NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 6, 2025
The Flyers trade Ryan Ellis to the Sharks, an update on Jets forward Cole Perfetti, Matt Grzelcyk signs with the Blackhawks, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW/SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: The Philadelphia Flyers traded defenseman Ryan Ellis and a conditional 2026 sixth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for winger Carl Grundstrom and defenseman Artem Guryev.
Former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ryan Ellis (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ellis has been on permanent long-term injury reserve (LTIR) since November 2021. He has two years remaining on his contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $6.25 million.
The Sharks have taken on the entirety of Ellis’ cap hit, while the Flyers are adding Grundstrom’s $1.8 million cap hit. He is slated to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) next July.
This move frees up $4.45 million in cap space for the Flyers, leaving them with over $7.2 million available. It enables them to accrue cap room throughout the season. Grundstrom was placed on waivers shortly after this trade was announced.
Meanwhile, this trade leaves the Sharks with 48 of 50 NHL contracts, freeing up room to add promising center Michael Misa and defenseman Jason Dickinson to their roster for the upcoming season.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Jets winger Cole Perfetti is listed as week-to-week with a high ankle sprain. He suffered the injury during Friday’s preseason game against the Calgary Flames.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Perfetti joins defenseman Dylan Samberg and center Adam Lowry on the sidelines. Samberg suffered a broken ankle during preseason, and Lowry is recovering from offseason hip surgery.
CHICAGO HOCKEY NOW: Matt Grzelcyk signed a one-year contract with the Blackhawks. The 31-year-old defenseman earned the deal after attending training camp on a professional tryout offer (PTO).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: PuckPedia indicates Grzelcyk will earn $1 million on this contract. He’ll provide experienced puck-moving ability to the rebuilding Blackhawks’ blueline. He’s coming off a career-best 40-point performance with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.
DAILY FACEOFF: 43 players hit the NHL waiver wire on Sunday. Several goaltenders were among them, including Michael DiPietro of the Boston Bruins, Kaapo Kahkonen of the Montreal Canadiens, Nico Daws of the New Jersey Devils, Mads Sogaard of the Ottawa Senators, and Clay Stevenson of the Washington Capitals.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’ll be interesting to see if DiPietro and Stevenson clear. Both were frequently mentioned as potential waiver targets in the rumor mill.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers lost goaltender Brandon Bussi to the Carolina Hurricanes via waivers.
SPORTSNET: Tampa Bay Lightning centers Carter Schmidt and Gage Goncalves were fined for cross-checking Florida Panthers forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues during Saturday’s fight-filled preseason game.
Lightning winger Scott Sabourin will have a hearing for roughing Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. Lightning defenseman JJ Moser will have one for boarding Panthers winger Jesper Boqvist.
CBS SPORTS: Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kyle Burroughs (upper body) was placed on injured reserve.
Lyle, do all rosters have to be confirmed by 5:00 pm today?
My understanding is that teams have to be cap compliant and roster size compliant (max 23 active players) by 5 pm Eastern today.
Thanks foleyd … thought it was something like that … just couldn’t find any specific reference anywhere.
sort of explains why so few waiver claims are made on the final cuts – something like 45 yesterday – since picking a player up would mean being able to absorb their cap hit (e.g. Kampf the other day) and either optioning a player needing waivers to make room or a waiver-exempt player who had performed well enough in pre-season to have earned a spot.
And what the heck is going on in San Jose where they’ll be coughing up $25 million to 3 players to NOT play?
George, I don’t have any insight into which of these contracts is insured, but have to think they all are or SJ wouldn’t have done this.
That aside, Ray, I just can’t see the purpose of it where the Sharks are concerned. Neither guy they sent to the Flyers – Carl Grundstrom and Artem Guryev – are of any significance and, in fact, it looks like Philadelphia assigned both to their AHL team, while they boost their immediate cap reserve. Yeah, the Sharks also get a 2026 6th-round pick but that, too, is insignificant – at best.
As Lyle mentioned, the Sharks had to get rid of those two contracts to remain compliant with the 50 maximum contract requirement.
Additionally, most of that $25M in contracts they have on the books are covered by insurance due to long term injuries, so this move helped SJ get the spaces open for their rookies without adding a lot of actual money to their payroll.