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Washington Capitals Reassign Joe Snively

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March 15: Two days later, the Capitals have returned Snively to the AHL. Ovechkin proved he was at full strength last night by taking home the first star and scoring career goal 817.

March 14: The Washington Capitals announced they have recalled Joe Snively from the Hershey Bears. The 5-foot-9 forward has split this season between the Capitals and Bears and looks to be getting another shot at the NHL lineup.

Signed by the Capitals in 2019 following an outstanding college career at Yale, Snively has played eight games with the Capitals this season, scoring one goal and three points. He has become a key contributor for the Bears where he has scored seven goals and 16 points in 20 games this season. The 27-year-old left winger scored 38 points in 35 AHL games in 2021-22 and had seven points in 12 NHL contests that season.

Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports this recall could have something to do with Sonny Milano missing practice yesterday due to an illness. If Milano is unable to play, it appears Snively could slide into the lineup to replace him. Alex Ovechkin also missed practice yesterday but that was just a maintenance day which usually means the player is still ready for game action.

The Capitals face the New York Rangers tonight and though they were sellers at the trade deadline, the Caps are just five points back of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Cameron Butler

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have dipped their toes into the pool of undrafted free agent prospects, signing Cameron Butler to a three-year entry-level contract that kicks in next season.

General manager Jarmo Kekalainen released the following:

Cameron is a physical forward with size, strength, toughness and tremendous character and leadership. He is a hard-working, competitive player and we are excited to welcome him to the Blue Jackets family.

The 6’4″ Butler currently plays for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL, where he has been an intimidating force all season. With a career-high 24 goals and 49 points in 59 games, while racking up 111 penalty minutes, he has developed into an effective power forward (on a team full of them) that now has a chance to play pro hockey.

Now 20, the question for Butler moving forward will be whether his late-blooming offense will continue, or whether he tops out as a physical presence at the next level. There have been plenty of players to make it to the NHL without much scoring touch, but it is a much more difficult route.

He’ll likely join the Cleveland Monsters next season and test himself at the AHL level.

Coyotes Recall Bokondji Imama

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The Arizona Coyotes have announced Bokondji Imama has been recalled from the Tucson Roadrunners. The recall was made on an emergency basis, and Imama is no stranger to being sent up and down. This is the fourth time he has been called up by the Coyotes since Mar 7 as the Coyotes bring him up on game day to fill out the roster and then send him back to Tucson.

Imama is a big, physical presence in the lineup and has played in three NHL games this season. He is yet to record a point, though he scored a goal for the Coyotes in one of his four NHL games last season. He also has five penalty minutes earned when he was willing to drop the gloves with Ryan Reaves.

The 6-foot-1 and 220 pound left winger has scored five goals and 12 points in 41 AHL games for the Roadrunners this season. The 26-year-old tough guy had a bit of a scoring tough in Junior, once scoring 41 goals for the Saint John Sea Dogs, but he is mostly relied on for his physicality in the pro game.

Jets Notes: Morrissey, Dubois, Gagner

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Dan Robertson of TSN reports the Winnipeg Jets will have an impact player back in the lineup this evening. Josh Morrissey missed the Jets past two games after leaving early against the Florida Panthers last Saturday. He had been listed as day-to-day all week, but is ready to go tonight when the Jets face a tough test against the league-leading Boston Bruins.

Morrissey has had a tremendous season, scoring 15 goals and 67 points in 66 games. The 27 year old is a candidate to win the Norris Trophy for his fantastic play, so the team will be happy to have him back in the lineup. The Jets will need him at the top of his game right away as they have slipped to the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference. They are just four points ahead of the Nashville Predators who have played three less games than the Jets.

  • Pierre-Luc Dubois was on the ice at the team’s morning skate, but according to Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet, Dubois will not play tonight. The 24-year-old center has played just one game since February 26, dealing with two separate injuries in that time. It does appear he is getting close to returning, but it will not be this evening.
  • Murat Ates of The Athletic reports Sam Gagner’s season is over. The 33-year-old forward has already had surgery on one hip and will also get surgery on the other side in the near future. Ates mentions it is an injury that Gagner has been dealing with for a while but is now going to get fixed. The veteran forward scored eight goals and 14 points in 48 games for the Jets this season before being shut down on February 28.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Hart, Chatfield

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According to Rob Rossi of The Athletic, a pair of Pittsburgh Penguins have seemingly dodged a bullet when it comes to injuries. The Penguins appeared to be in a difficult spot when Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta both left Tuesday night’s game early with injuries. It seemed unlikely they would have the cap space to make a recall and even find six healthy defensemen for their game with the New York Rangers tonight.

However, somewhat surprisingly, it sounds like both Petry and Rutta will be good to go tonight. Both players participated in morning skate and said afterwards that they expect to be in the lineup this evening. The team even said forward Ryan Poehling is likely to be activated from long-term injured reserve and play for the first time since February 11.

  • Olivia Reiner of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Carter Hart was back with the Philadelphia Flyers at practice this morning. Hart missed the team’s last game with an illness, but appears to have recovered quickly and could be in goal when they face the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night. Hart has a 2.96 GAA and a .906 SV% in 48 games this season.
  • Walt Ruff of NHL.com reports Jalen Chatfield is back as a full participant for the Carolina Hurricanes. The right defenseman was skating on the third pairing with Shayne Gostisbehere with a regular jersey on instead of the no-contact jersey he had been using. Chatfield has not played since March 7, but head coach Rob Brind’Amour says he hopes Chatfield will be ready to step back into the lineup either when the Hurricanes take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night or the Flyers on Saturday.

Coyotes To Sign Josh Doan

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According to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, the Arizona Coyotes are soon going to sign prospect Josh Doan to an entry-level contract. Doan is the son of Shane Doan who is the Coyotes all-time leader in games played, goals, assists and points.

His son was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft and has played the past two seasons at Arizona State University. Doan was an impact player in his time at college, scoring 16 goals and 38 points in 39 games this season. He had 12 goals and 37 points in 35 games as a freshman in 2021-22.

Doan is a good-sized prospect at 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds and showed plenty of scoring touch by averaging just over a point per game in his two season college career. He likely would not make the jump straight to the NHL, instead start his pro career with the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL.

At 21 years of age, the Coyotes would have the ability to sign Doan to a three-year contract that begins next season. He could close out this season in the AHL on a tryout agreement instead of a formal NHL contract.

Predators Recall McCarron, Send Down Afanasyev

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The Nashville Predators announced a forward swap between the NHL team and their AHL affiliate. Michael McCarron has been called up from the Milwaukee Admirals while Egor Afanasyev has been sent down to the AHL. Afanasyev was up on an emergency basis, and McCarron’s recall was also on an emergency basis, so these do not count towards the four recalls the Predators are allowed to make after the trade deadline.

McCarron, a big, physical winger at 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds has split hit time between the NHL and AHL this season. He has played 19 games for the Predators, scoring one goal and two points while also suiting up for 13 AHL contests and scoring two goals and six points. He was sent down just two days ago so the team would have room to call up defenseman Kevin Gravel, but now McCarron returns to the NHL roster.

Afanasyev was called up on March 11 to make his NHL debut. He has played three games since then recording four shots on goal while averaging just under ten minutes of ice time per game. The 22-year-old Russian winger is having a decent season in the AHL, putting up 13 goals and 26 points in 55 games.

McCarron, at 28 years old gives the Predators a bit more experience in their lineup over Afanasyev. The Predators were sellers at the trade deadline, but sit just four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final playoff spot and have played three less games than the Jets. They will continue their unlikely playoff push tonight when they host the Chicago Blackhawks.

Jordan Binnington To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was ejected from last night’s game against the Minnesota Wild. The Department of Player Safety announced this morning than Binnington will have a hearing with them about his conduct.

Binnington lost his cool after the Wild’s fifth goal as he felt Ryan Hartman was a bit aggressive in front of the net after the goal was scored. Hartman scored a goal from the faceoff dot on Binnington’s left and headed to the opposite side of the rink to celebrate with Mats Zuccarello who fed him a tremendous pass. On his way, Hartman clipped Binnington who was spinning in front of his crease after allowing the goal.

The Blues Stanley Cup winning goaltender from 2019 must have felt Hartman bumped him on purpose. Binnington surprisingly charged at Hartman and took a massive swing at him with his blocker, aiming for the Wild forward’s face. Contact was certainly made, and Hartman fell to the ice, but it appeared in the video he at least got a hand up to absorb most of the blow instead of taking a blocker straight to the nose.

Binnington was assessed a match penalty for using his blocker as a weapon to try and injure an opponent. His meeting with the Department of Player Safety could lead to a fine or a suspension.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Hughes, Ersson, Svechnikov

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With Jan Rutta and Jeff Petry both leaving Tuesday’s game against Montreal with undisclosed injuries, the Penguins were forced to finish that contest with four blueliners.  As Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out, they might not be able to dress six for Thursday’s contest against the Rangers.  Even with Dmitry Kulikov going on LTIR earlier today, that still only opens up enough cap space for one recall with Anaheim holding back half of Kulikov’s cap hit.  That means that Pittsburgh could bring up Mark Friedman or Taylor Fedun from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Ty Smith is injured) but they would still have to play short a blueliner for a game before becoming eligible for a cap-exempt emergency recall.  Of course, if one of Rutta or Petry can suit up against New York, they’ll be able to ice a full lineup.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Rangers prospect Riley Hughes has entered the NCAA transfer portal, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old was a seventh-round pick by New York back in 2018 (216th overall) but hasn’t been particularly productive over four years at Northeastern.  This season, Hughes had just two goals and four assists in 32 games, numbers that weren’t going to help him earn an entry-level deal this summer.  He’s eligible for one more bonus year of eligibility and that season will now be played elsewhere.
  • The Flyers have assigned Samuel Ersson back to AHL Lehigh Valley, interim GM Daniel Briere told reporters including Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now (Twitter link). The 23-year-old was recalled yesterday with Carter Hart being out due to illness but it appears that Hart will be ready for their next game on Friday against Buffalo.  Ersson has played in 13 games with Philadelphia this season, posting a 3.07 GAA and a .898 SV%.
  • As expected, the Hurricanes have placed winger Andrei Svechnikov on LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is out for the season is set to undergo season-ending knee surgery on Thursday.  The placement adds Svechnikov’s $7.75MM AAV to Carolina’s LTIR pool, one that went into the day with less than $850K in space, or enough for one AHL recall.  With Svechnikov on LTIR, affording recalls shouldn’t be an issue for them for the rest of the season.

Previewing The 2023 College Free Agent Market: Defensemen

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With the Frozen Four tournament on the horizon, there should be some activity on the college free agent front in the coming weeks.  At this time of year, college free agents are rarely coming in as impact prospects with high NHL ceilings (and this year is no exception) but it’s an opportunity for teams to add some depth pieces that are further along in their development compared to players coming out of major junior.

Here is an overview of some of the defensemen that should be drawing NHL interest in the near future.  Note that not all of these players will sign entry-level contracts as some will ultimately elect to return to college for another season while quite a few others not on this list will sign NHL or AHL deals in the coming weeks.  The forward preview can be found here.

Jacob Bengtsson, Lake Superior State

The 23-year-old made the jump to North America back in 2018 and while it took a bit of time for him to find his footing, he became a key part of the back end for the Lakers the last two seasons.  He has a pro-ready frame and is a strong defender.  Bengtsson was believed to have some NHL interest last season and should have some this time around although it’s worth noting that he has another year of college eligibility remaining.

Akito Hirose, Minnesota State

The younger brother of Taro Hirose who has seen some NHL action after going the college route, the blueliner is a strong skater with a strong offensive game.  The question with him will be if he can defend at a pro level as the offense should translate relatively well.  Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic report (subscription link) that the Canucks are among the teams believed to be interested in the 23-year-old who has another year of eligibility remaining.

Colton Huard, New Hampshire

Unlike most of the blueliners on this list, Huard isn’t quite as far along in his development as he’s only played his sophomore year and spent a good chunk of it on the second pairing.  However, the 22-year-old has shown a promising offensive skillset and, like many other defenders on this list, has the size that will be enticing to NHL teams.  Huard is a strong candidate to stay with the Wildcats next season but expect some teams to try to change his mind.

Luke Krys, Brown

Krys isn’t going to be a blueliner that piles up the points but he is a stable defender in his own end which, coupled with a big frame that has room to fill out still, should attract some NHL interest.  Basically, the 22-year-old is the opposite of his brother Chad, a former Chicago prospect.  The overall raw upside isn’t the highest out of this group but teams looking for a defender that can step right in and play regular minutes in the AHL will have Krys on their lists.

Jake Livingstone, Minnesota State

If you’re looking for a defender that could make the jump to a third pairing spot in the NHL quickly, Livingstone is probably that player.  He has a pro-ready frame and has surpassed the 30-point mark in each of the last two seasons.  The 23-year-old has received NHL interest in the past and with this season being his best, that interest should only intensify.  Livingstone is a strong candidate to land a deal that begins now, getting him to restricted free agency sooner.

Sam Malinski, Cornell

While the 24-year-old is a bit undersized at 5’11, he’s arguably the most well-rounded defender in this UFA class.  He provided eight goals from the back end this season and ran the power play for the Big Red while defensively, he logged big minutes on the penalty kill.  Although Malinski is technically a senior, he missed all of 2020-21 with the Ivy League schools not playing that year so there’s a case to be made that he still has some developing to do which should entice some NHL teams.

Zach Metsa, Quinnipiac

Undersized blueliners don’t always make the jump with success but Nick Blankenburg quickly becoming a regular in Columbus should strengthen Metsa’s market as there are some similarities between the two.  Metsa moves the puck well and his offensive skills are among the best in this class.  The fact he’s 5’9 will hurt his market but there will be some interest in the 24-year-old who has exhausted his eligibility including the bonus year.

Travis Mitchell, Cornell

Cornell’s captain played a much bigger role this season, playing in all situations.  However, Mitchell is someone that profiles as more of a stay-at-home defender in the pros.  At 6’3, he has pro size already and shouldn’t need much of a transition period to play in the minors at least.  Mitchell’s raw ceiling isn’t particularly high but he would be a worthwhile addition for a team that’s looking to add some depth to its prospect pool.  He has previously attended development camps with Boston and St. Louis.

Others To Watch For

Dylan Anhorn, St. Cloud State
Zak Galambos, Western Michigan
Ryan Siedem, Harvard

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