Devils Place Jonas Siegenthaler On IR, Recall Two From AHL
The Devils announced that defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler was placed on injured reserve today, likely retroactive to his last appearance on January 6, with a foot fracture. Forward Shane Bowers and defensemen Cal Foote were recalled from AHL Utica in corresponding moves.
Head coach Lindy Ruff said last weekend that Siegenthaler, 26, would likely miss significant time. As such, he’s expected to remain on IR longer than the minimum seven-day stay. The team’s secondary shutdown defender behind John Marino has six goals, 37 assists, 43 points, and a +15 rating in 196 contests with the Devils since coming over to New Jersey from the Capitals in an April 2021 trade.
Now in the first season of a five-year, $17MM extension signed shortly after he became eligible for one in July 2022, Siegenthaler has spent this season riding shotgun with Dougie Hamilton or Simon Nemec on the Devils’ top pairing. Hamilton has been out since late November with a left pectoral muscle tear and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Nemec has effectively shouldered heavy minutes in his first NHL stint since being selected second overall in the 2022 draft.
Before his injury, Siegenthaler had one goal, seven assists and a -1 rating while averaging 19:54 of ice time through 38 games.
Bowers and Foote come up to alleviate the pains of a Devils roster currently without Hamilton and Siegenthaler on defense and Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Tomáš Nosek, and Ondřej Palát at forward all due to injuries. The two recalls get the Devils to the minimum 18 skaters on the active roster, meaning they’ll both draw in for their season debuts against the Lightning on Thursday.
New Jersey acquired the signing rights for the 24-year-old Bowers, who was originally the Senators’ 28th overall pick in the 2017 draft, from the Bruins in exchange for the rights to minor-league defenseman Reilly Walsh in a June 2023 trade, the third time Bowers has been traded in his young professional career. The Devils promptly inked Bowers to a one-year, two-way deal, which carries a $775K cap hit and sees him earn $125K in the minors this year, where he has six goals and just one assist in 29 games with Utica. The Nova Scotian has one NHL game to his name, taking three shifts as a member of the Avalanche against the Predators in November 2022 before exiting with injury.
Foote was also a first-round pick, selected 14 spots ahead of Bowers by the Lightning in 2017. Dealt to the Predators last season in the Tanner Jeannot trade, he became a UFA last July after not receiving a qualifying offer. The Devils snapped him up in August, joining him in the organization with his brother, Nolan Foote, on a one-year, two-way deal with an $800K cap hit. The 25-year-old didn’t make the team out of camp, but this is not his first recall of the season. He was rostered for eight games in late October and early November, although he was a healthy scratch for all of them. He’s logged nine points and a -14 rating in 24 games with Utica.
Given their pedestrian minor-league performance, Bowers and Foote will likely see limited usage during their time on the NHL roster. Foote’s recall gives the Devils four right-shot defensemen, meaning one of Foote, Marino, Nemec, or Colin Miller will need to shift to their off-side for Thursday’s game and beyond.
Rangers Assign Brennan Othmann To AHL
The Rangers assigned winger Brennan Othmann to AHL Hartford on Tuesday morning, the team announced. NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports the Rangers are expected to replace Othmann’s spot on the active roster with a corresponding recall from Hartford later today.
Othmann, 21, was the Rangers’ 16th overall pick in the 2021 draft and just completed his first NHL stint. Signed to his entry-level deal shortly after the 2021 draft in August, his contract slid for two seasons because the Rangers returned him to the OHL’s Flint Firebirds to begin the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. Now that he’s old enough for a full-time AHL assignment under the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, Othmann started his professional career in earnest last Fall. He’s impressed thus far with Hartford, recording nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points in 28 games, ranking fourth on the team in each metric.
After veteran fourth-liner Tyler Pitlick sustained a lower-body injury last week, the Rangers brought Othmann up on an emergency loan to gauge his NHL readiness. He impressed in his first showing, recording five shots on goal in 12:26 of ice time against the Blackhawks in his NHL debut on January 4, but registered under eight minutes of ice time and one shot on goal in the following two games. He’ll head back to the minors, still searching for his first NHL point after averaging 9:05 and posting a subpar 48.2% Corsi share despite extensive offensive zone usage at even strength in three contests.
Sending Othmann down leaves the Rangers with only 11 healthy forwards, but as Rosen mentions, that number will jump back to 12 later today. The Rangers, who lost 6-3 to the Canucks last night, don’t play again until Thursday in St. Louis.
Oilers Recall Phil Kemp
The Oilers have promoted defenseman Phil Kemp from AHL Bakersfield, per a team release issued late last night. Edmonton sat with two open roster spots before the recall and had enough cap space to execute the transaction after assigning top center prospect Dylan Holloway to the minors last week, so no corresponding transaction was necessary.
Edmonton selected Kemp, 24, in the seventh round of the 2017 draft. After three seasons at Yale, he made his pro debut on loan to Väsby IK in the Swedish second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan in the 2020-21 campaign while AHL and NHL action was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of Väsby’s season, the Oilers brought Kemp back to North America to make his AHL debut for Bakersfield, where he’s remained ever since. He’s far from being a major point-producing threat in the pros, with nine goals and 27 assists in 164 games with Bakersfield. Still, he’s steadily taken on more responsibility over his four seasons there and has proven himself an adept defensive player at that level. Playing in all 26 Condors games this season, Kemp has five assists, 13 PIMs and a +5 rating.
He’s best defined as a low-ceiling, low-certainty prospect, as expected for someone selected with ten picks remaining in his draft. Still, it’s a great story to see Kemp potentially get a shot at playing his first NHL game. Whether the 6-foot-3, 212-pound defender will draw in tonight against the Blackhawks or sit as a healthy scratch is unclear.
Technically, this is not Kemp’s first NHL recall, although it is his first during the regular season. After the Condors’ brief Calder Cup playoff appearance ended in a 2-0 first-round sweep at the hands of the Abbotsford Canucks last year, the Oilers recalled Kemp to serve as a Black Ace during their second-round loss to the Golden Knights. He became waiver-eligible for the first time this year and passed through unclaimed on his way to Bakersfield at the end of the 2023 preseason.
Kemp can remain on the Oilers’ roster for up to 10 games played or 30 days, whichever comes sooner before he requires waivers to return to Bakersfield. He is in the first season of a two-year, two-way extension signed last May that carries a $775K cap hit, making him an RFA with arbitration rights in the summer of 2025.
Avalanche Recall Sam Malinski, Jason Polin
02:20 PM: The Avalanche have also recalled forward Jason Polin from the Eagles, according to a team announcement. This recall should be seen as an indication that Wood is likely out for tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins. The 24-year-old will likely fill in for Meyers, who was sent down, as the team’s last healthy forward.
That would put Polin, a natural left winger, in Meyers’ spot as the team’s fourth-line left winger alongside Fredrik Olofsson and Kurtis MacDermid. While Polin was a top-end offensive player in his final campaign with Western Michigan University, he’s not found the same level of offensive success in the early days of his pro career. He has just two points in 20 career AHL games, but nonetheless he could end up getting the chance to make his NHL debut tonight against Boston.
10:29 AM: The Avalanche recalled defenseman Sam Malinski from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Monday, per a team announcement.
This is the 25-year-old’s fourth recall of the season and his first of the calendar year. His most recent stint on the active roster lasted over a month, heading up to the Avalanche on emergency loan on November 29 before being returned to the Eagles on December 30.
The Avalanche suit up tonight against the Bruins and, without a recall, may have only had 17 skaters available for tonight’s game. Winger Miles Wood is uncertain after missing Saturday’s loss to the Panthers with an illness, and the Avalanche were down to 11 forwards after returning Ben Meyers to the Eagles on Saturday night. Malinski’s recall may indicate head coach Jared Bednar is planning to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Bruins unless an additional recall is made later today.
If he does play tonight, it will be the 15th NHL appearance for Malinski, both this season and in his NHL career overall. The Minnesota-born blueliner is in his first professional season after completing his collegiate career with Cornell University in 2022-23, where he recorded 26 points and a +10 rating in 34 games during his senior campaign, earning First Team honors on the NCAA’s All-Ivy League year-end squad for the second season in a row.
The Avalanche snapped up Malinski, who was not selected in any previous NHL Entry Drafts, as a free agent last March and signed him to a two-year, two-way deal. He began the season with the Eagles but has filled in for the Avalanche on numerous occasions this season when injuries struck, recording a goal and five points along with a +1 rating in 14 games. He hasn’t seen much in the way of heavy minutes, averaging 14:11 per game, and his 45.5% Corsi share at even strength does leave something to be desired. However, Malinski has still seen more NHL action than most expected this year, potentially serving as a precursor to a more lengthy stay in Denver as a sixth or seventh defenseman option.
Maple Leafs Sign William Nylander To Eight-Year Extension
10:51 a.m.: Toronto has made the eight-year length and $92MM total value of the contract official, per a team release. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that approximately $69MM of the deal will be paid out in signing bonuses.
9:00 a.m.: The Maple Leafs have officially completed talks on an eight-year, $11.5MM average annual value extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Monday morning. The contract will carry a full no-movement clause in all eight seasons, running from 2024-25 to 2031-32. TSN’s Chris Johnston was the first to report the NMC inclusion earlier Monday.
Nylander, 27, is now the recipient of the largest total value contract in the Maple Leafs’ 100-plus-year history at $92MM. He will be 36 years old when his mega-deal expires in 2032, making him eligible for unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career as his prime years are assumedly winding down.
This is a landmark deal for a player who’s emerged as undoubtedly their second-most important forward this season. While superstar first-line center Auston Matthews has stolen the show with his 30 goals in just 36 games, Nylander has broken the bank in terms of points. His 21 goals and 33 assists give him 54 points on the year in 37 games, putting him on pace for 120 – shattering last season’s career-high mark of 87.
Nylander’s been viewed as a bona fide top-six winger since he finished sixth place in Calder Trophy voting in 2016-17. However, there have always been external questions surrounding the compete and consistency level of the 2014 eighth-overall pick. Most of those have been quieted in the past 12 months, with Nylander continuing to provide excellent postseason play (despite Toronto’s abbreviated playoff runs), adding in excellent possession metrics and now proving himself as a yearly threat for 40-plus goals.
The leading thought among public opinion will likely be that new GM Brad Treliving shoehorned himself by not signing Nylander to a deal last summer when discussions were reportedly in the $9MM-$10MM AAV range. However, Friedman countered that on this morning’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. He believes that Nylander’s camp has been holding steadfast to a higher number since negotiations began last July, and while he couldn’t confirm that an $11.5MM AAV on an eight-year deal was Nylander’s initial ask, it was close enough to get the deal done once the Leafs arrived at that number.
It’s unlikely the Leafs were comfortable with a $1.5MM jump in value per season based on a 30-game hot streak. Advanced metrics show this run of play from Nylander could very well be sustainable over the first few seasons of the deal, however, making the team’s third $11M+ cap hit on the books next season easier to swallow.
For one, he’s shooting the puck more – likely due to an uptick in ice time this season of around a minute and a half. He’s now shown he’s able to weather more than 20 minutes per game on a routine basis, something the Leafs will rely on him to do as their bevy of high-paying contracts restricts their ability to add depth on offense. Thus, despite his career-high 47-goal pace, Nylander is shooting at a percentage right around his career average (12.9% this season compared to his 12.3% average), and at a shooting percentage lower than three out of the last four seasons. His possession numbers remain quite strong, too, including a 53.4% Corsi share and a 4% relative Corsi share at even strength this year. Put simply, his play this season warrants the box-score numbers he’s produced.
That makes it an incredibly difficult decision to consider parting with Nylander, who’s developed into a core player for Toronto in every sense of the word. He’ll have spent a decade already in the organization next summer, and he’s managed to withstand, at times, a great deal of public criticism from local media and respond with an 18-month span that’s solidified him as a top-five right wing in the league. By keeping him around long-term, the Maple Leafs will get to reap the rewards of their patience.
Whether or not the team’s current construction under the salary cap can lead to a Stanley Cup win is the most pressing question, though, a cry that will become louder with now over 50% of next season’s salary cap devoted to Nylander, Matthews, Mitch Marner and captain John Tavares. In hindsight, that may be a more important metric in assessing this deal’s value rather than Nylander’s individual production over the next eight seasons.
For now, Nylander will be one of the six highest-paid players in the league next season in terms of AAV behind Matthews ($13.25MM), Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6MM), Oilers superstar Connor McDavid ($12.5MM), Rangers winger Artemi Panarin ($11.64MM), and Penguins blueliner Erik Karlsson ($11.5MM). It’s quite lofty company for Nylander at the beginning of the contract, but his cap hit’s place in those standings will continuously drop as more eight-figure deals get inked with the impending sharp rise of the salary cap’s Upper Limit.
In signing this deal, the Maple Leafs also take the top pending unrestricted free agent of the 2024 class off the board. That title now goes to a group of first-line talents in the Eastern Conference – Penguins first-line mainstay Jake Guentzel, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, and, amidst a breakout season on pace for 59 goals and 105 points, Panthers winger Sam Reinhart.
Nylander’s full no-movement clause will protect him from any trades, waiver placements, or future expansion drafts over the life of the deal unless he consents. It does not, however, prohibit Toronto from buying out his contract if the last seasons of the deal age poorly.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Maple Leafs Closing In On William Nylander Extension
Jan. 8: Nylander and the Maple Leafs are indeed closing in on an eight-year, $92MM total value extension, TSN’s Darren Dreger corroborates Monday morning. There is still “some work getting done” on the deal, however, and it’s unclear whether it will become official today. Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic expects the deal to contain full no-movement protection and “favorable bonus structuring.”
Jan. 6: The Maple Leafs could announce an extension for star winger William Nylander after returning from their California road trip, potentially on Monday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on tonight’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. Per Friedman, it’s likely to be an eight-year deal carrying a stratospheric AAV of $11.5MM.
That price tag is roughly $2.5MM higher than what new Toronto GM Brad Treliving offered in the early stages of negotiations last summer. Nylander’s 43-goal, 116-point pace through 36 games has eliminated the possibility of a seven-figure cap hit, however, solidifying him as the best pending free agent available in the 2024 class.
It’s also a significant increase on the $10MM-per-season deal Nylander reportedly requested before this season began. Throughout his torrid start to the campaign, which included a franchise-record 17-game point streak, the reported cap hit on an extension began to steadily climb. With that ascent now seemingly arriving at the $11.5MM mark, Treliving won’t wait any longer to put pen to paper and keep his team’s current points leader in the organization long-term.
That contract would tie Nylander for the fifth-highest cap hit in the league beginning next season with Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, who they have at a reduced price of $10MM through the retained salary trade that brought him there from the Sharks last summer. It also leaves Toronto with two of the top five most lucrative contracts in the league beginning in 2024 – star center Auston Matthews‘ $13.25MM AAV extension will give him the highest cap hit in the league.
His performance this season seems like the real deal, and advanced metrics suggest this similar rate of production should be sustainable for a number of years as he plays out his prime. Despite his career-high goal-scoring pace, his 12% shooting percentage this season is actually less than his 12.3% career average. His two-way game has never been better, either – he’s on pace for an expected rating of +24.6, which would shatter his career-high of +18.9 set last season.
So, in a vacuum, it may be difficult to criticize the price tag given his market value as a pending UFA. However, that cap hit works out to a combined $46.6MM in spending wrapped up in Matthews, Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares next season – over 53% of the $87.5MM salary cap in 2024-25 spent on four forwards. That doesn’t include Morgan Rielly and his $7.5MM cap hit, which works out to nearly 62% of the salary cap spent on five players. With the current LTIR relief of John Klingberg, Matt Murray and Jake Muzzin all coming off the books next summer, it’ll be an extremely tight one-year squeeze until Marner’s and Tavares’ deals expire in 2025.
Assuming both Marner and Tavares stay with Toronto, the former likely won’t command a significant raise on his current $10.9MM cap hit. However, Tavares’ $11MM cap hit will likely see a multi-million dollar reduction, freeing up a notable amount of money for Treliving as the salary cap jumps to an expected value of $92MM in 2025-26.
Nylander will be 28 years old when the deal begins, and if it’s signed as reported, he’ll be 35 years old in the last season of the deal in 2031-32. Avoiding a long-term commitment to Nylander into his late 30s should help Toronto avoid some serious devaluation of the contract in the final few seasons, but even with a rising salary cap, it’s fair to expect the contract to age poorly in its seventh and eighth seasons as is the case with most long-term deals signed near the beginning of a player’s UFA eligibility.
Nonetheless, it expects to be another landmark signing for a team that’s had quite a few of them in the last decade. The ultimate question – whether or not this core can lead them to a Stanley Cup – of course remains to be seen. With Nylander posting a point per game over his last three playoff runs, however, there’s little doubt about his individual ability to perform in mid-April and beyond.
Red Wings Reassign Zach Aston-Reese
01/07/23: The Red Wings have now reassigned Aston-Reese back to Grand Rapids after six days on the NHL roster. He did not play at all during that time, his last actual game action coming December 31st with Grand Rapids. That’s now where he’ll return, still with just one NHL game played on his record so far this year. He’s scored 11 points in 26 games at the AHL level.
01/01/23: The Red Wings recalled forward Zach Aston-Reese from AHL Grand Rapids on Monday, per a team announcement. After assigning Jonatan Berggren and Austin Czarnik to Grand Rapids on Saturday, Detroit had two open spots on the active roster, so no corresponding transaction is needed.
Aston-Reese, 29, will serve as injury insurance as the Red Wings embark on a three-game road swing against the league’s California-based teams this week. There are currently no injuries to Detroit’s forward group that would necessitate him entering the lineup, and he will likely serve as a healthy scratch on Tuesday against the Sharks.
This season was Aston-Reese’s second straight year participating in training camp on a professional tryout. After earning a contract based on his performance with the Maple Leafs last season, his brief time in camp with the Carolina Hurricanes wasn’t as successful. The Hurricanes released him on October 6, four days before the start of the regular season.
It didn’t take Aston-Reese long to land on his feet, however. He signed a one-year, two-way deal with a $350K salary guarantee in Detroit two days later and promptly cleared waivers, allowing him to begin the season in Grand Rapids with potential for NHL recalls.
The shutdown winger has historically thrived in the defensive end, never receiving more than 40% of his zone starts in the offensive zone at even strength in a single season throughout his career. That’s remarkable for a forward and a testament to where his game shines the most. However, his once-spectacular advanced metrics have become slightly more average over the past two seasons, limiting his value at the NHL level without much to show for his 308-game career on the scoresheet.
That’s not to say Aston-Reese can’t put the puck in the net. He posted 1.66 points per game in his senior season at Northeastern and was a rather highly-touted undrafted free-agent signing out of school by the Penguins. However, he’s never cracked the 20-point mark at the NHL level and, as such, remains a decidedly fourth-line threat who can log time on the penalty kill.
The Red Wings have a deep forward core, though. Christian Fischer is the only one of their top 12 forwards producing less than 0.4 points per game. It’s made it more difficult for Aston-Reese to carve out a role in the NHL lineup, resulting in him playing 26 games for Grand Rapids this year – his most minor-league usage since suiting up in 41 contests for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2017-18.
His minor-league play hasn’t been convincing enough to award him another full-time NHL role, either. His five goals and 11 points are seventh and 12th on the team, respectively, verifying concerns that he’s now too much of an offensive liability to fit in with the skill players in the Red Wings’ bottom six. He’s also one of nine players on Grand Rapids with a minus rating, and although that’s likely more a testament to his assumed excessive defensive zone usage, not being able to dominate those minutes in goals-against suppression at a lower level doesn’t indicate that he’ll suddenly rebound to his former defensive prowess in the NHL.
This is his third recall of the season. He’s been on the NHL roster for five days and played in one game since clearing waivers back in October, meaning he can remain on Detroit’s roster for another 25 days and play nine games before needing waivers to head back to Grand Rapids again.
Aston-Reese has one appearance with the Red Wings, coming on December 11 in a 6-3 loss to the Stars. He logged just 6:21, recording two hits and no shots on goal. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Senators Expected To Activate Mathieu Joseph
The Senators are gearing up to activate winger Mathieu Joseph from long-term injured reserve, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports Sunday. To clear roster and salary cap space, the team assigned wingers Angus Crookshank and Jiri Smejkal to AHL Belleville.
Joseph, 26, was moved to LTIR just last week, but the move was retroactive to when he exited the lineup with a lower-body injury against the Stars on December 15. He will have satisfied the minimum 10-game, 28-day absence requirement ahead of their game Tuesday against the Flames and will be activated immediately upon becoming eligible.
Before the season began, Joseph and his $2.95MM cap hit were the subject of trade discussions to help alleviate the Senators’ difficult cap squeeze after a busy offseason. Without any takers, Joseph began the season still in Ottawa and responded with a career-best 0.76 points per game pace through his first 25 games, recording six goals, 13 assists, and a +12 rating that remains first on the team.
That depth production will prove extremely valuable in his return to the lineup. The Senators’ largest ailment this season has again been an inept bottom-six, one that’s produced a combined 18 goals sans Joseph as the season nears its halfway mark. Combined with subpar goaltending from Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo, the team remains last in the Eastern Conference with a 14-21-0 record and 28 points.
Crookshank and Smejkal now return to minor-league action for the foreseeable future, although both fared decently well in their first career NHL stints throughout the first half of the season. The 24-year-old Crookshank scored a goal and an assist in seven games and posted positive possession metrics despite being leaned on heavily in the defensive zone, although he did it in just 8:50 per game. Smejkal, 27, has one assist and a -2 rating in nine games this season.
Jonas Siegenthaler Likely Out Longer-Term With Broken Foot
Devils blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler sustained a broken foot in last night’s 6-4 loss to the Canucks and will be out for a “bit,” head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters postgame (including the team’s Amanda Stein). Siegenthaler sustained the injury while blocking a shot early in the second period but stayed on the ice trying to defend as the team couldn’t exit the zone, eventually resulting in a Vancouver goal against (video link, viewer discretion advised).
With number-one defenseman Dougie Hamilton already on the shelf as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle that may sideline him through the end of the regular season, the Devils are now without both halves of their top defense pairing to begin the season. Their injury bug, which already held forwards Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Ondřej Palát out of last night’s loss, has officially reached their defense corps, too.
The left-shot defender began his career as a depth defender for the Capitals before the Devils snagged him for a third-round pick in an April 2021 trade. It’s since emerged as one of the best deals of GM Tom Fitzgerald‘s tenure, as Siegenthaler immediately emerged as a top-four threat with consistently above-average defensive impacts. He notched five goals and 35 points, along with a +22 rating in 150 games throughout his first two seasons in the Garden State, averaging 20:21 per game.
His average ice time is down to 19:54 this season, although that’s dragged down significantly after he logged only 9:34 in last night’s loss before exiting with the foot fracture. Once again occupying top-pairing duties alongside Hamilton and now rookie Simon Nemec, Siegenthaler has a goal and seven assists in 38 games this year while posting a career-high Corsi share of 53% at even strength.
Siegenthaler’s injury will surely lead to more ice time for the Devils’ other star rookie blueliner, Luke Hughes, on the left side. Hughes leads Devils blueliners with seven goals and 23 points in 38 games this season.
The defensive load, however, will more likely shift to the two right-shot defenders behind Nemec on the depth chart: veterans John Marino and Colin Miller. Marino has made his living in the NHL as a shutdown defender, and his pairing with Hughes has been on the ice for just 4.8 expected goals against in 126 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. Miller, while averaging only 14:45 per game, leads Devils defenders with a +10 rating and his pairing with 23-year-old Kevin Bahl has controlled a remarkable 70.4% of expected goals in limited minutes together.
New Jersey now only has five healthy defensemen on the active roster, so they’ll need to recall a sixth from AHL Utica in the coming days. They have plenty of time to make a choice, though, as they don’t play again until next Thursday against the Lightning. They created a roster spot for one today, however, returning forward Graeme Clarke to Utica after he made his NHL debut last night against Vancouver. Clarke, 22, logged a +1 rating and one shot attempt in 9:32 of ice time, all of which came at even strength.
Avalanche Place Bowen Byram On IR
The Avalanche quietly placed defenseman Bowen Byram on injured reserve over the weekend, per CapFriendly’s transactions log. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed the news yesterday after their 8-4 loss to the Panthers, saying that Byram’s lower-body injury isn’t considered severe and is expected to sideline him for seven to 14 days (via DNVR Sports’ Meghan Angley).
Drafted by the Avalanche with the fourth overall pick in 2019, Byram had a breakout campaign last season with ten goals, 14 assists, 24 points and a +7 rating in 42 games despite being hampered significantly by a lower-body injury that sidelined him for over three months in the first half of the campaign. After reaching restricted free agency last summer, that performance earned him a two-year, $7.7MM deal to remain in Denver.
For the first time since turning pro in 2020, Byram started the season by staying healthy for a long stretch, playing in every one of the Avalanche’s games until missing yesterday’s loss to Florida. While he isn’t producing as much as last season with 12 points in 39 games, his defensive game has taken a step forward. Per Hockey Reference, Byram has been on the ice for 0.76 expected goals against per game at even strength while logging 18:22 per game at 5-on-5 or 4-on-4, down significantly from his 0.85 xGA per game last season.
While the knowledge he won’t be out long-term is reassuring, it’s another tough break for a young player who’s already had his development significantly marred by injuries. The 22-year-old does look well on his way to being a bona fide second-pairing defender throughout his time in the NHL, but the likelihood of him reaching his top-pairing ceiling is diminishing. According to data from NHL Injury Viz, Byram has missed 126 regular season games due to illness or injury over his first four seasons.
After last night’s game, the Avalanche also reassigned forward Ben Meyers to AHL Colorado after bringing him up to play fourth-line duties the day prior while depth winger Miles Wood is sidelined with an illness. The two transactions leave the Avalanche with 21 out of a maximum of 23 players on the active roster. Thus, Meyers could return to the Avalanche before tomorrow’s game against the Bruins if Wood isn’t healthy enough to play. Including last night, the 25-year-old Meyers has one goal in nine NHL appearances this season, averaging a career-low 9:34 per game.