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It wasn’t officially announced by the Pittsburgh Penguins, but Vinnie Hinostroza has been recalled back to the NHL just a day after being re-assigned to the AHL.
After Ryan Shea cleared waivers, the Penguins announced that Shea and Hinostroza had been re-assigned and was a sign that the team was getting healthier.
Hinostroza here because he was recalled this morning https://t.co/Yu4WSuqvHJ
— Nick Horwat (@NickHorwat41) December 20, 2023
Hinostroza was placed on waivers prior to the contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but was never moved off the NHL roster.
Since he cleared, the Penguins now have some extra freedom to move Hinostroza up and down as many times as they please.
Despite being back with the NHL lineup, Hinostroza was not a huge part of line rushes at practice and will likely continue to be a healthy scratch.
The Penguins are still without Bryan Rust and Matt Nieto with injuries, but slowly but surely, the Penguins are returning to full health.
Once that time comes, it seems likely Hinostroza will be returned to the AHL, possibly alongside Jansen Harkins and Radim Zohorna.
More must-reads:
- Hurricanes take care of business, sign star winger to lucrative eight-year extension
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Hurricanes take care of business, sign star winger to lucrative eight-year extension
The Hurricanes announced Thursday night that they’ve signed winger Jackson Blake to an eight-year, $45M extension that will kick in for the 2026-27. While that would normally mean an average annual value and cap hit of $5.625M, the actual cap hit of the contract will fall in the $5.1M range due to deferred compensation, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The contract buys out the extent of Blake’s RFA eligibility and will make him a UFA following the 2033-34 season. Blake’s stock has been on the rise since immediately after Carolina selected him in the fourth round in 2021. He was a USHL All-Star in his post-draft season with the Chicago Steel before making the jump to NCAA hockey with North Dakota, where he totaled 102 points in 79 games in two seasons — earning a Hobey Baker finalist nod in his sophomore year. He signed his entry-level contract with the Hurricanes in April 2024 and joined them for the brief remainder of the regular season. In his first full pro season, Blake hit the ground running. He made the Canes out of camp and had five points through his first nine games despite seeing less than 12 minutes of ice time per night. That offense didn’t quite hold up the rest of the way, though. While he ended up seeing significant deployment alongside Sebastian Aho at even strength, he ended up finishing the year with a 17-17–34 scoring line in 80 games, finishing ninth on the team in scoring and ninth in Calder Trophy voting as the league’s Rookie of the Year. That’s fine production, especially considering he averaged under 14 minutes per game on the year. He’ll need to build on it to justify that cap hit, though, especially with so much risk attached to a max-term deal. The good news is that Blake has another year left on his entry-level contract to continue his development before he’ll need to start justifying that cap hit. The son of former NHLer Jason Blake turns 22 next month, yet with this deal, he’s guaranteed to surpass his dad’s career earnings. The Hurricanes have historically opted to sign their young players for as long and as early as possible, a trend that continues here. Sometimes, it’s paid off — their eight-year, $59.4M commitment to Seth Jarvis last offseason looks like a steal after he put up a repeat 67-point performance in 2024-25. There’s also the glaring example of where that strategy has failed regarding center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, whose $4.82M cap hit looks more stomachable now with a rising ceiling but is still well above his market value four years into the deal. The jury is still out on newly acquired Logan Stankoven, who they inked to an eight-year, $48M extension at the beginning of the month. Blake’s deal will be one of the last of its kind. It contains two elements — deferred compensation and an eight-year term — that will be outlawed when the new CBA Memorandum of Understanding takes effect on Sep. 15, 2026. If he waited until reaching RFA status next summer to sign, a lengthy negotiation could have lost him that eighth year if the two sides didn’t come to terms until the beginning of training camp. With the salary cap’s upper limit projected to reach $104M in 2026-27, the Hurricanes have around $16M in projected space with Blake’s and Stankoven’s deals taken care of. While they’re projected to be Carolina’s 11th- and 12th-highest-paid forwards on their opening night roster this season, they’ll be their fifth- and sixth-highest-paid forwards in 2026-27.
East Team’s Potential Decision Could Escalate Jonathan Kuminga Drama With Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are still awaiting a decision by restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga as the NBA offseason is nearing August. Of course, Kuminga has a major decision to make regarding the next step of his career and it appears likely that it will not be in Golden State but rather with another franchise. This comes after the young forward fell out of Steve Kerr’s rotation last season after the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat at the trade deadline. While it appears Kuminga’s time in Golden State is nearing an end, the Warriors still have a major say in his next team as they will likely have to agree to a sign-and-trade deal. Despite this, ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel recently reported that one Eastern Conference team could escalate the situation between Kuminga and the Warriors by making a major decision this offseason. “Other teams with rumored interest in Kuminga are the Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, and Brooklyn Nets. Then again, the Nets, who have plenty of cap space, have yet to express serious interest in Kuminga,” Siegel wrote. “If they wanted to, Brooklyn could sign Kuminga to an offer sheet right now and escalate this situation.” This is a massive report by Siegel as the Nets do have enough cap space to sign Kuminga to an offer sheet which would tie the Warriors’ hands. Of course, this is unlikely to happen as the Nets are also dealing with their own restricted free agent problems with Cam Thomas as they are not wanting to offer the young guard the contract that he wants. While that may be the case, if the Nets end up moving on from Thomas in a sign-and-trade deal with another team they could shift their focus on Kuminga, who they have been linked to over the past two seasons. This would be the worst-case scenario for Golden State and one that would extremely hurt them heading into next season, especially with their lack of moves thus far this offseason.
Major 2024 NFL free-agency deals are aging very poorly
Several of the high-profile names of the 2024 free-agent class are really struggling to justify the massive contacts they received through the early stages of the 2025 season. Despite the generous contracts, some players have been very underwhelming after getting the big payday. In particular, these players who signed major deals are now playing on new teams or in new roles: Christian Wilkins — four-years, $110M with Raiders, now a free agent Kirk Cousins — four-years, $180M with Falcons, now a backup Bryce Huff — three-years, $51.1M with Eagles, now with 49ers Jonah Jackson — three-years, $51M with Rams, now with Bears Gabe Davis — three-years, $39M with Jaguars, now a free agent Gardner Minshew — two-years, $25M with Raiders, now with Chiefs Chidobe Awuzie — three-years, $36M with Titans, now with Ravens While certain free agents such as Saquon Barkley and Danielle Hunter have delivered massive returns on their contracts to the Eagles and Texans, respectively, these other big signings have taken a completely different trajectory. Whether it is due to injuries, underperformance or not fitting the schemes, these players have not lived up to their deals. Wilkins is a case in point. The Raiders decided to cut him after signing him to a four-year, $110M deal. He struggled with injuries that held him out in 2024, leading to the team and Wilkins disagreeing on how the injury has been handled. Because of this, the two split ways only one year into his contract. Huff only played in 12 games and had a total of 2.5 sacks for Philadelphia after inking a three-year, $51.1M deal. He was traded to the 49ers in June for a 2026 mid-round pick. Cousins might be the most egregious of these deals. The former Vikings QB signed a four-year, $180M, with $100M fully guaranteed. Yet, he only started 14 games in 2024, and now is the backup to Michael Penix Jr. The Falcons now are essentially stuck paying their backup quarterback an annual average of $45M. These signings highlight the risk of free agency. Paying top dollar for past performance runs the risk of overlooking team fit and future value of contracts. Too often, these high-profile veterans who get massive paydays decline very fast or simply fail to mesh with new systems. So far, these investments in 2024 appear to have aged very poorly. Unless these players turn their performances around in 2025, many of the teams will view these moves as a cautionary tale of overspending in free agency.
Dodgers Predicted to Acquire $4.175 Million All-Star, Gold Glove Outfielder in Blockbuster Trade
If any team around the league is set to strike a blockbuster deal ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, it's the Los Angeles Dodgers. While the defending champions are expected to make a splash this summer, there's uncertainty as to where LA will look to upgrade the roster. The Dodgers could quite frankly use additions in several areas of the roster, including the bullpen, starting rotation, and lineup. Tanner Scott's ongoing struggles has stirred speculation that the front office will add a reliever this summer. Additionally, Scott and Michael Kopech are both injured, which leaves the bullpen short two high-leverage arms. Beyond the bullpen, the Dodgers are still missing two staples of their rotation in Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki. However, both pitchers appear to be headed for a return to the team down the stretch. Therefore, ESPN insider David Schoenfield believes the Dodgers will look to acquire an outfielder and a leadoff hitter in Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians. "The reasoning here: Michael Conforto just hasn't worked out," Schoenfield writes. "The Dodgers have given him 300 plate appearances and he's hitting under .200, plus he's not a good left fielder. They could also use a leadoff hitter. They just moved Mookie Betts there in front of Shohei Ohtani, looking to get Betts going, but Betts just hasn't been an offensive force in 2025 and shouldn't be hitting at the top of a lineup right now. Kwan would fix both issues and give them a nice OBP guy in front of Ohtani while providing a major defensive upgrade." While the Dodgers have been linked to Kwan, it remains to be seen whether the Guardians are willing to part ways with the Gold Glover. ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel gave just a 20 percent chance that Kwan would be traded. The All-Star outfielder is under team control through 2027, and is due $4.1 million this season. The Dodgers could send a large haul of prospects to Cleveland, as the organization has one of the best farm systems in MLB. However, the Dodgers are reportedly unwilling to move top prospects such as Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland.
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