Minor Transactions: 01/24/19

The league is has gone dark as they prepare for the All-Star festivities to start tomorrow, and with it teams will be sending their eligible players down to the minor leagues. This is done to save a few days of cap space and give young players a chance to continue their development. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

• Along with Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan who were sent down yesterday, the St. Louis Blues have assigned Mackenzie MacEachern and Sammy Blais to the minor leagues over the break. The Blues don’t play again until February 2nd, meaning the set of forwards can get some extra ice time in for the San Antonio Rampage.
• Colin Blackwell has been sent down by the Nashville Predators, returning the 25-year old center to the Milwaukee Admirals after three games in the NHL. Blackwell is still waiting to register his first NHL point, and could get that chance later on in the year.
• After bringing up Ryan Graves for last night’s game, the Colorado Avalanche have returned him to the minor leagues. Graves will be accompanied by both Dominic Toninato and Sheldon Dries, two other waiver-exempt players that can spend the break in the AHL.
• The Carolina Hurricanes have returned Alex Nedeljkovic to the minors where he’ll resume starting for the Charlotte Checkers, and Haydn Fleury has also been sent down to get some more ice time. Fleury has been a regular scratch in the NHL this season as the odd man out among the Carolina defense corps.
• Trevor Moore played again for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night but is now on his way back down to the AHL to participate in that league’s All-Star game. The speedy forward has made quite the impact this season with 19 goals in 32 AHL contests.
• Joel Eriksson Ek spent some time in the minor leagues earlier this year to get his game right, and now he’ll get another chance to hone his skills in the AHL. Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin have both been sent down for the time being, though one or both could see a recall immediately after the break.
• The Vegas Golden Knights have flipped backup goaltenders, sending Maxime Lagace back down and recalled Oscar Dansk. Dansk won’t be starting anytime soon for the Golden Knights, but will receive a bigger paycheck while the team lets Lagace get back on the ice.