Capitals Claim Nicolas Aube-Kubel Off Waivers From Maple Leafs
With Connor Brown done for the season due to ACL surgery, the Capitals have his $3.6MM cap hit to work with for LTIR space. They used a chunk of that today as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Washington has claimed winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel off waivers from Toronto.
It’s the second straight season that the 26-year-old has been plucked off the waiver wire in November as a year ago, Colorado scooped him up from Philadelphia. He went on to have a strong finish to his season with 11 goals and 11 assists in 67 games with the Avs while suiting up 14 times in their Stanley Cup run, leading to him signing a one-year, $1MM contract with the Maple Leafs on the opening day of free agency last summer.
However, things didn’t go particularly well for Aube-Kubel with Toronto as he was a healthy scratch in five of their first 11 games this season while he was held off the scoresheet in six games while logging just over nine minutes per game and with a need for some roster flexibility, they decided that Aube-Kubel was the one to part with. Notably, on top of the cap savings and roster spot being opened, this also frees up a contract slot for Toronto who was at the maximum of 50 prior to this claim.
Meanwhile, for Washington, it’s a low-risk move to bring in a bottom-six forward with some NHL experience as Aube-Kubel has 175 career NHL appearances under his belt which will give Peter Laviolette another option as he looks to find the right combination on the fourth line. With the Caps having a full roster, they’ve assigned Garrett Pilon to AHL Hershey to open up a spot on their 23-man roster. Pilon has five points in seven games with the Bears so far this season.
Devils Recall Akira Schmid, Send Andreas Johnsson To AHL
With Mackenzie Blackwood suffering a lower-body injury while stretching across to make a stop against Edmonton on Thursday, the Devils needed a second goaltender. That second netminder will be Akira Schmid as the team announced today (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Utica. To make room for him on the roster, winger Andreas Johnsson has been sent down to the Comets.
The 22-year-old Schmid has played in four games so far this season with Utica, posting a 1.97 GAA along with a .918 SV%, numbers that are considerably better than the ones that Nico Daws has put up so far which helped Schmid earn the nod. He does have a bit of NHL experience having played in six games with the Devils last season but he struggled in those appearances to the tune of a 4.83 GAA and a save percentage of just .833. Vitek Vanecek will likely get the bulk of the workload until Blackwood is able to return and no timeline has been provided on that front yet.
As for Johnsson, the 27-year-old actually had the second-best year of his career last season with New Jersey, collecting 13 goals and 22 points in 71 games. However, with a $3.4MM AAV and a tenuous hold on a roster spot, the Devils correctly predicted that he’d pass through waivers unclaimed last month, allowing him to be shuffled back and forth as roster needs warrant. He hasn’t played with the Devils this season and has six points in four games with the Comets so far.
Dylan Guenther To Remain With Coyotes, Will Burn First Season Of Contract
This is the time of year when some teams will need to make decisions about any junior-aged players they might have. Once a player plays in ten NHL games, they officially begin (or burn) the first year of their entry-level contract. One of the players in that situation was Coyotes winger Dylan Guenther. The decision has been made and the 19-year-old will remain with the big club with the news being broken to him by his family (Twitter link).
Guenther was the ninth overall selection in 2021 with a pick that was acquired from Vancouver as part of the swap that sent defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and winger Conor Garland to the Canucks. He lit it up with Edmonton of the WHL last season, scoring 45 goals while adding 46 assists in just 59 games while adding another 21 points (13-8-21) in just 16 playoff contests. Accordingly, there wasn’t much left for him to do at the major junior level but he’s ineligible to play with AHL Tucson this season (aside from a short-term conditioning stint) which left his options as Arizona or the WHL.
The Coyotes kept Guenther up after a good showing in training camp and he has rewarded them with a strong start to his rookie campaign with two goals and four helpers through his first nine contests. Perhaps as important as the production is the fact that he’s logging nearly 13 minutes a night which is a decent amount of ice time for a junior-aged player. That type of playing time should be sustainable throughout the year, especially with Arizona struggling a bit offensively as they sit 30th in the NHL in goals scored heading into today’s action.
With this news, Guenther will become a restricted free agent in the 2025 offseason but there is still one more threshold to watch for which is 40 games on the active roster. Once he gets to that mark, he then accrues a season of service time toward unrestricted free agency which would allow him to hit the open market at 26 instead of 27. He won’t get to that mark for a few months so there will be plenty of time for his evaluation to continue.
Kings Recall Rasmus Kupari
Saturday: Kupari’s stint in the minors was short-lived as the team announced that he has been recalled from Ontario and will be with the team for practice later today.
Friday: The Los Angeles Kings have sent Rasmus Kupari back to the minor leagues, as they return home for four games. Kupari was recalled on October 29 and is still waiver-exempt.
Now 22, the 2018 first-round pick has played in four games this season and recorded one assist. His play in the minor leagues has been inspiring, but it hasn’t turned into a regular spot in this year’s lineup. In 2021-22 he played 57 games and appeared to have taken the next step but with the emergence of other young players and the offseason acquisitions, the Kings’ roster is filled with talented forwards.
Even in the games he did play, Kupari only averaged 11:21 of ice time and not a single second on the powerplay. As a pending restricted free agent, this could have been a perfect platform year for the young forward. But unless something changes, it appears he’ll be heading into offseason negotiations without any legitimate NHL success.
The Kings are back in action tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers.
Injury Updates: Norris, Saad, Matheson, Mitchell
While it was recently revealed that Senators center Josh Norris would miss several months due to needing shoulder surgery, that procedure hasn’t happened yet. Instead, as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports, the 23-year-old is seeking a second opinion in the hopes of avoiding having to go under the knife and miss that much time. Head coach D.J. Smith indicated that the team is still proceeding with the expectation that Norris won’t be available for the rest of the season while Garrioch notes a final decision from the center is expected in the next couple of days.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Blues winger Brandon Saad has resumed practicing as he works his way back from a back injury, relays Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 30-year-old has missed six straight due to the issue and hasn’t gotten onto the scoresheet in his three contests so far this season. At this point, there’s no timeline for a return just yet and it’s worth noting that he’s not on injured reserve so a roster move won’t need to be made when he gets the green light to suit up.
- Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson skated today for the first time as he continues to work his way back from an abdominal injury, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 28-year-old was originally designated as day-to-day but that was later amended to an eight-week absence. There still are a few weeks left in that timeframe so it’s unlikely that Montreal will be getting one of its top defenders back for a little while yet.
- Blackhawks defenseman Ian Mitchell told reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) that his wrist injury basically boils down to a pain tolerance issue at this point. He’s hoping to skate with the team next week when they return from their current road trip and if all goes well, he could be cleared to return soon after. That said, while he should be getting back to game action before much longer, it appears that this injury will linger for a little while yet.
Red Wings Recall Austin Czarnik
It appears as if Detroit native Austin Czarnik will get an opportunity to suit up for his hometown team as the Red Wings announced that they have recalled the winger from Grand Rapids of the AHL.
The 29-year-old signed with Detroit last summer after splitting last season between the Islanders and Kraken, inking a two-year deal worth the NHL minimum while guaranteeing him $450K in salary each year. This season, he has played exclusively in the minors so far and leads the Griffins in goals (five) while being tied for the lead in points (ten) through his first eight contests.
While Czarnik has bounced back and forth between the NHL and the AHL throughout his career, he has seen action at the top level in each of his first six full professional seasons with a good chance of making it seven now that he’s up with the Red Wings. Overall, he has 15 goals and 30 assists across 142 NHL contests.
Detroit had an open roster spot to work with even after converting winger Matt Luff‘s promotion to a regular recall earlier this week so no corresponding move needed to be made to bring Czarnik up.
Snapshots: Heinola, Blackwood, Letang
Ville Heinola, a member of the Winnipeg Jets organization, was once one of the fastest-rising prospects from the 2019 NHL draft. He had an impressive training camp and preseason in the fall of 2019, and earned a look on the team’s season-opening roster. Heinola scored five points in eight games before being sent down to the AHL and then eventually departing to play in his native Finland, and most were of the belief that Heinola was nearing a role as a regular defenseman in Winnipeg. Since that point, though, Heinola has skated in just 17 more NHL games, and currently finds himself on the outside looking in on the team’s blueline situation.
Apparently, this hasn’t sat well with Heinola or his camp. Heinola is “reportedly growing frustrated with being sent to the AHL” again this season, according to his agent, Alain Roy, via The Hockey News’ Jacob Stoller. “Ville doesn’t deserve a guaranteed spot in the lineup,” Roy said. “He deserves a shot to play a run of games to show he can do it. And that’s all we’re asking for.” Heinola is just 21 years old and a talented puck mover, but he hasn’t yet shown the defensive prowess or strength and speed combination that would force the Jets’ hand. With Josh Morrissey, Dylan Samberg, and Brenden Dillon each occupying spots on the left side of the Jets’ blueline, Winnipeg may not be able to afford Heinola the “run of games” he desires.
Some other notes from across the NHL:
- The New Jersey Devils are the NHL’s hottest team at the moment, but goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood has not been one of the team’s bright spots. Blackwood has an .880 save percentage this year, and it appears he now has to face another issue beyond just his performance. Devils coach Lindy Ruff said, as relayed by Devils team reporter Amanda Stein, that Blackwood is “meeting with doctors” in Calgary today. Blackwood left his last game in discomfort, and this could be a signal that he might miss some time.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have gotten off to a slow start so far this season, and among many reasons for the team’s lackluster performance has been the uneven start from star defenseman Kris Letang. Letang hasn’t been his best so far this season, and today we received some explanation as to why. Per Letang, he has been battling an illness and has been playing through it for the past stretch of games. The Penguins are eager to get their season back on track quickly given how competitive the Metropolitan Division looks, so getting Letang back to full health would be a major step toward getting there.
St. Louis Blues Activate Keean Washkurak, Assign To AHL
As first reported by CapFriendly, the St. Louis Blues have removed prospect forward Keean Washkurak from their season-opening injured-reserve list, and assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. Washkurak had left wrist surgery after being injured in the preseason and is now ready to begin his sophomore professional campaign.
The 21-year-old forward was the Blues’ fifth-round choice at the 2019 draft and made his full professional debut last season with the Thunderbirds. A solid top-six forward at the junior level, Washkurak played in a bottom-six role last season and scored a healthy 13 goals and 23 points in 64 games. Washkurak also got some looks on the team’s power play, although he was not a major contributor there.
Now 21 years old and fully in the professional phase of his development, this season will go a long way in determining if an NHL future is in the cards for Washkurak. That makes his return to health after missing just eight of the Thunderbirds’ games so important.
Springfield has gotten off to an uneven start so far in the AHL, with a 4-3-1 record, and they will hope that Washkurak returning to their lineup can help them find the form they showed last season when they made a run to the Calder Cup Final.
Florida Panthers Recall Aleksi Heponiemi
According to the team, the Florida Panthers have recalled forward Aleksi Heponiemi from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers ahead of tomorrow’s road game in Los Angeles.
The 23-year-old forward signed a one-year, two-way contract extension last July to remain with the team that drafted him. Heponiemi was the 40th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and proceeded to have a spectacular post-draft career in both the WHL and the Liiga before turning pro in North America. Although his offensive success hasn’t quite translated yet to the NHL (he has a goal and two assists in 15 career games), there’s still some development time left in the tank for Heponiemi.
The move comes with Patric Hornqvist and Colin White both sidelined with upper-body injuries, leaving the team with just 11 healthy forwards. Heponiemi had four points in his first six games with Charlotte.
Assuming no line changes occur in Hornqvist’s absence, Heponiemi could slot in on the wing and make a Finnish trio with Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell.
Latest On Brock Boeser, Travis Dermott
As the Vancouver Canucks continue to rally back from an awful start, their team health is improving along with their play. While the jury remains out on how long they can consistently string together wins, the team is indeed getting healthier and will get even closer to full strength soon.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau said today that he doesn’t think forward Brock Boeser will play tomorrow, but he’s just day-to-day as he waits for a re-opened scar on his hand to close. He also said that it’s possible defenseman Travis Dermott, who’s yet to play this season with a concussion, will rejoin the team for their road trip next week to make his season debut.
Boeser had four points in six games to begin the season, but he hasn’t played since October 24 with the previously undisclosed injury. Nils Hoglander currently sits in the team’s top six in his absence, and the young Swede has been limited to just one assist in eight games.
Dermott’s concussion has kept him out on a week-to-week basis, and he could solidify what’s looking like a much-improved Canucks defense when healthy with his return. The acquisitions of Ethan Bear and a healthy Dermott go a long way toward improving the team’s depth, and the Canucks are hoping that it can help them erase the bad taste of their 0-5-2 start.