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Montreal Canadiens Return Anthony Richard To AHL

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The Montreal Canadiens have opened up a roster spot by sending Anthony Richard back to the minor leagues following last night’s loss. The minor league veteran didn’t dress, and played fewer than five minutes against the St. Louis Blues in his previous appearance. No corresponding move has been announced.

Richard, 26, has been excellent this season for the Canadiens organization, first at the minor league level and then again filling in for the NHL club. He had 31 points in 27 games for the Laval Rocket before being recalled on December 18, and chipped in his first NHL goal a few days later.

The Nashville Predators fourth-round pick from 2015 only has nine appearances in the NHL over the years, but has been a strong minor league contributor for quite some time. His return will be a big boost for the Rocket, who are 13-16-5 on the year but playing better of late. Had Richard stayed much longer, he would have needed to clear waivers again before being sent down.

By doing it now, the club protects him from any poaching teams that might have interest, while also saving some money. Richard’s one-year, two-way deal pays him $750K in the NHL and just $300K in the minor leagues.

Casey Fitzgerald Placed On Waivers

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2:00pm: It seems as though it won’t be Luukkonen after all. The team has used the roster spot to activate Jokiharju, and Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News relays news that the young goaltender woke up sick this morning.

1:15pm: The Buffalo Sabres, expecting to use a three-goalie rotation for a while, have started the process of clearing a roster spot by placing Casey Fitzgerald on waivers according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets. By including the purpose of assigning to the minor leagues, the team will be able to immediately recall Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who is expected to start tonight.

There’s certainly no guarantee that the 25-year-old defenseman clears, though. Fitzgerald has played in 59 NHL games over the last two seasons and is on an expiring league-minimum contract. If a club is looking for some defensive depth, there are worse options than the 2016 third-round pick, who can do a little bit of everything.

It’s unlikely that he ever becomes a difference-maker at the NHL level, but this move does include some risk for the Sabres. The team doesn’t have a ton of depth on defense, even with Henri Jokiharju returning soon. Beyond the group that is currently on the active roster, only four defensemen are signed to NHL contracts. A few injuries all at once could quickly put them in a tricky situation.

Jake Leschyshyn Placed On Waivers

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A few minutes ahead of the official announcement from the league, the Vegas Golden Knights tweeted that Jake Leschyshyn has been placed on waivers. He will be sent to the Henderson Silver Knights should he clear tomorrow – along with Brayden Pachal, who was assigned today.

It’s difficult to play regularly in the NHL and be completely held off the scoresheet but that’s exactly what Leschyshyn has done this year. The 23-year-old forward has exactly zero points in 22 games.

That performance will likely get him through waivers, but it should be mentioned that Leschyshyn was once one of the Golden Knights’ top prospects. Selected 62nd overall in 2017, there were high hopes after a nice finish to his WHL career. Last year he played 41 games with Vegas and scored six points, while adding 27 in 34 minor league games.

Given his relative youth, there may be teams interested in giving him a fresh start somewhere else. To do so, they would have to take on a three-year, one-way deal, though. The Golden Knights gave Leschyshyn that deal – which carries an average annual value of $766,667 – in August, locking him up at a league-minimum price.

If there is any hesitation, some clubs will balk at that kind of financial security, even though there might be a shred of upside remaining in the young forward. More likely, he’ll clear and head back to the minor leagues to await his next recall.

Snapshots: Tolvanen, Mintyukov, Matthews

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When the Nashville Predators put Eeli Tolvanen on waivers earlier this season, it surprised a lot of the hockey world. Sure, he hadn’t found a ton of success yet, but Tolvanen was just 23 and had a ton of obvious scoring talent. Since being claimed by the Seattle Kraken, the young forward has three goals and five points in five games, leading to some interesting comments from Predators general manager David Poile on Nashville radio this morning:

Did we give him enough opportunities? Should we have played him higher? Time will tell. Seattle plays differently than us – they rotate their four lines equally. Offensively they have put him in a higher position.

This could be a mistake on our part. That’s on me if he turns out to be really successful. But we thought we tried him on a lot of different areas, different places. We really hoped we could get him through on waivers so he could play in Milwaukee a bit. 

In Tolvanen’s 135 games with the Predators over parts of five seasons, he received 16 or more minutes of ice time just 19 times. While it’s gone well early for him in Seattle, it should be noted that they too are limiting his ice time – he’s averaging just 12:32 through five games, less than he received in Nashville.

  • The Ottawa 67’s have added another top talent, acquiring Anaheim Ducks’ prospect Pavel Mintyukov from the Saginaw Spirit. The 19-year-old defenseman was the 10th overall pick in last summer’s draft and scored 54 points in 37 games for Saginaw before the move. It’s a package of nine picks going the other way, including three second-rounders.
  • Auston Matthews was missing from Toronto Maple Leafs practice today, and while head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including David Alter of Sports Illustrated that it was a maintenance day, the star forward will be a game-time decision for tomorrow’s match against the Predators.

Windsor Spitfires Acquire Shane Wright

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As first reported by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler and affirmed by Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News, the Windsor Spitfires have acquired high-end Seattle Kraken prospect Shane Wright from the Kingston Frontenacs ahead of the OHL trade deadline.

Wright will be headed along with a conditional 14th-round pick in 2025, while Kingston will receive:

  • Ethan Miedema
  • Gavin McCarthy
  • 2nd round pick 2023 (OTT)
  • 3rd round pick 2023 (SOO)
  • 4th round pick 2024 (NIA)
  • 6th round pick 2024 (NIA)
  • 4th round pick 2025 (NIA)
  • Conditional 5th round pick 2024 (HAM)
  • Conditional 6th round pick 2025 (ER)

The move will allow Wright to compete for an OHL championship, something the Kraken obviously wanted as they delayed his return as long as possible. The 19-year-old center played eight games in the NHL, five in the AHL, and seven with Team Canada at the recent World Junior Championship before being sent back. He’ll now join a Windsor team that is on the heels of the London Knights for first place in the Western Conference and sits 23-9-4 on the year.

Selected fourth overall by Seattle last summer, Wright had 94 points in 63 games last season for the Frotenacs, after missing the entire 2020-21 season due to COVID restrictions. His contract with the Kraken will slide, meaning he will not become a restricted free agent until 2026 at the earliest. It could potentially even slide again, as he only turned 19 a few days ago. That means Wright still won’t be eligible to play in the AHL at the start of 2023-24, causing more headaches for the Kraken if they deem him not quite ready to compete at the NHL level.

New Jersey Devils Recall Nolan Foote

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The New Jersey Devils have recalled another one of their young prospects, bringing Nolan Foote to the NHL for the first time this season. The minor league forward will be joining the team today at morning skate, giving them an extra body for tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Foote, 22, was selected 27th overall in 2019 by the Tampa Bay Lightning and joined the Devils organization in the Blake Coleman trade less than a year later. He’s only ever played professional hockey with this organization, and so far it has been an inconsistent ride. The 6’3″ forward burst onto the minor league scene in 2020-21 with 17 points in 24 games for the Binghamton Devils and made his NHL debut, recording two points in six games with New Jersey.

But the next season he wasn’t able to secure a full-time role, and once again spent most of the year in the minor leagues. A season with 32 points in 55 games for Utica followed, and another seven games in the NHL. This time, the stint with New Jersey went pretty well, with three goals and four points. Still, given how many talented forwards the team now has, Foote was unable to crack the roster in training camp and has been back in the AHL all season.

Through 33 games with Utica in 2022-23, Foote has 13 goals and 19 points. Good, but not quite the level of production many had expected of the first-round pick. At the very least he offers some more size, but the Devils are still waiting for Foote to really assert himself as a professional and force his way onto the NHL roster.

Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Bobby McMann

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are rewarding one of their organizational depth players, recalling Bobby McMann from the minor leagues. T.J. Brodie has been moved to injured reserve after missing the last game with an undisclosed injury.

McMann, 26, has never been recalled previously, having only signed his first NHL contract last April. The undrafted forward out of the AJHL played four years at Colgate University and then spent parts of two season in the ECHL before finding a permanent home with the Toronto Marlies last year. In 61 games he scored 24 goals, and was routinely called out by the organizations a player who could battle for a fourth-line role in the NHL.

After another strong start this season – McMann has 15 points in 17 games – he’ll finally get his chance at the NHL. Whether the left-shot forward actually gets into the lineup is a different story, though the Maple Leafs have had a bit of a moving target for their fourth line so far. Dryden Hunt, Wayne Simmonds, and even Zach-Aston Reese at times have come out of the lineup, potentially opening a door for McMann to make his debut.

Still, he’ll be the 14th forward on the roster, so unless someone else is dealing with an injury this could just be a reward for strong play. McMann will earn a lot more while in the NHL, and the Maple Leafs are already in long-term injury relief, meaning they can’t accrue extra cap space for the deadline.

Daniil Tarasov Placed On Injured Reserve; Jet Greaves Recalled

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have had a revolving door in the net this season, and once again Jet Greaves is up under emergency conditions. Joonas Korpisalo is unavailable due to personal reasons, so the team moved Daniil Tarasov to injured reserve in order to make room on the roster.

Tarasov’s IR placement is retroactive to December 30, meaning he can come off whenever healthy. He is dealing with an upper-body injury and has been listed as day-to-day. The 23-year-old netminder appeared to be taking over the backup role earlier this year, but now sits at 2-8-1 with a .907 save percentage on the season. His absence (or that of Korpisalo) doesn’t really mean much to a team that is 12-25-2 on the year and holds the worst goal differential in the Eastern Conference.

The Blue Jackets were one of the offseason’s big winners, signing Johnny Gaudreau to a long-term big-money deal. But after a poor start and near-countless injuries, the season is essentially lost. It would take a herculean effort in the second half to get back into the mix, meaning their focus is more likely to be on the 2023 draft than anything else.

Because of that Korpisalo may end up being a potential deadline target, if he can continue to play well for the next few weeks. The 28-year-old has been very inconsistent in his career but so far has a .913 save percentage this season and is on an expiring contract. It seems that the revolving door isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

Snapshots: Hayes, Kirkland, Marchenko

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Earlier today, we covered the state of the relationship between the Philadelphia Flyers and Ivan Provorov. Now, The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco adds that the Flyers could be open to moving All-Star Kevin Hayes, who’s had a much-documented up-and-down season.

Despite Hayes’ steep contract ($7.142MM for four more years), Di Marco says a Western Conference source believes there would be a market for him via trade. The team would have to contend with Hayes’ contractual details, though, which give him a 12-team no-trade list. Di Marco speculates that the Colorado Avalanche could be a destination for the veteran pivot, which could make sense in a retained salary transaction given their uncertainty at the position behind Nathan MacKinnon.

  • The Anaheim Ducks today issued an update on the status of recent call-up Justin Kirkland. Kirkland was involved in a car accident while traveling to the team’s home game last night against the Boston Bruins, causing him to be transported to the hospital. The team reports Kirkland is stable, retaining full mobility and communication, and will be released within the next two days. It’s great news that Kirkland will be okay and hopefully able to return to the game this season.
  • Kevin Weekes of ESPN and NHL Network reports that rookie Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko has changed his representation, employing Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Marchenko has been one of the team’s strongest players this season, torching the minors before getting called up, where he’s now scored eight goals in 15 games. He is a restricted free agent next offseason.

St. Louis Blues Place Robert Bortuzzo On Injured Reserve

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The St. Louis Blues placed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo on injured reserve after sustaining a lower-body injury on Saturday, a team release stated Monday. In his place, the team has recalled defenseman Dmitri Samorukov from the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.

Bortuzzo, 33, played just five shifts against the Montreal Canadiens on January 7 before leaving the game with the injury. He was previously listed as day-to-day yesterday by head coach Craig Berube.

St. Louis’ injury woes on defense could become too much to handle. Bortuzzo makes five Blues defensemen out of the lineup with injuries, with three already on injured reserve (Torey Krug, Marco Scandella, Scott Perunovich). Nick Leddy is also sidelined with no set timetable yet for a return.

Bortuzzo had just one point this season, a goal against the Minnesota Wild on December 31. A member of the Blues organization since he was traded for in 2015, his usage has dipped to below 13 minutes per game for the first time since he played just six games in 2011-12.

Samorukov, like Bortuzzo, is defensively inclined. A 2017 third-round pick, the Blues acquired Samorukov in a one-for-one swap with the Edmonton Oilers for forward Klim Kostin during the preseason. Samorukov has two goals, six assists, eight points, and a -3 rating in 34 games with Springfield in 2022-23.

It hasn’t been the best start for him with his new team, and he’s been passed over on call-up opportunities by veterans like Calle Rosen and Steven Santini. He’s getting a chance now, though, and he’ll need to capitalize if he gets into a game to reaffirm his role within the organization.

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