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Lucas Johansen Signs With AHL Henderson

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Former Capitals first-round pick Lucas Johansen is joining the Golden Knights organization on a one-year contract with AHL Henderson, per a team announcement.

Johansen, 27 next week, had remained in the Washington organization through last season. He was mainly a fixture with the team’s AHL club in Hershey, though, appearing in just nine NHL games after being selected 28th overall in the 2016 draft.

A career-high six of those NHL games came for Johansen in 2023-24. He recorded his second career NHL assist and added a +1 rating, four shots on goal, and seven blocks while averaging 14:16 per game. With so little NHL experience, he quickly met the requirements for Group VI unrestricted free agency and hit the open market a year ahead of schedule.

Johansen inked a professional tryout with the Predators in September, hoping to stick around the former stomping grounds of his older brother, Ryan Johansen. However, he was released from the NHL camp less than two weeks later and was subsequently let go from a brief tryout with their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

He heads to Nevada to join the Silver Knights on a full-fledged contract for the rest of the season, not a PTO. The British Columbia native brings 257 games of AHL experience to Vegas’ feeder club, all of which came in a Hershey Bears sweater. The 6’2″ left-shot defenseman totaled 20 goals, 72 assists, and 92 points with a +11 rating and is coming off back-to-back Calder Cup championships.

In the NHL’s eyes, Johansen remains an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any club. However, Vegas is the most likely, given their front office displayed enough interest to bring him in on a minor-league deal. If an NHL team signed him to a two-way contract, he would need to clear waivers to return to the AHL.

Devils Fire AHL Head Coach Kevin Dineen, Promote Ryan Parent

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The New Jersey Devils have relieved Utica Comets head coach Kevin Dineen of his duties and promoted Ryan Parent as interim head coach for the remainder of the year, per NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. Utica has lost each of their first nine games, only taking one to extra time. They’re being outscored 16-to-40 in the outings. New Jersey has also hired Eric Weinrich as an interim assistant coach.

It’s been a dismal start for the Devils’ affiliate. Only two players on the team are scoring at-or-above a point-per game pace – Nolan Foote, who has eight points in eight games, and Seamus Casey, with seven points in five games. Utica has struggled even with the pair’s production, with seven Comets still searching for their first point of the season and an additional nine looking for their second.

The early struggles were enough for New Jersey to call an early end to Dineen’s fourth season at the helm. He joined Utica in 2021-22, posting a hardy 43-20-9 record and earning the Comets a first-round bye in the postseason. But that didn’t help them much in the Division semifinals, with Utica falling to Rochester 3-2. Dineen returned Utica to the playoffs in the following year – though with a worser record of 35-27-10. That forced them to participate in the first-round play-in, where they beat Laval 2-0, but Utica again failed to work past the Division semifinals – this time falling to Toronto 3-1. The pair of playoff losses highlighted Dineen’s slide, and he’d fail to lead Utica to the postseason for a third time last year – continuing to slip with a 32-29-11 record.

Dineen’s struggles have hit a peak this year, and he’ll now be replaced by another former pro player in Ryan Parent. Parent – a 2005 first-round pick who played in 251 career AHL games across 10 seasons – joined the Devils organization as an AHL coach in 2018, when the team was still affiliated with the Binghamton Devils. He joined the organization’s move to Utica in 2021 – staying a reliable feature of the Devils’ prospect development.

In speaking on Parent’s promotion, Utica general manager Dan MacKinnon said, “In his seven years with our AHL affiliate, Ryan Parent has established a track record of transparently communicating with young players and teaching good habits, while drawing on his own playing experiences… Those characteristics will serve him well in this new role where he will need to develop, lead, and relate to players at all different stages of their pro hockey careers.” MacKinnon also noted that New Jersey felt the need to make a change while the season was still young.

Flyers Place Ryan Poehling On IR, Recall Anthony Richard

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The Philadelphia Flyers have placed forward Ryan Poehling, retroactive to Saturday November 2nd. The details of Poehling’s injury weren’t revealed, though he didn’t join the Flyers on their three-game road trip that started on Tuesday due to personal reasons. Philadelphia hosts San Jose on Monday, November 11th – which will stand as Poehling’s next chance to return to the lineup.

Poehling appeared in all 12 of Philadelphia’s games before Tuesday, recording five assists, six penalty minutes, and 21 shot attempts while averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time. He’s searching for his footing this season after establishing a routine, middle-six role in his first season with the Flyers last year. Poehling earned 11 goals and 28 points in 77 games in that role. He also carried the heftiest faceoff responsibility of his career, winning 461 of 938 draws – good for a 49.1 faceoff-percentage, third-highest among Flyers centers. While his start to this season has been slow-coming, Poehling still leaves a noticeable hole in a struggling Flyers’ bottom-six.

In a corresponding move, the Flyers have also recalled centerman Anthony Richard from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Richard is in his first year with the Flyers organization, continuing his string of one-year tenures after spending the last three seasons in tenures with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, and Boston Bruins organizations. Lehigh Valley has proven Richard’s best sparring grounds so far though, where he currently sits with a team-leading nine points in seven games. He’s pulled the thread of top-end minor-league scoring through yet another season, after netting 55 points in 59 games last season and 67 points in 60 games in 2022-23.

Richard not only stands as one of Lehigh Valley’s hottest scorers, but also one of the longest-tenured veterans in the program. He boasts 309 points across 488 games and 10 seasons in the AHL, adding eight points – split evenly – in 24 career NHL games. This season is standing as a career-year for Richard, marking the highest production of his career – on pace for 92 points across a full AHL season. He could now get a chance to carry that momentum into the NHL, but he’ll need to earn a lineup spot first. Philadelphia is currently utilizing Noah Cates and Nicolas Deslauriers to fill Poehling’s vacancy at fourth-line center. Cates has posted an impressive 57.1 faceoff-percentage on 63 draws this season – which should be enough to hold down the role in the face of new pressure from Richard.

Philadelphia Flyers Acquire Ben Gleason From Oilers

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The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired defenseman Ben Gleason from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Ronnie Attard. The swap sees a pair of AHL defensemen on the move as neither player has been able to secure a full-time NHL role to this point in their respective careers. The move is necessary for the Oilers, as their affiliate, the Condors, are short on veterans as they embark on a four-game, seven-day marathon through Canada.

At the age of 26, Gleason has spent the entirety of this season with the Oilers AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. The native of Ortonville, Michigan, has a goal and three assists in those seven games and has registered 15 shots on goal. He originally signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent back in 2018 and played four NHL games with the Stars that year, grabbing his first NHL point on November 10th, 2018. He went on to play five seasons with Dallas’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, and then eventually signed as a free agent with the Oilers in the summer of 2023.

Attard was drafted by Philadelphia back in 2019 (72nd overall) and went on to play 29 NHL games in the past three years, posting two goals and four assists. The 25-year-old has dressed in 123 career AHL games with Lehigh Valley between 2022-24 and has 22 goals and 37 assists during that time.

Canucks’ Nils Aman Clears Waivers, Assigned To AHL

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11/3: Aman has cleared waivers and been assigned to the AHL, per a team release.

11/2: With Dakota Joshua nearing a return to the lineup, the Canucks need to open up a roster spot for him.  It appears that Nils Aman will be the one losing his spot as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed him on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to AHL Abbotsford.

The 24-year-old has taken an interesting route to the NHL.  Originally drafted in the sixth round by Colorado in 2020, Aman didn’t sign with them and then signed with Vancouver two years later.  After a short stint in the minors to start 2022-23, he was up with the big club the rest of the way, getting into 68 games.  Aman also spent time in the AHL last season, collecting 15 points in as many games while also getting into 43 NHL contests, tallying four goals and three assists while his waiver exemption expired.

He signed a two-year, $1.65MM extension in late November, ensuring that he’d remain a low-cost option for Vancouver for a little while longer.  However, Aman has only played in four of their first nine games this season, although he does have a pair of assists but it evidently wasn’t enough to keep his roster spot secure.

As far as waiver placements go, this is one of the more intriguing ones.  Aman already has 115 career NHL games (and 25 points) under his belt and with a cap hit only $50K above the league minimum, he’s a player most teams could afford if they’re looking to either add a depth piece or shake up the back end of their forward group so he’s far from a guarantee to clear.

Interestingly, this isn’t a move that Vancouver necessarily had to make.  They’ve been sending two players back and forth from Abbotsford in recent days with one of them being winger Arshdeep Bains.  The Canucks could have simply elected to send Bains down when Joshua returns to create the roster spot.  Instead, it appears Bains will have a bit more of an opportunity to try to secure a full-time spot in the lineup.

Rangers Activate Jimmy Vesey Off LTIR, Assign Matt Rempe To AHL

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The Rangers will welcome back Jimmy Vesey to their lineup tomorrow against the Islanders after he spent the first few weeks of the season on LTIR.  In a corresponding move, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Matt Rempe has been re-assigned to AHL Hartford.

Vesey was injured partway through training camp, sustaining a lower-body injury that has kept him out of all ten games the Rangers have played so far.  With the 31-year-old basically being a full participant in practice for the past week, it comes as no surprise that he was activated as soon as he was eligible.

Vesey was a solid depth scorer for New York last season, notching 13 goals and 13 assists in 80 games despite averaging just 12:23 per game, a career low.  He’s playing in the second and final season of a two-year, $1.6MM contract, a deal that has proven to be a team-friendly one thus far.

His return means that Rempe’s second stint with the Rangers this season was rather short-lived.  New York sent him to Hartford last week, recalling him just four days later after a pair of outings with the Wolf Pack.  The 22-year-old has played in just three games this season with New York and has been held off the scoresheet while averaging just 5:26 per game.  Given that he’s waiver-exempt, it makes sense for him to go to Hartford and play more of a regular role with them for the time being.

Golden Knights Recall Akira Schmid

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Vegas hasn’t had particularly strong goaltending in the early going this season with starter Adin Hill struggling, in particular.  Now, they’ve added a third netminder to their roster as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Akira Schmid from AHL Henderson.

The Golden Knights acquired the 24-year-old from New Jersey at the draft along with winger Alexander Holtz in exchange for center Paul Cotter and a 2025 third-round pick.  Schmid was then non-tendered by Vegas to avoid giving him arbitration eligibility but he quickly signed a two-year, $1.75MM contract to stick around with his new team.

Schmid made quite an impact with New Jersey in 2022-23, playing to a 2.13 GAA and a .922 SV% in 18 games, even seeing some action in the playoffs.  However, he didn’t have anywhere near the level of success last season, posting a 3.15 GAA with a .895 SV% in 19 outings and was eventually assigned to the minors when Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen were acquired at the trade deadline.

While it originally looked like Schmid might be the backup to Hill when he was acquired, Vegas went out and signed Ilya Samsonov in free agency which put an end to any thought of that.  Instead, the Golden Knights utilized his waiver exemption to get him to the Silver Knights.  However, he has struggled with them in the early going this season, putting up a 3.56 GAA and a SV% of just .885 in his first six outings.  Notably, Schmid is eight NHL appearances away from being waiver-eligible.  SinBin.Vegas notes (Twitter link) that Samsonov is not on the ice for practice today which is what led to Schmid’s promotion.

Vegas had an open spot on its active roster so no corresponding move needed to be made to add Schmid.

Islanders Place Mathew Barzal On LTIR, Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Islanders had some injuries in last night’s victory over Buffalo and it has necessitated some roster moves.  The team announced (Twitter link) that blueliners Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc were recalled from AHL Bridgeport.  To make room on the roster and to keep the team cap-compliant, Adam Pelech was placed on injured reserve while Mathew Barzal was placed on LTIR.  Meanwhile, blueliners Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov are listed as day-to-day with upper-body injuries.

Barzal recently sustained an upper-body injury that caused him to leave the team’s current road trip for more evaluation.  That testing has revealed that he’ll miss the next four to six weeks, making him LTIR-eligible as he’ll clearly miss the next ten games and 24 days.  Last year, the 27-year-old recorded his first 80-point season since his rookie campaign but he hasn’t been able to maintain that level of production in the early going this season, notching just two goals and three assists in his first ten outings.  Nonetheless, his absence will still be a significant one for a team that’s already one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL through the first month of the season.

Pelech, meanwhile, was injured versus the Sabres and will carry the same timeline as Barzal for his upper-body injury.  With Barzal and his $9.15MM AAV landing on LTIR, there’s no need for them to move Pelech there at this time despite being eligible as they’ll have ample spending room using Barzal’s money.  It’s now the third straight year that the 30-year-old will miss significant time due to injury, hardly the ideal spot for one of New York’s most important blueliners.  Pelech is averaging over 20 minutes per game in the early going, a mark he has reached in each of the last five seasons.  He has four assists, 12 blocks, and 17 hits in 11 outings so far.

As for the recalls, Hutton is in the third and final season of a one-way deal that pays $775K per season.  Despite the NHL salary, he has spent the bulk of this deal in the minors, suiting up just twice with the big club over the past two years.  This season, the 29-year-old has two assists in nine AHL contests.  Bolduc, on the other hand, is more familiar to the coaching staff as he played in 34 games with New York last season but still went unclaimed on waivers last month.  He’s making $800K this season on a one-way deal and has five points in his first nine AHL games of the season.

Reilly was also injured against Buffalo and was in enough distress that a stretcher was brought out.  While he was able to exit the ice with some help without the stretcher, he obviously didn’t return to the game.  Romanov was also banged up in that one but was able to return.  With the recalls, New York now has six healthy defenders on the roster which suggests they’re hopeful that either Reilly or Romanov will be able to return in short order.

Capitals Place Jakob Chychrun On IR, Recall Vincent Iorio

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The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Jakob Chychrun on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. In a corresponding move, they’ve also recalled defender Vincent Iorio for the first time this season.

Little details have been revealed about Chychrun’s injury. He hasn’t hit the ice since leaving Tuesday’s win over the New York Rangers after just four shifts. There wasn’t any clear moment where Chychrun appeared to get injured, though he was seen clutching at his ribs in his last shift. Chychrun sat out of Washington’s Thursday win over Montreal, and will now have to miss at least one more week of action. With his move to IR not retroactive, this move will force Chychrun out of at least four games. His next chance to play will be when Washington visits St. Louis on Saturday, November 9th.

This news brings a screeching halt to Chychrun’s hot start in Washington. He’s been the team’s clear-cut top left-defender, averaging over 21 minutes of ice time and recording four points in seven games prior to injury. Chychrun joined the Capitals via trade this summer, with Washington dealing Nick Jensen and a third-round pick back to the Ottawa Senators – just over one year after Ottawa traded a first-round and two second-round picks for the defender. For all of his moves over the last two seasons, Chychrun has seemed to find a home in Washington – and could even set a new career-high in scoring should he maintain his current scoring pace.

With Chychrun headed to the shelf, Washington is once again turning towards top defenseman Vincent Iorio. Iorio was the 55th-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and turned pro in the 2022-23 season, finding a spot on the Hershey Bears’ blue-line and ultimately posting 36 points in 123 games over the last two seasons. Iorio showed plenty of mature, two-way ability early into his career – enough to earn call-ups to the NHL roster in both of his pro years so far, though it’s only resulted in one assist across nine games.

Iorio has just three points in nine AHL games this year, but could still stand for a strong chance at ice time behind a depleted Capitals blue-line behind John Carlson and Rasmus Sandin. He’ll most likely step in for Dylan McIlrath, who’s slotted onto the third-pair for eight games this season and recorded two assists. McIlrath and Iorio could also cede ice time to Matt Roy when he returns from an October 12th injury.

Lightning Reassign Gabriel Fortier

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Oct. 28: Fortier cleared waivers and will head to Syracuse, per PuckPedia.

Oct. 27: The Tampa Bay Lightning have placed forward Gabriel Fortier on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Fortier started the year on the non-rostered injury list after surgery to address an unspecified injury this off-season. His mention on the transaction log indicates a return could be imminent.

It’d be a surprise to see Fortier head anywhere other than the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, where he’s spent the bulk of the last four seasons. He recorded 26 points, split evenly, in Syracuse’s middle-six last season – continuing a trend of decreasing scoring since a career-high 35 points in 2021-22. He’s proven a stout minor-league forward over the years but hasn’t yet translated to the top flight, with just one goal in 11 career NHL games.

Fortier was far more productive across six total seasons in the QMJHL. He found his scoring touch quick – with 11 goals and 17 points in 25 games at age 17 and 26 goals and 59 points in 66 games at 18. The bulk of that scoring was earned by smart positioning and strong shooting. Tampa Bay bought those traits with the 59th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, though Fortier would stick around the QMJHL through the next three seasons. He totaled 236 games and 230 points in the league and served one-year stints as captain for both Baie-Comeau and Moncton. Fortier will continue his search for similar stability at the pro level once he clears waivers and, likely, heads back to the minor leagues.

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