Panthers Place Josh Davies On Unconditional Waivers
The Panthers placed forward prospect Josh Davies on unconditional waivers Thursday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll have his contract terminated and become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow after he clears.
Davies, 21, walks away from his entry-level contract less than two seasons in. He was a sixth-round pick out of the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos in 2022 and, after inking his ELC in December 2023, turned pro before last season. In over a year and a half in Florida’s ranks, though, he’s yet to record a point at the AHL level.
Davies played just 18 games for Charlotte last season, posting no scoring stats and 27 penalty minutes with a -8 rating. He’s seen no AHL time this season and has instead played exclusively with ECHL Savannah, where he has eight goals and 12 points in 31 games. He also had 16 points in 34 games for the Ghost Pirates last season as a rookie.
Now, the heavy-hitting 5’10” winger will look to catch on elsewhere, presumably on a minor-league deal with such a limited high-end track record in the pros. He was a decent scorer in juniors, totaling 78 goals and 140 points across 204 WHL games, but he hasn’t been able to take the next step.
Florida’s contract count will drop to 45 tomorrow, leaving them with five open spots nearing the trade deadline.
Devils Place Juho Lammikko On Unconditional Waivers
The Devils announced they’ve placed forward Juho Lammikko on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Assuming he clears tomorrow, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent and can return to Europe or sign elsewhere in North America.
New Jersey placed Lammikko on standard waivers last month for roster flexibility, but never assigned him to the minors. Yesterday, the Devils finally sent him down to Utica as the corresponding move for Nick Bjugstad‘s acquisition. Evidently, he’s refused to accept the assignment and is in breach of his contract as a result.
Lammikko, 30, returned to the NHL this summer when he signed a one-year, $800K deal with New Jersey last June. His season started inauspiciously on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. He got back into action in late October but has been a healthy scratch for long stretches at a time. In 24 games dressed, he’s managed two assists and a -4 rating while averaging 9:53 of ice time per game.
A checking center who commonly shifts to the wing, Lammikko’s possession numbers have been ugly. He’s only controlled 42.7% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 despite being used in a relatively sheltered role and has been shelled in possession quality as well.
Lammikko was a third-round pick by the Panthers in 2014. He joined the organization for the 2016-17 campaign and climbed through the minors before making his NHL debut two years later. He notched 11 points in 84 games for the Cats over parts of two seasons, interrupted by a stint back in Europe, before being traded to the Canucks shortly before the 2021-22 campaign. That resulted in Lammikko making a career-high 75 appearances for Vancouver, notching seven goals and 15 points while averaging over 12 minutes per game.
Despite that decent showing as a bottom-six middleman, his NHL career paused again there. He headed back to Europe with Switzerland’s ZSC Lions, emerging as one of the National League’s top power forwards during that time. After racking up 112 points in 144 games with a +60 rating over three years, he attempted his third NHL arrival with the Devils. With his unwillingness to accept a minor-league assignment, a return to the top Swiss league or somewhere else in Europe should be the expectation.
Wild Reassign David Jiricek, Cal Petersen, Tyler Pitlick
The Wild have reassigned defenseman David Jiříček, goaltender Calvin Petersen, and winger Tyler Pitlick to AHL Iowa, per a team announcement. Minnesota won its final game before the Olympic break yesterday, a 6-5 overtime thriller over the Predators, so those three will now be able to continue playing over the next few weeks in the minors.
Players can still be reassigned during the ongoing roster freeze if they’ve played fewer than 16 of the team’s 20 games before the freeze, or have been on the NHL roster for fewer than 80 league days before Jan. 21. All three of them meet that criteria.
Up-and-down movement has been a hallmark of Jiříček’s season. The once-highly touted prospect continues to struggle to lock down a full-time NHL role. Since being drafted sixth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2022, he’s scored 13 points in 84 career NHL games. None of them has come this season. He’s posted zeroes across the board in 25 outings for the Wild. He only has two career points in a Minnesota uniform, both of which came in a six-game stint last year after being acquired from Columbus.
Lack of ice time surely has something to do with the lack of output from the talented puck-mover. He’s only averaged 11:48 of ice time per game this year, although it’s hard to argue he’s earned more. His possession numbers are underwhelming, only controlling 46.1% of shot attempts at 5-on-5.
Things in the minors haven’t gone terribly well for Jiříček since last year’s move, either. He’s notched a goal and five points in 15 outings for Iowa this year after seven assists in 27 games in 2024-25. He’s only clicking at a 0.29 points per game rate with the club, with a -10 rating.
While Jiříček may be coming back up after the break, Petersen isn’t. He was only rostered for Minnesota’s last two games before the break to back up Filip Gustavsson while Jesper Wallstedt dealt with the flu. The Iowa native signed in free agency with the Wild last season to serve as a minor-league depth option in his home state. Now 31 years old, the former Kings hopeful has managed a .897 SV% with a 2.82 GAA in 17 AHL games, including two shutouts and a 4-13-0 record.
Pitlick, 34, also arrived with the Wild in last summer’s free agency period. After spending all of last year in the minors in the Bruins organization, he’s re-established himself as a fringe NHLer in Minnesota. He’s been up with the team for a good chunk of the year but cleared waivers last month, so he’s within the 30-day exempt period.
A second-round pick back in 2010, Pitlick doesn’t offer much more upside than being a physical fourth-line checker at this stage of his career. He has two goals and a -4 rating in 31 games for the Wild while averaging 7:48 of ice time per game. While his 41.3 CF% is among the team’s worst, he does rank fourth on the club with 76 hits and third on a per-game basis (2.45).
Penguins’ Caleb Jones Suspended 20 Games For PED Use
The league announced Wednesday that they’ve assessed Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones an automatic 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. As a result, he’s been required to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program “for evaluation and possible treatment.”
Jones, 28, hasn’t played in the NHL since late October due to a lower-body injury. He was assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan last month but hasn’t played since suiting up for them once on Jan. 14. He sustained a separate upper-body injury in that game and has been unavailable since.
“Throughout the process, Caleb has been forthcoming with the organization as to how he believes the positive test occurred,” general manager Kyle Dubas said. “Caleb takes full responsibility for his actions, despite him being unaware that what he consumed was a prohibited substance at the time.”
Jones looked to get back into a more regular NHL role with the Pens after he spent most of last year in the minors in the Kings organization, only suiting up for six big-league games with Los Angeles. He landed a two-year, $1.8MM offer from Pittsburgh and skated in seven games to begin the year, recording one assist with a +1 rating while pairing with rookie Harrison Brunicke, before landing on the injured list.
Even when Jones is eligible to return, there won’t be much of a spot for him. The Pens’ acquisition of Brett Kulak from the Oilers in the Tristan Jarry/Stuart Skinner deal pushed Jones further down the left-shot D depth chart. With Kulak and Kris Letang gelling well and Ryan Shea excelling as Pittsburgh’s third-pairing lefty, there’s no longer a regular role for him – especially after the Pens added some additional left-shot depth in Ilya Solovyov last month. It’s likely he’ll end up on waivers and finish the season in Wilkes-Barre when he’s cleared to return.
Kings Acquire, Extend Artemi Panarin
3:13 p.m.: Both teams have made the terms as reported below official. The Kings do not have an open roster spot and will need to make a corresponding move to add Panarin. Considering he’s already the owner of a U.S. work visa, a non-roster list stint for him isn’t likely.
2:03 p.m.: The Kings have acquired star winger Artemi Panarin from the Rangers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Emily Kaplan report. The Blueshirts are getting top prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick in return. Panarin, a pending free agent, has now agreed to a two-year, $22MM extension in L.A., per Kaplan. The Rangers are also retaining 50% of Panarin’s current $11.64MM cap hit to bring it down to $5.82MM for the Kings, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.
The conditions on that draft pick are complex, as Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic reports. At the very least, the Rangers will receive the better of the two third-rounders the Kings own in 2026 (their own and the Stars’). If L.A. wins one playoff round this year, though, the selection upgrades to their 2026 second-rounder. If they win at least two rounds, their 2028 fourth-rounder also gets added in the deal.
L.A. was one of many teams that were still viewed as landing spots for Panarin – with an extension – as late as this morning. While they were never considered a true front-runner, they got the deal done. In the end, they ended up being the only destination for which Panarin would waive his no-movement clause, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post. Being one of the few teams that were willing to part ways with their No. 1 prospect was also surely an attractive option for Rangers general manager Chris Drury, making him feel comfortable pulling the trigger on an L.A.-or-nothing scenario well ahead of the deadline but before the Olympic roster freeze.
While the 34-year-old Panarin had a slow start to the year, he’s been his usual self from November onward, clicking well over a point per game. He got up to 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points in 52 games before the Rangers scratched him following their Jan. 26 win over the Bruins, holding him out of the lineup to prevent an injury from complicating any trade. That still has him tied for 24th in the league in scoring and makes him L.A.’s leading scorer by a significant margin over Adrian Kempe and his 45 points.
Trading Panarin, one of the most dynamic talents in franchise history and one of the most successful big-ticket free agent signings in recent memory, became a reality last month when the Rangers announced their intent to undergo another multi-year retool. Reports quickly indicated that they informed Panarin he wouldn’t be offered an extension as part of that plan. They started their sell-off by dealing Carson Soucy to the Islanders last week, but they get after it in a big way here.
The Kings have teetered on the edge of the Western Conference playoff picture for much of the season. They currently sit one point back of the Kraken for the final wild-card spot with a game in hand. That record has been boosted by a league-high 14 overtime/shootout losses, too. They’ve only won 14 games in regulation, ironically tied with the Rangers for the second-lowest in the league.
That sluggish record can be almost entirely attributed to an inept offense, as the Kings score 2.57 goals per game, fifth-worst in the NHL. That simply hasn’t been enough to earn consistent wins in front of one of the league’s better overall defensive systems and goaltending situations. By giving up their universally lauded No. 1 prospect in Greentree, they’re making a clear bet that Panarin – 20th in the league at 1.10 points per game – will be the needle-mover that gets their offense out of the basement and propels them to their fifth consecutive playoff berth.
In a season that marks the last gasp for franchise icon Anže Kopitar, still chugging along as the Kings’ first-line center, he could spend his final few months in the NHL with the most purely talented linemate of his career (save for a Marián Gáborík, depending on how you rate him). Their lack of depth scoring has forced head coach Jim Hiller to deploy his top weapons all on different units. Kempe has anchored the second line as of late with the ageless Corey Perry and newly-minted center Alex Laferriere, while the high-ceiling but inconsistent trio of Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield, and Andrei Kuzmenko currently makes up their third line.
If the Kings waited until the deadline to make the move, they could’ve taken Panarin on at full price. But as of today, they’d only accumulated $8.4MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. That meant significant retention was necessary to get a deal done if L.A. wasn’t sending back a roster player. While Panarin, even at under $6MM against the cap, takes up a good chunk of that space, they still have a fair amount of flexibility to make another pickup on the other side of the Olympic break if they choose.
Los Angeles gives up the brightest forward prospect they’ve had in quite some time to make it happen. Greentree, 20, was the 26th overall pick in the 2024 draft and was ranked as the #47 prospect in the entire league by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler last summer. He’s yet to play a pro game but has shown up as an outright star in junior hockey. He’s served as the captain for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires since his draft year and finished third in the league in scoring last season, churning out 49 goals and 119 points in 64 games.
It’s worth noting there’s been a significant drop-off in production in 2025-26. He was good for 1.86 points per game last year, but that figure has now dropped to 1.32. That’s still indicative of Greentree being a surefire top-nine piece, especially after a 90-point draft year, but expecting him to ever reach Panarin’s 100-point heights as an NHLer should be overzealous.
That said, the Rangers have had a checkered history with prospect development when the picks come from inside the house. Getting a blue-chip name from outside the organization is an extremely meaningful boost to their long-term outlook, and they’ve now ensured they’ll have six picks in the first three rounds of this year’s draft.
For the Kings, there’s also the matter of getting a true star forward signed to what comes across as an extremely reasonable extension. Not only is Panarin agreeing to a small pay cut in a rising cap environment, but he’ll only lock the Kings into their commitment through the 2027-28 season. That’s a rare insurance policy for L.A. if Panarin’s production declines with age sooner than they hope – especially as other teams were willing to offer Panarin a four-year deal in the range of $11.75MM per season, Frank Seravalli of Victory+ reports.
Image courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
Blues Trade Nick Bjugstad To Devils
The Devils acquired center Nick Bjugstad from the Blues in exchange for center Thomas Bordeleau and a conditional 2026 fourth-round pick, the teams announced. St. Louis will receive the latest of the three fourth-rounders that the Devils own (their own, the Stars’ and the Jets’), Frank Seravalli of Victory+ reports. New Jersey assigned forward Juho Lammikko to AHL Utica in the corresponding move, per a team announcement.
The move comes with less than an hour remaining until a league-wide trade moratorium that will last through the Olympic break. With only 12 days on the other side of the freeze before the trade deadline, it was widely speculated that there would be increased action this week. That hasn’t really happened outside of the Islanders’ back-to-back moves early last week, but New Jersey and St. Louis appear to have at least gotten the ball rolling on moves today.
This season has been a trying one for the 33-year-old Bjugstad. Injuries have been a theme throughout his 14-year NHL career, and an upper-body issue ended up sidelining him for nearly a month in December and January. He was also a semi-frequent healthy scratch for the stretch preceding his injury, leaving him with only 35 appearances on the year so far. He’s scored six goals but added only one assist for a 0.20 points per game rate, the worst of his career (min. 25 games).
The defensive aspects of Bjugstad’s game have been up to par, though. St. Louis has put its line combinations in a blender all year long due to injuries, but Bjugstad found success when centering the fourth line with Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko. That trio controlled 54.2% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck, despite being given mostly defensive zone starts. He’s also had an uncharacteristically strong run in the faceoff dot, winning 51.1% of his draws. His career average is 49%.
With the Blues in the basement of the Western Conference, it’s no surprise that they’re willing to sell off tertiary pieces for futures – even if they’re not pending free agents. Bjugstad is still under contract through next season at a $1.75MM cap hit after signing a two-year, $3.5MM deal with St. Louis in free agency last summer.
The Devils aren’t in much better shape in the standings, though, making their willingness to add to their roster rather than subtract a tad perplexing at first glance. Their dwindling likelihood of a playoff berth this season is presumably why Bjugstad was attractive to them, though – he’ll be sticking around next season as a hopefully cost-effective fourth-line solution.
Center depth has been a problem in New Jersey this year, with Jack Hughes missing a significant chunk of games. That’s led them to be over-reliant on names like the injury-prone Cody Glass to succeed in top-nine roles, and they haven’t received much of any offense from their fourth line as a result. Their current group of Lammiko, Luke Glendening, and Maxim Tsyplakov has combined for just one goal all year long. Bjugstad won’t be a season-saver, but he’s a far more effective goal-scorer that low in the lineup than any of those names have proven to be this season.
Bordeleau, 24, was a second-round pick by the Sharks back in 2020 and was once viewed as a potential long-term piece. His development has stagnated over the past couple of seasons, though. After recording 38 points in 59 AHL games last season and not landing the NHL opportunities he’d hoped for in San Jose, he opted not to entertain offers from the Sharks as an RFA last summer and eventually had his signing rights traded to the Devils, inking a two-way deal a few weeks later.
Any trade value Bordeleau still had has been erased by a disastrous showing in Utica this season. In 35 minor-league appearances, he’s scored just two goals and eight points with a -13 rating. A pending restricted free agent, his inclusion is purely to leave the Devils with a bit of breathing room regarding the 50-contract limit – they’re currently at 49.
Lammikko doesn’t need waivers for today’s reassignment because he cleared them back on Jan. 17. While he wasn’t immediately reassigned to Utica then, the Devils had 30 days to do so before they would have needed to waive him a second time. Since he’s still in that window, they can make the demotion today without any obstacles. The 30-year-old has been limited to two assists and a -4 rating in 24 appearances for New Jersey, averaging 9:53 of ice time per game.
Podcaster and former NHLer Jordan Schmaltz was first to report the trade. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the return.
Three Players Placed On Unconditional Waivers
Feb. 4: All three cleared and are now unrestricted free agents, per Friedman. Larsson has already found his new home in Sweden with Leksands IF, Expressen reports.
Feb. 3: Three players from around the league won’t be back with their current clubs after the Olympic break. The Panthers’ Ryan McAllister, the Penguins’ Filip Larsson, and the Blues’ Samuel Johannesson were placed on unconditional waivers today for the purposes of contract terminations, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
McAllister, 24, will become an unrestricted free agent midway through a trying season. The Ontario native took a rare development path, inking his entry-level contract with Florida as an undrafted free agent in 2023 after just one season in college at Western Michigan. He’d erupted for 49 points in 39 games as a freshman, so making the jump to the pros wasn’t completely out of the blue.
The 5’10” pivot has never landed an NHL recall, but he’d put together some promising seasons in Charlotte – when healthy. He had 19 points in 37 games as a first-year pro in 2023-24 and averaged nearly a point per game last year, although he was available for only 16 games.
It seems whatever ailed him last year has made him a more limited threat this year. He had two goals and seven points with a -5 rating in 15 games to begin the year with Charlotte before the Panthers bumped him down to ECHL Savannah for the first time last month. He’s suited up twice, recording one assist and a -1 rating.
McAllister’s 0.64 points per game average in the AHL indicates he should be able to catch on somewhere else quickly, whether that’s on an AHL deal elsewhere to finish out the season or to join a pro team in Europe for the stretch run.
Larsson, 27, seems a sure bet to head back home to Sweden. He was a sixth-round pick by the Red Wings back in 2016 and had a one-year run with them in the AHL after coming out of college before being loaned back to Europe in 2020. He remained there until Detroit non-tendered him following the expiry of his entry-level deal.
Larsson later broke out as a top-tier starter in the Swedish Hockey League in 2023-24, racking up a .920 SV% and 1.93 GAA with five shutouts in 28 games. That put him back on the NHL radar, and the Penguins inked him to a two-year, two-way deal.
The Stockholm native was a good minor-league backup last season, notching a .910 SV% and 12-9-3 record in 26 showings for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He’s barely gotten any playing time this season behind youngsters Joel Blomqvist and Sergey Murashov, though, appearing just nine times. He hasn’t been terribly effective when dressed, either, throwing up a .876 SV% and 3.51 GAA.
Johannesson could also be on his way back to Sweden alongside Larsson. St. Louis signed the 25-year-old righty in 2024 out of Örebro HK. He was a 2020 draft pick by the Blue Jackets, but his exclusive signing rights with Columbus had expired.
The offensive-minded righty has been a valuable puck-mover for their minor-league affiliate in Springfield, but hasn’t shown the defensive utility necessary to earn a look at the next level. After putting up 32 points in 66 games last season, his output has dropped to 11 points in 26 games in 2025-26. He hasn’t been in Springfield’s lineup since mid-January, either, mostly due to his -20 rating.
Canadiens To Reassign Sammy Blais
Feb. 4: Blais cleared waivers and can now be assigned to Laval, per Friedman.
Feb. 3: The Canadiens placed winger Sammy Blais on waivers Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll presumably be on his way to AHL Laval tomorrow if he clears.
Blais has been an increasingly rare inclusion in Montreal’s lineup. He ended up appearing in 13 straight contests for the club after they recalled him from Laval in December, more than a month after being re-claimed off waivers from the Maple Leafs. He last played on Jan. 15 against the Sabres, though, and has now been in the press box for eight straight.
Even with the risk of losing the 278-game veteran again on waivers, he was the logical candidate to come off the roster as soon as the Habs needed a spot because of how little he’d played as of late. The Quebec native made his first attempt to return home last summer, signing a one-year deal with Montreal in free agency after winning a Calder Cup with AHL Abbotsford. He was one of the Habs’ last cuts from training camp, though, and ended up getting snagged on the wire by Toronto.
Blais only ended up making eight appearances for the Leafs under head coach Craig Berube, under whom he won a Stanley Cup in St. Louis, notching three points and a -2 rating in a fourth-line role. Montreal was the only team to submit a claim for him when he ended up back on waivers around Thanksgiving, so they were able to send him directly to Laval upon getting him back in the organization.
The 6’2″, 205-lb agitator has had plenty of offensive success in the minors and had nine points in nine games in Laval. He found himself back in the NHL a few weeks later when the Habs needed an extra body in the wake of an injury to Jake Evans. He’s hung around since, but with only one game left before the roster freeze, it’s clear they’re doing a bit of advanced planning to ensure they can remove Patrik Laine from IR on the other side of the Olympic break – he’s expected to be all healed from his abdominal surgery by then.
Capitals Reassign Bogdan Trineyev
The Capitals announced they’ve reassigned winger Bogdan Trineyev to AHL Hershey. Today is the last day for teams to send players down to the minors before amended eligibility rules kick in during the Olympic roster freeze, which begins at 2:00 pm Central. Those restrictions can be found over at PuckPedia.
The 23-year-old Trineyev has now been recalled three separate times by the Caps this season, playing the first two games of his NHL career in the process. He’s still looking for his first point, but managed three shot attempts and a hit while averaging 10:32 of ice time per game. While his 5-on-5 sample size may only include 21 minutes of ice time, he’s had a good impact in that time with a 62.2 CF% while splitting his offensive and defensive zone usage 50-50. He’s filled in as part of the rotating cast of fourth-line wingers with Brandon Duhaime and Nic Dowd, controlling 62.5% of expected goals together, per MoneyPuck.
Trineyev was a fourth-round pick back in 2020. He ended up inking his entry-level deal two years later and had played exclusively in Hershey from the tail end of the 2022-23 season until landing his first NHL recall earlier this year. He’s spending this season on a league-minimum two-way deal, but the Caps were pleased enough with his progression this season to ink him to a two-year, two-way extension worth up to $1.8MM last month.
It’s truly been a breakout campaign for the 6’3″, 200-lb Russian in the AHL. He has nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 32 games, already just one point shy of the career-high he set last year in 62 appearances. If he can keep up that offensive development, there’s a decent chance he can end up being a valuable complementary bottom-six piece in the NHL.
Golden Knights Recall Kai Uchacz
The Golden Knights announced they’ve recalled forward Kai Uchacz from AHL Henderson. They sent center Tanner Laczynski and defenseman Dylan Coghlan back down to Henderson in corresponding moves.
It’s the first NHL recall for the 22-year-old Uchacz, and he could make his NHL debut this week before the freeze. He was an undrafted free agent signed out of WHL Red Deer in 2024 and has spent the last season-plus developing in Henderson, where he’s scored 21 goals and 50 points in his first 107 professional games.
During Uchacz’s time in juniors, he was cut from his first WHL team, the Seattle Thunderbirds, following the 2019-20 season after he and a teammate were suspended for directing racist taunts toward Black teammate Mekai Sanders. He was cleared to return to the WHL for the 2021-22 campaign after going through anti-racism training and went on to play three seasons for Red Deer, including being named captain in his final junior campaign in 2023-24.
With all of Brett Howden, Jonas Røndbjerg, and Brandon Saad on injured reserve, plus Colton Sissons remaining out with an upper-body injury, Uchacz will almost certainly draw into the lineup tomorrow against the Canucks. Laczynski’s removal from the roster in the corresponding move only leaves the Knights with 12 healthy forwards, including Uchacz. The 6’2″, 209-lb forward is a natural center, so it’s reasonable to expect him to replace Laczynski down the middle on the fourth line.
Laczynski, 28, has suited up nine times for Vegas since being recalled last month. The veteran NHL/AHL tweener has two assists and a -2 rating while averaging 10:13 of ice time per game, a new career-high. He’s now played 17 times for the Knights over the past two years since signing with Vegas as a free agent in 2024.
Meanwhile, Coghlan hadn’t played since being summoned from Henderson on Friday. He was up as a temporary extra defenseman with Brayden McNabb out, but he’ll head back to the minors to get some playing time while Vegas goes without an insurance policy on the blue line for the time being.