Pacific Notes: Kylington, Golden Knights, Fanti
While the Flames have been without defenseman Oliver Kylington all season so far due to a personal matter, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that they’re not giving up on the idea that he will be back at some point in the second half. Kylington had a breakout year in 2021-22, collecting 31 points in 73 games, earning himself a two-year, $5MM contract in the process and his return would certainly be a big boost to Calgary’s back end. At the moment, there haven’t been any discussions with him about when he might be able to return but with the trade deadline now less than two months away, it stands to reason that those conversations will be taking place at some point in the near future as if Kylington isn’t able to return, Calgary may have to make a move to find a replacement for the stretch run.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- There’s more help on the horizon when it comes to the Golden Knights. After getting center Jack Eichel and winger Paul Cotter back on Thursday, they could get winger Jonathan Marchessault back in the lineup tonight against Los Angeles, reports Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 32-year-old has missed six straight games with a lower-body injury but still sits third on the team in goals with 14. Gotz adds that defenseman Alec Martinez also has a chance to return tonight although, with the team off until Thursday after this game, they could opt to give him a few more days of rest. The veteran has been out for four straight games after being injured in the Golden Knights’ first game after the holiday break. He has five assists in 37 contests this season.
- The Oilers have re-assigned goaltender Ryan Fanti to Fort Wayne of the ECHL, per the AHL’s transactions log. Edmonton signed the 23-year-old to an entry-level deal back in March but he has struggled in his first full professional season, posting a save percentage below .900 in both the AHL and ECHL. He had a 3.46 GAA and a .895 SV% in seven games with AHL Bakersfield during his seven-week stint with the Condors.
Oilers Assign James Hamblin To AHL
The Oilers have made a pair of roster moves today in advance of their game tonight against Colorado. The team announced (Twitter link) that forward James Hamblin has been assigned to Bakersfield of the AHL. So too has Justin Bailey after he cleared waivers earlier today following having his AHL deal converted to an NHL one on Friday.
The 23-year-old has been a nice success story for Edmonton this season. After playing well with the Condors last season, the team gave the undrafted free agent a two-year, entry-level contract back in March with the hopes he’d eventually play his way into an NHL opportunity. He had a strong stretch in training camp before being one of their final cuts.
Hamblin got off to another good start in the minors with nine points in 15 games, earning himself a recall in late November. He had been up with Edmonton since then, seeing action in ten games. While he didn’t record a point, he won over 64% of his faceoffs while logging just shy of nine minutes a night. However, Hamblin has played just once in the last two and a half weeks which isn’t ideal for a prospect so he’ll head back to the Condors where he’ll see more regular ice time. As a result of his demotion, the Oilers now have an open spot on their active roster.
Flames Recall Two, Place Brett Ritchie On IR
The Flames announced (Twitter link) a trio of roster moves today in advance of their five-game road trip. They’ve recalled wingers Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr from AHL Calgary and to make room on the active roster, they’ve transferred winger Brett Ritchie on injured reserve.
Pelletier is one of Calgary’s top prospects and will get his first chance at making his NHL debut. The 21-year-old was a first-round pick (26th overall) back in 2019 and has been quite productive at both the junior and AHL level since then. This season, Pelletier sits second on the Wranglers in scoring with 15 goals and 19 assists in 31 games. The only player that he’s behind is Matthew Phillips but the Flames opted to sit the winger for most of the games he was up with the big club for so it’s not surprising that they’re trying Pelletier now instead.
As for Duehr, the 25-year-old has one career NHL appearance under his belt which came in November 2021. This season at the AHL level, he’s tied for third on the Wranglers in goals with ten, just one shy of his output from a year ago in 28 fewer games. This is only his second full professional campaign after signing a two-year entry-level deal with Calgary as a college free agent in 2021.
Meanwhile, Ritchie suffered what appeared to be a wrist injury last weekend against Vancouver and hasn’t played since then. Technically, that means that Calgary could back-date the placement to then, effectively making him eligible to be activated as soon as Sunday’s game in Chicago. The fact they’ve placed him on IR means he’ll be out longer than that but there is no timetable for his return. The 29-year-old has six goals and two assists in 30 games with the Flames so far this season.
Tom Wilson To Make Season Debut On Sunday
The good news for Washington keeps on coming. After revealing earlier today that center Nicklas Backstrom will make his season debut on Sunday against Columbus, they’ve now announced (Twitter link) that winger Tom Wilson will also suit up for the first time in 2022-23 against the Blue Jackets.
The 28-year-old underwent surgery back in May to repair a torn ACL. Originally diagnosed with a recovery period of six to eight months, this return date falls pretty much in the middle of that range.
While Wilson has gotten himself into trouble from a league disciplinary standpoint over the years, he has also become one of the premier power forwards in the NHL. He has reached the 20-goal mark in three of the last four seasons with the one he didn’t being the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign where he scored at a 23-goal pace.
As is the case with Backstrom, Wilson will certainly need some time to get back into prime playing shape but he’ll be a big addition to what has already been a fairly deep attack so far this season. He has spent a lot of time in recent years on Washington’s top line and while it will likely take a little while for him to get there, that could very well be the spot he winds up in eventually.
With Aliaksei Protas being sent down to make room for Backstrom, the Capitals will likely have to turn to the waiver wire to create a spot for Wilson to be activated into. Wingers Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Joe Snively appear to be the likeliest casualties with them having limited roles when they’ve been in the lineup. While the Capitals could designate one of them as waivers/non-roster tomorrow, it’s possible that they could make that waiver placement today, freeing up the roster spot and cap space on Sunday before formally activating both Wilson and Backstrom.
Nicklas Backstrom Will Make Season Debut On Sunday
A few months ago, there were questions as to whether Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom would be able to play ever again, let alone this season. However, his recovery from hip resurfacing surgery has gone well and the veteran is ready to suit up as the team announced (Twitter link) that he will make his season debut tomorrow against Columbus.
Backstrom will become only the second NHL player to play after undergoing this procedure. Long-time blueliner Ed Jovanovski was the other as he suited up in 37 games with Florida back in the 2013-14 season before the team bought him out.
The 35-year-old’s return will undoubtedly be a big boost to Washington’s lineup. Even while playing through the injury last season, he had 31 points in 47 games while before that, he had been in the top three in scoring for the Capitals for nine straight years. While there will certainly be an adjustment period as he plays his way back into game conditioning, Backstrom should be able to deepen what has already been a pretty strong attack this season as the Caps enter play today with the fourth-most goals in the NHL.
Backstrom, who carries a $9.5MM AAV, is currently on LTIR which means that the Capitals will need to get cap-compliant in order to activate him. They’ve already made the first move as Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that defenseman John Carlson has been transferred to LTIR. Carlson, who will miss a few months after taking a shot to the face last month, carries an $8MM AAV which will cover most of what they’ll need to clear to activate Backstrom.
The Capitals needed to free up a roster spot as well in order to welcome Backstrom back onto the roster. It will be sophomore center Aliaksei Protas that cedes his spot as the team announced that he has been sent down. Protas was a healthy scratch last night against Nashville and was the lone waiver-exempt player on the roster so he was the logical choice. The 22-year-old has largely been a regular this season having played in 41 games (while recording 10 points) but subbing in Backstrom for him will certainly improve Washington’s chances of holding down a playoff spot in the tight Metropolitan Division.
Metropolitan Notes: Hallander, Barzal, Noesen
Penguins prospect Filip Hallander was stretchered off the ice late in yesterday’s AHL game between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Charlotte, relays Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The injury occurred off a faceoff with his legs getting tied up with a Charlotte player, causing him to fall to the ice, landing on the side of his head. Play was quickly whistled down as the 22-year-old was motionless on the ice and the game was called at that point. The team released a brief statement this morning (Twitter link) indicating that he has been released from the hospital and is resting at home. They will not be providing any further information about the injury at this time.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Islanders center Mathew Barzal was a late scratch in Friday’s loss to Calgary due to what was termed a tweak, notes Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). It’s likely that the issue was sustained the night before in Edmonton. Barzal took part in the pregame warmup so it’s likely his absence will be a short-term one. The 25-year-old has had a bit of a bounce-back season offensively and is on pace for numbers comparable to his rookie season when he had 22 goals and 85 points.
- Hurricanes winger Stefan Noesen isn’t expected to play today against Columbus, reports team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). After playing sparingly with Carolina last season, the 29-year-old is on pace for a career year with eight goals and a dozen assists through his first 37 games played which is pretty strong production for someone averaging just over 12 minutes a game in ice time. While there’s no word on how long Noesen will be out, it doesn’t appear that this will be a long-term absence.
Snapshots: Domi, Kraken Prospects, Vrana, Wotherspoon
As soon as Max Domi signed with Chicago just minutes into free agency last summer, the expectation was that he’d be traded at the deadline when there wasn’t much money left on his one-year, $3MM contract. However, in a recent 32 Thoughts appearance, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (video link) that it’s not a guarantee that Domi moves. He’s enjoying a nice bounce-back year with the Blackhawks, collecting 11 goals and 13 assists in 36 games so far, good for second on the team in scoring. He’s also winning draws at a career-best clip of 56.3%. If he’s happy in his role and having some success, it may make more sense for Chicago to try to extend the 27-year-old. That’s a discussion GM Kyle Davidson is expected to have with Domi’s representation in the coming weeks.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- A pair of Kraken prospects are on the move in the CHL. OHL London announced that they’ve acquired forward Ryan Winterton from Hamilton as part of a four-player trade. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick (67th overall) in 2021 and has 46 points in 37 games so far this season. Meanwhile, Sherbrooke of the QMJHL announced the acquisition of winger Jacob Melanson from Acadie-Bathurst. The 19-year-old has 25 goals in just 27 games this season. Both prospects have already signed their entry-level contracts with Seattle.
- The Red Wings will extend Jakub Vrana’s conditioning stint by three more games, relays MLive’s Ansar Khan (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has already played in three games and was held off the scoresheet and the team feels he could benefit from a longer stretch in the minors. This is the only extension that Detroit can give Vrana; he’ll have to be recalled once these three games are up.
- The Devils announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon to AHL Utica. He was recalled last week for his second stint with the big club this season but didn’t get into a game with New Jersey; his last NHL appearance came back in January 2017. So far this season, the 29-year-old has two goals and seven assists in 23 games with the Comets.
Senators Assign Jacob Bernard-Docker To AHL
Jacob Bernard-Docker just returned to Ottawa’s lineup last week after being on injured reserve for more than a month. However, his time with the Senators has come to an end for the time being as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been sent to AHL Belleville.
The 22-year-old has played in nine NHL games so far this season, including seeing action in Ottawa’s last three. In those contests, he had an assist along with 14 blocked shots while averaging over 17 minutes per night which isn’t bad for a rookie. However, he’ll have an opportunity to log a lot more minutes at the minor league level; he played in eight games with Belleville back in October, picking up an assist.
At the moment, the Senators have just six defensemen on their active roster and one of those is Erik Brannstrom who hasn’t played in nearly two weeks due to a leg injury. Bernard-Docker’s assignment suggests that Brannstrom should be ready to return for Tuesday’s contest against Columbus. Brannstrom has three assists in 32 games so far this season.
Metropolitan Notes: Carlson, Vesey, Clutterbuck
The Capitals will be without defenseman John Carlson for an extended period of time as Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that his recovery timeline is a matter of months, not weeks. He took a slap shot to the side of the head just before the holiday break and was subsequently moved to injured reserve. Notably, the extended absence will allow them to place Carlson on LTIR which will make it considerably easier to activate Nicklas Backstrom when the veteran center is ready to return. However, Carlson is expected to return this season which means that Washington won’t be able to spend any of his cap hit on external replacements as they’ll need to get back into cap compliance when he’s cleared to return. His loss will be a big one for the Caps as Carlson has 21 points in 30 games this season while logging more than 23 minutes a night, a role that’s difficult to fill internally.
More from the Metropolitan:
- It took a PTO for Jimmy Vesey to eventually land a contract with the Rangers but now that he’s eligible to sign an extension, Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests that they’d be wise to try to sign the winger to a new deal now. The 29-year-old has six goals and six assists in 37 games this season and has largely played on the top three lines for the bulk of the year. Knowing that Vesey has gone through the PTO route for two straight years, it’s possible that he’d be amenable to an early extension, one that would give him a bit of stability at a price tag that likely wouldn’t be much higher than the league minimum.
- The Islanders are hopeful that winger Cal Clutterbuck will be able to return to the lineup tomorrow against Vancouver, relays Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). The 35-year-old returned from an upper-body injury last month only to sustain another upper-body issue soon after as he landed on injured reserve once again a week later. Clutterbuck has five points and 98 hits in 26 games so far this season.
Stars Recall Fredrik Olofsson From AHL
Jan 2: After being sent back down to the AHL yesterday, Olofsson is back already for the Stars. The SHL star has one goal in three games at the NHL level so far.
Dec 27: Fredrik Olofsson is an older rookie at the age of 26 but he is set to get his first NHL opportunity as the Stars announced that they’ve recalled the forward from AHL Texas.
Olofsson is in his first season in North America after signing with Dallas back in May following an impressive season with IK Oskarshamn in Sweden that saw him put up 42 points in 49 games. He also earned a spot on Sweden’s Olympic team which helped to get him on the NHL radar. However, he hasn’t been as productive in the minors as Olofsson has just a dozen points in 28 games with Texas.
Olofsson will likely take the place of Riley Tufte in the Stars’ lineup. Tufte played less than five minutes in Friday’s victory over Montreal and was among the many players shuffled back to the minors on Saturday for salary cap purposes. Olofsson is a bit more of a defensive player and might be a better fit on the fourth line in Denis Gurianov’s absence.