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Predators Place Mark Jankowski On IR, Recall Ozzy Wiesblatt

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The Predators have made a pair of roster moves heading into their final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.  Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game relays (Twitter link) that Nashville has placed center Mark Jankowski on injured reserve.  With the open roster spot, they’ve recalled winger Ozzy Wiesblatt from AHL Milwaukee.

It’s a bit surprising that the Preds wound up waiting this long to put Jankowski on IR.  The 30-year-old has been out for the last three weeks with an upper-body injury that carries a week-to-week designation.  Jankowski has played in 37 games this season, notching three goals and five assists while logging a little under 13 minutes a night.  Having been out this long, he’ll be eligible to be activated at any point when he’s cleared to return.

As for Wiesblatt, this is his second recall of the season.  He got into two games on his first one back in January where he had four hits in a little over ten minutes a night of action.  This one will be shorter-lived, however, as he’ll almost certainly be sent back following the game to keep playing with the Admirals.  On the farm, the 22-year-old has 11 goals and 12 assists in 41 games, already making it the most productive of his three professional seasons.

Kings Recall Pheonix Copley On Emergency Basis, Place Mikey Anderson On IR

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With Darcy Kuemper away from the team for personal reasons, the Kings needed to add a goalie to their roster for their game tonight versus Anaheim.  The team announced that veteran netminder Pheonix Copley has been recalled from AHL Ontario.  To make room on the roster, defenseman Mikey Anderson has been placed on injured reserve.

It’s the fourth recall of the season for Copley whose previous stints with the big club have been short-lived.  That trend will almost certainly continue as he’s a strong candidate to be sent back to the Reign following the game.  The North Pole native has only made one appearance with Los Angeles this season, that coming in relief back in mid-October but extended his streak of seasons with an NHL game to four.  Copley has also played 20 times for Ontario, putting up a 2.45 GAA along with a .906 SV%.

Anderson, meanwhile, has missed a little more than a week with a finger injury sustained late last month.  He has logged heavy minutes for Los Angeles this season, ranking second on the team in ATOI at 22:50 (excluding Drew Doughty who is five games into his return).  Through 49 games, Anderson has five goals and nine assists along with 83 blocks and 68 hits.   He’ll be eligible to be activated at any time as he has already missed more than the required seven days.

Canucks Recall Linus Karlsson, Assign Victor Mancini To AHL

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The Canucks have tweaked their roster for their final game before the break.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Linus Karlsson from AHL Abbotsford and have assigned defenceman Victor Mancini to Abbotsford.

Karlsson has been recalled now four times this season.  In his first three stints, the 25-year-old played in a total of nine games with Vancouver, picking up a goal in just under 10 minutes a night of playing time.  While offense has been hard to come by at the NHL level – he has just six points (all goals) in 82 career NHL appearances – that hasn’t been the case in the minors.  With Abbotsford, Karlsson has a dozen goals and six assists in 17 outings after recording 60 points in as many games last season with them.  Despite the promotion, he did not suit up against Toronto.

As for Mancini, he was one of the pieces of the recent J.T. Miller trade and was brought up earlier this week although he didn’t see any game action with Vancouver.  The 22-year-old played in 15 games with the Rangers earlier this season, recording five points while logging a little more than 15 minutes a night, solid numbers for his first taste of NHL action.  Mancini also has 23 AHL appearances on the campaign, all with New York’s affiliate in Hartford where he has 10 points.  Mancini should get a chance to make his debut with Abbotsford on Tuesday against San Diego. He’ll likely be joined by Karlsson for that one with the forward likely to be sent back down following tonight’s game.

Devils Assign Three To AHL

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With the Devils playing their final game before the break this afternoon, they’ve wasted little time setting their roster for the next couple of weeks until play resumes while freeing up a bit of extra salary cap space in the process.  The team announced that goaltender Nico Daws and defensemen Simon Nemec and Santeri Hatakka have been assigned to AHL Utica.

Daws was recalled last weekend to serve as Jake Allen’s backup with Jacob Markstrom still sidelined due to a lower-body injury.  He made a pair of appearances during that stint, one in relief with one start, turning aside 32 of 34 shots.  Daws has been limited to just 21 games with the Comets due to injury where he has a 3.40 GAA and a .888 SV%.  He’ll likely get a few starts during the break before being recalled when NHL play resumes as Markstrom might not quite be ready to return by then.

As for Nemec, he was brought up on Thursday with Jonas Siegenthaler banged up.  He played in both of New Jersey’s games following his promotion but was held off the scoresheet.  On the season, he has only played 11 games with the Devils after seeing action in 60 a year ago.  Instead, Nemec has spent most of the campaign in Utica where he has been able to play a much bigger role.  The 20-year-old has done well down there with 22 points in 32 games.

As for Hatakka, his demotion should come as little surprise after he cleared waivers earlier today.  He has yet to play this season after missing the first four months of the campaign while recovering from shoulder surgery.  He split last season between New Jersey and Utica and will now try to play himself into consideration for a recall for the stretch run.

Lightning Recall Dylan Duke

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After returning winger Conor Sheary to the minors this morning, the Lightning wasted little time filling his vacated roster spot.  The team announced that they’ve recalled forward Dylan Duke from AHL Syracuse.

It’s the first career regular season recall for the 21-year-old.  Duke was selected late in the fourth round back in 2021 by Tampa Bay, going 126th overall.  He spent three seasons at the University of Michigan, the last of which was a dominant effort coming last season that saw him record 26 goals and 23 assists in just 41 games, good for a share of 11th in Division I scoring.  Duke also had a brief stint with the Crunch last season, getting into three regular season games and five playoff contests.

Duke has played exclusively with Syracuse so far in his first professional campaign.  Through 36 outings this season, he has 13 goals and nine assists, ranking him tied for third in points on the Crunch while being their only double-digit goalscorer.

With the recall, Tampa Bay’s active roster now stands at 22 players but that likely won’t be the case for long.  With the 4 Nations Face-Off break coming up next week, Duke will likely be returned to the Crunch at that time.

Islanders Activate Hudson Fasching

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The New York Islanders have activated forward Hudson Fasching off of injured reserve per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. Fasching has missed the Islanders’ last 13 games with an upper-body injury in the team’s January 5th game against the Boston Bruins.

He was designated as day-to-day in the immediate wake of the injury, but was quickly downgraded to week-to-week, then earned an injured reserve placement on January 17th. He was assigned to a minor league conditioning stint at the start of February and appeared in two games with the Bridgeport Islanders. The Islanders recalled Fasching on Tuesday and are expected to bring him on their upcoming two-game road trip. Defenseman Scott Mayfield won’t be going on the road trip, per Rosner, as he continues to sit out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and has been placed on IR to make room on the roster.

Fasching has been a fourth-line forward for the Islanders all year long. He’s appeared in 199 games but is still searching for his first point of the season. One penalty and a minus-six stand as his only notable stat changes. Fasching has been a bit more productive in the minors, with two points in seven games – but he’s still far off from the 14 points he posted in 45 NHL games last year. He moved to the Islanders organization ahead of the 2022-23 season, after spending four years as a top depth forward for the Arizona Coyotes. Fasching proved to be a productive minor leaguer with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, netting 106 points across 174 games and serving as the team’s captain in 2021-22. This return will place him back in the competition for bottom-line minutes in New York, pitted against Pierre Engvall and Marc Gatcomb.

Afternoon Notes: Dickinson, Pitlick, Acklin, Philp

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The NHL is gearing up for a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off, giving teams plenty to do before many of their players head off for vacation, international play, or minor-league stints. The spree of afternoon news begins in Chicago, where center Jason Dickinson has avoided the worst-case scenario after suffering a scary-looking injury in the team’s Wednesday loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Dickinson took an awkward crash into the boards that trapped his leg under him in the second period. He left the game immediately and was later seen leaving the arena in a walking boot. After testing, Dickinson has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and should only miss a couple of games, head coach Anders Sorensen told ESPN.

That’s relieving news after Dicksinon seemed poised to miss the long-term. He hasn’t racked up the points this season, with just seven goals and 16 points in 53 games – but Dickinson has returned to his role as one of Chicago’s top defensive centers. He leads all Blackhawks forwards with 137 minutes of ice time on the penalty-kill, and ranks fourth on the offense in xGA/60 (expected goals-against per-60) per Evolving Hockey. Dickinson’s stout defense has earned him top minutes, centering a top-six line between Teuvo Teravainen and Ilya Mikheyev – the two players above him in xGA/60. His role would have been tough for the Blackhawks to replace for an extended period, but with this news the team can rest assured that he’ll be available when they return from break.

Headed to the West Coast, the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have signed veteran forward Rem Pitlick to a minor-league contract for the rest of the season. Pitlick hasn’t played this season, but spent last year split between the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Rockford IceHogs. He accumulated 57 points in 59 games between the two squads, and got called up for nine appearances with the Chicago Blackhawks – though his stat line read no points, two penalty minutes, and a minus-seven. Those appearances brought Pitlick up to 132 career NHL games over the course of his seven-year pro career. He has totaled 21 goals, 54 points, and 54 penalty minutes. A deal with the Barracuda will mark a chance for him to rediscover his red-hot minor league scoring, and try to show his worth to a San Jose Sharks club that currently ranks dead-last in the NHL.

Across the Conferences, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ President of Business Operations, Kevin Acklin, has stepped down from the squad per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Acklin had been in the role since 2022, and previously served as a Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the team. In his presedential role, Acklin oversaw the day-to-day business operations, strategic planning, corporate partnerships, and marketing and communication of the Penguins brand. He also supported the development of a live music venue in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District, and supported maintenance of the former site of Civic Arena – the Penguins’ home rink from 1967 to 2010.

After stops at each region of the States, we head North for our final update – where the Edmonton Oilers have assigned forward Noah Philp to the AHL for the duration of the 4-Nations break. Philp has been one of Edmonton’s top call-up options this season. He received his NHL debut on October 31st and has since played in 12 games with the Oilers lineup, including their most recent nine outings. Philp has just two assists so far, and is still searching for his first NHL goal. He’s been much more productive in the minors, where his 17 points in 28 games places him fourth in points-per-game (0.60) among players with 20-or-more appearances. Philp will now get a chance to build on those totals while the Oilers are away.

Afternoon Notes: Hughes, Pederson, Puljujarvi

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A busy day across the NHL has started with bad news in Vancouver. Vancouver Canucks superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes won’t travel with the team for their Thursday matchup against the San Jose Sharks, per Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor. This will be Hughes’ third straight absence due to a lower-body injury. This is just a one-game road trip for Vancouver. Hughes was red hot prior to injury, with 14 points over his last 10 games and over 25 minutes of average ice time. Hughes’ absence was preceded by Vancouver’s acquisition of veteran defenseman Marcus Pettersson and rookie Victor Mancini. The Canucks still triumphed without their Norris Trophy favorite on Tuesday, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-0. Pettersson and Tyler Myers each carried extra minutes in Hughes’ absence.

Despite coming off a win and setting up to face a last-place Sharks team, the Canucks are still going to sorely miss Hughes. He has been a force this season, currently sitting with 59 points in 47 games – a mark that leads both the Canucks and all NHL defensemen. He’s once again a favorite for the Norris Trophy, which he won last year, and an emerging candidate for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Hughes has notably played through injury this year, including a hand injury at the turn of the year. He’s still tracking for a 100-point season despite that, and will be aiming to get quickly back to that pace once his lower-body injury subsides. Hughes is currently listed as out day-to-day.

Staying in Western Canada, the Edmonton Oilers will be without depth forward Lane Pederson for the remainder of the season after he underwent a successful shoulder surgery. Pederson managed an impressive 12 points in 18 AHL games before falling to injury. He’s been a hot scorer in the minors for a few years, netting 24 points in 18 games in 2022-23 and 52 points in 66 games last year. He was rewarded with 27 NHL games in 2022-23 – split between the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets – but recorded a moot six points and 26 penalty minutes. Pederson will now focus on working his way back to full health in advance of next season’s training camps, where he’ll work to climb up an NHL call-up chart.

Jumping to the East coast, the Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned forward Jesse Puljujarvi to the minor leagues. The former top-10 pick has been a healthy scratch in three of Pittsburgh’s last four games. This will be his second stint in the minor leagues, after spending a brief, three-game trip with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in late January. Puljujarvi recorded three points and a minus-two in the appearances – far more production than he’s managed at the NHL level, where he only has nine points in 26 appearances. The routine trips to the minor leagues are the start of a poor pattern for Puljujarvi, who joined the Penguins partway through last season in an effort to maintain his NHL career. He’s struggled to do that up to this point, and will now be tasked with trying to find his groove once again with a productive stint in the minor leagues.

Sharks Recall Collin Graf, Shakir Mukhamadullin

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The San Jose Sharks have recalled a pair of top prospects in forward Collin Graf and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin. Graf could have a clear path to minutes with Alexander Wennberg designated as out, and both Ty Dellandrea and Tyler Toffoli designated as game-time decisions, when San Jose hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. Defenseman Jan Rutta is also out with injury, and isn’t expected to return until after the 4-Nations break. That could open the door for Mukhamadullin to return to the lineup as well, though he’ll face competition for a role from Henry Thrun and Marc-Eduouard Vlasic.

Graf was with the NHL roster through much of January. He played in 10 games and recorded two assists, no penalties, and a minus-four – perfectly matching his stat-line through seven NHL games last season. He was reassigned on January 22nd, but has quickly taken to proving the Sharks wrong with four points and 12 shots on net in four AHL games over the last two weekends. A wave of nagging injuries in the Sharks lineup could provide Graf a chance to bring that hot streak back to the NHL, and hopefully find his first NHL goal along the way.

Mukhamadullin has also played in 10 NHL games this season, but has just one assist to show for it. He’s performed a bit better in the minor leagues, with nine assists in 21 games this season – but his scoring has been inconsistent all year long. Mukhamadullin is still finding his way through North American pros, and a shot at the lineup in San Jose’s final games before break could be a great chance to find his footing.

Hurricanes Recall Scott Morrow, Reassign Riley Stillman

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The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled top defense prospect Scott Morrow to the NHL. It’s the first recall of Morrow’s NHL career, though he did play two games with the Hurricanes at the end of last season. To make room for the move, Carolina has assigned defender Riley Stillman to the minor leagues. This is the third time Stillman has been sent to the AHL this week.

Morrow has been red-hot as of late. He has 10 points, 17 penalty minutes, and 22 shots on net over his last eight AHL games. The hot streak has helped Morrow earn the AHL’s title of highest-scoring rookie defenseman with 29 points in 41 games – just two more than San Jose Sharks prospect Luca Cagnoni’s 27 points in 39 games. Carolina has made the move to recognize Morrow’s strong play, and could quickly reward him with his season debut per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. That might require the Hurricanes to run 11 forwards and seven defensemen in their three remaining games before the 4-Nations break. They could be set up nicely to do that with top winger Andrei Svechnikov day-to-day with an upper-body injury, though the Russian winger did return to practice in full on Monday morning.

The Hurricanes can afford to be a bit relaxed in the days before break. They’ve set a 6-2-2 record over their last 10 games and rank second in the Metropolitan Division with a 32-17-4 record and 68 points. This could be a golden chance to see how Morrow holds up to NHL competition, which will be helpful information with both Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns headed for unrestricted free agency this summer. Morrow’s minor league performances have more than shown his long-term upside, and strong play over the next few days could earn him a longer NHL stay soon.

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