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San Jose Sharks Recall Nikolai Knyzhov, Tristen Robins

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The San Jose Sharks have recalled defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov and forward Tristen Robins to their NHL roster, according to a team announcement.

Knyzhov, a veteran of 68 career NHL games, last played in the NHL on March 23rd, while Robins, the 56th overall pick at the 2020 draft, hasn’t yet made his NHL debut.

This move comes after the Barracuda were eliminated from playoff contention last night, and they do not play another game until Friday. Seeing as the Sharks play three games this week and finish their season Thursday, these two recalls are a chance for the team to give some NHL games to players without costing them the chance to play in any AHL contests as well.

In 2020-21, Knyzhov looked like a promising up-and-coming defenseman who was playing an increasingly important role with the Sharks. That promising trajectory saw a major interruption because Knyzhov tore his Achilles tendon, and Knyzhov is still working his way back to where he was before suffering that injury.

He looked to be on the verge of establishing himself as an NHL regular, and now he’s played the majority of his games this year in the AHL (19) compared to the NHL (9). Knyzhov’s recent $1.25MM AAV contract extension was a show of faith from the organization to him, and these last few NHL games could help inform how the organization sees him heading into next year’s training camp.

As for Robins, this recall puts him in a position to play his first NHL game. The 21-year-old native of London, England was a second-round selection by the Sharks on the back of an impressive 2019-20 campaign for the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL. Robins scored 33 goals and 73 points in 62 games, and then scored 23 points in the WHL’s shortened 2020-21 season.

Last year, Robins had another strong campaign for the Blades, and showed himself to be ready for the rigors of pro hockey. Robins’ 17 goals and 38 points for the Barracuda this season is a solid showing for a young AHL rookie, and he ranks fifth on his team in scoring.

With the Sharks currently in the midst of a rebuild and looking for players who can be part of their next competitive core, this recall could allow Robins to play in his first NHL game and enter the offseason with a clearer picture and firsthand understanding of what it takes to become a full-time NHLer.

Seattle Kraken Recall Joey Daccord On Emergency Basis

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The Seattle Kraken have recalled goaltender Joey Daccord from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The recall is on an emergency basis, and is in advance of the team’s Monday contest against the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena.

The 26-year-old has spent most of this season as Coachella Valley’s number-one netminder, and has had an impressive year. He’s backstopped one of the AHL’s best teams and posted a 26-7-3 record with a .918 save percentage. He last played in the NHL in a March 23rd shootout loss to the Nashville Predators, a game where he saved 23 of 24 shots.

Daccord has played three games total in the NHL this season, and has a 2-0-1 record and a .903 save percentage. Daccord’s .903 mark is quite a bit higher than the save percentages of Seattle’s two main goalies, Martin Jones and Philipp Grubauer, who have posted .887 and .893 marks, respectively.

A 2015 Ottawa Senators seventh-round pick, Daccord played three NCAA seasons at Arizona State University (the program that now shares Mullett Arena with the Coyotes) and he signed his entry-level deal after a strong final season, where he posted a .926 save percentage in 35 games. Daccord split 2019-20 between the AHL and ECHL levels before spending 2020-21 largely as a taxi squad netminder.

The following year Daccord was the Kraken’s selection from Ottawa in the Expansion Draft and spent most of the year with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers as the organization’s number-three goalie, posting a .925 save percentage in the AHL and earning five NHL games.

Daccord is operating on a one-year, league-minimum deal that affords him the chance of being an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent in the summer. He’s just one year from unrestricted free agency too, meaning any NHL starts he gets will be of major importance for putting himself on the right foot to enter offseason negotiations.

With the Kraken preparing for the franchise’s first-ever foray into the Stanley Cup playoffs, this recall gives head coach Dave Hakstol the chance to rest one of his two main netminders in order to put Seattle in the best position possible for a playoff series where they’ll likely be the underdog.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Alex Laferriere

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The Los Angeles Kings have signed prospect forward Alex Laferriere to a three-year entry-level contract, per a team announcement. The former Harvard star is currently playing with the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on an amateur tryout agreement, and recently tallied his first professional goal.

The 21-year-old’s contract carries an $875k average annual value for its three-year runtime and will expire in the summer of 2025. Laferriere earns this deal after an exceptional collegiate career, one where he scored a total of 73 points in 69 games.

While Laferriere’s 2022-23 season saw him score at a higher rate (42 points in 34 games compared to 31 points in 35 games as a freshman) it was his freshman year that saw him fill his trophy cabinet. The 2020 third-round pick won the ECAC title and landed the individual honors of conference Rookie of the Year and Third-Team All-Star.

Now playing on the first line of the Kings’ AHL affiliate next to T.J. Tynan and Lias Andersson, Laferriere will look to help the Reign go on a deep run in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

While it’s unknown whether the plan is to give Laferriere a chance in one of the Kings’ remaining games, the signing of this entry-level deal at least gives the Kings the option to call him up if they so desire. If anything, the main benefit to Laferriere is less the possibility of getting an NHL game or two, and more the fact that he’ll be eligible to hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2025, despite spending most of the season playing college hockey.

Montreal Canadiens Loan Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Three Others To AHL

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The Montreal Canadiens have loaned four players to their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, following yesterday’s 7-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs: Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jesse Ylonen, Corey Schueneman, and Cayden Primeau.

Schueneman and Primeau were each recalled yesterday, and the former skated just over 10 minutes in the Canadiens’ contest yesterday.

The 27-year-old undrafted Western Michigan product has scored 21 points in 59 AHL games this season and is one of the Rocket’s most important defenders.

Primeau, 23, backed up Sam Montembeault yesterday and has spent most of the season as Laval’s number-one netminder. He’s posted a .905 save percentage in 38 games and is hoping to lead the Rocket back to the Calder Cup playoffs, a tournament they made a deep run in last season.

The two more significant names to be sent down, though, are Ylonen and Harvey-Pinard since they have each made their mark on the Canadiens’ NHL roster this season. Both players received NHL opportunities due to the significant injury issues that sprang up in Montreal, and both players have shown well in that opportunity.

Harvey-Pinard especially has made a name for himself, scoring 14 goals in 34 games, including a hat trick at the Bell Center. He’s a 2019 seventh-round pick who went undrafted in two straight years before hearing his name called by his boyhood club. Harvey-Pinard’s emergence as an NHL option comes after spending parts of the last three seasons in Laval, including last year where he led them in scoring with 56 points in 69 games.

While it might come as a surprise to many Canadiens fans to see Harvey-Pinard sent down after such a hot start to his NHL career, the circumstances Laval currently finds themselves in can serve as an explanation. The Rocket are just a point ahead of the Cleveland Monsters for the Northeast Division’s final playoff spot, and the Monsters have a game in hand.

Laval has a crucial game against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins today, and perhaps the Canadiens organization deems allowing these players to play an important role in meaningful, late-season games to be a better developmental path than playing a few more potentially miserable NHL contests (like last night’s game) to finish out a lost Canadiens season.

The same logic applies to Ylonen, a speedy 2018 second-round pick who has scored a healthy 16 points in 37 games during his time in Montreal. The 23-year-old has scored 29 points in 36 games at the AHL level and is in his final year of waiver exemption.

Since the Canadiens are unlikely to entertain the possibility of losing him on waivers next season, this reassignment gives Ylonen possibly one last opportunity to make an impact at the AHL level before beginning his NHL career in earnest in the fall.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minnesota Wild Sign Brock Faber

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The Minnesota Wild have put pen to paper with one of their top defensive prospects, inking Brock Faber to a three-year entry-level deal.

According to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, Faber will travel with the Wild for their road game against the Chicago Blackhawks and “burn” a year of his entry-level contract. He signs this deal after concluding his accomplished three-year collegiate career at the University of Minnesota.

At Minnesota, Faber scored 53 points in 97 total games and captained his team to the NCAA’s National Championship game, which happened last night. While the Gophers lost in dramatic and heartbreaking fashion just seconds into overtime against Quinnipiac University, Faber remains a decorated college player. He is a two-time conference Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 10 and won the conference title as a freshman.

Even before this season, Faber cemented himself as a top prospect with a brilliant 2021-22 campaign that saw him earn a spot on the United States’ team for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He also played on Team USA for two World Junior Championships.

Faber is half of the Wild’s compensation package that they received from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for star forward Kevin Fiala, alongside the 2022 first-round pick that became Djurgarden forward Liam Ohgren.

While he might not reach the heights Fiala has as an NHLer, Faber has done everything necessary to give fans confidence that he will become a difference-making blueliner at the NHL level, and perhaps with this entry-level deal in hand, Faber can do that sooner rather than later.

Pittsburgh Penguins Reassign Alex Nylander

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that forward Alex Nylander has been returned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. With Wilkes-Barre Scranton set to play the Laval Rocket today, this reassignment gives the AHL Penguins one of their top scorers back.

Nylander, 25, has this season made himself into an extremely effective AHL scorer. After spending some of the earlier years of his career as an up-and-down player without truly dominant AHL numbers, Nylander’s AHL value has grown as his NHL promise has faded. This year, he has scored 25 goals and 50 points in the AHL, and earned seven NHL games in Pittsburgh.

Nylander has scored two points in that seven-game span, including an important goal yesterday against the Detroit Red Wings, a game the Penguins badly needed to win. Nylander played the bulk of his NHL games this season in a six-game span in March, beginning with a March 7th overtime victory over Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Penguins have gone 4-3 with Nylander on their roster, and he’s helped them at an important time in their season. With AHL Pittsburgh out of the AHL playoffs with three games remaining, this reassignment gives Nylander the chance to put the finishing touches on his successful individual AHL campaign before likely returning to support the Penguins as a reserve player should they reach the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Minor Transactions: 04/06/23

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Today is another busy day across the hockey world, with 14 NHL games set to be played. Highlights from tonight’s slate include a rivalry showdown between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, a dramatic Pacific Division matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and Jonathan Quick’s Vegas Golden Knights, and a major contest in Pittsburgh where franchise legend Marc-Andre Fleury has a chance to deal a devastating blow to his former team’s playoff hopes.

In Europe, some similarly major games have already been completed. The Pelicans took a 2-1 lead against Ilves Tampere in the Liiga semifinals thanks to a game-winning goal from former Ottawa Senators prospect Ben Blood, while EHC Red Bull Munchen tied their DEL semifinals against Grizzlys Wolfsburg thanks to a third-period rally. In Sweden, IF Bjorkloven overcame an early goal from Vancouver Canucks first-rounder Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Djurgarden to take a series lead in their chase for promotion to the SHL. As fans everywhere continue to enjoy the great games on offer today, teams in leagues around the world are making roster moves. We’ll keep track of those transactions here.

  • Former Carolina Hurricanes 20-goal scorer and 506-game NHL veteran Victor Rask signed a two-year contract with Switzerland’s SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, confirming his transfer from a rival Swiss side, Fribourg-Gotteron HC. Playing alongside multiple former NHLers such as David Desharnais, Janne Kuokkanen, and Reto Berra, Rask had a decent first season in the top tier of Swiss hockey. He scored 26 points in 35 games and last season split time between three clubs, scoring 21 points in the NHL and 10 in the AHL.
  • Former Buffalo Sabre Arttu Ruotsalainen signed a two-year deal with Switzerland’s HC Lugano, according to a team announcement. The move confirms his transfer from National League rival EHC Kloten, where he scored 42 points in 52 games. Ruotsalainen, 25, played both 2020-21 and 2021-22 in the Buffalo Sabres organization, compiling 64 points in 70 AHL games and 10 points in 35 NHL games. He joins a Lugano club that lost in the NL quarterfinals and will replace another former NHLer, Brett Connolly, as a go-to offensive producer.
  • A few notable players will not be returning to Sweden’s Brynas IF next season, which will take place in HockeyAllsvenskan as the club was relegated for the first time in its history. Some of those notable names include former NHLer Dmytro Timashov (their leading scorer with 33 points in 52 games), former Laval Rocket blueliner David Sklenicka, and Jussi Olkinoura, who played 15 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins this season.
  • Colgate University forward and ECAC Champion Colton Young took his first step to professional hockey today, inking an amateur tryout agreement with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits. The 24-year-old is the brother of San Jose Sharks prospect Alex Young, who has emerged as one of the best scorers in his conference. Colton scored 28 points in 40 games this season and had an impressive 32 points in 38 games last year. Also of note is that Young attended the Edmonton Oilers’ 2022 Development Camp.
  • Kenneth Johnson, the brother of Stanley Cup Champion and longtime NHL veteran Jack Johnson, was claimed on waivers today by the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears. Johnson signed his first professional contract on March 28th with the Wheeling Nailers and was let go by the team after playing just two games. Now, he’ll get another chance to show what he can do in North America’s third-tier pro league.
  • The AHL’s Ontario Reign, the affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, have signed Pennsylvania State University forward Ture Linden to a PTO. Linden made the ECAC’s Second All-Star Team last season as a forward for RPI, scoring 39 points in 44 games. He transferred to the Nittany Lions and had a solid season there, tallying 29 points in 39 games. Now, he’ll get a chance to earn a pro contract for the first time in his career with the Reign.
  • After helping his team defeat Brynas and narrowly avoid relegation to HockeyAllsvenskan, Johan Olofsson is headed back to the Malmo Redhawks on a one-year contract extension. The 28-year-old is a veteran of nearly 500 SHL games and has played the last six seasons with the Redhawks. He scored 15 points in 48 games this season and will look to help secure Malmo’s SHL place next season.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Jason Demers, Place Ryan McLeod On LTIR

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The Edmonton Oilers have made two roster moves, recalling veteran defenseman Jason Demers from their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, and placing forward Ryan McLeod on long-term injured reserve.

The recall puts Demers in a position to play his 700th career NHL game, and his first since the 2020-21 season. The 34-year-old defenseman last played in the NHL for the Arizona Coyotes, a team he landed on in a 2017 swap of pricey contracts, with Arizona sending Jamie McGinn to the Florida Panthers in return. Demers played four years with the Coyotes before signing in the KHL with Ak-Bars Kazan in the summer of 2022.

Demers played just nine games in the KHL, and his 2021-22 season was most notable for his work representing Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He scored two points as one of Canada’s most experienced defensemen, and his performance on that major stage helped him earn a PTO with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in October.

That PTO became a full contract with the Oilers in December, and now the forward momentum Demers has been building in his career has materialized into an NHL call-up. Demers has been playing in a top-four role with the Condors, but will likely play a limited role with the Oilers should head coach Jay Woodcroft dress him for a game.

As for McLeod, his placement on LTIR was needed to facilitate this move since the Oilers do not have the cap space to make a recall otherwise. The 23-year-old 2018 second-round pick has scored 22 points in 55 games this season as a regular bottom-sixer for Edmonton, although he hasn’t played since a March 14th contest against the Ottawa Senators. As we covered last month, reports indicate that McLeod is dealing with a shoulder injury.

East Notes: Killorn, Mantha, Siegenthaler

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Despite stars such as Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Ryan O’Reilly set to hit free agency, the leading scorer among pending unrestricted free agent forwards is actually a less heralded name: Alex Killorn. The 33-year-old longtime Tampa Bay Lightning forward has had a career-best year, scoring 61 points through 78 games. An exceptional net-front presence, Killorn could be a fit for quite a few teams looking to add some scoring punch in the offseason.

According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN on the latest Insider Trading segment, while the Lightning are going to try to find a way to keep Killorn, he’s “likely headed to market.” LeBrun points to the significant pay raises for Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Anthony Cirelli that are set to kick in next season as a major contributor to what is a likely Killorn departure, and references Ondrej Palat’s free agency last summer as a comparable for Killorn’s current situation. While his age may keep him from the type of long-term deal Palat signed, Killorn’s strong performance this season makes him among the most attractive forwards set to hit the market in a few months.

Some other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha will not play tonight against the Montreal Canadiens due to a lower-body injury, the team announced. Mantha played in the Capitals’ last game, which was Sunday against the New York Rangers. While he could still come back before the end of the season, this injury could mark the conclusion of what has been a supremely disappointing campaign for Mantha, who has scored just 11 goals and 27 points in 67 games. Of note with this injury is that the Capitals will only dress 17 skaters for their game tonight, allowing them to access emergency call-ups per the NHL’s rules.
  • Jonas Siegenthaler will not play in tonight’s New Jersey Devils game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to team reporter Amanda Stein. In his place, veteran defenseman Brendan Smith will draw into the lineup. It’s unknown whether this absence is injury related, as Siegenthaler played in the Devils’ last game on Tuesday, but it’s worth noting that Siegenthaler’s play has dipped a bit from the stellar form he displayed earlier in the season, so perhaps this is head coach Lindy Ruff’s way of giving his talented defenseman a means of achieving a “reset” before the playoffs.

Ryan O’Reilly Activated From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have activated forward Ryan O’Reilly off of long-term injured reserve, as first tweeted by CapFriendly and then confirmed by Toronto’s official lineup announcement. In order to create the necessary cap space for the move, they have assigned forwards Nick Abruzzese and Wayne Simmonds to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

O’Reilly, 32, hasn’t played in a little over a month due to a finger injury. He last played in the Maple Leafs’ 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on March 4th, a contest that marked his fifth-straight without a point. It’s been an up-and-down season for the former Blues captain, as he has scored just 24 points in 48 games.

O’Reilly’s inconsistent offensive production shouldn’t be referenced to understate the potential impact he can have on the Maple Leafs, though, as the 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner has the potential to be a game-changer for Toronto.

Now on a roster starved for playoff success, O’Reilly brings the type of Stanley Cup experience the squad has in the past been perceived as lacking.

Moreover, O’Reilly’s hat-trick performance on February 21st against the Buffalo Sabres shows that there’s still some gas left in O’Reilly’s offensive tank, and the versatility he brings to the Maple Leafs’ lineup gives head coach Sheldon Keefe a wide variety of options for how to deploy his forwards.

O’Reilly could be used as a third-line center, giving the Maple Leafs possibly the best set of four centers in the entire NHL. He could also be played on a top-six line, allowing someone like John Tavares to shift to the wing and focus more wholly on creating offense, leaving the defensive responsibilities assigned to the center to O’Reilly.

O’Reilly is playing tonight on the Maple Leafs’ third line between Alexander Kerfoot and Noel Acciari. That trio, combined with a fourth line of Zach Aston-Reese, David Kampf, and Sam Lafferty gives Toronto a bottom-six forward group that is arguably far better equipped to handle the rigors of playoff hockey than the bottom-six groups they have brought into past first-rounds.

It’s definitely true that for the Maple Leafs to finally earn the playoff success they’ve craved over the past half-decade, their stars will need to lead the way. If they want to be the first Eastern Conference team to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning in this decade, they’ll need to do it on the back of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Tavares, and William Nylander.

Getting a player like O’Reilly back to full health and integrated into their lineup with a few games to spare before that all-important playoff series is a significant, positive development for Toronto. How quickly he can get back to full speed will be one of the chief storylines to monitor during tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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