The Blackhawks are expected to offer prospect winger Dylan Sikura a spot in their lineup as soon as his college season ends, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required). Sikura, who was recently named to Canada’s entry at the upcoming Karjala Cup, a tournament that they’re using as an evaluation for the Olympics in February. He currently sits second in NCAA scoring with six goals and eight assists through six games.
Chicago is no stranger to offering the chance to play right away and burn the first year of an entry-level deal; they most recently went that route last year with John Hayden. This is the one real bargaining chip that they have to play as if Sikura (a sixth-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2014) were to wait until August 15th and then become an unrestricted free agent, he’d have no shortage of interest around the league.
Elsewhere in the West:
- Golden Knights defenseman Jason Garrison has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link). That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise with his $4.6MM cap hit. It will be interesting to see if there is any trade interest in him where Vegas could retain part of his contract to facilitate a move or take a notable contract back in return. It’s worth noting that the first-year team has already used one of its three retention slots from their trade of Alexei Emelin back in July. In the meantime, they have assigned him to Chicago of the AHL, per the AHL’s Transactions page.
- The Blues announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Ville Husso from San Antonio of the AHL. The move isn’t as a result of injury but rather a contingency plan if backup Carter Hutton is unavailable for tonight’s game against Columbus with his wife expecting to give birth shortly. Husso, a fourth-rounder of St. Louis back in 2014, has yet to play in the NHL but is off to a good start in the minors this season with a .927 save percentage in his first three starts.
- Flames winger Jaromir Jagr is expected to be activated off injured reserve on Sunday, reports Postmedia’s Eric Francis. The 45-year-old suffered a lower-body injury last weekend and if he is activated for tomorrow, he will wind up only missing the minimum one week. It’s likely that center Mark Jankowski, their lone waiver-exempt forward that is also AHL eligible, will be sent back down to open up a roster spot for Jagr.