Sabres Recall Brett Murray, Send Isak Rosén Down
The Buffalo Sabres have recalled winger Brett Murray to the NHL club and sent rookie Isak Rosén to the minors. Rosén has appeared in his first seven NHL games since being recalled on November 25th, failing to score a point and recording a -3.
Rosén started the season with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, scoring eight goals and 19 points through his first 16 games with the club. Rosén remains the team’s top scorer, even after missing four games because of his NHL stint. He’s paced by Jiří Kulich, who has managed 13 goals and 19 points of his own through 19 AHL games. Kulich received his NHL debut on the same night as Rosén but was sent back to the minors shortly after. Both players are former first-round selections by Buffalo, with Rosén being drafted 14th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft and Kulich going 28th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. With the debut of Kulich and Rosén, the Sabres have now seen every first-round selection they’ve made since 2017 suit up for them at some point this year – save for winger Jack Quinn, who is working back from Achille’s tendon surgery and Noah Ostlund, who remains in Sweden.
Filling in for Rosén is AHL veteran Brett Murray, who currently has two goals and seven points through 12 games with the Rochester Americans. The scoring brings his career AHL totals up to 217 games played, 58 goals, and 132 points. Murray appeared in 21 NHL games between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, playing in 19 games and scoring six points in the latter campaign. The Sabres originally drafted Murray 99th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, selecting him out of the CCHL before his pursued a career in the USHL and NCAA’s Big 10.
Morning Notes: Eklund, Connor, Hutton
Top San Jose Sharks youngster William Eklund was held out of the team’s Sunday night shootout-loss versus the Vegas Golden Knights with a lower-body injury. No further update was provided about the 21-year-old’s injury.
Eklund narrowly avoids the ‘rookie’ title this season, as playing more than six games in each of the last two seasons removes his eligibility. Regardless, he’s performed well for the Sharks this season, netting six goals and 13 points in 27 games. Four of these points have come in just his last two games – both overtime wins. The 21-year-old has managed this production while serving in a second-line role on the resurging Sharks. Eklund would be tied for seventh in rookie scoring with Philadelphia’s Bobby Brink, if he were eligible.
Eklund has totaled 44 career NHL games since making his debut in 2021-22. He’s managed eight goals, 20 points, and 20 penalty minutes in that span, also recording a career -16. The Sharks drafted Eklund seventh overall in the 2021 NHL Draft,
Other notes from around the league:
- Kyle Connor was forced out of the Winnipeg Jets’ Sunday night loss after suffering a lower-body injury. The top forward appeared in just eight minutes of the 4-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, recording three shots. Connor is tied with Sam Reinhart for third in the league in goals, scoring 17 through 26 games.
- The New York Islanders have sent defenseman Grant Hutton to the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, opening space for Sebastian Aho to be activated from injured reserve. Hutton has served as New York’s seventh defenseman since being recalled on November 25th, appearing in two games and recording four hits and a +1.
Penguins Sign Jesse Puljujarvi To Try Out, Recall Pierre-Olivier Joseph
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they’ve signed forward Jesse Puljujarvi to a free-agent try-out. Puljujarvi was cleared for full-contact training on Saturday, opening up his availability to NHL teams. The 25-year-old winger underwent surgery on both of his hips this summer and worked his way back to NHL readiness in only six months.
Puljujarvi has had a storied career since being drafted fourth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers in the 2016-17 season and bounced between the team’s NHL and AHL lineup for the next two seasons. Rather than sticking with the jumps between North America’s top two leagues, Puljujarvi returned to Finland for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, combining for 65 points in 72 games over the two seasons. The strong performances overseas did boost Puljujarvi’s abilities in the NHL, with the winger recording a career-high 36 points in 65 games during the 2021-22 season, but his struggles have continued to pop up. He joined the Carolina Hurricanes via trade last season and only managed two points in 17 games with the new club. Pittsburgh will serve as another testing ground for the former Finnish standout.
Pittsburgh also shared that they’ve recalled Pierre-Olivier Joseph from his conditioning stint in the AHL. The 24-year-old defenseman played in two games while with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, recording one assist. Joseph has appeared in five games with the NHL lineup this season, also managing one assist – with his most recent game marking his 100th in the league.
Joseph emerged as a top option for Pittsburgh as a rookie during the 2022-23 season, appearing in 75 games with the club, scoring 21 points and recording 44 penalty minutes. He averaged just over 15 minutes of ice time each game, a mark that’s decreased to just 13 minutes this year as the Penguins added Erik Karlsson, Ryan Graves, and Ryan Shea to the blueline. It’s a small step backward for Joseph, the second-youngest member of Pittsburgh’s defense corps behind 23-year-old John Ludvig. But with a pair of AHL games and the scare of a send-down under his belt, Joseph will now look to carve out a stronger role in the NHL.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Edmonton Oilers
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Edmonton Oilers.
Who are the Oilers thankful for?
The more things change, the more they stay the same, and that’s held true for the Oilers’ generational talent. McDavid is currently carrying 34 points through 22 games, tied with Cale Makar for eighth in the league in scoring. He’s reached that mark despite a slow start, scoring just four points in the first eight games of November. But things are clicking for the 26-year-old once more, as McDavid has scored an unbelievable 21 points in his last eight games. That’s an 82-game pace of 215.25 points – and while there’s a very slim chance that he ever breaks the 200-point ceiling, the fact that McDavid has held onto that scoring pace over more than a handful of games is incredible. He’s scored in every game over the eight-game stretch, recording multiple points in six of them, and is sticking to Wayne Gretzky‘s tactic of leaning into assists – with 16 of his recent 21 points coming in the form of helpers. The Oilers have faced a lot of adversity this season but McDavid has made it clear that he won’t let it get him down as he looks to top the 153 points he scored last year.
What are the Oilers thankful for?
A stretch of home games.
The Oilers have struggled to get things going on the road this season, with a dismal 4-8-0 record when playing in another team’s barn. That fact hasn’t gelled well with their early schedule, which had them on the road for 11 of their first 19 games. Their longest stretch of home games in November was a four-game stretch early in the month when the team was facing an injury to McDavid and swirling questions about then-head coach Jay Woodcroft. Both factors weighed heavily on Edmonton and they fell 1-3-0 before having to get back on the road.
The cycle seemed to be continuing as they lost their first three games of their most recent road trip – a four-game-long trip around the eastern-US. But with a 5-0 win over the Washington Capitals to cap it off, the Oilers found their momentum just in time for their recent stretch of four home games, and one away game at the neighboring Winnipeg Jets. Edmonton has been on fire now that they’re back at Rogers Place, currently on a six-game winning streak that’s seen them outscore their opponents 31-to-11. They’ve been getting everything they could want in their recent outings, scoring an average of roughly five goals each game and seeing their goaltenders post a collective .947 save percentage.
After a dismal start to the season, the Oilers are now truly looking like a team that can challenge the best in the West. They have four more games at home before they embark on a six-game road trip in late-December. New head coach Kris Knoblauch will hope a strong stretch at home will be enough of a boost to amend the Oilers’ current luck on the road.
What would the Oilers be even more thankful for?
Consistent Goaltending.
The story of Edmonton’s early season has been one of underwhelming goaltending. The team has iced three different goalies this season, with all three recording a save percentage below .900. Starting goalie Stuart Skinner has managed a .888 through 19 games, en route to a 10-7-1 record. This is despite the Oilers facing a league-average xGA/60 (expected goals-against per-60) of 2.54, tied with Winnipeg for the 12th-best mark in the league, per Evolving Hockey. And while the former Calder Trophy runner-up Skinner has improved as of late – recording a .911 save percentage and 9-2-0 record in his last 11 games – there’s still reason to be uncertain in Edmonton’s crease. The Oilers are 3-12-1 when they allow three-or-more goals this season, emphasizing that the team is only as good as the goaltending that they receive. If they want to be true Stanley Cup-contenders, they’ll need to make sure their netminders are just as efficient as their scorers.
What should be on the Oilers holiday wish list?
A lucky trade offer.
The Oilers are clearly not far off from being a very scary team. Their top scorers – McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – are mostly performing as expected; the blueline has seen added help through the continued breakout of Evan Bouchard and the addition of Mattias Ekholm; and it seems Skinner is bringing some reliability back into the crease. But there still seems to be something holding back Edmonton from reaching their full potential. The team has six members of their forward group with fewer than eight points through their first 24 games and their defense seems to strike in waves.
But Edmonton has recently made former eighth-overall pick Philip Broberg available for a trade, something that could prove lucrative as many teams around the league look for a spark on defense. While Broberg’s professional career in North America is off to a choppy start, there are still teams around the league with high hopes for the 22-year-old defenseman. It helps that Broberg is on a cost-controlled deal, recording an $863K cap hit this season and set to become a restricted free agent next year. The right trade could be enough to patch one of the Oilers’ holes, whether it’s bringing in another depth-forward, providing more competition on defense, or adding support between the pipes. The NHL is gearing up for an exciting Trade Deadline and the Oilers could emerge from it with the plenty of hope for the future.
Afternoon Notes: Chytil, Rust, Bogosian
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette shared that forward Filip Chytil is, “moving in the right direction” with his upper-body injury, adding that he thinks Chytil will return this season. The 24-year-old centerman is currently on long-term injured reserve, sitting out of action since November 3rd with an upper-body injury.
Chytil appeared in 10 games with the Rangers before going down with injury, recording six assists and four penalty minutes. He was averaging nearly 16 minutes of ice time each game through the early season, the highest average of his seven-year NHL career. Chytil scored a career-high 22 goals and 45 points in 74 games last season, after recording either 22 or 23 points in each of his four prior NHL seasons. The step forward in scoring brought Chytil’s career totals to 144 points in 337 games.
Chytil is one of many injured Rangers forwards, with the team also without Barclay Goodrow and Chris Kreider, who are both day-to-day with injury, and Kaapo Kakko, who is alongside Chytil on injured reserve.
Other notes from around the league:
- Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has provided another update on winger Bryan Rust, saying that he is continuing to be evaluated for an upper-body injury and won’t be available on Friday. Rust has been in and out of the lineup this season, ultimately playing in 22 of the team’s 25 games this season. He ranks fourth on the Penguins in scoring with 10 goals and 20 points.
- The Minnesota Wild have shared that Zach Bogosian could return from his upper-body injury on either Thursday or Friday. Bogosian has missed two games with the injury, managing one point in the nine appearances he has made this season.
Snapshots: Laine, Gudbranson, Bussi, Salt Lake City
The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without both Patrik Laine and Erik Gudbranson, as neither player traveled with the team for their Thursday night matchup against the New York Islanders due to illness. This is the second consecutive game that the duo will miss, after being held out of the team’s Tuesday home game against the Los Angeles Kings.
With his absence on Thursday, Laine will have only played in 16 of the Blue Jackets’ first 28 games. He’s missed action for a variety of reasons, going on injured reserve with a tricep strain in mid-November and serving as a healthy scratch shortly upon his return. The 25-year-old winger has scored five goals and seven points in the games he has appeared in, also adding six penalty minutes and a -9. It’s a step down in production from Laine’s 2022-23 season, where he managed 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games.
And while Laine’s scoring pace has decreased, the 31-year-old Gudbranson has managed nine points in 26 games this season, already a higher point total than he’s managed in eight of his 13 NHL seasons. Gudbranson is in his second season with Columbus, signing a four-year, $16MM contract with the team in July of 2022.
Other notes from around the league:
- With Jeremy Swayman under the weather, the Boston Bruins are expected to recall Brandon Bussi, the starting goalie for the Providence Bruins. Bussi has recorded a .917 save percentage and 6-4-2 record through 12 games with Providence this season.
- Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently spoke about International Olympic Committee’s recent announcement that Salt Lake City is a “preferred bidder” for the 2034 Winter Games, sharing that this could make the city an even more likely host for an NHL team. The NHL has spoken openly about expansion over the course of the 2023-24 season, with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun recently sharing that expansion is a matter of when and not if.
Oilers Recall Ben Gleason, Loan Philip Broberg To AHL
The Edmonton Oilers have swapped defensemen, recalling Ben Gleason and sending Philip Broberg to the AHL. Broberg has been the talk of many trade rumors recently, with the Oilers granting the former eighth-overall pick permission to seek a trade on December 5th.
Broberg has seen inconsistent ice time throughout his 10 games with the Oilers this season, playing fewer than eight minutes in three of his last five games. These short-lived outings have brought his average ice time down to just 10:32, a decrease from the 12:36 he averaged last season. The 22-year-old defenseman has already appeared in four AHL games this season, netting two points. Broberg has played in 79 games throughout his NHL career, scoring 11 points. He is one of two players from the 2019 NHL Draft’s top 10 to not play in at least 100 NHL games yet, alongside Los Angeles’ Alex Turcotte.
This swap gives Gleason a chance to play in his first NHL games since the 2018-19 season when the defender appeared in four games with the Dallas Stars. Outside of that small NHL sample, Gleason has spent much of his career with the AHL’s Texas Stars, totaling 290 games with the team over the last five seasons. This year is Gleason’s first with a new club, signing a two-year, two-way, $1.6MM contract with the Oilers this summer. He’s started the contract with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, leading the team’s defensemen in scoring with nine points through 14 games. Gleason will look to score his first NHL goal if he’s able to slot into the lineup on this recall.
Injury Notes: Novak, Carrier, Goodrow, Kreider, Martin
The Nashville Predators have activated Thomas Novak off of injured reserve. The 26-year-old has been out of action since November 14th with an upper-body injury. Nashville’s head coach, Andrew Brunette, suggested that Novak could return soon, saying, “I think Novak, depending on when I go back and see how his [injury] has healed… if he feels better, I think he’ll go.”
Both Novak and Alexandre Carrier returned to the Predators’ practice on Thursday. Carrier is working back from an upper-body injury suffered on a hit from Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov.
Novak has appeared in 14 games with the Predators this season, scoring six goals and 12 points and recording six penalty minutes. Carrier has appeared in 22 games of his own, recording eight points and 12 penalty minutes. The Predators drafted Novak and Carrier with consecutive picks in the 2015 NHL Draft, taking Novak in the third round and Carrier in the fourth round. Carrier has scored 50 points through 166 career NHL games, while Novak has totaled 62 points in 92 games of his own.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- The New York Rangers have announced that Barclay Goodrow is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, after a puck struck him in the face. Chris Kreider is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Neither player participated in the team’s practice on Thursday. Neither player has missed a game, with the team currently on a three-day break. New York’s next game is against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
- New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert shared that Matt Martin is not entirely ready to return form his upper-body injury, despite being activated off of injured reserve. Martin has been out of action since November 15th, scoring two points in the 14 games he has appeared in this year.
Predators Place Liam Foudy On Waivers, Return Mark Jankowski To AHL
The Nashville Predators have placed Liam Foudy on waivers and returned Mark Jankowski to the AHL. Foudy has appeared in 12 games with Nashville this season, while Jankowski slotted into the team’s last two games.
Nashville’s head coach, Andrew Brunette, spoke highly of Foudy in light of the news, saying, “He brings speed and I’d like to see him go [to the AHL] and get a little more finish and get a little stronger. If he clears, I’m really excited to have him in the organization.”
Nashville claimed Foudy off of waivers from the Columbus Blue Jackets in late October. The 23-year-old centerman has recorded three assists and a -2 in 13 games between Nashville and Columbus this year, after recording 14 points in 62 games as a rookie last season. Columbus drafted Foudy in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft and awarded him with his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season. He’s totaled 22 points in 102 career NHL games.
Jankowski has spent most of his season with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, ranking second on the team in scoring with 14 points in 17 games. He’s in his second year in Nashville, playing in 50 games and scoring 12 points with the Predators last year. It was only the fourth time that Jankowski has played in 50 or more games in one season, scoring 25 points in 72 games in 2017-18, 32 points in 79 games in 2018-19, and seven points in 56 games in 2019-20. The 29-year-old forward was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames and has totaled 50 goals and 93 points in 324 career NHL games.
Buffalo Sabres Acquire Eric Robinson From Columbus
4:48 p.m.: The draft pick included in the deal will only be transferred to the Blue Jackets if Robinson plays 45 NHL games this season, per CapFriendly. He’s already logged seven appearances with Columbus.
3:27 p.m.: The Sabres have made the news official, sending a 2025 seventh-round pick (originally belonging to the Predators) to Columbus in return for Robinson’s services. In a corresponding transaction, forward Brandon Biro was returned to AHL Rochester.
1:32 p.m.: The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski has confirmed that the Buffalo Sabres have acquired Eric Robinson from the Columbus Blue Jackets. This was originally reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Robinson, 28, is in his seventh season of NHL play, after signing with the Blue Jackets as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He’s since totaled 266 career NHL games and 82 career points. The details of the trade are not yet certain, although Lysowski reports that Robinson won’t join Buffalo for their Thursday matchup against the Boston Bruins.
Robinson has appeared in seven games with the Blue Jackets this season, scoring one goal and recording a -3. He has also played in nine AHL games and scored four points. It was Robinson’s first appearance in the AHL since 2019-20, as the veteran winger has been a fixture of Columbus’ lineup over the last four seasons. He recorded a career year in the 2021-22 campaign, scoring 10 goals and 27 points in 67 games. He followed it up with 12 goals and 24 points in 72 games last year.
Robinson is a New Jersey native who played four seasons at Princeton University from 2014 to 2018. The Nashville Predators invited Robinson to their training camp ahead of the 2015-16 season and signed a professional try-out contract with the team ahead of the 2016-17 season. He also briefly signed with Nashville’s AHL affiliate, before opting to return for his senior season, where he set a collegiate-career high of 31 points in 36 games and earned an NHL contract with Columbus.
He is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and carries a $1.6MM cap hit this season.