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New York Rangers Recall Ryan Carpenter

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The New York Rangers have made a tweak to their roster, recalling forward Ryan Carpenter from the Hartford Wolf Pack, their AHL affiliate. Additionally, the team has placed forward Julien Gauthier on injured reserve, which creates space on the Rangers’ roster for Carpenter’s recall.

Gauthier, 25, lands on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, one he sustained in a collision with teammates Sammy Blais. The speedy forward has played in 32 games this season, averaging eight and a half minutes of ice time per night. In that capacity he’s scored nine points and registered 58 hits.

Replacing Gauthier on the roster is Carpenter, a 31-year-old undrafted veteran with over 300 NHL games of experience. Carpenter has familiarity with Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant, having played for him as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Carpenter, 31, was signed this offseason to serve as a safe, affordable member of the Rangers’ bottom six. The Rangers were struggling for cap space this offseason due to their glut of highly-priced stars, so Carpenter represented a solid investment for a team that needed to fill out spots down their lineup.

Carpenter hasn’t had a great year, though, and has recently found himself in the AHL. With an impressive 13-point run of 15 games in Hartford, Carpenter has now earned his chance to return to the NHL, and could even dress for the Rangers’ game today against the Montreal Canadiens. It’s likely that in Gauthier’s absence, Carpenter will compete with recent waiver claim Jake Leschyshyn for ice time.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Vrana, Girgensons

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The Maple Leafs will welcome back their top center as Auston Matthews confirmed to reporters, including Sports Illustrated’s David Alter (Twitter link) that he is ready to return after missing two games with an undisclosed injury.  That’s certainly a big boost for Toronto as the 25-year-old has 20 goals and 27 assists in 41 games while anchoring their top line and power play.  However, Matthews indicated that the injury is “something I’m going to have to stay on top of” which suggests that he hasn’t fully recovered from it and that it’s likely going to linger over the second half of the season.  Toronto sits nine points behind Boston in the Atlantic heading into tonight’s matchup between the two teams.

More from the Atlantic:

  • In the AHL, there is a rule that prohibits teams from loading up on veterans as it is a developmental league. That rule is proving to be a problem for Red Wings winger Jakub Vrana as it was relayed in the preview of their game last night (Twitter link) that the rule was going to keep him out of the lineup for the second time.  The 26-year-old has struggled since joining Grand Rapids as he has just an assist in six games and now that he’s part of a veteran rotation, it will be even more difficult for him to rediscover his scoring touch.
  • Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons did not accompany the team to Nashville and will miss tonight’s game due to illness, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The 29-year-old continues to be a fixture in Buffalo’s bottom six, a role he has held for nearly a decade and has four goals and six assists in 39 games so far this season.

Snapshots: Stone, Harkins, Zohorna, Sergachev

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The Vegas Golden Knights will be without Mark Stone for the next little while, announcing that he is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. That will scare a lot of fans worried about his back, but head coach Bruce Cassidy wouldn’t comment. As much as anything, Vegas’s return to contention has a lot to do with the play of Stone, who managed just 37 (rarely healthy) games last season.

Through 43 appearances this year, the 30-year-old forward has 17 goals and 38 points, and once again has taken his place as one of the best two-way players in the game. A lengthy absence will be a huge blow to the Golden Knights, especially given how close the standings are in the Pacific Division. Remember, Vegas led the division at this point last year too, only to fall out of the race and miss the playoffs completely by the end of the season.

  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Jansen Harkins under emergency conditions as several forwards deal with a non-COVID illness. To make room, Ville Heinola has been sent back to the minor leagues. Harkins, 25, has scored five goals in 22 games this season with the Jets, but was getting just a handful of shifts the last couple of times he dressed in the NHL. Heinola, meanwhile, has appeared just eight times, recording his first point of the season earlier this month.
  • Radim Zohorna continues his daily shuffle, this time headed back down to the AHL. The big forward has already been involved in five transactions this month, going down between games so that the Flames can save some cap space.
  • Mikhail Sergachev’s wallet is a little bit lighter after he was handed a $5,000 fine for punching Conor Garland in last night’s Tampa Bay Lightning-Vancouver Canucks game. The play went unpenalized by the on-ice officials, causing confusion among anyone watching the game. The Lightning are lucky Sergachev isn’t getting sat down for a game, though perhaps that has to do with the fact that Garland attempted a similar shot a few seconds earlier. Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet reports that Sergachev apologized to Garland after the game and that the Vancouver forward was “used to it” because he has “played like a rat” since he was 16.

Columbus Blue Jackets Assign Greaves, Fix-Wolansky To AHL

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have made a couple of roster moves, sending Jet Greaves and Trey Fix-Wolansky to the AHL. That suggests Elvis Merzlikins is ready to return, and either Boone Jenner or Eric Robinson – who both took part in practice today – will also be in the lineup tomorrow night.

Fix-Wolansky, 23, has played just four games with the Blue Jackets this season, spending most of the year with the Cleveland Monsters. The undersized forward has been outstanding there, to the tune of 34 points in 26 games, but can’t seem to bring that production to the NHL. A seventh-round pick in 2018, even playing games at the highest level is beating the odds, but the Blue Jackets will keep hoping that he can contribute on a more regular basis in the future.

Greaves, meanwhile, still hasn’t appeared in the NHL and is really only an emergency backup at this point. The 21-year-old has recorded an .885 save percentage in 15 appearances for the Monsters this year and has a long way to go before he is seeing meaningful playing time in the NHL.

Getting Jenner back would be the most impactful for the Blue Jackets, who have been without their captain since December 17. The 29-year-old has 11 goals and 22 points this season through 30 games, though like so many other Columbus players, has been outscored heavily at even-strength. Jenner is averaging more than 20 minutes a night for the struggling club, which has dropped to last in the NHL standings.

Tristan Jarry, Ryan Poehling Placed On Injured Reserve; Mark Friedman Recalled

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Jan 13: In a curious move, Friedman has been recalled again with no corresponding transaction. The team had explained that they wanted to get him in some minor league action to stay fresh, but he did not arrive in time to suit up for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this week, so is back without appearing for the AHL club.

Jan 11: The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a couple of curious moves today, clearing several roster spots at the same time. Mark Friedman has been assigned to the minor leagues, while Ryan Poehling and Tristan Jarry have been placed on injured reserve. Each of their stints are retroactive to their most recent appearance – December 30 for Poehling and January 2 for Jarry.

The move drops Pittsburgh to 20 players on the roster, with three empty spots. That could signal the potential return of Kris Letang, Jeff Petry, or Josh Archibald, the latter two who skated yesterday during the optional.

Friedman has only played three times for the Penguins this year, last suiting up more than a week ago against the Boston Bruins. The veteran minor league defenseman is nothing but depth at this point and will likely bounce back and forth between the AHL and NHL the rest of the year.

Because they have been placed retroactively, both Poehling and Jarry can be activated whenever healthy. Both have been listed as day-to-day by head coach Mike Sullivan, though there is no clear date for either’s return.

The Penguins, fresh off a win over the Vancouver Canucks last night, are facing the dreaded back-to-back-with-travel that teams struggle with this weekend. They host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, before traveling to face the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night. Some injury reinforcements by then would be very welcome, as they try to climb back into the Metropolitan Division race.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Jack Quinn; Reassign Peyton Krebs

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The rotation continues in Buffalo, where the Sabres have recalled the recently loaned Jack Quinn and sent Peyton Krebs down in his place. With their plan of carrying three goaltenders, moves like this should be expected on a daily basis.

Quinn, 21, never really did join the Rochester Americans, and is expected back in the Sabres lineup for Saturday’s match against the Nashville Predators. The young forward has 17 points in 33 games this season after completely obliterating the minor leagues last year. Quinn was the AHL’s Rookie of the Year with 61 points in 45 games.

Krebs meanwhile has struggled this season, recording just three goals and nine points through 34 games. The 21-year-old was part of the Jack Eichel trade coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights last season, and looked to be a key part of the Sabres future. While there’s certainly no giving up on him, a reset might be in order while he tries to get things moving in the right direction. Krebs hasn’t scored a goal in his last 11 games, and has averaged just over 13 minutes in that stretch.

To be clear, he too likely isn’t actually headed to Rochester. The Sabres will rotate through players to keep them fresh and participating while they figure out how to get Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen into the crease as often as possible. They will eventually need to find a more permanent solution, but with Quinn, Krebs, and J.J. Peterka all waiver-exempt, they can continue to move them in and out of the lineup with ease.

Columbus Blue Jackets Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced three roster moves: the team has activated defenseman Nick Blankenburg off of injured reserve, placed forward Eric Robinson on injured reserve retroactive to January 3rd, and recalled netminder Jet Greaves from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, on an emergency basis.

Blankenburg, 24, returns to the Blue Jackets’ roster at an important time as his team is besieged by injuries. Those injuries have caused Columbus to rely on rookies such as Tim Berni and Marcus Bjork to play larger roles than they’d likely otherwise be playing. With Blankenburg now back, coach Brad Larsen will have another option to help out his beleaguered blueline.

Blankenburg made his NHL debut last season after ending a four-year collegiate career at the University of Michigan and has played in seven games this season. He’s scored three points in that span and has skated in just over 18 minutes per night.

Replacing Blankenburg on injured reserve is Robinson, a 27-year-old winger. Like Blankenburg, Robinson is an undrafted player who enjoyed a fruitful NCAA career en route to the Blue Jackets organization.

Robinson has 10 points in 31 games so far this season and has been a first-unit penalty killer for Columbus alongside veteran center Sean Kuraly. He’ll now be on injured reserve moving forward as he recovers from an upper-body injury.

This recall is the fifth emergency recall of the season for Greaves, the Blue Jackets’ 21-year-old netminder. Greaves has been forced into the organization’s number-three role thanks to an injury to Daniil Tarasov, and has been shuttled from Columbus to Cleveland relatively frequently as a result.

Greaves, who like the other two players involved in today’s transactions did not hear his name called at the NHL draft, made his professional debut last season. He split time between Cleveland and the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings, posting a .905 save percentage in the AHL and a .907 in the ECHL.

This season, Greaves has only played in the AHL. (to go along with the time he’s spent on the bench in Columbus) He’s gotten into 15 games for the Monsters and gone 6-6-2 with a 3.69 goals-against-average and an .885 save percentage.

Greaves’ numbers are admittedly far weaker than they were last season, but it’s worth noting that the Monsters have been one of the AHL’s weakest teams over the past two seasons. With this emergency recall, Greaves will be on the bench for tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, backing up Joonas Korpisalo.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen; Reassign Jack Quinn

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It comes a few days late, but the Buffalo Sabres have recalled Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as expected. The young goaltender was dealing with an illness but is expected to start tonight against the Winnipeg Jets. To make room, the Sabres have reassigned Jack Quinn to the AHL.

Luukkonen, 23, is essentially still the team’s starting goaltender right now, despite rotating back and forth from the AHL. The Sabres are in a three-goalie rotation after Eric Comrie recovered from injury, but they plan on having Luukkonen play a lot. That’s because Comrie’s play has been so inconsistent this year that they have lost some trust in him. On Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken, when Luukkonen was unable to play, Comrie allowed four goals on 18 shots.

The interesting part is that his recall comes at the cost of Quinn, who has struggled of late. The 21-year-old rookie has 17 points in 33 games, but none of those have come in his last nine. While the Sabres are still winning with him out there, the young forward isn’t contributing a ton to those victories. The question now is whether Quinn gets an extended period in the minors – a league he has already dominated – or is back up in a few days when Craig Anderson or Comrie take the net. The eighth overall pick from 2020 will need to play somewhere, and not be used like a yo-yo between leagues.

For now, they will go with their young goalie and see if he can get them back in the win column after two disappointing losses.

Columbus Blue Jackets Place Carson Meyer On Injured Reserve

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are facing even more injury trouble. The team has announced that forward Carson Meyer suffered an oblique strain during last night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. As a result, the forward has been placed on injured reserve and will be out for six-to-eight weeks.

In a corresponding move, the Blue Jackets have recalled forward Trey Fix-Wolansky from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.

This season has not gone according to plan for Columbus, and a major reason for their disappointing form has been injuries. Columbus has a whopping seven players already on injured reserve, meaning Meyer will be their eighth player to land on the list. Additionally, the Blue Jackets have franchise defenseman Zach Werenski on long-term injured reserve.

It’s been an absolutely brutal run of injuries for head coach Brad Larsen’s squad, costing the team valuable contributors such as Werenski, Jakub Voracek, captain Boone Jenner, Jake Bean, Yegor Chinakhov, Justin Danforth, Nick Blankenburg, and now Meyer.

These injuries have given some players in the Blue Jackets organization a greater chance to show what they can do at the NHL level than they’d likely have been afforded were the team in better health. Meyer is one of those players, as he’s gotten 13 games at the NHL level this season, a total that already matches his games played from last year.

In those 13 games, Meyer hasn’t managed to get on the scoresheet yet, but he’s registered 22 hits and six blocked shots. He’s found more offensive success at the AHL level, where he has scored 18 points in 15 games this season.

Speaking of AHL success, Meyer’s replacement on the Blue Jackets’ roster is Fix-Wolansky, who has set the American League on fire so far this year. His 34 points in 26 games lead AHL Cleveland, and his quality performance earned him some NHL games earlier this year.

The former Edmonton Oil King has developed nicely since being drafted in the seventh round by the Blue Jackets at the 2018 draft and will look to put together some quality performances in his current go-around at the NHL level.

2023 AHL All-Star Rosters Announced

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While the focus of many hockey fans is on the upcoming NHL All-Star festivities, the AHL is set to hold its own event to honor the league’s best players. Today, they announced the rosters for the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic, which will be held in Laval, Quebec on February 5-6. Todd Nelson (Hershey), Greg Moore (Toronto), Neil Graham (Texas), and Mitch Love (Calgary) will be the four head coaches.

The rosters are as follows:

Atlantic Division

F Will Cuylle, Hartford Wolf Pack
F Tyson Foerster, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
F Ethen Frank, Hershey Bears
F Matthew Highmore, Springfield Thunderbirds
F Vinni Lettieri, Providence Bruins
F Riley Nash, Charlotte Checkers
F Mike Vecchione, Hershey Bears

D Samuel Bolduc, Bridgeport Islanders
D Xavier Ouellet, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
D Cam York, Lehigh Valley Phantoms

G Brandon Bussi, Providence Bruins
G Joel Hofer, Springfield Thunderbirds

North Division 

F Alex Barré-Boulet, Syracuse Crunch
F Brandon Biro, Rochester Americans
F Gabriel Dumont, Syracuse Crunch
F Anthony Richard, Laval Rocket
F Logan Shaw, Toronto Marlies
F Egor Sokolov, Belleville Senators

D Justin Barron, Laval Rocket
D Noel Hoefenmayer, Toronto Marlies
D David Jiricek, Cleveland Monsters
D Darren Raddysh, Syracuse Crunch

G Nico Daws, Utica Comets
G Joseph Woll, Toronto Marlies

Central Division 

F Riley Barber, Texas Stars
F David Gust, Rockford IceHogs
F Tommy Novak, Milwaukee Admirals
F Lukas Reichel, Rockford IceHogs
F Brett Seney, Rockford IceHogs
F Sammy Walker, Iowa Wild

D Declan Chisholm, Manitoba Moose
D Thomas Harley, Texas Stars
D Max Lajoie, Chicago Wolves
D Brian Lashoff, Grand Rapids Griffins

G Yaroslav Askarov, Milwaukee Admirals
G Jesper Wallstedt, Iowa Wild

Pacific Division

F Thomas Bordeleau, San Jose Barracuda
F Michael Carcone, Tucson Roadrunners
F Seth Griffith, Bakersfield Condors
F Matthew Phillips, Calgary Wranglers
F Andrew Poturalski, Coachella Valley Firebirds
F T.J. Tynan, Ontario Reign

D Ryker Evans, Coachella Valley Firebirds
D Brad Hunt, Colorado Eagles
D Daniil Miromanov, Henderson Silver Knights
D Christian Wolanin, Abbotsford Canucks

G Lukas Dostal, San Diego Gulls
G Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers

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