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Jacob Markström Out Week-To-Week With Fractured Finger

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Calgary Flames starting netminder Jacob Markström is out week-to-week with a fractured finger, the team announced this morning. The injury won’t require surgery, and as a replacement for Markström on the team’s roster Calgary has recalled Dustin Wolf from its AHL affiliate.

Markström, 33, last played in a December 2nd loss to the Vancouver Canucks. He’s played in a total of 16 games this season for Calgary and has an .896 save percentage. That’s only a slight improvement off of last season’s form, as he posted an .892 in 59 games in 2022-23.

The year before, Markström was an elite goalie, posting a .922 save percentage in 63 games, a performance that made him the Vezina Trophy runner-up. When he plays at that level, the Flames appear to be a genuine Stanley Cup contender, but as he’s struggled to match that form in recent years the team’s overall trajectory has fallen.

Now Markström faces a setback in returning to his elite form in 2023-24, though he does have some runway to work with. Making $6MM per year through 2025-26, Markström has some time to figure things out and will hope to return from this injury fresh and ready to play as well as he did earlier in his career.

Replacing Markström on the Flames’ active roster is Wolf, who is one of the best goalie prospects in the sport. The 22-year-old 2019 seventh-round pick is an undersized, highly athletic puck-stopper who has won just about everything a goalie could hope to win before he makes it tot the NHL. Wolf is a two-time AHL Goalie of the Year, the reigning AHL MVP, a World Junior Championship gold medal-winner, a two-time WHL goalie of the year and a one-time CHL goalie of the year.

So far this season, Wolf has a .920 save percentage in 13 games with the Wranglers. He has a career save percentage of .927 in 118 AHL games. In the NHL, he has made two career starts and has a .919 save percentage. With  Markström now out for an extended period, Wolf is lined up for the most extensive NHL opportunity he’s ever received to this point in his young career.

Golden Knights Recall Jiri Patera

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Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill exited Thursday’s victory with an undisclosed injury with Logan Thompson taking over for the third period.  Now, prior to their game tonight against Washington, the team announced (Twitter link) that Jiri Patera has been recalled from AHL Henderson.

The 24-year-old is in his fourth professional season, the bulk of which has been spent with the Silver Knights.  Patera did get into a couple of NHL games last year, stopping 65 of 70 shots in a pair of victories.  This season, he has struggled a bit with Henderson, posting a 3.17 GAA with a .900 SV% in his first 14 appearances.

Patera signed a one-year deal worth the league minimum this summer coming off his entry-level deal.  He will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights in July and will be eligible for waivers for the first time next season.

Vegas does not have an open spot on its 23-man roster so two things could happen here.  The first is they place a player on IR or send a waiver-exempt player (Kaedan Korczak is their lone option) to open a spot for Patera.  Alternatively, they can use the Goaltender Exemption provision in the CBA, allowing for a 48-hour recall without needing to take someone off the active roster.  However, that option can only be used twice in a season.  At this time, it’s not yet known which option they will utilize.

Blackhawks Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Blackhawks are in action today against Winnipeg and have made several roster moves in advance of that game.  The team announced that Jarred Tinordi has been activated off injured reserve while blueliner Louis Crevier has been recalled from AHL Rockford.  In corresponding moves, defensemen Wyatt Kaiser and Isaak Phillips have been sent to the IceHogs.

Tinordi is returning after missing the last three weeks with an oblique injury.  The 31-year-old has played in nine games so far this season, picking up an assist along with 23 hits and 19 blocks while averaging a little under 15 minutes a night.  Last season, Tinordi established himself as a regular in the second half, suiting up in a career-best 44 games, helping to earn himself a one-year, $1.25MM contract.  He’ll be set to test unrestricted free agency this summer.

Generally, a 6’6 player being added to the roster would be considered a pretty big addition size-wise but Tinordi is the smaller of the two additions to Chicago’s active roster as Crevier stands 6’8.  The 22-year-old is in his second professional season and has five assists in 16 games with Rockford, matching his rookie season output.  This is his first-ever NHL recall.

As for Kaiser, he made Chicago’s roster out of training camp and has played in all 21 games so far this season after seeing nine games with them down the stretch after his college campaign came to an end.  The 21-year-old has four assists in those contests while averaging a respectable 16:34 per game.  However, he has struggled a bit in his own end in recent games and this demotion will give him a chance to reset while playing a much more prominent role with the IceHogs.

Phillips, meanwhile, is no stranger to being shuffled back and forth as this is his third demotion of the year already.  The 22-year-old has played in nine games with Chicago this season, collecting three assists while picking up a goal and two helpers in eight games with Rockford.  It stands to reason that he’ll be one of the first recalls when further injuries arise as the season progresses.

Coyotes Recall Ryan McGregor On Emergency Basis

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The Coyotes have made a roster move up front in advance of their game tonight against St. Louis, announcing (Twitter link) that they have recalled Ryan McGregor from AHL Tucson on an emergency basis.

The 24-year-old is in his fourth season in the pros and this is his first-ever recall to the NHL.  McGregor, originally a sixth-round pick by Toronto back in 2017 but went unsigned, has played in 19 games with the Roadrunners this season but is off to a slow start, notching just two goals and two assists.  This performance comes on the heels of a 12-goal, 18-point effort in 2022-23.

With those numbers, it might be surprising that it’s not Jan Jenik getting recalled; he had just been sent down earlier this week.  However, at this point, it makes more sense for Jenik to see some regular action in the minors instead of regularly getting shuffled back and forth while seeing sporadic playing time.

McGregor is playing on his first post-entry-level deal, a two-way agreement worth $775K at the NHL level.  He’s set to once again be a restricted free agent this summer.

Maple Leafs Recall Martin Jones On Emergency Basis

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With Ilya Samsonov being unavailable for tonight’s game against Boston due to illness, the Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled goaltender Martin Jones from AHL Toronto on an emergency basis.  He will back up Joseph Woll against the Bruins.

The 33-year-old played in 48 games last season with Seattle, posting a 2.99 GAA but his save percentage was just .887, a career low.  As a result, interest was limited in Jones on the open market as he had to wait more than a month to find a contract, eventually signing a one-year, $875K deal with the Maple Leafs to serve as injury insurance.  For his career, Jones has a 2.71 GAA and a .905 SV% in 444 NHL appearances over parts of ten seasons.

With a couple of teams looking for goalie depth at the end of training camp, it came as a bit of a surprise that Jones ultimately went through waivers unclaimed with Toronto assigning him to the Marlies soon after.  Jones has been in a three-goalie rotation with them this season and has played in just five games so far, putting together a 3.37 GAA with a .870 SV%.  It’s his first action at the AHL level since the 2013-14 campaign when he got into 22 games with AHL Manchester.  With Samsonov likely just being day-to-day with this illness, it’s likely that Jones’ NHL stint will be a short-lived one.

Penguins Recall Joona Koppanen

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The Penguins have added an extra forward to their roster in advance of tonight’s game against Philadelphia as they announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Joona Koppanen from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  Pittsburgh had an open roster spot so no corresponding move needed to be made to add him to the active roster.

The 25-year-old spent six years in Boston’s system before becoming a Group Six unrestricted free agent back in July.  He quickly found a new home with Pittsburgh inking him to a two-year contract on the opening day of free agency.  That contract is a two-way agreement for this season before converting to a one-way pact for 2024-25.

Koppanen has five games at the NHL level under his belt, all coming with the Bruins last season where he had an assist, four penalty minutes, and a faceoff success rate of nearly 57% while playing just under 11 minutes per contest.  He put up a career-best 35 points with AHL Providence last season but has struggled offensively this year, collecting just three goals and three assists so far through 18 games.  Nevertheless, his ability to play center and take draws has made him a viable recall option although it remains to be seen if he’ll suit up against the Flyers tonight.

New Jersey Devils Re-Assign Samuel Laberge

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Saturday: After making his NHL debut on Thursday where he played just 2:11, Laberge has been returned to Utica.

Wednesday: Just after signing him to a one-year entry-level contract on November 25th, the New Jersey Devils have recalled forward Samuel Laberge from their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.

Laberge is at Devils practice this morning and could very well make his NHL debut with the club in the coming days, perhaps even in tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Should Laberge get the chance to make his NHL debut, it would be a wonderful moment for a player who has been through so much on his path to such an opportunity.

Laberge’s pro hockey journey began in traditional fashion: after three seasons as a top-six power forward in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic, including a campaign spent as their captain, Laberge signed an AHL deal with the Texas Stars.

A power forward capable of chipping in solid offensive numbers in junior, Laberge became more of a fourth-line grinder at the AHL level, and didn’t see his name on the scoresheet often. As a result, his standing and role in Texas slowly eroded as the team opted to give bigger opportunities to other players. He also suffered an injury that cost him valuable momentum and a full two months of his second campaign with the Stars.

After scoring just seven points in 2018-19, Laberge’s time in Texas ended. He had planned on heading to Manitoba on a professional tryout agreement with the Winnipeg Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Moose. But his plans had to grind to a halt, as his father had been diagnosed with cancer.

Laberge made the decision to pause the chase of his NHL dream and opted to stay closer to home rather than continue in camp with the Moose. Laberge later explained the decision to Devils team reporter Amanda Stein saying, “I wanted to spend the time with my father,” which led Laberge to forgo AHL opportunities. Laberge  “wasn’t sure if [he] still wanted to play hockey,” but opted to remain in the game by playing in the semi-pro LNAH alongside taking on work in construction.

In 2020, Laberge re-joined the ranks of professional hockey, returning to the state of Texas to join the ECHL’s Allen Americans. He began to excel there, finishing with 17 goals and 42 points in 55 combined regular season and postseason games. Laberge then signed with the Devils’ ECHL affiliate, the Adirondack Thunder, for the 2021-22 campaign but quickly played his way back into the AHL by scoring 10 points in 12 ECHL games.

Laberge spent most of 2021-22 with the Utica Comets and last season spent the entire year in Utica, avoiding a single reassignment to the ECHL. So far this season, Laberge has scored three points in eight games for the Comets. He’s not a scoring forward like he was in junior, but the six-foot-two grinder can rack up hits, penalty minutes, and plays with a lot of energy.

Should he end up making his NHL debut, Laberge will likely do so in a limited fourth-line role. But just making it to this point, a point where he has an NHL contract in hand and is now on an NHL roster for the first time, is a remarkable achievement for a hard-working player who just a few years ago was playing semi-pro hockey and had one foot outside of the game.

Pacific Notes: Kylington, Irwin, Barabanov, Rutta, Kunin

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Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington skated with a small group today but head coach Ryan Huska cautioned (video link) that the blueliner is still a long way away from returning.  Kylington signed a two-year, $5MM deal in August 2022 but has yet to play a game on that agreement, missing all of last season and the first seven weeks of this one for personal reasons.  Huska noted that Kylington has skated on his own a bit so this wasn’t the first time he hit the ice but there is no timetable for when he might be able to return.  Kylington is currently on LTIR but with Calgary recently moving Nikita Zadorov to Vancouver, they now have some flexibility to work with when the time comes to welcome him back to the active roster.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

  • Matt Irwin’s stint with Vancouver was short-lived as he has been returned to AHL Abbotsford, per the AHL’s Transactions Log. The 31-year-old signed with the Canucks in free agency but he wound up clearing waivers in training camp, resulting in Irwin seeing his first minor league action since the 2016-17 campaign.  He has two assists in 13 games with Abbotsford so far.
  • The Sharks could soon welcome back a pair of veterans as head coach David Quinn told reporters including Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that defenseman Jan Rutta and winger Alexander Barabanov are very close to returning and should play at some point on their six-game road trip. Rutta has missed the last week and a half with an undisclosed injury and has struggled in his first season with San Jose, notching just one point in 19 games with a 37.7 CF%.  Barabanov, meanwhile, has been out since late October with a finger injury.  After putting up 47 points last season, he was held off the scoresheet in his first six games this year.
  • The news on the injury front wasn’t all good for the Sharks, however. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relays (Twitter link) that winger Luke Kunin is dealing with an upper-body injury, resulting in him missing tonight’s game against New Jersey.  Kunin sits third on San Jose in goals this season with five, one behind co-leaders Fabian Zetterlund and Mike Hoffman.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Brandon Biro

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The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Brandon Biro from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. He swaps with goaltender Devon Levi, who was reassigned from the Sabres to Rochester yesterday.

The Sabres have an upcoming two-game road trip that will take them through St. Louis and North Carolina, so adding Biro gives the club an extra forward to work with as they embark on that trip.

Biro, 25, was signed to the Sabres organization as an undrafted free agent out of the Big-10 and Penn State. He became an instant impact scorer for Rochester, potting 12 goals and 41 points in his 48-game rookie campaign.

Last season, Biro was Rochester’s top scorer on a points-per-game basis, notching 16 goals and 51 points in just 49 games. He did not play in any NHL games last year, though.

So far this season, Biro has already played in two NHL contests. He has gotten off to a strong AHL start once again, scoring six goals and 12 points in 10 games.

He also has two goals in the NHL, and the Sabres will hope that his offense can continue to translate and Biro can help them get some valuable points against two tough road opponents.

Jets Assign Dominic Toninato To AHL

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Earlier this month, the Jets recalled Dominic Toninato from AHL Manitoba under emergency conditions and then converted him to a regular recall one day later.  His time with Winnipeg is up at least for now as the team announced (Twitter link) that the center has been sent back down to the Moose.

The 29-year-old has played in five games with the Moose this season and has been productive in those contests, collecting four points.  Toninato produced at a similar rate in Manitoba last year with 19 goals and 16 helpers in 50 contests, helping him earn a two-year contract this offseason which featured a $400K guaranteed salary in each one.

Toninato is in his fourth season with Winnipeg, suiting up in 84 games for them.  He also had stints with Colorado and Florida; all told, he has played in 169 NHL contests, collecting 12 goals and 18 assists.

The veteran has been up for two fairly long stretches with the Jets without seeing any NHL action.  Between being up for 19 days on his October recall and eight more (on regular recall) this time around, Toninato was getting close to the 30-day threshold which would have necessitated him being placed on waivers to go back down.  That clock is now on hold again, at least for the time being.

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