With the bye weeks now complete, it’s a very busy slate on the NHL schedule with a total of 26 teams in action. Accordingly, there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled winger Rudolfs Balcers from AHL Belleville. It will be his second stint with Ottawa after playing in eight games with them last month where he fared relatively well, picking up a goal and an assist but he was sent down during Ottawa’s bye week. He has been quite productive in the minors with 15 goals and 13 assists in 38 games and with Ottawa likely to be sellers in the coming weeks, he may not be spending too much time down there over the rest of the season. Balcers will be taking the place of winger Mikkel Boedker who is dealing with an undisclosed injury.
- The Ducks have transferred winger Ondrej Kase to long-term injured reserve, CapFriendly reports (via Twitter). Doing so allowed Anaheim to activate winger Corey Perry from LTIR without requiring another roster move and Perry is likely to make his season debut tonight. Kase will remain on LTIR for the rest of the year as his season is over due to a shoulder injury.
- The Montreal Canadiens announced today that veteran defenseman Karl Alzner has been returned to the AHL’s Laval Rocket. While the steep decline of the former Capitals stalwart remains a fascinating story, the player taking his spot on the roster is more intriguing right now. The Habs have recalled goalie Michael McNiven from the AHL. McNiven, 21, is in his second pro season and split last year between the AHL and ECHL. The undrafted OHL product has spent most of the season in Laval thus far, but as the backup to established Montreal third-string Charlie Lindgren. Yet, with Carey Price sitting out the next game on a suspension for skipping the All-Star game, it is McNiven who has gotten the call to backup Antti Niemi instead of Lindgren. McNiven has slightly better numbers than Lindgren this season, albeit in fewer starts, and it could be that the hierarchy in net is shifting withing the Canadiens organization.
- Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson reports that the Calgary Flames have recalled defenseman Rinat Valiev from the Stockton Heat of the AHL, which gives Calgary seven healthy defensemen with Travis Hamonic out with a lower-body injury. It’s likely that Valiev will serve as the team’s extra defenseman, which is why the team didn’t recall Juuso Valimaki, who the franchise believes more playing time in the AHL before bringing him up. The 23-year-old Valiev has already played for three franchises in his short career, but has not made an appearance as a member of the Flames yet.