Nashville Predators Recall John Leonard
The Nashville Predators disclosed Monday that the team has recalled forward John Leonard from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. With a road-home back-to-back upcoming over the next two days, recalling Leonard gives the team a 13th healthy forward on the roster should an unforeseen injury occur.
Leonard is the most experienced recall option among forwards still waiver exempt. The 24-year-old winger has accumulated 62 games of NHL experience over the past three seasons, with four coming in Nashville this season. He has one point, his first goal as a Predator, coming in a March 2 game against the Florida Panthers.
This is Leonard’s third recall of the season after he was recalled twice in three days on an emergency basis in the first week of March. Acquired along with a third-round pick from the San Jose Sharks last summer in exchange for the rights to Luke Kunin, Leonard has 14 goals and 38 points in 61 games in the AHL this year.
A pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, Leonard could be a candidate to not receive a qualifying offer and head to unrestricted free agency in July. The 2018 sixth-round pick has seen a step back from last season’s offensive production in the minors, and with his NHL opportunities diminished, the Predators may opt not to retain his services.
Sean Monahan, Alex Belzile Out For Season
Injury news continues to pile up for the Montreal Canadiens, who announced Monday that forwards Alex Belzile (link) and Sean Monahan (link) have been shut down for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Belzile’s campaign comes to an end after sustaining a fractured leg in Saturday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The minor-league veteran had played in every game for Montreal since being recalled from the AHL’s Laval Rocket on February 9, a testament to how injuries have ravaged Montreal’s forward depth this year. He finishes the season with career highs in points and games played, recording 14 in 31. The 31-year-old also scored 26 points in 31 games with Laval, where he served as captain. He’s slated for unrestricted free agency in July.
Monahan’s groin surgery shows he sustained a separate injury on top of the foot injury that had kept him out of the lineup since December 5. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that Monahan’s groin surgery happened “sometime in the last few days,” and his recovery timeline is six to eight weeks. He’s expected to fully recover in time for training camp next season.
Also set for free agency this offseason, Monahan was productive in the early goings of the season, showing flashes of top-six upside once again. With 17 points in 25 games, he’ll find a home in the NHL again next season, whether with Montreal or somewhere else. Injury concerns remain, though, likely limiting his earning potential on any new contract.
St. Louis Blues Recall Vadim Zherenko Under Emergency Conditions
The St. Louis Blues recalled netminder Vadim Zherenko under emergency conditions from the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds on Monday, the team said in a release. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that backup Thomas Greiss is injured, necessitating the recall of a goalie from the minors.
This is the first recall of Zherenko’s career. Drafted 208th overall in 2019, it’s a rapid rise to relevance for a player picked less than 10 spots away from the end of the draft.
However, the 22-year-old has earned a brief NHL look with his play this season. Zherenko has been a more-than-capable backup in Springfield to Joel Hofer, who earned a long look at the NHL level last month. In 24 games with Springfield, Zherenko has a record of 10-8-3, a .918 save percentage, and a 2.96 goals-against average. This is his first season in North America after a development path through Russia and Finland post-draft.
With Springfield’s season in crunch time on the verge of clinching a Calder Cup playoff berth, the Blues likely opted to leave Hofer in the minors to continue to gain meaningful experience in stretch run games.
Dallas Stars Recall Thomas Harley
As announced by the team Monday morning, the Dallas Stars have recalled defenseman Thomas Harley from the Texas Stars of the AHL.
Harley’s first recall of the season comes with just a few weeks left, much later into the year than most Stars fans were expecting. The 21-year-old played in 34 games with Dallas last season but saw limited ice time and limited production (one goal, three assists).
Extended time in the minors has seemed to be the right choice for Harley’s development, though. His defensive game has shown significant strides this season, and he’s added 10 goals and 34 points in 66 games to lead the team’s defense corps in goals.
Selected 18th overall in 2019, Harley will continue to push for more NHL looks over the next few seasons. With only depth veteran Joel Hanley slated for free agency this offseason, though, a significant full-time chance may not come until 2024-25. That’s likely fine with Dallas, who seems content to let Harley grow at his own pace into the capable top-four defender they expect.
With a three-game homestand on tap for the Stars, Harley could make his 2022-23 NHL season debut sometime this week.
Boston Bruins Extend ECHL Affiliation Agreement
The Boston Bruins announced via a team release Monday morning that the team has signed a two-year extension of their affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. The move locks in some organizational stability and will make Maine the team’s longest-tenured ECHL affiliate since a five-year partnership with the Atlanta Gladiators from 2015 to 2020.
While it’s a rare occurrence nowadays for NHL teams to send skaters multiple levels down to the ECHL, it remains a viable and well-tracked development path for netminders to get heavy workloads as they graduate from junior or college programs. The Bruins currently have one prospect under NHL contract assigned to Maine: 23-year-old netminder Michael DiPietro, acquired from Vancouver earlier this season.
It’s also an impactful choice for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, who make transactions with the ECHL much more regularly. The newly-minted general manager of Providence, Evan Gold, gave a statement on the extension:
We are thrilled to extend our affiliation agreement with the Maine Mariners. The collaboration between Boston, Providence and Maine has been instrumental in helping our prospects improve not only their hockey skillsets on the ice, but also their work ethic and approach to becoming professionals off the ice. We are excited to continue to partner with the Mariners’ coaching staff and front office as we strive to provide the best development opportunities for our players.
For Boston, the extension keeps its entire professional development system locked within New England, with its minor-league affiliates nearby.
The affiliation agreement, previously set to expire after this season, will now last through the 2024-25 campaign.
New Jersey Devils Sign Josh Filmon To Entry-Level Contract
2022 NHL Draft pick Josh Filmon has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils, the team announced early Friday morning. The contract begins in 2023-24, and he will report to the AHL’s Utica Comets on an amateur tryout for the remainder of 2022-23.
The Devils selected Filmon, now 19 years old, with the 166th overall pick in 2022. The left winger’s most appealing aspect is his shot, as evidenced by his team-leading 47 goals in 64 games with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos this season.
While he’ll report to Utica for the end of the season, he won’t stay there through next year. He’s still ineligible for assignment to the AHL, given his age, and would need to be returned to Swift Current next season if he doesn’t make the Devils out of camp — an overwhelmingly likely scenario. This would slide the beginning of his entry-level contract to 2024-25.
Filmon’s potential grew far past that of a sixth-round pick this season, demonstrated by his season goal-scoring breakout only one season after being drafted. While it will be a few years before Filmon is looking at consistent NHL ice time, he projects as a legitimate middle-six scoring winger if he can hit his NHL ceiling.
Calgary Flames Sign William Stromgren
The Calgary Flames have signed one of their better forward prospects, inking Swedish forward William Stromgren to his three-year entry-level contract on Wednesday. The contract will begin next season, making him a restricted free agent in 2026. He will report to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers on an amateur tryout for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Stromgren, selected 45th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, played in the SHL full-time for the first time this season. In 45 games with Brynäs IF, however, he recorded just eight points.
His production should be taken with a grain of salt, however. Brynäs finished near the bottom of the league and lost their relegation series, meaning they’ll be demoted to the second-tier Allsvenskan next season. With Stromgren already coming over to the city on an ATO, it appears that he’ll stay in North America next season rather than having Calgary loan him back to Sweden to help with Brynäs’ efforts to rejoin the SHL.
A big and fast winger, Stromgren also registered an assist in seven games at this past year’s World Junior Championship for Sweden. Set to turn 20 over the summer, Stromgren will look to find some more offensive opportunity in the minors.
San Jose Sharks Extend Nikolai Knyzhov
The San Jose Sharks have signed defender Nikolai Knyzhov to a two-year contract extension, as initially reported by Knyzhov’s agent, Dan Milstein. Per PuckPedia, the contract earns him $1.25MM per season, paid as $1.1MM in 2023-24 and $1.4MM in 2024-25.
Knyzhov was set to be a restricted free agent this offseason, but this contract will walk him to unrestricted free agency in 2025.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better feel-good story today than this. Knyzhov, now 25, missed the entire 2021-22 campaign with a groin injury, and after training over the offseason, tore his Achilles last August. He made his return to the ice around two months ago and has appeared in nine games with the Sharks this year, scoring a goal.
It’s a bit of a gamble from the Sharks to hand Knyzhov a seven-figure deal, but he did show he can play an everyday role in the NHL before his injuries. He suited up in all 56 games for the Sharks during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, scoring 10 points and adding some solid defensive play in a top-four role.
It wouldn’t be shocking next season to see Knyzhov return to his previous home alongside Erik Karlsson if things progress well for him over the coming months. It would allow the aging Marc-Edouard Vlasic to play lighter minutes, giving him and Mario Ferraro some more advantageous matchups on the left side.
Knyzhov is currently on assignment with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he has one assist in 13 games this year.
General manager Mike Grier gave the following statement on Knyzhov’s signing:
We’re excited to keep Nikolai with our group for at least the next two years. He worked hard to rejoin the team this season and we look forward to watching his game continue to grow.
Nashville Predators Sign Jake Livingstone To Entry-Level Contract
The Nashville Predators have nabbed one of the top college free agents left on the market, signing defenseman Jake Livingstone to a one-year entry-level contract for the remainder of the 2022-23 season, per a team release.
The 23-year-old defender has been the highlight of Minnesota State’s blueline for the past two seasons, earning CCHA Defenseman of the Year honors and conference tournament championships in back-to-back years. Livingstone will be a restricted free agent in just a few months and will need a new contract.
Livingstone certainly has NHL-ready size at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him report directly to Nashville and earn his first NHL experience down the stretch. With Alexandre Carrier still out with an upper-body injury, there’s a natural place in the lineup for the right-shot Livingstone.
Defensively sound in his own right, Livingstone is also intelligent in transition and makes clean passes to his teammates. He approached the point-per-game threshold with Minnesota State this season, recording eight goals and 27 assists in 39 games, finishing second on the team in scoring.
He becomes the second member of his defense pairing at Minnesota State to put pen to paper on a contract today, joining now-Vancouver Canuck Akito Hirose.
Nashville does not have a particularly deep prospect pool at defense, making this signing impactful for a team looking to retool under a new management regime this offseason.
Vegas Golden Knights Recall Brayden Pachal, Shea Theodore Injured
The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reported Wednesday that defenseman Shea Theodore is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and will not travel with the team on their brief road trip to San Jose. In response to Theodore’s injury, the Golden Knights announced the recall of defenseman Brayden Pachal from their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.
With the playoffs rapidly approaching, the Golden Knights will likely be cautious with Theodore’s status and not rush him back if unnecessary. While a playoff spot is practically guaranteed, they do have the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers breathing down their neck for first place in the Pacific Division, so their remaining schedule isn’t exactly meaningless.
Theodore holds a slight edge on Alex Pietrangelo for the highest points per game by a Vegas defenseman this year, recording 41 points in 54 games while playing over 21 minutes per game. Theodore remains a dynamic puck-moving defender and an analytical darling, as he has for much of his NHL career.
Pachal comes up to the NHL club as an extra body, with Ben Hutton expected to replace Theodore in the lineup. The 23-year-old recorded his first two NHL points this season, both assists, in a nine-game stint spanning December and January. This is his first recall in over two months.