Rangers Recall Three Players, Jonathan Quick Day-To-Day
Nov. 10: The Rangers returned all three players to AHL Hartford on Friday morning, a team announcement states. If Shesterkin and Quick won’t be ready to return for Sunday’s game against the Blue Jackets, expect this transaction to be reversed over the weekend.
Nov. 8: The New York Rangers have recalled goaltender Louis Domingue, goaltender Dylan Garand and defenseman Connor Mackey from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, according to a team release Wednesday afternoon. Consequentially, backup goaltender Jonathan Quick is now listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post.
New York is now without both halves of its usual one-two punch in net, as starter Igor Shesterkin remains sidelined on a day-to-day basis with an undisclosed injury. The Rangers are “being cautious” in his return and won’t rush him back to the lineup, per Walker.
Shesterkin, 27, has not played since stopping 26 of 27 shots against the Carolina Hurricanes last Thursday. The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner has been slightly more average than we’re used to seeing this year, posting a .913 SV% and 2.36 GAA through eight starts.
The Rangers must hope Quick’s absence doesn’t last for more than a game or two, either. Expectations were low for the 37-year-old Stanley Cup champion after he signed a one-year deal worth $825K in free agency, but he’s excelled thus far, posting a 3-0-1 record, .936 SV%, 1.77 GAA, and one shutout through five appearances in a Rangers sweater.
As a result of Quick’s injury, one of Domingue or Garand will make his Rangers debut Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. Domingue cleared waivers to begin the season but has been papered up and down twice over the past week to serve as Quick’s backup for the team’s last two contests. The 31-year-old has eight years and 142 games of NHL experience to his name but hasn’t started more than ten games in a season since 2019-20 with the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks and didn’t see any NHL starts with the Rangers last season, spending the entire season with Hartford.
He’s been the better netminder out of himself and Garand with the Wolf Pack this season, posting a .934 SV% and a 3-1-0 record in four appearances. Garand, a 2020 fourth-round pick, has also played well, recording a .914 SV%, 2.63 GAA and 3-1-1 record in five games. The 21-year-old is in his second pro season after winning CHL Goaltender of the Year honors with the Kamloops Blazers in 2021-22.
This is the third recall for Mackey, 27, this month after the defender cleared waivers during the preseason. He’s yet to appear in a game for the Rangers and will likely serve as a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game against the Wild.
Mackey made 30 NHL appearances for the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes last season, recording three goals and seven points. He earned a relatively lucrative two-way contract with the Rangers last summer, paying him $775K in the NHL and $400K in the AHL. In seven games with the Wolf Pack this year, he’s notched two points, a +8 rating, and racked up 17 penalty minutes.
Senators Reassign Nikolas Matinpalo To AHL
The Ottawa Senators reassigned defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo to the AHL’s Belleville Senators on Friday, per a team announcement.
Matinpalo, 25, was a scratch in Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. He came out of the lineup to make way for Artem Zub, who returned to action after missing seven games with a concussion.
The Senators signed Matinpalo to a one-year entry-level contract in May with an $885K cap hit. An undrafted free agent at the time, Matinpalo had just made his international debut for Finland, recording a goal, two assists, and a +5 rating in eight games at the 2023 IIHF World Championship.
Born in Espoo, Matinpalo had spent his entire professional career in the Finnish Liiga before joining the Senators, aside from a handful of loans to the second-tier Mestis. In 205 Liiga games across five seasons with Ilves and Ässät, the bulky right-shot defender had 14 goals, 20 assists, 34 points, 121 PIMs, and a +4 rating.
In four games of NHL action in the absence of Zub, Erik Brännström and Thomas Chabot on the Sens’ backend, Matinpalo averaged just seven minutes per game and didn’t get on the scoresheet. He did well defensively in limited action, though, controlling 54.5% of shot attempts when he was on the ice at even strength.
He’ll now head back to Belleville, where he’s logged a goal through his first four minor-league games. Matinpalo will be a restricted free agent next July, and his qualifying offer is $840K, per CapFriendly.
Bruins’ Morgan Geekie Out Week-To-Week
11/09/23: The Bruins have announced that Geekie has been placed on injured reserve. Geekie’s place on the Bruins’ roster has been filled by Lauko, who was activated off of injured reserve in a corresponding move.
11/08/23: Boston Bruins center Morgan Geekie is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reports. In addition, defenseman Derek Forbort is questionable to return for Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders after missing the last three games with an undisclosed injury.
Geekie, 25, is in his first season with the Bruins after signing a two-year, $4MM deal in free agency. The former Carolina Hurricane and Seattle Kraken had recorded a goal and two assists through 12 games this season, averaging 14:14 per game.
It’s unclear when Geekie sustained the injury, as he didn’t appear to miss a shift during the Bruins’ last game, a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday. It’s a tough break for the Manitoba-born forward, who was seeing increased ice time compared to years past and playing a solid possession game.
In terms of replacement options, winger Jakub Lauko returned to practice today as he works his way back from a skate cut sustained last month, but he remains on injured reserve. If he’s not ready to go for tomorrow’s game against the Islanders, veteran Patrick Brown will draw into the lineup and make his sixth appearance of the season. He’s still looking for his first point as a Bruin after joining the team in free agency and has a -1 rating while averaging just 8:54 per game thus far in 2023-24.
A potential return for Forbort would certainly be a boon to the Bruins’ penalty kill, although they’ve done well in his absence, killing off 11 out of 13 penalties in the last three contests. If he’s able to play, Forbort would likely replace recent AHL call-up Parker Wotherspoon on the team’s third pairing alongside Kevin Shattenkirk. Wotherspoon, 26, has logged one assist in three outings.
Flames Recall Dustin Wolf
The Calgary Flames recalled top goalie prospect Dustin Wolf from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers on Thursday, per a team release.
Wolf is regarded as one of the best netminding prospects in the entire NHL, alongside the Minnesota Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt. The 22-year-old has won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award for the AHL’s best goaltender in both of his two pro seasons with the Wranglers, posting a remarkable .927 SV%, 2.24 GAA, eight shutouts, and 82-21-7 record since turning pro in 2021.
The Gilroy, California-born netminder also won the WHL’s Del Wilson Trophy for the league’s best goalie in back-to-back seasons before turning pro and was named the CHL’s Goaltender of the Year in 2020, so the 2019 seventh-round pick has already racked up quite the trophy count despite playing just one NHL game to date. That lone appearance came on April 12, 2023, stopping 23 of 24 shots en route to a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks (thanks to an unlikely hat trick from defenseman Nikita Zadorov).
This recall does not signal the upcoming trade of current Flames backup goalie Daniel Vladar, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Instead, Wolf has been summoned as injury insurance to either Vladar or starter Jacob Markström during the team’s upcoming three-game Eastern Canada road swing. The youngster is traveling to Toronto today to meet the rest of the team ahead of Friday’s matchup against the Maple Leafs.
However, it would not be surprising to see Wolf get one start during the trip, likely against the Ottawa Senators or Montreal Canadiens. Both Markström and Vladar have again struggled this season, especially the latter, who has a .844 SV% and 4.00 GAA through three starts. Markström is also tracking to have his second straight below-average season with a .896 SV% and a 2-6-1 record in nine starts.
Wolf, meanwhile, is off to another good start for the Wranglers. His .924 SV% ranks top-15 in the league through six games, and his five wins are tied for the league lead. To make room on the 23-man roster, forward Dryden Hunt was assigned to the Wranglers yesterday after clearing waivers.
Maple Leafs Recall Pontus Holmberg, Loan Maxime Lajoie To Minors
The Toronto Maple Leafs have swapped players with their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, recalling forward Pontus Holmberg and loaning out defenseman Maxime Lajoie, according to a team release.
Holmberg returns to the Maple Leafs after a brief stint in the minors. The team sent him down on Monday to make room for winger Nicholas Robertson to come up to the active roster.
The 24-year-old Swede has been a non-factor on the scoresheet this season, recording no points and a -2 rating in seven games with the Leafs. His possession numbers have dipped south from last year’s rookie season, posting a Corsi share of 42.5% at even strength while averaging 8:44 per game.
At the very least, Holmberg has been less of a liability than enforcer Ryan Reaves, who has no points and a -9 rating while playing in all 13 games this season. Summoning Holmberg from the minors could mean that Reaves, who signed a three-year, $4.05MM contract with the Leafs last summer, could be a healthy scratch for Friday’s game against the Calgary Flames. The Leafs’ depth posting poor possession metrics is a significant reason why Toronto has conceded 3.62 goals per game this season, the worst in the Atlantic Division.
Toronto can only carry two extra skaters on the active roster for the time being due to salary cap constraints, including injured defenseman Jake McCabe. Thus, someone had to head back to the Marlies to create cap space for Holmberg. Lajoie has made one appearance for the Maple Leafs this year after injuries sidelined McCabe and Timothy Liljegren, taking just nine shifts and skating 4:54 in a 6-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres last Saturday.
Lajoie, 26, is also without a point in seven games with the Marlies this season. He’s played in NHL games in each of the last six seasons but hasn’t come close to recapturing a full-time role since registering 15 points in 56 during his rookie season with the Ottawa Senators in 2018-19.
Avalanche Recall Riley Tufte
The Colorado Avalanche recalled left wing Riley Tufte from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles Thursday, a team announcement states.
Tufte, 25, could draw into the lineup if Fredrik Olofsson, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, cannot play in tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound winger is now on his third recall to the Avs’ roster this season after clearing waivers at the end of training camp.
Signed to a one-year, two-way deal carrying a minimum salary guarantee of $425K shortly after free agency opened last summer, Tufte has made one appearance with the Avalanche in 2023-24, coming on November 1 against the St. Louis Blues. He was held off the scoresheet but did register four shots on goal, leading the team despite skating just 11:28.
However, it has been a banner start to the year in the minors for the 2016 first-round pick of the Dallas Stars. Drafted as a power winger, Tufte had never been able to find his full scoring potential in the Lone Star State, putting up solid (but never impressive) point totals with the AHL’s Texas Stars.
However, that’s changed this season. Tufte leads the Eagles in scoring with nine goals and 12 points in nine games, recording a +5 rating.
Tufte projects to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when the season ends. He can stay on the NHL roster for 22 more days (or nine games played) until he needs waivers to return to the Eagles again.
Penguins Recall Joel Blomqvist, Move John Ludvig To IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled goaltender Joel Blomqvist from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, per the NHL media site. In a corresponding transaction, defenseman John Ludvig has been moved to injured reserve as he continues recovering from a concussion sustained on October 24.
Blomqvist’s recall means starter Tristan Jarry is likely unavailable for Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings after sustaining an upper-body injury Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks. Jarry, 28, left the game after being hit in the face by a Ryan Strome shot after his mask was dislodged.
Much like the New York Rangers, the Penguins are now down to their third- and fourth-string netminders. Alex Nedeljkovic remains week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained last month, meaning 32-year-old Magnus Hellberg is in line for his first start as a Penguin against the Kings. Hellberg has made two appearances in relief since Nedeljkovic exited the lineup, stopping 26 of 28 shots faced.
Blomqvist, the team’s top goalie prospect, will serve as Hellberg’s backup until Jarry, who is listed as day-to-day, is ready to return. Tonight will be the 21-year-old’s first time dressing for an NHL regular-season game.
A 2020 second-round pick, Blomqvist has been one of the top netminders in the AHL this season with a .920 SV%, 1.91 GAA and a 4-2-0 record through seven games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He is in the first season of a three-year, $2.775MM entry-level contract signed with the team last April and carries a cap hit of $886,667.
Ludvig’s roster move is purely to create space on the 23-man roster to recall Blomqvist. He sustained the concussion after skating just 5:29 in his NHL debut on the 24th against the Dallas Stars. The 23-year-old, initially a Florida Panthers draft pick, was claimed on waivers by the Penguins at the beginning of the season.
Minor Transactions: 11/09/23
It’s a busy night on the NHL schedule with 11 games, including an Original Six matchup featuring two teams off to surprising starts in the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings. Overseas, however, there’s some news to focus on, mainly in Switzerland, where a pair of teams have made high-profile moves early Thursday. We’re keeping track of all of today’s notable minor transactions right here:
- Longtime AHL sniper Martin Frk‘s stint with Swiss National League club SC Bern is over after just 11 games despite signing a two-year deal this summer. However, he won’t need to travel very far to find his next opportunity – he’s staying in the NL with SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers on a contract for the remainder of 2023-24, according to a team release. The team has been hit with injuries to their import players, including former NHL forward Brett Connolly, who will miss the rest of the season after undergoing hip surgery. That opened up a spot for a non-Swiss-born player, so the Czech goal-scorer will enter the lineup. Frk, 30, had three goals and four assists for seven points with Bern until his tenure with the team ended today.
- With Frk off the roster, SC Bern has exercised the option of another import player with NHL experience – Finnish winger Joona Luoto, who will remain in Bern through the end of the season after signing a tryout contract in September. Luoto, 26, is currently sidelined with an undisclosed injury but is expected to return to the team in December. He’s off to a strong start this year, recording seven goals and four assists for 11 points in 17 games, leading the team in goals. He made seven NHL appearances with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, failing to register on the scoresheet.
- Former Florida Panthers forward prospect Henry Bowlby is on his way overseas, signing a contract with Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League for the remainder of 2023-24. In doing so, Bowlby terminates the one-year AHL deal he had signed this season with the Colorado Eagles after scoring one goal and three points in seven games. The 26-year-old hasn’t shown the ability to produce much more than an average middle-six AHL forward since turning pro in 2020 and will now try his hand in the European ranks of pro hockey.
This page may be updated throughout the day.
West Notes: Spurgeon, Dermott, MacDonald
The Minnesota Wild will remain without captain Jared Spurgeon in the lineup for at least the next two games, GM Bill Guerin told the media today (via Joe Smith of The Athletic). At the earliest, Spurgeon could make his season debut on Sunday against the Dallas Stars, which Guerin dubbed a “possibility.”
Spurgeon has been sidelined for all 12 games this season due to an upper-body injury sustained during training camp, a figure that will stretch to at least 14 before he joins the team for game action. His absence has been a back-breaker for a team that’s played uncharacteristically poor defensively so far, allowing 49 goals through 12 games – the most in the Central Division and second-most in the Western Conference, behind only the lowly San Jose Sharks. On the bright side, Spurgeon’s absence has meant an opportunity for 21-year-old rookie Brock Faber, who’s assumed top-pairing duties without a second thought and has registered five points and a +7 rating in nearly 24 minutes per game of ice time.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference tonight:
- The Arizona Coyotes are set to be without the services of defenseman Travis Dermott for an undisclosed amount of time, per Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports. Dermott sustained an undisclosed injury in Tuesday’s shootout win over the Seattle Kraken, spurring the recall of Michael Kesselring from AHL Tucson earlier today. Dermott, 26, is in his first season as a Coyote and already missed a pair of contests earlier this year due to illness. He’s notched one assist through ten games and posted positive defensive metrics relative to his partner, Matt Dumba, who’s profiled analytically as the Coyotes’ worst defender so far this season.
- San Jose Sharks defenseman Jacob MacDonald was placed on injured reserve earlier today in a corresponding transaction to the acquisition of Calen Addison from the Minnesota Wild, and head coach David Quinn confirmed today that he’ll miss the minimum one week required to be on IR but not necessarily much more. Injuries have limited MacDonald to just two appearances this season, but he did log a two-point effort in the team’s 10-2 blowout at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins recently. In fact, MacDonald has only suited up in the Sharks’ back-to-back 10-goal concessions, recording a -5 rating and averaging just north of 12 minutes per game.
Wild Acquire Zach Bogosian From Lightning
The Minnesota Wild have acquired defenseman Zach Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, per a team release.
This is the team’s second trade involving a defenseman today after dealing the much younger Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks for a 2026 fifth-round pick and depth forward Adam Raška. Overall, the Wild have spent an additional $25K against the cap, acquired a slightly higher-value draft pick, and taken on a low-ceiling prospect for swapping Addison for Bogosian on the NHL roster.
Bogosian, 33, is in the final season of a three-year deal signed with the Lightning in 2021 and costs $850K against the cap, although he’s set to earn $1.05MM in actual salary this season. The veteran shutdown defender and 2008 third-overall pick has a modified no-trade clause affording him a 21-team no-trade list, per CapFriendly, meaning the Wild were among Bogosian’s top ten desired destinations for a trade.
This is a nice change of scenery for Bogosian, who won the Stanley Cup with Tampa in 2020. He unexpectedly hit the waiver wire during preseason (and cleared) to offer the Lightning some salary cap flexibility, although he was recalled back to the NHL after the team’s opening night game against the Nashville Predators. Bogosian has played in four out of 13 games for the Lightning this season, averaging a career-low 11:57 per game and failing to get on the scoresheet.
The deal marks somewhat of a homecoming, as Bogosian lives in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area during the offseason, and his older brother, Aaron, works in the Wild’s front office, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. It’s undeniably a downgrade for the Wild, though, who take on a veteran with dwindling advanced metrics and subpar traditional defensive metrics over the past two seasons while losing out on a promising puck-moving blueliner.
On Tampa’s end, the deal should mean more opportunity for 25-year-old Nicklaus Perbix. He’s been a healthy scratch twice this season and has gotten off to a disappointing start, recording three assists in 11 games while posting some of the worst even-strength possession numbers on the team with a Corsi share of just 41.1%. Tampa will now rely on him to recapture his rookie season form that saw him post 20 points in 69 games while playing solid defensive hockey last season.
The Lightning also have Haydn Fleury and Philippe Myers stashed in the minors on the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch available for recall. Between them, they have nearly 400 games of NHL experience.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report Bogosian was coming to the Wild, while Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report the return.