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MacKenzie MacEachern

Blues Reassign Mackenzie MacEachern

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Feb. 7: As expected, the Blues returned MacEachern to Springfield on Friday, according to a team announcement. He was scratched from last night’s loss to the Panthers, as Joseph was available to play.

Feb. 5: The St. Louis Blues have recalled depth forward Mackenzie MacEachern to the NHL. The Blues have two games remaining before going on a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off. MacEachern will be insurance for bottom-six forward Mathieu Joseph, who missed the Blues’ Wednesday practice due to illness. Defenseman Tyler Tucker also missed the skate with an upper-body injury.

MacEachern has had a productive 2024-25 campaign, even despite missing nearly two months of action between late October and the end of December. He didn’t play routine minutes until the start of January and has been red-hot ever since. MacEachern has 14 points in 12 games since the calendar turned over, and six points in his last five games. Those numbers have helped him climb to 15 points in 17 games this season, good for the third-highest point-per-game scoring on the Springfield Thunderbirds. He’s also recorded 36 penalty minutes and a plus-nine this season.

Those are stout numbers for the career depth forward, and he’ll now get a chance to support the Blues amid more absences. MacEachern is no stranger to the role of injury fill-in. He’s operated as the top forward on St. Louis’ call-up chart since the 2018-19 season and played in 51 NHL games during the 2019-20 season. He’s often filled the role of fourth-line bruiser at the top level and has just 20 points in 123 career NHL games as a result. But his impact is consistent enough to stay in favor of the Blues’ top brass. That trust, and his recent scoring streak, could land MacEachern his NHL season debut before the 4-Nations break, should Joseph need to miss time.

Blues Recall Eight Players From AHL

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The St. Louis Blues have recalled eight players from the AHL in preparation for their final preseason game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. The full list of call-ups includes forwards Dalibor Dvorsky, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Mathias Laferriere, MacKenzie MacEachern, Hugh McGing, and Dylan Peterson; as well as defensemen Samuel Johannesson and Hunter Skinner.

That’s emphasized by the fact that none of the recalled managed any preseason scoring, despite each playing in at least one game excluding Peterson. In fact, the bunch only combined for five shots through their collective 10 games. Luckily, St. Louis’ preseason wasn’t as unproductive as the Blackhawks – who’ve so far managed just four goals in four games.

St. Louis’ bunch of recalls is led by 2023’s 10th-overall selection, Dalibor Dvorsky – a popular pick to make the Blues roster headed into training camp. His demotion to the AHL likely snubs those hopes, though Dvorsky is still carrying plenty of momentum into his first professional season in North America, after recording 45 goals and 88 points in 52 OHL games last season. The Slovak has been a top prospect throughout his teens and joined Sweden’s AIK for his age 17 and 18 seasons. Playing in the HockeyAllsvenskan – Sweden’s second-tier pro league – Dvorsky combined for 17 points in 55 games across the two seasons, enough to inspire the Blues to spend their earliest draft pick since they selected Alex Pietrangelo fourth-overall in 2008.

Pending a major breakout in Saturday’s matchup, all eight recalls can expect to head back to Springfield in due time. The Thunderbirds open their season against the Laval Rocket on October 12th, while St. Louis will kick things off in Seattle on October 8th.

Mackenzie MacEachern To Miss Remainder Of 2023-24 Season

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Currently playing for the Springfield Thunderbirds of the St.Louis Blues organization, Mackenzie MacEachern will have to wait until next season to make his way up the organizational depth chart. The team announced today that MacEachern suffered a shoulder injury in the Thunderbirds’ game on January 27th and that he will undergo season-ending surgery.

Besides a one-year pit stop with the Carolina Hurricanes organization a few years ago, MacEachern has been a part of the Blues organization for the majority of the time since 2016-17. Originally drafted by the team with the 67th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft, MacEachern has struggled to carve out a path in the NHL.

Largely destined for a bottom-six role in his future with St.Louis, MacEachern has played in a total of 123 regular season games wearing the blue note, scoring 11 goals and 20 points in the process. This year specifically, MacEachern will finish with one assist over eight games with the Blues, and six goals and 19 points in 34 games with Springfield.

Playing for the last three AHL affiliates for St.Louis, MacEachern has faired much better in the minor leagues, scoring 49 goals and 111 points throughout 252 games split between Springfield, the Chicago Wolves, and the San Antonio Rampage. A quality postseason producer in the AHL as well, MacEachern has scored eight goals and 16 points in 28 games through two Calder Cup playoff runs.

Thankfully for MacEachern, he does have a bit of security on his current deal, given that he is on the first year of a two-year, $1.55MM contract signed with the Blues this past summer. Now taking the foreseeable future rehabbing from shoulder surgery, MacEachern will once again try his luck next season to carve out a full-time role in St.Louis.

St. Louis Blues Reassign Mackenzie MacEachern

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In the organization’s day off leading into the New Year, the St. Louis Blues have sent down a veteran forward to keep pace with their salary cap management. In an announcement from the team this afternoon, the Blues have sent down Mackenzie MacEachern to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.

The demotion will not be foreign territory for MacEachern, as he has regularly been used as an extra forward throughout his time in the NHL, both in his first stint with St.Louis as well as a one-year stop with the Carolina Hurricanes last season. Drafted 67th overall back in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Blues, MacEachern is a veteran of 123 NHL games dating back to the 2018-19 season, scoring 11 goals and 20 points overall.

With about twice the amount of games played in the AHL as compared to his time in the NHL, MacEachern has been much more productive, scoring 47 goals and 104 points in 240 games. Although he only played in the Calder Cup playoffs twice throughout his career in the AHL, MacEachern has been relatively more productive when viewing his scoring ratio, putting up eight goals and 16 points in 28 playoff games.

In only eight games with the Blues this season, MacEachern has tallied one assist overall, averaging just under eight minutes of ice time per night, not receiving any minutes on either unit of the team’s powerplay or penalty kill. When the Blues return to action on January 4th against the Vancouver Canucks, it is more than likely that MacEachern will be recalled to the NHL lineup, as St. Louis currently only has 12 forwards on the active roster.

Minor Transactions: 12/27/23

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After taking the past three days off with a 14-game schedule, the NHL gets back to action today. As such, many teams are adding to their roster today, undoing transactions made before their off days for the Christmas holiday.

  • One of those teams is the Blues, who recalled winger Mackenzie MacEachern from the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds this morning. After spending last season with the Hurricanes, playing in eight playoff games en route to an Eastern Conference Final appearance, MacEachern returned to the team that drafted him on a two-year deal worth $1.55MM in free agency. A one-way contract structure suggested the Blues envisioned him having a spot on their roster out of the gate. However, he ended up as one of their final cuts before the regular season began and cleared waivers before being assigned to Springfield. He scored four goals and added eight assists for 12 points in 22 games there before the Blues recalled him earlier this month. MacEachern played in five games on his initial recall, recording one assist and averaging 9:04 per game. The Blues then papered him down to Springfield on Christmas Eve. MacEachern will likely be in the lineup tonight against the Stars.
  • The Lightning recalled defenseman Sean Day from AHL Syracuse, marking the veteran pro’s third recall in the last week-and-a-half. Day, 25, has eight assists in 17 games with Syracuse this season, his fourth in the Lightning organization. The former OHL exceptional status grantee has gone 87 straight games without a goal in the minors, last lighting the lamp on April 8, 2022. He’s been rostered for four NHL games this month but has been a healthy scratch each time. Even with Mikhail Sergachev expected to remain out of the lineup tonight with a lower-body injury, Day will likely watch from the box as the Lightning take on the cross-state rival Panthers.
  • The Capitals brought young forwards Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko back up from AHL Hershey this morning. Lapierre, 21, and Miroshnichenko, 19, had appeared in each of Washington’s last three games before the holiday break and are expected to be linemates on a unit centered by Evgeny Kuznetsov tonight against the Rangers. Miroshnichenko, the 20th overall pick in 2022, is still looking for his first NHL point and has posted a -1 rating in 9:32 of his average ice time since his first career recall earlier this month. As NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti points out, the move suggests none of Washington’s three injured forwards – Sonny Milano, T.J. Oshie and Max Pacioretty – are ready to return for tonight’s game.
  • The Flyers recalled center Rhett Gardner from AHL Lehigh Valley after assigning him to the minors last Saturday. Gardner was rostered for the Flyers’ final three games before the holiday break but was a healthy scratch in all of them. The 27-year-old has yet to appear in a contest for Philadelphia after signing a two-year, two-way deal worth $825K in the minors and $1.5MM in the NHL in free agency and has just three goals and one assist in 21 games for Lehigh Valley this year.
  • Defenseman Grant Hutton was a participant at the Islanders’ morning skate Wednesday, suggesting the team has recalled him from AHL Bridgeport, per Newsday’s Andrew Gross. This is Hutton’s seventh recall since American Thanksgiving despite playing only two NHL contests. The Islanders have been keeping him in the minors as much as possible to extend his waiver-exempt clock, allowing them to keep him on the roster as their seventh defenseman on game days. Their ability to freely move him between leagues is coming to an end soon, though, as the 28-year-old can remain on the NHL roster for six more days until he requires waivers again to head to Bridgeport.
  • Former AHL All-Star forward Tanner Fritz has left the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, the club he has played almost all of his pro career with, to sign a two-year deal with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk. Filling the forward spot opened by Fritz’s departure, Bridgeport recalled forward Jake Pivonka from their ECHL affiliate, the Worcester Railers. The Islanders originally signed Fritz as an undrafted college free agent out of Ohio State University, and he worked his way into the AHL by scoring 33 points in 43 games with the Islanders’ ECHL affiliate, the Kansas City Mavericks. Fritz ranks seventh all-time in points for Bridgeport, and will now head to a Minsk team that already boasts import talent such as Nick Merkley, Brett Ritchie, and Sam Anas. He’s going to attempt to aid Minsk’s offensive attack, a unit that has struggled this season as the team sits firmly outside of legitimate Gagarin Cup contention.
  • Former Florida Panthers prospect Thomas Schemitsch has signed a one-year deal with the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star. He’ll likely join Kunlun at the conclusion of the Spengler Cup, where he is currently on Team Canada’s roster. The 27-year-old stands six-foot-four, 205 pounds and will bring size as well as over 300 games of experience in a top pro league (the AHL) to the Red Star blueline. Schemitsch spent last season with the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks, scoring 14 points in 49 games on 18:37 time-on-ice per game.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Morning Notes: Kuraly, Day, MacEachern, Kovalchuk

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Sean Kuraly is reportedly doing okay after suffering an abdominal injury that led him to collapse behind the Columbus Blue Jackets bench on Saturday night. The 30-year-old forward was transported to the local Grant Medical Center for further evaluation and avoided being admitted. Kuraly’s scary injury brought a premature end to the first period of the Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs matchup.

Kuraly has appeared in 35 games with Columbus this season, recording 11 points and 28 penalty minutes. The centerman is in his third season with the Blue Jackets, who signed him as an unrestricted free agent ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. Kuraly joined Columbus on a four-year, $10MM contract, making him the fourth-most expensive forward on the Blue Jackets roster, and the second-most expensive of all healthy forwards with Patrik Laine, Jack Roslovic, and Boone Jenner on injured reserve. Kuraly has appeared in 183 career games with the Blue Jackets, scoring 61 points, recording 157 penalty minutes, and setting a -28. This stat line combines with five seasons with the Boston Bruins to bring Kuraly’s career totals to 129 points and 291 penalty minutes in 453 games.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent Sean Day to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Day was recalled to the NHL lineup on December 21st and failed to appear in any games with the Lightning. Day has only managed two NHL appearances in his career, both coming in the 2021-22 season. He failed to score in the pair of outings, recording a -2. Day has appeared in 17 AHL games this season, recording eight assists but still searching for his first goal of the year.
  • Mackenzie MacEachern has been sent back to the AHL after appearing in five games with the St. Louis Blues. They were MacEachern’s first NHL games of the season, with the 29-year-old winger scoring one assist. MacEachern has also managed 22 AHL games this year, netting 12 points and eight penalty minutes. MacEachern is in his second stint with the Blues, spending four years with the club earlier in his career before briefly joining the Carolina Hurricanes organization last year. MacEachern played in five postseason games as the Blues pursued their 2019 Stanley Cup win.
  • Hockey Hall of Fame hopeful Ilya Kovalchuk played in his first professional game since the 2020-21 season on Sunday, scoring an empty net goal to help lead Spartak Moskva over the Kunlun Red Stars. Kovalchuk most recently appeared with Omsk Avangard of the KHL, scoring 17 points in 16 games in 2020-21. The 40-year-old winger led a prolific NHL career, totaling 443 goals and 876 points in 926 games. Kovalchuk recorded 681 points in 594 games with the Atlanta Thrashers, a mark that ranks third all-time in Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise scoring.

Blues Recall Mackenzie MacEachern

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The Blues recalled winger Mackenzie MacEachern from AHL Springfield on Wednesday, a team release states. To stay under the 23-player roster limit, the team assigned winger Jakub Vrána to Springfield after he cleared waivers earlier today.

MacEachern, 29, has 115 games of NHL experience, although none of them have come this season. All those regular-season NHL appearances have come in a Blues uniform after they selected him 67th overall in the 2012 draft. The Michigan State graduate made eight postseason appearances for the Hurricanes last season but spent the entirety of the regular season in the AHL with their former affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

After one year away from the Blues organization, MacEachern returned on a two-year, one-way deal worth $1.55MM last summer. He did not make the team out of camp, however, and was waived in early October as one of their last cuts. He’s responded with four goals, eight assists, 12 points, and a -4 rating in 22 contests for Springfield, ranking seventh on the team in scoring. It’s a sizable step back from the pace he set with the Wolves last season, where he notched 30 points in 37 games.

MacEachern was a Black Ace during the Blues’ run to the 2019 Stanley Cup, appearing in 29 regular-season games that season (the first of his career) but not getting into any playoff action. Since joining the NHL ranks in 2018, MacEachern’s tallied 11 goals, eight assists, 19 points, and a +4 rating while averaging 8:44 per contest. Playing in an exclusively fourth-line role in the majors, MacEachern has historically been a neutral possession force, giving the Blues a bottom-of-the-lineup presence that they don’t have to worry about.

He certainly doesn’t have the scoring upside that Vrána boasts, but given the latter has struggled heavily defensively this season, it makes sense the Blues would opt for a more responsible checking option on the roster. MacEachern will battle with Nikita Alexandrov, Sammy Blais and Hugh McGing for ice time on the team’s fourth line.

Waivers: 10/08/23

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Oct. 9: Four players on this list were claimed today: A.J. Greer (Calgary), John Ludvig (Pittsburgh), Ivan Prosvetov (Colorado), and Lassi Thomson (Ottawa). All others have cleared and are expected to be assigned to their team’s respective AHL affiliates, aside from Boyd, who PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports remains on the Coyotes’ active roster for now.

Oct. 8: It’s expected to be a busy day on the waiver wire, as NHL teams are making their final adjustments to the roster they’ll bring into the start of the 2023-24 season. There have already been numerous notable names exposed to the waiver wire thus far this preseason, and that list could only expand today. All players from yesterday’s waiver wire have cleared.

Anaheim Ducks

D Lassi Thomson
G Alex Stalock
F Andrew Agozzino

Boston Bruins

F Patrick Brown
F A.J. Greer

Arizona Coyotes

F Travis Boyd
F Zach Sanford
G Ivan Prosvetov

Carolina Hurricanes

D Dylan Coghlan

Chicago Blackhawks

F Joey Anderson

Colorado Avalanche

F Riley Tufte

Dallas Stars

F Riley Damiani

Detroit Red Wings

F Zach Aston-Reese

Edmonton Oilers

F Raphael Lavoie
F Lane Pederson
D Ben Gleason

Florida Panthers

F Zac Dalpe
D John Ludvig
D Casey Fitzgerald

Los Angeles Kings

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan

Montreal Canadiens

F Joel Armia
D Gustav Lindström

Ottawa Senators

F Bokondji Imama

Pittsburgh Penguins

G Magnus Hellberg
F Colin White
D Mark Friedman
F Vinnie Hinostroza
F Radim Zohorna

St. Louis Blues
F Mackenzie MacEachern
D Calle Rosen
G Malcolm Subban
F Nathan Walker

Tampa Bay Lightning

D Zach Bogosian
F Gabriel Fortier

Toronto Maple Leafs

G Martin Jones
F Kyle Clifford
F Dylan Gambrell
D William Lagesson
D Maxime Lajoie

Vancouver Canucks

F Jack Studnicka
D Christian Wolanin

Vegas Golden Knights

F Grigori Denisenko

Winnipeg Jets

D Kyle Capobianco
G Collin Delia
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby

The big surprise here out of Arizona regards Boyd. The versatile 30-year-old veteran doesn’t have an exorbitant contract (just $1.75MM through the end of the season) and has scored 69 points across the last two seasons.

He’s been something of a breakout player for the Coyotes as his 17-goal, 35-point 2022-23 was far and away his best season in his career, so it’s definitely a surprise to see him exposed on waivers.

For Anaheim, the move to waive Stalock likely means that Lukáš Dostál has won the Ducks’ backup goalie job behind John Gibson, as should Stalock clear the Ducks will have the option to send him down to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

In Edmonton, it comes as a little bit of a surprise to see Lavioe waived. The 23-year-old power forward was drafted just outside of the 2019 first round, and took a real step forward in his development last season. He became a genuinely impactful AHLer, scoring 25 goals and 45 points. He’s a name to watch in terms of players with the potential to be claimed out of this group.

Anderson-Dolan finally made the NHL on an extended basis last season, and scored 12 points in 46 games. He even got some playoff action under his belt, but seeing as he was a near-point-per-game scorer in his last season in the AHL, it seems the Kings could prefer to have him start the season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign.

Rosen appears the likeliest candidate from the Blues’ group of waived players to be of interest to other teams, as he’s owed just a $762.5k cap hit this season and impressed in 49 games of NHL action last season. He scored 18 points in that span and could interest teams in need of some additional defensive help.

Out of Tampa is Bogosian, and it’s reported that the Lightning are hoping to put the veteran blueliner in a position to land on another team where he can play a bigger role than he’d be offered in Tampa. The 33-year-old won a Stanley Cup for the Lightning and it seems that the organization is looking to do right by the player while also turning to other options to staff their defense.

One of the biggest names on waivers comes out of Toronto, as Jones played in 48 games last season but now finds himself exposed to 31 other clubs. With an $875k cap hit, the veteran netminder could end up claimed by teams in need of instant goaltending support, such as the Lightning who don’t have much depth after the injury to superstar Andrei Vasilevskiy.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

St. Louis Blues Sign Four Players

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The St. Louis Blues have signed four players, according to a team announcement. They are: forward Mackenzie MacEachern (two years, one-way), defenders Joshua Jacobs and Wyatt Kalynuk (one year, two-way), and netminder Malcolm Subban. (one year, two-way)

MacEachern’s AAV on his deal is a league-minimum $775K, and one would assume it’s a similar arrangement for the other three though there is no confirmation at this time as the team did not release the financial terms of the moves.

MacEachern is the most experienced of the group with 119 career NHL appearances, all coming in his first stint with St. Louis.  However, the 29-year-old spent last season in Carolina’s system on a two-way deal.  While he only saw AHL action during the regular season (collecting 30 points in 37 games), MacEachern was brought up by the Hurricanes for the playoffs and got into eight games, picking up a goal and an assist.

Jacobs, meanwhile, last saw NHL action back in 2019-20 with New Jersey and has just three appearances at the top level under his belt.  However, he has been a capable AHL blueliner for several years now with over 300 games played at that level.  Last season, he had ten points and 18 penalty minutes while suiting up for Colorado’s AHL affiliate.

As for Kalynuk, he looked like he could be a part of Chicago’s future when he put up nine points in 21 games back in 2020-21 but has been limited to just five NHL games since then.  Last season, the 26-year-old spent time with AHL affiliates for the Rangers and Canucks, combining to put up 18 points in 61 games.

Subban is set to take over as the new third-string option for St. Louis with Joel Hofer set to serve as Jordan Binnington’s backup next season.  The 29-year-old didn’t see an NHL action last season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.  Instead, he was the starter at AHL Rochester, putting up a 2.94 GAA and a .903 SV% in 39 games while also playing in 14 playoff contests.

All four players are set to serve as depth options for St. Louis next season with MacEachern, Kalynuk, and Subban projected to be among the top recall options when someone at their respective positions is injured.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Mackenzie MacEachern

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With Teuvo Teravainen headed for surgery, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Mackenzie MacEachern from the minor leagues.

Given the Chicago Wolves missed the playoffs, MacEachern can stay with the club and add some much-needed depth to the Carolina roster. The 29-year-old had an excellent season in the AHL, potting 11 goals and 30 points in 37 games.

He won’t be asked to score much if he does get into the Carolina lineup. Instead, the Hurricanes will need him to play the same physical style he showed during his last playoff call-up. In 2020 with the St. Louis Blues, MacEachern recorded 14 hits in five games for the Blues despite averaging fewer than seven minutes a night.

The 6’2″ forward has 19 points in 111 regular season games, all coming with the Blues. Should he get into the playoff lineup at some point, it would be his Carolina debut.

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