Sharks Reassign Nick Leddy, Filip Bystedt
2/24: Like Bystedt last Sunday, San Jose reassigned Leddy to the AHL today. The veteran was able to skate with the team over the last few days but now is headed back down, with the big club back in action Thursday against Calgary.
A Stanley Cup champion and member of the 1,000 game club, Leddy’s Shark tenure hasn’t gone to plan as he plays out the final year of his deal worth $4MM. The 34-year-old hasn’t debuted with the Barracuda yet, but if he does at some point, it would be his first AHL action since 2012-13 with the Rockford IceHogs.
2/22: As expected, the Sharks have returned Bystedt to the minors ahead of their return to game action. He will continue to heal up from an upper-body injury as the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda approach two games next weekend.
2/18: The San Jose Sharks announced that they’ve recalled forward Filip Bystedt and defenseman Nick Leddy from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Still, there’s no indication that either player will play for the Sharks next week.
Following the announcement, Sheng Peng from San Jose Hockey Now reported that Bystedt will not be playing for the Sharks next week; he has been recalled solely to serve as an additional participant in practice. Additionally, because Bystedt is nursing an upper-body injury, he wasn’t expected to play for the Barracuda either. There is no word on how long Leddy’s promotion will be.
Still, Bystedt likely isn’t far off from becoming a full-time player for the Sharks. He’s in his third season playing professionally in North America after being selected with the 27th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Sharks. He’s continued to get better every season.
He got off to a hot start, scoring four goals and seven points in eight games for the Barracuda in 2023-24, and followed that up with a 12-goal, 31-point performance in 50 games last season. This year, he’s leading the team in scoring, registering 13 goals and 36 points in 40 games.
Meanwhile, Leddy has yet to play for AHL San Jose after clearing waivers and being reassigned in mid-January. The 34-year-old veteran has struggled this season, registering four assists in 19 games, averaging 17:30 of ice time per game. In the last year of a four-year, $16MM contract signed with the St. Louis Blues, there’s a strong indication that this will be Leddy’s last season in the NHL.
Pro Hockey Rumors’ Bradley Keith also contributed to this article.
Kings Recall Kirill Kirsanov, Erik Portillo
Feb. 24: Kirsanov and Portillo were quietly returned to Ontario back on Friday, but the team announced they’ve been recalled again today. With Doughty and Kuemper taking home silver medals, they might be getting tomorrow off against the Golden Knights before returning to the lineup. As such, Kirsanov and Portillo would be needed as a healthy extra and a backup goalie, respectively.
Feb. 19: The Kings announced they’ve recalled defenseman Kirill Kirsanov and goaltender Erik Portillo from AHL Ontario. Netminder Pheonix Copley was returned to Ontario after being recalled yesterday in the corresponding move.
Kirsanov gets a look in an NHL practice today while Drew Doughty is still in Italy representing Team Canada at the Olympics. The 23-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract, waiting four years after L.A. drafted him in the third round in 2021 to come over from his native Russia. While the 6’2″ lefty struggled to hold down a regular role in the KHL, he’s looked the part so far in Ontario. A stable two-way presence, he’s put up four goals and 11 points with a +8 rating in 47 games.
Portillo, who’s essentially usurped Copley as the No. 3 goalie on the Kings’ depth chart, will get his turn in practice today with Darcy Kuemper absent. After a tough showing last year, the 25-year-old has squarely outperformed Copley in the minors this season and has a .905 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 19 games. That’s been good for a 13-3-1 record and one shutout behind one of the AHL’s best offensive clubs.
Ducks Recall Ian Moore, Tim Washe
Feb. 24: As expected, the Ducks announced today that Moore is back on the roster ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Oilers. He was recalled alongside forward Tim Washe, who was on the NHL roster prior to the break but was sent down to San Diego earlier than Moore. His return indicates the Ducks aren’t expecting either Leo Carlsson or Frank Vatrano to be able to come off injured reserve yet.
Feb. 18: According to a team announcement, the Anaheim Ducks have reassigned defenseman Ian Moore to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. It’ll be Moore’s first stint in the AHL since the beginning of the season.
It’s not expected to be a long-term demotion for Moore. Simply put, the move to AHL San Diego will allow the 24-year-old defenseman to play in as many as three games before the Ducks return to action against the Edmonton Oilers next Wednesday.
Regardless, it won’t be an unfamiliar environment for Moore. The former captain of Harvard University played nine games for the Gulls last year to close out the regular season, scoring one goal and five points. He has only registered one AHL contest this season.
Although he didn’t crack Anaheim’s roster out of training camp, he’s been with the Ducks for much of the 2025-26 campaign. He’s scored two goals and nine points in 41 games, averaging 14:10 of ice time per night. He’s shown quality possession metrics for a rookie, managing a 53.5% CorsiFor% at even strength.
Moore’s rise as a capable NHL defenseman has sparked mixed feelings in Orange County. His play at the beginning of the year led to a loss of ice time for defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, who even considered requesting a trade in late November.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Matt Kiersted
The Wild announced today that they’ve recalled forward Ben Jones and defenseman Matt Kiersted from AHL Iowa. They have two open roster spots and thus don’t need to make any corresponding moves.
Minnesota is expecting Matt Boldy to return to the team from his gold medal win with Team USA in time for tomorrow’s game against the Predators, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. However, they didn’t have an extra forward rostered in case he isn’t able to go. Jones, who’s already suited up 26 times for Minnesota this season, will do the honors.
With the Wild having a back-to-back road trip to kick off their post-break schedule, there’s a decent chance they’ll need him for at least one of the contests. He last appeared for the Wild on Jan. 20 before being reassigned to Iowa a few days later. Jones, who turns 27 on Thursday, was a high-scoring piece in juniors but hasn’t found much of any offense at the NHL level. He has a goal and an assist this season, the only two points of his career in 54 total games. He’s only averaged 8:36 per game of ice time but has been valuable as a depth faceoff-taker, winning 53.5% of his draws.
Outside of that, Jones’ game is uninspiring. His -10 rating is ahead of only Marcus Foligno‘s -11. He averages under a shot on goal per game. His 2.04 hits per game rank fourth on the team, but that’s more a measure of how little Minnesota has the puck when he’s on the ice. His 39.2 CF% at even strength is the lowest among active Wild forwards.
As for Kiersted, he gives the Wild two extra defenders – also in case fellow Olympians Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes aren’t available. He joins David Spacek, who was recalled from Iowa on Saturday. The 27-year-old was already jockeyed between the NHL and AHL over the break to give the Wild some extra practice players. The lefty has just seven points in 33 AHL games this season with a -5 rating, adding an assist and a -1 mark in four NHL contests in December and January.
Dallas Stars Place Mikko Rantanen On IR
Feb. 24: Rantanen will be out for at least two weeks and possibly longer, head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters today, although he doesn’t expect the injury to end his regular season (via Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News). That will nonetheless put him out through the trade deadline and keep him out of at least Dallas’ next seven games.
Feb. 23: The Dallas Stars announced today that they have placed star forward Mikko Rantanen on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 20, the date of Finland’s loss to Canada in the quarterfinals of the recent Winter Olympic tournament.
Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan told the media today, including Stars Thoughts’ Robert Tiffin, that Rantanen is doubtful to play in the Stars’ first game back from the break, and is questionable beyond that point. According to Tiffin, Gulutzan “didn’t want to speculate” on Rantanen’s status beyond this week.
The team’s roster move suggests Rantanen isn’t set for an extended absence. Since his IR placement was made retroactive to Feb. 20, he will be eligible for activation as early as Feb. 27. If the team held a firm expectation that Rantanen would miss well over a week, it is less likely that they would have directly clarified the retroactive nature of his IR placement in their announcement post.
Rantanen’s injury didn’t end up costing Finland, as they cruised past Slovakia to earn a bronze medal. His injury, while seemingly minor in the grand scheme of the Stars’ season, threatens to seriously impact their odds of winning the games he’s set to miss. Rantanen is arguably Dallas’ most talented forward, currently leading the team in scoring with 69 points in 54 games.
Rantanen leads all Stars forwards in time-on-ice per game and is widely considered one of the game’s top wingers. Missing him, even for a handful of games, will hurt the Stars. With that said, Gulutzan’s comments combined with how the Stars have announced Rantanen’s IR placement suggest the star winger won’t be sidelined for too long, which is certainly good news for Dallas.
Penguins Acquire Samuel Girard From Avalanche
The Penguins acquired left-shot blue-liner Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round pick from the Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak, both teams announced Tuesday.
Girard has been in the rumor mill for what seems like years. Colorado hoped to make him a future top-four anchor behind Cale Makar and Devon Toews – he actually predates both of them and was the Avs’ longest-tenured defenseman – when they acquired him from the Predators in 2017. After the puck-mover impressed and sniffed 20 minutes per game of ice time in his first full season in Colorado, the Avs inked him to a seven-year, $35MM extension.
Some warned the commitment was premature. Now, in the penultimate season of the contract, they’d be right, at least based on his recent play. Girard’s performance back in the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign made it look like he’d be the final piece of a true three-headed monster behind Makar and Toews, rattling off 32 points and a +15 rating in 58 games. His trajectory has been largely downhill from there. His minutes were steadily reduced from the 23-plus minutes he logged that year, his playoff performances were negligible, and he never churned out the same level of two-way play. He’s topped 30 points just once since then and has had negative relative Corsi impacts three times in the last five seasons at 5-on-5.
Still, Girard remained Colorado’s clear-cut No. 2 left-shot option behind Toews, especially after the Avs jettisoned Bowen Byram at the 2024 trade deadline. Then came this season. Girard sustained an upper-body injury in Colorado’s second game of the season that left him on the shelf for a month. During that time, veteran righty Brent Burns got the bump up to second-pairing minutes with Josh Manson moving to his offside in lieu of Girard. That duo, with over 2,200 combined games of NHL experience, has put up fantastic results – even posting better possession numbers than Makar and Toews have with a 56.8 xGF%, per MoneyPuck.
That pushed Girard down to a third-pairing role along with Sam Malinski, averaging only 17:41 of ice time per game. Even there, Malinski’s 25-point, +30 breakout through 55 games had rendered Girard as something of an expensive depth redundancy, especially with Malinski now extended through 2029-30 and Girard costing $5MM against the cap.
That cap impact, in a season where the Avs are the top Cup favorites by a significant margin, is why general manager Chris McFarland was willing to offload a second-round pick to get out of the last year and a half of his deal – especially if they’re receiving a much cheaper third-pairing option in Kulak in return, who’s having a strong season. Swapping out Girard for the pending UFA Kulak, who costs only $2.75MM, now leaves the Avs with a projected $10.82MM in cap space on deadline day, per PuckPedia. They’ve also given themselves $13MM even in cap space for next season, up from just $8MM to fill seven spots before the deal.
Kulak’s time in Pittsburgh ends after 25 games. It’s his second time being traded this season, having been acquired from the Oilers in December as part of the Tristan Jarry/Stuart Skinner swap. During that time, he’d gotten a bump in minutes alongside Kris Letang in top-four deployment and showed he was up to the task. He’s having a tough season offensively, even by his limited standards as a shutdown bottom-four piece, but managed seven points with a +2 rating while playing almost exclusively with Letang. That duo controlled 52.2% of expected goals as well, per MoneyPuck.
Given how both players grade out this season, it’s likely a lateral move at worst for both clubs. It’s a bit more of a long-term focused move for the Pens, though. They have little to no long-term security in their top four. Parker Wotherspoon has impressed this season, elevated as a top-pairing shutdown partner for Erik Karlsson, although he’s been a career third-pairing option and, at age 28, the prospects for regression next season are bright. Ryan Shea is, like Kulak, a pending UFA. Their veteran depth options are uninspiring, and it’s questionable if 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering will be ready to log NHL minutes next season.
They now have a year and change of a 27-year-old Girard, plus the ability to discuss an extension with him starting July 1. He immediately becomes their most offensively dynamic threat on the left side and becomes the youngest name in Pittsburgh’s aging top-four group. They’re banking on Girard, who has 12 points in 40 outings this season, to return to his 30-plus point form back in expanded minutes, but considering he’s averaged over 20 minutes per game for his career, it’ll be a familiar situation for him.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the trade.
Image courtesy of Steven Bisig-Imagn Images.
Sabres Recall Anton Wahlberg
The Sabres announced they’ve recalled center prospect Anton Wahlberg from AHL Rochester. He’s expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Devils with Zach Benson and Jordan Greenway both banged up. The team will need to make some sort of roster move before the game; while they have two open spots, those are expected to go to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Joshua Norris as they come off injured reserve.
Wahlberg, 20, was selected 39th overall in 2023 with a second-round pick the Sabres acquired from the Flyers in the Rasmus Ristolainen trade two years earlier. He quickly emerged as a top-nine piece in his native Sweden’s SHL in his post-draft year before arriving in Rochester in 2024. Since his arrival in March of that year, he’s played in 119 games. In that time, he’s put up 18 goals and 41 assists for 59 points with a +16 rating and just 24 penalty minutes.
That includes 47 games with Rochester this year. He hasn’t dominated offensively, although he’s still sixth on the team in scoring with six goals and 25 points. He’s been leveraged as a two-way piece down the middle, though, and has been up to the task with a team-best +12 rating.
Coming into 2025-26, Wahlberg was still a consensus top-10 prospect in an above-average Sabres pipeline. Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff gave Wahlberg the #6 spot, NHL.com put him at #5, and Elite Prospects had him at #10. “What the Sabres organization wants to see is more production in the dirty areas around the crease,” NHL.com wrote in their blurb, an understandable criticism given his 6’4″, 205-lb frame.
Wahlberg likely won’t remain up past when Greenway or Benson returns in the coming days. It’s nonetheless a good reward for a player who’s still got another season or two before he’s expected to make a significant NHL impact and should give Buffalo a better barometer of where his game is at.
Jets Place Josh Morrissey On IR, Recall Kale Clague
The Jets announced today they’ve recalled defenseman Kale Clague from AHL Manitoba. In the corresponding move, they moved star lefty rearguard Josh Morrissey to injured reserve with the upper-body injury he sustained in Canada’s group stage opener at the Olympics. Since it’s retroactive to Feb. 12, he’s eligible to come off at any time.
Yesterday, there were conflicting reports on how much time Morrissey would miss. TSN’s Darren Dreger said Morrissey would likely miss a significant chunk of time coming out of the break, while head coach Scott Arniel left the door open for him to join the team on their three-game road trip that wraps up in San Jose on March 1. They’ll have more clarity on his status later this week when he’s fully evaluated by their own doctors.
In any event, the Jets can’t afford any notable absences. A postseason push would be miraculous at this stage, sitting tied with the Flames for the third-worst record in the Western Conference while being 11 points out of a playoff spot. That’s especially considering Morrissey remains the team’s most impactful two-way player, posting a 10-32–42 scoring line in 56 games while sitting in the co-lead with even-strength partner Dylan DeMelo with a +10 rating.
With an already decimated defense group that has Neal Pionk, Colin Miller, and Haydn Fleury on IR to kick off the restart, Winnipeg needed another defenseman to ensure they could still ice six of them if a last-minute injury to anyone else presented itself on their road trip. Clague, who’s settled in as more of a minor-league option than NHL extra over the past few years, is in his first season in the organization after landing a two-way deal in free agency last summer. He has an 8-13–21 scoring line with a -12 rating in 44 games for Manitoba, tied with Ville Heinola, who was recalled over the break and remains up for the team scoring lead among defensemen.
The 27-year-old lefty has 94 NHL appearances to his name but hasn’t appeared at the top level since April 2024 with the Sabres. A second-round pick by the Kings in 2016, he had an intermediate stop with the Canadiens after being claimed off waivers in the 2021-22 season before heading to Buffalo and then Winnipeg. He owns a career 2-19–21 scoring line at the top level with a -22 rating, averaging just over 16 minutes per night.
Stars Recall Remi Poirier
The Stars announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Remi Poirier from AHL Texas. They have an open roster spot after placing Mikko Rantanen on injured reserve yesterday, so no corresponding move is required. Poirier is expected to back up Casey DeSmith tomorrow against the Kraken before starter Jake Oettinger returns to the team for Saturday’s home tilt against the Predators, needing some extra time after serving as Connor Hellebuyck‘s backup en route to an Olympic gold medal for Team USA.
Poirier, 24, was a sixth-round pick of the Stars in the 2020 draft. He’s been their best minor-league option since the 2023-24 campaign, although he was often passed over by the more veteran Matt Murray two years ago and Magnus Hellberg last year for spot recalls like this one. Since turning pro in 2022, he’s made 119 AHL appearances with a .906 SV%, 2.82 GAA, six shutouts, and a 59-46-13 record.
With his veteran competition gone, Poirier has emerged as the undisputed No. 3 option this year. His only real competition has come from 23-year-old Arno Tiefensee, a 2023 fifth-rounder who’s in his first season in North America.
His numbers this year are in line with his career average – a good AHL tandem/starting option, but they don’t exactly jump off the page. He’s made 34 appearances, quickly encroaching on his career high of 38, with a .906 SV%. During the preseason, Elite Prospects ranked him as the #13 prospect in the system. Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis also had him out of his top 10, trailing 2025 fifth-rounder Måns Goos as the team’s top goaltending prospect.
Islanders, Blues Swap Matt Luff, Julien Gauthier
The Islanders announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired forward Matt Luff from the Blues in exchange for Julien Gauthier. Both players were on AHL assignments at the time of the deal and will report to their new affiliates without needing to re-clear waivers.
Luff, 28, has held a very limited role as a call-up in St. Louis this season. He’s only appeared in five games, during which he’s scored once with a -2 rating. Head coach Jim Montgomery used Luff in the fourth-line slot he’s held for most of his career whenever he’s gotten a chance at the top level, averaging a career-low 9:08 of ice time per game. His lone call-up that led to playing time, back in December, marked his first NHL action since the 2022-23 campaign with the Red Wings.
In the interim, the 6’3″ Luff has been an exceptional minor-league producer. He’s appeared in 321 AHL games over the last 10 seasons, split between the Kings, Predators, Red Wings, Panthers, and Blues organizations, recording 0.78 points per game. The both-sides winger has clicked closer to a point per game over the last few seasons, though, and has 14 goals and 39 points in 42 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds this season. While the Isles do pick up Luff’s 111 games of NHL experience, he immediately becomes Bridgeport’s leading point-getter and will essentially operate as an AHL rental and call-up insurance before becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Gauthier can be a similarly impactful AHL producer when healthy, but that’s been a rarity since he first signed with the Islanders in 2023. The former first-round pick last appeared in the NHL in October 2024 and has only made 25 AHL appearances since then, recording an 8-7–15 scoring line in that timeframe. The Isles were reportedly looking to find a fresh start for him, according to Stefen Rosner of NHL.com, even though he was set to become a UFA this summer anyway.
The 28-year-old Gauthier will now make the Blues his fifth NHL organization. Selected 21st overall by the Hurricanes in 2016, the 6’4″ power forward was involved in a change-of-scenery swap with the Rangers four years later before being leveraged as bait to land Tyler Motte from the Senators at the 2023 trade deadline. He then landed with the Isles as a non-tendered RFA, and he ends his time there with nine points in 28 NHL games as well as 25 points in 40 games for Bridgeport, giving him just 68 total appearances over the last three years.