Hurricanes Sign Brandon Bussi To Three-Year Extension
The Hurricanes announced they’ve signed goaltender Brandon Bussi to a three-year extension. The deal is worth $1.9MM annually for a total value of $5.7MM. He was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the new deal will keep him under contract with Carolina through the 2028-29 campaign. He’ll earn a $850K salary and $150K signing bonus in 2026-27, a $1MM salary and $850K signing bonus in 2027-28, and a $1MM salary with a $1.85MM signing bonus in the last year, per PuckPedia. He’ll also carry a 10-team no-trade clause in 2028-29.
Bussi, 27, has had a dream start to his NHL career. Claimed off waivers from the Panthers at the beginning of the season to serve as the third-stringer behind Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, the undrafted free agent has since emerged as the Canes’ clear starting option in what’s been a tumultuous season for the rest of their crease.
While the Western Michigan product had a strong AHL track record entering the year, he didn’t have a single NHL start to his name. He’s now made 27 of them with a raucous 23-3-1 record, putting up a .906 SV% and 2.16 GAA with two shutouts. Just before the break, he broke into the top 10 in the league in terms of goals saved above expected with 11.0, per MoneyPuck.
With the struggling Andersen set to ride off into the open market this summer and Kochetkov likely done for the year with a hip injury, Carolina has a ton invested in Bussi being able to keep up that level of play. With no blue-chip prospects ready to succeed Andersen as the starter and no high-end long-term options set to be available in free agency, the Canes needed some insurance past this season as well. Retaining Bussi at such a marginal cap hit gives them that insurance with virtually no risk, even if his numbers regress and he settles back in as more of a No. 2/3 option.
Bussi’s strong career minor-league numbers suggest he’s got a good chance of being able to keep this up, though. Signed by the Bruins as an undrafted free agent in 2022, he was an AHL All-Star as a rookie while putting up a .924 SV% and 22-5-4 record in 32 games for Providence. He remained in the Boston organization until reaching unrestricted free agent status last summer, landing a two-way deal with the Panthers before being lost on waivers in training camp. In four AHL seasons before hitting the open market, he made 111 appearances with a 2.61 GAA, .915 SV%, eight shutouts, and a 63-31-13 record.
His lack of NHL experience was always going to make it hard for him to land an eye-popping cap hit on his next deal, though. Reports emerged last month that the Canes were working to get him extended. The few reasonable comparables for Bussi’s camp in the last several years all topped out in the high $1MM range on a short-term multi-year deal, so this one doesn’t push the envelope by very much.
It’s nonetheless a shrewd signing by general manager Eric Tulsky, who’s essentially given Carolina a worst-case scenario of Bussi and Kochetkov as next season’s tandem if Andersen walks and they don’t pursue an external replacement via trade or free agency. Bussi will be 31 years old when his deal is up, joining a potential 2029 UFA goalie class of Thatcher Demko, Spencer Knight, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and Linus Ullmark.
Islanders Sign Scott Reedy To AHL Tryout
The AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders have signed center Scott Reedy to a professional tryout, per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. He has yet to play this season.
Reedy’s return to hockey comes over 11 months after his last appearance of any kind and nearly four years after his last NHL game. A fourth-round pick by the Sharks in 2017, he developed nicely over four seasons at the University of Minnesota and capped off his collegiate career with an All-Star, point-per-game campaign in 2020-21.
He turned pro and split the following season evenly between San Jose’s NHL and AHL clubs. He did well enough in a bottom-six role, scoring seven goals and a pair of assists in 35 games while seeing 11:11 of ice time per night. The speedy 6’2″ pivot also recorded 18 goals and 27 points in just 38 AHL games, leading to optimism he could be a solid depth contributor at the NHL level.
Reedy never got another chance, though. He was limited to five goals and 15 points in 38 AHL games the following season before being traded to the Stars. He was highly productive when healthy over the next season and a half, but was decimated by injuries. From his acquisition in March 2023 to the end of his contract following 2023-24, he only managed 30 appearances for AHL Texas while recording 11 goals and 17 points.
The Minnesota native went unqualified by the Stars that summer and ended up going unsigned until December, when he landed an AHL tryout from the Predators’ minor-league affiliate in Milwaukee. He finished out the year with four goals and nine points in 25 games before becoming a free agent again.
He’ll take the same pathway to playing time this time around, albeit with only about two months left in the campaign. He joins a much-improved Bridgeport roster that’s hovering around .500 this season after finishing with a disastrous 15-50-7 record in 2024-25.
Devils Place Marc McLaughlin On Waivers
The Devils announced they’ve placed center Marc McLaughlin on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Utica. The transaction implies he’s ready to come off the injured non-roster list after sitting out the entire season to date with an undisclosed injury.
McLaughlin, 26, found his way to the New Jersey organization last season by way of a minor trade with the Bruins, with whom he began his professional career as an undrafted free agent out of Boston College in 2022. After recording just 14 points in 68 AHL games in 2023-24, he hit the same mark in 34 appearances last year before the trade. He finished out the season with six assists and a +5 rating in 16 games for Utica, also recording an assist in two NHL games for the Devils.
The Massachusetts native has 28 NHL games to his name and has suited up at least once in four consecutive seasons. With so much time missed, that streak is in jeopardy. He has a career 6-1–7 scoring line with a -3 rating while averaging 9:54 of ice time per game. Teams have controlled 48.0% of shot attempts with McLaughlin on the ice at even strength.
A strong defensive-minded center at the minor-league level, he won’t do a ton to help Utica’s scoring woes (2.40 goals per game) but should help the struggling AHL club shore up its two-way game. After signing a two-way extension to remain with New Jersey last June, he’ll be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer.
Bruins Activate Elias Lindholm From Injured Reserve
The Bruins activated center Elias Lindholm from injured reserve today, per the NHL’s media site. He’ll suit up for Team Sweden this afternoon in their preliminary-round opener against the host Italians at the Olympics.
While there is a trade moratorium during the Olympics and added restrictions on some transactions like waiver placements and reassignments, IR activations are not affected by the roster freeze. Since Boston entered the break with an open roster spot after reassigning Matthew Poitras to AHL Providence last week, there’s no corresponding transaction required.
Lindholm missed the final three games of Boston’s pre-Olympic schedule with an upper-body injury but was only ever listed as day-to-day. He missed a lengthier stretch back in November, sitting out 10 games, but that was because of a lower-body issue.
Now in the second season of the seven-year, $54.25MM commitment he landed from the B’s in free agency in 2024, Lindholm has fared much better in 2025-26 than in year one of the deal. Through 44 games, he tossed up 11 goals and 37 points. That works out to 0.84 points per game, his most productive rate since his career-best 42-goal, 82-point campaign with the Flames in 2021-22 that also saw him finish as the Selke Trophy runner-up.
Lindholm will begin his first time at the Olympics as Sweden’s second-line center between the Devils’ Jesper Bratt and the Red Wings’ Lucas Raymond, per Adam Johansson of Expressen. The well-regarded two-way pivot has been left off their top penalty kill units in favor of Joel Eriksson Ek, Adrian Kempe, Alexander Wennberg, and Pontus Holmberg, though, so his ice time will presumably end up closer to 15 minutes per game than 20.
Coming out of the break, there won’t be many pieces more important than Lindholm in guiding the Bruins to what would have been seen as an unexpected playoff berth last fall. He’s their third-most productive forward behind David Pastrňák and Morgan Geekie, and ranks second in time on ice per game behind the former.
Capitals Recall Garin Bjorklund, Reassign Clay Stevenson
The Capitals announced they’ve recalled goaltender Garin Bjorklund from AHL Hershey and returned fellow netminder Clay Stevenson to Hershey in the corresponding move.
While trades aren’t permitted during the ongoing Olympic roster freeze, most simple reassignments are allowed. Teams also must continue carrying two goalies on their active roster during the break. With Charlie Lindgren on injured reserve, that means Washington has to stash a netminder they’d normally prefer to have playing in the minors on the NHL roster.
Today’s swap serves to let Stevenson get some reps in Hershey over the next couple of weeks as the AHL schedule continues rolling through the Olympic break. With injuries to both Lindgren and Logan Thompson, the 26-year-old Stevenson has been on Washington’s roster since Jan. 29. He made three consecutive starts with Washington’s regular duo sidelined, compiling an impressive .904 SV% and 2.33 GAA with a 2-1-0 record. That’s a particularly strong stat line considering he had to start both halves of a back-to-back to close a stretch of three games in four nights.
The Alberta native is in his fourth season in the organization after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth in 2022. He replaced Hunter Shepard as the Caps’ third-stringer for this season after Shepard left for the Senators in free agency. In 24 starts for Hershey, he’s put up a .912 SV%, 2.57 GAA, and an 11-8-4 record.
Bjorklund, 23, comes up to fill the two-goalie requirement but will presumably be returned to Hershey at the end of the Olympic break, either to swap places with Stevenson or to make way for Lindgren’s IR activation if he’s ready to return. A sixth-round pick in 2020, he’s starting to make the jump from the ECHL level to the AHL this season and has served as Stevenson’s backup for a good portion of the campaign. He has a .881 SV% in 12 showings for Hershey and a .929 mark in seven games for ECHL South Carolina.
Joshua Ho-Sang Signs In Russia
Feb. 10: Ho-Sang was released from his contract today without ever playing a game for the club, the league announced.
Dec. 30: Former Islanders first-rounder Joshua Ho-Sang is attempting to restart his professional career. Salavat Yulaev Ufa of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League has signed him to a two-way deal through the end of the season, the league announced.
Ho-Sang, once viewed as New York’s top prospect following his selection at 28th overall in 2014, has appeared in just 18 regular-season games over the last three years. He suited up once for Salavat in 2022-23, recording an assist, before spending the last two years on and off duty with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. He racked up 19 points in 17 games with the Everblades and led the Kelly Cup Playoffs in assists in 2024, proving he can still be a top-flight contributor in a lower-tier pro league.
Now 29, Ho-Sang only ever got into 53 NHL games with the Isles, scoring seven goals and 24 points, with his final appearance coming in December 2018. He’s since spent time in the minors in the Maple Leafs’ system as well as stints in Sweden during the 2020-21 campaign.
Ho-Sang contemplated retirement following his short stint with Salavat last time around. They’re now bringing him in off another lengthy bout without a contract to suit up alongside Canadiens 2025 first-rounder Alexander Zharovsky, who leads the club in scoring with 28 points in 32 games.
Travis Dermott Signs AHL PTO In Rangers Organization
The Rangers have signed free agent defenseman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout with their AHL affiliate in Hartford, the team announced. Dermott has yet to play this season after undergoing shoulder surgery last June.
He’s not more than a depth defender at this stage of his career, but Dermott is still hoping he may be able to convert a minor-league tryout into an NHL deal on a Rangers blue line that isn’t teeming with depth. He’s been fully recovered from his shoulder procedure for several months and began looking for a contract back in November. It took several months, but he’s got a pathway to one now.
A stable bottom-pairing fixture for the Maple Leafs for the first several years of his NHL career, concussion problems and various injuries have meant he’s only hit the 50-game mark once since the 2021-22 campaign. He spent that year on a two-way deal with the Coyotes and had seven points and a -14 rating in the franchise’s final season before hitting the open market once again. Dermott landed a PTO with the Oilers and converted that into a two-way deal, although he only got into 10 games before landing on waivers and being claimed by the Wild. He suited up nine times for Minnesota before being placed on waivers again, getting reclaimed by Edmonton, and being sent outright to AHL Bakersfield to finish the season.
In 19 games between the Oilers and Wild last year, Dermott did not record a point and only controlled 46.9% of shot attempts at 5-on-5, including a relative figure of -3.0%. His possession numbers were above-average in his small sample with Minnesota, but that wasn’t enough to keep him in the NHL with the Oilers after they got him back in the organization. He played just three games for Bakersfield, recording one goal and a +3 rating, before the shoulder injury rendered him unavailable.
Now 29, the 6’0″, 203-lb Dermott will be appearing in his 10th professional season when he takes the ice for Hartford. Across 348 NHL games, the lefty has 16 goals and 62 points with a +12 rating.
Snapshots: Flyers, Curran, Rifai
Flyers executives have said before that the team will ultimately decide whether they buy or sell heading into next month’s trade deadline. Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines their situation, suggesting that while they might not want to throw in the towel on the season just yet, selling is the logical route for them to take. Philadelphia sits eight points out of a playoff spot with a team in the bottom ten in offense so the odds of a successful playoff push are low. On the other hand, their list of pending unrestricted free agents isn’t exactly the most appealing, headlined by veteran wingers Carl Grundstrom and Nicolas Deslauriers. Accordingly, even if they do opt to sell, it could be a fairly quiet deadline unless they want to move players signed beyond the upcoming season.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Avalanche prospect Max Curran will make the move to the NCAA next season. The forward announced on his Instagram page earlier this week that he will play at UMass in 2026-27. Curran was a fifth-round pick by Colorado back in 2024, going 161st overall. This season, the 19-year-old has 14 goals and 27 assists in 31 games with WHL Edmonton. Had he not made the move, Colorado would have needed to have either signed him or dropped his rights by June 1st. Going to college will now push that timeline back, giving the Avs more time to decide his future.
- The Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate announced on Friday (Twitter link) that defenseman Marshall Rifai was returned to the Marlies. The move comes as no surprise with the Olympic break in full effect. Rifai recently returned from a preseason injury and has four assists in a dozen games in the minors. Recalled late last month, Rifai got into one game with the Maple Leafs but saw just 9:40 of playing time. The demotion will allow him to keep playing and also land Toronto some extra cap flexibility heading into next month’s trade deadline.
Blues Claim Jack Finley Off Waivers From Lightning
There may be a trade freeze in the NHL right now but waiver wire moves can still be made. The Blues have added some young depth off the wire, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed center Jack Finley off waivers from the Lightning. Under the rules for roster movement during the break, he won’t be required to report to St. Louis until February 17th.
The 23-year-old was a second-round pick by Tampa Bay back in 2020, going 57th overall. At the time, Finley wasn’t lighting it up in junior hockey with WHL Spokane but with a six-foot-six frame and an ability to play down the middle, the Lightning hoped that he’d eventually fill out and become a potential bottom-six option for them. He had 57 points in his draft year and then in 2021-22 (2020-21 was largely wiped out), he managed just 50 so the offensive outburst never came.
However, Finley showed some promising signs offensively in the minors. In his first three full professional seasons, he reached the double-digit goal mark in all three, ranging between 12 goals in his rookie year to 14 tallies last season, when he wound up with 28 points in 40 contests with AHL Syracuse. Given that, Tampa Bay was hesitant to cut him in training camp, instead keeping him around at the back of their roster.
Unfortunately for Finley, playing time was difficult to come by. He played in just 11 games over the first two months of the season, resulting in a three-game conditioning stint with the Crunch, where he had three points. Finley did play a bit more regularly after being recalled, seeing action in 12 games over the last seven-plus weeks but that was still minimal playing time overall. On the season, he has two goals and one assist in 23 outings while playing just 8:25 per game. He’s also chipped in 37 hits and has won 48.5% of his faceoffs.
Finley, a St. Louis native, now joins a team that looks to be heading for at least some sort of rebuild or retooling process with the team well out of playoff contention. Accordingly, he should have an easier pathway to consistent playing time down the stretch if the Blues sell off more veterans as they did with the Nick Bjugstad trade earlier this week; Finley effectively fills his spot on the roster.
While waiver claims are often on short-term deals, that isn’t the case here. Finley is in the first season of a three-year deal that currently carries a cap hit of $775K. As the league minimum increases next season, the AAV of the deal will go up to reflect the higher salary being paid. The final two seasons of the agreement are a one-way salary so St. Louis is potentially absorbing around $2MM in cash costs over the next three years. But if Finley is able to fill a depth role during that stretch, it’ll be a worthwhile pickup for them.
Photo courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.
Juho Lammikko Clears Unconditional Waivers, Signs In Switzerland
Feb. 7: Lammikko wasn’t an unrestricted free agent for long. Zurich in Switzerland’s NL announced that they’ve signed him to a three-year deal that runs through the 2027-28 campaign.
Feb. 6: Lammikko cleared waivers and is now a UFA, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Feb. 5: The Devils announced they’ve placed forward Juho Lammikko on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Assuming he clears tomorrow, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent and can return to Europe or sign elsewhere in North America.
New Jersey placed Lammikko on standard waivers last month for roster flexibility, but never assigned him to the minors. Yesterday, the Devils finally sent him down to Utica as the corresponding move for Nick Bjugstad‘s acquisition. Evidently, he’s refused to accept the assignment and is in breach of his contract as a result.
Lammikko, 30, returned to the NHL this summer when he signed a one-year, $800K deal with New Jersey last June. His season started inauspiciously on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. He got back into action in late October but has been a healthy scratch for long stretches at a time. In 24 games dressed, he’s managed two assists and a -4 rating while averaging 9:53 of ice time per game.
A checking center who commonly shifts to the wing, Lammikko’s possession numbers have been ugly. He’s only controlled 42.7% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 despite being used in a relatively sheltered role and has been shelled in possession quality as well.
Lammikko was a third-round pick by the Panthers in 2014. He joined the organization for the 2016-17 campaign and climbed through the minors before making his NHL debut two years later. He notched 11 points in 84 games for the Cats over parts of two seasons, interrupted by a stint back in Europe, before being traded to the Canucks shortly before the 2021-22 campaign. That resulted in Lammikko making a career-high 75 appearances for Vancouver, notching seven goals and 15 points while averaging over 12 minutes per game.
Despite that decent showing as a bottom-six middleman, his NHL career paused again there. He headed back to Europe with Switzerland’s ZSC Lions, emerging as one of the National League’s top power forwards during that time. After racking up 112 points in 144 games with a +60 rating over three years, he attempted his third NHL arrival with the Devils. With his unwillingness to accept a minor-league assignment, a return to the top Swiss league or somewhere else in Europe should be the expectation.