Pittsburgh Penguins Assign Rutger McGroarty To AHL
Rutger McGroarty won’t be able to suit up against the organization that drafted him later this week, after all. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have assigned McGroarty to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins without a corresponding roster move.
It’s the logical step forward for McGroarty who was originally supposed to begin the year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had it not been for a few injuries to the Penguins’ forward core. He’s been left off the scoreboard over three games in Pittsburgh to start the year with two shots on net and four hits. He’s posted strong possession numbers over those three games with the Penguins but his healthy scratch on Tuesday night indicated a move might be on the horizon.
It shouldn’t take too long for McGroarty to get going offensively with the AHL Penguins who are currently tied for the league lead in goals scored over two games to start the season. They should be able to slot him next to the likes of Emil Bemstrom, Samuel Poulin, Ville Koivunen, or Jimmy Huntington to make his transition to professional hockey much easier.
He’s still only one year removed from being one of the better scorers in the NCAA at the University of Michigan. McGroarty’s 16 goals and 52 points in 36 games make him one of, if not the best prospect in the Penguins organization and he should be on the receiving end of another call-up at some point during the 2024-25 regular season.
Hurricanes Activate, Reassign Joakim Ryan
10/16: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Ryan has safely cleared waivers allowing the Hurricanes to safely reassign him to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
10/15: The Hurricanes have defenseman Joakim Ryan on waivers today, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. As such, he’s ready to be activated from season-opening injured reserve. He’s been out for the past few weeks with an undisclosed injury.
Ryan, 31, is attempting an NHL comeback after spending the last three seasons playing for Sweden’s Mälmo Redhawks. The left-shot defender played 145 games for the Hurricanes, Kings, and Sharks, posting 24 points and a +1 rating, before returning to his home country in 2021. He landed back with Carolina, where he spent his last season under an NHL contract, on a two-way deal as a free agent this offseason.
The 5’11”, 181-lb defender was historically a solid two-way option in the minors and overseas. He had some upward mobility in an NHL lineup, once averaging as much as 19:09 per game in his lone season in Los Angeles in 2019-20. But his point production in the last two seasons in Sweden was underwhelming, and he’s likely an AHL option at this stage of his career. If he clears, he’ll get that chance with the Chicago Wolves, where he had two assists in four games back in 2020-21 while in the Hurricanes organization.
With his NHL experience, though, Ryan could be an option for a mid-season call-up if injuries decimate Carolina’s defense corps. He’ll be a UFA next summer and will earn a salary of $110K while in the minors.
Wild Reassign Daemon Hunt
Oct. 16: The Wild returned Hunt to Iowa today, the team announced. He entered the lineup as a seventh defender in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Blues, recording two shots on goal and a hit in 8:01 of ice time. Hunt could be recalled again before the Wild kick off a road trip later this week if Spurgeon isn’t ready to return, relays Michael Russo of The Athletic.
Oct. 14: The Minnesota Wild have added some defensive depth with team captain Jared Spurgeon sustaining a lower-body injury. The organization announced they have recalled defenseman Daemon Hunt from their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
Minnesota used Declan Chisholm as the injury replacement for Spurgeon in yesterday’s overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets. He was largely left off the scoresheet with one hit and one shot in just over 17 minutes of ice time, and Chisholm will likely fill in the void for the time being.
The 2024-25 season marks the third full season for Hunt in the Wild’s organization after concluding his WHL career with the Moose Jaw Warriors. He’s primarily played with AHL Iowa collecting six goals and 42 points in 118 regular season contests.
He made his NHL debut with the Wild last year on October 27th in a shootout loss to the Washington Capitals after securing 4:12 of ice time. He finished the year with one assist in 12 games for Minnesota while averaging 11:30 of ice time throughout those games.
Spurgeon’s lower-body ailment is only supposed to last for a few days, meaning Hunt’s second call-up this season will be shortlived. He’s already tallied one assist for AHL Iowa in two games this season and will look to expand on that when he is inevitably reassigned.
Avalanche Recall Matthew Stienburg For NHL Debut
Avalanche center prospect Matthew Stienburg will make his NHL debut tonight against the Bruins after the team announced he’d been recalled from AHL Colorado. Forwards Ivan Ivan and Nikolai Kovalenko were also brought back up to give the Avs 12 healthy forwards for tonight’s game after being papered down earlier in the week. Veteran Chris Wagner, who was sent down along with Ivan and Kovalenko, remains in the AHL.
Colorado’s 23-man roster is full after the moves. They had 10 forwards on the active roster, but one of them, Jonathan Drouin, remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury and can be placed on IR if they need an additional roster spot.
Stienburg, 24, is expected to center Ivan and Joel Kiviranta to comprise Colorado’s fourth line in his NHL debut, filling in for the role that Wagner held in their 6-2 loss to the Islanders on Monday. The 2019 third-round pick is off to a strong start in the AHL with the Eagles, scoring a goal and adding an assist through his first two games of the season.
Drafted out of the Canadian high school circuit, Stienburg played his college hockey at Cornell from 2019 to 2023. There, the 6’1″ pivot had 20 goals and 46 points in 73 games and was named to the ECAC’s Second All-Star Team in 2021-22, when he broke out for 29 points in only 28 contests. Injuries and COVID slashed Stienburg’s availability throughout school, costing him his entire sophomore season and limiting him to seven points in 18 games during his senior year. He’s in the final year of his two-year entry-level contract that he signed in August 2023.
Last season was Stienburg’s first as a full-time professional. He made 54 appearances for the Eagles, but wasn’t a factor offensively with just five goals and eight assists for 13 points with 63 PIMs and a +2 rating. In an extremely small sample size this year, he looks more comfortable with the pro game and will now get at least a brief look to see how his game grades out against NHL competition.
Senators Recall Adam Gaudette, Mads Søgaard
Oct. 16: Gaudette and Søgaard are back up with the Sens today, the team announced, so there’s no discernible change in either Greig’s or Ullmark’s injury status.
Oct. 15: According to a team announcement, the Senators have sent center Adam Gaudette and goaltender Mads Søgaard to AHL Belleville. The move ends a one-day stint on the active roster for Søgaard under emergency conditions. Meanwhile, Gaudette cleared waivers during the preseason but was never actually sent to the minors and remained on the opening night roster.
Gaudette, 28, appeared in two of Ottawa’s three games to begin the season, including yesterday’s wild 8-7 overtime win over the Kings. He managed an assist during that chaos and had a +2 rating, averaging 7:30 and going 5-for-7 in the faceoff dot across his pair of showings. He signed a two-way deal in free agency this summer after spending last season in the Blues organization, making two NHL appearances and leading the AHL in goals with 44 in 67 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Now firmly established as a top minor-league offensive threat with fringe NHL upside, Gaudette hasn’t been a full-time NHLer since the 2021-22 campaign. The fifth-round pick of the Canucks back in 2015 has 27 goals, 44 assists, 71 points, and a -35 rating in 222 NHL games in parts of seven seasons.
Søgaard was needed for game action yesterday after Linus Ullmark was scratched due to a muscle strain. Backup Anton Forsberg, who started in relief of Ullmark, also left the contest in the second period after a hard collision with Los Angeles defenseman Brandt Clarke. Søgaard allowed four goals on 17 shots in relief but still recorded the win.
It’s been a rough go of things thus far in the NHL for the 23-year-old Dane, who has intriguing upside with his 6’7″ frame but hasn’t been good when given the chance. He’s now logged NHL time in four straight seasons, and while his 11-10-3 record is strong for a non-playoff team, his other numbers aren’t – a .881 SV%, 3.53 GAA, and -17.5 GSAA in 24 career starts and four relief appearances. Søgaard will now return to Belleville, where he posted a .964 SV% in a shootout loss to Syracuse in his season debut last weekend.
He’ll likely be brought back up later this week if Ullmark isn’t ready to return against the Devils on Thursday. They also haven’t issued any further updates on Forsberg’s status. The same could be said for Gaudette, who’s been filling in while Ridly Greig is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Sending him to Belleville and keeping him off the active roster for a couple of days delays when he’ll need waivers again to return to the minors.
Red Wings Reassign Austin Watson, Recall Justin Holl
Oct. 16: Detroit announced Holl has been recalled back to the NHL roster today, suggesting his brief demotion yesterday was solely to delay his waiver exemption expiring and to bank a bit of cap space. Watson wasn’t part of the announcement and remains on assignment to Grand Rapids, so his demotion may be more permanent.
Oct. 15: The Red Wings have returned veterans Austin Watson and Justin Holl to AHL Grand Rapids, the team announced today. They now have a pair of open roster spots and over $2.5MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia.
It was an extremely short stint on the NHL roster for Watson, who was just recalled yesterday. The 32-year-old enforcer made his Detroit debut in last night’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers, posting a -1 rating, a minor penalty, and two hits in just 4:54 of ice time. The veteran of over 500 NHL games attended Red Wings training camp on a PTO and landed a two-way contract as a result, but landed on waivers and began the season in Grand Rapids after going unclaimed. He had just two goals and four points in 33 games for the Lightning last year, all career-lows for him as a full-timer.
Watson was off to a strong start with the Griffins before the recall in what was his first AHL action since a brief conditioning stint in March of 2019. In two games, he had three assists and a +3 rating for Detroit’s top minor-league affiliate with 7 PIMs. The recall ended up shaving just one day and one game played off his 30-day/10-game waiver exemption, so it’ll still be a while before the Wings need to pass Watson through waivers again to return him to the minors.
Holl getting the boot stands out as more surprising. He and his bloated $3.4MM cap hit ended up on waivers and subsequently in Grand Rapids to begin the season, but he was recalled after Jeff Petry sustained an upper-body injury in the season opener. Holl was thrust into a top-four role as a result, responding with an assist, a +1 rating, and strong advanced possession metrics while averaging 18:38 per game. For a Detroit team that’s struggled to control play at 5-on-5 and has averaged 32.67 shots against per game thus far this season, Holl’s numbers stand out in a positive way.
Nonetheless, it’s back to the farm for him, where he could now be slated to see his first minor-league action since 2018. His reassignment suggests Petry is close to ready, if not completely ready, to return, while Watson’s demotion suggests the same for winger Christian Fischer, who’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Blue Jackets Activate, Reassign Max McCue
The Blue Jackets announced they’ve activated forward prospect Max McCue from season-opening injured reserve and sent him down to AHL Cleveland. He barely participated in training camp due to an undisclosed injury, which has evidently now been resolved.
McCue, 21, was a fifth-round pick by the Sharks in the 2021 draft but became a free agent last summer after San Jose’s exclusive signing period lapsed. He played out his overage OHL season with the London Knights last year, recording 61 points in 62 games, before inking an entry-level deal with Columbus.
The physical 6’1″, 183-lb center may have some upside as a fourth-line piece down the line. But the lack of game-breaking offensive production as an overage player in juniors on a championship-caliber team is a red flag for his breakout potential as an impact player in the NHL. He’ll look to prove those premonitions wrong this year in Cleveland, where he’ll get his first taste of professional hockey.
If McCue reaches the NHL over the life of his ELC, he’ll carry an $858K cap hit. His deal runs through the 2026-27 season, and he’ll be an RFA upon expiry.
Stars To Activate Mavrik Bourque From SOIR
Stars prospect Mavrik Bourque will make his season debut tonight against the Sharks, head coach Peter DeBoer told Brien Rea of Bally Sports Southwest. That indicates he’ll be activated from season-opening injured reserve after missing the past week-plus with an undisclosed injury.
Bourque, 22, is coming off a banner campaign in the minors with AHL Texas. The 30th overall pick of the 2020 draft erupted for 77 points (26 G, 51 A) in 71 games, leading the league in points and taking home First All-Star Team and MVP honors. It was a strong enough performance to warrant a brief NHL call-up, which he received at the end of the year. It resulted in him making his debut against the Blackhawks in early April, recording two shots on goal in under 11 minutes of ice time.
After the Stars lost Joe Pavelski to retirement this offseason, many expected Bourque to fill the vacant spot in their top-nine forward group. That undisclosed injury foiled his chance to do so on opening night, but he’ll get the opportunity now in the second week of the 2024-25 campaign. Per Rea, he’ll enter the lineup instead of veteran Tyler Seguin, who’s being held out with a minor lower-body injury for precautionary reasons.
With Bourque coming off SOIR and the recall of defenseman Alexander Petrovic from AHL Texas earlier today, the Stars now have a full 23-man roster. They can create one quickly if they need an additional spot by moving Mathew Dumba to IR. He was downgraded to week-to-week this morning with his lower-body injury. Bourque counted just $9,314 against the cap while on SOIR, per PuckPedia, so their cumulative cap hit will increase by roughly $885K with his activation instead of his entire $894K cap hit.
Stars Recall Alexander Petrovic
Defenseman Alexander Petrovic is back in the NHL after being recalled by the Stars, per a team announcement today. It’s the first recall of the season for the 32-year-old, who went unclaimed on waivers during the preseason.
Now in his fourth year in the Stars organization after initially landing in Texas as a free agent in 2021, Petrovic played in one regular-season and seven playoff contests for Dallas last season – his first NHL action in five years. The former Florida second-round pick has transformed into a minor-league fixture, posting 20 goals and 49 assists for 69 points in 214 games with AHL Texas over the past four seasons.
In his past NHL minutes, Petrovic graded well as a physical bottom-pairing defender. The 6’5″, 208-lb right-shot defender has averaged nearly 200 hits per 82 games throughout his time in the NHL and has half-decent even-strength possession metrics (49.7 CF%, 48.4 xGF%) while averaging north of 16 minutes per game. He’s made 264 career NHL appearances since debuting in the 2012-13 season, all but 10 of which have come with the Panthers. He’s scored five goals with 45 assists for 50 points with a -11 rating.
Currently serving as an alternate captain with Texas, he’ll give the Stars extra insurance on the back end after Mathew Dumba sustained a lower-body injury in Saturday’s shutout win over the Islanders. Dumba is still day-to-day and appears unlikely to suit up in tonight’s contest against the Sharks.
Avalanche Reassign Chris Wagner, Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko
11:12 a.m.: The Avs have also papered forward Nikolai Kovalenko down to the AHL, the team announced Tuesday. That does get them out of LTIR for the time being and will allow them to accrue a little bit of cap space before all three players likely return to the roster tomorrow.
8:46 a.m.: The Avalanche announced that forwards Chris Wagner and Ivan Ivan have been assigned to AHL Colorado. Freeing up their combined $1.62MM cap hit isn’t enough to get them out of LTIR and have them accumulate cap space for now, so it’s a bit of an odd move. Regardless, expect both to be re-added to the roster before tomorrow’s game against the Bruins to give the Avs 12 healthy forwards.
It’s a quick turnaround for Wagner, 33, who played in the Avalanches’ last two games after being recalled Saturday. The veteran can return to the Eagles without clearing waivers after doing so during the end of preseason, but he’s now used up two of his 10 games or six of his 30 days on the active roster before he needs them again for an AHL assignment.
Wagner averaged just 6:36 through Colorado’s two losses against the Blue Jackets and Islanders, which currently stands at a career low. The versatile depth forward went 3-for-6 in the faceoff dot and posted a -1 rating along with three shots on goal and three hits, but failed to get on the box score aside from a minor penalty. He has a goal and an assist in 15 combined contests since landing with the Avs organization as a free agent in 2023.
Ivan, at 22 years old, is significantly Wagner’s junior. He has been demoted for a third time since cracking Colorado’s NHL opening night roster. They’ve all been paper transactions, though, and he’s appeared in all three of the Avs’ losses to start the regular season. The undrafted free agent signing out of QMJHL Cape Breton has an assist and a -1 rating to kick off his NHL career, averaging 9:22 per game.