Medal game. He had seven points in seven games in that tournament and added three more in six games of the 2014 Olympics, where Canada repeated their Gold Medal win with a team led in scoring by Shea Weber and Drew Doughty. Crosby has only appeared in two international events since that second gold, netting 11 points in nine games of the 2014 World Championship and scoring 10 points in six games of the 2016 World Cup. His presence and international track record will make Canada the country to beat early in this year’s tournament.
The shorthanded Team Finland has received similarly bright news, with Finnish coach Antti Pennanen sharing that Mikko Rantanen will join the team for their first game against Team USA per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. That’s a key bit of news with defensemen Miro Heiskanen, Jani Hakanpää, and Rasmus Ristolainen ruled out for the event due to injuries, leaving them with names like Nikolas Matinpalo and Urho Vaakanainen on their blue line.
Rantanen has represented Finland at every step of his pro hockey career. He appeared in two World Juniors with Finland in 2015 and 2016, totaling nine points in 12 games and captaining the team in the latter tournament. Rantanen also represented Finland at the 2016 World Championship, marking the first of four appearances at the international tourney. He’s totaled 31 points in 31 World Championship games and stands as potentially Finland’s biggest scoring threat at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Rantanen’s role in the lineup isn’t yet clear, but he will likely support the team’s top line and top power-play unit next to Aleksander Barkov and one of Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, or Artturi Lehkonen.
Blackhawks Receiving Trade Interest In Pat Maroon
Amid another season near the bottom of the standings, the Chicago Blackhawks seem to be on a clear path to selling off veteran talents at this year’s trade deadline. Recent reports suggest that productive center Ryan Donato, previously thought to be one of the team’s top trade candidates, could still sign an extension with the Blackhawks. That change has pushed 36-year-old winger Pat Maroon into the spotlight on Chicago’s trade block. Multiple teams are circling the waters on the tough veteran, per Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek, who adds that the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning could both be strong fits.
Maroon previously spent four seasons with the Lightning, starting in their Stanley Cup-winning season of 2019-20. He set his standard of play quickly in Tampa Bay, recording 23 points and 61 PIMs across 64 games in his first season. He continued the bruiser role into the shortened 2020-21 season, then ramped it up in 2021-22 by posting 27 points and 134 PIMs in 81 games. The Lightning returned to the Stanley Cup Final at the end of that year and, after losing to the Avalanche in six games, the burly Maroon decided to add yet another layer to his enforcer role in 2022-23. He scored just 14 points that season – a career-low up to that point – but managed a career-high and league-leading 150 PIMs in 80 games. The performance made Maroon one of just 44 players to eclipse 150 PIMs since 2010, and his 14 points tied for the 20th-highest among that bunch.
Maroon signed a two-year extension with Tampa Bay in February 2023, but the Lightning opted to send him to the Minnesota Wild for a sixth-round pick on the second day of free agency the following summer to clear cap space. Maroon found slightly more of a scoring touch in Minnesota with 16 points in 49 games, prompting the Wild to bank on his trade value at the 2024 Trade Deadline. They dealt him to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Luke Toporowski and a sixth-round pick. Maroon would go on to play just two regular season games and 13 playoff games in Boston before moving to Chicago on a one-year deal this summer.
Now, the league’s 12th-oldest forward could be headed for another move. He’s recorded 13 points and 71 PIMs in 49 games for the Blackhawks this season – an 82-game pace of 21 points and 119 PIMs. He may be in his golden years, but Maroon eclipsed 25 goals and 40 points at his career-best eight years ago. He’s amassed three Stanley Cup rings in his 14 years and 829 games in the NHL and eclipsed 1,000 career PIMs earlier this season. His tough, physical role and ability to control the net front haven’t diminished in his late 30s. Those traits could prove desirable for teams hoping for long playoff runs, though a trade likely won’t net Chicago a very lofty return.
Kraken’s Mitchell Stephens Clears Waivers, Victor Ostman Recalled
2/10: Kraken forawrd Mitchell Stephens has cleared waivers, per a team report.
2/9: The Seattle Kraken announced a trio of roster moves on Sunday. Most notably, the team has placed forward Mitchell Stephens on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the minor leagues. Stephens has appeared in Seattle’s last 16 games. He contributed two points, six penalty minutes, and a minus-four while averaging just north of nine minutes in ice time. Seattle also reassigned defenseman Cale Fleury and goaltender Ales Stezka to the AHL, and recalled goaltender Victor Ostman from the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks.
Seattle does not play again until February 22nd, likely indicating that the moves of Stephens, Fleury, and Stezka are headed for AHL playing time during the 4-Nations Face-Off break. Ostman has been recalled to keep the team roster-compliant, and could be in store for an impromptu vacation while the team takes the next two weeks off. Ostman is playing in his rookie professional season this year, after spending the last four seasons vying for the starting role at the University of Maine. He’s performed well in his first pro games, already winning out the Mavericks’ starting role with an impressive 18-7-4 record and .905 save percentage in 29 games played. Ostman is playing in front of seasoned pro Jack LaFontaine, who has a 10-4-1 record and .904 Sv% in 16 games.
While Ostman questions what warm destination he’ll spend the next two weeks in, the Kraken will hold their breath to see if Stephens stays with the club while passing through waivers. He’s been a career depth-forward, alternating between the NHL and AHL lineups over the last six seasons. That stretch started in the 2019-20 season when Stephens made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then had his name etched into the Stanley Cup just a few months later. He recorded six points, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-nine in 38 games as an NHL rookie – with all four stats still standing as career-highs. Stephens has played in 82 NHL games in parts of four seasons since then, but only managed 13 points. He’s been far more productive in the minors, totaling 92 points in 139 AHL games since the start of the 2020-21 season. Stephens will get a chance to return to his AHL productivity, should he pass through waivers unclaimed.