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Anton Blidh

New York Rangers Acquire Anton Blidh, Wyatt Kalynuk

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The New York Rangers made two more minor moves just before the bell sounded. First, they acquired Anton Blidh from the Colorado Avalanche sending Gustav Rydahl back in return. Then, they acquired Wyatt Kalynuk from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for future considerations. All three players are currently in the minor leagues.

Blidh, 27, is the most experienced player in the deals, with 84 NHL games under his belt. Fourteen of those have come this season with Colorado, but the depth forward has been kept completely off the scoresheet. His acquisition is likely just to extend the Rangers forward depth chart ahead of the playoffs, as he is unlikely to play much unless the team suffers several injuries.

You could say the same for Kalynuk, who last saw NHL action during the 201-22 season and has spent this entire year with the Abbotsford Canucks. His acquisition is likely more about giving the Hartford Wolf Pack a bit more expeirence. Kalynuk was once expected to be a regular at the NHL level, after signing with Chicago out of the University of Wisconsin, but after 26 games in a Blackhawks sweater, his time in the league ran out.

Rydahl, meanwhile, was signed as an undrafted free agent out of the SHL, where he has won multiple championships and starred for Farjestads. His first taste of North American hockey hasn’t worked out, with just seven goals and 15 points through 40 games, but perhaps the Avalanche can find a little more juice in the 28-year-old center.

Anton Blidh, Dryden Hunt Clear Waivers

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Jan 23: Both players have cleared waivers, meaning they can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Jan 22: Two players will be on today’s waiver wire, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The Colorado Avalanche have waived forward Anton Blidh, while the Toronto Maple Leafs have waived forward Dryden Hunt.

Blidh lands on waivers for the second time this season after clearing them before the start of the regular season. After signing a one-year, two-way deal to join the Avalanche last offseason, Blidh has made 13 NHL appearances as injuries have stricken the team’s forward corps. He’s yet to get on the scoresheet.

If Blidh clears, he’ll return to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. There, he has six goals, three assists, and nine points in 23 games. While he’s never been an offensive force in the minors, the 2013 sixth-round pick was brought to Colorado to provide a hard-nosed depth option, similar to the role Nicolas Aube-Kubel held last year.

Hunt, on the other hand, now runs the risk of suiting up for his fourth NHL team just this season. Waived by the New York Rangers a week into the season, he was claimed by the Avalanche to serve as an upgrade over Blidh’s role. After scoring once in 25 games with Colorado, he was dealt to the Maple Leafs in exchange for forward Denis Malgin.

With just one point (a goal) in nine games with the Leafs, though, the organization has opted to try and sneak him through waivers. Hunt was a full-time NHLer last season with the Rangers, recording 17 points in 76 games. He’s in the final year of a two-year contract carrying a cap hit of $762,500.

 

Morning Moves: Luukkonen, Blidh, Heinola

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The shuffle in Buffalo continues, as the Sabres recall Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen once again. Peyton Krebs is the player headed back to the Rochester Americans this time. Luukkonen is the starter for Buffalo still, but as the only waiver-exempt goalie on the roster is moved down between appearances.

The young goaltender showed on Saturday exactly why they are going through all the trouble. He stopped 38 of 41 shots to outduel Juuse Saros for the win against the Nashville Predators, taking the Sabres to 21-18-2 on the year. They begin a back-to-back situation today with an important game against the Florida Panthers, a team they are competing with directly in the Atlantic Division.

  • Anton Blidh is back up for the Colorado Avalanche, after last appearing more than a month ago. The 27-year-old forward has failed to score in his nine NHL appearances so far, and has just nine points in 23 games for the Colorado Eagles. He represents nothing more than a fourth-line replacement for this afternoon’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have swapped Jansen Harkins and Ville Heinola again, recalling the latter. Harkins was up while several forwards dealt with an illness, but will head back to continue his strong play for the Manitoba Moose. Heinola, who still has only 33 NHL appearances spread over four seasons, will try to get back into the lineup with the Jets on a more regular basis.

Colorado Avalanche Send Three To AHL

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2:15pm: After the Avalanche lost Megna on waivers, they were under the 18-man roster limit. Hudon has been recalled to make the team compliant again.

9:10am: With Nathan MacKinnon the latest player to go down for the Colorado Avalanche, the team will have some tough decisions on how to organize a lineup moving forward. Today, they have sent Andreas Englund, Anton Blidh, and Charles Hudon back to the AHL, though they may not stay there for long.

Hudon, 28, made his Colorado debut last night, playing over 15 minutes and recording seven shots on goal. The talented winger is a potential fit for the top-six, but likely doesn’t fit any lower than that. With both Alex Galchenyuk and Jayson Megna on waivers today to create some additional flexibility, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Hudon back up for tomorrow’s game.

Englund, meanwhile, has been playing regularly for the team as they deal with injuries to Josh Manson, Bowen Byram, and Kurtis MacDermid. The 6’3″ defenseman has one assist and five penalty minutes in six games, seeing just over ten minutes of ice time last night.

Unless a defenseman is being activated, Englund (or someone else from the minor leagues) will be needed once again for tomorrow night. The team only has five other healthy defensemen on the roster.

West Notes: Jets, Vaakanainen, Avalanche, Stone

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Despite dealing with multiple injuries up front, the Jets enter play today sitting in second place in the Central Division thanks to a resurgent season from Connor Hellebuyck and some improved defensive play from some of their veteran blueliners under new head coach Rick Bowness.  Accordingly, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press wonders if instead of moving one of those veteran rearguards to make room for a youngster, they instead turn around and move one of those younger defensemen to acquire some help up front.  Ville Heinola is just now getting his feet wet this season after starting the season in the minors while Logan Stanley has been out for a month and might have a hard time getting back into the lineup when healthy.  Both players carry cap hits under $1MM which would be enticing to cap-strapped teams while Winnipeg has a little over $1.7MM in cap room at the moment per CapFriendly which would give them some extra flexibility to take on a more expensive forward in return.

More from the West:

  • Ducks defenseman Urho Vaakanainen has resumed practicing as he works his way back from an injury sustained late in the preseason, relays Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register. He was injured at the end of September when he went crashing into the boards where he had to be stretchered off the ice.  There’s still no firm timeline for his return but the fact he’s now skating with the team suggests he should be back sooner than later.  He’d be a welcome addition to an Anaheim back end that has struggled so far this season; the 23-year-old logged more than 19 minutes a game after joining them at the trade deadline a year ago.
  • As expected, the Avalanche have recalled wingers Sampo Ranta and Anton Blidh from the minors, per the AHL’s transactions listing. Colorado has been shuffling waiver-exempt players back and forth all season long in an effort to try to bank some extra cap space, something that is harder to do with the team currently in LTIR.  Ranta and Blidh have played in three and four games respectively with the Avs so far this season.
  • Flames defenseman Michael Stone has been activated off injured reserve, reports Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last ten games due to an undisclosed injury after putting up two goals and three assists in his first ten contests this season.  Calgary had an open roster spot so they didn’t need to make any corresponding move to activate Stone.

Snapshots: Hornqvist, Columbus, Colorado

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When Anthony Duclair is eventually ready to return from his Achilles injury, the Florida Panthers are going to need to make some moves. The team is using up nearly all of his $3MM in long-term injured reserve flexibility even with a roster of 20 players, meaning that much will need to come off the books to activate him.

While the easy answer might be to trade Patric Hornqvist, who is playing fourth-line minutes on an expiring $5.3MM cap hit, it might not happen. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet discussed the situation on the 32 Thoughts podcast, and noted that even if there wasn’t a “guarantee” handed over that Hornqvist wouldn’t be traded, to get him to Florida in the first place that kind of agreement was made. While there isn’t anything technically stopping general manager Bill Zito from going back on his word, Friedman doesn’t expect it.

  • Also on the podcast, Friedman and co-host Jeff Marek also brought up the Columbus Blue Jackets as the latest team connected to Jakob Chychrun. While the Blue Jackets aren’t going anywhere this year, they have plenty of young assets that could be of interest to the Arizona Coyotes and expect to be better next season when not dealing with a huge number of injuries. Chychrun looked quite good in his latest game for the Coyotes, recording an assist, eight shots on goal, and a +3 rating in a win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
  • Now that the Colorado Avalanche don’t need to play today, they’ve returned Sampo Ranta and Anton Blidh back to the AHL. The depth forwards could be back up as early as tomorrow, when the team welcomes the Dallas Stars in.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Anton Blidh

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After moving forward Shane Bowers to injured reserve last night, the Colorado Avalanche has refilled his spot on the active roster. Colorado has now recalled forward Anton Blidh from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, as announced by the team Tuesday night.

Blidh, 27, has skated in just one NHL contest thus far in 2022-23 after suiting up a career-high 32 times for the Boston Bruins last season. The 2013 sixth-round pick signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado in free agency in August.

His lone appearance this season came in an October 19 overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets, recording a shot and a hit in just 6:09 of play. Blidh was returned to the Eagles the following day.

While he is not waivers exempt, he will not require waivers for nine more NHL games or 26 more days on the Avalanche roster, whichever expires sooner. Blidh cleared waivers pre-season on October 10.

Colorado does not play again until November 17, when they begin a three-game road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.

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