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Kings Announce Four Roster Moves

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The Kings were busy leading into their game against Tampa Bay today.  The team announced that they’ve activated winger Trevor Moore and center Trevor Lewis off injured reserve.  To make room on the roster, winger Andre Lee was assigned to AHL Ontario while defenseman Kyle Burroughs was moved to non-roster status.

Moore was moved to IR last weekend but last played on December 12th and had been sidelined with an upper-body injury since then.  The 29-year-old had a career year last season with 31 goals and 26 assists in 82 games and while he hasn’t produced at quite the same level this year, he’s still doing well with six goals and a dozen helpers in 28 outings while logging a little over 17 minutes a night.

As for Lewis, he sustained a lower-body injury on the final day of November and has been out since then.  He’s being activated for his 1,000th career game tonight.  Lewis has seven points in 25 games so far this season while chipping in with 46 hits and a 51% success rate at the faceoff dot, continuing to have success in the fourth-line role he has held for the bulk of his career.

Lee is the roster casualty up front to bring Moore and Lewis back onto the roster.  The 24-year-old has split the season between the Kings and Reign, getting his first taste of NHL playing time along the way.  Lee has played in 19 games with Los Angeles, primarily on the fourth line.  In those outings, he has a goal and two assists along with 36 hits in just over nine minutes a night.  In Ontario, he has suited up four time, collecting a goal and an assist.

Burroughs, meanwhile, is in his first season with the Kings after signing a two-year, $2.2MM deal with them last summer.  Playing time hasn’t been the easiest to come by, however, as he has been limited to just 20 games thus far out of 37.  The 29-year-old has a pair of assists, 31 hits, and 24 penalty minutes but is playing just 8:39 per game, well below his career average of 15:57 per game.  He is away from the team following the birth of his child.

Kraken Recall Ben Meyers

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Ben Meyers’ stint in the minors wound up being relatively short-lived.  After being sent down before the holiday break last month, he’s now back up with the Kraken as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled him from AHL Coachella Valley.

It’s the third recall of the season for the 26-year-old.  Meyers has played in four games so far this season with Seattle and has been held off the scoresheet while winning nearly 46% of his faceoffs.  He has been quite productive with the Firebirds, however, collecting 10 goals and 12 assists in 25 games with them.  The threshold for Meyers needing to clear waivers again is when he reaches either 10 NHL games or 30 days on the active roster so he’s six away on the games played front and is around halfway there on NHL days.

Meyers is on a one-year, $775K contract and can easily be fit within Seattle’s remaining LTIR pool for Vince Dunn.  He’s eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency once again this summer but if he gets into nine more NHL games this season, he’ll revert to RFA status with arbitration eligibility.

Seattle had an open roster spot so no corresponding move needed to be made to elevate Meyers to the NHL roster.

Utah Hockey Club Recalls Kevin Connauton, Places Robert Bortuzzo On IR

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After losing Dakota Mermis on waivers yesterday, Utah has brought up some extra defensive depth.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled blueliner Kevin Connauton from AHL Tucson.  While not announced by the club, rearguard Robert Bortuzzo was placed on IR to make room for Connauton on the active roster.

It’s the second recall of the season for the 34-year-old whose first stint with the big club didn’t last too long and was ended when Mermis was initially claimed off the waiver wire last month.  A veteran of 360 career NHL appearances, Connauton last played in the NHL back in the 2021-22 season, splitting time between Florida and Philadelphia.

Connauton inked a two-year, two-way deal with Utah last summer, a contract that pays $775K in the NHL and $325K in the minors.  He has played in 24 games with the Roadrunners this season, picking up five goals and four assists.

As for Bortuzzo, he returned from injured reserve on Thursday against Calgary after recovering from a lower-body injury but only played 8:25 in that game before landing on IR today.  Speculatively, he may have had a recurrence of that injury.  The 35-year-old has a pair of assists along with 26 blocked shots and 20 hits through 16 games so far this season but is averaging a career-low 10:53 per game.

Penguins, Sabres Swap Bennett MacArthur, Colton Poolman

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The Penguins traded winger Bennett MacArthur to the Sabres on Friday in exchange for defenseman Colton Poolman, both teams confirmed. The swap of minor-leaguers comes in conjunction with a corresponding trade between Pittsburgh’s and Buffalo’s AHL affiliates in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Rochester, which saw 25-year-old winger Jagger Joshua head from WBS to the Sabres’ system for future considerations.

MacArthur’s short stint in the Penguins organization comes to an end with the move. An undrafted free agent signing by the Lightning in 2022, the 23-year-old spent most of his time in the ECHL before the Bolts traded him to Pittsburgh for Lukas Svejkovsky last June. Svejkovsky and Tampa Bay have since mutually terminated his contract.

As he had in Tampa, MacArthur failed to crack the AHL roster in the Penguins organization. He’s spent the entirety of this season on assignment to ECHL Wheeling, where he’s struggled immensely with only three goals and seven points in 28 appearances. He had 32 points in 55 games for ECHL Orlando and Allen last season while under contract with the Lightning.

MacArthur will report to the Sabres’ AHL affiliate in Rochester for now, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him assigned to their ECHL affiliate in Jacksonville in short order. The Prince Edward Island native will be a restricted free agent this summer and has no points in six career AHL games with the Syracuse Crunch.

Coming to Pennsylvania is Poolman, the younger brother of LTIR-bound Avalanche defenseman Tucker Poolman. The 29-year-old inked a two-way deal with Buffalo over the summer after four seasons in the Flames organization but hasn’t established himself as a regular in Rochester, logging just one assist and a -2 rating in five appearances thus far.

He heads to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in search of more playing time, while the Pens organization hopes he can rediscover the strong stay-at-home play he exhibited with the Flames’ AHL affiliates in Stockton and Calgary. He’s two years removed from a career-high 14-point, +18 rating season in 64 games.

Golden Knights Place Ivan Barbashev On IR, Recall Tanner Laczynski

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The Vegas Golden Knights have moved forward Ivan Barbashev to injured reserve, retroactive to December 16th, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Barbshev has missed Vegas’ last six games with an upper-body injury, after leaving the team’s December 15th matchup at the end of the first period. He didn’t appear to sustain a noticeable injury, leaving the question of where or how Barbashev suffered his now multi-week injury up in the air. A retroactive IR placement will allow Vegas to activate Barbashev as soon as he returns to full health.

In the mean time, the Golden Knights have also brought forward Tanner Laczynski back to the NHL roster. The move comes just four days after Vegas moved Laczynski back to the minor leagues, ending his previous recall at 11 days. Laczynski stepped into his first five games of the season before being sent down. He didn’t manage any scoring, but did record six penalty minutes and a -1, while serving on Vegas’ fourth line. They were Laczynski’s first five games as a member of the Golden Knights. He spent the first three seasons of his NHL career with the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Draft. Serving primarily as a depth fill-in, Laczynski totaled 38 games with the Flyers – 32 of those coming last season, when he netted the first four points of his NHL career. He’s otherwise been a career minor-leaguer, combining for 94 points across 111 games, and five seasons, in the AHL.

Laczynski has performed well enough to hold down Vegas’ fourth line, but the Golden Knights are still sincerely missing Barbashev’s production. The bulky Russian has 30 points, split evenly, in 31 games this season – placing Barbashev in a three-way tie for second on the team in scoring, alongisde Mark Stone and Shea Theodore. Barbashev is on an 82-game pace of 79 points, which would smash his previous career-high in scoring: 60 points set with the St. Louis Blues in 2021-22. He’ll need to return soon to continue chasing that milestone, but should immediately step back into the top-six when he is healthy again.

Minor Transactions: 1/1/25

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The calendar has flipped to a new year but don’t expect the day-to-day roster shuffling to change anytime soon.  Here’s a rundown of today’s minor and paper moves.

  • The Stars announced (Twitter link) that they’ve reassigned winger Justin Hryckowian to AHL Texas. The 23-year-old was shuffled back and forth several times last month in an effort to maximize how much cap space they’re banking.  Hryckowian played in Dallas’ last two games, picking up three hits in 13:20 of total playing time.  He has been quite productive with Texas in his first full professional season, however, collecting 12 goals and 14 assists in 27 games so far.
  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Nathan Clurman has been sent back to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He has been sent back and forth a few times lately but if Owen Pickering or Kris Letang are ready to return on Friday against Florida, then this assignment might be a longer-term one.  Clurman has played once for Pittsburgh this season but has spent most of the year in the minors, tallying a goal and four assists in 18 appearances.
  • The Hurricanes continue their frequent roster movement. With no game today, they’ve assigned goaltender Dustin Tokarski, defenseman Ty Smith, and winger Jackson Blake to AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log.  As is always the case with these moves, the paper assignments merely free up several thousand dollars in cap space.  Carolina is back in action on Thursday and all three are likely to be recalled at that time.
  • With Yaroslav Askarov up with the Sharks for the foreseeable future, their farm team has found a temporary replacement for him. Per a team release, the AHL’s Barracuda has signed goaltender Samuel St-Hilaire to an ATO agreement.  The 20-year-old had a 2.56 GAA and a .904 SV% over parts of three seasons with QMJHL Rimouski and was on Canada’s entry for the World Juniors last year.

Hurricanes Recall Juha Jaaska

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The Hurricanes appear set to give a new forward his first taste of NHL action.  The team announced that they’ve recalled Juha Jaaska from AHL Chicago.  The move was made after 4 PM CT and thus will not officially hit Carolina’s books from a salary cap perspective until Thursday.

The 26-year-old is in his first season in North America after signing a one-year, entry-level deal with the Hurricanes back in April.  The contract carries an AAV of $850K.  Jaaska put up two straight seasons of at least 30 points with HIFK in Finland’s Liiga which helped earn him this contract while he also suited up for his country at the 2024 Worlds, albeit in a limited role.

So far, Jaaska has played exclusively with the Wolves, tallying seven goals and nine assists in 25 games, producing at a similar point-per-game level as he was back home.  His 16 points are good for a tie for third in team scoring.

Even though he’s on his entry-level deal, Jaaska will be eligible to test the open market again this summer as an unrestricted free agent so he’ll be looking to make a good impression in his first taste of action at the top level.

Rangers To Place Igor Shesterkin On IR, Recall Louis Domingue

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The New York Rangers will place franchise goaltender Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. To fill his role, New York has also recalled goaltender Louis Domingue from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. No details of Shesterkin’s injury or timeline have been released. This IR placement will force him out of New York’s next three games, at least. Shesterkin played through the entirety of New York’s December 30th loss to the Florida Panthers, allowing four goals on 25 shots.

Losing Shesterkin for any duration is hard news to bear, especially for a Rangers club that’s gone 3-10-0 in the month of December. That’s in part thanks to Shesterkin slightly caving in – posting a .891 save percentage in 10 games this month, fourth-lowest among starting goaltenders. Backup Jonathan Quick didn’t perform much better, with a .847 Sv% through three appearances. The pair have totaled a more admirable .906 and .907 save percentage over the course of the season, though limiting opponent chances remains a major weakness for New York.

The Rangers will turn towards 12-year-pro Domingue to back up Quick in the short-term. Domingue has split AHL starts with top prospect Dylan Garand, recording a measly 4-9-1 record and .888 Sv% in 14 appearances. This is the first call-up of his season, and gives Domingue a chance to play in just his second game as a Ranger, after he recorded a 25-win for the team last season. He’s a veteran of eight NHL seasons, totaling a 60-60-10 record and .905 Sv% across 143 career games.

Utah Loans Connor Ingram To AHL, Places Robert Bortuzzo On IR

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The Utah Hockey Club have assigned goaltender Connor Ingram to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners on a conditioning loan. Ingram has missed Utah’s last 18 games with an upper-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve on November 20th and returned to skating on December 14th. He’ll now head to the AHL to take the next steps in his recovery.

In a corresponding move, Utah has also placed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The move is retroactive to the date of Bortuzzo’s last game on December 10th. He left that match halfway through the second period after being spilled into the boards by Minnesota Wild forward Devin Shore. Bortuzzo is out indefinitely, though his move to IR clears the roster space to activate Ingram after his conditioning stint.

Ingram served as Utah’s starter prior to his injury, but performed uncharacteristically poorly – recording a .871 save percentage and 3.61 goals-against-average in 13 games, both career-lows. He stood much taller in Utah’s starting net last season, recording a .907 Sv%, a 2.91 GAA, and six shutouts across 50 games in what was Ingram’s first season as a full-time NHL starter. He could now lose the job just one year later, with Utah’s backup Karel Vejmelka posting an impressive .917 Sv%, 2.33 GAA, and 7-6-2 record in 15 games since Ingram’s injury. Vejmelka should hang onto his starting role even as Ingram returns, though Utah could get the perk of riding the hot hand if Ingram is able to bounce back to form.

Golden Knights Recall Jonas Røndbjerg, Assign Tanner Laczynski

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forward Jonas Røndbjerg from the Henderson Silver Knights. In a corresponding move, the Golden Knights have also assigned forward Tanner Laczynski to the minor leagues. This marks Røndbjerg’s third call-up of the year. He’s spent four days on the NHL roster this season, stepping into two games on Vegas’ fourth-line.

Røndbjerg has been a go-to call-up over the last four seasons. He was originally the sixth pick in Vegas’ franchise history, hearing his name called in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft after a strong season with the Vaxjo Lakers’ U20 squad. The Denmark-native spent the next two seasons working his way up to Vaxjo’s SHL lineup. He totaled 17 points in 80 games with the club before moving to the AHL full-time in the 2020-21 season. He scored 40 points through his first 78 games, and three seasons, in the AHL – just enough to earn a routine role in the mix of Vegas’ bottom-six. Since then, Røndbjerg has established a pattern of a role-based impact in the NHL coupled with high production in the minor leagues. The 30 NHL games he received as a rookie in 2021-22 stand as his single-season high, though he has totaled 65 NHL appearances and 10 points in the three seasons since. He’ll return to the top flight once again, on the back of 10 points through 25 AHL games this season.

Meanwhile, Laczynski will head back to the minors after just 11 days on the NHL roster. The 27-year-old center stepped into five games during his recall, recording six penalty minutes and a -1 but not managing any scoring. He’s been far more productive in the minor leagues, netting 19 points in 17 games – still a team-lead in scoring, despite the Henderson Silver Knights playing 10 games without Laczynski. His return will prove significant help for a young Henderson lineup.

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