East Notes: Berggren, Stolarz, Carlile, Santini
Red Wings forward Jonatan Berggren earned the first fine of his NHL career, the league’s Department of Player Safety announced this morning. He was fined $2,148, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for a cross-check against Maple Leafs forward Connor Dewar in last night’s 4-2 win.
Berggren landed a two-minute minor on the play, which occurred immediately after a stoppage in the second period. While engaging with Dewar in front of the Red Wings net after the whistle blew, he landed a cross-check that hit Dewar in the head/neck area.
It’s a minor blip in a tough year for Berggren, who’s still struggling to recapture his rookie-season form. He’s back on the NHL roster full-time after spending most of last season in the minors, but he’s scored just four goals and six points with a -6 rating through 30 contests. He’s averaging 12:27 per game with fringe power-play usage, averaging around a minute per game with the man-advantage unit.
A 2018 second-round pick, Berggren signed a one-year, $825K deal in September after sitting as an RFA for most of the summer. He scored 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games with the Wings in his first NHL look in the 2022-23 campaign.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- The Maple Leafs moved Anthony Stolarz to injured reserve before tonight’s game against the Sabres, ending a cascade of roster moves over the past few days (per David Alter of The Hockey News). The Vezina Trophy candidate had already missed one game with a lower-body injury he sustained against the Ducks on Dec. 12. He’ll miss at least one more game following the Buffalo tilt but could be eligible to return for a rematch against the Sabres on Dec. 20. The 30-year-old has a sparkling .927 SV% and 2.15 GAA in 17 games this year with a 9-5-2 record. The Leafs’ active roster remains at a full 23 players.
- The Lightning announced they’ve returned defensemen Declan Carlile and Steven Santini to AHL Syracuse. One or both could be back on the active roster ahead of their next game on Tuesday, depending on the health of captain Victor Hedman, who’s missed the Bolts’ last two games with a lower-body injury. Carlile, 24, scored his first NHL goal in last night’s win over the Kraken, his season debut after getting into his first NHL game last season. The 29-year-old Santini played 11:37 in Thursday’s win over the Flames, his first NHL game in nearly two years, but was a healthy scratch against Seattle.
Avalanche Sign Tye Felhaber To Two-Year Deal
The Avalanche have added depth forward Tye Felhaber on a two-year contract that runs for this season and next, per a club announcement. Financial terms were not disclosed, although it’s presumably a two-way deal for the journeyman minor-leaguer.
It’s unclear if Felhaber will end up on waivers later today or if the signing doubles as the 26-year-old’s first NHL call-up. Today’s news doesn’t mark his first NHL contract signing, however. The former OHL All-Star inked an entry-level contract with the Stars as an undrafted free agent in 2019 after lighting up the major junior circuit in his overage season, racking up 109 points in 68 games with the Ottawa 67’s and leading the league’s playoffs in goals with 17 in 18 outings.
However, Felhaber couldn’t convert that production into anything meaningful at the professional level. He managed just eight goals and 18 points in 86 appearances for the Stars’ AHL affiliate in parts of three seasons before they traded him to the Lightning midway through the final season of his contract. Tampa Bay understandably opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his deal expired, making him an unrestricted free agent.
The Ontario native has since plied his trade on minor-league deals. Following his non-tender, he inked an ECHL contract with the Fort Wayne Komets, and the step down in competition proved prudent for his development. Felhaber exploded for 63 points in 51 games, helping him rebuild his offensive confidence and landing more fruitful minutes in subsequent AHL games with Milwaukee and Colorado. He’s been skating in a top-nine role for the Avalanche’s primary affiliate this season, leading the team with eight goals in 23 appearances.
The Avalanche have an open roster spot, so there wouldn’t be any corresponding moves required to keep Felhaber around for the time being. He could join the Avs on their road trip and make his NHL debut tomorrow in Vancouver.
Islanders Activate Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech From Injured Reserve
The Islanders will have two pillars back in action today against the Blackhawks. Forward Mathew Barzal and defenseman Adam Pelech have been activated from long-term injured reserve and standard injured reserve, respectively, reports Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. The Isles placed goaltender Semyon Varlamov on injured reserve in a corresponding transaction earlier this morning to open a necessary roster spot.
Barzal, 27, returns at the end of his initial four-to-six-week timeline after he sustained an upper-body injury against the Blue Jackets on Oct. 30. The injury cost him 21 of the Islanders’ 31 contests. They’ve also been without Pelech for almost that entire time. He sustained a fractured jaw midway through the Isles’ first game following Barzal’s injury against the Sabres on Nov. 1.
Neither player’s activation is surprising. Barzal returned to practice with the team on Thursday without a no-contact designation and was upgraded to day-to-day. Head coach Patrick Roy told Rosner yesterday that Barzal would be a game-time decision for today’s contest. Pelech returned to practice with the team in a non-contact sweater last week but was upgraded to full contact along with Barzal’s return to the sheet. Roy said yesterday that he expected the veteran shutdown man to return to action in today’s matinee.
The Islanders managed a 9-7-5 record without their highest-paid forward in the lineup. They’ve also been without Barzal’s early-season linemate, free-agent signing Anthony Duclair, after he sustained a leg injury earlier in October. He was also upgraded to day-to-day on Thursday, but Roy confirmed yesterday that he wasn’t quite ready to come off LTIR ahead of today’s game. That record has at least allowed them to tread water in the Eastern Conference playoff race, ending up with a .500 record with about 62% of their schedule still ahead of them. Their points percentage is good enough for 11th in the conference, and they’re currently just one point behind the Senators for a wild-card spot, although Ottawa has a game in hand on them.
After all of today’s moves, the Isles have a full active roster and just over $100K in cap space, per PuckPedia. They’ll need to clear multiple salaries to have space to activate Duclair in the coming days, which will likely involve Engvall returning to the minors after clearing waivers yesterday.
With Duclair still out and Bo Horvat likely to miss today’s game with a minor lower-body injury, Barzal will play center for the first time in quite a while in his return between captain Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Rosner reports. The 2015 first-round pick wasn’t tracking well offensively before his injury, limited to two goals and three assists in 10 games. The All-Star playmaker was coming off his best season since his Calder-winning rookie campaign in 2017-18, recording a career-best 23 goals with 57 assists for 80 points in 80 games. Besides his rookie campaign, it was his first time reaching the point-per-game mark. They’ll need his production level again to justify his $9.15MM cap hit and give them a chance at a third straight postseason berth.
Pelech returns in his familiar top-pairing role with Ryan Pulock. The 30-year-old lefty had four assists and a -3 rating through 11 contests before the fracture, averaging over 20 minutes per game. At least in the early going of the season, his possession numbers returned to the play that once had him considered one of the best defensive players in the world. The Isles controlled 54.6% of shot attempts with Pelech on the ice at even strength, which will stand as a career-high for the 10-year veteran if it continues. Isaiah George and Grant Hutton will be healthy scratches on the blue line, while Dennis Cholowski flanks Scott Mayfield on their bottom pairing.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Red Wings Return Jack Campbell From Emergency Recall
12/15: The Red Wings organization announced they’ve returned Campbell to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The roster move likely means Talbot will be healthy enough to return to the lineup before Detroit takes on the Philadelphia Flyers on December 18th.
12/13: With Cam Talbot re-aggravating his injury in practice today and Alex Lyon still not ready to return, the Red Wings need a second goalie for their game tomorrow against Toronto. Rather than bringing prospect Sebastian Cossa back up, they’ve elected to go in a different direction; the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Jack Campbell from AHL Grand Rapids on an emergency basis.
Detroit signed the 32-year-old to a one-year, one-way deal worth the league minimum in free agency this summer after Edmonton elected to buy out the final three years of his contract back in June, paying him $9MM over the next six years not to play for them. That came on the heels of a disastrous 2023-24 campaign that saw him put up a 4.50 GAA and a .873 SV% in five early-season outings, eventually resulting in him being waived and sent to the minors.
However, Campbell hasn’t played much this season. He entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program late in the preseason and was away from the team for six weeks. Upon his return, he was immediately waived and after passing through unclaimed, he was sent to the Griffins. Campbell has played in just two games since being sent down, posting a 2.55 GAA and a .919 SV% in those outings.
Ville Husso has been the primary starter for Detroit as of late thanks to the injuries and that’s likely to be the case versus the Maple Leafs rather than Campbell getting the nod against one of his former teams. But rather than pulling Cossa back up so quickly, the Red Wings have opted to give him the steadier minutes with the Griffins, giving Campbell at least a shot at a brief NHL stint until either Talbot or Lyon can return.
Senators Recall Leevi Meriläinen, Reassign Zack Ostapchuk
The Ottawa Senators will be without goaltender Anton Forsberg for an undisclosed period due to injury and with that, the team needed a netminder. Ottawa announced they’ve recalled goaltender Leevi Meriläinen from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, and have reassigned forward Zack Ostapchuk the other way in a corresponding roster move.
It would be a surprise to see Meriläinen play meaningful minutes with the Senators with his last bit of work with the team coming in the 2022-23 NHL season. Meriläinen started two games for Ottawa that year as his only NHL experience and he finished with a 0-1-1 record and a .878 save percentage.
The former 71st overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft has understandably been more effective with AHL Belleville. Meriläinen has managed a solid 20-11-5 record in 41 AHL contests with a career .908 SV% and 2.65 GAA. Still, it’ll be difficult for the Senators to turn away from Linus Ullmark who’s posted a .966 SV% over his last five starts.
Returning to AHL Belleville is Ostapchuk, who’s been a mildly used forward for the Senators this year. He’s tallied two assists in 16 contests while averaging 9:16 of ice time per game.
As much as Ostapchuk might want to remain in Ottawa he won’t be confined to a fourth-line role for the next few games at the very least. He’s suited up in nine games for Belleville this season where he’s collected one goal and eight points in total.
Islanders Recall Pierre Engvall, Place Semyon Varlamov On IR
Sunday: According to Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports, the Islanders have recalled Engvall back to the NHL, making the waiver process a bit of a formality. New York won’t have to place Engvall on waivers for another 30 days giving the organization some added flexibility. Gross also shares that the team has placed goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who’s missed the last eight games with a lower-body injury, on injured reserve retroactive to November 29th.
Saturday: Engvall cleared waivers, Friedman reports. When he’s re-assigned to Bridgeport, they will free up a pro-rated $1.15MM in cap space. As for Wahlstrom, he was claimed by Boston.
Friday: The Islanders have placed wingers Pierre Engvall and Oliver Wahlstrom on waivers for the purposes of assignment to AHL Bridgeport, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
After the Isles clear their roster spots tomorrow, they’ll have increased flexibility to activate their trio of injured skaters – Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech – from injured reserve. All three have practiced this week without a non-contact designation.
Engvall thus ends up on the wire for the second time this season. The 28-year-old tumbled down the Islanders’ depth chart during training camp and ended up on waivers before opening night rosters were due. After he managed 10 goals and 28 points in 74 games last season, it was no surprise to see him pass through unclaimed with a whopping six years and $18MM left on the seven-year deal he signed to remain on Long Island in 2023. As such, the likelihood of him being claimed this time remains slim.
In his 20-game call-up since being summoned in place of Duclair in October, Engvall has three goals and six points with a -3 rating. He’s been a healthy scratch three times in the last seven games, so it’s unsurprising to see him being one of the odd ones out to make way for their stars’ return. Waiving him also offers them the most significant possible financial benefit, which is an important consideration as they must navigate cap compliance while activating Barzal and Duclair from LTIR. They won’t be able to bury all of Engvall’s $3MM cap hit in the minors, but they will be able to shed a total of $2.15MM in cap hits combined between him and Wahlstrom.
In six games with Bridgeport in October, Engvall had just one goal. It was his first AHL action since the 2019-20 campaign as a member of the Maple Leafs organization.
Wahlstrom has been the less productive of the pair this season. While the Islanders avoided exposing the 2018 11th overall pick to waivers for as long as possible, there’s no better time than now. The 24-year-old Maine native has just two goals and four points in 27 games this season, averaging a career-low 10:04 per game.
A restricted free agent last summer, the Islanders came to terms on a one-year, $1MM deal for Wahlstrom before his scheduled arbitration hearing. Unfortunately, that choice precipitated Wahlstrom’s worst showing yet as an NHLer. While his offensive production never jumped off the page like they’d hoped, he was at least a semi-effective physical presence. He hasn’t been that at all this season, logging only seven hits in 27 games – his first time averaging under one per game. He also has an abysmal 38% shot attempt share at even strength and a 33.3% expected goals share, creating an argument for Wahlstrom as one of the least valuable skaters in the league.
Now in his sixth NHL season, Wahlstrom may be too far along in his development to be considered a legitimate bounce-back candidate with a change of scenery. Nonetheless, the former electric scoring threat in juniors may have at least one taker on the waiver wire as his $1MM cap hit is fully buriable in the minors if he doesn’t work out.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Sharks Activate Will Smith, Place Klim Kostin On IR
The San Jose Sharks have placed winger Klim Kostin on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Kostin left San Jose’s Thursday night win over St. Louis in the second period, after a scrum in the corner with a few Blues players. He didn’t appear to get hurt in the altercation, and no word on his official injury has come out. Kostin was a game-time decision for San Jose’s Tuesday loss to Carolina, after blocking a shot with his foot at practice – though he was ultimately able to play. It’s not clear if that lower-body injury is connected to this IR placement.
In a corresponding move, San Jose has activated top young forward William Smith off of IR. Smith spent the last four days on IR with an upper-body injury. He is expected to step right back into the Sharks’ lineup when they host Utah on Saturday. Smith hasn’t played since December 5th, but scored an impressive seven points in six games leading up to his injury. He’s up to 11 points through 24 games this season, after starting the year with no scoring in his first eight NHL games.
Swapping Kostin and Smith may be a jarring change in style, but it should be a seamless lineup change. Kostin earned a promotion to the third line in late November. He’s averaged over 13 minutes of ice time in six games since – a hefty step from his eight-minute-average in San Jose’s first 14 games. With Kostin now headed for the shelf, and newcomer Nikolai Kovalenko expected to round out the top-six next to Macklin Celebrini, the third-line wing will be a natural landing spot for the young Smith. The Sharks have averaged just 2.00 goals-per-game through five games in the month of December – setting Smith up to be an impactful sparkplug, if he can rediscover the scoring hot streak he was on before injury.
Minor Transactions: 12/14/24
It has been a busy Saturday on the transaction front across the NHL. We’ve covered several of them already but quite a few other teams have made minor moves. We’ll run through those here.
- Utah announced (Twitter link) that they’ve re-assigned defenseman Kevin Connauton to AHL Tucson. The veteran was recalled on Wednesday but with Utah claiming Dakota Mermis on Thursday, Connauton was no longer needed as a reserve defender. The 34-year-old has played in 17 games with the Roadrunners so far this season, notching three goals and three assists.
- The Senators announced (Twitter link) that forward Cole Reinhardt has been re-assigned to AHL Belleville, one day after being recalled. The 24-year-old has been quite productive in the minors so far, picking up five goals and ten assists in just 12 games which has helped earn him five games with Ottawa. In those outings, he has a goal and an assist, his first points at the NHL level.
- After being papered down on Thursday, the Blue Jackets have recalled goaltender Jet Greaves and winger Mikael Pyyhtia, per the AHL’s transactions log. Greaves made his 2024-25 Columbus debut on Thursday against Washington, making 35 saves on 37 shots in a losing effort. He has a 3.02 GAA and a .902 SV% in 15 appearances with the Monsters. As for Pyyhtia, the 22-year-old has played in 19 games with the Blue Jackets so far, collecting a goal and an assist while averaging 13:33 per night of playing time.
- After papering down defenseman Keaton Middleton and winger Givani Smith on Friday, the two are back up with the Avalanche, the team announced (Twitter link). Middleton has played in four games with the Avs this season in his first NHL action since the 2020-21 campaign; he has been held without a point while averaging 11:33 per night of ice time. Smith, meanwhile, was acquired as part of the Mackenzie Blackwood trade earlier this week after he cleared waivers. He has played in eight games between the two teams and is still looking for his first point of the season as well.
- After having his contract terminated earlier in the week, former San Jose prospect Valtteri Pulli has found his next home. HC Lugano of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed the blueliner for the remainder of the season. Pulli played in just two games with the AHL’s Barracuda before requesting his release earlier this week.
Canucks Recall Four From AHL
The Canucks have brought up some reinforcements before their game tonight against Boston. The team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Aatu Raty and Max Sasson along with defenseman Mark Friedman were recalled from AHL Abbotsford, reversing the paper assignments from Friday as expected. However, they also revealed that they’ve recalled goaltender Arturs Silovs using the emergency goaltender exemption.
Raty, Sasson, and Friedman have all been shuffled back and forth in an effort to keep Vancouver out of LTIR and banking as much cap space as possible. Raty has four points in 20 games so far this season while Sasson has four assists in nine outings with the Canucks. Playing time has been harder to come by for Friedman who has suited up just twice so far.
As for Silovs, he has spent most of the season on Vancouver’s roster with Thatcher Demko being sidelined for the first couple of months. However, he wasn’t able to play at the same level as he did last season and in the playoffs as he struggled to a 4.11 GAA and a .847 SV% in his first seven outings, leading to his re-assignment to the minors recently.
Vancouver only had three open roster spots (stemming from the three paper demotions yesterday) which meant that the Canucks had to use this exemption. Teams are limited to using this for a maximum of two times per season and Silovs can only be on the roster on this exemption for 48 hours. He’s taking the place of Kevin Lankinen as head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link) that the netminder is dealing with the flu.
Lightning Make Three Roster Moves
The Lightning were busy on the roster move front as they get set to take on Seattle today. The team announced that defenseman Declan Carlile has been recalled from AHL Syracuse. He takes the place of J.J. Moser who has landed on injured reserve. Meanwhile, forward Jack Finley has been activated from season-opening injured reserve and was assigned to the Crunch, per the AHL’s transactions log.
It’s Carlile’s first recall of the season. The 24-year-old made his NHL debut last year, getting into one game with Tampa Bay and with a strong season in the minors, he received a two-year, two-way deal back in June. In 2024-25, Carlile has played in 21 games with the Crunch and has been a bit quieter than normal offensively, recording just one goal and two assists. By comparison, he had 27 points in 61 games with Syracuse last season and 24 points in 69 outings in 2022-23.
As for Moser, he was injured on Thursday against Calgary. The 24-year-old is in his first season with Tampa Bay after being acquired from Utah at the draft as part of the Mikhail Sergachev deal. Moser has fit in relatively well with his new team thus far, recording 10 points in 27 games along with 39 blocked shots in just under 20 minutes a night of playing time, ranking him third among Lightning blueliners. As a result of the placement, he will miss at least the next three games and is eligible to return on December 22nd against Florida.
Finley, meanwhile, did not take part in training camp with the Lightning due to an undisclosed injury that has kept him out until now. The 22-year-old was a second-round pick back in 2020, going 57th overall. Finley had a solid sophomore professional season in 2023-24 with the Crunch, notching 13 goals and 19 assists in 52 games. He’s in the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent this summer. Since Finley wasn’t on the NHL roster at all last season, there was no cap hit while he was on SOIR.