Atlantic Notes: Pitlick, Buium, Lightning Game, Boqvist
Depth forward Tyler Pitlick is still working on a professional tryout contract with the AHL’s Providence Bruins but that shouldn’t last much longer. Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports the Boston Bruins are expected to work out a contract of some kind with Pitlick, while other teams remain interested.
It’s been two years since Pitlick put together a quality season in the NHL as last season’s one-year agreement with the New York Rangers was forgettable. He did score seven goals and 16 points in 61 contests for the St. Louis Blues in the 2022-23 season while averaging 10 minutes of ice time per night which is likely what the Bruins are looking for.
If Boston does sign Pitlick to a deal for 2024-25 it will likely be a two-way contract. The Bruins have room to upgrade their bottom six but wouldn’t likely utilize Pitlick for the entire season. The most games he’s played in a single season was 80 back in the 2017-18 NHL season.
Other Atlantic notes:
- The Detroit Red Wings are gaining some defensive depth with their AHL affiliate to start the year. The organization announced they activated defenseman Shai Buium from the season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Buium will begin his first season in professional hockey after signing his entry-level contract with the Red Wings at the end of last year’s NCAA season. He finished his collegiate career at the University of Denver with 14 goals and 75 points in 120 games with two National Championships.
- The second half of the home-and-home between the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning will not go as scheduled. The Lightning announced Saturday’s game at Amalie Arena has been postponed as the western side of Florida continues to recover from the effects of Hurricane Milton which made landfall yesterday evening.
- Florida Panthers senior digital content manager, Jameson Olive, shares that defenseman Adam Boqvist will not play tonight as he continues to recover from taking a puck to the face in the team’s most recent game against the Bruins. Boqvist’s absence means veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt will debut with the Panthers tonight as they square off against the Ottawa Senators. The organization hopes that Boqvist can return in Saturday’s matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.
Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs Injuries, Swayman, Pitlick, Mersch
Injured Maple Leafs Connor Dewar, Jani Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok, and John Tavares all skated during practice Monday, albeit in non-contact jerseys on a separate sheet of ice away from the main group (via TSN’s Mark Masters).
Dewar and Hakanpää are recovering from shoulder and knee injuries dating back to the end of last season, while Järnkrok and Tavares are dealing with lower-body injuries sustained during preseason. None of their availabilities for opening night have been confirmed, although especially in Dewar and Hakanpää’s case, the fact they’re skating means their absences shouldn’t stretch too far past the start of the regular season if they’re unable to go. Järnkrok and Tavares remain listed as day-to-day.
That could certainly throw a wrench into the Leafs’ opening night roster if neither Dewar nor Hakanpää will be out long enough to be eligible to land on long-term injured reserve. Toronto is $1.07MM over the salary cap with a full projected roster, per PuckPedia, but could easily become compliant by waiving defenseman Conor Timmins and assigning him to the minors. That doesn’t leave enough room to sign either Steven Lorentz or Max Pacioretty to league-minimum contracts off their PTOs, though.
Head coach Craig Berube said later Monday that he expects Järnkrok and Tavares to take part in the next practice, so their availability for the start of the season should be considered likely at worst (via The Hockey News’ David Alter).
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- There’s still no end in sight to the contract negotiation stalemate between the Bruins and restricted free agent netminder Jeremy Swayman. But when the end arrives, all signs still point to the goalie staying in Boston. Neither side has any interest in starting up preliminary trade talks for his signing rights, even amid an unusually difficult set of talks, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa relays. “Swayman wants to be a Bruin. The feeling is mutual,” he wrote.
- Still with Boston, veteran winger Tyler Pitlick will attend their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins’, training camp on a PTO, reports the New England Hockey Journal’s Mark Divver. It’s quite a steep fall down the hockey ladder for the 32-year-old who appeared in 34 games with the Rangers last season on a one-way deal before landing on waivers in February and spending the rest of the season with AHL Hartford. Pitlick, a bottom-six defensive presence for most of his 10-year, 420-game career, was limited to four points with the Rangers and seven points in 22 games with Hartford last year.
- Former Kings forward and longtime Sabres depth piece Michael Mersch announced his retirement Monday. The 31-year-old had spent the last four seasons with Buffalo’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, serving as captain since 2021. A fourth-round pick of Los Angeles in 2011, Mersch posted 188 goals, 213 assists, and 401 points in 597 AHL games in parts of 11 seasons with the Kings’, Sabres’, and Stars’ affiliates. He played 17 NHL games, all with Los Angeles in the 2015-16 campaign, recording a goal and two assists.
Metropolitan Notes: Pitlick, Petan, Flyers, Lalonde
It appears a pair of pending unrestricted free agents from the Rangers have their eyes set on playing overseas. Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports that wingers Tyler Pitlick and Nic Petan may be heading to play in Europe next season. Pitlick has bounced around lately, playing for seven different teams in the past six years but cleared waivers midseason, resulting in his first AHL action since 2015-16. Knowing that a two-way offer is likely his best bet this summer, the time might be right to try playing overseas. Petan, meanwhile, has seen NHL action in nine straight years but has become more of a full-time AHLer in recent seasons. If he stays in North America, it’s likely that will continue to be the case so if he wants to change that up, going across the pond would make a lot of sense for him.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Flyers GM Daniel Briere told Philly Hockey Now’s Jonathan Bailey that he’s not planning to select a goalie early in next week’s draft. Philadelphia picked two goalies with their first three picks last year, adding Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin within the first three rounds and while there’s no deadline to sign Zavragin, it makes sense that they wouldn’t want to use another early pick on a netminder. Briere wouldn’t rule out selecting another goalie later in the draft, however.
- Blue Jackets goalie prospect Nolan Lalonde is on the move at the OHL level. Kingston announced that they’ve acquired the 20-year-old from Saginaw for a conditional draft pick. Columbus signed Lalonde as an undrafted free agent back in 2022 and he posted a 3.16 GAA with an .874 SV% in 32 games with the Spirit. Lalonde is eligible to play in the pros full-time next season but could also return for his overage year which will now be played with his hometown Frontenacs if he is indeed sent back.
Rangers Recall 13 Players
With the Rangers seeing their AHL team eliminated in the Atlantic Division Finals earlier this week, they were free to recall some players to the big club to serve as their ‘Black Aces’ squad. After taking a few days, they’ve made their choices on who to bring up. AHL Hartford announced that the Rangers have promoted goaltender Dylan Garand, defensemen Ben Harpur, Connor Mackey, Victor Mancini, Matthew Robertson, and Brandon Scanlin, and forwards Alex Belzile, Brett Berard, Anton Blidh, Jake Leschyshyn, Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick, and Adam Sykora from the Wolf Pack.
Garand was briefly up with the Rangers earlier in the playoffs when third-stringer Louis Domingue was unavailable but didn’t see any game action. The 21-year-old didn’t have a particularly strong regular season with a 3.03 GAA and a .898 SV% in 39 regular season games but was quite sharp in the playoffs, improving those numbers to 2.59 and .922 respectively in nine appearances.
Among the blueliners, only Mackey and Scanlin saw action with the Rangers during the regular season, getting into one game apiece; one of them would likely be the first from this group to get the call to play if necessary. Harpur has the most experience with 198 career appearances (including 42 with New York in 2022-23) but missed most of the season due to injury which likely takes him off the table. Mancini, meanwhile, is eligible to practice but not play as his entry-level contract doesn’t officially begin until next season.
As for the forwards, all but Belzile, Berard, and Sykora got into at least one NHL contest in 2023-24. Pitlick led the way on that front with 34 appearances but was limited to just a goal and three assists while averaging a little over 10 minutes a night. That said, he’d be the safest player to put in the lineup if necessary given his familiarity. Othmann is one of their top prospects and had a strong year in Hartford with 49 points in 67 games. While it would be riskier to put him in, his style of play fits in with the physicality of the postseason while Othmann could provide some potential offensive upside if Peter Laviolette has to shake things up.
Rangers Assign Tyler Pitlick To AHL
Feb. 14: Pitlick cleared waivers and can be assigned to Hartford, Friedman said Wednesday.
Feb. 13: The Rangers placed winger Tyler Pitlick on waivers Tuesday for the purpose of assignment to AHL Hartford, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Pitlick, 32, hits the waiver wire after being scratched Monday against the Flames in favor of rookie Adam Edstrom. He’s only played in six of the Rangers’ last 17 games due to a handful of healthy scratches and a lower-body injury.
Rangers GM Chris Drury acquired Pitlick in free agency last summer, signing him to a one-year deal worth $787.5K. He was brought in to provide a solid defensive presence in New York’s bottom six and to aid their penalty kill, but it hasn’t quite worked out.
Pitlick is averaging only 17 seconds per game on the penalty kill, and his 41.8% Corsi share at even strength ranks near the bottom of the team. However, his line with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey has a respectable 51.2% expected goals share in over 230 minutes of action together, per MoneyPuck.
Still, it’s clear the Rangers would like to try a higher-ceiling option offensively as they try to jumpstart their secondary scoring outside of their top six. Pitlick had one goal and three assists in 34 games.
If he clears waivers and suits up for Hartford, it will be his first AHL stint since 2015-16 as a member of the Oilers organization. Since entering the league with Edmonton in 2013, Pitlick has 56 goals, 53 assists, 109 points, and a -6 rating in 420 games.
Pitlick will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and given today’s news, it seems unlikely he’ll extend his time in New York. The Rangers are Pitlick’s eighth team of his NHL career and his fourth in the past three years.
Rangers Reassign Jake Leschyshyn
Jan. 13: Leschyshyn was returned to Hartford today, per a team release. He logged a -1 rating and 6:28 of ice time in his lone appearance for the team, a 5-2 loss to the Blues on Thursday. He was pushed out of the lineup in today’s loss to the Capitals with Mika Zibanejad returning from illness.
Jan. 10: The New York Rangers have announced that they’ve recalled forward Jake Leschyshyn from the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL. Leschyshyn was seen in practice today on a line with Nick Bonino and Jonny Brodzinski which is a likely indication that he will play tomorrow night when New York takes on the St. Louis Blues, something Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today has confirmed.
The 24-year-old was a second-round pick by the Vegas Golden Knights back in 2017 and is the son of former NHLer Curtis Leschyshyn. Since turning pro in 2019 Leschyshyn has bounced back and forth between the AHL and NHL on many occasions and has been unable to establish himself as an NHL regular. While he has largely been a 13th forward and a frequent healthy scratch at the NHL level, he has been productive in the AHL in recent years. This year has, however, been an offensive struggle for Leschyshyn as he has just three goals and three assists in 14 games with Hartford.
Leschyshyn was unable to tally any points in 13 appearances with the Rangers last season and has just two goals and four assists in 76 NHL career games up to this point. However, with Tyler Pitlick out of the lineup week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the Rangers deemed Leschyshyn as their best option in the interim.
Rangers Recall Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick Week-To-Week With Injury
The New York Rangers have recalled top prospect Brennan Othmann from the AHL. Othmann currently ranks fourth on the Hartford Wolf Pack in scoring and eighth among all AHL rookies with nine goals and 23 points in 28 games. This is the first recall of Othmann’s career after going 16th-overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. He is one of two players from that round to be recalled on Wednesday, with the Los Angeles Kings recalling eighth-overall pick Brandt Clarke. Othmann be looking to become the 16th player from the 2021 First Round to make his NHL debut.
New York also shared that forward Tyler Pitlick is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. This could set up Othmann to make his NHL debut in New York’s Thursday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks. Pitlick has three points in 28 appearances this season.
The Rangers signed Othmann to a three-year, $4.1MM entry-level contract in 2021 that is effective from 2023-24 to 2025-26, with the Rangers receiving two entry level slides from Othmann staying in the OHL.
Othmann was traded midway through last year’s OHL season, moving from the Flint Firebirds to the Peterborough Petes. He would go on to serve as the team’s leading scorer through the postseason, netting 25 points in 23 games as Peterborough won the OHL championship and made it to the semifinal game of the 2023 Memorial Cup. Othmann was one of many NHL prospects on the championship-winning Petes lineup, joining Seattle’s Tucker Robertson, Vancouver’s Connor Lockhart, Philadelphia’s J.R. Avon, and New Jersey’s Chase Stillman.
New York Rangers Sign Tyler Pitlick, Riley Nash
The New York Rangers have signed forward Tyler Pitlick to a one-year contract, per the team. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports it’s worth $787.5K. The AP’s Stephen Whyno also reports they’ve signed veteran forward Riley Nash, who spent last season on an AHL contract, to a two-year contract.
This has been a very active day for the Rangers as GM Chris Drury aggressively targets depth players to fill spots in his lineup at affordable prices. The Rangers have precious little cap space to maneuver this offseason, so adding experienced contributors at minimal costs is a major priority.
In Pitlick and Nash, Drury has added two veteran forwards who should be able to capably fill fourth-line or reserve roles. Nash, 34, can play both center and wing and has over 600 games of NHL experience.
He’s got playoff experience as well and can be an asset at the face-off dot. He’s a possibility for the Rangers’ fourth-line center role, or could spend the year with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack waiting on a call-up.
Nash spent this past season in the AHL, scoring 24 goals and 59 points for the Chicago Wolves. That AHL form proves there’s still some gas left in Nash’s tank, and now the Rangers are hoping he can be similarly effective for Hartford.
As for Pitlick, The 31-year-old has less NHL experience than Nash but spent the whole year in the NHL, not the AHL. He got into 61 games for the St. Louis Blues and scored 16 points, and he should be able to compete for and potentially hold down a fourth-line right winger spot.
St. Louis Blues Sign Tyler Pitlick; Move Pavel Buchnevich To IR
After skating on a professional tryout to this point, Tyler Pitlick has finally earned an NHL contract with the St. Louis Blues. The team now has roster space to sign the veteran forward as Pavel Buchnevich has been moved to injured reserve. Pitlick will earn $750K this season on the one-year, one-way deal.
It was always a bit of a surprise that Pitlick couldn’t find a contract this summer, given it’s been six years since he stepped foot in the minor leagues. The 30-year-old forward is coming off a roller-coaster season that began with him getting claimed in the expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken, then traded to the Calgary Flames, and eventually swapped to the Montreal Canadiens as part of the Tyler Toffoli deal.
That tumultuous season led to just five points for the physical forward, not exactly what the Flames were hoping for when they used a fourth-round pick to nab him from the Kraken.
Now, with the Blues dealing with some injuries up front, Pitlick’s patience and hard work have paid off. He’s joining a group that is one of the most physical in the league, with a head coach who rewards the players that work hard and are willing to put their bodies on the line. It’s been that kind of career for Pitlick, who has racked up 659 hits in 325 regular season games, while chipping in 48 goals along the way.
A career-high 14 of those came with the Dallas Stars in 2017-18 but there’s no point really expecting that kind of offensive output at this point. Instead, he’ll give the group another hard-nosed, defensively-minded winger that can move around the lineup.
For Buchnevich, his IR placement is retroactive to his last game, meaning he can come off as soon as he’s ready to play. He and Brandon Saad both missed practice today, opening this opportunity for Pitlick to get back in the mix.
Tyler Pitlick Released From PTO
There was a time not so long ago when Tyler Pitlick was considered a solid bottom-six option in the NHL. The big, physical forward was even selected by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft, and then netted them a fourth-round pick when the Calgary Flames wanted to add him to their squad.
Today, Pitlick was released from his PTO by the St. Louis Blues, meaning he’s without a job just a few days before the season begins. The 30-year-old forward played just 39 games last season split between the Flames and Montreal Canadiens, scoring just five points in the process. It appears as though his days in the NHL may be numbered, and a minor league landing spot may be next.
Selected 31st overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2010, Pitlick never did become the two-way center that some expected. In fact, he barely played in the middle at all at the NHL level, instead settling into a depth role on the wing, where he used his physicality more than anything else. His best season came in 2017-18 with the Dallas Stars, when he scored 14 goals and 27 points but otherwise he has just 62 other points in the remaining 245 games of his career.
What follows is unclear for Pitlick but with so few opportunities available around the league, the minor leagues or overseas may have to be an option. He hasn’t played in the AHL since the 2015-16 season when he had 21 points in 37 games for the Bakersfield Condors.