Flames Have Received Trade Interest In Jacob Markstrom
With several teams looking for help on the goalie market, we’ve seen several veterans speculated as possible fits, including John Gibson, Jake Allen, and Kaapo Kahkonen, among others. But some teams appear to be aiming higher as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that at least two teams have called the Flames about the potential availability of veteran netminder Jacob Markstrom.
The 33-year-old is in his fourth season with Calgary after signing with them as an unrestricted free agent back in 2020. Since then, his performance has run somewhat hot and cold with years of being in the top ten statistically and one – last season – where he had a save percentage well below the league average, checking in at just .892.
This season, Markstrom has been fairly inconsistent as well but a good showing lately has elevated his season numbers to a GAA of 2.67 and a save percentage of .908, numbers that are a considerable improvement over a year ago. However, the Flames find themselves on the outside looking in at a playoff spot heading into tonight’s action, fueling speculation that GM Craig Conroy could be one of the more prominent sellers over the next couple of months.
That said, many of the speculative moves Calgary could make revolve around veterans on expiring contracts which is not the case with Markstrom. He has two more seasons left after this one at a $6MM price tag, one that wouldn’t be the easiest for many playoff-bound teams to fit in on their books. While retention is possible, multi-year retention doesn’t happen too often and there’s no guarantee that Conroy would be open to the idea. It’s also worth noting that Markstrom has a full no-move clause.
Calgary has top prospect Dustin Wolf biding his time in the minors with the Wranglers and he is clearly their goalie of the future. While many have wondered if Daniel Vladar would be the one to move to make room for Wolf on the roster, it’s also possible that the Flames take the bigger step and deal their current starter. If Conroy decides to make Markstrom available, it’s quite likely that a few more teams will be looking to inquire about the cost over the coming weeks.
CHL Trade Roundup: Sale, Toure, Sobolev, Thornton
The CHL Trade Deadline is set to hit on Wednesday and there have been several big moves made already that have involved NHL prospects. Several more have happened today; here’s a rundown of those moves.
- Kraken prospect Eduard Sale has been acquired by OHL Kitchener along with blueliner Olivier Savard in exchange for forward Kyle Morey, defenseman Blair Scott, and eight draft picks, reports Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek (Twitter link). Sale was the 23rd pick back in June and is in his first season in North America where he has struggled a bit, notching just 20 points in 25 games with the Colts. He was more of a factor for Czechia at the World Juniors, picking up seven points in as many contests.
- A Senators blueliner is on the move as Windsor picked up Djibril Toure from Sudbury for a pair of draft picks. The 20-year-old signed with Ottawa as an undrafted free agent back in September. Toure, who stands 6’7, has been a shutdown defenseman at the OHL level but still has 12 points in 24 appearances this season.
- While Brantford was selling with yesterday’s Jorian Donovan trade, they also added to their roster, acquiring Canadiens blueline prospect Danill Sobolev for forward Masen Wray and defenseman Callum Cheynowski. Sobolev was a fifth-round pick by Montreal in 2021 (142nd overall) and has been a shutdown defender in his three junior seasons. He’ll be too old for junior hockey next season and it remains to be seen if Montreal will look to find a place for him in their system.
- Coyotes goaltender Anson Thornton’s junior rights have been moved from OHL Barrie to Niagara for a conditional draft choice. The 20-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent with Arizona 2021 but has missed most of the year with an injury, being limited to just four appearances with AHL Tucson where he has a save percentage of just .849.
Ducks Recall Robert Hagg
When the Ducks moved Jamie Drysdale to Philadelphia as part of yesterday’s trade that saw them acquire prospect Cutter Gauthier, a spot on their back end was opened up. It didn’t take long for them to fill it as Anaheim has recalled defenseman Robert Hagg from the minors, per the AHL’s transactions log.
The 28-year-old was an NHL regular on the blueline only a few years ago but injuries have limited him since then. After only getting into 38 games last season with Detroit, Hagg didn’t have the strongest of markets last summer in free agency, resulting in him settling for a one-year deal at the league minimum.
The thought was that Hagg would provide some grit at the back of their back end with GM Pat Verbeek clearly making toughness a priority over the summer. But things didn’t go quite as anticipated as Hagg wound up clearing waivers in training camp with several of Anaheim’s top defensive prospects getting roster spots instead.
Since then, Hagg has played regularly with the Gulls, getting into 22 games so far in his first taste of AHL action since the 2016-17 season and has four points in those appearances. This is his fourth NHL recall of the season but he didn’t get any playing time in the first three. He won’t be in the lineup tonight against Nashville so his season debut will have to wait a little longer.
Atlantic Notes: Woll, Cernak, Zub
One of the most oft-used members of the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie carousel, Joseph Woll has found himself on the team’s injured reserve for a month, suffering from a high ankle sprain on December 8th. In some positive news for the organization, David Alter of The Hockey News reports that Woll was back on the ice this morning, although under limited movement and intensity.
To push back on the idea that Woll may be close to returning after being seen at practice, in a follow-up report, Alter indicated that Woll was still “a ways away” and that there is still no concrete timeline for his return. In the meantime, the Maple Leafs will continue to roll with the combination of Martin Jones and Dennis Hildeby, as the latter is still looking to make his NHL debut in the crease.
Fortunately for Toronto, even with the injury to Woll, and the unfortunate demise of Ilya Samsonov between the pipes, they have received incredible play from Jones, who has produced some of the better goaltending numbers across the league in the last month. Making his initial debut with the Maple Leafs on December 7th, Jones has produced a 7-3-0 record in his last 11 games, carrying a .932 save percentage in the process.
Other Atlantic notes:
- In their matchup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be welcoming back defenseman Erik Cernak, according to Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. Cernak has missed the last three games for the Lightning, suffering an upper-body injury on the team’s New Year’s Eve game against the Montreal Canadiens. Primarily a shutdown defenseman, Cernak has skated in 37 games for Tampa Bay so far this season, tallying five assists in an approximate average of 19 and a half minutes of ice time per night.
- Interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Jacques Martin, called defenseman Artem Zub a game-time decision tonight against the Calgary Flames, as Zub has been dealing with an illness since Monday (X Link). Although missing a few games earlier in the year, Zub has been quite productive for the Senators this season, scoring three goals and 11 points in 28 games, which places him third in total scoring in Ottawa amongst defensemen.
Metropolitan Notes: Kakko, Trouba, Pelech, Oshie
Although there has been some recent speculation that New York Rangers’ forward, Kaapo Kakko, could be making his return soon, Larry Brooks of the New York Post states that is not the case. Unfortunately, Brooks notes that Kakko has still not been cleared to return to play, meaning the Rangers will have to call up a forward from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, before their game on Thursday.
Suffering from a lower-body injury in late November, Kakko has been on the team’s long-term injured reserve since November 28th. Although he has satisfied the LTIR requirements to return by a healthy amount, team doctors clearly do not think he is ready to return. In what is shaping up to be yet another disappointing season for Kakko, he has skated in 20 games for the Rangers up to this point in the season, scoring two goals and three points all while averaging about 13 and a half minutes a night.
At the very least, Kakko is back on the ice skating, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic pointed out that Kakko was present at practice this morning in a non-contact jersey. Unfortunately, in a side note on the initial report, Staple indicated that New York captain, Jacob Trouba, was not at practice this morning due to personal reasons. The expectation is that Trouba will be available to the team as they take on the St.Louis Blues in a few days, depending on the severity of the personal reason keeping him out this morning.
Other Metropolitan notes:
- Heading a few miles east of the Rangers, the New York Islanders will see the reinforcement of Adam Pelech tonight, as Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reports that the defenseman will make his return to the ice after missing the last 20 games. With additional injuries on the blue line, the addition of Pelech back into the lineup should give a major boost to the Islanders’ defensive core, as he has historically been one of the best defenders in the organization. Through 16 games so far this season, Pelech has tallied three assists, averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game.
- Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports that veteran forward for the Washington Capitals, T.J. Oshie, was back at practice this morning skating in a full-contact jersey. The entirety of the 2023-24 season up to this point has been mired by injuries for Oshie, who is currently experiencing one of the least productive seasons of his long career. In 21 games so far, he has scored two goals and four points, missing time in November, December, and now in January.
Winnipeg Jets Activate Rasmus Kupari From LTIR, Loan To AHL On Conditioning Stint
In an announcement today coming directly from the organization, the Winnipeg Jets have activated forward Rasmus Kupari from long-term injured reserve, and have subsequently assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, for a conditioning sting. Kupari has been out of the lineup for Winnipeg since November 14th, as he has been sidelined with a shoulder injury ever since.
Kupari originally came to the Jets organization as one of the many pieces handed over by the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois this past summer. In his three years with the Kings organization, Kupari struggled mightily to produce and to gain ice time, but due to his status as a former-first-round selection relatively recently, he still garnered some upside value from Winnipeg.
Unfortunately for both him and the Jets organization, Kupari has once again struggled to get ice time, now only averaging around nine minutes a game in his first 15 contests on the year. His defensive play has left a lot to be desired, while his offensive production has only given him one assist in total on the season.
Only having one year left on his contract after this season, the clock may be ticking on Kupari’s time in the NHL if he is unable to round out his game. Having been built with similar depth to Los Angeles, it’s going to prove extremely difficult for Kupari to become a top-six option in Winnipeg if he is unable to take his game to another level.
The current conditioning sting will give Kupari his return to AHL action, after being regularly shuffled up and down by the Kings organization throughout much of his tenure with the team. Last season, Kupari suited up in 11 games for Los Angeles’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, scoring five goals and nine points overall.
Washington Activates Charlie Lindgren, Sends Down Hunter Shepard
The Washington Capitals have activated goaltender Charlie Lindgren from the injured reserve and sent Hunter Shepard to their AHL affiliate in a corresponding roster move, per a team announcement. Lindgren was originally placed on the injured reserve on January 3rd after it became known that he suffered an upper-body injury.
At the beginning of the year, with the Capitals struggling on offense, and largely still doing so, Lindgren had become a source of stability between the pipes, playing well above expectation to keep Washington afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff race early. Although the starting role was largely viewed as Darcy Kuemper‘s to lose, Lindgren has largely forced the Capitals’ hand.
Through 15 games this season, Lindgren carries a 7-3-3 record, with an impressive .928 save percentage and 2.27 goals against average. Out of all qualifying goaltenders in the Eastern Conference, both Lindgren’s SV% and GAA serve as the top marks in the Conference. However, even with the strong numbers up to this point, Hockey Reference places Lindgren with a .902 SV% against all scoring chances, and a .864 SV% against high-danger scoring chances, indicating there could be some regression on the horizon for Lindgren.
In Shepard, he was originally recalled on December 30th via an emergency loan, starting both that day and on January 3rd. Over those two games upon his emergency loan recall, Shepard produced an 0-1-1 record, maintaining a .875 SV%. He will now rejoin a Hershey Bears team that he has spent much of the year with. Continuing his success from last year’s Calder Cup playoffs, Shepard holds a 14-2-0 record for the Bears so far this year, possessing a .908 SV% and 2.28 GAA in 16 games.
Canadiens Place Gustav Lindstrom On Waivers
The Montreal Canadiens have placed defenseman Gustav Lindstrom on waivers. The 25-year-old has appeared in 14 games with Montreal this season, scoring three goals and four points while averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time. He is one of eight defenders currently on Montreal’s roster, sharing the role of extra defenseman with Johnathan Kovacevic.
Lindstrom is in his fifth NHL season, making his debut with the Red Wings during the 2019-20 season – the same year he came over from Sweden’s Frolunda HC. Detroit selected Lindstrom with the 38th-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, just one pick before the Dallas Stars selected Jason Robertson, who has become an emphatic scorer with 118 goals and 274 points in 249 career games. He moved to the Canadiens organization in mid-August, joining the team alongside a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for Jeff Petry, who has since gone on to record 11 points and a +2 in 31 games with the Red Wings.
Lindstrom has been out of the Canadiens lineup since December 9th, when he recorded a -1 and one penalty in a shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres. The defenseman cleared waivers on October 8th, starting the season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket before he was brought up as an emergency recall in late October. He spent one more week in the minors in early November before sticking around the Canadiens lineup for the last two months. Lindstrom has played in four AHL games this year, going without a point but recording one penalty and a -6. He will likely look to add to those stats if he clears waivers once again.
Devils Jack Hughes Out Week-To-Week, Other Injuries Not Close
New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared updates on the team’s long list of injuries, most notably sharing that star forward Jack Hughes‘ upper-body injury is more a matter of weeks than it is months. The 22-year-old will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis and is slated to miss some time. Ruff also shared that Timo Meier has returned in a, “limited fashion”, and that he will return to practice sooner rather than later. The team’s other injured players – including Ondrej Palat, Tomas Nosek, and Dougie Hamilton – are not expected back soon – all per Devils team reporter Amanda Stein.
New Jersey is facing a long list of injuries, moving top defender Jonas Siegenthaler to injured reserve on Tuesday morning and recalling Shane Bowers and Callan Foote from the minor leagues. Both minor leaguers took the ice for the team’s Tuesday practice, suggesting that they could slot into the lineup with so many missing pieces. Neither player has played in the NHL this season, though Foote does have 141 games of NHL experience under his belt. Bowers has only played in one NHL game, suiting up for the Colorado Avalanche two seasons ago, and has since been a feature presence in the AHL. The 24-year-old Bowers has six goals and seven points in 29 AHL games this year.
The long string of injuries has been incredibly detrimental to a Devils team that entered the season as an early Stanley Cup favorite. Now without their star centerman for the second stretch this season, New Jersey will need to once again lean on their depth pieces to pull them through the middle of the year. Hughes has been electric when he has been on the ice, scoring 15 goals and 45 points in only 32 games. That’s a pace of 38 goals and 97 points across 82 games, though Hughes will struggle to reach that mark after already missing six games this season. Hughes scored 43 goals and 99 points in 78 games last season. If and when his elustrious 100-point year will come is once again uncertain.
Injury Notes: Capitals, Sabres, Blackhawks
The Washington Capitals will be without both Rasmus Sandin and Tom Wilson, as both players have been designated as day-to-day with upper-body injuries. Wilson was on the receiving end of the butt-end of Alex Laferriere‘s stick in the team’s recent matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, leaving Wilson bloodied and forcing him out of action for a brief moment, though the winger returned before the final horn.
Both players have played extended time for the Capitals this season, with Sandin appearing in 36 games and Wilson one of only six players to appear in all 38 of the team’s games. Sandin’s 11 assists on the season rank fourth on the Capitals, though the 23-year-old defenseman has yet to score his first goal of the year. Washington brought in Sandin ahead of last season’s trade deadline, sending the Toronto Maple Leafs Erik Gustafsson and the 28th-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, which Toronto used to bring in Easton Cowan.
Sandin has averaged 22 minutes of ice time this season, ranked second among the team’s skaters, while Wilson has averaged roughly 18-and-a-half. Both players are core lineup pieces that the Capitals will want back as soon as possible.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- The Buffalo Sabres have opposing news about their ill players, with Jordan Greenway slated to return to the lineup but Victor Olofsson not expected to be ready just yet. Greenway has managed 10 points and 23 penalty minutes in 28 games this season, missing time with an upper-body injury earlier in the year. Olofsson has also missed time, battling injury and serving as a healthy scratch. The 28-year-old winger has 12 points in 31 games this season – a step down from the 28 goals and 40 points he managed last year.
- The Chicago Blackhawks had a slew of players return to practice on Tuesday, with Seth Jones (shoulder), Taylor Raddysh (groin), Joey Anderson (shoulder), and Rem Pitlick all making their way back to the ice. Unlike the former three, Pitlick isn’t returning from injury – instead being acquired via trade on Saturday, with the Hawks sending Pittsburgh a seventh-round pick for the forward. Pitlick’s arrival in Chicago was delayed by the snow storm currently moving through the Midwest.