The Penguins assigned defenseman Ryan Shea to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last night, per CapFriendly. The move ends his brief emergency loan, having come up on Friday after blue-liner Ryan Graves was diagnosed with a concussion. However, his services weren’t needed in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets, meaning he needed to be returned to the minors or converted to a standard recall. The 27-year-old has been up and down on multiple paper transactions over the last few months but hasn’t played an NHL game since Dec. 8. The 2015 fourth-round pick of the Blackhawks made his NHL debut this season after inking a one-year, one-way deal with Pittsburgh last summer, but failed to record a point and averaged 12:28 per game through 22 contests.
Other updates out of the Eastern Conference:
- The Maple Leafs announced they’ve brought up defenseman Marshall Rifai from AHL Toronto for the second time in three days. It’s an emergency loan, per CapFriendly, indicating he’ll serve as injury insurance ahead of tonight’s game against the Panthers and will likely return to the minors tomorrow. The 26-year-old landed his first NHL deal last summer after spending 2022-23 on an AHL contract with Toronto and made his first two NHL appearances in February, logging a shot on goal, a block and four hits while averaging 11:40 per game. Rifai coming up to the active roster today confirms that Morgan Rielly, who’s already missed three games with an upper-body injury, isn’t ready to return. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters that Rielly is “close to 100 percent” and will practice tomorrow, meaning he could return for Wednesday’s key clash for playoff positioning against the Lightning (via David Alter of The Hockey News).
- Lightning backup netminder Jonas Johansson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after missing practice today and is questionable to dress against the Red Wings tonight, Chris Krenn of the team’s official site relays. In the event Johansson is unable to go, they won’t make a recall from AHL Syracuse and will dress former Grand Valley State University netminder Kyle Konin as an emergency backup, per Krenn. The 26-year-old Rhode Island native resides in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has informally held the reserve role for the Lightning over the past few seasons, dressing once before as an emergency backup for the Blues when they visited Tampa in the 2021-22 season. Konin hasn’t played any significant level of hockey since ACHA III play in 2020.
- Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin was on the ice for practice Monday after missing Saturday’s shootout loss to the Bruins with a lower-body injury, reports Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. He was a late scratch with the injury and wasn’t issued a timeline beyond day-to-day evaluation, suggesting his absence would be short-term. All signs point to the 24-year-old Swede reentering the lineup tomorrow against the Sabres as the Caps aim to pull away from the Flyers and secure third place in the Metropolitan Division. In his first full season in the nation’s capital, Sandin has 23 points in 64 games while playing 21:20 a night, second on the team behind John Carlson.