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Archives for April 2022

OHL Announces Fine, Indefinite Suspension For Niagara Management

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The OHL has announced a $150,000 fine and two indefinite suspensions for Niagara Ice Dogs general manager Joey Burke and head coach Billy Burke following an investigation into “overall conduct.” Both men are also minority owners of the team. The league announced that the investigation revealed conduct that is “prejudicial to the welfare of the OHL” and “runs counter to the OHL’s Onside program, which emphasizes the importance of demonstrating respect for women through actions and words.”

Joey and Billy Burke will be eligible to apply for reinstatement on June 1, 2024. At that time, OHL commissioner David Branch will assess whether they have successfully completed necessary counseling and education. The investigation began after the league received transcripts of a March 6, 2022 WhatsApp conversation.

The Ice Dogs are currently in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 22-38-4 record. The team has not yet released a statement on the suspension or announced who will be taking over either position.

AHL Shuffle: 04/06/22

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After a couple of wild matchups yesterday between playoff teams, today’s NHL schedule is a bit more subdued with only five games on the docket. Still, that includes an all-important game for the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights, with the former essentially out of the playoff race if they fail to take home two points in regulation. Vancouver now sits nine points behind the Dallas Stars with just 12 games to play, a gap that is probably insurmountable even if they did end up winning tonight. The Golden Knights meanwhile still find themselves out of a spot but have won five straight and made it a race again, even creeping closer to a Pacific Division spot as the Los Angeles Kings scuffle toward the finish line. As those teams and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Kyle Criscuolo once again, his fifth transaction in less than a week. The 29-year-old has played three games this season for Detroit and 12 in his career, spending most of his time in the minor leagues.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

  • The Arizona Coyotes have assigned both Hudson Fasching and Ivan Prosvetov to the AHL, as Harri Sateri joined the team today. Prosvetov, 23, has played in 40 games for the Tucson Roadrunners this season, logging the lion’s share of the minor league work.
  • Matt Tennyson has been returned to the minor leagues by the Nashville Predators, where he can continue to help the Milwaukee Admirals in their Calder Cup pursuit. The veteran defenseman has 14 points in 46 games for Milwaukee this season.

Pacific Division

  • Yesterday, the Vancouver Canucks recalled Jack Rathbone, with Quinn Hughes absent from practice. Rathbone is up under emergency conditions, meaning he does not yet count toward the four post-deadline recalls that the Canucks are allowed.
  • Juuso Valimaki is back up with the Calgary Flames, recalled today from the minor leagues. Valimaki has played just eight games with the NHL club this season, recording two points.

This page is updated throughout the day

Viktor Lodin Assigned To AHL

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The Ottawa Senators have now officially reassigned Viktor Lodin to the Belleville Senators of the AHL, though things had been in the work for a few days. Lodin’s season in the SHL finished recently and now he will get his first taste of professional hockey in North America. Belleville head coach Trent Mann was on TSN radio yesterday to talk about his newest forward, explaining that Lodin will be making his debut by Saturday at the latest.

A fourth-round pick in 2019, Lodin has had an up-and-down development path over the last few years. After playing nearly a full season at the SHL level in 2018-19, he ended up back in the second tier in 2019-20 after struggling with Orebro HK. In 2020 he joined Timra, who had been demoted to the Allsvenskan (the Swedish equivalent of the AHL), and he spent all season there helping them win a championship and earn promotion back to the SHL.

In that 2020-21 campaign he had 40 points in 47 games, and he has come back with another strong season this year for Timra even after the promotion. With 12 goals and 27 points in 44 games, the 22-year-old Lodin is fourth on the team in scoring, trailing only three import players (including former NHL forward Ty Rattie.

Signed to a two-year entry-level contract last June, Lodin is under contract through 2022-23 and would then be a restricted free agent. Getting some games in down the stretch will only help his transition to North America full-time next season, when he is expected to play a big role for Belleville. Don’t rule out a debut at the NHL level either though, as his strong play at the highest level in Sweden has opened some eyes. Whether he can bring any of that offense to this side of the pond remains to be seen, but Lodin represents another prospect for the Senators that could be ready for action in the coming years.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Noah Philp

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Another Philp brother is on an NHL deal. The Edmonton Oilers have signed Noah Philp to a one-year contract for the 2022-23 season. No financial terms were disclosed, but he will join the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors on an amateur try-out for the rest of the season.

A free agent out of the University of Alberta, Philp finished the regular season with 11 points in just eight games but tore up a four-game playoff with ten points. It was his third year in school, including the 2020-21 season that was completely lost to COVID. Prior to that, he played four seasons in the WHL with the Kootenay Ice and Seattle Thunderbirds.

Philp, a 23-year-old center, is the younger brother of Luke Philp, under contract with the Calgary Flames. The brothers will likely face off against each other this season in the AHL.

Noah will likely need a good amount of seasoning with Bakersfield before potentially getting an NHL look, especially considering the lack of hockey he’s played over the last two seasons.

Jack Hughes Shut Down For Season

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An injury-plagued season for young New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes continues. Per the team, Hughes suffered a low-grade MCL sprain of his left knee during April 3rd’s game against the New York Islanders, ending his season.

The injury came as a result of this collision with Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who did not receive a penalty for the hit. He did, however, receive a fighting major for an altercation with P.K. Subban after the hit.

Hughes has come alive this season, smashing every career-high despite the injuries. Limited to just 49 games, Hughes still managed 26 goals and 30 assists for 56 points, clearing his previous career-high by 25 points. He’s shown first-overall pick ability constantly this year, and the team and player hope injuries don’t get in the way of that continuing. He remains one of the team’s best two-way forwards as well.

For the short remainder of this season, it will fall back onto captain Nico Hischier to take over the no. 1 center spot. Hischier does have 50 points in 60 games, largely flying under the radar this year, and he’ll get the chance to improve on those totals with some more minutes.

West Notes: Reichel, Nichushkin, Gurianov

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Chicago Blackhawks fans will get one more chance to see one of their top prospects in action at the NHL level this season, but it comes with an asterisk. Chicago recalled forward Lukas Reichel from the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs today, presumably for the third and final time this season. But, as NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis notes, how much he plays down the stretch impacts his contractual situation in the long run. Reichel only needs to play five more NHL games to burn the first year of his entry-level contract, as the team still retains the ability to slide his contract a year forward provided he plays nine or fewer NHL games this year. But as Chicago soldiers on toward a rebuild, cost-effectiveness probably isn’t top of mind right now. While Reichel has averaged 14:10 per night in his five NHL games this year without a point, he has 49 points in 49 AHL games this year. You’d be hard-pressed to find a good argument as to why Reichel doesn’t deserve another look in Chicago during the last, inconsequential month of the season.

Elsewhere from the Western Conference tonight:

  • Valeri Nichushkin isn’t playing for Colorado tonight, compounding a long list of current injuries to important players for the Avs. It’s a non-COVID illness holding him out of the lineup, as the bug that everyone seems to be catching has hit the 27-year-old forward. He’s had a breakout season in a near-constant top-six role, potting 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points in 51 games. That now makes half of Colorado’s top-six out of the lineup for now, as he joins Gabriel Landeskog and Nazem Kadri on the scratch list.
  • It’s a pesky non-COVID illness striking again, this time against the Dallas Stars. Denis Gurianov is out of the lineup now as the team continues to battle with Vegas and Nashville for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference. The skilled shooter has 30 points in 63 games this season.

Nils Hoglander, Tucker Poolman Could Be Out For Season

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Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau spoke to reporters today, saying that he believes forward Nils Hoglander and defenseman Tucker Poolman could be done for the 2021-22 season with respective injuries.

Hoglander, 21, last played on March 15th against the New Jersey Devils. He was listed as day-to-day with a groin injury two days later, and his status was downgraded to week-to-week on March 30th. Poolman, a first-year Canuck, returned to the Canucks lineup on April 3rd after missing over two months but played just 4:25 in that game. He’s out with an upper-body injury.

While the Canucks, who now sit eight points out of the second Wild Card spot, had very little hope of making the playoffs, these compounding injuries worsen their scenario. While Hoglander has been in and out of the lineup, occasionally scratched, he still has more points this season than any current member of Vancouver’s bottom-six (10 goals, 18 points in 60 games). Not having him as an option for some depth goal-scoring takes away from a position of need.

Poolman, while many initially balked at his $2.5MM cap hit (and rightfully so), had put together by far the best defensive performance of his career so far prior to going down with an injury. He did have just three points in 40 games, but Poolman has never carried much of any offensive upside.

Philadelphia Flyers Activate Scott Laughton

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that the team has activated forward Scott Laughton off injured reserve after missing roughly three and a half weeks with a concussion. In a corresponding transaction, the team also loaned forward Hayden Hodgson back to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Laughton suffered the concussion after playing 11 shifts in a March 10th game against the Florida Panthers. He’d been taking on his biggest role yet in Philadelphia this year prior to the injury, scoring 11 goals and 28 points in 54 games while averaging more than 16 minutes of ice time per game for the first time in his career.

Historically a strong play-driving forward, Laughton continued to outperform his $3M cap hit this year, and the Flyers hope that he gets back to full health and serves as a solid depth piece for years to come. While they may still be in rebuilding mode for the next few seasons, Laughton, under contract through 2025-26, can serve as a veteran leader in what could be a tough stretch of seasons for the team.

He will return to the lineup against Columbus tonight, projected to center a unit between newcomer Noah Cates and Travis Konecny.

Hodgson, meanwhile, returns to Lehigh Valley after a strong showing during his first five games in the NHL, registering a goal and an assist and a -1 rating. He won’t get a chance to make a playoff impact there, however, as Lehigh Valley sits last in their division with 13 games remaining.

Minor League Notes: Murray, Marlies, Dove-McFalls

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The Texas Stars have signed goaltender Matt Murray–no, not that Matt Murray–to an amateur tryout agreement for the rest of the season. The 24-year-old netminder recently finished his college career at UMass-Amherst, where he played five seasons for the Minutemen. In 2021-22, the former AJHL star posted a 21-12-2 record with a .917 save percentage, and holds the school records for wins and shutouts. Undrafted, Murray has generated some buzz as a possible entry-level contract candidate, but it looks like he’ll have to show what he can do at the AHL level before that happens.

Here are some more minor moves from around the AHL:

  • The Toronto Marlies have signed Michael Joyaux and Nolan Walker to AHL contracts for the 2022-23 season, stocking the system with a pair of college free agents. Joyaux, 25, has spent the last four seasons at Western Michigan and scored a career-high 32 points in 39 games this year. The undersized defenseman will have his work cut out for him at the next level, and certainly isn’t a lock to earn an NHL deal down the road. Walker, 23, meanwhile is a bit of the same story, as an undrafted, undersized forward. He is coming off his senior season at St. Cloud State, where he posted 24 points in 37 games.
  • Samuel Dove-McFalls, a fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, has decided to try his hand at professional hockey after all. The 24-year-old signed a tryout agreement with the Grand Rapids Griffins, after finishing his fourth season with the University of New Brunswick, where he served as captain this year. Selected way back in 2015, Dove-McFalls’ draft rights expired in 2017 when he failed to sign with the Flyers, making him an unrestricted free agent. A former QMJHL champion, he had 20 points in 24 games for UNB this season.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Lukas Svejkovsky

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed another prospect, this time inking Lukas Svejkovsky to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will begin in 2022-23 and carries an average annual value of $859,167 at the NHL level. Svejkovsky currently plays with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL.

Svejkovsky is a name that some NHL fans might be familiar with, given his father Jaroslav Svejkovsky played in 113 games, mostly for the Washington Capitals, after being the 17th overall pick in 1996. While dad had to deal with a league much less friendly to undersized scoring talents, Lukas will have a much better chance of making an impact, should his upside come anywhere close to his father’s.

Selected in the fourth round in 2020, Svejkovsky has put up 73 points in 55 games this season, splitting time between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Seattle. That midseason trade will allow the young forward to chase a WHL championship one last time before turning pro, as the 20-year-old will likely join the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins next season.

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