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Canucks Activate And Assign Jonathan Lekkerimaki To AHL

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The Canucks have been injury-riddled this season, to put things lightly, as they’ve had at times more than six players on injured reserve.  That number is coming down by one as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki has been activated.  However, instead of returning to Vancouver’s roster right away, he has been sent down to AHL Abbotsford.

The 21-year-old has been limited to just four games due to an upper-body injury sustained more than three weeks ago.  He was cleared to practice without contact last week and clearly, he has received the full green light with this assignment.

Lekkerimaki had just one point – a goal – over his first four outings to start the season after putting up three goals and three assists in 24 games with Vancouver in 2024-25 in his first taste of NHL action.  He was quite productive in Abbotsford last season, however, notching 19 goals and nine assists in 36 games.

Considering the extent of Vancouver’s injuries up front (Teddy Blueger, Filip Chytil, and Nils Hoglander), it seems unlikely that Lekkerimaki’s stint in the minors will be a long one but rather more of a short-term conditioning stint.  He only needs to play once before being eligible to be recalled and with Abbotsford in action later tonight, it’s plausible that Lekkerimaki is brought back up in time for Vancouver’s next game on Friday against Carolina.

At the moment, the Canucks still have a full 23-player roster so whenever they do decide to bring Lekkerimaki up, they will need to make a corresponding roster move to open up a spot first.  At first glance, moving goalie Thatcher Demko to injured reserve would be the easiest approach after it was revealed today that he’ll miss two to three weeks with a suspected groin injury.

Senators Notes: Chabot, Formenton, Guenette

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After sustaining an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s game against Dallas, it appears that Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot will miss at least one more contest.  Sportsnet’s Alex Adams relays (Twitter link) that it’s unlikely that the veteran will suit up on Thursday against Boston; head coach Travis Green indicated that Chabot is still being evaluated and the severity of the injury is not yet known.  While his playing time is down a bit this season, the 28-year-old has still played a big role on Ottawa’s back end in the early going, picking up 10 points in 17 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night of action.  Assuming that Chabot is ultimately scratched, Nicolas Matinpalo will likely take his place in the lineup.

More from Ottawa:

  • The Senators have received inquiries about RFA winger Alex Formenton but interest has been limited thus far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 26-year-old last played in the NHL in 2021-22 and is currently in his third season with Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland where he has three goals and two assists in 13 games.  Formenton will be eligible to return to the NHL as of December 1st following the expiration of his suspension which is also the same day that he will have to be signed to be eligible to play this season as he’s an RFA unlike the other players involved in the sexual assault trial that concluded back in July.  It’s possible that the Sens could renounce his rights before then to make him eligible to sign later in the season but they would require special permission from the league to do so.
  • Also from Garrioch’s piece, GM Steve Staios is hoping that there will be a resolution soon when it comes to RFA defenseman Max Guenette. The 24-year-old declined Ottawa’s efforts to re-sign him this summer, instead asking for a trade after Lassi Thomson was brought back.  However, no trade has materialized yet, meaning the December 1st deadline also applies to Guenette.  Garrioch suggests that the Senators are hoping for a draft pick in return but teams are also asking for Ottawa to take a contract back.  Even though the Sens have seven open contract slots per PuckPedia, that doesn’t appear to be something they’re willing to do at the moment.

Flyers Activate Tyson Foerster From Injured Reserve

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6:00 PM: The team announced that Foerster has officially been activated off IR.  As expected, Grundström has been sent to AHL Lehigh Valley in the corresponding move.

11:46 AM: The Flyers have listed winger Tyson Foerster as a game-time decision for tonight’s matchup with the Oilers, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters (including Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports). Tocchet said it’s likelier than not that he plays, which means he’ll need to come off injured reserve. Philadelphia does not have an open spot on the active roster but would likely reassign winger Carl Grundström, who was recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley last week and is projected to be a scratch tonight, back to the minors to make one.

Foerster has missed the Flyers’ last four contests with a lower-body injury. He landed on IR on Nov. 3 to make a place for defenseman Emil Andrae on the roster. Before the injury, the 23-year-old was off to a strong start. Through 11 appearances, he had four goals and three assists for seven points, along with a +5 rating. He was averaging a career-high 18:18 of ice time per game and was on pace for a career-high 52 points if he’d played a full 82 games.

The 6’2″ righty spent most of last season on the left side of Philly’s third line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink at even strength, and that didn’t change despite some new personnel in the top nine and a new coach this year. Through 117 minutes together at 5-on-5, that trio has outscored opponents 3-2 while controlling 54.7% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. They’re just one defensive conscience of an overall responsible Flyers forward group that’s contributed to the club allowing just 2.19 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, the second-best figure in the league behind the Rangers’ 2.12.

Foerster’s expanded ice time has come as a result of frequent special teams usage. He averages the second-most power play ice time on the team and is fourth among forwards in shorthanded usage. All told, he routinely plays around five-and-a-half minutes per game with either a man advantage or disadvantage.

That makes the 2020 first-rounder one of the Flyers’ most versatile forwards, and one they’d love to get back in the lineup against the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl-led Oilers. Philly went 2-1-1 without Foerster in the lineup, riding their overall strong defensive play to an 8-5-2 record and wild-card playoff positioning nearing the midway point of November.

Blackhawks Recall Landon Slaggert, Jason Dickinson Remains Out

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The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled forward Landon Slaggert just over one week after his latest assignment. He will help the Blackhawks address injuries to centerman Jason Dickinson and winger Andre Burakovsky. Dickinson will miss Wednesday night’s game versus the New Jersey Devils, while Burakovsky is a gametime decision with an undisclosed injury, per NHL.com’s Tracey Myers.

The Blackhawks sent Dickinson home early from their recent six-game road-trip after placing him on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The 30-year-old has not played since leaving Chicago’s October 30th loss to the Winnipeg Jets after just eight minutes of ice time. He returned to Chicago’s practice donning a no-contact jersey on Wednesday morning.

Burakovsky played through Chicago’s road-trip, including scoring two points in Sunday’s win over the Detroit Red Wings. That scoring boosted Burakovsky up to seven points in five games through the month of November. He’s earned a fringe top-line role with that momentum, including playing over 21 minutes of ice time last Monday. He is averaging a career-high 17:28 in ice time, to go along with seven goals and 14 points, in 15 games this season.

The absence of Dickinson and Burakovsky would handicap Chicago on both sides of the puck. Slaggert would face an uphill battle in matching either of their impacts, after posting no scoring and a minus-two through five NHL games this season. He has also scored one point in three AHL games. The youngster showed a good amount of drive and physical play through 33 games last season. Even then, he sits with a mere 10 points through 54 career appearances in the NHL. He should step onto Chicago’s fourth-line, while rookie Ryan Greene earns a boost in place of Dickinson. Should Burakovsky also sit out, the Blackhawks would likely run 11 forwards and seven defensemen – bringing in defender Louis Crevier and tasking rookie winger Oliver Moore with a heftier role.

Golden Knights Recall Braeden Bowman

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The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled right-winger Braeden Bowman from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. This is the first call-up of Bowman’s professional career. He earns it after a hot start to Henderson’s season. Bowman leads the club with seven goals, and is tied for the scoring lead with 12 points, through 12 games so far.

His first call-up to the NHL is a major milestone for the undrafted Bowman. He earned a minor-league contract with Henderson out of Vegas’ training camp in 2024, after four years with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Bowman scored 14 goals and 36 points in 68 games of his rookie AHL season, enough to work his way onto the Silver Knights’ second-line. Vegas bumped Bowman’s minor-league deal up to a two-year, entry-level contract in March, making him eligible for an NHL call-up.

Bowman’s rookie-year growth gave him plenty of runway headed into this season’s training camp. He was a standout once again – flashing a sharp finishing ability, pro-level physicality, and quick hands. Those attributes continued to headline Bowman’s game through the first month of the season, and will now be recognized by Vegas with one more home game before a two-game road-trip.

Bowman could step into the lineup in place of center William Karlsson, who remained absent from practice on Wednesday, per Danny Webster of the Vegas Review Journal. Karlsson sustained a lower-body injury in Saturday’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks and has been designated as out day-to-day. Should that injury stick around, Bowman could earn his NHL debut in Thursday’s match versus the New York Islanders. He’d likely step onto the fourth-line, while Keegan Kolesar and Brandon Saad move up to fill Karlsson’s absence. Vegas could also deploy Alexander Holtz over Bowman. Holtz has no scoring through seven games this season.

Capitals Name Patrick Wellar Assistant Coach

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Nov. 12: Wellar has had his interim tag removed, per Johnson. He replaces Love, who was fired following a one-year suspension by the league in reference to allegations of domestic abuse.

Sep. 27: The Capitals have promoted Patrick Wellar to their NHL coaching staff on an interim basis, Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post reports. It will be his first NHL role after spending the past several years working as an assistant for Washington’s AHL affiliate in Hershey.

Wellar will ensure the Capitals maintain a four-person bench staff to begin the campaign. Assistant Mitch Love, who primarily works with the team’s defensemen, was placed on leave two weeks ago pending the results of a league investigation into an off-ice incident involving his personal conduct that predated his time with the organization.

The 41-year-old Wellar will now do the same, Johnson said. While going out of one’s way to name an interim head coach during a short-term absence isn’t uncommon, uprooting an assistant from an AHL affiliate is an indication that the club doesn’t expect Love to return anytime soon.

Wellar is entering his eighth year in the organization, all of which have been spent in his everyday assistant role with Hershey. In doing so, he’s been a part of one of the best-run development ladders in the league regarding team success. The Bears won back-to-back Calder Cups in 2023 and 2024 and haven’t finished the regular season with a sub-.500 record during his tenure.

The Saskatchewan native also spent six years of his playing career in the Caps organization with AHL Hershey and ECHL South Carolina from 2008-14. He won a Calder Cup while on Hershey’s blue line in 2010, appearing in all 21 postseason games alongside future NHL fixtures John Carlson, Jay Beagle, Karl Alzner, and Mathieu Perreault.

According to Johnson, the Caps have also named a replacement for the replacement. Veteran coach Brent Thompson – the father of Sabres star Tage Thompson – will step in to cover Wellar’s responsibilities with Hershey. The 54-year-old is a former ECHL Coach of the Year and spent 10 years as the bench boss for AHL Bridgeport in the Islanders organization in two separate stints between 2011 and 2023. He spent the past two seasons as an assistant under Greg Cronin in Anaheim but was not retained by the Ducks for the 2025-26 season.

Avalanche Reassign Jack Ahcan

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The Avalanche announced overnight that they’ve reassigned defenseman Jack Ahcan to AHL Colorado. With Colorado back in action tomorrow against the Sabres and the Eagles not in action until Friday, the demotion is a sign that Samuel Girard could be ready to come off injured reserve to give Colorado seven healthy defensemen on the active roster.

Ahcan has been ferried between leagues a few times this year after clearing waivers at the end of the preseason. He was last recalled on Nov. 3 and has played in four straight games for the Avs since. His role has been limited to six total appearances this season, averaging 11:21 of ice time per game, but he has given them good results in sheltered deployment. The 28-year-old lefty has an assist, his first NHL point since March 2022, and has a +4 rating stemming from his performance in the Avs’ 9-1 drubbing of the Oilers last weekend.

In fact, Ahcan’s possession impacts in bottom-pairing duties with Sam Malinski have been pristine. The duo is crushing their minutes against easier competition, controlling 64.5% of shot attempts and 69.2% of expected goals at 5-on-5. That’s presumably why Ahcan has found his way into the lineup with increasing frequency as he jockeys for position on the depth chart with October waiver claim Ilya Solovyov, who’s now been scratched in four straight and will continue to find himself out of the lineup tomorrow if Girard is indeed cleared to play.

Solovyov would require waivers if the Avs were to send him down as the odd man out, though. Since Ahcan has played less than 10 games and has been rostered for fewer than 30 days, he doesn’t need them to return to the AHL today. The 5’8″ rearguard has also been a driving force in the minors, scoring a goal and six assists for a point per game through seven appearances with a +6 rating.

Girard hasn’t played since the second game of the season, so Ahcan and Solovyov have had extended opportunities to get a legitimate taste of NHL minutes. The upper-body injury he sustained that had him out week-to-week ended up costing him 15 games. Veteran Brent Burns has stepped into a top-four role alongside Josh Manson in Girard’s absence, holding the fort with eight points and a +3 rating while averaging north of 20 minutes per game for the 12th straight year.

Thatcher Demko Out Two To Three Weeks With Apparent Groin Issue

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Canucks starting netminder Thatcher Demko will miss two to three weeks with the apparent groin injury he sustained in last night’s loss to the Jets, Frank Seravalli of Victory Plus reports. It’s a new issue that’s entirely unrelated to the knee issues he’s had over the past couple of years and also irrelevant to why he didn’t dress for a pair of games earlier this month, Seravalli adds.

After his lingering knee issues and a few other ailments limited Demko to 23 appearances last season, he’s back to looking like a legitimate starting netminder in 2025-26. He started hot, compiling a .911 SV% and 5-4-0 record in his first nine games, until he allowed three goals on eight shots last night before leaving the game after the first period. That showing brought his year-to-date save percentage down to .903, along with a 2.80 GAA. Those numbers are still far superior to what No. 2 option Kevin Lankinen has put on offer (.885 SV%, 3.57 GAA, 3-5-1 record) and remain good for 6.3 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, 10th in the league.

Demko sustained what looks to be a relatively minor groin strain when he stretched across his crease to make a save on Jets forward Cole Perfetti (video via Canucks Army). He played out the first period and took a skate as players warmed up for the second, but ended up ceding the net to Lankinen, who saved 20 of 21 shots in relief but took the loss.

Demko has only played two of Vancouver’s last five games, including his abbreviated performance last night, thanks to his pair of missed games over the weekend due to maintenance/load management. That stretch has coincided with the Canucks now allowing at least three goals in six straight games. The Canucks have been porous defensively this season. Even with his .885 SV%, Lankinen is still credited with 1.4 goals saved above expected. Vancouver is allowing 30.2 shots against per game, which ranks 26th in the league. Their xGA/60 of 3.77 in all situations is the second-worst in the league, according to MoneyPuck.

Without Demko propping them up for the next few weeks, the Canucks could be in for a slide. They’re already behind the eight ball with an 8-9-1 record, undoubtedly influenced by an injured list that now contains eight players, including Demko. Their -10 goal differential is 29th in the league, and they face a pair of top-five offenses (the Ducks and Hurricanes) in their next six games.

The Canucks were already rostering Jiri Patera as a third goalie after recalling him to back up Lankinen over the weekend, so there won’t be a corresponding transaction, and an IR placement for Demko isn’t necessary at this time.

Lightning Recall Boris Katchouk, Scott Sabourin

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The Lightning announced they’ve recalled wingers Boris Katchouk and Scott Sabourin from AHL Syracuse. They’re the corresponding transactions for yesterday’s injured reserve placements of Dominic James and Ryan McDonagh, bringing their active roster count back to 23.

At least one of them will draw into the lineup tonight against the Rangers. Tampa Bay’s list of injuries entering the matchup is lengthy. Not only are they without James and McDonagh, but Victor Hedman and Pontus Holmberg both sustained undisclosed injuries against the Capitals on Saturday and remain day-to-day.

The recall marks Katchouk’s first stint on an NHL roster since the 2023-24 season. The 27-year-old was a second-round pick by the Lightning in 2017 and began his second stint with the organization by signing a two-way deal over the summer. He did not have an NHL contract last season. After being released from a professional tryout with the Ducks, Katchouk landed with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a minor-league deal. The 6’2″ grinder racked up 21 goals and 49 points in 67 appearances in his first extended taste of AHL hockey since the 2020-21 season in his first go-around with Tampa. Katchouk is off to a good start this season in his familiar stomping grounds in Syracuse, rattling off four goals and five assists for nine points through 12 games.

Between his extended minor-league stints, Katchouk was a regular NHLer between 2021-22 and 2023-24. He broke into the league with Tampa but was traded to the Blackhawks during his rookie season in the Brandon Hagel deal. Katchouk remained in Chicago until being claimed off waivers by the Senators, who didn’t issue him a qualifying offer, late in 2023-24. In 176 appearances, Katchouk had a 15-21–36 scoring line with a -23 rating while averaging 11:09 per game, controlling 47.6% of shot attempts at even strength.

Sabourin’s recall is his fourth of the young season, although he hasn’t yet played for the Bolts. The club has brought him up when roster space allows so that he can serve a four-game suspension he was issued for roughing Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad in a preseason game. With that suspension now satisfied, he is eligible to play tonight. The 33-year-old enforcer has notched three goals and five points with 13 penalty minutes in 11 games for Syracuse thus far. It’s his first year in the Lightning organization after signing a two-way deal over the summer.

Katchouk can remain on the roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games until he needs waivers to return to Syracuse. Since Sabourin has already been on the active roster for four days, his waiver-exempt clock is down to 26.

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