Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

AHL

Blue Jackets Recall Brendan Gaunce On Emergency Loan

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

11:00 AM: Kirill Marchenko is under the weather, and may not be ready for the team’s Tuesday matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, per Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispact (Twitter Link). Gaunce will fill-in for Marchenko if he can’t go, while Meyer fills in for Danforth.

10:00 AM: The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled forward Brendan Gaunce from the AHL under emergency conditions. This move comes after Columbus played without Justin Danforth on Saturday, losing the forward to what was initially believed to be an illness but has now been revealed as a concussion.

Gaunce will provide additional depth to a Blue Jackets club marred by injuries, with promising youngsters Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson both missing extended time, while top winger Patrik Laine is away from the team for personal reasons. Gaunce is in his third season with the Columbus organization and has already appeared in eight NHL games this season, recording one goal and three points. Much of his remaining year has come with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, where he ranks second in scoring with 19 goals and 39 points in 46 games. Gaunce is once again serving as a routine injury fill-in – sticking to the role he carved out early in his career. The former first-round pick has totaled just 161 NHL games since making his debut in the 2015-16 season, scoring 27 points. He’s also managed 343 career AHL games, netting 233 points.

Gaunce will join Carson Meyer in the Blue Jackets’ extras room. Meyer was recalled on Sunday and is expected to fill in for Danforth on Tuesday. He has served in a largely similar role to Gaunce, serving as a de facto call-up for Columbus over the last three seasons – although Meyer has yet to play in the NHL this year, instead totaling 22 goals and 37 points in 55 AHL games. He appeared in 14 NHL games last year, netting just one assist and bringing his career totals up to 27 NHL games and four points. The 26-year-old made his debut with the Cleveland Monsters in 2020-21, after four seasons in the NCAA. He and Gaunce will likely rotate in with each other, as Columbus looks to address their long list of missing forwards.

Devils Acquire Nathan Légaré From Canadiens

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Devils swapped out minor-league forwards on Monday, acquiring Nathan Légaré from the Canadiens in exchange for Arnaud Durandeau. In the one-for-one deal, Legare will report to AHL Utica, and Durandeau will report to AHL Laval.

This is the second time both wingers have been traded in the last year. Légaré, a 2019 third-round pick of the Penguins, was sent to Montreal to balance out contracts in last summer’s three-team swap revolving around Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. Durandeau, a 2017 sixth-round pick of the Islanders, was acquired by New Jersey in November for minor-league forward Tyce Thompson.

Neither player lived up to expectations with their previous organization. Légaré, 23, carries intrigue as a 6-foot, 205-lb power winger who scored over a point per game in three straight QMJHL seasons with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Val-d’Or Foreurs between 2019 and 2021. He hasn’t been able to elevate himself out of a bottom-six role in the minors, however, and is having the worst offensive season of his AHL tenure with six goals and nine points in 39 games with Laval, along with a -10 rating.

Durandeau is older at 25 but has shown much more offensive promise at the professional level. The Montreal native broke out for 24 goals and 55 points in 68 games with AHL Bridgeport last season but got off to a rough start in 2023-24, scoring once through his first 12 games. Things improved in Utica, but not by much, scoring three goals and 14 points in 26 games. He’ll look to give himself a fresh start closer to his hometown.

Since this trade was executed past the March 8 deadline, neither player is eligible to suit up for their new NHL club down the stretch. However, they’ll both be able to play for their new farm teams down the stretch and participate in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Both players are pending RFAs and will remain under team control if they receive qualifying offers. Légaré is nearing completion of his three-year, entry-level contract and currently earns $70K in the minors, while Durandeau is completing a two-year, two-way deal that pays him a minors salary of $100K with a $125K guarantee. As such, the Devils save a minor amount of actual cash in this transaction.

Devils Recall Nolan Foote From Conditioning Stint

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Left winger Nolan Foote led the New Jersey Devils onto the practice sheet today as he was officially recalled from his AHL conditioning stint. Foote has been working his way back from a preseason upper-body injury that held him out until February 26th, when he was assigned to the Utica Comets. Foote has appeared in four games with Utica, scoring three goals and four points. He’ll now have a chance to establish himself in the NHL, back with the Devils for the first time since late March of last season.

Foote is still new to his professional career, making his AHL debut in the 2020-21 season. He’s since spent the majority of his time in the minors, including 55 games in each of the last two seasons, though he’s received six or seven NHL games every year. In total, he’s managed 86 points across 134 career AHL games, on top of five goals and seven points in 19 NHL games.

Foote’s return comes at an apt time, coming right after the team traded top-scoring winger Tyler Toffoli to the Winnipeg Jets. That’s left a hole in the lineup that’s currently being filled by utility player Kurtis MacDermid, who has just two goals in 33 games this season. Foote should be able to compete for that role, though he’ll need to take advantage of his opportunity, with the Devils on the tail ends of the playoff race.

Rangers Sign Louis Domingue To One-Year Extension

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers have signed veteran goaltender Louis Domingue to a one-year, one-way extension. The deal will carry a league-minimum $775K salary, per Renauld Lavoie of TVA Sports. This will continue Domingue’s tenure with the Rangers, after the netminder signed a two-year, $1.5MM deal with the club in the summer of 2022.

Domingue didn’t play in the NHL at all last season – marking the first time since the 2013-14 season that he was absent from the league. His debut with the Rangers didn’t come until November 9th of this season, when he saved 25 of 26 shots en route to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. Domingue has otherwise spent all season in the minor leagues, where he’s managed 13 wins and a .910 save percentage in 24 games. He’s continued to perform well after posting 22 wins and a .911 in 45 games last year – serving as the Hartford Wolf Pack’s starter over prospect Dylan Garand. Those roles have since shifted this season, with the 21-year-old Garand barely beating out Domingue for the starter’s net, with the pair have working together to lead Hartford to a 29 wins in 54 games. They rank fourth in the AHL’s Atlantic Division and ninth in the league.

The Rangers mark the seventh team of Domingue’s career, making him one of the NHL’s biggest journeymen. Much of his career has been spent as a backup option or depth recall, though, with Domingue’s only seasons of 30 or more games coming in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. He recorded 39 and 31 games respectively in those years, adding a .912 and .908 save percentage. While big years, they weren’t enough to land Domingue a consistent role, with a trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning kicking off his third-string placement. He has totaled 143 career games across nine different seasons, managing 60 wins and a commendable .905 save percentage. He will likely remain a depth option for the Rangers, though his veteran presence could prove invaluable as the Rangers approach a long playoff run.

Devils Reassign Akira Schmid

at CDT | by 4 Comments

4:10 p.m.: The Devils have returned Schmid to Utica after dropping today’s game against the Hurricanes 4-2. Barring injuries, that’s where he’ll remain for the rest of the season. He likely won’t be needed for Monday’s game against the Rangers as Kahkonen reportedly made it to New Jersey after the loss, James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now reports.

10:45 a.m.: After acquiring Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen in separate trades on Friday, the Devils returned goaltender Akira Schmid to AHL Utica.  However, his stint will be short-lived for now as team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link) that Schmid has been recalled and will serve as the backup today versus Carolina.

Kahkonen hasn’t made it to New Jersey just yet while Allen will require a work visa, a process that will be delayed due to the weekend so he likely won’t be available until closer to the middle of next week.  Accordingly, they needed a second option behind Nico Daws for today so this will qualify as an emergency recall, not one of their four post-deadline regular recalls.

It has been a disappointing season for Schmid so far.  After taking over as the starter down the stretch last season and into the playoffs, the 23-year-old has struggled mightily this season, posting a 3.15 GAA and a .895 SV% through 19 appearances.  Things haven’t gone any better with the Comets either with his numbers down there (3.47 and .886 respectively) being worse than at the NHL level.

One of the positives from New Jersey’s pivot to a new tandem entirely is that both Schmid and Daws will get to return to Utica for the stretch run, allowing them to both play some meaningful games down the stretch with the Comets in a tight battle for a playoff spot.  However, it will be a few more days before that will be able to happen.

Golden Knights Place William Carrier On LTIR, Recall Brendan Brisson

at CDT | by 4 Comments

After adding several players in trades leading up to the trade deadline, the Golden Knights needed some more cap space.  To create that room in the short term, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve placed winger William Carrier and his $1.4MM AAV on LTIR.  They’ve used some of that space immediately as they’ve recalled winger Brendan Brisson from AHL Henderson, per the AHL’s transactions log.

The 29-year-old has missed the last two months with an upper-body injury that he underwent surgery for back in January.  At the time he was given a designation of week-to-week so it appears that recovery from the injury has gone slower than anticipated.  He joins Mark Stone and Robin Lehner as players currently on LTIR; newly-acquired center Tomas Hertl is out long-term term but is not on LTIR at the moment.

Carrier is a pending unrestricted free agent and missing this much time due to injury certainly isn’t going to help things if he makes it to the open market in July.  Before getting hurt, Carrier had five goals and two assists along with 71 hits in 33 games while averaging 11L16 per night, his lowest ATOI since the 2020-21 campaign.

As for Brisson, it’s his sixth recall of the season and he has played well in limited action with the big club.  Through 12 appearances so far, the 22-year-old has two goals and four assists while averaging 12:39 a night.  He also has 13 goals and 15 assists in 42 games with the Silver Knights.  With Vegas only having 11 healthy forwards on the active roster before his promotion, they should be able to classify this as an emergency recall, one that wouldn’t count against their post-deadline limit of four.

Penguins Recall Jonathan Gruden

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Yesterday, the Penguins opted to bring up one of the three players they had assigned to the minors in forward Valtteri Puustinen.  Today, they’ve brought up a second one as the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Jonathan Gruden has been recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The 23-year-old has spent most of the season at the AHL level, tallying 13 goals and 10 assists in 41 games.  Meanwhile, this will be his fourth recall of the year and Gruden got into nine games with Pittsburgh in the first three, scoring once while chipping in with 26 hits in 8:32 per game.  He’s playing on a one-year, two-way deal worth the league minimum at the NHL level and will be a restricted free agent this summer.

Notably, the Penguins don’t have the cap space to execute this recall so there is a secondary transaction that hasn’t been announced.  With Jansen Harkins expected to be out for a while, he has likely been transferred to LTIR which would open up another $850K in LTIR space, enough to cover Gruden’s $775K AAV.

Barring an unannounced injury to one of their current forwards, Gruden’s recall should burn one of their four post-deadline non-emergency recalls.

Canucks Recall Vasily Podkolzin

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

After being papered down to the minors yesterday, Vasily Podkolzin is back up with the Canucks as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled him from AHL Abbotsford.

The 22-year-old was the tenth pick back in 2019 and spent the full 2021-22 season with Vancouver.  However, last season, he split the season between the NHL and the AHL, and this year, they decided he’d be best served playing big minutes in his final season of waiver exemption.

This season, Podkolzin has played in 44 games with Abbotsford, collecting 15 goals and 13 assists.  He also has seen action in three games with Vancouver this month but has been primarily limited to fourth-line duty.  That’s likely to continue to be the case moving forward.

Podkolzin had been shuffled back and forth over the last week but that should change now.  With Vancouver having a dozen healthy forwards before this roster move, that means this will count as one of their four allowable post-deadline regular recalls so his stint with the Canucks should be longer this time around.  Notably, his promotion effectively caps Vancouver out as they won’t be able to afford another recall.  That likely played a role in their decision yesterday not to sign Phil Kessel as an extra depth player after he had worked out with Abbotsford recently.

Sharks Recall Jacob MacDonald

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

After moving Nikita Okhotyuk to Calgary in a late move before Friday’s trade deadline, the Sharks were down to just six defenders on their active roster.  They’ve determined who his replacement on the roster will be as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled blueliner Jacob MacDonald from AHL San Jose.

The 30-year-old has spent most of the year with the Sharks but playing time was limited thanks to three separate injuries that kept him on injured reserve for 29 games.  In between those, MacDonald got into 22 games, recording six goals and one assist along with 37 hits while averaging a little over 12 minutes a night.

Last month, the Sharks opted to place MacDonald, a pending unrestricted free agent, on waivers to give a longer look to some of their other options.  He cleared and was sent to the Barracuda a little more than two weeks ago.  He suited up six times for them, collecting four assists.

There’s a decent chance MacDonald might not wind up back there as Ty Emberson is on injured reserve while Matt Benning is likely done for the season so MacDonald could be in a depth role for the Sharks for the stretch run.  Since this is a post-deadline recall, he would be eligible to return to the Barracuda later on while this will count as one of their four allowable regular recalls unless there’s another blueliner whose availability for their game tonight against Ottawa is in question.

Red Wings Recall Jonatan Berggren

at CDT | by 2 Comments

On Friday, the Red Wings opened up a roster spot when they traded Klim Kostin to San Jose.  Today, they filled that spot, announcing that they’ve recalled winger Jonatan Berggren from AHL Grand Rapids.

The 23-year-old spent most of last season with Detroit, getting into 67 games where he had 15 goals and 13 assists, not a bad rookie campaign by any stretch.  However, GM Steve Yzerman was active over the course of the summer bringing in several new forwards that ultimately pushed Berggren into more of a depth role.  The in-season signing of Patrick Kane bumped him down a bit more on the depth chart.

As a result, Berggren has spent most of this season in the minors with the Griffins, allowing him to play big minutes instead of being in and out of the lineup in a bottom-six role with the big club.  The decision certainly made sense from a development perspective and it has worked out well as Berggren leads Grand Rapids in scoring with 19 goals and 27 points in 43 games.  For perspective, no one else on the Griffins has reached the 30-point mark yet.  He does have nine appearances with the Red Wings as well, collecting two goals and three helpers despite averaging barely over 10 minutes a night.

With Dylan Larkin out due to a lower-body injury, Detroit was down to just 11 healthy forwards following yesterday’s Kostin trade.  Accordingly, the Red Wings should be able to classify Berggren’s promotion as an emergency one, meaning it wouldn’t count against their cap of four post-deadline regular recalls.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top