Vegas Golden Knights Activate, Reassign Kaedan Korczak
The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that defenseman Kaedan Korczak has been activated off of injured reserve and subsequently reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.
The 22-year-old last played in a December 10th contest against the San Jose Sharks, skating nearly 19 minutes in a 5-4 shootout victory. He suffered a lower-body injury during that game and was placed on injured reserve shortly afterward. Although Korczak has played in 15 NHL games this season compared to just five in the AHL, it’s understandable that the Golden Knights would want to see Korczak build back to full strength after his injury at the AHL level before throwing him back into the NHL lineup.
The six-foot-three right-shot defenseman plays with a lot of physicality, so some time in the AHL is likely required before he’ll feel comfortable re-engaging in that aggressive playstyle against NHL competition. The Golden Knights’ defense has been dealing with quite a few injuries, so it may not take too long before Korczak finds himself back in the NHL, perhaps on the team’s second pairing next to Brayden McNabb.
In the meantime, that spot is occupied by two-time QMJHL defenseman of the year Lukas Cormier, who picked up an assist in his first career NHL game on Saturday.
Avalanche Notes: Manson, Wood, Lehkonen
Ryan Boulding of NHL.com is reporting that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson will not dress tonight when the Avalanche take on the Vegas Golden Knights. Manson suffered an undisclosed injury at Avalanche practice on Monday and did not play against the Boston Bruins on Monday night. The 32-year-old has five goals and seven assists in 37 games this season, his second full year with Colorado.
Manson joins an ever-growing list of Avalanche players who are out of the lineup, although it is not known how long he will continue to miss games. Very little is known about Manson’s injury at the moment, and it is expected that there will be an update on his status in the coming days.
In other Avalanche notes:
- Ryan Boulding is also reporting that Avalanche forward Miles Wood will not play tonight as he is dealing with an illness. Like Manson, Wood also missed Monday night’s game against Boston and tested positive for influenza according to Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now. Wood is in his first season with the Avalanche after signing a six-year contract on July 1st. The 28-year-old has scored at a comparable rate to his career average this season with six goals and six assists in 39 games. He has been much more responsible with and without the puck this year with Colorado as Wood has reduced his turnover rate dramatically, while also increasing his takeaway numbers.
- Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now is reporting that Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar would love to see forward Artturi Lehkonen play on their upcoming road trip, but it is not a guarantee. Lehkonen will reportedly join the team when they begin their road trip on Friday starting in Toronto and could play for the first time since November 9th. Lehkonen was sidelined with a neck injury after a scary fall into the boards and was originally given a 10–12-week recovery timeline that he is eight weeks into. When he can return the 28-year-old will provide a big boost to Colorado’s top-6 particularly if he can get back to his level of play from last season. This year Lehkonen has three goals and five assists in 12 games.
Afternoon Notes: Golden Knights, Puljujarvi, Meyers
Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy shared updates on the team’s long list of injuries, sharing that Daniil Miromanov is back on the ice, Keegan Kolesar is still out of the lineup with illness, and that starter Adin Hill has returned to skating on his own but isn’t quite ready to rejoin the team. Cassidy also shared that Shea Theodore is still a ways away from returning. The star defenseman is joined by Miromanov and Hill on injured reserve.
These injuries have underscored what’s been a battered Vegas lineup to start the year. The club currently has a top-six forward in William Karlsson, starter Adin Hill, and four different defensemen on IR. The only on the list to not yet make his season debut is NHL newcomer Miromanov, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury that’s held him out since the start of the year.
The amount of talent being held out of Vegas’ lineup is impressive. Karlsson ranks third on the team in scoring with 32 points in 38 games. Theodore still leads all Knights defenders in scoring, despite missing 18 games, with 18 points in 20 games. And Hill has returned to the impeccable goalie that made him an icon last postseason, boasting a .934 save percentage through 15 games this season. The Golden Knights will be in for a big boost when they’re able to get each of these players back, although how long that may take is still up in the air.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have signed Jesse Puljujarvi to a professional try-out agreement, extending his time in the Penguins organization. Puljujarvi is working his way back from double hip surgery and has been skating with the Pittsburgh lineup at practices. And while his return still seems to be a ways out, this move helps set him up for an AHL conditioning stint once he’s ready to go.
- The Colorado Avalanche have assigned Ben Meyers to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. This is likely in an effort to maintain the young forward’s waiver exemption status. Meyers has played in a collective 58 NHL games since joining the Avalanche in 2021-22 and will lose his exemption once he hits 60 games. The 25-year-old centerman has totaled six goals and no assists through those 58 games, adding 37 points in 49 AHL games.
Vegas Golden Knights Claim Tobias Björnfot
The Vegas Golden Knights have claimed blueliner Tobias Björnfot off of waivers, the team has announced. In addition, forward Grigori Denisenko and defenseman Lukas Cormier have been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.
This claim of Björnfot ends the defenseman’s time in Los Angeles, at least for the time being. The Kings will have the chance to re-claim Björnfot should he find himself on waivers again this season (just as the Ottawa Senators claimed Lassi Thomson earlier this season after he was originally nabbed by the Anaheim Ducks) but for now he’s off to Nevada.
The 22-year-old was selected 22nd overall by the Kings in 2019, and although he made a name for himself in North America rather quickly, his development never quite took off. The six-foot-one Swedish blueliner plays a solid defensive game and is capable of logging heavy minutes at the AHL level. He’s been more of a bottom-pairing defenseman at the NHL level,
Since Vegas is currently dealing with quite a few injuries to their defense, Björnfot figures to slot into the team’s seventh defenseman role.
The recalls of Cormier and Denisenko place both players in a position to potentially make their Golden Knights debuts. Denisenko, 23, was a waiver claim by Vegas earlier this season and already has 26 games on his NHL resume, exclusively coming during his time with the Florida Panthers. He’s done really well in the AHL so far this season, leading Henderson in scoring with 30 points in 31 games.
As for Cormier, the 21-year-old 2020 third-round pick hasn’t yet played in the NHL. He had a solid start to his pro career last season when he registered 35 points in his rookie AHL campaign, and he’s followed that up with a healthy 12 points in 27 games this season.
Vegas Golden Knights Recall Dysin Mayo
Just before the team takes the ice at the 2024 Winter Classic in Seattle, the Vegas Golden Knights have recalled defenseman Dysin Mayo from their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.
Mayo fills the lone vacant spot on the Golden Knights roster, bringing the team up to eight blueliners on its 23-man unit. Mayo will obviously not skate in the team’s game against the Golden Knights, but this recall does introduce the possibility of him dressing for an NHL game a little bit later down the line.
Mayo, 27, was traded to Vegas in February 2023, but has not yet played in his first NHL game for the club. The team brought him in as part of the deal to clear Shea Weber‘s contract off their books, and the hope was for him to play top-four minutes in Henderson and provide some size, physicality, and veteran leadership to their minor-league affiliate.
That’s exactly what Mayo has done, and now the Golden Knights have rewarded him with an NHL call-up. Mayo could very well find himself back in Henderson by the time the Silver Knights hit the ice Wednesday since Vegas already has seven defensemen on their roster, but there remains the chance now that he gets into his first game as a Golden Knight.
Marc-Andre Fleury Becomes Fourth Goalie With 1,000 Games Played
With his appearance in Minnesota’s 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, Marc-Andre Fleury has officially joined one of the most exclusive clubs in all of hockey, playing in his 1,000th NHL game. While hundreds of skaters have managed the feat, only three other goaltenders have had careers long enough and performances strong enough to reach the mark – Martin Brodeur (1,266 Games), Roberto Luongo (1,044), and Patrick Roy (1,029). The trio is arguably three of the best goaltenders of all time and will now be joined by Fleury, whose 55 percent win-percentage is the highest of any of the four goalies.
Fleury’s path to this milestone came largely thanks to his 13 years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where the French Canadian was able to become the winningest goalie in club history with 375 wings through a team-high 691 games played. But it was Fleury’s postseason performances that turned him into a legend for one of the league’s most prolific clubs. Fleury established himself as the team’s long-term starter in the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, carrying the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals thanks to a dazzling .933 save percentage in 20 starts. He immediately became the guy in the 2008-09 season, ranking eighth in the league with 62 games played. The major uptick in ice time didn’t faze Fleury, who held it together enough to record a .908 save percentage in 24 games during the 2009 Playoffs, helping lift the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup in 17 years.
But as much as it built up his early career, postseason performances were also the downfall of Fleury’s time in Pittsburgh, who ultimately lost his starting role to the hot hand of rookie Matt Murray during the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Murray would go on to lead the Penguins to another Stanley Cup win, on the back of a .923 save percentage in 21 games. Fleury would continue in Pittsburgh for one more season, platooning with Murray during the 2017 postseason, but the writing was on the wall – and after Murray won over the starting role en route to a second Cup, it was time for Fleury to move on. The Penguins traded the Vegas Golden Knights a second-round draft pick to incentivize them to take Fleury int he 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
The Golden Knights were quickly rewarded for taking the veteran, with Fleury bouncing immediately back to his postseason form – leading Vegas to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first year with a .927 save percentage in 20 games. He continued to thrive in the postseason with Vegas, setting a combined .914 save percentage over his next three seasons with the team, which saw 27 playoff games.
Fleury moved away from the Golden Knights in 2021, briefly joining the Chicago Blackhawks before being traded to the Minnesota Wild for a conditional second-round pick. Now 39 years old, Fleury is relishing on a successful .905 save percentage and 39-23-6 record in three years with the Wild. He’s lost the everyday starter role to Filip Gustavsson but still boasts an .893 in 14 games this year.
It’s been a prolific career for Fleury, emphasized by a Gold Medal win at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a Vezina Trophy and William Jennings Trophy win in the 2020-21 season. Fleury is set to become a free agent at the end of this season. If he decides to call it a career, he will be retiring as one of the winningest goaltenders of all time – one of only 21 goaltenders to win three-or-more Stanley Cups and ranked in the top 10 of all-time wins. The question now becomes whether his 1,000th game can combine with all of his other accolades to earn Fleury a Hall of Fame induction.
Golden Knights Sign Matthew Cataford
2023 is ending on a high note for Golden Knights prospect Matthew Cataford. The team announced today that they’ve signed the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 18-year-old was a third-round pick by Vegas back in June, going 77th overall. The early returns on that selection are certainly promising as Cataford has 22 goals and 31 assists in just 35 games with QMJHL Halifax so far. Not only does that lead the Mooseheads in scoring, but his 53 points lead the entire league on that front. He’s also the league leader in plus/minus, checking in at a +35 rating.
While Cataford’s contract technically starts this season, that won’t wind up actually being the case as he will remain in Halifax. Accordingly, his contract will slide for 2023-24 and will still have three seasons left on it heading into the 2024-25 campaign. He’ll be eligible for a second slide as well that year as his options will be either junior hockey or Vegas; Cataford won’t be eligible to be assigned to the minors until 2025-26.
Trade Notes: Maple Leafs, Johnson, Martinez
Once the roster freeze across the league is lifted on Thursday morning, it will mark the unofficial start to trade season in the NHL calendar. Up to this point, much has been made of the potential trade targets for the Toronto Maple Leafs, primarily centered around veteran defenseman Chris Tanev, currently with the Calgary Flames.
Instead of sorting through potential targets, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic wrote an article (subscription required article) examining the assets currently available to the Maple Leafs they will have to offer in any deal leading up to the trade deadline. Given the team’s current positioning in the standings and their liberal usage of draft selections in the past, Toronto’s first-round draft pick in the 2024 NHL Draft will likely be in play.
However, given the team’s recent history of trading first-round draft picks, there should be some considerable internal pushback in moving the asset once again. Since 2019, the Maple Leafs have used their first-round pick to acquire Jake Muzzin (2019), Nick Foligno (2021), Ryan O’Reilly (2023), Noel Acciari (2023), Jake McCabe (2025), and Sam Lafferty (2025). The team also traded their 2020 first-round selection to move Patrick Marleau to the Carolina Hurricanes, and their 2022 first-round selection to move Petr Mrazek to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Of the six players acquired by Toronto for first-round draft picks in the last six seasons, only one of them (McCabe) is still in the organization, as the rest have moved on to different organizations, or have seen their careers end. Keeping this in mind, if the Maple Leafs are to use their 2024 first-round draft pick as leverage for a trade this season, they would be much better served in acquiring a player with term.
Other notes:
- Heavily linked to Calgary center, Elias Lindholm, Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now indicates if the price for Lindholm remains high, the Boston Bruins may look to a recent trading partner in the Chicago Blackhawks to improve down the middle of the ice (article link). Murphy indicates that shortly after the roster freeze is lifted, Chicago will make center Tyler Johnson available for trade, also being able to retain salary in the deal. With a high amount of injury concern attached, Johnson may still be an effective buy-low middle-six option for the Bruins.
- After the recent extension given to defenseman Ben Hutton, Ken Boehlke of SinBin reports that more changes may be coming to the blue line of the Vegas Golden Knights. With seven defensemen already on the active roster, and with Shea Theodore and Kaedan Korczak both expected back at some point, Boehlke notes the Golden Knights may be inclined to move out defenseman Alec Martinez. The moving out of Martinez would open up space in the defensive core as well as cap space for an additional upgrade elsewhere.
Minor Transactions: 12/24/23
With no games on the NHL schedule until Wednesday, many teams snuck last-minute transactions in before the full roster freeze kicked in. We’ve covered a handful of them here throughout the day in Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and St. Louis; here’s a rundown of the remaining moves. All transactions are via the AHL’s transactions log unless otherwise noted.
- The Capitals returned winger Ivan Miroshnichenko and center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. Both players were recalled on Tuesday with Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut. He was held off the scoresheet in his three appearances while Lapierre has five points in 14 games with Washington so far.
- The Red Wings re-assigned center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Czarnik has been shuffled back and forth frequently this month and has one assist in 16 games with Detroit while Edvinsson, who was only brought up Saturday, made his season debut last night.
- The Kings loaned Jacob Moverare back to AHL Ontario after playing just shy of 15 minutes last night versus Calgary. The 25-year-old has been recalled and sent back down ten separate times each since mid-November.
- The Golden Knights have loaned goaltender Isaiah Saville back to AHL Henderson, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). He has been serving as their interim backup with both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson injured. As Thompson remains on the active roster, Saville was eligible to be sent back down. The 23-year-old was activated off SOIR earlier this month and has made three appearances for the Silver Knights.
- The Bruins sent three players back to AHL Providence – defensemen Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon along with center Patrick Brown. Lohrei has five points in 17 games so far in his first full professional campaign while Wotherspoon is logging nearly 16 minutes a night in eight games with Boston. As for Brown, he cleared waivers early in the season and has been brought up four separate times now; he has an assist in nine games at the top level so far.
- Boston also made one other transaction as they converted defenseman Ian Mitchell from an emergency recall to a regular one, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Mitchell was recalled on Saturday and has two assists in 13 games with Boston so far. The Bruins will now be ineligible to send him down until after the roster freeze lifts.
- The Maple Leafs have returned center Pontus Holmberg to AHL Toronto. It’s the third time he has been sent back down since Wednesday as Toronto has been shuffling him up and down quite frequently. The 24-year-old has an assist in eight games with the big club so far.
- A day after recalling him, the Coyotes have sent center Justin Kirkland back to Tucson of the AHL. The 27-year-old had spent the full year with the Roadrunners prior to yesterday’s move, notching ten points in nine contests.
- Grant Hutton is once again on the move as the Islanders have sent him back to AHL Bridgeport, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). He has been recalled and re-assigned six times apiece in the last month and has been limited to just two appearances with New York so far this season.
Many of these transactions will be undone on the 27th or 28th as NHL teams return to action. In the meantime, these teams will save a bit of salary money and cap space with these demotions. Toronto and Ottawa’s moves could have AHL implications as well as their two affiliates will play on Tuesday so the players they sent down could suit up in that contest.
Vegas Golden Knights Extend Ben Hutton
Right after the top of the hour, the Vegas Golden Knights announced a two-year, $1.95MM extension for defenseman Ben Hutton. It serves as a modest $125K salary increase on Hutton’s current AAV of $850K, but will nevertheless keep Hutton in Nevada for the foreseeable future.
If Hutton remains with the Golden Knights through the end of the contract, it will mark the longest stretch he’s spent with an NHL organization throughout his career. Drafted 147th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2012 NHL Draft, Hutton would spend three successful seasons at the University of Maine, before finally coming to the NHL in the 2015-16 season.
In his rookie campaign, Hutton played in 75 games for the Canucks, scoring one goal and 25 points averaging just under 20 minutes a night in ice time, impressively leading all Vancouver defensemen in scoring. Although Hutton showed a serious ability to move the puck up ice throughout his time with the Canucks organization, his offensive talents were not enough for the organization to look over his defensive inefficiencies.
The end of the rope finally came in Vancouver following the 2018-19 season, as they would non-tender Hutton leading into the offseason. Spending nearly all summer without a new home, Hutton finally signed with the Los Angeles Kings in mid-September leading up to the 2019-20 season.
Since signing that contract with the Kings, Hutton has largely operated as a bottom-pairing defenseman, spending pit stops with the Anaheim Ducks as well as the Toronto Maple Leafs. It wasn’t until nearly a month into the 2021-22 season that Hutton would land with Vegas, giving them a serviceable defenseman at the bottom of their roster.
This will not be the first extension that Hutton has signed with the Golden Knights, inking a two-year, $1.7MM contract only five months after joining the organization. Given his serviceable play with the team, Vegas has given their vote of confidence as well as their loyalty to Hutton for the next two seasons.