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Blue Jackets Recall Four Players

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A day after sending four players to the AHL to suit up for Cleveland, the Blue Jackets have recalled four players for tonight’s contest against the Rangers.  However, there are some different faces rejoining the team as defenseman David Jiricek and winger Trey-Fix Wolansky are both getting the nod, joining blueliner Marcus Bjork and winger Joona Luoto who were among those sent down yesterday.  All four recalls are classified as emergency moves and won’t count against the post-deadline limit of four regular recalls.

Jiricek is the headliner among the group as the sixth-overall pick has had a strong first season in North America.  The 19-year-old has 38 points in 51 games with the Monsters and didn’t look out of place in a pair of NHL appearances earlier in the year.  With Columbus only having four games left, he’s not in danger of burning the first season of his entry-level deal if he stays up with them for the final week of the season.

Fix-Wolansky was sent down last Saturday after missing a team meeting.  The 23-year-old has been one of the top scorers at the AHL level this season, notching 28 goals with 41 assists in 57 games, good for fifth in the minors in scoring.  Fix-Wolansky has seen action in seven games with the Blue Jackets so far this season but is still looking for his first point.

Bjork has been back and forth several times this season, effectively splitting the year between Columbus and Cleveland.  At the NHL level, the 25-year-old has 11 points in 32 games while logging over 18 minutes a night, numbers that aren’t bad for someone in his first season in North America.  Bjork’s numbers are similar with the Monsters as he has 13 points in 41 contests.

As for Luoto, he scored his first career NHL goal on Thursday which is his only point in 20 career appearances at the top level.  The 25-year-old has been productive in Cleveland, however, tallying 14 goals and 11 assists in 44 contests.  He returned to North America as an unrestricted free agent last summer and will once again be eligible to test the market in July.

Golden Knights Notes: Hill, Stone, Theodore

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The Golden Knights should be getting some help soon between the pipes as they announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned goaltender Adin Hill to AHL Henderson on a conditioning stint.  The 26-year-old has missed the last month with a lower-body injury but the fact he’s going to the Silver Knights means that he should at least be ready to suit up if needed for Vegas in the playoffs.  Hill has an impressive 2.45 GAA along with a .915 SV% in 27 games this season, a nice platform year as he gets set to test unrestricted free agency for the first time this summer.  While Jonathan Quick and Laurent Brossoit have helped keep Vegas atop the battle for first in the Pacific Division, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them turn to Hill for the postseason if he’s fully recovered.

More from Vegas:

  • Speaking with reporters today (video link), head coach Bruce Cassidy provided a small update on winger Mark Stone. The veteran has been “progressing well and there have been no setbacks, so that’s encouraging. I don’t know if that’s optimistic, it’s just he’s progressing well. No news is good news in terms of bad news.”  Stone has missed nearly three months with a back injury but there is clearly no timetable for a return.  That said, the fact things aren’t getting any worse is at least a positive sign.  The 30-year-old was in the middle of a productive campaign with 38 points in 43 games prior to the injury.
  • Also in Cassidy’s presser, he indicated that defenseman Shea Theodore won’t accompany the team for Saturday’s game in Dallas. The blueliner has missed five straight games since being injured against Edmonton late last month.  Theodore sits second on the team in points by a defender with 41 in just 54 contests while his 21:31 ATOI also ranks second on Vegas.  Cassidy won’t be able to provide an update on Theodore until he’s cleared to practice and wasn’t sure if he’ll be able to skate next week.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Alexander Nylander

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Apr. 7: Nylander is once again back up with Pittsburgh after being recalled on an emergency basis.

Apr. 6: A few hours after being recalled, it seems Nylander is headed back down to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. The Penguins announced in advance of their game tonight against the Minnesota Wild that Nylander has been reassigned back to their AHL affiliate.

Apr. 3: According to a team release, the Pittsburgh Penguins sent forward Alexander Nylander down to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Monday.

Nylander, 25, heads back to the minors after sitting as a healthy scratch for eight straight games. He’s one of Pittsburgh’s best recall options out of their relatively thin depth in the AHL but was a week away from requiring waivers to head back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Pittsburgh remains locked into a tight battle for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as they look to keep their 16-year postseason streak alive, by far the longest in the league. With salary cap constraints, though, they’re forced to carry a trim roster, having less than $100,000 in space before returning Nylander to the minors.

The eighth-overall pick in 2016 is having by far his best season in the AHL, leading the team in goals and points per game. His 25 goals and 25 assists in 54 games have given him his first 50-point season, marking another step in a long road back to potential NHL relevancy after an injury-plagued development period.

He could remain a lineup option for the Penguins in the playoffs if they make it there. He has one assist in six games this season with Pittsburgh, his first NHL point since the 2019-20 season.

Capitals Notes: Malenstyn, Gibson, Persson

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The Capitals announced that they’ve recalled winger Beck Malenstyn from AHL Hershey.  The 25-year-old comes up a day after winger Anthony Mantha was a late scratch against Montreal due to a lower-body injury, giving them 12 healthy forwards on the roster once again.  Malenstyn has played in five games with Washington so far this season, picking up a goal and an assist despite averaging just 8:34 per night of playing time.  He hasn’t been much more productive in the minors either, collecting just seven goals and three assists in 39 contests.  Malenstyn has one more year left on his deal after this season with it converting from a two-way pact to a one-way agreement for 2023-24.

More from Washington:

  • Mitchell Gibson’s previously reported deal with the Caps is now official, per a team release. He receives a one-year, entry-level contract for next season which carries a cap hit of $867,500.  The 23-year-old posted a 2.25 GAA and a .919 SV% with Harvard in 27 games this season, earning him a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team.  Gibson is expected to sign a tryout agreement with AHL Hershey to finish the season with the Bears.
  • The Capitals also announced that they’ve re-assigned forward Ludwig Persson to Hershey. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick last summer and is already signed to his entry-level deal.  Persson spent this season playing at home in the second-tier Allsvenskan, recording four goals and 11 assists in 45 games with BIK Karlskoga.  He also made one appearance at the SHL level, extending his streak to four straight seasons with at least one game played in Sweden’s top division.

Senators Assign Two To AHL

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With Ottawa (and the rest of the league) off today, they have elected to send a pair of players down to the minors, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned center Ridly Greig and goaltender Leevi Merilainen to AHL Ottawa.

Greig has played in 20 games with the Sens this season including nine on this most recent recall.  He fared a bit better offensively in that second stint, picking up a goal and four assists in that stretch, giving him two goals and seven helpers on the season.  At the minor league level, the 20-year-old has been much more productive, tallying 13 goals and 14 assists in 35 games in his first full professional campaign.

Merilainen, meanwhile, has gotten into two games with the Senators this month.  He made 34 stops in an overtime loss to Carolina on Tuesday but his second start didn’t go as well as the 20-year-old was yanked early in the second period versus Florida.  Overall, he has a 4.23 GAA and a .878 SV% with the Sens after posting a 2.02 GAA and a .918 in 42 games with Karpat of the Finnish league.

Belleville is back in action on Saturday for a rematch against Cleveland as they battle for a play-in spot in the North Division so it’s unlikely that Greig and Merilainen will be recalled for Ottawa’s contest tomorrow versus Tampa Bay.

Columbus Blue Jackets Assign Four To AHL

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Friday that they have reassigned four players to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. The team has sent defensemen Marcus Bjork and Billy Sweezey and forwards Joshua Dunne and Joona Luoto to the Monsters, as announced in a team release.

As noted by The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, the transaction gives the Monsters some serious reinforcements ahead of the team’s biggest game of the season tonight against the Laval Rocket, their adversary for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division.

Bjork, 25, most recently joined the Blue Jackets on emergency recall from Cleveland on April 1 but has split his time between leagues almost evenly during his first season of pro hockey in North America. He has played 32 games with the Blue Jackets, recording three goals and eight assists for 11 points and 42 penalty minutes. The Umea, Sweden-born Bjork has also played 40 games with the Monsters this season, posting six goals, seven assists, and 13 points with 18 penalty minutes.

Dunne has recorded eight penalty minutes and ten shots on goal in 13 career games with the Blue Jackets since making his NHL debut in 2020-21, but the undrafted free agent signing out of Clarkson University is still looking for his first NHL point. The 24-year-old is enjoying his first full, healthy season with the Monsters, sitting second on the team with 20 goals and 36 points in 59 games.

Luoto, 25, has collected a single goal in 20 career NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets since making his NHL debut in 2019-20. He has skated in four games with Columbus in 2022-23, recording his first career goal on April 6 after spending last season with Tappara in Finland’s top men’s league. The Tampere-born Finn has also played in 72 games with the Monsters and Manitoba Moose over two AHL stints from 2019-23, adding 16 goals, 17 assists, 33 points, and 32 penalty minutes.

Sweezey made his NHL debut on February 26 and has played seven games with Columbus this season, registering one assist and nine penalty minutes. It’s been an unexpected rise from the minors for the 27-year-old, who got his first taste of NHL hockey due to injuries decimating the Columbus blue line. In 59 games between the Blue Jackets and Monsters this year, he’s yet to record a goal.

With a lack of healthy players available on the Columbus roster to replace the players mentioned above in the lineup, expect Columbus to recall some or all of Bjork, Sweezey, Dunne, and Luoto to the roster tomorrow ahead of their game against the New York Rangers.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Jason Demers, Place Ryan McLeod On LTIR

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The Edmonton Oilers have made two roster moves, recalling veteran defenseman Jason Demers from their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, and placing forward Ryan McLeod on long-term injured reserve.

The recall puts Demers in a position to play his 700th career NHL game, and his first since the 2020-21 season. The 34-year-old defenseman last played in the NHL for the Arizona Coyotes, a team he landed on in a 2017 swap of pricey contracts, with Arizona sending Jamie McGinn to the Florida Panthers in return. Demers played four years with the Coyotes before signing in the KHL with Ak-Bars Kazan in the summer of 2022.

Demers played just nine games in the KHL, and his 2021-22 season was most notable for his work representing Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He scored two points as one of Canada’s most experienced defensemen, and his performance on that major stage helped him earn a PTO with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in October.

That PTO became a full contract with the Oilers in December, and now the forward momentum Demers has been building in his career has materialized into an NHL call-up. Demers has been playing in a top-four role with the Condors, but will likely play a limited role with the Oilers should head coach Jay Woodcroft dress him for a game.

As for McLeod, his placement on LTIR was needed to facilitate this move since the Oilers do not have the cap space to make a recall otherwise. The 23-year-old 2018 second-round pick has scored 22 points in 55 games this season as a regular bottom-sixer for Edmonton, although he hasn’t played since a March 14th contest against the Ottawa Senators. As we covered last month, reports indicate that McLeod is dealing with a shoulder injury.

Ryan O’Reilly Activated From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have activated forward Ryan O’Reilly off of long-term injured reserve, as first tweeted by CapFriendly and then confirmed by Toronto’s official lineup announcement. In order to create the necessary cap space for the move, they have assigned forwards Nick Abruzzese and Wayne Simmonds to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

O’Reilly, 32, hasn’t played in a little over a month due to a finger injury. He last played in the Maple Leafs’ 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on March 4th, a contest that marked his fifth-straight without a point. It’s been an up-and-down season for the former Blues captain, as he has scored just 24 points in 48 games.

O’Reilly’s inconsistent offensive production shouldn’t be referenced to understate the potential impact he can have on the Maple Leafs, though, as the 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner has the potential to be a game-changer for Toronto.

Now on a roster starved for playoff success, O’Reilly brings the type of Stanley Cup experience the squad has in the past been perceived as lacking.

Moreover, O’Reilly’s hat-trick performance on February 21st against the Buffalo Sabres shows that there’s still some gas left in O’Reilly’s offensive tank, and the versatility he brings to the Maple Leafs’ lineup gives head coach Sheldon Keefe a wide variety of options for how to deploy his forwards.

O’Reilly could be used as a third-line center, giving the Maple Leafs possibly the best set of four centers in the entire NHL. He could also be played on a top-six line, allowing someone like John Tavares to shift to the wing and focus more wholly on creating offense, leaving the defensive responsibilities assigned to the center to O’Reilly.

O’Reilly is playing tonight on the Maple Leafs’ third line between Alexander Kerfoot and Noel Acciari. That trio, combined with a fourth line of Zach Aston-Reese, David Kampf, and Sam Lafferty gives Toronto a bottom-six forward group that is arguably far better equipped to handle the rigors of playoff hockey than the bottom-six groups they have brought into past first-rounds.

It’s definitely true that for the Maple Leafs to finally earn the playoff success they’ve craved over the past half-decade, their stars will need to lead the way. If they want to be the first Eastern Conference team to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning in this decade, they’ll need to do it on the back of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Tavares, and William Nylander.

Getting a player like O’Reilly back to full health and integrated into their lineup with a few games to spare before that all-important playoff series is a significant, positive development for Toronto. How quickly he can get back to full speed will be one of the chief storylines to monitor during tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Nashville Predators Recall Zach Sanford

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With just five games left in their season, the Nashville Predators are still in the race. They remain just three points behind the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames, with one and two games in hand, respectively.

They’ll try to make up some ground tonight with the Carolina Hurricanes in town and have recalled Zach Sanford to give them some reinforcements.

It would be quite the feat should the Predators pull it off, given how their trade deadline went. Tanner Jeannot, Nino Niederreiter, Mattias Ekholm, and Mikael Granlund were all moved, leaving Nashville with several young players in the lineup nightly.

They’ve also been without captain Roman Josi since the middle of March, and his return is still questionable. Despite that, the Jets and Flames have each failed to really grab hold of that final playoff spot, opening the door for some Juuse Saros-led magic in the final few weeks.

Sanford, 28, has played just 11 games in the NHL this season, the fewest total of his career. The big forward has scored two points with the Predators and 28 with the Milwaukee Admirals during his time in the AHL.

Los Angeles Kings Emergency Recall Jordan Spence

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The Los Angeles Kings announced Wednesday that they have recalled defenseman Jordan Spence on an emergency basis from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

Spence, 22, has been playing with the Reign for most of the season, scoring four goals and adding 38 assists in 53 games. The move comes as the Kings deal with a rash of injuries on their blue line, with Alex Edler and Mikey Anderson currently sidelined with undisclosed injuries.

The Kings are well-positioned for the stretch run, having clinched a playoff berth earlier this week. The focus now sets on playoff positioning, with the most likely outcome a rematch of last year’s First Round series against the Edmonton Oilers. Spence isn’t coming into potential NHL action cold turkey, though, having played five games earlier this season with the Kings and being involved in multiple paper transactions throughout the year. He also recorded eight points in 24 games last season with Los Angeles and appeared in three playoff games.

Spence, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Kings, is a skilled puck-mover who excels in transition and logs big minutes at the minor-league level. He also possesses a solid defensive game, using his quick feet and positioning to shut down opposing forwards. He figures to be a future piece in the team’s top six defense corps, and he’s a great option to have on hand as a depth call-up at this stage in his development.

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