Los Angeles Kings Recall Three Players From AHL
Nov 21: With the team back in action tomorrow night, all three players have now been recalled.
Nov 20: The Los Angeles Kings have announced that they have loaned three players to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Per the team announcement, forwards Rasmus Kupari and Lias Andersson, as well as defenseman Jacob Moverare are headed to the AHL.
Andersson and Moverare were called up a week ago, when the Kings placed Brendan Lemieux on Injured Reserve and sent down Brandt Clarke on a conditioning loan.
Now, both Andersson and Moverare will head back to Ontario. Moverare got skated in one game for the Kings, while Andersson didn’t get into the lineup.
Kupari, on the other hand, has spent most of his season in Los Angeles. The 2018 20th overall pick has four points in 12 games on just over 11 minutes of time on ice per game. Kupari has six points in six AHL games so far this year and should help bolster an Ontario attack that ranks 26th in the AHL in goals scored.
Andersson, 24, was the seventh overall pick at the 2017 draft. Los Angeles acquired him from the New York Rangers for a 2020 second-round pick hoping that a change of scenery would help his development, but things haven’t gone to plan for Andersson as a King. He has just eight points in 43 career games in Los Angeles, although he has been solid at the AHL level. Now back in Ontario, he should resume his role as a top-of-the-lineup AHL contributor.
Moverare, 24, was not a first-round pick as Andersson and Kupari were. Drafted in the fourth round in 2016, Moverare has developed into a nice depth defender for the Kings. The six-foot-three, 210-pound Swede has 20 NHL games on his resume and is trusted for his safe defense-first style.
Moverare’s 19-game NHL run last season included minutes on the Kings’ penalty kill, so expect him to return in that role if the Kings face some significant blueline injuries, as they did in 2021-22.
No corresponding call-ups were announced along with these loans, but it’s possible that Clarke is headed back to Los Angeles in the near future. These moves could also signal that Lemieux, who was sidelined with a lower-body injury, could be nearing a return.
Latest On Anaheim Ducks
At last season’s trade deadline, Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek decided to sell, and sell hard. Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, and Rickard Rakell all went out the door, changing the makeup of the dressing room considerably. Those three had been with the team for years and made up a good part of their core.
Now, less than a year into Verbeek’s tenure, the club is flailing at the bottom of the NHL standings and appears to be poised for another selling season. The Ducks are dead last in the league with a -30 goal differential and have just five wins through 18 games.
On the latest 32 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman discusses the Ducks and suggests that they are already talking to a number of teams about potential trades.
I’m sure we’re going to start hearing a lot of things out of the Ducks. Like I said, I heard they have a lot of people out looking to see what’s out there.
One of those connections is Toronto Maple Leafs and Frank Vatrano, though Friedman pours some cold water on that scenario because of the cap hit involved – Vatrano is signed through the 2024-25 season with a $3.65MM hit.
There are plenty of other names on the Ducks roster that could be of interest to teams though. John Klingberg, Kevin Shattenkirk, Dmitry Kulikov, Derek Grant, Nathan Beaulieu, and Anthony Stolarz are all pending unrestricted free agents, while younger names like Max Comtois and Simon Benoit are set to reach RFA status. Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg have a year remaining after this one before they hit the open market, though they may need to see some salary retention to be moved this season.
One thing to remember when it comes to the Ducks is that the team has all three salary retention slots available, meaning they could be involved in some creative trades over the next few months. The team already has six selections in the top three rounds for the upcoming draft, and will likely be in contention for the first-overall pick.
With some young talent already in place, the idea of a fast-tracked rebuild has to be running through the mind of Verbeek and his staff. He’ll certainly be a popular number as we move through the year.
Injury Notes: Brodie, Armia, Yamamoto
The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t have T.J. Brodie back for a little while, as the defenseman is not progressing as hoped, according to head coach Sheldon Keefe. David Alter of Sports Illustrated reports that Brodie will not travel with the team as they head out for four road games after tonight’s matchup with the New York Islanders.
Here are some more injury updates from around the league:
- The Montreal Canadiens had Joel Armia back on the ice in a non-contact jersey today, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet. The versatile forward hasn’t played in over a week, and even then was having a brutal start to the year. With no points in seven games this season and just 14 in 2021-22, the four-year extension Armia signed in 2021 isn’t looking great at this point. While still an excellent defensive presence, the Canadiens need to get some offense out of his $3.4MM cap hit.
- Meanwhile, Mike Hoffman was missing from Canadiens practice due to a medical evaluation for a lower-body injury. The veteran forward left Saturday’s game early putting an end to what had been a nice little stretch for Hoffman with six points in six games.
- Mark Spector of Sportsnet reports that Kailer Yamamoto is not with the Edmonton Oilers on their road trip that starts tonight in New Jersey. The 24-year-old forward hasn’t played since November 11 and hasn’t registered a single goal this season. Spector notes that Yamamoto “hasn’t been right” since a big collision in the preseason.
Philadelphia Flyers Re-Assign Egor Zamula
The Philadelphia Flyers can’t just have Egor Zamula sitting in the press box all season, so they’ve loaned him back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. Over the weekend, head coach John Tortorella explained that it’s been tough for the young defenseman because he isn’t getting into the lineup and the team doesn’t have much practice time. In his place, the Flyers have recalled Tanner Laczynski once again.
Zamula, 22, is already way ahead of most undrafted defensemen in terms of development but given his upside, it’s important to keep him playing as much as possible. The last time he suited up for Philadelphia was November 5, and even then he played just over nine minutes of ice time. Through nine appearances this season, he has two points – the first two of his young career.
Signed out of the WHL in 2018, the big Russian defenseman quickly stormed his way to the NHL, making his debut in the 2020-21 season. He’s played 21 games overall, but still isn’t trusted to be one of the team’s regular six just yet. The Phantoms will certainly take him back with open arms, though, as he was outstanding for them last year with 29 points in 58 games.
In a platform year, with his entry-level contract expiring at the end of the season, a lack of NHL playing time will actually make Zamula cheaper for the Flyers to sign next summer. That said, if the team suffers any more injuries on defense, he’ll likely be one of the first call-ups.
Justin Abdelkader Signs In Switzerland
The journey continues for a veteran NHLer, as Justin Abdelkader will be playing in Switzerland for the rest of the season. EV Zug of the Swiss National League has signed Abdelkader through the end of the season after Carl Klingberg went down to injury.
This is no longshot though. The organization is already very familiar with Abdelkader, who played for them in the 2020-21 season and helped win a league championship. Arriving late in the year he was tremendous for the club in the playoffs, scoring six goals and nine points in 13 games (while racking up an impressive 47 penalty minutes). He was good again last year for HC Lugano’s playoff run, while also competing for the U.S. at the Olympics.
Now 35, Abdelkader’s NHL career is long past. He finished with 739 games played, all of them for the Detroit Red Wings, and racked up 252 points. Not bad for a kid from Muskegon, after starring at Michigan State. Abdelkader also captained Team USA at two different World Championships and suited up for his country at the 2016 World Cup.
Finishing off your playing days in Switzerland certainly doesn’t sound like the worst experience, and he’ll go for another league title this year with Zug.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Calgary Flames
As Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2022-23. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Calgary Flames.
Who are the Flames thankful for?
Brad Treliving.
The Flames general manager is in his ninth season at the helm in Calgary, and before last season there were some who believed his seat was getting warm after a few difficult years.
Treliving’s choice to bring Darryl Sutter back to Alberta was a bold one, but it’s so far worked out extremely well as the bench boss recently won the Jack Adams Trophy. But the choice to hire Sutter isn’t why Flames fans are feeling thankful for Treliving this holiday season, it’s the moves he was able to make this past summer.
Early last summer, Treliving was put in an impossible situation. Two of his team’s most important players, Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, had decided that they did not see a long-term future in Calgary. So despite the fact that he had a mandate to provide Sutter with a competitive roster, he now had to deal with the impending departures of his two most important wingers.
With Tkachuk, Treliving was able to pry a major trade package from the Florida Panthers, netting superstar winger Jonathan Huberdeau, quality all-around defenseman Mackenzie Weegar, a 2025 first-round pick, and prospect forward Cole Schwindt. Additionally, he was able to lock both Huberdeau and Weegar into long-term, market-rate contract extensions. Through the Tkachuk trade, Treliving had acquired two impact players who would be around long-term.
But he wasn’t done there. With the cap space saved through Gaudreau’s departure, Treliving signed center Nazem Kadri to a major contract.
While some worried that buying high on Kadri (who scored 87 points last season, far beyond his previous career-high of 61) would be a major miscalculation, Kadri has been worth his $7MM salary so far this season, as he has posted 15 points in 17 games.
Looking at the bigger picture beyond just the acquisitions of Kadri, Huberdeau, and Weegar, though, the Flames should be thankful for Treliving because of how he restored optimism to a beleaguered Calgary fanbase.
He was dealt an incredibly poor hand last summer and made the very most of it. While the Flames still have work to do this year to become a true Stanley Cup contender, Treliving is certainly someone for Calgary to be thankful for.
What are the Flames thankful for?
The Western Conference.
While the Flames haven’t gotten off to the best start, they remain just two points out from the Western Conference’s top Wild Card spot, with just one team (the St. Louis Blues) ahead of them on tiebreakers.
If the Flames were in the Eastern Conference, though, their 18 points would put three teams ahead of them in the chase for the second wild-card spot. If there’s one thing the Flames can be thankful for this season, it’s the fact that the West, at the moment, looks like the weaker of the NHL’s two conferences.
A lot of the difference between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference has to do with philosophy. There are quite a few teams in the West who fully expect to remain near the bottom of the standings for the duration of this season. The Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, and Anaheim Ducks are all more focused on their future than their present.
The Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks may have each intended on being a contender this season, but they have each begun their season quite poorly and will need to improve significantly to be competitive.
Even one of the teams currently occupying one of the Western Conference’s playoff spots, the Seattle Kraken, looks to be a Martin Jones injury or decline in form away from a drop in the standings.
If the Flames were in the Eastern Conference, their path to a playoff spot would likely look a lot more treacherous. The NHL is a league of parity and they’ll still need to improve in order to get there, of course, but at the moment their path to the postseason looks more comfortable than the daunting journey some Eastern Conference clubs are currently staring down. That’s definitely something for Calgary to be thankful for.
What would the Flames be even more thankful for?
Chemistry between Jonathan Huberdeau and the Flames’ other star forwards.
Jonathan Huberdeau hasn’t been bad so far this season, but his eight points of production in 14 games is a 47-point scoring pace, a far, far cry from the 115 points he scored last year. So far, Huberdeau has struggled to find a fit on a Flames line, and the first-line left-winger spot next to Elias Lindholm is currently being occupied by a red-hot Adam Ruzicka, rather than Huberdeau.
For Huberdeau to be able to reach the heights he hit as a Panther, he’ll need to find a way to gel with one of the Flames’ top two centers, Lindholm or Kadri.
He’s locked up until the summer of 2031, of course, so he has some time to find the right fit, but if the Flames want to really get going this season they’ll need to find the right landing spot for their superstar winger.
There’s no reason to be overly worried at this point, Huberdeau’s talent didn’t simply evaporate on the journey from Florida to Alberta. But if Huberdeau could find a way to click with Kadri or Lindholm and cement his place on one of the top two lines, that would give the Flames even more to be thankful for this holiday season.
What should be on the Flames’ holiday wish list?
Improved goaltending.
The Flames have given up 58 goals this season, which is around the NHL average at this point in the season. That’s not a major issue on its own, but for a Flames club that prides itself in defensive responsibility and being tough to score against, it’s a figure that needs to be improved.
Despite the absence of Oliver Kylington, a lack of defensive talent isn’t to blame for the goals they’ve let in. The Flames still have a top-four on defense that includes Weegar, Noah Hanifin, Rasmus Andersson, and Nikita Zadorov.
There are few teams that can boast a more talented set of top-four defensemen.
No, the main issue for the Flames has been their lackluster goaltending. Starting netminder Jacob Markstrom was a Vezina Trophy contender last season, as he posted a .922 save percentage in 63 games. This year, he has an .887 in 14 games.
Daniel Vladar, the team’s backup, is in a similar situation. After posting a .906 save percentage last year, Vladar has just a .881 this year, a significant decline.
While the fact that both goalies have seen their save percentages decline suggests there is more at play than simply lackluster performance in net, the reality is the Flames’ goalie tandem has to be better.
Sutter has the Flames play a specific style of hockey, and the success of his system relies on their goaltending often being the final nail in the opposing team’s coffin. There were nights last season when Markstrom looked unbeatable. This year, those nights have been few and far between.
The success of the Flames’ goalies is integral to their team identity, so getting improved performance from each netminder should be the top item on the Flames’ wish list this winter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Shane Wright Assigned To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Seattle Kraken have announced that forward Shane Wright has been assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, on a conditioning loan. Yesterday, we covered that this move might be coming, and now it’s been made official.
Wright, 18, has been a healthy scratch for five straight Kraken games, which opened up the possibility of this move. Per the NHL-CHL agreement, Wright cannot be outright assigned to the AHL. For prospects like him who were developed in the CHL, the choice is typically between sending the prospect back to the CHL for another season or keeping them in the NHL.
With Wright, those restrictions have placed the Kraken in a bind. The Kraken did not believe simply sending Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs would be the best option for his development, and opted to keep him on their NHL roster. But with the Kraken off to a hot start, Wright struggled to earn coach Dave Hakstol’s trust and has been sheltered in a highly limited role in the games he’s played in. 
Unable to assign him to the AHL outright, the Kraken have elected this highly unorthodox strategy for Wright. He’ll be able to spend up to two weeks in Coachella Valley, a period that will likely lead into Wright being sent to Team Canada’s World Junior Championship camp.
That tournament ends in early January, and at that point, the Kraken will be faced with another choice.
They could elect to put him back on the NHL roster with the hope that he’ll be in a better position to contribute, or he can be sent back to the OHL. Since he has not yet skated in nine NHL games, the Kraken won’t have burned a year off of his entry-level deal.
Perhaps the most important factor determining if Wright heads back to the OHL after the World Juniors is what team holds his rights. Kingston hasn’t been great this season, and they currently stand in the middle of the pack in the OHL Eastern Conference standings.
It’s possible that Wright’s OHL rights are traded early in the new year, which could enhance the likelihood that GM Ron Francis and the Kraken elect the OHL route for the rest of the season.
Either way, the most important aspect of this news is that a clear, concrete plan is starting to come together regarding Wright’s developmental future. Given how chaotic his early tenure in Seattle felt for many fans, this is most definitely a positive development for everyone invested in the success of the Kraken’s top prospect.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Jacob Bernard-Docker Out One Month, Thomas Chabot Day-To-Day
Some injury updates are coming in today concerning the Ottawa Senators’ defense, courtesy of Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. While star defenseman Thomas Chabot is now day-to-day with a concussion, Jacob Bernard-Docker is out for at least one month with a high ankle sprain.
Chabot sustained the concussion in a November 12 game against the Philadelphia Flyers. After being checked into the boards by Travis Konecny, the team placed Chabot on injured reserve the following day. Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan reported at the time Chabot’s timeline was at least one week.
It’s unclear when Bernard-Docker suffered the ankle injury. He played the full game yesterday in a 5-1 loss to the red-hot New Jersey Devils, logging 16:46 of ice time and a -1 rating. The young defender has been solid in a bottom-four role, contributing an assist in six games between call-ups from the Belleville Senators.
At least for Ottawa, the Bernard-Docker injury comes after Artem Zub, their best defensive defenseman, was cleared to return to play. Zub’s presence is the highlighting factor for Ottawa’s right side on defense, and he’ll ease the depth issues created by Bernard-Docker’s absence.
With Chabot likely healthy by the time Bernard-Docker is ready to go again, expect Ottawa to assign the latter back to the minors.
Snapshots: Roslovic, Yamamoto, Barron
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks have been two of the most disappointing teams in the league to start the year. But over the summer, there were talks between the two teams about a potential Jack Roslovic trade, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline.
Portzline reports the Canucks inquired about Roslovic, looking to add to what was becoming a deep forward core, but the Blue Jackets were reluctant to move him. While Columbus’ subsequent start and Roslovic’s mediocre stat line (one goal, six points in 15 games) may make it look like a poor decision in hindsight, it’s understandable why Columbus wanted to hold onto their assets in an effort to be competitive. Many viewed Roslovic as a potential candidate to center a line between Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine after he broke out for a 22-goal campaign last year, but with Laine never really getting his feet under him, and Roslovic not playing up to the bar he set for himself, that trio has seen just 21 minutes together at even strength, per MoneyPuck.
- Edmonton Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto has returned to the ice after sustaining an undisclosed injury over a week ago. Head coach Jay Woodcroft said today that Yamamoto skated on his own, and he remains hopeful Yamamoto joins the team “at some point” on their upcoming three-game New York/New Jersey road trip. The Oilers hope that Yamamoto can come back refreshed and help spark some depth scoring, which has been a serious issue for Edmonton this season.
- Winnipeg Jets team reporter Mitchell Clinton notes that forward Morgan Barron is back on the ice shooting after undergoing wrist surgery earlier this month. It’s a great sign for Barron, whose five-week timeline pegged a return date somewhere around December 8. The 23-year-old had gotten off to a solid start to 2022-23 with a goal and three assists in nine games.
Minor Transactions: 11/20/22
It’s a busy day around the sports world, including the beginning of the FIFA World Cup, but for the NHL, it’s a rather quiet Sunday with just two games on the docket. The Columbus Blue Jackets will play host to the Florida Panthers in one game, while the Chicago Blackhawks host the Pittsburgh Penguins. The latter of those two isn’t just a matchup of two of the best teams of the 2010’s, but is also Marian Hossa‘s jersey retirement, which will get underway earlier in the afternoon. Though Hossa played for a few teams in his Hall of Fame career, he’ll have a chance to see his number raised in front of two of his former teams in that of Chicago and Pittsburgh. Hossa played just 32 total games as a Penguin, but were they special, as the winger recorded 26 points in 20 playoff games on a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, ultimately losing to his future team, the Detroit Red Wings, who would fall to Pittsburgh in the Finals the very next year.
As Chicago pays homage to one of their all-time greats and the games get underway, we’ll keep track of some of the smaller transactions right here.
- Yesterday, after getting Drew Helleson back from the Anaheim Ducks in the wake of Kevin Shattenkirk being activated off IR, the San Diego Gulls of the AHL swapped a few players with ECHL affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers. The Gulls recalled forward Evan Weinger and goaltender Daniel Mannella and assigned forward Logan Nijhoff to Tulsa. Weinger, 25, has 11 points in nine games to start the season with Tulsa, but zero points in one game with San Diego. He had spent a majority of the previous four seasons playing with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. The 27-year-old Mannella has struggled through five games with Tulsa to start this season, but was dominant in 51 games in 2021-22. Nijhoff, 21, spent parts of six seasons with the Regina Pats before signing with San Diego as an undrafted free agent last year. Through nine games this season, eight with San Diego and one with Tulsa, Nijhoff has yet to record a point.
- Goaltender Remi Poirier has been reassigned from the AHL’s Texas Stars to the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL, their affiliate. Poirier, 21, has been solid through four games this season, three with Idaho and one with Texas. The goaltender was a sixth-round pick of the Dallas Stars back in 2020. Prior to turning pro, he had an impressive four year stint in net with the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL.
This post will be kept updated throughout the day.