Golden Knights Recall Akira Schmid
Vegas hasn’t had particularly strong goaltending in the early going this season with starter Adin Hill struggling, in particular. Now, they’ve added a third netminder to their roster as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Akira Schmid from AHL Henderson.
The Golden Knights acquired the 24-year-old from New Jersey at the draft along with winger Alexander Holtz in exchange for center Paul Cotter and a 2025 third-round pick. Schmid was then non-tendered by Vegas to avoid giving him arbitration eligibility but he quickly signed a two-year, $1.75MM contract to stick around with his new team.
Schmid made quite an impact with New Jersey in 2022-23, playing to a 2.13 GAA and a .922 SV% in 18 games, even seeing some action in the playoffs. However, he didn’t have anywhere near the level of success last season, posting a 3.15 GAA with a .895 SV% in 19 outings and was eventually assigned to the minors when Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen were acquired at the trade deadline.
While it originally looked like Schmid might be the backup to Hill when he was acquired, Vegas went out and signed Ilya Samsonov in free agency which put an end to any thought of that. Instead, the Golden Knights utilized his waiver exemption to get him to the Silver Knights. However, he has struggled with them in the early going this season, putting up a 3.56 GAA and a SV% of just .885 in his first six outings. Notably, Schmid is eight NHL appearances away from being waiver-eligible. SinBin.Vegas notes (Twitter link) that Samsonov is not on the ice for practice today which is what led to Schmid’s promotion.
Vegas had an open spot on its active roster so no corresponding move needed to be made to add Schmid.
Islanders Place Mathew Barzal On LTIR, Announce Several Roster Moves
The Islanders had some injuries in last night’s victory over Buffalo and it has necessitated some roster moves. The team announced (Twitter link) that blueliners Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc were recalled from AHL Bridgeport. To make room on the roster and to keep the team cap-compliant, Adam Pelech was placed on injured reserve while Mathew Barzal was placed on LTIR. Meanwhile, blueliners Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov are listed as day-to-day with upper-body injuries.
Barzal recently sustained an upper-body injury that caused him to leave the team’s current road trip for more evaluation. That testing has revealed that he’ll miss the next four to six weeks, making him LTIR-eligible as he’ll clearly miss the next ten games and 24 days. Last year, the 27-year-old recorded his first 80-point season since his rookie campaign but he hasn’t been able to maintain that level of production in the early going this season, notching just two goals and three assists in his first ten outings. Nonetheless, his absence will still be a significant one for a team that’s already one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL through the first month of the season.
Pelech, meanwhile, was injured versus the Sabres and will carry the same timeline as Barzal for his upper-body injury. With Barzal and his $9.15MM AAV landing on LTIR, there’s no need for them to move Pelech there at this time despite being eligible as they’ll have ample spending room using Barzal’s money. It’s now the third straight year that the 30-year-old will miss significant time due to injury, hardly the ideal spot for one of New York’s most important blueliners. Pelech is averaging over 20 minutes per game in the early going, a mark he has reached in each of the last five seasons. He has four assists, 12 blocks, and 17 hits in 11 outings so far.
As for the recalls, Hutton is in the third and final season of a one-way deal that pays $775K per season. Despite the NHL salary, he has spent the bulk of this deal in the minors, suiting up just twice with the big club over the past two years. This season, the 29-year-old has two assists in nine AHL contests. Bolduc, on the other hand, is more familiar to the coaching staff as he played in 34 games with New York last season but still went unclaimed on waivers last month. He’s making $800K this season on a one-way deal and has five points in his first nine AHL games of the season.
Reilly was also injured against Buffalo and was in enough distress that a stretcher was brought out. While he was able to exit the ice with some help without the stretcher, he obviously didn’t return to the game. Romanov was also banged up in that one but was able to return. With the recalls, New York now has six healthy defenders on the roster which suggests they’re hopeful that either Reilly or Romanov will be able to return in short order.
Capitals Place Jakob Chychrun On IR, Recall Vincent Iorio
The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Jakob Chychrun on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. In a corresponding move, they’ve also recalled defender Vincent Iorio for the first time this season.
Little details have been revealed about Chychrun’s injury. He hasn’t hit the ice since leaving Tuesday’s win over the New York Rangers after just four shifts. There wasn’t any clear moment where Chychrun appeared to get injured, though he was seen clutching at his ribs in his last shift. Chychrun sat out of Washington’s Thursday win over Montreal, and will now have to miss at least one more week of action. With his move to IR not retroactive, this move will force Chychrun out of at least four games. His next chance to play will be when Washington visits St. Louis on Saturday, November 9th.
This news brings a screeching halt to Chychrun’s hot start in Washington. He’s been the team’s clear-cut top left-defender, averaging over 21 minutes of ice time and recording four points in seven games prior to injury. Chychrun joined the Capitals via trade this summer, with Washington dealing Nick Jensen and a third-round pick back to the Ottawa Senators – just over one year after Ottawa traded a first-round and two second-round picks for the defender. For all of his moves over the last two seasons, Chychrun has seemed to find a home in Washington – and could even set a new career-high in scoring should he maintain his current scoring pace.
With Chychrun headed to the shelf, Washington is once again turning towards top defenseman Vincent Iorio. Iorio was the 55th-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and turned pro in the 2022-23 season, finding a spot on the Hershey Bears’ blue-line and ultimately posting 36 points in 123 games over the last two seasons. Iorio showed plenty of mature, two-way ability early into his career – enough to earn call-ups to the NHL roster in both of his pro years so far, though it’s only resulted in one assist across nine games.
Iorio has just three points in nine AHL games this year, but could still stand for a strong chance at ice time behind a depleted Capitals blue-line behind John Carlson and Rasmus Sandin. He’ll most likely step in for Dylan McIlrath, who’s slotted onto the third-pair for eight games this season and recorded two assists. McIlrath and Iorio could also cede ice time to Matt Roy when he returns from an October 12th injury.
Pacific Notes: Brännström, Bains, Dellandrea, Couture
With a game tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks, the Vancouver Canucks are continuing their tradition of an off-day paper transaction. Typical recipients Erik Brännström and Arshdeep Bains are back on the NHL roster for tomorrow’s action as announced by the organization.
It’s the fourth time this season that both players have been involved in a paper transaction. The Canucks are continuing to accrue cap space with both players off the roster with a projected deadline cap space of $8.75MM according to PuckPedia.
Neither player has been an eye-popping talent for Vancouver to start the year, but they have been noticeable in their own ways. Brännström has tallied one assist in six contests with a +3 rating while averaging 14:15 of ice time per game, while Bains has recorded one goal in six games while distributing 10 hits in the process.
Other Pacific notes:
- Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group reported that San Jose Sharks forward Ty Dellandrea‘s injury status has been demoted to day-to-day. Dellandrea suffered the injury on October 26th against the Vegas Golden Knights and the team officially put him on the injured reserve two days later. Players on the shelf must spend at least seven days on the injured reserve meaning the Sharks can activate Dellandrea on November 5th. However, it appears he’ll be medically cleared before that.
- Still in San Jose — arguably the most important player in the locker room is not expected back anytime soon. Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports Sharks’ captain Logan Couture still hasn’t resumed skating although he is staying involved with the team. Couture is unfortunately still suffering from Osteitis pubis which limited him to only six regular season matchups last year and has prohibited him from taking the ice up to this point in the 2024-25 campaign.
Ducks Reassign Tristan Luneau
The Ducks announced Friday that they sent defenseman Tristan Luneau down to AHL San Diego. The move opens up a roster spot, one they’ll need to take goaltender John Gibson off injured reserve when he’s fully recovered from his preseason appendectomy surgery.
Gibson’s return is likely imminent, but even without the roster math, Luneau heading down to the minors is likely best for the blueliner’s development. The 20-year-old played in Anaheim’s first five games of the season but has been a healthy scratch in four out of the last five. He’s averaged 16:33 of ice time through six total appearances, posting a -5 rating, nine blocks, and five hits.
A 2022 second-round pick, Luneau cracked the Ducks’ opening night roster last season. He made just seven appearances through the first couple of months, also spending some time in San Diego on a conditioning stint before being loaned to Team Canada for the 2024 World Juniors. He never got to suit up in the tournament, though. He developed a viral infection shortly after joining the national junior team that sidelined him for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
Now fully healthy, the 2022-23 QMJHL Defenseman of the Year can get his development back on track. The 6’1″ right-shot defenseman was dominant in his junior career, totaling 144 points and a +53 rating in 159 appearances for the Gatineau Olympiques from 2020 to 2023. In 13 total NHL appearances over the past two seasons, he has a goal and two assists with a -4 rating. With Luneau on the ice at even strength, the Ducks have controlled 46.3% of shot attempts. In his short time with San Diego last season, he had two assists in six games.
His entry-level contract didn’t go into effect last season because he didn’t play 10 NHL games. That means he’s still got two seasons left on his deal after this one and won’t be a restricted free agent until 2027.
Avalanche Recall Nikita Prishchepov
The Avalanche announced that they’ve recalled forward prospect Nikita Prishchepov from AHL Colorado ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Predators. Veteran depth piece T.J. Tynan is also back up on the NHL roster after being papered down yesterday to accrue cap space and delay his temporary waiver exemption.
With Matthew Stienburg suspended for two games for charging Lightning defenseman Erik Černák in Wednesday night’s loss, the injury-plagued Avalanche didn’t have the roster flexibility to replace him in-house. He was sent down to AHL Colorado yesterday, freeing up his roster spot but delaying the commencement of his suspension until he returns to the NHL roster. That meant two recalls were coming today – Tynan plus a new face from their minor-league affiliate.
That new face is Prishchepov, who’s now poised to make his NHL debut tomorrow, months after the Avs took him in the seventh round of the 2024 draft. The 20-year-old was an overage pick who’d been passed over in the 2022 and 2023 drafts but worked his way into consideration with 22 goals and 67 points in 63 games for QMJHL Victoriaville in his third and final season of junior hockey. Colorado inked the Russian center/left-winger to an entry-level contract early last month after a decent training camp, which proved prudent in hindsight.
Prishchepov is off to a decent start to his professional career, scoring once and adding three assists in six AHL games with 8 PIMs and a +3 rating. It’s good production early on from the 6’1″ forward, but it’s clear he’s a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option this early on in his development.
Unfortunately for the Avs, their injury situation up front constitutes an emergency. They were already without top-six forwards Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin to begin the season. Ross Colton and Jonathan Drouin have since joined them on injured reserve, although the latter is close to returning. Miles Wood is also day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. However, he won’t be out long enough to warrant an IR placement, meaning the Avalanche only had 11 healthy forwards available against Tampa. Oliver Kylington, one of their two extra defenders on the roster, slotted in as their third-line left wing.
Prishchepov still has two seasons left after this one on his ELC. He costs $806.7K against the cap while on the NHL roster, although that’s somewhat irrelevant for the Avs right now with so much money stashed on long-term injured reserve. He’ll be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2027.
Predators Sign Ozzy Wiesblatt To Two-Year Extension
The Predators have signed forward prospect Ozzy Wiesblatt to a two-year, two-way extension, per general manager Barry Trotz. The deal is worth $775K per season at the NHL level, but his minor-league salary wasn’t disclosed.
It’s a nice bit of organizational security for the 2020 first-round pick of the Sharks, who’s had a peculiar last few months. The 22-year-old winger was in his second season with the Sharks AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, last year. But after posting underwhelming rookie totals, he still struggled to pop off offensively on one of the AHL’s worst teams. After scoring three goals and 11 points in 34 games and struggling to get much playing time, the Sharks loaned him to Nashville’s affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, without rescinding his NHL rights.
Wiesblatt finished the season with a goal and five assists in 16 appearances for Milwaukee. He appeared to gain more confidence in postseason play, registering nine points in 15 Calder Cup Playoff games as the Admirals advanced to the Western Conference Final. That showing piqued the Preds’ interest enough to acquire his NHL rights in June, sending the signing rights to forward Egor Afanasyev to the Sharks in return.
Now in the final year of his entry-level contract, the Calgary native has two assists and a +1 rating in six appearances for Milwaukee in 2024-25. He’s still likely a ways away from seeing NHL action, but he’s done enough to secure an extended minor-league audition. He has plenty of runway to continue his development and rediscover the form that led him to churn out 25 goals and 70 points in 64 games in his draft year for WHL Prince Albert, convincing San Jose to select him with the final pick of the first round.
Wiesblatt will be 25 years old when his extension expires in the summer of 2027. He’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at that time and will have two years of team control left.
Blue Jackets To Activate Dmitri Voronkov From Injured Reserve
The Blue Jackets will have left-winger Dmitri Voronkov in the lineup for the first time this season tonight against the Jets as he makes his return from an upper-body injury, head coach Dean Evason told reporters (including the team’s Jeff Svoboda). He’ll be activated from injured reserve, but with ample cap space and an open roster spot, no corresponding transaction is necessary.
Voronkov, 24, had his start to his sophomore NHL season delayed when he sustained the injury late in Columbus’ preseason schedule against the Penguins. The initial prognosis wasn’t good, but it quickly became apparent that Voronkov wouldn’t require surgery to address the issue and would be back in weeks, not months. He returned to practice late last week, so he’s had a bit of run-up before re-entering the lineup.
It’s a legitimately impactful bit of news for the Blue Jackets, who have won two in a row and are now in wild-card position early on with a 5-3-1 record through nine games. Their offense clicking at a top-10 rate with 3.89 goals per game has much to do with that, and Voronkov’s return should only help them in that regard. The 2019 fourth-round pick arrived in North America last season after spending the prior five years with Ak Bars Kazan of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. He made an immediate impact in a middle-six role, finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 34 points (18 G, 16 A) in 75 games. With Voronkov on the ice at even strength, Columbus controlled 50.4% of shot attempts and 52.2% of expected goals, considerably above team averages.
Evason said that his return will send late-offseason pickup Kevin Labanc to the press box. Signed to a one-year league-minimum pact after being released from his professional tryout with the Devils, the 28-year-old had points in four of his last five games and five assists in seven games overall with a +3 rating. Nonetheless, it’ll be his third healthy scratch of the young season.
Voronkov is a pending restricted free agent. He’s in the final season of his entry-level contract, which earned him a $92.5K signing bonus over the summer and pays him a base salary of $832.5K this season for a cap hit of $925K. He’ll be eligible for arbitration.
Panthers Reassign Patrick Giles
The Panthers announced that they’ve loaned center Patrick Giles to AHL Charlotte. As expected, this opens the cap space necessary to activate Tomáš Nosek from long-term injured reserve before this afternoon’s Global Series game against the Stars.
Giles, 24, is waiver-exempt and never stood much chance of sticking around on the NHL roster after Nosek was ready to return. The undrafted free agent signing out of Boston College has played nine games since being called up in the first few days of the season, but the numbers show he’s not ready for a full-time job. The 6’4″, 205-lb forward went 14 for 47 on draws (29.8 FOW%), posted a -1 rating, and managed only four shots on goal while failing to record a point. He averaged 7:23 per game, and the Panthers were caved in for those limited minutes he was on the ice, controlling only 37.6% of shot attempts at even strength. That’s despite Giles receiving 63.3% of his zone starts in the offensive end.
This is Giles’ first season signed to an NHL contract. He’d spent the last two on AHL deals with Charlotte, with 37 points (16 G, 21 A) in 148 games with a +2 rating. In June, he inked a two-year entry-level contract with Florida, making him a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in 2026.
Nosek coming off LTIR means he’ll be making his Panthers debut in a mid-season neutral site game in Finland, which is certainly unusual. The 32-year-old bottom-six fixture inked a one-year, one-way league minimum pact with the Cats over the summer. He’ll center Florida’s fourth line between A.J. Greer and Mackie Samoskevich, adding 434 games of NHL experience to the unit. He’ll be a significant upgrade over Giles in the role without considering point totals, boasting a career 54.4 FOW% and an impressive 51.4 xGF% at even strength, considering his usual defensive deployment. Nosek is coming off a tough year with the Devils, though, limited by injuries to six points and a -11 rating in 36 games.
Golden Knights Reassign Brendan Brisson
The Golden Knights announced yesterday night that they’ve assigned winger Brendan Brisson to AHL Henderson. No corresponding transaction was made, so Vegas is left with an open spot on the active roster.
Brisson, the Golden Knights’ first-round pick in 2020 (No. 29 overall), made the team out of camp for the first time this season. It’s been a nightmarish start for him, though, while many other of Vegas’ depth scorers have succeeded. He’s without a point and has posted a -3 rating in seven games, averaging 10:11 per contest. He’s been a healthy scratch on four occasions and has a combined -4 rating in his last two outings. The Los Angeles native has seven shots on goal and has controlled only 43.8% of shot attempts and 33.9% of expected goals when deployed at even strength.
It’s not what the Knights expected out of the 23-year-old, especially after he recorded two goals and six assists for eight points in his first 15 NHL appearances last season throughout a few call-ups. He’s been buried in fourth-line minutes and has now effectively lost his lineup spot to preseason waiver claim Cole Schwindt, who had two assists and a +3 rating against his former team, the Flames, in just 9:02 of ice time on Monday.
Many expected Brisson’s emergence to be critical for the Golden Knights this season to replace the scoring lost by the departures of Michael Amadio, Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson in free agency. Instead, it’s been players like Pavel Dorofeyev (6 G, 3 A in 11 GP), Tanner Pearson (3 G, 4 A in 11 GP) and Brett Howden (5 G in 11 GP) picking up the slack for the Knights, whose 4.55 goals per game are second in the league.
Now, the speedy Brisson returns to Henderson to improve his game. He has 40 goals and 83 points in 117 appearances for Vegas’ top affiliate over the past three seasons, including 19 goals and 38 points in 52 games in 2023-24. He’s in the final season of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent next summer.