Seattle Kraken Recall John Hayden From AHL
Jan 24: Up and down he goes. Hayden has been recalled once again.
Jan 22: The Seattle Kraken have announced that forward John Hayden has been re-assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The re-assignment opens a spot on the Kraken’s 23-man roster in order for GM Ron Francis to make any additional desired moves.
Hayden, 27, was originally recalled from Coachella Valley on January 16th. After four straight seasons as an NHL-only player who offered limited, low-scoring depth play to his team, Hayden got a chance to be a top AHL player when he signed a two-way deal with the Kraken over the summer.
He’s given the Kraken and Firebirds a great return on their investment, having scored 25 points in 34 AHL games. That performance earned Hayden his first NHL game of the season, and he skated in just over eight minutes in the Kraken’s shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche last night.
He now heads back to Coachella Valley where he’s expected to resume his role as a top-six forward for the team. The Firebirds have been one of the best teams in the AHL so far this season, and the return of Hayden to their squad should only bolster head coach Dan Bylsma as he attempts to fend off the Calgary Wranglers’ attempts to pass them for first place in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
Dallas Stars Reassign Fredrik Olofsson
After a relatively successful stint with the NHL club, Fredrik Olofsson is headed back to the minor leagues. The Dallas Stars have loaned him back to Texas as they try to accrue some cap space for the trade deadline.
Olofsson, 26, recorded four points in 13 games for the Stars while averaging fewer than ten minutes per night. With Roope Hintz healthy and back in the lineup, Olofsson was left in the press box last night against the Buffalo Sabres.
If that’s his fate, the team might as well take advantage of his waiver-exempt status to send him to the minor leagues. Olofsson can continue to stay fresh with game action, and the Stars can save a little bit more for a mid-season addition.
The club isn’t playing on the road until February 17, meaning they can afford to have a short roster for the time being.
Ian White Signs With Norfolk Admirals
Some people just love the game. Former NHL defenseman Ian White has signed a contract with the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL, after starting the season in the FPHL.
The 38-year-old White made a comeback last season, when he joined the Columbus River Dragons after a six-year absence from professional hockey. He scored 23 points in 37 games and returned to the FPHL with the Motor City Rockers this time around.
It’s been a long road for White, who has openly talked about his struggles with addiction. His wife Tess has lobbied the NHLPA for better treatment and support of their athletes, and the two were subjects of a mini-documentary from CTV/TSN’s Rick Westhead called “Left Behind.”
Returning to professional hockey is an achievement on its own, but climbing the ranks at age 38 is even more impressive. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising, though, given how solid White was at the highest level. A silver medalist at both the World Juniors and World Championship, he played more than 500 games in the league and racked up 179 points.
Pavel Buchnevich Undergoes Minor Surgery
The St. Louis Blues made the expected moves of activating Torey Krug and Vladimir Tarasenko today, but it came with some bad news. Pavel Buchnevich has been moved to injured reserve after a minor surgical procedure to address an ankle infection. Buchnevich will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.
Some would argue that there is no more important player to the Blues than Buchnevich, who leads all forwards in ice time and has registered 38 points in 38 games this season. Losing him for any length of time will be difficult, though the team did stress the minor nature of the procedure.
On the bright side, Krug and Tarasenko will return after missing long stretches, helping to cover Buchnevich’s absence. It’s the latter that will be so interesting to watch as the trade deadline approaches and his time in St. Louis potentially comes to an end.
Tarasenko has only ever played for the Blues, and has reached the 30-goal plateau in six of his seven full seasons. This year, when healthy, he has still been excellent, racking up 10 goals and 29 points in 34 games. While he may not be the dynamic, game-changing power forward of a few years ago, Tarasenko would still be an impressive pickup for a contender at the deadline.
Of course, the Blues still have eyes on the playoffs themselves. Sitting at 23-21-3 on the year, they aren’t out of the Central Division race by any means. Getting two key veterans back should only help that chase, starting tonight with a game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Sammy Blais Sent On AHL Conditioning Loan
The New York Rangers have recalled Will Cuylle from the AHL, while sending Sammy Blais back on a conditioning stint. Blais hasn’t played in a week and was receiving just a handful of shifts in the games he did play.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post wrote about Blais’ situation yesterday, suggesting that his NHL future is in jeopardy as he continues to try to contribute in any way he can. The 26-year-old is still finding his way after a serious knee injury that required surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL. He has just five points through 38 games this season, failing to score a single goal.
Blais has registered over 100 hits, his calling card during more successful days in St. Louis, but hasn’t really been making the same kind of impact with his physicality. Averaging fewer than ten minutes of ice time when he does get into the lineup, it’s unclear where his role really lies in the New York forward group.
Cuylle, meanwhile, represents the next generation for the Rangers. A 20-year-old forward that is just scratching the surface of his professional career, Cuylle has 13 goals and 20 points in 39 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack. The second-round pick offers a good deal of physicality (even if it doesn’t quite stand up to the level of Blais), and possesses a hard, accurate shot.
Given the Rangers’ recent success, it’s not clear if Cuylle will get much of an opportunity. But Blais wasn’t giving them much of anything at the moment, and will try to find that next gear with some games in the minor leagues.
Victor Soderstrom Changes Representation
While his entry-level contract doesn’t expire until the summer of 2024, Arizona Coyotes top defense prospect Victor Soderstrom has changed his agency to Quartexx Management, according to a tweet Monday night.
The 11th overall pick in 2019, Soderstrom has yet to break into the NHL full-time and hasn’t seen so much as a call-up this season. He’s had a somewhat successful offensive campaign with AHL Tucson, recording 19 points in 38 games, but even that’s lower than last season’s point pace in the minors.
While Soderstrom was never drafted as a point producer, his two-way game hasn’t quite excelled in North America as the Coyotes organization would have hoped. He is still just 21, however, and defensemen are more prone to later bumps in their development.
Quartexx also represents some young, fringe NHLers such as Detroit’s Joe Veleno and Edmonton’s Philip Broberg, who was taken three spots ahead of Soderstrom in the 2019 draft. Broberg, however, has managed to step closer to a full-time NHL role this season, appearing in 22 games with Edmonton.
Latest On The St. Louis Blues
A pair of valuable assets are very close to returning to the St. Louis Blues lineup, says Inside the Blues’ Lou Korac. Forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Torey Krug are projected to return to the St. Louis lineup when they host the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night.
Both have missed double-digit sets of games, with Tarasenko missing the past ten contests and Krug missing the past 13. Tarasenko returning early from his hand injury well in advance of the March 3 trade deadline could pay dividends for the Blues, allowing him to showcase himself and build on his 70-point full-season pace to increase his potential trade value. The Blues are 6-4-0 in their past ten games without Tarasenko, but they’re still just two games over .500 and 11th in the Western Conference. With a pair of highly-valued pending free agents in Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly, the Blues would be wise to sell if they’re still this far removed from the playoff picture in a month’s time.
Getting Krug back is also important for a defense core slowly getting healthy. He has the highest points per game among all Blues defensemen, just a small bit ahead of normal partner Justin Faulk. His return should allow Niko Mikkola to slot back into a more comfortable bottom-pairing role.
Korac also notes that Tarasenko’s compatriot, Pavel Buchnevich, is questionable for the game against the Sabres with what he described as a “lingering” lower-body injury.
Minor Transactions: 01/23/23
It’s a bit of a light schedule for the NHL tonight, with just four games on. The news cycle remains busy, though, with the fallout from the Vancouver Canucks’ coaching change bleeding into today. There’s some other notable news from around hockey, though, and we’ll recap a list of those minor transactions right here.
- 38-year-old defenseman Ian White will be trying his hand at professional hockey once again. Despite not having suited up for an NHL game since 2012-13 with the Detroit Red Wings and not playing in the AHL since 2015, he’s signed an ECHL contract with the Norfolk Admirals. White didn’t play hockey at all between 2015 and 2021 but has been playing low-level hockey in the FPHL over the past two seasons. He’s got 19 points in 25 games with the Motor City Rockers this season and could now make his ECHL debut in the twilight of his career.
- A recently left-unsigned Edmonton Oilers prospect is on the move in the minors. Despite playing this season with their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, the Edmonton Oilers did not sign 2020 sixth-round pick Filip Engaras out of college and let his rights expire. After playing the majority of the season with ECHL Fort Wayne, Bakersfield dealt Engaras to the Utica Comets today in exchange for fellow ECHL farmhand Garrett Van Wyhe.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Kyle Palmieri, Adam Pelech Activated From Injured Reserve
The New York Islanders are getting a huge boost ahead of their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, activating Kyle Palmieri and Adam Pelech from injured reserve. Hudson Fasching has been moved to IR and Dennis Cholowski loaned to the AHL to make room.
Palmieri, 31, has played just a single game since November, spending the rest of the time on the shelf. The veteran forward has six goals and nine points in 21 appearances this season, averaging more than 16 minutes a night. Given his $5MM cap hit (Palmieri is in the second season of a four-year deal), his absence was a significant blow to the forward group that has struggled of late.
In their last nine games, the Islanders have scored more than two goals just a single time, and that still resulted in a loss. They have been held to just a single goal in four of those games, and overall have fallen to sixth in the Metropolitan Division, just four points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Perhaps more important, however, is the return of Pelech, who hasn’t played since December 6. The 28-year-old defenseman tilts the ice so significantly in his 21 minutes a night that the team has outscored opponents 27-16 despite Pelech playing against top competition and receiving more defensive deployment.
Even though he isn’t considered an offensive defenseman, his ability to break up cycles, stop rushes at the line, and turn over the puck results in much better opportunities for his teammates.
With them back, it will be a lot closer to the lineup that the Islanders though they would have heading into the season (even if Cal Clutterbuck and Oliver Wahlstrom are on IR).
Snapshots: Three Stars, Canucks, Knight
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Zach Hyman leading the way. The Edmonton Oilers swiss army knife had four goals and nine points in three games. Hyman has already flown past the 54 points he had last season and with every point is setting a new career high. It’s been an incredible run for the 30, who has been everything the Oilers hoped for (and more) when they signed him to a seven-year, $38.5MM deal in 2021.
Second and third place went to Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks, two players in very different stages of their careers. Stamkos reached the 500-goal mark last week, joining just 46 other players in the history of the NHL and essentially sealing his future in the Hall of Fame (if it was ever in doubt). Zegras, meanwhile, put up eight points in four games, taking his career total to 114. He’s got quite a way to catch the Lightning captain, but Zegras continues to excite fans every time he touches the puck.
- The Vancouver Canucks now have three head coaches on the books, as they are still paying Travis Green, the bench boss that preceded the recently-fired Bruce Boudreau. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Tocchet’s deal is for two years and carries a $2.75MM salary, meaning altogether, the team is forking out $7.5MM this season for head coaches.
- The Florida Panthers have swapped Mack Guzda and Spencer Knight once again, with the latter coming back up to the NHL. Knight hasn’t played in the NHL since January 8, but did quite well in his two-game conditioning stint, recording a 23-save shutout for the Charlotte Checkers in his first AHL game since last season.