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Canucks Recall Vasily Podkolzin

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After being papered down to the minors yesterday, Vasily Podkolzin is back up with the Canucks as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled him from AHL Abbotsford.

The 22-year-old was the tenth pick back in 2019 and spent the full 2021-22 season with Vancouver.  However, last season, he split the season between the NHL and the AHL, and this year, they decided he’d be best served playing big minutes in his final season of waiver exemption.

This season, Podkolzin has played in 44 games with Abbotsford, collecting 15 goals and 13 assists.  He also has seen action in three games with Vancouver this month but has been primarily limited to fourth-line duty.  That’s likely to continue to be the case moving forward.

Podkolzin had been shuffled back and forth over the last week but that should change now.  With Vancouver having a dozen healthy forwards before this roster move, that means this will count as one of their four allowable post-deadline regular recalls so his stint with the Canucks should be longer this time around.  Notably, his promotion effectively caps Vancouver out as they won’t be able to afford another recall.  That likely played a role in their decision yesterday not to sign Phil Kessel as an extra depth player after he had worked out with Abbotsford recently.

Sabres Notes: Girgensons, Thompson, Greenway, Captaincy

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While the Sabres had some trade discussions involving forward Zemgus Girgensons, GM Kevyn Adams told reporters including Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News that their preference is to re-sign the pending unrestricted free agent.  The 30-year-old has spent his entire ten-year NHL career in Buffalo after they made him a first-round pick (14th overall) back in 2012.  While Girgensons hasn’t become the two-way threat they envisioned (he hasn’t surpassed the 20-point mark since his sophomore year), he has been an important checker while Adams lauded his dressing room presence.  Girgensons has a $2.5MM salary this season and it’s hard to see him commanding much more than that as he has just seven goals and two assists through 46 games so far this season.

More from Buffalo:

  • The team welcomed back center Tage Thompson back in the lineup today against Edmonton, per a team announcement. The 26-year-old had missed Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury.  It has been a tough year for Thompson who has been limited to 35 points in 53 games after putting up 47 goals and 47 assists last season.  Meanwhile, winger Jordan Greenway was out for today’s contest with an injury after taking a high stick against Nashville on Thursday.  After struggling last season, the 27-year-old has fared a bit better in his first full season with Buffalo, collecting 21 points and 101 hits in 52 games so far.
  • With the Sabres moving captain Kyle Okposo on Friday, they have a decision to make on the captaincy front. Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News relays (Twitter link) that the team will decide on naming a new alternate in the coming days.  However, naming a permanent replacement for Okposo will likely wait until next season.

Sharks Recall Jacob MacDonald

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After moving Nikita Okhotyuk to Calgary in a late move before Friday’s trade deadline, the Sharks were down to just six defenders on their active roster.  They’ve determined who his replacement on the roster will be as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled blueliner Jacob MacDonald from AHL San Jose.

The 30-year-old has spent most of the year with the Sharks but playing time was limited thanks to three separate injuries that kept him on injured reserve for 29 games.  In between those, MacDonald got into 22 games, recording six goals and one assist along with 37 hits while averaging a little over 12 minutes a night.

Last month, the Sharks opted to place MacDonald, a pending unrestricted free agent, on waivers to give a longer look to some of their other options.  He cleared and was sent to the Barracuda a little more than two weeks ago.  He suited up six times for them, collecting four assists.

There’s a decent chance MacDonald might not wind up back there as Ty Emberson is on injured reserve while Matt Benning is likely done for the season so MacDonald could be in a depth role for the Sharks for the stretch run.  Since this is a post-deadline recall, he would be eligible to return to the Barracuda later on while this will count as one of their four allowable regular recalls unless there’s another blueliner whose availability for their game tonight against Ottawa is in question.

Red Wings Recall Jonatan Berggren

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On Friday, the Red Wings opened up a roster spot when they traded Klim Kostin to San Jose.  Today, they filled that spot, announcing that they’ve recalled winger Jonatan Berggren from AHL Grand Rapids.

The 23-year-old spent most of last season with Detroit, getting into 67 games where he had 15 goals and 13 assists, not a bad rookie campaign by any stretch.  However, GM Steve Yzerman was active over the course of the summer bringing in several new forwards that ultimately pushed Berggren into more of a depth role.  The in-season signing of Patrick Kane bumped him down a bit more on the depth chart.

As a result, Berggren has spent most of this season in the minors with the Griffins, allowing him to play big minutes instead of being in and out of the lineup in a bottom-six role with the big club.  The decision certainly made sense from a development perspective and it has worked out well as Berggren leads Grand Rapids in scoring with 19 goals and 27 points in 43 games.  For perspective, no one else on the Griffins has reached the 30-point mark yet.  He does have nine appearances with the Red Wings as well, collecting two goals and three helpers despite averaging barely over 10 minutes a night.

With Dylan Larkin out due to a lower-body injury, Detroit was down to just 11 healthy forwards following yesterday’s Kostin trade.  Accordingly, the Red Wings should be able to classify Berggren’s promotion as an emergency one, meaning it wouldn’t count against their cap of four post-deadline regular recalls.

Canucks Attempted To Move Tucker Poolman’s Contract

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Tucker Poolman’s tenure with Vancouver has been rough, to say the least.  Concussion and migraine troubles have limited him to just 43 games in his three seasons with the team, 40 of those coming two years ago.  For the rest of the time, he has been on LTIR, allowing the Canucks to spend over the cap by his $2.5MM AAV but his presence there has restricted them from accruing in-season cap space.  Accordingly, that has limited them when it comes to trying to bank cap room for late-season additions.

Speaking with Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston following yesterday’s trade deadline, GM Patrik Allvin acknowledged that he has attempted to move Poolman’s deal but hasn’t been able to find a taker.  It’s not a matter of his contract having value as the Canucks would need to incentivize a team to take it on but evidently, teams aren’t willing to do so or Vancouver hasn’t been offering up enough of an incentive – likely in the form of a draft pick – to take it on.

Poolman has one year left on this one at that $2.5MM price tag so Allvin will need to continue working on this into the summer.  Already without their top two selections and their fifth-rounder in the upcoming draft in June, it stands to reason that they might be hesitant to part with another selection from this class to get a team to take Poolman’s contract on but they have all but their third-rounder for 2025 so moving a pick from that group might make more sense.

One of the other challenges of being in LTIR for the entire season is that any performance bonuses earned roll over as an overage penalty to the following season.  Fortunately for the Canucks, that shouldn’t be much of a concern this year as they’ve been more of a veteran-heavy group but they will have to rely on some of their cheaper prospects to fill out their roster next season.  Those players will likely have bonuses which will provide a bigger impetus for Allvin to find a taker for Poolman’s contract in the coming months.

Parker Kelly Receives Two-Game Suspension

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While it was a busy day on the trade front on Friday, the Department of Player Safety was busy as well.  On top of handing out three fines, they also announced that Senators center Parker Kelly received a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Kings defenseman Andreas Englund.

The incident occurred late in the third period of Thursday night’s matchup.  He received a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head on the play while Englund also received a minor for roughing as well.

It’s the first suspension of Kelly’s career and he’ll forfeit a little under $8K which goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.  Kelly will miss tonight’s game against San Jose and Tuesday’s contest versus Pittsburgh.  Ottawa shouldn’t need to recall a player to take his place on the roster with their addition of Boris Katchouk off waivers yesterday so they won’t need to use one of their four post-deadline regular recalls.

Jets Acquire Tyler Toffoli

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11:41 a.m.: The trade call between the Devils and Jets is complete, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. All the details of the reported trade below are accurate.

10:27 a.m.: The Jets already made a top-six addition when they acquired Sean Monahan from Montreal last month.  They’re now set to make another one as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they are closing in on a trade with New Jersey for winger Tyler Toffoli.  Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press adds (Twitter link) that the Devils are expected to receive second and third-round picks in return.  The Jets don’t have their own second-round pick this year but they do have Montreal’s, a well-traveled pick that has already been involved in trades for Christian Dvorak, Sean Durzi, and Pierre-Luc Dubois so far. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff confirms it’s a 2025 second-rounder and a 2024 third-rounder heading to New Jersey.

Toffoli was in his first season with New Jersey who acquired him from Calgary in the summer after the two sides weren’t able to agree on a contract extension.  The Devils had tried to extend Toffoli as well but clearly, those talks weren’t able to yield a new deal, resulting in this trade instead over the risk of him leaving in free agency in July.

The 31-year-old was productive with the Devils, leading the team in goals with 26 through 61 games while chipping in with 18 assists as well; his goal total ties him for the Winnipeg lead with Kyle Connor.  He surpassed the 30-goal mark last season for the second time in his career and appears to be well on his way toward doing so once again this year.  In the playoffs, Toffoli has had some success with 44 points in 88 games, including 14 in 22 playoff appearances with the Canadiens in their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.  He’ll be counted on to provide some extra scoring punch on a Winnipeg team that is outside the top 20 in goals scored so far this season.

Despite being a consistent contributor offensively, Toffoli has bounced around in recent seasons.  This will be the sixth team that Toffoli has played for since 2020, joining Vancouver, Los Angeles, Montreal, Calgary, and New Jersey.  Barring an extension, the number may increase to seven in the coming months.

Toffoli has a $4.25MM cap hit, one that Winnipeg can work in without needing salary retention.  However, if they take on the full freight of the deal, that won’t leave them with much more cap room to work with so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Devils at least retain a portion of his contract once the deal is made official. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that the Devils have indeed retained half of Toffoli’s deal, making him a $2.125MM player for Winnipeg.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Penguins Likely To Move Alex Nedeljkovic, Make Several Roster Moves

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The Penguins moved out Jake Guentzel last night and it appears he won’t be the only rental on the move.  Rob Rossi of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that they’re likely to move goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic before the 2 PM CT deadline.

Nedeljkovic spent most of last year in the minors but has been a full-timer with Pittsburgh this season, faring relatively well in the backup role.  Through 21 games so far this season, the 28-year-old has a 2.87 GAA and a .908 SV%, his best numbers since his rookie campaign back in 2020-21.

While the goalie market has had a few big names in there, talk of some of those names moving has started to die off.  Instead, the goalies that move might be short-term rentals and Nedeljkovic on an expiring $1.5MM contract fits right into that category.  There are playoff-bound teams that could use an upgrade at the backup goalie position and he would fit the bill so GM Kyle Dubas should be able to find a suitable return for his services.

While not consequential after the 23-player roster limit that was lifted this morning, they also cleared a roster spot by placing winger Jansen Harkins on injured reserve, per CapFriendly. The 26-year-old winger has just four points in 43 games this season and did not return to last night’s game against the Capitals after a fight.

Meanwhile, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that forwards Valtteri Puustinen, Joona Koppanen, and Jonathan Gruden were all assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  Those moves were needed to get them back into salary cap compliance after losing Guentzel’s LTIR buffer in the swap yesterday.  Puustinen has played in 31 games with Pittsburgh so far this season, notching 13 points and seems like a likely candidate to be recalled after the trade deadline if they have cap room.  Gruden, meanwhile, has a goal in nine NHL appearances while Koppanen has been held off the scoresheet in his four contests.

Panthers Acquire Kyle Okposo

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After adding Vladimir Tarasenko earlier this week, the Panthers have made another addition up front.  They’ve acquired winger Kyle Okposo from the Sabres in exchange for defenseman Calle Sjalin and a conditional 2024 seventh-round pick.  The pick will elevate to a fifth-round selection if Florida wins the Stanley Cup.

Okposo has served as Buffalo’s captain in each of the last two seasons, a fitting reward after eight years with the club. Florida will become just the third team that Okposo has played for in his 17-year career, which kicked off when the New York Islanders selected him seventh-overall in the 2006 NHL Draft, taking him in the same top 10 that featured Erik Johnson, Jonathan Toews, and Nicklas Backstrom. Okposo would play two seasons at the University of Minnesota before making his professional debut in the 2007-08 season and playing out his rookie NHL season in 2008-09. He scored 18 goals and 39 points in 65 games as a first-year, quickly establishing the reliable, top-six impact that he’s brought throughout his entire career. Okposo has since had five seasons of 50 or more points, including a career-high 69 points scored in the 2013-14 season. In full, he’s totalled 1045 games and 614 points in the NHL.

Okposo has only entered the open market once, signing a seven-year contract with the Sabres in the summer of 2016. He’s since played through some of Buffalo’s worst seasons, experiencing four different coaches and no playoff berths with the team. But he’s stuck through it all, providing a consistent impact in all three zones that he’s sure to bring to Florida now. His departure marks the end of an era for the Sabres, with Zemgus Girgensons the last Sabre from the 2016-17 team. Okposo is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and at 35, he’ll likely begin considering his future. But with this move to Florida, he’ll first get the chance to chase a Stanley Cup – an opportunity he hasn’t had much of across his 1,000-game career.

Kraken, Jordan Eberle Agree To Two-Year Extension

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With Seattle selling, it was a matter of Jordan Eberle either signing an extension or being traded today.  It will be the former as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the two sides have agreed to a two-year, $9.5MM extension.  The deal contains a full no-trade clause.

The 33-year-old had been believed to be seeking a third year on this deal but instead, he winds up with a bit more than the originally reported offer of $4.5MM per year and full trade protection, something he didn’t have before; his current deal only carried a 16-team no-trade clause.  Even with that, the contract represents a small dip in pay by $750K per season.

Eberle was originally picked by Seattle in the expansion draft in 2021 and has been one of their top scorers since then; he’s tied for second in franchise scoring history with defenseman Vince Dunn and behind center Jared McCann.  He had one of his best outputs last season, notching 20 goals and a career-high 43 assists, giving him some leverage heading into offseason extension discussions.

However, his numbers have been down this year, as has been the case for several of Seattle’s top players.  Even so, Eberle sits fourth in team scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists in 58 games while logging a little over 17 minutes a night.  That type of production made him an attractive target for teams looking to bolster their secondary scoring leading into the trade deadline, especially with 76 playoff games under his belt.  Instead, he’ll be staying put and staying in a top-six role for the Kraken for the next couple of years.

With the signing, Seattle has a little under $65.5MM in commitments to 16 players for next season, per CapFriendly.  With Kailer Yamamoto and Eeli Tolvanen headlining their RFA list and Justin Schultz their lone higher-priced UFA of significance, GM Ron Francis looks set to have considerable cap space heading into next summer to add to his roster to try to get his team back into playoff contention.

Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek was first to report that contract talks had resumed earlier this morning.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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