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Los Angeles Kings Make Three Transactions

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The Los Angeles Kings have continued their near-daily transaction train, this time recalling Rasmus Kupari and Jordan Spence from the AHL. There is a bit of a surprise among today’s moves, though, as Viktor Arvidsson has been designated as a non-roster player. That means he is away from the team for some undisclosed reason, after playing the last two nights.

With Arvidsson and Drew Doughty unavailable, the team will turn to Kupari and Spence, two young players still trying to establish themselves as full-time players in the NHL. Through 16 games this season, Kupari has registered five points while averaging just over 11 minutes a night. The 22-year-old center has been great for the Ontario Reign, but can’t seem to work his way into more minutes with the Kings.

Spence, meanwhile, has been arguably Ontario’s best player so far, racking up 21 points in 22 games and playing big minutes in all situations. The 21-year-old defenseman saw 24 games with the Kings last year in his first season of professional hockey but hasn’t cracked the lineup this time around. With Doughty out, Sean Durzi carried the load last night, playing more than 23 minutes against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sean Walker took over powerplay duties, a role that Spence could potentially slide into if he gets a chance.

There is no word yet on how long Arvidsson will be away from the team.

Dallas Stars Recall Riley Tufte

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The Dallas Stars have recalled a former top prospect, bringing up Riley Tufte from the minor leagues ahead of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tufte, 24, was the 25th overall pick in 2016, but has played just ten games in the NHL to this point. The 6’6″ forward was never able to develop much of an offensive game at the college level (though he did win two national championships) and looked completely outmatched when he turned pro in 2019-20. But slowly, things have started to turn. Tufte has 16 points in 21 games for the Texas Stars of the AHL this season, including 12 in his last 11 appearances. That offensive production is still complemented by his physical play, leading to some interesting bottom-six potential.

He did get ten games with Dallas last year, leading to his first (and only) NHL goal, but there hasn’t been any indication to this point that Tufte could hold down a full-time spot. Perhaps now, into his fourth year of professional hockey, he’ll be ready to contribute on a regular basis.

As we’ve seen before, players his size tend to take a little longer to develop. If Tufte is going to be anything for the Stars, now might be the perfect time to show it.

Ottawa Senators Recall Rourke Chartier

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Ahead of their game against the Anaheim Ducks this evening, the Ottawa Senators have recalled Rourke Chartier from the AHL. The minor league veteran is in the midst of a career year, and will get a chance to continue that level of play with Ottawa (while getting at least a few days of NHL pay).

Chartier, 26, hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2018-19 season when he suited up 13 times for the San Jose Sharks. There was no denying that he earned a call-up this time though, after scoring 14 goals in 24 games with the Belleville Senators.

Still, it is a bit surprising that the team went with a minor league veteran instead of giving an opportunity to one of their young prospects. That likely shows how desperate head coach D.J. Smith is for some consistency and structure, as he tries to turn things around. Ottawa beat the Predators on Saturday but are still just 5-4-1 in their last ten and can’t seem to catch anyone in the Atlantic Division.

Chartier scored one goal in his 13-game stint with San Jose, meaning he’ll be trying for just his second NHL point if he does get into the lineup.

Minnesota Wild Re-Assign Andrej Sustr

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On December 1st, the Minnesota Wild recalled veteran defenseman Andrej Sustr to their NHL roster. Today, the Wild announced that they’ve re-assigned Sustr to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, meaning he’ll head back to the minors without skating in an NHL game.

Sustr, 32, is as mentioned a veteran defenseman who has significant NHL experience on his resume. He broke into the league as an undrafted college free agent on the Tampa Bay Lightning and played a regular role on their 2014-15 team that made a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Sustr would continue in his regular role in Tampa until 2017-18, when he got into just 44 games, leading to him leaving the organization altogether in the offseason. Sustr signed with the Anaheim Ducks, spending most of 2018-19 in the AHL.

That run in the AHL motivated him to look elsewhere to continue his career, leading him to sign with the KHL’s Chinese franchise, the Kunlun Red Star.

After two years in China, Sustr returned to the Lightning organization and split time between Tampa and their AHL affiliate in Syracuse before being claimed off of waivers by, you guessed it, the Ducks.

This offseason, Sustr signed with the Wild and has spent most of the year in the AHL, save for this call-up. Having not played in a single NHL game for the Wild despite spending over a week on their roster, Sustr will head back to Iowa to resume playing an important role on their blueline.

Michael McCarron Enters Players Assistance Program

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The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced this afternoon that Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron has entered the Players Assistance Program effective immediately. McCarron will be away from the team for an indefinite amount of time while he receives the care he needs through the program.

McCarron will be eligible to return to on-ice activity once cleared by the program administrators, per the release. His care will be administered pursuant to the NHL/NHLPA assistance program.

The 27-year-old, a former first-round pick, has played parts of six seasons with Nashville and the Montreal Canadiens. The forward has split this season between the AHL and NHL, last playing on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Everyone here at PHR wishes McCarron the very best while he gets the help he needs.

Washington Capitals Place Alexeyev, Kuemper On IR; Recall Johansen, McIlrath

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11:28 am: According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, the Capitals have indeed made those corresponding moves. Alexeyev, as well as goaltender Darcy Kuemper, have both been placed on IR. Kuemper’s IR placement shouldn’t come as too much of a concern, as it is retroactive to December 3rd, meaning he could come back as soon as Tuesday when the team is in Chicago to take on the Blackhawks.

10:44 am: The Washington Capitals announced they’ve recalled a pair of defensemen in that of Lucas Johansen and Dylan McIlrath from the Hershey Bears, their AHL affiliate. While no other corresponding moves were formally announced, the Capitals’ roster is already full at 23 players. The moves could signal an IR stint for defenseman Alexander Alexeyev, who suffered an upper-body injury in Friday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. Despite being at 23 skaters, the Capitals had just six defenseman before the recalls, which included Alexeyev.

Notably, these two recalls seem to cap off a morning of defenseman shuffling in the Capitals organization. Earlier, the Hershey Bears announced they’ve recalled defenseman Martin Has from the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. That recall came not only with Johansen and McIlrath’s recalls in mind, but after the Bears lost defenseman Bobby Nardella during the first period of last night’s game with an undisclosed injury. For Has, 21, he could have a chance to take the next step in his development after a solid start to this season in the ECHL with three points in 14 games. This is the defenseman’s first professional season in North America, spending last season with the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL.

Johansen, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Capitals back in 2016, but has played in just two NHL games to date, one in each of the last two seasons. He may not have hit the ceiling expected of him as a first-round selection however he has turned into a solid defenseman at the AHL level. Given Washington’s injury issues on defense this season, which include Alexeyev and Dmitry Orlov, both left-handed, the left-handed Johansen may get a chance to shine.

McIlrath, 30, is a longtime veteran of the AHL and NHL as well. The former 10th-overall pick back in 2010 to the New York Rangers, has played in 66 NHL games total, spread over six different seasons between the Rangers, Florida Panthers, and Detroit Red Wings. The veteran hasn’t played in the NHL since 2019-20, when he got into 16 games with Detroit. This is McIlrath’s second season with Hershey, recording just five assists in 22 games to start this season, but does have a respectable 36 penalty minutes in that span, playing the role of physical shutdown defenseman.

Interestingly, McIlrath did appear to have a two game NHL suspension awaiting him upon his recall. He had been suspended during the 2021 preseason for two preseason games and two regular season games, but hadn’t played in the NHL, during the regular season, since. However, as NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports, according to the Capitals organization, the NHL and NHLPA reached a settlement agreement this fall that allowed McIlrath’s two regular season games to be served during this preseason. Thus, McIlrath should be eligible to play tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, should Washington choose to dress him. Gulitti was also the first to raise the question about the suspension.

Anaheim Ducks Recall Lukas Dostal

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The Anaheim Ducks have announced the recall of goaltender Lukas Dostal from their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

According to Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register, Ducks backup netminder Anthony Stolarz is out with a lower-body injury, an injury that would necessitate this recall.

This recall puts Dostal, 22, in a position to play in just his fifth NHL game. Anaheim starter John Gibson left last night’s game against the San Jose Sharks due to an illness, and it’s unclear if that will keep him from starting the Ducks’ next game, which is Monday in Ottawa.

The Ducks do play the very next night in Toronto, so since Stolarz didn’t make the trip to Canada with the team it looks as though Dostal is in line to get one of those two starts.

The Czech netminder has been the Gulls’ number-one goalie this season, occupying the same role he took over last year. Through 20 games played Dostal has a solid .916 save percentage and a 2.88 goals-against-average. In four career NHL games, Dostal has a .907 save percentage and a 2.98 goals-against average.

East Notes: Panthers, Anisimov, Benn

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While the Panthers were without center Anton Lundell and goaltender Spencer Knight today, both players might be available for tomorrow’s contest against Seattle, relays Florida Hockey Now’s Colby Guy (Twitter links).  Lundell is dealing with a mild upper-body injury but is skating and his absence is supposed to be a short-term one.  He’s off to a quieter start to his sophomore campaign but still has 13 points in 24 games.  As for Knight, he’s working his way back from an illness and while he won’t dress as the backup goalie this afternoon, head coach Paul Maurice indicated that there’s a chance that he’ll be able to start on Sunday.  The youngster has been much better than Sergei Bobrovsky in the early going this season with a GAA nearly a full goal below the veteran.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Flyers have converted veteran center Artem Anisimov’s AHL PTO to a full-season contract, notes Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey (Twitter link). The 34-year-old has played six games since joining them in mid-November and has been productive with three goals and an assist in that stretch.  At the beginning of the month, it was reported that Philadelphia was hoping to convert Anisimov’s deal into an NHL one which would allow them to recall him but they remain at the maximum 50 contracts on the books.  Until they’re able to free one up, Anisimov will have to settle for this full-season AHL agreement.
  • Maple Leafs defenseman Jordie Benn took part in the morning skate today for the first time as he works his way back from an upper-body injury, reports Sports Illustrated’s David Alter (Twitter link). The veteran has been out for a little more than two weeks due to the issue, his second extended absence of the season after missing the first 13 games due to a groin injury.  Benn has a goal and an assist in six games so far while logging a little over 17 minutes a night on Toronto’s back end.

Minnesota Wild Recall Sammy Walker

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Sammy Walker has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. In a corresponding move, forward Joseph Cramarossa has been sent down.

Walker, 23, has been in the midst of an extremely impressive professional debut this season. After a four-year collegiate career at the University of Minnesota, Walker signed an entry-level contract with the Wild in August.

A 2017 seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Walker leads AHL Iowa in scoring with 22 points in 21 games, seven points clear of the next-highest scorer, defenseman Joe Hicketts. Walker’s recall puts him in a position to make his NHL debut after just over 20 games of professional action.

It’s a recall that indicates that coach Dean Evason wants to inject some more offensive flair into his team than what Cramarossa is able to provide.

The 30-year-old veteran depth player has scored a goal in four games so far this season but has just 13 points in 68 career NHL games. He’ll head back to Iowa where he has seven points in 15 games.

As the Wild look to increase their separation in the standings from the Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues, they’ll hope that Walker can add to an offense that has been on fire in recent games.

Calgary Flames Recall Radim Zohorna

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Moments after Kevin Rooney cleared waivers, the Calgary Flames announced a recall of another minor league forward. This time it’s Radim Zohorna coming up, with Rooney assigned to the AHL to make room.

Zohorna, 26, follows linemate Matthew Phillips to the NHL, who was recalled yesterday after an incredible start to the year. While the 6’6″ Zorhorna hasn’t been quite as effective, his 16 points in 20 games with the Calgary Wranglers were also impressive enough to earn a chance with the Flames. Claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins in October, the Flames managed to sneak him through a few days later when teams were finishing their final roster cuts. That was rather surprising, given the big Czech’s encouraging performance with Pittsburgh last season, which resulted in six points during his 17 NHL games.

Head coach Darryl Sutter has always employed size on his fourth line, and while Phillips is the opposite of that, Zohorna can more than make up for his 5’7″ teammate. The more diminutive of the two was skating with Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis today, but it remains to be seen whether Sutter will insert Zohorna into that group should they continue to struggle.

Lucic has yet to score a single goal this season and is averaging just over ten minutes a game, while Rooney had just one point in 17 appearances. With a back-to-back situation (and three road games in four nights) starting this evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets, there may be a chance to move pieces in and out, trying different combinations.

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