Canadiens Activate Mike Hoffman Off Injured Reserve
It has been a tough season for the Canadiens. After making the Stanley Cup Final, they’ve struggled mightily out of the gate this season and have been hit hard with injuries. While they’ve lost winger Josh Anderson for the next two to four weeks, Montreal will also get a player back for their game in Nashville tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Mike Hoffman will play which means he will be activated off injured reserve.
It hasn’t been a fun first year with Montreal for Hoffman who signed with them on the opening day of free agency last summer, inking a three-year, $13.5MM deal. An offseason training injury kept him out of training camp plus the start of the season and this injury has cost him three more weeks. In between those, he has recorded four goals and three assists in 13 games with five of those points coming on the man advantage.
The Canadiens are presently carrying a full 23-man roster even after transferring Anderson to IR on Friday. As a result, they will need to make some sort of roster move before the game in order to activate Hoffman and have him in the lineup tonight.
Prospect Notes: Peterka, Reichel, Zavgorodniy, Byfield
Sabres winger J.J. Peterka and Blackhawks winger Lukas Reichel were expected to anchor Germany’s entry into the upcoming World Juniors. However, neither player was on the preliminary camp roster that their federation announced yesterday. It’s not a matter of letting them stay in the minors a little longer before joining the team either as it was revealed that after consulting with both players, it was agreed that they will remain with their respective farm teams and not play in the tournament. Peterka is averaging more than a point per game with AHL Rochester this season while Reichel has a dozen points in 15 contests with Rockford. With both seemingly being on the cusp of a recall at some point, the decision has been made to not interrupt their progress even though it will make Germany’s attempt to stay in the top division that much harder.
More prospect news from around the hockey world:
- Flames prospect Dmitri Zavgorodniy is expected to leave AHL Stockton to return home to play in the KHL for the remainder of the season, reports Championat’s Pavel Panyshev. The 21-year-old forward has been limited to just six games this season with the Heat and going overseas would give him a chance at more playing time. He last played in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg but his rights in that league now belong with HC Sochi after they swung a deal for his rights earlier today.
- Kings center Quinton Byfield took part in a full practice on Friday as he continues to work his way back from a fractured ankle sustained in the preseason, relays Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. The 2020 second-overall pick played in six games with Los Angeles last season plus 32 in AHL Ontario where he had 20 points in 32 contests, impressive numbers for someone that was basically a double underager in that league.
AHL Shuffle: 12/04/21
It’s Saturday which means it’s a busy slate on the schedule today with 20 teams in action which means there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
Atlantic Division
- The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Dillon Heatherington from AHL Belleville. The 26-year-old played in three games with Ottawa last month, averaging more than 17 minutes a night in his first NHL action in more than two years. He’ll give the Sens some extra depth on their back end as they’re now carrying eight blueliners on their active roster.
- The Bruins have recalled center Oskar Steen and defenseman Jack Ahcan, per the AHL’s transactions log. Steen has two assists in as many games with Boston this season and has been quite productive with Providence, notching 13 points in 12 contests. Ahcan, meanwhile, made his NHL debut last season in his first professional campaign and is off to a strong start in the minors with 10 points in 17 AHL contests.
- After claiming Kale Clague and activating Mike Hoffman, the Montreal Canadiens needed to create some space. The team has announced that Laurent Dauphin and Corey Schueneman have been reassigned to the AHL’s Laval Rocket as the corresponding moves.
- The Florida Panthers have sent Aleksi Heponiemi and Matt Kiersted back to the minor leagues after this afternoon’s game, a shootout win against the St. Louis Blues. Neither one played, and the Panthers don’t hit the ice again until Tuesday.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have activated Ondrej Kase from injured reserve, moving Kyle Clifford to the Marlies to make room on the roster. Not only does that open a roster spot, but Clifford’s $1MM cap hit comes off the books.
Metropolitan Division
- The Devils have returned defenseman Colton White back to Utica, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old was recalled nearly a month ago from the Comets but has only played sparingly since then, suiting up just four times over that stretch. He has logged just over 13 minutes a game in six NHL contests this season (including an earlier stint with the big club) but will have an opportunity for a bigger role back in the minors.
- The Rangers have recalled goaltender Adam Huska along with center Morgan Barron, per the AHL’s transactions log. Huska is needed with Igor Shesterkin leaving Friday’s game early due to an injury and will serve as Alexandar Georgiev‘s backup in the interim with Shesterkin now on IR. As for Barron, the 23-year-old has played in two games for New York this season but has spent most of the year with AHL Hartford, notching six goals and three assists in 15 games.
Central Division
- The Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Ian Mitchell from AHL Rockford, reports Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). After playing in 39 NHL games last season, the 22-year-old has spent most of this season with the IceHogs, notching seven points in 15 games. He played in three games with Chicago earlier in the year but averaged less than nine minutes a game.
Pacific Division
This post will be updated throughout the day.
East Notes: Giroux, Anderson, Kase, Mikheyev
With the Flyers off to a sluggish start with only eight victories in their first 21 games, some have wondered if captain Claude Giroux, who’s on an expiring contract, could be a candidate to move between now and the trade deadline in March. However, he has a full no-move clause and told reporters today, including Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that he hasn’t given any thought about waiving that at this time. The 33-year-old is off to a good start this season with 18 points in 21 games to lead Philadelphia in scoring and with a cap hit of $8.25MM, few contenders would be able to add him at this stage of the year. If he was to decide to waive his trade protection, a trade closer to the trade deadline would be a little easier to work out.
Elsewhere in the East:
- The Sabres have released (Twitter link) an updated timeline for their injured players and a notable change is that goaltender Craig Anderson has been reclassified from week-to-week to month-to-month. The 40-year-old has missed a little more than a month now due to his upper-body injury and this change in status likely played a role in their acquisition of Malcolm Subban from Chicago on Thursday.
- The Maple Leafs could have winger Ondrej Kase back in the lineup on Saturday, relays Postmedia’s Terry Koshan (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has missed the last week with an upper-body injury after providing Toronto with some decent depth scoring to start the season with five goals in 21 games. Meanwhile, winger Ilya Mikheyev took part in practice for the first time on Friday but Koshan notes that while he is with the team on their two-game road trip, he won’t play. Regardless, he’s getting close to returning after suffering a broken thumb in the preseason.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Chicago Blackhawks
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads towards the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Chicago Blackhawks.
What are the Blackhawks most thankful for?
A fresh start.
The departures of former GM Stan Bowman and former head coach Jeremy Colliton have breathed some new life into an organization that, frankly, hasn’t had a lot of it lately. Interim bench boss Derek King has Chicago playing better with seven wins in their last ten games and while a playoff spot isn’t likely, the team is now at least starting to show some upside which bodes well for down the road and in terms of improving trade value for those who may be gone before the trade deadline. Meanwhile, interim GM Kyle Davidson has already shown he’s willing to make a big change when he let Colliton go and he’ll have the rest of the season to try to chart a new course for the franchise. Either he gets the interim tag lifted or someone else comes in but either way, it’s a fresh start.
Who are the Blackhawks most thankful for?
There haven’t been many players to consistently produce a point per game average over an extended period of time but Kane has been one of them. Over the last nine seasons before this one, he hit that mark eight times and the one he didn’t, he came close. In 2021-22, on a team that is near the bottom of the league in scoring, he’s above that mark again. It’s hard to get a strong return on what was the richest deal for a winger in NHL history for a little while but Kane has provided that for Chicago in recent years even after their playoff dominance came to an end. He’s only seven months away from being eligible to sign a contract extension and whether it’s Davidson or someone else running the ship, a new deal for Kane will be at the top of the priority list.
What would the Blackhawks be even more thankful for?
Getting any sort of production from their centers.
After missing all of last season due to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, Jonathan Toews has yet to score in 22 contests this season while recording just nine assists. A good chunk of that can be attributed to the energy-sapping illness but as someone that plays as critical a role as he does, they do need him to light the lamp. Kirby Dach hasn’t been able to step up in his third NHL campaign although his three goals lead all Chicago middlemen. Tyler Johnson has been hurt and will be out for a while yet, Dylan Strome can’t crack the lineup, Ryan Carpenter, Henrik Borgstrom, and Reese Johnson have been quiet, and Jujhar Khaira is what he is, a low-scoring checker. Combined, those eight players have totalled a grand total of eight goals on the season. It’s hard to win when the centers are producing that little.
What should be on the Blackhawks’ Holiday Wish List?
It all depends on what direction the team goes. If they’re going to sell, picks and prospects for expiring deals such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Kevin Lankinen, and Calvin de Haan will be what Davidson wants to add. If this hot streak continues for a little while longer and they can get themselves back into the mix, however, then the wish list would consist of adding a center that can drive the attack as well as some blueliners that can produce; only Seth Jones has scored more than once among their rearguards.
What will be on Davidson’s mind either way is trying to create or preserve cap flexibility. Alex DeBrincat is owed a $9MM qualifying offer this summer and will be a year away from UFA eligibility. That will be a big ticket to add to a team that’s already near $60MM in commitments to only 11 players for next season, per CapFriendly. Whether they’re buying or selling, some extra financial flexibility will also be near the top of their wish list in the coming months.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Injury Updates: Kuemper, Byram, Boqvist, Murphy
It appears as if Colorado’s goaltending situation will be tenuous for a little while. Following last night’s victory in Montreal, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that starting netminder Darcy Kuemper could be out for two days or two months, meaning that there’s no timeline for his return. Kuemper is believed to have suffered his upper-body injury at Wednesday’s morning skate after taking a high shot which, coupled with Bednar’s comment, suggests that the veteran may be dealing with a concussion. With Pavel Francouz only beginning his LTI conditioning loan on Wednesday, it will be Jonas Johansson’s crease for the time being.
Other injury news from around the league:
- Still with the Avalanche, Chambers notes in a separate column that defenseman Bowen Byram’s injury isn’t a concussion but that it does pertain to the head injury he just came back from. That return only lasted two games and it wouldn’t be surprising of Colorado errs on the side of caution when it comes to determining when he returns. When healthy, the 20-year-old has impressed with nine points in 13 games while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night on the back end.
- The Devils announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Jesper Boqvist from injured reserve. The 23-year-old has missed the last couple of weeks due to an upper-body injury and has split his season between New Jersey and their AHL affiliate in Utica. With the Devils, he has one assist in five games but has eight points in seven minor league contests. New Jersey had an open roster spot so no one needed to be sent down to make room for Boqvist on the active roster.
- The Blackhawks have placed defenseman Connor Murphy in concussion protocol, relays Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune. There is no timetable for his return. The veteran is second to Seth Jones in ATOI for Chicago’s defensemen at just under 22 minutes a night while leading the team in blocked shots with 48.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
We’re now almost two months into the NHL season and plenty has happened in recent weeks. The Montreal Canadiens have completely new front office leadership, Jack Eichel finally found his way out of Buffalo and things are going off the rails in Vancouver. Big names like Evander Kane and Matt Murray have cleared waivers in recent days, while the COVID situation around the league continues to throw doubt on the upcoming Olympic participation.
With all that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. If you missed the last one, it was broken into two parts. In the first, our Brian La Rose examined the slow start in Seattle, gave his Golden Knights thoughts pre-Eichel trade, and discussed Marc-Andre Fleury‘s play in Chicago. The second part touched on Filip Hronek‘s place in Detroit, Tomas Hertl‘s pending free agency, and listed a few potential fantasy keepers that have yet to make an impact at the NHL level.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend and answer as many questions as possible.
Minor Transactions: 12/03/21
It’s been a hectic day in the world of North American minor hockey, with a flurry of roster moves at the NHL level leading to compensatory moves elsewhere. Here’s a list of today’s minor transactions.
- The AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins recalled goalie Tommy Nappier from the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers after COVID cases on the Penguins postponed their next two games. Undrafted, Nappier was a standout at Ohio State for the past four years, posting a save percentage above .930 in every season except for his last. He hasn’t gotten off to a smooth start in his first professional season, however, posting just a .877 save percentage in four games with Wheeling. He’s fared better at the AHL level with a .900 save percentage and a 1-3-0 record with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
- Cedric Pare has been signed by the AHL’s Belleville Senators for the rest of the season after spending the beginning of the season with the team on a try-out, per a team release. The 22-year-old Pare impressed in his first professional season last year, scoring 40 points in 67 games for the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies after going undrafted through his junior career. He has two goals and two assists through 13 games with Belleville in 2021-22.
- Per the ECHL’s transactions page for Friday, the AHL’s Utica Comets recalled left wing Luke Stevens from the Adirondack Thunder. Stevens, the son of Kevin Stevens and former property of the Carolina Hurricanes, went unsigned after finishing his college career with Yale University. Now in the Devils organization on the AHL deal, he has no points through four games this season at the AHL level and is still looking for his first professional point.
Nic Dowd Placed In COVID Protocol
Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd has entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol ahead of the team’s game Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, per a team tweet. He did not practice today, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
It continues what’s been a rough season health-wise for Dowd, who’s already spent time on injured reserve and has been limited to 16 out of Washington’s 24 games. It’s not been all bad news for the Alabama native, though, as he inked a three-year extension with the team last month.
In those 16 games, Dowd’s played extremely well, scoring three goals and four assists for seven points. He’s averaging 14:03 per game, an elevated role due to the onslaught of injuries the Capitals have faced early on in 2021-22.
Michael Sgarbossa, who has a goal in four games this season, will likely draw into the lineup. He’s Washington’s only remaining extra healthy skater.
In terms of players with NHL experience in the minors, Axel Jonsson Fjallby or Garrett Pilon could be called up, but they would both require waivers to be sent back down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Injury Notes: Marner, Oilers, Kraken
After colliding with teammate Jake Muzzin during practice, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner is “uncertain” for the team’s Saturday game in Minnesota, according to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. Marner left practice early after the hit with medical personnel, but head coach Sheldon Keefe said it was precautionary in nature and that it’s “not looking like anything serious.” Hopefully, that holds true for the red-hot Leafs, who are 15-2-0 in their past 17 games. Marner has six points in his last five games and is fourth on the team with 21 points on the season after a really rough start.
Some other injury notes from around the league:
- The Edmonton Oilers are banged up, especially on left defense with all three regulars out of the lineup. They got some good news today though, as head coach Dave Tippett reports that Darnell Nurse, winger Devin Shore, and goalie Mike Smith all skated today. However, Duncan Keith wasn’t a part of that group and remains sidelined. The team’s handled this recent stretch of adversity well, winners of three straight and a 16-5-0 record overall. The Oilers certainly still want these names back in their lineup though, especially Nurse, who leads the team by a long shot in ice time with 26:06 played per game.
- The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark reports that the Seattle Kraken’s Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz are both day-to-day, but Schwartz hasn’t skated while Eberle has. The team’s two leading scorers both missed their Wednesday game against the Detroit Red Wings with lower-body injuries. It’s been a tough opening ride for the Kraken, who sit seventh in the Pacific Division with an 8-13-2 record. While they’ve performed above-expected offensively, they’ve had structural and goaltending issues that few foresaw.