Blackhawks Recall Brett Seney, Place Tyler Johnson On IR
The Blackhawks recalled forward Brett Seney from the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs on Monday, according to a team announcement. In a corresponding transaction, the team moved veteran Tyler Johnson to injured reserve.
This is the first recall of the season for the 27-year-old Seney. The 5-foot-9 natural center has been a bona fide top-six scorer in the minors since turning pro in 2018, but has never been able to truly lock down a full-time NHL role.
After spending the first five seasons of his pro career with the Devils and Maple Leafs, Seney joined the Blackhawks on a one-year, two-way deal with a salary guarantee of $475K prior to last season. He responded with a career-high 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points in 59 games with AHL Rockford, which resulted in two call-ups in the second half of the season. Skating in seven NHL games with Chicago last year, his most since logging 51 in his rookie season with the Devils in 2018-19, Seney recorded a goal and a -2 rating while averaging 13:08 per game.
In late March, Seney’s strong AHL production earned him a one-year extension with a small pay bump, increasing his salary guarantee to $500K for 2023-24. He’s responded with a slower start in Rockford after clearing waivers during training camp, posting eight goals and 21 points in 29 games, good enough for second in points behind Dave Gust on the struggling IceHogs. However, his -17 rating is the worst on the team, and he’s the only player with more than one point on the season with a rating worse than -10.
Still, he’s one of the better options left in the Blackhawks system to provide a punch to an already-weak offense that’s been destroyed by injuries. Major offseason acquisition Taylor Hall remains out for the season with a knee injury, while Joey Anderson, Andreas Athanasiou and Taylor Raddysh are all also on injured reserve.
Johnson, 33, now becomes the fifth Blackhawks forward on IR. He sustained a right foot injury in yesterday’s game against the Stars, and there is no timeline for his return. The aging Johnson had seen top-six minutes on multiple occasions this season thanks to the team’s rash of injuries and has nine goals and 13 points in 35 games, including a two-goal effort against Dallas last Friday.
He will miss at least the next seven days due to his IR placement, during which period the Blackhawks have four games. He’ll be eligible to return on January 9 against the Oilers.
Capitals Notes: Fehérváry, Jensen, Oshie, Milano, Lindgren, Pacioretty
Capitals defenseman Martin Fehérváry won’t be sidelined for long with his upper-body injury. After missing the team’s Saturday game against the Predators, the Slovak defenseman is eyeing a return against the Penguins tomorrow and skated in his normal spot on the team’s top pair alongside John Carlson at practice this morning, head coach Spencer Carbery said (via The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson).
Fehérváry sustained the injury early in last Friday’s game against the Islanders, skating just 2:18 before falling awkwardly into the boards and struggling to get to his feet. The 24-year-old has arrived as a legitimate top-four shutdown defender this season, posting the best possession metrics of his career and logging some penalty kill time with good relative results. His offense was never expected to be the calling card of his game, although his five points through 28 games is a bit slower pace than his career 0.22 points per game average.
Other notes from Capitals practice this morning:
- If Fehérváry can return for tomorrow’s game, expect Nick Jensen to sit out as a healthy scratch to create room in the lineup, per the AP’s Stephen Whyno. The arrival of Ethan Bear, who made his Capitals debut Saturday and played over 20 minutes, has created a bit of a roster crunch, especially among the team’s right-shot defenders. Still, this is disappointing news for the 33-year-old, fresh off signing a three-year, $12.15MM extension. He’s yet to score a goal in 34 games this season and has logged just six assists, a sharp decline after notching nearly 30 points last season. His possession metrics have also nosedived after a few seasons of being one of the strong possession-control players in the league, limiting his on-ice value and making the choice to extend him look a tad dicey.
- Carbery issued multiple injury updates after practice as well, calling the latest news on IR-bound forwards Sonny Milano and T.J. Oshie “not positive,” per Johnson. Oshie is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while Milano will be out longer on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury. The update is arguably a good sign for Oshie, though, signifying he’s getting closer to a return after missing the team’s last seven games. It’s been a tough season for the 37-year-old winger, who’s dealing with his second significant injury absence and has just four points in 21 games. Milano, meanwhile, has already missed nine games with his injury and doesn’t appear close to returning to practice anytime soon. The middle-six skill winger was amidst a down season with eight points in 23 games.
- Netminder Charlie Lindgren is also listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Carbery said. He sat out Saturday’s game against the Predators after leaving in the first period of Friday’s game and will miss at least two more contests. Lindgren, 30, has been one of the most statistically efficient netminders in the league this year, and his .928 SV% is tied with the Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman for second in the league among all netminders with at least ten starts.
- Veteran winger Max Pacioretty, now coming off his second Achilles surgery in a matter of months, is expected to make his Capitals debut in the second half of the Capitals’ upcoming back-to-back against the Devils on Wednesday, per Carbery. Pacioretty has been nearing a return for weeks, but Carbery said the Capitals have been trying to position his return without needing him to play in back-to-back contests. The 35-year-old was limited to just 44 out of 164 contests in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons due to Achilles injuries.
Maple Leafs Recall Dennis Hildeby
The Maple Leafs recalled rookie netminder Dennis Hildeby from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Monday morning, per a team release. Hildeby joined the Maple Leafs at practice this morning and is expected to dress for his first NHL game Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Hildeby replaces Ilya Samsonov on the active roster, who will be assigned to the minors after 1 p.m. CT today, assuming he clears waivers. The latter’s struggles this season are well-documented, posting a .862 SV% that’s second-worst in the league among qualified netminders.
It’s been a dramatic fall from grace for Samsonov, who conceded at least four goals in his past four starts after blanking the Predators with an 18-save shutout on December 9. He’s just a few months removed from guiding the Maple Leafs to their first playoff series win since 2004 and stopping 17.4 goals above average in 42 appearances in 2022-23.
Multiple reports indicate Samsonov will not appear in a game with AHL Toronto, at least not immediately after his demotion this week. The team’s hope is to give him a dedicated space to work with the team’s development staff and rehabilitate his game.
New de facto starter Joseph Woll is sidelined longer-term with a high ankle sprain. That means veteran Martin Jones, initially signed to be the team’s third option in the net behind Samsonov and Woll, will see the lion’s share of starts before Woll can return to action, likely sometime later this month or next.
Supplementing Jones will be Hildeby, who has put up spectacular numbers in his first full season in the North American pro circuit. He’s had a quick rise up the prospect ranks since being passed over in three straight drafts (2019, 2020 and 2021), finally heading to the Maple Leafs in the fourth round, 122nd overall, in 2022.
Since then, the 22-year-old’s play has been elite. The Maple Leafs signed Hildeby to an entry-level contract only a few weeks after acquiring his rights in the draft, but they returned him to his Swedish Hockey League club, Färjestad BK, on loan for the 2022-23 season. There, he split the crease with current Lightning netminder Matt Tomkins, posting a strong 2.26 GAA and .918 SV% with three shutouts in 21 regular-season games.
After the SHL campaign concluded, Hildeby made three appearances (two regular-season, one playoff) for the Marlies, but only one start. This season, however, with Woll’s injury forcing a domino effect, Hildeby took over the starting role for them and hasn’t looked back. Through 15 games, the 6-foot-7 Swede has a .919 SV%, 2.20 GAA, two shutouts, and a 7-5-3 record. He’s allowed four-plus goals in a game only twice and has not been pulled from a game.
The Leafs aren’t looking to Hildeby to “save their season.” After all, the team is still in solid playoff positioning with a third-place standing in the Atlantic Division. Although they’re tied in points with the Lightning with 41, they have four games in hand on their playoff rivals, leading to a significant gap in their points percentages.
However, they are hoping he can give the team some more chances to win – something Samsonov hasn’t done on too many occasions as of late. If Hildeby can post a SV% even just slightly below league average in his first NHL stint, it will be a major upgrade on Samsonov’s performance this year and could help fault Toronto into a top-two finish in the Atlantic. With a back-to-back upcoming against the Kings tomorrow and the Ducks Wednesday, he will likely make his first NHL start within the next 72 hours.
Hildeby’s contract carries a $843.3K cap hit, less than the maximum $1.15MM in cap savings afforded by burying Samsonov’s contract in the minors. Thus, the Leafs will add roughly $275K in cap space with this transaction, giving them some breathing room under their nearly maxed-out LTIR salary pool.
Rangers Assign Adam Edstrom To AHL
Sunday: Edstrom’s second stint with the Rangers was short-lived as the team announced that he has been sent back to the Wolf Pack. Edstrom did not see any game action while on recall.
Thursday: The Rangers recalled forward Adam Edstrom from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack on Thursday, per a team release. This is the first non-emergency recall in his career.
Edstrom, 23, made his NHL debut before the holiday break, scoring one goal on three shots in 9:39 of ice time against the Ducks on December 17. The hulking 6-foot-6 Swedish center gives the Rangers some injury insurance as a 13th forward for their two-game road swing through Florida to close out 2023.
Drafted by the Rangers in the sixth round in 2019, Edstrom played three years with Rögle in the Swedish Hockey League before signing his entry-level contract shortly after the 2021-22 season concluded. The Rangers again loaned him out to Rögle last season, where he notched a career-high nine goals and 19 points in 42 games. To end the campaign, they assigned him to Hartford for his first taste of North American pro hockey after Skellefteå eliminated Rögle in the quarterfinals of the SHL playoffs.
Edstrom began this season in Hartford as expected. His eight goals in 24 games rank fifth on the Wolf Pack, a good start for a player widely viewed as having a limited offensive ceiling. Edstrom’s best-case scenario is still panning out as a third-line checking center, but so far, he looks to be in quite a solid place in his development for such a late-round pick.
Ian Mitchell Clears Waivers
Saturday: Mitchell has cleared waivers, Friedman reports, paving the way for him to be sent back to Providence, a move they quickly made.
Friday: The Bruins placed defenseman Ian Mitchell on waivers Friday, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Boston has ferried Mitchell up and down between the NHL and AHL frequently throughout this season, his first in the Bruins organization. This is his second time on the waiver wire since the regular season began, last clearing on October 26. Given that he’s now played more than ten games in Boston since then, he will need to clear them again to head to AHL Providence.
Most recently, the Bruins brought Mitchell up from Providence under emergency conditions on December 23, and he logged 10:50 of ice time and recorded a +1 rating in that night’s 3-2 loss to the Wild. Boston converted his recall into a standard one the following day. He was a healthy scratch in their lone game since the holiday break, a win over the Sabres on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old right-shot defender has played in 13 games for the Bruins on the season, logging replacement-level stats in replacement-level minutes. He’s recorded two assists, a +6 rating, and a mediocre Corsi share of 46.6% at even strength while averaging 15:18 per game. He’s also made four appearances for the P-Bruins this season, recording an assist and a -4 rating. The 2017 second-round pick of the Blackhawks joined the Bruins in June when his signing rights were part of the trade for winger Taylor Hall, promptly inking a one-year, one-way deal worth the league minimum of $775K.
Mitchell has always been a strong skater and was a high-end point producer in college, but he hasn’t shown the all-around game worthy of an NHL defender throughout his four seasons of experience at the top level. He’s never eclipsed the 40-game mark in a single season and has yet to avoid an AHL assignment, only earning NHL jobs as the sixth or seventh defenseman on the Blackhawks’ and Bruins’ depth charts at the highest. He lands on the waiver wire today with four goals, 14 assists and 18 points with a -15 rating over 95 NHL games.
It’s unlikely another team will submit a claim for Mitchell over the next 24 hours since he’s already gone unclaimed once this season. He will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration eligibility next summer.
Islanders Recall Ken Appleby Under Emergency Conditions
6:00 PM: Appleby’s stint with Bridgeport was short-lived as Rosner notes that Appleby is back up and serving as the second-stringer once again tonight.
Dec. 29, 7:31 AM: Appleby was evidently returned to Bridgeport on Friday morning, as he is no longer listed on the Islanders’ roster on the NHL media site (via The Hockey News’ Stefen Rosner). As such, Varlamov is likely healthy enough to dress for today’s game.
Dec. 28: The Islanders recalled netminder Ken Appleby from AHL Bridgeport under emergency conditions on Thursday. Semyon Varlamov, who made six saves on seven shots in relief of Ilya Sorokin in last night’s 7-0 loss to the Penguins, did not practice with the team today for maintenance purposes. His status for Friday’s game against the Capitals is uncertain.
The team also assigned defenseman Grant Hutton to Bridgeport, which will likely be reversed tomorrow. Hutton is the team’s seventh defenseman for the time being, as Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock are all on injured reserve. The Islanders have been returning him to Bridgeport on off-days to reduce his time spent on the roster and draw out his waiver-exempt status as long as possible.
Appleby has three NHL games to his name, all coming with the Devils in January 2018. Now 28 years old, Appleby stopped 52 of 55 shots faced for a .945 SV% across one start and two relief appearances.
The undrafted free agent has spent time in both the AHL and ECHL since. After making his debut with the Devils, Appleby spent one season under contract with the Jets before spending the entire 2019-10 campaign in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades. He put his name back on the NHL radar there, posting a .913 SV% in 42 games before the league paused operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He parlayed that performance into a two-way contract with the Islanders signed near the end of the 2020-21 campaign, where he’s remained since. Now in his fourth season, Appleby has primarily been the team’s fifth-string goalie behind Sorokin, Varlamov, Cory Schneider, and Jakub Škarek, resulting in most of his playing time coming with the Islanders’ ECHL affiliate in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Appleby has been upgraded to full-time AHL status in 2023-24 with Schneider no longer in the organization, serving as Škarek’s backup and posting a .898 SV% in ten games. While the younger Škarek has received more starts in Bridgeport, he’s been the worse statistical netminder, posting a difficult-to-swallow 3-13-2 record and .877 SV%.
The 6-foot-4 Ontarian is in the final season of a two-year, two-way extension, earning him $130K in guaranteed salary this year. He will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
Kraken Activate André Burakovsky
The Kraken activated winger André Burakovsky from the injured list today, per CapFriendly’s transactions log. He will be an option for tonight’s game against the Flyers after participating in the team’s morning skate. Burakovsky had been listed as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury since early this month, his second long-term absence of the season.
While a true top-six threat, the 28-year-old Burakovsky hasn’t had much of a chance to show off his skills since signing a five-year, $27.5MM pact with the Kraken as a free agent in 2022. He’s played in 56 out of 118 regular-season games (less than half) since the beginning of 2022 due to injuries and missed all 14 postseason contests last year. A groin muscle tear cost him the latter half of 2022-23, while an upper-body injury sidelined him for 20 consecutive games earlier this season.
That’s limited Burakovsky to seven games on the season for the struggling Kraken, notching three assists. With 39 points in 49 games last season, Burakovsky was the team’s second-highest scorer on a per-game basis. His 0.80 points per game were behind only Jared McCann‘s 0.89.
He’s coming back at the right time for Seattle, who’s rattled off three straight wins for the first time this season and are 5-0-2 in their past seven games. It’s been a crucial run for a team looking to right the ship and make their second consecutive postseason appearance. At one game below the .500 mark, they still have a ways to go, but they currently sit just three points back of the Predators for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
The Kraken only had 22 players on the active roster prior to activating Burakovsky, so no corresponding move is necessary.
Maple Leafs Activate Mark Giordano From LTIR
The Maple Leafs have activated Mark Giordano from long-term injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Blue Jackets, per the NHL’s media portal. He will return to the lineup in a third-pairing role alongside Timothy Liljegren, with William Lagesson sitting as a healthy scratch to make room. With an open spot on the active roster and ample cap space, thanks to the team’s multiple other contracts on LTIR, no corresponding transaction is needed to activate him.
Giordano, 40, will make his first appearance since sustaining a finger fracture against the Panthers on November 28. The injury caused him to miss 12 games, his most significant absence since he missed 32 regular-season and playoff games as a member of the Flames with an arm injury in 2015.
The former Flames and Kraken captain is now the oldest skater in the NHL and is in his third season with Toronto, who nabbed him from Seattle at the 2022 trade deadline along with forward Colin Blackwell for multiple draft picks. Now in the second half of a two-year, $1.6MM extension signed in May 2022, Giordano has one goal and five points in 20 games this season and is looking to advance past the second round of the playoffs for the first time in his 1,122-game career.
Giordano’s defensive impacts have been good this season when not stapled on a pairing with the struggling John Klingberg, who is now done for the season after requiring hip surgery. The Maple Leafs have received solid defensive play from Lagesson and Simon Benoit, who will form a shutdown pairing with Jake McCabe tonight, in the wake of injuries to their more established veterans on the blueline.
Reggie Savage Passes Away
Former Capitals and Quebec Nordiques forward Reggie Savage passed away last Sunday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 53 years old.
Savage’s NHL career may have only included a handful of games, but he managed to find his way into the league record books while amassing an extremely respectable minor-league and overseas résumé. Drafted 15th overall by the Capitals after scoring 68 goals in 68 games for the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, Savage would record nine points in seven games for Canada at the following year’s World Junior Championship, outscoring future NHLers Rod Brind’Amour, Andrew Cassels, Éric Desjardins, Martin Gélinas, and Mike Ricci. It would be another couple of seasons before Savage would get a shot in the NHL, though, playing just one game with the Capitals in 1990-91.
Two years later, Savage found himself back in the NHL again. On November 18, 1992, he became one of five players in league history to score his first NHL goal on a penalty shot, beating Minnesota North Stars netminder Jon Casey. He played 16 games for Washington that year, recording two goals and five points. The Capitals traded him to the Nordiques the following offseason, where he would play a career-high 17 games and score seven points in 1993-94.
Those would be Savage’s last games at the sport’s highest level, although he remained on two-way NHL contracts for various organizations throughout the decade, and his playing career continued until 2005. Savage was an extremely productive force in the AHL, scoring 259 goals and 442 points in 481 games across ten seasons while accumulating 557 penalty minutes. Overseas, he notched 28 points in 31 games for second-tier Swiss National League clubs EHC Biel-Bienne and EHC Visp in 2001-02, also notching two goals in four games for Team Canada at that year’s Spengler Cup. Playing for Italian league club Asiago in the 1998-99 and 2002-03 campaigns, Savage was an explosive scoring threat with 51 goals and 112 points in 67 games.
Savage is one of 11 Black players in Capitals history and will continue to be honored as part of a permanent display that was erected at Capital One Arena early last year. All of us at PHR send our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.
Kings Sign Angus Booth To Entry-Level Contract
Kings defenseman prospect Angus Booth signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the team on Friday, per a team release. The deal carries an average annual value of $852.5K.
Los Angeles selected Booth in the fourth round of the 2022 draft with the 116th overall pick. The 19-year-old Montréaler is in his fourth season of junior play with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes.
The 6-foot, 176-pound left-shot defender grades out as a third-pairing threat who’s adept in transition. Unfortunately, his point production has stagnated since his draft year. He churned out 22 assists and one goal in 42 games with the Cataractes in 2021-22 but followed that up with 19 total points in 62 games the following season with a -7 rating.
His play this season has returned to the level he displayed during his draft year, but he hasn’t gotten much further in either his offensive or defensive stats. That’s why it’s a tad surprising to see the Kings extend an entry-level contract to Booth with six months remaining before he would re-enter the draft if not signed.
Since Booth will play less than ten NHL games this season, the beginning of his deal will slide to the 2024-25 campaign. He will be a restricted free agent upon the expiration of his ELC in 2027.