Canucks Activate Carson Soucy, Place Phillip Di Giuseppe On LTIR
The Canucks activated shutdown defenseman Carson Soucy from long-term injured reserve Saturday, with Soucy taking winger Phillip Di Giuseppe‘s spot on the active roster. Di Giuseppe has been added to LTIR with an undisclosed injury sustained last Tuesday against the Senators, which caused him to miss Thursday’s showing against the Blues. Thus, his LTIR placement is likely retroactive to January 3.
After signing a three-year, $9.75MM pact to join the Canucks last offseason, Soucy’s first few months in British Columbia have been marred by injuries that have limited him to 13 out of 38 games. When in the lineup, however, he’s been effective at first glance, logging two goals, three assists, five points and a +6 rating in 16:52 of ice time per game. That’s a bit more offense than most expected from Soucy, who scored just three times in 78 games with the Kraken last season.
More advanced metrics tell a different story, though. His possession impacts have been mediocre, posting a 46.3% Corsi share at even strength that ranks 16th among Canucks skaters with at least ten games played. He’s been most commonly paired with Tyler Myers, which has by far been the Canucks most disastrous two-way duo with just 41% of expected goals when they’re on the ice together, per MoneyPuck. Myers has fared marginally better when paired with Ian Cole or Nikita Zadorov.
While those numbers aren’t pretty, judging a player acclimating to a new system while fighting long-term injuries is hard. Soucy returns tonight from a lower-body injury that’s kept him out since November 12, causing him to miss 23 games.
It’s also a tough break for Di Giuseppe, who will now be out at a minimum through the end of the month. The 30-year-old veteran of over 250 NHL games spent most of his last two seasons with the Canucks in the minors with AHL Abbotsford but made Vancouver out of camp this season, playing in all but six games. A high-scoring threat at the AHL level, Di Giuseppe started in a top-nine role but has seen his minutes diminish in recent weeks, culminating in a few healthy scratches before sustaining the injury. He has three goals and five assists for eight points this season, averaging 13:03 per game.
Flyers Assign Rhett Gardner To AHL
The Flyers have assigned forward Rhett Gardner to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, according to a team statement. Gardner was a healthy scratch in today’s 3-2 win over the Flames.
Gardner signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Flyers in free agency last offseason, and he earned his first recall to the Flyers in mid-December. He was ferried back to Lehigh Valley after the Flyers played their last game before the Christmas break, but they promptly recalled him as the roster freeze wrapped up. The minor-league shutdown center served as injury insurance for most of his time on the NHL roster, as head coach John Tortorella scratched him in seven straight games before he made his season debut Thursday against the Blue Jackets. He entered the lineup in place of Morgan Frost, who sat as a healthy scratch for the 11th time this season but returned to play today.
Frost is an everyday piece of the Flyers’ top nine, posting 11 points in 27 appearances this season, but has earned the ire of Tortorella at points this season. That has resulted in extending benchings, including a six-game streak of scratches early in the season. With Frost still in the fold, though, and no injuries on offense to speak of, it makes sense the Flyers would want to return Gardner to the minors and avoid unnecessarily running out his waiver-exempt status.
The 27-year-old Gardner has now played in parts of four NHL seasons since making his debut in 2019-20, getting into 41 games while recording one goal and one assist. A long-time member of the Stars organization, who acquired his rights with the 116th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, all 40 of Gardner’s previous major-league games came in a fourth-line role with Dallas. Gardner now returns to the Phantoms, where he has three goals and one assist in his first 21 games with the team.
Devils Place Timo Meier On IR, Recall Max Willman
The Devils have made a pair of roster moves before tonight’s game against Vancouver. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Timo Meier has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 30th. With the open roster spot, the team has recalled Max Willman from AHL Utica.
Meier has missed the last week with what was termed as a mid-body injury. That came on the heels of him missing a couple of weeks with a lower-body issue earlier in the season as well. The 27-year-old hasn’t had a great first full season with New Jersey, notching just nine goals with six assists through his first 28 games. That’s not the type of output they were expecting when they acquired him from San Jose last season and signed him to an eight-year, $70.4MM contract back in June. With the back-dated placement, he will have already missed seven days so he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.
As for Willman, he turned a PTO into a two-way deal in October and this will be his third recall of the season. He has played in four games with New Jersey so far, picking up his first goal since the 2021-22 campaign with Philadelphia while logging a little over 11 minutes a night. The 28-year-old has spent most of the year in the minors, notching nine goals and seven assists in 20 games so far. Assuming Meier’s injury is a short one, it’s likely that this stint on the roster will be a short one for Willman.
Bruins Recall Jesper Boqvist, Assign Georgii Merkulov To AHL
With there being a bit of uncertainty with Boston’s lineup for tonight, the Bruins have opted to make a recall up front, announcing that winger Jesper Boqvist has been recalled from Providence. To bring Mason Lohrei back up after being papered down yesterday, Georgii Merkulov was assigned to Providence as well.
The 25-year-old had 21 points in 70 games with New Jersey last season but was non-tendered back in June, making him an unrestricted free agent. Boqvist eventually settled for a one-year, one-way contract worth the minimum salary of $775K a couple of weeks later with the hopes that he could lock down a full-time spot on Boston’s fourth line.
That hasn’t gone completely as planned as instead of securing a full-time spot, he cleared waivers at the end of training camp and has spent most of the season in the minors. Boqvist has done well down there, picking up 10 goals and 13 assists in 31 games with Providence while also making a pair of appearances with Boston.
As for Merkulov, he played in four games with Boston while on recall, being held off the scoresheet while averaging 10:35 per night. The 23-year-old has been quite productive with Providence, however, notching 14 goals and 16 assists in 31 games and should go right back to being in a top role for them.
As Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic notes (Twitter link), winger James van Riemsdyk is day-to-day so it would appear Boqvist’s recall is to help cover against that. Lohrei could also take his place in the lineup if they want to go with seven blueliners while Matthew Poitras is also available after returning from his stint at the World Juniors.
Blackhawks Claim Zach Sanford Off Waivers From Coyotes
As the injury bug continues to strike, the Blackhawks have turned to the waiver wire. As first reported by PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link), Chicago has claimed forward Zach Sanford off waivers from Arizona.
The 29-year-old was waived by Arizona on Friday. He has played in 11 games since being recalled in December, picking up a pair of points along with eight blocks and four hits while logging a little over nine minutes a night on the fourth line.
Sanford is a veteran of over 300 career NHL games but has bounced around a lot lately, spending time with St. Louis, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Nashville, and Arizona since 2021. At his best, he was a capable third-line power forward but in recent seasons, he has settled in as a recallable veteran when needed. Sanford has spent most of this season with AHL Tucson after inking a one-year, two-way deal with the Coyotes over the summer, picking up a goal and three assists in 16 games.
While on the surface, this might seem like a puzzling claim for a rebuilding team to make, Chicago now has eight forwards on injured reserve. After making several recalls from AHL Rockford, they also picked up Rem Pitlick in a trade from Pittsburgh earlier today and are now adding Sanford merely to get to 12 healthy forwards on the active roster. It stands to reason that Sanford could be back on the wire once some of these players come back but for now, his stay in the NHL will last at least a little while longer.
Predators Recall Denis Gurianov
Denis Gurianov has been one of the top scorers in the AHL so far this season and he has been rewarded for his efforts. The Predators announced that they have recalled the winger from AHL Milwaukee.
It has been quite the fall from grace for the 26-year-old in recent years. He had a 20-goal campaign with Dallas in 2019-20 and looked like he’d be part of their long-term core. However, Gurianov’s numbers had steadily dropped since then and near the trade deadline last season, the Stars moved on, sending him to Montreal in exchange for Evgenii Dadonov.
Things didn’t go much better with the Canadiens as Gurianov had just eight points in 23 games, resulting in the team declining to tender him a qualifying offer of $2.9MM, making him an unrestricted free agent last summer.
Gurianov’s market wasn’t particularly robust, resulting in him having to settle for a one-year, $850K one-way agreement. The expectation was that he’d add a bit of offensive depth to a bottom-six group that didn’t exactly feature much firepower on paper.
However, that plan didn’t exactly pan out either. After a tough preseason that saw him record just one assist in four games, Gurianov was waived and after clearing, was sent to the Admirals. To his credit, he has fared quite well down there, leading the team in scoring with 30 points in 27 games, good for a tie for sixth in AHL points. He’ll now get a chance to try to contribute to a Nashville attack that sits in the middle of the pack for goals, ranking 15th in that department.
Blackhawks Acquire Rem Pitlick
The Blackhawks have added some extra depth up front, acquiring winger Rem Pitlick from Pittsburgh in exchange for a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick. Both teams have announced the swap.
Pitlick spent the previous two seasons with Montreal before being included as part of the three-team swap which also involved San Jose, landing the Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson.
The 26-year-old impressed as a waiver claim by the Canadiens in 2021, picking up 26 points in 46 games. That was enough for Montreal to give him a two-year, $2.2MM contract, seemingly giving him some stability. However, Pitlick cleared waivers last season, splitting the year between AHL Laval and Montreal where he had just 15 points in 46 contests, leading to a trade request, one that was granted with his inclusion in the three-way trade.
However, the change of scenery didn’t work out quite as planned for Pitlick. Pittsburgh’s cap situation helped land him back on waivers and since clearing at the end of training camp, he has played exclusively with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Pitlick has been productive down there, notching 24 points in 32 games to lead the Baby Pens in scoring.
Presumably, Pitlick will now get an NHL look with a team where the salary cap situation won’t be a concern. The Blackhawks have six forwards on injured reserve at the moment while Connor Bedard left yesterday’s game due to injury so Pitlick should get an opportunity to make an impact with Chicago. A strong second half showing could give him a nice boost heading into unrestricted free agency this summer, just like it did two years ago.
Aaron Dell Signs PTO With AHL Ontario
Last month, the Hurricanes signed veteran goaltender Aaron Dell to a tryout agreement, loaning him out to Canada’s Spengler Cup entry a few days later. While there hasn’t been an announcement from Carolina about him since then, it appears Dell was released as he has already found a new team. Per the AHL’s transactions log, the netminder has signed a tryout agreement with AHL Ontario, the affiliate of the Kings.
The 34-year-old has yet to play this season beyond his stint at the Spengler Cup where he had a 2.59 GAA and a .906 SV% in four games while losing in the semi-final. Last season, Dell spent most of the year with AHL San Jose, posting a 3.14 GAA with a .898 SV% in 38 contests. He also got into four games with the Sharks, extending his streak of years with an appearance at the top level to seven. Dell had a 2.71 GAA and a .913 SV% in those outings, both better than his career averages of 2.92 and .905 respectively.
With Pheonix Copley on LTIR, David Rittich is currently up with the Kings so Dell figures to serve as the veteran backup to prospect Erik Portillo with the Reign. Meanwhile, with Los Angeles being speculated to be searching for a veteran third-stringer, this signing could take them out of the trade market on that front with Dell being well-suited to fill that role for the time being.
Coyotes To Recall Dylan Guenther
The Coyotes are bringing up one of their top prospects as PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports (Twitter link) that the team is expected to announce the recall of winger Dylan Guenther from AHL Tucson.
The 20-year-old made Arizona’s roster out of training camp last season and acquitted himself fairly well, picking up six goals and nine assists in 33 games while averaging over 13 minutes a night. The Coyotes decided that it was best for him to return to junior after that and he joined WHL Seattle for the stretch run. Guenther was dominant there, collecting 29 points in 20 regular season contests and 28 more in 19 postseason appearances. By sending him back when they did, the Coyotes ensured that Guenther would not accrue a season of service time toward his UFA eligibility.
This season, Guenther was eligible to go to the AHL unlike last year and Arizona opted to send him to the Roadrunners after training camp. He has fared quite well in his first taste at that level, leading the team in scoring with 10 goals and 18 assists in 29 games; he’s on a bit of a hot streak with eight points in his last five appearances.
Arizona finds itself only a point out of a Wild Card spot as we near the midway point of the season but has only scored more than two goals once in their last five games. They’re hoping that bringing up one of their top offensive prospects can help get things going on that front.
Central Notes: Bedard, Meyers, Kirkland
In what has become an unexpectedly scary night for the Chicago Blackhawks, the team announced that star rookie, Connor Bedard, would not return to tonight’s game due to injury. The play in question took place during the first period, as New Jersey Devils defenseman, Brendan Smith, distributed a heavy hit to Bedard just over the blue line, causing the young phenom to head to the locker room for the rest of the evening.
For the sake of level-headedness, there could be a plethora of reasons for Chicago to keep Bedard out of the game, ranging from simply being cautionary with their top player, or expecting that Bedard could be out for a lengthy amount of time. Ultimately, it is unlikely that an update on Bedard’s status will be given after the game tonight, as most teams tend to wait until the next day to announce any meaningful news.
It is hard to put into words how detrimental Bedard’s absence would be for the Blackhawks, regardless of the amount of time he is out of the lineup. Even with only 11 wins through 38 games, Chicago’s offense completely runs through Bedard, as he has quickly shown that he was worth all of the hype.
To put his value into perspective on the Blackhawks specifically, with 15 goals and 33 points through 38 games, Bedard accounts for 17% of all goals scored, 12% of all assists, and 14% of all points scored for Chicago this season at 18 years old. With the future of the Blackhawks organization comfortably resting on Bedard’s shoulders, Chicago will likely be extremely cautious with Bedard’s health in hopes that he can be in the lineup as much as possible.
Other notes:
- The Colorado Avalanche have recalled forward Ben Meyers from the Colorado Eagles after sending him down yesterday, per a team announcement. It is unknown whether or not he will factor into the team’s lineup tomorrow afternoon against the Florida Panthers, as he has largely been used as an extra forward by the Avalanche this season.
- Unfortunately for Justin Kirkland, it will be his second consecutive emergency call-up without a game played, as the Arizona Coyotes announced they have returned him back to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Luckily, he has appeared comfortable in his first season in the Coyotes organization, as he’s scored one goal and 13 points in 12 games for the Roadrunners so far.