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Florida Panthers Send Three Players To AHL

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As they prepare their cap for the impending return of Aaron Ekblad, the Florida Panthers have sent three players to the minor leagues. Lucas Carlsson, Aleksi Heponiemi, and Matt Kiersted have all been sent to the Charlotte Checkers.

Ekblad was injured in the middle of October and has played just three games this season. He is eligible to return on Saturday after missing the requisite LTIR time, and head coach Paul Maurice is expecting him in the lineup.

Patric Hornqvist is also expected back in the coming days, though he was never placed on injured reserve in the first place. To make room for Ekblad, the team still needs to clear a bit more salary, likely meaning someone else will be going down when he’s activated. For now, the team has to keep at least 20 players on the roster.

It’s huge news for the Panthers, especially given how strong Ekblad was last season. The veteran defenseman set a new career high with 57 points in 61 games and finished sixth in Norris Trophy voting. Florida has been okay without him but still sit at 8-5-1 on the year, not exactly the start they wanted after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2021-22.

Ekblad’s return will go a long way to getting them back to being an elite team in the league, even if it does cost them some NHL depth to fit his salary in.

Los Angeles Kings Activate Alex Turcotte; Assign To AHL

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While so many of the other top-ten picks from 2019 have started to pay huge dividends for their teams, one name remains completely scoreless in the NHL. Alex Turcotte, selected fifth overall by the Los Angeles Kings, has had his career limited by concussions so far and has suited up just eight times at the highest level.

Today, there was some good news. Turcotte has been activated from injured reserve and loaned to the Ontario Reign of the AHL. Jared Shafran, Reign communications manager, tweeted out an encouraging quote from the young forward:

It’s been a pretty tough year with the uncertainty of not knowing when I was going to play again or feel normal again. but now I feel the best I’ve probably ever felt. I’m 100%.

A dominant center with the USNTDP and then for one year at Wisconsin, Turcotte started out his AHL career with 21 points in 32 games during the 2020-21 season. He made his NHL debut last year and suited up eight times, but failed to register a single point. Now 21, he’ll try to get his career back on track and fill some of the promise that made him such a high draft pick.

The Kings will likely take his development slow, but hopefully, his concussion issues are behind him and Turcotte can become an impact player for the team down the road. He is still signed through 2023-24 on his entry-level deal and can move up and down between the AHL and NHL without requiring waivers.

Seattle Kraken Claim Magnus Hellberg

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After a short vacation in Ottawa, Magnus Hellberg is a Seattle Kraken once more. The veteran goaltender has been reclaimed by Seattle off waivers today. Mike Reilly and Nikita Zaitsev, who were on waivers with him, both cleared.

Hellberg, 31, returned from five years in the KHL last season to play one game for the Detroit Red Wings and show he was ready for an NHL job. After signing a one-way contract with Seattle in early July, he ended up on waivers as the season began. With the Senators dealing with an injury to Cam Talbot, they snagged the 6’6″ netminder but gave him just a single start. Hellberg posted a .935 save percentage in his one game, winning it.

Given the injuries to Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger, it always made a lot of sense for the Kraken to bring Hellberg back. The team has been relying heavily on Martin Jones through the first part of the year, who, to his credit, has posted a 7-3-1 record and .907 save percentage. Joey Daccord, the backup by default, has seen just a single appearance since Grubauer went down.

The Kraken have actually been excellent of late, winning their last five to take second place in the Pacific Division. That is despite the below-average goaltending they’ve received, a similar story to a year ago. Grubauer was brutal again to start the year and even with Jones’ better performance, they could still use a few more saves to really put them over the top. If Hellberg can show a consistent presence in the net, there is a real opportunity for him to see NHL minutes.

The team has not yet announced what their plan is for the big netminder, but if they were the only club to submit a claim, he could be assigned directly to the minor leagues without clearing again.

Loui Eriksson Signs In SHL

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Long-time NHL forward Loui Eriksson will continue his hockey career overseas, returning to the team that he won a championship with in 2005. Frolunda has announced a contract for Eriksson that will last the rest of the season, though even the press release cautions expectations and notes that he hasn’t played in six months.

Eriksson, 37, crossed the 1,000-game threshold last season, suiting up 73 times for the Arizona Coyotes to take his NHL total to 1,050. Because of an ill-advised contract from the Vancouver Canucks in the summer of 2016 that made him the butt of many jokes as his career was winding down, it’s easy to forget how good Eriksson was in his prime. In his third year in the league, he scored 36 goals and 63 points with the Dallas Stars, only to follow it up with three straight 70+ point campaigns.

In fact, for the stretch between 2008-09 and 2011-12, Eriksson was 21st in league scoring while also receiving Selke Trophy votes as one of the best defensive forwards in the league. He was a true star at that point, even if it is kind of difficult to remember now.

Today, he returns to the organization that developed him and the SHL team he played with during the 2004-05 lockout season. As he explained in his introductory presser, he’ll also be reunited with Joel Lundqvist, team captain, and former teammate at several levels, including the Stars.

Niklas Hjalmarsson Returns To SHL

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Nov 10: Hjalmarsson has now officially signed a contract with HV71 for the rest of the season.

Oct 25: One of the most consistent defenders of his generation hung up the skates after the 2020-21 season, as Niklas Hjalmarsson decided that was it for his NHL career. With more than 800 games, 1,600 blocked shots, and three Stanley Cup championships in the books, there wasn’t much more for him to accomplish in professional hockey.

Except, maybe there is.

In a press release over the weekend, SHL club HV71 announced that Hjalmarsson would start training with the team and hopefully play with them for the rest of the season. The 35-year-old defenseman explained that he drives past the rink every day and couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to play for the club again.

After all, this is the organization that developed him as a youngster, and the one he made his professional debut with (back when it was still the Swedish Elite League) in 2004-05. Born less than an hour from the arena, it is something of a homecoming for the Chicago Blackhawks legend. Hjalmarsson left Swedish hockey back in 2007 to join the Blackhawks, and would quickly become one of the most trusted defensive defensemen in the league. By his first full season in 2009-10, he was already logging nearly 20 minutes a night and putting up blocked shot totals near the top of the league.

In those playoffs, when the young upstart Blackhawks were ready to compete for a Stanley Cup, he took on even more responsibility, and played 21 minutes a night en route to the championship – adding nine points and 54 blocks in 22 games. He would do similar things in the other two title runs, including averaging more than 26 minutes in 2015 as the third member of a defensive trio that was nearly impenetrable alongside Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.

For Swedish hockey fans, getting to see Hjalmarsson play back home will be a treat, if it gets that far. If you listen to him, it might not even be a short stint. Hjalmarsson notes that he doesn’t know whether he’ll be with the team for two weeks, a year, or three years at this point – he’s just excited about getting back on the ice and competing.

Alex Galchenyuk Signs AHL Contract

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Now that he has been cleared from injury, Alex Galchenyuk has signed an AHL contract with the Colorado Eagles, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets. The veteran forward was in Colorado Avalanche camp on a professional tryout when he suffered the injury, and head coach Jared Bednar had told reporters at the time that he expected him back with the organization at some point.

An AHL deal will allow the 28-year-old to get back up to speed in the minor leagues and try to prove he deserves another NHL deal, a path he has taken before. In 2021, after clearing waivers with the Carolina Hurricanes, Galchenyuk was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who stuck him in the minor leagues to “rebuild” his game. After six excellent appearances with the Toronto Marlies – the only AHL games of his career – Galchenyuk was back up and a regular in the Toronto lineup.

Last season, he scored 21 points in 60 games with the Arizona Coyotes, and headed into the offseason looking for a new opportunity. It seemed like Colorado could be the perfect place, given how much depth they lost at the forward position, but an injury robbed him of the chance. Now, with the Avalanche dealing with injuries upfront, perhaps there will be a new opening for him to reclaim his place as an NHLer.

It is unlikely that Galchenyuk ever returns to the 30-goal scorer he was as a young player in Montreal but perhaps he can carve out a new role as a reliable secondary scoring option deeper in the lineup. He’ll have to prove it for the Eagles first.

St. Louis Blues Place Robert Bortuzzo On Injured Reserve

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The St. Louis Blues, stuck in a losing spiral that has them dead last in the NHL, will have to pull themselves out of it without the help of Robert Bortuzzo. The veteran defenseman was placed on injured reserve today with an upper-body injury. Tyler Tucker was recalled from the AHL in his place.

Bortuzzo, 33, has barely seen the ice this season anyway, averaging just over 12 minutes in his 10 appearances. Even with an entire career spent on the third pairing that is the lowest ice time he’s seen, and the results haven’t been very good. With him out, the Blues will have to go in a different direction with that spot, perhaps even the youngster coming up from Springfield.

Tucker, 22, was a seventh-round pick of the Blues in 2018 and has moved his way up the organizational depth chart by being extremely hard to play against. The left-shot defenseman racked up 114 penalty minutes last season for the Thunderbirds and was a wrecking ball in the playoffs, helping the club to the Calder Cup Finals. In 11 games this season he’s turned up the offense with seven points, while still being strong in his own end.

Even earning a recall is a big deal for a seventh-round pick, but it seems like Tucker might actually get into the lineup if the Blues can’t find a way out of this losing streak. Why not try out something different, especially on the back end where the Blues have given up 43 goals in 11 games.

Detroit Red Wings Recall Berggren, Smith

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The Detroit Red Wings have added two forwards to the roster, recalling Jonatan Berggren and Givani Smith ahead of their game tonight. The moves follow Matt Luff’s injury and come before a four-game road trip that includes three California games starting this weekend.

Smith, 24, played 46 games last season for the Red Wings and has already suited up twice this year, adding his patented brand of physical hockey to the bottom six. The young forward racked up 108 penalty minutes last year, to go along with four goals and seven points – all career highs. He projects as a fourth liner or extra forward at this point, bouncing up and down whenever needed.

It’s Berggren that will draw much of the attention, given the unknown upside that he brings. The 22-year-old Swede was selected 33rd overall in 2018 and developed into a star in Europe before coming to North America last season. In 70 games for Grand Rapids, he scored 21 goals and 64 points, impressive totals for a player experiencing the exhausting AHL schedule for the first time. This year, he’s back with seven points in seven games for the Griffins and will now presumably get his first crack in the NHL.

Whenever he does make it into the lineup, Berggren will be making his NHL debut. It’s not clear when that will be, however, as just yesterday head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters including Ansar Khan of MLive that David Perron and Oskar Sundqvist would be healthy enough to go tonight.

New Jersey Devils Extend Martin Brodeur

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The New Jersey Devils are keeping around a franchise icon for a while longer. The team has signed a multi-year extension with Martin Brodeur to serve as vice president, hockey operations. Brodeur had previously been splitting time between hockey ops and the business side of the organization but will now solely focus on the former alongside general manager Tom Fitzgerald. The goaltending legend released the following:

Working with Tom’s group for the past few years, I have seen firsthand what he and our Managing Partners, David Blitzer and Josh Harris are building. I’ve been fortunate to help them in that time, as we move in the right direction toward consistent, sustained success. This decision allows me to commit all my time to the hockey side and focus on achieving the ultimate goal for our players, tremendous fans and entire organization.

There’s no point in listing off Brodeur’s achievements as a player, given how ubiquitous he is with the goaltending position, but some may have overlooked just how much front office experience he has gained since retiring in 2015. He quickly moved into an assistant general manager position with the St. Louis Blues after hanging up his pads, and even served as the team’s goaltending coach for a short period. Hockey Canada then pegged him as AGM for the Karjala and Spengler Cups, before handing him the GM job at the World Championships.

In 2018, he returned to the Devils and has served in various different roles ever since, including helping hockey operations. Now, as he moves fully into that world, it seems likely that he will remain at the head of the team. Whether he ever becomes a true general manager, or skips that step entirely – think Brendan Shanahan in Toronto – Brodeur has the experience and status to be an executive in the league for a long time.

Evander Kane Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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After undergoing an emergency procedure following a scary incident last night, Evander Kane has been placed on long-term injured reserve by the Edmonton Oilers. Kane’s wrist was lacerated by a skate blade, pouring blood onto the ice and requiring immediate medical attention. After being transported to the hospital, the Oilers announced that Kane was in stable condition and would undergo a surgical procedure. He has now been ruled out for the next three to four months, though no other details were revealed.

With the added cap flexibility and an extra roster spot, the team has recalled Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin from the minor leagues.

In a post earlier today, Kane released a statement thanking the training staff of both the Oilers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, along with the paramedics and doctors that helped to repair the injury. Though there aren’t many details on what exactly was damaged, Kane vowed that he will be back and suggested that it could have been much worse without their immediate help.

The 31-year-old winger wasn’t scoring goals at quite the incredible pace he set after arriving in Edmonton last season but he was still having a great start to the year. With five goals and 13 points in his first 14 games (including the nine shifts he had last night before exiting), he was actually on pace to set a new career high in points. His previous best was 57, set back in 2011-12, thanks to a number of seasons cut short for various reasons. Kane has never played in more than 78 games in a single season and that trend will continue with this months-long absence.

For the Oilers, losing one of your best offensive weapons is never a good situation but they do have some strong depth coming in. Both Kostin and Janmark have NHL experience, especially the latter, who has been a full-time player for the past six years. In 67 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last year, Janmark had nine goals and 25 points. Kostin meanwhile played 40 times for the St. Louis Blues in 2021-22, scoring nine points.

While neither of them can fill the role that Kane had, forward depth hasn’t been the calling card of the Oilers in years past. At least this time they have legitimate options to insert into the lineup, though there will be some shuffling required to figure out the best way forward.

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