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Filip Gustavsson

Minnesota Wild Return Zane McIntyre To AHL

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Jan 9: McIntyre has now been returned to the minor leagues, suggesting Gustavsson and Fleury (who left the team for personal reasons over the weekend) are ready to go.

Jan 6: Yesterday, we covered how Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson was dealing with an unspecified illness. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported yesterday that there was “no recall anticipated” despite Gustavsson’s status, but now it seems the team has changed course.

Today the Wild announced that goalie Zane McIntyre has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, on an emergency basis.

It’s possible that this recall could be in order for McIntyre to back up Marc-Andre Fleury for tomorrow’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, paving the way for a Gustavsson return on Sunday, which is the plan Russo suggested yesterday.

Gustavsson has been stellar so far for the Wild, posting a .924 save percentage in 15 games so far this season. With Gustavsson playing so well, the Wild will want to give him the time and space he needs to fully recover from his illness and get back to 100%.

For McIntyre, this recall affords him an (admittedly slight) chance to get into some NHL action for the first time in a half-decade. The 30-year-old goalie is in his second season with the Wild organization, serving as their AHL number-one last year and now helping top prospect Jesper Wallstedt as part of a tandem.

Iowa has struggled so far this season, and McIntyre hasn’t escaped those struggles, as he has an .888 save percentage this season. He was better last year, though, posting a .920 in 37 games.

West Notes: McDonagh, Guenther, Gustavsson

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Amid their up-and-down season on and off the ice thus far, eight points out of a playoff spot coming into today, unable to extend Bo Horvat, and listing only Elias Pettersson as “untouchable,” it appears the Vancouver Canucks need to start setting their eyes on the future. Part of that future is likely with Pettersson, as well as Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko, and the recently-extended J.T. Miller, but will also come with their young prospects. One of those prospects, who has yet to sign with the team, is Northeastern University forward Aidan McDonagh.

The 23-year-old is finishing up his fourth season in the NCAA where he has 13 goals and 14 assists in just 20 games and is over a point-per-game during his four years. A 2019 seventh-round pick of the Canucks, Vancouver’s rights with McDonagh expire on August 15th. According to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin was in Boston this weekend to meet with McDonagh. Per Dhaliwal, that meeting went very well, with Allvin laying out his plan for the player should he choose to sign. Despite the positive meeting, there is still no indication of how likely McDonagh is to sign with the team that drafted him.

  • After scoring the golden-goal for Team Canada at this year’s World Juniors, Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther immediately rejoined his team, flying back to Arizona on Friday, less than 24 hours after the biggest goal of his life to-date. Given the whirlwind few days for Guenther and having been away form his NHL team for a few weeks, many would understand if the winger didn’t play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, that won’t be the case says PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, who reports that Guenther will play at home Sunday. Guenther, 19, had been one of a few key difference-makers for Canada at this year’s tournament, and has been off to a nice start to his NHL career too, recording 11 points in 21 games prior to joining Team Canada.
  • Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who last played Wednesday and has been out with a non-COVID illness since, is expected to start this evening’s game at home against the St. Louis Blues, says The Athletic’s Joe Smith. Gustavsson’s illness had apparently been enough that he couldn’t simply back-up for Marc-Andre Fleury, but the team had to instead recall netminder Zane McIntyre on an emergency basis Friday morning. The Wild play at home this evening before a two game midweek road trip to New York City and Long Island.

Injury Notes: Wheeler, Kane, Gustavsson

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Cole Perfetti, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Nate Schmidt were all expected to jump back into the lineup soon for the Winnipeg Jets, but they had another nice surprise at practice today. Blake Wheeler was present in a full-contact sweater and practicing on the top line. All four players were taking regular turns, suggesting that the team is getting a huge group of reinforcements all at once. To make room, they will need to move at least one other player off the roster. Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet reports that Michael Eyssimont is not on the ice.

While it still leaves Mason Appleton, Logan Stanley, and Saku Maenalanen on injured reserve, getting Wheeler back is big news for the Jets. The 36-year-old seemed rejuvenated this season (like so many other Winnipeg players) and had 26 points through 29 games before going down to injury. Though he is seeing the lowest average ice time since his days with the Boston Bruins, Wheeler has been great and should be another big boost for a Jets team that is still within striking distance of the Central Division crown.

  • After leaving early on Tuesday night, Patrick Kane’s status was completely unclear. When he was absent as practice started for the Chicago Blackhawks today, alarm bells rang out. Luckily, it seems like he has avoided serious injury, as the Blackhawks listed it as a maintenance day. Andreas Athanasiou was also missing with a non-COVID illness. With so many fans expecting Kane to be the belle of the trade deadline ball this year, a serious injury could throw a wrench into the next few weeks. Hopefully, this will prove to be nothing more than a minor ailment that needs some rest.
  • During last night’s game, Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson was suddenly removed from the net. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic afterward that he didn’t know what was going on, only that Gustavsson “skated off and puked his brains out.” Michael Russo of The Athletic confirms today that it was an illness, not an injury, that caused the departure and that there is no recall anticipated by the Wild.

Minnesota Wild Return Zane McIntyre To AHL

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Nov 29: McIntyre has been returned to the AHL, meaning Gustavsson is healthy again.

November 26: After sending him down a few days ago due to Marc-Andre Fleury’s return to the lineup, Zane McIntyre is back with the Minnesota Wild. The team recalled him today under emergency conditions, but it’s unclear at the moment as to which goalie is unavailable.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo notes that one of the team’s goalies had an issue today at practice and that the move is precautionary. While normally an emergency recall would wait until gameday tomorrow, the team has an earlier start and didn’t want to risk not having two goalies to start the game.

Forward Brandon Duhaime was also placed on injured reserve in a corresponding transaction. Yesterday, he was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained on November 23 against Winnipeg, which prohibited him from playing in yesterday’s game against Toronto. It’s Duhaime’s second trip to injured reserve this year, as he missed the first two weeks of November with another upper-body injury. The Wild have not said whether or not it’s a re-injury.

McIntyre’s eight NHL games all came during the 2016-17 season, although he’s appeared on NHL rosters in situations like these multiple times since then. A 2010 draft choice of the Boston Bruins, this is the netminder’s second season in the Wild organization after the team signed him early on in 2021-22. He has a .917 save percentage, two shutouts, and a 23-17-3 record with the AHL’s Iowa Wild over the past two years.

Marc-Andre Fleury Out With Upper-Body Injury

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4:30 pm: The Wild have recalled McIntyre, while moving Fleury to injured reserve. Hunter Jones has been recalled to the AHL’s Iowa Wild in a corresponding move.

12:10 pm: The Minnesota Wild will be recalling a goaltender from the minor leagues, as Marc-Andre Fleury has sustained an upper-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that the veteran netminder is undergoing an evaluation today and the team does not yet have a timeline for his return.

Fleury, who will turn 38 in less than two weeks, has started 12 of Minnesota’s 16 games this season and has a .906 save percentage. Filip Gustavsson, the team’s backup, actually has some better numbers but has lost four of the five games he has appeared in.

The likely candidate to take over the starting role is Gustavsson, but there is at least some intrigue over who will come up to join him. The team has Zane McIntyre as a veteran minor league option, but he hasn’t appeared in the NHL since the 2016-17 season.

There is also Jesper Wallstedt, the 20th overall pick in 2021 and a top goaltending prospect. Wallstedt only turned 20 years old a few days ago and has four games of experience in North America, but did start on a regular basis in the SHL the last two seasons. In 22 appearances for Lulea HF last year, he posted a .917 save percentage with a goals-against average of just 1.98. The young netminder also won Best Goaltender at the World Juniors, and took Lulea to the SHL Finals.

While it may not be his time yet, Wallstedt is the team’s future in net and there will be cries for his recall if the team loses Fleury for a substantial amount of time, or Gustavsson struggles in his place.

Ottawa Senators Acquire Cam Talbot

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The Minnesota Wild have officially traded goalie Cam Talbot to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for goalie Filip Gustavsson.

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion gave a statement on the deal in a team release:

Cam is experienced and provides us with greater goaltending stability heading into next season. He was instrumental in helping Minnesota reach the playoffs in each of his two seasons with the Wild. The tandem of he and Anton Forsberg sets us up nicely for the upcoming year.

The trade is an important one financially for Minnesota. It’s a net cap hit decrease of $2.9MM, giving the Wild and general manager Bill Guerin some (small) flexibility heading into the opening of free agency tomorrow.

It was clear Talbot wasn’t happy with Minnesota’s decision to retain Marc-Andre Fleury on a two-year deal, and now he’ll get another job as a clear-cut 1A goalie (at worst) with the Senators. The Senators now have a more experienced and upgraded goalie tandem taking them into next season as they aim to make some noise in the Eastern Conference, essentially swapping out the oft-injured Matt Murray with Talbot for the cost of Gustavsson, a third-round pick, and a seventh-round pick. In 49 games with the Wild last year, the 35-year-old Talbot had a 32-12-4 record, three shutouts, 2.76 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.

The deal isn’t without on-ice merit for the Wild, either. Gustavsson is young and has decent upside, and while he doesn’t steal the “goalie of the future” tag claimed by Jesper Wallstedt, he fills the void in the organization left by Kaapo Kahkonen as a long-term tandem or backup option. Originally a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016, Gustavsson now finds himself with his third NHL organization by no fault of his own. He’s stepped in 27 games as a Senator over the past two years, maintaining a career 10-13-3 record and a .905 save percentage. Those numbers are bound to improve with increased development and more stout defense in the State of Hockey.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report Talbot heading to Ottawa.

Update On Ottawa Senators Goalies

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The Ottawa Senators enter next season with the intention of competing for a playoff spot. Pierre Dorion referred to this past season as a “big step in the right direction” during his end-of-season media availability, and is reportedly even considering dealing the seventh-overall pick for more immediate help.

But perhaps the biggest reason the Senators can be optimistic about their playoff odds for next season is the emergence of goaltender Anton Forsberg as a legitimate number-one option. Forsberg, 29, played in 46 games last season, going 22-17-4 with a .917 save percentage and 2.82 goals-against average. Forsberg had been a third goalie and backup for most of his career to that point and had been claimed off of waivers three times en route to his Ottawa breakout. The Senators rewarded Forsberg for his strong play, signing him to a three-year $2.75MM AAV contract.

The emergence of Forsberg as the Senators’ starting goaltender could not have come at a better time given the decline of the previous starter, Matt Murray. Murray has had a nightmarish time as a Senator since signing a four-year, $25MM extension. He has gotten into only 47 games and has posted a combined .899 save percentage and 3.46 goals-against average over two seasons in Ottawa. Murray also cleared waivers with the Senators, indicating how far his value has fallen since he won back-to-back Stanley Cups as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But despite Forsberg clearly displacing Murray as the Senators’ starter, the Senators’ goaltending situation does not figure to be a simple one going into next season. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that there is a “strong possibility” that the Senators will take the unorthodox route of carrying three goaltenders on their active roster next season. The three goaltenders would presumably be Forsberg, Murray, and the young Filip Gustavsson, who is still only 23 years old but is set to be waiver-eligible next season.

While carrying three goalies on their roster is by no means illegal or against any rules for the Senators to do, it is unconventional. It is generally believed to be an arrangement that most goaltenders find uncomfortable, and since goaltenders develop best when they see consistent game action, one has to wonder if fighting two other goalies for starts is the best developmental environment for Gustavsson.

Those concerns won’t be nearly as loud, though, if the Senators can find a way to deliver on the team’s promise of returning to contention. Winning can be the ultimate cure for awkward roster situations, so with that in mind, the Senators have to hope that Forsberg repeats last season’s performance and Murray can repeat his early 2022 form that saw him post a .924 save percentage in January and a .943 in February.

Looking at it optimistically, if the Senators do indeed carry three goalies and the trio can manage to play well, perhaps the arrangement can help keep each goalie rested and consistent throughout the 82-game grind that is the regular season. Regardless of what the Senators choose to do with their goalies at the start of the season, though, the deciding factor on whether the team will carry three goalies for a full 82-game slate will be the performances of the goalies themselves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

AHL Shuffle: 03/27/22

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It’s a fairly busy day of hockey in the NHL, with eight games on the schedule. This afternoon, the New York Islanders host the Tampa Bay Lightning in a rematch of the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, and later this evening, an Eastern Conference heavyweight matchup as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Florida Panthers. While the NHL action is happening, there should still be plenty of small transactions around the hockey world to keep updated.

Metropolitan Division:

  • A day after sending him down to the Utica Comets of the AHL, the New Jersey Devils have re-called defenseman Kevin Bahl. The hulking defenseman has yet to record a point in five NHL games this season, but has three goals and 12 assists in 49 games at the AHL level.
  • The New York Islanders re-called defenseman Grant Hutton from the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL on an emergency basis. Hutton saw his first NHL action back in November amid the Islanders’ COVID outbreak, going without a point in five games. The 26-year-old defenseman will draw into the lineup for the Islanders’ afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Atlantic Division:

  • The Ottawa Senators announced that they have swapped a pair of goaltenders with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. Filip Gustavsson was re-assigned to Belleville, while Mads Sogaard was brought up to Ottawa. Gustavsson made his NHL debut for Ottawa last season, impressing in nine games, but has struggled over 15 NHL games this season with an .886 save-percentage and 3.78 goals-against average. Sogaard, Ottawa’s second-round selection, 37th overall, in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, has yet to make his NHL debut, but has been solid in the AHL this season with a .906 save percentage an 2.87 goals-against average in 31 games.

Central Division:

  • The Nashville Predators have activated defenseman Matt Benning off of injured reserve, the team announced. Benning, 27, had been on the injured list since March 13th with an upper-body injury and has no goals and ten assists in 53 games so far this season. The Predators are seeking to punch their ticket to one of the Western Conference’s playoff series’, and Benning’s return should help them get across that line.

Pacific Division:

  • Forward Lane Pederson was re-assigned to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL a day after the San Jose Sharks recalled him to play in Saturday’s win over the Anaheim Ducks. Pederson has just two assists in 27 games with the Sharks this season, but does have an impressive six goals and four assists in 11 games for the Barracuda.

This post will be kept updated throughout the day.

Ottawa Senators Recall Matt Murray

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Out of pure necessity, the Ottawa Senators have recalled Matt Murray from the AHL. Both Filip Gustavsson and Anton Forsberg are in the COVID protocol, leaving the team without a goaltender on the active roster.

With the Senators off until Friday, there is a chance that Gustavsson could be activated in time to play. But even if he has experienced mild or no symptoms, it may be wise to give him a few days of practice before putting him back in the net. That would leave Murray as the only option, despite him not proving much has changed in the weeks since he was sent to the AHL.

The 27-year-old netminder, who has two Stanley Cups and a hefty contract to his name, was sent to the AHL after another poor start to the season. Since arriving in Ottawa, Murray has an .892 save percentage in 33 appearances, winning just ten of those games. Those numbers improved during his time in the minor leagues, but he was only able to appear in two games for the Belleville Senators given their own COVID issues. The fact that he only faced 61 AHL shots certainly doesn’t inspire much confidence that he’s turned around his game.

Still, the absolute best outcome here for the Senators is Murray playing well enough to stay in the NHL. With a contract that carries a $6.25MM cap hit through the 2023-24 season, getting some value out of the veteran netminder is imperative.

Senators Add Several To COVID Protocol

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Dec 27: Less than a week later the Senators have added Anton Forsberg to the protocol, leaving the team without any active goaltenders on the roster. With postponements already announced yesterday, the team is not scheduled to play again until Friday.

Dec 21: The Ottawa Senators have added goaltender Filip Gustavsson, head coach D.J. Smith, video coach Mike King and three members of the team’s support staff to the COVID protocol. While the team is doesn’t have any games left this week, absences like this could leak over into the post-holiday schedule.

While Smith’s availability is obviously important, it’s Gustavsson’s placement that might be the most disappointing. The young netminder certainly doesn’t need to miss any time during this crucial development season, his first with regular playing time in the NHL.

With him out, it will be interesting to see if Matt Murray gets the call back to the NHL, something the Senators had promised would eventually happen after he was sent down earlier this season. Murray has a .918 save percentage in the minor leagues, but it’s been in only two appearances as he has dealt with injuries.

The Senators already dealt with a serious outbreak earlier this season, hopefully, this one will remain contained to just a few people.

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