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Canucks Reassign Jonathan Lekkerimaki

December 7, 2025 at 12:48 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Canucks have returned top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki to AHL Abbotsford, per a team announcement. They now have an open roster spot, which is expected to go to Nils Höglander as he nears an activation from long-term injured reserve.

Lekkerimäki, 21, had made the team out of camp but was in and out of the lineup to begin the campaign, only skating in four of their first six contests before sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Capitals on Oct. 19. That kept him out of commission until mid-November and, when he was activated from injured reserve, was sent to Abbotsford.

The skilled Swedish sniper had 19 goals in just 36 games for the AHL club last year, and he picked up where he left off with three goals and a pair of assists in five minor-league games. That earned Lekkerimäki a quick recall back to the NHL roster on Nov. 29. He’d suited up in the Canucks’ last four games, notching his first assist of the season on Friday against the Mammoth, but was relegated to fourth-line duties in yesterday’s win over the Wild and skated just 6:35 of ice time. He also only managed one shot on goal during this stint on the roster, coming back on the 29th against the Kings.

With their highest-ceiling offensive prospect not getting much of a leash, there’s little use keeping him in limited NHL minutes when he could be continuing to gain confidence in the minors. His continued improvement there and impressive small-sample production on an Abbotsford team scoring an atrocious 1.96 goals per game this season should have him walking right into an opening-night job and top-nine role next season, if not sooner.

Transactions| Vancouver Canucks Jonathan Lekkerimaki

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Lightning Reassign Steven Santini

December 7, 2025 at 12:26 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Lightning have reassigned veteran blue-liner Steven Santini back to AHL Syracuse, per a team announcement. Tampa’s active roster is now at 22, allowing them to activate one of Ryan McDonagh or Brayden Point from injured reserve before Monday’s game against the Maple Leafs if they’re ready to go.

The 30-year-old Santini was brought up last month in the wake of an injury to Maxwell Crozier and had stuck around on the roster as the Bolts’ defense also dealt with injuries to McDonagh, Erik Černák, and Victor Hedman, who got back in the lineup this weekend. He’s now appeared in parts of nine NHL seasons with a lifetime 5-19–24 scoring line in 131 games played split between the Lightning, Blues, Predators, and Devils. Tampa picked Santini up in free agency in 2024 on a two-way deal and, after he made one appearance for them last season, re-upped on a two-year, two-way contract in June to keep him in the organization through 2026-27.

Santini has continued to flex great two-way play in the AHL this year, posting a +7 rating (tied for third on the team) in 13 appearances. He’s also contributed four assists and is serving as an alternate captain for the second year in a row, a fitting title given his 10 years and 374 games of AHL experience.

The 6’3″ righty has been deployed more as a defensive specialist in his NHL minutes and has posted fine possession metrics given his deployment in a limited role. He’s only controlled 42.4% of shot attempts at even strength for his career, but that becomes defensible when considering he’s only started 37.7% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Through seven games for the Bolts this year, he had an even rating and one assist while averaging 12:01 of ice time per game. There’s little upside left in his game, but he carries value as a dependable, replacement-level option who can deliver in bottom-pairing duties as an injury replacement.

Tampa Bay Lightning| Transactions Steven Santini

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Stars Activate Matt Duchene, Nils Lundkvist From LTIR

December 7, 2025 at 11:33 am CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Stars announced they’ve activated center Matt Duchene and defenseman Nils Lundkvist from long-term injured reserve. Both are expected to be in the lineup for this evening’s game against the Penguins.

Duchene’s absence has been longer than anyone expected. The 34-year-old has been limited to four appearances this season with an upper back injury that he first sustained against the Wild on Oct. 14. He was initially listed as day-to-day and missed one game before attempting a return. He hasn’t played since reaggravating the injury when he re-entered the lineup on Oct. 18 against the Blues, though.

The 17-year veteran has still carried a day-to-day designation throughout his absence. He wasn’t moved to LTIR until after he had already missed the 10 games and 24 days required for a placement, so he was eligible to come off at any time.

Coming off a 30-goal, 82-point showing for Dallas last season, Duchene could have been among the most high-profile unrestricted free agents on the market last summer. Instead, he opted to take a significant discount to return to the cap-strapped Stars, signing a four-year, $18MM deal to potentially retire in Dallas. The 5’11” pivot initially joined the Stars for the 2023-24 season after a high-profile buyout by the Predators. At the time, he had three years remaining on a contract paying him an average of $8MM per season. He signed back-to-back one-year, $3MM pacts with Dallas before finally landing some term this past summer.

Duchene has been a highly valuable cog in the Stars’ top six since his arrival, particularly in the wake of top-line fixture Joe Pavelski’s retirement and continued long-term injury issues for Tyler Seguin. His 0.90 points per game since joining the team are third on the club behind only Mikko Rantanen (1.17) and Jason Robertson (1.02). His 82 points last year were only the second time in his career that the 2009 third overall pick has crossed the 80-point mark and were four short of his career high.

While battling through his back problems to begin the year, Duchene still managed a goal and an assist before his extended absence. He also went 12-for-23 on faceoffs (52.2%), and Dallas outchanced opponents 20-18 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.

At first glance, with Duchene out for virtually the entire season, the Stars’ offense hasn’t missed a beat. However, their shot generation is in the basement – 26.0 per game for 26th in the league – despite their actual goal production being fourth at 3.45 per game. That’s fueled by an unsustainably high 13.3% shooting rate. Duchene’s return, particularly with Seguin’s ACL tear likely ending his season, should help them boost their underlying numbers to help cushion the blow as their finishing luck recedes.

Lundkvist is also an important return for a Dallas defense that’s also been without Lian Bichsel and Thomas Harley as of late. The 2018 first-rounder has still yet to elevate himself past a No. 7 job, but it looked like he was well on his way toward doing so before sustaining a lower-body injury in his fourth appearance of the season against the Canucks on Oct. 16. He hasn’t played since.

In those four games, though, the 25-year-old righty had rattled off a goal and two assists while averaging 16 minutes per game in second-pairing duties with Harley. While the skilled rearguard is highly unlikely to continue producing at a 0.75 points per game clip the rest of the way, that added layer of puck-moving support on Dallas’ back end behind Harley and Miro Heiskanen was an element they sorely missed last season.

With Harley out, not only is Lundkvist expected to step back into the lineup as Dallas’ second-pairing righty – he’ll anchor the unit with call-up Vladislav Kolyachonok on his left flank. That arrangement shouldn’t need to last for too long, though. Harley, who hasn’t played since Nov. 13 due to a lower-body injury, has returned to practice and shouldn’t be too far off from a return, per Robert Tiffin of D Magazine.

While LTIR activations usually must be accompanied by some cap-clearing moves, that isn’t the case here. The Stars already had two open roster spots, plus Seguin, Bichsel, and Adam Erne remain on LTIR to keep their pool of $5.36MM well above their current cap exceedance of $1.77MM.

Dallas Stars| Newsstand| Transactions Matt Duchene| Nils Lundkvist

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Anton Lundmark Clears Unconditional Waivers

December 6, 2025 at 1:06 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

Saturday: Lundmark passed through waivers unclaimed, Friedman reports.  HockeySverige’s Mans Karlsson reports that the forward is indeed expected to rejoin Timrå.

Friday: The Panthers placed winger Anton Lundmark on unconditional waivers today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He’ll have his contract terminated tomorrow after he clears, and will become an unrestricted free agent.

It’s a rapid end to Lundmark’s time in the Florida organization. The 24-year-old Swede signed a one-year, entry-level pact with the Cats in April as an undrafted free agent out of the Swedish Hockey League’s Timrå IK.

At the time, it was a highly puzzling move. The 6’4″, 192-lb Lundmark had never been on the public radar. Last season was the first time he’d ever suited up in the top tier of European professional hockey. All of his previous experience had come in the second and third divisions of Swedish hockey, even spending a few games in the fifth and sixth tiers earlier on in his development.

Even then, he wasn’t much more than a fourth-line penalty-killing piece for Timrå. In 49 games, he only registered five goals and nine points with a +2 rating.

Those numbers weren’t conducive to Lundmark having much of an impact in the minors, let alone coming anywhere close to landing an NHL job. In nine games with AHL Charlotte, he’s been held without a point and has a -2 rating. He’s been a healthy scratch for nearly half their schedule and has sat out of four of Charlotte’s last six games.

Lundmark’s previous contract with Timrå ran through 2025-26 and contained an NHL out-clause. Since they still hold his rights, he’s presumably returning there for the balance of the campaign.

Florida Panthers| Transactions| Waivers Anton Lundmark

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Joona Koppanen Clears Waivers

December 6, 2025 at 1:05 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 1 Comment

Saturday: Koppanen has passed through successfully for the second time, Friedman reports.  The team announced that he was subsequently sent down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Friday: The Penguins placed forward Joona Koppanen on waivers Friday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll be assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton if he clears.

It’s Koppanen’s second time on the wire this season. He cleared during training camp and began the campaign in the minors before Pittsburgh recalled him in early November as the corresponding move for Filip Hallander’s blood clot diagnosis.

The 27-year-old played 10 games on his recall, just enough to require waivers again to return to the minors. Now in his ninth year in North America and third in the Penguins organization, he recorded one assist and a -1 rating with six shots on goal during his recent stint in the lineup. Those 10 appearances were consecutive after his recall; he was then scratched for their win over the Flyers last Monday and missed Thursday’s win over the Lightning with an illness.

Koppanen was a fifth-round pick by the Bruins back in 2016. He remained in the Boston organization until 2022-23, making his NHL debut for the B’s that year, before reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency and signing in Pittsburgh. He initially inked a two-year deal but re-upped with them on a two-way extension in June of this year.

The big 6’5″ center is a competent piece of organizational depth and a good middle-six producer in the minors, scoring 139 points in 365 career AHL appearances. He hasn’t been able to stick as a fourth-line piece in several NHL tries now, though. He averaged north of 12 minutes per game on this call-up and even received some penalty kill deployment – he also did in 11 games for the Pens last year. His possession impacts and lack of offense (one goal, three points in 30 career NHL games) haven’t offered enough justification to keep him in the lineup. Among 25 qualified Pittsburgh skaters this year, Koppanen’s 47.2 xGF% at 5-on-5 ranks 20th. After playing a physical brand with 40 hits in 11 games last season, he only recorded nine hits in 10 appearances this time around.

Teams who are in dire need of center depth could take a long look at placing a claim for Koppanen, but in all likelihood, he shouldn’t have much trouble clearing.

Pittsburgh Penguins| Transactions| Waivers Joona Koppanen

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Capitals Sign EBUG Parker Milner To PTO For Friday’s Game

December 5, 2025 at 5:45 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Capitals won’t have backup Charlie Lindgren available for their road game tonight against the Ducks due to an upper-body injury, the team announced. Due to the late nature of the development and the inability to get a netminder from AHL Hershey to the West Coast in time for the game, they’ve signed retired netminder Parker Milner to a professional tryout to dress as the backup to Logan Thompson.

Milner isn’t nearly as inexperienced as recent EBUG folk heroes like David Ayres or Scott Foster. The new CBA introduced legislation that mandated teams must now employ an emergency backup as a team employee, rather than the previous system of the league having one name sit at the arena every night to enter action for either team if necessary. These can’t be names with NHL experience, nor can they have played pro hockey in the last three years, but they can be relatively fresh names who routinely serve as extra practice goalies for the club to stay fresh.

Milner, 35, last played in the 2019-20 season but is a familiar face to the Capitals organization. He spent the last four years of his career as a minor-league farmhand, splitting time between Hershey and ECHL South Carolina, and was even signed to an NHL contract in the latter half of the 2018-19 campaign so that he could serve as the Caps’ emergency third goalie for that year’s playoffs.

The Pittsburgh native was an accomplished collegiate netminder, logging a .919 SV%, 2.23 GAA, six shutouts, and a 64-20-5 record in 93 appearances across four seasons for Boston College from 2009 to 2013. He was the backup when they won the national championship in 2010 and helped them to three consecutive Hockey East titles. In his junior season in 2012, his first as the starter, he took them back to the national championship and was named tournament MVP.

While he never reached the NHL, he did have a successful pro career. He was a two-time ECHL All-Star and won the league’s Goalie of the Year honors while with South Carolina in 2018. He wrapped up his pro career with a .916 SV%, 2.44 GAA, 19 shutouts, and a 143-79-17 record in 245 ECHL appearances. He also got in 30 reps in the AHL, logging a .902 SV% and 3.02 GAA with a 13-12-2 record.

Newsstand| Transactions| Washington Capitals Charlie Lindgren| Parker Milner

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Ducks Activate Mikael Granlund From Injured Reserve

December 5, 2025 at 5:36 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 3 Comments

The Ducks have activated center Mikael Granlund from injured reserve, Derek Lee of The Hockey News reports. Goaltender Petr Mrázek has landed on IR in the corresponding move, retroactive to Nov. 30, Lee adds.

Granlund’s availability has been sparse since Anaheim landed him as one of the big fish of last summer’s free agent class on a three-year, $21MM contract. The 33-year-old has now missed 18 of the Ducks’ last 19 games due to a lower-body injury he initially sustained in an Oct. 25 game against the Lightning. He missed several games before initially attempting a return on Nov. 13 against the Red Wings. He had a successful outing, scoring a goal on a pair of shots in 15:45 of ice time, but reaggravated the injury and has sat out the last 10 as a result.

When dressed, though, Granlund has delivered on the hype. The 5’10” pivot was once viewed as one of the league’s better two-way forwards and routinely put up 60-point campaigns during the early days of his career with the Wild. A 2019 trade to the Predators largely derailed his consistent production aside from a resurgent 2021-22 season in which he put up 64 points. After a post-trade deadline stint with the Penguins in 2023, where he scored just once in 21 games, his stock was at an all-time low. Pittsburgh flipped the remaining two years of his five-year, $20MM deal to the Sharks that offseason in the Erik Karlsson trade in what was largely viewed as a cap dump.

Playing important minutes on a bottom-feeder Sharks team, Granlund resurrected his career. He rattled off 60 points in only 69 games, tying his career high of 0.87 points per game, and had 45 points in 52 games for San Jose the following season before they landed a first-round pick from the Stars to take on him and Cody Ceci as rentals.

Granlund finished the year with a 7-14–21 scoring line in 31 games for Dallas, an expected slight reduction as his minutes were reduced on an infinitely deeper Stars forward roster. Nonetheless, his stock, along with a weak cast of centers on the open market, left the cap-strapped Stars with no chance of retaining him. A virtual lock to hit the open market, he ended up cashing on a short-term deal with the highest AAV of his career from Anaheim.

The experiment has worked out well so far. With three goals and six assists, he’s clicked at a point per game through nine appearances and has averaged north of 17 minutes per game. His linemates have fluctuated, and he’s expected to have a new set of them tonight against the Capitals. He took line rushes this morning between Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome on Anaheim’s third line, per Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune.

Importantly, Granlund has been the best faceoff man for a Ducks team that’s winning 46.4% of its draws, 29th in the league. At 52.8%, Granlund is the only Ducks center above the water line this season. He’s also been a special-teams beast, leading the team with 3:40 of power-play ice time per game while also averaging 1:14 per game shorthanded.

Mrázek’s IR placement is solely procedural. He’s already been ruled out week-to-week with the apparent groin injury he sustained late in last weekend’s loss to the Blackhawks. With starter Lukáš Dostál sidelined for another one to two weeks, it’s third-stringer Ville Husso’s net until he returns.

Anaheim Ducks| Transactions Mikael Granlund| Petr Mrazek

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Predators Place Ozzy Wiesblatt, Justin Barron On Injured Reserve

December 5, 2025 at 3:35 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Predators announced that winger Ozzy Wiesblatt has been placed on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury. Defenseman Justin Barron was also placed on IR with a lower-body injury (retroactive to Dec. 1). Wiesblatt will miss eight to 10 weeks, while Barron was given a week-to-week status.

Wiesblatt left last night’s overtime win over the Panthers just 15 seconds into his first shift. He collided with Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe while attempting to close him off in the offensive zone, spun out, and then got clipped by teammate Michael McCarron incidentally (via Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Hockey). He did not return to the game.

The final pick of the first round by the Sharks in 2020, Wiesblatt had a tough go of things in their minor-league system before Nashville acquired him in exchange for the signing rights to Egor Afanasyev in the 2024 offseason. After never recording more than 15 points in a season for San Jose’s AHL club, he arrived with the Preds’ affiliate in Milwaukee last season and exploded for 15 goals and 40 points in 64 games. That effort earned Wiesblatt his NHL debut, playing five games last year on various recalls between January and March.

Wiesblatt could have been a restricted free agent last summer, but signed a two-year, two-way extension way back in November 2024 to avoid that outcome. No longer waiver-exempt and on the heels of his minor-league breakout, Wiesblatt earned a spot on Nashville’s opening night roster in October. He sat as a healthy scratch for the season’s first three games but has appeared in every contest since. He hasn’t been a significant offensive threat – he has four points in 24 games and only scored his first NHL goal earlier this week – but has been a part of one of the league’s most defensively responsible forward trios. Nashville’s fourth line of Wiesblatt, McCarron, and Cole Smith has controlled 64.3% of expected goals at 5-on-5 and is allowing just 1.58 xGA/60, fifth-best in the league among lines with at least 50 minutes together (per MoneyPuck).

Unfortunately, the Preds have only been able to ice that line in 10 of 27 games this season, in part due to Smith sitting out the last month with an upper-body injury. There’s still another couple of weeks until he’s expected to return, and they’ll now be without Wiesblatt until likely after the Olympic break. In the meantime, Wiesblatt’s absence means a longer leash for recent call-up Reid Schaefer and extra forward Tyson Jost.

Barron’s IR placement is far less consequential. He’s only carried an injury designation for the last two games after getting banged up in practice but hasn’t played since Nov. 16, sitting as a healthy scratch in five straight before sustaining the lower-body issue. His absence, though, plus an upper-body injury to Nicklaus Perbix that has him out day-to-day, has caused some lineup construction issues on Nashville’s back end. Without those two, Nick Blankenburg stands as the only righty on the roster, meaning their top four group of Nicolas Hague, Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, and Adam Wilsby is made up solely of left-shot options.

Interestingly enough, the Preds’ underlying numbers have improved with Hague-Josi and Skjei-Wilsby deployed as their top two units. They’re controlling 58.7% and 59.1% of expected goals at 5-on-5, respectively, the top two figures among Nashville d-pairings with at least 30 minutes together.

Unless Perbix is healthy enough for tomorrow’s game against the Hurricanes, the IR placements leave Nashville without an extra skater on their roster – not an ideal position for a road game, even if it’s a relatively short travel distance. With two newly-opened roster spots, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them make a recall from AHL Milwaukee tomorrow.

Nashville Predators| Transactions Justin Barron| Ozzy Wiesblatt

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Sweden Announces Roster For 2026 World Juniors

December 5, 2025 at 1:01 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 1 Comment

After USA Hockey announced its preliminary roster for the 2026 World Junior Championship at the beginning of the month, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association became the next gold medal contender to follow suit. Unlike the host country, though, Sweden released a 26-man list and therefore only has one cut to make before the tournament kicks off on Dec. 26 at the Wild’s Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul and 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, home to the University of Minnesota men’s team. Their roster is as follows:

F Jack Berglund (Flyers, 2024, 2-51)
F Viggo Björck (2026 draft eligible)
F Wilson Björck (Canucks, 2025, 5-143)
F Liam Danielsson (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
F Victor Eklund (Islanders, 2025, 1-16)
F Linus Eriksson (Panthers, 2024, 2-58)
F Anton Frondell (Blackhawks, 2025, 1-3)
F Milton Gästrin (Capitals, 2025, 2-37)
F Eddie Genborg (Red Wings, 2025, 2-44)
F Casper Juustovaara Karlsson (2026 draft eligible)
F Loke Krantz (Kraken, 2025, 7-218)
F Valter Lindberg (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
F Eric Nilson (Ducks, 2025, 2-45)
F Lucas Pettersson (Ducks, 2024, 2-35)
F Ivar Stenberg (2026 draft eligible)

D Sascha Boumedienne (Jets, 2025, 1-28)
D Felix Carell (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
D Alfons Freij (Jets, 2024, 2-37)
D Viggo Gustafsson (Predators, 2024, 3-77)
D William Håkansson (2026 draft eligible)
D Victor Johansson (Maple Leafs, 2024, 4-120)
D Felix Öhrqvist (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
D Leo Sahlin Wallenius (Sharks, 2024, 2-53)

G Måns Goos (Stars, 2025, 5-158)
G Love Härenstam (Blues, 2025, 6-179)
G Herman Liv (undrafted in 2024, 2025)

At forward, the Swedes are arguably bringing more true star power to the event than the Americans, who are seeking a three-peat. While the Bruins’ James Hagens is the only top-10 pick on the States’ roster, Sweden could have three – the reigning third-overall selection in Frondell, plus Stenberg and Björck, both of whom should hear their names called early on the first night of next year’s draft. Björck’s stock has slipped somewhat this year, but Stenberg’s has only risen to the point where he’s a legitimate challenger for first overall. With 23 points in 24 SHL games for Frölunda, he’s operating at the third-highest point-per-game pace all-time for an 18-year-old in that league behind Tomas Sandström and Markus Näslund. He and Frondell will form the centerpiece of Sweden’s attack.

The talent level drops off somewhat on the back end. They don’t have the top-15 talents like Axel Sandin Pellikka and Tom Willander that they’ve had at their disposal over the past couple of years. Boumedienne now takes the reins as their most high-profile name, along with the draft-eligible Håkansson, a 6’4″ lefty who most have pegged as a late first-round pick.

In goal, the Swedes have an open competition for the starters’ crease – in a good way. Härenstam and Liv are both off to great starts this season as starters for their respective teams in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league. It would be quite a story for the undrafted Liv to emerge as the No. 1 option, considering his last start for the Swedes at a major international tournament was at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. However, it’s looking like that could be the case. With a .923 SV% in 12 games for Almtuna IS, he’s second in the league. The 19-year-old is the son of former SHL and KHL star and Red Wings prospect Stefan Liv, who died in the 2011 plane crash that killed 26 players and three staff of the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

While Sweden has lost just four times in regulation in the group stage at the WJC since 2012, they haven’t won a gold medal in that span. In the past 13 tournaments, they’ve won silver four times (2013, 2014, 2018, 2024) and bronze twice (2020, 2022).

Team Sweden World Juniors

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Lightning Reassign Declan Carlile

December 5, 2025 at 11:50 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Lightning announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Declan Carlile to AHL Syracuse. The move leaves them with no extra defensemen and an open roster spot, an indication that they plan on activating captain Victor Hedman from injured reserve before Saturday’s match with the Islanders. He was a full participant in today’s practice, according to Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider.

Carlile, 25, was recalled from Syracuse in mid-November in the wake of injuries to Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Erik Černák. The latter two remain on injured reserve, but getting Hedman back to anchor the team’s top pairing with J.J. Moser is nonetheless a significant boon for a club that’s navigated its rash of injuries quite well. Since the Lightning lost both Hedman and McDonagh to injuries in their Nov. 8 game against the Capitals, the club has taken hold of first place in the Atlantic Division with an 8-4-0 record. Their .667 points percentage is sixth-best in the league during that frame.

Carlile, a fourth-year pro, had played in each of Tampa’s nine games since his recall. That set a new career-high in games played for the 6’3″ lefty, who made his NHL debut in 2023-24 and made three appearances last season.

The Lightning signed Carlile as an undrafted free agent out of Merrimack College near the end of a 2021-22 season in which he was a Hobey Baker Award nominee and was named to the Hockey East conference’s Second All-Star Team. The Michigan native has been a stable two-way presence at the minor-league level since making the jump to the pro ranks, but had appeared to find a new gear offensively to begin this season, rattling off two goals, eight assists, and 10 points in 15 games before being added to the Lightning’s roster. That’s already more than half the production he managed in 55 appearances for Syracuse last year.

As with his previous NHL stints, Carlile didn’t look entirely out of place in bottom-pairing duties. He scored his second career goal and managed a +1 rating while averaging 12:53 of ice time per game. He recorded eight blocks and nine hits. Among Lightning defensemen with at least 100 minutes at 5-on-5, only Moser has controlled a higher share of scoring chances than Carlile’s 57.1%. That comes from him playing a stout, low-event defensive game – per 60 minutes, no qualified Lightning skater has been on the ice for fewer scoring chances than Carlile at 17.9.

If Carlile played one more game, he would have needed to clear waivers again to return to Syracuse. With his strong play in bottom-pairing minutes and his offensive improvement in the AHL, that wasn’t a guarantee after he did so already during training camp. If he’s called up again and enters game action or is rostered for 13 days, then he’ll need waivers at the conclusion of that recall.

Tampa Bay Lightning| Transactions Declan Carlile| Victor Hedman

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    Hurricanes, Capitals Linked To Quinn Hughes

    Blues Sign Robby Fabbri To Two-Way Deal

    Canadiens Promote Jacob Fowler, Owen Beck, Adam Engstrom

    Lightning’s Victor Hedman Leaves Due To Injury

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