Dallas Stars Recall Fredrik Karlstrom
After returning forward Matej Blumel to the AHL earlier today, the Dallas Stars have found the player who will take his place on their roster. The team has announced the recall of forward Fredrik Karlstrom from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars.
Karlstrom, 24, made his NHL debut last season after spending his entire career developing in his native Sweden. The six-foot-three forward had 16 goals and 29 points in 65 AHL games last season and had 25 points in 51 games in his final season in the SHL.
This year, the 2016 third-round pick has been in the AHL, and has four goals and one assist in 15 games. With Blumel now in the minors, it’s possible that the left-handed forward takes Blumel’s spot as the left winger Wyatt Johnston line.
Karlstrom brings a more defensive flavor to that line than the offensively-focused Blumel and should be able to offer more value along the boards as well, at the cost of some skill and some flash.
Karlstrom is making $750k against the cap this season and will be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent at the end of the year.
Buffalo Sabres Re-Assign Riley Sheahan
The Buffalo Sabres have announced that veteran center Riley Sheahan has been re-assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
The move comes after the team announced yesterday that defenseman Mattias Samuelsson would be returning to the lineup for tonight’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens.
For the Sabres to be able to activate Samuelsson, they needed to clear a roster spot, so the team has chosen to send Sheahan down.
Sheahan, 30, has been a priority call-up for the Sabres this season, functioning as a depth center on their NHL roster and a veteran presence in Rochester. In six AHL games this year Sheahan has three points, and in two NHL games, Sheahan has yet to make his mark on the score sheet.
Sheahan is a veteran of over 600 NHL games and should be expected to occupy this role as the Sabres’ top veteran depth center for the rest of this season. Playing on a $950k cap hit, Sheahan will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Pittsburgh Penguins Promote Ty Hennes
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a slight change to their coaching staff, promoting Ty Hennes to the role of assistant coach after serving for the last few years as a skating and skills coach. General manager Ron Hextall explained:
Promoting Ty to an assistant coach was one of our top priorities heading into the season, as he is widely regarded as one of the best skills coaches in the NHL. Ty brings a unique skill set to our coaching staff and has gradually taken on more responsibility over the years as his role has evolved. He has been a big part of our team and will continue to be so moving forward.
Hennes, 43, had already been behind the bench with the rest of the coaching staff for the last few seasons, and works with players on specific skills and injury rehab between games. The 5’9″ former Boston College forward has even released some of his expertise on YouTube through the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, hosting a series of instructional videos for young hockey players.
In 2020, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profiled Hennes, and quoted several then-Penguins players. Jared McCann, for instance, raved about their work together, saying that “he knows the game so well” and calling him “one of the best” skill coaches he’s ever seen.
Now, he joins Mike Vellucci as an assistant under head coach Mike Sullivan and associate coach Todd Reirden to form quite an experienced staff. Hennes will likely remain focused on the skills work that he’s been involved in for the last several years, though a promotion does suggest a further increase of responsibility in the future.
Ottawa Senators Recall Lassi Thomson; Looking For Additional Defensemen
After another brutal loss that saw the Ottawa Senators give up five goals to the San Jose Sharks, the team has made a swap on defense. Jacob Larsson has been returned to the AHL, while prospect Lassi Thomson is on his way to join the club on their road trip.
Thomson, 22, was the 19th overall pick in 2019 and played 16 games for the Senators last season. His time in the AHL has been productive, including ten points in 15 games this season. While he may not be the complete solution for Ottawa, there is more help coming.
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia tweets that the hope is Thomas Chabot can play tomorrow, while general manager Pierre Dorion has spoken to 10-15 teams about potential defensive additions. There hasn’t been a fit yet, and as losses pile up, it gets harder and harder to justify a big move. The Senators are now 6-11-1 on the year and sit dead last in the Atlantic Division, even behind the Buffalo Sabres who have lost eight in a row.
Larsson, during his short time with the club, didn’t impress. The 25-year-old averaged fewer than 13 minutes of ice time over his three appearances and was not totally trusted by the coaching staff. While Jake Sanderson, Erik Brannstrom, and Artem Zub were all logging more than 22 minutes last night, Larsson played just 14:40 and was the only defenseman to not see a second on the penalty kill.
The team goes into Vegas to take on the Golden Knights tomorrow, before heading back to California for matchups with the Ducks and Kings over the weekend.
Scott Laughton Placed On Injured Reserve
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without Scott Laughton for the next little while and have placed him on injured reserve. Laughton is dealing with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss two weeks, according to Adam Kimelman of NHL.com.
In his place, the team has recalled Jackson Cates from the AHL. The team also released injury updates on several other players. Travis Konecny will be out 10-14 days with an upper-body injury, Wade Allison is out two or three weeks with a hip pointer, and Cam Atkinson remains week-to-week. Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk are still on their respective schedules after surgery.
Laughton, 28, was seeing more ice time than ever before in his career, averaging more than 19 minutes a night through his first 18 appearances. That resulted in seven points on the year to go along with his regular brand of physical hockey.
He had been moved to wing recently, a move that the team also made with Kevin Hayes last night, with head coach John Tortorella explaining that he trusted Noah Cates more defensively in the middle of the ice.
That position has been a challenge this season for the Flyers, who don’t have a single center even above 48% on faceoffs and few players living up to their potential. Hayes and Konecny lead the team in scoring with 19 points but beyond those two and Owen Tippett, no other player even has five goals on the year.
Jackson Cates, the older of the two brothers, was scoreless in three games with the Flyers earlier this year. In 11 contests with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he has scored four goals and seven points.
Matej Blumel Returned To AHL
After playing just seven shifts in a game last night, Matej Blumel is on his way back to the minor leagues. The Dallas Stars have returned the young forward to the Texas Stars, who play three times in the next four days.
Blumel, 22, has suited up six times for Dallas this season but saw his ice time drop to just 4:28 last night, resulting in a blank scoresheet. He failed to record a hit, shot, or block, let alone any points in the shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
While the team could call him back up quickly – that has been the strategy so far, with Blumel bouncing back and forth every few days – it does seem like he has been worked out of the regular rotation. If that’s the case, Blumel might be better off playing more minutes in the AHL for the time being.
Morgan Rielly Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve
The Toronto Maple Leafs are without their top three defensemen now, after Morgan Rielly exited last night with a knee injury. Rielly has been quickly moved to long-term injured reserve, with Darren Dreger of TSN tweeting that there are “rumblings” of a grade 1 or 2 MCL injury. That would come with a four to six-week recovery, according to Dreger.
In his place, the team has recalled Victor Mete and Mac Hollowell from the AHL.
At a very minimum, the veteran defenseman will miss 10 games and 24 days with his LTIR placement. Given he is expected back this season, the cap flexibility awarded with this move is temporary. The Maple Leafs could not for instance replace Rielly’s cap hit with an external option, as they’ll need it to activate him again down the road.
With Rielly, Jake Muzzin, and T.J. Brodie out all at the same time – the latter was on the ice before practice today testing out his oblique injury – the Maple Leafs are in a tough spot. The team’s most reliable defender becomes 39-year-old Mark Giordano, with some mix of Justin Holl, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, and Jordie Benn behind him.
Mete obviously has plenty of NHL experience as well, but Hollowell would be making his debut should he get into the lineup.
With that in mind, there will be plenty of speculation surrounding the Maple Leafs in the next few weeks. The team had already been linked to several defensemen around the league, and if Muzzin is out for the rest of the season, as expected, they do have a bit of cap room to work with.
New Jersey Devils Send Holtz, Bahl To AHL
In the midst of a 13-game winning streak, the New Jersey Devils aren’t about to change the lineup. So young players that are unable to get any action will need to play somewhere. Today, Alexander Holtz and Kevin Bahl have both been loaned back to the Utica Comets of the AHL.
Holtz, 20, was the seventh overall pick in 2020 and has shown flashes of offensive brilliance in his limited NHL experience. It has been limited though, with the young forward only making it into four games this season and 13 overall.
Last year, Holtz was a dominant force for the Comets, scoring 26 goals and 51 points in 52 games. He was obviously going to outgrow the minor leagues but with an inconsistent NHL performance, found himself on the outside looking in as things started to go right in New Jersey. While he may already be better than the vast majority of AHL players, he needs to play somewhere.
Bahl, meanwhile, brings a rather similar story. The hulking 6’6″ defender was beating up on AHL competition last season, and ended up seeing 17 games with the Devils. This year, after New Jersey made several additions to the blue line, he’s been limited to just three. It doesn’t do the 22-year-old much use sitting in the press box every night, even if there is some value in practicing with the big club.
It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see one or both back soon, but this will allow them to get back in the swing of things and shake off any rust that may have accumulated.
Colorado Avalanche Suspend Danila Zhuravlyov, Returns To Russia
Colorado Avalanche defense prospect Danila Zhuravlyov has been suspended by the team and will return home to Russia, as announced today. Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater reports the suspension is not related to any on-ice or off-ice incident, but rather comes as a result of his returning to Russia for “personal and family-related reasons.”
There had been rumors swirling of Zhuravlyov potentially returning to his home country for the past month, mainly from Russian outlets. Mikhail Zislis of Sport-Express reported last week that Zhuravlyov’s former KHL club, Ak Bars Kazan, was aiming to have the 22-year-old return to the club.
A 2018 fifth-round selection of the Avalanche, Zhuravlyov made his North American debut this season and registered an assist in 14 games with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. He demonstrated solid defensive upside in the past handful of seasons with Kazan.
Zhuravlyov’s entry-level contract runs through the 2023-24 season. If it becomes clear that Zhuravlyov will not return to the Avalanche organization, a mutual termination is entirely possible.
Latest On Cam Atkinson
The Philadelphia Flyers are decimated by injuries once again, this time to their forward corps. They’re dealing with six lineup regulars sitting on the shelf – including Cam Atkinson, who’s not technically on injured reserve but is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury sustained during training camp.
A more definite timeline is coming into view now, though. The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco relays from a team source that the team hopes Atkinson can make his season debut before New Year’s Day.
When exactly that return happens is still anyone’s guess, though. Di Marco reports that the organization is unsure whether Atkinson’s return could come within the next week or within the next month. It’s evident that the Flyers are being cautious, especially considering the team’s recent string of poor injury luck.
Atkinson is still waiting to be reunited for a regular-season game with head coach John Tortorella, who mentored Atkinson throughout the majority of his 10 seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 2018-19 under Tortorella, Atkinson enjoyed a career-best 41-goal, 69-point season.
Despite a rocky year for the rest of the Flyers last year, though, Atkinson actually had his best performance since that season in Columbus. His 23 goals, 27 assists, and 50 points were all second on the Flyers.
While the Flyers’ record is much-improved this season under Tortorella, it’s due in large part to the spectacular play of Carter Hart in goal. The Flyers’ goal-scoring ranks 26th in the NHL, with 46 through 18 games. The team sits at just .500 and remains a long shot for the playoffs, but Atkinson returning and providing a 25-to-30-goal pace would improve their waning chances.