Devils Recall Isaac Poulter
The Devils recalled goaltender Isaac Poulter from AHL Utica on Friday, per a team release. He’ll serve as Jake Allen‘s backup for the next four to six weeks after the team confirmed starter Jacob Markström sustained an MCL sprain in Wednesday’s game against the Bruins. The Devils had two open roster spots, so they didn’t need to place Markström on injured reserve to recall Poulter.
Poulter has been recalled multiple times over the last two seasons under emergency conditions but has yet to make his NHL debut. The 23-year-old notably gets the call over Nico Daws, who’s racked up 46 games of NHL experience in a depth role between the pipes for New Jersey since the 2021-22 campaign.
That’s because Poulter has significantly outperformed the 24-year-old Daws with Utica this season. Neither goaltender has posted encouraging numbers behind one of the AHL’s worst teams, but Poulter’s 2.90 GAA, 8-7-3 record, and .897 SV% in 19 games clear Daws’ 3.27 GAA, 4-12-1 record, and .892 SV%.
With Markström on the shelf for an extended period, Poulter should make at least one start during this recall. The Devils don’t have any back-to-backs between now and the break in the schedule for the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, if Markström returns during the middle of his recovery window, New Jersey returns to play after the break with a back-to-back (with travel) against the Stars and Predators that should provide a ripe opportunity for Allen to rest and Poulter to debut.
Poulter, a Winnipeg native, joined the Devils organization in 2022 on an AHL contract with Utica as an undrafted free agent out of the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos. New Jersey signed him to an entry-level contract in February last season to add him as a recall option. He’s played 60 AHL games over the past three seasons, recording a 2.90 GAA, .900 SV%, four shutouts, and a 32-18-8 record. He also has a 2.82 GAA and .911 SV% in 28 appearances for ECHL Adirondack.
Flames Assign Tyson Barrie To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Flames assigned defenseman Tyson Barrie to AHL Calgary on a conditioning loan Friday, per a club announcement. It will be the 33-year-old’s first minor-league action in over 11 years.
Despite not dealing with an injury, Barrie hasn’t suited up for the Flames since mid-November. After being scratched in a remarkable 29 straight contests, the veteran will once again get some playing time, even if at a lower level of competition.
Barrie hasn’t been a factor for Calgary after joining the organization on a tryout and landing a one-year, $1.25MM contract near the end of training camp. He was scratched for all but three games in October before getting an extended run of play in November, posting a goal and an assist with a minus-two rating in nine appearances before heading to the press box for the last two-plus months.
Whether the 5’11” righty’s NHL career continues past this season remains to be seen. Once one of the league’s better offensive defensemen with the Avalanche in the mid-2010s, he’s continuously slid down depth charts ever since Colorado traded him to the Maple Leafs in the 2019 deal that sent Nazem Kadri to Denver. His minutes have been reduced in stops with Toronto, Edmonton, Nashville, and now Calgary. Before becoming an unrestricted free agent last summer, he’d dressed in only 41 games with the Preds in the last year of a three-year, $13.5MM commitment, recording 15 points with a -10 rating.
His unimpressive possession metrics in his short stint in Calgary are evidence of how far his two-way game has lapsed. His 49.2 CF% at even strength ranks 18th on the club, and his 3.0 GA/60 is fourth-worst. He was getting second-unit power play time when in the lineup but didn’t produce anything aside from the lone assist.
Barrie will continue counting against the Flames’ cap and roster limit while on a conditioning loan. If they choose to keep him in the minors after two weeks, they’ll have to place him on waivers.
Sam Gagner Signs PTO With AHL Belleville
Unrestricted free agent center Sam Gagner will attempt to continue his NHL career in the Senators organization. He’s signed a professional tryout with their AHL affiliate in Belleville, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports Friday.
Gagner, 35, has been on the open market since the Oilers opted not to renew his two-way deal for 2023-24. He’s sat at home for most of the campaign after failing to land a contract from the Hurricanes during a PTO with them during training camp. However, he did travel to Switzerland to captain Team Canada to a semifinal loss at the 2024 Spengler Cup.
The veteran of 1,043 NHL games will suit up for the B-Sens tonight, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic, marking the first time in his career that he’s seen AHL action in back-to-back seasons. He recorded nine points in 15 games for AHL Bakersfield last season after falling out of Edmonton’s NHL forward rotation and clearing waivers.
While Gagner has been limited by hip surgery and a concussion over the past two seasons, he’s still been a reasonably effective fourth-line producer when dressed. He has 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points in 76 games since the beginning of the 2022-23 season with the Jets and Oilers.
Whether he still has NHL utility after missing half the campaign remains to be seen, but he’ll at least get the chance to land a two-way deal from the Sens before the trade deadline. He’s a more experienced recall option by far than their current rotation of names like Matthew Highmore, Jan Jeník, and Cole Reinhardt – experience that could come in handy as Ottawa battles to end their eight-year postseason drought down the stretch.
Gagner, the sixth overall pick of the 2007 draft, has 197 goals and 332 assists for 529 career NHL points across three stints in Edmonton plus ones in Arizona, Philadelphia, Columbus, Vancouver, Detroit, and Winnipeg. The Sens would be his fourth Canadian team if he lands a deal and adds to his NHL tallies.
Canadiens Assign Jayden Struble To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Canadiens assigned defenseman Jayden Struble to AHL Laval on a conditioning assignment Friday, the team announced. He will remain on the active roster while suiting up in the minors but will need to be reinstated after two weeks. Otherwise, he’ll need to be waived to continue playing in the minors.
Struble, 23, was scratched for the seventh straight game in last night’s loss to the Red Wings. He’s only played four times since Dec. 12 and has been subject to 15 healthy scratches during that span.
The 2019 second-rounder has firmly slipped behind Arber Xhekaj on the team’s left defense depth chart for now. There hasn’t been much appetite for head coach Martin St. Louis to make lineup changes amid a 13-4-1 surge since mid-December that has Montreal in the thick of a highly competitive Eastern Conference wild-card race.
Still in his development stage but no longer waiver-exempt, the Habs thus need to take advantage of a conditioning stint to get Struble some regular playing time. The Rhode Island native has been decently effective when given a chance this season, posting five points through 26 games while leading Montreal defenders with a 51.9 CF% at even strength, albeit in limited minutes (14:16 ATOI).
Controlling shot quantity hasn’t meant controlling shot quality for Struble this year, however. He’s posted a minus-seven rating and has been on the ice for just 1.7 GF/60 at even strength compared to 3.1 GA/60. He has been decently effective on the penalty kill, though, where he averages around a minute per game.
Still, by most definitions, this season has been a step back for the physically involved Struble. He earned a midseason promotion from Laval last season to make his NHL debut and ended up skating in 56 big-league contests, recording 10 points, a minus-three rating, and 57 PIMs. He finished fifth on the team with 121 hits and averaged 16:07 per game, so his minutes have been reduced by nearly two minutes this season.
The Canadiens only have seven defensemen on the active roster, including Struble. Therefore, expect them to use their open roster spot to recall a temporary replacement from Laval in the coming days. Struble had seven points and a plus-five rating in 13 appearances with the minor-league club last season.
Canucks, Kevin Lankinen Have Had Extension Talks
The Canucks began preliminary extension discussions with goaltender Kevin Lankinen as soon as he became eligible to sign a new deal on Jan. 1, Thomas Drance of The Athletic relayed earlier this week.
Nothing is close on the matter, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic added Friday, and it will likely take until the NHL sets next season’s salary cap ceiling until negotiations kick into overdrive. Of course, that announcement will come much earlier than normal – potentially even before the trade deadline – according to a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet this week. Their talks have also moved to the backburner in recent weeks with most of the Canucks’ front-office resources dedicated to working out a J.T. Miller trade, something that’s still on the horizon after he almost became a Ranger for the second time last weekend.
While the fit in Vancouver for Lankinen has been spectacular, whether the Canucks will be willing to dole out what it will take to retain him is questionable. After inking a one-year deal worth just $875K in training camp, Lankinen carried a heavy workload while starter Thatcher Demko continued to rehab the complex knee injury he sustained during last year’s playoffs. He remains the team’s No. 1 option with Demko struggling after his return, boasting a 16-8-6 record and .903 SV% through 30 appearances. He’s already just seven games short of the career high he set during his rookie season with the Blackhawks in 2020-21, and he’s set a new career-best mark in shutouts with four.
His numbers across the board are pretty average, but considering the struggles of Demko (.867 SV%, 3.47 GAA) and third-stringer Arturs Silovs (.847 SV%, 4.11 GAA), he’s been among the team’s most valuable players and one of the main reasons they’re still in the conversation for a playoff spot amid an injury-plagued campaign. That positions Lankinen to cash in with an AAV of around $4MM on a multi-year extension, LeBrun opines, twice as much as his previous career-high cap hit. He made $2MM on a one-year deal with the Predators while backing up Juuse Saros last year.
Anything much higher than $4MM would be a considerable risk for a 29-year-old netminder who’s on pace to start 30 games for just the second time in his career. However, outside from a sophomore slump with Chicago in 2021-22, he’s largely been an above-average option in limited starts and an average one with a more extended workload. Pairing him with Demko, whose $5MM cap hit next season stands to be a bargain if he can recapture his pre-injury level of play, could create a serviceable tandem at worst for less than $10MM against the cap and gives Vancouver a safety net past next year if Demko can’t rebound or tests free agency.
Capitals Ramping Up Efforts To Extend Logan Thompson
The Capitals have “engaged more meaningfully” in extension talks with pending unrestricted free agent goaltender Logan Thompson‘s camp recently, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports Friday.
Washington is aiming to have the soon-to-be 28-year-old signed, and off the market by the time the 4 Nations Face-Off rolls around in a few weeks, LeBrun wrote. Recent extensions for similarly-aged breakout netminders like the Avalanche’s Mackenzie Blackwood and the Kraken’s Joey Daccord mean the Caps are likely looking at a four-to-five-year commitment with an average annual value between $5MM and $5.5MM to retain his services – potentially even $6MM, Jamie McLennan of TSN told LeBrun.
That would be an astronomical range over Thompson’s current $767K cap hit, which he locked in when he signed a three-year, $2.3MM extension with the Golden Knights midway through his rookie 2021-22 campaign. The Caps needed a goalie last summer after they dealt Darcy Kuemper to the Kings in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Thompson desired more playing time in his contract year after posting a .908 SV% in a career-high 42 starts and four relief appearances in Vegas last year. Washington moved to acquire Thompson on the second day of the 2024 draft, sending a pair of third-round picks Vegas’ way to provide an economical tandem partner for last year’s breakout option, Charlie Lindgren.
While Lindgren and Thompson rotated starts through the beginning of the season, Thompson has emerged as the bona fide 1A option for the upstart Caps. His sparkling 22-2-3 record in 26 games is backed up by a .925 SV%, which ranks third in the league among netminders with double-digit starts. Those 22 wins are also third in the league and are the most among goalies with under 30 starts, ahead of former teammate Adin Hill, who has 18 wins through 29 starts for the Knights.
Advanced statistics are also quite kind to Thompson, positioning him as the clear-cut runner-up to the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck for the Vezina Trophy. His 26.8 goals saved above expected are just 0.4 short of Hellebuyck in nine fewer games, per MoneyPuck, good for a league-leading 1.00 GSAx/60.
Expecting Thompson to maintain this level of play over the life of an extension is unreasonable. However, unlike a contract comparable in Blackwood, he’s established a high floor for his play at the NHL level. His SV% never dipped below .908 during his time in Vegas, and his GSAx has never finished in the red.
Since Thompson established himself as a full-time NHL option, concerns have revolved around his ability to handle a more significant workload, which he’s now quieting with the Capitals. He started a run of seven straight contests before Lindgren recorded a shutout last night against the Kraken, posting a .955 SV% in that span and a 6-0-1 record. Two of those wins were shutouts in back-to-back games against the Ducks and Senators, and he allowed just eight goals total during the seven-game stretch.
LeBrun reported earlier in January that the Caps had started preliminary extension discussions with Thompson and Lindgren, another pending UFA. They took both conversations slowly to avoid upset team chemistry by extending one before the other. While Lindgren has still been above average with a .904 SV% and 2.53 GAA, he’s three years older than Thompson and has a more inconsistent NHL track record. Thompson’s recent dominant stretch with an increased workload has proven he’s the more valuable option to Washington in the long term.
“I think Thompson has put himself into the conversation of being a top-tier Canadian goaltender, as well,” McLennan said. “Right now, you’ve got to see it for what it’s worth. The Caps traded for him. He’s delivered for them. They obviously like him. And he’s in [the] wheelhouse of his prime and getting better. Goalies from 27-32 continue to get better with age.”
As things stand, Thompson is the unquestionable No. 1 option on the UFA market among goaltenders this summer. Names like Hill, Lindgren, Kevin Lankinen, and Ilya Samsonov would move to center stage after a potential extension is announced.
Blackhawks Recall Ethan Del Mastro, Reassign Wyatt Kaiser
3:10 p.m: Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio reports the Blackhawks have also reassigned defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to AHL Rockford in a corresponding roster move. The transaction brings Chicago back to seven defensemen on the active roster and 22 players in total.
1:19 p.m: The Blackhawks announced Thursday they’ve recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro from AHL Rockford. They placed winger Craig Smith, who hasn’t played since Jan. 8 due to a back injury, on injured reserve to open up a roster spot.
Del Mastro, 22, has eight assists, 38 PIMs and a plus-four rating in 38 AHL showings this year. It’s not a ton of offense, although still third on the team behind Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov in assists and points among defenders, but that’s not the stay-at-home lefty’s calling card.
The 6’4″, 209-lb Del Mastro projects as a defensively responsible complementary piece on an NHL pairing long-term, and he’s had a strong development track since Chicago selected him in the fourth round in 2021. He unexpectedly popped for 37 points and a +14 rating in 67 games in his rookie AHL season last year, leading to a late-season recall and his NHL debut in a pair of games against the Predators and Hurricanes in April.
Del Mastro now has the chance to add a third NHL game to his tally, although it’s unclear if he will. The Hawks are now carrying eight defensemen on the active roster, and interim head coach Anders Sorensen only told reporters that the organization “wanted to reward Del Mastro for his recent play in Rockford,” per Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Smith, 35, has now missed 14 of the last 18 games with back problems. He sat out for most of the second half of December before returning to the lineup for a four-game stretch starting on New Year’s Eve.
In addition to a few healthy scratches, Smith has been limited to 30 of Chicago’s 47 games after signing a one-year, $1MM contract last summer as a free agent. The five-time 20-goal scorer has six tallies and five assists for 11 points with a minus-seven rating, averaging 11:41 per game.
The Blackhawks remain without veteran fourth-liner Pat Maroon due to back problems, but he’s carrying a day-to-day designation and hasn’t landed on IR after missing Monday’s game against the Hurricanes. Defenseman Connor Murphy also remains sidelined with the groin issues that have kept him out of the lineup since the calendar flipped to 2025.
Flames Recall Clark Bishop
The Flames recalled center Clark Bishop from AHL Calgary on Thursday, per a team announcement. They had an open roster spot after losing winger Walker Duehr on waivers to the Sharks yesterday, so no corresponding move is required.
Bishop, 28, has 47 NHL games under his belt with the Hurricanes and Senators but none since signing with the Flames in 2022. The Newfoundland native has bided his time as a middle-six depth piece on the farm – that is, until this season. He’s exploded offensively for 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points through 39 contests, third on the Wranglers in scoring. His 0.85 points per game puts his 0.38 career AHL average in the rearview, at least for the past few months.
For the majority of his career, Bishop has served as a physical, defensively responsible depth center who also has utility at left wing. He has just one goal on 44 shots in the NHL, adding seven assists for eight points with a minus-six rating. He’s yet to average north of 10 minutes per game in any of his four NHL seasons and has won 46.9% of his faceoffs.
If Bishop suits up tonight against the Sabres, it will be his first NHL appearance in nearly three years. He last skated in a big-league contest with the Senators on Feb. 15, 2022.
At the very least, Bishop won’t be a downgrade from Duehr by any stretch of the imagination. Duehr had just one assist in 16 games with team-worst possession metrics before landing on the wire.
Bishop, who cleared waivers during training camp, can remain on Calgary’s roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games before he requires them again to return to the AHL.
Avalanche Recall Chris Wagner, Reassign Ivan Ivan
The Avalanche recalled veteran forward Chris Wagner from AHL Colorado on Thursday, per a team announcement. Rookie Ivan Ivan was sent down in a corresponding transaction, keeping their active roster with one open spot.
Wagner, 33, appeared in 23 games for the Avs earlier this season but hasn’t been on the roster since being reassigned to the AHL on Dec. 20. He has four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 16 contests with the Eagles, most of which have come over the past few weeks.
The Avs ferried Wagner between leagues frequently through the first two and a half months of the campaign. He was exposed to the waiver wire three times as Colorado shuffled their forward depth amid multiple injuries, clearing without incident on each occasion.
Wagner, the epitome of a journeyman depth piece, has one goal and a minus-seven rating with the Avs this season while averaging a paltry 6:55 per game. His 48.2 CF% at even strength ranks near the bottom of the team but is an improvement over other spot-duty lineup inserts like Jere Innala and Givani Smith. He has the worst offensive impact of any Colorado skater with at least 10 appearances this season, though, only managing 0.4 on-ice goals per 60 minutes at even strength.
Nonetheless, the pending UFA with nearly 400 NHL games under his belt seemingly gets the call over Ivan for this weekend’s game against his hometown Bruins. Ivan, 22, started the season with a respectable eight points in 22 games but hasn’t gotten on the scoresheet since then. After his first career two-goal game against the Lightning on Nov. 25, Ivan has gone 18 games without a point and is correspondingly falling down the depth chart.
Ivan has a goal and an assist in a pair of AHL appearances this season, which he made earlier this month after missing time with an upper-body injury. He had 31 points in 67 AHL games last year, earning him his first NHL contract last March.
Stars Recall Lian Bichsel
The Stars recalled top defense prospect Lian Bichsel from AHL Texas on Thursday, per a team announcement. They also reversed yesterday’s paper transaction involving forward Matěj Blümel and added him back to the active roster, which is now full.
Bichsel, 20, made his NHL debut last month and played eight games while filling in for the injured Mathew Dumba. The 2022 18th overall pick recorded a pair of goals and a plus-two rating, averaging 13:43 per game and recording a team-high 14.22 hits per 60 minutes.
Physicality is the principal aspect of the 6’7″, 231-lb defender’s game, but it’s not the only one. The Swiss native is also a skilled breakout passer and has three goals with six assists for nine points in 28 appearances with AHL Texas this season.
Dallas is now carrying eight defensemen on their active roster with no injury designations. It’s unlikely they’d interrupt Bichsel’s development in the AHL to have him sit in the press box, especially with no pressing injury concerns, so he’ll likely enter the lineup Friday against the Golden Knights while veteran and fellow lefty Brendan Smith heads to the press box.
Blümel, 24, has been on the roster for the most part since Jan. 11. The Czech winger, initially selected by the Oilers in the fourth round in 2019, has one goal on 10 shots in seven games with a minus-one rating. He’s been sent to the minors on off days to help the Stars bank additional cap space ahead of the March 7 trade deadline.
Blümel is one of a few players that the Stars have called up to play fourth-line spot duty with injuries to Mason Marchment and Tyler Seguin stretching their forward depth. He’s been one of their best AHL producers since arriving in the organization in 2022, averaging 0.85 points per game across 162 career minor-league appearances. This season, he leads the club with 18 goals through 32 games.