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Sharks Recall Luca Cagnoni For NHL Debut

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The Sharks announced they’ve recalled defenseman Luca Cagnoni from AHL San Jose. The 20-year-old will make his NHL debut when San Jose faces the Hurricanes on Thursday since the team reassigned Jimmy Schuldt to the minors in a corresponding move.

It’s a quick ascension for Cagnoni, whom the Sharks nabbed in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. The pick was almost universally lauded as a steal – while some were concerned about how projectable the lefty’s 5’9″, 181-lb frame was to the professional level, his offensive dominance with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks had some public scouting outfits tout him as high as an early second-round talent.

Cagnoni returned to the Winterhawks for his post-draft season but signed his entry-level deal last May, paving the way for the December-born defender to jump to the pros with the Barracuda for 2024-25. The British Columbia native has dominated out of the gate, posting 13-34–47 in 56 games to rank second in scoring among AHL defensemen behind veteran Derrick Pouliot. While by no means defensively dominant – his minus-six rating is tied for fifth-worst on the club – he’s been a major part of the Barracuda’s resurgence as San Jose’s farm team looks to finish above .500 for the first time since 2018-19.

He’ll presumably take Schuldt’s third-pairing spot in his debut later this week, meaning hulking 6’7″ righty Vincent Desharnais should serve as quite the insular partner for Cagnoni’s first taste of top-level hockey. Schuldt, 29, has no points and a minus-one rating in four games for the Sharks this year in his first taste of NHL hockey since debuting with the Golden Knights in 2019.

In the interim, the Sharks hope Cagnoni can replace some of the puck-moving ability they lost when second-year defenseman Henry Thrun exited the lineup earlier this month with an upper-body injury. Cagnoni, whose recall amounts to the third of San Jose’s four allotted post-deadline recalls, is under contract through the 2026-27 season at a cap hit of $895K.

Cagnoni checked in as the No. 5 prospect in the Sharks’ league-leading system in this year’s midseason rankings by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Oilers Recall Derek Ryan

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The Oilers have recalled forward Derek Ryan from AHL Bakersfield, according to a team announcement. They’ll add the 38-year-old back to their roster for the first time since he cleared waivers in January.

Ryan has played four seasons for Edmonton after signing there as a free agent in 2021. His role has steadily declined since leaving the Flames for the more northern Alberta team, however, leading to his first AHL assignment since 2016.

The 5’10” center/winger scored 1-4–5 in 33 showings for the Oilers earlier this season, averaging just 9:25 per game but winning a career-high 60.3% of his draws. Since clearing waivers, he has 3-5–8 with a -10 rating in 13 games with the Condors.

Despite not making his NHL debut until age 29 after a lengthy career overseas, he’s managed to parlay his defensively responsible game and once-valuable depth scoring into a 603-game NHL career in parts of 10 seasons. Before breaking into the league with Carolina a decade ago, Ryan had already won MVP awards in two overseas leagues (ICEHL, SHL) and was a USports All-Star with the University of Alberta.

After recalling Ryan, the Oilers have 24 players on their roster with 14 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders. They’ve yet to make a recall since the trade deadline, so assuming Ryan’s summons isn’t under emergency conditions, he counts as their first of four post-deadline standard recalls.

Ryan is set for unrestricted free agency this summer after completing the two-year, $1.8MM extension he signed in 2023.

Bruins Recall Fabian Lysell, Michael Callahan

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The Bruins announced they’ve recalled 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell from AHL Providence. Depth defenseman Michael Callahan is joining him on the track up to Boston, both under emergency conditions, Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe reports.

The Bruins weren’t carrying any extra skaters on their roster, so they wouldn’t have had available players to enter the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Golden Knights if injuries struck. It’s clear Boston anticipates there being a couple of questionable players, but it’s unclear who those are. No player departed yesterday’s overtime loss to the Sabres early.

Amid a disappointing season in the minors, Lysell remains the best winger prospect in one of the league’s worst pools, as opined by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. He’s likely dropped to the No. 3 talent in Boston’s system overall, with Matthew Poitras still splitting time between the NHL and AHL and 2022 second-rounder Fraser Minten posting four points in three games for Providence since they acquired him from the Maple Leafs in the Brandon Carlo deadline trade, though.

Now 22, the 5’11” Lysell has taken a considerable step back in his third season with Providence. His 11-23–34 scoring line through 51 games is a lower rate of production than his rookie AHL season in 2022-23 and a sharp decline from last year’s 50-point breakout in 56 games. It’s not for a lack of offensive support, either. Providence has had multiple forwards show up and show out this year, namely Vinni Lettieri (48 points in 46 GP), Georgii Merkulov (48 points in 52 GP), and Patrick Brown (44 points in 52 GP). That makes Lysell’s regression all the more disappointing.

Nonetheless, he’ll now get another look on the NHL roster after recording a plus-one rating in his debut against the Blue Jackets on Dec. 28. How long his stint in Boston lasts remains to be seen – if his presence isn’t necessary for the B’s to have 12 healthy forwards against Vegas this week, they’ll need to either send him back to Providence or convert his emergency recall into a standard one and burn one of their four post-deadline recalls.

Callahan, 25, returns to the roster after spending most of January and February up with the big club. The 6’2″ lefty had a minus-two rating with four shots and four hits during 11 games over those recalls, the first of his NHL career. He averaged 13:08 per game as he remains in search of his first NHL point.

A standout defensive presence with the P-Bruins, the Massachusetts native has 1-7–8 in 43 appearances in what’s now his fourth season in Providence. He’s set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer.

Rangers’ Arthur Kaliyev Out For Season With Upper-Body Injury

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March 18: Kaliyev will not play again this season, even if the Rangers make the playoffs, Walker reports today. The focus now turns toward whether he did enough in his brief stint in the New York lineup to earn a qualifying offer this summer.

March 13: Rangers winger Arthur Kaliyev has left the team’s road trip to undergo further evaluation and testing on an upper-body injury, the team told reporters Thursday (including Mollie Walker of the New York Post). He’ll miss at least the next two games but likely more after leaving Tuesday night’s loss to the Jets late in the third period.

The Blueshirts claimed Kaliyev off waivers from the Kings in January. While the 23-year-old hoped for a more regular role in New York after being buried on L.A.’s depth chart and missing the first few months of the season with a broken clavicle, that hasn’t happened. He played in 10 straight games to begin his Rangers tenure but has suited up just four times since the beginning of February, serving as a healthy scratch 11 times in that span.

Kaliyev didn’t suit up for L.A. before the waiver placement, although he did have a goal and an assist in five AHL games with the Ontario Reign on a conditioning stint. Since the coast-to-coast move, the Uzbekistan-born winger has 3-1–4 in 14 games with a plus-two rating while averaging a career-low 11:13 per game. The 6’2″, 210-lb forward has seven hits and average possession metrics (49.1 CF%, 46.1 xGF%) at even strength.

The 2019 second-rounder will lose most of the campaign due to injury. He signed a one-year, $825K deal with the Kings in training camp after spending the offseason as a restricted free agent amid a trade request, so his deal is up this summer. He’ll be an RFA again with arbitration rights, but given his minimal usage over the past six weeks, it’s unclear whether the Rangers plan on giving him a qualifying offer.

Now in his fifth NHL season, Kaliyev has 38-37–75 over 202 career games. That’s a respectable 15-15–30 average over 82 games, but he hasn’t developed the rest of his game enough to earn consistent top-nine deployment from a pair of organizations now.

Blue Jackets Loan Jet Greaves To The AHL

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have loaned goaltender Jet Greaves to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. The Cambridge, Ontario native has made appearances in six NHL games this season for Columbus, posting a 2-2-2 record with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. Greaves has seen limited NHL action this season but is the only Blue Jackets goaltender to post a goals saved above expected in the positive at +0.9 (as per Money Puck). The 23-year-old played last night against New Jersey and made 18 saves in a 2-1 loss.

Greaves made his NHL debut back in April 2023 and in his brief NHL career, he has dressed in 16 career games and owns a 5-9-2 record with a .910 save percentage and a 3.21 goals-against average. His AHL career is a much larger sample size as he has appeared in 152 career games and has a 77-50-17 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and a .907 career save percentage.

This season in the AHL, Greaves ranks sixth in the league in save percentage at .915 and is 12th in wins, sporting a 16-10-6 record in 34 games. He was named the AHL player of the week in the first week of the year and was solid in his only NHL appearance in January making 31 saves in a win over St. Louis. However, he followed that up with a bit of a mini-slump from mid to late January before settling back in around the middle of February. Since then, Greaves has allowed just 11 goals in his last six AHL games.

Sabres Assign Isak Rosen To The AHL

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March 18th, 9:22 am: The Buffalo Sabres have loaned Isak Rosen to their AHL affiliate in Rochester.

March 16th, 10:03 am: The Buffalo Sabres announced that they’ve recalled forwards Isak Rosen and Brett Murray from their AHL affiliate the Rochester Americans. The move continues a busy week for Rosen, who was loaned to the AHL just 72 hours ago after being recalled due to several Sabres players being sick.

Rosen made his debut with Buffalo back on November 25th, 2023, and has dressed in 10 NHL games over two seasons, including three games this year. He has yet to record an NHL point but has topped 50 points in each of the last two AHL seasons, including this year where he has averaged nearly a point a game in 52 games (27 goals and 24 assists).

Rosen was the Sabres’ first round pick in 2021 (14th overall) and has had a difficult time getting traction in the NHL. His lack of offense is obvious, but his underlying numbers are even worse as his possession numbers have been brutal (40% CF% this season, 40.6% for his career).

Murray is a 26-year-old who has yet to play in an NHL game this season. The Bolton, Ontario native has posted some of the best offensive numbers of his career in the AHL this season, with 23 goals and 17 assists in 55 games with Rochester. The Sabres 2016 fourth round pick (99th overall) has dressed in 23 NHL games in his six-year professional career, registering two goals and four assists with a -3 plus/minus and 25 hits.

The Sabres are back in action on Monday night against the Boston Bruins as they play out the string. Buffalo will most likely miss the playoffs this season for the 14th straight year.

Penguins Recall Joona Koppanen

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Joona Koppanen from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. The 27-year-old’s recall is on an emergency basis, and he will likely serve as insurance when the Penguins take on the New York Islanders this evening. Koppanen is in the second season of a two-year, two-way contract he signed with the Penguins back on July 1st, 2023.

Koppanen dressed in four games for the Penguins last season, tallying no points while playing 7:49 per game. It wasn’t his first taste of NHL action as the native of Tampere, Finland also played five games for the Boston Bruins during the 2022-23 season. He has never produced much offense at any level and has just a single assist in nine career NHL games.

In the AHL this season, Koppanen has served as a depth player for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, registering six goals and 15 assists in 53 games. His scoring numbers are almost a mirror image of last year’s totals which were six goals and 15 assists in 58 games.

The 6’5” Koppanen has been an AHL regular since the 2018-19 season, spending most of his career with the Providence Bruins. Despite a slow start offensively in his first four seasons, he has rounded into more of a contributor in recent years, topping 30 points twice with Providence. In 356 career AHL games, Koppanen has posted 51 goals and 84 assists.

While Koppanen might not see game action during his recall, he is coming into Pittsburgh on a bit of a heater, having notched two goals and three assists in his past four games.

Mike Sullivan Wants To Remain With Penguins Long-Term

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Josh Yohe of The Athletic recently spoke with Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan and the long-time Penguins bench boss pledged his loyalty to the franchise saying that he doesn’t want to coach anywhere else except Pittsburgh. Sullivan has seen a ton of success with the Penguins, leading them to back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017, but the franchise has fallen on hard times in recent seasons, missing the playoffs in two consecutive years and set to make it a third this season, unless they pull off a historical run. Despite all of this, Sullivan remains committed to the Penguins and by all accounts, it appears that Pittsburgh remains committed to him as he has two years left on his contract and there has been no talks of moving on from the most successful coach in franchise history.

Sullivan took over the Penguins back in December of 2015 as they were spiralling out of control. Despite having a roster full of superstars, the team was out of the playoff picture. Sullivan righted the ship and took the Penguins on two straight playoff runs that resulted in championships. But since defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2018 postseason, Pittsburgh has yet to win a postseason series. They were swept in 2019, eliminated in the play-in series in the pandemic bubble in 2020, and then knocked out of the first round by both New York franchises in 2021 and 2022.

Despite the lack of success over the last eight years, the Penguins have stuck by Sullivan, and he by them. There have been calls for Sullivan to be fired since at least 2021, if not sooner, but none of Jim Rutherford, Ron Hextall, or Kyle Dubas made the move to replace him.

Yohe has long spoken of the bond between Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Sullivan, and they no doubt have a desire to turn the Penguins around while both men are still in Pittsburgh. The Penguins haven’t called their current situation a rebuild, but it certainly appears like one. Pittsburgh has made moves with an eye toward the future, but Dubas has stated that he wants to turn the Penguins back into a winner as quickly as possible. Given that is Pittsburgh’s mandate, it would make sense that a winner like Sullivan would want to stick around with Crosby, and as Sullivan put it in his chat with Yohe, “I have a certain loyalty to all of the people who are a part of it here, and all I want to do is help this team win.”

West Notes: Trouba, Foligno, Utah, Biakabutuka

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Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba will not face any supplemental discipline from his hit on St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou on Sunday, notes Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link).  The hit occurred in the first period and no penalty was assessed on the play while Kyrou remained in the game.  While it looked as if contact was made with Kyrou’s head, the league determined that the head was not the principal point of contact, and Trouba connected with Kyrou’s arm and shoulder as well.

More from the West:

  • The Wild announced (Twitter link) that winger Marcus Foligno was scratched from tonight’s game against Los Angeles due to an upper-body injury. The 33-year-old leads Minnesota in hits with 219 through 67 games this season but his offensive production has been limited once again as he has just 11 goals and 11 assists while logging a little over 14 minutes a night.  There’s no word yet on how long Foligno might be out for.
  • It appears that Utah Hockey Club has settled on its team name moving forward, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd (Twitter link). However, there’s no timeline just yet for when that name will be revealed.  The latest fan vote on the name came in late January with Mammoth, Outlaws (replacing Wasatch), and Hockey Club as the three options.
  • The Ducks have reassigned defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka to ECHL Tulsa, per an announcement from their AHL affiliate in San Diego. He was promoted to the Gulls last month, getting into 11 games but with Stian Solberg recently being sent to the AHL, Anaheim decided that they were best off getting Biakabutuka more playing time at the lower level.  The 23-year-old has 15 points in 21 outings with Tulsa and has one year left on this one on his entry-level contract.

East Notes: Hurricanes, Penguins, Sabres

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The Hurricanes have taken some big swings on the trade front the last couple of years, landing Jake Guentzel at the 2023 trade deadline and Mikko Rantanen earlier this season.  But they weren’t able to sign either one with Rantanen subsequently being flipped.  Despite not being able to sign either one, GM Eric Tulsky indicated in an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that he is more than willing to take another big swing on a prominent pending UFA should the opportunity present itself down the road, even without an extension in place.  Tulsky believes that the team is usually able to keep the players that they want to and more often than not, the interest is mutual so in his mind, the odds should be good that they can get something done whenever they make a move to add another key rental in the future.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provided updates on a few injured Penguins. Defensemen Pierre-Oliver Joseph (upper body) and Ryan Shea (upper body) both skated before practice today while center Thomas Novak (lower body) has yet to hit the ice after being injured last week.  Joseph was injured at the beginning of the month and quickly landed on IR while Shea was injured last week.  Both blueliners have week-to-week designations while a timeline for Novak’s return remains uncertain.
  • While the Sabres didn’t have JJ Peterka back in the lineup tonight against Boston, he’s on track to return on Thursday versus Utah, reports Lance Lysowski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Peterka has been one of Buffalo’s top scorers all season with 51 points in 61 games and while a playoff chase isn’t going to happen, the 23-year-old is a pending restricted free agent and will undoubtedly be hoping for a strong finish heading into contract talks.  Meanwhile, Lysowski added that blueliner Jacob Bernard-Docker should make his Buffalo debut at some point on their four-game road trip.  He was acquired at the trade deadline but only recently received his work visa to start skating with the team so he’ll need a few practices to get up to speed first.

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