Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan
Dylan Coghlan is no stranger to finding himself in transactions this season as he has been frequently shuffled between Vegas and AHL Henderson. That move is once again being made as the Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been brought up from the Silver Knights.
This is now the fourth time in the last six weeks that Vegas has recalled the 27-year-old. However, it hasn’t yielded much playing time for Coghlan as he has only suited up once for the Golden Knights this season, bringing his career NHL appearances to 113. It’s his second stint with the franchise after signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and returned to Vegas as an unrestricted free agent last July.
Coghlan has played in 29 games this season with Henderson. While his offensive numbers are down a bit from 2024-25 when he had 28 points in 36 games with Manitoba, he has still contributed five goals and 11 helpers for the Silver Knights.
Coghlan cleared waivers back in early October during training camp, making him exempt until he reaches 10 NHL games or 30 NHL days. Despite the frequent recalls, he has only been up for 13 days to this point so he won’t have to go through the waiver process for a little while yet. He’ll likely once again serve as the seventh defender for however long this particular stint lasts.
Canadiens Activate Jake Evans Off LTIR
After opening a pair of roster spots on Friday following the demotions of goalie Jacob Fowler and center Owen Beck to AHL Laval, it seemed likely that the Canadiens would be getting someone back from injured reserve in time for tonight’s game against Ottawa. That player is center Jake Evans, who has been activated off LTIR, according to the NHL’s Media Site.
Evans had a breakout performance last season, notching 36 points in 82 games while averaging more than 15 minutes per game of ice time. As a result, instead of being moved out at the trade deadline, the two sides worked out a four-year, $11.6MM extension to keep him with the franchise that drafted him in the seventh round back in 2014.
The early returns on that contract have been mixed. The 29-year-old was Montreal’s shutdown center in the first half of the season before he suffered a lower-body injury just after the holiday trade freeze. However, while he had some success in that role, his offensive numbers dropped considerably as he has just five goals and five assists in 34 games. Meanwhile, to give him some support defensively, the Canadiens brought back Phillip Danault in a pre-freeze swap with Los Angeles, just one day before Evans’ injury.
Evans, who was quietly moved to LTIR earlier this month, was expected to miss four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. This activation suggests that it will be the shorter of the two timelines although he has not been confirmed as being able to play against the Sens. Instead, Evans is officially listed as a game-time decision.
Montreal is currently without three other injured forwards, Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook. The first two took part in practice yesterday and are believed to be nearing a return but the fact that they weren’t activated today suggests that they’re not quite ready to suit up in game action just yet.
Leon Draisaitl To Take Brief Leave Of Absence
The Oilers will be without one of their superstars for the next few games. The team announced that center Leon Draisaitl will be stepping away from the team to attend to a family illness back home in Germany. He is currently expected to rejoin the team at some point next week.
Once again, the 30-year-old is among not only Edmonton’s top scorers but the rest of the league as well. Draisaitl has 25 goals and 42 assists in 48 games so far this season, putting him second on the team in scoring behind Connor McDavid (who is tied with Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead with 82). Meanwhile, his 67 points are fifth overall, behind those two along with Macklin Celebrini and Nikita Kucherov.
In his absence, the Oilers will have to decide if they want to move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back down the middle and take him off McDavid’s line. Alternatively, Jack Roslovic could move up to the second line to take Draisaitl’s spot. Meanwhile, his absence should pave the way for Andrew Mangiapane to return to the lineup; the speculated trade candidate has been a frequent healthy scratch as of late.
Edmonton is currently carrying a full 23-player roster. Draisaitl is eligible to be moved to non-roster status if needed which would allow them to recall a replacement player from AHL Bakersfield. However, with only $270K in LTIR room at the moment per PuckPedia, other moves would need to be made in order for them to be able to afford to bring someone else up.
Juho Lammikko And Colton White Clear Waivers
Saturday: Both Lammikko and White have cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. However, with Ondrej Palat‘s availability for tonight’s game uncertain due to illness, Lammikko may remain on the active roster for the time being and could suit up against Carolina if Palat isn’t able to play.
Friday: The New Jersey Devils are attempting to jettison a few depth options from their roster. The Devils announced that they’ve placed forward Juho Lammikko and defenseman Colton White on waivers.
Lammikko, 29, is in his first year with the Devils after spending the last three years overseas with the NL’s ZSC Lions. He was very productive while in Switzerland, scoring 48 goals and 112 points in 144 games with a +60 rating. He signed a one-year, $800K contract with New Jersey last summer.
Despite making the team’s opening night roster, Lammikko had to wait until late October to debut due to a lower-body injury. Largely in a bottom-six role, Lammikko has appeared in 22 games for the Devils this season, registering two assists and a -4 rating while averaging 10:10 of ice time per game.
Meanwhile, unlike Lammikko, White did not immediately make the Devils’ roster this year. Still, due to multiple injuries sustained by New Jersey’s defensive core, White was recalled in early November and has been with the team ever since.
The 28-year-old defenseman has appeared in 23 games for the Devils this season (his second stint with the club), registering four assists and a +2 rating while averaging 12:15 of ice time. He’s been a quality player on the defensive side of the puck, averaging a 93.1% on-ice SV% at even strength.
New Jersey did not immediately clarify if either player would be demoted to the AHL’s Utica Comets should they clear, though it’s largely expected. Still, the Devils could simply be looking for additional roster flexibility.
Assuming both Lammikko and White clear waivers and are reassigned tomorrow afternoon, New Jersey’s active roster would be reduced to 21 players. It’s more than likely the team will make additional recalls then, particularly to their forward core.
Injury Updates: Wild, Ristolainen, Jones
The injuries just keep piling up for Minnesota. Already missing several key regulars, Marcus Johansson can now be added to the list as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter links) that the veteran is among the list of players who aren’t with the team on their three-game road trip that began this afternoon. The 35-year-old is dealing with a lower-body injury. Johansson has had a resurgent season, notching 13 goals and 21 assists in 46 games, matching his point total from 2024-25 in 26 fewer appearances. With his absence, the Wild are now without their entire second line for this trip.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Also from Russo’s note, the injury to winger Matt Boldy that landed him on IR is a nagging issue that head coach John Hynes feels will only keep him out of the lineup for a week or two. Boldy is Minnesota’s top goalscorer with 27 on the season and is only one point behind Kirill Kaprizov for the team lead in points, earning him a spot on Team USA for the Olympics. With this short timeline for a return, he should be good to go for that event.
- Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will miss at least the next four games as he has been ruled out of action through their upcoming road trip, relays Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury. Injuries have limited Ristolainen to only 13 games this season. He’s averaging just under 21 minutes per night of action when in the lineup but the lack of availability certainly doesn’t help his value at a time the team is believed to be open to trading him.
- Earlier this week, the Penguins assigned defenseman Caleb Jones to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning stint. Unfortunately, Jones suffered an upper-body injury in his first game in the minors, according to Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis (Twitter link). As a result, he was out of the lineup on Friday. There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury. Jones remains on Pittsburgh’s active roster while on assignment to the minors but if he’s going to be out much longer, he’ll likely be recalled and placed on injured reserve.
Flames Make Several Roster Moves
The Flames have made a series of transactions heading into their game against the Islanders. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Matvei Gridin has been recalled from AHL Calgary. To make room on the roster, winger William Stromgren was sent back to the Wranglers. Additionally, defenceman Zayne Parekh was also sent down on a conditioning loan.
Gridin was a first-round pick by Calgary in 2024, going 28th overall. While he had a solid showing last season with QMJHL Shawinigan, he wasn’t expected to realistically contend for a roster spot in training camp. However, after potting three goals in six preseason contests, Gridin broke camp with the Flames and got into four games with them, picking up his first NHL goal before being sent down to the Wranglers a little more than a week into the season.
In the minors, Gridin has been quite impressive. He has 10 goals and 18 assists in 32 games with the Wranglers, good for a share of second overall among all rookies which has helped earn this promotion. Gridin can play up to five more games with the Flames this season without burning the first year of his entry-level contract so it will be interesting to see if the team intends to give him just a quick look or a longer opportunity that officially activates his deal.
As for Stromgren, he received his first NHL promotion earlier this month and was in and out of the lineup, getting into three games with the Flames altogether. The 22-year-old had a very limited role in those outings, playing just 7:17 per game while being held off the scoresheet. Stromgren has been one of the better playmakers for the Wranglers, however, picking up 23 assists in 33 contests. He’ll now get a chance to go back to playing a much more prominent role compared to the fourth-line minutes he was seeing with the big club.
Parekh, meanwhile, has yet to play since returning from playing for Canada at the World Juniors. The 19-year-old isn’t eligible to play full-time for the Wranglers but now that he has been scratched long enough, he is eligible for this conditioning stint which can last for up to two weeks. It seems likely that management will want him to play the full two weeks in the minors, meaning he won’t likely rejoin the Flames until the end of the month. Parekh, a top performer with OHL Saginaw to the tune of 203 points over his last two seasons, has one assist in 11 NHL contests while playing a little under 15 minutes per night of playing time.
Atlantic Notes: Stolarz, Kesselring, Ullmark, Poitras
Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz has missed more than two months with an upper-body injury with little known beyond that. The netminder told reporters yesterday (video link) that he has been dealing with a nerve issue, one that simply needed time to heal but no one knew at the time how long he’d be out for. Stolarz was a top performer last season which earned him a four-year, $15MM extension in training camp. However, he struggled mightily before being shut down, posting a 3.51 GAA and a .884 SV% in 13 starts. He indicated that he still needs to get into a few practices with the team before he could potentially return which could put him in line to see game action at some point toward the back of their upcoming five-game homestand.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Sabres will welcome back a defenseman today against Minnesota. Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that Michael Kesselring will return to the lineup after missing the last seven games with a high ankle sprain. Kesselring has been quiet in his first season with Buffalo after being acquired from Utah in an offseason trade. He’s still looking for his first point with his new team after being held off the scoresheet through 16 games while he’s averaging a little over 15 minutes a night on the third pairing. While Buffalo will get him back, that won’t be the case for center Joshua Norris who remains listed as day-to-day.
- Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark skated with the team on Friday for the first time since stepping away on a leave of absence last month, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. However, there remains no timetable for him to return to Ottawa’s lineup. The 32-year-old struggled through the first two and a half months of the season, posting a save percentage of just .881, a career low by a considerable margin. For now, Leevi Merilainen and recent signee James Reimer will continue as their goaltending tandem.
- Bruins center Matthew Poitras has changed agents, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link). After being represented previously by John Walters from The Will Sports Group, the 21-year-old has signed with Newport’s Wade Arnott. Poitras has played in 33 games with Boston in each of the last two seasons but has played exclusively with AHL Providence in 2025-26. So far, he has six goals and 14 assists in 33 games in the minors. This is the final season of his entry-level deal and he will be a restricted free agent without arbitration rights next summer.
Predators Reassign Andreas Englund To AHL
Saturday: It was a one-and-done promotion for Englund as Nashville has assigned him back to the Admirals, per the AHL’s transactions log. As expected, he was the reserve defender for their game last night against Colorado.
Friday: The Nashville Predators announced they’ve recalled defenseman Andreas Englund from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. He’s expected to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman tonight as Adam Wilsby works his way back from a minor injury.
Englund, 29, joined the Predators last season after being claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Kings. He enjoyed a consistent role in Nashville for the remainder of the season, registering two assists in 24 games with the club, averaging 14:36 of ice time per night.
After two months with the team, the Predators signed Englund to a one-year, $775K extension for the 2025-26 campaign. Unfortunately, he wasn’t guaranteed a spot on the roster this year, and Nashville sent Englund through waivers shortly before the start of the regular season.
Being his first recall of the year, the 6’3″, 201lbs blue liner has spent the entire campaign with AHL Milwaukee up to this point. He has been relatively productive, scoring two goals and six points in 30 games with a +2 rating. He’s third on the team with 44 PIMs.
Regardless, Englund should expect his current recall to be short-lived. At the time of writing, Wilsby has a day-to-day recovery timeline, meaning he could return by the end of the weekend. Nashville now has 22 players on their active roster.
Maple Leafs To Recall Jacob Quillan; William Nylander Injured
According to David Alter of The Hockey News, the Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to recall Jacob Quillan from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. As TSN’s Darren Dreger pointed out earlier, forward William Nylander is dealing with injury concerns, and he’ll likely be placed on the injured reserve.
Nylander has already been ruled out for today’s matchup by the team. There’s a belief that he re-aggravated his recent lower-body injury in the overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. He had previously missed six games with the injury.
Additionally, the Maple Leafs haven’t yet provided an updated recovery timeline for their star winger. Yesterday, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic asked head coach Craig Berube how long Nylander would miss, to which Berube responded, “Right now I can’t answer that. With the last one I thought it would be quicker and then obviously (it) wasn’t. We’ll just see how he feels here going forward.”
It’s unfortunate timing for Nylander and Toronto, as the 11-year veteran was on a tear after initially returning from his lower-body ailment. Since returning to the lineup on January 10th, Nylander scored three goals and seven points with a +2 rating, averaging 13:28 of ice time per game. Still, that’s been the status quo for Nylander this year, scoring 14 goals and 41 points in 33 games before suffering the injury the first time.
Meanwhile, Quillan, 23, will return to the Maple Leafs after being reassigned on January 9th. The 6’1″ forward has gone scoreless in three appearances for the Maple Leafs this season with a +2 rating, averaging 8:06 of ice time per game.
His play in the AHL, plus his flexible contract, has made him a consistent recall candidate for Toronto this season. He’s tied for third in scoring on AHL Toronto, registering eight goals and 27 points in 28 games with a +8 rating.
Flames Ramping Up Rasmus Andersson Trade Talks
Jan. 17th: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Andersson’s market has been narrowed down to four teams: two in the Eastern Conference and two in the Western Conference. Dreger listed the Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights as two of them, but didn’t specify the other two. Unless significant traction is made within the next few hours, Dreger expects Andersson to play for the Flames tonight.
Jan. 16th: It appears the Flames have finally received the type of offer they want to part ways with pending UFA defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that “talks have intensified” in the last several days, and a deal could come by the end of the weekend.
Since Andersson’s name first hit the trade block in earnest last season, the Golden Knights and Stars have been the most frequently linked destinations. Little has changed to suggest those two wouldn’t be the favorites to both acquire and, particularly in Vegas’ case, extend him.
The Senators are also a team with documented interest in him over the last few weeks. They’d also had interest in him dating back to the offseason, but it was reported then that Ottawa is on his six-team no-trade list.
Once viewed as a potential long-term top-pair piece in Calgary, the team’s still relatively early positioning in their rebuild has made it hard to justify giving the 29-year-old a significant financial commitment. For his part, he’s rebounded well after a difficult 2024-25 campaign. Through 47 appearances, he’s churned out 10 goals and 29 points – just two shy of last year’s total already. His two-way game has also recovered from last year’s career-worst -38 rating, gelling well with shutdown partner Kevin Bahl and averaging a career-high 24:12 of ice time per game.
Among non-Dallas or Vegas suitors, the Maple Leafs will be near the top of the list. They made an attempt to acquire him last season and were linked to another puck-moving righty in the Devils’ Dougie Hamilton this week. Andersson, who checks in at a $4.55MM cap hit this year, is the far more financially viable option.