Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Jake Christiansen; Re-Assign David Jiricek
Just hours after being recalled under emergency conditions, 2022 sixth-overall pick David Jiricek finds himself back in the AHL. The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Friday afternoon that the team has recalled defenseman Jake Christiansen from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, re-assigning Jiricek there in his place.
The move comes hours after Columbus announced injury updates regarding defensemen Zach Werenski (out for season), Nick Blankenburg (two months), and Erik Gudbranson (day-to-day) forced Columbus to recall three defensemen from Cleveland under emergency conditions, including Jiricek. Gavin Bayreuther and Marcus Bjork, the other two emergency recalls, remain on the active roster.
Columbus does not play until tomorrow night against the New York Islanders, so there’s a chance this could be a paper transaction to get Jiricek into Cleveland’s game tonight against Rochester before returning to the Blue Jackets tomorrow.
It could also be a chance for Christiansen to get some NHL looks in 2022-23 after playing eight games last season, and recording his first NHL goal. He’s off to a bit of a tampered offensive start with the Monsters, recording four assists through 11 games, but he is coming off a 45-point campaign in the minors last year.
Injury Notes: Teravainen, Grant, Helm, Bowers
After moving Frederik Andersen to injured reserve earlier today, the Carolina Hurricanes are facing some more injury troubles. Team reporter Walt Ruff reports that forward Teuvo Teravainen will not travel with the team on their upcoming two-day road trip due to an upper-body injury suffered last night in the team’s 7-2 trouncing of the Edmonton Oilers.
While the Hurricanes have been hot, Teravainen has not. The 28-year-old Finn is off to a slow start, having yet to score 14 games into the season. He has logged seven assists, though, which is tied for third on the team. Depth scoring has been a concerning issue for the Hurricanes to start the year (outside of leading point-getter Martin Necas), a trend that will need to quickly reverse in order to account for Teravainen’s absence over at least the next two games. Either Necas or Seth Jarvis could likely get re-elevated to a top-line role in Teravainen’s absence.
- The Anaheim Ducks announced via a team release Friday that forward Derek Grant has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to November 3. Grant has missed the team’s past three games with an upper-body injury and is still classified as day-to-day. Given he’s already missed more than the week required by the injured reserve placement, this is purely a paper transaction for roster purposes and he is eligible to return at any time. The corresponding roster transaction was an AHL recall, bringing defenseman Austin Strand up from the San Diego Gulls.
- Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters today, including Jesse Montano of DNVR Sports, that forward Darren Helm had another surgery (reported to be a hip abductor muscle procedure) and is “on the mend.” Helm, 35, has yet to play this season after suffering an abdominal injury during last year’s Stanley Cup run. He has now been moved to LTIR, giving the team roughly $500,000 in cap space to work with as injuries pile up.
- One of the forwards that were serving in a depth role to replace help is also on the injured list. After making his NHL debut last night, 2017 first-round pick Shane Bowers is undergoing an MRI, according to Bednar. Bowers played just 1:46 before leaving the game. After a pair of tough AHL campaigns, Bowers looked like his development may be back on track with six points in 10 games to start the season in AHL Colorado.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
We’re now nearly a month into the 2022-23 regular season and things certainly haven’t gone as expected. The New Jersey Devils lead the Metropolitan Division while the Pittsburgh Penguins are on the league’s longest losing streak, the Vegas Golden Knights have received some of the best goaltending in the league from Logan Thompson and Adin Hill, and the Chicago Blackhawks have maintained some semblance of credibility with a 5-5-2 record despite admitting to a rebuild.
With that in mind, we’re well overdue for another edition of the PHR Mailbag.
Our preseason bag was broken into two pieces. In the first, our Brian La Rose broke down some of the specific details of professional tryouts and two-way contracts, and pointed out a few teams that seemed to be okay “running it back” instead of making significant changes in the offseason. In the second, he examined Matt Dumba‘s future with the Minnesota Wild, predicted the St. Louis Blues as a team that would underachieve this year, and suggested how quickly Matthew Beniers could find relevance after his excellent late-season showing last year.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.
NHL Will Not Hold World Cup In 2024
If you desperately wanted to see Connor McDavid play with Sidney Crosby, or Patrick Kane with Auston Matthews, you’ll have to wait (if it happens at all). The NHL and NHLPA have announced that they are no longer working toward a World Cup in 2024. The full statement:
Over the last year, the NHL and the NHLPA have been working on plans to conduct the next World Cup of Hockey, the premier international best-on-best hockey tournament, in February 2024. Unfortunately, in the current environment it is not feasible to hold the World Cup of Hockey at that time. We continue to plan for the next World Cup of Hockey, hopefully in February 2025.
Best-on-best international competition hasn’t happened in years, and now that the World Cup is off the table for at least another few years, there may be generational players that we never see together.
McDavid, for instance, has still never represented Canada at a true best-on-best tournament, only suiting up at the World Juniors and World Championship. His appearance in the last World Cup in 2016 was on Team North America – known as the young guns – alongside Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and other superstars that have never seen Olympic competition.
While this decision is disappointing, it is also somewhat expected, especially given the turmoil in the IIHF with regard to Russia at the moment. The invasion of Ukraine led the Russian and Belarusian teams to be banned from several international tournaments, and a World Cup would certainly be difficult to hold without the participation of some NHL superstars from those countries.
In any case, hockey fans will have to wait even longer to see another high-stakes international tournament.
Laurent Brossoit Clears Waivers
Nov 11: Brossoit has cleared waivers and can remain with the Henderson Silver Knights.
Nov 10: The Vegas Golden Knights had a roster crunch coming, as Laurent Brossoit inched closer to a return from injury. The team had two goaltenders – Logan Thompson and Adin Hill – playing outstanding hockey, with only the former waiver-exempt. Instead of moving one of them out, they’ve decided to risk Brossoit today, placing him on waivers according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets.
Brossoit, 29, is coming back from hip surgery and has played two games with the Henderson Silver Knights on a conditioning loan. His placement on waivers today indicates that he is healthy enough to be activated, and suggests that he will be headed back to Henderson if he clears.
It won’t just be the injury that makes teams hesitate to claim Brossoit. He has a $2.325MM cap hit this season in the final year of his deal and he was brutal in the conditioning games, allowing nine goals on 39 shots. For someone to invest in him now, it would mean keeping him on the NHL roster. Even last season didn’t go well, with Brossoit posting an .895 in 24 games for Vegas.
More likely he’ll end up piecing his game back together in the minor leagues and waiting for another opportunity with the Golden Knights. Thompson and Hill are anything but proven at this point, so even if they are playing well there’s no guarantee it continues. Having a veteran option like Brossoit would be ideal for a club like Vegas which has its eyes set on the Stanley Cup once again.
Ian Mitchell Activated, Loaned To AHL
For the first time this season, Ian Mitchell appears ready to compete. The young defenseman has been activated by the Chicago Blackhawks and loaned to the Rockford IceHogs, according to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic.
Mitchell suffered a wrist injury that stole his entire training camp, meaning he’ll need some minor league action before the Blackhawks consider moving him into the NHL lineup. The 23-year-old is still waiver-exempt, meaning he can be moved up and down without issue.
After recording 35 points in 57 games with Rockford last season, and getting into eight games with Chicago, Mitchell was expected to challenge for a full-time role with the Blackhawks. While that was delayed, he could quickly earn a call-up if he shakes off the rust quickly and shows he’s back to last year’s level.
It’s an important year for Mitchell to carve out his place in the organization, given he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer. After signing out of the University of Denver in 2020, he has eight points in 47 career NHL games.
Carolina Hurricanes Emergency Recall Pyotr Kochetkov
Nov 11: Andersen has now been moved to injured reserve, retroactive to November 6. Kochetkov will remain with the team for the time being after his strong performance last night.
Nov 8: The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves on an emergency basis, according to the team Tuesday evening. The team also placed forward Ondrej Kase on injured reserve.
Kochetkov’s call-up comes after starting goalie Frederik Andersen left the team’s practice earlier today. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour noted to reporters this morning that he “didn’t know what happened there, [but] he did something.”
The team’s top goaltending prospect, Kochetkov is off to a 2-2-1 start in the AHL with a 3.00 goals-against average and .911 save percentage. He appeared in three regular-season games and four playoff games last season for Carolina when injuries struck both Andersen and backup Antti Raanta.
Kochetkov will likely back up Raanta tomorrow when the Hurricanes take on the Florida Panthers. Despite a hurricane warning issued for the area surrounding FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, the Hurricanes team charter left Raleigh tonight in anticipation of the game still occurring tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Kase lands on injured reserve with the sixth reported concussion of his NHL career. The 27-year-old Czech forward logged 11:02 in the team’s season opener against Columbus and has not played since.
Rudolfs Balcers To Be Placed On Waivers
The Florida Panthers moved several players to the minor leagues yesterday to prepare for the return of Aaron Ekblad but they still needed a little bit more cap space to get their star defenseman off long-term injured reserve. Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Kate Engleson of Bally Sports that it will be Rudolfs Balcers hitting waivers today to make room.
Balcers, 25, got off to a quick start with the Panthers this year but has seen his ice time limited in recent weeks and has just one point in his last nine games. The Latvian forward cleared waivers just a few months ago with the San Jose Sharks and is on a one-year, one-way contract worth $750K.
Interestingly, as CapFriendly points out, while waiving Balcers with the intention of assigning him to the minor leagues will clear enough cap space for Ekblad – it only just makes it. The team would be at the minimum of 18 skaters on the roster and would have no room to call up anyone else. That can result in some very tricky situations if players suffer injuries that do not require injured reserve. In that case, the Panthers would need to make some additional moves or play shorthanded.
Staying pressed right up against the cap ceiling could have some serious financial ramifications for the Panthers in other ways, too. Both Anton Lundell and Spencer Knight have significant performance bonuses in their entry-level contracts that would be carried over to next season if the team does not have the cap space to fit them in this year. The pair could earn as much as $2.7MM combined, though they would have to hit specific metrics for that to happen. The team is currently dealing with an overage of $637.5K from this mechanism last season.
So while activating Ekblad is certainly going to help the team on the ice, the cap situation in Florida continues to be a difficult puzzle to navigate for general manager Bill Zito.
Zach Werenski Out Rest Of Season
The Columbus Blue Jackets have updated the status of Zach Werenski and it isn’t good news. The star defenseman suffered a separated shoulder and torn labrum last season and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. The team has also moved Nick Blankenburg, Sean Kuraly, and Jakub Voracek on injured reserve, while recalling Gavin Bayreuther, Marcus Bjork, and David Jiricek.
Blankenburg is out six to eight weeks with a fractured ankle. Kuraly is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Voracek is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Erik Gudbranson is also day-to-day but will not play tomorrow.
This is about the worst-case scenario for the Blue Jackets, who managed to win last night for just the fourth time this season. The team has already struggled to keep the puck out of their own net, allowing 57 goals through 13 games. By removing Werenski – and to a lesser extent Blankenburg – their defensive group now looks incredibly thin with basically no first-pairing talent. The 25-year-old also makes more than $9.5MM per season, a higher cap hit than anyone other than Johnny Gaudreau.
Without him, the team suddenly looks like a group that will be unable to turn around their tough start. The draft lottery in a year with several high-end prospects looks like a tempting reward for finishing near the bottom of the league.
The silver lining, perhaps, is that a young player like Jiricek could receive some interesting NHL opportunities. Werenski was the quarterback of the team’s top powerplay unit, a role that will now need to be filled by someone. During Jiricek’s short two-game taste earlier this year he did see a bit of time with the man advantage, though he wasn’t able to record a point.
While they won’t admit it, the Blue Jackets will likely have to transition this season into a development year and start looking toward the future. That will increase speculation about Gustav Nyquist, Vladislav Gavrikov, and Joonas Korpisalo, all scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency at the end of the year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Winnipeg Jets Recall Mikey Eyssimont
The Winnipeg Jets have added an extra forward to the mix as they hit the road for a couple of games. Mikey Eyssimont has been recalled from the Manitoba Moose ahead of a two-game trip through Calgary and Seattle.
Eyssimont, 26, has been excellent for the Moose so far this year, scoring two goals and nine points in nine games. The minor league veteran only has one appearance at the NHL level in his career, coming last year with Winnipeg. If he gets another, he’ll be looking for his first point at the highest level.
That certainly isn’t guaranteed though, as the Jets are now on a three-game winning streak and sit first in the Central Division. The group is getting outstanding goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck and a new commitment to the defensive side of the puck from many veteran players. Though they have scored just 38 goals through 12 games, they’ve allowed just 28 – the fewest in the entire league.
They’ve had that success without Nikolaj Ehlers, who is getting closer to returning and will only help their offensive punch. After a disappointing year in 2021-22, the Jets appear to be playoff contenders once again.