Rangers Recall Zac Jones, Brennan Othmann
The Rangers announced they’ve reinstated defenseman Zachary Jones after sending him to AHL Hartford on a conditioning stint last week. They’ve also recalled high-end wing prospect Brennan Othmann from Hartford and sent defenseman Matthew Robertson there in a corresponding transaction, keeping their active roster at the maximum of 23 players since Jones still counted against the tally.
Jones’ conditioning stint followed 21 healthy scratches in 24 games leading into the 4 Nations break. The 24-year-old entered the season hoping to land a more significant role on the New York blue line after Erik Gustafsson left for the Red Wings in free agency, but it hasn’t panned out. The career No. 7 has only logged 28 appearances despite remaining mostly healthy, notching eight points with a plus-two rating while averaging a career-high 16:31 per game. He’s failed to land regular minutes amid significant turnover on the Rangers’ blue line throughout the year, namely shipping out captain Jacob Trouba and Victor Mancini while bringing in William Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen.
The 2019 third-round pick managed a goal and a minus-one rating in a pair of games for Hartford on Friday and Saturday. It was his first AHL action since the 2022-23 campaign when he recorded 8-23–31 and a +16 rating in 54 games for the Wolf Pack.
While a decent puck-mover in a bottom-pairing role, the Rangers’ general distrust of the 5’11” lefty’s skillset (and some poor possession numbers to back that up) have limited his ability to gain chances higher up in the lineup. He’s posted a negative relative CF% at even strength in all five of his NHL seasons, including a 47.2% outright (-3.9% relative) this year. Simply put, the Rangers control play more often when Jones isn’t on the ice.
He must reverse that perception down the stretch to avoid hitting unrestricted free agency. He’s at risk of being non-tendered as he nears the expiry of the two-year, $1.625MM extension he signed in 2023.
Othmann, 22, lands his first recall of the season. The 2021 16th overall pick made his NHL debut last year, going without a point in three games during a January callup. He did manage six shots on nine attempts, though, and laid the body six times while averaging under 10 minutes per game. While he was reasonably effective in a fourth-line role in his initial NHL showing, his point totals didn’t quite pop as he’d hoped in his first AHL go-around in 2023-24.
The Ontario native has missed significant time due to injury this season, but his point pace has improved slightly when healthy. The 6’0″, 181-lb left-winger has 12-8–20 in 27 games, adding 35 PIMs and a minus-one rating. He totaled 21-28–49 in 67 appearances for Hartford last year with a -24 rating, pointing to slight improvements across the board. He should get a look in the lineup while Chris Kreider is sidelined day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Robertson, 23, was only recalled to serve as an extra while Jones was in Hartford and did not draw into the lineup for either of the Blueshirts’ games this weekend. He’s now been recalled six times over the last two years but has not made his NHL debut. The 6’4″ lefty was a second-rounder back in 2019 and is now in his fourth season in Hartford, where he has 1-17–18 in 47 appearances this year with a career-high plus-two rating.
Blackhawks Recall Colton Dach
The Blackhawks announced Monday morning that they’ve recalled forward Colton Dach from AHL Rockford. He was previously up with Chicago for nearly all of January but was returned to the minors early this month. Dach fills one of two open roster spots for the Hawks, who are now carrying an extra forward for their upcoming three-game road swing.
The 22-year-old Dach played 13 games with Chicago during his previous recall, his first in the NHL. He’s in his second professional season after being drafted in the second round in 2021 out of the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. Things are boding well for the younger brother of Canadiens forward and ex-Blackhawk Kirby Dach, who’s broken out for 12-14–26 in 33 AHL games to rank third on Rockford in scoring.
Dach hasn’t looked out of place when given NHL reps, either. He scored a goal and added three assists over last month’s recall, recording 19 shots on goal while averaging 11:35 per game. He likely could have had another couple of points – his shooting percentage of 5.3% was quite low. The 6’4″ pivot got involved physically, leading Chicago this season with 16.32 hits per 60 minutes. Interim head coach Anders Sorensen tossed him into the deep end, starting nearly 60% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone. That led to understandably poor possession numbers, controlling only 34.7% of shot attempts and 29.6% of expected goals while he was on the ice.
Nonetheless, there were reasons for optimism in Dach’s game. He’ll now get another chance on the roster, although whether he plays Tuesday against Utah is a different question. The Blackhawks are carrying a fully healthy forward group outside of IR-bound Jason Dickinson. While Philipp Kurashev has been a frequent healthy scratch this season and could come out for Dach, he’s played in four straight dating back to before the 4 Nations break and scored in last night’s loss to the Maple Leafs.
Even if he’s sent back to the minors again following Chicago’s road trip, Dach should get an extended look in the NHL following the trade deadline. The Blackhawks are expected to open a roster spot by shipping out recent first-line fixture Ryan Donato and could also ship out pending UFAs Pat Maroon and Craig Smith. Doing so will give the lanky speedster a chance to make Chicago’s opening night roster in 2025-26.
Canadiens Recall Owen Beck
The Canadiens have recalled center prospect Owen Beck from AHL Laval, per a team announcement. They have an open roster spot and don’t need to make a corresponding transaction. The team said there is an injury-related motivation for his recall, though – Kirby Dach is being evaluated for a lower-body injury and won’t participate in today’s practice.
Montreal selected Beck from the Ontario Hockey League’s Mississauga Steelheads with the first pick of the second round in the 2022 draft. While he signed his entry-level contract in October of that year, it just came into effect for 2024-25 after he spent two post-draft campaigns on loan back to the OHL.
That means the 21-year-old Beck is in his first professional season, which has already included six NHL appearances with the Habs over the past two months. While he made his NHL debut in January 2023 amid a championship-winning campaign in juniors, this year marks his first multi-game run in the pros.
His adjustment to the next level has been smooth. After a pair of seasons above a point per game to close the book on his major junior career, the two-way pivot ranks second on Laval in scoring with 13-19–32 in 47 appearances. His +11 rating ranks third, helping fuel the success of a Laval club projected to finish second in the North Division behind the Sabres’ farm club in Rochester. Beck has yet to record his first NHL point and averaged just 9:45 per game across his sextet of appearances over the past few weeks. He went 11-for-21 on draws and averaged one shot on goal per game with 13 hits and positive possession impacts, so he’s making his presence known outside of the box score as most expected, given his intelligent play style.
If Dach can’t play tomorrow against the Hurricanes, Beck will likely enter the lineup in a fourth-line role while rumored trade chip Jake Evans sees his minutes elevated. The oft-injured Dach has managed to appear in all 57 games for the Habs this year. He’s struggled in extended top-six deployment, though, posting just 10-12–22 with a team-worst -29 rating. His possession numbers back up the allegations of poor defensive play – his 44.8 CF% at even strength is higher than only Patrik Laine and David Savard among active Montreal skaters this season.
Matthew Tkachuk Expected To Play Again This Season
The Panthers may have star winger Matthew Tkachuk out for more than the next few games, but his absence won’t persist for the rest of the season. Head coach Paul Maurice confirmed as such on the Joe Rose Show on Monday, saying “he’s playing for us this year” even with the “possibility [his recovery] a bit longer term” (via George Richards of Florida Hockey Now).
Tkachuk missed the Panthers’ 2-1 loss to the Kraken on Saturday with the lower-body injury, which multiple reports indicate is a groin issue, he sustained while playing for the Americans at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Maurice said he’s undergoing final evaluations to determine a recovery timeline today.
Florida is comfortably in a playoff spot, but their final standing in the Atlantic Division remains to be seen and could be significantly impacted by Tkachuk’s absence. They’ve been passed by the Maple Leafs once again for the top spot, now one point back with one more game played, and they’re facing pressure from the surging Lightning in third place. There’s now a 20% chance of the Cats slipping to third and another 6.1% of them falling to a wild-card spot, per MoneyPuck. The Panthers have gone 6-4-1 in 11 games without Tkachuk since acquiring him in a blockbuster trade with the Flames in 2022.
Tkachuk isn’t on pace to reach the 40-goal, 109-point heights of his first season in Florida, but he remains at a 1.10 points-per-game pace and ranks second on the team with a 22-35–57 scoring line. He’s been limited to 52 of 58 games, missing five contests back in October with an illness, but remains the team’s leader in power-play goals with 11 and even-strength assists with 23.
In the meantime, rookie Mackie Samoskevich will be the biggest benefactor of Tkachuk’s minutes. He stepped into the latter’s usual second-line role alongside Sam Bennett in the Seattle game. While he didn’t record a point, he logged a season-high 17:23 of ice time and recorded two shots on goal and three hits. The 2021 first-round pick hasn’t played much over the past month due to injury and illness, but he’s been a solid depth piece in his first entire NHL campaign with 8-9–17 through 49 appearances.
An anticipated return before the postseason or early into the first round likely won’t impact the Panthers’ trade deadline strategy too much. Their top priority will continue to be adding a name to a blue line that’s punched above its weight this year after losing key names on last summer’s free-agent market, contributing to an increase of 0.47 goals against per game compared to 2023-24’s league-best defensive effort.
Predators’ Adam Wilsby Out For Season With Upper-Body Injury
Fresh off a two-year extension, Predators defenseman Adam Wilsby‘s season is over. The team announced he’s been placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the 2024-25 campaign with the upper-body injury that cost him nine of the Preds’ final 17 games before the break. In additional moves, the team issued winger Zachary L’Heureux a week-to-week designation for his upper-body injury and moved him to IR. They also activated veteran Mark Jankowski from injured reserve, so at least he’ll be available coming out of the break after missing the last month with an upper-body issue.
The 24-year-old Wilsby’s first NHL campaign ends after 23 games. Drafted 101st overall in 2020 out of Swedish second-tier club Södertälje SK, he’s played stateside since 2022 and was working his way up the organizational ladder. His point totals in the minors never jumped off the page, posting 10-34–44 in 146 career appearances with AHL Milwaukee to date, but he’s a well-rounded talent with good passing ability who hasn’t posted a negative rating at any level since his draft year in the HockeyAllsvenskan.
Wilsby’s entry-level contract expired last summer, so he signed a two-way deal to cover the 2024-25 campaign nearly three weeks into restricted free agency. He didn’t make the team out of camp, but he continued to chug along the minors and got his first look in the NHL lineup in late November after a lower-body injury sidelined Jeremy Lauzon, who’s also now out for the rest of the year.
He’s stuck around on the roster since his debut, not at all looking out of place. It might be easy to overlook his one goal and four assists on the year, but he’s logged significant even-strength minutes for the Preds and has even seen some shorthanded action. The 6’1″ lefty averaged 18:06 per game with a plus-three rating – second on the team behind Nick Blankenburg‘s plus-nine – and recorded 17 blocks and 18 hits. He may not be overly physical, but his +4.5 expected rating at even strength leads Nashville defenders and his 52.8% Corsi share at even strength is quite respectable as well. That well-rounded initial showing earned him some security – albeit a league-minimum salary with a two-way structure the first year – for the next two seasons.
While Nashville will be disappointed not to see how he performs down the stretch, especially since he’d seen more than 20 minutes of deployment in recent outings, he’s done enough to put himself under serious consideration for a roster spot coming out of camp next season. They’ll have some turnover on the back end with waiver claim Andreas Englund and recent call-up Jake Livingstone slated for unrestricted free agency, and it stands to reason they’ll look to move the aging Luke Schenn as he enters the final year of his deal. There will be an opportunity for Wilsby to play important minutes for the retooling Preds and prove he can be a long-term second or third-pairing option on the left side.
Meanwhile, L’Heureux is ticketed for his second multi-game absence since the Preds recalled him from Milwaukee in the early weeks of the season. He missed three games in January while serving a suspension for slew-footing Wild captain Jared Spurgeon. The 21-year-old has done well in limited minutes, scoring 4-9–13 in 45 appearances while averaging 11:39 per game. The hard-nosed 2021 first-rounder leads Nashville forwards with 143 hits, although that physical play hasn’t yet translated into above-average defensive impacts. He sustained his injury on Feb. 7 against the Blackhawks and missed the Preds’ final pre-break contest as a result.
Jankowski, 30, returns after missing nine games with an upper-body issue. The 2012 first-rounder has topped out as a depth option at best, but he was actually one of the Preds’ more effective per-game producers last season with 15 points in 32 games amid AHL call-ups. The same can’t be said for Jankowski this season, who’s scored at less than half the rate with 3-5–8 in 37 appearances. He’s carried increased value defensively, though. He’s seen more deployment at center, winning half of his 210 draws, and grades out as one of Nashville’s best possession players with a 55.5 CF% and +6.8 expected rating. Opponents only score 2.2 goals per 60 minutes with Jankowski on the ice at even strength, one of the lowest numbers on the team.
Flyers To Activate Ryan Poehling, Yegor Zamula From Injured Reserve
The Flyers will activate center Ryan Poehling and defenseman Yegor Zamula from injured reserve before tomorrow’s game against the Oilers, the team announced. With two open roster spots, they won’t need to make any corresponding transactions. They’ll also be accompanied by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and winger Owen Tippett, who missed time before the 4 Nations Face-Off break with injuries but never landed on IR.
Poehling, 26, hasn’t played since sustaining an upper-body injury, a suspected concussion, on a hit from Islanders winger Maxim Tsyplakov on Jan. 16. The hit earned Tsyplakov a three-game suspension but held Poehling out of the lineup for much longer. He’ll be available after missing 11 games for the Flyers, who went 4-6-1 in his absence. It’s unclear where he’ll slot into the lineup, but he’s held down a bottom-six role for most of the campaign.
The Minnesota native is in the first season of the two-year, $3.8MM extension he signed with Philadelphia in January 2024. He signed with the Flyers after being non-tendered by the rival Penguins in the summer of 2023, and he’s since emerged as a good fourth-line option with fringe third-line upside. The 6’2″ pivot has 4-11–15 through 43 appearances this season after recording a career-best 11-17–28 lines in 77 games last year. He’s complemented that with an even rating and a strong 51.2 FOW% while averaging 13:18 per game, down from last year’s 15-minute average.
His return will likely push veteran enforcer Nicolas Deslauriers to a press-box role, but head coach John Tortorella is likely mulling over more surprising options to scratch as per usual. Poehling has not been a healthy scratch this season – his absences have come either due to injury or personal leave.
The left-shot Zamula returns after missing eight games before the break with an upper-body issue. Now in his fifth NHL season, the 24-year-old is averaging a career-high 16:52 per game through 39 appearances. The undrafted free agent out of the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen has 3-8–11 with a -10 rating this year, matching his even-strength stat line in 66 games last year but failing to factor in on special teams. His 59 blocks rank sixth on the team, and his possession numbers – a 49.1 CF% and +2.2 expected rating at even strength – both rank 14th out of 29 skaters to suit up for the Flyers.
Islanders’ Dennis Cholowski Clears Waivers
Feb. 21: Cholowski passed through unclaimed, PuckPedia reports. He’ll presumably be removed from the Islanders’ roster in the coming days.
Feb. 20: The Islanders have placed defenseman Dennis Cholowski on waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll head down to AHL Bridgeport if he clears.
New York is set to come out of the break with an open roster spot, but there’s a high likelihood of Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock coming off standard IR and LTIR, respectively, before Sunday’s game against the Stars. Assigning Cholowski to the minors tomorrow or losing him to another team will open the second spot they need to activate both.
Cholowski, who turned 27 earlier this week, has seen his most extended NHL usage in a half-decade this season. Injuries on the Long Island blue-line have meant Cholowski, who began the year as the Isles’ seventh defenseman, has played in 33 of 55 games. Minutes have been hard to come by – his 12:48 ATOI is the lowest among New York defensemen with multiple appearances – but he’s been effective in them with a 3-7–10 scoring line and a plus-one rating. He’s far from physically involved, recording 30 blocks and only five hits, but the 2016 first-rounder has been a decent depth puck-mover in his return to semi-regular NHL minutes.
Unfortunately for him, how the Islanders responded to injuries to Pulock and Noah Dobson muddied his role down the stretch. They picked up a trio of puck-movers – Adam Boqvist, Tony DeAngelo, and Scott Perunovich – who all have more experience or a higher ceiling than Cholowski. It’s not a huge surprise the 6’2″ lefty is the odd man out upon Pulock’s return instead of any of their new pickups.
Cholowski has seen AHL action in all six of his professional seasons leading up to the 2024-25 campaign. If he clears, he’ll land a seventh, but there’s a decent chance a team looking for a cheap depth option makes a claim. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent on a league minimum contract, so there’s zero financial risk if he doesn’t pan out.
A claim would mean Cholowski moves to his fifth NHL organization. Since being drafted 20th overall by the Red Wings and spending three seasons in Detroit, he’s made stops with the Capitals and Kraken in addition to his time in Long Island. Cholowski initially landed with the Isles in free agency in 2022 after being non-tendered by Seattle.
Flames Waive, Reassign Tyson Barrie
Feb. 21, 1:43 p.m.: Barrie cleared waivers Friday, per PuckPedia. The AHL’s transaction log reflects he’d been loaned to the Wranglers.
Feb. 20, 1:04 p.m.: Barrie has indeed hit waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Feb. 20, 11:52 a.m.: The Flames will place defenseman Tyson Barrie on waivers today, per Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet. If no team issues a claim, he’ll head to AHL Calgary.
Saying Barrie has barely played this season would be an understatement. After catching on in Calgary on a camp tryout and subsequently landing a one-year, $1.25MM deal, the 33-year-old has failed to mesh. He’s made just 13 appearances despite remaining healthy for the entirety of the campaign, recording a goal and two assists with a minus-seven rating while averaging 15:48 per game, the lowest deployment of his 14-year career.
Between mid-November and mid-January, Barrie went more than two months without playing, eventually seeing two games of AHL ice on a conditioning stint that didn’t require waivers. He posted another goal and two assists in those contests and was back in the NHL less than a week later. He’s skated in four games since that conditioning stint wrapped up but, despite recording an assist in his return against the Capitals on Jan. 28, posted a negative rating in all of those appearances. He was again scratched for three of Calgary’s final four contests before the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Thus, the Barrie experiment with the Flames is all but over. They recalled youngsters Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov from the minors yesterday, so they’ll be the ones responsible for taking over the veteran’s limited NHL minutes.
Whether anyone wants to take a flyer on the former top-four option, who had 55 points as recently as two years ago with the Oilers and Predators, remains to be seen. The 2009 third-round pick has a 110-398–508 scoring line in 822 career appearances with Colorado, Edmonton, Nashville, Toronto, and Calgary, ranking ninth in scoring among defensemen since he debuted in the 2011-12 campaign. His career -83 rating is also the 10th-worst among D-men during that span, though, and power-play points have accounted for 42% of his career total.
Waiving Barrie gives the Flames the roster spot they’ll need to activate Connor Zary from injured reserve ahead of their return to play this weekend against the Sharks. Zary’s missed 15 games with a lower-body injury but has practiced with Calgary this week, so he may be an option.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Flames Recall Adam Klapka
The Flames summoned forward Adam Klapka from AHL Calgary on Friday, per a team announcement. Defenseman Yan Kuznetsov is headed back to the minors after being summoned earlier this week to practice with the club in a corresponding transaction. They have 22 players on the active roster but will have 21 after Tyson Barrie clears waivers or is claimed.
Klapka, 24, had been up with the Flames for a couple of weeks prior to the 4 Nations break. The massive 6’8″, 235-lb right-winger made the opening night roster but has been shuttled between leagues on a few occasions since, only suiting up in 12 NHL contests this season. He’s got a goal, a plus-one rating, 15 PIMs, and 16 shots in those appearances while averaging a paltry 8:12 per game. His career NHL games played tally is now at 18 after suiting up six times for the Flames last year.
An undrafted free agent signing out of the Czech Extraliga in 2022, Klapka is now in his third season in the Flames organization. Most of that time has been spent with the AHL’s Wranglers, where he’s emerged as a strong scoring threat with 47-49–96 in 156 career games. The power forward has upped his game this year, recording 25 points and 50 PIMs through 31 minor-league appearances. His 13 goals are tied for fourth on the club despite spending a good chunk of time on the NHL roster.
He should continue getting some looks in a fourth-line role, although playing time will be harder to come by with Connor Zary widely expected to come off injured reserve before Sunday’s game against the Sharks. If that’s the case, he projects to serve as the 13th forward for that contest while Martin Pospisil skates with Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Rooney on the fourth line.
Kuznetsov heads back after being recalled along with Ilya Solovyov earlier in the week. The latter remains on the roster, but his inclusion in the lineup this weekend is dependent on the health of Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. Andersson may join the list of players returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off who are getting rest this weekend, while Bahl remains on injured reserve for the time being with the upper-body injury he sustained late last month.
Blue Jackets Activate Boone Jenner, Kirill Marchenko Off IR
The Blue Jackets lineup will get a considerable boost from the 4 Nations break. Captain Boone Jenner and team goals leader Kirill Marchenko have been activated off injured reserve and will play against the Blackhawks tomorrow, the team announced. In a corresponding transaction, depth winger Kevin Labanc is headed to IR after shoulder surgery on Tuesday and will miss the remainder of the season.
Jenner, 31, will be making his season debut. The 11-year veteran needed shoulder surgery after taking a nasty spill into the boards during a practice late in training camp, keeping him out of the lineup for over four and a half months. Coming off the heels of his first career All-Star Game appearance, the Jackets lifer has now averaged over 20 minutes per game for three consecutive seasons while scoring north of 20 goals each time.
Injuries have become standard for Jenner, who hasn’t touched the 70-game mark since before the pandemic. But he’s produced at a 31-goal, 55-point clip per 82 games since the 2021-22 campaign, providing strong possession metrics despite what his -51 rating over that time may indicate. While overtaxed in a first-line role, he’s a strong middle-six center with a well-rounded game. He’s served as Columbus’ captain since the 2021-22 season, succeeding Nick Foligno, and has worn a letter for them since 2015-16.
Outside of his off-ice impact, his return is a needle-mover for a Blue Jackets forward group that remains without top center Sean Monahan, who had 41 points in 41 games before a wrist sprain paused his season in early January. He’s not expected back until after the trade deadline. Columbus also has emerging winger Yegor Chinakhov on IR, who had 14 points through his first 21 games but hasn’t played since late November due to an upper-body injury and doesn’t have a timeline for a return.
Notably, Jenner may not be returning to his natural center position. PuckPedia projects him as the Jackets’ second-line left wing alongside youngsters Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson, while sophomore Adam Fantilli continues in a first-line role in Monahan’s absence. Fantilli, the 2023 third-overall pick, has 6-7–13 in 15 games without Monahan.
He spent a few of those games without Marchenko, now a top-line fixture, on his wing. The 24-year-old winger took a puck to the jaw against the Stars on Feb. 2 and required surgery, keeping him out of the lineup for three games. He’ll undoubtedly be wearing a full shield upon his return, but his raucous 21 goals and 55 points in 53 games are a must-have as the Blue Jackets look to continue their improbable push up the standings and unseat the Red Wings for the second wild-card spot in the East. They’re one point back of Detroit but have played one more game than the Wings, making next weekend’s outdoor game at Ohio State between the two a must-watch.
Yet Columbus can’t have good news on the injury front this season without a small step back. Labanc’s role in the lineup leading into the break had been minimal, serving as a healthy scratch in nine of the Jackets’ last 10. However, undergoing surgery indicates he wasn’t fully healthy unless he sustained an off-ice injury over the break. While his deployment has been limited, he’s been an effective depth scorer when in the lineup. The ex-Sharks forward had 2-10–12 through 34 appearances, averaging 10:30 per game, and actually sported the third-best Corsi share among Columbus skaters at even strength at 52.6%. While not the fringe top-six piece he was years ago in San Jose, the 29-year-old had been playing solid hockey after signing a one-year, league-minimum deal in early October.
The Jackets have 12 forwards on the active roster following today’s moves, indicating Joseph Labate will make his Columbus debut this weekend after being recalled from AHL Cleveland yesterday. Luca Del Bel Belluz and Mikael Pyyhtia, who had played regularly for the Jackets leading into the break, remain on AHL assignments for now.