Penguins Recall Jonathan Gruden
2:00 PM: The Penguins have re-assigned Gruden to the AHL, as Carter participated in the team’s Tuesday practice.
9:30 AM: The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled forward Jonathan Gruden from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday morning, per a team announcement.
Gruden, 23, will serve as the team’s 13th forward while veteran Jeff Carter is sidelined with an upper-body injury. The Penguins had an open spot on the 23-man roster and just enough cap space to recall his $775K cap hit, so no corresponding transaction is needed.
The left winger made his NHL debut last season, going without a point in three games and registering just one shot while averaging 5:20 per game. A 2018 fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, Gruden has played all of his pro hockey in the Penguins organization after an October 2020 trade that saw him and a second-round pick head to Pittsburgh in exchange for the signing rights to two-time Stanley Cup champion netminder Matt Murray.
Gruden took a significant step forward in his development last season, finishing fourth on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 16 goals in 54 games and totaling 31 points. He’s off to a much slower start this year, however, scoring twice and adding one assist through 12 games.
The son of former NHL defenseman and current AHL Toronto Marlies head coach John Gruden will need waivers to return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton if he plays ten games during his recall or stays on the Penguins roster for more than 30 days, both of which are unlikely scenarios.
Flyers Loan Cal Petersen, Victor Mete To AHL
Nov. 14: It took quite a while, but the Flyers confirmed the loan of Petersen and Mete to the Phantoms Tuesday morning in a team statement.
Nov. 13: The Philadelphia Flyers returned goaltender Cal Petersen and defenseman Victor Mete to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday, Dylan H. Robillard of Olde City Sports Network reports.
Petersen, 29, was brought up from the AHL at the beginning of the month in the wake of a mid-body injury to starter Carter Hart. Acquired over the summer from the Los Angeles Kings in the Ivan Provorov three-team trade with the Blue Jackets, the Notre Dame graduate started two games for the Flyers, both against his former team, going 1-1-0 with a .896 SV% and 3.50 GAA.
It has been a difficult past few seasons for Petersen, who has lost his grip on a full-time NHL job after signing a three-year, $15MM extension with the Kings in advance of the 2021-22 season that didn’t begin until 2022-23. In hindsight, it’s turned out to be a premature gamble from Kings GM Rob Blake, as Petersen has started just 46 NHL games since signing the deal with a .890 SV%, 3.08 GAA and three shutouts.
Petersen’s extremely poor start to 2022-23 earned him a demotion to the minors, where he spent most of the season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. There, he posted a .904 SV% in 40 games and earned a spot on Team USA at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, where he excelled with a 0.72 GAA, .956 SV% and 3-0-0 record, leading some to believe he could rebound in the City of Brotherly Love after the trade went through.
That hasn’t been the case, though, as Petersen finished training camp fourth on the Flyers’ netminding depth chart behind Hart and his young backups, Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandström. Petersen has struggled through four games with Lehigh Valley, where he returns to improve on his current 1-3-0 record and .884 SV%.
Mete has now been recalled and returned to the Phantoms for the second time since passing through waivers during the preseason. Serving as a healthy scratch twice after his second recall on November 5, Mete made his Flyers debut on Saturday against the Kings, posting zeroes across the board in less than 11 minutes of ice time.
The Flyers signed Mete, 25, to a one-year, two-way deal with a $775K cap hit in July. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and has one assist and a -3 rating through five games with the Phantoms.
Sabres Activate, Reassign Brandon Biro
The Buffalo Sabres have activated winger Brandon Biro from injured reserve and assigned him to the AHL’s Rochester Americans, per a team release.
Buffalo recalled Biro, 25, from Rochester on Halloween and played in two contests before exiting the lineup with an upper-body injury and landing on IR. Skating just his second career NHL game against the Flyers on November 1 (he made one appearance for the Sabres at the tail end of 2021-22), Biro notched two goals and a +2 rating in 10:59 of ice time.
He played again against the Flyers on November 3 but did not suit up for the team’s game the following day against the Maple Leafs and was promptly placed on IR. Biro now returns to Rochester, where the Alberta-born winger has two goals and four assists in five games.
While he may be a bit old to end up with a full-time NHL career, Biro has been an extremely productive player in the minors since turning pro after four years at Penn State in 2020. Signing with the Sabres as an undrafted free agent, Biro has played in 117 games for Rochester across four seasons, notching 32 goals, 71 assists and 103 points.
After clearing waivers preseason, Biro can play up to ten games and be on the active roster for 30 days before he needs them to return to Rochester again. His call-up took a small chunk out of that, but he will remain one of the Sabres’ top call-up options should injuries strike.
Panthers Reassign William Lockwood To AHL
The Florida Panthers reassigned winger William Lockwood to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers on Monday, a team release states.
Lockwood, 25, earned a recall from Charlotte just one week into the season after scoring two goals and adding an assist in his first two games. He played seven games with the Panthers on his recall, but he didn’t get on the scoresheet, averaged just 7:27 per game, and was a healthy scratch Sunday against the Blackhawks as center Sam Bennett returned from a lower-body injury.
The 5-foot-11, 172-pound two-way winger signed a two-year, two-way deal worth $1.525MM with the Panthers this summer after spending the better part of three seasons in the Vancouver Canucks organization. A third-round pick of the team in 2016, Lockwood spent four years at the University of Michigan before turning pro with the Canucks in 2020.
Most of his time there was spent in AHL Abbotsford and the Utica Comets, where he had 54 points in 96 games across three seasons. He did get a look in 28 NHL games with the Canucks but managed just one assist, failing to translate much of any offensive success to the NHL.
That was never where his game would rest if he could make a full go of things in the NHL, however. He’s an adept penalty-killer by nature and wouldn’t be counted on for more than 20 or 30 points in a season at most.
He finished last season on a strong note, posting 12 points in 17 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack after a trade sent him to the New York Rangers organization. He never earned a recall to the NHL roster in the Big Apple, though, and the team didn’t re-sign him when he hit Group VI unrestricted free agency in July.
With the transaction, the Panthers are down to 21 players on the active roster, with the only extra skater being defenseman Mike Reilly. Defenseman Brandon Montour is expected to come off injured reserve soon, although no transaction was necessary to activate him with a roster spot available.
Returning Lockwood to the minors now allows him to head directly to Charlotte without needing waivers. Had he stayed on the NHL roster for four more days, he would have required them after his 30-day temporary waiver exempt period expired after clearing during pre-season. It also allows the Panthers to accrue a little bit of cap space, as without Lockwood’s $775K cap hit, the team does not need the LTIR relief of Montour and Aaron Ekblad to stay cap-compliant.
Blue Jackets Recall David Jiříček, Place Jack Roslovic On IR
The Columbus Blue Jackets brought top defense prospect David Jiříček back up from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on Monday, per a team release. In a corresponding move, forward Jack Roslovic was placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss four to six weeks with a fractured ankle.
Roslovic, 26, sustained the injury in Sunday’s 4-3 shootout loss at the hands of the New York Rangers. Playing in 14 out of 15 games for Columbus this season, Roslovic has two goals and six assists for eight points with 29 shots on goal and has averaged 16:30 of ice time per game.
The 2021 trade acquisition from the Winnipeg Jets has been working his way up the lineup after starting the season in a bottom-six role, yesterday skating on a line with Johnny Gaudreau and Cole Sillinger. In his place, 24-year-old Emil Bemström, who has three goals and an assist in 11 games this season, will likely slot into the lineup Tuesday against the Penguins.
A hometown son, Roslovic has been inconsistent throughout his NHL career but has provided decent secondary scoring on the whole since arriving in Columbus, notching 47 goals, 84 assists and 131 points in 220 games with the Blue Jackets. The 2015 first-round pick is in the final season of a two-year, $8MM deal and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Jiříček, meanwhile, earns a deserved ride back to the NHL roster after being sent down Saturday to make room on the 23-man roster to activate Patrik Laine off IR. His ice time has been rather limited this season at 13:34 per game, a curious move by head coach Pascal Vincent considering his pairing with Ivan Provorov has been decent, as he’s registered a goal and two points along with 19 shot attempts.
Columbus selected Jiříček, who will be 20 later this month, with the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Playing in the AHL during his rookie pro season, a rare feat for a player fresh off his draft season, he notched 38 points in 55 games for the Monsters last year and was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for December. Jiříček, now the eighth Blue Jackets defenseman on the NHL roster, could return to the lineup tomorrow.
Blackhawks’ Andreas Athanasiou Out Week-To-Week
Chicago Blackhawks forward Andreas Athanasiou is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, head coach Luke Richardson told reporters Monday (via Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago). Richardson also said that the Blackhawks expect winger Taylor Hall, who missed Sunday’s game against Florida with a lower-body injury, to return to practice Wednesday.
Athanasiou, 29, skated just 8:44 against the Lightning on November 9 and, along with Hall, missed the game against the Panthers yesterday. The 470-game veteran is off to a disappointing start in 2023-24, notching just four assists through 11 games and already earning a healthy scratch.
Hopes were high coming into the season that, along with Hall, Athanasiou could be a capable wingman or power-play mate for Connor Bedard as he makes his transition to NHL stardom. The 2012 fourth-round pick of the Red Wings has always struggled with consistency, but he did pot 20 goals and 40 points in 81 games for a lowly Blackhawks team last year while averaging 16 minutes per night.
Unfortunately, he’s slid down to a bottom-six role and is failing to get much of anything going offensively, although he has posted improved possession numbers compared to last season with a relative Corsi share of 3.8% at even strength. He signed a two-year, $8.5MM contract extension to remain in the Windy City last summer.
Athansiou’s absence should provide more opportunity for players like Mackenzie Entwistle, who’s now expected to center the third line after averaging 10:51 per game through eight contests. The 24-year-old has notched a goal and an assist while posting a -2 rating in his third full NHL season.
Meanwhile, this is positive news for Hall, who’s dealing with his third separate injury-related absence of the young season. Hall sustained a shoulder injury in just the second game of the season and was expected to miss significant time, but he made a rushed return to the lineup after missing just five days and one game.
He played three more before reaggravating the injury, which this time caused him to miss about two weeks and three games of action. With two years remaining at a $6MM cap hit, Hall has two goals and two assists in eight games as a Blackhawk.
On a smaller note, Richardson also mentioned that forward Colin Blackwell, who’s yet to play this season after undergoing sports hernia surgery last March, is getting closer to a return but “still has one more hurdle to clear.” Blackwell, entering the final season of a two-year deal with a $1.2MM cap hit, had two goals and ten points in 53 games for Chicago last season.
Sharks Recall Daniil Gushchin, Place Oskar Lindblom On IR
4:48 PM: In a clarification report, Sheng Peng of NBC Sports has relayed that Lindblom has in fact been placed on the injured reserve, rather than being sent down to the Barracuda.
2:02 PM: The San Jose Sharks recalled forward prospect Daniil Gushchin from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda on Monday, per a team release. Forward Oskar Lindblom was returned to the Barracuda. in a corresponding transaction.
Gushchin hasn’t been the subject of much public discussion, but he’s seen his stock rise significantly since the Sharks selected him in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He’s off to a great start in the minors this season, leading the Barracuda in scoring with four goals, nine assists and 13 points in 11 games.
The 21-year-old right winger was a prolific scorer in junior hockey, leading the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks and the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs in scoring in his first two post-draft seasons. While he’s got a great shot, he also possesses the talents to develop into a proficient two-way winger, with Elite Prospects calling him a “tenacious back checker who often almost functions as a third defenseman in transition at times.”
Gushchin did not look out of place in a two-game call-up at the end of last season. Skating on a line with Tomáš Hertl and Jacob Peterson, he averaged 15:55 per game and notched his first two NHL points, a goal and an assist.
He was active in getting pucks toward the net during his stint, too, averaging four shots on goal and six shot attempts per game. The Sharks’ next game is on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers, during which he could make his 2023-24 NHL season debut.
Meanwhile, Lindblom returns to the minors after a five-day recall. He was on the Sharks’ active roster for their last three games but only played once, recording no shots and a -1 rating in 11:56 of action against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday. The 27-year-old cleared waivers preseason after failing to make the team out of camp and recording just six goals in 73 games last season.
In the second year of a two-year deal earning him $2.5MM per season, it is still a remarkable comeback story for Lindblom, who’s still managed to leverage a solid pro career after missing most of the 2020 calendar year while undergoing treatment for Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. In eight games with the Barracuda this season, Lindblom has a goal, assist and -6 rating.
While buried in the minors, $1.35MM of Lindblom’s $2.5MM cap hit still counts against the team’s salary cap. With defenseman Radim Simek also counting $1.1MM against the cap while buried in the minors, the Sharks are currently hit with a $2.45MM penalty for buried players.
Wild Place Frédérick Gaudreau On LTIR, Recall Jesper Wallstedt
The Minnesota Wild moved forward Frédérick Gaudreau to long-term injured reserve on Monday, according to a team statement. Additionally, the team recalled top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt to accompany the team as their third goalie for upcoming games in Sweden for the NHL Global Series.
Teams are permitted to carry a third goalie for international games, meaning Wallstedt will not count against the salary cap nor the 23-man roster limit but is eligible to enter a game if both Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson become injured while the team is overseas. The 2021 20th-overall pick is off to a breakneck start with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, recording a 2.01 GAA, .932 SV%, two shutouts, and a 6-2-0 record through eight games.
Meanwhile, Gaudreau has been moved to LTIR to increase the Wild’s salary pool. The 30-year-old winger/center has missed the last nine games with an upper-body injury and has not played since October 14 against the Edmonton Oilers.
Gaudreau has missed the 28-day requirement for LTIR but not the ten-game requirement, meaning Gaudreau cannot be activated until after the first of Minnesota’s two games in Sweden against the Ottawa Senators. Given he will not travel with the team to Sweden, the earliest Gaudreau can conceivably return to the Wild lineup is November 24 against the Colorado Avalanche.
Before sustaining the injury, Gaudreau was off to a slow start, failing to record a point in six games and posting a -2 rating. It’s not the beginning he (or the Wild) envisioned after he inked a five-year, $10.5MM extension with trade protection to remain in the State of Hockey last April.
If Wallstedt is forced into action for the Wild while in his home country, it will be the 20-year-old’s NHL debut.
Canucks Place Jack Studnicka On Waivers
The Vancouver Canucks placed forward Jack Studnicka on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks on Monday, general manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement.
Studnicka, 24, has been a healthy scratch in nine out of the last ten contests. The 2017 second-round pick last played on November 2 in the team’s 10-1 drubbing of the San Jose Sharks, logging 17:09 of ice time but failing to get on the scoresheet or record a shot on goal.
This is Studnicka’s second time on the waiver wire this season. He cleared just before the season started but was recalled under emergency conditions after the Canucks’ first game after salary cap constraints forced them to dress only 17 skaters.
Studnicka was placed on the active roster from his emergency exception five days later and has remained with the Canucks since. Since more than 30 days elapsed since his initial recall on October 12, his temporary waiver exception has lapsed, and he must clear again to return to Abbotsford.
In five games with Vancouver this season, Studnicka has one goal, coming in his season debut on October 14 against the Edmonton Oilers. He has averaged 10:11 per game but attempted just eight shots during his time in the lineup, four of which got on goal.
If he clears, Studnicka could make his debut for Abbotsford this week. He has not played for Vancouver’s primary minor-league affiliate since they acquired him from the Boston Bruins in exchange for goalie prospect Michael Dipietro and defense prospect Jonathan Myrenberg early in the 2022-23 season.
In 90 NHL games across five seasons with the Bruins and Canucks, Studnicka has six goals, ten assists, 16 points, and a -16 rating. He’s been much more productive in the AHL since his pro debut in 2018, recording 34 goals and 62 assists for 96 points in 117 contests with the Providence Bruins.
Studnicka is in the final season of a two-year, $1.525MM contract with a $762.5K cap hit. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.
Coyotes’ Jack McBain Out Week-To-Week
Update November 13th, 10:57am: McBain has been placed on Injured Reserve today as per CapFriendly.
November 11th: Arizona Coyotes forward Jack McBain is now listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the team said Saturday evening.
McBain sustained the injury late in Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, likely suffering something related to his left leg after crashing into the boards. The 23-year-old is off to a solid start with four goals and three assists in 13 games this season, including a two-goal, four-point showing against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 30.
A third-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2018, the Coyotes acquired McBain’s signing rights in a March 2022 trade after he posted 33 points in 24 games during his senior season at Boston College and representing Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics. He played in all 82 games during his rookie season last year, finishing 12th on the team in scoring with 26 points while averaging nearly 14 minutes per game.
After hitting restricted free agency last summer and filing for salary arbitration, the Coyotes and McBain settled on a two-year, $3.2MM contract just before his scheduled hearing. He will again be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when the deal expires in 2025.
McBain has seen his ice time decreased somewhat this season to around the 12-minute mark, given the team’s increased forward depth. However, he’s still been a solid contributor in the team’s bottom six, and he’s out-produced many of the Coyotes’ third- and fourth-line regulars, including summer UFA signings Alexander Kerfoot and Jason Zucker.
The Coyotes have not moved McBain to IR or LTIR, but they’ll need to make a corresponding transaction if they wish to recall a forward from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners to replace him, as their 23-player roster is full.