All 32 NHL teams submitted their rosters for opening night, but not every player on a tryout earned a contract.
While Chicago’s Matt Grzelcyk, Carolina’s Givani Smith and the New York Rangers’ Conor Sheary did earn contracts, most veterans on tryouts didn’t.
With that in mind, here are three notable players that had been on PTOs this fall but were released and now have to try to earn a contract elsewhere or call it quits.
Jack Johnson, D, Minnesota Wild
Career stats: 1,228 GP, 77 G, 265 A, 342 PTS
2025-26 pre-season stats: 3 GP, 1 A, plus-2, 2 S
It feels like the tryout was the last chance for 38-year-old Johnson, a 19-year veteran who won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021.
The Wild – a deep team on defense – ultimately didn’t have a place for Johnson, and it’s highly unlikely a team takes a chance on him now that his PTO didn’t get him the job he was looking for.
At best, Johnson can be seen as a third-pair, low-event, low-reward blueliner. Can he hang with veteran greybeards Brent Burns and Drew Doughty as an accomplished veteran who still has something to offer at the NHL level? Minnesota didn’t think so, but there may be a team willing to bring Johnson aboard if they run into health concerns on the back end. Otherwise, Johnson’s playing career may well be at an end.
James Reimer, G, Toronto Maple Leafs
Career stats: 525 GP, 225-187-65, 2.89 GAA, .910 SP, 31 SO
2025-26 pre-season stats: 1 GP, 7.36 GAA, .857 SP
Reimer is 37, and while it’s an accomplishment for him to have made 525 appearances in hockey’s top league, the fact the Maple Leafs chose to pick up Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cayden Primeau off the waiver wire tells you all you need to know about Reimer coming up short in training camp.
Reimer did not play well in the pre-season, allowing four goals on 28 shots in about 33 minutes of action. His choice to return to Toronto may be the chapter to bookend his NHL career.
The netminder was alright at the end of last season with the Buffalo Sabres, posting a 10-8-2 record, 2.90 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. But unless an NHL team suffers an injury to one of their netminders, there simply may not be another NHL opportunity for him.
Five NHL Veterans Who Cleared Waivers Years After Their Last AHL Game
A handful
of NHL veterans found themselves on the other side of the waiver wire in the
past week.
Robby Fabbri, LW, Pittsburgh Penguins
Career stats: 442 GP, 106 G, 110 A, 216 PTS
2025-26 pre-season stats: 4 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, 6 S
Only two years ago, Fabbri tied a career-best 18 goals and 32 points in 68 games with the Detroit Red Wings, but his totals fell to eight goals and 16 points in 44 games this past season.
For Fabbri’s $4-million cap hit, those numbers were a significant overpayment, and when free agency came calling this summer, there were few takers for the 29-year-old. While three points in four games are pretty decent, the Penguins want to play younger players, so Fabbri just wasn’t a fit.
If Fabbri can’t get a contract here, his best move may be to play professionally in a European league this season. He doesn’t have much, if any leverage contractually, and even the Penguins didn’t see a job opening for him right now. Beggars can’t be choosers, so Fabbri may ultimately choose a more significant payday in Europe than the best (or only) one he can get in the NHL.
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