The Golden Knights have placed defenseman Nic Hague on IR, per the NHL’s media site. With the open roster spot, the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Jonas Rondbjerg has been recalled from AHL Henderson.
Rondbjerg is no stranger to the NHL-AHL shuttle in recent years as he has played in at least 13 games with Vegas in each of the last three seasons. In 2023-24, the 25-year-old got into 20 games with the Golden Knights, recording two goals and an assist while averaging 11:17 per night. Overall, he has three goals and seven helpers in 63 career appearances in Vegas.
While he hasn’t been a big point producer in the NHL, Rondbjerg has been much more effective offensively in the minors. Last season, he had nine goals and 16 assists in 48 appearances with the Silver Knights and is off to a decent start this year with two goals and two assists in his first seven games, helping to earn this recall.
As for Hague, the 25-year-old last played on Saturday and has been out with an undisclosed injury since then. He’s off to a quiet start to his season, notching just one goal in nine games along with 12 blocks and 13 hits while averaging just over 16 minutes a night, a number that skews a bit low due to missing time due to injury in two straight games. Assuming they back-dated the IR placement to Sunday, Hague will be available to return as soon as Monday against Seattle.
While Rondbjerg’s cap hit actually comes in slightly below the league minimum salary, his recall does push Vegas into using LTIR, meaning they’ll stop banking cap space for the time being. Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him at least papered back to the minors on Saturday to get them back under the $88MM Upper Limit again.