Blues Claim Jonatan Berggren Off Waivers
The Blues have claimed winger Jonatan Berggren off waivers from the Red Wings, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The team moved center Nick Bjugstad to injured reserve to open up a roster spot for him, per Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
When Detroit waived Berggren yesterday, the motivations weren’t clear. They might have been attempting to open a roster spot for Mason Appleton to come off injured reserve, or the Wings simply may have been looking to give the fourth-year Swede a fresh start elsewhere. If they were hoping to sneak him through to the AHL, though, they’ll be disappointed with today’s outcome.
Once a standout who led Sweden’s top junior league in scoring in his draft year, Berggren cracked the Wings’ lineup for the first time in 2022-23. He’s been a fairly efficient depth scorer ever since, averaging a 15-16–31 scoring line per 82 games despite averaging under 13 minutes of ice time, but had seen his role slashed in Detroit this year. He’s been a healthy scratch more times (18) than he’s played (15) and has only suited up once since Thanksgiving.
There’s long been optimism about what Berggren’s production could look like if given an expanded role. He hasn’t seen minor-league action in two years but was one of the AHL’s top scoring presences from 2021-24, recording 49 goals and 127 points in 130 games for Detroit’s affiliate in Grand Rapids.
The 25-year-old may now get that chance on a decimated Blues team that’s missing three of its top four wingers in Dylan Holloway, Jordan Kyrou, and Jimmy Snuggerud. Their injury crunch has recently forced veteran Robby Fabbri into a top-six role after signing a two-way deal just days ago, plus emergency AHL call-ups Hugh McGing and Matt Luff sliding into the bottom six.
Now, their low place in the standings pays some dividends in the form of the third-highest waiver priority in the league. In addition to adding some short-term depth, Berggren could continually slot into a top-nine role for St. Louis down the stretch if they sell off rumored trade chips Brayden Schenn, Mathieu Joseph, and Oskar Sundqvist.
In claiming Berggren, the Blues are on the hook for his $1.825MM cap hit for the remainder of the season. He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer with arbitration rights.
Bjugstad has already missed three games with an upper-body injury, which he sustained seven days ago on Dec. 9 against the Bruins. As such, he’s eligible to come off IR at any time. The 33-year-old pivot has four goals and an assist in 25 games this season.
Image courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.
Kings Place Darcy Kuemper On Injured Reserve
The Kings announced they’ve placed starting goalie Darcy Kuemper on injured reserve. Pheonix Copley was recalled from the AHL’s Ontario Reign to take his place on the active roster.
Kuemper left last night’s 4-1 loss to the Stars late in the first period after taking head contact from Dallas winger Mikko Rantanen, who was attempting to cut across the top of the crease between Kuemper and L.A. defender Brian Dumoulin. Dallas scored on the play, but the goal was waved off as the puck deflected in from behind the net off an already-injured Kuemper, who was lying facedown in the crease holding his head.
The 35-year-old Kuemper stopped all five shots he faced before leaving the contest, bumping his SV% up to .917 on the year. That’s a few points south of the .921 mark that earned him his first career Vezina Trophy nomination last year, but the 2022 Stanley Cup champion continues to perform at a top-10 level as he resurrects his career in Hollywood. Behind his 10-6-6 record in 23 starts, his 16.0 goals saved above expected are fifth in the NHL, according to MoneyPuck. That’s the highest mark among Pacific Division netminders.
His backup, free-agent pickup Anton Forsberg, has been less inspiring. Through his first 10 appearances as a King, he’s put together a 4-3-3 record with a .893 SV% and 2.82 GAA. That’s still good for 1.1 goals above expected, receiving a slightly more demanding workload than Kuemper has, but a significant dropoff – particularly if Kuemper is set to miss more than the two games he’s been ruled out of, thanks to the IR placement. He’ll be eligible for reinstatement on Dec. 22 against the Blue Jackets.
Copley, 33, hasn’t seen NHL ice yet this season. The Alaska native is in his fourth season in the Kings organization, outside of a 13-day stay on the Lightning roster in October after being lost on waivers before being traded back to L.A. for future considerations. He successfully passed through waivers a second time after being reacquired but has struggled in the AHL, logging a .885 SV% and 3.13 GAA in 13 appearances for Ontario.
Nonetheless, few third-string options have more NHL experience than Copley. The Michigan Tech alum made his NHL debut with the Blues back in 2015-16 and has since gone on to record a 44-16-8 record, .898 SV%, 2.84 GAA, and three shutouts in 77 games.
Wild Expected To Activate Marcus Foligno From IR
Marcus Foligno will be back in the Wild lineup tonight versus the Capitals, head coach John Hynes told reporters (including Jessi Pierce of NHL.com). They don’t have a roster spot available to remove him from injured reserve, so one of their many banged-up skaters will have to take his place on IR. That will likely be defenseman Jonas Brodin, who’s out tonight and has already missed two games with an undisclosed injury. Placing him on IR would only rule him out for tonight’s game; he’d be eligible to return Thursday against the Blue Jackets.
Foligno sustained a lower-body injury against the Blackhawks back on Nov. 26. He was listed as week-to-week and makes his return tonight with just one full practice under his belt, although that’s understandable given how many bodies Minnesota is missing from its forward group.
The 34-year-old leaves behind Vinnie Hinostroza and Mats Zuccarello on IR. On top of those two, Marcus Johansson sustained a lower-body injury in Sunday’s trouncing of the Bruins and is listed as day-to-day, Hynes said.
Foligno’s lower-body issue, plus an upper-body one that cost him one game earlier in the year, has limited him to 23 appearances this season. Long viewed as one of the better defensive wingers in the league, he always maintained enough point production to warrant consistent top-nine minutes.
That hasn’t been the case this year. He’s yet to score a goal and has just two assists.
He has 21 shots on goal and is bound to shed his poor shooting luck at some point, but his 0.91 shots on goal per game are still the lowest of his 15-year career. His average ice time of 13:07 per game is his lowest since the 2018-19 campaign, and he’s no longer featuring on Minnesota’s top penalty kill unit, losing that job to Matt Boldy.
Still, an experienced top-nine option is a boon to a Wild group that’s still rolling out names like Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, Ben Jones, and Tyler Pitlick in its bottom six, regardless of his offensive struggles this season. Those three have combined for only two points in 41 games.
Also missing from the Wild lineup tonight will be veteran rearguard Zach Bogosian, Hynes said. Like Johansson, he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury he sustained against Boston.
Lightning Expected To Activate Andrei Vasilevskiy From IR
The Lightning announced today that they’ve reassigned goaltender Brandon Halverson and winger Scott Sabourin to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Halverson’s demotion means they’ll use one of the open roster spots to activate Andrei Vasilevskiy from injured reserve before Thursday’s game against the Kings.
What was initially expected to be a one-game absence for Vasilevskiy turned into seven games. He hasn’t dressed since losing to the Islanders on Dec. 2. Since then, backup Jonas Johansson has played every minute for the Bolts, aside from a six-second span against the Islanders over the weekend, where Halverson had to enter play due to an equipment issue.
Injuries to Vasilevskiy have forced Johansson to start 14 of Tampa’s 33 games, on pace to clear his previous career high of 24 starts by a wide margin. The 30-year-old Swede has given the Bolts some of the best hockey of his unremarkable career, recording a .897 SV% and 2.76 GAA while saving 4.1 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck.
Still, Tampa will be thrilled to get its star back between the pipes, especially as it’s lost six of eight games in November. The five-time Vezina Trophy finalist has made a solid case for his sixth nomination early on this year, recording a .916 SV%, 2.31 GAA, and an 11-6-2 record in 19 starts. Among goalies with at least 18 appearances, Vasilevskiy’s 0.736 GSAx/60 ranks fifth behind Logan Thompson (1.047), Ilya Sorokin (1.003), Jeremy Swayman (0.790), and Spencer Knight (0.766).
Meanwhile, Halverson’s duties as the Bolts’ No. 3 see his recall end without him facing a shot. The 29-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent and has a .901 SV%, 2.58 GAA, two shutouts, and a 9-4-0 record in 13 starts for Syracuse.
Sabourin, 33, has been yo-yoed between Tampa and Syracuse multiple times this season. However, he’d played in four straight for the Lightning after being recalled last week. The career enforcer has been a surprisingly effective fourth-line piece when called upon this year, recording a goal and two assists in seven games with 13 hits. Averaging 9:17 of ice time per game, he’s also posted strong 5-on-5 possession metrics with a 55.9 CF% and a team-high 71.3 xGF%.
As a result, his demotion could be to help stretch out his waiver-exempt status. Syracuse plays tomorrow night against Bridgeport, so the Lightning would be eligible to recall him again before their next game Thursday.
Maple Leafs To Activate Joseph Woll From Injured Reserve
Maple Leafs starter Joseph Woll will return to action tonight against the Blackhawks, head coach Craig Berube told reporters (including Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic). Toronto will need to open a roster spot to activate him from injured reserve. In all likelihood, that will mean returning goaltender Artur Akhtyamov to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies after they summoned him earlier this month in the wake of Woll’s injury.
Woll has missed the Leafs’ last four games after sustaining a lower-body injury in their win over the Hurricanes on Dec. 4, leaving the game after the second period. It was the 27-year-old’s second multi-game absence of the season. He missed the first 18 games of Toronto’s schedule while on personal leave.
While the 2016 third-round pick’s availability has limited him to eight starts, he’s played some of the best hockey of his career while doing so. He doesn’t have the best goal support – the Leafs offense has only averaged 2.75 goals per game with him in net – but he’s held up his end of the bargain with a .923 SV% and 2.44 GAA to come up with a 4-3-1 record.
When healthy, Woll’s $3.67MM cap hit through 2027-28 ranks among the best value contracts for a goalie in the NHL. He’s posted above-average save percentages in each of his five NHL seasons and has saved 29.5 goals above expected in 75 appearances since emerging as a full-time option in 2023-24, per MoneyPuck.
However, the former top prospect has started more than 30 games in a season only once. He could still feasibly do it this season if he stays healthy, only needing to start 22 times in 51 games, but that’s a big if.
His availability is critical as Toronto remains without Woll’s tandem partner, Anthony Stolarz, indefinitely. After Stolarz stumbled out of the gate with a .884 SV% and -5.3 GSAx in 13 games, he sustained an upper-body injury on Nov. 11 and hasn’t played since. Today, Berube confirmed he’s not dealing with a concussion but that he’s still far from a return and will see another specialist (via Johnston).
Yet the emergence of third-stringer Dennis Hildeby has removed a lot of drama from Toronto’s crease over the last several weeks. Stepping in for Stolarz and Woll, the gargantuan 24-year-old is making a serious push for a full-time NHL job with a .920 SV%, 2.72 GAA, one shutout, and a team-leading 7.2 GSAx in seven starts and four relief appearances. Since Woll’s injury, Hildeby has recorded a .934 mark, seventh in the league among goalies with multiple starts since Dec. 4.
Hildeby’s hot hand should allow the Leafs to keep Woll fresher in a reduced workload, getting the best out of both goalies until Stolarz is ready to return – if he can return this season. The 2022 fourth-round pick signed a three-year, $2.53MM contract as a restricted free agent this past offseason that pays him the league minimum salary through the 2027-28 campaign, a deal that’s now quietly one of the biggest wins from Toronto’s summer.
As for Akhtyamov, the 24-year-old made his NHL debut on Saturday when he entered a 6-3 loss to the Oilers in relief of Hildeby in the third period. In the final 10:32 of regulation, he faced five shots and did not allow a goal. He still looks like he’s a few years away from challenging for an NHL role, posting a .896 SV% and 3.04 GAA in 12 appearances for the Marlies this year.
New Jersey Devils To Recall Nathan Legare
According to Ryan Novozinsky of NJdotcom, the New Jersey Devils are reportedly recalling forward Nathan Legare from the AHL’s Utica Comets. James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now confirmed the news.
Since the Devils already have 23 players on the active roster, another roster move is incoming. The likeliest outcome is that New Jersey will place defenseman Simon Nemec on the team’s injured reserve after suffering an injury at practice last week. Assuming the transaction is made retroactive to December 12th, Nemec can return when the Devils take on the Buffalo Sabres on December 21st.
Despite being a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2019 NHL Draft, Legare has spent most of his professional career in the Devils organization. After turning pro for the 2021-22 season, Legare spent the next two years with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 125 games.
He ended up with the Montreal Canadiens for a short time due to his inclusion in the 2023 trade that landed defenseman Erik Karlsson with the Penguins. He registered three goals and nine points in 39 games for the AHL’s Laval Rocket before being sent to the Comets in a minor league swap.
Legare, 24, made his NHL debut with New Jersey last season and has already skated in one game this year, though he’s still searching for his first point. Since joining the organization toward the end of the 2023-24 campaign, Legare has scored 22 goals and 33 points in 105 games with a -12 rating and 158 PIMs.
Blackhawks Place Connor Bedard On Injured Reserve
Dec. 16th: According to an update from ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, Bedard has reportedly suffered a separated shoulder. Given that the team will re-evaluate Bedard in early January, this suggests that it’s no more than a Grade 2 separation, which typically has a recovery timeline of four to eight weeks. If it’s only a Grade 1 separation, Bedard may only miss a few weeks. The lack of motivation for surgery indicates that Bedard didn’t suffer a Grade 3 separation or beyond, which carries a recovery timeline of multiple months.
Dec. 15th: According to a team announcement, the Chicago Blackhawks have placed star center Connor Bedard on the injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 12. In a corresponding roster move, the Blackhawks have recalled defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and have returned goaltender Laurent Brossoit from his conditioning stint.
Bedard will be out through the holiday break and will be re-evaluated in early January, head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters (including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times). They’re not currently considering surgery for his suspected shoulder ailment.
His injury stems from the Blackhawks’ recent game against the St. Louis Blues. In the final moments of the contest, Bedard got tied up with Blues center Brayden Schenn during a faceoff and went down awkwardly. He was seen skating to the bench clutching his right shoulder, and no further updates have been given regarding the severity of his injury.
Losing Bedard for any amount of time is understandably a gut punch to a relatively competitive Chicago team. In the midst of a true breakout before the injury, Bedard had scored 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games, averaging 21:03 of ice time per contest. Nearly every facet of his game had taken meaningful steps forward, from his on-ice save percentage at even strength, CorsiFor% at even strength, to his faceoff percentage.
The Blackhawks already lost their first game without Bedard the following night at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, and will play the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens before he’s eligible to return. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a noticeable decrease in offensive output over those two games, as the team’s next leading scorer is Tyler Bertuzzi with 16 goals and 26 points in 29 games. Of Bertuzzi’s 16 goals, Bedard has assisted on 11 of them.
Del Mastro, 22, has already suited up in one game for the Blackhawks this season, earning a -1 rating in 17:35 of action. With that, he’s spent the rest of his time with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, scoring one goal and 11 points in 27 games with a +6 rating.
Although he will serve as the team’s seventh defenseman throughout their upcoming road trip, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Del Mastro won’t be in the lineup against the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. Throughout much of the 2025-26 campaign, head coach Jeff Blashill has opted to dress seven defensemen instead of the typical six, which may continue now that Chicago is down to 13 forwards on the active roster.
Meanwhile, Brossoit will have the opportunity to play in his first NHL contest since the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. He’s been recovering from both meniscus and hip surgeries over the last two years with the Blackhawks and is finally healthy enough to debut with the club. His numbers were fairly encouraging over his conditioning loan, managing a 2-1-0 record in three games with a .900 SV%.
Devils Have Discussed Dougie Hamilton, Ondrej Palat In Trade Talks
Yesterday morning, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported that the New Jersey Devils have included defenseman Dougie Hamilton and forward Ondřej Palát in trade talks. That falls in line with what Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had said regarding the Devils’ pursuit of defenseman Quinn Hughes before he was ultimately traded to the Minnesota Wild on Friday.
Friedman didn’t offer any specifics like Weekes, though he had said that he believed New Jersey had a few cap-clearing trades vetoed. That was always going to be the difficulty in moving off of Hamilton or Palát, as both veterans have no-movement clauses and moderate trade protection throughout the rest of their respective contracts.
The Devils have put themselves into this situation. The Wild only added approximately $1MM in salary by acquiring Hughes, and without knowing New Jersey’s final offer, that would have been nearly impossible for them to absorb.
Assuming the Devils were willing to trade a player or two off their active roster, and somehow only lost $1MM in salary cap space by acquiring Hughes, they would have had around $200K remaining in flexibility. That would have made it impossible for New Jersey to recall extra depth to fill out their roster, and they would have had to continue the season with an incomplete 23-man roster.
Still, their pursuit of Hughes suggests that General Manager Tom Fitzgerald is eager to make a big move to help the Devils’ roster, even as they continue to stall out in the standings. Again devastated by injuries, New Jersey has fallen out of the playoff picture, going 3-7-0 in their last 10 contests.
It would make sense that if the Devils are adamant on acquiring a top-level talent, then they will continue trade negotiations regarding Hamilton and Palát. Each player has provided New Jersey with 10 teams they would accept a trade to.
Unfortunately, considering that it’ll be a cap-clearing trade with little returning to New Jersey, their options are limited. Although this list will grow leading up to the deadline, there are only 12 teams that could acquire Palát outright, and only nine for Hamilton.
Especially for the latter, the Devils will likely need to include a sweetener to the acquiring team. The 34-year-old winger has scored two goals and seven points in 33 games for the Devils this season, making it 28 goals and 66 points in his last 181 games. Factoring in his $6MM cap hit through next season, New Jersey may never be able to move off of his contract.
Hamilton, by comparison, has more value, but marginally. Hit by the same injury bug that much of the roster has sustained, Hamilton has only played in 57.3% of New Jersey’s games over the last three years. Still, by scoring 18 goals and 64 points over that stretch, he’s nearly matched Palát in offensive production over that stretch in approximately 70 fewer games.
Given the difficult hurdles to clear, the Devils may end the season with both players on their active roster. Depending on who becomes available closer to the deadline, New Jersey’s front office may feel that simply getting everyone back healthy will be enough pseudo additions to return to competitiveness. There’s definitely an argument for this approach, as the Devils started the year 16-8-1 through their first 25 games with a fairly healthy team.
Photo courtesy of John Jones-Imagn Images.
West Notes: Kuemper, Danault, Byfield, Reichel, Connelly
Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of their game tonight against Dallas, the team announced (Twitter link). The injury occurred after taking a hit from Mikko Rantanen. The 35-year-old has quietly been one of the better goalies in the league this season, taking a 2.21 GAA and a .916 SV% in 22 games into this game while posting a 15.5 Goals Saved Above Expected, per MoneyPuck, good for fifth in the league. That performance could get him on the Olympic radar with Canada set to reveal its roster for the tournament at the end of the month. Anton Forsberg took over between the pipes following Kuemper’s injury.
More from out West:
- Still with Los Angeles, the Kings were without a pair of middlemen tonight as Jared Shafran of LA Kings Insider relayed that Philipp Danault and Quinton Byfield were both sidelined due to the flu. It’s the second straight game that Danault has missed; the 32-year-old is still looking for his first goal of the year and only has five assists through 30 games. Meanwhile, Byfield has just four goals in 31 outings but with 15 assists, he has enough points to sit third on the team in scoring.
- After clearing waivers over the weekend, the Canucks assigned winger Lukas Reichel to the minors. Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province mentions that Reichel’s agent has permission to talk to other teams about trying to facilitate a trade. While there were no takers for the 23-year-old with his $1.2MM AAV, it’s possible that there could be some interest if they could send a player the other way to offset some of the money. Either way, Reichel’s stock has certainly fallen after struggling following a late-October trade from Chicago.
- The Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate in Henderson announced Sunday that they have officially loaned winger Trevor Connelly to Team USA for the upcoming World Junior tournament. The 19-year-old was the 19th pick in 2024 and is holding his own in his first professional season, notching three goals and four assists in 11 outings so far.
Dylan Gambrell Signs With AHL Iowa
Back in September, veteran center Dylan Gambrell signed a PTO agreement with Nashville with the hopes of securing a full-season contract. No such deal came to fruition and he had been on the open market since then after not securing a contract with AHL Milwaukee either. However, he has now caught on with a team as AHL Iowa announced that they’ve signed Gambrell for the remainder of the season.
The 29-year-old was effectively an NHL regular until somewhat recently. Gambrell played in at least 49 games per season between the 2019-20 and the 2022-23 campaigns, with a career-high of 63 coming back in 2021-22. He spent most of those games primarily on the fourth line, tallying 17 goals and 23 assists along with a 46.1% faceoff rate in 233 NHL contests between San Jose and Ottawa.
However, aside from preseason appearances (of which he only had two this past preseason), Gambrell has played exclusively in the minors. Last season, he played on a two-way deal with Columbus, suiting up with their farm team in Cleveland where he had 13 goals and 12 assists in 54 appearances.
One of the challenges that Gambrell likely faced in free agency is that he qualifies for veteran status at the AHL level. Teams can only dress five skaters with 320 games of professional experience which has resulted in some capable veterans either remaining unsigned or having to go overseas for this season with so many teams at their veteran limit. Gambrell decided to wait it out for an opportunity in North America and while it took some time, he has now found one.