Kings Recall Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Jordan Spence
10/26/23: Both players have now been recalled from the AHL roster, according to a team announcement from the Kings.
10/25/23: The Los Angeles Kings sent down forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and defenseman Jordan Spence to AHL Ontario Wednesday, the team announced. Anderson-Dolan was brought up Monday for last night’s win against the Coyotes, while Spence had been on the NHL roster since an October 13 recall.
In fact, this is already the fourth time Anderson-Dolan has been assigned to Ontario just a few weeks into the season. After clearing waivers and not making the opening night roster, Anderson-Dolan was brought up along with Spence on October 13 and remained on the roster for a week before he was returned to the minors. He’s been papered up and down twice in the last five days.
Despite all the transactions, Anderson-Dolan has played just one game this season at either the NHL or AHL level – an October 14 shootout loss against the Hurricanes in which he played just 6:51. The Kings no longer lack salary cap space with Viktor Arvidsson on LTIR for the time being, so there’s no express necessity for Anderson-Dolan to get sent up and down other than extending the eligibility period for his waiver exemption. After clearing pre-season, he can be on the NHL roster for 30 days (or play ten NHL games) until he needs waivers to return to Ontario again. Sending him down on off days extends that clock and allows the Kings to keep him as a 13th forward for game days. The 24-year-old was a second-round pick of the Kings in the 2017 NHL Draft but has seen limited NHL action despite strong AHL production, notching 24 points in 97 NHL games since turning pro in 2019.
Spence, meanwhile, heads to Ontario with the Kings out of action until Friday. In five games this season, the 22-year-old has registered an assist but is averaging just 14:15 per game. His possession numbers have nosedived in a brief sample, posting a Corsi share of just 46.2% at even strength this season despite a career average of 56.2%. If the Kings don’t bring him back up for Friday’s rematch against the Coyotes, Tobias Bjornfot will draw into the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch for five of six games to start the year.
The transaction leaves Los Angeles with a bare minimum of 18 skaters and two goalies on the NHL roster.
Bruins Sign Jackson Edward To Entry-Level Contract
The Bruins announced Tuesday that they’ve signed defense prospect Jackson Edward to a three-year, entry-level contract. Per the team, the deal carries a cap hit of $860K.
After signing him to the contract, the Bruins immediately returned Edward to the OHL’s London Knights on loan. That’s where the 19-year-old shutdown prospect has played since 2021. He’s off to a strong start this season on the scoresheet, posting six points and a +7 rating in ten games. For context, Edward had six points, all assists, in the entirety of 2021-22 (his draft year), when he played 54 games for London. The Bruins’ scouting staff decided to take a flyer on him late in the 2022 NHL Draft with the 200th overall pick.
Given his age, Edward’s contract is eligible to slide one season to the 2024-25 campaign – assuming he plays less than ten NHL games for the Bruins this season. Given that’s the likely scenario, Edward’s deal will likely run through the 2026-27 season, after which point he’ll be a restricted free agent.
The Newmarket, Ontario-born defender stands at 6-foot-2 and nearly 200 pounds, and he relies on a very involved, physical game to be effective. His playmaking and passing accuracy have improved notably since his draft day, though. That’s something that could keep him from being a major offensive liability if he reaches the NHL.
Anaheim Ducks Recall Robert Hagg
The Anaheim Ducks have announced a roster move today ahead of tomorrow night’s matchup against the Boston Bruins. The Ducks announced that defenseman Robert Hagg has been recalled from their AHL affiliate in San Diego and will join the team in Boston. The move comes just three weeks after the team exposed Hagg to waivers before assigning him to the AHL.
Hagg was the Philadelphia Flyers 2013 second-round pick and is a veteran of 338 NHL games split over a seven-year career. The 28-year-old spent last season with the Detroit Red Wings where he posted two goals and five assists in 38 games. Hagg has been an NHL regular since 2016-17 when he broke into the league with the Flyers and has 16 career goals and 47 assists.
The native of Uppsala, Sweden signed a one-year/one-way contract with the Ducks on July 4th and has dressed in three AHL games this season, posting a single assist. He has bounced around the league the last few seasons between the Red Wings last year and the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres in 2021-22. Teams have always been enticed by Hagg’s size and his willingness to block shots, but his limited puck skills have always kept him from catching on with a team long-term.
In 2018-19, Hagg looked as though he was emerging as a part of the Flyers top-6 defensemen dressing in 82 games and putting up 20 points. However, during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season Hagg’s play regressed leading to him being part of the Flyers and Sabres trade that saw fellow defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen go the other way.
NHL Rescinds Automatic Instigator Suspension For Brady Tkachuk
The Ottawa Senators have avoided punishment for a late-game instigator penalty assessed to forward Brady Tkachuk, as the league has announced that Tkachuk won’t face a suspension for a late-game fight with Buffalo’s Alex Tuch. Head coach D.J. Smith also won’t be fined. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia shared that suspensions are automatically applied to instigator penalties in an effort to curb late-game brawls, which the Senators avoided despite Tkachuk’s penalty. Tkachuk appealed the suspension, which was lifted.
This is refreshing news for Senators fans worried that their top forward may have gotten himself into disciplinary trouble. Tkachuk currently leads the Senators in goal scoring, with four through his first six games of the season. He’s added two assists to this total, getting him up to a point-per-game scoring pace. This keeps him up with the pace he established last season, netting 35 goals and 83 points while appearing in all 82 games of the season. Tkachuk also totaled 126 penalty minutes last year, a tally that ranked third in the entire league – three minutes ahead of his brother Matthew, who ranked fourth.
Ottawa is staggering a bit after a hot start to the year, losing each of their last two games. This brings them to an even 3-3-0 record, with a +4 advantage in goal differential. It’s a fine enough start for a team that faced a lot of questions entering the year. Newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko has been the team’s biggest surprise through the early going, currently leading the team in scoring with three goals and eight points, through six games. Recent lineup addition Joshua Norris is quickly catching up to Tarasenko’s scoring title, though, with three goals and four points through the four games he’s appeared in since returning from shoulder injury. It’s been a strong offensive start for Ottawa, who will look to maintain that now that Tkachuk has avoided a suspension.
Canadiens’ David Savard Out Six To Eight Weeks
The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman David Savard will miss the next six to eight weeks with a fractured hand. Savard suffered the injury attempting to block a Tage Thompson slapshot in Montreal’s Monday night win against the Buffalo Sabres. The Canadiens have used an emergency recall on Gustav Lindstrom in light of Savard’s injury.
This is a major blow for Montreal, who has faced a significant injury in three of their first five games of the season. Savard becomes the fifth Hab to be sidelined, joining Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Chris Wideman, and Kaiden Guhle. These injuries have forced Montreal to take on a much different look than what they entered the season with, primarily on the blue line, where Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, and Lindstrom have been able to establish roles that weren’t previously there for them. Barron is taking particular advantage of the opportunity, netting two goals in three games through the early season, operating on Montreal’s top pair alongside Mike Matheson.
Savard’s long-term injury is another damper on the season. The 33-year-old has two points through Montreal’s five games this season; now in his third year with the club. Savard is signed through the 2024-25 season to a contract carrying an annual average value of $3.5MM. It’s the second-most expensive contract on Montreal’s blue line. Savard is a 740-game veteran of the NHL, playing his rookie season in 2011-12. Nearly 600 of those games came with the Columbus Blue Jackets, whom Savard spent a decade with, before joining the Tampa Bay Lightning for 14 games and a Stanley Cup run and then finding his way to Montreal. With Savard out of the lineup, the average age of Montreal’s defense drops to 23.9.
Penguins Rookie John Ludvig Leaves Game
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that defenseman John Ludvig will not return to tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars. The 23-year-old rookie left the game with an injury after laying a hit on Dallas forward Radek Faksa. The two men appeared to bump heads at high speed as Ludvig stepped up to complete a check. Faksa was able to bounce back up from the hit while Ludvig fell to the ice face-first and did not move.
The good news is that Ludvig was able to leave the ice under his own power, however, the Kamloops, British Columbia native didn’t look steady on his skates as he was escorted by teammates to the bench. It was a sad ending to what was a special night for Ludvig as tonight’s game was his NHL debut.
Ludvig spent three years in the AHL after being drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL entry draft by the Florida Panthers. The Penguins claimed him off waivers prior to the start of the season and have kept him with the big club, although he had only practiced with the team prior to tonight. Today he was inserted into the lineup to replace healthy scratch Chad Ruhwedel.
The Penguins have offered no update on Ludvig’s condition yet and are saying that they will provide updates at a later time. The young defender had shown aggressiveness and physicality during his limited time on the ice, and it was something the Penguins desperately needed to add to their lineup. Hopefully, for both Ludvig and the Penguins he will be okay and able to get back into the lineup sooner than later.
Milan Lucic Out With Lower Body Injury
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Paul Dupont tweeted today that Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic is out with a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated tomorrow or Thursday. No word yet on the exact nature of the injury to the 35-year-old but he did miss Sunday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks after taking the pre-game warmup. Lucic did one lap with the team and immediately went to the dressing room and did not return.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told the media prior to Sunday’s game that one of their players was dealing with a day-to-day thing and was questionable for the Anaheim game. Given what has transpired this week it appears to have been Lucic.
Lucic took a slap shot in the foot in Saturday night’s 4-2 Bruins win against the Los Angeles Kings and missed some shifts shortly after. But there is no word yet on whether that is the cause of the additional testing later this week.
Lucic returned to the Bruins this summer signing a one-year $1MM (plus bonuses) deal after spending the last four seasons with the Calgary Flames. The native of Vancouver, British Columbia was brought in on a value deal in the hopes of being able to provide the Bruins with a net-front presence and some physicality. Although he is not the player he was when Boston traded him to Los Angeles in 2015, he has still been a productive NHLer, and big men are always in demand.
In Boston this season, Lucic is off to an uneven start with two assists in four games, while those offensive numbers are above his recent averages, his possession numbers and many of his underlying numbers aren’t great thus far.
Florida Panthers Recall Samoskevich, Barkov Out Tonight
Earlier today, the Florida Panthers announced they had recalled forward Mackie Samoskevich from their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Without a corresponding roster move made, CapFriendly would report that captain Aleksander Barkov is out of the lineup tonight as the team takes on the San Jose Sharks, giving context to the callup.
The 24th overall selection of the 2021 NHL Draft, Samoskevich finally made his way to Sunrise after an electric career at the University of Michigan in the NCAA. In 79 games over two years, rostered on one of the most talented college hockey teams of all time, Samoskevich would score 30 goals and 42 assists, en route to finally joining the Checkers at the end of last season.
Making the Panthers out of camp, Samoskevich has gotten off to an unimpressive start, albeit only after two games played in his young career. Florida had given him just under 15 minutes of ice time per game, with Samoskevich getting four shots on net, and generating a -2 rating.
The team had previously sent Samoskevich down to the AHL a week ago in favor of William Lockwood, but will now need to cover for the team as they deal with a mysterious absence from Barkov. It is unconfirmed at this point whether or not Barkov is dealing with an injury or something else altogether, it is only confirmed that the Panthers will be without their third-highest-scorer tonight.
Poll: Which Is The Most Surprising Team To Start The Year?
A little over a week and a half into the 2023-24 NHL season, it’s still tough to gauge for most teams where they will end up in the standings in April. Between teams reaching well beyond expectations, and other teams reaching well short, there have been a handful of surprises out of the gate.
By far and away the team most dramatically outperforming expectations is the Detroit Red Wings. Led by Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings bring a 5-1-0 record into tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken, looking to extend their winning streak to six games. Detroit had primarily been projected as a fringe playoff candidate coming out of the Eastern Conference this year, but with DeBrincat and Larkin one and two in league scoring, respectively, and the Red Wings leading the entire NHL in GF/G, their offense could easily carry them to postseason hockey.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Edmonton Oilers have failed to deliver on some lofty expectations coming into this season. After finishing sixth in the league standings last year thanks to a generational season by superstar Connor McDavid, as well as losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions in back-to-back postseasons, the Oilers were considered the third likeliest team to win the Cup by Vegas oddsmakers. Nevertheless, the team has gotten off to a 1-3-1 start, in large part due to the subpar play of their defensive core and goaltenders.
In a similar vein to the Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes had incredibly high expectations heading into this season, carrying some of the best defensive depth in the entirety of the NHL. The Hurricanes still have plenty of time to recover from a 3-3-0 start, but they will need their goaltending to bounce back in a big way. After finishing second in the NHL last season in terms of GA/P, Carolina now sits alone in last place to start the 2023-24 campaign. Combining the trio of Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta, and Pyotr Kochetkov, the Hurricanes goaltending trio holds a 3-3-0 record, with a .833 SV% and a 4.50 GAA.
So there you have it, even though the season is young, there are still plenty of emerging storylines to follow throughout the season. Now it’s time for the vote, which team do you think is off to the most surprising start?
Which Is The Most Surprising Team To Start The Year?
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Detroit Red Wings 53% (432)
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Edmonton Oilers 23% (187)
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Other (Comment Below) 16% (128)
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Carolina Hurricanes 8% (66)
Total votes: 813
Stars Loan Chase Wheatcroft To Minors
The Stars activated forward prospect Chase Wheatcroft from season-opening injured reserve and loaned him to AHL Texas on Tuesday, per a team announcement.
The 21-year-old Wheatcroft stayed in junior hockey for an over-age season with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars last season, a choice that made him one of the most dominant scorers in the league. Aside from Connor Bedard, Wheatcroft was the only player in the WHL to crack the 100-point mark in 2022-23, scoring 47 goals and adding 60 assists for 107 points in 68 contests. After going undrafted, Wheatcroft signed a three-year ELC with the Stars as a free agent in March, keeping him in Dallas’ organization through 2026.
An undisclosed injury sustained late in training camp prevented the Stars from assigning him to the minors before opening-night rosters were due, meaning he started the season on season-opening injured reserve – a special designation for players on a two-way contract that are injured to begin the campaign. Now healthy, he can be assigned to the AHL without needing waivers.
The 6-foot-2, 176-pound winger will now get his first taste of pro hockey in Cedar Park. He joins a Texas team off to a solid 3-2-0 start, led in scoring by a pair of future Dallas cornerstones in Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven.