Sogaard has been recalled from Belleville (AHL).
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NHL Transactions & Roster Moves
Merilainen has been loaned to Belleville (AHL).
The Wild have assigned Liam Ohgren to Iowa (AHL).
The Wild have recalled Tyler Pitlick from Iowa (AHL).
The Avalanche have reassigned Jack Ahcan to Colorado (AHL).
Ahcan did not appear in an NHL game during his call-up. He returns to the AHL, where he has four points (1G / 3A) in two games this season.
The Wild recalled David Jiricek from Iowa (AHL).
Jiricek had one assist in his season debut in Iowa, and returns to the NHL following an injury to Zach Bogosian on Friday. Jiricek could draw into the lineup on Saturday.
The Canadiens have recalled Owen Beck from Laval (AHL) under emergency conditions.
With both Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine unavailable for Saturday's game vs. the Rangers, Beck has been recalled and will play. He has one goal and one assist in his first three AHL games of the season, and had one assist in 12 games with Montreal last year.
Sabourin has been recalled from Syracuse (AHL).
Sabourin is an undrafted 33-year-old forward with eight points (2G / 6A) in 47 career NHL games. He spent most of the 2024-25 campaign in the AHL, where he scored 25 points (10G / 15A) in 68 games with the San Jose Barracuda.
Gridin has been assigned to the Calgary Wranglers (AHL).
Gridin has been assigned to the Calgary Wranglers (AHL) in a move to help accommodate activating Jonathan Huberdeau (undisclosed) off of Injured Reserve. The 19-year-old Gridin made his NHL debut last week and has recorded one goal in four games with the Flames this season.
Ottawa has loaned Olle Lycksell to Belleville (AHL).
Lycksell was held off the scoresheet in two games with Ottawa this season but will report to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. The 26-year-old forward has been limited to 11 points (1G / 10A) in 47 career NHL games but has been electric at the AHL level, scoring 128 points (52G / 76A) in 134 games.
The Avalanche have terminated Blackwood's loan with the Colorado Eagles (AHL).
Scott Wedgewood has started Colorado's first five games of the 2025-26 season, but Blackwood appears to be nearing a return from a lower-body injury after being sent to the Colorado Eagles (AHL) on a conditioning loan at the beginning of the week. Wedgewood has played well to start the season, but the team will be eager to have the services of Blackwood back in their lineup after posting a 22-12-3 record last season, alongside a 2.33 GAA and .913 SV% last season after being acquired from San Jose.
The Kraken have recalled John Hayden from Coachella Valley (AHL).
Hayden has had short stints with the Kraken in each of the previous three seasons and could get another opportunity to draw into the lineup after being recalled from Coachella Valley (AHL). The 30-year-old veteran forward spent most of the 2024-25 season in the AHL, tallying 27 points (11G / 16A) in 44 games with Coachella Valley.
Tampa Bay has recalled Steven Santini from Syracuse (AHL).
Santini has had short stints in the NHL in nine of the last 10 seasons, but he has never been able to establish himself as a permanent fixture, limited to only 124 career games. The 30-year-old defenseman spent most of the 2024-25 season in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch, where he scored 17 points (6G / 11A).
The Rangers have assigned Connor Mackey to Hartford (AHL).
With some injury uncertainty on their blueline, the Rangers recalled Mackey from Hartford (AHL) last week, but he did not draw into the lineup and has been reassigned back to the AHL. The 29-year-old defenseman has primarily spent his career in the AHL, but has 11 points (4G / 7A) in 42 career NHL games.
The Capitals have recalled forward Ethen Frank from the Hershey (AHL).
With Pierre-Luc Dubois (lower body) still banged up, the Capitals have recalled Ethen Frank for the Hershey Bears (AHL) for precautionary reasons. The 27-year-old Frank made his NHL debut in 2024-25, playing 24 games with the Capitals and recording 7 points (4G/3A).
Johnson has been assigned to the Rochester Americans (AHL).
Johnson played three games with the Sabres but has been reassigned to the Rochester Americans (AHL), where he spent most of the 2024-25 season. The Sabres recalled Zach Metsa in a corresponding move.
Buffalo has recalled Zach Metsa from Rochester (AHL).
Metsa is an undrafted 26-year-old defenseman that has yet to make his NHL debut. He has spent the previous three seasons primarily in the AHL playing for the Rochester Americans, including scoring 46 points (7G / 39A) in 69 games last season.
Kemell has been reassigned to Milwaukee (AHL).
Kemell was the 17th overall pick of the Predators in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old Finnish forward played two games for the Predators this season but has been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL).
Jiricek has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL).
Jiricek was traded from Columbus last season due to growing frustration with a lack of NHL play, a commonality early in his tenure with the Minnesota Wild. The talented 21-year-old defenseman has been limited to only six games with Minnesota since being acquired in January last season, tallying two points (1G / 1A) in the process.
Clague has been loaned to the Manitoba Moose (AHL).
Clague was recalled by the Jets last week but did not draw into the lineup. He has been loaned to the AHL, where he has spent the majority of the previous two seasons. He scored 39 points (10G / 29A) in 69 games with the Rochester Americans (AHL) last season.
NHL Roster Moves
NHL roster moves are essentially transactions that alter a team’s lineup. The roster move could make the team better or worse. In some cases, the move is inconsequential. Fan favourites could leave for greener pastures. A struggling player could get sent down to the farm team. A lousy contract might get put on waivers. Even worse, players may get strategically buried on the long-term injury reserve list because they’re not worth the cap hit. The possibilities are somewhat endless.
Types of NHL Roster Moves
Don’t worry; Daily Faceoff has you covered when trying to grasp the concept of a league ruled by the complexities of the almighty salary cap. Below, we break down the strategy behind roster moves so you can get a leg up in your DFS league.
Free agent signings
NHL rosters are primarily constructed by player signings. The front office reaches out to what are referred to as “free agents.” Both the front office and the player’s agent work out the terms of a deal. How teams sign deals varies depending on what type of free agents they’re dealing with.
Rookie Deals
Rookie’s sign something called an entry-level contract which is usually capped at a certain amount of money per year. Under the NHL’s current collective bargaining agreement, the longest an entry-level contract can be signed is three years.
Restricted Free Agent Contracts
After that, a player becomes a restricted free agent (RFA). Technically, they can sign with teams outside of who they played for in the past season by accepting an offer sheet. That said, if the player’s first team extends a qualifying offer, any team competing for the player’s services will have to offer up a certain amount of compensation in the form of draft picks. Of course, that’s if the player agrees to the offer sheet and their current team doesn’t match it.
Unrestricted Free Agent Contracts
Players can become unrestricted free agents (UFA) when their current RFA deal is up and they can go wherever they want. If they sign a contract extension, they can sign for up to eight years. Alternatively, they can sign a seven-year deal if they test the open market. Fun fact: pending UFAs might be motivated to play their hearts out to secure the bag in their next deal. Keep that in mind, fantasy players.
Blockbuster trades
Trades make for some of the most interesting NHL roster moves. To this day, the infamous Patrick Roy deal still gets talked about in NHL circles. What happens in a trade is that two or maybe even three teams link up and iron out a deal. There might be deals that are referred to as “hockey trades,” meaning that both teams get something of equal value. For example, one team gives up a first-line centre for a top-pairing right-handed defenceman. Some NHL trades involve bad teams selling off their moveable assets, such as upcoming free agents, for future considerations, including draft picks or prospects.
Injuries
Depending on how badly a player gets injured, several things can happen. They can be out of a game or two, with the team opting to keep the severity of the injury private (a common pet peeve for fantasy players). Players can be put on the injury reserve for injuries that can keep them out for a calendar week. This frees up a roster spot so someone from within the team’s system, or sometimes outside of it, can come in and replace them while they’re getting back in tip-top shape. If the player needs over a week to recover after a serious injury, they will get put on long-term injury reserve.
Waivers
In typical NHL roster moves jargon, when a player goes on waivers, other teams can claim them from their current team. A player usually goes on waivers when they’re signed to a one-way deal, meaning they can’t be sent down to the minors willy-nilly like a rookie on a two-way deal. Before the player gets sent down, other teams can claim the player on the “waiver wire.” If the player isn’t claimed, they go to the minors to play in the AHL.
Call Ups
Outside of signings, player callups are one of the most popular NHL transactions. Most teams call up players when they’re performing well in the AHL or if there’s an injury on the main roster. Usually, when a player gets called up to the NHL, one gets sent down to the minors.
Contract Buyouts
Of course, you’ve probably worked with someone who’s pretty lazy. People from afar think that person is a “good fit,” but internally, everyone hates the person. Oftentimes, that person finds a way to get fired. Well, newsflash: the same thing happens in NHL dressing rooms. Sometime players who have a history of poor performance have the audacity to ask for more money come contract time. Their team has the option to buyout their contract, or in extreme cases of misconduct, their contract can be terminated. If they’re not being bought out, the front office is laughing while the player’s agent is showing themselves out of the building. For the players who are actually good and could command big bucks on the open market, teams hustle to get them signed up for a new deal. If the player hits the open market, all bets are off…. Coaching Changes
Losing a head coach that sucked at their job and replacing them with a new one can ignite a team. Historically, decent teams perform strongly when they get a new coach. For how long those “strong performances” sustain themselves over the course of a season is a whole other story.
Rules Around NHL Roster Moves
NHL rules aren’t made to be broken. If they’re written in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), you may as well say they’re written in stone. Let’s talk about those “set in stone” rules.
Trade Deadline
Teams have a certain amount of time each season to make NHL trades and signings. The date varies from season to season, but it usually falls between the end of February and early March so that roster’s are set before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. After the deadline, players can still be moved, but they will not be eligible to play for the rest of the regular season or playoffs. You’ll usually see prospects who are playing abroad get dealt after the deadline, if any trades are made at all.
[Editor’s note: can include link to new DFO Stanley Cup page here]
Strategy Behind NHL Roster Moves
General managers and hands-on hockey ops executives are always thinking about the future. If their team is going to miss the playoffs and it’s a good draft year, they might be inclined to sell, meaning they’ll try to offload decent players in return for cap space, draft picks and younger players. The opposite can be said for good teams. They’ll be looking to add to what they already have to make a run for the cup.
If you’re a DFS player or even in a dynasty league, you can exploit that by buying low on players who are playing for bad teams but have the potential to increase their production if they get traded to a good team. Having access to a good data set can help ease the trouble of anticipating how good a player will be going to and from a certain team.
The Salary Cap
When general managers sleep at night, they probably have nightmares about the salary cap. “The cap,” as hockey insiders like Frank Seravalli refer to it when discussing NHL transactions, dictates how much a team can spend on its roster. There’s a “floor,” meaning a team has to spend at least this much per year. Then, there’s a “ceiling” that teams can’t go over lest they pay the price in draft pick compensation and fines, amongst other things. The salary cap makes it difficult for teams to trade players with high cap hits. It also creates a market in itself for teams that want to get over the “floor” by taking on other teams’ bad contracts. In a world beyond reality, most would favour a luxury tax system like the one Major League Baseball implements.
How NHL Roster Moves Impact Sports Betting
Look, if you don’t want to put up with another year of getting beat by your co-worker’s child in fantasy, you have to put as much effort into your team as that 10-year-old weasel will. That means keeping up with the news. Changing your lineups on a daily basis. Trading players at their peak value. Buying them from others when they’re at their lowest. For the love all of things good, change your injured players out for healthy ones. If you’re a sports bettor, any NHL roster can change the money line or the total in a game, especially if a star player is hurt or a team is playing its third-string goalie. Staying in the loop will give bettors a better chance at finding an edge.