It’s the expected outcome for Nosek. Maurice said earlier this month that the team had circled the overseas contests as his likely return date. The 32-year-old has not yet played in the regular season after sustaining an upper-body injury at the beginning of training camp. He was ruled week-to-week at the beginning of the season, an inauspicious start for a player who managed only 36 appearances last season due to injuries.

The Panthers must open up a roster spot to take Nosek off LTIR. That will likely mean assigning one of their waiver-exempt forwards, Patrick Giles or Mackie Samoskevich, to AHL Charlotte. It will likely be the former, who’s been serving as Florida’s fourth-line center in the early going but has yet to record a point and has gotten caved in at even strength. Tomorrow will mark the Czechia native’s Panthers debut after signing a one-year, league-minimum contract with the club this offseason.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

• Another day, another paper transaction for the Senators. Forwards Adam Gaudette and Zack Ostapchuk are back up with the team today after being sent down to bank cap space yesterday, the team announced. They’ll both be in the lineup tomorrow against the Rangers, with David Perron and Shane Pinto still unavailable.
• Canadiens winger Rafaël Harvey-Pinard continues to inch closer to a return after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a broken leg. He’s practicing again today in a non-contact jersey and has traveled with the team on their two-game road swing, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. He’s eligible to come off long-term injured reserve at any time. If he does so in the next few days, it’ll be weeks ahead of schedule. He was given a four-month recovery timeline for his late July surgery, which would have put his estimated return around U.S. Thanksgiving. The Habs have an open roster spot and would not need to make a corresponding transaction to activate him.

Ostapchuk on the other hand had an assist in last night’s 8-1 win, in what was his first NHL game of the season. It was a special moment for the 21-year-old as the assist represented his first NHL point. Ostapchuk dressed in seven games last season for Ottawa, going pointless.

The move is likely to be a paper transaction as the Senators don’t play again until Friday against the New York Rangers and could very well recall either player in the next few days.

In other evening notes:

• San Jose Sharks forward prospect Quentin Musty has returned to the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League and is expected to play this weekend (as per Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News). San Jose re-assigned Musty back to the OHL in late September, but a week later, it was reported that the 2023 first-round pick (26th overall) had requested a trade. That same day, Sudbury released a statement talking about Musty’s trade request, saying that they would field trade offers but would also welcome Musty back if he changed his mind. Musty’s return will be a big boost for the Wolves, who have started the OHL season with a 7-5 record.
• Philadelphia Flyers prospect Massimo Rizzo has reportedly suffered an appendicitis that required him to have surgery a few weeks ago to get his appendix removed (as per Flyers reporter Bill Meltzer). The early reports indicate that Rizzo will require a six to eight-week timeline to recover from the appendectomy. The 23-year-old is slated to play in the AHL for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms but has yet to dress in a game this season. Rizzo was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes but was dealt to the Flyers in August 2023, along with a 2025 fifth-round pick in exchange for forward David Kase.

Ostapchuk, 21, was an early second-round pick of the Sens in 2021. He made his NHL debut last year with Ottawa, going without a point in seven games. He posted a -1 rating, had five shots on goal, averaged 10:30 per game, and won just 26.8% of his 41 faceoffs.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t make the opening night roster for 2024-25 after that underwhelming late-season showing. The 6’3″, 205-lb pivot has taken it in stride, though, and is off to a raucous start in the minors with a goal and four assists in six games for Belleville. Last season was Ostapchuk’s first in the professional ranks, after all, making the jump after splitting his fourth and final junior season in 2021-22 between the Vancouver Giants and Winnipeg Ice of the WHL. If nothing else, he flashed his penchant for physicality in his brief NHL showing, laying the body 13 times and blocking six shots.

Per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, Ostapchuk will make his season debut tonight against the Blues, centering Ottawa’s third line between Michael Amadio and Noah Gregor. Gaudette will center the fourth line, and Ridly Greig will remain on the wing while Ottawa deals with the absence of the top-nine fixtures David Perron and Shane Pinto.

With a pair of off-days after tonight’s game, expect Gaudette and Ostapchuk to be papered down tomorrow for the Sens to keep accumulating as much cap space as possible. Ostapchuk is waiver-exempt this season and likely will be until the 2026-27 campaign unless he lands a full-time role sooner than expected.

It’s the second time Gaudette’s been involved in such a transaction this year. He was placed on waivers the day before opening night rosters were due but was never sent to the minors, sticking around to begin the season. He was assigned to Belleville on Oct. 15 before being recalled the following day without reporting to the minor-league club. The 28-year-old has appeared in seven of Ottawa’s eight contests this season, scoring twice and adding an assist with a +1 rating. He can play in three more games or remain on the active roster for nine more days before he needs waivers again to head to the minors, so his temporary waiver exemption will likely expire by mid-November.

Reinhardt, 24, has suited up in the Sens’ last two games with Shane Pinto now out week-to-week with an undisclosed injury. The 2020 sixth-round pick recorded an assist in his season debut against the Golden Knights on Friday and is averaging just 7:03 across his pair of showings, adding two blocks and five hits. The left winger also has five points in three games with the B-Sens this year. Like Gaudette, he cleared waivers during the preseason. He was added to the NHL roster for a pair of days earlier this month for injury insurance, so combining that with this most recent recall, he’s been on the NHL roster for five days. That gives him 25 days on the active roster or eight NHL appearances before he needs waivers again to head back to Belleville.

Neither Pinto nor David Perron, who’s out on personal leave, have been placed on injured reserve or non-roster. That leaves them with only 12 healthy forwards with no flexibility when Gaudette and Reinhardt come back up. Perron and Pinto aren’t expected back by tomorrow’s game, so Gaudette and Reinhardt should once again play fourth-line roles against the Blues.

Additionally, the Sens added some goaltending depth with Belleville signing goaltender Malcolm Subban to an AHL contract. The 30-year-old had previously been on a professional tryout with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, but didn’t get into a game and was released over the weekend. The 2012 first-round pick last played in the NHL with the Blue Jackets last season, stopping 32 of 35 shots in a loss to the Hurricanes on April 7.

Subban is essentially now the No. 5 option on Ottawa’s goalie depth chart. He’ll split the Belleville crease with Leevi Merilainen while Mads Søgaard, the Sens’ third-stringer, is out with an injury.

Oct. 15: According to a team announcement, the Senators have sent center Adam Gaudette and goaltender Mads Søgaard to AHL Belleville. The move ends a one-day stint on the active roster for Søgaard under emergency conditions. Meanwhile, Gaudette cleared waivers during the preseason but was never actually sent to the minors and remained on the opening night roster.

Gaudette, 28, appeared in two of Ottawa’s three games to begin the season, including yesterday’s wild 8-7 overtime win over the Kings. He managed an assist during that chaos and had a +2 rating, averaging 7:30 and going 5-for-7 in the faceoff dot across his pair of showings. He signed a two-way deal in free agency this summer after spending last season in the Blues organization, making two NHL appearances and leading the AHL in goals with 44 in 67 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Now firmly established as a top minor-league offensive threat with fringe NHL upside, Gaudette hasn’t been a full-time NHLer since the 2021-22 campaign. The fifth-round pick of the Canucks back in 2015 has 27 goals, 44 assists, 71 points, and a -35 rating in 222 NHL games in parts of seven seasons.

Søgaard was needed for game action yesterday after Linus Ullmark was scratched due to a muscle strain. Backup Anton Forsberg, who started in relief of Ullmark, also left the contest in the second period after a hard collision with Los Angeles defenseman Brandt Clarke. Søgaard allowed four goals on 17 shots in relief but still recorded the win.

It’s been a rough go of things thus far in the NHL for the 23-year-old Dane, who has intriguing upside with his 6’7″ frame but hasn’t been good when given the chance. He’s now logged NHL time in four straight seasons, and while his 11-10-3 record is strong for a non-playoff team, his other numbers aren’t – a .881 SV%, 3.53 GAA, and -17.5 GSAA in 24 career starts and four relief appearances. Søgaard will now return to Belleville, where he posted a .964 SV% in a shootout loss to Syracuse in his season debut last weekend.

He’ll likely be brought back up later this week if Ullmark isn’t ready to return against the Devils on Thursday. They also haven’t issued any further updates on Forsberg’s status. The same could be said for Gaudette, who’s been filling in while Ridly Greig is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Sending him to Belleville and keeping him off the active roster for a couple of days delays when he’ll need waivers again to return to the minors.

Boston Bruins

F Patrick Brown
G Brandon Bussi
G Jiri Patera
D Billy Sweezey
F Jeffrey Viel

Buffalo Sabres

D Kale Clague
G James Reimer
F Lukas Rousek

Calgary Flames

G Devin Cooley
F Jakob Pelletier
F Cole Schwindt

Carolina Hurricanes

F Josiah Slavin
D Ty Smith
F Ryan Suzuki

Chicago Blackhawks 

D Isaak Phillips

Detroit Red Wings

F Sheldon Dries
D Justin Holl
D William Lagesson
D Brogan Rafferty
F Joe Snively

Edmonton Oilers

D Josh Brown
F Drake Caggiula
F Raphael Lavoie
G Olivier Rodrigue

Los Angeles Kings

G Pheonix Copley
F Samuel Fagemo
F Jack Studnicka

Nashville Predators

D Marc Del Gaizo

New Jersey Devils

F Shane Bowers
D Nick DeSimone
F Nolan Foote
D Colton White

New York Islanders

D Samuel Bolduc
F Pierre Engvall
F Hudson Fasching
F Liam Foudy
G Marcus Hogberg
D Grant Hutton
F Fredrik Karlstrom
G Jakub Skarek

New York Rangers

D Matthew Robertson

Ottawa Senators

F Adam Gaudette
F Jan Jenik

Pittsburgh Penguins

D Sebastian Aho
F Bokondji Imama

St. Louis Blues

D Corey Schueneman
D Tyler Tucker

Tampa Bay Lightning

F Gage Goncalves
D Steven Santini
F Jesse Ylonen

Toronto Maple Leafs

G Matt Murray
D Marshall Rifai

Utah Hockey Club

G Matt Villalta

Vancouver Canucks

D Erik Brannstrom

Vegas Golden Knights

F Zach Aston-Reese
F Tanner Laczynski
F Jonas Rondbjerg

Washington Capitals

G Hunter Shepard

Winnipeg Jets

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan

• The St. Louis Blues have signed defenseman Corey Schueneman to a one-year contract. Schueneman, 28, appeared in 64 games with the Colorado Eagles this season, netting four goals, 22 points, 24 penalty minutes, and a +2. He’s a quick-paced, hard-shooting defender who carries a lot of heft in his frame, even at 5-foot-11. He’s already made his NHL debut, appearing in 31 games with Montreal between 2021 and 2023 and scoring two goals and seven points. Schueneman is likely set for a role on the Springfield Thunderbirds lineup, where he’ll compete for ice time with Blues prospects like Marc-Andre Gaudet and Hunter Skinner.
• The Calgary Flames have re-signed defender Jonathan Aspirot to a one-year contract. Aspirot, 25, spent 66 games with the Calgary Wranglers last season, scoring a career-high 33 points and adding 80 penalty minutes and a -6. It was Aspirot’s first year in Calgary, after spending four years with the Belleville Senators. He totaled 63 points in 161 games with Belleville, and will now be set to reassume his top-end role with the Wranglers next season.
• Belleville is due for their own reinforcements, with the Ottawa Senators signing Adam Gaudette to a one-year deal (Twitter link). Gaudette, 27, led the AHL with 44 goals last season, in his pursuit of 71 points across 67 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. It was a breakout year for Gaudette, after totaling 27 goals and 51 points in 65 games between the Toronto Marlies and Thunderbirds in 2022-23. Gaudette was formerly a top prospect in the NHL, appearing in 220 games across six seasons in the NHL. He’s only managed 27 goals and 70 points in those appearances, though his recent scoring could suggest upside still untapped. The Senators will hope that’s the case, as they position Gaudette for a premier role in the AHL next year.
• The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed forward Dylan Gambrell to a one-year deal. Gambrell spent all of this seaosn in the minor leagues, playing in 66 games with the Marlies. He managed 14 goals and 36 points – his highest AHL scoring since the 2018-19 season. Gambrell has been based much more in the NHL over the last six seasons, totaling 233 games and 40 points. He’ll be set for a top line role with the Cleveland Monsters, and push for a spot near the bottom of Columbus’ NHL lineup.
• The Buffalo Sabres have signed defenseman Colton Poolman to a one-year deal (Twitter link). Poolman, 28, has spent the entirety of his four-year pro career in the Flames organization to date. The younger brother of Canucks defenseman Tucker Poolman had three goals and three assists in 66 games for the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers last season.
• The Philadelphia Flyers have signed forward Anthony Richard to a two-year deal (Twitter link). Richard spent 59 games with the Providence Bruins last year, netting 25 goals and 55 points. It was a small step down for Richard, after netting 30 goals and 67 points last year. He’s also totaled 24 NHL games since 2018, scoring eight points. Richard should be set for a starring role with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, with a chance to push for the NHL roster.
• The Florida Panthers signed MacKenzie Entwistle to a one-year deal. Entwistle, 24, has spent most of the last three seasons on the Chicago Blackhawks lineup, though he’s managed just 33 points in 188 games. He’ll now join the reigning Stanley Cup champions, though his two-way deal suggests he’ll have to work his way up to the NHL from an AHL start.

In a corresponding transaction, the team brought up veteran forward Adam Gaudette from AHL Springfield. The 27-year-old leads all AHLers with 24 goals in 37 games.

The speedy winger has struggled heavily in his first full season with the Blues. Things were looking up for Kapanen after St. Louis claimed him off waivers from the Penguins partway through the 2022-23 campaign, closing out the year with 8-6–14 in 23 games. This season, despite a minimal reduction in usage, he’s notched just 4-9–13 in 42 games, his worst points per game pace since his rookie campaign with the Maple Leafs in 2017-18.

A long-term injury now complicates things further. Kapanen will miss at least ten games and potentially more if his four-week evaluation doesn’t clear him to return.

Blues interim head coach Drew Bannister confirmed today that Gaudette will directly replace Kapanen in the lineup against the Capitals tomorrow, meaning another recent AHL call-up, Nathan Walker, likely sits as a healthy scratch. The Blues are carrying a full 23-player roster, including defenseman Tyler Tucker, who’s suiting up for Springfield on a conditioning loan.

Gaudette didn’t see any NHL action last season, limited exclusively to minor-league play for the first time in his pro career. After notching 34 points in 40 games for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies while under contract with the Maple Leafs, Gaudette found himself in Springfield after his contract was included in the trade return for Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly last season. Tomorrow will be his first NHL game since April 29, 2022, with the Ottawa Senators.

Colorado Avalanche (per team Twitter)

D Keaton Middleton
F Spencer Smallman

New York Rangers

F Alex Belzile
F Anton Blidh
F Turner Elson
D Ty Emberson
D Connor Mackey
F Riley Nash

New Jersey Devils

D Tyler Wotherspoon

St. Louis Blues

F Adam Gaudette

The Rangers have the players of some note on this list.  Belzile held his own as a midseason recall with Montreal last season, notching six goals and eight assists in just 31 games.  That allowed the 32-year-old to get a two-year commitment from New York this summer including a one-way salary in 2024-25.  Nash didn’t see any NHL action last season but is no stranger to playing at the top level as a fourth-line center, suiting up 627 times over parts of 11 years.  Blidh struggled in limited action with Colorado last season while Elson has just three NHL appearances thus far in his career.

Mackey could be a name to keep an eye on.  The 27-year-old split last year between Calgary and Arizona, getting into a career-best 30 games.  His performance there also earned him an opportunity to play at the Worlds for Team USA, his second appearance in that tournament over the last three years.  This will be Emberson’s first time on waivers.  The 23-year-old saw his production in the minors improve considerably last season, going from 11 points to 27 but he still sits fairly low on New York’s depth chart.

As for the other players on waivers today, Gaudette has 218 career NHL appearances under his belt and last season was the first time he didn’t see action at the top level in his six-year professional career.  He was a productive scorer in the minors in 2022-23, notching 51 points between the affiliates of the Maple Leafs and Blues, who acquired him at the trade deadline.  Wotherspoon last played in the NHL back in 2016-17 with Calgary while Middleton has three NHL games under his belt back in the 2020-21 campaign.  Smallman, meanwhile, hasn’t seen any NHL action over his seven professional campaigns and is coming off a career-best 13 goals with AHL Colorado last season.

These players will be on waivers until 1 PM CT on Saturday.

St. Louis acquired the 26-year-old four months ago as a minor piece in the Ryan O’Reilly trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. 2022-23 marked the first season Gaudette didn’t see any NHL action since turning pro in 2018, instead playing 65 AHL games split between the Toronto Marlies and Springfield Thunderbirds. He hasn’t been able to produce with any consistency since notching 33 points in 59 games with the Vancouver Canucks in 2019-20, and he’s now on his fifth NHL organization in the past three seasons.

Extended time in the minors may have renewed his offensive confidence, though. While not breaking any records, he did put up a very respectable 27 goals and 51 points in the AHL this year and added a goal in two playoff games for Springfield.

Gaudette did have arbitration rights but would’ve had no leverage to receive anything higher than his qualifying offer of $787.5K. While the NHL cap hit comes in below that, the deal continues a trend of players taking less NHL money than their qualifying offer would have granted them in exchange for more compensation at the minor-league level. He’s a reclamation project-type player, which the Blues seem to be keen on acquiring as of late, and he could push for a fourth-line role in 2023-24 without much eligible competition in the Blues’ AHL and prospect ranks.

In the deal, Toronto has acquired St. Louis’ captain, Ryan O’Reilly, veteran forward Noel Acciari, and prospect Josh Pillar. St. Louis has received Mikhail Abramov, Adam Gaudette, Toronto’s 2023 first-round pick, Ottawa’s 2023 third-round pick, and Toronto’s 2024 second-round pick. Minnesota received Toronto’s fourth-round pick in 2025.

As part of the deal, St. Louis will retain 50% of O’Reilly’s salary, while Minnesota will retain 25% of the cap hit. Both O’Reilly and Acciari are set to hit unrestricted free agency at year’s end.

It goes without saying that this is an extremely significant trade, and one that represents a major push from Toronto to try to finally get the franchise past the first round of the NHL playoffs. The Maple Leafs will, in all likelihood, once again be playing the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, assuming there are no major changes in the standings.

The Lightning have won the Eastern Conference for three straight seasons, so for Toronto to really gear itself up for that expected first-round matchup, they would need to increase their firepower from their already talent-rich position.

Now, after this trade, Toronto boasts Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and O’Reilly as the team’s top-three centers. Most would be hard-pressed to find another team in the NHL that can boast such a strong trio of pivots.

It’s true that O’Reilly’s offense is down from the rate he normally scores at.

He’s got just 12 goals and 19 points in 40 games this season, which is just two points more than current Maple Leafs third-line center David Kampf.

But O’Reilly isn’t being acquired for what he’ll bring to Toronto’s scoring attack, they already score goals in bunches.

He’s been acquired by the Maple Leafs because he brings exactly what many have felt Toronto has lacked in recent years in their biggest moments: competitive fire, the ability to rise to the occasion, and a willingness to rally in the face of challenges in order to get a job done.

O’Reilly’s exploits in the Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup championship run cemented his status as a beloved St. Louis Blue. O’Reilly captured the Conn Smythe Trophy scoring 23 points in 26 games, as well as playing absolutely stellar defense that often left the line he was matched up against suffocated and unable to build offensive momentum. Overall, he has 56 points in his 64-game playoff career, a higher career playoff point-per-game scoring rate than Matthews, Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, despite the fact that those players are normally considered to be in a different stratosphere of offensive talent.

With O’Reilly in tow, head coach Sheldon Keefe will be able to build a shutdown line that he can match with the deadliest scoring lines he faces in the playoffs. While the Maple Leafs have had competent defensive centers in the past, none boast the type of resume O’Reilly has built, especially in the unique environment of the playoffs. With forwards who are strong in their own end such as Kampf, Acciari, or even Zach Aston-Reese, Keefe could be able to complement his two deadly scoring lines with a premier shutdown line as well, boasting the kind of three-line mix that could handle any in-game situation.

O’Reilly is also a highly-regarded leader and someone whose locker room presence has played a major role in a Stanley Cup victory and in last season’s playoffs, where O’Reilly’s Blues were one of the few teams who truly gave the eventual champions, the Colorado Avalanche, a run for their money.

There are some who would rather the Maple Leafs spent these assets on a forward with some more points than O’Reilly has scored this season. But when looking at the problems that have plagued Toronto in prior years, it’s hard to say there is anyone available on the trade market who would be better fit than O’Reilly.

Beyond just O’Reilly, Toronto has also acquired Acciari, a well-respected, versatile bottom-six forward. The 31-year-old has scored 10 goals and 18 points this season, and can play both center and on the wings. While he doesn’t bring the scoring pedigree or star value that comes with O’Reilly, Acciari has 54 games of playoff experience and has been to a Stanley Cup final. He’ll undoubtedly be an upgrade for Toronto’s bottom six and helps with their overall goal of adding character players with playoff experience.

They also acquire prospect Josh Pillar, who currently plays for the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL. He’s a 21-year-old winger who was a fourth-rounder of the Wild at the 2021 draft. He’s scored decently well in the WHL and just returned from injury. He plays a polished game but his ultimate professional upside remains unclear. Per CapFriendly, the Maple Leafs will have exclusive rights to sign Pillar to his entry-level deal until June 1st.

From St. Louis’ point-of-view, this deal might be a tough pill to swallow but it’s ultimately a positive move for the team. It’s never ideal for any team to lose its captain and especially so if that player was a crucial part of the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship. But looking at this trade with the emotion of losing O’Reilly aside, this is a deal that should leave Blues fans satisfied.

Firstly, they landed another top draft pick for this upcoming NHL draft, adding another premier selection in a class that has drawn rave reviews from scouts.  In addition, the reality of the Blues’ season and O’Reilly’s contract status makes this a trade that the Blues simply had to make. The team has spent significant dollars locking up Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas recently, and sinking significant cap space into O’Reilly for the rest of what is shaping up to be a lost season (and a few years beyond) simply wouldn’t make sense, especially at the opportunity cost of adding the sort of draft pick haul they received.

If adding Acciari helped GM Doug Armstrong coax the best possible package of picks from the Maple Leafs in this deal, then that’s fine. Acciari likely could have been traded on his own, but adding him into this deal is a reasonable choice if it helped the Blues add that 2024 second-rounder.

In addition to the bounty of draft choices they received, the Blues also got Abramov, who is a 21-year-old 2019 fourth-rounder. He has scored 16 points in 34 AHL games this year and is someone for the team to plug into their AHL affiliate in Springfield to see what their development staff can do with his offensive skill.

They also received the 2017-18 Hobey Baker award winner, Gaudette, who has been a top scorer for the Toronto Marlies this season. With 34 points in 40 AHL games, he could either serve as an experienced depth NHLer to help fill a spot on St. Louis’ roster (he does have experience playing center) or could help Springfield.

For Minnesota, this is a tidy, if a relatively insignificant bit of business for the team. Their trade of Pillar indicates that they likely were going to let his rights lapse in the summer anyway, so for their relatively minor retention on O’Reilly, they net a mid-round draft pick. While much as been made of the Wild’s precarious cap position, they do actually have some room to maneuver this year. Turning some of that vacant space into a mid-round draft pick is nothing to complain about.

Overall, this is a trade that has the potential to serve as a significant moment for both the Maple Leafs and Blues franchises. For Toronto, they add a player whose resume seems almost perfectly tailored to address the problems that have ailed them in the playoff runs of the past. For St. Louis, they turn an expiring asset into a multitude of draft picks that could allow them to quickly move on from this disappointing campaign.

If the Maple Leafs don’t end up winning the Stanley Cup or even getting out of the first round, it will be easy to look back at this deal and criticize their management for paying so many draft picks for rental players.

But ultimately, this trade is simply a team hungry for some playoff success adding one of the most accomplished playoff performers on the market. Even if it doesn’t end up working out as the involved teams hope, this is a difficult deal to criticize.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Per Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, the Maple Leafs have started camp with forward Adam Gaudette on a line with Marner and captain John Tavares. Additionally, Siegel notes that Gaudette will get looks on the team’s top power-play unit in the preseason. Gaudette, the 2017-18 Hobey Baker Award winner, has struggled in recent years to live up to the hype he had as a college hockey star. After a 2019-20 campaign that saw him post 33 points in 59 games, the holes in Gaudette’s all-around game led the Canucks to trade him to the Blackhawks. Gaudette played just 15 games in Chicago before heading to Ottawa as a waiver claim, and he had 12 points in 50 games as a Senator last season. He was not qualified by the team this summer, and then Gaudette signed a one-year, league-minimum deal in Toronto. At this point it, looks as though the Leafs will give Gaudette every chance to showcase his offensive talent and far outproduce what is typically expected from a player on a 750k cap hit.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

• The Detroit Red Wings parted ways with coach Jeff Blashill this summer, and hired former Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde to fill that vacated role. Now, it seems a similar situation is playing out in Tampa. Today, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said (as relayed by The Athletic’s Joe Smith) that Blashill has taken over Lalonde’s old role in Tampa running the team’s penalty kill. Cooper also notes that with the departures of Jan Rutta, Ryan McDonagh, players like Ian Cole and Cal Foote will see roles on the penalty kill this season.
• Nils Lundkvist got his wish earlier this week, as the Dallas Stars traded two picks, including a first-rounder, to acquire him from the New York Rangers. Some questioned why the Stars would pay such a high price for a player with very little NHL experience, but it’s clear the Stars were undeterred by those concerns. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on the 32 Thoughts podcast today that the Stars had been attempting to acquire Lundkvist for “seven to eight months,” and Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek added that the Stars had a strong interest in Lundkvist going back to the 2018 draft. While the Stars’ longstanding interest in acquiring him won’t alone earn Lundkvist a top-four role in camp, it does speak to why the organization felt confident in sending those picks in order to acquire Lundkvist.

Aube-Kubel, 26, is fresh off of a Stanley Cup victory with the Colorado Avalanche. Aube-Kubel arrived in Colorado as a waiver claim and proved to be a nice bottom-six find for GM Joe Sakic. Kubel had 11 goals and 22 points in 67 games, healthy offensive production for someone who only got 9:45 average time-on-ice per game. Aube-Kubel didn’t feature on any of the Avalanche’s special teams, although that could say more about the quality of the Avalanche’s roster than it does about Aube-Kubel’s talent level. At a $1MM cost with no term attached, Aube-Kubel is a nice bottom-six addition for a Maple Leaf team that needs to squeeze maximum value out of every cap dollar.

Gaudette is a different add than Aube-Kubel. While the Maple Leafs can be reasonably sure that Aube-Kubel will be a positive contributor at the bottom of their lineup, Gaudette offers no such guarantees. Gaudette’s signing is similar to the Maple Leafs’ acquisition of Alex Galchenyuk last season. Gaudette, like Galchenyuk, is a former top prospect who offers an all-offense, no-defense game.

At his most productive, the 25-year-old Gaudette had 33 points in 59 games for the Canucks, although they often had to shelter him thanks to his defensive deficiencies. Gaudette bounced from Vancouver to Chicago to Ottawa via trade and a waiver claim and now heads to Toronto as GM Kyle Dubas’ latest attempt at reviving a skilled players’ career on a reclamation project signing.

Now, just a few years later, he won’t be receiving a qualifying offer from the Ottawa Senators, making him an unrestricted free agent again at age 25. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that the Senators have already told Gaudette of their plan to leave him unqualified.

This is nothing new for the young forward. He failed to receive a qualifying offer last year either, though eventually agreed to a new contract with the Chicago Blackhawks for the same amount anyway. The team then put him on waivers in November, leading him to Ottawa, where he played 50 games in the second half of the year.

It doesn’t appear as though a contract is coming from the Senators this time, meaning Gaudette will have to find a new NHL home. With just 25 points since the start of the 2020-21 season (across 98 games and three teams), it’s unclear what exactly he can bring to the table at this point.

For Ottawa, who have plenty of young talents pushing for looks in camp and a tight budget, the risk of salary arbitration was likely too much. Though he hasn’t done much recently, that 33-point season would still likely mean a contract above $1MM through the arbitration process, while his play can be replaced by another candidate for the Senators.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

• The Senators are currently undecided on whether or not to tender center Adam Gaudette a qualifying offer next month, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Ottawa claimed the 25-year-old off waivers from Chicago back in November and he chipped in with a dozen points in 50 games the rest of the way, his first real taste of consistent NHL action since the 2019-20 season.  His qualifier is only for $1MM but his production in the past (including 33 points in the 19-20 campaign) makes him a bit of a risk for salary arbitration.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides discuss a deal leading up to the tender deadline to see if there’s a fit on a one-year contract that would extend his stay but not push the price tag much higher than their required offer.
• Spencer Carbery is among the candidates for Boston’s head coaching vacancy, reports Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Twitter link). The 40-year-old does have a bit of previous experience with the Bruins having served as an assistant coach with AHL Providence in 2017-18 before Washington hired him to be the head coach in AHL Hershey.  Carbery got his first taste of working behind an NHL bench this season when Toronto hired him as an assistant coach last summer.