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Sebastian Aho

Metropolitan Notes: Palat, Greaves, Aho

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Devils winger Ondrej Palat didn’t take part in the morning skate today, making it unlikely that he’ll suit up tonight against Ottawa.  He was previously listed as questionable after missing Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury.  However, as team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link), the 33-year-old took to the ice after the morning skate which suggests he’s probably not too far off from being able to return.  It hasn’t been a great year for Palat as he has just 13 goals and 12 assists through 67 games while his playing time has dipped under 14 minutes a night for the first time since his first taste of NHL action back in 2012-13.  But with New Jersey dealing with a long list of injuries, they’ll certainly be hoping that Palat’s absence is a short one.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • After being recalled yesterday to serve as the backup goalie in Daniil Tarasov’s absence, the Blue Jackets announced that goaltender Jet Greaves has been returned to AHL Cleveland. The 23-year-old has been up and down several times this season and has gotten into six games with Columbus where he has a 2.83 GAA with a .905 SV%.  Greaves has spent most of the year with the Monsters, putting up a 2.84 GAA and a .915 SV% in 34 appearances and will go from one team in a push for a Wild Card spot to another in the battle for the final spots in the AHL’s North Division playoffs.
  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman Sebastian Aho to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 29-year-old has been up and down in recent days on emergency recall but it appears he’ll now go back to an extended stay in the minors.  Aho is in his first season in Pittsburgh’s organization but injuries have limited him to just 17 outings in the AHL where he has seven assists.

Snapshots: Ersson, Penguins, Kovalenko

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Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson certainly hasn’t had it easy.  Thrust into the starting spot midseason in 2023-24 while still getting his feet wet in the NHL, he has been the undisputed number one since then.  But head coach John Tortorella indicated this weekend to reporters including Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia that the team is hoping they’ll be able to deploy him in more of a tandem role when their goaltending situation is finalized.  The hope was that Ivan Fedotov would be the other part of that platoon but he has struggled in his first full season in North America, as has youngster Aleksei Kolosov, calling into question if Ersson’s long-term platoon partner is either further away or outside the organization altogether.

More from around the NHL:

  • The daily transactions from Pittsburgh continue. Per the AHL transactions log, the Penguins have once again brought up winger Matt Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis.  While the Pens aren’t obligated to keep shuffling the players back and forth on off days, doing so allows them to pause their respective waiver clocks each time they send them down.  Even with it being past the trade deadline, once they’re up for 30 days or play in 10 games, they’d have to get through waivers again to go back to the minors.
  • Following the recent acknowledgment that contract talks for Sharks winger Nikolai Kovalenko won’t start until after the season, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News wonders if the 25-year-old will be in San Jose’s plans moving forward. Since returning from a lower-body injury earlier this month, he’s only logging 11 minutes a game and was healthy scratched on Saturday.  With San Jose getting a look at some other players, it’s possible that they could determine that he’s not the right fit moving forward while his arbitration eligibility could also be a dissuading factor.  Kovalenko will be owed a qualifying offer of just under $814K and has 17 points in 49 games this season.

Metropolitan Notes: Nieto, Aho, Allen

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Prior to their afternoon tilt against the Devils, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned both forward Matt Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, per Tribune-Review reporter Seth Rorabaugh.

Both were still considered healthy scratches for the NHL game, and as Rorabaugh notes, their return to the AHL is a part of the procedural process of emergency recalls. Teams are only allotted four standard recalls post-trade deadline, so these type of paper moves are common this time of year.

Nieto’s two-year, $1.8MM deal he signed with the Penguins ahead of the 2023-24 season is set to expire at the end of the season. His first year in Pittsburgh ended with a knee injury that required two separate procedures. While he was able to return to Pittsburgh’s lineup in a fourth-line role this past November, his play had been ineffective, registering just three points and a minus-eight rating in 31 contests. With the team falling down the standings and looking toward the future, the decision was made to option Nieto to the AHL. After clearing waivers on Feb. 27, Nieto was sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and appeared in AHL games for the first time in 10-plus years.

Aho, a veteran of 190 NHL games, has spent the entire season playing for the Penguins’ AHL-affiliate and has suffered through multiple injuries along the way. He signed a two-year, $1.6MM contract with the Pens this past summer, but hasn’t been able to crack the NHL lineup to this point. In 17 games in the AHL this season, Aho has failed to register a goal and has collected seven assists. While he was able to post 23 points for the Islanders during the 2022-23 season, he has failed to find that success again and now finds himself buried behind younger prospects like Jack St. Ivany and Owen Pickering, and recent NHL-level additions Vladislav Kolyachonok, Conor Timmins and P.O. Joseph.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

  • The Devils’ 2024 deadline trade for goalie Jake Allen has officially been fulfilled and finalized, per James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now. The Devils will officially send the Canadiens a 2025 third-round pick. The terms of the deal came with stipulation that if Allen played in 40 or more games this season, the third-round pick would become the Devils’ 2025 second rounder. To this point, Allen has only participated in 25 contests, and at the completion of today’s game against the Penguins, the clock has run out on the Habs’ hopes of transferring the pick to a second rounder. As Jacob Markstrom’s backup, Allen has been solid for the Devils. Despite his 11-13-1 record on the season, he has a .910 save percentage and his goals against average sits at a nice 2.60. He is set for free agency following the season, and will undoubtedly be on the radar of many teams in need of support between the pipes.

Penguins Assign Sebastian Aho And Matt Nieto To AHL

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Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned defenseman Sebastian Aho and forward Matt Nieto to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

Nieto has had a tumultuous second season with the Penguins, missing nearly half of the year with a knee injury. He returned to the lineup in mid-November and dressed in 31 NHL games, registering a goal and two assists with a -8 plus/minus rating. Nieto was then placed on waivers a few weeks ago and cleared before he was assigned to the AHL for the first time. The 32-year-old was recalled earlier this week, but didn’t see any game action and has not played an NHL game since February 23rd against the New York Rangers.

Nieto is in the final year of a two-year contract he signed on July 1st, 2023 and might not see any one-way NHL offers this summer given his injury concerns and lack of contributions at the NHL level.

Aho signed a two-year, one-way deal with the Penguins last summer but has not seen any NHL action this season. The 29-year-old spent the previous three seasons with the New York Islanders and was an NHL regular before this year. He was signed as depth but was unable to make the team out of training camp and has instead served as a veteran presence in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Aho has dressed in 17 AHL games this season and has posted seven assists. He may see some time in the NHL down the stretch as the Penguins are dealing with a few injuries to their defensive group.

Eastern Conference Notes: Sandin-Pellikka, Penguins, Hallander, Merilainen

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The Detroit Red Wings are the biggest winners in a busy day for the Eastern Conference, following news that top defense prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka could join the team after his SHL season ends from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now. Sandin-Pellikka is one of the top defense prospects across the NHL. He confidently leads U21 scoring in the SHL, Sweden’s top league, with 12 goals and 29 points in 46 games. Those totals also rank Sandin-Pellikka ninth among all SHL defensemen, regardless of age.

Sandin-Pellikka has been on a strict upward climb since Detroit drafted him 17th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft. He earned his first full pro season with Skelleftea AIK last year, and managed an impressive 12 goals and 25 points in 53 total games as the team blazed their way to their first SHL championship since 2014. It was clear that Sandin-Pellikka was feeling out his lineup footing during the title run, improving from a menial role at the start of the year to a daily role by the end of the season. That growth has only continued this year, with Sandin-Pellikka now serving in a consistent top-pair role and earning upwards of 24 minutes a night.

Sandin-Pellikka was also a superstar at this year’s World Juniors Championships. He recorded four goals and 10 points in seven games while serving as Team Sweden’s captain. Those totals tied him for first on Team Sweden, and second in the tournament outright, in points. Sandin-Pellikka’s Skelleftea seems headed for another playoff run this season. The Red Wings will be watching it closely, with word that their star prospect could be headed over as soon as his SHL season ends.

Other notes floating around the Eastern Conference:

  • Pittsburgh Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas is playing his usual games of salary cap gymnastics. The team shuffled forward Matthew Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho were swapped between the NHL and AHL rosters overnight, per Seth Rorabaugh of Pittsburgh’s Tribune-Review Sports. The Penguins utilized an emergency recall on both players on Tuesday morning, but didn’t play either in their overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights. That fact forced Pittsburgh to return the pair to the minor leagues and utilize a standard recall to bring them back up. The Penguins have done just that, and will now have just two standard recalls remaining for the rest of the season. Nieto filled a depth role in the NHL at the start of the season, but was assigned to the minors after netting just three points in 31 games. Aho has been oft-injured this year, and returned from his latest absence earlier this month. He so far has seven assists in 17 AHL games this season.
  • In other Penguins news, the team have also expressed interest in re-signing top SHL scorer Filip Haalander per Rorabaugh. Haalander ranks second in the SHL with 26 goals and 53 points in 51 games this season. He returned to the SHL last season, after two quiet years in the Penguins organization. Haalander totaled 61 points in 104 AHL games, and no points in three NHL games, before stepping away from North American pros. He scored 36 points in 51 games in his return to Sweden last season, and is now close to lapping those totals this year. Should he feel that hot scoring has given him the momentum he needed, it seems Haalander will have an open door to the club that originally drafted him in the second-round of the 2018 draft.
  • Continuing to march around the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators have returned third-string goaltender Leevi Merilainen to the minor leagues after recalling him on Tuesday. He served as the team’s backup goaltender in Tuesday night’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers, while star Linus Ullmark received a rest night. With Ullmark back up to speed, Merilainen will return to the minor leagues – where he’s posted a dazzling 12-7-3 record and .910 save percentage in 25 appearances. He’s been just as sharp in the NHL, with an 8-3-1 record and .925 save percentage in 12 games this season – while filling in for an injured Ullmark. Senators backup Anton Forsberg saved 20 out of 22 shots on Tuesday – enough to secure the win and maintain his spot above Merilainen on the depth chart, though that distance could soon be closing.

Penguins Recall Matthew Nieto And Sebastian Aho

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The Pittbsurgh Penguins have recalled forward Matthew Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho to the NHL roster. The pair bring over 800 games of collective NHL experience, with the lion’s share owned by the 32-year-old Nieto, who’s played in 704 career games.

This season has marked Nieto’s first time appearing in the minor leagues in over a decade. He successfully cleared waivers on February 27th, after posting just three points in 31 games in the season’s first half. Nieto didn’t make his season debut until mid-November, after undergoing two surgeries to address a knee injury that occurred nearly a year prior. The injury capped Nieto’s 2022-23 season at just four points in 22 appearances. He’s struggled to get his legs back under him ever since, and fell from Pittsburgh’s fourth-line, to the press box, and ultimately to the minor leagues over the course of this season.

The AHL assignment hasn’t sparked Nieto like some may have hoped. He has three points, two penalty minutes, and a plus-one through eight games – continuing his trend of menial scoring. Nieto hasn’t scored double-digit points since the 2022-23 season, when he potted 24 points in 81 games split between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. That total nearly rivaled his career-high of 26 points set in 74 games of the 2017-18 season. Nieto has been a career fourth-liner, amounting an 11-year career through two separate tenures with both the Sharks and Avalanche, before landing in Pittsburgh in 2023. He’s totaled 206 points in 704 career games, and seven points in 53 games with the Penguins.

Aho hasn’t proved too much more productive than his forward counterpart. He signed a two-year, $1.6MM contract with Pittsburgh this summer but has had terrible luck in seeing it through. Aho has suffered three separate injuries, ultimately holding him to just 17 AHL games and seven assists on the season. His latest injury forced Aho out of 22 games between January 4th and March 4th. He’s recorded one assist, two penalty minutes, a minus-one, and nine shots on net in three games since returning. With his sea legs back under him, Pittsburgh has opted to recall Aho for the first time this season.

The pair of Nieto and Aho will most likely serve as nothing more than depth options for Pittsburgh’s Tuesday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. They’ll operate behind Trade Deadline acquisitions Thomas Novak and Conor Timmins – and could be the first to step in should the new faces face any challenges with stepping into Pittsburgh’s lineup.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Riley Stillman, Ryan Suzuki

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Jan. 31st: The Hurricanes briefly reversed yesterday’s transaction this afternoon. Carolina announced that they reassigned Suzuki to AHL Chicago and recalled Stillman to the NHL roster. Suzuki went scoreless in 6:12 in his debut last night and picked up one hit.  However, after 4 PM CT, the team announced Suzuki’s recall again; by waiting until then to do so, he won’t count on their books until Saturday.

Jan. 30th: According to a team announcement, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled 2019 first-round draft pick, Ryan Suzuki, ahead of tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. In a corresponding roster move, Carolina has reassigned defenseman Riley Stillman to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

Suzuki, the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens’ captain Nick Suzuki, is the only player selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft who has yet to make his NHL debut. The Hurricanes will confirm their lineup closer to puck drop. Still, it is expected that Suzuki will take the place of Sebastian Aho, who is questionable for tonight’s matchup due to illness.

Injuries began afflicting Suzuki almost immediately upon joining the Hurricanes organization. He suffered a high stick in 2019 which left him with a permanent blind spot in one eye, and was slowed in his recovery due to his contracting COVID-19. He scored 12 goals and 12 assists in his first two years with AHL Chicago when he was limited to only 50 games overall.

Thankfully, the last three years have been much healthier for the London, Ontario native. He scored 27 goals and 62 points in 101 games between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 AHL seasons, spending last year with the Springfield Thunderbirds when the Hurricanes were without a direct affiliate.

The long road to his NHL debut has culminated in an All-Star-level performance this year. Suzuki has scored six goals and 30 points in 38 games for the Wolves, leading the playoff-likely team in scoring.

Aside from Suzuki’s feel-good story, Stillman will re-join the Wolves roster for the first time in a week. He skated in 7:40 of action against the New York Rangers on January 28th for his first NHL game since April 14, 2023, when he was a member of the Buffalo Sabres.

Waiver Wire: 10/6/24

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Today is the major day for the waiver wire as most teams in the NHL are preparing the 23-man rosters for the 2024-25 NHL season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed that all players on waivers from yesterday have cleared. The following list is each player placed on waivers this afternoon as reported by PuckPedia.

Boston Bruins

F Patrick Brown
G Brandon Bussi
G Jiri Patera
D Billy Sweezey
F Jeffrey Viel

Buffalo Sabres

D Kale Clague
G James Reimer
F Lukas Rousek

Calgary Flames

G Devin Cooley
F Jakob Pelletier
F Cole Schwindt

Carolina Hurricanes

F Josiah Slavin
D Ty Smith
F Ryan Suzuki

Chicago Blackhawks 

D Isaak Phillips

Detroit Red Wings

F Sheldon Dries
D Justin Holl
D William Lagesson
D Brogan Rafferty
F Joe Snively

Edmonton Oilers

D Josh Brown
F Drake Caggiula
F Raphael Lavoie
G Olivier Rodrigue

Los Angeles Kings

G Pheonix Copley
F Samuel Fagemo
F Jack Studnicka

Nashville Predators

D Marc Del Gaizo

New Jersey Devils

F Shane Bowers
D Nick DeSimone
F Nolan Foote
D Colton White

New York Islanders

D Samuel Bolduc
F Pierre Engvall
F Hudson Fasching
F Liam Foudy
G Marcus Hogberg
D Grant Hutton
F Fredrik Karlstrom
G Jakub Skarek

New York Rangers

D Matthew Robertson

Ottawa Senators

F Adam Gaudette
F Jan Jenik

Pittsburgh Penguins

D Sebastian Aho
F Bokondji Imama

St. Louis Blues

D Corey Schueneman
D Tyler Tucker

Tampa Bay Lightning

F Gage Goncalves
D Steven Santini
F Jesse Ylonen

Toronto Maple Leafs

G Matt Murray
D Marshall Rifai

Utah Hockey Club

G Matt Villalta

Vancouver Canucks

D Erik Brannstrom

Vegas Golden Knights

F Zach Aston-Reese
F Tanner Laczynski
F Jonas Rondbjerg

Washington Capitals

G Hunter Shepard

Winnipeg Jets

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan

Penguins Sign Sebastian Aho To Two-Year Deal

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The Penguins have signed UFA defenseman Sebastian Aho to a two-year deal carrying the league minimum $775K AAV, per a team announcement. Stefen Rosner of NHL.com and The Hockey News was the first to report the signing Tuesday afternoon.

Aho, 28, isn’t related to the Hurricanes star center of the same name. The left-shot Swede had been a career Islander up to this point, playing in parts of five NHL seasons after being drafted by them in the fifth round in 2017.

He’d wanted to stick around with the Islanders, per Rosner, but either wasn’t offered an extension or felt he could land a better deal elsewhere. While he doesn’t get a ton of cash in his agreement with Pittsburgh, it is a one-way deal and gives him some stability through 2025-26.

Aho is in his prime and isn’t much more than a run-of-the-mill third-pairing defender, but he has proved he can handle regular NHL action. He was a regular on the Isles’ blue line one season ago, recording a career-high 23 points in 71 games with a +9 rating. He’s a solid puck mover with good defensive instincts who hasn’t seen minor-league action since before the pandemic, frequently giving New York solid depth minutes in his fringe role.

Signing Aho signals a preference for more offensively-inclined depth on defense than Pittsburgh had last year. He, along with recent UFA signing Matt Grzelcyk, has more ceiling and upward mobility than the rotating cast of John Ludvig, Ryan Shea and John St. Ivany that the Pens used in-depth roles last season. For now, he and Grzelcyk project as a potential bottom pairing on opening night. The aforementioned trio will also be in contention for roster spots.

Aho also marks a cheaper replacement with a similar skillset to Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who was left unqualified over the weekend and became a UFA. Joseph, 25, has had similar production to Aho the past two years but was due a slightly richer qualifying offer of $892.5K and was eligible for salary arbitration.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

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