The Avalanche are likely going to be without Nathan MacKinnon (COVID), Valeri Nichushkin (upper-body) and Gabriel Landeskog (suspension) on Saturday, so sending Newhook to the AHL opens up enough cap space to recall multiple forwards to fill the voids. Stefan Matteau and Dylan Sikura were recalled.
Matheson is dealing with a nagging lower-body injury and will miss the Penguins season opener in Tampa Bay. With Matheson out, Mark Friedman will draw into the lineup.
Suzuki is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and will get a huge raise next season, going from $863.3K AAV to $7.875M AAV. With Philip Danault now in Los Angeles, Suzuki will be tasked with playing major minutes in 2021-22, as he looks to build on his 60-point pace from a season ago.
Belzile had another strong AHL campaign in 2021, scoring four goals with 10 assists (14 points) in 17 games with Laval. He's an AHL veteran with just two games of NHL experience, so expect the 29-year-old to remain with Laval to start the 2021-22 season.
