Blue Jackets Reassign Zach Aston-Reese, Brendan Gaunce
Jan. 28: Both cleared waivers and are headed to Cleveland, per Friedman.
Jan 27.: The Blue Jackets have placed forwards Zach Aston-Reese and Brendan Gaunce on waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The open roster spots will allow Columbus to activate defenseman Denton Mateychuk from injured reserve before tomorrow’s game, as expected. Forward Miles Wood will also be coming off IR, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports.
Aston-Reese, 31, is in his ninth NHL season. He’s become a bit of a journeyman as of late after breaking into the league with the Penguins, also making stops in Anaheim, Toronto, and Detroit since 2022. With 102 career points and a +17 rating in 415 games, he was once regarded as one of the league’s top low-usage defensive forwards in Pittsburgh, but has since been mired in year-to-year inconsistency. He spent most of 2023-24 in the minors with the Red Wings before breaking back into a regular role with Columbus last year.
After appearing in 76 games for the Jackets last year and earning a one-year, league minimum extension, playing time has been tougher to come by for Aston-Reese in 2025-26. He’s played in just over half of Columbus’ games this season and has now been a healthy scratch in six of eight. He’s scored a goal and five points in 26 outings, recording a career-low 0.65 shots on goal per game (aside from his three-game sample size in Detroit). He’s still blocking shots and hitting with aplomb, but with ice average ice time now back under 10 minutes per game and his possession impacts dwindling, he hasn’t been much more than a 13th forward – especially with offseason signing Isac Lundeström taking some of Aston-Reese’s penalty-kill minutes.
Unlike Aston-Reese, Gaunce didn’t start the year on the active roster, but has logged roughly the same amount of playing time anyway. He cleared waivers in camp and headed to Cleveland, but has been up with the Jackets since November. In 25 showings, the 31-year-old has been moderately more productive with two goals and six points. He’s been especially valuable on draws, where he’s winning a team-high 56.9% of faceoffs. Nonetheless, with Lundeström back after missing a few weeks, he’s been in the press box for the last two games.
For now, Danton Heinen has earned the honor of serving as the Jackets’ 13th forward while Aston-Reese and Gaunce head back to Cleveland or get claimed by another squad. Since being acquired from the Penguins in the Egor Chinakhov deal last month, he’s put up two points in 11 games with a -1 rating and 21 hits.
Wood, 30, has been out of action since New Year’s Eve because of a leg injury. Between that and some previous ailments, he’s missed 19 of the Jackets’ 51 games but has still churned out an 8-4–12 scoring line in 32 outings. That’s twice as many goals as the speedy winger had last year in a similar number of games for the Avalanche, and with Charlie Coyle now up to 33 points in 51 games on the year, it’s safe to say Columbus is happy with the investment they made when bringing them both in via trade from Colorado.
Blue Jackets Recall Brendan Gaunce, Reassign Luca Del Bel Belluz
The Blue Jackets announced that they’ve elevated forward Brendan Gaunce from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Center Luca Del Bel Belluz is headed back down to Cleveland in the corresponding move.
Del Bel Belluz was initially brought up earlier in the month after an injury scare to Sean Monahan, although he didn’t end up missing any time. They still opted to give the 22-year-old pivot a crack at NHL minutes, something that became more feasible after captain Boone Jenner landed on injured reserve last week. Del Bel Belluz had gotten into seven of the last eight games, but rarely as more than a fourth-line center. He averaged only 9:35 of ice time, limited to one assist while winning just 10 of his 34 faceoffs for a 26.4 FOW%.
Given Del Bel Belluz’s skillset as an offensive needle-mover, that wasn’t the best choice for his long-term development, nor was he the best fit for the role the Jackets were asking him to play. The 2022 second-round pick more accurately flashed his ceiling during a 15-game call-up last year, when he rattled off two goals and six assists for eight points in nearly 14 minutes of ice time per game.
With Del Bel Belluz not getting that type of deployment this time around, they’ll opt to let him resume playing a starring role in Cleveland while recalling the vastly more experienced Gaunce to serve as a fourth-line stopgap. The 31-year-old was reacquired by the Blue Jackets via trade from the Wild over the offseason after previously spending three seasons in Columbus and Cleveland from 2021-22 through 2023-24. Gaunce brings a 13-16–29 scoring line with a -17 rating in 189 career NHL appearances to the role.
Blue Jackets Acquire Brendan Gaunce From Wild
The Blue Jackets have acquired center Brendan Gaunce from the Wild in exchange for right-winger Cameron Butler, the team announced Thursday.
Gaunce, 31, begins his second stint in Columbus after spending one season in Minnesota. The Wild signed him to a two-year, two-way deal on the opening day of free agency last year after spending three seasons in the Blue Jackets organization, primarily with AHL Cleveland. He only made 12 NHL appearances, posting one point and a minus-four rating while averaging 9:42 of ice time per game.
He spent the bulk of the season down with AHL Iowa when he wasn’t in the Twin Cities as an injury call-up. There, he posted a 15-14–29 scoring line in 39 games while posting a -16 rating and serving as an alternate captain. That was one of the better stat lines on a weak Iowa club this year, and his 0.74 points per game was higher than his career average of 0.69 over 382 minor-league games over the course of his lengthy professional career.
As for Butler, the 23-year-old gets a fresh start after a rocky beginning to his professional career. Columbus signed him as an undrafted free agent following a 55-point season with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals in 2022-23. He’s struggled to even hold down a regular AHL role in Cleveland, though, posting just 11 points in 91 games over the last three years. He only appeared in 37 out of 72 possible games last season and was looking like a strong non-tender candidate when his entry-level contract expires following the 2025-26 campaign. He’ll now look for more ice time in Iowa as the 6’4″, 209-lb power winger looks to get his development back on track.
Minnesota Wild Recall Eight Players As Black Aces
According to a team announcement, the Minnesota Wild have recalled eight players to serve as Black Aces for the team’s playoff run. The players are forwards Travis Boyd, Brendan Gaunce, Hunter Haight, Ben Jones, and Liam Ohgren, defensemen Cameron Crotty and Carson Lambos, and goaltender Samuel Hlavaj.
Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, didn’t qualify for the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs, giving them plenty of flexibility to recall so many players. It is unlikely that any of the eight will appear in a playoff game this postseason. The Wild will want to prioritize experience in their opening round matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Haight, Lambos, and Hlavaj have yet to debut in the NHL, let alone in the playoffs.
Boyd is the only member of the group with postseason experience. From 2017 to 2020, he appeared in six playoff games with the Washington Capitals, scoring one goal and averaging 10:46 of ice time per game. Unfortunately, since Boyd didn’t feature in at least 41 games that season, and didn’t play in the Stanley Cup Final, he doesn’t have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup with the Capitals.
Meanwhile, the quartet of Gaunce, Jones, Ohgren, and Crotty combined for two goals and six points in 63 games for Minnesota this season, with Ohgren scoring both goals and tallying three of the assists. Given the lack of usage throughout the regular season, an unexpected injury during their series against the Golden Knights would be the only feasible reason for any of them to get inserted into the lineup.
Wild Activate Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek; Reassign Two
3:00 PM: Minnesota has made the activation of Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek official. Both players could have a chance to play as soon as Wednesday night’s game against San Jose. To make space for this move, the Wild have reassigned forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore to the minor leagues. Shore has been a frequent part of Minnesota’s lineup as of late, but has no scoring and a minus-two through his last five games. Gaunce hasn’t been in the lineup since March 25th and recorded his only point of the season – through 12 games – on March 22nd.
8:00 AM: The Wild could activate star winger Kirill Kaprizov and top matchup center Joel Eriksson Ek for tonight’s game against the Sharks “if today’s morning skate goes well,” Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. They won’t require a corresponding move for the latter’s activation, but they will for Kaprizov since his $9MM cap hit is on long-term injured reserve. They’re currently short $1.32MM in space and will need to remove two skaters from their active roster, likely meaning depth forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore will be on their way down to AHL Iowa.
Minnesota gets key reinforcements at a pivotal time. They’ve fallen behind the Blues and now sit in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild still have a decent cushion, leading the Flames by four points with four games remaining, but Calgary has a game in hand. MoneyPuck still gives them 91% odds of outlasting the Flames and Canucks for the final berth, but having a pair of lineup pillars available undoubtedly boosts that number to a more certain degree.
The Wild have been without Kaprizov, still their third-place scorer, for over half the season. After dominating with 23-27–50 and a +21 rating through his first 34 games, he exited the lineup with a lower-body muscular issue in late December. He returned for three games in January, posting two assists and a minus-two rating, before aggravating the injury and opting for surgery.
That procedure was expected to keep him sidelined for at least four weeks. Instead, he’s been unavailable for over two months as Minnesota slipped from a top-three spot in the Central Division to fighting for their wild-card lives. Since Kaprizov went for his first extended absence around Christmas, the Wild are 21-19-3 while scoring 2.51 goals per game. Through their 35 prior contests, they were 21-10-4 while scoring 2.97 goals per game.
Of course, they’ve also been without the minute-munching Eriksson Ek for a good portion of that time. He’s been limited to 42 showings this season with multiple lower-body injuries, and his current one has kept him out since Feb. 22. The nagging issues have contributed to a down season offensively for Eriksson Ek, whose 0.57 points per game are his worst since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. They’ll also likely keep him out of the top 10 in Selke Trophy voting for the first time since 2020.
If they’re both fully healthy and the Wild secure a playoff berth, that dramatically changes Minnesota’s outlook. The Wild were one of the league’s best teams in the early going until injury issues derailed their season. They’ve gotten solid goaltending throughout from a resurgent Filip Gustavsson and remain one of the league’s staunchest defensive teams (2.31 xGA/60 per Natural Stat Trick, fifth in the NHL). Special teams, however, remain a significant concern and hinder their chances of an upset, even with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek healthy. A matchup with the Jets in the first round and their league-best power play could prove futile with Minnesota’s penalty kill operating at just 72.7%, 30th in the league.
Nonetheless, even if one of Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek isn’t quite ready to return tonight, having this discussion now almost certainly ensures they’ll be in the Game 1 lineup for a first-round series. Minnesota hasn’t won a playoff series in the Kaprizov era and has lost seven straight series dating back to their first-round win in 2015.
Wild Brendan Gaunce, Devin Shore Clear Waivers
3/31: Both Wild forwards have cleared waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. They will now be eligible to be assigned to the minor leagues.
3/30: The Minnesota Wild have placed depth forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Both players have bounced between rosters all season long. Shore was placed on, and cleared, waivers in each of September, December, January, and February – while Gaunce was successfully waived in September.
While he’s often been the first cut when Minnesota needs roster flexibility, Shore has spent the large majority of his season on the NHL roster. He’s stepped into 51 games on the year and recorded five points, six penalty minutes, and a minus-six from Minnesota’s fourth line. Shore has also been returned to the minors for 14 games on the year. He has a productive 10 points, six penalty minutes, and minus-11 in those appearances. While he hasn’t found much scoring at either level, this year has marked the most Shore has played in one NHL season since 2016-17 and 2017-18 – when he played through two full seasons with the Dallas Stars. Those were career years for Shore, giving him the platform to score a career-high 33 and 32 points respectively. He’s fallen into the role of journeyman depth forward in the years since, playing through tenures with the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers, and Seattle Kraken.
While Shore has provided Minnesota with a veteran presence in their extra forward slot, Gaunce has found his footing at the top of the AHL Iowa Wild lineup. He has 15 goals and 29 points in 35 AHL games this season, good for fifth on the roster in scoring. Those appearances have been intercut with 12 games in the NHL lineup, though Gaunce has only tallied one assist, four penalty minutes, and a minus-four at the top flight. He’s bounced between the NHL and AHL over the last three years, after a quick pit stop in Sweden’s SHL in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. He scored a career-high 39 points in 46 AHL games last season and has 29 points in 189 career NHL games.
Of note, neither player will be able to rejoin the NHL should they be claimed off waivers due to the post-Deadline roster rules . They will instead need to be assigned to their new club’s minor-league program.
Wild Recall Brendan Gaunce
The Wild announced they’ve recalled forward Brendan Gaunce from AHL Iowa. The move, which allows them to carry an extra forward for their two-game road trip, gives them a full active roster.
Minnesota opened the roster spot to realign their positional makeup when they waived defenseman Travis Dermott earlier this week. They may have lost him back to the Oilers, who they claimed him from in December, but he was barely factoring into the lineup. Depth at forward is an immediate concern for the Wild, who have star Kirill Kaprizov and top-six pivot Joel Eriksson Ek on injured reserve and are without depth piece Ryan Hartman amid an eight-game suspension.
The Wild have given the 30-year-old Gaunce a few trials throughout the season, recalling him multiple times in December and January when they were also dealing with various injuries to their forward corps. He only factored into five games, though, and none since Jan. 4. He has no points and a minus-three rating in those appearances, averaging 9:29 per game and going 10-for-24 on draws (41.7%). Minnesota was shelled in his even-strength minutes, losing the shot attempt battle 63-26 with Gaunce on the ice this season.
A veteran of 182 NHL games and nearly 400 AHL contests, Gaunce is purely injury insurance at this stage of his career. He’s still a productive player in the minors, however. In 35 appearances for Iowa, the 6’3″ pivot is tied for second on the team in scoring with 15-14–29. His -15 rating is one short of tying for the worst on the farm, though.
The Ontario native is in his first season in the Minnesota organization after inking a two-year, two-way deal in free agency last summer. He’s now suited up in each of the last four seasons, the other three coming with the Blue Jackets. He’s also skated in games for the Bruins and Canucks pre-pandemic, the latter of which selected him 26th overall in the 2012 draft.
Wild Reassign Brendan Gaunce
The Wild have multiple impact players nearing injured reserve activations, and the team announced they’ve opened a second roster spot today by reassigning center Brendan Gaunce to AHL Iowa.
Gaunce, 30, was a highly-touted prospect with the Canucks in the early days of his career but has since become a depth journeyman. He’s only landed full-time NHL work on rare occasions and has seen AHL time in each of his professional seasons spent in North America. He’s been productive in the minors in recent years, hovering near a point per game there while in the Blue Jackets organization from 2021 to 2024, leading to a two-year, two-way commitment from Minnesota in free agency last offseason. In addition to recording 39 points in 46 games while serving as Cleveland’s captain in 2023-24, he posted a pair of goals and assists in 24 NHL games for Columbus.
The 2024-25 season has once again been kind to Gaunce in the minors but not in his brief NHL action. He’s slotted in five times for the Wild this season amid injuries to their forward group, but none since his most recent recall on Friday. He’s gone without a point while posting a minus-three rating, averaging under 10 minutes per game, and winning 41.7% of his draws. He’s demonstrated a lack of physical play for his 6’3″, 219-lb frame, only recording six hits after averaging more than two per game in Columbus last year. His even-strength possession play has also been ghastly – opponents have out-attempted the Wild 63-26 with Gaunce on the ice at even strength this season.
Nonetheless, he’s been up to his usual tricks in Iowa, where he’s spent most of the season after clearing waivers during training camp. He’s among the team’s top three scorers with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points in 26 games. He doesn’t need waivers for today’s demotion since he’s spent less than 30 cumulative days on the Wild’s active roster since clearing waivers on Oct. 1 and played fewer than 10 NHL games.
In the meantime, the Wild now have the roster space to activate two of Jonas Brodin, Marcus Johansson, Kirill Kaprizov, and Jared Spurgeon before Thursday’s home tilt against Utah. Reassigning Gaunce also gets Minnesota out of using their LTIR pool, solely consisting of Kaprizov, to stay cap-compliant, so there won’t be additional maneuvering required to activate the superstar winger.
Latest On The Wild’s Injuries
The Wild have not had a pleasant past few weeks. They haven’t had a fully healthy lineup since Nov. 10, and injuries have really come to the forefront recently. Cap restrictions forced them to transfer star winger Kirill Kaprizov to long-term injured reserve yesterday.
Things are beginning to turn around, albeit slowly. Top defenseman Brock Faber is expected to return to the lineup tomorrow in Nashville after missing four games with an upper-body injury, head coach John Hynes told NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. He also confirmed that winger Jakub Lauko will play after being previously activated from LTIR on Thursday.
They’ll still remain without Kaprizov for their next two games, though, as neither he nor captain Jared Spurgeon will make their brief Central Division road trip, Hynes added. Kaprizov is eligible to come back off LTIR at any time after already missing the required time with his lower-body injury, while Spurgeon remains sidelined due to the lower-body injury he sustained on a slew foot from Predators forward Zachary L’Heureux on New Year’s Eve.
Stalwart defender Jonas Brodin is also staying home while he continues to nurse a lower-body injury and Marcus Johansson is unavailable after his recent concussion landed him on IR yesterday, so that makes four roster regulars, and impactful ones at that, sidelined for at least Minnesota’s next two games. All of their roster maneuvering allowed the club to recall forwards Brendan Gaunce, Liam Ohgren, and Devin Shore from AHL Iowa over the past 24 hours, per PuckPedia, who detailed how the order in which those transactions were executed affected their delicate salary cap situation. After the moves, they’re back to having ample breathing room with $7.45MM in their LTIR pool, although they’ll need to figure out how to reinstate Kaprizov when he’s ready to come back in the next week or so.
While the Wild have understandably dropped three of their last four games, they’re still in a battle for second in the Central Division with a 27-14-4 record. They’re a virtual playoff lock at a 96.5% chance and still have a 9.7% chance of winning their second division title in franchise history, per Hockey Reference.
While Gaunce, Ohgren and Shore bring a decent mix of veteran professional experience and, in Ohgren’s case, long-term top-six upside, they’ve combined for just one assist in 38 appearances this season. Each has averaged under 10 minutes per game and posted ghastly possession numbers, particularly in Gaunce’s case with a 29.2 CF% at even strength in five showings.
Wild Activate Jacob Middleton, Assign Three
The Minnesota Wild snuck one more transaction in before today’s roster deadline, activating defenseman Jacob Middleton off of long-term injured reserve just a few minutes before their freeze per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Middleton will return to the lineup in tonight’s matchup against St. Louis. In a corresponding move, the Wild have also reversed their roster call-ups from yesterday – assigning forwards Travis Boyd and Brendan Gaunce, and defenseman Carson Lambos, to the minor leagues.
Middleton has been out of the lineup since December 12th, when he sustained a hand injury in a match against the Edmonton Oilers. He was placed on long-term injured reserve one day later. His injury forced him out of Minnesota’s last 11 games. It was a noticeable absence for the Wild, who are also bearing with injuries to team captain Jared Spurgeon and superstar Kirill Kaprizov. Middleton has continued to serve as a big body on the Wild’s second pair. He scored five goals and 13 points in Minnesota’s first 29 games, putting him on pace to blow his career-high of 25 points out of the water. He’s also posted a +22 and 15 penalty minutes – both career-bests for the physical defenders.
Middleton is making good use of the final year of his three-year contract with the Wild. He’s surpassed 20 minutes of average ice time for the first time in his seven-year NHL career this season, and served as a crucial lineup piece as top defenders Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin recovered from injuries of their own. Middleton should benefit from Spurgeon’s absence once again upon returning, likely to challenge Brodin for the role of top left-defender next to Brock Faber.
The AHL’s Iowa Wild will get back three routine lineup pieces with this move, and they could stick with Minnesota finally getting injured players back. Boyd and Gaunce lead Iowa in scoring with 20 and 17 points in 22 games respectively. Lambos hasn’t found the same production, with just five points in 27 games, but should get a chance to earn a routine lineup role once more with Middleton back.