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Toronto Maple Leafs Recall William Lagesson, Return Fraser Minten To WHL

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that defenseman William Lagesson has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. In a corresponding move, center Fraser Minten has been returned to the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.

The move regarding Minten, 19, is an expected one. The 2022 38th overall pick had an impressive training camp and preseason, earning Toronto’s third-line center role to start the season.

While he showed some flashes in four regular-season games for the Maple Leafs, it became clear that expecting him to hold down such an important role on a team with Stanley Cup aspirations would not only be a mistake, but also potentially be a detriment to his development.

So Minten will return to the Blazers, who are currently sorely in need of some offensive reinforcements. They’ve scored just 27 goals through 12 games this season, the fewest in the WHL, so adding a former 67-point scorer such as Minten will be a major boon to their nightly competitive chances.

As for Lagesson, the 27-year-old veteran defenseman’s recall was necessitated by the fact that Jake McCabe exited last night’s game with an injury.

The six-foot-two left-shot blueliner has so far played this season entirely at the AHL level but has 60 games of NHL experience.

Lagesson could join fellow Swede Timothy Liljegren on Toronto’s second pairing, or he could even be paired with another Swede, John Klingberg, on the team’s bottom-pairing with Mark Giordano elevated to Liljegren’s pairing.

Bruins Recall Patrick Brown

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Oct. 26: Per the AHL transactions log, Brown is right back up on Boston’s NHL roster. It’s unclear why Brown’s stint in the minors was so short-lived.

Oct. 25: It hasn’t been the best of starts to Patrick Brown’s tenure with Boston.  He passed through waivers unclaimed at the end of training camp but managed to stay on the roster to start the season.  Now, per the AHL’s transactions log, he has been assigned to AHL Providence.

The 31-year-old split last season between Philadelphia and Ottawa, notching a dozen points in 61 games between the two teams.  A physical fourth liner, he earned himself a two-year, one-way deal this summer as the Bruins rebuilt their forward depth with the hope he’d be a regular on their fourth line.  But he has been scratched three times already and logged just 9:30 per game.

It’s worth noting that Danton Heinen remains on a PTO with the Bruins; freeing up Brown’s $800K cap charge by assigning him to the minors would open up the cap room for them to convert that tryout into a full contract as soon as Thursday once the 1 PM CT waiver period passes.  The assignment would also get him playing a bit more regularly so that he’ll be better suited to contribute if and when injuries arise.  If he suits up in Providence, it will be Brown’s first AHL action since the 2020-21 campaign.

Flyers Assign Emil Andrae To Minors; Recall Louie Belpedio, Victor Mete

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Oct. 26: The Flyers have confirmed the move this morning, also announcing they’ve recalled defensemen Louis Belpedio and Victor Mete from Lehigh Valley. Recalling the two veterans will give them an extra defenseman on the active roster.

Oct. 25: Earlier this week, Flyers head coach John Tortorella told Jeff Neiburg of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he wasn’t sure if their current approach with defenseman Emil Andrae was the best for his development.  It appears a decision has been made on that front as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that Philadelphia has assigned the young rearguard to AHL Lehigh Valley.

The 21-year-old originally started the year rotating games with Yegor Zamula but with Marc Staal now set to miss the next six weeks or so with an upper-body injury and Rasmus Ristolainen having a setback in his recovery from an undisclosed injury, both youngsters have been in the lineup for the last couple of games.  Rather than continue using Andrae in limited action – he’s logging just 13 minutes per game – the decision has been made to get him more playing time with the Phantoms.  He only played in ten games there late last season after spending most of the year in the SHL.

At the moment, Philadelphia has just five defensemen on its active roster but, with an extra forward, they’re still compliant with the minimum roster requirements.  The Flyers are back in action on Thursday, however, so someone will need to be recalled.  Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning, and Victor Mete were among their final cuts earlier this month which could have one of them poised to get the promotion.

Stars Loan Chase Wheatcroft To Minors

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The Stars activated forward prospect Chase Wheatcroft from season-opening injured reserve and loaned him to AHL Texas on Tuesday, per a team announcement.

The 21-year-old Wheatcroft stayed in junior hockey for an over-age season with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars last season, a choice that made him one of the most dominant scorers in the league. Aside from Connor Bedard, Wheatcroft was the only player in the WHL to crack the 100-point mark in 2022-23, scoring 47 goals and adding 60 assists for 107 points in 68 contests. After going undrafted, Wheatcroft signed a three-year ELC with the Stars as a free agent in March, keeping him in Dallas’ organization through 2026.

An undisclosed injury sustained late in training camp prevented the Stars from assigning him to the minors before opening-night rosters were due, meaning he started the season on season-opening injured reserve – a special designation for players on a two-way contract that are injured to begin the campaign. Now healthy, he can be assigned to the AHL without needing waivers.

The 6-foot-2, 176-pound winger will now get his first taste of pro hockey in Cedar Park. He joins a Texas team off to a solid 3-2-0 start, led in scoring by a pair of future Dallas cornerstones in Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven.

Montreal Canadiens Recall Gustav Lindström On Emergency Basis

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The Montreal Canadiens have recalled defenseman Gustav Lindström from their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, on an emergency basis.

The move results from the fact that veteran blueliner David Savard is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. It’s more bad injury news for the Canadiens early this season, who have lost a player to injury in three out of their five total games played.

Lindström, 25, was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings in this past summer’s Jeff Petry trade. He didn’t make the Canadiens season-opening roster and cleared waivers, allowing him to begin his season in the AHL with the Laval Rocket.

A defense-first blueliner, Lindström brings decent size (he’s six-foot-two, nearly 200 pounds) to the Canadiens’ back end as well as 128 games of NHL experience.

Should he slot into Savard’s spot in the team’s lineup tonight, those 128 games would actually make Lindström the second-most experienced Canadiens defenseman on the ice behind veteran Mike Matheson.

While he’s undoubtedly a downgrade from what Savard has provided the Canadiens thusfar, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Lindström is capable of providing head coach Martin St. Louis with capable minutes at the NHL level.

The key for the Canadiens may be figuring out the most effective way to utilize Lindström, as its unlikely he’ll be in a position to succeed if he’s asked to play the heavy workload Savard typically shoulders.

Capitals Recall Hunter Shepard, Loan Clay Stevenson To AHL

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The Capitals announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the AHL’s Hershey Bears and returned netminder Clay Stevenson to Hershey in a corresponding transaction.

This amounts to a backup swap behind starter Darcy Kuemper while normal backup Charlie Lindgren remains on IR. He is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and has not played since starting the team’s season opener while Kuemper was away on paternal leave.

Shepard, who guided Hershey to a Calder Cup championship last season, would have been Washington’s first recall choice knowing Lindgren would be out for a while. However, Shepard himself was sidelined with an illness – now that he’s healthy, he finds himself on Washington’s roster, likely until Lindgren can return. The 27-year-old was named MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs last season after posting a .914 SV%, 2.27 GAA and three shutouts in 20 contests. All that came in his first season as a full-time AHL netminder, spending the majority of the two previous seasons with Washington’s ECHL affiliate in South Carolina. The two-time national champion with the University of Minnesota-Duluth is undefeated with Hershey this season, going 2-0-0 with a 2.88 GAA and.885 SV%. If he makes an appearance for the Caps on this recall, it will be his NHL debut.

Stevenson, 24, made back-to-back starts in Hershey’s first two contests of the season while Shepard was on the shelf. He, too, has yet to make an NHL appearance, with Kuemper starting all three games in Lindgren’s absence. He will serve as the Bears’ starter while Shepard is up on the NHL roster.

Panthers Loan Justin Sourdif To AHL

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The Panthers announced Monday that forward Justin Sourdif has been re-assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Florida brought up the 21-year-old for his first taste of NHL action nearly two weeks ago.

Sourdif was originally selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft and signed him to his entry-level contract in September of 2021. He spent the following season in junior hockey on loan to the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, meaning the beginning of the contract slid to 2022-23.

Therefore, last season was Sourdif’s first in the professional ranks. He played 48 games with Charlotte, posting seven goals, 17 assists and 24 points with a -4 rating. Given the solid but not eye-opening production, it was surprising to see Sourdif stick around with the Cats at the beginning of the season. He appeared in three out of the Panthers’ first five games, failing to register a point and averaging just 8:50 per game.

Sourdif does not require waivers to head to the minors, meaning he could see himself ferried up and down quite a bit throughout the season if he manages to stick in the Panthers’ regular call-up rotation. A natural center, he’s begun his NHL career on the wing in a third-line role with Nick Cousins and Anton Lundell. That line has failed to generate many scoring chances together, generating just 0.2 expected goals in over 20 minutes of action (per MoneyPuck).

The move could also preface a return to the lineup for center Sam Bennett, who remains on IR and has not played this season due to a lower-body injury. The Panthers were carrying a full 23-man roster and would need to clear a spot to activate him.

Sam Gagner Signs AHL Contract

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Former Edmonton Oilers forward Sam Gagner has reportedly signed a contract with the team’s AHL affiliate the Bakersfield Condors and will join the team. The veteran of over 1,000 NHL games was on a tryout with the Oilers but was unable to dress for any preseason games during training camp after signing his PTO in late August.

The 34-year-old has suited up for seven different NHL teams over the course of his 16-year NHL career and will return to the AHL for the first time since 2019-20 when he coincidently also played for the Condors.

This is Gagner’s third run with the Oilers organization after they drafted him in the first round, sixth overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft. Although he never lived up to the promise he showed as an 18-year-old when he posted 13 goals and 36 assists in 79 games, he has a solid career with 519 points in 1,015 games.

Gagner is trying to get back to the NHL after undergoing double hip surgery in March of this year which led to him missing the end of last year as well as the preseason. He was a decent depth option with the Winnipeg Jets last year posting eight goals and six assists in 48 games while playing just 12 minutes a night. But, if he can perform anywhere close to his 2021-22 numbers in which he posted 31 points in 81 games with the Detroit Red Wings, he could give himself a real shot to earn a pro-rated NHL deal this season. Especially with the Oilers, who have struggled to find any kind of depth to start the season.

Gagner will take some time to work himself into game shape, but this isn’t unchartered waters for the London, Ontario native as he has been down the AHL road before on three separate occasions. As mentioned earlier, Gagner spent part of the 2019-20 season in the AHL, as well as 43 games with the Toronto Marlies in 2018-19 and a nine-game stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the 2015-16 season.

Avalanche Recall Corey Schueneman

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The Avalanche have decided to bring up some defensive depth as they announced (Twitter link) the recall of blueliner Corey Schueneman from AHL Colorado.

The 27-year-old is in his first season with the Avs after signing a one-year, two-way deal with them in free agency back in July.  He has played in two games so far in the minors with the Eagles and has yet to hit the scoresheet.  Prior to that, he had an assist in two preseason contests.

Schueneman has seen NHL action in each of the last two seasons, both with Montreal.  Between those years, he has suited up 31 times, picking up two goals and five assists while logging a little over 16 minutes per night.  He spent the bulk of his time those years in the minors with AHL Laval, notching 34 points in 94 contests.

With the Avalanche viewing Kurtis MacDermid (who can play the back end and on the wing) as a forward, they’ve basically been carrying the minimum of six defensemen so it’s not surprising that they’ve opted to bring up some insurance now as they embark on a three-game road trip.  Colorado had two open roster spots so no corresponding move needed to be made to add Schueneman to their roster while they will be dipping into their LTIR pool using Pavel Francouz’s money to afford him under the salary cap.

Hurricanes Reassign Callahan Burke To AHL

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10/22/23: The Hurricanes have reassigned Burke back to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. He made his Hurricanes debut last night in Denver for the team’s contest against the Colorado Avalanche, registering 7:06 time on ice.

10/21/23: Late last night, the Hurricanes made a roster move, announcing the recall of forward Callahan Burke from AHL Colorado on an emergency basis.  It’s unclear at this time which Carolina player’s availability is in question for their game tonight against the Avalanche.

The Hurricanes acquired Burke from the Avs earlier this month in exchange for defenseman Caleb Jones.  The swap amounted to a cost-cutting move for the Hurricanes as they moved Jones’ one-way deal for Burke’s two-way pact which only carries a guaranteed salary of $125K.

Burke had his best season at the AHL level in 2022-23, recording 16 goals and 23 assists in 70 games with the Eagles.  That also earned the 26-year-old his first taste of NHL action as he got into a pair of games with the Avs.  This season, he an assist in two games with the Eagles; Carolina opted to keep him with Colorado’s farm team since they don’t have an AHL affiliate of their own this season.  Now, he might get a chance to play against his former team tonight.

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