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Pacific Notes: Sharks, Hart, Karlsson

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The Sharks have not yet decided if they will loan forward Michael Misa or defenseman Sam Dickinson to play for Canada at the upcoming World Juniors, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News.  Misa is set to debut with the AHL’s Barracuda tonight while on a conditioning assignment, one that can last up to two weeks.  The second overall pick back in June has been used quite sparingly this season, getting into just seven NHL games where he has a goal and two assists.  Accordingly, he hasn’t officially activated the first year of his entry-level deal.  If Misa plays out his AHL stint and then joins Canada’s roster, that would allow San Jose to wait until January before making a final call on keeping him in the NHL or sending him back to junior.

As for Dickinson, the 19-year-old has played much more frequently, getting into 21 games with the Sharks so far.  However, he has been limited to just one goal and one assist after putting up 91 points in just 55 games with OHL London last season.  Dickinson is averaging a respectable 14:27 per game of ice time but would have a much more prominent role at the World Juniors.  With San Jose carrying eight healthy blueliners, they wouldn’t necessarily need to bring anyone up from the Barracuda to take his place on the roster if they were to loan Dickinson out.

More from the Pacific:

  • Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, relays Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). He sustained the injury in his season debut on Tuesday against Chicago, one that saw him make 27 saves in a shootout victory over Chicago.  Vegas recalled Jesper Vikman from AHL Henderson earlier today and they are using an emergency roster exception that lasts up to 48 hours to allow them to temporarily exceed the 23-player roster limit.
  • Still with the Golden Knights, they’ve placed center William Karlsson on LTIR, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). The move was needed to afford Vikman’s recall.  Karlsson last played on November 8th, meaning that he has already missed the required 10 games and 24 days, assuming the placement was back-dated.  The 32-year-old has four goals and three assists in 14 games this season and remains listed as out week-to-week.

Avalanche Recall Tristen Nielsen

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The Avalanche have added some extra depth up front in advance of their game against the Rangers on Saturday.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Tristen Nielsen from AHL Colorado.

The 25-year-old started the season on a minor league deal but a strong showing early on with the Eagles resulted in the Avs converting him to a two-year, two-way NHL pact that carries a $775K cap charge.  This is now his third recall since signing that contract in late October.

Nielsen has played in four games with the Avalanche, picking up an assist, three shots on goal, and nine hits in 6:18 of playing time per night on their fourth line.  He has been much more productive with the Eagles, tallying 10 goals and five assists in 18 outings in the minors.

Colorado already had a full 23-player roster following Wednesday’s recall of Trent Miner from the Eagles with Scott Wedgewood injured.  Accordingly, another roster move needed to be made before officially adding Nielsen to the roster but that was not announced by the team.  If Wedgewood is going to miss some time, he could land on injured reserve while Gavin Brindley – though returning soon – is eligible to retroactively be placed on IR.

Atlantic Notes: Edvinsson, Senators, Luostarinen

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The Red Wings gave Moritz Seider a big contract two years ago when they signed him to a seven-year, $59.85MM contract ($8.55MM AAV).  In his latest mailbag (subscription link), The Athletic’s Max Bultman suggests that pending RFA blueliner Simon Edvinsson’s next contract could fall in that range.  While he lacks the offensive output that players like Jackson LaCombe and Luke Hughes ($9MM apiece) have achieved, the 22-year-old is averaging nearly 22 minutes per game, not far off Seider’s usage in his platform year.  With the salary cap projected to jump much faster in the next few years, it’s certainly plausible that Edvinsson’s next contract lands in Seider’s range even if he isn’t quite as impactful overall as the 2022 Calder Trophy winner.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Senators won’t have center Shane Pinto available to them for tomorrow’s game against St. Louis, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. He suffered a lower-body injury early in Thursday’s game and is still being evaluated at this time.  Meanwhile, there is no timeline for fellow middleman Lars Eller’s return to the lineup from an undisclosed injury.  Ottawa recently recalled center Stephen Halliday and head coach Travis Green confirmed that they are contemplating another recall.  With Ridly Greig being able to move back down the middle, the Sens won’t be restricted to only considering centers; winger Arthur Kaliyev is off to a strong start and could be worthy of a promotion.
  • Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen returned to practice today for the first time since suffering burns while barbecuing, mentions team reporter Rob Darragh. He has missed the last eight games while recovering.  The 27-year-old has taken on a bigger role this season in Aleksander Barkov’s absence, collecting 10 points in 18 games while logging a career-high 16:46 per game of ice time.  Head coach Paul Maurice wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Luostarinen playing this weekend; if he does, Florida won’t have to make a roster move as they kept him on the active roster while injured.

Capitals Sign EBUG Parker Milner To PTO For Friday’s Game

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The Capitals won’t have backup Charlie Lindgren available for their road game tonight against the Ducks due to an upper-body injury, the team announced. Due to the late nature of the development and the inability to get a netminder from AHL Hershey to the West Coast in time for the game, they’ve signed retired netminder Parker Milner to a professional tryout to dress as the backup to Logan Thompson.

Milner isn’t nearly as inexperienced as recent EBUG folk heroes like David Ayres or Scott Foster. The new CBA introduced legislation that mandated teams must now employ an emergency backup as a team employee, rather than the previous system of the league having one name sit at the arena every night to enter action for either team if necessary. These can’t be names with NHL experience, nor can they have played pro hockey in the last three years, but they can be relatively fresh names who routinely serve as extra practice goalies for the club to stay fresh.

Milner, 35, last played in the 2019-20 season but is a familiar face to the Capitals organization. He spent the last four years of his career as a minor-league farmhand, splitting time between Hershey and ECHL South Carolina, and was even signed to an NHL contract in the latter half of the 2018-19 campaign so that he could serve as the Caps’ emergency third goalie for that year’s playoffs.

The Pittsburgh native was an accomplished collegiate netminder, logging a .919 SV%, 2.23 GAA, six shutouts, and a 64-20-5 record in 93 appearances across four seasons for Boston College from 2009 to 2013. He was the backup when they won the national championship in 2010 and helped them to three consecutive Hockey East titles. In his junior season in 2012, his first as the starter, he took them back to the national championship and was named tournament MVP.

While he never reached the NHL, he did have a successful pro career. He was a two-time ECHL All-Star and won the league’s Goalie of the Year honors while with South Carolina in 2018. He wrapped up his pro career with a .916 SV%, 2.44 GAA, 19 shutouts, and a 143-79-17 record in 245 ECHL appearances. He also got in 30 reps in the AHL, logging a .902 SV% and 3.02 GAA with a 13-12-2 record.

Ducks Activate Mikael Granlund From Injured Reserve

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The Ducks have activated center Mikael Granlund from injured reserve, Derek Lee of The Hockey News reports. Goaltender Petr Mrázek has landed on IR in the corresponding move, retroactive to Nov. 30, Lee adds.

Granlund’s availability has been sparse since Anaheim landed him as one of the big fish of last summer’s free agent class on a three-year, $21MM contract. The 33-year-old has now missed 18 of the Ducks’ last 19 games due to a lower-body injury he initially sustained in an Oct. 25 game against the Lightning. He missed several games before initially attempting a return on Nov. 13 against the Red Wings. He had a successful outing, scoring a goal on a pair of shots in 15:45 of ice time, but reaggravated the injury and has sat out the last 10 as a result.

When dressed, though, Granlund has delivered on the hype. The 5’10” pivot was once viewed as one of the league’s better two-way forwards and routinely put up 60-point campaigns during the early days of his career with the Wild. A 2019 trade to the Predators largely derailed his consistent production aside from a resurgent 2021-22 season in which he put up 64 points. After a post-trade deadline stint with the Penguins in 2023, where he scored just once in 21 games, his stock was at an all-time low. Pittsburgh flipped the remaining two years of his five-year, $20MM deal to the Sharks that offseason in the Erik Karlsson trade in what was largely viewed as a cap dump.

Playing important minutes on a bottom-feeder Sharks team, Granlund resurrected his career. He rattled off 60 points in only 69 games, tying his career high of 0.87 points per game, and had 45 points in 52 games for San Jose the following season before they landed a first-round pick from the Stars to take on him and Cody Ceci as rentals.

Granlund finished the year with a 7-14–21 scoring line in 31 games for Dallas, an expected slight reduction as his minutes were reduced on an infinitely deeper Stars forward roster. Nonetheless, his stock, along with a weak cast of centers on the open market, left the cap-strapped Stars with no chance of retaining him. A virtual lock to hit the open market, he ended up cashing on a short-term deal with the highest AAV of his career from Anaheim.

The experiment has worked out well so far. With three goals and six assists, he’s clicked at a point per game through nine appearances and has averaged north of 17 minutes per game. His linemates have fluctuated, and he’s expected to have a new set of them tonight against the Capitals. He took line rushes this morning between Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome on Anaheim’s third line, per Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune.

Importantly, Granlund has been the best faceoff man for a Ducks team that’s winning 46.4% of its draws, 29th in the league. At 52.8%, Granlund is the only Ducks center above the water line this season. He’s also been a special-teams beast, leading the team with 3:40 of power-play ice time per game while also averaging 1:14 per game shorthanded.

Mrázek’s IR placement is solely procedural. He’s already been ruled out week-to-week with the apparent groin injury he sustained late in last weekend’s loss to the Blackhawks. With starter Lukáš Dostál sidelined for another one to two weeks, it’s third-stringer Ville Husso’s net until he returns.

Erik Karlsson Is Playing His Best Hockey In Years

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When the Penguins acquired defenseman Erik Karlsson from the  Sharks in August 2023, they envisioned him giving their big three (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang) one last push for a playoff run. Two and a third years into the experiment, the results haven’t been promising, as Pittsburgh missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and has entered into a rebuild — or at least, that’s what they believed.

However, Karlsson and the big three have the Penguins in contention for a playoff spot some 26 games into the season, in a year when they expected to be one of the worst teams in the league. Karlsson is nowhere near the offensive producer he was during the 2022-23 season when he won the Norris Trophy and registered 101 points, but he has been in good form this year and has provided Pittsburgh with more of a two-way presence on their back end.

When Pittsburgh started the season, the left side of their defense looked like a black hole because they had very little depth at that position, and it was expected to be the team’s Achilles’ heel. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, recent signee free agent Parker Wotherspoon stepped up and claimed one of the spots in the top six.

Not long after, Wotherspoon was paired with Karlsson, and together they have become Pittsburgh’s top defensive pairing. There were no expectations for Karlsson or Wotherspoon this season. Still, under the guidance of first-year head coach Dan Muse, Karlsson appears to be a completely different player, and Wotherspoon has become a meaningful NHL defenseman for the first time in his short professional career.

Using the eye test, Karlsson looks like a different player compared to the past two seasons. He is playing a more focused defensive game and has shown more defensive awareness than he has in a long time. His skating in the defensive zone has been effective in recovering to get back into position, closing gaps, and, along with his instincts, breaking up plays.

On the offensive side, Karlsson remains a fantastic playmaker, still demonstrating the elite vision that has helped him win three Norris Trophies. Even if his goal-scoring isn’t what it once was, he is still an elite offensive player who could be ready to break out.

Even if his offensive stats hover around 55 to 60 points, which is about where they are this season (one goal and 17 assists in 26 games), Karlsson’s play away from the puck makes his lower offensive totals easier to accept. In fact, Karlsson and Wotherspoon have not only formed a solid defensive pairing, but they have also been highly effective at killing penalties and are Pittsburgh’s most-used defensive duo when shorthanded. Their even-strength play has been strong as well, with Karlsson and Wotherspoon limiting high-danger scoring chances, demonstrating a defensive awareness rarely seen in Karlsson’s game.

Karlsson appears more comfortable on the ice, playing loose and fast, a stark contrast to the last few years, when the 35-year-old seemed as though Father Time had caught up with him. A perfect example is this past Monday in a game against the Flyers.

With the game tied 1-1, Karlsson collects the puck, bursts out from behind his own net, skates straight to the middle of the ice in the offensive zone and drives right at the two Flyers defenders. He then cuts to the right and makes a tape-to-tape cross-ice pass to Bryan Rust, who spots the trailer (Crosby) for a one-timer that ends up in the back of Philadelphia’s net. It’s a goal that Karlsson didn’t start a year or two ago, and it highlights the change in his work rate.

It also makes one wonder where Karlsson and the Penguins will finish this season. It might even be better if not for a significant injury bug that swept through the room at the start of November, bringing down Noel Acciari, Rickard Rakell, and Justin Brazeau, among others. The injuries effectively removed one forward from each line and put the Penguins in a position where their depth was tested in November, and quite frankly, they don’t have much depth.

You could argue that Karlsson has been lucky, and that some of his mistakes are being offset by Wotherspoon’s consistent performance and the efforts of his goalies. This idea is valid, as Karlsson and Wotherspoon have been on the ice together for 14 goals for and 10 goals against (a 58.3% goals share) while their expected goals share is just 47.3%, with projections of 15.1 goals scored and 16.8 goals conceded (all numbers via MoneyPuck). These data points do tell a story, and there might be some truth to Karlsson being fortunate, but they don’t reflect Karlsson’s own defensive contributions, which have been excellent this year compared to previous seasons.

Speaking of the Penguins’ goaltending, there is a case to be made that many of the Penguins’ shortcomings as a team have been masked by the exceptional goaltending they’ve received so far. Tristan Jarry has been excellent to start the year, with a goals saved above expected of 8.2, and Arturs Silovs has also been good with a 2.5 goals saved above expected (all numbers courtesy of MoneyPuck). That kind of goaltending can’t be expected to continue for the rest of the year, especially in Jarry’s case, who has a history of struggling in the second half of the season. But, for now, it’s a significant reason that Pittsburgh is in contention for the postseason, along with the play of Karlsson and other veterans.

A consistent feature of Pittsburgh this year has been its veteran stars, including Karlsson. He’s remained a dependable presence for the team and could step up further as the season approaches the Olympics. Karlsson is clearly driven by something, and the Olympics are as good an assumption as any.

There is also the possibility that Karlsson understands the situation he’s in. Karlsson was expected to be traded in the summer, but that never happened, which means he might be stuck in Pittsburgh until next year or until his contract expires at the end of the 2027 season. The Penguins will likely make moves next summer to speed up their rebuild—Josh Yohe of The Athletic has repeatedly expressed this belief. Looking at the mix of young prospects and veterans still playing at a high level, it all makes sense. Pittsburgh isn’t a Stanley Cup contender right now and probably won’t be for a few more years. However, with the 2025 draft selections that they made and a potential superstar goalie in Sergey Murashov, that timeline could shift very soon.

If Karlsson stays with the team next season, it could be his best opportunity to chase a Stanley Cup. Even if he doesn’t, there will be motivation to extend his career beyond the 2026-27 season, and factors like money and his choice of destination will also serve as strong motivators. 

Photo by Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Predators Place Ozzy Wiesblatt, Justin Barron On Injured Reserve

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The Predators announced that winger Ozzy Wiesblatt has been placed on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury. Defenseman Justin Barron was also placed on IR with a lower-body injury (retroactive to Dec. 1). Wiesblatt will miss eight to 10 weeks, while Barron was given a week-to-week status.

Wiesblatt left last night’s overtime win over the Panthers just 15 seconds into his first shift. He collided with Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe while attempting to close him off in the offensive zone, spun out, and then got clipped by teammate Michael McCarron incidentally (via Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Hockey). He did not return to the game.

The final pick of the first round by the Sharks in 2020, Wiesblatt had a tough go of things in their minor-league system before Nashville acquired him in exchange for the signing rights to Egor Afanasyev in the 2024 offseason. After never recording more than 15 points in a season for San Jose’s AHL club, he arrived with the Preds’ affiliate in Milwaukee last season and exploded for 15 goals and 40 points in 64 games. That effort earned Wiesblatt his NHL debut, playing five games last year on various recalls between January and March.

Wiesblatt could have been a restricted free agent last summer, but signed a two-year, two-way extension way back in November 2024 to avoid that outcome. No longer waiver-exempt and on the heels of his minor-league breakout, Wiesblatt earned a spot on Nashville’s opening night roster in October. He sat as a healthy scratch for the season’s first three games but has appeared in every contest since. He hasn’t been a significant offensive threat – he has four points in 24 games and only scored his first NHL goal earlier this week – but has been a part of one of the league’s most defensively responsible forward trios. Nashville’s fourth line of Wiesblatt, McCarron, and Cole Smith has controlled 64.3% of expected goals at 5-on-5 and is allowing just 1.58 xGA/60, fifth-best in the league among lines with at least 50 minutes together (per MoneyPuck).

Unfortunately, the Preds have only been able to ice that line in 10 of 27 games this season, in part due to Smith sitting out the last month with an upper-body injury. There’s still another couple of weeks until he’s expected to return, and they’ll now be without Wiesblatt until likely after the Olympic break. In the meantime, Wiesblatt’s absence means a longer leash for recent call-up Reid Schaefer and extra forward Tyson Jost.

Barron’s IR placement is far less consequential. He’s only carried an injury designation for the last two games after getting banged up in practice but hasn’t played since Nov. 16, sitting as a healthy scratch in five straight before sustaining the lower-body issue. His absence, though, plus an upper-body injury to Nicklaus Perbix that has him out day-to-day, has caused some lineup construction issues on Nashville’s back end. Without those two, Nick Blankenburg stands as the only righty on the roster, meaning their top four group of Nicolas Hague, Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, and Adam Wilsby is made up solely of left-shot options.

Interestingly enough, the Preds’ underlying numbers have improved with Hague-Josi and Skjei-Wilsby deployed as their top two units. They’re controlling 58.7% and 59.1% of expected goals at 5-on-5, respectively, the top two figures among Nashville d-pairings with at least 30 minutes together.

Unless Perbix is healthy enough for tomorrow’s game against the Hurricanes, the IR placements leave Nashville without an extra skater on their roster – not an ideal position for a road game, even if it’s a relatively short travel distance. With two newly-opened roster spots, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them make a recall from AHL Milwaukee tomorrow.

Hurricanes Reassign Domenick Fensore

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Dec. 5: Fensore was returned to AHL Chicago today, the team announced. He wasn’t needed for last night’s 5-1 loss at the hands of the Leafs.

Dec. 4: The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that defenseman Domenick Fensore has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. The move comes as veteran defenseman K’Andre Miller manages an illness, according to team reporter Walt Ruff.

This isn’t Fensore’s first NHL recall of 2025-26. He was recalled by Carolina in late October while the team was dealing with a slate of defensive injuries. He made his season debut in the team’s Oct. 28 contest against the Vegas Golden Knights, a game where he received nearly 20 minutes of ice time. Outside of that one NHL game played, Fensore has largely served as a healthy scratch during his time spent on the NHL roster so far in 2025-26.

While it’s unclear at this point whether Fensore will dress for the team’s game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s entirely possible he’s been recalled to once more serve as a spare defenseman and healthy scratch.

The 24-year-old former Boston University captain has proven himself to be a quality creator of offense from the back end at the AHL level. He scored 32 points in 67 games last season and has upped his production considerably so far this year. Fensore ranks second on the Wolves in scoring for 2025-26 with 15 points in 17 games, just behind forward Felix Unger-Sorum, who has 19 points in 20 games.

A pending RFA with arbitration rights, these repeated recalls are a positive sign for Fensore’s upcoming free agency. They signal the Hurricanes’ increased level of trust in Fensore as an NHL option, even if he hasn’t been able to crack Carolina’s lineup on a full-time basis.

The one-year contract extension Fensore signed in July of last year contained a two-way structure and an AHL salary of just $70K, with a $100K guarantee. Fensore’s on-ice value so far this season merits a significant pay raise, and the more call-ups he can receive, the more likely it is that Fensore will be able to earn a more significant AHL salary on his next contract, assuming his next deal also carries a two-way structure.

Sweden Announces Roster For 2026 World Juniors

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After USA Hockey announced its preliminary roster for the 2026 World Junior Championship at the beginning of the month, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association became the next gold medal contender to follow suit. Unlike the host country, though, Sweden released a 26-man list and therefore only has one cut to make before the tournament kicks off on Dec. 26 at the Wild’s Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul and 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, home to the University of Minnesota men’s team. Their roster is as follows:

F Jack Berglund (Flyers, 2024, 2-51)
F Viggo Björck (2026 draft eligible)
F Wilson Björck (Canucks, 2025, 5-143)
F Liam Danielsson (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
F Victor Eklund (Islanders, 2025, 1-16)
F Linus Eriksson (Panthers, 2024, 2-58)
F Anton Frondell (Blackhawks, 2025, 1-3)
F Milton Gästrin (Capitals, 2025, 2-37)
F Eddie Genborg (Red Wings, 2025, 2-44)
F Casper Juustovaara Karlsson (2026 draft eligible)
F Loke Krantz (Kraken, 2025, 7-218)
F Valter Lindberg (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
F Eric Nilson (Ducks, 2025, 2-45)
F Lucas Pettersson (Ducks, 2024, 2-35)
F Ivar Stenberg (2026 draft eligible)

D Sascha Boumedienne (Jets, 2025, 1-28)
D Felix Carell (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
D Alfons Freij (Jets, 2024, 2-37)
D Viggo Gustafsson (Predators, 2024, 3-77)
D William Håkansson (2026 draft eligible)
D Victor Johansson (Maple Leafs, 2024, 4-120)
D Felix Öhrqvist (undrafted in 2024, 2025)
D Leo Sahlin Wallenius (Sharks, 2024, 2-53)

G Måns Goos (Stars, 2025, 5-158)
G Love Härenstam (Blues, 2025, 6-179)
G Herman Liv (undrafted in 2024, 2025)

At forward, the Swedes are arguably bringing more true star power to the event than the Americans, who are seeking a three-peat. While the Bruins’ James Hagens is the only top-10 pick on the States’ roster, Sweden could have three – the reigning third-overall selection in Frondell, plus Stenberg and Björck, both of whom should hear their names called early on the first night of next year’s draft. Björck’s stock has slipped somewhat this year, but Stenberg’s has only risen to the point where he’s a legitimate challenger for first overall. With 23 points in 24 SHL games for Frölunda, he’s operating at the third-highest point-per-game pace all-time for an 18-year-old in that league behind Tomas Sandström and Markus Näslund. He and Frondell will form the centerpiece of Sweden’s attack.

The talent level drops off somewhat on the back end. They don’t have the top-15 talents like Axel Sandin Pellikka and Tom Willander that they’ve had at their disposal over the past couple of years. Boumedienne now takes the reins as their most high-profile name, along with the draft-eligible Håkansson, a 6’4″ lefty who most have pegged as a late first-round pick.

In goal, the Swedes have an open competition for the starters’ crease – in a good way. Härenstam and Liv are both off to great starts this season as starters for their respective teams in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league. It would be quite a story for the undrafted Liv to emerge as the No. 1 option, considering his last start for the Swedes at a major international tournament was at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. However, it’s looking like that could be the case. With a .923 SV% in 12 games for Almtuna IS, he’s second in the league. The 19-year-old is the son of former SHL and KHL star and Red Wings prospect Stefan Liv, who died in the 2011 plane crash that killed 26 players and three staff of the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

While Sweden has lost just four times in regulation in the group stage at the WJC since 2012, they haven’t won a gold medal in that span. In the past 13 tournaments, they’ve won silver four times (2013, 2014, 2018, 2024) and bronze twice (2020, 2022).

Lightning Reassign Declan Carlile

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The Lightning announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Declan Carlile to AHL Syracuse. The move leaves them with no extra defensemen and an open roster spot, an indication that they plan on activating captain Victor Hedman from injured reserve before Saturday’s match with the Islanders. He was a full participant in today’s practice, according to Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider.

Carlile, 25, was recalled from Syracuse in mid-November in the wake of injuries to Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Erik Černák. The latter two remain on injured reserve, but getting Hedman back to anchor the team’s top pairing with J.J. Moser is nonetheless a significant boon for a club that’s navigated its rash of injuries quite well. Since the Lightning lost both Hedman and McDonagh to injuries in their Nov. 8 game against the Capitals, the club has taken hold of first place in the Atlantic Division with an 8-4-0 record. Their .667 points percentage is sixth-best in the league during that frame.

Carlile, a fourth-year pro, had played in each of Tampa’s nine games since his recall. That set a new career-high in games played for the 6’3″ lefty, who made his NHL debut in 2023-24 and made three appearances last season.

The Lightning signed Carlile as an undrafted free agent out of Merrimack College near the end of a 2021-22 season in which he was a Hobey Baker Award nominee and was named to the Hockey East conference’s Second All-Star Team. The Michigan native has been a stable two-way presence at the minor-league level since making the jump to the pro ranks, but had appeared to find a new gear offensively to begin this season, rattling off two goals, eight assists, and 10 points in 15 games before being added to the Lightning’s roster. That’s already more than half the production he managed in 55 appearances for Syracuse last year.

As with his previous NHL stints, Carlile didn’t look entirely out of place in bottom-pairing duties. He scored his second career goal and managed a +1 rating while averaging 12:53 of ice time per game. He recorded eight blocks and nine hits. Among Lightning defensemen with at least 100 minutes at 5-on-5, only Moser has controlled a higher share of scoring chances than Carlile’s 57.1%. That comes from him playing a stout, low-event defensive game – per 60 minutes, no qualified Lightning skater has been on the ice for fewer scoring chances than Carlile at 17.9.

If Carlile played one more game, he would have needed to clear waivers again to return to Syracuse. With his strong play in bottom-pairing minutes and his offensive improvement in the AHL, that wasn’t a guarantee after he did so already during training camp. If he’s called up again and enters game action or is rostered for 13 days, then he’ll need waivers at the conclusion of that recall.

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