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Carolina Hurricanes Reassign Vasily Ponomarev

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01/07/23: The Hurricanes have sent Ponomarev back down to the Wolves. He played in a total of two games in Carolina, the first two of his career. He registered a goal and an assist on just over 10 minutes of ice time in the team’s 6-2 victory over Washington, and then was more anonymous in nine minutes of ice time last night against the Blues.

Ponomarev played an important offensive role with the Wolves before his recall, scoring 20 points in 20 games. He’s likely to resume that role now that he’s headed back there.

01/05/23: Before their game against the Washington Capitals tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled forward Vasily Ponomarev from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, per a team announcement. It will mark Ponomarev’s second call-up of his career, with the last time coming in late April of 2023.

With Martin Necas out with an upper-body injury, and Stefan Noesen out with an illness, it is more than likely that Ponomarev will make his NHL debut tonight (X Link).

Drafted 53rd overall by the Hurricanes organization in the 2020 NHL Draft, it would take Ponomarev only two years to make it to North America, joining the Wolves for an 11-game stretch during the 2021-22 AHL season. Even in that small time frame, Ponomarev impressed right out of the gates, scoring three goals and 10 points to finish off the year.

Last year, spending his first full season in Chicago, the native of Russia once again showed true offensive prowess at the minor league level, scoring 24 goals and 46 points in 64 games, finishing second on the team in scoring. Now without a direct AHL affiliate this season, the Hurricanes once again chose to place Ponomarev with the Wolves organization, where he has scored six goals and 20 points to start the year.

Shining brightly on the offensive side of the puck, there are plenty of concerns about Ponomarev in the defensive zone. He has shown tremendous talent in backchecking and has an aggressive motor, but has shown an inability to truly shut down an opposing team’s offense in his own zone up to this point.

At the very least, if he does make his NHL debut this evening, Ponomarev will provide another scoring threat to a Hurricanes offense that has averaged an impressive four goals per game in their last nine contests. Suffering through a four-game losing streak early on in December, Carolina has produced a 7-1-3 record since December 12th, climbing to second place in the Metropolitan Division entering play tonight.

Central Notes: Bedard, Meyers, Kirkland

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In what has become an unexpectedly scary night for the Chicago Blackhawks, the team announced that star rookie, Connor Bedard, would not return to tonight’s game due to injury. The play in question took place during the first period, as New Jersey Devils defenseman, Brendan Smith, distributed a heavy hit to Bedard just over the blue line, causing the young phenom to head to the locker room for the rest of the evening.

For the sake of level-headedness, there could be a plethora of reasons for Chicago to keep Bedard out of the game, ranging from simply being cautionary with their top player, or expecting that Bedard could be out for a lengthy amount of time. Ultimately, it is unlikely that an update on Bedard’s status will be given after the game tonight, as most teams tend to wait until the next day to announce any meaningful news.

It is hard to put into words how detrimental Bedard’s absence would be for the Blackhawks, regardless of the amount of time he is out of the lineup. Even with only 11 wins through 38 games, Chicago’s offense completely runs through Bedard, as he has quickly shown that he was worth all of the hype.

To put his value into perspective on the Blackhawks specifically, with 15 goals and 33 points through 38 games, Bedard accounts for 17% of all goals scored, 12% of all assists, and 14% of all points scored for Chicago this season at 18 years old. With the future of the Blackhawks organization comfortably resting on Bedard’s shoulders, Chicago will likely be extremely cautious with Bedard’s health in hopes that he can be in the lineup as much as possible.

Other notes:

  • The Colorado Avalanche have recalled forward Ben Meyers from the Colorado Eagles after sending him down yesterday, per a team announcement. It is unknown whether or not he will factor into the team’s lineup tomorrow afternoon against the Florida Panthers, as he has largely been used as an extra forward by the Avalanche this season.
  • Unfortunately for Justin Kirkland, it will be his second consecutive emergency call-up without a game played, as the Arizona Coyotes announced they have returned him back to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Luckily, he has appeared comfortable in his first season in the Coyotes organization, as he’s scored one goal and 13 points in 12 games for the Roadrunners so far.

Minnesota Wild Activate Mats Zuccarello From Injured Reserve

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As alluded to yesterday in recent reports, the Minnesota Wild have officially activated forward Mats Zuccarello off of injured reserve, per a team announcement. Having been injured since December 16th, Zuccarello will likely be in the lineup tomorrow night as the Wild take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Before the announcement, Zuccarello was one of five players currently on the injured reserve for Minnesota, with top players such as Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon sidelined as well. Even beyond the regular injured reserve, defenseman Jonas Brodin currently finds himself on long-term injured reserve, severely limiting the Wild’s depth over the last couple of weeks.

Specifically with Zuccarello sidelined with an upper-body injury, Minnesota has produced a 4-5-0 record in his absence, with four of those losses coming in their last four games. As the defense and goaltending have held up their end of things, the Wild’s offense has certainly struggled over this stretch, averaging less than three goals a game without Zuccarello.

Even though Zuccarello is largely seen as a complimentary piece next to Kaprizov, he may be tasked with being the focal point of the offense moving forward over the next few games. Impressively, he still sits second on the team in scoring with six goals and 28 points in 28 games, continuing to maintain an elite ability to pass the puck in his age-36 season.

Minnesota still has a difficult path ahead toward a healthy roster, but the addition of Zuccarello back into the lineup should help the team to be more competitive. Luckily for the team, the wild card race in the Western Conference is still relatively tight, as the Wild currently sit five points back of the Seattle Kraken for the final spot, with two games in hand.

Miro Heiskanen Out Week-To-Week With Lower-Body Injury

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Suffering a lower-body injury in last night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars’ defenseman, Miro Heiskanen, was not on the ice this morning for practice. Carrying some optimism that Heiskanen would not be out long-term with an injury, the team received both good and bad news regarding his status by this afternoon.

Speaking with head coach Peter DeBoer, senior staff writer, Mike Heika reports that Heiskanen is to be considered week-to-week, but will not need surgery to repair any sustained damage. Up to this point, the Stars have not made a corresponding roster move, nor have they placed Heiskanen on injured reserve, although a transaction of this nature could be coming in the relatively near future.

Since the beginning of his tenure in Dallas during the 2018-19 season, Heiskanen has maintained relatively excellent health, as this injury will likely sideline him the longest out of any injury he’s suffered throughout his professional career. Given that the Stars have six other healthy defensemen on the roster, and the limited cap space currently possessed by the organization, Dallas may feel confident to roll forward with what they currently have.

Before his injury last night, Heiskanen was once again the top defenseman for the Stars, scoring four goals and 27 points in 37 games. He is not currently keeping pace with his offensive production from last season, but Dallas continues to lean on him in all situations, as he leads the team in average time on ice at a touch over 25 minutes a night.

In the absence of Heiskanen, look for the Stars to lean more into defenseman Thomas Harley, who now has an even larger opportunity with the organization. Although Dallas largely expected Harley to become an above-average defenseman for the team as a former first-round selection, he has exploded onto the scene this year with nine goals and 17 points in 34 games. With the awareness to play in all situations similarly to Heiskanen, Harley also sits third in the league in goals by a defenseman.

USA Wins 2024 World Junior Championship

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With their victory over Team Sweden this afternoon, Team USA has officially won the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, taking home the gold medal for the sixth time since the tournament’s inception in 1977. The game-winning goal would come in the second period, as Michigan State University product, Isaac Howard, put away the deciding marker relatively early on in the game.

Team USA will now move alone into third place in total gold medals in the tournament’s history after being tied with Finland with five since 2021. Team Russia/Soviet Union is in second place with eight gold medals, while Team Canada is in front by a large margin with a whopping 20 gold medals in the tournament’s history.

After leading Team Czechia in scoring in last year’s tournament, Buffalo Sabres’ prospect, Jiri Kulich, would lead the entire tournament this year, scoring six goals and 12 points in seven games. Tied in the lead with Kulich was Philadelphia Flyers’ prospect, Cutter Gauthier of Team USA, scoring two goals and 12 points in seven games.

Outside of Team USA bringing home the gold, and Team Sweden taking home the silver medal, Team Czechia would go on to defeat Team Finland in a high-scoring game this morning, winning their second bronze medal in tournament history. Now, the players from each respective country will return back to their regular teams, before the exciting tournament returns next year in Ottawa.

East Notes: Samsonov, Meier, Cernak, Fleury

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Having just cleared waivers yesterday, questions immediately sprouted concerning Ilya Samsonov, and how the Toronto Maple Leafs plan to deal with the struggling goaltender. Now rostered with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic shed a bit more light on the issue this afternoon.

Speaking with the General Manager of the Maple Leafs, Brad Treliving, it does not appear that Samsonov will play nor practice with the Marlies this week, as Treliving is quoted as saying, “It’s a physical and a mental reset where can he get away from preparing for the next game and all the pressures that come with it”.

Although a bold action to take near the middle of the season, Toronto is seemingly running out of ideas on how to maximize Samsonov’s play between the pipes. In what is shaping to be the worst statistical output of his career, Samsonov holds a 5-2-6 record in 15 games, carrying a dismal .862 SV% and a 3.94 GAA.

Other notes:

  • Experiencing plenty of injury concerns from multiple significant players this season, the New Jersey Devils will be without forward Timo Meier for an undisclosed amount of time, as he is dealing with a mid-body injury according to team reporter, Amanda Stein. Stein indicates that it is not a re-aggravation of any of Meier’s previous injury concerns this season, something he has been seemingly battling for much of the regular season.
  • Taking a hit to their defensive core, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be without Erik Cernak on a day-to-day basis, while Haydn Fleury will be on more of a week-to-week timeline (X Link). In all fairness to Fleury, Cernak is the more significant defenseman to miss time, as he has blossomed into one of the better shutdown defensemen in the NHL with Tampa Bay. Averaging over 19 minutes of ice time per game, Cernak holds a 90.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength this season.

Penguins Activate Bryan Rust; Reassign Vinnie Hinostroza, Ryan Shea

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As alluded to in multiple reports this morning, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have officially activated forward Bryan Rust off of long-term injured reserve, and he will return to the lineup tonight as the team takes on the Washington Capitals. In a corresponding roster move, the team also announced that forward Vinnie Hinostroza and defenseman Ryan Shea had both been sent down to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Rust, who has been on the team’s long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury since December 6th, will serve as yet another significant reinforcement back into the Penguins lineup. Only a few weeks ago, Pittsburgh saw the return of fellow forward Rickard Rakell, after he missed he missed a month of action on LTIR.

Even after missing the team’s last 10 contests, Rust still impressively sits sixth on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 20 points in 22 games. With Rust back in the lineup, the Penguins will be able to carry a full top-six, a luxury they have largely been without for much of the 2023-24 season.

Although their position in the standings looked dire a few weeks ago, the Penguins have found themselves back in the playoff conversation, moving to one point back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference correlating with the return of a lot of their injured players. Over their last 10 games, Pittsburgh holds a 7-2-1 record, picking up a solid win over the Carolina Hurricanes, and two wins over the New York Islanders over that stretch.

For the reassignments, it will now mark the sixth time Hinostroza has been sent down this season, although a handful of those demotions were merely paper transactions for the Penguins to manage their salary cap outlook. Being brought in as a flexible and veteran forward option for the team this past summer, Hinostroza has one goal and three points with Pittsburgh so far this season.

Shea, on the other hand, has played in a majority of the Penguins’ games up to this point in the season, suiting up in 22 contests, averaging just under 12 and a half minutes per game. Viewed as a bit of a reclamation project for the organization, Shea’s defensive play has been solid during his limited usage with Pittsburgh. Failing to produce a point on the year, his 50.2% CorsiFor% and his 92.6% on-ice save percentage in all situations both serve as relatively above-average marks for a defenseman in his position.

It is more than likely that both Shea and Hinostroza will find themselves back up in the NHL at some point this season, they will now help a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team in a similar position to their NHL affiliate. Through 31 games, the baby Penguins hold a 16-12-3-0 record, sitting in fifth place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.

Pacific Injury Notes: Soucy, Hoglander, Gagner, Holloway, Burroughs

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In a report from Thomas Drance of The Athletic, the Vancouver Canucks will have to wait a bit longer for the return of Carson Soucy. Making his way back from a fractured leg, Soucy had just recently returned to skating a little over a week ago. In the same report, Drance also points out that forward Nils Hoglander will be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the Ottawa Senators.

With an injury to his knee, foot, and leg all within his first three months as a member of the Canucks organization, Soucy’s tenure with the team has already been plagued by injuries. Of the 36 games played by Vancouver so far this season, Soucy has only suited up in 13 of those, only being available for 36% of the team’s games up to this point. When Soucy eventually returns to the lineup, assuming he can stay clear of injuries for the remainder of the season, the Canucks will own one of the most well-rounded defensive cores across the league.

In the case of Hoglander, it is unclear by the reporting if he is dealing with a nagging injury, or if the Canucks are debating on carrying him as an extra forward tonight. Although he suited up in the team’s most recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers, recent reports indicated that Hoglander had been moved off the second line and recently practiced as an extra forward.

Other injury notes:

  • With forward Dylan Holloway ready to return from his knee injury suffered in mid-November, Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic expects both he and forward Sam Gagner to be in the lineup this weekend for the Edmonton Oilers. Although Edmonton has recovered fairly well since the organization’s horrid start to the regular season, the bottom half of their forward core has still been a significant issue across the board. Gagner has been a solid addition in that department in now his third stint with the Oilers, and the reintroduction of Holloway’s physical play will certainly make Edmonton harder to play against each night.
  • Having missed the team’s most recent game on New Year’s Eve, San Jose Sharks defenseman, Kyle Burroughs confirms he will be back in the lineup tonight as the Sharks take on the Detroit Red Wings (X Link). Going through a difficult season similar to the rest of his teammates, Burroughs has tallied four assists in 35 games this year, carrying a -22 rating into tonight’s action.

Minnesota Places Vinni Lettieri On IR, Recalls Samuel Walker

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In an announcement coming from the Minnesota Wild this afternoon, the organization has placed depth forward Vinni Lettieri on injury reserved due to a lower-body injury. In a corresponding move, the team has recalled Samuel Walker from their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

As reported this morning, veteran Marcus Foligno will be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the Calgary Flames, and with Lettieri also injured, Minnesota was put in a position where they may have only been able to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Instead, with Lettieri’s placement on the injured reserve and the subsequent callup of Walker, the team will now be able to put together four full offensive lines for their matchup tonight.

Even while maintaining their roster flexibility, it will mark another time this season that the Wild’s depth has been tested. In his own right, Lettieri himself was viewed as an extra forward for Minnesota at the beginning of the season, coming over from the Boston Bruins organization on a two-year, $1.55MM contract this past summer.

In what is now his second call-up with the organization since clearing waivers on November 24th, Lettieri has suited up in a total of 19 games for the Wild this season, scoring one goal and four points on the team’s fourth line. Although he has shown spurts of solid play, his 45.8% CorsiFor%, as well as his 6.3% team on-ice shooting percentage in all situations are both below his career averages.

It has been a difficult transition back into the NHL for Lettieri, as a fourth-line role is somewhat foreign territory for him compared to his usage at the AHL level. Throughout his time in the AHL, Lettieri has been nearly a point-per-game player, scoring 237 points in 277 career games. Due to that, and his regular usage of the powerplay, Lettieri will have to add a bit more hard-nosed physicality into his game for a smoother transition.

Walker, an Edina, Minnesota native came over to the organization in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Having already made his NHL debut last year, Walker has suited up in two games this season in mid-October. Similarly to Lettieri, Walker has also been a heavily relied upon offensive talent for Iowa, as he currently sits third on the team in scoring.

Seattle Kraken Place Jaycob Megna On Waivers

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According to a team release, the Seattle Kraken have placed defenseman Jaycob Megna on waivers to assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. This will mark the sixth time Megna has been placed on waivers since breaking into the league during the 2016-17 season.

Originally the second to last pick of the 2012 NHL Draft, it would take Megna five seasons to crack an NHL roster after finishing out his collegiate career with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, making his NHL debut with the Anaheim Ducks during the 2016-17 season. Only skating in one contest that year, Megna would regularly skate with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

Without gaining much traction in the NHL throughout his three-year stretch with the Ducks, Megna would make a few more pit stops throughout the AHL, before landing with the San Jose Sharks as an unrestricted free agent before the 2021-22 season. Although producing modestly relative to the rest of the league, Megna would skate in 44 games for the Sharks, scoring two goals and eight points, both career highs at that time.

San Jose would go on to reward Megna’s depth play for the organization, signing Megna to a two-year, $1.525MM contract the following summer. Last year, in the first season of that contract, Megna would suit up in 48 games for the Sharks, scoring one goal and 12 points in total, before finally being shipped to the Kraken in early February.

Since the beginning of the season, Megna has been on the active roster for Seattle, albeit from a three-day conditioning loan that had him playing two games for Coachella Valley. Serving as the seventh or even eighth defenseman on the Kraken for the year up to this point, Megna has not played in any games for Seattle this season.

Similar to a majority of players throughout the league, Megna has historically been much more productive at the AHL level, scoring 18 goals and 98 points over 370 regular season games. He will now suit up for a Firebirds team that is looking to defend their Western Conference championship from a season ago, as they currently sit sixth in the Pacific Division with a 16-10-2 record on the year.

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