Although it’s generally not viewed as a good idea for teams to keep waiver-exempt young players as healthy scratches for long periods of time, that is what’s happening with the Avalanche and defenseman Andrei Mironov who has sat for six straight. Mike Chambers of the Denver Post notes that the team is okay with that arrangement for now as the rookie, who speaks very little English, gets to be around a trio of fellow Russians who are helping him adapt to the North American game. Despite this, head coach Jared Bednar acknowledged they will have to get him into some more games in the near future as sitting a 23-year-old is not an ideal long-term strategy.
Elsewhere out West:
- The Ducks announced that they have returned winger Nicolas Kerdiles to San Diego of the AHL. He has played in two games with Anaheim this season but has failed to play four minutes in either of them. This marks the third time already this year that the 23-year-old has been sent down after he cleared waivers in late September.
- Coyotes winger Brendan Perlini will miss his fourth straight game on Thursday with an upper-body injury, reports Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link). However, he did skate with the team on Wednesday and appears to be nearly ready to return to the lineup. As for center Brad Richardson who missed Tuesday’s game with a lower-body issue, Morgan adds that he will be a game-time decision on Thursday.
- As expected, the Wild announced that they have made several recalls from Iowa of the AHL. Forwards Zack Mitchell, Landon Ferraro, and Luke Kunin were all recalled and should be in uniform on Friday night. The team waited until 4:00 PM CST to announce the call-ups, meaning that they will not count on Minnesota’s salary cap until Thursday.