Calgary Flames Assign Three Players To AHL
11/6: As expected, Ryan Pike confirmed today that the Flames organization had re-called all three players back up to the NHL club.
11/5: Ryan Pike of FlamesNation is reporting that the Calgary Flames have assigned forwards Martin Pospisil and Connor Zary, as well as defenseman Nick DeSimone to their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. Because the team does not play today, and considering Pospisil and DeSimone have already cleared waivers this year, it is entirely likely this is only a paper transaction. All three players should be on the Flames roster again shortly.
Since coming over to the Flames organization during the 2019-20 season, Pospisil has been a solid player at the AHL level when healthy. This season, when playing for the Wranglers, Pospisil has scored three goals and three assists in six games, sitting fourth on the team in points in the early days of the season. He made his NHL debut last night against the Seattle Kraken and scored his first NHL goal while getting a bit over 10 minutes of ice time.
Now in his third season with Calgary, DeSimone was called up to replace the minutes left behind by defenseman Jordan Oesterle, who had recently been placed on waivers in order to send him down to the AHL. DeSimone was also able to crack the lineup during last night’s game against the Kraken, where he provided one assist in 12 minutes of ice time.
Similarly to Pospisil, Zary is another young prospect in the Flames organization and has played in two games since being called up on an emergency loan on October 31st. In those two games played, Zary has provided Calgary with one goal and one assist, playing on the team’s second line next to Nazem Kadri and Yegor Sharangovich.
East Notes: Blue Jackets, McCabe, Timmins
Going into the regular season, there was no question that the Columbus Blue Jackets were dealing with a roster glut, and have been keen on moving players up and down regularly given their current level of play. This was evidenced most recently on Friday, as the Blue Jackets decided to send down top-center prospect, Kent Johnson, in exchange for Yegor Chinakhov from the Cleveland Monsters.
In a Sunday article, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic touched on a few of these issues, most notably pointing out that Blue Jackets General Manager, Jarmo Kekalainen is still working the phones to move out a few players, and that scouts from the Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets organizations were seen at the team’s game this past Thursday.
The feeling around the organization is that trade must come sooner rather than later, as Portzline also mentions that Kirill Marchenko can only play in two more games before becoming waiver-eligible, and six games remain for Cole Sillinger. Although Marchenko was a prized goal-scorer for Columbus last season, his recent play led to new head coach, Pascal Vincent, scratching the young forward in the team’s game last night against the Washington Capitals.
Other notes:
- David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman, Jake McCabe, will return to practice with the team today. The team could certainly benefit from the return of his defensive prowess, as the team has lost four straight games since McCabe went down with a groin injury. It remains to be seen whether or not he will return to game action this week, as Toronto has an upcoming four-game homestand.
- Sticking with the Maple Leafs, similarly to McCabe, Mark Masters of TSN reports that Toronto defenseman, Conor Timmins, was seen skating today in practice. Working his way back from a lower-body injury, Timmins has been on long-term injured reserve since the beginning of the season. Although the Maple Leafs should have a full defensive unit upon his return, they could certainly improve upon the trio of Simon Benoit, William Lagesson, and Maxime Lajoie as their depth defenseman on the NHL roster.
Minor Transactions: 11/05/23
It’s another busy day for hockey, although most of the game action is happening outside the NHL. Just four teams in the world’s top league are set to do battle today, although the schedule does feature quite a few games in Germany, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and in the CHL.
Regular-season play poses many challenges to pro clubs around the world, with injuries and underperformance often causing player movement. As always, we’ll keep track of notable transactions here.
- Former Detroit Red Wings prospect Seth Barton has decided to continue his career overseas, signing a contract with KooKoo Kouvola of the Finnish Liiga. According to the team, the contract contains a trial period lasting until the end of the calendar year and is of a one-year duration with an option to extend for another season. Barton, 24, was a 2018 third-round pick who this past summer signed an AHL deal with the Hartford Wolf Pack, re-uniting him with Ryan Martin. Martin, the GM of the Wolf Pack and assistant GM of the New York Rangers, was the GM of Barton’s former team, the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. With Ben Harpur, Matthew Robertson, Brandon Scanlin, Nikolas Brouillard, and Connor Mackey standing in his way, Barton was unlikely to see significant time at the AHL level. So rather than potentially spend the season playing ECHL hockey with the Cincinnati Cyclones, Barton has decided to instead play in Liiga. He’ll join a KooKoo squad that is in need of defensive reinforcement as they have surrendered the second-most goals in league play.
- Kenny Johnson, the younger brother of veteran NHLer Jack Johnson, has signed a standard player contract with the ECHL’s Reading Royals. The six-foot-four former Penn State Nittany Lion concluded his four-year NCAA career last season and dipped his toes in the waters of pro hockey with games on two ECHL teams: the Orlando Solar Bears and Wheeling Nailers. Johnson has played in the Royals’ game yesterday and will look to secure a regular place in their lineup in what would be his rookie ECHL campaign.
This page may be updated throughout the day
Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Waltteri Merelä To AHL
The Tampa Bay Lightning have assigned forward Waltteri Merelä to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
Merelä, 25, has played this season entirely in the NHL and has been held scoreless through ten contests with the Lightning. As a waiver-exempt player, sending Merelä to the AHL allows Tampa Bay to activate veteran forward Tyler Motte off of injured reserve without needing to risk losing a player on waivers in order to create the necessary room on the roster.
A signing out of Tappara Tampere of the Finnish Liiga, Merelä has averaged nearly 11 minutes time-on-ice per game including 1:20 short-handed time on ice per game. Although he hasn’t scored yet, Merelä was a solid scorer in Liiga and should be capable of putting some points together at least at the AHL level.
Merelä brings a winning pedigree to Syracuse as a two-time Liiga champion and one-time winner of the Champions Hockey League. If the six-foot-three forward can find a way to translate some of his scoring success in Finland to the AHL ice, he should be able to find his way back to Tampa this season.
For Tampa Bay, this reassignment serves as a potential indication that Motte is ready to return to the lineup. The return of Motte would be a welcome development, as he is a respected fourth-liner who hasn’t had the chance to really make an impact for the Lightning just yet. He has played in just one game this season, the team’s opening game against the Nashville Predators.
Mathew Barzal Fined For High-Sticking
The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for high-sticking Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Tony DeAngelo.
The incident in question occurred in the second period of last night’s game, a comeback 4-3 win for the Hurricanes. The play was described at the time by Newsday’s Andrew Gross at the time described as “Barzal swings his stick and hits DeAngelo in the head.” Barzal took a penalty on the play.
While the fine is the maximum allowable under the CBA, it’s unlikely Barzal was truly at risk of being suspended for the play.
Instead, he’ll take a small financial hit and be able to move on to the Islanders’ next game, which is Tuesday when they host the Minnesota Wild. Barzal is one of the Islanders’ most important scorers, and he currently sits tied for third on the team in scoring with eight points in 10 games.
New York Rangers Assign Three Players To AHL
4:18 PM: The Rangers announce that all three players have been recalled from Hartford.
9:15 AM: The New York Rangers have reassigned three players to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack: forward Jonny Brodzinski, defenseman Connor Mackey, and goaltender Louis Domingue. The trio of players were recalled on November 3rd for the team’s eventual shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Brodzinski filled in as the team’s third-line center with Filip Chytil injured and veteran Barclay Goodrow away from the team to be with his wife for the birth of their child. Mackey was recalled to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman due to the Adam Fox injury, and Domingue was recalled in order to back up Jonathan Quick, due to an injury to starter Igor Shesterkin.
Now the three players have been returned to Hartford with just Brodzinski managing to skate in an NHL game. These reassignments are of significant consequence for the Wolf Pack, who rely on Brodzinski as their captain and offensive engine. (he has six goals, 11 points in seven games) Mackey plays a top-four role in Hartford while Domingue splits starts with prospect Dylan Garand.
For the Rangers, the return of Brodzinski to the minors indicates that, at the very least, Goodrow is ready to return to the lineup. Chytil could still take some time to recover from his injury, though it’s not expected to keep him out long-term.
As for the situation in net, Domingue’s reassignment indicates that Shesterkin could be ready to at least take up backup duties for the Rangers’ next game, which is Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings.
Beyond the lineup implications, these reassignments have an impact on the Rangers’ salary cap situation. USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano reports that these reassignments mean that the Rangers no longer have to dip into their pool of newly available cap space (due to placing Fox on LTIR) and as a result, the team is now able to accrue cap space.
Latest On David Quinn
The San Jose Sharks haven’t just been winless through 11 games this season, they’ve, generally speaking, been an unmitigated disaster on the ice. Last night’s 10-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins marked back-to-back games in which the team has surrendered 10 goals, while also marking just the second time this season that the team scored more than a single goal in a game. According to Sportsnet Stats, no team has surrendered 10 goals in back-to-back games since 1965.
While the Sharks taking up a place in the NHL’s basement was entirely expected, what hasn’t been expected is just how bad the team has looked in each game this season. The Sharks have scored 12 goals this season, just one more goal than Auston Matthews alone. The team has surrendered 55 goals, which averages out to five per game and is a full eight goals higher than the next-worst team.
All in all, the Sharks’ performances this season have naturally led to questions over head coach David Quinn’s job status. San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng asked Quinn about his job security after last night’s loss, to which Quinn responded:
I guess it’s an obvious question, but if you’ve been around long, I mean, I don’t think about that for two seconds. I’ve got a job to do.
Veteran Sharks forward Nico Sturm was asked about coaching as well, and he gave this response:
It’s not about the coaches. We lose 10-1, what are the coaches [going to do]? The coaches aren’t out there and playing. It’s far too easy to play against us right now, and that’s certainly not the coach’s fault. It’s up to us as players and we’re not anywhere near where we need to be right now.
Those quotes, which come via the Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka, indicate that this isn’t a situation where there is discord and tension between coaches and players, the kind of tension that often causes these types of lopsided losses. Instead, the Sharks’ struggles could very well be more of a reflection of the caliber of roster Quinn is working with.
That being said, Peng wrote on X last night regarding Quinn’s job status that the team will “need to show real improvement, and relatively soon.” He added that the improvement can come in the form of simply just “competing consistently & not getting embarrassed” and that the issue for Quinn’s job security may not be the fact that they are losing, but “how they’re losing.”
For Quinn to be fired so early in the season would be something of a surprise, even with how poorly the Sharks have been playing.
Quinn was GM Mike Grier’s choice to lead the team through its rebuild, a former highly successful college coach with extensive experience managing young players and coaching in a rebuilding setting in the NHL.
General Managers typically do not get a large number of head coaches to cycle through before questions start coming in about their own job status, so firing Quinn would represent a significant setback for the Sharks’ front office, an admission that their first head coaching choice had backfired to a massive degree.
But what would also be a significant setback for the Sharks would be continuing this current stretch of downright horrific performances.
The team appears to have no issue stacking losses in order to secure the best chance at projected 2024 number-one pick and San Jose Jr. Sharks product Macklin Celebrini, just as clubs had no issue losing in order to have the best chance for Connor Bedard last season. But in most cases rebuilding clubs would like to pair those losses with genuine steps forward for some of its young players.
So far, that hasn’t happened for the Sharks. The team has lost all of its games and seen many key young players fail to take the steps forward at the NHL level that the organization was hoping for.
Just one player has registered more than five points on San Jose this season (veteran Tomáš Hertl) while valued youth talent such as William Eklund and Filip Zadina have struggled to put points together.
It’s an undeniably brutal situation for a rebuilding club to be in, and it’s a situation without many clear paths out unless the team as a whole significantly improves its play. If Quinn isn’t able to guide his team to more competitive hockey on a nightly basis, the questions on his job status, which began last night, could get quite a bit harder to ignore.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Injury Updates: Brown, McDonagh, Kastelic, Bear
Oilers winger Connor Brown took the pregame today but play-by-play voice Jack Michaels relayed (Twitter link) that he wound up being a late scratch. He’s officially listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Edmonton doesn’t have enough cap space to carry an extra forward so they played today’s game against Nashville short a player. Accordingly, it makes them eligible for an emergency cap-exempt recall of a forward making $875K or less should Brown still be unable to play on Monday against Vancouver.
It’s worth mentioning that when Brown does suit up for his next game, he will receive a $3.25MM bonus as part of the contract he signed with Edmonton this summer, one that guaranteed him just the NHL minimum. Any amount of that bonus that the Oilers can’t absorb on their books this season would be treated as a carryover penalty and would count against their 2024-25 cap charges.
Other injury news from around the hockey world:
- Also a late scratch from the Edmonton-Nashville game today was defenseman Ryan McDonagh. The Predators announced (Twitter link) that the blueliner is dealing with a lower-body injury and that he’s listed as day-to-day. The 34-year-old has played in ten games so far this season, picking up a pair of assists while averaging exactly 20 minutes a night, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2010-11. Marc Del Gaizo made his NHL debut in McDonagh’s absence.
- Senators center Mark Kastelic is dealing with an ankle sprain, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Yesterday, head coach D.J. Smith suggested that the 24-year-old would miss a few games but now stated that Kastelic “won’t play any time soon”. Kastelic was placed on IR yesterday, meaning he’ll be out for at least a week. He has been held off the scoresheet in his first nine games this season.
- Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston relays that free agent defenseman Ethan Bear appears to be on track from his recovery from shoulder surgery and should be ready to play next month. The 26-year-old was injured playing at the Worlds back in May which played a role in him being non-tendered by Vancouver a month later. While a reunion with them could make sense, they’d need to find a way to open up cap space over the next few weeks for that to happen.
Dylan Cozens Out Day-To-Day
Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports is reporting that Buffalo Sabres’ forward, Dylan Cozens, will not play tonight and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Although no other specifics were given, it is likely due to the fight Cozens engaged in against Philadelphia Flyers’ forward, Garnet Hathaway, at the end of the game last night.
Playing in the first year of a seven-year, $49.7MM extension signed with the organization last year, Cozens has gotten off to a solid offensive start for the Sabres. In 11 games played up to this point, Cozens has scored three goals and four assists, coupled with a solid 61.4 CF%.
His play on the defensive side of the puck has left a little to be desired to start the year, but Cozens has never been a particularly solid defensive option down the middle of the ice. However, even after an individually strong start to this season, Buffalo has not gotten off to the start they were expecting, and Cozens showed visible frustration in last night’s loss to the Flyers.
In their first 11 games, the Sabres are carrying a 5-6-0 record into tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, primarily due to some inconsistencies within the high-danger moments of the game. To start the year, Buffalo has only converted on 6.9% of their high-danger scoring chances, while their opponents have executed on those high-danger scoring chances at a rate of 13.8% of the time.
New Jersey Devils Recall Max Willman
Joining the team shortly before the start of the regular season, the New Jersey Devils announced they have recalled forward Maxwell Willman from their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, and he will join the team as they take on the Chicago Blackhawks in their next game. Willman is likely getting this call up due to the recent injury to star forward for New Jersey, Jack Hughes.
Over the last two seasons, Willman had spent his time less than 100 miles from the Prudential Center, suiting up for the Devils’ division rival, the Philadelphia Flyers. Joining the team as a college free agent in 2021, Willman played in 50 games for the Flyers, scoring four goals and two assists.
Playing in Utica to start this season, Willman has already broken his point production over two years in Philadelphia, scoring four goals and three assists for the Comets in seven games. Although he will be joining the team on their trip to Chicago, depth forward Chris Tierney will likely get the nod in the lineup over Willman.
Nevertheless, it is detrimental for the Devils to lose a player of Hughes caliber even for a game or two, given how much they rely on his talents on the ice. However, when a star player goes down, it always becomes an opportunity for another player to prove his worth at the NHL level.