Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Andrew Poturalski

Sharks, Andrew Poturalski To Mutually Terminate Contract

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Sharks and center Andrew Poturalski are headed for a mutual contract termination, the club announced Friday (via Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group). He’s presumably been placed on unconditional waivers today, and the termination can proceed if no one claims him in the next 24 hours.

Poturalski has an opportunity lined up outside North America, the Sharks said, presumably in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. He told Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now after the season ended that he was frustrated with the lack of NHL opportunities he received in San Jose this year, despite leading the AHL in points, something he’s done three times in the past five seasons. He’ll walk away from the second season of a two-year contract that would have paid him an $800K salary in the NHL and a $500K salary in the minors.

The 31-year-old center has always been a high-end contributor at the AHL level, but after going undrafted, he barely ever got an NHL look. His three games played with the Sharks this season were actually a career high. He’d logged six NHL games entering 2024-25, two each in the 2016-17, 2021-22, and 2023-24 campaigns with the Hurricanes and Kraken.

The 5’10”, 187-lb pivot will thus head overseas, potentially for the remainder of his career, without an NHL goal to his name. He recorded three assists and a minus-six rating in his nine games of NHL action.

In the minors, though, Poturalski has been one of the most dominant players of the last decade. He made his debut with the Charlotte Checkers, then affiliated with Carolina, in the 2015-16 season and has since won two Calder Cups, twice been named a First Team All-Star, and scored the Calder Cup-clinching goal for Charlotte in their 2019 championship win, along with being named playoff MVP. He’s posted a 161-332–493 scoring line in 527 career AHL contests over the last 10 years, including a career-high 30 goals with the San Jose Barracuda this year.

With no NHL future ahead of him this late in his career, he’ll head across the Atlantic in hopes of playing a starring role on championship teams there. He’s likely to land with Avangard Omsk on a two-year deal, Russia’s Match TV reported back in April.

Sharks Notes: Eklund, Bordeleau, Gushchin, Poturalski

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Sharks winger William Eklund is eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st and it appears that the team would like to get something done quickly.  GM Mike Grier told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that he recently met with Eklund’s agent to get an early sense of what the asking price might be on a new agreement.  Speculatively, that would be a long-term agreement as early extensions are rarely short-term bridge pacts although Grier said all options are on the table this early in the process.  The 22-year-old set career highs in goals (17), assists (41), and points (58) this season while finishing second in team scoring to Calder Trophy finalist Macklin Celebrini.  With the salary cap set to spike, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a long-term extension surpass the $8MM mark per season.

More from San Jose:

  • Center Thomas Bordeleau told reporters including Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link) that he has been dealing with a concussion and wasn’t particularly close to returning had the AHL’s Barracuda been able to go on a long playoff run. The 23-year-old played in 59 games in the minors this season, notching 14 goals and 24 assists as he heads to restricted free agency for the first time this summer.
  • Bordeleau also spoke about his status in the organization, voicing some frustration to reporters including Pashelka (Twitter link) about how the last couple of years have gone, saying that the message changed. It wasn’t long ago that it looked like he was on the verge of being a full-timer with the Sharks but instead, he played in just one game with the big club this season after getting into 27 in 2023-24.
  • Winger Daniil Gushchin is also set to be a restricted free agent this summer. Despite a strong year with the Barracuda that saw him pot 27 goals and 21 assists in 54 games, he only saw a dozen games with the Sharks, leading to some frustration earlier in the year as well.  Although there has been some speculation that he’d like to return to Russia, Peng relays that the 23-year-old’s intention is to remain in North America.  A three-time 20-goal scorer in the minors, it feels like Gushchin will be in tough to crack a full-time spot with the Sharks, especially if Grier goes out and adds some pieces this summer.
  • In that same column, another player who voiced some frustration about his usage this season was Andrew Poturalski. The 31-year-old led the AHL in scoring this season with 73 points, earning his first career MVP award but that only got him three games with the Sharks, a decision he said he doesn’t agree with.  Signed for one more year, there has been speculation that Poturalski could look to go to the KHL next season over remaining in the minors but the two sides would need to reach a mutual contract termination first before that could happen.

Western Conference Notes: Landeskog, Pickard, Poturalski

at CDT | by 3 Comments

After recently playing for the first time in 1,032 days, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is set for a bigger role in game four of their matchup with against the Dallas Stars, per an NHL release.

The veteran is expected to join the top power-play unit and slot in on a line alongside Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin. In his game three return, a 2-1 lost, Landeskog remarkably led all players with six hits in 13:16 of total ice time. He skated on the Avs third line next to Charlie Coyle and Joel Kiviranta.

After captaining the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022, the winger, 32, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, which put his career in jeopardy. But after nearly three years of intense rehab, the Swedish-born forward has made his return, something that has greatly inspired the organization.

As head coach Avalanche Jared Bednar stated today: “It’s remarkable, really. When you think about the time he’s been away, and then you see the way he played the other night, I thought he was incredible under those circumstances.”

Elsewhere in the Western Conference:

  • The Edmonton Oilers have announced goalie Calvin Pickard will start game three of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, per TSN. Pickard replaced Stuart Skinner in the third period of the team’s 6-2 loss in game two. Coach Kris Knoblauch noted the team will need a big game from Pickard, adding that the Oilers need “big saves at big times.” Pickard had a solid showing in the regular season, finishing with 22-10-1 record and .900 save percentage. Skinner, meanwhile, struggled for a starter with a .896 save percentage on the year through 51 appearances. And through two playoff starts, the 26-year-old holds a rough .810 save percentage and staggering 6.11 goals against average. If the Oilers have any hope of making another deep playoff run, they’ll need significantly better play between the pipes.
  • While not much went right for the San Jose Sharks this season, their AHL-affiliate does have something big to celebrate. San Jose Barracuda forward Andrew Poturalski was announced as the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player, per a league release. Poturalski, 31, scored 73 points in 59 games to lead the Barracuda to their best record since 2019 (while missing the final three weeks of the regular season due to injury). Poturalski has had a phenomenal AHL career, securing three scoring titles and two Calder Cup championships. However, he has never been able to showcase that success in the NHL, appearing in just nine games with three assists.

Minor Transactions: 2/9/25

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The league will continue to see many AHL demotions today after all but four teams wrapped up their pre-4 Nations Face-Off break schedule on Saturday. We’ve already seen a few this morning, namely in Pittsburgh and Boston, and we will continue to track the rest in this article as fringe players head to the minors to get playing time over the next few weeks.

  • The Predators announced they’ve reassigned wingers Joakim Kemell, Ozzy Wiesblatt, and defenseman Kevin Gravel to AHL Milwaukee. They now have three open roster spots, two of which could go to IR-bound Mark Jankowski and Jeremy Lauzon in the likely event they’re ready to return from injury when their schedule resumes on Feb. 22. The most notable of the trio is Kemell, who made his NHL debut across Nashville’s Friday-Saturday back-to-back and managed eight shots on goal across the pair of games. However, he’s still looking for his first NHL point. The 2022 first-rounder has 9-16–25 in 38 AHL contests this season.
  • Wild winger Liam Ohgren will return to AHL Iowa over the break, per a team announcement. The fellow 2022 first-rounder has bounced between Minnesota and Iowa this year but spent the past couple of weeks filling in the Wild’s top six with Marcus Johansson and Kirill Kaprizov missing time. It hasn’t been an overly productive first look in the NHL for the Swedish winger, who’s managed 2-4–6 in 23 appearances since debuting late last season. He’ll likely be back up after the break, with Kaprizov still set to miss another couple of weeks following lower-body surgery.
  • The Sharks reassigned forwards Collin Graf and Andrew Poturalski and defenseman Jack Thompson to AHL San Jose, the club said. Their post-break returns likely depend on the health of Nikolai Kovalenko, Jan Rutta, and Nico Sturm, all of whom enter the break on injured reserve with day-to-day designations. If all three are ready to return, the Sharks will need those roster spots to activate them, as they were carrying a full roster before this morning’s moves.
  • The Blues sent forward Zachary Bolduc down to AHL Springfield this morning. It’s just the second time this season he’s been assigned to Springfield, and the first was a one-day demotion before opening night to help St. Louis optimize their LTIR capture. The 21-year-old has 6-12–18 through 46 games and will return to the NHL following the break. In the meantime, the 2021 first-round pick will continue to get reps in Springfield amid a promising sophomore campaign in the majors with good possession numbers.
  • Blackhawks rookie defenseman Ethan Del Mastro is back down with AHL Rockford, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The 22-year-old lefty has one assist and 13 hits in six games since being recalled on Jan. 23. His 52.0 CF% at even strength is far above team average and is a promising sign for the 2021 fourth-rounder’s prospects at making the opening night roster next year. The 6’4″, 210-lb active defender has eight assists in 38 showings with Rockford this year, along with a plus-four rating.
  • The Rangers returned goaltender Dylan Garand to AHL Hartford after his services were needed to backup Jonathan Quick in last night’s 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets. The 22-year-old will only be back up after the break if Igor Shesterkin, who missed the game due to an upper-body injury, isn’t cleared to return. The 2020 fourth-rounder is coming off an appearance in the AHL All-Star Classic and has a 2.68 GAA, .913 SV%, three shutouts, and a 12-7-4 record in 23 showings for Hartford.
  • The Utah Hockey Club has assigned Josh Doan to the minor-leagues per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. This move is likely intended to keep Doan on the ice while the club prepares for their two-week break. Doan has been in the NHL roster routinely since January 10th. He has five points in 15 games in that span, including two in his last two games. He’s been highly impactful even despite modest scoring totals, and should get a chance to continue carving out a role when Utah returns on February 22nd.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

San Jose Sharks Recall Andrew Poturalski

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The San Jose Sharks have recalled some forward depth in case Tyler Toffoli’s lower-body injury prohibits him from playing this evening. San Jose announced they’ve recalled forward Andrew Poturalski from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.

Tonight’s contest would be Poturalski’s first NHL appearance since a two-game stretch with the Seattle Kraken last year, should he enter the lineup tonight. Including this season, Poturalski has been one of the best veteran forwards in the world for those not currently rostered in the NHL.

Since his last year with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers in the 2018-19 season, Poturalski has scored 106 goals and 359 points in 343 games split between the Checkers, San Diego Gulls, Chicago Wolves, Coachella Valley Firebirds, and Barracuda, respectively. He’s also won two Calder Cups, the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs, and two John B. Sollenberger Trophies as the league’s leading scorer during that stretch.

Unfortunately, that impressive production in the AHL has hardly translated to the NHL. Poturalski has only been allowed to suit up in six NHL appearances since the start of the 2016-17 season and only has two assists to show for.

Still, his performance in the AHL is impressive enough in his own right, and Poturalski is again leading the league in scoring. He recently participated in the AHL’s All-Star Challenge scoring one goal in three games as a Pacific Division All-Star team member.

Waiver Wire: 10/2/24

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Twelve new faces were placed on waivers Wednesday, per PuckPedia. All who were waived yesterday cleared, aside from goaltender Jiří Patera, who’s heading from Vancouver to Boston. Here’s the listing of today’s players who hit the wire:

Carolina Hurricanes

G Spencer Martin

Colorado Avalanche

D Jack Ahcan
F Matthew Phillips
D Calle Rosén

Columbus Blue Jackets

F Trey Fix-Wolansky

New York Rangers

F Benoit-Olivier Groulx

Pittsburgh Penguins

D Mac Hollowell
F Jimmy Huntington
F Marc Johnstone

Philadelphia Flyers

G Calvin Petersen

San Jose Sharks

F Andrew Poturalski
F Scott Sabourin

Andrew Poturalski Ready For Opportunity With Sharks

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Forward Andrew Poturalski recently expressed his hunger to crack the roster of the San Jose Sharks in a recent interview with Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey. The longtime AHL veteran signed a two-year, two-way agreement with the Sharks organization this summer after spending the last two years as a part of the Seattle Kraken organization.

Poturalski, 30, is one of the best AHL players in recent memories to have not gotten a legitimate shot at the NHL level. Despite only managing two points in six career games from 2016-2023 the veteran forward still has the fire burning to make his dreams come true. The best opportunity of his career will likely come in San Jose as the team expects another rebuilding season despite graduating several top prospects to the league.

The Williamsville, NY had been a solid performer through the first six years of his career in the AHL as he put up 77 goals and 226 points through his first 299 regular season games split between the Charlotte Checkers and the San Diego Gulls. He excelled in the playoffs too highlighted by a 12-goal, 23-point performance for the Checkers in the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs en route to the organization winning their first Calder Cup in team history.

His AHL career took off in a big way during the 2021-22 season as he was led by now head coach of the San Jose Sharks, Ryan Warsofsky, with the Chicago Wolves. Poturalski won his second straight John B. Sollenberger Trophy that year on the heels of a 28-goal, 101-point effort in 71 games. He and the Wolves continued their success into the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs which saw him score eight goals and 23 points in 18 games and secure his second Calder Cup ring.

Warsofsky moved on to San Jose to become an assistant coach with the Sharks while Poturalski joined the Kraken to play for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHL primarily. He scored 26 goals and 93 points in 98 games with the Firebirds over his two-year tenure with another five goals and 22 points in 29 playoff contests. He could not add to his team trophy collection as Coachella Valley was eliminated in the Calder Cup Final back-to-back years at the hands of the Hershey Bears.

Poturalski has finally rejoined Warsofsky after a two-year hiatus away. His desire for consistent minutes at the NHL level still may be out of reach even on a rebuilding San Jose team. The Sharks are in a position to give meaningful minutes to high-end prospects in the team’s top-six this year pushing Poturalski to compete for a bottom-six role.

There still could be some openings on the Sharks roster out of training camp albeit in less-exciting roles. Barclay Goodrow and Luke Kunin are once again poised to average less than 15 minutes of ice time per night this season and Poturalski may have a legitimate chance to steal one of their spots on opening night if Warsofsky still has confidence in the soon-to-be 31-year-old forward. Poturalski won’t have any long-term value to San Jose but could put the team in a better position to win some nights in the upcoming season.

Sharks Sign Andrew Poturalski

at CDT | by 1 Comment

According to an announcement from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, the San Jose Sharks have signed forward Andrew Poturalski to a two-year, two-way contract. With several prospects hoping to make the jump to the AHL level this season, the Sharks organization has added one of the premier minor league scorers over the last several years.

Poturalski originally came to professional hockey with the Carolina Hurricanes as an undrafted free agent from the University of New Hampshire. Most of Poturalski’s career has been spent in the AHL as he’s collected only six games at the NHL level since the start of the 2016-17 NHL season. Now 30 years old, Poturalski’s trophy case already carries the 2021 and 2022 John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s top scorer, the 2019 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy, and Calder Cup rings from the 2019 and 2022 AHL playoffs.

Outside of his most recent Calder Cup victory in 2022, Poturalski has also helped the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, appear in back-to-back Calder Cup finals. There is quite a lot of work to be done with the Barracuda as the team has not qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs since the 2020-21 AHL season.

It will be difficult for AHL San Jose to find a more capable player, however, as Poturalski seems to win wherever he goes. Over the last three years, Poturalski has scored 54 goals and 194 points in 169 regular season games while scoring another 13 goals and 45 points in 47 postseason contests.

Kraken Recall Max McCormick, Issue Injury Update On Jaden Schwartz

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Kraken have called up veteran winger Max McCormick from AHL Coachella Valley, a team statement released Friday afternoon reads. In a corresponding transaction, another minor-league veteran, Andrew Poturalski, was returned to their minor-league affiliate. Additionally, after placing him on injured reserve yesterday, the team announced that winger Jaden Schwartz’s upper-body injury is expected to keep him out for approximately six weeks.

This is McCormick’s first recall of the season. He was summoned to the NHL roster on two brief occasions last season without appearing in a game. The 31-year-old cleared waivers during training camp and can be returned to Coachella Valley if he stays on the Kraken roster for less than 30 days and plays less than ten games. McCormick, a veteran of over 450 AHL games, is off to a spectacular start, serving as Coachella Valley’s captain and leading the team with eight goals and 17 points in 16 games.

The 2023 AHL Second Team All-Star has been a frequent recall option for teams ever since making his NHL debut with the Senators in 2015-16. He’s accumulated 93 games of NHL experience across six campaigns, most recently in a ten-game stint with the Kraken in their inaugural season in 2021-22. McCormick has been used exclusively in depth roles, however, averaging just 8:28 per contest while managing a respectable eight goals and 13 points across his career. He’s rarely been a significant defensive liability and is a solid, replacement-level option to fill bottom-six injuries.

McCormick will slide into the lineup Saturday against his former team, the Senators, if Brandon Tanev cannot return from his second lower-body injury of the season. He is expected to skate in a fourth-line role alongside Pierre-Édouard Bellemare and recent fellow call-up Marián Studenič. He would replace Poturalski in the lineup, who now returns to the minors after recording no points and a -1 rating in 6:52 of average ice time across the Kraken’s last two contests.

Missing Schwartz for such a significant period of time is a blow to the Kraken’s depth in no uncertain terms. The veteran winger had 15 points in 23 games on the season, on pace for his best offensive showing since joining the expansion Kraken during free agency in 2021. It’s not great news for a Seattle team that’s now fallen two games below the .500 mark and remains outside of the Western Conference playoff picture.

Kraken Recall Andrew Poturalski

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Kraken center Andrew Poturalski didn’t get a chance to play in his first recall of the season but he’ll get another opportunity to play with the big club as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled him from AHL Coachella Valley.

The 29-year-old was brought up earlier this month for a week and a half but spent that time as Seattle’s reserve forward.  He was sent back down to the Firebirds last week to get in some game action and suited up for his first contest in nearly two weeks on Saturday.

Poturalski is in his second year in the Kraken’s organization after signing with them as a free agent in the 2022 offseason.  He has been quite productive at the AHL level throughout his career including a 101-point campaign in 2021-22 but it hasn’t yielded many opportunities as he has just four career NHL appearances under his belt where he has two assists.

For now, at least, Poturalski will likely resume the reserve role as Seattle has a dozen other healthy forwards on its active roster but should someone need a night off, he might get a chance to make his first NHL appearance since 2021.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top