Minor Transactions: 12/21/20

The countdown has begun to the start of the NHL season and as expected there is no shortage of moves being made in response. Combine a slew of recalls from loans with the usual moves from the junior, collegiate, and European levels and there was plenty going on across the hockey world on Monday:

• The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Pius Suter from Switzerland’s ZSC Lions, the club announced. Suter was signed as a free agent by the Blackhawks this summer after a career year in the NLA. The Swiss forward stayed home when the NHL season was delayed but is finally ready to make his move to Chicago to show that he has what it takes to play in the NHL. The Blackhawks also recalled Swiss prospect Philipp Kurashev from the NLA’s HC Lugano. Kurashev played well in his first AHL season, but Chicago hopes the dynamic forward can take another step forward this year.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled a recent free agent addition of their own in Radim Zohorna. The big power forward had returned to his Czech club, BK Mlada Boleslav, while awaiting the NHL season but will now report to Penguins camp, the team announced. Zohorna faces an uphill battle to crack the NHL roster but the Penguins are excited to see what he can do in the AHL.
• After returning to his former KHL club Dinamo Minsk on loan, Yegor Sharangovich has been recalled by the New Jersey Devils, the team announced. The young forward has played well in the AHL over the past two seasons, but took his game to a new level during his brief stay in Belarus. The Devils hope that is the game that will show up in training camp and at whichever level Sharangovich ends up this season.
• Goaltender Jacob Ingham’s stint in the ECHL didn’t last long, as the league’s transactions indicate that he has been recalled by the Los Angeles Kings after two games with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Ingham didn’t exactly impress in the minors either, but he is still a top prospect who will look to impress in training camp and win the top role in the AHL this season.
• Forward Max Veronneau will not be among the second wave of NHL free agent signings. After just one season in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Princeton product has signed in Sweden. The SHL’s IK Oskarshamn has announced a one-year deal with the skilled forward, who seemingly feels he has a better chance of impressing future NHL suitors overseas than with a season in the AHL.
• QMJHL standout Nathan Legare, a prospect of the Pittsburgh Penguins, is on the move. On the first day that the QMJHL has re-opened trading, Baie-Comeau Drakkar has traded their captain and last season’s leading scorer to the Val-d’Or Foreurs. It’s a hefty return for the prized prospect: a future first-, third-, and a trio of fourth-round picks, as well as rookie forward Justin Sullivan. 
• The fallout of the Ivy League’s cancelled winter season extends beyond just this year. Ivy League schools do not use graduate student-athletes, meaning current seniors missing their seasons cannot use their fifth and final year of NCAA eligibility at their current schools. UMass has reaped the benefits with a pair of additions today, as Cornell’s Cam Donaldson and Dartmouth’s Matthew Baker have committed to transferring to Amherst next year, reports Jeff Cox of the New England Hockey Journal.