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Senators Recall Hayden Hodgson

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled enforcer Hayden Hodgson from the minor leagues. It is his first call-up this season. Hodgson has amassed 156 penalty minutes in 43 AHL games this season, good for most on the Belleville Senators and second-most in the entire league. He will play in the eighth NHL game of his career, and his first with the Senators, on Friday night.

Hodgson is on the tail end of his first season in the Senators organization. He’s added three goals and 11 points to his lofty penalty minutes, putting him just shy of the scoring pace that earned him 16 points in 49 games last season. But Hodgson’s penalty minutes are a career-high, blowing out his previous high of 116 PIMs recorded in 49 games last season.

Hodgson has worked his way into a full-time role in the AHL over the last four seasons, but he’s made a full turn towards bruiser as of late. He earned an AHL deal in the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2021-22 season, after spending four seasons in the ECHL – and part of one in Slovakia’s Extraliga. Hodgson proceeded to have what appeared to be a breakout season. He scored 19 goals and 31 points in 46 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and stayed true to his style with 70 PIMs. That scoring earned him the first six games of his NHL career in the same year, and Hodgson recorded a modest three points and 11 PIMs. But his scoring saw a spike in 2022-23 – after he posted eight points and 83 PIMs in 44 games. He earned one more NHL appearance but didn’t manage any stat changes – before moving to the Ontario Reign last season and Belleville this year.

Friday’s game will mark Hodgson’s first chance at NHL minutes in two years. He’s a burly six-foot-two, 221-pounds and is often a safe bet to earn at least one penalty per game.

Lightning Prospect Isaac Howard Wins Hobey Baker Award

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Tampa Bay Lightning prospect and Michigan State University forward Isaac Howard has won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey. He beat out University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium (Minnesota Wild) and Boston College winger Ryan Leonard (Washington Capitals) for the award.

Howard was the motor behind a strong Spartans lineup this season. He led Michigan State in all scoring categories, with 52 points split evenly. His 26 goals were two times more than anyone else on the roster. Howard’s scoring also averaged out to 1.41 points-per-game, the most in the NCAA – though he ranks fifth in total scoring. It was a breakout performance for the 21-year-old junior. His offense boomed after he found his footing in Adam Nightingale’s offense with a transfer from the University of Minnnesota-Duluth last season. Howard scored 36 points in 36 games in his first season with the Spartans, more than double the 17 points in 35 games he scored in his freshman season with the Bulldogs. Howard’s dazzling scoring came on the back of tireless hockey. He seemed to dominate all open space north of his own blue-line with fleet-footed skating and a strong drive through opponents. He filled a utility-tool role for the Spartans – making gritty plays behind the net, strong passes from the perimeter, and took hard shots in the slot.

Michigan State had their season ended by Cornell University in the first round of the Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. It was another early end for the Spartans after they lost to rival University of Michigan in the quarterfinals last year. It seems Howard isn’t satisfied with the pair of missed chances at the NCAA’s Frozen Four. He’s announced he’ll return to college for his senior season after not coming to terms with the Lightning on an entry-level contract in the recent weeks. There seems to be a growing divide between the Lightning and Howard’s camp, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman even suggesting Howard could be traded before signing his first pro deal. The rift is believed to be in part because Howard’s NIL earnings exceed what he would make on a minor-league deal.

It’d be hard to envision Howard’s role in Michigan State changing at all next season. Instead it will be the Spartans’ focus to build around their engine, which will be helped along by the commitments of multiple top prospects. Defensemen Tyson Jugnauth (Seattle Kraken), Colin Ralph (St. Louis Blues), and Matthew Lahey (Toronto Maple Leafs) are all headed to East Lansing next season, as well as forwards Austin Baker (Detroit Red Wings) and Ryker Lee, a 2025 NHL Draft prospect. That influx in talent will inspire Michigan State’s push for their first Frozen Four appearance since their 2007 championship win.

Howard beats out fantastic competition in Leonard and Buium. Leonard has already played in five NHL games and scored his first professional goal. He was a force to be reckoned with at Boston College, serving as the power-checker and goal-scorer on a star-studded Eagles top-line. He scored 30 goals and 49 points in 37 games of his sophomore season, good for most on Boston College and 10th-most in all of college hockey.

Buium was arguably an even bigger impact to his team, as he unquestionably filled the role of star defender for the University of Denver. He amassed 48 points in 41 games this season, most among all collegiate defensemen. It was his second year earning that title, after he managed 50 points in 42 games as a freshman last year. Buium is expected by many to sign his NHL entry-level contract in the coming days, after Denver’s season was ended by Western Michigan University in the semifinals.

Dallas Stars Sign Arno Tiefensee To Entry-Level Contract

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The Dallas Stars have signed one of their selections from the 2023 NHL Draft. According to a team announcement, the Stars have signed netminder Arno Tiefensee to a two-year entry-level contract beginning in the 2025-26 season.

Dallas selected Tiefensee with the 157th overall pick in 2023, making him the 16th netminder off the board in that summer’s draft. The Weißwasser, Germany native had just played in his first year with the DEL’s Adler Mannheim, managing a 13-10-0 record with a .910 SV%, 2.43 GAA, and three shutouts in 23 games.

Germany’s highest professional league is where he’s made his way since. In the two seasons following his draft year, still with Adler Mannheim, Tiefensee brought his career record up to 51-33-0 with seven shutouts, a save percentage of .910, and a goals-against average to 2.37. Unfortunately, Tiefensee failed to bring his team beyond the semifinals of the postseason tournament, losing in his rookie year and this season.

Tiefensee will likely join the Stars’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, next year. There’s no guarantee the organization will retain third-string netminder Magnus Hellberg beyond this season, and his tandem partner, Remi Poirier, will also need a new contract as a restricted free agent. Assuming the AHL Stars give Poirier a higher share of starts next season, the team could offer Tiefensee the backup role, making his transition to professional hockey in North America easier.

Canadiens, Ducks Discussed Potential Trevor Zegras Trade

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In many sports, trades that don’t occur can be just as captivating—if not more so—than those that do. A recent example of this involves the Montreal Canadiens, who were reportedly close to acquiring Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks during the 2024 NHL Draft, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his column 32 Thoughts.

Friedman writes in his column that he’s never received clarity on why the deal didn’t take place, but he believes it had to with Ivan Demidov falling to the Canadiens as the fifth overall pick. Friedman asserted that Montreal wasn’t offering their fifth overall pick for Zegras, but he filled their immediate need for a younger top-six forward.

Although it’s hard to say with certainty, it’s easy to think Zegras would have fit in nicely with Martin St. Louis’s system in Montreal. St. Louis has been regarded as an offense-first coach and is credited for allowing sniper Cole Caufield to blossom when he took over behind the bench in 2021-22.

Zegras isn’t as highly praised as Caufield for putting pucks in the net, but he has been known as a capable point-producer when healthy. He’s scored 67 goals and 185 points in 265 games with Anaheim, including back-to-back 60-point campaigns from 2021 to 2023.

Unfortunately, his ability to stay healthy has been an issue for the past few years. Since the 2023-24 campaign began, Zegras has appeared in 85 games for the Ducks, equating to 52.79% of potential contests. Furthermore, his defensive shortcomings haven’t meshed well with Greg Cronin’s system, leading to a flurry of trade rumors during that stretch.

Still, it could be a trade that the Canadiens revisit this off-season. It is widely recognized that Zegras, Caufield, and Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils share a close friendship that dates back to their time with the U.S. National Team Development Program. It would be an interesting storyline to see at least two of them reunited on the same team.

Depending on how their postseason run turns out, Zegras would be an interesting candidate to usurp Alex Newhook as the team’s second-line center. That would give Montreal a bona fide top-six, taking some pressure off their first line, who has carried them on their shoulders this season.

Hurricanes, Alexander Nikishin Agree To Entry-Level Contract

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2:19 p.m.: As reported by PuckPedia, a fair amount of additional bonuses are available to Nikishin in his entry-level contract. As reported by Johnston earlier, the Hurricanes will pay Nikishin a $1.0375MM bonus should he win the Conn Smythe Trophy this postseason. Additionally, Carolina will pay Performance ’A’ bonuses up to $1MM and Performance ’B’ bonuses up to $2MM should Nikishin meet the criteria. As a side note on where he’ll immediately report, the team shared that Nikishin would play for their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, should he fail to acquire a work visa from the Canadian government for their upcoming matchups next week against the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.

9:17 a.m.: The Hurricanes announced Nikishin’s two-year deal for this season and next as official. He’ll earn a base salary of $832.5K each year, prorated for 2024-25, as well as an annual signing bonus of $92.5K. Chris Johnston of The Athletic reports the contract includes a performance bonus if he wins this year’s Conn Smythe Trophy, similar to what Montreal’s Ivan Demidov and Washington’s Ryan Leonard have landed in their deals to increase the performance bonuses they’re eligible for in the second year of the contract.

7:28 a.m.: Top Hurricanes defense prospect Alexander Nikishin will be finishing the season in Carolina. SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League announced this morning they’ve mutually terminated their contract with Nikishin, set to expire May 31, and will allow him to sign an NHL contract with the Hurricanes beginning this season. As expected, SKA will retain his KHL rights if he opts to return to his home country.

Selected by Carolina in the third round of the 2020 draft, Nikishin arrives in the NHL with a resume most first-round picks would love to have – even if he’s only signing his first contract at age 23. The 6’4″, 214-lb lefty established himself as arguably the best defenseman outside of the league a few years ago, dominating the KHL since his breakout season with SKA in 2022-23. He’s scored 45-112–157 in 193 games over the last three years, leading KHL rearguards by a wide margin.

Nikishin has also served as SKA’s captain since the 2023-24 season and claimed the league’s assist crown with 44 in 65 games back in 2022-23, beating out every KHL forward as well. He’s posted a cumulative +71 rating across his six total KHL seasons, including a league-high +32 mark in 2023-24.

This year was somewhat of a down season for Nikishin and SKA, but that’s easy to overlook with his overall resume as one of the KHL’s youngest superstars. He still managed 17 goals, tying his career high, and added 29 assists for 46 points in 61 games while ranking third on the club with a +19 rating. Nikishin also appeared on Russia’s Olympic squad in 2022 as a 20-year-old, although he didn’t register a point in six appearances.

Nikishin is eligible for a two-year ELC, so he’ll join the Canes immediately and be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2026. Where he fits down the stretch with Shayne Gostisbehere, Dmitry Orlov, and Jaccob Slavin ahead of him on the depth chart among lefties in Carolina remains to be seen, but he hopes to see action in at least one of the Canes’ final regular season games before the postseason begins. “If it were possible, I’d be ready to play tomorrow,” Nikishin told Sergey Demidov of Responsible Gambling. “If it works out, I’d be thrilled and would give it everything I’ve got.”

Still, his signing is far more impactful for next season. Nikishin will almost certainly step into Orlov’s role as the latter hits unrestricted free agency, giving the club north of $6.75MM in savings in cap room to spend elsewhere. Orlov has only averaged 18:32 per game for Carolina since signing there in 2023, minutes Nikishin should be able to easily swallow out of the gate without being overtaxed.

Even if he begins as a No. 7 option for the Hurricanes in the postseason, that gives them a level of insurance at the position few other teams have. He was ranked as the organization’s top prospect by NHL.com last offseason, and general manager Eric Tulsky said last August he expected to be able to land Nikishin immediately after his KHL season ended.

Avalanche Assign Gabriel Landeskog To AHL On Conditioning Stint

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Apr. 11th: According to a team announcement, Landeskog has officially entered the Eagles’ lineup for tonight’s contest. It will be his first professional hockey game since June 26, 2022.

Apr. 9th: Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog could finally be in line to play his first professional hockey in three years. The team announced they’ve loaned him to AHL Colorado on an LTIR conditioning loan that will likely last the remainder of the regular season.

The playoff-bound Eagles have five games remaining on their regular-season schedule. Landeskog can play in three of them as part of his conditioning assignment before Colorado must recall him to the NHL roster and decide whether to activate him from long-term injured reserve. They have a back-to-back against the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday and Saturday, either of which could mark Landeskog’s return to game action for the first time since hoisting the Stanley Cup on June 26, 2022. He’ll practice with the Eagles today before the organization decides whether he’ll actually suit up, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports.

If he can get through a couple of games without incident, Landeskog could make his return to the NHL when they kick off their first-round playoff series, either against the Jets or Stars, in a week and a half. The 32-year-old has ramped up his participation in practice over the last couple of months since undergoing a cartilage transplant in his right knee in May 2023, the latest of multiple surgeries to address lingering side effects from a skate cut to his leg in the 2020 bubble.

Head coach Jared Bednar hinted at the possibility of a conditioning stint in the AHL for Landeskog, who’s never seen a minor-league assignment since being selected second overall by the Avs in the 2011 draft, on Monday. If he suits up for the Eagles, it will mark his first league action for a non-Avalanche team since he appeared for Sweden’s Djurgårdens IF in the 2012 lockout.

Expectations will still be reserved for the nine-time 20-goal scorer. Regardless of the on-ice impact he has, managing to continue his NHL career at all after missing so much time is one of the more remarkable accomplishments in recent league history. Announced as the Avs’ Masterton Trophy nominee today for understandable reasons, he’s likely a shoo-in for the honor if he’s able to lace up the skates in the postseason.

In a best-case scenario, Landeskog will add even more forward depth to a Colorado roster retooled on the fly by general manager Chris MacFarland this season. Out is star winger Mikko Rantanen, but their depth lines have improved dramatically, with Charlie Coyle, Jack Drury, Martin Nečas, and Brock Nelson now in the mix.

Image courtesy of Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports.

Lightning Notes: Howard, Guentzel, Glendening

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On today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the NHL insider touched on the ongoing situation between the Tampa Bay Lightning and prospect Isaac Howard. The product of Michigan State University has already announced he’ll return to the Spartans’ program for the 2025-26 NCAA season, and there’s no guarantee he’ll ever wear a Lightning uniform.

Friedman indicates there’s no bad blood between the Lightning and their top prospect, but the odds are against them signing him to an entry-level contract. As Friedman puts it, Howard will play through his final year of eligibility at Michigan State and become an unrestricted free agent on August 15, 2026. The Hobey Baker Award finalist would quickly become one of the highest-profile collegiate free agents in recent memory.

Howard is unlikely to sign with Tampa Bay partly due to the organization’s preferred usage of him. The plan was for Howard to play in the AHL for the 2025-26 season, and the collegiate standout has indicated he’d make more in NIL money in East Lansing than he would on an AHL salary. Friedman hinted that Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois could look to trade Howard at the 2025 NHL Draft, with plenty of teams likely having an interest.

More notes from Tampa Bay:

  • According to Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times, the Lightning will have winger Jake Guentzel back tonight for their intra-divisional contest against the Detroit Red Wings. Guentzel had missed Tampa Bay’s most recent contest because of personal reasons, and it appears he’s at a point in his life off the ice where he can return. Fortunately, that’s only one of two games Guentzel has missed for the Lightning this season, scoring 38 goals and 77 points in 76 games.
  • Unfortunately, there is one Tampa Bay forward who won’t be available to the team for their remaining regular season contests. Lightning insider Erik Erlendsson reported earlier that Luke Glendening, who’s out with an undisclosed injury, is out for the rest of the regular season, although the Lightning are hopeful he’ll return for the postseason. Glendening will finish the 2024-25 season with four goals and seven points in 77 contests with a customarily high 57.0% success rate in the faceoff circle.

Avalanche Recall Wyatt Aamodt, Jack Ahcan, Jere Innala

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The Avalanche announced today they’ve recalled defensemen Wyatt Aamodt and Jack Ahcan, along with forward Jere Innala from AHL Colorado. The trio will presumably get into game action for the Avs’ season-ending back-to-back this weekend to allow some lineup fixtures extra rest ahead of the postseason.

Colorado is already without a laundry list of lineup fixtures for their final two games, namely superstar pivot Nathan MacKinnon. He’s dealing with a minor injury that wouldn’t hold him out of playoff action, but he’s expected to sit for both contests after missing last night’s game against the Canucks. Carrying more serious injury designations up front are Ross Colton (undisclosed) and Jonathan Drouin (lower body), both of whom are day-to-day and probable for their Game 1 lineup in over a week. On the back end, Ryan Lindgren and Josh Manson are unavailable with upper-body injuries.

On top of those absences, today’s recalls indicate they’ll allow multiple other players to rest. It would be Aamodt’s NHL debut if he plays. Colorado signed the 27-year-old as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State in 2022, playing exclusively with their AHL club since. While he was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, he signed a two-year extension at the trade deadline. The lefty is amid a spectacular two-way season with the Eagles, posting 3-13–16 in 66 games while posting a league-leading +35 rating. The Minnesota native has 12-36–48 with 131 PIMs and a +48 rating in 181 career AHL games over the last four years.

Ahcan hasn’t seen NHL ice since suiting up nine times with the Bruins in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Now 27, the 5’9″ lefty is set to be a UFA this summer upon completing the two-year, two-way deal he signed with the Avs in 2023. The 2017 World Juniors gold medalist with Team USA has a career-high 5-36–41 scoring line in 67 games with the Eagles this year.

Innala is the most familiar of the trio. The 27-year-old Finn is in his first season in North America, signing an entry-level deal with the Avs last summer following a standout playoff performance with Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League. He made 15 NHL appearances for Colorado earlier this season, going without a point and logging a minus-three rating while averaging just 6:55 per game. He hasn’t made an appearance for the Avs since January. The 5’9″ left-winger has been a decent complementary scorer in the minors, logging 16-11–27 in 42 games.

Rangers Expected To Consider Coaching Change

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Without any coaches on expiring contracts without club options, it’s likely to be a quieter summer than normal on the coaching carousel. The one name on most radars is Rangers bench boss Peter Laviolette, who has one year left on his deal. Speaking on Insider Trading yesterday, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic called Laviolette’s future “low-hanging fruit,” adding, “The expectations from a lot of people I’ve talked to is that Peter Laviolette could get fired.”

There’s no denying New York’s nightmarish season. After a 55-win 2023-24 campaign that saw them win the President’s Trophy, they’re just two games over .500 with three contests remaining on their schedule and have just a 0.3% chance of leapfrogging the Canadiens for the final playoff spot in the East, per MoneyPuck. Goaltending certainly isn’t to blame – star starter Igor Shesterkin ranks fourth in the league with 21.9 goals saved above expected. Nor is poor finishing luck – the Rangers’ 10.7% shooting rate this year is 0.1% above the league average.

A limping power play and poor team defense jump out as the Rangers’ limiting factors this season. The latter could certainly be attributed to the team’s blue line overhaul, but the same issues persisted before New York’s midseason retool on defense. It’s easy to see why, with limited roster maneuverability available this summer, the Rangers might view a coaching change as their best chance to return to postseason action in 2025-26. Barring another cap-clearing trade, the club won’t be a major player in free agency – they have just $9.67MM in cap space for next year with pending RFAs William Cuylle and K’Andre Miller in need of new deals.

That means Laviolette’s seat is the hottest of them all as the end of the regular season draws nigh. The same can’t be said for general manager Chris Drury, whom LeBrun expects to remain in his post. “My sense there is that he should be okay. I think there’s a lot of loyalty from Jim Dolan, the owner,” LeBrun said. “He was pretty busy out of the trade deadline, too, really kind of setting up his offseason with a lot of moves he made. I think he plans to be aggressive in trying to retool the Rangers again here this summer.”

There won’t be many recently-fired options for the Rangers to choose from, unless they’re interested in pursuing a reunion with John Tortorella. In terms of high-profile names who spent this year on the sidelines, Bruce Boudreau could be a realistic option. The veteran bench boss expressed an interest in taking over the Devils last year but was passed over for Sheldon Keefe.

Looking internally would risk digging their hole of being a non-dominant possession team even deeper. Associate head coach Phil Housley would theoretically be next in line, but his previous shot as an NHL head coach didn’t go well. He posted a 58-84-22 record over a pair of seasons with the Sabres from 2017 to 2019.

Blackhawks Reassign Ethan Del Mastro

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The Blackhawks are reassigning defenseman Ethan Del Mastro to AHL Rockford for the balance of the season, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720 reports. Doing so gives the rookie some extra tune-up time before kicking off the Calder Cup Playoffs with the IceHogs later this month.

So ends a promising rookie season in the NHL for Del Mastro, whom Chicago selected in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. The 6’4″, 210-lb lefty skated in a pair of games to end last season but only got an extended look in the Blackhawks lineup this year. He didn’t make the opening night roster and needed to wait until January for his first recall, leapfrogging Wyatt Kaiser on the depth chart after a strong start to the season in the AHL.

While he’s never likely to put up flashy point totals at the professional level, he’s not a pure defensive specialist. He’s a good outlet passer and will get involved in rush plays, evidenced by a promising 2-4–6 scoring line in 24 showings in Chicago this year. He averaged 18:19 per game and was among the Hawks’ more physical players, ranking eighth on the team with 5.46 hits per 60 minutes.

Possession-wise, Del Mastro looked promising – and that may be an understatement. He had the best outright and relative shot attempt impacts at even strength of any Blackhawks skater, controlling 47.4% of shot attempts. In contrast, Chicago only controlled 42% of shot attempts without Del Mastro on the ice in games he played. That’s excellent work for a 22-year-old and goes a long way toward vaulting him into consideration for their 2025-26 opening night roster.

Del Mastro was on the AHL roster on deadline day, though, making him eligible to play in the minor-league postseason. He has eight assists and a plus-five rating in 42 AHL appearances this year. That’s not the offensive production he flashed in his rookie year, putting up 7-30–37 in 69 games for Rockford in 2023-24, but he’s continued to log heavy minutes while showing his strengths as a physical, intelligent, smooth-skating defender.

As for Chicago’s final few regular season games, the demotion indicates either Wyatt Kaiser or Connor Murphy should be returning tomorrow against the Jets after sitting out of last night’s win due to illness. Del Mastro appeared in that win, posting a plus-one rating in over 20 minutes of ice time after serving as a healthy scratch for the previous three.

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