Guillaume Brisebois Assigned To AHL
With Ethan Bear on the way in and Quinn Hughes nearing a return, the Vancouver Canucks have assigned Guillaume Brisebois to the AHL. The move comes directly after the best game of Brisebois’ career, which included his first NHL point – an assist on J.T. Miller‘s empty-net goal.
Brisebois, 25, played nearly 19 minutes in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and legitimately looked like he could handle himself at the NHL level. If that’s true, it’s a nice place for the Canucks to be in, considering how thin their defensive depth looked just a few days ago. The team now has two-straight wins after their brutal start and things have calmed down in the Vancouver market (for the time being).
Hughes was on the ice at practice yesterday, and told reporters including Ben Kuzma of The Province that he would likely would have played if the team had games Sunday or today. Instead, the group is set to take on his brother Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night.
Bear, too, joined the group yesterday after his acquisition from the Carolina Hurricanes and appears ready to get into the lineup. The 25-year-old defenseman hasn’t played a game yet this season after scoring 14 points in 58 appearances last year.
Nashville Predators Recall Jordan Gross
The Nashville Predators have recalled defenseman Jordan Gross from the AHL, giving them an extra body as they head out on a five-game road trip. To make room, the team has moved Mark Borowiecki to injured reserve.
Borowiecki last played on October 22, when he suffered a scary injury that saw him stretchered off the ice. He was discharged from the hospital later that night and was deemed to have “no major issues.” Given that his IR placement will be retroactive to that game, he can be activated whenever he is healthy enough to return.
Gross, meanwhile, comes up as an emergency option that likely isn’t going to get much playing time. The Predators still have six other defensemen on the roster, and the 27-year-old doesn’t have much experience at the NHL level. Undrafted, Gross was a free agent signing in 2018 by the Arizona Coyotes and has played ten games in the NHL, recording four points.
Still, he did win the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s best defenseman last season, after putting up 65 points in 61 games. The Predators also rewarded him with a two-year contract that will be one-way in 2023-24, suggesting that they see him as a legitimate depth piece that could play games if necessary.
Cole Cassels Returning To AHL
A minor league veteran has decided to come back to North America, as Cole Cassels has terminated his contract with Sodertalje SK of the Swedish second league and is expected to sign with the Belleville Senators.
Cassels, 27, has played parts of two seasons with Belleville in the past, including in 2020-21 when he had 17 points in 31 games. The 2013 third-round pick has six full seasons in the AHL but tried his hand overseas this year. It didn’t go well, with zero goals and just two points in 13 games, so Cassels is returning to a place he knows well.
Son of Andrew Cassels, the long-time NHL forward, Cole never did live up to his draft pedigree and hasn’t played a single game at the highest level. Still, he is a solid minor league player that can give the struggling Belleville squad some added depth as they try to compete in the tough North Division. He will likely not be signing an NHL contract, meaning he cannot be recalled to Ottawa.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Drew O’Connor; Assign Drake Caggiula
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a roster swap, recalling Drew O’Connor from the AHL and sending Drake Caggiula down. The latter cleared waivers earlier this month and can be assigned without risk.
O’Connor, 24, is off to a nice start with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, scoring six points in his first eight games. That is actually worse than his career pace in the AHL, as the big winger has scored nearly a point per game since signing with the Penguins in 2020. Undrafted, O’Connor became a star at Dartmouth College and has been a nice depth piece for the organization over the last couple of seasons.
In 2021-22, he played 22 games for Pittsburgh scoring three goals and five points. In the midst of a four-game losing streak, the club needed to change something up, and adding the hard-working O’Connor could give the lineup a little jolt.
Caggiula, meanwhile, has been rather invisible for the Penguins since joining the organization this summer. In four games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he registered one assist, and his three matches with Pittsburgh have come and gone without any scoresheet interaction. Caggiula has no points, no penalty minutes, and just two shots on goal in his limited minutes.
The Penguins return home from a disappointing road trip to face the Boston Bruins tomorrow night.
Dallas Stars Loan Matej Blumel To AHL
Fresh off his first NHL call-up, but without playing his first NHL game, the Dallas Stars announced forward Matej Blumel has been loaned to the Texas Stars, their AHL affiliate. Dallas had recalled the young forward on Wednesday when they assigned forward Jacob Peterson to Texas, however Blumel did not get into any games with Dallas. No corresponding move was announced by Dallas.
Blumel, a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2019, failed to sign with the team before their rights over him expired and ultimately he signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Dallas this summer. While he hasn’t had an opportunity to make his NHL debut yet, the 22-year-old has had an outstanding return to North America, notching five goals and three assists in a mere five games with Texas to start the season. Heading back to the AHL after the initial call-up might be disappointing for Blumel, but it will give him a chance to continue his development and provide Texas with a big-time offensive presence in their lineup once again.
A native of Czechia, Blumel first came to North America back in 2017, where he spent two seasons with the USHL’s Waterloo Blackhawks, turning in a dominant second season with 30 goals and 30 assists in 58 games. It was after that season that the Oilers drafted Blumel, but he opted to return to Czechia, where he played three strong seasons with Pardubice before returning to North America for 2022-23. Internationally, Blumel has represented Czechia on a number of occasions, including a fantastic eight points in 10 games at this year’s World Championships. Should Blumel continue to produce with Texas, just as he has every step along the way, he’ll almost certainly force his way into the NHL lineup soon enough.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Joonas Korpisalo
After assigning him to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on a conditioning stint 24 hours ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets have now recalled goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from Cleveland, the team announced. The team placing defenseman Nick Blankenburg on IR yesterday created the roster spot for Korpisalo, thus no corresponding move was made this morning. Interestingly though, Korpisalo’s return with no further move leaves the team with three goaltenders: Korpisalo, Elvis Merzlikins, and Daniil Tarasov.
The return of the veteran netminder couldn’t come at a better time for the Blue Jackets, who have seen Merzlikins and Tarasov both struggle in net to start the year. Korpisalo himself wasn’t much better last season prior to his season-ending surgery on March 24th, but if he can return to the numbers he was able to produce earlier in his career, it could be a breath of fresh air for Columbus. It will be interesting to see how the Blue Jackets handle this situation, as they currently carry three goaltenders. Of note though, Tarasov is waiver-exempt.
Korpisalo’s lone conditioning start came last night in Cleveland’s 4-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch, which featured a 38 save performance from the netminder. Although it was an AHL contest, it was the 28-year-old’s first game back since a March 22nd appearance against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a 38-for-40 performance is surely intriguing. Should Columbus be able to expect more of the same, it could be a game-changer for the struggling Blue Jackets.
Vancouver Canucks Assign Three To AHL
According to the AHL’s transactions page, the Vancouver Canucks have assigned forwards Lane Pederson and Sheldon Dries, as well as defenseman Noah Juulsen, to the Abbotsford Canucks.
The moves leave Vancouver with only 12 healthy forwards and seven healthy defensemen on the active roster, meaning that the team could soon activate some players from injured reserve. The most likely options are Brock Boeser, Riley Stillman, and/or Quinn Hughes, who are all listed as day-to-day with their injuries and are on regular injured reserve. Defensemen Travis Dermott and Tucker Poolman remain on long-term injured reserve.
Vancouver is near the top of the league in man-games lost due to injury in this young season, and it reflects in their 2-5-2 record. But after winning back-to-back contests, the team is finally beginning to play with the level of confidence required to win hockey games. With some of their top players primed to soon return to the lineup, the tone around the team is certainly more optimistic than it was a week ago.
Pederson was acquired just yesterday, along with defenseman Ethan Bear, from the Carolina Hurricanes. He had spent the early part of the year in the AHL with Carolina’s affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, and did not register a point in four games. Dries and Juulsen, on the other hand, have combined for an assist in four NHL appearances this year with the Canucks. They’re all significant reinforcements for an Abbotsford team that’s 3-2-0 to start the season.
Minor Transactions: 10/29/22
We’ve got a crowded slate of games today around the NHL with 24 teams hitting the ice, including a pair of afternoon matchups, including the New York Rangers in Dallas to take on the Stars at 2:30 pm ET and the San Jose Sharks hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning at 4:30 pm ET. This evening features some intriguing matchups, highlighted by the Battle of Alberta in Calgary. Despite the action around the NHL, there’s still plenty going on around the hockey world otherwise, and we’ll keep track of that here:
- The Syracuse Crunch of the AHL have sent forward Shawn Element to the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears. Element, 22, turned pro last season after a lengthy QMJHL career, splitting the 2021-22 season between Syracuse and Orlando, recording just 5 points in 32 AHL games, but an impressive nine points in 14 ECHL games. This season, Element has suited up for just two games with Syracuse.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Injury Notes: Oettinger, Drysdale, Ellis
A serious bit of concerning news came out of the first game on today’s schedule, with the Dallas Stars tweeting that netminder Jake Oettinger was questionable to return to their game against the New York Rangers with a lower-body injury. It’s not apparent when Oettinger suffered the injury, and he was replaced in the game by Scott Wedgewood with 13:37 remaining in the second period. Luckily for the team, he was healthy enough to return for the third period but did not play, staying on the bench while Wedgewood continued.
Oettinger has been nothing short of spectacular to open 2022-23. His unreal .960 save percentage and 1.17 goals-against average lead the league through six starts, and he’s undeniably the biggest reason behind the team’s 5-2-1 start to the season. Hopefully, the injury doesn’t keep him out of any further game action past this point.
- Young defenseman Jamie Drysdale was not on the ice today at Anaheim Ducks practice, tweets The Athletic’s Eric Stephens. Drysdale played 7:22 in last night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights before leaving the game with an upper-body injury, suffered on a hit in the corner from Knights forward William Carrier. The sixth overall selection in 2020 had yet to register a point through eight games this season but had received upwards of 20 minutes per game of action on multiple occurrences.
- According to the AHL, St. Louis Blues goaltender Colten Ellis has been assigned to the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers after being activated from season-opening injured reserve (SOIR) three days ago. Ellis last year was loaned to the Worcester Railers, where he posted a .905 save percentage and a 15-13-5 record. Drafted in the third round in 2019, Ellis sits fifth on the organizational goalie depth chart behind Jordan Binnington, Thomas Greiss, Joel Hofer, and Vadim Zherenko.
Boston Bruins Return Jakub Lauko To AHL
Forward Jakub Lauko, who the Boston Bruins sent down to the Providence Bruins on Tuesday, and was recalled yesterday afternoon back to Boston, has been reassigned from his loan back to Providence.
It’s been a hectic few days for the young forward, at least on paper, but not necessarily surprising, given the 22-year-old does not need waivers to go to the AHL. With superstar winger Brad Marchand returning to the lineup Thursday evening, Boston made clear he would not play back-to-back games, which was exactly the situation yesterday evening. Now down a man (of their own volition), Boston brought Lauko up for last night’s game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Lauko is yet to play a game for Providence this season but has recorded one assist in five games for Boston thus far.
Boston’s 77th overall selection in 2018, Lauko blow the doors off his expectations in camp after a rough 2021-22 season in Providence. He hasn’t looked entirely out-of-place in the NHL either, especially for a player who has a remarkably low 5.9% offensive zone start rate in all situations.