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New Jersey Devils Recall Samuel Laberge

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Just after signing him to a one-year entry-level contract on November 25th, the New Jersey Devils have recalled forward Samuel Laberge from their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.

Laberge is at Devils practice this morning and could very well make his NHL debut with the club in the coming days, perhaps even in tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Should Laberge get the chance to make his NHL debut, it would be a wonderful moment for a player who has been through a lot on his path to such a moment.

Laberge’s pro hockey journey began in traditional fashion: after three seasons as a top-six power forward in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic, including a campaign spent as their captain, Laberge signed an AHL deal with the Texas Stars.

A power forward capable of chipping in solid offensive numbers in junior, Laberge became more of a fourth-line grinder at the AHL level, and didn’t see his name on the scoresheet often. As a result his standing and role in Texas slowly eroded as the team opted to give bigger opportunities to other players. He also suffered an injury that cost him valuable momentum and a full two months of his second campaign in Texas.

After scoring just seven points in 2018-19, Laberge’s time with the Stars ended. He had planned on heading to Manitoba on a professional tryout agreement with the Winnipeg Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Moose. But his plans had to grind to a halt, as his father had been diagnosed with cancer.

Laberge made the decision to pause the chase of his NHL dream and opted to stay closer to home rather than stay in camp with the Moose. Laberge told Devils team reporter Amanda Stein: “I wanted to spend the time with my father,” which led Laberge to forgo AHL opportunities. Laberge ” wasn’t sure if [he] still wanted to play hockey,” but opted to remain in the game by playing in the semi-pro LNAH alongside work in construction.

In 2020, Laberge re-joined the ranks of professional hockey with the ECHL’s Allen Americans and began to excel there, finishing with 17 goals and 42 points in 55 combined regular season and postseason games. Laberge signed with the Devils’ ECHL affiliate, the Adirondack Thunder, for the 2021-22 campaign but quickly played his way back into the AHL by scoring 10 points in 12 ECHL games.

Laberge spent most of 2021-22 with the Utica Comets and last season spent the entire year in Utica, avoiding a single reassignment to the ECHL. So far this season, Laberge has scored three points in eight games for the Comets. He’s not a scoring forward like he was in junior, but the six-foot-two grinder can rack up hits, penalty minutes, and plays with a lot of energy.

Should he end up making his NHL debut, Laberge will likely do so in a limited fourth-line role. But just making it to this point, where he has an NHL contract in hand and is now on an NHL roster for the first time, is a remarkable achievement for a hard-working player who just a few years ago was playing semi-pro hockey and had one foot outside of the game.

Pittsburgh Penguins Reassign Alex Nylander

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have reassigned forward Alex Nylander to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

The 25-year-old former top prospect heads back to the AHL after plying in three games for the Penguins. He got a shot in the team’s top-six playing next to Evgeni Malkin and Reilly Smith, but wasn’t able to make the most of it. Despite receiving over 15 minutes of ice time per game during his call-up, Nylander did not record a point.

But while in the NHL Nylander struggles to be a factor, in the AHL he’s a top player. He scored 25 goals and 50 points for Wilkes-Barre Scranton last season and currently has eight points in 11 games with the club. He’ll now return to his starring role with the AHL’s Penguins just in time for their game tonight against the Hershey Bears.

The Penguins with this reassignment have cleared a spare open spot on their roster to make another move. They could end up bringing an extra forward up to replace Nylander, though it is likely that before the season is done Nylander will get another shot at the NHL level with the team.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Brandon Biro

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The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Brandon Biro from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. He swaps with goaltender Devon Levi, who was reassigned from the Sabres to Rochester yesterday.

The Sabres have an upcoming two-game road trip that will take them through St. Louis and North Carolina, so adding Biro gives the club an extra forward to work with as they embark on that trip.

Biro, 25, was signed to the Sabres organization as an undrafted free agent out of the Big-10 and Penn State. He became an instant impact scorer for Rochester, potting 12 goals and 41 points in his 48-game rookie campaign.

Last season, Biro was Rochester’s top scorer on a points-per-game basis, notching 16 goals and 51 points in just 49 games. He did not play in any NHL games last year, though.

So far this season, Biro has already played in two NHL contests. He has gotten off to a strong AHL start once again, scoring six goals and 12 points in 10 games.

He also has two goals in the NHL, and the Sabres will hope that his offense can continue to translate and Biro can help them get some valuable points against two tough road opponents.

Lian Bichsel Will Return To SHL

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The Dallas Stars’ top defensive prospect Lian Bichsel has elected to exercise the European Assignment Clause in his entry-level contract and return to Sweden for the rest of the season. The Stars will officially reassign the player to the SHL on December 4th.

The 19-year-old Swiss blueliner was the 18th overall pick at the 2022 NHL draft and had made the decision to cross the Atlantic for the start of the season to join the Stars for training camp. He was sent to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, to start the year and has played in 13 games, scoring five points.

A hulking six-foot-six, 233-pound defensive behemoth, Bichsel has actually been playing a solid role in Texas. He’s been a staple of their top-four on defense and has seen time on special teams as well.

While he hasn’t received a call-up opportunity yet, it was certainly a possibility that Bichsel would receive a call-up and play in his first NHL games before the end of the season. Now, that possibility has been made significantly more remote as he won’t be back in North America at least until his SHL season ends.

Since Bichsel has reportedly elected to play for Rögle BK instead of Leksands, he’s going to be joining a team that currently sits 11th out of 14 SHL clubs. Rögle could very well miss the postseason, which would pave the way for Bichsel to return to the AHL before the Stars’ season ends.

This is unlikely to be the development path the stars would prefer for Bichsel, but it’s a possibility they have to have at least expected. Ultimately, while the AHL may have been the preferred route heading to Rögle is far from a significant step down in terms of development opportunities. He’s likely to play quite a bit there and the club has a history of helping NHL first-round picks in their growth, including Detroit Red Wings star Moritz Seider.

By the time the Stars 2024 training camp rolls around, the additional experience Bichsel will have gained this year could very well be the deciding factor in whether or not he makes the Stars’ NHL roster at the age of 20.

Minor Transactions: 11/29/23

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NHL player movement is beginning to heat up, as just yesterday featured a major free-agent signing as well as a former 20-goal scorer being traded. Player movement in the wider world of professional hockey mirrors that activity, especially yesterday in the KHL. As always, we’ll keep track of notable transactions from minor and overseas leagues here:

  • 2014 Colorado Avalanche first-round pick Conner Bleackley was released from his ECHL team yesterday. The 27-year-old Canadian forward was playing for the Rapid City Rush this season, but had only managed to score three points in 13 ECHL games. Prior to this season, Bleackley had played two consecutive campaigns for the Maine Mariners, scoring 15 goals and 38 points in 98 games. Once nearly a point-per-game ECHLer with the Tulsa Oilers, Bleackley’s scoring numbers have dried up and his AHL call-up opportunities have dried up as well, as he hasn’t played at the game’s second-highest level since 2019-20.
  • In the KHL, a one-for-one trade occurred involving two players who each were once part of an NHL organization. The Kunlun Red Star dealt Cliff Pu to Admiral Vladivostok, with the Chinese club receiving center Tyler Graovac in return. Graovac, 30, is a center with 84 games of NHL experience and two seasons under his belt in the AHL where he scored at least 20 goals. He hadn’t made much of an offensive impact for Vladivostok, though, registering just four points in 20 games. Pu, 25, is a winger who once scored 86 points in the OHL and was part of the trade that sent Jeff Skinner to Buffalo. He scored 11 goals and 20 points in 41 KHL games last season and will now leave China for Russia having scored nine points in 29 games this year.
  • The Red Star also dealt one of their alternate captains, Zac Leslie, to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk for cash compensation. Leslie, 29, is a former Los Angeles Kings prospect and OHL champion who has spent the last two years in the KHL, entirely with Kunlun. He had an impressive rookie KHL season in 2022-23, scoring 39 points in 65 games. This season, he’s only managed seven points in 30 games as the team has elected to complete a change-of-scenery trade that will send him all the way west into Tatarstan.
  • Continuing what has been an extremely busy day for the KHL’s Chinese side, the club has also signed former NHLer Gemel Smith to a one-year deal. Now 29 years old, Smith last played in the NHL in 2021-22, when he received three games played with the Detroit Red Wings. After spending last year entirely in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch (37 points in 35 games) and Henderson Silver Knights (16 points in 19 games) Smith decided to parlay has exemplary AHL production and physical style into what was potentially a lucrative KHL deal with Dynamo Minsk. He hasn’t had the start with Minsk that he’d likely have wanted, though, scoring four goals and five points in 15 games. Smith and Minsk agreed on a mutual contract termination on November 17th, and now Smith has his landing spot for where he’ll attempt to revive his rookie KHL campaign.
  • Former 54-point NHLer Peter Mueller will not continue with the Czech club he’s currently playing for, HC Vítkovice. Although the 35-year-old Minnesota native was once the leading scorer of the Czech Extraliga and is pulling his weight this year with 13 points in 17 games, Vítkovice have struggled mightily. They’re currently tied for last place in the Czech Extraliga with a 5-12-2 record. With the club in an increasingly dire situation in the standings, they will now have to cope with the loss of one of their leading offensive talents.
  • Drake Rymsha, a former Los Angeles Kings forward, has transferred from Slovakia’s HKM Zvolen to the ICEHL’s Red Bull Salzburg. A former OHL star with the Sarnia Sting, Rymsha was excellent in the ECHL last season scoring 24 goals and 58 points in 58 games. He parlayed that ECHL success into a shot in the Slovak Extraliga with Zvolen, and has provided strong early results with seven points in six games. That’s been enough for Salzburg to take a shot on the forward, who now has a chance to join the reigning back-to-back ICEHL champions.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Detroit Red Wings Sign Patrick Kane

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11/29/23: The Red Wings have now made their signing of Kane official.

11/28/23: According to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, free agent forward and future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane is signing with the Detroit Red Wings.

Should this report end up accurate, Kane would be landing with a historic rival of his longtime club, the Chicago Blackhawks.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Kane’s deal is a one-year, $2.75MM pact.

It would also mean Kane will have played for half of the league’s original six teams, after spending part of last season with the New York Rangers.

According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, Kane “was very impressed” with Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde, and more specifically his “hockey acumen” and “vision for Detroit.”

By signing in Detroit, Kane has re-united himself with one of his favorite former teammates: Alex DeBrincat. DeBrincat, who the Red Wings acquired in the offseason, has had the best seasons of his career on a line with Kane and is currently off to a hot start with 12 goals and 20 points in 20 games.

While DeBrincat has slowed down a bit recently, the arrival of Kane will likely give him a major boost, assuming Kane comes back and plays up to his career standard. That’s far from a guarantee after offseason hip surgery, especially if one considers the impact hip resurfacing surgery had on Nicklas Backstrom.

At the moment, the Red Wings have almost $7MM in cap space to work with according to CapFriendly. As a result, they should be able to comfortably fit the cost of Kane’s contract, assuming the cap hit isn’t excessively expensive.

As for where Kane fits in Detroit’s lineup, one has to assume Lalonde would begin by placing Kane with DeBrincat on the team’s second line, a unit currently centered by J.T. Compher. Doing so would displace Michael Rasmussen, but the 2017 ninth-overall pick’s six points in 20 games is hardly a convincing argument to retain his top-six job over a player like Kane.

Of course, Lalonde could also choose to not immediately go with the DeBrincat/Kane partnership, and instead play Kane on the first line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, replacing Joe Veleno.

In any case, the Red Wings could be getting a significant offensive boost with this signing. Assuming Kane can return to something close to what he was in Chicago and at times on Broadway, Detroit is getting the type of mid-season reinforcement that usually costs teams quality prospects and/or draft picks.

Although Kane’s play in the defensive end has led to questions regarding how much overall value he actually provides, there’s a reason most contending teams would eagerly accept adding Kane to their top-six. He’s one of the defining offensive talents of this most recent era of NHL hockey, and is nearly point-per-game in the postseason across a sample size of nearly 150 games.

The Red Wings are eager to emerge out of their rebuild and return to the playoffs, perhaps making a serious run at the Stanley Cup as well. Adding Kane almost undoubtedly helps them in that pursuit.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Detroit Red Wings Recall Jonatan Berggren

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The Detroit Red Wings have recalled forward Jonatan Berggren from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Berggren, 23, has been recalled fresh off of a three-game goal-scoring streak. The Swedish forward was the 33rd overall pick at the 2018 draft and has developed steadily for the Red Wings.

After a stellar first season in North America where he scored 64 points in 70 AHL games, Berggren made it to the NHL full-time in 2022-23. He scored 15 goals and 28 points, showcasing the potential to potentially become a top-six winger down the line.

As Detroit made aggressive moves this offseason to upgrade its team in the pursuit of a playoff berth, Berggren was pushed out of the regular lineup by arrivals such as Daniel Sprong. As a result, Berggren has played all of this season, save for two games, at the AHL level. He’s continued his success there, scoring 11 points in 11 games.

With Dylan Larkin out for tomorrow’s game against the New York Rangers, its possible Berggren replaces him in the lineup, albeit not in Larkin’s first-line center spot. With Patrick Kane set to arrive, though it’s likely Berggren’s stay on the NHL roster will be brief.

Seattle Kraken Recall Marián Studenič

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The Seattle Kraken have recalled forward Marián Studenič from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

The 25-year-old has not yet made his NHL debut with the Kraken since signing a one-year, two-way deal with the club this past summer. Studenič has 44 NHL games on his resume, with them almost evenly split between his time with the New Jersey Devils and his stint with the Dallas Stars after they claimed him off of waivers.

A six-foot-one two-way winger, Studenič was given a hefty $325k guarantee and $300k AHL salary by Seattle in order to serve as a reliable top-six forward for their AHL affiliate as well as experienced depth for their big club.

He’s been as advertised in Coachella Valley, scoring six goals and 11 points in 15 games. He’s fourth on the team in scoring and already has a productive AHL campaign on his resume from last season when he scored 21 goals and 48 points in 61 games with the Texas Stars.

Studenič may not draw into head coach Dave Hakstol’s lineup immediately, though, as yesterday’s recall Andrew Poturalski may get that shot. Poturalski, a two-time AHL scoring leader and Calder Cup champion is currently set to slot in on Seattle’s second line next to Alexander Wennberg and Jaden Schwartz. Should he fail to make an impact there, the Kraken now have Studenič to plug into the lineup instead.

New York Rangers To Place Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil On LTIR

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The New York Rangers are going to be placing Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil on long-term injured reserve, according to USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano.

Mercogliano adds that the Rangers “don’t believe Kakko’s injury is season-ending,” although he is set to miss “significant time.”

Additionally, Chytil’s LTIR placement is retroactive to November 3rd, meaning he can be activated at any time. The move to LTIR clears cap space for recalls in the immediate term, as placing Chytil and his $4.437MM cap hit gives the club additional flexibility to make moves.

In more LTIR-related news for the Rangers, 2020-21 Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox is set to be activated off of the long-term injury list and is expected to return to the Rangers’ top pairing alongside Ryan Lindgren.

This update on Kakko is both good and bad news for the Rangers. On one hand, Kakko’s injury last night definitely looked severe. One could not be blamed for expecting Kakko to miss the entire season due to the injury, even without knowing more details about the injury.

So today’s news that the Rangers don’t expect the injury to be season-ending, and do believe that it “could have been worse,” is certainly welcome.

That being said, the loss of Kakko for such a significant amount of time is a major setback for the Rangers. The 22-year-old 2019 second-overall pick has undoubtedly had his fair share of issues this season, and his three points in 20 games are a far cry from the 18 goals and 40 points he scored in 2022-23.

That being said, this injury now robs Kakko of what looks to be, at the very least, a massive chunk of his 2023-24 season. While he had struggled in his first 20 games, there was no guarantee that those struggles would continue for the full 82-game slate.

Kakko’s defense and play along the boards have long been appreciated by the Rangers, so maybe with a few more months the points he started tallying with more regularity last season would start coming this year. Maybe, by the end of this season, Kakko could have put together a convincing case to be a long-term member of the Rangers’ core.

Now Kakko has lost the chance to take those major steps forward in his development, at least until far later in the season. Moreover, this injury means the Rangers will be working with significantly less information as to where Kakko stands and what his future holds when they enter contract negotiations with him this offseason.

As for Chytil, as mentioned this move to LTIR is purely cap-related. He’s begun skating again and is moving closer to a return to the ice. He’s been out since November 2nd.

Fox’s return is the good news for the Rangers. He’s the team’s most important defenseman and arguably its best skater. He’s scored more than 70 points in back-to-back seasons and is on pace to score 80 points if he stays healthy the rest of the way. Fox was injured in the same game as Chytil, but his return could come a bit sooner as he’s expected to play tomorrow.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

New York Islanders Activate Matt Martin

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The New York Islanders have activated veteran forward Matt Martin off of injured reserve, according to a team announcement.

The move paves the way for Martin, 34, to return to the Islanders lineup for tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils after an injury-related absence kept him off the ice since November 15th.

A veteran of nearly 1,000 games, Martin is an established fourth-line grinder. While he’s never scored more than 19 points in a single season, he’s racked up over 1,100 career penalty minutes and over 3,700 career hits. Martin has been on numerous playoff runs with the Islanders, including back-to-back runs to the Eastern Conference Final where he chipped in a total of six goals.

Now healthy, Martin will in all likelihood resume his role on the Islanders’ fourth line, alongside longtime linemates Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck.

2016 first-round pick Julien Gauthier had been playing on the “identity line” with Cizikas and Clutterbuck in Martin’s absence, and has registered nine hits in just three games played this season.

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