Morning Notes: Halonen, White, Smith
The New Jersey Devils have reassigned forward Brian Halonen and defenseman Colton White to the AHL’s Utica Comets. Both players served as extras for the team’s last few games. White didn’t step into the lineup at all during his three-day recall, while Halonen appeared in one game during his four days on the NHL roster.
Both players have served at the top of Utica’s lineup for the majority of the season. Halonen is leading the team in goals (13) and tied for the lead in points (21) through 31 games. White has also been productive, with 11 points in 26 games ranking him third on the blue-line in scoring behind Seamus Casey and Simon Nemec. Despite that, neither player has cracked into a routine NHL role. Halonen has earned the first three NHL games of his career between this season and last, though he’s still searching for his first point. White has 84 career NHL games and 10 points, but hasn’t played in the top league since 2022-23. With this move, the duo will return to fighting for a full-time move to the top flight with strong play in the minors.
Across the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes have once again assigned defenseman Ty Smith to the AHL, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. Smith has bounced between rosters all season long. He’s ultimately appeared scored two points in eight NHL games, and 10 points in 13 AHL games on the season. Smith has continued to be productive in the minor leagues, after being 43 points in 63 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. He’s still a swing away from a routine NHL role, especially behind a loaded Hurricanes defense.
Brendan Perlini Released From KHL Contract
Former NHL winger Brendan Perlini‘s most recent stay overseas was short-lived. After signing with Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League last month, he was released from his contract Sunday after making four appearances, the team announced.
Perlini, 28, hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2021-22 season, when he skated in 23 games with the Oilers. He then spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons on AHL contracts with Chicago and Charlotte before remaining unsigned well into the 2024-25 regular season.
That led the England-born winger to pursue opportunities overseas for the first time since the COVID-laced 2020-21 campaign when he notched 16 points (albeit with a -17 rating) in 21 games for Switzerland’s HC Ambrì-Piotta. This stint wasn’t as productive for Perlini, who was limited to one assist and a minus-two rating in his quartet of games with Spartak.
Perlini was productive on his minor-league deals, so he should spark some mid-season interest from AHL clubs, although any two-way offers from an NHL club will likely have to wait until the summer. Last season, he recorded nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 37 games with Charlotte while accompanying the Panthers’ prospects and depth players.
The 6’4″, 212-lb winger has posted 50 goals and 81 points in 262 NHL games since the Coyotes drafted him 12th overall in 2014. In addition to bookending his career to date in Arizona and Edmonton, he made stops with the Blackhawks and Red Wings.
Spartak will retain Perlini’s KHL rights if he returns to the Russian league later in his career.
Montreal Canadiens Recall Owen Beck
Owen Beck‘s first full season in the AHL has earned him a relatively quick call-up to the NHL level. The Montreal Canadiens have announced the recall of Beck from their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. He is expected to take Emil Heineman‘s spot in the lineup while Heineman recovers from a lower-body injury sustained after being struck by a vehicle.
Beck is only three years removed from being the 33rd overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft. He debuted with the Canadiens only a year later, going scoreless against the Ottawa Senators after only 9:48 of ice time.
Montreal returned Beck to the OHL’s Peterborough Petes for the 2023-24 season and he was eventually traded to the Saginaw Spirit at the OHL trade deadline. In the most impressive run of his major junior career, Beck scored 18 goals and 51 points in 32 games for the Spirit down the stretch. Unfortunately, Beck and the Spirit were eliminated by the London Knights in the 2024 Western Conference Finals. Still, they had a berth in the 2024 Memorial Cup playoffs given their status as the host team.
In part due to a one-goal performance from Beck in the semifinal game against the Moose Jaw Warriors and a two-goal game from Beck in the championship game against the Knights, the Spirit captured their first Memorial Cup championship in organizational history.
Finally turning to professional hockey for the 2024-25 season, Beck has gotten off to an impressive rookie campaign in AHL Laval. He’s scored nine goals and 25 points in 37 games with a +9 rating. Beck is only two points away from tying the team lead in scoring which is an impressive feat considering he’s still only 20 years old. It remains to be seen if Beck will join Montreal’s lineup this evening when they take on the New York Rangers or give him a few days of practice at the NHL level.
Pacific Division Paper Transactions: Kerins, Brisebois, Lekkerimaki, Olofsson
According to Ryan Pike of Flames Nation, the Calgary Flames have reassigned forward Rory Kerins to their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. Pike adds that Kerins’ reassignment is a cap-related move and indicates Kerins should be back on the NHL roster by Monday.
It’s a testament to Kerins development that the Flames have no interest in keeping him with AHL Calgary. He’s gotten off to an impressive start in his NHL career with four assists in his first four games with a +4 rating averaging 13:33 of ice time per game. It shouldn’t be a surprise given Kerins has already scored 21 goals and 34 points in 34 games for the Wranglers this season.
Kerins will likely reprise his role as a full-time AHLer once forward Connor Zary is activated from the team’s injured reserve. Kerins is the only waiver-exempt forward on the roster outside of Matthew Coronato and Calgary will likely want to keep their fourth highest-scoring player on the roster. The only avenue for additional playing time at the NHL level for Kerins is if the Flames make a trade from the active roster or place one of their eight defensemen on waivers.
Other paper transactions from the Pacific Division:
- The Vancouver Canucks are again making a cap-related transaction on one of their off-days. Vancouver announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Guillaume Brisebois and forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Lekkerimaki has been more oft-used by the club this season scoring two goals and one assist in 11 games this year averaging 13:47 of ice time per game.
- Finishing off the list of cap-related transactions is the Seattle Kraken who have reassigned defenseman Gustav Olofsson to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds (per a team announcement). Oloffson has been in an unenviable position with the Kraken this season having been recalled on three separate occasions but has been healthy scratched for every available opportunity.
Detroit Red Wings Reassign Ville Husso
Now that Alex Lyon has fully recovered from his upper-body injury and is expected to start tonight against the Dallas Stars, the Detroit Red Wings no longer require three goaltenders on the active roster. On the chopping block is netminder Ville Husso, who the team announced has been reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
After passing through waivers unscathed at the beginning of the season, Husso is only one game away from needing waivers for reassignment again. There’s little chance he’s claimed given his subpar play this season and relatively high salary of $4.75MM but any team can become desperate for a goaltender at a moment’s notice.
Still, whether he departs via the waiver wire or unrestricted free agency, Husso is likely entering the last several weeks of his tenure with the Red Wings organization. Detroit acquired Husso as a restricted free agent from the St. Louis Blues in 2022 for a 2022 third-round pick and quickly signed him to a three-year, $14.25MM contract on the same day.
The Red Wings likely had high hopes for Husso to stabilize the team’s production between the pipes given he had just managed a 25-7-6 record in 38 starts for St. Louis with a .919 save percentage. Unfortunately, partly due to the poor defensive play in front of him, Husso has fallen well short of expectations in Hockeytown.
Over 82 starts in Detroit including eight this season, Husso has amassed a 36-32-11 record with the Red Wings with a .892 SV% and 3.26 goals-against average. According to Hockey Reference, despite some blame being laid at the feet of the team’s defense, Husso has produced a more than disappointing -25.6 goals saved above the average line and 3.34 adjusted goals against average.
Wild Return Dylan Ferguson From Emergency Recall, Place Jonas Brodin On IR
Jan 19th: The Wild organization announced they’ve reassigned Ferguson to AHL Iowa from his emergency recall. The transaction indicates Gustavsson has recovered from his illness and will be an option against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow afternoon.
Jan 18th: With Filip Gustavsson expected to be unavailable for tonight’s game against Nashville due to illness, the Wild needed to add another netminder. They’ve made that move, announcing the recall of Dylan Ferguson from AHL Iowa on an emergency basis. To make room on the roster, defenseman Jonas Brodin was placed on injured reserve.
After spending last season in the KHL, Ferguson returned to North America on a minor league deal with Iowa before being converted to a two-way NHL deal earlier this month. The 26-year-old has played in nine games in the AHL this season, putting up a 3.70 GAA and a .881 SV%. Ferguson has just three career NHL appearances, one coming as a junior-aged player with Vegas and two with Ottawa back in 2023.
As for Brodin, he has missed the last week and a half with a lower-body injury. Assuming his IR placement was backdated, he’ll have already missed the required seven days and will be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return. The veteran has 16 points and 67 blocks in 31 games this season, putting him on pace for one of his best offensive outputs.
The team also noted that David Jiricek’s recall has been converted from an emergency one to a regular recall. He was brought up when Brodin was injured and this is simply a procedural move based on Brodin’s IR placement and the expected return of Brock Faber.
Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Maxwell Crozier, Erik Černák Questionable
Jan. 18th: According to a team announcement, Tampa Bay has reassigned Crozier to AHL Syracuse. The transaction indicates Černák will be available for tomorrow night’s contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his only game with the Lightning this season, Crozier went scoreless in 14:25 of yesterday’s win against the Detroit Red Wings adding three blocked shots and four hits.
Jan. 17th: The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled defenseman Maxwell Crozier from the AHL Syracuse Crunch. The move could be an indication that Erik Cernak could be forced to sit out. Cernak left Tampa Bay’s Thursday win over Anahaim after just one shift. His injury has been left undisclosed, though he was designated as out day-to-day per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times.
Tampa Bay drafted Crozier in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Draft. He followed his draft selection with four years at Providence College, before turning pro with the Crunch at the end of the 2022-23 season. He’s primarily been a top-four defender in the AHL ever since, though Crozier did accumulate the first 13 games of his NHL career through various recalls last season. He managed two assists in those appearances. Crozier has served as one of Syracuse’s alternate captains this season and has nine points in 22 games. He’s scored eight of those points in his last eight games, putting him on a well-timed hot streak as he now heads to the NHL.
Cernak’s injury will open up upwards of 20 minutes on Tampa Bay’s defense. Darren Raddysh should be the primary beneficiary of those minutes, propping up his top-pair role next to Victor Hedman even more, while Nicklaus Perbix will return to his role in Tampa Bay’s top-four. Both Raddysh and Perbix have outscored Cernak this season, respectively netting 16 and 11 points to Cernak’s 10.
West Notes: Miller, Chernyshov, Innala
J.T. Miller and the Vancouver Canucks could be nearing a resolution to the speculated rift between himself and Elias Pettersson. Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic reported earlier that although the Canucks haven’t officially asked Miller to waive his no-movement clause, they’ve been involved in plenty of trade activity today regarding Miller.
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period added that despite the increased trade chatter surrounding Miller today, he’s still expected to suit up for Vancouver tonight as they’re set to take on the Edmonton Oilers. Neither report mentions any specific teams engaged in these trade talks with the Canucks indicating a deal is still in the very early stages.
Still, it now stands to reason, that absent any additional reporting regarding Pettersson, Miller will be the odd man out in Vancouver. Only time will tell if moving Miller is the best choice moving forward for the Canucks but it’s the easiest one. He’s making $3.6MM less than Pettersson, has less time left on his contract, is more physical, and has recently shown the capability to amass more than 100 points in a given season. Miller is the prototypical forward, so to speak, that any playoff-destined team would love on their roster.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- According to Curtis Pashelka of San Jose Hockey Now, an underrated forward prospect for the San Jose Sharks, Igor Chernyshov, is finally returning to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit after a long way back from offseason shoulder surgery. Chernyshov, who was a fringe first-round prospect of the 2024 NHL Draft but was eventually selected with the first selection of the second round, is set to embark on his first year of hockey in North America after scoring 13 goals and 28 points in 22 games last year for the MHL’s MHK Dynamo Moskva.
- Shortly after securing an important victory against the Dallas Stars, the Colorado Avalanche announced they’ve reassigned forward Jere Innala to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. It is unclear whether Innala will participate in Colorado’s game against the Minnesota Wild on Monday, or if Valeri Nichushkin will take his spot on the roster. Innala provided two hits while tallying zero points in 7:42 of today’s game against the Stars.
Buffalo Sabres Recall Devon Levi, Place Ryan McLeod On Injured Reserve
One of the best goaltending prospects is headed back to the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres announced they’ve recalled goaltending prospect Devon Levi and have placed forward Ryan McLeod on injured reserve.
Levi’s recall would appear long overdue at face value. He’s been exceptional in the AHL this season with the Rochester Americans amassing a 12-3-2 record in 17 games with a .913 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average. As promising as his efforts in the AHL have been, this production is largely par for the course for Levi.
In his third season in the Sabres organization, Levi has managed a 28-9-6 record in 43 total games in AHL Rochester with a .922 SV% and 2.38 GAA. Unfortunately, his splits with Buffalo haven’t been nearly as promising with a 17-16-2 record in 35 career starts with a .896 SV% and 3.24 GAA. Given his production at the NHL level up to this point, it’s hard to argue Levi should even be considered an upgrade on backup netminder James Reimer.
Still, at 23 years old, he’s exceptionally young for a goaltending prospect, and there’s no reason to think his AHL production isn’t an eventual sign of things to come in the NHL. Regardless of Levi’s play with the Sabres, Buffalo’s loss of McLeod for at least the next three games is the most disappointing part of this transaction.
The Sabres didn’t provide many specifics to McLeod’s injury but it’s reasonable to think it was suffered in the team’s most recent game against the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday night. There’s a chance McLeod will miss the next four games for Buffalo given they’re embarking on a Pacific Division road trip on Monday.
Factoring in the high cost of acquiring McLeod (Matthew Savoie, ninth overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft) from the Edmonton Oilers this past summer, his six goals and 18 points through the first 41 games of the season likely came as a disappointment to the Sabres.
Despite the poor offensive start to the year, he’s quieted much of the disappointment in the last week. He’s been one of Buffalo’s top players over the past week scoring four goals and six points, including a hat trick against the Carolina Hurricanes, with a +4 rating in only four games.
McLeod’s recent uptick in scoring makes this injured reserve placement all the more unpleasant to the Sabres. They’ve played better of late with a 6-4-1 record in their last 11 but will have to look to other forwards to replace McLeod’s production.
Predators Place Luke Evangelista On IR, Activate Adam Wilsby
The Predators have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Minnesota. Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game relays (Twitter link) that Nashville has placed winger Luke Evangelista on injured reserve. Taking his place on the roster is defenseman Adam Wilsby who has been activated off IR. Nashville’s active roster currently stands at 22 players.
Evangelista’s placement on IR was only a matter of time. He has already missed more than a week due to a lower-body injury and at the time of diagnosis, he was expected to miss a month. The 22-year-old had a promising showing last season in his first full NHL campaign, tallying 16 goals and 23 assists in 80 games, leading to some higher expectations for 2024-25. However, things haven’t gone as well for Evangelista this season as he had just four goals and ten assists in 39 games before being sidelined.
As for Wilsby, he missed close to three weeks due to an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old has split the season between Nashville and AHL Milwaukee. Wilsby has 15 appearances under his belt with Nashville in his first taste of NHL action, collecting a goal and three assists while logging 18:43 of ice time. Meanwhile, with the Admirals, he has five points in 13 games. With his activation giving the Preds seven healthy blueliners, it’s fair to say that Wilsby won’t be returning to the minors right away though that could change when Jeremy Lauzon is cleared to return from his lower-body injury.