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Predators Reassign Fedor Svechkov

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The Predators announced today that they have reassigned center Fedor Svechkov to AHL Milwaukee. The move frees up a roster spot, indicating that one of their IR-bound defensemen, Alexandre Carrier and Jeremy Lauzon, could be close to returning. According to Robby Stanley of NHL.com, neither will play tonight against the Rangers but skated this morning.

It’s not an unexpected result for Svechkov, who made his NHL debut earlier in his development than most expected. Nashville selected the 21-year-old in the first round of the 2021 draft, and he’s in his second season in North America after coming over from Russia in the 2023 offseason. He got off to a hot start with AHL Milwaukee, posting five goals and eight points in seven games, earning himself a performance-based recall with the Preds struggling to generate offense.

After scoring two goals and posting a -1 rating through his first nine NHL games, he’s returned to the minors for further development. He won’t require waivers to head to the AHL until the 2026-27 campaign or until he reaches 160 career games, whichever comes first.

Over the past few weeks, Svechkov has averaged nearly 12 minutes per game. He has won 46.2% of his faceoffs and recorded four blocks and 10 hits. He’s averaged a shot on goal per game and logged underwhelming possession numbers. He only controls 49.5% of shot attempts at even strength despite starting 73.1% of his shifts in the offensive zone.

Maple Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz To Undergo Knee Procedure, Out 4-6 Weeks

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Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz will undergo a minor procedure to remove a loose body in his knee, general manager Brad Treliving told reporters Tuesday (via TSN). As a result, Toronto’s starter will miss the next four to six weeks.

Treliving said Stolarz underwent an MRI in the last few days, which revealed no other structural damage. He left his most recent start, an eventual win over the Ducks on Dec. 12, with a lower-body injury after the first period. He’s already missed two games but will now miss around 15 more, with a return in mid-to-late January on the horizon.

It’s worse news than the Leafs expected when they initially awarded him a day-to-day designation and placed him on injured reserve, assuming he wouldn’t miss more than the minimum seven days required for an IR placement. Nonetheless, undergoing surgery now and dealing with a lengthy mid-season absence is far preferable to a snowballing injury that forces him to miss extended time closer to the postseason.

Unfortunately, Stolarz is no stranger to significant knee injuries. He missed most of the 2017-18 campaign while in the Flyers system after undergoing knee surgery during training camp, and another knee surgery ended his 2022-23 campaign with the Ducks in February.

Luckily, that hasn’t stopped Stolarz from becoming an elite tandem/backup option when healthy. His .927 SV% in 17 games with Toronto this season has him on pace to lead qualifying netminders in the statistic for the second season in a row. He posted a .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA, both league-best marks, in 27 games with the Panthers last year while backing up Sergei Bobrovsky. His 24 starts last season were a career-high, though, so despite his high-end numbers, there was understandable hesitance to crown him a starting-caliber netminder upon reaching free agency last summer. The Maple Leafs presented a good fit for him to split the workload with the up-and-coming Joseph Woll. He inked a two-year, $5MM contract to play in Canada for the first time since a short stint with the Oilers in 2019.

Toronto has had quite the revolving door of netminders over the past few seasons. Stolarz is one of eight since the beginning of the 2021-22 season to make at least 10 starts for the team, joining Woll, Ilya Samsonov, Jack Campbell, Matt Murray, Erik Källgren, Martin Jones, and Petr Mrázek. He’s put up the best numbers of any of them by a wide margin and is on pace to log the highest save percentage for a Toronto netminder since Curtis McElhinney had a .934 in 18 games in 2017-18.

The Leafs are left with Woll and Dennis Hildeby between the pipes for the next few weeks. Woll has also played well when dressed, posting an 8-4-0 record with a .918 SV%, 2.24 GAA and one shutout in 12 showings. He’s saved 5.9 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck, ranking 12th in the league. He also has a lengthy injury history, though, and Hildeby isn’t a compelling No. 3 option. The big 23-year-old Swede has made three starts this season amid injuries to Stolarz and Woll, the first of his NHL career. He’s been serviceable but unimpressive, with a .875 SV% and 3.68 GAA. He also has a subpar .897 mark in six AHL starts this year.

It’s worth noting that the Maple Leafs still have Murray in the system if Hildeby falters. The 30-year-old missed nearly all last season after offseason hip surgery but has been good in the AHL in 2024-25 since clearing waivers, logging a .919 SV% and 2.15 GAA with a 3-1-3 record. If he comes up and gets a start, it would be the first for the two-time Stanley Cup champion since April 2, 2023.

Flames Sign Brayden Pachal To Two-Year Extension

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The Flames have signed defenseman Brayden Pachal to a two-year, $2.375MM contract extension, per a team announcement. The righty was set to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.

Pachal, 25, is now in his fourth NHL season but only his second with significant playing time. An undrafted free agent signing by the Golden Knights from the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders in 2019, Pachal made his NHL debut with Vegas in the 2021-22 campaign and recorded a goal and two assists in 29 games over the following three seasons, spending most of his time in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights. His minutes were far from heavy in Vegas, averaging 14:58 per game, but he was a compelling physical presence with 36 blocks and 78 hits. That didn’t translate into overly impressive shot-suppression numbers, though, controlling 47.6% of shot attempts at even strength.

Naturally, that wasn’t enough to establish himself as a regular on the Knights’ blue line, one of the deepest in the league. Vegas placed him on waivers in February last season to sneak him back to Henderson, but the Flames submitted a claim and snagged him off the wire.

Not only did Pachal establish himself as a regular, he played in all 33 of Calgary’s remaining games, posting six points with a -1 rating while averaging 14:43 per contest. His performance level wasn’t much different, but it was more than competent enough to aid a Flames defense that was losing many core pieces, such as Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov.

It’s been more of the same for Pachal this season. He’s appeared in all 31 Flames games, playing solidly bottom-pairing minutes with a 14:31 ATOI. He has two points with a -4 rating, 34 blocks and 72 hits and has suited up on Calgary’s second penalty-killing unit alongside MacKenzie Weegar. His possession metrics at even strength have taken a demonstrable step forward, controlling 53.1% of shot attempts and 46.8% of expected goals. That’s enough to make him a serviceable bottom-pairing option on a team with playoff hopes, such as the Flames, who sit one point back of the Avalanche for the second wild-card spot in the West with two games in hand.

It’s an extremely low-risk move for Calgary. His $1.19MM cap hit starting next season is a few hundred thousand dollars over the maximum buriable threshold, so his cap impact would be negligible if things go awry and Pachal ends up back in the minors.

Pachal will be eligible for unrestricted free agency when his new deal expires in 2027. He becomes the sixth defenseman signed to a one-way contract for Calgary next season, joining Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Jake Bean, Daniil Miromanov, and Ilya Solovyov. Kevin Bahl is now their lone notable pending RFA while pending UFAs Tyson Barrie and Joel Hanley appear unlikely to return at this stage unless it’s in reduced capacities.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Hurricanes’ Jack Drury To Undergo Hand Surgery

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Dec. 17: Drury’s hand surgery went well and will keep him out for at least four weeks, Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.

Dec. 12: The Hurricanes will be without depth center Jack Drury for a while yet. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters Thursday that Drury has “has a broken something in his thumb” and will undergo surgery (via Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal). The team hasn’t yet issued a timeline for his return.

Drury left Tuesday’s win over the Sharks in the first period after blocking a shot with his hand. Brind’Amour said postgame that things weren’t looking promising for the 24-year-old, although he still needed to undergo a couple of imaging tests. Center Tyson Jost was recalled from AHL Chicago yesterday in the wake of Drury’s injury and will be on hand for tomorrow’s game against the Senators. In all likelihood, Jost will make his first appearance since Nov. 23 unless Carolina opts to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen and give Riley Stillman, who they summoned from the AHL this morning, his season debut.

A second-rounder back in 2018, Drury has slowly risen up the Hurricanes’ center depth chart over the past few years. This season, he was averaging a career-high 13:09 per game and was winning 56.4% of his draws, the highest among Carolina’s four regular centers. He had three goals and six assists for nine points through 28 games, on pace to roughly match the eight goals and 27 points he had in 74 games last year.

Now, after spending his seven games for the Canes last month suiting up on Drury’s wing, Jost will need to shift back to his natural center position for the foreseeable future. He had one goal while averaging 9:20 per game, not seeing any of Drury’s usual special teams usage.

The Hurricanes have carried as slim a roster as possible all season long, so Drury may not land on injured reserve in the coming days (or at all during his absence) unless other injuries strike and force Carolina to open up an additional roster spot. Assuming a usual recovery timeline for hand surgery, we likely won’t see Drury back in the lineup until late January.

Lightning Recall Declan Carlile, Victor Hedman Likely To Return

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The Lightning announced they’ve recalled defenseman Declan Carlile from AHL Syracuse. He was just sent down to the minors Sunday, along with Steven Santini. As the latter wasn’t recalled today, captain Victor Hedman will probably return tonight against the Blue Jackets after missing two games with a lower-body injury. Head coach Jon Cooper confirmed this to Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times.

Carlile, 24, will play if Hedman can’t go but sit in the press box if he can. The Michigan native is coming off his second career NHL appearance in Saturday’s win over the Kraken, scoring his first NHL goal while logging 11:10 of ice time. An undrafted free agent signing out of Merrimack College in 2022, Carlile is now an alternate captain with Syracuse and has three points with a +1 rating in 21 AHL appearances this season. The “stalwart rush defender,” as described by Elite Prospects, had a career-high 27 points in 61 games with Syracuse last season.

The 6’3″ left-shot defender is in the first season of a two-year, two-way extension he signed in June. He’ll remain waiver-exempt throughout 2024-25 but will require waivers next fall if the Lightning don’t list him on their opening night roster.

Not only did the Bolts manage to win their last two games without Hedman, they did so in rather dominant fashion with an 8-3 victory over Calgary and a 5-1 trouncing of Seattle. Dominant wins and close losses have been the norm for the Lightning this season – they have a division-best +30 goal differential but only a 16-10-2 record, placing them third in the Atlantic based on points percentage (.607).

In his first season as captain following the departure of Steven Stamkos, Hedman, a six-time All-Star, has 25 points and a +4 rating through 26 games. It’s safe to say the soon-to-be 34-year-old is up to his usual tricks, tying for sixth in the league in points by defensemen and ranking fourth in points per game with 0.96. Tampa has dominated possession with him on the ice at even strength, controlling 54.2% of shot attempts and 57.6% of expected goals.

The Bolts’ active roster count stands at 22 after recalling Carlile.

Penguins Recall Nathan Clurman

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The Penguins announced they’ve recalled right-shot defenseman Nathan Clurman from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The club opened an active roster spot by transferring left-shot defender Marcus Pettersson to injured reserve after listing him as week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Clurman, 26, signed a two-way deal with the Penguins in July and has played 16 games for WBS. He’s posted a goal and four assists for five points, a slightly higher point-per-game rate than the defensive blue-liner posted in the past, while adding eight penalty minutes and a +3 rating.

It’s the first NHL recall for Clurman, who now has the opportunity to make his NHL debut tonight against the Kings. The 6’2″, 205-lb defender was a sixth-round pick of the Avalanche back in 2016 and, after a collegiate career at Notre Dame, remained in the Colorado organization on AHL and ECHL assignments until reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency last summer. Before joining Pittsburgh, Clurman had 21 points and a +20 rating in 110 games for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles from 2021 to 2024 and 27 points with a +15 rating in 62 games for the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies.

The 2023-24 season was tough for Clurman, who stayed on the AHL roster for the entire season but didn’t receive regular playing time. He only appeared in 37 of the Eagles’ 72 games, so it wasn’t surprising to see the Avalanche let him hit the open market.

Clurman cleared waivers during the preseason, the first time he’s had to do so before an AHL assignment. He can remain on the active roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games before he needs them again to return to WBS.

As for Pettersson, his move is a mere formality. His week-to-week designation indicates he’ll miss far more time than the seven days required for a standard IR placement. So, don’t expect him to be immediately activated upon becoming eligible this weekend. He’ll miss Pittsburgh’s next three games at a minimum after sustaining the injury on Saturday against the Senators.

Evening Notes: Pegula, Gourde, Bannister

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Elliotte Friedman reported on his 32 Thoughts podcast that Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula met with the team in Montreal to discuss their recent woes. The Sabres are 0-7-3 in their last ten games and have had trade rumors swirling around the team as they are on the way to extending their 13-year playoff drought.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff is reporting that Pegula’s message to the Sabres was largely a positive one as he believes the solution to the teams problems are within the room and he said he has faith in general manager Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff. Many believed that Pegula could be headed to Montreal to make major changes, however, that doesn’t appear to be the case, for now.

In other evening notes:

  • Seattle Kraken forward Yanni Gourde was in a regular contact jersey and fully participated in team practice today (as per Kraken contributor Alison Lukan). The Kraken are going to monitor the 33-year-old to see how he responds to the practice before they decide on whether or not he will play tomorrow night. Gourde has been dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the last two games, and unfortunately broke up a bit of a hot streak as he had 11 points in his last 14 games, after posting just three assists in his first 15 games of the season.
  • Former St. Louis Blues head coach Drew Bannister made his first public comments today since being fired by the team (as per St. Louis Today). Bannister said that he holds no resentment towards the organization because they were so good to him during his time there and he forged a lot of good relationships with people inside the club. Bannister was the head coach for just 76 games after spending seven years with the Blues in various roles and was replaced by former Bruins bench boss, Jim Montgomery.

Central Notes: Manson, Gustafsson, Ehlers, Utah

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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson could return to the lineup during the team’s current three-game road trip (as per Avalanche play-by-play man Conor McGahey). Manson has been dealing with an upper-body issue and won’t suit up tonight when Colorado takes on the Vancouver Canucks. However, he could dress on Thursday or Friday when Colorado plays back-to-back against Anaheim and San Jose. Manson is currently on the injured reserve, meaning that the Avalanche will need to make a roster move before activating the 33-year-old.

Manson hasn’t played since leaving a game on November 29th against Dallas and has played 24 games on the season, posting one goal and five assists. He had one of his better offensive seasons last year, tallying 25 points in 76 games, but he has struggled this year with turnovers, giving the puck away 42 times already, which is one off from his total for all of last season.

In other Central Division notes:

  • Winnipeg Jets colour analyst Mitchell Clinton tweeted that Jets head coach Scott Arniel told the media that injured forwards David Gustafsson and Nikolaj Ehlers both skated today in what is the next step towards a return to action. The 24-year-old Gustafsson skated in a non-contact jersey, his first time back on the ice since he suffered a concussion in a fight on December 10th. Ehlers was in a regular jersey as he tried to get back in the lineup after missing eight games. The 28-year-old hasn’t played since November 29th and is likely day by day at this point.
  • Utah Hockey Club goaltender Connor Ingram and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo are not close to returning to action (according to Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune). Ingram did not practice today after he spent some time skating over the weekend and will be off the ice for the next little bit. The 35-year-old Bortuzzo didn’t have much better news as he remains sidelined with a lower-body injury that he suffered on December 10th against the Minnesota Wild.  Utah remains without several key defensemen, including Bortuzzo, John Marino and Sean Durzi.

Metro Notes: Hughes, Lazar, Mangiapane

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New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald intends to speak with the agent of defenseman Luke Hughes about a contract extension at some point in the coming weeks (as per Sam Kasan). Fitzgerald hasn’t put any timeline on how soon he wants to get a deal done as he feels it creates unnecessary pressure on the player (as per Devils reporter Gabriel Trevino).

Hughes missed the first nine games of the regular season with a shoulder injury but has returned to form, posting one goal and ten assists through 24 games. While those numbers are a tick below his offensive numbers last season, it took a while for the 21-year-old to ramp up his play, and he has been better as of late, with six points in his last eight games. Hughes’s three-year entry-level contract will expire on July 1st, 2025, at which point he will become a restricted free agent.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Devils injured forward Curtis Lazar has been upgraded to day-to-day and could return to the lineup soon (as per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now). Lazar hasn’t played since October 27th, after he suffered a knee injury that required surgery. The 29-year-old has missed 21 games during this time but was a surprise return to practice just a few days ago. The Salmon Arm, British Columbia native has dressed in 12 games this season, posting a goal and an assist.
  • The Washington Capitals have announced that forward Andrew Mangiapane will not play tonight against the Dallas Stars due to an illness. Mangiapane will miss his first game of the season, having played in all 29 games to this point. Hendrix Lapierre will serve in his place, and Jakub Vrana returns to the lineup after ten straight games as a healthy scratch. Lapierre and Vrana will join Lars Eller on Washington’s third line this evening. Mangiapane came over to Washington in a summer trade with the Calgary Flames and has six goals and four assists on the season.

Wild Assign Reese Johnson, Recall Brendan Gaunce

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5:30 PM: The Minnesota Wild have recalled forward Brendan Gaunce, after placing Devin Shore on waivers, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Gaunce would become the 31st player to suit up for the Wild, should he step into the lineup. He gets the call after scoring eight goals and 14 points in 21 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

11:30 AM: The morning has started out with a heap of small-news roster transactions, headlined by the Minnesota Wild assigning center Reese Johnson to the Iowa Wild, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johnson stepped into Minnesota’s last two games to cover injuries to Yakov Trenin and Jakub Lauko. Trenin is expected to work his way back into the lineup before the team hosts Florida on Wednesday. That would alleviate some of the lineup pressure, though Russo points out that Minnesota will still need to recall a forward. He adds that the team could also place forwards Devin Shore or Ben Jones on waivers to create room for an additional call-up.

Johnson’s assignment gives Minnesota a chance to assess the playing field. They’ve had terrible luck with their extra forwards so far this season – with none of Johnson (three games), Shore (12 games), or Jones (13 games) recording any scoring in their opportunities this season. The lack of production has also extended to Michael Milne, Travis Boyd, and even top prospect Liam Ohgren – making the question of who to call up a tough one to answer.

Minnesota will need someone to step up for Lauko, who will be forced to miss at least the next two games with his placement on injured reserve. The top of their call-up sheet seems covered by this list of scoreless forwards, but Minnesota may opt for a new face instead. If that’s the case, it’d likely be Brendan Gaunce, Hunter Haight, and Luke Toporowski vying for NHL ice time. Gaunce (14 points in 21 games) and Haight (12 points in 23 games) rank near the top of the Iowa Wild in scoring, while Toporowski (nine points in 11 games) ranks fourth on the team in point-per-game scoring. Haight and Toporowski are still awaiting their NHL debuts.

Minnesota is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, but have been outscored 14-4 in their losses. Scoring depth down the lineup would certainly support Minnesota’s game-to-game consistency – but which forward will bring that scoring continues to be an open question.

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