Predators Have Interviewed Marc Bergevin, Brett Peterson For GM Position
The Predators have a general manager vacancy – well, kind of. While incumbent Barry Trotz announced his resignation from the role over six weeks ago, he will be staying on until a replacement is named. That gives Nashville plenty of runway and the rare opportunity to embark on a lengthy search process while the season is still ongoing.
Nashville is casting an incredibly wide net as a result, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes, but a few names of interest are starting to leak out. Sabres associate GM Marc Bergevin and Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson have both been part of the initial interview process, Friedman reports.
Bergevin was previously the GM of the Canadiens from 2012 to 2021. He hasn’t held the top exec role since, but has been through multiple interviews, including the Blue Jackets’ vacancy in 2024 and the Islanders’ vacancy last offseason. Just because he’s come up short in those talks doesn’t mean he’s been unemployed for the past five years. Almost immediately after his dismissal from Montreal in November 2021, the Kings brought him in as a senior advisor to former GM Rob Blake.
The 60-year-old remained in L.A. through last summer’s GM change to Ken Holland. That arrangement only lasted a couple of months into the season. Shortly before Christmas, he left the Kings to accept an offer from Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekäläinen to serve as his top assistant as part of the Sabres’ front office turnover.
During Bergevin’s stint in Montreal, he twice finished as the runner-up for the General Manager of the Year award (2014, 2021). The Habs made the playoffs six times in Bergevin’s nine full seasons at the helm, including trips to the Eastern Conference Final in 2014 and the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He also served as GM of Montreal’s AHL affiliates, a role typically held by an associate/assistant GM.
The veteran of nearly 1,200 NHL games as a player would certainly be an experience-oriented hire after Nashville’s decision to hire a respected coach but inexperienced executive in Trotz has yielded mixed results. Before his time in Montreal, Bergevin also climbed the ladder in the Blackhawks organization from scout to assistant GM from 2005 to 2012. Excluding the lockout-nixed 2004-05 campaign, Bergevin has been involved in every NHL campaign since 1984 as either a player, coach, or executive.
Peterson is more of the up-and-comer archetype, but it’s hard to argue with the brief experience he’s already accumulated. He’s spent all of his time in the NHL as an AGM in Florida under Bill Zito, first hired in 2020. He’s been part of the franchise’s three straight Stanley Cup Final trips and has been entrusted with more responsibility on the international stage, where he was just announced as the general manager for the United States’ World Championship team for the second time in three years. The 44-year-old was an assistant GM for the USA squad that won gold at the 2025 World Championship, ending a 65-year drought.
Penguins Recall Ryan Graves From Conditioning Stint
The Penguins announced they’ve recalled defenseman Ryan Graves from his conditioning stint to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. For now, he remains on injured reserve.
It wasn’t clear why Graves had been out of the lineup for well over a month when Pittsburgh sent him for his conditioning stint a week ago today. He was on the active roster after recovering from a lower-body injury and being reinstated from IR in early February, but he hasn’t played since. Instead, it appears he’s either still working his way back from that initial issue or sustained a new, undisclosed one, as he landed back on IR to allow him a conditioning stint. Regular conditioning loans are prohibited after the trade deadline; only those related to long-term injuries are permitted.
Graves suited up twice for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, so it appears he should be good to go and should be activated off IR soon. Now in year three of the regrettable six-year, $27MM deal he landed with the Pens in free agency in 2023, he cleared waivers earlier this season and, when healthy, has split time between Pittsburgh and WBS. After a horrid showing in a full-time roster role last season, he’s had improved impacts as an #8/9 piece who can occasionally jump into a bottom-pairing role. He’s averaged 15:29 of ice time per game across 19 contests for the Pens this season with one goal and a -2 rating. His 52.2% shot attempt share at 5-on-5 is his best since the 2020-21 season.
He’s also been an impact player in the minors, where he has 10 points and a +4 rating in 15 games for the Baby Pens. It’s likely too much to expect him to return to being the top-four fixture Pittsburgh hoped he could be, but injury troubles aside, this season has been a step in the right direction for Graves’ play. Unless cap space becomes a concern, it wouldn’t be all too surprising to see him back on the opening night roster in the fall as a bottom-pairing or #7 piece.
Oilers Place Leon Draisaitl On Long-Term Injured Reserve
The Oilers were expected to eventually move star center Leon Draisaitl to long-term injured reserve after it was announced he’ll be shut down for the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury. That’s now happened, per a team announcement, and they’ve used their newfound cap space to recall winger Roby Jarventie from AHL Bakersfield in the corresponding move.
As the ever-durable Draisaitl gears up for the longest absence of his career at one of the worst possible times, the Oilers had just a few days left to be eligible for cap relief by placing him on LTIR. They have 28 days left in their regular season, and there has to be at least 24 days or 10 games – the LTIR minimums – left on the regular-season calendar to initiate an LTIR placement.
Edmonton is now over the cap by nearly $2.5MM, but with Draisaitl now generating some relief in addition to the previously LTIR-bound Colton Dach, Mattias Janmark, and Curtis Lazar, the Oilers’ LTIR pool is now at almost $7MM, leaving them $3.3MM in current cap space after Jarventie’s recall, per PuckPedia.
With all those names sidelined, the 23-year-old Jarventie should be ticketed for his first NHL appearance since debuting with the Senators in November 2023. An early second-round pick in the 2020 draft, he was traded to Edmonton in the 2024 offseason for Xavier Bourgault, but he missed all but two AHL games last season due to knee surgery.
Jarventie initially planned to return home to Finland with Tappara early last offseason, but ended up accepting a two-way extension from the Oilers in June. That decision has proved fruitful for both parties. The 6’2″, 184-lb Jarventie hasn’t clicked at the near point-per-game rate he did in the minors before his injury, but he’s back to at least being a serviceable producer. In 52 outings for Bakersfield, he has 17 goals and 36 points with a +12 rating. That’s good for fifth on the team in scoring.
Rangers Recall Connor Mackey
The Rangers announced Thursday that they’ve recalled left-shot defender Connor Mackey from AHL Hartford. He’ll ensure New York has seven defensemen for the time being after Urho Vaakanainen left Wednesday’s loss to the Devils with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. Vaakanainen did not travel with the team to Columbus this morning, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports, so he’ll be out for at least tonight’s contest against the Blue Jackets.
It’s Mackey’s sixth Rangers stint of the season. He’s been up on several brief recalls as injury insurance throughout the year, but none of them have resulted in playing time, sitting as a healthy scratch in 11 contests. Mackey is in his third season with the Rangers organization after initially landing there on a two-way deal in free agency in 2023, subsequently signing a two-year extension that will expire this summer. His offense isn’t what it used to be, but he’s still been an imposing physical presence in Hartford, logging 52 games with a 5-10–15 scoring line, 81 penalty minutes, and a -8 rating.
Mackey, 29, has played in parts of five NHL seasons but not since December 2024. He previously suited up for the Coyotes and Flames. The 6’3″, 205-lb lefty has totaled 42 NHL appearances with a 4-7–11 scoring line, a -1 rating, and 78 hits while averaging 14:11 of ice time per game. He’s a few years removed from his career year split between Calgary and Arizona in 2022-23 that saw him traded to the Yotes at the deadline, becoming a regular for them in a depth role down the stretch. After notching seven points and a -4 rating in 30 games that year, he’s suited up just three times with the Blueshirts in the three seasons since.
The Rangers have preferred to keep Mackey in a press-box role only this season. It remains to be seen if that will change, since Vaakanainen being out means their top six group is now made up of four righties and two lefties. It remains to be seen whether someone will shift to their offside to allow righty Vincent Iorio to elevate from the press box and play his first game since March 7, or if Mackey will make his season debut to keep an even lefty/righty alignment. It’s of little long-term consequence to a Rangers club that’s dropped two in a row after a four-game winning streak, keeping them in a five-point hole behind the Panthers for last place in the East.
Penguins Reassign Avery Hayes
The Penguins announced Thursday that they’ve reassigned winger Avery Hayes to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The move comes after Sidney Crosby was activated from injured reserve for yesterday’s loss to the Hurricanes, bringing Pittsburgh up to 16 forwards on the active roster. With that obvious excess, they’ll trim a bit here by returning the waiver-exempt Hayes to the minors.
Hayes was scratched in back-to-back games leading up to today’s demotion. He was initially removed from the lineup for Monday’s win over the Avalanche to make way for Evgeni Malkin‘s return to play following a five-game suspension.
The 23-year-old has suited up 11 times for Pittsburgh in his first taste of NHL action this season, scoring twice with a -6 rating. Both of those goals came in his NHL debut against the Sabres back on Feb. 5. Since then, it’s become abundantly clear he needs more development time before he’s serious about competing for a big-league role. He’s averaged 10:37 of ice time per game with some quite hairy possession metrics. Pittsburgh is only controlling 45.3% of shot attempts with Hayes on the ice at 5-on-5 despite him starting 63% of his shifts in the offensive zone.
The 5’10”, 180-lb righty has been one of the better stories in Pittsburgh’s prospect pool. He signed an AHL deal as an undrafted free agent coming out of juniors in 2023 and subsequently broke out for 23 goals and 42 points in 60 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2024-25, leading to him landing an NHL contract for this year. He’s continued to build on that production in the AHL, racking up a 19-11–30 scoring line in 36 games, but simply hasn’t been able to convert his high-energy game into a meaningful NHL impact in limited minutes yet.
Hayes has essentially been on the NHL roster since Feb. 23, but he was sent down to the AHL for a few hours on deadline day to make him eligible to return to the minors down the stretch. Pittsburgh will reap the rewards of that decision today. Even with Kevin Hayes and Blake Lizotte dealing with upper-body issues, they still have youngster Ville Koivunen around as an extra forward, so they’re not at risk of needing to make an emergency recall yet if another forward injury pops up.
Morning Notes: Kempe, Team Russia, Karlsson
The Kings have failed to make much headway in the Western Conference wild-card race since their mixed-bag trade deadline, going 3-2-1. They played their last game, a 4-1 win over the Rangers to wrap up a five-game Eastern road swing, without the services of leading scorer Adrian Kempe. He was out with a lower-body injury and remains listed as day-to-day, although it could end up just being a one-game absence. Interim head coach D.J. Smith said at yesterday’s practice that he’s “hopeful” Kempe can suit up tonight against the Flyers. A win over Philly and a Kraken loss of any kind would get L.A. back into a playoff position. They’re tied with Seattle right now at 71 points, but trail the Kraken significantly, 25-18, in the regulation wins tiebreaker. Kempe’s health is crucial. He’s been on a tear coming out of the Olympic break, currently on an eight-game point streak with a 6-6–12 scoring line in his last 10.
Here’s more to round up from around the hockey world Thursday:
- NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly poured cold water this week on the idea of Team Russia returning to international play at the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. That will be a league-run event without IIHF involvement, but the league has maintained a willingness to demonstrate continuity with the international governing body on the matter. There were unverified reports that other European countries would pull out of the tournament if Russia were to participate, if they continue their ongoing war on Ukraine, a risk the league certainly won’t be willing to take, with half the round-robin games being hosted in Czechia. “I don’t think we’re out of sync with where the Finns and Swedes and Czechs are with respect to Russian participation,” Daly said (via Eric Engels of Sportsnet). “It’ll be available if certain things happen. And if certain things don’t happen, they’re likely not to participate.”
- Penguins defender Erik Karlsson was among the most popular names in trade rumors last season. Even as his contract becomes more movable, the Penguins’ success this season has made the idea of holding on to him for the last year of his deal in 2026-27 more attractive. As the Pens’ PR account pointed out this morning, he’s having arguably the most dominant stretch of his career since his days as a yearly Norris contender in Ottawa. He has nine goals and 12 points in his last six outings and leads NHL defensemen in scoring since the Olympic break with a 5-12–17 line in 13 games.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Left Wing
With the trade deadline behind us, player movement between teams is severely restricted. Teams are jockeying for playoff position, and many players with expiring contracts across the NHL are playing games that could ultimately determine what magnitude of contract they might receive in the summer.
In a multi-part series, we’ll take a look at each position group of the upcoming free agent class, and do a rundown on how those upcoming unrestricted free agents have performed this year. Which players have increased their odds of scoring a jackpot on the open market? Which players have potentially hurt their earning potential with their play? What are the stakes for these free agents in the games that remain this season? We’ll break it all down here.
The Marquee Names
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
While he is technically a pending unrestricted free agent, Ovechkin’s situation is not one of a typical pending UFA. The league’s all-time goal scoring leader is, barring some great surprise, a one-team player. He will either re-sign with the Capitals, or end his time in the NHL. The odds of another outcome are extremely remote.
While the 40-year-old doesn’t fly around the ice in a manner even close to how he did earlier in his career, his offensive instincts, and his trademark shot, are still there – making him still a productive NHL top-six winger. He has 51 points in 68 games this season, so the question for Ovechkin heading into the expiry of his deal isn’t about whether he can still play in the NHL, it’s about whether he still wants to.
Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
Benn is in a similar position to Ovechkin. The one-time Art Ross Trophy winner is set to turn 37 years old this summer, and is not your typical pending UFA. Like Ovechkin, one would have to imagine that Benn will either be playing in Dallas, or nowhere at all. That he took a $1MM base salary on a one-year deal last summer (albeit with $3MM total in performance bonuses) suggests Benn is willing to be flexible in how he structures his contracts in order to remain with the Stars. As a result, it’d be tough to imagine him having a true free agency – so while he technically belongs on this list, the free agent class truly begins in the category below.
The Solid Contributors
Patrik Laine, Montreal Canadiens
Just a few years ago, there would be no debate about whether or not Laine belonged in the “marquee names” section of this list. He was at the center of a blockbuster trade involving Pierre-Luc Dubois, earned an $8.7MM AAV contract, and was regularly scoring at around a point-per-game rate. But even when his league wide stock was far higher, some cracks were showing in Laine’s game, specifically in terms of his ability to stay on the ice.
While much of this has been, unfortunately, out of Laine’s control, and therefore it isn’t exactly fair to count it as a factor working against his earning potential, the reality is Laine hasn’t played in enough games over the last few years for teams to feel comfortable investing significant money in him.
He’s played in just five games this season after undergoing core muscle surgery in October. Last season, he was limited to just 52 games, with his season only beginning in December due to a left knee sprain.
When Laine is healthy and playing at his peak, he can be one of the game’s more purely talented offensive players.
His goal-scoring ability has never been in question, and even in his uneven days as a Columbus Blue Jacket, he still managed 108 points in 111 games between 2021-22 and 2022-23. But the issue for Laine, especially as it relates to his upcoming free agency, is that he simply has not been healthy, or playing at his peak, on anything close to a consistent basis, throughout his pro career.
With all of that said, Laine is just 27 years old. He has many years of his career still ahead of him. Even with all of his struggles, he remains an intriguing option as the player with the most pure upside as a scorer set to be available on the open market.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun noted that Laine’s IR placement for most of this season will make him eligible for a unique type of contract: one laden with performance bonuses. Those bonuses are typically reserved for players above 35 or on their entry-level contract, so Laine and his representatives will be able to structure a creative contract to find Laine the right landing spot to maximize his chances of a career renaissance.
A team with a clear need for an elite shot for their power play would be an ideal fit for Laine.
Mason Marchment, Columbus Blue Jackets
Early in the season, it looked as though Marchment would be heading into free agency on somewhat shaky ground. The 30-year-old was traded to the Kraken over the summer, and hadn’t quite found his footing there. Through 29 games in Seattle, he’d managed just four goals and 13 points, well below the scoring pace (22 goals, 47 points in 62 games) he set the year before.
The Kraken elected to deal Marchment to Columbus, removing a quality middle-six forward from their roster despite having every intention of competing for a playoff spot. Both the Blue Jackets, and Marchment, have reaped the benefits of the mid-season deal.
Columbus has surged back into legitimate playoff contention. Although a hyper-competitive Eastern Conference means their playoff chances are up in the air, it’s worth noting that the team holds enough points to be No. 1 (with a four-point cushion) in the Pacific Division. But while geography and league alignment might keep Columbus out of the postseason, it won’t keep Marchment from capitalizing on his current run of form in the summer.
Since arriving in Ohio, Marchment has scored 12 goals and 21 points in 25 games. He is shooting 25.5% right now, so puck luck is definitely playing a role – but even still, Marchment is playing far closer to his career standard than what he put forward as a Kraken.
Given his substantial track record of middle-six (or better) production since his 2021-22 breakout year with the Florida Panthers, Marchment is likely positioned well to receive a raise over the $4.5MM AAV he earned on his last deal.
Michael Bunting, Dallas Stars
Another middle-six forward who was the recipient of a mid-season trade, Bunting’s season has moved along well within what most would have reasonably expected of him.
In Nashville, he was not surrounded by the kind of offensive talent he had next to him as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, so he wasn’t able to score quite at the rate he managed at his peak. At the same time, he still carved out a role as a respectable secondary producer with the Predators, registering 13 goals and 31 points in 61 games. That’s a 42-point scoring pace over 82 games.
That Bunting was able to keep up his standard of steady secondary scoring helped earn him a trade to the Stars, giving him the chance to join one of the league’s marquee Stanley Cup contenders. Now 30, Bunting is entering a crucial free agency as the contract he receives could be the most financially substantial of his career.
He’s got two points in five games with the Stars so far, but is currently on their third line, skating alongside Justin Hryckowian and Colin Blackwell. If Bunting can manage to find a way onto one of Dallas’ top two scoring lines, he could further improve his earning potential in the summer with a strong conclusion to his 2025-26 campaign.
Anders Lee, New York Islanders
Lee is, in many ways, in a similar boat to Ovechkin and Benn, even if he doesn’t have the same level of star power as those two names. Now 35, he’s his team’s captain and has been a fixture on Long Island for most of his professional career, save for a brief stint in the AHL.
He was a core Islander during the height of the team’s most recent competitive era, when they made two deep playoff runs under head coach Barry Trotz. His leadership helped stabilize and elevate the Islanders in the aftermath of the stunning departure of franchise face John Tavares.
Put simply: one would have to imagine both Lee and the Islanders have every intention of working out a contract extension. The odds are considerable that New York and Lee come to some sort of agreement on a new deal.
With that said, there still remains the remote possibility he tests free agency, and in that case, he’d be an attractive short-term veteran option.
Lee has reached the 20-goal plateau nine times over the course of his career, and with 15 in 68 games this season, he stands a real chance of making it ten. He’s one of the league’s more effective goal-scorers when placed directly in front of the net, and it’s his prowess around the crease that helped him become a 40-goal scorer earlier in his career.
While his age means he might have a tough time matching his current $7MM AAV on his next deal, he’s had a solid season and has earned more than just a smaller base contract stuffed with performance bonuses.
Evander Kane, Vancouver Canucks
Where Kane stands at this point is not the easiest to pin down. He was expected to be traded before the deadline earlier this month, with numerous reports indicating that the Canucks were not only aggressively shopping Kane, but that they’d even given his agent, Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, permission to speak with other teams to facilitate a Kane trade.
He did not end up getting dealt, which naturally opens up questions related to how he’s viewed as a player across the league. On the ice, he’s still a reasonably productive player. On a Canucks team that has struggled mightily this season, Kane has 12 goals and 29 points in 64 games. That’s a 15-goal, 37-point pace over 82 games, which is a decline, but not a massive one, from where he was in 2023-24, his most recent full healthy NHL campaign.
Kane also showcased his talents during the Oilers’ back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final, showing how he could be a valuable contributor to a team just a few wins away from multiple titles. He’s always been a complicated player, someone with high peaks and low valleys in terms of performance.
That’s been evident throughout Kane’s career, such as in 2020-21, when he led his team in scoring with 49 points in 56 games (72 point pace) but ended the season with less-than-stellar reports emerging about his off-ice value.
The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reported at the time that “several key players informed team brass that if Kane was going to be a part of the Sharks going forward, they didn’t want to be.”
Those factors that complicate a player’s league wide standing are often extremely difficult, if not impossible, for outside observers to take into account. It’s entirely possible, perhaps even likely, that the Kane that was the subject of those reports no longer exists. His time in Edmonton certainly would support that argument, as he was a key veteran on one of the league’s top teams. But without being able to know for sure where Kane stands, it’s difficult to predict the level of interest he’ll will receive in the summer, or what level of investment those interested teams will be willing to make in him.
Snapshots: CHL, Vaakanainen, Laba
In November, we covered reports indicating that the NHL was seeking to come to an agreement with the CHL on allowing 19-year-old CHL players to play in the AHL under specific circumstances. At the time, it appeared the league was seeking a deal that would allow each club to select one player, who would have previously been ineligible to play in the AHL, to be loaned to that league. The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Pierre LeBrun reported today that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly had a meeting scheduled for today with the CHL’s President, alongside the three commissioners of the CHL’s leagues. Per Russo and LeBrun, “there will be some type of change” to the rule, and the negotiations are reportedly more about determining “the number of 19-year-olds that could be assigned” and “the criteria” of who would be allowed to be assigned.
Russo and LeBrun indicated that with the flow of CHL players to the NCAA, now that the NCAA’s rules permit CHLers to join the college ranks, NHL teams “want to maintain control of their drafted players.” Providing a player with the flexibility to turn pro might keep a player from playing college hockey, something that would accomplish that goal for teams. Recent history is littered with players who teams would likely have preferred to turn pro rather than return to the CHL, perhaps none more high-profile than 2022 No. 4 pick Shane Wright. The year after he was drafted, Wright got into eight NHL games, a handful of AHL games (on a conditioning loan), and was reassigned to the OHL after the World Juniors. It’s likely that Wright would have simply spent the year in the AHL had the rules been different, and with today’s reporting, it appears the next Wright might very well get the chance to do just that.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- The New York Rangers announced tonight that defenseman Urho Vaakanainen left the team’s contest against the New Jersey Devils after suffering an upper-body injury. The full extent of Vaakanainen’s injury is, of course, unclear at this time. The 27-year-old, who is under contract through next season at a $1.55MM AAV, has served as a seventh defenseman for the Rangers this season. He’s gotten into 32 games, scoring six points and averaging 14:08 time on ice per game.
- Vaakanainen isn’t the only Rangers player who left their game against the Devils with an injury: the team also announced that rookie center Noah Laba has been sidelined with a lower-body injury. Laba’s emergence has been one of the more positive storylines for the Rangers this season, as the 2022 fourth-round pick has been a developmental bright spot for a team whose track record in that area has come under scrutiny. The 22-year-old has 21 points in 64 games this season and has been operating as the team’s No. 3 center, averaging 13:33 time on ice per game including a secondary role on the penalty kill.
Islanders Sign Cole Eiserman To Entry-Level Deal
March 18: The Islanders officially announced Eiserman has signed his entry-level deal, which begins next season. He’ll finish out the year with Bridgeport on a tryout as expected.
March 17: After signing one of their best non-NHL affiliate prospects earlier today, it doesn’t appear the New York Islanders are finished yet. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Islanders are finalizing a contract with forward prospect Cole Eiserman.
If and when Eiserman puts pen to paper on his entry-level contract, Pagnotta expects that he’ll begin his professional career with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Unfortunately, despite his offensive potential, New York doesn’t have much room for him on the NHL roster at this point.
Still, that is expected to change as early as next season. It would be surprising to see the Islanders fail to extend captain Anders Lee before July 1, but they are actively looking to trade Anthony Duclair, which would open up a roster spot for Eiserman this summer.
As one of the best pure goal-scorers from the 2024 NHL Draft class, Eiserman has continued to do just that at the collegiate level. Across two years with the Boston University Terriers, Eiserman scored 43 goals and 21 assists in 71 games. He took a step back in terms of his production this season, but he was far from the only one to do so in the Terriers program.
He’s also been a proficient player at the international level. During the U20 IIHF World Junior Championships, Eiserman scored five goals and 10 points in 12 games, helping Team USA to a Gold medal finish in the 2024-25 tournament.
In Bridgeport, the Islanders will want to make sure Eiserman plays next to an established playmaker. He has one of the heaviest shots and quickest releases for his age, but he doesn’t appear to have the level to his game to drive an entire line. There were some serious question marks surrounding his play on the defensive side of the puck entering the 2024 NHL Draft, and New York will want to make sure he continues to grow on that side of the game.
Bruins Recall Lukas Reichel Under Emergency Conditions
The Bruins announced that they’ve recalled forward Lukas Reichel from AHL Providence under emergency conditions. As Boston has 13 healthy forwards rostered, there are evidently a pair of undisclosed injuries that may affect their lineup against the Jets tomorrow, allowing Reichel to qualify for the emergency designation.
If Reichel plays, it will be for his third NHL team this season. The 17th overall pick in 2020 by the Blackhawks, his development in Chicago had stagnated over several seasons. After sitting as a healthy scratch to start the campaign, he was shipped to the Canucks for a fourth-round pick in late October. Reichel initially got a long look in Vancouver’s top six but was quickly demoted, ultimately posting just one assist in 14 games before landing on waivers in December and clearing waivers.
At the deadline, the Canucks sold him at a loss to the Bruins, who picked him up for a sixth-round pick. He’s getting his first call-up less than two weeks later after a strong start to his time in the Boston organization in the minors. In three games for Providence since the trade, he’s lit up the scoresheet for a goal and four assists. He’d had only six goals and 13 points in 23 games for the Canucks’ farm team in Abbotsford, a stark contrast to his record as a consistent point-per-game threat in the minors since arriving from his native Germany in 2021.
All told, Reichel has 22 goals and 59 points in 188 NHL contests, averaging out to a 10-16–26 scoring line per 82 games. That comes with an eye-opening -65 rating and consistently poor possession metrics along the way. He’s been an elite goal-scorer at virtually every level he’s played, but has yet to really fill out into his 6’0″ frame, weighing in at 170 lbs. That’s inhibited his availability to get to prime scoring areas in the NHL.
He’ll turn 24 years old in May, so time is running out – if it hasn’t already – for him to establish himself as a major-league talent. His time with the Bruins, who are unlikely to tender him at a qualifying offer of $1.3MM, could be his last chance to do so.