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Evening Notes: Neighbours, Kemell, O’Connor

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The St. Louis Blues will get leading goal-scorer Jake Neighbours back on their current five-game road trip, per head coach Jim Montgomery. Neighbours has been out with a right-leg injury since St. Louis’ October 25th win over the Detroit Red Wings. He scored two goals in that game, bringing his year-long totals up to six goals in eight games. That mark was double any other Blues’ goal total at the time, and is still tied for the team lead despite him missing the last 11 games. He has seven points in total.

The Blues will be anxiously anticipating the return of their hot hand. They have posted a 3-4-1 record since Neighbours’ exited the lineup – the fifth-lowest point-percentage in the NHL in that span. It’s been a brutal stretch, marked by St. Louis averaging over four goals against per game. Neighbours’ confident offense, and chemistry with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich, should help spur the Blues’ offense; while his physicality supports the defense. The 23-year-old could return as soon as Thursday’s game versus the Philadelphia Flyers.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Nashville Predators have reassigned winger Joakim Kemell to the minor-leagues. Kemell was recalled on November 10th, but didn’t appear in any NHL games over the last week. His only NHL action this year came in two games at the start of Nashville’s season. He managed no scoring, one shot on goal, and four hits in the pair of outings. Kemell has managed six points in six AHL games this season, making him one of three Milwaukee Admirals scoring at a point-per-game. He’ll now bring that productivity back to an Admirals team that’s 5-1-0 through November.
  • The Colorado Avalanche will have to wait a bit longer to get depth forward Logan O’Connor back into the lineup. He has sustained an soft-tissue issue that will delay his return from a hip surgery he underwent in March per Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette. This new injury is unrelated to the surgery, per Rawal, but has still pushed back O’Connor’s original return date of early November. The 29-year-old right-winger appeared in 80 games, and scored 21 points, with the Avalanche last season. He’s become a fixture of the team’s fourth-line, and has managed at least 20 points in each of the last four seasons.

Winnipeg Jets Make Multiple Roster Moves

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The Winnipeg Jets’ forward core is going to have several differences for their upcoming contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Winnipeg announced that they’ve activated forwards Morgan Barron and Cole Koepke from the injured reserve.

Additionally, the team shared that forwards Nikita Chibrikov, Parker Ford, and Brad Lambert had all been reassigned in a corresponding roster move. All three forwards were exempt from waivers, making it much easier to activate Barron and Koepke.

Barron has been out since the Jets welcomed back their captain, Adam Lowry, in early November. He had assumed the third-line center duties in Lowry’s absence, scoring three goals and six points in 12 games, averaging 12:33 of ice time per game.

The fact that Winnipeg can now safely play Barron on the fourth line is a credit to their bottom-six depth this season. Barron is a well-above-average defensive center, averaging a 93.3% on-ice save percentage at even strength throughout his time as a Jet, and a 50.5% success rate in the faceoff dot.

Joining Barron on the active roster will be Koepke, who may not immediately step back into the lineup. Fashioned as a fourth-line winger, Koepke had only tallied two assists in 14 games before going down with his undisclosed injury.

Still, he remains in the team lead for physicality with 40 hits (2.86 per game). Regardless, there’s no questioning that Koepke doesn’t have the offensive ceiling of veteran wingers Tanner Pearson and Gustav Nyquist, who are expected to play next to Barron on the fourth line tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, none of Chibrikov, Ford, or Lambert were overly impressive throughout their time on the Jets roster. Ford and Lambert led the way in scoring with one point in 11 games and four games, respectively, while Chibrikov went scoreless.

It stands to reason that the AHL’s Manitoba Moose will benefit from today’s move. The Moose are currently in fourth place in the Central Division with a 7-6-2-0 record, and have now added three top-six forwards back into the mix.

Vancouver Canucks Reassign Victor Mancini

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The Vancouver Canucks have opened up a roster spot for the newly signed David Kämpf. Earlier today, Vancouver announced that they’ve reassigned defenseman Victor Mancini to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.

Mancini’s reassignment is expected to serve as a form of a conditioning loan. He had missed the Canucks last eight games due to an undisclosed injury and was only recently activated from the injured reserve a few days ago.

Since Vancouver already has seven healthy defensemen on its active roster, it stands to reason that it’ll allow Mancini as much time as he needs to ramp back up and eventually rejoin the lineup. He’s skated in five games for the Canucks this season and one with AHL Abbotsford, going scoreless on both teams with a -2 rating on each.

Assuming Mancini returns to form in the AHL, it’ll be interesting to see how the Canucks rework their defensive core to recall him. Tom Willander and Elias N. Pettersson are the only two defensemen on the roster outside of Mancini who wouldn’t require waivers to be reassigned. However, each has played more games than Mancini and has played better up to this point.

Additionally, the team could risk sending Pierre-Olivier Joseph on waivers to open up a roster spot for Mancini. Joseph has tallied one assist in nine games throughout his first season in Vancouver, though he doesn’t hold as much long-term value to the organization like Mancini does.

Dallas Stars Place Matt Duchene, Adam Erne On LTIR

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Dealing with several injuries on their blue line, the Dallas Stars have opened up some cap space to recall a defenseman. The Stars announced they’ve placed forwards Matt Duchene and Adam Erne on the long-term injured reserve.

Technically speaking, Duchene is already eligible to return from his LTIR placement since it was made retroactive to October 18th. Duchene’s undisclosed injury has limited him to just four games this season, during which he has scored one goal and one assist.

It’s been an unfortunate beginning to the 2025-26 campaign after signing a four-year, $18MM contract with the Stars this offseason. The former third-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft was a point-per-game player with Dallas last year, scoring 30 goals and 82 points in 82 games. He was expected again to be a contributing middle-six center for the Stars this season.

Fortunately, the long-term loss of Duchene has been offset by the exceptional play from Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz. The pair has combined for 15 goals and 37 points for the Stars this season in 33 games, with the former contributing offensively nearly every game, scoring 11 goals and 21 points in 19 contests.

Meanwhile, Erne’s eligibility for return has been pushed back a few weeks. Dallas placed Erne on the injured reserve a few days ago, and he won’t have satisfied the requirements for return from LTIR until December 5th.

Still, the Stars didn’t allude to a potential return date for Erne when they placed him on the IR, although today’s news gives additional clarification. The nine-year veteran had scored two goals and three points in 14 games for Dallas before suffering the lower-body injury.

Placing both players on LTIR allows the Stars to activate Jamie Benn, who’s very close to returning, at some point over the next few days. Additionally, Dallas will also have the flexibility to recall a defenseman — likely Vladislav Kolyachonok.

Anaheim Ducks To Activate Radko Gudas

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The Anaheim Ducks are expected to welcome back their captain this evening. According to Derek Lee of The Hockey News, the Ducks will activate defenseman Radko Gudas tonight, and he’ll be in the lineup against the Utah Mammoth.

Gudas has hardly played in the last year of this three-year, $12MM contract. Due to a lower-body injury suffered against the Boston Bruins on October 23rd, Gudas has missed Anaheim’s last 11 games.

In the seven games he has played in, it was more of the same for Gudas, tallying two assists with 12 blocked shots and 23 hits while averaging 15:35 of ice time per game. Although his CorsiFor% had shown some improvements from last season, Gudas’ on-ice save percentage at even strength had been significantly lower than his career average.

Regardless, even in the twilight years of his career, the Ducks know what to expect from Gudas. He’s one of the most physical defenseman in NHL history, sitting at 3,081 hits over the course of his 14-year career. That places him with the 10th-most hits in NHL history (since the stat had began to be recorded), and is likely to pass Brooks Orpik this season and potentially Milan Lucic.

The Ducks should also benefit from his leadership upon entering a trying time of the NHL calendar. After winning seven consecutive games at the end of October into early November, Anaheim has lost three straight in regulation. Fortunately, the Ducks’ next six games are at home where they’ve only lost once this season. Currently in second place in the NHL’s Pacific Division, Anaheim’s postseason odds will only climb if they remain in playoff positioning by American Thanksgiving.

Flames Recall Dryden Hunt, Sam Morton; Reassign Rory Kerins

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The Calgary Flames have made a few changes to their active roster. Calgary announced that they’ve recalled forwards Dryden Hunt and Sam Morton. Additionally, the team has reassigned forward Rory Kerins to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers in a corresponding roster move.

Today’s recall presents an opportunity for Hunt to play in his first NHL game of the season. Despite seeing his role reduced over the last three years in Calgary, Hunt re-upped with the Flames on a two-year, $1.65MM contract this past summer.

Regardless of seeing his opportunity drop at the NHL level, Hunt has become an exceptional offensive force for the Wranglers. Since coming to the organization in a minor swap with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline during the 2022-23 season, Hunt has scored 33 goals and 102 points in 104 games for AHL Calgary. Unfortunately, this has not resulted in NHL success, as Hunt has contributed only three goals and 11 points across 33 games while averaging 11:13 of ice time since his move to Alberta.

Likewise, Morton is another depth forward in the Flames organization who’s been highly successful at the NHL level. Calgary signed Morton as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State University in the 2023-24 season. Since then, he’s scored 29 goals and 64 points in 99 games with the AHL Wranglers. Still, he’s hardly gotten an opportunity at the NHL level. He’s only played in one game for the Flames up to this point, a game in which he scored his first NHL goal.

Meanwhile, Kerins returns to the Wranglers after participating in a couple of games for the Flames. He did average 15:51 of ice time over his recent recall, but went scoreless with a -1 rating. He’s scored five goals and 14 points in 13 games with AHL Calgary this year.

Boston Bruins Place John Beecher On Waivers

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins have placed depth forward John Beecher on waivers. If he clears by this time tomorrow, the Bruins can safely reassign him to the AHL’s Providence Bruins.

The expectation is that the Bruins were making a transaction with Beecher today. Boston may need another defenseman on the active roster with Charlie McAvoy’s status up in the air. To that end, Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald relayed a note from Bruins head coach Marco Sturm setting the expectation that something would happen with Beecher this afternoon.

Unfortunately, regarding McAvoy, there is some cause for concern. Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe reported earlier that Boston’s medical staff is still evaluating McAvoy, and that surgery hadn’t been ruled out yet.

Potentially falling to six healthy defenseman on the active roster, and coupled with Matej Blumel and Riley Tufte’s recall this morning, Beecher came the odd-man out of the Bruins’ lineup to fill in the hole on defense.

Beecher had become the odd man out, realistically, before today. The former first-round pick has been dealing with an upper-body injury of late, but has only appeared in six of Boston’s games on the season, tallying one goal. Additionally, he’s seen his ATOI drop by an entire minute compared to last season.

His lack of offense has been a consistent theme for some time now. Despite being a later first-round selection, Beecher has never scored more than 11 points in any single NHL season, and 23 in an AHL campaign. He has shown flashes of quality play in the faceoff dot and on the defensive side of the puck, though not enough to overlook his offensive staleness.

Even if he makes it through waivers unscathed, Beecher’s time in the Bruins organization may be coming to a close. The 24-year-old center, who’s earning a $900K salary at the NHL level this year, is set to become a restricted free agent next offseason and may become a non-tender candidate.

Sabres Recall Zach Metsa, Place Michael Kesselring On IR

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The Sabres announced they’ve recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from AHL Rochester. They didn’t have an open roster spot but placed fellow rearguard Michael Kesselring on injured reserve to make one, according to Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News. Kesselring is still being evaluated after sustaining an apparent ankle injury Saturday against the Red Wings, but is expected to be out long-term, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters (including Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550).

Metsa has already been recalled once this season. He was summoned for 11 days last month, resulting in the first four appearances of the 27-year-old’s NHL career. He didn’t record a point and averaged a minuscule 8:49 of ice time per game, but managed to record a +3 rating and four shot attempts. The 5’9″ righty added two blocks and a hit but didn’t have great possession metrics, controlling 42% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 despite starting nearly 80% of shifts in the offensive zone.

The Wisconsin native went undrafted out of the BCHL in 2017 but eventually landed at Quinnipiac University, where he spent five seasons and captained the team to a national championship in 2023. He recorded a 9-28–37 scoring line in 40 games during his graduate season, earning NCAA All-Tournament Team honors, but he didn’t initially secure an NHL contract. He spent the last two seasons on minor-league deals with Rochester before finally landing his first big-league deal, a two-year, two-way pact, from the Sabres in July.

Metsa has rewarded Buffalo’s commitment with his best play yet in the minors. The talented playmaker at the blue line has two goals and nine assists for 11 points through 11 games with a +2 rating. Ten of those points have come in his last six games down in Rochester, including a three-assist night against the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday.

His right-shot attribute made him the natural replacement for a fellow righty in Kesselring instead of more experienced names like Zachary Jones or Ryan Johnson. He’ll serve as the Sabres’ extra defenseman for the foreseeable future, but with Conor Timmins serving as the only other right-shot rearguard on the active roster, he might have the inside track toward a No. 6 job over lefty Jacob Bryson.

Kesselring, 25, was viewed as the principal piece of the return the Sabres received from the Mammoth for winger JJ Peterka during the offseason. So far, though, it’s been winger Josh Doan who’s proved the more invaluable part of the deal with 12 points in 18 games. That’s not entirely Kesselring’s fault, though. He sustained an undisclosed injury in training camp that, together with his now-injured ankle, has limited him to nine games. However, he’s been a non-factor when healthy, averaging just 15:37 of ice time per game and posting a -3 rating with no points.

Bruins Recall Matej Blumel, Riley Tufte

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The Bruins announced they’ve recalled wingers Matěj Blümel and Riley Tufte from AHL Providence. To open the necessary roster space, forwards Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson were placed on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 6 and Nov. 15, respectively. With under $1MM in cap space, Boston also moved defenseman Jordan Harris from standard IR to LTIR to facilitate the recalls.

It’s Blümel’s first recall to Boston since landing there as a Group VI unrestricted free agent over the summer. He was a semi-surprising omission on the Bruins’ opening night roster. Not only did they sign him to a one-way deal worth $875,000, but there was legitimate concern he wouldn’t clear waivers after an exceptionally strong three-year run of play in the minors in the Stars’ system. A fourth-round pick of the Oilers back in 2019, he never signed with Edmonton and instead landed in Dallas as a free agent out of Czechia in 2022.

While Blümel only scored twice in 13 career appearances with Dallas, he was among the AHL’s top players while with the Texas Stars. He was a two-time All-Star and led the league in goals last season with 39, capping off his first campaign above a point per game with 33 assists and 72 points in 69 outings. For a Bruins roster that looked starved for depth scoring coming into the season, he looked like a logical candidate to get an audition in a middle-six role.

That didn’t happen, and Blümel has actually been off to a sluggish start in Providence with two goals in 13 appearances. He’s still added 11 assists to maintain a point-per-game pace, though. With another top-six name in Arvidsson now out week-to-week with his lower-body injury, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub confirms, Blümel will likely be the one to replace his spot on the depth chart alongside Pavel Zacha.

While Tufte has been more offensively explosive in the minors this season, the 27-year-old’s play style makes him a more natural fit for a bottom-six/fourth-line job. The 6’6″, 230-lb winger is in his second season with the Bruins organization, but hasn’t suited up for them yet this year. He suited up six times last season, going without a point and logging a -3 rating in 9:12 of ice time per game.

The 2016 first-rounder does have 24 games of NHL experience to his name, though, and has been the centerpiece of a red-hot Providence team thus far. He’s tied for the team lead in scoring with eight goals and 16 points in 13 outings while also carrying a team-leading +10 rating. After back-to-back 20-goal campaigns in the minors, he’s more than on track for a third.

Since Mittelstadt’s already missed more than a week, he’s eligible to come off IR at any time. Like Arvidsson, he carries a week-to-week designation because of a lower-body issue, but he’ll presumably be back in the lineup sooner than his frequent linemate this year because he’s already missed four contests. As for Harris, he underwent ankle surgery in late October and isn’t expected back in the lineup until after Christmas.

Lightning Reassign Boris Katchouk

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The Lightning announced they’ve reassigned winger Boris Katchouk to AHL Syracuse. They now have two open roster spots, leaving the option for multiple IR activations ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Devils.

Katchouk was recalled last Wednesday in the wake of injuries to depth forwards Pontus Holmberg and Dominic James. It marked the 27-year-old’s first time on an NHL roster since April 2024. The second-round pick of the Lightning in 2016 spent last year on a minor-league contract with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after being non-tendered by the Senators the previous offseason.

The Ontario native returned to the Bolts for his second stint in Tampa over the summer on a two-way deal and cleared waivers during training camp. After the 6’2″ grinder had 21 goals and 49 points in 67 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last year, he got off to a similarly strong start in Syracuse with four goals and nine points through his first 12 games.

With Holmberg, James, and Anthony Cirelli all unavailable for each of the Bolts’ last three games (in addition to the LTIR-bound Nick Paul), Katchouk was never scratched and played each game of his call-up. He didn’t make much of an impact, though. He was held without a point and managed just one shot attempt despite averaging over 12 minutes of ice time per game. Tampa’s injuries forced him to slot in down the middle instead of on the wing, though, a potential explanation for why he looked so overmatched offensively. He went 36.8% in the dot on 19 attempts and recorded five hits.

Katchouk’s recall burned three games and five days off his temporary waiver exemption. After passing through them unscathed in October, Katchouk can remain on the Lightning’s roster for 25 more days or play seven more games until he needs them again to head back to Syracuse.

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