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Avalanche Issue Injury Updates, Recall Riley Tufte And Caleb Jones

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11/12: Riley Tufte has been re-assigned to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.

11/11: Colorado finds itself down a pair of forwards for tonight’s game against St. Louis as head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding that forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano are both out of the lineup.  Lehkonen is expected to miss several weeks with an upper-body injury while Cogliano is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.  In a corresponding move, the team announced (Twitter links) the recall of forward Riley Tufte and defenseman Caleb Jones from AHL Colorado.

Lehkonen suffered the injury after crashing head-first into the boards on Thursday against Seattle.  That said, Bednar clarified that the upper-body issue that the 28-year-old has is not a head injury.

Last season, Lehkonen put up career highs across the board in his first full season with the Avs, notching 21 goals and 30 assists in 64 games while seeing his playing time surpass the 20-minute-a-night mark for the first time.  His numbers are down a bit this year but he still has been an important part of their top six, picking up three goals and five helpers in a dozen contests while logging 18:30 per contest.  There is no firm timeline for how long he will be out for.

As for Cogliano, the 36-year-old has been a regular on Colorado’s fourth line this season and is their second-most used forward on the penalty kill behind Logan O’Connor.  He has three assists in 11 games so far after missing the season opener as he finished recovering from two fractured vertebrae in his neck that occurred during the playoffs last spring.

Jones, meanwhile, signed with Carolina during the offseason but after clearing waivers and being loaned to AHL Colorado, the Avs acquired his NHL rights last month.  This will be his second recall of the season although he didn’t see any action during his first one.  The 26-year-old has 213 career NHL appearances under his belt and has six assists in a dozen games with the Eagles so far this season.

The Avalanche had two open roster spots following Tufte’s paper demotion to the minors yesterday so no corresponding moves needed to be made to add him or Jones onto the active roster.  Speculatively, Lehkonen will likely be heading for injured reserve at some point which would open up another spot on the roster.

Capitals Place Martin Fehervary On IR, Recall Dylan McIlrath

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Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary left last night’s game with a lower-body injury last night and it appears the injury will keep him out for a little while.  NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti relays (Twitter link) that Washington has placed the blueliner on injured reserve.  In a corresponding move, blueliner Dylan McIlrath was recalled from AHL Hershey.

Speaking with reporters postgame on Friday (video link), head coach Spencer Carbery didn’t provide any specifics about Fehervary’s injury, only saying that it was not ideal.  That’s certainly a fair assessment as the 24-year-old went into last night’s contest averaging over 19 minutes a game while holding down a spot in their top four.

So far this season, Fehervary has a pair of assists in a dozen appearances along with 20 hits and 29 blocked shots.  He also takes a regular turn on Washington’s second penalty killing unit so his absence will be hard to fill internally.  Alexander Alexeyev was the reserve blueliner on Friday so it stands to reason that he’ll get the first chance to do so while Lucas Johansen and Hardy Haman Aktell will each have to cover more minutes as well.

As for McIlrath, the 31-year-old is in his third season in Washington’s system.  He got into six games with the Caps last year, his first taste of NHL action since the 2019-20 campaign when he was with Detroit.  McIlrath is best known for his physicality but he does have three assists in 11 games so far with the Bears this season, along with 23 penalty minutes.  Last year in the minors, he had 13 helpers in 60 contests plus 102 minutes in the box.

Penguins Recall Vinnie Hinostroza, Assign Joel Blomqvist To AHL

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The Penguins are set to welcome back Tristan Jarry between the pipes tonight against Buffalo, meaning that they’re now able to return Joel Blomqvist to the AHL.  Per a team announcement (Twitter link), they’ve done just that, sending the young netminder down to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  Taking his place on the roster will be forward Vinnie Hinostroza.

Blomqvist was recalled on Thursday and served as the backup to Magnus Hellberg on Thursday night in Los Angeles.  The 21-year-old is in his first full season in North America and has yet to see any action at the top level.  Blomqvist is off to a nice start with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, posting a 1.91 GAA and a .920 SV% in his first seven appearances; his GAA is the fifth-best among qualifying netminders at the minor league level.  He’ll go back to being their undisputed starter with Hellberg, who started the season in the minors, still up with Pittsburgh.

As for Hinostroza, this is already his fifth promotion to the NHL this season as he has frequently been shuffled to and from the minors.  The 29-year-old has suited up twice for the Penguins so far, picking up a goal and an assist despite averaging just 9:10 per contest.  He has been similarly productive in the minors, collecting two goals and two helpers in five contests.  Signed to a one-year contract last summer, Hinostroza is likely to continue to be one of the first forwards recalled when Pittsburgh has the roster and cap space to do so.

Blackhawks Recall Isaak Phillips, Place Jarred Tinordi On IR

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In advance of their game tomorrow in Florida, the Blackhawks have made a pair of roster moves.  Per the AHL’s Transactions Log, Chicago has recalled defenseman Isaak Phillips from AHL Rockford.  To make room for him on the roster, Jarred Tinordi has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 9th.

Phillips has split the season between the Blackhawks and IceHogs, having spent a week with the big club in late October before being sent down last week.  He has one appearance with Chicago this year but has logged regular minutes with Rockford, picking up three points in eight games so far.  The 22-year-old is in his fourth professional season and is in the final year of his entry-level contract.

As for Tinordi, he left Thursday’s game in the first period with an oblique injury and did not return.  The team didn’t provide any further updates but clearly, he’ll miss at least a week with the IR placement.  The 31-year-old has played in nine games so far this season, picking up an assist along with 19 blocks and 23 hits while averaging 14:46 per night.

Maple Leafs Recall Bobby McMann, Assign Pontus Holmberg To AHL

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Following their shootout win over Calgary last night, the Maple Leafs have made a roster move up front in advance of their game against Vancouver tonight.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Bobby McMann from AHL Toronto while they have assigned center Pontus Holmberg back to the Marlies.

McMann was briefly on the NHL roster at the start of the season while on season-opening IR but cleared waivers as soon as he was activated.  The 27-year-old has played in six AHL contests so far this season, picking up two goals and an assist.

Last season, McMann saw his first taste of NHL action, getting into ten games with the Maple Leafs where he had an assist and 17 hits while averaging 10:34 per night.  While he was limited to just 30 games with the Marlies a year ago due to injury, McMann was quite productive, tallying 21 goals along with eight assists.  If he can show any sort of that scoring touch on the NHL fourth line, he could stick around for a little while.

As for Holmberg, he has spent the bulk of the early going this season with the Maple Leafs, getting into seven games where he has been held off the scoresheet while logging a little under nine minutes per contest.  The 24-year-old has a pair of points so far with AHL Toronto and will go back to playing a much bigger role for the Marlies for the time being.

Blue Jackets Activate Patrik Laine, Send Jiříček To AHL

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that they’ve activated forward Patrik Laine off the IR and sent defenseman David Jiříček to their AHL affiliate the Cleveland Monsters. Laine suffered an upper-body injury on October 20th and has missed the Blue Jackets past nine games.

The news means that Laine will most likely dress for Columbus when they take on the Detroit Red Wings this afternoon. It is welcome news for the Blue Jackets as they currently sit eighth in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-6-3 record in their first 13 games. Laine has been a point-a-game player over the past two years but started slowly this year registering a goal and an assist in four games thus far.

The Blue Jackets were carrying eight defensemen and needed to move someone out to facilitate Laine’s return to the lineup. However, the Jiříček demotion is perplexing for several reasons. The 19-year-old has already exceeded the games played limit for his entry-level contract slide meaning that Columbus will burn a year off his deal regardless and according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic the team told him to find a place to live in Columbus just last week. The native of Klatovy, Czech Republic has been okay in ten games this season with a goal and two assists while keeping his head above water at 5 on 5. He hasn’t seen any time on the powerplay thus far and just over one minute in time on the penalty kill.

Columbus can always recall Jiříček from the AHL if they sustain another injury, but for a team that is developing a lot of young players, demoting a 19-year-old after telling him to find lodging might not sit well in their dressing room.

Evening Notes: Couture, Pesce, Kings, Johnsson

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Originally, Sharks captain Logan Couture wasn’t supposed to miss much time due to his lower-body injury.  However, he still has yet to play this season with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relaying that the middleman hasn’t just suffered one setback in his recovery but rather two separate ones last month.  GM Mike Grier added that they’re not in a position at this point to say if he’ll be back in a month or two, only that it’s something he’s not able to play through.  San Jose could certainly use Couture’s offensive skills – he’s coming off a 67-point showing last season – but clearly, he won’t be making his season debut anytime soon.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Hurricanes welcomed back Brett Pesce to the lineup tonight against Florida. He had missed eight straight games due to a lower-body injury, hardly an ideal start to a contract year.  Pesce had been in trade speculation dating back to the summer but that cooled off with the injury.  Tony DeAngelo was a healthy scratch as a result of Pesce’s return.  Carolina never put Pesce on the injured list despite him missing three weeks so no corresponding roster move needs to be made.
  • The near-daily roster shuffling in Los Angeles continues as the Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned defenseman Jordan Spence and center Jaret Anderson-Dolan to AHL Ontario. The moves get them out of LTIR for a day, allowing them to bank a tiny amount of cap space which will be useful when Viktor Arvidsson is cleared to return.  Los Angeles is back in action Saturday against Philadelphia and both players will almost certainly be back on the roster at that time.
  • As expected, veteran winger Andreas Johnsson has indeed signed with SHL Skelleftea, per a team release. The 28-year-old signed with Pittsburgh in the summer but cleared waivers in training camp and didn’t report to the minors.  The Penguins granted him his release earlier this week, paving the way for him to sign back home and play with his older brother.  It’s a four-year deal for Johnsson which means his days of playing in North America may very well be over.

Golden Knights Assign Kaedan Korczak To AHL

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With Vegas set to welcome back Zach Whitecloud to their lineup tonight, they needed to create the salary cap and roster room needed to do so.  That move has been made as PuckPedia relays (Twitter link) that blueliner Kaedan Korczak has been assigned to AHL Henderson.

The 22-year-old was sent down at the end of training camp before being recalled following Whitecloud’s LTIR placement.  While he didn’t suit up in every game, he has been relatively productive when he has played, notching a goal and three assists in seven contests while logging a little under 16 minutes a night.  For his NHL career, Korczak has six points in 18 appearances, impressive numbers considering he’s coming off a 14-point showing in 50 games with the Silver Knights last season.

Meanwhile, Whitecloud’s return will be a welcome one.  The 26-year-old was a steady part of their third pairing last season, notching 12 points, 97 hits, and 90 blocks in 59 regular season games while averaging a little over 17 minutes per appearance.  That playing time went up in the playoffs to a little under 19 minutes per contests while he added eight points in 22 games to help Vegas win the Stanley Cup.

With this assignment and Whitecloud’s subsequent activation, Vegas is down to just $85K in LTIR space while Robin Lehner and Daniil Miromanov still on there.  That said, the Golden Knights are still carrying a full 23-man roster so they shouldn’t be facing a situation where they have to play short a player for a game (due to not being able to afford a recall) for a little while at least.

Ottawa Senators Recall Matthew Highmore

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled forward Matthew Highmore from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Per the team’s announcement, Highmore will make his Senators debut tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.

He’ll replace forward Zack MacEwen in the team’s lineup, according to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. MacEwen has been on the Senators’ roster on an emergency recall and has averaged under six minutes of ice time in the Senators’ last two games.

Assuming Highmore is a direct replacement for MacEwen, he’ll draw into head coach D.J. Smith’s fourth line, alongside Roby Järventie and Parker Kelly. Whereas MacEwen brings imposing size and physicality to that role (but not all that much else), Highmore has a bit more offensive touch. The undrafted former QMJHL champion was an AHL All-Star as a rookie and scored a career-high 61 points in 68 games last season for the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.

The Senators gave Highmore a hefty $400k AHL salary to be a key offensive contributor to Belleville, and so far he has delivered with seven points in nine games. Although he has just 27 points in 139 career NHL games, the addition of Highmore adds some skill to the Senators’ fourth line in place of some physicality.

With Ottawa playing Vancouver rather than the Toronto Maple Leafs (who have enforcer Ryan Reaves on their roster) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (who employ Tanner Jeannot and Austin Watson) it’s understandable that Smith might see himself more in need of offensive energy from his fourth line rather than imposing physicality.

Kraken Recall Shane Wright And Ryan Winterton

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Seattle has added some reinforcements to its roster in advance of their game tomorrow against Colorado.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forwards Shane Wright and Ryan Winterton from AHL Coachella Valley.

Wright was the fourth overall selection back in 2022 but wasn’t deemed to be ready for full-time action in the NHL.  Since he wasn’t eligible to play in the minors on a full-time basis, Seattle gave him spot duty in the NHL (eight games where he had a goal and an assist) plus a one-time conditioning assignment in the minors until the World Juniors.  After that event, he was sent back to major junior where he had 37 points in 20 games.  Once his Kingston team was eliminated, he became eligible to play in the minors and played in all 24 postseason contests with the Firebirds, notching nine points.

Following training camp, Seattle successfully received a waiver for Wright to play in Coachella Valley this season over returning for what would have been his final season in junior.  He’s off to a nice start in the minors this season, picking up six points in his first seven games, putting him tied for fourth on the team in scoring.

As Wright doesn’t turn 20 until early January, the nine-game threshold for junior-aged players still comes into play.  Wright can play up to nine times for Seattle this season without officially burning the first year of his entry-level contract.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising if this winds up being a shorter-term recall, one that lets them evaluate where he’s at before returning him to the Firebirds where he’d receive more playing time.  Should he play in ten or more games, the next threshold to watch for would be 40 games on the NHL roster at which point he’d receive a year of service time towards free agent eligibility.

As for Winterton, the 20-year-old was a third-round pick by the Kraken in 2021 and he certainly has outperformed that draft slot.  While injuries limited him to just 34 regular season games with OHL London last year, he was quite impactful during the Knights’ playoff run.  During that time, he picked up 13 goals and 16 assists in 21 games to lead the league in playoff scoring.

Winterton is now in his first professional campaign and is off to a good start as well, collecting three goals and two helpers in his first seven games.  Unlike Wright, the nine-game threshold doesn’t matter for Winterton.

Seattle had two vacant roster spots so no corresponding moves needed to be made to add Wright and Winterton to the active roster.  One of them seems likely to replace Jordan Eberle; Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times reports that the winger suffered a cut from a skate blade to the upper part of his leg in practice today.  He underwent tests to determine the severity of the injury although GM Ron Francis feels the worst-case scenario was avoided.

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