Nashville Predators Activate Justin Barron
The Nashville Predators are back to a fully healthy defensive core. The Predators announced that the team has activated defenseman Justin Barron from the injured reserve.
Barron, 24, has missed nearly half the season due to a lower-body injury. The ailment was suffered in Nashville’s Global Series matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 16th, and he hasn’t played since.
If Barron returns to the lineup tonight against the St. Louis Blues, his absence will end at 16 games. Before the injury, Barron was largely disappointing in his offensive output, registering four assists in 19 games while averaging 15:43 of ice time per game.
Still, he’s again averaging above a 50.0% CorsiFor% at even strength, and has managed an 89.8% on-ice save percentage at even strength, his best output with the Predators since being acquired around this time last year.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that Barron will draw into the lineup, even after Nashville traded away Spencer Stastney a few weeks ago. Both defensemen who were expected to stay in depth roles this year, Nick Blankenburg and Adam Wilsby, have performed well this season, with the former scoring four goals and 15 points in 26 games.
Since Barron doesn’t offer an immediate improvement on either blue liner, Nashville may stay the course with its existing options. The Predators are 7-3-0 in their last 10 leading up to the Holiday break and have climbed back into the playoff conversation in the Western Conference.
Canucks To Activate Elias Pettersson Off Injured Reserve
The Canucks will get some much-welcomed help down the middle tonight against San Jose. Speaking with reporters after practice today (Twitter link), center Elias Pettersson confirmed that he will make his return to the lineup.
Pettersson, who has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury, is currently on injured reserve. However, Vancouver has an open roster spot available so they won’t need to make any moves to bring their top pivot back onto the roster.
The initial hope was that Pettersson wouldn’t be out that long but instead, he wound up missing three weeks with the injury, one that was causing a lot of pain when shooting the puck. Despite missing their top center, Vancouver wound up winning five of the eight games he missed, including four of their last five following the Quinn Hughes trade.
In the second season of an eight-year, $92.8MM deal, Pettersson hasn’t been able to live up to the price tag in terms of his production. While he’s on pace to put up more points than the 45 he did in 64 games last season, the 27-year-old has eight goals and 14 assists through 28 games this season. He’s averaging a career-high 20:37 per game of ice time while taking a regular turn on both special teams units.
While Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin spoke about entering a hybrid rebuilding phase, their recent run in the standings has them only six points out of a playoff spot. Getting Pettersson back should only help them so if the team continues its recent hot streak, they may not wind up being as much of a seller as initially thought.
Sabres Recall Ryan Johnson
The Sabres will be without captain Rasmus Dahlin for their game tonight against Boston as he remains back home in Sweden with his fiancée who continues to recover from a heart transplant over the summer. As a result, the team has recalled defenseman Ryan Johnson from AHL Rochester, per Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald.
To make room for Johnson on the active roster, Dahlin has been designated as a non-roster player as they did when he took a leave of absence earlier this season. While he won’t play tonight, it’s expected that he’ll be back to accompany the team on their upcoming road trip.
As for Johnson, this is his first recall of the season. He actually broke camp with Buffalo and played in three games in the opening week but averaged just nine minutes per game of playing time. As a result, he was quickly sent down to play a bigger role with the Americans.
The 24-year-old, who is in the first season of a three-year deal, has played in 25 games with Rochester so far this season, picking up 11 points. That’s just two points shy of his personal best, set last season in 66 games. With six other defensemen already up with the big club, it’s quite possible that Johnson will serve in a reserve role for the time being until Dahlin returns.
Blackhawks Recall Landon Slaggert
When the Blackhawks assigned goaltender Laurent Brossoit to the minors after he cleared waivers, they opened up a roster spot that they elected not to fill right away. However, they’ve decided that filling it after the holiday break made sense as the team announced that they have recalled winger Landon Slaggert from AHL Rockford.
It’s the second recall of the season for the 23-year-old who is in the first season of a two-year, one-way contract worth $900K per season. Slaggert started the season on injured reserve, missing a handful of games before being activated. He got into four games before being sent down to the IceHogs to get some more playing time. He was then brought up in mid-November for a few weeks but again, playing time was somewhat limited, leading to his reassignment three weeks ago. Overall, he has one goal in ten games with Chicago this season while averaging just 9:04 of ice time per contest.
Slaggert has been a bit more productive in Rockford. He has played in eight games with them this season, picking up two goals and two assists. However, that production is down in pace from last season when he collected 10 goals and 15 helpers in just 39 contests. With his recall, Chicago’s roster is now full at 23 players.
Blues Activate Jordan Kyrou And Jimmy Snuggerud
The Blues will get a big boost to their lineup tonight as they take on Nashville. The team announced that wingers Jordan Kyrou and Jimmy Snuggerud are expected to play, meaning they have been taken off injured reserve.
Kyrou has missed the last nine games after sustaining a lower-body injury nearly three weeks ago. Before that, he, like many other St. Louis players, had gotten off to a quiet start offensively by his standards.
Through 28 games, the 27-year-old has eight goals and eight assists. As a result, it seems unlikely that he’ll come close to the offensive output of the past few seasons; he has recorded between 67 and 75 points over each of the last four seasons. Kyrou was healthy scratched at one point but should now get a fresh start on their second line.
As for Snuggerud, he underwent wrist surgery earlier this month and was expected to miss six weeks. It turns out that he’s well ahead of schedule as he’ll wind up missing less than four weeks overall.
After making his NHL debut down the stretch last season (and taking a regular turn in the playoffs), the 21-year-old’s first full professional campaign has been a little quiet. He has played in 26 games so far this season, picking up five goals and six assists while logging over 15 minutes per night of playing time. While that won’t have him in the Calder Trophy mix, that’s still a decent contribution from a rookie. He’s expected to slot in on the third line against the Preds.
St. Louis had a pair of open roster spots heading into the holiday break. Accordingly, Kyrou and Snuggerud were added into those slots, meaning no further roster moves were needed.
Lightning Recall Scott Sabourin And Steven Santini
Tampa Bay and Florida have played some particularly physical games in recent memory. With the next matchup slated for tonight, the Lightning have brought up some extra grit, announcing the recalls of winger Scott Sabourin and defenseman Steven Santini from AHL Syracuse.
Sabourin has only played in seven games with Tampa Bay this season despite several recalls. Three of those have come against the Panthers, which doesn’t include the preseason where he received a four-game suspension for an incident against Florida. The 33-year-old has actually been somewhat productive in his limited action, picking up a goal and two assists along with 13 hits and 32 penalty minutes despite averaging just 9:17 per night of playing time.
Sabourin is on a one-year, two-way deal with Tampa Bay and has spent the bulk of the year with the Crunch. In 20 games with them, he has six goals and two assists, putting him on pace for double-digit goals in the minors for what would be the fourth straight season.
As for Santini, he has suited up eight times for the Lightning so far in 2025-26, his highest NHL games played total since the 2018-19 campaign. The 30-year-old has one assist to his name so far this season along with six hits while averaging 12:01 per night.
The veteran is in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal signed back in June and has also spent the majority of the year in Syracuse. In 18 games with the Crunch so far, Santini has five assists.
Santini may take the place of veteran Ryan McDonagh in the lineup tonight. Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times relayed (Twitter link) that the veteran did not take part in today’s morning skate and has re-aggravated his previous injury. Head coach Jon Cooper listed McDonagh as out day-to-day.
The team had two open roster spots so no further roster movement was necessary to add the two and their roster now sits at the maximum of 23 players.
Islanders Place Ilya Sorokin On IR, Recall Marcus Hogberg
When the Islanders assigned Marcus Hogberg back to the minors during the holiday break, the hope was that Ilya Sorokin would be ready to return to the lineup. That isn’t the case, however, as the team announced (Twitter link) that Sorokin has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 20th with Hogberg coming up on an emergency basis once again to take his place on the roster. Their active roster remains at the maximum of 23 players.
Sorokin is dealing with an undisclosed injury that caused him to miss their last two games against Buffalo and New Jersey. The 30-year-old is their undisputed starter and has played well this season, posting a 2.55 GAA and a .910 SV% in 24 starts, his best numbers since the 2022-23 campaign when he was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender.
As for Hogberg, the 31-year-old is on a one-way contract this season as their third-string netminder. (Semyon Varlamov was supposed to be the backup but injuries have kept him out all season with David Rittich replacing him.) He has played in 14 games with AHL Bridgeport, putting up a 3.08 GAA and a .881 SV%. He has yet to play in the NHL this season but did get into 15 games with the Isles in 2024-25.
Newsday’s Andrew Gross relays (Twitter link) that Sorokin is expected to accompany the team to Columbus for their game on Sunday although Rittich is scheduled to get the start. If Sorokin is okay enough to back up, he’s eligible to be activated for that game thanks to the back-dated placement as he’ll have already missed the required seven days.
Sharks Reassign Ethan Cardwell To AHL
With the NHL now off for the next three days, there have been a handful of roster moves around the league today. The new rule saying that players must play in at least one AHL game if they’re sent down has limited the number of moves but San Jose was among those to make one. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relays (Twitter link) that the Sharks have assigned winger Ethan Cardwell to AHL San Jose.
The 23-year-old was recalled a little more than a week ago following injuries to forwards Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev. Since the promotion was so recent, Cardwell remained eligible to be sent down even with the roster freeze in effect.
Cardwell got into three games with the Sharks on this stint, bringing his season total to seven. However, the most recent one – last night against Vegas – was particularly tough as he was on the ice for four goals against despite playing a season-low 9:48. He didn’t pick up any points over those three outings, keeping his total for the campaign at one, a goal scored back in early November.
Cardwell has spent the bulk of the season with the Barracuda but injuries have limited him to just 14 games. He has been productive in those outings, however, with three goals and six assists.
With the move, San Jose now has one open roster spot. They can either choose to fill it by calling someone else up as early as Saturday or, if Kurashev is able to return, he can be activated into that vacancy.
Senators Loan Olle Lycksell To AHL
After tonight’s shootout loss to Buffalo, the Ottawa Senators announced that Olle Lycksell has been loaned to AHL Belleville. A depth forward, Lycksell has been back and forth between Belleville and Ottawa of late.
As a result of Lars Eller’s injury, Lycksell earned another call-up on December 13, and got into a game a week later against Chicago. He only played 7:17, but managed to notch an assist, his second point of the season, in seven total games. Simply unable to get adequate ice time since, the Swede will return to the AHL, where he is highly productive. Besides the best for himself, the transaction also may signal that Shane Pinto is on the cusp of a return.
Drafted in the sixth round back in 2017 by Philadelphia, Lycksell has impressively managed to stick around as a secondary option between the Flyers and Senators, skating in 52 career NHL games. He became an AHL All Star with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but caught on with Ottawa over the summer in a one year deal. An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, based on all his activity so far, the 26-year-old figures to be surefire depth for the Sens when needed.
A player whose sharpest skills are on the offensive side, Lycksell faces the challenge of trying to establish himself at the highest level in limited fourth line roles. Rejoining Belleville, who features AHL leading scorer Arthur Kaliev, Lycksell will vie for another shot and potentially extend his North American career.
Kraken Activate Berkly Catton
Ahead of tonight’s game at Los Angeles, the Seattle Kraken have activated Berkly Catton from injured reserve (Twitter Link). The top prospect is back 15 days after his week-to-week diagnosis (upper-body injury), last playing on December 6.
Starting out as an organization, Seattle understandably tried to follow the Vegas business model of sorts, and quickly assemble a win-now team. As a result, they missed out on some needed high-end draft capital after Matty Beniers, who in year five is still trying to put it all together. Therefore, Catton, drafted eighth overall in 2024, is the Kraken’s #1 prospect, and is much needed from the franchise to break through as a young star.
The Saskatoon native torched the WHL as a Spokane Chief, concluding his junior career not far from 300 career points. He also earned awards for his sportsmanship. As is usually the case for teenagers entering their professional careers, Catton is still growing, as he has not yet scored a goal in 21 games, but has notched five helpers before the injury.
As was shared two days ago, Seattle chose not to loan him to Team Canada for the upcoming World Junior Championships. Such a decision signals that despite early growing pains at times, the team views Catton as a legitimate key contributor, especially now that Mason Marchment has been shipped out to Columbus. The power forward immediately found his scoring touch as a Jacket, long lost in Seattle, but regardless the focus now is to get the healthy Catton going in a more favorable role.
The Kraken currently rank dead last in goals scored (86), and with their veterans not getting it done, it will be up to the next wave, led by Catton, to create some excitement in 2026 and usher in a new era.