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Dillon Heatherington

AHL Shuffle: 03/20/22

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After a busy Saturday that saw Nicolas Deslauriers traded to the Minnesota Wild, Hampus Lindholm traded to the Boston Bruins, and Claude Giroux traded to the Florida Panthers, as well as several exciting games, the NHL is back in action today. The New York Islanders will visit the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon in the Flyers’ first game since the Claude Giroux trade. The Dallas Stars head to Washington, D.C. to take on the Washington Capitals and try to break out of their recent slide. Perhaps most intriguing, the New York Rangers visit the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup of two Metropolitan Division heavyweights, and a potential playoff series in the making. Even with all the game action and the potential trade deadline action, there are still plenty of small transactions happening, and we will keep track of them here.

Atlantic Division:

  • After recalling him yesterday, the Ottawa Senators have sent defenseman Dillon Heatherington back to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Heatherington did not get a chance to suit up for Ottawa in their loss last night to Montreal before being sent down, and has not played an NHL game since December 18th. The 26-year-old has had a productive return to North America this season, putting up 11 points in 27 AHL games this season on the blue line after returning from a season in the KHL.

Metropolitan Division:

  • The Ontario Reign announced they have acquired defenseman Thomas Hickey on loan from the New York Islanders. Hickey, who was playing for the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL, will head to the Reign of the AHL, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate. It’s an interesting move to see, as Hickey is an NHL caliber defenseman who has been playing in the minors for the Islanders for much of the past three seasons in the AHL, now moved in the AHL. Although Hickey does have to move from the east coast to the west, Bridgeport is currently out of the playoff race in the AHL, sitting in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, while Ontario is in second place in the Pacific Division, so an opportunity to help out in meaningful games may be appealing to Hickey.
  • The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Brett Leason from the Hershey Bears and re-assigned forward Mike Vecchione to Hershey. A second-round pick by Washington in 2019, Leason has split time between Hershey and Washington this year, tallying four points in 15 games for Hershey and six points in 35 games for the Capitals this season. Vecchione, on the other hand, has produced well for Hershey this year with 12 goals and 24 assists in 43 games, but has seen just one NHL game this year, playing Friday night against Carolina, his first NHL game since he played his only other two for the Philadelphia Flyers back in 2017.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled goaltender Jean-Francois Berube on an emergency recall basis. Berube, 30, has performed admirably so far this season, with a .924 save percentage in his four games played. As regular starter Elvis Merzlikins battles with injuries and Joonas Korpisalo is potentially getting traded before the deadline, Berube’s stay in Columbus could end up being more permanent than his emergency designation would lead one to believe.

Central Division:

  • The Winnipeg Jets announced that they have recalled forward Jeff Malott from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. If he plays, the 25-year-old Mallot would be making his NHL debut after spending the last two seasons with Manitoba. Previously, Mallot spent four years at Cornell University before turning professional for the 2020-21 season. With the addition to their roster, the Jets would now be able sit one of either Paul Stastny or Andrew Copp ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline (or both if they are willing to play 11 forwards and 7 defensemen).

Pacific Division:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights assigned forward Jake Leschyshyn and defenseman Daniil Miromanov to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL. Leschyshyn has performed nicely this year in the face of adversity, being routinely shuffled between the NHL and AHL. (In fact, the shuffling continued today. Leschyshyn is already back in Vegas.) Though he has just five points through 27 NHL games this season, he has been a force for Henderson this year, posting 26 points in 32 games. It’s been almost the exact same story for Miromanov this season, shuffling between the NHL and AHL. Miromanov has just one point in nine NHL games this season as a defenseman, but has impressed with 30 points in 42 AHL games. The Golden Knights also called up defenseman Brayden Pachal. Pachal, 22, is an undrafted blueliner who has gotten into one game for the Golden Knights this year. He had seven points in 24 games for the Silver Knights last season.
  • The Seattle Kraken returned forward Kole Lind to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL from loan. Lind played just three games for Seattle on this assignment, and has only played seven this entire season, recording two assists. The forward has performed nicely in Charlotte this year, producing 17 goals and 18 assists in 46 games for the Checkers. The Checkers are the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, however because Seattle’s AHL affiliate will not start until the 2022-23 season, the two teams have agreed to split their use of the Charlotte team for this season.

Colton White, Dillon Heatherington Clear Waivers

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Jan 20: White and Heatherington have both cleared waivers, according to Friedman. They can now be assigned to the taxi squad or the minor leagues.

Jan 19: The New Jersey Devils have placed Colton White on waivers today according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, but he won’t be alone. The Ottawa Senators have also placed Dillon Heatherington on waivers. William Lagesson of the Edmonton Oilers, on waivers yesterday, has cleared and can be sent to the minor leagues.

White, 24, already cleared waivers at the beginning of the season but has spent enough time on the active roster to need them again. In eight games with the Devils this year, he has two points while averaging just over 12 minutes a night. A fourth-round pick from 2015, the minor league defenseman is headed for Group VI unrestricted free agency in the summer, given he only has 19 NHL games under his belt to this point. After Lagesson cleared, it seems unlikely that White would earn a claim, meaning he’s probably headed to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

In Heatherington’s case, waivers is nothing new. He cleared at the beginning of this season and twice in previous years, as a depth defenseman without much NHL experience. In fact, nine of his 20 career games have come this season with the Senators, though none of those have been since the middle of December. With so many younger players fighting for playing time on the Ottawa back end, Heatherington’s time on the active roster is likely over.

He too will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer after signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Senators in July. That deal carries a league-minimum $750K cap hit, meaning he at least could be a target for a team dealing with COVID-related absences that needs a short-term replacement.

Canadiens, Senators Make COVID Protocol Additions

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3:43 pm: More bad COVID news came for the Senators, as defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker also entered protocol for them Saturday afternoon. With that, they have no extra players on the roster for tonight’s game at the moment.

10:43 am: The calendar has flipped to 2022, but the battle against Coronavirus won’t go away that easy. While the current surge may be producing far more positive results than symptomatic players, the league and its teams will continue to abide by the protocols in place, which will mean more players missing time. The first additions of the new year belong to Atlantic Division and Canadian rivals, the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, both of whom are still scheduled to play on Saturday but will be short-handed.

The Senators have announced that forward Nick Paul and defenseman Dillon Heatherington have been placed in the NHL’s COVID Protocol. While Heatherington himself has been a COVID/injury replacement this year, skating in minimal minutes in nine games, Paul is a major loss for the club. The big forward is having a down year thus far compared to his past two campaigns, but still leaves a hole at center on the Sens’ second line. Ottawa has recalled Clark Bishop and Logan Shaw from the taxi squad to help fill the gap up front, while young Lassi Thomson has been promoted from AHL Belleville to add a body on the blue line.

In Montreal, the Canadiens have placed a pair of young starters in forward Jake Evans and defenseman Alexander Romanov into COVID Protocol. This makes 16 players and one coach unavailable for the Habs due to COVID, yet the team plans to proceed with their game this afternoon. Up against the salary cap, Montreal will have to stick with what they have for healthy players, which is expected to be a lineup of 11 forwards and five defensemen.

COVID Notes: Capitals, Heatherington, Cizikas

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The Washington Capitals have canceled practice tomorrow out of an abundance of caution, after having a scheduled off day today. No one else has tested positive for coronavirus or entered the league’s protocol, but with the team already missing three players–Garnet Hathaway joined Nic Dowd and Trevor van Riemsdyk in the protocol yesterday–an extra cautious approach seems prudent.

The Capitals are back in action on Friday in the first half of a back-to-back. The hope is that no other positives will emerge between now and then.

  • The Ottawa Senators have announced that Dillon Heatherington has exited the COVID protocol and is available for the team this evening. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia suggests that Heatherington could step into the lineup in place of Victor Mete, who has struggled mightily in recent weeks. The 23-year-old Mete played just 8:18 against the Carolina Hurricanes and 10:35 against the New Jersey Devils, his last two appearances.
  • Despite Casey Cizikas reaching ten days since he entered the COVID protocol, he isn’t ready to return for the New York Islanders. Head coach Barry Trotz told reporters including Andrew Gross of Newsday that Cizikas is “not really in the picture” at the moment, as he continues to work his way back. The 30-year-old forward hasn’t played since November 26 and has just one point on the season.

Ottawa’s Erik Brannstrom Suffers Broken Hand

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It’s almost becoming comical at this point. On Thursday, the Ottawa Senators placed top-four defenseman Nikita Zaitsev in COVID Protocol, where he joined fellow defensemen Josh Brown, Victor Mete, and Nick Holden. Later that night, fellow top-four defender Artem Zub was knocked out of Ottawa’s match-up with the Los Angeles Kings with an upper-body injury. Now, just 24 hours later, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that young defenseman Erik Brannstrom suffered a broken hand in last night’s game as well and is out indefinitely.

It was just the second game of the season for Brannstrom, 22, who has still been trying to carve out a role for himself with the Senators. It could explain why Brannstrom not only played the whole game on Sunday, but skated in an abnormally high 18:56, perhaps trying to impress his coaches who were already short on blue line options. Whether this had any impact on the extent of the injury remains unknown. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch follows up on Dreger’s report by adding that the Senators are currently waiting for a determination on whether Brannstrom will need surgery or not. He believes that the blue liner will miss at least two months. It’s a critical setback for the 2017 first-round pick, who has not yet played up to expectations despite ample opportunity in Ottawa.

It will be hard for the Senators and their fans to focus on the long-term damage of the Brannstrom injury though when the short-term impact is so immense. The loss of Brannstrom on top of Zub plus the current COVID absences leaves the Senators with just seven healthy defenseman in the pro ranks, only four of whom are currently in the NHL. Fortunately, workhorse No. 1 defenseman Thomas Chabot is among the living, but the depth falls off immensely behind him. Veteran utility defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who has played in just six games this season, is the next best option, while the other two healthy NHLers are Dillon Heatherington, who made his season debut on Thursday, and Lassi Thomson, who made his NHL debut on Thursday. In Belleville, top prospect Jacob Bernard-Docker is almost a guaranteed recall before the Senators game on Saturday and an unheralded player such as Jonathan Aspirot or Maxence Guenette will likely receive the call as well. In turn, Belleville will have to load up on loans and tryouts in order to get by without their own defenders. The entire Senators organization needs their defense to get healthy as soon as possible.

Alex Formenton, Matt Murray, Nikita Zaitsev Placed In COVID Protocol

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5:27 pm: Per the Senators’ communications team, defenseman Nikita Zaitsev has also been placed in COVID-19 protocol just a half-hour ahead of Thursday’s game. Lassi Thomson will make his NHL debut tonight in place of Zaitsev.

9:35 am: Another day, another pair of unavailable players for the Ottawa Senators. The team has announced that Alex Formenton and Matt Murray have been placed in the COVID protocol. Andrew Agozzino, Dillon Heatherington, and Lassi Thomson have all been recalled from the AHL as tonight’s game is still currently scheduled to proceed.

Formenton and Murray join a growing list of players in the protocol for Ottawa, which also includes Connor Brown, Victor Mete, Austin Watson, Nick Holden, Dylan Gambrell, Josh Brown, and assistant coach Jack Capuano. That is a huge chunk of the team, including several important pieces. The Senators are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Kings this evening, before welcoming in the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames for a back-to-back over the weekend.

The team did not confirm whether Formenton and Murray tested positive, only that they have been entered into the protocol.

In terms of call-ups, Thomson is certainly an interesting one given his experience to this point. The 21-year-old defenseman has yet to play a game at the NHL level, but is showing well in the minor leagues. Selected 19th overall in 2019, he has two points in six games with the Belleville Senators this season.

Minor Transactions: 10/9/21

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It has been a busy day on the transactions front as some teams have pulled up previously cut players to round out their roster for their final preseason games while other players will be looking to catch on either in the minors or overseas.  Here’s a rundown of those moves.

  • The Senators announced (Twitter links) that they’ve recalled defensemen Dillon Heatherington, Mark Kastelic, and Lassi Thomson plus winger Egor Sokolov from AHL Belleville. All four were previously cut in training camp but will be on the roster for their preseason finale against Toronto tonight.
  • With Cam Talbot unavailable due to a personal matter, the Wild announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Andrew Hammond from AHL Iowa. He’ll serve as Kaapo Kahkonen’s backup for their preseason finale in Chicago.
  • Vegas’ AHL affiliate in Henderson revealed (Twitter link) that the Golden Knights have brought up forwards Jonas Rondbjerg and Jake Leschyshyn from the Silver Knights for their final preseason game tonight versus San Jose.
  • Greg McKegg gets another look with the Rangers as Rick Carpinello of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the veteran forward has been recalled for tonight’s game against the Islanders. McKegg returned to New York this season after spending 2020-21 with Boston.
  • After having his contract terminated by Winnipeg last month, Joona Luoto is heading back home as Tappara in the SM-liiga announced that they’ve inked the 24-year-old to a one-year deal. Luoto played in Tappara’s program – his hometown team – before making the jump to North America in 2019 where he played in 16 games with the Jets.
  • Marko Dano’s two-month tryout in Trinec was a successful one as the Czech squad announced they’ve extended his contract for the rest of the season. The 26-year-old was non-tendered by Winnipeg this summer after not seeing any NHL action for the first time in his professional career.
  • Kunlun Red Star of the KHL announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed winger Cliff Pu to a one-year deal. The 23-year-old wrapped up his entry-level contract last season, recording 10 points in 16 games with AHL Cleveland but was non-tendered by Columbus this summer.
  • Veteran winger Brandon Mashinter has decided to call it a career and has joined Jacksonville of the ECHL as an assistant coach. The 33-year-old played in parts of four NHL seasons with the Sharks, Rangers, and Blackhawks, notching five points and 50 PIMS in 64 games.  Mashinter spent last season in Slovakia after a two-year stint in Germany.
  • After clearing waivers, Sonny Milano has been reassigned to the AHL by the Anaheim Ducks. Milano played in just eight games total last season, two of which were with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. It seems like that total could increase considerably this season unless the Ducks decide he is worthy of a recall at some point.
  • The Dallas Stars have demoted defenseman Andreas Borgman to AHL Texas. However, with 36 players still on their training camp roster, the team has a ways to go. Borgman, 26, suited up for seven games with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season but appears to be no better than tenth on the Stars’ depth chart.

31 Players Clear Waivers

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Oct 4: 31 of the 32 players placed on waivers have cleared. The Buffalo Sabres have claimed Jonsson-Fjallby from the Washington Capitals.

Oct 3: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that, originally, 13 names have hit the waiver wire today. PuckPedia reports an additional 19 names that have found themselves on waivers today. The 13 names are as follows:

D Trevor Carrick (ANA)
D Kodie Curran (ANA)
D Brendan Guhle (ANA)
F Vinni Lettieri (ANA)
F Danny O’Regan (ANA)
D Brogan Rafferty (ANA)
F Zachary Senyshyn (BOS)
D Nick DeSimone (CGY)
D Kevin Gravel (CGY)
F Matthew Phillips (CGY)
D Andy Welinski (CGY)
D Jalen Chatfield (CAR)
D Joshua Jacobs (CAR)
F Seth Griffith (EDM)
F Cooper Marody (EDM)
F Brandon Baddock (MTL)
F Laurent Dauphin (MTL)
F Jean-Sebastien Dea (MTL)
G Michael McNiven (MTL)
F Anthony Richard (NSH)
F Brian Flynn (NJD)
F Robbie Russo (NJD)
F Greg McKegg (NYR)
F Pontus Aberg (OTT)
D Dillon Heatherington (OTT)
F Kole Sherwood (OTT)
D Tommy Cross (STL)
D Sean Day (TBL)
F Gabriel Dumont (TBL)
F Charles Hudon (TBL)
F Darren Raddysh (TBL)
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (WSH)

More to come…

Ottawa Senators Sign Dillon Heatherington, Kole Sherwood

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The Ottawa Senators have inked a pair of minor-league veterans to two-way contracts. They’ve signed Dillon Heatherington and Kole Sherwood to one-year, two-way contracts worth $750,000. Heatherington’s deal is worth $250,000 at the AHL level, while Sherwood’s deal is worth $150,000.

Heatherington, a 2013 second-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, is now 26 and carries very limited NHL upside. He’s returning to North America after spending one season overseas with the KHL’s Barys Nur-Sultan. His first trip overseas earned him only moderate success, potting seven points in 41 games. A strictly defensive defenseman, Heatherington’s got only 11 career NHL games to his name and just two assists.

Their other signing, Sherwood, is also a former Columbus prospect and an Ohio native. Sherwood has played NHL games for Columbus in every season since graduating from the OHL in 2017-18, but he hasn’t managed to stick a full-time role. He’s yet to find his offensive touch at the pro level, but at 24 years old, still carries some potential late-bloomer upside.

Dillon Heatherington Signs In KHL

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After spending the entire 2019-20 season in the AHL, Dillon Heatherington has decided to look elsewhere for his hockey employment. Heatherington has signed a one-year contract with Barys Nur-Sultan in the KHL.

The 25-year-old defenseman was originally a second-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013 but ended up traded to the Dallas Stars organization before ever playing a game in the NHL. With the Stars, he ended up becoming a core member of their AHL team, reaching the Calder Cup Finals in 2018 and wearing a letter as alternate captain the following year. He also played in 12 games for Dallas during his time there, including a playoff game in 2019.

Now heading to the KHL, Heatherington is certainly not off the radar of NHL teams down the line. Still young enough to develop further and big enough to make scouts believe he could play a role, it seems likely that you’ll hear his name again down the line as a potential free agent signing in North America.

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