Wild Reassign Brendan Gaunce
The Wild reassigned veteran forward Brendan Gaunce to AHL Iowa today, per a team announcement. He’s been on the roster for most of the past couple of weeks as a depth option up front, but after serving as a healthy scratch Sunday night in Joel Eriksson Ek‘s return to the lineup, he’s once again a minor-leaguer.
Gaunce appeared in four games while up in Minny, all of which came with fourth-line usage. He never logged more than 11 minutes of ice time in a game and averaged 9:59 across the quartet of games. The 30-year-old pivot went without a point and posted a -3 rating while taking a pair of minor penalties and recording three shots on goal. The Wild were also out-attempted 51-22 with the journeyman on the ice at even strength.
The appearances marked the fourth straight season in which Gaunce has seen NHL ice, although he hasn’t appeared in more than 25 games since suiting up in 30 with the Blue Jackets in 2021-22. He posted eight points in 35 games in Columbus over the past three seasons before signing in Minnesota as a free agent over the summer, instead spending most of his time in the AHL in Cleveland. As usual, the 6’3″, 214-lb two-way forward was a strong offensive producer at the minor-league level, posting 85 points in 102 games for Cleveland.
While Gaunce has consistently put up impressive totals offensively in juniors and in the minors, it’s never come close to translating to the NHL. A late first-round pick by the Canucks in 2012, Gaunce managed only 15 points in 117 games for Vancouver before they eventually non-tendered him in 2019.
The Ontario native now returns to Iowa, where he’s served as an alternate captain and has 14 points in 21 games this season, good for third on the team. He’s been on the roster for 10 days and played four games since clearing waivers during preseason, so he can be rostered for another 20 days or play six games before he needs them again to head back to the aHL.
Hurricanes Recall Riley Stillman, Place Jack Drury On IR
The Hurricanes announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Riley Stillman from AHL Chicago. The team had an open roster spot, but center Jack Drury was moved to injured reserve in a corresponding transaction.
Stillman, 26, has been sent between the NHL and AHL countless times this season. Used as a frequent healthy extra, he’s yet to see NHL ice in 2024-25 but has been rostered for seven games since returning from offseason lower-body surgery in mid-November. He was sent to the minors before the holiday break and wasn’t necessarily expected back after the Canes summoned Ty Smith over the weekend. However, after Shayne Gostisbehere missed Saturday’s win over the Devils with an upper-body injury, they were down to six healthy defensemen on the active roster.
Thus, Stillman comes back up to serve as a familiar extra option for the time being while the more offensively-inclined Smith suits up in Gostisbehere’s absence. Smith and Stillman had been in the same boat for most of the season, serving as a No. 7 but never getting into the lineup. That changed over the weekend when Gostisbehere’s injury marked the first time a regular Carolina defenseman has missed a game all season.
If the left-shot Stillman does get an NHL shot, it will be his first NHL appearance since April 2023 with the Sabres. While on assignment to the AHL this year, he has a goal and three assists with 11 PIMs and a -1 rating in nine appearances. In 158 career NHL games with the Panthers, Blackhawks, Canucks, and Sabres, he has four goals and 22 assists for 26 points with a -19 rating, 104 PIMs, and 318 hits while averaging 15:49 per game.
Drury’s IR placement doesn’t affect his timeline for a return from hand surgery that he underwent earlier this month. He’s not expected back until Jan. 15 against Buffalo at the earliest.
Morning Notes: Hughes, Pettersson, Murray, Skinner
Exactly how much longer the Canucks will remain without stars Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson remains to be seen. The club certainly won’t have their services for this week’s intra-division road trip, though, head coach Rick Tocchet told Jeff Paterson of CanucksArmy.
Pettersson’s return is more imminent than Hughes’, Tocchet said. Pettersson hasn’t been ruled out for Friday’s home game against the Predators, but a return on Monday in Montreal seems more likely, with Tocchet saying Pettersson will likely miss another week. Hughes’ timeline is muddier. After missing Saturday’s overtime loss to the Kraken with an undisclosed injury, he’s been labeled week to week and could likely miss another five games at a minimum.
The latter’s absence is an especially tough one to swallow for the Canucks, who have won one out of their last five games and are already missing their No. 2 defenseman, Filip Hronek, for another few weeks. Hughes has easily been their most valuable player this season, leading the club in scoring with 42 points (8 G, 34 A) in 34 games and ranking second among NHL defensemen in points behind the Avalanche’s Cale Makar. He’s averaging 25:08 per game and posting better offensive and defensive possession metrics at even strength than last season’s Norris Trophy-winning campaign.
Hughes missing action wouldn’t be so awful if Vancouver had their second-best offensive producer this season. But they won’t have Pettersson, who has 10 goals and 28 points through 34 appearances, for the time being, either. Like Hughes, the 26-year-old has only missed one game with an undisclosed injury so far.
More from across the league this morning:
- The Maple Leafs have continued to shuffle NHL backup options in the absence of emergent No. 1 Anthony Stolarz. Veteran Matt Murray has been returned to AHL Toronto with Dennis Hildeby coming up to take his place for the time being, the team announced. Murray, 30, has allowed seven goals on 58 shots faced in two starts this month while sitting behind Joseph Woll on the depth chart, his first NHL action since the end of the 2022-23 regular season. In a small sample size, that tracks as a career-worst .879 SV% and 3.54 GAA for the two-time Stanley Cup champion. Hildeby’s NHL numbers this season haven’t been any better with a .875 SV% in three starts, but he does have a .916 SV% in his last four minor-league contests. It’s unclear if this is a paper move to extend Murray’s waiver-exempt period or if the Leafs intend on rostering Hildeby for tomorrow’s matinee game against the Islanders.
- Oilers winger Jeff Skinner sat in the press box while healthy for the first time in a while yesterday as Edmonton was upset 5-3 by the Ducks. It was a foreseeable result, writes Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. Skinner had no points and a -4 rating in his five most recent outings, and the 32-year-old has been an overall disappointment with only six goals and 12 points in 35 games after signing a one-year, $3MM pact with the Oilers following a buyout by the Sabres. He’s now averaging 12:58 per game on the year, the lowest usage of his 15-year NHL career, and his 48.6% shot-attempt share at 5-on-5 is also a career low.
Lightning’s Jake Guentzel Day-To-Day, Michael Eyssimont Returns
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without star scorer Jake Guentzel for the short term, as he’s been listed day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The injury forced Guentzel out of Tampa Bay’s lineup in their Sunday matchup against Montreal.
This marks Guetnzel’s first absence of the season. He’s otherwise been a core pillar of Tampa Bay’s top line, racking up 20 goals and 37 points in 33 games. Those totals put Guentzel second on the team in goals, but fourth in total points – a serious testament to the strength of the Lightning offense. There were plenty of worries to be had after Tampa Bay let longtime captain Steven Stamkos walk this summer. But the addition of Guentzel has helped the Bolts net 132 goals on the season, second-most in the NHL, with 98 of those goals coming from the team’s top-six forwards. Upholding that standing will fall on Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, and Brayden Point while Guentzel works his way back to full health
Michael Eyssimont filled the lineup vacancy left by Guentzel on Sunday, making his return after missing Tampa’s last game with a lower-body injury. Eyssimont stepped into his usual role on the fourth-line, while Cam Atkinson received a promotion to the top line. Neither player recorded any scoring in the matchup. They’ve both scored three goals and five points this season – Atkinson in 20 games, and Eyssimont in 31.
Penguins’ Kris Letang Out, Nate Clurman Makes NHL Debut
The Pittsburgh Penguins were without star defenseman Kris Letang when they took the ice for warmups on Sunday. He was announced as out with a lower-body injury right before puck-drop, paving the way for rookie Nate Clurman to make his NHL debut. Clurman received his third call-up of the season on Friday. His prior two both ended in Clurman being sent down the very next day without any ice time – both trends he’s bucked on this recall.
Pittsburgh provided no additional details on Letang’s injury. He becomes yet another impactful Penguins defender to go down with injury, joining Marcus Pettersson (undisclosed) and Owen Pickering (concussion) who are both on injured reserve. Letang missed three games earlier this season due to an illness, but has otherwise held strong to his role as Pittsburgh’s top defender. He leads the team’s skaters in average ice time with 23:24, though that number is still far from the near-25 minutes of ice time that Letang has rivaled in every season since 2011-12. That dip in utilization matches Letang’s dip in productivity. He currently has just 16 points in 34 games, his lowest scoring pace since 2009-10. Both Erik Karlsson (25) and Matt Grzelcyk (18) rank higher than Letang in scoring.
With their star veteran out, Pittsburgh turns towards an effective, two-way AHL defenseman. Clurman has recorded five points, 10 penalty minutes, and a +6 in 18 games this season. He’s already tied his scoring totals from 37 games last year. Clurman was originally a sixth-round draft pick to the Colorado Avalanche in 2016, and turned pro in 2020-21. He bounced between the ECHL and AHL lineups for two years, but found strong footing in the AHL by 2022-23 – when he totaled 15 points in 57 games. Clurman will now climb the next rung of the ladder, and get his first chance to prove he can fit at the NHL level too.
Anaheim Ducks Place Brock McGinn On Injured Reserve
The Anaheim Ducks announced they’ve placed forward Brock McGinn on the injured reserve with a lower-body injury before a matchup this afternoon against the Edmonton Oilers. The roster move marks the second time the Ducks have had to move McGinn to the injured reserve this season.
McGinn missed seven games during his previous injured reserve placement from mid-November to early December. He was similarly sidelined with a lower-body injury and will miss even more game action under his current designation.
It’s par for the course for McGinn throughout his career. He’s consistently been rostered in the NHL for the last eight seasons between the Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Ducks but hasn’t managed a full 82-game season since 2018-19.
Still, when healthy, he’s provided quality depth scoring to a snake-bitten Anaheim offense. He’s scored four goals and eight points in 26 games for the Ducks this season averaging 11:43 of ice time per game. McGinn won’t break any scoring records for Anaheim this season but it’s better than nothing for an offense in the league’s basement with a 2.38 GF/G average.
He primarily played on the team’s fourth line alongside Isac Lundeström and Brett Leason, meaning the injury designation should give Ross Johnston and/or Jansen Harkins an extended look in the Ducks lineup. McGinn’s placement on the injured reserve will likely be retroactive to December 23rd meaning he’ll be eligible to return on Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils.
Boston Bruins Reassign Fabian Lysell
Dec 29th: The Bruins organization announced they’ve reassigned Lysell to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. There’s no indication it’s a paper transaction for Lysell but the Bruins don’t play again for a few days. It’s uncommon for a team to make a formal announcement for a paper transaction so Boston will likely fill the open roster spot with someone over the next two days. Lysell skated in 11:32 of last night’s action but failed to find the scoresheet outside of a +1 rating.
Dec 28th: The Boston Bruins have recalled top prospect Fabian Lysell from the minor leagues. It’s the first in-season call-up of his pro career. Lysell has been a top scorer in the AHL since joining the Providence Bruins in 2022-23. He totaled 14 goals and 37 points in 54 games as an AHL rookie, good for fifth on Providence in scoring. Lysell followed that with 50 points in 56 games last year but has slowed down a bit with 17 points in 26 games this year.
Lysell is a high-skill, high-speed winger who’s grown substantially in his ability to play through pro-level physicality. He worked his way into a hardy top-line role for parts of last season and performed well in the role, setting him up for an exciting 2024-25 campaign. Lysell seemed to be taking full advantage of the momentum at training camp but was surprisingly one of the first cuts of camp. He’s since returned to a top-line role in Providence, and even maintained his production through a three-game injury in November, though Boston has still made a habit of opting for other call-ups over their productive top winger.
Now, Lysell will finally get his chance – potentially soon to make his NHL debut after scoring three points in Providence’s 4-1 win over Bridgeport on Friday. If he does, Lysell will become the first Bruins first-round pick to debut with the team since John Beecher – 2019’s 30th-overall pick, who is currently fighting for minutes on the Bruins’ fourth-line.
Lysell recorded three points in Providence’s 4-1 win over Bridgeport on Friday. Now, less than 24 hours later, head coach Joe Sacco has confirmed that Lysell will make his NHL debut, per Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. Conroy adds that Lysell will take Oliver Wahlstrom‘s spot between Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau. Lysell will become the first Bruins first-round pick to debut since 2019 30th-overall pick John Beecher, who is currently fighting for a role on the team’s fourth line.
Central Injury Notes: Texier, Faksa, Martinez, Smith, Bortuzzo
Lou Korac of The Hockey News reported earlier that forward Alexandre Texier would be a game-time decision for the St. Louis Blues this afternoon. Additionally, Korac shared that bottom-six forward Radek Faksa would miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury.
Texier has been battling an illness and missed St. Louis’ recent game against the Nashville Predators on Friday. He’s apparently all set to go as the Blues organization later confirmed that they’ve welcomed Texier back to the active roster for this afternoon’s game. He’ll join Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas on the team’s first line and look to build upon his two-goal, five-point effort this season.
Despite being absent for nearly 10 days, Faksa isn’t expected to miss much longer. His lower-body injury was suffered in the Blues’ overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on December 20th but the team never placed him on the injured reserve. Faksa has added two goals and seven points in 30 games to the St. Louis roster this year.
Other injury news from the Central Division:
- The Chicago Blackhawks are expected to reintroduce a pair of veteran players into the lineup. According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, defenseman Alec Martinez and forward Craig Smith have been downgraded to day-to-day and are expected back soon. Both players have missed nearly a month for the Blackhawks with separate injuries. Chicago only has one open roster spot in the NHL meaning they’ll need to make at least one roster move to pave the way for both player’s activation.
- Utah Hockey Club’s blue line has been decimated by injuries this season but one veteran talent is expected back soon. Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune reports that defenseman Robert Bortuzzo has fully participated in back-to-back practices and is nearly healed from a lower-body injury. Utah never formally placed Bortuzzo on the team’s injured reserve but he hasn’t played since December 10th.
Capitals Activate Lars Eller, Reassign Hendrix Lapierre
The Washington Capitals have reportedly made a roster move to create room for Lars Eller‘s activation but not necessarily the one they were expected to make. The Capitals organization announced they have reassigned youngster Hendrix Lapierre to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, to make space for Eller on the active roster.
Lapierre came into the 2024-25 season off of a respectable effort in 2023-24. He scored eight goals and 22 points in 51 games for the Capitals and represented one of the better prospects in the system as the former 22nd overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. He showed a lack of maturity in the faceoff dot (which isn’t uncommon for younger centers) but displayed adept playmaking and defensive abilities.
It’s hard to classify this season as anything but a step backward for Lapierre. He’s tallied eight assists in 27 games but has no goals to show for and has seen his ice time cut dramatically in the last few weeks. He isn’t shooting the puck nearly as much as he was last year and is in clear need of a reset.
Lapierre’s demotion means that fellow youngster Ivan Miroshnichenko‘s spot on the roster is safe for now. The 20-year-old Russian is the only other forward on Washington’s roster who wouldn’t have needed waivers for an AHL reassignment and was originally believed to be the eventual casualty of Eller and Alex Ovechkin‘s return. He hasn’t taken any meaningful step forward in limited action this year with one goal and four points in 15 games averaging 9:24 of ice time per game.
Eller missed four games battling an illness. He’s expected to reprise his role down the middle of the team’s third line for their game against the Detroit Red Wings later this afternoon. Since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in an early-season trade, Eller has scored two goals and six points in 13 games in his second go-around in Washington.
Winnipeg’s Daniel Torgersson Clears Waivers, Contract To Be Terminated
Dec. 29th: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed Torgersson has successfully cleared waivers and will have his contract terminated by the Jets organization.
Dec. 28th: Daniel Torgersson‘s first three years in North American professional hockey haven’t gone as expected. The Winnipeg Jets have seen everything they need to as the organization announced they’ve placed Torgersson on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract.
Winnipeg selected Torgersson as the 40th overall selection of the 2020 NHL Draft from the SHL’s Frölunda HC program. He had a terrific season for Frölunda’s J20 SuperElit team scoring 26 goals and 44 points in 39 games.
He failed to build a positive reputation in the Swedish Hockey League over the next two years but eventually landed with AIK of the HockeyAllsvenskan in 2021-22. He scored seven goals and 17 points in 40 games for AIK before ending the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
Torgersson was solid but unimpressive in his first full season with the Moose scoring 11 goals and 20 points in 69 games. He tied for 10th on the team in scoring during his rookie campaign but failed to move beyond the team’s bottom six.
The next year and a third have been an unmitigated disaster for Torgersson. He disappointed with one goal and nine points in 52 games for the Moose last season and has failed to find the scoresheet once this year through 12 contests. There’s no confirmed transaction but Torgersson is expected to continue his professional career in Sweden.
Winnipeg was likely hoping for a higher return on investment for a second-round pick but the 2020 NHL Draft presented unique scouting challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Torgersson will have the opportunity to repair his value overseas and potentially return to North America in the future.