Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/07/21

There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

East Division

• With Jakub Vrana joining the COVID list Saturday, the Washington Capitals continue to be short on forwards. The team announced they have recalled forwards Daniel Carr and Philippe Maillet from their taxi squad. The Capitals have also assigned Michael Sgarbossa to the taxi squad. Carr has one assist in two games with Washington this season, while the 28-year-old Maillet will make his NHL debut Sunday.
• The New York Islanders have returned winger Oliver Wahlstrom to the taxi squad, reports CapFriendly.  He played just over 12 minutes in Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh and has a goal in three games with New York this season.
• The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled winger Samuel Morin from the taxi squad while promoting goalie Felix Sandstrom and defenseman Derrick Pouliot to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Morin has gone back and forth this season while Pouliot has briefly been on the taxi squad but has not yet played this year.  As for Sandstrom, it’s his first NHL recall of the season.

North Division

• The Ottawa Senators announced several roster moves. The team recalled forward Logan Brown from the Belleville Senators of the AHL to the team’s taxi squad. The Senators also have assigned forwards Filip Chlapik and Matthew Peca to the AHL squad as well. The 22-year-old Brown has yet to appear in any game either for the NHL or the AHL despite appearing in 23 games for Ottawa last season. Head coach D.J. Smith said that Brown will likely get into the lineup later this week.
• The Montreal Canadiens have once again sent forward Corey Perry and Jesperi Kotkaniemi back to the taxi squad as part of their standard transactional moves, according to CapFriendly. Perry has appeared in seven games for the Canadiens with a goal and three points, while Kotkaniemi has played in all 12 of the team’s games with a goal and seven points.
• The Calgary Flames have sent center Byron Froese, defenseman Connor Mackey, and winger Zac Rinaldo to the taxi squad, reports Ryan Pike of the Sporting News.  The moves allow Calgary to still bank a little bit of cap space even after the placement of Derek Ryan on LTIR.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs have assigned center Jason Spezza to the taxi squad and recalled center Adam Brooks, per CapFriendly.  The move allows Toronto to extend Spezza’s waiver exemption a little longer and he will almost certainly be recalled before tomorrow’s game against Vancouver.

Central Division

• The Detroit Red Wings announced they have once again recalled forwards Mathias Brome and Givani Smith from the taxi squad to the NHL team. The Red Wings also assigned defenseman Alex Biega to the taxi squad. Brome has been a regular with Detroit, having already appeared in 10 games, but hasn’t registered a point yet.  Smith has two assists in five games this season.
• The Columbus Blue Jackets already lost goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to injury and is currently on injured reserve. Now his backup, Matiss Kivlenieks also has gone down as the netminder suffered a lower-body injury and is currently listed as day-to-day. The Blue Jackets have now recalled the backup to the backup of Merzlikins, announcing they have recalled Cam Johnson via emergency recall to fill in as the backup goalie.  Liam Foudy was also recalled from the taxi squad.
• The Florida Panthers announced they have promoted forward Scott Wilson from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL to the team’s taxi squad. The team has also recalled forward Mason Marchment to their NHL team from the taxi squad. Wilson did appear in six games for the Buffalo Sabres last season, but the 28-year-old has struggled getting back into the NHL after being a regular many years ago. Marchment has yet to make an NHL appearance since being acquired from Toronto last year.
• The Dallas Stars announced they have recalled goaltender Landon Bow and forward Jason Robertson from the taxi squad. Bow will step in and serve as the backup to Jake Oettinger after the team benched starter Anton Khudobin for disciplinary reasons. Robertson has already appeared in three games for the Stars.
• The Carolina Hurricanes had center Morgan Geekie and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic in uniform for today’s game against Columbus, meaning they were recalled from the taxi squad.  Both players have gone back and forth several times already this season.

West Division

• The Los Angeles Kings announced they have placed defenseman Matt Roy on injured reserve (retroactive to Jan. 28) and have recalled four players from their taxi squad, including forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Lias Andersson as well as defensemen Tobias Bjornfot and Austin Strand.  Andersson, Bjornfot, and Strand were all returned to the taxi squad following the game.
• The Anaheim Ducks moved defenseman Andy Welinski back to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly, with Hunter Drew being sent back to AHL San Diego in a corresponding move.  Welinski has played in three games with Anaheim so far this season, logging just under 12 minutes per game.
• After playing on an emergency recall on Saturday, the Arizona Coyotes have returned center Michael Chaput to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  The 28-year-old has played in two games so far this season and while he has yet to become an NHL regular, he has seen action in the NHL in each of the last eight seasons.
• A day after making his NHL debut, the San Jose Sharks have returned center Sasha Chmelevski to the taxi squad along with defenseman Nicolas Meloche to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Chmelevski had an assist in just over six minutes of action on Saturday while Meloche has played just once this season.
• Defenseman Dylan Coghlan was in the lineup for the Golden Knights today, meaning Vegas recalled him from the taxi squad.  The blueliner played 13:44 in his second career game.