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East Notes: Chytil, Capitals, Jost, Senators

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Rangers center Filip Chytil has returned to his native Czechia as he continues his recovery from a suspected concussion sustained back in early November, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post.  While the 24-year-old has made some progress skating on his own, this move will basically serve as somewhat of a reset in his recovery.  While there, Chytil will keep skating while working with the trainer and skills coach that he works with in the offseason.  There is no word for how long he’ll be at home but Brooks notes that Chytil is committed to returning this season.  Chytil had a career year last season with 45 points and was off to a nice start this year before the injury, collecting six assists in ten contests.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren left tonight’s game early with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He appeared to be shaken up on the first shot he faced and was only able to stay in for a few minutes before eventually coming out of the game.  The 30-year-old has done quite well this season, posting a 2.29 GAA with a .928 SV% in his first 14 games heading into this contest.
  • Meanwhile, in a separate tweet, the Capitals also noted that defenseman Martin Fehervary left tonight’s contest with an upper-body injury of his own which also occurred in the first period. The 24-year-old hasn’t lit up the scoresheet with just five points heading into this game but he had been logging a little over 19 minutes a night on Washington’s second pairing.
  • The Sabres announced that they’ve assigned center Tyson Jost to AHL Rochester. The move comes as little surprise after he cleared waivers earlier today on the heels of notching just four points in his first 29 games while carrying a $2MM contract.  With Ryan Johnson’s quick recall following the move, Buffalo will need to make another roster move to activate Zemgus Girgensons off IR; he could be cleared to return on Saturday.
  • On top of the Senators potentially getting Thomas Chabot back on their upcoming road trip which begins January 2nd, TSN’s Claire Hanna relays (Twitter link) that forwards Mathieu Joseph and Rourke Chartier should also be back during that stretch. Chabot is closer to returning than Joseph while Chartier’s timeline is a little less certain as he’s dealing with a concussion.

Red Wings Activate Alex Lyon, Assign Michael Hutchinson To AHL

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While the three-goalie rotation still isn’t back yet with Ville Husso remaining on IR, the Red Wings did get their other injured netminder back.  The team announced that they’ve activated Alex Lyon off IR; in a corresponding move, Michael Hutchinson was assigned to AHL Grand Rapids.

Lyon made a big impression down the stretch last season, briefly taking over as Florida’s starting netminder, including for a trio of playoff games.  That allowed him to command a one-way deal in the summer, a nice raise for a player who had largely been a third-stringer before that.  He signed a one-year deal with Detroit worth $900K and it seemed like he’d be destined to be with the Griffins and be called upon if and when injuries arose.

However, the Red Wings opted not to go that route, instead carrying three goalies on the roster for the whole season so far except for when one of them has been injured.  As a result, playing time has been hard to come by for the 31-year-old who has made seven appearances so far.  He has done quite well in those, posting a 2.14 GAA with a .932 SV%, and with James Reimer struggling at the moment, Lyon could now be in line for a bigger share of the workload.

As for Hutchinson, his season started on a PTO with the Griffins, a deal that was recently converted to a full-season agreement.  But when Husso and Lyon both went down, Detroit upgraded it to an NHL deal, allowing him to serve as Reimer’s backup while making one start.  He cleared waivers earlier today, paving the way for him to go back to Grand Rapids.

Minnesota Wild Hire Cody Franson As AHL Assistant Coach

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The Minnesota Wild have made two moves today regarding their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. They have hired former NHL defenseman Cody Franson as an assistant coach, replacing Pat Dwyer, who was promoted to the NHL when the Wild hired John Hynes.

In addition, Minnesota has reassigned defenseman Daemon Hunt to AHL Iowa in a move that, based on the number of recent transactions he has been involved in, could very well be just a paper transaction. Hunt was originally recalled on December 26th, but has not actually played in an AHL game since December 12th.

That being said, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported today that defenseman Jared Spurgeon is back at Wild practice. Spurgeon has not played since December 10th but as the Wild’s most important defenseman he would obviously draw into the team’s lineup automatically, and the ripple effect of his return to health could mean Hunt returns to the AHL on a more permanent basis.

Hunt, 21, was the 65th overall pick at the 2020 draft and is in his second professional campaign. He jumped from the WHL to the AHL full-time last season and ended up playing in 65 games for Iowa, scoring just 11 points. His offensive game has seen a real uptick so far this season (he has nine points in 11 games) and Minnesota has rewarded that growth with his first set of NHL games. He’s played in nine NHL contests this season, averaging 10:07 time-on-ice. He’s registered one assist, 15 blocked shots, and four hits in those games.

As for Franson, this hire represents the 550-game NHL veteran’s first crack at coaching. The former AHL All-Star retired after a strong 2021-22 season with the Hershey Bears, a year in which he scored 35 points.

The Wild have quite a few defensive prospects in need of development in Iowa so a hire of someone who was so recently successful at both the AHL and NHL level is easy to understand.

Minor Transactions: 12/24/23

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With no games on the NHL schedule until Wednesday, many teams snuck last-minute transactions in before the full roster freeze kicked in.  We’ve covered a handful of them here throughout the day in Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and St. Louis; here’s a rundown of the remaining moves.  All transactions are via the AHL’s transactions log unless otherwise noted.

  • The Capitals returned winger Ivan Miroshnichenko and center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. Both players were recalled on Tuesday with Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut.  He was held off the scoresheet in his three appearances while Lapierre has five points in 14 games with Washington so far.
  • The Red Wings re-assigned center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Czarnik has been shuffled back and forth frequently this month and has one assist in 16 games with Detroit while Edvinsson, who was only brought up Saturday, made his season debut last night.
  • The Kings loaned Jacob Moverare back to AHL Ontario after playing just shy of 15 minutes last night versus Calgary. The 25-year-old has been recalled and sent back down ten separate times each since mid-November.
  • The Golden Knights have loaned goaltender Isaiah Saville back to AHL Henderson, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). He has been serving as their interim backup with both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson injured.  As Thompson remains on the active roster, Saville was eligible to be sent back down.  The 23-year-old was activated off SOIR earlier this month and has made three appearances for the Silver Knights.
  • The Bruins sent three players back to AHL Providence – defensemen Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon along with center Patrick Brown. Lohrei has five points in 17 games so far in his first full professional campaign while Wotherspoon is logging nearly 16 minutes a night in eight games with Boston.  As for Brown, he cleared waivers early in the season and has been brought up four separate times now; he has an assist in nine games at the top level so far.
  • Boston also made one other transaction as they converted defenseman Ian Mitchell from an emergency recall to a regular one, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Mitchell was recalled on Saturday and has two assists in 13 games with Boston so far.  The Bruins will now be ineligible to send him down until after the roster freeze lifts.
  • The Maple Leafs have returned center Pontus Holmberg to AHL Toronto. It’s the third time he has been sent back down since Wednesday as Toronto has been shuffling him up and down quite frequently.  The 24-year-old has an assist in eight games with the big club so far.
  • A day after recalling him, the Coyotes have sent center Justin Kirkland back to Tucson of the AHL. The 27-year-old had spent the full year with the Roadrunners prior to yesterday’s move, notching ten points in nine contests.
  • Grant Hutton is once again on the move as the Islanders have sent him back to AHL Bridgeport, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). He has been recalled and re-assigned six times apiece in the last month and has been limited to just two appearances with New York so far this season.

Many of these transactions will be undone on the 27th or 28th as NHL teams return to action.  In the meantime, these teams will save a bit of salary money and cap space with these demotions.  Toronto and Ottawa’s moves could have AHL implications as well as their two affiliates will play on Tuesday so the players they sent down could suit up in that contest.

Seattle Kraken Assign Kole Lind To AHL

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Saturday: The Kraken announced that Lind has been returned to the Firebirds.  He played 5:59 on Wednesday against Los Angeles, his first NHL game of the season.

Tuesday: The Seattle Kraken have announced that they’ve recalled forward Kole Lind from their AHL affiliate on an emergency basis but did not go into detail as to the reason why. The Kraken lost several forwards to injury in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars last night but little is known about the circumstances surrounding Lind’s recall.

Lind is in his third season in the Kraken organization but has not dressed for them in an NHL game since the 2021-22 season. In 30 career NHL games split between the Kraken and the Vancouver Canucks, the 25-year-old has two goals and six assists and is -5.

The former second-round pick was the Kraken’s expansion pick from the Canucks in the 2021 expansion draft and has been a good offensive player for the team at the AHL level. This season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Lind has posted five goals and 16 assists in 23 games.

In last year’s Calder Cup playoffs, Lind had a coming out party in which he showed glimpses of the kind of player Seattle was hoping they were getting when they took him in the expansion draft. Lind had nine goals and 22 assists in 26 AHL playoff games as he helped the Firebirds to within a game of the Calder Cup championship. He provided some big moments for the team including a three-point night in game one of the Calder Cup finals.

Red Wings Place Alex Lyon On IR, Recall Simon Edvinsson

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The Red Wings have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their final game before the holiday break tonight against New Jersey.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Alex Lyon has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 16th.  Taking his place on the roster will be defenseman Simon Edvinsson who has been recalled from AHL Grand Rapids.

Lyon signed with Detroit as a free agent back in July in what was expected to be a third-string role.  However, instead of going through waivers and playing with the Griffins, the Red Wings have elected to keep three goalies up with the big club.  As a result, playing time has been quite difficult to come by for the 31-year-old.  But to his credit, Lyon has played quite well when called upon, posting a 2.14 GAA and a .932 SV% in his seven appearances, numbers that are considerably better than teammates Ville Husso and James Reimer.  With the placement being back-dated by a week, he’ll be eligible to be activated for their next game on Wednesday versus Minnesota.

As for Edvinsson, the 20-year-old is in his second full season in North America.  The sixth pick in 2021, Edvinsson got into nine games with Detroit last year (meaning he didn’t burn the first year of his contract) and this is his first promotion of 2023-24.  He has been quite productive with the Griffins with six goals and ten assists in 25 games, already passing his goal total from a year ago.

Bruins Recall Ian Mitchell

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The Bruins have added some depth to their roster for the final game before the holiday break as the team announced that defenseman Ian Mitchell has been recalled from AHL Providence on an emergency basis.

The 24-year-old was acquired during the summer as part of the Taylor Hall trade, signing a one-year, one-way deal for the NHL minimum back in July.  Mitchell made Boston’s roster out of training camp, spending the first few weeks with the team.  However, the Bruins opted to waive him in late October and after he cleared, he was sent to Providence.

That said, Mitchell hasn’t exactly seen much action in the minors as this will mark his seventh recall since early November.  As a result, he has played in just four games for Providence, two of which came this week; he has a single assist in those four appearances.  Meanwhile, he has seen a bit more action with Boston as Mitchell has a pair of helpers in 12 games while averaging just under 16 minutes a night.

With the Bruins off until Wednesday after tonight’s contest, expect Mitchell to be sent back to Providence before the full roster freeze comes into effect later tonight.

Minor Transactions: Spengler Cup Edition

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The World Junior Hockey Championship isn’t the only tournament that takes place at this time of year.  The Spengler Cup, the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world, also gets underway on December 26th, running through the 31st.  While most of the participants are club teams across various international leagues, Canada gets to send a team as well.  Most of their players also play overseas but a handful of NHL teams have loaned players out for this event.  We’ve already covered Aaron Dell (Carolina) and Nicolas Beaudin (Montreal) but here are the other NHL-affiliated players who have been loaned; the full roster (which features several former NHL players) can be found here.

  • Penguins defenseman Ty Smith has been loaned by AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It has been a disappointing year for the 23-year-old in the sense that he passed through waivers unclaimed.  However, he has been quite productive in the minors so far, collecting 22 points in 27 games.
  • The Senators have loaned out blueliner Dillon Heatherington from AHL Belleville. The 28-year-old has played in 24 games so far in the minors, picking up two goals and two assists.  Heatherington, a pending unrestricted free agent, got into three games with Ottawa last season.
  • Jets goalie Thomas Milic has been added to the roster from ECHL Norfolk. The first-year pro had a standout performance at the World Juniors and with WHL Seattle last season, resulting in him being drafted in his final year of eligibility.  While he has four games with AHL Manitoba this season, he has spent most of the year with the Admirals, posting a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV% in 14 games.
  • While not a direct loan from an NHL affiliate, the Flyers will also have a prospect in this event as forward Massimo Rizzo will be suiting up. The 22-year-old is in his junior year at the University of Denver and leads all Division I players with 31 points in 18 games.  He’s the only NCAA player suiting up for Canada in the event.

Flyers Assign Cal Petersen And Rhett Gardner To AHL

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After a wild game against Detroit on Friday, the Flyers have reached their holiday break.  Accordingly, they’ve made a pair of transactions this morning, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned goaltender Cal Petersen and forward Rhett Gardner to AHL Lehigh Valley.  Since both players were recalled after December 11th, they were allowed to be sent down even though the roster freeze is in effect.

Petersen has been shuffled back and forth in recent days with Carter Hart briefly missing time but Hart did return to action last night meaning Petersen’s presence on the roster is no longer needed.  Petersen was acquired as a salary cap dump from the Kings over the offseason and after clearing waivers for the second straight year, the 29-year-old has spent most of the season with the Phantoms where he has a 3.20 GAA and a .898 SV% in 11 games.  He made a pair of starts with the Flyers back in November, stopping 60 of 67 shots.

As for Gardner, he was recalled back on Tuesday but didn’t get into any game action with Philadelphia.  The 27-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal but has struggled with the Phantoms.  After putting up 40 points in 70 games with AHL Texas last year, he has just three goals and one assist in 21 contests with Lehigh Valley so far.

The Flyers aren’t back in action until Thursday so if they are going to recall Gardner or another forward, they can wait until then to do so.

AHL Shuffle: Petersen, Day, Meyers

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The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled netminder Cal Petersen back to their NHL roster, indicating that netminder Carter Hart isn’t quite ready to return and back up Samuel Ersson for the Flyers’ game tonight against the Nashville Predators. Petersen was the Flyers’ backup for their last game as well, though he has spent most of the year with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The former Los Angeles Kings $5MM man has played in 11 games for the Phantoms, going 4-6-1 with an .898 save percentage and 3.20 goals-against-average. Those numbers are certainly a decline for Petersen, though they are not entirely out of line with his 2022-23 season as he went 16-20-4 with a .904 save percentage and 2.88 goals-against-average last year.

Some other AHL “paper” transactions:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled defenseman Sean Day from their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Day has been recalled to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman, which is a role he’s played relatively frequently over the last week or so. Day did play in the Crunch’s contest last night against the Laval Rocket, but otherwise, he has been on the NHL roster for a decent stretch this season. What he hasn’t done so far this year is dress for an NHL game, and he last played in the NHL in 2021-22.
  • The Colorado Avalanche sent forward Ben Meyers back down to the AHL after their most recent game, but today the team recalled him, making the move effectively a paperwork-only transaction. Meyers, 25, has been involved in numerous transactions of the sort so far in his young career. He’s played in four NHL games this year and 17 AHL contests, and has scored 13 points in 21 games across both levels combined.

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