Penguins Recall Jonathan Gruden
2:00 PM: The Penguins have re-assigned Gruden to the AHL, as Carter participated in the team’s Tuesday practice.
9:30 AM: The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled forward Jonathan Gruden from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday morning, per a team announcement.
Gruden, 23, will serve as the team’s 13th forward while veteran Jeff Carter is sidelined with an upper-body injury. The Penguins had an open spot on the 23-man roster and just enough cap space to recall his $775K cap hit, so no corresponding transaction is needed.
The left winger made his NHL debut last season, going without a point in three games and registering just one shot while averaging 5:20 per game. A 2018 fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, Gruden has played all of his pro hockey in the Penguins organization after an October 2020 trade that saw him and a second-round pick head to Pittsburgh in exchange for the signing rights to two-time Stanley Cup champion netminder Matt Murray.
Gruden took a significant step forward in his development last season, finishing fourth on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 16 goals in 54 games and totaling 31 points. He’s off to a much slower start this year, however, scoring twice and adding one assist through 12 games.
The son of former NHL defenseman and current AHL Toronto Marlies head coach John Gruden will need waivers to return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton if he plays ten games during his recall or stays on the Penguins roster for more than 30 days, both of which are unlikely scenarios.
Canucks Recall Akito Hirose
The Vancouver Canucks have announced the recall of defenseman Akito Hirose to the NHL lineup. Hirose has appeared in 11 AHL games so far this season, going without a point while also accruing four penalty minutes and a +2. Hirose made his NHL debut with the Canucks last season, signing with the team after the conclusion of the Minnesota State University-Mankato season.
Hirose was one of three players from last year’s Mankato lineup to sign NHL contracts, joining Nashville’s Jake Livingston and Colorado’s Ondrej Pavel. All three players were undrafted free agents at the time of their signing and all three have since made their NHL debut. Hirose has played in the most NHL action of the bunch, with nine games under his belt. He also leads the group in scoring, with three points in those nine games topping the one point Livingston has scored through five games. Pavel has yet to score his first NHL point.
Hirose has already appeared in two games with Vancouver’s NHL lineup through the early season, going without any changes to his stat line. He also recorded a 39.39 CF% (Corsi-For Percentage) and 43.87 xGF% (expected-goals-for percentage) in the pair of games – both modest tallies that are certainly influenced by a small sample size, although both numbers are an improvement from the CF% and xGF% he recorded in his seven NHL games last season.
Carson Soucy was announced with injury on November 12th and the team has yet to provide an update on his status. Hirose will provide some depth to the Canucks’ blue-line while Soucy works his way back into the lineup.
West Notes: Avalanche Reassignments, Draisaitl, Harley
The Colorado Avalanche have announced that defenseman Caleb Jones and Sam Malinski have been reassigned to the franchise’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The reasoning behind Malinski’s reassignment is relatively clear, the player made his NHL debut last night and now will return to the Eagles to resume playing a regular role there.
With Jones, the reassignment could mean a few things, as outlined by The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. Jones’ reassignment could be a paper transaction to maintain his waiver-exempt status, or it could be an indication that injured blueliners Josh Manson and/or Samuel Girard are healthy and ready to return to head coach Jared Bednar’s lineup.
Some other notes from the Western Conference:
- The Edmonton Oilers got a crucial win in new head coach Kris Knoblauch’s debut, but the 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders has come at a personal cost to superstar center Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for what the department termed a “dangerous trip” on Islanders center Bo Horvat.
- Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer told the media today that defenseman Thomas Harley will be out for tonight’s game when the team hosts the Arizona Coyotes. Harley is, according to DeBoer, dealing with a day-to-day injury, and it was specifically clarified that he is not in concussion protocol. Harley was on the wrong end of a big hit in the most recent Stars contest, so there was fear that his injury could be something more major it but appears the worst has been avoided. Harley has had a solid start to the season on the Stars’ bottom pairing next to Jani Hakanpää and in his absence his spot there is set to go to Joel Hanley.
Nashville Predators Place Tommy Novak On IR
The Nashville Predators have placed forward Tommy Novak on injured reserve. According to the team, Novak will be out for four-to-six weeks with an upper-body injury.
In a corresponding move, the Predators have recalled defenseman Spencer Stastney from their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.
The loss of Novak, 26, for this extended timeframe is a significant one for both Nashville and Novak himself.
For Nashville, the team is losing its second-line center, one of its most reliable offensive producers, and someone who stands behind only Filip Forsberg on the club’s scoring leaderboard.
For Novak, this injury represents a moderate setback in a crucial platform season.
Although Novak has been undeniably stellar since breaking into the NHL last season, (he scored 17 goals and 43 points in 51 games last year) he doesn’t exactly have the largest sample size of success at the game’s highest level.
Sure, Novak was moderately productive for four seasons as a Minnesota Golden Gopher and hovered around the point-per-game mark at times for AHL Milwaukee, his NHL resume, outside of last season and the start to this year, is relatively thin.
That’s relevant for Novak specifically, as he’s a pending unrestricted free agent and could very well want to cash in on the open market. Missing four-to-six weeks not only costs Novak a chunk of games in which he could again showcase his talent, it also confirms that he will, barring an extension, enter the open market without a single complete NHL season of productivity.
Assuming he gets there, will he still be an in-demand player on the open market? Absolutely, as he won’t even turn 27 until April and has so far scored 12 points in 14 games. If he can put together a near-point-per-game season, he’ll still be hitting free agency as a relatively young, highly productive pivot. Those types of centers almost never hit the open market.
But even though Novak will likely still be in a solid position to hit free agency, the reality is that this injury is a setback in terms of Novak’s ability to reach the apex of his earning power this summer.
Replacing Novak on the Predators’ roster is Stastney, a 23-year-old left-shot defenseman. The Illinois native has been a developmental success story for the Predators, as he’s begun to establish himself as a quality depth defenseman, someone who can hold down a top-four role in the AHL and then survive in the NHL when called upon.
That’s a better-than-expected outcome for a fifth-round pick, and the silver lining to Novak’s injury is that the Predators will get another chance to see what Stastney can do at the NHL level.
With this recall, the Predators are now carrying eight defensemen on their roster, though with Ryan McDonagh out of the lineup Stastney could see some ice time should head coach Andrew Brunette prefer him to Marc Del Gaizo, who brings more offensive touch but a bit less defensive reliability compared to Stastney.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Calgary Flames Reassign Dustin Wolf
The Calgary Flames have announed that goaltender Dustin Wolf has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers.
This move is an indication that starting netminder Jacob Markström is now ready to return from the day-to-day injury that has kept him out of the lineup for a week.
Although Markström and Dan Vladař have struggled so far this season, the Flames’ $6MM AAV commitment to Markström has him entrenched as the team’s starter. Same for Vladař and the Flames backup goalie role, although the $2.2MM AAV goalie’s grip on that role is notably shakier.
Although Wolf has been the AHL’s best player since making his full-time debut in 2021-22, the aforementioned situation in the Flames’ net means Wolf getting sent down is no huge surprise. The AHL MVP is still just 22 years old, and does not require waivers to be sent to the minors.
So for Calgary, it makes more sense for the team to keep Wolf as the AHL starter rather than have him either stapled to the bench as a third goalie, or as a backup to Markström potentially at the cost of Vladař being claimed on waivers.
Wolf returns to the minors having at least made his NHL debut, though, in a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Wolf’s .924 save percentage so far this season in the AHL is more reflective of his talent than his performance in one NHL start, of course, and assuming Wolf can continue his stellar play in the AHL, another recall may not be far off should the Flames’ two goalies continue to struggle.
Flyers Loan Cal Petersen, Victor Mete To AHL
Nov. 14: It took quite a while, but the Flyers confirmed the loan of Petersen and Mete to the Phantoms Tuesday morning in a team statement.
Nov. 13: The Philadelphia Flyers returned goaltender Cal Petersen and defenseman Victor Mete to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday, Dylan H. Robillard of Olde City Sports Network reports.
Petersen, 29, was brought up from the AHL at the beginning of the month in the wake of a mid-body injury to starter Carter Hart. Acquired over the summer from the Los Angeles Kings in the Ivan Provorov three-team trade with the Blue Jackets, the Notre Dame graduate started two games for the Flyers, both against his former team, going 1-1-0 with a .896 SV% and 3.50 GAA.
It has been a difficult past few seasons for Petersen, who has lost his grip on a full-time NHL job after signing a three-year, $15MM extension with the Kings in advance of the 2021-22 season that didn’t begin until 2022-23. In hindsight, it’s turned out to be a premature gamble from Kings GM Rob Blake, as Petersen has started just 46 NHL games since signing the deal with a .890 SV%, 3.08 GAA and three shutouts.
Petersen’s extremely poor start to 2022-23 earned him a demotion to the minors, where he spent most of the season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. There, he posted a .904 SV% in 40 games and earned a spot on Team USA at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, where he excelled with a 0.72 GAA, .956 SV% and 3-0-0 record, leading some to believe he could rebound in the City of Brotherly Love after the trade went through.
That hasn’t been the case, though, as Petersen finished training camp fourth on the Flyers’ netminding depth chart behind Hart and his young backups, Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandström. Petersen has struggled through four games with Lehigh Valley, where he returns to improve on his current 1-3-0 record and .884 SV%.
Mete has now been recalled and returned to the Phantoms for the second time since passing through waivers during the preseason. Serving as a healthy scratch twice after his second recall on November 5, Mete made his Flyers debut on Saturday against the Kings, posting zeroes across the board in less than 11 minutes of ice time.
The Flyers signed Mete, 25, to a one-year, two-way deal with a $775K cap hit in July. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and has one assist and a -3 rating through five games with the Phantoms.
Florida Panthers In Aggressive Pursuit Of Patrick Kane
A little over half a week ago, it was reported that on his way back from hip surgery, Patrick Kane had been linked to four teams within the Eastern Conference; the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, and New York Rangers. Most likely looking for his best chance to compete for another Stanley Cup towards the end of his career, the Panthers and Rangers seem to be the best potential fits for Kane moving forward.
In his podcast, 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said, “We’re starting to get close to the Patrick Kane decision, I think this week he’s going to start talking to some teams. Bill Zito, the GM of Florida, has been one of the most aggressive GMs when it comes to Kane” (X Link).
It’s relatively unsurprising to see that the Panthers are becoming more aggressive in their pursuit of Kane, as although the defending Eastern Conference Champions are off to a solid 9-4-1 start, they still sit 19th in the league in GF/G. So far this year, their defense (notably missing both Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad), as well as their goaltending have been the driving factor in their entry out of the gates this season.
However, Florida will have a difficult time fitting Kane into the mix, as when Montour and Ekblad eventually come back into the fold, the team will have less than $100K available to them in cap space. If Kane is willing to sign a league minimum contract for one season, the Panthers should be able to fit Kane in, but they will have to make some moves to make that happen.
Overall, even if the Panthers are the most aggressive in bringing Kane into their lineup, that does not necessarily mean he will end up in Florida. Being a hometown native of Buffalo, as well as a former Ranger, Kane should have a certain comfortability in returning home to New York state if he so chooses. Also, as has been typical over the last several seasons during his tenure as General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman has notably kept his cards very close to the chest.
Pacific Notes: Golden Knights, Kraken, Laferriere
Over the last two games, the Vegas Golden Knights have been without the trio of Chandler Stephenson, Nicolas Hague, and Nicolas Roy. Over that time, the league-leading Golden Knights have gone 1-1-0, losing to their division rival, Los Angeles Kings, last Wednesday.
In an update from practice today, Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that none of the trio are to be expected back in the team’s game against the Washington Capitals tomorrow night, but issued assurances they could be back by the weekend. Of the three, Roy has had the longest absence, after being put on the team’s injured reserve on October 24th.
Of the three, Stephenson is the most important to get back into the lineup, as he remains on one of the best-value contracts in the NHL. On the last season of a four-year, $11MM contract signed with Vegas back in 2020, Stephenson has scored 53 goals and 121 assists over 224 games as a Golden Knight.
Other notes:
- Some notable additions to the Seattle Kraken practice were Brandon Tanev and Jordan Eberle, who is now without a non-contact jersey, respectively (X Link). Eberle has gotten off to a relatively slow start with the Kraken this year, Eberle has scored four points in 13 games, coupled with a -8 rating already this season.
- According to the AHL transaction log, young NHL enforcer, Alex Laferriere is back on the roster with Los Angeles (X Link). Primarily playing in the team’s bottom six over the course of the young season, Laferriere has scored two goals and one assist through 14 games.
Metro Notes: Devils, Carter, Rangers, Pelech, Shepard
Being outscored by a margin of six goals in their last four games, the New Jersey Devils have been without some of their top-quality players for the last several games. A reporter for the team, Amanda Stein, even went as far as to report that team captain, Nico Hischier, will not be joining the team on their upcoming road trip to take on the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Stein did clarify that although he will not be in the lineup against the Jets, Jack Hughes could return against the Penguins.
Officially out with an upper-body injury, most consumers of the game could tell Hischier may have had a lingering injury issue headed into the season. Having only played in seven games up to this point in the year, Hischier has only mustered two goals, not generating nearly as much offense as New Jersey may have hoped to start an important year for the franchise.
Hughes, on the other hand, has been desperately missed by the Devils. Truly coming into his own as a former overall selection, Hughes got off to one of the hottest starts in the league, scoring five goals and 15 assists in the team’s first 10 games of the season. After taking a hard crash into the boards during the team’s regulation loss against the St.Louis Blues only 10 days ago, the Devils have performed at a 1-3-0 clip in his absence.
Other notes:
- Head coach of the Penguins, Mike Sullivan, announced to the media that forward Jeff Carter is dealing with an upper-body injury, and that is the reason behind him missing practice this afternoon (X Link). Over the last two weeks, Carter has been a healthy scratch in several games before the end of October, as Pittsburgh has been looking to strengthen its bottom six forward groupings. On the final year of a two-year, $6.25MM extension signed with Pittsburgh back in 2022, Carter has failed to score a point in his first 10 games this season.
- Arthur Staple of The Athletic issued several updates on the status of injured members of the New York Rangers today, indicating that Ryan Lindgren should be available for practice on Wednesday, while injured forward Filip Chytil will not be with the team. Lindgren has been dealing with a mild upper-body injury incurred during the team’s shootout win Sunday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Chytil has been out since the beginning of November, also with an upper-body injury.
- One of the most important defensemen for the New York Islanders, Adam Pelech, missed the team’s last game against the Washington Capitals just two days ago. In an update from Andrew Gross of Newsday, Pelech is officially listed as a game-time decision for their matchup against the Edmonton Oilers tonight but should be expected to play. Even though the Islanders have not gotten off to a terrific start to the season, Pelech still holds a 91.1% oiSV% in 10 games played on the year.
- In what will go down as another ‘paper’ transaction on the season, the Capitals sent down goaltender Hunter Shepard and recalled him today in a separate transaction (X Link). Largely due to an injury to Charlie Lindgren, Shepard has played in two games for Washington this year, winning both, and posting a .915 SV% with a 2.50 GAA.
Sabres Activate, Reassign Brandon Biro
The Buffalo Sabres have activated winger Brandon Biro from injured reserve and assigned him to the AHL’s Rochester Americans, per a team release.
Buffalo recalled Biro, 25, from Rochester on Halloween and played in two contests before exiting the lineup with an upper-body injury and landing on IR. Skating just his second career NHL game against the Flyers on November 1 (he made one appearance for the Sabres at the tail end of 2021-22), Biro notched two goals and a +2 rating in 10:59 of ice time.
He played again against the Flyers on November 3 but did not suit up for the team’s game the following day against the Maple Leafs and was promptly placed on IR. Biro now returns to Rochester, where the Alberta-born winger has two goals and four assists in five games.
While he may be a bit old to end up with a full-time NHL career, Biro has been an extremely productive player in the minors since turning pro after four years at Penn State in 2020. Signing with the Sabres as an undrafted free agent, Biro has played in 117 games for Rochester across four seasons, notching 32 goals, 71 assists and 103 points.
After clearing waivers preseason, Biro can play up to ten games and be on the active roster for 30 days before he needs them to return to Rochester again. His call-up took a small chunk out of that, but he will remain one of the Sabres’ top call-up options should injuries strike.