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Minnesota Wild Loan Vladislav Firstov To KHL; Recall Mason Shaw

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Jordan Greenway’s return to the Minnesota Wild lineup lasted just six shifts. The bruising forward managed to land four hits during that time, but after leaving with an upper-body injury he was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters including Michael Russo of The Athletic after the game that Greenway would be evaluated today and won’t play tomorrow afternoon in Boston.

With that news, it makes sense that Mason Shaw is back in the AHL transaction portal and on his way back to the NHL level. Shaw had only been sent down a few days ago when it was clear that Greenway would be returning. More importantly, perhaps, is that the portal also includes Vladislav Firstov, who has been reassigned by the team to Torpedo Nizhny Novogrod of the KHL.

Firstov, 21, was a second-round pick of the Wild in 2019 and signed his entry-level contract in March. The young Russian forward hadn’t played in his home country for years, coming over to spend his draft year in the USHL and then the last three seasons at the University of Connecticut. After just one game with the Iowa Wild this season, he’s apparently on his way back overseas to continue his development in the KHL.

Notably, he remains under contract with the Wild, so this isn’t a long-term plan. But the team will lose at least a bit of control over his deployment and development this season as he plays in Russia. In eight games down the stretch with Iowa last season he managed just two assists, meaning he’ll have to wait even longer for his first professional goal in North America.

Florida Panthers Sign Eric Staal

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After skating on a professional tryout that extended into the regular season, Eric Staal has earned a contract. The Florida Panthers have agreed to a one-year, one-way contract with the veteran forward according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. The deal will carry a salary of $750K.

Staal, 37, is quite the story of perseverance, after not playing in the NHL at all last season. Instead of signing on with a team, he played a handful of games for the Iowa Wild before captaining Canada at the 2022 Olympics. While there were many reports that he was hoping to sign for a stretch run after the tournament ended, a contract never materialized.

Now, he’ll join brother Marc Staal with the Panthers for at least one last go-round in the NHL, and try to show once again why he may one day get into the Hall of Fame. The second-overall pick from 2003 has 1,034 points in 1,293 career regular season games and won the Stanley Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Even in his last appearance in the NHL, with the Montreal Canadiens in 2021, he somehow found a new gear in the postseason. After being rather underwhelming during the regular season, Staal put up eight points in 21 games for the Canadiens as they took a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final.

While he certainly won’t be a huge difference-maker for the Panthers, there are worse depth options to bring in with the added cap space from moving Aaron Ekblad to long-term injured reserve. Staal is, after all, 78th all-time in NHL points, and has been skating with the team long enough to fully understand their systems and structure.

Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Gabriel Fortier To AHL

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No matter how many times the Tampa Bay Lightning trade away young depth players at the deadline to bring in talent for their Stanley Cup push, they always seem to have another prospect ready for the NHL. Recently it was Gabriel Fortier, a second-round pick who played ten games for the team last season and cracked the roster out of camp this time around.

Fortier, 22, played just one game out of the first few, however, and has now been assigned to the minor leagues as the Lightning arrive back in Florida for the next couple of games. Tonight’s match is actually a road game as they take on their cross-state rivals but they’ll then host the New York Islanders tomorrow night before going on a west coast trip.

At that point, Fortier or someone else could be recalled as an extra forward, however, there is also another possibility. Anthony Cirelli and Zach Bogosian have both been skating in non-contact sweaters with the team, meaning one or both could be back at some point soon. The Lightning had been carrying a maximum of 23 players, meaning someone would need to go down to make room.

If that’s Fortier, the young forward shouldn’t be too disappointed. He isn’t even two full seasons into his professional career, and will get his chance at some point in the future.

Cam Talbot Still Weeks Away For Ottawa Senators

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The Ottawa Senators have played three games so far this season and Anton Forsberg has been in the net for every single minute of action. The 29-year-old netminder has been the only option in town since Cam Talbot suffered an injury in the preseason. When Forsberg missed the morning skate today, alarm bells went off in Ottawa, as fans wondered whether they would need to turn to Magnus Hellberg to carry the load. While Forsberg was just taking the morning off because of his heavy workload, there’s still no firm timeline for Talbot to return to game action.

In fact, Talbot still hasn’t been cleared to take shots, though he’s back on the ice according to head coach D.J. Smith. The veteran netminder was given a five to seven-week recovery timeline when he suffered the upper-body injury (believed to be a cracked rib) at the beginning of the month. It has been just two and a half to this point, meaning fans can at least take solace in the fact that he’s already on the ice.

While they have faith in Forsberg after his performance last season, Talbot was meant to carry a large chunk of the load this season after being acquired from the Minnesota Wild. Now, they’ll have to hope they don’t need to turn to Hellberg and his five games of NHL experience anytime soon.

The Senators don’t have a back-to-back situation on the schedule until the start of December, meaning there’s at least a chance that Forsberg can play every single game until Talbot gets back. Hopefully, with the progress he has made to this point, that date is sooner rather than later.

Michal Kempny Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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Playing for the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL is apparently not what Michal Kempny had in mind when he signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Seattle Kraken. The defenseman is on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, opening him up to sign somewhere else.

That usually means a player is going overseas, though Kempny would be eligible to sign a new deal with any other NHL team. The 32-year-old defenseman spent most of last season in the minor leagues as well, playing 24 games for the Hershey Bears and just 15 for the Washington Capitals.

Remembered as one of the key pieces that the Capitals acquired in 2018 en route to their Stanley Cup championship, Kempny has never seemed to fully recover from the Achilles surgery he had in 2020. That was preceded by surgery to repair a torn hamstring in 2019, an injury history that has robbed any chance of seeing him play at that high level again.

If this is it for his NHL career, he’ll finish with 247 games in the league and 63 regular season points. The undrafted Czech-born defender became a star overseas before signing with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2016, and reached his peak with that short run with the Capitals. His best season – the year after winning the Cup – Kempny had 25 points in 71 games while averaging more than 19 minutes a night in Washington.

Colorado Avalanche Claim Dryden Hunt; Phil Di Giuseppe Clears

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After losing Lukas Sedlak to waivers earlier this week, the Colorado Avalanche have made a claim of their own. Dryden Hunt will be heading to Denver, claimed away from the New York Rangers. Phil Di Giuseppe, who was also on waivers, has cleared and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Colorado hasn’t been happy with the makeup of their fourth line, so had been making tweaks in recent days. It appeared as though head coach Jared Bednar still didn’t love the group last night, playing Anton Blidh and Jayson Megna for barely over six minutes in an overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Claiming Hunt gives the team another option for the bottom-six, and likely will result in the assignment of one of the two recently-recalled forwards.

Now 26, Hunt has played in 168 regular season games in his NHL career, and appeared to have solidified his role with the Rangers last season when he put up 17 points in 76 appearances. That came along with 153 hits, a number that trailed only Ryan Reaves among New York forwards.

In Colorado, he’ll get a chance to establish himself as a full-time player once again, and help fill some of the depth issues the club has experienced so far. One of the most impressive groups in the NHL last season, the Avalanche have relied almost exclusively on their top four forwards to start the year. Mikko Rantanen, Valeri Nichushkin, Nathan MacKinnon, and Artturi Lehkonen are off to solid starts but beyond that, the rest of the group up front hasn’t been effective enough. Alex Newhook, Evan Rodrigues, and Logan O’Connor are all scoreless through the first four games, while J.T. Compher has just a single assist.

While Hunt isn’t expected to be much of an offensive presence, it does seem to be a great opportunity for him to bring his physicality and energy to a group still trying to find its identity early on.

Calgary Flames Extend Dan Vladar

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The Calgary Flames have clearly loved what they have seen from backup goaltender Dan Vladar. The two sides have agreed to a two-year extension worth a total of $4.4MM. The deal, which carries a $2.2MM average annual value, will start in 2023-24.

Vladar, 25, found his way to the Flames in 2021 by way of trade with the Boston Bruins and has appeared in 24 regular season games since. While his .906 save percentage with Calgary isn’t outstanding, he has the trust of the coaching staff. When recently asked about workload, head coach Darryl Sutter told reporters including Eric Francis of Sportsnet that he plans on giving Vladar at least one start a week – noting that there are 26 weeks in the regular season.

That 26 number would be a career-high for the third-round pick, but the Flames are committed to reducing Jacob Markstrom’s workload and making sure he’s at full health by the playoffs. The 32-year-old Markstrom is coming off a brilliant campaign but faded at the end, with a .901 save percentage in 12 postseason appearances.

A two-year deal for Vladar also allows the Flames to be patient with prospect Dustin Wolf, who took home the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s best goaltender last season but is still just 21. Wolf will likely be waiver-exempt until 2025, the same time Vladar’s deal now ends.

An extension is a solid show of faith in the young Czech netminder, but also could point to the confidence teams have in the rising salary cap. The Flames now have more than $81.7MM committed to 17 players for next season, as huge extensions for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar kick in. That said, general manager Brad Treliving is getting a nice head start on next summer. Connor Mackey is now the only roster player who is currently scheduled to be an RFA in the 2023 offseason, and Milan Lucic, Trevor Lewis, Brett Ritchie, and Michael Stone are the only pending UFAs.

Lineup Notes: Hoglander, Robertson, Holloway

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The Vancouver Canucks will spin the wheel of healthy scratches again tonight, this time sitting down Nils Hoglander for their game against the Minnesota Wild. Conor Garland will be inserted back onto the top line after taking his turn in the press box, according to Harman Dayal of The Athletic, who also tweets out that Tucker Poolman will be a game-time decision.

Hoglander, 21, recorded an assist on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, his only point of the season so far, and has just seven shots on net through four games. The diminutive forward hasn’t been able to replicate the kind of impact he had when he first entered the league in 2021, scoring 27 points in 56 games during the shortened season. While head coach Bruce Boudreau likes the way Hoglander is playing, he told Dayal that “sometimes you look at your opposition and see what you need.”

  • The offseason experiment of Denis Malgin on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ second line is coming to an end, at least for tonight. According to Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, the team will move top prospect Nick Robertson into the lineup to play beside John Tavares and William Nylander, an especially exciting opportunity for the young forward because of the opponent. Robertson’s brother Jason Robertson is in town with the Dallas Stars, making the second time the siblings will face off in the NHL. Despite starting games with the top-six unit, Malgin has averaged just 11:18 through his first four appearances with the Maple Leafs, seeing fewer than nine minutes in a recent loss against the Arizona Coyotes.
  • Dylan Holloway isn’t going to play tonight, according to Ryan Rishaug of TSN, who notes that while the young forward is listed as day-to-day, it could be a little while before he returns to the lineup if he’s dealing with a head injury. The Oilers’ prospect got punished by Buffalo Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin earlier this week in a massive open-ice hit. With Holloway injured, Edmonton will have to go with a roster of just 20 healthy players, unless another move is made (or the young forward ends up on LTIR).

Morning Notes: Reverse Retro, Kubalik, Wilde

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The NHL has released all 32 Reverse Retro sweaters for the upcoming season, with love (and hate) pouring in from fans all across the league. This is the second iteration of the idea, and the jerseys will be on display starting November 2, with a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.

While it has been called nothing but a cash grab by some, the jerseys do include some fun nods to teams of the past, including the California Golden Seals (San Jose Sharks), and Colorado Rockies (both Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils). Here are another few notes from around the league on this quiet Thursday morning:

  • When the name Kubalik comes across the transaction wire, one might assume it’s the Detroit Red Wings forward on the move. No, this time it’s his older brother Tomas Kubalik, who has signed in the French second league. It’s been a long professional career for the 32-year-old, who was selected 135th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2008 and did actually make it to the NHL. The big winger played 12 games over parts of two seasons, scoring a goal and four assists. Fans of the Victoriaville Tigres will also remember his one season in the QMJHL, when Kubalik scored 33 goals and 75 points in 58 regular season games.
  • The New York Islanders have confirmed the loans of Bode Wilde and Richard Panik to Atlanta of the ECHL and Lausanne in Switzerland, according to Andrew Gross of Newsday. Of course, Panik’s assignment was already evident, given he’s played three times for the Swiss club already this year. Wilde meanwhile will continue to be exiled from the Islanders organization as they wait out his entry-level contract. He was sent to Vasterviks IK of the Swedish second league last season, and now finds himself set to play in the low minors this year. The 22-year-old defenseman will not likely receive a qualifying offer at the end of the year when his contract is up.

Andrew Hammond Terminates KHL Contract

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It’s been an interesting few months for Andrew Hammond. First, he was headed to Florida Panthers training camp on a PTO, then a few days later he decided to sign with a KHL club. Now, after just two appearances in Russia, he is on his way home. Hammond has terminated his contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk.

All of this comes after Hammond’s most productive NHL season in years. The 34-year-old goaltender played in 11 games, split between the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils, going 4-5-1 overall. He had last appeared in the NHL in 2018 when he was forced into the Colorado Avalanche net in the playoffs (and performed admirably, with a .933 in three appearances.).

With some clubs already facing some goaltending injuries, and others thin at the position to begin with, one would think that Hammond could land a deal somewhere to add depth to an organization. What’s next isn’t clear, though, after such a tumultuous offseason. Overall, the veteran netminder has appeared in 67 NHL games and holds a .916 save percentage for his career.

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