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Connor Mackey

Waivers: 9/29/23

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As training camps and the preseason continues, teams continue to trim down their roster to get closer to the final group of players they’ll carry when the regular season gets underway next month. We’ll keep track of the names that hit the waiver wire here.  Today’s list was provided by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Colorado Avalanche (per team Twitter)

D Keaton Middleton
F Spencer Smallman

New York Rangers

F Alex Belzile
F Anton Blidh
F Turner Elson
D Ty Emberson
D Connor Mackey
F Riley Nash

New Jersey Devils

D Tyler Wotherspoon

St. Louis Blues

F Adam Gaudette

The Rangers have the players of some note on this list.  Belzile held his own as a midseason recall with Montreal last season, notching six goals and eight assists in just 31 games.  That allowed the 32-year-old to get a two-year commitment from New York this summer including a one-way salary in 2024-25.  Nash didn’t see any NHL action last season but is no stranger to playing at the top level as a fourth-line center, suiting up 627 times over parts of 11 years.  Blidh struggled in limited action with Colorado last season while Elson has just three NHL appearances thus far in his career.

Mackey could be a name to keep an eye on.  The 27-year-old split last year between Calgary and Arizona, getting into a career-best 30 games.  His performance there also earned him an opportunity to play at the Worlds for Team USA, his second appearance in that tournament over the last three years.  This will be Emberson’s first time on waivers.  The 23-year-old saw his production in the minors improve considerably last season, going from 11 points to 27 but he still sits fairly low on New York’s depth chart.

As for the other players on waivers today, Gaudette has 218 career NHL appearances under his belt and last season was the first time he didn’t see action at the top level in his six-year professional career.  He was a productive scorer in the minors in 2022-23, notching 51 points between the affiliates of the Maple Leafs and Blues, who acquired him at the trade deadline.  Wotherspoon last played in the NHL back in 2016-17 with Calgary while Middleton has three NHL games under his belt back in the 2020-21 campaign.  Smallman, meanwhile, hasn’t seen any NHL action over his seven professional campaigns and is coming off a career-best 13 goals with AHL Colorado last season.

These players will be on waivers until 1 PM CT on Saturday.

New York Rangers Sign Connor Mackey, Nikolas Brouillard

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The New York Rangers have made two additions to beef up their defensive depth, signing Connor Mackey from the Arizona Coyotes and Nikolas Brouillard from the AHL’s San Diego Gulls to one-year contracts.

Both are likely destined for AHL Hartford next season, especially with the Rangers further fortifying their blueline by signing Erik Gustafsson to a one-year deal today. Both players were signed to a league-minimum cap hit of $775K, with Mackey earning a $400K salary in the minors and Brouillard earning a $225K salary in the minors with $275K guaranteed.

Mackey joins the Rangers with three professional seasons under his belt, spent in the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes organizations. He’s shown some solid offensive acumen in limited NHL time, and he was a member of Team USA at the recent IIHF Men’s World Championship. After recording 36 points in 53 games with the AHL’s Stockton Heat in 2021-22, he’s destined for top-pair duty and heavy minutes in Hartford.

This is the first NHL contract for Brouillard, 28, who’s spent the last three seasons on minor-league contracts with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls and done quite well, totaling 92 points (and 279 penalty minutes) in 168 AHL games. He’s obviously got a bit of snarl to his game and will join Mackey in Hartford’s top four on defense.

USA Hockey Announces First 22 Players For 2023 Worlds

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The first 22 players that will compete for Team USA at the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championship have been named, with an interesting mix of NHL experience and college excitement.

Lane Hutson is the youngest player in the group at just 19 years old, and he’ll be sharing the ice with 35-year-old Nick Bonino, the oldest. General manager Chris Clark released the following:

The depth of our player pool is reflected with our team and we’re excited about the group we have to represent our country at the world championship. We’ve got a great mix of experience and youth and most of our players have represented the U.S. before and know what it takes to be successful at a world championship.

The team will start training on Saturday in Munich, before a pre-tournament game on Tuesday. The tournament schedule for the U.S. begins next Friday, against Finland.

Here’s a look at the 22 players that have made the team so far:

G Casey DeSmith
G Drew Commesso
G Cal Petersen

D Henry Thrun
D Connor Mackey
D Ronnie Attard
D Dylan Samberg
D Scott Perunovich
D Lane Hutson
D Nick Perbix

F Samuel Walker
F Drew O’Connor
F Luke Tuch
F Nick Bonino
F T.J. Tynan
F Cutter Gauthier
F Sean Farrell
F Anders Bjork
F Matthew Coronato
F Conor Garland
F Alex Tuch
F Carter Mazur

Calgary Flames Expected To Acquire Troy Stecher, Nick Ritchie

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The Calgary Flames are acquiring defenseman Troy Stecher and forward Nick Ritchie from the Arizona Coyotes, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, in exchange for Brett Ritchie and Connor Mackey.

This deal adds a player from the Coyotes’ second defensive pairing and third forward line to play likely lesser roles in head coach Darryl Sutter’s Flames lineup.

Ritchie, 27, is on an expiring $2.5MM contract and will provide useful depth to the Flames’ forward corps while also potentially taking Walker Duehr’s role on the team’s fourth line. He’s averaged over 13 minutes of ice time per game this season including over two minutes on the power play, and has scored nine goals and 21 points in 58 games this season. He’s another big, heavy forward for Sutter to work with, and should add some possible goal-scoring touch to their lineup as well as some more skill than what his brother has been able to provide the Flames.

As for Stecher, the team is acquiring a 28-year-old on an expiring $1.25MM cap hit. In terms of average ice time per game, he’s been Arizona’s number-four defenseman this season and most recently has skated on their second pairing next to former Calgary blueliner Juuso Valimaki. Stecher hasn’t scored yet this season, but has seven assists and has soaked up nearly three minutes per night on the team’s penalty kill.

With over 400 games of NHL experience, Stecher is an upgrade for the Flames’ bottom pairing over Dennis Gilbert and has the versatility to be able to fit into roles on the Flames lineup as they might pop up as the season goes on.

As for the Coyotes, the most significant element of this deal they are receiving seems to be Mackey, a 26-year-old blueliner who the team can retain beyond this season as a restricted free agent. Mackey has just 19 games of NHL experience but played exceptionally well in the AHL last season, to the tune of 36 points in 53 games.

Perhaps the Coyotes feel that with an increased role on their squad, the smooth-skating defenseman can establish himself as a legitimate NHL defenseman.

As for Ritchie, his inclusion gives the Coyotes an experienced body to fill the role his brother has left behind.

The 29-year-old is operating on an expiring league-minimum salary and has nearly 400 games of NHL experience. He’s averaging under 10 minutes per night this season with no special-teams minutes, although his role could increase in Arizona.

While it might be preferrable given the Coyotes’ current direction for the team to receive draft picks rather than these two players in return for Stecher and Ritchie, the team could legitimately believe that Mackey holds some promise in the short-to-medium term.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Calgary Flames Send Four To AHL

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4:32 pm: Additionally, the team has assigned defenseman Juuso Valimaki to Stockton, giving a huge extra boost to their farm team. The 23-year-old defenseman had an assist in three playoff games before getting called up to the Flames’ reserves, and he’ll return there for the rest of their run.

2:46 pm: Now that they were eliminated from the NHL playoffs, the Calgary Flames can help out their AHL affiliate. The team has sent Connor Mackey, Adam Ruzicka, and Adam Werner to the Stockton Heat, as the minor league club continues its chase for the Calder Cup.

The Heat, which will be relocated to Calgary next season, are up 2-0 in their best-of-five series against the Colorado Eagles, with game three set for this evening. Though this is technically the third round, they’ve only won one series to this point after earning a bye to the Pacific Division semifinals.

A player like Mackey will be a big help, after he scored 36 points in 53 games to lead all Stockton defensemen this season. Ruzicka too was an extremely strong contributor, though he played only 16 games in the minor leagues as he spent most of the year with Calgary. He had 11 goals and 20 points in those games, as the big forward is starting to come into his own at the age of 23.

The success of Stockton is part of what made the Flames’ season so impressive. There is a lot more talent on the way, including names like Jakob Pelletier and Connor Zary, first-round picks from the last few years. The Heat going all the way would certainly be a good thing for the development of those players, and the future of the Flames in general.

Sean Monahan To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

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Calgary’s center depth has taken a hit as the team announced (Twitter link) that Sean Monahan is set to undergo hip surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.  Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson clarifies (via Twitter) that the injury is the opposite hip to the one that was surgically repaired last summer.

This is certainly a tough way to end what has definitely been a tough season for the 27-year-old.  While several Flames forwards have had strong years offensively, Monahan went in the opposite direction, notching just eight goals and 15 assists in 65 games with his goal and point totals being the lowest of his nine-year NHL career.  Calgary made Monahan a healthy scratch last month after bringing in Calle Jarnkrok to serve as their center on the third line and playing time had been hard to come by since then.

Calgary will place Monahan on LTIR and with a $6.375MM AAV, they will have ample cap space to bring up recalls if they want although they will use up the little bit of banked cap space they have in doing so.  In the meantime, Ryan Carpenter, who was acquired from Chicago back at the trade deadline, seems likely to be used in a more regular capacity in Monahan’s absence.

Meanwhile, the Flames also announced that defenseman Oliver Kylington is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.  Connor Mackey has been recalled from AHL Stockton to take his place.  Mackey played in six games with Calgary last season, recording three points while he has 36 points in 53 games in the minors this season.

Connor Mackey Signs With Calgary Flames

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The Calgary Flames have inked their final restricted free agent, signing Connor Mackey to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $912,500. Mackey was eligible for salary arbitration but decided not to file. CapFriendly reports that both years of the contract are actually two-way, with Mackey earning $150K at the AHL level in 2021-22 and $175K in 2022-23.

Mackey, 24, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Flames out of Minnesota State-Mankato in 2020, after several NHL teams showed interest in him. He made his NHL debut in 2020-21, playing six games, but spent most of the year at the AHL level with the Stockton Heat. In 27 games for the Heat, he registered 16 points, the exact kind of offensive production that made him so intriguing coming out of college.

Standing 6’2″ with good skating ability, there’s reason to believe that Mackey could secure a full-time spot on the bottom pairing in Calgary this season. The team has bid farewell to captain Mark Giordano, opening up plenty of minutes to be spread around. While he’s certainly not guaranteed any playing time, Mackey’s direct competition is players like Oliver Kylington and Andy Welinski, not players that have done anything to lock up the job so far.

Interestingly enough though, Mackey’s waiver status may actually end up leaving him on the outside looking in when the season begins. Of the defensemen in contention for the last few spots, he’s the only one that is still waiver-exempt and can go to the minor leagues without issue. Kylington and Welinski have both cleared in the past, but depending on how the Flames want to deal with their cap situation, Mackey could end up being bounced up and down through much of this season.

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