Ohio State stays in the field after losing to Michigan and Arizona State steps up to win the Big 12 and earns an opening-round bye in the final USA TODAY Sports College Football Playoff bracketology of the regular season.

The nine Bowl Subdivision conference championship games set to be played on Friday and Saturday will settle the debate once and for all before the playoff selection committee unveils the final rankings early on Sunday afternoon.

The Buckeyes’ fourth loss in a row to the Wolverines sends them from a potential top-four seed to a rematch with Indiana in the opening round. Ohio State is projected to be one of four host teams in this first round, joining Notre Dame, Georgia and Penn State.

SMU winning the ACC would be great news for Alabama, which is poised to be the last team in the field should the Mustangs beat Clemson. That would send the Crimson Tide into a must-see matchup in South Bend against the Fighting Irish.

And in the Big 12, Arizona State is projected to beat Iowa State and rise above Boise State in the final rankings. The Sun Devils would then finish among the top four conference champions and have a bye into the quarterfinals.

WINNERS AND LOSERS: Ohio State, Alabama boosted by CFP committee

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Alabama joins playoff, while Texas, SMU move up

College Football Playoff bracket projection

The Big Ten and the SEC lead the way with four teams in the bracket: Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana from the former and Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama from the latter.

A ninth spot goes to Notre Dame, which has won 10 in a row and is playing by far the best football of the program’s Marcus Freeman era. Rounding out the field are SMU, Boise State from and Arizona State.

As noted, a Clemson win against SMU would very likely knock out Alabama. While Arizona State is projected to pass Boise State with a win, the same can’t necessarily be said of Iowa State should it top the Sun Devils.

Four teams to watch

Army

The Black Knights’ odds of reaching the playoff low given the ranked matchup between Boise State and UNLV to settle the Mountain West. Army could’ve moved into the lead in the Group of Five by upsetting Notre Dame two weeks ago. Another avenue closed when Tulane lost to Memphis, robbing the Black Knights of a potential ranked win.

South Carolina

In the end, the Gamecocks will be unable to overcome losses to the Alabama and Mississippi. Those head-to-head results overshadowed a torrid run through the second half of the regular season that included three wins against ranked competition.

Miami

Miami’s chances of reaching the playoff come in somewhere between slim and none after losing to Syracuse to fall out of the ACC title game. That erased one question that loomed over the conference: Could the Hurricanes get into the playoff at 11-2 with a loss to SMU? Obviously, any chance the ACC had of sending two teams into the bracket were evaporated by Miami’s second loss.

Indiana

The Hoosiers benefited from some anarchy in the SEC to stay a rock-solid playoff pick even after November’s one-sided loss to Ohio State. But Indiana also earned this chance by dominating nearly every team on this year’s schedule, closing things out with a 66-0 rout of rival Purdue.

Warren believes his team’s vacant job will be “the most coveted” in the NFL this year, citing rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, a wealth of other young talent and plenty of salary cap room to fill in the holes.

“I am confident, I am energized, I am excited about this unique opportunity,” Warren said Monday. “We will get this right, and we’ll be sitting up here in the future at some point in time – we’ll look back on this day and say this was the day that we really started pointing in the right direction to build the franchise that all of us know that we want to build.”

And therein lies the problem. This is a team in a perpetual state of distress, careening from one bad decision to another no matter who’s in charge. Why should anyone have any faith that this time it’s going to be different?

The only reason Warren and general manager Ryan Poles were meeting with the media was because of the team’s historic decision to fire a coach midseason, and the shambolic way in which it happened.  

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

The Bears let Matt Eberflus meet with the media Friday, a day after that Thanksgiving Day debacle seen by the entire country, only to fire him a few hours later. It was a humiliation no coach deserves, regardless of how inept, and you can be sure Eberflus’ potential successors took note of it.

While Warren acknowledged the team could have done better – ya think? – he insisted they weren’t intentionally trying to make Eberflus look like a fool. Rather, he said, they had not decided his future yet.

“I think you know me. I think you know Ryan. I think you know George McCaskey, and I think you know the McCaskey family. One thing we stand for is family, integrity and doing it the right way,” Warren said.

Yet this was the complete opposite.

Look, everyone knew Eberflus was getting fired. His late-game decisions were atrocious, the Bears were undisciplined and they are in danger of hampering Williams’ development just as they did with Justin Fields. The question was when, and the last-second brain lapse that cost the Bears a chance to upset the Detroit Lions on national TV gave the team no choice.

So either Warren isn’t being truthful, which is bad, or the Bears are completely incompetent and unprepared, which is worse. Either way, it should be a very large and very red flag to anyone considering attaching themselves to the Bumbling Bears.

But it’s not the only one!

Poles is in his third season as GM. While the Bears have never said how long his contract is, he and the new coach are unlikely to be in alignment unless the team extends Poles. Which means if the Bears continue to struggle, he is likely out and whomever Poles hires as coach is going to be on an island.

Unless, of course, they both get fired at the same time. Which, given Chicago’s recent history, is entirely possible!

“We’re open to talking through that,” Poles said when asked about the potential mismatch. “I think if you just ask around in this building, how we treat people, that shouldn’t be an issue at all.”

Just going to ignore the flames still smoldering from that PR dumpster fire that was Eberflus’ firing, I see.

Poles has his own shortcomings – he hired Eberflus in the first place and either signed off on or didn’t stop Eberflus from hiring Shane Waldron as the offensive coordinator – but he has Warren’s support. Poles also should have a better understanding of what kind of coach Chicago needs – cough, offensive-minded, cough – given the personnel they have.

But as any Bears fan will tell you, they’ve been here before.

The Bears have been putting the fun in dysfunction for, oh, about 30 years now. Go ahead. Google Dave McGinnis. Marc Trestman. That loss to the hated Green Bay Packers in the NFC title game. Ryan Pace squandering the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft. Pretty much every one of the losses this season.

While some teams seem to have success and professionalism in their DNA, others simply do not. The Bears might not be quite the train wreck of the New York Jets or the Las Vegas Raiders, but they’re not far off. They’ve been turning the corner for so long now they don’t even recognize they’ve been going in circles.

The one constant in all of this is the McCaskey family. Fans have been begging them for years to sell the team, but that’s not going to happen. The Bears aren’t just a team or an investment for the McCaskeys. As the daughter and grandchildren of George ‘Papa Bear’ Halas, the Bears are their identity. They’ve been criticized for running the team like a family business, but that’s what it is.

So here the Bears are again. Management and fans have to have faith that this latest reboot is going to work because what choice is there? For those considering taking the Bears job, however, buyer beware.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

The best way to understand the kicking woes of Baltimore’s Justin Tucker is to ask another kicker what the hell is going on. So I did. In fact, I asked one of the best to ever do it.

Lawrence Tynes kicked game-winning field goals in two NFC title games to send the Giants to the Super Bowl. Tynes, who played for three NFL teams between 2001 and 2013, was one of the most clutch kickers of his generation. He won two Super Bowls.

What Tynes says matters and what he thinks has happened to Tucker is extremely interesting.

‘From the couch, looking on,’ Tynes told USA TODAY Sports, ‘he has a mechanical flaw that was causing him to pull all his kicks. Does not look like he was able to fix what was causing that and continues to miss left in-game.

‘I say in-game because I am sure he was able to fix it in practice. Games are different.’

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Bill Belichick said something similar on the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast.

‘Obviously there’s something that’s a little bit off from a technique standpoint,’ Belichick explained, ‘but I don’t see that there’s like a lack of talent. I think there’s something mechanically that he’s not doing consistently. If you have the key to unlock that problem, then probably everything could be great.

‘But clearly this extends back even to last year a little bit, too, because there was some accuracy issues last year in the ‘23 season as well as the current season. So I think Coach (John) Harbaugh is doing the right thing. I would stick with Justin Tucker. This guy was the most accurate kicker in the history of football. He gets great height on the ball. He’s been super consistent. He’s obviously having a little bit of a rough patch right here, but it doesn’t look to me like his talent level has declined. There’s something mechanically that just isn’t quite right all the time. I think they just gotta work hard and try to find that.’

Tucker has missed five kicks in the last three games. For Tucker, this is like an ordinary kicker missing 50. Tucker is The Avengers of kickers. (Not sure if he’s Thor or Iron Man or Captain Marvel or the guy with the arrows, but you get it.)

Overall, what’s happening to him now is one of the wildest stories not just in the NFL, but in all of sports.

But enough of Belichick. Back to Tynes. And for the record, as a kicking nerd, I could listen to Tynes for days. He’s utterly fascinating.

‘Inevitably, you can overcompensate for a left miss, and miss right, which he did Sunday,’ Tynes continued.

Tucker missed an extra point and two field goals during Baltimore’s 24-19 loss to Philadelphia.

‘To summarize,’ he said, ‘he is struggling mentally, that’s the bottom line.’

How does Tucker fix this? No one knows. If they did, it would have already been fixed.

What’s clear is that the Ravens have a difficult choice. Harbaugh can stick with Tucker and hope he works out his issues. If he does, the team would continue on, and make a deep playoff run.

Or, Harbaugh can stick with Tucker, and if the kicker doesn’t work out his issues, he could miss a kick that costs the team a playoff game.

These are not easy choices.

As he often does, Tynes perfectly summarized everything.

‘He is the best kicker of all time who has never even had a mini-slump in his career,’ Tynes said. ‘This is his first one and if we’re being honest, he is not handling it well. Would hate to be the Ravens right now because yes, you believe he can fix it, but what if he doesn’t and you lose a playoff game because of him?’

Yeah, this is not easy for the Ravens.

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Let me take you to a cold Connecticut suburb, and the vision of a man nestled in front of a roaring fire with a hot cup of joe.

Now imagine Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of content, watching in horror as the cable giant’s hottest property was kneecapped by the College Football Playoff selection committee chairman. The biggest weekend of the college football season, followed a day later by the grand reveal of the new 12-team CFP, all minimized with one statement about championship week.

One wildly improper statement.

‘Those who are not playing (during championship week), we will not adjust those teams,’ said Warde Manuel, Michigan’s athletic director and the CFP selection committee chairman. ‘They don’t have another data point, obviously.’

No, not obviously. Not at all.

If Georgia beats Texas in the SEC championship game – far and away the best conference in college football – that isn’t another data point for Ole Miss? The same Ole Miss stranded on the bubble as the No.13 team in the poll?

The same Ole Miss that would then have an 18-point win over the champion of the best conference in college football? That’s not a data point?

The same Ole Miss that would then have a win over the No. 2 team, and a 24-point win at the No. 14 team (South Carolina). And three one-possession losses, two on prayer fourth-down throws from Kentucky and LSU.

As opposed to a resume of 11 wins vs. a schedule of every team with at least five losses.

This can’t be what we’ve come to with the new 12-team CFP.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s CFP pitch: we’re good, really, we are!

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s CFP pitch: The team that won the SEC? We beat them by 18.

I don’t want to be the guy that has to keep saying this, but what in the world is Indiana doing in the CFP? Because if you take Manuel at his word – and I’m still not convinced he didn’t inadvertently misspeak under the pressure of live television (it’s easy to do) – there is no movement in the poll outside of the teams playing this weekend.

WINNERS AND LOSERS: Ohio State, Alabama get boost from CFP committee

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Alabama enters playoff field, while Texas, SMU move up

That means Indiana, which has no wins vs. the playoff committee’s top 25 and one loss of 23 points at Ohio State, is in the tournament. If we’re going to start awarding CFP bids to teams with one loss, why not hand one to Army?

The Black Knights are beating teams by an average of 17 points per game, and their only blemish is a blowout loss to No. 4 Notre Dame. This, of course, is ridiculous to the committee because Army plays in the American Athletic, and has an considerably easier path than Indiana.

Which is just like Indiana and its easier path than Ole Miss.

These are 12 precious spots, a ticket to the big show that should be earned, not allowed because of some random ideal that less losses is more important that big wins. What exactly are we promoting here by sending Indiana to the CFP?

That those who are fortunate to receive a randomly easier schedule than others, get a significant break on the road to the CFP? That’s utterly preposterous.

I don’t blame Indiana, I blame the selection committee. If those 13 members choosing the 12-team playoff can’t look at each other and admit the relative ease of schedule for Indiana is the factor in its school-record 11 wins, we’ve got much bigger problems with this system.

Indiana is a nice story, just like it was in 2020. That season, the Hoosiers were screwed out of a spot in the Big Ten championship game when the conference changed the return to play rules to get Ohio State into the marquee game.

Ohio State won the Big Ten, upset Clemson in the playoff semifinals, and lost to Alabama in the national championship game. Indiana lost to 5-5 Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl.

We’re not really doing this, are we? We’re not really rewarding a team for simply winning games against overmatched competition

Instead of rewarding a team that won games against elite competition.

This can’t be what we’ve come to with the 12-team CFP.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

The NHL season is two months old, and there have been seven trades, plus extensions signed by Jake Oettinger, Alexis Lafreniere, Linus Ullmark and others.

Other top players also remain eligible for extensions, including Igor Shesterkin, Mikko Rantanen, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Brock Boeser.

There will be more trades as teams build toward a Stanley Cup run or make moves for their long-term future. Here are key dates to watch: the holiday roster freeze in December, the league’s break for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and the trade deadline in early March.

Follow along here this season for signings, trades, transactions and other news from the NHL:

Dec. 4: Stars’ Tyler Seguin to have hip surgery, miss 4-6 months

The Dallas Stars announced that forward Tyler Seguin will have surgery on his left hip on Thursday and is expected to miss four to six months. That timeline would have him out of the lineup until near the end of the regular season or into the playoffs. Seguin, 32, had been having a strong season, ranking third on the team with 20 points in 19 games.

4 NATIONS FACE-OFF: Rosters being announced

Nov. 30: Wild acquire defenseman David Jiricek from Blue Jackets

The Minnesota Wild acquired former first-round pick David Jiricek, 21, from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a package that includes 22-year-old defenseman Daemon Hunt and a package of draft picks including a top-five protected 2025 first-round pick. Jiricek, a 2022 sixth-overall pick who had been sent to American Hockey League, will report to the Wild’s AHL team. The other picks heading to Columbus: 2026 third- and fourth-rounders and a 2027 second-rounder. The Wild get a 2025 fifth-round pick.

Nov. 30: Predators, Avalanche swap goaltenders

The Colorado Avalanche acquired backup goalie Scott Wedgewood from the Nashville Predators for backup goalie Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick. The Avalanche, who have the league’s third-worst team goals-against average, were expected to make some sort of goaltending move but not necessarily this one. Annunen, 24, has slightly better stats this season, but he’s a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Wedgewood, 32, who was signed in the offseason and played five games for the Predators, has another year left on his contract.

Also: The NHL fined Boston’s Nikita Zadorov and Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin $5,000 each for an exchange in Friday’s game. Zadorov poked Malkin with his stick from the bench, and the Penguins star responded with a slash toward the bench, hitting Mason Lohrei.

Nov. 25: Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov in concussion protocol

Carolina Hurricanes goalie Pytor Kochetkov is in concussion protocol after being injured on a fluke play in Saturday’s game, coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters. Kochetkov, who’s out indefinitely, was reaching out to make a poke check in overtime when he was accidentally knocked over by teammate Sean Walker, who was defending against the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski. Kochetkov replaced by Spencer Martin, who lost in a shootout.

Kochetkov’s injury means the Hurricanes are missing their top two goaltenders. Frederik Andersen had knee surgery and will be out eight to 12 weeks. Martin and Yaniv Perets are the goalie tandem for now as the team faces a tough stretch against the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers and back-to-back games against the Florida Panthers. But the Hurricanes will get back forward Seth Jarvis, who missed seven games with an upper-body injury.

Nov. 25: Penguins acquire Philip Tomasino from Predators

Philip Tomasino (one point in 11 games) is the final year of his contract so the struggling Nashville Predators get something in return, a 2027 fourth-round pick. The equally struggling Pittsburgh Penguins get another person for their bottom six. The former first-round pick’s best season was 32 points as a rookie in 2021-22.

Nov. 24: Blues fire coach Drew Bannister, hire Jim Montgomery

In a surprising move, the St. Louis Blues on Sunday fired Drew Bannister after less than a year as coach, replacing him with former Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery.

The announcement from Blues president and general manager Doug Armstrong comes with the team losing 13 of its first 22 games this year. Bannister had taken over for Stanley Cup-winning coach Craig Berube last season and had his interim tag removed at the end of the season.

Montgomery, a former assistant to Berube, has an overall regular-season record of 180-84-33 as a head coach with Boston and Dallas. He was just let go by the Bruins last week after they lost 12 of their first 20 games. – Steve Gardner

Nov. 23: Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov misses game with lower-body injury

Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, who’s tied for the league lead in points, sat out Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames because of a lower-body injury. Kaprizov went to the ice after a knee-on-knee hit from the Edmonton Oilers’ Drake Caggiula in Thursday’s game but the Wild star finished the game. The Athletic reported he had an MRI on Sunday, which found no serious injury, and he was at practice on Monday. Kaprizov entered Saturday’s games tied with Nathan MacKinnon with 34 points and has played in one less game than the Colorado Avalanche star.

Nov. 22: Golden Knights sign Brett Howden to five-year extension

Forward Brett Howden will average $2.5 million in the five-year contract extension. He plays in the Vegas Golden Knights’ bottom six and has eight goals this season.

After the Golden Knights lost free agents Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson and others from their 2023 Stanley Cup title team this summer, they’ve been working to get extensions done early. Defensemen Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb signed recently. Goalie Adin Hill and Keegan Kolesar also are pending unrestricted free agents from that championship team.

Also: Forward Alex Nylander is joining All-Star older brother William on the Toronto Maple Leafs after signing a one-year, $775,000 NHL contract and getting recalled. He had been on an American Hockey League contract. The Maple Leafs placed forward Matthew Knies on the injured list after he absorbed a big hit from Vegas’ Zach Whitecloud this week. … Seattle Kraken captain Jordan Eberle had surgery on his pelvis and will be out at last three months.

Nov. 21: Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen to have knee surgery

This marks the fourth season in a row that Andersen has missed extended time. He was limited to 16 games last season with a blood-clotting issue and missed more than two months of 2022-23 with a lower-body injury. An injury kept him out of the 2022 playoffs.

Pyotr Kochetkov is the Hurricanes’ No. 1 goalie in Andersen’s absence. Andersen, 35, is in the final year of his contract.

Nov. 19: Canucks’ J.T. Miller out indefinitely for personal reasons

‘Right now, our sole focus is making sure that J.T. knows the entire organization is here to support him,’ general manager Patrik Allvin said. ‘Out of respect to J.T., we will have no further comment at this time.’

Miller ranks second on the Canucks and is their top-scoring forward with 16 points in 17 games. He scored 103 points last season.

Nov. 19: Boston Bruins fire coach Jim Montgomery

The Boston Bruins made Jim Montgomery the first coaching casualty of the 2024-25 NHL season, firing him less than two seasons after he was named coach of the year.

Associate coach Joe Sacco, a former Colorado Avalanche head coach, will take over behind the bench as the interim head coach.

The move came after a blowout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Montgomery, who was in the final year of his contract, was let go with the team sitting at 8-9-3 and sporting poor underlying numbers.

BRUINS: More details on coaching change

Nov. 19: Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin out with leg injury

Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s goal record is temporarily on hold after the Washington Capitals star left Monday night’s game with an injury.

The team announced Tuesday that Ovechkin is week-to-week with an injury to his lower leg after he absorbed a leg-on-leg hit from Utah Hockey Club forward Jack McBain during the third period.

Ovechkin had been on a torrid scoring pace this season. Before Monday’s injury, he had scored twice in the 6-2 win over Utah, giving him five goals in the last two games and a league-leading 15 goals in 18 games.

Also: The Edmonton Oilers claimed forward Kasperi Kapanen off waivers from the St. Louis Blues. He provides speed and depth to a team that hasn’t received much scoring from the wings this season.

Nov. 18: Islanders’ Mike Reilly to have procedure on heart

General manager Lou Lamoriello told reporters that the pre-existing heart condition was discovered during routine testing for a concussion that had sidelined the defenseman since Nov. 1.

‘It’s probably a blessing in disguise of what transpired,’ Lamoriello said. ‘They detected this, something that you’re sometimes born with, but never knew.’

He said Reilly has been cleared from the concussion.

Nov. 18: Sabres send down goalie; Sharks call one up

The Buffalo Sabres sent 22-year-old goalie Devon Levi to the American Hockey League to get him some playing time amid his recent struggles. The team will use Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and recently reacquired James Reimer as their tandem. Levi has given up 17 goals in his last four starts.

Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks called up highly touted goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov, 22, after he went 6-3 with a 1.92 goals-against average in the AHL. He was acquired from the Nashville Predators in an offseason trade. Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek had left Saturday’s game with an injury.

Also: The NHL announced that last month’s Carolina Hurricanes-Tampa Bay Lightning game, whichas was postponed by Hurricane Milton, has been rescheduled for Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. ET. … Philadelphia Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson (lower body) was placed on injured reserve.

Nov. 15: Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin returns from suspension

Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin returned Friday night from his six-month suspension. He was suspended during the playoffs last May under Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. He also was in the program for about two months earlier in the 2023-24 season and missed part of the 2023 playoffs for personal reasons. Nichushkin is a key offensive contributor with 28 goals in 54 games last season. Injured forwards Jonathan Drouin and Miles Wood also returned Friday.

Also: The Vegas Golden Knights signed defenseman Brayden McNabb, the franchise leader in games played, to a three-year contract extension that averages $3.65 million a year.

OILERS: Connor McDavid is fourth fastest to reach 1,000 points

Nov. 13: Sabres claim goalie James Reimer off waivers

The Buffalo Sabres claimed goaltender James Reimer off waivers, bringing him back to where he signed a free agent contract in the summer. Reimer was claimed by the Anaheim Ducks off waivers earlier this season when the Sabres tried to send him to the American Hockey League. The Ducks put him on waivers after the return of injured goalie John Gibson. Reimer, on a one-year, $1 million contract, played two games in Anaheim with a 4.50 goals-against average. No. 1 Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was hurt in Monday’s loss but hasn’t been ruled out for Thursday’s game.

Also: Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm will be out ‘weeks’ with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot, coach Jim Montgomery said.

Nov. 12: Capitals reacquire Lars Eller in trade with Penguins

Center Lars Eller, 35, is a familiar face for the Washington Capitals after playing in Washington from 2016-23 and winning a Stanley Cup there in 2018. He kills penalties and is strong in the faceoff circle. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ side of the trade might be more interesting. They get a 2027 third-round pick and a 2025 fifth-rounder, and this also could be an indication that the Penguins are shaking up the roster after a disappointing start. Eller’s trade will allow the team to give more ice time to younger players. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent.

Also: The Winnipeg Jets claimed goalie Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche and loaned him to their American Hockey League affiliate. They had lost him on waivers to the Avalanche last month.

Nov. 11: Flames’ Anthony Mantha to have season-ending surgery

Also: The Colorado Avalanche placed goalie Kaapo Kahkonen on waivers. They had claimed him off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets last month.

Nov. 9: Penguins recall veteran goalie Tristan Jarry from minors

The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled two-time All-Star goalie Tristan Jarry from his conditioning stint in the American Hockey League. Jarry was loaned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Oct. 26 after recording a 5.37 goals-against average and .836 save percentage. His AHL numbers were 2.16, .926.

Also: The Philadelphia Flyers made rookie Matvei Michkov a healthy scratch for a second consecutive game.

Nov. 8: Kraken acquire Daniel Sprong from Canucks

The Seattle Kraken landed Daniel Sprong, one of their former players, in exchange for future considerations. The Kraken have struggled to score this season and Sprong had 21 goals for them two seasons ago. The forward has scored double-digit goals five times. He had one goal with Vancouver this season.

Nov. 7: Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov to be healthy scratch

Coach John Tortorella called the move ‘part of the process.’

‘With young guys, they can watch games, too, as far as development,’ he told reporters. ‘It’s trying to help them.’

Michkov, 19, has 10 points in 13 games and a minus-8 rating and was NHL rookie of the month in October. He had just one point in his last five games and his ice time dropped in the last four.

Nov. 4: Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini ready to return from injury

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, is ready to return to action after aggravating an injury in the season opener, according to NHL.com.

He took part in practice Monday on the top line with Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund and is looking to play his second game season Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Celebrini said he reinjured his hip on his first shift of the opener but played the full game and had a goal and assist. He has missed 12 games. The Sharks opened the season 0-7-2 but are 3-1 in their last four games.

Also: St. Louis Blues defenseman Philip Broberg will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. He needed help getting off the ice Saturday after he was checked by the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner. … The Boston Bruins signed forward Tyler Johnson to a one-year, $775,000 contract. He won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning and spent the last three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Nov. 2: Islanders’ Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech go on injured list

New York Islanders No. 1 center Mathew Barzal was placed on long-term injured reserve with an unspecified upper-body injury. He’ll be out four to six weeks. He had 80 points in 80 games last season but had been limited to five points in 10 games this season as the Islanders have struggled to score.

Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech also will be out four to six weeks after being hit in the face by a puck. He went on the injured list.

Oct. 30: Sharks acquire Timothy Liljegren from Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs get defenseman Matt Benning, a 2025 third-round pick and a 2026 sixth-rounder. Liljegren, 25, had been limited to one game in Toronto this season, and the Maple Leafs recently committed to blue-liner Jake McCabe with a five-year extension. But Liljegren should fit in well in San Jose, which is building around younger players. Benning, 30, and Liljegren are signed through 2025-26.

This is the second day with an NHL trade after none previously since the season opened in North America.

Oct. 29: Utah acquires defenseman Olli Maatta from Red Wings

The Utah Hockey Club gives up a third-round pick as it addresses a desperate need for a veteran defenseman. Sean Durzi and John Marino are out long-term after surgery. Utah has been leaking goals during a four-game losing streak, including blowing a 4-1 lead late in the third period against the previously winless San Jose Sharks. Maatta is solid defensively and has nearly 700 games of NHL experience.

Oct. 28: Maple Leafs sign Jake McCabe to five-year extension

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenseman Jake McCabe to a five-year extension with an annual average value of $4.51 million. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports there is some deferred money in the deal. McCabe, 31, had been acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in a February 2023 trade and ranks fourth on the team in average ice time this season. He has three assists in nine games and a team-best plus-6 rating.

Also: The New York Rangers recalled rugged forward Matt Rempe from the American Hockey League after he played two games there. The Rangers play the Washington Capitals on Tuesday in what has become a feisty rivalry.

Oct. 26: Penguins send goalie Tristan Jarry to minors

The Pittsburgh Penguins sent two-time All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry to their American Hockey League affiliate on a conditioning loan after his early season struggles. He had been sent home from the Penguins’ road trip to work on his game after recording a 5.47 goals-against average and .836 save percentage in three games. He was pulled from his last start on Oct. 16 and gave up six goals in the opener.

Jarry is in the second season of a five-year contract that carries a $5.375 million cap hit. Rookie Joel Blomqvist has had the most starts in the Penguins net this season and Alex Nedeljkovic recently returned from an injury.

Also: The New York Islanders signed rugged forward Matt Martin for the rest of the season. He had been to camp on a tryout agreement after spending 13 of his 15 seasons with the Islanders.

Oct. 25: Rangers’ Alexis Lafreniere gets seven-year extension

The New York Rangers and Alexis Lafreniere have agreed to a seven-year extension as he builds on last season’s breakthrough. The 2020 No. 1 overall pick will average $7.45 million in the deal, according to lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. That’s up from this year’s $2.325 million cap hit. Lafreniere, 23, broke through with 28 goals and 57 points last season and added eight goals and 14 points in the playoffs. He is averaging a point a game this season through seven games and scored his fourth goal of the season on Thursday. He is signed through 2031-32.

Oct. 24: Golden Knights’ Shea Theodore signs for seven years

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore will average $7.425 million in the extension, which kicks in next season and runs through 2031-32. Getting him signed now is important after the Golden Knights lost Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson and others from their 2023 Stanley Cup team to free agency during the summer.

Theodore, 29, is the franchise’s top-scoring defenseman with 296 points and has opened this season with seven points in six games. Vegas’ top three defensemen (also Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin) are signed through at least 2026-27.

Oct. 23: Utah’s Sean Durzi, John Marino out long-term after surgery

The Utah Hockey Club, who beefed up their defense in the offseason, will be without two key blueliners long-term after they had surgery.

Sean Durzi, who was injured in an Oct. 15 game, will miss four to six months after shoulder surgery. John Marino, who has yet to play this season, is out three to four months after back surgery.

Utah added defensemen Mikhail Sergachev, Marino and Ian Cole in the offseason. Durzi, acquired last season when the team was in Arizona, signed a four-year, $24 million contract during the summer.

In other injury news, St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas has a fractured ankle and will be evaluated in six weeks.

Oct. 22: Panthers give coach Paul Maurice contract extension

Maurice, who joined the Panthers in 2022-23, went to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season and won it last year. His 29 playoff wins are a franchise record.

He has 98 regular-season wins with Florida and his 873 career wins rank fourth all time in NHL history.

Also: The Blues signed forward Jake Neighbours to a two-year, $7.5 million contract extension.

Oct. 17: Stars’ Jake Oettinger signs eight-year contract extension

The Dallas Stars signed goalie Jake Oettinger to an eight-year, $66 million contract extension that kicks in next season. The $8.25 million cap hit matches the deals recently signed by the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman and Senators’ Linus Ullmark.

Oettinger has led the Stars to the Western Conference final the past two seasons.

Oct. 12: Aleksander Barkov, Macklin Celebrini are injured

The NHL season is young, but two prominent players are already out with injuries.

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will miss two to three weeks after crashing leg first into the boards while trying to prevent an empty net goal on Thursday. His stick had broken but he couldn’t stop Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle from scoring. The time frame should allow Barkov to participate in the two Global Series games against the Dallas Stars in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2. Barkov is the first Finnish NHL captain to win the Stanley Cup. He won the Selke Trophy last season for the second time as top defensive forward.

Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks placed No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Coach Ryan Warsofsky said Celebrini is week-to-week. He had been dealing with an injury in training camp but played in this week’s season opener, scoring a goal and an assist.

Oct. 11: Avalanche claim goalie Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers

In a busy day for goalie transactions, the Colorado Avalanche claimed Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. Colorado lost 8-4 in the opener, with Alexandar Georgiev giving up five goals and backup Justus Annunen giving up two goals on four shots. The Avalanche are Kahkonen’s fourth team in a year. He split time last season between the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils.

In other moves, the Minnesota Wild called up Jesper Wallstedt, their goalie of future, who will join Game 1 winner Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury. The Nashville Predators sent down Matt Murray, who backed up Scott Wedgewood on Thursday with injured No. 1 goalie Juuse Saros unable to play.

Oct. 10: Hurricanes-Lightning game postponed because of Milton

Saturday’s game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning has been postponed as the Tampa Bay area recovers from Hurricane Milton. The league said a makeup date would be announced as soon as it can be confirmed.

The Lightning are playing their season opener in Carolina on Friday. Saturday’s game was to be the start of a three-game homestand (also Tuesday and Thursday).

Amalie Arena got through the storm fine, though Tropicana Field, home of MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Florida, suffered major damage to its roof.

Oct. 10: Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner has surgery

Jenner had shoulder surgery to repair an injury he suffered during training camp and could miss up to six months.

‘Our hope is he can return before the end of the season,’ said Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Waddell. ‘His loss will be felt by our club, but we have a strong leadership group in place and players will be given an opportunity to take on greater roles on and off the ice.’

Boone, who finished second on the Blue Jackets last season with 22 goals and is the franchise leader in games played, has been the team’s captain since 2021-22.

Oct. 9: Linus Ullmark, Joey Daccord get contract extensions

Ullmark, who won the Vezina Trophy with the Bruins in 2022-03, was traded to the Ottawa Senators this offseason so Boston had the room to re-sign Swayman. Ullmark will get four years, $33 million from the Senators and have the same $8.25 million cap as Swayman.

Meanwhile, Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord received a five-year, $25 million extension. He filled in for Philipp Grubauer after that goalie’s injury last season and got the NHL’s first shutout in the Winter Classic. Both contracts will take effect next season.