Devils To Healthy Scratch Dougie Hamilton
With the Devils expecting to activate defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic off LTIR in advance of tomorrow’s game against Winnipeg, New Jersey will need to pull a defenseman out of the lineup to make room for him. It appears that will be veteran Dougie Hamilton based on today’s practice lines.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reached out (Twitter link) to Hamilton’s agent, CAA Sports’ J.P. Barry, for comment. Barry made it clear that he and his client feel this is business-related, not performance-related. The full comment is below:
“Dougie was informed today that he will be not be playing now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup. In our view, this decision is all about business rather than his game right now. Singling him out seems very calculated at this stage.
Dougie has a 10-team trade list and there have been efforts to trade him going back to the draft last year. We have made it clear to the Devils that we will consider teams outside our list and other creative ways to get to a team that is mutually acceptable.”
The 32-year-old has been in trade speculation for a while despite that trade protection. With New Jersey having one of the most expensive defense corps in the NHL and Simon Nemec in line for a new contract next summer, some have expected the Devils to try to move one of their blueliners out. Hamilton has a strong track record offensively but a $9MM cap charge through the 2027-28 season has limited his viable suitors. It also has played a big role in the team having to operate in LTIR all season long, preventing them from banking in-season cap space that could be used to try to improve or shake up their roster.
Unfortunately for Hamilton and the Devils, there is a performance-related case to his being scratched. He has just five goals and five assists in 40 games this season despite logging nearly two minutes per game on the power play and a little under 22 minutes a night overall. This comes on the heels of putting up 40 points in 64 games just last season while he has reached or surpassed the 40-point mark seven other times in his career. There have been a lot of underperformers in New Jersey recently and he has certainly been one of them.
On top of the trade protection, it should be noted that Hamilton also has a no-move clause that effectively serves as a no-waivers clause. As a result, this isn’t a case where New Jersey could put him on waivers and assign him to the minors.
Regardless of the impetus for the decision, the Devils scratching their highest-paid player (tied with Luke Hughes) is certainly going to draw some attention, as will Barry’s statement. Whether this will be enough to kickstart trade discussions remains to be seen. New Jersey’s season has been falling off the rails lately with seven losses in their last nine games (including a 9-0 drubbing earlier this week) and this will only lead to further distractions with calls growing for GM Tom Fitzgerald to try to do something to jumpstart this roster.
Blackhawks Recall Stanislav Berezhnoy
The flu bug has hit the Blackhawks hard. A day after having to use third-stringer Drew Commesso while dressing EBUG Dave Nozzolillo, Chicago has now had to call on another AHL netminder as the team announced that they’ve recalled Stanislav Berezhnoy from Rockford.
Chicago signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in July. While there are international goalies who typically sign NHL contracts on an annual basis, Berezhnoy’s profile was a little different given that he was relatively untested at the top level in Russia. He has just one career KHL game under his belt but posted a .928 SV% in 27 VHL appearances last season which was enough to convince the Blackhawks of his upside.
Playing time with the IceHogs has been hard to come by with Commesso being the priority netminder plus veteran Laurent Brossoit getting playing time until his trade to San Jose earlier this week. As a result, Berezhnoy has been limited to just nine appearances in the AHL where he has a 3.23 GAA with a .889 SV%.
That puts head coach Jeff Blashill in a bit of a tough spot for their game tonight against Nashville. Commesso struggled last night against Washington and asking him to go back-to-back isn’t ideal. But starting Berezhnoy might even be less ideal with how inexperienced he is.
Commesso’s recall put Chicago at 24 players on its active roster and Berezhnoy brings it to 25. Teams are allowed two 48-hour goalie emergency recalls that allow them to exceed the roster limit and the Blackhawks are putting both of them to use to get through this back-to-back set.
Wild Place Matt Kiersted On Waivers
Earlier this week, the Wild ran veteran Tyler Pitlick through waivers without sending him down, simply to restart his 10-game, 30-day exemption period. It appears they’re doing that once again as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Matt Kiersted is on waivers.
The 27-year-old is in his first season with Minnesota after signing a two-year, two-way contract (carrying a $775K AAV) with them on the second day of free agency last summer. A veteran of 41 NHL appearances heading into the season, the expectation was that he’d be a key piece in Iowa and a serviceable performer in a depth role if needed with the big club.
So far, things have largely played out that way. Kiersted has played in 23 games with Iowa this season and while his offensive numbers aren’t anything to get excited about with just three assists, he played a big role, especially defensively. That earned him a recall in the second week of December and he has been with Minnesota since then.
Playing time has been hard to come by since joining Minnesota as Kiersted has only played in four games so far. He has an assist and five blocked shots in those outings while picking up five blocked shots in 13:42 per night of ice time. While he hasn’t reached the 10-game mark, he has been up for 30 days, meaning his waiver exemption has expired.
Assuming that Kiersted passes through unclaimed for the second time this season (the other was in training camp), Minnesota can either keep him up in the reserve role he has been filling lately or return him to Iowa and open up some additional salary cap and roster flexibility.
Noah Gregor Clears Waivers
Saturday: Gregor was not claimed on waivers according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. He can now be sent down to AHL Charlotte whenever a roster spot is needed to activate Tkachuk.
Friday: The Panthers are shaking up their depth forward group after a tough-to-swallow blowout loss. PuckPedia reports that the club has placed winger Noah Gregor on waivers.
Gregor had appeared in back-to-back games for the Cats after sitting out five straight. Florida’s fourth line of him, Luke Kunin, and Jack Studnicka had a garish showing in the 6-2 loss to Montreal, failing to generate any expected goals at 5-on-5 while getting outscored 2-0 in less than five minutes of ice time.
His waiver placement should serve a dual purpose of opening a roster spot for Matthew Tkachuk, who’s been skating for a few days now and should be ready to come off long-term injured reserve and make his season debut in the near future. That’s must-hear news for a Florida squad that’s now 3-5-1 in its last nine, losing ground in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race. Injuries have taken an incredible toll on their record, which now stands at 22-18-3, leaving the two-time defending champs three points out of a playoff spot.
As for Gregor, the 27-year-old could bounce to his fifth NHL organization if he’s claimed off the wire. Non-tendered by the Sharks last year, he went unsigned before landing a professional tryout with the Cats in September and converting that into a two-way deal at the end of training camp. He’s been in and out of the lineup as a 12th/13th forward option with Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Tomas Nosek, and more missing all or most of the year.
In 24 appearances, the high-motor depth option has one goal and two assists with a -7 rating. He’s averaged just 8:05 per night while posting an ugly 45.8% shot attempt share despite receiving sheltered offensive zone starts. Especially seeing as he’s on a two-way deal, he was always going to be one of the first names to hit waivers if Florida needed a roster spot.
For a league-minimum price tag, there might be some interest in Gregor, who has 73 points in 317 career NHL games dating back to his debut in San Jose in 2019-20.
Dennis Cholowski Clears Waivers
Saturday: Cholowski has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. The team quickly announced that he was sent down to Utica.
Friday: The Devils announced they’ve placed defenseman Dennis Cholowski on waivers with the intent to assign him to AHL Utica. New Jersey will be left with an open roster spot tomorrow after he is reassigned or claimed.
Cholowski’s waiver placement is likely the first in a complicated series of transactions to activate fellow rearguard Johnathan Kovacevic from long-term injured reserve. The Devils need to free up roughly $3MM in cap space to do so, and they’re running out of time after he began skating with the team at practice earlier this week, per Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News.
Removing the 27-year-old Cholowski from the roster gets them $775K closer to their goal. The Devils acquired him from the Islanders at last year’s trade deadline after he’d re-emerged as a press-box option in New York. He played six games for the Devils as an extra body down the stretch and re-signed with the club on a one-year, one-way deal for the league minimum in July.
Cholowski stuck around on New Jersey’s opening night roster, in large part due to Kovacevic’s knee surgery, but hasn’t been relied upon heavily. He’s been a frequent healthy scratch, particularly with Brett Pesce and Simon Nemec recently returning from injuries, and hasn’t suited up in nearly a month. He’s now been scratched in 11 straight and has only played in 15 of the Devils’ 44 games.
When dressed, the puck-mover has been overused in defensive situations, ranking last among Devils defenders with a 42.6 offensive zone start percentage at even strength. As a result, he only has one assist with a -5 rating while posting a 46.1 CF%, also the worst figure among New Jersey rearguards. Far from being known for his physicality, the 6’2″ lefty has only logged 15 blocks and three hits as well.
Now, he hits waivers for the first time in 2025-26 after clearing them multiple times with the Isles over the past few seasons. The 2016 first-round pick last suited up in the AHL in March of last year with Bridgeport. He has 18 goals and 123 points with a -46 rating in 241 career minor-league games.
Panthers Recall Sandis Vilmanis, Place Seth Jones On IR
The Panthers have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight against Ottawa. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Sandis Vilmanis from AHL Charlotte. To make room on the roster, defenseman Seth Jones has been placed on injured reserve, according to the NHL’s Media Site.
This is Vilmanis’ first recall to the NHL. The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Florida back in 2022, going 157th overall. He made the move to play junior hockey in the OHL the following season, spending two years there where he averaged just under a point per game with 58 goals and 54 assists in 122 regular season contests while adding 34 points in 30 playoff appearances.
That was enough for the Panthers to sign Vilmanis to a three-year, entry-level deal, one that he’s basically at the midpoint of. He has played in 31 games for the Checkers so far this season, posting eight goals and 11 assists, putting him on pace to beat the 27 points he had last season in his rookie campaign. His first half also earned him a spot on Latvia’s roster for the Olympics next month.
As for Jones, the move to IR is largely procedural. Earlier this week, he was listed as out week-to-week after sustaining an upper-body injury during the Winter Classic. At this point, his availability for the Olympics remains uncertain.
Florida remains at the maximum roster size of 23 which is noteworthy with Matthew Tkachuk (LTIR) believed to be nearing a return. (That won’t be tonight though, as he has been ruled out against the Sens.) However, yesterday’s waiver placement of Noah Gregor on waivers will soon open up the spot for Tkachuk, meaning that Vilmanis’ recall shouldn’t be affected by Tkachuk’s pending return to the lineup.
Hurricanes Activate Jaccob Slavin Off Injured Reserve
The Hurricanes will be welcoming back a critical piece of their back end for tonight’s game against Seattle. The team announced that defenseman Jaccob Slavin has been activated off injured reserve.
They’ll be hoping that the second time is the charm when it comes to returning from injury. Last month, Slavin returned from a lower-body injury only to sustain an upper-body issue in his third game back. As a result, the 31-year-old has been limited to just five games so far this season.
Slavin has received down-ballot Norris votes in each of the last nine seasons and is widely regarded as one of the top shutdown defenders in the NHL. He’s sitting on 299 career points in 750 career regular season contests so he has certainly been more than just a traditional stay-at-home blueliner. His previous play was good enough to earn a spot on Team USA for the Olympics next month despite hardly playing in 2025-26.
The Hurricanes enter tonight’s action atop the Eastern Conference which is especially impressive given how infrequently Slavin has been available to them. He’s listed by the team as being likely to be on their top pairing tonight alongside Jalen Chatfield.
On Friday, Carolina sent blueliner Joel Nystrom back to AHL Chicago without calling anyone else up. As a result, they had an open roster spot to activate Slavin. Their roster now stands at the maximum of 23 players once again.
Rangers Assign Justin Dowling To AHL
With center Noah Laba expected to return to the lineup tonight, the Rangers have sent some forward depth back to the minors. The team announced (Twitter link) that center Justin Dowling has been assigned back to AHL Hartford. They now have one open roster spot.
The 35-year-old was brought up at the beginning of the month when Laba and others were injured and got into two games with New York during this stint. He was held off the scoresheet while recording one shot on goal in a total of just over 14 minutes of playing time.
It’s the third straight season in which Dowling has seen NHL action; he played in a career-best 52 with New Jersey last season. That was enough to land him a two-year deal with the Rangers this summer with 2025-26 seeing him earn a one-way salary before reverting to a two-way pact next season.
Dowling has spent the bulk of the campaign with the Wolf Pack where he has fared well offensively, notching five goals and 11 assists in 24 games. After being a limited role player with the Rangers, he’ll return to being a key top-six forward in Hartford with the hopes of playing his way into another recall in the coming months.
Canadiens To Activate Kaiden Guhle Off LTIR
The Canadiens will welcome back a key part of their back end tonight against Detroit. The team announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle will return to the lineup, meaning he will be activated off long-term injured reserve.
The 23-year-old has been limited to just five games so far this season before a mid-October groin injury sidelined him until now. In those five outings, Guhle had a goal and an assist along with 16 hits in a little over 19 minutes per night of playing time.
In the first season of a six-year, $33MM contract, Guhle has been a very important part of Montreal’s back end. At least, that is, when he has been in the lineup. He has logged more than 20 minutes per game in each of his first three NHL seasons while averaging just shy of 20 points in each. However, he’s now missed 116 of a possible 290 games since his rookie campaign, meaning he has been out 40% of the time.
With Guhle’s return, the Canadiens now have their full defense corps available to them. The same can’t be said up front, however, with the team still without Josh Anderson, Kirby Dach, Jake Evans, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook with recovery timelines ranging from day-to-day to multiple months away from returning.
Earlier this week, Montreal assigned defenseman Adam Engstrom to AHL Laval with no corresponding roster move made at the time. As a result, the Canadiens had an open slot to activate Guhle so no other roster moves are required.
Buffalo Sabres Recall Zachary Jones
Saturday: It was a short-term demotion for Jones as WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton relays (Twitter link) that he is back up with Buffalo to once again serve as the reserve defender. The assignment was simply to get him into a game with AHL Rochester to keep him fresh.
Friday: The Buffalo Sabres announced that they’ve reassigned depth defenseman Zachary Jones to the AHL’s Rochester Americans. The Sabres are now down to six defensemen on the active roster.
Since the team has an upcoming five-game homestand beginning tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks, they may be able to wait a few days before recalling another defenseman if the rest of the core is fully healthy. Still, since Michael Kesselring won’t be eligible for activation until Buffalo’s January 14th contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them recall a different option, such as Ryan Johnson for a day or two.
Despite being the second recall of the year for Jones, he has yet to play a game for the Sabres. After being non-tendered by the New York Rangers last offseason, Jones quickly signed a one-year, $900K agreement with Buffalo on the opening day of free agency.
Although he may have liked to get into an NHL contest by now, it’s been all AHL for the former 68th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. Given his output with AHL Rochester this season, it’s somewhat surprising that the Sabres haven’t gotten him at least one look.
At the time of writing, Jones has scored three goals and 31 points in 28 games for the Americans, leading the team in scoring. He’s only two points back of Ryan Ufko for the highest-scoring defenseman in the AHL with four fewer games played. If he continues his current pace, it’ll be surprising if Jones doesn’t come home with the Eddie Shore Award, annually given to the league’s top defenseman.