After an enormous Saturday slate, only the Canucks and Capitals will take the ice today. However, other clubs will still be preparing for the week ahead with roster tweaks and injury adjustments. Keep up with those moves all day long right here:
Atlantic Division
- The Toronto Maple Leafs will get a pair of veteran forward some play time down in the minors. The team has announced that Joey Anderson and Brett Seney have been reassigned from the taxi squad to the AHL Marlies. While Anderson and Seney are perfect taxi squad members – experienced players that can easily slot into an NHL lineup and whose development isn’t harmed by inactivity – at some point even those types need to see game action every once in a while.
- So much for an extended stay on the NHL roster for Jacob Bernard-Docker. Just one day after he was recalled, the Ottawa Senators have reassigned the top prospect back to the taxi squad. He won’t stay there for long; the young blueliner needs to play regularly, either in Ottawa or back in Belleville.
- The Detroit Red Wings have brought up some reinforcements to the taxi squad, announcing the recalls of goaltender Calvin Pickard, forward/defenseman Luke Witkowski, and winger Taro Hirose from Grand Rapids of the AHL. Detroit is on the road in Buffalo on Monday and the three will serve as replacement options if someone is injured or enters COVID protocol.
Metropolitan Division
- Veteran goaltender Jean-Francois Berube accompanied the Columbus Blue Jackets on their recent road trip as a member of the taxi squad. However, now that the team is off until Thursday he will head back to the minors. The Blue Jackets announced that Berube has been reassigned from the taxi squad to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
- The Philadelphia Flyers added two players to their taxi squad today, per the team – forward Connor Bunnaman from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms and goalie Kirill Ustimenko from the ECHL’s Reading Royals. Bunnaman, a frequently shuttled player between the NHL and AHL, has five games in with the big club this season and no points.
Central Division
- Though they play only one game in the next five nights, the Minnesota Wild are adding to their taxi squad. The team announced that goaltender Hunter Jones and forward Kyle Rau have been recalled from AHL Iowa. Rau, a Minnesota native and long-time member of the Wild organization, is a familiar face to fans but Jones is not. The 2019 second-round pick has played more games in the ECHL than AHL this season, but has performed well in those few AHL appearances and earned a chance to work with the NHL team.
- Thomas Harley is still looking for his first NHL point through eight games, but the 2019 first-round pick may get another opportunity soon. The Dallas Stars promoted Harley yesterday to the taxi squad from AHL Texas, where he has had no trouble producing with 35 points in 56 career games, but today have returned him to the minors. Forwards Riley Damiani and Rhett Gardner have also been reassigned to Texas for the time being.
- The Chicago Blackhawks continue to shuffle the deck. Per team beat writer Carter Baum, the Blackhawks have activated defenseman Jake McCabe from the COVID Protocol and reassigned defenseman Ian Mitchell to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs as a corresponding move. Also heading back to Rockford is forward Lukas Reichel. Meanwhile, the taxi squad is getting some reinforcements from the AHL in the form of forward Mike Hardman and goaltender Cale Morris.
- As tweeted by the Nashville Predators communications department, the team made a flurry of roster moves today. Nashville reassigned forward Matt Luff to the taxi squad from the active roster, recalled defenseman Jeremy Davies from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals to the taxi squad, and moved goalie Tomas Vomacka to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL from Milwaukee. The moves could be a sign that forward Filip Forsberg, who the team placed in COVID protocol on January 8th, might be close to returning.
Pacific Division
- The Vancouver Canucks continue to manage their options in net following the COVID diagnosis of veteran Jaroslav Halak. Spencer Martin was an emergency recall from the taxi squad yesterday and today it is young Michael DiPietro getting the call from AHL Abbotsford to take Martin’s spot on the taxi squad. It would not be a surprise to see the two switch places as well; Martin has been stellar in the AHL this season, but it is DiPietro that is a future member of the Canucks and in need of NHL experience.
- Another routine move for the Los Angeles Kings as the team has returned forward Samuel Fagemo and defenseman Jacob Moverare to the taxi squad less than 24 hours after recalling both to the active roster. The rookie duo have been involved in more roster moves than NHL games, having each played just once for L.A. this season.
This page will be updated throughout the day