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Minor Transactions: 12/24/23

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With no games on the NHL schedule until Wednesday, many teams snuck last-minute transactions in before the full roster freeze kicked in.  We’ve covered a handful of them here throughout the day in Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and St. Louis; here’s a rundown of the remaining moves.  All transactions are via the AHL’s transactions log unless otherwise noted.

  • The Capitals returned winger Ivan Miroshnichenko and center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. Both players were recalled on Tuesday with Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut.  He was held off the scoresheet in his three appearances while Lapierre has five points in 14 games with Washington so far.
  • The Red Wings re-assigned center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Czarnik has been shuffled back and forth frequently this month and has one assist in 16 games with Detroit while Edvinsson, who was only brought up Saturday, made his season debut last night.
  • The Kings loaned Jacob Moverare back to AHL Ontario after playing just shy of 15 minutes last night versus Calgary. The 25-year-old has been recalled and sent back down ten separate times each since mid-November.
  • The Golden Knights have loaned goaltender Isaiah Saville back to AHL Henderson, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). He has been serving as their interim backup with both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson injured.  As Thompson remains on the active roster, Saville was eligible to be sent back down.  The 23-year-old was activated off SOIR earlier this month and has made three appearances for the Silver Knights.
  • The Bruins sent three players back to AHL Providence – defensemen Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon along with center Patrick Brown. Lohrei has five points in 17 games so far in his first full professional campaign while Wotherspoon is logging nearly 16 minutes a night in eight games with Boston.  As for Brown, he cleared waivers early in the season and has been brought up four separate times now; he has an assist in nine games at the top level so far.
  • Boston also made one other transaction as they converted defenseman Ian Mitchell from an emergency recall to a regular one, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Mitchell was recalled on Saturday and has two assists in 13 games with Boston so far.  The Bruins will now be ineligible to send him down until after the roster freeze lifts.
  • The Maple Leafs have returned center Pontus Holmberg to AHL Toronto. It’s the third time he has been sent back down since Wednesday as Toronto has been shuffling him up and down quite frequently.  The 24-year-old has an assist in eight games with the big club so far.
  • A day after recalling him, the Coyotes have sent center Justin Kirkland back to Tucson of the AHL. The 27-year-old had spent the full year with the Roadrunners prior to yesterday’s move, notching ten points in nine contests.
  • Grant Hutton is once again on the move as the Islanders have sent him back to AHL Bridgeport, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). He has been recalled and re-assigned six times apiece in the last month and has been limited to just two appearances with New York so far this season.

Many of these transactions will be undone on the 27th or 28th as NHL teams return to action.  In the meantime, these teams will save a bit of salary money and cap space with these demotions.  Toronto and Ottawa’s moves could have AHL implications as well as their two affiliates will play on Tuesday so the players they sent down could suit up in that contest.

Bruins Recall Ian Mitchell

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The Bruins have added some depth to their roster for the final game before the holiday break as the team announced that defenseman Ian Mitchell has been recalled from AHL Providence on an emergency basis.

The 24-year-old was acquired during the summer as part of the Taylor Hall trade, signing a one-year, one-way deal for the NHL minimum back in July.  Mitchell made Boston’s roster out of training camp, spending the first few weeks with the team.  However, the Bruins opted to waive him in late October and after he cleared, he was sent to Providence.

That said, Mitchell hasn’t exactly seen much action in the minors as this will mark his seventh recall since early November.  As a result, he has played in just four games for Providence, two of which came this week; he has a single assist in those four appearances.  Meanwhile, he has seen a bit more action with Boston as Mitchell has a pair of helpers in 12 games while averaging just under 16 minutes a night.

With the Bruins off until Wednesday after tonight’s contest, expect Mitchell to be sent back to Providence before the full roster freeze comes into effect later tonight.

Atlantic Notes: Domi, Harris, Hutson, Mitchell

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While the Maple Leafs have done well in the standings since moving Max Domi to center last month, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that the third center spot should still be a key priority for GM Brad Treliving as he looks to add to his roster.  Domi is up to 14 points on the season now after a slow start but it’s his defensive concerns that could be problematic come the postseason when mistakes become more magnified.  David Kampf is a better fit on the fourth line than the third so if Domi isn’t able to shore up his defensive play, adding another middleman could be required by the trade deadline in March.  Of course, Toronto is deep into LTIR so finding the money to do that and shore up their back end will be more difficult.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris took part in a full game day skate for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury last month, notes TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 23-year-old has played in 16 games so far in his second full NHL season, picking up three assists and 28 blocks while averaging a little under 19 minutes a night.  Earlier this week, Montreal indicated that Harris was still 10-14 days from returning so he’s still likely a game or two away from being available to suit up.
  • Still with Montreal, GM Kent Hughes made an appearance on The Sick Podcast (video link) where he indicated that they plan to sign prospect Lane Hutson after his college season comes to an end. The 19-year-old was a late second-round pick in 2022 and has been quite productive offensively with Boston College, notching 68 points in 54 games over his first two seasons so far.  The Canadiens are likely going to use Hutson down the stretch which means he will burn the first year of his entry-level deal this season even if he only plays in a handful of games.
  • The Bruins made a pair of paper transactions, assigning and subsequently recalling defenseman Ian Mitchell, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old was brought up on an emergency recall back on December 5th but has played just twice since.  The paper moves may have been simply to stall his waiver clock by a day; after a player clears waivers, he’s exempt until he plays in 10 games or has been on an NHL roster for 30 days.

Charlie McAvoy Out Day-To-Day

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Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic is reporting that Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. While very little information is available with regards to the injury, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery did tell the media that McAvoy does not have a head injury.

McAvoy was unable to finish the Bruins’ game last night against the Buffalo Sabres after he suffered an injury just over a minute into the third period of their 3-1 loss. Very few details were available after the game other than that he had an upper-body injury, and the club didn’t know the extent of it.

McAvoy is the Bruins defensive leader in many statistical categories and would create a massive hole if he is sidelined for any length of time. The Bruins are already without the services of defenseman Derek Forbort, who was placed on LTIR yesterday, and would likely have to rely on someone like Ian Mitchell to enter the lineup in McAvoy’s absence.

McAvoy has been nearly a point-a-game player this season with three goals and 14 assists in 21 games thus far while averaging over 24 minutes a night of ice time. His average ice time is almost a minute higher than his career average and it appears that it may be wearing on the 25-year-old. McAvoy has been a minus player in nine of his last 10 games and is a combined -11 during that time.

Now plus/minus doesn’t tell the whole story, but it is certainly an alarming indicator that McAvoy is slumping. In those ten games, McAvoy does have six assists, but after starting the season with 11 points in 11 games, he has certainly slowed down in recent weeks.

Atlantic Notes: Lightning, Bruins, Lucic, Sabres, Jones

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Before their game tomorrow night against the St.Louis Blues, the Tampa Bay Lightning took the ice for practice this morning, with a few notable pieces back on the ice. Lightning beat writer, Chris Krenn, reported that goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was seen back on the ice for practice, as well as forward Nikita Kucherov, who had missed the team’s last game against the Carolina Hurricanes with an illness.

As he works his way back from injury, Tampa Bay is becoming increasingly desperate to have Vasilevskiy return to the crease. In 15 games started between Jonas Johansson and Matt Tomkins, they have procured a 6-5-4 record with a .897 SV% and a 3.42 GAA combined, becoming an area of their game they haven’t had to worry about in several years.

Aside from returners to the ice, the Lightning also had a missing piece, as defenseman Erik Cernak has officially been listed as day-to-day, but could be expected for tomorrow night’s game against the Blues (X Link). In Saturday’s game against the Hurricanes, Cernak left in the second period after only accruing a little under 10 minutes of ice time and did not return to the matchup.

Other notes:

  • In what has become another infamous ’paper’ transaction in the NHL, after sending down both Ian Mitchell and Oskar Steen yesterday, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal is reporting that the Boston Bruins have recalled both players today. Of the two, Mitchell has been a much better player in terms of production, scoring two points in seven games played, averaging over 14 and a half minutes of ice time per night.
  • Sticking with the Bruins, the head coach of the team, Jim Montgomery, shared that forward Milan Lucic is recovering much slower than expected from his lower-body injury. After eight years away from Boston, Lucic has not played in a game for the Bruins since their October 21st game against the Los Angeles Kings. In only four games played this season, Lucic has tallied two assists for the organization, averaging just a touch under 12 minutes of ice time per game.
  • After being a surprise scratch in the team’s loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night, Lance Lysowski reported that forward Peyton Krebs was out of the lineup that night due to a family matter, meaning that Krebs should be expected back either tonight or Friday. One player for Buffalo who will indeed not be in the lineup tonight against Boston is Alex Tuch, as Lysowski also reported that the veteran forward is still out with an upper-body injury, but should be expected back against the Winnipeg Jets later this week.
  • In his first call-up to the NHL since his time with the Seattle Kraken last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced goaltender Martin Jones will join the team in Sweden in their upcoming matchup against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday as a part of the NHL’s Global Series. Jones will not be counted against the cap nor the team’s 23-man roster, as in Sweden, the team will not have access to an emergency backup goaltender; meaning Jones will ultimately take that role on in the upcoming trip overseas.

Boston Bruins Place Matt Grzelcyk On Long-Term Injured Reserve, Recall Three

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The Boston Bruins have placed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk on long-term injured reserve, according to a team announcement. As a result, Grzelcyk will not be eligible to play until late November.

In addition to placing Grzelcyk on LTIR, the team has also placed forward Jakub Lauko on traditional injured reserve, and recalled defensemen Mason Lohrei, Ian Mitchell, and Parker Wotherspoon from their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

Grzelcyk, 29, lands on LTIR after leaving the Bruins’ October 30th contest with an upper-body injury. Grzelcyk has established himself as a top-four defenseman in Boston, having scored at least 20 points in four consecutive seasons and averaged over 18 minutes of ice time per game in his NHL career.

He’s gotten off to a slow start this season, but thanks to his $3.687MM cap hit his LTIR placement provides the Bruins with the financial headroom to make this trio of recalls.

The most noable name in the list of players called up is Lohrei, who ranks among the top prospects in a thin Bruins prospect system. Set to turn 23 in January, the 2020 second-round pick is a rangy, mobile blueliner who scored well across his two-year collegiate career with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

So far, Lohrei has just 15 professional games on his resume. But with this recall, he is now positioned to potentially make his NHL debut on a Bruins’ roster that, before these recalls, boasted just four defensemen eligible to play.

As for Mitchell and Wotherspoon, neither holds the kind of upside or top prospect intrigue that Lohrei has. What they do have that Lohrei doesn’t, though, is significant experience playing pro hockey and some NHL experience. Mitchell, 24, has played 84 career NHL games while Wotherspoon has 12 NHL games and nearly 300 in the AHL.

As a right-shot blueliner, Mitchell is the likeliest candidate to immediately land in the NHL lineup while head coach Jim Montgomery will have to choose between Wotherspoon and Lohrei as to which left-shot defensemen he’ll dress for games.

That being said, the left-shot blueliners may stand a stronger chance at lasting on the NHL roster beyond the next four games. Once Charlie McAvoy’s suspension ends, a major void on the right side of the Bruins’ defense gets filled.

Meanwhile, Grzelcyk is set for a more extended absence, meaning Lohrei or Wotherspoon could extend their stay on the NHL roster beyond Mitchell, assuming they can handle the NHL minutes thrown their way.

Ian Mitchell Clears Waivers

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10/26/23: Mitchell has cleared waivers, according to Johnston, paving the way for his assignment to the Providence Bruins.

10/25/23: Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports Wednesday that the Bruins have placed defenseman Ian Mitchell on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence.

Mitchell, 24, made the Bruins’ opening night roster earlier this month after Boston acquired his signing rights in the Taylor Hall trade with the Blackhawks last summer. He’s appeared in just two of six contests this season, though, and can now be claimed by any team in the league after playing very limited minutes in his lone Bruins appearances.

Since turning pro with the Blackhawks in 2020, Mitchell has four goals and 13 assists for 17 points in 84 games. He dealt with injuries last season that limited him to just 35 games in Chicago and only five games with AHL Rockford, although he did light up the minors with two goals and four assists in those five appearances.

A second-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2017, Mitchell was looking like a slam-dunk prospect after three strong seasons at the University of Denver, where he amassed 18 goals, 71 assists and 89 points in 116 games. He has been solid in the AHL since turning pro, but the point totals haven’t translated to NHL play yet. That’s partly because he’s yet to average more than 16 minutes a night in a single season, posting rather poor possession numbers against weak competition. He’ll need to improve his defensive game to earn an everyday NHL job.

That said, his strong showings in AHL play could be enough to convince a team to take a flyer on him and put in a claim. After all, he is making the league minimum salary of $775K on a one-year, one-way deal and will be under team control at the end of the season as a restricted free agent.

Whether or not the Bruins will make a corresponding transaction tomorrow after Mitchell’s stint on the waiver wire is over remains unknown. Losing Mitchell on waivers or assigning him to Providence leaves the team with just 13 forwards and six defensemen on the active roster, including injured forward Milan Lucic, who’s sidelined on a day-to-day basis.

Boston Bruins Sign Ian Mitchell

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One of the defensemen acquired by the Boston Bruins in the trade that sent Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks, Ian Mitchell, has reached a contract agreement with the team. Mitchell, who was originally scheduled for a July 26th arbitration hearing has signed a one-year, $775K contract for the 2023-24 season.

Originally drafted 57th overall by the Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Draft, Mitchell primarily split time over the last three years between Chicago and their AHL affiliate, the Rockford Ice Hogs. In 82 career games with the Blackhawks, Mitchell scored four goals and 12 assists in total, averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time per night.

At the AHL, he has expectedly been much better on the point sheet, scoring 13 goals and 29 assists for the Ice Hogs in 67 career games. Logistically, given the current construction of the Bruins roster, it would be reasonable to see Mitchell split time between leagues once again.

This summer, the Bruins did lose a bit of forward depth, but their defensive core still remains strong. Headlined by Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, Jakub Zboril currently projects as the team’s seventh defenseman, with Mitchell just behind him on the depth chart. Not quite a shut-down defenseman, Mitchell has shown strong defensive numbers in the past, evidenced by his 91.2% oiSV% during his time in Chicago.

East Notes: Bruins, Blue Jackets, Hirvonen

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The Bruins are hopeful that they’ll be able to avoid arbitration with their three free agents who filed earlier this week, GM Don Sweeney told reporters (video link).  Goaltender Jeremy Swayman highlights that group as his reward will ultimately determine if they need to make another cost-clearing move; recent comparable signings could push his award past the $4MM mark in a hearing.  Winger Trent Frederic will be in for a nice raise after putting up a career-best 31 points in 79 games and could double his previous $1.05MM AAV on his next deal.  Meanwhile, blueliner Ian Mitchell is the other filer but he isn’t likely to get much more than his $874K qualifying offer; it wouldn’t be shocking to see them settle for a lower NHL price tag in exchange for a pricier AHL salary.  Boston has just shy of $7MM in cap space at the moment, per CapFriendly, and it’s possible that it could cost more than that to sign these three.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • The Blue Jackets are still looking to add a veteran goaltender this summer, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link). With Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov in place as the tandem in Columbus, they’re instead looking for a third-stringer with some NHL experience that can split time in the minors with Jet Greaves but also be called upon if one of their top two get injured.  There are a handful of players in free agency that can fill that role while they could also look to pick one up in a swap if they try to make a move from their potential forward surplus.
  • Maple Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen suffered a concussion earlier today in a scrimmage game at Toronto’s development camp, notes David Alter of Sports Illustrated. Assistant GM Hayley Wickenheiser indicated that the 21-year-old will need some time to recover.  Hirvonen was a second-round pick by Toronto back in 2020 (59th overall) and spent last season on loan to HIFK in Finland where he had 28 points in 57 games.  He’s expected to play in North America this upcoming season with the AHL Marlies.

Blackhawks Sign Nick Foligno To One-Year Contract

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Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks have wasted little time in moving to sign forward Nick Foligno as he has accepted a one-year contract for $4MM. Foligno was traded yesterday by the Boston Bruins in what amounts to a salary dump as the Bruins scramble to gain cap space before free agency opens on July 1st. He was traded along with Taylor Hall for the rights to RFAs Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. Foligno will be joining the fifth organization in his 16-year career having also spent time with the Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 35-year-old spent two years with the Bruins after signing with the club as an unrestricted free agent in July 2021. His first year in Boston was largely forgettable as he put up career lows with two goals and 11 assists in 64 games. However, last season he was able to double his output with 10 goals and 16 assists in 60 games while finding more of a role in Boston’s dominant forward group.

At this point in his career, Foligno is more of a third-liner but he will likely be asked to take some top-6 minutes in Chicago’s weak forward group unless they make significant upgrades over the summer. It should be interesting to see how he acclimates himself as he moves from the President’s Trophy winner to a team that could very well find itself near the bottom of the league standings.

From Chicago’s perspective, there is little downside to this move. While it is certainly a dramatic overpay for an aging forward, they must reach the cap floor and Foligno should provide some good veteran leadership throughout the season. Chicago will likely have to overpay any other free agent acquisitions as well since the season ahead will be a bumpy one in the windy city.

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