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Archives for March 2023

Jordan Spence Reassigned To AHL

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After two weeks with the big club, Jordan Spence returns to the AHL. The Los Angeles Kings have reassigned the young defenseman ahead of their four-game road trip that starts in Calgary this evening.

Spence, 22, played just two games on this recent call-up, bringing his total to five on the year. Through 29 career regular season games he has two goals and nine points, averaging just under 19 minutes a night.

While he doesn’t figure to make a huge impact this year for the Kings, Spence did show he could handle playoff hockey when he was added to three postseason lineups last year. As a significant part of the team’s future, he’ll get that chance again at some point down the road.

For now, he’ll head back to an Ontario Reign team headed for the Calder Cup playoffs. Ontario will play tomorrow night in a potential first-round preview against the Colorado Eagles, and could really use Spence’s help.

Through 50 games this year, he has duplicated his outstanding minor league production, posting four goals and 41 points. Through 96 career AHL contests, he’s put up 83 points.

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Antti Saarela

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The Chicago Blackhawks have inked another prospect, signing Antti Saarela to a two-year entry-level contract. The deal does not start until 2023-24, and carries a cap hit of $896,250.

Saarela, 21, would have become an unrestricted free agent in June had he not signed, after being selected 123rd overall back in 2019.

The young forward has been playing professional hockey in Finland for years now, first appearing at the Liiga level during the 2017-18 season. His offensive game hasn’t broken out yet, but few players in Europe can keep up with his speed.

Chicago will try to hone that elite skating ability into a valuable NHL asset, and for Saarela, there isn’t really a better landing spot than the Blackhawks in terms of NHL opportunity. The team will be turning over its entire roster in the next few years, and offering plenty of chances to youngsters looking to prove themselves.

An entry-level contract represents a no-risk investment from the Blackhawks, especially given how many open slots they have for next season. Saarela becomes just the 11th player under contract with Chicago through 2024-25.

In 41 regular season games, the speedy forward scored seven goals and 18 points. He added a pair of goals in a six-game series against HIFK that ended yesterday in an overtime loss.

West Notes: Blues, Sharks, Predators

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When the New York Rangers clinched the playoffs last night, thanks to losses by the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers, there must have been some smiles on a Western Conference club, too. The St. Louis Blues will now receive a 2024 third-round pick as part of the Vladimir Tarasenko trade, instead of the conditional fourth that was initially announced.

The Blues now have ten picks in the first three rounds over the next two years, thanks to their trades of Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly. That gives them a chance to retool quickly, with considerable draft capital to flip this summer if they are trying to contend in 2023-24.

Jordan Gross Clears Waivers; Reassigned To AHL

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March 28: Gross has cleared waivers and was reassigned to the minor leagues.

March 27: The Nashville Predators have waived defenseman Jordan Gross, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Monday afternoon.

The move could signal that Roman Josi, who’s been out of the lineup since March 18, is close to returning. He’s listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Players returning from injuries is one of the few reasons why a player would land on waivers post-trade deadline, given the absence of the normal 23-player roster limit. But with their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, near the top of their division, Nashville is carrying a trim roster in an effort to bolster their minor league club.

Gross, a 27-year-old product of Minnesota, has three goals in 15 games with the Predators this season. In Milwaukee, he leads the team’s defensemen in scoring despite seeing many days on the NHL roster, recording eight goals and 23 assists in 45 games.

Gross is expected to clear waivers, as he would be ineligible to play for any team in the playoffs or during the brief remainder of the regular season.

Philipp Kurashev Out For Regular Season

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The Chicago Blackhawks have nine games left before this dreadful season ends, but Philipp Kurashev won’t be in the lineup for any of them. The young forward has been shut down with a shoulder injury for the remainder of the schedule.

Kurashev, 23, suffered the injury just two shifts into a game against the Washington Capitals last week. While it doesn’t require surgery, according to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago, the team isn’t going to rush him back into the lineup when there’s nothing left to play for.

The Blackhawks are still trying to land the best draft lottery odds, after all, and despite his up-and-down year, Kurashev helps them compete on a nightly basis.

The Swiss forward set career highs with nine goals and 25 points this season, averaging a whopping 17:25—up from his previous career average of 12:57.

Kurashev heads into the summer as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent after his one-year, $750K contract expires. It will be interesting to see if the team tries to sign him to a multi-year deal as a key part of their rebuild, or continues to go year-by-year on low-cost contracts.

Minor Moves: Hirose, Ferguson, Woll

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Taro Hirose has been called up as an emergency loan to the Detroit Red Wings, according to CapFriendly. Hirose will see his first NHL action of the season if he appears in a game for the Wings, but has played sparingly with Detroit for parts of the past four seasons. He has just four goals and 16 assists in 57 career NHL games, but has been over the 50-point plateau in the AHL the past two seasons, including 15 goals and 39 assists for 54 points in 64 games this season. The Red Wings host the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.

  • Also among minor league transactions, goaltender Dylan Ferguson was sent down to the AHL by the Ottawa Senators, according to CapFriendly. Ferguson signed with the Senators earlier this month, and played well in two games with Ottawa, his first NHL action since 2017-18. He registered a .940 save percentage in those two games, and has a .935 save percentage in six games with the Belleville Senators this season. He also played five games for the Toronto Marlies before signing with Ottawa, and carried an .888 save percentage in those tilts. Ferguson held down the fort for the Sens on March 20, stopping 48-of-49 shots in a 2-1 win over the Pittsburg Penguins.
  • Goaltender Joseph Woll was sent to the Toronto Marlies by the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to CapFriendly. Woll has played well in a short stint for the Maple Leafs, winning three of four games played with a .934 save percentage while allowing just eight goals in that span. He last played Sunday, stopping 23-of-25 shots in a 3-2 Maple Leafs win.

Red Wings Sign Carter Mazur

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The Detroit Red Wings have signed left winger Carter Mazur to an entry level contract, which will begin next season. Mazur will play with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.

Mazur, 21, is a Michigan native who just completed his second season with the University of Denver, coming off of a productive NCAA career with 36 goals and 39 assists for 75 points in 81 games. He also notched seven points in five games for the United States at the World Junior Championships, helping the Americans to a bronze medal.

Mazur helped DU to a national championship in 2022, only adding to an impressive resume since being selected in the third round in 2021 by the Red Wings. Mazur has an opportunity to get his feet wet at the AHL level with Grand Rapids, but won’t have the benefit of a playoff run as the Griffins sit in last place with eight games remaining on the schedule.

The Red Wings have signed a handful of their drafted prospects in recent days, and Mazur adds to that list. He has been a steady point producer going back to his days in the USHL, and enters the Detroit organization at a time when many of the team’s prospects are starting to find their way in the professional ranks.

Mazur will likely spend as much time in the AHL as Detroit feels, as the team is known for taking its time with prospects just entering the Red Wings system. The Red Wings also likely won’t be shy about letting him develop as much as possible before giving him an NHL shot.

Troy Terry Out For Personal Reasons

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The Anaheim Ducks have announced that Troy Terry will miss tonight’s game against the Colorado Avalanche for personal reasons. Terry left the Ducks game Saturday against the St. Louis Blues after scoring a goal and an assist in just over 14 minutes of play. His abrupt exit from the game led many to speculate about an injury, but it was announced yesterday that he left the game to attend to a personal matter.

In his place Frank Vatrano will return to the Ducks lineup tonight. Vatrano was also recently out of the lineup for personal reasons but will once again join the Ducks forward ranks. The 29-year-old came over as an off-season free agent and is just three points shy of tying his career high of 39 points from 2018-19. Vatrano will also be looking to pass the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career.

Terry is one of the few bright spots on a team that has had an abysmal season in Anaheim. The Ducks sit 29th in the league in total points and are already mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. For his part Terry has delivered again this season after a massive breakout last year. Terry has 21 goals and 35 assists in 66 games this season after having 67 points in 75 games last year.

The Ducks opted to wait until after the season to negotiate a new contract with Terry, who is in the final year of his three-year deal. For his part Terry has likely secured himself a big pay day with his play the last two seasons. He is making just $1.55MM this year, is arbitration eligible, and just a few years away from unrestricted agency. Given all these factors, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Terry triple or even quadruple his salary this summer.

Gary Bettman Discusses Ottawa Senators Sale Process

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met with reporters today in Ottawa prior to the Florida Panthers taking on the Ottawa Senators. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting that Bettman told reporters that there are six bidders in phase two of the Senators sale process, and several of them are strong groups.

Postmedia has reported several times that the Senators sale process likely won’t be completed until late in April, but beyond that it could take into the early summer for all the paperwork and approvals to be completed for the sale. Bettman did comment today that this phase of the process could take up to six weeks which would likely push it into early May. He also added that finalizing any agreement would take at least two to three months leading him to speculate that it could be mid to late summer for a deal to be complete. Bettman added that in the second phase the bidders will be coming to Ottawa to meet the front office, tour the building, and do more due diligence than in the first round of bidding.

Several of the bidders will be in Ottawa over the next few weeks, including arguably the most high-profile bidder The Remington Group. The Markham based group is led by Christopher Bratty, along with the owner of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals Rocco Tullio. It also includes Canadian-born actor Ryan Reynolds.

The NHL and Bettman must be happy with the level of interest this process has garnered for a team that has struggled to be relevant for more than a half decade. It has been reported in several media outlets that the final sale price could be in the range $900MM to $1BN. Not bad for a team that is just two decades removed from being bought out of bankruptcy, and has struggled both on and off the ice for quite some time.

Bettman kept his cards close to his chest and offered precious little in terms of new information. One thing he did say that should be music to the ears of Senators fans was that “The one thing that everybody should be comfortable with, and I’ve said this repeatedly, if this team is moving, the only place it’s moving is downtown. It’s not leaving Ottawa. The Senators will be here no matter who buys the club.”

Injury Notes: Thompson, Lindgren, Golden Knights

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Bleacher Report contributor Joe Yerdon reports Tage Thompson will miss today’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. He also mentions it is an upper-body injury and Thompson has been dealing with it for the team’s past two games, but batted through. The Sabres are off for three days after tonight’s contest so it is hoped he will be recovered in time to face the New York Rangers on Thursday.

The 25-year-old forward is having a terrific season, leading the Sabres in scoring with 44 goals and 89 points in 72 games. He was hit awkwardly as he skated out of his zone on Friday night and appeared to be favoring his right side. He was able to finish that game and played the next night as well but will get some additional rest tonight.

  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports Ryan Lindgren was a full participant at practice today. Lindgren missed a month earlier this season with an upper-body injury before returning on March 21. He played just one game and has missed the Rangers past two contests after re-aggravating the same injury. It sounds like he could be ready to go tomorrow night when the Rangers face the Columbus Blue Jackets.
  • Per SinBin.vegas, the Golden Knights will be without a couple of key players for a while. Reilly Smith missed the team’s most recent game against the Edmonton Oilers and Logan Thompson has only played one game since February 9. Both players have lower-body injuries and head coach Bruce Cassidy said he does not expect either of them to play this week. The Golden Knights play the Oilers again on Tuesday and face the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

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