Atlantic Notes: Klingberg, Timmins, Barkov, Andersson
The Maple Leafs are concerned that John Klingberg’s undisclosed injury could linger for a while, relays David Alter of The Hockey News. The veteran has struggled mightily in his first year with Toronto and it was recently revealed that he has been playing through an injury. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that they’re trying a more aggressive treatment with Toronto having a light schedule at the moment due to their trip to Sweden but that Klingberg is taking longer than they hoped to bounce back from it. He has been ruled out for Sunday’s contest against Minnesota and if they want to consider an LTIR placement, that would keep him out through December 12th at a minimum.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- Still with the Maple Leafs, defenseman Conor Timmins skated today but isn’t expected to play against Minnesota on Sunday, Alter adds (Twitter link). The 25-year-old is still working his way back from a lower-body injury sustained late in the preseason. Timmins, who is on LTIR, has been upgraded to being out day-to-day. Toronto will have to send two players down to activate Timmins and his $1.1MM price tag once he’s cleared to return.
- Panthers center Aleksander Barkov left Friday’s game against Anaheim after a hit from Jackson LaCombe early in the third period and did not return. Postgame, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards that there was no immediate update on him after the game. Florida is flying back from its road trip today so an update on the captain likely won’t come until Sunday. Barkov is off to a strong start to his season with 17 points in his first 16 games.
- Lias Andersson had a good start to his season in Montreal’s farm system but that will be on hold for a while as their AHL affiliate announced (Twitter link) that the forward will miss six to eight weeks with a lower-body injury. The 25-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Canadiens in the summer after being non-tendered by Los Angeles. Andersson, the seventh overall pick in 2017, has seven goals and two assists in ten games so far this season.
Red Wings Place Austin Czarnik On Waivers
11/19: Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Czarnik has cleared waivers, and can safely be assigned to Grand Rapids.
11/18: With Detroit’s trip to Sweden now over, they’ve opted to make a roster move. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Red Wings have placed forward Austin Czarnik on waivers.
The 30-year-old cleared waivers in training camp but has spent most of the season with Detroit so far. Czarnik played in two games with the Griffins where he had two goals and an assist before being recalled in mid-October. He was sent back down at the end of the month but one day later, he was brought up on an emergency basis and was converted to a regular recall soon after.
Czarnik has played in 11 games so far for the Red Wings on their fourth line but has been limited to just a single assist while averaging 8:35 per night. Last season, he had a bit more success at the top level, collecting two goals and three helpers in 29 games, the most NHL games he played in since the 2018-19 campaign.
Since Czarnik has been in more than ten games since last clearing waivers, he now must once again pass through unclaimed to make it back to the Griffins. He’s in the second and final year of a two-year, minimum salary contract which carries a $762.5K AAV. Teams will have until 1 PM CT on Sunday to place a claim on Czarnik if they so desire.
Dakota Mermis Clears Waivers
Saturday: No team put in a claim for Mermis, Friedman reports.
Friday: The Wild have waived defenseman Dakota Mermis for the purpose of assignment to the AHL’s Iowa Wild, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Friday.
Mermis, 29, has been with the Wild since signing as a free agent in the 2020 offseason. His first season with the club was spent almost entirely on the infamous 2020-21 taxi squad, playing just three games all season, all in the NHL. Since then, he’s logged heavy minutes for the AHL’s Iowa Wild, serving as an alternate captain since his debut with the club in 2021-22. He was not on Minnesota’s opening night roster this season but was recalled just a few days into the campaign with multiple injuries affecting the Wild’s defense core.
20 of Mermis’ 40 NHL appearances have come in a Wild jersey over the past four seasons, including a career-high 13 this season. He’s notched two goals, three assists, five points, and an even plus-minus rating in 15:30 of average ice time with Minnesota, with all of his points coming in 2023-24. Most commonly paired with Jacob Middleton and Jonathon Merrill, he has a Corsi share of 47.8% at even strength, 4.7% worse than the Wild’s Corsi share when Mermis is not on the ice.
To put it succinctly, Mermis has done about as well as you can expect for a minor-league veteran plugged into a defense that’s dealt with structural issues this season. He’d managed to stay in the lineup over the past few games after the return of captain Jared Spurgeon to the lineup, but with veteran Zach Bogosian now in the fold after a trade for the Lightning, Mermis was losing his grip on a roster spot and saw his ice time slip.
Since he’s played more than ten games and his recall lasted more than 30 days, he again requires waivers to return to Iowa. As a pending unrestricted free agent on a two-way deal, there’s a decent chance the Wild lose Mermis on the wire if a team deems they need some short-term blueline depth on the cheap.
Patrick Brown Clears Waivers
Saturday: Brown went through waivers unclaimed, Friedman reports.
Friday: The Bruins placed center Patrick Brown on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the AHL’s Providence Bruins on Friday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Brown, 31, has played a limited role for the Bruins after signing a two-year, $1.6MM deal in free agency last summer. Initially signed as an undrafted free agent by the Hurricanes in 2014, the veteran has since appeared in 144 NHL games and 403 AHL games over the past nine years. Over the past few seasons, however, he’s managed to hold on to a depth NHL role with the Bruins, Flyers and Senators and has not appeared in the minors since the 2020-21 season as the captain of the Henderson Silver Knights, the Golden Knights’ minor-league affiliate.
The Bruins waived Brown before the 2023-24 season started and have recalled and reassigned him for brief periods throughout the first month-and-a-half of the campaign, but he’s yet to appear for AHL Providence.
Brown has been a non-factor in six NHL games with Boston this season, failing to get on the scoresheet while posting a -1 rating, two penalty minutes, and four shots on goal in 9:19 of ice time per game. He has gone a respectable 53.8% in the faceoff circle but has taken just 13 draws. His possession numbers have been low relative to his teammates, and his offensive-zone usage has been extremely limited, starting just eight percent of his shifts there.
After remaining on the active NHL roster for more than 30 days since clearing waivers last month, he’ll need to pass through them again unclaimed to return to Providence. Brown’s only appearance in the month of November came over one week ago against the Islanders, logging a season-high 11:23 of ice time but failing to get on the stat sheet in any form. He’s been a healthy scratch in six out of the last seven games.
Assigning Brown to the AHL would leave the Bruins with just 12 healthy forwards on the roster, however, so a corresponding transaction could be in the works after he passes through (or gets claimed) tomorrow. This could hint that one of Morgan Geekie or Milan Lucic, who are both on IR and LTIR, respectively, could be nearing a return.
Capitals Activate Joel Edmundson Off LTIR, Assign Dylan McIlrath To AHL
The Capitals are set to welcome back one of their offseason acquisitions as they announced that they have activated defenseman Joel Edmundson off long-term injured reserve. The previously reported activations of Anthony Mantha and Trevor van Riemsdyk were also confirmed. In a corresponding move, Dylan McIlrath has been assigned to AHL Hershey.
Edmundson was acquired just as free agency was starting this summer, coming over in a trade from Montreal in exchange for a third-round pick and a seventh-round selection, both in 2024. As part of the swap, the Canadiens held back half of Edmundson’s $3.5MM cap hit.
The 30-year-old suffered a hand injury early in training camp and has yet to play this season. Staying healthy has been a challenge for Edmundson who has also battled back issues over the past couple of seasons. Last year, he had 13 points along with 149 blocks and 112 hits in 61 games while averaging 19:34 of ice time and should push for a top four spot on Washington’s depth chart before too long.
Getting off to a strong start and staying healthy will certainly be important for Edmundson. It’s a contract year so he’ll be looking to prove that he can be serviceable and durable as he gets set to test free agency in the summer.
As for McIlrath, he was recalled last Saturday and got into one game, suiting up for the Caps on Tuesday. The 31-year-old has spent the bulk of the season with the Bears, picking up three assists and 23 penalty minutes in 11 games.
Jets Recall Dominic Toninato On Emergency Basis
After a victory over Buffalo last night, Winnipeg is back in action tonight against Arizona. At least one forward who played Friday is questionable for this game, however, as the team announced (Twitter link) that center Dominic Toninato has been recalled from AHL Manitoba under emergency conditions.
The 29-year-old has been limited to just five games with the Moose this season due to injury although he has been productive in those appearances, notching a goal and three assists. Toninato was similarly productive in the minors last year, tallying 19 goals and 16 helpers in 50 contests.
This is Toninato’s fourth season with Winnipeg and he has seen NHL action in the first three, including 2021-22 when he was a regular for most of the year, suiting up 77 times. Going back to his previous teams, he has made an appearance at the top level in each of the last seven years, spanning 169 games in total where he has a dozen goals and 18 assists.
It’s unclear which forward’s availability is in question for tonight’s game and it’s worth noting that Winnipeg could easily go back to dressing seven defensemen anyway; Nate Schmidt was a healthy scratch against the Sabres. But if they want to go with a standard deployment, Toninato might have a chance to extend that stretch of NHL appearances to eight straight seasons tonight.
Milan Lucic Takes Indefinite Leave Of Absence From Bruins
Bruins winger Milan Lucic was close to being eligible to return from a lower-body injury that has had him on LTIR for the past three weeks but that is now on hold indefinitely. On Saturday, the Bruins released the following statement to reporters including Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald (Twitter links) following an alleged domestic incident:
The Boston Bruins are aware of an incident involving Milan Lucic Friday evening. Milan is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. The organization takes these matters very seriously, and will work with the Lucic family to provide any support and assistance they may need. We will have no further comment at this time.
Lucic returned to Boston this summer as a free agent, inking a one-year, $1MM contract that also contained an additional $500K in performance bonuses. He has played in just four games so far this season, picking up two assists while recording eight hits in a little under 12 minutes per contest.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Cole Koepke
The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled forward Cole Koepke from their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
As reported by the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina, this recall “serves as an indication that Anthony Cirelli may not be available” for the team’s game today against the Edmonton Oilers. Cirelli left the Lightning’s last game after taking a puck to the upper body.
The Lightning recalled Koepke rather than Waltteri Merelä, who they just sent down yesterday. This could be to give Merelä some continuity with one team, as well as to potentially give Koepke the chance to play in his first NHL game this season.
Koepke, 25, is a hard-working 2018 sixth-round pick who rode a breakout 2021-22 campaign to 17 NHL games the following season. He didn’t score much at all last year, though, managing just one point at the NHL level and 19 in the AHL.
So far this season, Koepke has six points in 11 games for the Crunch. At six-foot-one, 200 pounds, Koepke doesn’t offer the imposing size that Merelä brings, though he does play with quite a bit of energy. He averaged just over nine minutes of ice time per game in his NHL run last season.
Brett Ritchie Signs In KHL
Veteran forward Brett Ritchie is headed overseas for the first time in his professional career, signing a one-year contract with Dynamo Minsk of the KHL.
The 30-year-old winger did not receive an NHL contract this summer, instead signing a PTO with the Florida Panthers. He spent training camp and preseason in Sunrise, but failed to earn a contract from the club.
A veteran of 391 NHL games, Ritchie was the 44th overall pick of the 2011 draft by the Dallas Stars, selected out of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting.
After his OHL campaign concluded with a 76-point campaign on the Niagara IceDogs, Ritchie turned pro and had an exceptional AHL rookie season. He scored 29 goals and 59 points in 81 combined regular-season and playoff games, helping the Texas Stars win the Calder Cup.
Ritchie made his NHL debut the following season, in 2014-15, but only managed nine points in 31 games. Ritchie’s NHL breakthrough came in 2016-17, when he scored 16 goals in a full 78-game NHL season.
He had proven himself to be a capable NHL bottom-six winger, and he remained an NHL player exclusively (besides a 12-game AHL stint in 2019-20) through the 2022-23 season.
Ritchie will not be an NHLer this season, though, as rather than potentially sign an AHL deal with a pathway to an NHL contract (the pathway Joel Kiviranta successfully took with the Colorado Avalanche, for example) Ritchie has elected to play in the KHL.
He joins a Minsk team currently 14-12-4, sitting seventh in their conference standings. A look at Minsk’s scoresheet paints the picture as to why they might have gone out and signed a big-name former NHLer import player such as Ritchie. Their top scorer, AHL veteran Sam Anas, has scored just 18 points in 29 games.
They could very much use another winger with NHL experience beyond former Anaheim Duck Sam Volkov, so Ritchie fills that role. While it’s no guarantee Ritchie will be productive in the KHL, his consistent scoring success at the AHL level suggests he may be able to fill a scoring power forward’s role against KHL competition.
If he does so and posts a productive campaign in Belarus, one shouldn’t rule out the possibility Ritchie receives another chance to earn an NHL contract.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
West Notes: Ducks, Dionicio, Hall, Akey
It has been a tough year for Ducks center Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale. Contract discussions rolled into training camp and both have struggled when healthy so far. Head coach Greg Cronin told reporters including Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune (Twitter link) that while he doesn’t know the nature of their respective lower-body injuries, the recovery on each of them is quite tricky and the team will need to be patient while waiting for them to return. Zegras has missed a little more than a week so far and has struggled offensively with just two points in his first dozen games. Meanwhile, Drysdale last played more than a month ago and has suited up just twice so far after being limited to just eight games last season due to a torn labrum.
More from the Western Conference:
- Still with Anaheim, Ducks prospect Rodwin Dionicio is on the move in the OHL as his now-former team in Windsor announced that they traded the defenseman to Saginaw. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in June (129th overall) following an impressive 50-point year. Dionicio is off to an even better start so far this season, collecting 20 points in his first 16 games while recording an assist in his debut tonight. Anaheim has until June 1, 2025 to sign the blueliner to an entry-level deal.
- Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall is listed as a game-time decision for tomorrow’s game against Nashville, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). It has been an injury-riddled first season in Chicago for the 32-year-old who has had shoulder trouble sideline him twice while this most recent undisclosed injury has cost him a little over a week so far. When he has been healthy, Hall has tallied two goals and two assists in eight games.
- Oilers prospect Beau Akey is set to undergo surgery and will miss the remainder of the season, reports Oilers Nation’s Robin Brownlee (Twitter link). The 18-year-old was a second-round selection in June (56th overall) and had a strong training camp, helping him land an entry-level contract before being returned to OHL Barrie. With the Colts this season, Akey has nine points in 14 games but after dislocating his shoulder, he won’t be getting any more in 2023-24.