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Sharks Recall Kyle Criscuolo And Danil Gushchin

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The Sharks have tweaked their roster in recent days and they continued that trend today, announcing the recalls of forwards Kyle Criscuolo and Danil Gushchin from AHL San Jose.  With only 11 healthy forwards on the active roster, at least one of these promotions should be on an emergency basis.  CapFriendly notes (Twitter link) that these recalls put them over the salary cap so an LTIR placement was needed, likely Luke Kunin who is out for the year with a knee injury.

Criscuolo is in his first season with San Jose after the Sharks acquired him from Detroit back in January.  The change of scenery helped as the 30-year-old has been more productive since the swap, putting up ten goals and five assists in 26 games with the Barracuda after being limited to five goals and five helpers in 28 games with Grand Rapids.  Criscuolo, a pending unrestricted free agent, does have 15 career NHL games under his belt, six of which came last season with Detroit where he picked up his first two points, both assists.

As for Gushchin, the 21-year-old is in his first full season in the pros after spending last season with OHL Niagara where he had 71 points in 51 contests.  The points haven’t been as easy to come by with the Barracuda but Gushchin does sit tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 20 helpers in 66 appearances, a decent rookie campaign.  He still has two years left after this one on his entry-level deal.

Predators Recall Spencer Stastney

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Spencer Stastney has had a good first full professional season and he is being rewarded for his efforts as the Predators announced that they’ve recalled the blueliner from AHL Milwaukee.  It’s the first recall of his NHL career.

The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick of the Preds back in 2018 (131st overall) and spent four years at Notre Dame where he picked up 63 points in 143 games before turning pro late last season.  He got into a couple of games with the Admirals down the stretch but this has been his first extended campaign in the pros.  Stastney has five goals in 56 games for Milwaukee, good for third on the team in goals by a blueliner.

Nashville is dealing with multiple injuries on the back end with Roman Josi, Alexandre Carrier, and Mark Borowiecki out of the lineup.  That list is growing by one more as Jeremy Lauzon will not play today due to an upper-body injury, opening up a spot for Stastney to make his NHL debut against St. Louis.

Derick Brassard Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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The news isn’t great for Senators center Derick Brassard.  After being injured in Thursday’s victory over Philadelphia, head coach D.J. Smith told reporters including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link) that Brassard has undergone surgery to repair a fractured fibula.  In a separate tweet, Garrioch adds that the recovery timeline is at least six to eight weeks and that Brassard had a plate put in.

It’s certainly a tough end to the season for the 35-year-old.  Brassard had been a quality depth contributor for the Sens this year, chipping in with 13 goals in 62 games, his highest goal total since the 2019-20 campaign.  Perhaps more impressive is that he was able to do so while logging just 12:11 per contest, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2007-08.

Brassard had to settle for a training camp PTO last fall but was able to earn himself a one-year contract at the league minimum.  Having bounced around considerably in recent years – Ottawa is his eighth different team since 2018-19 – he’s someone whose ability to earn a contract for next season was already in question.  Unfortunately, an injury like this certainly doesn’t help in that regard.  Accordingly, it’s quite possible that Brassard will have to settle for a tryout once again if he looks to try to extend his 16-year NHL career any further.

Meanwhile, TSN’s Claire Hanna relays (Twitter link) that defensemen Travis Hamonic (lower body), Thomas Chabot (upper body), and Jakob Chychrun (hamstring) won’t accompany the Sens on their upcoming three-game road trip.  Of the three, Smith noted that he’s hopeful that Hamonic will be able to return by the end of the season so it appears Chabot and Chychrun have seen their 2022-23 campaigns come to an end.

Blue Jackets Recall Three, Assign Trey-Fix Wolansky To AHL

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Between injuries and illness, the Blue Jackets are currently dealing with a thinned-out roster.  Accordingly, they are bringing up more players from the minors as they announced that forwards Joona Luoto and Justin Richards plus defenseman Marcus Bjork are all being recalled from AHL Cleveland.  They will be taking the place of Jack Roslovic and Lane Pederson (both injured) and Adam Boqvist (illness).  Meanwhile, after oversleeping and missing a team meeting, winger Trey Fix-Wolansky has been assigned back to the Monsters.

Luoto will get his first taste of NHL action tonight since the 2019-20 campaign when he played in 16 games with Winnipeg.  After spending last season in Finland, the 25-year-old signed a two-way deal with Columbus last summer.  He has 14 goals and 11 assists in 43 games with Cleveland this season and will be set to hit Group VI unrestricted free agency in July.

As for Richards, his NHL experience is even more limited as he made just a single appearance for the Rangers back in 2021, recording his first career NHL assist along the way.  The 25-year-old is also in his first year with the Blue Jackets and has been much more productive in the minors this season, picking up 10 goals and 25 assists in 54 games after putting up just six goals and eight helpers a year ago.  He’s also eligible for Group VI free agency this summer.

Bjork, meanwhile, certainly hasn’t looked out of place in his first season in North America.  He has played in 28 games with the Blue Jackets this season, picking up 11 points while logging nearly 19 minutes a night on the back end.  The 25-year-old has also suited up in 40 games for the Monsters, tallying 13 points.  He will be a restricted free agent this summer.

Fix-Wolansky had averaged over 13 minutes a night in his last three games in Columbus and was getting a chance to play higher in the lineup due to the injuries so this mistake is a costly one for him as it gets him taken off the roster.  He has been quite productive in the minors, however, notching 26 goals and 41 assists in just 53 games and will be a big addition to a Monsters team that finds themselves one point out of a play-in spot heading into tonight’s action.

Flyers Activate Travis Konecny Off Injured Reserve, Recall Samuel Ersson

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The Flyers won’t be contending for a playoff spot in the final couple of weeks of the season but they will get a boost to their lineup up front.  Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes (Twitter link) that winger Travis Konecny has been activated from injured reserve to rejoin the active roster.

The 26-year-old has missed the last six weeks with an upper-body injury, about double what the original recovery timeline was expected to be.  However, Konecny remains Philadelphia’s top scorer with 27 goals and 27 assists in just 52 games, a pace that had him well on his way to setting new career highs across the board prior to the injury.  If nothing else, getting back into a few games will give Konecny and the coaching staff some certainty that he’ll be fully ready to go for training camp in the fall.

Philadelphia doesn’t have any forwards up with the big club on an emergency loan so no corresponding roster move needed to be made to accommodate Konecny’s return.

However, they once again have a goalie up on an emergency basis as the team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Samuel Ersson has been brought back up from AHL Lehigh Valley.  He was sent down yesterday to get a game in with the Phantoms.  Carter Hart remains unavailable although he was on the ice prior to the morning skate today.  Ersson has a 3.07 GAA and a .898 SV% in 10 NHL appearances this season plus a 2.68 GAA and a .904 SV% in 37 AHL contests.

Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Ersson, Penguins Defensemen, Edstrom

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With a looming cap crunch for the Rangers, they will be hard-pressed to re-sign their pending restricted free agents to market-value contracts and round out the rest of their roster.  To that end, Arthur Staple of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that they may need to focus on bridge deals with defenseman K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere or even consider the possibility of moving Lafreniere this offseason.  New York has more than $71MM in commitments to 14 players for next season per CapFriendly and a long-term deal for Miller would eat up a bulk of their cap space alone.  It’s a problem they can ignore for now with the team aiming for a long postseason run but GM Chris Drury is going to have his work cut out for him to keep his core intact this summer.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Flyers have returned goaltender Samuel Ersson to AHL Lehigh Valley, notes Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). He had served as the backup for Philadelphia for the past two games with Carter Hart dealing with an illness.  Ersson’s first taste of NHL action has gone relatively well this season as he has a 3.03 GAA and a .898 SV% in ten games while winning six of his eight starts.
  • A pair of injured Penguins defensemen have returned to the ice. Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that Marcus Pettersson skated on his own before practice today with head coach Mike Sullivan indicating that the 26-year-old is making progress.  He’s currently on LTIR and isn’t eligible to return until April 13th.  Meanwhile, Jan Rutta returned to practice in a non-contact jersey.  He has been out with an undisclosed injury for the last two weeks.  Pittsburgh is down three blueliners at the moment (Dmitry Kulikov is also out) and just narrowly holding onto the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
  • The Rangers have re-assigned prospect Adam Edstrom to the minors, per an announcement from AHL Hartford. The 22-year-old forward more than doubled his point output from a year ago, collecting nine goals and ten assists in 42 games with SHL Rogle.  With their playoff run now over, Edstrom will now get his first taste of playing in North America.

Canucks Shutting Filip Hronek Down For The Rest Of The Season

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Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek returned to the lineup last week from a shoulder injury but that return was short-lived.  Speaking with reporters today at his pregame press conference (video link), head coach Rick Tocchet indicated that they’ve decided to shut the blueliner down for the rest of the season:

There’s really no reason for him to come back. If this were a playoff game, he’d be in the game, but it’s not a playoff game. Every game is important to us obviously, but not at the expense of… he’s going to have a long time to get his shoulder perfect.

The 25-year-old was somewhat surprisingly acquired from Detroit just before the trade deadline earlier this month with Vancouver opting to add to their back end despite not being in a playoff position.  Of course, Hronek isn’t a rental player with another year left on his deal plus one more season of RFA eligibility after that.  GM Patrik Allvin made the move with the hopes that Hronek could benefit from a bigger role on a new team to help solidify his back end.

Unfortunately, the early results on that front are basically inconclusive.  Hronek will wind up playing in just four games with Vancouver and while he logged more than 24 minutes a night, that’s far too small of a sample size to derive any meaningful conclusions from.  Overall, his point output this season winds up nearly identical to that of 2021-22; he finishes with nine goals and 29 assists in 60 games compared to nine goals and 30 helpers in 64 contests a season ago.

Tocchet indicated that Hronek is fine with the decision to sit him for the final couple of weeks of the season to give him ample time to fully heal up his shoulder for 2023-24.  If he’s able to log upwards of 24 minutes a night for the Canucks next season, he’ll certainly give their back end a significant boost.

Atlantic Notes: Harvey-Pinard, Armia, Acciari, Foligno

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Canadiens rookie winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard leads all NHL rookies in goals since being recalled a little over two months ago which is something that should definitely help this summer in restricted free agency.  However, it will be a new agency representing him as Quartexx announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old is now one of their clients.  He had previously been represented by CEM Hockey.  Harvey-Pinard has 14 goals and five assists in 32 games since being recalled and is already tied for fourth on Montreal in goals.  Even though he’s just finishing his entry-level contract, he will be eligible for salary arbitration this summer.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Canadiens winger Joel Armia participated in practice today with a regular jersey, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has missed more than a month with an upper respiratory infection.  It has been a tough year for Armia who has been limited to just 37 games this season and has just seven points but it appears he’ll have a chance to at least get into a few more contests before their 2022-23 campaign comes to an end.
  • While Maple Leafs forward Noel Acciari returned to practice today, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link) that Acciari won’t play this weekend. The veteran missed Wednesday’s game against Florida with an undisclosed injury but Keefe clarified that it is a neck/whiplash injury.  The 31-year-old has three goals and 57 hits in 17 games since being acquired from St. Louis back in mid-February.
  • There is some optimism that Bruins winger Nick Foligno should be ready to return for the playoffs, notes Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch (Twitter link). The 35-year-old has missed the last month due to a lower-body injury and is currently on injured reserve but not LTIR.  Foligno has had a bit of a bounce-back campaign, notching 10 goals and 16 assists in 60 games after recording just two goals and 11 helpers in 64 contests in 2021-22.

Five Key Stories: 3/20/23 – 3/26/23

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The final full week of March has come to an end.  With most transactions being on hold until the offseason, the injury situation around the league dominates the key stories.

Pettersson To LTIR: The Penguins will be without one of their top four defensemen for the stretch run with Marcus Pettersson being placed on LTIR with a lower-body injury.  It has been a bit of a resurgent season for the 26-year-old as he has upped his playing time by nearly five minutes per night while improving on his point total; his 24 points are one behind his career high.  His absence certainly hurts Pittsburgh as they look to hold onto a Wild Card spot.  However, the placement also alleviates their salary cap situation, putting them in a spot where they will be able to afford some recalls over the final few weeks without having to worry about having to play short a player while waiting for approval for a cap-exempt recall.

Carlson Returns: On the opposite side of the injury front, the Capitals welcomed back defenseman John Carlson.  Washington’s top blueliner missed more than three months with an upper-body injury that Carlson himself later confirmed was a small skull fracture above his right ear and a severed temporal artery.  While this isn’t going to help lead Washington to the postseason, it’s certainly a positive sign that he’s able to return.  Carlson definitely came back in style, picking up two points in his first game back.

Bednar Signs Extension: Jared Bednar won’t be leaving Colorado’s bench anytime soon after the team signed him to a three-year contract extension.  That deal won’t kick in until 2024-25 as the bench boss already had another year on his deal after this one.  He earned himself quite a raise as CapFriendly notes that Bednar’s salary will jump from $2.25MM per season on this contract to $4.75MM on the new one.  The raise and extra job security are certainly well-deserved.  He helped lead the Avs to the Stanley Cup last season and the team has compiled a 282-191-52 record over seven seasons under his tutelage, good for a .587 points percentage.  Bednar is second in franchise history in games coached (behind Michel Bergeron going back to their Quebec days) but will take over the all-time record early in the first year of this new contract.

College Signings: As NCAA teams are being eliminated, there has been an uptick in college prospects signing.  The bulk of those have been players signing with their own teams but a few teams have turned to the free agent market.  The Blue Jackets signed center Hunter McKown out of Colorado College and he has already made his NHL debut, getting into a pair of games while picking up an assist.  Meanwhile, the Jets added forward Parker Ford out of Providence College while the Canucks agreed to terms with center Max Sasson.  Their contracts will begin next season, allowing them to report to the minors for the rest of 2022-23.

More Injuries: There were quite a few other injuries of note around the league this week.  Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort will miss the rest of the regular season due a lower-body injury.  He won’t require surgery.  Boston could now transfer him to LTIR to open up some cap flexibility for recalls down the stretch.  Meanwhile, the Senators will be missing defenseman Jakub Chychrun for a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury of his own which will make their late playoff push a little harder.  Up front, Canadiens winger Josh Anderson is out for the season with a high ankle sprain while the Blue Jackets won’t have Patrik Laine for two-to-four weeks because of a triceps strain.  Columbus had been testing Laine down the middle before the injury.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Talbot, Toews, Reilly, Lalonde

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The Senators should be getting some help between the pipes soon as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Cam Talbot is expected to return to the lineup sometime this week.  He has been out for the last three weeks due to an oblique muscle injury.  The 35-year-old has a 2.85 GAA and a .905 SV% in 32 games this season, numbers that aren’t the greatest but at the moment, Ottawa is trying to hang in the race for a Wild Card spot in the East with rookies Mads Sogaard and Dylan Ferguson.  Accordingly, getting Talbot back should give them a boost for the final few games.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has been out for nearly two months due to symptoms from long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome but hasn’t given up on returning this season. To that end, head coach Luke Richardson told Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the center has been skating in an effort to get back before the end of the campaign.  There was a recent report that Toews may be considering retirement and if that’s true, that could be fueling his desire to get back for the final few games.
  • Bruins defenseman Mike Reilly suffered a serious injury in the minors today, one that saw him knocked unconscious and stretchered off the ice. Fortunately, AHL Providence announced after the game (Twitter link) that he is alert, conscious, and able to walk around.  The veteran has spent the bulk of the year in the minors but is likely to be a Black Ace recall at some point in Boston’s playoff run.
  • The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve reassigned goaltender Nolan Lalonde from OHL Erie to AHL Cleveland. The 19-year-old signed with Columbus as an undrafted free agent in October but had a tough year in junior, posting a 4.09 GAA along with a .868 SV% in 41 games with the Otters.  With Jon Gillies being recalled today and Daniil Tarasov being injured in Cleveland’s game today, Lalonde could have a path to make his pro debut fairly soon.

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