Minor Transactions: 4/7/2018

With a full-slate of 15 games today on the final weekend of the regular season, most teams will wrap up their regular season today and the playoff order should be more clarified by the end of the night. Most prominent will be which team clinches the final playoff spots. A Philadelphia point will give them the Eastern Conference’s final spot over the Florida Panthers, while the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues will play for the right for the final spot in the West. Colorado needs a regulation victory tonight to vault themselves into the playoffs. In the meantime, several teams are making minor changes for the final weekend of the regular season.

• The Arizona Coyotes announced they have recalled defenseman Joel Hanley on an emergency basis. The 26-year-old has played four games with the Coyotes this year, having spent most of his season with the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL, putting up two goals and 17 assists in 50 games. ArizonaSports Craig Morgan adds the move was made as defenseman Kevin Connaugton is a little banged up.
• The Ottawa Senators announced they have recalled defenseman Andreas Englund from the Belleville Senators of the AHL and is expected to play today as Ben Harpur is injured. Englund was recalled back in December, but didn’t play in a game. The 22-year-old former second-round pick had one goal and nine assists in 66 games for Belleville.
• The New Jersey Devils announced they have recalled defenseman Steven Santini and goaltender Eddie Lack. Both were recalled as the Devils are expected to rest numerous players today, including Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac and Sami Vatanen. With Cory Schneider getting the call to start in goal today, it’s likely the team also intends to rest starter Keith Kinkaid. The 23-year-old Santini has played in 36 games for New Jersey and 27 for Binghampton. Lack will likely serve as backup tonight. He has appeared in eight games this year, four with New Jersey.
• With the New York Rangers’ season over after Saturday’s 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Rangers announced they have assigned forwards Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson and Steven Fogarty to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL for their upcoming playoff run. Chytil and Andersson were both recalled on Mar. 26 with Chytil picking up a goal and two assists in six games. Andersson had a goal and an assist in those six games. Fogarty was recalled last night and didn’t get into a game.