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Devils Notes: Barabosha, Meier, Foote, Hughes, Nemec

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According to James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now, the New Jersey Devils have lost one of their defensive prospects for the next three years. In the article, Nichols announces that defenseman Artyom Barabosha has signed a three-year extension with CSKA Moskva of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Nevertheless, it may be the best option forward for both player and organization, as Barabosha’s future with the Devils was always a longshot considering he was the 198th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft. Now that he is committed to the KHL for the next three years, New Jersey can continue to let him develop in a comfortable environment while retaining his signing rights.

In his first year in the KHL this past season, Barabosha suited up in 21 games for CSKA Moskva, scoring one goal and five points in total. While offensive play is not his strong suit, Barabosha is a punishing defender, regularly laying devastating hits without remorse against his opposition overseas.

Other Devils notes:

  • In his first full season with the Devils, forward Timo Meier got off to an unexpectedly slow start. Thanks to team reporter Amanda Stein, we now have a little more information regarding Meier’s poor play from October into December. Stein reports that Meier was dealing with two separate MCL injuries, causing him to score just nine goals and 16 points in his first 30 games, while also causing him to miss stretches of games entirely.
  • Only managing to string together eight games combined between the NHL and the AHL, Nolan Foote had a season to forget. Stein reports that Foote was dealing with a lingering back issue that cost him the season, and has also caused him to miss time the last four years. Without alluding to the possibility of surgery, it is the most likely outcome for Foote to continue his professional career without missing any more time.
  • With most members of New Jersey having their eyes set on the 2024-25 offseason, some players are looking ahead to the 2024 IIHF World Championships that begin on May 10th. For the first time in his career, young defenseman Luke Hughes will join Team USA for the tournament (X Link). Only a year removed from international competition, Hughes was a member of the U20 Team USA roster that earned a bronze medal in the 2022-23 IIHF World Junior Championship.
  • Joining Hughes in the World Championships will be fellow defenseman Simon Nemec, who will be joining Team Slovakia (X Link). Unlike Hughes, Nemec did suit up for Team Slovakia in last year’s World Championships, while also scoring one goal and five points in five games in the 2022-23 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Flyers Reassign Bobby Brink, Olle Lycksell, Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning

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With their season coming to an end at the hands of the Washington Capitals last night, the Philadelphia Flyers have reassigned several waiver-exempt players to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In the transaction, the team will be sending forwards Bobby Brink and Olle Lycksell, as well as defensemen Ronald Attard and Adam Ginning north to Lehigh Valley.

Of the four, Brink spent the most time at the NHL level this season, suiting up in 57 games for the Flyers. Over that stretch, Brink scored 11 goals and 23 points in total, sitting 12th on the roster in scoring. While he did not manage to crack the 60-game mark this year, Brink should rather easily crack the opening night roster next season as a middle-six option.

Lycksell, on the other hand, likely has more offensive potential compared to Brink, based on his strong back-to-back seasons with the Phantom. Scoring only one goal and five points over 18 games for the Flyers this season, Lycksell was more than productive with Lehigh Valley earlier in the year, scoring 19 goals and 38 points in only 36 games.

On the blue line, Attard and Ginning are both remarkably similar in size and stature. Of the two, Attard has the upper hand on the offensive side of the puck, while Ginning excels more defensively. Even though Philadelphia has some openings in their defensive core this summer, both defensemen should expect similar roles next year.

While the Phantoms still have three games left to play in the 2023-24 AHL season, they are likely headed for the same fate as last year, poised for sixth place in the Atlantic Division. If the season were to end today, Lehigh Valley would match up against their interstate rivals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Buffalo Sabres Reassign Noah Ostlund

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Playing the season with the Växjö Lakers of the SHL while on loan from the Buffalo Sabres organization, forward Noah Ostlund is set to make his debut in North American hockey. Earlier today, the Sabres organization announced that they have reassigned Ostlund to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, Ostlund clocked in as the fifth-best prospect for the Sabres headed into the 2023-24 NHL season. Being selected with the 16th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft, Ostlund has spent all of his professional playing career in Sweden until today.

After being drafted by Buffalo, Ostlund spent much of last season playing for Djurgårdens IF of HockeyAllsvenskan. Over 37 games last season, Ostlund scored eight goals and 26 points in total.

Now a full-time player in Sweden’s top professional league, Ostlund still kept pace, scoring 12 goals and 23 points in 38 games. Outside of professional hockey, Ostlund has certainly made a name for himself in international competition, scoring four goals and 14 assists over the last two World Junior Championship tournaments.

Having already clinched a spot in the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, Ostlund should get a decent opportunity down the stretch with the Americans. As the team will likely take away some of his minutes come playoff time, Ostlund will still be available for important playoff games as he appears to earn a roster spot with the Sabres next season.

Injury Notes: Mantha, Stephenson, Barron, Pezzetta

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In the team’s game tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Vegas Golden Knights’ forwards Anthony Mantha and Chandler Stephenson are both considered day-to-day due to injuries. Keeping that in mind, it is unlikely that either Mantha or Stephenson will draw into the lineup tonight as the Golden Knights prepare to defend their Stanley Cup title.

Mantha, who Vegas acquired from the Washington Capitals during this past trade deadline season, has played in 18 games for the organization up to this point. In those 18 contests, Mantha has been serviceable even though his goal-scoring rate has decreased, putting up three goals and 10 points altogether.

Joining Mantha on the list of Golden Knights expected to reach unrestricted free agency this summer, Stephenson has once again been a massive return on investment in Vegas. Making a salary of only $2.75MM this season, Stephenson has put up 16 goals and 51 points in 65 games overall, sitting fifth on the team in scoring.

Other injury notes:

  • As the Winnipeg Jets look to clinch second place in the Central Division for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, they will have to do so without forward Morgan Barron as the team announced he would miss the rest of the game tonight with a lower-body injury. During the game, Barron was only able to register 2:23 of ice time and registered zero points but did reach a 100% faceoff rate in the game.
  • In a similar fashion to Barron, the Montreal Canadiens will be without forward Michael Pezzetta for the remainder of their game and the season with an upper-body injury (X Link). As a depth forward for the team, Pezzetta was only able to register 25 seconds of ice time over one shift, and left the game after the end of the first period.

Kings Notes: Turcotte, Thomas, Laferriere, Swamp Rabbits

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As the Los Angeles Kings prepare for the team’s final game of the regular season on Thursday night, they will have a young prospect returning to the lineup. The organization announced they have activated forward Alex Turcotte from long-term injured reserve, and have loaned forward Akil Thomas to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

Turcotte, who was the fifth overall pick of the Kings back in the 2019 NHL Draft, will return to the active roster for the first time in about a month due to an upper-body injury. At the NHL level, Turcotte has suited up in 20 games for Los Angeles, scoring one goal and four points in total. In Ontario, he has been far more productive, scoring seven goals and 25 points in 33 games, leading to four separate call-ups this season.

Thomas, on the other hand, has spent far less time at the NHL level as compared to Turcotte. Recalled on an emergency basis on March 31st, Thomas has matched Turcotte’s production on the year, scoring one goal and four points in seven games. Similarly to Turcotte, the former 51st overall pick has been far more productive with the Reign, scoring 22 goals and 43 points over 61 games this season.

Other Kings notes:

  • According to CapFriendly, since Kings’ forward Alex Laferriere played in his 80th game of the season last night against the Minnesota Wild, he has lost his waiver exemption status for next season. Whether it be after training camp or any time during next season, Los Angeles will have to place Laferriere on the waiver wire if they wish to send him down to the AHL. Nevertheless, it is rather unlikely the Kings would choose to send Laferriere anytime soon, as he has scored 11 goals and 23 points throughout this season, making for a productive rookie campaign.
  • Moving to the ECHL, the Kings organization has signed their current ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, to a two-year extension. Located in South Carolina, the Swamp Rabbits have been the ECHL affiliate of Los Angeles since the start of the 2022-23 NHL season and will continue in that role until the end of 2025-26.

Minnesota Wild Reassign Adam Beckman, Jesper Wallstedt

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Before their last game of this season this Saturday, the Minnesota Wild have chosen to send a few of the younger players on the roster, announcing the reassignment of both forward Adam Beckman and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. The news comes in congruence with earlier reporting that forward Frederick Gaudreau would be returning to the lineup after missing some time on personal leave.

After receiving a callup with the team on March 7th, Beckman has been a full-time member of the Wild for a little over a month. Playing in 11 games over that stretch, Beckman was not utilized very heavily in Minnesota, only tallying two assists while only averaging 9:24 of ice time per game. At the AHL level, Beckman was similarly productive to his past two years in Iowa, scoring 16 goals and 29 points over 48 games this season.

Being one of the league’s top goaltending prospects, Wallstedt received his third call-up of the year to Minnesota on April 6th. Unfortunately, he was only able to participate in one game, stopping 29 of 31 shots against the San Jose Sharks in the team’s victory on April 13th.

Neither player will have much to look forward to as they return to the AHL Wild, as Iowa sits with a 25-37-4-3 record in the AHL, sitting dead last in the Central Division. With both teams in the organization set to miss the postseason, Beckman and Wallstedt will have to wait until the 2024-25 season to play in any more meaningful games.

Multiple Sharks Players Shut Down For The Season

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In an article from Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, multiple members of the San Jose Sharks did not travel with the team for their current road trip to Western Canada, officially ending their season with the organization. Pashelka notes that Kevin Labanc, Mike Hoffman, Filip Zadina, Alexander Barabanov, Jacob MacDonald, Jan Rutta, and Mackenzie Blackwood will not suit up for the team’s final game against the Calgary Flames, and may have played their last games in San Jose.

Of the seven players listed, four will go to unrestricted free agency, one will go to restricted free agency, and two are signed into next year. Realistically, Labanc, Hoffman, and Barabanov will all head towards greener pastures, while the team may opt to keep MacDonald as a depth piece for the 2024-25 NHL season.

Even though Zadina will become a potential non-tender candidate this offseason, he may not find any interest outside of the Bay Area. Producing moderately well with 13 goals and 23 points in 72 games for the Sharks this season, Zadina’s defensive metrics from this year may be too ghastly for other teams to overlook, indicating that if he does play outside of San Jose, it will likely be in the AHL.

After acquiring Devin Cooley and Vitek Vanecek at this year’s trade deadline, Blackwood could be an interesting trade candidate this summer. In 41 starts for the Sharks this season, Blackwood has produced a 10-25-4 record, with 24 of those measuring as Quality Starts according to Hockey Reference. Certainly not playing himself into a starting role with his efforts this year, Blackwood could become a serviceable backup option for a contending team next year.

Nevertheless, it is not necessarily a negative that most of these players will be moving out of San Jose this offseason. With the Sharks hitting rock bottom over the past two years, it is now time to thin out a very saturated roster as much as possible to create space and playing time for San Jose’s up-and-coming prospects.

Atlantic Notes: Lightning, Barkov, Ekman-Larsson, Thompson, Imama

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At yesterday’s practice for the Tampa Bay Lightning, defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Haydn Fleury were both back on the ice albeit in red non-contact jerseys, according to Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. For those missing from the team’s practice, Encina notes that forward Tyler Motte and goaltender Jonas Johansson were not present on the ice with the team.

Notably, the return of Sergachev indicates that the top defenseman may be ready to go in Round One as the Lightning look to take on either the Boston Bruins or the Florida Panthers. In a season to forget for the top-pairing blue liner, Sergachev has only been able to register two goals and 19 points for Tampa Bay this year. Sergachev missed 17 games for the Lightning from a lower-body injury suffered in late December, and would then fracture both his fibula and tibia in his first game back on February 7th.

For the other players, although Tampa Bay would like to be as healthy as possible heading into the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, their organizational depth has helped keep the team afloat while other regular members of the lineup have missed time. Both Mitchell Chaffee and Emil Martinsen Lilleberg have managed more than 25 games at the NHL level this season, keeping some continuity within the roster for the Lightning.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • In an update from Colby Guy of The Associated Press, both Aleksander Barkov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson could return to the lineup tonight as the Florida Panthers look to put themselves in the best position possible to capture the Atlantic Division crown. As both players are dealing with minor injuries sustained in their most recent game against the Buffalo Sabres on April 13th, the Panthers may opt to keep them out until the playoffs if they are not completely recovered. Nevertheless, the game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs will likely serve as a preview of one of the Round One matchups of this year’s playoffs.
  • During the team’s game last night against the Lightning, the Sabres lost forward Tage Thompson for most of the game due to a lower-body injury, officially ending his 2023-24 NHL season (X Link). With Buffalo’s season officially over, Thompson is not in any danger of missing any regular season action but could miss the IIHF World Championships for Team USA over the summer. Seeing a massive dip in his production from last year, Thompson will finish the season with 27 goals and 56 points over 71 games for the Sabres this year.
  • In a similar fashion to Thompson, the Ottawa Senators announced yesterday evening that recent call-up Bokondji Imama would miss the rest of the game against the New York Rangers. Placed on the roster from an emergency loan on April 8th, Imama will likely finish the year with zero points in six games at the NHL level, with three goals and 10 points over 53 games at the AHL level spent with the Belleville Senators.

Central Notes: Stars, McGroarty, Niederreiter, Wild

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Looking to clinch home-ice advantage through the Western Conference Finals tomorrow night against the St. Louis Blues, the Dallas Stars will be without defenseman Jani Hakanpaa according to Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. However, in the same report, after being a full participant in practice this morning, forward Evgenii Dadonov will be a game-time decision.

Having already missed the last 13 games for the Stars due to a lower-body injury, the organization does not seem keen to rush Hakanpaa back and potentially reaggravate his injury before the playoffs. Even though he is one of the team’s better physical defensemen, Dallas hasn’t missed a beat in Hakanpaa’s absence, as they’ve produced a 10-2-0 record while limiting opponents to just a 1.92 goals against per game on average.

Unlike Hakanpaa, Dadonov has been out of the lineup for the last two months with a lower-body injury, which will cap him at only 51 games played this year if he can play in tomorrow night’s contest. With the team on the precipice of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Dadonov may find himself in the press box for much of the postseason but could add some offensive punch to the team’s fourth line.

Other Central notes:

  •  After his sophomore season came to an end on April 11th against the Boston College Eagles, Rutger McGroarty is opting to forego signing an entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets and will return to the University of Michigan next year according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Displaying a very mature sense of hockey IQ for his age, the 14th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft showed off with an elite playmaking season with the Wolverines. Helping his team make their third straight Frozen Four appearance, McGroarty scored 16 goals and 52 points over 36 games this year and should become a fixture of the Hobey Baker Award conversation next season.
  • Missing the last five games due to an Achilles injury, Nino Niederreiter should return to the lineup tonight against the Seattle Kraken (X Link). During the organization’s game against the Los Angeles Kings on April 1st, Niederreiter sustained a cut to his tendon, which required eight stitches to close. With the team still having two games left to play, Winnipeg will need only one point to clinch the second spot in the Central Division.
  • With their season set to come to an end on Wednesday evening, the Minnesota Wild will get forward Frederick Gaudreau back in the lineup as he has officially returned from personal leave according to Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Mats Zuccarello will return to the team before their final game, meaning he will finish the year with 11 goals and 62 points in 68 games.

Transaction Notes: Coghlan, Comtois, Del Bel Belluz, Silovs, Rondbjerg

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Now that the Carolina Hurricanes have officially clinched the second spot in the Metropolitan Division, the organization has opted to sit a multitude of players for the team’s game tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. With several spots in the lineup open, the team has called up defenseman Dylan Coghlan and forward Max Comtois from the Springfield Thunderbirds and Chicago Wolves, respectively.

Coghlan has been a part of the Hurricanes organization for the last two years, coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade including Max Pacioretty. Although he played 17 games in Carolina last season, tonight will mark the first time that Coghlan has suited up for the Hurricanes this season. A strong performer in AHL Springfield, Coghlan has scored 16 goals and 41 points in 59 games and is sitting second on the team in scoring overall.

Comtois, on the other hand, is in his first season with the Hurricanes organization after spending the last five years with the Anaheim Ducks. Failing to become a consistent goal-scorer in Orange County, Comtois had to settle for an AHL contract in AHL Chicago this past offseason. Appearing to reacquire some of his offensive talents, Comtois has scored 19 goals and 43 points in 62 games for the Wolves this season, which may be enough to earn him a league-minimum contract on an NHL roster next year.

Other transaction notes:

  • Preparing to make his NHL debut this evening, the Blue Jackets have recalled forward Luca Del Bel Belluz from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. With forward Dmitri Voronkov out of tonight’s game due to illness, Del Bel Belluz could end up centering the third line with newcomer Gavin Brindley. In his first season playing for the Blue Jackets organization, the former 44th overall selection has scored nine goals and 30 points over 55 games in the AHL this year.
  • Now that goaltender Thatcher Demko is preparing to return to the active roster, the Vancouver Canucks have sent down goalie Arturs Silovs to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Throughout his recall, Silovs only suited up in four games for the Canucks, and performed adequately in limited time. Over those four games, Silovs produced a 3-0-1 record, securing a .881 SV% which was largely brought down due to giving up four goals on 18 shots against the Arizona Coyotes.
  • For now the 11th time this season, the Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forward Jonas Rondbjerg from their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. Due to the numerous amount of recalls this year, Rondbjerg has managed 18 games for the Golden Knights this season, scoring one goal and three points overall. At the AHL level, Rondbjerg has suited up in 48 games for the Silver Knights, scoring nine goals and 27 points in the process.

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