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AHL Shuffle: 02/25/22

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Six games are on the NHL schedule this evening, including a big tilt between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, two teams that look like they may be contenders in the Pacific Division for years to come. In the entire league, there is no race as tight as the one in the Pacific, where first and fifth are separated by just seven points. It’s Anaheim currently sitting in that seventh spot, meaning a win tonight could help them climb up the standings. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled top prospect Nick Robertson after Ilya Mikheyev left last night’s game with a non-COVID illness. Robertson, 20, has been limited by injury again this season but has eight points in his nine minor league contests. If he gets into the lineup tomorrow, it would be his first NHL game of the year.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have sent down winger Brandon Biro after he made his NHL debut versus the Montreal Canadiens. Biro skated 13:30 of ice time in his debut, registering one hit in the Sabres’ shutout loss. Biro, 23, is a former Penn State Nittany Lion and has nine goals and 36 points in 39 AHL games this year.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Mark Friedman from his conditioning stint, where he played two games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Friedman has played in 12 games for Pittsburgh this season, recording four points in the process.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated starting goaltender Elvis Merzlikins off of injured reserve, and in a corresponding move assigned goaltender Jet Greaves to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Greaves, 20, has split time between the Monsters and the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings this season, and he has a save percentage of .898 in the AHL and .907 in the ECHL.

Central Division

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Jakub Galvas from the minor leagues, according to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago. The 22-year-old defenseman has played in five games this season for Chicago, and 32 for the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Selected in the fifth round in 2017, this is his first season in North America.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have activated Jacob MacDonald and assigned him to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. MacDonald, 28, has been out since December 12th with an upper-body injury and has played in seven games for the Avalanche this season.
  • The Nashville Predators have recalled veteran depth defenseman Matt Tennyson from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. Tennyson has three points in four games for the Predators so far this year and has 14 points in 40 AHL games. Tennyson is a veteran of 169 NHL games, having first appeared in the league with the San Jose Sharks in the 2012-2013 season. In a corresponding move, center Nick Cousins has been placed on injured reserve.

Pacific Division

  • The Vancouver Canucks have brought up winger Phillip Di Giuseppe from Abbotsford of the AHL.  The 28-year-old didn’t see any AHL action last season but has spent all of this season in the minors, notching 11 goals and 21 assists in 35 games.
  • A day after Dmitry Zavgorodny terminated his KHL contract with Sochi, the Flames have assigned the winger to Stockton of the AHL, per CapFriendly.  The 21-year-old started the season with the Heat, getting into six games before heading overseas where he got into ten games, picking up three assists.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Snapshots: Blackhawks, Laval, Bunting

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The Chicago Blackhawks have concluded the interview phase of their general manager search, with CEO Danny Wirtz announcing that the leadership team will move to the next step in the process. The Blackhawks are known to have interviewed Kyle Davidson, Eric Tulsky, Scott Mellanby, Peter Chiarelli, Jeff Greenberg, and Mathieu Darche for the position, and were also linked to Toronto Raptors executive Teresa Resch.

Davidson has been operating as the team’s interim GM since late October when Stan Bowman left the organization. The team has been transparent throughout the process, though today’s announcement certainly doesn’t provide much of an update on when the next front office leader will actually be hired.

  • The AHL will head to Laval for the 2023 All-Star Classic, returning three years after they were supposed to originally host the event. The Rocket were picked to host the 2021 All-Star festivities, which were ultimately canceled. The 2022 event was also going to go back to Laval, before eventually being canceled in December. Hopefully, things will work out this time, and the Rocket will be able to host the best of the minor leagues.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting has been fined $2,000 for diving/embellishment, meaning it was the second time he has been flagged this season. The first incident, which the league says occurred on November 16, results in a warning from the league. The latest, February 17 against the Penguins, results in a fine for the player. While embellishment fines never reach more than $5,000 for a player, after the fourth team violation a head coach starts to receive financial penalties. No player wants to be the reason why his coach is out money, meaning Bunting and the rest of the Maple Leafs will have to be a little more cautious when trying to draw penalties down the stretch.

AHL Shuffle: 02/24/22

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The NHL has eight games on the schedule for this evening, including a battle between Bill Zito’s Florida Panthers and his former employees from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Panthers lost their last game but still sit atop the Atlantic Division with a 35-11-5 record, while the Blue Jackets are making some noise in the Metropolitan Division with three straight wins and an 8-2 record over their last ten games. It’ll be hard for Patrik Laine and the Blue Jackets to climb all the way up, but they have passed the Detroit Red Wings and are now the closest team to that final wild card spot in the east.

Atlantic Division

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

Pacific Division

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AHL Shuffle: 02/23/22

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Five games grace the NHL schedule this evening, including a classic matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings. While the rivalry isn’t exactly what it used to be, there’s still a lot of importance for both clubs. The Avalanche are trying to get back in the win column after a disappointing loss to Boston on Monday, and they’ll have to do it without the services of Nathan MacKinnon, who is out with a minor injury. Detroit meanwhile will test their young talent against one of the best teams in the league; Moritz Seider has averaged more than 25 minutes of ice time over his last four games, recording six points in the process. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have re-assigned Filip Gustavsson to the minor leagues, suggesting that Matt Murray will be rejoining the club soon after his wife gave birth this week. The team won again yesterday, with Anton Forsberg making 40 saves on 43 shots against the Minnesota Wild. Later in the day, the team also re-assigned Mark Kastelic to the AHL.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Joe Veleno from the AHL while also activating Carter Rowney. Veleno got into a couple of games with the Grand Rapids Griffins over the weekend, recording three points.
  • David Alter of The Leafs Nation points out on Twitter that on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster page, Jake Muzzin is now listed on injured reserve, while Brennan Menell and Kristians Rubins have been recalled. Rasmus Sandin is also no longer on the roster–likely signaling that the team is getting as close as the salary cap ceiling as possible before moving Muzzin to long-term injured reserve, in order to receive the maximum salary cap relief.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Kasper Bjorkqvist from the AHL, though he skated as an extra at practice. The 24-year-old forward has six points in 33 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season and one goal in six matches with Pittsburgh.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated Emil Bemstrom off the COVID-19 protocol list and leaned him back to the Cleveland Monsters. Bemstrom, 22, has four points in 13 games this season for the Blue Jackets in what has become a nightmare year. The fourth-round pick has just 16 games played between both levels to this point.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Jalen Chatfield from the minor leagues, after injuries to both Brendan Smith and Tony DeAngelo recently. Chatfield signed a two-year extension with the Hurricanes last month for exactly this reason, serving as strong injury insurance for Carolina.

Central Division

Pacific Division

This page will be updated throughout the day

Dominik Bokk Loaned To DEL

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It hasn’t worked for Dominik Bokk in the Carolina Hurricanes organization, and his time there may be coming to an end. The young forward has been loaned from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL to Eisbaren Berlin of the DEL for the rest of the season. He is expected to join the team tomorrow.

Bokk, 22, was the 25th overall pick in 2018 by the St. Louis Blues and ended up in Carolina as part of the package for Justin Faulk. In two seasons with the Wolves, he has recorded just 12 goals and 28 points in 61 games, finding himself further and further down the lineup. As Scott Wheeler of The Athletic points out on Twitter, this move  “feels like it may be the end of the NHL road for him” though he’s obviously still young enough to prove otherwise, should his career turn around in Germany.

The German forward was selected after dominating the Swedish junior level with Vaxjo and has shown ability, if inconsistently, to produce high-end offensive results in the right environment. He was a big reason why his country worked its way back into the top division at the World Juniors, and then dominated at the 2020 event, scoring six goals in seven games.

Still signed for the 2022-23 season under his entry-level contract, it’s not clear where Bokk will spend next year. He would be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2023.

Florida Panthers Activate Maxim Mamin; Loan Owen Tippett To AHL

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The Florida Panthers already have too many forwards, and yet one more is returning today. The team has activated Maxim Mamin from injured reserve and expects to have him on the first line with Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov this evening. To clear a roster spot for Mamin, the team has sent Owen Tippett back to the AHL once again.

This isn’t the first time Tippett finds himself without much opportunity in Florida. He was sent to the minors for a few days last month, was scratched the past two games, and played fewer than eight minutes in his last appearance. The young forward’s name has been in the rumor mill for months, and it was brought up again today by Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet’s The Jeff Marek Show:

Obviously you would like to see him play, I’m sure he wants to play. But I don’t think that’s necessarily the hold up of a trade. [Teams] scouted him in the American Hockey League, I’m sure there are plenty of teams that scouted him when he was a junior. Everyone kind of knows, or has an opinion on what they have or haven’t got yet. So while I’m sure [not playing] sucks for him, it doesn’t hold up a deal in my mind. And I think he’s going to be traded, I think it’s just a matter of–is he going to be part of a package to get something, or does he just go himself. 

Sending Tippett to the minor leagues does give him a chance to play, but as Friedman suggests, it’s not like he has much to prove at that level. The 23-year-old forward recorded four points in his two-game stint with the Charlotte Checkers earlier this season and overall has 20 goals and 46 points in 53 career AHL appearances. Selected tenth overall by the Panthers in 2017, Tippett possesses a huge shot and powerful frame, but still faces inconsistency when trying to create offense for his linemates. Through 94 regular season games in his NHL career he has 14 goals and 33 points, though his short playoff run last year with four points in six games suggested he might have even more to offer in the postseason.

AHL Shuffle: 02/22/22

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The NHL has six games on the schedule for this evening, including the San Jose Sharks trying to halt a six-game skid against Trevor Zegras and the Anaheim Ducks. Every game that the Ducks lose is one more step closer to some tough decisions about pending free agents, adding to the excitement their young group brings every night. As they and others prepare for actions, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have recalled Filip Gustavsson once again, as Matt Murray is not available to play. The veteran netminder and his wife welcomed a new baby this morning and will not dress against the Minnesota Wild. Gustavsson stopped 31 of 33 shots in his last NHL appearance a few days ago. Later in the day, the team also recalled Mark Kastelic and sent Dillon Heatherington back to the minors.
  • The Boston Bruins have sent Jack Studnicka down while recalling Jack Ahcan and Jesper Froden from the AHL. The Bruins are headed back on the road for a long trip out west, so likely want the extra defenseman along for the ride. Studnicka played fewer than 12 minutes last night against the Colorado Avalanche.
  • Joshua Ho-Sang has rejoined the Toronto Marlies after heading to the Olympics, though he still does not have an NHL contract in hand. The 26-year-old has 20 points in 27 games for the AHL club this season.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Brandon Biro, as Victor Olofsson is not traveling with the team due to a non-COVID illness. Biro, signed out of Penn State in 2020, has yet to make his NHL debut but is dominating at the AHL level this season. With 36 points in 39 games, he is third on the Rochester Americans in scoring.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

Pacific Division

  • The Los Angeles Kings have recalled Jacob Moverare again, just two days after going down. The young defenseman has played in three games this season, his first in the NHL.

This page will be updated throughout the day

AHL Shuffle: 02/21/22

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We’re now just a month away from the trade deadline and strategies are starting to take shape. The Arizona Coyotes made a move over the weekend and are expected to be one of the busiest teams over the next few weeks. They’re idle tonight but ten other teams are active, including the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins kicking things off in the afternoon. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have sent Filip Gustavsson back to the AHL, suggesting Matt Murray is set to return to action. Gustavsson, 23, stopped 31 of 33 shots in last night’s game but wasn’t able to land the Senators a win.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated Drew O’Connor from long-term injured reserve, but he’s headed to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Radim Zohorna and Mark Friedman are going with him, the latter assigned on a conditioning stint as he would need to clear waivers to actually be assigned to the minor leagues.

Central Division

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have sent Josiah Slavin back to the AHL, according to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago. Slavin, 23, has played in 14 games for the Blackhawks, recording one assist.
  • Matt Luff has been recalled by the Nashville Predators, ahead of their game tomorrow in Florida. Luff, 24, has three points in ten games with the Predators this season but has been scoring at a point-per-game pace in the minor leagues.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have recalled defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. Kolyachonok has gotten into four NHL games this season, going pointless, but tallied 14 points in 33 games with Tucson. Kolyachonok came to the team as a sweetener from the Florida Panthers for taking on Anton Stralman’s contract.

Pacific Division

This page will be updated throughout the day

Winnipeg Jets Re-Assign Ville Heinola To Manitoba

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After getting a long look at the NHL level over the past few weeks, the Winnipeg Jets have opted to send defenseman Ville Heinola back down to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

Heinola’s played in eight NHL games this season, an auspicious number considering the 10-game ’entry-level slide’ rule that can apply to young prospects on entry-level deals. This isn’t a contractual move, though, as the Jets have already slid the beginning of Heinola’s entry-level deal twice, meaning the clause no longer applies.

After being drafted 20th overall in 2019, Heinola immediately signed his entry-level deal with the team. He’d played in 13 NHL games prior to this season, notching a goal and four assists.

This season, he’d notched two points in another eight games, but averaged under 14 minutes a game and saw limited usage. At this point in time, the team’s decided they trust Logan Stanley more in an NHL role, opting to send Heinola back to the Moose. There, he has 16 points in 25 games this year, continuing to develop his all-around game.

Snapshots: Dzingel, Rask, Matteau

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After acquiring him from the Arizona Coyotes last night, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that forward Ryan Dzingel will be placed on waivers today, reports David Alter of The Leafs Nation (Tweet). If he clears, Dzingel will be assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, adds Alter. Dzingel, who has four goals and three assists in 26 games this season for the Coyotes, was acquired last night along with defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin in exchange for a conditional draft pick and forward Nick Ritchie. While it may seem odd to acquire Dzingel to immediately waive him, the move allows the Leafs to potentially keep the forward in the minors, alleviating them of his $1.1MM cap hit, and retain him as a useful depth player down the stretch. Also out of Maple Leafs’ camp, defenseman Rasmus Sandin has been sent down, purely for salary cap flexibility, and is expected to be recalled and rejoin the team Monday, reports the Athletic’s Jonas Siegel (link to tweet).

  • Victor Rask, who cleared waivers for the Minnesota Wild yesterday, is expected to report to the AHL’s Iowa Wild in the coming days, reports the Athletic’s Michael Russo (link to tweet). Russo adds that while this process has been tough for Rask, he is expected to report to the AHL, and the Wild organization will give him several days. It’s been a difficult stretch for Rask, as this wasn’t his first time on waivers this season. The forward was placed on waivers and cleared in early January as well. Rask has five goals and eight assists in 29 games this season for Minnesota and is in the final year of a six-year, $24MM contract he signed in 2016, then with the Carolina Hurricanes. While Rask has not been terrible for Minnesota this season, placing his $4MM cap hit in the AHL could provide the Wild with flexibility heading into the trade deadline, where they are expected to be buyers on the market.
  • Also of note, forward Stefan Matteau has been activated off of long-term injured reserve and has been assigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. The 27-year-old forward has played in just one game this season with the Colorado Avalanche back on October 16 before being placed on long-term injured reserve.

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