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The Buffalo Sabres placed veteran goaltender Alexandar Georgiev on waivers for the purpose of contract termination on Sunday, according to multiple reports. In the process of becoming a free agent and after a rough year or so in the NHL, Georgiev will be returning to the KHL.

When he signed with the Sabres in September, veteran goaltender Alexandar Georgiev was hopeful of a road back to becoming a starter in the NHL.

It wasn't long ago that Georgiev was the No. 1 guy for the Colorado Avalanche. During his first two seasons with the Avs, in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, he made 62 starts. In those two seasons, Georgiev put together a 78-34-11 record.

However, after he was dealt to the San Jose Sharks early last season, Georgiev’s numbers took a hit, as he posted a 7-19-4 record, a 3.88 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage. 

Thus, when Georgiev became a UFA this summer, no team inked a deal with him.

Then, when he signed a one-year contract with the Sabres in September, he was still well down the organizational depth chart between the pipes.

He sat behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon, as well as youngsters Colten Ellis, who joined the team on waivers on Oct. 6, and Devon Levi. With only one net and a handful of goalies in the system, there’s not enough ice time to go around.

So, it wasn’t a surprise that Georgiev had his Sabres contract waived, with reports he’s headed overseas to join Spartak Moscow of the KHL next.

Earlier this month, we saw another NHL-caliber goalie, Ilya Samsonov, sign a contract in the KHL.

Samsonov got the job security of a two-year deal in the KHL after NHL interest dried up, remaining without a contract well past the off-season.

The goaltending business is a cruel and fickle one, and Georgiev and Samsonov have followed a different path in their best interest, allowing them to play regularly in their home nation. 

Samsonov's decision has paid off so far in terms of his performance on the ice. In five appearances for Sochi, he's recorded a .931 SP and a 2.54 GAA.

Samsonov's Return To The KHL Reveals Cruel Reality Of The Goaltending MarketIlya Samsonov's return to the KHL shows that it's not easy for veteran goaltenders of his stature to find security in the NHL. Teams are hesitant to give that term, while that security is what goaltenders look for.

In Georgiev's two full seasons with the Avalanche, he started 124 games out of 164 games, numbers that don't often come around in the NHL anymore. Nonetheless, it was tough for Georgiev to become a regularly-picked goalie with teams following other plans in their pipeline. 

Georgiev did feature in two games with the AHL's Rochester Americans in an effort to remain with an NHL organization, but evidently, the team and player have moved on.

In the end, the interest simply wasn’t there for Georgiev anymore. At the quarter mark of the season, no team saw a fit or opportunity for him.

As it was with Samsonov, going home made a lot of sense for Georgiev. With the chance to return and play in his home country and be held in higher regard than he was in North America, could you really blame him? 

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The Montreal Canadiens have added to their center depth, as they have signed forward Alexandre Texier to a one-year, $1 million contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. 

Texier signing with the Canadiens comes after he mutually terminated his contract with the St. Louis Blues. Texier had been linked to the Canadiens before this signing came to fruition, so it is understandable that he is now officially heading to Montreal.

Texier will now provide the Canadiens with another center with experience, which is certainly a need when looking at their injury trouble. The 26-year-old will also be looking to bounce back after getting this change of scenery.

Texier played in eight games this season with the Blues before getting his contract terminated, where he recorded one assist. This is after he had six goals and 11 points in 31 games for the Blues this past season. 

Texier has shown in the past that he has the potential to chip in decent secondary offensive production. During the 2023-24 season with the Blue Jackets, he recorded career highs with 12 goals, 18 assists, and 30 points. He also posted 11 goals and 20 points in just 36 games with Columbus in 2021-22. 

Texier has played in 240 career NHL games over seven seasons split between the Blue Jackets and Blues, where he has recorded 40 goals and 91 points. It will be interesting to see how he builds upon these career stats after joining the Canadiens from here. 

Following his contract termination on Saturday, Alexandre Texier has signed a new contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Texier inked a one-year deal not long after he departed from the St. Louis Blues. This new contract pays Texier $1 million per year.

Montreal has been trying to manage a truckload of injuries on its roster, and bringing on Texier can give Martin St-Louis’ team some more depth and bodies.

Texier’s agent, Dan Milstein, announced the signing with a social media post on X.

The 26-year-old has played eight NHL games this season with the Blues. In that span, he recorded one assist, as well as a couple of penalty minutes.

With that, Texier has been averaging a career-low 10:15 of ice time this season. His ice time in a single match has gone as low as 5:33 on Oct. 18 in a win against the Dallas Stars.

His last NHL appearance came against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 6. Since then, he hasn’t featured for the Blues and was sent down to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday.

NHL Waivers: Blues' Texier, Sabres' Geertsen Hit The WireThe Blues and Sabres placed Alexandre Texier and Mason Geertsen on NHL waivers and can be assigned to the AHL if no other team claims them by Friday.

Before his termination, Texier was in the final year of a two-year contract worth $2.1 million per season. He signed that deal after St. Louis acquired him in a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets in return for a fourth-round pick in 2025.

Texier was a second-round pick by the Blue Jackets in 2017 and went on to play parts of five campaigns with them. 

His best season statistically was in his final season with Columbus in 2023-24. He scored 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points while averaging 15:11 of ice time. 

Not only was that a career-high in goals, assists and points, but also games played, featuring in 78 contests. In any other season in his career, he hasn’t come close to playing 78 regular-season games.

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The New York Islanders will be without Alexander Romanov will be out 5-6 months. He will be having surgery on his right shoulder. 

The injury occured after Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen hit him from behind with 27.3 seconds to play in regulation on Tuesday night.

Rantanen received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Romanov needed assistance off the ice.

On Wednesday evening, Romanov was placed on injured reserve. 

Islanders Place Alexander Romanov On Injured ReserveRomanov's season takes another hit. The defenseman lands on IR with an upper-body injury, sidelining him for crucial games.

Romanov, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery toward the tail end of the 2022-23 season, missed 18 games in 2024-25 with an upper-body injury. He had missed six games already this season for the same reason.

The 25-year-old, who signed an eight-year deal worth $6.25 million annually this summer, has recorded one assist in 15 games this season, averaging 19:27 minutes per game, skating on the third defense pairing.

He is expected to be fully recovered in time for training camp ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season.

Dallas Stars superstar Mikko Rantanen has been issued a one-game suspension by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Sunday.

This suspension is a result of Rantanen’s actions in Dallas’ last game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. But it’s also related to what transpired in the late stages of the Stars’ contest against the New York Islanders on Nov. 18.

Against the Flames, Rantanen was handed a 10-minute game misconduct, among other penalties, for boarding right winger Matt Coronato. 

Just two games before that in Long Island, Rantanen also received a 10-minute misconduct for boarding Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov.

The Islanders announced that Romanov will be out for 5-6 months and is required to undergo shoulder surgery as a result of the Rantanen hit.

'That's My Coach': Fans React To Patrick Roy's Fiery Response To Rantanen Boarding RomanovPatrick Roy was not happy with Dallas Stars right winger Mikko Rantanen, who received a game misconduct for boarding New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov.

The Finnish superstar committed two game misconduct penalties in short order, and that’s what led to this one-game suspension.

NHL Player Safety provided a statement on Rantanen’s punishment.

“Dallas' Mikko Rantanen has been automatically suspended for one game under Rule 23.6, Physical Infractions Category,” they said. “In regular season League games, any player who incurs a total of two game misconduct penalties in the Physical Infractions Category, before playing in 41 consecutive regular season League games without such penalty, shall be suspended automatically for the next League game of his team.”

Rantanen will miss Dallas’ next game against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

This suspension comes just a few days after Rantanen was fined $2,000 for embellishment. While he was slapped with the fine on Friday, this incident took place on Nov. 11 when Dallas took on the Ottawa Senators.

In 22 appearances this season, Rantanen has scored 10 goals and 28 points for the Stars. In addition to his elite ability to score and put up points, he now leads the NHL in penalty minutes, accumulating 57 in the campaign so far.

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