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Newsstand

Blue Jackets Activate Kent Johnson From Injured Reserve

November 21, 2024 at 11:13 am CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Blue Jackets announced Thursday that they’ve activated forward Kent Johnson from injured reserve. He’ll return to the lineup tonight against the Lightning as expected after missing 14 games with a shoulder injury.

Johnson, 22, was among many Columbus skaters limited by shoulder issues early in the season. Captain Boone Jenner sustained an injury after crashing into the boards in practice during training camp, while defenseman Erik Gudbranson hit IR after just three games.

He’s the only one of the three not to require surgery, though, meaning his return comes months ahead of when Gudbranson and Jenner are expected to be available. It’s excellent news for the 2021 fifth-overall pick, who had two goals and three assists in his first four outings before exiting the lineup.

It was an encouraging start for the winger, who’s coming off a disappointing sophomore campaign in 2023-24. After a 16-goal, 40-point rookie campaign, Johnson struggled with inconsistency early in the year before a labrum tear ended his season in February. He managed only six goals and 16 points in 42 appearances, totals he’s still set to crush in 2024-25 despite missing over a month with another shoulder issue.

Johnson will suit up as the team’s second-line right wing alongside Adam Fantilli and James van Riemsdyk in his return, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers relayed yesterday. He’s also expected to take reps on their first power-play unit with Kirill Marchenko, Sean Monahan, Dmitri Voronkov, and Zach Werenski. Kevin Labanc, who has 10 points in 14 games for the Jackets after inking a league-minimum contract on Oct. 5, will be a healthy scratch.

The Blue Jackets have two open roster spots after sending David Jiříček and Mikael Pyyhtia to the minors yesterday, so no corresponding transaction is necessary. Johnson is in the first season of a three-year, $5.4MM pact he signed last summer after becoming a restricted free agent.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Columbus Blue Jackets| Newsstand| Transactions Kent Johnson

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Blackhawks Place Seth Jones On IR, Recall Louis Crevier

November 20, 2024 at 12:32 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Nov. 20: Jones will miss four weeks with the right foot injury, head coach Luke Richardson said Wednesday (via Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times). He’s already missed two games and is now on pace to miss around 11 more, ruling him out for more than 15% of Chicago’s season in total. A four-week timeline from the date of the injury means his return target is during their back-to-back against the Devils and Islanders on Dec. 14 and 15.

Nov. 16: The Blackhawks have placed defenseman Seth Jones on injured reserve with a right foot injury, relays Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (Twitter link).  Taking his place on the active roster is blueliner Louis Crevier who has been recalled from Rockford, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Chicago currently has 22 players on its roster following the moves.

Jones sustained the injury against Seattle on a blocked shot but remained in the game, adds Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, who adds more information will be known when they return home from their road trip on Sunday.

The 30-year-old has once again been a significant piece on Chicago’s back end, leading the team in average ice time at 25:43 per night.  Jones also leads the Blackhawks in points by a defenseman with 10.  Covering his absence will certainly be a difficult task, one that won’t be handled by just one or two players.

To that end, Crevier is more of a depth recall over someone who could be expected to play a little higher in the lineup.  The 23-year-old, who stands 6’8, got into 24 games with Chicago last season in his first taste of NHL action, compiling three assists, 50 blocks, 30 hits, and a minus-16 rating.  This year, he has played in 11 games with the IceHogs, notching one assist.

While this might have seemed like a situation to bring up Kevin Korchinski (who logged 19:37 per night for the Blackhawks last season and could have helped cover some of the missing offense), it appears Chicago feels that he’s best served staying with Rockford for the time being.  Artyom Levshunov, a right-shot option like Jones, is also available but just eight games into his pro career, they’d like to keep him away from the top level for at least a little while longer.

AHL| Chicago Blackhawks| Newsstand| Transactions Louis Crevier| Seth Jones

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Blue Jackets Reassign David Jiříček, Mikael Pyyhtiä

November 20, 2024 at 9:18 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that they’ve returned top defense prospect David Jiříček to AHL Cleveland. Left-winger Mikael Pyyhtiä is joining him on the road down to the minors, leaving Columbus with a pair of open roster spots.

Jiříček, who turns 21 next week, has had quite an underwhelming start to the season. After making the opening night roster as expected, the 2022 sixth-overall pick has been a healthy scratch 12 times in 18 games, despite a shoulder injury to fellow right-shot defenseman Erik Gudbranson keeping him out of the lineup since mid-October.

Most expected that injury to open up more playing time for Jiříček, who had 10 points in 43 games for the Jackets last year and was an AHL All-Star in his first season in North America in 2022-23. But head coach Dean Evason has instead opted to give more minutes to 24-year-old Jordan Harris, who was acquired from the Canadiens in this summer’s Patrik Laine trade.

Jiříček’s path to NHL ice got further muddied when Columbus claimed fellow righty Dante Fabbro off waivers from the Predators last week. Fabbro has more than earned his lineup spot in his first few games for the Jackets, though, posting three points and a +3 rating in four appearances while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game.

Jiříček drew into the lineup against the Bruins on Monday for the first time in over a week, but he played a season-low 8:14 in Columbus’ 5-1 win. Overall, the 6’4″ Czech has averaged just 11:12 of ice time through six appearances in 2024-25, down from last season’s already limited 14:36 mark, and has one assist with a -2 rating. That’s despite Columbus controlling 60.5% of expected goals with Jiříček on the ice at even strength compared to 47.9% last year.

The lack of playing time has led to some fervent trade speculation over the past few days, although there’s yet to be a credible report of an imminent move. It’s the first roster move for Jiříček this season after he was assigned to and recalled from Cleveland on five separate occasions in 2023-24.

Jiříček will now undoubtedly log heavy minutes in Cleveland while awaiting his next NHL chance, whether in Columbus or elsewhere. Since arriving in North America immediately after his draft year, the blue-liner has 13 goals and 44 assists for 57 points in 84 AHL games with a -27 rating. He joins a Cleveland defense that’s currently being dominated by first-year pro Denton Mateychuk, who was selected six spots after Jiříček in 2022 and has a remarkable six goals and 16 points through his first 15 AHL contests.

Pyyhtiä’s reassignment comes with Kent Johnson being set to come off injured reserve in the coming days after missing just over a month due to a shoulder injury. The writing was on the wall for the 22-year-old Finn, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this season against Boston and has just one goal in 17 games with a -6 rating despite averaging nearly 14 minutes per contest.

The Blue Jackets selected Pyyhtiä in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. He made the opening night roster for the first time this season, getting some brief looks on the penalty kill as well. He had seven goals and 28 points in 60 appearances for Cleveland last season, his first extended run in North America. He now has a goal and three assists in 36 career NHL appearances dating back to the 2022-23 campaign.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Columbus Blue Jackets| Newsstand| Transactions David Jiricek| Mikael Pyyhtia

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Maple Leafs Place Max Domi On IR, Recall Nikita Grebenkin

November 20, 2024 at 8:42 am CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Maple Leafs announced that they’ve placed center Max Domi on injured reserve with a lower-body ailment retroactive to Nov. 16. They recalled winger Nikita Grebenkin from AHL Toronto in a corresponding transaction, marking the first of his career.

Domi, 29, will miss tonight’s game against the Golden Knights but will be eligible to come off IR for the following game, a Sunday tilt against Utah. He’s been a rare sight at practice recently as he played through the lower-body injury, but it’s now advanced enough to require him to sit out.

It explains the lack of production from Domi, who’s now gone 13 games without a point despite playing top-six minutes for most of the month with captain Auston Matthews on the shelf. After signing a four-year, $15MM extension in June, the Winnipeg native has no goals on 24 shots and six assists in 19 games this season, producing at a career-low pace across the board despite averaging about 90 more seconds per game of ice time than last season.

Domi becomes the sixth regular forward who won’t be available for tonight’s game. Matthews has been on IR for nearly two weeks, Max Pacioretty was shifted to LTIR yesterday as he recovers from a hamstring injury, Calle Järnkrok remains on LTIR after undergoing groin and sports hernia surgery on Monday, David Kämpf landed on IR yesterday with a lower-body issue, and Ryan Reaves is ineligible to play while serving the first game of a five-game suspension that will keep him out through the rest of the month.

Despite the absence of their captain and a considerable amount of depth scoring, the surging Leafs are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games and are only one point back of the Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division. While they’re understandably scoring less than last season, their record has much to do with some improved team defense – they’re allowing 6.7 high-danger scoring chances per game at 5-on-5 compared to 8.0 in 2023-24. It also has a lot to do with spectacular play in the early going from free-agent signing Anthony Stolarz between the pipes, who leads the league with a .927 SV% and is on pace for 52 starts, smashing his career-high of 24 set last year with the Panthers.

Unfortunately, the pace of the injury bug is accelerating. Domi, Kämpf, and Reaves are all out after playing in Toronto’s last game, an overtime win over the Oilers last weekend. That means Fraser Minten will make his season debut after being recalled yesterday as the corresponding transaction for Kämpf’s IR placement. At the same time, Grebenkin will make his NHL debut instead of Domi tonight.

Grebenkin, 21, was a fifth-round selection by the Leafs in the 2022 draft. The 6’2″, 209-lb Russian winger gained some attention with a strong training camp, and he’s kept up the momentum in his first season in North America, as Steven Ellis profiled for Leafs Nation earlier this month.

Through his first 13 AHL games, Grebenkin has four goals and six assists for 10 points, tied for second on the Marlies in scoring with veteran Logan Shaw. He’s also yet to take a penalty and has a +1 rating.

Grebenkin is coming off a standout season in his home country with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. He tied for second on the team in scoring with 41 points (19 G, 22 A) in 67 games after being named the KHL’s best rookie the year prior, playing a pivotal role as they won the league’s championship trophy, the Gagarin Cup.

However, it’s still unclear who will replace Domi at center tonight. It won’t be Grebenkin, who can play either left or right wing but isn’t a natural pivot. It may, however, be Mitch Marner, who head coach Craig Berube said yesterday was open to the shift to the middle from the wing if necessary (via Luke Fox of Sportsnet).

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Injury| Newsstand| Toronto Maple Leafs| Transactions Max Domi| Nikita Grebenkin

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Bruins Fire Head Coach Jim Montgomery

November 19, 2024 at 3:22 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley 43 Comments

Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney announced that the club has relieved head coach Jim Montgomery of his duties. Associate coach Joe Sacco will assume an interim head coach role. Montgomery’s ousting comes after a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. It was Boston’s third consecutive loss, and the 10th in their last 15 games. The Bruins have been outscored 51-to-28 in those games, good for a -23 goal differential – the worst in the NHL since October 19th.

To say Boston’s early season has fallen short of expectations would be an understatement. The team stands with an 8-9-3 record, and needed overtime to achieve half of their wins. No aspects of the lineup seem to be firing properly, with David Pastrnak (17) and Brad Marchand (13) the only Bruins to pass 10 points through 20 games – and even they’re scoring below their typical pace. Netminder Jeremy Swayman hasn’t been any better, with his .884 save percentage in 14 appearances outmatched by backup Joonas Korpisalo’s .901 in seven appearances. It’s been top-to-bottom struggles in Boston, sparking the first coach firing of the young season.

Montgomery will be replaced by Boston-native, and Boston University alum, Joe Sacco, who’s served on the Bruins bench since the 2014-15 season. Sacco worked under three different head coaches in that span – serving as an assistant up until this summer, when he received an aptly-timed promotion to associate coach. He’ll now take one step further, moving into his first head coaching role since 2012-13, when Sacco was fired after a four-year tenure with the Colorado Avalanche. He only led Colorado to the postseason once, in 2009-10 – his first year as an NHL head coach. He set a 43-30-9 record that year, only to fall to a dismal 88-104-21 record through his next three seasons. That includes a 16-25-7 record in the 2012-13, which paved way for Colorado to select Nathan MacKinnon first overall in the 2013 NHL Draft. Before his time in the NHL, Sacco achieved a 60-79-21 record across two seasons with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.

But while past precedent may not shine favorably on Sacco, his decade in Boston has provided plenty of learning experience. He’s become known for overseeing Boston’s penalty-killing unit, which ranks as the second-most effective in the NHL over the last decade. More specifically, the Bruins have three separate seasons in the top 10 of penalty-killing percentage since 2014-15 – posting a second-ranked 87.3 percent in 2022-23, a seventh-ranked 86 percent in 2020-21, and a 10th-ranked 85.7 percent in 2016-17. That’s in large part thanks to Sacco, who amassed 738 career NHL games of his own – standing out as a stout defensive-forward. Those traits will come in handy for a Bruins team currently allowing the fourth-most goals in the league.

Meanwhile, Montgomery will now look for new work less than two seasons after leading Boston to a record 65 wins in 2022-23. The Bruins were promptly ousted in the first round of the postseason, but the year was nonetheless monumental. It ended in Linus Ullmark winning the Vezina Trophy, Patrice Bergeron – again – winning the Selke Trophy, and Montgomery winning the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. Montgomery followed it with a very strong 47-20-15 record last season, commanding Boston through the loss of longtime lineup pillars Bergeron and David Krejčí and making it to the playoff’s second round.

Montgomery’s hockey roots run deep. He was a star at the University of Maine, captaining the team’s 1993 NCAA Championship run while serving strong opposite of Paul Kariya. He signed in the NHL as an undrafted free agent soon after and became a star scorer in the minor-leagues – amassing 328 points across eight years and 451 games in the AHL. He retired from an 11-year pro career in 2005 and didn’t take on his first head coach role until 2010 – but his winning tendencies quickly came back. Montgomery led the Dubuque Fighting Saints to the USHL Clark Cup in both 2010 and 2012 – earning a move step up to the University of Denver, where he won another NCAA Championship in 2017. He was hired by the Dallas Stars in 2018, and led the team to a 60-43-10 record, though he stepped down as head coach partway through the 2019-20 season. Still, his hockey resume is as strong as it comes, and it likely won’t be long before Montgomery finds himself once again commanding an NHL lineup.

Boston Bruins| Newsstand| Transactions Jim Montgomery

43 comments

Oilers Claim Kasperi Kapanen Off Waivers From Blues

November 19, 2024 at 1:04 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 8 Comments

The Oilers announced on Tuesday that they’ve claimed winger Kasperi Kapanen off waivers from the Blues.

Kapanen, 28, hit waivers yesterday with St. Louis needing to open a roster spot for Robert Thomas’ activation from injured reserve. He’d been a healthy scratch in three of their last five games since returning from an upper-body injury and had just one goal in 10 games on the season with a -6 rating, so it wasn’t terribly surprising to see the pending unrestricted free agent hit the wire.

The Oilers are hoping Kapanen, who carries a $1MM cap hit, can rediscover the form that landed him 15 goals and 34 points in 66 games split between the Blues and the Penguins in 2022-23. St. Louis nabbed him off the wire amid that campaign, and a good deal of that production came in his final 23 games of the season after the move.

Edmonton has been in need of forward help for the past couple of games, dressing seven defensemen with Viktor Arvidsson out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Instead of making a recall up front – they already had to make one on defense after Darnell Nurse was injured in Toronto over the weekend – they’ll opt to bring in some outside help.

It seems unlikely that Kapanen will make it to Ottawa in time for tonight’s game against the Senators, so the Oilers may need to roll with the 11F/7D formation once more if Arvidsson isn’t ready to return. If Arvidsson is still out for a stretch, though, there could be an opportunity for Kapanen to get a brief audition in his usual spot on Leon Draisaitl’s wing. Corey Perry has hopped up into that spot with Arvidsson out, but those minutes aren’t sustainable for the 39-year-old with four points in 19 games.

The Oilers had an open roster spot before claiming Kapanen, so no corresponding transaction is necessary. However, they are now over the $88MM salary cap upper limit and are thus using Evander Kane’s long-term injured reserve placement to stay compliant as PuckPedia breaks down.

Edmonton Oilers| Newsstand| St. Louis Blues| Transactions| Waivers Kasperi Kapanen

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Canucks’ J.T. Miller Takes Leave Of Absence, Out Indefinitely

November 19, 2024 at 12:17 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 4 Comments

The Canucks will be without star forward J.T. Miller indefinitely while he takes a leave of absence for personal reasons, general manager Patrik Allvin said Tuesday.

“Right now, our sole focus is making sure that J.T. knows the entire organization is here to support him,” Allvin said in a statement. “Out of respect to J.T., we will have no further comment at this time.”

Miller, 31, is tied with Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter for the team lead in goals with six. He’s added 10 assists for 16 points in 17 games, placing second on the team in scoring behind defenseman Quinn Hughes’ 18 points.

Despite recording five points in his prior three games, Miller was benched by head coach Rick Tocchet for a significant portion of Sunday’s loss to the Predators and played a season-low 11:41. On the whole, his 18:24 ATOI is his lowest since Vancouver acquired him from the Lightning in 2019, and he’s on pace to record under a point per game for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign.

The Ohio native is still one of the Canucks’ best offensive players, though, and his 53.7 CF% at even strength means he’s controlling the most possession he has since his first season in Vancouver. Miller is in the second season of the seven-year, $56MM extension he signed in September 2022 to keep him in British Columbia through the 2029-30 campaign.

He’s a major loss for the Canucks, especially without any indication when he’ll be back in the lineup. With Boeser on the shelf with a head injury, he’d been centering a makeshift first line between Suter and rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki.

Vancouver recalled winger Arshdeep Bains from AHL Abbotsford in a corresponding transaction to give them 12 healthy forwards for tonight’s game against the Rangers, but they’ll still need to shift someone to center to replace Miller – likely Suter, while any of Bains, Danton Heinen or Dakota Joshua could shift into a top-six role at left wing. In order to open a roster spot for Bains, the Canucks returned defenseman Elias Pettersson to Abbotsford after recalling him Sunday for injury insurance. Pettersson didn’t make his NHL debut and instead sat in the press box for the loss to Nashville.

Bains, 23, has been ferried between leagues frequently this season but had spent the last week in Abbotsford as part of a demotion that the Canucks likely intended to be more permanent. He played in eight contests for Vancouver throughout the first month or so of the season, recording one goal, a -3 rating and a 46.9 CF% while averaging 11:30 per game.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Newsstand| Vancouver Canucks Arshdeep Bains| Elias Pettersson (D)| J.T. Miller

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Blues To Activate Robert Thomas From Injured Reserve

November 19, 2024 at 12:00 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Blues will activate Robert Thomas from injured reserve, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. The star center will return to the lineup against the Wild on Tuesday.

Thomas’ return comes weeks ahead of schedule. The 25-year-old fractured his ankle in a game against the Jets on Oct. 22 and was given a six-week return timeline, which would have kept him out until early December. Instead, he’s back in the lineup less than a month after sustaining the injury.

Before the fracture, Thomas had one goal and five assists for six points in seven games. Now in his seventh year in the league, the 2017 first-round pick was dealing with some poor puck luck and was shooting at a career-worst 8.7%. That should turn around in the next couple of weeks as he looks to record over a point per game for the second season in a row.

Away from goals and assists, Thomas was having an excellent start to the season. He averaged 20:33 per game, won 62.6% of his draws, and posted career-best possession numbers with a 58.1 CF% and 64.9 xGF% at even strength.

The Blues don’t yet have an open roster spot, but they will in about an hour after Kasperi Kapanen is claimed by another team or clears waivers. Thomas’ official activation will thus take place after 1:00 p.m. CT.

“He’s put in a lot of work to get to this point,” Bannister said on Thomas’ quick recovery (via Rutherford). “It doesn’t look like he’s missed a beat; he’s in great shape. He went away for 1-2 weeks to do some work in Toronto with his doctors, and I think that really sped up the process.”

St. Louis is now fully healthy up front, hopefully counteracting a rash of injuries on defense. In addition to Torey Krug being ruled out for the year, Philip Broberg and Nick Leddy have hit injured reserve since the start of the season. Pierre-Olivier Joseph is day-to-day with a lower-body injury but hasn’t been ruled out tonight against Minnesota.

The lack of puck-moving defenders available will lead the Blues to experiment with a five-forward first power-play unit tonight, one that Thomas will be quarterbacking, per Lou Korac of NHL.com. Thomas has just one power-play point this season, but 27 of his 86 points last season came with the man advantage.

At even strength, Thomas will return to his standard first-line center role. After spending most of the early going with Jordan Kyrou on his right and Brandon Saad on his left, Pavel Buchnevich will now slide up to first-line duties while Saad skates on the second line with Brayden Schenn and Jake Neighbours, per Korac.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Newsstand| St. Louis Blues| Transactions Robert Thomas

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Mike Reilly Out Indefinitely After Heart Surgery, Other Islanders Updates

November 18, 2024 at 3:54 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 3 Comments

Cory Wright of the New York Islanders issued several injury updates this afternoon including one unfortunate update for a member of the Islanders’ defense. The organization announced that defenseman Mike Reilly has fully recovered from his concussion suffered on November 1st but underwent a procedure on his heart that will keep him off the ice indefinitely.

There shouldn’t be any long-term concerns for Reilly’s health after fully recovering from the surgery according to a few quotes from New York’s general manager and president of hockey operations, Lou Lamoriello. Lamoriello said, “It was picked up through the different echocardiograms that you do for different reasons that you go through with any post-concussion situation. It’s probably a blessing in disguise of what transpired. They detected this, something that you’re sometimes born with, but never knew. [His quality of life will be] 100% and he will be able to play once this procedure is done. It takes quite a bit of time. It could be several months before he’s back, because of the type of procedure“.

Because of the uncertainty of the recovery process, it’ll likely be some time before the Islanders issue any formal updates on Reilly’s status. Considering Lamoriello mentioned it could take several months, there’s every likelihood Reilly won’t return until next season.

The puck-moving Chicago native has played in 70 games for New York since being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers last year. He’s been a steady offensive performer over that stretch with six goals and 24 points, averaging 17:01 a night in an Islanders’ sweater.

The team also issued updates on Alexander Romanov, Anthony Duclair, Mathew Barzal, and Adam Pelech in the announcement. Romanov, the closest to returning, is still considered day-to-day and will be a game-time decision for tomorrow night’s contest against the Calgary Flames.

On the longer-term end, neither Duclair, Barzal, or Pelech have resumed skating, but the team hopes Duclair will soon. He’s been out with a lower-body injury since October 19th and was originally given a four—to six-week recovery timeline.

Barzal and Pelech haven’t been out as long as Duclair. The two were injured in back-to-back games in the first week of November and still haven’t been cleared by the team’s medical staff.

Injury| New York Islanders| Newsstand Adam Pelech| Alexander Romanov| Anthony Duclair| Mathew Barzal| Mike Reilly

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Sabres Reassign Devon Levi

November 18, 2024 at 2:50 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 4 Comments

2:50 p.m.: Buffalo used Levi’s roster spot to recall winger Isak Rosén from Rochester. The 2021 first-round pick will likely head back to the AHL when Thompson is ready to return, but it’s still a nice reward for the 21-year-old, who leads Rochester with 13 points (4 G, 9 A) in 14 games this season.

10:28 a.m.: The Sabres will reassign goaltender Devon Levi to AHL Rochester, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters Monday, including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.

While the demotion is made primarily with Levi’s development in mind, it also likely prefaces a couple of corresponding moves. Starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be back in the crease against the Kings on Wednesday after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. At the same time, star center Tage Thompson will likely come off injured reserve to fill Levi’s vacated roster spot after sitting out a few contests with a lower-body injury.

Before Luukkonen’s injury last week, Levi had sat as the backup for 11 out of 15 games. That’s not the best recipe for success for a 22-year-old netminder with plenty of room to grow, which Ruff articulated as the primary reason for his return to Rochester.

It could also rightfully be considered a performance-based demotion. The 2020 seventh-round pick has gone five games without recording a .900 SV% and has won only two of his six starts, posting a .870 SV% and 3.95 GAA with a career-worst -5.7 GSAA on the year.

Buffalo’s top young netminder was excellent in the AHL last season while splitting time evenly between the NHL and the minors. In 26 games, he posted a 2.42 GAA, .927 SV% and a 16-6-4 record. It was his first full professional campaign after two seasons at Northeastern, where he compiled a sparkling .942 SV% in 66 appearances, winning the Mike Richter Award for the NCAA’s top goalie in 2022 and 2023.

While those are promising numbers, it’s clear Levi needs more reps and more frequent playing time before establishing himself as a fixture on the NHL roster. He’s arguably been the worst goaltender in the league in 2024-25, relative to the shot quality he’s faced. Among the 58 goalies with at least five games, Levi’s -1.23 goals saved above expected per 60 minutes are the lowest, per MoneyPuck.

Levi’s demotion leaves veteran James Reimer as the Sabres’ No. 2 option behind Luukkonen for the foreseeable future. The 36-year-old signed a one-year, $1MM contract with Buffalo in free agency over the summer but was selected off waivers by the Ducks the day before the regular season started.

Reimer suited up twice for Anaheim while John Gibson was on the shelf due to an emergency appendectomy surgery, conceding nine goals on 66 shots for a poor .864 SV%. Nonetheless, the Sabres wanted him back and re-claimed him off waivers last week after Gibson returned to play. The Manitoba native spent last season with the Red Wings, recording an 11-8-2 record, .904 SV%, 3.11 GAA, and two shutouts in 20 starts and five relief appearances.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Buffalo Sabres| Newsstand| Transactions Devon Levi

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