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Charlotte Checkers

AHL Notes: Checkers, Sonne, Hall

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The Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League have a new controlling interest as the team announced that Zawyer Sports & Entertainment has acquired the majority ownership in the team. The team’s now-former majority owner, Michael Kahn, will remain on as the team’s largest minority owner. Kahn was previously the controlling ownership party since 2006.

It will be Zawyer Sports & Entertainment’s first crack at an AHL franchise as the ownership group already carries a considerable presence in the ECHL. According to the public announcement, the group owns and operates the Jacksonville Icemen, Tahoe Knight Monsters, and the Savannah Ghost Pirates. The team also manages the Allen Americans and the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.

Nothing will change in the day-to-day business operations or the front office of the Checkers per the agreement and the team will still serve as the primary affiliate of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. In regards to the purchase, CEO of Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, Andy Kaufmann said, “The Checkers are a team rich with history and an incredible fan base and we are honored to do our part in making Checkers Nation proud – not just on game days, but all year long in this very special community. We have already made an impact here in the community with Gastonia Baseball, and we are eager to grow our footprint in the region by providing local families with quality entertainment, community outreach and competitive hockey“.

Other AHL notes:

  • With assistant coach Jessica Campbell graduating to the NHL level with the Seattle Kraken — the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, was on the search for a new coach. The team ended their search today by announcing the hire of Brennan Sonne as the team’s new assistant coach. Sonne recently earned a remarkable record as head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades for the last three years. Under his tutelage, the team amassed a record of 136-54-13 while reaching two WHL Eastern Conference Finals appearances.
  • It didn’t take Curtis Hall long to find a new home after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Boston Bruins as the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters announced they had signed the young forward to an AHL contract for the 2024-25 season. Hall has spent the last four years with the Bruins organization split between the AHL and the ECHL. It has been difficult for him to factor into games, however, as Hall has scored six goals and 16 points in 124 contests at the game’s highest minor league level.

Snapshots: Snuggerud, Keenan, Carrick

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The St. Louis Blues will have to wait for the end of another collegiate season to see former first-round pick Jimmy Snuggerud make the full-time jump to the NHL. However, that may be the maximum length of time the team will have to wait as general manager Doug Armstrong believes Snuggerud can join the team towards the end of next season (Subscription Article).

The Blues organization drafted Snuggerud with the 23rd overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft and he has spent the last two seasons at the University of Minnesota. During that time, Snuggerud has been an impactful player at the NCAA level as he’s scored 42 goals and 84 points in 79 games with the Gophers. The St. Louis prospect will hope that the third time is a charm for his National Championship dreams as the Gophers finished as runner-ups in 2022-23 and lost in the Regional Final this season to Boston University.

Despite his reputation as a promising prospect in the Blues organization, it may be difficult for Snuggerud to find a comfortable position in the lineup as the team has considerably improved its forward depth over the summer. If St. Louis finds themselves out of the playoff race by the time Snuggerud makes the jump to the NHL, they may have to part with Radek Faksa or Kasperi Kapanen in some manner to make room in their everyday lineup.

Other snapshots:

  • Legendary head coach Mike Keenan will not return as Team Italy’s head coach as he transitions to a consulting role while recovering from open heart surgery (X Link). Keenan had been serving as head coach of Italy’s national team since his ouster as head coach of the Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League in 2022. It appears Keenan’s career as a head coach may be coming to an official close. Infamously, Keenan spent 25 years as a head coach in the NHL while combining for a 672-531-147-36 record while being the first coach to win a Stanley Cup and Gagarin Cup.
  • Veteran defenseman of the American Hockey League, Trevor Carrick, will return to his original home as the Charlotte Checkers announced he has signed a two-year AHL deal with the franchise. Carrick spent the first five years of his professional career within the Carolina Hurricanes organization where he compiled 40 goals and 181 points for the Checkers in 347 games. Carrick has spent the last four years bouncing between the San Diego Gulls and Syracuse Crunch where he has continued to be one of the top offensive defensemen in the league.

Golden Knights Recall Grigori Denisenko

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forward Grigori Denisenko from the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL. The 23-year-old has appeared in 29 career NHL games split over four seasons, having also spent time with the Florida Panthers.

After suffering through a few injury-riddled seasons with the Panthers, the former 15th overall pick was claimed off waivers by Vegas on October 7th. He has been a solid AHL contributor thus far this season as he has posted 14 goals and 26 assists in 45 games, surpassing the 12 goals and 24 assists he registered last season in 56 games with the Charlotte Checkers.

Denisenko had an audition with the Golden Knights in early January as he spent a week in the NHL, dressing in three games and posting no points. He averaged 10:36 of ice time during that recall and had a decent showing at even strength as he took the bulk of his zone starts in the defensive zone and had decent underlying numbers.

The Golden Knights are currently without forwards Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel, and William Carrier and could be in line for a move for a forward before the NHL trade deadline. Denisenko didn’t dress today against the San Jose Sharks and will likely serve as the team’s 13th forward for the time being. However, if he keeps up his AHL scoring numbers he could get a longer look in the NHL sooner than later.

Calgary Flames Recall Cole Schwindt

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The Calgary Flames have recalled forward Cole Schwindt from the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. Schwindt was one of the pieces that came over to the Calgary Flames as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade with the Florida Panthers alongside Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and a 2025 lottery-protected first-round draft pick.

Schwindt has yet to suit up for the Flames but does have three games of NHL experience with the Panthers back in 2021-22. He was held scoreless during that stretch and was -4. At the AHL level, the 22-year-old has been a productive player with 42 goals and 52 assists in 189 career games.

Schwindt has plateaued offensively in recent years as he has seen his offensive numbers drop from his career-best season in 2021-22. The former third-round pick had 19 goals and 21 assists in 72 games that year with the Charlotte Checkers but hasn’t been able to duplicate that success or come close to the 17.9% shooting percentage he posted.

This season with the Wranglers, Schwindt has eight goals and 12 assists in 37 games which is a tick below his career-best numbers, but he has yet to take the next step offensively. While his offense hasn’t taken off, the defensive side of his game has steadily improved over the years and that is likely the reason he could get his first taste of NHL action in two years.

Calgary could be looking at some major moves over the next few weeks and if Schwindt can show he belongs at the NHL level he may be able to extend his stay with the Flames.

New York Rangers Recall Riley Nash

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The New York Rangers announced today that they have recalled forward Riley Nash from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. The 34-year-old is a veteran of 627 NHL games, and will be playing for his seventh NHL team should he dress in any games with the Rangers during his recall.

The native of Consort, Alberta hasn’t played in an NHL game since the 2021-22 season when he dressed for three teams in a single season and posted just four assists in 49 games. He spent all last season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers where he had 24 goals and 35 assists in 66 games. This season with Hartford he has been nearly a point-a-game player once again registering nine goals and 10 assists in 20 games.

Nash signed a two-year deal with the Rangers back in July that is paying him the NHL minimum of $775K this season. The Rangers likely signed Nash in hopes of him being a player that could provide offense in the AHL and be a bottom-six depth option in the NHL should the team run into injury concerns. So far Nash has shown offensive flair in the AHL, and now with the Rangers running into injury concerns with their forward group, he could have an opportunity to show himself during this recall.  Nash has had periods of being able to put up points in the NHL, but his last solid offensive season was in 2017-18 when he was just 28 years of age.

The Rangers currently lead the surprisingly weak Metropolitan Division by eight points with a record of 18-5-1. They will be tested here in the coming days as Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow are both day-to-day and Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil are on the IR.

Florida Panthers Place Mike Reilly On Waivers

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David Dwork of The Hockey News has tweeted that the Florida Panthers have placed defensemen Mike Reilly on waivers today. The expectation is that if Reilly goes unclaimed, he will be assigned to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. Reilly has suited up in just two games for the Panthers this season and has registered no points and a -2 rating.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Reilly was bought out in the offseason by the Boston Bruins before eventually signing a one-year $1MM deal with the Panthers. He was expected to serve as a depth option for Florida, but with Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour back in the fold there is really no need for the Panthers to keep Reilly at the NHL level.

The 30-year-old spent nearly half of last season in the AHL with the Providence Bruins and was quite productive offensively registering seven goals and 19 assists in 36 games.

Reilly has struggled at the NHL level since signing a three-year $9MM deal with the Boston Bruins in July of 2021. He stuck with the Bruins in the first year of his three-year deal but has bounced back and forth between the AHL and NHL for the past two seasons. If Reilly can put up offensive numbers like last year’s AHL numbers, he could be first in line for a recall if the Panthers run into any injury troubles.

Panthers Sign Jonah Gadjovich To One-Year Deal

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The Florida Panthers announced today that they’ve signed forward Jonah Gadjovich to a one-year, one-way NHL contract. The 25-year-old native of Whitby, Ontario played with the San Jose Sharks last season where he dressed in 35 games and registered three goals and four assists.

The contract is a nice development for Gadjovich who previously signed in July with Florida’s AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers. That was a one-year AHL contract for the former 2017 second-round pick, but it likely contained an out clause allowing him to sign in the NHL with Charlotte’s parent club.

Gadjovich was non-tendered by the Sharks after last season in a move that wasn’t all that surprising given that he was due a qualifying offer of $787,500 and hadn’t produced much offense in the NHL. While he won’t fill the net for Florida, he will offer some sandpaper to the Panthers. Last season Gadjovich threw 92 hits in the NHL while playing less than nine minutes a night in just 35 games. And while those types of hit numbers usually indicate a player who’s chasing the puck, his underlying analytics don’t paint that picture.

The biggest knock on Gadjovich has been his inability to stay on the ice. Over the last two seasons with San Jose, he dressed in just 78 games and found himself out with injury four separate times. The Panthers are hoping that the big forward can have a change of injury luck and become a rugged fixture in the bottom six for the remainder of this season.

Panthers Notes: Ekblad, Sourdif, Bennett

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PuckPedia tweeted that the Florida Panthers made a move today to officially place star defenseman Aaron Ekblad on the long-term injured reserve. The transaction has been months in the making, but the Panthers officially completed the paperwork today. Ekblad is expected to miss at least the first month of the season as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.

The move gives the Panthers some breathing room under the salary cap allowing them to facilitate other moves. Florida will be without Ekblad and fellow defenseman Brandon Montour for quite some time which could lead to expanded roles for Gustav Forsling and newcomer Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

One note on LTIR is that once a player is placed on it, they must miss at least ten games and 24 days, which means the earliest Ekblad could return is the first week of November.

The 2014 first-overall pick saw his numbers dip last season as the Panthers marched to the Stanley Cup finals. And with the root cause of his injury unknown, one might wonder if a fully healthy Ekblad could be ready for a monster bounce-back season.

In other Panthers notes:

  • The Panthers announced that they have recalled forward Justin Sourdif from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. The recall comes mere hours after the team assigned the 21-year-old to the AHL along with veterans Zac Dalpe and Casey Fitzgerald. The Richmond, British Columbia native posted seven goals and 17 assists as a rookie last season in the AHL, dressing in 48 games. The Panthers open the regular season against the Minnesota Wild on October 12th.
  • Panthers forward Sam Bennett may be back in Florida’s lineup sooner than later as David Dwork of The Hockey News is reporting that the team is toying with the idea of bringing Bennett on their upcoming road trip. The 27-year-old has been ruled out of their season opener on Thursday but may travel with the team as they head up to Winnipeg for a game on Saturday and New Jersey next Monday. Bennett was seen in a walking boot on October 7th after being injured in a preseason game on October 5th, however, the injury doesn’t appear as severe as first reported.

AHL Notes: Teasdale, Ivan, Reilly, Khodorenko

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A now-former veteran of the AHL’s Laval Rocket, forward Joel Teasdale is in a confirmed minor-league contract with the Iowa Wild. Teasdale had spent the past four seasons on the Rocket, also suiting up for the Montreal Canadiens for a few games last season.

Joining the Canadiens system as an undrafted free agent, Teasdale joined Laval towards the end of the 2019-20 season, but would not play for the club until the following season due to a knee injury. In his rookie campaign in the AHL, Teasdale provided some solid depth scoring, putting up eight goals and 10 assists in 26 games.

Last season, in what has been his best season to date, Teasdale would score 23 goals and 15 assists in 58 games for the Rocket but failed to chip in any in two playoff games. This ranked Teasdale as the fourth-highest scorer in Laval, and he should finish around the same in Iowa next season.

Other notes:

  • The highest-scoring member of the Cape Breton Eagles last year, Ivan Ivan, has agreed to an AHL contract with the Colorado Eagles for the 2023-24 season. Last season for the Eagles, Ivan put up 33 goals and 57 assists in only 64 games, showing some significant offensive prowess from the center position. Already carrying solid depth down the middle of the ice, there is a real chance that Ivan starts the year with the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzles, but if Ivan continues his offensive development, he may turn into a solid prospect for the Colorado Avalanche organization.
  • The Charlotte Checkers have added some roster depth this morning, announcing separate one-year, two-way contracts for defenseman Will Reilly, and forward Patrick Khodorenko. Both players should be considered on the bubble for the upcoming season, either appearing in the AHL for the Checkers or the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. Reilly likely has the best shot to make the team, playing in 30 games for the Tucson Roadrunners last year, scoring five points in total.

Evening Notes: Sabres, Bezeau, USHL

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Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported today that the Buffalo Sabres are in contract discussions with a pair of former first overall picks. The Sabres are trying to work out extensions with franchise defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as well as Owen Power who was a workhorse in his rookie season. Both men are eligible for to sign contract extensions on July 1st and have expressed interest in inking long-term with the Sabres. Lysowski acknowledges that the Sabres don’t have any rush to sign either man to an extension as they both still have a year left on their current deals, but if they were to get the new contracts done on July 1st it would give the Sabres some cost certainty as they head into free agency at what is a critical point in their rebuild.

Dahlin will be looking for a long-term contract and could get something in the range of $9MM to $10MM on a long-term deal. The Swedish defender is coming off a season in which he put up 15 goals and 58 assists in 78 games while playing almost 26 minutes a night. For Power, he could sign long term but may elect to sign a bridge deal in the hopes of maximizing his earnings when he is more established and the salary cap has gone up. In his rookie season he played almost 24 minutes a night and had four goals and 31 assists in 79 games.

In other evening notes:

  • The Charlotte Checkers have announced that they have re-signed right winger Riley Bezeau to a two-year AHL contract. Bezeau spent this past season in the Queen City putting up five goals and three assists in 51 AHL games and finishing second on the team with 84PIM. The 21-year-old was previously an assistant captain of the Saint John Sea Dogs team that captured the Memorial Cup in 2021-22 in a season that saw him post 11 goals and 16 assists in 56 games.
  • The USHL announced today that Glenn Hefferan has been selected as the 11th president and commissioner in league history. Heffernan will take over on July 1st and is familiar with USA hockey having been a board and committee member for several years in various capacities as well as a member of the USA Hockey Executive Committee since June 2021. Back in 2012 Heffernan was awarded the Dr. John J. McMullen Award for service to New Jersey Amateur Hockey, an award he was given by the New Jersey Devils.

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