Yesterday was a notably busy day for hockey, as all 32 NHL clubs took the ice as part of the league\u2019s \u201cFrozen Frenzy\u201d programming. As a result, today\u2019s calendar of games is light, with just one NHL game to be played: the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets. With that said, that doesn\u2019t mean there aren\u2019t games played in the wider world of pro hockey \u2013 the AHL has 12 games set to be played tonight, and numerous European pro leagues have also had games today.<\/p>\n
Player movement outside the NHL has a similarly high level of activity, and here we\u2019ll run down the notable moves of the past few days from around the world of professional hockey:<\/p>\n
170-game NHL veteran Nic Petan<\/a> terminated his contract<\/a> with Swiss pro side HC Ambri-Piotta today, ending a 15-game stint with the club that has gone very poorly. The 30-year-old signed a two-year deal with Ambri-Piotta this past summer with the expectation that he\u2019d be one of the team\u2019s most relied-upon offensive generators. But through 15 games, Petan has registered only four points. It wasn\u2019t an issue of ice time, as he\u2019s averaged nearly 17 minutes of time per game and two minutes of power-play time per game, both he and Ambri-Piotta as a whole have struggled immensely to put the puck in the net. That hasn\u2019t been a problem for Petan for most of his (non-NHL) pro career, as he\u2019s a former AHL All-Star who once led the entire CHL in scoring. He has 289 points in 296 career AHL games and was one of the AHL\u2019s highest-paid two-way players, with a $550K AHL salary when he last played, but that sterling track record wasn\u2019t able to translate to Switzerland. He\u2019ll now look for a new landing spot to continue his pro career.
\nLada Togliatti, one of the KHL\u2019s worst teams so far this season, made a few player moves today. First, they placed<\/a> 23-year-old Canadian forward Joshua Lawrence<\/a> on waivers, placing in question the player\u2019s KHL future. Lawrence, who is the brother of Tynan Lawrence<\/a>, one of the top-ranked prospects for the 2026 draft, is an undrafted player who worked his way up the European pro hockey ladder to reach the KHL. After his time as a star scorer in the QMJHL ended, Lawrence played almost two highly-successful seasons in the Swiss second division before getting the chance to finish 2024-25 in Liiga with Lahti Pelicans. his 13 points in 22 games for the Pelicans earned him a shot in the KHL with Lada, but after scoring just two points in 14 games, he\u2019s been waived.
\nTo reinforce their forward group in the absence of Lawrence, Lada signed<\/a> two KHL veterans to one-year contracts: Nikita Setdikov<\/a> and Anton Burdasov<\/a>. Setdikov, 30, brings nearly 300 games of KHL experience to the table, and he most recently played for Barys Astana, scoring 18 points in 51 games. The year prior, he was one of the top scorers for Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik, scoring 30 points in 57 games. Burdasov, 34, has 663 games of KHL experience, and is a Gagarin Cup Champion as well as a former All-Star. He also played in Astana last season to limited success, but was a high-end, near point-per-game scorer as recently as 2022-23.
\nFormer Boston Bruins farmhand Zane McIntyre<\/a> has returned to the North American pro game after spending a year overseas. The 33-year-old netminder has signed a contract with the ECHL\u2019s Tahoe Knight Monsters, per the league\u2019s official transactions report<\/a>. McIntyre spent last season with the Straubing Tigers of the German DEL, playing in 28 games to an .889 save percentage and 2.67 goals-against average. Among the 23 DEL goalies with at least 15 games played last year, McIntyre\u2019s .889 save percentage ranked 22nd. With this newly-signed contract, he\u2019s returning to the North American minor leagues, where he\u2019s had quite a bit more success. A former top NCAA netminder, McIntyre has played in 300 AHL games and is a former All-Star. Since expected starter Jordan Papirny<\/a> was recalled<\/a> to the Henderson Silver Knights yesterday, McIntyre could get the chance to hold down the fort for the Knight Monsters for as long as Papirny remains in the AHL.
\nFormer New York Rangers prospect Nico Gross<\/a> signed a three-year contract extension<\/a> with his current club, HC Davos of the Swiss NL. A 2018 fourth-rounder of the Rangers, Gross hasn\u2019t played pro hockey in North America to this point in his career, but appears to have settled in nicely in the top pro league of his home country. Gross won two NL titles with EV Zug in 2021 and 2022 before transferring to Davos in advance of the 2024-25 season. This extension comes at a somewhat curious time for Gross. His ice time has declined sharply so far in 2025-26 \u2013 Gross is averaging 14:28 time-on-ice per game so far this season, per the NL\u2019s stats page<\/a>, but averaged 16:59 time-on-ice per game last season.
\nFormer Chicago Blackhawks prospect Milton Oscarson<\/a> signed a three-year extension with \u00d6rebro HK of the SHL, according to a team announcement<\/a>. The Blackhawks spent a sixth-round pick at the 2023 entry draft to acquire him, but after he wasn\u2019t able to develop offensively at the SHL level, they elected to let their exclusive rights to sign him expire this past summer. Although he hasn\u2019t scored much, Oscarson has been a regular player for \u00d6rebro for more than three years now, and is currently playing 14:10 per game for the team, good for seventh among \u00d6rebro forwards.
\nAfter playing just six games for the team, the WHL\u2019s Spokane Chiefs traded<\/a> 2007-born defenseman Caden Campion<\/a> to the WHL\u2019s Wenatchee Wild in exchange for an eighth-round selection at the 2029 WHL Prospects Draft. The 6\u20191 right-shot blueliner spent last season in the BCHL, splitting his year between the Chilliwack Chiefs and Alberni Valley Bulldogs. Drafted 29th overall in the 2023 USHL Futures Draft, Campion\u2019s WHL career hasn\u2019t started off in ideal fashion, but this trade provides him with the chance to get a fresh start with a new team.
\nGavin Gould<\/a>, a two-time WCHA Champion with the Michigan Tech Huskies, has retired from pro hockey, per a social media announcement<\/a>. Gould, 29, won back-to-back conference titles in his first two years playing college hockey but wasn\u2019t able to build on that momentum in his final two years in the NCAA. He began his pro career in 2021 in the ECHL, and bounced between five different ECHL clubs across his nearly 200-game career. Gould\u2019s most productive stretch came in 2021-22, when he scored 26 points in 23 games for the Allen Americans after a mid-season move from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.<\/p>\n