Devils Place Timo Meier On IR, Recall Max Willman
The Devils have made a pair of roster moves before tonight’s game against Vancouver. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Timo Meier has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 30th. With the open roster spot, the team has recalled Max Willman from AHL Utica.
Meier has missed the last week with what was termed as a mid-body injury. That came on the heels of him missing a couple of weeks with a lower-body issue earlier in the season as well. The 27-year-old hasn’t had a great first full season with New Jersey, notching just nine goals with six assists through his first 28 games. That’s not the type of output they were expecting when they acquired him from San Jose last season and signed him to an eight-year, $70.4MM contract back in June. With the back-dated placement, he will have already missed seven days so he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.
As for Willman, he turned a PTO into a two-way deal in October and this will be his third recall of the season. He has played in four games with New Jersey so far, picking up his first goal since the 2021-22 campaign with Philadelphia while logging a little over 11 minutes a night. The 28-year-old has spent most of the year in the minors, notching nine goals and seven assists in 20 games so far. Assuming Meier’s injury is a short one, it’s likely that this stint on the roster will be a short one for Willman.
Jake Guentzel Could Delay Extension Discussions With Penguins
Jake Guentzel’s future with the Penguins is one of several questions surrounding the team as they continue to battle to get back into a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The fact he’s a pending unrestricted free agent would seem to expedite the need for extension talks to happen. However, in a recent appearance on the NHL Network (video link), David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period suggests that Guentzel’s camp could opt to wait until the summer before engaging in substantive discussions about a new deal. He adds that there have been no discussions between the two sides so far.
The 29-year-old is in the middle of what could be a career year as he has 18 goals and 25 assists in 37 games so far, a 95-point pace. His previous benchmark was sent in 2021-22 when he collected 84 points in 76 contests. Guentzel has reached the 40-goal mark twice so far in his career and is on pace for 40 this season as well, setting him up quite nicely for a substantial raise on his current $6MM AAV.
One of the elements that could delay Guentzel’s decision is Pittsburgh’s place in the standings. If GM Kyle Dubas decides to embark on any sort of retool or rebuild, it’s possible that could dissuade Guentzel from wanting to extend. Of course, it’s possible that in that scenario, the decision gets taken out of his hands altogether if the Penguins decide to move him altogether by the March 8th trade deadline. What Pittsburgh’s plans are moving forward will obviously go a long way toward determining Guentzel’s level of interest in sticking around.
Assuming the salary cap goes up to the $87.5MM range as anticipated, Pittsburgh should have enough flexibility to make a competitive offer to Guentzel, one that could push past the $9MM mark on a long-term agreement. Considering his value to the team and in a potential trade, it stands to reason that Dubas will at least approach Guentzel’s camp to get a sense of what a new deal might cost. But one way or another, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be putting pen to paper on an extension anytime soon.
Bruins Recall Jesper Boqvist, Assign Georgii Merkulov To AHL
With there being a bit of uncertainty with Boston’s lineup for tonight, the Bruins have opted to make a recall up front, announcing that winger Jesper Boqvist has been recalled from Providence. To bring Mason Lohrei back up after being papered down yesterday, Georgii Merkulov was assigned to Providence as well.
The 25-year-old had 21 points in 70 games with New Jersey last season but was non-tendered back in June, making him an unrestricted free agent. Boqvist eventually settled for a one-year, one-way contract worth the minimum salary of $775K a couple of weeks later with the hopes that he could lock down a full-time spot on Boston’s fourth line.
That hasn’t gone completely as planned as instead of securing a full-time spot, he cleared waivers at the end of training camp and has spent most of the season in the minors. Boqvist has done well down there, picking up 10 goals and 13 assists in 31 games with Providence while also making a pair of appearances with Boston.
As for Merkulov, he played in four games with Boston while on recall, being held off the scoresheet while averaging 10:35 per night. The 23-year-old has been quite productive with Providence, however, notching 14 goals and 16 assists in 31 games and should go right back to being in a top role for them.
As Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic notes (Twitter link), winger James van Riemsdyk is day-to-day so it would appear Boqvist’s recall is to help cover against that. Lohrei could also take his place in the lineup if they want to go with seven blueliners while Matthew Poitras is also available after returning from his stint at the World Juniors.
Senators Notes: Tarasenko, Pinto, Joseph
With the Senators underachieving considerably this season, they’ll likely be selling leading up to the March 8th trade deadline barring some kind of significant turnaround in the standings. To that end, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the team is expected to approach veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko about waiving his no-trade clause before the deadline. The 32-year-old inked a one-year, $5MM deal in late July after longer-term agreements that were more to his liking failed to materialize on the open market even after changing agents just days into free agency. Tarasenko hasn’t lit it up with Ottawa but does have 24 points in 32 games and would add some secondary scoring to a contending squad. The Sens would likely need to retain up to 50% in order to maximize the return when the time comes to move him.
More from Ottawa:
- Garrioch notes in the same piece that while the original plan was for Shane Pinto to have a conditioning stint with AHL Belleville later this month when he’s eligible to return, that’s no longer the case. The 23-year-old is allowed to start skating with the team on Wednesday while his first eligible game back is January 21st, allowing for ample time for him to work on his conditioning and get up to speed before making his debut. Ottawa still needs to sign Pinto but that will likely have to be a low-cost one-year deal given their salary cap situation.
- In a separate piece from Garrioch, he notes that winger Mathieu Joseph has resumed skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury. He was recently placed on LTIR to accommodate Thomas Chabot’s activation but that was a short-term solution as Joseph could return as soon as Tuesday. If that happens, the Sens will need to do some roster juggling to get back into cap compliance. Joseph was off to a strong start before suffering the injury last month, picking up 19 points in his first 25 games.
Blackhawks Claim Zach Sanford Off Waivers From Coyotes
As the injury bug continues to strike, the Blackhawks have turned to the waiver wire. As first reported by PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link), Chicago has claimed forward Zach Sanford off waivers from Arizona.
The 29-year-old was waived by Arizona on Friday. He has played in 11 games since being recalled in December, picking up a pair of points along with eight blocks and four hits while logging a little over nine minutes a night on the fourth line.
Sanford is a veteran of over 300 career NHL games but has bounced around a lot lately, spending time with St. Louis, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Nashville, and Arizona since 2021. At his best, he was a capable third-line power forward but in recent seasons, he has settled in as a recallable veteran when needed. Sanford has spent most of this season with AHL Tucson after inking a one-year, two-way deal with the Coyotes over the summer, picking up a goal and three assists in 16 games.
While on the surface, this might seem like a puzzling claim for a rebuilding team to make, Chicago now has eight forwards on injured reserve. After making several recalls from AHL Rockford, they also picked up Rem Pitlick in a trade from Pittsburgh earlier today and are now adding Sanford merely to get to 12 healthy forwards on the active roster. It stands to reason that Sanford could be back on the wire once some of these players come back but for now, his stay in the NHL will last at least a little while longer.
Predators Recall Denis Gurianov
Denis Gurianov has been one of the top scorers in the AHL so far this season and he has been rewarded for his efforts. The Predators announced that they have recalled the winger from AHL Milwaukee.
It has been quite the fall from grace for the 26-year-old in recent years. He had a 20-goal campaign with Dallas in 2019-20 and looked like he’d be part of their long-term core. However, Gurianov’s numbers had steadily dropped since then and near the trade deadline last season, the Stars moved on, sending him to Montreal in exchange for Evgenii Dadonov.
Things didn’t go much better with the Canadiens as Gurianov had just eight points in 23 games, resulting in the team declining to tender him a qualifying offer of $2.9MM, making him an unrestricted free agent last summer.
Gurianov’s market wasn’t particularly robust, resulting in him having to settle for a one-year, $850K one-way agreement. The expectation was that he’d add a bit of offensive depth to a bottom-six group that didn’t exactly feature much firepower on paper.
However, that plan didn’t exactly pan out either. After a tough preseason that saw him record just one assist in four games, Gurianov was waived and after clearing, was sent to the Admirals. To his credit, he has fared quite well down there, leading the team in scoring with 30 points in 27 games, good for a tie for sixth in AHL points. He’ll now get a chance to try to contribute to a Nashville attack that sits in the middle of the pack for goals, ranking 15th in that department.
Blackhawks Place Connor Bedard And Nick Foligno On Injured Reserve
Already dealing with a long injury list, things just got even worse on that front for the Blackhawks. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed center Connor Bedard and winger Nick Foligno on injured reserve. Bedard has a fractured jaw while Foligno is dealing with a fractured left finger.
Both players sustained the injuries during Friday’s game against New Jersey. Bedard was injured on a hit from Brendan Smith, leaving the game immediately after that. The 2023 top pick has been as advertised this season, leading Chicago in scoring with 15 goals and 18 assists in 39 games, making him the odds-on favorite for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year. It also helped him land his first All-Star nod earlier this week.
While no timeline for a return was provided for either player, it’s worth noting that Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner is working his way back from a fractured jaw as well – he skated with the team today. His recovery timeline was estimated at six weeks at the time of injury so it’s possible the Blackhawks could be without their star rookie through the All-Star break at a minimum.
As for Foligno, the 36-year-old has come as advertised after his rights were acquired during the offseason. While he’s playing a lot higher in the lineup than he had in recent years, Foligno has been one of Chicago’s more productive forwards, collecting eight goals and nine assists in his 39 appearances so far. Both sides appear to be open about the possibility of a contract extension for the pending UFA.
Bedard and Foligno join a very crowded injury list that also includes forwards Taylor Hall, Tyler Johnson, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Beauvillier, Taylor Raddysh, and Joey Anderson along with defenseman Seth Jones. Chicago just swung a deal to acquire Rem Pitlick to get back to now 11 forwards on its active roster but another roster move will likely be coming before their game tomorrow against Calgary.
Blackhawks Acquire Rem Pitlick
The Blackhawks have added some extra depth up front, acquiring winger Rem Pitlick from Pittsburgh in exchange for a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick. Both teams have announced the swap.
Pitlick spent the previous two seasons with Montreal before being included as part of the three-team swap which also involved San Jose, landing the Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson.
The 26-year-old impressed as a waiver claim by the Canadiens in 2021, picking up 26 points in 46 games. That was enough for Montreal to give him a two-year, $2.2MM contract, seemingly giving him some stability. However, Pitlick cleared waivers last season, splitting the year between AHL Laval and Montreal where he had just 15 points in 46 contests, leading to a trade request, one that was granted with his inclusion in the three-way trade.
However, the change of scenery didn’t work out quite as planned for Pitlick. Pittsburgh’s cap situation helped land him back on waivers and since clearing at the end of training camp, he has played exclusively with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Pitlick has been productive down there, notching 24 points in 32 games to lead the Baby Pens in scoring.
Presumably, Pitlick will now get an NHL look with a team where the salary cap situation won’t be a concern. The Blackhawks have six forwards on injured reserve at the moment while Connor Bedard left yesterday’s game due to injury so Pitlick should get an opportunity to make an impact with Chicago. A strong second half showing could give him a nice boost heading into unrestricted free agency this summer, just like it did two years ago.
Aaron Dell Signs PTO With AHL Ontario
Last month, the Hurricanes signed veteran goaltender Aaron Dell to a tryout agreement, loaning him out to Canada’s Spengler Cup entry a few days later. While there hasn’t been an announcement from Carolina about him since then, it appears Dell was released as he has already found a new team. Per the AHL’s transactions log, the netminder has signed a tryout agreement with AHL Ontario, the affiliate of the Kings.
The 34-year-old has yet to play this season beyond his stint at the Spengler Cup where he had a 2.59 GAA and a .906 SV% in four games while losing in the semi-final. Last season, Dell spent most of the year with AHL San Jose, posting a 3.14 GAA with a .898 SV% in 38 contests. He also got into four games with the Sharks, extending his streak of years with an appearance at the top level to seven. Dell had a 2.71 GAA and a .913 SV% in those outings, both better than his career averages of 2.92 and .905 respectively.
With Pheonix Copley on LTIR, David Rittich is currently up with the Kings so Dell figures to serve as the veteran backup to prospect Erik Portillo with the Reign. Meanwhile, with Los Angeles being speculated to be searching for a veteran third-stringer, this signing could take them out of the trade market on that front with Dell being well-suited to fill that role for the time being.
Coyotes To Recall Dylan Guenther
The Coyotes are bringing up one of their top prospects as PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports (Twitter link) that the team is expected to announce the recall of winger Dylan Guenther from AHL Tucson.
The 20-year-old made Arizona’s roster out of training camp last season and acquitted himself fairly well, picking up six goals and nine assists in 33 games while averaging over 13 minutes a night. The Coyotes decided that it was best for him to return to junior after that and he joined WHL Seattle for the stretch run. Guenther was dominant there, collecting 29 points in 20 regular season contests and 28 more in 19 postseason appearances. By sending him back when they did, the Coyotes ensured that Guenther would not accrue a season of service time toward his UFA eligibility.
This season, Guenther was eligible to go to the AHL unlike last year and Arizona opted to send him to the Roadrunners after training camp. He has fared quite well in his first taste at that level, leading the team in scoring with 10 goals and 18 assists in 29 games; he’s on a bit of a hot streak with eight points in his last five appearances.
Arizona finds itself only a point out of a Wild Card spot as we near the midway point of the season but has only scored more than two goals once in their last five games. They’re hoping that bringing up one of their top offensive prospects can help get things going on that front.