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New York Rangers Recall Jonny Brodzinski

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The New York Rangers have recalled Jonny Brodzinski from the AHL, suggesting that trade deadline addition Tyler Motte might not be ready to go.

Motte was injured when Austin Watson ran him over last Thursday, a play that drew the focus of fans but not the Department of Player Safety. His return to New York hasn’t been very successful, with just one assist in six games and barely any playing time.

Given the team’s limited cap space, they don’t actually have room to recall Brodzinski without making another transaction or receiving an emergency exemption from the league. Since they played Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins shorthanded, it is likely the latter, with Brozinski not counting against the cap.

This was the risk of adding so many high-priced talents at the deadline. The Rangers may face similar situations down the stretch, forcing them to play with fewer than 18 skaters because of minor injuries. It is unclear how long Motte will be out, but moving him to long-term injured reserve for the added cap flexibility would rule him out for ten games and 24 days.

Brodzinski, 29, has played in 16 games for New York this season but has just two points.

Gustav Rydahl Expected To Return To SHL

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After slowly developing into a star overseas, Gustav Rydahl drew the attention of NHL scouts, and earned a contract with the New York Rangers last spring. The signing was buried in the headlines of the Rangers first-round win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, meaning some fans may not have even noticed his acquisition.

Less than a year later, Rydahl was shipped off at the trade deadline. The 28-year-old forward was sent to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Anton Blidh in one of the day’s more minor moves. He never played a game for the Rangers, and it appears his North American career could be over in the blink of an eye.

Reports out of Sweden indicate that Rydahl will return to the SHL next season, leaving any dreams of an NHL career behind. He won’t be returning to Farjestads, though. Instead, the big center will jump ship and play for rival Frolunda on a long-term contract.

It hasn’t gone according to plan for Rydahl in North America. Through 41 games in the AHL—all but one coming with the Hartford Wolf Pack—he has just seven goals and 15 points. While those numbers would likely increase with more experience here, the 2022 Olympian is expected to return home. A long-term deal with Frolunda at his age would suggest another stint in North America is out of the question.

Snapshots: Carlson, Giuttari, Murray

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The Washington Capitals already moved several pieces off the roster and essentially waved the white flag on this season. One reason why is the status of John Carlson, who hasn’t played since taking a slapshot to the head on December 23. Today, general manager Brian MacLellan revealed to reporters, including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, that Carlson won’t be able to think about returning until late March.

The Capitals have just six games in April before the playoffs are set to begin, meaning Carlson likely isn’t going to play a significant role for the rest of this season. That may be the biggest reason why the group has struggled, given how important he is at both ends of the rink. While not considered an elite defensive player, he is critical for Washington’s breakouts and plays more than 23 minutes every night when healthy. Hopefully, healthy describes next season, when he’ll try to get Washington back to the postseason.

  • We know what the future considerations are in the New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks trade from earlier today. While the Rangers got Wyatt Kalynuk in the NHL portion of the deal, the Abbotsford Canucks landed Zach Giuttari separately. Players on minor league contracts can’t be included in NHL transactions, so they had to be two different trades. The 26-year-old defenseman has ten points in 43 games this season for Hartford.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to activate Matt Murray ahead of tomorrow night’s game, and start him against the Vancouver Canucks. The team left themselves just enough room to bring the injured goaltender back from long-term injured reserve and sign prospect Matthew Knies at the end of his college season—should he decide to turn pro. Murray hasn’t played since January 17, and has a .911 save percentge on the year.

Nashville Predators Extend Kevin Lankinen

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The Nashville Predators have found their backup goaltender. Kevin Lankinen has signed a one-year, $2MM contract extension for the 2023-24 season, keeping him from unrestricted free agency this summer.

After the disappointing performance of David Rittich as Juuse Saros’ backup last year, the team signed Lankinen to a one-year, $1.5MM deal last summer after he left Chicago. It turned out to be quite the investment, as the 27-year-old netminder has been outstanding in his limited role, posting a .922 save percentage in 14 appearances. With Saros taking the vast majority of starts, the Predators just need someone reliable behind him, that can keep them in games on back-to-back nights.

Maybe more importantly, they need someone they will feel comfortable with if Saros ever goes down to injury. That’s what happened just before the 2022 playoffs, forcing the team to go with Rittich, who lasted all of 15 minutes against the dominant Colorado Avalanche attack, before ceding the net to third-string Connor Ingram. While Ingram did his best, the Avalanche walked to a first-round sweep over the Predators, and showed them the importance of a strong backup goaltender.

Enter Lankinen, who burst onto the NHL scene as a rookie in 2020, posting a .909 save percentage behind a bad Blackhawks roster. He got some down-ballot Calder Trophy love that year, and while he couldn’t replicate it in 2021-22, is showing this year that he’s a capable NHL netminder.

The one-year deal doesn’t secure his services long-term but takes one more thing off the to-do list for incoming general manager Barry Trotz. The Predators are in a period of uncertainty going into the summer as potential sellers, after moving Mattias Ekholm and Tanner Jeannot over the last few days. With a ton of draft capital to play with, but still several high-priced veterans on the roster, it’s not clear how exactly Trotz will go about reshaping the roster. One thing he doesn’t have to worry about is goaltending, with Saros and Lankinen in place for 2023-24.

Ondrej Kase Not Expected To Play This Season

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The Carolina Hurricanes currently have three players on long-term injured reserve. Max Pacioretty and Jake Gardiner have already been ruled out for the season, but there were still some question marks around Ondrej Kase. The veteran forward played just one game before suffering another concussion, an injury he has experienced several times throughout his career.

In December, Kase resumed skating, and it seemed there might be a chance for him to return. But Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff relays an update from general manager Don Waddell, explaining that the team is not expecting him back this season.

We’re not planning on him [playing again this season] as of now. If we get a good surprise that he’s feeling better, we’ll work him back in.

Even before this incident with Carolina, Kase’s concussion history was “plausibly into the double digits,” as James Mirtle of The Athletic wrote last year. Starting from his first game in North America, and now potentially ending with his first game as a Hurricane, it has been a long, unfortunate grind for the 27-year-old winger. Kase has never played in more than 66 games in a single season, and has suited up just 258 times since debuting in 2016.

He is an effective middle-six player when he’s on the ice, but it’s starting to look like that will never happen again for the Czech winger. It is disappointing for a seventh-round draft pick that rose so rapidly and looked so promising as a young player. Incredibly, he still ranks 27th in goals among all players drafted in 2014.

New York Rangers Acquire Anton Blidh, Wyatt Kalynuk

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The New York Rangers made two more minor moves just before the bell sounded. First, they acquired Anton Blidh from the Colorado Avalanche sending Gustav Rydahl back in return. Then, they acquired Wyatt Kalynuk from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for future considerations. All three players are currently in the minor leagues.

Blidh, 27, is the most experienced player in the deals, with 84 NHL games under his belt. Fourteen of those have come this season with Colorado, but the depth forward has been kept completely off the scoresheet. His acquisition is likely just to extend the Rangers forward depth chart ahead of the playoffs, as he is unlikely to play much unless the team suffers several injuries.

You could say the same for Kalynuk, who last saw NHL action during the 201-22 season and has spent this entire year with the Abbotsford Canucks. His acquisition is likely more about giving the Hartford Wolf Pack a bit more expeirence. Kalynuk was once expected to be a regular at the NHL level, after signing with Chicago out of the University of Wisconsin, but after 26 games in a Blackhawks sweater, his time in the league ran out.

Rydahl, meanwhile, was signed as an undrafted free agent out of the SHL, where he has won multiple championships and starred for Farjestads. His first taste of North American hockey hasn’t worked out, with just seven goals and 15 points through 40 games, but perhaps the Avalanche can find a little more juice in the 28-year-old center.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Alex Chiasson

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The Detroit Red Wings may not have landed James van Riemsdyk, but they did add a forward today. Alex Chiasson has signed a one-year, one-way, prorated $750K contract for the rest of this season. Chiasson had been playing with the Grand Rapids Griffins on an AHL contract.

Since he wasn’t on waivers today, it appears as though Chiasson is staying with Detroit for the time being. The 32-year-old forward has been a solid contributor for the Griffins, with 20 points in 29 games, and has a long history of providing depth scoring at the NHL level. In a 631-game career, the 6’4″ forward has 224 points, including 13 goals just last season for the Vancouver Canucks.

While he won’t be dragging the Red Wings to the playoffs, the team needed some forwards to fill the spots vacated by Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, and Oskar Sundqvist over the last few days. Chiasson is a reliable veteran who has put in his time in the minor leagues and can now get some extra pay down the stretch. He’ll also get a chance to showcase himself for a deal next season.

At just 32, this was the first time Chiasson had played in the AHL since 2013. If he can play well for the Red Wings whenever he gets the chance, perhaps another NHL contract is still waiting for him in the summer.

Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Austin Wagner

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The Los Angeles Kings, after making a handful of moves the last few days, have slipped one in just before the buzzer. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that Austin Wagner has been traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for future considerations.

Wagner, 25, was a regular in the Kings lineup for three seasons, playing 171 games between 2018-2021. But after failing to really establish himself as much more than a fourth-line forward, he was back in the AHL last season, playing all year for the Ontario Reign. This time around has been much of the same, with Wagner playing 24 games for Ontario so far, scoring nine goals and 12 points in the process.

The physical, scrappy forward will get a better chance in Chicago than he was ever going to get again in Los Angeles, and his trade clears some cap off the books for the Kings. The forward is in the final season of a three-year deal with a cap hit of $1,133,333—just over the $1,125,000 that can be buried in the minor leagues. He’s due a qualifying offer of $1.36MM at the end of the season to keep his rights as an RFA, something the Kings weren’t going to do, given his place on the organizational depth chart.

For Chicago, they need someone to play the rest of the year, and why not take a look at Wagner to see if they can coax some NHL production out of him again. Even if they don’t want to hand out that qualifying offer, they could still sign him to a cheaper extension in the coming months.

Ottawa Senators Acquire Patrick Brown

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Right at the buzzer, the Ottawa Senators have added another player for a late-season playoff run. Patrick Brown has been acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a 2023 sixth-round draft pick.

Brown, 30, is a straight-line forechecking machine, who will add a ton of energy to the Senators fourth line but not much else. The undrafted forward has scored just eight goals in 120 career regular season games, including just two this season with the Flyers. What he does have, though, is some legitimate playoff experience as a role player with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021 and Carolina Hurricanes in 2019, both teams that advanced to the third round.

If the Senators make the playoffs—which appears a real possibility after some strong play in recent weeks—players like Brown will be useful for head coach D.J. Smith and the rest of the staff. His speed, physical play, and penalty-killing ability make him a valuable option at the bottom of a lineup card, as long as he’s not being asked to do too much. His ability to play center is also a nice fit for a Senators team that has struggled to stay healthy down the middle of the ice.

A sixth-round pick is not a lot, but the Flyers will take anything they can get to piece a roster back together. It’s hard to call it a true rebuild, but draft capital will help even if general manager Chuck Fletcher tries to go with the “retool” option to satisfy ownership. Brown, on an expiring contract, was a chip they did well to cash in, given he was claimed off waivers from the Golden Knights in 2021.

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