Flames Activate Samuel Honzek From Injured Reserve
The Flames announced yesterday before their 5-1 loss to Utah that they’ve activated rookie Samuel Honzek from injured reserve. Adam Klapka was reassigned to AHL Calgary to open an active roster spot.
Honzek had been out of the lineup since sustaining an upper-body injury against the Blackhawks on Oct. 15, which occurred on a brutal hit from Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy late in the game. He was ruled week-to-week two days later before he landed on IR. The specific injury he sustained on the play remains unclear, but it cost him five games. He re-entered the lineup last night against Utah, posting a -1 rating in 10:52 of ice time.
Selected 16th overall in 2023, Honzek had an excellent preseason and truly earned a spot on the Flames’ opening night roster. That hasn’t yet translated to regular-season success, though, as he’s been held without a point and has six shots on goal in five appearances. That’s despite seeing a small bit of power play time and spending most of his time at even strength in first-line duties alongside Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko. He returned to the lineup yesterday in a slightly diminished even-strength role alongside Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman.
Nonetheless, his return gives the Flames a fully healthy NHL lineup that’s lost four straight in regulation after starting the season 5-0-1. It’s not an unexpected regression for the Flames, who many expected to be closer to lottery contenders than playoff ones after finishing 24th in the league last season and proceeding to trade away Andrew Mangiapane and Jacob Markström. Jake Bean and Anthony Mantha have been strong albeit inconsistent reinforcements acquired through free agency, though, and top goaltending prospect Dustin Wolf is holding his own with a .907 SV% and 1.8 GSAA through five starts.
Meanwhile, Klapka heads to the minors after cracking the Flames’ opening night roster. He’s been passed on the depth chart by veteran call-up Justin Kirkland, who’s notched five points in nine games and already leads Calgary forwards in blocks with 11. The 6’8″ right-winger was a healthy scratch in two out of their three games and scoreless in five appearances. The 24-year-old is still waiver-exempt, and his demotion was the most convenient and logical one to get Honzek back on the roster.
Sharks Acquire Timothy Liljegren From Maple Leafs
The San Jose Sharks have acquired defenseman Timothy Liljegren from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Matt Benning, a 2025 third-round and 2026 sixth-round draft pick. Toronto will get the better of the third-round picks that San Jose previously acquired from the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche.
The move ends a tumultuous seven-year run for the 17th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Maple Leafs were patient with the 25-year-old, waiting for him to realize the potential that made him a first-round pick. Unfortunately for Toronto, that untapped potential never translated to results, as Liljegren could not crack Toronto’s top four on defense.
Liljegren was re-signed to a two-year $6MM contract back in late June, but despite the new contract, Liljegren quickly lost the trust of new head coach Craig Berube and general manager Brad Treliving. Liljegren has only dressed in one regular season game thus far and struggled mightily, as the Maple Leafs were out-chanced 21-2 while he was on the ice for 12 minutes of even-strength hockey.
Coming back the other way is 30-year-old depth defenseman Matt Benning. The Edmonton Alberta native is in the third year of a four-year $5MM contract, meaning that Toronto will realize a cap savings of $1.75MM in the transaction for this season and next. Benning is a useful defenseman who is just two years removed from his best offensive season as a pro (one goal and 23 assists in 77 games). While Benning will serve as valuable depth for Toronto, he is unlikely to see the kind of ice time he was seeing in San Jose and will most likely be Toronto’s eighth defenseman.
Lightning, Lukas Svejkovsky Mutually Terminate Contract
Oct. 30: Svejkovsky cleared waivers, per Friedman. As a result, he’s assumedly terminated his contract.
Oct. 29: The Lightning placed forward Lukas Svejkovsky on unconditional waivers today, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Assuming he clears tomorrow, he’ll have his contract mutually terminated.
Svejkovsky, 22, is a new addition to the Lightning organization. A fourth-round pick of the Penguins in 2020, Tampa Bay acquired Svejkovsky from the Penguins for similarly buried depth forward Bennett MacArthur in late June.
Born in Tampa while his father, Jaroslav Svejkovský, was playing for the Lightning, Lukas has just one goal through four games with AHL Syracuse this season. He spent most of 2023-24 in the ECHL with the Penguins’ affiliate in Wheeling, where he impressed with 37 points in 30 games. However, he simply hasn’t managed to break through to the AHL level full-time – he had only four points in 19 games during an audition with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season.
While also a Czech national, Svejkovsky has spent his entire hockey career in North America. He played in the British Columbia prep and junior system before playing major junior hockey with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, Medicine Hat Tigers and Seattle Thunderbirds from 2018 to 2022.
If he clears waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow and could sign with any NHL, AHL/ECHL, or European club. With Jaroslav now working as an assistant coach for the Canucks, there might be a home for him back in Vancouver somewhere in the organization, potentially a two-way deal with AHL Abbotsford.
Svejkovsky was in the final season of his entry-level contract. The Lightning already paid him a $92.5K signing bonus for this season, and he was earning a salary of $80K while on assignment to Syracuse.
Wild Reassign Graeme Clarke
Oct. 30: Clarke cleared waivers and will be assigned to AHL Iowa, per Friedman.
Oct. 29: The Wild have activated winger Graeme Clarke from season-opening injured reserve and placed him on waivers to assign him to AHL Iowa, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Clarke, 23, was a third-round pick of the Devils in 2019. The right-winger made his NHL debut last season for New Jersey, going without a point and posting a -2 rating in three contests. Slated to become a restricted free agent last summer, the Devils traded his signing rights to Minnesota in exchange for pending RFA Adam Beckman in June. Clarke went on to sign a two-way deal with the Wild ($800K/$105K) the following month.
The older brother of Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke had an All-Star campaign in the AHL last season with the Devils’ affiliate in Utica, leading them in goals with 25 and adding 24 assists for 49 points in 67 games. The 6’0″, 174-lb winger posted 149 points in 218 career minor-league appearances in the New Jersey organization in parts of four seasons.
There may be some interest in Clarke’s services, given his back-to-back 25-goal campaigns in the minors, but it’s likelier than not that he’ll clear waivers tomorrow without incident. If so, he’ll be a major boon to a weak Minnesota minor-league system. Funnily enough, Iowa and Utica are the only remaining winless teams in the AHL. Through seven games, Iowa is 0-6-1 and has been outscored 36-18.
Clarke will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer. He sustained an undisclosed injury late in Minnesota’s exhibition schedule, landing him on SOIR.
Canadiens Reassign Logan Mailloux
The Canadiens returned defenseman Logan Mailloux to AHL Laval today, per a team announcement. They now have two open spots on their active roster, one of which will be used to activate Kaiden Guhle from injured reserve in the coming days. The team said he’s traveling on their road trip after missing their last five games with an upper-body injury.
Justin Barron is also nearing a return from the upper-body injury that’s kept him out for the past three games and will be on the trip, per the club. With those two defenders returning to health, Mailloux’s playing time was going to be limited. He’ll instead head back to the AHL to log top-four minutes.
Mailloux, 21, has looked decent in limited NHL action so far. The 2021 first-round pick was recalled nearly two weeks ago in the wake of Guhle’s injury. He’s played in five straight, notching a goal and two assists with a -4 rating. He’s gotten his 6’3″, 213-lb frame involved physically, posting seven blocks and six hits while averaging 16:30 per game. But he still has some work to do away from the puck. His possession metrics aren’t promising given his sheltered offensive usage. The Habs controlled only 44.3% of shot attempts and 39.2% of expected goals with Mailloux on the ice at even strength despite 63.2% of his zone starts coming in the offensive end.
Before his call-up earlier this month, Mailloux scored twice and added a pair of assists in his first two appearances of the season for Laval. He finished third on the minor-league club in scoring last season with 47 points (14 G, 33 A) in 72 games and was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team. He’s still on his entry-level contract and under contract through the 2025-26 season at an $875K cap hit.
Central Notes: Wood, Heinola, Anderson-Dolan, Lipkin
Even after recalling T.J. Tynan from AHL Colorado earlier today, the Avalanche won’t have a full complement of healthy forwards for tonight’s game against the Lightning. That’s because winger Miles Wood has been ruled out with the undisclosed injury he’s been playing through for the past few days, head coach Jared Bednar said on Altitude Sports Radio this morning (via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet).
With Wood out but not headed for injured reserve, the Avalanche don’t have a roster spot for another recall. They’ll dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen tonight, but not in the traditional sense. Instead of rotating in on different defense pairs, Oliver Kylington will pinch-hit as a winger in his first appearance since Oct. 16. He’ll skate on the fourth line with Matthew Stienburg and Chris Wagner while Tynan makes his season debut as a third-line left wing with Parker Kelly and Joel Kiviranta, Daily Faceoff projects. Meanwhile, rookie Nikolai Kovalenko slides up to play top-line duties alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen in relief of the injured Ross Colton, who himself had been playing top-six minutes in place of the injured Jonathan Drouin.
Wood’s injury means Colorado will be without a remarkable six regular forwards for tonight’s matchup, joining Colton, Drouin, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, and Valeri Nichushkin as unavailable impact pieces for the Avs. With that kind of poor injury luck and a nightmare start to the season for starting goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, it’s remarkable Colorado has been able to tread water with a 5-5-0 record. The 29-year-old Wood had one goal, a -2 rating, 19 shots, and eight hits in 10 appearances to start the season for the Avs.
More from the Central Division:
- The Jets relayed good news on a pair of injured skaters today. Head coach Scott Arniel told Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press that defenseman Ville Heinola has returned to skating on his own the past few days at home while the team is on a road trip, as has forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan. Heinola, 23, hasn’t played since the beginning of training camp due to an infection in his ankle that he had surgically repaired last season. The 2019 first-round pick was expected to build on his 11 points in 35 career NHL games this season after the Jets lost a few pieces on the blue line but has remained on IR. Anderson-Dolan, meanwhile, has been out since the beginning of the month after blocking a shot in a preseason game against the Flames. The 25-year-old had four points in 31 games last season, split between the Kings and Predators.
- Utah left-wing prospect Sam Lipkin suited up for AHL Tucson last night, indicating he’s been quietly activated off season-opening injured reserve and assigned to the minors. Lipkin, 21, had missed the first few weeks of the campaign with an undisclosed injury. The 2021 seventh-round pick of the Coyotes turned pro after a standout pair of collegiate seasons with Quinnipiac, where he had 78 points in 78 games and won a national championship in 2023.
Nashville Predators Reassign Marc Del Gaizo
Oct. 30: It appears Del Gaizo’s demotion was a temporary one to bank cap space. He’s back up with the Preds today, the team announced.
Oct. 28: The Nashville Predators are switching things up on their blue line. The organization announced they reassigned defenseman Marc Del Gaizo to their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.
The transaction indicates the Predators are ready to re-insert defenseman Dante Fabbro into a starting role. Five defensemen on Nashville’s roster have played in each of the team’s eight games while Fabbro (five) and Del Gaizo (three) are the only two with less than eight.
Nashville won two out of the three games with Del Gaizo in the lineup with promising results from the defenseman. Del Gaizo failed to crack the scoresheet during this call-up while averaging 14:23 of ice time per game but his possession metrics proved encouraging. His 59.6% CorsiFor% and 0.8 E +/- according to Hockey Reference show that the Predators performed better with Del Gaizo on the ice despite the small sample size.
The results haven’t been as promising with Fabbro. The former 17th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft has been held scoreless after five games with Nashville this season and has produced relatively null possession metrics with a 51.6% CorsiFor% and 0.0 E +/- while averaging 13:24 of ice time.
He didn’t perform much better next to captain Roman Josi two nights ago although the team secured an overtime victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nashville must have seen something encouraging in Fabbro’s game giving them confidence to reassign Del Gaizo.
The latter will return to an Admirals team after already registering two games played earlier in the season. The team hasn’t missed him much with a promising 6-1-0-0 record to begin the 2024-25 AHL campaign.
Penguins Place Bryan Rust On Injured Reserve
The Penguins placed right winger Bryan Rust on injured reserve Tuesday due to his lower-body injury, according to the NHL’s media site. They haven’t made a corresponding transaction yet, but with an open roster spot, they could make a recall ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Ducks. Rust’s IR placement is retroactive to Oct. 26, so he won’t be eligible to return until Nov. 2, but he will likely miss more time than that after being labeled week-to-week yesterday.
Rust already missed yesterday’s 5-3 loss to the Wild and has now been officially ruled out for tomorrow’s game. He left Saturday’s loss to the Canucks after getting awkwardly tangled up with Vancouver winger Nils Höglander and did not return. His absence caused Pens head coach Mike Sullivan to reshape his top line completely, bumping up Evgeni Malkin to play left wing alongside Sidney Crosby at even strength and promoting Rickard Rakell from second-line duties.
In eight games this season, the veteran Rust has scored three goals and added an assist for four points. He’s sitting on uncharacteristically poor possession metrics, logging a career-low 46.3 CF% and 41.0 xGF%. He also missed the first two games of the season with a different lower-body injury.
With Rust on the shelf for the next little while, the Penguins will rely even more heavily on that new-look top line to turn things around defensively. Primarily, they’ve performed up to expectations offensively or outperformed them entirely. Malkin has turned back the clock with 14 points in 11 games, while Rakell leads the team in goals with six. Crosby has been underwhelming with just one goal but has added nine assists for 10 points in 11 games. But the Penguins are allowing a league-worst 4.27 goals per game. While suspect goaltending shoulders some blame, Pittsburgh has also controlled just 38.2% of expected goals when their usual top line of Crosby, Rust and Anthony Beauvillier are on the ice together, per MoneyPuck. Crosby has never logged an expected goal share under 50% since the stat’s been tracked – marking a sharp drop-off in his defensive effectiveness, at least in the early going this season.
The 32-year-old Rust is in the third season of a six-year, $30.75MM contract that runs through his age-35 season. His offensive performance has been up and down over its beginning, posting an underwhelming 46 points in 81 games in 2022-23, but he rebounded last season with 28 goals and 56 points in only 62 appearances.
Utah Acquires Olli Määttä From Red Wings
Utah has acquired defenseman Olli Määttä from the Red Wings in a late-night trade, the team announced. They’re sending a 2025 third-round pick, previously acquired from the Rangers, to Detroit to complete the deal.
It’s no surprise to see the first-year franchise swing a deal for a defenseman. They’ll be without a pair of top-four defenders, Sean Durzi and John Marino, for most of the season after they both underwent surgeries in the past couple of weeks. Durzi could miss the rest of the regular season after having a procedure to repair his right shoulder, while Marino will likely be out until the 4 Nations Face-Off in February while recovering from lower back surgery.
Initial reports suggested Utah would likely lean on internal solutions to fill the void. They recalled 2022 first-round pick Maveric Lamoureux from AHL Tucson and have gotten solid hockey out of 24-year-old Michael Kesselring, who’s now averaging over 20 minutes per night and has five points and a team-leading +5 rating through 10 games. But losses have kept piling up for the Utahns, who remain at .500 with a 4-4-2 record after yesterday’s third-period collapse to the Sharks, which resulted in a 5-4 overtime defeat. A report from Pierre LeBrun of TSN last week suggested Utah had at least checked in on the availability of Blue Jackets defender Ivan Provorov, but they’ll end up netting a much cheaper player in Määttä in terms of both contract and acquisition cost.
Määttä, 30, is in the second year of a two-year, $6MM extension he signed with the Wings in 2023. The Finnish stay-at-home defender has called Detroit home since signing there as a free agent in 2022. He’s inexplicably been pushed down the lineup in recent days, sitting as a healthy scratch in two of the Wings’ last four games despite controlling 57.8% of expected goals when he’s on the ice at even strength. That number jumps out in a big way on a Detroit team that’s again struggled to maintain possession at 5-on-5 this year, controlling 42.5% of shot attempts, 43.7% of scoring chances, and 41.9% of high-danger chances. He’d yet to get on the scoresheet this season and was averaging a career-low 15:52 per game, but his 44.4 CF% was second among Wings defenders only to Simon Edvinsson.
Detroit’s loss is Utah’s gain. Määttä should post better results on a Utah club that’s actually been one of the league’s better 5-on-5 teams this season despite their roller-coaster record. He’s a left-shot but has played on the right side frequently throughout his 12-year NHL career, a task he’ll likely be asked to replicate in Salt Lake City. Whether he immediately steps into a top-four role with Durzi and Marino out remains to be seen, but at the very least, he’s a demonstrable upgrade on either of their current third-pairing options, Robert Bortuzzo and Vladislav Kolyachonok. He had 18 points and a +14 rating in 72 appearances for Detroit last season.
For the Wings, it’s the second time in a few months that general manager Steve Yzerman has traded away one of the more effective defenders on a blue line that has struggled to prevent quality scoring chances. He dealt Jake Walman to the Sharks in a somewhat similar cap-dump move back in June, although that transaction required him to offload a second-round pick to get San Jose to take his entire contract. He’s at least receiving an asset back for Määttä here with no salary retention, but it’s still a puzzling move for a team looking to push for a playoff spot.
Detroit does at least free up a roster spot and a fair amount of cap space with the move. They now have a comfortable $3.58MM in current cap space, per PuckPedia. The flurry of paper transactions to conserve cap space and juggle a full roster should now calm down, and the Red Wings do have far more in-season maneuverability to perhaps address other roster weaknesses in a more cost-effective manner.
San Jose Sharks Recall Ethan Cardwell, Place Ty Dellandrea On IR
With the ninth-youngest roster in the league, the San Jose Sharks are adding more youth to their lineup. The organization announced they recalled forward prospect Ethan Cardwell from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda while placing forward Ty Dellandrea on injured reserve.
The Sharks haven’t issued a formal update on Dellandrea’s injury status. Still, the current theory is that he’s dealing with an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s recent game against the Vegas Golden Knights on October 26th. Dellandrea managed 9:02 of ice time before leaving the contest and had previously been ruled out in the team’s win last night against the Utah Hockey Club.
Dellandrea skated in all nine games for San Jose before last night scoring one goal in total on the season. He’s kept his physicality up in his new stomping ground but his defensive play and possession metrics have declined with a weaker supporting cast compared to his time with the Dallas Stars.
On the other side of the roster move, Cardwell looks to make his NHL debut after one full season in the AHL. He scored 23 goals and 43 points in 71 games for the Barracuda in his rookie campaign and has gotten off to a solid start this year with one goal and five points through six contests.
The former 121st overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft won’t crack many lists of top prospects in the Sharks system but could be a boon for the organization toward the bottom of the lineup. Cardwell is a 200-foot player with an aggressive tendency to jump into every battle on offense and defense.