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Minnesota Wild Recall David Spacek

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that defenseman David Spacek has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. After Minnesota’s move to send Tyler Pitlick down to Iowa yesterday, the Wild cleared a spot open on their roster, and that spot has now gone to Spacek.

The Wild currently have two defensemen whose status is either questionable or confirmed to be out in advance of the Wild’s next game, which is tomorrow night. Veteran Zach Bogosian is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, while Jacob Middleton was a late scratch before the team’s most recent game on Sunday.

With that level of uncertainty on defense heading into tomorrow’s game, it’s understandable that the Wild would want to recall an additional blueliner to give head coach John Hynes an additional healthy option to work with when constructing his lineup.

The move presents a significant opportunity for Spacek: he has a chance to make his NHL debut tomorrow as a result of this recall. The 22-year-old was a 2022 fifth-round pick out of the QMJHL, in a year when he scored an impressive 63 points in 68 combined regular season and playoff games. Spacek struggled in his first season in the AHL with Iowa, scoring just 12 points in 61 games in 2023-24. He even had to play three contests in the ECHL.

But Spacek appears to have made significant improvements, and his 2024-25 campaign was a major developmental step forward. He scored 31 points in 72 games, good for the team lead in defensive scoring. Last season, Spacek became Iowa’s No. 2 defenseman, playing a role on both special teams units. He has maintained that role this season, which has earned him a chance to make his NHL debut.

David Jiricek drew into the lineup on Sunday after Middleton’s late scratch, but only received 9:01 time-on-ice during the Wild’s shutout win. If the Wild don’t yet trust Jiricek to handle regular minutes, it’s possible they give Spacek a chance, given his solid performance in the AHL.

Adrian Kempe, Kings Reportedly Resume Negotiations

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Thanks to a strong start to the year and several free agents having been taken off the board already, Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings is arguably the best pending unrestricted free agent forward for next summer. Up to this point, the last meaningful update to extension negotiations between the two sides came a little over a week ago, when David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the two sides remained far apart.

Much of the gap between the Kings and Kempe is influenced by salary, with Martin Nečas ’s new extension reportedly prompting Kempe to ask for $11.5MM or more on his next deal. Before Nečas’s extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had speculated that Kempe would earn $10MM or more on his next deal.

After Pagnotta’s report on October 30, there was growing concern that the Kings might have a more difficult time than initially expected in making Kempe the next centerpiece of their roster. Fortunately, a new report from Pagnotta today indicates that the two sides have re-engaged on a new contract, and Kempe is confirmed to be asking for a contract similar to Nečas’.

Still, Pagnotta cautioned that nothing was close to coming out of the weekend, though Los Angeles has upped their salary offer from where they initially started. Regardless, Kempe has proved that he’s worthy of becoming Los Angeles’s highest-paid forward.

Since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, Kempe has scored 145 goals and 286 points in 334 games with a +56 rating, averaging 18:54 of ice time per game. In comparison, Nečas has scored 102 goals and 266 points in 332 games, with a +16 rating while averaging 17:55 of ice time per game. Further, in the postseason, Kempe has registered 15 goals and 29 points in 24 games while Nečas has recorded nine goals and 26 points in 47 contests.

If you’re only comparing Kempe to his most recent comparable, there’s no question he’s earned a similar contract from the Kings. As of right now, Los Angeles has approximately $33MM in cap space for next season, with Andrei Kuzmenko, Corey Perry, and Brandt Clarke being the only worthwhile free agents needing new contracts.

San Jose Sharks Activate Nick Leddy

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According to a team announcement, the San Jose Sharks have activated veteran defenseman Nick Leddy from the injured reserve. A few hours ago, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News was the first to report that Leddy would be returning to the active roster.

It’s been nearly three weeks since Leddy last suited up with the Sharks. In the Sharks’ overtime win against the New York Rangers on October 23rd, Leddy left the game after one shift with an upper-body injury and hasn’t played since.

Leddy has skated in seven games for the Sharks this year, including the short game against the Rangers. He’s registered two assists in that brief timeframe with a -4 rating, averaging 17:12 of ice time per game.

It’s important to note that injuries have recently become a recurring theme for Leddy. In his first two full seasons with the St. Louis Blues in 2022-23 and 2023-24, Leddy skated in 160 out of 164 potential games, but only managed to appear in 31 last season due to injury issues.

Still, his importance in a lineup has decreased over the last few years. San Jose claimed Leddy in the early part of the offseason largely as a salary anchor to keep them above the salary cap floor. Understandably, given that he is a pending unrestricted free agent, and making a fairly modest $4MM salary this season, it would be unsurprising to see Leddy moved at the upcoming trade deadline in March.

Regardless, we’ll know tomorrow if Leddy will return to the lineup. The Sharks have played relatively well of late, so they may not be inclined to change things up despite Leddy returning to the active roster.

Avalanche Reassign Daniil Gushchin

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Nov. 10th: Gushchin’s first recall of the 2025-26 campaign will end without an NHL appearance. Earlier today, the Avalanche announced that they’ve reassigned Gushchin to AHL Colorado. Per the new rules regarding paper transactions, Gushchin will have to play in one game for the Eagles before he’s eligible to return to the NHL.

Nov. 8th: The Avalanche have brought up some extra forward depth heading into their game tonight in Edmonton.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled winger Daniil Gushchin from AHL Colorado.  They had two open roster spots prior to the move.

The 23-year-old was acquired from San Jose back in late July in exchange for winger Oskar Olausson in a change-of-scenery swap for a pair of players who had slid down their former employer’s depth chart.  Gushchin then signed a one-year, two-way contract that same day that pays $775K in the NHL and $150K in the minors with a guaranteed payout of $200K.

It’s the second recall of the season for Gushchin although the first one only lasted two days and he didn’t see any NHL action during that time.  He has been quite productive with the Eagles in the early going this season, notching nine goals (tied for the league lead) and two assists in a dozen games.

Gushchin has 18 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of three seasons with the Sharks.  In those outings, he has a respectable two goals and three assists while averaging 13:14 of playing time.  We’ll see if he has a chance to add to those totals on this recall.

Devils Activate Zack MacEwen

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The Devils announced that they have activated right-winger Zack MacEwen from long-term injured reserve. To open a roster spot for him, Brian Halonen was assigned to AHL Utica yesterday. MacEwen will play in tonight’s matchup with the Islanders, head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed.

MacEwen, 29, was acquired from the Senators for Kurtis MacDermid in the final days of training camp. He was waived the following day and was reassigned to Utica, but got a recall back to the NHL roster before playing a game in the minors. MacEwen then sustained an upper-body injury in his season debut against the Lightning on Oct. 11, leaving him out indefinitely.

While not an earth-shattering move, the Devils could use the help at the bottom of their lineup. Evgenii Dadonov remains on long-term injured reserve after sustaining a fractured hand way back in the season opener, and they’re also slated to be without Connor Brown for the fifth straight game due to an undisclosed injury. New Jersey’s other fourth-line options in Brown’s absence, Halonen and Juho Lammikko, have combined for one goal in 15 games.

MacEwen won’t be a fix to the Devils’ tertiary scoring issues, but he does offer much more physicality and experience than either Halonen or Lammikko. Now in his eighth NHL season, MacEwen has 17 goals and 34 points in 238 career appearances to go along with 323 penalty minutes. He’s routinely had decent enough possession impacts for his limited roles, averaging 9:20 of ice time per game for his career, and has a decent minor-league scoring record.

Oilers Place Ryan Nugent-Hopkins On IR; Activate Mattias Janmark

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The Oilers announced Monday that they’ve placed forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on injured reserve and activated Mattias Janmark in his place. The team also increased their LTIR pool by $1.3MM by shifting winger Kasperi Kapanen from standard to long-term injured reserve, putting them within reach of compliance when they activate Zach Hyman from LTIR as expected in the coming days.

Nugent-Hopkins’ injury, which head coach Kris Knoblauch said won’t keep him out longer than the week required for IR, comes as the Oilers are reeling from a 9-1 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday. The 32-year-old has been the least of Edmonton’s worries through their 6-6-4 start, though. His -11 rating and declining possession metrics through 16 games are something of a concern, but he’s third on the team in scoring with five goals and 11 assists for a point per game. He’s averaging 18:49 of ice time per game and picking up the slack left by depth names like Trent Frederic, Isaac Howard, Matthew Savoie, and David Tomasek, who have a combined nine points despite all being expected to see tryouts higher up in Edmonton’s lineup to help replace the names they lost to last offseason’s cap crunch.

It wasn’t clear when exactly Nugent-Hopkins got hurt, but it most definitely happened during that Colorado drubbing. He played a season-low 14:50 in that game, in which he was held off the scoresheet and posted a -4 rating.

Janmark, who turns 33 in December, is entering his fourth year in Edmonton after initially signing as a free agent in 2022. The 2013 third-rounder had just two goals in 80 games last year but has found a consistent home on the Oilers’ penalty kill. He and Nugent-Hopkins formed the nucleus of that group last year, at least in the forward department, on a unit that finished right around league average at 78.2%. The Oilers have gotten off to a fine start shorthanded without him, killing at an 81.8% rate for 12th in the league. With that in mind, it would be understandable if the Oilers were hesitant to give a regular role to someone with just six goals in the last two seasons, given their existing depth scoring issues.

Still, the Hyman, Kapanen, and Nugent-Hopkins injuries figure to give Janmark a chance at capturing consistent minutes again. Kapanen had two assists through his first six games before sustaining an undisclosed injury in mid-October that has him out week-to-week.

Rangers Activate Vincent Trocheck

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11:43 a.m.: Trocheck has been formally activated from LTIR, and Rempe has been shifted there in the corresponding move, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post.

9:51 a.m.: Rangers center Vincent Trocheck is expected to come off long-term injured reserve and return to New York’s top six when they face the Predators tonight, according to this morning’s line rushes (via Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic). The Blueshirts are currently using about $100,000 of Trocheck’s $3.768MM LTIR pool after recalling top prospect Gabriel Perreault yesterday, so they’ll need to make a corresponding transaction. That could easily mean shifting Matt Rempe from IR to LTIR, since he has already missed 18 days and seven games of the 24 and 10 required, and he remains out indefinitely.

Rempe notwithstanding, Trocheck’s activation gives the Rangers a healthy forward group for the first time since their second game of the season. Trocheck left that contest against the Sabres early and was quickly labeled week-to-week.

His absence was essentially a death knell for the Rangers, whose limited bottom-six scoring depth made it imperative that their first and second lines operated at maximum capacity. He’d started the first game-and-a-half as their top-line center between Alexis Lafrenière and Artemi Panarin, a role filled by Mika Zibanejad shifting back to center after starting the year on the wing. That domino effect led to training camp tryout success story Conor Sheary being immediately overtaxed in second-line duties alongside J.T. Miller and William Cuylle.

The results have been disastrous. The Rangers have been shut out five times in seven home games and are scoring just 2.19 per game overall, second-worst in the league ahead of only the Flames. Only Panarin has produced at more than a 41-point pace with 10 in 16 appearances. They’re hoping a new-look offense, fueled by Trocheck and Perreault’s season debut, can help reverse that trend starting tonight.

Trocheck will reprise his role between Panarin and Lafrenière. At the same time, Perreault bumps Sheary back down to the bottom six, according to Mercogliano – the latter slots in on the left wing with Zibanejad and Miller.

Only now will Trocheck get his season started in earnest. He’s looking for a rebound after a semi-underwhelming offensive showing in 2025-26. He finished top 20 in Selke Trophy voting for the second year in a row, but his 59 points in 82 games were his lowest total since signing his seven-year, $39.375MM contract with the Rangers in free agency in 2022.

Sabres’ Jiri Kulich Diagnosed With Blood Clot, Out Indefinitely

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Sabres center Jiri Kulich will miss a “significant amount of time” after a blood clot was diagnosed during an unrelated injury absence, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters today (per Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report). Ruff demonstrated optimism about Kulich being able to play again this season, but wouldn’t commit to it, leaving the door open to Kulich’s IR stint being permanent for the balance of the campaign.

They’ll have a better estimate of Kulich’s return timeline based on how his treatment progresses in the next three to four weeks, Ruff said. That’s normal for clotting issues. The Penguins recently had the same thing sideline rookie Filip Hallander and immediately gave him a three-month timeline.

Kulich had already missed three games with a facial injury and was placed on IR late last week as Buffalo tries to manage a crushing amount of injuries to its forward group. Five regulars – Kulich, Zach Benson, Justin Danforth, Joshua Norris, and Jason Zucker – are currently on injured reserve with none expected back in the short term. Understandably, the team’s offense has faltered. Their 2.67 goals per game are sixth-worst in the league, and they’re averaging just 1.75 per game over their last four outings.

Kulich’s long-term health now takes the forefront, though. The 21-year-old had played in 12 straight to begin the year and was frequently serving as their top center between Benson and Tage Thompson. He’s notched three goals and five points with a -4 rating while averaging a career-high 16:22 per game. The No. 28 pick in the 2022 draft is in just his second season as a regular but has managed an 18-11–29 scoring line through his first 75 career games.

With both of Thompson’s usual linemates out of commission, he’s seen Ryan McLeod and Alex Tuch elevated to ride shotgun. That trio practiced together again today, although Buffalo is off until Wednesday after losing 6-3 to the Hurricanes on Saturday.

Casey Mittelstadt Out Week-To-Week

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Bruins center Casey Mittelstadt is nursing an apparent knee issue and has already missed one game, but head coach Marco Sturm said this morning he’s been downgraded to week-to-week (via Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald). They’re hoping he can get some light skates in later this week, but he’ll need something of a lengthy ramp-up period before he’s ready for game action again.

Mittelstadt, who turns 27 later this month, was acquired from the Avalanche last season and has had pedestrian output in a middle-six role since. He’s made 33 appearances since the surprise deadline deal, posting an 8-7–15 line with a -17 rating. In 2025-26, he’s already been a healthy scratch once and has seen his ice time drop to 14:32 per game. It’s his first time below 15 minutes since the 2019-20 campaign.

The eighth overall pick of the 2017 draft, Mittelstadt is now with his third club. The 6’1″ pivot spent parts of seven seasons with the Sabres before being included in a pair of notable change-of-scenery moves – first to the Avalanche for Bowen Byram at the 2024 deadline and again to the Bruins for Charlie Coyle last year. He flashed legitimate second-line ceiling with Buffalo, rattling off back-to-back 50-point seasons in his final two seasons there, but his offensive production since hasn’t warranted that type of deployment.

In fact, Boston has shifted Mittelstadt to the wing. That’s where the good news lies: he’s spent most of the year as a wingman for Viktor Arvidsson and Pavel Zacha, and that trio has churned out the best two-way play of the B’s’ frequently-used line combos. Of their three to log 50 minutes together, the Arvidsson-Zacha-Mittelstadt unit’s 50.0 xGF% is the best, per MoneyPuck. He’s got an even rating for the year as a result.

The Bruins now find themselves down two top-six pieces long-term in Mittelstadt and Elias Lindholm, who’s out week-to-week with a lower-body issue. The team has performed better than expected offensively this year, ranking 12th in the league with 3.29 goals per game, but that figure is down to regress thanks to those absences and a 12.2% shooting rate that’s bound to cool off.

Call-up Alex Steeves found himself in Mittelstadt’s slot on the second line when he made his Boston debut against his former team, the Maple Leafs, on Saturday. He didn’t record a point but could get a second look there in Boston’s rematch with Toronto tomorrow.

Predators Recall Joakim Kemell

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The Predators announced they’ve recalled right-winger Joakim Kemell from AHL Milwaukee. He’ll be on hand for this evening’s game against the Rangers. Nashville has an open spot on the active roster, so no corresponding move is needed.

The Preds haven’t had an extra forward on hand since fellow recent call-up Zachary L’Heureux sustained a lower-body injury in practice over the weekend. With the team’s confirmation that he’ll miss four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, Nashville needed another option on hand in case of further injury. Nashville can move L’Heureux to injured reserve at any time if they need to, but since they were operating with an open spot anyway, there’s no rush.

His absence opens the opportunity for Kemell’s second stint on the roster this season after he initially broke camp with the club. The 5’11” righty was the 17th overall pick in 2022. He had already broken into a regular role with Finland’s JYP organization as a teenager. He continued there in his post-draft season before Nashville brought him to North America late in the spring of 2023. Kemell’s results in the AHL have been something of a mixed bag, particularly on the defensive side, but he’s still one of the team’s highest-ceiling scoring prospects. Nonetheless, his stock has dropped – Elite Prospects ranked him 14th overall in the Nashville system during the offseason. They credit his strong all-around offensive mindset, but he hasn’t yet shown the explosiveness in the pros to compete for a top-six job, and his utility beyond being a tertiary offensive contributor and power-play specialist is questionable.

That makes this season a big one for Kemell, now 21, to prove he’s still on track to warrant a first-round pick. Cracking the opening night roster was a good first step, but he only played in two of Nashville’s first four games before they sent him to Milwaukee for more consistent playing time. He’s only scored once through six games, but has added five assists to average a point per game. He’s posted similar stat lines in his two full seasons on the farm, logging a 16-25–41 scoring line in 67 appearances in 2023-24 and a 19-21–40 line in 65 games last year. His NHL sample has yet to yield a point in four career appearances.

It remains to be seen how much playing time Kemell will get on this recall. He’s best suited for a top-nine job, but his options there are limited. Rookie Matthew Wood has all but locked down a spot, scoring three goals and seven points through 10 games. Unless the Preds shift Steven Stamkos back to center and demote the struggling Fedor Svechkov to fourth-line duties, it’s hard to see Kemell getting significant playing time.

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