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Colorado Assigns Riley Tufte To AHL

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While Avalanche winger Riley Tufte has been productive on his latest recall, it wasn’t enough to keep him up with the big club for long as Colorado has assigned him to the minors, per a team announcement (Twitter link).

The 25-year-old became a Group Six unrestricted free agent in the summer and quickly inked a one-year deal with Colorado on the opening day of free agency.  Since then, he has frequently been shuffled back and forth between the Avs and Eagles; this demotion is already his sixth of the season.

Along the way, Tufte has played in five contests with the big club and picked up a point in each of his last two.  Those are his only two points of the season while he’s averaging a little over 11 minutes a night at the top level.  In the minors, however, Tufte has been quite productive, notching nine goals and eight assists in just a dozen games.  That should have him in line to be recalled again before too long.

At this point, it’s unclear who will be taking Tufte’s spot in the lineup tonight against Calgary.  Logan O’Connor has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury but remains on the active roster, suggesting his absence is a short-term one so it’s possible that he is cleared to play.  Otherwise, Tomas Tatar would come back in after being a healthy scratch last night; the 32-year-old is still looking for his first goal of the season.

Islanders Recall Grant Hutton

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While the Islanders added some defensive depth today when they claimed Mike Reilly off waivers from Florida, more reinforcements appear to be needed for their game tonight against Philadelphia as Newsday’s Andrew Gross relays (Twitter link) that Grant Hutton has been added to New York’s roster.

The 28-year-old last saw NHL action during the 2021-22 season when he got into 16 games at the top level.  He didn’t dominate but held his own while averaging a little over 14 minutes of playing time, resulting in the Isles giving him a three-year deal that summer with two of those seasons being a one-way salary.

However, since then, Hutton has cleared waivers twice and has played exclusively with AHL Bridgeport until now.  Last season, the blueliner had ten points in 39 games and is on a similar points pace this year with five points – all assists – in his first 16 appearances.

With Reilly only being claimed off waivers earlier this afternoon, there’s no guarantee that he will be available against the Flyers.  Meanwhile, Sebastian Aho’s availability is also in question after leaving yesterday’s game early with an injury so Hutton will be available to suit up if those two aren’t able to play.

New York had a vacant roster spot following the placement of Matt Martin on injured reserve earlier today while the cap space was created earlier in the day when Adam Pelech was placed on LTIR.  Accordingly, no further roster moves were necessary to add Hutton to the active roster.

Devils Sign Samuel Laberge

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Samuel Laberge started this season on a minor league deal, but the Devils have seen something that they like as they announced that they have signed the forward to a one-year entry-level contract.  The contract will pay him $775K in the NHL and $90K in the minors.

The 26-year-old has been somewhat of a journeyman thus far in his career.  Undrafted out of the QMJHL, Laberge spent two seasons in the minors for Dallas before playing for a year in the LNAH, an independent league in Quebec to be closer to his father who had just been diagnosed with cancer.  From there, he played on an ECHL deal in Minnesota before inking a minor-league agreement with New Jersey’s farm team back in 2021.  This is his third season in their system.

Laberge has played in eight games with AHL Utica this season, recording a goal and two assists along with a team-high 16 penalty minutes.  For his career, he has 54 points in 201 AHL appearances.  Despite this contract, Laberge won’t get the opportunity to play in the NHL right away as the Devils immediately assigned him back to the Comets.  However, having this deal in place puts him in a position to be recalled when injuries strike later in the season.

Jets Recall Declan Chisholm From Conditioning Stint

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It has been an interesting start to the season for Jets blueliner Declan Chisholm as he has yet to see any action with Winnipeg.  Last week, the team sent him to AHL Manitoba to get some playing time and today, they announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled him from that loan which was capped at a maximum of two weeks.

Last season, the 23-year-old was quite productive with the Moose, notching 43 points in 59 games after recording 30 in 53 appearances the year before but didn’t see any NHL action.  Unsurprisingly, Chisholm was productive in this six-game AHL stint, collecting five assists.

However, despite making Winnipeg’s roster out of training camp, Chisholm is still waiting to play his first game of the season with the big club and has just two career NHL appearances to his name.  It’s clear that internally, the team doesn’t think he’ll pass through waivers unclaimed and would like to avoid a repeat of last year when they waived a player in a similar situation in Johnathan Kovacevic who has since gone on to become a regular with Montreal.

His best path to playing time in Winnipeg is an injury but the Jets remain healthy on the back end, meaning that Chisholm is set to reprise his role of being eighth on the depth chart.  With Ville Heinola showing that he’s ready for an NHL look when he returns from his ankle injury next month, it appears that Chisholm will continue to be stuck in a numbers game for a while yet.

Metropolitan Notes: Oshie, Martin, Texier, Lazar

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After leaving Friday’s game against Edmonton following a collision with Mattias Ekholm, Capitals winger T.J. Oshie will not travel with the team for their upcoming five-game West Coast road trip, reports Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.  Oshie has dealt with concussion issues throughout his career and while the team didn’t call the injury that, they’re clearly taking a cautious approach with the 36-year-old.  It has been a particularly challenging year on the ice for Oshie, who has been limited to just one goal and one assist through his first 17 games of the season, numbers that are by far the worst of his career.  Oshie has one year left on his contract after this one which carries a $5.75MM AAV.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • After putting Adam Pelech on LTIR earlier in the day, the Islanders also announced (Twitter link) that winger Matt Martin has been placed on IR. The placement is retroactive to November 15th which means that he will be eligible to be activated as soon as he is cleared to return.  Martin has a goal and an assist in 14 games this season along with seven penalty minutes and 31 hits while his playing time has dipped to just 8:27 per night.
  • Blue Jackets winger Alexandre Texier has joined the team on its road trip, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has missed the last two games due to illness but evidently has been cleared to return.  After spending last season in Switzerland, Texier is off to a relatively quiet start to his season, notching four goals and three assists in his first 19 games despite logging more than 16 minutes a night of ice time, a career-best.
  • Devils forward Curtis Lazar is listed as questionable for tonight’s game against Buffalo due to a lower-body injury sustained yesterday against Columbus, notes NHL.com’s Mike Morreale (Twitter link). The 28-year-old is in his first full season with New Jersey who acquired him from Vancouver at the trade deadline last March.  Lazar has three goals and two assists along with 37 hits in 17 games so far in just over 12 minutes a night of action.

Sabres Recall Jiri Kulich And Isak Rosen

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With Zemgus Girgensons leaving yesterday’s game early due to injury and Jordan Greenway being a late scratch, the Sabres needed some reinforcements up front.  Those have come in the form of Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen as the team announced that both forwards have been recalled from AHL Rochester.

To make room for them on the roster, Girgensons has been placed on injured reserve and is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury.  Greenway, meanwhile, is away from the team for personal reasons, making him eligible for non-roster status.

Kulich was the 28th overall pick by Buffalo in 2022 and appears to be well on his way toward outperforming that draft spot.  He spent all of last season with the Americans and fared quite well as an underager, notching 24 goals and 22 assists in 62 regular season games while chipping in with 11 points in a dozen playoff contests.  This year, he’s off to an even better start with 11 goals and six helpers in his first 16 appearances.  Kulich can play up to nine games with the Sabres before officially burning the first year of his entry-level contract so it’s quite possible that his promotion will be a short-term one.

As for Rosen, whose promotion was first reported by Pickin’ Splinters’ Kevin Oklobzija, the 20-year-old was the 14th pick by the Sabres in 2021.  He also had his rookie season in North America last year and acquitted himself well, collecting 14 goals and 23 assists in 66 regular season games before chipping in with eight points in their 12 playoff matches.  Rosen scored the overtime winner last night for Rochester and is their scoring leader with 19 points in 16 games so far.  Unlike Kulich, Rosen is not subject to the nine-game threshold.

Kulich and Rosen are viewed as two of Buffalo’s top prospects.  After starting in the minors together last season, it appears both of them will get a chance to make their NHL debuts together tonight against New Jersey.

Islanders Claim Mike Reilly Off Waivers From Panthers

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With Adam Pelech going on LTIR earlier today, the Islanders have found his replacement, at least in the short term as the team announced that they’ve claimed defenseman Mike Reilly off waivers from Florida.

Last season was a rough one for Reilly as he spent most of the year with Boston’s AHL affiliate in Providence with no team willing to take him on at a $3MM AAV off the waiver wire.  He became an unrestricted free agent this summer after the final year of that deal was bought out by the Bruins and he quickly found a landing spot in Florida, who inked him to a one-year, $1MM contract.

The 30-year-old had been on the roster for the Panthers all season long but despite the long-term injuries to Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, Reilly suited up just twice.  Relegated to the eighth blueliner, Florida waived him yesterday in an effort to get him to their AHL affiliate in Charlotte but that won’t be the case now.  However, Reilly’s contract now comes off their books, giving Florida some extra salary cap space at their disposal.

The Isles didn’t have the cap space to pick Reilly up until this morning when Pelech landed on LTIR.  Once Pelech is cleared to return, New York will have to create some cap room to activate him and will need to move someone else off the roster if they want to keep Reilly in the fold at that time.

Between that injury and the one to Sebastian Aho (both of which occurred yesterday against Ottawa), Reilly could find himself in a situation where playing time will come much more frequently, at least for the time being.  A veteran of 341 games between five different teams, Reilly has 98 points and could add a bit of firepower to a back end that has just seven goals on the season, five of which have come from Noah Dobson.  Reilly will once again be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Corey Perry To Be Away From Blackhawks For Foreseeable Future

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There have been plenty of questions when it comes to Corey Perry’s situation in Chicago.  He has missed the last two games due to what head coach Luke Richardson termed an organizational decision although he declined to provide more information than that.  Today, GM Kyle Davidson met with reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago and said that the veteran would be away from the team for the foreseeable future.

While Davidson failed to provide more specifics than that regarding the nature of Perry’s absence, the GM reiterated that this is a team decision, not Perry’s to be away from the team.  When pressed about possible reasons by reporters, he stated that it would be irresponsible to rule anything out so he wouldn’t comment on any scenarios.

However, following the press conference, Perry’s agent Pat Morris of Newport released the following statement to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link):

Corey Perry has stepped away from the Chicago Blackhawks to attend to personal matters.  Corey and his family appreciate privacy at this time.

Chicago acquired Perry’s negotiating rights back at the draft from Tampa Bay and quickly signed him to a one-year, $4MM deal.  While that’s not a typical move for a rebuilding team to make, the Blackhawks clearly identified that they wanted some quality veterans on a young roster, one that added Connor Bedard with the top pick back in June.

While Perry has been more of a supporting cast type of player in recent years with Tampa Bay and Montreal, the 38-year-old has logged a little under 15 minutes a night so far this season and has been relatively productive, collecting four goals and five assists in his first 16 games.  With nine points, he sits fourth on the team in scoring.

With the team already missing Taylor Hall – whose ACL surgery is set for Monday – and Perry, that’s a decent chunk of their scoring depth on a team that’s the third-lowest-scoring group in the league.  However, Davidson indicated that going and adding a replacement is not something he is looking into right now, suggesting that there are other teams that are far more aggressive in trying to add to their rosters at the moment.  At this point, getting into any sort of bidding war for one of those players wouldn’t make sense for the Blackhawks who are still clearly in a rebuilding situation but now will be without another key veteran in Perry for a while yet at least.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres, Minten, Senators New Arena

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The Sabres are expected to recall a forward later today, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald.  They finished yesterday’s victory over Pittsburgh with just ten forwards as center Zemgus Girgensons left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury while winger Jordan Greenway was a late scratch with an undisclosed injury, resulting in Buffalo having to dress seven blueliners.  Notably, the Sabres don’t have any open roster spots – they’re one of the teams carrying three goalies as well – so any recall would require an IR placement or waiver-exempt blueliner Ryan Johnson being sent down to AHL Rochester.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Maple Leafs prospect center Fraser Minten is on the move as WHL Saskatoon announced that they’ve acquired the 19-year-old from Kamloops. Minten made Toronto’s roster out of training camp and got into four games with them before being assigned back to junior last month.  Since that re-assignment, he has been quite productive offensively, notching ten points in his first seven games.  Saskatoon moved a pair of first-round picks as part of the swap, a fairly high price tag for a one-year rental as Minten will be eligible to play in the AHL next season if he doesn’t crack Toronto’s roster out of camp once again.
  • Senators owner Michael Andlauer has received an extension on determining if LeBreton Flats is the right location for a new arena, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports. Originally, their exclusivity agreement was set to expire in the fall but will now go until next September.  This location has long been viewed as the best fit for a new building although Andlauer and his ownership group will need time to look into an assess other potential opportunities which this extension will give him a chance to do.

Islanders Place Adam Pelech On LTIR

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Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech left yesterday’s game against Ottawa with an upper-body injury and it will keep him out for a while as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been placed on LTIR.  This means that he will miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days, pegging his earliest possible return date as December 19th against Edmonton.

Pelech was injured on his second shift of the game on Friday, playing less than a minute in total.  It hasn’t been a great start to the season for the 29-year-old as he missed three games earlier this month with a lower-body injury and has been a bit quieter than usual when he has suited up.  Through 16 appearances, he has just three assists along with 28 blocks and 15 hits while averaging a little under 20 minutes a night, a number that’s skewed somewhat with his early exit yesterday.

Pelech is in the third season of an eight-year, $46MM contract (a $5.75MM cap charge), making him the second-highest-paid Islander blueliner behind Ryan Pulock.  Even with his slower start, any sort of long-term absence will sting for New York, a team that has won just eight of their first 19 contests so far this season.

Part of the impetus for the particularly quick LTIR placement is the fact that defenseman Sebastian Aho was also injured early against the Sens yesterday.  These two injuries leave the Isles with just five healthy rearguards on the active roster heading into tonight’s game against Philadelphia.  Unless Aho is able to suit up, a blueliner will need to be brought up from AHL Bridgeport but without Pelech’s LTIR placement, they would not have had enough money to do so.

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