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Philadelphia Flyers Re-Assign Kieffer Bellows, Olle Lycksell To AHL

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Late last night, after their game against the New York Rangers concluded, the Philadelphia Flyers announced a pair of roster moves. The team has re-assigned forwards Kieffer Bellows and Olle Lycksell to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, their AHL affiliate. Bellows, who had only been recalled earlier in the day yesterday, had already cleared waivers back on December 2nd and thus, didn’t have to clear them again. Lycksell is currently signed to his ELC and is not currently waiver eligible.

Bellows, 24, appears to have fallen off quite a bit since seeming to turn a corner in his development last season. Once one of the New York Islanders’ top prospects, Bellows struggled to put it together in the professional ranks, but his 19 points in 45 games in the NHL last season gave some sign of hope that the forward could finally put it together. This season however, Bellows has failed to record a point in 13 games, 12 with the Flyers and one with the Islanders, while averaging 11:30 per game. His time in the AHL, albeit brief, has been another story. There, the winger has seven points through his first five games, a promising sign in what seems to be a lost season already at the NHL level.

The 23-year-old Lycksell, a sixth-round pick of the Flyers back in 2017 is enjoying a solid start to his North American career with 16 points in his first 16 AHL games, as well as the opportunity to play in his first three NHL games. The forward spent the previous five seasons in the SHL, jumping between teams, but showing he can be a point-producer in a top league. Lycksell had a career-year in 2021-22 as a member of Vaxjo, putting up 34 points in 47 games in his only season with the team. Though being sent back to the AHL isn’t necessarily the best news for the player, Lycksell should have an opportunity to continue being an impact player for Lehigh Valley, which should help with his overall development as an NHLer.

Montreal Canadiens Loan Rem Pitlick To AHL

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The Montreal Canadiens announced that they have loaned forward Rem Pitlick to the Laval Rocket, their AHL affiliate. In a related move, the team has also recalled forward Anthony Richard from Laval. Pitlick has bounced around between Montreal and Laval plenty this season, while this will be Richard’s first call-up since clearing waivers and being assigned to the Rocket back on October 5th.

Pitlick, 25, has done his best to ensure the shuffle hasn’t held him back too much this season. The forward has six points through nine games with Laval thus far, though he has just one point, a goal, in 14 games with Montreal. Still, the former Nashville Predators draft pick hasn’t been able to repeat his production from last season, where he had 15 goals and 22 assists over 66 games between Montreal and the Minnesota Wild.

Also a former Predators draft pick, Richard, who turns 26 on Tuesday, has dominated the AHL thus far this season, recording 31 points in 26 games, on pace to eclipse his previous career-high in the league of 47, recorded over 73 games back in 2018-19. Should he get into action for the Canadiens, it would be the Quebec native’s first action with the Canadiens and first NHL games since he played a single game with the Predators in 2019-20.

Montreal Canadiens Place David Savard On IR

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The Montreal Canadiens announced this evening that they have placed defenseman David Savard on IR retroactive to December 4th. No additional transaction was announced, however the team is carrying seven defensemen, having been without the veteran since December 3rd.

Savard has been dealing with an upper-body injury apparently suffered during that December 3rd contest, and was originally considered day-to-day. On Tuesday of this week though, the Canadiens updated Savard’s status as being out two-to-three weeks. Placing Savard on IR now isn’t necessarily a bad sign as far as his recovery is concerned and could be a matter of giving the Canadiens some roster flexibility heading into the looming Christmas roster freeze, and perhaps indicates the team knows he won’t be back at least until things open up again.

Though some might say the Canadiens are performing above expectations this year, the team likely doesn’t see it that way and continues to fight for a playoff spot in the crowded Eastern Conference, now sitting at 14-15-2 after tonight’s loss. The team would certainly need to step it up a little to get into a Wild Card position, though that’s not unreasonable. However, getting back Savard, who is second on the team in average time-on-ice, only behind Mike Matheson, who’s played just nine games this season, will be key. Savard’s shutdown defense will be necessary considering the team, and its fairly inexperienced blueline, has struggled with keeping the puck out of their own net, ranking 23rd in the league in goals against.

Snapshots: Van Riemsdyk, Clutterbuck, Palmieri, Oshie

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Now approaching Christmas and New Years, we seem to have a lot of the big trade chips at this year’s deadline pretty clear, with Jakob Chychrun, Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, and Patrick Kane making up the biggest names. Surely, as time goes on and other teams fall out of the race, other exciting names could drop in, and plenty of secondary pieces will be added onto the list. Still, a few solid options that aren’t being talked about as much remain very much in play approaching the deadline.

One of those names, as pointed out by Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek during tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night In Canada, is Philadelphia Flyers power forward James van Riemsdyk. The winger is in the final year of a five-year, $35MM contract he signed to rejoin the Flyers organization prior to the 2018-19 season. The veteran’s production has been up and down over the life of the deal, but his 10 points in 11 games thus far, while navigating through some injury issues, does make him an attractive trade asset. While he does carry a $7MM cap hit, Marek adds the Flyers would be willing to retain some of that figure. A number of teams would make sense for van Riemsdyk, but for the New Jersey native teaming up with the Devils might be an especially solid fit, given their need for a net-front presence, as detailed in our Thankful For series.

  • The New York Islanders will be down a pair of forwards when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights this evening. Wingers Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Palmieri will both miss the game with undisclosed injuries, the team announced. Fortunately, it seems the team avoided anything too major, as both are listed as day-to-day, however they’ve both dealt with their own injuries throughout this season, Palmieri only returning from a three week absence last night. It’s unclear how Clutterbuck injured himself, though he did leave last night’s game and didn’t return. Palmieri on the other hand left the game in concussion protocol after taking a big hit from Arizona Coyotes forward Nick Ritchie, but did return to action later on.
  • Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie left tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs with an upper-body injury and did not return, per a team announcement. According to the Capitals, Oshie will be re-evaluated tomorrow. What exactly happened to the veteran is unclear, however he did return to the Capitals bench, but declined to actually sit before later heading down the tunnel gingerly.

Evening Notes: Canucks, O’Brien, Broberg, Barkov, MacEwen

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When looking back on previous NHL seasons, each seems to have one or two stories that, even if it wasn’t the most memorable part of that season, dominated the headlines. Last season, that story seemed to be the availability of Jakob Chychrun, which has carried into this season, and the year before was COVID absences and protocols, which carried into last season too. This season’s headlines, besides Chychrun, seem to be dominated by the Vancouver Canucks: their struggles, their work on extensions, and now, the availability of their players in trades.

Earlier this evening on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman continued that discussion. Friedman clarified the Canucks’ position, who apparently have just one untouchable player: Elias Pettersson. That one might feel obvious, but immediately begs another question: what about Quinn Hughes? As Friedman reports, while Hughes isn’t an untouchable, it would take “an absolutely mammoth offer” to pry the defenseman away from the Canucks. Despite having just the one untouchable, Friedman adds that the team isn’t interested in a rebuild or complete teardown, but instead is looking to change their mix and breath new life into the team. Finally from Friedman, it appears Vancouver isn’t willing to give Bo Horvat more than the $56MM J.T. Miller was extended for, however Horvat’s career-year has now put him over that number.

  • Arizona Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered last night against the New York Islanders, the team announced. The forward played just 9:41 last night in the win over the Islanders, lower than his 12:01 average this season. Not shy from fighting, it is notable that O’Brien did have a fight in the third period against Islanders’ defenseman Scott Mayfield, who’s experienced in that regard too.
  • Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg, who was scratched for today’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks, missed the game with an injury he suffered yesterday, head coach Jay Woodcroft confirmed postgame, via The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. Given Broberg’s play in 11 games this season, a healthy scratch wouldn’t be confusing, but certainly wasn’t deserved either, so news of an injury does make sense. It also further explains the decision to recall fellow defenseman Markus Niemelainen yesterday. Woodcroft did not elaborate further on the details or severity of Broberg’s injury.
  • Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov was forced to leave tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils early with a lower-body injury, the team announced. Barkov appeared to be experiencing some discomfort after taking a faceoff earlier in the game. The center has played the last five games after missing two weeks with a bout of pneumonia. The extent of Barkov’s injury is unclear at this point.
  • Philadelphia Flyers forward Zack MacEwen missed this evening’s game against the New York Rangers with an illness, reports The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. Of course, no forced absence is a good thing, however one would expect an injury to carry a shorter timeframe, which would be preferable to getting MacEwen back into the lineup. MacEwen has just eight points in 28 games this season, but with Philadelphia showing value in grit this year, the forward’s 38 penalty minutes are much appreciated.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: New York Rangers

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With American Thanksgiving now behind us and the holiday season coming up, PHR continues its look at what teams are thankful for in 2022-23. 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 New York Rangers.

Who are the Rangers thankful for?

Adam Fox

Finding a defenseman that can play shutdown defense as well as Fox or drive offense as well as he does is a very, very difficult thing for any team to do and generally involves a bit of luck. Finding one defenseman that does both seems to be a once-in-a-generation type of player, and that’s just who the Rangers have in Fox.

The defenseman’s 31 points in 31 games to date represents the best point-percentage of his career thus far and his 10.9% shooting percentage is up significantly from the 7.0% career-high he had last year. Outside of getting the puck into the net, Fox’s 60.9% Corsi and 61.0% Fenwick represent career-high’s to date, fantastic numbers even considering his 58.9% offensive-zone starts. While Fox’s play is representative of the players around him to an extent, his ability to play elite hockey at both ends is invaluable to any team and his ability to take another step even after winning a Norris Trophy is special on its own.

What are the Rangers thankful for?

A Shutdown Blueline

The Rangers come into today with a 16-10-5 record, good enough for the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, in the middle of a five-game winning streak, and fresh off a regulation win over the white-hot Toronto Maple Leafs. This short streak has certainly helped to get things going in the right direction for the team after a rather shaky start to the season, but amid the ups and downs to this point, one positive has stood out for the Rangers: the puck has stayed out of the net.

The team currently ranks 9th in the NHL in goals against, down from their second-place finish a season ago, however reigning Vezina Trophy winning goaltender Igor Shesterkin has taken a step back this season. Shesterkin’s struggles at points this season has been well documented, and this stretch has shown he could be turning things back to his 2021-22 ways, however it seems to be the Rangers defense this season that has made things easier for the team and netminder thus far.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers have two defense pairs in the top-12 league-wide, featuring Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller as well as Fox and Ryan Lindgren. What’s more, just two of their defensemen, Trouba and Zachary Jones (16 games) are minuses. Although their blueliners aren’t driving play offensively (omitting Fox), the team’s top forwards, and Fox, have been getting the job done well enough so far, thanks in part to the superb defense putting them in that position.

What would the Rangers be even more thankful for?

Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere taking the next step

If you ask enough people, you’re likely to get a mixed bag of opinions on the Rangers’ development of young players and prospects. On one hand, the team can be praised for putting players like Fox and Shesterkin in positions to become elite, for helping good young players like Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Ryan Strome and making them stars over time, and for turning prospects like Ryan Lindgren and K’Andre Miller into some of the league’s best shutdown defenseman. On the other hand, many would argue that Fox and Shesterkin came to the team ready for stardom while the team failed with it’s own blue-chip youngsters like Kakko, Lafreniere, and Vitali Kravtsov. Both are fair points.

One thing that should be conceded is the Rangers have done well to develop Miller, Lindgren, and center Filip Chytil, who’s enjoying a breakout season himself. In other words, this is an organization that can, has, and does develop young talent, whether or not that’s a strength is a separate argument. Now, what’s become of Kakko and Lafreniere, then? Second and first overall picks, respectively, both have clearly shown in their short careers that they are more than capable of playing NHL hockey. Both have been, overall, pretty good. Kakko has tallied 69 points over 188 career games, adding some physicality and two-way hockey into the mix, while Lafreniere has chipped in 66 points in 166 games, showing some flashes of the talent that made him a clear choice for the first overall selection.

Kakko and Lafreniere have produced, but neither has hit the ceiling expected of them or shown clear signs of getting there shortly. It’s not too late for either to get there and neither are at risk of ending their NHL careers any time soon, but a 30 or 40 point performance with a little extra from time to time isn’t the expectation of a top two pick.

On the team’s end, one would think they’d be happy to keep the pair around and see what happens, however as we’ll see in the next section, the Rangers could certainly use another top-six point-producer and with limited cap room, a breakout from even one of these two would be perfect timing.

What should be on the Rangers’ holiday wishlist?

Another top-nine scoring threat

The Rangers came into this evening 15th in the NHL in goals for, a near match to the 16th position they finished last season in. Though that’s impressive in a sense considering the team lost Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano this offseason (Ryan Strome and Vincent Trocheck a wash offensively) and still has roughly the same offense, it does show what the team might be able to do if they could add a piece like that, or perhaps one even better, into the mix. As suggested above, a breakout of Kakko or Lafreniere starting right about now would be preferable, but at this point, that’s far less out of the Rangers’ control than bringing in a proven commodity.

There’s been plenty of rumors connecting Chicago Blackhawks superstar winger Patrick Kane to the Rangers and though that would obviously fit the bill, bringing Kane to the Big Apple would require a rather complex trade, given the Rangers, as of right now, have just over $1.6MM in cap space. Even if Chicago ate half of Kane’s salary, more work would have to be done, all of this before considering the size of the return the Blackhawks would expect.

More affordable from a salary cap perspective is Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat, who the team appears set to trade. However, the price to acquire Horvat could be greater than that of Kane, given his sensational goal-scoring pace. The Rangers have the assets to make a splash, including a pair of 2023 first-round picks, several prospects headlined by Brennan Othmann, and young roster players like Braden Schneider, Jones, Lafreniere, and Kakko.

The Rangers could also look to Vancouver for winger Brock Boeser, who would likely be cheaper to acquire, but does come with two more years after this one carrying a $6.65MM cap hit, a tougher sell given Boeser’s struggles this season. Beyond Kane, Horvat, and Boeser, the Rangers could look to more affordable options such as Nick Ritchie of the Arizona Coyotes or Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou, both of the Blackhawks, though how much of an upgrade of their current group those players represent is a fair question.

Injury Notes: Sabres, Canucks Illnesses, Aho, Capitals

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Things haven’t necessarily gone as planned for the Buffalo Sabres to start this season, the team coming into tonight with a 14-14-2 record thus far, tying them with the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens for the bottom three positions in the Atlantic Division. There are some bright spots, such as the further breakouts of Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, or that record being partially influencex by an eight game losing streak that came with zero points, and there are reasons for the struggles, such as poor goaltending and a myriad of injury issues. Those injury issues continue to persist, but with injuries does come injury updates and the Sabres were able to provide a few of those today.

Forwards Jeff Skinner, who was suspended, and Kyle Okposo, will both rejoin the lineup tonight, reports Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. Okposo had only missed one game, Thursday at the Colorado Avalanche, but has dealt with his share of injuries this season. Harrington adds that defensemen Owen Power and Jacob Bryson, who both missed Thursday’s game will not play this evening. Fortunately for Power, he’s only considered day-to-day, however Bryson has been shutdown for the remainder of the road trip and will be re-evaluated when the team gets home. Their road trip concludes Monday in Vegas. Lastly, per Harrington, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who is currently on IR and hasn’t played since November 28th, is still not ready to return.

  • The Vancouver Canucks could be down a pair of star forwards this evening, with both Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser under the weather according to Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor, who spoke with head coach Bruce Boudreau. Boeser also missed Wednesday’s game with an illness and while Pettersson did not, recall that he had actually been sent home from practice on Sunday after showing up sick. Even with the turmoil surrounding Boeser and the likelihood that he ends up being dealt this season, Vancouver will need both players in the lineup with the hope that they can produce and get their season back on track going forward. Boeser has 16 points in 22 games thus far, while Pettersson appears to be taking the next step with 34 points in 29 games to date.
  • Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho, who has been out of the lineup since December 6th with a lower-body injury will not play tonight against the Dallas Stars or tomorrow afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins, says Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff, who spoke with head coach Rod Brind’Amour prior to tonight’s game. On a positive note, Brind’Amour added that Aho was on the ice earlier today, indicating a return could be sooner rather than later. Interestingly, Carolina has done just fine without Aho in the lineup, going 3-0-0 in the process, including back-to-back shutouts of the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings. Obviously, the team would still prefer to get one of the NHL’s very best centers back into their lineup as soon as possible, especially considering schedule doesn’t get any easier after tomorrow, facing the New Jersey Devils and the Penguins again this week.
  • Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd will miss tonight’s game with a lower-body injury, reports The Athletics Tarik El-Bashir. It’s unclear what exactly is ailing Dowd or how serious the injury might be, however he did leave Thursday’s game a touch early, playing just 9:39 in the game, down from his season average of 13:03. Also of note, goaltender Hunter Shepard has been ruled out of tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, which would explain the team’s earlier recall of netminder Zachary Fucale.

Washington Capitals Recall Zachary Fucale

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5:31 pm: According to Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic, Shephard has been ruled out of tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, necessitating the Fucale recall.

4:25 pm: The Washington Capitals announced late this afternoon that they’ve recalled goaltender Zachary Fucale from the Hershey
Bears, their AHL affiliate. Fucale will join the pairing of Charlie Lindgren and Hunter Shepard in net for Washington. Shepard had been recalled on an emergency basis in the wake of Darcy Kuemper’s injury and subsequent placement on IR back on December 3rd. No corresponding moves were announced.

Despite bringing Shepard up nearly two weeks ago, the Capitals haven’t played the netminder just yet, opting to have Lindgren shoulder the load. Lindgren, who Washington signed to a three-year deal this offseason to back up Kuemper, has had a solid start to the season, recording a .910 save-percentage and 2.76 goals-against average in 14 games, but has really stepped things up since Kuemper went down, posting five of his seven wins along with a .936 save-percentage, surrendering just 11 goals over the six games.

Shepard, 27, was off to a dominant start in the AHL with a .932 save-percentage and 1.83 goals-against in his first eight games, but along with Lindgren’s superb performance, Shepard simply has never played in the NHL and has spent the bulk of his professional career in the ECHL.

It’s unclear what Washington’s plan is with Fucale now that he’s been called up as well. Unlike Shepard, Fucale has struggled this season with Hershey, however he does have longer track record of professional hockey, dating back to 2015-16. At one point considered one of the more exciting goaltending prospects in the NHL, the former Montreal Canadiens draft pick has only recently made his NHL debut, getting into four games for the Capitals last season.

Florida Panthers Loan Alex Lyon To AHL

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Dec 14, 4:16 pm: The Panthers have returned Lyon to AHL Charlotte, according to a team announcement. Knight is now healthy and fully recovered from illness after missing four games, per Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards.

Dec 8, 4:28 pm: The Florida Panthers have since announced that Knight is dealing with a non-COVID illness and will not play tonight. Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start in net. Forward Anton Lundell is also dealing with a non-COVID illness.

Dec 8, 3:28 pm: The Florida Panthers have made a roster swap, recalling veteran netminder Alex Lyon from the Charlotte Checkers, their AHL affiliate, and sending forward Aleksi Heponiemi to Charlotte. The move leaves Florida still with the maximum 23 skaters, something they haven’t been able to have for much of this season.

It’s unclear what the exact basis is for recalling Lyon, as neither Spencer Knight nor Sergei Bobrovsky appear to be injured at this time. Knight had been pulled from last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets early on in the second period, however that appeared to be performance related, with the goaltender allowing three goals on 15 shots. Bobrovsky replaced Knight and finished out that game.

Given Bobrovsky’s struggles this season and not wanting to burn out Knight, adding Lyon into the mix could serve to push Bobrovsky while giving Knight a bit of a break. Lyon has had a solid season thus far with the Checkers, recording a 2.80 goals-against and .903 save-percentage in 12 games.

As for the 23-year-old Heponiemi, the forward has bounced around between the NHL and AHL plenty this season, and was most recently recalled on an emergency basis on December 4th. The shuffling hasn’t hurt him too much, recording two points in seven NHL games this season, as well as seven points in 16 games in the AHL.

Carolina Hurricanes Re-Assign Maxime Lajoie

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Dec 14: A few days later, the Hurricanes have sent Lajoie back to the minor leagues. He played in two games, seeing a total of 13 shifts during his recall.

Dec 8: The Carolina Hurricanes announced this evening that they have recalled defenseman Maxime Lajoie from the Chicago Wolves, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding move was announced. This brings Carolina to a full 23-man roster.

The 25-year-old is in his third season in the Hurricanes organization, having played primarily for the Wolves during that period of times. In fact, the defenseman was recently named captain of the Wolves on November 8th. In 17 AHL games this season, Lajoie has six points, all assists. This won’t be his first time on Carolina’s roster this year either, having played one game for the team back on November 14th.

Originally an Ottawa Senators draft pick in 2016, the bulk of Lajoie’s NHL experience came during the 2018-19 season, where he suited up for 58 games for Ottawa. Since then, he’s played in just 12 NHL games spread over three seasons. Now an AHL veteran and leader, Lajoie has made the most of his time in the AHL recording 93 points in 211 career games.

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