Pacific Notes: Hill, Ferraro, Bjorkstrand, Kemp
As alluded to this morning in the team’s reassignment of goaltender Jiri Patera to their AHL affiliate, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have removed Adin Hill from the injured reserve, and he is on track to dress in the team’s game tonight against the New York Islanders. Even though he will be back in the lineup, it is unclear if Hill will start in tonight’s contest, or if the Golden Knights will continue to utilize Logan Thompson.
Being one of the better success stories of last season, there were high expectations for Hill coming off an impressive run to the Stanley Cup last year. When he has been healthy, Hill has once again been one of the better netminders in the league, producing a 10-2-2 record in 15 games with a league-leading .933 SV% and 1.99 GAA to boot.
However, for the fourth time in his career and already the second time this season, Hill has missed a significant amount of time with injury, being one of the main drivers of Vegas’ fall in the standings. Since recovering from his current injury suffered on December 17th, the Golden Knights have only managed a 6-8-1 record, falling to eighth in the league standings.
Other Pacific notes:
- After suffering an undisclosed injury in the team’s most recent game, Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group reports that San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro will not play tonight. Fortunately, subsequent reporting indicated that the injury to Ferraro was not as bad as expected, but the Sharks will likely be keeping him out through the All-Star break to fully recover.
- Kate Shefte of Seattle Times Sports reported that Seattle Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand had missed the team’s practice today due to personal reasons. With a game tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks, it is unclear if Bjorkstrand will be in the lineup or not. As the Kraken’s lone All-Star representative, Bjorkstrand is putting together quite the season, scoring 12 goals and 36 points in all 46 games for the team.
- Having spent two weeks with the team since being recalled on January 9th, the Edmonton Oilers announced they have loaned defenseman Philip Kemp to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. Making his NHL debut on January 13th, Kemp was unable to score his first NHL point after only managing two minutes of ice time. With Kemp now back in Bakersfield, the Oilers were able to comfortably place the new contract of Corey Perry onto their active roster.
Vegas Golden Knights Reassign Daniil Miromanov, Jiri Patera
Before the team’s game tonight against the New York Islanders, the Vegas Golden Knights have loaned defenseman Daniil Miromanov to their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights on a long-term injury conditioning loan, as well as reassigned goaltender Jiri Patera to the Silver Knights as well.
As an undrafted free agent, Miromanov came to the Vegas organization in 2022, signing away from HC Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League. With plenty of high-profile injuries to their typical active roster, Miromanov is not necessarily a game-changing reinforcement to inject back into the lineup. Still, it will provide sufficient depth to the Golden Knights’ defensive core once he can fully return. Over both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 NHL seasons, Miromanov has played in a total of 25 games for Vegas, scoring two goals and seven points while averaging a little under 14 minutes of ice time per game.
The much more significant news in this team announcement is the reassignment of Patera, which likely spells the return of Adin Hill between the pipes. Largely serving in a backup role since Hill went down with injury once again in mid-December, Patera has been serviceable, producing a 1-3-0 record in five games played, carrying a .901 SV% and a 3.75 GAA. After having been out for over a month, it may take Hill a short while to get reacquainted with gameplay, but it will at the very least serve as a well-earned break to goaltender Logan Thompson, who has started in the majority of games in Hill’s absence.
In the first 10 games after Hill went down with an injury, the Golden Knights posted a disappointing 3-7-0 record, creating a sizeable gap between them and the first-place Vancouver Canucks in the Pacific Division. However, over the last five games, the team has begun to pick things up a tad, securing a 3-1-1 record, and outscoring their opponents by a margin of five over that stretch.
Canucks Recall Mark Friedman, Linus Karlsson
Jan. 22: GM Patrik Allvin announced the team has reversed this transaction today, recalling Friedman from his conditioning loan and Karlsson from his regular loan. Karlsson has been papered up and down once already in the span of the last week, coming up to serve as a healthy scratch for Saturday’s win over the Maple Leafs. He’s been a frequent scratch for the Canucks this month but was returned to Abbotsford yesterday so he could play in their game against San Diego. Friedman was spectacular in his minor-league stint, posting four points and a +5 rating in four games with the Baby Canucks.
Jan. 16: The Vancouver Canucks have assigned defenseman Mark Friedman and Linus Karlsson to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, with Friedman’s demotion coming by way of a conditioning loan. Without a corresponding roster move, the Canucks will now be down to 12 forwards and seven defensemen on the team’s active roster.
Friedman was originally brought over to Vancouver by way of a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 17th to serve as extra depth for the team’s defensive core. Now, he will spend a max of 14 days in the AHL, unless the team desires to bring him up earlier.
In his 18-game stint with the Canucks, Friedman had very little usage rages, scoring one assist while averaging just under 12 and a half minutes of ice time per night. Since November 30th, although he has been on the active roster, Friedman has served as a healthy scratch as Vancouver’s blue line has regained much of its health.
It will mark Friedman’s first time back in the AHL since his time with the Penguins earlier this season when he was able to suit up in two games for their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Throughout his career, Friedman is a veteran of 214 games in the AHL, scoring 11 goals and 67 points since his debut in the 2016-17 season.
For Karlsson, it will now mark his third reassignment to the AHL this year, suiting up for Vancouver in early January and early December, after making his NHL debut on November 16th. Only managed four games in total for the Canucks this season, Karlsson is still scoreless at the NHL level.
In contrast, Karlsson has been one of the best players in Abbotsford this season, scoring seven goals and 23 points in 25 games, sitting third on the team in scoring. Now, with both Friedman and Karlsson back in the AHL, they will help an Abbotsford team on the cusp of earning a playoff spot in the Pacific Division, as they hold a 19-11-2-1 record entering play tonight.
Pacific Notes: Eichel, Canucks, Kokko
After placing forward Jack Eichel on injured reserve only two days ago, the thought was that the injury was not serious, and Eichel would only be missing a maximum of three games with the Vegas Golden Knights. However, the organization announced today that Eichel underwent successful lower-body surgery, and would be out on a week-to-week basis.
This injury news will certainly change the trajectory of the Golden Knights’ season for some time, as it would for any team operating without their top option at the center position. Moving forward, with Eichel for at least the next week or two, Vegas will continue to operate with Chandler Stephenson and Nicolas Roy centering the top two offensive lines.
Scoring at a point-per-game pace for the second straight year with the Golden Knights, Eichel joins a growing list of injured players in Vegas, a reality that has led to a rough patch in the season for the organization. As the injuries continue to pile up, after starting the year as the top team in the NHL, the Golden Knights are 6-9-0 in their last 15 games, being outscored by a margin of 11 goals over that stretch.
Other notes:
- Having already been one of the most aggressive teams on the trade market this season, the Vancouver Canucks are still looking to add at this year’s trade deadline. In a quote reported by Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, the General Manager of the Canucks, Patrik Allvin, stated, “I think I owe it to the players. We know that they are capable of playing at this high level. And if they continue to do that, it’s on me to support them and give them opportunities to be successful”. Even though another trade could put Vancouver over the top in the Western Conference playoff race, Allvin will have to get creative in any move, as the team only has a projected $1.22MM available in deadline cap space.
- In a confirmed transaction according to EliteProspects, the Seattle Kraken have loaned goaltender Niklas Kokko to the Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga. Kokko was originally a second-round selection of the Kraken in the 2022 NHL Draft and suited up for Team Finland U20 in the 2023-24 World Junior Championships only a few weeks ago.
Oliver Kylington Loaned To AHL On Conditioning Basis
01/10/24: The Flames have issued a positive update on Kylington’s progress. He’s “trending towards playing” in the Wranglers’ game tomorrow night against the Ontario Reign. Should he end up playing, it will be Kylington’s first game action since May 2022.
01/04/24: The Calgary Flames have announced that defenseman Oliver Kylington has been sent to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, for the purpose of a conditioning assignment.
Following that announcement, the Flames issued a statement from Kylington which reads as follows:
I feel I’m in a good place with my mental health and ready to take another step forward. Returning to Calgary has been the right decision. I’ve felt tremendous commitment from Flames ownership, management, and my teammates, and I am appreciative of the support and resources made available to me. I also thank my family, friends, and the fans for their encouragement. I’m looking forward to getting on the ice in a team environment and back to my everyday life. I have missed it very much.
Kylington has not played since 2021-22, as he missed all of last season and so far all of 2023-24 for personal reasons. In early December, Flames head coach Ryan Huska gave an update on Kylington’s status, communicating that the Swedish blueliner was still a long way away from returning.
Now, according to today’s announcement, it appears Kylington is now far closer to a return to the NHL than it seemed a little more than a month ago. Kylington’s conditioning stint can last up to six days, or three games, whichever period is longer, although the Flames can request an extension of two games if they decide that would be necessary for Kylington’s fitness to play in the NHL.
Kylington, a pending UFA, has a $2.5MM cap hit that is currently placed on LTIR. The Flames would need to activate him off of that last to get him back onto their roster, though that shouldn’t be a major issue as CapFriendly currently projects them to have more than enough cap space to do so. The team also currently has an open roster spot on its 23-man roster.
As for where Kylington could slot in once he returns to the Flames’ lineup, it’s not immediately clear whether he’d immediately return to playing alongside veteran Chris Tanev. Tanev is currently playing next to Noah Hanifin, so it could be that Kylington takes Jordan Oesterle‘s spot alongside MacKenzie Weegar, or Dennis Gilbert‘s spot next to Rasmus Andersson.
In any case, this development is an extremely positive one for the Flames. The left side of their defense is notably thinner than their ironclad right side, so adding a player who scored 31 points in 73 games during his last NHL season will certainly help matters there.
Winnipeg Jets Activate Rasmus Kupari From LTIR, Loan To AHL On Conditioning Stint
In an announcement today coming directly from the organization, the Winnipeg Jets have activated forward Rasmus Kupari from long-term injured reserve, and have subsequently assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, for a conditioning sting. Kupari has been out of the lineup for Winnipeg since November 14th, as he has been sidelined with a shoulder injury ever since.
Kupari originally came to the Jets organization as one of the many pieces handed over by the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois this past summer. In his three years with the Kings organization, Kupari struggled mightily to produce and to gain ice time, but due to his status as a former-first-round selection relatively recently, he still garnered some upside value from Winnipeg.
Unfortunately for both him and the Jets organization, Kupari has once again struggled to get ice time, now only averaging around nine minutes a game in his first 15 contests on the year. His defensive play has left a lot to be desired, while his offensive production has only given him one assist in total on the season.
Only having one year left on his contract after this season, the clock may be ticking on Kupari’s time in the NHL if he is unable to round out his game. Having been built with similar depth to Los Angeles, it’s going to prove extremely difficult for Kupari to become a top-six option in Winnipeg if he is unable to take his game to another level.
The current conditioning sting will give Kupari his return to AHL action, after being regularly shuffled up and down by the Kings organization throughout much of his tenure with the team. Last season, Kupari suited up in 11 games for Los Angeles’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, scoring five goals and nine points overall.
Jets Loan Artemi Kniazev To KHL
The Jets assigned defenseman prospect Artemi Kniazev to the KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday, a team release states.
Kniazev, 22, will play out the remainder of 2023-24 in his home country. It will be his first stint in the Russian top league, as he’s been a full-time player in North America since coming over to play junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Saguenéens in 2018.
The 6-foot, 181-pound blueliner has one NHL game under his belt, coming with the Sharks in 2021-22. He was a San Jose draft pick, selected 48th overall in 2019, but Winnipeg acquired him last summer in exchange for the signing rights to 24-year-old German defense prospect Leon Gawanke.
Gawanke, who led the Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, in points by defensemen last season, was frustrated with the lack of NHL time and signed a four-year deal to return to Germany before the trade to the Sharks. He then signed a one-year, two-way deal in San Jose, voiding his overseas contract. Gawanke hasn’t received an NHL call-up yet with San Jose, but he’s again leading his minor-league team in points by defensemen with 20 in 26 games for the San Jose Barracuda.
It hasn’t gone quite as well for Kniazev in his new home, however. He was a higher-ceiling point-producing prospect, notching over a point per game in his final junior season with Chicoutimi. He’d failed to crack the 30-point mark in two seasons with the Barracuda, however, and has five assists and a -12 rating through 20 games with Manitoba this season. It’s unclear whether Kniazev requested a loan back to Russia, if the Jets wanted to free up a spot on their farm squad, or if the decision was mutual.
The loan marks Kniazev’s first stint in the Nizhny Novgorod organization. He’d spent his mid-teen years developing in the Ak Bars Kazan system, also spending a short time in Kazan on loan in 2020 while the NHL was on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nizhny Novgorod is home to quite a few top prospects for the 2024 draft, none larger (literally) than 17-year-old 6-foot-7 blueliner Anton Silayev. It’s also the team of 21-year-old free-agent winger Vasili Atanasov who, after being passed over in the past few drafts, is reportedly garnering NHL interest after notching 19 goals and 38 points through 40 games.
Winnipeg will retain Kniazev’s rights through the end of the season, at which point his entry-level contract will expire and make him a restricted free agent. If the Jets do not issue him a qualifying offer, he will be eligible to sign with any NHL team. He is not eligible for salary arbitration. If the Jets do elect to issue Kniazev a qualifying offer, but he signs a contract overseas, he will remain on their reserve list. He will need to sign with Winnipeg if he wishes to return to the NHL unless the Jets trade his signing rights elsewhere.
Bruins Loan Matthew Poitras To Team Canada For 2024 World Juniors
The Bruins have loaned rookie center Matthew Poitras to Team Canada for the upcoming 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, a team release states.
Poitras, 19, is a tremendous addition to a Canada roster that’s thinner on offense than we’re used to seeing. Canadiens prospect Owen Beck is the only returnee from last year’s group, which captured the gold medal thanks to one of the best single-tournament showings of all time from then-17-year-old Connor Bedard. The roster still features six recent first-round picks on offense and one future first-overall selection: 17-year-old Boston University center Macklin Celebrini, who is third in NCAA Division I men’s hockey in points per game.
When Hockey Canada announced the cuts from their preliminary roster last week, they left a spot open for one forward to join the team, hoping an NHL team would part with a rostered under-20 prospect. That spot will go to Poitras, the 54th overall pick in 2022, who few expected to crack the Bruins’ roster out of camp.
Poitras’ 13 points in 27 games rank eighth on the Bruins in scoring, although he’s seen a diminished role as the calendar shifted to December. Head coach Jim Montgomery has made Poitras a healthy scratch in two of the last five games after playing in all of Boston’s first 24 contests.
Still, given how well he fits into the Boston lineup, Poitras is expected to return to the Bruins after the tournament ends instead of being loaned out to his junior team, the OHL’s Guelph Storm. He’s averaged 14:06 per game this season for Boston, ranking seventh among their forwards and solidly positioning him in a top-nine role.
Assuming Canada advances to the medal games, Poitras will miss the Bruins’ next eight games at a minimum. The tournament wraps up on January 5, 2024, making him doubtful for the Bruins’ game against the Lightning on January 6, meaning at least a nine-game absence is most likely.
Metro Notes: Joseph, Islanders, Gudbranson, Kakko
Having been on the injured reserve since November 18th, it appears that defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, is healthy enough to return, as the team announced they have sent Joseph on a conditioning loan to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He will now be in the AHL for a maximum of 14 days, meaning he will have the opportunity to play in five games in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Last season, Joseph looked to have finally cracked the Penguins roster full-time, playing in 75 games and scoring five goals and 21 points. He did spend a couple of games factoring into Pittsburgh’s powerplay, while also providing solid possession and defensive metrics as well.
With fellow defenseman Chad Ruhwedel set to miss a few weeks with a lower-body injury, the Penguins could certainly use the return of Joseph as soon as possible. Even upon return, with Pittsburgh already carrying a more than adequate top-four in their defensive core, the return of Joseph will allow the team to be more comfortable giving their bottom-pairing important minutes of the game.
Other notes:
- Although the two did play in the New York Islanders’ most recent game only three days ago, forward Brock Nelson and defenseman Noah Dobson were absent in yesterday’s practice and were listed as day-to-day with undisclosed concerns. Nevertheless, the team announced today that both players would be in the lineup for tonight’s game, while also indicating that defenseman Sebastian Aho is close to making his return as well. It is positive news for New York, who even though it might only be for a game or two, can not afford to miss two of their better offensive players.
- Team reporter for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jeff Svoboda, reports that defenseman Erik Gudbranson will be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, as he is suffering from an illness. Mostly known as a defensive-style defenseman, even with less ice time per night, Gudbranson is producing better offensively this year for the Blue Jackets, scoring two goals and nine points in 26 games.
- Missing the last three games for the New York Rangers with an undisclosed injury, it does not appear forward Kaapo Kakko is close to a return. After practice today, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reported that Kakko has not yet resumed skating. After seemingly having a breakout season last year, Kakko is once again failing to produce up to his draft selection, scoring one goal and three points through 20 games this season.
Los Angeles Kings Loan Tobias Bjornfot To AHL
Nov. 17: The Kings returned Moverare to AHL Ontario after serving as a healthy scratch for last night’s game against the Panthers, per a team announcement.
Nov. 16: Before their matchup against the Florida Panthers this evening, the Los Angeles Kings announced they have sent down defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on a conditioning loan. In the same announcement, the team has also recalled Jacob Moverare to replace Bjornfot on the roster.
Since it is a conditioning loan, Bjornfot will still count against the 23-man roster for the Kings and will still be paid his NHL salary over the next 14 days unless he is recalled sooner.
Since the 2021-22 season, where he played 70 games, Bjornfot has seen himself move further down the depth chart on Los Angeles’ blue line. After that season, Bjornfot has only played 11 games at the NHL level during the regular season, scoring one assist over the last two years.
Bjornfot played most of last year with the Reign, scoring five goals and seven assists in 50 games. Although he has a tremendous physical edge to his game, with the likes of Vladislav Gavrikov and Michael Anderson on the Kings’ blue line, there is not much upward mobility for Bjornfot for the time being.
Moverare was a fourth-round selection of Los Angeles in the 2016 NHL Draft, playing 21 games for the Kings over the last three seasons. So far this year, Moverare has played 12 games for the Reign, tallying three assists in total.