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West Notes: Flames, Wedgewood, Emberson, Guenther

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Heading into the season, many expected the Flames to be selling before the trade deadline.  Instead, they made a move to add, picking up Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost from Philadelphia.  But that hasn’t stopped teams from calling Calgary GM Craig Conroy about his top veterans, center Nazem Kadri and blueliners Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar.  However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that Conroy is telling inquiring teams that he doesn’t plan to move those players.  Kadri and Weegar are signed to long-term contracts but Andersson’s expires in 2026, making him extension-eligible as of July 1st.  Friedman adds that Calgary is getting more confident that they can get a new contract in place with the 28-year-old who will be eyeing a sizable raise from his current $4.55MM AAV.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, mentions Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link). He will, however, accompany the team on the road so he shouldn’t be out for too long.  The 32-year-old has a 2.40 GAA and a .910 SV% in his first nine games with Colorado after being acquired from Nashville at the end of November.  Trent Miner is already up on recall so the Avs won’t need to bring anyone else up.
  • Oilers defenseman Ty Emberson played in his 80th career NHL game last night, meaning he will become a restricted free agent this summer, notes Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal. Had he not reached that mark, he would have been a Group Six unrestricted free agent.  Emberson has nine assists, 70 blocks, and 78 hits in just under 15 minutes a night through 50 games with Edmonton this season.  Leavins suggests a three-year deal worth $1.5MM per season might be a reasonable contract for the sides to come to although some of the recent comparables have come in a little below that.
  • Utah winger Dylan Guenther has been upgraded as out day-to-day, relays Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). The 21-year-old has missed a little more than three weeks with a lower-body injury.  Before getting hurt, Guenther was scoring at pretty much the same rate as last season, tallying 16 goals and 18 assists in his first 40 games after putting up 18 tallies and 17 helpers in 45 outings in 2023-24.

Avalanche Activate Scott Wedgewood, Reassign Trent Miner

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The Colorado Avalanche have activated backup goaltender Scott Wedgewood off of injured reserve. Wedgewood was controversially injured in Colorado’s January 2nd matchup against the Buffalo Sabres, after Sabres forward Zach Benson fell awkwardly on his right leg and then scored seconds later. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar shared strong words over the incident, telling ESPN that letting the goal stand was “insanity” to him. Wedgewood was placed on injured reserve the next day, and has missed five games since.

The Avalanche’s goaltending room has shored up in Wedgewood’s absence. Newcomer Mackenzie Blackwood has been near-unbeatable, posting a 2-1-1 record and .951 save percentage in four games without the veteran backup. Blackwood was acquired to be Colorado’s go-to guy, a move they doubled-down on by signing him to a five-year, $26.2MM contract extension quickly after his fifth game with the club. Blackwood has totaled eight wins and a .939 save percentage in 11 games with the Avalanche. That strong performance will take the load of of Wedgewood, who appeared in six of the team’s 13 games through the month of December while they acquired and acclimated Blackwood. Wedgewood performed well in the pseudo-starting role, posting a 4-2-0 record and .932 save percentage – enough to pull Colorado into strong winning tendencies after a 13-12-0 record through October and November. Those strong performances will make Wedgewood a strong number-two, should Blackwood cool down.

To make room for Wedgewood’s activation, Colorado has assigned goaltender Trent Miner back to the minor leagues, per Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now. Miner received the first start of his NHL career on Wednesday. He allowed three goals on 20 shots to Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks, ultimately enough to lose the game 3-1. Miner also stepped into 35 minutes of Colorado’s November 15th matchup against Washington and allowed one goal on 13 shots. He has otherwise been a minor-league starter, stepping into 16 games with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. He’s set an 8-5-3 record and .903 save percentage in the top role, stout numbers but surprisingly the lowest save percentage of the Eagles’ four goalies this year. Miner worked his way up to heavy AHL minutes last season. He spent the bulk of the early season in the ECHL, but soon earned a shift to the AHL after posting a .917 in 11 games. Miner didn’t squander his AHL opportunity, tallying a 9-6-1 record and .930 in 18 games to end the year. With this move, he’ll get a chance to repeat that process again this year – looking for enough footing in the minors to challenge Wedgewood’s spot as NHL backup.

West Notes: Olofsson, Fleury, Wedgewood

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Vegas Golden Knights forward Victor Olofsson didn’t play last night due to an illness (as per Golden Knights Twitter). The 29-year-old was a late scratch as Tanner Laczynski took his spot in the lineup against the Buffalo Sabres. Olofsson was previously a member of the Sabres for six seasons after being drafted in the seventh round in 2014. He signed a one-year deal in Vegas in the summer and has fared well thus far in limited action, posting eight goals and five assists in 18 games.

The Golden Knights have the day off today and will return to practice tomorrow, head coach Bruce Cassidy was hopeful that the day off will allow Olofsson the chance to recover from whatever is ailing him (as per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review Journal).

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Winnipeg Jets defenseman Haydn Fleury skated in a non-contact jersey yesterday as he looks to return from a lower-body injury (as per Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press). Fleury hasn’t played since suffering a frightening-looking leg injury against Toronto on December 23rd, he was originally considered week-to-week and will likely remain so for now, as his return doesn’t appear to be imminent. The fact that Fleury is already back skating is a good sign for the former seventh-overall pick, but his eventual return will force the Jets to make some roster decisions as it will further crowd their back end.
  • The Colorado Avalanche received some good news on the injury status of goaltender Scott Wedgewood (as per Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette). The veteran netminder’s scan came back negative, indicating that he does not have a high ankle sprain. The Avalanche have hopes that the 32-year-old will be able to get back into the lineup in the next two weeks but should receive confirmation soon as he is meeting tomorrow with a specialist. Wedgewood was acquired from the Nashville Predators on November 30th and has helped steady the Avalanche goaltending situation, posting terrific numbers in seven games with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.

Avalanche’s Scott Wedgewood Out Week-To-Week

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The Avalanche will be down one-half of their new goaltending tandem for more than a few games. Netminder Scott Wedgewood will likely be listed as week to week after leaving the third period of Thursday’s win over the Sabres with a lower-body injury, head coach Jared Bednar told Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now.

No. 3 option Trent Miner will be recalled from AHL Colorado to back up Mackenzie Blackwood for the time being, Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports reports. With no open active roster spots, Wedgewood will likely land on injured reserve.

Wedgewood, 32, sustained the injury when Sabres winger Zach Benson fell on his right leg while in a crease battle with Colorado forward Parker Kelly. Buffalo scored on the play, which officials did not blow dead, and Bednar ended up fielding an unsuccessful goalie interference challenge.

Acquiring Wedgewood was the first of two trades Colorado made earlier this season to replace their struggling opening-night tandem of Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev. They sent Annunen and a 2025 sixth-rounder to land the veteran from Nashville, where he’d struggled to the tune of a .878 SV% in five games after signing a two-year, $3MM contract in free agency.

Wedgewood’s play has improved drastically since arriving in Denver. The Ontario native, now with his fifth NHL franchise, has a 4-2-0 record with a .917 SV%, 2.35 GAA and one shutout in seven appearances so far as an Av.

But that rebound has been overshadowed by Blackwood, who was picked up from the Sharks a couple of weeks later in a trade that sent Georgiev the other way. The 28-year-old recently played his way into a five-year, $26.25MM extension with Colorado and now has a 6-1-0 record with a sparkling .932 SV% in seven showings since the trade.

They should be fine with Blackwood handling the overwhelming majority of starts in the interim given how well he’s played this season, but a workload that heavy may be a struggle for a goaltender who’s only started more than 40 games twice in his career. Miner arrives as an inexperienced but intriguing option, stopping 12 of 13 shots he faced in his NHL debut in relief of Annunen against the Capitals on Nov. 15.

Miner, a 2019 seventh-rounder, has a .903 SV% and a 2.47 GAA in 16 AHL games this season, good for an 8-5-3 record. He’s set to be a restricted free agent next summer.

Predators Acquire Justus Annunen From Avalanche

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The Nashville Predators have acquired goaltender Justus Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick from the Colorado Avalanche, in exchange for veteran goaltender Scott Wedgewood.

Goaltending has been the sore spot of Colorado’s early season. They’ve already iced four different goaltenders while dealing with nagging injury and inconsistent play from both Annunen and starter Alexandar Georgiev. The latter has seemed to finally get his feet back under him, posting three wins and a .891 save percentage over Colorado’s last five games – an improvement over his season-long stat line of seven wins and a .872 save percentage in 15 games. Perhaps on the back of that momentum, Colorado has decided to buy some added veteran experience for their backup role – acquiring the 32-year-old Wedgewood in his seventh NHL season.

Wedgewood is off to a bit of a shaky start this year, with just one win and a .878 Sv% through five games with Nashville so far. He was a much more notable piece of the Dallas Stars’ success over the last two seasons, recording a .915 in 21 games in 2022-23 and a .899 in 32 games last year. Both performances stood well behind perennial Stars starter Jake Oettinger, convincing Nashville to sign the veteran Wedgewood to a two-year, $3MM contract this summer. That deal, coupled with starter Juuse Saros’ eight-year, $61.92MM contract extension, effectively pushed top prospect Yaroslav Askarov out of the Predators organization. With no clear path to a starting or backup role in the NHL, Askarov was instead traded to the San Jose Sharks for top prospect David Edstrom, goalie prospect Magnus Chrona, and a 2025 first-round pick.

Predators general manager Barry Trotz told Sportsnet at the time of his trade that the Predators had a robust development plan for Askarov – one that would track him into the Nashville starting role. With the star Russian moved out, Nashville will now replace their role of top goalie prospect with the 24-year-old Annunen. It was meant to be a breakout year for the Finnish netminder, after posting a dazzling .928 in 14 games with Colorado last season; and adding a .908 in 23 AHL games. He won Colorado’s backup role out of training camp, but hasn’t found the same success he showed last season – with a meager six wins and .872 save percentage in 11 appearances. Annunen, originally a third-round pick in 2018, has been lauded as one of the best goalie prospects across the hockey world in recent years – spurred by a four-year, 49-game career in Finland’s Liiga, where he posted 22 wins and a .906. He’s stayed productive in North American pros, with a collective .905 across 114 career AHL games, and a .902 in 29 NHL games, over the last four seasons.

With Wedgewood moved out, Annunen should have a clear path to Nashville’s backup role behind Saros. Starting minutes will be hard to come by – Saros has a .912 in 20 games this season – but Annunen should offer far more upside than career depth-goaltender Wedgewood. Nashville will hope to bank on that upside, while Colorado hopes a greater veteran presence can right their ship – sensible approaches for the teams that respectively rank seventh and fourth in the Central Division.

Canucks Testing Goalie Market Amid Thatcher Demko’s Injury

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The Canucks are on the hunt for some short-term goalie help on the trade and UFA market, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal said on Sportsnet 650 Tuesday. That’s because star starter Thatcher Demko is healing slower than expected from the knee injury he sustained early in their first-round series against the Predators and still isn’t 100%, per Dhaliwal.

Dhaliwal said it’s unclear if Demko has undergone surgery to address the knee injury, and Vancouver has been concerned about the pace of his rehab as far back as the draft in June.

This storyline comes after information about Demko’s return timeline varied wildly throughout the postseason. Multiple reports stated he’d only be out for one series, while others said he would be shut down for the season. The team never officially ruled him out, instead continuously listing him as week-to-week, but he never did return to the lineup after recording a win in Game 1 against the Predators.

The Canucks were also rumored to be sniffing around for a veteran name to supplement their crease and provide competition for emerging youngster Arturs Silovs around the draft and free agency, but that never came to fruition. Last year’s No. 2 option, Casey DeSmith, wasn’t brought back and signed a three-year deal with the Stars. Vancouver’s only notable offseason addition between the pipes was former Golden Knights prospect Jiri Patera, who’s meant as a No. 3/4 option behind Silovs.

Those rumblings will get louder now with Demko’s status uncertain. The most clear-cut addition for the Canucks would be Kevin Lankinen, the top goalie left on the UFA market. His time as a Predator ended at the hands of Vancouver last season, and he remains unsigned after Nashville opted to sign Scott Wedgewood to replace him as Juuse Saros’ backup. The 29-year-old Finn was an above-average backup during his two years in Tennessee but was sparsely used, posting a 20-14-1 record and .912 SV% in 35 starts and eight relief appearances. Still, he’d be a cheap pickup, certainly not more than the $2MM he made last year after waiting for this late into August to sign.

Some other notable veteran UFA options include Martin Jones and Antti Raanta, but both are significantly older than Lankinen and have a much higher potential for age-related regression. Jones is coming off a resurgent year as the third-stringer for the Maple Leafs, but Raanta’s typically strong but injury-plagued play collapsed last season with a .872 SV% in 24 games for the Hurricanes.

On the trade market, funnily enough, Nashville might be one of their first calls. Top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov has reportedly submitted a trade request to the club, but it’s a situation that could potentially be resolved if they decided to flip Scott Wedgewood, who signed a two-year, $3MM contract with the club on July 1st. He’s spent the last three seasons in the Dallas Stars organization, though he sat out much of the 2021-22 campaign. Wedgewood has played in 53 games over the two seasons since, posting 15 wins and a collective .907 save percentage behind Jake Oettinger. He’s poised to fill the same role in Nashville – ceding a majority of starts to a proven starter and limiting Askarov’s chance at the NHL ice time he’s searching for. With Nashville facing a formal trade request from one of the league’s top goalie prospects, the Canucks could benefit from timing, and reel in another hardy backup to help fill time before Demko’s return – a situation akin to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s platooning while Andrei Vasilevskiy missed time last season.

The Canucks may be able to offer that upside in the short-term, but it’ll be hard to move too far from Demko, who’s risen to prominency as he’s taken over Vancouver’s top role. That growth peaked this season, with Demko ranking second in Vezina Trophy after posting a .918 through 51 appearances. He’s signed at a $5MM cap hit through the next two seasons and is likely to hang onto Vancouver’s starting crease through any new additions. That strings out a tight-rope the Canucks will need to walk, as they make the decision between a lofty goalie trade, a free agent signing, or leaning on unproven backups.

Predators Sign Scott Wedgewood

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Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the Nashville Predators have agreed to terms with goaltender Scott Wedgewood on a two-year contract. The deal carries an annual cap-hit of $1.5MM, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link).

Wedgewood has spent much of his career in the minor leagues, though he’s recently emerged as a capable backup – playing in just one AHL game since the 2020-21 season. That includes a full-time role backing up Jake Oettinger over parts of the last three seasons. That role led Wedgewood to a career-high 32 appearances this season – setting 16 wins and a .899 save percentage in the outings. It was a modest showing – but proved Wedgewood’s ability to show up when called upon, bringing his career totals up to 48 wins, 48 losses, and a .906 save percentage across 130 games. He managed similar totals in his stints in the minor leagues, tallying 94 wins and a .906 through 191 career games. Much of those came between his professional debut in 2012 and his move to the NHL in 2020.

Wedgewood will join the Predators in direct competition with top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov, fighting for the backup spot behind the recently extended Juuse Saros. Whichever goalie loses out will move to the Milwaukee Admirals’ starting role, though even that spot could prove contentious after Troy Grosenick posted 17 wins and a .907 in 30 AHL games last year. Though, as it stands, Saros, Askarov, and Wedgewood are the only goaltenders under contract with the Predators.

Free Agency Notes: Wedgewood, Girgensons, Necas

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Dallas Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood is expected to test free agency on July 1st (as per Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside). The 31-year-old is coming off a two-year, $2MM that was the first one-way NHL deal of Wedgewood’s career. The Etobicoke, Ontario native has made it clear that he would like a raise on his $1MM and given that he didn’t start making NHL money until he was 29, it makes sense that would attempt to maximize his earning potential while he has a window to do so.

Wedgewood wasn’t great last season, posting a 16-7-5 record with the Stars, a 2.85 goals-against average, and a .899 save percentage. However, the free-agent goalie market is very thin this summer and he should have an opportunity to get a multi-year deal at bigger money than his last contract.

In other free agency notes:

  • The Buffalo Sabres are still waiting to hear if forward Zemgus Girgensons plans to test free agency (as per Lance Lysowski). It was reported a month ago that the Sabres wouldn’t re-sign the 30-year-old, but they have reportedly offered him a contract to stay in Buffalo. The Riga, Latvia native has spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the Sabres, dressing in 688 games. Girgensons has only topped 20 points twice in his career and not since the 2014-15 season.  He signed a one-year $2.5MM last June to forgo free agency but had the worst offensive season of his career with just eight goals and six assists in 63 games. While he didn’t produce much offense, his possession numbers at even-strength weren’t awful with a CF% of 49.2%.
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the Carolina Hurricanes could change their mind on trading forward Martin Necas. The Hurricanes have been trying to sign pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel and if he leaves Friedman believes the team could keep Necas and go to arbitration or sign a one-year deal. Carolina let the Columbus Blue Jackets negotiate a contract extension with Necas in an attempt to trade for the fourth overall pick, but the two sides weren’t able to reach an agreement.

Stars Reassign Matt Murray

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Mar. 21: Dallas returned Murray to AHL Texas on Thursday, per a team announcement. He did not play in yesterday’s 5-2 win over the Coyotes.

Mar. 20: The Stars have recalled goaltender Matt Murray from AHL Texas ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Coyotes, according to a team announcement. Per Brien Rea of Bally Sports Southwest, backup Scott Wedgewood will miss the contest while on paternity leave, so Murray will be the secondary option to starter Jake Oettinger. The recall comes under emergency conditions, per CapFriendly, so it won’t count against the Stars’ four post-trade deadline standard recalls.

Dallas signed Murray, 26, to an entry-level deal in October 2022 after beginning the season on a minor-league contract with Texas. An ever-consistent starter throughout five seasons at UMass Amherst, posting a SV% north of .910 every year, Murray has now taken a sizable step back from what was a strong rookie showing last year in the minors.

Last year’s strong transition signaled he may be an everyday NHL backup in a few years. The Alberta native clutched the starting role in Texas from NHL veteran Anton Khudobin, posting a .911 SV% and 18-10-5 record in 34 games, along with three shutouts and a .909 SV% in eight postseason appearances.

That showing solidified Murray as the third-string option behind Oettinger and Wedgewood on the depth chart heading into 2023-24. Nearing the end of the season, however, he’s started fewer games than his tandem partner, 22-year-old Rémi Poirier, and his numbers have dipped to a .895 SV% and 13-13-2 record for a Texas team that’s hovered around the .500 mark for most of the campaign. His smaller frame (6-foot-1, 196 lbs) was a concern for NHL clubs when he hit free agency two years ago, and it may now be inhibiting him as he tries to solidify his role in the professional ranks.

Murray is still waivers-exempt, although that will drop next season. He’ll be an RFA this summer with arbitration rights upon completing the one-year, two-way ($775K/$110K/$137.5K) extension he signed to remain with the Stars last offseason.

Dallas Stars Assign Matt Murray To AHL

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Jan. 17: The Stars returned Murray to AHL Texas this morning, per a team release.

Jan. 16: The Dallas Stars have recalled goaltender Matt Murray from the Texas Stars of the AHL as they navigate the uncertainty of the injury suffered by backup Scott Wedgewood. Dallas Stars radio analyst Bruce LeVine believes that Murray will see more action during this NHL recall as Dallas is proceeding with caution when it comes to Jake Oettinger and still doesn’t know what the issue is with Wedgewood, who left Saturday’s game with an injury.

Murray’s recall likely means that Wedgewood will be unavailable for Dallas when they take on the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow tonight, although no official announcement has been made as of yet.

Murray has played a single NHL game this season, and it came in the form of his first career shutout against the Minnesota Wild back on January 8th. The 25-year-old made 23 saves in a 4-0 win for the Stars. He didn’t fare so well last season in the NHL, dressing in three games and going 1-2 with a .844 save percentage to go along with a 3.39 goals-against average.

In the AHL, the St. Albert, Alberta native has had a bit of a down season as he is 8-5-1 with a .908 save percentage and a 2.80 goals-against average. Murray was terrific last year for Texas as he appeared in 34 games and posted a record of 18-10-5 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.37 goals-against average.

Murray has been on a yoyo the last few weeks with Oettinger’s injury and now the potential injury to Wedgewood. Just last week, Murray was reassigned twice and recalled once, with his most recent AHL assignment happening five days ago.

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