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Washington Capitals Recall Sonny Milano, Place Three On Injured Reserve

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As announced in a team release today, the Washington Capitals have recalled forward Sonny Milano, forward Garrett Pilon, and defenseman Lucas Johansen from the Hershey Bears of the AHL. All three players will travel with the team to Detroit for the team’s game tomorrow against the Red Wings.

In a corresponding move, the team has also placed forward T.J. Oshie, defenseman John Carlson, and forward Beck Malenstyn on injured reserve. Forward Connor Brown was also moved to long-term injured reserve (LTIR) after undergoing potentially season-ending ACL surgery earlier this week.

Oshie is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury suffered last Saturday. He is technically eligible to return for Saturday’s home game against Arizona, but without a timeline, there’s no telling when he’ll be back. The fact that he was not moved to LTIR along with Brown is somewhat promising, suggesting that he may not be out for more than a few weeks.

Carlson also left the same game Saturday with a lower-body injury, although his status remains day-to-day. Assuming his injured reserve placement is retroactive, he could return Saturday against Arizona, but the IR placement is confirmation that he’ll miss his third straight game tomorrow against Detroit.

Malenstyn left last night’s overtime loss against Vegas with an upper-body injury. He was recalled to the team in mid-October in the absence of Brown.

After notching 34 points in 66 games last year as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, it was rather shocking that no team signed Milano before training camps started, and it was nearly as surprising when he cleared waivers when Washington signed him. In five games in the AHL, Milano’s notched two goals, an assist, and three points. He could potentially draw into the lineup in Malenstyn’s absence, although the team also had Connor McMichael as a healthy extra.

Pilon, 24, has five points in seven games to start the AHL season, his fifth with Hershey. Johansen, the 28th overall selection in 2016, missed the majority of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons due to injury and has a goal in six games with Hershey in 2022-23. The team had no extra healthy defensemen with Carlson out.

Boston Bruins Recall Keith Kinkaid

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With Jeremy Swayman exiting last night’s game with an injury, the Boston Bruins have recalled another goaltender for the time being. Keith Kinkaid is coming up from the minor leagues, according to the AHL transaction portal. He is up under emergency conditions, meaning he’ll return as soon as Swayman is healthy.

Kinkaid, 33, has been excellent for the Providence Bruins so far, posting a .922 save percentage in four appearances. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given his long professional career that includes 167 games in the NHL.

For now, Linus Ullmark will be called upon to be the Bruins full-time starter, though it may not be for long. There is no official update on Swayman yet, but Matt Porter of the Boston Globe tweeted last night that the netminder was walking around the dressing room with ice on his knee and no crutches.

If he has avoided any serious damage, the Bruins should be totally fine with an Ullmark-Kinkaid tandem for the time being. There are certainly worse third-string options to have available.

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Dylan Wells

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With Alex Stalock entering concussion protocol last night, the Chicago Blackhawks will be forced to add another goaltender. Scott Powers of The Athletic reports that it will be Dylan Wells, who was signed to an AHL contract. The Blackhawks have signed the young goaltender to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K in the NHL and $80K in the AHL.

Petr Mrazek is still out with a groin injury, while the only other goaltender signed, Jaxson Stauber, was injured over the weekend. That means it will be Arvid Soderblom and Wells for the time being, at least until one of Stalock and Mrazek are able to return.

Despite a strong early start to the year, things are trending in the wrong (or right?) direction for the Blackhawks. Wells, 24, has never played in an NHL game, and has just 24 games of AHL experience under his belt. Most of his time as a professional has come in the ECHL, and even there he has struggled to put up consistently strong numbers.

With Seth Jones and Tyler Johnson both out, the goaltending situation a complete question mark, and the team now on a four-game losing streak, the Blackhawks could quickly be down at the bottom of the standings where most expected them to be this season.

Minor Transactions: 11/01/22

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With a pair of nationally-televised ESPN games on the schedule tonight, it should be an entertaining slate of games along with many other regional broadcasts. There also continues to be a fair amount of activity at the minor-league level as AHL teams play their first few games, a lot of which are transactions that affect their NHL parents. We’ll keep track of those transactions here today:

  • The AHL’s Texas Stars loaned defenseman Michael Karow to the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL, according to AHL transactions. Karow, 23, joined the Stars organization last season after his fifth-year NCAA season concluded with Michigan Tech, notching five points in 13 games down the stretch. After not getting into an AHL game to start the season, though, he should find a good amount of playing time in Idaho for the next little while. He’ll remain a top recall option to Texas if injuries batter their NHL affiliate in Dallas, making them shorthanded on the blueline. Karow is a 2017 NHL Draft selection of the Arizona Coyotes.
  • The Edmonton Oilers activated defenseman Vincent Desharnais from season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Desharnais, now on an NHL contract, enjoyed a breakout season in Bakersfield last year, where he notched a gargantuan +36 rating and had 27 points in 66 games. A 2016 seventh-round draft choice by the Oilers, he could see NHL games this season as an injury call-up.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Snapshots: Senators, Pinto, Oilers

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The Ottawa Senators could be next on the list of NHL franchises being sold, as Sportico reports that the organization has hired Galatioto Sports Partners to aid in the sale, the same group that is currently selling the Los Angeles Angels of the MLB. Sportico places the Senators’ franchise value at $655MM.

Control of the Senators transitioned to Anna and Olivia Melnyk earlier this year when long-time owner Eugene Melnyk passed away. The most recent sales in the NHL have been the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators, the latter of which is being finalized currently.

  • One of the reasons that the Senators have raised in value and expectations so quickly is because of the play of their young stars. Shane Pinto, one of those youngsters, was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for October. With six goals in eight games, Pinto is tied with Brady Tkachuk for the team lead.
  • The Edmonton Oilers are getting some bodies back, as they have activated both Vincent Desharnais and Raphael Lavoie from the season-opening injured reserve and assigned them to the AHL. Lavoie, 22, was the 38th overall pick in 2019 and scored 26 points in 56 games for Bakersfield last season.

Detroit Red Wings Re-Assign Givani Smith

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Nov 1: Smith has been returned to the AHL now that Rasmussen’s suspension has been served. In two games, he failed to record a shot on goal.

Oct 29: The Detroit Red Wings announced that they’ve recalled right wing Givani Smith from the Grand Rapids Griffins, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding move has been made, but the team did find out yesterday that forward Michael Rasmussen was suspended for two games for high-sticking Boston Bruins forward David Krejci.

Smith, who has spent his entire career in the Red Wings organization, is playing his sixth professional season since the team drafted him in the second-round back in 2016. The forward has spent parts of three seasons at the NHL level, debuting in 2019-20. Through 83 NHL games to date, Smith has seven goals and seven assists. His production isn’t much better at the AHL level, however he does bring an energetic, gritty presence to whatever lineup he’s in, tallying a career-high 108 penalty minutes in just 46 games last season with Detroit.

While it’s unclear just how long the 24-year-old will be up with the NHL squad, he’ll be joining a strong group that is looking to take the next step after a lengthy rebuild. Detroit is 3-2-2 to start the season, making them one of five teams in the Atlantic Division to have 8 points

Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Pontus Holmberg

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Looking for a change, the Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Pontus Holmberg from the AHL. To make room, Wayne Simmonds has been sent back to the Toronto Marlies. Simmonds cleared waivers at the beginning of the season, so can be assigned freely for the time being.

Holmberg, 23, has turned into an interesting prospect for the Maple Leafs. A sixth-round pick in 2018, he developed into a star player in Sweden, winning a league championship and being named playoff MVP. He followed up the impressive postseason performance with a 41-point season, and even got a taste of North American hockey with a six-game look with the Toronto Marlies last spring.

Still, despite all that success, it’s hard to imagine Holmberg really being the key to unlocking the Maple Leafs this season. At best he is probably an upgrade in the bottom six, capable of playing center or wing. But with just two assists in seven games with the Marlies this season, the offensive upside of a player like Holmberg is limited.

With Toronto struggling to score at even-strength (and in general), they’ll need their stars to play better – not just the bottom-six.

Cory Conacher Signs AHL PTO

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It’s not often that you can sign an AHL MVP to a professional tryout several games into the season but that’s exactly what has happened for the Belleville Senators. The minor league club has signed Cory Conacher to a PTO and expects to have him in the lineup this weekend.

Conacher, 32, is returning after two years spent in Switzerland, where he won the league championship (for the second time in his career) in 2021. The undersized forward has long been an elite player in the minor leagues, taking home the MVP award as a rookie in 2012 to go along with a Calder Cup.

With 193 games of NHL and 354 games of AHL experience, Conacher qualifies as a veteran in the minor league, something that means a lot more than just years of wisdom. AHL teams are allowed to dress maximum of five veteran players at any one time to make sure there is still room for development purposes.

Still, it’s hard to find many more productive veterans than Conacher, who had 38 points 44 games for the Syracuse Crunch the last time he played in the AHL.

Reid Duke Signs In Slovakia

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He’ll always be the answer to a trivia question. Reid Duke, the first player ever signed by the Vegas Golden Knights, has found a new home overseas. The minor league forward will play this season for HK Nitra of the Slovakian league, after becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer.

Duke, 26, was signed as a free agent by the Golden Knights soon after they were granted franchise status. Originally a sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2014, he hadn’t signed with them, instead going back to junior where he became an impressive player for the Brandon Wheat Kings. When the Golden Knights came into being, he joined their minor league program with the Chicago Wolves and then Henderson Silver Knights, spending five seasons in the AHL.

He never did see any NHL time, as those scoring numbers from junior didn’t follow him to the minor leagues. In 159 AHL games, he scored just 25 goals and 49 points. In Slovakia that could change, and he has a supporter in his corner. Macoy Erkamps, who also signed with Nitra for this season, was a teammate of Duke’s with Brandon and apparently spoke highly of him with team management.

Dallas Stars Sign Matt Murray

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6:44 pm: CapFriendly reports that Murray’s one-year contract carries the league-minimum $750K cap hit, and pays him $82,500 at the minor-league level.

3:08 pm: In what will be a confusing move for many casual hockey fans, the Dallas Stars have signed goaltender Matt Murray to a one-year entry-level contract. This Murray is not the Matt Murray that plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but an undrafted netminder who was playing for their AHL affiliate.

With Jake Oettinger sidelined due to a lower-body injury and the Stars without the necessary cap space to recall Anton Khudobin, the team has been forced into handing out another NHL contract. Murray, 24, is the beneficiary of the situation, though his play at the AHL level has certainly warranted consideration for an entry-level contract anyway.

The former UMass-Amherst standout has a .926 save percentage in five appearances with the Texas Stars this year, after joining the club late last season. In his 11 career appearances that save percentage actually climbs to .939, an impressive statistic for any goaltender, let alone an undrafted talent just entering professional hockey.

A one-year entry-level deal will mean that Murray can be recalled to the NHL to serve as backup for Scott Wedgewood until Oettinger returns, or until the team creates enough cap space to recall Khudobin.

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