NHL Player News

Simashev was assigned to AHL Tucson on Tuesday.

Utah also recalled Daniil But and placed Kevin Rooney on waivers during Tuesday's roster shuffle. Simashev has one assist, 23 shots on goal, 26 blocked shots and eight hits in 24 NHL appearances this season. He should receive a starring role in the AHL before a potential call-up to the Mammoth later in the year.

Kesselring (lower body) will not travel with the Sabres for their impending six-game road trip, per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic on Tuesday.

While the team is on the road, Kesselring will continue to rehab back in Buffalo. The right-shot blueliner has missed eight games in a row and hasn't suited up since Nov. 15 in Detroit. Buffalo's next home matchup isn't until Dec. 18 versus Philadelphia, so unless Kesselring joins the team at some point out west, he'll continue to miss a considerable amount of game action.

Mintyukov scored a goal on three shots, added an assist, blocked two shots and went plus-2 in Monday's 4-1 win over the Blues.

Mintyukov has three points over his last three games. He's played well enough to allow the Ducks to use seven defensemen, which also gave Ian Moore a chance to play Monday. Those two blueliners have been competing for one spot this year, but there could be room for both of them if head coach Joel Quenneville is open to sticking with seven blueliners. Mintyukov is up to six points, 20 shots on net, 29 blocked shots and a plus-2 rating over 23 appearances this season.

Byram netted a goal, recorded two shots and had three blocks in Monday's 5-1 win over the Jets.

Just 15 seconds after Jason Zucker scored the Sabres' first goal of the night, Byram found the back of the net to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead. With the twine finder, the 24-year-old defenseman is up to five goals, 12 points, 38 shots on goal and 31 blocks through 26 games this year. He's tied with Mattias Samuelsson for the second-most points from Buffalo's blue line this season. Byram is trending upwards offensively with seven points in his last 11 games. He also has 22 shots on goal and 11 blocks in that stretch, proving he can hold his own in category-based fantasy leagues. Byram should remain heavily involved for Buffalo in all situations, making him a decent option in deep fantasy leagues.

Bichsel (lower body) will require surgery that will sideline him for six weeks, Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports Tuesday. In addition, Bichsel was designated for injured reserve, per the NHL media site.

Bichsel was injured against the Senators on Sunday and is now facing a long-term stint on the sidelines. Given his recovery timeline, the 21-year-old blueliner's placement on injured reserve shouldn't come as a surprise. Without Bichsel in the lineup, Vladislav Kolyachonok figures to step into the lineup versus the Rangers on Tuesday and beyond.

Bonk (upper body) was activated off non-roster injured reserve and reassigned to AHL Lehigh Valley on Tuesday.

Bonk was injured during the preseason but was unlikely to make the Opening Night roster for the Flyers regardless. Look for the blueliner to spend the bulk of the year in the minors with AHL Lehigh Valley, though he could be called up later in the season if the need arises.

Struble (upper body) will be a game-time call versus Ottawa on Tuesday, Stu Cowan of The Montreal Gazette reports.

Struble was unavailable for the Sens' matchup with Colorado on Saturday but will at least take the warmup ahead of Tuesday's clash. If the defenseman does miss out again, Adam Engstrom figures to remain in the bottom pairing alongside Alexandre Carrier.

Head coach Craig Berube said Tuesday that Carlo (lower body) will miss extended time, per Mark Masters of TSN.

According to Luke Fox of Sportsnet, Berube also relayed that Carlo will probably need surgery to address his lower-body issue. The right-shot blueliner hasn't been in the lineup since Nov. 13, and he'll now be unavailable for the foreseeable future. Troy Stecher should play more regularly due to Carlo's absence.

Karlsson collected two power-play assists in Monday's 5-1 win over the Flyers.

The 35-year-old blueliner helped break open a 1-1 tie in the second period by having a hand in tallies by Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. Karlsson cooled off considerably in November, and since his last multi-point performance Oct. 27, he'd managed just one goal -- his only tally of the season -- and six points in the 14 games prior to Monday's outburst.

Werenski notched two assists in Monday's 5-3 win over New Jersey.

The All-Star blueliner has carried his late November surge into December. Werenski has gotten onto the scoresheet in nine of the last 10 games, producing five multi-point performances en route to five goals and 15 points. After erupting for a career-high 82 points (23 goals, 59 helpers) over 81 games in 2024-25, he's back on a point-a-game pace to begin 2025-26 with nine goals and 26 points in 26 contests.