Sabres Notes: Kozak, Peterka, Norris, Bernard-Docker, Tullio
Friday morning’s practice brought a wave of roster moves, injury updates, and lineup implications for the Buffalo Sabres. Most notably, the team has recalled depth winger Tyson Kozak from the minor leagues. Kozak has been back and forth between the minor leagues since the start of December, with his most recent call-up coming to an end on January 31st. He’s recorded two points, 11 penalty minutes, and 10 shots on net in seven games since returning to the minors.
Kozak received the first NHL recall of his career on December 5th. He didn’t manage any notable stat changes in his NHL debut, but did score his first NHL goal in his second career game. Buffalo rewarded Kozak with one more game, but returned him to the minors immediately after. He stayed buried through the start of the new year, before being called back up on January 9th for another eight NHL appearances. Kozak didn’t pot any scoring in those games – giving him just one goal in 11 NHL games on the season – though he did see his ice time climb from 7:23 at its lowest to 16:06 at its highest over the extent of the call-up. Another recall will give Kozak a chance to continue carving out a role in the Sabres lineup, while hopefully padding his scoring stats along the way. He has eight goals and 14 points in 31 AHL games this season.
Buffalo should have plenty of room to insert Kozak into the lineup, after top forwards JJ Peterka and Joshua Norris both missed Friday’s practice, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Peterka missed Buffalo’s Wednesday matchup against the Detroit Red Wings due to a day-to-day, lower-body injury. He is expected to also miss Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, but will travel with the team on their four-game road trip next week. Peterka has been one of Buffalo’s hottest players over the recent stretch, with a team-leading 10 points in his last nine games. He’s up to a career-high 51 points in 61 games this season.
Norris’ injury remains undisclosed. Head coach Lindy Ruff told Lysowski that Norris has been dealing with the injury for a little bit, and that he’s currently being evaluated by the Sabres’ medical staff. Norris has appeared in three games with Buffalo since joining the team at March 7th’s Trade Deadline. He has two points, split evenly, and 10 penalty minutes in those appearances. News of an injury will force Sabres fans to hold their breath thanks to Norris’ extensive injury history. He hasn’t played more than 66 games in a single season since his pro career began in 2019-20. He’s been impaired by shoulder injuries in every season since 2022. Those injuries have limited Norris in multiple seasons, including holding him out of all but eight games of the 2022-23 campaign. With that in mind, there has been no indication that Norris’ current, undisclosed injury is connected to his previous shoulder troubles.
While Norris was unavailable on Friday, the skate did mark fellow trade acquisition Jacob Bernard-Docker‘s first practice with the Sabres. Bernard-Docker was held off the ice for the last week while he tried to secure a work visa that would make him eligible to move from a Canadian team to an American team. He’s spent the season as the extra defender for the Ottawa Senators. He tallied four points in 25 games in the role. This season marks Bernard-Docker’s first full pro season with, so far, no AHL appearances – after bouncing between the major and minor rosters over the last three years. He’s totaled 20 points in 129 NHL Games, and 15 points in 101 AHL games over the course of his short career. The Sabres will likely utilize Bernard-Docker in the same depth role, though he could carve out a roster spot after fellow right-handed defenseman Henri Jokiharju was traded to the Boston Bruins.
In the final move of a busy day in Buffalo, the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, also loaned middle-six winger Tyler Tullio to the Calgary Wranglers. Tullio – acquired in the trade that shipped Ryan McLeod to Buffalo and Matthew Savoie to Edmonton – hasn’t yet found his groove in the Americans lineup. He has just one goal, seven points, and 30 penalty minutes in 30 games played – far below the 21 points he scored in 54 games last year. With no sign of lineup progress in place, he’ll get a chance to carve out a role on a new minor-league squad. Tullio recorded 47 points in 117 games with the Bakersfield Condors over the last two seasons.
Penguins Assign Sebastian Aho And Matt Nieto To AHL
Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned defenseman Sebastian Aho and forward Matt Nieto to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.
Nieto has had a tumultuous second season with the Penguins, missing nearly half of the year with a knee injury. He returned to the lineup in mid-November and dressed in 31 NHL games, registering a goal and two assists with a -8 plus/minus rating. Nieto was then placed on waivers a few weeks ago and cleared before he was assigned to the AHL for the first time. The 32-year-old was recalled earlier this week, but didn’t see any game action and has not played an NHL game since February 23rd against the New York Rangers.
Nieto is in the final year of a two-year contract he signed on July 1st, 2023 and might not see any one-way NHL offers this summer given his injury concerns and lack of contributions at the NHL level.
Aho signed a two-year, one-way deal with the Penguins last summer but has not seen any NHL action this season. The 29-year-old spent the previous three seasons with the New York Islanders and was an NHL regular before this year. He was signed as depth but was unable to make the team out of training camp and has instead served as a veteran presence in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Aho has dressed in 17 AHL games this season and has posted seven assists. He may see some time in the NHL down the stretch as the Penguins are dealing with a few injuries to their defensive group.
Minor Transactions: 3/12/25
While the NHL trade deadline has come and gone, the AHL trade deadline doesn’t hit until Friday. We’ve seen a couple of recent moves on that front; we’ll go through those here as part of a rundown of minor transactions.
- Earlier this week, Pittsburgh’s farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton announced the trade of defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov to Grand Rapids for future considerations. The 26-year-old had his contract terminated by San Jose last offseason but he wasn’t able to secure a guaranteed deal right away. Instead, he played on a PTO in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for nearly three months before being converted to an AHL contract. Knyzhov has seven points in 14 games this season and has 81 career NHL appearances under his belt.
- The Red Wings have recalled goaltender Gage Alexander to their AHL affiliate, per an announcement from ECHL Reading. The 22-year-old hasn’t played in the AHL this season and was loaned to Reading, Philadelphia’s affiliate, in mid-January to get some playing time where he posted a 2.81 GAA and a .913 SV% in five games. Acquired to match contracts in the Robby Fabbri trade last year, Alexander is a pending restricted free agent but is unlikely to be tendered a qualifying offer this summer.
- Another former NHL player is on the move in the AHL, as San Diego announced that they’ve acquired Carsen Twarynski from Abbotsford in exchange for future considerations. The 27-year-old has played in 26 games in the minors this season, notching two goals and five assists. Twarynski has 22 career NHL appearances to his name back with Philadelphia in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
Eastern Conference Notes: Sandin-Pellikka, Penguins, Hallander, Merilainen
The Detroit Red Wings are the biggest winners in a busy day for the Eastern Conference, following news that top defense prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka could join the team after his SHL season ends from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now. Sandin-Pellikka is one of the top defense prospects across the NHL. He confidently leads U21 scoring in the SHL, Sweden’s top league, with 12 goals and 29 points in 46 games. Those totals also rank Sandin-Pellikka ninth among all SHL defensemen, regardless of age.
Sandin-Pellikka has been on a strict upward climb since Detroit drafted him 17th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft. He earned his first full pro season with Skelleftea AIK last year, and managed an impressive 12 goals and 25 points in 53 total games as the team blazed their way to their first SHL championship since 2014. It was clear that Sandin-Pellikka was feeling out his lineup footing during the title run, improving from a menial role at the start of the year to a daily role by the end of the season. That growth has only continued this year, with Sandin-Pellikka now serving in a consistent top-pair role and earning upwards of 24 minutes a night.
Sandin-Pellikka was also a superstar at this year’s World Juniors Championships. He recorded four goals and 10 points in seven games while serving as Team Sweden’s captain. Those totals tied him for first on Team Sweden, and second in the tournament outright, in points. Sandin-Pellikka’s Skelleftea seems headed for another playoff run this season. The Red Wings will be watching it closely, with word that their star prospect could be headed over as soon as his SHL season ends.
Other notes floating around the Eastern Conference:
- Pittsburgh Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas is playing his usual games of salary cap gymnastics. The team shuffled forward Matthew Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho were swapped between the NHL and AHL rosters overnight, per Seth Rorabaugh of Pittsburgh’s Tribune-Review Sports. The Penguins utilized an emergency recall on both players on Tuesday morning, but didn’t play either in their overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights. That fact forced Pittsburgh to return the pair to the minor leagues and utilize a standard recall to bring them back up. The Penguins have done just that, and will now have just two standard recalls remaining for the rest of the season. Nieto filled a depth role in the NHL at the start of the season, but was assigned to the minors after netting just three points in 31 games. Aho has been oft-injured this year, and returned from his latest absence earlier this month. He so far has seven assists in 17 AHL games this season.
- In other Penguins news, the team have also expressed interest in re-signing top SHL scorer Filip Haalander per Rorabaugh. Haalander ranks second in the SHL with 26 goals and 53 points in 51 games this season. He returned to the SHL last season, after two quiet years in the Penguins organization. Haalander totaled 61 points in 104 AHL games, and no points in three NHL games, before stepping away from North American pros. He scored 36 points in 51 games in his return to Sweden last season, and is now close to lapping those totals this year. Should he feel that hot scoring has given him the momentum he needed, it seems Haalander will have an open door to the club that originally drafted him in the second-round of the 2018 draft.
- Continuing to march around the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators have returned third-string goaltender Leevi Merilainen to the minor leagues after recalling him on Tuesday. He served as the team’s backup goaltender in Tuesday night’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers, while star Linus Ullmark received a rest night. With Ullmark back up to speed, Merilainen will return to the minor leagues – where he’s posted a dazzling 12-7-3 record and .910 save percentage in 25 appearances. He’s been just as sharp in the NHL, with an 8-3-1 record and .925 save percentage in 12 games this season – while filling in for an injured Ullmark. Senators backup Anton Forsberg saved 20 out of 22 shots on Tuesday – enough to secure the win and maintain his spot above Merilainen on the depth chart, though that distance could soon be closing.
Penguins Recall Matthew Nieto And Sebastian Aho
The Pittbsurgh Penguins have recalled forward Matthew Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho to the NHL roster. The pair bring over 800 games of collective NHL experience, with the lion’s share owned by the 32-year-old Nieto, who’s played in 704 career games.
This season has marked Nieto’s first time appearing in the minor leagues in over a decade. He successfully cleared waivers on February 27th, after posting just three points in 31 games in the season’s first half. Nieto didn’t make his season debut until mid-November, after undergoing two surgeries to address a knee injury that occurred nearly a year prior. The injury capped Nieto’s 2022-23 season at just four points in 22 appearances. He’s struggled to get his legs back under him ever since, and fell from Pittsburgh’s fourth-line, to the press box, and ultimately to the minor leagues over the course of this season.
The AHL assignment hasn’t sparked Nieto like some may have hoped. He has three points, two penalty minutes, and a plus-one through eight games – continuing his trend of menial scoring. Nieto hasn’t scored double-digit points since the 2022-23 season, when he potted 24 points in 81 games split between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. That total nearly rivaled his career-high of 26 points set in 74 games of the 2017-18 season. Nieto has been a career fourth-liner, amounting an 11-year career through two separate tenures with both the Sharks and Avalanche, before landing in Pittsburgh in 2023. He’s totaled 206 points in 704 career games, and seven points in 53 games with the Penguins.
Aho hasn’t proved too much more productive than his forward counterpart. He signed a two-year, $1.6MM contract with Pittsburgh this summer but has had terrible luck in seeing it through. Aho has suffered three separate injuries, ultimately holding him to just 17 AHL games and seven assists on the season. His latest injury forced Aho out of 22 games between January 4th and March 4th. He’s recorded one assist, two penalty minutes, a minus-one, and nine shots on net in three games since returning. With his sea legs back under him, Pittsburgh has opted to recall Aho for the first time this season.
The pair of Nieto and Aho will most likely serve as nothing more than depth options for Pittsburgh’s Tuesday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. They’ll operate behind Trade Deadline acquisitions Thomas Novak and Conor Timmins – and could be the first to step in should the new faces face any challenges with stepping into Pittsburgh’s lineup.
Kraken Recall Jani Nyman
The Seattle Kraken have recalled top forward prospect Jani Nyman to the NHL. This marks the first call-up of Nyman’s young pro career. He currently leads the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds in scoring with 26 goals and 41 points in 55 games. Nyman also leads all AHL rookies in goals.
Nyman is playing through his first full year in North American pros after stopping by the AHL for a five-game trial at the end of last season. He’s taken quickly to the AHL and is currently on pace for 34 goals in 71 games this season. That total would make Nyman just the sixth U21 AHL skater to net 34 or more goals since 2000-01, and would mark the most a minor-leaguer has scored since Nigel Dawes managed 35 goals in 2005-06.
Seattle originally drafted Nyman in the second-round of the 2022 NHL Draft, after trading defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to the Nashville Predators to acquire the pick. Nyman followed his draft selection with a return to the Liiga’s Ilves. He managed 10 goals and 14 points in 29 games of what was his first year in Finland’s top level. With his feet under him, Nyman was able to lap those totals last year – netting 26 goals and 43 points in 48 games before moving to North America.
It’s not often that players score more goals than they do assists, and Nyman is one of the rare cases of a player making it habitual. He’s a stocky and controlled forward with a stellar shot and strong drive towards the low-slot. Those attributes helped Nyman earn an AHL All-Star Game bid in his rookie season, and could now help him step into his NHL debut. Kraken general manager Ron Francis hinted at wanting to give Nyman NHL reps before the season ended during a post-deadline media availability – and now seems to be following through with the proper roster moves. That could pose the challenge of a lineup shakeup for head coach Dan Bylsma, but the upside of adding a goal-scorer of Nyman’s level would be hard to ignore for a Kraken lineup currently well outside of the playoff race.
Sharks’ Henry Thrun, Jan Rutta Out With Injury Long-Term
The San Jose Sharks are dealing with a pair of injured defenders who could be done for the year per Max Miller of The Hockey News. Head coach Ryan Warsofsky told Miller that veteran Jan Rutta is still weeks away from returning, and hasn’t yet returned to the team’s practices. Warsofsky was a bit less decisive on Henry Thrun, who he dubbed as being just beyond week-to-week. Miller adds that Rutta is at risk of missing the remaining five weeks of the season, while Thrun will continue to fight for a return.
Rutta hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury in San Jose’s January 23rd loss to the Nashville Predators. He’s missed 14 games since – a number that would double should Rutta miss the rest of the year. His season would end on a bad note if he does, with Rutta boasting just eight points, 28 penalty minutes, and a minus-six in 51 games. That, surprisingly, marks the lowest scoring pace of Rutta’s historically uneventful career – narrowly beating out his nine points in 56 games of the 2022-23 season. Rutta split the time between that down year and this one with a small resurgence last season. He recorded 19 points, 38 penalty minutes, and a minus-21 in 69 games of the 2023-24 campaign – the most he’s scored since he managed 20 points in 57 games as an NHL rookie.
Rutta filled a menial bottom-pair role throughout the season. San Jose has turned back to career-long Shark Marc-Édouard Vlasic to fill in Rutta’s role. Vlasic has played in nine games in relief, posting no scoring, a minus-eight, and two shots on net. He’s averaged 16 minutes of ice time each night across that stand.
But the Sharks haven’t wanted to tap into their defense depth behind Vlasic, leaving Thrun’s vacancy in the top-four a bit tougher to fill. He has worked his way into more-and-more ice time this season, ultimately rivaling upwards of 24 minutes of ice time in one of his most recent games. Thrun’s new absence comes after he reaggravated the upper-body injury that held him out for a week-and-a-half in early March. He’ll be set to miss even more time, after already missing five games due to the injury.
San Jose has recalled career minor-leaguer Jimmy Schuldt to step into the lineup with Thrun out. Schuldt has scored 18 points in 54 AHL games this season. He’s in his first season in the Sharks organization after spending the last two years with the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Schuldt tallied 56 points in 139 games with the Firebirds. He’s tagged into two NHL games over the course of his seven-year pro career – one just days after signing his first pro deal with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018-19, and one earlier this season with San Jose. He has one assist in the pair of outings. The Sharks could need an extended fill-in for Thrun, which could pave the way for Schuldt to find his first NHL goal.
Snapshots: Hintz, Lavoie, Canucks, Husso
Stars forward Roope Hintz has returned to Dallas to be further evaluated after sustaining an upper-body injury on Saturday against Edmonton, notes Robert Tiffin of D Magazine (Twitter link). Head coach Peter DeBoer stated that the early indications are that the injury isn’t a long-term one while it appears as if a fracture has been ruled out as well. Hintz had been on quite the hot streak recently; going into yesterday’s game, he had 17 points in his last eight appearances and was anchoring the top line. While it appears the worst-case scenarios are going to be avoided, they’ll be without him tonight against Vancouver and likely a little longer than that.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Golden Knights have placed winger Raphael Lavoie on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, relays Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). After an adventurous stint on the waiver wire to start the year, the 24-year-old has played primarily with AHL Henderson, tallying 21 points in 32 games. Lavoie has made nine appearances with Vegas on a pair of recalls but has been held off the scoresheet while logging just over 10 minutes a game. Lavoie’s placement will keep him out of the lineup until at least Thursday.
- The Canucks have reversed their goalie move from yesterday, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Arturs Silovs from AHL Abbotsford while sending Nikita Tolopilo to Abbotsford. The move allowed Silovs to start yesterday against San Jose where he allowed four goals on 28 shots. Silovs has a 3.85 GAA with a .858 SV% in nine outings with Vancouver and is set to be the primary backup with Thatcher Demko back on injured reserve. But to keep him fresh, the Canucks could send him down periodically to get a spot start in with Abbotsford.
- A day after sending him back to the minors, Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego announced that the Ducks have once again recalled goaltender Ville Husso to the big club. He was acquired for future considerations last month to add some goalie depth and has a 2.84 GAA along with a .908 SV% in 17 AHL contests this season while compiling a 3.69 GAA and a .866 SV% in nine NHL contests. Husso is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Oilers Showed Interest In Mikko Rantanen, Ryan Donato, Rickard Rakell
It was a quiet but impactful Trade Deadline for the Edmonton Oilers. They brought in top-four defenseman Jake Walman and bottom-six bruiser Trent Frederic to bolster an offense that already ranked eighth in total goals this season. But as the dust begins to settle, it seems Edmonton came close to a far more exciting deadline season, and even had a chance at Carolina Hurricanes asset Mikko Rantanen. Edmonton was reportedly close to agreeing on extension terms with Rantanen, but ultimately couldn’t build a trade package that enticed Carolina enough to land the deal, shares TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. In the end, Rantanen was moved to the Dallas Stars in exchange for top young forward Logan Stankoven, two first-round draft picks, and two third-round picks.
It’s hard to imagine Edmonton could put together an offer better than that. Edmonton only has one pick – a 2026 second – in the top-two rounds of 2025 and 2026. They also don’t have nearly the young talent that Dallas had to offer. Vasily Podkolzin is almost certainly their closest comparable – one year older and as NHL engrained as Stankoven – and he’d be hard to move after a nice stylistic fit in Edmonton has led him to 21 points in 61 games this year. The Oilers could have offered top prospect Matthew Savoie, who ranks third on the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in scoring with 40 points in 47 games. But neither asset quite stands up to Stankoven’s pedigree, and it’s likely their lacking draft capital was the ultimate dividing line.
Rishaug adds that Edmonton also tested the waters on acquiring top winger Rickard Rakell from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and red-hot centerman Ryan Donato from the Chicago Blackhawks. Rakell has been a standout, top-line option for the Penguins this season – boasting 29 goals and 53 points in 64 games this season. That scoring – and his standing as one of a few bright spots in Pittsburgh’s season – certainly hiked up his price at the deadline. Especially in the midst of an inflated market, it’s again hard to imagine Edmonton’s empty draft cabinet could have pried Rakell away. Donato would have likely cost much less – though he is having a career year with 23 goals and 48 points in 62 games – but his center role would have buried him down Edmonton’s lineup. In the end, they landed their third-line boost in a deal with the Bruins – and get the boost of adding a hard-nosed enforcer to protect superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the postseason.
For as quiet as it ended up, it seems Oilers general manager Stan Bowman made sure to busy up his deadline. The Oilers have six players headed for unrestricted free agency, and two headed for restricted free agency, which should clear up roughly $14.71MM in cap space this summer per PuckPedia. That could be just enough space to get Bowman back on the phones as the NHL Draft and start of free agency role around. The Oilers added plenty of new faces last summer, signing each of Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and Corey Perry to short-term deals.
Blackhawks’ Artyom Levshunov Recalled, Expected To Make NHL Debut
The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled top prospect Artyom Levshunov to the NHL roster. This marks the second call-up of the 2024 second-overall pick’s young career. He is expected to immediately step into the Hawks lineup, per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Levshunov’s last call-up came on February 3rd, in the days leading up to Chicago’s two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off. He stuck around the NHL roster for two days worth of practices, but was returned to the minor leagues before he had a chance to break into the Blackhawks lineup. Levshunov has nine points in 12 AHL games since being reassigned – a major uptick on his 13 points in 38 games prior. With 22 points in 50 games across the full season, Levshunov ranks ninth among AHL rookie defensemen in scoring.
The Blackhawks controversially opted for Levshunov’s stout defense over the dynamic scoring of winger Ivan Demidov and the physical presence of center Cayden Lindstrom with their top pick in last year’s draft. The decision came after Levshunov fought his way into the role of number-one defenseman for the Big Ten’s Michigan State University, after transferring from the USHL to college hockey late into the 2023 summer. The quick move was just one year after Levshunov moved from Belarus’ juniors league to the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. He adjusted quickly to both junior hockey and collegiate hockey – and now seems to be bringing along his scoring at a pro level too.
Chicago will get a chance to bank on Levshunov’s hot streak with this recall. The Blackhawks have a glaring hole on right-defense after trading star defender Seth Jones ahead of the Trade Deadline. Jones’ minutes have been filled by Louis Crevier and Connor Murphy in the immediate wake of the deal, but have allowed an average of 37 shots-against in their four games since the Jones trade. That’s a ton of pressure for new acquisition Spencer Knight in net, and while he’s handled it well – finding a way to stop up the barrage of shots will be a top priority for Chicago’s remaining season. The stout two-way play of Levshunov could be exactly what Chicago needs, and gives the Blackhawks an even better chance to lean into their future amidst a punted season.