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Minor Transactions: 11/20/23

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Here’s a rundown of some of the latest minor moves from around the hockey world with an NHL connection:

  • Free agent forward C.J. Smith has inked a tryout deal with JYP in Finland per a team release. The 28-year-old spent last season under contract with the Rangers but was limited to just 21 games at the AHL level with Hartford where he had four goals and two assists.  Smith has 15 career NHL contests under his belt over parts of four seasons with Buffalo and Carolina.
  • Simon Despres’ international journey will take him to Nottingham in England as the Panthers announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year deal. The 32-year-old played in 193 NHL games over parts of six seasons with Pittsburgh and Anaheim and since then, he has played in the AHL along with stints in Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, and Austria.
  • With Jesper Wallstedt returning to AHL Iowa earlier today, the Wild have reassigned goalie prospect Hunter Jones to ECHL Iowa, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 23-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level deal but has struggled considerably in a short sample size this season, posting a 4.98 GAA with a .845 SV% in four games with the Heartlanders.
  • The Sharks have promoted goalie Eetu Makiniemi back to the AHL level, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old was sent down last week to get some playing time as he has just one AHL appearance under his belt so far.  However, he didn’t fare particularly well in his two games with ECHL Wichita, allowing nine goals on 72 shots.  Makiniemi, who got into two games with the Sharks last season, is in the final season of his entry-level contract.
  • The Devils have re-assigned goalie Tyler Brennan to ECHL Adirondack, per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 20-year-old is in his first professional campaign and playing time has been hard to come by as he has played just twice for the Thunder, allowing six goals on 33 shots.
  • Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in Manitoba announced that they’ve returned netminder Thomas Milic to ECHL Norfolk. The 20-year-old was drafted in the fifth round by the Jets back in June following a stellar season with Seattle of the WHL and has split the season between the Moose (four games) and Admirals (six appearances).

Atlantic Notes: Klingberg, Timmins, Barkov, Andersson

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The Maple Leafs are concerned that John Klingberg’s undisclosed injury could linger for a while, relays David Alter of The Hockey News.  The veteran has struggled mightily in his first year with Toronto and it was recently revealed that he has been playing through an injury.  Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that they’re trying a more aggressive treatment with Toronto having a light schedule at the moment due to their trip to Sweden but that Klingberg is taking longer than they hoped to bounce back from it.  He has been ruled out for Sunday’s contest against Minnesota and if they want to consider an LTIR placement, that would keep him out through December 12th at a minimum.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Still with the Maple Leafs, defenseman Conor Timmins skated today but isn’t expected to play against Minnesota on Sunday, Alter adds (Twitter link). The 25-year-old is still working his way back from a lower-body injury sustained late in the preseason.  Timmins, who is on LTIR, has been upgraded to being out day-to-day.  Toronto will have to send two players down to activate Timmins and his $1.1MM price tag once he’s cleared to return.
  • Panthers center Aleksander Barkov left Friday’s game against Anaheim after a hit from Jackson LaCombe early in the third period and did not return. Postgame, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards that there was no immediate update on him after the game.  Florida is flying back from its road trip today so an update on the captain likely won’t come until Sunday.  Barkov is off to a strong start to his season with 17 points in his first 16 games.
  • Lias Andersson had a good start to his season in Montreal’s farm system but that will be on hold for a while as their AHL affiliate announced (Twitter link) that the forward will miss six to eight weeks with a lower-body injury. The 25-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Canadiens in the summer after being non-tendered by Los Angeles.  Andersson, the seventh overall pick in 2017, has seven goals and two assists in ten games so far this season.

Capitals Activate Joel Edmundson Off LTIR, Assign Dylan McIlrath To AHL

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The Capitals are set to welcome back one of their offseason acquisitions as they announced that they have activated defenseman Joel Edmundson off long-term injured reserve.  The previously reported activations of Anthony Mantha and Trevor van Riemsdyk were also confirmed.  In a corresponding move, Dylan McIlrath has been assigned to AHL Hershey.

Edmundson was acquired just as free agency was starting this summer, coming over in a trade from Montreal in exchange for a third-round pick and a seventh-round selection, both in 2024.  As part of the swap, the Canadiens held back half of Edmundson’s $3.5MM cap hit.

The 30-year-old suffered a hand injury early in training camp and has yet to play this season.  Staying healthy has been a challenge for Edmundson who has also battled back issues over the past couple of seasons.  Last year, he had 13 points along with 149 blocks and 112 hits in 61 games while averaging 19:34 of ice time and should push for a top four spot on Washington’s depth chart before too long.

Getting off to a strong start and staying healthy will certainly be important for Edmundson.  It’s a contract year so he’ll be looking to prove that he can be serviceable and durable as he gets set to test free agency in the summer.

As for McIlrath, he was recalled last Saturday and got into one game, suiting up for the Caps on Tuesday.  The 31-year-old has spent the bulk of the season with the Bears, picking up three assists and 23 penalty minutes in 11 games.

Jets Recall Dominic Toninato On Emergency Basis

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After a victory over Buffalo last night, Winnipeg is back in action tonight against Arizona.  At least one forward who played Friday is questionable for this game, however, as the team announced (Twitter link) that center Dominic Toninato has been recalled from AHL Manitoba under emergency conditions.

The 29-year-old has been limited to just five games with the Moose this season due to injury although he has been productive in those appearances, notching a goal and three assists.  Toninato was similarly productive in the minors last year, tallying 19 goals and 16 helpers in 50 contests.

This is Toninato’s fourth season with Winnipeg and he has seen NHL action in the first three, including 2021-22 when he was a regular for most of the year, suiting up 77 times.  Going back to his previous teams, he has made an appearance at the top level in each of the last seven years, spanning 169 games in total where he has a dozen goals and 18 assists.

It’s unclear which forward’s availability is in question for tonight’s game and it’s worth noting that Winnipeg could easily go back to dressing seven defensemen anyway; Nate Schmidt was a healthy scratch against the Sabres.  But if they want to go with a standard deployment, Toninato might have a chance to extend that stretch of NHL appearances to eight straight seasons tonight.

Ryan Lindgren And Igor Shesterkin Expected To Play Saturday; Rangers Recall Connor Mackey

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The Rangers are getting some good news for their lineup on Saturday as Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Journal News relays that Ryan Lindgren will return after suffering an upper-body injury against Columbus while Igor Shesterkin should also return after missing four games.  Despite that, the team also announced (Twitter link) that they’ve brought up Connor Mackey from AHL Hartford.

With New York having a long layoff between games, the only time that Lindgren wound up missing was the third period of Sunday’s contest against Columbus.  The 25-year-old has just a single assist through his first 13 games so far this season while averaging a little over a hit and block per game in 19:33 per night of action.

Meanwhile, Mackey is no stranger to the up-and-down shuffling; this is his fifth recall this month.  Despite the promotions, the 27-year-old has yet to play for the Rangers this season but has gotten into nine games with the Wolf Pack where he has a goal and three assists.  Mackey cleared waivers in training camp after spending last season in a depth role between Calgary and Arizona.  His presence on New York’s roster is likely for insurance purposes in case Lindgren has a late setback and can’t play against New Jersey.

As for Shesterkin, the 27-year-old is off to another strong start to the season with a 2.36 GAA and a .913 SV% in his first eight appearances.  The 2021-22 Vezina winner had been dealing with undisclosed soreness.  Veteran Jonathan Quick did quite well in Shesterkin’s absence and is off to a great start of his own with a 1.98 GAA and a .928 SV% in his first six appearances but Shesterkin will almost certainly go back to getting the lion’s share of the workload having been cleared to return.

Penguins Loan John Ludvig And Alex Nedeljkovic To AHL

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they’ve loaned defenseman John Ludvig and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to their AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The loan is for a conditioning stint so both players can get back up to game speed before they rejoin the NHL Penguins. Matt Vensel of Post-Gazette Sports is reporting that both players will be eligible to join the team on Sunday to play NHL games.

Ludvig and Nedeljkovic are both currently on long-term injured reserve and have already joined the Penguins in full practices before their AHL assignment. The Ludvig news is not surprising given that Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has stated before that Ludvig would have a conditioning assignment, but Nedeljkovic was a bit of a surprise. The Penguins may have opted to allow him more time given that third-string goaltender Magnus Hellberg has filled in admirably for Nedeljkovic. Hellberg has a .922 save percentage in three appearances with a 1-0-0 record.

Ludvig suffered a concussion in his NHL debut on October 24th against the Dallas Stars and hasn’t dressed in a game since. The 23-year-old was a waiver claim before the start of the season and is one of the few Penguins defensemen who offer a bit of sandpaper. The Penguins currently have seven defensemen on their NHL roster and have used Ludvig’s LTIR to call up Vinnie Hinostroza who has been very good on the team’s rejuvenated fourth line. 

The Penguins’ third defensive pairing has been a revolving door all season with Ryan Shea and Chad Ruhwedel currently occupying the final pair. Pierre-Olivier Joseph started the year on the left side, but hasn’t been able to hold down a spot and has struggled when he has been re-inserted into the lineup. The Penguins also have Ty Smith in the minors as well as Will Butcher who is injured. Ludvig will give the Penguins further roster options but could also complicate their current roster construction when he is recalled.

Lightning Send Philippe Myers To AHL

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Fresh off re-calling Haydn Fleury from his conditioning assignment in the AHL the Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that they’ve re-assigned defenseman Philippe Myers to their AHL affiliate the Syracuse Crunch. Myers had been on the Lightning’s NHL roster since November 9th and only made his regular season debut with the team last night against the St. Louis Blues. The 26-year-old played 15:32 in last night’s game registering two shots on goal.

Myers was with Syracuse for the first month of the season and dressed in nine games for the Crunch. He registered two assists and was +7. This is the third consecutive year that Myers has seen significant time in the minors having played a total of 77 AHL games combined over the past three seasons. Despite so much time in the AHL, Myers has continued to collect NHL salaries the past three seasons including this one where he is making $1.4MM. Myers came over to the Lightning back in July 2022 in the trade that sent defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators.

Myers demotion could be a signal that defenseman Erik Cernak is ready to return from a reported concussion. Cernak didn’t play in last night’s game against the Blues but is considered day-to-day currently. If Cernak is able to return to the Lightning lineup he would represent a significant upgrade over Myers on Tampa Bay’s back end. While Cernak is not an offensive juggernaut as evidenced by his three assists in 15 games, he does offer a physical presence having dished out 33 hits already this year.

The Lightning need all of the help they can get at this point as they’ve started the season well below expectations with a 6-6-4 record. While on the surface, it would appear as though they have underwhelmed, but when injuries are factored into the equation the team has done well to weather the storm thus far.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Haydn Fleury

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that they have recalled defenseman Haydn Fleury from his conditioning assignment with the Syracuse Crunch. Fleury dressed in five games with Syracuse and was pointless during his assignment to the AHL.

Fleury’s AHL assignment began back on November 4th, before that he had been in the NHL with the Lightning for nearly a month. Although he spent almost four weeks on the Lightning’s active roster, he dressed in just two games and posted a single assist. Fleury spent most of October as a healthy scratch, which was the case often in the 2022-23 season as well. Fleury dressed in just 29 games last season with the Lightning, and while he did deal with a lower-body injury early in the year, most of the games he sat out were as a healthy scratch.

Fleury came into the league as a player with high expectations after he was drafted seventh overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014. The 27-year-old spoke at the time about wanting to break into the league as an 18-year-old but was never able to do so. He did make his NHL debut three years later at the age of 21, posting eight assists in 67 games as a rookie.

Despite debuting in the NHL at a young age, Fleury has never been able to find traction as an NHL regular. He bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL until 2019, before finally remaining on an NHL roster, mostly in a seventh defenseman role for Carolina. Fleury was then dealt to the Anaheim Ducks in April 2021 before he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft. In 2022, Seattle opted not to tender Fleury a qualifying offer which sparked his signing with the Lightning. Now Fleury once again finds himself on the outside of an NHL roster looking in, still a regular healthy scratch despite being a veteran of 246 NHL games.

Oilers’ Raphael Lavoie Sent To AHL

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The Edmonton Oilers have announced that they’ve sent forward Raphael Lavoie to their AHL affiliate the Bakersfield Condors. Lavoie did not require waivers to be demoted as he cleared them at the beginning of the season and did not play in ten games or spend 30 days on the Oilers roster.

Lavoie dressed in five games for the Oilers and didn’t record any points. He was utilized in a sheltered fourth-line role with the big club and averaged less than eight minutes of ice time per game. The club did their best to protect the 23-year-old as he took 65% of his zone starts in the offensive zone.

Lavoie has had a terrific start to his season in the AHL registering four goals and three assists in just five games. Last season, the former second-round pick dressed in 65 AHL games for the Condors and posted 25 goals and 20 assists. Given his steady offensive improvement and the fact that Lavoie was one of the Oilers’ last training camp cuts, it is fair to say that he could earn another look later in the season. Particularly, if the Oilers decide to sell off some of the veteran players should the season get away from them.

Lavoie’s demotion may be a signal that veteran forward Connor Brown is ready to return for Edmonton. Brown called himself day-to-day just five days ago which indicated that he was inching closer to a return. He has missed the two Edmonton games since those comments, but the sentiment is that he could be back this week. Much like Lavoie, Brown has struggled this season as he too is pointless thus far.

Ottawa Senators Recall Jacob Larsson

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The Ottawa Senators have announced that defenseman Jacob Larsson has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.

This recall brings the Senators to a full 23-man roster, and adds a sixth defenseman to their roster under normal conditions. As noted by CapFriendly, Tyler Kleven and Jacob Bernard-Docker are on the Senators’ roster under emergency conditions.

Larsson, 26, is a 2015 first-round pick who has nearly 200 games of NHL experience. While he never quite lived up to the hype as a top prospect for the Anaheim Ducks, Larsson’s strong skating has kept him around in North America. Larsson played in 55 games for AHL Belleville last season, and earned seven NHL games with the Senators. This season, he’s scored two goals in 10 games for Belleville.

With the Senators preparing to head to Sweden for games on November 16th and 18th, this recall not only adds some additional defensive depth to their roster, but also serves as a nice reward for Larsson. Larsson, who is Swedish, has played in both the SHL and HockeyAllsvenskan, and has represented Sweden at IIHF tournaments, including two World Junior Championships.

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