St. Louis Blues Recall Jake Neighbours
The St. Louis Blues have brought up top prospect Jake Neighbours, assigning Nikita Alexandrov to the AHL in the meantime. The team will be without Robert Thomas for the next few days as he deals with a lower-body injury. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic relays the lines from morning skate, which had Neighbours beside Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou on the third line.
Neighbours, 20, played 11 games for the Blues earlier this season, but had been returned to the minor leagues after failing to produce much offense. In seven games with the Springfield Thunderbirds, he failed to record a goal but did manage five assists. The experience of professional hockey has been tough for the young forward so far, who is used to dominating offensively at the WHL level. Neighbours had 17 goals and 45 points in 30 regular season games for the Edmonton Oil Kings last season.
Losing Thomas, regardless of who replaces him, is a huge blow for the Blues. The 23-year-old has four goals and 19 points through 21 games, following up his 77-point 2021-22 campaign. While he is only listed as day-to-day, any game played without him in the lineup is a difficult one. The Blues will have to try and find offense from somewhere else as they face the Dallas Stars this evening.
James Reimer Moved To Injured Reserve
When the San Jose Sharks recalled Aaron Dell over the weekend, it suggested that James Reimer‘s injury might be hampering him more than originally thought. The veteran netminder had played through it against the Los Angeles Kings, but didn’t look himself, allowing four goals on 28 shots. Today, the Sharks have decided to shut him down for at least a few days, moving Reimer to injured reserve and recalling Jeffrey Viel in the process.
Reimer, 34, has played in 15 games so far this season and has alternated between outstanding performances and struggles behind a leaky Sharks team. He has allowed four or more goals in seven games, but two or fewer in six. It has added up to a .903 save percentage but there have been times when San Jose would have been run out of the building without his acrobatic performance.
Behind him is Kaapo Kahkonen, who hasn’t been able to pull off the feat quite as often. The younger netminder has a 2-5-2 record and .871 save percentage through nine games. Dell, meanwhile, hasn’t posted acceptable NHL numbers since 2019-20, and shouldn’t be getting much playing time even if Reimer is held out for a longer period of time.
The Sharks likely won’t be able to avoid it, though, as they have two back-to-back situations coming up this week. The team will play tomorrow in Montreal, Wednesday in Toronto, Saturday in Ottawa, and Sunday in Buffalo, before returning home. Since Reimer must miss a minimum of seven days (since his last appearance), the best case is that he returns in time for the game against the Sabres.
It could be a tough week for the struggling Sharks, who now sit seventh in the Pacific Division and have lost three in a row.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Tim Berni
The Columbus Blue Jackets, ravaged by injuries and floundering at the bottom of the league standings, are going to give an interesting young prospect a chance. Tim Berni has been recalled from the minor leagues, with Brendan Gaunce returned to the AHL to make room.
Berni, 22, was picked 159th overall in 2018 but made a name for himself while playing for Switzerland at the World Juniors and for his club team back home. A three-time member of the Swiss junior contingent, he captained the team at the 2020 tournament. He won a National League title in 2018 with the ZSC Lions after a late-season recall, and continued playing strong defense for the club for the next few seasons.
Last year, he came to North America and played the entire season with the Cleveland Monsters, racking up 15 points and 44 penalty minutes in 72 games. The left-shot defenseman isn’t really an offensive piece, but has an incredible work ethic in his own end and aggressively shuts down plays with quick feet. ‘
In what has become a lost season for the Blue Jackets, getting a glance at Berni in the NHL will give the organization a bit more data for contract negotiations in the summer when his entry-level deal expires. Is this someone who could potentially contribute down the road, or is he limited to minor-league success? With so many regular defensemen injured, Columbus will get a chance to answer some of those questions.
Travis Konecny Placed On Injured Reserve
The Philadelphia Flyers have moved Travis Konecny to injured reserve with an upper-body injury, while recalling Egor Zamula from the minor leagues to take his roster spot.
Konecny has not played since November 17, meaning a retroactive placement on IR would allow him to be activated whenever healthy. The forward was on the ice today (along with James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton), rehabbing his injury.
Zamula, meanwhile, is back after a short stint in the minor leagues. As Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic explains, the young defenseman was only sent down because of the Flyers’ busy schedule, which didn’t allow for much practice time.
Now at home for five games that all have at least one day between them, there will be plenty of time for Zamula to get on the ice with the rest of the NHL squad, even if he still ends up a healthy scratch at times.
The Flyers have lost ten in a row and now sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division.
New Jersey Devils Recall Three Players
Ahead of their game against the New York Rangers tonight, the New Jersey Devils have made several recalls. Alexander Holtz, Kevin Bahl, and Nico Daws have all been brought up, giving them some extra bodies to help cover a few absences.
Nathan Bastian is going for imaging today on a shoulder injury according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com, and team reporter Amanda Stein explains that Daws is up to cover for Akira Schmid, who is feeling ill.
The trio of young players is a reminder that the Devils, tied for first in the NHL with 18 wins, have a number of extra high-level prospects at every position. Holtz, 20, was the seventh overall pick in 2020 and has played just 13 NHL games so far. Bahl, still just 22, was a key part in the Taylor Hall trade and has played just 27. Daws, incredibly, has actually seen the most action in a single season of the three, playing 25 games for the Devils last year when they had so many goaltending injuries.
For a team already finding a ton of success with their young NHL roster, the number of impressive players in the system could lead to a long-term window of contention.
Tampa Bay Lightning Re-Assign Alex Barre-Boulet
Nov 28: Barre-Boulet has been returned to the AHL after playing in one game with the Lightning.
Nov 25: The Tampa Bay Lightning will bring an extra forward into action tonight against the St. Louis Blues, recalling Alex Barre-Boulet from the minor leagues. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is away from the team for personal reasons and won’t play.
Barre-Boulet, 25, is once again showing how easily he can dominate the minor leagues, with 24 points in his first 16 AHL games this season. While only four of those are goals, he continues to be one of the top playmakers for the Syracuse Crunch, a role he has held since the moment he stepped foot on a professional hockey rink.
Signed as an undrafted free agent, his scoring touch goes much further back than that even. In his final year with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL, he racked up 53 goals and 116 points in 65 regular season games. The talented, but undersized, forward is a perfect depth player to have in the system, even if it has only resulted in 31 games of NHL experience to this point.
Marco Rossi To Be Re-Assigned To AHL
The Minnesota Wild are expected to send Marco Rossi to the AHL after sitting out last night’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that the young forward was informed of the decision yesterday.
Rossi, 21, has played in 16 games this season but looks outmatched at times, not quite ready to become a difference-making forward at the NHL level. With zero goals and just one assist, it hasn’t been the rookie campaign he or many expected.
Some time in the AHL should only help Rossi’s development, especially because of the time he has missed in the past. Due to medical concerns, he was held out for nearly the entire 2020-21 season, playing just a single game in Switzerland. Last season, his return was rather triumphant, with 53 points in 63 games for the Iowa Wild, and an NHL debut.
Now, after sitting a number of games in the press box as a healthy scratch, he’ll get a chance to build on that first AHL campaign.
Five Key Stories: 11/21/22 – 11/27/22
American Thanksgiving is often viewed as a key point in the NHL season. By now, teams have an idea of what their needs are and will start to try to fill some of those in the coming weeks. We saw a couple of those moves made this past week which are highlighted in our key stories.
Extension Talks Start For Bratt: Jesper Bratt’s last two contract negotiations haven’t gone as well as either side would have hoped. His bridge deal was signed just days before the 2020-21 season started and they opted to settle for a one-year, $5.45MM agreement to avoid an arbitration hearing over the summer. Now, they’re going to take another run at a long-term contract as extension discussions have now started. Bratt is off to a strong start to his season with 25 points in 22 games, putting him on pace to set new career highs across the board. If a new deal isn’t reached, he’ll enter restricted free agency this summer with the ability to file for arbitration and take a one-year contract that walks him to the open market in 2024 so it’s safe to say that working something out is going to be a high priority for GM Tom Fitzgerald.
More Toronto Injuries: Already missing Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie, the back end for the Maple Leafs got thinned out even more when they placed Morgan Rielly on LTIR with what is believed to be an MCL injury that will keep him out at least a month. That’s a big blow to their offensive upside from their blueliners as the veteran has 16 assists in 20 games this season while he’s logging 23 minutes a night. On top of that, veteran Jordie Benn was placed on IR later in the week and is listed as out week to week with an upper-body injury. Due to the injuries, Toronto GM Kyle Dubas opted to make a small move to add a bit of extra depth, acquiring Conor Timmins from Arizona for AHL center Curtis Douglas. Timmins was once a highly-regarded prospect following a very productive junior career but has battled concussion trouble and has played in just 14 games between the NHL and AHL dating back to last season.
Four For Kochetkov: Counting the playoffs, Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov has made a total of 13 NHL appearances. However, he is believed to be their goalie of the future and the team certainly signaled that, inking the 23-year-old to a four-year, $8MM contract extension that begins next season. The deal gives Carolina half of their goalie tandem at what’s likely to be a below-market rate for the foreseeable future and locks up at least one netminder with both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer. In the meantime, Kochetkov will continue to split time with Raanta with Andersen being on IR before likely returning to AHL Chicago later in the season.
Reaves To Minnesota: After being scratched for several games, Ryan Reaves had requested a trade from the Rangers and his request was granted as New York dealt him to Minnesota in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick. The 35-year-old is best known for his physicality and it’s clear that the Wild were looking to shake up their depth a bit as this move came on the heels of losing Tyson Jost to Buffalo on waivers last weekend. Reaves’ full $1.75MM cap hit is absorbed by Minnesota which allows the Rangers to bank some extra cap space which is notable as they’re a team that many expect to try to make a splash on the trade front closer to the trade deadline.
Salming Passes Away: Just days after being honored in Toronto, Hall of Fame defenseman Borje Salming passed away at the age of 71. He had been diagnosed with ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease) back in August. Salming was a six-time All-Star that finished in the top five of Norris Trophy voting for the first seven years of his career and is Toronto’s all-time leader for points by defensemen with 768 amassed over 16 seasons with the team. He was also one of the first European players to ever play in the NHL and is widely considered a trailblazer to help the game become the truly international one it is today.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Oilers Believed To Be Looking To Add Grit Up Front
While the long-term injury to Evander Kane dealt a big blow to Edmonton’s offense, it also took away a big part of their physical play up front with the veteran averaging over 3.6 hits per game. While his LTIR placement allowed them to bring up some extra players to round out their roster, none of those players are particularly gritty.
To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in a recent 32 Thoughts segment (video link) that the Oilers could be looking around the league for affordable grit up front.
The key word is affordable. As Kane is set to return before the end of the season, Edmonton has to get back to cap compliance to be able to activate him. Accordingly, they will need to be targeting a player who either replaces someone at the bottom of their roster or whose cap hit is low enough that it can come off the books entirely with an AHL assignment; the threshold for that is $1.125MM.
With someone in that particular price range, they’ll almost certainly be looking for someone that would play on the fourth line. Right now, Derek Ryan is a fixture on that fourth trio despite struggling mightily offensively this season and veteran farmhand Brad Malone is getting a look on that group as well in the hopes that he can make a difference on the physical side of things. Accordingly, there certainly are spots that could be up for grabs if they find a way to add another depth forward or two.
With cap space at a premium for most teams, Edmonton included, the trade market is still likely a little while away from truly picking up with the exception of affordable depth players. It appears the Oilers will be keeping an eye on that portion of the market over the coming weeks to see if they can make their fourth line a little tougher to play against.
Ducks Activate Derek Grant Off Injured Reserve, Place Max Comtois On IR
The Ducks will have a bit of extra help up front as they get set to take on Seattle tonight. Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter link) that center Derek Grant has been activated off injured reserve and will suit up against the Kraken. He’ll take the place of rookie winger Pavol Regenda.
The 32-year-old has been out for a little over three weeks due to an upper-body injury. Prior to sustaining it, Grant had played in 11 games, picking up a goal and an assist while logging heavy minutes shorthanded; his 2:39 of ice time per game in that situation is second among Anaheim forwards behind only Jakob Silfverberg.
A pending unrestricted free agent, Grant is the type of depth forward that tends to be moved closer to the trade deadline as someone that can kill penalties, play both down the middle and on the wing, and is affordable on the cap (he carries a $1.5MM AAV). With the Ducks appearing to be well on the path towards selling over the next few months, Grant figures to be on the move at some point but he’ll give Anaheim a boost in the bottom six in the meantime now that he’s healthy.
It’s not all good news on the injury front for the Ducks, however, as Dillman also notes that blueliner John Klingberg will miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury. It has been a tough start to the season for the veteran who was looking to rebuild some value after not getting the type of contract he was seeking in free agency last summer. Instead, he has just one goal in 20 games and will be out of the lineup a little longer.
Meanwhile, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Max Comtois has been placed on injured reserve. He has been out for the last two weeks due to a lower-body injury which allows Anaheim to backdate the placement. Accordingly, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s healthy. Comtois has four goals in 15 games so far this season.