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Blackhawks Assign Kirby Dach To AHL For Conditioning

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The status of Chicago Blackhawks’ Kirby Dach remains up in the air as to where he will play this year. The 2019 third overall pick suffered a concussion during training camp and has spent the first part of the year on the injured list with a non-roster designation. However, the Blackhawks announced today that the team has activated Dach and assigned the 18-year-old to the Rockford Ice Hogs in the AHL for conditioning purposes.

That could give Dach another small window to show Chicago brass whether he is ready for NHL action as he now has a 14-day window before the team has to decide on whether to place him on their NHL roster. He is expected to start tonight in Rockford’s home opener. The team’s only other option once his conditioning stint is over is to return him to his junior team, the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL. He cannot play in the AHL this season, conditioning stints excluded.

Dach was considered a top-10 prospect in the 2019 NHL draft, but many were surprised when Chicago selected Dach with the third overall pick. The 6-foot-4 Dach scored 25 goals and 73 points in 62 games in his draft year with the Blades, but quickly moved up in the draft.

 

Andy Greene Placed On Injured Reserve

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The New Jersey Devils will have to operate without a captain for at least a few more days, as Andy Greene has been placed on injured reserve. Matt Tennyson has been recalled in Greene’s place, after starting the year with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. Players are required to spend at least seven days on injured reserve, though Greene’s stint is retroactive to his last game on Wednesday.

Greene suffered an upper-body injury against the Philadelphia Flyers, missing the end of that game and yesterday’s tilt against the Edmonton Oilers. The Devils lost both, taking them to a disappointing 0-2-2 start in a season that they were expected to compete for a playoff spot. Those higher expectations came with the additions of players like P.K Subban, whose presence has given head coach John Hynes another workhorse defenseman to lean on. Even discounting the game against the Flyers, Greene had already been asked to play a little less than in recent years, failing to even receive 20 minutes of ice time in a game that went to overtime against the Winnipeg Jets.

The 36-year old may be taking on less responsibility, but he is still an extremely important part of the Devils and will be missed while he deals with this injury. The team needs desperately to secure a win to keep pace in the Metropolitan Division, but have the tough test of heading into Boston to face the Bruins tomorrow night. Greene will miss at least that game and Monday’s tilt against the Florida Panthers, though it is not clear exactly how long he will be out after that.

Tennyson, 29, signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Devils as soon as free agency opened this year and carries an NHL cap hit of just $700K. The veteran defenseman has played 124 games at the NHL level, but just four last season.

Noah Juulsen Cleared To Join Laval Rocket

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It’s been a rough few seasons for Montreal Canadiens prospect Noah Juulsen, but hopefully things are starting get back on track. The team announced today that Juulsen has been medically cleared to return to action and will be joining the Laval Rocket of the AHL tonight in Milwaukee.

The 22-year old defenseman had been dealing with ongoing headaches this summer, after a vision-related injury kept him out for much of last season. Juulsen took two pucks to the face last November and ended up playing just 24 total games between the Canadiens and Rocket in 2018-19. Originally selected 26th overall in 2015, the young defender has looked promising whenever he gets on the ice, that just hasn’t ever lasted very long. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Juulsen has only played in 78 games at any level.

His return to the ice comes at a good time for Montreal, who are struggling to find much consistency on defense. The team has obvious talent among their NHL group, but have now given up 20 goals in their first five games and gotten off to a 1-1-2 start. Even that sole win was in a shootout, meaning things could have easily looked even worse had it not been for some Carey Price heroics against the Toronto Maple Leafs. While there’s no telling what kind of impact Juulsen will have right away, he’ll certainly be in the mix for NHL minutes if he can prove he is healthy again.

Jimmy Schuldt Assigned To AHL

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled Jake Bischoff from the minor leagues, while assigning Jimmy Schuldt to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Schuldt has yet to play for the Golden Knights this season, meaning the team may just want him to get some game action before he sits too long.

Schuldt, 24, was one of the prizes of college free agency in the spring and ended up choosing the Golden Knights after most of the league shows interest. He ended up playing in one game with the team down the stretch, but didn’t suit up in the playoffs. After his one-year entry-level deal expired he was in for another negotiation, this time as a restricted free agent with the Golden Knights. That negotiation took all summer, and Schuldt finally inked a one-year, one-way deal worth $850K.

Unfortunately, that contract hasn’t secured him a spot on the roster as others have seemingly passed him on the depth chart. Even with Nate Schmidt dealing with injury the team has turned to Nicolas Hague instead of Schuldt, giving the 20-year old three games so far this season. If he wants to get back into the rotation, Schuldt will have to prove what he can do at the minor league level first.

Snapshots: Hall Of Fame, Point, Greene

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The American Hockey League has announced their 2020 Hall of Fame class, which includes Robbie Ftorek, Denis Hamel, Darren Haydar and Fred Thurier. The induction ceremony is scheduled for January 27th. Thurier, one of the first real stars of the AHL, will be honored more than 20 years after he died at the age of 82. When he retired in 1952 he had the most points of any professional hockey player and then subsequently served as a linesman for nearly a decade.

More notes from around the league:

  • Not only will Brayden Point be back on the ice tonight for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he’ll be centering what should be one of the most talented lines in the NHL. According to Mark Masters of TSN, Point will skate between Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov on the team’s top line, a trio that totaled 318 points last season. That will be quite the task for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are trying to bounce back after losing consecutive games to the Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues.
  • The New Jersey Devils won’t have captain Andy Greene in the lineup as they try to bounce back against the Edmonotn Oilers tonight. Greene is being evaluated for an upper-body injury and has already been ruled out. The 36-year old defenseman has already been asked to do a little less this season, averaging fewer than 19 minutes a night through the first three games. If that number continued, it would be the lowest number Greene has averaged since 2008-09.

Conor Sheary Out Week-To-Week

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After further evaluation, the Buffalo Sabres have announced that Conor Sheary will actually be out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury. Sheary was listed as day-to-day just yesterday, but it seems he’ll miss more time than originally expected. Even with Sheary out, head coach Ralph Krueger told reporters including Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News that the team will not likely recall a forward from the AHL, at least through the weekend.

Sheary, 27, was off to a hot start with the Sabres this season, scoring two goals and three points through his first three games despite averaging just over 11 minutes of ice time. He’d been playing lower in the lineup than last season, but that may have changed at some point given his early success. The Sabres have a 2-0-1 record on the year so far and look much improved over the squads that have finished at or near the bottom of the NHL standings the last several seasons.

It is a very important season for the undrafted Sheary, as he heads towards unrestricted free agency. If he can get back to the level he showed in Pittsburgh as a young player, scoring 23 goals and 53 points, he’d be in for a substantial raise over his current $3MM cap hit. If he struggles with injury and inconsistency again, it’s not clear what kind of a market there will be for the 27-year old.

Snapshots: Pietrangelo, Barabanov, AHL Suspensions

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When the St. Louis Blues went out and acquired Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes, only to sign him to a seven-year $45.5MM extension immediately, eyebrows raised around the hockey world. Where exactly did that leave captain Alex Pietrangelo, who plays the same position and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season? Well, the Blues tried to answer some of that question by pairing Pietrangelo and Faulk together for a time, but that didn’t take (though hasn’t been completely abandoned either, as we saw last night), and now there is a report about some recent meetings between the two sides.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes in his latest 31 Thoughts column that Pietrangelo’s agents met with GM Doug Armstrong yesterday, and reports that the Blues are hoping to use Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s eight-year, $66MM deal as a “baseline” in talks. That $8.25MM average annual value currently makes Ekman-Larsson the fourth-highest paid defenseman in the league behind only Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban. Another interesting comparable for Pietrangelo might be Roman Josi, who is also dealing with extension negotiations at the moment with the Nashville Predators.

  • One other note from the 31 Thoughts column revolves around Alexander Barabanov, a 25-year old KHL forward that Friedman reports will be scouted in-person by several NHL executives. Barabanov’s ice time has drastically reduced this season, but recorded 46 points in 58 games last year for SKA St. Petersburg. That total put him behind only New Jersey Devils forward Nikita Gusev and ahead of other Russian stars like Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Plotnikov.
  • Suspensions came down today in the AHL, with both Hubert Labrie of the Belleville Senators and Paul Thompson of the Springfield Thunder facing two-game bans for incidents on Saturday. In Labrie’s case, his elbow caused Kenny Agostino of the Toronto Marlies to suffer a concussion that will keep him out indefinitely. Thompson meanwhile hit Thomas Hickey of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but the veteran defenseman was back in action yesterday as he tries to fight his way back to the NHL.

Minor Transactions: 10/08/19

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After a relatively quiet Monday night around the NHL, things are ready to kick into high gear tonight with eight games on the schedule. Among those are some heavyweight matchups and upstart battles, but perhaps most interesting will be one between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames. Though the Kings may not be quite ready for playoff contention, don’t tell Drew Doughty that. The veteran defenseman has been in the news this week as he prepares to face his young rival in Matthew Tkachuk tonight.

As always we’ll keep track of all the minor moves teams make in preparation for tonight’s action.

  • The Winnipeg Jets have officially recalled Sami Niku and Nelson Nogier from the AHL, while placing Bryan Little on injured reserve. The team has also given Dmitry Kulikov a personal leave, making their defense quite an inexperienced group for tonight’s game. Josh Morrissey will also not be back in the lineup even after returning to practice in full yesterday, meaning the team will have a tough test containing Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.
  • After using some deft roster management to get the full benefit of long-term injured reserve yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings have sent Oliwer Kaski and Ryan Kuffner back to the minor leagues. Andreas Athanasiou has also been activated and should be in the Red Wings’ lineup tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.
  • Kevin Connauton has been recalled by the Colorado Avalanche, who were carrying just six defensemen while Ian Cole continues to recover from injury. The team will take on the Boston Bruins on Thursday, though it is not clear who exactly will be in the lineup at this point.

Red Wings Place Four On Injured Reserve

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The Detroit Red Wings will undergo a massive roster overhaul before their next game, which is just their third of the season. Ansar Khan of MLive.com was the first to report that Detroit has placed four players on injured reserve and recalled four others to replace them. Forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Frans Nielsen and defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley will all hit the shelf. In their stead, forwards Evgeny Svechnikov and Ryan Kuffner and defenseman Oliwer Kaski have been recalled from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins while recently-acquired defenseman Alex Biega will remain in Detroit rather than report to the minors.

The Red Wings will have a very different look when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, although not all that different. Athanasiou and Ericsson have yet to suit up for the team this season as they have both been fighting lingering injuries. In fact, Athanasiou’s IR placement is retroactive to September 20th, meaning he can be activated as soon as he is ready. Ericsson, Daley, and Nielsen will have to sit for at least seven days. Daley and Nielsen both left Detroit’s contest with the Dallas Stars on Sunday with injuries that apparently are more serious than originally thought.

However, this sudden rash of injuries does allow for the Red Wings to take a closer look at some of their depth players. Most notable is Biega, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks late last night, likely with these injuries in mind. The 31-year old defender played in 41 games for the Canucks last year, recording a career-high 16 points. Detroit has good depth on the back end in Grand Rapids, but Biega is the most experienced option and could work his way into a regular role with Detroit. Kaski is also an interesting figure on the blue line. The talented 24-year-old Finn was a near point-per-game scorer in the Liiga last season and may already be NHL-ready. Up front, Svechnikov is a name known by many, even though he missed all of last season with an injury. The 2015 first-rounder was once considered a surefire future Red Wing and he is out to prove he can still reach that expectation. Kuffner is looking to do the same; he got a taste of the NHL last season after wrapping up a dominant college career at Princeton University and wants to show that he is a player that belongs at the top level. So, while injuries to core players are never a positive, this could be an exciting time for Red Wings fans to witness a group of players who all want to win a regular spot in the Detroit lineup well past when their fallen teammates return to action.

Trade Rumors: Pysyk, Goligoski, Flames

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The Florida Panthers did not enter this past off-season with all that much space under the salary cap ceiling, yet still went and handed out over $20MM in AAV to Sergei Bobrovsky, Anton Stralman, Brett Connolly, and Noel Acciari. As a result, the team has just $788K in cap leeway and no way to alleviate that pressure without making a move. Seeing as defenseman Mark Pysyk heard his name on the rumor mill last season, when the Panthers had ample cap space, the pressure on him has increased tenfold to prove that he is a valuable contributor to the team and not just $2.73MM in wasted space. Pysyk, an impending unrestricted free agent at year’s end, likes Florida and would like to stay with the team. However, he’ll find it hard to make his case that he should stick around when he is not on the ice. As The Athletic’s George Richards writes, Pysyk has found himself in a unfamiliar spot through the team’s first two games as a healthy scratch. New head coach Joel Quenneville opted to go with MacKenzie Weegar and Josh Brown as his bottom pair to begin the year, leaving Pysyk in the press box. Fortunately for Pysyk, he’s expected back in the lineup on Tuesday according to Quenneville. “He was always in consideration. He has some experience, gives us some versatility on the back end and can play both sides,” the veteran coach remarked. Yet, the trick is that even if Pysyk plays well in his return to the lineup, it doesn’t guarantee his safety from a trade. With his contract expiring, the 27-year-old is an expendable asset, especially for a team that hopes to contend for a playoff spot and could be eyeing cap space to make a trade addition of their own on the blue line later this season. If Pysyk is playing well and drawing attention from other teams, he could very well be on his way out of town. The two-way defender has heard those rumors before though, and all he can do is continue to focus on brining his best to the Panthers’ lineup whenever he’s active in hopes of proving he’s worth more as a long-term fit than as a cap dump.

  • Optimism was high to begin the season in Arizona and Coyotes GM John Chayka isn’t about to overreact to an 0-2 start to the year. However, The Athletic’s Craig Morgan admits that one valuable member of the team could become expendable if the team’s struggled do continue. The status quo has changed for Alex Goligoski, as the veteran defenseman’s No-Movement Clause expired last season and has been replaced with a Modified No-Trade Clause of a mere eight-team no-trade list. Morgan is adamant that the team has shown no desire to move Goligoski to this point, but at 34 years old and with only one year remaining on his contract beyond this season, Goligoski could be more valuable to a contender than to Arizona, especially if this season proves to be yet another step in the rebuilding process rather than the much-awaited jump to contender status. With a field of 22 possible suitors, there would surely be interest in the reliable puck-moving defender, even with his $5.475MM cap hit. The Coyotes hope it doesn’t come to that, but Goligoski will be a name to keep an eye on later this year if Arizona’s season begins to slip away.
  • It’s not strange for a team to be painfully close to the salary cap this season, and the Calgary Flames are just one of many teams who will have to manipulate the cap constantly this season to maintain what little flexibility they have. However, an easier solution would be to trade a high-salary player and Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg writes for SB Nation that the team is actively looking to make a “financially-motivated trade”. The name that has come up in trade conversation for more than a year now is back in the rumor mill already: Michael Frolik. Steinberg notes that Frolik has not looked great through the team’s first two games and his $4.3MM cap hit isn’t earning him the benefit of the doubt. Steinberg believes that the Flames should not hesitate to move Frolik if the opportunity arises, as he feels the likes of Andrew Mangiapane, Tobias Rieder, Austin Czarnik, and Alan Quine could easily make up for Frolik’s absence. If there isn’t a market for Frolik, Steinberg adds that the team could consider moving Mark Jankowski as well. The 25-year-old center is not as much of a salary cap stinger, but Steinberg writes that the drop-off in salary between he and Quine is a larger gap than the drop-off in talent, believing the AHL veteran to be more than capable of taking over for Jankowski. With solid depth to make up for potential trade casualties, the Flames could make a move sooner rather than later and work on banking cap space for later in the year, as the team was criticized for not adding more at the deadline last year ahead of their short-lived playoff run.

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