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Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Sean Day

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that defenseman Sean Day has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. In a corresponding move, the Crunch reassigned defenseman Zachary Massicotte to their ECHL affiliate, the Orlando Solar Bears.

Day was originally recalled on December 14th, as additional cover for the team as Victor Hedman dealt with an injury. But with Hedman now back, Day’s services on the Lightning’s NHL roster are no longer needed. Day did not dress for the Lightning’s one game that Hedman missed. Instead, Haydn Fleury slotted into the lineup and Day took Fleury’s spot in the press box as the team’s spare defenseman.

Hedman’s return to health and today’s subsequent reassignment to the AHL means Day’s most recent call-up will end without the opportunity to play in another NHL game. The 25-year-old defenseman has two games already on his resume and is undoubtedly hoping to receive more. It’s been a long journey towards the top of an NHL team’s minor-league defensive depth chart for Day, who was a rare “exceptional status” player in his junior hockey days.

Although Day was allowed to join the OHL in advance of his peers, his development stagnated somewhat with the Mississauga Steelheads, Kingston Frontenacs, and Windsor Spitfires. He earned a pro contract with the New York Rangers, the club that drafted him, but spent half of his rookie pro year in the ECHL. After spending the bulk of 2019-20 in the ECHL, Day joined the Syracuse Crunch and immediately made significant progress toward his NHL dream. He scored 40 points in 69 games for the Crunch in 2021-22, earning himself two NHL games.

Last season Day’s production fell all the way down to just 14 points in 63 games, though it has recovered somewhat this year. With this reassignment, Day will return from Tampa to resume his top-four role with the Crunch hoping to receive another call-up chance down the line.

As for Massicotte, Day’s call-up opportunity gave him the chance to play in the first AHL games of his season. The six-foot-four 22-year-old defenseman spent almost all of his rookie professional campaign in the ECHL with the Allen Americans, save for four games played with the Belleville Senators.

Massicotte played on the Crunch’s top pairing next to Philippe Myers for the team’s shutout victory over the Utica Comets two days ago, giving him some valuable exposure in the AHL. Just as Day returns to Syracuse with the hope of earning another call-up to Tampa, Massicotte will return to Orlando looking to earn another call-up to Syracuse.

San Jose Sharks Reassign Oskar Lindblom

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The San Jose Sharks have reassigned forward Oskar Lindblom to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. In order to complete this reassignment, Lindblom was activated off of injured reserve, where he had been placed during his recovery from a lower-body injury.

Lindblom has been out of commission since a November 10th contest against the Vegas Golden Knights. The 27-year-old former 17-goal scorer has struggled since signing a $2.5MM AAV contract with the Sharks.

He spent all of last season in San Jose, skating in 73 NHL games for the club. Lindblom only managed to put together six goals and 15 points in that span, though, and entering 2023-24 his grip on a regular job in the Sharks’ forward corps was shaky.

He ultimately could not secure a regular role in head coach David Quinn’s lineup for 2023-24, and began the season in the minors. He’s now set to return to the Barracuda, who he scored two points in eight games with earlier this season. Lindblom does have some demonstrated production in the AHL level, as he scored 16 goals and 34 points in his last extended stint in the AHL.

If the 2020-21 Bill Masterton Trophy winner can manage to have that sort of season in 2023-24, that would certainly help the Barracuda. San Jose’s AHL affiliate are currently 27th in the AHL with an 8-11-4 record, and have not reached the postseason since 2020-21.

Vegas Golden Knights Recall Jonas Røndbjerg, Jiří Patera

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forward Jonas Røndbjerg and goalie Jiří Patera in advance of their game tomorrow against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Additionally, Sin Bin Vegas reports that defenseman Kaedan Korczak has been placed on injured reserve. Korczak suffered a lower-body injury in the Golden Knights’ game on December 10th, and has not played since. Korczak has played in 15 games this season and has scored seven points, averaging 16:29 time-on-ice per game.

Røndbjerg last played in the NHL on November 14th, while Patera got the start in the Golden Knights’ victory over the San Jose Sharks a little over a week ago. Patera was actually reassigned to Vegas’ AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, late last night, but today’s move has reversed that original decision.

Save for his one start against the Sharks, Patera has spent the year as the number-one goalie in Henderson. He’s currently sporting a 6-6-2 record with a .900 save percentage. Last season, he played 31 games with the Silver Knights and went 14-15-1 with a .911 save percentage. He’s now relatively established as Vegas’ third goalie, and will fill in on the NHL roster whenever a member of the team’s Adin Hill – Logan Thompson tandem is unavailable.

Røndbjerg is the team’s call-up at the forward position, and he’s a relatively experienced depth player for the Golden Knights. He has 49 career NHL games on his resume, all coming with Vegas over the last three seasons. The six-foot-two, 200-pound Danish forward has experience playing both center and the wing, though he has been preferred as a winger at the NHL level. He’s been a solid scorer at the AHL level (he has 11 points in 16 games this season) and has contributed offense sporadically in the NHL. So far this season, he has three points in six NHL games.

Sin Bin Vegas has indicated that forward Keegan Kolesar “may be ailing,” and therefore may be the player Røndbjerg replaces in the lineup if he does indeed dress for a game. That’s not an official confirmation of any unavailability for Kolesar, though, and it’s worth noting that the 11:19 time-on-ice he registered in last night’s game is right around his average ice time on the year.

Latest On Edmonton Oilers Trade Needs

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The Edmonton Oilers suffered a deflating loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers last night, their second-consecutive loss by at least a three-goal margin. Their turnaround under new head coach Kris Knoblauch has been strong regardless, but these past two losses have made clear that there are still underlying issues with the Oilers’ roster construction.

It’s not just a goaltending issue, either. The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman wrote late last night that the Oilers are currently receiving “nothing” from their middle-six forwards, and the team will likely need to look for external additions to strengthen that weak area. (subscription link)

Nugent-Bowman specifically singled out two players as “the biggest disappointments” in the middle-six relative to the offense they were expected to produce: Ryan McLeod and Connor Brown.

McLeod, an energetic pivot who helps keep play flowing in a positive direction, has just seven points in 28 games and is no longer receiving power-play ice time. Brown, 29, lost all of last season to a knee injury but as recently as 2021-22 had scored 39 points.

Brown has two 20-goal seasons on his resume but has yet to score his first goal as an Oiler, despite playing in 22 games for the club so far. Brown is owed a $3.225MM bonus, and with the Oilers up against the salary cap the team will be tagged with that number on next year’s cap sheet.

With just one point in his time in Edmonton, it’s looking less and less likely that Brown will be able to produce like the difference-making middle-six winger he was signed to be.

This leaves the Oilers in a difficult spot: their eight-game winning streak demonstrated that they are a team capable of making the playoffs, but their horrific start to the year makes that task more challenging than it is for other teams.

Without an abundance of trade assets to draw from in order to make deals, one wonders if the Oilers are better off using those scarce resources in the often price-inflated in-season trade market, or waiting until the offseason to make more meaningful roster surgery.

Beyond just an issue of assets available, the Oilers’ lack of cap space also threatens their ability to add external help over the course of the season.

With netminder Jack Campbell in the minors and taking up $3.85MM against the cap, the Oilers may not be able to add anyone impactful, such as the Montreal Canadiens’ Sean Monahan, for example, without money going the other way in the deal. As a result, the challenge of finding a suitable trade is made all the more difficult.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Calgary Flames Activate Jacob Markström

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The Calgary Flames have activated netminder Jacob Markström off of injured reserve. In corresponding moves, defenseman Ilya Solovyov and netminder Dustin Wolf have been reassigned to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.

Markström has been out of the Flames’ lineup since December 2nd, but when healthy he’s been the team’s undisputed number-one goalie. Now that his broken finger has recovered enough to allow him to play, Markström will resume that number-one role for the Flames.

Although he hasn’t been in strong form for over a year, but as recently as 2021-22 he posted a .922 save percentage in 63 games played. At his best, Markström can be one of the league’s best goalies, and the Flames need him to play like that if they want to re-enter the Western Conference playoff picture.

Heading back to the AHL is Wolf, one of the league’s top goalie prospects. He’s absolutely dominated that level over the course of the last two seasons, but hasn’t quite found his footing in the NHL yet.

As for Solovyov, he made his NHL debut this season at the age of 23. The 2020 seventh-round pick has averaged 14:59 in his six games of NHL experience so far this season and has registered two assists.

Boston Bruins Reassign Jesper Boqvist

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The Boston Bruins have reassigned forward Jesper Boqvist to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Boqvist was originally recalled by the team on December 12th.

The team also reassigned defenseman Ian Mitchell to Providence, although Mitchell’s transactions have been of a somewhat different nature as the defenseman has largely operated as Boston’s spare blueliner and has only actually played in two AHL games this season.

Boqvist, 25, is one of the Bruins’ top depth forwards this season. He’s so far played in 25 games at the AHL level for the Providence Bruins, and scored 14 points. Boqvist dressed for one NHL game during this call-up, skating 4:47 in Boston’s Friday victory over the New York Islanders.

An experienced NHLer with nearly 200 games played, Boqvist will now return to Providence and resume his important role there. The AHL’s Bruins play at 4pm today and currently sit fourth in the AHL’s Atlantic Division with a 13-9-4 record.

The Bruins had a full 23-man roster before these transactions, Now, with these two reassignments, Boston has cleared two spots on its roster, though the club won’t be banking cap space for future use as both Derek Forbort and Milan Lucic are currently on long-term injured reserve.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Yaniv Perets

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After placing netminder Antti Raanta on waivers yesterday, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled goalie prospect Yaniv Perets from his loan to the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals.

With Raanta on waivers, the Hurricanes had to find a goalie to back up starter Pyotr Kochetkov for tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals. Unlike every other NHL club, the Hurricanes do not currently have an AHL affiliate. As a result, the team’s organizational depth at the goalie position is notably thinner than just about every other franchise.

The Hurricanes only have four goalies under contract: Perets, Raanta, Kochetkov, and the injured Frederik Andersen. That lack of depth isn’t an issue when three of those goalies (the latter trio of names listed) are all performing up to their expected capabilities, but so far this season Andersen has been injured and Raanta has struggled immensely.

That has left the Hurricanes in a rather precarious position in net, as they don’t have a goalie ready and waiting in the AHL to be recalled if necessary. As a result, they’re forced to turn to a goalie playing in the ECHL with just 11 total professional games played under his belt.

That’s not to say Perets, 23, is not a promising netminder. The 23-year-old was a star in college hockey, backstopping Quinnipiac University to a men’s hockey national championship last season. He’s a two-time Hobey Baker award finalist, a two-time second-team All-American, and a two-time ECAC goalie of the year.

The Hurricanes simply need goaltending that will allow them to win games, first and foremost. Perets had no issues winning in college, posting an unbelievable 56-9-5 record in college with a .935 save percentage. He’s also been decently successful in the ECHL with a .916 save percentage to start his career.

Is he likely to be NHL-ready after just 11 professional games? No, that’s probably a stretch. But although the Hurricanes’ affiliate situation has somewhat backed the club into a corner in terms of their goaltending situation, Perets himself is a respectable goalie prospect who very well could become a legitimate NHLer down the line.

Vinnie Hinostroza Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Hinostroza has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.

Friday: The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Vinnie Hinostroza on waivers today, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The move would pave the way for Hinostroza to be re-assigned to the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Hinostroza is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $775k cap hit.

It appears that the recent news of Noel Acciari and Rickard Rakell nearing returns from injured reserve has shaken Hinostroza’s grip on a roster spot. Hinostroza’s play so far this season has done him no favors either, though. The 29-year-old was given the chance to make an impact by head coach Mike Sullivan, even getting looks in scoring-line roles. He only delivered one goal and three points this season, which is a far cry in terms of scoring pace from his career-high of 16 goals and 39 points.

A genuinely skilled forward, Hinostroza has struggled to be consistently effective in the NHL, a league with relentless physicality and unmatched pace. A former AHL All-Star, Hinostroza has become more of a depth forward who can fill a scoring role in a pinch rather than someone who can be truly relied upon to carry any sort of offensive burden over an extended period. The Penguins hoped he might provide some flair to their revamped bottom six, but he seems to have not been a lasting fit.

With the waiver placement today, Hinostroza appears ticketed for an AHL assignment. He actually began the year in the AHL, and scored four points in five games. Should he end up clearing and sent to Wilkes-Barre Scranton, the AHL’s Penguins would be receiving a significant offensive reinforcement.

Detroit Red Wings Reassign Jonatan Berggren

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The Detroit Red Wings have announced that forward Jonatan Berggren has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The news comes shortly after the Red Wings reassigned another forward, Zach Aston-Reese, to the AHL.

With J.T. Compher set to return and Dylan Larkin inching closer to a return of his own, the Red Wings seemingly have decided to send down two of the three players who were originally recalled after Compher and Larkin were placed on injured reserve.

The subject of early-season trade rumors, Berggren has been shuffled between Detroit and Grand Rapids a few times already this season. The 33rd overall pick at the 2018 draft had a promising rookie season last year when he scored 15 goals and 28 points, and does have one stellar AHL campaign on his resume from 2021-22, when he potted 21 goals and 64 points in 70 games.

Berggren would likely be a top-nine regular on another NHL team, but the Red Wings made aggressive moves in the offseason to bolster their lineup. As a result, Berggren got squeezed out, and has played in 16 total AHL games this year compared to just seven in the NHL.

Berggren has remained a top-end AHLer, and has 15 points with Grand Rapids this season. With this reassignment, he’ll likely re-join the squad for the foreseeable future, although another recall or even a trade to a different organization can not be ruled out.

New York Islanders Place Scott Mayfield On Injured Reserve

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The New York Islanders have placed defenseman Scott Mayfield on injured reserve, retroactive to December 11th. Mayfield has been out with an upper-body injury since that date.

With Mayfield out, the Islanders are now missing three of their four most important defensemen. Just Noah Dobson remains in the lineup, as Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are also out with their own injuries.

This has left head coach Lane Lambert short on options as to how to staff not only his even-strength defensive pairings, but also (and especially) his penalty kill. Pelech, Pulock, and Mayfield all play massive roles on the team’s short-handed unit, and with the trio injured the Islanders are relying on players who don’t typically see heavy ice time on the penalty kill.

The Islanders have made two external additions to bolster their defensive depth, adding veterans Mike Reilly and Robert Bortuzzo, and those moves have helped. The Islanders are on a four-game winning streak and making a serious push for position in the Metropolitan Division.

But one has to think that a defense patched together with depth blueliners alongside relatively unestablished names such as Sebastian Aho and Samuel Bolduc can only hold down the fort for so long, regardless of how good the team looks in the immediate term.

The Islanders have won a ton of close victories, and while it’s true that close victories count the same amount in the standings as blowouts, one wonders how the conversations surrounding the team would be different if a few of those results were flipped.

That being said, it must be pointed out that this Islanders team is one seemingly constructed to thrive in close games, using goaltending and a balanced forward corps to grind out victories. So while the injuries that have struck their defense appear to be significant, the Islanders could very well continue their winning ways by following that clear blueprint.

Seeing as Mayfield’s IR placement is retroactive, there appears to be hope that the player will be able to return to the ice without a lengthy absence. But even if he is out longer than expected, the Islanders have found ways to win despite losing important players to injury. There’s no reason to believe that the team can’t do the same for as long as Mayfield is on IR.

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