Anaheim Ducks Reassign Nathan Gaucher
According to a team announcement, the Anaheim Ducks have reassigned forward Nathan Gaucher to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. That leaves the Ducks with 11 healthy forwards for tomorrow’s contest against the Nashville Predators.
Consequently, that means another roster move is expected. Anaheim will recall Gaucher for tomorrow’s contest, recall someone else, or welcome back Ross Johnston. Johnston was given a three-to-four week recovery timeline when he was initially injured on March 18th. If he enjoys the early end of that recovery timeline, that would place his return on April 8th, just two days away.
Still, if Johnston isn’t available, the Ducks could recall Gaucher tomorrow on an emergency basis relatively easily. An emergency recall means that Gaucher won’t have to play in AHL San Diego’s game tomorrow to be eligible for recall.
Gaucher, 22, has been called up two separate times over the last little while. The former 22nd overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft made his debut during those recalls, but is still looking for his first point. Regardless, he’s made his physical presence known early, collecting six hits in three games.
Although he may be on the playoff roster, it’s unlikely that Gaucher will get too much postseason playing time unless the team runs into more injuries. Jansen Harkins and Johnston are expected to return before the postseason, while Cutter Gauthier is believed to be day-to-day.
Minnesota Wild Sign Charlie Stramel
According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the Minnesota Wild have signed collegiate prospect Charlie Stramel to his entry-level contract. The Wild later confirmed the news.
In Russo’s report, he indicated that it would be a three-year, $3.225MM ($1.075MM AAV) deal for Stramel, including schedule ‘A’ bonuses. Expectedly, Stramel’s deal won’t start until the 2026-27 season, and he’s not expected to play for the rest of this season.
The reason he isn’t expected to play is that Stramel broke his ankle in Michigan State University’s last game of the season against the University of Wisconsin. He blocked a shot early in the postseason contest and was removed from the game entirely before Wisconsin made its magical run at the end of the contest.
Still, it was clear that the Wild would want to sign him regardless. Stramel was scheduled to become a collegiate free agent this summer if he hadn’t signed his entry-level contract with Minnesota. Given his emergence as a legitimate top-six forward this season, it became highly unlikely that Minnesota was going to let him go for nothing.
Few would have expected this breakout just a few years ago. Throughout Stramel’s first two seasons in the NCAA, then with Wisconsin, he amassed eight goals and 20 points in 67 contests. Since transferring to Michigan State ahead of his junior season, Stramel has registered 28 goals and 71 points in 74 games.
It became clear quickly that Stramel responded well to Adam Nightingale‘s system, and the two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year was able to extract the most out of him. Given that the Wild are expecting several forwards to leave this summer via free agency, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Stramel crack the opening night roster next season.
Outside of his raw production, Stramel plays a very mature game. He excels in tight quarters with a knack for winning battles in the small areas. He’s a very efficient give-and-go player, which should only help him excel next to some of Minnesota’s other top forwards.
Jets Activate Nino Niederreiter, Reassign Parker Ford
8:30 p.m.: The Jets made Niederreiter’s activation official via a team announcement. Additionally, the team has reassigned depth forward Parker Ford to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose in a corresponding roster move.
10:49 a.m.: Jets winger Nino Niederreiter is set to come off injured reserve to play in Monday’s game against the Kraken, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press reports. They’ll also be getting center Vladislav Namestnikov back after he missed more than a month with a lower-body injury. However, he never hit IR prior to the roster limit being lifted at the trade deadline. It’s two steps forward, one step back, though, as head coach Scott Arniel told reporters that center Morgan Barron is now week-to-week with the lower-body injury he sustained Saturday against the Blue Jackets.
Niederreiter has not played since suiting up for Switzerland at the Olympics. He sustained a lower-body injury at some point during the tournament and required surgery upon returning to Winnipeg, which kept him out of the lineup on a week-to-week basis. After 20 games sidelined, he gets a chance to contribute – albeit in a limited role – as Winnipeg aims to hold onto its slim playoff hopes. He’ll be skating as the team’s fourth line left wing with Namestnikov and Brad Lambert.
A top-nine fixture for the vast majority of his 15-year NHL career, Niederreiter has had a tough go of things in 2025-26. That’s been the case for virtually every Jet outside their top line and Josh Morrissey, indicative of their offensive production tumbling from 3.35 goals per game last year to just 2.80 this season. His 8-11–19 scoring line in 55 outings works out to 0.35 points per game, his worst output since managing just one point in 55 games during his rookie season for the Islanders way back in 2011-12.
The 33-year-old, who had turned into a strong checking piece after playing a less physical two-way game earlier in his career, has also laid off the hits this year as his ice time dips below 14 minutes per game. He’s still returning to his usual spot on the second power play unit but has seen all of six seconds of shorthanded ice time this season. He has another year left on his contract at a $4MM cap hit to prove he can still be an effective piece heading into free agency in 2027.
Namestnikov managed to play in Winnipeg’s first game after the Olympic break but sustained a lower-body injury in his next game and has been sidelined since. Like Niederreiter, the 33-year-old has taken a tumble down the depth chart this year with captain Adam Lowry moving up to center the Jets’ second line behind Mark Scheifele. After back-to-back 30-point years for the Jets, Namestnikov has only produced seven goals and 13 points with a -11 rating in 57 outings while winning just 39.8% of his draws.
Losing Barron means losing one of the few Jets who’s taken a real step forward this season. Through 65 games, the 6’4″ pivot has a career-best 11 goals and 23 points with a +5 rating that sits fifth on the team. That’s a considerable depth loss as their playoff odds could jump back up to 10% with a win against Seattle, but drop below 5% with a loss.
Prospect Notes: Oswald, Pattersson, Pinchuk
The Edmonton Oilers are again looking overseas to bolster their forward core. According to Frank Seravalli of Victory+, the Oilers are the betting favorites to land forward Veit Oswald this summer, despite other teams having interest.
Oswald, 21, has spent the last several years playing for the DEL’s EHC München. He wasn’t on most people’s radar a few years ago, scoring 10 goals and 17 points in 38 games. He was included on Team Germany’s U20 team for the 2023-24 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he scored three goals and five points in four games. Oswald’s output was decent for the tournament, but his 27 PIMs caused too much negative attention for any additional interest.
However, he broke out in a big way this year. Oswald finished the 2025-26 campaign with 12 goals and 26 points in 38 games with a +16 rating, adding another two goals in six postseason contests. Although he didn’t challenge for any scoring leaders, he continues to improve on both sides of the puck, making NHL teams more willing to afford him an opportunity in North America.
Additional prospect notes:
- The AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks announced that the team has recalled forward Riley Patterson from the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs. Patterson, 20, was drafted 125th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2024 NHL Draft. He had an impressive 2025-26 season with the IceDogs, registering 40 goals and 84 points in 60 games. If he plays down the stretch for Abbotsford, it will be the first professional contest of his career.
- A few weeks ago, reports indicated that nearly the entire league had shown an interest in forward Vitali Pinchuk, who scored 31 goals and 66 points in 65 games as a 24-year-old for the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk this season. Unsurprisingly, Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff shared that the Philadelphia Flyers are one of the 29 teams to have contacted Pinchuk about playing in North America next season. Pinchuk hasn’t played in North America since the 2019-20 campaign, when he appeared in 54 games for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers.
Devils Fire General Manager Tom Fitzgerald
The New Jersey Devils announced that they’ve parted ways with President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Tom Fitzgerald. He joins Brad Treliving, formerly with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the second General Manager fired in the last week.
In the announcement, New Jersey’s Managing Partner, David Blitzer, said, “Tom and I had a thoughtful conversation today and agreed it was time to move in a new direction. Tom changed the trajectory of our team here, including setting a franchise record for points in a season and helping make New Jersey a hockey destination. He is a well-respected leader across the Devils’ organization and NHL, and I am grateful for our friendship. I wish Tom and his family all the best. As we prepare to move forward, it is important I acknowledge our fans. I recognize we have not delivered in the way you expect and deserve and I understand and share in your frustration. This is a critical offseason for our franchise, and we will explore all avenues that best position the Devils to compete for a Stanley Cup once again.”
Furthermore, Fitzgerald provided a quote, saying, “After talking with David Blitzer, it was apparent to everyone that the best course of action is to move on for the benefit of the team. I am incredibly appreciative to David, Josh Harris, and the entire New Jersey Devils organization for being a part of my life for the past decade. The Devils are fortunate to have a core of great players, vocal and passionate fans, but most importantly, tremendous people who worked with me toward a common goal. I’ve always said that New Jersey is a hidden gem and I’m proud of the effort that we put in to raise the standard and make it a destination. I look forward to the next step in my hockey career and will always look back fondly on my time with the Devils.”
Fitzgerald became the Devils’ General Manager ahead of the 2020-21 campaign after serving in the interim toward the end of the 2019-20 season. Since then, New Jersey has qualified for the playoffs only twice, reaching Round Two in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. Each time, they were ousted by Metropolitan Division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes.
Although some of Fitzgerald’s trades deserve scrutiny, such as trading Pavel Zacha to the Boston Bruins and including Yegor Sharangovich in the trade for Tyler Toffoli, his tenure with the Devils will be more remembered for the moves he didn’t make, rather than the ones he did.
Unlike most teams, New Jersey has legitimate top-six talent like Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Dawson Mercer. However, whether it be through a hyper-conservative approach or something different, Fitzgerald never addressed New Jersey’s depth-scoring issues.
The team has been highly affected by injuries over the last several years, none of which is Fitzgerald’s fault. Still, by not adding additional scoring help toward the bottom of the forward corps, the Devils’ offense would completely disappear when their better players succumbed to injuries.
Last season was a perfect example. New Jersey entered the deadline without Hughes and was slowly falling down the standings. Instead of spending a little more to acquire a short-term stopgap that can move up and down the lineup like Ryan O’Reilly, Brayden Schenn, or Nazem Kadri, the Devils acquired Cody Glass, Daniel Sprong, Brian Dumoulin, and Dennis Cholowski. In his defense, Glass has been a nice find this season, but there was never an expectation that they could replace Hughes’ value by committee, and New Jersey was quickly bounced in the playoffs.
Additionally, Fitzgerald has raised a few eyebrows with the extensions given to Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, although the latter has worked out rather well. Plainly put, Fitzgerald had six years to turn the team into a consistent contender, had the pieces to do so, and didn’t get the job done.
Fortunately, for Fitzgerald, there are already a few openings available to him, even before the end of the regular season. As previously mentioned, the Maple Leafs fired Treliving a few days ago and may seek another experienced mind to get the franchise back on track. Furthermore, the Nashville Predators, with whom Fitzgerald spent four years during his playing career, have an opening as well.
Regardless, the announcement reads as if both parties knew the writing was on the wall for some time. The next General Manager will face significant challenges, particularly in creating salary cap space in the short term and negotiating Hischier’s extension this summer. However, the Devils aren’t the worst situation in the league, and have solid forwards up front. Acquiring depth around them will be the initial focus.
Capitals Recall Ilya Protas
The Washington Capitals have recalled top center prospect Ilya Protas from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. It is a headline that Capitals fans have waited all season for and comes just two days after a six-point night in the AHL. Protas leads Hershey, and all AHL rookies, with 28 goals and 62 points in 66 games this season. He could make his NHL debut as soon as Wednesday per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
Washington could give one of their top prospects a look with four games left in the season. All four games are against Eastern Conference and will be must-win contests with the Capitals sat one point outside of the second Wild Card. Protas could be an X-factor addition at the perfect time. He has continued a breakout performance that began with a move to the OHL in 2024.
Protas moved from his home country of Belarus to the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers for the 2023-24 season. He was an immediate, top-six impact and finished the year with 51 points in 61 games. The majority of that scoring came late in the season, helping the 6-foot-5 Protas slide under the radar enough to land in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft. He followed the selection with a move to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, where his offensive skill quickly boomed next to New York Rangers prospect Liam Greentree. Protas led the Spitfires, and ranked second in the OHL, in scoring with an incredible 50-goals and 124 points in 61 games. His scoring was the second-most ever recorded by a European in the OHL behind compatriot and six-year NHL veteran Sergei Kostitsyn, who scored 131 points in 2006-07.
That hot scoring hasn’t left in Protas’ first pro season. Neither has his talent for creating chances, made evident by his five-assist performance in Hershey’s Saturday night win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Protas has shown a strong ability to drive the puck into the slot. He offers an impressive amount of stickhandling ability and playmaking focus in a big frame. They’re the same traits that have helped his older brother, Washington’s Aliaksei Protas, notch a career-high 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games last season. The older Protas has 49 points in 72 games this year.
Now, the brothers could seek to make one final heave towards the playoffs together. It is not clear where the younger Protas will line up if he does make his NHL debut. He could step onto the third-line left-wing over Anthony Beauvillier or take on a center role and bump Justin Sourdif to the wing. Either move would likely bump Ethen Frank out of the lineup, after he posted no scoring and a minus-one in his last two games.
Canucks Recall Jiri Patera, Kevin Lankinen Out Day-To-Day
The Vancouver Canucks have recalled depth goaltender Jiri Patera under emergency conditions. His recall comes after Kevin Lankinen sustained a day-to-day, upper-body injury during Monday’s morning practice per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. Patera will likely backup Nikita Tolopilo in Tuesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights if Lankinen is not ready to return.
Lankinen has been Vancouver’s de facto starter since usual starter Thatcher Demko sustained a season-ending injury in January. Lankinen recorded just one win to go with a .885 save percentage in 11 games during the month of March. That performance brought his year-long totals up to nine wins and a .875 Sv% in 44 appearances. It is the second-most Lankinen has ever played in a single NHL season after he posted 25 wins and a .902 Sv% in 51 games last season. Tolopilo hasn’t yet topped Lankinen’s performance from the backup role, with only five wins and a .880 Sv% in 18 games this season.
Those performances will set a low bar for Patera if he needs to fill out Vancouver’s roster. The 27 year old has appeared in nine NHL games before, including one this season – his only appearance with Vancouver. He has three wins and a .892 Sv% in those appearances. Patera has also recorded 11 wins and a .907 Sv% in 29 AHL games this season. He has planted his feet as a career minor-league goalie after being drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the sixth-round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Patera’s stint on Vancouver’s roster will likely be limited to backup duties until Lankinen is back to full health.
Blues’ Doug Armstrong Won’t Be Available For Maple Leafs GM Search
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the midst of a full-scale search for their next general manager after dismissing Brad Treliving last week. Their list of candidates is growing quickly but isn’t expected to include current St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. The Blues have no plans to allow Armstrong to interview for Toronto’s GM vacancy per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Armstrong is set to become St. Louis’ President of Hockey Operations while Alexander Steen steps into the GM role on July 1st. Pagnotta’s report was echoed by Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast.
It seems St. Louis has no interest in letting Armstrong walk after 16 years in the Blues’ GM chair. That tenure has spanned some transformative years in Blues franchise history. Armstrong took over a squad with only one playoff appearance in their last five seasons. With quick and crafty moves, such as bringing in a new goalie tandem in Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott, Armstrong pushed St. Louis to the Central Division championship in just his second season. That postseason appearance kicked off six consecutive playoff berths for the Blues. They were briefly interrupted with a miss in 2018 but returned in full force with a Cinderella-story Stanley Cup win in 2019.
Along the way, Armstrong made clear his willingness to put the team’s overall performance above any one player. He parted ways with all four captains under his reign, including moving on from Alex Pietrangelo just one season after he became the first Blue to lift the Stanley Cup. The results of those changes have ebbed-and-flowed, with St. Louis now boasting a strong prospect pool and only one playoff berth in the last three seasons.
In the midst of a rebuild, St. Louis will also turn over their top management position. Steen joined the Blues’ management staff as a team consultant and development coach in 2023. He was promoted to a ‘Special Assistant to the GM’ role in 2024 and is now preparing to take one more step this summer. His path has been largely untraditional – but also well-supported by his leadership role during 13 seasons as a Blues player, and his close connection with Armstrong. Those factors have helped St. Louis hone Steen into a manager capable of filling their top chair, while Armstrong will still have reign over hockey ops decisions. The tandem between Armstrong and Steen has grown strong and St. Louis will ensure it sticks even through their shifting roles.
Not even a GM opening in Armstrong’s home province will be enough to knock the Blues’ plan off-course. Armstrong has filled a management position in the Midwest since 1992 and has taken steps to reduce his workload since managing Team Canada to a Silver Medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Unless St. Louis changes their mind about supports for an upcoming rookie-GM, Armstrong will continue on with the city where he won his latest Stanley Cup. That will give him a chance to see out many top Blues prospects, including defenseman Adam Jiricek and whoever the club reels in with a top pick in 2026.
Predators Recall Jordan Oesterle
The Predators recalled veteran defenseman Jordan Oesterle from AHL Milwaukee on Monday, per a team announcement. He comes up to give Nashville a seventh healthy defenseman after lefty Nicolas Hague left Saturday’s 6-3 win over the Sharks with an undisclosed injury in the first period and did not return. As such, Hague is doubtful for tonight’s contest against the Kings, although how much time he’ll miss beyond that is unknown.
Nashville acquired Oesterle off waivers from the Bruins at last season’s trade deadline amid a rash of season-ending injuries to Roman Josi, Jeremy Lauzon, and Adam Wilsby. The 33-year-old was a fine depth fill-in, posting three goals and an assist with a -3 rating in 15 games. Since he’d signed a two-year, two-way deal with Boston the prior offseason, he remained under contract with the Preds heading into training camp. With Hague’s acquisition from the Golden Knights and Nicklaus Perbix‘s pickup in free agency, Oesterle was in a wide competition for a spot as the Preds’ healthy extra but ultimately ended up on waivers midway through training camp.
Unlike last season, Oesterle cleared. He’s been in Milwaukee ever since, where the veteran of 408 NHL games leads the team with 46 points in 65 games. That includes an 11-point run in his last seven games.
On the heels of that strong minor-league performance, he’ll get a late-season reward for his play heading into free agency this summer. Nashville lost a high-quality depth option when they sent Nick Blankenburg to the Avalanche at the deadline, so it’ll either be Oesterle or rookie Ryan Ufko entering the lineup for Hague tonight. If they want to keep their two-lefty top pair of Josi and Brady Skjei together, it’ll likely be Oesterle stepping in to ensure there’s a left-shot option on the second and third pairings as well. Neither is a great stylistic fit to replace the imposing Hague.
If Oesterle draws in, his first NHL game in nearly a calendar year couldn’t come with higher stakes. Nashville’s playoff hopes face a 40 percent swing depending on the result of tonight’s game against Los Angeles. They currently sit in the second wild-card slot with a 34.6% chance of hanging onto it and securing an improbable playoff berth, but that number could rise to 55.6% with a regulation win and drop to just 17.2% with a regulation loss, per MoneyPuck. The Preds and Kings both have 81 points through 76 games, but Nashville has already clinched the tiebreaker with 26 regulation wins compared to L.A.’s 19.
Maple Leafs’ Tyler Hopkins, Harry Nansi Sign AHL Tryouts
Maple Leafs forward prospects Tyler Hopkins and Harry Nansi signed amateur tryouts with AHL Toronto on Monday, the team announced. They can’t be directly “assigned” to the AHL after completing their junior seasons, as the Leafs haven’t yet signed them to their entry-level contracts, but this will still allow each of them to make their pro debuts this season after their Ontario Hockey League playoff runs both concluded in sweeps last week.
Hopkins, 19, was Toronto’s third-round pick in 2025 out of Kingston. He was dealt to Guelph midway through this season, with whom he tallied a 13-12–25 scoring line in 27 games down the stretch. He was their only player to score multiple goals in what ended up being an aggressive dispatching by Windsor, which outscored Guelph 21-5 in the four-game series.
The Leafs can wait until June 1, 2027, to sign Hopkins before losing his rights. No matter if they ink him now or this offseason, he’ll be heading back to Guelph in the fall. A 6’1″ pivot with good two-way instincts, he tallied 50 points in 56 games this year across his stints in Kingston and Guelph and grades out as the #11-ranked prospect in one of the weakest pools in the league, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic wrote last month. Some added muscle could allow him to develop into a potential fourth-line piece with good defensive numbers.
Nansi is arguably the more intriguing talent. He went two rounds after Hopkins last year, but the Quebec native was one of the youngest players in the class with a Sep. 10 birthday and took a giant leap forward this season. After the 6’3″ right winger was limited to seven goals and 23 points in 67 games as a second-year junior player in Owen Sound last season, he finished third on the Attack in scoring this year with a 13-43–56 line in 67 games. He ultimately went pointless in four postseason outings as Owen Sound was also stomped out of the playoffs by Flint, losing their four-game series by an aggregate score of 35-3.
Still, that offensive breakout means he’s climbed into being a top-10 prospect for the Leafs, with Wheeler tabbing him at #6. The question is whether he can develop enough physically – he currently checks in at only 179 lbs – while continuing to improve his skating in hopes of being able to hit as a lower-end top-nine piece someday.