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Penguins Reassign Ryan Graves

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Dec. 31: The Penguins announced they’ve reassigned Graves to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after he cleared waivers today.

Dec. 30: Graves was formally waived today, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Dec. 29: After acquiring Yegor Chinakhov earlier today, the Penguins needed to open up a spot on their active roster for him.  They’ve determined how to do that, as Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (Twitter link) that the team has designated defenseman Ryan Graves as a non-roster player and will place him on waivers on Tuesday when the next waiver period opens.

This will be the second time this season that the 30-year-old will land on the waiver wire.  Graves also found himself on waivers during training camp as he was among Pittsburgh’s last group of training camp cuts.

Despite passing through unclaimed and starting the season with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Graves has actually spent more time in Pittsburgh than with them.  He got into 10 games at the minor league level to start the year and was productive, picking up a goal and six assists.  That earned him a recall in early November and has been up since then, a stint that’s about to come to an end.

Graves has played in 17 games with Pittsburgh this season, albeit in a limited role as he’s barely averaging 15 minutes per night of ice time.  In those outings, he has just one point – a goal – along with 31 blocked shots.  While offense has never been his calling card, it’s fair to say that Graves isn’t living up to his $4.5MM per season contract, one that runs through the 2028-29 campaign.

Given that price tag, it’s a certainty that Graves will once again pass through unclaimed and be sent back down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he’ll join Mathew Dumba on a high-priced AHL back end.  From there, he’ll look to work his way back to Pittsburgh, an outcome that could happen should the Penguins move any of their pending UFA blueliners, a group that includes Connor Clifton, Brett Kulak, and Ryan Shea.

Snapshots: Toninato, Lundestrom, Barzal, Eichel

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The Blackhawks announced that they’ve assigned center Dominic Toninato back to AHL Rockford.  Recalled three weeks ago, the 31-year-old got into five games with Chicago while on recall, picking up an assist and ten hits in 9:12 per game of playing time.  Toninato has been much more productive with the IceHogs, notching five goals and 12 assists in 24 games with them.  With his assignment, the Blackhawks now have an open roster spot.  Don’t expect that spot to go to Connor Bedard, however, as while he returned to the ice today per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, it was a light skate and there remains no firm timetable for his return.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Blue Jackets center Isac Lundestrom is expected to miss a week or two with a lower-body injury sustained in practice over the weekend, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is in his first season with Columbus and has been rather quiet offensively, scoring just once while adding four assists in 35 games although he does take a regular turn on the penalty kill.
  • Islanders center Mathew Barzal is a little lighter in the wallet today. The league announced that he has received a $5K fine for his slash on Columbus winger Mason Marchment in the second period of Sunday’s game.  Barzal received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct on the play.  The fine, which is the maximum allowable under the CBA, goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
  • Golden Knights center Jack Eichel took part in today’s morning skate in a non-contact jersey, relays Fox 5 Vegas’ Vince Sapienza (Twitter link). While he has been ruled out for tonight’s game versus Minnesota, he could return Wednesday against Nashville.  Eichel has missed the last two weeks due to both an illness and a lower-body injury.  Despite missing that much time, he remains the team leader in scoring with 12 goals and 29 assists in 41 games.

Bruins Activate Jonathan Aspirot

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The Bruins welcomed back one of their defensemen to the lineup tonight against Calgary as the team announced that Jonathan Aspirot has been added back to the active roster.  More specifically, he was activated off injured reserve.  Boston had an open roster spot so no corresponding move needed to be made.

The 26-year-old signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Bruins for the league minimum in Group Six unrestricted free agency, hoping that a new organization could give him a pathway to his first taste of NHL action.  While it took a bit of time, he ultimately got that opportunity.

Aspirot cleared waivers back in October and got into five games with AHL Providence.  He had a goal and two assists in those outings and three weeks after being sent down, he earned a promotion to Boston and has been with them since.

Aspirot played in 19 games with Boston before the injury, predominantly on their third pairing.  In those outings, he had a goal along with 28 blocks and 32 hits while averaging a little over 16 minutes per night of ice time.  He had missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury sustained against Winnipeg.

Even with his activation, the Bruins are still without a pair of blueliners.  Henri Jokiharju is on IR with an undisclosed injury that has kept him out for a month while Jordan Harris is on long-term injured reserve and has missed more than two months with an ankle injury.

Senators Activate Shane Pinto

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The Senators welcomed back a key center to the lineup tonight against Columbus.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relayed (Twitter link) that Shane Pinto was set to anchor the third line, meaning he has been activated off injured reserve.  Ottawa had an open roster spot so no further moves needed to be made.

The 25-year-old has missed the last four weeks with a lower-body injury.  With Lars Eller also on IR, they still don’t have their full complement of middlemen available to them but their top three are now intact.

Pinto got off to a terrific start to the season.  He had seven goals in six games to start and by the time he reached his 18th game, he had nine goals and six assists, making for a nice return on his $3.75MM bridge deal.  At that 18-game mark, he signed a four-year, $30MM contract extension, buying out his two remaining RFA-eligible seasons as well as his first two years of UFA eligibility.

However, things haven’t gone quite as well offensively for Pinto since then.  In his nine games played since signing, he has just three goals and one assist before sustaining his injury.  Still, he is certainly a welcome addition as they will need as much firepower as possible with starting goalie Linus Ullmark away from the team indefinitely on a leave of absence.

Meanwhile, Ottawa also welcomed back defenseman Tyler Kleven to the lineup after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury.  He has five assists, 48 blocked shots, and 41 hits in 32 games this season.  He remained on the active roster while injured so no corresponding move needed to be made for him either.  Kleven took the place of Nick Jensen (healthy scratch) in the lineup.

Senators Reassign Xavier Bourgault And Dennis Gilbert

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Dec. 29th: After Ottawa’s loss to the Maple Leafs, the team quietly moved Bourgault and Gilbert back to AHL Belleville, according to the AHL transactions log. Neither player participated in last night’s contest against the Utica Comets, so they won’t be eligible for an additional recall until after the new year.

Dec. 27th: The Senators have made a pair of roster moves coming out of the holiday break to give them some extra depth.  The team announced that they’ve recalled forward Xavier Bourgault and defenseman Dennis Gilbert from AHL Belleville.  To make room for them on the roster, center Lars Eller was moved to injured reserve.

This is the first regular season recall of Bourgault’s career (though he has been brought up as a Black Ace in the playoffs before).  The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Edmonton back in 2021, going 22nd overall but has played exclusively in the AHL since turning pro in 2022.  Ottawa acquired him back in the 2024 offseason.

Bourgault has been quite productive with Belleville to earn this promotion.  In 32 games this season, he has nine goals and 18 assists, including ten helpers in his last nine outings.  As a result, he has already surpassed his output from last season when he had 26 points in 61 contests.  He’s expected to make his NHL debut against Toronto tonight with the team announcing (Twitter link) that Bourgault is expected to slot in on the fourth line.

Gilbert, meanwhile, gets his second recall after being acquired from Philadelphia earlier this season.  He got into one game on that first stint, his only taste of action at the top level in 2025-26 though he was injured for most of the season.  Between Belleville and AHL Lehigh Valley, the 30-year-old has six assists in 13 games.

Canucks To Activate Elias Pettersson Off Injured Reserve

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The Canucks will get some much-welcomed help down the middle tonight against San Jose.  Speaking with reporters after practice today (Twitter link), center Elias Pettersson confirmed that he will make his return to the lineup.

Pettersson, who has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury, is currently on injured reserve.  However, Vancouver has an open roster spot available so they won’t need to make any moves to bring their top pivot back onto the roster.

The initial hope was that Pettersson wouldn’t be out that long but instead, he wound up missing three weeks with the injury, one that was causing a lot of pain when shooting the puck.  Despite missing their top center, Vancouver wound up winning five of the eight games he missed, including four of their last five following the Quinn Hughes trade.

In the second season of an eight-year, $92.8MM deal, Pettersson hasn’t been able to live up to the price tag in terms of his production.  While he’s on pace to put up more points than the 45 he did in 64 games last season, the 27-year-old has eight goals and 14 assists through 28 games this season.  He’s averaging a career-high 20:37 per game of ice time while taking a regular turn on both special teams units.

While Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin spoke about entering a hybrid rebuilding phase, their recent run in the standings has them only six points out of a playoff spot.  Getting Pettersson back should only help them so if the team continues its recent hot streak, they may not wind up being as much of a seller as initially thought.

Metropolitan Notes: Blue Jackets, Horvat, Miller, Lizotte

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Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is listed as doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Islanders due to a lower-body injury, per team reporter Jeff Svoboda (Twitter link).  The veteran missed the final game before the break due to the injury as well.  Werenski has been nothing short of dominant for Columbus this season, leading the team in scoring with 14 goals and 26 assists in 35 games while his ATOI of 26:48 is the second-highest in the NHL.

Meanwhile, it appears that the Blue Jackets could get Mathieu Olivier back on Sunday.  Svoboda mentions (Twitter link) that the winger feels ready to return and is merely waiting to get clearance from team doctors.  He has missed the last month due to an upper-body injury.  However, the news up front isn’t all good as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that center Isac Lundestrom suffered what appeared to be a left leg injury during practice today.  He left and did not return; no update was available after practice.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • As expected, Bo Horvat will return to the lineup tonight for the Islanders, the team announced. He missed the last five games with a lower-body injury and while the initial thought was that he might miss three weeks, he’s able to beat that timeline by a few days.  The 30-year-old has 19 goals and 12 assists in 32 games this season, leading the team in goals and points.  Horvat remained on the active roster while out of the lineup so no corresponding moves need to be made.
  • Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller is listed as a game-time decision tonight against Detroit, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). He blocked a shot late in Tuesday’s loss to Florida and is being evaluated by team medical staff today.  Miller is in his first season with Carolina and has played a big role when healthy, picking up 13 points in 29 games while averaging a career-high 22:31 per night of ice time.
  • Penguins center Blake Lizotte returned to a full practice with contact today, notes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link). He has missed the last nine games with an undisclosed injury and is a possibility to return on Sunday which would necessitate another roster move first.  The 28-year-old is in a contract year but was rather quiet offensively before being injured, tallying just three goals and two assists in 27 games although he was being used in a very heavy defense-first role.  If Pittsburgh falls out of the playoff race, he’s a candidate to be moved before the March 6th trade deadline.

Sabres Recall Ryan Johnson

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The Sabres will be without captain Rasmus Dahlin for their game tonight against Boston as he remains back home in Sweden with his fiancée who continues to recover from a heart transplant over the summer.  As a result, the team has recalled defenseman Ryan Johnson from AHL Rochester, per Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald.

To make room for Johnson on the active roster, Dahlin has been designated as a non-roster player as they did when he took a leave of absence earlier this season.  While he won’t play tonight, it’s expected that he’ll be back to accompany the team on their upcoming road trip.

As for Johnson, this is his first recall of the season.  He actually broke camp with Buffalo and played in three games in the opening week but averaged just nine minutes per game of playing time.  As a result, he was quickly sent down to play a bigger role with the Americans.

The 24-year-old, who is in the first season of a three-year deal, has played in 25 games with Rochester so far this season, picking up 11 points.  That’s just two points shy of his personal best, set last season in 66 games.  With six other defensemen already up with the big club, it’s quite possible that Johnson will serve in a reserve role for the time being until Dahlin returns.

Jake Evans To Miss Four To Six Weeks

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Already missing four regulars, Montreal’s injured list has grown again.  The team announced that center Jake Evans will miss the next four to six weeks due to a lower-body injury.  The Canadiens had already placed him on injured reserve before the holiday break.

The injury was sustained last weekend against Pittsburgh and a recent report suggested that the worst-case scenario had been avoided which appears to be the case with no surgery being required.  Sportsnet’s Eric Engels clarifies (Twitter link) that the listed recovery timeline is back from the date of injury, meaning he has already missed one of the four to six weeks.

The 29-year-old has played in 34 games this season and has been fairly quiet offensively, managing just five goals and five assists despite logging over 15 minutes per game of ice time.  This comes on the heels of a career-best effort offensively in 2024-25 that saw him collect 13 goals and 23 helpers.

Evans has spent this season in a checking role with higher expectations in the defensive zone following the departure of Christian Dvorak to Philadelphia in free agency over the summer.  Phillip Danault was brought in last week to help in that regard but instead, it’ll be a while yet before the two checking centers get to play together.

Atlantic Notes: Lightning, Carlo, Montembeault, Beckman

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A pair of core players for the Lightning appear to be close to making their returns from injury.  Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times notes (Twitter links) that winger Brandon Hagel and defenseman Erik Cernak took part in today’s morning skate.  Hagel has missed nearly two weeks due to an upper-body injury sustained against Florida, taking one of Tampa Bay’s top scorers out of the lineup as he has 18 goals and 13 assists in 32 games.  Head coach Jon Cooper relayed (via Encina) that Hagel is now in the day-to-day range.  Cernak, meanwhile, has missed a little more than a month due to an undisclosed injury that wasn’t the same as the lower-body issue that briefly kept him out in November.  He has four assists, 43 blocks, and 40 hits in 19 games so far this season.  Both players are on IR (Cernak is on LTIR, more specifically) so roster spots will need to be freed up before they can be put back onto the active roster.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo took part in Toronto’s morning skate today as he works his way back from foot surgery, relays David Alter of The Hockey News. The 29-year-old has missed the last six weeks with what was originally termed as a maintenance thing but he wound up having a procedure done earlier this month.  Carlo is in his first full season with Toronto and has two assists and 34 blocked shots in 18 games while averaging just over 20 minutes per game of playing time.  While he’s back skating, there remains no firm timetable for a return to the lineup.
  • As expected, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) have recalled goaltender Sam Montembeault from his conditioning stint. The 29-year-old has struggled this season, posting a 3.65 GAA with a .857 SV% in 15 appearances, resulting in a demotion to third-string status after Jacob Fowler was recalled.  Montembeault played in two games while on assignment, turning aside 47 of 52 shots in a pair of losses to Cleveland.
  • Senators prospect Lucas Beckman has been traded in the QMJHL as Chicoutimi announced that they’ve acquired him from Baie-Comeau for a pair of players and two draft picks. The goaltender was a fourth-round pick back in June, going 97th overall.  In 23 games with the Drakkar this season, he has a 3.29 GAA along with a .905 SV%, numbers that are a considerable step back from 2024-25 when he was on more of a contending team.  Ottawa holds Beckman’s signing rights until June 1, 2027.

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