Connor McDavid has signed an extension with the Edmonton Oilers, as TSN's Ryan Rishaug reported that it is a two-year deal for $12.5M per season. This keeps McDavid in Edmonton for three more seasons and gives the team their window to win a Stanley Cup. At least this helps rid Edmonton of any sort of distractions as it relates to his commitment to the franchise, but now it's on the general manager and coaches to get the players around McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to a level where they can win their elusive championship.

The Oilers also signed defenceman Jake Walman to a seven-year contract extension with an AAV of $7-million.

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Buffalo got some good news as Lindy Ruff believes that both Zach Benson and Matias Samuelsson will both be good to go for the team's season opener on Thursday night. They are still missing a few bodies – notably Owen Power, Michael Kesselring, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and Jordan Greenway – but things are trending in the right direction.

Buffalo also claimed goalie Colten Ellis off waivers. With the injury to Luukkonen, it makes sense, and Ellis had a .922 save percentage across 42 games in the AHL last season and a .924 save percentage in 16 AHL games the year prior. Luukkonen and Devon Levi are still the goalies of the future, but Ellis is a name to keep tabs on nonetheless if you're in a dynasty league.

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JJ Moser was suspended for two games for his part in the Tampa Bay-Florida fracas that happened a few days ago at the end of the preseason. That there aren't a pile of suspensions coming out of that game is probably a good thing for both teams, but the Lightning will be without Moser to start the season.

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Final rosters were due across the NHL yesterday at 5 PM ET, so we now have an idea of who is, and who is not, making their respective teams' roster to start the NHL season. This is going to be a long Ramblings as we go across the league to see who is on a roster, who is on waivers, and who potentially got claimed, but there is worthy news for those in deep/dynasty formats, as well as those looking for early waiver wire moves.

Anaheim Ducks

Beckett Sennecke sure seems as if he's made a big impression with Anaheim as the third overall pick from 2024 is on the team's season-opening roster. Where he slots in remains to be seen – I remain moderately confident it's a fourth-line role just due to the depth up front – but now it's a matter of whether he can earn his place on the roster past Halloween. Either way, a positive sign for a top prospect.

The Ducks are also carrying 14 forwards and three goalies, so there are just six defencemen on the 23-man roster right now. Tristan Luneau isn't starting with the NHL club as he was sent to the AHL last week, so we'll see if-and-when he gets the call. At the least, that is a vote of confidence from the coaching staff in Olen Zellweger as he's guaranteed a full-time roster spot until they add another defenceman to the 23-man list.

Detroit Red Wings

Last week I wrote about how Axel Sandin-Pellikka seemed to be earning a role with Detroit throughout the preseason. Well, on Sunday, both Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson were put on the waiver wire by the Red Wings. With those two on waivers (both cleared), Sandin-Pellikka has earned a spot on the Detroit roster to start the season, along with Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. This is a team that desperately needs another difference-maker on the back-end after Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson, and it looks like Sandin-Pellikka will get a chance to do just that on the second or third pair to start the year.

Nashville Predators

Brady Martin was again practicing with the Predators on Monday, in the spot he's long been practicing, which is the top line with Ryan O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg. He has made the initial 23-man roster for Nashville to start the season, and now the clock starts on his tryout. We will see how things go for him over the next few weeks, but the Predators have clearly been impressed with their 2025 fifth overall pick.  

New Jersey Devils

With both Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen signed, it was always a long shot for goaltender Nico Daws to make the Devils roster, and he also hit waivers. Allen has five years left on his new deal and there have been talks about the Devils wanting to sign Markstrom to an extension, so Daws not only didn't have a spot for this season, he may not have one for years. No one claimed him, so it looks like the waiting game continues for Daws in the AHL.

Ottawa Senators

Carter Yakemchuk was sent to the AHL on Monday, so it appears the team wants him to get some more pro hockey action under his belt. The Sens also have a full blue line thanks to the Jordan Spence trade, so it's probably better for Yakemchuk to get a lot of minutes in the AHL than to sit in the press box in the NHL.

Arthur Kaliyev was among many potential Ottawa players waived on Sunday (he also cleared). Full disclosure here: I thought Kaliyev was a steal as an early second-round pick in 2019. That he's effectively been on three teams in two years and is 24 years old tells me he may have reached the end of the road in the NHL, but here are a few facts about Kaliyev:

• Among 224 forwards with at least 350 power-play minutes over the last four seasons, Kaliyev is 17^th in goals per minute, or a 92^nd percentile rate. (Evolving Hockey)
• Among 367 forwards with at least 2000 even-strength minutes over the last four seasons, he is 79^th by team-relative expected goals impact, or a 78^th percentile rate.
• Among 333 forwards with at least 200 games played over the last four seasons, he is 182^nd by turnover differential per 60 minutes, or a 45^th percentile mark. (NHL)

It seems to me there is enough here for Kaliyev to warrant a spot on an NHL team, especially somewhere a team desperately needs young forwards to grow into a regular role like Chicago, Nashville, Detroit, and Philadelphia. He wasn't claimed, so it seems the NHL at large may have seen enough from Kaliyev, but I am still a believer.   

Philadelphia Flyers

Jett Luchanko has made the opening night roster for the Flyers for the second season in a row. He only played four games last year before being sent down, and it appears likely he'll get more than that, so the question is how many more games will he play, and will he earn himself a fantasy-relevant role. Right now, it doesn't seem like it, but things can change fast.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Both Harrison Brunicke and Ben Kindel will be staying with the NHL club for the time being. As always, rookies are given limited runway to make an impact, but given the Penguins' lack of depth, they have a real chance of sticking. Let's see how the next few weeks go.

San Jose Sharks

Both Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson have made San Jose's opening night roster. How many games and how big their roles are remains to be seen, but the Sharks could use another centre to mix in with Macklin Celebrini and Alex Wennberg, and they don't have anyone who has locked down a top power-play role on the blue line just yet. Let's see how they get used before we get too excited about them breaking camp with the team.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Both Sammy Blais and Cayden Primeau were plucked off waivers by Toronto, according to PuckPedia. Blais had been in camp with Montreal while Primeau was with Carolina. We know the Leafs like to build their bottom-6 through physicality and with Joseph Woll's leave of absence, the Primeau addition gives them some more depth in net. Neither should figure much into anyone's fantasy plans, but if anything were to happen to Anthony Stolarz, Primeau could be in line for some NHL starts. We'll cross that bridge when (if) that happens.

James Reider was also released from his professional tryout.

Utah Mammoth

Dmitri Simashev is on the opening 23-man roster for the Mammoth to start the season but Daniil But is not. Before we get too excited about Simashev being on the roster, the Mammoth decided to keep eight defencemen, so it's far from certain he has a regular spot in the lineup, let alone a fantasy-relevant role.

Washington Capitals

Ethen Frank has 79 goals in his last 156 regular season AHL games but the Capitals have depth, and he turns 28 years old this winter. He cleared waivers so it seems as if there's no real interest across the league. It may very well be that he's one of those quad-A players who is too good for the AHL but doesn't have the necessary toolkit to stick in the NHL.  

Goaltender Clay Stevenson also cleared waivers. There was some social media chatter (whatever that's worth) that Stevenson would draw some interest from goalie-needy teams, but the Caps were able to hang onto him. Of course, he's a ways away from having any sort of fantasy-relevant role, but it's not a bad team to be with if he ever does get a shot.

Winnipeg Jets

Ville Heinola hit the waiver wire on Sunday. This is a guy who has shown a lot of promise as a prospect: Elite Prospects has him third by points per game in the AHL over the last four seasons among defenceman age-25 or younger. That said, a combination of being blocked at the NHL level and a couple unfortunate injuries have left him on the outside looking in. Maybe he's a Ty Smith-type who just can't translate his game, and he wasn't claimed off waivers on Monday so he's staying with the Jets. Time may be running out for him and his tenure with Winnipeg if he doesn't have a great start to the 2025-26 campaign.