Avalanche Assign Jack Ahcan To AHL
Wednesday: The Avalanche announced that Ahcan has been sent back to the Eagles. He played in two games while on recall, playing just shy of 24 minutes between the two games.
Sunday: The Colorado Avalanche announced today that defenseman Jack Ahcan has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.
Veteran defenseman Josh Manson left last night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights with an upper-body injury. His injury left the Avalanche with just five healthy defensemen on their NHL roster, as Cale Makar has been sidelined with an injury of his own. This recall brings the number of healthy blueliners the Avalanche have at their disposal to six.
Ahcan, 28, has already played in nine NHL games this season. He’s been one of the top offensive defensemen in the AHL this season. His 50 points in 60 games for the Eagles places him second in scoring by defensemen in the AHL, behind only Rochester Americans blueliner Zac Jones.
As a 5’8″ left-shot defenseman, he’s far from a one-to-one replacement for Manson, a 6’4″ right-shot blueliner. If they wanted to recall someone more stylistically similar to Manson, they could have recalled 6’3″ right-shot defenseman Ronnie Attard, who has played in 29 career NHL games.
Attard hasn’t played in the NHL since 2023-24 though. More importantly, the Avalanche don’t actually have a pressing need to recall someone that is a direct stylistic comparable to Manson. The Avalanche acquired blueliner Nick Blankenburg from the Nashville Predators at the deadline, a move that was designed to protect the team’s defensive depth in advance of what it hopes will be a long playoff run.
So far, the move has done exactly that: provided the Avalanche with an increased measure of flexibility in the face of injuries on its blueline. Yesterday, they played Blankenburg, who is a right shot, on the left side. Blankenburg has experience playing on both sides, a factor the team no doubt considered when they decided to acquire him.
Even still, the Avalanche have only two healthy lefties in their lineup at this point. By recalling Ahcan, the Avalanche can now shift Blankenburg back to his natural right side, and easily plug Ahcan onto the left side of one of their pairings.
At this stage, there is no word on the extent of Manson’s injury. Colorado has just three games remaining on their regular season schedule, and have already locked up the Presidents’ Trophy. The team has every reason to be patient with Manson’s recovery and has zero reason to rush him back into their lineup. As a result, it appears entirely possible Ahcan could get into these three final games of the season as a result of this recall, which would be a very positive development for him, as he’s just a few months from needing a new contract as an unrestricted free agent.
Hurricanes Recall Pyotr Kochetkov, Felix Unger Sorum
April 14th: Although the Hurricanes activated Kochetkov, the team announced that he cannot play tonight due to a “roster technicality”. Still, while he won’t play tonight, Kochetkov will be available to Carolina for the postseason. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, the Hurricanes will dress Thomas Sullivan as tonight’s emergency backup goaltender.
April 13th: The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that netminder Pyotr Kochetkov and winger Felix Unger Sorum were recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
While Unger Sorum did not play tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, this recall does position him to make his NHL debut tomorrow on Long Island against the New York Islanders. The 20-year-old is a 2023 second-round pick who has spent the last two campaigns in the AHL with Chicago.
Unger Sorum has long been viewed as a prospect with real potential to outplay his second-round draft slot, but he struggled to produce consistently as an AHL rookie. He scored just five goals and 20 points in 61 games for the Wolves, and didn’t make any serious push for a call-up. With that said, he was a 19-year-old rookie playing in a very difficult league, so few scouts saw his 2024-25 season as a reason to seriously downgrade his projection. Entering the season, he ranked No. 7 in Carolina’s system according to the team at Elite Prospects, while Corey Pronman at The Athletic ranked him No. 5.
This season, Unger Sorum has been one of the AHL’s fastest risers. He’s upped his production considerably, scoring 63 points in 69 games this season. At just 20 years old, he led all AHL players aged 23 or younger in scoring this season. Now, he’s set to be rewarded for his rapid rise with the chance to make his NHL debut, and perhaps show he could be counted on to fill a role in head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s playoff lineup in the event the Hurricanes suffer several injuries during their postseason run.
Kochetkov is today’s other recall, but he’s in a very different situation than Unger Sorum. Kochetkov was in Chicago on a conditioning stint as part of his recovery from an early-season hip injury. That injury has limited the 26-year-old Russian netminder to just nine games played this season. In those nine games, he went 6-2-0 with an .899 save percentage and 2.33 goals against average.
With Kochetkov sidelined, the Hurricanes were forced to rely on Brandon Bussi, a 27-year-old goalie who had been one of the top goalies in the AHL, but had yet to make his NHL debut. Bussi was a revelation in Carolina, and has gone 30-6-1 with a 2.50 goals against average and .892 save percentage. While he’s not been a Vezina caliber goaltender for the Hurricanes by any means, he’s shown a valuable ability to steer the Hurricanes to victory, even in contests where he plays below his standards. Carolina rewarded him with a three-year, $1.9MM AAV contract extension in February.
Where Kochetkov stands in the Hurricanes’ goalie rotation at this stage of the season is unclear. Despite the fact that Kochetkov has been with the Hurricanes since 2021-22, and the team has gone on numerous deep playoff runs since that point, he’s been limited to no more than four games played in any single one of the team’s postseason trips. His playoff save percentage is also just .860. That, combined with the fact that he has just nine games played this season, makes him, on paper, a somewhat unlikely candidate to play in the Hurricanes’ upcoming run.
With that said, the team’s primary playoff starter, Frederik Andersen, has an .874 save percentage this season, one of the lower marks of any full-time starter in the NHL. His experience may get him the nod in net at some point, but his form in 2025-26 can’t inspire confidence. And while Bussi has certainly had an impressive campaign, he lacks experience in the postseason. As a result, while Kochetkov has factors working against him, it certainly wouldn’t be too big a surprise to see him in the crease for Carolina at some point in the playoffs.
Blue Jackets Sign Boston Buckberger
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed two-time NCAA national champion defenseman Boston Buckberger to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will start next season. He attended development camp with the Blue Jackets in 2025.
In the official team announcement, president of hockey operations and GM Don Waddell said of Buckberger:
Boston Buckberger is a smart, skilled defenseman who can play in all situations and has a championship pedigree. He was among the top scoring defensemen in college hockey this year and a big part of Denver’s championship team. We are very excited that he is now part of the Blue Jackets organization.
As Waddell mentioned, Buckberger made a name for himself on a national stage at Denver. He was an instant-impact defenseman for head coach David Carle, scoring 27 points in 44 games. He was able to build on that strong freshman campaign the following year, potting nine goals and 30 points in 41 contests. This season, he scored 10 goals and 28 points in 42 games.
While Buckberger has never been the Pioneers’ top offensive option from the blueline (Zeev Buium held that honor the first two seasons, and Eric Pohlkamp this year) he has nonetheless been able to consistently deliver value in whatever role he played. We named him as a player to watch in this year’s NCAA free agency class earlier this month, noting that “there might not be big upside” in Buckberger “returning for his senior season.”
That’s something Buckberger appears to have agreed with, as he elected to sign his entry-level deal and forgo returning to the Pioneers.
Columbus does have a track record to point to when it comes to developing top NCAA blueliners. They signed then-University of Michigan captain Nick Blankenburg in 2022, and he quickly became an NHLer for the Blue Jackets. He also impressed with the Nashville Predators and was a trade deadline addition of the Colorado Avalanche.
While Buckberger isn’t an exact one-to-one stylistic comparable for Blankenburg (he’s a bit bigger, for example), he’ll nonetheless likely hope to have an early career that resembles how Blankenburg’s has gone.
Kraken’s Jared McCann To Miss Rest Of Season
The Seattle Kraken announced today that forward Jared McCann will miss the final three games in the team’s 2025-26 season due to a lower-body injury.
The 29-year-old has been limited to just 52 games played this season as the result of injury. He dealt with a lower-body injury early in the season, one that landed him on IR. He left a game in December with a lower-body injury, one that put him out of commission on a week-to-week basis. He also missed three games in March as the result of a lower-body injury.
It’s unclear at this time whether those lower-body injuries are connected, and since nothing has been confirmed, all one can do is speculate. But the persistence of McCann’s lower-body injuries this season lends credence to the idea that this may be something he has had to manage over the course of the 2025-26 campaign.
Despite the nagging injury trouble, McCann was his usual self when healthy. He was Seattle’s most productive scorer on a points-per-game basis, scoring 20 goals and 40 points in 52 contests.
That’s a 63-point 82-game scoring pace, a total that would have cleared the team’s current team scoring leader, captain Jordan Eberle, by eight points.
This is the first year in Kraken franchise history that McCann has not finished the season as the team’s leading scorer.
With Seattle eliminated from playoff contention, the move to shut him down for the rest of the season won’t have any major on-ice implications. Missing McCann will make it more difficult for the Kraken to collect points in the final three games of the season, a factor that could improve their draft lottery odds. The team sits at 79 points as of writing, good for 27th in league standings.
The Kraken could conceivably drop as low as 30th in the standings, giving them the third-best odds in the draft lottery, though that would take very favorable out-of-town results. A far more realistic possibility is Seattle drops below the Toronto Maple Leafs (78 points) for the No. 5 slot in the lottery. That would be particularly relevant for the Maple Leafs, as their first-round pick for 2026 is owned by the Boston Bruins unless it falls within the top five selections in the draft.
In any case, that’s unlikely to be McCann’s focus. What’s more important to him is next season for the Kraken, who will be under considerable pressure to return to the postseason after three straight playoff misses. McCann is also entering the final season of his $5MM AAV contract, and could line himself up for a big new contract with another consistent, productive campaign.
Photos courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Winnipeg Jets Activate Colin Miller
The Winnipeg Jets announced today that defenseman Colin Miller has been activated off of injured reserve. Miller has been sidelined since January, when he underwent surgery on his knee.
The 33-year-old’s activation will allow him to potentially skate in the three contests left in the Jets’ regular season schedule. His activation would also allow him to enter the team’s playoff lineup should Winnipeg go on a miracle run in these final few days of the regular season and snatch a playoff spot from either the Los Angeles Kings or Nashville Predators.
It’s been a difficult season for Miller, who has been limited to just 15 games due to his injury as well as some healthy scratches from early in the season. In those 15 games, he’s managed just one point, and is averaging just 13:45 time on ice per game. That’s a slight decline from how much he was playing last season (14:31 per game) and well below his career average of 17:10 per game.
While two or three games won’t be able to fully reverse the course of his season, it will be enough for him to build some positive momentum for himself and enter the summer with a greater level of confidence than he might have otherwise had if he wasn’t able to return after his January surgery. It’s an important offseason for Miller, who is slated to hit unrestricted free agency for the fourth time in his career.
Miller is currently making $1.5MM against the cap on what is the second year of a two-year deal he signed on July 1, 2024. The difficulty he’s had staying on the ice this season, combined with a less-than-stellar 2024-25, makes it somewhat unlikely he’ll be able to match that number this summer.
AFP Analytics currently projects his next deal at one year, $907K. While it’s unlikely he’ll be able to do too much to change his leaguewide stock in what remains of the regular season, a good performance or two in games where the Jets’ playoff hopes are still alive certainly can’t hurt.
Sharks Recall Luca Cagnoni
The San Jose Sharks announced today that they have recalled Luca Cagnoni from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.
Cagnoni hasn’t played in the NHL this season, but got into six NHL games last year. In the meantime, he’s been one of the AHL’s most productive offensive defensemen, scoring 16 goals and 52 points as a rookie in 2024-25, and 43 points in 67 games in 2025-26.
The 5’9″ 180-pound blueliner is a former WHL star who is generally considered to be one of the better prospects in the Sharks’ system, which is one of the league’s very best. As with most defensemen his size, he has had to answer questions related to whether he’ll be able to handle the physical rigor and intensity of the NHL, but so far in his two-year professional career, he’s answered those questions in an emphatically positive direction.
The Sharks have not yet been eliminated from the playoffs, but their hopes of reaching the postseason are very slim. In the event they are eliminated from the playoffs before the end of the regular season, this recall will allow the team to get a look at Cagnoni’s progress.
His success at the AHL level suggests he could be nearing the point of NHL-readiness, and the Sharks are likely to want the chance to assess how close they believe Cagnoni is to making a real push for a full-time NHL roster spot.
The environment of the Sharks defense is favorable to Cagnoni, as he could have a significant opportunity ahead of him. San Jose’s defense is almost entirely unsettled for next season, with only Sam Dickinson and Dmitry Orlov under contract for 2026-27.
Mario Ferraro, Vincent Desharnais, Nick Leddy, and John Klingberg are set to hit unrestricted free agency, while Shakir Mukhamadullin will be an RFA. Klingberg has quarterbacked San Jose’s No. 1 power play unit this season, and if the Sharks let him walk, a significant amount of time on the man advantage will open up – time Cagnoni could very well seize if he makes the team.
Philadelphia Flyers Recall David Jiricek
The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled defenseman David Jiricek from their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The move puts the 2022 No. 6 overall pick in a position to potentially make his Flyers debut in one of the team’s final two regular-season games. He was acquired by the Flyers in March in exchange for forward Bobby Brink, but has yet to make his NHL debut.
PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor wrote that he’d “be surprised” if Jiricek actually played on this recall, given the Flyers still need to clinch their playoff spot. The team is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, so head coach Rick Tocchet might not have much of an appetite to make changes to a lineup that is firing on all cylinders.
But if the Flyers manage to clinch a playoff spot with a game remaining on their schedule, Jiricek could make his debut for the team in the final game of the regular season.
If Jiricek does play, the most likely spot in the lineup for him to take would be on the right side of the team’s third pairing. That’s a spot currently occupied by Emil Andrae, who is a lefty and has averaged 15:17 time on ice per game this season.
Jiricek, 22, has been stellar at the AHL level since joining the Flyers organization. He has 13 points in 13 games, and is playing a significant role in the lineup, soaking up significant minutes and appearing on both sides of special teams.
He could be a major part of the Flyers’ future if he can sort out some of the on-ice issues that helped pave the way for his exit from his last two NHL stops. Right now, though, the Flyers are singularly focused on the present and making the playoffs in these final two games on their schedule.
Red Wings Recall Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
The Detroit Red Wings announced that they have recalled forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The recall was made under emergency conditions.
Today’s recall comes just shortly after the Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention following a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Detroit has a two-game road trip down to Florida to conclude its 2025-26 season, and now Brandsegg-Nygard will be a part of that trip.
Brandsegg-Nygard, 20, last played in the NHL exactly one month ago, for the final contest of a three-game stint on the NHL roster. Brandsegg-Nygard’s last two games in the NHL coincidentally also came against the league’s two Florida teams, who are the Red Wings’ final two upcoming opponents.
A 2024 first-round pick of the Red Wings, Brandsegg-Nygard is the highest-drafted Norwegian player in NHL history, the first to ever be selected in the first round. He spent the year following his selection in the SHL, scoring 11 points in 40 games for Skellefteå before joining Grand Rapids late in the season. He scored three points in three playoff contests for the Griffins.
This season has been Brandsegg-Nygard’s first full campaign in North America. He’s had a strong year, scoring 20 goals and 44 points in 58 games for Grand Rapids. While he hasn’t yet been able to translate that production to the NHL level, he also hasn’t looked entirely out of place when the Red Wings have brought him up to the NHL.
Brandsegg-Nygard has a hard-working forward who plays an endearing style of hockey that is tailor-made for the North American pro ranks. With how well he’s played in the AHL, and how little he’ll need to change the foundation of his game to be able to at least survive at the NHL level, it’s not out of the question that he makes a push for a full-time NHL roster spot as soon as next fall.
These final two games on Detroit’s schedule could be valuable data points in helping the Red Wings plan for next season’s team – and whether they can count on Brandsegg-Nygard to be on it.
Avalanche’s Jared Bednar To Miss Two Games With Injury
The Colorado Avalanche will be without head coach Jared Bednar for their upcoming two-game road trip as Bednar recovers from facial fractures and a corneal abrasion, per a team announcement.
Bednar will not require surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. The 54-year-old was struck by a puck during yesterday’s contest against the Vegas Golden Knights. While he is away from the team, Avalanche assistant coaches Nolan Pratt and Dave Hakstol will handle Bednar’s coaching duties.
At this time of year, injury-related absences are par for the course. But that’s typically a fact of life late in an NHL season that’s restricted to players – it’s far more rare for a coach to miss time as the result of injuries suffered during a game. But that’s exactly what has happened, although thankfully for all parties involved, the team made it clear that they expect Bednar to make a full recovery.
Bednar is in the midst of another stellar campaign as Avalanche head coach. The Saskatchewan native has been Colorado’s head coach since 2016, and has been in his position longer than any other coach in the NHL, save for Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss Jon Cooper.
While his tenure in Colorado began with a disastrous 22-56-4 campaign, he has since helped turn the Avalanche into one of the league’s most consistently dominant teams.
He hasn’t missed the playoffs since his rookie season behind the bench, and has gone 442-262-75 as Avalanche head coach overall. He is the franchise’s all-time winningest head coach and won the Stanley Cup in 2022.
Jets Recall Brayden Yager, Nikita Chibrikov
The Winnipeg Jets announced that they have recalled forwards Brayden Yager and Nikita Chibrikov from their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Per the team, these two moves are emergency recalls.
While the Jets have not been officially eliminated from playoff contention at this point, they are teetering on the brink of elimination. They’ll need to win their final three games – and get some help from other teams – to return to the playoffs.
Today’s recalls have added two of the Jets’ better prospects to their roster in the event that they rest some of their veterans or ailing players if they are eliminated from playoff contention. The moves also add some depth to the Jets’ forward corps, a group that recently lost Morgan Barron for the rest of the regular season.
Yager, 21, could get the chance to make his NHL debut within these (likely) last three games of the Jets’ season.
Originally a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Yager was acquired by the Jets in August 2024 after it became clear that top prospect Rutger McGroarty preferred to turn pro in a different organization.
In the first year of his professional career, Yager has made progress in his development. The Moose have had an up-and-down season as a whole, and have scored the second-fewest goals of any team in the AHL.
But Yager has nonetheless been able to successfully acclimate himself to the pro game in his time there. The former WHL Champion and CHL Sportsman of the Year has scored 10 goals and 30 points in 68 games for the Moose this season.
The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler recently ranked Yager as the No. 2 prospect in the team’s system, calling him someone who “projects as a potential 3C/PP2/PK2 type.” That’s right in line with where he began the season, ranked No. 2 in the Jets’ system by the team at Elite Prospects, who also assigned him a middle-six projection.
Yager has two years remaining on his entry-level contract. While there aren’t many games left on the regular-season schedule, the Jets may be interested in seeing how Yager fares at the NHL level in order to get a clearer sense of whether they can plan for him to be on their NHL roster in 2026-27. The team’s current No. 4 center, Jonathan Toews, is a pending UFA, meaning that role could be open for Yager to seize in training camp in the fall.
The other player who was recalled, Chibrikov, does have some NHL experience unlike Yager. The 23-year-old Russian winger was a 2021 second-round pick and has played in 13 career NHL games, including eight this season.
Chibrikov built real momentum with his first season in North America, 2023-24. He scored 47 points in his first 70 AHL games and even nabbed his first NHL goal. But a season-ending knee injury cut his sophomore campaign short, and he’s since struggled to re-gain the form he once displayed.
In 53 games with the Moose this season, Chibrikov has just 16 points. While it’s been a season to forget for Chibrikov, this recall will give him the chance to at least try to end his campaign on the right note with some NHL experience. Chibrikov signed a two-year, one-way contract extension in October that carries an $875K AAV, and that deal is set to kick in this summer.
Photos courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images