Toronto Maple Leafs Loan Alex Steeves To AHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they’ve loaned forward Alex Steeves to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Steeves was recalled last week and served as a health scratch for the Maple Leafs in their losses to the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend.
The 23-year-old has yet to play in an NHL game this season but has six games of experience, all with the Maple Leafs. Steeves has suited up in three games in each of the past two seasons, notching a single assist over that time. The story has been much different in the AHL, as Steeves has proved to be a solid scoring option with the Marlies. In 14 games this season, he has 11 goals and seven assists and is +2. For his AHL career, Steeves has dressed in 137 games and has 115 points.
Steeves spent his NCAA career with the University of Notre Dame before he signed with the Leafs as an undrafted free agent in 2021. His return to the AHL means he will have an opportunity to build on an 11-game point streak that remains intact. Steeves has 11 goals and five assists during the streak, and if he can continue to pile on the offense for the Marlies, he may be able to force his way into the Maple Leafs lineup at some point this season.
The Maple Leafs have not received a ton of offensive production from their bottom six forwards thus far this year, and with how tight they are against the salary cap, they may have no other choice other than exploring internal options to try and improve the offensive production they get from their bottom two lines.
Ottawa Senators Reassign Roby Järventie, Mads Søgaard
In advance of tomorrow’s game against the Florida Panthers, the Ottawa Senators have reassigned netminder Mads Søgaard and forward Roby Järventie to their AHL affiliate, the Bellville Senators.
With Søgaard, this reassignment is likely an indication that starter Joonas Korpisalo is ready to at least dress as the backup goalie tomorrow against the Panthers. Korpisalo had been injured, prompting the Søgaard recall, but there was hope that he’d be ready for the Florida game tomorrow. With this reassignment, it now appears those hopes have become reality.
Søgaard, 22, did not see game action in his latest NHL stint with Ottawa. He has been strong in eight games as the starter for Belleville, posting a 4-3 record, 2.35 goals-against-average, and .923 save percentage.
As for Järventie, this reassignment is less based on roster juggling and likely more about performance. Given the first NHL opportunity of his career, Järventie didn’t receive many minutes and didn’t do very much with the ice time he did receive. Other than registering his first NHL point in a surprising victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on November eighth, Järventie didn’t make much of a mark.
He’s been significantly better at the AHL level, though, and has scored 33 points in his last 46 games there. Now headed back to Belleville, the 21-year-old 2020 33rd overall pick will look to have a productive stretch and potentially earn another shot at the NHL level.
Vegas Golden Knights Recall Kaedan Korczak
The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled defenseman Kaedan Korczak from their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. The move appears to be motivated by the fact that Vegas is currently missing two defensemen due to injury.
Alec Martinez is currently out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, while Shea Theodore is out with his own upper-body injury on an unclear timeline. The Golden Knights already roster eight defensemen, meaning they can still have a full unit of six blueliners with these two injuries.
But as Vegas begins a three-game road trip that will take them through Western Canada, it appears the team has decided it needs to carry a fully healthy seventh defenseman, which in this case would be Korczak.
Should Korczak get into the Golden Knights’ lineup during their road trip, he would be playing in relatively familiar surroundings. Korczak, a Saskatchewan native, played the entirety of his junior career with the Kelowna Rockets. As a result, he frequently played road games in all three of Edmonton, Vancouver, and Calgary.
A 22-year-old right-shot defenseman, the Golden Knights drafted Korczak 41st overall at the 2019 draft. He’s developed nicely for them, currently serving as a depth blueliner who plays heavy minutes at the AHL level and a more sheltered role when called upon by the big club. This season, he’s already played in seven games for the Golden Knights and tallied four points. He last played for Vegas in a November 5th loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Colorado Assigns Riley Tufte To AHL
While Avalanche winger Riley Tufte has been productive on his latest recall, it wasn’t enough to keep him up with the big club for long as Colorado has assigned him to the minors, per a team announcement (Twitter link).
The 25-year-old became a Group Six unrestricted free agent in the summer and quickly inked a one-year deal with Colorado on the opening day of free agency. Since then, he has frequently been shuffled back and forth between the Avs and Eagles; this demotion is already his sixth of the season.
Along the way, Tufte has played in five contests with the big club and picked up a point in each of his last two. Those are his only two points of the season while he’s averaging a little over 11 minutes a night at the top level. In the minors, however, Tufte has been quite productive, notching nine goals and eight assists in just a dozen games. That should have him in line to be recalled again before too long.
At this point, it’s unclear who will be taking Tufte’s spot in the lineup tonight against Calgary. Logan O’Connor has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury but remains on the active roster, suggesting his absence is a short-term one so it’s possible that he is cleared to play. Otherwise, Tomas Tatar would come back in after being a healthy scratch last night; the 32-year-old is still looking for his first goal of the season.
Seattle Kraken Assign Chris Driedger To AHL
Saturday: The Kraken announced that Driedger has been sent back to the Firebirds, suggesting that Grubauer will be able to suit up for Seattle’s next game against Chicago on Tuesday.
Tuesday: The Seattle Kraken have announced that they’ve recalled veteran goaltender Chris Driedger from their AHL affiliate the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The 29-year-old is likely to serve as the backup to Joey Daccord as starter Philipp Grubauer is dealing with an undisclosed injury and is likely to miss tomorrow night’s game. No word on whether Grubauer will be out longer term.
Driedger spent all last season in the AHL and to this point has yet to dress in an NHL game since the 2021-22 season. He was just okay in the AHL last season but has put up solid numbers with the Firebirds this season going 6-4 with a .915 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average.
Driedger was drafted by the Kraken in the 2021 NHL expansion draft and signed to a three-year $10.5MM contract despite having just 38 games of NHL experience at the time. The gamble did not pay off for Seattle as Driedger struggled in his first season with the club going 9-14-1 with a .899 save percentage and a 2.96 goals-against average.
Driedger’s struggles prompted the Kraken to shop the Winnipeg, Manitoba native this past summer, but they were unable to find any takers for his $3.5MM cap hit. It appeared possible that the Kraken would buy out Driedger, but they ended up hanging onto to him to play out the final season of his three-year deal.
A journeyman goaltender, Driedger did see some success at the NHL level from 2019-2021 as a member of the Florida Panthers. During that time Driedger went 21-8-4 while sporting 2.07 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. If Driedger does get a chance to play and can show that he belongs in the NHL it could open up the possibility that he gets moved as a few teams are looking at goaltending options in what is currently a very overpriced goalie market.
Islanders Recall Grant Hutton
While the Islanders added some defensive depth today when they claimed Mike Reilly off waivers from Florida, more reinforcements appear to be needed for their game tonight against Philadelphia as Newsday’s Andrew Gross relays (Twitter link) that Grant Hutton has been added to New York’s roster.
The 28-year-old last saw NHL action during the 2021-22 season when he got into 16 games at the top level. He didn’t dominate but held his own while averaging a little over 14 minutes of playing time, resulting in the Isles giving him a three-year deal that summer with two of those seasons being a one-way salary.
However, since then, Hutton has cleared waivers twice and has played exclusively with AHL Bridgeport until now. Last season, the blueliner had ten points in 39 games and is on a similar points pace this year with five points – all assists – in his first 16 appearances.
With Reilly only being claimed off waivers earlier this afternoon, there’s no guarantee that he will be available against the Flyers. Meanwhile, Sebastian Aho’s availability is also in question after leaving yesterday’s game early with an injury so Hutton will be available to suit up if those two aren’t able to play.
New York had a vacant roster spot following the placement of Matt Martin on injured reserve earlier today while the cap space was created earlier in the day when Adam Pelech was placed on LTIR. Accordingly, no further roster moves were necessary to add Hutton to the active roster.
Jets Recall Declan Chisholm From Conditioning Stint
It has been an interesting start to the season for Jets blueliner Declan Chisholm as he has yet to see any action with Winnipeg. Last week, the team sent him to AHL Manitoba to get some playing time and today, they announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled him from that loan which was capped at a maximum of two weeks.
Last season, the 23-year-old was quite productive with the Moose, notching 43 points in 59 games after recording 30 in 53 appearances the year before but didn’t see any NHL action. Unsurprisingly, Chisholm was productive in this six-game AHL stint, collecting five assists.
However, despite making Winnipeg’s roster out of training camp, Chisholm is still waiting to play his first game of the season with the big club and has just two career NHL appearances to his name. It’s clear that internally, the team doesn’t think he’ll pass through waivers unclaimed and would like to avoid a repeat of last year when they waived a player in a similar situation in Johnathan Kovacevic who has since gone on to become a regular with Montreal.
His best path to playing time in Winnipeg is an injury but the Jets remain healthy on the back end, meaning that Chisholm is set to reprise his role of being eighth on the depth chart. With Ville Heinola showing that he’s ready for an NHL look when he returns from his ankle injury next month, it appears that Chisholm will continue to be stuck in a numbers game for a while yet.
Sabres Recall Jiri Kulich And Isak Rosen
With Zemgus Girgensons leaving yesterday’s game early due to injury and Jordan Greenway being a late scratch, the Sabres needed some reinforcements up front. Those have come in the form of Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen as the team announced that both forwards have been recalled from AHL Rochester.
To make room for them on the roster, Girgensons has been placed on injured reserve and is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Greenway, meanwhile, is away from the team for personal reasons, making him eligible for non-roster status.
Kulich was the 28th overall pick by Buffalo in 2022 and appears to be well on his way toward outperforming that draft spot. He spent all of last season with the Americans and fared quite well as an underager, notching 24 goals and 22 assists in 62 regular season games while chipping in with 11 points in a dozen playoff contests. This year, he’s off to an even better start with 11 goals and six helpers in his first 16 appearances. Kulich can play up to nine games with the Sabres before officially burning the first year of his entry-level contract so it’s quite possible that his promotion will be a short-term one.
As for Rosen, whose promotion was first reported by Pickin’ Splinters’ Kevin Oklobzija, the 20-year-old was the 14th pick by the Sabres in 2021. He also had his rookie season in North America last year and acquitted himself well, collecting 14 goals and 23 assists in 66 regular season games before chipping in with eight points in their 12 playoff matches. Rosen scored the overtime winner last night for Rochester and is their scoring leader with 19 points in 16 games so far. Unlike Kulich, Rosen is not subject to the nine-game threshold.
Kulich and Rosen are viewed as two of Buffalo’s top prospects. After starting in the minors together last season, it appears both of them will get a chance to make their NHL debuts together tonight against New Jersey.
Bruins Activate Matt Grzelcyk From LTIR, Assign Two To AHL
The Bruins are set to welcome back one of their blueliners as the team announced that Matt Grzelcyk has been activated from LTIR. To create the cap space necessary to do so, they’ve returned defenseman Mason Lohrei and forward Patrick Brown to AHL Providence.
Grzelcyk has missed the last three-and-a-half weeks with an upper-body injury sustained late last month against Florida. In order for a player to go on LTIR, they must miss at least 10 games and 24 days. Both of those were reached yesterday, paving the way for his activation for tonight’s game against the Rangers.
While the 29-year-old has been a capable secondary contributor from the back end, Grzelcyk has been a bit quiet on that front this season, collecting just a single point (a goal) over his first nine appearances. He’s coming off his fourth-straight 20-point campaign, one that saw him record a career-high 26 points in 2022-23 so it’s fair to say that Boston will be counting on a bit more from him moving forward.
Grzelcyk’s return isn’t the most welcome news for Lohrei who had been acquitting himself nicely with Boston in his first taste of NHL action. The 22-year-old has played in ten games with the big club so far this season, picking up a goal and three assists along with 18 blocked shots while logging 17:35 per contest. He also has four assists in seven games with Providence, making for a decent start to his first full professional campaign.
As for Brown, his return to the minors comes as no surprise after he cleared waivers last week for the second time this season. The 31-year-old is in his first season with the Bruins after inking a two-year deal with an AAV of $800K on the opening day of free agency this summer. However, he has been limited to eight appearances so far where he has an assist while averaging only 9:03 per night. When he suits up for Providence, it will be his first taste of AHL action since the 2020-21 campaign when he played in nine games for Vegas’ affiliate.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Jansen Harkins
11/25: Harkins is back up with the big club as the team announced that he has once again been recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
11/24: Shortly after the start of their game against the Sabres, the Penguins announced they had reassigned Harkins to the AHL.
11/23: The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Jansen Harkins from their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Harkins has shuttled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Pittsburgh quite a bit over the last week. It started November 18th, when Harkins was recalled from the AHL Penguins and then sent back down in a span of just two hours.
Then, in transactions also involving forward Alex Nylander, Harkins was recalled from the AHL on November 21st, and then sent back down yesterday. Today, Harkins returns to the Penguins’ roster.
This doesn’t appear to be the sort of cap maneuvering many teams do in order to bank cap space over the course of the season, as he has actually spent most of the season playing in the AHL. In other words, Harkins isn’t an NHL player that the Penguins repeatedly send to the AHL in order to bank cap space.
Instead, it appears Harkins, who last played in the NHL on October 18th, is continually being recalled and then reassigned from the NHL roster for two potential reasons.
Firstly, the club could be recalling him due to the genuine potential of Harkins dressing for an NHL game. The 26-year-old has already played in four games this season for the Penguins and is a well-liked, versatile bottom-six forward.
Another reason, and one that appears to potentially be the more likely explanation, could be to maintain the Penguins’ flexibility as to where Harkins can be assigned within their organization.
Although the Penguins have played Harkins in 11 AHL games this season compared to just four in the NHL, they undoubtedly have an interest in keeping Harkins as a call-up option in case injuries strike their NHL roster.
Although Harkins cleared waivers for the Penguins in October, that does not give the club an unlimited right for the rest of the season to shuttle Harkins between teams at will. Harkins only remains exempt from waivers so long as he does not remain on the NHL roster for more than 30 cumulative days since he last cleared waivers, or plays in 10 or more NHL games since that point.
So, it is in the Penguins’ best interest to keep Harkins on their NHL roster on a relatively strict basis, only holding him with the main squad when absolutely necessary in order to minimize the days that count against the 30-day total.
Of course, it is true that Harkins has already cleared waivers and therefore could very well clear once more should he need to be waived again this season. But as we get deeper into the regular season and attrition caused by injuries truly sets in for many teams, a versatile bottom-six forward like Harkins becomes a more attractive player to claim on waivers.
The more players teams across the NHL lose to injury, the less likely it becomes that Harkins is able to pass through waivers. So in order to maximize how long Harkins remains waiver-exempt, the Penguins will be recalling and reassigning Harkins with more frequency than they would most other players.
From Harkins’ perspective, while it can’t be fun to be reassigned to the AHL just two hours after a recall, he does happen to be playing on a one-way contract. As a result, he makes $875k regardless of whether he’s on the AHL or NHL roster, so these moves have little consequence for his bottom line.
That being said, that’s not to say these moves aren’t of great consequence for some players. As with any roster moves in a three-tiered organization, these recalls and reassignments have a ripple effect on other players. Harkins’ recall yesterday meant he could not play in the AHL Penguins’ contest against the Hershey Bears.
As a result, the Penguins called up 23-year-old undrafted forward Cédric Desruisseaux from their ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers. A former QMJHL MVP, Desruisseaux has spent most of his young career in the rough-and-tumble ECHL, putting in work each game just to earn a shot at the AHL level.
He got two AHL games in 2021-22, but did not play in the AHL for the entirety of 2022-23 despite scoring 30 goals and 59 points for the Nailers.
The recall of Harkins paved the way for Desruisseaux to play his first AHL game as a member of the larger Penguins’ organization. So yes, this constant roster shuffling is certainly not something Harkins is likely to enjoy. But one player higher on the hockey food chain’s less-than-ideal circumstance can lead to another player’s potentially career-altering chance to prove himself in a higher league.
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