Penguins Sign Tristan Broz
After helping lead the University of Denver to the NCAA title, Pittsburgh prospect Tristan Broz has decided the time is right to turn pro. The Penguins announced that they’ve inked the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract that begins in 2024-25. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 21-year-old was a second-round pick by the Penguins back in 2021, going 58th overall after a strong season with USHL Fargo. He made the jump to the college ranks the following year but had a very quiet freshman season at the University of Minnesota, resulting in Broz entering the transfer portal after that campaign came to an end.
The decision to transfer worked out quite well as Broz had a strong first year in Denver, collecting 10 goals and 18 assists. He then improved on that again this past season, tallying 16 goals and 24 helpers in 34 games, finishing fourth on the Pioneers in scoring. He scored a pair of overtime winners in the tournament, landing a spot on the All-Tournament Team for his efforts.
While Pittsburgh’s season has ended with the Penguins not qualifying for the playoffs, Broz’s year hasn’t ended just yet. He has joined AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout agreement and will be eligible to suit up for them down the stretch. The Baby Pens sit third in the Atlantic Division on the penultimate day of the AHL’s regular season and have already clinched a playoff spot.
Islanders Sign Alex Jefferies, Henrik Tikkanen To Entry-Level Deals
The Islanders have inked left wing Alex Jefferies and goaltender Henrik Tikkanen to two-year entry-level contracts, per a team release. The deals begin in the 2024-25 season. Financial terms were not disclosed.
A fourth-round pick by the Isles in 2020, Jefferies spent the last four seasons in collegiate hockey with Merrimack. He leaves the program as its highest-scoring player of the decade thus far, posting 41 goals, 56 assists, 97 points and a -1 rating in 105 games played. Jefferies signed an ATO with AHL Bridgeport to finish the season last month, faring well with three goals and three assists in 10 games on a bottom-feeder club. The baby Isles still have two games left on their regular-season schedule.
The 22-year-old is unlikely to contend for a roster spot next season, but back-to-back point-per-game campaigns at Merrimack suggest he could receive an NHL call-up before his ELC expires in 2026. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked him as the sixth-best prospect in the Islanders’ league-worst pool earlier this year, praising his quick release, skating ability, and overall offensive IQ.
Tikkanen, 23, was selected three rounds after Jefferies in 2020. The 6’7″ netminder came to North America before last season, signing a minor-league contract with Bridgeport. He didn’t suit up for the top-level affiliate in 2022-23, though, spending the entire season on assignment to ECHL Worcester, where he had a .914 SV%, 3.02 GAA and two shutouts in 38 appearances. It was the same story last summer – Bridgeport re-upped him but sent him to Worcester to begin the campaign. He got off to a mediocre start there but was recalled to Bridgeport in late December, where he broke out with a .927 SV% and 2.17 GAA in 16 showings behind the worst team in the AHL.
Bridgeport sent him back to the ECHL last month, where his overall numbers on the season have actually been quite disappointing (.892 SV%, 3.22 GAA in 20 GP). The Isles are hoping Tikkanen’s ceiling is more reflective of the form he flashed with Bridgeport mid-season. With an NHL contract in hand, he joins the organization’s top goalie prospect Tristan Lennox and underwhelming farmhand Jakub Skarek as recall options behind Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov next season. Veteran Bridgeport netminder Kenneth Appleby was signed to an NHL contract this season but is a pending UFA.
AHL Shuffle: 4/19/24
Half the league has played their last games for the 2023-24 campaign, while the other half is gearing up for postseason action starting tomorrow. Either way, squads are making roster adjustments today, whether it’s assigning players back to the minors after their NHL seasons came to a close or recalling reinforcements for their playoff runs. We’ll keep track of all of today’s moves here:
- The Bruins have recalled center John Beecher and defenseman Mason Lohrei from AHL Providence. Both will be available for tomorrow’s Game 1 of Boston’s first-round series against the Maple Leafs. The pair of youngsters were assigned to the minors throughout the last week for playing time down the stretch after spending most of the campaign on the NHL roster. They’ll likely be scratches for tomorrow’s contest, but after combining for 93 games played in the regular season, head coach Jim Montgomery won’t hesitate to plug them into the playoff lineup.
- The Flames have assigned forwards Matthew Coronato and Adam Klapka, defenseman Ilya Solovyov, and goaltender Dustin Wolf to AHL Calgary. The NHL club’s regular season came to an end last night in a 5-1 win over the Sharks, a game all four players involved in today’s transaction played in. Wolf, one of the league’s top goaltending prospects, ended his season on a high note with 16 saves on 17 shots after putting up underwhelming numbers down the stretch for the Flames. All four will play major roles for the Wranglers over the next couple of weeks, at the very least, as they’ve clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
- The Capitals have recalled goaltender Mitchell Gibson from ECHL South Carolina. The 24-year-old, who has no NHL experience, is in his first full season of pro hockey after spending the last four seasons in collegiate hockey at Harvard. He’ll serve as a Black Ace and emergency backup as their first-round matchup against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers gets underway. A fourth-round pick of the Caps back in 2018, he has a .899 SV%, 2.56 GAA, three shutouts, and a 22-14-3 record in 42 appearances with South Carolina this year, as well as a .915 SV% and a perfect record in two showings with AHL Hershey.
- In a similar move, the Predators have brought up netminder Gustavs Grigals from ECHL Atlanta. Undrafted, the Latvian had spent the season in the Nashville organization on a minor-league contract before receiving a two-way deal from the Preds on deadline day. The 25-year-old was excellent last year for UMass-Lowell after transferring from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, posting a .924 SV% in 24 games and earning Hockey East Third All-Star Team honors. He’s adjusted decently well to the pro ranks, posting a .900 SV% and three shutouts behind a defensively challenged Atlanta squad in 34 appearances with an 11-19-0 record.
- The Blackhawks have assigned forward prospect Lukas Reichel to AHL Rockford to finish his season. Chicago expected the 21-year-old to take a major step forward in his development this season and supplant himself as a top-six fixture for the future along with Connor Bedard, but it didn’t work out that way. The 2020 first-round pick was arguably among the worst players in the league this season, limited to five goals and 16 points in 65 games with a -29 rating despite seeing second-line looks for much of the season. His average ice time dipped to almost 14 minutes per game by the end of the campaign, however.
- The Jets have assigned forwards Nikita Chibrikov, Parker Ford, Brad Lambert, and goaltender Collin Delia to AHL Manitoba. Winnipeg recalled the foursome yesterday to provide reinforcements for yesterday’s regular-season finale against the Canucks. Chibrikov and Lambert made their NHL debuts, with the former notching his first NHL goal in the process. Delia backed up Laurent Brossoit while Jennings Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck was given the night off entirely, while Ford was a healthy scratch. Delia was again recalled under emergency conditions later Friday, suggesting he’ll be available as a Black Ace/emergency backup for Game 1 against the Avalanche on Sunday.
- The Coyotes have made likely the final group of transactions in franchise history, returning forwards Dylan Guenther, Josh Doan, Aku Raty, and defensemen Michael Kesselring and Vladislav Kolyachonok to AHL Tucson. The sale of the team’s hockey operations to Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group was approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors yesterday, rendering the Coyotes franchise inactive and establishing a new franchise in Utah. The five youngsters will finish the season in the Calder Cup Playoffs with the Roadrunners. Some of these players, likely Guenther and Doan at a minimum, will travel to Salt Lake City and will be a part of that team’s opening-night squad next season. The others may remain in Tucson, which is expected to serve as the Utah franchise’s minor-league affiliate.
- The Oilers have assigned defenseman Philip Broberg and winger Adam Erne to AHL Bakersfield. The pair were recalled earlier in the week to allow the Oilers to rest stars like Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard before kicking off their first-round playoff series against the Kings in a few days. They’ll return to playoff-bound Bakersfield for now but will be among the first in line for recalls if necessary.
- The Kings have assigned forward Alex Turcotte to AHL Ontario. He’d spent most of the last week in the minors on an LTI conditioning loan, but was activated off LTIR and reinstated to the NHL roster on Tuesday. He didn’t play in the Kings’ final game of the regular season last night, though. The 23-year-old presumably won’t be in their Game 1 lineup against the Oilers and will report for playoff action with the Reign.
- The Islanders have summoned goaltender Jakub Skarek from AHL Bridgeport, per the league’s media site. The 23-year-old comes up to serve as the extra/reserve netminder as the Islanders begin their first-round series with Bridgeport eliminated from playoff contention. The 2018 third-round pick has again struggled in the third-string spot, posting a .888 SV% and 7-22-6 record in 36 appearances for the AHL Isles this year. He was passed over for recalls earlier in the regular season in favor of veteran Kenneth Appleby.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Red Wings Reassign Zach Aston-Reese, Simon Edvinsson; Waive Austin Czarnik
04/18: Austin Czarnik has cleared waivers (Twitter link).
04/17: Detroit has also placed center Austin Czarnik on waivers for assignment to Grand Rapids, per CapFriendly. The 29-year-old mustered a lone assist in 34 NHL appearances this season, while tallying 26 points in 36 games thus far with the Griffins.
04/17: The Red Wings have sent forward Zach Aston-Reese and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Detroit’s season ended last night with a 5-4 shootout win over the Canadiens. However, a Capitals win over the Flyers eliminated them from playoff contention and clinched the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot for Washington.
Edvinsson, the Wings’ top defense prospect along with countryman Axel Sandin Pellikka, ends his second NHL season with a goal and an assist in 16 games. Since he played nine games in 2022-23, he won’t be eligible for Calder Trophy voting next season and has lost rookie status. The 21-year-old may not have impressed with his point production, but he looked much more comfortable in major league minutes this year than last. His possession numbers reflected the improvement, posting a 47.7 CF% and 50.0 xGF% at even strength, up from 44.1% and 47.9% last season, respectively.
He’ll head back to the Griffins, who are second in the Central Division with a 35-22-8-4 record and have clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five years. Edvinsson leads their blue line with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 52 games. His 51 PIMs are tied with Aston-Reese for fourth on the team. It’s been a strong sophomore season in Grand Rapids for the 2021 sixth-overall pick, who came over from his native Sweden in the summer of 2022 after signing his entry-level contract.
Aston-Reese ends his campaign with just three NHL appearances, his fewest since making his NHL debut in 2017-18. The former bottom-six mainstay averaged just 5:09, failing to record a point with a lone shot on goal and three hits. Two of his appearances came down the stretch with a handful of injuries to Detroit’s depth forwards, but he was a healthy scratch in their season-ending back-to-back against Montreal. The 29-year-old has been effective in a middle-six role with Grand Rapids, notching 14 goals and 29 points in 59 games with a +4 rating. He’ll be a UFA this summer after completing his one-year, two-way deal ($775K/$300K/$350K).
Oilers Recall Sam Gagner And Adam Erne
The Oilers will have some extra depth on hand for their final couple of games of the season. The team announced today that they’ve recalled forwards Sam Gagner and Adam Erne from AHL Bakersfield.
Gagner had an extended PTO with Edmonton back in training camp but was converted to a full-season deal back at the end of October. Since then, he has split time between the Oilers and Condors. The 34-year-old has been reasonably productive in limited minutes with Edmonton, tallying five goals and five assists in 27 games while averaging a little over ten minutes a night. He has fared better in the minors on a per-game basis, collecting three goals and six helpers in 15 contests.
As for Erne, he also signed in-season with the Oilers, inking a two-way deal back on October 13th. The 28-year-old has suited up 23 times for Edmonton so far but has just two points along with 67 hits while logging less than eight minutes a night. Meanwhile, in Bakersfield, Erne has six goals and six assists through 35 contests.
Both players are set to become unrestricted free agents in July and aren’t expected to be in the lineup tonight against Arizona. However, they could suit up on Thursday versus Colorado if the team decides to rest some forwards heading into the playoffs.
Flyers Reassign Bobby Brink, Olle Lycksell, Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning
With their season coming to an end at the hands of the Washington Capitals last night, the Philadelphia Flyers have reassigned several waiver-exempt players to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In the transaction, the team will be sending forwards Bobby Brink and Olle Lycksell, as well as defensemen Ronald Attard and Adam Ginning north to Lehigh Valley.
Of the four, Brink spent the most time at the NHL level this season, suiting up in 57 games for the Flyers. Over that stretch, Brink scored 11 goals and 23 points in total, sitting 12th on the roster in scoring. While he did not manage to crack the 60-game mark this year, Brink should rather easily crack the opening night roster next season as a middle-six option.
Lycksell, on the other hand, likely has more offensive potential compared to Brink, based on his strong back-to-back seasons with the Phantom. Scoring only one goal and five points over 18 games for the Flyers this season, Lycksell was more than productive with Lehigh Valley earlier in the year, scoring 19 goals and 38 points in only 36 games.
On the blue line, Attard and Ginning are both remarkably similar in size and stature. Of the two, Attard has the upper hand on the offensive side of the puck, while Ginning excels more defensively. Even though Philadelphia has some openings in their defensive core this summer, both defensemen should expect similar roles next year.
While the Phantoms still have three games left to play in the 2023-24 AHL season, they are likely headed for the same fate as last year, poised for sixth place in the Atlantic Division. If the season were to end today, Lehigh Valley would match up against their interstate rivals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Buffalo Sabres Reassign Noah Ostlund
Playing the season with the Växjö Lakers of the SHL while on loan from the Buffalo Sabres organization, forward Noah Ostlund is set to make his debut in North American hockey. Earlier today, the Sabres organization announced that they have reassigned Ostlund to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, Ostlund clocked in as the fifth-best prospect for the Sabres headed into the 2023-24 NHL season. Being selected with the 16th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft, Ostlund has spent all of his professional playing career in Sweden until today.
After being drafted by Buffalo, Ostlund spent much of last season playing for Djurgårdens IF of HockeyAllsvenskan. Over 37 games last season, Ostlund scored eight goals and 26 points in total.
Now a full-time player in Sweden’s top professional league, Ostlund still kept pace, scoring 12 goals and 23 points in 38 games. Outside of professional hockey, Ostlund has certainly made a name for himself in international competition, scoring four goals and 14 assists over the last two World Junior Championship tournaments.
Having already clinched a spot in the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, Ostlund should get a decent opportunity down the stretch with the Americans. As the team will likely take away some of his minutes come playoff time, Ostlund will still be available for important playoff games as he appears to earn a roster spot with the Sabres next season.
Islanders Recall Ruslan Iskhakov
The Islanders have recalled forward prospect Ruslan Iskhakov from AHL Bridgeport, per a team announcement. He’s expected to make his NHL debut tonight in the Isles’ final regular-season game against the Penguins.
New York selected Iskhakov, 23, in the second round of the 2018 draft. It’s been a steady climb for the undersized Russian center since then, as he’s now solidified himself as one of the organization’s top point producers at the minor league level.
He was always going to need to put up strong numbers to have a shot at cracking the NHL. At 5’8″ and 163 lbs, he’s far from being the strongest or most aggressive player on the ice, but he’s made up for it so far with great passing and skating. Drafted out of the Russian junior circuit, Iskhakov came to North America immediately after being drafted, spending two years with UConn. He notched 21 points in 32 games each season before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing him to return overseas. There, he made his professional debut with TPS in the Finnish Liiga in 2020-21, tying for third on the club with 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games on a team that featured Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as its backup. He stayed overseas the following year, transferring to Adler Mannheim of the Deutsch Eishockey Liga, where he was limited to 25 games but led the team in per-game scoring with 22 points.
His strong stints in European top-level hockey convinced the Isles to sign him to a two-year entry-level contract beginning last year, and he hasn’t disappointed. He’s combined for 35 goals and 101 points in 138 games with Bridgeport, leading the offensively challenged club in scoring this season. The Isles are holding star forward Mathew Barzal and a few others out of tonight’s matchup for rest, as they’re already locked into a first-round matchup with the Hurricanes.
Iskhakov is expected to skate on a line with captain Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau in his NHL debut, per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. A pending RFA with arbitration rights, he’s in need of a new contract this summer. With Bridgeport eliminated from Calder Cup Playoff contention, Iskhakov could remain with the Isles during their playoff run.
Canadiens Notes: Reassignments, Offseason Plans, Slafkovsky, Caufield, Gorton
The Canadiens trimmed their roster significantly today, assigning four players to AHL Laval. Defensemen Justin Barron, Logan Mailloux and Jayden Struble, as well as forward Joshua Roy, are headed down to the minors to finish the 2023-24 season. Laval, with two games remaining, is attempting to clinch a playoff berth in the North Division.
Roy’s reassignment confirms he’s been cleared to return from an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup since mid-March. The 2021 fifth-round pick has quickly risen up the professional ranks, posting four goals and nine points in 23 games during his first couple of NHL stints this year. The 20-year-old was among Laval’s most effective per-game producers before being called up to the Habs, impressing in his rookie season with 13 goals and 32 points in 40 games.
Mailloux, selected in the late first round in 2021, made his NHL debut last night against the Red Wings, posting an assist and a +1 rating in 21:14 of ice time. He leads Laval defenders and is third on the team in scoring with 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) in 70 games, his first in the professional ranks.
Barron and Struble both spent significant time on the NHL roster this season but weren’t exactly full-timers, seeing extended stints in the minors as well. The 22-year-old Barron’s season was a more even split, skating in a career-high 48 NHL games but failing to eclipse last year’s career-high of 15 points. He knocked on the door of playing top-four minutes, averaging 18:38 per game, and posted strong relative possession numbers. While he hasn’t impressed much in Laval with 11 points and a -5 rating in 30 games, his major-league showing was strong enough to keep him in consideration for an opening-night job on next season’s roster.
Like Mailloux and Roy, Struble is in his first full professional season. The 22-year-old has been on the NHL roster exclusively since November, aside from a brief reassignment to Laval on March 8 to make him eligible for minor-league playoff action. He became a bottom-pairing mainstay on the Habs’ blue line, notching 10 points in 56 games with a -3 rating while averaging 16:07 per game. He was similarly strong in limited action with Laval early this season, posting six points and a +4 rating with 29 PIMs in 12 games before heading up to Montreal.
Other updates coming from the Habs’ front office in today’s end-of-season availability:
- GM Kent Hughes made apparent to reporters today that adding on offense will be his off-season priority. The Fourth Period reports he may leverage the organization’s surplus of young defensemen to get it done rather than gunning for a top-six scoring forward on the free agent market. Eight defensemen on the NHL roster for last night’s game are already under contract for next season, not including Barron and Arber Xhekaj, who are pending RFAs. Hughes also confirmed that he doesn’t intend on taking advantage of the two buyout windows this summer to open up some cap space or part ways with a veteran (via Sportsnet’s Eric Engels). The club will have no buyouts on the books next season, with Karl Alzner‘s expiring this summer. A likely candidate would have been center Christian Dvorak, who was limited to nine points in 30 games this season with a pectoral injury and has one season left at a $4.45MM cap hit with an eight-team no-trade list.
- Sophomore winger Juraj Slafkovsky scored his 20th goal of the season last night, awarding him a $250K performance bonus. That will be applied to next season’s books as a dead cap charge, PuckPedia reports, as Montreal had already exhausted the performance bonus pool awarded to them by Carey Price‘s LTIR placement. Slafkovsky also informed reporters today he intends to represent Slovakia at the 2024 World Championship next month.
- Joining Slafkovsky at the Worlds will be star goal-scorer Cole Caufield, who’s accepted an invitation from Team USA GM Bill Guerin to play at the tournament. Caufield largely fell short of expectations this season, limited to 28 goals in 82 games after sniping 26 in only 46 contests last year. The 2019 first-round pick still finished second on the team in scoring behind Nick Suzuki, however, and has a long runway to rebound with seven years remaining on his contract with a $7.85MM cap hit.
- Habs executive VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton was expected to draw some interest for any current or future GM vacancies that may arise this offseason, but he told reporters today, including TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, that he plans on sticking in Montreal. He was hired in November 2021 after the team relieved former GM Marc Bergevin of his duties, serving as interim GM for a few months before appointing Hughes in the role. Before joining the Habs, Gorton was the GM of the Rangers for six seasons and oversaw most of their late-2010s retool.
Hurricanes Reassign Dylan Coghlan, Max Comtois
The Hurricanes have reassigned defenseman Dylan Coghlan and winger Max Comtois to AHL Springfield and Chicago, respectively, GM Don Waddell announced today. The latter recorded an assist in his Carolina debut, a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jackets yesterday. Both were summoned yesterday to play spot duty in the Canes’ final game of the season while they rested multiple stars, including Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin.
Comtois, 25, has posted 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 62 games with Chicago this season, his first as a professional outside the Ducks organization. He was a second-round pick of Anaheim in 2017. He led the team in scoring during the shortened 2021 season but followed that up with 35 points and a -37 rating in 116 games over the following two years and was not given a qualifying offer when his contract expired last summer.
The Quebec native didn’t land an NHL offer in free agency and ended up in training camp with the Golden Knights on a PTO but failed to earn a contract. He signed a minor league pact with Chicago shortly thereafter, and the Canes picked up his NHL rights on a one-year, two-way contract in early March. They’ll maintain control of his signing rights this summer as a pending RFA with arbitration rights.
Coghlan, 26, is in his second season in the Carolina organization. Most of his time with the Canes has been spent in the minors, though, and yesterday was his first and only NHL appearance of the season. He was held without a point and posted a -2 rating in nearly 18 minutes of ice time. With no AHL affiliation agreement in place in 2023-24, Carolina has loaned Coghlan out to Springfield, the Blues’ top-level affiliate, for the whole season. He’s got 16 goals and 41 points in 59 games there, leading their defenders in scoring.
The former Golden Knight was trending toward being a full-time NHLer during the end of his time in Vegas, recording 13 points in 59 appearances with them in 2021-22 while averaging 14:12 per game. However, he was traded to Carolina following that season as the sweetener for them to take the final season of winger Max Pacioretty‘s contract at a $7MM cap hit. He played sparingly for the Canes last year, averaging 12:43 per game in 17 appearances, and re-signed with them at an $850K cap hit last July after reaching restricted free agency. He’ll be an RFA again this summer, his final year of such eligibility.