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Golden Knights Sign Jeremy Davies To Two-Year Deal

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The Vegas Golden Knights have signed defenseman Jeremy Davies to a two-year, $2.3MM contract per PuckPedia. The deal is a rare two-way contract that pays north of $1MM at the NHL level. To be exact, Davies will receive $1.15MM in salary at the NHL level and $425K at the AHL level.

PuckPedia explained that Davies’ contract will put Vegas within $24K of the maximum cap relief they could receive by putting Alex Pietrangelo on season-opening injured reserve. Pietrangelo will miss the bulk of the regular season, but hasn’t yet ruled out a late-season return. With recent changes to LTIR usage, Vegas would need to be cap compliant to ice Pietrangelo in a regular or post season game.

With near maximum LTIR relief in place, the Golden Knights are expected to waive Davies when the season kicks off. He would head back to the minors for a fourth-straight season should he clear. Davies has proved productive at an AHL level in terms of scoring and penalties. He led the Belleville Senators’ blue-line in scoring with 11 goals and 48 points in 72 games last season. He also recorded 44 penalty minutes. It was a relatively tame year compared to the 23 points and 90 penalty minutes he recorded in 66 games with the Rochester Americans in 2022-23. He split the two seasons with 35 points and 79 penalty minutes in 66 games with Rochester in 2023-24.

Davies will be a bruising depth piece for the Golden Knights. A seventh-round draft pick in 2016, he has found his way to three points and 12 penalty minutes in 23 NHL games across his career. His last came with the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23.

Notably, Vegas will leave winger Alexander Holtz unsigned with this move. Holtz scored 13 points in 16 AHL games, and 12 points in 53 NHL games, in the Golden Knights organization last season. Going a full summer without an NHL deal – capped off by Vegas awarding Davies with the contract many expected to be reserved for Holtz – will likely resign the Swedish scorer to a minor-league contract for this season.

Evening Notes: Markstrom, Willander, Mancini, NHL Top 10

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The New Jersey Devils could be the next team to extend their starting goaltender. On the heels of a five-year, $34MM contract extension for Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson, the Devils are now working out a new deal for Jacob Markstrom, per The Fourth Period. Markstrom is entering the final year of a six-year, $36MM contract originally signed with the Calgary Flames in 2020.

Markstrom earned a second-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting on the second year of his last contract, after posting 37 wins and a .922 save percentage in 63 games of the Flames’ 2021-22 season. He fell drastically in 2022, landing at a .895 save percentage in 59 games with Calgary, and only rebounded to a .905 in 48 games of 2023-24. That prompted a summer trade to greener pastures, landing Markstrom with a playoff contender in the New Jersey Devils. He posted a middling .900 save percentage in 49 games of his first season with the Devils. That’s far from the .910 mark that Markstrom routinely challenged at his peak, but on a well-rounded Devils squad, average numbers from the aging veteran have proven supportive enough. He is sure to take a big hit on both term and salary in his next contract, which could take him through the rest of his career.

Other notes from across the league:

  • The Vancouver Canucks made a pair of important decisions earlier today. They have assigned top defense prospects Tom Willander and Victor Mancini to the minor-leagues, after both clung to the camp roster to nearly the final day. Mancini played his first full season in the pros last year. It was certainly eventful, spread between NHL and AHL ice time with the New York Rangers and Canucks, and ending with a Calder Cup win with the Abbotsford Canucks. In total, he recorded eight points in 31 NHL games and 21 points in 54 AHL games on the season. Meanwhile, Tom Willander was a core piece of the National Championship runner-up, the Boston University Terriers. He posted 24 points in 39 games with the club – one point fewer, in one game more, than he managed in his freshman season. Willander is nonetheless a pillar of consistency on both ends of the ice, and will look to prove that soon with his pro debut in Abbotsford.
  • The NHL has announced their top-10 players, wrapping up their Top 50 Players series just two days before Opening Night. The list is, of course, headlined by Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid. His teammate, Leon Draisaitl, holds the third spot, while Colorado Avalanche superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar hold #2 and #4 respectively. The rest of the list includes, in turn: Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Jets goalie and reigning MVP Connor Hellebuyck, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Canucks defender Quinn Hughes. It’s hard to argue any other names should be featured on the list, though Panthers fans may feel salt in the wound seeing their captain, and perennial Selke Trophy candidate, landing in the top-10 on the heels of a season-ending injury.

Sharks Expected To Place Egor Afanasyev On IR

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The San Jose Sharks are set to place winger Egor Afanasyev on injured reserve, per Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka. Pashelka clarified that Afanasyev’s injury is expected to be short-term. The report was seconded by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.

Despite reports of an IR move, the exact nature of Afanasyev’s injury hasn’t been clarified. He sat out of the Sharks’ Saturday loss to the Utah Mammoth, but had a standout performance in the team’s Friday win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Afanasyev scored his first goal, and point, of the preseason in that Friday matchup – his third preseason appearance. He hasn’t skated since. A move to IR would force him out of the lineup for the first two weeks of the NHL season. San Jose could face a decision on the other side of that, with Afanasyev one of many bubble players on the team’s training camp roster.

The 24-year-old winger was set to return to the KHL’s CSKA Moscow for a second year this season, but decided to return to North America when an opportunity to sign with the San Jose Sharks opened up. He played a full season in the KHL last year, marked by nine goals and 25 points in 59 games. That was a surprising dip in scoring after Afanasyev posted an impressive 63 points, split as 32 goals and 31 assists, in 71 games of the 2023-24 AHL season. He hasn’t yet found a way to stick in the NHL despite that hot stick. He scored just one point – a goal – in 19 career appearances with the Nashville Predators, and will get his first chance to play NHL minutes outside of the organization should he stick in the Sharks lineup.

Kings Place Kyle Burroughs On IR

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The Los Angeles Kings have placed defenseman Kyle Burroughs on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He sustained the injury after blocking a shot in Los Angeles’ October 1st preseason win over the Utah Mammoth. Despite being forced to miss the first two weeks of the season to an IR placement, Burroughs has already returned to skating per Kings’ content manager Zach Dooley. That’s positive news as the 30-year-old, Vancouver-native looks to push into his sixth NHL season.

Burroughs began his pro career in the New York Islanders system. He was originally drafted in the seventh-round of the 2013 NHL Draft, but didn’t turn pro full-time until the 2015-16 season. After a brief start in the minors, Burroughs climbed to an everyday role with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He held onto the team’s enforcer role through the next five seasons, ultimately recording 82 points and 419 penalty minutes in 313 games with the club. Despite that, Burroughs didn’t make his NHL debut until he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2020. He debuted with the team – playing five games – in the same season, then played through his full rookie season with the Vancouver Canucks in 2021.

Burroughs has clung to a seventh-defender role in the three seasons since his rookie year. He played roughly half of Vancouver’s 2021 and 2022 seasons, as well as 33 games of L.A.’s 2024-25 season. The only full year of Burroughs career came with the San Jose Sharks in 2023-24, when he posted eight points and 71 penalty minutes in 73 games. He’s a depth-chart bruiser, who could find a better rut with the Kings this year after the team lost Andreas Englund to the Nashville Predators in February. Englund had 11 points and 93 penalty minutes in 93 games with the Kings between 2023 and 2025.

Waivers: 10/5/25

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With season-opening rosters due Monday evening, NHL clubs must place players on waivers today in order to be eligible to reassign them to the AHL in advance of tomorrow’s roster deadline. As a result, today features a significant number of waived players. All players from yesterday’s waivers cohort cleared except for Brandon Bussi, who was claimed by the Hurricanes. Today’s set of players comes courtesy of Frank Seravalli. Here is today’s waiver wire:

Boston Bruins

D Jonathan Aspirot
F Matej Blumel
G Michael DiPietro
F Alex Steeves

Buffalo Sabres

F Joshua Dunne

Carolina Hurricanes

G Cayden Primeau

Colorado Avalanche

D Jack Ahcan
D Keaton Middleton

Detroit Red Wings

D Erik Gustafsson
D Justin Holl

Edmonton Oilers

F Max Jones

Florida Panthers

F Jack Studnicka

Minnesota Wild

G Cal Petersen
F Tyler Pitlick

Montreal Canadiens

F Sammy Blais
G Kaapo Kahkonen

New Jersey Devils

D Calen Addison
G Nico Daws
F Jonathan Gruden
F Mike Hardman
F Nathan Legare

Ottawa Senators

F Arthur Kaliyev
F Hayden Hodgson
F Jan Jenik
F Olle Lycksell
D Lassi Thomson
G Mads Sogaard

Philadelphia Flyers

F Carl Grundstrom

San Jose Sharks

F Pavol Regenda

Seattle Kraken

F John Hayden

St. Louis Blues

G Colten Ellis
D Hunter Skinner

Tampa Bay Lightning

D Declan Carlile

Toronto Maple Leafs

D Matthew Benning
D Dakota Mermis
F Michael Pezzetta
D Henry Thrun

Utah Hockey Club

F Curtis Douglas

Vegas Golden Knights

F Jonas Rondbjerg

Winnipeg Jets

F Walker Duehr
D Ville Heinola

Washington Capitals

F Ethen Frank
G Clay Stevenson

As this is the “final” day of preseason waivers, there are a greater number of notable names in today’s waivers group than is normally expected. In Boston, Blumel and Steeves had received some compliments for their ability to provide an offensive spark early in training camp, but neither was able to make the final roster as competition ratcheted up a few gears. The most likely candidate to be claimed in Boston isn’t even Steeves or Blumel, it’s DiPietro, owner of a .927 save percentage in 40 AHL games last season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that there is some interest around the league in DiPietro.

In Carolina, Primeau finds himself on waivers which is not entirely a surprise. For a more detailed breakdown of the Hurricanes’ situation at goalie, refer to our coverage of the team’s waiver claim today. In Detroit, two veteran defensemen with a combined 2025-26 cap hit of $5.4MM find themselves waived. Holl has struggled immensely as a Red Wing and is in the final year of his $3.4MM AAV deal, while Gustafsson scored just 18 points in 60 games in his debut season in Detroit, a notable decline from the 31 points he posted in 2023-24 and the 42 he managed in 2022-23.

With the Canadiens, the team’s reassignment of a handful of young forwards today could have signaled Blais would make the team, but his placement on waivers does counteract that. Since a reassignment of Blais would give the Canadiens just 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies on their active roster, it’s possible that the Canadiens are waiving Blais today to give them some roster flexibility to potentially find someone on the waiver wire tomorrow.

Daws is another netminder noted by Friedman as a potential candidate to be claimed, as the 24-year-old faced a very difficult task of trying to unseat veteran Jake Allen for the Devils’ backup role. Daws had just a .893 save percentage for AHL Utica last season but did show some flashes at the NHL level, to the tune of a .939 save percentage in six games.

In Ottawa, Lycksell could not translate a solid preseason into a roster spot, as the Senators have elected to keep up with what was likely their plan all along – to have Lycksell be one of the top scorers for AHL Belleville – and have kept Nick Cousins on their final roster over Lycksell. Ottawa also moved to waive Kaliyev, whose claim on an NHL job now appears to have slipped after three years as a regular NHLer in Los Angeles.

The Flyers chose to waive Grundstrom today after claiming him, indicating that their acquisition of the player today was more a matter of making the deal work (perhaps San Jose was especially interested in getting Grundstrom’s $1.85MM cap hit off its books) than it was adding the player to help lighten the pressure on its young players to fill bottom-six roles.

All of Toronto’s waived players have some NHL experience on their résumés, especially Benning (464 games) and Pezzetta (200 games). Benning spent more of last season in the AHL, while Pezzetta hasn’t played in the AHL since 2021-22, and was a steady spare forward and energy role player for the Canadiens from 2021 through early 2025.

In Winnipeg, Heinola is a former top prospect whose injuries and inability to earn the trust of the Jets’ coaching staff has thus far kept him out of the NHL. With his placement on waivers today, it appears that streak is set to continue. Friedman also noted that there is some interest in Capitals netminder Stevenson, a 26-year-old undrafted player who struggled in 2024-25 but was brilliant the year prior.

Chicago Blackhawks To Sign Matt Grzelcyk

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The Chicago Blackhawks will be signing defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a one-year NHL contract, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Grzelcyk, who is repped by Quartexx’s Sean Coffey, had been with the Blackhawks for their preseason and training camp on a PTO. He has now earned a deal to remain there on a full-time basis. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the deal is worth $1MM over its one-year term. The Blackhawks have now officially confirmed the signing.

Grzelcyk played in three preseason contests for the Blackhawks, though he did not register a point. It was somewhat surprising to see Grzelcyk sign a PTO in Chicago, as his performance in 2024-25 suggested he would not have an issue finding another NHL contract.

In the summer of 2024 Grzelcyk signed a one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that was coming off of the least productive season of his NHL career, one in which he scored just 11 points in 63 games.

So after a season in which Grzelcyk found his way onto the Penguins’ power play and scored a career-high 40 points in 82 games, it was generally believed that Grzelcyk would have no issue finding an NHL deal for 2025-26. But that proved not to be the case, as Grzelcyk lingered on the open market and settled for a PTO with the Blackhawks

Perhaps the 2023 free agency of Erik Gustafsson can be pointed to when evaluating why Grzelcyk had such a difficult time on the open market, despite his 40 points of production. Like Grzelcyk, Gustafsson is also an offensively-oriented defenseman without penalty-killing ability or much shutdown value. And like Grzelcyk, Gustafsson entered his unrestricted free agency in 2023 coming off of a season where he produced quite well – 42 points in 70 games.

But just as Grzelcyk experienced this past summer, offers for Gustafsson were softer than some may have expected, and he chose to sign a one-year, $825K contract with the New York Rangers, a far lower number than most expected for a blueliner with his production. We even noted in our coverage at the time our surprise at the relatively low cost of the contract despite Gustafsson’s production.

Of course, things ended up working out for Gustafsson as he parlayed a 31-point season with the Rangers (one that included a deep playoff run) into a two-year, $2MM AAV deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Although a similar long playoff run is highly unlikely for the Blackhawks, Grzelcyk will likely be hoping that he can continue to follow Gustafsson’s trajectory and have a strong year that prompts stronger leaguewide interest next summer.

Grzelcyk will be competing with some talented young defensemen in Chicago for a spot on the team’s power play, and 2022 first-rounder Sam Rinzel appears to be, at this stage, his most significant barrier to obtaining the role of first-unit puck distributor. But the path to at least a second-unit deployment is far clearer, which means this is a somewhat ideal situation for Grzelcyk. And seeing as this contract is just for one year at a limited cap hit, strong performance for the still-rebuilding Blackhawks could, later in the season, even earn the veteran blueliner a trade to a contender in need of defensive reinforcement.

Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Jets Sign Nikita Chibrikov To Two-Year Extension

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The Winnipeg Jets have locked up a talented young forward, Nikita Chibrikov, per agent Dan Milstein. The deal is a two-year, one-way extension, worth $850k and $900k at the NHL level. 

Despite the Jets’ consistent presence as a playoff contender across the last decade, and the subsequent lack of high draft picks, the organization has managed to assemble a formidable group of forward prospects, including Chibrikov. The youngster’s high skill and effort projects himself as a future middle-six scorer for Winnipeg, with the potential for more, especially if he cleans up his defensive game. Having lost stalwart Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency, and Kyle Connor a soon-to-be free agent with an uncertain future, Winnipeg will turn to their youth to help keep their window open.  

Selected by Winnipeg 50th overall in 2021, Chibrikov never made a significant impact in the KHL as a young NHL-draftee, but he was an immediate standout in North America, posting 47 points as an AHL rookie in 2023-24, and lighting the lamp in his NHL debut as well. 

Last season the Russian forward continued his progression with the Manitoba Moose, and earned a four game stint with the Presidents’ Trophy Jets in December, where he notched two goals and an assist. 

With forwards such as Cole Perfetti, Jonathan Toews, and Adam Lowry currently banged up, the Jets could turn to Chibrikov to start the season. If not, and he is sent back down, expect the 22-year-old to be a key member of the Manitoba Moose again as an eventual fixture of Winnipeg’s lineup.

Training Camp Cuts: 10/4/25

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Less than 72 hours remain until opening night rosters are due on Monday evening. Teams are down to their final few rounds of cuts as a result, but some have more work to do than others. We’re keeping tabs on all of today’s demotions here as clubs near their final 23-man form to open the season:

Buffalo Sabres (per team announcement)

D Radim Mrtka (to AHL Rochester)
F Noah Ostlund (to AHL Rochester)

New Jersey Devils (per team announcement)

F Thomas Bordeleau (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
F Angus Crookshank (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
F Brian Halonen (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
F Zack MacEwen (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
D Dmitry Osipov (to AHL Utica)
D Colton White (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)

Pittsburgh Penguins (per team announcement)

D Alexander Alexeyev (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
F Tristan Broz (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
F Robby Fabbri (released from PTO)
D Ryan Graves (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
F Rafael Harvey-Pinard (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
F Avery Hayes (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
F Bokondji Imama (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
G Sergei Murashov (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
D Owen Pickering (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
F Samuel Poulin (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)

Utah Mammoth (per team announcement)

F Cameron Hebig (to AHL Tucson pending waiver clearance)
G Matt Villalta (to AHL Tucson after clearing waivers)

Tampa Bay Lightning (per team announcement)

G Brandon Halverson (to AHL Syracuse after clearing waivers)

Vancouver Canucks (per team announcement)

F Nils Aman (to AHL Abbotsford after clearing waivers)
F Max Sasson (to AHL Abbotsford)
G Nikita Tolopilo (to AHL Abbotsford)

Winnipeg Jets (per team announcement)

G Dom DiVincentiis (to AHL Manitoba)

Waivers: 10/4/25

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With a little over 48 hours remaining before season-opening rosters need to be submitted to the league, it’s expected to be a very busy weekend on the waiver wire.  Not surprisingly, it’s another big list of players on waivers today as 17 players have been put there, per PuckPedia.  Meanwhile, all 12 players on waivers yesterday passed through unclaimed, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).  Here’s today’s list of players on the wire:

Dallas Stars

F Cameron Hughes
D Vladislav Kolyachonok

Florida Panthers

D Tobias Bjornfot
G Brandon Bussi

New Jersey Devils

F Thomas Bordeleau
F Angus Crookshank
F Brian Halonen
F Zack MacEwen
D Colton White

Philadelphia Flyers

D Dennis Gilbert

Pittsburgh Penguins

D Alexander Alexeyev
D Ryan Graves
F Rafael Harvey-Pinard
F Bokondji Imama
F Samuel Poulin

San Jose Sharks

F Colin White

Utah Hockey Club

F Cameron Hebig

Graves is the headliner in today’s class, primarily due to his contract which has four years left on it.  We covered his situation in more detail earlier today.

Among the rest of the players, Bjornfot is no stranger to being in this situation but he has been claimed twice before.  He spent most of last season in the minors with Florida but did get into 14 games with the Panthers and has 134 games at the top level under his belt.  Alexeyev played sparingly last season with Washington not wanting to risk losing him for nothing on waivers but it appears that Pittsburgh doesn’t have that same level of hesitance.  Meanwhile, Kolyachonok was claimed off waivers by the Penguins back in February before being flipped to Dallas over the summer so it’s possible another team might have their eye on him as well.  Gilbert signed with the Flyers this summer after splitting last season between Ottawa and Buffalo but while the thought was that he’d at least be able to land a seventh role, that isn’t the case.

As for the forwards, San Jose’s White is by far the most experienced with 323 NHL appearances.  However, he has primarily been an AHL player in recent years and it’s likely that he will clear and be assigned to the Barracuda.  Poulin was a 2019 first-round pick but hasn’t seen much time with the Penguins, including just seven games last season.  But at 24, he’s young enough to potentially be of interest to a team that wants to take a longer look at him.  Bordeleau held his own in 27 games with the Sharks in 2023-24 but only played once for them last season before being moved in July in a swap of AHL players.  But like Poulin, he’s young enough (23) to potentially draw attention.

These players will be on waivers until 1:00 PM CT on Sunday.

Minor Transactions: 10/4/25

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With the preseason wrapping up today, some teams will be recalling players they’ve already cut to give them one more game or they will be returning players recently brought up for that purpose.  We’ll keep track of those moves here along with any other minor transactions.

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