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Colorado Avalanche Recall Jonas Johansson

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The Colorado Avalanche have announced that goaltender Jonas Johansson has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

The move comes after Avalanche backup netminder Pavel Francouz secured his team a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers last night. As no corresponding move was announced regarding the Avalanche’s goalies, this recall adds a third name to Colorado’s situation in the crease.

The 27-year-old Johansson earns this recall on the back of his impressive AHL performance so far this season. Through 12 games Johansson has a .929 save percentage and 2.10 goals-against-average.

Over the past two seasons Johansson’s career has had quite the journey. He was traded to the Avalanche from the Buffalo Sabres in 2021, when the Avalanche were in desperate need of a goalie. The team surrendered a sixth-round pick to acquire him, and then lost him on waivers to the Florida Panthers in December of that year.

After a two-game stint in Florida that included a disastrous start against the Montreal Canadiens in their final game of the regular season, where he surrendered ten goals, Johansson hit unrestricted free agency this past summer.

He was signed to a one-year, $750k deal with a hefty $350k AHL salary, with the idea of him playing in a tandem in the AHL with Justus Annunen.

That idea was nearly blown up after the Arizona Coyotes claimed Johansson off of waivers in late September, but nearly two weeks later the Avalanche were able to re-acquire him after he was waived by Arizona.

It’s unclear at this moment if this recall is motivated by any injury developments to either Francouz or Alexandar Georgiev.

New York Islanders Place Adam Pelech On Injured Reserve

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The New York Islanders have announced that they have placed defenseman Adam Pelech on injured reserve. Per their announcement, the move is retroactive to December 6th, meaning it’s possible that Pelech misses just one more game.

The move also allows the Islanders to activate Kyle Palmieri off of injured reserve for tomorrow’s game, if they so choose. Palmieri has been out with an upper-body injury.

Pelech is among the most important defensemen on the Islanders’ roster. The 28-year-old veteran is typically partnered with Ryan Pulock, and that pairing forms the duo that eats the most minutes for the Islanders at five-on-five.

In addition to his value at even strength, Pelech, who is an acclaimed shutdown defenseman, spends nearly three minutes per night killing penalties for the Islanders. His success in his own end has helped the uber-talented Ilya Sorokin grow into one of the league’s top netminders.

Pelech’s overall value to coach Lane Lambert and the Islanders’ suffocating defensive structure cannot be overstated, meaning if the Islanders wish to remain in a playoff spot they’ll have to hope that Pelech’s stay on injured reserve is brief.

Pelech suffered this injury after the back of his head slammed into the boards during practice. That’s obviously a scary injury to sustain, so first and foremost getting Pelech’s personal health in order has to be the priority.

But given just how important he is to all of the Islanders’ plans this season, it’s likely that the folks on Long Island will be hoping his return to the ice comes sooner rather than later.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Trevor Moore To Five-Year Extension

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The Los Angeles Kings have reached an agreement on a contract extension with forward Trevor Moore. Per a team announcement, Moore has signed a five-year, $4.2MM AAV contract that will expire in the summer of 2028.

Moore, 27, is a local product, hailing from Thousand Oaks, California, which is around 40 miles away from Crypto.com Arena, the home of the Kings.

Before he was in Toronto, Moore was an undrafted prospect who became a college hockey star at the University of Denver. In three seasons at Denver Moore played in 121 games, scoring 120 points.

Moore had been at Toronto Maple Leafs development camp as an unsigned prospect, and chose to sign his entry-level deal with the Maple Leafs in 2016.

After three years of solid production in the AHL for the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs began to provide Moore with NHL opportunities, but his NCAA and AHL production would not consistently translate to NHL numbers. In Moore’s 52 NHL games with Toronto, he scored just 13 points.

He was traded to Los Angeles in the Jack Campbell / Kyle Clifford deal and has established himself as a two-way winger on the Kings. Finding an excellent fit on a line with Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson, Moore flew past his career-high totals last season. In 81 games he scored 17 goals and 48 points, and also added five points in the Kings’ seven-game playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Moore has 18 points in 32 games so far this season, which is a 46-point pace. That, combined with Moore’s versatility, work ethic, and defensive ability (he plays on the Kings’ penalty kill) led the negotiation to this price point on a long-term deal.

The contract will expire when Moore is 33 years old, meaning there isn’t a major age-related downside risk to this contract. Given Moore’s all-around ability and fit with Danault, this is the sort of contract that is more than fair for both Moore and the Kings.

Picture courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 12/15/22

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It’ll be a busy night on the NHL schedule tonight as 24 of the league’s 32 clubs will do battle. Among the many contests are a few games that look like they’ll be especially entertaining, such as the New York Rangers taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs and the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins going up against a Florida Panthers squad looking to spark some sustained positive momentum. As we keep track of this flurry of action tonight, we’ll also track notable transactions in minor leagues and foreign leagues. Those moves can be found here:

  • 2016 Rangers sixth-round pick Tyler Wall signed a one-year AHL contract with the Hershey Bears, the top affiliate of the Washington Capitals, today. While Wall, 24, couldn’t quite carve out a consistent role in the Rangers organization after a successful four-year collegiate career at UMass-Lowell, he now has an AHL contract in hand and the rest of the season to put some quality starts on his resume for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.
  • Quinton Howden, a 2010 first-round pick of the Florida Panthers, was released from his tryout contract with Jukurit, a team in the Finnish Liiga. Howden scored just one point in ten games for Jukurit despite playing middle-six minutes and getting a chance on their power play. Howden, 30, scored 18 points in 45 games last season for Cologne in the German DEL and will look for a contract with another club to continue his pro career.
  • J.D. Dudek, a 2014 fourth-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils, signed a one-year contract with the Coventry Blaze, a team in the Elite Ice Hockey League, the United Kingdom’s top pro hockey league. The 26-year-old went overseas this summer after two seasons in the ECHL, signing with Tranas AIF in the third tier of Swedish hockey. The former Boston College Eagle had eight points in 14 games in Sweden and will look to keep that solid scoring up as he joins a new league.
  • Nando Eggenberger, a former NHL draft prospect who three times represented his native Switzerland at the World Junior Championships, signed a two-year contract with Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta. The deal will begin next season, as Eggenberger will finish out 2022-23 with his current club, Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. The former Oshawa General has seven points in 29 games so far this season.
  • Another Swiss club announced the signing of a young forward to a two-year contract beginning next season: the ZSC Lions. Per their announcement, they signed forward Yannick Zehnder, currently of EV Zug, to a two-year, 2023-2025 contract. Zehnder is a Swiss champion who has six points in 27 games so far this season.
  • Talented veteran defenseman Nick Bailen saw his KHL rights change hands today, with Spartak Moscow acquiring them from Traktor Chelyabinsk in exchange for 27-year-old blueliner Alexander Bryntsev. While Bailen, 33, is currently playing for Cologne in the DEL, he has 367 KHL games on his resume, including a brilliant 2021-22 season where he scored 42 points in 49 games. If Bailen makes the choice to return to the KHL, it seems now he’ll have to do so in Moscow.
  • Veteran KHL depth defenseman Ruslan Ibatullin had his contract with KHL side Admiral Vladivostok terminated today. The 28-year-old had set a career-high in KHL games played this season, getting into 34 contests in Vladivostok. In need of a new contract, it’s likely that Ibatullin will return to playing in the second-tier VHL, the league where he has spent the bulk of his professional career.

Winnipeg Jets Make Several Roster Moves

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Dec 13: After the Jets returned Stenlund to AHL Manitoba for a short time, he’s back up under a regular recall now. That means he can stay even when everyone is healthy.

Dec 11: Earlier today, we covered how Winnipeg Jets players Logan Stanley and Saku Maenalanen would not be playing in today’s game against the Washington Capitals. Now, we have some more detail on each player’s situation.

The Jets have announced that Stanley and Maenalanen will be placed on injured reserve, which makes them unavailable until next weekend at the earliest. In a corresponding move, forward Kevin Stenlund has been recalled on an emergency basis from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moore.

This IR placement means Stanley, 24, will spend even more time away from the ice. The 2016 18th overall pick has skated in just seven games so far this season. He was activated off of injured reserve just three days ago, and had been out with a fractured foot since late October. Now, he’ll head back to injured reserve.

Maenalanen, 28, has not faced as much injury trouble this season as Stanley has. In 25 games Maenalanen has four goals and six points and has even seen some time on the Jets’ penalty kill. Maenalanen is in the middle of his return season after spending the past three seasons playing in his native Finland.

To fill a roster spot, the Jets have called up Stenlund. The 26-year-old Swede has been an important contributor for the Moose this season, scoring 14 points in 19 games. The big six-foot-four forward has 71 career NHL games on his resume and has 11 career goals.

Minnesota Wild Re-Assign Andrej Sustr

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On December 1st, the Minnesota Wild recalled veteran defenseman Andrej Sustr to their NHL roster. Today, the Wild announced that they’ve re-assigned Sustr to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, meaning he’ll head back to the minors without skating in an NHL game.

Sustr, 32, is as mentioned a veteran defenseman who has significant NHL experience on his resume. He broke into the league as an undrafted college free agent on the Tampa Bay Lightning and played a regular role on their 2014-15 team that made a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Sustr would continue in his regular role in Tampa until 2017-18, when he got into just 44 games, leading to him leaving the organization altogether in the offseason. Sustr signed with the Anaheim Ducks, spending most of 2018-19 in the AHL.

That run in the AHL motivated him to look elsewhere to continue his career, leading him to sign with the KHL’s Chinese franchise, the Kunlun Red Star.

After two years in China, Sustr returned to the Lightning organization and split time between Tampa and their AHL affiliate in Syracuse before being claimed off of waivers by, you guessed it, the Ducks.

This offseason, Sustr signed with the Wild and has spent most of the year in the AHL, save for this call-up. Having not played in a single NHL game for the Wild despite spending over a week on their roster, Sustr will head back to Iowa to resume playing an important role on their blueline.

Snapshots: Doughty, Pettersson, McIlrath

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The Los Angeles Kings got a comfortable win last night against the Montreal Canadiens, but those two points may have come with a price attached. Today the team announced that top defenseman Drew Doughty would not be playing tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He is out with a lower-body injury and his status is considered day-to-day.

The loss of Doughty is significant due to just how heavy of a role he has been playing on the Kings’ blueline. The 33-year-old Norris Trophy winner has 17 points in 30 games so far this year and is also shouldering by far the heaviest workload of minutes on the Kings’ roster. Doughty averages over 26 minutes per night, including three on the power play and two on the penalty kill. With Doughty out, Tobias Bjornfot looks set to step into the lineup.

For some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau told the media today, via The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, that star centerman Elias Pettersson was sick today and was sent home from practice. While this is likely just a normal illness that anyone might deal with over the course of a winter, Pettersson’s health is a situation to monitor given his importance to the Canucks. In 28 games this season Pettersson has 34 points and has also played some of the best defensive hockey of his career.
  • Just after they recently called him up, the Washington Capitals sent Dylan McIlrath back to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. This move takes away the possibility of McIlrath playing in his first NHL game since 2019-20. McIlrath has spent this season as a top-four defenseman in Hershey, scoring five points in 22 games.

Buffalo Sabres Make Several Roster Moves

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December 11: The Sabres announced that they have returned Murray on loan to Rochester after yesterday’s recall. Murray did not play in last night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins and has not played in the NHL since last season, though he has been impactful as a member of the Americans.

December 10: The Buffalo Sabres have announced four roster moves in advance of tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. First, they placed defenseman Henri Jokiharju and forward Vinnie Hinostroza on injured reserve. To fill those two roster spots, the team recalled forward Brett Murray and defenseman Kale Clague from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

Per Sabres coach Don Granato, as relayed by Noted Hockey’s Joe Yerdon, Jokiharju is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. That’s a major loss for the Sabres as they look to climb back into the Wild Card race.

While Jokiharju’s offensive production (four points in 16 games) isn’t anything to write home about, he was playing over 20 minutes per night (fourth-most on the Sabres) and playing nearly three minutes on the penalty kill per game on the Sabres’ top penalty kill unit.

In Jokiharju’s place, the Sabres bring up Clague, who they signed this offseason to a one-year, $750K two-way deal. Clague has split time between Buffalo and Rochester this year, scoring six points in 14 AHL games and one point in seven NHL games.

In his NHL action so far this year Clague has played just under 16 minutes a night with no penalty-killing time, meaning Granato will need to look to his current stable of blueliners to fill the void left by Jokiharju’s injury.

Hinostroza, 28, is placed on injured reserve just a week after Granato said, per The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski, that he had been nursing a day-to-day minor injury. The former Chicago Blackhawk has eight points in 15 games so far this season while playing in a limited role.

He’ll be replaced on the roster by Murray. The 24-year-old was a 2016 fourth-round pick of the Sabres out of the CCHL’s Carleton Place Canadians and signed in Buffalo after a two-year collegiate career as a Penn State Nittany Lion, as well as a final year in the USHL in 2018-19. Murray has nine goals and 15 points in 22 AHL games so far this year and scored six points in 19 NHL games last season.

Snapshots: Schenn, Chychrun, Muzzin

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Few players currently active in the NHL have had as stunning career revivals as Luke Schenn has had in recent years. Just a few seasons ago the 2008 fifth-overall pick would be known to most as a Toronto Maple Leafs draft disappointment who ultimately settled in as a bottom-of-the-lineup depth defenseman. Then Schenn signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, won two Stanley Cups, and went to Vancouver where he has become a steady rock on an otherwise volatile defense. Now, his agent is singing Schenn’s praises on social media as a potential trade deadline acquisition for a contending team.

According to Schenn, though, a trade isn’t his first choice for how to proceed on his expiring contract. Per The Athletic’s Harman Dayal, Schenn “wants to re-sign with the Canucks” and has said that his top priority “is to be part of a winning team” in Vancouver. (subscription link) Can the Canucks devote some of their limited financial flexibility to Schenn, who for all his virtues remains a 33-year-old physical defenseman? Schenn’s side of the equation seems settled, so the open question is whether Schenn’s interest in signing an extension is shared by his team.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • The Jakob Chychrun situation in Arizona remains unsettled, as the team has still not found a suitable trade deal for their star defenseman. Per PHNX’s Craig Morgan, they’re not going to budge on their asking price any time soon. According to Morgan, that price is two first-round picks and a second-rounder or a “good prospect,” and teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, and Florida Panthers, among others, are “still believed to be in the mix.”
  • The Toronto Star’s Kevin McGran penned a closer look at the Maple Leafs’ situation with defenseman Jake Muzzin, examining not only whether he can return from the neck injury that sidelined him, but whether he should. Based on the comments of the health experts McGran interviewed, it seems Muzzin is facing the choice of whether to potentially risk his long-term personal health in order to get back on the ice.

Injury Updates: Letang, Duhaime, Hartman, Mrazek, Krug

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When it was revealed that legendary Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang suffered a minor stroke, the first thoughts most had weren’t hockey-related. Everyone involved, including the Penguins, emphasized the importance of prioritizing Letang’s health over any hockey-related concerns. Now, just 12 days after his health scare, Letang is firmly back in the mix for a lineup spot in Pittsburgh.

Per Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, as relayed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Letang returned to practice and is available for tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. It’s a remarkable turn of events for the veteran defenseman and a development that speaks to the strength, resilience, and immense toughness he’s displayed over the course of his NHL career.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • The Minnesota Wild have been without forwards Ryan Hartman and Brandon Duhaime as they each work back from upper-body injuries. Per The Athletic’s Michael Russo, both skaters are expected to return to practice with the Wild next week, when the team returns from its road trip. (subscription link) Hartman’s return is important for the Wild, whose thin crop of centers has forced them into using Sam Steel as their first-line center. Hartman, who scored 34 goals and 65 points last season, should be a better fit for that role, while Duhaime’s return should add some snarl to the team’s bottom-six.
  • Chicago Blackhawks starting netminder Petr Mrazek suffered his second groin injury of the season, but thankfully for Chicago, it seems to have been just a minor setback. Per NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Mrazek is aiming to return for the Blackhawks’ game against the Washington Capitals.
  • The St. Louis Blues are set to get a defenseman back when Torey Krug returns to the ice tomorrow, per Blues coach Craig Berube. (via NHL.com’s Lou Korac) Krug has missed the Blues’ last two games, and his return should help the team shore up a blueline that has surrendered goals at an alarmingly high rate for the past two weeks.

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