Jets Recall Dylan Coghlan; Haydn Fleury Out Week-To-Week
While he cleared waivers just last week, Dylan Coghlan’s time in the minors was short-lived. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled the blueliner from AHL Manitoba. Meanwhile, TSN’s John Lu notes (Twitter link) that blueliner Haydn Fleury is listed as week-to-week with his knee injury while Dylan Samberg will miss at least another five days as he works his way back from a foot injury.
Coghlan was acquired from Carolina back in July in exchange for future considerations, signing a one-year, two-way deal soon after. He has been on Winnipeg’s roster for most of the year but that hasn’t resulted in much playing time as he has played just once with the Jets so far. After clearing waivers last week, he got into two contests with the Moose, scoring once. In the short term, Coghlan will likely resume his role as a reserve defenseman.
Fleury, meanwhile, tried to skate this morning after being injured on Monday against Toronto but it evidently did not go well, leading to this week-to-week designation. The 28-year-old is in his first season with Winnipeg after signing a one-year, two-way deal with them in the summer and has held down a regular spot in the lineup most nights. Fleury has six assists in 25 games thus far while blocking 44 shots in over 17 minutes a night of action. With an extended absence on the horizon, he’s likely to land on injured reserve in the coming days.
As for Samberg, he missed the last month due to his foot injury. Head coach Scott Arniel indicated that the blueliner will skate on his own for the next five days before being reassessed. Speculatively, he’ll need a few days of practice and being cleared for contact from there so his return is still likely more than a week away. Samberg has played in 21 games so far this season, notching three goals and three assists while logging over 20 minutes a night, nearly five minutes a game higher than his ATOI last season.
Jets Activate Nikolaj Ehlers, Waive Dylan Coghlan
Dec. 19: The Jets announced that Coghlan cleared waivers and was subsequently assigned to AHL Manitoba along with the waiver-exempt Chibrikov.
Dec. 18: The Jets have placed defenseman Dylan Coghlan on waivers ahead of the upcoming roster freeze, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. In a related but not quite corresponding move, winger Nikolaj Ehlers has been activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s matchup with the Ducks, per the league’s media site. Center David Gustafsson, who’s been in concussion protocol since fighting Bruins forward Trent Frederic on Dec. 10, was placed on injured reserve to keep the Jets’ active roster at the maximum 23 until Coghlan can be removed tomorrow.
Ehlers had missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury that he sustained against the Golden Knights on Nov. 29. The Jets managed to go 5-3-1 in his absence and haven’t lost in regulation over their last four outings. The injury interrupted a resurgent season for the pending unrestricted free agent, who still ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 25 points (9 G, 16 A) in 24 games. If his pace holds, the Danish winger will crack the point-per-game threshold for the first time in his 10-year career. If he plays tonight, he’ll likely resume his place on the second line alongside Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti while rookie Nikita Chibrikov, who has two goals and an assist in four showings this season, heads to the press box.
Coghlan, 26, signed a two-way deal with the Jets in the offseason after they acquired his signing rights from the Hurricanes. He made the team’s opening night roster but has been stuck in the press box, playing just once this year despite not carrying an injury designation. Winnipeg has had eight defensemen on the active roster nearly all season but hasn’t had the impetus to make many lineup changes. Their relatively healthy blue line has helped power a 23-9-1 record.
His lone appearance came against Vegas, his former team, in the game Ehlers got hurt. He posted a -1 rating in 14:38 of ice time with two shots on goal. Winnipeg out-attempted opponents 15-8 with Coghlan on the ice at even strength despite two-thirds of his zone starts coming in the defensive end.
Thirty-one other teams will now have the chance to claim Coghlan, who only costs the league minimum of $775K against the cap when in the NHL and has 107 games of experience to his name over the last five years. If there are no takers, it’s back to the AHL for him, this time with the Manitoba Moose. The British Columbia native played in 61 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds last season while under contract with Carolina, leading their defenders with 41 points (16 G, 25 A).
Jets Sign Dylan Coghlan
July 12: Winnipeg confirmed Coghlan’s deal Friday morning.
July 10: The Jets wasted little time getting their newest defenseman under contract. After acquiring Dylan Coghlan last weekend, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Winnipeg has inked the blueliner to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will pay $775K in the NHL, $200K in the minors, and contains a guaranteed salary of $250K. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The 26-year-old was expected to be at least a depth option for Carolina last season but instead, he cleared waivers in training camp and spent most of the year with AHL Springfield. With them, Coghlan had a productive year, leading all AHL blueliners with 16 goals while chipping in with 25 helpers, earning himself an All-Star appearance in the process. While the Hurricanes tendered him a qualifying offer last month, they elected to move him for future considerations.
For his career, Coghlan has played in 106 career NHL appearances, most of which came with Vegas before they moved him to Carolina back in 2022. He should have a chance to battle for a depth role on Winnipeg’s roster in training camp but with Ville Heinola now waiver-eligible, the re-signings of Colin Miller and Logan Stanley, and the addition of Haydn Fleury in free agency, there’s a good chance that Coghlan will have to start with AHL Manitoba and try to work his way up from there.
Jets Acquire Dylan Coghlan From Hurricanes
Saturday: The deal is now official, per an announcement from the Hurricanes. The official return is future considerations.
Friday: The Jets are set to acquire the signing rights to RFA defenseman Dylan Coghlan from the Hurricanes, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Winnipeg is sending a conditional seventh-round pick to Carolina in return, per Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey.
Coghlan, 26, went undrafted but got his start back in 2017 when the Golden Knights signed him to an entry-level contract. Coghlan developed well in Vegas, spending another year back in juniors and another two in the AHL before jumping to a taxi squad role for the 2020-21 season. He avoided any minor league assignments with the Knights after that, recording 19 points in 88 games during the following two seasons while primarily serving as their extra defenseman. His time in Nevada came to an end when he was sent to Carolina as a sweetener to take the final season of Max Pacioretty‘s deal in the summer of 2022.
The right-shot blue liner struggled to find a role with the Canes, though. He spent most of the 2022-23 season in the press box, only appearing in 17 games (three assists, -1 rating, 12:43 ATOI). He also had two goals and an assist in five games on a conditioning loan to AHL Chicago in December.
The Canes liked him enough to qualify and re-sign him on a one-way, $850K deal last summer, leading most to believe he’d be on their opening night roster. That wasn’t the case, though, as he failed to crack the team out of camp and was waived in October. Without a dedicated AHL affiliate last season, the Hurricanes found a home for him on loan to the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues’ primary affiliate.
Coghlan earned a couple of recalls throughout the season that resulted in a lone appearance for Carolina, but he otherwise played with a chip on his shoulder in Springfield as he looked to give himself another NHL chance. The British Columbia-born defender suited up in 61 games for the T-Birds, earning an All-Star Game appearance and leading all AHL defensemen in goals with 16. He added 25 assists for 41 points, breaking his previous career high of 40 set in his first pro season.
He’ll look to leverage that shot and his 6’2″, 207-lb frame into a roster spot with the Jets in the fall, assuming he signs a new deal. Winnipeg is looking for added defensive depth after losing Brenden Dillon to the Devils in free agency and buying out Nate Schmidt. They’ve already made one acquisition in veteran Colin Miller, who will be Coghlan’s chief competitor for minutes as a fellow right-shooting D-man. They’ll likely rotate in bottom-pairing minutes behind Dylan DeMelo and Neal Pionk.
Hurricanes Recall Three Players From AHL
Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal is reporting that the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled three players from the AHL after their seasons came to an end. The Hurricanes have brought up defenseman Dylan Coghlan, forward Max Comtois, as well as goaltender Antti Raanta to serve as Black Aces during the Hurricanes playoff run. Without a salary cap or roster limit in the playoffs, the Hurricanes can bring in extra players to serve as depth during the postseason.
Coghlan played all but one game this season in the AHL with the Springfield Thunderbirds. The 26-year-old posted 16 goals and 25 assists in 61 games with Springfield, while he managed to get into one NHL game with Carolina where he was held scoreless. Coghlan was an NHL regular with the Vegas Golden Knights just two years ago and was dealt to Carolina alongside Max Pacioretty for future considerations back in July 2022.
Comtois also dressed in just one NHL game this season with Carolina, posting a single assist in 13:04 of ice time back on April 16th. The 25-year-old spent most of his season with the Chicago Wolves where he posted 19 goals and 25 assists in 65 AHL games. Comtois looked like a breakthrough player during the shortened 2020-21 season after he tallied 16 goals and 17 assists in 55 NHL games with the Anaheim Ducks, however, his point totals dropped to 16 and 19 over the next two seasons and the Ducks elected to not qualify him last summer leading to him becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Raanta was solid with Carolina in the two seasons before this year, dressing in 55 games and posting a 34-8-7 record with a save percentage over .910. However, this year the 34-year-old’s play has fallen off a cliff as Raanta has struggled at both the NHL and AHL levels. In 24 games this season, Raanta has a 12-7-2 record with a .872 save percentage and a 2.99 goals-against average, while his AHL numbers with Chicago are even worse as he’s 2-2-4 in eight AHL games, sporting a 3.54 goals-against average and a .873 save percentage.
Hurricanes Reassign Dylan Coghlan, Max Comtois
The Hurricanes have reassigned defenseman Dylan Coghlan and winger Max Comtois to AHL Springfield and Chicago, respectively, GM Don Waddell announced today. The latter recorded an assist in his Carolina debut, a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jackets yesterday. Both were summoned yesterday to play spot duty in the Canes’ final game of the season while they rested multiple stars, including Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin.
Comtois, 25, has posted 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 62 games with Chicago this season, his first as a professional outside the Ducks organization. He was a second-round pick of Anaheim in 2017. He led the team in scoring during the shortened 2021 season but followed that up with 35 points and a -37 rating in 116 games over the following two years and was not given a qualifying offer when his contract expired last summer.
The Quebec native didn’t land an NHL offer in free agency and ended up in training camp with the Golden Knights on a PTO but failed to earn a contract. He signed a minor league pact with Chicago shortly thereafter, and the Canes picked up his NHL rights on a one-year, two-way contract in early March. They’ll maintain control of his signing rights this summer as a pending RFA with arbitration rights.
Coghlan, 26, is in his second season in the Carolina organization. Most of his time with the Canes has been spent in the minors, though, and yesterday was his first and only NHL appearance of the season. He was held without a point and posted a -2 rating in nearly 18 minutes of ice time. With no AHL affiliation agreement in place in 2023-24, Carolina has loaned Coghlan out to Springfield, the Blues’ top-level affiliate, for the whole season. He’s got 16 goals and 41 points in 59 games there, leading their defenders in scoring.
The former Golden Knight was trending toward being a full-time NHLer during the end of his time in Vegas, recording 13 points in 59 appearances with them in 2021-22 while averaging 14:12 per game. However, he was traded to Carolina following that season as the sweetener for them to take the final season of winger Max Pacioretty‘s contract at a $7MM cap hit. He played sparingly for the Canes last year, averaging 12:43 per game in 17 appearances, and re-signed with them at an $850K cap hit last July after reaching restricted free agency. He’ll be an RFA again this summer, his final year of such eligibility.
Transaction Notes: Coghlan, Comtois, Del Bel Belluz, Silovs, Rondbjerg
Now that the Carolina Hurricanes have officially clinched the second spot in the Metropolitan Division, the organization has opted to sit a multitude of players for the team’s game tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. With several spots in the lineup open, the team has called up defenseman Dylan Coghlan and forward Max Comtois from the Springfield Thunderbirds and Chicago Wolves, respectively.
Coghlan has been a part of the Hurricanes organization for the last two years, coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade including Max Pacioretty. Although he played 17 games in Carolina last season, tonight will mark the first time that Coghlan has suited up for the Hurricanes this season. A strong performer in AHL Springfield, Coghlan has scored 16 goals and 41 points in 59 games and is sitting second on the team in scoring overall.
Comtois, on the other hand, is in his first season with the Hurricanes organization after spending the last five years with the Anaheim Ducks. Failing to become a consistent goal-scorer in Orange County, Comtois had to settle for an AHL contract in AHL Chicago this past offseason. Appearing to reacquire some of his offensive talents, Comtois has scored 19 goals and 43 points in 62 games for the Wolves this season, which may be enough to earn him a league-minimum contract on an NHL roster next year.
Other transaction notes:
- Preparing to make his NHL debut this evening, the Blue Jackets have recalled forward Luca Del Bel Belluz from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. With forward Dmitri Voronkov out of tonight’s game due to illness, Del Bel Belluz could end up centering the third line with newcomer Gavin Brindley. In his first season playing for the Blue Jackets organization, the former 44th overall selection has scored nine goals and 30 points over 55 games in the AHL this year.
- Now that goaltender Thatcher Demko is preparing to return to the active roster, the Vancouver Canucks have sent down goalie Arturs Silovs to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Throughout his recall, Silovs only suited up in four games for the Canucks, and performed adequately in limited time. Over those four games, Silovs produced a 3-0-1 record, securing a .881 SV% which was largely brought down due to giving up four goals on 18 shots against the Arizona Coyotes.
- For now the 11th time this season, the Vegas Golden Knights have recalled forward Jonas Rondbjerg from their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. Due to the numerous amount of recalls this year, Rondbjerg has managed 18 games for the Golden Knights this season, scoring one goal and three points overall. At the AHL level, Rondbjerg has suited up in 48 games for the Silver Knights, scoring nine goals and 27 points in the process.
Hurricanes Assign Dylan Coghlan To The AHL
The Hurricanes have made a roster move, announcing that they’ve assigned defenseman Dylan Coghlan to Springfield of the AHL. As Carolina doesn’t have its own affiliate, they’ve loaned him back to St. Louis’.
The 25-year-old showed some upside a couple of years ago with Vegas, eventually making him the incentive that Carolina received for taking on the final year of Max Pacioretty‘s contract back in July 2022. However, Coghlan didn’t play much last season, suiting up just 17 times while being a healthy scratch the rest of the way. That likely played a role in him clearing waivers earlier this month.
Coghlan had been recalled earlier in the week when Brett Pesce went down but he still didn’t see any action with the Hurricanes. He has suited up five times for the Thunderbirds so far, picking up a goal and an assist, and will now have a chance to add to those numbers.
For the time being, Carolina has just six healthy defensemen on the roster which is unlikely to be the case for too long. However, they’re now off until Monday night so they can wait until then to announce a recall whether it’s Coghlan or someone else. In the meantime, clearing Coghlan’s $850K off the books – even if it’s just for a couple of days – will give Carolina a little bit of extra cap flexibility to work with.
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Dylan Coghlan
The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled defenseman Dylan Coghlan from his loan at the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
With defenseman Brett Pesce still dealing with a lower-body injury, the addition of Coghlan gives head coach Rod Brind’Amour an additional option as he formulates his defensive lineup for tonight’s contest against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Coghlan, 25, is an undrafted defenseman who arrived in Carolina as part of the Max Pacioretty trade from the summer of 2022. A late bloomer, Coghlan had authored an impressive rookie season as a professional player. He turned himself into a full-time NHLer with the Vegas Golden Knights by 2020-21, only two years removed from when he was playing in the WHL.
Coghlan hasn’t been able to make as much of a dent in Carolina’s defensive depth chart as he’s struggled with injuries. Coghlan played in a total of just 22 games last season, 17 in the NHL and five in the AHL. So far this season, Coghlan has played exclusively in the AHL and registered two points in five games.
The six-foot-two right-shot blueliner isn’t likely to draw into the Hurricanes’ regular lineup. That being said, Tony DeAngelo has struggled so far this season, with his pairing alongside Dmitry Orlov looking particularly dreadful at times. The Hurricanes have let in far more goals to start the season than anyone could have expected them to.
DeAngelo, who turned 28 today, is an exceptional offensive defenseman. But he tends to struggle immensely with the defensive side of the game, and his deficiencies in that area have been exposed paired with Orlov so far this season.
Should the Hurricanes want to offer Orlov (whom they paid a $7.75MM AAV this past summer) some additional insulation and defensive support, it’s possible they call on Coghlan to replace DeAngelo in the lineup.
Hurricanes Assign Coghlan, Three Others To Minor Leagues
The Carolina Hurricanes have made their final roster cuts, assigning seven players to various leagues or injury designation. Dylan Coghlan (Springfield), Caleb Jones (Colorado), and Pyotr Kochetkov (Syracuse) have been assigned to various teams in the AHL. Domenick Fensore has been sent to Norfolk of the ECHL. 2023 Draft prospect Felix Unger Sorum was sent back to Leksands in Sweden. And Vasily Ponomarev and Ryan Suzuki were assigned to the team’s injured non-roster list. The final Hurricanes lineup can be viewed here.
The process of assigning players to the minor leagues has been a tricky one for Carolina, who are without an AHL affiliate for the season after the Chicago Wolves opted to go independent. This has meant that every player Carolina wants to assign to the AHL must be loaned out, explaining why Coghlan, Jones, and Kochetkov were dispersed.
Unger Sorum was an exciting name to follow throughout Carolina’s training camp. The winger was just barely eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft, being born a day before the cutoff. That means that he only turned 18 on September 14th. And yet he was able to carve out a significant role for much of the team’s camp, even earning speculation over whether he was ready to join the NHL lineup. Instead, he becomes one of their final roster cuts and will rejoin Leksands in Sweden. Unger Sorum primarily played for Leksands’ U20 team last year, appearing in 42 games and recording 46 points. He also played in seven SHL games, although he didn’t manage to record any points. The 2023 second-round pick will be an exciting international name for Canes fans to follow throughout the 2022-23 campaign.