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Kings Recall Samuel Fagemo

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With center Blake Lizotte listed as doubtful for tonight’s game against Dallas, the Kings opted to make a roster move to add some extra forward depth.  The team announced that they’ve recalled winger Samuel Fagemo from AHL Ontario, filling their one vacant roster spot.

It has been an interesting start to the season for the 23-year-old.  A late cut in training camp, Fagemo was claimed off waivers by Nashville and spent nearly six weeks on their roster.  However, playing time was hard to come by as he played in just four games, scoring once.  That landed him back on waivers in November where Fagemo was scooped up once more by Los Angeles.  As no other team put in a claim at that time, they were able to send him down to the Reign.

Since then, Fagemo has been a high-end scorer, notching 20 goals in just 24 games, ranking second in the AHL in that department despite the fact he missed the first 11 games of their season.  It’s the third straight year that he has reached the 20-goal mark although he needed 46 games to get there last season.  Now, he’s being rewarded for his efforts with a recall where he’ll look to have more success than his first couple of stints with the Kings which saw him collect two goals and an assist in 13 games over two seasons.

As for Lizotte, he left last night’s game against Carolina early with a lower-body injury and did not return.  The 26-year-old has struggled a bit offensively this year compared to 2022-23 when he had a career-high 11 goals and 23 assists in 81 games.  This season, he checks in at five goals and four helpers in 34 contests with his playing time dipping to just above 11 minutes a night, the lowest ATOI mark of his career.

Sabres Recall Kale Clague, Move Jeff Skinner To IR

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5:30 PM: The Sabres have sent Clague back to the AHL after the defenseman served as a healthy scratch for the team’s Monday win over the San Jose Sharks.

9:00 AM: The Sabres have recalled defenseman Kale Clague from AHL Rochester, per a team announcement. To create the necessary space on the active roster, the team moved star winger Jeff Skinner to injured reserve, according to CapFriendly.

The latter move is purely for roster management purposes and does not change Skinner’s recovery timeline. He remains listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Clague’s recall comes after defenseman Mattias Samuelsson took an elbow to the head from Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek early in the second period of Saturday’s 1-0 loss. Samuelsson did not return to the game and is likely out for this afternoon’s contest against the Sharks.

The 25-year-old Clague isn’t projected to dress against San Jose, but he does provide some needed defensive depth on the NHL roster. Buffalo lost multiple defenders to injury at points during the loss to Vancouver, namely Connor Clifton and Rasmus Dahlin. At one point during the contest, after Dahlin and Samuelsson had both exited the contest to go into concussion protocol due to separate hits to the head, veteran blueliner Erik Johnson was ineligible to play for five minutes after fighting Canucks center J.T. Miller, whose hit knocked Dahlin out of the game. That gave the Sabres only three available defensemen for a stretch, leading depth forward Zemgus Girgensons to play some shifts on the blue line. Head coach Don Granato confirmed both Clifton and Dahlin are cleared to play in today’s contest against the Sharks, although Samuelsson will remain out.

Clague, a second-round pick of the Kings in 2016, re-joined the Sabres on a one-year deal a few days after becoming a UFA in July. It was his second straight season without receiving a qualifying offer, which allowed the Sabres to sign him to a new deal at a slightly discounted cap hit. He’s in his second season in the Sabres organization after spending the first five seasons of his pro career with the Kings and Canadiens.

This is his first recall of 2023-24 after clearing waivers at the end of training camp. The puck-moving blueliner leads Rochester defensemen in assists (15) and points (17) this year in 31 games. It’s the most minor-league action he’s seen since he played 49 games with AHL Ontario in 2019-20.

In 33 games with the Sabres last year, Clague posted four assists while averaging 15:06 per game, all coming at even strength. He posted the best possession metrics of his career in a decent sample, per Hockey Reference – a 52.7% Corsi share, 50% expected goals for, and a +0.1 expected rating at even strength, to be exact. If he can replicate those, there are much worse options to have as an injury fill-in.

Lightning Reassign Three To AHL

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The Lightning have reassigned right defensemen Maxwell Crozier, Philippe Myers and left winger Gage Goncalves to AHL Syracuse, vice president and GM Julien BriseBois said today.

With Tampa Bay now in a four-day break until their next game, they’ve opted to send the three recent call-ups to the minors to make them eligible to play in Syracuse’s game tomorrow against Utica. They’ve combined for only seven NHL games this season.

Crozier, 23, was called up from Syracuse on Friday after top-four blueliner Erik Černák was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury for the second time this month. He made his NHL debut in yesterday’s 5-1 drubbing of the Ducks, recording one blocked shot in 13 minutes of ice time alongside another recent Syracuse call-up, Emil Martinsen Lilleberg. Crozier, a fourth-round pick of the Lightning in 2019, remains waiver-exempt.

This move ends the third recall for Myers, 26, since he was waived and assigned to Syracuse early in October before the season began. He can be on the Lightning roster for nine more days before he’ll need waivers again to return to the minors. A pending UFA with a $1.4MM cap hit this season, Myers was a healthy scratch in three straight and hadn’t played since January 6 against the Bruins. He has a -2 rating and six shots on goal in four games with the Bolts this year, averaging 13:08 per game.

Goncalves also returns to Syracuse, ending his first in-season recall. The 22-year-old played in his first two NHL games after he was summoned from the minors on Thursday, recording a lone shot attempt and six PIMs while averaging 9:58 per game. His unit with Tyler Motte and Conor Sheary was pristine defensively in an extremely small sample size, failing to allow a single expected goal against in just over 13 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. The team’s 2020 second-round pick now looks to build on his team-leading 23 assists and 30 points in 33 games with Syracuse.

Whether all of these three are recalled back to Tampa later this week depends on the health of Černák and winger Tanner Jeannot, who is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury but is eligible to come off injured reserve ahead of their next game, which takes place on January 18 against the Wild. The transactions bring the Lightning’s roster size down to 20, including the injured Černák.

Blues Loan Tyler Tucker To AHL On Conditioning Assignment

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The Blues have assigned defenseman Tyler Tucker to AHL Springfield on a conditioning loan, Blues president of hockey operations and GM Doug Armstrong announced today.

Tucker, 23, has not played since facing the Panthers on December 21. He has been a healthy scratch in nine straight games.

The 2018 seventh-round pick signed a two-year extension worth $1.6MM last June, shortly before reaching restricted free agency. He had put up strong scoring chance suppression numbers in a 26-game stint while playing depth minutes last season, earning himself a spot on the team’s roster out of training camp to begin 2023-24. His pairing with current Springfield blueliner Calle Rosén led all Blues in expected goals against per 60 minutes last season with 2.32, according to MoneyPuck data.

Tucker scored a goal in the Blues’ season opener against the Stars, but he struggled to replicate last season’s shutdown effectiveness and came out of the lineup by the team’s sixth game of the season. After playing in St. Louis’ first five games, he’s been a healthy scratch in 26 out of 36 contests. Now most commonly paired with veteran Marco Scandella, that pairing has controlled just 37.3% of expected goals when on the ice. Per MoneyPuck, that’s the seventh-worst in the NHL this season among pairings with at least 100 minutes together. Scandella has fared slightly better when paired with the more offensively-inclined Scott Perunovich, boasting a 42.8% expected goals share.

Through his 15 games this season, Tucker has one goal, one assist and 22 penalty minutes with ten shots on goal. He’s averaged 12:31 per game, down from last season’s 14:39.

By consenting to a conditioning loan, Tucker will remain on assignment to Springfield for up to 14 days. He will remain on the Blues’ active roster and count against the salary cap. After 14 days, the Blues must recall Tucker from his loan or, if they wish to keep him in Springfield, place him on waivers.

The Blues also have center Nikita Alexandrov in Springfield on a conditioning loan. That means while their roster size is at the maximum of 23, only 21 players are eligible to suit up in an NHL game. Alexandrov has four days remaining on his loan, which has been successful with two goals and five assists in six games.

Red Wings Recall Brogan Rafferty

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The Red Wings have added some extra depth on the back end heading into their game tonight against Los Angeles, announcing (Twitter link) the recall of blueliner Brogan Rafferty from AHL Grand Rapids.  Detroit had two open roster spots so no further moves were needed to bring him up.

The 28-year-old is in his first season in Detroit’s organization after signing a two-year, two-way deal with them back in July.  Rafferty has exclusively played with the Griffins this season and is having a quieter year by his standards offensively, notching just 13 points in 33 games.  This comes on the heels of a 51-point effort with AHL Coachella Valley last season, helping the Firebirds reach the Calder Cup Finals.

Rafferty has three career NHL appearances under his belt with Vancouver, the most of recent of which came back in the 2020-21 campaign where he had an assist in his lone game.  Detroit now has eight blueliners on its active roster which is a bit surprising but it’s possible that his addition is a hedge against someone potentially being unavailable to take on the Kings.

Golden Knights Recall Two From AHL, Place Tobias Bjornfot On IR

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Vegas has made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Calgary, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled center Byron Froese and goaltender Isaiah Saville from AHL Henderson.  To make room on the roster, defenseman Tobias Bjornfot has been placed on IR.

Froese is in his second season with Vegas after signing a two-year, two-way deal for the league minimum in free agency back in 2022.  The 33-year-old got into nine games with the Golden Knights last season where he had a pair of points but has played exclusively with the Silver Knights this year, collecting six goals and six assists in 33 games.  Froese has 125 NHL appearances under his belt, many of which have been in a fourth line depth role which is the one he’s likely to fill if he sees any game action.  Jack Eichel didn’t take part in the game day skate so it appears Froese’s recall is to hedge against Eichel not being available.

As for Saville, he was just sent back down yesterday and has been shuffled back and forth recently due to the uncertain availability of both Adin Hill and Jiri Patera.  The 23-year-old has missed the bulk of the campaign after starting the year on season-opening IR, limiting him to seven appearances with Henderson where he has a 2.52 GAA and a .914 SV%.

Bjornfot, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from Los Angeles earlier this month.  Since then, the 22-year-old has played in a pair of games, bringing his season total to three as he has spent the bulk of the year in a reserve role.  There’s no word yet on the nature of the injury and how long he might be out of the lineup.  Between IR and LTIR, Vegas now has eight players on injured reserve.

Wild Activate Filip Gustavsson, Assign Jesper Wallstedt To AHL

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The Wild will be welcoming back their starting goalie for tonight’s game against Minnesota as the team announced (Twitter link) that Filip Gustavsson has been activated off injured reserve.  To make room for him on the roster, Jesper Wallstedt has been returned to AHL Iowa.

Gustavsson has been dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the last two weeks.  Before that, he had struggled somewhat relative to last year’s breakout performance.  While his .903 SV% is above the league average, it’s a steep drop from the .931 mark he posted in 2022-23.  With Marc-Andre Fleury also struggling as of late having only recorded a save percentage above .900 in one of his last six starts, Gustavsson will likely get a chance to play significant minutes fairly quickly as Minnesota looks to keep within striking distance of a Wild Card spot.

As for Wallstedt, Minnesota’s top goalie prospect got a rough introduction to the NHL earlier this week, allowing seven goals on 34 shots to Dallas on Wednesday.  However, the 2021 first-rounder has fared quite well with Iowa this season, posting a 2.54 GAA and a .917 SV% in 20 games with them.  With Fleury’s contract up at the end of the season, Wallstedt could become the full-time backup in Minnesota before long so getting him back in the minors to maximize his playing time is certainly ideal.

Canadiens Recall Joshua Roy

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Following their AHL affiliate’s contest last night, the Canadiens announced that they’ve recalled winger Joshua Roy from Laval.  The team had an open roster spot following Thursday’s demotion of Emil Heineman.

The 20-year-old fell to the fifth round in 2021, going 150th overall.  However, since being drafted, he was quite a productive player at the major junior level, recording 97 goals and 121 assists in 121 games with QMJHL Sherbrooke in his final two years.  Roy added 47 points in 25 playoff appearances over that same stretch.  He also played for Canada in two World Junior tournaments, notching eight goals and 11 helpers in 14 contests in those events.

Roy has carried over that production to the AHL level in 2023-24, sitting second on Laval in scoring with 12 goals and 18 assists in 34 games.  His 30 points put him third among all rookies in the AHL this season.

Montreal’s offense sits near the bottom of the pack in the NHL this season as they enter play tonight ranking 26th in that department.  With the Canadiens down several key forwards including Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Christian Dvorak, and Tanner Pearson, Roy should get a chance to play an offensive role with them fairly quickly.

Jets Notes: Dillon, DeMelo, Ehlers, Kupari

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Veteran blueliners Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo are among the Jets players set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.  However, speaking with reporters yesterday including Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription link), GM Kevin Cheveldayoff indicated that the team has had discussions with the agents for both players although he declined to say if those talks are currently ongoing.

Dillon is in his third season with the Jets after being acquired from San Jose, a move that has worked out well for the 33-year-old who has logged steady minutes on the second pairing while providing plenty of physicality and shot-blocking for several years now.  With a $3.5MM cap hit, he’s likely to get an increase on that with a multi-year agreement.

As for DeMelo, the 30-year-old is in his fifth year with the team and is playing out the final season of a four-year, $12MM extension to avoid testing the open market back in 2020.  He has seen his playing time jump to nearly 22 minutes a night this season which gives him some extra leverage, especially after putting up a career-high 27 points last year.  Like Dillon, he’s in line for a raise and a multi-year deal as well.  With both players being key pieces on the back end, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Cheveldayoff try to get a deal worked out with at least one of them before the trade deadline.

More from Winnipeg:

  • Winger Nikolaj Ehlers left practice today with an upper-body injury, relays Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun (Twitter link). His early exit is believed to be precautionary.  Ehlers has battled injury issues over the last couple of seasons but has been healthy and productive in the first half of this season, notching 15 goals and 18 assists in his first 41 games.
  • The team announced (Twitter link) that center Rasmus Kupari has been recalled from his conditioning loan with AHL Manitoba. Winnipeg sent the 23-year-old down to the Moose back on Tuesday to get him some game action after missing more than six weeks with a shoulder injury.  He only suited up once on assignment – one that could have lasted for two weeks – and was held off the scoresheet.  Kupari came to the Jets as part of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade but he struggled considerably offensively before being injured, notching just one assist in 15 games.

West Notes: Oettinger, Jones, Emberson, Saville

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The Stars welcomed back a key player tonight with the team announcing (Twitter link) that Jake Oettinger was getting the start against Nashville.  The 25-year-old missed the last four weeks with a lower-body injury, forcing Scott Wedgewood to take on the interim starting role in his absence, a role Wedgewood had some success in.  Oettinger had a career year last season with a 2.37 GAA and a .919 SV%, earning him a top-five spot in Vezina Trophy voting but hasn’t had quite the same success this season with those numbers checking in at 2.93 and .901 respectively heading into Friday’s action.  If he can get back to being a top netminder in the second half, that could give Dallas a big lift as they jockey for seeding in the Central Division.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Blackhawks blueliner Seth Jones was a full participant in practice today for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury just over a month ago, notes Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago. The original diagnosis was that he’d miss two weeks but further testing doubled that timeline.  Jones, who has 11 points – all assists – in 27 games this season, is hoping to be cleared to return to Chicago’s lineup tomorrow against Dallas.
  • Sharks defenseman Ty Emberson has returned to San Jose for further evaluation, relays Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link). The 23-year-old is dealing with an upper-body injury that has caused him to miss last night’s victory over Montreal, joining Matt Benning and Jacob MacDonald as blueliners currently out of the lineup.  Emberson is currently considered as out week-to-week so he’ll likely land on injured reserve shortly, opening up a spot for Logan Couture whose return is getting closer.
  • The Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that they returned goaltender Isaiah Saville to AHL Henderson. The 23-year-old was recalled recently after Adin Hill was unable to dress for Thursday’s game due to an undisclosed injury.  Saville has battled injuries himself this season and has been limited to seven games with the Silver Knights where he has a 2.52 GAA and a .914 SV%.

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