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Austin Czarnik

Morning Notes: Buchnevich, McMann, Czarnik, De Leo

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Last night, one negative came out of the St. Louis Blues shutout victory against the New Jersey Devils. The Blues organization announced that forward Pavel Buchnevich wouldn’t return to yesterday’s contest due to a lower-body injury partway through the second period.

Buchnevich fell awkwardly when entering the offensive zone and limped off the ice in apparent discomfort. He finished the evening with one assist and a +1 rating after skating in 8:54 of ice time.

An extended absence from Buchnevich would put a glaring hole in St. Louis’ top six. He had been skating on the team’s first line alongside Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours but may be unavailable for the team’s next game on Saturday. Expect Jordan Kyrou to reclaim a role on the team’s first line on Saturday should Buchnevich exit the lineup.

Other notes from this morning:

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs also had some injury news with the team announcing forward Bobby McMann left last night’s contest with a lower-body injury. McMann registered zero points while skating in 10:21 of yesterday’s game. It’s more insult to injury to a Maple Leafs’ lineup that may be without a seventh forward due to injury in their upcoming game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
  • A pair of former NHL talents are reportedly leaving their respective teams in Europe. According to the Elite Prospects transaction page, forward Austin Czarnik is ending his tenure with the NL’s SC Bern while Chase De Leo is leaving the NL’s ZSC Lions. Czarnik’s departure will create a sizeable void for SC Bern after the veteran forward scored nine goals and 27 points through his first 22 games.

Austin Czarnik Signs In Swiss League

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After splitting time between the NHL and the AHL in recent seasons, center Austin Czarnik has decided it’s time to try something different.  SC Bern of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed the veteran to a one-year contract.

The 31-year-old spent extended time with both Detroit and Grand Rapids last season.  With the Red Wings, he got into 34 games, his highest total since the 2018-19 campaign.  However, Czarnik wasn’t able to muster up much offensively, recording just one assist while winning 49% of his faceoffs in just 8:26 per game, a career low.

However, he was once again a key producer in the minors with the Griffins.  In 38 regular season games with them, Czarnik potted 10 goals and 18 assists before adding four goals and four assists in nine postseason contests.

That follows a recent trend for Czarnik.  In the minors, he has been a top point-getter, notching 290 points in 308 career games at that level.  But it hasn’t translated to much offensive success in the NHL as he has just 51 points in 205 career appearances.  Most of that came early in his career as Czarnik has just 16 points in 92 games over the last five years.

It seems reasonable to infer that Czarnik would have had two-way offers on the table if he wanted to continue in the role he has had in recent seasons.  But now, he’ll have a chance to play an impactful role for a full season overseas, giving him some stability in the process.  Depending on how things go in Switzerland, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Czarnik back in the NHL two-way mix next summer.

Red Wings Reassign Zach Aston-Reese, Simon Edvinsson; Waive Austin Czarnik

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04/18: Austin Czarnik has cleared waivers (Twitter link).

04/17: Detroit has also placed center Austin Czarnik on waivers for assignment to Grand Rapids, per CapFriendly. The 29-year-old mustered a lone assist in 34 NHL appearances this season, while tallying 26 points in 36 games thus far with the Griffins.

04/17: The Red Wings have sent forward Zach Aston-Reese and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Detroit’s season ended last night with a 5-4 shootout win over the Canadiens. However, a Capitals win over the Flyers eliminated them from playoff contention and clinched the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot for Washington.

Edvinsson, the Wings’ top defense prospect along with countryman Axel Sandin Pellikka, ends his second NHL season with a goal and an assist in 16 games. Since he played nine games in 2022-23, he won’t be eligible for Calder Trophy voting next season and has lost rookie status. The 21-year-old may not have impressed with his point production, but he looked much more comfortable in major league minutes this year than last. His possession numbers reflected the improvement, posting a 47.7 CF% and 50.0 xGF% at even strength, up from 44.1% and 47.9% last season, respectively.

He’ll head back to the Griffins, who are second in the Central Division with a 35-22-8-4 record and have clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five years. Edvinsson leads their blue line with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 52 games. His 51 PIMs are tied with Aston-Reese for fourth on the team. It’s been a strong sophomore season in Grand Rapids for the 2021 sixth-overall pick, who came over from his native Sweden in the summer of 2022 after signing his entry-level contract.

Aston-Reese ends his campaign with just three NHL appearances, his fewest since making his NHL debut in 2017-18. The former bottom-six mainstay averaged just 5:09, failing to record a point with a lone shot on goal and three hits. Two of his appearances came down the stretch with a handful of injuries to Detroit’s depth forwards, but he was a healthy scratch in their season-ending back-to-back against Montreal. The 29-year-old has been effective in a middle-six role with Grand Rapids, notching 14 goals and 29 points in 59 games with a +4 rating. He’ll be a UFA this summer after completing his one-year, two-way deal ($775K/$300K/$350K).

Evening Notes: Foligno, Kane, Czarnik

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Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno is dealing with a nagging lower-body injury and won’t dress tonight when the Wild take on the San Jose Sharks. Foligno missed Tuesday’s practice with the injury and has missed several games throughout this season with what was also described as lower-body injuries.

Despite the lingering issue, the 32-year-old has dressed in 55 games this season with Minnesota, posting 10 goals and 12 assists while playing 14:29 a game. It’s been a tough season filled with starts and stops for the Buffalo, New York native, which has led to speculation from Russo that perhaps the Wild will shut Foligno down for the rest of the season to allow him a chance to heal.

In other evening notes:

  • The Detroit Red Wings will be without the services of forward Patrick Kane this evening as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes. The Red Wings have been dealing with an illness travelling around their dressing room and it appears that Kane is the latest victim of it. Kane’s absence could loom large as the Red Wings sit two points back of Washington for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and Kane has been hot as of late with nine points in his last eight games.
  • The Red Wings will also be without center Austin Czarnik who is also dealing with an illness. No word on whether Czarnik and Kane are dealing with the same ailment or not but given the issues with sickness this week its likely a safe bet. The 31-year-old was recalled from the AHL two weeks ago and has struggled at the NHL level this season with just a single assist in 25 games. With Kane and Czarnik out of the lineup, Daniel Sprong will draw back in after sitting the last three games as a healthy scratch.

Red Wings Recall Austin Czarnik Under Emergency Conditions

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The Red Wings have recalled center Austin Czarnik from AHL Grand Rapids, per a team announcement. He’ll join the team before Thursday’s home game against the Coyotes. No corresponding transaction is needed with ample cap space to execute the move, and the Red Wings do not burn one of their three remaining post-deadline standard recalls, either.

Czarnik, 31, has been papered between leagues a remarkable seven times this year since clearing waivers during training camp. However, this is his first summons to the majors since the calendar turned to 2024. He’ll draw into the lineup against Arizona if center Joe Veleno, who left Tuesday’s 7-3 loss to the Sabres after taking a slapshot from Buffalo defenseman Connor Clifton to the side of the head, cannot play.

The Detroit native played 18 games with the Red Wings earlier this season, marking his eighth straight season in the league since making his debut with the Bruins in 2016. An undrafted free-agent pickup by Boston in 2015 after four years with Miami University, Czarnik immediately established himself as a high-end minor-league producer with 61 points in 68 games during his rookie season with AHL Providence. He’s remained a top-six fixture in the AHL ever since, but the 5-foot-9, 170-lb center hasn’t been able to establish himself as a full-time NHLer for more than a season at a time.

Czarnik is in the back half of a two-year, two-way deal signed with Detroit in 2022. The deal carries a cap hit of $762.5K and pays him $775K in the NHL and $450K in the minors this season. He’s now with his fifth NHL organization, spending time with the Flames, Islanders, and Kraken between his stints in Boston and Detroit.

He’s finally beginning to show signs of slowing down in the minors, posting nine goals and 26 points in 39 games with Grand Rapids. That works out to 0.72 points per game, his lowest-ever production rate throughout a full season in the minors. He hasn’t done much better in the NHL, posting a lone assist and a -3 rating through his 18 showings, but he’s also been used quite sparingly, averaging a career-low 8:44 per game. His possession metrics don’t signal he deserves a higher role, either, logging a 40.6 CF% and 42.1 xGF% at even strength.

Czarnik will be a UFA at the end of the season. When the Red Wings are back up to 12 healthy forwards without Czarnik, they must return him to Grand Rapids or add him to the roster from his emergency loan, burning their second of four post-deadline recalls.

Red Wings Assign Jonatan Berggren And Austin Czarnik To AHL

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Earlier today, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that both Joe Veleno and Christian Fischer will return to the lineup tomorrow against Boston.  With Fischer being on injured reserve, at least one player would likely be sent back down.  Instead, Detroit has opted to send two players down in corresponding moves as CapFriendly reports (Twitter links) that both Jonatan Berggren and Austin Czarnik have been assigned to AHL Grand Rapids.

Berggren was a regular with Detroit for most of last season, getting into 67 games with the big club where he acquitted himself relatively well, notching 15 goals and 13 assists while logging 13:28 per game.  But after GM Steve Yzerman added several pieces up front over the summer, Berggren found himself on the outside looking in at a regular roster spot and was assigned to Grand Rapids at the start of the season.

In the minors, the 23-year-old has been quite productive, picking up seven goals and 11 assists in just 19 contests.  That has helped Berggren earn six separate recalls over the last two months which has resulted in nine appearances with the Red Wings.  Despite limited playing time in those contests (just 10:08 per contest), he has been fairly productive, tallying a pair of goals along with three assists.  He’ll likely be a top recall option when the next injury arises in Detroit.

As for Czarnik, the 31-year-old has played in 18 games with the Red Wings this season despite clearing waivers twice already.  While he has typically been quite productive in the minors, that hasn’t carried over to the NHL this season as he has just one assist in those appearances.  Meanwhile, in nine games with the Griffins, Czarnik has three goals and four assists.

Meanwhile, the return of Fischer from injured reserve tomorrow will be a welcome one.  The 26-year-old has been a regular on Detroit’s fourth line this season, playing in 33 games where he has eight points and 39 hits while logging a little less than 11 minutes per night.  He has been out since just before the holiday break with an undisclosed injury.

Red Wings Place Christian Fischer On IR, Recall Three Players

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The Detroit Red Wings have announced that they’ve placed forward Christian Fischer on the injured reserve retroactive to December 23rd. The 26-year-old was hurt in Saturday’s game against the New Jersey Devils and will miss the next two games with the injury, making this upcoming Saturday the earliest he can return.

Fischer has dressed in 33 games and has two goals and six assists in his first season in the Motor City. It’s been a disappointing campaign so far for both Fischer and the Red Wings as both sides likely expected more when the Chicago, Illinois native was signed to a one-year deal back on July 2nd. Fischer had become an unrestricted free agent after he was non-tendered by the Arizona Coyotes.

In a trio of other roster moves the Red Wings recalled three players from their AHL affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins. Detroit has brought up forward Jonatan Berggren, center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson under emergency conditions.

Czarnik and Edvinsson were sent down just two days ago, and their recall is a paper transaction. Berggren on the other hand hasn’t played with Detroit since December 14th. During his most recent recall, the former second-round pick had a good showing as he posted two goals and an assist in three games, despite averaging less than ten minutes of ice time per game. In seven games this season with Detroit, Berggren has two goals and two assists.

Detroit is back in action tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild and currently sits three points out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Minor Transactions: 12/24/23

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With no games on the NHL schedule until Wednesday, many teams snuck last-minute transactions in before the full roster freeze kicked in.  We’ve covered a handful of them here throughout the day in Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and St. Louis; here’s a rundown of the remaining moves.  All transactions are via the AHL’s transactions log unless otherwise noted.

  • The Capitals returned winger Ivan Miroshnichenko and center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. Both players were recalled on Tuesday with Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut.  He was held off the scoresheet in his three appearances while Lapierre has five points in 14 games with Washington so far.
  • The Red Wings re-assigned center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Czarnik has been shuffled back and forth frequently this month and has one assist in 16 games with Detroit while Edvinsson, who was only brought up Saturday, made his season debut last night.
  • The Kings loaned Jacob Moverare back to AHL Ontario after playing just shy of 15 minutes last night versus Calgary. The 25-year-old has been recalled and sent back down ten separate times each since mid-November.
  • The Golden Knights have loaned goaltender Isaiah Saville back to AHL Henderson, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). He has been serving as their interim backup with both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson injured.  As Thompson remains on the active roster, Saville was eligible to be sent back down.  The 23-year-old was activated off SOIR earlier this month and has made three appearances for the Silver Knights.
  • The Bruins sent three players back to AHL Providence – defensemen Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon along with center Patrick Brown. Lohrei has five points in 17 games so far in his first full professional campaign while Wotherspoon is logging nearly 16 minutes a night in eight games with Boston.  As for Brown, he cleared waivers early in the season and has been brought up four separate times now; he has an assist in nine games at the top level so far.
  • Boston also made one other transaction as they converted defenseman Ian Mitchell from an emergency recall to a regular one, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Mitchell was recalled on Saturday and has two assists in 13 games with Boston so far.  The Bruins will now be ineligible to send him down until after the roster freeze lifts.
  • The Maple Leafs have returned center Pontus Holmberg to AHL Toronto. It’s the third time he has been sent back down since Wednesday as Toronto has been shuffling him up and down quite frequently.  The 24-year-old has an assist in eight games with the big club so far.
  • A day after recalling him, the Coyotes have sent center Justin Kirkland back to Tucson of the AHL. The 27-year-old had spent the full year with the Roadrunners prior to yesterday’s move, notching ten points in nine contests.
  • Grant Hutton is once again on the move as the Islanders have sent him back to AHL Bridgeport, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). He has been recalled and re-assigned six times apiece in the last month and has been limited to just two appearances with New York so far this season.

Many of these transactions will be undone on the 27th or 28th as NHL teams return to action.  In the meantime, these teams will save a bit of salary money and cap space with these demotions.  Toronto and Ottawa’s moves could have AHL implications as well as their two affiliates will play on Tuesday so the players they sent down could suit up in that contest.

Red Wings Place Klim Kostin On Injured Reserve

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The Red Wings placed winger Klim Kostin on injured reserve Tuesday, per a team announcement. In a corresponding transaction, the team recalled forward Austin Czarnik from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions.

Kostin, 24, was on injured reserve as late as last week and returned from an undisclosed injury to play a pair of contests. Monday night against Anaheim, Kostin took a minor penalty and logged two shots on goal in 6:30 of ice time before leaving the game in the second period after taking an open-ice hit from Ducks bruiser Radko Gudas. The Red Wings have not disclosed what type of injury Kostin sustained.

This is Kostin’s first season in Hockeytown after Detroit acquired his signing rights from the Oilers in exchange for future considerations and the contract of former Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto, which the Red Wings promptly bought out, just before the opening of free agency last July. Kostin was not issued a qualifying offer by the Red Wings but swiftly signed a two-year, $4MM contract to stay with Detroit when free agency opened. Slated for restricted free agency with arbitration rights in 2025, Kostin carries a $2MM cap hit and is owed $1.8MM in salary this season.

It’s been a disappointing run so far for Kostin, who scored a career-high 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games with Edmonton last season. The 2017 first-round pick of the Blues missed most of his draft year due to injury, and he hasn’t ever recovered from the loss of development time, failing to advance his offensive game past an NHL fourth-line level. In 23 games with the Red Wings, Kostin has two goals and one assist, averaging 8:40 per game. He’s also been a healthy scratch three times this season.

Czarnik replaces Kostin’s spot on the roster after being assigned to Grand Rapids yesterday. The 31-year-old AHL veteran has played 15 games with the Red Wings this season in a fourth-line role, registering one assist. The veteran of nearly 200 NHL games over the past eight seasons is expected to center a fourth line with Christian Fischer and Daniel Sprong in Wednesday’s game against the Jets.

Red Wings Activate Dylan Larkin

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12:51 p.m.: Detroit made the transaction official Monday afternoon. To create space on the active roster, the team assigned forward Austin Czarnik to AHL Grand Rapids.

10:38 a.m.: The Red Wings will activate captain Dylan Larkin off injured reserve before tonight’s game against the Ducks, head coach Derek Lalonde said Monday morning.

Larkin landed on injured reserve last Monday with a head injury sustained on December 9 against the Senators. The 27-year-old center took a cross-check from Senators winger Mathieu Joseph during a net-front scrum late in the first period and was briefly unconscious on the ice.

Thankfully, Larkin didn’t sustain a severe injury on the play and is ready to return to game action just over a week after the incident. However, Detroit is still without winger David Perron, who has two games left to serve in a six-game suspension assessed for cross-checking Senators defenseman Artem Zub in retaliation after Larkin went down. Perron will be eligible to return for this Friday’s game against the Flyers.

Larkin’s return comes at a crucial time for the Red Wings. The team went 1-3-0 in their captain’s absence and has undone most of the standings gain created by a late November hot streak. Their 15-11-4 record is a .567 points percentage, which still puts them fourth in the Atlantic Division but behind the Islanders (.600) and Devils (.569) for the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference.

The Waterford, Michigan-born center remains the only point-per-game player on the roster and has 11 goals and 14 assists through 24 contests, leading Red Wings forwards by averaging 19:24 per contest and winning a team-high 52.7% of faceoffs. His 52.8% Corsi share at even strength is the highest among any Red Wings forward to suit up this season.

Tonight marks the second full game with both Larkin and Patrick Kane in the Red Wings lineup. Kane’s Detroit debut came December 7 against the Sharks, Larkin’s last full game before exiting with injury. The two are expected to be linemates tonight, with 23-year-old Joe Veleno riding shotgun at left wing.

Larkin is in the first season of an eight-year, $69.6MM extension with trade protection inked last March. His 462 career points in 608 games rank 18th in Red Wings franchise history.

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