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Reese Johnson

Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Fourteen Black Aces

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Now that the AHL’s Toronto Marlies season has ended at the hands of the Cleveland Monsters, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to recall several players for their playoff run. As announced by the team, the recalled players are as follows:

F Nicholas Abruzzese
D Matt Benning
G Dennis Hildeby
F Roni Hirvonen
F Reese Johnson
D Mikko Kokkonen
G Matt Murray
F Alexander Nylander
D Topi Niemelä
F Jacob Quillan
D Marshall Rifai
F Alex Steeves
D William Villeneuve
D Cade Webber

There will certainly be a concrete pecking order should the Maple Leafs fall into any injury trouble during their postseason run. Steeves, Nylander, and Abruzzese should get the call for forwards, while Villeneuve and Murray will lead their respective positions.

Steeves recently recorded the first point-per-game season of his career. Leading all Marlies players, Steeves scored 36 goals and 62 points in 59 contests.

Meanwhile, Villeneuve set the scoring pace from the blue line. In an increase of magnitude from his previous two years with the club, Villeneuve recorded four goals and 40 points in 55 games with a +12 rating.

Hopefully, for Toronto’s sake, they won’t need any of the 14 call-ups to play, especially as they look to close out the Ottawa Senators this evening. Still, considering the numerous injuries they dealt with during the regular season, the Maple Leafs could rely on one or a few of these players to make their mark on the 2025 postseason.

Maple Leafs Acquire Reese Johnson

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It turns out all of the trades of the day weren’t in after all.  The Maple Leafs have made a move to add a bit more forward depth, acquiring forward Reese Johnson from the Wild in exchange for future considerations.  Both teams have confirmed the swap.

The 26-year-old has spent the majority of the season in the minors with AHL Iowa, collecting four goals and nine assists in 49 games.  He also got into three games with Minnesota back in December but was held off the scoresheet in 9:32 of playing time per contest.

While Johnson hasn’t seen much action at the top level this season, he does have 144 career appearances under his belt.  He got into 141 games with Chicago over the last four seasons, primarily playing on their fourth line.  With them, he had seven goals, ten assists, and 450 hits while winning 51.7% of his faceoffs but the Blackhawks declined to tender him a qualifying offer last summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Johnson is playing on a one-year, two-way contract worth $775K in the NHL and $500K in the minors and will be RFA-eligible this summer with salary arbitration eligibility.  Given his NHL experience, it’s unlikely he’d be tendered that offer as that would play a role in his awarded salary which would likely push him past the $1MM mark despite spending most of this year in the AHL.

As a result of their moves today, the Maple Leafs placed winger Max Pacioretty on LTIR and even with that, they only have $195K in cap room, per PuckPedia.  Accordingly, Johnson will be ticketed to play with the AHL Marlies for the foreseeable future.

Wild Assign Reese Johnson, Recall Brendan Gaunce

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5:30 PM: The Minnesota Wild have recalled forward Brendan Gaunce, after placing Devin Shore on waivers, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Gaunce would become the 31st player to suit up for the Wild, should he step into the lineup. He gets the call after scoring eight goals and 14 points in 21 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

11:30 AM: The morning has started out with a heap of small-news roster transactions, headlined by the Minnesota Wild assigning center Reese Johnson to the Iowa Wild, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johnson stepped into Minnesota’s last two games to cover injuries to Yakov Trenin and Jakub Lauko. Trenin is expected to work his way back into the lineup before the team hosts Florida on Wednesday. That would alleviate some of the lineup pressure, though Russo points out that Minnesota will still need to recall a forward. He adds that the team could also place forwards Devin Shore or Ben Jones on waivers to create room for an additional call-up.

Johnson’s assignment gives Minnesota a chance to assess the playing field. They’ve had terrible luck with their extra forwards so far this season – with none of Johnson (three games), Shore (12 games), or Jones (13 games) recording any scoring in their opportunities this season. The lack of production has also extended to Michael Milne, Travis Boyd, and even top prospect Liam Ohgren – making the question of who to call up a tough one to answer.

Minnesota will need someone to step up for Lauko, who will be forced to miss at least the next two games with his placement on injured reserve. The top of their call-up sheet seems covered by this list of scoreless forwards, but Minnesota may opt for a new face instead. If that’s the case, it’d likely be Brendan Gaunce, Hunter Haight, and Luke Toporowski vying for NHL ice time. Gaunce (14 points in 21 games) and Haight (12 points in 23 games) rank near the top of the Iowa Wild in scoring, while Toporowski (nine points in 11 games) ranks fourth on the team in point-per-game scoring. Haight and Toporowski are still awaiting their NHL debuts.

Minnesota is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, but have been outscored 14-4 in their losses. Scoring depth down the lineup would certainly support Minnesota’s game-to-game consistency – but which forward will bring that scoring continues to be an open question.

West Notes: Wild, Sasson, Szuber

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The Minnesota Wild made a pair of recalls today bringing up forwards Travis Boyd and Reese Johnson from Iowa of the American Hockey League. Boyd has already dressed in two games this season for Minnesota, while Johnson has spent this entire season in the AHL.

The 31-year-old Boyd has gone scoreless in the NHL this season but has put up decent offensive numbers with Iowa, posting two goals and nine assists in 13 AHL games. The Hopkins, Minnesota native is just two years removed from providing several seasons of solid depth scoring, eclipsing 30 points a season from 2021-23.

Johnson on the other hand spent the last two years in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks but has found himself returning to the AHL this season. The 25-year-old has registered three goals and six assists in 18 AHL games this year. At the NHL level, the Regina, Saskatchewan native has posted just 17 points in 141 career NHL games.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • The Vancouver Canucks have reassigned Max Sasson to the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL. The move is likely just a paper transaction as the Canucks attempt to accrue additional cap space to have more flexibility at the NHL trade deadline. Vancouver has done this earlier in the season with Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Räty, and might be making the same move here, although they could be keeping room for a different transaction. The 24-year-old Sasson had two assists in five games with Vancouver and averaged just 8:45 of ice time per game. His possession numbers weren’t great, with a CF% of 40.8% at even strength, but given that he was an undrafted free agent signing, he has likely exceeded expectations thus far.
  • The Utah Hockey Club has assigned defenseman Maksymilian Szuber to the American Hockey League’s Tucson Roadrunners. The 22-year-old was recalled four days ago but didn’t see any NHL action and hasn’t since a single appearance back in April that remains the lone game he’s played in the NHL. The former sixth-round pick isn’t a big point producer but has used his strong passing to post four assists and a goal in 11 AHL games this season.

Waiver Wire: 10/1/24

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28 players hit the waiver wire Tuesday, per PuckPedia. It’s a sharp increase from yesterday’s 12 names as more veterans are assigned to the minors later in camp. All of yesterday’s waived players cleared, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Today’s waiver placements are as follows:

Anaheim Ducks

F Carson Meyer

Buffalo Sabres

F Joshua Dunne
F Mason Jobst
F Brett Murray
D Colton Poolman
D Jack Rathbone
G Felix Sandström

Calgary Flames

D Ilya Solovyov

Edmonton Oilers

G Collin Delia
D Ben Gleason
D Philip Kemp
F Lane Pederson

Los Angeles Kings

D Jacob Moverare

Minnesota Wild

F Reese Johnson

New York Rangers

F Anton Blidh
G Louis Domingue
D Casey Fitzgerald
D Brandon Scanlin

Seattle Kraken

F Brandon Biro
F Max McCormick
F Ben Meyers
D Gustav Olofsson
F Mitchell Stephens
G Ales Stezka

Vancouver Canucks

F Phillip Di Giuseppe
G Jiří Patera
F Nathan Smith
D Christian Wolanin

Central Notes: Eremenko, Johnson, Shalunov

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The Predators had discussions with prospect defenseman Vladislav Eremenko this summer about bringing him to North America, the blueliner revealed in an interview with Sport-Express’ Mikhail Skyal.  The 25-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2018 but has played exclusively in the KHL since the 2019-20 campaign.  However, he requested and received a one-year deal from Metallurg to stay with the Gagarin Cup champions for this season.  Eremenko indicated that he wouldn’t rule out the idea of signing with Nashville for next season but would likely want a European Assignment Clause put in the deal so that he wouldn’t have to play in the minors.  If he does sign, he would be capped at a one-year, entry-level agreement.

More from the Central:

  • Wild forward Reese Johnson returned to practice yesterday after missing a few days with an upper-body injury, relays Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old signed a one-year deal with Minnesota this summer after being non-tendered by Chicago back in June.  He played in 42 games last season primarily on the fourth line, picking up five points while taking a regular turn on the penalty kill.  He’s likely to fill a similar role for Minnesota if he cracks their opening night lineup.
  • The Blackhawks have relinquished the rights to winger Max Shalunov, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). The 31-year-old was drafted back in 2011 but with there being no transfer agreement between the NHL and the Russian Hockey Federation, Chicago held his rights indefinitely.  Shalunov has elected to stay in the KHL since returning there for the 2014-15 season following a stint in Chicago’s farm system on a minor league deal.  He had 36 points in 68 games with Lokomotiv last season and GM Kyle Davidson decided that he didn’t intend to sign Shalunov so they elected to release his rights.

Central Notes: Minnesota Injuries, Perfetti, Ohgren

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The Minnesota Wild are nursing a few injuries up-and-down the roster in addition to star forward Matt Boldy missing the next few weeks due to a lower-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Reese Johnson, Pavel Novak, and Michael Milne are all out with mild upper-body injuries with the latter having yet to practice with the team during training camp.

None of the three were expected to be impact players for the Wild this season with Johnson having the highest odds of the trio to crack the opening night roster. Johnson joined Minnesota this offseason on a one-year league minimum contract and already has seven goals and 17 points in 141 games with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2021-2024. Johnson would be isolated to a bottom-six role with the Wild but will likely start in a ’first man up’ role with AHL Iowa.

Novak and Milne are starting their third seasons with the Wild organization but have exclusively played in the minor leagues. Novak is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he primarily played for the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders scoring 14 goals and 27 points in 44 contests. Milne has yet to be demoted to the ECHL as he scored eight goals and 21 points in 40 games for the AHL Wild last year in a bottom-six role when healthy.

Other Central notes:

  • The Winnipeg Jets and forward Cole Perfetti made zero progress on an extension over the weekend reports Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun. The negotiations appear to be a classic case of the player asking too much from the organization’s perspective and the team offering too low from the player’s perspective. Billeck also reported the Jets are unwilling to consider the recent short-term deal for Dawson Mercer and the long-term deal for Dylan Guenther as comparables to Perfetti. He’s still staying on the ice to prepare for the regular season but he and the team have a little over two weeks to get an extension done befor the start of the regular season on October 9th.
  • Back in Minnesota, the organization is eager about the first full season for forward prospect Liam Ohgren. General manager Bill Guerin believes Ohgren can be a flexible winger for the team this season by saying, “The thing I like about Liam, he can play on all four lines. I really feel like Liam can complement any of the four lines he plays on, which is good for him. That brings a value at a young age, and the fact we could fit him in the top six or he can play a different role, that’s a benefit” (Subscription Article). Ohgren scored one goal and two points over four games in his NHL debut last season after scoring 12 goals and 19 points in 26 games for the SHL’s Färjestad BK.

Minor Free Agent Signings: Central Division

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With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Central Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.

Chicago Blackhawks

none

Colorado Avalanche

F Joel Kiviranta (one year)

Dallas Stars

D Kyle Capobianco (two years)
F Cameron Hughes (one year)
F Kole Lind (one year)

Minnesota Wild

F Travis Boyd (one year)
D Joseph Cecconi (one year)
D Cameron Crotty (one year)
F Brendan Gaunce (two years)
G Troy Grosenick (one year)
F Ben Jones (two years)
F Devin Shore (one year)
F Reese Johnson (one year)

Nashville Predators

D Nick Blankenburg (two years)
F Vinnie Hinostroza (two years)
F Jake Lucchini (two years)
G Matt Murray (one year)

St. Louis Blues

none

Utah Hockey Club

D Kevin Connauton (two years)
F Miko Matikka (three years, $870K entry-level cap hit)

Winnipeg Jets

none

Wild Sign Eight Players To Two-Way Deals

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The Wild have signed forwards Travis Boyd and Devin Shore, supplementing their depth on offense after bringing in Yakov Trenin on a four-year deal earlier today. Both are two-way deals. Boyd’s pays him $775K in the NHL with a $550K guarantee, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo, while Shore’s pays him $775K NHL/$400K AHL with a $450K guarantee, per PuckPedia.

Boyd found a comfortable spot among the Arizona Coyotes’ bottom six over the last three seasons, kicked off by his career-high 17 goals and 35 points in 2021-22. Boyd followed that up with 15 goals and 35 points last year, though he was held to just 16 games this year after a torn pectoral ended his season in December. Boyd still scored eight points in the outings – sticking with his recent propensity for scoring – though he remains hard to gauge. Now 30, Boyd is a bit hard to project coming off injury; likely the reason for his two-way deal. But he’ll be in a prime position to bounce back next season, among a Wild bottom six in need of an impact center.

If Boyd can’t hold onto a role, Minnesota has hedged their bets with Shore – who got demoted to the AHL after 21 games in the NHL this year. He responded well to the send-down, though, recording 25 points across 39 regular season games and 13 points in 18 playoff performances. Shore has totaled 443 NHL games across the last nine seasons, though he’s managed just 139 points – and hasn’t surpassed 15 points in a year since 2018-19. Boyd’s scoring over the last two years will give him an advantage on the depth chart, though both players will compete for a consistent role at the bottom of Minnesota’s lineup.

Minnesota also inked 27-year-old right-shot defenseman Joseph Cecconi to a two-way deal ($775K NHL/$325K AHL), per PuckPedia. He had 13 points in 58 AHL games played last season with the Rochester Americans, the Sabres’ top minor-league affiliate.

The organization also announced two-way deals with forwards Brendan Gaunce, Reese Johnson, Ben Jones, defenseman Cameron Crotty, and goaltender Troy Grosenick. All eight players should open the season with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, and serve as valuable depth for Minnesota if the team succumbs to injury at any point during the 2024-25 NHL season.

Free Agent Notes: Guentzel, Stamkos, Tanev, Johnson

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Winger Jake Guentzel is set to be one of the top players in this year’s UFA class.  The Hurricanes haven’t given up on trying to re-sign the veteran, per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta (Twitter link) who adds that the Kings and Red Wings are among the teams that are expected to show interest should the 29-year-old make it to the open market.  Guentzel split the season between Pittsburgh and Carolina, who made him their big addition at the trade deadline.  He’s coming off his third-straight 30-goal campaign and has averaged over a point per game in four of the last five years.  Guentzel also had a good playoff showing, notching nine points in 11 contests, and is just below a point per game for his postseason career.  That certainly has him well-positioned to earn a significant raise on the $6MM he has been making since 2019-20.

Other news on the free agent front:

  • Discussions are ongoing between the Lightning and captain Steven Stamkos, Pagnotta relays (Twitter link). Stamkos made it known going back to training camp in the fall that he wasn’t pleased that a new deal wasn’t in place with the team preferring to let the season play out.  His frustration didn’t show in his play, however, as he put up 40 goals and 41 assists in 79 games, surpassing the point-per-game threshold for the seventh time in eight years.  While the 34-year-old will one day slow down, it looks like he has several good years still to come, meaning he’ll have a strong market should he actually get to free agency on Monday.
  • The Stars are continuing discussions with pending UFA blueliner Chris Tanev, relays Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). The 34-year-old proved to be a strong pickup at the trade deadline, helping to anchor their back end through a run to the Western Conference Final.  Tanev finished the season with 19 points and a career-best 207 blocks in 75 games between Calgary and Dallas and will have strong interest next week; LeBrun puts the Maple Leafs as one of his likely suitors.
  • Blackhawks RFA Reese Johnson is not expected to receive a qualifying offer, his agent Michael O’Rafferty told Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (subscription link). The 25-year-old was limited to just 42 games this season while also dealing with a concussion.  Johnson had five points and 109 hits in those appearances while averaging a little less than 11 minutes a night.  His qualifying offer comes in at just under $900K with arbitration rights but it appears Chicago will let someone else get a chance on their fourth line.

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