NHL Hockey Player News

Hoffman will join Blues for Training Camp beginning January 3. Hoffman spent the last two seasons in Florida, averaging 35 goals and 35 assists per 82 games. Hoffman has 20-plus goals in six straight seasons and 30-plus assists in five straight. Hoffman would help fill in for Vladimir Tarasenko, who is expected to be out until at least late January.

Stuetzle was the No.3 overall pick in this year's draft and is currently representing Team Germany at the World Juniors, where he has one goal and one assist in two games thus far. Stuetzle is expected to join the Senators for training camp after the WJC and should start the season in Ottawa.

In a late-night Boxing Day deal, the Senators brought in veteran centre Derek Stepan from Arizona. Stepan has one-year left on his deal, which carries a $6.5M cap-hit (per PuckPedia) and should prove to be a veteran stop-gap while the Senators' young centres continue to develop. Sepand has a chance to step into the Senators' top-6 and potentially play with Brady Tkachuk and/or Evgenii Dadonov. The last couple of seasons have been rough for Stepan, but he brings great shot volume and a reliable two-way game to a team with a lot of youth.

Koekkoek played well in his first full season with the Blackhawks, particularly after he was paired up with Olli Maatta. The duo put up some terrific underlying numbers and Koekkoek set a new career-high with 10 points (1G / 9A) in just 42 games. In Edmonton, he'll provide some depth on the blueline and will likely serve as a reserve most of the time. However, he should be the first man in whenever there is an injury.

Chicago brings in a seven-year veteran to help fill some gaps that were created by injuries this week. Alex Nylander could miss all of the 2021 season after undergoing knee surgery and Kirby Dach was injured in Team Canada's exhibition game before the World Juniors and could miss some time. Soderberg will likely fill a spot in the bottom-6 with Dylan Strome moving up to take Dach's spot with Patrick Kane. Soderberg had 35 points (17G / 18A) in 70 games with the Coyotes a season ago.

Nylander could be in danger of missing all of the 2021 season after undergoing surgery on Monday, which is part of the reason why the Blackhawks went out and signed veteran Carl Soderberg on Saturday. The 22-year-old Nylander struggled in his first season in Chicago, collecting just 26 points (10G / 16A) in 65 games. His injury opens the door for a lot of competition in the Blackhawks' training camp next week.

Cirelli is coming off of a really strong second season in the NHL, where he scored 16 goals and 28 assists (44 points) in 68 games. Cirelli had to take on a bigger role with Steven Stamkos injured for a good portion of the season and he flourished as the Lightning's No.2 centre. With Nikita Kucherov out for all of 2021, he will likely play the same role and Stamkos will shift over to the wing to fill-in for Kucherov. Cirelli's ceiling will be capped so long as he is playing with the likes of Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson and not the upper echelon of talent in Tampa Bay, but he's a player that should have a 20-goal, 30-assist pace in 2021's shortened season.

Mittelstadt has yet to live up to the billing of being selected No.8 overall in 2017 and that led to him being demoted to the AHL in 2020. He had nine points (4G / 5A) in 31 games with the Sabres before being sent to Rochester, where he tallied 25 points (9G / 16A) in 36 games. Mittelstadt is expected to get a spot in the Sabres' bottom-6 to start the 2021 season but has a lot to prove if he's going to get a raise next summer.

Miller posted to Twitter that he "tried out retirement for [nine] months (thanks COVID) Decided I wasn’t feeling it." The veteran returns for his fourth season with the Ducks and will serve as the primary backup to John Gibson with Antony Stolarz as the No.3 option. Miller started 19 games a season ago, going 9-6-4 with a 3.10 GAA and .908, both among the worst of his career.

The Lightning are hopeful that Kucherov will be available for the playoffs. Kucherov going on LTIR provides the Lightning with $9.5 million in cap space, which is a positive to come out of this. Tampa Bay is pressed up tight against the cap but losing their best player should allow them to get RFA Anthony Cirelli under contract before the start of the season.