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Minor Transactions: 12/10/24

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As usual, there have been a handful of minor moves around the hockey world today.  Here’s a rundown of the ones that haven’t been previously mentioned.

  • The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve once again recalled Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. The 26-year-old has been shuffled back and forth in recent days but has yet to see any game action with Ottawa in 2024-25 but got into four games with the big club last season.  Matinpalo has played in 17 games with Belleville this season, collecting two goals and four assists, nearly halfway to his point production from 2023-24.
  • Hurricanes prospect Anttoni Honka will be staying overseas next season. HC Ajoie of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed him to a two-year contract that begins in 2025-26.  The 24-year-old is playing for Ajoie this season while on loan from Carolina, the second straight year he has played overseas despite being on an NHL agreement; he suited up for JYP in Finland last season.  This is the final year of Honka’s entry-level deal and considering he has already decided to stay in Switzerland, there’s a good chance he’ll be non-tendered this summer.  Honka was selected late in the third round in 2019.
  • Still with Carolina, the Hurricanes have re-assigned defenseman Ty Smith to AHL Chicago, per a team release. Smith has been shuffled back and forth throughout the season while spending time in a seventh defender role at times with Carolina but has yet to get into an NHL game this season.  The 24-year-old has three goals and four helpers in seven games with the Wolves so far.
  • Former NHL winger Brendan Perlini has found a place to play this season. Spartak of the KHL announced that they’ve inked the 28-year-old for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.  Perlini has 262 career NHL games under his belt over parts of five seasons with four different teams, collecting 50 goals and 31 assists over that span.  He spent the last two years exclusively at the AHL level, however, and picked up nine goals and 11 assists in 37 games with AHL Charlotte last season.
  • A day after being sent down, Max Sasson has been recalled by the Canucks, the team announced (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has two assists in seven games in his first taste of NHL action this season.  Sasson also has nine points in 16 games with AHL Abbotsford.  His demotion allowed Vancouver to bank a tiny bit more cap space as they look to avoid dipping into using LTIR.

Five Key Stories: 12/2/24 – 12/8/24

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The first full week of December is in the books and it was a busy one across the NHL.  The biggest news is recapped in our key stories.

4 Nations Rosters Set: While the 4 Nations Face-Off is still more than two months away, the four countries participating – Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States – all released their rosters for the event.  Players can still be substituted as injury replacements until the event begins so it wouldn’t be shocking if most (if not all) will have one or two different players in the lineup when it gets underway on February 12th.  In terms of NHL representation, the Panthers lead the way with eight players participating while the Golden Knights have seven.  Florida is one of only two teams to have a player for each different country with Toronto being the other.  Meanwhile, the Kraken and Metropolitan-leading Capitals do not have a single representative.

Trouba To Anaheim: After being unable to move him during the summer, the Rangers had made it known recently that defenseman Jacob Trouba was still available.  Eventually, they had enough prospective deals lined up that they went to the blueliner and asked him to pick one he liked or else he’d potentially land on waivers.  He accepted a trade to Anaheim in exchange for blueliner Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick (the earlier of Detroit’s or Boston’s).  Notably, the Ducks assumed the entire $8MM cap charge on Trouba for this season and next and while they get an upgrade on the back end (and potentially a flippable player with retention down the road), the Rangers picked up some significant cap space.

Shesterkin’s Sticking Around: New York wasted little time putting the cap space freed up for 2025-26 in the Trouba trade to use, signing goaltender Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year, $92MM contract extension that begins next season; the deal contains a no-move clause while the majority of the deal will be paid out as signing bonuses.  The $11.5MM AAV is a new NHL record for a netminder.  Shesterkin has been one of the top goaltenders in the NHL since coming to the league in the 2019-20 season and it was widely expected that he’d top Carey Price’s $10.5MM price tag in this agreement.  While his camp was believed to be seeking more than Artemi Panarin ($11.643MM), that didn’t wind up happening.  With the signing, the goaltending position is now sealed up for the better part of the next decade.

Hip Surgery For Seguin: Stars center Tyler Seguin is set to miss the next four to six months due to hip surgery.  It’s a big blow for Dallas as the 32-year-old was off to one of his best starts in recent years, tallying nine goals and 11 assists in his first 19 outings.  On the short end of the timeline, it’s possible that Seguin could return in early April, the likeliest scenario is that he misses the rest of the regular season.  While Dallas has cap space for now and doesn’t need to move Seguin to LTIR, they could look to do so closer to the trade deadline.  While the exact amount they could spend is dependent on their roster composition at the time of placement, they could potentially use a big chunk of his $9.85MM AAV to add to their roster.

Coaching Change In Chicago: The Blackhawks became the third team to make a coaching change this season (joining Boston and St. Louis) when they fired Luke Richardson.  Taking his place will be now-former AHL Rockford bench boss Anders Sorensen who has been named as interim head coach, a role he’ll hold for the rest of the year.  Richardson was in his third season with the rebuilding Blackhawks and his team played to a 57-119-15 record, good for a points percentage of just .338.  That said, the team was selling off assets early in his tenure so the poor overall record isn’t surprising.  However, GM Kyle Davidson brought in several veterans over the summer to try to give the team a better foundation but it didn’t result in on-ice success with the team recording just 18 points in 27 games before the change.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Lightning, Smith, Tokarski, Lazar

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The Lightning lost a pair of key players during today’s game against Vancouver.  Center Anthony Cirelli left with an injury in the first period while defenseman Erik Cernak only played one shift in the third period.  Speaking with reporters postgame including FanDuel Sports Network Florida’s Gabby Shirley (Twitter link), head coach Jon Cooper didn’t have an update on either player but added that they’ll know more on each of them on Monday.  Cirelli was averaging a point per game through his first 24 appearances heading into today’s action while Cernak had seven assists in his 24 outings.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • A day after sending Riley Stillman to the minors, the Hurricanes have found his replacement for the time being. The team announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Ty Smith from AHL Chicago.  The 24-year-old has been up multiple times with Carolina this season but has yet to play and will likely continue to serve in the seventh defenseman role while he’s on the roster.  Smith has three goals and four assists in seven games with the Wolves so far.
  • Still with the Hurricanes, they assigned goaltender Dustin Tokarski to Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. As has frequently been the case this season, this is merely a move to bank a bit of cap space and delay Tokarski’s waiver clock.  He’ll almost certainly be recalled before Tuesday’s game against San Jose.
  • While there has been some speculation that Devils center Curtis Lazar won’t return this season, that’s not believed to be the case, relays NJ Advance Media’s Gabriel Trevino (Twitter link). The veteran underwent left knee surgery at the end of October but no firm timeline was given for his return.  That said, GM Tom Fitzgerald mentioned recently that acquiring a fourth-line center was on his priority list before the trade deadline in March so even if the team still believes Lazar could return, it seems as if they intend to operate as if he won’t so that way, they’re still covered.

West Notes: Jones, Larsen, Lomberg, Stephens

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Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones skated before practice today as he works his way back from a right foot injury, notes WGN Radio’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link).  The 30-year-old was originally pegged to be out around four weeks with the injury and he has missed the last three so resuming on-ice skating now suggests he’s pretty much on track in his recovery.  Jones has played in 17 games so far this season where he has 10 points while logging 25:43 per night, his highest ATOI since his first season with Chicago back in 2021-22.

More from out West:

  • The Flames announced (Twitter link) that assistant coach Brad Larsen has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team to attend to a family matter. Larsen is in his first season with Calgary after joining them as an assistant coach this past offseason following a year away from the league after being fired as head coach with Columbus after two seasons.
  • Still with the Flames, winger Ryan Lomberg did not accompany the team on its trip to Dallas and won’t be in the lineup tonight, relays Sportsnet 960’s Derek Wills (Twitter link). His absence isn’t injury-related; instead, he stayed back in Calgary to be with his wife with the birth of their child pending.  Lomberg has three assists, 22 penalty minutes, and 47 hits in 27 games this season in his second stint with the Flames after signing a two-year, $4MM contract with them back in July.
  • A day after being sent to the minors, the Kraken recalled center Mitchell Stephens per the AHL’s transactions log. The move ultimately allowed them to delay his waiver clock by one day.  The 27-year-old went into today’s action with four games played with Seattle where he had been held off the scoresheet in a little over nine minutes per game of ice time.

Metropolitan Notes: Provorov, Rangers, Stillman

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It appears the Blue Jackets may be without a key defenseman for the foreseeable future.  Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch notes that Ivan Provorov left Friday’s game with an upper-body injury.  The injury occurred early in the second period when he dove for a puck with his hand hitting the boards; his thumb took the brunt of the impact.  There’s no word yet on how long he might miss.  Provorov has nine points in 26 games so far this season while logging over 23 minutes a night of playing time.  A pending unrestricted free agent, he’s widely expected to be a key trade chip for Columbus in the second half of the year as long as this injury doesn’t keep him out for an extended period of time.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • With the Rangers trading Jacob Trouba to Anaheim yesterday, they now find themselves without a captain. However, don’t expect that vacancy to be filled right away.  Head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters including NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link) that the team is not planning to name a new captain.  They’re open to appointing another alternate (to join Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad) but that won’t happen right away.  New York has now moved its last three captains in midseason swaps with Trouba joining Ryan McDonagh and Ryan Callahan in that category.
  • The Hurricanes announced that they have re-assigned defenseman Riley Stillman to AHL Chicago. The 26-year-old has been sent back and forth a few times in recent weeks but he hasn’t seen any game action yet with Carolina.  Stillman has been limited to just six games with the Wolves after starting the season on injured reserve and has two assists in those outings.  With the move, the Hurricanes now have two vacancies on their active roster for the time being.

Injury Updates: Faulk, Thomas, Red Wings, Vaakanainen

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The Blues will welcome back a key blueliner tonight against Edmonton.  Team reporter Chris Pinkert reports that Justin Faulk will return to the lineup after missing the last two games due to an upper-body injury.  The 32-year-old has been more limited than usual offensively over the first couple of months as he has just one goal and six assists so far in 25 games.  However, Faulk is carrying a big workload, averaging a team-high 23:26 per night, his highest ATOI since the shortened 2020-21 campaign.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated forward Akil Thomas off injured reserve. The 24-year-old had missed the last week due to an undisclosed injury.  Thomas has been limited to just ten games so far in his first full NHL season and has a goal and an assist while logging a little more than 11 minutes a night of playing time.  Los Angeles had two open roster spots so no corresponding move was needed to bring Thomas back to the active roster.
  • The Red Wings won’t have goaltenders Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon available for a little while longer. MLive’s Ansar Khan relays (Twitter link) that the netminders will likely miss the next two games as they continue to deal with lower-body injuries.  Talbot has posted an impressive .915 SV% in 15 games in his first season with Detroit while Lyon is only a few points lower at .911 in his first nine outings.  Ville Husso will continue to serve as the starter for the time being while prospect Sebastian Cossa is back with the team after being papered down on Friday for cap reasons and will serve as Husso’s backup.
  • New Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen took part in the team’s optional practice today in a non-contact jersey, notes NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link). The 25-year-old has missed more than three weeks with an upper-body injury and is still likely a few games away from being cleared to return.  Vaakanainen has played in just five games so far this season, those coming with Anaheim before being part of yesterday’s Jacob Trouba trade.

Maple Leafs Activate Max Pacioretty, Place Jake McCabe On IR

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The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Pittsburgh.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Max Pacioretty has been activated from LTIR.  To make room on the roster, blueliner Jake McCabe was placed on IR retroactive to November 30th.

Pacioretty will wind up missing only the minimum of 10 games since his placement last month when he sustained a lower-body injury against Montreal.  The 36-year-old has been limited to just 13 games so far in his first season with Toronto.  However, he has been relatively productive in those outings, collecting four goals and two assists despite averaging just 12:11 of playing time per night, a career low.

Pacioretty has already reached the first half of his $626,230 bonus pool when he played in his tenth game of the season early last month.  He needs to get to 35 to collect the other half of it so he’ll be looking to stay healthy the rest of the way.

As for McCabe, he has missed the last week due to an upper-body injury sustained against Tampa Bay at the end of November.  Thanks to the retroactive placement, he has already missed the required seven days and thus is eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.

After putting up a career-high 28 points last season, the 31-year-old earned a five-year, $23.5MM extension back in late October.  However, he has been a bit quieter offensively so far this season, collecting just five assists through his first 23 games although he’s averaging a career-best 21:20 in playing time.  After being a frequent healthy scratch early on, Philippe Myers has played the last three games in McCabe’s absence.

Avalanche Activate Ross Colton, Place Jonathan Drouin On IR

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The Avalanche will welcome back an important forward tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Ross Colton has been activated off LTIR.  To make room for him on the active roster, winger Jonathan Drouin has been moved to injured reserve retroactive to November 23rd.

Colton will make his return versus Detroit tonight after missing the last 17 games.  The 28-year-old was shifted to LTIR earlier this week but since it was retroactive to late October when he first sustained his foot injury, he has already missed the required 10 games and 24 days to return to the lineup.

Before being injured, Colton was off to a hot start with eight goals and an assist while logging 18:38 per game, more than five minutes higher than his career average ATOI.  He’s expected to start on the second line but head coach Jared Bednar has indicated that he wants to move Colton onto the top line in the near future.

As for Drouin, he has missed the last two weeks due to an upper-body injury but has been skating in recent days.  The retroactive placement for him means he’s already missed the required seven days to return to the lineup so as soon as he’s cleared by team doctors, he can be activated.

His second season with the Avs hasn’t gone as well as his first.  After putting up 19 goals and 37 assists for a career-best 56 points in 2023-24, Drouin’s upper-body injury troubles have limited him to just five games so far.  While he has been relatively productive in those with two goals and two assists, this certainly hasn’t been the start to the season he has wanted, especially with it being another contract year after inking a one-year, $2.5MM deal to return to the Avs in free agency back in the summer.

Blue Jackets Open Extension Talks With Mathieu Olivier

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Rugged winger Mathieu Olivier is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time this summer.  However, it appears he’s open to remaining in Columbus as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Olivier’s camp and the Blue Jackets have engaged in preliminary discussions about a contract extension.

The 27-year-old is in his sixth NHL season and over the first five, he rightly earned a reputation as a typical fourth-line pugilist.  While he chipped in a bit more offensively after being acquired by Columbus back in 2022, his career-high in goals heading into this season was only five.

However, Olivier has found another gear offensively in 2024-25.  He already has eight tallies through the first 26 games of the season and while his 25.8 shooting percentage is certainly bound to come down, there’s a good chance he’ll pass the double-digit mark in that regard while also eclipsing his previous best for points (15 set back in 2022-23).  On top of that, Olivier is also seeing a bit more shorthanded action per game, logging a little under a minute a night on average, helping boost his overall ATOI past 13 minutes a night, another benchmark.

Heading into the season, it looked like Olivier might be in line for a small raise on his current $1.1MM price tag, potentially landing him in the $1.25MM to $1.5MM range on a multi-year deal.  Now, while his current start is likely unsustainable, it wouldn’t be shocking to see his new AAV start with a two.  Though that’s a higher price to pay for someone who is arguably best suited as a fourth liner, the Blue Jackets could certainly afford to pay a premium for Olivier’s services in the short term with the team having less than $47MM on the books for 2025-26, per PuckPedia.  We’ll see in the coming weeks if the two sides can find common ground on a deal to keep him in Columbus for the foreseeable future.

East Notes: Canadiens, Guhle, Senators, Robertson

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While the Canadiens sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division once again and are speculated to be likely to move out more veterans, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette argues that Montreal might be better off retaining two in particular, defenseman Mike Matheson and center Jake Evans.  Matheson has one more year left on his contract at an affordable $4.875MM and had 15 points in 24 games so far this season after finishing in the top ten in scoring among NHL defenders in 2023-24.  But with Lane Hutson impressing early on, some have wondered if he’d be available.

As for Evans, the 28-year-old is off to a career-best start with five goals and nine assists through 26 outings while logging 16 minutes a game while leading all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time.  A pending unrestricted free agent, he could conceivably double his current $1.7MM price tag on the open market.  With his low cost this season, Evans could be one of the Canadiens’ better trade chips but Cowan suggests that he and Matheson might be the right types of veterans to keep around as Montreal tries to emerge from its rebuild in the coming seasons.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Still with Montreal, Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle missed Thursday’s game against Nashville due to illness. However, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that indications are that the 22-year-old will return to the lineup tonight.  Guhle has recorded six points, 48 blocks, and 26 hits in 20 games so far while averaging a career-best 21:34 per night.
  • While the Senators may have had cursory discussions about acquiring Jacob Trouba, those talks wouldn’t have gone far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The veteran blueliner made it known that he had no interest in playing for a Canadian-based team which also took Montreal, a speculative landing spot with former Ranger GM Jeff Gorton in the front office, off the table.  Trouba eventually accepted a deal to Anaheim on Friday.
  • After being recalled yesterday, the Rangers announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Matthew Robertson has been re-assigned to AHL Hartford. The 23-year-old hasn’t made his NHL debut just yet but has started well with the Wolf Pack this season, notching eight points in 19 games so far.  New York is now down to just six healthy blueliners on its roster so this could be a case of Robertson (or someone else) being brought up on game days to serve as a seventh option for the time being.

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