Red Wings Recall Austin Watson, Assign Ville Husso
Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso has officially cleared waivers, making him eligible to be assigned to the minor leagues. In a corresponding move, Detroit also recalled forward Austin Watson. Watson is expected to step into the lineup on Monday with forward Christian Fischer dealing with a day-to-day, upper-body injury.
Watson has built a name for himself as one of the league’s final true grinders. He recorded 307 penalty minutes in 175 games over the last three seasons, the seventh-most of any NHL forwards in that span. He climbed that leaderboard while filling a bottom-line role for the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, with minimal scoring along the way – totaling just 31 points since 2021-22. Detroit marks Watson’s fourth NHL team, after starting his career by spending 10 years, 515 games, and 705 penalty minutes with the Nashville Predators.
While Watson tries to return to the role of NHL fourth-line grinder that he’s become used to, Husso will prepare for his first extended stint in the minors since the 2019-20 season. He’s been a full-time NHL goalie ever since – save for one conditioning game last year. Husso started in Detroit’s season opener this year but got pulled for Cam Talbot after allowing four goals on 14 shots. That was all it took to become the odd man out among Talbot and Alex Lyon. He won’t get any clearer of a path to minutes in Grand Rapids, where top Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa has continued to perform strong as the unrivaled starter. Cossa has managed a .913 save percentage in each of the last three seasons – coming in the WHL, ECHL, and AHL respectively – and started this season off with two strong games this weekend. Grand Rapids’ goaltending situation will be worth monitoring through the short term, as the Griffins try to decide between their top pro prospect and the priciest goalie on Detroit’s payroll.
Blues Place Alexandre Texier On IR, Activate Brandon Saad
The St. Louis Blues have placed forward Alexandre Texier on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. In a corresponding move, St. Louis has also activated forward Brandon Saad after he missed the start of the year to attend to the birth of his third child. The two forwards will likely swap spots in the lineup as St. Louis prepares for their home opener on October 15th.
Texier was one of many new faces added to the Blues offense this summer, with St. Louis acquiring him via trade from Columbus and signing him to a two-year, $4.2MM contract extension. That figure was likely helped along by Texier’s career-high 12 goals and 30 points from last season, continuing his gradual climb up Columbus’ scoring charts. Texier started his North American career with seven AHL games in 2018-19. He was quickly called up after scoring at a point-per-game pace, but couldn’t do much to carve out a consistent role in the lineup. Texier would appear in just 121 of a possible 220 games for Columbus between 2019 and 2022, despite being on the roster full-time. Still, he showed flashes of scoring upside through the spot starts, scoring 21 goals and 48 points through the three seasons.
Texier finally received a daily role last season and seemed to meet his expectations as a depth scorer, though his daunting 3.3 xGA/60 (expected goals-against per-60 minutes) ranked worst among all Blue Jackets forwards last season, per Evolving Hockey. A change of scenery was meant to be the catalyst for Texier to continue earning a daily role. He’s earned it so far, recording an assist in his Blues debut, but he’ll now have to wait at least a week before continuing to fight for his spot in the lineup.
Texier will also now face the pressure of the veteran Saad, who managed an impressive 26 goals and 42 points from St. Louis’ middle-six last season, while appearing in all 82 games. Saad – once a two-time Stanley Cup winner in Chicago – has become St. Louis’ go-to glue guy over the last three seasons, capable of handling roles from third-line center to net-crasher on the top power-play unit. He’s totaled 128 points in 231 games with the Blues, including goal totals of 24, 19, and 26 respectively through his three seasons. Saad will enter his 14th NHL season when he returns to the Blues lineup, boasting 499 points through 863 career games.
Senators Recall Mads Sogaard On Emergency Basis
The Ottawa Senators have recalled goaltender Mads Sogaard under emergency conditions after starter Linus Ullmark missed the team’s Sunday practice. Head coach Travis Green described Ullmark’s absence as a maintenance day, though it now seems the Senators could be without their former Vezina Trophy winner when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. No details about Ullmark’s possible injury have been revealed.
Sogaard will join the NHL roster after starting his AHL season off strong. He only allowed one goal in his first start – the overtime game-winner of a 1-0 Belleville loss. It was a stifling performance after Sogaard saved 27 consecutive shots, but it still stood as a sign of life after the young netminder allowed three goals on 18 shots in his only preseason game with Ottawa.
Sogaard, 23, has served as Ottawa’s de facto third-string goalie for the last three seasons, totaling 27 games with the NHL club in that span. His results have been a mixed bag, ultimately resulting in a losing record of 10-10-3 and a save percentage of .884. He’s been much stronger in the AHL, where he’s managed a 50-33-8 record and .909 save percentage through 97 career games.
News of a potential Ullmark injury will weigh on Senators fans. The new addition has allowed just five goals on 58 shots through Ottawa’s first two games, good for a .914 save percentage and a split 1-1 record. He’ll be Ottawa’s goalie of the future, ensured by a recent four-year, $33MM contract extension. Ullmark did miss time in Ottawa’s training camp with an undisclosed injury, but otherwise hasn’t appeared banged up. It’ll be Anton Forsberg drawing the start if Ullmark is forced to sit. Forsberg recorded a 15-12-0 record and .890 save percentage in 30 games with the Senators last season.
Wild Announce Roster Moves With Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon Out
3:30 PM : Minnesota has issued an injury update, adding that team captain Jared Spurgeon will also miss Sunday’s game with a lower-body injury. He’s been designated as day-to-day. Spurgeon has recorded one assist, four hits, and six blocks through the first two games, while averaging 19:35 in ice time.
3:00 PM : The Minnesota Wild will be without Joel Eriksson Ek in their Sunday matchup against the Winnipeg Jets, as the centerman bears through a head injury, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The team specified that the injury is a broken nose. Eriksson Ek left Minnesota’s Saturday matchup midway through the second period after taking an elbow to the face from Seattle defender Adam Larsson.
Minnesota has utilized an emergency recall on forward Travis Boyd, and sent goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the minor leagues, in response to Eriksson Ek’s absence.
Eriksson Ek has served in a pivotal role for Minnesota in the early going, recording 20 minutes of ice time and a goal in the team’s season opener, and adding just shy of 12 minutes of ice time before leaving on Saturday. He’s been the Wild’s clear top centerman, deployed alongside the team’s leading scorer Matt Boldy. That’ll be a tough role for Minnesota to fill for even one game, though top youngster Marco Rossi could be in a prime position to step up. He’s recorded two assists on the season while operating in the middle-six, and seems to have added a strong layer to his game this summer. Rossi will compete with Ryan Hartman for the ice time opened by Eriksson Ek.
Meanwhile, Boyd will look for space in the bottom-six after recording two points in the AHL Iowa Wild’s season opener. He scored eight points in 16 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season but had his season in December by a torn pectoral muscle. Boyd had managed a pair of strong seasons with Arizona in 2021-22 and 2022-23, scoring 35 and 34 points respectively. This recall will provide his first chance to work back to that stout scoring since going down with injury.
Ian Mitchell Clears Waivers
Saturday: Mitchell passed through waivers unclaimed, Friedman reports. No one was placed on waivers today.
Friday: The Boston Bruins have placed defenseman Ian Mitchell on waivers for the purposes of being assigned to the AHL, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Mitchell began the year on Boston’s injured non-roster list, and will now head to the minors after returning to full health.
Mitchell joined the Bruins via trade in 2023, packaged alongside Alec Regula in the deal that landed Chicago Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno. Mitchell made the move out East having totaled 82 games and 16 points worth of NHL experience with the Blackhawks. His first season in the Bruins organization was split between the NHL and AHL lineups, with Mitchell ultimately slotting into 13 games and scoring two points with the Bruins. He was one of many minor-league defenders rotated into the lineup as Boston battled through injuries, though he was far more productive in the minors. Mitchell managed six goals and 24 points in 42 games with the Providence Bruins, falling just 11 points shy of his career-high, set in 57 games with Rockford in 2021-22.
Mitchell was originally drafted in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft and proceeded to spend three impactful years at the University of Denver. He recorded 89 points in 116 games on the Pioneers’ blue-line. He’s yet to find that same production at the pro level, though could be in store for an increased role with Providence this year, following Mason Lohrei‘s promotion to an everyday NHL role.
Sharks Recall Jack Thompson, Place Macklin Celebrini On IR
After a strong NHL debut, Sharks center Macklin Celebrini will have to wait a week for his second appearance. The team announced today (Twitter link) that he has been placed on injured reserve; defenseman Jack Thompson was recalled from AHL San Jose to take his place on the roster.
Celebrini was the top pick in the draft back in June and after taking some time to think about his plans for this season, decided to forego the rest of his college eligibility and turn pro. He didn’t see much preseason action playing just twice out of six games but that didn’t stop him from having a strong debut, one that saw him record two points.
Part of the reason he didn’t see much action in the exhibition season was that he was dealing with a nagging lower-body issue during training camp. He’s now once again dealing with a lower-body injury, one that might be related to what he was going through in recent weeks. With how early it is in the season, it makes sense to give Celebrini some rest now to try to eliminate the problem completely over having him play at less than full health.
As for Thompson, the 22-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level contract and is in his first full year with the Sharks after he was acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline. He got into three NHL appearances between the two squads last season and added 41 points in 62 AHL appearances.
While it might seem strange that a defenseman was brought up to replace a forward, San Jose had only been carrying six healthy blueliners on their active roster with Shakir Mukhamadullin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both injured. Thompson will now give them a bit of insurance on the back end while the Sharks still have 14 available forwards on their roster.
Avalanche Recall Chris Wagner
On the heels of the Jonathan Drouin injury, Colorado was down to just 11 healthy forwards on their active roster, making a pending roster move quite likely. That move was made today as the team announced (Twitter link) that Chris Wagner has been recalled from AHL Colorado.
The 33-year-old passed through waivers unclaimed last weekend but technically made the Avalanche’s season-opening roster. His presence there was primarily for salary cap optimization purposes, however, and he was sent to the Eagles on Wednesday.
Last season, Wagner primarily played at the AHL level, notching eight goals and six assists in 21 games. He also got into 13 games with the big club, picking up a goal and an assist along with 30 hits but averaged just 7:27 in playing time. For his career, Wagner has 38 goals and 27 assists in 373 NHL appearances over parts of ten seasons.
Colorado has a full 23-player roster so a corresponding move needs to be made. That will likely be Drouin landing on IR as he has already been ruled out for the next two games and is expected to be re-evaluated early next week. Cap-wise, this won’t be an issue for the Avs who are well into LTIR with Gabriel Landeskog and Tucker Poolman currently on there.
Minor Transactions: 10/11/24
With the AHL season getting underway tonight, we’ve seen a few minor moves made today as teams get their rosters in place. Here’s a rundown of those transactions.
- The Predators have returned goaltender Matt Murray to AHL Milwaukee, relays Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean (Twitter link). The 26-year-old was recalled on Wednesday with Juuse Saros listed as day-to-day so it appears that Saros should be good to at least dress as the backup on Saturday against Detroit. Murray had a 3.02 GAA with a .896 SV% in 31 games in the minors last season and signed a one-year, two-way deal with Nashville this past summer.
- The Oilers announced (Twitter link) that forward Carl Berglund has been assigned to AHL Bakersfield. The 24-year-old was injured to start the regular season and therefore couldn’t be sent down until being cleared to play. As he didn’t spend any time on an NHL roster last season, Edmonton didn’t have any cap charge while he was up with them. Berglund had 42 points in 51 ECHL appearances in 2023-24 while adding four points in a dozen games with AHL Bakersfield.
- ECHL Cincinnati, an affiliate of the Maple Leafs, recently announced a pair of signings with NHL experience in goaltender Jon Gillies and defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov. Gillies didn’t play at all last season but has 35 NHL games and 184 AHL appearances under his belt; he was in training camp with Toronto. Knyzhov, meanwhile, requested and was granted his release by San Jose in late June, walking away from a guaranteed $1.4MM salary in the process. He was in camp with Pittsburgh and AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but was cut both times. The 26-year-old played in 10 games with the Sharks last season and 40 more with AHL San Jose but will now look to work his way back up from a lower level.
Panthers Recall Patrick Giles
With the Panthers needing some extra depth up front in the wake of the Aleksander Barkov injury that will keep him out for a few weeks at least, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Patrick Giles from AHL Charlotte.
The 24-year-old signed with Florida as an undrafted free agent back in 2022 following a four-year run at Boston College. He has yet to play at the NHL level but took a step forward offensively last season, notching 13 goals and 10 assists in 66 games with the Checkers.
Giles was one of the final cuts at training camp for the Panthers after they gave him a long look in the preseason. He led the team in scoring with two goals and four assists while suiting up in seven of eight games as they gave him a chance to earn a spot on the fourth line. He didn’t get it then but he should get that opportunity now.
While Florida had two open roster spots and thus technically didn’t need a corresponding move to open one up, there still needed to be a corresponding transaction for cap reasons. Prior to the recall, the team only had $556K in cap space, not enough to afford Giles at his $775K price tag. With that in mind, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that center Tomas Nosek has been transferred to LTIR, meaning he’ll be out for at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the season (the placement can be retroactive to the start of the year) while freeing up enough space to add Giles to the roster.
Flyers Recall Emil Andrae, Place Nick Seeler On Injured Reserve
5:00 PM: The Flyers have officially recalled Andrae from Lehigh Valley and placed Seeler on injured reserve retroactive to October 1st. Seeler will be eligible to return as soon as he’s healthy.
4:00 PM: Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella has shared that defenseman Nick Seeler won’t play in the team’s season opener on Friday, due to a minor lower-body injury. The team is expected to respond by calling up Emil Andrae, per reports from the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jackie Spiegel and Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco.
Seeler, 31, was a core piece of Philadelphia’s third pairing last season, averaging roughly 17 minutes of ice time through 71 games. It was nearly two minutes more than he averaged in 2022-23, though that didn’t mean more scoring, with Seeler posting 12 points last year compared to 14 two seasons ago. The pair of seasons stand as the only times that Seeler has surpassed 10 points in his six-year, 296-game career in the NHL.
Andrae, 22, is on the other side of his career, playing in the first four games of his NHL career last season. He failed to score in those appearances, though he did lead all Lehigh Valley Phantoms defenders in scoring with 32 points in 61 games last year. Andrae now lands an early chance to score Philadelphia they were wrong for cutting him from training camp, though he’ll need to bring his strong scoring to the top flight if he wants to stand a chance at winning Seeler’s role.