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Lightning Place Andrei Vasilevskiy On IR, Activate Brayden Point

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3:44 p.m.: The corresponding move for Vasilevskiy’s IR placement is an IR activation for top center Brayden Point, per Erlendsson. The snakebitten pivot had missed the last seven games due to an undisclosed injury he sustained against the Capitals on Nov. 22. He’s hoping the time off jumpstarts a reset – the four-time 40-goal scorer had managed just three tallies through 21 games while shooting at a disastrous 6.8% clip, less than half his previous career low.

10:16 a.m.: According to Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider, the Tampa Bay Lightning have placed netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy on the team’s injured reserve. Having recalled Brandon Halverson a few days ago, any corresponding roster move, if any, will likely involve a forward or defenseman.

Vasilveskiy has already missed two games due to an undisclosed injury, and it’s now a guarantee he’ll miss at least two more. Since his last contest came last Tuesday against the New York Islanders, the 12-year veteran will only be eligible for activation after Tampa Bay’s matchup tomorrow against the Montreal Canadiens.

Unlike some of their injuries on defense, the Lightning haven’t fared as well without their former Vezina Trophy-winning netminder. Tampa Bay lost both games last week without Vasilevskiy (as well as his most recent start against the Islanders), allowing six goals on 50 shots for an .880 SV%.

Assuming that the Lightning will want to avoid overworking Jonas Johansson in their upcoming back-to-back against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal, Vasilevskiy’s IR placement all but guarantees that Halvorsen will make his first appearance of the year. The 29-year-old netminer has managed a 9-4-0 record in 13 games with the Syracuse Crunch this season with a .901 SV%.

Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like Vasilevskiy will be out for too long. There was some speculation last week that Vasilevskiy was targeting today for his return, meaning that he may return by Thursday when the Lightning take on the Devils in New Jersey.

Blackhawks Reassign Sam Rinzel, Landon Slaggert

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The Blackhawks have reassigned defenseman Sam Rinzel and winger Landon Slaggert to AHL Rockford, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720. Both players are still waiver-exempt.

Slaggert’s demotion was expected. He’s been sent down once already this season and has been a healthy scratch in eight of Chicago’s last 10 games. Rinzel’s, however, comes as a surprise.

A first-round pick straight out of the Minnesota high school ranks in 2022, Rinzel was viewed as one of the higher-ceiling offensive defenders in the class but would need plenty of developmental runway to improve his overall game. The 6’4″ righty seemed to put most of the pieces together during the last two years with the University of Minnesota. He racked up a 12-48–60 scoring line in 79 games with a +43 rating. Not only was he a Big Ten First Team All-Star last year, but he was also named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Rinzel’s performance down the stretch last season for the Blackhawks after his collegiate campaign ended only added more fuel to his stock. Chicago deployed him in a top-pairing role with Alex Vlasic for their final nine games, and the results were fantastic. Rinzel rattled off five assists and a +1 rating while averaging 23:22 of ice time per game, getting an audition on the Hawks’ top power-play unit after Seth Jones was traded weeks earlier. He and Vlasic also controlled 50% of expected goals at 5-on-5, the only Blackhawks defense pair to break even with over 100 minutes of ice time last year, per MoneyPuck.

This season, however, there have been significant growing pains. Rinzel started back in that top-pairing job with Vlasic and skated over 25 minutes twice in the Hawks’ first three games. Since then, he’s only broken the 20-minute plateau three times and not since Oct. 26. He’s remained in the lineup all this time as Chicago has dressed seven defensemen for the majority of the campaign, but he was healthy scratched once on Nov. 15 against the Maple Leafs. Since returning to the lineup, he’s managed five assists in 11 games – all at even strength – but is only averaging 14:36 of ice time per game.

The reduced usage has come as a result of some warts popping up in Rinzel’s defensive game. Rinzel’s offensive zone start percentage at 5-on-5 is 55.4, ninth on the team (min. 50 minutes). Despite that, the Blackhawks are allowing more shots per 60 minutes with Rinzel on the ice (34.2) than any other player on the roster. The same goes for shot attempts (68.3), and his 33.4 scoring chances against per 60 are the worst among defensemen.

He’ll now get some time to clean up his game in Rockford. Given Chicago’s frequent juggling of defense pairs this season, a strong run of play means he could find himself back on the roster in fairly short order – particularly if they start listening to calls on pending unrestricted free agents Matt Grzelcyk and Connor Murphy closer to the trade deadline.

It’s too early to read into how Rinzel’s demotion will affect head coach Jeff Blashill’s propensity to ice 11 forwards and seven defenders this season. Chicago didn’t fill its newly open roster spots in corresponding moves today because they’re off until Wednesday, following a dreadful weekend in Southern California, losing back-to-back games against the Kings and Ducks by a combined score of 13-1. Those losses brought their record in their last 10 games down to 2-6-2, although their hot start means they’re still one game above .500 and one point back of the Mammoth for the second wild card spot in the West as they approach the 30-game mark.

As for Slaggert, he’s been most often used as an extra forward on the NHL roster this season, a consequence of fewer jobs being available to the forward group than normal. The 23-year-old has entered the lineup on 10 occasions with one goal on five shots and an even rating. He’s averaged just 9:04 of ice time per game after seeing over 12 minutes in 33 appearances last season.

Image courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images.

Atlantic Notes: Bruins, Maple Leafs, Tinordi

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Unless something changes, the Boston Bruins will return their two top performers on their upcoming road trip. After an update from Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald, indicating that Charlie McAvoy shed the non-contact jersey for today’s practice, Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe reported that both McAvoy and David Pastrňák are expected to return over the next few days.

Even getting one of McAvoy or Pastrňák back would be a major boost to the Bruins. After McAvoy exited the lineup on November 15th after gruesomely taking a puck to the face, the team has gone 5-5-0. It’s been a little better without Pastrňák, as they’ve gone 3-2-0 in their last five.

Still, considering that Boston has unexpectedly moved into second place in the Atlantic Division, the team will want to have McAvoy and Pastrňák in the lineup as much as possible to qualify for a postseason spot. The Bruins are only two points removed from being out of a playoff spot, and have played more games than multiple teams in the Eastern Conference. Considering how wide-open the playoff race is this season, Boston has a legitimate opportunity to reach the postseason again, and McAvoy and Pastrňák will surely play a large role in that.

Other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Moving to Toronto, the Maple Leafs may also return a pair of injured players in the next few days. According to David Alter of The Hockey News, defenseman Chris Tanev is no longer skating in a non-contact jersey. Additionally, Alter reported similarly on defenseman Marshall Rifai, who has also shed his non-contact jersey. Tanev has missed much of the 2025-26 campaign due to an upper-body injury, and his absence has played a significant role in the Maple Leafs allowing over 31 shots a game from their opponents.
  • Former first-round pick Jarred Tinordi has found his way back to professional hockey for a 14th consecutive season. Earlier today, the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch announced they have signed Tinordi to a contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign. Tinordi, 33, spent last season with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, scoring one goal and five points in 30 games with a +5 rating.

Capitals Recall Garin Bjorklund, Reassign Clay Stevenson

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The Washington Capitals have become the second team today to make a change to their backup goaltending situation. Washington announced that they have recalled Garin Bjorklund and reassigned Clay Stevenson to the AHL’s Hershey Bears in a corresponding roster move.

Should Bjorklund play during his recall, which is unexpected, it would make for his NHL debut. The Capitals selected the Calgary, AB native with the 179th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, and he’s spent much of the last two years with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.

His performance in the ECHL last season likely earned him a spot on the Bears this year. Bjorklund, 23, finished with a 21-4-3 record last season with a .927 SV% and 2.02 GAA in 29 games with the Stingrays. This season, as a backup in Hershey, he has compiled four wins in nine games with a .895 SV%.

Meanwhile, Stevenson concludes his recall without appearing for the Capitals. Still, in his fourth year with Hershey, Stevenson has managed a 7-4-0 record in 11 games, boasting a .913 SV% and 2.54 GAA.

Regardless, the Capitals are merely biding time until their regular backup, Charlie Lindgren, can return from injury. Washington placed Lindgren on the injured reserve yesterday due to a lower-body injury, and the team has yet to provide a recovery timeline. Lindgren will become eligible to return on Thursday.

Jets Recall Domenic DiVincentiis, Reassign Thomas Milic

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The Winnipeg Jets have swapped backup goaltenders. Winnipeg announced they have recalled Domenic DiVincentiis and reassigned Thomas Milic to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

DiVincentiis, 21, has spent the last two years playing with AHL Manitoba. The Bolton, ON native was selected with the 207th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Jets, and spent the two years following his draft with the OHL’s North Bay Battalion.

He was relatively successful with the Battalion, particularly in the 2022-23 season. Overall, DiVincentiis finished his OHL career with a 77-26-7 record with a .907 SV% in 117 games. In Manitoba, though it’s largely been in a backup role, he’s managed a 19-19-3 record in 41 games with a .909 SV%.

Meanwhile, Milic heads back to the Moose after debuting in the NHL. Unfortunately, his debut did little to inspire confidence. He finished with one loss in three games with a .871 SV% and 3.46 GAA. In his most recent games against the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers, Milic allowed four goals on 28 shots.

Regardless, whether it be DiVincentiis or Milic, the Jets are simply attempting to hold down the fort until Connor Hellebuyck returns from injury. Since the reigning MVP exited the lineup in mid-November, Winnipeg has managed a 3-6-1 record while allowing 35 goals on 297 shots (.882 SV%).

Calgary Flames Recall Hunter Brzustewicz

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According to a team announcement, the Calgary Flames have recalled defenseman Hunter Brzustewicz from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. Calgary had one open spot on their roster, so no corresponding roster move was necessary.

Brzustewicz, 21, was selected with the 75th overall pick by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2023 NHL Draft. He didn’t spend much time as a prospect for the Canucks. The following season, the Washington, MI native was traded to the Flames in the deal that sent Elias Lindholm to British Columbia.

His prospect value had increased significantly by that time. After scoring six goals and 57 points in 68 games for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers during his draft season, Brzustewicz put up 13 goals and 92 points in 67 games the following season, leading the OHL in assists.

Since then, despite featuring in one game for the Flames last season, Brzustewicz has spent much of his time with the Wranglers. He didn’t crack the All-Rookie team last year, but he’s managed a respectable nine goals and 44 points in 93 games with a -8 rating.

It’ll be interesting to see how Calgary uses Brzustewicz throughout this recall. He’s a natural fit on the right side of the defensive core, though the Flames already have MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson as their top two options. Calgary may slot Brzustewicz into the team’s bottom-pairing, or pair him with Weegar, who is one of the best in the league at playing on his off-side.

Avalance Reassign Trent Miner, Scott Wedgewood Expected To Return

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The Colorado Avalanche reassigned goaltender Trent Miner after Sunday’s win over New York. The move clears way for Scott Wedgewood to return from injury in Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators per Corey Masisak of the Denver Post.
Wedgewood missed Colorado’s last three games with a back injury. He sustained the injury in the second period of Colorado’s December 2nd win over the Vancouver Canucks.
The Avalanche have leaned heavily on Wedgewood this season. He has appeared in 19 games to starter Mackenzie Blackwood’s – who missed the start of the season with injury – 10 games. Both goalies have a .920 save percentage, tying them for third-highest in the league among goalies with double-digit appearances.
Blackwood has been stellar as of late. He has five wins, two shutouts, and a .944 save percentage in his last six games. That performance – including back-to-back wins this weekend – should be enough to hang onto Colorado’s starting role. That will default Wedgewood to the backup spot, though Colorado will again relish in the chance to have two of the league’s hottest hands in their goaltending room.
Meanwhile, Miner will return to the minors, where he’s already posted four wins and a .908 save percentage in six games. He has also posted a .909 save percentage in two NHL games this season. His return to the AHL will challenge Isak Posch for the starting role. Posch – an AHL rookie – has 10 wins and a .917 save percentage in 14 games this year.

Wild Reassign Hunter Haight

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The Minnesota Wild reassigned forward Hunter Haight to the AHL’s Iowa Wild with center Danila Yurov back to full health. Haight was recalled on December 1st and didn’t see any game time on this call-up. His last action was with Iowa on November 30th. He has scored four goals and five points in 14 AHL games.
Haight has rotated between rosters as Minnesota’s extra forward all season long. That role earned him the first two games of his NHL career, though he wasn’t able to find the score sheet in either. He scored 20 goals and 34 points in 67 games of his rookie AHL season last year. His scoring totals haven’t jumped off the page just yet but Haight has earned Minnesota’s attention with responsible two-way play from the center role.
Yurov returned from injury with a minus-two in Saturday night’s game. The rookie has slowly worked up the lineup over the year, even appearing on the top-line  as the Wild addressed early season injuries. He hasn’t yet capitalized on the growing role, with seven points and a minus-five in 22 games. Yurov is two seasons removed from 49 points in 62 games of the 2023-24 KHL season, though he fell to 25 points in 46 KHL games last year. The 21-year-old will remain a breakout candidate in his return from injury.

Sabres Recall Zach Metsa, Reassign Noah Ostlund

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The Buffalo Sabres have recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Metsa was reassigned last Monday. He played in three games with Rochester last week and recorded two points, one penalty, and a plus-two.

Metsa played in the first four NHL games of his career earlier this season. He hasn’t found a scoresheet yet, other than one penalty, but has recorded a plus-three. Metsa has been a much more electric piece for Rochester. He has 13 points in 14 games with the Americans, good for second on the blue-line in scoring behind Zac Jones’ 20 points in 20 games.

Metsa, 27, is emerging as a potential NHL option after two strong AHL seasons to start his career. He joined Rochester as an undrafted free agent in 2022-23, after five years at Quinnipiac University, where he won one NCAA National Championship. Metsa had a quiet first year – with just 28 points in his first 72 AHL games. That preluded a true breakout last season. He recorded 49 points in 77 games, including playoffs, last season. That led Rochester’s defense in scoring and ranked third on the team overall. He has kept up the hot scoring through this season, helping to cement his spot on top of Buffalo’s call-up sheet over the more experienced Jones.

To make room for Metsa’s recall, Buffalo has also loaned center Noah Ostlund back to the AHL. The second-year pro has been Metsa’s counterpart on offense, bouncing between the NHL and AHL lineup for much of the year. He has seven points in six AHL games and six poinst in 20 NHL games. It’s the first scoring of his NHL career, after he failed to produce in the first eight games of his career last season. Ostlund will look to rediscover his offensive production with a return to the Americans, after only posting one assist in his last nine games with Buffalo.

Penguins Activate Justin Brazeau, Noel Acciari From Injured Reserve

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The Penguins announced they’ve activated forwards Noel Acciari and Justin Brazeau from injured reserve. They’ll be available for this evening’s game against the Stars. They had one open roster spot after Joona Koppanen cleared waivers and was reassigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton yesterday, and they opened the other by reassigning winger Bokondji Imama to WBS in a corresponding move. The team also announced that defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Jack St. Ivany have been recalled from their conditioning loans to the Baby Pens. However, St. Ivany will remain on the injured non-roster list for the time being. Brunicke still counted against the active roster while in the minors, so there’s no other move required there.

Brazeau is a key reinforcement, particularly as the Pens said that Evgeni Malkin will be held out of the lineup tonight due to an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. The 27-year-old was an understandably overlooked free agent pickup, signing a two-year deal worth $1.5MM annually after notching 11 goals and 22 points in 76 games last season with the Bruins and Wild.

An injury to top prospect Rutger McGroarty, though, meant Brazeau got a look on Malkin’s wing to start the year with fellow UFA reclamation project Anthony Mantha on the left flank. The line immediately had some of the best offensive chemistry in the league. Brazeau opened the season with a two-goal performance against the Rangers, and by the time October drew to a close, he was still clicking at a point per game with a 6-6–12 scoring line.

In that final game in October against Brazeau’s former team in Minnesota, he sustained an upper-body injury. He was initially ruled day-to-day, but during the first week of November, the Pens said they were shutting him down for the next four weeks. Today is four-and-a-half weeks from that announcement, so his reinstatement doesn’t come too far behind schedule.

Although he won’t have Malkin to center him to start, Brazeau looks to help rejuvenate a Penguins offense that’s cooled off considerably since clicking at 3.67 goals per game in October. They’re only scoring 2.79 per game since – 20th in the league – but are on the upswing, scoring at least four goals in four of their last five outings.

Acciari is the much more established of the two names, with 531 games of NHL experience compared to Brazeau’s 107. He’s played lower in the lineup, averaging 12:56 of ice time per game, but the pending unrestricted free agent has quietly been solid down the middle on Pittsburgh’s fourth line. He had three assists and a +3 rating through 13 games before an upper-body injury he sustained against the Maple Leafs took him out of the lineup on Nov. 3.

Pre-injury, Acciari was winning 60.4% of his faceoffs while centering a line with Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte. They weren’t generating much offensively but were limiting opponents to 2.30 expected goals per 60 minutes, the lowest figure among Pittsburgh’s four forward lines to see at least 50 minutes together at 5-on-5.

Imama was recalled along with McGroarty last Monday as the Pens did a bit of roster shuffling. Pittsburgh has only played twice since then, and the 29-year-old enforcer suited up on both occasions. He landed a fighting major against the Lightning’s Curtis Douglas in Thursday’s win and laid three hits while registering two shots on goal, averaging what would be a career-high 7:39 of ice time per game if he doesn’t land another recall this season.

If the 19-year-old Brunicke gets back into the lineup for the Pens anytime soon, it will be his first NHL appearance since Nov. 3. The 2024 second-round pick was a healthy scratch in seven consecutive contests before Pittsburgh sent him down for conditioning two weeks ago. He’s not eligible to be removed from the NHL roster without being returned to his junior team, the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, hence the conditioning-stint workaround to get him some action in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In five appearances, the 6’3″ righty managed three assists with a +2 rating.

St. Ivany’s last two weeks in the AHL marked his first action of the 2025-26 season. The steady depth D-man sustained a lower-body injury late in the preseason that kept him from making the Pens’ opening night roster. While his conditioning stint had to end today as it hit its two-week limit, they don’t have a roster spot for him so he has to remain on the non-roster list for now. They can make a corresponding move to activate him tomorrow or place him on waivers. In the latter scenario, they can give him a non-roster designation until his waiver period ends.

The 26-year-old looked ready to go in his AHL stint, though. He notched a 1-4–5 scoring line with a +3 rating in five outings and, at that rate, will make a legitimate push to unseat the far more expensive Connor Clifton as the righty on the Pens’ third pairing.

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