Hurricanes Recall Ruslan Khazheyev
The Hurricanes have brought up some extra goaltending depth with their postseason set to get underway on Sunday. The team announced that they’ve recalled Ruslan Khazheyev from AHL Chicago. He’ll serve as Carolina’s third-string option for the time being.
The 20-year-old is in his first season in North America after signing his entry-level deal last year. Khazheyev was a fifth-round pick by the Hurricanes back in 2023, going 158th overall after a solid showing with Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk of the MHL. He spent last season with them as well before crossing the pond this year.
Khazheyev played in 20 games with the Wolves this season, posting a 3.49 GAA and a .876 SV%. He also made one appearance with ECHL Bloomington, allowing three goals on 15 shots.
Should one of Pyotr Kochetkov or Frederik Andersen go down due to injury, it’s unlikely that Khazheyev would be pressed into action. Instead, they’d likely promote one of Spencer Martin or Dustin Tokarski to serve as the backup, a role both had filled at times during the regular season. For now, those two will remain as the tandem in Chicago heading into the AHL playoffs that begin next week.
Capitals Recall Ethan Bear
The Capitals have recalled defenseman Ethan Bear from AHL Hershey, the team announced today.
Washington already had Alexander Alexeyev and Dylan McIlrath rostered as extra defensemen entering their first-round series against the Canadiens. With AHL Hershey set to begin a playoff run of their own, recalling Bear, the minor-league club’s top defenseman this season, comes across as a surprise. It’s an indication that at least one of John Carlson, Martin Fehérváry, and Matt Roy, all of whom sat out the final game of the regular season to rest, is questionable for Game 1 on Monday (Carlson also sat out the 80th and 81st games of the regular season).
Few teams have better call-up options available than the Capitals have in Bear, though. The 27-year-old righty didn’t get a crack at NHL minutes this year after clearing waivers during training camp, but he brings 275 games of regular-season experience and another eight of playoff experience to the Caps’ complement of depth defensemen.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Washington insert Bear into the playoff lineup ahead of Alexeyev or McIlrath, given that the duo combined for just 25 appearances and spent most of their time in the press box. Bear, who leads Hershey in scoring with 10-36–46 in 62 games and has a +33 rating, has far more two-way upside. Unlike Alexeyev and McIlrath, he also has experience averaging top-four minutes in the NHL. Bear began his career with the Oilers, where he averaged north of 20 minutes per game across 132 appearances from 2017 to 2021.
Regardless, it’s still been quite a while for Bear. Questions about his NHL readiness being dropped into a playoff series are fair. His last big-league appearance for Washington came on March 13, 2024. The 5’11” rearguard had 1-3–4 with a minus-five rating in 24 showings for the Caps in 2023-24 after signing a two-year, $4.13MM contract, not enough to keep him in the fold this season.
A pending unrestricted free agent, a passable playoff showing for Bear – if he gets inserted into the lineup – could go a long way toward ensuring he lands another NHL contract over the summer.
Minor Transactions: 4/18/25
There will be several small roster moves today as playoff teams recall their required third goalie for practice and emergency backup purposes, and non-playoff teams conduct some end-of-season roster trimming. We’ll cover all those moves here:
- The Blues announced they’ve recalled goaltender Will Cranley from ECHL Florida to serve as their emergency backup. St. Louis selected the 23-year-old in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. He was previously added to the Blues’ practice roster for a day during the 4 Nations break while Jordan Binnington was traveling back from the tournament. He finished his second professional season with a 2.71 GAA, .896 SV%, two shutouts, and an 11-9-3 record in 23 ECHL games. He also logged a .867 SV% in a pair of appearances for AHL Springfield, the first of his career.
- The Stars added defensemen Lian Bichsel and Alexander Petrovic back to the active roster after reassigning them to AHL Texas yesterday for cap purposes. They needed the space to activate Tyler Seguin from long-term injured reserve for the final game of the regular season. They’re expected to serve as the third pairing in Game 1 of the first round against the Avalanche tomorrow, per Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports. It’ll be the postseason debut for Bichsel, Dallas’ first-round draft choice in 2022. They also recalled goaltender Ben Kraws from ECHL Idaho as their EBUG. An undrafted free agent signing out of St. Lawrence last year, the 24-year-old impressed with a 2.88 GAA, .910 SV%, five shutouts, and a 23-12-5 record in 40 games for Idaho. He also posted a 3.01 GAA and .889 SV% in three appearances for AHL Texas, logging a 2-1-0 record.
- Serving as the Avalanche’s EBUG will be Kevin Mandolese, the team announced. The 24-year-old has spent the year as Trent Miner‘s backup with AHL Colorado after being acquired from the Senators over the offseason. He has a 2.87 GAA, .903 SV%, 11-6-0 record, and one shutout in 19 games.
- Since the Wild’s AHL affiliate is one of the few to miss the cut for the Calder Cup Playoffs, they’re going with a higher-profile option for their EBUG. Top prospect Jesper Wallstedt will fill the role for them, according to a club announcement. The 2021 first-rounder is expected to succeed the retiring Marc-André Fleury as Filip Gustavsson‘s backup next season, but is coming off a disastrous injury-plagued campaign with Iowa. He finished the year with a 3.59 GAA, .879 SV%, one shutout, and a 9-14-4 record in 27 showings.
- The Panthers summoned Evan Cormier from ECHL Savannah to be their EBUG, per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. The 27-year-old struggled with a 3.38 GAA, .887 SV%, one shutout, and a 17-13-4 record in 36 showings in 2024-25. He filled the same duties for the Cats in the first half of last year’s playoff run, signing a two-way deal at the trade deadline for the second season in a row.
- The Penguins returned forwards Ville Koivunen, Joona Koppanen, Vasiliy Ponomarev, Samuel Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen, and defenseman Filip Král to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after their late-season call-ups. They’ll aid the Baby Pens as they aim to capture a Calder Cup. Not joining them is top prospect Rutger McGroarty, who sustained a lower-body injury last week and isn’t yet ready to return.
- The Flames assigned forward Sam Morton and defenseman Hunter Brzustewicz to AHL Calgary after they made their NHL debuts in last night’s regular-season finale. Morton scored his first NHL goal in the outing, while Brzustewicz impressed with a plus-two rating. They’ll join the Wranglers for the postseason.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled enforcer Ryan Reaves from the minor leagues. Reaves recently played in his first AHL games since the 2010-11 season. He recorded one goal and, surprisingly, no penalty minutes in three games of play. The 38-year-old also recorded two assists and 28 penalty minutes in 35 NHL games this season. He’ll provide a boost of muscle to the Leafs lineup as they head towards a First Round matchup against the Ottawa Senators.
- Defenseman Emil Andrae has been reassigned to the minor leagues after holding down a routine role on the Philadelphia Flyers lineup since early March. Andrae split his time between the major and minor rosters this season, with seven points in 42 NHL games and 16 points in 25 AHL games. He was primarily a minor-leaguer last season and managed a stout 32 points, 66 penalty minutes, and minus-10 in 61 games. With the Flyers season over, Andrae will look to again support the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a late-season push.
- The Edmonton Oilers have recalled depth forward Derek Ryan from the minor leagues. Ryan split time between the NHL and AHL this year, with one goal and six points in 36 games in the Oilers lineup. He also managed eight points in 13 AHL games. Ryan has played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on five different occasions, racking up 10 points in 60 games. That includes appearing in 19 games of Edmonton’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. Ryan contributed one assist to the effort. He’ll now be returned to the NHL roster to support another long run.
- The Rochester Americans are getting a wave of strong recruits, as the Buffalo Sabres have reassigned each of Jiri Kulich, Tyson Kozak, Noah Ostlund, and Isak Rosen back to the minor leagues. Rosen leads Rochester in scoring this season with 28 goals and 55 points in 60 games. Ostlund has 36 points in 44 games, while Kozak has 14 points in 31 games. Kulich has been the only of the bunch to spend the bulk of the season in the NHL. He carved out a top-six role through points of the season. Kulich finished what was his rookie NHL season with 15 goals and 24 points in 62 games.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Predators Re-Sign Andreas Englund
The Predators announced today they’ve re-signed defenseman Andreas Englund to a league-minimum contract for the 2025-26 season. It is unclear whether it is a one-way or two-way deal.
Englund, 29, was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He split the 2024-25 campaign between Los Angeles and Nashville after the Preds claimed him off waivers from the Kings in February.
Nashville claimed Englund, who was in the final season of the two-year, $2MM deal he signed with L.A. in free agency in 2023, to serve as depth support after hard-hitting defender Jeremy Lauzon sustained a season-ending lower-body injury. He played all 82 games for the Kings last year but tumbled down the depth chart in 2024-25 after L.A. signed Joel Edmundson in free agency and promoted Brandt Clarke to a full-time role.
Englund was a healthy scratch for weeks at a time in Hollywood as a result, only playing 11 games for the Kings until they waived him well past the halfway point of the season. He finished the year in far more regular usage for Nashville, recording two assists and a minus-eight rating in 24 games while averaging 14:36 per contest. To little surprise, the 6’4″, 200-lb lefty led the Preds in blocks per 60 minutes this year with 5.65 and also racked up 36 PIMs over the last two months of the campaign.
Now, he’ll return to Tennessee to serve as a No. 7/8 defender for the Preds in 2025-26. Nashville already has six defensemen signed to one-way deals for next year, not including Adam Wilsby, who emerged as a legitimate NHL option before sustaining a season-ending upper-body injury in February. They’re also likely to weaponize a good chunk of their $18MM in cap space to add a right-shot defenseman this summer to complement Roman Josi or Brady Skjei in the top four, addressing easily the biggest hole in their lineup as they attempt to retool on the fly with a veteran-heavy roster following 2024’s free agent spending spree.
Hurricanes Reassign Scott Morrow
The Hurricanes have assigned rookie defenseman Scott Morrow to AHL Chicago with the regular season behind them, per a team announcement. The club also sent forwards Skyler Brind’Amour, Bradly Nadeau, and defenseman Domenick Fensore down to the minors after recalling them for the final few games of the season to allow for some stars to rest.
Morrow’s demotion is notable because he wasn’t part of the foursome that Carolina recalled on Tuesday. The 22-year-old has been up with Carolina since the trade deadline and frequently slotted into the lineup down the stretch, including the final five games of the regular season. Morrow, a 2021 second-round pick, finished the year with 1-5–6 in 14 games with all of his points coming at even strength.
He and impact prospect Alexander Nikishin were slated to begin the playoffs as Carolina’s extra defensemen, but the team will instead opt to keep the more veteran Riley Stillman around in the press box after recalling him along with Brind’Amour, Fensore and Nadeau this week. The stay-at-home rearguard is less of a redundancy compared to the dynamic Nikishin, who’s likely to see his NHL debut in the playoffs after signing his entry-level contract last week.
Morrow instead gets to bolster Chicago’s blue line and play meaningful postseason minutes as the Wolves have clinched a playoff berth. The first-year pro leads Wolves defensemen in scoring with 13-26–39 in 51 games, earning an AHL All-Star game appearance ahead of trying to land an opening night roster spot in Carolina in the fall.
As for the trio heading back to Chicago, the late-season call-up was most notable for Brind’Amour. The 25-year-old son of Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour scored his first NHL goal in last night’s loss to the Senators. Nadeau, Carolina’s first-rounder in 2023, also recorded his first NHL point, an assist, on Wednesday against the Canadiens. Fensore will have to wait until his next NHL call-up to get on the scoresheet.
Sharks Notes: Celebrini, Mukhamadullin, Gushchin, Schuldt, Carlsson
Sharks center Macklin Celebrini will suit up for Canada at the upcoming World Championship, reports Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest. The rookie was actually originally named to the squad last year but ultimately didn’t play. The number one pick last year, Celebrini had an impressive rookie campaign, tallying 25 goals and 38 assists in 70 games to lead San Jose in scoring, five points ahead of William Eklund, who will play for the host Swedes. Meanwhile, Miller adds that it’s unclear if their other top rookie, Will Smith, will play for Team USA at the event. Smith was fourth on the Sharks in scoring with 45 points in 74 games.
More from San Jose:
- Defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin underwent successful shoulder surgery and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp, relays Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link). The 23-year-old suited up for 30 games with the Sharks this season, collecting nine points and 51 blocked shots while averaging a little over 18 minutes a night of playing time. Mukhamadullin also had nine assists in 21 games with the AHL’s Barracuda. He’s expected to push for a full-time lineup spot next season.
- The team announced (Twitter links) that they’ve assigned forward Daniil Gushchin and defensemen Jimmy Schuldt and Lucas Carlsson to AHL San Jose. Gushchin got into a dozen games with the Sharks this season, notching just one assist. Meanwhile, Carlsson had a goal and three assists in 13 games while Schuldt was held off the scoresheet in his eight outings, his first NHL action since late in the 2018-19 campaign. The Barracuda recently clinched a playoff spot and will certainly be happy to have one of their top scorers and two of their better blueliners back for the postseason.
Minor Transactions: 4/17/25
With several teams seeing their 2024-25 seasons come to an end in recent days (with more to come tonight), there has been an influx of players being returned to the minors. We’ll keep track of the moves that have not been already covered here.
- The Ducks have returned wingers Nikita Nesterenko and Sam Colangelo to AHL San Diego, per a team release. Nesterenko played in a career-best 20 games with Anaheim this season, potting four goals and two assists. With the Gulls, he has 13 goals and 21 assists in 48 contests. As for Colangelo, he had ten goals and two helpers in 32 NHL outings while he’s just shy of a point per game in the minors with 35 points in 38 contests.
- The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defensemen Kirill Kudryavtsev and Victor Mancini, forwards Aatu Raty, Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson, and Ty Mueller, along with goaltender Nikita Tolopilo to AHL Abbotsford. Raty, Sasson, and Karlsson saw the most action with Vancouver this season with Raty being the most productive with 11 points in 33 appearances. Mancini got into 16 games after being acquired in the J.T. Miller swap, while the other three all made their respective NHL debuts in recent days. They will be big additions to an Abbotsford team who has been the hottest team in the league over the last several weeks.
- The Devils announced that they’ve returned forwards Mike Hardman and Marc McLaughlin to AHL Utica. Both players were recalled on Wednesday and suited up in their regular season finale. Hardman had an assist in two NHL games while contributing 35 points with the Comets. As for McLaughlin, his NHL season wrapped up with two goals and three assists in 14 games between New Jersey and Boston while adding 19 points in 48 outings between their respective AHL franchises.
Kraken Notes: Francis, Mahura, Grubauer, Hayden
While this season was certainly a disappointing one for the Kraken, there won’t be a big change coming in the front office. Team CEO Tod Leiweke confirmed to reporters including Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times (Twitter link) that GM Ron Francis will return for his fifth season in 2025-26. Seattle has missed the playoffs in three of its first four seasons which generally isn’t abnormal for an expansion franchise but the early success Vegas had increased expectations. Their lone playoff year came in 2022-23 when they had 100 points but they managed just 76 this season despite handing out two of the bigger deals in free agency last summer to Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson. The team projects to have more than $21MM in cap room this summer, per PuckPedia, so Francis could be a big spender once again.
More from Seattle:
- Defenseman Josh Mahura is hoping to re-sign with the Kraken this summer, Shefte relays. The 26-year-old signed a one-year, $775K deal last year after being non-tendered by Florida back in June. Mahura had a decent season in a limited role, playing in 64 games where he had nine assists while logging a little under 14 minutes a night. It’s likely that his next contract should check in once again at or near the league minimum and it wouldn’t be surprising if Seattle looked to bring him back in a similar role for next season.
- Goaltender Philipp Grubauer will play for Germany at the upcoming World Championship, Shefte notes in the same column. It was another rough year for 33-year-old, whose 3.49 GAA and .875 SV% were the worst marks of his career and saw him limited to just 26 games, plus seven more in the minors after clearing waivers. He has two years left on his contract at a $5.9MM AAV, making him a speculative buyout candidate this summer.
- The team announced (Twitter link) that center John Hayden was assigned to AHL Coachella Valley. He cleared waivers last week in advance of being returned to the Firebirds for their playoff run. The 30-year-old had a goal and an assist in 20 games with Seattle and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Ian Mitchell Clears Waivers, Bruins Reassign Six To AHL
Thursday: Mitchell has cleared waivers, relays Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal. He has been returned to Providence as well.
Wednesday: The Boston Bruins have made a wave of roster moves after playing their final game of the season on Tuesday. Most notably, defenseman Ian Mitchell has been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the minor leagues. If he clears, he’ll join five other Bruins headed to Providence: forwards Fabian Lysell, Fraser Minten, John Farinacci, and Vinni Lettieri; and defenseman Frederic Brunet. All six players have spent time in the minor leagues this season.
Mitchell will be available to all teams in the league, though post-Trade Deadline roster rules would require a claiming team to assign him to their own AHL squad. In returning to the minors, Mitchell will return to the productive 27 points he scored in 46 games with Providence earlier this season. That mark led all Providence defensemen in scoring this season, even despite the rest of the blue-line playing upwards of 20 more games. Mitchell’s two-way impact and stout scoring earned him the role of extra defenseman after Boston traded top-four defender Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the deadline.
Mitchell stepped into 15 games with the Bruins this season but only managed one point, two penalty minutes, and a minus-two. His appearances were quiet once again, lining up with the two points and 10 PIMs he recorded in 13 games with Boston last season – though he did manage a stronger plus-six that year. Mitchell has rotated between major and minor rosters for the last five NHL seasons. He has six points in nine career Calder Cup Playoff games, and would be an impactful addition to either Providence’s – or another squad’s – postseason run.
This wave of roster moves also features Boston’s top two prospects in Minten and Lysell. Both forwards rotated into the NHL lineup through the latter half of this season, but struggled to find much scoring. Minten scored just one goal in six appearances with the Bruins. Lysell recorded three points in 12 games, though they were all scored within his last four appearances. Both rookies seemed to become more-and-more comfortable in the NHL lineup as the season went on. Lysell ended the season on an impressive hot-streak that saw him actively seeking out the puck and making long-stretches of plays. Minten seemed to adjust well to a move to Boston, after being acquired in the aforementioned Carlo trade.
Both prospects have been productive in the minors. Lysell has 34 points in 51 AHL games this season – a mark he outscored with 50 points in 56 games last season. Minten has scored 30 points in 36 combined AHL games this season, including seven points in 10 games with Providence. The duo will look to carve out top roles and meaningful impacts as Providence enters the postseason.
They’ll be backed by a wave of veteran depth in Farinacci, Lettieri, and Brunet. All three have found top-end roles in Providence, led by Lettieri, whose 48 points in 46 games this season leads the AHL Bruins in point-per-game scoring. Farinacci is scoring at a career-high pace from behind Lettieri in the lineup, netting 37 points in 57 AHL games – just shy of his 38 points in 71 games last season. Even Brunet has found production from the blue-line, with 24 points in 68 games the second-best on the Providence defense behind Mitchell. All three players carved out their roles in Providence early in the season and will reassume them with this move – Lettieri and Farinacci headed back to the top-six on offense, and Brunet headed for a clear top-four role on the defense.
Penguins Recall Sam Poulin On Emergency Basis
As previously reported by Seth Rorabaugh of The Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Penguins have announced the emergency recall of forward Samuel Poulin from their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Poulin was considered one of the Penguins’ top prospects, and by some accounts, he still is. Pittsburgh selected Poulin with the 21st overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, and he scored 16 goals and 37 points in 72 games during his rookie AHL campaign in 2021-22.
Unfortunately, largely due to an extended leave of absence, Poulin didn’t take any developmental steps the following season. Still, he returned as a solid secondary scorer for the AHL Penguins in 2023-24, scoring 16 goals and 31 points in 41 contests.
This season has been his best in professional hockey by far. He’s fourth on WBS in scoring, managing 19 goals and 43 points in 56 games with a +5 rating. Meanwhile, he’s registered a career-record six appearances with Pittsburgh this season, notching one assist while averaging 10:06 of ice time per game.
Given the assumed roster turnover in Pittsburgh this summer, there’s a significant opportunity for Poulin to crack the 2025-26 opening night roster. He’s signed through next season on a league-minimum salary, and the Penguins have nothing to lose by allowing him a longer tryout than they’ve afforded in the past.