Utah Recalls Jaxson Stauber, Places Connor Ingram On IR
Nov. 21: Ingram was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday night, per the NHL’s media site. It was a necessary move to open the roster space for Stauber. The move rules Ingram out for Utah’s next three games, but he’ll be eligible to return next Tuesday against the Canadiens.
Nov. 20: Utah netminder Connor Ingram is dealing with an upper-body injury and didn’t travel with the team on their four-game road trip set to kick off tomorrow in Boston, the team announced. He’s listed as day-to-day while undergoing further evaluation, so the team has recalled Jaxson Stauber from AHL Tucson under emergency conditions to serve as Karel Vejmelka‘s backup between the pipes for the trip.
The 27-year-old Ingram has started 13 of Utah’s first 18 games, but he’s only played in one of the last three and was pulled against the Capitals on Monday after allowing four goals on 13 shots. After tying for the league lead in shutouts last season with six, he’s been one of the worst starters in the NHL this year with a .871 SV%, 3.61 GAA, and -9.9 GSAA despite his 6-4-3 record.
He’s at serious risk of at least falling back into a tandem split with Vejmelka upon his return, although if he’s been battling this injury for a while, it could explain the poor play. Utah has only won one of Vejmelka’s five starts this year, but the Czech netminder is on pace for the best campaign of his four-year NHL career with a .915 SV% and 2.58 GAA, saving 2.6 goals above average.
The first-year club has put up exemplary possession numbers at 5-on-5 despite injuries to core defensemen Sean Durzi and John Marino, but a 30th-ranked power play and Ingram’s struggles have bound them to a 7-8-3 record. There’s still plenty of time for the former Coyotes to make the playoffs in their first season in Salt Lake, but they’re four points back of the Canucks for the second wild-card spot in the West and still have to leapfrog the Avalanche, Kraken and Ducks. The Athletic currently projects their record to improve back over .500 but not by much, ranking fifth in the Central with a 25% chance at postseason action.
Meanwhile, Stauber comes up after an attention-grabbing start to his first season in the Utah organization. Signed to a two-way deal in free agency after being non-tendered by the Blackhawks, the 25-year-old has a sparkling .930 SV%, 2.29 GAA and a 5-2-0 record in seven games with Tucson. The Minnesota native has six games of NHL experience, posting a 5-1-0 record with Chicago back in 2022-23 with a strong .911 SV%, 2.81 GAA and 1.3 GSAA.
Oilers Recall Drake Caggiula
The Edmonton Oilers have recalled forward Drake Caggiula to the NHL roster. This move offers insurance after Zach Hyman left Edmonton’s Tuesday night game before the third period. It was Hyman’s 600th NHL game. No update, or indication of Hyman’s availability, has been made since his early exit.
Caggiula will now return to the NHL just a couple weeks after being sent down from his last recall. He’s played in two games with Edmonton this season, recording one assist, two blocks, and three hits in a fourth-line role. That’s fairly typical output from the veteran forward, who’s spent the bulk of the last eight seasons filling the role of depth bruiser. That context has made Caggiula’s fantastic minor-league scoring over the last three seasons all the more surprising. He has nine points, 17 penalty minutes, and a +4 in 11 games with the AHL’s Bakersfield this season, building on the 90 points he scored in 108 AHL games over the last two seasons. This three-year stint is, surprisingly, Caggiula’s first time playing in the minor-leagues – after earning an NHL role immediately after signing as an undrafted college athlete in 2016.
Caggiula’s scoring isn’t likely to translate to the top flight – it hasn’t so far – but any production would be better than what Edmonton’s received from Hyman recently. The reigning 54-goal scorer has just one assist through his last seven games, and eight points in 20 games this season. He’s on pace to finish the year with just 12 goals and 33 points, which would be Hyman’s lowest scoring in a full season since his rookie year of 2016-17. There’s no clear sign as to if Hyman is expected to sit out, or how long he may be shelved, but Edmonton will get to choose between Derek Ryan, Kasperi Kapanen, and Caggiula should a lineup spot open up.
Pacific Notes: Gibson, Hinds, Demko
It’s been an open secret for over a year that the Anaheim Ducks are looking to trade netminder John Gibson. Thanks to the emergence of Lukáš Dostál as a legitimate starting option, the timing has never been better to move on from Gibson. Because he believes a trade is on the horizon, Pierre LeBrun writes in The Athletic (Subscription Required) about a couple of teams that may be interested in Gibson’s services.
He initially lists the Colorado Avalanche as an option. The Avalanche have gotten dismal goaltending this year sitting dead last in the league with an .854 SV% split between Alexandar Georgiev, Justus Annunen, and Trent Miner. However, LeBrun believes Colorado is hoping for a Georgiev rebound given that the goaltender outplayed Connor Hellebuyck and nearly outplayed Jake Oettinger in last year’s playoffs. Still, especially if the Ducks are willing to retain some salary, Gibson’s $6.4MM salary as a starting goaltender is becoming a bargain with the increasing salary cap which may appeal to the cash-strapped Avalanche.
LeBrun also mentions the Carolina Hurricanes as a logical landing spot. The organization has gotten solid goaltending from Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov this season but the former’s ability to stay healthy has become a concern. Gibson’s current contract runs in line with Kochetkov’s and LeBrun believes he may provide more stability than Andersen who’s becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
Other Pacific notes:
- The Anaheim Ducks have reassigned defenseman Tyson Hinds to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls after the young prospect failed to make his NHL debut over the last two days. Hinds, originally drafted by the Ducks with the 76th overall selection of the 2021 NHL Draft, has played with the AHL Gulls for the last two years. He’s scored four goals and 12 points in 84 career AHL contests.
- Sportsnet’s Randip Janda provided a positive update regarding the injured netminder for the Vancouver Canucks, Thatcher Demko, this afternoon. While speaking with Demko after practice, Janda quoted the goaltender saying, “I feel really good. This is the best I’ve felt in 7-8 months. I finally see a little light at the end of tunnel, for sure, and have a lot of direction in what we’re trying to accomplish”. Demko has yet to play this season due to an injury dating back to last year and the Canucks sit 22nd in the league in save percentage with a .884 mark.
Atlantic Notes: Viel, Kämpf, Tuch, Thompson
After only two days on the roster, the Boston Bruins assigned forward Jeffrey Viel to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. He suited up for the Bruins on Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets picking up three hits while collecting 8:27 of ice time.
He failed to find the scoreboard in the loss against the Blue Jackets but Viel made a statement shortly after the game started. An enforcer-adjacent player for much of his career, he dropped the gloves against Columbus forward Mathieu Olivier just over two minutes into the contest.
Today’s transaction may result in a short stay for Viel in Providence as Boston could still use a jolt. He’s scored two goals and four points for the AHL Bruins through 14 games this season. He won’t have a regular spot in the Bruins lineup should today’s demotion only be a paper transaction but he’ll play a vital role down the stretch should the team not climb out of their current situation.
Other Atlantic notes:
- Outside of placing Max Domi on injured reserve today, the Toronto Maple Leafs have also moved forward David Kämpf to the long-term injured reserve (X Link). The team placed Kämpf on the injured reserve yesterday (retroactive to November 16th) with a lower-body injury and today’s transaction will remove his $2.4MM from the equation. Toronto is projected to possess $2.313MM in cap space at the deadline and won’t accrue any more until activating multiple players from the LTIR.
- Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News shared a few updates regarding the Buffalo Sabres and their matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. After initially projecting as questionable for today’s matchup due to an undisclosed injury, forward Alex Tuch is expected to play tonight. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Tage Thompson, who will miss his third consecutive game due to a lower-body injury. There was some optimism that Thompson could return tonight after practice on Monday but today’s practice has changed Buffalo’s mind.
Blackhawks Place Seth Jones On IR, Recall Louis Crevier
Nov. 20: Jones will miss four weeks with the right foot injury, head coach Luke Richardson said Wednesday (via Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times). He’s already missed two games and is now on pace to miss around 11 more, ruling him out for more than 15% of Chicago’s season in total. A four-week timeline from the date of the injury means his return target is during their back-to-back against the Devils and Islanders on Dec. 14 and 15.
Nov. 16: The Blackhawks have placed defenseman Seth Jones on injured reserve with a right foot injury, relays Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (Twitter link). Taking his place on the active roster is blueliner Louis Crevier who has been recalled from Rockford, per the AHL’s transactions log. Chicago currently has 22 players on its roster following the moves.
Jones sustained the injury against Seattle on a blocked shot but remained in the game, adds Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, who adds more information will be known when they return home from their road trip on Sunday.
The 30-year-old has once again been a significant piece on Chicago’s back end, leading the team in average ice time at 25:43 per night. Jones also leads the Blackhawks in points by a defenseman with 10. Covering his absence will certainly be a difficult task, one that won’t be handled by just one or two players.
To that end, Crevier is more of a depth recall over someone who could be expected to play a little higher in the lineup. The 23-year-old, who stands 6’8, got into 24 games with Chicago last season in his first taste of NHL action, compiling three assists, 50 blocks, 30 hits, and a minus-16 rating. This year, he has played in 11 games with the IceHogs, notching one assist.
While this might have seemed like a situation to bring up Kevin Korchinski (who logged 19:37 per night for the Blackhawks last season and could have helped cover some of the missing offense), it appears Chicago feels that he’s best served staying with Rockford for the time being. Artyom Levshunov, a right-shot option like Jones, is also available but just eight games into his pro career, they’d like to keep him away from the top level for at least a little while longer.
Capitals Recall Ivan Miroshnichenko, Move Alex Ovechkin To IR
The Capitals have recalled 2022 first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko from AHL Hershey, per a team announcement. They had a full active roster, so captain Alex Ovechkin heads to injured reserve in a corresponding move after being ruled out yesterday on a week-to-week basis with a lower leg injury. Winger Sonny Milano, who’s out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, also shifted from IR to LTIR to give the Caps additional space in their LTIR pool.
It’s unlikely that Miroshnichenko will slide into the first-line left-wing spot vacated by his countryman’s injury, but the 20-year-old deserves the recall after a hot start on the farm. The 6’1″ winger is second on Hershey in scoring with seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in 16 games, improving wildly on a per-game basis over last season’s nine goals and 25 points in 47 AHL games.
Miroshnichenko, the 20th overall pick two years ago, got his first NHL action last season. He made 21 appearances for the Caps amid several call-ups, scoring twice and adding four assists for six points with a -4 rating. He was limited to middle-six minutes, averaging 12:08 per game with minimal special teams time. However, he positively impacted their even-strength possession numbers and finished fourth on the team in hits per 60 minutes with 11.76.
He’ll likely make his season debut tomorrow against the Avalanche alongside fresh trade acquisition Lars Eller and Jakub Vrána on the Caps’ third line if line rushes at today’s practice were any indication. Hendrix Lapierre will likely remain a healthy scratch, while Miroshnichenko should also get some reps on Washington’s second power-play unit, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News.
The IR placement rules Ovechkin out for at least the Capitals’ next two games, but his absence will be more prolonged than that. Milano, who hasn’t played since Nov. 6 with his UBI, is now ineligible to return before their Nov. 30 game against the Devils and will miss at least five more contests. He has no points and a -3 rating in three appearances this season amid the injury and a lengthy run of healthy scratches.
Blue Jackets Reassign David Jiříček, Mikael Pyyhtiä
The Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that they’ve returned top defense prospect David Jiříček to AHL Cleveland. Left-winger Mikael Pyyhtiä is joining him on the road down to the minors, leaving Columbus with a pair of open roster spots.
Jiříček, who turns 21 next week, has had quite an underwhelming start to the season. After making the opening night roster as expected, the 2022 sixth-overall pick has been a healthy scratch 12 times in 18 games, despite a shoulder injury to fellow right-shot defenseman Erik Gudbranson keeping him out of the lineup since mid-October.
Most expected that injury to open up more playing time for Jiříček, who had 10 points in 43 games for the Jackets last year and was an AHL All-Star in his first season in North America in 2022-23. But head coach Dean Evason has instead opted to give more minutes to 24-year-old Jordan Harris, who was acquired from the Canadiens in this summer’s Patrik Laine trade.
Jiříček’s path to NHL ice got further muddied when Columbus claimed fellow righty Dante Fabbro off waivers from the Predators last week. Fabbro has more than earned his lineup spot in his first few games for the Jackets, though, posting three points and a +3 rating in four appearances while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game.
Jiříček drew into the lineup against the Bruins on Monday for the first time in over a week, but he played a season-low 8:14 in Columbus’ 5-1 win. Overall, the 6’4″ Czech has averaged just 11:12 of ice time through six appearances in 2024-25, down from last season’s already limited 14:36 mark, and has one assist with a -2 rating. That’s despite Columbus controlling 60.5% of expected goals with Jiříček on the ice at even strength compared to 47.9% last year.
The lack of playing time has led to some fervent trade speculation over the past few days, although there’s yet to be a credible report of an imminent move. It’s the first roster move for Jiříček this season after he was assigned to and recalled from Cleveland on five separate occasions in 2023-24.
Jiříček will now undoubtedly log heavy minutes in Cleveland while awaiting his next NHL chance, whether in Columbus or elsewhere. Since arriving in North America immediately after his draft year, the blue-liner has 13 goals and 44 assists for 57 points in 84 AHL games with a -27 rating. He joins a Cleveland defense that’s currently being dominated by first-year pro Denton Mateychuk, who was selected six spots after Jiříček in 2022 and has a remarkable six goals and 16 points through his first 15 AHL contests.
Pyyhtiä’s reassignment comes with Kent Johnson being set to come off injured reserve in the coming days after missing just over a month due to a shoulder injury. The writing was on the wall for the 22-year-old Finn, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this season against Boston and has just one goal in 17 games with a -6 rating despite averaging nearly 14 minutes per contest.
The Blue Jackets selected Pyyhtiä in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. He made the opening night roster for the first time this season, getting some brief looks on the penalty kill as well. He had seven goals and 28 points in 60 appearances for Cleveland last season, his first extended run in North America. He now has a goal and three assists in 36 career NHL appearances dating back to the 2022-23 campaign.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Maple Leafs Place Max Domi On IR, Recall Nikita Grebenkin
The Maple Leafs announced that they’ve placed center Max Domi on injured reserve with a lower-body ailment retroactive to Nov. 16. They recalled winger Nikita Grebenkin from AHL Toronto in a corresponding transaction, marking the first of his career.
Domi, 29, will miss tonight’s game against the Golden Knights but will be eligible to come off IR for the following game, a Sunday tilt against Utah. He’s been a rare sight at practice recently as he played through the lower-body injury, but it’s now advanced enough to require him to sit out.
It explains the lack of production from Domi, who’s now gone 13 games without a point despite playing top-six minutes for most of the month with captain Auston Matthews on the shelf. After signing a four-year, $15MM extension in June, the Winnipeg native has no goals on 24 shots and six assists in 19 games this season, producing at a career-low pace across the board despite averaging about 90 more seconds per game of ice time than last season.
Domi becomes the sixth regular forward who won’t be available for tonight’s game. Matthews has been on IR for nearly two weeks, Max Pacioretty was shifted to LTIR yesterday as he recovers from a hamstring injury, Calle Järnkrok remains on LTIR after undergoing groin and sports hernia surgery on Monday, David Kämpf landed on IR yesterday with a lower-body issue, and Ryan Reaves is ineligible to play while serving the first game of a five-game suspension that will keep him out through the rest of the month.
Despite the absence of their captain and a considerable amount of depth scoring, the surging Leafs are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games and are only one point back of the Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division. While they’re understandably scoring less than last season, their record has much to do with some improved team defense – they’re allowing 6.7 high-danger scoring chances per game at 5-on-5 compared to 8.0 in 2023-24. It also has a lot to do with spectacular play in the early going from free-agent signing Anthony Stolarz between the pipes, who leads the league with a .927 SV% and is on pace for 52 starts, smashing his career-high of 24 set last year with the Panthers.
Unfortunately, the pace of the injury bug is accelerating. Domi, Kämpf, and Reaves are all out after playing in Toronto’s last game, an overtime win over the Oilers last weekend. That means Fraser Minten will make his season debut after being recalled yesterday as the corresponding transaction for Kämpf’s IR placement. At the same time, Grebenkin will make his NHL debut instead of Domi tonight.
Grebenkin, 21, was a fifth-round selection by the Leafs in the 2022 draft. The 6’2″, 209-lb Russian winger gained some attention with a strong training camp, and he’s kept up the momentum in his first season in North America, as Steven Ellis profiled for Leafs Nation earlier this month.
Through his first 13 AHL games, Grebenkin has four goals and six assists for 10 points, tied for second on the Marlies in scoring with veteran Logan Shaw. He’s also yet to take a penalty and has a +1 rating.
Grebenkin is coming off a standout season in his home country with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. He tied for second on the team in scoring with 41 points (19 G, 22 A) in 67 games after being named the KHL’s best rookie the year prior, playing a pivotal role as they won the league’s championship trophy, the Gagarin Cup.
However, it’s still unclear who will replace Domi at center tonight. It won’t be Grebenkin, who can play either left or right wing but isn’t a natural pivot. It may, however, be Mitch Marner, who head coach Craig Berube said yesterday was open to the shift to the middle from the wing if necessary (via Luke Fox of Sportsnet).
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Minor Transactions: 11/19/24
As teams continue to try to bank as much cap space as possible, there were quite a few paper moves made today. We’ll run those down here.
- The Flames announced that winger Adam Klapka was recalled from AHL Calgary. He was sent down on Saturday and got into two games, picking up two goals and an assist. While Klapka is now on a five-game point streak at that level, he hasn’t recorded a point in his first five NHL contests so far this season. He’s likely to serve as the reserve forward tonight versus the Islanders.
- The Hurricanes are continuing their near-daily movement as they’ve recalled winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin from AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. Blake has been sent down five times already but hasn’t played with the Wolves and with five goals and two assists in 17 games with Carolina, he probably won’t anytime soon. Meanwhile, even though Carolina is using Pyotr Kochetkov and Martin as their tandem with Frederik Andersen injured, the Hurricanes haven’t moved Andersen to IR which allows them to continue to paper Martin down on off days while technically remaining compliant with roster minimums.
- The Lightning have recalled winger Gage Goncalves, per a team release. He was sent back to the AHL on Sunday in a cost-clearing move and didn’t suit up while on assignment. The 23-year-old has six assists in five games with Syracuse from earlier in the year and has been held off the scoresheet in his first four appearances with Tampa Bay.
- A day after being papered back to the minors, Sam Colangelo is back up with the Ducks, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 22-year-old was initially recalled on Sunday but didn’t play in Monday’s game. Colangelo is off to an impressive start to his first full professional campaign, tallying six goals and nine assists in 14 games with San Diego.
- While not a direct paper transaction, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the Maple Leafs have transferred winger Max Pacioretty to LTIR, freeing up the cap space for today’s recall of Fraser Minten. Pacioretty suffered a lower-body injury on November 9th and must now miss at least 10 games and 24 days from that point.
Bruins Fire Head Coach Jim Montgomery
Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney announced that the club has relieved head coach Jim Montgomery of his duties. Associate coach Joe Sacco will assume an interim head coach role. Montgomery’s ousting comes after a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. It was Boston’s third consecutive loss, and the 10th in their last 15 games. The Bruins have been outscored 51-to-28 in those games, good for a -23 goal differential – the worst in the NHL since October 19th.
To say Boston’s early season has fallen short of expectations would be an understatement. The team stands with an 8-9-3 record, and needed overtime to achieve half of their wins. No aspects of the lineup seem to be firing properly, with David Pastrnak (17) and Brad Marchand (13) the only Bruins to pass 10 points through 20 games – and even they’re scoring below their typical pace. Netminder Jeremy Swayman hasn’t been any better, with his .884 save percentage in 14 appearances outmatched by backup Joonas Korpisalo‘s .901 in seven appearances. It’s been top-to-bottom struggles in Boston, sparking the first coach firing of the young season.
Montgomery will be replaced by Boston-native, and Boston University alum, Joe Sacco, who’s served on the Bruins bench since the 2014-15 season. Sacco worked under three different head coaches in that span – serving as an assistant up until this summer, when he received an aptly-timed promotion to associate coach. He’ll now take one step further, moving into his first head coaching role since 2012-13, when Sacco was fired after a four-year tenure with the Colorado Avalanche. He only led Colorado to the postseason once, in 2009-10 – his first year as an NHL head coach. He set a 43-30-9 record that year, only to fall to a dismal 88-104-21 record through his next three seasons. That includes a 16-25-7 record in the 2012-13, which paved way for Colorado to select Nathan MacKinnon first overall in the 2013 NHL Draft. Before his time in the NHL, Sacco achieved a 60-79-21 record across two seasons with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.
But while past precedent may not shine favorably on Sacco, his decade in Boston has provided plenty of learning experience. He’s become known for overseeing Boston’s penalty-killing unit, which ranks as the second-most effective in the NHL over the last decade. More specifically, the Bruins have three separate seasons in the top 10 of penalty-killing percentage since 2014-15 – posting a second-ranked 87.3 percent in 2022-23, a seventh-ranked 86 percent in 2020-21, and a 10th-ranked 85.7 percent in 2016-17. That’s in large part thanks to Sacco, who amassed 738 career NHL games of his own – standing out as a stout defensive-forward. Those traits will come in handy for a Bruins team currently allowing the fourth-most goals in the league.
Meanwhile, Montgomery will now look for new work less than two seasons after leading Boston to a record 65 wins in 2022-23. The Bruins were promptly ousted in the first round of the postseason, but the year was nonetheless monumental. It ended in Linus Ullmark winning the Vezina Trophy, Patrice Bergeron – again – winning the Selke Trophy, and Montgomery winning the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. Montgomery followed it with a very strong 47-20-15 record last season, commanding Boston through the loss of longtime lineup pillars Bergeron and David Krejčí and making it to the playoff’s second round.
Montgomery’s hockey roots run deep. He was a star at the University of Maine, captaining the team’s 1993 NCAA Championship run while serving strong opposite of Paul Kariya. He signed in the NHL as an undrafted free agent soon after and became a star scorer in the minor-leagues – amassing 328 points across eight years and 451 games in the AHL. He retired from an 11-year pro career in 2005 and didn’t take on his first head coach role until 2010 – but his winning tendencies quickly came back. Montgomery led the Dubuque Fighting Saints to the USHL Clark Cup in both 2010 and 2012 – earning a move step up to the University of Denver, where he won another NCAA Championship in 2017. He was hired by the Dallas Stars in 2018, and led the team to a 60-43-10 record, though he stepped down as head coach partway through the 2019-20 season. Still, his hockey resume is as strong as it comes, and it likely won’t be long before Montgomery finds himself once again commanding an NHL lineup.