The Utah Hockey Club has chosen three finalists for the permanent team name it will adopt beginning with the 2025-26 NHL season.

The franchise will use a final round of fan voting to decide among the Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch. Team officials backed away from including Yeti as a finalist after being unable to work out a co-existence agreement with Yeti Coolers to use the name in branding and merchandising.

“They have a unique trademark that allows them to prevent the use of the word Yeti or Yetis,” Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said. “They made a determination for the sake of their brand that they didn’t want to enter into a coexistence.”

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month refused a request by the club, citing a “likelihood of confusion” with other notable brands using the name, such as Yeti Coolers. An email sent Wednesday by The Associated Press to Yeti Coolers LLC seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Fans in attendance at the next four home games, starting Wednesday night against Pittsburgh, will vote at designated iPad stations at the Delta Center to help decide the team’s name and logo. It will unveil a first look at designs for the logo, jerseys and branding associated with each choice.

Only fans in attendance will be allowed to vote at the Penguins game, against Columbus on Friday, St. Louis on Sunday and Philadelphia on Tuesday. The permanent team name and logo will be unveiled ahead of Utah’s 2025-26 regular-season opener.

Wasatch filled the finalist spot originally intended for Yeti. Wasatch is a reference to the Wasatch Mountains, which run north to south along the east side of the Salt Lake Valley.

“We wanted to honor this idea people had for a mythical snow creature like the Yeti and bring a very Utah-centric approach to it,” Maughan said. “Because we have the Wasatch Mountains, because we have the Wasatch Front, we have so many different iterations or ways we can do it. We wanted to honor the sentiment of one of those top names of the last iteration (of fan voting) while also including a Utah-centric version of it.”

Blues, Saad agree to terminate contract

The St. Louis Blues and Brandon Saad have agreed to mutually terminate the remainder of his contract, which would make him a free agent and able to sign with any team in the NHL.

The Blues announced they are putting the veteran forward on unconditional waivers on Thursday. Saad cleared regular waivers Wednesday when he was unclaimed by the NHL’s other 31 teams, any of whom would have had to take on his current deal that carries a $4.5 million salary cap hit through next season.

Saad has been held without a goal in 40 of his 43 games this season and has a total of 16 points. According to the tracking site PuckPedia, he is forgoing roughly $5.4 million to become a free agent rather than report to the minors.

St. Louis initially said its intent was to assign the 32-year-old to Springfield of the American Hockey League if he cleared. General manager Doug Armstrong implied that he tried to trade Saad before putting him on waivers.

Kraken put netminder Grubauer on waivers

The Seattle Kraken put goaltender Philipp Grubauer on waivers Wednesday with the purpose of sending him to the minors, and he would be assigned to the American Hockey League’s Coachella Valley Firebirds if he clears.

Grubauer has struggled in 21 starts this season, losing 16 of them. His .866 save percentage and 3.83 goals-against average rank last in the NHL this season among netminders who have played in at least 17 games.

The 33-year-old German has two more seasons left on his contract at a salary cap hit of $5.9 million, which ranks 14th and 11th highest for goalies signed for 2025-26 and 2026-27, respectively. That makes it highly unlikely he is claimed by any of the league’s other 31 teams, even with the cap expected to increase dramatically.

Grubauer was the Washington Capitals’ playoff-opening Game 1 starter when they won the Cup in 2018, and he was a Vezina Trophy finalist with Colorado in 2021.

He has appeared in 412 regular-season and playoff games with the Capitals, Avalanche and Hurricanes since making his debut in the league in 2013.

Kings’ Doughty makes season debut

Defenseman Drew Doughty was activated from injured reserve by the Los Angeles Kings ahead of his season debut against the Florida Panthers.

Doughty missed the first 47 games of the season after breaking his ankle in a preseason game.

The 35-year-old Doughty enters his 17th NHL season as one of the most accomplished defensemen of his generation.

He is a four-time Norris Trophy finalist who won the award in 2016, and he is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Kings, who drafted him second overall in 2008.

Doughty broke his ankle during a preseason game against Vegas on Sept. 25. The injury set off another round of debate about the excessive length of the NHL preseason. The Kings expected Doughty to miss most of the regular season when his injury required surgery, but the defenseman returned to practice last week in a non-contact jersey.

Doughty’s game was still at an elite level last season, when he recorded 15 goals and 35 assists while finishing second in the NHL in ice time, recording nearly 26 minutes per game. He has 156 goals and 513 assists 1,177 regular-season games, along with 57 points in 95 playoff games.

Devils’ Hischier week-to-week

New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier is considered week to week with injury, according to coach Sheldon Keefe.

Hischier figures to miss the Devils’ game Sunday at Buffalo, along with potentially another at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

“(It is) something (trainers will) evaluate again next week and then take it from there, but he wont be available this week, for sure,” Keefe said after the morning skate.

Hischier has been out since minutes after getting cross-checked in the midsection by Montreal’s Nick Suzuki during the teams’ game Saturday. He missed New Jersey’s 4-2 loss at Philadelphia on Monday.

The 26-year-old center from Switzerland is the Devils’ leading goal-scorer with 24 in 51 games and ranks third on the team with 43 points. The No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft, Hischier has 404 points in 520 career regular-season and playoff games in the NHL.

New Jersey is already without top goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who is in the middle of missing 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury.

Hischier, Markstrom and Keefe helped the Devils start 28-18-6 to get into a playoff spot after failing to qualify last season.