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Rem Pitlick

Montreal Canadiens Claim Rem Pitlick

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The Montreal Canadiens have added a little bit of forward depth, claiming Rem Pitlick off waivers from the Minnesota Wild. It’s the second time that Pitlick has been claimed this season, after the Wild took him from the Nashville Predators at the beginning of the year.

It’s certainly an interesting claim for the Canadiens, who have been ravaged by injuries this season and don’t have a lot to play for down the stretch. Pitlick, 24,  is a capable offensive player with 11 points in 20 games for the Wild this season but wasn’t being used very much in the more competitive matchups. In fact, in three of his last four games for Minnesota, Pitlick had seen less than seven minutes of ice time.

That likely won’t be the case in Montreal, where he’ll suddenly be among many other forwards that have as little NHL experience as him.

It’s also a familiar name for the Canadiens organization, given they selected his brother Rhett Pitlick in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. That Pitlick, still just 20 years old, is in his freshman season for the University of Minnesota.

Adding relatively young talent through whatever means is necessary for the Canadiens as they look to turn around a franchise that hit rock bottom this season. Even if Pitlick doesn’t turn out to be more than he has shown to this point, he is still an asset that they grabbed for nothing more than the low cost of a waiver claim.

Unfortunately, despite him being 24, Pitlick is likely headed for unrestricted free agency in the summer. With just 31 games played to this point in his career, he’ll qualify for Group VI UFA status should he fail to play in 49 more this season (the Canadiens have 48 remaining).

Rem Pitlick Placed On Waivers

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The Minnesota Wild have placed Rem Pitlick on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 24-year-old forward was claimed off waivers by Minnesota earlier this season, meaning the Nashville Predators could potentially send him directly to the minor leagues if they are the only team to put in a claim this time around.

Through 20 games with Minnesota, he actually has six goals and 11 points, but has seen his ice time drop to just a handful of minutes over the last while. In Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals, Pitlick played just 5:35 and seemed obviously on his way out of the lineup. With Joel Eriksson Ek approaching a return and Kirill Kaprizov avoiding major injury, Pitlick’s time in Minnesota could be over.

Should he clear, the team could send him to the minor leagues but not the taxi squad. Since he was on the active roster for most of the season, he isn’t eligible to be placed there despite his salary being under the $1MM threshold. Pitlick is on a one-year, two-way deal that carries a cap hit of $917,831 and will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the year unless he plays in an additional 59 games this season.

Injury Notes: O’Reilly, Wild, Schenn

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St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly is likely to return to the lineup Sunday night when they take on the Anaheim Ducks, per Blues writer Chris Pinkert. The 30-year-old center missed the team’s last four games while in COVID-19 protocol. He’s likely to return to top-line duties between David Perron as well as Brandon Saad, who’s also missed time while in COVID-19 protocol this season. Prior to departing the lineup, O’Reilly had five points in five games while averaging 19:13 of ice time per game.

Other injury notes from around the league:

Rem Pitlick, Mats Zuccarello Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Minnesota Wild have placed Rem Pitlick and Mats Zuccarello in the league’s COVID-19 protocol, after reports surfaced yesterday suggesting that testing had brought back positive results. The team has recalled Connor Dewar, Kyle Rau and Jon Lizotte from the Iowa Wild to reinforce the NHL lineup.

Minnesota did not indicate whether either Pitlick or Zuccarello have tested positive for coronavirus, and it is important to remember that inclusion in the protocol does not mean that a player has. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol.

The Wild canceled practice yesterday with the test results pending, and now will appear to be without the services of two forwards for tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken. Michael Russo of The Athletic tweets that the pair will continue to test over the next two days to try and confirm a positive result.

Zuccarello in particular is an extremely important piece for Minnesota, who has averaged more than 18 minutes a night this season and has seven points in six games. The 34-year-old continues to be one of the more effective playmakers in the league, and is coming off a season with 35 points in 42 games.

Pitlick meanwhile made his Wild debut on Tuesday, registering an assist in just over nine minutes of action. The 24-year-old was claimed off waivers earlier this month from the Nashville Predators and has shown a strong goal-scoring ability in the minor leagues. A former Minnesota Golden Gopher, he looks like a nice addition for the Wild early on.

Minnesota Wild Claim Rem Pitlick

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The Minnesota Wild have decided to claim Rem Pitlick off waivers from the Nashville Predators according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, adding a versatile depth forward to their roster.

Pitlick, who signed a one-year, two-way contract in August, gets a chance to return home to the state of hockey just two years after leaving the University of Minnesota. The 24-year-old forward was a third-round selection of Nashville in 2016 but has played just 11 NHL games to this point, spending most of last season on the taxi squad. A top offensive player in college, he does have 28 goals and 46 points in 71 career AHL contests, suggesting that he can certainly hold his own at the professional level.

Instead of returning to the minors though, Pitlick will join the Wild’s active roster for the time being. He adds another center to the mix in Minnesota which is still anything but clear, and could potentially give them a skilled option for the bottom-six. If the Wild decide to put Pitlick back on waivers at some point, Nashville will have a chance to send him directly to the minor leagues if they’re the only team to put in a claim. For now, it looks like he’ll get a chance to show what he can do at the NHL level, even if it is in a part-time role at the fringe of a roster.

Nashville Predators Sign Rem Pitlick

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The Nashville Predators have finished some offseason work, signing restricted free agent forward Rem Pitlick to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will be worth $917,831 at the NHL level, as he signed the qualifying offer he was issued.

Pitlick, 24, was a third-round pick of the Predators back in 2016 and has slowly worked his way to becoming a legitimate option at the highest level. The young forward is still looking for his first NHL goal, but did register two assists in ten games for Nashville this season. A star at the University of Minnesota, he had a 20-goal rookie season in the AHL during 2019-20 and scored eight goals in eight games during his short minor league stint this time around.

There should be a battle for some bottom-six spots in training camp for Nashville, who have lost a few of their key forwards this summer. The team needs to find a way to get more offense out of the group, given how underwhelming the performances have been from high-priced talent like Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene. It’s not that Pitlick is going to light up the league right away, but he has more offensive upside than some of the other players the Predators have used at the bottom of the roster in previous years.

The fact that he will not be waiver-exempt any longer could help his case, as he won’t be able to bounce up and down between the two levels without being risked to the rest of the league.

Predators Re-Sign Rem Pitlick

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Oct 20: Nashville has officially announced the contract for Pitlick, at the same terms that CapFriendly reported.

Oct 18: The Predators have reached an agreement with one of their remaining restricted free agents as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that forward Rem Pitlick has accepted his qualifying offer.  It’s a one-year deal worth $874,125 in the NHL and $70K in the minors.

The 23-year-old was a third-round pick of Nashville (76th overall) back in 2016 and turned pro in 2018 following two seasons at the University of Minnesota.  So far, his time in the pros has almost exclusively been with AHL Milwaukee except for one game with the Preds back in 2018-19.  Last season, Pitlick had 20 goals and 16 assists in 63 games for the Admirals before the pandemic put an end to the rest of their season.

Pitlick is still exempt from waivers for the upcoming season and even though the Predators have freed up some roster spots for their prospects, it’s likely that he’ll return to Milwaukee for more development although he will be a candidate to be recalled when injuries arise.

The Predators now have one remaining restricted free agent to deal with in offseason acquisition Luke Kunin.  The winger recently wrapped up his entry-level deal and is not eligible for salary arbitration.

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