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The Colorado Avalanche are trimming their blue line as training camp winds down.

Colorado placed defensemen Christian Wolanin and Domenick Fensore on waivers Wednesday afternoon, putting both players in position to be claimed by any of the NHL’s other 31 teams over the next 24 hours. Assuming they clear, both are expected to be assigned to the Colorado Eagles.

For the Avalanche, the move is part of the final roster shuffle before the regular season. Both defensemen signed one-year, two-way contracts with Colorado this summer and were brought in to provide organizational depth.

The 31-year-old Wolanin has spent most of his career bouncing between the NHL and AHL. The 2015 fourth-round pick has appeared in 79 NHL games with the Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues, recording six goals and 23 points. He hasn't played in an NHL game since appearing in 16 games for Vancouver during the 2022-23 season.

The bulk of Wolanin's production has come in the AHL. He put up 55 points in just 49 games with the Abbotsford Canucks in 2022-23 and followed that with another productive season before recording 31 points in 53 games with the Providence Bruins last year.

Fensore, meanwhile, is still trying to establish himself as an NHL regular. The 25-year-old defenseman was selected 90th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 NHL Draft and has appeared in just three NHL games. He spent last season with the AHL's Chicago Wolves, where he led the team's defensemen with 35 points in 60 games.

Both players now have to wait and see whether another NHL team makes a claim. If they go unclaimed, they'll continue their seasons with the Eagles, remaining available as potential call-up options for Colorado when injuries or roster needs arise.

The Avalanche are set to play in their third of four preseason matchups on Saturday when they face the Winnipeg Jets at Ball Arena. Puck drop is at 6:30 p.m. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed a couple of defensemen on waivers on Wednesday. The minor-league blueliners include Cole McWard and Dakota Mermis, who were placed on the wire, according to PuckPedia.

This can be viewed as the first batch of roster cuts, in terms of personnel to make the NHL lineup. McWard and Mermis have been waived because Toronto is trimming the roster as the 2026-27 campaign approaches.

There are also two players who don't feature in either split-squad roster for Wednesday's pre-season contest against the Ottawa Senators.

Since joining the NHL in 2022-23 as an undrafted player, McWard has only played a total of nine NHL games. Last year, he made just one appearance with the New York Islanders and 63 games with the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL.

The 25-year-old defenseman was signed to a two-year contract by the Maple Leafs, earning $875,000 per season against the salary cap.

Maple Leafs Unveil Rosters For Final Pre-Season Split-Squad Game Against SenatorsThe Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled their rosters for both the final pre-season games against the Ottawa Senators in a split-squad affair for Wednesday night.

As for Mermis, he has several more NHL games under his belt, featuring a total of 89 across parts of nine seasons in the league. In the past two years, he played 14 games for Toronto, scoring one goal last season in 11 contests.

Last year, Mermis played a key role in the Toronto Marlies taking home the AHL's Calder Cup. He featured in all 24 playoff games for the Marlies and recorded 10 assists.

Toronto signed Mermis back in July 2024. In the 2024-25 season, they lost him on waivers to the Utah Mammoth, but claimed him back later in the year.

Both Mermis and McWard have been paired together in Group 2 of the Maple Leafs' training camp so far. They are anticipated to be the third pairing with the Marlies, based on how they lined up in the lead-up days to the regular season.

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After their second preseason game and reaching the halfway point of training camp, the Philadelphia Flyers have made a few more cuts as their final roster begins to take shape.

Several notable prospects, like Brek Liske and Maksim Sokolovskii, for example, were sent back to junior hockey as part of the first round of cuts.

Now, it is time for some veterans and newcomers to join them, as the Flyers have clearly established which players are battling for ice time and a roster spot.

On Wednesday, it was revealed by PuckPedia that the Flyers had placed six veterans on waivers: defenseman Cam Dineen, and forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Nolan Foote, Carl Grundstrom, Jack Studnicka, and Danila Klimovich.

Of the six, Grundstrom is the biggest surprise given that he has practiced in an NHL-facing role throughout training camp, but the Flyers could also be making this move now for the sake of roster flexibility going forward.

Should Grundstrom clear waivers now, he will not have to clear waivers again until he plays in 10 regular season games or spends 30 days on the NHL roster, whichever comes first.

This would give the Flyers insurance in case Denver Barkey (lower-body) is not back by the time the regular season starts, or in the event Nikita Grebenkin (upper-body) is not yet ready for game action.

Remember, Grebenkin has not played a competitive game since March, has yet to appear in a preseason game, and spent the early portion of training camp in a yellow non-contact jersey.

Now is the time for Grebenkin to begin ramping up, though runway is short with the regular season opener just one week away now.

As for the other players, it is clear they will just be depth options over the course of the season.

Studnicka had some moments, but that was about it from the rest of the group. Klimovich was at fault for one of the Boston Bruins' goals in Tuesday night's loss.

The remaining forwards competing for roster spots on the Flyers currently include Grundstrom, Jacob Gaucher, Jett Luchanko, Cole Knuble, Grebenkin, and Riley Thompson.

The San Jose Sharks are continuing to trim down their training camp roster as we've now passed the midway point of preseason. While the majority of cuts were unsurprising, there is one that stood out a bit more than the rest.

Ethan Cardwell was one of three players placed on waivers for the purpose of reassignment to the American Hockey League, along with Tye Felhaber and Libor Hajek. Cardwell has the highest chance of being claimed of the three, as he could potentially fill a fourth line role at the NHL level for a team with a shortage of quality depth. Given his usage in preseason, it seemed that he was in contention for an NHL job this time around, but it appears that management has seen enough.

The Sharks reassigned five forwards: Andre Gasseau, Samuel Huo, Donovan Houle, Anthony Vincent, and Carson Wetsch. Four defensemen were also sent to join the Barracuda: Roland McKeown, Mack Oliphant, Leo Sahlin-Wallenius, and Phillip Sinn. Last but not least, goaltender Matt Davis was also reassigned to the AHL.

With the Sharks' training camp roster currently sitting at 36 players, we're going to see quite a few more cuts in the coming days, with the next batch likely coming after tomorrow night's game against the Anaheim Ducks.

On Tuesday night, the San Jose Sharks were back on the SAP Center's ice for the first time since April as they hosted the Vegas Golden Knights for their first home preseason game of the 2026-27 season.

In the opening moments, Dmitri Orlov showed some signs of summer rust as he gave the Golden Knights a prime scoring chance with a turnover in the neutral zone. On the other end of spectrum, Ethan Cardwell continued to show why he is in the battle for an NHL job as he had a phenomenal first shift starting with maintaining possession in the defensive zone and ended with a shot on goal.

A broken stick gave the Sharks' fourth line a decent chance roughly five minutes into the game, as the Golden Knights' pass was off line and landed directly on the blade of Patrick Giles, although nothing came of it. 

Alex Wennberg caught a puck up high on his birthday, causing a whistle with 12:59 remaining in the first. Nolan Allan then went on to make his presence felt with a huge old-school body check on Alexander Holtz.

In the middle of the period, the combination of Michael Misa and Igor Chernyshov seemed to be thriving, as they were generating some solid changes in transition. Patrick Giles on the other hand had a dangerous giveaway behind the Sharks' net, but he immediately made up for it with a massive hit just a second later. 

Luca Cagnoni almost connected with Misa for a deflection in front of the net at one stage but it bounced off the post, then moments later, the young defenseman hit the pipe on his own shot.

After 20 minutes of play, the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 but the Sharks had generated some quality scoring chances.

Collin Graf appeared to have an equipment issue right off the draw to start the second period, causing the Sharks' lines to be jumbled for a bit while he got his skate blades replaced on the bench. 

The Sharks somehow didn't score a goal with 11:36 remaining in the middle frame. A sprawled out Carter Hart was able to deny a backhand chance by Stenberg, that should've found the back of the net. A minute later, Yaroslav Askarov had a bit of showmanship himself, raising his glove up in the face of Jonas Rondbjerg after a glove save. 

The second period seemed to fly by with few specific notable moments. Luca Cagnoni and the aforementioned Askarov were definitely the standouts of the period, as Askarov appeared to have much more confidence. Cagnoni also had quite a bit of confidence and was timing his pinches from the blue line perfectly and helping generate offense from the blue line, even if the Sharks had yet to score in the "Power Bite Farewell Tour."

Michael Misa finally broke the deadlock, and officially got the previously mentioned Farewell Tour underway, when he scored a power play goal 4:16 into the third period. The power play had generated quite a few chances, but one finally made its way past Hart. The Sharks' lead didn't last long though, as Alex Holtz tied it up for the Golden Knights four minutes later. 

Cagnoni got outmuscled heavily in front of his own net around the midway point of the period by Jakub Demek. Given Demek's seven-inch height advantage and 32 pounds on Cagnoni, it's not unexpected, but does show one of the Sharks' defenseman's biggest flaws. With his stature, he's going to be pushed around fairly regularly by bigger opposition and there's obviously nothing that can really be done about that. 

Tyler Toffoli and Igor Chernyshov had an opportunity to restore the Sharks' lead on a nice give-and-go passing play, but despite Hart being out of position, Toffoli got the shot off too late and put it in the side of the net rather than scoring. 

The game remained tied throughout the rest of the third period and went into overtime. Despite quite a few chances for both sides, neither team scored in the 3-on-3 period and the game went to a shootout. 

The Sharks ultimately went on to fall in the shootout, losing to the Golden Knights 2-1.