PHR Mailbag: Early Surprises, Karlsson, Sabres, Blackhawks, $20MM Player
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include some early-season surprises, what’s next for the Sabres, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check for it in next weekend’s mailbag.
Schwa: What do you think the biggest surprises have been over the first week or two? Perhaps a positive and a negative.
On the positive side, it has to be Detroit. Yes, they had a rough opener at the hands of Montreal but since then, they’ve beat Toronto twice plus Florida and Tampa Bay in their division plus Edmonton today. That’s five wins against legitimate playoff teams which is particularly notable. Along the way, Cam Talbot is off to a great start in goal, providing a level of goaltending that they added John Gibson to give them. Meanwhile, they’re integrating three rookies into regular roles, including Emmett Finnie, a player taken in the seventh round two years ago. Few would have expected him to be on the team a month ago let alone the top line. There’s a lot to like so far for the Red Wings.
On the not-so-good side, I’m a bit concerned about how the Kings have started. I wasn’t down on their summer as much as some were as while there were some veteran overpayments, their depth was still pretty good. Now, they lost five of six to start and have had a hard time scoring and keeping pucks out of the net. That’s not a good combination. Now, they’re without Anze Kopitar for a while which isn’t going to help things. They look more vulnerable than I thought they’d be. Dustin Wolf’s start in Calgary isn’t particularly confidence-inspiring either. He was a big reason they were more competitive than expected last season; if he can’t perform at a similar level this year, they’re in a lot of trouble.
random comment guy: I was reading on here that the Sharks would like to obtain younger D-men. The Hawks have a fair amount of younger D-men. Do you see any type of trade in the future and who would be involved?
Chicago feels like a good fit if San Jose decides it wants to add some other young defensemen to the mix in the hopes of seeing if one or two pan out. The idea is basically to take a few dart throws and see what happens but when they’re not going to be going anywhere this season in the standings, I like the idea in principle.
As you correctly noted, the Blackhawks have a surplus of blueliners. Of the six NHL-contracted blueliners they have in the minors, three have seen action at the top level and not just a token game; they’ve all played at least 27 NHL contests. Kevin Korchinski is the most prominent of the trio but I don’t get the sense that Chicago is willing to sell low on him. Instead, they’d rather have him play big minutes in Rockford and then have him full-time on the NHL roster next season when he’s waiver-eligible. I don’t think they want to move Ethan Del Mastro just yet either.
The other one is Nolan Allan and I could see Chicago GM Kyle Davidson look to salvage something. While he played 43 NHL games last season, he struggled in a limited role and has likely slipped behind those two on the prospect depth chart, not to mention Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser being ahead of him in Chicago as well. In a best-case scenario then, he might be their eighth defender next season. That’s a terrible spot for a prospect to be in and their value typically drops quickly after that. If San Jose wants to get a look at him, it won’t be overly cheap (I could see the cost being a second-round pick or equivalent prospect value) but if they feel he has some upside and staying power, it’d be a move worth attempting.
gowings2008: Any rumors of Erik Karlsson to the Wings? Or are the summer rumors dead?
Speaking of those Red Wings… There aren’t any credible rumors linking Karlsson to Detroit at the moment or anywhere really. We’re still in the early goings of the season when teams are still trying to establish what they have, what they need, and what they could possibly get rid of. While Pittsburgh is in a spot where they know that moving Karlsson is likely the desired long-term outcome, a $10MM cap charge is still something they’re going to have to navigate.
For Detroit, they still need to evaluate their young back end. Can they rely on Axel Sandin Pellikka all season? Can they count on more from Albert Johansson? Could Jacob Bernard-Docker be a regular after bouncing in and out of the lineup in Ottawa? The answers to those questions will help determine if they want to pursue him, as will their position in the standings.
If the Red Wings find themselves in the mix in the second half, I could see them taking a run at this, assuming Karlsson is amenable to going there. Slotting him on the second pairing behind Moritz Seider could allow Sandin Pellikka to play on the third pair and get eased in a bit more, or even return to the minors if they want to maximize his playing time. Notably, they also have the cap space to take on the full freight of the contract, something that can’t be said for a lot of teams. But for now, they need to see what they have and see if this hot start can be sustained before looking into a big splash on the trade front.
Black Ace57: How many times will history be allowed to repeat itself with the Sabres with no real change? I mean more than trading the next Cozens. I know it’s early, but it feels different this year with the losing already becoming an issue.
It feels like there’s a little more urgency this season as at some point, the status quo can’t just keep happening. At this point, a decision needs to be made about GM Kevyn Adams. Considering the Dylan Cozens trade looks like a tough loss already, is he the one you’re going to trust to make the type of shakeup move(s) needed? That could entail yet another coaching change, a big core trade, or starting over (I’ll look at each of those options shortly). If Adams gets the vote of confidence, let him take the big swing or two.
But if not, they do have a ‘kick the can down the road’ card to play in Jarmo Kekalainen. The former Columbus GM is now a senior advisor and if it’s decided a change needs to be made, put him in as a caretaker, assess, make some minor moves where needed, and then determine in the spring if he’s the guy to go with moving forward or conduct a more thorough search. That’s the safe route to play. Frankly, it’s the route I think they’ll take if they decide to let Adams go. It’s probably not the best route to take but I think they’re going to be risk-averse at this point, for better or worse (and likely the latter).
Pacific Notes: Chytil, Boeser, Stone, Kapanen
While it was a good day for the Canucks on the scoreboard, it was a tough one on the injury front. Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province relays that center Filip Chytil exited today’s game on a hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson and had to be helped off the ice. A major penalty was initially assessed on the play but was rescinded after review. The 26-year-old has a long documented history of concussion troubles with five already and while it’s unclear at this point if that’s something he may have or not, it’s something that will ensure the team errs on the side of caution. Chytil had three goals in his first five games to tie him for the team lead heading into today’s action. Meanwhile, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Department of Player Safety will review the hit but no supplemental discipline is expected.
More from the Pacific:
- Still with the Canucks, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Brock Boeser missed today’s game for personal reasons; no further details were provided by the club. The 28-year-old had gotten off to a decent start to the season with three goals in five games while also seeing some playing time on the penalty kill, a role he hasn’t filled in a while. Jonathan Lekkerimaki took his place in the lineup but he, too, left today’s game early with an undisclosed injury.
- Golden Knights winger Mark Stone left last night’s game with what looked to be a wrist injury. Head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters postgame including Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that there was no immediate update and that they were hoping to know more information about the injury by Monday. The captain has had a great start to the season, leading the league in assists with 11 through his first six games.
- Oilers winger Kasperi Kapanen left today’s game against Detroit in the second period with an undisclosed injury, the team announced. The veteran has been a regular in Edmonton’s bottom six through the first six games of the season where he has two assists. Notably, the team does not have enough accrued cap space to recall anyone from AHL Bakersfield (even with LTIR) as things stand which could be something to keep an eye on if he’s set to miss any more time.
Sharks Open To Moving Defenseman
The Sharks entered the season with six blueliners playing on expiring contracts, all but one (Shakir Mukhamadullin) being pending unrestricted free agents. With San Jose continuing their long-term rebuild, it’s a situation where many expect some of those players will be moving elsewhere.
It’s possible that one of those moves could come sooner than later. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (video link) that the Sharks are willing to look at moving one of their blueliners now. While this isn’t the time of year when trades are typically made, there could be some demand for a depth defensive addition from teams that are either dealing with some injuries or are concerned about how their bottom defenders are faring right now.
At this point, it’s probably too early in the season for Nick Leddy ($4MM) to move after being an offseason waiver claim. John Klingberg just signed with them and moving him just a handful of games into the season also seems unlikely.
That leaves three potential rentals in play. Timothy Liljegren ($3MM) is no stranger to the rumor mill and seems likely to be dealt at some point but he also just landed on injured reserve. Until he returns (or if his injury is deemed rather minor), he might not be in a position to be traded just yet. Vincent Desharnais ($2MM) was added late last season from Pittsburgh but has played in just two of their five games so far. He stands out as a viable candidate to go, especially being a right-shot defender, the side teams are typically coveting.
Mario Ferraro is the other pending unrestricted free agent on their blueline and has been in trade speculation for a couple of years now. He has noted before that he’d like to stay beyond this season and it stands to reason that the Sharks will probably take a run at seeing what that would cost before entertaining potential trade opportunities. Considering he’s one of their top potential trade chips should things go that route, moving him now doesn’t seem feasible.
It should be noted that San Jose only has one of three contract retention slots remaining with the other two being used on Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl. This early in the season likely isn’t when GM Mike Grier would want to use that last slot, it’s more probable that he’ll want to use it closer to the trade deadline to help facilitate a bigger move at that time. With that in mind, if they do move a blueliner, the acquiring team will need to take on the full freight of the contract or send a similar-priced contract to the Sharks to offset the cost.
While this wouldn’t likely yield a return of much significance at this point of the season, adding a draft pick to their stockpile isn’t a bad idea and would help clear some of the logjam they currently have. Even with Mukhamadullin and Liljegren on IR, San Jose has eight blueliners on their active roster and are searching to add more young blueliners as well. Opening up a spot to help facilitate that happening would be a good way to start what could be a busy trading season for the Sharks.
Sabres Recall Zac Jones, Noah Ostlund
The Sabres have recalled defenseman Zachary Jones and center Noah Ostlund from AHL Rochester, per a team release. They already had one open roster spot, and they’ve placed winger Beck Malenstyn on injured reserve to open up the other one, according to the NHL’s media site.
Buffalo now has two options to insert into the lineup for tomorrow’s game on the blue line. It’s looking like they won’t have Jacob Bryson available after he exited yesterday’s win over the Panthers and entered concussion protocol. Zach Metsa was already on hand as a healthy extra after being summoned from Rochester earlier in the week. Whether he or Jones enters the lineup for Bryson, a lefty who was assuming third-pairing duties on his off side next to Mattias Samuelsson, remains to be seen.
It will be either player’s Sabres debut and a potential NHL debut for Metsa. As for Jones, the 25-year-old successfully cleared waivers during training camp after inking a rather rich two-way deal ($900K NHL/$550K AHL with Buffalo on July 1. He was an unrestricted free agent after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Rangers, where he’d spent the first five years of his NHL career. The 5’11” lefty was a third-round pick in 2019 and showed decent offensive promise in depth roles for New York, but was never able to elevate himself on their depth chart.
Jones is coming off something of a career year, notching a 1-10–11 scoring line in 46 appearances for the Blueshirts while averaging 17:15 of ice time per game. He was still a semi-frequent healthy scratch, though, no doubt due to a lack of physicality and poor possession impacts. He’s averaged 0.58 hits per game throughout his 115-game NHL career and has had negative relative Corsi shares at even strength in all five of his seasons at the top level. Last year’s possession numbers were particularly underwhelming at a 48.6 CF% and 44.2 xGF%, both below team averages.
That lack of two-way acumen, plus his above-league-minimum cap hit, were contributing factors to him clearing waivers. He’s off to a hot start in the minors, though, rattling off four assists through four games for Rochester – albeit with a -4 rating. Him and Metsa carry similar profiles, both in size and minor-league offensive production, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Buffalo opt for Jones, who has more NHL experience, as they try to extend their win streak to three and get to .500 on the season.
Ostlund’s recall ensures the Sabres will continue to carry 13 healthy forwards, with Malenstyn evidently getting banged up in the win against Florida. The team hasn’t offered an announcement on Malenstyn’s status. He didn’t see a shift in the last 10 minutes of Saturday’s win. The IR placement rules him out for Buffalo’s next three games. He’ll be eligible to return a week from his initial injury, making him available for activation on Oct. 25 against the Maple Leafs for the second half of their back-to-back. Malenstyn had no points and a -2 rating through his first five games, averaging 9:52 of ice time per night.
The Sabres also have Joshua Dunne on hand to insert into the lineup after he was scratched against Florida, so Ostlund isn’t a guarantee to make his season debut tomorrow. The 2022 first-round pick made his NHL debut last year, going pointless in an eight-game run late in the year with a -6 rating. He’s had more inspiring performances in Rochester, where he ranks second on the team in scoring with a goal and four assists through four games. The 21-year-old Swede also had 36 points in 45 AHL contests last season, his first in North America.
While there’s been recent on-ice momentum for the Sabres, it’s still been a disastrous start to the campaign for them in the injury department. Malenstyn joins Justin Danforth, Jordan Greenway, Michael Kesselring, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and Joshua Norris on IR.
Capitals Place Pierre-Luc Dubois On IR
Oct. 19: The Capitals have now placed Dubois on IR to activate defenseman Dylan McIlrath in his place, as expected, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Dubois has already missed seven days due to his injury, so he can be activated at any time. He remains in a non-contact jersey but is practicing with the club.
Oct. 14: Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois will not play tonight against the Lightning due to a lower-body injury, head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed (via Sammi Silber of The Hockey News). He’s listed as day-to-day and has not landed on injured reserve.
If he does, the Caps will be able to backdate his placement to Oct. 12. He left Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Rangers late in the third period for something that required additional evaluation, Carbery said, but it’s not clear when he sustained the injury. If the Caps create a roster spot by placing him on IR, he would be ruled out for Washington’s next two games, including tonight’s, before being eligible for activation against the Canucks on Oct. 19. They have ample cap space to make a recall if they do so, a likely scenario given they don’t have an extra healthy forward with him sidelined.
Dubois began the season in the spot where he enjoyed much success last year – anchoring the Caps’ second line between Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. In their three-game sample size, though, their two-way play has trailed off a bit from 2024-25. While the trio has outscored opponents 3-0 at even strength and won the Corsi battle 31-29, they’ve only controlled 41.9% of expected goals – the lowest quality share among Washington’s forward lines so far, according to MoneyPuck. As for Dubois individually, he’s still looking for his first point of the year but has a +1 rating while averaging 17:22 per game and going 15-for-41 on faceoffs for a 36.6% win rate. Last year, he had two points through his first three games en route to his career-high 46 assists and 66 points.
Connor McMichael is a natural choice to step down and shift back to center after spending time as their top-line right wing with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome to begin the year. That’s exactly what the Caps will go with, at least for tonight, according to Silber. Hendrix Lapierre, who was scratched Sunday after appearing in Washington’s first two games, will re-enter the lineup as the Caps’ lone healthy extra and will do so as the third-line anchor between Ryan Leonard and Sonny Milano. The latter practiced in Dubois’ spot on Washington’s top power play unit this morning as well.
Ben Harpur Signs In KHL
Veteran defenseman Ben Harpur has signed with the Shanghai Dragons of the Kontinental Hockey League for the remainder of the season, per Anton Panchenko of Championat. Harpur had hoped to land an NHL deal for this year and signed a professional tryout with the Panthers, but was released at the beginning of the month and wasn’t invited to their AHL camp, either.
Harpur, 30, has nearly 200 NHL games to his name but hasn’t logged any action since 2022-23 with the Rangers. He remained in New York’s organization for the following two seasons but played only for their AHL affiliate in Hartford. Injuries limited the 6’6″ lefty to just 36 total appearances in the minors from 2023-25, too.
An NHL return was an understandable long shot as a result, but a minor-league contract may have been within reach. Instead, the Ontario-born defender heads overseas for the first time in his 11-year pro career. He’ll do in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the China-based Dragons, who have longtime NHL bench boss Gerard Gallant at the helm and, with Harpur now in tow, carry nearly 2,000 games of combined NHL experience on their roster after rebranding from their former Kunlun Red Star identity last offseason. Harpur joins some familiar faces in Kevin Labanc, Alexander Burmistrov, and Ryan Spooner, among others. Gallant also oversaw Harpur’s most recent NHL games over two years ago.
Harpur joins a Dragons club that is quickly on the rise. The franchise never finished above .500 in their days as Kunlun Red Star, which began play back in 2016, but is off to a 9-3-3 start under Gallant and ranks second in the KHL’s Western Conference.
A fourth-round pick by the Senators in 2013, Harpur has logged time at the game’s top level with them, the Rangers, and the Predators. Topping out as a semi-reliable No. 7, the big stay-at-home rearguard has a career 2-19–21 scoring line with a -42 rating while averaging 15:38 of ice time per game. He also has 69 points and a -12 rating in 229 career AHL appearances.
Penguins Suspend Emil Pieniniemi For Failure To Report To ECHL
The Penguins have suspended defense prospect Emil Pieniniemi indefinitely after he refused an assignment to ECHL Wheeling, the team relayed to Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports.
Pieniniemi, 20, was a third-round pick by the Pens in 2023. He was actually one of the first players from the class to sign his entry-level contract, doing so just over two weeks after the draft, but was loaned back to his native Finland for 2023-24 and posted a 2-4–6 scoring line in 38 games with Liiga’s Kärpät in his first real taste of pro hockey. Pieniniemi decided to make the jump to North America for 2024-25 but did so at the junior level instead of reporting to one of the Penguins’ affiliates, excelling with 60 points in 60 games for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs.
He was hoping that would boost his organizational standing as he transitioned to the North American pros this year. He wasn’t expected to compete for an NHL job, but Pieniniemi likely hoped his offensive explosion in Kingston last year would help guide him into a regular job with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. That wasn’t the case. After being cut from Pittsburgh’s camp on Sep. 27 and assigned to WBS, he wasn’t in the AHL club’s camp for very long, either. He was sent down further to ECHL Wheeling on Oct. 5, but never showed up to Pittsburgh’s second-tier affiliate and was left off their opening night roster this week.
“Pieniniemi made it known to the team shortly after he was cut from Wilkes-Barre’s camp that he would not be going to Wheeling,” Haase reports. “The multiple team sources I asked were not aware of Pieniniemi’s current physical whereabouts.”
Pieniniemi has already been paid his $95K signing bonus for this season. However, he won’t be earning his $82.5K minor-league salary while suspended. He still has two years left after this one on his ELC since his lack of NHL playing time in 2023-24 or 2024-25 caused the deal to slide twice. Any further disputes could lead to Pieniniemi landing on unconditional waivers and seeing his contract mutually terminated, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Blackhawks Reassign Joey Anderson
Oct. 19: Anderson has cleared waivers and will be sent to Rockford, according to Friedman.
Oct. 18: It’s a relatively quiet day on waivers today with just one player hitting the wire. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Blackhawks have placed winger Joey Anderson on waivers.
The 27-year-old played in just one preseason game this fall before deciding to undergo surgery to repair which was termed as a nagging issue. As a result, he wasn’t available to start the season and was designated as injured/non-roster status. The winger returned to practice today, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link), meaning that he has been deemed healthy enough to go on waivers.
Anderson played in 18 games with Chicago last season after making the team out of training camp. However, he was limited to just one assist in those outings despite logging over 12 minutes per game. The Blackhawks waived him in early December but kept him up for a bit after he passed through unclaimed before sending him down to AHL Rockford in early January where he stayed the rest of the way. Anderson was productive with the IceHogs, notching 17 goals and 10 assists in just 33 outings at that level.
Anderson has 169 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of seven seasons between New Jersey, Toronto, and Chicago and is on an affordable contract, one that pays $800K this season in a one-way salary. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent next summer. However, given his recent struggles at the top level, there’s a good chance that he’ll pass through unclaimed when the waiver period expires at 1 PM CT on Sunday.
Oilers Place Alec Regula On Injured Reserve
The Oilers announced they’ve moved defenseman Alec Regula to injured reserve to open up a roster spot. It’s unclear what they plan on doing with it just yet, although it could be a corresponding IR activation for winger Mattias Janmark, who head coach Kris Knoblauch said could be back in the lineup for today’s game against the Red Wings earlier this week.
Regula has already missed three games due to an undisclosed injury. Since he’s been out of the lineup for more than a week, he’s eligible to come off IR at any time with no minimum absence. The 25-year-old skated in the Oilers’ first two games of the year after missing all of 2024-25 due to a knee injury. He started the year in the Bruins organization, and Boston waived him in early December once their doctors cleared him to return. Edmonton claimed him off the wire, but after bringing him in, determined he wasn’t ready for game action, and he remained on the non-roster list for the balance of the campaign.
That means Regula’s showings earlier this month were his first pro hockey action in well over a year and his first NHL games since November 2022 with the Blackhawks. He spent all of 2023-24 on assignment to Boston’s AHL affiliate in Providence after they acquired him from Chicago over the preceding offseason in the Nick Foligno/Taylor Hall trade.
A third-round pick by the Red Wings back in 2018, Regula’s exceptional two-way numbers in the juniors and minors have long made him an under-the-radar candidate to break out into a top-four role in the NHL if given the chance. Injuries have obviously held that breakout up. Including his pair of showings this season, Regula has 24 NHL appearances to his name. He’s registered one goal with a -6 rating and has averaged 16:49 of ice time per game. His possession numbers have checked in as fine but unimpressive, logging a 43.8 CF% at even strength with a -2.1% relative impact.
Early on, though, it looked like Regula might be a fit alongside Darnell Nurse on Edmonton’s second pairing. He got a look there to begin the year with Jake Walman starting out on IR, and the duo controlled a team-high 72.7% of expected goals before Regula’s injury, according to MoneyPuck.
For now, his absence continues. It isn’t expected to be much longer, as Knoblauch initially anticipated Regula to be able to suit up this weekend. He shouldn’t last more than a few days on IR, but it’ll be interesting to see whether he can avoid waivers when Walman eventually returns to health and the Oilers need a roster spot for him.
Seattle Kraken Recall Ville Ottavainen
The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Ville Ottavainen from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Amidst the recent news that Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour is taking a temporary leave of absence from the Kraken to tend to a family matter, this recall gives Seattle an additional right-handed defensive option to work with while Montour is gone.
Ottavainen, 23, will not be able to offer the Kraken the kind of dynamic, aggressive offensive ability that Montour brings, but that’s not to say that he doesn’t have a solid résumé as a player. The 2021 fourth-round pick played three seasons for JYP in the Finnish Liiga before joining the Firebirds late in 2022-23.
He scored 34 points in 70 games in his first full season with the club, helping the Firebirds get to game six of the 2024 Calder Cup Final. While Ottavainen’s AHL production took a step back in 2024-25, the blueliner doesn’t just bring points, he also offers rare size and strength at the position, standing 6’5″, 225 pounds.
While he has just one NHL game to his name, Ottavainen has, as mentioned, an extensive amount of pro experience for a blueliner still in his early twenties. It’s entirely possible that with this recall, the Kraken give Ottavainen a look on the team’s second pairing alongside Ryan Lindgren in a spot occupied by Cale Fleury during last night’s overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.