AHL

It’s a new month for the NHL, and with that comes a full slate of games. Eleven different matches are scheduled for this evening, including one of the mismatches of the year. The Colorado Avalanche, owners of the best points percentage in the league (.779) and one of two teams averaging more than four goals a game, welcome in the Arizona Coyotes, owners of the second-worst points percentage in the league (.279) and the lowest goals for average (2.19). Can the Coyotes pull off an all-time upset? As they and other teams prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad moves.

Atlantic Division

• The Ottawa Senators have sent Dillon Heatherington to the AHL, with just one game left before the All-Star break. Heatherington, 26, has played nine games for Ottawa and 15 games for Bellville this season, his first since spending a year in the KHL. Lassi Thomson has also been reassigned to the taxi squad as Victor Mete makes his return to the lineup.
• The Boston Bruins have made several recalls, bringing Steven Fogarty, Jeremy Swayman, and Urho Vaakanainen back up to the active roster. Jesper Froden and Tyler Lewington are back up with the taxi squad as well.
• The Buffalo Sabres have reassigned Brandon Biro, Oskari Laaksonen, Brett Murray, J.J. Peterka, Arttu Ruotsalainen, and Jimmy Schuldt to the taxi squad, ahead of their game tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Rochester Americans play tomorrow, meaning there will likely be some additional transactions coming after tonight’s game.

Metropolitan Division

• The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Juuso Riikola to the taxi squad, as Brian Dumoulin missed practice again today. Riikola has played in just five games for Pittsburgh this season but has been outstanding for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, registering 12 points in 17 games in the AHL. A little later on, the team recalled Michael Chaput from the taxi squad to the active roster.
• The New York Rangers have recalled Morgan Barron to the active roster, while sending Tim Gettinger, Lauri Pajuniemi, Tarmo Reunanen, and Jarred Tinordi to the AHL. After tonight’s game against Florida, the Rangers don’t have another scheduled match until February 15.
• The Washington Capitals have reassigned Brett Leason to the taxi squad, making room for Nick Jensen to be activated from injured reserve. With the taxi squads dissolving this week, Leason will have to soon be sent to the minor leagues if he’s not on the active roster.

Central Division

• The Dallas Stars have recalled Riley Damiani and Anton Khudobin from the AHL, giving them an extra netminder for tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames. Remember, after a team’s last game before the All-Star break the taxi squad will dissolve, meaning these recalls may not necessarily be to play immediately.
• The Minnesota Wild have recalled Zane McIntyre from the AHL to the taxi squad, likely joining the team on the road in Chicago for their last game before the break. The Wild sent Andrew Hammond, their third goaltender, back to the AHL to play yesterday.

Pacific Division

• The Seattle Kraken have recalled Max McCormick, Kole Lind, and Connor Carrick to the taxi squad, while Will Borgen has been put in the COVID protocol. Borgen will miss the last two games before the All-Star break, just as he was getting a rhythm in the Seattle lineup.
• Ahead of puck drop tonight against the Buffalo Sabres, the Vegas Golden Knights recalled a trio of defensemen in Kaedan Korczak, Daniil Miromanov, and Brayden Pachal from the Henderson Silver Knights. Both Korczak (NHL debut) and Miromanov are expected to enter the lineup with Alec Martinez and Dylan Coghlan in protocol and Nicolas Hague and Zach Whitecloud out with undisclosed injuries.

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Say goodbye to January with five games on the NHL schedule, including the first of a home-and-home between the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, the Devils will be without head coach Lindy Ruff for both games after his father’s passing a few days ago. Ruff is on leave from the organization, and assistant coach Alain Nasreddine will run the bench in his absence.

As those teams and others prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad shuffling:

Atlantic Division

• The Detroit Red Wings have sent Calvin Pickard and Luke Witkowski to the AHL after the former made two appearances in recent days. Pickard, 29, stopped 36 of 38 shots he faced in an improbable win against the Pittsburgh Penguins a few days ago.
• The Ottawa Senators have recalled Mark Kastelic and Lassi Thomson from the taxi squad ahead of their game tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. Erik Brannstrom has also been cleared from the COVID protocol and could be available.

Metropolitan Division

• The Washington Capitals have recalled Lucas Johansen from the AHL to the taxi squad, suggesting the young defenseman could be close to his second game of NHL action. Selected in the first round in 2016, Johansen has just one game under his belt with the Capitals, coming exactly a month ago.

Central Division

• The Minnesota Wild have reassigned Andrew Hammond and Kyle Rau to the Iowa Wild. After its game on Wednesday, the taxi squad will be dissolved, meaning Hammond would have needed to go back anyway. Later in the day, they assigned Matt Boldy and Connor Dewar to the taxi squad. Boldy at least will be recalled again before the Wednesday game.

Pacific Division

• The Los Angeles Kings have loaned Austin Strand to the taxi squad while moving Christian Wolanin up to it from the AHL. The team has one game remaining before the All-Star break, in Detroit on Wednesday night.

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There are just a few days left before the All-Star break, but the NHL is still furiously scheduling to try and keep things on track. Despite two football matches that will likely dominate the ratings in North America, seven hockey games are on the docket. That includes a Los Angeles Kings-Pittsburgh Penguins match this afternoon, where newly-extended Jeff Carter will take on his former team once again. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad shuffling.

Atlantic Division

• The Ottawa Senators have recalled Cole Reinhardt to the taxi squad from the AHL, and moved Mark Kastelic and Lassi Thomson to the taxi squad from the active roster. Kastelic, 22, made his NHL debut yesterday, playing just over six minutes and recording three hits.
• With Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher expected to return for the Canadiens today, Lukas Vejdemo, Sami Niku, and Josh Brook have all officially joined the Laval Rocket. Montreal is now without David Savard for eight weeks, meaning the team may end up needing Niku again at some point.
• Florida Panthers defenseman Chase Priskie continues his up-and-down slide this year, as the team’s loaned him to the taxi squad. Goalie Spencer Knight was also brought up to the taxi squad after some time with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.

Metropolitan Division

• The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Kasper Bjorkqvist, and Michael Chaput to the taxi squad, as they prepare for this afternoon’s game. The Penguins have just one game after today before the All-Star break, after which the taxi squad is scheduled to dissipate.

Central Division

• With Marcus Foligno unavailable for tonight’s game versus the Islanders, the Minnesota Wild recalled forward Kyle Rau from the taxi squad today. Rau will slot into the lineup as Foligno sits out with an upper-body injury.
• Defenseman Cam Dineen is joining the big club again, heading up to the Arizona Coyotes taxi squad today from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. Dineen is in the midst of his best professional season, notching four assists in his first 14 NHL games and five points in six AHL games.

Pacific Division

• The Vancouver Canucks have returned Spencer Martin to the AHL, after he gave them some very valuable minutes. With Thatcher Demko and Jaroslav Halak both hitting the COVID list at the same time, Martin stopped 113 of 118 shots in three appearances, continuing what has been an outstanding campaign for the 26-year-old netminder.

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It’s a busy night in the NHL with ten games on tap, including a rematch of the St. Louis Blues-Calgary Flames. The two battled on Monday in what turned into a lopsided loss for the Blues as the red-hot Flames poured seven goals in on Jordan Binnington. Calgary has taken 110 shots on goal over the last two games, including a franchise-high 62 against the Columbus Blue Jackets last night. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad shuffling:

Atlantic Division

• The Buffalo Sabres have reassigned Casey Fitzgerald to the taxi squad, as they prepare for their three-game road trip that starts on Saturday. Buffalo has been absolutely decimated by injuries this season and now sit at 13-22-7 on the year.
• Another young face is coming up to the Ottawa Senators, as Egor Sokolov has been recalled from the AHL. Clark Bishop and Lassi Thomson have been moved to the taxi squad, but it’s Sokolov that will generate a lot of the headlines today. The 21-year-old has played in four games for Ottawa this season but is still waiting on his first NHL point. For Belleville, he has 21 in 27 games.
• Matt Kiersted has been loaned back to the taxi squad by the Florida Panthers, as Gustav Forsling returned to practice after his stint on the COVID protocol. He’s officially a game-time decision for tonight.

Metropolitan Division

• The New York Rangers have recalled Jonny Brodzinski and Zac Jones to the active roster, while backfilling the taxi squad with Tim Gettinger, Nils Lundkvist, Lauri Pajuniemi, and Tarmo Reunanen. With Jones up, Libor Hajek could potentially be coming out of the lineup after playing just 11 minutes against the Kings earlier this week.
• The Washington Capitals have recalled Joe Snively to the taxi squad, replacing Michael Sgarbossa who is headed to the AHL. The 26-year-old Snively made his NHL debut last month, recording an assist in just under seven minutes of ice time.

Central Division

• Kyle Rau is back from the AHL and will join the Minnesota Wild taxi squad, not for the first time. Rau has played four games for Minnesota this season, to go along with the outstanding 26 contests he’s finished in the AHL. The 29-year-old forward has 25 points in the minor leagues, continuing what has been a strong AHL career to this point.
• The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Collin Delia, sending Cale Morris and Arvid Soderblom to the AHL in his place. Delia, 27, has a .910 save percentage in 14 AHL appearances this season and plenty of previous experience at the NHL level.
• With Nathan MacKinnon injured last night, the Colorado Avalanche have recalled Dylan Sikura from the Colorado Eagles. Sikura has been outstanding for the Eagles this season, scoring 14 goals and 31 points in 29 games.
• Johnathan Kovacevic is set to make his NHL debut after the Winnipeg Jets recalled him from the taxi squad today. The team assigned Leon Gawanke to the taxi squad from the AHL to take his place. Kovacevic, 24, was a third-round pick of the Jets in 2017 and has 14 points in 32 games for the Manitoba Moose this season.
  • Gawanke has now come up to the active roster, along with forward Kristian Reichel. The move comes after defenseman Dylan Samberg was moved to injured reserve. Gawanke and Reichel are both projected to be scratched for tonight’s game against Vancouver.
• On a day where more arena rumors took hold of the news cycle, the Arizona Coyotes recalled defenseman Cam Dineen to the taxi squad from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. Arizona has shuffled Dineen up and down this season, as he’s notched four points in five games in the AHL and four points in 14 games in a third-pairing role in the NHL.
• Matt Luff and Matt Tennyson continue their shuffle up and down between the active roster and taxi squad. The Nashville Predators recalled them today, and they’ll likely find themselves in the lineup against Edmonton tonight.

Pacific Division

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Five games are on the NHL schedule this morning, including a battle between the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche, two teams who consider themselves Stanley Cup contenders. The Bruins will have to try and slow down a freight train, though, as the Avalanche have won seven in a row and haven’t lost in regulation in their last 13. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of the minor league and taxi squad shuffling.

Atlantic Division

• The Ottawa Senators have sent Lassi Thomson to the taxi squad, though that assignment could be short-lived. The Senators are back in action tomorrow against the Carolina Hurricanes and likely will need to use Thomson again, unless Erik Brannstrom can test out of the COVID protocol.
• With the Montreal Canadiens starting to get healthier, the team has sent Corey Schueneman back to the AHL. The 26-year-old defenseman made his NHL debut this season, skating in four games with Montreal. Later in the day, the team also activated Josh Brook from injured reserve and sent him to the AHL, while assigning Michael McNiven to the taxi squad.

Metropolitan Division

• The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Isaac Ratcliffe to the taxi squad, sending Jackson Cates, Linus Sandin, and Felix Sandstrom back to the AHL. Connor Bunnaman and Cam York, meanwhile, are headed to the taxi squad from the active roster. The Flyers don’t play again until Saturday, meaning there is time to save cap and salary while reinforcing the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the time being.

Central Division

• The Winnipeg Jets have returned Johnathan Kovacevic and Kristian Reichel to the taxi squad, after recalling but scratching them both last night. Kovacevic, 24, has still not made his NHL debut but has been a strong performer for the Manitoba Moose.
• The Colorado Avalanche have recalled Hunter Miska to the taxi squad, where he’ll likely serve as nothing more than a practice goaltender. Miska has been terrible in his four appearances for the Colorado Eagles, allowing 13 goals on 64 shots.
• James Neal is on his way back to the minor leagues, reassigned by the St. Louis Blues today. The veteran forward cleared waivers at the beginning of the month and does not yet need to clear them again to go to the AHL.
• The Nashville Predators have reassigned Cole Smith and Matt Tennyson to the taxi squad, moves that could be reversed by tomorrow’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. The Predators move players on and off of the taxi squad between almost every game, as they try to save salary and cap space.

Pacific Division

• The Edmonton Oilers have assigned Ilya Konovalov to the AHL, while moving Kyle Turris to the taxi squad. Moving Turris, who cleared waivers again recently, down clears $1.125MM off the cap for the Oilers, who have once again been linked to Evander Kane as the NHL wraps up his investigation.

This page will be updated throughout the day.