Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/24/21

There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

West Division

• The Arizona Coyotes have recalled Michael Chaput from the taxi squad to the active roster and Frederik Gauthier from the AHL to the taxi squad. Gauthier, 25, played in 168 NHL games over parts of five seasons with the Maple Leafs but has yet to get into any action for the Coyotes.
• The Los Angeles Kings have recalled Austin Strand from the taxi squad, after placing Jaret Anderson-Dolan on injured reserve. Anderson-Dolan’s IR stint is retroactive to February 18 when he last played, meaning he can basically return as soon as he’s recovered. The young forward was off to quite the start with five points in his first six games this season.
• Once their game tomorrow was postponed, the Vegas Golden Knights assigned both Patrick Brown and Logan Thompson back to the AHL. Thompson had only been recalled to the taxi squad earlier today, but turns out won’t be needed as Vegas waits for Saturday to get back into game action.
• The Anaheim Ducks continued their daily roster shuffling, assigning David Backes to the taxi squad while recalling Andy Welinski and Vinni Lettieri from the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.
• The Avalanche made a series of roster moves, per CapFriendly.  Logan O’Connor was recalled on an emergency loan with Brandon Saad unavailable with his wife expecting to give birth.  Meanwhile, Hunter Miska and Jayson Megna were sent to AHL Colorado while Peyton Jones was recalled to the taxi squad to give the Avs three goalies.
• The Blues have recalled Austin Poganski and Jake Walman from the taxi squad while promoting Steven Santini to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Poganski and Walman have played a handful of games for St. Louis this season while the addition of Santini to the taxi squad gives them another veteran with Carl Gunnarsson out for the season.

North Division

• The Ottawa Senators have recalled Artem Anisimov from the taxi squad after their game last night, while moving Erik Brannstrom and Micheal Haley down. Anisimov could come in for Derek Stepan, who was injured in last night’s game, though since the Senators are off for the day it might simply be a paper transaction for salary savings.
• The Calgary Flames had Oliver Kylington in their lineup against Toronto, meaning that the blueliner was recalled from the taxi squad.  The 23-year-old has been up and down all season but had suited up just once before tonight’s game.
• The Montreal Canadiens sent Paul Byron and Nick Suzuki to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly, yielding some small cap savings.  Both players will likely be recalled in time for their game tomorrow against Winnipeg.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Scott Sabourin on a roster emergency exception and assigned Nic Petan to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Sabourin has yet to play since having his AHL deal converted to a two-way NHL contract while Petan has an assist in six games this season.

Central Division

• The Nashville Predators have reassigned Eeli Tolvanen and Ben Harpur to the taxi squad, the same move they do on nearly every off day. The Predators won last night and Tolvanen scored his second goal of the season, bringing his career total to three.
• Andrew Peeke is headed back to the minor leagues for now, assigned to the Cleveland Monsters by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Peeke has played in six NHL games with Columbus this season but looked a bit overmatched at times, so will get back on the ice in the AHL.
• The Detroit Red Wings have sent Kaden Fulcher back to the AHL from the taxi squad, though if he plays for the Grand Rapids Griffins it would be his first action at that level. The 22-year-old undrafted goaltender has an appearance in the NHL, but otherwise has only seen the ECHL as a professional.  They also returned Danny DeKeyser and Mathias Brome to the taxi squad, extending DeKeyser’s waiver exemption and saving some salary on Brome.
• After clearing waivers, Tanner Kero has been assigned to the taxi squad by the Dallas Stars. In his place, Nicholas Caamano and Rhett Gardner have been recalled.
• After he cleared waivers earlier today, the Panthers assigned Tommy Cross to Providence of the AHL.  Florida’s affiliate opted out of this season so Cross instead returns to a team he’s quite familiar with having spent parts of seven seasons with them from 2011-12 through 2017-18.
• The Carolina Hurricanes are back in action tonight and accordingly have recalled Alex Nedeljkovic, Jake Bean, and Steven Lorentz from the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  In order to stay compliant with the minimum taxi squad size, Dave Gust was recalled to the taxi squad from AHL Chicago.
• After not getting picked up off waivers, the Lightning loaned Luke Schenn to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Not much will change for him as he’ll likely continue to go back and forth until he plays in ten more games with Tampa Bay and becomes waiver-eligible again.  Meanwhile, Callan Foote and Ross Colton were recalled from the taxi squad.

East Division

• The Buffalo Sabres have sent Dustin Tokarski back to the AHL, where the Rochester Americans will be back in action on Friday night. The team is 4-1 through the early part of the minor league season and Tokarski has posted a .932 save percentage in his two appearances.  They also assigned Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Asplund, and Jacob Bryson to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.
• The Washington Capitals moved Ilya Samsonov to the minor leagues earlier today, where he is expected to play for the Hershey Bears against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this afternoon.
• The New York Rangers made another long list of moves, per CapFriendly.  Igor Shesterkin, Libor Hajek, Colin Blackwell, Anthony Bitetto, and Jonny Brodzinski were all brought up from the taxi squad while Keith Kinkaid was sent back to the taxi squad.  To stay compliant with roster rules for the taxi squad, Ty Ronning and Patrick Newell were recalled from AHL Hartford.
• The Philadelphia Flyers recalled Samuel Morin on an emergency exception as well as Carsen Twarynski on an emergency loan, per CapFriendly.  Morin has been back and forth all season while Twarynski will make his season debut after playing in 15 games last season.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins returned both Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Drew O’Connor to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Joseph has stepped into a regular role with the Pens, logging nearly 18 minutes per night in 13 games so far this season while O’Connor has played in eight games, primarily on the fourth line.