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Minnesota Wild Reassign Sammy Walker

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The Minnesota Wild have reassigned forward Sammy Walker back to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported earlier today that top Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek left today’s practice with the non-scratches, hinting that he could be nearing a return to the ice. Walker had been on the Wild’s roster as a reserve player to help deal with Eriksson Ek’s absence, so this reassignment combined with Russo’s note from practice points to the increasingly likely possibility that Eriksson Ek is getting ready to play again.

Of course, another possible factor motivating this reassignment is the fact that AHL Iowa is fighting to keep their season alive tonight against the Rockford IceHogs. A Rocco Grimaldi overtime winner for Rockford in the first game of the AHL’s best-of-three playoff qualifying series put Iowa on the brink of elimination, so seeing as Walker has been one of their top scoring forwards this season it makes sense that the organization would want him back in the AHL to keep Iowa’s Calder Cup hopes alive.

That being said, NHL considerations always come first so it’s more likely that this reassignment has to do with Eriksson Ek’s progress than the team sacrificing a reserve insurance player in order to help out their affiliate in a qualifying-round series.

Should Eriksson Ek make his return soon, he would provide the Wild with a major boost in their currently deadlocked first-round series against the Dallas Stars. His 61 points this season were tops among Wild centers and his defensive play has drawn rave reviews from across the league for years now.

As for Walker, he’ll now get the chance to help AHL Iowa save their season. The former Minnesota Gopher has scored 27 goals and 48 points in 56 AHL games, an impressive performance for a rookie professional. He didn’t get into either of the Wild’s two playoff games, and last played in the NHL on April 13th.

Hurricanes Recall Six Players

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With Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Chicago missing the playoffs, the Hurricanes have decided who will be part of their ‘Black Aces’ squad, announcing the recall of six players.  Coming up to the big club are forwards Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Jamieson Rees, and Ryan Suzuki, defenseman Maxime Lajoie, and goaltender Zach Sawchenko.

Koivunen spent the bulk of this season with Karpat in Finland’s SM-liiga, picking up 28 points in 52 games before reporting to the Wolves last month.  The 19-year-old got into a dozen games at the AHL level, picking up a goal.  This is his first recall to the NHL.

Ponomarev played his first full campaign in North America this season and acquitted himself well, picking up a team-leading 24 goals along with 22 assists to put him second on the Wolves in scoring behind Malte Stromwall (who was not among the recalls).  The 21-year-old has also yet to play at the NHL level.

As for Rees, his third AHL campaign saw him put up more points than his first two combined, collecting 14 goals and 28 points in 65 games to put him fourth on the team in scoring.  The 22-year-old is in the second season of his entry-level deal and hasn’t yet suited up for the Hurricanes.

Suzuki was a first-round pick by Carolina back in 2018 (29th overall) but also hasn’t seen NHL action yet.  The 21-year-old did show some improvement this season with the Wolves, picking up 13 goals and 19 assists in 50 games, career-highs on all three fronts.

Lajoie, however, does have some NHL experience under his belt including three games with Carolina this season.  The 25-year-old has suited in 70 career contests at the top level, the bulk of which came back in 2018-19 with Ottawa.  Lajoie led all Wolves blueliners in points this season with 11 goals and 34 assists in 63 games.

Sawchenko played in seven games with San Jose last season but didn’t see any NHL time with the Hurricanes this season.  The 25-year-old signed with Carolina as a free agent last summer and led all Chicago netminders with 41 appearances this season where he posted a 3.10 GAA with a SV% of .895.

Barring multiple injuries, it’s unlikely that any of these players will get into a game during Carolina’s playoff run but they will get a chance to continue skating and working with team coaches in case they need to be pressed into action.

Snapshots: Kartye, King, Bellamy

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Earlier today, the American Hockey League announced a major award winner from the 2022-23 season, naming Tye Kartye of the Coachella Valley Firebirds as the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award winner, which goes to the league’s most outstanding rookie each season. Kartye is under contract with the Seattle Kraken of the NHL, signing towards the end of last season after a three-year stint for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL.

As an undrafted free agent after the 2022 season in the OHL, Kartye may have had an extra chip on his shoulder when he joined the Firebirds this year. Scoring over a point-per-game basis in his last season for the Greyhounds, Kartye followed that up with a 28-goal and 29-assist performance over 72 games this year.

For the most part, over the last quarter century, only a handful of the Dudley Garrett Memorial Award winners have become household names in the NHL. Players such as Daniel Briere, Matt Murray, and Mikko Rantanen have all taken home the award within the last 25 years, and have gone on to be notable names for Stanley Cup contenders. Still only 21 years old, Kartye still has plenty of time to grow his game and make the jump to the NHL.

Other snapshots:

  • According to a press release from the Vancouver Canucks, General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that Assistant Coach Jason King will not return to the Canucks for the 2023-24 season. King was originally drafted by the Canucks in the seventh round of the 2001 NHL Draft. Playing in 59 games (55 of which for Vancouver) split between the Canucks and the Anaheim Ducks throughout his career, King scored 11 goals and 12 assists. King has been behind the bench for the Canucks since the 2020-21 season and spent the five years prior working in the same capacity for Vancouver’s AHL affiliate.
  • Outside of the NHL, Hailey Salvian of The Athletic reports that Kacey Bellamy has signed a 1-year, $122K contract to play for the Connecticut Whale next season. In her last taste of professional play back in the 2016-17 season, Bellamy played for the Boston Pride, Bellamy scored nine points in 17 games. Unfortunately for Bellamy and the Pride that season, they would lose 3-2 in the Isobel Cup Championship against the Buffalo Beauts.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Mackenzie MacEachern

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With Teuvo Teravainen headed for surgery, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Mackenzie MacEachern from the minor leagues.

Given the Chicago Wolves missed the playoffs, MacEachern can stay with the club and add some much-needed depth to the Carolina roster. The 29-year-old had an excellent season in the AHL, potting 11 goals and 30 points in 37 games.

He won’t be asked to score much if he does get into the Carolina lineup. Instead, the Hurricanes will need him to play the same physical style he showed during his last playoff call-up. In 2020 with the St. Louis Blues, MacEachern recorded 14 hits in five games for the Blues despite averaging fewer than seven minutes a night.

The 6’2″ forward has 19 points in 111 regular season games, all coming with the Blues. Should he get into the playoff lineup at some point, it would be his Carolina debut.

Minor Notes: Wolf, U18, Viveiros

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The Calgary Flames had a disappointing season that ended with them on the outside of the playoff picture. Their AHL affiliate, on the other hand, has been enjoying a tremendous 2022-23 season and finished first in the AHL standings with a 51-17-4 record. They ended up in first place in the AHL standings and will begin their Calder Cup chase next week. That is little consolation to Flames fans today, who were expecting a competitive NHL team this season, and not just a great minor league team to hand their hat on.

One reason for future hope in Calgary is goaltender Dustin Wolf who played a huge role in the Calgary Wranglers leading the way in the AHL. Wolf was named the winner of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s best goaltender. The 22-year-old goaltender was the leader in goals-against average (2.09) save percentage (.932) and shutouts with seven. In his final two years of Junior, Wolf was named the top goaltender in the WHL and now he has won that award in his first two pro seasons at the AHL level.

  • USA Hockey announced its roster for the upcoming World Under-18 Championships. The team promises to be a high-scoring one as the roster is headlined by forwards Will Smith, Gabe Perreault, Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore who will all be selected in the first round of the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft. Cole Eiserman, a top-ranked prospect for the 2024 NHL Draft is also on the roster. USA begins its tournament with a game tomorrow against Latvia. The event is taking place in Switzerland. USA will be looking for its first gold medal at the event since 2017.
  • Per a team release, the Vegas Golden Knights announced Manny Viveiros will be leaving the organization. Viveiros has been the head coach of the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights since their inception in 2020. In their first year of existence, the team had a 25-13-1 record in a Covid-shortened season, and followed that up with a 34-28-5 record in 2021-22. The team struggled this season however, finished outside the Calder Cup Playoffs with a record of 29-38-5. Viveiros’ contract is set to expire on June 30 and it will not be renewed.

Dallas Stars Recall Riley Tufte

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The Dallas Stars recalled left winger Riley Tufte from the AHL’s Texas Stars on Wednesday, the team said in a release.

This is the second recall of the season for the 25-year-old after playing three games with Dallas in December 2022. Drafted 25th overall in 2016, Tufte has never replicated the offensive potential he showed in high school through four seasons in Texas. However, he is enjoying a career year in the minors, recording 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points with a +23 rating in 63 games.

Tufte comes up to the active roster with Joe Pavelski’s status for Game 2 of their First Round series against the Minnesota Wild in doubt. Pavelski exited the team’s Game 1 overtime loss after a hit from Wild defender Matt Dumba, which caused Pavelski to fall to the ice with head contact.

With the series taking an expected physical turn, Tufte could draw into the lineup ahead of Dallas’ extra forwards, Joel Kiviranta and Fredrik Olofsson. While Tufte has some goal-scoring upside, he is a power forward first and foremost and plays an extremely physical game, standing at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds.

Tufte does not have any NHL playoff experience and only 13 games of regular-season experience. He registered his first NHL goal last season in a 10-game stint.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Keith Kinkaid

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The Colorado Avalanche recalled Keith Kinkaid from the AHL Colorado Eagles to serve as the team’s emergency backup goaltender during the playoffs, the team said Tuesday.

Kinkaid, 33, spent most of this season in the minors with the Providence Bruins but got into some action with the Eagles after Colorado acquired him from Boston on February 25. In 27 games with the Bruins and Eagles, Kinkaid had a 12-10-4 record with a 2.92 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.

In his lone action with Colorado this season, Kinkaid made eight saves on nine shots in relief in a March 4 game against the Dallas Stars.

Kinkaid has NHL experience, having played in 169 games over the course of his career with the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Rangers, including one appearance each this season with Boston and Colorado. He has a career record of 70-58-21 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.

For the time being, Kinkaid will be Colorado’s third option in goal behind starter Alexandar Georgiev and backup Pavel Francouz, who was cleared to play last week after missing nearly two months with a lower-body injury.

The Eagles are in the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs and begin their First Round series against the Ontario Reign tomorrow night. Kinkaid will likely stay up with the NHL club for the time being, as he’s been outperformed in the minors by both Jonas Johansson and Justus Annunen this season.

Snapshots: Wolanin, Dawes, Svechnikov

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The AHL continues its award week by handing out the Eddie Shore Award to Christian Wolanin, the league’s most outstanding defenseman for 2022-23. The Abbotsford Canucks defender scored six goals and 55 points in 49 games.

Wolanin, 28, has been on the fringe of the NHL for years, moving up and down but rarely seeing any extended action at the highest level. Since debuting in the 2017-18 season, he has appeared in 86 career NHL games, recording 23 points.

  • It’s been years since Nigel Dawes was a regular in the NHL, so fans in North America may not know about his overseas exploits. The 38-year-old finally called it a career today, after spending the last 12 years playing in the KHL and DEL. One of the most prolific offensive players in KHL history, he scored 84 points in 212 NHL games before leaving for international opportunities in 2011.
  • While he won’t be able to help the Carolina Hurricanes this postseason, Andrei Svechnikov hopes to be ready for training camp. Svechnikov tore his ACL and underwent surgery on March 16, and was given a six to nine-month recovery timeline. The talented forward is well into his rehab, working out every day in preparation for his return in 2023-24. Even though he can’t help them on the ice, Svechnikov is still part of the team, winding the siren to excite the home crowd before last night’s game.

Mitch Love Wins AHL Coach Of The Year

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For the second year in a row, Mitch Love has won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding coach. The Calgary Wranglers bench boss led his team to a 51-17-4 record, blending a dynamic offensive attack with a smothering defensive structure. He is just the third coach to win the award in consecutive seasons (Bill Dineen and Robbie Ftorek are the others).

Overall, Love has a 96-33-11 record through his first two years behind an AHL bench. His meteoric rise through the ranks included just three years as head coach of the Saskatoon Blades before jumping to the AHL level, and now puts him on a trajectory toward NHL duties in the near future. With uncertainty surrounding the future of the Flames, though, it’s unclear if that will eventually come in Calgary. When the NHL squad parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving recently, reports indicated that head coach Darryl Sutter’s job was safe.

As teams around the league search for new candidates in the coming years, you can bet that Love’s name will start to surface. Two incredible years in the AHL may not be a very long track record, but it is an impressive one. He is the first coach in league history to win the award in his first two seasons.

During his playing career, Love was a prototypical “tough guy,” racking up penalty minutes without any real offensive impact. In 278 regular season AHL games, he scored just six goals but registered 808 penalty minutes. Before that, he was one of the most feared competitors in the WHL, once recording more than 300 PIM in a single season.

While the performance of Dustin Wolf as the AHL’s most outstanding goaltender has certainly helped through his first two years, the relationship is symbiotic. Love’s system has taken a lot of stress off his netminders, as there is almost always someone in the face of an attacking player as soon as they get the puck. With the top seed secured, the Wranglers will wait to see who they play in the Pacific Division semifinals.

AHL Shuffle: 04/17/23

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With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning in under 12 hours, teams will begin to add some extra help to their rosters from the minors to have players on hand in case of injury. While some teams won’t make mass recalls of depth players (or “black aces”) until their affiliates are eliminated from the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs, the disappearance of the salary cap in the playoffs still offers teams the option to make smaller moves. We’ll keep track of today’s transactions right here.

  • The Florida Panthers have recalled forward Zac Dalpe from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and netminder Evan Fitzpatrick from the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. Richards notes that Dalpe will return to Charlotte tomorrow for the Checkers’ playoff series, so he’s up momentarily to serve as an extra forward in case something goes awry for Florida pre-game. Fitzpatrick, who had strong numbers in limited ECHL action this season, will essentially serve as the team’s emergency goalie while on the active roster.
  • The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that the Minnesota Wild are expected to recall Hunter Jones to serve as their third goalie, leaving both Jesper Wallstedt and Zane McIntyre stored in the minors for their AHL affiliate’s playoff run. Jones, a 2019 second-round pick of the Wild, posted a .905 save percentage and one shutout in 38 games with the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders this season.
  • The Nashville Predators sent major reinforcements to the Milwaukee Admirals today, re-assigning seven players, per a team release. After seeing NHL opportunities near the end of the season, the team has returned forwards Luke Evangelista, Michael McCarron, Mark Jankowski, Zach Sanford, Kiefer Sherwood, Philip Tomasino, and defenseman Spencer Stastney to the minors. Milwaukee, who finished second in the AHL’s Central Division, increases their status as a serious contender for the Calder Cup with these additions.
  • Netminder Brandon Bussi is back up with the Boston Bruins, also to serve as the team’s emergency netminder for tonight’s Game 1 against the Florida Panthers. Bussi, 24, has seen multiple recalls in recent days but has yet to play a minute of NHL action. He’ll head back to AHL Providence eventually as the presumptive starter for their playoff games.
  • In a similar fashion to many others, the Carolina Hurricanes brought up goalie Pyotr Kochetkov from the now-eliminated Chicago Wolves today. For the time being, he’ll serve as the third-string netminder behind Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, although Kochetkov has put up the best numbers of any Hurricanes goalie this season in limited action.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Oskari Salminen as their extra goaltender, while assigning Dmitri Kuzmin from the Flint Firebirds to the Manitoba Moose. Kuzmin’s OHL season ended last week with a seven-game loss to the Saginaw Spirits, and given he turns 20 in a few days, his junior career is over. The 2021 third-round defenseman scored 14 goals and 59 points in 65 games this season and will be an interesting prospect to watch as he transitions to the professional level.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

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