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Archives for January 2023

Colorado Avalanche Re-Assign Ben Meyers

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The Colorado Avalanche have assigned former University of Minnesota standout Ben Meyers to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, according to a tweet Saturday evening.

The move allows Meyers to get some games in with the Eagles over the NHL All-Star break after filling in as an injury substitute for the Avalanche for most of the season. In the minors, he has a goal and four assists in 10 games.

It hasn’t been the smoothest of transitions for Meyers, who was a Hobey Baker finalist last season and represented the United States at the Olympics and World Championships. He has just one point, a goal, in 27 games with the Avalanche, and he’s seen very few minutes under head coach Jared Bednar.

The 24-year-old could very well gain some confidence with more playing time in the minors, which would be highly beneficial for Colorado’s bottom six. They recently moved to fortify it, re-acquiring Matt Nieto in a trade with the San Jose Sharks.

Colorado plays next on February 7, a road matchup in Pittsburgh.

Zack MacEwen Undergoes Surgery

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The Philadelphia Flyers won’t have Zack MacEwen in the lineup for a while, announcing that he underwent surgery today to repair a broken jaw, according to Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. His recovery timeline has been set at five weeks.

MacEwen likely suffered the injury during his fight against Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno on Thursday, one of the three-straight fights that the two teams were involved in. He didn’t see a shift after that, and now will be out through the trade deadline.

Claimed off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks in 2021, MacEwen has established himself as one of the identity players that the organization is relying on to try and turn things around. He has played 121 games since the start of last season, racking up 164 penalty minutes in the process. While he doesn’t offer much offensive production – just nine points so far this season – head coach John Tortorella has significantly increased his ice time from a year ago.

MacEwen now averages more than 12 minutes a night and has even seen some powerplay time as the net front option on the second unit. On a contender, that likely doesn’t happen given his lack of scoring. But Tortorella is trying to install a culture that rewards hard work, something MacEwen has never lacked.

Undrafted he fought his way up the Canucks depth chart and debuted in 2018-19 in just his second professional season. Now with 176 games under his belt and a regular spot in the Flyers lineup when healthy, he heads into RFA negotiations this summer with a chance at a multi-year extension. The 26-year-old is one year away from unrestricted free agency, and currently carries a $925K cap hit.

East Notes: Talbot, Brodie, Murray, Wilson

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It’s not shaping up to be a particularly strong trade market for veteran goaltenders but Postmedia’s Ken Warren posits that Senators netminder Cam Talbot could be in play, suggesting the possibility of the veteran re-signing seems less likely now than just a few weeks ago.  The 35-year-old – who has already been ruled out of the next two games – has a 2.90 GAA and a .905 SV% in 28 games with Ottawa this season, numbers that are close to league average.  While it would likely take some retention on his $3.667MM AAV, the pending unrestricted free agent could certainly serve as an upgrade on the second-string option for several contenders and essentially keep Talbot in the role that he was acquired to fill for the Sens this season.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • The Maple Leafs could get a key defenseman back in the lineup tomorrow against Washington as TSN’s Mark Masters relays (Twitter link) that T.J. Brodie is planning to suit up pending medical clearance. The veteran skated on the top pairing at practice today and would be a welcome addition to Toronto’s back end.  Brodie is averaging over 21 minutes a night (third-most among their defenders) and has eight points in 28 games so far.  Brodie is currently on IR and the Leafs have a full roster so they’d have to send someone down to activate the blueliner.
  • Still with the Maple Leafs, Sports Illustrated’s David Alter notes that goaltender Matt Murray is dealing with an ankle issue. He was supposed to get the start last night against Ottawa but exited warmups early, resulting in Ilya Samsonov getting the nod once again.  It’s unknown at this point if Murray will be available to dress on Sunday against Washington.  He has a 2.73 GAA and a .911 SV% in 19 games so far this season, numbers that are nearly identical to his career averages.
  • Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters including NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link) that they have ruled out winger Tom Wilson for their final two games before the All-Star break. The 28-year-old left Tuesday’s game against Colorado after blocking a shot off his right leg.  The team plans to re-evaluate him after the break.  Wilson has played in just eight games this season after missing time with an ACL injury and has two goals and an assist so far.

Latest On Dylan Larkin

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Last weekend, it was reported that the Red Wings had presented a new offer to center Dylan Larkin as they look to lock up their captain to a long-term extension.  Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports (subscription link) that the offer was for the maximum of eight years and carried an AAV of $8MM.  Considering there hasn’t been an announcement of an extension at this point, it’s safe to say that the offer was declined.

The proposal represented a fair-sized jump on the $6.1MM Larkin is currently getting on his deal that’s set to expire in June.  However, St. James points to the eight-year, $73.2MM extension ($9.15MM AAV) that Mathew Barzal signed with the Islanders as a logical comparable from Larkin’s camp.  If that’s the case, the two sides are likely trying to bridge somewhere in the range of a $1.15MM gap per season.  While a deal isn’t done yet, the 26-year-old doesn’t believe there’s any sort of strain in negotiations:

It doesn’t seem like there are any hard feelings, it is just the way it is going.  With Steve, I don’t really expect anything else. It’s been very professional and we’ve had a lot of conversations about the team and certain things that come up during a season with guys or whatever it may be. It’s been pretty status quo.

Larkin put up his second career 30-goal campaign last season and is averaging just shy of a point per game this season with 43 in 47 contests.  If he stays at that pace, it’ll be the third time he averages at least 0.9 points per game.  Those are certainly strong numbers but how much more of a ceiling does he still have offensively?  While Larkin is deployed as a number one center, there’s typically an expectation that the player in that role can help carry an offense and get past the point-per-game threshold.

That’s likely a big factor in negotiations.  A $9M-plus AAV would put Larkin in the top-25 in cap hit among NHL forwards but is he a top-25 forward?  Could he still become one as some of Detroit’s young talent continues to develop and improve, bolstering the scoring power for the Red Wings over time?  These are the questions that GM Steve Yzerman is certainly pondering at the moment.

It’s certainly not an ideal spot for Detroit to be in.  Larkin has made it clear that his desire is to stay with his hometown team.  Many expected an extension to be in place by now.  But while upping the offer for Larkin may not be ideal from a spending perspective, the alternative isn’t any better as trying to find a new top pivot on the open market comes with its own risks and would likely cost more than they’re offering here.

The Red Wings are a team that’s now in the process of trying to build back into being a playoff contender.  That’s a lot tougher task to do without a top center which means Larkin walking in free agency would be a tough blow.  Accordingly, even though there’s a sizable gap to be bridged financially, Detroit fans should still have some optimism that they’ll be able to find common ground on a new deal.  It’s just going to cost more than Yzerman and the Red Wings would like.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Golden Knights Assign Three To The AHL

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Ahead of tonight’s contest against the Islanders, the Golden Knights made a trio of roster moves, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned forwards Pavel Dorofeyev and Byron Froese along with defenseman Kaedan Korczak to AHL Henderson.

Dorofeyev has had three separate stints with Vegas this season but has seen limited NHL action despite that, getting into just three games where he was held off the scoresheet while logging just under 12 minutes per contest.  He suffered an undisclosed injury three weeks ago but this assignment means that Dorofeyev has been cleared to return since injured players can’t be sent down.  The 22-year-old was a top producer in the minors last season but has been a bit quieter in 2022-23, picking up six goals and six assists in 21 games with the Silver Knights.

As for Froese, he had been on his third recall of the month prior to this assignment and had been centring the fourth line during that stint.  So far this season, he has a goal and an assist in seven games while winning 61.5% of his faceoffs.  The 31-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal and has been productive in Henderson with 27 points in 36 contests.

Korczak, meanwhile, has been up with Vegas on five different occasions this season, all within the last two months.  Along the way, he has gotten into ten games on the back end for the Golden Knights, picking up a couple of helpers along with 25 hits while logging 17:34 per night.   The 21-year-old also has eight points in 30 games in Henderson.   He’s likely to continue to be one of the top recall options the next time a defender goes down or the team wants some extra depth.

Blue Jackets Claim Lane Pederson Off Waivers From Canucks

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The Blue Jackets have added some forward depth as NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed center Lane Pederson off waivers from the Canucks.  To make room for him on the active roster, Columbus has placed winger Gustav Nyquist on injured reserve.

Pederson successfully made it through waivers back in October while he was still with Carolina.  With them, he played in four games with AHL Chicago before being included as a salary offset in the trade that also saw Vancouver pick up defenseman Ethan Bear.  The 25-year-old remained in the minors with Abbotsford for nearly two months, averaging just shy of a goal per game which earned him a recall in late November.

Since being brought up, Pederson had been a regular for the Canucks, getting into 11 games (including last night’s contest against Columbus while on waivers), picking up a goal and two assists while averaging just under 13 minutes a night.  For his career, Pederson has two goals and six helpers in 55 games between Arizona, San Jose, and Vancouver.  He’s on a one-way contract for the league minimum salary of $750K and is arbitration-eligible if he can get into 25 more games this season.  Otherwise, he becomes a Group Six unrestricted free agent.

The move is a low-risk flyer for the Blue Jackets who needed a replacement for Nyquist who is out indefinitely while there’s a strong chance they’ll be trading a few players between now and the March 3rd deadline so extra bodies were going to be needed at some point.  Pederson has a chance to play a regular role in Columbus in the hopes of finding some NHL stability that has so far eluded him across four different organizations.

Metropolitan Notes: Hurricanes, Cuylle, Devils

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With Max Pacioretty and his $7MM AAV eventually heading back to LTIR, the Hurricanes appear to be a team that will have ample cap space to make a move or two to upgrade for the stretch run.  However, in his latest piece for The Athletic (subscription link), Cory Lavalette suggests that while on the surface, a rental to replace Pacioretty (a rental himself) might make sense, Carolina’s trade history suggests that they’re likelier to target someone signed beyond this season.  Per CapFriendly, the Hurricanes only have $53.5MM in commitments for 2023-24 so it’s plausible that they could eye a longer-term piece which gives them considerably more options compared to teams that will need to be shopping for one-and-done players.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Rangers have returned winger Will Cuylle to AHL Hartford, reports Arthur Staple of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise since New York is now in their bye week.  Cuylle got into two games in his first NHL stint but barely played six minutes per game.  The 20-year-old has 13 goals and 20 assists in 39 games with the Wolf Pack and will get some more time down there before potentially being brought back up after the break.
  • Devils assistant GM Dan MacKinnon confirmed to NJ Advance Media’s Ryan Novozinsky that the plan is for defenseman Luke Hughes to turn pro once his season at Michigan comes to an end. The 19-year-old was the fourth-overall pick in 2021 and has 26 points in 25 games so far for the Wolverines.  He’d be an intriguing option for New Jersey down the stretch and in the postseason as he’d definitely be another offensive weapon on their back end.  MacKinnon also confirmed that 2020 first-rounder Shakir Mukhamadullin will join AHL Utica once his season with Salavat Yulaev of the KHL comes to an end.  The 21-year-old has five goals and 15 helpers in 55 games so far.

Blue Jackets Recall Jake Christiansen

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The Blue Jackets have brought up some extra depth in advance of their game tonight against Seattle, announcing the recall of defenseman Jake Christiansen from Cleveland of the AHL.  His promotion is likely related to Nick Blankenburg’s upper-body injury that caused him to miss last night’s game against Vancouver.

It’s the second recall of the season for the 23-year-old who got into 17 games with Columbus during that first stint before being sent back to the Monsters late last month.  Christiansen had a pair of assists during that stretch while averaging a hit and block per game in just under 14 minutes of playing time per night.  He has been more productive in the minors, picking up a dozen points in 23 contests and is only a year removed from a 45-point sophomore year with Cleveland.

Columbus now has seven healthy defensemen on the roster so there’s no guarantee that Christiansen will be in the lineup tonight against the Kraken.  The blueliner is in the final year of his entry-level contract and will be eligible for salary arbitration this summer.

Devils Assign Nikita Okhotyuk To AHL

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After being up with New Jersey for more than a month on what started as an emergency loan, Nikita Okhotyuk’s time with the Devils has come to an end for now as the team announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been assigned to Utica of the AHL.

The 22-year-old got into ten games with New Jersey and saw action in a particularly limited role as he averaged under 12 minutes a night.  Okhotyuk picked up his second career NHL goal earlier this month and also chipped in with 31 hits and nine blocked shots.  He has been a bit more productive with the Comets, picking up two goals and four assists in 17 contests at the AHL level.

With this assignment, the Devils are down to just six healthy defenders on their roster.  However, John Marino has been skating for a couple of weeks and was upgraded to day-to-day last weekend so it’s possible that he’ll be ready to be activated for their next game after the All-Star break against Vancouver.  Otherwise, Okhotyuk or someone else will likely be getting recalled a little more than a week from now.

Flames Assign Three Players To AHL

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Calgary’s roster was full for last night’s victory over Seattle but it’s considerably smaller now as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned forwards Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier plus defenseman Dennis Gilbert to Calgary of the AHL.  No corresponding recalls were made.

Duehr and Pelletier were both recalled three weeks ago with Duehr seeing regular action while Pelletier was more limited.  Duehr got into eight games with the Flames, picking up his first two NHL goals while averaging a little over nine minutes a night.  This season at the AHL level, the 25-year-old has ten goals with the Wranglers, just one shy of his output from a year ago in 28 fewer games. Duehr is in his second full professional campaign after signing a two-year entry-level deal with Calgary as an undrafted college free agent in 2021.

Pelletier is widely considered to be one of Calgary’s top prospects so when he was brought up, there was some excitement to see how he’d fare against top competition.  However, he was a regular scratch early and only got into four contests where he logged less than 11 minutes a night.  That’s not necessarily the most optimal usage for a player that had 34 points in 31 games in the minors this season but he at least now has a taste of what things are like at the NHL level.

As for Gilbert, this NHL stint was a short-lived one as he’s going down just two days after being recalled.  The 26-year-old has played in nine games for the Flames this season, collecting an assist along with 19 hits and 20 penalty minutes while averaging 10:35 per contest.  He also has five points in 24 AHL contests.

The Flames are off until February 6th so these three assignments are likely being done to bank some cap space.  The demotions will free up a little over $13K per day and add to their cap room heading into the deadline.  However, it remains to be seen if these three will be back with the big club when they resume play or if someone else will get an opportunity.

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