Nashville Predators Send Luke Prokop To WHL
After eight games in the ECHL, it has been determined that Luke Prokop might not be quite ready for professional hockey. The Nashville Predators have sent the defensive prospect back to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL after his rights were traded a few weeks ago. The Edmonton Oil Kings, who had traded for Prokop last season, sent his rights to Seattle in exchange for a first and two third-round picks in the WHL draft.
All three picks were conditional on him being loaned back, which suggested that this was the plan for a while. The 2020 third-round pick still has this year left in his junior eligibility and can try to help Seattle win a league championship.
Selected 73rd overall in 2020, the 6’6″ Prokop was a force for Edmonton last season, scoring 33 points in 55 games during the regular season and only increasing that production in the playoffs. That helped take the Oil Kings to a title, though they would eventually fall in the Memorial Cup. It was the Thunderbirds that the Oil Kings defeated in the WHL final, and Seattle is poised to get back to the dance this year.
It will be interesting to see if the massive Prokop pairs with someone like Kevin Korchinski, Seattle’s star defenseman and a Chicago Blackhawks top prospect, or if he’s played on a different pairing to balance out the defense.
Despite going back to junior, his entry-level contract will kick in this season as he is now 20. That means Prokop will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025.
Minor Transactions: 11/07/22
We have a trio of games on the schedule tonight, with the New York Islanders hosting the Calgary Flames, the Boston Bruins taking on the St. Louis Blues in a 2019 Stanley Cup Final rematch, and the Edmonton Oilers up against the Washington Capitals. Amid all the NHL action, some minor league and overseas teams have made changes to their rosters. We’ll round up those moves here.
- 2010 first-round pick and former NHL forward Quinton Howden signed a contract with Jukurit of the Finnish Liiga today. Howden, 30, spent last season playing for Kolner Haie of the German DEL and had 18 points in 45 games there. He joins a Jukurit side looking to improve their fortunes as they currently sit eleventh in the Liiga standings.
- Former Nashville Predators prospect Patrick Harper has changed clubs. Per a team announcement, Kristianstads IK have signed the 24-year-old winger from fellow HockeyAllsvenskan side Mora IK. Harper had six points in 12 games for Mora and joins a Kristianstads team that boasts another former NHL prospect: 2016 fourth-round pick Jack Kopacka.
- Veteran minor league defenseman Brandon Fehd is headed back to North America after a season in Europe. The 31-year-old blueliner spent most of last season with HC Vita Hasten in Sweden and has now signed with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder.
Calgary Flames Place Michael Stone On IR
Per the Calgary Flames twitter, the team placed defenseman Michael Stone on IR today. In a corresponding move, the team has recalled defensemen Nick DeSimone and Dennis Gilbert from the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. The team did not disclose the nature of Stone’s injury and no word is available on the length of time he could miss. Prior to the transactions, the team had only been carrying 22 of 23 possible skaters, allowing them to call up both defensemen. The team now carries 13 forwards and eight defensemen.
It’s unclear how exactly the defenseman sustained his injury, however he did play just one 25-second shift in last night’s overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils before leaving the game. The 32-year-old has been a reliable piece of the recent Calgary build, filling the role as a seventh-defenseman in recent years. In fact, he played in just 11 regular season games last season while never going on IR or otherwise leaving the roster. The veteran had been off to a surprisingly hot start in 2022-23, receiving regular minutes. Through 10 games, he had a pair of goals and three assists.
DeSimone, 27, is a longtime AHL veteran, making his pro debut with the San Jose Barracuda back in 2016-17. Prior to his pro career, DeSimone spent three seasons at Union College. DeSimone, like Stone in the NHL, was off to a hot start this season on the blueline, recording six points in eight games with the Wranglers. Should he play with the Flames, it would mark his NHL debut.
Meanwhile, Gilbert, who just turned 26, hasn’t been around as long as DeSimone, but he has spent some time in the NHL, including 25 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, most recently in 2020-21. He’s not off to quite as hot of a start as DeSimone is, having yet to record a point in eight games in the AHL, but his NHL experience should be appreciated as Calgary tries to plug holes on the blueline as they embark on an east-coast road trip.
As a result of losing two players of their own, the Wranglers have recalled two players from the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL: forward Rory Kerins and defenseman Simon Lavigne.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Krejci, Stevenson
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Connor McDavid taking the top spot. The Edmonton Oilers superstar had eight points which, incredibly, all came on goals that either tied the game or gave his team the lead. McDavid seems poised to win the Art Ross once again as the league’s top scorer, and the Rocket Richard is now well within his reach after such an outstanding start.
Second and third went to Jesper Bratt and Marc-Andre Fleury respectively, after their own strong performances. Bratt continues to be one of the most underrated offensive players in the league and now has 15 points in nine games this season. Fleury, meanwhile, rebounded from an iffy start and had a .927 in three appearances last week. His numbers aren’t very inspiring, but Fleury has gone 4-1-1 to start the year.
- Boston Bruins forward David Krejci will miss at least the next few days with an upper-body injury. He now appears on the Bruins injured reserve list, meaning he’ll miss seven days since his last game. Still, head coach Jim Montgomery said that his veteran center will be traveling with the club and shouldn’t be out too long.
- The Washington Capitals have assigned Clay Stevenson to the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, suggesting he has recovered enough to start getting back into game action. The 23-year-old was a free agent signing out of Dartmouth and underwent hand surgery at the beginning of October. Given a timeline of four to six weeks from then, his recovery seems to be right on track.
Injury Notes: Oettinger, Drysdale, Ellis
A serious bit of concerning news came out of the first game on today’s schedule, with the Dallas Stars tweeting that netminder Jake Oettinger was questionable to return to their game against the New York Rangers with a lower-body injury. It’s not apparent when Oettinger suffered the injury, and he was replaced in the game by Scott Wedgewood with 13:37 remaining in the second period. Luckily for the team, he was healthy enough to return for the third period but did not play, staying on the bench while Wedgewood continued.
Oettinger has been nothing short of spectacular to open 2022-23. His unreal .960 save percentage and 1.17 goals-against average lead the league through six starts, and he’s undeniably the biggest reason behind the team’s 5-2-1 start to the season. Hopefully, the injury doesn’t keep him out of any further game action past this point.
- Young defenseman Jamie Drysdale was not on the ice today at Anaheim Ducks practice, tweets The Athletic’s Eric Stephens. Drysdale played 7:22 in last night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights before leaving the game with an upper-body injury, suffered on a hit in the corner from Knights forward William Carrier. The sixth overall selection in 2020 had yet to register a point through eight games this season but had received upwards of 20 minutes per game of action on multiple occurrences.
- According to the AHL, St. Louis Blues goaltender Colten Ellis has been assigned to the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers after being activated from season-opening injured reserve (SOIR) three days ago. Ellis last year was loaned to the Worcester Railers, where he posted a .905 save percentage and a 15-13-5 record. Drafted in the third round in 2019, Ellis sits fifth on the organizational goalie depth chart behind Jordan Binnington, Thomas Greiss, Joel Hofer, and Vadim Zherenko.
Snapshots: Marchand, Wiesblatt, Marlies
There was plenty of excitement around the Boston Bruins when Brad Marchand took reps on the first line and powerplay this morning, even leading the team stretch. But the star winger isn’t going to be coming back just yet.
The Bruins will still play it a little slow with Marchand, and while he is ahead of schedule, isn’t getting into the lineup just yet. Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters including Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic that the Bruins expect Marchand to play before Thanksgiving, his original timeline.
- NHL fans may remember a touching moment at the 2020 draft when the San Jose Sharks revealed their selection of Ozzy Wiesblatt with a bit of sign language so that his mother – who is deaf – could be in on the announcement. Now, after two additional seasons in the WHL Wiesblatt will be starting his professional hockey journey with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL. He was assigned there today.
- While the focus for the Toronto Maple Leafs the last couple of days has been on the health of Jake Muzzin, who was placed on long-term injured reserve, two other defensemen are getting closer to a return. Timothy Liljegren and Jordie Benn were both loaned to the Toronto Marlies on conditioning stints. Mikhail Abramov who started the year on season-opening injured reserve was also assigned to the AHL club.
Buffalo Sabres Recall Kale Clague
Amid a brief wave of injuries to their defenseman, the Buffalo Sabres announced that they have recalled defenseman Kale Clague from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. No corresponding move has been announced. The Sabres, who have $19MM in cap space, didn’t make the move for any cap purposes, but instead had a spot to give after Mattias Samuelsson left last night’s game with a lower-body injury. Though not specified in the Sabres announcement, Samuelsson has been placed on IR reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.
Buffalo is clearly having itself a tough weekend on the injury front, losing not only Samuelsson, but defenseman Henri Jokiharju as well, who was placed on IR on Friday with an upper-body injury. In response to that injury, the Sabres recalled defenseman Lawrence Pilut from Rochester the same day. Should they play, Pilut and Clague will have a chance to make an impact on a Buffalo team that appears to finally be turning a corner, off to a 4-1-0 start early on this season.
If and when Clague plays, it’ll be his first game in a Sabres sweater. The 24-year-old was originally a 2016 draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, where he played parts of three seasons before the Montreal Canadiens selected him off waivers last December. Montreal failed to quality him this summer, and he hit the free agent market, where the Sabres signed him to a one-year, two-way contract. This season, Clague has three points, all assists in five games at the AHL level. For his NHL career, he has 16 points in 58 games.
As much as these injuries impact the Sabres, they can be felt in Rochester too. With Pilut and Clague making the trip up the road from Rochester to Buffalo, the Americans are out a pair of defensemen themselves. As a result, the team appears to have recalled defenseman Zach Berzolla from the Cincinnati Cyclones, their ECHL affiliate.
East Notes: Cossa, Poirier, Drozg
The Detroit Red Wings are currently enjoying a great start to Ville Husso‘s tenure as the team’s starting goalie, as the team’s summer acquisition already has a shutout to his name and is boasting a .923 save percentage through two games. But despite that solid start, the long-term future for the Red Wings in net may not lie in Husso’s hands. The team selected Sebastian Cossa 15th overall at the 2021 draft, and he is among the top goalie prospects in hockey. He could be their future, but it may take some time to reach that point.
Today, the Red Wings made their plans for Cossa’s development a bit clearer. After he made his professional debut in a victory over the Milwaukee Admirals, the team reassigned Cossa to their ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye. While some might view an ECHL demotion as a major step back in a prospect’s development, this move should be seen positively in Cossa’s case. Beginning his career in the third-tier ECHL will afford Cossa a longer runway to grow his game, and allow him to take on more of his team’s starts than he would have in Grand Rapids, where the battle for time in the crease is more competitive. Getting consistent game action is crucially important for goalie development, so this move will allow Cossa to play more consistently and in a lower-pressure environment.
Now, for some other notes regarding Eastern Conference teams:
- The Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, announced today that they have reached a mutual agreement with Emile Poirier to terminate the forward’s contract. A 2013 first-round pick, Poirier signed an AHL deal with Laval in the summer and was set to make his return to North American pro hockey after spending last season in both the KHL and SHL. But after not being included in Laval’s opening-night lineup, Poirier and the team have decided that pursuing other opportunities would be the best path forward for both parties.
- Jan Drozg, a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2017 draft class and former QMJHL star, has found a place to play for the 2022-23 season. Per the KHL’s official website, Drozg has signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk. The 23-year-old Slovenian winger spent time with both the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL last season and will look to improve the offensive attack of one of the lowest-scoring clubs in the KHL.
Morning Notes: Reverse Retro, Kubalik, Wilde
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.
Matt Kiersted, Seth Barton Activated From Season-Opening Injured Reserve
A pair of defensemen have been activated from season-opening injured reserve (SOIR) and are headed to their respective teams’ AHL affiliates. The Florida Panthers have assigned Matt Kiersted to the Charlotte Checkers, per CapFriendly, and the Detroit Red Wings have assigned Seth Barton to the Grand Rapids Griffins, per the team.
Season-opening injured reserve is generally used for players who did not make the team out of training camp, but can’t be involved in any NHL to AHL transactions due to their injured status.
Kiersted, 24, is a candidate to find himself back in the NHL sooner rather than later given the organization’s weak defensive depth. An undrafted free agent signing out of the University of North Dakota in 2021, Kiersted’s appeared in 17 NHL games over the past two seasons, registering a goal and an assist and averaging 14:31 per night. He had 20 points in 63 games with the Checkers last season in his first professional campaign, and he’s destined to play a top-four role again there when not on the NHL roster.
Barton was a third-round selection by the Red Wings in 2018. He’s entering his second full professional campaign after spending three seasons at UMass-Lowell from 2018 to 2021 and recorded six points in 20 AHL games during his rookie campaign with the Griffins in 2021-22. It’ll be a struggle for playing time in Grand Rapids, which now boasts some of the team’s top defense prospects such as Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, and Eemil Viro. A return to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, where Barton played five games last season, could be in the cards.