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Senators Assign Zack MacEwen To AHL

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Feb. 13: MacEwen passed through waivers unclaimed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. The team assigned him to AHL Belleville later on Tuesday.

Feb. 12: The Senators placed Zack MacEwen on waivers Monday, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. This is the veteran grinder’s second time on the wire this season.

MacEwen, 27, is in his first season with the Senators after signing a three-year, $2.325MM deal in free agency. His $775K cap hit is fully buriable in the minors, where he’ll likely spend a significant amount of time during his tenure in Canada’s capital.

The waiver placement comes ahead of netminder Anton Forsberg’s pending return to action from a groin injury that’s kept him out for the last month, per Garrioch. Forsberg will likely dress Tuesday against the Blue Jackets, and the Senators need to clear $1.55MM in cap space to take him off long-term injured reserve. Assigning MacEwen to AHL Belleville, plus returning backup netminder Kevin Mandolese to Belleville from his emergency loan, will clear the necessary space.

MacEwen has played in 22 games with Ottawa, scoring twice and adding an assist while averaging 6:23 per game. He hasn’t been a significant defensive liability in his limited minutes, although his point-producing ability at the junior- and minor-league levels still hasn’t translated to the NHL.

Prior to landing on waivers, MacEwen was a healthy scratch in six of Ottawa’s last eight games, including five straight.

Devils Place Max Willman On Waivers

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Feb. 12: Willman has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to Utica, per Johnston.

Feb. 11: The Devils placed forward Max Willman on waivers Sunday for the purpose of assignment to AHL Utica, according to Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.

Willman, 28, has been a fourth-line fill-in as necessary as injuries weakened New Jersey’s forward group over the past few months. He cleared waivers once already this season when he was cut from the team during training camp, but after playing more than ten games (and no longer being on an emergency loan), he needs them again to return to Utica.

With Jack Hughes and Tomáš Nosek recently returning from long-term absences, though, there’s no longer a need for Willman in the team’s bottom six. He was a healthy scratch in the team’s last two games and is the second healthy extra forward on the active roster alongside Chris Tierney.

Willman has a goal and an assist in 13 games with the Devils, his most in a single season since playing in 41 contests for the Flyers in 2021-22. The Devils struggled to maintain puck possession with Willman on the ice in his limited role, posting a Corsi share of 42.9% at even strength while he averaged less than 10 minutes per game.

The Massachusetts-born winger has enjoyed his highest level of offensive success when in the AHL this season, posting nine goals and 16 points in 20 games. A draft choice of the Sabres in 2014, he remains a top-six AHL presence at this stage of his career and is slated for unrestricted free agency this summer.

Red Wings Place Nolan Stevens On Unconditional Waivers

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Feb. 12: Stevens has cleared unconditional waivers and will have his contract terminated, per Johnston.

Feb. 11: The Red Wings have placed minor-league forward Nolan Stevens on unconditional waivers Sunday with the intent to terminate his contract, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports.

Stevens’ pending contract termination is likely mutual and not for off-ice reasons. The 27-year-old has no NHL experience and has been disappointing with AHL Grand Rapids this season, scoring three goals and 11 points in 31 games.

A fifth-round pick of the Blues in 2016, Stevens was an offensive force in collegiate play with Northeastern University but hasn’t been able to translate his scoring to the pro level with much consistency. He developed into a decent top-nine AHL contributor after turning pro with the Blues’ AHL affiliate in 2018, but after failing to make much progress up the depth chart, he was dealt to the Wild in a minor-league prospect swap in Dec. 2021.

Stevens then posted only seven points in 33 games to close out the 2021-22 campaign with AHL Iowa, becoming a Group VI UFA that summer with the Wild opting not to re-sign him. He received no other NHL offers and signed a minor-league deal with the Devils’ AHL affiliate in Utica for 2022-23.

It proved to be the right choice for Stevens, who looked to get his confidence back with a career-high 15 goals and 33 points in only 48 games. That performance got him another NHL contract with Detroit last summer, who signed him to a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K in the NHL and $150K in the NHL.

With his production and ice time continuing to trail off, however, both sides would like a fresh start. If Stevens clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent on Monday and can sign with any other NHL club.

Jets Place Dominic Toninato On Waivers

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Feb. 12: Toninato has cleared waivers and will be assigned to Manitoba today, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press reports.

Feb. 11: The Jets placed center Dominic Toninato on waivers Sunday and intend to assign him to AHL Manitoba if he clears, per TSN’s and The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.

Winnipeg needed to open a roster spot with forward David Gustafsson now ready to come off injured reserve. Toninato, who’s been a healthy scratch in three straight, is the odd man out and finds himself on waivers for the third time this season.

The 29-year-old Minnesotan has been a serviceable fourth-line center when called upon for the Jets, appearing in 99 games over the past four seasons since signing as a free agent before the 2020-21 season. He’s played in 15 games this season, the most since he played in a career-high 77 contests in 2021-22, and has a goal and four assists while averaging 10:11 per game. His possession metrics are quite respectable, too, with a 53.4% Corsi share at even strength and an expected +1.3 rating.

Having already cleared waivers twice in the past few months, the risk of Toninato being claimed this time around still seems low despite his solid showing this year. He’s not a pending free agent – he’s signed to an affordable two-year, two-way deal with a $775K cap hit through the 2024-25 season, but that second year certainly dissuades some teams from putting in a claim.

Toninato has two goals and six points in nine games on the farm with Manitoba this season. In 50 games with the Moose in 2022-23, he posted a career-high 19 goals and 35 points.

Leon Gawanke To Sign With DEL’s Adler Mannheim

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Feb. 9: Gawanke has cleared waivers and will now sign with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsch Eishockey Liga, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports Friday.

Feb. 8: The San Jose Sharks have placed defenseman Leon Gawanke on waivers for the purpose of contract termination, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The 24-year-old has spent all season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he leads defensemen in scoring with eight goals and 27 points through 38 games – the highest point-per-game pace of Gawanke’s five-year AHL career. This success comes after Gawanke tied for the league’s lead in goals scored by a defenseman last season, with 20 through 68 games.

The Sharks acquired Gawanke in a minor-league swap this summer, sending Artemi Kniazev to the Winnipeg Jets in return. Winnipeg has also seen their acquisition move away, with Kniazev starting the season in the AHL but moving to the KHL’s Kazan Ak-Bars in the new year. Gawanke signed a one-year, two-way, $775K contract with the Sharks that he is now poised to terminate. If he does clear waivers, he will get the change to negotiate as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.

Gawanke was a fifth-round selection in the 2017 NHL Draft. He made his professional debut two seasons later and has since spent all of the last six years in the AHL – save for a six-game stint with Germany’s Berlin Polar Bears during the 2020-21 season. Gawanke has been the top-scoring defenseman on his team in four of his pro seasons, but whether that will be enough to earn him a new deal is yet to be seen.

Winnipeg Activates Mark Scheifele, Axel Jonsson-Fjällby Clears Waivers

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2/7: Jonsson-Fjällby has cleared waivers. He will be assigned to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, per the Winnipeg Free Press’ Ken Wiebe.

2/6: The Winnipeg Jets have placed forward Axel Jonsson-Fjällby on waivers to make space for the return of star forward Mark Scheifele. Scheifele has been out since January 11th, missing the team’s last six games. Winnipeg has felt the effects of Scheifele’s absence, going 2-3-1 without the forward, getting outscored nine to 14. The team’s performance has been a far, far cry from the dazzling 16-1-2 record they set in Scheifele’s most recent 18 games.

Scheifele was nursing a four-game point streak prior to his injury, helping build his season total to 14 goals and 41 points in 41 games – a mark that still leads the team in scoring despite his absences. Scheifele has been Winnipeg’s most-used forward, averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time this season. The mark has brought his career average ice time to an even 20 minutes through 764 career games. Every single one of those games has been spent with the Jets, who drafted Scheifele seventh overall in the 2011 NHL Draft. He has since played in the 10th-most games of anyone in that draft class, though he’s scored the fourth-most points. Scheifele was part of a loaded 2011 Draft that also featured Nikita Kucherov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mika Zibanejad, and Dougie Hamilton.

With Scheifele returning, the Jets will now risk losing winger Jonsson-Fjällby, who is in his second season with the organization after being claimed off of waivers from the Washington Capitals. Jonsson-Fjällby was drafted by Washington in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft and made his professional debut with the AHL’s Hershey Bears in 2018-19. He’s since played in 99 career NHL games, scoring 23 points. Jonsson-Fjällby has five points in 26 NHL games this year, as well as five points in 10 AHL games. He will look to jump back into the NHL lineup soon, eyeing the 100th game of his NHL career.

Rangers Place Nick Bonino On Unconditional Waivers

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After placing the veteran forward on waivers a little over a week ago, Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting the New York Rangers have placed Nick Bonino on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract. After signing a one-year, $800K contract with the Rangers this past summer, Bonino will once again be free to join any team with approximately 30 games left in the regular season.

Being a quick turnaround from his original waivers placement on January 26th, Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting that New York gave Bonino time during the All-Star break to think about his future with the organization, and he ultimately decided he was unwilling to join the Hartford Wolf Pack. Now being placed on unconditional waivers, the Rangers have chosen to honor Bonino’s desires.

As far as a potential landing spot for Bonino, he will likely be looking at a team with a significant amount of injuries to their forward core, such as the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, or Washington Capitals. However, even with some teams in desperate need of forward depth, it is tough to ascertain how much of an upgrade Bonino would be this season.

In 45 games for New York this year, Bonino had very little production, only scoring one goal and five points while averaging a touch over 12 minutes of ice time per night. Furthermore, per MoneyPuck, his typical linemates of Jimmy Vesey and Barclay Goodrow produced an expected goals against per 60 minutes of 3.19, which ranks the highest on the team for lines that have played more than 90 minutes together over the season.

Being unwilling to report to an AHL for the first time since the 2011-12 season, it appears that Bonino firmly believes he has more left in the tank to offer an NHL team. Without the same pedigree, players such as Corey Perry and Zach Parise have found landing spots deep into the regular season, perhaps giving Bonino some confidence that he too can find another home.

 

Avalanche Assign Ivan Prosvetov To AHL

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Feb. 4: Prosvetov cleared waivers Sunday and can be assigned to AHL Colorado, per Friedman. The Avalanche executed the reassignment shortly after he cleared, a team announcement states.

Feb. 3: The league is largely shut down this weekend for the All-Star break but waiver activity continues.  Today, the Avalanche placed goaltender Ivan Prosvetov on waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Colorado claimed the 24-year-old off waivers from Arizona in training camp with backup Pavel Francouz dealing with a groin injury.  With Francouz since being ruled out for the season, Prosvetov has become the full-time backup for the Avs this season.  However, his performance has been inconsistent as he has played to a 3.16 GAA and a .895 SV% in 11 appearances so far.  The end result has been starter Alexandar Georgiev leading the league in appearances by a goaltender at the break, hardly an ideal situation for someone whose career high in games played heading into last season was 34.

Prosvetov’s placement suggests that a change on that front is coming.  Barring a trade on the horizon, the change should be in the form of prospect Justus Annunen.  The 23-year-old has spent most of the year with AHL Colorado, posting a 2.65 GAA and a .908 SV% in 23 games while also making one start for the Avs.  Annunen only has five career appearances at the top level under his belt but he is in his final season of waiver exemption so he’ll now get his chance to prove he’s worthy of the full-time second-string role.  Otherwise, GM Chris MacFarland will have no choice but to turn to the trade market.

With goalie depth hard to come by, it wouldn’t be shocking to see someone claim Prosvetov on Sunday.  If that team is the Coyotes and they’re the only team to do so, Arizona would then be able to send him to AHL Tucson.  If the Coyotes aren’t the only team to put in a claim, they’d then be forced to re-waive him or keep him on the NHL roster.

Flames Claim Brayden Pachal Off Waivers From Golden Knights

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The Flames claimed defenseman Brayden Pachal off waivers from the Golden Knights on Sunday, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Calgary confirmed the news in a media release shortly thereafter.

Pachal, 24, has logged a career-high 17 games played for Vegas this season. His first NHL goal came in an early-season win over the Sharks on Oct. 12.

A minor-league mainstay over the past few seasons in AHL Henderson, Pachal cracked the Golden Knights’ opening night roster in October with season-opening injuries keeping Alec Martinez and Zach Whitecloud out of the lineup. As injuries continued to affect the Vegas blue line, Pachal slipped down the depth chart behind 23-year-old Kaedan Korczak, who’s recently found a home in the team’s top four alongside Brayden McNabb in the absence of Shea Theodore.

After the Golden Knights claimed 2019 first-round pick Tobias Björnfot off waivers from the Kings in early January, there was even less of a role for Pachal on the NHL roster. As such, he was a healthy scratch in 11 straight games before the All-Star break, last skating in a Jan. 4 contest against the Panthers.

Calgary is likely parting ways with pending UFA blue liner Chris Tanev (and potentially Noah Hanifin) ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, leaving them with a lack of NHL-caliber defenders to take them through the stretch run. Claiming Pachal off waivers is likely made with that foresight in mind. He’ll compete with depth defensemen such as Dennis Gilbert and Jordan Oesterle for bottom-four ice time and should allow the Flames to keep younger prospects like Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov developing in the minors.

Pachal’s October goal is his only point this season, averaging 14:37 per game with a -2 rating and 18 shots on goal. Only two full-time Golden Knights – Martinez and Brett Howden – have a worse Corsi share at even strength than Pachal’s 44.2% mark despite a low quality of competition.

Despite the underwhelming possession metrics, the Flames believe he can develop into a defensive contributor down the stretch. GM Craig Conroy said Sunday that Pachal “will be an asset to our penalty kill” and called out his 6-foot-2, 202-pound frame as something to like (via Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson).

Pachal also has a history of occupying leadership roles, serving as Henderson’s captain from 2021 to 2023 and as captain of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in the 2018-19 season. He played in one postseason game last year, Vegas’ series-clinching Game 5 win against the Jets in the First Round, on his way toward getting his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

This is not the Flames’ first run-in with Pachal, who turned pro out of juniors in 2019 after signing an entry-level contract with Vegas as an undrafted free agent. As Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike points out, Pachal attended Flames development and prospect camp in the summer of 2018.

He’s under contract through the 2024-25 season at a $775K cap hit after signing a two-year, $1.55MM extension with the Golden Knights in June 2023. His deal is a two-way pact carrying a minimum guaranteed salary of $200K this season, but it converts to a one-way deal next year. Calgary had three open roster spots before making this transaction and nearly $1.5MM in projected cap space, so no corresponding transaction is necessary to execute the claim.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Golden Knights Place Brayden Pachal On Waivers

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While they’re off until Tuesday, the Golden Knights have made a roster move today as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Vegas has placed defenseman Brayden Pachal on waivers.

The 24-year-old cleared waivers early in training camp back in October but never wound up being assigned to AHL Henderson.  Instead, he has been a full-timer on the active roster although playing time has been difficult to come by.  Pachal has played in 17 games for the Golden Knights so far, picking up a goal while averaging 14:37 per night.  For his career, he has three points in 29 NHL contests.

While that’s not necessarily the statistical profile that would jump out at anyone, Pachal is in the first season of a two-year deal that carries a cap hit of the league minimum ($775K).  Between that and the fact he’s a right-shot defender, there’s certainly a chance that a team looking for low-cost depth on the right side opts to take a flyer on Pachal.

At the moment, the Golden Knights are only carrying a minimum-sized active roster of 11 forwards and seven defensemen so if Pachal was to clear waivers, he couldn’t be sent to the Silver Knights without another move being made first.  Blueliner Ben Hutton was listed as week-to-week when he was injured in late December while recent waiver claim Tobias Bjornfot went on IR three weeks ago with an undisclosed injury.  If one of those two was to be activated, then Pachal could be removed from the roster.  Shea Theodore is also injured and is on LTIR but his return might still be a couple of weeks away.

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