Evening Notes: Smith, McLaughlin, Oesterle, Portillo

The Carolina Hurricanes have brought defender Ty Smith back to the NHL roster per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. He was assigned to the minor leagues in a corresponding move to their recall of goaltender Yaniv Perets, who filled in while Pyotr Kochetkov was day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Smith has been back-and-forth between the NHL and AHL rosters all season, though he hasn’t played an NHL game since 2022-23. His only ice time this year has come through four games with the Chicago Wolves. Smith has three points, all assists, in those outings. Smith has a defined history in North American pros, originally going 17th-overall in the 2018 NHL Draft after a strong WHL career and making his NHL debut in 2020-21. He recorded 23 points in 48 games as a rookie, but has since failed to follow-up – with just 47 games across 123 career games. He’s spent the last two years fully in the minors, recording 67 points across 102 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Smith will now return to a role as Carolina’s seventh defender, hoping to fight for ice time above Sean Walker or Shayne Gostisbehere.

Other notes from around the league:

• The Boston Bruins have assigned forward Marc McLaughlin and defenseman Jordan Oesterle to the minor leagues per the AHL transactions log. The move was first reported by Robert Chalmers of Cohen’s Hockey Media. It’s unclear if the move is a paper move – though Chalmers suggests it could be lasting. Neither McLaughlin or Oesterle suited up in Boston’s Wednesday win over the Islanders. In fact, McLaughlin has only stepped into one Bruins game this season – Boston’s loss to Vancouver on Tuesday. He didn’t record any scoring in that outing but did add one block and three hits in 9:36 of ice time. Oesterle has served a bit hardier of a role – albeit as an injury fill-in for Hampus Lindholm – stepping into three games but yet to find his first point of the year. Oesterle’s only stat changes come through three blocks, three hits, and a -2. Both players will return to the minors, where McLaughlin has scored 10 points in 15 games and Oesterle has eight points in nine games.
• Top Los Angeles Kings goalie prospect Erik Portillo is expected to make his NHL debut on Friday shares team manager of editorial content Zach Dooley. Portillo will take on an Anaheim Ducks with a 5-4-1 record in their last 10 games, though they’ve tied opponents in scoring 31-to-31. The Kings called Portillo up for the first full recall of his career on November 24th. He’s the only Ontario Reign goaltender with a save percentage above .900 – boasting a .906 through six AHL games this year. Portillo was more formally Ontario’s starter last year, recording 24 wins and a .918 through 39 games as an AHL rookie. He was a standout at the University of Michigan, accumulating a .918 save percentage over 87 games and three seasons with the Wolverines.