Maple Leafs Recall Dennis Hildeby
The Maple Leafs recalled rookie netminder Dennis Hildeby from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Monday morning, per a team release. Hildeby joined the Maple Leafs at practice this morning and is expected to dress for his first NHL game Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Hildeby replaces Ilya Samsonov on the active roster, who will be assigned to the minors after 1 p.m. CT today, assuming he clears waivers. The latter’s struggles this season are well-documented, posting a .862 SV% that’s second-worst in the league among qualified netminders.
It’s been a dramatic fall from grace for Samsonov, who conceded at least four goals in his past four starts after blanking the Predators with an 18-save shutout on December 9. He’s just a few months removed from guiding the Maple Leafs to their first playoff series win since 2004 and stopping 17.4 goals above average in 42 appearances in 2022-23.
Multiple reports indicate Samsonov will not appear in a game with AHL Toronto, at least not immediately after his demotion this week. The team’s hope is to give him a dedicated space to work with the team’s development staff and rehabilitate his game.
New de facto starter Joseph Woll is sidelined longer-term with a high ankle sprain. That means veteran Martin Jones, initially signed to be the team’s third option in the net behind Samsonov and Woll, will see the lion’s share of starts before Woll can return to action, likely sometime later this month or next.
Supplementing Jones will be Hildeby, who has put up spectacular numbers in his first full season in the North American pro circuit. He’s had a quick rise up the prospect ranks since being passed over in three straight drafts (2019, 2020 and 2021), finally heading to the Maple Leafs in the fourth round, 122nd overall, in 2022.
Since then, the 22-year-old’s play has been elite. The Maple Leafs signed Hildeby to an entry-level contract only a few weeks after acquiring his rights in the draft, but they returned him to his Swedish Hockey League club, Färjestad BK, on loan for the 2022-23 season. There, he split the crease with current Lightning netminder Matt Tomkins, posting a strong 2.26 GAA and .918 SV% with three shutouts in 21 regular-season games.
After the SHL campaign concluded, Hildeby made three appearances (two regular-season, one playoff) for the Marlies, but only one start. This season, however, with Woll’s injury forcing a domino effect, Hildeby took over the starting role for them and hasn’t looked back. Through 15 games, the 6-foot-7 Swede has a .919 SV%, 2.20 GAA, two shutouts, and a 7-5-3 record. He’s allowed four-plus goals in a game only twice and has not been pulled from a game.
The Leafs aren’t looking to Hildeby to “save their season.” After all, the team is still in solid playoff positioning with a third-place standing in the Atlantic Division. Although they’re tied in points with the Lightning with 41, they have four games in hand on their playoff rivals, leading to a significant gap in their points percentages.
However, they are hoping he can give the team some more chances to win – something Samsonov hasn’t done on too many occasions as of late. If Hildeby can post a SV% even just slightly below league average in his first NHL stint, it will be a major upgrade on Samsonov’s performance this year and could help fault Toronto into a top-two finish in the Atlantic. With a back-to-back upcoming against the Kings tomorrow and the Ducks Wednesday, he will likely make his first NHL start within the next 72 hours.
Hildeby’s contract carries a $843.3K cap hit, less than the maximum $1.15MM in cap savings afforded by burying Samsonov’s contract in the minors. Thus, the Leafs will add roughly $275K in cap space with this transaction, giving them some breathing room under their nearly maxed-out LTIR salary pool.
Poll: Favorite Hockey Moment Of 2023?
Now that 2023 is coming to an end in a few hours (depending on which coast you are on), it is time to reflect on some of the big moments of the last 365 days, which there have been plenty of in the NHL.
On April 9th, in their game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Boston Bruins won their 63rd game of the season, breaking the most wins of the regular seasons previously set by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, and 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. The Bruins would go on to win 65 games last season, cruising to the President’s Trophy, annually awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the regular season. Ultimately, Boston’s winning ways would not continue into the 2022-23 Stanley Cup playoffs, as they were ousted by the eventual Eastern Conference Champion, Florida Panthers, in seven games in the opening round.
Following along with the theme of team accomplishments, the Vegas Golden Knights became the quickest expansion team to win their first Stanley Cup, ousting the Panthers in five games in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. Originally founded in 2017, it took the Golden Knights only six seasons to win their first Stanley Cup, beating the previous record of the 1974 Flyers team, which took only seven years from their introduction to the league during the 1967 NHL Expansion.
On an individual level, on the Edmonton Oilers’s last game of the regular season on April 13th, Connor McDavid recorded his 153rd point of the season, by way of an assist against the San Jose Sharks. Because of this, McDavid would pass Bruins’ legend Phil Esposito for the 15th-best scoring season in NHL history, the highest of any player not named Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, or Wayne Gretzky. Winning the Art Ross, Hart Memorial, Ted Lindsay, and Maurice Richard Trophy all in one season, McDavid would go on to have the best individual season in the salary cap era.
Aside from these moments, the NHL has been filled with memorable events in the 2023 calendar year. Now it’s time to pick, is one of these moments one of your favorites, or is there another that stands out?
St. Louis Blues Reassign Mackenzie MacEachern
In the organization’s day off leading into the New Year, the St. Louis Blues have sent down a veteran forward to keep pace with their salary cap management. In an announcement from the team this afternoon, the Blues have sent down Mackenzie MacEachern to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
The demotion will not be foreign territory for MacEachern, as he has regularly been used as an extra forward throughout his time in the NHL, both in his first stint with St.Louis as well as a one-year stop with the Carolina Hurricanes last season. Drafted 67th overall back in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Blues, MacEachern is a veteran of 123 NHL games dating back to the 2018-19 season, scoring 11 goals and 20 points overall.
With about twice the amount of games played in the AHL as compared to his time in the NHL, MacEachern has been much more productive, scoring 47 goals and 104 points in 240 games. Although he only played in the Calder Cup playoffs twice throughout his career in the AHL, MacEachern has been relatively more productive when viewing his scoring ratio, putting up eight goals and 16 points in 28 playoff games.
In only eight games with the Blues this season, MacEachern has tallied one assist overall, averaging just under eight minutes of ice time per night, not receiving any minutes on either unit of the team’s powerplay or penalty kill. When the Blues return to action on January 4th against the Vancouver Canucks, it is more than likely that MacEachern will be recalled to the NHL lineup, as St. Louis currently only has 12 forwards on the active roster.
Evening Notes: Tortorella, Askarov, Joseph, Suzdalev
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella made history on Friday, become the eighth man to coach in 1,500 NHL games. The milestone was reached via a matchup with the Seattle Kraken that ended in a 2-1 overtime loss for the Flyers. But despite dropping his most recent game, Tortorella has been fantastically successful for much of the rest of this season, currently boasting a 19-11-5 record that has Philadelphia ranked third in the Metropolitan Division. This comes despite Philadelphia being considered one of the league’s rebuilders entering the season, with many expecting the team to start off slow under a new general manager and a second-year head coach.
But Tortorella has pulled the Flyers above their expectations, following an interesting pattern of missing the playoffs in his first full season with a new team but driving towards the post-season in his second year. Tortorella has done the same for every club that he’s coached for, save for the Vancouver Canucks, who he only spent one season with.
Tortorella joins an exclusive list by hitting the 1,500-game mark. Only seven other head coaches have hit the mark – and, interestingly, only three coaches in the Top 10 of games played are officially retired. Four coaches on the list are currently behind NHL benches – with Tortorella joined by Florida’s Paul Maurice, New Jersey’s Lindy Ruff, and New York’s Peter Laviolette. The list also features Barry Trotz, who is taking a break from coaching to serve as the Nashville Predators general manager, and Joel Quenneville and Darryl Sutter, who are both coaching free agents with differing levels of optimism around if they may coach again in the future.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Nashville Predators have sent top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov to the minor leagues. Askarov played in two games while with the Predators roster, saving 33 of a possible 35 shots. Askarov has also played in 15 AHL games this season, setting an 8-6-1 record and .908 save percentage.
- Pierre-Olivier Joseph is set to miss the Penguins’ Sunday night matchup against the New York Islanders, continuing to sit out with illness. Joseph’s last game was on December 16th. He’s played in eight NHL games this year, recording one assist and a -3.
- Washington Capitals 2022 second-round draft pick Alexander Suzdalev has had his WHL rights traded from the Regina Pats to the Saskatoon Blades. Regina received three players and three draft picks in return, including a first round pick in the 2026 Draft. Suzdalev scored 86 points in 66 WHL games last season, adding 10 points in seven playoff games. But he’s since returned to Sweden, playing in 13 games and scoring three points with Mora IK of Sweden’s second league. This blockbuster WHL move could be a sign that Suzdalev is poised for a return to Canadian juniors.
Marc-Andre Fleury Becomes Fourth Goalie With 1,000 Games Played
With his appearance in Minnesota’s 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, Marc-Andre Fleury has officially joined one of the most exclusive clubs in all of hockey, playing in his 1,000th NHL game. While hundreds of skaters have managed the feat, only three other goaltenders have had careers long enough and performances strong enough to reach the mark – Martin Brodeur (1,266 Games), Roberto Luongo (1,044), and Patrick Roy (1,029). The trio is arguably three of the best goaltenders of all time and will now be joined by Fleury, whose 55 percent win-percentage is the highest of any of the four goalies.
Fleury’s path to this milestone came largely thanks to his 13 years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where the French Canadian was able to become the winningest goalie in club history with 375 wings through a team-high 691 games played. But it was Fleury’s postseason performances that turned him into a legend for one of the league’s most prolific clubs. Fleury established himself as the team’s long-term starter in the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, carrying the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals thanks to a dazzling .933 save percentage in 20 starts. He immediately became the guy in the 2008-09 season, ranking eighth in the league with 62 games played. The major uptick in ice time didn’t faze Fleury, who held it together enough to record a .908 save percentage in 24 games during the 2009 Playoffs, helping lift the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup in 17 years.
But as much as it built up his early career, postseason performances were also the downfall of Fleury’s time in Pittsburgh, who ultimately lost his starting role to the hot hand of rookie Matt Murray during the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Murray would go on to lead the Penguins to another Stanley Cup win, on the back of a .923 save percentage in 21 games. Fleury would continue in Pittsburgh for one more season, platooning with Murray during the 2017 postseason, but the writing was on the wall – and after Murray won over the starting role en route to a second Cup, it was time for Fleury to move on. The Penguins traded the Vegas Golden Knights a second-round draft pick to incentivize them to take Fleury int he 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
The Golden Knights were quickly rewarded for taking the veteran, with Fleury bouncing immediately back to his postseason form – leading Vegas to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first year with a .927 save percentage in 20 games. He continued to thrive in the postseason with Vegas, setting a combined .914 save percentage over his next three seasons with the team, which saw 27 playoff games.
Fleury moved away from the Golden Knights in 2021, briefly joining the Chicago Blackhawks before being traded to the Minnesota Wild for a conditional second-round pick. Now 39 years old, Fleury is relishing on a successful .905 save percentage and 39-23-6 record in three years with the Wild. He’s lost the everyday starter role to Filip Gustavsson but still boasts an .893 in 14 games this year.
It’s been a prolific career for Fleury, emphasized by a Gold Medal win at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a Vezina Trophy and William Jennings Trophy win in the 2020-21 season. Fleury is set to become a free agent at the end of this season. If he decides to call it a career, he will be retiring as one of the winningest goaltenders of all time – one of only 21 goaltenders to win three-or-more Stanley Cups and ranked in the top 10 of all-time wins. The question now becomes whether his 1,000th game can combine with all of his other accolades to earn Fleury a Hall of Fame induction.
Hurricanes Have Received Interest In Michael Bunting
With Carolina believed to be among the teams shopping around the goalie market, there’s a possibility that they might need to clear out some money to bring out an impact netminder. To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (video link) that some teams have called the Hurricanes regarding the potential availability of Michael Bunting.
The 28-year-old is in his first season with Carolina after signing a three-year, $13.5MM contract with them in free agency this past summer. Suffice it to say, moving a $4.5MM cap charge off their books would certainly open up plenty of flexibility to go after a goalie if that’s a route they decide they want to go.
However, moving Bunting would also take a player of note from their lineup. While his playing time is down a bit compared to last season at just under 15 minutes a night, he has been a capable secondary contributor offensively, chipping in with eight goals and 17 assists so far in 36 games while taking a regular turn on their top power play unit. Taking him out of their lineup would create a fair-sized hole to try to fill up front so it would be surprising to see them go in that direction.
As things stand, Carolina has a little over $3MM in spending room today, an amount that jumps past $8MM at the trade deadline, per CapFriendly. Accordingly, if the Hurricanes stay healthy, they might not necessarily have to clear out a sizable contract to bring in help between the pipes.
In the meantime, GM Don Waddell is likely still working on moving blueliner Tony DeAngelo, a player whose usage has been quite limited in his second go-round with the team. DeAngelo is on an expiring deal with a $1.675MM salary and cap hit so even moving out that contract might be enough to give the Hurricanes the flexibility they desire should the opportunity to bring in an impact netminder present itself.
Injury Notes: Mayfield, Dvorak, Oettinger
It appears as if the Islanders will be welcoming back a key part of their back end tonight against Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) that Scott Mayfield has been activated from injured reserve. The 31-year-old has missed close to three weeks with an upper-body injury. Before that, he was off to a bit of a quieter start to his season with just four assists in 20 games while his playing time was down to 19:13 per game, his lowest since the 2018-19 campaign. Mayfield was, however, blocking nearly three shots a night, the best rate of his career. With both Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock still injured, getting Mayfield back will be a nice boost to their back end.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Canadiens center Christian Dvorak is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, relays Sportsnet’s Eric Engels (Twitter link). The 27-year-old is having a tough year offensively with just three goals and four assists through his first 25 games. With Montreal only carrying 12 forwards on its roster – partially a byproduct of carrying three goalies – and being on the road, they will have to dress seven blueliners for their matchup against Tampa Bay tonight.
- Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger has been skating for four or five days now but a return to the lineup does not appear to be imminent. Head coach Peter DeBoer told Stars radio analyst Bruce LeVine (Twitter link) that the netminder is “probably further away than he is closer” as it relates to a possible return. The 25-year-old has missed the last couple of weeks with a lower-body injury after getting off to a rough start to his year with a save percentage of just .901 in his first 23 starts.
Senators Announce Several Front Office Moves
After going with an interim GM since Pierre Dorion was let go, the Senators have their new GM in place. Instead of hiring someone else, they announced that they have lifted the interim tag from Steve Staios, officially naming him to the role of General Manager and President of Hockey Operations. Meanwhile, assistant GM Ryan Bowness has been promoted to Associate GM. The Sens have also added to its front office, appointing Dave Poulin as their Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations.
Staios joined Ottawa earlier this season following Michael Andlauer’s purchase of the team being made official. He originally came over as their President of Hockey Operations but after the Sens lost a first-round pick for failing to disclose Evgenii Dadonov‘s no-trade clause to Vegas when they traded him there (later nixing a trade the Golden Knights made with Anaheim), Dorion was relieved of his duties with Staios adding interim GM duties to his responsibilities at the beginning of November.
During his time in that role, Staios brought in Jacques Martin as a consultant but later elevated him to interim head coach when D.J. Smith was fired. At the time, the logic made sense in that saddling a new GM with a more permanent coaching hire might not be the best course of action but now that Staios will be the chief decision maker, he can now start to assess options for who will get that opportunity down the road. The expectation is that the 71-year-old Martin will be behind the bench for the remainder of the regular season.
Bowness joined the Sens a little less than a year and a half ago after working in Pittsburgh as their Director of Professional Scouting. He is also GM of Ottawa’s AHL affiliate in Belleville, something that is likely to remain the case even as he takes on other responsibilities with his elevated title.
As for Poulin, he last worked in a front office nearly a decade ago. He had a five-year stint as Vice President of Hockey Operations from 2009 through 2014 while also being their AHL GM for two of those seasons. Since then, the long-time NHL forward has worked in the media.
TSN’s Darren Dreger notes (Twitter link) that Andlauer had sought to replicate the managerial structure that Montreal has; Andlauer had been a minority owner of the Canadiens before purchasing the Sens. While this front office isn’t now shaped exactly the same way as Montreal’s, it now has been augmented with the addition of Poulin and Bowness taking on expanded duties.
Senators Notes: Chabot, Joseph, Kubalik
The Senators will welcome back defenseman Thomas Chabot a bit earlier than expected as TSN’s Claire Hanna relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner will play today against Buffalo. Originally, Ottawa had been hoping that he’d be back at some point during their upcoming five-game road trip. The 26-year-old has missed the last four weeks with a leg injury and had been on LTIR. On top of that, he also missed time with a hand injury earlier in the year; as a result, he has only played in nine games so far. Chabot’s return will certainly be a welcome one for an Ottawa team that has scuffled in its own end defensively throughout the season.
Other notes revolving around the Senators:
- CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that winger Mathieu Joseph has been placed on LTIR. The 26-year-old suffered a lower-body injury a little over two weeks ago and was believed to be a candidate to return at some point on the trip. However, this placement was needed in order to stay cap-compliant with Chabot’s activation. Joseph has had a nice bounce-back campaign, picking up 19 points in 25 games so far after recording just 18 in 56 contests last season. The earliest he’ll be eligible to return now is January 9th as he must miss 10 games and 24 days from the date of the injury.
- Dominik Kubalik’s first season in Ottawa has been somewhat of a challenge as he has been limited to just seven goals and two assists in his first 31 appearances. Accordingly, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch believes that the 28-year-old is a lock to be moved before the March 8th trade deadline and that the Sens have already fielded some calls on him. Kubalik is in the final year of his contract which carries a $2.5MM cap charge and does not have any trade protection.
Golden Knights Sign Matthew Cataford
2023 is ending on a high note for Golden Knights prospect Matthew Cataford. The team announced today that they’ve signed the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 18-year-old was a third-round pick by Vegas back in June, going 77th overall. The early returns on that selection are certainly promising as Cataford has 22 goals and 31 assists in just 35 games with QMJHL Halifax so far. Not only does that lead the Mooseheads in scoring, but his 53 points lead the entire league on that front. He’s also the league leader in plus/minus, checking in at a +35 rating.
While Cataford’s contract technically starts this season, that won’t wind up actually being the case as he will remain in Halifax. Accordingly, his contract will slide for 2023-24 and will still have three seasons left on it heading into the 2024-25 campaign. He’ll be eligible for a second slide as well that year as his options will be either junior hockey or Vegas; Cataford won’t be eligible to be assigned to the minors until 2025-26.