Sonny Milano Signs With Washington Capitals
10/16/22: The Capitals have now officially announced the deal. Per the announcement, it’s a one-year, $750k deal, and it was confirmed that Milano will be hitting waivers today for the purpose of assigning him to AHL Hershey.
10/15/22: The Washington Capitals are expected to sign Sonny Milano, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The deal will be a one-year, one-way $750K contract but Friedman notes that Milano will be starting in the AHL. That would require him to clear waivers, meaning there’s at least a chance that another team could claim him for their NHL roster right away.
Milano, 26, failed to earn an NHL contract the summer or with his professional tryout this fall. That was with the Calgary Flames, where he struggled to fit into the team’s system or provide much offensive spark.
That’s the key with Milano, who has always been exceptionally skilled but has struggled to play a consistent role in the NHL. The 16th overall pick in 2014, he has 197 games under his belt, 66 of them coming last season with the Anaheim Ducks. That was easily his best season, finding early chemistry with Trevor Zegras and racking up 14 goals and 34 points.
Notably though, that included just five points in his final 27 games, the kind of inconsistency that has plagued him his whole career.
Perhaps the Capitals will be able to coax that out of him, though there appears to be no guarantee of playing time if he’s starting in the minor leagues. Washington has lost some serious forward depth in recent days, with Axel Jonsson Fjallby and Brett Leason both claimed on waivers.
Those two combined for 59 games for the Capitals last season, moving up and down when needed.
Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Three Players
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced the recalls of three skaters this morning, calling up forwards Nicholas Robertson and Wayne Simmonds, as well as defenseman Victor Mete. These moves come after starting netminder Matt Murray was placed on long-term injured reserve yesterday, a move that gave a cap-strapped Maple Leafs team some more breathing room under the salary cap.
Toronto had been operating with a roster holding the bare-minimum eighteen skaters and two goalies. Now, with this move, the team is utilizing all 23 of its allocated roster spots thanks to the additional room Murray’s LTIR placement provided.
With these recalls, Robertson and Simmonds are likely to start off as Toronto’s 13th and 14th forwards. In those roles, Robertson would likely fill in for any absences on the Maple Leafs’ scoring lines, while Simmonds would fill in for any absences in the team’s bottom six.
We covered earlier this month how the Maple Leafs were shopping Simmonds, a 1019-game veteran, but perhaps now that Simmonds has a place on Toronto’s NHL roster there won’t be the same sort of push to find a deal for him.
As for Mete, he was called up to in all likelihood serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. That’s a role that the 24-year-old should be able to handle capably, as he has had a place in NHL lineups since making his debut with the Montreal Canadiens in 2017-18.
The Maple Leafs are 2-1-0 and widely expected to be among the league’s best teams, although there has been concern about how well the team’s depth would hold up against the rigors of the NHL regular season. Now, we will see the organization’s depth face its first real test as these three players assume their roles as spare skaters in Toronto.
Canadiens Send Filip Mesar To Junior
10/16/22: Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek has issued an update on Mesar’s situation. As things currently stand, Mesar is sorting out IIHF transfer issues and is not expected to be available for selection to the Rangers’ lineup until Friday, when the team takes on the Sudbury Wolves.
10/15/22: It’s not very often that players drafted in the previous summer start the season in the minors as an 18-year-old. For those drafted out of the major junior ranks in Canada, it’s not even an option. But there are a handful of international players who were picked in July that have started this season in the AHL. That list shrunk by one today as the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they’ve loaned Filip Mesar to Kitchener of the OHL.
The 18-year-old was the 26th pick this summer after a decent showing in the Slovak Extraliga where he had eight goals and eight assists in 37 games while adding four more points in six playoff contests. Having played at a professional level the last two years, Mesar’s camp had indicated that his preference was to spend the year in the minors and not go to junior.
However, after seeing limited action on the fourth line with AHL Laval last night, Montreal has decided that the best opportunity for Mesar’s development will be to have him play big minutes in the OHL. As a result of the assignment, his three-year, entry-level deal will slide a season and still have three years left on it leading up to the 2023-24 campaign. His contract will also be credited off the Canadiens’ 50-contract limit which now stands at 45.
Latest On Jakob Chychrun
While defenseman Jakob Chychrun and the Arizona Coyotes are likely shared in their belief that finding a trade for the 24-year-old defenseman is the best path forward for them both, the more immediate priority is getting Chychrun back to full health. And while there hasn’t been much progress on the trade front, it seems that we do have some progress on Chychrun’s health.
On the 32 Thoughts segment of last night’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Chychrun is scheduled to rejoin the Coyotes in Montreal and begin to practice with the team. Friedman clarified that the timeline for his return to game action is “not as firm,” but regardless this should be considered a positive development for both Chychrun and the Coyotes.
The Coyotes are currently 0-2-0 in this young season, and while adding Chychrun back into their lineup is unlikely to instantly make them a competitive team, his return to full health could yield benefits in both the short and long-term.
In the short term, getting Chychrun back will bolster the left side of the Coyotes’ blueline, potentially allowing both Shayne Gostisbehere and J.J. Moser to play less demanding minutes and possibly a number of minutes more suitable to their current capabilities. Additionally, Chychrun could provide a boost to the level of offense the Coyotes can generate from their back end, as he is a more dynamic offensive blueliner than Dysin Mayo, the player currently playing as the third left-shot defender.
From a long-term perspective, getting Chychrun back into games could potentially be the factor that speeds up the process of finding a suitable trade for him. Chychrun had a down year in 2021-22 as he battled injuries and saw his offensive production dry up.
With that down year in mind, if Chychrun returns to the lineup and returns to the form that saw him score 18 goals and 41 points in 56 games in 2020-21, perhaps a team will be more willing to meet the reportedly sky-high asking price the Coyotes are demanding in any Chychrun trade.
On that front, Friedman notes that the Ottawa Senators, a long-rumored potential destination for Chychrun, are likely out of the running, at least for the moment. Friedman cites multiple sources to report that there “isn’t a path” to a Chychrun deal between Ottawa and Arizona.
But while the Senators may not end up being the team Chychrun is shipped to in a deal, simply getting him back into the fold should help the Coyotes not only remain competitive but also get to the conclusion of a trade saga that all parties involved would likely concede has dragged on far too long.
Pictures courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Slater Koekkoek Assigned To AHL
Last month, as training camp was set to begin, the Edmonton Oilers announced that Slater Koekkoek would be away from the team for mental health reasons. Since then, they also put him on waivers to clear him from the roster.
Yesterday, Koekkoek was loaned to the Bakersfield Condors, and today he was added to the roster according to the AHL transactions portal.
The 28-year-old defenseman played in 19 games for the Oilers last season, registering four points on the second season of a two-year one-way contract, he will earn $1.1MM regardless of which level he plays. His $925K cap hit, meanwhile, will be completely buried while assigned to the AHL.
After trading Dmitri Samorukov for Klim Kostin, the Oilers could certainly use the added depth at the position but have explained that they fully supported Koekkoek taking time away. Hopefully, being added to the Bakersfield roster means he’s on his way back and can resume his hockey career at some point soon.
Matej Pekar Loaned To AHL
After starting the season on injured reserve, Matej Pekar has now been loaned to the Rochester Americans by the Buffalo Sabres, according to the AHL transactions portal.
Pekar, 22, was not listed on the Americans opening roster yesterday but his assignment today suggests he is now healthy enough to join the club. The young forward is still waiver-exempt and could be assigned at any time after missing much of training camp.
Selected in the fourth round in 2018, Pekar has spent the last two seasons in the AHL playing a defensive role. In 72 minor league contests, he has just 12 points but 106 penalty minutes. Those haven’t really come from fighting (Pekar has three fighting majors in the AHL), but they do come from a physical, in-your-face style.
While he will probably never offer much offensive upside at the NHL level, his future is still something of interest. As a potential fourth-line option, he could even see some time with the big club this season once healthy.
Lightning Reinstate Ian Cole
October 15: The NHL has completed their investigation into the matter less than a week after allegations were raised. The league released a statement saying they found no evidence to substantiate the allegations made against Cole, and that the league considers the matter closed.
The investigation included two separate interviews with Mr. Cole as well as interviews with NHL club personnel and other individuals with potentially relevant information. Futher, the investigation included a detailed review of online and social media, public data, and court records and law enforcement checks. In addition, despite attempts by the League to make contact with the anonymous source of the social media post, those efforts were unsuccessful.
October 9: Earlier this week, allegations of sexual assault were made against Lightning defenseman Ian Cole. Tonight, the team announced that they’ve suspended the blueliner and issued the following statement:
The Tampa Bay Lightning is aware of the allegations against player Ian Cole and are cooperating fully with the NHL on an investigation. Our organization takes these allegations very seriously. While we continue to gather more details, we have decided to suspend Ian Cole pending the results of an investigation. No members of the organization, including players, will comment further at this time.
The 33-year-old signed a one-year, $3MM deal with Tampa Bay on the opening day of free agency using some of the cap room they freed up when they traded Ryan McDonagh to Nashville. The suspension is with pay so there is no effect on the salary cap. Cole spent last season with Carolina, collecting 19 points in 75 games while averaging just over 17 minutes per game.
Meanwhile, Cole’s agent Kevin Magnuson released the following statement on behalf of his client to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman:
I take the allegations made against me today in an anonymous tweet very seriously. I completely deny these allegations and will fully cooperate with the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning, their officials and legal departments in the forthcoming investigation. I look forward to clearing my name and demonstrating to the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning that these allegations are unfounded. I will have no further comment until the NHL’s investigation concludes.
New York Islanders Activate Cal Clutterbuck, Place Sebastian Aho On IR
Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports the New York Islanders have activated veteran winger Cal Clutterbuck from injured reserve and replaced him there with defenseman Sebastian Aho in a corresponding move.
The Islanders originally said in mid-September that Clutterbuck would be healthy for training camp after missing the last quarter of the 2021-22 season with an injury. However, just a few days ago, the team announced Clutterbuck had been placed on injured reserve retroactive to September 26 after general soreness had kept him out of practice for a couple of weeks. General manager Lou Lamoriello said at the time that he didn’t expect Clutterbuck to miss a significant amount of time, which was swiftly proven correct.
Clutterbuck could play in the Islanders’ home game tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. The 34-year-old is coming off a six-goal, 15-point season in 2021-22.
Aho is dealing with an undisclosed injury and will be out for at least seven days. Gross noted that Aho participated in the morning skate today and stayed out with the team’s extra players. Aho did not play in the season opener, as he was scratched for Robin Salo.
Toronto Maple Leafs Place Matt Murray On LTIR, Erik Kallgren Recalled
5:07 pm: The Maple Leafs have officially announced the transaction, also confirming that Murray is set to miss at least four weeks with an adductor injury.
4:41 pm: As reported by TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled goalie Erik Kallgren from the AHL. PuckPedia notes that this move implies that Matt Murray has been moved to long-term injured reserve after suffering an apparent groin injury in practice this morning.
If Murray was not injured enough to go on long-term injured reserve, the Maple Leafs would have had to utilize an emergency backup for tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators. The team remains tight to the salary cap and wouldn’t have had enough salary cap space to recall Kallgren without the additional LTIR relief from Murray’s $4.688MM cap hit.
Kallgren’s availability was also a point of uncertainty throughout the day for the Maple Leafs. The Swedish netminder, who had his 26th birthday yesterday, left the Toronto Marlies’ season opener against the Rochester Americans after a collision with Rochester Americans defenseman Ethan Prow. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier today, though, Kallgren was cleared of any injury on the play.
Toronto will now rely heavily on Ilya Samsonov to begin the season, who made 24 saves on 26 shots in his Maple Leafs debut on Thursday against the Washington Capitals. Kallgren will likely be used sparingly as a backup, having amassed an 8-4-1 record but a poor .888 save percentage last season in Toronto.
The soonest Murray will be eligible to return to the lineup is November 8.
Colorado Avalanche Have “Concern” About Gabriel Landeskog, Darren Helm’s Injuries
Speaking with reporters today, Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said there’s some “concern” over lingering injuries for both captain Gabriel Landeskog and Darren Helm. Bednar added that the team still didn’t have a concrete timeline for Landeskog’s return, according to The Athletic’s Peter Baugh.
Landeskog is still dealing with a lower-body injury that plagued him last season, although he played through that injury during their Stanley Cup-winning playoff run. Bednar told reporters roughly three weeks ago now that Landeskog wouldn’t skate anytime soon and was expected to miss the start of the season.
The 29-year-old underwent knee surgery last March, which shelved him for nearly the final two months of the regular season before he returned for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. At the time, Bednar indicated that his knee had been bothering him for some time, and it was an issue the team and player wanted to rectify before the playoffs started. The fact that the tone around Landeskog’s injury appears to be increasingly negative isn’t a good sign for his return to the lineup, especially when taken in relation to such a long-term knee issue.
Similarly, Helm is still recovering from an injury that he played through during the team’s playoff run, although his injury is abdominal. Bednar said last week that Helm wouldn’t be able to play for “some time” into the season. Helm re-signed with the Avalanche when free agency opened this past offseason, inking a one-year, $1.25MM contract.