Ducks To Activate Mason McTavish From Injured Reserve
The Ducks will activate center Mason McTavish from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s contest against the Kraken, Derek Lee of The Hockey News reports. Anaheim is only carrying 22 out of the maximum 23 players on the active roster, so they won’t need to make a corresponding transaction to have him back in the lineup. Nonetheless, they’ve carried 13 healthy forwards for most of the year, so a demotion to the AHL, either Sam Colangelo or Jansen Harkins, is likely coming.
McTavish, 21, has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury. He landed on IR last week as the Ducks opened up roster flexibility in the wake of injuries to fellow forward Robby Fabbri and veteran defenseman Cam Fowler.
Through 13 games before exiting the lineup, McTavish had two goals and six assists for eight points. That works out to 0.62 per game, down slightly from last season’s career-best 0.66 rate in his sophomore season.
Selected third overall in 2021, the cerebral McTavish has transitioned well to the NHL early on. He’s firmly grasped a top-nine role and was averaging a career-high 16:18 per game before his upper-body injury. He hasn’t looked out of place at all down the middle, either, tying for third on the team in scoring last season with 42 points in 64 games while winning 437 out of 845 faceoffs, good for 51.7%.
The Switzerland-born Canadian national had spent most of his time this season centering Fabbri and Trevor Zegras, although he’ll obviously have some different linemates tonight with Fabbri on the shelf. His return is an important one for the .500 Ducks, who have managed to stay afloat thanks to strong goaltending despite their 24th-ranked offense (2.53 goals per game, up from last season’s 2.48).
Canadiens Recall Joshua Roy, Reassign Lucas Condotta
12:34 p.m.: While no corresponding transaction was required, the Habs made one anyway by announcing they’d reassigned center Lucas Condotta to Laval. The 27-year-old pivot had one goal and a -2 rating in seven games since being recalled near the beginning of the month, averaging 8:12 per game and winning 58.6% of his draws with three blocks and 10 hits.
9:04 a.m.: The Canadiens announced they’ve recalled right-winger Joshua Roy from AHL Laval. Montreal had an open spot on the active roster, so no corresponding moves are necessary.
The Habs give Roy’s first crack at playing time this season ahead of their home game tomorrow evening against Utah. It’s unclear whether Roy will enter the lineup, as he becomes the 14th healthy forward on the Montreal roster, but it’s hard to see the reasoning behind the 21-year-old getting a summons without the intention of playing him.
If he plays, it’ll mark his second season in the NHL after making 23 appearances across a couple of call-ups between January and March last season. Roy is in just his second professional season after being drafted in the fifth round by Montreal in 2021, spending a pair of post-draft seasons with the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix before jumping to pro hockey with Laval in 2023. The 6-foot youngster adjusted better than most expected, earning that recall and posting four goals and five assists for nine points with a -2 rating, averaging 12:08 per game in his first NHL audition.
That led to speculation that Roy would make the opening night roster last month. He remained on the roster until the last round of cuts but was assigned to Laval when opening night rosters were due on Oct. 7.
He’s taken the assignment in stride, posting eight goals and eight assists for 16 points over 17 appearances in the AHL. The Quebec-born forward has a +3 rating after finishing with a team-worst -17 mark last year, and he’s three points ahead of Alex Barré-Boulet and Logan Mailloux for the team lead in scoring.
Roy still has two more pro seasons or 137 NHL games left until he requires waivers, so the Canadiens can return him to Laval without any fanfare. It’s not out of the question that he’ll be returned to the minors in short order, but with them obtaining an extension for winger Rafaël Harvey-Pinard‘s conditioning loan as he recovers from offseason leg surgery (per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports), there could be a bit of an extended opportunity for him to show he belongs on the NHL roster.
Hurricanes Reassign Tyson Jost, Pyotr Kochetkov Out Indefinitely
The Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned forward Tyson Jost to AHL Chicago. They haven’t done anything to fill his roster spot, although head coach Rod Brind’Amour also confirmed that goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov has entered concussion protocol after leaving Saturday’s shootout loss to the Blue Jackets and doesn’t have a timeline for a return (per the team’s Walt Ruff).
Carolina is now officially without their top two goaltenders for the foreseeable future. Starter Frederik Andersen hasn’t played in nearly a month and recently underwent knee surgery that will keep him out of action until January or February.
Kochetkov, 25, left the Columbus game during overtime after teammate Sean Walker inadvertently skated into his head while trying to stop a rush chance from Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski. There appeared to be significant whiplash on the play, but as with any head injury and subsequent concussion, Kochetkov’s absence could be anywhere from a week to more than a month.
A 2019 second-round pick, the young Kochetkov has had to step up many times in recent seasons with injury-prone veterans Andersen and Antti Raanta ahead of him. He started the year as the undisputed No. 2 for the first time after Raanta became an unrestricted free agent and wasn’t brought back following a brutal 2023-24 campaign. He’s done well in 13 starts, posting a 10-2-0 record with a .904 SV% and 2.42 GAA. That’s been good enough for 3.9 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, up from last year’s 0.7 mark despite his decreased SV% and GAA.
The buck now falls on 29-year-old journeyman Spencer Martin and inexperienced 24-year-old Yaniv Perets, although it’s hard to imagine the championship-contending Hurricanes not making a move to add a more stable name to their crease if Kochetkov trends toward missing significant time. Perets has not logged NHL ice aside from stopping one shot in less than 13 minutes of action in a game against the Kings in January of last season, although he served as a backup for Carolina once earlier this month. Martin, meanwhile, has a 1-2-1 record with a .870 SV% and 3.21 GAA in three starts and one relief appearance since coming up to the roster in October in relief of Andersen.
Perets’ minor-league numbers this season don’t portray him as a legitimate NHL option, even in a pinch. The undrafted free agent signing out of Quinnipiac in 2023 has just a .825 SV% and a 3.67 GAA in three AHL appearances for Chicago this season and had a subpar .889 mark in 34 games for ECHL Norfolk in 2023-24.
Jost, 26, heads back to the minors after going without a point in his last six games. The 5’11” center/left winger signed a one-year deal for the league-minimum $775K with Carolina over the offseason after being non-tendered by the Sabres, but he was waived and assigned to Chicago shortly after making the opening night roster. The Canes recalled him just over two weeks ago after he put up a goal and two assists in eight minor-league games, but he averaged just 9:20 through seven NHL appearances with a goal on eight shots. Since he remained on the active roster for fewer than 30 days and played less than 10 games, he doesn’t need waivers to return to the AHL.
Rangers Recall Matt Rempe, Chris Kreider Out Day-To-Day
The Rangers announced they’ve recalled forward Matt Rempe from AHL Hartford. He comes up with Chris Kreider set to miss tonight’s game against the Blues with an upper-body injury, Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports reports. They opened a roster spot with a series of transactions yesterday, so no IR placement or corresponding move is required.
It’s Rempe’s second recall of the season after making the opening night roster but only sticking around for a few weeks, earning a demotion to Hartford in late October. The 2020 sixth-round pick has been in the minors for nearly all of November, last being rostered for an NHL contest against the Senators on Nov. 1, a game for which he served as a healthy scratch.
Even with Kreider out and Filip Chytil not taking line rushes at today’s practice, per Larry Brooks of the New York Post, it’s entirely possible Rempe is only up to serve as additional injury insurance and may sit in the press box for a seventh time this season tonight versus St. Louis. The Rangers gave themselves another forward option last night by recalling Brett Berard, who Brooks says practiced with the second power-play unit today, strongly indicating he’ll make his NHL debut. If Rempe does draw in, that would indicate a healthy scratch for a depth piece like Adam Edstrom.
This month’s lengthy demotion means Rempe has seen 10 games of AHL action this season compared to three NHL contests. The towering 6’8″ enforcer has scored twice and added an assist in those minor-league games, but his -7 rating is second-worst on Hartford. He averaged just 5:26 per game in his trio of NHL appearances last month, down from his already measly 5:38 mark last year, and posted no points with six hits and a fight.
Rempe appeared in 17 NHL contests at the tail end of last season as the Rangers looked to add a physical spark to their fourth line. In his short stay in the lineup, he racked up 71 PIMs and recorded his first two NHL points, a goal and an assist.
Rempe doesn’t yet require waivers to return to Hartford, but the pending restricted free agent will need them starting with the 2025-26 campaign.
Meanwhile, Kreider is on an ice-cold streak, recording just one point in his last six games. It’s not clear if he sustained the upper-body issue in the Rangers’ 6-2 loss to the Oilers on Saturday or if he’s been playing through it. The 33-year-old is second on the team with nine goals in 19 games but has miraculously yet to record an assist.
Jets Recall Ville Heinola, Place Dylan Samberg On IR
The Winnipeg Jets have placed Dylan Samberg on injured reserve with a broken foot. Samberg suffered the injury in the second period of Winnipeg’s Saturday matchup against Nashville, blocking a Steven Stamkos slapshot with his skate and immediately leaving the ice. Winnipeg has also recalled the oft-injured Ville Heinola from an AHL conditioning stint in a corresponding move, setting him up to make his season debut after starting the year on the season-open non-roster list. Heinola had surgery on his ankle in September.
Samberg has served a top role for Winnipeg all season long, recording six points through 21 games while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time. He’s once again serving next to Neal Pionk, the same role that Samberg recorded a career-high 31 points in last season. He’s dug his feet in as yet another evergreen defensive-defenseman in the Jets lineup. That role was stamped this summer when the Jets signed Samberg to a four-year, $19.6MM contract extension. He’s recorded 83 points across 316 games with Winnipeg, bringing his career totals to 147 points in 575 games.
Heinola will offer a quick substitute for Samberg, returning to the NHL after scoring one assist in two games on his AHL conditioning stint. Heinola spent all of the 2023-24 campaign in the minors, scoring 27 points in 41 games with the Manitoba Moose. He’s yet to vindicate a 20th-overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft despite being in North American pros since 2019-20. He jumped into the NHL right away, recording five points in his first eight games with the Jets – but failed to maintain that scoring through injury and moves to the AHL and a return to Finland’s Liiga during the COVID-19 season of 2020-21.
Heinola played in five NHL games at the tail-end of that year, going without any scoring – even despite 11 points in 19 AHL games. He’s since bounced between Winnipeg and Manitoba, intercut by routine trips to injured reserve. Heinola has totaled 11 points in 35 career NHL games and a much-more productive 103 points in 154 AHL games.
Hurricanes Activate Seth Jarvis, Recall Yaniv Perets, Assign Ty Smith
The Carolina Hurricanes have activated top forward Seth Jarvis from injured reserved. Jarvis missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury. He returned to practice in a no-contact jersey on November 19th. In a corresponding move, Carolina also recalled goaltender Yaniv Perets and assigned defender Ty Smith.
Jarvis will return ahead of a three-game homestand for the Hurricanes, giving a much-needed boost to a Carolina offense that got outscored by New Jersey and Columbus in their last two outings. Jarvis has 11 points through 13 games this season, returning to a pivotal role in the team’s top-six and special teams. He’s coming off a prolific 2023-24 campaign, scoring 33 goals and 67 points despite playing most of the season injured. The 22-year-old has established himself as a pillar of the Carolina lineup, and will now get a chance to get back to point-per-game scoring. His return will likely bump William Carrier or Tyson Jost out of the lineup, with Eric Robinson hanging onto his role with four points in his last four games.
Carolina also bolsters their net with this move, recalling Perets following a scary injury to de facto starter Pyotr Kochetkov. No update on Kochetkov’s prognosis has been given, but Perets’ recall suggests Carolina will deal with at least a few days without their top netminder. They’ll now have to decide between Spencer Martin and Perets for the starting role. Martin has a 1-2-1 record and .870 save percentage through five NHL games this year. Perets hasn’t made his first career NHL start yet, but has stepped into three AHL games – with a .825 save percentage through three games. With both goalies on NHL recalls, the Chicago Wolves are left with Dustin Tokarski and Ruslan Khazheyev in their net.
The Hurricanes will move forward with an improved offense, but tattered goaltending room. They’re 6-3-1 through their last 10 games, outscoring opponents 39-to-28.
Tim Gettinger Clears Waivers; Reassigned To AHL
11/24: The Red Wings confirm that Gettinger has safely passed through waivers. The organization announced Gettinger has officially been activated from the season-opening injured reserve and has been reassigned to their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids.
11/23: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier today that the Detroit Red Wings have placed forward Tim Gettinger on waivers. If he clears by tomorrow afternoon, Detroit will reassign Gettinger to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Gettinger hasn’t suited up for the Red Wings yet this season despite requiring waivers to return to the AHL. He’s been on the organization’s season-opening injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment which has kept him off the ice until now.
After signing back-to-back one-year contracts, he’s in his second year with the Red Wings organization. He spent last season with the AHL Griffins scoring 12 goals and 25 points in 55 contests.
He was drafted with the 141st overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers. New York is where Gettinger played in his only NHL contests, skating in 16 games from 2018-2022.
He’s been a solid if unimpressive player in the AHL throughout his career scoring 74 goals and 158 points in 292 games between the Griffins and Hartford Wolf Pack. Due to the lack of experience at the NHL level, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Gettinger will go unclaimed over the next 24 hours.
Gettinger won’t have much responsibility once he fully recovers from his injury in Grand Rapids. The Griffins are one of the strongest teams in the AHL this year with an 11-4-1 through their first 16 games.
Senators Recall Zack Ostapchuk
The Ottawa Senators have recalled forward Zack Ostapchuk. He was assigned to the minor leagues just under two weeks ago, fitting in three games and three points with the AHL’s Belleville Senators before returning to the top lineup. Ostapchuk serves as an alternate captain for Belleville, where he has eight points in nine games this season.
Ostapchuk has also appeared in six NHL games this season. He recorded one assist – his first NHL point in 13 games through this season and last. He spent the bulk of last season in the minors, scoring 17 goals and 28 points in 69 games. He’s in just the second year of his pro career, after a prolific career in the WHL. Ostapchuk played his rookie junior season in 2019-20 and played through his draft year in 2020-21 – combining for 59 points in 66 games, good enough to earn the 39th-overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Ostapchuk took on the Giants’ captaincy in the proceeding 2021-22 and held onto it until a midseason trade in 2022-23. He scored 72 points in 81 games with the Vancouver ‘C’ on his chest, and looked even better on a dazzling Winnipeg Ice roster where he managed 38 points in 34 games.
The Senators aren’t likely to need Ostapchuk right out of the gates. Instead, the top prospect will likely serve as an extra forward behind red-hot scorer Adam Gaudette on the fourth line. Ostapchuk will again be searching for his first NHL goal if, or when, he slots back into the Senators lineup.
Golden Knights Activate Nicolas Hague, Pietrangelo Still Day-To-Day
The Vegas Golden Knights will see the return of defenseman Nicolas Hague this evening as the organization announced they activated him off the injured reserve shortly before their contest against the Montreal Canadiens. Hague has been on the shelf for three weeks with an undisclosed injury and will play in his first contest tonight since November 2nd.
Hague has been an ultra-consistent defenseman for the Golden Knights since the team selected him with the 34th overall selection of the 2017 NHL Draft. He’s coming off an impressive stretch from 2022 to 2024 which saw him post some of the best defensive metrics of his career.
His 154-game stretch over the last two years only yielded five goals and 29 points on offense. On the defensive side of the puck, Hague racked up 244 blocks, 27o hits, a 91.3% on-ice save percentage in all situations, and an Expected +/- of 2.8. He became a focal piece of the Golden Knights defensive core leading the organization to its first Stanley Cup championship in 2023.
It unfortunately won’t be a completely healthy defensive core for Vegas tonight against Montreal. Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported earlier that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is still considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Webster confirmed that Pietrangelo is progressing well through his injury but he will still miss his second straight game due to the ailment.
Ducks Assign Jansen Harkins To AHL
The Ducks have made a roster move on their off day. Per the AHL’s transactions log, Anaheim has re-assigned forward Jansen Harkins to AHL San Diego.
Harkins is in his first season with Anaheim after signing a two-year, one-way contract with the Ducks on the second day of free agency back in July. His $787.5K cap hit will come off the books following the demotion.
Harkins was brought up a week and a half ago and played a regular role on the fourth line during that time. Overall, the 27-year-old has played in six games with Anaheim so far this season, picking up an assist along with 15 hits in 10:40 of playing time per night. However, Harkins has been quite productive with the Gulls. So far, he has tallied five goals and 12 assists in 11 games; his 1.55 points-per-game average is second-best among AHL players with five or more appearances.
With Anaheim being off until Monday, it’s possible that this is just a paper move, one that allows them to stall Harkins’ waiver clock for a couple of days. However, it also could be a sign that one of Mason McTavish (upper body) or Brock McGinn (lower body) are on the verge of returning from their respective injuries in which case they wouldn’t need to bring Harkins back right away.