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AHL Shuffle: 03/21/22

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It’s certainly a busy day in the NHL today with the trade deadline just hours away plus four games on the schedule.  There will be considerable roster movement on the trade front while there will be plenty of paper moves made prior to the 2 PM CT deadline made to give players eligibility to play in the minors down the stretch.  We’ll keep track of those moves here.

Atlantic Division

 

Metropolitan Division

  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Radim Zohorna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The 25-year-old has three points in a dozen games this season with Pittsburgh while adding 15 points in 31 minor league contests.
  • The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Brett Leason to the Hershey Bears of the AHL (link). Leason had just been recalled by the Capitals yesterday, but the re-assignment could be to simply keep Leason’s AHL eligibility for the remainder of the season intact.

Central Division

  • The Predators have sent defenseman Jeremy Davies back to Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. Davies was brought up on Saturday but with Nashville adding Jeremy Lauzon from Seattle late on Sunday, the 25-year-old can head back to the minors.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent goaltender Adam Scheel back to the AHL after acquiring Scott Wedgewood yesterday. Scheel, 22, has up as an emergency backup and never actually saw any NHL action. The young netminder is in his first full season of professional hockey.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Ville Heinola, Jeff Malott, and Kristian Reichel have all been reassigned to the minor leagues, making them eligible. Notably, Cole Perfetti is not with this group, suggesting that his time in the minor leagues is over after impressing so far.
  • After making several trades in the past 24 hours, the Arizona Coyotes have recalled two players from the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL: forward Michael Carcone and goaltender Josef Korenar. Carcone has played just two games at the NHL level, both coming this season, however he has been a productive AHL player, tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 48 games with Tuscon this season. Korenar has not played in the NHL yet this season, but did play in 10 games for the San Jose Sharks in 2020-21 and was moved to Arizona this offseason as part of the Adin Hill trade.
  • Having traded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks have recalled goaltender Collin Delia from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Delia has had a solid season playing for Rockford, but has only appeared in two NHL games thus far in 2021-22.

Pacific Division

  • The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Kole Lind from AHL Charlotte. Lind has played in seven games with Seattle this season after being their pick in expansion from Vancouver but has spent most of the year in the minors.  Seattle has also activated winger Joonas Donskoi off injured reserve.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Brad Malone from the AHL after he played a game with the Bakersfield Condors over the weekend. The 32-year-old is actually the captain of the minor league club, but after converting his contract to an NHL deal has played six games for the Oilers.
  • Jake Leschyshyn and Brayden Pachal are heading back up to the Vegas Golden Knights. Leschyshyn’s seen a lot of NHL opportunities this year, getting into 27 games this year and notching his first five NHL points. Pachal made his NHL debut recently before immediately getting sent back down, but he may get another chance here in some NHL games.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have re-assigned goaltender Zach Sawchenko to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. In addition to this, the team recalled forward Sasha Chmelevski and defenseman Ryan Merkley from the Barracuda, and activated Radim Simek off of injured-reserve.
  • After placing Michael Amadio and Zach Whitecloud in COVID protocol and trading away Evgenii Dadonov, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they have called up four players: forwards Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg and defensemen Daniil Miromanov and Zack Hayes. Of this group, only Hayes does not have any NHL playing experience, spending this season and last in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights, and the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL before that.
  • The Vancouver Canucks also made a flurry of AHL assignments, primarily for the purpose of keeping players’ AHL ability alive. The organization announced it assigned forwards Sheldon Rempal, Vasily Podkolzin, and Nic Petan, as well as defenseman Noah Juulsen to the Abbotsford Canucks. Podkolzin and Petan were immediately recalled back to Vancouver.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Danny O’Regan from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. O’Regan, 28, has played parts of four seasons dating back to 2016-17, including four games this season with Anaheim.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

15 Players Clear Waivers

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Saturday: Aside from Montembeault who was claimed by Montreal, the other 15 players cleared waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Friday: While there weren’t quite as many players placed on waivers today compared to Thursday, it’s still a long list.  Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star and TSN reports (Twitter links) that the following players have been put on the waiver wire:

Ben Gleason (DAL)
Joel L’Esperance (DAL)
Zac Dalpe (FLA)
Noah Juulsen (FLA)
Sam Montembeault (FLA)
Kevin Czuczman (MIN)
Joe Hicketts (MIN)
Dakota Mermis (MIN)
Mason Shaw (MIN)
Taylor Fedun (PIT)
Jayden Halbgewachs (SJ)
Joel Kellman (SJ)
Jaycob Megna (SJ)
Nicholas Merkley (SJ)
Teemu Kivihalme (TOR)

James Mirtle of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that Hurricanes goaltender Alex Lyon is also on waivers today.

Two of Florida’s players stand out among the group.  Juulsen was claimed off waivers by the Panthers from Montreal late in training camp last season but the 26th pick in 2015 was still only limited to four NHL games last season in part due to injury.  As for Montembeault, the 24-year-old didn’t see any NHL action last season but has 25 career appearances under his belt and with the way goalies moved around on waivers last season, a claim can’t be ruled out.

Among the others, Merkley had 10 points in 27 games with New Jersey last season before being traded to San Jose over the offseason while Halbgewachs was a top scorer in the WHL several years ago and has had some success so far in the minors.  Teams will have until 1 PM CT on Saturday to place a claim.

Meanwhile, Johnston adds (Twitter link) that all 21 players that were on waivers yesterday passed through unclaimed.

Florida Panthers Sign Noah Juulsen, Lucas Carlsson

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The Florida Panthers have tidied up some restricted free agent negotiations today, re-signing Noah Juulsen and Lucas Carlsson to one-year deals. Both contracts are two-way, and take care of the two young defensemen before arbitration could have been awarded later this summer. PuckPedia reports that Carlsson will earn $750K in the NHL, $150K in the AHL and has secured a $200K minor league guarantee. Juulsen’s contract details have not yet been released, but should likely come in around similar lines.

Juulsen, 24, had another season with just a handful of games played, spending a good chunk of the year on the injured reserve once again. Selected 26th overall in 2015, the former Montreal Canadiens prospect amazingly has played in just 100 professional games over the last four seasons, AHL and NHL combined. He’s dealt with major injuries, including one to his eye that caused vision problems, and finds himself on the fringe between the two levels. In four appearances with the Panthers this season he failed to record a point.

A year from now, Juulsen will become a Group VI unrestricted free agent, should he fail to secure at least a semi-regular spot in the Panthers lineup. After losing Chris Driedger in the expansion draft instead of one of their unprotected defensemen, it may be hard for him to crack the top-six.

The same can be said about Carlsson, who didn’t play a game with the Panthers after arriving in a midseason trade. Acquired along with Lucas Wallmark from the Chicago Blackhawks, the 24-year-old defenseman just played in 11 games with the Syracuse Crunch down the stretch. He did record nine points in those games, continuing a trend of offensive production in the minor leagues, but Carlsson has just 18 games of NHL experience to his name.

Even though he’s also 24, Carlsson’s birthday comes just after the Group VI cutoff for next year. The Panthers will retain his rights as an RFA regardless of where he plays this season.

Trade Rumors: Penguins, Mete, Bjork

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Amidst the shocking news that Jim Rutherford had resigned as GM of Pittsburgh Penguins, it is easy to forget that this was a team that less than a week ago was reported as being active on the trade market. While ownership suddenly needs to focus on the long-term welfare of the franchise by finding a new GM, the Penguins are still in need of defense in the short-term. While Rutherford’s final move was to find a stopgap in free agent addition Yannick Weber, that might not be enough. The Pittsburgh blue line has been devastated by injuries early this season with Michael Matheson, Juuso Riikola, and Zach Trotman on injured reserve, Marcus Pettersson also officially out, and Brian Dumoulin injured in last night’s game. Even the thought-to-be-healthy John Marino was missing at practice today. What’s left is a group that is almost entirely right-handed, including the newcomer Weber, and includes a struggling Cody Ceci and an untested rookie in Pierre-Olivier Joseph. The Penguins need to to continue to be on the look out for help on the back end. With that said, NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz doubts that interim GM Patrick Allvin will have the authority to make a trade, until they potentially remove the interim tag that is. In the meantime, can the Penguins afford to stand pat in a shortened season facing tougher playoff odds and a more difficult division? Can they withstand extended absences from their current injured defenders? Unless owner Mario Lemieux decides to step in and pull the strings while also making a decision on his next GM, they may not have an option but to stick it out.

  • Through their first six games of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have yet to lose in regulation and have earned 10 of a possible 12 points. Everyone in Montreal is happy so far this year, that is except defenseman Victor Mete. With the team rolling on all cylinders, the Habs have had no reason to change out their starting six defenseman. In fact, there has been only one lineup change among skaters for one single game thus far. The Canadiens do not want to lose the promising, young Mete on waivers, but so far that has left 22-year-old sitting in the press box for every game. If Montreal continues to win and stay healthy, then there is also no reason for that to change. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has taken notice and he’s not alone. Friedman reports that there is interest in Mete across the league and offers will be coming to Montreal soon, if they haven’t already. After losing Noah Juulsen on waivers earlier this year, the Habs may be hesitant to part with another young defenseman whose career has been impacted by injuries but could be primed for a breakout. However, if Mete won’t get any opportunity to shine in Montreal, they may as well move him. After all, he will likely be available for free to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft anyway.
  • If there is one thing that has quietly defined the Don Sweeney administration in Boston, it is that they are not afraid to move young forwards who are unable to carve out a consistent role in the lineup. In consecutive years, the Bruins have traded away Frank Vatrano, Ryan Donato, and Danton Heinen, each of whom was struggling and bouncing around the lineup prior to being moved. Now, Anders Bjork could be the next name on that list. The team has liked the upside of Bjork, 24, and made that clear with a three-year, $4.8MM contract this summer. However, injury and inconsistency has made it hard to get a good look at the player. Now healthy and in the starting lineup through six games this season, that look hasn’t been good. Bjork has played on several different lines and with different line mates but nothing has clicked. He has zero points and just two shots on goal and hasn’t made a major impact defensively either. With the emergence of rookies Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic as NHL-ready assets and the upcoming injury returns of David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase, there won’t be space left in the lineup for Bjork. Multiple sources are now reporting that in anticipation of this result, interest is growing in the young winger. Bjork may not be a fit in Boston right now, but as a player with positional and two-way versatility and under team control for several years, a number of teams could be interested in taking a chance. With a lineup that is looking pretty complete so far this season, Bjork may also come cheap with the Bruins opting for a pick or prospect rather than a roster player in return.

Keith Yandle Available For Trade, Will Not Play For Panthers This Season

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The Florida Panthers have made the major decision to move away from one of their veteran leaders. Appearing on TSN’s “Insider Trading”, Frank Seravalli states that the Panthers have told Keith Yandle that he is not in their plans for this season. This appears to be a mere personnel choice for Florida and new GM Bill Zito, as Seravalli reports that he has simply “fallen out of favor”.

However, Yandle’s current contract – a seven-year, $44.5MM pact with three years remaining – contains a full No-Movement Clause. He cannot be placed on waivers without his permission, nor can he be traded without approving the deal. As a result, the only plan for now appears to be making him a healthy scratch. While this will sadly mean the end of Yandle’s NHL-best 866-game “iron man” consecutive games played streak, he will still be a member of the team getting paid in full for his (lack of) services. That clearly cannot last for the Panthers.

Florida has overhauled their blue line this off-season, acquiring Radko Gudas and Markus Nutivaara and more recently claiming Gustav Forsling and Noah Juulsen off of waivers. They appear to content to move forward with this younger, new-look group. That should not however be read as an indictment of Yandle’s ability. The 34-year-old is still a very capable puck-moving defenseman who recorded 45 points in 69 games last season. In terms of per-game scoring, it was right in line with some of Yandle’s best offensive seasons. The veteran is obviously durable, but he is also consistent, good for 40+ points in each of his nine 82-game seasons.  Yandle may be just 24 games away from 1,000 for his career, but he has not lost a step.

A skilled and experienced defenseman who is respected across the league and has shown no signs of slowing down, Yandle should draw trade interest. Even in a season where money is tight and trades are expected to be scarce, the chance to bring in a reliable play-maker like Yandle should intrigue a number of teams. Due to his high salary cap hit and extended term, the Panthers may be required to take back a bad contract or eat a significant portion of Yandle’s salary. However, they have put themselves in this position by publicly moving on from a good player who is still under contract with restrictive terms, hurting their bargaining power. How this situation shakes out will be a major story in the early part of this new season.

Florida Panthers Claim Noah Juulsen

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The Florida Panthers have claimed Noah Juulsen off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, adding the young defenseman just before the season begins.

Juulsen, 23, is the second young defenseman the Panthers have claimed off waivers in recent days, following the acquisition of Gustav Forsling over the weekend. Adding those two to a group that already had a lot of offseason turnover is interesting, especially when paired with Keith Yandle’s recent demotion. Yandle has practiced away from the main roster group for the past two days, spending time with the likely scratches and minor leaguers instead as other players are given a chance to compete.

It’s not clear at all now how things will shake out in Florida, but Juulsen is likely just pleased he’ll get a fresh start somewhere else. The 2015 first-round pick has had nothing but trouble with the Montreal Canadiens, suffering injury after injury at both the NHL and AHL levels. In fact, since arriving in the professional ranks in 2017 he has suited up for just 93 games combined, including just 37 over the past two seasons.

Healthy now and ready to contribute, it will be interesting to see how he will be deployed in Florida. To be placed on their taxi squad he would have to be placed on waivers again, at which point Montreal would have a chance to bring him back. That means a roster spot seems likely, but with such little game experience, it’s hard to imagine him stepping right into the opening night lineup.

43 Players Placed On Waivers

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As teams begin to make their final camp decisions with the 2020-21 season getting started this week, the ramifications are apparent in today’s waiver wire group. All nine players from Saturday’s waivers cleared, but that is less likely to occur Sunday with a much longer list, including some more notable names. The following players have been placed on waivers today:

Buffalo Sabres
D Brandon Davidson
F Steven Fogarty
F C.J. Smith
G Dustin Tokarski

Calgary Flames
G Louis Domingue
F Byron Froese
F Justin Kirkland
D Alex Petrovic
F Buddy Robinson

Colorado Avalanche
F Kiefer Sherwood

Edmonton Oilers
F Adam Cracknell
F Seth Griffith

Florida Panthers
G Philippe Desrosiers
F Scott Wilson

Los Angeles Kings
D Daniel Brickley
F Boko Imama

Minnesota Wild
D Matt Bartekowski
D Louie Belpedio
F Joseph Cramarossa
F Gabriel Dumont
G Andrew Hammond
F Luke Johnson
F Gerald Mayhew
D Dakota Mermis
D Ian McCoshen
F Kyle Rau

Montreal Canadiens
F Brandon Baddock
F Alex Belzile
F Joseph Blandisi
F Laurent Dauphin
D Noah Juulsen
G Charlie Lindgren
D Gustav Olofsson
D Xavier Ouellet
F Jordan Weal

New York Islanders
F Joshua Ho-Sang
F Mason Jobst

Ottawa Senators
D Maxime Lajoie

Pittsburgh Penguins
D Kevin Czuczman
F Josh Currie
F Frederick Gaudreau
G Maxime Lagace
D Zach Trotman

Among the names likely to receive attention on the wire are a trio of intriguing young players. Defensemen Noah Juulsen and Maxime Lajoie and forward Josh Ho-Sang have all seen NHL action in the past and have shown promise but for different reasons are now available to claim. Juulsen in particular looked like a long-term permanent piece on the Montreal blue line, but vision issues brought on by head injuries knocked him out of the 2018-19 season after 21 games with the Habs and limited him to just 13 AHL games in 2019-20. The Canadiens clearly want to see him get in some game action before returning him to the NHL roster, but another club may have more faith in the young defenseman, who allegedly is back at full strength. After 56 games with the Ottawa Senators in 2018-19, including a hot scoring start, Lajoie was somewhat inexplicably reduced to just six games with the team this past season. A versatile all-around defenseman who has already shown in a small sample size that he can hack it in the NHL, Lajoie could certainly draw interest from a team more willing to give him another chance. Ho-Sang, a first-round pick of the Islanders back in 2014, is on the outs with his club. A future in New York seems non-existent for a player whose effort and attitude have been called into question. His limited action last season also doesn’t help his case.  Yet, Ho-Sang’s skill is apparent and that alone is a cause for pause for teams scouring the waiver wire.

As for a more polished possible pick-up, Jordan Weal leads the pack as a veteran of over 200 NHL games who has posted an 82-game scoring pace of 25 points or more in three straight seasons. Seth Griffith is also no stranger to being passed around via waivers and Frederick Gaudreau is coming off a career-high 55 NHL appearances last season and has strong scoring numbers throughout his AHL career.

This waiver group could also provide goalie depth for a team in need (see: New Jersey Devils). Andrew Hammond, Louis Domingue, Dustin Tokarski, and Charlie Lindgren are all veteran net minders with NHL experience who could provide some stability in net.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Noah Juulsen

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The Montreal Canadiens have taken care of one of their restricted free agents (though not the one some are hoping for). Noah Juulsen has signed a new one-year, two-way contract with the team worth $700K in the NHL.

Juulsen, 23, was a first-round pick of the Canadiens back in 2015 but has hand incredibly bad injury luck over his short professional career. In 2017, just a few weeks after GM Marc Bergevin called him “very close” to being NHL ready, Juulsen suffered a broken foot in an exhibition game. Your first taste of professional is hard enough without having a six-week recovery period keeping you off the ice at the beginning of the season. Juulsen would play 23 games for the Canadiens and 31 for the Laval Rocket, but clearly had more to give.

A year later, in November of 2018, Juulsen’s terrible luck reared its ugly head once again. While playing in the NHL with the Canadiens, Juulsen had slowly worked his way up the lineup and even logged more than 20 minutes of ice time in a win against the Vancouver Canucks. He looked ready to contribute on a nightly basis, playing top-four minutes for the Canadiens and fulfilling his first-round pick status. Then, in a game against the Washington Capitals, he was struck in the face with the puck on two occasions and was forced to leave.

Ruled out indefinitely, Juulsen actually did make a return to play a few games with both the Canadiens and the Laval Rocket of the AHL. In February however, he was shut down due to a “vision-related issue.” In September 2019 he was still suffering from headaches, though just a month later he was cleared for action once again. He ended up departing the team in November to see a specialist, and the 13 games he had played for Laval to that point remained his total for the rest of the season.

With a new deal and a clean bill of health, Juulsen will attempt to make a comeback even at the age of 23. He has played just 93 professional games over parts of four seasons, but still possesses all the skills to be a regular in the Montreal lineup. He’ll have to prove it, but if he is truly healthy Montreal could still have a valuable asset on their hands.

Canadiens Notes: Price, Juulsen, Romanov

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The Montreal Canadiens were embarrassed on home ice last night by a division and historical rival, losing to the Boston Bruins 8-1. As part of the loss, Carey Price was pulled from the net for the first time in more than 100 games, finishing with five goals against on 11 shots. That dropped his season save percentage down a whopping seven points, taking him to just .900 on the year.

That number is obviously influenced heavily by his last game, but the overall struggles of Price and the Canadiens have to be concerning at this point to the front office. The team has now lost five straight including overtime losses to the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils, considered some of the weakest teams in the Eastern Conference. Even before last night’s debacle, Price’s .907 save percentage on the year wasn’t up to his standards and needs to improve if the Canadiens stand any chance of competing in the tough Atlantic Division.

  • If you were hoping that Noah Juulsen would be available soon to help out on defense, you might have to wait a little while longer. Laval Rocket broadcaster Anthony Marcotte reports that Juulsen did not travel with the team to Belleville and is instead meeting with a specialist about his recurring migraines. The 22-year old first-round pick has played in 13 games for the Rocket this season, recording three points.
  • Some more defensive help may be on the way down the line though, as Mitch Brown of The Athletic (subscription required) examines the incredible development of Canadiens’ prospect Alexander Romanov in Russia this year. Selected 38th overall in 2018, the 19-year old Romanov has improved dramatically over the last 18 months and is logging regular minutes for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that Montreal GM Marc Bergevin is expected to arrive in Russia to meet with Romanov in the next few days. The young defenseman’s KHL contract only runs through April 2020, meaning he could come to North America next season if Bergevin can convince him.

Noah Juulsen Cleared To Join Laval Rocket

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It’s been a rough few seasons for Montreal Canadiens prospect Noah Juulsen, but hopefully things are starting get back on track. The team announced today that Juulsen has been medically cleared to return to action and will be joining the Laval Rocket of the AHL tonight in Milwaukee.

The 22-year old defenseman had been dealing with ongoing headaches this summer, after a vision-related injury kept him out for much of last season. Juulsen took two pucks to the face last November and ended up playing just 24 total games between the Canadiens and Rocket in 2018-19. Originally selected 26th overall in 2015, the young defender has looked promising whenever he gets on the ice, that just hasn’t ever lasted very long. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Juulsen has only played in 78 games at any level.

His return to the ice comes at a good time for Montreal, who are struggling to find much consistency on defense. The team has obvious talent among their NHL group, but have now given up 20 goals in their first five games and gotten off to a 1-1-2 start. Even that sole win was in a shootout, meaning things could have easily looked even worse had it not been for some Carey Price heroics against the Toronto Maple Leafs. While there’s no telling what kind of impact Juulsen will have right away, he’ll certainly be in the mix for NHL minutes if he can prove he is healthy again.

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