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Artem Anisimov Signs AHL PTO; Wade Allison Moved To IR

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It appeared as though Artem Anisimov had the inside track for a roster spot with the Philadelphia Flyers as training camp progressed, but the veteran forward suffered a broken foot while blocking a shot and ultimately didn’t earn a contract. Now, after recovering, Anisimov will try again. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have signed him to an AHL professional tryout to see what he can do.

Now 34, Anisimov spent last season playing in the KHL after a long NHL career. In 27 games with Lokomotiv, he racked up 19 points, but decided he still had more to give on the North American rink. A history with John Tortorella and tons of experience made him a good bet to earn a deal before the injury and he’ll now get a chance to ramp up to NHL speed in the minor leagues. Once there, the Flyers will have to make a decision on whether they want to sign him to a contract or use other internal options to fill out the lineup.

Given how many injuries the team is dealing with, it seems a good bet that Anisimov will succeed in his return. The team moved Wade Allison to injured reserve with an oblique muscle strain and hip pointer, telling reporters including Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he’ll miss three weeks. He joins Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk, Ryan Ellis, Bobby Brink, and Patrick Brown on injured reserve (though the latter is on a conditioning stint and nearing a return).

If Anisimov does earn a deal, he’ll have a chance to reach the 800-game mark in the NHL, along with some other milestones. He currently sits at 180 goals, and 196 assists for 376 points in 771 career games.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Riley Sheahan, Anders Bjork

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With Jack Quinn sidelined, the Buffalo Sabres needed to make at least one recall. They’ve made two, bringing up Riley Sheahan and Anders Bjork from the minor leagues. That doesn’t bode well for Kyle Okposo who was also listed as day-to-day with general soreness and missed the last game.

Sheahan, 30, has been playing regularly in the minor leagues for the first time in nearly a decade this season, registering three points in six games for the Rochester Americans. Other than the four games he spent in the AHL last year, he hadn’t played at that level since the 2013-14 season. A veteran of more than 600 NHL games, Sheahan is a nice depth piece to be able to insert into the fourth line and feel confident in.

Bjork, on the other hand, has just 211 NHL games under his belt but had much higher expectations when he arrived in Buffalo. Part of the return for Taylor Hall, he. has just 14 points in 73 games since being acquired by the Sabres. This year he’s seen game action in the AHL, where he has six points in 11 games. The 26-year-old made a solid impression in 2017-18 after an outstanding college career but has struggled to establish himself ever since.

The Sabres take on the Vancouver Canucks this evening, looking to finally end their five-game losing streak and start climbing back up the Atlantic Division standings.

Jakob Chychrun, Nick Schmaltz Set To Return Next Week

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The Arizona Coyotes are about to get some reinforcements after an already impressive stretch of play, at least compared to expectations. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun and forward Nick Schmaltz are set to return to the lineup next Monday when the Coyotes take on the Nashville Predators, according to general manager Bill Armstrong, who spoke with PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan.

As previously reported, though, it seems like Chychrun won’t play more than a handful of games as a Coyote this year. Trade speculation around him has been constant for around a year, and as of the last notable update almost a month ago, the Coyotes’ asking price for the young defender remains on the high side. He’s missed the first month of the season with an ankle injury that kept him out of the end of last season, as well as a separate wrist injury sustained late last month. The 24-year-old is coming off a down season but had 41 points in just 56 games during the 2020-21 campaign. The 16th overall pick in 2016 is a legitimate top-four defenseman regardless, and players like him don’t come around on the trade market often.

Schmaltz, who had a resurgent campaign last year with 59 points in 63 games, left the team’s season opener in the first period. He’s been out since with an upper-body injury.

In an anticipatory transaction, the Coyotes today also sent down forward Laurent Dauphin to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. The minor-league veteran played just one game with the Coyotes this year, but has eight points in eight games with Tucson.

San Jose Sharks Place Radim Simek On Injured Reserve

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The San Jose Sharks will be without one of their regular defensemen for at least one week. According to the team’s media relations department, the team has placed defenseman Radim Simek on injured reserve and recalled Nick Cicek from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in his place.

Simek, 30, has dressed in all 17 of San Jose’s contests this season. He’s registered just one goal, though, and is playing just 14:43 per game. The Czech defenseman has been in the organization since 2017 when he signed as an undrafted free agent and is in the third season of a hefty $2.25MM AAV extension.

Last night, Simek left San Jose’s shootout win against the Minnesota Wild after just one shift with an undisclosed injury. There was apparent head contact on a hit from Wild forward Mason Shaw, which caused the injury. Shaw did not receive a penalty on the play.

Veteran Scott Harrington, who’s played just twice this season, could suit up in Simek’s place. However, Cicek, also an undrafted free agent, could look to make his NHL debut while Simek is out. After signing an AHL contract with the Barracuda for 2021-22, his first professional campaign, he impressed enough to receive a two-year entry-level deal from the Sharks this past offseason.

He’s yet to register a point in 10 AHL contests this season, however, after scoring five goals and adding 20 assists for 25 points in 53 games there last season. The 22-year-old spent four seasons with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and served as captain during his final season in 2020-21.

Anaheim Ducks Reassign Glenn Gawdin To AHL

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After a hectic couple of days, forward Glenn Gawdin is headed back to the minors. The Anaheim Ducks announced via team release Monday afternoon that the team has reassigned him to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

After being called up to the Ducks on October 31 to replace Pavol Regenda, the Ducks have shuttled Gawdin up and down between the NHL and AHL twice in the past four days. The Ducks are keeping a tight roster this season with only one or two healthy extras called up at a time, and with Adam Henrique returning from a brief paternity leave on Saturday, Gawdin’s services were no longer needed at the NHL level.

The 25-year-old has appeared in three games with the big club this season, having yet to record a point with an average of 9:35 of ice time per game. He’s off to an expected hot start in the minors, though, recording three goals and three assists with the Gulls in seven appearances.

Gawdin will remain one of Anaheim’s top call-up options throughout the season, although younger players like Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Brayden Tracey are also off to solid starts in San Diego and don’t require waivers. However, it will be a little bit of time before Gawdin requires waivers again to return to San Diego. He’ll need to spend 18 more days on the NHL roster for him to lose his temporary waiver exemption after clearing on October 11.

Minnesota Wild Re-Assign Joseph Cramarossa

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Despite heading out on the road for a game in Nashville tomorrow, the Minnesota Wild have sent Joseph Cramarossa to the minor leagues. That leaves the team with an open roster spot, potentially for Brandon Duhaime to be activated if he is ready to return from injury.

Cramarossa, 30, has played in four games for the Wild this season, scoring a goal and recording eight hits. The minor league veteran isn’t really known for his offense even at the AHL level but can come in and play a fourth-line role without risk. He’ll likely be back up at some point this season when the team is dealing with more injuries, but shouldn’t be considered a full-time option.

Duhaime has been out since the beginning of the month, after scoring two goals and three points in his first ten games of the season. The uber-physical forward had 122 penalty minutes and 201 hits last season (his first) for the Wild, while also chipping in six goals. If he’s not ready, Cramarossa’s assignment could mean that Tyson Jost is going to re-enter the lineup after being made a healthy scratch recently.

The 24-year-old Jost hasn’t scored yet this season and failed to even register a shot on goal in each of his last two appearances. His ice time in those games was reduced severely, and it appears as though the coaching staff has moved in a different direction. If he gets another chance, he’ll have to show enough to warrant the $2MM cap hit he carries, especially given he’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the year. Currently, Jost looks like a potential non-tender candidate, given the threat of salary arbitration.

Philadelphia Flyers Recall Max Willman

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The Philadelphia Flyers have made a roster swap, recalling Max Willman from the minor leagues while assigning Tanner Laczynski back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. He’ll be joined there by Patrick Brown, who has been loaned on a long-term injury conditioning assignment as he approaches a return.

Willman, 27, will potentially give the team a better replacement for Wade Allison, who left a game on the weekend. Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic reported that initial tests suggested that it wasn’t overly serious, but he missed yesterday’s game against the Dallas Stars.

In that game, the Flyers actually played decent but were blown out of the building by special teams, allowing two powerplay and one shorthanded goal to the Stars. Laczynski, who played just nine minutes, doesn’t contribute to either of those. Whether Willman gets a chance to kill penalties remains to be seen but it is Brown that could really help on that side of the ice.

Brown won 58.5% of his faceoffs last season and averaged nearly two minutes of short-handed ice time in his 44 appearances. While those games resulted in just nine points, he could give the team another useful body to put in the bottom six. Willman, meanwhile, had just six points in 41 games last season and was rarely used shorthanded. The conditioning loan does not mean Brown has been activated from LTIR, only that he is ready to get into some game action to test out his recovery.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Andreas Englund

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The Colorado Avalanche announced that they have recalled defenseman Andreas Englund from the Colorado Eagles, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding move has been announced. The transaction brings Colorado to 22 of a possible 23 skaters, according to their official roster page.

Englund, 26, has been in the Colorado organization since the start of the 2021-22 season, but has never played a game with the Avalanche. The defenseman isn’t much of an offensive force, coming into today with just three points in 12 AHL games to start the season, but has certainly brought a physical element to his game, recording 38 penalty minutes in those same 12 games.

Should Englund find his way into the lineup with the Avalanche, it would mark his first NHL action since 2019-20, when he played in 24 games as a member of the Ottawa Senators. Once a fairly well-regarded prospect with Ottawa, a second-round pick back in 2014, Englund spent four seasons in the Senators organization before departing North America entirely for the 2020-21 season. He would return for the 2021-22 season, signing on with the Eagles, where he impressed with 12 points, a +1 rating, and a whopping 103 penalty minutes in just 57 games, good enough to earn him a two-way NHL contract for this season.

Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Assign Mark Friedman To AHL

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced this afternoon that they have re-assigned defnemsen Mark Friedman to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. No corresponding transaction was announced. The move leaves Pittsburgh with 22 out of a possible 23 men on its roster.

Friedman, 26, has spent the bulk of his time this season at the AHL level, recalled to Pittsburgh for the first time on Friday prior to today’s re-assignment. The defenseman has played 10 games this season, all with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he’s tallied two points, both assists, as well as a +2 rating. Friedman spent all of 2021-22 in the Penguins organization, suiting up for 26 games in the NHL, recording five points. The team signed Friedman to a two-year, one-way contract extension back in March of this year.

The veteran joined the Pittsburgh organization back in February of 2021 via waiver claim after the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him, chose to waive him. Interestingly, Friedman has spent his entire professional career in the state of Pennsylvania; prior to the claim, Friedman played parts of five seasons in the Flyers organization, primarily with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, their AHL affiliate, as well as 11 games with Philadelphia spread over three seasons.

Los Angeles Kings Place Brendan Lemieux On IR; Recall Jacob Moverare, Lias Andersson

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Prior to departing for a four game road trip, the Los Angeles Kings have made a flurry of roster moves on this Sunday afternoon, the team announced. First, forward Brendan Lemieux has been placed on IR with a lower-body injury. The team has also recalled forward Lias Andersson and defenseman Jacob Moverare from the Ontario Reign, their AHL affiliate. Finally, they have also assigned defenseman Brandt Clarke to Ontario on a conditioning loan.

It’s unclear what exactly the nature of Lemieux’s injury is, however the forward did play in the first two periods of yesterday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, but failed to return for the third period. As LA Kings Insider’s Zach Dooley mentions, Kings head coach Todd McLellan said the winger could be out a “little while.” Though he’s only tallied three points, all assists, in 15 games so far this season, Lemieux has been a welcomed, physical presence in the Kings lineup, notching 28 penalty minutes already on the young season.

Moverare, 24, has bounced between Los Angeles and Ontario quite a bit the past two seasons. The Swedish defenseman made his NHL debut in 2021-22, skating in 19 games for the Kings, but has yet to play in the NHL in 2022-23, despite being on the Kings roster at times. In eight games with Ontario this season, Moverare has a pair of assists. As for Andersson, the former seventh-overall pick has yet to skate in the NHL so far this season either, but has been off to a hot start in the AHL, scoring five goals to go with four assists in just 11 games. While he’s not the physical presence that Lemieux is, if Andersson can carry his solid play into the NHL should he get the opportunity, it could be an intriguing addition for the equally hot Kings.

As to the 19-year-old Clarke, he has not played in the Kings’ previous five games, but not due to injury. The defenseman’s play his been alright through his first nine NHL games, however after scratching him and not making lineup changes since, the Kings have turned in a 4-0-1 record. Although Clarke is not eligible to be sent to the AHL full-time (as he’s still junior eligible), Los Angeles was able to utilize a 14-day conditioning loan, allowing him to get into regular, professional game action with the Reign and still be eligible to rejoin the Kings in two weeks. In that time, Ontario will play six games, which includes a matchup with the San Diego Gulls this afternoon, which Clarke is eligible to play in.

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