Five Key Stories: 4/13/26 – 4/19/26
With the playoffs underway, half of the NHL’s teams have seen their seasons come to an end. That typically results in a lot of off-ice news and this past week was no exception with several teams making personnel moves that are part of the key stories from the past seven days.
Back To The Devils: The Devils didn’t waste much time finding its next GM as they hired Sunny Mehta away from the Panthers. He becomes the sixth GM in franchise history and takes over from Tom Fitzgerald. Mehta sent four years with New Jersey from 2014-15 through 2015-18 as their Director of Analytics. Two years later, he joined Florida and moved up the ranks, eventually becoming an assistant GM. Mehta will now get his first chance to be the final shot-caller on a roster and will look to make his mark on a Devils group that underachieved relative to expectations this season. Beyond Simon Nemec, the bulk of their core is already under contract so most of Mehta’s big work this offseason will come on the trade and free agent front.
Player Extensions: A pair of pending free agents got their next deals done ahead of time. First, the Stars signed defenseman Nils Lundkvist to a two-year, $3.5MM extension. The $1.75MM AAV represents a $500K raise on his current deal. Lundkvist played in 52 games with Dallas during the regular season, picking up 11 points while averaging a career-best 16:29 per game of playing time. He’ll stay in a third-pairing role moving forward. Meanwhile, Cole Koepke’s first season in Winnipeg was good enough to earn him two more as the Jets signed him to a two-year, $2.9MM extension, a $450K raise on his current deal. The 27-year-old matched his career high in points this season with 17 while his 186 hits were a team high.
Quick Calls It Quits: A veteran goaltender has decided to call it a career as Jonathan Quick announced before his final game that he’s retiring. The 40-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Rangers but the bulk of his 19-year career was spent in Los Angeles. Quick, a third-round pick by the Kings back in 2005, spent 16 years with the franchise that drafted him, helping lead them to a pair of Stanley Cups while he took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012 as Playoff MVP. Overall, Quick winds up his career with 410 wins in 809 regular season starts while posting a 2.51 GAA, a .910 SV%, and 65 shutouts. He added 49 victories in 92 playoff outings – all with the Kings – while putting up even better numbers in the form of a 2.31 GAA and a .921 SV%.
Off-Ice Extensions: It was a good week for some off-ice staff as well. The Blackhawks signed GM Kyle Davidson to a multi-year extension. Davidson has been in charge for a little more than four years and has overseen a full-scale rebuild that has seen the team add several promising players with another high draft pick coming in June. Meanwhile, Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness ended the season with some harsh words for his team and a vow to change the culture if he returned. He’ll get that opportunity now after signing a one-year extension. The 71-year-old took over three months ago and led the team to a 21-11-5 record. They went from near the bottom of the conference to a playoff spot for a while but a tough finish saw them narrowly on the outside looking in for the second straight year.
Canucks Make A Change: While one GM vacancy was filled with Mehta joining New Jersey, another was quickly created when the Canucks fired GM Patrik Allvin. Things were looking up early on his tenure, highlighted by a Pacific Division title back in 2023-24. However, the last two years have been a lot rockier. They’ve missed the playoffs each time, decided to move Quinn Hughes after he gave plenty of advance notice that he wouldn’t re-sign, and finished dead last in the league this season. Now, the team will turn to someone else – either internal candidate Ryan Johnson or an external option – to try to get them going back in the right direction.
Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.
Sharks Expected To Target Defensive Upgrades This Summer
Last offseason, Sharks GM Mike Grier spent a lot of time reshaping his back end. He brought in Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg in free agency while adding Nick Leddy off waivers in an effort to raise the floor of his group. While Leddy struggled, both Orlov and Klingberg were contributors and arguably accomplished that objective.
But now, expectations will be higher heading into next season. San Jose didn’t miss the postseason by much and next season, the objective will likely flip from trying to be more competitive to trying to make the playoffs. To that end, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported on a recent DFO Rundown appearance (video link) that the Sharks will once again be looking to shake up their back end this summer in the hopes of further bolstering the group.
It came out midseason that the Sharks had taken a run at acquiring New Jersey blueliner Dougie Hamilton last summer but the veteran wasn’t willing to waive his trade protection to facilitate a move. Although the trade chatter surrounding Hamilton eventually died down, new GM Sunny Mehta may still look to cut some money from their back end and if that happens, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Grier try again on that front.
Pagnotta suggested Toronto’s Morgan Rielly as a speculative addition but there is trade protection to contend with there, as well. But those two should serve as an idea of the type of veteran they’d like to add while they undoubtedly would want to add a defender that’s more in line with the age of their core group as well.
There will be room to reshape the back end. Last summer’s pickups Klingberg and Leddy are pending UFAs while Mario Ferraro and Vincent Desharnais are also set to hit the open market. Even if one or two were to return, that still leaves ample room for some newcomers. On top of that, the Sharks project to have more than $41MM in salary cap flexibility this summer, per PuckPedia. That means they can shop at the pricier end of the market without needing to worry about hurting their cap situation.
With the Sharks at the point where they’re looking to emerge from their multi-year rebuild and get back into the playoff battle, they’re not going to be in a spot where they’re picky about upgrades. Roster help is roster help and every improvement can make a difference. But with a back end that’s set to be headlined by Orlov and youngster Sam Dickinson next season as things stand, there is a definite need for upgrades and depth in San Jose so it could be another busy offseason when it comes to the back end.
Snapshots: D’Astous, Varlamov, Posch, Malinoski
Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous exited tonight’s game against Montreal and did not return, relays team reporter Benjamin Pierce (Twitter link). The 27-year-old took a hit from Josh Anderson and Jake Evans simultaneously; Anderson was called for a charging minor on the play. D’Astous has been a bright spot on Tampa Bay’s back end this season. Signed out of Sweden, he has played exclusively with Tampa aside from a brief stint in the minors to start the year. He had 29 points and 110 penalty minutes in 70 games during the regular season, a nice find for an undrafted free agent.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Islanders have recalled Semyon Varlamov from his LTIR conditioning stint, per the AHL’s transactions log. He got into two games with AHL Bridgeport, winning both while stopping 46 of 49 shots in his first game action since November 2024. While Varlamov would normally be eligible for a two-game extension, that’s not the case here as he is not eligible to play in the AHL playoffs. Varlamov has one year left on his contract and the team will now have to decide if they think he’s going to be good to go as their backup in 2026-27 or if they’ll want to add extra depth in case he’s not able to get through a full year.
- The Avalanche have recalled Isak Posch to serve as their emergency third goaltender, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old spent most of the year with AHL Colorado, posting a 2.78 GAA with a .891 SV% in 28 games in his first full professional season. Posch, who signed as an undrafted free agent last spring, was briefly called up in January but didn’t see any action.
- Maple Leafs prospect Hudson Malinoski will have a new team for his final NCAA season. Brad Elliott Schlossmann of the Grand Forks Herald reports that the center has transferred to the University of North Dakota for the upcoming season. A fifth-round pick by Toronto back in 2023 (153rd overall), the 21-year-old spent the last three years at Providence College. Malinoski’s output dropped this season, going from 23 points to 15 while he found himself in the bottom six as the year went on. He’ll look to play a bigger role for the Fighting Hawks in the hopes of landing an entry-level deal next spring.
Jonathan Toews Unsure Of Playing Future
After missing more than two years while dealing with long COVID and chronic immune response syndrome, Jonathan Toews made an NHL comeback this season with his hometown Winnipeg. Whether he’s ready to go through the grind of another year, however, remains to be seen. Speaking to reporters earlier this week (video link), Toews indicated that he’s not yet ready to commit to playing a 17th NHL season.
On the one hand, it was a disappointing year for the 37-year-old. Signed with the hope that he could be Winnipeg’s elusive second center, he wound up struggling mightily in that role, eventually being moved down the lineup. While that seemed to stabilize things, he still managed just 11 goals and 18 assists, the lowest output of his career.
On the other hand, Toews was one of just five Jets players to play in all 82 games. While that makes the lower output that much more striking, getting through the grind of a full season relatively unscathed after being off for so long is an impressive feat. It was also particularly noteworthy on the contract front as the bulk of his one-year deal was tied to games played; suiting up in every one allowed him to go from a $2MM base payout to a $7MM total salary.
In his prime, Toews was a point-per-game high-end two-way threat that was a foundational piece in Chicago on the way to three Stanley Cup titles. That earned him plenty of individual accolades and a spot on the NHL’s Top 100 list back in 2017. He’s well past those days though and coming off the year he had, he’s going to be in tough to command anything close to the deal he played on this season.
If he decides to play again, Toews will be eligible for a bonus-laden contract once more, as long as it’s a one-year deal. Given his uncertainty about 2026-27 as it stands, it’s fair to say that he wouldn’t then turn around and sign a multi-year pact. AFP Analytics pegs a one-year deal being worth a $1.45MM base salary which is reasonable (if not a little low) for his role he’d be likely to fill but with bonuses (games played and/or points-based) tacked on, a potential value could still land around the $4MM to $4.5MM mark realistically.
Toews noted that he will take the next few weeks to decide if he wants to continue playing and if he does, he would want to return to the Jets. With more than $20MM in cap space for 2026-27 as things stand per PuckPedia, Winnipeg would certainly be able to afford him and given how his deal was structured this season, it’s reasonable to think they’d be willing to do a similarly structured contract to keep him in the fold for next season. They’ll just have to wait a few more weeks to see if that will indeed be an option for them.
East Notes: Hedman, James, Dobson
Prior to tonight’s game, Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper told reporters, including Eduardo A. Encina of The Tampa Bay Times, that Victor Hedman is still a ways from returning. The Bolts’ captain has resumed skating, and will be joining the team when they head to Montreal, but it’s still unclear when he could be back.
2025-26 has been a year marred by absences for the 35-year-old, as his just 33 games played is a career low for the 17-year veteran. Hedman missed nearly two months in the winter, and again, hasn’t played since March 19 due to illness and personal reasons.
A number of Lightning defensemen have stepped up this year, primarily Darren Raddysh and his incredible 70-point campaign, as well as J.J. Moser whose strong efforts fetched an eight-year contract extension. Their performances continue to show the resilience of the Lightning.
Still, Tampa Bay hasn’t won a playoff round since 2022, and Montreal presents another tall task, especially without their captain and his 170 games of playoff experience, good for sixth among active NHL players.
Elsewhere across the conference:
- Also in Tampa Bay, forward Dominic James returned to the lineup for the opening game of the Canadiens series, while Oliver Bjorkstrand was healthy scratched, noted by Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider. James, playing for the first time since late February, had a rough start to his playoff debut. On his first shift, he collided knee-on-knee with Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj and went to the bench in serious pain. It appeared that the rookie had re-aggravated his injury, but thankfully, he eventually returned to the game, back to his role as fourth line center.
- Injured Montreal Canadiens defender Noah Dobson traveled with the team for Game 1 in Tampa Bay, reported by Guillaume Lepage of NHL.com. The first-year Hab injured his hand against Columbus and had to miss the club’s two remaining regular season games. Without the ailment, he could have played in all 82 this season. Nonetheless, it will likely require an extended series against Tampa Bay for the righty to return by the first round, as he’s just traveling to remain with the team in support. Until he can heal up, Montreal is leaning on Alexandre Carrier in a top pairing role alongside Mike Matheson.
Mammoth Recall Seven Players
Ahead of the first playoff game in team history later tonight in Vegas, the Utah Mammoth shared that several players have been called up from AHL Tucson. Forwards Andrew Agozzino, Cameron Hebig, and Ben McCartney were summoned, along with defensemen Maveric Lamoureux, Maksymilian Szuber, and Scott Perunovich. Finally, goaltender Jaxson Stauber will also join the group.
Similar to the moves made by several other playoff teams this week, Utah’s intention is for the players to serve as “Black Aces”, spending time at the highest level but not expected to play at any point. They join Daniil But and Matt Villalta, who got the call Friday. The Tucson Roadrunners had a respectable season, finishing 19th, but missed the postseason.
Lamoureux, 22, is the most notable of the group, a top prospect. Arizona’s first round choice at 29th overall in 2022, the towering righty only got into five games with the Mammoth this year, a step back from 15 in 2024-25, but held down a top-pairing role for the Roadrunners this season and was finally able to stay healthy. Into the future, Utah’s defensive core is mostly locked up, but it will allow for the Quebec native to ease into a full-time role.
Agozzino has just 53 games of NHL experience at age 35, but any dedicated fan of the game is likely familiar from his excellent AHL tenure. Making his NHL debut with Colorado in November 2014, back when Nathan MacKinnon was just a second-year-pro, the undrafted 5’10” winger has impressively stuck around in North America ever since. He’s 34th all time in AHL scoring with 662 points in 847 games, fourth best among active players. The Ontario native got into two games for Utah back in October but otherwise spent the year in Tucson. If he can earn another contract for next year, Agozzino will have the chance to play alongside Tij Iginla, son of Jarome Iginla, a teammate in his NHL debut years ago.
Hebig and McCartney, 29 and 24 respectively, were top scorers for the Roadrunners this year but neither were able to get a look on the big club. Hebig, a center, still awaits his NHL debut despite two straight seasons as Tucson’s #2 top point-getter. McCartney, a 2020 seventh-round choice of Arizona, got into two games with the Coyotes four years ago but has been in the AHL since, putting together his best professional season in 2025-26 with 51 points.
Szuber, 23, continues to show promise at the AHL level as he looks for his first action wearing a Utah uniform. The 6’3″ lefty made his NHL debut in the Coyotes’ fifth-to-last game in existence. Not only having size, Szuber has put up real offensive output in Tucson, 59 points over the last two years and has real upside as a third pairing defender.
Another defenseman who flashed offense this year, Perunovich led all defenders in scoring with 49 points in 64 games. Once a promising Blues prospect, the 27-year-old spent the entire year in the AHL and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Stauber rounds out the bunch serving as another practice goalkeeper. The 26-year-old split duty between the pipes with Villalta almost evenly in the AHL, where he had a slight edge in goals-against-average (3.07). Undrafted, he has 12 NHL games of experience both in Chicago and Utah, son of Robb Stauber, a Los Angeles Kings netminder in the early 1990s.
The crew, composed of impressive AHL veterans and younger prospects, will relish being along for the ride for an inaugural playoff series in Salt Lake.
Senators Recall Six Players
This afternoon the Ottawa Senators announced that six skaters have been recalled from AHL Belleville. Carter Yakemchuk, Arthur Kaliyev, Tyler Boucher, Xavier Bourgault, Graeme Clarke, and Oskar Pettersson will all join the club.
In the midst of their first round playoff series against Carolina, the group will serve as typical “Black Aces”. Belleville failed to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs, finishing 27th in the league with a 28-35-8 record. As a result, they have nothing to lose in adding depth players who will benefit from getting a closer look with extra practice time before the offseason, and experiencing the day-to-day of the NHL playoff routine.
Out of the bunch, Yakemchuk stands out as the most likely to actually get in a game, although still unlikely, barring any major developments. The Sens’ top prospect, chosen seventh overall in 2024, Yakemchuk got into four games this year, bursting onto the scene with a two-point debut. However, the defenseman’s NHL stint in late March ended after a concussion suffered against Florida.
Kaliyev, 24, is also a familiar name, with over 200 games of NHL experience. Once a promising Kings prospect, the 6’2″ sniper hasn’t played with the Senators since October. Still, he’s made the most of his 70 games in the AHL, the most time spent in the minors across his entire career to this point, netting an insane 40 goals and 68 points. He has the distinction of the only 40-goal-scorer in the AHL this year, and the first since 2023-24. Anyone capable of such can be considered an NHL-level player, but Kaliyev’s skating and hockey sense have held him back, unable yet to hold down a bottom six role at the highest level.
Boucher is another prospect who has had his own development issues. Widely known as a 10th overall selection five years ago, the winger has not come close to expectations, but thankfully he put together a best-as-a-pro campaign this year. 26 points in 47 games isn’t ideal for any 23-year-old former top pick, but he leaned more into a grinder role with 68 penalty minutes, the same total as his previous two seasons combined. His contract ends this summer, with restricted free agent status, where Ottawa must determine if his improvement is enough to warrant a future in the organization.
In Bourgault there are many similarities to Boucher, other than that he’s a center. Edmonton’s first round choice in 2021, the Quebec native never played for the Oil due to lackluster AHL production. Dealt to Ottawa, he enjoyed his best professional season with 57 points in 70 games, good for second on the B-Sens, and earning his first two NHL games back in the winter. If the 23-year-old can eventually solidify himself in the league, it’ll likely be limited to full bottom six duty.
Clarke, 24, is not the most recognizable name, but he made three appearances with the Devils, his first organization, during the 2023-24 season. A full-time AHLer since, the winger has bounced around various teams but flipped the script after a March trade, nearly matching his point total across 50 games as a Hershey Bear in just 15 games with Belleville, a nice ending to the campaign. Born in Minnesota, the righty actually grew up in Ottawa, the older brother of Los Angeles’ Brandt Clarke.
Finally, Pettersson has the most limited NHL upside, as he recorded 18 points in 69 games with Belleville, wrapping up his second full season with the team. A third round selection in 2022, the Swede is not among the team’s top 10 prospects, mostly serving as a bottom-sixer. At 6’2″, the righty has the size and strength, but he’ll hope to showcase more play driving ability in his final contract year starting next fall. Just 22, it’s not too late for a step forward.
The Senators are back in action tomorrow night, where they’ll look to snatch a road win from Carolina and even the series before returning home.
West Notes: Oilers, Colton, Hintz
Two welcome additions were on the ice today in Edmonton’s practice, as Leon Draisaitl and Jason Dickinson were full participants, noted by TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. It’s not yet certain, but the news suggests the Oilers could be icing a fully stocked lineup tomorrow night in Game 1 of their first round series against Anaheim.
Draisaitl centered Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen on the second line, two skilled role players who mesh well with the superstar Draisaitl. He’s been unable to play since March 15, missing the club’s last 14 games to wrap up the campaign. Even without him, Edmonton handled business and earned home ice advantage, now on the cusp of adding a massive boost to their lineup. Despite playing in 65 games, his lowest since the shortened 2020-21 season, the 30-year-old still ranked second in team scoring with 97 points.
Meanwhile, Dickinson took the middle between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jack Roslovic on the third line. With just one goal and four points in 17 games since being acquired from Chicago, he will lean fully into a shutdown role to try and help the Oilers make a third-consecutive deep run. The 30-year-old’s possession metrics at five-on-five with his new team aren’t pretty, under 40% corsi for, but he’s starting over 71% of shifts in the defensive zone, which will continue to be his calling card ahead. Dickinson has missed the team’s last three games with a leg injury and hasn’t found the back of the net in his last 13 contests.
With other teams wrapping up their respective second games around the time the puck finally drops to open the Oilers/Ducks series, the scheduling worked to the benefit of Edmonton, giving them the real possibility of returning to full health.
Elsewhere across the conference:
- Colorado’s Ross Colton is expected to be scratched for Game 1 this afternoon against Los Angeles, reported by Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. The 29-year-old brings championship pedigree within his 64 games of postseason experience, even scoring the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for Tampa Bay’s 2021 title, but he’ll be out of the lineup for the start of a potential run from the Presidents’ Trophy winners. Colton netted nine goals in 73 games, a near 50% drop off from his first two seasons with the Avs, and his ice time has declined, down to 12:31 in 2025-26. Surprisingly, the 29-year-old has actually posted his best even strength possession metrics of his career this year, but it’s in good part thanks to the team’s overall dominance in that area. Colton is not trusted on the penalty kill, a factor in the decision, but it’s likely he’ll get a shot eventually based on how his teammates perform out of the gate.
- Stars head coach Glen Gulatzan told reporters, including Robert Tiffin of Stars Thoughts, that Roope Hintz is still not skating on his own yet. The standout center hasn’t been able to play since March 6 as a result of a lower body injury. Dallas certainly felt the effects of missing such a player in Game 1’s resounding defeat against Minnesota. Based on the word on Hintz, his status for any time in the first round is up in the air, and the club will have to dig deep to get back on track and buy enough time for his return. With 44 points in 53 games this year, it’s clearly a big loss, but Hintz’s elite defensive impact is especially crucial at this time of year.
Pacific Notes: Warsofsky, Flames, Lewandowski
The San Jose Sharks took a step forward in 2025-26, upping their points total from a league-worst 52 to 86 this season, just four points short of a Western Conference playoff spot. Sharks GM Mike Grier gave Warsofsky a vote of confidence in his end-of-season media availability. Per The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka, Grier said Warsofsky has “done a good job” and added that “there’s no reason to think that he won’t be the coach [in San Jose] when the season starts next year.”
While the Sharks parting ways with Warsofsky seems somewhat out of question given the team’s dramatic year-over-year improvements, the reality is this past NHL season has been marked by teams pulling the trigger on coaching changes in non-traditional situations. The Vegas Golden Knights fired Stanley Cup-winning head coach Bruce Cassidy with less than a month remaining in the season, while the New York Islanders fired head coach Patrick Roy with just four games remaining in 2025-26. NHL teams hold their coaches to extremely high standards, though it is important to note that the Sharks are in an entirely different stage of their competitive cycle than Vegas is, for example. But with the emergence of key contributors in San Jose such as star Macklin Celebrini, the competitive bar has been raised, and it’s up to Warsofsky to meet that bar next season.
Other notes from around the Pacific Division:
- The Calgary Flames enter the offseason committed to a long-term, patient vision in constructing their team, according to what GM Craig Conroy said to the media on Friday. Conroy was asked about what kind of teambuilding direction he’d take moving forward, and said “It is about the long term. It’s not about getting into the playoffs one year, not in the next, in one year, then out. We want to be there consistently.” Calgary has missed the playoffs for four straight years, and appear to have a substantial amount of work ahead of them when it comes to building the club into a true Stanley Cup contender. Based on what Conroy told the media, it appears the team will embark on a patient, draft-and-develop road back to contention, rather than trying to move aggressively in free agency or in trades to add NHL-ready talent to their roster.
- The Edmonton Oilers signed prospect forward David Lewandowski has joined the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, on an ATO. The 19-year-old made his North American professional debut last night against the San Jose Barracuda and earned his first AHL point, a secondary assist. The 19-year-old German forward was selected in the fourth round, No. 117 overall, of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked Lewandowski as the No. 5 prospect in Edmonton’s system, calling him a “a reliable, almost veteran player, even though he’s still a teenager.” Lewandowski spent most of 2025-26 with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, where he scored 65 points in 57 regular-season games and nine points in 11 postseason contests.
Lightning Recall Conor Geekie, Brandon Halverson
10:30 a.m.: The Lightning activated James off of injured reserve, per Diandra Loux of The Hockey News. The move will allow James to play in tonight’s game against Montreal.
9:15 a.m.: The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Conor Geekie and Brandon Halverson from their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. They also announced that forwards Mitchell Chaffee, Jakob Pelletier, and defenseman Steven Santini have been reassigned to Syracuse.
The move organizes Tampa Bay’s roster in advance of the start of their first-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, which is set to happen later today. Recalling Geekie and Halverson removes two key contributors from Syracuse’s roster in advance of the start of their own first-round playoff series. Syracuse’s regular season ended yesterday with a shutout win over the Belleville Senators.
Geekie was No. 2 in scoring on the Crunch with 17 goals and 59 points in 57 games this season, while Halverson was the team’s No. 1 goalie, posting a .905 save percentage in 43 games played.
Both Geekie and Halverson have NHL experience over the last two years – Geekie played in 14 NHL contests this season, scoring three points, and had 14 points in 52 NHL games last year.
Halverson, a 30-year-old veteran, has played in three NHL contests in that same time frame.
It is significantly more likely that Geekie, the No. 10 overall pick at the 2022 NHL draft, ends up skating in playoff games for the Lightning compared to Halverson. Halverson will be Tampa’s spare third goalie, behind starter Andrei Vasilevskiy and backup Jonas Johansson, who are both entrenched in their roles.
If Halverson ends up staying on the Lightning roster for the team’s postseason run, Syracuse will likely turn to 26-year-old Ryan Fanti, a former ECHL No. 1 who posted a .905 save percentage in 27 games this season as Halverson’s backup.
Geekie’s path to NHL playing time likely depends upon the health of rookie forward Dominic James. The 23-year-old has been out since February, but was beginning to make his mark in the NHL with a goal in each of his two most recent games. James suffered a leg injury in February and underwent surgery, but appears to be nearing a return to the ice.
Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reported Friday that James skated in practice as Tampa’s fourth-line center, Geekie could get a look in that role. Veteran Pontus Holmberg could also be a contender for the No. 4 center job occupied by James in practice, but he has been out since April 6 with an upper-body injury that head coach Jon Cooper called “not good.”
The trio of reassignments return three players who play key roles in Syracuse back to the AHL. Pelletier is the Crunch’s top scorer with 77 points in 63 games this season. As an offense-first 5’10” winger with zero games of playoff experience at the NHL level, it’s likely Tampa Bay stand to benefit more with Pelletier in Syracuse rather than on their playoff roster.
Chaffee, 28, scored 57 points in 54 AHL games for the Crunch this season but had just one point in 11 games with the Lightning. He does have nine games of NHL postseason experience and could be at the top of the priority order when it comes to potential recalls should Tampa Bay run into injury trouble up front.
Santini, 31, got into 12 NHL games this season, the most he’s gotten into in a single year since 2018-19. He’s an established AHL top-four defensive defenseman and is likely to play a significant role in what the Crunch hope is a deep postseason run.
Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images