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Zach Werenski On Track To Be Ready For Season

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Considering Zach Werenski played with an injured shoulder for almost the entire 2017-18 season, imagine how good he could be if he is at 100% for all of the upcoming campaign. That is the goal for the young Blue Jackets blue liner, who recently sat down with Columbus beat writer Brian Hedger. Werenski continues to recover from off-season surgery, but says that his goal is to “be there for Game 1”.

Werenski suffered the injury of note all the way back on October 30th, 2017. The sophomore defenseman nevertheless played in 77 games and recorded 37 points, even though he played with a brace for much of the year. Werenski then underwent corrective surgery in early May and had his left arm immobilized for much of the summer. However, the 2015 eighth overall pick is already ahead of schedule in his rehab and training. Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen shared a recovery timeline back in June that assumed Werenski would miss most of training camp, but the young defender tells Hedger that he hopes to back toward the start of training camp. Werenski has already begun shooting drills and is essentially back to his regular off-season training minus taking any contact. While the offensive rearguard is obviously motivated to be ready for the season for his teammates, coaches, and fans, he also admits to Hedger that playing in the teams opener, a road game against the Detroit Red Wings in his home state of Michigan, is an added personal boost. “Suffer now, but I’m going to be able to play in my hometown in front of my family and friends ” has been Werenski’s mantra this summer and so far things seem to be going well.

Should Werenski suffer even a small setback that leaves him unable to start the season, the Blue Jackets are less equipped to deal with his absence than they would have been last year. With Jack Johnson, Ian Cole, and even others like Taylor Chorney now gone via free agency, Columbus is relatively thin on the blue line after their superstar young pairing of Werenski and Seth Jones. Ryan Murray or Markus Nutivaara would likely be the replacement on the top pair with Jones while the other skates with David Savard, leaving the Jackets with a bottom pair featuring two of Scott Harrington, Gabriel Carlsson, Dean Kukan or new addition Adam Clendening. Count the Blue Jackets as being right there with Werenski in hopes that he is able to go from day one.

Columbus Signs Defenseman Adam Clendening

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The Blue Jackets continue to add to their defensive depth, now adding journeyman blue liner Adam Clendening to their ranks. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that it is a one-year, two-way deal for Clendening and adds that he will be paid $700K at the NHL level and $300K at the AHL level, with a $400K final salary guaranteed. Clendening is expected to compete for a job in Columbus with fellow new addition Tommy Cross and returning prospects Dean Kukan and Gabriel Carlsson.

Clendening, 25, is on his seventh NHL organization already and has never been able to secure a full-time role. Selected 36th overall in 2011, the former Boston University standout has just 86 NHL games under his belt and was allowed to walk into free agency when he went unqualified by the Chicago Blackhawks. Even if he doesn’t make an impact at the highest level for the Blue Jackets, Clendening is an excellent minor league defender that can put up big point totals and log huge minutes.

The Cleveland Monsters, Columbus’ AHL affiliate, have fallen on tough times recently and need help turning things around. After winning the Calder Cup in 2016, the team finished second-last in the entire league with just 25 wins. That included ranking in the bottom three in both goals for and goals against, something that Clendening will try to change next year.

Minor Transactions: 12/29/17

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After another wild night in the NHL that saw the Vegas Golden Knights defeat their division rival Los Angeles Kings to secure top spot in the Pacific and second in the entire league, you can be sure there will be some roster movement. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves throughout the day right here. Make sure to refresh regularly.

  • Gabriel Carlsson has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Columbus Blue Jackets, which could signal a return for Zach Werenski. Werenski had been skating as part of the scratch pair for a few days alongside Dean Kukan, who is the other option to enter the lineup in Carlsson’s absence. The Blue Jackets take on the struggling Ottawa Senators tonight.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Calvin Pickard from the minor leagues, announcing that Curtis McElhinney has a lower-body injury. McElhinney was the backup last night when the Maple Leafs took on the Arizona Coyotes and didn’t enter the game, but was expected to start in the second half of a back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche tonight. Instead, it seems likely that Pickard will make his Maple Leafs debut against his old team.
  • After recording an assist in his return to action for the the Iowa Wild last night, Zach Parise has been recalled by the Minnesota Wild. His conditioning stint was not expected to be very long, but he remains on long-term injured reserve as he continues to work his way back. It’s not clear when he’ll be activated by the Wild, but it was a good step towards recovery yesterday for the veteran forward.
  • With Lee Stempniak not ready to go for the Carolina Hurricanes, the team has recalled Lucas Wallmark from the minor leagues. Wallmark played eight games for the club last season, but hasn’t yet suited up this year. In 20 AHL contests, Wallmark has 23 points and continues to prove that he can nearly score at will in the minor leagues.
  • Dalton Prout, having cleared waivers, has been assigned to the minor leagues by the New Jersey Devils. Prout could be called back up in case of injury, but for now will need to ply his trade in the minor leagues.
  • With Martin Hanzal dealing with a minor injury, the Dallas Stars have recalled Jason Dickinson from the AHL. Dickinson, 22, has played five games for the Stars this season but is still looking for his first point.
  • Washington has once again sent Madison Bowey and Jakub Vrana to the minor leagues, but it is likely just a paper transaction. Both players have full-time roles with the Capitals, and are only sent down on off days as a cap saving measure.

Minor Transactions: 12/20/17

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Despite the NHL being in their holiday roster freeze, there are still minor moves that can be made. As we’ve discussed before, players can still be recalled from the minor leagues during this time, and those who were recalled after December 11th can still be loaned to the AHL until 11:59pm eastern on December 23rd. Thus, the league is not completely frozen and we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Gabriel Carlsson from the AHL, due to an injury to Zach Werenski that will keep him out of the lineup tonight against Toronto. Carlsson played 10 games with the Blue Jackets earlier this season, and is another highly touted defenseman in their system. Though he has quite a few excellent players ahead of him, expect Carlsson to make an impact on the Blue Jackets before long.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have assigned Michael Chaput to the minor leagues, meaning either the move technically went through last night or Chaput had been up previously on emergency conditions. He’d previously been called up on December 6th, and played in three games with the club.
  • The Los Angeles Kings have recalled Kevin Gravel from the AHL, bringing the hulking defenseman up for the first time this year. Gravel played 49 games with the NHL club last season, but has been toiling in the minor leagues all year, scoring nine points in 24 games. With Christian Folin headed to injured reserve yesterday, the Kings needed a seventh defenseman for the time being.
  • Tomas Hyka has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Vegas Golden Knights, after sitting out last night’s match against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hyka still hasn’t made his NHL debut after signing out of Europe in the summer, but has 12 points in 16 games for the Chicago Wolves.
  • Joseph Blandisi has been sent to the minor leagues by the Anaheim Ducks, something Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register suspected yesterday. Blandisi has dealt with injury since coming over from the Devils in the Adam Henrique–Sami Vatanen trade, and only played in three games with the Ducks.
  • Shane Prince is back with the New York Islanders after a lengthy conditioning stint, where he registered two points in four AHL contests. Prince spent ten days in the minor leagues with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but is ready to return and contribute for the surging Islanders.

Minor Transactions: 12/17/17

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After an 11-game schedule last night that included the Centennial Classic at Lansdowne Park between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL has just four games on Sunday, but after all that action, many teams are likely going to make some moves to shuffle their rosters.

  • NHL.com’s Brian Hedger reports that the Columbus Blue Jackets will make a few roster changes after the team’s 2-1 loss to Carolina Saturday. The team plans to recall winger Sonny Milano and defenseman Cameron Gaunce and intend to assign forward Jordan Schroeder and defenseman Gabriel Carlsson to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. For many of these players, they have been rotating back and forth between clubs most of the season. Milano has been one of those players. The 21-year-old has been with Cleveland for the past week and has two assists in four games there. He has played 25 games for the Blue Jackets, but has had trouble finding the net after a hot start. Gaunce will be recalled for the first time this season. The 27-year-old, who signed with Columbus in the offseason, has five assists in 20 AHL games. The team will return Schroeder, who has been up and down, but is slowly crossing the 10-game barrier that would force the team to place him on waivers again. The team placed the 27-year-old wing on waivers on Oct. 23. He has played eight games for Columbus with no points. Carlsson, has also been a two-way player quite often this year. The 20-year-old former first-round pick in 2015 has one assist in 10 games with Columbus and has played in just five games with Cleveland. He has been with the team since Dec. 1.
  • The Florida Panthers announced the team has loaned winger Dryden Hunt to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL as the team is starting to get healthy again. The 22-year-old has been with the team since Nov. 9, but has just one assist in 11 games with the Panthers. Hunt had been playing well with Springfield to start the season, which is what prompted his promotion to Florida after he put up five goals and three assists in 13 games.
  • The St. Louis Blues unsurprisingly activated defenseman Alex Pietrangelo Sunday, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Pietrangelo was activated after missing the last four games with a foot injury that he suffered in a Dec. 9 game against Detroit when he took a shot off his foot. The 27-year-old captain’s seven goals ranks third among NHL defenseman and his 23 points ranks him ninth among defenseman.
  • Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post tweets that the Washington Capitals made a couple of roster moves today, sending defenseman Madison Bowey and winger Jakub Vrana to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. However, Khurshudyan adds that it is just a paper move to give Washington a small amount of cap space as both are not expected to leave town and will be recalled tomorrow morning.

Minor Transactions: 12/01/17

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The calendar has turned to December, and the NHL is flush with trades and rumors. The Ducks and Devils completed a big swap, but there was also a minor trade between old foes and a waiver claim that brought a familiar face back home. Today is expected to be filled with more transactions, and we’ll keep track of the minor ones right here.

  • As expected, the Buffalo Sabres have returned Linus Ullmark to the AHL after spending practice with the team yesterday. Robin Lehner was given a maintenance day, but the Sabres still wanted two goaltenders on the ice. Ullmark’s time will come with Buffalo, as he continues to impress in the minor leagues.
  • Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey, the Penguins have reassigned Josh Archibald to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning assignment. The 25-year-old forward hasn’t been injured; he just hasn’t played this season. Through two months of the 2017-18 season already, Archibald has skated in only two games with Pittsburgh and had to this point avoided the AHL entirely. However, a total time of 21:38 of game action means Archibald needs to get his legs back under him in the minors if he is to be of any use in the NHL this year.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced that they have returned goalie Antoine Bibeau to the AHL, as he’ll head back over to the Barracuda locker room. Bibeau, 23, was arguably the biggest off-season addition that San Jose made this summer, but is still looking for his first NHL action of the year. Bibeau has a very impressive 2.04 GAA and 0.925 save-percentage in the AHL this year, but with Martin Jones and Aaron Dell putting up those kinds of numbers themselves in the NHL, it doesn’t look promising for Bibeau to see extensive big league action this season.
  • The Blue Jackets have recalled defenseman Gabriel Carlsson and forward Markus Hannikainen from Cleveland of the AHL, per a team release.  Both players have spent the bulk of the season with Columbus but had each been sent down within the last week to pick up a bit of playing time at the minor league level to stay in game shape.
  • With Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson heading to injured reserve, the team announced that they have promoted blueliner Ryan Stanton from AHL Bakersfield.  The 28-year-old has a single assist in 11 minor league games this season but is no stranger to the NHL having 120 games of experience under his belt with Chicago, Vancouver, and Washington.
  • The Lightning announced that they have brought back winger Cory Conacher from Syracuse of the AHL.  The veteran has played just once with Tampa Bay this season (on Saturday against Pittsburgh) but he made the most of it, scoring in that game.  As usual, he has been quite productive at the minor league level, collecting 15 points in 18 games.

Minor Transactions: 11/29/17

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The NHL was busy last night with twenty teams taking the ice to try and continue or turn their seasons around. Today is much quieter with only four games on the docket, meaning teams there will likely be several fringe roster moves to get ready for the rest of the week. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor transactions right here. Be sure to check back throughout the day.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have returned Gabriel Carlsson and Jordan Schroeder to the AHL. Carlsson was called up yesterday on emergency conditions when Ryan Murray couldn’t go last night. Schroeder had played six games for the Blue Jackets, but cleared waivers already this season and can be moved up and down for the time being without having to go through the process again.
  • The Calgary Flames have recalled Garnet Hathaway from the Stockton Heat of the AHL, while placing Kris Versteeg on injured reserve. Versteeg is out with a lower-body injury and has missed the last two games for the Flames already. Hathaway meanwhile has 19 points in 18 games for the Heat, and can offer a bit of size and energy to the Calgary lineup should he be inserted. The Flames lost 4-1 at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, a game in which they were thoroughly outplayed.
  • After clearing waivers, the Washington Capitals have sent Aaron Ness to Hershey of the AHL. Ness’ departure opens the door for a return of Christian Djoos to the Washington lineup, which is expected tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Kings.
  • Danick Martel is headed back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after a short stint with Philadelphia. Martel played four games with the Flyers over the past week, but wasn’t able to record his first NHL point. The 22-year old was signed out of the QMJHL in 2015 after going undrafted, and has been a solid offensive contributor in the AHL.
  • After Niklas Hjalmarsson left last night’s game against the Edmonton Oilers with an upper-body injury, the Arizona Coyotes have recalled Andrew Campbell from the AHL. Campbell signed a two-year deal to return to the Coyotes organization this summer after two seasons with Toronto, but hadn’t gotten into an NHL game yet. The 29-year old defenseman has just 42 contests and two points under his belt, and is just a short-term depth option for the club at this point.

Blue Jackets Send Three To AHL

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11/19 – 12:00: Carlsson has now been reassigned to Cleveland again. Quite the stretch for the young defender.

11/19 – 9:15: After all of that, the team has announced less than 24 hours later that all three players have been recalled to Columbus and Kivlenieks has been sent back down. It appears as though the entire noteworthy transaction was only to get the trio play time in last night’s AHL contest between the Cleveland Monsters and Milwaukee Admirals. Korpisalo performed admirably, stopping 32 of 33 shots in the win, but Milano and Carlsson had no points and did not record a single shot between them. Maybe the Jackets should have considered keeping them in the minors after all.

11/18: After just yesterday hinting at his disappointment with the play of Sonny Milano, head coach John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets have today announced him as one of a trio heading to the AHL. Joining Milano on their way to the Cleveland Monsters are backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo and rookie defenseman Gabriel Carlsson. 

After a hot start to the 2017-18 season offensively, Milano has tailed off and has just eight points in 17 games thus far despite ample top nine opportunity. However, the real issue of late, especially for Tortorella, has been Milano’s reluctance and inability to perform in his own end. The trip to the AHL, for one of the team’s top goal scorers, surely has to be in hopes of developing a superior two-way game. Korpisalo has also had his fair share of struggles this season. His 1-3-0 record accounts for nearly half of the teams losses thus far and his .896 save percentage and 3.28 GAA have been less than spectacular. Still just 23, Korpisalo is young to be a full-time backup and the Jackets’ hope is likely that some regular work can help him get back on track. Carlsson has also been the victim of a lack of opportunity. The 20-year-old rearguard has played in only eight of the team’s 20 games and averages only eleven minutes of ice time per night to boot. Carlsson, perhaps more than either of his transitioning teammates, simply needs to play more.

The only corresponding move made by the team was the recall of a replacement backup goalie in Matiss Kivlenieks. The young Latvian keeper is in his first pro season and has seen only modest action and results this year, but the club clearly wants to see what they have in up-and-coming undrafted goalie. With a superstar starter like Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus can afford to give Korpisalo starts in the minors and leave the unproven Kivlenieks as the #2, at least for now.

Blue Jackets Activate Carlsson, Place Atkinson On IR

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced a pair of moves today as the team activated defenseman Gabriel Carlsson from injured reserve and made room on their roster by placing winger Cam Atkinson on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 28.

Carlsson, the team’s first-round pick in 2015, has played just four games this season, but the 20-year-old blueliner suffered an upper-body injury on Oct. 13 against the New York Rangers and was placed on injured reserve. He had, however, been a regular on the team. Carlsson won the battle for the defense’s sixth spot in training camp this year, beating out regular Markus Nutivaara and journeyman Scott Harrington.

When Carlsson was injured, the team recalled Nutivaara, who had played 66 games for Columbus last year. The 23-year-old has fared well since replacing Carlsson in the lineup, putting up five assists in nine games, already just two points short of equaling his output last year when he finished with seven points. Who will continue to play on that third pairing is unknown. However, for the moment, both players will continue to play with the Blue Jackets.

Atkinson suffered a lower body injury after suffering numerous injuries in a game on Oct. 28 against the St. Louis Blues. He suffered the original injury in the first period of the game, but returned. Then he was hit in the helmet with a puck during the second period only to re-injure that lower-body injury in the third period when he took a hit and was forced to leave the game. Since the move is retroactive to Oct. 28 and he has already (technically) been on IR for a week, he can be activated at any time, tweets The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, so a third move could come in the next day or two depending on when Atkinson is ready to go. He is currently listed as day-to-day.

Snapshots: Parise, Mironov, Schroeder

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The Minnesota Wild could have some bad news to announce very soon, as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Zach Parise is considering back surgery to repair a herniated disk. The disk is giving him leg pain, and could take him out for up to two months. Russo reports the update will likely come on Tuesday.

The Wild had Mikael Granlund back in the lineup, but losing Parise for another two months would certainly hurt. Though he’s not the high-flying 45-goal man of his youth, the 33-year old forward is still a very effective two way player and a key part of the Minnesota team. Last year he recorded 42 points in 69 games, marking only the second time he hadn’t cracked 20 goals and 50 points in a non-lockout season since his rookie year. The first was a year lost completely to injury, when he tore the meniscus in his knee and needed surgery in 2010. Hopefully he doesn’t fall to a similar fate in 2017-18.

  • Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey tweets that his client Andrei Mironov will be recalled by the Colorado Avalanche today, returning him after just a few days with the San Antonio Rampage. Mironov was sent on a conditioning stint to get him into game action, since he was just sitting in the press box for the Avalanche. The Rampage had three consecutive games this weekend (all against the Texas Stars, a quirk of AHL scheduling), in which Mironov scored two points. He’ll try to get back into the Colorado lineup on a more regular basis in his first year in North America.
  • Jordan Schroeder, placed on waivers earlier today by the Columbus Blue Jackets, has also technically been recalled from his conditioning stint. Schroeder played in three games for the Cleveland Monsters, and will likely return to the AHL squad if he clears tomorrow. With him on the roster temporarily the Blue Jackets have 23 men, but are expected to activate Gabriel Carlsson from injured reserve in the next few days.

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