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Utah Loans Connor Ingram To AHL, Places Robert Bortuzzo On IR

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The Utah Hockey Club have assigned goaltender Connor Ingram to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners on a conditioning loan. Ingram has missed Utah’s last 18 games with an upper-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve on November 20th and returned to skating on December 14th. He’ll now head to the AHL to take the next steps in his recovery.

In a corresponding move, Utah has also placed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The move is retroactive to the date of Bortuzzo’s last game on December 10th. He left that match halfway through the second period after being spilled into the boards by Minnesota Wild forward Devin Shore. Bortuzzo is out indefinitely, though his move to IR clears the roster space to activate Ingram after his conditioning stint.

Ingram served as Utah’s starter prior to his injury, but performed uncharacteristically poorly – recording a .871 save percentage and 3.61 goals-against-average in 13 games, both career-lows. He stood much taller in Utah’s starting net last season, recording a .907 Sv%, a 2.91 GAA, and six shutouts across 50 games in what was Ingram’s first season as a full-time NHL starter. He could now lose the job just one year later, with Utah’s backup Karel Vejmelka posting an impressive .917 Sv%, 2.33 GAA, and 7-6-2 record in 15 games since Ingram’s injury. Vejmelka should hang onto his starting role even as Ingram returns, though Utah could get the perk of riding the hot hand if Ingram is able to bounce back to form.

Golden Knights Recall Jonas Røndbjerg, Assign Tanner Laczynski

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forward Jonas Røndbjerg from the Henderson Silver Knights. In a corresponding move, the Golden Knights have also assigned forward Tanner Laczynski to the minor leagues. This marks Røndbjerg’s third call-up of the year. He’s spent four days on the NHL roster this season, stepping into two games on Vegas’ fourth-line.

Røndbjerg has been a go-to call-up over the last four seasons. He was originally the sixth pick in Vegas’ franchise history, hearing his name called in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft after a strong season with the Vaxjo Lakers’ U20 squad. The Denmark-native spent the next two seasons working his way up to Vaxjo’s SHL lineup. He totaled 17 points in 80 games with the club before moving to the AHL full-time in the 2020-21 season. He scored 40 points through his first 78 games, and three seasons, in the AHL – just enough to earn a routine role in the mix of Vegas’ bottom-six. Since then, Røndbjerg has established a pattern of a role-based impact in the NHL coupled with high production in the minor leagues. The 30 NHL games he received as a rookie in 2021-22 stand as his single-season high, though he has totaled 65 NHL appearances and 10 points in the three seasons since. He’ll return to the top flight once again, on the back of 10 points through 25 AHL games this season.

Meanwhile, Laczynski will head back to the minors after just 11 days on the NHL roster. The 27-year-old center stepped into five games during his recall, recording six penalty minutes and a -1 but not managing any scoring. He’s been far more productive in the minor leagues, netting 19 points in 17 games – still a team-lead in scoring, despite the Henderson Silver Knights playing 10 games without Laczynski. His return will prove significant help for a young Henderson lineup.

Jonathan Toews Explains Absence, Doesn’t Rule Out NHL Return

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Jonathan Toews’ name has slowly begun slipping from hockey dialogue. He led a star-studded career with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2007 to 2023, serving as the team’s captain for 14 seasons and leading the team to three Stanley Cup wins. Toews remained a tremendous lineup piece long after Chicago started to lose their luster – but the 2020s brought a challenge with nagging injuries that the franchise centerman couldn’t overcome. He announced in December of 2020 that he’d miss the entirety of the upcoming, shortened 2020-21 season due to an undisclosed illness, later revealed to be Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).

Toews rehabbed and returned from the illness in 2021-22, and while he returned to a productive top-line role – the illness still forced him out of 38 games between 2021-22 and 2022-23. Toews announced at the end of the 2023 summer that he would be stepping away from hockey to focus on healing. That journey took him through rounds of alternative medicine, natural healing, and even a five-week trip to India to practice Ayurveda – a traditional healing approach. Toews recently returned from the cross-world trip and opened up to GQ Magazine about what he learned, how he’s feeling, and what future may lie ahead.

Toews opened the interview by explaining that his battles with illness ran deeper than previously foretold. He shared that a lifelong battle with digestive and immune system issues hit a flare in his second season in the league – the 2008-09 season, when a 20-year-old Toews was named Chicago’s captain. He struggled to eat or sleep, and ended up working with a team of doctors to craft a diet tailored to his needs.  That helped Toews get through the next 10 seasons – where he scored 624 points in 721 games, earned three All-Star bids, and won three Stanley Cups – but he says he never once felt like his illness was fully behind him.

Then, Toews caught COVID-19. He explains that the illness perpetuated all of his issues, worsening his energy sink and ability to recover game-to-game. The story of his struggles recovering from COVID have been well documented. Toews explains that he was too caught up in recovery to discuss a contract for the 2023-24 season, leading to him taking another season off. He heard about various approaches to healing over the year, including a recommendation to visit an Indian Sadhu to practice Ayurvedic medicine. One thing led to another, and Toews ultimately decided to take up the unique approach in September of 2023. He said all the while he was driven by a saying from his mother: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

Toews describes his day-to-day experience in India in-depth. Ultimately, the practices helped him regain control and confidence over his health – and Toews adds that he’s been able to continue to practice Ayurveda back in North America. That has him feeling better, and reconsidering the thought of playing in the NHL. Toews told GQ that his desire to play hasn’t left, and that there’s still a part of him that hasn’t come to terms with his career being over. He spoke optimistically, saying, “There’s never any guarantees in life, but I’m going to give it my best shot.”

Toews’ statement of hope is an encouraging sign, given his career seemed to be at its end. He faces an uphill battle working back into the NHL as a 36-year-old who hasn’t had hockey at front-of-mind since early-2023. But Toews is proudly an all-time-great, posting a career that has already gone down in the history books of an Original Six franchise. He scored 372 goals and 883 points in 1,067 career games; and managed an 81-point season as recently as 2018-19. Toews was significantly less impactful in his most recent two seasons – with just 68 points in 124 games between 2021 and 2023 – but his value as a well-rounded, middle-six centerman could still stand tall.

If Toews does near a return, his decision on where to suit up will be hotly followed. He spent the entirety of his 15-year career with the Blackhawks, who drafted him third-overall in the 2006 NHL Draft. But Toews is a native of Winnipeg, and faced plenty of trade rumors throughout the later years of his career. The Blackhawks could certainly use his help, as they’re currently sat with the fourth-fewest goals in the NHL and a menial 14-18-4 record. Toews could also be a fantastic support to young superstar Connor Bedard, who’s looking to take over Toews’ and Patrick Kane’s mantle as the team’s franchise leader. It’ll be that ability to lead teams and inspire young players that earns Toews a return, though it seems the answers to if and where he’ll return are yet to come – as the Chicago hockey legend works to reintroduce himself to the game.

Ducks Reassign Calle Clang

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Dec. 30: Clang is headed back to San Diego today after backing up Dostál in yesterday’s 5-3 win over the Oilers, the team announced. Gibson should be ready to go from his illness tomorrow against the Devils.

Dec. 28: The Anaheim Ducks have recalled goaltender Calle Clang from the minor leagues. He is expected to back up Ducks starter Lukáš Dostál, with veteran John Gibson still out day-to-day with illness. The move was first reported by Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune, and seconded by NHL.com’s Kevin Kurz. In a corresponding move, Anaheim has also promoted Vyacheslav Buteyets from the ECHL to the AHL to fill Clang’s vacancy.

Clang doesn’t seem likely to make his NHL debut on this recall, but he nonetheless makes the move with an impressive resume. He’s served as the San Diego Gulls’ starting goalie this year, posting a team-leading seven wins and .896 save percentage in 19 appearances. Clang won out the starting role as a rookie last season, playing just well enough to win out starts over Tomas Suchanek and Alex Stalock – despite Suchanek posting a .910 in 29 games to Clang’s .897 in 32 games.

It was nonetheless an exciting performance that showed Clang was able of translating his strong play over from Sweden. He stood tall for Rogle BK through parts of four seasons prior to moving to the AHL, ultimately totalling a 22-15-0 record and .906 in 43 games with the pro squad. Those numbers helped Clang earn a third-round draft selection from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2020. He stands Pittsburgh’s fourth-highest drafted goalie since 2000, though the club shipped him to Anaheim along with Zach Aston-Reese, Dominik Simon, and a second-round pick used on Tristan Luneau in their 2022 acquisition of Rickard Rakell. Two years later, Clang now stands as the top goalie on Anaheim’s call-up chart – helped along by Suchanek suffering a long-term injury before the year started. Clang will try to prove his place on this call-up – if he’s able to step into any ice time.

Lightning’s Jake Guentzel Day-To-Day, Michael Eyssimont Returns

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without star scorer Jake Guentzel for the short term, as he’s been listed day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The injury forced Guentzel out of Tampa Bay’s lineup in their Sunday matchup against Montreal.

This marks Guetnzel’s first absence of the season. He’s otherwise been a core pillar of Tampa Bay’s top line, racking up 20 goals and 37 points in 33 games. Those totals put Guentzel second on the team in goals, but fourth in total points – a serious testament to the strength of the Lightning offense. There were plenty of worries to be had after Tampa Bay let longtime captain Steven Stamkos walk this summer. But the addition of Guentzel has helped the Bolts net 132 goals on the season, second-most in the NHL, with 98 of those goals coming from the team’s top-six forwards. Upholding that standing will fall on Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, and Brayden Point while Guentzel works his way back to full health

Michael Eyssimont filled the lineup vacancy left by Guentzel on Sunday, making his return after missing Tampa’s last game with a lower-body injury. Eyssimont stepped into his usual role on the fourth-line, while Cam Atkinson received a promotion to the top line. Neither player recorded any scoring in the matchup. They’ve both scored three goals and five points this season – Atkinson in 20 games, and Eyssimont in 31.

Penguins’ Kris Letang Out, Nate Clurman Makes NHL Debut

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The Pittsburgh Penguins were without star defenseman Kris Letang when they took the ice for warmups on Sunday. He was announced as out with a lower-body injury right before puck-drop, paving the way for rookie Nate Clurman to make his NHL debut. Clurman received his third call-up of the season on Friday. His prior two both ended in Clurman being sent down the very next day without any ice time – both trends he’s bucked on this recall.

Pittsburgh provided no additional details on Letang’s injury. He becomes yet another impactful Penguins defender to go down with injury, joining Marcus Pettersson (undisclosed) and Owen Pickering (concussion) who are both on injured reserve. Letang missed three games earlier this season due to an illness, but has otherwise held strong to his role as Pittsburgh’s top defender. He leads the team’s skaters in average ice time with 23:24, though that number is still far from the near-25 minutes of ice time that Letang has rivaled in every season since 2011-12. That dip in utilization matches Letang’s dip in productivity. He currently has just 16 points in 34 games, his lowest scoring pace since 2009-10. Both Erik Karlsson (25) and Matt Grzelcyk (18) rank higher than Letang in scoring.

With their star veteran out, Pittsburgh turns towards an effective, two-way AHL defenseman. Clurman has recorded five points, 10 penalty minutes, and a +6 in 18 games this season. He’s already tied his scoring totals from 37 games last year. Clurman was originally a sixth-round draft pick to the Colorado Avalanche in 2016, and turned pro in 2020-21. He bounced between the ECHL and AHL lineups for two years, but found strong footing in the AHL by 2022-23 – when he totaled 15 points in 57 games. Clurman will now climb the next rung of the ladder, and get his first chance to prove he can fit at the NHL level too.

Boston Bruins Reassign Fabian Lysell

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Dec 29th: The Bruins organization announced they’ve reassigned Lysell to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. There’s no indication it’s a paper transaction for Lysell but the Bruins don’t play again for a few days. It’s uncommon for a team to make a formal announcement for a paper transaction so Boston will likely fill the open roster spot with someone over the next two days. Lysell skated in 11:32 of last night’s action but failed to find the scoresheet outside of a +1 rating.

Dec 28th: The Boston Bruins have recalled top prospect Fabian Lysell from the minor leagues. It’s the first in-season call-up of his pro career. Lysell has been a top scorer in the AHL since joining the Providence Bruins in 2022-23. He totaled 14 goals and 37 points in 54 games as an AHL rookie, good for fifth on Providence in scoring. Lysell followed that with 50 points in 56 games last year but has slowed down a bit with 17 points in 26 games this year.

Lysell is a high-skill, high-speed winger who’s grown substantially in his ability to play through pro-level physicality. He worked his way into a hardy top-line role for parts of last season and performed well in the role, setting him up for an exciting 2024-25 campaign. Lysell seemed to be taking full advantage of the momentum at training camp but was surprisingly one of the first cuts of camp. He’s since returned to a top-line role in Providence, and even maintained his production through a three-game injury in November, though Boston has still made a habit of opting for other call-ups over their productive top winger.

Now, Lysell will finally get his chance – potentially soon to make his NHL debut after scoring three points in Providence’s 4-1 win over Bridgeport on Friday. If he does, Lysell will become the first Bruins first-round pick to debut with the team since John Beecher – 2019’s 30th-overall pick, who is currently fighting for minutes on the Bruins’ fourth-line.

Lysell recorded three points in Providence’s 4-1 win over Bridgeport on Friday. Now, less than 24 hours later, head coach Joe Sacco has confirmed that Lysell will make his NHL debut, per Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. Conroy adds that Lysell will take Oliver Wahlstrom’s spot between Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau. Lysell will become the first Bruins first-round pick to debut since 2019 30th-overall pick John Beecher, who is currently fighting for a role on the team’s fourth line.

Blue Jackets Activate, Assign Jordan Dumais

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated top prospect Jordan Dumais off of season-opening injured reserve and loaned him to the AHL. Dumais missed the majority of Columbus’ training and development camps this summer, and earned an IR placement on October 7th, due to a nagging lower-abdominal injury connected to a fractured hip suffered in January. He underwent surgery in late-January but couldn’t return to full health in time for the end of the 2023-24 season. The Cleveland Monsters have three games remaining in 2024, giving Dumais a slim window to play in any regular season games this year. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic adds that Dumais was headed for another surgery this summer, before hitting a positive swing in his training.

Dumais’ hip and abdominal injury put a sore end to a truly fantastic juniors career. He scored at unprecedented rates in four years with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, headlined by 109 points in his draft year and 140 points the year after. The latter season broke Halifax’s single-season scoring record, while the former ranks fifth. He was headed for more records at the start of last season, scoring 47 points in 21 games prior to injury –  a full-season pace of 143 points in 64 games. And while he wasn’t able to reach those heights, his 119 goals and 325 points in 193 career games with the Mooseheads still both rank as franchise-records.

Despite the incredible scoring, many aren’t convinced about how Dumais will translate to the pro flight. He’s earned his points through quick dekes and smooth skating, giving him a unique ability to sneak around opponents with the puck on his stick. But he only stands at five-foot-nine and 175-pounds – a frame that assuredly doesn’t lend itself to slick deking against NHL hitters. Fears over his size and projectability landed Dumais in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft, going 96th-overall to Columbus. He vindicated their faith quickly at the juniors level, but has been delayed in doing the same in the pros. This roster move should be the first step towards discovering where Dumais’ true upside lies, so long as he continues to trend towards full health.

Kirill Kaprizov Out Day-To-Day

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Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov is missing tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars with a lower-body injury (Twitter link). Kaprizov didn’t travel with the Wild to Dallas and will miss just his second game of the second. The 27-year-old reportedly had some pain heading into the holiday break that is unrelated to the lower-body injury that kept him out of Minnesota’s game on November 23rd.

Kaprizov currently sits fourth in the NHL in points with 50 on the season, and second in goals with 23. His 56 goals in 2024 have him tied with Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for the most this calendar year. Kaprizov has heated up recently, tallying points in 12 of his last 15 games, including five goals in his last six games.

Minnesota started the season red hot going 16-4-4 in October and November. However, since the calendar switched to December the Wild have cooled off with the season, going a pedestrian 6-6. Despite the December slump, Minnesota remains in second place in the Central Division, five points back of first-place Winnipeg.

The Wild return home Sunday to take on the Ottawa Senators and there is no word yet on whether Kaprizov will play. The 2020-21 Calder Trophy winner has yet to play a full season in the NHL, playing over 80 games just once, back in 2021-22.

Canucks Recall Three, Hughes And Pettersson Doubtful For Saturday

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The Vancouver Canucks made three recalls today, bringing forwards Phil Di Giuseppe and Max Sasson up to the big club from Abbotsford as well as defenseman Guillaume Brisebois. The moves were likely made as a precaution since it appears that forward Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes won’t be able to play tomorrow night (as per Jeff Paterson of Canucks Army).

The 31-year-old Di Giuseppe is a veteran of 285 NHL games and has dressed in three NHL games this season for Vancouver, posting two assists. The nine-year veteran was in the AHL for just a handful of days and didn’t play during that time, earning his AHL salary of $500K rather than the $775K he earns at the NHL level. He played three times for Vancouver last week, including this past Monday night against San Jose.

Sasson has provided solid depth scoring this season, both in the NHL and AHL. With Vancouver this season, the 24-year-old has a goal and four helpers in 12 games, while in the AHL his offensive numbers are a shade better, posting four goals and five assists in 16 games. The Birmingham, Michigan native was undrafted out of the USHL and has carved out a solid but brief professional career thus far, reaching the NHL in his second full season of pro hockey.

Brisebois returns to Vancouver after having spent the entire season with Abbotsford. The 27-year-old dressed in 17 NHL games two seasons ago but has not seen NHL action since. It’s unlikely he will dress tomorrow night as the Canucks have seven healthy defensemen right now, and Brisebois will most likely serve as the seventh defender. Brisebois has just a single goal in 23 AHL games this season.

As far as the injuries to Pettersson and Hughes go, both players were being re-evaluated today by Canucks medical staff before the team makes a final judgement on their availability tomorrow.

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