Flyers Reassign Jacob Gaucher
The Flyers have reassigned forward Jacob Gaucher to AHL Lehigh Valley, per a team announcement. Doing so opens one of the two roster spots they’ll need to activate Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier from the non-roster list ahead of their Philly debuts tomorrow against the Penguins, which was delayed due to visa issues after their acquisition from the Flames last week.
Gaucher, 23, was signed to a two-year entry-level contract in December after spending parts of three seasons on minor-league deals with Lehigh Valley. He’d spent time in the ECHL as recently as last season but landed a fringe depth role with the Phantoms, posting 8-8–16 with a -7 rating in 59 AHL contests in 2023-24. It was a significant step forward for the 6’3″ pivot, who was still finding his footing in the pros after finishing off his junior career with a 68-point campaign for the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 2021-22.
This year, Gaucher had a strong camp with Philly on a tryout and returned to the Phantoms rejuvenated. He’s operating at over double last season’s point-per-game pace, and his plus-one rating is tied for ninth on the team. He totaled 14-13–27 in 44 games before receiving his first NHL call-up last Saturday.
Gaucher served as the Flyers’ fourth-line center for their last three contests, going without a point but managing three shots on goal and winning nine out of 13 faceoffs. He averaged 7:30 per game, all at even strength, and posted strong possession numbers in limited minutes with a 53.3 CF% and a +0.1 expected rating.
His reassignment also comes as Ryan Poehling, the Flyers’ usual fourth-line pivot, returned to practice today in a non-contact jersey, per Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Poehling, who’s on injured reserve, has been out with Jan. 16 with an upper-body injury and has missed 10 games. He’ll presumably miss tomorrow’s game against Pittsburgh but should be good to go when the team resumes its schedule after the 4 Nations Face-Off later this month. His return indicates that recent call-ups Rodrigo Abols and Anthony Richard will likely join Gaucher on the road back to Lehigh Valley over the break.
Blues Reassign Mackenzie MacEachern
Feb. 7: As expected, the Blues returned MacEachern to Springfield on Friday, according to a team announcement. He was scratched from last night’s loss to the Panthers, as Joseph was available to play.
Feb. 5: The St. Louis Blues have recalled depth forward Mackenzie MacEachern to the NHL. The Blues have two games remaining before going on a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off. MacEachern will be insurance for bottom-six forward Mathieu Joseph, who missed the Blues’ Wednesday practice due to illness. Defenseman Tyler Tucker also missed the skate with an upper-body injury.
MacEachern has had a productive 2024-25 campaign, even despite missing nearly two months of action between late October and the end of December. He didn’t play routine minutes until the start of January and has been red-hot ever since. MacEachern has 14 points in 12 games since the calendar turned over, and six points in his last five games. Those numbers have helped him climb to 15 points in 17 games this season, good for the third-highest point-per-game scoring on the Springfield Thunderbirds. He’s also recorded 36 penalty minutes and a plus-nine this season.
Those are stout numbers for the career depth forward, and he’ll now get a chance to support the Blues amid more absences. MacEachern is no stranger to the role of injury fill-in. He’s operated as the top forward on St. Louis’ call-up chart since the 2018-19 season and played in 51 NHL games during the 2019-20 season. He’s often filled the role of fourth-line bruiser at the top level and has just 20 points in 123 career NHL games as a result. But his impact is consistent enough to stay in favor of the Blues’ top brass. That trust, and his recent scoring streak, could land MacEachern his NHL season debut before the 4-Nations break, should Joseph need to miss time.
Lightning Reassign Conor Sheary
Feb. 7: Sheary is back in the minors this morning, the Bolts announced. He skated 11:18 in yesterday’s 5-1 win over Ottawa but failed to record a point, hit, or a shot on goal.
Feb. 6: The Lightning announced Thursday they’ve recalled left-winger Conor Sheary from AHL Syracuse. He joined the team for this morning’s practice and could draw into the lineup in place of Anthony Cirelli, according to Benjamin Pierce of NHL.com. The latter may be dealing with the undisclosed injury that made him a game-time decision for last Saturday’s game against the Islanders. The Lightning’s active roster now stands at 22 players.
Tampa Bay signed Sheary to a three-year, $6MM contract in free agency in 2023. Things haven’t gone well for the two-time Stanley Cup champion, who scored a career-low four goals in 57 games last year and ended up on waivers early in 2024-25 after going pointless through three games. He’s played once since then, skating a season-high 12:18 against the Maple Leafs on Nov. 30 during a brief recall.
The 32-year-old Sheary has been good but not dominant in the AHL, where he ranks second on the Crunch in scoring with 9-15–24 through 31 games. It’s his first action outside the NHL since the 2015-16 campaign when he notched over a point per game with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and earned a mid-season call-up to Pittsburgh that kept him in the league for a decade. The undrafted free agent signing out of UMass has been a serviceable complementary winger throughout much of his career despite his 5’8″, 182-lb frame, notching 124-143–267 in 592 career appearances.
It could be an interesting look for the Bolts tonight against the Senators if they’re down a center without Cirelli. Sheary won’t be shifting to the middle – that task will be going to former Penguins teammate Jake Guentzel, who will anchor a line between Gage Goncalves and Brandon Hagel while veteran Cam Atkinson takes his spot on the top line alongside Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.
Penguins Recall Emil Bemström
The Penguins’ bottom-six forward group continues to see turnover. After reassigning Jesse Puljujärvi to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday, Pittsburgh has recalled winger Emil Bemström to take his place on the active roster ahead of Friday’s game against the Rangers, per a team announcement.
Bemström returns to the NHL for the first time since April 2024. The 2017 fourth-rounder posted 3-2–5 in 24 games with an even rating, a 48.9 CF%, and 34 SOG after being acquired from the Blue Jackets before last year’s trade deadline and failed to make the team out of camp last October. He cleared waivers and began the most extended AHL assignment of his career, leading the Baby Pens in scoring with 19-22–41 in 37 games.
The 25-year-old Bemström was an inconsistent but sometimes effective depth scorer in Columbus. He appeared in 56 games for the Jackets in 2019-20 after coming over from Sweden and recorded 20 points, on pace for 30 over an entire season, averaging just over 12 minutes per game. His points-per-game rates varied wildly over the next few years, though. He never topped 10 goals in a single NHL season again and settled in as a fringe bottom-six offensive winger, lighting up the minors when reassigned but failing to produce in NHL minutes consistently.
Bemström now steps in to help a Pittsburgh forward group that is missing its franchise pillars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, due to injuries. Potential trade chip Rickard Rakell has shifted over to center to help out, but that’s caused a domino effect and shifted depth players like fresh acquisition Danton Heinen into a top-six role. He offers more offensive upside than fellow AHL call-up Bokondji Imama can dole out in a fourth-line role and will likely draw in to aid an offense that’s been limited to 11 goals in its last six games.
The Penguins have a bevy of other forward options producing well in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton who are waiting for a call-up. Among them are prospects Ville Koivunen and Vasiliy Ponomarev, who are both within shouting distance of a point per game. But the more established and experienced Bemström will get the call for now, as the Pens are all but set to miss the playoffs for three straight seasons for the first time since 2002-2006.
Islanders Activate Hudson Fasching
The New York Islanders have activated forward Hudson Fasching off of injured reserve per Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. Fasching has missed the Islanders’ last 13 games with an upper-body injury in the team’s January 5th game against the Boston Bruins.
He was designated as day-to-day in the immediate wake of the injury, but was quickly downgraded to week-to-week, then earned an injured reserve placement on January 17th. He was assigned to a minor league conditioning stint at the start of February and appeared in two games with the Bridgeport Islanders. The Islanders recalled Fasching on Tuesday and are expected to bring him on their upcoming two-game road trip. Defenseman Scott Mayfield won’t be going on the road trip, per Rosner, as he continues to sit out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and has been placed on IR to make room on the roster.
Fasching has been a fourth-line forward for the Islanders all year long. He’s appeared in 199 games but is still searching for his first point of the season. One penalty and a minus-six stand as his only notable stat changes. Fasching has been a bit more productive in the minors, with two points in seven games – but he’s still far off from the 14 points he posted in 45 NHL games last year. He moved to the Islanders organization ahead of the 2022-23 season, after spending four years as a top depth forward for the Arizona Coyotes. Fasching proved to be a productive minor leaguer with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, netting 106 points across 174 games and serving as the team’s captain in 2021-22. This return will place him back in the competition for bottom-line minutes in New York, pitted against Pierre Engvall and Marc Gatcomb.
Afternoon Notes: Dickinson, Pitlick, Acklin, Philp
The NHL is gearing up for a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off, giving teams plenty to do before many of their players head off for vacation, international play, or minor-league stints. The spree of afternoon news begins in Chicago, where center Jason Dickinson has avoided the worst-case scenario after suffering a scary-looking injury in the team’s Wednesday loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Dickinson took an awkward crash into the boards that trapped his leg under him in the second period. He left the game immediately and was later seen leaving the arena in a walking boot. After testing, Dickinson has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and should only miss a couple of games, head coach Anders Sorensen told ESPN.
That’s relieving news after Dicksinon seemed poised to miss the long-term. He hasn’t racked up the points this season, with just seven goals and 16 points in 53 games – but Dickinson has returned to his role as one of Chicago’s top defensive centers. He leads all Blackhawks forwards with 137 minutes of ice time on the penalty-kill, and ranks fourth on the offense in xGA/60 (expected goals-against per-60) per Evolving Hockey. Dickinson’s stout defense has earned him top minutes, centering a top-six line between Teuvo Teravainen and Ilya Mikheyev – the two players above him in xGA/60. His role would have been tough for the Blackhawks to replace for an extended period, but with this news the team can rest assured that he’ll be available when they return from break.
Headed to the West Coast, the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have signed veteran forward Rem Pitlick to a minor-league contract for the rest of the season. Pitlick hasn’t played this season, but spent last year split between the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Rockford IceHogs. He accumulated 57 points in 59 games between the two squads, and got called up for nine appearances with the Chicago Blackhawks – though his stat line read no points, two penalty minutes, and a minus-seven. Those appearances brought Pitlick up to 132 career NHL games over the course of his seven-year pro career. He has totaled 21 goals, 54 points, and 54 penalty minutes. A deal with the Barracuda will mark a chance for him to rediscover his red-hot minor league scoring, and try to show his worth to a San Jose Sharks club that currently ranks dead-last in the NHL.
Across the Conferences, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ President of Business Operations, Kevin Acklin, has stepped down from the squad per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Acklin had been in the role since 2022, and previously served as a Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the team. In his presedential role, Acklin oversaw the day-to-day business operations, strategic planning, corporate partnerships, and marketing and communication of the Penguins brand. He also supported the development of a live music venue in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District, and supported maintenance of the former site of Civic Arena – the Penguins’ home rink from 1967 to 2010.
After stops at each region of the States, we head North for our final update – where the Edmonton Oilers have assigned forward Noah Philp to the AHL for the duration of the 4-Nations break. Philp has been one of Edmonton’s top call-up options this season. He received his NHL debut on October 31st and has since played in 12 games with the Oilers lineup, including their most recent nine outings. Philp has just two assists so far, and is still searching for his first NHL goal. He’s been much more productive in the minors, where his 17 points in 28 games places him fourth in points-per-game (0.60) among players with 20-or-more appearances. Philp will now get a chance to build on those totals while the Oilers are away.
Leafs Activate Anthony Stolarz, Mitch Marner To Return
Two pillars of the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup are in line to return for the team’s Thursday game against the Seattle Kraken. Top winger Mitch Marner will slot back in after missing one game with a lower-body injury, and starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz has been activated off of injured reserve after missing nearly two months with a knee injury, per David Alter of The Hockey News. Stolarz was removed after the first period of Toronto’s December 12th win over the Anaheim Ducks. There was no clear indication of where he may have suffered his injury. He’d go on to miss 24 games with the injury, with little ever being revealed about what specifically occurred.
The Maple Leafs sorely felt Stolarz’s absence. He’s returning from injury still standing as the league leader in save percentage, with a .927 through 17 games narrowly beating out Connor Hellebuyck‘s .925 in 42 games. Stolarz has complemented that with a strong 9-5-2 record and 2.15 goals-against-average. Those strong stats are made even more impressive by Stolarz having just one shutout on the season, showing his propensity for keeping games low-scoring even when he does get beat once. Stolarz joined the Leafs on a two-year, $5MM contract this summer after winning the Stanley Cup in the Florida Panthers’ backup role last season. He recorded a dazzling .925 save percentage through 25 starts with the Panthers, and brought that performance with him in the move up North. His strong start to the 2024-25 campaign stole away Toronto’s starting role from youngsters Joseph Woll or Dennis Hildeby – and Stolarz getting the nod immediately upon returning is a good indication that he’ll remain the Leafs’ go-to netminder.
Marner’s return will also be hotly anticipated, even despite his minimal absence. The 27-year-old winger leads the Leafs in scoring by a large margin, with 70 points through 52 games putting him 15 points ahead of William Nylander in second place. Marner has earned that scoring on the back of fantastic playmaking. He ranks third on the team in xGF/60 (expected goals-for per-60) and HDCF/60 (high-danger chances-for per-60), behind only Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, per Natural Stat Trick. Marner has also alleviated any concerns that his injury may stick around, describing it as a bizarre case of losing sharpness to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.
The Maple Leafs have two games remaining before taking a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament. Stolarz could be in line to start both outings, then get an extended break to ensure he’s ready to return to a workhorse role in Toronto’s second-half. The Leafs currently rank second in the Atlantic Division with a 32-19-2 record and 66 points. They’ll be looking towards the playoffs soon, but will need all hands on deck to ensure they can get by the first round.
Sharks To Activate Ty Dellandrea From Injured Reserve
The Sharks will have forward Ty Dellandrea back in the lineup tonight against the Canucks, head coach Ryan Warsofsky tells Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. They’ll need to open a roster spot to activate him from injured reserve, which they’ll likely do by transferring Nikolai Kovalenko to IR.
Dellandrea last played on Jan. 23, missing four games with an upper-body injury. He also missed four games with a UBI earlier in the year and has been healthy scratched on a few occasions, limiting him to 41 of San Jose’s 55 games. Aside from ranking third on the team with 99 hits, he hasn’t been much of a factor. He has just one goal and four assists with a -15 rating, averaging 11:45 per game and posting some of the worst possession metrics on the team with a 41.9 CF% at even strength.
He has been an infrequent penalty killer, averaging around a minute per game shorthanded. It’s still not quite what the Sharks expected out of Dellandrea when they parted ways with a fourth-round pick to acquire his signing rights from the Stars last summer, one year removed from a 28-point campaign in Dallas. The 2018 first-round pick regressed to nine points in 42 games last year, though, so there were warning signs that his offensive development had stagnated.
The 24-year-old signed a two-year, $2.6MM contract with San Jose, so he’ll have another year to prove he’s an NHLer, barring a trade in the next few months. If he can’t add more value via his point totals or in his possession game, he’s a non-tender candidate in the summer of 2026.
Dellandrea will center the fourth line between Carl Grundström and recent waiver pickup Walker Duehr in his return, sending Colin White to the press box (via Max Miller of The Hockey News).
Kovalenko, meanwhile, missed their Tuesday game against Montreal with an undisclosed injury and isn’t expected back before the 4 Nations Face-Off. He’s one of a long list of IR-bound Sharks that includes Klim Kostin, Jan Rutta, Nico Sturm, and captain Logan Couture, who’s yet to play this season due to osteitis pubis.
Flames Recall Dryden Hunt, Reassign Clark Bishop
The Flames announced Thursday they have recalled winger Dryden Hunt from AHL Calgary. In a corresponding transaction, Forward Clark Bishop is headed back to the minors, keeping the team’s active roster at a maximum of 23 players.
Hunt, 29, has been in the Calgary organization since they acquired him from the Maple Leafs before the 2023 trade deadline. He hit unrestricted free agency for a day the following summer before signing a two-year, two-way deal to return to the Flames, which he’s now a few months away from finishing up. He was initially an undrafted free agent signing by the Panthers in 2016 and has since carved out a journeyman’s career as an NHL/AHL tweener with decent bottom-six utility.
He was recalled once earlier this season after clearing waivers during training camp but didn’t see any game action. It’s unclear whether that will change, as the Flames still have 12 healthy forwards without him. Hunt last saw NHL action in April 2024, so he’s likely to serve as a scratch tonight against the Avalanche.
The 6’0″ winger is amid a strong season for the Wranglers, leading the AHL club in scoring with 12-28–40 in 41 games. He’s hovered shy of a point per game for the club since making his Wranglers debut in 2023, totaling 77 points in 81 games. He’s routinely been a productive minor-league producer in the past, too, with a 100-136–236 scoring line in 310 career AHL appearances.
Hunt has also played 230 NHL games across eight seasons with the Avalanche, Coyotes, Flames, Maple Leafs, Panthers, and Rangers, scoring 18-33–51 and having a -30 rating. Last year, he averaged 11:08 per game across 28 appearances for Calgary, scoring 3-5–8 and ranking third on the team with 14.05 hits per 60 minutes.
Bishop, 28, had a goal and a minus-two rating in six games since being recalled on Jan. 23. He’s been a healthy scratch in Calgary’s last two contests after logging his first NHL action since February 2022. He, Hunt, Rory Kerins, and Adam Klapka are a few of the names the Flames have rotated into bottom-six roles while they deal with season-ending ACL tears for Justin Kirkland and Anthony Mantha and a lengthy absence for Connor Zary due to a knee injury.
Golden Knights Place Tanner Pearson On Injured Reserve
The Golden Knights have placed left-winger Tanner Pearson on injured reserve, per Sin Ben Vegas. Pearson, who missed Tuesday’s loss to the Islanders with an undisclosed injury, has been ruled out for the team’s final two games before the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Knights now have an open roster spot – they previously had one before the transaction, but recalled Jonas Røndbjerg from AHL Henderson today to replace Pearson on the active roster, per the NHL’s media site. He’ll join the team for tonight’s game in New Jersey and have to suit up unless they plan on dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Pearson, 32, landed a PTO with Vegas and eventually signed a one-year, league-minimum deal a few days before the start of the regular season. The 12-year veteran started the season on a high note with seven points in 11 games, but he’s been colder since then, with 12 points in 42 appearances since the beginning of November. He’s been especially cold lately, posting an assist and a minus-eight rating in his last 14 showings. He’s lost ice time and been pushed down the depth chart after the team inked Brandon Saad following his mutual termination with the Blues last week.
The 2014 Stanley Cup champion has a 9-10–19 scoring line in 53 games for Vegas on the whole, his best offensive showing since he scored 14-20–34 in 68 GP with the Canucks in 2021-22. Pearson lost most of the 2022-23 season with Vancouver due to a lingering hand injury and struggled to the tune of 5-8–13 in 54 games with the Canadiens last year.
His injury did force Vegas to roll 11-7 against the Isles, and it’s still unclear when he sustained it. Pending RFA Alexander Holtz should get a look in the top nine with Pearson out, as he’s projected to skate alongside Pavel Dorofeyev and Tomáš Hertl tonight against his former club. He’s back with the club after the team quietly assigned him to Henderson over the course of the past couple of weeks, although he never suited up for the minor-league club.
Røndjberg has played fourth-line spot duty again for Vegas this year, entering the lineup nine times. He’s still looking for his first point of the year but has secured his fourth straight season of NHL playing time with the Knights, who drafted him 65th overall back in 2017. The Danish winger has 7-8–15 in 32 games with Henderson.