Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/02/22

What better time to dissolve the taxi squads once and for all than Groundhog Day. The daily cycle of moving players in and out of the taxi squad should come to an end after today, provided that history doesn’t repeat at some point in the future. After the five games on the schedule tonight, taxi squads will be no more. For many teams–those who don’t have a game today–that time has already arrived and several player transactions were needed. As always, we’ll keep track of all the shuffling right here.

Atlantic Division

• The Ottawa Senators have sent Lassi Thomson, Mark Kastelic, Cole Reinhardt, and Egor Sokolov back to the AHL, though several will likely be back after the All-Star break. The Senators were put down by the New York Islanders last night and will still be focused on development in the second half as they try to find a way to compete next season.
• The Boston Bruins have sent Steven Fogarty, Oskar Steen, and Jeremy Swayman back to Providence for the time being, though the latter two should be expected to rejoin the big club after the break. Of course, that is sort of dependent on the health of Tuukka Rask, whose comeback attempt has not gone smoothly to this point.
• After the dissolving of the taxi squad, the Tampa Bay Lightning have sent Fredrik Claesson, Darren Raddysh, and Cole Koepke to the AHL. Koepke, 23, has yet to make his NHL debut but does have 20 points in 28 games with the Syracuse Crunch.
• The Buffalo Sabres have not only sent Aaron Dell to the minors, but he’ll be joined by Brandon Biro, Oskari Laaksonen, Brett Murray, JJ Peterka, Arttu Ruotsalainen, Jimmy Schuldt, Peyton Krebs, and Mattias Samuelsson in Rochester. The Americans have been devastated by injuries and recalls all season, so this will be a nice little reprieve while the NHL is on break. Krebs especially out of this group likely won’t be there long.

Metropolitan Division

• Morgan Barron, Jonny Brodzinski, Adam Huska, and Nils Lundkvist have all been sent to the AHL by the New York Rangers, no longer in need of a taxi squad. Several of these names could see play down the stretch for New York, but for now, will be limited to action with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
• After Vitek Vanecek left last night’s game, the Washington Capitals have recalled Pheonix Copley to the taxi squad. With a game tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, the Capitals have the taxi squad active for one more day.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins have returned Kasper Bjorkqvist, Michael Chaput, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and Juuso Riikola to the minor leagues. With Chad Ruhwedel and Brian Dumoulin both ending up in the lineup last night, there wasn’t a need for Riikola after all.
• Colton White has been reassigned to the AHL by the New Jersey Devils, with Dougie Hamilton likely back after the All-Star break. The Devils were picked apart by the Maple Leafs last night and appear as though they could be sellers at the deadline after a disappointing first half.

Central Division

• The Winnipeg Jets have assigned Mikhail Berdin, Declan Chisholm, Leon Gawanke, Ville Heinola, Johnathan Kovacevic, Mikey Eyessimont, and Kristian Reichel to the Manitoba Moose, where they can continue to play over the All-Star break. Heinola especially seems likely to have a role at some point with Winnipeg later this season, but for now, he’s headed back to the AHL.
• The Dallas Stars have returned Riley Damiani and Anton Khudobin to the minor leagues after they finished their pre-All-Star schedule last night. The Stars are still within striking distance in the Central but have to deal with four excellent teams sitting ahead of them.
• As expected, the Minnesota Wild have recalled Matt Boldy and Connor Dewar from the taxi squad ahead of tonight’s game. Boldy in particular is expected to stay with the Wild the rest of the season, though his waiver-exempt status could be taken advantage of by bouncing him up and down between games.

Pacific Division

• The Seattle Kraken have assigned Joey Daccord back to the Charlotte Checkers, where he’s having a strong season in the AHL. The 25-year-old netminder has a .925 save percentage in 14 minor league appearances. Later on, they sent Max McCormick back to the AHL as well.
• Ahead of their game tonight, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled Austin Strand and Christian Wolanin from the taxi squad, while loaning Rasmus Kupari to the AHL. Kupari, 21, has just nine points in 37 games for the Kings this season.
• The Vegas Golden Knights have reassigned Kaedan Korczak, Daniil Miromanov, Logan Thompson, and Brayden Pachal to the AHL, now that they are on break and no longer have a taxi squad.
• The San Jose Sharks, who don’t play again until February 14, have sent Ryan Merkley, Adam Raska, Zachary Sawchenko, and Jasper Weatherby to the AHL. The San Jose Barracuda play tonight, tomorrow and next Friday, all games which this group could jump into while the Sharks are on break.
• The Anaheim Ducks have reassigned Lukas Dostal, Jacob Larsson, Greg Pateryn, Vinni Lettieri, and Danny O’Regan to the AHL after dissolving their taxi squad. Dostal, the team’s prized goaltending prospect, has a .929 save percentage through his first three NHL appearances, allowing just six goals on 84 shots.

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