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Brendan Perlini, Petteri Lindbohm Clear Waivers

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Mar 1: Johnston reports that both have cleared waivers. Either one can now be assigned to the minor leagues, though Lindbohm’s placement on waivers was simply to enter the NHL after playing overseas this season.

Feb 28: Two players have hit waivers today. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Brendan Perlini of the Edmonton Oilers and Petteri Lindbohm of the Florida Panthers have both been waived and are available to the rest of the league. Chris Johnston of TSN reports that Lindbohm has signed through the end of this season, and PuckPedia reports that it is a one-year, one-way, $750K contract for the European free agent.

This is the second time that Perlini has hit waivers this season, after he cleared in December. The 12th-overall pick from 2014 has been his frustratingly inconsistent self again this season, showing flashes of brilliance too often followed by long stretches of invisibility. The 6’3″ forward has all the raw tools to be an impact power forward at the NHL level, but still has just four goals and five points in 23 games for the Oilers this season.

It’s not that the team needs Perlini to step into a top-six role, but it’s very clear that the Jay Woodcroft-led coaching staff doesn’t trust him to play regular minutes in any lineup spot. In the nine games since he took over behind the bench, Perlini has played just twice and has seen the ice for a total (not average) of 11 minutes and one second. In yesterday’s loss to Carolina, he was given just nine shifts even in a game when they had just 11 forwards dressed and logged the lowest ice time of any forward on the Oilers.

With a $750K cap hit on a one-year deal, perhaps someone else will take a chance and try to coax out the player that scored 17 goals and 30 points in 2017-18, or even the one who had 12 goals in 46 games down the stretch for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018-19. But more likely Perlini is headed back to the minor leagues, where he has played two games for the Bakersfield Condors this season.

In Lindbohm’s case, it’s a very different story. The 28-year-old defenseman must have signed a contract with the Panthers after his KHL season came to an end with Jokerit pulling out of the postseason this weekend. The former St. Louis Blues player hasn’t seen NHL action since 2016-17, and has spent the last four seasons playing overseas.

A big, mobile defenseman, Lindbohm just won gold at the Olympics with Finland and has been a strong contributor at both the Swiss and KHL levels over the last few years. He has just 40 games of NHL experience, but would provide Florida with another depth option as they trek toward the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Bennett MacArthur

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Stop if you’ve heard this one before: the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed an undrafted forward out of the QMJHL. Bennett MacArthur has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Lightning that will begin in the 2022-23 season. He’ll continue to play with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for the rest of this year. PuckPedia reports that the contract will carry an NHL cap hit of $859K.

MacArthur, 21, has put up huge numbers this season, scoring at nearly a goal-per-game pace. Twenty-five goals and 43 points in 26 games has earned him an NHL contract, and with a team that is famous for turning undrafted talent into legitimate contributors.

Yanni Gourde and Alex Barre-Boulet are recent examples of high-scoring QMJHL talent that went overlooked in the draft, but have made their way to the NHL in some capacity. MacArthur will try to follow those footsteps in an organization that has been the gold standard for development for the last several years.

The young forward attended development camp with the Arizona Coyotes last year and “learned a lot” about how to take care of his body and act like a professional. It appears to have paid off, as his outstanding season has landed him an NHL deal.

Henri Jokiharju Out Week-To-Week

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The Buffalo Sabres released an updated injury report today, one that still includes Drake Caggiula and Malcolm Subban listed simply as “out” as they deal with long-term issues. Will Butcher, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Jack Quinn are all now day-to-day, suggesting they’ll be back in the near future, while Henri Jokiharju has joined Colin Miller and Zemgus Girgensons in the week-to-week category.

Jokiharju is the big news, as the young defenseman left a game last week but had not yet received an official timeline. The 22-year-old has really taken a step forward this season into the legitimate top-four option that many had projected when he was selected 29th overall in 2017, a role that he will now have to vacate while he works on his recovery.

In 36 games, Jokiharju has 12 points and is averaging more than 21 minutes a game. Most of that–in fact almost all of it–has come beside Rasmus Dahlin, giving the first-overall pick a stable defensive partner to help even out his development after some up-and-down years.

Both Jokiharju and the Sabres don’t have to worry about an injury affecting contract negotiations this time around, as the young defenseman signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal in September.

Chicago Blackhawks Name Kyle Davidson GM

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made it official, removing the interim tag from Kyle Davidson and naming him the tenth general manager in team history. Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz released a statement on the hire:

We have a vision here for the future of Blackhawks hockey and today we are a step closer to that coming together. As an organization, we know we have a lot of work to do on and off the ice and Kyle is the leader we trust to oversee our hockey operations.

The thorough process we undertook affirmed much of what we believed we had in Kyle and he stepped up to lead and make tough decisions during his time in the interim role. He without a doubt met every qualification we were looking for, is passionate about the game and represents the high character across everything we do.

I’d like to thank Jaime and the members of our Advisory Committee for their help in this process. We had several strong candidates; I am confident Kyle is the right answer. I look forward to working with him for years to come and I am excited about what this means for the future of the club.

Davidson, 33, had served as interim GM since Stan Bowman left the organization last October following the investigation into sexual assault allegations against former video coach Brad Aldrich.

Though this appointment comes with huge expectations, not only for the on-ice product but also the off-ice structure, accountability, and public relations of the organization, it is also an incredible rise for an executive that started as an intern with the Blackhawks a little more than a decade ago.

Davidson joined Chicago as an intern in the summer following the 2010 Stanley Cup championship and was hired into the analytics department full-time in 2011. By 2018, he was named assistant general manager.

He now has the daunting task of turning around a once-proud franchise, that has suffered countless losses both on and off the ice over the last year. Transparency and accountability throughout the front office will have to come first, but the on-ice product will also need drastic changes if the Blackhawks want to become a Stanley Cup contender once again. After last summer’s blockbuster acquisitions of Seth Jones and Marc-Andre Fleury, the team has cratered and currently sits 19-27-8 on the season with one of the worst goal differentials in the league.

While the trade deadline will have to be dealt with in the coming weeks, the futures of players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are also hanging in the balance, with each set to become unrestricted free agents following the 2022-23 season.

AHL Shuffle: 03/01/22

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It’s a new month and a busy one for the NHL, which will hold the trade deadline in three weeks. Today is also the first day that teams can sign players from their reserve list or undrafted prospects to entry-level contracts that begin in 2022-23. That likely means several deals will be inked this week, but there are also games to play and minor league shuffling to focus on. As always, we’ll keep track of it right here.

Atlantic Division

  • With some Ottawa Senators dealing with the flu, the team has recalled Dillon Heatherington from the minor leagues. Heatherington, 26, has played in nine games for the Senators this season but is still looking for his first career goal. The big 6’4″ defenseman had 18 hits in those nine games, despite playing just a handful of minutes in each.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have assigned Jack Quinn to the Rochester Americans, despite listing him as day-to-day in this morning’s injury update. The young forward has played in just two games at the NHL level but has two points, both in his most recent appearance January 20.

Metropolitan Division

  • The New York Rangers have recalled forward Jonny Brodzinski from the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack, and have sent down defender Zac Jones in a corresponding move. Brodzinski recently signed a two-year extension with the Rangers and leads the Wolf Pack with 18 goals and 39 points this season. Jones, 21, is one of the Rangers’ top defensive prospects and returns to the AHL where he has 18 points in 27 games.

Central Division

  • The Nashville Predators have assigned Matt Tennyson to the Milwaukee Admirals, where he is having a nice season. In 40 games, the veteran defenseman has 14 points and is a perfect depth option to fill in whenever Nashville has injury issues.

Pacific Division

  • The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled Jake Leschyshyn from the minor leagues, as Mattias Janmark hits injured reserve. Leschyshyn has 24 points in 31 games for the Henderson Silver Knights this season and has played in 20 games for Vegas.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have activated Duncan Keith off injured reserve, while sending both Brendan Perlini–who cleared waivers today–and Philip Broberg to the AHL. Broberg, one of the team’s top prospects, has split the year between Edmonton and Bakersfield, logging a combined 43 games between the two levels.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

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