Free agent defenseman Matt Tennyson has been without a contract this season, but he’s found a place to play with a handful of weeks remaining in the campaign. HC Lugano of the Swiss National League announced Wednesday that they’ve signed Tennyson through the end of 2023-24 as they look to bolster their squad for the stretch run.
The 33-year-old spent last season on an AHL deal with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the primary affiliate of the Kraken, and recorded 18 assists and a +20 rating in 71 games (and three assists and a +9 rating in 26 playoff games) as they advanced to the Calder Cup Final. The minor-league mainstay was supposed to play in the Predators organization entering the second season of a two-year, two-way contract, but the deal was mutually terminated in July 2022.
He last appeared in the NHL with Nashville in the 2021-22 season, notching three assists in an eight-game stint. While the right-shot blue-liner has spent most of his professional career in the minors, he does have four goals, 25 assists, 29 points, and a -24 rating in 173 games over parts of nine NHL seasons with the Predators, Hurricanes, Devils, Sabres, and Sharks.
Other news and notes from around the league:
- The Coyotes have extended and promoted front office staffer David Ludwig to an assistant general manager position under GM Bill Armstrong, the team announced Wednesday. Ludwig, a former player agent, has been with Arizona since 2020 as their director of hockey operations and salary cap compliance. His new role will involve more direct communication with Armstrong, including assisting him “in all aspects of running the Club’s personnel and hockey operations, including salary cap management, contract negotiations, and Collective Bargaining Agreement/legal issues,” the team said. His promotion continues a run of front-office extensions the Coyotes have announced in recent days, mostly involving their scouting department.
- Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will play against the Panthers on Wednesday after departing Monday’s practice for precautionary reasons, head coach Mike Sullivan said (via Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). The team is down to 18 healthy skaters after placing Noel Acciari and Jansen Harkins on IR with concussions in the last 48 hours and has no salary cap space for a recall from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. As such, the team will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen against Florida out of necessity to avoid waiving any of their depth defensemen. The 36-year-old Letang has 30 points and a +14 rating in 49 games while averaging 25 minutes in the second season of his six-year, $36.6MM extension.
- The NHLPA will file an appeal Wednesday on behalf of Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, who was suspended five games on Tuesday for a cross-check to the face of Senators forward Ridly Greig, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. The appeal for a reduced suspension will go directly to Commissioner Gary Bettman and cannot be forwarded to an independent arbitrator because the initial assessment was less than six games. If Bettman reduces the suspension, but the ruling is not made final until after he’s sat out for five games, Rielly will get a pro-rated salary reimbursed based on the reduction.