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International & Minor Transaction Notes: Chartier, Gosselin, Johnson

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Rourke Chartier has been traded for the first time in his professional career albeit in the Kontinental Hockey League. Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News wrote earlier that the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star had traded Chartier to CSKA Moskva for cash considerations.

The centerman played admirably with the Red Star, scoring eight goals and 17 points in 37 games, but Kunlun has fallen in the KHL’s Western Conference Standings with only 11 wins on the year. Chartier will join third-place Moskva alongside former NHL talents such as Ivan Prosvetov, Nikita Nesterov, and Denis Gurianov.

Chartier suited up in the NHL as recently as last year with the Ottawa Senators. He spent three years within the Senators organization collecting two goals and three points in 43 NHL contests with another 37 goals and 66 points in 82 games with AHL Belleville. Chartier spent the first three years of his professional career with the San Jose Sharks scoring 30 goals and 74 points in 121 AHL contests and one goal in 13 games for the Sharks during his lone NHL season with the club in 2018-19.

Other international and minor transactions:

  • According to the AHL transactions page, the Utica Comets, the top affiliate of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, added some defensive depth to the lineup. The team signed defenseman Kurt Gosselin on a professional tryout agreement and he could play in his first AHL contest since the 2018-19 season. Gosselin has spent the last four years hopping around numerous ECHL franchises playing for the Cincinnati Cyclones, Toledo Walleye, Kalamazoo Wings, Reading Royals, Orlando Solar Bears, and the Adirondack Thunder. He’s scored 24 goals and 61 points in 167 ECHL contests while managing a -4 rating.
  • Mathieu Sheridan of The Hockey News reports former AHL forward Isaac Johnson has signed a contract with the Finnish Liiga’s Jukurit. Johnson has only managed 30 AHL games between the Manitoba Moose and Toronto Marlies since joining the professional ranks in the 2021-22 season scoring three goals and eight points overall. He has a much better track record in the ECHL — scoring 64 goals and 139 points in 125 games for the now-defunct Newfoundland Growlers while managing a solid +31 rating.

Blackhawks Assign Brett Seney To Canadian National Team

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According to the AHL transactions page, the Chicago Blackhawks have reassigned Brett Seney, the captain of their AHL affiliate, to the Canadian National Team for the upcoming Spengler Cup. It will be the first time Seney has suited up for Team Canada in international play throughout his professional career.

Seney is in his eighth professional season and third with the Blackhawks organization. The New Jersey Devils drafted him with the 157th overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft. He made his professional debut with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Binghampton Devils, toward the end of the 2017-18 season.

Before turning to the professional ranks, Seney amassed a solid career with the NCAA’s Merrimack College scoring 42 goals and 115 points in 139 games. That level of offensive consistency has translated well to the AHL where Seney has collected 97 goals and 274 points in 345 games.

Unfortunately for Seney, his talent hasn’t translated well to the NHL. He scored five goals and 13 points in 51 games for the Devils in his rookie campaign during the 2018-19 season while averaging 10:20 of ice time per game. He saw his role significantly reduced during the Covid-shortened 2019-20 season as Seney only suited up in two games for the rebuilding New Jersey franchise.

He spent one more year in the Devils organization before signing a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021. Seney led the team’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies in scoring that year leading to three straight one-year contracts with the Blackhawks.

Vancouver Canucks Assign Three Players To AHL

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Like every team in the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Canucks have played their final game before the short holiday break. Per the AHL transactions page, the Canucks have papered down forwards Phillip Di Giuseppe, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson bringing their roster down a minimum of 18 skaters and two goalies.

The roster moves will give Vancouver a relatively large window of salary cap relief despite all three players earning below $900K on their current contracts. The Canucks don’t play until Saturday when they take on the Seattle Kraken meaning all three players will likely be recalled then.

The veteran Di Giuseppe played in three games for Vancouver during his recent call-up from December 17th to today, tallying two assists and 12 hits while averaging 12:39 of ice time. He’ll likely spend more time on the Canucks roster for the rest of the season after returning from an injury earlier in the year. Di Giuseppe is in the final season of a two-year, $1.55MM agreement signed with Vancouver and can bring quality defensive play toward the bottom of the lineup.

Sasson, the second forward included in today’s transaction, is starting to rack up playing time in the NHL. The former Western Michigan University standout has scored one goal and five points in 12 games for the Canucks this season and has seen his ice time climb to or near 13 minutes in three of his last four games. There’s a legitimate chance his playing days in the AHL are over for the foreseeable future unless Vancouver makes a notable outside addition to their bottom six.

Karlsson also sustained an early-season injury keeping him out of the lineup for both Vancouver and the Abbotsford Canucks for much of the 2024-25 regular season. He’s gotten off to a hot start in Abbotsford scoring five goals and six points in seven games but he failed to find the scoresheet during his pair of contests in the NHL. He’s an interesting offensive weapon Vancouver could toy with toward the bottom of their forward grouping given that Karlsson is only a year removed from scoring 23 goals and 60 points in 60 AHL games.

Capitals Reassign Henrik Rybinski

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Dec. 24: The Caps announced this morning that they’ve returned Rybinski to the AHL over the holiday break.

Dec. 21: Veteran center Lars Eller has officially been placed on injured reserve by the Washington Capitals as expected. The Capitals will use forward Henrik Rybinski in Eller’s stead with the organization announcing his recall from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

It’s his first NHL recall during his short professional career. The Florida Panthers drafted Rybinski with the 136th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft but he signed with Washington after his draft rights expired in 2022.

Rybinski has had a slow start to his professional career offensively scoring 10 goals and 34 points in 103 games for the Bears from 2022 to 2024. The current season can already be classified as a breakout year for Rybinski as he’s scored six goals and 20 points in 28 games. He’s unlikely to break any scoring records but his production is still good for third in scoring on a second-place Hershey team.

The uptick in point production likely led to Rybinski’s recall by the Capitals. Still, he’s unlikely to debut in the NHL given Washington’s upcoming schedule. The organization matches up against the Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs over their next three games.

Should the Capitals still need Rybinski on the roster by next Sunday, it would make sense for him to debut against a fledgling Detroit Red Wings. Still, the recall is an acknowledgment by the Capitals of Rybinski’s development this season.

New Jersey Devils Reassign Colton White

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Colton White’s time with the New Jersey Devils is on pause after 10 days on the active roster. The organization announced the reassignment of White to their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. New Jersey also added that White will join Team Canada for the upcoming Spengler Cup instead of joining the Comets roster.

The 2024-25 season is his eighth professional season and his sixth with the Devils organization. New Jersey drafted White with the 97th overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft and he’s been with the organization since aside from two years with the Anaheim Ducks organization.

Most of White’s value centers around his physicality. He’s tallied 10 assists in 84 games at the NHL level since the 2018-19 season with 57 blocked shots and 65 hits. He’s understandably scored more at the AHL level with 17 goals and 78 points in 274 games but has a dismal -69 rating throughout his career.

His inclusion on Team Canada’s roster for this year’s Spengler Cup will be the first international competition of White’s career. He’ll assist the Canadians in pursuing their first Spengler Cup victory since the 2019 tournament. The tournament will take place from December 26th to December 31st in Davos, Switzerland.

The Devils will likely make a corresponding roster move on defense after the Christmas break. They have one more game tomorrow night against the New York Rangers but will want more than six healthy defensemen on the active roster by the weekend.

Canadiens, Jake Evans Haven’t Discussed Extension

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The Montreal Canadiens are well-positioned to be deadline sellers for the fourth consecutive season. They also might have one of the most valuable rental candidates on the market.

Middle-six center Jake Evans is in the middle of a career year, only 11 points away from reaching career-highs in scoring despite playing in 39 fewer games. He’s scored seven goals and 19 points in 33 games for the Canadiens this season and sits fourth on the team in scoring. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent next summer when his three-year, $5.1MM contract concludes.

Montreal should theoretically be interested in keeping a player like Evans around but if they do — he doesn’t know it. In an interview with Eric Engels of Sportsnet, Evans replied, “Still crickets” when asked about extension negotiations with the Canadiens.

The Toronto, Ontario native is on pace for 17 goals and 47 points should he continue his current pace for the rest of the regular season. His career 50.8% faceoff rate and 89.2% on-ice save percentage in all situations should give interested teams confidence that Evans can play center toward the bottom of a contending lineup.

Evans’ biggest issue is his inconsistency over the last several years. That’s something he acknowledged in the interview with Engels when he said, “You start to understand your role and where you’re going to fit in and where you’re going to bring value to a team. Sometimes it takes guys half a season, but for me, moving up and down the lineup, you don’t really know what kind of player you’re supposed to be, and now I feel like I’ve finally found it.”

Still, even though he could conceivably double his current salary on the open market, Evans strikes as a player the Canadiens should keep around for the long haul. Cap space won’t be a concern for Montreal anytime soon and Evans has proven his value to the organization this season.

International Notes: Leipsic, Bitten, Timashov, Gagner

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The current roster freeze will prevent several roster moves in the NHL over the next few days. However, that won’t stop roster moves on the international stage, particularly in the Kontinental Hockey League. A couple of those transactions overseas include notable former NHL talent.

Longtime NHL veteran Brendan Leipsic has been traded in the KHL from Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg to Sibir Novosibirsk, per a release from the latter. In his first season with Yekaterinburg, Leipsic scored six goals and seven points in 25 KHL contests. It’s been six years since Leipsic suited up in the NHL, most recently for the Capitals. The former third-round pick of the Nashville Predators played in 187 games in the NHL from 2016 to 2020, scoring 16 goals and 59 points overall. He’s been far more productive in Russia, scoring 46 goals and 114 points in 197 games since joining the KHL ranks in 2020-21.

Other international transactions:

  • Former NHL prospect William Bitten is on the move in the KHL. Anton Nekrasov of Championat confirmed that HK Sochi has claimed Bitten off waivers from Spartak Moscow. Only a year removed from scoring 39 goals and 78 points in 133 games for the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds and debuting in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues in 2022-23, Bitten’s transition to the KHL has been nothing short of disastrous. He scored one goal and five points in 21 games for Moscow, leading the team to move on relatively quickly.
  • In a corresponding move, Sochi released former Maple Leafs, Red Wings, and Islanders winger Dmytro Timashov, the team announced on Telegram. The 28-year-old Swede has been a non-factor in his first season in Russia, posting a goal and three assists in 22 games. He last suited up in the NHL with the Isles in 2020-21 and has quickly established himself as a European journeyman since, suiting up in Sweden and Switzerland before arriving in Sochi over the offseason. A fifth-round pick of Toronto in 2015, Timashov recorded four goals and five assists in 45 NHL contests while averaging 8:30 per game across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
  • Unrestricted free agent center Sam Gagner is in Sweden training with Djurgårdens IF of the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, reports Andreas Hanson of HockeyNews.se. Gagner, 35, has yet to play in 2024-25 but was recently named to Team Canada’s roster for this year’s Spengler Cup. The veteran of 1,043 NHL games could sign overseas for the first time since playing in Austria during the 2012 lockout if he has a decent showing at the tournament. After posting 10 points in 28 games in a limited role with the Oilers last season, Gagner signed a professional tryout with the Hurricanes in September but was released at the end of training camp.

PHR’s Josh Erickson contributed to this article.

Chicago Blackhawks Activate Seth Jones From IR

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The Chicago Blackhawks are getting a major boost to their blue line. The organization announced they’ve activated defenseman Seth Jones from their injured reserve after missing the last 16 games with a right foot injury.

Jones’ activation couldn’t come soon enough for the Blackhawks. Through the first 17 games of the year with Jones on the roster, Chicago managed a 6-10-1 record with a -10 differential. In the 10 games following Jones’ exit from the lineup, the Blackhawks only had two wins while producing an identical -10 rating. The team has played better of late meaning Jones will only add to the current momentum.

The injury also came at a bad time for Jones personally. He got off to a solid start to the 2024-25 NHL season with two goals and 10 points in 17 games. Should he have continued his scoring pace throughout the regular season unencumbered, he would have finished with 10 goals and 49 points.

Jones can only finish the season with 66 games played meaning his eventual output should be similar to recent campaigns. He’s finished the last two years with 37 and 31 points respectively, a far cry from his five-goal, 51-point performance from 2021-22.

Still, Jones has unequivocally the most responsibility on Chicago’s blue line. He’s averaged 25:26 of ice time over 234 games played with the Blackhawks while playing in all situations. It might be a difficult transition for Jones tonight in his first game in over a month but it’s what’ll be required of him on a needy Blackhawks’ roster.

No corresponding roster move is necessary for Chicago given they only had 21 players on the active roster. However, one player is coming out of the lineup as Jones’ activation gives them seven defensemen.

According to Daily Faceoff’s projected lineups, that player is understandably youngster Kevin Korchinski. He’s scored zero points in six games for the Blackhawks this season and will likely head to Chicago’s AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, in due time.

Boston Bruins Recall Marc McLaughlin

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According to the AHL transactions page, the Boston Bruins have recalled depth forward Marc McLaughlin. McLaughlin’s stay on the AHL roster was brief, as he was only reassigned yesterday afternoon.

Following the allowable roster moves during the roster freeze, McLaughlin was eligible for recall to the NHL active roster since he was recalled in a separate transaction after December 11th. It was another paper move, but it allowed the Bruins to bank valuable cap space for a short time.

It’s been another hybrid year for McLaughlin in his fourth season of professional hockey. He’s spent much of his career playing in AHL Providence but has 23 NHL games with the Bruins.

He’s failed to bring his point-per-game offense from the NCAA to the professional ranks. McLaughlin’s production has risen this season with five goals and 10 points in 15 games for the AHL Bruins which is much better than his six goals and 14 points in 68 games from a season ago.

His consistency in the AHL, or lack thereof, has prohibited McLaughlin from earning any legitimate opportunity at the NHL level. He’s scored six goals throughout his career and has shown flashes of being a responsible defensive forward but hasn’t earned a full-time spot on the roster up to this point.

Still, he’ll earn valuable experience during practice with the Bruins despite factoring little during games. Boston matches up against the flailing Buffalo Sabres tonight which makes as good an opportunity as ever for McLaughlin to enter the lineup.

USA Hockey Announces 2025 WJC Roster

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Dec. 19: Emery, Fiddler, Pelosi and Spellacy didn’t make the cut. The rest of the names on the list below will comprise the Americans’ contingent at the tournament.

Dec. 2: The United States is on gold medal defense in the IIHF World Junior Championship for the first time since 2021. Excitement continues to build for this year’s rendition of the event and the team has announced its 28-man preliminary roster.

General manager John Vanbiesbrouck and head coach David Carle will have to trim three players from the preliminary roster before official rosters are due. The tournament will run from December 26, 2024, to January 5, 2025, in Ottawa, Canada. Team USA will play in Group A alongside Canada, Germany, Finland, and Latvia.

Will Smith of the San Jose Sharks is the biggest name left off the list of available age-eligible players from last year’s team. Smith was flat-out electric for the team last year scoring four goals and nine points in seven games but the Sharks organization has decided not to loan him back for this winter’s tournament.

Team USA will bring 10 members of last year’s gold-medal team present at this year’s camp. This year’s preliminary roster is as follows:

F Austin Burnevik (Ducks, 2024, 182nd overall)
F Trevor Connelly (Golden Knights, 2024, 19th overall)
F Cole Eiserman (Islanders, 2024, 20th overall)
F James Hagens (2025 draft-eligible)
F Ryan Leonard (Capitals, 2023, 8th overall)
F Oliver Moore (Blackhawks, 2023, 19th overall)
F Danny Nelson (Islanders, 2023, 49th overall)
F Chris Pelosi (Bruins, 2023, 92nd overall)
F Gabe Perreault (Rangers, 2023, 23rd overall)
F AJ Spellacy (Blackhawks, 2024, 72nd overall)
F Teddy Stiga (Predators, 2024, 55th overall)
F Brandon Svoboda (Sharks, 2023, 71st overall)
F Carey Terrance (Ducks, 2023, 59th overall)
F Joey Willis (Predators, 2023, 111th overall)
F Brodie Ziemer (Sabres, 2024, 71st overall)

D Zeev Buium (Wild, 2024, 12th overall)
D EJ Emery (Rangers, 2024, 30th overall)
D Blake Fiddler (2025 draft-eligible)
D Paul Fischer (Oilers, 2023, 138th overall)*
D Drew Fortescue (Rangers, 2023, 90th overall)
D Logan Hensler (2025 draft-eligible)
D Cole Hutson (Capitals, 2024, 43rd overall)
D Adam Kleber (Sabres, 2024, 42nd overall)
D Aram Minnetian (Stars, 2023, 125th overall)
D Colin Ralph (Blues, 2024, 48th overall)

G Trey Augustine (Red Wings, 2023, 41st overall)
G Sam Hillebrandt (went undrafted in 2023, 2024)
G Hampton Slukynsky (Kings, 2023, 118th overall)

* Fischer was originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 2023

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