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Minor Transactions: 12/05/21

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Notable in-season roster moves are not limited only to NHL trades, claims, recalls, and reassignments. Transactions in the minors, European leagues, and junior and college ranks often include familiar names or impact current NHL prospects. Keep up with all of these moves here:

  • New Jersey Devils prospect Jaromir Pytlik is on his way to play with none other than Jaromir Jagr. The young Czech forward has had a disappointing season in Finland, loaned by the Liiga’s KalPa to the second-tier Metsis. Pytlik has opted to move on from that situation and return home, signing a contract for the remainder of the season with Rytiri Kladno. Kladno, of course, is most famous for player-owner Jagr and also features a number of other former NHLers. Pytlik, a big, well-rounded center selected by the Devils in the fourth round in 2020, will now have the opportunity to take a big step in his development by learning from one of the best to ever play the game.
  • Former Boston Bruins prospect Cedric Pare has signed his first AHL contract, as the Belleville Senators have announced a one-year deal with the young center. Pare had been with the team on loan from the ECHL, but earned an official promotion with four points in 13 games. Pare, 22, was an underwhelming prospect for the Bruins, who ultimately opted not to offer him an entry-level contract. However, Pare then rose to relevance as the center for eventual top overall pick Alexis Lafreniere for the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic in 2019-20. After the big, two-way center excelled in the ECHL last season as well, he looks to have the makings of a capable pro.
  • Another former QMJHL star is getting a shot at the AHL, though for now on a loan basis. The ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions have announced that leading scorer Peter Abbandonato has been recalled by the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Abbandonato recorded 111 points for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in his final junior season in 2018-19 and, though not immediately considered a future NHLer, at least looked to be an intriguing pro. He recorded 27 points in 55 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch over the past two years, but could not find an AHL deal this summer. Back home in Quebec though, he will get his shot in Laval after notching 11 goals and 23 points in 17 games with the Lions.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

AHL Shuffle: 12/05/21

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It’s a perfect, snowy Sunday morning for hockey across much of Canada and the northern United States. As the NHL gears up for a six-game slate tonight, expect there to be some moves in the recall and reassignment department. Keep up with a list of today’s movement between the AHL and NHL today right here:

Atlantic Division

  • After recalling forward Oskar Steen and defenseman Jack Ahcan from AHL Providence on Saturday, the Boston Bruins have returned the duo to the minors today, per NHL.com’s Mark Divver. Only Ahcan played against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, a last-minute replacement for the ill Charlie McAvoy.
  • In order to make room for Kyle Clifford, who was seemingly floating in the ether on neither the NHL or AHL roster, the Toronto Maple Leafs have returned Michael Hutchinson to the AHL Marlies. With Petr Mrazek also in the AHL on a conditioning loan, this leaves impressive youngster Joseph Woll on the Maple Leafs roster as the understudy to starter Jack Campbell. 

Metropolitan Division

  • The Philadelphia Flyers have activated forward Patrick Brown from the injured reserve and have given him Max Willman’s roster spot. The team announced that Willman has reassigned to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in order to activate Brown, who has only played in six games since being claimed off waivers earlier this year.

Central Division

  • In response to activating Riley Stillman from injured reserve, the Chicago Blackhawks sent defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk down to the Rockford IceHogs this morning. The 24-year-old undrafted left-shot defenseman had no points in three games this season with the big club. He’ll return to Rockford, where he’s got a very strong 13 career points in just 12 games.

Pacific Division

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Matt Murray Will Play Again For Ottawa

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The Matt Murray era has been an unmitigated disaster in Ottawa. Since the Senators gave up a second-round pick and prospect Jonathan Gruden to acquire the up-and-down netminder from the Pittsburgh Penguins before the 2020-21 season and signed him to an unsubstantiated four-year, $25MM contract, they have seen almost all down and no up. Murray has a 10-18-1 record with an .892 save percentage and 3.35 GAA, easily the worst numbers of his career.  The Senators ran out of patience with their overpriced and underperforming starter last week, placing Murray on waivers and, after he unsurprisingly cleared, reassigned him to the AHL’s Belleville Senators. It seemed like it could be the beginning of the end of a troubled relationship between team and player.

Yet, Pierre Dorion feels otherwise. The Ottawa GM made it clear when speaking with the media on Saturday that that Senators are not done with Murray. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that Dorion stated definitively that Murray will play for the Senators again and Dorion expects that to come at some point this season. “He’s just got to find his game, not be under the NHL microscope,” Dorion said. “At some point in time he’ll be back with Ottawa.” Dorion added that Murray has had factors working against him during his time in Ottawa, including injuries and a change in goaltending coach, but that the team remains confident that he can return to form and re-gain a role on the NHL roster.

Seeing as the Senators don’t need the cap savings afforded by having Murray in the minors nor will they part ways with trade capital to move Murray, it does seem likely that the veteran netminder will play out his contract in Ottawa barring a buyout or mutual termination or a major shift in the status quo of his trade value. However, that does not mean that Murray’s welfare needs to take precedence for the rebuilding Senators. Murray’s replacement on the NHL roster is Filip Gustavsson and the well-regarded 23-year-old is much more important to Ottawa’s future than is Murray, as evidenced by the club’s decision to protect the former over the latter in the Seattle Expansion Draft this past summer. With Anton Forsberg playing well and NHL experience of vital importance to potential future starter Gustavsson, why rush Murray back this season? What is more is that Ottawa also has several other impressive prospects pushing their way through the system, such as Mads Sogaard and Kevin Mandolese, who could also come into play next season and beyond and would seemingly be of greater importance than trying to force Murray to perform in the NHL. Unless Murray, at one point a budding star with an incredible postseason resume, can greatly improve his play – first in the AHL and then consistently in the NHL – Dorion and company should be careful not to confuse the priorities of a rebuilding team.

AHL Shuffle: 12/04/21

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It’s Saturday which means it’s a busy slate on the schedule today with 20 teams in action which means there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day.  We’ll keep track of those moves here.

Atlantic Division

  • The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Dillon Heatherington from AHL Belleville. The 26-year-old played in three games with Ottawa last month, averaging more than 17 minutes a night in his first NHL action in more than two years.  He’ll give the Sens some extra depth on their back end as they’re now carrying eight blueliners on their active roster.
  • The Bruins have recalled center Oskar Steen and defenseman Jack Ahcan, per the AHL’s transactions log. Steen has two assists in as many games with Boston this season and has been quite productive with Providence, notching 13 points in 12 contests.  Ahcan, meanwhile, made his NHL debut last season in his first professional campaign and is off to a strong start in the minors with 10 points in 17 AHL contests.
  • After claiming Kale Clague and activating Mike Hoffman, the Montreal Canadiens needed to create some space. The team has announced that Laurent Dauphin and Corey Schueneman have been reassigned to the AHL’s Laval Rocket as the corresponding moves.
  • The Florida Panthers have sent Aleksi Heponiemi and Matt Kiersted back to the minor leagues after this afternoon’s game, a shootout win against the St. Louis Blues. Neither one played, and the Panthers don’t hit the ice again until Tuesday.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have activated Ondrej Kase from injured reserve, moving Kyle Clifford to the Marlies to make room on the roster. Not only does that open a roster spot, but Clifford’s $1MM cap hit comes off the books.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Devils have returned defenseman Colton White back to Utica, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The 24-year-old was recalled nearly a month ago from the Comets but has only played sparingly since then, suiting up just four times over that stretch.  He has logged just over 13 minutes a game in six NHL contests this season (including an earlier stint with the big club) but will have an opportunity for a bigger role back in the minors.
  • The Rangers have recalled goaltender Adam Huska along with center Morgan Barron, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Huska is needed with Igor Shesterkin leaving Friday’s game early due to an injury and will serve as Alexandar Georgiev’s backup in the interim with Shesterkin now on IR.  As for Barron, the 23-year-old has played in two games for New York this season but has spent most of the year with AHL Hartford, notching six goals and three assists in 15 games.

Central Division

  • The Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Ian Mitchell from AHL Rockford, reports Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link).  After playing in 39 NHL games last season, the 22-year-old has spent most of this season with the IceHogs, notching seven points in 15 games.  He played in three games with Chicago earlier in the year but averaged less than nine minutes a game.

Pacific Division

 

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Minor Transactions: 12/03/21

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It’s been a hectic day in the world of North American minor hockey, with a flurry of roster moves at the NHL level leading to compensatory moves elsewhere. Here’s a list of today’s minor transactions.

  • The AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins recalled goalie Tommy Nappier from the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers after COVID cases on the Penguins postponed their next two games. Undrafted, Nappier was a standout at Ohio State for the past four years, posting a save percentage above .930 in every season except for his last. He hasn’t gotten off to a smooth start in his first professional season, however, posting just a .877 save percentage in four games with Wheeling. He’s fared better at the AHL level with a .900 save percentage and a 1-3-0 record with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
  • Cedric Pare has been signed by the AHL’s Belleville Senators for the rest of the season after spending the beginning of the season with the team on a try-out, per a team release. The 22-year-old Pare impressed in his first professional season last year, scoring 40 points in 67 games for the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies after going undrafted through his junior career. He has two goals and two assists through 13 games with Belleville in 2021-22.
  • Per the ECHL’s transactions page for Friday, the AHL’s Utica Comets recalled left wing Luke Stevens from the Adirondack Thunder. Stevens, the son of Kevin Stevens and former property of the Carolina Hurricanes, went unsigned after finishing his college career with Yale University. Now in the Devils organization on the AHL deal, he has no points through four games this season at the AHL level and is still looking for his first professional point.

Joonas Korpisalo Placed On Injured Reserve

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Dec 3: Following Tarasov’s debut, the Blue Jackets have placed Korpisalo on injured reserve retroactive to December 1 with a non-COVID illness. He’ll have to miss seven days, meaning he’s out for a few more.

Dec 2: EBUG alerts all over the league today. The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Daniil Tarasov from the AHL and expect to have him starting tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars, after both Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins were ruled out with a non-COVID illness. The team has an emergency goalie–Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch identifies him as Casey Sherwood, a 36-year-old who was briefly under contract in the ECHL nearly ten years ago–on the ice at morning skate. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic tweets that if possible, Merzlikins will serve as the backup, but Tarasov is expected to arrive in Dallas around 2 pm and start tonight.

The 22-year-old Tarasov has just 15 starts at the AHL level under his belt, after being selected by the Blue Jackets in 2017. The Russian netminder split last season between Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL and the Cleveland Monsters, though his time in the minors was not very impressive. This year hasn’t been much different, with an .897 save percentage in nine appearances, but there are still high hopes for the 6’5″ goaltender.

In fact, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff mentioned Tarasov in his latest trade targets column, which lists Korpisalo at the very top. With Merzlikins taking over the starting role completely and Tarasov “eventually waiting in the wings,” teams have called the Blue Jackets about Korpisalo’s availability. According to Seravalli, Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen is aware that the netminder would be “open to an opportunity to play elsewhere,” though there has been no formal trade request to this point.

While decisions shouldn’t be made on one performance, Tarasov will at least get a chance to show where his development has taken him to this point by suiting up for his NHL debut.

AHL Shuffle: 12/03/21

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There are five games on the schedule around the NHL tonight, including the Edmonton Oilers traveling to face the Seattle Kraken. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are still battling away for the league scoring crown, with 40 and 41 points respectively on the year. The pair will try to one-up each other again this evening as they go against the team with the worst save percentage in the league (.874). As the Oilers and other teams prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • Jeff Petry will not be traveling with the Montreal Canadiens as he deals with an upper-body injury, which means Corey Schueneman has been recalled from the Laval Rocket. The 26-year-old Schueneman has played 18 games in the AHL this season and has seven points. A great story of perseverance, the former Western Michigan star signed a one-year NHL contract with the Canadiens in April. The AHL transactions page also has Laurent Dauphin coming up for the Canadiens ahead of their trip to Nashville.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially sent Petr Mrazek to the AHL on a conditioning stint, the last step before he returns to NHL action. The netminder has played just five periods so far this season for the Maple Leafs, allowing seven goals on 57 shots.
  • The Florida Panthers have loaned Olli Juolevi to the AHL on a conditioning stint, given he’s played in just a single game at any level this season. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks earlier this. year but has yet to make his Panthers debut.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have sent Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen back to the minor leagues now that Malcolm Subban has arrived. Luukkonen can continue to develop in the minor leagues while Subban, Aaron Dell and the injured Craig Anderson hold down the fort for the Sabres.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Max Willman and Connor Bunnaman under emergency conditions, with Joel Farabee absent from practice today. It’s not clear yet why Farabee is missing, but the team will have a couple of extra bodies in case he’s unavailable for Sunday’s game.

Central Division

  • The Arizona Coyotes have recalled Hudson Fasching, just a few days after sending him down. The 26-year-old is probably used to that by now, having bounced up and down from the AHL throughout his professional career. In parts of seven seasons, he’s played just 34 games at the NHL level.
  • Calen Addison has been swapped for Kevin Czuczman on the Minnesota Wild roster, per the team. The move is an effort to get Addison some more playing time with Iowa, where he has six assists in 10 games.
  • With Bowen Byram sitting out due to concussion symptoms, the Colorado Avalanche had no healthy extra skaters left. That’s changed, as the team’s recalled Jacob MacDonald from the Colorado Eagles. He has no points in three NHL games this season.

Pacific Division

  • Travis Hamonic was recalled by the Vancouver Canucks, now that they’re at home for tomorrow night’s game. Hamonic is reportedly fully vaccinated now and will be able to travel with the team on their next road trip.  However, the team sent Hamonic back to AHL Abbotsford later in the day so he may not travel with them just yet.
  • Per a team tweet, the Los Angeles Kings activated forward Akil Thomas from season-opening injured reserve and have assigned him to the Ontario Reign. The 21-year-old Thomas had 26 points in 40 games there last season.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Calgary Flames Assign Juuso Valimaki To AHL

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The Calgary Flames have assigned defenseman Juuso Valimaki to the AHL’s Stockton Heat, per a team tweet.

Valimaki doesn’t require waivers, so there’s no chance of the Flames losing one of their best defense prospects. However, Valimaki’s cap hit is $1.55MM, and not all of that can be buried in the minors. It appears as though roughly $500,000 of Valimaki’s cap hit will still count towards the cap while he’s buried in the minors.

It’s been a tough start to the season for Valimaki, who hasn’t meshed well with coach Darryl Sutter and has played in just eight games, registering two assists.

He still has the pedigree and potential of a 16th overall pick, however. The 23-year-old was one of the team’s more impressive players last season, playing the full season with the team and scoring 11 points in 49 games.

The assignment to Stockton is an effort to get Valimaki into some more game action, as it’s not doing him much good to just sit on the bench.

The Flames still have Michael Stone, who’s played in just one game this season, to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman.

Minor Transactions: 12/2/21

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It’s been a busy day for news at the NHL level, with unfortunately a high number of COVID protocol placements over the past few days. It’s caused a ripple effect across leagues, with teams making rapid roster transactions in order to keep up. Here’s a list of today’s minor transactions across the hockey world:

  • Netminder Evan Fitzpatrick has been sent back down to the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Fitzpatrick was a high draft pick (59th overall) of the St. Louis Blues in 2016 but was left unqualified this offseason after some rough stints in the ECHL. He joined the Panthers on a PTO for training camp, didn’t earn a deal, but stayed in the organization on a minor-league deal. He’s having a much better start to this season – despite a 1-3-0 record, he’s posted a .927 save percentage.

Dustin Tokarski Placed In COVID Protocol

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Malcolm Subban can’t get to the Buffalo Sabres fast enough. The team has announced that Dustin Tokarski has been placed in the COVID protocol, forcing them to recall Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from the AHL. Buffalo made a trade for Subban earlier today but will have to go with Luukkonen and Aaron Dell until he arrives.

Casey Mittelstadt has also been activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers.

It’s certainly not an ideal situation for Buffalo, given that Tokarski was the more reliable of the two they currently had healthy and in the NHL. The 32-year-old journeyman has a .903 save percentage in 14 appearances this season, compared to Dell’s brutal .862 in five games. While Luukkonen was always supposed to take over the net at some point, the issue so far has been his own struggles in the minor leagues. The 22-year-old netminder has an .888 in 12 appearances with the Rochester Americans, and adding Subban was very clearly about allowing the Sabres to keep him in the AHL to develop further.

Now with Tokarski out that’s not possible, at least for today. The team did not confirm whether Tokarski has tested positive for coronavirus, but if he has and is experiencing any symptoms, he’ll be held out for a minimum of ten days. That would mean at least five games, meaning when Subban does arrive, he very well may immediately become the NHL starter for the next little while.

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