AHL

It’s the last day of the pre-Christmas schedule, as the rest of this week’s games have now been postponed. The Washington Capitals will visit the Philadelphia Flyers, while the Tampa Bay Lightning are off to see the Vegas Golden Knights. Those teams aren’t the only ones who will do a little roster shuffling today though, as teams had previously prepared for action tomorrow and Thursday. As always, we’ll keep track of all those minor moves right here.

Atlantic Division

• The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Andrej Sustr from the AHL, giving them another defenseman for tonight’s match. Sustr has actually played eight games already for the Lightning this season, following his two-year stint in the KHL. The 31-year-old defenseman has one goal on the year.

Metropolitan Division

• After sending him down just yesterday, the Washington Capitals have recalled Brett Leason once again. The young forward has been bouncing up and down rather frequently of late but has spent most of the year in the NHL. In 21 games with the Capitals, he has six points. (Update: After the Capitals’ game today was postponed, the team sent Leason and Joe Snively back to the minor leagues.)
• The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Gerry Mayhew from the minor leagues for tonight’s game, suggesting he’ll be in for Kevin Hayes, who was recently put on the COVID list. Mayhew, a prolific minor league scorer, has just 17 NHL games under his belt.

Central Division

• The Minnesota Wild, following their game last night against Dallas, have returned Kevin Czuczman and Mason Shaw to the AHL. The Wild will play again on Monday when they travel to Winnipeg.
• With the Stars not playing again until after Christmas, the team has sent Riley Tufte and Thomas Harley back to the minor leagues. Likely just a paper transaction, the two could be back up in a few days after Dallas saves a few dollars.
• The Arizona Coyotes have sent Blake Speers and Jan Jenik back to AHL Tucson.  Speers played last Friday in his first NHL action since October 22, 2016 while Jenik last saw NHL action last month, being held off the scoresheet in two games. As is the case with pretty much everyone else on this list, the move was made to save Arizona some money with them being out of action until Monday.

Pacific Division

• The Los Angeles Kings have reversed a few of their recent moves, sending Alex Turcotte and Samuel Fegemo back to the minor leagues while recalling Sean Durzi and Christian Wolanin. Those players had been involved in opposite moves just yesterday to maximize cap relief from putting Alexander Edler and Sean Walker on long-term injured reserve. Quinton Byfield, who was also called up, has been placed in the COVID protocol, meaning he won’t be going back down just yet.
• The Vancouver Canucks have returned Madison Bowey and Noah Juulsen to Abbotsford of the AHL.  Both defensemen were brought up with Vancouver having several blueliners in COVID protocol but with them being off until December 27th, they’ll save a few dollars and delay the waiver clock for each veteran for a few days.

This page will be updated throughout the day

The NHL holiday roster freeze went into effect last night, meaning only players recalled since December 11 can be assigned to the minor leagues over the next few days. Things will come to a complete freeze on Friday, but for now, there will still be some movement between the NHL and AHL. As always, we’ll keep track of all that minor league shuffling right here.

Atlantic Division

• The Toronto Maple Leafs have returned Alex Biega, Kyle Clifford, and Carl Dahlstrom back to the minor leagues, after their games were postponed for this week. The team is going through a COVID situation of their own and put two more members of the support staff in the protocol today.
• The Detroit Red Wings have sent Riley Barber, Kyle Criscuolo, Taro Hirose, and Calvin Pickard back to the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Red Wings won’t play again until after the holiday break.

Metropolitan Division

• The Philadelphia Flyers have sent Felix Sandstrom back to the AHL, suggesting that Carter Hart will be back with the team after missing a game due to illness. Sandstrom, 24, has an .896 save percentage in 15 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season and has yet to make his NHL debut.
• Brett Leason and Beck Malenstyn have been returned to the AHL by the Washington Capitals, potentially suggesting that Tom Wilson is ready to return to the lineup tomorrow. The Capitals are one of the few teams still playing and have two games scheduled before the holiday break.

Central Division

• The St. Louis Blues have recalled Klim Kostin from his conditioning assignment, sending Matthew Peca and Alexei Toropchenko back to the minor leagues. The Blues won’t play again until next week, meaning they have some time to reassess the roster and see how everything will fit into their tight salary cap picture when the season resumes.

Pacific Division

• The San Jose Sharks have sent Jasper Weatherby and Jayden Halbgewachs back to the AHL, saving some money as they don’t play again for a week. Weatherby, a first-year pro out of the University of North Dakota, has six points in 29 games with the Sharks this season. Halbgewachs meanwhile made his NHL debut this season as well, but has played in just that one contest to this point.
• The Los Angeles Kings made several roster moves last night, sending Christian Wolanin, Sean Durzi, and Jacob Moverare to the minor leagues while calling up Quinton Byfield, Samuel Fagemo, and Alex Turcotte. Turcotte, 20, has yet to make his NHL debut after being the fifth-overall pick in 2019. Through 18 games this season for the Ontario Reign, he has 10 points.
• The Edmonton Oilers have sent Cooper Marody and Seth Griffith, two recent recalls, back to the minor leagues. The Oilers don’t play again until after the holiday break, but announced more COVID cases today as Darnell Nurse and William Lagesson are now unavailable.

This page will be updated throughout the day

The recent string of postponements in the NHL due to COVID-19 has slowed transactions across the league, but with most of those teams still playing also dealing with COVID absences, along with normal recalls and reassignments, there is still plenty going on. Keep up with the shuffle right here:

Atlantic Division

• The Detroit Red Wings have reassigned defenseman Dan Renouf to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. The 27-year-old has split his season between the two clubs, and while he has been held scoreless in four games with Detroit, Renouf is actually averaging a career high in time on ice per game. The experienced defender, who plays a reliable defensive game, will continue to be a recall option for the Wings this year.
• A trio of forwards have been promoted to the Montreal Canadiens, the club announced. Alex Belzile, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, and Lukas Vejdemo will serve as reinforcements for a forward corps that is inundated with injuries. Belzile has played in eight games this season, though held scoreless, while Vejdemo played in seven games last year. This would be the NHL debut for Harvey-Pinard should he draw into the lineup on this recall.

Metropolitan Division

• The Washington Capitals are bringing in a homegrown product for the first time. The team announced that forward Joe Snively has been recalled from the AHL’s Hersey Bears. A Herndon, VA native and former member of the Washington Little Caps program, Snively was a standout at Yale and has improved offensively in each of his three pro seasons, highlighted by a red hot start to the current AHL campaign with 22 points in 21 games. If Snively can find a permanent role on the Capitals roster, he could be a fan favorite in the making.
• Jake Christiansen’s first stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets is over, and without having made his NHL debut. The team has announced that the young defenseman has been reassigned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Despite a strong start to the season with 18 points in 21 games, Christiansen served only as an (unused) depth option during his recall rather than actually playing. With continued results, it would be hard to imagine that Christiansen doesn’t get a second chance soon.
  • He’s getting his chance, brought back up later in the day on an emergency recall from Cleveland.
• The Carolina Hurricanes have returned a trio of forwards to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Veterans Josh Leivo, Andrew Poturalski, and C.J. Smith will head back to the minors, but each has NHL experience, including at least one game with the ’Canes this season, and will continue to be top recall options for Carolina. Later in the day, the team also reassigned Jack Drury to Chicago after scoring his first NHL goal during his call-up.
• With Jesper Bratt out of the lineup due to an undisclosed illness, the New Jersey Devils recalled forward Chase De Leo from the Utica Comets today. De Leo has no points in two games with the big club this season but has been spectacular with three goals and 13 assists in 16 games with Utica. It’s his first season in the Devils organization.

Central Division

• With their next game postponed, the Chicago Blackhawks don’t play again until Thursday. As a result, a pair of young players will head back to the AHL to get in some game action. NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeliotis reports that Josiah Slavin and Ian Mitchell have been reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs. Mitchell has played in six NHL games this season, while Slavin has suited up for nine.
• Forwards Jan Jenik and Blake Speers are on their way up to the NHL level, recalled by the Arizona Coyotes. The pair have seen a combined three NHL games this season but with zero points in extremely limited roles. Jenik is having a solid but unspectacular season in the AHL, while Speers has struggled with the Tuscon Roadrunners as well. Yet, both will get a second chance with the ’Yotes.
• After placing captain Blake Wheeler on long-term injured reserve this morning, the Winnipeg Jets recalled forwards Kristian Reichel and C.J. Suess from the Manitoba Moose. If Reichel gets into a game during his call-up, it will be his NHL debut. The undrafted Reichel is in his fourth season with the Jets organization, and he has five goals and seven assists in 25 games with Manitoba this year. Suess, a fifth-round pick back in 2014, has four goals and eight assists in 23 games with the Moose.

Pacific Division

• The Los Angeles Kings are making a swap in net. With Calvin Petersen currently in the NHL COVID Protocol, the Kings had been using Jacob Ingham as the backup to Jonathan Quick. However, L.A. has made a change before Ingham could even see any action. The team announced that the 21-year-old has been reassigned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign, with veteran Garret Sparks being recalled in his place.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

There are six games scheduled for this evening, but once again that could change at any moment given the league’s widespread COVID absences. If they do all go through, it’ll be Dave Lowry’s first game behind the bench as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, and a chance for the Anaheim Ducks to extend their Pacific Division lead by taking on the last-place Arizona Coyotes. As those teams and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor shuffling right here.

Atlantic Division

• The Montreal Canadiens have sent Cayden Primeau back to the minor leagues after winning last night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Primeau stopped 37 of 39 shots in regular play and then all three attempts in the shootout to secure the victory.

Metropolitan Division

• The Washington Capitals have recalled Zachary Fucale from the minor leagues as a precaution, as they travel to Canada for a game against the Jets. The Capitals, like most teams in the league right now, are dealing with several COVID absences and are likely trying to avoid a situation like the one that played out for Colorado last night.

Central Division

• The Minnesota Wild have recalled Kevin Czuczman from the AHL, after Jared Spurgeon reaggravated an injury last night. Czuczman, 30, has just 15 NHL games in his long professional career but has been a successful minor league option for years. He last played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2020-21.
• Klim Kostin has been sent to the AHL on a conditioning loan, an understandable decision given he hasn’t played a game for the St. Louis Blues since November 24. The 22-year-old forward was expected to grab hold of a full-time roster spot this season but has been plagued by injury and inconsistency so far.
• The Dallas Stars have recalled Riley Tufte and Thomas Harley from the AHL. As head coach Rick Bowness told team reporter Mike Heika, Harley is up to replace Miro Heiskanen’s play and Tufte’s size will be needed against the Blues. The team recently had Ty Dellandrea and Riley Damiani, but those weren’t the right fit for the upcoming game.
• With the Colorado Avalanche now off until after the holiday break, they have assigned forward Mikhail Maltsev and defenseman Justin Barron back to the AHL.  Maltsev has been held without a point in six games this season while Barron made his NHL debut on Tuesday.

Pacific Division

• The Los Angeles Kings have brought up a pair of defensemen, recalling Jacob Moverare and Jordan Spence from Ontario of the AHL.  Moverare is in his second season in North America and has eight points in 19 games for the Reign this season while Spence is in his first professional season and has eight assists in 18 contests.

This page will be updated throughout the day